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First Minister Peter Robinson has attended his first Gaelic football match. | The DUP leader was a guest of the Ulster Council for the final of the Dr McKenna Cup between Derry and Tyrone in Armagh on Saturday night.
DUP MP Gregory Campbell welcomed the "symbolic gesture" of Mr Robinson attending the game.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness was also at the game. Mr Robinson got a "warm reception", he said.
He said that Mr Robinson's attendance was evidence of his "inclusive approach" and was "another little piece of history".
"Peter got a very warm reception from everyone he met at the game. It was wonderful to have him there," Mr McGuinness added.
Mr Campbell told Good Morning Ulster that he would not have accepted an invitation to attend the game but did admit the first minister going was progress.
"I think these issues are more about gestures. This is about symbolism and a gesture," he said.
"I think if it is offered in that context and received in that context then I would not quibble about it.
"The GAA has been travelling in the right direction for some time now."
'Moving forward'
But the East Londonderry MP believes there is still more work to be done by the organisation.
"There are issues that are still outstanding, there are still grounds, there are still clubs named after IRA terrorists that obviously have to be changed," he said.
"In a modern democracy where people are taking part in a purely sporting environment you wouldn't name your ground or a competition after, for example, one of the bombers from Gibraltar."
The DUP's deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the first minister's attendance showed how Northern Ireland had progressed.
"It doesn't in any way compromise Peter Robinson's political principals or the political principals of the DUP," he said.
"It demonstrates a very clear message and signal to people that we are moving forward in Northern Ireland, and moving forward together."
During the Troubles, many unionists mistrusted the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), which banned members of the security forces from being members.
That rule was lifted 11 years ago.
BBC Northern Ireland sports reporter Mark Sidebottom said that Mr Robinson had taken his seat just after the throw-in.
He added that security was low-key for the first minister's visit and that his attendance caused "barely a ripple" among the crowd.
Four years ago, Mr Robinson's party colleague Edwin Poots was the first DUP politician to attend a GAA game in an official capacity when he also went to a Dr McKenna Cup game.
And last year, the Queen went to the headquarters of the GAA, Croke Park in Dublin, during her historic first visit to Ireland.
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The judiciary in Sri Lanka has ordered the government to take measures to resettle thousands of displaced as a result of establishing High Security Zones (HSZ). | The Supreme Court ordered the government to initially resettle 7456 families in HSZs in Palaly after considering a petition by Jaffna district parliamentarian Mavai Senadhirajah and another displaced.
However Chief Justice Sarath N Silva said it is essential that the district authorities seek advice from Defence authorities before starting resettlement.
Jaffna District Secretary was advised to give priority to those who are currently in government-run refugee camps.
The government representative in the district, K Ganesh, was ordered to consult the security establishment and identify suitable areas for resettlement and provide a report to the courts on 24 July.
The Supreme Court added that the resettlement should be gradual process.
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A new £150,000 steam carriage has been lifted into place by crane at Snowdon Mountain Railway. | The Mountain Goat, which is based on one of the original chassis from 1895, was delivered to Gwynedd from Derbyshire where it was built.
It follows the Snowdon Lily, a similar carriage which was introduced in 2013.
The Mountain Goat arrived at Llanberis station on Wednesday morning.
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Over the last 15 years, Belladrum has grown from a small one-day event to become one of Scotland's biggest music festivals. Other festivals have fallen by the wayside in recent years - so why has this Highland gathering thrived? | The Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival was the brainchild of Joe Gibbs, the owner of the Belladrum Estate near Beauly.
It started small in 2004 as a one-day event with tickets for just 2,000 people.
"When Joe asked me about starting a festival I said it would never work," says Pete Campbell, who has been a member of the organising team since day one.
But the first festival exceeded expectations. It was a sell-out.
"That was quite an achievement for a first-time event in the Highlands," says Rob Ellen, who has helped with booking acts and publicising Belladrum since 2004.
"I don't think it had ever been done before."
Bella, as the festival is affectionately known, continued to be run as a small festival in the following years. It then moved to a two-day format, and became a three-day event in 2015.
This year's festival, which gets under way on Thursday, will attract a 20,000-capacity crowd, about 14,000 of whom will be camping.
But as Bella has grown, some other Scottish festivals have struggled in recent years.
This year Electric Fields tried to switch from a rural location in southern Scotland to Glasgow, before being cancelled.
The organisers of T in the Park admitted this year that it had "run its course", with their focus now on the TRNSMT event in Glasgow. It also attracts big-name acts over a three-day festival, but without the camping element of T in the Park.
In the Highlands, RockNess last took place in 2013 and Loopallu will take place for the last time later this year.
Joe Gibbs said there had been occasions when he feared that Belladrum might not make it.
"There were many times in the first five years when we were physically and mentally exhausted, pushing hard to make it work," he says.
"There were times we were terrified of losing a lot of money."
It had been a huge challenge competing for acts with bigger festivals backed by multinational companies.
"But over the years we have built up a reputation and there are acts that come to us now asking to be on the line-up," he says.
"Running a festival is like growing an oak tree.
"Oak trees take a long time to grow, but their roots are deep. Bella's foundations are secure."
Event manager Lesley Strang, who has worked at the festival since year one, says the secret of its success is that organisers never forget the core audience - those who live in the Highlands.
"Bella's tag line is 'Homegrown in the Highlands'," she says.
"It's got a Highland attitude - a bit laid back and not corporate.
"We benefit from having a core audience. These are people who came in the early years when they were in their 20s and are now in their 30s and coming here with their own young families."
Dougie Brown attended the first Belladrum in 2004 when he was in his 20s and was looking for something new.
The following year he got a job in the festival's box office handing out wristbands, and has worked his way up to become event producer.
Bella is ingrained in Dougie's life.
He married wife Liz at the festival's Temple building and their children, Louis and Faye, have grown up with the event.
New generations have also joined the "family" which is involved in running the festival.
Andy Venters, who has worked at the festival since 2006, says: "My favourite thing about Bella is seeing my three boys, who came with me as kids to help in the early years, become part of the site team in their own right."
Amy Atkinson, who worked at her first Bella in 2006, now takes holidays from her day job to work as the festival's artist liaison manager.
"We have each grown with the festival, and the festival has grown with us," she says.
Last year, music promoter Kilimanjaro Group bought over Belladrum. It had previously been involved with booking headline acts over the previous decade.
Boss Stuart Galbraith says: "The festival has a very broad appeal with everything from children's entertainment through to late night drum and bass.
"We just like what Joe and the team have been evolving, and that is a perfect festival run by Highlanders for Highlanders."
There will be live coverage of Belladrum on BBC ALBA, hosted by presenters Fiona MacKenzie and Niall Iain MacDonald, from Thursday. Festival highlights will be available on the BBC Scotland channel on Friday and Saturday nights, and on the iPlayer.
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It was the good news the world had been waiting for: the first of the boys trapped in a cave in Thailand had been brought to safety. | The operation to save the children and their football coach from the flooded cave began on Sunday, with four members rescued and taken to hospital.
On Monday, the operation to free the remaining nine will resume.
Here are some pictures of the dramatic mission captivating Thailand and the world.
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It's a well-known fact that women take longer in public toilets than men. It's partly because it is more than just a place to use the loo - it is often where women chat, bond, fix their make-up and their problems. | By Julia BrysonBBC News
Samantha Jagger has been documenting these candid moments between friends and strangers for almost 10 years.
Instead of staging "Insta-perfect" shots, she uses a battered 35mm point-and-shoot camera small enough to fit in her handbag.
Her photographs, taken chiefly in toilets in pubs and clubs in Manchester and Leeds, are about to go on show as part of an exhibition called Loosen Up.
"I've been taking photos on film since I was in my teens, but it wasn't until last year when I was looking through them I realised how many are snapped in loos," says Samantha, 25.
"It got me thinking about gaggles of girls coming together in toilets - breaking up, making up, gearing up. It all happens in that space and I find it completely fascinating.
"It's this I wanted to capture and tell different stories about my friends' escapades."
In that time, freelance journalist Samantha has seen "shoulders getting wet from tears, the dumping of girls and guys, pep talks, sympathy smiles, knickers in bins and flooded sinks".
"One of my favourite memories was walking out of a loo and a girl was stood on her own making her face move around with with the [air from the] hand drier.
"She thought she was alone so she jumped out of her skin. We had a right laugh and became mates."
Audio recordings will be played at the exhibition of some of the women involved, in which they share their stories of what happened within the four walls of the WC.
One is Charly Downes, 25, from Birmingham, who was photographed with her head over the toilet on a night out in January.
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"I was with a friend of Sam's called Hamble, it was only the second time I'd met her.
"I had a few too many to drink and as [girls] do, you take you trip to the toilet together, and Hamble held my hair back while I was being sick."
Samantha, who is originally from York and now lives in Manchester, said she likes the medium of film because it's "raw".
"In a world where editing and filtering your life is rife, I snap that moment and that's it.
"It's become a weirdly integral part of my nights out now. My mates roll their eyes now when I go in armed with a camera.
"When I say I'm doing a project about toilets to people I don't know, there's usually a long pause. Then I explain the concept and I'm grateful to say people have been on board with the idea.
"There have been some photographs I'm going to have to see about putting in the exhibition… I'll see if I'm allowed."
Loosen Up will be held at The Brickworks at Barton Arcade Basement, Manchester, from May.
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Mother-of-six Janet Scott was killed by a convicted murderer who was released from prison after serving 14 years. Her 20-year-old daughter, Amelia Karnstein, tells her mother's story and questions how the authorities allowed Simon Mellors to kill again. | We used to watch programmes with Mum about murderers but you never believe that's going to happen to you one day. You definitely don't think that you are going to be living what is basically a nightmare. We all sat across the table from that man and ate dinner. We even slept in the next room, next door to him. Any of us could have been targeted by him, any of us.
Mum met Simon in April last year and to begin with she didn't even want to talk to him. She was texting me at the time and said: "There's this weird man just staring at me from across the bar and trying to get my attention." Eventually he wore her down to the point where she went out with him.
Mum didn't find out that Simon had a previous conviction for murder until eight weeks into the relationship.
However, he didn't tell us the full extent of what he had done - how he battered his former partner Pearl Black repeatedly to the head with an iron bar, then strangled her by stringing cable ties together and tightening them around her neck.
The limited information he gave us was disgusting and both of us threw up and were screaming and crying for a long time, but it wasn't the truth. We didn't know the truth.
He told Mum that he and Pearl went out one night, they got drunk, and Pearl admitted to Simon she had been sleeping with another man. He said they started to have a physical fight and that's when he did the crime. Mum being Mum believed his lies, thought he had just made a mistake and we are all only human. At that point Mum had already caught feelings for him and Mum was one of those people who believed in second chances.
We met his probation officer. Mum had already met him once before me.
I asked the probation officer 'Will he kill again?' and the probation officer looked me in the eye and said 'I don't believe so'.
Me and Mum looked at each other and we had faith in that, especially when he turned around and said: "Our priority is your safety."
As months passed Simon became very controlling over what groceries Mum bought, when Mum would go out to see friends, even travelling on holiday, which Mum loved to do. That caused arguments but it was never a physical fight.
He had pretty much moved himself into the house because he refused to be away from Mum. He was scared that Mum was going to go back to her estranged husband, Chris, so he wanted to be right next to her 24-7. He said he couldn't sleep without her.
Mum felt like she was suffocating so she said to him: 'I want to break it off.'
Every time she said that to him he blamed it on her depression, or he blamed the psychologist she was seeing to help with childhood trauma. He said the psychologist had got into her head and told her he was a bad person. Simon was manipulating her from day one.
Every doctor's appointment she had he would be there. Invited or not he would be there. Every family event that was held he would be there. He was kind of like a bad smell you couldn't get rid of.
Mum began to see Simon's true colours in about December time and she only stopped with him because she felt sorry that he had never had a Christmas with someone. He had always sat and drank by himself at Christmas and she didn't want that.
She wanted to give him a happy new year, so she finished it on 1 January.
She said: "This is a clean slate now. We can be friends and we can talk but I don't want to be with you." It still didn't stop him from trying to kiss her and stuff like that. Mum used to turn around and say: "I don't kiss my friends."
He stalled to give Mum her stuff back. Every time he did come round to bring it I had to be present because she didn't want to be alone with him. There was this one time he sat on the sofa after bringing back the majority of the china and he didn't go for three and a half hours. I was very aware that mum was texting his probation officer on multiple occasions saying: "Simon is doing this, Simon is doing that, what are you going to do about it?"
Although in the last few weeks Mum was scared of him she had no reason to fear him beforehand, I want to get that clear. It was only the last couple of weeks after Christmas that she began to seriously fear for her own life.
One night Simon followed Mum to work at Lidl at about four in the morning. I got a text from Mum at about half past four and she was petrified. She came back and she was frantic. Her hands were in her hair and she was going: "I had this horrible, horrible feeling. If I hadn't turned around and seen him looking at me, would he have done something?"
He should have been recalled to prison there and then. We were told by his probation that he had followed another woman, called Angela, who he had also dated before Mum. Simon called this woman bipolar, he said she was crazy, and when she reported him she was having an episode, and of course the probation office believed Simon.
It was a pattern of behaviour and no-one picked up on that.
Every day from thereon Mum made someone be there to pick her up and take her to work. However, it still didn't stop Simon from following the car. He would sit outside of Lidl, wait for her and try and get her to come into the car. She would turn around and say: "No, go away, I don't want to be near you."
The probation officer was made aware of the fact that Simon was stalking Mum and he was made aware of the fact that Mum was petrified of him. I was there when she made the phone call. Mum was pacing backwards and forwards in her bedroom at the time, saying to his probation officer: "What can you do? I need you to get him to stay away."
What she wanted was for them to recall him to prison without her name being brought into it. Mum feared that if he knew she had had him recalled he would come out in five years' time and kill her then.
She was hoping the probation officer would read in between the lines and have Simon arrested there and then. Obviously not.
He would talk about the people he had met in prison and how they would discuss crimes they had done and dispose of things if they did it again. This shocked us. We felt sick when he said that. They had already broken up by then and Mum was already scared. He had already threatened her husband Chris's life; he said he would just run him over in the city centre, which Mum was petrified of. He could have got one of us six children or one of her three grandchildren, so she didn't want to leave any of us in his pathway.
She pushed me back to university and told me I couldn't be in the house, and now we know why. We honestly believe he must have said something to her for her to know that it was coming, because she pushed my younger brother and sister to the side and said they need to stay away from the house for a little while, and the older siblings as well.
After he killed Mum on 29 January, by stabbing her then driving into her with his car, I warned the police that he would kill himself in prison. He wasn't willing to serve time, which I told the police, and he definitely wasn't willing to serve life. Simon believed that life was a game of chess. He said that every move on a chess board could be linked back to a part of your life.
He took the easy way out, by killing himself in prison a month after he killed Mum, because that would have been his way of saying checkmate. He would have won the game.
Who is responsible for Mum's death? For us the probation office, the probation officer and the justice system. Why are murderers serving 14 years? That's not enough. I think he managed to manipulate the probation officer, the judge and the rest of the system.
He referred to being in prison as being on holiday. He sat as many classes in prison as he possibly could in hopes to get an early release to see his daughter. She didn't want anything to do with him, for obvious reasons.
Why was someone like that, who has done a crime so disgusting you can't even put it in a horror movie, let out on the streets? One of his best friends had done a crime like that and he was out on the streets. Are they just walking around Nottingham? It's petrifying.
We want someone to turn around and accept the responsibility of letting a monster - someone we can only now describe as the devil - kill again. We want someone to give us some answers for the questions we've now got.
Mum lived for her children. She only ever dreamt of being able to see us grow older and be happy. Now she doesn't get to do that. The thing that would have hurt Mum the most is that by taking her life, and by the government letting him take her life, it has broken us, all six of us.
We are never going to get to see the day that Mum was free.
All six of us are going to struggle with depression and anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. It's a tormented life that we are going to have because of him and the mistakes the justice system made.
Now we have to live a life sentence that a murderer doesn't even get. He got 14 years but I've got to live with this for the next 60. How is that fair?
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "This is a tragic case and our sincere condolences are with the victim's family and friends.
"Serious further offences such as this are very rare, but each one is taken extremely seriously and investigated fully.
"A full review into this case is under way, and we will carefully consider the findings to make sure all possible lessons are learnt."
As told to Caroline Lowbridge
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Same-sex liaisons are illegal in Uganda. People convicted of homosexual acts can be sent to jail for the rest of their lives. Some gay Ugandans survive by staying under the radar and live a shadowy half-life, presenting a straight face to the world. Others manage to leave their homeland, seeking asylum where they won't be persecuted for being who they are. | By Thomas Magill & Bethan BellReporter, BBC London
Because Godfrey is both gay and Ugandan, he says he was expelled from school, rejected by his family and sacked from his job.
Because Yudaya is both gay and Ugandan, she says she cannot contact her family and is being sought by police.
Because Rodney is both gay and Ugandan, he says he was forced to live on the streets and used to carry poison in his pocket in case he needed to kill himself before getting arrested again.
Rodney, Godfrey and Yudaya are now in the UK and have applied for asylum.
None has succeeded.
These are their stories.
Rodney, who is now 23, was reported to his school because he was seen cuddling a boy. When he got home, his family beat him up.
About two weeks later, under cover of darkness, he says he was woken by bright lights and taken away by six men who hit him and crushed his throat with a crowbar. The men, one of whom was a community leader, slapped him and interrogated him.
They rubbed something on his lips, something that burned and hurt and caused a scar he still bears.
He was 15.
He was kept in a house for two weeks with other boys - some he recognised from his neighbourhood or football team - who were in the same kind of trouble. Some of them had been tortured, Rodney believes.
"Some of the boys there, they had no fingernails. They had been pulled off. [Their captors] would call us one by one. Most of the time the person called would not come back. One time my friend Ruby was called. They brought him back dead."
After various misadventures, Rodney managed to get away and lived on the streets of Kampala. Eventually a woman took him in.
Rodney says he was expected to cook and clean and shop for the woman in her one-room rental home. He hated himself, he says. He bought himself some poison and kept it in his pocket, doing his best depending on how he was feeling, to either ignore or obey his internal voice telling him to drink it.
Eventually he went back to his family, who had believed he was dead. His father told him to leave or he'd kill him, but an aunt pointed out that Rodney was clever and had done well at school. She also said she could "cure" him, could "turn him back".
Rodney did well enough in exams to get into a British university. Arriving in Portsmouth, the 18-year-old couldn't believe his eyes.
"It was a different world. Life was different, it was good. You could go to a club and all the gay people would be there. I met another Ugandan man and he took me to Pride in 2017.
"I was like, 'oh my God'. I took so many pictures. But I put them on Facebook and my cousin saw them.
"Then I was called into college and was told my tuition fees had not been paid. I tried to call my father and my phone had been cut off. I checked my email and I had a message from him. It said that from now on I am dead to them. That was in 2017 and it was the last time I heard from them."
Africa and homosexuality laws
Laws outlawing same-sex relations exist in 31 out of 54 African countries, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).
Gay sex can be punishable by death in northern Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia and Mauritania.
Same-sex liaisons are illegal in Uganda. People convicted of homosexuality can be sent to jail for the rest of their lives.
However, Angola, Mozambique and the Seychelles have all scrapped anti-homosexuality laws in recent years.
The chaplain at Rodney's college put him in touch with the Citizen's Advice Bureau, which told him about the asylum process.
Rodney was interviewed and asked about his relationships. He told them that he had never been in a serious one. His application for asylum was turned down. He says he was told it was because he was not in a same-sex relationship, and his nature was quiet rather than flamboyant.
"Basically they were saying I was not outgoing or camp enough. That I could go back and behave in a discreet manner.
"I had been hiding for a lifetime, I came to a country where I can go out and be myself. Now I'm just waiting to see if I really have to go back and hide again."
In 2002, after being discovered in a same-sex act, 18-year-old Godfrey went on the run with a friend. Armed men found them and attacked them. Godfrey hid in the latrine, and stayed there as he saw his companion tortured and murdered.
"They came with guns and surrounded the house. They grabbed the shotgun and shot him in the side of the head when he was kneeling down. I thought they were coming to the latrine to take me.
"What is next for me? I am so scared, the police are looking for me and I've already committed the gay sex," he said.
Godfrey and his friend had already fled the capital, Kampala, and were in the rebel-held territories of northern Uganda. He was unpopular with the authorities, he says, not just because he was gay, but because he'd spoken out against the president, Yoweri Museveni.
"I was dismissed from school. When I was dismissed from school I was rejected by my family. My father said 'there is no way I can keep you here, because already the school has informed the police'".
After his friend was murdered, Godfrey managed to get to Kenya and from there he was smuggled to England.
Nine years later he applied for political asylum. He was refused.
He then applied on the grounds of his sexual orientation. Again, he was refused. He has appealed and is waiting for the Home Office's decision.
Godfrey said the screening and interviews involved in the process made him anxious because he felt his questioners did not believe he was gay.
"There's no way I can prove it," he said.
"I mean, do you want me to find a man and kiss him? Would that do it?"
Yudaya has been studying in the UK since 2018. She was not openly gay back home but she did have a girlfriend, who is still in Uganda.
Her family recently found out she is a lesbian.
"My big sister called me. She said the police came, and to please not contact my family again.
"She said: 'We asked why the police were looking for you and they explained you are a lesbian. You are with people spreading homosexuality around.'"
Yudaya said the Home Office, although it accepted she was gay, was not convinced she would be in danger if she had to go back to Uganda.
"To them, if I lived my life quietly, if I concealed my sexuality before, then it's possible i can go back and live in another area [of the country] and conceal my sexuality again, but I don't think that's the case any more".
The Home Office said:
"The UK has a proud record of providing protection for asylum seekers, and the Home Office recognises that discussing persecution may often be distressing, which is why our caseworkers receive extensive training, and also work closely with a range of organisations specialising in asylum and human rights protection which can provide support for LGBT+ asylum seekers during the asylum process.
"However, the Home Office rightly expect individuals to be able to satisfy us that they are at a genuine risk of persecution in order to be granted asylum, which has to be obtained through oral testimony at interview."
Leila Zadeh, executive director of the UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group, said that refugees were often disbelieved by officials who then asked inappropriate and demeaning questions.
"The interview is particularly hard, because they have to try to prove something which is virtually impossible to prove, which is your sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics.
"We are working with people who've been through a really traumatic past, very often fleeing persecution or fear of harm by members of their own family.
"When they get to the UK and they enter the asylum system it's quite sad if they don't feel supported, but rather they feel like they're going through even more trauma and even more stress, which is the last thing that people who need our care and protection should have to experience."
If Godfrey, Yudaya or Rodney are forced to return to Uganda, they face deeply entrenched and violent prejudice like that of the country's minister of state for ethics and integrity, Simon Lokodo.
A former Catholic minister who believes the current penal law is "limited" and wants same-sex acts to be punishable by death, he has described [heterosexual] child rape as "preferable to homosexuality".
He claims "homosexuality is not natural to Ugandans" and a "massive recruitment by gay people" took place in schools, promoting a "falsehood that people are born like that".
"The current law only criminalises the act. We want it made clear that anyone who is even involved in promotion and recruitment has to be criminalised. Those that do grave acts will be given the death sentence," the politician said.
Godfrey, who 19 years ago says he watched his friend being shot through the head, is terrified of having to go back to Uganda. The UK, he says, is his "safe haven".
Yudaya's family can offer no support or protection. If she returns she will be alone and forced to live a lie.
And Rodney might finally be driven to use that poison he kept in his pocket.
Related Internet Links
Amnesty: Anti-homosexuality bill becomes law
LGBT+ History Month
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Official government figures show Northern Ireland property prices have fallen by 1% - the first dip in three years. | By Julian O'NeillBBC News NI Business Correspondent
According to the Department of Finance, the standard property price in Northern Ireland now stands at £117,500.
The last time prices fell was in 2013, but prices are still 6% up on this time last year.
The lowest prices remain in Derry and Strabane (£100,000), with the highest in Lisburn and Castleragh (£140,700).
As recently as February, the department was reporting a steady recovery in the market.
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A man has been rescued from a fire at a flat in Londonderry. | The fire and rescue service were called to the blaze at a fourth floor flat in Crawford Square just after 14:00 GMT on Sunday.
An investigation has started into the cause of the fire, which caused thick smoke to engulf the flat.
Emergency services remain at the scene.
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For decades, the Duke of Edinburgh has joined the rest of the Royal Family in spending Christmas at Sandringham. But that was not his only connection with Norfolk and the East of England. As tributes are paid to the duke following his death aged 99 , the BBC looks back on his links with the area. | Walking down the path to St Mary Magdalene Church, the sight of Prince Philip waving, pointing and sometimes joking with well-wishers has been a familiar one.
Along with the rest of the Royal Family, the short walk to the Christmas Day service gave the duke the chance to greet the crowds lined up on the Queen's Sandringham estate.
It became an annual tradition that stretched back over decades.
But her late husband's affiliation with Norfolk did not just centre around the festive season.
Prince Philip would end up staying a few months throughout each year on the estate - both at the main house and the secluded Wood Farm in Wolferton.
The 20,000-acre (8,000-ha) estate encompasses arable, livestock and fruit farms, as well as a country park.
It enabled him to indulge his passions for country pursuits, such as shooting and carriage-driving.
When he retired from public life in 2017, Prince Philip chose Wood Farm as his permanent home.
The Royal couple already stayed there in preference to opening up Sandringham House when it was just the two of them.
The duke retired from royal duties in May 2017 - a month before turning 96 - but had already stood down in 2011 as Cambridge University chancellor after a 35-year tenure.
In 1987, his sense of fun was caught on TV cameras at the university when the fully-robed duke put himself at pains to point out a spectator's lens cap was still on their camera.
At the time of his retirement, he was a patron, president or member of 780 organisations - and in East Anglia had links to the Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT), Norfolk Nelson Museum, Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, Harwich Yacht Club and Grafham Water Sailing Trust among many others.
In the 1976 annual report for NWT, the duke's wry sense of humour was noted when meeting the Otter Trust's co-founder - who had a bandaged hand.
"An otter, I presume," the duke quipped, when inquiring about how the injury had been inflicted.
He also competed in carriage driving at the Royal Norfolk Show and was patron of the Wherry Trust, which owns of the last of the traditional Norfolk Broads boats.
In 1991, the duke gave an interview on farming to BBC Look East from the Sandringham estate - on the eve of Peterborough's former East of England agricultural show, of which he was president.
In typical style, he said: "I get depressed by... this intensive breeding... some of the breeds have become grotesque."
His loyalty to the show and dogged sense of duty were also illustrated when he kept his long-standing engagement in 1999, despite it being on the same day as Prince Edward's wedding to the Countess of Wessex in Windsor.
In recent years, the duke's health declined and he has been treated in hospital for abdominal surgery, bladder infections and a blocked coronary artery - the latter of which caused him to miss the Christmas Day service at the estate's church in 2011.
But he even managed to put in an appearance at the church after suffering a heavy cold, which kept the Queen away, in 2016.
In January 2019, he gave up driving after being involved in a car crash near Sandringham, which left a passenger in another car with a broken wrist.
Then in the December of that year, the duke spent four nights in hospital as a "precautionary measure", but was discharged on Christmas Eve, in time to be driven to Sandringham and spend Christmas with the Queen.
But the coronavirus pandemic caused the Royal couple, who were vaccinated against the illness weeks later, to forgo the traditional Sandringham gathering, having spent the lockdown at Windsor Castle.
It was thought to be the first time the couple had not spent Christmas at their Sandringham home since the mid-1980s.
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A woman is raped in India every 13 minutes, according to the country's crime statistics but convictions are few and far between. Here is how an investigation by BBC Hindi's Sarvapriya Sangwan led to the first arrest in a two-year-old rape case. | Lalitha (name changed on request) is 16 years old but her life is unlike that of most girls her age. She has a one-and-half-year-old son. She became pregnant in 2016 after she was allegedly raped by a friend of her family.
Born in a poor Dalit (formerly untouchable) family in a village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, she is the second of two daughters. Her father, an illiterate daily wage labourer, is a widower.
The accused, a 55-year-old friend of her father, allegedly offered to take her to state capital Lucknow in early 2016 to apply for a government scheme that would help pay for her wedding. But he allegedly raped her at knife point during the trip.
She did not say anything to her father when she returned home. It was only months later, when her pregnancy became visible and women in the neighbourhood questioned her, that she told them what she says happened.
"I want him to be behind bars, that's all I want," Lalitha said.
Her father lodged a police complaint on 24 June 2016, about six months after the alleged rape. But the accused was only arrested two years later - on 20 June 2018 - a day after BBC Hindi published its investigation into the delays in the case.
Until the arrest, BBC Hindi found, no charges had been filed against the accused. The police said they had been awaiting the results of a DNA report. A police officer told me that 5,500 cases were pending in Lucknow alone because of delayed DNA reports.
'Painfully indifferent'
Rape still carries a huge stigma in India - many women still do not report it and those who do spend weeks, if not years, fighting their case. They say the police, the courts and the system as a whole are often painfully slow and indifferent.
Analysts said this is partly because the police force is overworked and underpaid, and the courts are stretched thin with a lengthy backlog of cases.
Victims like Lalitha, who are poor and illiterate, are worse off. Dalits are among the country's most downtrodden citizens because of an unforgiving Hindu caste hierarchy that condemns them to the bottom of the heap.
A recent Supreme Court ruling sought to weaken a law - the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act - designed to protect them. The court said the law had been "misused" in the past but critics said such stringent laws were required because discrimination against the community was entrenched in the system.
The law, for instance, mandates that Dalit victims of rape must receive financial compensation - a sum of 500,000 rupees ($7,340; £5,535) - immediately. Victims of gang rape are entitled to 800,000 rupees.
The victims receive the money from the state government after police have registered a case. This happens prior to the conviction of the accused.
But Lalitha and her father said they had not received any compensation and they did not know that they were entitled to it - they said no-one had informed them about it either.
It also emerged that Lalitha had not recorded a statement before a magistrate until 19 July, some 25 days after the police complaint was lodged. But, according to a Supreme Court order, the victim's statement should be recorded within 24 hours and the police must explain in writing to the magistrate the reasons for any delay.
'Money power'
I spoke to or met several government officials - from the local police to the district magistrate to the state head of the Dalit welfare commission - to find out why Lalitha's case had not progressed, why her statement had been recorded so late and why she had not been paid compensation.
I was sent from one office to another and while they all acknowledged the problem, no-one was able to give me a clear answer.
A police officer eventually told me, "We should have paid the compensation two years ago, but it doesn't matter, we'll send it tomorrow."
If Lalitha had received the money earlier, it could have helped pay for her delivery, the child's care or legal help.
There also appeared to be discrepancies in the police complaint regarding Lalitha's age. According to her father, she was 14 years old when she was allegedly raped. Her statement to the magistrate too mentioned her age as 14. But the police complaint said she had been 20 years old.
The police told me that a medical examination at the time had concluded she was 20. What about her father's claim that she was only 14? The medical report cannot lie, a police officer told me.
But documents examined by BBC Hindi suggested someone had tampered with the report - a charge the police denied.
If the victim is younger than 18, the accused would be charged under an additional law.
Lalitha's father said he had no faith in the police investigation. He alleged that the accused had influenced the investigation with "money and power at every step".
With help from the head of the village council, he said he had also asked several government institutions for help but no-one had reached out to him in the past two years.
Lalitha has since been married off to a relative who paid for her delivery and other medical expenses. Her son is cared for by her father.
A day after the story was published by BBC Hindi, the accused was arrested and the investigation has now been reopened.
The head of the village council told me that the magistrate had recorded a new statement and arranged for the compensation to be paid to Lalitha.
The accused is now awaiting trial.
Read the story on BBC Hindi
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Daniel Day-Lewis has announced he is to retire from acting. It's a surprise - and yet not all that surprising - for an actor who made history as the first man to win three best actor Oscars, but who is also famous for leaving years between roles. | By Genevieve HassanBBC News entertainment reporter
The acclaimed actor won his first Academy Award in 1990 for My Left Foot, his second in 2008 for There Will Be Blood and third for Lincoln in 2013.
That tally is bettered only by the inimitable Katharine Hepburn, who secured four best actress Oscars.
Having starred in just five films over the past 20 years, Day-Lewis is famous for being choosy with his roles and for the huge amount of preparation he puts into his characters, both on screen and off.
He notably confined himself to a wheelchair for his role in My Left Foot and became an apprentice butcher for his part in Gangs of New York.
He also made cast and crew refer to him as Mr Lincoln while filming the movie about the US president, and he refused to step out of the role off-set.
The actor told the BBC just before his third Oscar win that his immersive acting method made "complete sense" to him. "All you're trying to do is lay the groundwork, which might allow the imagination to free itself," he said.
"When the imagination frees itself, you have no goddamn idea what's going to happen. So it's not a constrictive or restrictive way of working - quite the opposite."
He added that he found it far easier to stay in character during the filming process, saying: "What would drain me much more, in my case, is jumping in and out of that world that we've gone to such an inordinate length to create for ourselves."
But this also isn't the first time Day-Lewis has stepped out of the limelight, usually leaving long stretches of years between roles.
He appeared to quit the business at the end of the 1990s and reportedly worked as a cobbler until Martin Scorsese convinced him to return to acting in Gangs of New York - so he may still be tempted back in the future.
So what was the secret of his success? A selection of film experts give their opinion:
Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph
"His unique selling point, as far as the hype around his films is concerned, is the enormous amount of preparation he puts into every role and his commitment to staying in that role when filming begins.
"There's a mystique around his craftsmanship - there are anecdotes of him being addressed as Mr President on the set of Lincoln, and he got an apprenticeship in butchery after he was cast as a butcher in Gangs of New York.
"But what matters is how that intensity and preparation translates onto the big screen. He is a presence that's totally cinematic and the sheer size of his character is impressive. When you think of There Will Be Blood, there was an enormous, empty landscape, but he filled it with his personality.
"He did something similar with Lincoln - in preparing and inhabiting it, he's not just giving a performance as president, he embodies Lincoln and pushes through the iconic quality of the role."
"The seriousness in which he takes his profession is beyond imagining - we know how dedicated he is. He's the perfect mix of English classical acting and American method acting, he merges the two perfectly.
"His dilemma is - how do you become somebody who observes nature when you're as famous as he is? He's notorious for finding reasons not to do films and combs every project for reasons not to do it.
"He has an extraordinary ability to mimic people and his chameleon ability is staggering. There's an extreme contrast between his role in There Will Be Blood and the role in Lincoln - you couldn't get two more different characters.
"There are lengthy gaps in between his films, so when you see him, you're not bored because you've not seen him for a while.
"He's got a perfect 'mid-Atlanticness', which makes it easy for him to be trans-Atlantic than someone like Hugh Grant, who's very much English."
"The choice of who he works with is clearly a significant factor when it comes to recognition that those roles get.
"He's very discerning - for Lincoln, it was Steven Spielberg trying to convince him as he had turned it down. So just because Spielberg comes knocking, it doesn't mean he'll take the role. It has to be pretty special.
"As a result, after six months of research and method work, he delivers the goods. A role like Lincoln is the kind Oscar voters respond to because they're a bit older and this kind of prestige project is something that speaks to them.
"He takes it to a level that others aren't prepared to do, where it's a much larger-than-life performance that would be corny if done by lesser actors. But he brings a truth to these roles through that method and that makes them convincing and worthy of awards.
"In terms of other roles, [2009 film] Nine was a rare misfire. I think that's a case of him pushing himself in a different direction to bring a certain prestige to a musical role that hadn't been attempted before and it's association with a great film-maker like Fellini. But he's got a pretty strong hit rate."
"He can play heroic characters. Even when he was starring in My Beautiful Laundrette, he turned it into a heroic character and that's not a very English quality.
"Dan was always known as being top of the 'crumpet list' - he was very good looking and very sexy. He was also a good actor, but he was a dazzling fellow.
"If you ask me to analyse what it is about him, about his character, I have no idea. We didn't think 'this bloke is about to become a huge star', just as we didn't think this film was going to be successful and change our lives. He was just Dan."
A version of this story was first published on 25 February 2013.
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The first time "Jenny" was paid for sex, she was 18. | By Steffan PowellNewsbeat reporter
It was in a stranger's car, in a lay-by.
Around a year later, as a university student, she decided to "take it seriously" and signed up for an escort website.
Now 22 years old, Jenny still chooses to earn a living by having sex with strangers, but she says she is "always on her guard" whenever she is with a client.
Jenny agreed to tell her story of life as a student sex worker if we didn't use her real name.
The biggest ever study looking into the issue has been published.
One in 20 students who took part said they had worked in the sex industry.
That includes things like glamour modelling and web-cam modelling, stripping and prostitution.
"I don't think I had any positive influences that drove me to do it," Jenny told us.
"I just thought, I've got nothing to lose. If I find it degrading I won't do it, but I didn't and yeah I got a taste of the good life.
"My rent was so expensive and I didn't want to ask my parents for money."
The student escort
Sex to pay the rent
1 in 4
Students working in the sex industry don't feel safe
54% Of student sex workers say they do it to pay basic living costs
22% Of students have considered sex work, according to the research
Although Jenny calls it the "good life", she said she was aware of the risks of having sex with strangers.
"I'm not scared of men [but] I don't trust them. I'm always on guard."
Jenny admits to being "terrified" that first time, and feeling "unsafe" at times since then, but she adds "I've never feared for my life."
"They've (clients) got feedback on the site I use from other escorts. Some of them don't and in that case I will not see them.
"Sometimes they just feel a bit dodgy and I'll keep my bag close to me and get out as soon as I can.
"The majority of the time it's completely safe, it's fine." she says.
"A lot of men are physically bigger and stronger than me. I'm not going to assume they're going to hold me down and force me to do things I don't want.
"I never feel like they're going to rape me or anything."
Prostitution laws in the UK are complicated. It is legal for two adults to agree to swap money for sex, but things like running a brothel, advertising sex services or encouraging another person to sell sex are illegal.
Jenny says she has lost count of the number of men she's slept with. It could be anywhere "between 300 and 1,000".
She says she knows of the health risks that come with sleeping with so many people.
"I get tested every three months, I never have unprotected sex with them [the clients], I get offers but it's not worth it."
Listen to Jenny's story on SoundCloud
Jenny thinks that, like it was for her, money is the motivating factor for most students who work in the sex industry.
"Sex is becoming more accepted by society.
"You can earn big amount of money quick. I think some girls just see it as an easy option."
Help on sexual health and relationships is available at on at BBC Advice
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A woman has been shot in the shoulder in her Solihull home. | The victim is in a "serious condition" following the incident on Dovehouse Lane, Olton, near the Jaguar Land Rover factory, at about 08:50 GMT.
West Midlands Police said they are treating the attack as an "isolated incident".
Officers said no arrests have been made and are appealing for information. Forensic teams are carrying out investigations.
The BBC understands there was one gunman involved who is not connected to the family.
The victim was shot twice in the shoulder after the gunman forced his way into the semi-detached property.
Neighbour Nick Boneham said the woman was "covered in blood" when she knocked on his door shouting for help.
He told the BBC: "She was bleeding. I took her into the lounge. She (said) 'help me, help me, help me.'
"I was caught out a little bit. I'm not use to this sort of thing."
Mr Boneham said he compressed the wound as he tried to find out what had happened.
Armed police flooded the scene following reports of the shooting. Officers said their "main priority is the safety and security of the public."
"Specialist officers are in the area and local schools have been advised accordingly," a spokesman said.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "We sent two ambulances and a paramedic officer. One patient, a woman, was treated and conveyed to hospital."
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Throughout the confusion of Donald Trump's campaign and the chaotic events of his early days in the White House, one controversy has clung to the Trump team like glue: Russia. | US intelligence agencies have concluded Moscow tried to sway the presidential election in favour of Mr Trump.
It is alleged that Russian hackers stole information linked to the campaign of his rival Hillary Clinton and passed it to Wikileaks so it could be released to undermine her.
Congressional committees were set up to investigate the matter and, in March, then-FBI director James Comey confirmed the bureau had its own inquiry.
President Trump sacked Mr Comey on 9 May, citing his reason as "this Russia thing", in a move that shocked Washington and fuelled claims of a cover-up.
However, it did not halt the investigation. On 18 May, the department of justice appointed ex-FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to look into the matter.
Mr Mueller has not given any details of his investigation but US media have reported he is investigating Mr Trump for possible obstruction of justice, both in the firing of Mr Comey and whether Mr Trump tried to end an inquiry into sacked national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Mr Flynn resigned in February after failing to reveal the extent of his contacts with Sergei Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to Washington. In December, he pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his meetings with Mr Kislyak.
President Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia, calling the allegations a "witch hunt".
Early warning signs
It was back in May 2016 that the first reports emerged of hackers targeting the Democratic Party. Over the next two months, the reports suggested US intelligence agencies had traced the breaches back to Russian hackers.
In July, on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, Wikileaks published 20,000 internal emails stolen by the hackers. US intelligence officials said they believed with "high confidence" that Russia was behind the operation, but the Trump campaign publicly refused to accept the findings.
Instead, at a press conference, Mr Trump caused outrage by inviting Russian hackers to target Hillary Clinton's controversial personal email server, saying: "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing".
The first casualty
About the same time the hacking scandal was beginning to unfold, Mr Trump's then campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was accused of accepting millions of dollars in cash for representing Russian interests in Ukraine and US, including dealings with an oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While Mr Manafort was running the campaign, the Republican Party changed the language in its manifesto regarding the conflict in Ukraine, removing anti-Russian sentiment, allegedly at the behest of two Trump campaign representatives.
Subsequently, further allegations were made in Ukraine about secret funds said to have been paid to Mr Manafort, and it has also been claimed that he secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to assist President Putin's political ends.
Mr Manafort has denied both allegations. He was found guilty in August 2018 of eight counts of financial fraud and tax evasion crimes.
In September 2018, he pleaded guilty to two remaining charges - and agreed to co-operate with the special counsel's investigation in exchange for a reduced jail sentence.
At odds with the intelligence
In October, the US intelligence community released a unanimous statement formally accusing Russia of being behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Mr Trump continued to argue against the finding, claiming in a presidential debate that it "could be Russia, but it could also be China, it could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds".
The same day that the intelligence agencies released their findings, the explosive "Access Hollywood" recording emerged of Mr Trump's obscene remarks about women in 2005. An hour later, Wikileaks began dumping thousands more leaked Clinton emails.
Mr Trump continued to refuse to acknowledge the consensus that Russia was behind the hack.
'I always knew Putin was smart!'
In December, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security published a report of the US intelligence findings linking Russia to the hack.
In response, President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats and levied new sanctions on Russia. The world awaited Mr Putin's response but he chose not retaliate. Mr Trump, by then the president-elect, sided with the Russian president, tweeting: "Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart!"
Mr Putin's decision not to respond in kind struck many as a canny PR move, but reportedly set off suspicions among US intelligence officials that Russia was confident the sanctions would not last.
The same month, Mr Trump picked Rex Tillerson as his nominee for secretary of state, arguably the most important job in the cabinet. The biggest hurdle for Mr Tillerson's confirmation? Close ties to Mr Putin.
As CEO of the ExxonMobil oil company, Mr Tillerson cultivated a close personal relationship with the Russian leader, leading many to speculate on whether he was fit to serve as America's most senior diplomat.
Mr Tillerson was sworn in as secretary of state on 2 February.
The 'compromising claims' dossier
In January, Buzzfeed published a dossier compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence official and Russia expert, which alleged that Moscow had compromising material on the then-president-elect, making him liable to blackmail.
Among the various memos in the dossier was an allegation that Mr Trump had been recorded by Russian security services consorting with prostitutes at a Moscow hotel.
Mr Trump dismissed the claims as fake news.
CNN revealed that President Obama and President-elect Trump had been briefed on the existence of the dossier by intelligence officials, and Buzzfeed went one further, publishing the entire thing.
The evidence against Flynn...
In February, the most concrete and damaging Russia scandal finally surfaced, months after suspicions were raised among intelligence officials.
US media reported that Mr Flynn had discussed the potential lifting of Mr Obama's Russia sanctions with the Russian ambassador, Sergei Kislyak, before Mr Trump took the reins of government.
It is illegal for private citizens to conduct US diplomacy.
He resigned as Mr Trump's national security adviser after 23 days on the job, saying he had "inadvertently briefed the vice-president-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador" late last year.
Since leaving the White House, the Pentagon has launched an investigation into whether he failed to disclose payments from Russian and Turkish lobbyists that he was given for speeches and consulting work.
... and Sessions
Attorney General Jeff Sessions was being accused of lying at his confirmation hearing when he said he had had "no communications with the Russians" during the election campaign.
It later emerged that he too had met Mr Kislyak - at a private meeting in September and as part of a group of ambassadors in July last year.
The Alabama senator was one of the most prominent players in Mr Trump's bid to take the White House.
But he says his meetings with Mr Kislyak were related to his role as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and had nothing to do with the election campaign.
But Mr Sessions recused himself from the FBI investigation into the Russian hacking claims, an investigation he is overseeing.
FBI investigation confirmed... and Comey fired
Two months into the Trump presidency, Mr Comey confirmed at a rare open hearing of the House Intelligence Committee that the agency was investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
It is an "ongoing" investigation that began in July 2016, he said.
But on 9 May, Mr Comey was fired.
The White House initially said it was over his handling of the inquiry into Hillary Clinton's emails. But Mr Trump later said "this Russia thing" was a factor.
On 10 May, Mr Trump met the Russian ambassador and foreign minister in the Oval Office.
He told them firing Mr Comey had eased "great pressure", the New York Times reported.
He also reportedly shared with them highly-sensitive "codeword" material relating to terrorism and airline safety, sending more shockwaves through Washington.
Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel a week later.
Comey testimony
In his much anticipated testimony before a Senate panel, Mr Comey said that Mr Trump had asked him to pledge his loyalty, confirming previous media reports about a January meeting between the pair.
"I need loyalty, I expect loyalty," Mr Trump said, according to Mr Comey's testimony.
Mr Comey said: "I didn't move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence."
Mr Comey also said Mr Trump had asked him to drop the investigation into Mr Flynn. "[Trump] said: 'I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.' I replied only that 'he is a good guy.'"
But Mr Comey did confirm the president's account that he had told Mr Trump the FBI was not investigating him personally.
He said he had kept written memos on his meetings and phone calls with the president, fearing Mr Trump might lie.
Trump's response?
He denied asking for Mr Comey's loyalty, although he added: "I don't think it would be a bad question to ask."
The White House also denied that Mr Trump had asked for the Flynn inquiry to be dropped.
Mr Trump has also questioned the neutrality of Robert Mueller, saying the special counsel's friendship with Mr Comey is "bothersome".
He has criticised the FBI on numerous occasions and, in one tweet, said the organisation's reputation was "in tatters".
Donald Trump Jr
On 9 July came news of what was thought to be the first confirmed private meeting between a Russian national and members of President Trump's inner circle.
The president's son, Donald Trump Jr, admitted meeting Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower after being told that she had damaging material on Hillary Clinton.
But he insisted the lawyer had provided "no meaningful information" in a meeting that also included the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Mr Manafort.
Mr Trump Jr told the House Intelligence committee he discussed the Trump Tower meeting with his father once it became public in a New York Times report earlier this year, but he refused to provide details of their conversation, citing attorney-client privilege.
Social media's role
September saw Facebook reveal it had discovered that politically charged advertising had been targeted at American voters during the 2016 campaign. The social network said it believed this had been paid for by Russians with links to the Kremlin.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said his company would share 3,000 Russia-linked political adverts with US investigators.
The adverts did not support a specific candidate, Facebook said, but instead posted inflammatory information on hot topics such as immigration.
Rival network Twitter said it had shut down about 200 accounts linked to a Russian misinformation campaign.
President Trump responded to Facebook's revelations by saying the site had always been against him.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg rejected his comments, saying his company did not take sides.
First charges filed
In October 2017, Mr Manafort, who quit as Mr Trump's campaign chairman last August, was charged with conspiring to defraud the US in his dealings with Ukraine.
The good news for Mr Trump was that these charges - of which he was later convicted - were not directly linked to the Russia investigation.
But the bad news is that Mr Manafort later agreed to co-operate with prosecutors in exchange for a reduced prison sentence.
Another of his advisers, George Papadopoulos, admitted making false statements to FBI agents about his dealings with an unnamed overseas academic who allegedly informed him that the Russians possessed "dirt" on Hillary Clinton.
The charges against Mr Papadopoulos were the first to be brought by Robert Mueller as part of the Russia investigation.
Flynn indicted
In December, Michael Flynn admitted making false statements to the FBI about meetings with the Russian ambassador, making him the most senior member of the administration to be indicted.
He also revealed he was co-operating with Mr Mueller's inquiry.
A statement made by Mr Flynn to prosecutors appeared to implicate a more senior, though unnamed, Trump team official - indicating the direction in which Mr Mueller's investigation may be heading.
Numerous US media outlets said the senior official now under the spotlight is Jared Kushner - Mr Trump's adviser and son-in-law.
Soon after Mr Flynn was charged, the president appeared to suggest that he had known Mr Flynn had lied about meetings with the Russian ambassador, contradicting his own account from the time - and prompting accusations that he obstructed justice.
A White House lawyer later said he had written the tweet and that the controversial line had actually been an error.
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Football coach Antoin Akpom had been held up as a role model in his community.
But in September last year, the 20-year-old father was killed by a single stab wound in his back during a confrontation in Leicester. | During a trial at Stafford Crown Court it was alleged Mr Akpom had been stabbed over a "bad feeling" that had arisen a year earlier when he stepped in to help someone who was being bullied.
At the end of a trial, the judge said he was satisfied it was gang-related but Mr Akpom's family deny he ever had any involvement in gangs.
Hussain Hussain, 19, was found guilty of murder and jailed for life. The judge said he must serve a minimum of 15 years.
But the jury was discharged after it failed to reach a decision on his co-accused Abdul Hakim, 19 of Wood Hill, Leicester - he may face a retrial.
Leicester very soon became a city in mourning - a memorial concert raised money for Mr Akpom's funeral, which was attended by 1,000 people.
The school where he taught has also set up a sporting excellence award in his memory.
Mr Akpom's mother, Cheryl Armatrading, said she wanted her son to be remembered for the impact he had on people.
"He said he had a calling to do and he fulfilled that because he changed other people's lives and that's what he was all about," she said.
"I just want to remember the impact that he had on his community. How he put himself out to help others to enhance, develop and grow, and live amongst each other.
"The devastation that this one stabbing has caused is so great. It has 'turmoiled' the whole city from that one action.
"It's not right that innocent people should be killed in this way, it's not right.
"But the community really pulled together. People wanted to stand up against the violence and I was really grateful for all the support we received."
'Memory lives on'
Mr Akpom, who taught sports at Whitehall Primary School, was engaged to his childhood sweetheart, Amber, the mother of his one-year-old son Aquil.
He also volunteered as a youth team coach for Leicester Nirvana FC and had set up a sports coaching business with his best friend Joe French, with the motto "changing children's lives through sport".
Mr French, who was with Mr Akpom on the night he died, said his friend had an "overwhelming presence" over people.
"He had done more in his life than I'm sure a lot of grown men had done in their 50s," he added.
"He brought life to everyone around him and made such an impact on people's hearts. Not many people can do that but Antoin for sure did.
"His memory will always live on and I hope people will recognise Antoin for the good he did.
"A light has been taken out of our life."
Ms Armatrading said her family had been "destroyed" by her youngest child's death. She has built a shrine in her house where she lights candles each day and talks to her son.
"What has happened was a devastating crime and a good person was taken away from us," she said.
"I miss his voice, his laugh, his smile. He was just an amazing person.
"I'm sad, but also happy that he left a legacy behind. He had a life that others would want to follow and I'm really proud of him."
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Services on a cable car spanning the River Thames in east London were stopped due to bad weather conditions. | Transport for London (TfL) said it had to halt services on the Emirates Air Line at 15:40 BST for 20 minutes.
A spokeswoman said following a storm warning all passengers were asked to wait until the weather improved.
The cable car, which can carry up to 2,500 people an hour, links two Olympic venues - the O2 Arena in Greenwich and the ExCel exhibition centre.
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Close friends and family of Victoria Wood have spoken of their shock at finding out the comedian was suffering from cancer. Her brother said when it came to her final illness she was "determined" not to let the news leak out - even to relatives and loved ones. So why do some people choose to keep quiet about their battle? | By Emma AtkinsonBBC News
With more than 960 cases diagnosed in the UK every day, cancer has become a word that's hard to avoid.
Fun runs, bake sales and bucket lists are dedicated to publicly fighting the disease, sending the message that you don't have to suffer alone.
But for each person given the news, the emotional impact can be very hard to deal with and many decide it's not something they want to share.
Helen Midgley, who was 37 when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2008, recalls: "As soon as the doctor told me, my instinct to look after everybody else took over," she said. "My husband was sat next to me tearing up and I just started to rub his hand to console him, even though it was me getting the diagnosis."
Helen says she decided not to tell her parents or her 13-year-old twins because she did not want to burden or upset them with the news.
"My mum was awaiting surgery herself and I just wanted to carry on as normal for her sake. It was the same with my children. I didn't want to worry them.
"There was also this feeling that if people knew they would be just walking around on eggshells, not knowing how to talk to me like normal and the cancer just taking over everything. Whether you tell people or not is the only control you have and you just want to claim some of that back."
Helen's story is not unusual. According to research from Macmillan Cancer Support almost half of people with cancer (46%) did not tell their close friends when they found out they had cancer and one in 10 (11%) people who finished treatment more than 10 years ago still have not told their wider circle of friends.
John Newlands, a cancer information nurse specialist at the charity, says the sense of control is one of the main reasons people keep their diagnosis to themselves.
"People are still processing the information. They don't want to lose emotional control in front of family and friends as they worry what impact that will have on their position. This is typically more common in men trying to be the strong silent type but many [women] have the same reaction."
He says other common concerns are the fear of losing a job, or maintaining contact with children from a former relationship.
Those battling a long-term illness also often describe feeling tired of giving constant explanations and again the fear of being treated differently creeps in.
'Not my identity'
Rajee Nedunchezhian, was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia, a type of blood cancer, when she was 11.
She is now 32 but is still not in remission and says: "Doctors often say I'm like a medical miracle. I've had years of different treatments and trial medications but finding a bone marrow donor has been extremely difficult.
"But I don't talk about it much and take a long time before I tell anyone. Those who have known me a long time know about it, but I really don't want it to become a part of my identity.
"People associate you with an illness and then think all of your actions are due to that illness. If you get angry or upset it's all because of the cancer when really it might be nothing to do with that."
The Macmillan charity says they are not there to tell patients who they should and shouldn't inform about their illness but do highlight the drawbacks of not telling anyone.
John says: "When you're in this situation you are often going to need some emotional and also practical support. It can be especially hard for partners who have been told not to tell anyone, as they've got no-one to share their feelings with."
For Keith Cass talking to people about his cancer has been some of the best medicine - but not always to those closest to him. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer 10 years ago.
"I felt ashamed at first," he said. "When I thought about telling my children I worried whether it was something I had done wrong. I was supposed to be the head of the house and someone they looked up to and suddenly I had to face something very difficult.
"Still now 10 years on I worry about worrying them and don't tell them all the details of what is going on but I'm a big advocate of support groups which is why I became so involved with prostate cancer awareness and started the Red Sock Campaign to help others.
"People come to us because it often helps to speak to someone who is outside their circle but knows what it's like. Having cancer is a rollercoaster and no-one should have to deal with it alone."
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The jury at the inquest into the death of Mark Duggan has concluded by a majority of eight to two that he was lawfully killed by police. The inquest raised important questions about the way the police carry out firearms operations on the streets of Britain. | By Matt ProdgerHome affairs correspondent, BBC News
Mark Duggan may have been a gangster in possession of a gun, but that alone would not have made his killing by police lawful.
The law and police guidelines say that an officer can only shoot someone if absolutely necessary, and they honestly believe that person was an imminent threat.
Police witnesses say Mr Duggan was such a threat when they killed him. The officer who shot him, V53, and another officer, W70, standing alongside the first, said that when Mr Duggan got out of the cab he reached toward the waistband of his trousers and pulled out a gun.
A third officer standing behind Mr Duggan said he shouted "he's reaching, he's reaching". After V53 fired a first time, he said he "reassessed", Mr Duggan still had the gun, and he shot him again.
However, the inquest had other evidence to consider. The account above was given by police officers. The inquest heard from only one civilian witness to the shooting itself and he gave a very different account.
"Witness B" said he was watching through the open window of a ninth floor flat on the other side of the road. He described what he saw as "an execution".
Gun disappeared
Mr Duggan was not holding a gun, he said, but a mobile phone. He said Mr Duggan tried at first to run away, but was "trapped", appeared "baffled" and was holding his arms up as if to surrender when he was shot by an officer within five to seven steps of him. But Witness B's evidence was not enough to convince the jury.
The inquest was shown police briefings which said Mr Duggan was a senior member of a gang called Tottenham Man Dem, he had previously been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and possession of guns, and on the day that he was shot he was being followed by police.
They believed he had collected a gun from another man, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, and the inquest was told that the aim of the operation was to take that gun off the streets.
As soon as Mr Duggan was shot by police the gun apparently disappeared. One officer at the scene said that even as he fell to the ground, and the officer grabbed his arms, the gun was nowhere to be seen.
Nobody said they saw him throw it, either before or after. Officers said they later found the gun, wrapped in a black sock, some 20ft (6m) away on the other side of some railings.
An independent pathologist said that because of Mr Duggan's injuries it was "very unlikely" - but not impossible - that he would have been able to throw the gun such a distance after he had been shot.
During his summing up, the coroner told the jury the conviction of Hutchinson-Foster for supplying the gun was "not determinative" of Mr Duggan having a gun in the minicab, but it was "very strong evidence".
Lawyers for the Duggan family suggested police had "planted" the gun on the grass after the shooting. That was vehemently denied by the police.
In their findings, the inquest jury decided that the police were right to choose the location they used for the "hard stop" - and they decided by a majority of nine to one that Mark Duggan had thrown the gun way from his minicab before he faced police. They concluded by a majority of eight to two that Duggan was lawfully killed.
Crime scene
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was also scrutinised during the inquest. Because of a lack of resources, the IPCC lead investigator - a former police officer of 30 years' experience - explained that the organisation was reliant on police officers to secure the crime scene.
He admitted he had not known "for some days" that the gun was found 20ft from the shooting and had not been present when the police officers sat in a room together to compose their witness statements.
In the hours that followed the shooting the IPCC was also responsible for making public the most incendiary claim of all - an entirely incorrect suggestion that Mr Duggan had himself fired at police officers.
The IPCC has yet to publish its long-awaited report into the Duggan shooting, but has apologised to his family.
By the time relatives and friends of Mr Duggan arrived to protest at Tottenham police station 48 hours after the shooting, they were angry and suspicious.
They had not been properly notified of Mr Duggan's killing, and had heard conflicting accounts of what had happened. The riots began that night.
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After a year in Australia, I've never actually seen anyone wearing a burka, the traditional Afghan outfit which covers a woman head to toe, with a small meshed window for the eyes to peer out of. | Jon DonnisonSydney correspondent
So news earlier this month that parliament was introducing what the media branded a "burka ban" was something of a surprise.
Three weeks ago amid a host of new legislation to tackle Islamic extremism, the Parliamentary Speaker Bronwyn Bishop announced new rules regarding "facial coverings".
It came shortly after the biggest anti-terror raids in the country's history and amid mounting concerns about support for the group Islamic State (IS) within Australia.
Under the new rules anyone entering parliament with their face covered would no longer be able to sit in the open public gallery. Instead they would be segregated and put in an "enclosed area".
Although the wording of the rules meant that somebody dressed as Batman or Robin might find themselves in isolation, the restrictions were widely interpreted to be aimed at Muslim women.
In fact, the rules were most likely to affect women who wear the niqab, a veil that covers the face with a slit for the eyes. But "burka ban" suited alliteration-loving headline writers.
Some senators went further and said the government should ban the b-word (actually she meant niqab) altogether.
Many Muslims complained they were being persecuted and that the government was whipping up anti Islamic sentiment. They warned of a backlash.
There have been reports of Muslims being attacked in the street and of mosques being vandalised. One Egyptian friend of mine had his hand broken when he was assaulted in central Sydney by a man wielding a chair, saying he wanted to "kill all Muslims".
Australia's Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson said that the "need for separate treatment in the Federal Parliament for people who wear face covering is completely unjustified and unnecessary".
So on Monday, Bronwyn Bishop performed a swift U-turn, announcing the new rules would be scrapped.
Instead anyone with their face covered will have to briefly lift the covering as they pass through security at parliament house, something which is standard practice at airports.
Ms Bishop now says the new rules had been introduced because of security advice that Muslims were planning a protest within parliament. But she refused to go into details about where that security advice had come from. The protest never materialised.
The policy reversal apparently came after Prime Minister Tony Abbott suggested "common sense should prevail". It appears Mr Abbott was never consulted about the new rules in the first place.
The fact that everyone who enters Parliament House has to pass through a body scanner anyway might be one element of common sense he was referring to.
Not to mention Mr Abbott has said he's never actually seen anyone trying to enter parliament wearing a niqab, let alone a burka.
Without doubt it has not been the Australian parliament's finest hour. Parliamentary rules seem to have been made up without any real consultation.
And in the absence of me actually seeing anyone wearing a burka in Australia, here is a wonderful gallery of photos from Fabian Muir - Blue Burka in a Sunburnt Country.
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The deaths of two elderly women whose bodies were found at a property in Leeds are being treated as "unexplained", police have said. | The women, aged 78 and 81, were found inside the property, on Stonegate Road at Moortown, on 28 February.
It followed a call from a neighbour to police raising concerns about the occupants of the address.
Inquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances of their deaths, according to West Yorkshire Police.
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Hundreds of relatives of mostly Tamil civilians who have been abducted gathered in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, to demand the authorities investigate their disappearance. | The director of Dissapearance Committee told BBC Sandehaya that the Committee has received information of over fifty cases of disappearance in recent weeks.
“The protesters urged President Mahinda Rajapaksa to immediate attention to these abductions while security is tightened in Colombo,” KVJ Dayanan said.
The government appointed a retired judge, Mahanama Thilakaratne, in September to investigate the abductions, but so far no report has been submitted.
Last month, the Asian Human Rights Commission accused the government of abducting suspected rebels.
The government has denied any involvement.
The Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission said at least four hundred Tamil youths have gone missing from the northern Jaffna peninsula since December.
The Tamil Tigers have also been accused of abducting civilians by human rights groups.
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A proposed hospital merger in Surrey has been halted. | An NHS London board meeting agreed that the acquisition of Epsom Hospital by Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust should be stopped.
A statement said the project had received a high level of support but the parties involved had been unable to develop "a financially viable plan".
Urgent discussions would now take place to determine whether a way forward could be found, it said.
Epsom Hospital is currently part of Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust, but the partnership is due to end on 1 April 2013.
Ruth Carnall, chief executive of NHS London, said: "NHS London has agreed today with the recommendation from the Transaction Board that the plan to de-merge Epsom Hospital from St Helier and for Epsom Hospital to then join with Ashford and St Peter's should not proceed at this time.
"I am disappointed that this decision has had to be taken and want to acknowledge the great effort that has been undertaken to get to this stage."
Matthew Hopkins, chief executive of Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, added that the decision to halt the transaction "is not based on the ability of our staff, nor the quality of the services we provide".
"We have to protect the interests of our patients and believe that this is the right decision at this point."
Andrew Liles, chief executive of Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We have put a lot of time and effort into developing these plans and are very disappointed that our collective hard work has not led to us being able to bring the three hospitals together to create a new foundation trust in Surrey."
The Surrey Link patients' association said it was also dismayed the acquisition would not be going ahead, and that it was concerned about what it would mean for the future of services provided by Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust.
"We will be working with Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust, NHS Surrey and the Strategic Health Authority to ensure existing services remain," it said.
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Beto O'Rourke and Will Hurd are Texas congressmen on opposite sides of the political divide who formed an unusual friendship a year ago during a road trip that was broadcast to millions. But with looming elections threatening them both, American voters might show they want confrontation over co-operation. | Anthony ZurcherNorth America reporter@awzurcheron Twitter
It was the most unexpected of road trips, like a low-budget, made-for-cable buddy film. Democrat O'Rourke and Republican Hurd, both US congressmen representing west Texas districts, were stuck in their home state due to an East Coast snowstorm. It was Monday, and they had to be in Washington for scheduled votes by Wednesday.
No flights? No problem. The two piled into a rented Chevy Impala and made the 30-hour drive, stopping for a few hours in Tennessee for a visit to Graceland and a quick nap.
"That was a really fun, honest, real thing because nobody planned it," O'Rourke says with a laugh, looking back on the year anniversary of that 2017 odyssey. "Nobody cooked it up. It was just, hey, Will, both of our flights got snowed in, how about we drive across the country? And Will called my bluff."
The two broadcast the whole thing on social media, taking questions, singing songs and sharing snacks along the way. The trip became a viral sensation, and by the end of it the two congressmen pledged that they had learned important lessons about what's wrong with US politics and how they could help make it right.
"Here was my takeaway from this, and it's still valuable to this day," Hurd tells me. "Way more unites us than divides us. The American people want to see us be able to disagree without being disagreeable."
O'Rourke notes that the best memories of the trip weren't necessarily when the two spoke about politics - trade, Russia, healthcare or immigration - it was the personal moments. They swapped stories about their first girlfriends and their taste in music; how they learned to drive and what kind of food they liked.
"It's the kind of civil conversations that are so unusual today between Democrats and Republicans because they just aren't happening," O'Rourke says. "And I think that's what we all in this country are missing. Just the dignity and the decency and the courtesy of hearing each other out and being civil to one another."
Both congressmen have incorporated this language of bipartisanship and togetherness into their politics and are using it in their 2018 political campaigns. It's a bit of an irony, because politics - at least the way it works in Texas, the way the game is played throughout the US - is trying to tear them apart.
Hurd faces an uphill fight to win re-election in a Texas congressional district that increasingly tilts to the left. Two years ago, he won there by only 1.3%, while Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by four points. It tops the list of pick-up targets for Democrats hoping to win the 23 additional seats necessary to take control of the US House of Representatives.
O'Rourke, meanwhile, has higher ambitions. He is the Democratic nominee to run against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz for one of Texas' two US Senate seats. He faces even longer odds than Hurd, as no Democrat has won a statewide race in conservative Texas in more than two decades.
It's hard to envision a scenario where Hurd and O'Rourke both head back to Congress in January. Based on special election results, generic congressional ballot polls and historical trends, Democrats are in for a successful mid-term election. A wave is on the horizon - and O'Rourke and Hurd sit on either end of it.
If it's a cataclysmic electoral event, O'Rourke could beat Cruz and be swept into the Senate. In such a case, Hurd would almost certainly go down to defeat. If November is an electoral ripple instead of a tide, and Hurd prevails, it's next to impossible to envision an outcome where O'Rourke also winds up on top.
One scenario ends with Republicans maintaining a hold on Congress and two more years of unified party reign under President Donald Trump. The other could lead to Democrats in power in the House and the Senate, and a chastened president facing new scrutiny from resurgent political opponents.
This is a battle that will play out in contests across the US, but the struggle in Texas - the struggles of Beto O'Rourke and Will Hurd - illustrate the larger conflict.
'Beers with Beto'
It's a scorching mid-March afternoon in Austin, Texas, and O'Rourke is giving a speech and answering audience questions at Scholz Garten, a long-time watering hole for politicians and dealmakers near the state capitol building.
The 45-year-old congressman stands on stage, his sleeves rolled up and sweat beading on his forehead, as he switches seamlessly between English and Spanish.
The crowd chants "Beto! Beto!" - the Hispanic diminutive for Robert, O'Rourke's given first name, that he has gone by since he was a child.
Just a few days earlier the descendent of Irish immigrants who grew up in the US-Mexico border-town melange of El Paso easily won his primary for the Democratic Senate nomination. Already his Republican opponent, Cruz, has launched a blistering attack against him, accusing him of being a big-government socialist who wants open borders, higher taxes and gun confiscation.
On stage at Scholz, however, O'Rourke doesn't even mention his opponent. Instead, there's more talk about bringing the state together.
"Wherever you are, you're one of us," he says after rattling off a list of towns in Texas, large and small. "All 28 million of us. Human beings, Americans, Texans before we're Republicans before we're Democrats before we're independents. We're going to do this together."
It's not a bad rhetorical twist, given the strength of the Republican Party in the state. If O'Rourke is going to win, he'll have to do one of two things - either bring people to the polls who have never voted before or convince disaffected Republicans to give him a try. O'Rourke is trying a little of both.
The candidate also takes some shots at Trump who, thanks to his immigration and anti-trade stances, isn't particularly popular in the state.
More than that, however, O'Rourke is running as a reform candidate. He has turned down all corporate political action committee (PAC) donations, eschewed pollsters and high-paid campaign consultants, and is relying on small donations to finance his bid in a state with some of the largest media markets in the US.
More from Anthony:
O'Rourke rallies and "town hall" forums are rollicking affairs. There's often music - the Scholz warm-up band was Tejano rocker Little Joe and La Familia - and adult libations. Some events are billed as "beers with Beto", where attendees receive a drink ticket in exchange for a small donation to the campaign.
O'Rourke himself is a former punk rocker who cut a few albums and toured the US as the bass guitarist in the band Foss. He's still got a bit of that rocker edge, sprinkling some choice obscenities into his speeches and even media interviews.
He's pledged to campaign in every one of the 254 counties in the largest state in the contiguous US - roughly the size of Germany - and has visited 226 so far. Liberal Austin is friendly territory, but O'Rourke says his campaign message is the same no matter the audience. The important thing, he says, is showing up and listening.
"He's going to areas that are deeply, deeply Republican and trying to talk and relate to people," says Taylor Preston, a graphics designer who attended the O'Rourke rally. "He might not sway them to vote for him, but he's listening to them and he hears them - and that's the way that politics should be. Ted Cruz is not coming to Austin to listen to us or hear us."
O'Rourke's opposite
O'Rourke is, in many ways, a mirror image of his Republican opponent Cruz - the son of a Cuban immigrant who opted for an Anglicised name, Ted, instead of his given one, Rafael. Where O'Rourke has emotion, the Princeton- and Harvard-educated Cruz has the methodical manner of an Ivy League corporate lawyer.
Where O'Rourke is socially liberal (he supports legalised marijuana, gay marriage and abortion rights), Cruz campaigns as an evangelical conservative. Where O'Rourke has a natural charisma, Cruz - while he has a devoted following - can seem more ill at ease among the crowds.
Cruz was also a decided long-shot when he won his Senate seat in 2012, beating a better-funded, better-known Republican in the primaries. Since then, however, he's become a political juggernaut - making a name for himself as a conservative thorn in the side of his party's congressional leadership and building a national fund-raising network that fuelled him to a second-place finish behind Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential nomination race.
Although O'Rourke shocked many veteran political hands when he announced he raised $6.7m in small donations over the first three months of 2018, there's little doubt that Cruz - who has brought in more than $17m since 2013 - will enter the autumn contest against the Democrat with a financial and organisational advantage.
O'Rourke tells me that he plans to beat Cruz by turning his national brand against him. He notes they were both elected for the first time in 2012, and since then he has spent his time listening to Texans, while Cruz campaigned for president in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
"He chose that office instead of the people of Texas, and that's not lost on those in Texas," O'Rourke says.
"Do we want someone who is accountable, who serves the people of Texas, who doesn't take PAC money, who is not compromised by special interests or corporations? Or someone who used his position of public trust to pursue the presidency and did so with $300,000 from the NRA, who takes money from PACs and corporations, and has failed to serve the people of Texas?"
When O'Rourke does start to go after his opponent, expect lines like that again and again.
The Senate at stake
The Texas Senate race is just one of 35 seats up for election in November, but it could end up being pivotal in determining who controls the upper chamber of Congress.
While Republicans currently have a narrow 51-49 advantage, Democrats are defending nine seats in states won by Trump in 2016. Republicans, on the other hand, only have one incumbent trying to win re-election in a Clinton state, Nevada.
There's an open seat currently held by Republican Jeff Flake in Arizona that could be in play, but after that Texas may be as good as it gets for the Democrats. If O'Rourke pulls the upset win, they don't have to sweep to victory in all the other close races (a 50-50 Senate means Republicans maintain control due to Vice-President Mike Pence's tie-breaking vote).
"I don't see Texas in terms of party or colour," O'Rourke says. "I'm not into the blue wave deal, or turning Texas blue."
O'Rourke may not be thinking about a blue Democratic wave, but he probably needs it. And the party - if it hopes for a Senate majority that can block Trump's judicial nominees and pass progressive legislation - may very well need him.
Shelter from the storm
While O'Rourke criss-crosses the state, Will Hurd is keeping a lower profile. The 40-year-old ex-CIA officer who once managed covert operations in Afghanistan is a regular on the Washington political talk show circuit thanks to his seat on the House Intelligence Committee, but he clearly wants this race to focus on local issues, sheltered from what could be prevailing (anti-Republican) political winds.
"I do not believe in national trends," Hurd says during a public event hosted by Politico at Austin's South by Southwest music, film and technology festival. "I do not believe in coattails. When people go in to vote for me, they're voting on what I have done or what I have not done. And if you put yourself in that position, then you're going to be fine. If you don't put yourself in that position, that's where a potential national wave can hit you. "
Hurd touts his "gold standard" constituent service for those living in his congressional district, which stretches from the suburbs of San Antonio south all the way to 820 miles of the Mexican border and the outskirts of O'Rourke's El Paso. The district is roughly the size of South Korea.
Every August he goes on a "DC2DQ" tour, holding dozens of informal town halls at community centres and Dairy Queens (hence the DQ), an ice-cream-centric fast food chain popular in small Texas towns like Ozona, Kermit and Carrizo Springs.
He talks about what's going on in Washington, DC, but most of what he says he hears - most of what he tries to help his voters with - are the smaller, everyday problems they face.
"We often forget, most people in DC think about big pieces of legislation, you think about putting together coalitions, but most of what we do is battling bureaucracy for people who need it fought against," he says.
"Whether it's [veterans'] claims, or doing something with Medicare, or helping a small business get access selling to the government, those are the actual questions that come up more than not."
In 2016, Hurd was the first incumbent to win re-election in the 23rd Texas congressional district in 12 years. It had flipped back and forth between the two parties every two years prior to that.
The longer legislators represent a district, the deeper roots they can put down - building relationships with voters that transcend partisanship.
Hurd's predecessors had been small trees, easily toppled by each passing electoral storm. Now seeking his third term in Congress, Hurd hopes he's built to survive.
'Guilt by association'
The storm that's brewing could be a big one, however, and it has a name - Donald Trump - whose low favourability ratings and penchant for controversy has motivated his political opponents.
Stacie Sanchez Hare, a San Antonio social worker who plans on voting against Hurd in November, is evidence of that. She says the Republican congressman may talk like a moderate, but he is "guilty by association".
"I felt a black cloud move over me the day after the election, and I felt like I could either let it swallow me or do something about it," she says. "So I started looking up candidates and volunteering, and it's made me feel better."
Hare and other Democrats in Hurd's district and across the US are motivated, and they plan to vote in November. "They will crawl over broken glass" to get to the polls, Ted Cruz warned a group of Houston Republicans in February.
When it comes time to talk about Trump, Hurd - the child of a mixed-race marriage - is visibly uncomfortable. He's asked what he thought of the president saying a black Democratic congresswoman has a "low IQ", and he pauses, then says he wouldn't want the children in his family talking that way.
"The way we talk matters," he adds.
Hurd didn't endorse the Republican nominee in 2016, and he's seemingly uninterested in his support two years later.
"I welcome support from everyone," Hurd says to laughs, adding that he agrees with the president sometimes and disagrees at others. "Just be authentic and be real. That's why I got re-elected in a pretty nasty environment, and that's why it's going to happen again in November."
A tale of two novices
Hurd may express confidence, but Democratic opponents are licking their chops at the prospect of unseating him. Five candidates vied to be their party's nominee to take on the congressmen, and on primary night earlier in March, two - both political neophytes - advanced to a run-off election in late May.
The top finisher, with 41%, was Gina Ortiz Jones, an ex-Air Force officer who would be the first Iraq War veteran in Congress from Texas and the first who is openly gay. Rick Trevino, who quit his job as a schoolteacher to run for office, finished second with 17%.
At an election night party in San Antonio, Jones explained why she - like many other first-time Democratic candidates this year - was motivated by Donald Trump's election to enter politics.
"I've been in national security for 14 years," she says.
"I've seen what happens in countries where women and minorities are targeted. I've seen what it looks like when governments disregard the conflicts of interest that have hollowed out those countries. So to think how that could be affecting now my country and my community, I wanted to step up and serve in a different way."
Since announcing her candidacy, Jones has been a bit of a celebrity. She was interviewed on the late-night cable comedy programme The Daily Show, was profiled in Teen Vogue and included on the cover of Time Magazine as part of a story on "The Avengers" - women who marched in Washington after Trump's inauguration and are now running for office.
Jones says she knows what's at stake in her race and that Hurd, while he may be a "nice person", doesn't reflect the views of his constituents.
"Frankly, people know that flipping this district, a district that Hillary won, is going to be key to flipping the House," she says.
Part of the Democratic Party's strategy for taking advantage of a potential anti-Trump wave is to field as many newcomer candidates with compelling personal stories as they can. Jones is a first-generation Filipino-American who grew up in a poor, single-mother family and paid for college with a military scholarship. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which helps encourage what it sees as viable candidates to run for office, says it has encouraged those with military service to run.
"There's no doubt that veterans have unique qualifications and experiences that give them important credibility with Democrats, independents and Republican voters alike," a committee spokesperson told ABC News last year.
The thing about Washington-based party elders hand-picking candidates, however, is that sometimes voters, the progressive grass-roots and other candidates don't really appreciate it.
The DCCC came out hard in February against a Democrat running for the nomination in a Houston-area race that has another vulnerable Republican incumbent, and it backfired. Progressives rallied around Laura Moser, and she raised more than $100,000 to fund her campaign in just one day and ended up qualifying for a run-off against one of the party's preferred nominees.
In the Hurd district, a similar dynamic could be playing out. Trevino, Jones's runoff opponent, is a progressive who says Bernie Sanders, the upstart Democratic candidate who challenged Clinton for the Democratic nomination, changed his life.
He is campaigning on universal healthcare, free college education and a $15 minimum wage - and says seeking "moderate Republicans" is a fool's errand.
"Right now the Republican base really thinks Democrats are vile and they're not going to vote for them," he tells me. "I say why even pander to that? Appeal to your base and excite them with ideas that are new and that bring tangible results, and then bring new voters into the fold. It's simple."
If there's a danger for Democrats in the 2018 midterms, a way for the wave to fizzle, it's that the party turns against itself and previously motivated voters stay home in protest. Progressives grow frustrated by what they see as more of the same from establishment Democrats, who in turn fear activists will push the party toward unelectable candidates.
Trevino, for instance, calls Jones a "pseudo-celebrity" who appeals more to Democratic donors than working-class constituents.
"Gina Ortiz Jones is just an evolution of the establishment that's cynically incorporating the language and the rhetoric and the imagery of the Bernie movement, and they're going to pass off as progressive on their terms," Trevino says. "We're ready to go and duke it out."
After the (rhetorical) fists fly, will the party come together to bring down Hurd? That's the question in Texas and across the country, where Democratic voters are facing choices about what kind candidates to back in the primaries over the coming months.
"My instinct is saying we're finally collectively coming together, and we've found some very strong candidates to say yes, it's time," says Sharon Niesen, a Jones supporter who came to her candidate's party on election night.
The Democrats better hope so.
For the people to decide
After concluding their cross-country drive last year and arriving at the US Capitol - with a few hours to spare -the two Texas congressmen took to the floor of the House of Representatives to talk about their journey.
"I got to learn a lot about the gentleman from Texas, personally I'd like to be able to call my friend," Hurd said. "He's my battle buddy now, having spent so much time in a Chevy Impala with him."
Today O'Rourke acknowledges that both of them have challenging races ahead of them. And while he could probably use a big Democratic turnout in San Antonio, he says that he's not going to get involved in Hurd's race.
"That's going to be something for the people of San Antonio and El Paso and the rest of his district to decide - whether it's Will or the eventual nominee from the Democratic runoff," he says.
The next day, I tell Hurd what his Texas colleague said and ask what he thinks of O'Rourke's race.
"It's not rocket science," he says. "People have to make up their own minds and not do what other people tell them to do."
Politics - in Texas, the US, pretty much anywhere one's livelihood depends on the ballot box - is a cut-throat business. It's hard not to listen to Hurd and O'Rourke and understand how they could work well together in Congress; how they can sometimes disagree but never be disagreeable, in Hurd's words.
"This country would be so much better if there were more bipartisan road trips," O'Rourke tells me.
The thing is, there aren't. The road to Washington goes through the ballot box, and there's a reasonable chance that whatever electoral wave there is will wash Hurd away but not be big enough to carry O'Rourke.
In November Texas voters could tell the two "battle buddies" that Washington isn't big enough for the two of them. In fact, the two Texans could learn that there's no place in Washington for either of them.
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A man charged with murdering Clydebank teenager Paige Doherty has made his second appearance in court. | John Leathem, 31, was fully committed for trial at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Friday. He made no plea or declaration and was returned to custody.
Paige's body was found in a wooded area just off Great Western Road in Clydebank at lunchtime on 21 March.
The teenager was last seen near a deli in the town before setting off for her part-time hairdressing job.
Related Internet Links
Scottish Courts
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Supermarket Waitrose has been granted planning permission to build a store in Ipswich's Corn Exchange & Town Hall entertainment complex. | Labour-run Ipswich Borough Council, which owns the building, has approved the scheme despite opposition from some arts groups.
The proposal originated under the previous Conservative and Liberal Democrat administration.
Waitrose said the shop should be open by Christmas, creating up to 60 jobs.
The council's planning committee voted unanimously in favour of the proposal to convert one corner of the building, which had previously been a bar and exhibition area.
Waitrose has a separate plan to build a supermarket on the former Cranes industrial site in east Ipswich, but a planning application has yet to be submitted for that.
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A second person has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of a man who was hit by a tram in Sheffield. | Martin Rigg, 37, was struck on 22 May near Convent Walk on West Street and died in hospital four days later.
Police said a 24-year-old man was arrested on Friday. He has been released on bail.
A 26-year-old man from the Shiregreen area of Sheffield was arrested on suspicion of murder last month.
Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].
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Leading opposition politician Imran Khan has promised to create a "new Pakistan" ahead of general elections this summer.
What are the former cricketer's prospects - and who are the "electables" he hopes will help him? | By Secunder KermaniBBC News, Lahore
What's Imran Khan promising?
Mr Khan addressed a rally of tens of thousands of supporters in the eastern city of Lahore, where he launched his party's campaign.
No date for the vote has been announced but it is expected to take place in July or August.
Mr Khan told the crowd he would create a Pakistan where all citizens were held accountable irrespective of their backgrounds.
He also said he wanted to improve access to education and healthcare, as well as promote tax collection and reduce corruption.
What are his chances?
His PTI party currently has 32 parliamentary seats, compared with the 186 of the ruling PML-N party.
Recent opinion polls also suggest the PTI is less popular than the PML-N, although the margin has narrowed since the last election in 2013.
"Opinion polls can be extremely misleading," Mr Khan told the BBC in an interview.
How big an issue is corruption?
Mr Khan has made fighting corruption his party's central pitch.
"The way Pakistan is headed, the whole issue about corruption, the issue about governance... I believe that the election campaign will swing the big undecided vote towards the PTI," he told the BBC.
The former prime minister and head of the PML-N, Nawaz Sharif, is currently on trial in an anti-corruption court.
A verdict is expected in the coming weeks, which could see him sent to jail.
He was disqualified from office last year following an inquiry into his family's finances - which Imran Khan campaigned for.
However, Mr Sharif remains a popular figure and has held a number of large rallies since his disqualification.
What does Imran Khan say about the military?
Supporters of Mr Sharif claim Pakistan's military establishment secretly pushed for his removal as they disagreed over key issues such as the country's relationship with India. Both the Pakistani army and Imran Khan deny that.
Mr Khan alleged that the PML-N were themselves sponsored by the military in the 1990s.
He added: "The current military chief, Gen Bajwa, is probably the most pro-democratic man we have ever seen."
The military has directly ruled Pakistan for nearly half its existence, and it has exerted a strong influence throughout much of the rest of the country's lifespan.
Politics in the country are often seen through the lens of civil-military relations - but Mr Khan told the BBC he had "no concern" about the military's role in Pakistani society.
Where does Mr Khan stand on extremism?
Mr Khan has faced accusations of being soft on Islamist extremism, at one stage earning the nickname "Taliban Khan".
He strongly rejects the claims and says he has merely advocated peace talks with insurgent groups as a way of resolving conflict within Pakistan.
When asked by the BBC whether Pakistan would be more or less "liberal" were he to be elected prime minister, he dismissed the question.
"Pakistan's issue is nothing to do with liberalism or fundamentalism. Pakistan has an issue of governance," he said.
"We have 25 million children out of school, we have the highest child mortality rate in the world. This is the West looking upon Pakistan as a liberalism and fundamentalism issue.
"It is not an issue. Every human society has its extremists and its liberals."
On international affairs Mr Khan, like other Pakistani politicians, has denied US allegations that the country is providing "safe havens" for the Afghan Taliban and its allies.
At the Lahore rally, a senior politician from Mr Khan's party led a chant proclaiming, "anyone who is a friend of the US is a traitor".
Mr Khan told the BBC: "The US has had the worst Afghan policy. For 16 years they've been trying to use a military solution and they failed.
"Where are the safe havens? They should point them out - 70,000 Pakistanis have died fighting the US war."
So who are the 'electables'?
"Electables" are politicians with their own personal vote banks, who are not tied ideologically to a political party.
Analysts say it is not clear what the impact would be on levels of support for the PML-N, if Mr Sharif were convicted in his ongoing anti-corruption trial.
Some believe it could boost support for him as a "martyr". Others say it could lead to defections of so-called "electables" to Mr Khan's PTI.
"There are some electables who have a good track record," Mr Khan said. "Especially in rural areas you have to have someone who has a network to win the election." Mr Khan said he would not allow "electables" with tarnished political records to join the party.
Senior Pakistani journalist Iftikhar Ahmad, from the Daily Jang newspaper, said he believed there were around 60 such candidates in constituencies in Punjab alone who might switch allegiance to the PTI if they deemed it in their interest.
Where will the vote be decided?
The key battleground between Mr Khan and the PML-N will be the province of Punjab, which holds more than half of the 272 directly-elected seats in the Pakistani parliament.
Lahore, where Mr Khan launched his election campaign on Sunday, is the capital of Punjab.
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When a paramedic found himself reading too many stories about the abuse encountered by his colleagues, he decided it was "time for a morale boost" and started a campaign to get people sharing happier experiences. | By Laura LeaBBC News
"Sometimes, it's hard to remember that most people are really appreciative of what we do every day," Rob Moore explained.
The paramedic has been working for the West Midlands Ambulance Service in Birmingham for more than four years.
Last week, one of his colleagues found a note left on an ambulance telling them not to block a driveway.
And over the weekend, footage emerged online appearing to show a driver hurling abuse at a paramedic.
So Rob started #BlueLightHappy with a plea on Twitter for "stories of people doing nice things" - to "show people do care" about the emergency services' work.
His efforts sparked a flurry of responses - some from grateful members of the public and others from first responders themselves, recalling heartfelt letters, emails and gestures aimed their way.
One of those to respond was Liv Pontin from West Sussex. Six years ago, her mum died suddenly of pancreatic cancer.
"We had the paramedics out that evening. Rapid response turned up and they were really good with her," the 28-year-old told the BBC News website.
Liv's mum died in A&E later that night, but shortly after, she wrote to the paramedic to say thank you for his efforts.
"We were all so scared and he just reassured her."
This September, an ambulance was called for Liv herself - and she came face to face with the same reassuring paramedic.
"I didn't recognise him, but I saw his name and that he was a practitioner," she said. "I just remembered that the paramedic (who treated mum) had said he was training to be a practitioner.
"I told him where we lived and he said that he remembered."
Not only did he remember Liv and her mother, but the paramedic told her he still had the thank you letter she sent in his locker.
"It meant a lot to me because no-one really knows what happened that night except my family and the ambulance workers," she said.
On getting involved in the #BlueLightHappy effort, she added: "It was nice to say thank you."
Other ambulance workers recalled offers of tea and biscuits and even free ice creams.
Oscar Miller said someone offered to buy him lunch on the day after the Westminster Bridge terror attack in London, "I'd already paid, but a nice gesture," he added.
Another Twitter user said she "cried a little bit" on receiving her first thank you letter.
"And when random strangers let you skip the queue in Tesco when you pop in. So sweet," she added.
Most people tweeting with the hashtag have just been saying thank you, Rob said.
"To receive an unsolicited thank you is just magical... It's one of the absolute best feelings in this job."
On a recent shift, Rob and some of his colleagues had a meal bought for them in the middle of the night.
"It really took me back. It's heart-warming," he said.
"One small gesture can make someone's whole week."
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A busy Dundee road has been closed as fire crews tackle a blaze at a pub. | The alarm at the Windsor Bar in Albert Street was raised at about 11:30 on Wednesday morning.
Tayside Fire and Rescue said the fire was in the basement of the four storey building. There were no reports of any injuries.
Albert Street has been closed between Victoria Street and McGill Street as a result of the fire, leading to some traffic disruption.
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Poundworld in Carmarthen will close after the budget shopping chain announced it was closing 25 stores across the UK. | Nine members of staff at the store on the Pensarn industrial state will lose their jobs after the company entered administration on 11 June.
Administrator Clare Boardman thanked employees for their support and said staff would be kept updated.
The Carmarthen store will close its doors on Sunday 15 July.
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A tribunal is about to rule on China's territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea. But Beijing's desire for control is about much more than rocks above the water, argues analyst Alexander Neill. It is also central to China's plans for a submarine nuclear force able to break out into the Pacific Ocean. | Historically, China's national infrastructure projects have tended to be of grandiose scale - the Great Wall of China and the Three Gorges Dam are ancient and modern examples. China has now proved such a capability at sea with the imminent opening of a string of advanced military bases across the South China Sea, where just two years ago little more than rocky outcrops, sandbars and reefs dotted the region.
International attention has focused on why Beijing's constructed these artificial islands so speedily. There is speculation that with the imminent announcement of the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the Philippines' territorial dispute with China, Beijing fast-tracked the project to create a fait accompli or a "great wall of sand".
For China, national sovereignty and the credibility of the Communist Party is at stake. But so too is its new sea-based nuclear deterrent.
Q&A: South China Sea dispute
China's Island Factory
Mysteries and maritime claims
Chinese jets "intercept" US spy plane
Flying close to China's new islands
The island construction serves a dual purpose, both reinforcing China's claims of sovereignty and creating a sustained Chinese presence, both military and civilian, in the South China Sea.
China has argued that in addition to necessary defence measures for its islands they will also serve the public good. China has built lighthouses and a hospital on Fiery Cross Island and it is likely that Chinese government administrative departments will be created on the islands too.
But a critical element to China's motivations for island-building lies beneath the surface of the sea.
Mounting concern within the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) over the vulnerability of its land-based nuclear deterrent and the ability to deliver a retaliatory second strike has prompted China to place some of its nuclear warheads on board submarines.
Two years ago, China deployed the Jin-class ballistic missile submarine for the first time, each armed with 12 JL-2 nuclear missiles.
Operating from a state-of-the-art base near Sanya, on Hainan island's southernmost tip, Jin class submarines are now patrolling the depths of the South China Sea. But in order to be within range of the US, they must be able to break out into the Pacific Ocean.
Before the submarines achieve this, they must leave their base in Hainan and cross the South China Sea to reach the Pacific Ocean undetected. The Pentagon believes that the first such Pacific patrol will occur this year.
A large southern area of the South China Sea is rather shallow - under 100m (328 feet) in depth. However, roughly contiguous to China's "nine-dash line" territorial claim in the South China Sea, the continental shelf drops to a deep basin of around 4,000m, offering better cover for submarines.
That is why some experts believe the deeper waters of the South China Sea, and China's enhanced anti-submarine efforts there, may offer a bastion for Chinese submarines in the future.
In recent years, the depths of the South China Sea have become a theatre for intensified rivalry between China and the US.
In early 2009, Chinese fishing vessels attempted to cut the cables attached to a sonar array towed by the US surveillance vessel USNS Impeccable in waters off Hainan Island. Later that year, a Chinese submarine hit an underwater sonar array being towed by the destroyer USS John McCain near Subic Bay off the coast of the Philippines.
Recently, China has launched new submarine-hunting capabilities. On 8 June, The PLA Navy commissioned a new Type 056A frigate, the Qujing, which boasts an array of anti-submarine warfare capabilities and will be based in the South China Sea.
The US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter has also announced that the Pentagon will invest $8bn (£5.45bn) to ensure the lethality of its submarine force - the "silent service" - including the deployment of new undersea drones in the region.
In the same way as the US and its allies created a network of listening devices on the sea floor across Asia to listen out for Russian submarines during the cold war, China is now in position to deploy a similar network from its bases across the South China Sea.
Satellite imagery suggests that China's new islands are bristling with advanced sensors including radar arrays and satellite communications stations, all of which bolster its navy's situational awareness above and below the South China Sea.
Such technologies may also provide command and control infrastructure for communications with China's ballistic missile submarine force, not only helping it to evade detection but also to target any adversary.
Alexander Neill is Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow at IISS-Asia (International Institute for Strategic Studies - Asia) .
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The value of sales in Jersey supermarkets and shops has seen the biggest drop since 2007, a fall of 6%. | Latest figures from the States of Jersey Statistics Unit also showed in the first quarter of 2012, islanders bought on average 7% less food than the same time last year.
Sales of clothing, household goods and other non-food items were down 11% during the same period.
And there was a 9% drop in the total volume of retail sales in Jersey.
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The Queen has been joined by Prime Minister Theresa May for a church service at Crathie Kirk near the Balmoral estate. | A car carrying Mrs May and her husband Philip was seen taking them to the 11:30 service.
Charles and Camilla, known as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay when in Scotland, also attended.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are nearing the end of their annual summer break at Balmoral.
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The Manchester Arena suicide bombing, an attack lasting only a moment, was the endpoint of a lengthy conspiracy. | By Daniel De SimoneBBC News
At 22:30 on 22 May 2017, in a large foyer filling with people after an Ariana Grande concert, the attacker emerged from a stairway, crossed the concourse and detonated his device.
Of those he walked among, 22 were killed: children, teenagers, parents.
They included students, a nurse, a police officer, a support worker for those with special needs, and a school receptionist.
They came from different parts of the UK and diverse backgrounds, each with their own reason for being there.
Saffie Roussos, aged only eight, had attended the concert with her mother and sister.
Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15, had attended with a friend, as had 14-year-old Nell Jones. So too had Eilidh Macleod, also 14.
Liam Curry and Chloe Rutherford, from South Shields, were teenage sweethearts out for the night together.
Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, was in the foyer, along with her mother and grandmother, to meet her sister.
Alison Howe and Lisa Lees, from Oldham, were friends waiting together to collect their children, just like Marcin and Angelika Klis, a couple from York there to meet their daughters.
Michelle Kiss was present for the same reason, while Wendy Fawell had taken her teenage daughter and others to the concert.
Elaine McIver, the police officer, was at the arena with her partner waiting to collect his daughter and her friend.
Jane Tweddle, from Blackpool, was there to accompany a friend whose daughter was at the event.
Kelly Brewster, from Sheffield, had attended the concert with her sister and niece.
Philip Tron, from Gateshead, was there with his partner's daughter, 19-year-old student Courtney Boyle.
Georgina Callander, 18, from Preston, was also a student.
John Atkinson, 28, from Manchester, was there socialising, as was 29-year-old Martyn Hett, from Stockport.
Megan Hurley, 15, lived in Liverpool and attended the concert with her older brother, who survived but suffered very serious injuries.
Many others were also seriously injured.
Planning an atrocity
The conspiracy that destroyed so many lives involved two siblings: Salman Abedi, the suicide bomber himself, and his younger brother Hashem, who was in Libya at the time of the attack.
Working in tandem, the Manchester-born pair spent months preparing the atrocity.
In the immediate aftermath, the official terror threat level was raised to its maximum, amid fears a bomb maker could be at large, and senior police spoke of a "network" when discussing the multiple arrests that took place in the UK, none of which later resulted in charges.
What emerged during the lengthy police investigation was more prosaic and arguably more troubling.
Salman and Hashem Abedi, two of six siblings, grew up in Manchester, the children of parents who had fled Col Gaddafi's Libya in the 1990s.
Ramadan, their father, was a political radical who associated with members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which was banned as a terrorist organisation and regarded as an al-Qaeda affiliate.
When civil war broke out in 2011, his sons were removed from school and taken to Libya - thus exposing them to weapons and violence in the process, as they delivered aid to rebels fighting the Gaddafi regime.
Salman would later return to school, completing his GCSEs, and Hashem would eventually enrol on a college course.
Photos from the time show a youthful Hashem and his elder brother Ismael brandishing large firearms.
Ramadan, his wife and their youngest children eventually based themselves in Libya, although hundreds of pounds in benefits and tax credits were still paid into her UK bank account each month, money that Salman and Hashem used during their attack planning.
Drugs, alcohol and Islamism
The two brothers, although travelling between the two countries, lived together at the former family home in Elsmore Road, with their eldest brother having got married and moved elsewhere in the city.
Both were involved in gang culture and drug-taking, with Salman regarded as an aggressive, vindictive figure.
In time, their ease with this lifestyle would augment their commitment to terrorism, providing the context for what was to come.
After a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in 2015 they both became more overtly religious, but their commitment was to Islamist Jihadist violence rather than any benign expression of faith.
Salman, in particular, began openly identifying with the violent revolutionary aims of the self-styled Islamic State group, which was then at the height of its influence in Syria - and claiming to its followers to be the true path of believers - killing anyone, including Muslims, who stood in its way.
He was briefly investigated by the security service MI5, before being discounted as a threat, but he continued to appear as a contact of other extremists and the authorities received reports about his pro-IS mindset.
Hashem, although a regular at local mosques who lectured others on what constituted being a Muslim, carried on using drugs, drinking alcohol and partying with his friends.
In summer 2016, having dropped out of college, Hashem moved to Germany to work at a property business owned by Mohammed Benhammedi - a man once sanctioned by the United Nations for financing the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group - but had returned to Manchester by the following January.
It was at this point that the brothers actively embarked on their plot, renting a flat at Somerton Court in the Blackley area of Manchester, which they used over the following weeks to make the explosive TATP.
The pair are believed to have followed instructions from an IS video, then accessible online, although they might also have gained relevant expertise in Libya.
Hashem began asking people known to him to buy chemicals with their Amazon accounts in order to avoid the multiple purchases being traced directly back to the brothers.
When requesting some purchases of sulphuric acid, Hashem claimed the chemical was needed to fill a car battery or a generator in Libya, but he lacked the necessary money and therefore needed a favour.
Some people, including Hashem's contacts in Germany, refused to make the suspicious purchases.
Others attempted to do so, but the purchases were declined due to a lack of funds in their own accounts.
Some of the men provided accounts to police that led to them ultimately appearing as prosecution witnesses in Hashem's trial.
Several other associates appeared in the evidence, but were not called as witnesses.
The online shoppers
One man, Yahya Werfalli from Manchester, provided his debit card details to Hashem, asking him "When u doing this Amazon thing", only to call his bank within hours claiming he knew nothing about pending transactions relating to the website.
The details of Zuhir Nassrat, a friend of Hashem, were used in attempts to buy hydrogen peroxide, with one of them made from his home address.
Last year, Nassrat pleaded guilty to offences of perverting the course of justice, drinking and driving, and driving without a licence or without insurance. He had earlier provided his own brother's personal details in an attempt to evade responsibility when his vehicle was stopped after he was spotted driving erratically. He has since moved to Libya.
Mohammed Soliman, who was employed at a takeaway where Hashem was also working, purchased 10 litres of sulphuric acid using his own Amazon account and bank details.
He knew both Abedi brothers - and his relevant online activity was preceded, and followed by, contact with them.
Soliman, who grew up in Libya, was stopped by counter-terrorism police at Manchester Airport on 23 March 2017 as he attempted to leave the UK.
His mobile was seized and the contents were downloaded as part of that stop, but he left for Libya the following month and has not returned.
The information found on his phone later formed part of the evidence at Hashem's trial.
Werfalli, Nassrat and Soliman all had money deposited in their bank accounts by Hashem but the evidence in the case did not indicate if they knew or had any suspicion about what the brothers were plotting.
Takeaway bomb parts
Hashem even used his role as a takeaway delivery driver to obtain large empty cans of oil and sauce which the brothers then cut-up and manipulated to make bomb parts.
He also created a Gmail address to make chemical purchases, whose title, Bedab7jeana, translates from Arabic as "we come to slaughter" and is the slogan of Katibat al-Battar al-Libi, an IS-linked militant group operating in Syria.
There was direct contact with a known extremist in the UK.
The first chemical purchase of all, by a cousin who later gave evidence at trial, took place on the same day in January 2017 that Salman and two associates visited Abdalraouf Abdallah, a convicted terrorist then serving time at Altcourse prison on Merseyside.
Abdallah, seen as an influence on Salman, is confined to a wheelchair due to injuries he received fighting in Libya.
A dangerous radicaliser jailed for IS organising largely via a phone, Abdallah nevertheless had an illegal mobile in prison that he used to call Salman.
Neither the Ministry of Justice nor G4S, the private firm that runs the prison, provided a statement when the BBC asked how it was possible for a serving terrorist prisoner to obtain a phone.
In addition to the flat for making explosives, the brothers also gained access to an empty terraced house - on Lindum Street, in a different area of Manchester - which was used to order and take delivery of 55 litres of hydrogen peroxide.
Neither brother had a driving licence, yet they bought and drove three cars in the relevant period, using them to travel between the different addresses, transporting their purchases.
One car, fraudulently insured in the name of their elder brother Ismael, was involved in a crash, with the pair fleeing the scene after taking care to remove an address label from a box on the back seat.
In early April 2017 their parents returned to Manchester, intent on taking the two brothers back to Libya.
The pair made a hurried late-night effort to clean out the property where they had been making TATP, buying a cheap Nissan Micra as a form of storage, which was then parked outside the flat of an associate called Elyas Elmehdi.
Salman was out of the UK for nearly five weeks.
Just before flying back, he called Elmehdi, who then visited Abdalraouf in prison - the day before Salman's return.
Last year Elmehdi was convicted of drugs offences, which came to light following his arrest during the Arena investigation, but he could not be jailed as he had fled to Libya.
The final days
When Salman returned on 18 May 2017 he was not stopped at the airport nor subject to any scrutiny.
He went straight to the Nissan Micra, checking its contents, before renting a city centre flat in which he would make his final preparations, as well as visiting the Manchester Arena as a form of reconnaissance.
It had become the target.
Over the following days he used a taxi to transport the explosive to his new flat, before visiting various shops to buy items for his bomb, including thousands of nuts and bolts for use as shrapnel and a rucksack in which to hide the device.
A public inquiry later this year will examine any potential opportunities to prevent the attack.
An official report previously recorded that on two separate occasions in the months beforehand, MI5 received intelligence which was deemed at the time to be non-terrorist activity by Salman, but can subsequently be seen as "highly relevant to the planned attack".
On the night of 22 May he made his way to the arena, visibly weighed down by the rucksack on his back, making a final call to his family's Libyan number - almost certainly to Hashem - two hours before the attack.
At 22.30, after waiting for the concert to end, he walked amongst the crowds.
A militia arrested Hashem Abedi in Libya the day after the attack.
Ramadan Abedi and Mohammed Soliman have also been questioned in the country, but both are now free.
British investigators want to speak to Ramadan and say there are still outstanding matters in the UK, although the inquiry has done as much as it can based on the available information.
It is also understood that one individual linked to the investigation has been stripped of their British citizenship
Hashem has not left custody since his Libyan arrest. During pre-trial legal submissions, his lawyers said he had been subjected to torture during his time in Libya
A lengthy extradition process took place, which saw him brought back to the UK last July when he was charged and sent for trial.
Detectives had built an overwhelming circumstantial case: his finger-marks were in the flat used to make TATP, all over the car in which the explosives and other relevant items were stored, and on the cans that had been cut up to create parts for a bomb.
He was involved in the chemicals purchases and present at every central moment of preparation.
It was a joint operation.
Officers had to build up a fingerprint profile using marks found on his every-day possessions, such as college books, but were only able to prove they were Hashem's on the night he returned to the UK.
At trial, he displayed no emotion and gradually withdrew from the proceedings, at first apparently staying in the cells instructing his legal team, before eventually refusing to leave prison and ordering his legal team to stop representing him.
This meant he was not in court - unlike some victims' families and survivors - when the jury returned its unanimous verdicts.
No one in an English court has ever been convicted of so many murders.
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Staff at an Anglesey poultry plant have voted to reject changes to their working conditions in a move which would have saved 50 jobs. | They voted four to one to refuse proposals at the 2 Sisters factory at Llangefni where 270 jobs are under threat, including 170 agency staff.
Before the vote, Paddy McNaught from Unite union said it would have meant "staff making sacrifices" to save jobs.
Union officials are due to hold further talks with bosses on Friday.
If the company's proposal had been accepted, it was hoped there would be only a handful of compulsory redundancies, with 40 staff taking voluntary redundancy and agency workers being offered work elsewhere.
The company wanted to cut an entire production shift from its operation.
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Soulful singer Michael Kiwanuka has come top of the BBC's Sound Of 2012 list.
The list, compiled using tips from more than 180 tastemakers - made up of music critics, editors, broadcasters and bloggers - aims to highlight some of the most exciting emerging artists. | By Mark SavageEntertainment reporter, BBC News
Backstage at Jools Holland's BBC Two show, there is a lot of stress.
Young singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka has landed the sought-after "new artist" slot. It's his first television appearance, and he will have to hold his own beside Bjork, Noel Gallagher and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Adding to his nerves, the 24-year-old is playing I'm Getting Ready, a song he has never performed live before.
Kiwanuka's press officer, meanwhile, has problems of her own.
"We need to make sure Jools gets his name right," she mutters. "Can we send a note to his dressing room?"
Kiwanuka doesn't hear about the pronunciation panic until he's finished his soundcheck - but he finds it hilarious.
"I get called all sorts of things," he laughs. "Michael Kiwa-nin-nin-nooko, Michael Keena-wooka, Michael Kawaski.
"Anything other than Michael Kiwanuka."
For the record, his surname is pronounced Key-wa-noo-ka. It's an African name that means "God of lightning and thunder", and it's hard to imagine a description that would suit him less.
Affable and quietly spoken, Kiwanuka was born to Ugandan parents and raised in London's Muswell Hill.
People who have stumbled across his first two EPs will already know what to expect.
Kiwanuka is blessed with a voice so soulful and mature it appears to have been beamed in directly from Memphis in 1972.
When his flute-embellished single Tell Me A Tale was playlisted by BBC 6 Music last summer, some listeners were convinced the station had uncovered a long-lost Al Green record.
"I love that sound," beams Kiwanuka. "So that's a great honour.
"The singers I listen to are quite old-school and I think that era is really cool. The way the chords sounded, and the feeling of the playing is very loose.
"There's a jazz feel compared to a lot of modern music, which is very straight."
Kiwanuka grew up in a largely music-free environment, after his parents' record player broke when he was a toddler. Instead, he credits schoolfriends for his musical education.
"They'd have a band name on the back of their bag at school. So I'd be like, 'who are the Red Hot Chili Peppers?' and then I'd save up seven weeks pocket money to buy one CD."
Free from tribal allegiances, he flitted between genres almost at random.
His favourite albums included Nirvana's live recording From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah, D'Angelo's sultry R&B platter Voodoo and a free disc from a magazine, containing a formative take of Otis Redding's Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay.
By the time he was 16, Kiwanuka had picked up a guitar and started composing his own songs.
But as anyone who has ever owned a tape recorder will know, hearing your own voice for the first time can be a shock.
"The first few times I sang in the studio it wasn't great," he says.
"I wanted to sound like other people so much, because I liked the sound of their voice through the speakers.
"You always imagine having your hero's voice, so at first I tried to change it and sang in styles that didn't really suit me."
Settling on a sound was something of a struggle for the musician.
Kiwanuka studied jazz and worked as a session musician before finally deciding to go solo.
"I felt I wasn't going to continue playing music if I kept being moulded in a way that wasn't me," he says.
He spotted a MySpace advert for songwriters and sent off a couple of his demos. Almost instantly, a reply arrived, asking Kiwanuka to consider recording them himself.
Those early recordings were still available on MySpace relatively recently. They showcase a folky, stripped-back aesthetic that has blossomed into a more fulsome soul sound on the finished recordings.
Kiwanuka puts that down to Paul Butler of indie band The Bees, who produced the album in his home studio on the Isle Of Wight.
"He saw music from the sonic, rhythmic side of things, where I saw it through just the song and the guitar part," says Kiwanuka. "It was exciting - a new sound that I hadn't quite thought I could do."
The recordings have a vintage warmth to them. Analogue tape distortion and valve amplifiers add a hazy 1970s sheen, as if the MP3s have dust trapped between their ones and zeroes.
"The mixing desk we used was an old 1960s Swedish broadcast desk," Kiwanuka recalls.
"I guess the sound is down to the circuitry and the way they were made. Eroded elements add character and warmth."
With his retro sound come spiritual lyrics: "Lord, I'm getting ready to believe," he sings on I'm Getting Ready. "We'll be waving hands, singing freely. Singing, standing tall, it's coming easy."
It may sound like Kiwanuka is a man out of place and time, but he believes there's a fresh appetite for expertly crafted songs, played live by actual human beings.
"There's nothing more exciting to me than using real instruments in the studio," he says.
"The instruments Adele or Florence [Welch] are using have been around for decades but their records still sound fresh to me. So that must be the best way to record music."
In fact, Kiwanuka toured with Adele earlier this year, an experience he describes as a "a great test".
"Going on before someone who sings as well as she does gives you a kick up the backside," he says.
"It's like being a footballer who gets the chance to go on at half-time in the Premiership. You see if you can last those 45 minutes and, if it goes well, you get to play the full game next time.
"So hopefully next year people will be up for coming to see me do a full show."
As he takes to the stage for his TV performance, it looks like all those practice matches have paid off.
Kiwanuka's subtle, assured performance is a tender moment of humanity in the midst of Bjork's chirruping and the scrappy bombast of the Chili Peppers.
And, to cap it all, Jools gets his name right.
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The Home Secretary cannot be barred from deporting a failed asylum seeker whose daughter would be at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) if taken abroad, a senior judge decided. | The High Court heard the woman, who has links to Bahrain and Sudan, has been refused asylum by the Home Office.
She fears if she leaves for Bahrain she will be trafficked to Sudan and her daughter will be put at risk.
The case, brought by Suffolk County Council, is the first of its kind.
Social services bosses with responsibility for the nine-year-old girl's welfare had begun High Court litigation and Sir Andrew McFarlane was asked whether a judge could bar Home Secretary Sajid Javid from deporting the girl's mother.
Public interest
Sir Andrew, president of the Family Division of the High Court and the most senior family court judge in England and Wales, has concluded that a judge cannot make such an order.
He is expected to publish a ruling outlining his reasoning in the near future.
Another judge, Mr Justice Newton, is now scheduled to analyse further issues in the case at future hearings.
Lawyers say Mr Justice Newton, who is based in the Family Division of the High Court in London, will assess issues including the level of risk the girl faces and whether she could be protected abroad.
Mr Justice Newton has, at an earlier hearing, described the case as the first of its kind.
He says it raises public interest issues relating to "tensions" between politicians and the courts.
Judges have ruled that the girl cannot be identified in media reports of the case.
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After more than eight weeks of lockdown, Scotland seems poised to take the first tentative steps back to normality. So how well has the country adhered to the restrictions, and has discipline started to crack? Certainly it seems like our parks and roads are getting busier - but is there a way we can confirm this? | By Marc EllisonData journalist, BBC Scotland
Enter Google.
The tech giant has been publishing so-called "community mobility" reports since April.
This is a rather euphemistic way of referring to the tracking people's movements during the coronavirus lockdown.
These reports exist for countries ranging from Afghanistan, to the United Kingdom, to Zimbabwe.
Each one is broken down into six high level categories including retail, grocery stores, parks, public transport, workplaces, and home residences.
Essentially the data allows us to monitor footfall to these locations or - put another way - whether or not people have been adhering to the lockdown restrictions.
This is done by comparing people's movements to baseline (or pre-lockdown) behaviour - essentially this shows us how we've changed our typical daily lifestyle.
Google's motivation behind this initiative is to ostensibly help public health officials make critical policy decisions to combat Covid-19.
The reports are based on location data that the company has harvested from people's smartphones.
Google maintains that this data has been aggregated and, more importantly, anonymised, to protect people's privacy.
So what does the data actually tell us?
Overall the data suggests that - despite the divergence on 10 May in policy between the UK and Scottish governments over how and when to ease the restrictions - Scots are still largely staying at home.
I've cherry-picked select councils to illustrate trends for each of the six mobility categories.
Grocery stores and pharmacies
Visits to grocery stores across Scotland appeared to spike a week before the lockdown began in Scotland on 23 March.
They then drastically decreased by about 40%.
One could argue this confirms stories we heard about the panic-buying of items such as loo roll and pasta.
Since then it looks like these trips have remained fairly level - with the exception of Sundays which appears to be the day to go grocery shopping in most households.
Parks and castles
Trips to parks (which includes castles, gardens, national parks, campgrounds and even observation decks!) also plummeted once the lockdown began.
However, the data does suggest some council areas have respected the restrictions better than others.
For example, in Glasgow and Edinburgh, visits to parks have barely reached the pre-lockdown baseline level.
Whereas inhabitants of Dundee and South Lanarkshire have been visiting parks significantly more than normal - even outside of weekends.
Homes and workplaces
Google's residential and workplace data shows a fairly uniform picture across Scotland.
Since lockdown there's been about a 30% increase (from the baseline data) of people staying at home.
That appears to marry with the 60% decrease on average of people going to their workplaces (and presumably now working from home or on furlough).
The peaks and troughs in both sets of data unsurprisingly coincide with the weekend, or periods of good weather.
Have we respected the lockdown?
Transit stations
Similarly the use of "transit stations" (including subways, taxi stands, car rental agencies and even motorway lay-bys) appear to have decreased by between 40% and 80% below baseline levels across the country.
However, public transport usage in recent weeks has crept up by about 20% in places like Fife and West Lothian.
Interestingly though, levels in Glasgow and Edinburgh have barely shifted from 80% below the normal usage.
Retail and recreation
Finally we have the combination of retail and recreation for which Google doesn't give an exact definition.
Assuming this is primarily visits to shopping and leisure centres we can see that trips decreased by a uniform 80% below the "normal" level.
However these trips have steadily increased as the lockdown has gone on.
What doesn't the data tell us?
While the Google reports gives us a fascinating insight into people's movements during lockdown, there are a few caveats around the data:
The data also isn't as granular level as I would like. I'd like to see a breakdown by council neighbourhoods and if possible, by age, gender and deprivation indicators.
If we had this data, it could provide some interesting insights into what impact deprivation has on a person's ability and/or privilege to be able to work from home.
South of the border
The UK government announced an easing of its lockdown restrictions for England on 10 May - a divergence from the Scottish government's policy which asked people to still adhere to the stricter restrictions.
Looking at the Google data we can see that even before the prime minister's announcement, people in England and Wales seem to have been gradually venturing out more.
Trips to parks have skyrocketed to 40-100% above the baseline rate in places like Southend-On-Sea and Gloucestershire.
And interestingly, even before the row around Dominic Cummings erupted, trips to County Durham had increased dramatically.
It also looks like people in places like Gloucestershire, Manchester and Devon were slowly starting to return to work ahead of Boris Johnson's announcement.
This seems to be backed up by increases of around 20% in the use of public transport in places like Wrexham and Gloucestershire.
Lastly, compared to other parts of the UK, it seems people in Neath Port Talbot were desperate to get back into groceries and pharmacies, with trips already back to pre-lockdown levels.
A Cummings effect?
However, the current data set from Google currently only takes us up to 16 May.
The next release from Google could provide even more interesting insights.
Primarily what impact, if any, will the Dominic Cummings controversy have had on people's attitudes towards staying at home both in Scotland and the rest of the UK?
And will people's resolve be broken by improving weather (even here in Scotland)?
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An estimated 200,000 people watched this year's Wales National Airshow over Swansea Bay, according to the council. | The two-day annual event, which concluded on Sunday, included a Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and a Russian-built Cold War MiG aircraft.
Swansea councillor Robert Francis-Davies said: "We're certain it was a record-breaking weekend.
"The vast numbers who came along for the two days will have been a valuable boost to city centre businesses."
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The harrowing tale of a North Korean defector was part of the set at US President Donald Trump's first ever State of the Union address. Ji Seong-ho waved his crutches in the air to resounding applause. But what is his story? | Who is Ji Seong-ho?
Few people had heard of Ji Seong-ho when Donald Trump addressed him from the podium.
"In 1996, Seong-ho was a starving boy in North Korea," began Mr Trump, as he went on to describe the extent of Mr Ji's suffering as a teenager in the mid 1990s when North Korea was gripped by a devastating famine.
That year Mr Ji tried to steal coal from a railroad car so he could exchange it for food. He managed to clamber on, but lost consciousness as a result of his extreme hunger.
He awoke to find that he had fallen through a gap between train carriages onto the tracks - and at that moment a train ran over his limbs.
He survived the accident but his left hand and leg were severed. Mr Ji was taken to hospital and operated on without morphine or general anaesthetic. The surgery took four-and-a-half hours.
The defector has spoken out about his ordeal before this.
"I was screaming so much that the sound would [have been] like watching an action movie in the cinema," he told a human rights group, in an interview published by The Guardian.
"Nobody helped."
How did he escape North Korea?
In 2000, Mr Ji decided to cross the border to China to search for food and traversed a mountain with his wooden crutches. But when he returned, he was arrested and tortured by North Korean authorities.
It was only in 2006 that he finally decided to permanently escape North Korea with his brother. They crossed into China through the Tumen River and later decided to split up, with Mr Ji fearing his disability would get them both captured.
With the help of others, Mr Ji trekked across China on his crutches and eventually made it to South Korea where he was reunited with his brother.
The boys later tried to contact their father, who had remained behind in the North Korean city of Hoeryeong.
According to an interview with The Freedom Collection the duo were supposed to go back to get their father once they had settled in South Korea but found that he had tried to escape himself - but failed.
He was caught by authorities and tortured to death.
What does he do now?
Today, the 36-year-old lives in Seoul where he has gone on to help other North Korean defectors.
He founded the Now, Action, Unity, Human Rights organisation (NAUH) organisation, which aims to raise awareness of the conditions that the North Korean people live in.
He has spoken in conferences across the world, including the Oslo Freedom Forum in 2015, where he gave a speech titled "My Impossible Escape from North Korea".
How did people react?
Mr Ji was greeted by thunderous applause in the House Chamber and received an equally warm reception online.
Many on social media called him an "inspiration", though others highlighted that he would not be able to enter the US as a North Korean refugee under current immigration rules.
The speech was Mr Trump's first ever State of the Union speech to Congress and in the address the US President also condemned North Korea, calling it "depraved".
He warned that the US was "waging a campaign of maximum pressure" to prevent Pyongyang's "reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles."
But Mr Ji's story of endurance through suffering, as he held up the crutches he used to escape North Korea, is what won over the audience.
Update: A tweet from @wokeluisa was removed from an earlier version as the account does not belong to a real individual.
Catch me up
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A division of the Wood Group has won a contract with Apache North Sea to provide subsea engineering services. | The deal with Wood Group Kenny is worth around £5m and runs for three years with options to extend.
The agreement covers all of Apache's North Sea assets, including the Forties complex and the recently acquired Beryl complex.
Wood Group Kenny is one of the world's largest companies of its kind, employing 2,500 people worldwide.
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Japan's era of shoguns and samurai is long over, but the country does have one, or maybe two, surviving ninjas. Experts in the dark arts of espionage and silent assassination, ninjas passed skills from father to son - but today's say they will be the last. | By Mariko OiBBC News, Japan
Tools of a dying art
Japan's ninjas were all about mystery. Hired by noble samurai warriors to spy, sabotage and kill, their dark outfits usually covered everything but their eyes, leaving them virtually invisible in shadow - until they struck.
Using weapons such as shuriken, a sharpened star-shaped projectile, and the fukiya blowpipe, they were silent but deadly.
Ninjas were also famed swordsmen. They used their weapons not just to kill but to help them climb stone walls, to sneak into a castle or observe their enemies.
Most of their missions were secret so there are very few official documents detailing their activities. Their tools and methods were passed down for generations by word of mouth.
This has allowed filmmakers, novelists and comic artists to use their wild imagination.
Hollywood movies such as Enter the Ninja and American Ninja portray them as superhumans who could run on water or disappear in the blink of an eye.
"That is impossible because no matter how much you train, ninjas were people," laughs Jinichi Kawakami, Japan's last ninja grandmaster, according to the Iga-ryu ninja museum.
However, ninjas did apparently have floats that enabled them move across water in a standing position.
Kawakami is the 21st head of the Ban family, one of 53 that made up the Koka ninja clan. He started learning ninjutsu (ninja techniques) when he was six, from his master, Masazo Ishida.
"I thought we were just playing and didn't think I was learning ninjutsu," he says.
"I even wondered if he was training me to be a thief because he taught me how to walk quietly and how to break into a house."
Other skills that he mastered include making explosives and mixing medicines.
"I can still mix some herbs to create poison which doesn't necessarily kill but can make one believe that they have a contagious disease," he says.
Kawakami inherited the clan's ancient scrolls when he was 18.
While it was common for these skills to be passed down from father to son, many young men were also adopted into the ninja clans.
There were at least 49 of these but Mr Kawakami's Koka clan and the neighbouring Iga clan remain two of the most famous thanks to their work for powerful feudal lords such as Ieyasu Tokugawa - who united Japan after centuries of civil wars when he won the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.
It is during the Tokugawa era - known as Edo - when official documents make brief references to ninjas' activities.
"They weren't just killers like some people believe from the movies," says Kawakami.
In fact, they had day jobs. "Because you cannot make a living being a ninja," he laughs.
There are many theories about these day jobs. Some ninjas are believed to have been farmers, and others pedlars who used their day jobs to spy.
"We believe some became samurai during the Edo period," says Kawakami. "They had to be categorised under the four caste classes set by the Tokugawa government: warrior, farmers, artisan and merchants."
As for the 21st Century ninja, Kawakami is a trained engineer. In his suit, he looks like any other Japanese businessman.
The title of "Japan's last ninja", however, may not be his alone. Eighty-year-old Masaaki Hatsumi says he is the leader of another surviving ninja clan - the Togakure clan.
Hatsumi is the founder of an international martial arts organisation called Bujinkan, with more than 300,000 trainees worldwide.
"They include military and police personnel abroad," he tells me at one of his training halls, known as dojo, in the town of Noda in Chiba prefecture.
It is a small town and not a place you would expect to see many foreigners. But the dojo, big enough for 48 tatami mats, is full of trainees who are glued to every move that Hatsumi makes. His actions are not big, occasionally with some weapons, but mainly barehanded.
Hatsumi explains to his pupils how those small moves can be used to take enemies out.
Paul Harper from the UK is one of many dedicated followers. For a quarter of a century, he has been coming to Hatsumi for a few weeks of lessons every year.
"Back in the early 80s, there were various martial art magazines and I was studying Karate at the time and I came across some articles about Bujinkan," he says.
"This looked much more complex and a complete form of martial arts where all facets were covered so I wanted to expand my experience."
Harper says his master's ninja heritage interested him at the start but "when you come to understand how the training and techniques of Bujinkan work, the ninja heritage became much less important".
Hatsumi's reputation doesn't stop there. He has contributed to countless films as a martial arts adviser, including the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, and continues to practise ninja techniques.
Both Kawakami and Hatsumi are united on one point. Neither will appoint anyone to take over as the next ninja grandmaster.
"In the age of civil wars or during the Edo period, ninjas' abilities to spy and kill, or mix medicine may have been useful," Kawakami says.
"But we now have guns, the internet and much better medicines, so the art of ninjutsu has no place in the modern age."
As a result, he has decided not to take a protege. He simply teaches ninja history part-time at Mie University.
Despite having so many pupils, Mr Hatsumi, too, has decided not to select an heir.
"My students will continue to practice some of the techniques that were used by ninjas, but [a person] must be destined to succeed the clan." There is no such person, he says.
The ninjas will not be forgotten. But the once-feared secret assassins are now remembered chiefly through fictional characters in cartoons, movies and computer games, or as a tourist attractions.
The museum in the city of Iga welcomes visitors from across the world where a trained group, called Ashura, entertains them with an hourly performance of ninja tricks.
Unlike the silent art of ninjutsu, the shows that school children and foreign visitors watch today are loud and exciting. The mystery has gone even before the last ninja has died.
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Mariko Oi's radio report on the last ninja can be heard on the BBC World Service's Outlook programme. Download the Outlook podcast here.
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Abubakar Shekau is the leader of the Nigerian militant Islamist group Boko Haram, which been behind a deadly insurgency in the north-east of the country for the last five years. Nigeria analyst Abdullahi Tasiu Abubakar looks at the country's most-wanted man, who has been designated a terrorist by the US government. | Boko Haram's leader is said to be a fearless loner, a complex, paradoxical man - part-theologian, part-gangster.
Since he took over, Boko Haram has become more radical and carried out more killings.
Perhaps the most shocking revelation about him was the video clip of him laughing as he admitted the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls in April 2014, promising to sell them.
"I abducted your girls," he said. "I will sell them in the market, by Allah. I will sell them off and marry them off."
Fondly called imam or leader by his followers, Abubakar Muhammad Shekau was born in Shekau village in Nigeria's north-eastern state of Yobe.
Some say he is in his late 30s, others believe he is in his mid-40s - the uncertainty adds to the myths surrounding him.
The US government has offered a reward of up to $7m (£4.6m) for information about his location.
Radical theology student
Shekau was once said to have been killed by security forces in 2009 - only for him to reappear in videos posted on the internet less than a year later as Boko Haram's new leader.
Similar subsequent claims of his death also turned out to be false.
The group's founder, Muhammad Yusuf, died in police custody in July 2009, and hundreds of others were killed during that massive crackdown - which many blame for making the group even more violent.
Shekau has not been seen in public since.
Instead, still images and video clips of him are released from time to time, mostly online, by the group's faceless "public enlightenment department".
Shekau is said to have met his predecessor in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state and Boko Haram's then-stronghold, through a mutual friend, Mamman Nur.
Nigeria's authorities say Nur masterminded the August 2011 bombing of the UN office complex in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.
All three were theology students - and Shekau was seen as the quietest and perhaps the most radical of them.
"He hardly talks, he is fearless," says Ahmed Salkida, a journalist with such good access to Boko Haram that, at one stage, he was suspected of being a member.
He says he only escaped summary execution by police in Maiduguri after an intelligence officer intervened.
"He is one of those who believes that you can sacrifice anything for your belief," Mr Salkida says.
'Aping of Osama Bin Laden'
Shekau is fluent in his native Kanuri language, as well as Hausa and Arabic. He now also adds English sentences in the tapes his group releases to journalists.
When Muhammad Yusuf was killed, Shekau is said to have married one of his four wives and adopted their children - perhaps, say sources who do not want to be named, to preserve Boko Haram's cohesion or "purity".
The group has a highly decentralised structure - the unifying force appears to be ideology, though many believe that they are now more interested in vengeance than in ideology.
Shekau does not communicate directly with the group's foot soldiers - he is said to wield his power through a few select cell leaders, but even then contact is minimal.
"A lot of those calling themselves leaders in the group do not even have contact with him," Mr Salkida says.
Shekau has neither the charismatic streak nor the oratorical skills of his predecessor - but he has an intense ideological commitment and ruthlessness, say people who study the group.
"He is the leader of the more militant wing of the group as testified by his aping of Osama Bin Laden in his video appearances," says Abubakar Mu'azu from the University of Maiduguri.
Shekau issued a chilling message in one of those appearances - which provides a major insight into what his leadership of the group will bring.
"I enjoy killing anyone that God commands me to kill - the way I enjoy killing chickens and rams," he said in the video clip released just after Boko Haram had carried out one of its deadliest attacks, in January 2012, killing more than 180 people in Kano, northern Nigeria's largest city.
Boko Haram at a glance
Who are Boko Haram?
Why Nigeria has not defeated Boko Haram
Shekau is also the group's spiritual leader - and, judging by video footage, he seems equally comfortable delivering sermons to his followers.
"He has a photographic memory and is well-versed in theology," Mr Salkida said.
His followers nickname him "Darul Tawheed", which translates as a specialist in Tawheed. This is an orthodox doctrine of the uniqueness and oneness of Allah, which is the very cornerstone of Islam.
But Nigeria's mainstream Muslim clerics do not regard Shekau as a scholar and question his understanding of Islam.
They regularly condemn the bombings and drive-by shootings committed by his followers against anyone who disagrees with them.
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A man and a woman have died in a house fire. | The blaze broke out in Queens Road in Somersham, Cambridgeshire, at about 20:00 BST on Monday.
The two people died at the scene, police said. Neighbouring houses were evacuated as the firefighters spent about three hours tackling the blaze.
Police said they were not treating the fire as suspicious. The cause is not yet known and the fire service is continuing its investigation.
More on this and other news from Cambridgeshire
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For decades the Anangu people in central Australia have asked tourists not to climb Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock, because of its sacred value. From next year, scaling the giant monolith will be banned. The BBC's Rebecca Henschke reports on why the rock is so significant, and discovers her own personal link along the way. | "When tourists come they just see this one big beautiful rock in the centre of Australia. But this rock means everything to us Anangu."
Pamela Taylor stares up at the mighty rock. She is one of the traditional owners of Uluru and a holder of the ancient sacred stories that are enshrined within it.
"The rock has got a lot of stories," she says as we sit down in the red sand.
"Some of them I can't tell you. [They are] too sacred or we will be in trouble - I will be in trouble. Some I tell so people like you can understand."
The stories are passed down orally as precious inheritance through families.
The Anangu believe that in the beginning, the world was unformed and featureless. Ancestral beings emerged from this void and travelled across the land, creating all living species and forms.
Uluru is the physical evidence of the feats performed by ancestral beings during this creation time.
Ms Taylor points to a deep cave high in the rock. "Blue tongue lizard lives right up the top there," she says.
Her family holds the story of Lungkata, a greedy and dishonest blue-tongue lizard ancestral being, who came to Uluru from the north and stole meat from Emu.
When Emu followed him back to his cave, Lungkata ignored him.
"He went back to sleep, pretending he was asleep. Emu got very angry and made a fire and it went right up into the cave and the smoke blocked him and he fell down," Ms Taylor says.
She points to a huge blue patch that runs down from the cave. That is where his burnt body rolled down and left a mark, she says.
"He did bad things by going around stealing. That's why we tell the children not to go around stealing things, because they will get punishment like Lungkata."
"I tell [the] story about that to my grandsons, so they learn."
The tale of Kuniya
The caves, lines and marks on the rock all have deep meaning, and stories that tell how they were created.
The family of Sammy Wilson, another traditional owner, holds the story of Kuniya, a woman python at Uluru. She fought Liru, a poisonous snake, at Uluru, to protect her nephew.
Signs of that ferocious battle are all around a waterhole at the base of the rock, he says.
Mr Wilson points out Kuniya herself in the stone, the image of her python head turning to look back.
"When you go to a city, you find parks with statues of someone who has done something important," he says. "Well this is equivalent of a statue like that. This is what we have in our country to show us our past."
And elders say that when you climb Uluru, you are on the traditional route taken by ancestral Mala men - a path of deep spiritual significance.
Ignoring Anangu wishes
"Tourists are like ants up and down every day, climbing up and down," says Ms Taylor.
"Their shoes they are scraping away at the rock, little by little bit. It's now like a rope when you see it from far away. It wasn't meant to be like that."
Signs in six languages at the base of Uluru ask people not to climb the rock, explaining that it violates traditional law.
But despite that, every day that I have been here a steady stream of people have gone up. Many have come to climb it before it is closed next year.
One tourist from Queensland, Pamela, says she read the signs. But she says: "I am going to do it anyway because this will be the last chance, because next year they are closing it off and next year I will be too old."
She admits she hasn't thought too much about the sacred nature of the rock.
"It's because of my ego I want to climb it," she says. "I just turned 70 and I have two replacement knees and I want to see if I can do it."
For Mr Wilson, it's a painful thing to watch.
"Sometimes it feels like I could be talking and talking until I am exhausted and worn out and some people would still not understand," he says.
"We have been talking for so long about wanting to have it closed, that some of our elders have passed away."
Ending the climb
Mr Wilson is a member of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Board, which jointly manages the national park. In a historic vote last year, its board of 12 people - including eight Anangu elders - decided to end the climb.
"I was there on that day, and there were tears in people's eyes. Not just Anangu, but people who have been here for many, many years," says Steve Baldwin, manager of the Uluru and Kata-Tjuta Park Operations and Visitor Service.
"Everyone felt so relieved that finally it's being closed," he adds.
So why has it taken so long?
"Anangu are very mindful that for tourism, there are many people who want to climb Uluru," he says. "And that's why you have the lead time of two years. They have done things the right way."
But for the Anangu people, mass tourism on their land hasn't been done the right way for decades.
It was not until 1979 that they were recognised as traditional owners of this land - despite living there for more than 40,000 years.
It took another six years to be presented with the freehold title deeds for the area - an event known as the "Handback". And it was not until 2001 that there was an official Anangu ranger of the park.
The threat of losing tourism felt like a gun being held to their head, says Mr Wilson.
"That's what it felt like - people trying to stop us from expressing ourselves," he says. "[They were] stopping us from doing what we needed to do - what we felt was right - so we just asked, please put that gun aside so that we can talk properly."
Mr Wilson has set up his own tourism company for visitors to see the land through the eyes of the Anangu people.
"This is our country here and we want people to come and learn from us and how sacred it is," he says.
My family
I grew up on Anēwan land, in Armidale, in an area of European settlers called New England. But my family on my father's side were among the first settlers to come from Europe to South Australia.
And while I was working on this story I realised I had a much closer connection to Uluru, or Ayers Rock, than I had realised.
In 1873, when European explorer William Gosse came across the giant rock in the middle of the desert, he named it after the chief secretary of South Australia at the time, Henry Ayers, who is my great great great great uncle. He married my ancestor Lady Anne Ayers.
I tell Mr Wilson that I am sorry for that ignorant act and my family's role in disrespecting the indigenous people of this land.
His reaction surprises me. He is excited - because he says his great great grandfather met Mr Gosse.
"He wrote down my ancestor's name down too! The blue tongue lizard ancestor," he says. "I have no idea why they gave it that name (Ayers Rock). White fellows seem to give names randomly," he laughs.
Later I tell another Anangu elder, Alison Hunt, and apologise again for my family's role.
"Oh, that's interesting!" she says. "But Aboriginal people don't hold grudges, because that was done in the past," she adds, kindly.
"Now today Aboriginal people want to walk together with non-indigenous people and develop that understanding, and that trust about what happened rather than living in the past," she says, while giving me a cuddle.
"We all about coming together."
Last year about 300 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people came together at Uluru, to demand real legal and political recognition and power as the first peoples of Australia.
The Australian government later rejected a proposal to form a body in parliament representing indigenous peoples. The response drew criticism from Aboriginal leaders.
More than 200 years since the British invasion, Australia remains the only Commonwealth country to have never signed a treaty with its first inhabitants.
"Government and people should respect and recognise that we are the first people of the land," says Ms Hunt.
Next generation
To the rhythm of clapping sticks, Ms Hunt sways, slowly moving forward, sliding her feet through the rich red sand, her bare breasts painted with markings.
This is an inma, or welcome ceremony for tourists who are here for a cultural festival called Tjungu that showcases indigenous music and arts from across the country.
Also performing is a schoolgirl drumming group Drum Atweme.
Speaking to the girls after the show, it's clear that despite enormous pressure the sacred stories are being passed on.
"When I go to the rock and see the paintings in the cave I felt like my great great great grandfather is right beside me," says 11-year-old Tilley.
"We are not allowed to go on the rock or you will be sick because you are stepping on your culture and on your dreaming."
With the closing of the climb, the elders hope visitors can spend more time talking with them to understand this.
"There will be more time to sit and talk like we are doing here - right now there is not enough of this kind of talking," says Ms Taylor.
Reclaiming the Rock will air on the BBC News channel on Saturday 30 June at 0930 and 2130 (GMT), and Sunday 1 July at 0230 and 1530 (GMT), and at various times across the weekend on BBC World. You can also listen to Rebecca Henschke's World Service documentary on the BBC World Service website.
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Two people have been bailed over the suspected murder of a man with learning difficulties found dead in a river. | Joe Pooley was found on 13 August in the River Gipping, near Suffolk Retail Park, in Ipswich. Post-mortem tests found the 22-year-old had drowned.
A man, 30, and a woman, 24, both from the town, were arrested on Thursday and have been bailed until the 12 and 14 February respectively.
Three others have all been released under investigation.
A 29-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of murder, while a 36-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
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A widespread practice in the US known as "pay to stay" charges jail inmates a daily fee while they are incarcerated. For those who are in and out of the local county or city lock-ups - particularly those struggling with addiction - that can lead to sky-high debts. | By Jessica LussenhopBBC News Magazine
David Mahoney is $21,000 (£13,650) in debt. Not from credit cards. Not from school loans.
He's accumulated the massive tab because of the days he spent locked up in the local jail in Marion, Ohio, which is a small town with a major heroin epidemic. Mahoney, a lanky 41-year-old, has struggled with addiction since he was a teenager, eventually stealing to fuel his habit. He got caught a lot, even burgling the same bar twice.
"The urge to use cocaine and crack - that's what it led to it. Once I start using there's no going back for me," he says.
Today, he's 14 months sober, and is a resident and employee of the Arnita Pittman Community Recovery Center, a sober living house on the northern edge of town. His counsellor says he is doing "awesome" and he hopes to one day to become an addiction counsellor himself.
But while Mahoney may have left his habits behind, he can't shake his debt. It has accumulated over 15 years of trouble with the law and is a separate charge from the restitution he must pay to the victims he stole from, or any administrative costs he has incurred by going to court.
It comes from a daily "pay-to-stay" fee - sometimes called "pay for stay" - that he was charged by the local jail, the Multi-County Correctional Center. He was charged $50 each day he spent in jail, plus a $100 booking fee. It works almost as if he checked into a hotel and got a bill when he checked out.
"Obviously, it's my fault I'm in the situation I am in. I'm trying to start over," he says. "People that end up in jail are usually down on their luck anyway. They're going through some trials and tribulations in life. Why focus on the people who are already struggling?"
He is not alone - the guy that lives down the hall from him at the sober living house owes nearly $22,000. Yet a third resident has them both beat at $35,000. Anecdotally (and confirmed by the Multi-County jail's administrator) they know of at least one other man in town who owes $50,000.
"I got collection people calling on it," says Brian Reed, the man with the $35,000 tab. "I just get hopeless."
Combined, five residents of the tiny Arnita Pittman Center represent over $100,000 worth of pay-to-stay debt. None of them believe they will ever be able to pay it off. Both Reed and Mahoney are still paying off their fines and restitution, not to mention school and medical bills. They're working on their other debts, but they don't see the point of putting money towards their pay-to-stay.
Even Marion County Sheriff Tim Bailey, who is supportive of the fees, was surprised when he heard how high some of the debts had climbed.
"Wow," he told BBC News. "That's outrageous."
There's an estimated $10bn worth of criminal justice debt in the US, held by 10m men and women who have had some interaction with the criminal justice system. It's a type of debt that's not well understood or studied.
Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio released the first comprehensive study looking specifically at pay-to-stay policies and how they are used in the state. At a press conference, the legal group called for the practice to be eradicated.
"Pay-to-stay jail fees devastate prisoners and their families," said Mike Brickner, the group's senior policy director, in a prepared statement.
After requesting records from all 75 city and county lock-ups in Ohio, the study shows that 40 charge per diem fees in a patchwork style. Where you are arrested and jailed can make a huge difference in whether and how many fees are assessed - the fees affect mostly rural and suburban counties, and some charge as little as $1 or as much as $66 a day. The ACLU found former inmates with debts ranging from several hundred dollars up to $35,000.
"We're hearing from people who are claiming this is going on their credit scores and preventing them from doing all sorts of things," says Brickner.
According to Lauren-Brooke Eisen, senior counsel in the Brennan Center's Justice Program at New York University's School of Law, these types of fees are legal in nearly every state - only Washington DC and Hawaii do not have a law authorising pay-to-stay charges. Her group is working on a multi-year project to show what the revenue and costs are of these programmes around the country, but at the present time the practice remains largely unexamined.
"You're really shifting the onus onto the poorest members of our society in the justice system. If they can't pay their family members pay, or their grandmothers pay," she says.
In the aftermath of Ferguson, courts around the country from Michigan to Texas have been called out for using law enforcement as a revenue-generating arm of the local government. Brickner says pay-to-stay policies are just another example of attempting to make money off poor people caught in the criminal justice system.
"They simply don't work. People are coming out of jail with hundreds or thousands of dollars' worth of debt, and if you are a returning citizen, having that is just another albatross around your neck," he says. "It's a programme that maybe feels good to people who have a tough on crime mentality, but in fact it's sort of a fruitless exercise."
Dale Osborne, the jail administrator at the Multi-County Correctional Facility, makes the same argument for pay-to-stay that's been made since the practice became legal in Ohio in the mid-90s.
"It offsets the expenses that the taxpayers are required to have," he says. "The more revenue I can generate within a facility, the less the taxpayers have to pay."
But he admits that while the programme bills for about $2m a year, they collect only about $60,000-$70,000. That's about a 3% collection rate.
"If we lost the ability to have a pay-for-stay programme here I'm not going to have any huge heartache over the loss of it," he says.
The sum that is able to be collected doesn't go straight into the county coffers, either - the jail contracts with a company called Intellitech Corporation, which acts as a collections agent, sending letters and making phone calls to former inmates. If the debtor sends a check to Intellitech or arranges a payment plan with them, 30% of the money goes to the county and 70% goes to Intellitech.
According to the company's president, John Jacobs, Intellitech runs pay-to-stay programs in 12 counties in Ohio and in six other states. He says that by becoming the "Walmart" of pay-to-stay collections, his company makes the practice viable for counties.
"It's something we'll continue to do because we believe in it," he says, calling it "a win for the taxpayers and a win for the sheriff."
Other jurisdictions around the country have opted to run pay-for-stay programmes for themselves. Macomb County, Michigan, has one of the oldest programmes, and in the past reported that the practice has collected $18m over 26 years. But Sheriff Tony Wickersham says that revenue has dropped off since 2009, and in the last three years collected only an average of $240,000 a year with two full-time staffers running it.
The cost of running it is almost equal to what they bring in, he says.
Many counties who've had similar results or even operated the programme at a loss have abandoned the practice. Others say even the small amounts yielded are worth the effort, and one programme in Dakota County, Minnesota, specifically puts all its pay-to-stay revenue into programmes to assist with prisoner re-entry.
"Our goal is to reduce recidivism. If we can use that money to turn around and not see them again it's well worth it," says chief deputy Joe Leko.
In a 2005 study of 224 local jails across the country, researchers found that while per-day fees generated millions in revenue, jail administrators rated the practice as their "most effective" policy almost as often as they cited it as their "least effective" policy.
How strictly counties choose to go after outstanding debts varies quite a bit as well. Many debtors around the state interviewed by the ACLU of Ohio described "collections agents as very aggressive and the threat of credit reporting was used," says Brickner. The study found that 26 counties in the state pursue debts with collections.
In Michigan, Macomb County's website says that it "often uses legal action and or collections agencies. We sue approximately 1,200 cases per year…We have garnished wages, bank accounts, and tax refunds. We have filed and collected with execution against property (taken vehicles, boats, mobile homes, etc)". Wickersham says they only pursue cases where the inmate has found employment after release.
Although Intellitech acts as a collections agent for its clients, Jacobs says they do not report any of the debt to credit reporting agencies. In a national survey, jail administrators around the country were split as to whether or not they believed collections processes were worth pursuing.
Brickner of the ACLU argues that regardless of whether or not debts are aggressively pursued, the practice is fundamentally flawed.
"Nationally and here in Ohio we are really in a place where we want to see reform of our criminal justice system," he says. "I'm really hopeful that through the data and through these stories people will see this is a policy that just doesn't work. There are better things we can do here in Ohio."
Both Mahoney and Reed say their families have stepped in over the years to try to pay down the debt, but at this point they have stopped. Mahoney is concentrating on his school debt so that he can go back to class and finish his associate degree.
Although he says he has little hope that his pay-to-stay debt will ever be wiped out, he hopes the practice will fall out of favour.
"I would love to see it stopped and quit affecting people's live by charging them for being down and out," he says.
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A lollipop lady who stepped in front of an out-of-control car to protect schoolchildren has received an award for her bravery. | Karin Williams from Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan, was injured along with five children and three adults outside Rhws Primary School in July 2013.
On Wednesday, she was presented with a Royal Humane Society bronze medal for her actions.
The driver of the car was found guilty of careless driving in May 2014.
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About 35 firefighters have been tackling a blaze spread across four premises in the Rhondda valleys town of Tonypandy. | Emergency crews from South Wales Fire and Rescue were called to the properties at Dunraven Street at 19:45 BST on Thursday evening.
The fire involved floors above commercial properties in the street.
There have been no reports of any injuries and roads in the area have been closed to traffic.
The fire is thought to have started in the ground floor of an empty shop and travelled up through a flat above and into the roof before next door premises caught light.
Crews from Tonypandy, Treorchy, Gilfach Goch were initially called in, followed by a request for more resources from Cardiff, including an aerial platform, while a water bowser has also been brought in from Aberbargoed.
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A man and a woman in their 80s have been found dead at a house in Devon. | The elderly couple were discovered at the property on Drake Avenue, Torquay, when police were called to check on them at about 11:00 BST.
Devon and Cornwall Police said it was investigating the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
The force said it would "like to reassure the local community no-one else is being looked for in relation to this incident at this time".
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At least four people died and dozens more were injured when a train derailed near Morocco's capital Rabat, reports say. | Reuters news agency quotes an official who says up to eight people may have died, with 80 more injured.
The incident occurred in Bouknadel, on the Atlantic coast between the capital and the city of Kenitra.
Social media images after the crash show a train carriage flipped on its side, with debris strewn on the tracks.
Earlier reports in the Moroccan press suggested that two trains had collided.
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Talks aimed at averting strikes by NHS staff in England will resume on Friday after being adjourned on Wednesday evening, unions have said. | Union leaders met Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt for a second time to try to resolve the pay dispute.
Industrial action remains on for 29 January, as unions criticise ministers for not accepting a recommended 1% pay rise for all NHS staff.
Unison's Christina McAnea said unions were willing to continue with talks.
But she added: "The industrial action planned for next week will go ahead unless a fair pay deal for NHS workers can be reached."
Ahead of Wednesday's meeting, Mr Hunt said: "The public will find it hard to understand why unions are taking this action when services are under pressure."
Several NHS walkouts were staged across the country last year.
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A new 150-space visitors' car park is to open at a hospital in Nottingham.
| It will be on the site of a former multi-storey car park that was demolished because of safety fears at the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC).
The car park, which opens on Monday, is part of a £3m revamp of parking facilities at the QMC and at the City Hospital over the next two years.
Danny Mortimer, of Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, said the lack of spaces had been a problem.
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They're still baking at the Factory of Happiness. | By Sarah RainsfordBBC News, Moscow
Staff in face masks sprinkle nuts and berries on to buns and pipe chocolate into pastries, but only a handful are left working the production line and their creations are for takeaway only now.
The coronavirus lockdown has forced the firm to close its chain of family-friendly cafes, leaving the business struggling to stay afloat. But its owner says the state isn't holding out any lifelines.
So when Anastasia Tatulova came face-to-face with Russia's president, she didn't hold back.
"I'll try to beg for your help without crying, but this really is a tragedy," she told Vladimir Putin last month, informing him that "half-measures" of support would not work.
As Covid-19 restrictions began kicking in and companies shed staff, Ms Tatulova found herself in the front row at a meeting between entrepreneurs and the president. Her passionate 12-minute takedown was shown live on state television.
"At that moment, I just needed him to hear me," the businesswoman explained recently, saying she was barely sleeping now - constantly conjuring up new ways to survive.
"I thought he understood. But there've been no results, and the government's measures are not enough. We just have to manage, ourselves."
With the International Monetary Fund predicting the worst global recession since the 1930s Great Depression, Russia's economy is clearly not immune.
Neither are its politicians, including President Putin. He has crafted an image for himself over his long rule as the leader who lifted Russia out of the post-Soviet chaos to bring order and prosperity.
Mr Putin had planned to play on that trademark "stability" this week by winning a nationwide vote to alter the constitution and clear his way to stay in power for another two terms. But the ballot was reluctantly postponed, judged too dangerous at the height of a pandemic.
Now, some sense problems ahead for the president. "The paternalistic Russian state… can't implement their promises. They can't help people, can't help business," argued Andrei Kolesnikov of the Moscow Carnegie Centre think-tank.
The bulk of state help and handouts is being directed at big business: more employees, more critical for Russia's economy - and less critical of its president.
It has left others feeling abandoned.
"I can't predict a catastrophe for this regime [but] it's a serious challenge to Putin," Mr Kolesnikov suggested, pointing out that the Kremlin has no obvious new rallying cry to distract people from their difficulties. "The pandemic works more efficiently, compared to the political opposition and protesters."
There are already some signs of that frustration spreading to Russia's regions, like the virus itself.
On Monday, hundreds of people in the southern city of Vladikavkaz came out to rally against the lockdown. The regional government is offering just 3,000 roubles (£32; $40) additional payment to those who lose their jobs.
There has also been a scattering of virtual protests using online map applications, where people clustering outside government buildings post messages "demanding" more help.
"It feels like a big failure of government right now," Nastya Mikhailova told the BBC from Novosibirsk in Siberia.
The 29-year-old just lost her job in events management and only has savings for a couple of weeks. It is thought coronavirus will wipe out some eight million jobs in Russia, before it's done.
"I don't feel they are really thinking how to make people happy; we are only worried," Nastya said.
President Putin has ordered an increase in the unemployment benefit, but only to subsistence level.
As for wage support for companies, Russia is offering to cover some 12,000 roubles a month - a far smaller share than many governments in Europe. It only applies if a firm retains 90% of its staff, which for many smaller companies is impossible.
Struggling to pay his own team, the owner of a chain of fitness clubs in Yekaterinburg vented his annoyance, in an online letter to staff.
Alexei Romanov accused Vladimir Putin of being "fixated" on his constitutional reform project rather than the coronavirus crisis. He described Russia's political class as "totally lost".
"The government measures are nowhere near enough, they won't save us," the businessman told the BBC. "I think they're showing incompetence... We can only rely on ourselves."
The Kremlin's spokesman shrugged off a question about the potential political impact of any discontent, saying he disagreed with the very concept.
Vladimir Putin, he stressed, was "working every day to take measures to minimise the negative impact" of the pandemic.
How long that might last is unclear. At one of Anastasia Tatulova's cafes, the tables are still set with salt and pepper and there are giant stuffed bears propped up in some of the seats.
But the doors are firmly shut, with a peak to the epidemic still not in sight. Whatever happens, Ms Tatulova will have no further say in how businesses cope: she was removed from a government advisory group following her unscripted exchange with the president.
"They probably worried what I'd say next," she told us, smiling. "I don't think I said anything offensive, though. It's only what everyone there wanted to tell him."
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Campaigners have marched through a Kent village in protest at plans to build a Tesco Express store in a former pub.
| They oppose the supermarket giant opening a convenience store at the former Upper Red Lion pub in Herne.
Frank Holden, who chairs the Herne Against Tesco group, said it wanted to keep the village free from "corporate business".
In a letter to residents, Tesco said it would create about 20 jobs and it had a policy of being "a good neighbour".
The company was unavailable for comment on Sunday.
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They have gone, or so it seems. | Jonathan AmosScience correspondent@BBCAmoson Twitter
The biggest rat eradication programme ever undertaken appears to have rid South Georgia island in the South Atlantic of its pest problem.
A survey of the British Overseas Territory has found no trace of the rodents that had been attacking the local birdlife.
The outcome is a triumph for the South Georgia Heritage Trust, the Scottish charity that led the £10m campaign to protect the biodiversity hotspot.
Helicopters were used to systematically drop poison pellets across the island's coastal fringes in three phases starting in 2010/11.
But international best practice had required the extermination team to wait two years after the last distribution of rodenticide before assessing its work.
That has just now been completed with experts combing the island with sniffer dogs.
Traps were also set, along with enticing "chew sticks" pasted with peanut butter. But there is not a jot of evidence to suggest any live rats are still present.
Prof Mike Richardson, the chair of the restoration project steering committee, said it had been a nerve-wracking wait for the survey's result to come through.
"We've been on tenterhooks; would there be a remnant enclave somewhere? But I'm pleased to say over the last six months, not a single sign of a rodent has been found. And so to the best of our knowledge, this island is now rodent-free," he told reporters.
First visited by the great explorer James Cook in 1775, the UK overseas territory is rightly famed for its wildlife. Thousands of tourists flock to the 170km-long island each year to see its seals, penguins, and albatrosses. Indeed, millions of birds, representing more than 30 different species, breed on this sub-Antarctic landmass - and all of them must nest either on the ground or just below it in burrows because there are no trees.
And it is this behaviour that exposed them to predation from the invasive rodents that got on to the territory when sealers and whalers started using it as a base in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
The rats and mice were voracious, eating birds alive - albatrosses, petrels, prions; anything they could get their teeth into, and that included chicks that were often several times their own size.
Of particular concern, though, was the plight of the South Georgia Pipit (Anthus antarcticus), the world's most southerly songbird; and a duck - the South Georgia Pintail (Anas georgica georgica). These two land birds live nowhere else on the planet.
The good news is that their numbers are already bouncing back in the absence of the rats.
One can never say never, but the chances of a rodent being alive on South Georgia today are very, very slim.
Dickie Hall, the director of the restoration project, paid tribute to his team.
Over the past six months, the group monitored more than 1,500 sites. And in their search for any hangers-on, the three detection dogs in the party walked an extraordinary combined total of 2,420km.
"Dogs have an incredible sense of smell," Mr Hall said. "They can detect rodent scent from several metres, or even tens of metres if conditions are right. So by walking through a piece of habitat, we can be very confident with these dogs of finding rodents if there are any present."
Alison Neil, the chief executive of the Dundee-based SGHT, also lauded those who worked in the field. In addition, she thanked the trust's many financial donors, including the tourists who go to the island.
"We get something like 9,000 of them a year on South Georgia. They all really contributed and we actually raised about £200,000 a season from the cruise ship passengers."
Ordinarily, extermination on the scale seen in South Georgia would be very difficult to achieve - but for one factor. The sub-Antarctic island is covered by numerous glaciers and these effectively divided up the territory into convenient killing zones.
With rodents unwilling to cross ice fields, the project team knew it could clear areas and have confidence they would not be re-infested from places yet to be baited.
All this is knowledge that bears down heavily now on the future.
Climate change has put the glaciers into rapid retreat. When this ice is gone, it will be much more difficult to tackle any future invasion - maybe even impossible.
A big responsibility rests on current biosecurity protocols. Already, tourist ships are not allowed to dock in port; passengers come ashore on inflatables after inspection of their clothing and bags.
Government and navy vessels that are permitted to tie up have had their cargo baited and fumigated. Sweeping ships with rat-detecting dogs is also being trialled.
"Invasive non-native species continue to be one of the biggest environmental threats to biodiversity," said Lord Gardiner, a minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). "As the minister responsible for biosecurity, it's absolutely essential that all of this work is not put in jeopardy by one loose connection," he told BBC News.
And Prof Richardson added: "Even one pregnant rat getting back on to South Georgia could restart this whole cycle."
[email protected] and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
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Donald Trump spent 11 days golfing and tweeting from his oceanside resort, basking in the warmth of the southern Florida sun and the glow of successful passage of a tax-reform bill, the first major piece of legislation of his nearly year-old presidential term. | Anthony ZurcherNorth America reporter@awzurcheron Twitter
Now Mr Trump has returned to Washington, where he faces the cold reality of a January filled with deadlines, hard decisions and an ever-lingering potential for missteps and bad news - a winter of peril for a presidency balanced on a knife's edge.
With November mid-term elections looming, here are just a few of the major tasks that sit in the White House in-box as the new year gets under way.
Budget blues
From the people who brought you the impending budget showdown of 30 September, 8 December and 22 December, comes the exciting fourth instalment of this epic saga. Once again, legislators are faced with funding the federal government for the current fiscal year or risking a government shutdown. Every previous cliffhanger had ended with a decision to temporarily approve spending at the previous year's levels. The most recent extension ends on 19 January.
Would Donald Trump win an election today?
If they decide to continue along that path, it wouldn't be the first time in recent memory - but at some point legislators will want to put their mark on the federal government by rejigging how dollars are allocated. Mr Trump's much-touted border wall, increased defence spending, cuts to government programmes (once a headline-grabbing affair but now largely forgotten) and infrastructure investment are all up for grabs.
In addition, Congress has to vote to raise previously mandated budget caps or an axe will fall on military and domestic spending alike.
Bottom line: Congress has been kicking the can down the road like a legislative Lionel Messi. Will they finally take their shot?
Immigration issues
On 5 September Mr Trump started a countdown - what he termed an "orderly wind down" - to the termination of a programme that provided temporary normalised immigration status for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children.
Some previously covered individuals began losing protections from the Obama-era measure, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca), in December, with the number growing at a rate of more than 100 a day. It is unclear, however, if the Trump administration will make any special effort to target them for deportation.
What is clear, however, is that the political pressure for some form of legislative Daca authorisation is increasing. In a tweet on 2 January, the president tried to assign blame for the impasse on his opponents, saying that Democrats are "doing nothing" and "just interested in politics", which he says will lead to increased Hispanic support for his party.
Although it seems unlikely that Republicans will benefit from a crisis Mr Trump himself instigated, Democratic politicians have been targeted by pro-Daca protesters, who feel the party has been insufficiently aggressive in attempting to force a deal.
The president has said he wants immigration reform and border-wall funding to be part of any Daca agreement, while Democrats have insisted on much narrower legislation. Someone will have to budge.
Bottom line: Unless a deal is brokered soon, more and more Daca recipients will be forced back into the legal shadows, where they can't pursue proper jobs, financial security or educational opportunities. There could be political winners and losers in such a situation, but there is likely to be plenty of blame to go around.
Healthcare headaches
The Children's Health Insurance Program (Chip), which provides government-funded health insurance for 9 million US children from low-income families above the poverty line, has had broad bipartisan support since it was first enacted in 1997. In the past few months, however, it has been the centre of a political tug-of-war, as funding was set to expire without reauthorisation.
Five things we learned from Donald Trump's Christmas holiday
In late December, Congress allocated enough money to keep Chip afloat until March, but the states that manage the services want a permanent fix so they don't have to continue to make preparations for a budgetary crunch. Democrats are pushing for a straight-up reauthorisation, while Republicans seek to tie the bill to cuts in other government healthcare programmes.
The arguments over Chip are nothing compared to the Obamacare repeal conflagrations, which show no signs of ending in 2018. In the recently passed tax reform bill, Republicans dealt a blow to the system by setting a January 2019 end to the mandate that all Americans have insurance or face a tax penalty.
The provision was an Obamacare lynchpin, as it increased the number of healthy Americans in the insurance pool and prevented individuals from waiting to buy health insurance until they got sick.
Democrats and some Republican moderates have been clamouring for a number of legislative provisions that will bring increased stability to the health-insurance marketplaces in 2018. Hard-line conservatives, on the other hand, seem content to chip away at the foundations until the whole thing collapses.
Bottom line: Expect more healthcare fights in 2018, with poor children caught in the middle.
Iranian intrigue
Back in mid-October, Mr Trump - to great fanfare, including a high-profile White House statement - officially decertified Iran's compliance with the terms of the nuclear deal that Barack Obama and representatives of five other major world powers brokered in 2015.
That set off a 60-day period during which Congress could, by majority vote, choose to re-impose sanctions on Iran. Congress chose to do … nothing.
On 11 January, as mandated by the agreement, Mr Trump must once again decide whether to certify Iran's compliance. If the president again declines, the bite of such a move given recent congressional inaction will be greatly diminished.
The president could choose to bypass Congress and re-impose sanctions on his own. Mid-January will mark the next once-every-three-month opportunity for him to end the current waivers suspending previous economic punishments.
Given Mr Trump's sharp rhetoric in support of the recent Iranian protests, he may decide more dramatic action is warranted. Too heavy a US hand, however, could prompt the Iranian public to rally behind their government.
Bottom line: In October the president said if Congress failed to "reach a solution" on Iran, he'd terminate the deal. Congressional inaction - and Iranian unrest - puts the president on the spot again.
Trying times
As if all this weren't enough, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which grants the US government sweeping powers to monitor communications without individualised court-issued warrants, is set to expire on 19 January. Congress passed a temporary extension of the measure in December, but civil libertarians on the left and right will make an effort to derail a lengthy reauthorisation.
In December the House of Representatives approved an $81bn disaster relief bill, including funds for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, but the Senate has yet to take action. Nearly half of Puerto Rican customers are still without power after Hurricane Maria hit the island in mid-September.
Beyond these immediate concerns, the president and his fellow Republicans will have to settle on a legislative course for the coming months. They could try for a stand-alone infrastructure spending bill, which was one of Mr Trump's top campaign promises. The president could push for new trade legislation, such as a revised North America Free Trade Agreement (if such a thing ever emerges from negotiations with Mexico and Canada). Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has shown interest in making another run at reforming US social safety-net programmes.
And, oh yeah, there's still that little matter of Robert Mueller's investigation into possible Trump campaign ties to Russia to account for. A metaphorical bombshell here - or real bombshells on the Korean Peninsula - could throw everything else into total disarray.
The stakes are high, as the next few months will be the last chance for Republicans to make their mark before the US political world focuses squarely on the November mid-term elections. Every seat in the House of Representatives, a third of the US Senate and a gaggle of key state governorships will be up for grabs this year.
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Can Republicans maintain their unified control of the US government for another two years, or will Democrats regain control of at least one chamber of Congress, slamming the door on Mr Trump's more ambitious legislative goals? If the recent elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Alabama are any indication, it could be a rough ride for the incumbent party.
Bottom line: The holidays are over. January is going to have all the excitement of the first year of the Trump presidency, condensed into one action-packed month.
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The euro, the dream of many a politician in the years following World War II, was established in Maastricht by the European Union (EU) in 1992. | To join the currency, member states had to qualify by meeting the terms of the treaty in terms of budget deficits, inflation, interest rates and other monetary requirements.
Of EU members at the time, the UK, Sweden and Denmark declined to join the currency.
Since then, there have been many twists and turns for the countries that use the single currency.
1999
On 1 January, the currency officially comes into existence.
2001
Greece joins the euro.
2002
On 1 January, notes and coins are introduced.
2008
Malta and Cyprus join the euro, following Slovenia the previous year.
In December, EU leaders agree on a 200bn-euro stimulus plan to help boost European growth following the global financial crisis.
2009
Slovakia joins the euro.
Estonia, Denmark, Latvia and Lithuania join the Exchange Rate Mechanism to bring their currencies and monetary policy into line with the euro in preparation for joining.
In April, the EU orders France, Spain, the Irish Republic and Greece to reduce their budget deficits - the difference between their spending and tax receipts.
In October, amid much anger towards the previous government over corruption and spending, George Papandreou's Socialists win an emphatic snap general election victory in Greece.
In November, concerns about some EU member states' debts start to grow following the Dubai sovereign debt crisis.
In December, Greece admits that its debts have reached 300bn euros - the highest in modern history.
Greece is burdened with debt amounting to 113% of GDP - nearly double the eurozone limit of 60%. Ratings agencies start to downgrade Greek bank and government debt.
Mr Papandreou insists that his country is "not about to default on its debts".
2010
In January, an EU report condemns "severe irregularities" in Greek accounting procedures. Greece's budget deficit in 2009 is revised upwards to 12.7%, from 3.7%, and more than four times the maximum allowed by EU rules.
The European Central Bank dismisses speculation that Greece will have to leave the EU.
In February, Greece unveils a series of austerity measures aimed at curbing the deficit.
Concern starts to build about all the heavily indebted countries in Europe - Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain.
On 11 February, the EU promises to act over Greek debts and tells Greece to make further spending cuts. The austerity plans spark strikes and riots in the streets.
In March, Mr Papandreou continues to insist that no bailout is needed. The euro continues to fall against the dollar and the pound.
The eurozone and IMF agree a safety net of 22bn euros to help Greece - but no loans.
In April, following worsening financial markets and more protests, eurozone countries agree to provide up to 30bn euros in emergency loans.
Greek borrowing costs reach yet further record highs. The EU announces that the Greek deficit is even worse than thought after reviewing its accounts - 13.6% of GDP, not 12.7%.
Finally, on 2 May, the eurozone members and the IMF agree a 110bn-euro bailout package to rescue Greece.
The euro continues to fall and other EU member state debt starts to come under scrutiny, starting with the Republic of Ireland.
In November, the EU and IMF agree to a bailout package to the Irish Republic totalling 85bn euros. The Irish Republic soon passes the toughest budget in the country's history.
Amid growing speculation, the EU denies that Portugal will be next for a bailout.
2011
On 1 January, Estonia joins the euro, taking the number of countries with the single currency to 17.
In February, eurozone finance ministers set up a permanent bailout fund, called the European Stability Mechanism, worth about 500bn euros.
In April, Portugal admits it cannot deal with its finances itself and asks the EU for help.
In May, the eurozone and the IMF approve a 78bn-euro bailout for Portugal.
In June, eurozone ministers say Greece must impose new austerity measures before it gets the next tranche of its loan, without which the country will probably default on its enormous debts.
Talk abounds that Greece will be forced to become the first country to leave the eurozone.
In July, the Greek parliament votes in favour of a fresh round of drastic austerity measures, the EU approves the latest tranche of the Greek loan, worth 12bn euros.
A second bailout for Greece is agreed. The eurozone agrees a comprehensive 109bn-euro ($155bn; £96.3bn) package designed to resolve the Greek crisis and prevent contagion among other European economies.
In August, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warns that the sovereign debt crisis is spreading beyond the periphery of the eurozone.
The yields on government bonds from Spain and Italy rise sharply - and Germany's falls to record lows - as investors demand huge returns to borrow.
On 7 August, the European Central Bank says it will buy Italian and Spanish government bonds to try to bring down their borrowing costs, as concern grows that the debt crisis may spread to the larger economies of Italy and Spain.
The G7 group of countries also says it is "determined to react in a co-ordinated manner," in an attempt to reassure investors in the wake of massive falls on global stock markets.
During September, Spain passes a constititional amendment to add in a "golden rule," keeping future budget deficits to a strict limit.
Italy passes a 50bn-euro austerity budget to balance the budget by 2013 after weeks of haggling in parliament. There is fierce public opposition to the measures - and several key measures were watered down.
The European Commission predicts that economic growth in the eurozone will come "to a virtual standstill" in the second half of 2011, growing just 0.2% and putting more pressure on countries' budgets.
Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos says his country has been "blackmailed and humiliated" and a "scapegoat" for the EU's incompetence.
On 19 September, Greece holds "productive and substantive" talks with its international supporters, the European Central Bank, European Commission and IMF.
The following day, Italy has its debt rating cut by Standard & Poor's, to A from A+. Italy says the move was influenced by "political considerations".
That same day, in its World Economic Outlook, the IMF cuts growth forecasts and warns that countries are entering a 'dangerous new phase'.
The gloomy mood continues on 22 September, with data showing that growth in the eurozone's private sector shrank for the first time in two years.
The sense of urgency is heightened on 23 September, when IMF head Christine Lagarde urges countries to "act now and act together" to keep the path to economic recovery on track.
On the same day, UK Prime Minister David Cameron calls for swift action on the debt crisis.
The next day US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner tells Europe to create a "firewall" around its problems to stop the crisis spreading.
A meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in Washington on 24 September leads to more calls for urgent action, but a lack of concrete proposals sparks further falls in share markets.
After days of intense speculation that Greece will fail to meet its budget cut targets, there are signs of a eurozone rescue plan emerging to write down Greek debt and increase the size of the bloc's bailout fund.
But when, on 28 September, European Union head Jose Manuel Barroso warns that the EU "faces its greatest challenge", there is a widespread view that the latest efforts to thrash out a deal have failed.
The sense that events are spinning out of control are underlined by Foreign Secretary William Hague, who calls the euro a "burning building with no exits".
On 4 October, Eurozone finance ministers delay a decision on giving Greece its next instalment of bailout cash, sending European shares down sharply.
Speculation intensifies that European leaders are working on plans to recapitalise the banking system.
On 6 October the Bank of England injects a further £75bn into the UK economy through quantitative easing, while the European Central Bank unveils emergency loans measures to help banks.
Financial markets are bolstered by news on 8 October that the leaders of Germany and France have reached an accord on measures to help resolve the debt crisis. But without publication of any details, nervousness remains.
Relief in the markets that the authorities will help the banking sector grows on 10 October, when struggling Franco-Belgian bank Dexia receives a huge bailout.
On 10 October, an EU summit on the debt crisis is delayed by a week so that ministers can finalise plans that would allow Greece its next bailout money and bolster debt-laden banks.
On 14 October G20 finance ministers meet in Paris to continue efforts to find a solution to the debt crisis in the eurozone.
On 21 October eurozone finance ministers approve the next, 8bn euro ($11bn; £7bn), tranche of Greek bailout loans, potentially saving the country from default.
On 26 October European leaders reach a "three-pronged" agreement described as vital to solve the region's huge debt crisis.
After marathon talks in Brussels, the leaders say some private banks holding Greek debt have accepted a loss of 50%. Banks must also raise more capital to protect them against losses resulting from any future government defaults.
On 9 December, after another round of talks in Brussels going through much of the night, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announces that eurozone countries and others will press ahead with an inter-governmental treaty enshrining new budgetary rules to tackle the crisis.
Attempts to get all 27 EU countries to agree to treaty changes fail due to the objections of the UK and Hungary. The new accord is to be agreed by March 2012, Mr Sarkozy says.
2012
On 13 January, credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgrades France and eight other eurozone countries, blaming the failure of eurozone leaders to deal with the debt crisis.
Three days later, the agency also downgrades the EU bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
Also on 13 January, talks between Greece and its private creditors over a debt write-off deal stall. The deal is necessary if Greece is to receive the bailout funds it needs to repay billions of euros of debt in March. The talks resume on 18 January.
The "fiscal pact" agreed by the EU in December is signed at the end of January. The UK abstains, as does the Czech Republic, but the other 25 members sign up to new rules that make it harder to break budget deficits.
Weeks of negotiations ensue between Greece, private lenders and the "troika" of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF, as Greece tries to get a debt write-off and make even more spending cuts to get its second bailout.
On 10 February, Greece's coalition government finally agrees to pass the demands made of it by international lenders. This leads to a new round of protests.
But the eurozone effectively casts doubt on the Greeks' figures, saying Athens must find a further 325m euros in budget cuts to get the aid.
On 12 February, Greece passes the unpopular austerity bill in parliament - two months before a general election.
Coalition parties expelled more than 40 deputies for failing to back the bill.
On February 22, a Markit survey reports that the eurozone service sector has shrunk unexpectedly, raising fears of a recession.
The next day the European Commission predicts that the eurozone economy will contract by 0.3% in 2012.
March begins with the news that the eurozone jobless rate has hit a new high.
However, the economic news takes a turn for the better just days later with official figures showing that the eurozone's retail sales increased unexpectedly in January by 0.3%, and the OECD reports its view that the region is showing tentative signs of recovery.
On 13 March, the eurozone finally backs a second Greek bailout of 130bn euros. IMF backing was also required and was later given.
The month ends with a call from the OECD for the eurozone rescue fund to be doubled to 1tn euros. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel says she would favour only a temporary boost to its firepower.
On 12 April, Italian borrowing costs increase in a sign of fresh concerns among investors about the country's ability to reduce its high levels of debt.
In an auction of three-year bonds, Italy pays an interest rate of 3.89%, up from 2.76% in a sale of similar bonds the previous month.
Attention shifted to Spain the next day, with shares hit by worries over the country's economy and the Spanish government's 10-year cost of borrowing rose back towards 6% - a sign of fear over the country's creditworthiness.
On 18 April, the Italian government cut its growth forecast for the economy in 2012. It was previously predicting that the economy would shrink by 0.4%, but is now forecasting a 1.2% contraction.
On 19 April, there was some relief for Spain after it saw strong demand at an auction of its debt, even though some borrowing costs rose.
The 10-year bonds were sold at a yield of 5.743%, up from 5.403% when the bonds were last sold in February.
On 6 May, a majority of Greeks vote in a general election for parties that reject the country's bailout agreement with the EU and International Monetary Fund.
On 16 May, Greece announces new elections for 17 June after attempts to form a coalition government fail.
On 25 May, Spain's fourth largest bank, Bankia, says it has asked the government for a bailout worth 19bn euros ($24bn; £15bn).
On 9 June, after emergency talks Spain's Economy Minister Luis de Guindos says that the country will shortly make a formal request for up to 100bn euros ($125bn; £80bn) in loans from eurozone funds to try to help shore up its banks.
On 12 June, optimism over the bank bailout evaporates as Spain's borrowing costs rise to the highest rate since the launch of the euro in 1999.
On 15 June, former UK chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown underlined fears of contagion with a warning that France and Italy may need a bailbout.g
On 17 June, Greeks went to the polls, with the pro-austerity party New Democracy getting most votes., allaying fears the country was about to leave the eurozone.
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A cultural hub in Swindon, to include a newly re-homed museum and art gallery, has moved a step closer with the borough council approving the idea. | The town centre proposal is for land between the Wyvern Theatre and the Magistrates' Court in Princes Street.
The present Museum and Art Gallery in the Old Town has been deemed too small and unfit to display a decent sample of the town's collection of civic art.
A timescale and the costs for the development are not yet known.
Detailed feasibility work is now expected to be launched with funding sought from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The idea of creating a cultural centre for the town was first published by Forward Swindon in its 15-year plan, published in 2012.
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Thousands of patients were introduced to breast surgeon Ian Paterson. The 59-year-old, who has been found guilty of wounding with intent, appeared trusting, kind and with their best interests at heart. But he left them disfigured and suffering years of mental and physical torment. Here, some of them share their stories. | By Rebecca WoodsBBC News
'I've lost my home and my job because of him. Now I want to see him suffer.'
Frances Perks lost her mother and sister to breast cancer, so when a lump showed up on a mammogram when she was 35, she was referred to Paterson. During one consultation, he urged her to have a double mastectomy or risk "full-blown cancer".
She had her left breast removed and underwent eight other operations at the private Spire Parkway Hospital in Solihull, West Midlands.
However, she later learned that none had been necessary.
The effect on her life has been devastating.
"I was very worried. Because not only mum, but my older sister had died of breast cancer and she was only 40," said Mrs Perks, of Burntwood, Staffordshire.
Paterson told her she was "high risk" because of her family history.
"I had a mammogram once a year, and then an ultrasound every six months. When things did start to crop up, he'd say 'there's something sinister there, I don't like the look of it and because of your family history we need to careful. I think it should come out.'
By 2008, she had undergone nine operations - the final being a left mastectomy. Paterson had told her, if it were him, he would have both breasts removed, but her insurers would not cover a preventative treatment.
"I had a fear that I could end up with breast cancer, which scared the living daylights out of me," she said.
"But when I was told I didn't need any of it, I was so shocked."
Mrs Perks' tissue was studied as part of a review of Paterson's work in 2012. The results showed the lumps had all been benign and the removal of her breast should never have happened. A genetic specialist later reassured her she had only ever been at moderate risk of developing cancer.
Paterson's actions did not only affect Mrs Perks physically. The stress of learning her operations were unnecessary caused her to leave her job at a firm of solicitors, and her financial hardship left her with no option but to sell her house.
"I feel hatred - pure hatred," she said. "I did not think I could hate someone as much as I hate him.
"I want to see him suffer because, OK, he might think he's suffered over the last few years but that's not good enough for me. Not for what he's put me through, what I've lost, and how it's affected me mentally and physically."
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'He stuck a knife in me unnecessarily'
Jade Edgington was just 16 and studying for her A-levels when she found a lump in her breast while in the shower.
She was introduced to Paterson at the Spire Hospital and, by the time she was 19, had undergone four invasive operations. She later learned three procedures were unnecessary as the lumps were not even at risk of becoming cancerous.
"He told me we needed to get it out," she said. "He said it wasn't anything scary, but that it was big enough to get it out."
She went on to find three more lumps, and again Paterson said they should be removed. She and her family trusted his opinion.
"[We thought] he's the expert, he knows what he's doing. We went ahead with his advice."
Two years after her last operation she was recalled to be seen by another doctor who was reassessing Paterson's work.
"He came back and said they would have monitored the first lump for 12 months, and may not have taken it out, and the other three operations did not need to happen because I was so young.
"I was 16, I was growing and changing and they would have suggested I didn't have those operations," added Ms Edgington, who is now 28 and a bank worker.
"Why put us all through that? You feel almost violated - essentially, someone has stuck a knife in me unnecessarily.
"You can't believe a man of his calibre has put somebody through something like that unnecessarily."
'I'm fighting for justice in memory of my sister'
Police officer Marie Pinfield was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in August 2006 and asked Paterson for a double mastectomy.
However, instead of waking up with the flat chest she expected, the surgeon - who pioneered the controversial "cleavage-sparing" surgical technique - had left so much tissue behind she had to wear a bra.
She asked for a second operation to correct the work. However, the subsequent delay to chemotherapy and radiotherapy meant she developed secondary cancer in her lung and died in October 2008.
Heart of England NHS Trust admitted the second operation would not have been necessary if the double mastectomy had been carried out properly. An independent report found Ms Pinfield could have lived for 10 more years had she received the right initial treatment.
Her sister, Shirley Moroney, remembers the first time they met Paterson.
"He was absolutely charming," she said. "He came across as a bit arrogant, but that almost gave you confidence that he would do a good job.
"At the point we had to make a complaint, that arrogance and charm was a difficult combination to work with.
"His attitude was 'how dare you question what I've done for you?'"
Ms Pinfield, a child protection officer with West Midlands Police, had made it clear to Paterson she wanted a double mastectomy.
"He was reluctant to agree to that," recalled her sister. "He said 'lots of people say that - they're in shock - and later on they look at their body shape and they wish they'd made another decision'."
"I was shocked at how much material she still had on her body," said Mrs Moroney.
"I waited around to see him. I needed to ask him why she had so much left on her body. And his reaction to me was 'I knew you'd be trouble'.
"He said - I've taken all the mammary glands out. There's no breast tissue left. All that is left is fatty tissue."
Paterson finally agreed to a second procedure.
"On reflection, he should have said: 'Marie, let's do the chemotherapy, let's do the radiotherapy, and we'll sort your body issues out afterwards," said Mrs Moroney. "But he didn't.
"You need a month's recovery after the operation before you can start your chemotherapy and radiotherapy. That delay in her getting treatment is probably the reason the secondary cancer came back so quickly.
"The guy had a God complex. He felt that women could only be in this world if they'd got a breast body shape.
"Marie believed in justice, and right and wrong, doing the job she did. I know she will be looking down on me, willing me to go on."
'Why mutilate women so they no longer want their partners to look at them?'
Cheryl Iommi first met Paterson in 2003 when she was having lumps removed from her right breast at Solihull Hospital.
He operated on her twice and told her she appeared to be developing cancer. She later learned the lumps he claimed were a cancer risk were simply scar tissue left behind from his botched procedures.
"When I first met him at Solihull Hospital, he came across as quite aggressive. He wasn't a very nice man on the National Health," she said.
He put her to sleep, and when she woke up, she discovered he had operated on both sides of her body without her consent.
"He said I'd had a lump in my left side as well," recalled Ms Iommi.
"Initially, I felt grateful that he'd got another lump out. But when I saw what he'd done, I thought: 'Oh my word'."
She had been left with a large "dent" in her side. To try and correct the damage, she went on to have reconstructive surgery but was never happy with the results. The surgery later ruptured.
Over the years, the mother of two continued to find lumps in her breast. In 2010, she decided to go to a private clinic and when she booked an appointment at Spire hospital in Solihull, met Paterson again.
"He was a completely different person this time. As nice as pie.
"He said he could take the lumps out in a week, so he did. When I had my check-up he told me 'we're so lucky we caught it when we did'."
Shortly after, Ms Iommi, from Birmingham, was told her surgery needed to be reviewed. She has since seen many medical professionals who have told her the lumps in her breasts are simply scar tissue.
Her experience has left her traumatised.
"He's an educated man," she said. "I believed him. I'm still scared now.
"I'm forever at the doctors. I have a lump in my throat due to anxiety. I feel like I've been duped - seriously misled.
"I think he did it for power - and a lack of respect for women. Why mutilate women so they no longer want their partners to look at them?"
'My surgery and chemo cost over £100,000 - and I never needed it'
In the space of three years, mother-of-three Debbie Douglas lost both her parents to cancer and was diagnosed with breast cancer herself.
Paterson performed a cleavage-sparing mastectomy which left her in "horrendous" pain. She later learned her cancer was not serious enough to warrant a mastectomy or the exhausting, seven-month course of chemotherapy she endured.
"He never bothered telling me any of that - he just took my breast off," said Mrs Douglas, 58, of Birmingham.
Paterson recommended immediate reconstructive surgery, which involved taking part of the stomach muscle and using it to shape the new breast.
"I was cut from hip to hip and had all my lymph nodes removed. Afterwards I had no core strength - even now, I struggle to lift my granddaughter. I also got a hernia, which is a common side effect.
"I was grieving for my parents, and I was in horrendous pain for a long time."
Paterson never told her he was giving her one of his signature cleavage-sparing ops. It was only when she was recalled and reviewed, she learnt he had not taken away all the breast tissue.
"I always knew my scar looked different to what it should have done. I don't know why he gave it to me - he didn't explain anything to me about it at all."
She estimates the cost of all her surgery exceeded £100,000.
"He was the best surgeon - the top notch consultant. If he'd have told me to stand on one leg to get rid of my cancer, I'd have done it.
"He used to say: 'You can be cured.' He used to say that a lot.
"He's left me with a real fear my cancer will return. I am still paying to get checked out, because I don't want to get cancer."
'When you go private, you think you've got the best'
Paterson had told Patricia Welch he had found a "ticking bomb" of cancerous cells in her breast - she was so scared of the consequences she opted for a mastectomy and immediate reconstruction.
But when her case was reviewed as Paterson's work was called into question, an expert found her symptoms had been grossly exaggerated.
His trial at Nottingham Crown Court heard Paterson embellished the cancer risk to both Mrs Welch and her doctor, and her mastectomy was unnecessary.
"I don't know whether he liked to play God or whether he liked to see the women he saw be grateful for what he'd done and whether he got a kick out of it," she said.
"He was just sitting there in open court on a laptop as if he hadn't got a care in the world.
"Hate is a strong word. I've never hated anyone in my life before, but it's pretty close.
"He won't suffer as all of us have been made to suffer all these years.
"I don't think you can ever get over it, because you've got it looking back at you in the mirror every morning.
"What he did. It will never go away. When you go private, you think you've got the best."
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Reports of sexual assaults by children on other children are rising, according to police figures seen by BBC Panorama. But those reported cases are only the "tip of the iceberg", according to one police child abuse expert. | Emily - not her real name - was 15 when she was sexually assaulted by a boy in her class, unnoticed by her teacher, who was at the front of the room.
But after reporting the ordeal to the police, she says she was bullied by her classmates.
"About 10 to 15 pupils were all swearing and shouting at me, like 'you're a grass'… I got some comments like 'he should have raped you'. I was tagged in photos. I was called a liar."
She says her head teacher was unsympathetic. "He'd say 'well, maybe this isn't the school for you. You can leave, you know, we suggest you do and make a fresh start'."
The number of reported sexual offences by under-18s against other under-18s in England and Wales rose by 71% from 4,603 from 2013-14 to 7,866 from 2016-17, according to figures from a Freedom of Information request.
A total of 38 out of the 43 forces in England and Wales responded.
The number of reported rapes among under-18s rose 46% from 1,521 to 2,223 over the same period, according to 32 police forces that supplied a breakdown of figures.
Reports of sexual offences on schools premises also increased from 386 in 2013-14 to 922 in 2016-17, according to 31 police forces - including 225 rapes on school grounds over the four years.
Simon Bailey, the national police chief lead for child protection, said: "We are dealing unequivocally with the tip of the iceberg ... we are seeing an increasing number of reports, we are seeing significant examples of harmful sexual behaviour and the lives of young people blighted and traumatically affected by sexual abuse."
James and Anna's daughter, Bella, was six when they discovered she had been sexually assaulted in the playground for six weeks by two boys.
"She burst into tears, she just dissolved in front of me," Anna says.
Anna and James went straight to the police, but were told that as the boys were under the age of criminal responsibility they could not be charged.
The family say they had to fight to get the police to make a record of the incident.
They are now taking legal action against the local authority, as they say the school failed in its duty of care.
"We have all of these unheard victims... and they're unheard because there's no register, because there's no crime," Anna says.
Since March 2013 a total of 1,852 children under the age of 10 were reported to police for sexual offences.
The youngest was a four-year-old accused of attacking another boy, aged five, in Northumbria.
Teachers have a duty to report an alleged assault by an adult, according to the Department for Education, but there is no such obligation if a child is accused - schools are advised to follow their own child protection procedures.
"School leaders and schools want to get it right, but they're not always getting the help and support they need," Sarah Hannafin, policy adviser for the National Association of Headteachers, told Panorama.
"There needs to be some more clarity in terms of the specific procedures that schools must take."
Of the sexual offences perpetrated by under-18s, 74% resulted in no further action, according to responses from 36 out of 43 police forces in England and Wales.
Mr Bailey said such cases are very difficult to prosecute.
"You're dealing with people who'll be reluctant; you're dealing with cases whereby there's been a relationship in the past.
"It's very much a case of the Crown Prosecution Service deciding to charge, invariably on the word of one person against another."
The Department for Education said: "Sexual assault is a crime and any allegation should be reported to the police.
"Schools should be safe places and they have a duty to protect all pupils and listen to any concerns."
You can see more on this story on Panorama on BBC One on Monday at 20:30 BST.
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Invoking global opinion in the context of US elections is a fool's errand. Perfectly understandably, voters in Paris, Pennsylvania, really don't give a damn what voters in Paris, France, think about their political choices. And why should they? | Katty KayPresenter, BBC World News@KattyKayBBCon Twitter
This is America's choice, not anyone else's. How would British voters feel if Texans weighed in on Brexit? This time, however, the international reaction to Donald Trump is so forceful and so unanimous in its condemnation that it is worth drawing attention to. I do so well aware that recent history is replete with examples where the world's opinion of a US presidential candidate backfired against those same critics.
Back in 2004, Europeans assumed that their own well-publicised opposition to President Bush's Iraq war would make it harder for him to get re-elected. In fact, anti-Americanism had the opposite effect. It drove people to the president. "If those squishy Europeans hate him so much," the thinking seemed to go, "then he must be doing something right."
That same year, Britain's left-leaning Guardian newspaper ran a public campaign targeting a critical county in Ohio with a letter-writing blitz, urging people there to vote for John Kerry.
It was a bid to give foreigners a say in the US presidential election. Clark County was a swing district in a swing state; in 2000 Al Gore won the area by a narrow margin. But the Guardian's Operation Clark County backfired. It did indeed galvanise local voters, but it did so for Bush not Kerry. On election night, George Bush carried the county with 51% of the vote.
At the time, a local newspaper editor told the BBC that it was the well-publicised letter campaign that lost it for the Democrats. It will go down in history as one of the biggest fiascos in foreign meddling.
In 2008 of course the world rallied firmly behind Barack Obama. Two hundred thousand people turned out to see the candidate in Berlin before the election. Italian trattorias started a roaring trade in Obama pizzas, a curious, un-Italian mix of ham and pineapple toppings.
We began to joke that France was so invested in the election it felt it should have a Paris primary. That time around, world opinion was on the side of the winner and American voters seemed to enjoy the rehabilitation of their global reputation.
So, what does the world make of Donald Trump?
Mr Trump has some admirers in Europe. A few on the extreme end of the political spectrum like his tough line on immigration. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the French National Front, said if he were American he'd vote Trump.
There are echoes of Trumpism in the nationalist parties of Britain, Denmark, Netherlands, Greece as well as France. The dissatisfaction with the status quo, the sense that middle-class and working-class people have been neglected by the existing political establishment, a feeling that politicians aren't honest with voters - you can find all that in the appeal of Europe's populists.
While the politics of Jeremy Corbyn, the socialist leader of the Labour Party, are the opposite of those of Donald Trump, the disillusionment that drives his supporters is not so different.
But the voices of support are drowned out by almost universal condemnation. When it comes to Trump, Europe is apoplectic. Fascinated, but appalled.
I'm sometimes asked by Americans what Brits make of Trump and the best analogy I can come up with is this.
Imagine if your much-respected but slightly annoying older sibling (the US) came home with a fantastically unsuitable date (Trump). Part of you is titillated but part of you is appalled, thinking, "Oh my God, this could go horribly wrong." After Super Tuesday, Europe is fast moving from the former to the latter.
Here's a sample of the public disapproval. Germany's Der Spiegel has called Trump the most dangerous man in the world. Britain's David Cameron says his plan to ban Muslims is divisive and unhelpful.
The French liberal newspaper Liberation has described him as a nightmare turned reality. JK Rowling tweeted that he's worse than Voldemort. A recent Economist cover has a picture of Trump dressed as Uncle Sam with just one word, "Really?" That pretty much sums up the mood of global elites.
Will the international reaction make a shred of difference to Trump's chances of getting nominated and then elected? 2004 would suggest not. Indeed you can easily imagine a scenario in which Trump's American supporters rally round their candidate even more closely because the world is against him, just as they did with President Bush.
If you like Trump, you're likely to shrug off French disdain - who cares what a bunch of cheese-eating surrender monkeys think? And if you don't like Trump, you're likely to see the criticism as a source of embarrassment - God, what does the world think of us?
What really matters is whether the 6-10% of voters in the middle of the American political spectrum, the people who actually decide elections here, are swayed by global opinion. And they may be, for two reasons.
This is a different time from 2004. For a start, Donald Trump is not yet president. As a candidate, he doesn't command the automatic respect imbued by the Oval Office.
Although America still feels under siege from Islamic extremism, American troops are not being killed in large numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Supporting Bush was in some ways a proxy for supporting those soldiers.
America rallies round the flag when its men and women are serving in combat in foreign countries. In a time of war, US voters didn't like their leader being criticised by foreigners.
What's more, that small percentage of American voters who sway elections tend to be more moderate. They often classify themselves as independents. So they may look at the way foreign allies view Donald Trump and feel it would damage America's standing in the world if he were president.
It's hard to know at this stage what impact foreign opinion will have in this race, but it's fairly clear the world is not going to suddenly fall in love with the man Republicans are rapidly choosing to be their candidate for the White House.
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Prime Minister David Cameron is under fire for his decision not to join a boycott of the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka. He is also attempting to build bridges with China after he angered its leaders last year by meeting the Dalai Lama. | Is he getting the balance right between promoting British trade and other interests abroad and human rights?
Dr Stephen Davies, education director at the Institute for Economic Affairs
"Everyone wants to see individual liberty expanded in all parts of the world - the question is how to do this most effectively.
"The key is to expand 'social power', the ability of people to act, and to reduce 'political power', the capacity of elites to use force and the power of government against people to limit their freedom of action, speech and thought.
"More trade is crucial for this. It undermines the power of despots, their ability to control populations, while increasing ordinary people's resources, their connections with each other and their ability to organise and co-operate.
"The spread of the mobile phone through trade and commerce has done more to undermine authoritarian government than any amount of action by more liberal states.
"While we should all strongly support action by civil society organisations such as Amnesty it is not clear what governments should do.
"The main role of governments is to protect the rights of their own citizens and to provide a stable system of law for them.
"Attempts to make greater trade dependent upon changes in policy will simply lessen the kind of transformations brought about by trade and private action, which in the longer run will do more to increase liberty and undermine tyranny."
Allan Hogarth, head of policy and government affairs at Amnesty International UK
"In all its foreign relations it's absolutely vital that the UK government raises human rights issues with as much enthusiasm as it does trade ones. Presently, we're far from convinced the government is getting this balance right.
"So it's vitally important that human rights are not downplayed when the prime minister visits China next month. While we understand that No 10 is keen to develop trade with China, this must not be done by turning a blind eye to China's absolutely dreadful human rights record.
"We'd like to see Mr Cameron and other senior members of government publicly raising human rights concerns with senior Chinese officials.
"One case they should raise is that of Cao Shunli, a prominent activist who's been detained for two months under a charge of 'picking quarrels and making trouble'. She's one of numerous prisoners of conscience in China.
"Meanwhile, we'd like to see the prime minister meeting Chinese human rights activists during the visit. We'd be happy to personally brief Mr Cameron or his officials prior to the visit.
"Announcing the trip during his Lord Mayor's Banquet speech, Mr Cameron said he wants Britain to show an 'entrepreneurial, buccaneering spirit, where people who take risks to make money are celebrated and admired.
"However, historically speaking a buccaneer is a pirate acting with total contempt for the law. We need to make sure that countries like China aren't themselves acting lawlessly."
Richard Ottoway, Tory chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee
"It is not a perfect world so there will always be conflict between our interests and our values.
"Boycotting countries just to emphasise our values will achieve very little and could be counter-productive.
By far the most effective way is to argue our case in private, as we do in a number of countries around the world."
William A Callahan, professor of International Relations, London School of Economics
"China is well-known for having a pragmatic approach to international relations.
"Since Deng Xiaoping launched the policy of economic reform and opening up to the outside world in 1979, Beijing has quite effectively separated economic issues from political ones in its international strategy. One could say that David Cameron is taking a Deng-ist approach to the UK's relations with China because his government now sees the People's Republic of China as an economic opportunity rather than as a human rights problem.
"But this would be a mistake.
"Recently, Beijing has retooled its diplomatic strategy to focus on political issues as well as economic development. Since he became China's new leader last year, Xi Jinping has stressed the role of values in Chinese diplomacy.
"Rather than talking about the rise of China in terms of geo-economic power, Xi declared that his 'China Dream' is the 'rejuvenation of the Chinese nation' as a moral force in global affairs.
"The Chinese government now promotes a combination of socialist values (equality, stability and justice) and Confucian values (order, harmony and family) not just at home but on the world stage. Beijing's 'values diplomacy' is specifically designed to provide an alternative to the liberal values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law.
"Since the UK is known in China as a human rights superpower, it would be a shame if Cameron missed the opportunity to join in the values debate that is already raging in the People's Republic of China.
"If you want the Chinese people to take you seriously, it is best to speak honestly about differences."
Ann Clwyd, a Labour member of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee
"It is not a trade issue, but the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is a very important meeting. We put forward a strong argument (in committee) why the UK should not be going there because of human rights concerns, the past failure of the Sri Lankan government to investigate some of the many allegations about that country.
"I have met the president of Sri Lanka myself and I have put to him the case for allowing a proper investigation into what went on in the civil war. There were atrocities on both sides but they are still refusing to allow a UN investigation. By going to a conference of this kind, it is giving the wrong signal about where the UK is coming from.
"World leaders should be allowed to raise these issues. We will see in a few days whether Cameron and Hague have done this in Sri Lanka.
"On trade and human rights, we have constantly debated this in our committee.
"We understand there must be trade but at the same time we ask that human rights is up at the top of the agenda, not just mentioned in a few sentences as a throwaway.
"It must be on the agenda and it must be discussed."
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With the world's biggest bike race starting in Leeds on 5 July, BBC Yorkshire's Tour de France correspondent Matt Slater rounds up the best of the gossip, opinion and stories, on and off the bike, and also tries to explain some of cycling's unique lingo.
TOP STORIES | It is less than three weeks now, folks - that is not even as long as the race itself. And Leeds got a little taste of traffic-free cycling on Sunday with the second annual Sky Ride. Thousands of would-be Wiggos and faux Froomes ignored the light drizzle to take in 6.5km route around the city centre.
Full story: Yorkshire Evening Post
There is no point having a big party like Le Tour if you are not going to tell anybody about it, so 'chapeau' (cyclese for 'well done') to VisitBritain for the come-hither images of Yorkshire's natural charms that it has put up on 134 digital screens at Heathrow Airport.
Full story: The Northern Echo
Having drawn your attention to The Wall Street Journal's interest in Yorkshire's approach to Le Tour last week, it is only fair I flag up the City of London's response via its parish newsletter, The Financial Times. It sent noted cycling scribbler Tim Moore up north to ride stage one, and what a lovely job he made of it.
Full story: The Financial Times
CYCLING ROUND-UP
I will forgive you if you missed it - there was a smattering of other sport on this weekend - but the world of pro cycling provided at least a novella's worth of drama over the last 72 hours. I, however, do not have a novella in me this morning, so you are going to get a few paragraphs.
First, Chris Froome fell off his bike in the Criterium du Dauphine's sixth stage on Friday. No broken bones, but there was a lot of "road rash" (grated skin). His rivals sportingly did not try to take advantage of his discomfort on Friday, but they ganged up on him on Saturday and Sunday. His chief rival Alberto Contador took the lead from him on stage seven, and seemed to be heading for victory, only for American Andrew Talansky to surprise everybody on Sunday - perhaps even himself - with an epic ride to glory.
Froome, meanwhile, endured his worst day on a bike for years, finishing five minutes down and back in 12th place. Contador came second and will now be many people's favourite for Le Tour. Team Sky's leader Froome was clearly hampered by his injuries but his face during the presentations - he won the points competition thanks to his wins on stages one and two - said it all. This was a painful setback in every sense. It was also a strange week for his team. The pick of his lieutenants Mikel Nieve claimed a superb and deserved solo win in Sunday's final stage, but Froome's preferred 'plan B' rider at Le Tour, his friend Richie Porte, had a very mediocre time of it.
This, of course, will only add to the calls for Sir Bradley Wiggins' inclusion in Sky's Tour line-up, although he did not help himself with a fairly tame display in the Tour of Switzerland's opener on Saturday. He was only 14th best in the short time-trial, 32 seconds behind his great foe, Germany's Tony Martin, but it is hard to know what kind of climbing shape he is in, having spent the last couple of weeks getting ready for a possible return to track cycling at the Commonwealths. He looked OK during Sunday's stage, but the real tests are to come later this week.
There is one other big story from the weekend that cannot be ignored and that is the continuing noise around Froome and Team Sky in terms of doping allegations - or perhaps it would be better to say allegations of pushing the anti-doping rules to their limits. Froome's week in Switzerland started with speculation about the times he had set on a training ride on a famous climb in France, continued with the revelation that he has to use an inhaler for his asthma (a controversial topic in endurance sport because of the performance-enhancing qualities of some asthma drugs) and ended with a French newspaper revealing that he was given special dispensation by the sport's governing body at a race earlier this year to use an oral corticosteroid for a bad cold. Froome and his team have responded to each of these stories in a timely, forthright but calm manner, and there is no smoking gun. But the key point to make here is that sections of the media, particularly in continental Europe, remain unconvinced by cycling's protestations of a new, cleaner era, which means Froome is going to get a lot more of this in July.
TWEET OF THE DAY
"Drum roll…we've just gone past current world record of 10km. How far can we go?"
An update from @Craggvale2014 on their attempt to break the record for the longest string of bunting when the Tour visits England's longest continuous uphill gradient on Sunday, 6 July.
TODAY'S TOUR TRIVIA
There was too much Froome news in the cycling summary to mention another good line from the Dauphine, and that was the latest piece of evidence in the case for Adam Yates being British cycling's next big star, so I am going to do it here.
The 21-year-old from Bury finished third on Sunday's final stage to climb to sixth in the general classification. This followed his win at the Tour of Turkey and a fifth-place finish behind Wiggins at the Tour of California. We knew he was good, we just did not think he would be this good so soon. Yates' first big result came at last year's Tour de l'Avenir, the Tour de France's amateur version which literally translates as the "Tour of the Future".
Yates came second, matching Britain's best result in the prestigious race. Originally set up by the Tour's organisers to attract "amateur" riders from the Soviet Bloc, it is now open to national U23 teams. Five future Tour winners have won the race in the past, totalling 12 Tour wins between them, and many think the 2010 Tour de l'Avenir champion, Colombia's Nairo Quintana, will make it six at some point in the future. But he will have to get past Yates - and his twin brother Simon - to do it.
THE COUNTDOWN - 19 DAYS TO GO
The leaders of the Tour de France get a new yellow jersey at the end of every stage they complete with their advantage intact; so there is a distinction between the WEARER of the yellow jersey, the current leader, and the WINNER of the yellow jersey, the leader when it matters.
Eddy Merckx won 96 yellow jerseys during the course of his career, but Fausto Coppi, the man who many think runs the Belgian closest in the greatest-of-all-time stakes, claimed only 19. Coppi only rode the Tour three times, as he lost a large chunk of his career to WWII. But he won two of those races by massive margins, which is why Italians called him Il Campionissimo, "the champion of champions".
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On Monday #towerlives kicks off, a week-long BBC festival of storytelling and music, on air and on the ground, in and around the council estate tower blocks of Butetown in Cardiff.
Its aim is to give a platform to voices from a community often talked about but rarely heard.
In the first of a series of stories from the tower blocks the BBC news website talks to one resident, who witnessed the extraordinary events that led to their construction, a history of fortunes - both financial and social - made and lost. | By Ceri JacksonBBC News
When the young Aristotle Onassis would sail in Cardiff's Tiger Bay, he always headed for one place.
Away from the high commerce and architectural splendour of the dockland's banking halls and buildings - a stately procession of Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian-style magnificence befitting the world's coal metropolis - he would walk a short distance towards the legendary Bay.
The young Onassis, destined to amass the largest privately owned shipping fleet and beguile the 20th Century as one of its richest and most celebrated men, would turn into George Street.
There close to the bustling back-to-back terraces - a harmonious, cacophonous, cheek-by-jowl melting pot of 50-plus nationalities, faiths, costumes, food, music and customs - a Spanish immigrant who had settled in Tiger Bay ran a delicatessen.
Onassis, then a humble teenage seaman, would walk under the rows of chorizo hanging from the rafters and make his way to a dining room upstairs.
There he would join five or six fellow Greeks some of whom lived in the area, among them Alexanderos Callinicos, a local ship chandler.
He was a friend of the shop's owner Josefina Hormaechea's and he would regularly ask her to prepare a meal - typically soup and roast lamb with potatoes - so the men could meet and discuss business.
Whenever, years later, Josefina was reminded of her encounters with Onassis and people would ask her what he was like, her daughter Gloria Del Gaudio remembers she would exclaim: "He was a skinny, ugly little kid."
To Josefina the man whose company the most glamorous and influential in the world would clamour for, was just another itinerant seamen washed ashore into Tiger Bay from the Seven Seas on an unrelenting, rhythmic human tide.
"Cardiff was like Saudi Arabia at the turn of the 20th Century," says Neil Sinclair, author, historian and the only genuine Cardiff accent to feature in J Lee Thompson's 1959 movie Tiger Bay, which starred John Mills and his daughter Hayley in her first starring role at the age of 12.
"But instead of oil it was the prized anthracite coal of the south Wales Valleys which was exported to the rest of the world.
"It had been transformed from an insignificant village in the middle of marshland to a city at the centre of everything. Coal, iron and steel industry from the south Wales valleys had ignited Britain's' industrial revolution."
The 'black gold' of the Rhondda created untold wealth. Cardiff docks made 'millionaires by the minute', its financial quarter second only to the Square Mile of London.
The thronging trading hall of the magnificent Coal Exchange, now largely derelict, set the price of coal worldwide and it was where the signing of the first million pound cheque took place.
And along with the financial prosperity came a societal richness.
The high demand for labour led to the creation of one of Britain's first and arguably most distinctive and successful multi-cultural communities.
"There was no place quite like it on earth," says Neil.
"No matter where you were from, colour, religion, ethnicity, it didn't matter. Everyone thrived as one big community.
"It was like walking into an Aladdin's Cave. It had the flavour of a Kasbah. At one time 57 different nationalities lived and worked in respectful harmony."
The acclaimed Welsh poet, writer and broadcaster Gwyn Thomas said of Tiger Bay during a visit in the 1950s: "Whenever any two children of different races play together, humanity grows an inch or two; another ancient fear, another mouldering prejudice is told to mind its manners and behave."
It is after all what we are famous for, so had the Welsh succeeded in teaching the world to sing in harmony?
"Tiger Bay was in the simplest words possible a symbol of racial, ethnic, religious and ecumenical harmony," says Neil.
"My mother used to say 'the League of Nations could learn a thing or two from Tiger Bay'."
What a legacy for Cardiff; one to be cherished for generations to come you might think.
But get off the train at Cardiff Central today and ask for directions to Tiger Bay and you are likely to be met with a scratching of heads.
Just the other side of the railway track, almost every last vestige of the area has been wiped from the face of the earth; the fact it once existed let alone its staggering history largely unknown by many of those living in the city today.
But then that, some bitterly protest, was precisely the plan.
Cardiff, one of Europe's youngest capitals, is an emerging city on the UK map. A popular sporting, weekend and holiday destination it is prized for its vibrant nightlife, culture, shopping and gateway to outstanding rural and coastal wildernesses.
But as the ghosts of the past would attest, the 'Diff' as it is has become affectionately known is no 'new kid on the block'.
The city's re-discovered swagger was woven into its DNA generations ago.
Neil Sinclair grew up in Tiger Bay. He still lives in the area in a high-rise council tower block of flats, built on the bulldozed rubble of his childhood home.
What happened to it was, he says, "one of the most torrid pages of meanness and spitefulness to be found in the annals of Welsh history".
That history begins with John Crichton-Stuart, the 2nd Marquess of Bute.
A wealthy Scottish aristocrat, landowner and industrialist he realised vast wealth lay in the south Wales coalfields and set about exploiting it.
In 1839 the first in a series of docks was built - Bute West Dock, Bute East Dock, Roath Basin, Roath Dock followed and finally in 1907 the Queen Alexandra Dock.
Fine buildings sprung up and squares of decorative four-storey town houses were built around tranquil parks to accommodate magnates, merchants and sea captains.
Loudoun Square was chief among them and as the wealthy later began their migration to more verdant suburbs emerging in Cardiff, such as Cathedral Road, it become the beating heart of Tiger Bay.
Surrounding it were the terraces of Butetown which ran off the main artery of Bute Street and had been built as a model village in the early 19th Century for workers. Christina Street, Maria Street, Angelina Street, Sophia Street - addresses which remain today - were named after children in Crichton-Stuart's family.
By the later 1800s Butetown had taken on its unofficial name as the legendary Tiger Bay, the source of tales once told by sailors around the world.
"Local folklore has it that there was a woman who used to walk around Loudoun Square with two tigers but then seamen were known for their tall tales," says Neil.
"Portuguese sailors are believed to have come up with the name. The tides in the area are notoriously difficult. After successfully docking they would say that sailing into Cardiff was like sailing through a bay of tigers. And so it was - Tiger Bay stuck."
Another theory is that its reputation as a wild hotbed of hedonism, rough house boozers, crime, prostitution and illegal gambling earned it sole use of a once generic term long used by sailors for raucous ports everywhere.
Some of the nicknames given to the area's 97 pubs - House of Blazes, Bucket of Blood, Snakepit - infamous for brawling sailors and prostitutes could add some weight to that.
It was a tough, hard life. No doubt about that. But many who grew up there would say that theory was just part of the conspiracy.
Other pubs were equally as well known for fantastic jazz and superb French cuisine, a magnet to out-of-town Bohemian types.
"This was a sea port and sea ports have had this sort of reputation for millennia," Neil says.
"If you have a Dickensian view of dockland life anywhere in the world you would cast aspersions on Tiger Bay. But that was purely an outsider's view.
"This was a major industrial port and thousands of workers descended upon it daily. Come 4 o'clock when the whistle blew they came out in what seemed like their millions.
"They got on their bikes but they didn't go home and slap the money on the table for their mams, they headed for the pubs and the place was jumping.
"And that's where your prostitutes come in. When the men were paid it was like moths to flames. But that's how the city of Cardiff gained its wealth, off the backs of those people.
"Yes, if you wanted trouble you could find trouble but that stigma obscures the fact that the majority of the men who lived there were hard working members of the community, not pimps running whores. Far from it.
"Everyone looked out for one another and nobody ever locked their door. If this was such a dreadful place then surely we'd have all been murdered in our beds?
"It was stigmatised. Good old fashioned racism. This was commonly stated on the streets of Tiger Bay - 'if you're black stand back, if you brown stick around, and if you're white, you're alright'.
"The Victorian Imperial mentality was very much 'oh, what do black people do after dark?' They became the boogie man. Upper class families used to say to their kids who wouldn't go to bed 'I'll take you to Loudoun Square and leave you there!'."
By the beginning of the 20th Century the district had a burgeoning population of inter-racial married couples and their families.
Among them Shirley Bassey, rugby legends Billy Boston MBE and Colin Dixon, heavyweight boxer Joe Erskine and swimmer and water polo Olympian Paolo Radmilovic, his father a Tiger Bay pub landlord from Croatia and his mother, the Cardiff-born daughter of Irish immigrants.
He won four gold medals across three successive Olympic Games, a team GB record only broken by Sir Steve Redgrave.
Many of the local women who had married foreign men were commonly denounced as prostitutes who had shamed their chapel-going families by marrying 'heathens'.
"Part of the reason why multiculturalism worked was down to our Welsh mams and Welsh-speaking grandmothers," insists Neil.
"The sea men who were the heads of the family were more away at sea than they were at home. The white women in particular created a strong sisterhood, a Celtic matriarchy that kept us in line.
"Many of them came from the valleys and when it was discovered that they'd married an Arab or a Malay or an African, they were ostracised.
"They couldn't go back home. So Tiger Bay became their home and they formed a strong alliance. We were one big family.
"Cardiff was a place people would head for. My grandfather docked in Bristol from Barbados. As a seaman of colour he was confronted with racism. But the word had got out 'if you want to feel at home, get to Tiger Bay'."
Others did not share the enthusiasm.
Around the time of the Great War as the docks was at its zenith, the self-proclaimed moral arbiters of the day made no secret of their loathing, and stories spread about "Cardiff girls sold into slavery every night".
Newspapers reported stories about policemen patrolling the streets armed with sabres and of grave concerns of a "great increase in alien floating population… earning high wages able to buy property for fancy prices and clear out British residents".
In truth seamen and dockers were poorly paid and their families led a hard life. And it was about to get even harder. Cardiff had enjoyed the boom, now it was time for the bust.
Oil was growing in importance as a maritime fuel and by 1932, in the depths of the depression, coal exports had plummeted.
Despite intense activity during the Second World War, exports continued to fall, ceasing altogether in 1964.
There was mass unemployment and parts of Tiger Bay's housing, which had no indoor toilets or bathrooms, had fallen further into dilapidation.
There was also a rise in tuberculosis and social deprivation.
In the early 1960s under the orders of the city's fathers, the bulldozers began moving in. Tiger Bay, along with all of the area's 97 pubs, bar one, the Packet, was razed.
Residents were moved to other areas of the city with the promise they could return to newly-built council homes. But after a period of a couple of years, many had settled and did not come back. The community had broken up.
"They said it was a slum and all the lies you can imagine," Neil says.
"From an insider's perspective we were targeted, something to be got rid of.
"Rather than renovate housing in stages as they'd done in neighbouring Grangetown for instance, they wanted us gone and one way to do that was to knock it all down.
"All they succeeded in doing was destroying the architectural legacy of the Marquess of Bute for Cardiff and for Welsh history.
"Replace it with the first council estate to be dropped on to an inter-generational, multicultural, multiethnic, multiecumenical community. It was a tragedy.
"As a child you think the whole world is like your immediate environment. It was only as I got older that I realised the rest of the world didn't live as we did, they didn't have respect and tolerance for one another.
"If I'd known then that it was only ever going to be a moment in time, I'd have screamed blue murder. But you thought it was going to be this way for the rest of your life."
Neil says when they witnessed the old trees being ripped from the park of Loudoun Square, they knew the game was up, a community which had grown over 150 years was gone.
"Loudoun Square was the jewel in the crown," he says.
"I've been in London wandering round and turn a corner and my heart drops because I see a square reminiscent of it and I think 'our Cardiff could've been so fabulous'.
"All those houses were solidly built. Some of the terraces had granite foundations. The wrecking balls were hitting the walls eight to nine times before they would give.
"If they were here today, they would be the houses tourists would flock to see. Instead we have a lacklustre council estate, an architectural monstrosity."
In a BBC Wales interview in 1982 the then Lord Mayor of Cardiff Philip Dunleavy described the building of the tower blocks as "a disaster" and one which Cardiff would not repeat.
"They're anti-social," he said. "I don't know if you've been on to the top floors but it's like living in the country, one's very remote except for the corridor on which one lives.
"People tend to get lonely and the neighbourliness they experienced when they lived in terraced houses has disappeared."
By the early 1980s the once thriving docks was a neglected wasteland of dereliction and mudflats.
Its residents say they suffered from social exclusion, above average unemployment and social services which used their home as a "dumping ground" for problem cases.
The docklands had given the city its wealth but had then been disinherited.
In 1987 redevelopment plans were announced.
Its aim clearly stated: To put Cardiff on the international map as a superlative maritime city which will stand comparison with any such city in the world, thereby enhancing the image and economic well-being of Cardiff and Wales as a whole.
The irony was not lost on some. After all that description sounded painfully familiar.
In 1999 the construction of a controversial barrage was complete, built to impound the rivers Taff and the Ely to create a massive fresh-water lake. The area - now home to the Senedd, Dr Who studios, a sports village, restaurants, bars and the Wales Millennium Centre - was re-branded as Cardiff Bay.
Meanwhile, a stone's throw away in Butetown, the grievances persist.
"The stigma's still there," says Neil. "That's the Cardiff mentality.
"Living in the towers is like living in a prison; cameras on every floor. That's not just my point of view. Many people will say the same thing.
"People of my age and older are walking around with a pain in the heart.
"I might go to sleep every night in the new Loudoun Square but when my head hits the pillow I'm back in the old Loudoun Square."
Neil wrote his book 'Endangered Tiger' in a bid to restore a sense of pride for Tiger Bay.
In it he cites a poem called Sweet Tiger Bay attributed only to 'M' which was published in the Western Mail on Saturday, August 23rd 1902.
Its final lines encapsulate the love and lament felt by so many, living and dead, for the magic and mayhem of the place:
I live in troubles, but they pass like bubbles,
When Fancy conjures up the days that were:
Put Death before me and an Angel o'er me,
To bear me upward-this to him I'd say:
"Young friend, your attitude has won my gratitude;
But please, another night in Tiger Bay!"
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When one newspaper reported last year that "enclaves of Islam see UK as 75% Muslim" last year, Miqdaad Versi's instinct was to challenge it. He believes errors in the reporting of Muslims have become all too common, and has made it his mission to fight for corrections. | By Catrin NyeVictoria Derbyshire programme
Miqdaad Versi sits in front of a rather geeky-looking spreadsheet at the offices of the Muslim Council of Britain in east London.
He is the organisation's assistant secretary general, but the task in front of him is a personal project.
The spreadsheet has on it every story published concerning Muslims and Islam that day in the British media - and he is going through them looking for inaccuracies.
If he finds one, he will put in a complaint or a request for a correction with the news organisation, the press regulator Ipso, or both.
Mr Versi has been doing this thoroughly since November, and before that on a more casual basis. He has so far complained more than 50 times, and the results are visible.
He was personally behind eight corrections in December and another four so far this month.
In the past, corrections to stories were mostly printed when individuals were the victims of inaccurate reporting, but Mr Versi is looking at a whole topic.
"Nobody else was doing this," he tells the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme. "There have been so many articles about Muslims overall that have been entirely inaccurate, and they create this idea within many Muslim communities that the media is out to get them.
"The reason that's the case is because nobody is challenging these newspapers and saying, 'That's not true.'"
Find out more
Watch the Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.
See Catrin Nye's full film on this issue here.
Mr Versi goes through some of the corrections from December. Five of them concerned a review into integration by Dame Louise Casey. The Sunday Times reported that "Enclaves of Islam see UK as 75% Muslim" in a preview of the review.
This was incorrect, with the review actually citing a survey of pupils in one largely Asian school who thought 50-90% of the population in Britain were Asian.
The paper corrected the article, and later apologised. As the same story was reported in other publications, it led to five corrections.
Mr Versi highlights another article, concerning the Muslim president of the National Union of Students (NUS). She was accused on Mail Online of refusing to condemn so-called Islamic State, when she had openly done so.
Also in December, he points out a report in the Sun on Sunday confused the identities of two Muslim individuals - one fighting against extremism and one accused of extremism.
"Quite a mix-up," says Mr Versi.
He has met several newspaper editors and has been pleased with the quick corrections he has received in some cases.
But he is concerned that these revisions are not obvious enough to the reader.
"Sometimes the corrections lack a clear acknowledgement of the error they made and often do not include an apology. In addition, they are rarely given the prominence of the original article," he says.
He adds that while he is concerned with "significant failings" in the reporting of Muslims, the same issues "might also be replicated for refugee, migrant or other groups".
'No middle ground'
One particularly high-profile correction in December last year - that Mr Versi was not behind - involved a 2015 article in which Mail Online columnist Katie Hopkins wrongly suggested Zahid Mahmood and his brother were extremists with links to al-Qaeda, after they had not been allowed to board a plane to the US.
The Mail Online and Ms Hopkins apologised and paid £150,000 in damages.
At his home in Walthamstow, north-east London, Mr Mahmood says he has forgiven her. He now says it is not her original false accusations that he finds the most upsetting, but the public reaction.
"First they were all against us when Katie Hopkins published the article, and then when she made the apology a year later - then they all turn against her.
"There's no middle ground. It's not just about Katie Hopkins, it's the mindset of people - how they can very easily be led against somebody, or in favour of somebody."
Mr Mahmood says he feels this kind of reaction is causing divisions in society, and - keen to do his bit for unity - tells the BBC he is formally inviting Katie Hopkins to his home for tea and coffee.
"We have no grudge against her, and we would like her to learn and know that we are as British as she is.
"In fact, my wife's grandfather and great-grandfather both fought in World War One and World War Two. They fought for the very freedom of this country."
Mr Versi says he wants to improve community relations too. He thinks inaccurate reporting has far-reaching consequences, especially because negative stories are often widely circulated by far-right groups and then the corrections are not.
Some free speech campaigners, however, are concerned about this kind of work. Tom Slater, deputy editor of Spiked Online, says these complaints could create a fear of reporting certain issues.
"I, like anyone else, want a press that's going to be accurate... but what we're seeing here is quite concerted attempts to try and often ring-fence Islam from criticism."
Mr Slater says he found a recent correction to a story about a suspected "honour killing" particularly problematic.
In May 2016, the Mail Online and the Sun used the phrase "Islamic honour killing" in their headline.
Mr Versi successfully complained to Ipso that Islam does not condone honour killings and that the phrase incorrectly suggested it was motivated by religion.
The word "Islamic" was removed from the papers' headlines, and at the bottom of the articles they wrote: "We are happy to make clear that Islam as a religion does not support so-called 'honour killings.'"
Mr Slater says he found that statement added by the papers "absolutely staggering".
"We all know a religion is just an assortment of ideas and principles. What these papers were effectively asked to do, and what they did do, was to print one accepted interpretation of a religion - and to me this was just like backdoor blasphemy law."
Mr Versi, however, insists his work is about ensuring the facts are right - not silencing critics.
He says there are many examples where Muslims can be rightly criticised and he is not complaining about those.
"All I'm asking for is responsible reporting."
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Barely a day goes by at the moment when a big British company isn't flogging a big asset or isn't on the end of a takeover bid; and banker chums tell me the "deal flow" (dread phrase for takeovers of companies) looks set to be strong. | Robert PestonEconomics editor
The explanation is psychological. The economy is recovering. There hasn't been a big economic whoopsy since the eurozone's banks almost went splat two years ago. And most substantial companies accumulated mountains of low-yielding cash in the years of the Great Recession.
When it comes to investing and buying businesses, companies aren't a good deal more sophisticated than sheep: when they sense the big bad wolf of recession or crisis is over the hill, they all rush in a flock to spend.
Which raises that hoary issue once again of whether companies buying other companies is a good or bad thing, for investors and the wider economy.
There is so much empirical evidence that takeovers regularly damage shareholders' wealth, and yet the bids-and-deals game goes on and on, that it is probably fatuous to expect the owners to exercise caution, and block deals.
As for the economic impact, well it is not cut and dry. Many of the UK's more successful industrial competitors, including the US, see politicians intervene to block or amend deals for national strategic reasons in a way that almost never happens here.
Which begs two questions.
First, whether the government should intervene to frustrate takeovers in a way that hasn't been fashionable for decades.
Or whether the boards of companies in receipt of takeover offers should explicitly take into consideration more than the price being proffered.
Key sector
In the UK, this is once again a semi-urgent issue, following the announcement that the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer wants to buy AstraZeneca.
This transaction is particularly resonant because AstraZeneca has great intellectual property, it employs significant numbers of scientists and brainy researchers in the UK, and it has important links to top British universities.
The legitimate fear would be that - whatever promises and undertakings are given by Pfizer - over time the deal would hollow out an industrial sector important to British prosperity.
The noises from government are that ministers understand this concern.
But the British industrial convention of the past 30 years is that everything is for sale - and that the UK attracts much more inward investment than other comparable rich countries because it rarely frustrates the operation of the market.
And even if ministers wanted to block the deal, it is not clear they could, on the basis of current competition law.
So what about the directors of AstraZeneca?
The point is that since the great Crash of 2008, caused in large part by short-term, financially driven deal-doing by reckless banks, most big companies have talked the talk that short-term profits and the short-term share price isn't everything.
They all make a big deal of their responsibilities to employees, to customers and to the local and wider communities.
So could AstraZeneca's board cite the interests of these other interested parties or stakeholders to reject Pfizer's offer? Err no. Its primary and overwhelming responsibility is to its owners, the shareholders.
But they could perhaps discuss the effect of the deal on the UK's economic prospects in a full and frank way, so that - if they think the effect would be negative - the public and politicians would know what is genuinely at stake.
If they did not believe there would be a cost to the UK, that would be worth knowing too, of course.
Opening up in this way would be a scary prospect for most boards. Most company directors hate engaging in that kind of public debate.
That said, if they don't do it willingly, there is a strong likelihood they will be compelled to give their views, by MPs on one of a number of relevant select committees.
True defence?
One other thing.
In my too-long experience, bankers, brokers and public-relations advisers working for a target company always want the deal to happen - and that all they are really striving to do, underneath the rhetoric of "defending" the company, is to secure the highest price in an auction.
That is unsurprising, given that typically they receive more millions for their services if the takeover happens above a threshold price set by the board, than if it is not completed.
Which, given the powerful influence of these advisers, on the opinion of investors, media and politicians, means the probability of the deal collapsing is minimal.
Some might therefore argue that advisers should be rewarded for the quality of their advice, not for the outcome.
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Eleven men have denied offences linked to the theft of millions of pounds of artwork and jewellery from a cider-making family's luxury home. | Paintings worth £1.7m and jewellery worth £1m were stolen from Esmond and Susie Bulmer's home in Bruton, Somerset, in 2009.
The men denied offences including conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to receive stolen goods.
They will face trial on 4 June at Bristol Crown Court.
Most of the paintings stolen during the burglary - such as Endymion by 19th Century painter George Frederic Watts - have since been recovered.
The 11 men are:
Judge Julian Lambert released Mr Ali and Mr Regan on technical unconditional bail while their co-accused were all released on unconditional bail.
Art collector Mr Bulmer was a Conservative MP - first for Kidderminster from 1974 then for Wyre Forest from 1983 until 1987.
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After centuries during which it wiped out hundreds of millions of cattle around the world, scientists are preparing to declare rinderpest - otherwise known as cattle plague - formally eradicated. | Untreated, it can kill infected animals within days, wiping out entire herds.
It leaves a trail of economic devastation in its wake.
It is even suggested that the disease may have contributed to the downfall of the Roman empire in 4th Century Europe.
Rinderpest infection generally follows five stages: incubation, fever, lesions and excess mucus, diarrhoea, and death (although a small percentage do recover).
While waves of the disease, over history, regularly devastated buffalo and cattle herds in Asia and Europe, animals elsewhere were spared the horrors of the disease until 1887 when it was introduced by accident into the Horn of Africa.
In 1994, the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme (Grep) was launched.
Headed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Grep initially focused on establishing the geographical distribution and epidemiology of the disease.
Later, it promoted actions to contain rinderpest within infected ecosystems, and to eliminate reservoirs of infection.
Once experts were satisfied that the virus had been eliminated from a region, surveillance schemes were put in place to ensure it did not return.
Although one of the last places to be infected, East Africa was also one of the last places to become disease-free.
Dr Dickens Chibeu, a Kenyan veterinary epidemiologist, played a central role in freeing the region from rinderpest's grip.
"I have spent the past 30 years of my life fighting for the eradication of rinderpest," he told the Earth Reporters programme.
"A lot of people don't know, but the truth of the matter is that livestock contributes about 30% of the agricultural GDP in Africa, and that is a very high contribution to the national economies."
'Wildfire' of death
Recalling how quickly the disease could spread, Dr Juan Lubroth, chief vet for the FAO, said: "It spreads like wildfire in animals that have no protection, so in a herd of 100 animals, you could lose them all with 10 days."
Maasai pastoralist herdsmen did not think there would ever be an end to the disease, and feared it would destroy their way of life.
However, thanks to the development of the "Plowright vaccine" in the 1950s and later advances in treatments that remained stable in the extreme heat of central Africa, alongside effective control and immunisation programmes, huge steps were made.
But it took a second African pandemic in the late 80s to bring together the world's animal health leaders at a summit in Rome, where a global plan was finally developed to eradicate rinderpest.
In November 2009, experts were confident enough that the eradication programme was a success that they could describe the disease as on its "deathbed".
According to the FAO, the rinderpest footprint extended from Scandinavia to the Cape of Good Hope at its height in the 1920s, and from the Atlantic shore of Africa to the Philippine archipelago, with one outbreak reported in Brazil and another in Australia.
Now, experts are preparing to formally declare the global eradication of the cattle plague on 28 June 2011.
"I don't think the green revolution would have happened without the rinderpest vaccine," said Dr Lubroth.
The reason? "Because those animals would not have been able to plough soil or take crops to the market," he explained.
"So I think a lot of people, whether they know it or not, should be grateful."
The Earth Reporters' programme Beating Plague, co-produced by Television Environment (TVE) and the Open University, can be watched online, along with the other programmes from the series
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Campaigners have been persuading people in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, to sign a petition to keep the town's youth centre open.
| Warwickshire County Council is reviewing its youth services and there are fears within the community that the centre will shut.
Andy Norman, the centre manager, said he wanted to get at least 5,000 signatures.
The council has said it is reviewing many of its services.
The authority said it wanted to build on services delivered in collaboration with others.
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San Diego Comic-Con has become a mecca of popular culture and this year's convention proved no different.
| The internet has been sent into overdrive as fandoms gorge over glimpses of hotly-anticipated TV and film releases, while also celebrating cult classics.
We've already heard about the Buffy reboot and Ryan Reynolds's desire to explore Deadpool's sexuality.
Here's a quick run-down of some of the other big stories and trailers to come out of the weekend.
1. Johnny Depp casts a spell as Grindelwald
The Fantastic Beasts producers are currently in the process of spinning a 128-page book into five feature-length films.
We really could've used that kind of padding for some the essays we wrote at university.
Anyway, a very blonde Johnny Depp appeared in character as dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald as the latest Fantastic Beasts trailer was unveiled at Comic Con.
He took the opportunity to wave his wand over the audience while delivering a speech about muggles: "I do not hate them. I do not. I say the Muggles are not lesser. Not worthless, but of other value."
His involvement in the franchise wasn't popular with everyone - and author JK Rowling released a statement defending his casting last year.
True to its title, the new trailer does indeed feature some fantastic beasts, and it also appears to confirm a long-held theory about Dumbledore.
When Jude Law's character looks into the mirror of Erised, which reveals the viewer's true desire, he sees himself with Grindelwald looking back - suggesting he may have been in love with him.
2. Shazam is the superhero we've been waiting for
Surely we can all get on board with Shazam. A service which lets you find out the artist and song title of any track you hear anywhere you go, what's not to love?
We can also probably all get on board with Shazam - the movie, which is entirely unconnected to the app.
This superhero movie teaser was perhaps the surprise of the weekend - charming fans and immediately notching up six million views on YouTube. That's more than Fantastic Beasts.
The hilarious trailer has something a lot of superhero movies lack, tongue-in-cheek dialogue and a genuine sense of humour.
(Thanks Deadpool for opening these doors.)
3. We get the biggest glimpse yet at the new-look Doctor Who
When the Doctor gets regenerated, it always marks the beginning of a big change in the series - a whole new look, new assistant and this time, a whole new gender.
We all know that Jodie Whittaker is taking over and Comic-Con fans were treated to a glimpse of the first female Doctor at a time when gender in film and television is a huge talking point.
Showrunner Chris Chibnall, who was part of a panel made up of Whittaker, her companions Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole, plus exec producer Matt Strevens, said this series is different as it features writers of colour for the first time, along with female guest writers, directors and editors.
"People need to know the business is for them as well," Strevens said.
The trailer, which was shown to audiences, also appeared to confirm rumours that one episode will explore the civil rights movement in the United States.
One shot shows the Doctor and her friends in front of a building which bears more than a strong resemblance to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee where Martin Luther King was shot dead in 1968.
In the background the words 'Montgomery Motor Freight' can just be made out. The city of Montgomery is where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger and was arrested. It sparked huge protests involving Parks and a young Martin Luther King. Montgomery later became known as the home of the Civil Rights movement.
The crowd not only got to see the new trailer, but also the Doctor's new sonic screwdriver.
Whittaker revealed it to fans on stage and it appeared to have had quite the makeover, although the screwdriver still had its iconic sound, so there's no need to panic.
4. Aquaman: Definitely scarier than Finding Dory
If Jaws made you scared to go back in the water, Aquaman will make you too terrified to ever visit an aquarium.
The action-packed trailer has one particularly scary scene in which the young Arthur Curry commands the attention of all the fish behind the glass.
The DC Comics universe hasn't always pleased fans and critics - see Suicide Squad and Batman v. Superman - but the studio has changed its strategy recently.
Instead of focusing on its expanded universe, the company has moved towards more standalone stories such as this and Wonder Woman.
Aquaman, due to be released in December, will star Jason Momoa, Nicole Kidman and Amber Heard and we are definitely ready for it.
5. Breaking Bad lives on!
No, you're not tripping, it really has been 10 years since Breaking Bad hit screens.
The tale of Walter White's transformation from cancer-riddled chemistry teacher to drug overlord - in partnership with his former student Jesse Pinkman - captured imaginations worldwide.
It also turned lead actors Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul into superstars.
Despite the show's five-season run ending in 2013, Paul admitted he still misses playing the lovable rogue - but fortunately he's found a long-lasting (and very cute) way for his legacy to live on.
The actor proudly presented his five-month old daughter, Story, who stole the show dressed in the yellow hazmat suit and protective mask that made her dad famous.
The pair joined creator and showrunner Vince Gilligan, Bryan Cranston (Walter White), Anna Gunn (Skylar White), Dean Norris (Hank Schrader), Betsy Brandt (Marie Schrader), RJ Mitte (Walt Jr), Bob Odenkirk (Saul Goodman) and Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring) to celebrate its impact.... and tease the future.
Asked when we might next see Walter and Jesse back on screen, Gilligan said it would be "sorely remiss" if the pair did not make an appearance on prequel show Better Call Saul.
And as for a Pinkman/White spin-off? "Anything's possible," he said.
6. Millie Bobby Brown goes from the small screen to the big
If there's one franchise out there that needed another film, it was definitely Godzilla.
Millie Bobby Brown of Stranger Things fame stars in Godzilla: King of the Monsters - due to be released in May 2019.
This will be the actress's first feature film (understandable given she's 14-years-old), and all eyes will be on her to see how she fares on the big screen.
As for the plot? We got a little lost reading the official synopsis.
"The new story follows the heroic efforts of the crypto-zoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah."
Right oh.
7. Brooklyn Nine-Nine brought down the house
The rapturous applause that met the Brooklyn Nine-Nine cast proved just why NBC saved the dropped Fox show amid a massive fan campaign.
The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning sitcom has tackled important topics - including police profiling and bisexual representation.
The group discussed Stephanie Beatriz's character, detective Rosa Diaz, coming out as bisexual - a watershed moment on US network TV.
"Dan Goor was interested in exploring the idea that Rosa might be queer... but he asked me what I thought about it," Beatriz said.
"He wanted a bisexual voice in the writers' room, [and] it just so happens the person they wanted to play bi was also bi."
"I was really glad to have a voice in this and, at least for me, it really reflected what's happening in my own life," she added.
8. We do not feel Disenchanted by Disenchantment
Without being told, you could probably guess from the style of the animation that Disenchantment comes from the creator of The Simpsons.
But Matt Groening's new show is considerably darker than the world of Springfield, and is about a hard-drinking princess named Bean (voiced by Abbi Jacobson).
She's joined by her elf friend, sensibly named Elfo, and her personal demon Luci, in a series which pokes fun at several sci-fi and fantasy stereotypes.
The first trailer was finally revealed over the weekend, and the 10-episode run begins on Netflix on 17 August.
9. It: Chapter Two was teased
It director Andy Muschietti was unable to attend Comic-Con because he is currently filming It: Chapter Two in Toronto.
It's got an all-star cast behind it, including Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy and Bill Hader and is set 27 years after the first film, for reasons we won't spoil for anyone who hasn't seen the original movie.
A couple of teasers were released though, including a picture of young Beverly (Sophia Lillis) alongside grown-up Beverly (Chastain).
Despite the film only being in production for a couple of weeks, clips of the adult cast's first table read were shown and a script read for the child actors.
It sees the characters reunited in a Chinese restaurant for the first time since they made a pact in the summer of 1989.
Fans of Stephen King's novel have a while to wait for the film though, which isn't being released until September 2019.
10. Charmed fans got a first look at the rebooted show
The cast and executive producers of The CW network's Charmed reboot sat down at Comic-Con to discuss the show, particularly how closely it will follow the original.
Fans were shown the pilot episode before the Q&A, which showed lots of references to the original show.
Executive producer Jennie Snyder Urman explained now was a good time to reboot the series because "the original was so much about female empowerment and sisterhood and women taking over the world and I think we need that right now."
The original show, which ran from 1998 to 2006, saw three sisters realise they were witches and the same premise exists in the reboot, except they have some more modern problems to deal with.
Another exec producer, Jessica O'Toole, teased fans about the demons the Charmed sisters will come up against, joking about a demon that had the ability to possess your Fitbit, which we all know would be utterly terrifying.
The show will star Madeleine Mantock, Melonie Diaz and Sarah Jeffery as the sisters and is set for release in October.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].
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It's not me - it's them. | Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter
Theresa May has pitched herself tonight against Parliament on the side of the people.
It's true that No 10 believes strongly that swathes of the population have simply had enough of Brexit.
The way it drowns out other public concerns, the way its processes, contradictions and clamour have wrapped their way around the normal workings of Westminster - remote at the best of times and downright bizarre at the worst.
But, when it is MPs the prime minister needs to get on side if she is to have a real chance of finally getting her deal through next week - third time extremely lucky - the choice of message was not without risk.
On her own side, some MPs have openly questioned the merit of her evening at the podium - toxic and delusional are some of the descriptions given.
Yet Theresa May's allies say, at this vital moment, she felt it imperative to express that she has a line - staying in the EU three years after the referendum - that she is not, as prime minister, willing to cross.
For those Brexiteers who want her gone, that is not, it's understood, a promise that she would quit in return for support for her deal.
But No 10 must know too that choice, her fate, is not just in her hands, but in Parliament's and, as she prepares to travel to Brussels, in the grasp of the European Union.
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A man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a woman who was stabbed to death at a home in south London. | Scotland Yard said the 27-year-old suspect and the victim, who is believed to have been in her 20s, were known to each other.
Police were called to a disturbance in Clapham Road, Stockwell, at about 21:10 GMT on Sunday.
The woman was found suffering from stab injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
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The low-cost airline, EasyJet, is starting a new service from Belfast to Birmingham. | Direct flights will begin on 22 October from Belfast International Airport.
Initially the service will be daily and will increase on 29 October to twice daily on weekdays only.
The new route will increase EasyJet destinations from Belfast International to 23. Tickets go on sale on Monday.
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Thunderstorms and lightning could cause flooding and other disruption across Wales from Thursday afternoon. | The Met Office alert comes as temperatures in some areas are set to reach 31C (88F) over the next two days.
It said "torrential downpours" could bring up to 40mm (1.5in) of rain in less than two hours in some areas.
Last week, 200 properties were hit by flash floods during a downpour in Rhondda Cynon Taf, forcing some out of their homes for a third time this year.
A yellow weather warning is in place from 16:00 BST on Thursday until 09:00 on Friday across Wales.
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A man has been charged with murdering a 47-year-old who died three weeks after an attack in Chesterfield. | Phillip Allen was taken to hospital with head injuries on the evening of 27 June and remained there until he died on Wednesday.
Jordan Maltby, 26, of Gloucester Road, Chesterfield, is due to appear before magistrates.
A 27-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of murder has been released on bail, Derbyshire Police said.
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Ex Machina is your standard film script of boy meets girl. | By Felicity MorseNewsbeat social media producer
Except that this girl is a robot: a robot girlfriend programmed by a sociopathic billionaire.
And she is a robot who may just want a mind of her own - with a master who won't relinquish control.
The film is out in UK cinemas now.
'The most serious threat to the human race'
Written by Alex Garland, author of The Beach, it's a thriller starring Domhnall Gleeson as computer programmer Caleb, Alicia Vikander as robot Ava and Oscar Isaac as Nathan, the billionaire.
It explores some of our deepest fears about artificial intelligence (AI).
Ex Machina's robot, Ava, is not the only type of AI we should find unsettling, Garland told Newsbeat.
He said: "AI that is in control of stock markets, in control of healthcare systems, factories, maybe military drones. It is different from Ava but you can be scared of that."
These are the type of AI that led inventor and entrepreneur Elon Musk to declare AI as "the most serious threat to the survival of the human race".
The SpaceX boss has donated $10m (£6.6m) to keep AI friendly.
Safeguarding humanity
Dr Stuart Armstrong is a member of a research centre which looks into the big questions surrounding AI - the Future of Humanity - at Oxford University.
He is also an adviser to the Lifeboat Foundation, which is tasked with a small matter: safeguarding humanity.
He told Newsbeat about a future world which he says is far more likely to happen than anything shown in Ex Machina.
It is potentially far more terrifying, he reckons.
'AI could outsmart us... it could seduce us'
"AI could outsmart us technologically, it could come up with designs of things far beyond what we could come up with and then build them.
"It could outsmart us on the internet; say hack into every single computer in the world and copy themselves into it.
"It could outsmart us socially which is a particularly scary avenue.
"Maybe humans' social skills are not nearly as special or uncrackable as we like to think. It could seduce us.
"It could have super economic skills.
"It could guess the stock market better and accumulate quantities of cash.
"It doesn't need to have all these skills.
"If you have a general intelligence in one area it is often transferable to other areas.
"If you can accumulate huge amounts of money then you can buy lots of hackers or buy lots of computing power or technological research.
"Similarly if you have technological research you can sell this and accumulate financial resources."
Mosquito drone armies
Meanwhile, he says films portraying AI in human terms, particularly portrayals of AI like the Terminator, are "ridiculous".
He explains: "If you want to build a mechanical army to destroy the world, the human frame is probably one of the worst designs that you could go for. I would go for mosquito-sized drones with legs or something like that.
"Every single AI in movies I've ever seen is a human mind with some minor modification. They seem to be emotionally repressed humans. That's the model."
Much of what we might expect AI to be like will be beyond human experience, argues Armstrong.
"It is very possible that we will end up with AI that have no concept of personal identity or nothing that we could recognise as human. Humans are absolutely tiny in the pool of possible minds.
"AIs may be without personal names, of the concept of peer group, of status maybe. They may have different kinds of emotions.
"Emotions that we have no idea or relation to."
'We should be looking harder at us'
He said when people think of the possible risk of AIs to the future of the world "they think of slave AIs and then imagine they might revolt. They think of human-like minds and with human-like reactions to being enslaved".
However, he sees the risk to humanity originating elsewhere.
"The risk is not that these minds will react in this way, the risk is that these super-intelligent minds may have goals that are incompatible with ours, so they extinguish the human race along the way while doing something else, something that might be profoundly uninteresting."
But before you start worrying about how smart your smartphone really is, experts stress that it is hard to predict the future. There are so many variables.
Plus as anyone who has had their car break down, or broadband fail, technology can sometimes be pretty crummy.
Writer Alex Garland's worry is more immediate.
"At the moment in terms of really bad things happening in the world, it is humans who are doing all the running.
"We manage to do the bad stuff pretty well all on our own. We should be looking harder at us. We're doing plenty of bad things without looking at AIs."
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube
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Unmanned aircraft are the new cornerstone of modern military operations, and both American and British crews are learning to fly them at a New Mexico Air Force base. There, they must tackle the practical questions of what it means to wage war from afar.
| By Alastair LeitheadBBC News, New Mexico
America and its allies are fighting wars around the world from computer screens in the deserts of Nevada and New Mexico.
Drones - officially known as remotely piloted aircraft - have become a major part of modern warfare.
These unmanned aircraft have the ability to fly above contentious areas, taking and relaying surveillance photos. The most controversial drones have the ability to launch an attack via onboard weapons.
America operates thousands of drones, with the bigger, more sophisticated versions controlled from bases in the US.
More pilots are being trained to fly American unmanned aircraft than fighter planes, and most of them are put through their paces at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.
It's the biggest drone pilot training centre in the world, with American and British crews learning to fly them, spy with them and fire missiles from them.
'Not robot warfare'
The two common armed drones are the Predator and the Reaper, and Colonel Ken Johnson, 49th Operations Group commander at Holloman, showed me around them both.
They have high-tech cameras and weapons mounted under the wings. They're smaller than you might imagine with a grey hump where the glass cockpit would normally be.
"There's always going to be a human crew controlling the aeroplane," he said, explaining why he preferred the term 'remotely piloted aircraft' to 'drone'.
"So they're not robots. This is not robot warfare."
Some took off from the runway, controlled from inside the small, innocuous khaki-coloured shipping containers packed with all the necessary computer power.
In other darkened rooms on the base, pilots ran through training exercises on simulators.
"You can use the shadow patterns and the colours in the picture to identify if the man is carrying a weapon," a female US trainer explained to one of the British Royal Air Force students.
We were allowed to watch but not give the surname of any pilots or navigators as they learned and practised.
The bank of screens displayed maps and an aerial view of buildings, roads and computer-generated men walking - some carrying guns.
"It's a basic intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance trip - a two and a half hour mission," explained Squadron Leader "Dex", an instructor, but also commander for UK forces at the base.
One person flies the drone, the other operates the cameras and sensors.
They clearly give a huge advantage to troops on the ground, but there's controversy surrounding the American use of drones.
CIA's black hole
In Pakistan, covert missile strikes are launched on suspected insurgents in a country not at war with the US.
Who is targeted, why and who's next on the strike list is a secretive process, and there have been reports of civilian casualties in unmanned air attacks.
"For the covert US drone programme there needs to be a lot more transparency and accountability," said Sarah Holewinski, executive director of the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC).
"With the military's drones we know how they are operated - some is confidential, but we know what happens there. When it comes to the CIA's use of drones it's a complete black hole.
"For civilians living on the ground they don't know whether they are going to be targeted the next day, or at the market if they are standing next to somebody who is a target."
The military dismisses descriptions such as "targeted assassinations" for strikes on suspected fighters in Pakistan or on men not convicted of any crime.
"I think it's only controversial in terms of the media - they will make it controversial," said Sqdr Ldr Dex.
"We train to operate a weapon system in exactly the same way we would train in a manned aircraft - and we do the same job.
"So to us there's nothing controversial about it. Through our training and our smart decisions we avoid collateral damage as best we can. All of our engagements, all of our missions are legitimate and legal."
And what of the psychological impact on troops fighting a war in Afghanistan during the day and then picking up the children from school on the way home to dinner?
Sqdr Ldr Dex says it's part of the training - and the long drive home through the desert from the base helps leave his working day behind him.
But fighting and killing from thousands of miles away as if it were a computer game is a very different way of fighting a war.
These are moral, and legal debates, which will intensify the more we depend on unmanned aircraft to fight our wars.
It appears to be the future, as nations around the world invest in the technology, but it's already very much in the present.
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An independent panel has concluded its examination of the planning application to build a nuclear plant in Somerset. | The Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) appointed the panel to scrutinise the application and gather views from interested parties.
A report has to be written within three months outlining any relevant issues, along with a recommendation on whether the go-ahead should be given.
The Secretary of State will then have three months to decide on the plans.
EDF Energy is the firm which hopes to build the new nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point.
If permission is granted, the new power station could open by 2020.
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At least 2,800 people have now died in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The World Health Organization has warned the number of infections will increase to 20,000 by November if efforts to control the spread are not stepped up. | The hardest-hit countries are Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
The deadly virus is transmitted through body fluids such as sweat, blood and saliva, and there is no proven cure. This makes life feel very precarious for people living in affected areas.
People from Liberia and Sierra Leone tell the BBC what it is like living in fear of Ebola.
Abdul Kabia, Freetown in Sierra Leone
One of the most shocking, sad and sorrowful experiences of my life was the death of my auntie.
She was the woman who brought me up.
She felt unwell for a short while and then was diagnosed with Ebola. A surveillance team came to confirm the death and told me that another team would come to take samples of her saliva and blood. When that team came, they were dressed in white medical overalls. They told us not to go near my auntie's body because the virus would still be very active.
Then another team came. The burial team came. We told them that we would not give them her body until they could prove she had died from Ebola. The burial team then called for police enforcement and the corpse was taken forcefully.
My auntie was put in the back of a van with six other corpses. We followed them to the cemetery where Ebola cases are sent to be buried but armed men did not allow us to enter because of infection. They buried 17 corpses in a mass grave. This was the one of the saddest days of my life.
M Sahr Nouwan, Liberia
My brother-in-law's wife became very unwell and she had to go to the hospital. But she died in the car before she got there.
All my family were very upset but also very afraid of contracting the virus.
The symptoms started to develop in people that had been in contact with her - about eight people developed signs and died. My wife's brother did not contract Ebola, nor did my wife - we were lucky.
Many people who have Ebola are afraid to go to the hospital. I want to encourage people to get help. There are fewer clinics open and many deaths are due to the poor response of health officials. They need to increase the numbers of medics, social workers and facilities to fight this virus.
Nyuma Bondi, Monrovia in Liberia
I know people who have died from this deadly Ebola virus. A doctor who had been helping sick people in my community - even when public hospitals were closed - contracted the virus and died. A newspaper reporter has also died and one family lost three of its members.
Since the outbreak, all hospitals have been closed throughout the country. There are virtually no treatment centres. The ones that exist are filled to capacity and are no longer accepting new cases. Nurses and doctors have abandoned the hospitals because of fear of the virus.
People have a sort of denial mentality - most Liberians from remote and suburban areas of the country don't believe that the Ebola virus is real.
Some confirmed Ebola patients are escaping treatment centres. A lady who was diagnosed escaped the quarantine centre in Lofa where the outbreak started. Everyone who had been in direct contact with her became infected and only one doctor survived. So lying about infection is also responsible for the huge death rates in Liberia.
I wash my hands regularly with soap. I clean my clothes and I never shake hands with people. I try to protect myself and my family.
Emmett P Chea, Liberia
The Ebola outbreak has been like someone firing live bullets. Liberia is too poor to deal with this unaided. Thousands more will die if the international community does not come to our rescue.
The closing of hospitals and clinics in and around Monrovia has been one of the major factors increasing the deadly Ebola virus death rate because people who are coming down with the symptoms of malaria, high blood pressure, diabetes and diarrhoea are not able to get adequate treatment with the closure of health facilities.
Lionel Z Fredericks, Paynesville in Liberia
The Ebola virus disease has upset my life. I'm a medical student and I should have sat my exams by now but the Liberian government closed all schools in August.
We now live in fear and it is so intense that even having a small fever makes you very afraid.
I tried to avoid mosquito bites as I don't want even getting the slightest illness.
I have lost friends and colleagues. They should build a memorial to those who have died when this killer virus is eradicated.
James Smith Wallace, Liberia
A friend of mine died from Ebola. It is very frustrating - you never know when you are at risk even when we are all following the prevention guidelines.
The health centres are too crowded. Relatives go there to see their loved ones die and they catch Ebola too. People are coming out of the isolation centres and are putting everyone at risk.
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A West Midlands hospital has been given permission to build a new car park to help ease traffic congestion that has caused delays for emergency vehicles.
| Coventry City Council's planning committee has given the green light for about 420 extra spaces to be created at University Hospital in Coventry.
The new car park would be used by staff with 100 spaces from a current staff area given over to the public.
An extra 50 spaces were made available to visitors earlier this year.
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The former commanding officer of an army battalion based at Ballykinler in County Down has told an inquest he was stunned after two of his soldiers died at Abercorn Barracks less than three months apart. | By Michael FitzpatrickBBC News NI North-East Reporter
Rifleman Darren Mitchell, 20, was found hanged in his room at the barracks in February 2013.
His death came after 30-year-old L/Cpl James Ross, from Leeds, was found hanged at the same Army base in December 2012.
An inquest is examining the deaths.
The men had previously been on active service in Afghanistan.
Both men were serving with the 2nd Battalion The Rifles.
Lieutenant colonel Mark Gidlow-Jackson said he was ultimately responsible for the soldiers under his command and to lose them was "awful".
The senior army officer, who served as commanding officer of 2nd Battalion The Rifles from June 2012 to April 2015, told the inquest he "was concerned that two such deaths were unusual" and in response initiated a number of steps to protect soldiers.
"Two tragedies so close together commanded immediate action," he said.
One of these steps involved the banning of alcohol in single officer's private rooms, which he said was a "hugely unpopular" decision.
He said the battalion sought to create "a culture that encourages people to come forward to share their problems".
He told the inquest that there was an increase of patrols of single accommodation by duty personnel in response to the two deaths.
The former commanding officer added that steps were taken to improve access to sporting facilities "with the aim of encouraging single soldiers out of their rooms".
The inquest previously heard from the mother of Lance Corporal James Ross who said she did not believe it was acceptable that young men who had served in Afghanistan were sent to the "isolated" barracks.
The former commanding officer was asked about the Army's decision to transfer 2nd Battalion The Rifles to Lisburn in 2014, leaving Ballykinler without a resident battalion.
He said he partly supported the decision to move because of the "cases of suicide and self-harm" and added there was a wider view among unmarried soldiers that they wanted the opportunity to live a more normal off-duty life.
Lt Col Gidlow-Jackson said Ballykinler was a "marvellous" location to serve in if you were married, but added that if you were a single soldier it was "pretty isolated".
"It was the subject of lively debate, whether people wanted to stay in Ballykinler, live in Lisburn or move on somewhere else," he said.
The inquest is also examining the culture at Ballykinler at the time of the deaths.
It has heard there were several incidents of self-harm at that time.
'Inappropriate'
Earlier the inquest heard from Kenneth McQuillan, a former brigade welfare support officer with the Army welfare service, who offered to meet with Lt Col Gidlow-Jackson in February 2013, following the death of Rifleman Mitchell.
He said the meeting, which was an opportunity to outline the support they could provide, did not take place until four months later.
Mr McQuillan told the inquest that during the meeting Lt Col Gidlow-Jackson said: "we've done light and fluffy", when referring to the service which the Army Welfare Service provides.
The former commanding officer later accepted that he had used the phrase, which he described as "terrible" and "inappropriate".
He said he was not being "flippant about the issue" and the point he had been trying to make was that the battalion had already done a lot in terms of talking to soldiers and offering help.
The inquest continues.
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With winds of up to 50mph (80km/h), white-out conditions and well over a foot (30 cm) of snow, millions on the US mid-Atlantic coast were encouraged to just stay inside, and save sledding and snowmen for another day - never mind driving. | By BBC TrendingWhat's popular and why
Thanks to social media, those Americans trapped indoors are able to communicate with the rest of the world what life is like in a storm some are calling "Snowzilla".
Many have taken to the kitchen, with some posting Pinterest-worthy photos of their culinary creations.
"I am at a house with a person making stew," writes the New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum. "I just texted a friend. She is making stew. At a separate house, her sister is also making stew."
Salon's Mary Beth Williams writes that she "pages through her copy of Cookie Love. Looks outside at snowstorm. 'Kids,' she says ominously. 'We're going to need more butter.'"
Some have turned to retail therapy to help their housebound blues.
"Not even 24 hours into this #jonasblizzard and I'm already online shopping like there's no tomorrow," tweeted Jess Kidding.
"'I've done some, well, let's call it 'research'... am thinking we'll see a boost to online retail sales in January's data," tweeted Monica Rivituso Comas.
And some found time to multi-task: "There's two addictions that come about on snow days... Online shopping and Netflix," wrote one Twitter user.
But it's not all domestic bliss - snow continued well into the night for many in the path of the storm, and even by Saturday morning some were already showing signs of snow fatigue.
"Snow days were cool when I was 10. Now it's 8:44am and I'm already stir crazy," wrote Nashville resident Mark Block.
Especially for those with kids, a weekend with nothing to do sounds less than relaxing.
"Forty five min to get the 21MO dressed for the snow. 20 min outside. Already did puzzles, coloring, tea party. Going to be a long 48 hrs," wrote journalist Beth Braverman.
Still, one man - who has reason to have more cabin fever than the rest of us - was able to appreciate the snow. Astronaut Scott Kelly tweeted a beauty shot of the storm from his perch in the International Space Station.
For more videos subscribe to BBC Trending's YouTube channel. Or find us on Facebook.
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Following the Grenfell Tower, 60 high-rise buildings in 25 local authorities in England have failed fire safety tests so far. But no local authority or housing association tower blocks in Scotland have been found to use the same kind of cladding.
In Scotland, a change to building regulations in 2005 made it mandatory for builders to ensure that any external cladding "inhibited" fire spreading. The new regulations were introduced following a fatal fire in a Scottish tower block in 1999. | On Friday 11 June 1999, a fire swept through a 14-storey block of flats in North Ayrshire.
The blaze started at about 12:45 and ended up destroying flats on nine floors of the Garnock Court block in Irvine.
A 55-year-old man died in the fire and five other people, including a 15-month-old child, were injured.
Witnesses reported that a vertical ribbon of cladding on one corner of the block was quickly ablaze and the fire reached the 12th floor within 10 minutes of it starting.
The flats were owned by North Ayrshire Council, who ordered the removal of plastic cladding and PVC window frames as a precaution "at whatever cost" so they could be replaced with safer materials.
The then local MP, Brian Donohoe, said at the time he believed there was something "quite wrong" in the use of the cladding.
"Afterwards I had surgeries that were full of people who wanted to get out of these flats as soon as was possible. That clearly was enough to drive me and drive the council," he told BBC Scotland on Monday.
Mr Donohoe was also concerned that tower blocks across the UK which used similar cladding could be at risk, and the Labour MP pushed for a parliamentary inquiry into the extent of the problem.
The review - by the select committee on environment, transport and regional affairs - was set up quickly and reported back in January 2000.
It said the evidence received during the inquiry suggested most external cladding being used in the UK did not pose "a serious threat to life or property in the event of fire".
But the report added: "Notwithstanding... we do not believe that it should take a serious fire in which many people are killed before all reasonable steps are taken towards minimising the risks."
Committee members recommended that local authorities and registered social landlords reviewed their existing building stock and the cladding systems used.
MPs also said they wanted to make it clear that any addition to the outside of a building which had the "potential to lessen its resistance to external fire spread" should be subject to building regulations.
'Inaction of all government'
Mr Donohoe, who was MP for Central Ayrshire until 2015, said the inquiry contributed to the tightening of the rules in Scotland, where building regulations were now devolved.
"Of course, the chief executive here [North Ayrshire Council] and also the MSPs by that time were in a position to, and did, enforce change in Scotland," he said.
"Which is why we we're in the position that we have no properties in Scotland that have been identified as being failures in that respect."
Mr Donohoe added that a series of UK governments had been "remiss in their responsibilities and their duties" to people who lived in high-rise properties in England.
"[The problem] was indentified but nothing was being done. It's really a disaster that has been created as a consequence of inaction of all government and I blame that as being the main reason why we had that fire at Grenfell."
In the Scottish Parliament last week, Communities Secretary Angela Constance also cited the Irvine fire directly as the reason why cladding used on high-rise buildings in Scotland must use materials and design which resist the spread of fire.
Responding to a question from Labour MSP Jackie Baillie, she said: "Building standards regulations are reviewed regularly.
"In my discussions with building standards professionals in the Scottish government, they were able to recount to me the responses that they have made over a number of years to specific events and specific fires.
"For example, when there was a tragic fire in Irvine in 1999, that led to a revisiting of regulations, which meant that all cladding that was used in high-rise dwellings had to be non-combustible."
The Building (Scotland) Act 2003 introduced the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 which came into force on 1 May 2005.
It contains the mandatory regulation: "Every building must be designed and constructed in such a way that in the event of an outbreak of fire within the building, or from an external source, the spread of fire on the external walls of the building is inhibited."
The Scottish government said on Friday that no local authority or housing association high-rises in Scotland used the cladding installed on Grenfell Tower.
But the safety of Scotland's tower blocks will be examined by a Holyrood committee as part of the government's investigation into high-rise safety and building standards.
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Every month 60,000 ill and disabled people have their needs assessed for benefits. Some are so worried about the process that they are using mobile phones to secretly record those interviews, critics say. But using that evidence to overturn a decision is not straightforward. | By Jim ReedReporter, Victoria Derbyshire programme
In 2015, Nev Cartwright sat down with his specialist at a hospital in Leeds. He was told his hacking cough and breathing difficulties were caused by a tumour in his left lung. He was 45.
Since then he has had three operations and a lung removed. Nev was awarded the highest rate of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) - a benefit meant to pay for the extra costs of his condition.
But a year later he received a letter saying the DLA was being replaced by a new benefit, the Personal Independence Payment, and his needs would have to be reassessed by a private company.
The night before his assessment he watched a documentary which questioned how they were being conducted.
"I was really nervous about it and made the decision to audio record the interview covertly. It was a safeguard, an accurate record of what had taken place," he says.
'Completely altered'
The face-to-face assessment is typically an interview with a health professional, such as a nurse or paramedic, lasting between 30 and 90 minutes. It can also include basic medical tests and a physical examination.
The claimant is assessed depending on their ability to complete day-to-day tasks. That report is sent to an official at the DWP who will then decide the final level of disability benefit that person is awarded.
But things did not go as planned. Nev says he had misgivings from the start but it was only later, when he saw the assessor's final report, that he realised something was seriously wrong.
"Some details discussed in the interview were not in the report and others were completely altered," he says.
"She said she'd done a physical examination of my mobility. It was very evident on the audio recording, that she never did that at all."
On his phone recording you can clearly hear the assessor carrying out a peak test to measure his lung function, and reading out the data.
But in the final report, his last reading appears to have doubled from 150 L/min to 300 L/min, making him seem better than he actually was.
"I totally agree that anyone entitled to benefits should have their needs assessed," he says. "But everyone deserves just and fair treatment."
Tribunal appeal
After his interview Nev had his disability payments cut and had to return the car paid for by the mobility element of his benefits.
He wrote to the DWP and told them about his recording, sending them a written transcript put together by an independent firm.
Under government rules, secret or covert recording like this is banned. If it is spotted, the claimant is told to stop. If they refuse it is likely that their benefit application will be rejected.
The government tried to get his recording thrown out before his appeal at tribunal.
But exceptionally, in his case the judge agreed a transcript could be entered into evidence. He went on to win his case and his car was eventually returned.
"I've wasted 12 months of my life in an unfair fight with a government department and the people who work for it," he said.
The private company which carried out his assessment says its "high standards were not met on this occasion" and it has now changed the way it gathers evidence in cases like this.
Recording pressure
Critics of the assessment process say formal audio recording of all PIP interviews should be mandatory and available to both sides.
"It would remove the distrust and give so much transparency to everyone," said Tony Lea, lead welfare rights officer at Benefit Resolutions, a disability advocacy service which has been campaigning for a rule change.
As things stand the official rules are complex.
A claimant does have the right to ask for a PIP interview to be formally taped and used as evidence, but unlike other disability benefits like ESA, they have to provide their own equipment.
This must be a secure, tamper-proof double recorder which can cost as much as £1,500. A mobile phone, digital recorder or dictaphone does not meet the requirements.
In March, a major independent review of the PIP system commissioned by the government recommended switching to compulsory audio recordings with an opt-out for people who do not want it.
The government says it is "considering the results" of a pilot of recording in the West Midlands.
A spokesman for the DWP said: "Anyone is free to record their face-to-face consultation, but it must be done in a way that best protects both claimants and assessors."
Nev says his experience shows that some vulnerable people need more protection.
"I should probably be more diplomatic but I think the whole system is a mess," he adds.
"The importance for me of getting that audio recording into evidence was the potential to help other people in the future."
Watch the Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.
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The moment of Brexit is a time to "find closure and let the healing begin", according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. But what does "healing" involve? | By Mark EastonHome editor
If there is one thing that people on both sides of the referendum debate agree on it is that, at times, the argument became far too hostile. In the House of Commons, on social media and in the streets, passions became inflamed.
An official statement from the prime minister earlier this month said now was "a moment to heal divisions". It was also announced that Brexit would be marked with a Downing Street light display, the hoisting of flags, a countdown clock and the minting of a commemorative coin.
While many of his supporters want to celebrate leaving the European Union, there's little sign that these events have healed political divisions.
On the other hand, it's not clear how the decision of the SNP to fly an EU flag outside the Scottish Parliament building was going to bring people together.
To heal, we need to understand the nature of the divide. Why do people feel so strongly about Brexit? What are the values that lie behind the slogans and insults?
Two visions?
There is a danger in trying to characterise the Leave/Remain split too rigidly. The practice of describing people, places, regions and nations as "Leave" or "Remain" risks polarising the argument with a binary description that fails to reflect the nuance behind the choice and the result.
For instance, London is often described as a "Remain city". But more Londoners voted to leave the EU than voted for Remain-supporting Sadiq Khan as mayor. Meanwhile, even in that most pro-Brexit town of Boston in Lincolnshire, a quarter of those who took part opted to remain.
Voters had a whole list of reasons for choosing to support one side or the other, often weighing up different arguments. No place was 100% for leaving or remaining in the EU.
But new opinion polling, commissioned by the BBC and the Campaign for Social Science, helps us understand the core beliefs associated with the way people voted.
The survey, conducted by Ipsos MORI, asked people to say which propositions came closest to their view.
The phrase "influences from other countries and other cultures make Britain a better place to live" was supported by a majority of Remain voters (56%), but just a quarter (23%) of Leave voters.
The alternative proposition - "influences from other countries and cultures threaten the British way of life" - was supported by just 18% of Remain voters but 52% of Leave voters.
A similar result was found with a slightly different proposition. The phrase "Britain will be stronger if it is open to changes and influences from other countries and other cultures" was supported by 58% of Remain voters but just 22% of Leave voters.
The alternative - "Britain will be stronger in the future if it sticks to its traditions and way of life" - was supported by 56% of Leave voters and just 14% of Remain voters.
Along with other polling data, Remain voters emerge as significantly more likely to celebrate Britain's diversity and say they feel European. Leave voters are more likely to say Britain's history, heritage, pageantry and Christian tradition are important to their national identity.
Leave voters appeared more patriotic, proud of their nationality and more likely to suggest their country was better than others. Remain voters placed more importance on being part of the international community.
What is suggested by the survey is two visions of Britain - one which seeks to protect tradition, heritage, culture and familiar way of life, another which is happy to embrace change and keen to be part of a global conversation.
They are not mutually exclusive ideas - there is always a balance to be found between continuity and change. We can all feel that we want to protect tradition and be open to new ideas. It is a matter of emphasis.
But the reason that this debate has inspired such passions is that it goes to the kind of country we want to live in, its priorities and values.
Echo chambers
In that context, what does healing look like?
Culturally, British politics and public discourse tend to be adversarial. The House of Commons is designed to pit one side against the other. Compromise is often portrayed as weakness. Consensus-building seen as alien to our political tradition.
But conflict-resolution experts say healing doesn't mean conceding the argument. It is about understanding and valuing the views of people with whom you don't agree.
It is not about trying to change people's minds or prove them wrong. It is about "respectful disagreement".
Part of the problem is that it's increasingly easy to live our lives in echo chambers, surrounding ourselves with those who endorse our personal view of the world. On Facebook and Twitter, we naturally exclude those whose views we don't like.
The newspapers and websites we choose, the books we read, the pubs and cafes we frequent, the films we watch - all of them are to some extent selected because they bolster our views and values rather than challenging them.
Indeed, when we do find ourselves hearing opinions at odds with our own core beliefs, it can feel quite upsetting. The views of people we disagree with have a much bigger psychological effect on us than the voices of those who think like us.
Healing the divide, it seems, is going to require us to get out of our comfort zone, out of our bubble.
"More in Common" is the name of more than one body trying to understand this situation. A foundation set up in memory of the murdered MP Jo Cox organises community events which encourage people with different views to come together and explore what unites rather than divides them.
A separate research organisation operating in the UK, US, Germany and France, describes its mission as working to "address the underlying drivers of fracturing and polarisation, and build more united, resilient and inclusive societies".
This year they will be teaming up with organisations and institutions to see what role they can play in "bridging divides" in Britain. One charity they already work with is the Roots Programme which takes people from different walks of life and gets them to "meet and eat, talk and debate", physically removing them from their "bubble".
The first pair to take part were Ben Lane, 31, a Remain-supporting, north-London-dwelling former business strategy consultant, and Peter Curtis, 47, a community football coach from Sunderland who voted to leave.
Both men acknowledge their exchange visits could have been better.
"It was quite depressing going down to London and seeing the money flying about," said Peter, a former construction worker who now earns less than £10,000 a year in Sunderland.
For Ben, the experience made him embarrassed that he played no role in his community, despite his prestigious job as a charity chief executive.
But they now both feel optimistic about the healing of the nation after Brexit.
Ben said: "One of the worst ingredients for healing is uncertainty, and now we've got more certainty.
"It definitely means we can try and galvanise around something."
Helpfully, the phrase "more in common" has some truth to it in the UK. Compared with the US where the liberal/conservative divide runs along almost every area of policy, here there is still broad national consensus on many key issues - taxation, welfare, the NHS, abortion, gun control or homosexuality.
That is not to say that everyone agrees on everything, but it is more likely there will be some common ground where people can gather to explore the aspirations and values they share.
Healing the Brexit divide, though, needs to be more than a group hug. It also means dealing with the consequences of a very fractious and unpleasant period in our politics, a time when many questioned the effectiveness of our system of governance and when confidence in our democracy was shaken.
BBC Crossing Divides
A season of stories about bringing people together in a fragmented world.
Renewing democracy
Tellingly, all the big political parties included proposals for democratic renewal in their manifestos. There was consensus, at least, on the need to take a close look at how power works.
The Brexit vote itself has been interpreted as a cry of pain from communities which felt that their voice was being ignored, that decisions affecting their lives were being taken without consultation or discussion in anonymous offices in Westminster or behind mirrored glass in Brussels.
Politicians of all stripes appear to accept the need to listen to and respond to those concerns, finding ways to help people feel they have a genuine connection to power.
The government intends to create a Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission that will be instructed to come up with proposals to "restore trust in our institutions and in how our democracy operates".
No details have been given on the terms of reference or make-up of this new body, although there have been suggestions that it may be asked to look at the balance of power between government, MPs and the judiciary after the Supreme Court ruled that Boris Johnson's suspension of Parliament last autumn was unlawful.
Already, some have argued that might be interpreted as Brexiteer vengeance rather than a sincere attempt to heal a wounded democracy.
Such speculation helps explain why constitutional or democratic reform is tricky for government or even for Parliament. Any adjustment to the architecture is likely to have implications for the power of ministers and MPs.
That is why civil society has stepped into this space, looking at ways to involve citizens directly in any redesign of the British constitution - trying to take party politics out of the process and give power to the people.
Citizens' assemblies are increasingly used by governments around the world to find answers to the trickiest of problems - abortion in Ireland, nuclear power in South Korea, energy policy in Texas, waste recycling in South Australia.
More on Brexit
A randomly selected cross-section of the public is recruited to consider a policy question through rational, respectful and reasoned discussion. They engage with information and arguments around a topic before agreeing on a proposal for consideration by lawmakers.
UK parliamentary committees have held citizens' assemblies on climate change and social care to help understand what really matters to informed voters. In Scotland, a randomly selected assembly is currently considering the nation's governance, with its recommendations to be considered by the Scottish Parliament.
Over the next two years, the Citizens' Convention on UK Democracy will attempt to engage 10 million people in what it describes as a "UK conversation". Thousands will receive a formal invitation to participate in a convention, their names selected by civic lottery.
Among the issues that will be considered are the voting system, the future of the House of Lords, devolving power to local and regional bodies, how politics should be paid for and whether the UK should have a written constitution.
A number of senior MPs from across the political spectrum have agreed to help ensure that the conclusions of the convention are considered by Parliament.
There are other initiatives working in the same area, all convinced that the divide exposed by the Brexit debate can be healed only by getting under the bonnet of the UK's democracy, examining its inner workings and looking at ways to improve the performance.
The Hansard Society's most recent annual Audit of Political Engagement suggested 72% of voters think Britain's system of governance needs significant improvement and almost half (47%) say they feel they have no influence at all over national decision-making.
With the arguments and campaigns over Brexit now over, this does seem to be a good moment to consider the lessons of what has been an uncomfortable and at times painful process. It has knocked the confidence and pride Britain once had in its democracy.
If healing is to happen, it will require the nation to ask some searching questions of itself and what kind of country we want to be.
Additional reporting by Callum May
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The meteoric rise of crowdfunding has revolutionised how easy it is to help out those in need. Often fundraising is done by friends or family, but an increasing number of people are setting up pages for complete strangers whose stories tug at their heartstrings. So how do you go about changing the life of someone you've never met? | By Jodie HalfordBBC News
Shane Yerrell is a man on a mission. The victim of a knife attack a decade ago, he decided to turn his hand to helping others, and has raised more than £20,000 for a number of causes since 2011.
He has climbed a mountain, shaved his head, walked from London to Brighton - and he has set up crowdfunding pages for people who he does not know, and might never meet.
"If I won the lottery, I'd be the first millionaire to become skint," said Mr Yerrell, 33, from Waltham Abbey, Essex, who works with adults who have learning disabilities.
"When I read stories in the news, I get a bit more affected by them than most people do. I get really annoyed to the point where I want to make a stand and help them there and then.
"You don't have to know someone to want to help them."
One of the people Mr Yerrell has crowdfunded for is 21-year-old Liam Bradshaw, from Enfield, who was involved in a catastrophic car crash in which his three friends died in 2012.
"I was left with 17 fractures to the face, broken collarbones, a nose job and a titanium forehead. I was in hospital for eight and a half months," Mr Bradshaw recalls.
When Mr Yerrell heard in the news about what had happened, he approached Mr Bradshaw's family and asked if he could help to raise money for his recovery, through a fundraising page and by climbing Mount Toubkal in Morocco.
"Shane came along towards the end of my hospital life. The guy has the kindest heart - he went out of his way to help a stranger so that stranger could live his life again," Mr Bradshaw said.
"I'm so glad it happened, because if I hadn't had the accident, I wouldn't have met someone with such a good heart," he added.
"From what Shane did for me, I've then come out of hospital to go and coach disabled children for Tottenham Hotspur.
"We've gone beyond friends now - he's more like family."
Giving back
Bridey Watson, 35, from Bristol, was on the receiving end of crowdfunding a few years ago, after contracting babesiosis, a malaria-like parasitic disease developed from a tick bite.
"I was bed and wheelchair-bound, having seizures every day," she recalls.
"When the doctors finally worked out what was wrong, my friends and family set up a crowdfunding page for me to go to Germany and the US for treatment, where tick-borne diseases are better understood and treated.
"The crowdfunding other people did for me enabled me to regain my health and rebuild my life."
Ms Watson is still recovering from the effects of babesiosis, but was inspired to help someone else in need following her own experience.
She said she was horrified by an assault on 17-year-old asylum seeker Kurdish-Iranian Reker Ahmed, who was chased and subjected to a "brutal attack" in Croydon at the end of March.
"He's finally thinking he's reached a place of sanctuary, only to be attacked - I could picture the terribleness of what he'd been through," she said.
"From my own experience, I knew the messages people left were as important as the physical health money can bring. And that's what I wanted to do for the guy who was attacked."
The psychology behind setting up a crowdfunding page for a stranger can be split into three categories, says philanthropic psychologist Jen Shang.
"Typically, people help strangers to make themselves feel good, to make others feel good, or both," she said.
"Some people don't want to get up close and personal with the people they help - they want to keep it all at arm's length and have a simple, easy and warm way of helping.
"Others prefer to have direct contact with the people they're helping, and crowdfunding sites offer a channel where that sort of connection is possible."
Ms Shang, who works as research director at the University of Plymouth's Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy, said although the percentage of people donating money to charity or other causes "has not changed in the UK or the US for decades," new methods of giving were constantly being invented, with crowdfunding "the new kid on the block".
"For people like Mr Yerrell, crowdfunding might be the most 'sustainable' way of giving - the way that sustains the knowledge and feeling you're caring about others.
"Psychologists say as long as you're a human, you want to care about others."
Top tips for crowdfunding for strangers
For the Parker family, who live in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, a stranger's help could not have come at a better time.
They were trying to raise £75,000 for specialised surgery to help seven-year-old Harry, who has cerebral palsy, to be able to walk.
Mr Yerrell was introduced to them by a friend, but had not met the family before that, and ended up helping to hit the fundraising target.
"It's unbelievable - the amount of people he's helped. We weren't the first and I know we won't be the last," Harry's dad Glen said.
"As soon as I met him, I knew he was genuine. It's a life changer for Harry and us as a family. People like him don't come along every day."
Harry's mum Danielle said Mr Yerrell - whose work has been recognised with a British Citizen Award and a Pride of Essex Award - had become "a big part" of the family's life.
"Not only has he helped us, he's a genuinely nice person. Sometimes you need someone like him in your life to make you think everything will be alright, especially when you're going through a tough time."
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Mr Yerrell has founded a community interest company, Through the Fight, with the aim of gaining charity status in the coming year.
He will also be taking some time for himself, he said, because "you don't want to make people sick of it".
"I want to have time to do NVQ at work," he said. "But if something was to happen to someone I knew, I'd be there first person to try to help.
"I put everything into my fundraising. It's not just setting up the pages - you have to contact the person of their family, put your own money into it, promote it.
"I'm not well off, but that money could go down the pub or on silly things. I will always want to help and make a difference, but you need a bit of reality too."
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I have seen worse conditions in a hospital. I have seen patients even more deprived of the medicines they need. But rarely have I seen an institution that appears to have gone into such steep decline as University Hospital, Caracas. | By Paul MossThe World Tonight, Caracas
A long queue stretches from the hospital entrance as people wait in line for the lift. That's lift in the singular, because only one has been operating for the past few months.
It is unclear whether the others are broken or are simply not being used because there is insufficient electrical power.
Once you reach the wards, you find there is not enough electricity even for lighting, and some of the corridors are in darkness.
Perhaps it is a good thing that the toilets and shower rooms are dark, as it provides a modicum of privacy. Cubicle doors are broken, hanging off hinges.
I saw patients on a cardiac ward forced to wash in a half-wrecked stall, with a small piece of plastic drawn across.
"We have all kinds of shortages," says Dr Elizabeth Ball, a dermatologist and teaching professor. "There are days when there is no IV solution… days when there is no anaesthetic."
Doctors are forced to use their mobile phones to record X-ray images, because there is nothing to print them on.
It is not just this one hospital that is in crisis or indeed Venezuela's health system as a whole. Shops have long queues outside, with basic goods in short supply, and power cuts are now a daily event across the country.
Public sector workers have been told to come in for only two days a week, in order to save energy and Venezuela's clocks have been put forward by half an hour to ensure that more of the working day takes place in daylight.
Superficially at least, the cause of these setbacks is obvious. Venezuela depends on oil exports for most of its earnings, and prices have plummeted. Meanwhile, a drought has reduced power at the hydro-electric dam that produces much of the country's electricity.
But critics of the government such as Helena Acedo refuse to accept that this is simply bad luck.
"Having a country depend on a commodity whose price is very volatile, that's bad decision making," she says. "And we know we sometimes suffer droughts. We should have invested in preparing ourselves."
Helena was one of the many volunteers who collected signatures for a petition, demanding the recall of President Nicolas Maduro.
On Monday, the petition was handed in to the country's electoral commission, its authors claiming to have nearly two million people signed up.
If this is accepted, then a second petition will be launched and, according to the constitution, if this second one has 20% of the population on board (which would amount to about six million signatures) a referendum must be held on whether to remove the president from office.
Yet it is not just Venezuela's president who is under fire, but the ideology he represents. And the man who casts a long shadow here is Venezuela's previous president, Hugo Chavez.
"El Comandante", as he was known, spent much of his country's oil wealth on education and healthcare projects, styling himself as a champion of the poor. He also faced strong criticism from parts of Venezuela's business community for his management of the economy.
President Maduro was handpicked by Mr Chavez as his successor and promised to continue El Comandante's work.
It is that sense of continuity that is behind Valentina Figuera's loyalty to the government. We met up in a Caracas square, Plaza Diego Ibarra, which she said is an example of the renovation work carried out under Mr Chavez and continued by Mr Maduro.
"We have been facing economic problems, and that's a reality. But we have a government that is still protecting the people," she says.
She tells me proudly how pensions are still paid, in contrast to countries in Europe where they have been cut. She talks also about the public housing projects under way, and the millions of people receiving higher and tertiary education. This is the voice of a believer who has not lost her faith.
"We could be in a worse situation… I don't think socialism is dead."
Jesus Galvez did not want to talk about socialism, or any ideology - he was just fed up. A resident of the Chacao neighbourhood of Caracas, he and his neighbours were on their third day without electricity.
They had taken to the streets in protest when what food they had went rotten because their fridges had stopped working and they had no power supply for cooking.
"It is unbelievable that we are suffering this," he says, incredulity etched on his face. He promises there will be more and bigger protests if things do not improve - that they will block the main roads if necessary.
I ask Jesus what will happen if economic conditions get worse generally in Venezuela, and he offers an unexpectedly simple answer: "There will be a civil war."
Follow Paul Moss on Twitter @BBCPaulMoss
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Businesses are under siege every second of every day, bombarded by a "grey noise" of potentially harmful web traffic seeking access to their networks. But IT staff often can't tell the malicious traffic from the benign. Why? | By Mark WardTechnology correspondent
If your office building were visited thousands of times a day by criminals peering through the windows seeking a way in, you'd be understandably nervous about hanging around.
Yet any organisation with an online presence gets exactly this type of unwelcome attention all the time.
Security researcher Andrew Morris calls this constant barrage "grey noise" and has started a company of the same name with a mission of logging, analysing and understanding it.
"This is the biggest, hardest, strangest problem I could find to study," he tells the BBC.
He logs the break-in attempts using a network of so-called honey-pot computers scattered around the internet that he has set up. Outwardly these computers resemble run-of-the-mill servers and so attract the attention of the bots and cyber-thieves looking to break in.
And they attract a lot of attention.
In 2018, Mr Morris's network was hit by up to four million attacks a day. His honey-pot computers process between 750 and 2,000 connection requests per second - the exact rate depends on how busy the bad guys are at any given moment.
His analysis shows that only a small percentage of the traffic is benign.
That fraction comes from search engines indexing websites or organisations such as the Internet Archive scraping sites. Some comes from security companies and other researchers.
The rest of the internet's background noise - about 95% - is malicious.
It can come from self-propagating computer viruses, known as worms, that use a compromised computer to seek out fresh victims, or can be cyber-criminals looking for servers vulnerable to particular security loopholes.
More Technology of Business
It can also be dumb devices, from printers to routers, that have been hijacked looking for their kin to enrol them in a vast attack network.
"There's an absolutely massive amount of traffic that's being generated by all these hosts around the internet and the vast majority is not generated by good guys," says Mr Morris.
"I see tens of thousands of infections every day."
But blocking this tidal wave of troublesome traffic isn't easy. This is because, at first glance, it looks benign.
Whenever you access a website your computer first pings a message to it to find out whether it's live. This a standard "handshake" procedure that all legitimate traffic uses.
But cyber-thieves have found that if they handshake in the right way they can find out useful information about a target organisation and potentially find a way to get inside.
And it's only when anyone takes the time to trace the origin of this traffic that it becomes obvious it is malicious.
"There is a continuous background hum of connections made to systems to see what they are and what they do," says Martin Lee, outreach manager for Cisco's Talos security team in Europe.
"It's the constant noise of connections just like people rattling door handles and checking locks."
Put an unprotected computer on the net and it'll be infected by malware in seconds and possibly enslaved in a botnet army carrying out attacks on other targets.
"Someone is always trying to hack you," says Mr Lee. "It's one of the banal facts of the internet."
Given that investigating and blocking is a Herculean task no network administrator wants to take on, the constant rattle is largely ignored, says Dr Paul Vixie, chief executive of Farsight Security and author of some of the net's core addressing software.
"On the internet, nothing that can be abused will not be," he says.
Wading through that vast amount of information makes it very hard for any net administrator to pick out the attacks that matter from the background roar. Instead, they just log it and move on.
"People do not go into network administration because they like truth and beauty," says Dr Vixie ruefully.
So Andrew Morris is trying to extract some useful insights from his vast corpus of data, using it to profile bad sources of traffic and spotting patterns in attempted infections. Ultimately it might be used to make a filter that can block the bad stuff. Or one that highlights the really nasty stuff that network administrators do need to notice.
He now has a good idea of the dodgiest online neighbourhoods, which seem to be Brazilian and Vietnamese internet service providers (ISPs) who are doing a poor job of protecting their customers. This negligence is allowing the bad guys to get a toehold inside vulnerable machines.
These are followed by the cloud-hosting companies. All are strong sources of grey noise, says Mr Morris.
Good neighbourhoods are few and far between, though they do exist.
One of the most decent is Finland. It has worked hard to ensure that its corner of the net cannot be used as a proxy for attacks. Many cyber-thieves try to cover their tracks by spoofing the origin of the malicious connection request.
Finland has put in place policies, which it polices diligently, to limit the abuse of its domains.
A spokesman for Finland's cyber-security centre told the BBC that it has laws and statutes that require ISPs and domain registrars to try as much as possible to limit abuse. It also uses automatic tools that scan for malicious use of Finnish domains - those that end in .fi - and report when the abuse is happening.
"That is one success factor in making the Finnish internet one of the cleanest ones in the world in terms of malware," he says.
Mr Morris' analysis of the traffic coming from the bad neighbourhoods is already starting to reveal interesting and useful patterns.
The early signs of massive attacks can be seen long before they start to hit everyone. That has been true of several headline-grabbing events such as those that hit office printers and Google's Chromecast.
"There's a weaponisation time limit," he says. "That's useful to know for defenders to get their stuff patched before they get hit by the bad guys.
"That means defenders do have time to react - it's not hopeless."
Follow Technology of Business editor Matthew Wall on Twitter and Facebook
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In the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum result, Nicola Sturgeon said "indyref2" was "highly likely". | By Philip SimBBC Scotland News
Prime Minister Theresa May made clear this week the UK is to leave the EU's single market. Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had wanted the UK to stay in. So, does that mean we are closer to having a second Scottish independence referendum? Here I weigh up the issues.
After Theresa May set out some of her Brexit plans, indyref2 became even "more likely"; indeed, when the first minister was asked by BBC Scotland whether a vote was "all but inevitable", she said that was "very likely the case".
And yet, the first minister has not yet fired the starting gun. As strongly as she has spoken on the matter, her language remains hypothetical.
Launching her "Scotland's Place in Europe" paper of Brexit proposals, Ms Sturgeon laid out three options.
Theresa May has scotched number one, comprehensively. And for all her talk of protecting the "precious union" of the UK, number two seems to be a diminishing prospect. So are we moving on to number three?
Here are seven issues Nicola Sturgeon will need to look at before she goes back to the polls.
1. Brexit and uncertainty
Brexit is the driving force in politics across the UK right now; and it is the source of the division which might bring an independence referendum to pass.
In case you hadn't heard, the majority of Scottish voters backed Remain, while the UK as a whole backed Leave.
Beyond that, Nicola Sturgeon and Theresa May take completely different approaches when it comes to Brexit.
The first minister comes at the issue like a jigsaw puzzle; she looks for recognised pieces like EFTA, the customs union and free movement which can be slotted together in a logical fashion to look like the picture on the box - of Scotland in Europe. Her options paper roots out precedent for every element, every piece of the puzzle, drawing comparisons from the Faroe Islands to Svalbard.
The prime minister meanwhile sees Brexit more like a painting. It's a creative act, conjuring up something new and unique. Never mind the Norway model, she demands her own "bespoke" deal, like nothing Europe has ever seen before.
The trouble is, we don't really know what the painting is going to look like. We have half an idea what Mrs May is trying to sketch out, but there are 27 other countries frantically swabbing at the canvas too (OK, that metaphor has probably been tortured enough).
So an indyref before the Brexit negotiations are complete would end up being a choice between two hypotheticals; two uncertain futures.
Can Ms Sturgeon persuade voters that the uncertainty of life outside the UK would be preferable to the uncertainty of life outside the EU?
2. Legality
Can Nicola Sturgeon even call a referendum?
Getting a referendum bill through Holyrood would not be an issue. The SNP may be a minority government, but the votes of the Greens would get it over the line comfortably.
But could Westminster prove more of a stumbling block?
The power to call a referendum remains a reserved matter; the 2014 vote was held after an agreement between Alex Salmond and David Cameron. Would Theresa May go down a similar route?
It's fair to say the prime minister has one or two other things on her plate at the moment, but she has made the "preservation of our precious union" one of her bigger priorities - it was number three in a list of 12 in her Brexit plans speech.
Politically, it could be difficult for her to actually refuse permission - that would probably only boost anti-Westminster sentiment. And she will be aware that a Yes vote even in an unauthorised vote could potentially be fatally destabilising.
3. Timing
If Ms Sturgeon is going to fire the starting gun, when would she aim to do it?
This year seems to be off the table already; even with a consultation in the books, from a basic legislative standpoint it would be a struggle to have everything ready for a snap poll in 2017. There are also council elections to focus on this May.
The Scottish Greens have been agitating for a referendum halfway through the Brexit process, to settle the issue before Scotland is taken out of the EU along with the rest of the UK.
Former FM Alex Salmond, a man who knows a thing or two about calling referendums, has also suggested autumn 2018 as a suitable date.
However, other leading nationalists have been more cautious - Alex Neil, for once, has warned against being "stampeded" into a "premature and unnecessarily risky" referendum.
Exactly when Ms Sturgeon might take the plunge may well depend on how the Brexit process unfolds - again, a matter of some uncertainty.
In any case, as Campbell Gunn, a former adviser to both Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon, noted this week - the first minister is "a canny politician" who "won't be railroaded into a vote she isn't sure of winning".
4. Europe
What to do about Europe? Ms Sturgeon has said her ideal solution would be an independent Scotland being a member state of the EU.
How would this work? Many of the timetables mooted above aim specifically to win independence before Brexit is complete, in effect to try to keep Scotland in as the rest of the UK leaves.
But even on a very fast secession timetable, the UK would have left the EU long before Scotland made it out the door. So if Scotland was allowed to effectively 'inherit' the UK's place in the EU - a matter of some dispute in itself - the transition period would be extremely complicated.
In any case, over time the SNP's rhetoric has changed somewhat since the Brexit vote. Immediately after the referendum, the talk was of protecting Scotland's place in the EU. This softened to single market membership, and later to "access to" said market - but has now swung back a step.
In December, Mike Russell told the Scottish Affairs Committee that membership "is not possible" without being a full member of the EU. He said this was why there was "a range of other language", adding: "We've used 'involvement in' more than anything else".
However, the 'Scotland's Place in Europe' paper, published 13 days after Mr Russell's comments, is specific in seeking "single market membership".
Ms Sturgeon has been clear that the paper is a "compromise" position; so we can probably presume that removing the need to compromise would see her push for full EU membership. How popular that would be with the hundreds of thousands of SNP supporters who voted Leave remains to be seen.
5. The electorate
The million-dollar question, on which all of this hinges. Could Ms Sturgeon win indyref2?
Polls showed a "Brexit bounce" in support for independence after the EU referendum - but it was short-lived, petering out by the end of June. More or less every poll since has shown backing largely unchanged from 2014.
In any case, can we trust what polls say? Pollsters have had a fairly torrid time in recent years, with the electorate seemingly a more and more unpredictable beast.
The SNP has been doing its own research, via a "national conversation", and is said to have gathered two million responses - although it remains unclear how many people actually filled it in, and or what they said.
As polarised as Scottish political debate has become since 2014, this is still a complicated picture. There's the Yes vs No divide, but also Remain vs Leave, on top of party loyalties.
A million people voted Leave, after all. Would many of them sign up to independence if it comes bundled with the EU membership they rejected last June? Equally, could Remain voters be persuaded back secession en masse?
Turnout could also be an issue. It was massive in 2014, at 84.59%, but has been on the slide in most ensuing votes - it was down to 55.6% for the Holyrood election last May, and is likely to shrink still further in this year's council poll. Could turnout hit such heights a second time around? If not, how would that affect the result?
6. Economics
One of the core issues of the last referendum was the economy; some would say it was where the Yes case fell down.
Alex Bell, a one-time advisor to Alex Salmond, has said the 2014 case for independence is now "dead", while the man himself has said the Yes side were "gazumped" on currency.
Need more? Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, a member of both Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon's economic advisory teams, has conceded that the proposal to share the pound with the UK "may have been a mistake".
So there's appetite for change on the economic case within the Yes camp.
Ms Sturgeon has previously insisted that "the pound is Scotland's currency" - albeit before it plummeted post-EUref - but her deputy Angus Robertson and various other SNP figures have suggested looking at a "Scottish pound".
Equally, might the EU demand Scotland adopt the Euro as part of a route back into membership - and an implicit dig at Brexiteer Britain?
Elsewhere, the Common Weal think-tank has put together an entire White Paper project - very much a work in progress, but also including proposals for a new currency - proposals enthusiastically backed at the latest meeting of the Scottish Independence Convention.
Common Weal reckon setting up a new Scottish state would carry a one-off cost of £18.8bn, and say it would run a £8.8bn deficit in its first year of independence.
Now these are, by their own admission, "very rough" estimates. But they are the kind of costed proposals Ms Sturgeon has the likes of Andrew Wilson beavering away on, to build a new economic case for independence.
As an aside, does economics matter as much in the era of Brexit? After all, questions of sovereignty won out over dire economic warnings in the EU referendum. In any case, Ms Sturgeon will not pull the trigger on indyref2 without firm economic plans in hand.
7. Border and markets
Much of the Holyrood debate around independence over Brexit has been characterised by opposition parties, chiefly Labour and the Tories, pointing out that Scotland does a lot more direct trade with the UK than it does with the EU.
Now, obviously the UK market wouldn't simply disappear if Scotland were independent - in the same way that the European market isn't going to be sealed off to a post-Brexit Britain. However, relationships would undoubtedly change.
The scale of that change would be the subject of intense debate in an indyref2 campaign, with the opposing sides doubtless coming up with radically different yet equally improvable estimates.
The attitude of businesses would play a key role in the campaign; would they want to stay in Scotland and the EU, or head to Theresa May's "global Britain"? Again, how the Brexit process pans out might be instructive on that front.
And what of borders? Ms Sturgeon's Brexit plan includes Scotland staying part of the UK and Ireland's common travel area, so it seems likely she would seek a similar deal even as an independent state.
This was a simpler matter in 2014, before EU membership was bundled into the mix, but Yessers could point to the pledge there will not be a hard border in Northern Ireland for precedent.
Depending on how Brexit pans out (as usual), Ireland may also provide an example of how a customs border would work between and independent Scotland and the UK - and indeed Ms Sturgeon has also already tried to set out proposals for avoiding this in her argument for Scots single market membership.
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Finding a job in Italy is hard enough, but it's only part of the battle. Many, especially the young, can find work only "on the black" - employed in the shadow economy, without a contract or the rights that go with it. | By Ben KingEconomics reporter, BBC News
But after years stuck in this trap, Stella Sermoneta has had enough. She has decided to learn how to make pizza, a skill recognised and valued around the world. With this new skill, she hopes to find a new life overseas, perhaps in Israel or the US, where she has relatives.
She has a job in Rome, working in a call centre, but she has no contract. She's employed illegally - "on the black".
"If you work without a contract, you can't have lots of normal things like a new house because the bank doesn't give mortgages without a contract," she says.
"You can't spend money on normal things because you don't know where you are going to be tomorrow."
A black job won't give her a reference for her next step up the career ladder, and she doesn't feel she can start a family without more security.
She says more than half her friends are in a similar position, and the only way out for her is to emigrate.
Unpaid taxes
The dire position of Italy's young in the job market was highlighted in August, when the rate of unemployment among 18 to 24-year-olds hit a record high of 40.1%. It's not clear how many young people are working informally, but Italy's black economy is known to be large.
According to a study by Prof Friedrich Schneider of Johannes Kepler University of Linz in Austria, the shadow economy in Italy makes up a fifth of the country's entire GDP, higher than the EU average, and higher than Spain or Portugal.
Italy's financial police, the Guardia di Finanza, are doing what they can to crack down on it.
Last year they identified 30,000 illegal workers, of whom about 16,500 were employed completely on the black, with no contract whatsoever.
"Fighting undeclared work is important as it harms and undermines many interests," says Lt Col Cosimo Virgilio of the Guardia di Finanza.
"It hurts the state and the national budget, because it means taxes aren't paid. And our purpose is also to protect honest businesses. Those that comply with the law suffer unfair competition from other companies which are able to sell their goods and services at lower prices."
The problem is more concentrated in Italy's poorer south, with sectors dominated by seasonal or casual work such as restaurants, hotels and other service industries like call centres or care homes.
Stefano Ferraina, who runs a job centre in the south of Rome, confirms that working on the black has long been a feature of Italian working life.
"It was once a short-term, temporary bridge," he says, "to fill the gap between education and a permanent job that would give the opportunity to start a family and create a future.
"Now, unfortunately, this has increasingly become the only opportunity available."
Death threats
High employment taxes are one reason why it's tempting for employers to hire on the black. For every euro an employer spends on hiring a worker, 48 cents goes on taxes and social security payments, and only 52 cents into the employee's pocket. Cut out the taxes and payments, and workers look a lot cheaper.
On top of this, a raft of regulations makes it unattractive for Italian employers to give young workers proper contracts.
"Older workers are much more protected," says Pietro Reichlin, a professor of economics at Rome's LUISS University.
"It is much more difficult for firms to get rid of staff if they are unproductive, or to make their contracts more flexible. So it is much easier for young guys to get employed with contracts that are not officially registered."
To solve this problem, he says, Italy could look to reduce this burden of tax and regulation. But changing the rules around employment is a slow and difficult process in Italy.
In 1999 and 2002, professors working as advisers to the government were murdered by left-wing paramilitaries opposed to labour market reform. Death threats have been made to advisers of the current government.
Stella understands why employers hire people on the black. "You're not angry because you know what is behind the black market. They can't afford all the payments. They have to live too."
But it's yet another barrier between Italy's youth and a career that allows them to fulfil their dreams.
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An enormous smile on the red carpet. A flirtatious wink for the BBC's political editor. Emmanuel Macron laid on the charm from the second he stepped out of his limo at his first meeting of the European Council in Brussels. | By Adam FlemingBBC News, Brussels
At the president's mid-summit press conference, French journalists fought each other for the microphone to ask him a question. Everyone else just took pictures on their phones.
He wooed the EU, saying it was "a pleasure" being there, "to look at so many subjects that are dear to me."
The German newspaper Der Spiegel called him "The Summit Conqueror". "Macronmania" was the word used by others.
In the build-up to these talks, Brussels officials pointed to Mr Macron's election as proof that voters still believed in the EU.
"It's a return to the time of Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel," said one diplomat, referring to the duopoly that has often dominated the European Union.
"It's better than just having Chancellor Merkel running things on her own," he added.
The double act was sealed with a joint press conference at the end of the summit. It was standing-room only.
"When France and Germany disagree, then Europe cannot progress," he said.
It left journalists pondering what to call them: Merckron or Macrel? Although some commentators felt the Frenchman struck a more protectionist tone than Mrs Merkel, who spoke approvingly of upcoming EU trade deals.
European Parliament President Antonio Tajani observed Mr Macron's first encounter with his 27 counterparts.
"He's a highly intelligent man, at ease with the other leaders. But charm isn't an issue. They're politicians," he told the BBC.
And Mr Macron is being taught the realities of summit life.
His comments about an influx of eastern European workers being one of the causes of the UK's vote to leave the EU prompted a diplomatic row with some of his colleagues.
"Poland is open to co-operation but it depends on Macron what it will look like: whether he will want to show off his hostility to eastern Europe in the media or have a fact-based discussion," said the Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo.
And it looks like Mr Macron's big idea of giving the EU powers to block some foreign investment in sensitive areas of the European economy will be watered down.
"It's been downgraded," said one diplomatic source.
In Brussels Mr Macron is learning that the smile and the winks only get him so far.
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A building described by planners as "essential" to a new town in Devon has been given full planning permission. | Plans for more than 3,000 homes have been put forward by East Devon District Council to be built in Cranbrook as part of an eco-town, east of Exeter.
The approved building is a combined heat and power centre based on the nearby Skypark business estate.
It would provide power and heat for both local industry and for homes within the new town, planners said.
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A new school could open in Ipswich town centre in 2019. | Ipswich Borough Council says it plans to buy part of the former Co-op department store on Carr Street, with the help of Suffolk County Council.
The free school could be run by the Active Learning Trust (ALT), which operates four schools in the town.
Borough council leader David Ellesmere said he was glad "a very complex project" could happen, after previous setbacks.
A proposal for a new free school on the site was rejected by the government in April.
For more stories, visit BBC Local Live: Suffolk
A spokesman for the borough council said the cost of the land was "commercially sensitive" so would not be revealed at this time. The proposed purchase of the site will be discussed by the borough council's executive committee on 19 June.
The Labour-led borough council has agreed to buy part of the store from the East of England Co-op, but will hand most of this land over to the government's Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).
It will retain a small part of the site for use as a car park, with revenue from that used to cover the purchase cost of the store.
The Co-op would retain the remainder of the site to the west of Cox Lane.
The choice of free school provider is the responsibility of the ESFA. The borough council says it is anticipated it will be run by the Active Learning Trust (ALT), which already operates Chantry Academy and Gusford, Sidegate and Hillside primary schools in the town.
Colin Noble, leader of Conservative-run Suffolk County Council, said the move demonstrated the authority's "commitment to addressing the educational needs in our county town".
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Stephen Mellor was jailed for the murder of a rival drug dealer in February 1997. Now out of prison, he wants to set up a youth centre and prevent other children repeating his mistakes. Here he describes the childhood in Preston that led to him becoming a convicted killer. | I was born in Preston, grew up in Preston, five minutes from the city centre. I had five older brothers, five older sisters, all in a three-bedroom house. From a young age I wanted to be a fireman. Unfortunately, the path I took led me far, far away from that.
Mum and dad worked hard but couldn't provide everything because there were so many of us. I wore my older brothers' shoes and clothes, so there were a few issues growing up with people bullying at school. They'd call you a tramp, but I never fought back.
Then one day, I was only 13 and this lad in the year above was giving me grief. I snapped, gave him two punches and he was out cold. That was me expelled from school at 13 years old.
But I had learnt I could fight. People started giving me respect. So, I was fighting more.
No-one ever knocked on the door and said "he needs to go back to school". So, every day, I'd get up, have something to eat, walk into town.
The next day was the same. From age 13 to 17 I used to hang around the St George's shopping centre. Meet other kids. See what we could do to make money.
There was no path, no direction. It were just that circle, day after day. How can I explain it? It's like a noose.
People called us Townies. If other gangs came into town, we'd end up fighting. You'd go down alleys and have scraps, or you'd rob them in the street.
I was known for my fighting. I got done for biting people's noses off, people's ears off. Twice, I got sent to prison. One was a section 18, which is wounding with intent, and the other one was a section 20, which is malicious wounding.
I used to fight a lot of men when I was younger. People got to hear your name and wanted to test it.
We started drug dealing. We just needed to make money and obviously we weren't employed. So we started selling ecstasy tablets and then I got approached by a friend of a friend, asking if I wanted to sell heroin.
He supplied us heroin at a cheap rate, so we were charging half as much as other dealers and still making good money.
I was 17, dealing all over Preston. We had a mobile and we'd write down our number, pass it out and that was it. Every heroin addict in Preston wanted to come to me because they got double. We'd have three, four hundred pounds a week each, cash.
Only, it led to the murder.
John Dookie was also dealing heroin with his mates, but we were undercutting them. They got hold of our phone number from a heroin user, asked to meet us and told us to stop dealing, which we never did. Then it escalated.
One night in February 1997, I was watching a Mike Tyson fight and walked home through their area. I got into a fight with them. That night we went back to their house, climbed over the wall and attacked them. I had a hammer, my mate Tony Kirk had a knife, he stabbed John in the leg. A few days later, John was in a car that tried to run Tony down.
On 14 February, John turned up on my doorstep and said he wanted to speak to Tony. We arranged to meet, but when Tony came round he asked me: "Where's the knife?"
I knew he was capable of using it, but I handed it over.
We met John and we all got into a fight in St Peter's Street in Preston. John staggered off, I went after him and sat him down. He said 'I've been stabbed'. I waved a police car down and said he needed help, then left.
It wasn't me that physically stabbed John, but I got done for murder under joint enterprise. At that time, I was 18 years old and didn't understand the half of it. Most of what they said in court I didn't follow. Now I know joint enterprise means if you go out with someone to commit a crime, then you can all get held responsible for what happens.
So we all got done. I'll never fight it, though, because I'm guilty.
Not a day goes by where I don't regret what happened. I know John's brother Rob Dookie said he can't forgive us for the murder. I know he says we've never said sorry to his family for what happened.
I would have loved to apologise so many times but I'm not allowed contact with John's family. I can't imagine what they feel or think of me and I can't blame them, to be honest. But I'm not going to forget what happened.
It's the smell that hits you first in prison. You've got three or five hundred lads together. All the testosterone and sweat. Then the prison officers want the landings clean, so you get all the chemical smells as well.
Prison's not easy. I got arrested in '97, I lost my brother in March '98 - he drowned in the Navy. My best friend killed himself while I was in prison. My nan also died as well.
There's funny stuff you miss. You'll have flashbacks to the taste of McDonalds. Going into a newsagents in the morning. Stepping in dog poo - you never see dog poo in prison.
I remember my mum saying to me in court: "If you want to see your dad alive outside of prison you need to start sorting your head out". My dad's my best mate but he was knocking on a bit.
My first son was also born just before I was sentenced. I thought I might not get to spend time with both of them outside again, so I needed to turn my life around.
I couldn't read or write when I went into prison but you get a good set of teachers in there and if you show them that you want to sort things out, they'll help you. Every night, I'd go back to my cell and practise my handwriting.
My girlfriend at the time would bring my son to visit me and he used to say things like: "When can dad come home?" That keeps you on the straight and narrow.
I did diplomas in personal training and sports psychology while I was in prison. I got a level 3 qualification in engineering, English and maths, which is like an A-level. I also spent a lot of time with the psychologists. They make you go back to your offence and tell them what you were thinking and feeling at the time. It breaks you down. It strips you right down to your heart.
There's two ways to go in prison, the right way and the wrong way. Put your head down, do your books and your sentence will pass. The other way is getting angry, doing drugs. I'd still be in there if I'd done that.
I got parole after 14-and-a-half years, which was the minimum the judge recommended, so I got out of prison in 2011. Tony's out as well now.
It's an amazing feeling, the day you step out of prison. You're flying. You can't wait to get home. You can have a mobile phone and sleep in your own bed. Eat what you want. You can step in dog poo again.
After being released, I was giving a talk at some conference organised by Timpson, the cobblers, who do a lot of work with ex-cons. Some guy approached me and said 'Would you come and give a talk to some kids?' I said 'Of course'.
Afterwards, they asked me to come work with them, so I got my CRB check and I went to work as a support tutor in Preston.
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I was working with a lot of the worst kids in Preston. They're beautiful kids and no-one sees it, all they see is the cheek and the bravado. They live on these estates where there's nowhere for them to go, no activities for them to do, it's just a dead end for them.
Some of them, I know I've turned their lives around.
There's one lad that the police could not control, he'd been done for carrying knives and had no qualms about using one. I took him boxing and he absolutely loved it. Then he came to me one day and opened up. He said: "We're going for a gang fight tonight."
I told him to look at my past. "I've wasted my life but you've got a chance," I told him. "Don't be sitting in a cell when your mates are going to Ibiza. Don't be sitting in a cell when your mates are going to big football games. Don't be sitting in a cell when your mates are going out and meeting girls."
I told him to come with me that night and do some boxing. He didn't go to the gang fight. He's now in full-time work.
I want to open a youth centre in Preston. We're going to offer a safe place and people who listen.
My business partner's Barry Hastewell. Growing up, me and him were both lads around town, we both had reputations. He did four years for conspiracy to supply cocaine, so between us we've served almost 20 years in prison. But we're both different now. He runs a skip business and he's got a coffee shop, a bar and a lap dancing club in town.
We've got a building. We're about to pick up the keys. Barry's invested some money and we've applied for grants. To start with, it will be me and Barry and my wife Sammy working there. She's put up with me for seven years so she knows how to deal with people who've been through hardship.
In Preston, the reaction to us opening a youth centre has been about 98% very supportive. I've had a few negative comments. I've had people say: "I wouldn't let my child go there with a murderer." I just say my past is my past, I'll never forgive myself and I just hope their children don't end up needing our help.
Kids are being let down at the moment. You can't go to a university and learn how to speak to these kids. They can't tell the teacher at school because the teachers haven't walked that path.
They can't tell the police. They can't tell people in authority. There's always a trust issue. But we can relate to what these kids are going through. I want them to know that I've been in their shoes. I can help them because I understand.
It's not just Preston though. There's so many troubled kids out there, all over the country. It's generation after generation. Living in certain estates, falling in with gangs.
They feel there's no way out, but I want to show them that there is if they want it. I threw my life away for stupidity, I see that every morning. But if I let that negativity drag me down it would be for nothing. It's about turning that negative into a positive.
I feel like I lost my path for a little while, but I am at peace with myself now. I've got a family that support me, I've got a good relationship with my eldest son, who was born while I was in prison. I've got a target that I'm working towards.
I'll never ask for forgiveness. All I'm asking for is the chance to make people's lives better. That's all I'm asking for.
As told to Dan Box
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With many people looking for a partner preferring to search online than in a bar or club, the web dating business is worth more than £2bn a year worldwide and niche targeting is helping businesses meet customer needs. | By Melanie AbbottRadio 4's You and Yours
One of the fastest growing online dating companies is Global Personals, based in Windsor, which was set up eight years ago.
It currently employs 100 staff and has 14 websites including Just Widower Dating and Just Divorced Singles which cater for very specific markets.
But 85% of Global Personals' income is from selling software for other people to host their own rebranded sites - known as "white-label" sites.
"We provide the technology, customer care and database for other brands to put their label on it and market it to consumers," says founder Ross Williams.
"In the last eight years, we went from nothing to £30m a year in revenues."
It is a good money-spinner for Global Personals as they take half of any revenue generated by the white-label sites.
The service is used by individuals who want to set up a dating business and also by several media companies for their linked dating sites like FHM, Bizarre and Maxim magazines. In total it hosts 6,000 white-label sites.
But industry insiders point to the downside.
Marc Leznick, who runs internet dating conferences for the industry, identifies potential drawbacks: "There are two things. Number one, I'm sharing the revenue. And now, let's say, three or four years pass and I want to sell this business. All those users are the value of the business, but I don't own them - the white-label host does."
'Pick up' training
One person who did not want to share his revenue is Richard La Ruina. He runs one of the new crop of courses springing up and advertised online, which teach people how to pick up partners.
Called "Pick Up Artist Training", it is for men looking for women and involves spending two days at "boot camp". It teaches how to secure a woman's number, how to text her, where to go on a date and how to behave. The charge is £779.
Dharam Raja who teaches on the course did it himself three and a half years ago.
"By the end of it, I felt I could go out and meet a woman and take her out on a date and get into a relationship if I wanted one."
Critics have suggested the course concentrates more on picking up women than developing a relationship.
The website bears testimonials like "Managed to pick up three girls in a week."
Dharam rejects this: "If we advertise as 'Come and find your one true soul mate' - for women that might be spot on, but most men would search online for 'How do you meet women?'
"You have to be on top of search terms for such things. Not all guys who come on the course want to sleep their way through the world. Many guys want to just meet the right person."
Matrimonial sites
Another specialist target is the Asian market, where sites such as Shaadi.com appeal to people who are more interested in settling down than dating.
The Mumbai-based company claims to have fixed more than two million weddings worldwide since it opened 15 years ago.
The site uses the same search criteria that families would use when trying to arrange a marriage in the traditional way but does everything online.
Sanjay and Sunita met using the site and have been married for eight years.
Sunita says: "I wasn't getting any younger and had already been through a bad marriage where I was formally introduced.
"So this was a platform where the parent aspect was not there, and this would mean it was my decision rather than been influenced by outsiders."
Her husband Sanjay believes matrimonial sites can help bridge the gap between traditional family values and modern dating.
"It still isn't acceptable for people from our community to come home and say 'This is my boyfriend' or 'This is my girlfriend', so sites like this can act as a buffer until that does become the norm."
You And Yours investigates consumer issues daily at 12 noon on BBC Radio 4. The investigations into the dating business can be heard from Wednesday 7 December to Friday 9 December. Or catch up later at the above link.
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The body of a man who has been missing since January has been found on the banks of a river in Neath Port Talbot. | Richard Andrews' body was discovered on the edge of the River Neath at Neath Abbey Wharf in Skewen on 29 September.
Officer from South Wales Police had been investigating the disappearance of Mr Andrews, known as Monkey in the Melyn area of Neath where he was from.
Mr Andrews' family have been informed and are being supported, police said.
South Wales Police has appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
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