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Health regulator bosses accused of covering-up a review of baby deaths will not face a police inquiry.
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The Care Quality Commission (CQC) will not be investigated for failings noted in an independent report that suggested an internal review had been suppressed.
The review highlighted the CQC's failure to investigate a spate of baby deaths at Furness General Hospital.
Ex-chief executive Cynthia Bower, deputy Jill Finney and media manager Anna Jefferson deny cover up claims.
A report by consultants Grant Thornton concluded there was "persuasive evidence" the actions of the three women "might well have constituted a deliberate cover-up".
The report prompted condemnation of the CQC by ministers and MPs, and Cumbria Police were asked to launch an investigation into the allegations.
But a force spokeswoman said the failure to act on the internal review, conducted by CQC's head of regulatory risk and quality Louise Dineley, "had no consequences for the health care provision for the people of Cumbria".
"The Louise Dineley report did not raise any further issues of significance that were not already known to the trust or the police investigators," the spokeswoman said.
'Real scandal'
The police investigation into the hospital's failings has been narrowed to look only into the death of Joshua Titcombe who died at nine days old at Furness General Hospital in 2008 after staff failed to spot and treat an infection.
His father James Titcombe said: "There has been too much focus on the Dineley report.
"The real scandal with CQC was the woefully inadequate actions they took in response to known patient safety risks at Morecambe Bay and elsewhere in the NHS.
"The elephant in the room is the clear evidence we have seen from senior people within CQC at the time who have said that they felt there was political pressure not to expose 'bad news'.
"It is clear that CQC are now taking robust action to transform the way they work and this is hugely positive.
"However, there now needs to be a wider investigation to look at who else was involved in what has now emerged to be the wider scandal of the sustained and systematic suppression of serious problems in parts of the NHS over a number of years."
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Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt made representations to Prime Minister David Cameron expressing his support for News Corporation's bid for BSkyB before he was given formal responsibility for the issue.
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A draft memorandum was written on 19 November 2010 - the month before Mr Hunt was asked by the government to rule on whether Rupert Murdoch's company would get the go ahead for the take over.
Mr Hunt took over adjudication of the bid decision after Business Secretary Vince Cable was secretly recorded by a newspaper as saying he had "declared war" on Murdoch.
His note was written after Mr Cable ordered watchdog Ofcom to investigate News Corporation's plan on 4 November 2010.
In the memo, the culture secretary wrote that News Corp executive James Murdoch was "furious" about Mr Cable's handling of the matter.
He added that if the move is blocked "our media sector will suffer for years. In the end I am sure sensible controls can be put into any merger to ensure there is plurality".
He added it would be "totally wrong to cave in" to those who expressed concerns over the bid including BBC director general Mark Thompson, Channel 4 and the Guardian newspaper.
Mr Hunt suggested a meeting to discuss "policy issues that are thrown up as a result" between himself, Mr Cable, the prime minister and deputy prime minister.
The presence of the memorandum was revealed by Robert Jay QC, counsel to the Leveson inquiry, as he questioned Mr Hunt's former special adviser Adam Smith.
Mr Smith stepped down from his position on 25 April, saying the "content and extent" of his dealings with News Corp lobbyist Fred Michel had not been authorised by the culture secretary.
Referring to the draft memorandum, he told the Leveson Inquiry that Mr Hunt has "always said he didn't see any problems" with the bid but "didn't want to second judge the process... and he's pointing out what he thought some of the positives might have been in this note".
Downing Street confirmed the prime minister received the memo from Mr Hunt.
A spokesman said the views on the bid in the e-mail were "entirely consistent with his public statement" when he had said in a previous newspaper interview that there were no plurality grounds for blocking it.
Here is the draft text of the note memo from Mr Hunt to Mr Cameron as read out by Mr Jay:
"James Murdoch is pretty furious at Vince's referral to Ofcom.
"He doesn't think he will get a fair hearing from Ofcom. I am privately concerned about this because News Corp are very litigious and we could end up in the wrong place in terms of media policy.
"Essentially what James Murdoch wants to do is to repeat what his father did with the move to Wapping and create the world's first multiplatform media operator available from paper to web to TV to iPhone to iPad.
"Isn't this what all media companies have to do ultimately? And if so we must be very careful that any attempt to block it is done on genuine plurality grounds and not as a result of lobbying by competitors.
"The UK has the chance to lead the way... but if we block it our media sector will suffer for years. In the end I am sure sensible controls can be put into any merger to ensure there is plurality but I think it would be totally wrong to cave into the Mark Thompson/Channel 4/Guardian line that this represents a substantial change of control given that we all know Sky is controlled by News Corp now anyway.
"What next? Ofcom will issue their report saying whether it needs to go to the Competition Commission by 31st December. It would be totally wrong for the government to get involved in a competition issue which has to be decided at arm's length.
"However I do think you, I, Vince and the DPM should meet to discuss the policy issues that are thrown up as a result."
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The BBC has sacked Danny Baker, saying he showed a "serious error of judgement" over his tweet about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's baby.
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The tweet, which he later deleted but which has been circulated on social media, showed an image of a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee dressed in clothes with the caption: "Royal Baby leaves hospital".
The BBC 5 Live presenter was accused of mocking the duchess's racial heritage.
Baker claimed it was a "stupid gag".
The 61-year-old presented a Saturday morning show on the network.
The corporation said Baker's tweet "goes against the values we as a station aim to embody".
It added: "Danny's a brilliant broadcaster but will no longer be presenting a weekly show with us."
His comment about red sauce references the Sausage Sandwich Game from his 5 Live show, in which listeners choose what type of sauce a celebrity would choose to eat.
After tweeting an apology, in which he called the tweet a "stupid unthinking gag pic", Baker said the BBC's decision "was a masterclass of pompous faux-gravity".
"[It] took a tone that said I actually meant that ridiculous tweet and the BBC must uphold blah blah blah," he added. "Literally threw me under the bus. Could hear the suits' knees knocking."
Harry and Meghan, whose mother Doria Ragland is African American, revealed on Wednesday their new son was named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
After the initial backlash on social media on Wednesday, Baker said: "Sorry my gag pic of the little fella in the posh outfit has whipped some up. Never occurred to me because, well, mind not diseased.
'Enormous mistake'
"Soon as those good enough to point out its possible connotations got in touch, down it came. And that's it."
In a later tweet, he added: "Would have used same stupid pic for any other Royal birth or Boris Johnson kid or even one of my own. It's a funny image. (Though not of course in that context.) Enormous mistake, for sure. Grotesque.
"Anyway, here's to ya Archie, Sorry mate."
Speaking to reporters outside his home, he said of the tweet: "Ill advised, ill thought-out and stupid, but racist? No, I'm aware how delicate that imagery is."
Broadcaster Scarlette Douglas, who works on 5 Live podcast The Sista Collective and The One Show, told the BBC: "I think somebody told him, 'What you've tweeted was incorrect, so you should maybe say something or take it down.'
"Yes, OK, he took it down, but his apology for me wasn't really an apology. I don't think it's right and I think subsequently what's happened is correct."
Ayesha Hazarika, a commentator and former adviser to the Labour Party, told 5 Live she was "genuinely gobsmacked" by the tweet.
"I couldn't believe it," she said. "I thought it was a joke at first. I thought it was a spoof. It was so crass. What was going through his head?
"You can't just say sorry and then carry on like it's business as usual. When you have an incredibly important platform like he does, you do have to think about what you do and the signals that it sends out."
Prompt action
Baker must have been aware of recent incidences of racism at football matches and the resulting outcry, Ms Hazarika added.
Linda Bellos, former chairwoman of the Institute of Equality and Diversity Professionals, echoed those remarks. saying: "A lot of black players are complaining about noises being made to them. He knows this stuff," she told Radio 4.
His tweet was "foolish", she said, adding: "Never mind that it's royalty.
"The things that are happening to black children up and down the country are not enhanced by his words and I'm glad that prompt action has been taken, and let's hope we have come thoughtful dialogue and learning from this."
Baker's Saturday Morning show on BBC Radio 5 Live won him a Sony Gold award for Speech Radio Personality of the Year in 2011, 2012 and 2014 and a Gold Award for entertainment show of the year in 2013.
His irrepressible style made him one of the most popular radio presenters of his generation and saw him described by one writer as the "ultimate geezer".
Baker was also a successful magazine journalist, scriptwriter and TV documentary maker.
He wrote a number of TV shows including Pets Win Prizes and Win, Lose or Draw and, in 1990, The Game, a series about an amateur soccer team in east London.
A stint at BBC London station GLR in the late '80s saw him strike up an enduring friendship with fellow broadcaster Chris Evans, and Baker would later write scripts for the Channel 4 show TFI Friday, which Evans hosted.
Controversial comments
It's the second time Baker has been axed by 5 Live and is the third time he has left the BBC.
In 1997, he was fired for encouraging football fans to make a referee's life hell after the official had awarded a controversial penalty in an FA Cup tie.
He later claimed he had never incited fans to attack the referee, only that he would have understood if they had.
In 2012, two weeks before he was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame, he was was back in the news after an on-air rant in which he resigned and branded his bosses at BBC London "pinheaded weasels". The outburst came after Baker had been asked to move from a weekday programme to a weekend.
In 2016, Baker took part on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here but was the first person to be voted off in the series.
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Airbus has warned it would be "practically impossible" to give new business to engineering giant GKN if it was bought by turnaround specialist Melrose.
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GKN makes wing components and other key aircraft parts for Airbus, which is its biggest customer.
However, it is fighting off a hostile bid from Melrose, saying it fundamentally undervalues the firm.
GKN employs more than 59,000 people, with 6,000 in the UK.
Tom Williams, Airbus's chief operating officer at its commercial aircraft division, said: "The nature of our industry is one that requires a commitment to long-term investment and strategic vision.
"The industry does not lend itself to shorter term financial investment which naturally reduces R&D budgets and limits vital innovation.
"It would be practically impossible for us to give any new work to GKN under such ownership model when we don't know who will be the long-term investor."
His comments were first reported by the Financial Times.
Earlier this week, GKN rejected what Melrose called its "final" offer. Melrose said the bid valued the company at £8.1bn.
GKN chairman Mike Turner said: "The comments from Airbus that stress the need for long-term investment and strategic vision in our industry emphasise our firmly held belief that Melrose is not an appropriate owner of GKN.
"Its management lacks the relevant experience and its short-term business model is inappropriate for GKN's customers and investors."
Christopher Miller, chairman of Melrose, said his company "invests in its businesses for the long term".
He added: "Under Melrose, shareholders and customers will be able to enjoy a considered and longer-term process of value creation, investment and business enhancement, which is clearly not an option under continued GKN ownership."
Analysis: By Rob Young, business reporter
The intervention by Airbus, GKN's biggest customer, is as dramatic as it is unusual.
The takeover bid by the turnaround specialists Melrose is described as hostile, because it was not sought by GKN's management. But it is Melrose that is experiencing hostility on several fronts.
The board of GKN, MPs, pension fund trustees and now a key customer have all very publicly questioned Melrose's attempt to buy one of Britain's oldest engineering giants.
Airbus's decision to wade in raises new concerns for GKN shareholders. They have two weeks to decide whether to back the bid or send Melrose packing. The share price of GKN suggests this is far from a done deal.
MPs' concerns
GKN also makes parts for Boeing 737 jets and Black Hawk helicopters, as well as parts for Volkswagen and Ford cars.
Under the terms of the Melrose bid, GKN investors would receive 81p in cash and 1.69 new Melrose shares for GKN share they held. GKN shareholders would end up owning 60% of Melrose.
However, GKN says a fall in the Melrose share price has reduced the value of the cash and shares offer.
GKN has fought hard against the bid, offering to give back £2.5bn to shareholders and agreeing to merge its car unit with US company Dana.
The takeover approach has raised fears among unions and MPs that GKN, one of the UK's largest industrial firms, will be broken up and sold to overseas owners.
The Pensions Regulator has warned that the Melrose takeover could affect the company's ability to fund its pension scheme.
Last week, a cross-party group of MPs wrote to the Business Secretary, Greg Clark, saying the Melrose takeover should be blocked.
A brief history of GKN
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A new £2m slaughterhouse will be built at Longue Hougue, the States of Guernsey has decided.
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The current building in St Peter Port has been used for about 150 years and Environmental Health has advised it should close by April this year.
The building's age has meant it cannot be modernised to required standards.
Commerce and Employment Minister Carla McNulty Bauer said the new abattoir was the only way meat could continue to be produced locally.
She added that the cost of the new building would be recovered over 15 years by the savings made.
Her department said the new slaughterhouse, which would be built next to the carcass incinerator, would allow for more locally-produced beef to be produced and the potential for expansion in the sheep and pig sectors.
Deputy McNulty Bauer said it would also allow for meat to be exported and research had shown there could be good markets for it in France.
The new facility is due to be ready early in 2013.
Environmental Health said as long as there was a clear States decision to build a new facility the current abattoir could stay open in the interim.
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An investigation into a racist attack on three black women has been reopened by the Metropolitan Police.
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By Richard WatsonBBC Newsnight
For nearly two weeks after the attack officers failed to recover CCTV or take witness statements, even from the victims, BBC Newsnight found.
The three women say the police made racist assumptions about them and that hampered the investigation.
The Met denies this but has apologised for failing the women and said it was reviewing its work.
The force told the women it had closed the probe into the crime in April, but reopened it this month following Newsnight's investigation.
In addition, it has also now referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
'I was being stamped on'
The three women, who are of Somali descent, were attacked in north west London on 22 December by a gang of seven white men who were shouting racist abuse.
Returning from a night out, a taxi dropped them off on Kilburn Lane shortly before 3am and they went to a convenience store to buy snacks. One of the women, Niyad Farah, 38, lived nearby and her two friends planned to sleep at her flat.
Ms Farah, who was born in Wales, but has lived in London for 13 years, told the BBC two white women in the shop became aggressive when they heard one of her friends speaking on the phone in Swedish, saying she should 'speak English'.
She says her friend was then punched in the face by one of the white women who were waiting for her outside.
Moments later, Ms Farah said she heard extremely offensive racist abuse being shouted by a group of seven white men, who approached them from a dark-coloured van parked on the opposite side of the road.
She told Newsnight she was punched to the ground and dragged into a doorway next to the shop, while her two friends were also being punched and kicked on the ground.
"I was like being stamped on… I was just curled up on the floor."
Visibly traumatised, she said: "I was thinking my son's not going to have a mum. And... I'm going to be dead."
She was kicked unconscious in the attack and needed hospital treatment for head injuries and extensive bruising.
Ms Farah said the Met's investigation of the attack was seriously flawed and claimed the police made racist assumptions about her and her friends.
She says an officer asked her in hospital if she was 'buying anything' off the men. She believes he was implying they were buying drugs and the women knew the attackers. She told Newsnight she thought the officer believed "it was almost impossible for a racist attack to happen in that area".
"I felt like I was being interrogated," she added.
Newsnight asked Bob Quick, former head of specialist operations at the Met, to review the case.
He said if the PC had asked whether the women were buying drugs from their attackers, "that does imply the officers at the scene were working on some sort of assumption that they either knew the perpetrators or were in some way engaging with them, maybe buying drugs or whatever".
"If that's true, then that's inexcusable," Mr Quick said. "The police absolutely have a duty to be objective and not to jump to conclusions."
The women believe racist assumptions undermined the police investigation but the Met denies the claim.
In a statement it said: "This line of questioning should not be considered as an officer making any assumptions or doubting the account given by a victim, and we refute any suggestion that this is what happened in this case.
"Our officers always keep an open mind as to the circumstances of any attack and must build an understanding of the facts.
"From a very early stage, this was treated as a serious racially aggravated assault committed by people unknown to the victims."
'Victims let down'
Newsnight also found the police investigation was hampered by a series of serious, basic mistakes.
For nearly two weeks after the attack, no effort was made to recover CCTV, no witness statements were taken, even from the three women who had been attacked and no effort was made to trace a dark-coloured van associated with the men.
By the time the police tried to recover CCTV from shops in Kilburn Lane in early January, footage had been recycled - overwritten by new material.
Ms Farah, who works for a charity that helps ex-prisoners, said she was angry the Met failed to take a statement from her until February - two months after the attack and only after she chased them up. No statements from the other two women attacked - both witnesses - have ever been taken.
Mr Quick said the Met's response had been "woeful".
"This was an attack of extreme violence… and it was about compounded by racial motivation, the evidence of which is clear. It had the potential to really impact on community confidence," he said.
In response to Newsnight's investigation, the Met has apologised to the women. A spokesperson said the incident "should have been escalated and prioritised at an earlier stage".
It added "there was a delay in the necessary follow-up enquiries being made just after the incident, and this hindered the subsequent investigation".
"This shouldn't have happened, and we are sorry for letting the victims in this case down. This was an appalling attack which should have been investigated with greater urgency."
Watch Newsnight's full investigation at 22:45 BST on Wednesday and after that on iPlayer.
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James Bulger's mother has written to the director of a film about the toddler's murder, appealing to him to withdraw it from the Oscars.
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Denise Fergus told Vincent Lambe that clips of Detainment had made her feel like "I'm living that nightmare again".
She wrote: "You have no right to use what happened to my son as a way to try and make a name for yourself."
Lambe has previously apologised for upsetting James's family but has said he will not withdraw the film.
The 30-minute drama uses transcripts of the police interviews with Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who were 10 when they killed two-year-old James in Bootle, Merseyside, in 1993.
Mrs Fergus travelled to Dublin on Monday and did an interview for RTE's Claire Byrne Live on Monday night.
Lambe is based in the city but Mrs Fergus didn't meet him while she was there.
Detainment is nominated for best live action short film at the Academy Awards, which will be held in Hollywood on 24 February.
To date, 227,000 people have signed an online petition calling for it to be withdrawn. Mrs Fergus wrote: "I ask you to please do this for me and my family."
In her letter, she told the Irish director: "I honestly don't think you realise just how upset I am feeling.
"I also feel for the young actors who played the parts of T & V [Thompson and Venables], God only knows what was going on in their heads at the time this film was made."
She was particularly upset by the fact Lambe did not consult James's family in advance.
"If you had done it, this could have been very different," she wrote. "I still feel hurt and upset at you going in this direction to make this film."
She added: "Not only did you not bother to contact us you went ahead and used a young child to play my baby James.
"The re-enactment of that child being led away like the final hours of James' life has brought it back to me and it hurts so much."
Last week, Lambe told BBC News he didn't approach the family in advance because he wanted the film to be "entirely fact-based and impartial", and consulting them would not have changed what was in the transcripts.
"There would have been pressure to tell it the way one side would want it to be told, and then you're suppressing information and telling a version of the truth, and it would defeat the purpose of the film," he said.
He has refused to withdraw from the Oscars, adding: "It's like saying, should we burn every copy of it?"
In his reply to Mrs Fergus, he told her: "I do, of course, deeply regret and apologise for not making you aware of the film sooner."
He wrote: "I was mindful of the great private pain the tragedy has caused and the importance of balancing that with the public interest in considering the case and its significance in understanding why children commit serious crimes."
He added: "I did everything I could while working independently, to ensure the film was both sensitive to the tragedy and entirely accurate."
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which organises the Oscars, said it would not remove the film from its shortlist because it "does not in any way influence the voting process".
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An MP is calling on Defra to do more to help Dorset fishermen get back to work after the damage of the winter storms.
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Fishermen should be able to get up to 60% of the cost of replacing lost or damaged equipment from an EU fund.
However, claims for lost or damaged kit can only be made if fishing boats were registered more than five years ago.
South Dorset MP Richard Drax said: "I'd like to see Defra take a lead and and get it sorted fast - it's a bureaucratic mess."
Claims for compensation can also take up to 10 weeks to implement, Mr Drax said, which is leaving the fishermen in "dire straits."
Some were unable to go to sea off the Dorset coast for almost two months during the winter storms.
Mr Drax said: "If you get a loan and buy the equipment yourself in order to get back to work, the European Fisheries Fund will not pay for it. You just have to wait, thereby losing even more income."
Defra said it was doing everything it could to help the fishermen.
Through the European Fisheries Fund about £11m is available to help fishermen whose gear was damaged in the storms.
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Councils in England fear they will be left with a big hole in their care budgets because three stopgap funding pots are due to end next year.
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By Nick TriggleHealth correspondent
Local government leaders warn they will have to start scrapping services within weeks unless extra money arrives in next week's government spending plans.
Nearly £2.4bn of the £16.6bn set aside this year for services for the elderly and disabled comes from the three short-term funds.
But they are due to close in March.
The biggest source of temporary funding is the Better Care Fund, that was set up to encourage joint working between councils and the NHS.
It is worth £1.8bn to councils this year and pays for a variety of different services, including care home places and emergency care teams to support people at home.
Councils are warning these services would be vulnerable unless the government acts.
The other two smaller pots are one-off funds that were set up to plug gaps while the government came up with plans to reform the entire system of social care funding.
It was envisaged those reforms would be in place by now, but they have been delayed numerous times.
Councillor David Williams, of the County Councils Network, said: "We are in the dark over whether this lifeline for care services will continue."
He said councils would "reluctantly" have to start giving notice on contracts they have with agencies to provide these services soon, unless ministers act next week.
Gary Fielding, of North Yorkshire County Council, said he was "deeply worried".
His council has used the temporary funding to set up a discharge hub to help get patients out of hospital quickly as well as a team of "living well" co-ordinators to support frail older people to prevent them going into hospital.
"We're not quite sure what plans to make. If this money is not there we're going to see some significant service reductions," added Mr Fielding.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said funding for care would be revealed in next week's spending announcement.
Chancellor Sajid Javid is due to unveil the plans on Wednesday.
The spokesman said plans to reform social care funding - it is means-tested so some people end up with huge bills - would be revealed in "due course".
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The head of National Theatre Wales says she is "open to a conversation" about its direction.
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By Huw ThomasBBC Wales arts and media correspondent
Kully Thiarai was speaking after 40 writers complained the theatre was "undermining" Welsh artists.
Ms Thiarai, who has been its artistic director since 2016, acknowledged "something has gone awry" in its relationship with the writers.
The writers said the theatre was not using enough Welsh talent and had not produced enough performances.
Their letter was supported by the organisation that represents stage directors, and a separate letter signed by actors in support of the writers is also understood to have been sent to National Theatre Wales (NTW).
Ms Thiarai said the emergence of the writers' letter had been a surprise.
'Disappointing'
She said: "That obviously is shocking sometimes, when you feel you are an open organisation and you feel that you hope people can talk to you. So it was disappointing in that respect.
"But I guess I also recognise that there were some fundamental concerns, and some serious questions they were raising, that they wanted a public debate about. And we have been very open to having that conversation, and we are looking at how we might widen that conversation with a broader constituency of artists. They are timely questions for us as we approach our tenth birthday.
"They are the questions about what should a national theatre be now, what was it when it started, and what might it need to become over the next evolution of its role."
Ms Thiarai rejected claims by the writers that NTW had a low production rate, adding that the company had produced 21 shows since May 2016.
She also said 79% - a "significantly big proportion" - of the work NTW had produced had been made with Welsh or Wales-based lead artists.
She added: "We can look at those proportions, but we also need to think about where the gap is and what it is we are doing that changes that ratio."
Asked if she felt the public discussion about NTW had become personal, she said: "I, as chief executive and artistic director, have to take responsibility that something has gone awry.
"And therefore, in that context, yes it is personal. It is also about the company, and it is about how we can do things differently in order to respond to some of these concerns.
Some of the writers who signed the letter are due to meet with NTW management, including the artistic director, on Thursday evening.
Ms Thiarai said she wanted to maintain discussions with the writers.
The writer Manon Eames, who was one of the 40 signatories to September's letter, they welcomed the discussion.
"I think we all want it to be a successful company serving the population of Wales, and doing a lot of successful productions of many different kinds," she said.
"It's great that the conversation has begun, that the doors have now opened, and that we are able to approach Kully and the board and discuss our very real concerns."
NTW staged its first production in March 2010 and receives around £1.5m a year from the Arts Council of Wales.
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Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has come under criticism for joining protesters demanding that restrictions on movement introduced to stop the spread of coronavirus be lifted.
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Mr Bolsonaro has clashed in recent weeks with state governors who have imposed lockdowns, denouncing the measures as "dictatorial".
As of Sunday, Brazil had more than 38,000 confirmed cases, the highest number in Latin America.
More than 2,400 people there have died.
President Bolsonaro addressed a crowd of a few hundred supporters outside army headquarters in the capital, Brasilia, on Sunday.
He said the protesters were "patriots" for defending individual freedoms.
Read more:
As well as demanding an end to the lockdown, some of those attending the rally also held up signs calling for Brazil's Congress and the Supreme Court to be closed down.
Others said they wanted the military to take over the handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Brazil was under military rule for more than two decades from 1964 until 1985 and calls for the armed forces to be given more power are highly controversial.
While the president did not make any reference to those demands at the time, his appearance at the rally - at which people were calling for the closure of the country's democratic institutions - was labelled "provocative" by his critics.
On Monday, however, while talking to journalists, Mr Bolsonaro quickly responded to one of his supporters who called for the closure of the Supreme Court by stating that Brazil was a democratic country. He said that the nation's top court, as well as Congress, would remain open.
Journalists have noted that at Sunday's rally the president neither wore a face mask, even though he coughed on occasion, nor gloves - precautions which many other politicians in the region are taking.
He has in the past dismissed coronavirus as "little more than a flu".
Rodrigo Maia, the speaker of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies and a critic of Mr Bolsonaro, tweeted that "the whole world is united against coronavirus, but in Brazil we have to fight the coronavirus and the virus of authoritarianism".
"In the name of the Chamber of Deputies, I reject any and all acts which defend the dictatorship," he added.
Relations between the president on the one hand and Congress and the Supreme Court on the other have been tense, with Mr Bolsonaro claiming they are trying to curtail his powers and even oust him.
Last week, the president sacked his health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who had backed the lockdown measures.
President Bolsonaro argues that the lockdown measures are damaging the economy and has argued that they should be eased and Brazil's borders reopened.
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Three teenagers arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder have been released on police bail.
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The boys - two aged 16 and one aged 15 - were arrested on Thursday morning in connection with the death of Mohammed Jibreel in Leicester.
The 21-year-old was found injured in the St Matthews area of the city on 21 September and later died in hospital from a stab wound.
Two people have already been charged with his murder.
Ali Mohamed, 19, of Pembroke Street, Leicester, and Abdullahi Botan, 18, of Rainworth Road, Leicester, have both been charged with the offence and remanded in custody.
A 17-year-old boy, previously arrested on suspicion of murder, has been released while inquiries continue.
A 19-year-old man, a 48-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender have been released on bail.
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Hackers gained "full functional control" of key Nasa computers in 2011, the agency's inspector general has told US lawmakers.
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Paul K Martin said hackers took over Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) computers and "compromised the accounts of the most privileged JPL users".
He said the attack, involving Chinese IP addresses, was under investigation.
In a statement, Nasa said it had "made significant progress to protect the agency's IT systems".
Mr Martin'stestimony on Nasa's cybersecuritywas submitted to the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology's Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight.
State of security
In the document, he outlined how investigators believed the attack had involved "Chinese-based internet protocol [IP] addresses".
He said that the attackers had "full system access" and would have been able to "modify, copy, or delete sensitive files" or "upload hacking tools to steal user credentials and compromise other Nasa systems".
Mr Martin outlined how the agency suffered "5,408 computer security incidents" between 2010 and 2011.
He also noted that "between April 2009 and April 2011, Nasa reported the loss or theft of 48 Agency mobile computing devices".
In one incident an unencrypted notebook computer was lost containing details of the algorithms - the mathematical models - used to control the International Space Station.
Nasa told the BBC that "at no point in time have operations of the International Space Station been in jeopardy due to a data breach".
Mixed motives
Mr Martin said Nasa was a "target-rich environment for cyber attacks".
He said that the motivation of the hackers ranged from "individuals testing their skill to break into Nasa systems, to well-organized criminal enterprises hacking for profit, to intrusions that may have been sponsored by foreign intelligence services".
But while Mr Martin criticised aspects of Nasa's cybersecurity he noted investigations had resulted in "arrests and convictions of foreign nationals in China, Great Britain, Italy, Nigeria, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, and Estonia".
Nasa said it was working to implement the security improvements Mr Martin suggested in his testimony.
However the chairman of the congressional subcommittee, Rep Paul Broun,quoted in an online report of proceedings,said: "Despite this progress, the threat to Nasa's information security is persistent, and ever changing. Unless Nasa is able to constantly adapt - their data, systems, and operations will continue to be endangered."
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Rihanna has confirmed that she is back together with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown in a magazine interview.
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By Emma BrantNewsbeat reporter
Four years ago, the rapper attacked Rihanna on the night of the Grammy music awards, was charged with assault and put on probation.
The 24-year-old singer claims in an interview in Rolling Stone magazine that she is now ready to go public with the reunion.
"If it's a mistake, it's my mistake," she admitted.
There have been rumours that the couple were back together after they collaborated on songs and appeared in photos together.
The singer insists in the article that Chris Brown is now "different" to the man who assaulted her back in 2009 and feels "disgusted' with his behaviour".
She says her history with the 23-year-old rapper is "not the cutest puzzle in the world".
She added: "You see us walking somewhere, driving somewhere, in the studio, in the club, and you think you know. But it's different now."
"We don't have those types of arguments any more. We value each other.
"We know exactly what we have now and we don't want to lose that."
The singer also said she could handle the comments about her decision.
"I decided it was more important for me to be happy," she said.
"Even if it's a mistake, it's my mistake. After being tormented for so many years, being angry and dark, I'd rather just live my truth and take the backlash. I can handle it."
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter
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Simon Hamilton is only 39, but by the standards of this youthful executive he is a veteran having previously served as minister at both finance and health.
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By John CampbellBBC News NI Economics & Business Editor
The department he takes control of is expanded compared to the last executive - it now has responsibility for skills and higher education, as well as economic development.
The fact it was the DUP's first pick suggests the party views it as the most strategically important role.
It puts Mr Hamilton in a position where he will be expected to deliver on his party's top manifesto commitment of "more jobs, rising incomes".
Those four words cover a multitude of issues including skills, the manufacturing slowdown and a weak export performance.
Among the first items in his in-tray will be student financing and university places.
If Northern Ireland is to benefit from cutting corporation tax, it is going to need to produce a reliable pipeline of skilled graduates.
But the universities are actually cutting places for local students because of falling budgets.
Thorny
So, the issue of raising fees to tackle the funding gap is on the agenda.
The DUP First Minister, Arlene Foster, did not rule out an increase in fees during the election campaign, though Sinn Féin is opposed.
Another thorny issue in his agenda is renewable energy - the Northern Ireland subsidy system has all but collapsed due to changes driven by Westminster.
The DUP manifesto has promised a review, to examine how to develop the sector "at least cost to consumers and business".
Mr Hamilton's department is also sitting on a plan to tackle economic inactivity - it was drawn up by the last executive but had no budget to take it forward.
Tackling this issue, which can be seen as "hidden unemployment", will be a factor in increasing Northern Ireland's employment rate.
There are also the chronic problems of low productivity and wages alongside a weak export performance.
The DUP manifesto hints at action there, mentioning an "up-scaling plan" and "better jobs".
Though, of course, if the UK votes to leave the EU, as Mr Hamilton's party would like, he will quickly find himself having to define and defend Northern Ireland's role in the new trading arrangements that the UK will have to negotiate.
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A New York City subway station has reopened for the first time since it was destroyed 17 years ago in the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack.
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Cortlandt Street on the 1 line was buried under debris when the two World Trade Center towers collapsed after hijackers crashed planes into them.
On Saturday, people were welcomed into the newly renamed WTC Cortlandt station as the first train rolled in at midday.
Nearly 3,000 people died and thousands more were injured in the 2001 attack.
"WTC Cortlandt is more than a new subway station," said New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) chairman Joe Lhota in a statement.
"It is symbolic of New Yorkers' resolve in restoring and substantially improving the entire World Trade Center site."
The new fully accessible station, which cost $181.8 million (£140.7 million) according to the New York Times, required an entirely new ceiling to be built and 365 metres (1,200 ft) of track to be replaced.
It now boasts state-of-the-art technology, like a new air ventilation system to keep the platform cool, and fewer columns to help with passenger flow.
Its walls are adorned with a white marble mosaic, spelling out text from the US Declaration of Independence and the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Around the BBC
The 9-11 terrorist attacks
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President Nicolas Sarkozy's summer law and order offensive is placing the French government under severe internal strain.
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By Hugh Schofield BBC News, Paris
Several ministers have openly voiced their unease about the expulsions of Roma (Gypsies) and other tough new measures.
Announced after two disturbing outbreaks of anti-police violence in July, the security blitz has led to the closure of more than 100 illegal Roma encampments, with around 1,000 people sent back by plane to Romania and Bulgaria.
At the same time, the government is preparing a law that could see recent immigrants to France stripped of their citizenship if they commit serious crimes such as shooting a policeman.
From the political left, human rights groups, the Catholic Church and the United Nations have come varying expressions of concern and denunciation.
Now it is clear that the clampdown has also created tensions within Mr Sarkozy's own administration, exposing deep differences between security hawks and doves.
Exceptional measures?
Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner - a former Socialist who made his name at the international charity Medecins Sans Frontieres - admitted this week that he was "shocked" by the focus on people of foreign origin.
He said he had thought about resigning over the Roma expulsions, but in the end decided against it.
As for the citizenship-stripping measure, he hoped it would be reserved only for the most exceptional circumstances.
"I hope. I hope. I hope," he said.
Further criticism came from the Defence Minister Herve Morin, head of the small New Centre party, who in a speech attacked "the policy of hate, of fear, of the scapegoat" and said any programme based purely on police repression was doomed to fail.
And on Tuesday, the Towns Minister Fadela Amara - herself of Algerian origin and an avowed left-winger - said she could "never agree" to a policy that placed foreign-born French citizens in a special judicial category.
She also said she was "very clearly against the expulsions" of Roma.
Coupled with doubts expressed by heavyweights inside the ruling UMP party, such as former prime ministers Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Alain Juppe, the comments reveal a government that is far from unanimous over the course that the president has taken.
They also suggest that many senior figures privately share the opposition's view that Nicolas Sarkozy has exploited the law-and-order problem in order to get through a particularly rough time in his presidency.
Temporary fallout
The president's enemies evidently hope that the episode is doing him severe damage.
Indeed, at the Socialists' end-of-summer congress last week, the security controversy gave the party a welcome (and rare) opportunity to put up a united front.
However, presidential insiders apaprently make a different calculation.
For them, any negative fallout is likely to be limited and temporary in nature.
They note that in opinion polls a majority of the public supports Roma expulsions and the closure of unauthorised camps.
Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux and Immigration Minister Eric Besson make the point that complaints about Roma have come as much from left-wing municipalities as right-wing ones.
And they also say that the government's actions are merely the application of regulations agreed across the EU, which impose temporary restrictions on the rights of Romanians and Bulgarians to settle in other countries.
Breathing space
President Sarkozy's belief that he knows more about what the man or woman in the street thinks than does the Paris intellectual left is probably correct.
People are more concerned about law and order than the opposition claims, and some of the left's wilder accusations - comparing the moves to those of the wartime collaborationist Vichy regime - actually serve Mr Sarkozy's purpose, because they are so overblown.
To that extent, the security crackdown may indeed provide something of a political breathing-space for the president - for all the chorus of disapproval relayed in the media.
However, as the doubters in government instinctively recognise, the president also needs to step carefully.
Just because his tactic may prove to be effective that does not mean it cannot also be seen as highly cynical.
Many people who do not necessarily disagree with tough policing also suspect Mr Sarkozy of pressing the law-and-order button as a last resort, when all else seems to be going wrong.
There are scores of other concerns in France at the moment: the economy, jobs, pensions, the future of farming, the Bettencourt financial scandal.
With only 18 months now before the 2012 elections, it is not just on law and order that the voters will be passing judgment.
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Ten Democrats have clashed in the first TV debate of the race to oust President Donald Trump from the White House.
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Liberal firebrand Elizabeth Warren, who has been gaining momentum, took centre stage at the heated forum in Florida.
Candidates sparred over healthcare and immigration, and a couple of underdogs gulped much-needed political oxygen with a few well-timed zingers.
Ten other Democrats in the crowded field, including Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, will battle on Thursday night.
Millions of voters were expected to tune in for America's biggest political debates in years.
The eventual Democratic White House nominee will be crowned at the party convention in July next year, before the presidential election in November.
Who took part?
The line-up for both debates was chosen at random by NBC, with Wednesday night's field consisting of:
What were the flashpoints?
In the two-hour debate in Miami, the candidates at times engaged in shouting matches as they vied to grab the limelight.
Ms Warren, who has been surging in opinion polls, was one of only two contenders to say she supports replacing private medical insurance with government-run healthcare.
Taking aim at her rivals, Ms Warren drew loud applause as she said: "There are a lot of politicians who say, 'oh, it's just not possible'… what they're really telling you is, they just won't fight for it."
"Well, healthcare is a basic human right and I will fight for basic human rights."
Only New York Mayor Bill de Blasio backed her.
But Senator Amy Klobuchar said: "I am just simply concerned about kicking half of America off of their health insurance in four years."
John Delaney also warned against such a policy.
Beto O'Rourke, another ex-congressman, was first to show off his command of Spanish, saying that a stable democracy should "listen to all voices".
But the one-time liberal golden boy found himself under heated attack from Julian Castro, the only Latino in the race.
Mr Castro challenged Mr O'Rourke to support his plan to decriminalise illegal immigration, lecturing his fellow Texan to "do your homework".
Two little-known candidates bickered over foreign policy, underscoring disunity among Democrats about overseas intervention.
Congressman Tim Ryan insisted the US must stay "completely engaged" in the Middle East.
But Tulsi Gabbard, an anti-war congresswoman, hit back: "Is that what you will tell the parents of those two soldiers who were just killed in Afghanistan?"
Who will take on Trump?
Choose your candidate and filter by category
Who stood out?
The studio audience also cheered Ms Warren as she delivered an impassioned soundbite on economic populism, looking to cement her surge in the opinion polls.
"Who is this economy really working for?" she said. "It's doing great for a thinner and thinner slice at the top."
Ms Warren, the only top-tier candidate on the stage, concluded: "We need to make structural change in our government, in our economy and in our country."
Senator Cory Booker was the only candidate who did not raise his hand when asked whether he would sign back on to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as it was originally negotiated under the Obama administration.
When Washington Governor Jay Inslee boasted of his record on reproductive rights, Ms Klobuchar drew applause for retorting: "There's three women up here who have fought pretty hard for a woman's right to choose."
Mr Inslee recovered later when asked by a moderator what is the biggest geopolitical threat to the nation, and he replied to loud acclaim: "The biggest threat to the security of the United States is Donald Trump."
Mr de Blasio distinguished himself on a question about gun violence, saying: "There's something that sets me apart from all my colleagues running in this race and that is for the last 21 years I've been raising a black son in America."
He said his son, Dante, has to use "special caution because there have been too many tragedies between our young men and our police".
What was the president's reaction?
All the top 20 Democratic candidates need to demonstrate they have the electoral viability and political grit to defeat the Republican president.
But Mr Trump, who is running for a second term in office next year, seemed unimpressed as he watched the debate aboard Air Force One en route to Japan for a G20 summit.
He unleashed on the debate host, NBC, after it cut to a commercial break halfway through because of a glitch with the microphones.
His re-election campaign said the debate showed that Democrats were proposing "a radical government takeover of American society that would demolish the American Dream so many are gaining access to under the growing Trump economy".
Who debates on the second night?
Two big beasts of the Democratic political jungle, Mr Biden and Mr Sanders, will offer competing visions for America on Thursday.
Youthful mayor Pete Buttigieg will be closely watched, too.
Senator Kamala Harris, the only black woman in the race; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who has campaigned on women's issues; and entrepreneur Andrew Yang will also jockey for attention.
Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, California Congressman Eric Swalwell and author Marianne Williamson will also take part.
Read more about the other candidates
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A hospital for men with learning disabilities has been placed in special measures after there were "serious risks to patient safety".
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The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected Cygnet Woodside, in Bradford, in September following allegations of abuse by staff towards a patient.
Police said they were investigating a report of an assault at the hospital on 31 August and had arrested two men.
The mental health hospital said it was taking action to address improvements.
Dr Kevin Cleary, CQC deputy chief inspector of hospitals and lead for mental health, said: "Our latest inspection of Cygnet Woodside found that the hospital was not ensuring its patients' safety."
He said there were "inherent risk factors and warning signs" including a high turnover of employees and an inadequate number of skilled staff looking after patients, which compromised care.
"The service showed warning signs that increased the likelihood of a closed culture developing. This would have put people at serious risk of coming to harm if we didn't take action," he said.
The CQC said senior leaders were not always fully aware of concerns in the service and "this included the concern relating to the allegations of abuse toward a patient which is being investigated by police".
'Suspended two employees'
Following the unannounced inspection, the commission also suspended the nine-bed hospital's current "good" rating for caring.
It has been given an overall rating of "inadequate" after a strong odour of urine, damaged walls and peeling paint on wards were also found.
Cygnet Woodside said it was "disappointed" with the CQC's assessment, that their report was "disproportionate" and "does not provide an entirely accurate representation" of the hospital.
A spokeswoman said it reported to police a "single safeguarding concern that was raised against a member of staff".
The hospital "immediately suspended two employees", she added.
Dr Cleary said there would be "further action to keep people safe" if inspectors saw insufficient improvement.
West Yorkshire Police said the arrested men were subsequently released under investigation but did not disclose the offence they had been held under.
Mencap, a learning disability charity, said the CQC report highlighted yet more concerns of inpatient units and called on the government for "the right support and housing in the community".
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Severe weather and heavy snow in some areas have resulted in more than 100 school closures in Northern Ireland and a second day of travel disruption.
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Counties Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh have been worst affected.
Translink bus services in and out of Derry and Limavady were suspended until 10:00 GMT. A limited service is now operating to and from the city and in the surrounding areas.
There is some disruption to buses in County Antrim and the Derry rail line.
A small number of staff at Derry's Altnagelvin hospital also had to stay overnight due to the bad weather.
'Difficult time'
Ferries between Rathlin and Ballycastle in County Antrim have been affected, with all sailings that were due to depart after 09:30 GMT on Wednesday cancelled
Police have advised motorists to take care when travelling, particularly when driving on untreated roads.
Harold Henry from Transport NI told BBC Radio Foyle that snow ploughs and gritters have been out overnight.
"It's been a very difficult time for our drivers, they have been out most of yesterday and last night.
"All roads are considered passable but with care."
The heavy snowfall in counties Derry and Tyrone has meant an unexpected day off for thousands of schoolchildren, but it also meant an unexpected night at work for some staff at Altnagelvin hospital.
A spokesperson for the hospital said: "A small number of staff had to stay in, we have planned arrangements in place for such eventualities.
"Public access to the hospital at this stage is like everywhere else in Derry difficult but accessible."
Many taxi companies in Derry have also suspended services.
In a statement, a Translink spokesperson said: "Due to adverse weather conditions, there is service disruption to Ulsterbus and Goldline services in the following areas: Ballycastle, Ballymena, Coleraine, Omagh, Cookstown and Dungannon.
"From 10:00 GMT onwards, Translink will be operate a limited service to and from Derry/Londonderry and surrounding areas. Services will be subject to delays and operate along main roads only. This will include service 212 and Foyle services.
"There is some disruption to rail services on the Londonderry Railway Line. Metro services are currently operating as normal."
Translink advised passengers to check its website and Twitter account for the latest travel updates.
A full list of school closures has been published on the BBC NI website.
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The Prince of Wales told cricket umpiring veteran Dickie Bird he was hoping for an upturn in the England team's fortunes when the two men met.
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Prince Charles was making his first visit to Mr Bird's home town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
The men met at the statue put up in the middle of Barnsley in 2009 to honour Mr Bird.
The prince earlier arrived at Wakefield, West Yorkshire, on a 1950s steam engine.
Mr Bird said he and the royal visitor had discussed cricket and the current series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates which began with a crushing defeat for England.
He said: "He said to me 'I'd like to see England do a lot better in this Test series'. I said 'I would as well'."
The bronze statue of Dickie Bird includes the umpire's classic pose, giving a batsman out with a finger in the air.
'Just marvellous'
Mr Bird said the prince had asked him whether the sculptor had got the finger the right way round.
He added that visit was a very special occasion for Barnsley.
He said: "The heir to the throne in my own town is just marvellous. Barnsley deserves it.
"I never left the town. I was born and bred in the town and they are wonderful, wonderful people."
The prince's visit to Yorkshire had begun at Kirkgate station in Wakefield, where he unveiled the renamed Britannia steam locomotive, which has been restored from an engine originally built in 1951.
As he stepped off the train he was serenaded by a brass band playing Singing In The Rain and Beatles classic Ticket To Ride.
Pop producer and train enthusiast Pete Waterman introduced him to young people who had worked on restoring the train.
After unveiling its new name plaque, the prince smiled, patted the locomotive and said: "Jolly good engine."
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It is a "terrible political miscalculation" for UK politicians to believe they can get a better Brexit deal, the Irish PM has said.
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The Brexit deadline was pushed back to October after MPs rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's withdrawal agreement three times.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was also critical of how the British government has approached the Brexit negotiations.
He said that many thought Ireland would "fall into line" and leave the EU too.
"We didn't and we are not," said Mr Varadkar, speaking in the Dáil (Irish parliament) on Tuesday.
"And some thought that when push came to shove that Ireland would be abandoned, that EU unity would break, and they were wrong about that."
Mr Varadkar added that Mrs May was "not a bad negotiator".
He said it took two years to negotiate the Withdrawal Agreement and while not perfect, it was a "finely balanced compromise".
"I am a little bit concerned that some people in London seem to think that because the House of Commons failed to ratify that agreement that automatically means they are going to get a better one," he added.
"That is a terrible political miscalculation. I hope that is not the one that is being made across the water."
Brexit is one of the biggest issues facing the 10 candidates in the race to be the new Conservative Party leader - and the next prime minister.
Mrs May officially stood down as leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June, but will remain the prime minister until her successor is chosen.
Her time as leader was dominated by Brexit, with her party divided over the issue, and the failure to get her deal through Parliament.
The UK was originally meant to leave the European Union on 29 March but that was then pushed back to 12 April and eventually 31 October.
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Sleeping like a baby is an oft-used cliche. But while sleep is crucial for sick and premature babies to grow and recover, it can be difficult in a bright, noisy hospital.
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However those in a specially-designed ward in Bath can be confident of getting plenty of rest.
When we try to soothe a baby at home we keep the bedroom dark and quiet. Yet many sick babies are cared for in hospital wards that are neither particularly restful, dark nor quiet.
"There's not usually any controllable light in a hospital, it's very brightly lit and noisy - a technical environment," says Bernie Marden, a consultant neonatologist at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.
The new neonatal ward he runs has been designed with the needs of the families, babies and clinicians in mind - resulting in a fifth more sleep for the infants.
To check that the new unit provided a better environment for the babies a special movement monitor was created to record the babies' behaviour.
The man behind the device is Professor Mark Tooley, head of medical physics at the hospital.
It is about the same size and shape as a domino and even though it is a relatively simple device, there were challenges in its design.
"We had to make sure it couldn't get hot or interfere with the baby's wellbeing in any way. The hospital's ethics committee were rightly very strict about this," he said.
It contains three accelerometers, to detect movement in three different planes and this information is fed wirelessly to a computer. The device's battery can last up to five weeks.
Calming
Putting it under the babies' armpit was the initial idea but the ethics committee said no.
"Putting it onto the nappy seemed the ideal solution.. but we did lose a few when nappies were changed because they were white and became almost invisible. We have now put a colourful sticker on them."
Baby Laila and her twin sister Aicha were born nearly three months early and will stay in the neonatal unit until around their original due date.
Their mother Samantha Rhodes relaxes in a comfortable reclining chair, with Aisha cradled on her chest.
Both girls are now both feeding well and growing in the peaceful, dimly-lit neonatal unit.
Samantha and her daughters will be here for quite a while - probably until close to their original due date - so it is just as well they feel at home here: "It's not like a hospital, it's really relaxing."
It's not just premature babies who need extra help and support.
One in 10 of all babies born at this hospital will spend some time in the neonatal unit for a variety of reasons - usually because they are premature or the stress of birth.
Bernie Marden says: "In the new unit we have noticed that materials like wood have encouraged a calming environment - the families tend to tone down their voices.
"In the babies we studied we found that they had 20% more sleep here in the new unit - and while they're resting they're growing, and recovering.
"There is a slightly noisier time during the morning but after then it quietens down again. The overall noise level dipped by eight decibels, compared with the old unit. And the parents are more involved in their care."
Flatpack ward
The architects behind the new unit - Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios - had never built a healthcare facility before.
The calm atmosphere in the unit was created by consulting with everyone from the lead doctors to the cleaners.
Jo Wright, who was in charge of the project, said: "In the old unit space was very tight, everyone was on top of each other. We didn't want to go the tried-and-tested route.
"The use of natural materials like wood came out of a desire to be sustainable. We obviously had to verify it was OK with the infection control team.
"Much of it came as a flatpack and minimised disruption as we were building close to the delivery suite."
The impact of the new neonatal unit was evaluated by Mike Osborn - a clinical psychologist at the hospital who specialises in supporting patients affected by chronic pain and cancer.
"The old unit had no natural light - it was like being inside a hot, dusty submarine, you couldn't tell if it was day or night.
'Less anxious and tense'
"And because babies are small there was a feeling that the department could be small, but it was difficult for the mums to get to their babies it was so cramped."
The parents appear to benefit also from the light and space in the new unit - the bar stools they used to sit on have been replaced with reclining comfortable chairs.
"I used to get called down to parents in a panic - as if they'd had 17 espresso coffees. Now they're less anxious and tense and I sometimes have to wake them up to talk to them."
Breastfeeding rates have gone up - in the new unit 90% of the babies go home breastfeeding, compared with 64% in the old unit.
Mike Osborn says the positive experience in the neonatal unit has provided a blueprint for the rest of his hospital: "We are hoping to rebuild our cancer department and now we have a benchmark for building compassionate environments here and elsewhere.
"Treatments can be horrible but we can do something to soothe our patients."
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With only a few pages of the Leveson Inquiry devoted to internet regulation, was Lord Justice Leveson right to avoid the issue?
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Amid Lord Justice Leveson's 2,000 page report into the culture, practice and ethics of the press were around a dozen pages dealing with the internet.
After describing the internet as an "ethical vacuum", some have questioned the wisdom of bringing more regulation to the press and not the wider internet, although any publisher could sign up to the new legislation-backed self regulator that he envisages.
Lord Justice Leveson has also been criticised for his attitude towards new media.
"People will not assume that what they read on the internet is trustworthy or that it carries any particular assurance or accuracy; it need be no more than one person's view," he wrote.
But there is disagreement on Lord Justice Leveson's stance on the issue:
JP Barlow - co-founder, The Electronic Frontier Foundation
There is practically every shade of human truth and nonsense to be had online and I think most people that are familiar with that environment - which is practically everybody younger than the Lord - is familiar with how to determine the wheat from the chaff.
Claire Enders - media analyst, Enders Analysis
What [Lord Justice Leveson's] saying is that the internet has a place and a role, but the information it provides has a much greater reach if it's on newsstands across the country and in every supermarket or newsagent - and that's right.
There's 23 million people who are reading a newspaper everyday and newspaper websites do comprise seven of the top 10 websites in this country - they have enormous scope.
I dispute absolutely the fact the internet has the same reach and power as the printed press. Lord Leveson does not say the internet has no power and no reach - we know that's false, but [newspapers] have a different impact on reputation here in the UK.
Stephen Glover - Daily Mail
His Lordship appears not to understand the radically different nature of the internet, whose more irresponsible practitioners are immune to discipline or control of any kind.
An internet publication, whether respectable or disreputable, can easily set up shop in another country, where it will be immune from any form of statutory control. That is the future. In his startling innocence, Lord Justice Leveson is often describing the past.
One paragraph in his report highlights his ignorance. In discussing photographs of Prince Harry misbehaving, he suggests they would make more impact on children passing a newsstand than they would on the internet. What planet is he living on? Few children concern themselves with newsstands. Tens of millions of them trawl the internet unsupervised.
Read the full article
Martin Moore - director, Media Standards Trust
What [Leveson] has said is we need to distinguish between organisations that have a lot of power and therefore can do a lot of harm, as opposed to just the usual conversations that happen.
If you try to regulate those then you're getting into problems with free speech and genuinely threatening freedom of expression. What he's trying to do is say 'let's leave that' - and clearly there are problems we have to deal with it separately - but for the moment let's worry about this big bear in the room.
Ashley Hurst - partner at law firm Olswang
If the attraction of a kite mark and other benefits of membership proves to be a draw for online news providers, they may be encouraged by the Leveson recommendation that membership be open to all with modular fees and systems of governance for different types of providers.
Whether the incentives will be enough to entice any online news providers other than the Huffington Post to join remains to be seen. With recommended fines of up to £1m of turnover, online operators may choose to stay well clear for a while and let the newspapers fight it out.
David Banks - author of McNae's Essential Law for Journalists
We're putting a system of regulation in on print newspapers and their websites when the world's changed. The horse hasn't just bolted - there's a whole new horse.
The media landscape has changed vastly in the last five years and will do so again in the next five. Leveson is referred to as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and by ignoring the internet, it's missing an opportunity.
Read full quote in The Guardian
Jim Killock - director of Open Rights Group
He seems to have skirted the issue of the internet. It's important when the government tries to implement some of the recommendations that they avoid trying to pull in citizen media like blogs and internet platforms. It would be deeply inappropriate for individual comments platforms and companies like Facebook to be pulled into this media regulation.
The idea that the internet is not subject to law does not bear scrutiny. When people post things they're at risk of being arrested under the Communications Act, for breaching data protection, and they're subject to libel laws.
However although Leveson has over-egged what he said and misunderstood parts of [the internet] the key thing is he's not calling for regulation to those kinds of platforms and as long as the government try to apply his recommendations to large media outfits then we should be on safe ground.
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Jeremy Corbyn is to confirm a shift in the Labour Party's position on remaining in the customs union after Brexit, Sir Keir Starmer has indicated.
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The shadow Brexit secretary said Labour's front bench was "unanimous" in its backing for striking a new deal with the EU after Brexit.
The UK would leave the customs union but then negotiate a treaty that will "do the work of the customs union".
But Liam Fox said Labour's position did not make sense.
The international trade secretary told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "Labour say they want to join a customs union. What does that mean?
"Is it like Turkey, which has a customs union but only in goods, not in agriculture, not in services, not in finance? Is that what we want for Britain? Will we take rules in certain sectors but not in others?"
'Bold new agreements'
Sir Keir also warned Prime Minister Theresa May "crunch time" was coming, as MPs geared up to vote on her policy of staying out of the customs union when the UK leaves the EU next March so that the UK can strike its own trade deals.
Labour leader Mr Corbyn is due to make a speech on Monday setting out his party's position.
Labour has previously said it wants the UK to retain the "benefits" of the customs union and the single market without saying how that would be achieved.
Sir Keir said being in a customs union permanently was the "the only way realistically to get tariff free access," which was "really important for our manufacturing base" and the only way to avoid the return of a "hard border" in Northern Ireland.
He said Britain was more likely to strike new deals if it works "jointly with the EU", adding: "We all want to do bold new trade agreements but we would be better off doing that with the EU."
Analysis
By BBC Political Correspondent Emma Vardy
Labour's efforts to persuade Conservative rebels to side with them are set to intensify.
Now that Labour appears to have come down firmly on the side of a softer Brexit, after months of hedging its bets, there's a renewed focus at Westminster on whether Tory rebels can defeat Theresa May and keep the UK in the customs union.
On paper, there would appear to be the numbers for pro-EU Conservative MPs to side with Labour (and the Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Green Party) to overturn Theresa May's majority.
But Conservative rebels would need nerves of steel to torpedo the PM's whole Brexit strategy.
It could pave the way to another general election, which might just deliver a Labour government.
The PM is hoping she can say enough this week to keep the Remainers on side, but the "meaningful vote" on Brexit expected in the autumn looms ever larger.
Mr Fox has said the UK can only strike its own trade deals if it is not part of a customs union - and he told Andrew Marr his department was working with "21 different countries" to get agreements in place that could be signed as soon as the UK leaves.
He said Mrs May would be setting out what the cabinet had agreed on the UK's future economic relationship with the EU in a speech on Friday, in the north-east of England.
And he urged Remain-supporting Tory MPs, who are threatening to derail the prime minister's plan to leave the customs union, to have an "an open mind" and listen to what she had to say, which would "deal with a lot of the reservations that they have".
The Labour leadership is under pressure from some of their own MPs to join forces with Conservative rebels and the Lib Dems to back an amendment to the Trade Bill, currently making its way through Parliament, to stay in a customs union.
'Crunch time'
Mr Fox said a vote on the bill, which had been due to take place next week, had been delayed because "we want to persuade our colleagues of the merits of our argument before we take the bill forward".
Sir Keir said the Labour leadership had not yet decided to back the rebel Tory amendments but claimed they were similar to ones that had been tabled by the Labour front bench.
He said Mrs May did not have a majority in Parliament for staying out of a customs union and she would face a "crunch" vote "sooner rather than later" - although he denied Labour was engaged in a cynical attempt to remove her from office and force a general election.
Tory rebel Anna Soubry suggested she was ready to pull back if Mrs May announced measures that would amount to a customs agreement on Friday, telling BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend: "It's absolutely beholden now on the government to get itself in the right place."
In his speech on Monday, Mr Corbyn will say the EU "is not the root of all our problems and leaving it will not solve all our problems," adding: "Brexit is what we make of it together, the priorities and choices we make in the negotiations."
More than 80 senior figures in the Labour Party have, meanwhile, urged Mr Corbyn to commit to remaining in the EU single market after Brexit.
In a statement seen by the Observer, figures including Lord Mandelson, pro-European backbencher Chuka Umunna, former leader Lord Kinnock, and trade union leaders said the party as a minimum "must clearly and unambiguously" set out to remain part of the European economic area.
Although they regard Mr Corbyn's expected commitment on Monday as a "step forward", they said this falls "way short" of where Labour should be on Brexit.
Mr Umunna warned leaving the single market and customs union would "torpedo" Labour's anti-austerity and industrial investment plans.
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A painting by Francis Bacon of his friend and fellow artist Lucian Freud has sold at auction for £23m ($37m) - three times the pre-sale estimate.
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The triptych, Three Studies For A Portrait Of Lucian Freud, went to an anonymous buyer at Sotheby's in London.
Cheyenne Westphal, from Sotheby's, said it was "an artwork that radiates 'wall-power'".
The sale also saw a Salvador Dali painting reach £13.5m - a new record for any Surrealist work at auction.
The price for Portrait de Paul Eluard smashes the previous record for Dali of £4.1m, which was set in London just 24 hours earlier.
Bidding war
Bacon and Freud met in 1945 and became close companions, painting each other on a number of occasions.
Three Studies For A Portrait Of Lucian Freud has been kept in private since shortly after its completion in 1965.
It was expected to sell for between £7m and £9m, but when it came up for auction on Thursday the price was driven up by more than 10 competing bidders from four continents.
It eventually went for a £23,001,250, including the buyer's premium.
Ms Westphal, chairman of Contemporary Art Europe at Sotheby's, said: "This striking painting has everything a collector in the current market is looking for.
"It is an artwork that radiates 'wall-power' with its brilliant colour and dramatic brushstrokes.
"It narrates one of the most impressive artistic relationships of the 20th Century between two titans of British art and is desirably fresh to the market having remained in the same collection for almost half a century."
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It's less about hook-ups and more about Hoovers, but this year's Strictly contestants have revealed what they talk about in their group chats.
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To be honest, it's not exactly the juicy gossip we were expecting.
Whilst we want to know about which pairing has the best chemistry, it seems the contestants are more interested in discussing their latest household purchases.
"The other day they were talking about a blender," Judge Robert Rinder tells Newsbeat.
"I'm not entirely sure they get my humour. I wrote in it: 'What is a blender?'"
Get it?
No, us neither.
And the riveting household appliance chat doesn't stop there.
"Will [Young] was buying a Hoover," explains Louise Redknapp.
"And we all sort of chipped in with what we think is best. I've got a dog, so I was like, 'get the cat and dog one.'"
Meanwhile, singer Anastacia says her nails make it difficult for her to type: "I then read it back and then I'm like, 'what did I say?'
I don't even know, like how are they going to read it?"
So now, she just records a voice message and sends that instead.
"Tameka [Empson] and Anastacia love a voice memo," says TV presenter Laura Whitmore.
Newsbeat hasn't seen the WhatsApp messages but we have come up with this imagined version - and we are pretty confident of its accuracy...
Find us on Instagram at BBCNewsbeat and follow us on Snapchat, search for bbc_newsbeat
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Heart disease is normally considered to be a man's problem.
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High blood pressure, high cholesterol, stress, smoking and drinking too much are all common health issues for men of a certain age - but the reality is that women suffer more.
Heart and circulatory disease kills more than 82,000 women in the UK each year - compared with 79,000 men.
So why are women at risk and how can they protect themselves from the biggest killer of women in the UK?
Dr Jane Flint, a consultant cardiologist, has been caring for women with heart disease for more than 20 years.
She says women tended to get coronary disease five to 10 years later than men, but now it's younger women who are increasingly at risk from "vascular events".
In fact, women under 50 with heart problems are faring worse then older women, Dr Flint says.
"Young patients don't recognise they have a problem. They are not recognising they are at risk - and other people aren't recognising it either.
"All women should be aware of the risks and accept they are vulnerable."
There are a number of risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke. The main ones centre on lifestyle and how we look after our bodies.
Being overweight, eating unhealthily, smoking, drinking and stress can all contribute to an unhealthy heart.
Equally important is a family history of cardiovascular disease, which means an increased risk of developing the condition.
Dr Flint is concerned that younger women are now smoking more than they used to and are also putting on weight, which is leading to more cases of diabetes during pregnancy.
'Living an illusion'
Rachel Boothroyd was working as a lawyer in London, at the age of 37, when she started to get breathing problems which gradually worsened. Before long, she was experiencing pain in her chest, neck and down her arms.
But it didn't occur to anyone - least of all herself - that she could have heart problems.
"I had classic symptoms. It was so obvious, but even a doctor friend dismissed it. He said I just wasn't as fit as I used to be.
"I was living in an illusion. The pain was so horrendous I used to go swimming so nobody would see me crying."
When she did eventually go to her GP, she was referred to a cardiologist, but even then heart issues were thought unlikely because she was fit and healthy.
"Because I was a woman, no one thought of it. They kept saying, 'I'm sure there won't be anything in it.'
In fact, Rachel had a 99% blockage in the main artery of the heart. She was extremely close to having a major heart attack - one from which she was told she would not have survived.
Rachel puts her heart problems down to the stress of working long hours in the City. Now 45, she has moved to York for a calmer existence, and now has a four-year old son.
Share experiences
Like many young women, her near-heart attack was a wake-up call which prompted lifestyle changes but there are still too many who refuse to believe it could happen to them.
In response, the British Heart Foundation have set up a Woman's Room where women can share experiences and ask questions of experts.
While genes have a large part to play in the health of women's hearts, there are also lots of factors which can be controlled ourselves in our day-to-day living.
Professor Anna Dominiczak, head of the college of medical, veterinary and life sciences at Glasgow University, one of the UK cities most affected by heart disease, says women must look after themselves better.
"All of us should know what our blood pressure and our cholesterol is - but many women don't."
Most importantly, she adds, there are always some factors which are easier to control than others.
"Smoking is first on my list. It's a risk factor everyone can do without."
Women - you have been warned.
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Cornwall's largest natural freshwater lake is being surveyed by divers in a bid to study and help protect the ecology of the site.
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Loe Pool, between Helston and Porthleven, is of special scientific interest and not used for watersports.
Scientists have previously relied on boats to check the water and the health of plant life, at the surface of the 50 hectare (123 acre) lake.
The diving is part of a four-year study funded by Natural England.
Ecologist Dr Jan Dinsdale said she had always been restricted to surveying from the surface, as well as examining items she managed trawl up from the lake, which is between 2m and 9m (6ft 6ins and 30ft) deep.
'Never been dived'
She said: "We've really no idea what might be down there.
"There are plants in there, so I'd like to have a closer look at what there is."
Diver David Roberts said he was excited at the prospect of exploring a new site.
He said: "As far we know, no one has ever dived in it.
"We'll be diving in pairs, towing a GPS unit like a marker buoy.
"When we find something, we can mark that spot and bring the ecologists a sample up of what we might find, weed-wise."
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A medieval priory in the centre of Gloucester is to be restored after its owners were awarded more than £300,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
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The Llanthony Secunda Priory Trust said the development grant would go towards "bringing Llanthony back to life".
The scheduled monument was founded in 1136 and although the site is open, the buildings are "too fragile to enter".
The trust plans to start the "Reformation Project" early next year and apply for a full grant later.
The site includes a tithe barn, gatehouse, stable block, some very early monastic brick walling and a medieval range which is attached to a Victorian farmhouse.
'English Civil War'
The trust said the aim of the project was to "repair and conserve the priory buildings and landscape to create a vibrant community and learning space in the city of Gloucester".
Llanthony Secunda Priory was initially the daughter house of Llanthony Priory in Abergavenny, but became an important and influential institution in its own right, in the Gloucester area, in both religious and secular society.
Chair of the trust Jeremy Williamson, said they wanted "the priory's story to be brought to life for today's audience".
He said its history covered "dissolution, agrarian revolution, the English Civil War and the Siege of Gloucester, through to the industrial age, neglect and despoliation and the miracle of its survival today".
Mr Williamson said: "We are delighted to have secured the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, which provides the trust with the platform from which to develop and ultimately deliver its ambitions".
He said the long term aim was to bring the building back into use with a commercial tenant which would then "provide a long term financial stability for the trust."
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The Kurdish militant group TAK says it carried out Saturday's deadly attack on police outside a stadium in Istanbul.
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The TAK, an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), made the claim on its website.
At least 38 people died near the Vodafone Arena when a car bomb hit a police vehicle and a suicide bomber blew himself up nearby after a top-division football match.
The TAK has said it was behind other deadly attacks in Turkey this year.
In Sunday's statement, it said the latest bombings were in reprisal for ongoing violence in the south-eastern Turkey and for the continuing imprisonment of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Tears and destruction amid PKK crackdown
Turkey in midst of hideous vortex
Who are Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels?
Earlier on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said initial findings pointed towards the PKK.
The BBC's Mark Lowen in Istanbul says many Turks believe the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) are the PKK under a different name.
Turkey's vulnerability - by Mark Lowen, BBC News, Istanbul
The site of the attack reopened swiftly, with floral tributes laid on the ground and people bearing Turkish flags. The government is as always keen to give a sense that the situation is under control.
But beneath the surface, Turkey feels vulnerable and afraid that it can't stop the wave of bombings. The government has vowed revenge and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says terrorism will be crushed.
But perhaps the most tumultuous year in Turkey's history means many will see the words as empty rhetoric. This is, though, a defiant nation. One protester told me terrorists "aimed to keep us at home, scared of going out. We can't do that. We must show unity against this threat".
After bombings by the PKK and IS and an attempted coup, Turkey finishes 2016 angry, grieving and even more politically polarised. A toxic mix for a country that has seemingly lost its way.
Mr Numan said that about 300-400kg (660-880lb) of explosives had been used in Saturday evening's attack.
It came two hours after the end of the match between top teams Bursaspor and Besiktas, when fans had already dispersed.
President Erdogan told reporters on Sunday that Turkey would fight "the scourge of terrorism to the end", and promised that the attackers would pay a "heavy price".
Thirty of those killed were police officers. Dozens of people remain in hospital, some in intensive care.
Turkey has declared a day of national mourning.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 13 people had been arrested after the latest blasts, but gave no details.
2016 Kurdish attacks in Turkey
17 February: TAK attack on vehicles carrying general staff personnel in Ankara kills 28 people
13 March: 37 people are killed by TAK militants in a suicide car bombing in Ankara
8 June: TAK bomb attack in Istanbul kills seven police officers and four civilians
30 July: Turkish army base attacked in south-east - unconfirmed reports say soldiers killed some 35 Kurdish fighters who tried to storm the base
9 October: Car bomb attack by PKK militants on checkpoint in south-east kills 10 soldiers and eight civilians
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Aggressive pancreatic tumours may be treatable with a new class of drugs, according to Cancer Research UK
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Less than one in five people with this form of cancer are still alive a year after being diagnosed.
A study,
published in the journal Nature
, showed that a gene was being switched off in the cancerous cells.
The reseachers said drugs were already being tested which had the potential to turn the gene back on, to stop the spread of the cancer.
Around 7,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year and it is the fifth most deadly cancer.
On/off
Studies in mice showed that a gene called USP9x, which normally stops a cell from dividing uncontrollably, is switched off in some pancreatic cancer cells.
The gene is not mutated, but other proteins and chemicals become stuck to it and turn the gene off.
Studies then showed that UPS9x was being turned off in human pancreatic cancer.
Prof David Tuveson, from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, said: "We suspected that the fault wasn't in the genetic code at all, but in the chemical tags on the surface of the DNA that switch genes on and off, and by running more lab tests we were able to confirm this.
"Drugs which strip away these tags are already showing promise in lung cancer and this study suggests they could also be effective."
Dr David Adams, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: "This study strengthens our emerging understanding that we must also look into the biology of cells to identify all the genes that play a role in cancer."
They argue that up to 15% of pancreatic cancers could be down the turning this one gene off.
Dr Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK's senior science information manager, said: "These results raise the possibility that a class of promising new cancer drugs may be effective at treating some pancreatic cancers."
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Steve Carson has been named as the new head of BBC Scotland, taking over from Donalda MacKinnon.
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Mr Carson, who is currently head of multiplatform commissioning, will take over as director later in the year when Ms MacKinnon steps down.
Originally from Belfast, he began his career with the BBC before setting up an independent production company in Ireland.
He returned to the BBC in 2013 and took up his current role three years ago.
In his new position, he will be responsible for leading 1,100 BBC Scotland staff across 13 centres, producing content for a range of services for TV, radio and digital platforms.
Smooth handover
The BBC's director-general Tony Hall said: "He brings with him a combination of excellence in programme making, leadership and the respect and trust of the staff.
"Steve set up the BBC Scotland channel brilliantly and I wish him every success in the future."
Ms MacKinnon said Mr Carson had been a key member of her executive team and she would work closely with him over the coming weeks to ensure a smooth handover.
Born and brought up in Northern Ireland where his late father Tom was a journalist on The Belfast Telegraph, Mr Carson graduated from Manchester University before joining the BBC in a variety of roles.
He moved from youth and entertainment features to become a producer/director on BBC current affairs programmes Newsnight, Spotlight and Panorama.
He returned to Ireland in 1997 and later established the independent production company, Mint Productions.
In February 2009, he was appointed as director of programmes at RTÉ Television.
In 2013, he re-joined the BBC as head of BBC Northern Ireland Productions.
He took up his current role in October 2017, launching the corporation's new TV channel, BBC Scotland, last year.
A former vice-president of the European Broadcasting Union's Television Committee and chair of the RTS Northern Ireland, he is married to broadcaster Miriam O'Callaghan.
He will take up his new role in the autumn.
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Tram stops in Manchester city centre are to be closed for the next nine days, operator Metrolink has said.
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Essential maintenance work is taking place and is expected to result in some temporary disruption to city centre services.
Market Street and Shudehill stops will close and trams will not run between Victoria and Piccadilly Gardens.
Services between St Peter's Square and Piccadilly Gardens will be unaffected.
The work will take place on the corner of High Street and Market Street outside Debenhams and access to businesses will be maintained at all times.
Danny Vaughan, Transport for Greater Manchester's head of Metrolink, said: "To minimise any impact on our customers, we will undertake these works before schools return fully in September and more and more people return to work.
"Contractors will also be working 24 hours a day to ensure they're completed as quickly as possible, minimising any disruption to local city centre businesses."
"All city centre stops are within walking distance of each other and walking routes will be signposted throughout works, but we would advise passengers to plan their journey in advance and allow extra time where possible."
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A violent storm that has ravaged parts of Spain with heavy rain and violent winds has left at least 13 people dead.
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Spanish authorities said four people were still missing after Storm Gloria triggered floods and swept away roads.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez flew over some of the worst hit eastern areas and visited Majorca which has been battered by huge waves.
The government is to hold an emergency meeting on Friday to co-ordinate a response.
Mr Sanchez told reporters there would be "no scrimping on any resource or effort".
"I think what's important right now is that we're all united, that we work shoulder-to-shoulder and co-operate, as we are doing," he said.
Mr Sanchez said climate change had played a part in the severe storm.
"Meteorological phenomena we are witnessing aren't entirely due to climate change, but what is also true is that climate change is accentuating them," he told reporters.
Storm Gloria swept into the Balearic Islands - which include the holiday island of Majorca - last weekend with torrential rain whipped up by winds of 100km/h (62mph).
Huge waves forced some residents to evacuate their homes while rivers burst their banks and boats were torn from their moorings and washed on to beaches.
The storm then struck Catalonia, Valencia and the southern regions of Murcia and Andalusia with rain and snow, leaving a trail of damage in popular tourist resorts busy preparing for the holiday season.
Spanish media reported four storm-related deaths in Catalonia, five in Valencia and two in Andalusia with one in the central region of Castile and León and one in the northern region of Asturias.
Among those killed was a 50-year-old man who was washed away while fishing from rocks in Ametlla de Mar, Catalonia, and a 75-year-old woman whose house collapsed in Alcoi, Alicante.
On Thursday, emergency workers said they had found the body of a man drowned in his car in the Catalan town of Cabaces.
Authorities said the death toll could rise further with four people still missing in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
Conditions are easing as the storm passed over the country although several rivers in the north-east burst their banks on Thursday.
Storm Gloria also battered Pyrénées-Orientales, France's southernmost Mediterranean department, which has been placed on high alert.
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Seven US Marines have been killed and eight injured after a mortar shell exploded unexpectedly in a training accident in the US state of Nevada.
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The blast occurred on Monday night at the Hawthorne Army Depot, a Marine Corps official said.
At least eight men are in hospital, three in a serious condition and five in a stable condition.
The shell discharged in its tube but it is not clear if more than one round exploded, a Marine spokesman said.
At a news conference, Brig Gen Jim Lukeman said the cause of the malfunction was under investigation.
The US Marines Corps has banned use of all 60mm mortars in both training and combat until the review establishes what went wrong. The weapon normally needs three or four troops to operate.
Those caught in the blast at 22:00 local time (05:00 GMT on Tuesday) were members of the Second Marine Expeditionary Force.
Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno said it had received nine patients, one of whom died.
All the patients were men under the age of 30, who suffered penetrating trauma, fracture and vascular injuries, said Stacy Kendall, a spokeswoman for the facility.
Second Marine Expeditionary Force commander Maj Gen Raymond Fox said in a news release: "We send our prayers and condolences to the families of Marines involved in this tragic incident.
"We remain focused on ensuring that they are supported through this difficult time.
"We mourn their loss, and it is with heavy hearts we remember their courage and sacrifice."
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A 10-year-old girl has died after being thrown from an off-road vehicle which overturned on farmland.
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Lily McCormick suffered life-threatening head injuries in the crash in Looe, Cornwall, on Sunday.
Emergency services were called at 18:30 BST and she was airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, but died a short time later.
Police said Lily, from Liskeard, was a passenger on the Gator Utility Vehicle when she was thrown from it.
Read more news from Cornwall
The male driver of the vehicle was also treated for minor injuries.
Lily's friends and family are "devastated" and are wearing red ribbons around their wrists in memory of her, Devon and Cornwall Police said.
A candle has also been lit in her memory at St Neot Church.
A police spokesperson added: "The death is not being treated as suspicious but the circumstances of the incident are being investigated by police.
"The Health and Safety Executive has been informed."
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France has warned Britain to expect a bruising battle with the EU in post-Brexit trade negotiations.
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French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian predicted the two sides would "rip each other apart" as they strove for advantage in the negotiations.
He also said it would be tough for the UK to achieve its aim of agreeing a free trade deal by the end of the year.
The UK government said it wanted a deal based on "friendly co-operation between sovereign equals".
Boris Johnson's chief Brexit negotiator is expected to give more details of the UK's negotiating aims in a speech in Brussels later.
David Frost is expected to say the UK will be happy with a trade deal based on that agreed by the EU with Canada in 2016 but to rule out any form of regulatory alignment with the bloc from 2021 onwards.
The UK formally left the EU two weeks ago but still trades like a member under a transition period which ends on 31 December.
Talks on their future relationship are set to begin next month once the EU's 27 members have agreed the bloc's negotiating mandate.
Speaking at a security conference in Munich on Sunday, Mr Le Drian said the two sides were far apart on a range of issues.
He said: "I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart.
"But that is part of negotiations, everyone will defend their own interests."
Mr Le Drian, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, is the latest senior EU figure to warn that the negotiations will be difficult.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and chief negotiator Michel Barnier have both cast doubt on Boris Johnson's aim to reach a comprehensive agreement by the end of the year.
The EU has repeatedly warned that the UK cannot expect to enjoy continued "high-quality" market access if it insists on diverging from EU social and environmental standards.
Last week the European Parliament called for the UK to follow EU rules in a host of areas, such as chemicals regulation, food labelling and subsidies for companies, as part of a process of "dynamic alignment".
But UK ministers have repeatedly ruled out such a close regulatory relationship.
There is expected to be a particularly tough fight over fishing rights, with the EU insisting continued access to UK waters must form part of any agreement.
Mr Johnson, in turn, has said the UK will act as an "independent coastal state" taking control of its own fisheries.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: "Our approach is clear - we are not asking for anything special, bespoke or unique, but are looking for a deal like those the EU has struck previously with other friendly countries like Canada.
"We want a relationship based on friendly cooperation between sovereign equals, one centred on free trade and inspired by our shared history and values."
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The number of young people who are out of work in Scotland has doubled in the last five years, a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has said.
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It also states that those in part-time jobs looking for full-time jobs has risen by 50,000 to 120,000.
But the report also highlighted that child poverty in Scotland is now lower than in England.
The foundation believes that not to act on the statistics now risks condemning future generations to poverty.
The report by the Joseph Rowntree charity comes on the day the Scottish government gave further details about its £5.4m fund to help hard-hit families.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that many people across Scotland were suffering as a "direct result" of UK government benefit cuts.
"Citizen's Advice Bureaux across the country are currently dealing with nearly 800 new issues for every working day," she said.
"And the latest extremely worrying analysis about the families affected by benefits illustrates exactly that point."
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation's state of the nation report is the sixth of its kind.
Its authors, Hannah Aldridge, Peter Kenway and Tom MacInnes, used the latest official government data, including unemployment, education and health statistic.
They found that:
Mr MacInnes said: "With the political debate dominated by the referendum on independence, it's important to point out that the issues that are central to tackling poverty, such as health, childcare, schools and housing, fall within current legislative powers of the Scottish government.
"The problems highlighted in this report cannot wait; action can and should be taken now."
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Hundreds of warnings over noisy student parties in Nottingham, some attended by up to 150 people, have been issued since the start of the academic year.
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The city council said 300 warnings had already been given to students compared to 216 for the whole of last year.
Lenton resident, Steve Gauge, said the problem was getting worse and added noise levels were "atrocious".
Six university students were fined after a wall collapsed during an all-night party in the area.
Mr Gauge said: "It used to be only once or twice a week but now it we are getting it sometimes five nights a week.
More stories from across the East Midlands
"My good lady is a primary school teacher…and when you have been deprived of sleep for a whole week it is terrible."
In early October, a wall collapsed during a student party in Lenton and six students were fined by Nottingham Trent University.
A university spokesman said: "It was made clear to the students that their behaviour was unacceptable, and in particular had a significant impact on local residents."
Steve Stott, from Nottingham Community Protection, said: "Students are drinking more at home because it is cheaper than going to a bar and it can generate some noise and anti-social behaviour.
"There are large-scale parties at some houses made for four to six people that can have up to 150 (involved)."
He said if students consistently ignored warnings, they could be taken to court and evicted.
Kate Loewenthal, chair of the Lenton Drives and Neighbours Residents Association, said: "General disturbance is now accepted by many residents as 'just what we have to put up with'."
The University of Nottingham said all its students agreed to a code of conduct and would be disciplined if their behaviour "compromises the safety of others".
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Staff and residents have tested positive for Covid-19 at a care home in Ceredigion.
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An undisclosed number of cases were found during routine fortnightly testing at MHA Hafan y Waun Care Home in Waunfawr, Aberystwyth.
An incident has been declared at the independent care home.
Ceredigion County Council said it was working with the care home, Hywel Dda University Health Board and Public Health Wales to contain the virus.
The residents' families have all been contacted by the care home and staff will provide all families with regular updates.
"Looking after our care home residents is of paramount importance to Ceredigion County Council," the authority said.
"Visits to care homes in Ceredigion remain suspended and residents are being supported to keep in touch with family and friends via telephone and video conferencing / skype calls.
"We are extremely grateful for the co-operation shown by staff, care home residents, their families and members of the public as we take every step to keep Ceredigion's residents safe and well."
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A woman says she is considering rebranding her business because it shares its name with a Middle East extremist group.
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Jill Campbell has run the Isis Boutique in Malvern, Worcestershire, for seven years.
But she said people have been linking the store to Islamic State, which has killed hostages including British aid agency worker David Haines.
She said some comments have been "quite upsetting".
Some "very unpleasant" posts have also been made on social media about the shop, which is named after the river in Ms Campbell's home city, Oxford.
"I'm now in the position of thinking do I change the name or do I stick it out?" she said. "It's an unsettling time."
Ms Campbell plans to open a second boutique elsewhere in the country, but said she would "probably not" use the Isis name.
"I have absolutely no sympathy with these monsters in Syria and it is for very innocent reasons that we chose the name," she said.
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Britain's first new nuclear power plant in decades could be delayed amid reports an EDF board meeting to decide whether to invest in Hinkley Point Power Station has been postponed.
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The French energy firm's board was expected to meet on Wednesday to finalise the decision.
But French paper Les Echos and environmental group Greenpeace said the decision had now been delayed reportedly due to funding difficulties.
EDF declined to comment on the reports.
In October, EDF agreed a deal under which China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) would pay a third of the cost of the £18bn project in exchange for a 33.5% stake.
Analysis by John Moylan, BBC industry correspondent
Is the plan for Britain's first new nuclear plant in a generation in trouble?
What is clear is that EDF faces major financial challenges.
Its share price has halved in the past year as falling French power prices have hit earnings.
Its current nuclear build projects in Finland and at Flammenville are over-budget and delayed.
It's facing a costly refurbishment programme to extend the life of its French nuclear plants. And in Hinkley Point C, it would be committing to a project that will cost more than its current market capitalisation.
It also has to placate its unions, which fear the project could put the entire company at risk
But EDF has already ploughed £2bn into Hinkley. And with so much political capital invested by the French and British governments too, it would be astonishing if EDF was to fall at the final hurdle.
The final investment decision by EDF was expected to be a formality.
But Les Echos said the French firm was struggling to find the cash for its 66.5% stake and was now "putting pressure on the [French] state, which owns 84.5% of EDF, to come up with fresh funds".
It said a final investment decision would now be made at the earliest at EDF's annual results on 16 February.
The reports contradict recent statements from EDF chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy who said just a week ago that the "two nuclear reactors that EDF plans to build at Hinkley Point will be launched very soon".
'Rattled'
Hinkley is due to start generating in 2025, and is expected to provide 7% of the UK's electricity once it is operational.
But the project was originally due to open in 2017, and it has come under fire for both its cost and delays to the timetable for building.
The government has also been criticised for guaranteeing a price of £92.50 per megawatt hour of electricity - more than twice the current cost - for the electricity Hinkley produces.
Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said: "The EDF board is clearly rattled as they delay yet again this crucial investment decision. It could well signal curtains for Hinkley.
"EDF managers as well as employee representatives on the board are deeply concerned this project is too risky and too expensive."
Meanwhile, the chief executive of Legal & General has described the project as "a £25bn waste of money".
Nigel Wilson told BBC 5 live: "The world is moving towards clean green and cheap energy."
"Solar, wind will play a much more important role. Hinkley is probably the most expensive energy we can think of right across Europe. That's really bad for society."
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Shares in drugmaker Indivior plunged 71% after the US Department of Justice charged it with fraudulent marketing.
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A federal grand jury in Virginia accused Indivior of a "truly shameful scheme to put profits over the health and well-being of patients".
It alleged the firm conducted an illicit scheme to increase sales of Suboxone Film, an opioid drug used to treat opioid addiction.
Indivior has issued an eight-page rebuttal contesting the charges.
The company, which calls itself the world leader in addiction treatment, is listed in London, with a research centre in Hull and a US headquarters.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) has demanded at least $3bn in fines. Indivior had a market value of £202m after the collapse of its shares on Wednesday.
Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt said: "Indivior promoted it with a disregard for the truth about its safety and despite known risks of diversion and abuse."
According to the indictment, Indivior "obtained billions of dollars in revenue from Suboxone Film prescriptions by deceiving health care providers and health care benefit programmes into believing that Suboxone Film was safer, less divertible, and less abusable than other opioid-addiction treatment drugs".
It said Indivior "lacked any scientific evidence to support those claims".
Indivior said: "Put simply, Indivior is not a contributor to the opioid epidemic. Rather, as acknowledged by government experts at the FDA [Food and Drug Administration]and CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], its medicines are a key part of combatting it.
"Key allegations made by the Justice Department are contradicted by the government's own scientific agencies, they are almost exclusively based on years-old events from before Indivior became an independent company in 2014, and they are wrong."
Indivior was spun off from Reckitt Benckiser in 2014. The company's shares had already lost some four-fifths of their value before today's news, as it faced increasing competition from generic drug makers such as Dr Reddy and Mylan.
Opioid epidemic
While Indivior is a treatment for opioid addiction, opioid manufacturers such as Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Teva Pharmaceuticals are also facing lawsuits.
The DoJ also alleged that Indivior used a "Here to Help" internet and telephone programme as part of its scheme to induce physicians to write prescriptions for Suboxone Film.
The DOJ's indictment said Indivior touted "Here to Help" as a resource for opioid-addicted patients but used the programme in part to connect patients to doctors it knew were prescribing Suboxone and other opioids to more patients than were allowed by federal law, at high doses, and in "suspect circumstances".
Indivior denied this and said: "To the contrary, we have engaged in an extensive education campaign to teach doctors about recommended Suboxone dosing limits and patient caps and have developed a process to identify concerning prescribers, going beyond what the law requires."
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Next year's Waddington International Air Show has been cancelled due to a £35m rebuild of the runway.
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The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the investment would extend the runway's operational life by a further 25 years.
Work is due to start later this year and is expected to last for about 59 weeks. Some improvements will also be made to facilities on the site.
More than 140,000 people are expected at this year's event, which takes place at the weekend.
Wing Cdr Jim Beldon said: "Regrettably, because of the extensive work needed to the runway, it simply won't be possible to hold the air show here in 2015."
He added: "As people may know, the runway at RAF Waddington was principally built in the run up to World War Two and some of the substructure has suffered the effects of time.
"We are disappointed, but we are focusing on this one and making it the best show we've ever had."
Highlights of the 2014 show include a display by the Lincolnshire-based Red Arrows and a Spitfire flying in formation with a Typhoon - both wearing D-Day invasion markings.
RAF Waddington uses a range of airborne intelligence systems, including the Boeing Rivet Joint intelligence aircraft, which is due to enter service later this year.
The station is now home to 13 Squadron which flies the Reaper - the only UK drone that is armed. It can carry Hellfire missiles or 500lb bombs.
Last year, two priests were among six people found guilty of criminal damage during a protest about drones being operated from the base.
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The US recorded the most coronavirus deaths in a single day with more than 1,800 fatalities reported on Tuesday.
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It brings the total number of deaths in the country to nearly 13,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The US has more than 402,000 confirmed cases, the highest number in the world. Global cases have exceeded 1.4 million.
However during a news conference President Donald Trump said the US might be getting to the top of the "curve".
Meanwhile the city of Wuhan in China, where the infection first emerged, ended its 11-week lockdown.
The new figures announced on Tuesday are up on the previous record of 1,344 which was recorded on 4 April.
But a revised forecast released on Wednesday by the University of Washington has predicted a lower total death count in the US, estimating that around 60,000 Americans could die from Covid-19.
The family of American singer-songwriter John Prine has confirmed his death from complications related to coronavirus.
Known for songs such as Angel from Montgomery and Sam Stone, Prine died in Nashville on Tuesday at the age of 73. His wife tested positive for coronavirus and recovered however Prine was hospitalised last month with symptoms and placed on a ventilator.
A number of musicians including Bruce Springsteen and Margo Price have paid tribute to him.
How hard has New York been hit?
A large proportion of the deaths announced were from New York state. Widely considered the epicentre of the outbreak, it recorded 779 deaths on Tuesday. New York City has seen over 4,000 deaths thus far.
It is on the cusp of overtaking the entire country of Italy with its number of confirmed cases.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state appeared to be nearing the peak of its pandemic. Hospital and intensive care admissions were down.
"If we stop what we are doing you will see that curve change," the governor cautioned. "That curve is purely a function of what we do day in and day out."
The governor urged people to stay inside and continue with social distancing.
"I know it's hard but we have to keep doing it," he said.
New Yorkers have been told to avoid large gatherings as Passover and Easter approaches.
Mr Cuomo also announced that New York would allow residents to vote in the June Democratic primary election by mail, saying: "New Yorkers shouldn't have to choose between their health and their civic duty."
Elsewhere, the state of Wisconsin pressed ahead with an election on Tuesday, despite a state-wide stay-at-home order amid the escalating outbreak.
What did Trump say about the WHO?
During a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Trump said he was reluctant to discuss further but the US might be on track for fewer deaths than projected.
It was thought that as many as 240,000 people in the US could die in the pandemic, according to the president's task force.
He also said the US might be getting to the top of the "curve" of the outbreak.
During the briefing, he also attacked the World Health Organization (WHO), saying it had issued bad advice and had been too focused on China.
"The WHO really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric," he said.
He also said the US would be withholding money meant for the WHO.
The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres addressed Mr Trump's comments through a spokesman on Wednesday.
"The World Health Organization must be supported as it is absolutely critical to the world's efforts to win the war against Covid-19," the spokesman said.
"Once we finally turn the page on this epidemic must be a time to look back fully to understand to understand how such a disease emerged and spread its devastation so quickly across the globe, and how all those involved reacted to the crisis…Now is not that time."
What's happening elsewhere in the world?
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Rap star Professor Green says he cannot bear to watch a documentary he has made for the BBC about his father's suicide.
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By Mark SavageMusic reporter
Suicide and Me, which airs on Tuesday, sees the musician explore the circumstances of his father's death seven years ago, at the age of 43.
He makes several surprising discoveries about his family, and confronts the fear that he may have been left with suicidal tendencies of his own.
But "I've never seen the documentary to the end," he told BBC News.
"I find it really difficult," he added. "The pain is indescribable."
The 60-minute documentary is as thought-provoking as it is emotional, as the star, whose real name is Stephen Manderson, investigates why suicide has become the biggest cause of death for men under 45.
Almost 5,000 men killed themselves in the UK last year, and rate of suicide amongst men is more than three times higher than women.
In the BBC Three film, Manderson asks why men are so adversely affected - and looks at some of the services in place to help suicidal people.
"I went into the film quite naively," he said. "I thought it was about helping others and, for that reason, I was fine with it. But as we got into it, I encountered things I didn't expect to, or hadn't given enough thought to.
"I didn't think I was going to be finding out things about my father's passing for the first time - which was obviously quite hard to deal with, as is evident from the programme."
In some of the documentary's most moving scenes, the 31-year-old talks to his aunt and his maternal grandmother (who raised him) about being abandoned by his father, Peter, as a child, and the months leading up to his suicide.
"It was the first time my grandmother and me even talked about it," he said.
"I think that's how most people get on with things. Life's busy. There's so much happening in front of you, you tend not to deal with what's behind you, without realising the burden that puts on you."
The rapper is frequently in tears during the documentary, and says that putting those moments on screen frightened him.
"People are going to see me at my most vulnerable, and my lowest, and that's what I was scared about," he explained. "But that is the problem in itself. That problem wouldn't be there if I felt it was okay to show how I feel."
After speaking to several of his father's acquaintances, all of whom expressed bewilderment at Peter's suicide, Manderson says he learned that people should never feel intimidated about confronting their friends.
"A big part of depression is feeling alone," he said. "As friends, the onus is on you to bring things up.
"You should ask the questions. Maybe not 'do you feel suicidal?' It doesn't have to be that extreme. But sometimes when we say, 'how are you?' people just say, 'yeah, I'm alright'.
"It's the most common lie we tell, every day. But sometimes you actually need to pull someone up and go, 'no, really, are you alright?'"
"And just probing people - not to the point where it's invasive - but giving people the option to talk if they want to. It's the questions you're most scared to ask that you probably should.
"Sometimes you do that and you almost hear a sigh of relief. A lot of their issues come out because they all of a sudden feel okay to talk about things."
The star has previously called for mental health awareness to be taught in schools in an effort to tackle taboos around the subject.
Manderson, whose hit song Read All About It dealt with his father's death, said he had been "fortunate" to have music in his life.
"Before it became an outlet, music was something that gave me comfort," he said, adding that, after completing both the documentary and his autobiography this year, he was planning to head back into the studio.
"I think there's been a huge breath out this year," he said. "I've given an awful, awful lot of myself. It's time to take a step back now and take a breath in and focus on what I enjoy and what makes me happy - which is being in the studio and getting some new music out."
He added: "The last couple of hits I've had have been quite serious. I want to get back into the fun side of things."
He said his new material would revive the cartoonish persona of his earlier hits - Need You Tonight and Just Be Good To Green, which sampled INXS's Need You Tonight and the SOS Band's Just Be Good To Me respectively.
"I've got something in the pipeline that doesn't feature a sample, but is in that vein. And that'll be out early next year," he said.
Suicide and Me will be on BBC Three at 21:00 GMT on Tuesday, 27 October.
If you have been affected by the issues in this story, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123; phone Calm on 0800 58 58 58; or find support online.
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Wales should hold an independence referendum if Brexit happens without a further EU poll, Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price has said.
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People could then choose between an independent Wales at Europe's "heart" or a "forgotten second-class region in a dying British state," he said.
The independence call goes further than his party conference speech in March.
Polling for BBC Wales has put support for independence at less than 10% since 2011.
Mr Price said Wales should hold a "new national conversation" about the country's future whatever happens with the UK's departure from the European Union.
In last month's speech to party members, in Bangor, he called for an independence referendum if a series of post-Brexit demands were not met.
His demands included a call for European funding for Wales to be guaranteed, cuts in VAT for tourism and construction, the devolution of powers over air passenger duty, and control over migration policy.
But now Mr Price has gone further by making a Welsh independence referendum dependent on whether Brexit goes ahead without a second EU referendum.
"It is broken Westminster, not the EU, which has failed the people of Wales," he said.
"I do not believe that the poverty facing our country is inevitable and nor will these problems be fixed by Brexit.
"They will be fixed by taking our future into our own hands and becoming a nation in our own right."
His comments follow a demand by the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Wednesday for a second referendum on Scottish independence by 2021 if Scotland is taken out of the EU.
Mr Price added: "Whatever happens with Brexit over the next few months we should begin a new national conversation about what kind of future we want for Wales by establishing a Welsh Citizen's Assembly along the lines proposed in Scotland."
Asked to choose between a range of options in terms of Welsh powers, only 7% of Welsh voters backed the idea of Welsh independence in the 2019 St David's Day poll for BBC Wales - support has been less than 10% since 2011.
Analysis by James Williams, BBC Wales Brexit correspondent
He's only seven months into the top job but Adam Price has already been on a journey with his messaging around Welsh independence.
From it being "on the table" after Brexit in October, to demanding it should happen if certain post-Brexit tests aren't met in March. Now he's gone even further.
"This is part of the Price project - we're not shying away from it," a Plaid source tells me.
It's a remarkable change from Leanne Wood's leadership, when the independence issue was never really part of Plaid's retail offer.
There have been concerns that placing the 'I' word front-and-centre would scare away potential voters, particularly in Labour heartlands.
Brexit has changed that thought process. In a period of political upheaval with people asking questions about our place in the EU and the future of the UK, Plaid Cymru's top brass think it is legitimate to raise the prospect of Welsh independence.
It's a bit of gamble a couple of years away from the next assembly election in 2021 - one the party hopes will pay off but, with independence seemingly still a minority pursuit, it could turn out to be a bit of a flop.
The European Parliament elections in Wales
There are eight parties fighting for four MEPs in the planned European elections in May.
Welsh Labour, the Welsh Conservatives, Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Liberal Democrats, UKIP and the Green Party are joined by new groupings Change UK and the Brexit Party.
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Canada's prime minister is in hot water for taking a tropical vacation on the Aga Khan's private island in the Bahamas.
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Justin Trudeau and his family were guests of the billionaire spiritual leader over New Year's.
The federal ethics commissioner is reviewing Mr Trudeau's trip to see if it warrants an official investigation.
Mr Trudeau said he is "more than happy" to answer any questions the commissioner has.
News of his winter getaway was first revealed by the National Post, after days of speculation over where the prime minister and his family were on holiday.
Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan is a longtime family friend of the Trudeaus.
Mr Trudeau was also accompanied by Liberal MP Seamus O'Reagan and Liberal Party President Anna Gainey, and their respective partners.
The Prime Ministers Office (PMO) told the Toronto Star the information was kept secret to protect the families' privacy.
Mr Trudeau has since gone on the record about the vacation, and admitted to also using the Aga Khan's private helicopter.
"As was the case with previous Prime Ministers, when travelling for personal reasons, Mr. Trudeau, his family, and any guests travelling with him reimburse an equivalent economy airfare," Trudeau spokesperson Cameron Ahmad told the BBC.
At a press conference on Friday morning, Mr Trudeau seemed visibly uncomfortable answering questions related to his trip.
"This was our personal family vacation and the questions you're asking, I allow you to reflect on them," he said.
On Monday, Conservative leadership candidate Andrew Scheer wrote a letter to Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson to ask that she look into whether Mr Trudeau's visit violated conflict of interest rules regarding gifts.
The helicopter ride may also have broken rules introduced by Mr Trudeau's own government that forbid ministers and parliamentary secretaries from accepting sponsored travel on private aircraft unless they get prior permission from the ethics commissioner first.
Commissioner Dawson has said she has begun a preliminary review of Mr Trudeau's vacation to see if it warrants an investigation.
The Aga Khan Foundation is a registered lobbyist and has received hundreds of millions from the federal government over the past several decades, from both the Liberal and Conservative parties.
Who is the Aga Khan?
Prince Karim Aga Khan is the 49th hereditary Imam of the Ismaili Muslims. They trace his lineage directly to the Prophet Muhammad.
He lives in France, has a British passport, graduated from Harvard University and is among the top 15 of the world's wealthiest royals, according to Forbes magazine. The say he has an estimated wealth of $1bn (£640m) in 2008.
A close family friend of the Trudeaus, he was an honourary pallbearer at the funeral of Mr Trudeau's father, Pierre.
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Hundreds of bikers have led the cortege ahead of the funeral of two brothers who died following an incident at a house in Sheffield.
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A service to remember Tristan and Blake Barrass, aged 13 and 14, was held at Grenoside Crematorium on Thursday.
Some 300 motorbikes led the hearse into the grounds along with two Lamborghini sports cars.
The boys' mother Sarah Barrass will go on trial alongside Brandon Machin. Both are charged with murdering the boys.
The family said both boys had an interest in bikes and cars.
Police were called to a semi-detached house in the Shiregreen area in May.
Detectives have given no indication about the nature of the incident, but have confirmed it was confined to one property and was not a shooting.
Sarah Barrass, 34, and Brandon Machin, 38, are in custody and neither were at the funeral service.
Friends and family gave emotional tributes to the brothers.
Matthew Saunders said: "I hope they're smiling in the sunshine. I hope they're always together. I hope they're full of love together."
Mr Saunders said they were all "trying to make sense out of something that will never make sense".
Danielle Baines told the mourners: "Words can't describe how proud I am of these two boys. They were happy, funny, bright boys.
"More importantly, they were caring and polite."
She said she would remember the "joy and happy times they brought to our lives".
The coffins were brought into the chapel to Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud and the service - which was conducted by the crematorium's vicar, Lisa Scott - also featured Wiz Khalifa's See You Again and Happier, by Marshmello.
Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]
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A rare copy of the first Dandy annual published in 1938 has sold at auction for £1,250.
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The Dandy Monster Comic was the first of 81 editions of the book, including annuals and other specials, to be published by Dundee-based DC Thomson.
It was bought by a private client at a two-day book sale at Keys Fine Art Auctioneers in Aylsham, Norfolk.
Featured comic characters, including Desperate Dan and Korky The Cat, went on to become household names.
The annual, which had an original cover price of two shillings and six pence or half a crown (12.5p), had been predicted to sell at between £1,200 and £1,500.
The Dandy comic was first published in December 1937 and continued until December 2012 in printed form, and then for a further six months online.
It has now been discontinued but annuals and occasional summer specials continue to be published.
The book is in remarkably good condition considering its age and was one of numerous collectables that came to the auction, said Keys' head of books Andrew Lindsay-Bullock.
The auction house last year sold a copy of the first ever Beano annual, from 1940, for £2,700.
"Along with The Beano, The Dandy is the archetypal kids' comic and, in fact, it pre-dates its stablemate by about a year," Mr Lindsay-Bullock said.
"It is very rare to see a copy of the first ever Dandy annual and we saw a lot of interest from collectors from right across the UK and beyond for quite and eclectic range of books.
"The Dandy annual is in such good condition because it was printed on stout paper and cardboard so buyers in 1938 would believe they were getting good value."
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A formal warning has been issued to an NHS trust in Cambridgeshire to improve standards of care at a mental health facility.
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Independent regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected Fulbourn Hospital, near Cambridge, in November.
Concerns included safety at the premises and care of patients.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Dr Attila Vegh said the report was "fair" and addressing issues was a priority.
CQC inspectors visited the hospital to check on progress following a warning issued to the trust in February.
CQC compliance manager Barbara Skinner said: "While there were some issues the trust had clearly addressed and taken action on, it was evident there were some areas of concern."
These include:
"We are confident the provider will address these issues. They agree this is not acceptable," Ms Skinner said.
"We have given them a timeframe in which to comply and we will compile a follow-up report."
Dr Vegh, who was appointed chief executive shortly before the inspection, said: "A significant amount of progress has been made over the past 12 months, but it's a fair assessment that in some areas - care planning and the environment - more could have been done.
"We have a major implementation programme in place and these changes will be made in the shortest time possible."
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Stars including Emeli Sande, Pixie Lott, and Stormzy have gathered to record a Grenfell Tower charity single.
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The cover of Simon and Garfunkel's hit Bridge Over Troubled Water was organised by Simon Cowell.
Other stars including Rita Ora and Leona Lewis recorded parts for the song on Saturday.
Sande said: "It's really inspiring to see people come together. It gives you hope in humanity."
'It's an honour'
Cowell, who lives in the same London borough as the now burnt-out tower, called the blaze "heartbreaking".
At least 58 people are believed to have died and hundreds more made homeless.
Those taking part in Sunday's recording at Sarm music studios, close to the tower in west London, included singer and former X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos and the show's 2015 winner Louisa Johnson.
They were joined by Pitch Battle choirmaster Gareth Malone and Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones.
Pixie Lott said: "It's an honour to be involved and to come down and record today.
"Anything that we can do to help, we should."
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More than half a billion pounds could be needed to ensure the safety of 2,000 old coal tips in Wales over the next 10 years, the chancellor has been warned.
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By Alastair JamesBBC News
It follows calls for urgent action, following a 60,000 tonne landslide earlier this year in Rhondda.
Geologists said Wales was more prone to these incidents and climate change "may make that worse".
UK officials said they were working with the Welsh Government on flood relief, including funding for tips.
The incident above the village of Tylorstown followed heavy rain caused by Storm Dennis in February, which led to widespread flooding across areas including Rhondda Cynon Taf.
One historian said the landslide had evoked "visceral" emotions linked to the Aberfan disaster of 1966, which claimed the lives of 116 children and 28 adults.
A letter from Chris Bryant MP and Labour colleagues to Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed unpublished details from a review led by the Welsh Government, with the co-operation of the Coal Authority, councils and Natural Resources Wales.
The review is compiling a list of all sites in Wales and their risk status.
In October, the UK government provided £2.5m to help clean up and secure the Tylorstown site.
The Welsh Government said the cost of clear-ups and making Wales' coal tips safe was "significantly more".
Repair work in Rhondda Cynon Taf is estimated at £82.5m in total.
Mr Bryant and fellow Welsh Labour MPs Beth Winter, Chris Elmore and Alex Davies-Jones said it would be "unfair" for the "poorest communities in the UK to bear the full costs of this work".
They fear another Tylorstown-like incident if the framework for funding the work is not done soon.
The letter also calls for the UK government to provide financial assistance to Rhondda Cynon Taf for urgent repair work to bridges, roads and culverts following Storm Dennis.
The UK government has previously said it is up to the Welsh Government to remediate the coal tips and "get on" with flood defence work.
But in a new statement, officials added: "Ever since parts of Wales were hit by devastating flooding earlier this year, the UK government has been working with the Welsh Government and local authorities to provide extra support for flood relief and protection to the communities which were so badly affected.
"Responsibility for flood defences and flood management is devolved but, while all claims need to meet certain criteria, we expect to provide funding from the UK reserve for 2020-21."
It added: "This would include funds for coal tip repairs which we know are of particular concern to communities."
The Labour Member of the Senedd for Pontypridd, Mick Antoniw, said clearing coal tips "goes way beyond any responsibilities of the Welsh Government".
"The film of the coal sliding down brought back many, many traumatic memories for the population of Wales.
"And I think the wake-up call for us all is that the risk may be a bit greater than we thought it was, particularly if we're going to have more adverse weather like this."
Ben Curtis, a historian of the south Wales coalfields at Wolverhampton University, said incidents like the one at Tylorstown had a powerful impact.
"I visited the Tylorstown tip in the aftermath.
"Just struck by the scale of the landslip. It's really quite awe inspiring and not in a good way.
"These register so prominently with people because on a visceral level people in the valleys see a tip slide, and you think about the Aberfan disaster of course."
Ashley Patton, from the British Geological Survey, said the conditions in Wales made it more prone to these types of landslips.
"In south Wales we have the added pressure of a lot of coal waste sitting on top of those slopes which is unconsolidated material and can easily slip. Climate change may only make that worse.
"With increased storms like the ones we saw at the beginning of this year, landslides, which is what you'd expect with climate change, is going to be a real problem."
The Welsh Government said the safe management of coal tips "remains a priority".
"While we welcome recent announcements by UK government, along with their recognition that the longer-term costs will be significant, no further funds have been forthcoming, and we continue to press them for the full amount of funding needed, as promised by the prime minister," said a spokesman.
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The minor injuries unit at Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda is closing temporarily on Wednesday due to staff shortages at another hospital.
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Cwm Taf Health Board is moving nurses from the £36m building, near Tonypandy, to accident and emergency at the Royal Glamorgan hospital, near Llantrisant.
The board said the problem was not down to money but a difficulty in recruiting the right people.
It is unclear when the unit at Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda will reopen.
The Royal Glamorgan opened in 1999, replacing the East Glamorgan hospital in Pontypridd, while Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda opened last year.
Cwm Taf Health Board said it was taking positive action to address "short-term medical staffing challenges" in A&E at the Royal Glamorgan, and was finding it hard to recruit the right people.
'Fill gaps'
In a statement, the board said: "Cwm Taf health board along with other health boards in Wales are experiencing difficulties in filling medical staffing vacancies in its accident and emergency departments.
"This is not related in any way to money, but is as a consequence of a lack of suitably qualified candidates for the number of jobs needed to be filled."
The health board said it regularly used doctors to "fill gaps" to provide some degree of continuity, but this was not a long-term solution.
It added that a number of overseas doctors had been appointed following a recruitment drive, but immigration requirements meant they would not be ready to start until early next year.
"From October we have a further two doctors leaving the Royal Glamorgan hospital accident and emergency department," the statement added.
"This unfortunately brings us to the point where we need to take action to ensure that the quality of care is maintained and clinical safety is assured.
"Based on advice from clinical staff the most clinically appropriate short-term solution is to move our experienced advanced emergency nurse practitioners who are currently based in Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda to the accident and emergency department at the Royal Glamorgan hospital."
The minor injuries unit will close at 1700 BST on Wednesday.
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The 10th annual Iris Prize Festival for LGBT short films has opened in Cardiff.
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By Huw ThomasBBC Wales arts and media correspondent
Thirty-five films will compete for the £30,000 prize during five days of screenings and events in the city.
The festival opened with the screening of specially commissioned films in English and Welsh, while a jury choose the winner of the international selection of short films.
Organiser Berwyn Rowlands said it was important there was a festival that celebrated LGBT films.
"Politically, gay people are in a much better position in the UK than they were 10 years ago," he said.
"We can get married, we can adopt children, we have rights in the workplace.
"But I think we are still relatively invisible, and so there are still many stories about gay existence that don't make it on to mainstream television or cinema."
This year, 17 countries are represented on the Iris Prize shortlist. Their films tackle issues such as growing old and illnesses, while a number of horror films have also been submitted.
While the festival screens films focused on LGBT communities, its research shows about 30% of the audience are heterosexual.
'Surreal world'
Alongside the main prize, a Best of British shortlist of 15 films from across the UK will compete for a prize equivalent to production support worth £20,000 towards their next feature.
The Welsh language film Afiach was shown as part of the festival's opening night. It was commissioned as part of the new Iris Stories strand of films that explore LGBT communities in Wales.
It was written by Bethan Marlow, and tells the story of a lesbian couple affected by a cancer diagnosis.
"I was very keen to write a lesbian story that was not about the fact that they are lesbians, that it went beyond that," she said. "I wanted to set it in a very surreal world, but telling a very true story.
"One of the successes of the Iris Prize Festival is that it goes beyond the LGBT community, and hopefully it's a stepping stone to the rest of the world watching the film. I hope it can cross those boundaries, as it's a universal story that everybody can relate to."
Ms Marlow said mainstream TV programmes and films continued to cast stereotypical characters, though the portrayal of LGBT communities was improving.
"Stereotypes definitely still exist. I think it's better, much better, than it used to be," she said.
"Hopefully we are in a place where we can start challenging that, with stories that are interesting and complex and that go way beyond people's sexuality."
Afiach will be shown on S4C on Saturday 15 October at 22:30 BST.
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Tributes have been paid to a woman who was found dead in a flat.
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The body of mother-of-three Helen Joy, 54, was discovered at the property on Twickenham Drive in Leasowe, Wirral, on Monday morning.
Her three "heartbroken" children said her death was a "massive shock" and said they were "all devastated by what has happened".
A 45-year-old man, who was known to the victim, has been arrested on suspicion of her murder.
Ms Joy's two daughters and one son added: "We are happy that mum is no longer in pain and is now safe with the angels and now we just want justice for her."
Det Ch Insp Paul Nilsen previously urged anyone with any information or people who saw or heard any suspicious behaviour in the Twickenham Drive area to contact the force.
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Merseyside Police
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Actor Mark Rylance has resigned from the Royal Shakespeare Company over its sponsorship deal with oil company BP.
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Rylance, in a resignation letter, said he was quitting to "lend strength" to progressive voices in the RSC.
The RSC said it is "saddened" by Rylance's departure but that corporate sponsorship is "an important part" of its funding.
In 2016, he said he was likely to quit unless the RSC dropped its ties to BP.
The oil company declined to comment on Rylance's personal choice, but said it remains committed to sustainable energy solutions and is "proud" of its partnership with the RSC, held since 2011.
This includes funding a £5 ticket scheme for 16-25 year olds, with around 10,000 tickets being sold through the initiative each year.
Rylance, an Oscar-winner and associate artist with the RSC for 30 years, has been a longstanding critic of the sponsorship agreement.
In 2012, he signed a petition stating BP's sponsorship deal allowed the company to "obscure the destructive reality of its activities" which he said threatened the future of the planet.
"Half the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere currently warming our planet have been emitted in the last 30 years," he wrote in today's resignation letter.
"BP has made the third-biggest contribution to climate change of any private company in history.
"I do not wish to be associated with BP any more than I would with an arms dealer, a tobacco salesman or anyone who wilfully destroys the lives of others alive and unborn. Nor, I believe, would William Shakespeare," he added.
Rylance last appeared on stage for the RSC in 1989, when he had the lead roles in both Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet.
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Becoming a billionaire would be, for most of us, the very apex of achievement - and a very unrealistic dream come true.
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By Damien EdgarBBC News NI
Chuck Feeney lived that dream but he wasn't content simply with becoming a billionaire - no, he set himself a further a goal.
To give away his entire multi-billion dollar fortune while he was still living.
The 89-year-old American businessman has now achieved that, donating almost $9bn (£7bn) worldwide.
And through his private foundation the Atlantic Philanthropies, Mr Feeney, born to Irish-American parents, gave $570m (£447m) to causes in Northern Ireland over four decades.
Who is Chuck Feeney?
Charles F Feeney was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1931, during the Great Depression.
His mother worked as a hospital nurse and his father was an insurance underwriter.
The philanthropist traces his family history back to County Fermanagh, where his grandmother was brought up close to the village of Kinawley.
The entrepreneur made his money selling luxury duty free goods to travellers across the world, but he rejected the trappings of wealth himself.
Conor O'Clery, who wrote a biography of Mr Feeney, said: "He read and was very impressed by Carnegie's famous essay 'Wealth', which says such things as 'to die rich is to die disgraced'."
He went on to found the Atlantic Philanthropies in 1982, an international organisation set up to distribute his fortune to good causes and projects that he supports around the world.
The foundation's main areas of interest are health, education, reconciliation and human rights.
For the first 15 years of his philanthropic mission, Mr Feeney donated money in secret leading to him being dubbed the James Bond of philanthropy, only emerging from anonymity in 1997.
According to Mr O'Clery, his five children (four daughters and one son) have been left money through their mother, Mr Feeney's first wife.
He now lives in a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco with his wife Helga, having travelled extensively to examine projects to donate to.
NI's 'big bets'
Queens University Belfast (QUB) was one of the biggest beneficiaries of Mr Feeney's grants from 1993-2015, being gifted a total of $132m (£83m).
It also received the single biggest donation from the Atlantic Philanthropies, when it was gifted $24m (£15m) in 2012.
It was for the university's Institute of Health Sciences Centre for Experimental Medicine.
Nathalie Trott, from Queen's, said the grants had "changed the lives" of students and had provided the university with "state of the art facilities."
"The doors of the Atlantic Philanthropies may have closed in Belfast, but Chuck Feeney's legacy will live on for generations."
Integrated education
Another cornerstone of Mr Feeney's philanthropy in Northern Ireland has been the promotion of integrated education in the pursuit of reconciliation and peace building.
Down through the decades, it is understood about £8m has been gifted to the Integrated Education Fund for various projects and the area is listed as the first sector funded in NI by the Atlantic Philanthropies back in 1991.
One of the schools that benefitted from hundreds of thousands of pounds is Rowandale Integrated Primary School in Moira.
Principal Frances Hughes said Rowandale would not be in existence today without Atlantic Philanthropies' support.
"In 2007, when the school opened, enrolment began with 18 children and this year we have an enrolment of over 300," she said.
"The pupils here would have had absolutely no idea (about Chuck Feeney's role) - I would love to tell them that story though and I think they would really enjoy it."
Since 1996, when the Integrated Education Fund received their first grant from the Atlantic Philanthropies, there were a total of 33 integrated schools, which had risen to 62 by the time their funding drew to a close in 2014.
The funding has helped to establish 21 integrated primary and eight secondary-level schools and in those 18 years, pupil numbers overall have risen from 7,000 to 22,000.
Christopher Oechsli, president of the Atlantic Philanthropies, said it was "an honour" to support so many projects in Northern Ireland since first beginning its operations here in 1991.
"It's heartening to see the progress made and the way groups Atlantic supported continue to drive change in these challenging times," he said.
"That's the legacy."
According to biographer Conor O'Clery, Chuck Feeney is "very happy" that he has now completed his almost 40-year mission and celebrated the milestone with wife Helga.
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Ed Sheeran's finally revealed what makes him and Taylor Swift BFFs.
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He says it goes back to their school days when they were both underdogs.
"Taylor was never the popular kid in school. I was never the popular kid in school," he told GQ magazine. "Then you get to the point when you become the most popular kid in school - and we both take it a bit too far."
He's also revealed in the interview that there's some healthy competition between them.
"She wants to be the biggest female artist in the world and I want to be the biggest male artist in the world," he says.
"It also comes from always being told that you can't do something and being like, '[No], I can.'"
The 25-year-old's appearing on the front cover of the magazine's upcoming March issue.
This tweet shows Ed on the front cover of GQ.
He's clearly delighted and feels it's about time, although... check the date Ed.
This tweet is from Ed about his front cover.
His third studio album, Divide, is out in a few weeks after a gap year which, apparently, gave him lots of thinking time.
He's obviously given his competitive streak some thought - telling the magazine he has Adele in his sights.
"Adele is the one person who's sold more records than me in the past 10 years," he explains.
"She's the only person I need to sell more records than.
"That's a big... feat because her last album sold 20 million. But if I don't set her as the benchmark then I'm selling myself short."
He also spoke about how he doesn't mind inspiring other, perhaps younger, artists with his singer-songwriter style.
"There are a lot of singer-songwriters around now. I'm not the first but there are more than before," he explains.
"I'm very happy for everyone to be in the same race as me, even if they copy every single thing I've done."
And here comes that competition again - he's not taking any prisoners.
"In a 100m sprint to get a number one album I just know I'm going to win," he says.
"I don't care who's doing what. I just know I'm going to win. I'm going to make sure I come first."
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A woman has torn an Achilles tendon while trying to escape a seagull attack.
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Amanda Goodrum who lives and works in Great Yarmouth, said she tripped while fending off the bird at the weekend.
She says "something needs to be done" about the birds, which market stall holders say have been stealing chips and doughnuts from people.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council said it would consider reintroducing signs asking people not to feed birds.
Jane Beck, head of wellbeing services, said some were erected a couple of years ago but taken down after people complained.
"Seagulls are scavengers," she said. "If they are being fed they will come back and we will see more of them - the key is not to feed them."
Ms Beck said the council had only received six complaints about seagulls, out of about 1,500 calls, in the past two months.
But Ms Goodrum, 49, who works in a betting shop, said the birds' behaviour was "out of control".
She said she was attacked on her way to buy a pint of milk.
"This seagull swooped off the roof at me," Ms Goodrum said. "I put my hands up to wave it away.
"I turned around and he came from the other side - he was about two inches away from my face.
"I turned around again, panicked, ran and went straight on the floor. I couldn't feel my foot.
"The pain is really, really bad."
Ms Goodrum said she could be off work for up to 10 weeks because of the injury.
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Plans to give Scotland new tax and borrowing powers have been passed by MPs.
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The UK government's Scotland Bill will bring in a new Scottish rate of income tax and borrowing powers worth £5bn.
Prime Minister David Cameron said the legislation marked the most significant devolution of financial powers in Scotland's history.
The SNP, which is planning an independence referendum in 2014, said the bill fell short.
The
Scotland Bill
completed its passage through Westminster after being earlier endorsed by the Scottish Parliament.
Scottish ministers supported it, even although it said the legislation had been "bypassed by events".
The Scottish budget is currently wholly funded by a Treasury grant, and backers of the Scotland Bill say Holyrood will, in future, be more accountable for the cash it spends, by having to think about how it is raised.
It will bring in a new Scottish rate of income tax and borrowing powers worth £5bn, as well as devolving powers over air guns, drink-driving and speeding limits.
Mr Cameron, said: "I think this is a historic day for Scotland.
"We made a very clear promise that we would go ahead with this bill, which is the biggest act of fiscal devolution in Scotland's history, to give the Scottish Parliament far more responsibility to raise the money that it spends and we have delivered on that promise.
"So this is a great day for Scotland, a great day for the Scottish Parliament and a day when the government can put its hand on its heart and say we promised something and we delivered it."
Shadow Scotland Office minister Willie Bain said it was a "hugely significant bill".
But SNP Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie claimed the bill left the country with fewer powers than Jersey or Guernsey.
"While welcoming any measure of increased autonomy, the Scotland Bill is a job half done," he said.
"In a week when the UK has been dragged back into recession by Westminster's economic mismanagement, the Bill is a missed opportunity to deliver the real job-creating powers that people in Scotland need and want.
"The bill was drawn up by the unionist parties before their defeat in the Scottish Parliament elections last year, and does not meet the aspirations of people in Scotland now."
The legislation is expected to receive Royal Assent next week, becoming the Scotland Act (2012).
It came about as a result of the work of the
Calman Commission
, set up to look at Scottish devolution 10 years on from its inception, in 1999.
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Five former employees of disgraced Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff have been found guilty of conspiring to help him carry out his Ponzi scheme.
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The verdict was announced by a US federal jury in New York after a trial that lasted nearly six months.
The employees are Daniel Bonventre, Annette Bongiorno, Joann Crupi, Jerome O'Hara and George Perez.
Mr Madoff was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 150 years in prison for running a $65bn (£40bn) fraud scheme.
Some experts estimate that investors lost about $20bn.
"As the jury unanimously found, these five defendants played crucial roles in constructing and maintaining the house of cards that was the Madoff investment fraud," US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
He added that the convictions demonstrate that "this largest-ever Ponzi scheme could not have been the work of one person".
'Important role'
According to various reports, Ms Bongiorno was Mr Madoff's long-time secretary, while Mr Bonventre was his director of operations for investments and Ms Crupi an account manager.
Mr O'Hara and Mr Perez were both computer programmers.
"These defendants each played an important role in carrying out the charade, propping it up, and concealing it from regulators, auditors, taxing authorities, lenders, and investors," Mr Bharara said.
The five are the latest aides of Mr Madoff to be convicted for their role in the scheme.
Mr Madoff's brother, Peter Madoff, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in December 2012 for his role in the fraud.
Peter Madoff agreed to the 10-year sentence as part of a plea deal which stripped him of his assets, savings, home and personal property, as well as all future assets and income.
However, Bernard Madoff has repeatedly denied that his brother had any involvement in the scheme.
Mr Madoff's "investment fund" was once thought to be the biggest hedge fund in the world.
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Ricardo Juneck enjoys a rare honour among foreigners living in Japan - the 46-year-old Brazilian born chef is a master of sushi and runs a successful catering business.
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By Ewerthon TobaceBBC Brasil, Tokyo
These days he even teaches Japanese students how to make the national delicacy and more than 2,500 would-be cooks have passed through his culinary training course.
Such is his reputation that last year he was even chosen to be among a group of chefs representing Japan's National Association of Sushi in the "World Cup of Sushi".
"Japan helped to realise my dream," says Mr Juneck. "Today I have a son in college and have won recognition in the area where I have invested all my life's effort."
Migration patterns
Mr Juneck is part of a vibrant two-way cultural connection between Brazil and Japan.
Starting in 1908, hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens left behind a then troubled economy to start a new life in South America's largest country.
With a strong work ethic and a country rich in natural resources, many made successful lives there. Contrary to their own expectations, many stayed on in Brazil, raising children and grandchildren.
Brazil now has the largest Japanese-descendant population in the world outside of Japan, and it is at its most visible in the famous Liberdade district of Sao Paulo, with its red painted archways and Japanese restaurants.
But when Brazil's economy hit troubled times in the 1980s, this process went into reverse and descendants of Japanese immigrants began to look to Japan, the country of their parents or grandparents, as a land of opportunity.
Initially some went with tourist visas, but in 1990 Japanese law was changed to allow descendants of Japanese citizens long-stay visas and the right to work.
'Brazilian town'
In 2008, at the peak of this influx, there were some 320,000 Brazilians of Japanese descent living and working in Japan - a number that has now dropped to around 170,000.
So strong was the South American presence that traditional Brazilian barbecue restaurants known as churrascarias began to appear in Japan.
Such was the concentration of Brazilians in Oizumi, 100km to the north of Tokyo, that it turned into a tourist attraction, becoming known as Japan's "Brazilian town".
Some 10% of the population of just over 40,000 is said to be Brazilian - and busloads of curious Japanese tourists come to get a little taste of South American life.
"They are Japanese of all ages," says Shuichi Ono, from the local tourist association. "The older ones want to try the food, those who are younger take lessons in samba and capoeira [a martial arts dance]."
The Brazilians are known in Japan as "dekassegui", or literally "people who leave home to work in another place".
Kimono champion
And Mr Juneck is not the only Brazilian to teach the Japanese one of their national skills.
Kamila Miyuki Yamashiro, 24, gives lessons at Hakubi Kyoto, one of Japan's most famous schools dedicated to the art of wearing the traditional Kimono.
"I always wore the Kimono in Brazil, but didn't know a lot about it," says Ms Yamashiro, who has now been in Japan seven years and is also a professional singer of Japanese Enka music.
Wearing the Kimono is not as easy as it seems and it took her four years to get the qualification that allows her to teach.
"At the start of this year, I became the youngest teacher in Hakubi," she says proudly.
Some Brazilians of Japanese descent have found it harder to adjust to life in Japan.
"Japan left me a long way from family and friends," says freelance photographer Patricia Rodrigues Shibata, who arrived in 1991 but struggled to adapt. "I was very lonely."
More recent problems in the country, such as the impact of the economic crisis, have prompted many Brazilians to head back home. The 2011 earthquake and tsunami gave added impetus to this process.
Some, however, have stuck it out.
Sueli Guishi, 52, has been in Japan for 22 years and has overcame many challenges, not least ill health and losing a kidney to diabetes. She has now embarked upon an entirely new career as a singer.
"Everyone has problems, but I have learned that the best place in the world is where you live well. Where else could I have started a career as a singer aged 47?"
With such optimism, the strong links between Brazil and Japan are likely to continue for some time to come.
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Patients with asthma and severe allergies are often not taught how to use their medical devices properly, charities have warned.
|
By Emma WilkinsonHealth reporter, BBC News
Asthma UK said in some cases poor technique led to people being put on stronger inhalers than they actually needed.
And studies by Allergy UK suggest people struggle with instructions on auto-injectors in allergy emergencies.
The charities are calling for better training for patients and NHS staff.
The warning comes after a separate US study revealed only 16% of those prescribed adrenalin auto-injectors in case of a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction used them properly.
Common errors included not holding the device in place for at least 10 seconds and not pushing down forcefully enough with the needle to allow the adrenalin in.
In the same study, only 7% of asthma sufferers were found to use asthma inhalers in the right way, researchers reported in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
Training
Study leader Dr Rana Bonds from the University of Texas Medical Branch said the results suggested people weren't properly trained in using the devices in the first place or "forgot the instructions over time".
Maureen Jenkins, clinical director of Allergy UK, said she was not at all surprised by the findings.
She said because there were different designs of inhalers and auto-injectors, people needed to get specific advice for the exact ones they had, which often did not happen.
"We have just finished a leaflet on allergic asthma which talks about proper use of these devices."
Yearly checks
She added that pharmacists were ideally placed to talk patients through using the devices when they picked them up from the chemist.
Dr Samantha Walker, director of research and policy at Asthma UK, said even though in theory everyone with an inhaler should have their technique checked annually, figures showed a third of people with asthma make mistakes with their inhalers.
And many of these mistakes are significant enough to reduce the effectiveness of their treatments.
"This is also hugely wasteful - asthma-prescribing is one of the most expensive areas of cost for the NHS, costing almost £1bn annually.
"You wouldn't give someone a new car without them having driving lessons first, so if you are going to invest in prescribing a lifetime of asthma medicines, it's crucial that healthcare professionals ensure that their patients know how to use them."
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Bosses of a West Midlands zoo say graffiti scratched into the glass of several animal enclosures is "utterly disheartening".
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Staff at Dudley Zoo and Castle discovered the vandalism on Sunday, just weeks after opening to visitors.
The zoo estimates it will cost thousands of pounds to repair.
Director Derek Grove said it was "mindless vandalism which is utterly disheartening following the difficult last 12 months we've endured".
"Like all zoos around the country, we were closed for the majority of the past year and managed to carry on thanks to the generosity of our visitors donating to our online fundraising page, and halting our development plans so we could continue caring and feeding for our animals," he added.
"Thankfully we've come out of the pandemic on the other side, with some financial losses, but now we're going to have to waste money repairing this damage, which only reduces the funds we have available for the care of the animals."
Anyone with information is asked to contact West Midlands Police.
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Dudley Zoo and Castle
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Mark Drakeford will start drawing up a new-look government after being elected to become next Welsh Labour leader.
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However, he will not appoint any ministers until he takes the reins as first minister when Carwyn Jones resigns next week.
Mr Drakeford, the finance secretary, said he wants to change the way the cabinet works, allowing more time to consider long-term challenges.
"I want to lead a team in government," he said.
AMs will be invited to nominate him in the Senedd next Wednesday when the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru will also put their leaders forward.
Asked what would be different about his leadership, Mr Drakeford said: "There will be changes, of course, after a long time with Carwyn Jones as leader.
"I want to change the way the cabinet is run.
"I want the cabinet to have more time to think about the long term. Usually, the cabinet come together once a week, we concentrate on what is in front of us right now.
"I want to create opportunities for the cabinet and others outside the government to come together and to think about the things that will happen in Wales not this week, not this month, but some time in the next year."
One of the biggest decisions facing his administration could be over whether to build the M4 relief road around Newport.
Asked where he stood on it, Mr Drakeford said he would wait to see the legal and technical advice being prepared for ministers.
His two opponents in the leadership contest, Vaughan Gething and Eluned Morgan, called for a second referendum on Brexit.
But Mr Drakeford said there should be a general election first.
He said he would "speak up for the sort of Brexit that meets the needs of people here in Wales".
"People in Wales voted to leave and as a Welsh Government we've always respected that," he said.
Analysis
By Daniel Davies, BBC Wales political correspondent
Given that so many Labour AMs backed him, it won't be easy for Mark Drakeford to sack people.
During the campaign, he said he would - "without a doubt" - offer jobs to his opponents Vaughan Gething and Eluned Morgan.
He also said he would appoint a cabinet secretary for housing.
There is speculation Local Government Secretary Alun Davies could be on his way out.
And could there be a return for Jane Hutt, his friend and ally who was at Mr Drakeford's side throughout the leadership campaign?
He has at least one vacancy to fill - his own, as finance secretary.
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A closed Kent airport could open early next year and the Civil Aviation Authority is to be "put on standby" in case it happens, an MP has said.
|
Campaigners want Thanet council to buy Manston Airport under a compulsory purchase order (CPO) so it can reopen.
South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay said a draft PricewaterhouseCoopers report had found no impediment to a CPO.
Thanet council will consider the report after it is published. The site owners said they would fight any CPO attempt.
"We have taken a great leap forwards today," said Mr Mackinlay after discussing the findings of the report with Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin and Aviation Minister Robert Goodwill.
"The Department [for Transport] stands ready to assist with the reinstatement of a CAA licence as soon as a CPO process is completed and Manston Airport is ready to reopen and receive aircraft."
"To lose this type of strategic regional and national asset was always wrong," he added.
'Housing and jobs'
Chris Musgrave and Trevor Cartner, who have bought a majority stake in the site, set out a £1bn redevelopment plan on Wednesday.
Their 20-year plan for the site they have renamed Stone Hill Park includes 2,500 homes, a sports village, 200 acres of manufacturing units with 4,000 jobs, and a film production studio.
Under the proposals, a 200-acre park would be created with the former runway as a centrepiece.
In response to protesters' calls for the site to remain an airport, Ray Mallon, a spokesman for the owners, said: "My answer to them was simple. This airport has had more comebacks than Frank Sinatra."
He also accused Mr Mackinlay and North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale of making "inaccurate statements" to the public, saying a "major impediment in the way of a CPO" was a lack of funding.
"It's now time for them to move on and stop wasting time and further public money."
But Thanet council's UKIP leader Christopher Wells said there was a group of people in office who will do everything they can to reopen Manston.
Conservative MP Mr Mackinlay said the CPO was supported by the government and the prime minister had taken an interest too.
Plans to reopen the airport have been put forward by US investment firm RiverOak, who Mr Mackinlay said remained "key players".
Campaign group, Supporters of Manston Airport, believe the airport failed because it had aimed at the passenger market but they believe it could succeed as a cargo airport.
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The girlfriend of rapper Nipsey Hussle says she's "completely lost" after his murder in LA on Sunday.
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Actress Lauren London has spoken for the first time since 33-year-old Nipsey was shot dead, calling him her "protector" and "best friend".
Lauren, 34, and Nipsey had been in a relationship for around six years and have a child together - two-year-old Kross Asghedom.
Police have arrested a man in connection with Nipsey's murder.
Nipsey and Lauren started dating after she tried to get hold of an expensive, limited-release edition of one of Nipsey's mixtapes as a present for her co-stars in TV show The Game.
After an Instagram follow, the two began DM-ing and in an interview with GQ, Nipsey said that they'd been "building" ever since.
In that feature from February this year, Lauren said that Nipsey had started getting "more of a platform to be really clear about his message".
"Before he was just making rap gang-bang music. But I think he has a purpose in all the raps, and that's coming to light."
Nipsey's debut album was nominated for a best rap album Grammy this year.
The Instagram post is Lauren's first comment since Nipsey was shot and killed outside his clothing shop, and follows tributes from stars including Rihanna and Drake.
On Tuesday night basketball player Russell Westbrook dedicated a record-equalling game in the NBA to Nipsey's memory.
Westbrook registered 20 points, 20 rebounds and 21 assists against the LA Lakers, becoming just the second person in the NBA with 20-20-20 games.
"That wasn't for me, that was for Nipsey," he said afterwards, describing the rapper as "somebody I looked up to, somebody that paved the way for a guy like myself growing up in the inner city".
"Just continue to pray for his family."
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Honda is to halve production at its factory in Swindon from Monday because of a shortage of parts coming from Japan.
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Honda said that the 3,000 workers would remain on full pay.
It was confident that the 22,500 fewer cars that would be built as a result could be made up by the year end.
Many carmakers have struggled because of shutdowns to plants affected by the earthquake and tsunami in north east Japan.
'Flexible working'
Honda has just resumed manufacturing at its Japanese plants, but has now said that production of component parts and vehicles would only be at 50% of the planned level.
It announced last month that it would resume production and shipment of component parts in Japan on 4 April and resume car production at its plants at Suzuka and Sayama on 11 April.
The company said that the vast majority of the parts used in Swindon are made in Europe.
It added that its flexible working policy would allow it to make up for the lost production later in the year using "banked hours".
"Thanks to a working-time agreement Unite negotiated in 2009, there will be no loss of earnings for the workforce while the company cuts production," said Jim D'Avila, regional officer for the Unite union.
The Swindon plant has the capacity to make 250,000 vehicles a year.
Other carmakers, such as Toyota and Nissan, are understood to be facing similar parts shortages to Honda.
Meanwhile, Chrysler has become the latest carmaker in the US affected by disruption in the aftermath of Japan's earthquake.
America's number three car manufacturer is cancelling overtime work at some of its North American assembly plants due to parts shortages.
Last week, Ford said it would idle its Kentucky truck plant, while General Motors has also stopped production at a plant due to parts shortages.
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The court of appeal in Sri Lanka has ordered the army commander to suspend a court martial against former army chief, Gen
Sarath Fonseka.
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The court has issued the order after considering a petition filed by Gen Fonseka against the composition of the court martial
investigating charges alleging his involvement in politics while in active service.
The former Chief of Defence Staff argues that the judges at the court martial are biased towards the army commander, Lt Gen
Jagath Jayasuriya, and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
Two-members of the court of appeal, Ranjith Silva and Anil Gunaratne have ordered the military to suspend the hearings until
21 May.
But the president of the panel, Justice Satya Hettige, issuing a separate decision said that he does not favour the interim
order.
White flags surrender
Anoma Fonseka, the detained general's wife, hailed the decision as "a great victory".
"And we thank the court and the legal teams who fought for justice," she told journalists.
Correspondents say the decision by the court is a big success for Mr Fonseka, who still faces a second court martial on charges
alleging corruption.
Gen Fonseka faces another court martial, on charges of corruption in procurement, which is scheduled to be resumed on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Colombo magistrate rejected an appeal by the police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to order Gen Fonseka
to appear before the courts on charges of making anti-government statements.
The CID said an investigation has been launched into Gen Fonseka's comments to Sunday Leader that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa ordered
to shoot LTTE surendees came with white flags during the last stage of the war.
The comment was made in the run up to the presidential election.
Magistrate Champa Janaki Rajaratne rejected the CID request pointing out that no summary of evidence against the general was
provided to the court.
She however added that the request will be considered if proper summary of evidence is provided.
CID said Brig Shavendra Silva (currently Maj Gen), who was in the front line at the last stage of the war, has rejected Gen
Fonseka's comment that surendees were shot dead.
LTTE political wing leader B Nadesan in a desperate phone call begged her help to organise a surrender at the final hours,
correspondent for London’s Times newspaper Mary Colvin wrote in May, last year.
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In the tranquil grounds of the Red Cross in Geneva, a group of people are struggling to put on rubber overalls, face masks, goggles and not one, but two, pairs of gloves.
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By Imogen FoulkesBBC News, Geneva
They are training for what one of their supervisors describes as "a unique hardship mission."
These are health care workers, doctors and nurses, who have willingly volunteered for deployment to Ebola-affected countries, a job they all know carries risks.
Leah Feldman, an emergency ward nurse from New York City, is among them.
"I feel as though it's a responsibility," she says. "I have a set of skills that I feel I can offer. I really feel as though this is a region that deserves our attention right now. I think medical care is something we can provide that can actually make a difference in lives where oftentimes there is not adequate medical care."
Ms Feldman says that, despite the high-profile cases of a few health workers who have been infected with Ebola, she is not worried about risks to her own health.
"That's the first question people ask," she says. "But no. [There are] protocols and rules to minimise the risk, and it's my responsibility to stay as safe as I can."
Painstaking regime
Part of Ms Feldman's responsibility, before ever setting foot in an Ebola-affected country, is to take part in the Red Cross training course.
It is a painstaking, uncomfortable and often depersonalising regime, which regularly requires the volunteers to abandon many of the things they learned in their original medical training.
Before even entering the anteroom to the Ebola ward, the volunteers have to put on several layers of protective clothing. Watched by an experienced supervisor, each item has to be put on in the correct order and the correct way - no loose sleeves or cuffs. Ebola is spread through contact with body fluids, so the skin, and above all the eyes, nose and mouth must be covered.
"The interaction that is so important for nurses and doctors with the patient is almost completely absent," explains Red Cross Emergency Health Officer, Panu Saaristo. "We are wearing the protective equipment, people look like aliens, you don't recognise their faces."
Working inside those suits is uncomfortable too, as Leah Feldman discovers. "It's hot and claustrophobic in the suit," she laughs. "And here I'm in Switzerland, so I can only imagine what it will be like in Monrovia."
Slow down
One of the hardest things the trainees have to learn, says Panu Saaristo, is to take every step slowly.
"People from western health care settings are used to always being in a rush," he explains. "They run from patient to patient. This is probably the only workplace they will experience where you never are in a rush, because everything is focussed on safety and infection prevention."
That focus means that just taking off the protective clothing takes a minimum of 15 minutes, with frequent pauses to re-disinfect particular items, such as gloves.
"I'm used to moving at a very fast pace," admits Leah Feldman. "I think the hardest part here is going to be moving very slowly, very meticulously, and just paying really close attention to every action that you are making."
But, once in the field for real, Panu Saaristo knows from his own experience, working with Ebola patients will take a psychological toll as well.
"There are a lot of deaths," he explains. "Sad scenes with a lot of children separated from parents, and parents separated from children."
"You won't get a hug from your colleague," he continues. "You don't shake hands, you don't share anything, you don't even share a simple thing like a pen. It is draining, and that is what I mean when I say this is a difficult mission."
Ebola Stigma
Perhaps most difficult of all for the volunteers, the recent cases of Ebola in some of their home countries, such as Spain and the US, means they now fear stigmatisation once their work with Ebola victims is over.
The moves by some American states to quarantine returning health workers is causing aid agencies like the Red Cross real concern, because they fear it could deter future volunteers, who are desperately needed in the Ebola affected countries.
"There have been some almost absurd reactions," says Mr Saaristo. "Misconceptions, fear, stigma, explanations that are not based on science."
"We have to try to combat that in the home countries of these volunteer healthcare workers."
Leah Feldman does not know what her reception will be when she returns to her native New York, but diplomatically says she is "more than willing, if the government makes certain decisions it thinks will protect its own people, that's something I will of course abide by, any protocols and regulations."
But she adds, "It's about knowledge, it's about teaching people what Ebola really is, and how it is actually transmitted."
Training over, Ms Feldman can expect to be treating Ebola patients for real within the next couple of weeks. Undeterred by protection measures which have certainly frightened off some potential volunteers, she says she "can't wait to go."
"If it's not something you feel comfortable with then it's not for you," she says. "But if you feel you want to help people, this is the closest you can come, where there is a need you are filling that void."
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The number of Welsh-language books sold by the Welsh Books Council is at its lowest level in six years, according to new figures.
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There has been a 16% fall in the number of Welsh-language children's books - from 234,000 sold in 2011 to 196,000 in 2017.
But the number of English-language children's books rose by 63% in the same period - from 22,000 to 36,000.
The Welsh Books Council and publishers said funding cuts were affecting sales.
The figures, seen by BBC Cymru Fyw, also showed the number of Welsh-language books for adults fell by 18% - from 145,000 to 118,000.
The fall was not as sharp for adult English-language books, which dipped from 152,000 to 130,000 - a decline of 14%.
The figures are based on the body's distribution centre.
Arwel Jones, the Welsh Books Council's head of grants, said it was "a pretty tough time" for Welsh-language books.
"Independent book shops are struggling, sales to libraries are down - the kind of places that would stock plenty - and each one makes a difference when you talk about Welsh children's books," he said.
"All of the projects that encouraged children to read have lost funding and in the long run that has hit those figures.
"When you have big sellers pulling out it has an affect. It is always a battle to sell."
Across Wales, there has been a 15% decrease in the number of libraries over the last decade.
Local authorities were also told at the beginning of October that they face another two years of budget cuts - 0.5% this year and a further 1.5% next year.
The Welsh Local Government Association leader Debbie Wilcox responded by saying councils could not keep making the "harshest" of cuts while maintaining service levels.
Garmon Gruffudd, managing director at publishers Y Lolfa, accepted that the "climate was more difficult in terms of sales - but we're holding our own".
"There's less money available because of cuts and austerity, it hits everyone - libraries, schools, many visitor centres have closed," he said.
"We've published over 300 e-books but certainly e-book sales are down, but after rising for around five years there has been a significant drop throughout Britain.
"People are going back to print and that's the trend."
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The Queen's Speech has paved the way for the ditching of the controversial "dementia tax" in England, set out in the Conservative election manifesto.
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By Nick TriggleHealth correspondent
The value of an individual's home was to be taken into account for all types of elderly care under the plans.
The two-year government programme set out by the Queen promised reform, but stopped short of making specific pledges on the details.
It said full plans would be published and consulted on at a later date.
Campaigners welcomed the chance to re-think the policy after heavy criticism of it during the election campaign.
Critics said it was unfair as it meant those that needed the most care could face catastrophic costs.
Age UK charity director Caroline Abrahams said a fairer system was "so desperately needed".
But she added: "The proposals set out in the Conservative Party manifesto were insufficiently thought through and involved a major shift of financial liability on to older people and their families, and there was a lack of clarity as to what they might receive in return which might make such policies fair and worthwhile from their point of view."
The manifesto outlined a new system for the way older people paid for care in the home and in care homes, amid reports that services were increasingly being rationed.
A number of changes were put forward, including, for the first time, the idea of including the value of an individual's own home no matter what care they received, which opponents branded a "dementia tax".
It would have meant people needing expensive care, such as for dementia, could face unlimited costs, with the only protection being that £100,000 of their estate would be left.
However, after days of negative headlines, the Prime Minister Theresa May announced costs would be capped after all - although she did not set out what level the cap would be set at.
A Green Paper is now likely to be published at the end of the year on changes to the social care system.
Government sources said the subsequent commitment to cap costs would be honoured, but no more details would be released at this stage.
One in 10 people faces costs in excess of £100,000 once they reach the age of 65.
Alongside the announcement on social care, the Queen's Speech also included a promise to introduced a Patient Safety Bill to establish an independent investigation body to look into mistakes.
New mental health laws were also committed to amid concerns the 1983 Mental Health Act is out of date and leading to unnecessary detention of patients in hospital and police cells.
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Plans to build the first new UK nuclear plant in 20 years have suffered an unexpected delay after the government postponed a final decision until the early autumn.
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French firm EDF, which is financing most of the £18bn Hinkley Point project in Somerset, approved the funding at a board meeting.
Contracts were to be signed on Friday.
But Business Secretary Greg Clark has said the government will "consider carefully" before backing it.
EDF chief executive Vincent de Rivaz has cancelled a trip to Hinkley Point on Friday following Mr Clark's comments.
Critics of the plan have warned of environmental damage and potential escalating costs.
They are also concerned that the plant is being built by foreign governments. One third of the £18bn cost is being provided by Chinese investors.
Analysis: Simon Jack, BBC business editor
Hours after EDF's board voted to approve the £18bn power plant on Thursday, the government launched a further review of the project.
This stunning new development came all the way from the top of government and the timing seemed calculated to cause maximum impact.
EDF executives were taken completely off guard, the post-Brexit run of major investment is abruptly halted and what precious entente cordiale in Anglo-French relations there is left after the EU referendum result seems diminished.
Is it a genuine pause for a new government to read the small print of a project that is two administrations old, or a signal of a potential change in policy?
Simon Jack: Hinkley delay is a high stakes bet
Tom Greatrex, the chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, urged the government to make a decision as soon as possible.
"We need to get on and do this and that's why I'm hoping the government make their decision very soon because if it goes on for a lengthy period of time we are going to run the risk of having real problems in terms of our energy supplies," he said.
"Then what happens is that we end up paying a lot more and we end up paying for much more dirty power which we can't afford to do if we are to meet our climate commitments."
Claire Jacobson, head of climate, energy and environment policy at the EEF manufacturers' organisation said the government's decision was "yet another blow to a decision that has been hindered by many delays and uncertainties".
Cost warning
Hinkley Point C is expected to provide 7% of the UK's total electricity requirement.
Announcing the approval of investment on Thursday, EDF had described the plant as "a unique asset for French and British industries", saying it would benefit the nuclear sectors in both countries and would give a boost to employment.
However, the project has been hit in recent months by concerns about EDF's financial capacity.
Despite the Chinese investment, Hinkley Point would remain an enormous undertaking for the stressed French company, which has had to raise money from its owners.
Earlier this week, EDF shareholders approved plans to issue new shares to raise €4bn (£3.4bn) to help pay for the project.
Ahead of Thursday's vote on whether to approve the project, an EDF board member, Gerard Magnin, resigned, saying the project was "very risky" financially.
Earlier this year, EDF's finance director, Thomas Piquemal, had resigned amid reports he thought Hinkley could damage EDF itself.
'Too big to fail'
Environmentalists are also concerned about the plan. Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said: "Countless experts have warned that for British families this power station will be terrible value for money.
He added that EDF's decision to go ahead with the investment, "doesn't prove the UK is open for business post-Brexit - it just shows the Hinkley deal became too big to fail in the eyes of British and French politicians".
The campaign group added that more investment was needed for renewable energy such as offshore wind.
Hinkley Point timeline
Jan 2006 - Government proposes nuclear as part of future energy mix
Mar 2013 - Construction of Hinkley Point approved
Oct 2013 - UK government agrees £92.50 per megawatt-hour will be paid for electricity produced at the Somerset site - around double the current market rate at the time
Oct 2015 - EDF signs investment agreement with China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN)
July 2016 - EDF board approves final investment decision, but the UK Government postpones a final decision on the project until autumn.
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Cancer is overwhelmingly a result of environmental factors and not largely down to bad luck, a study suggests.
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By James GallagherHealth editor, BBC News website
Earlier this year, researchers sparked a debate after suggesting two-thirds of cancer types were down to luck rather than factors such as smoking.
The new study, in the journal Nature, used four approaches to conclude only 10-30% of cancers were down to the way the body naturally functions or "luck".
Experts said the analysis was "pretty convincing".
NHS: How to reduce your cancer risk
Cancer is caused by one of the body's own stem cells going rogue and dividing out of control.
That can be caused either by intrinsic factors that are part of the innate way the body operates, such as the risk of mutations occurring every time a cell divides, or extrinsic factors such as smoking, UV radiation and many others that have not been identified.
The argument has been about the relative importance of intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
In January, a report in the journal Science tried to explain why some tissues were millions of times more vulnerable to developing cancer than others.
Their explanation came down to the number of times a cell divides, which is out of our control and gave rise to the 'bad luck' hypothesis.
In the latest study, a team of doctors from the Stony Brook Cancer Centre in New York approached the problem from different angles, including computer modelling, population data and genetic approaches.
They said the results consistently suggested 70-90% of the risk was due to extrinsic factors.
Dr Yusuf Hannun, the director of Stony Brook, told the BBC News website: "External factors play a big role, and people cannot hide behind bad luck.
"They can't smoke and say it's bad luck if they have cancer.
"It is like a revolver, intrinsic risk is one bullet.
"And if playing Russian roulette, then maybe one in six will get cancer - that's the intrinsic bad luck.
"Now, what a smoker does is add two or three more bullets to that revolver. And now, they pull the trigger.
"There is still an element of luck as not every smoker gets cancer, but they have stacked the odds against them.
"From a public health point of view, we want to remove as many bullets as possible from the chamber."
There is still an issue as not all of the extrinsic risk has been identified and not all of it may be avoidable.
'Convincing'
Kevin McConway, a professor of applied statistics at the Open University, said: "They do provide pretty convincing evidence that external factors play a major role in many cancers, including some of the most common.
"Even if someone is exposed to important external risk factors, of course it isn't certain that they will develop a cancer - chance is always involved.
"But this study demonstrates again that we have to look well beyond pure chance and luck to understand and protect against cancers."
Dr Emma Smith, from Cancer Research UK, said: "While healthy habits like not smoking, keeping a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet and cutting back on alcohol are not a guarantee against cancer, they do dramatically reduce the risk of developing the disease."
Follow James on Twitter.
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Volunteers to provide urine samples to help develop an odour detector are being sought by researchers in Bristol.
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The Bristol Urological Institute is testing the device, which alerts incontinence sufferers by changing colour when they have a problem.
The detector is a small piece of plastic which can be worn on a watch, key-ring or wallet.
People selected to take part will each receive a Marks and Spencer's voucher worth £10.
The idea is that people using it are alerted to bouts of incontinence before anyone else notices.
'Normal life'
Adele Long, from the BioMed Centre based at the urological institute in Southmead Hospital, said: "People with continence difficulties are most worried about leakage and odour.
"These fears are often unfounded and can stop people from enjoying a normal social and working life.
"These devices will help make older people feel more confident in the knowledge that if they have a problem they can do something about it before anyone else notices."
The device is being developed by the University of the West of England and Brunel University.
The project is part of the New Dynamics of Ageing programme which is funded by the five UK Research Councils.
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Heart disease threatens the lives of millions, but with only limited hearts available for transplant, medical science has long yearned for a definitive fix to repair or replace this most vital organ.
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By Dr Kevin FongConsultant Anaesthetist, UCL Hospital
Troy Golden, a pastor from Oklahoma, was born with a heart that would one day break. A genetic condition known as Marfan's syndrome has been slowly attacking his body tissue since birth including around his heart and valves.
At the age of 41, he had to undergo life-saving surgery, replacing valves and reshaping his heart's walls. But his condition continued to worsen. In January 2010, he was put on the heart transplant list, but time ran out without a donor.
"Troy's heart was so bad that a traditional heart pump wouldn't be enough," explains Troy's cardiologist Dr Doug Horstmanshof. "So, we decided to try something different - completely replacing the heart."
In September last year, Troy became one of the few people in the US to have his entire heart replaced with a device called the Total Artificial Heart. It's made of plastic and weighs 160 grams and is a little larger than a biological heart. It is powered by a pneumatic pump that you carry around in a rucksack.
Awe inspiring moment
Dr James Long, Troy's surgeon, recalled the moment the heart was implanted into Troy. "It was admittedly rather awe-inspiring," he says. And it was ominous to look inside the chest and know that the only thing keeping him alive was the synthetic pump that we had just replaced his heart with."
Troy has had to get used to the non-stop sound of the pneumatic pump. But he looks and feels remarkably well and is overwhelmed by what has been done for him.
"It's awesome," he said "to be out of the hospital and to be able to come back home and to be able to come back to some normal life."
"You can't even just really comprehend taking your heart out, you know, without a heart you're not alive."
The Total Artificial Heart has done more than buy Troy some time. It has given him his life back and it has given him hope. But this is not a permanent solution. His heart's batteries must be constantly charged, spares must stand at the ready. The risk of infection and clotting add to the constant worry.
Medical challenge
For now Troy must again endure the long wait for a donor heart, but there are other solutions on the horizon. New avenues of research are focussing on efforts to assist, rather than replace the heart.
Increasingly, in patients suffering from heart failure, miniaturised pumps are being used to assist heart function. They are about the size of a cigar and are essentially plugged into the main pumping chamber of the heart to help it along.
Unlike Troy's artificial heart, they can be left in place indefinitely. But perhaps more remarkable is the fact that these pumps can sometime be removed, once a damaged heart has recovered.
And it is the potential for hearts to actually recover, after having been damaged, that is being investigated in some of the most exciting research going on today.
Much interest centres on stem cells because they are the closest natural thing to the body' s spare parts and, under the right conditions, they have the potential to transform into a huge number of different cell types with specialised functions. Because of this, they can take part in the process of renewal - replacing diseased and damaged tissues.
Preliminary results are highly controversial, but there is a growing body of evidence that suggests we may in the future be able to harness the heart's potential regenerative capacity for future therapies.
Growing new hearts
More radically, Dr Doris Taylor, of the University of Minnesota, has been using stem cells to actually build new hearts in the laboratory.
She has achieved this with a rat heart by stripping it of its cells, then re-populating the resulting perfectly heart-shaped scaffold with stem cells, which adapt into heart tissue, so that in time the heart begins to beat again.
".. the thought would be that we would take a heart, probably from a pig .. wash all the cells out, and then take your cells and grow enough of them to .. build a heart that matches your body and have it transplanted into you. That's the home run," says Dr Taylor.
If the clinical application can be made to work, it is a revolutionary if relatively distant possibility.
For Troy and the millions of people like him for whom heart failure is a reality, this work is of vital importance.
There is the very real possibility here that, within our lifetimes, scientists might finally find the cure they're looking for.
While their search for that magic bullet remedy is far from at an end, each new discovery brings them another step closer.
Horizon: How to Mend a Broken Heart will be on BBC Two at 9pm on Monday 14 February 2011 and after on BBC iPlayer
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A stage musical based on the hit film Rocky is to open on Broadway.
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Sylvester Stallone, who starred in and wrote the script for the Oscar-winning 1976 film, is co-producing the theatre version, which will open at the Winter Garden theatre next February.
The show made its debut in Hamburg, Germany, where it was billed as Rocky: Das Musical, last November.
Boxing brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko are also co-producers and helped train the actors in Hamburg.
"This is not boxers doing a kick line," said Bill Taylor, managing director of co-producers Stage Entertainment USA. "It's stunning movement representing some of the sparring and the fighting. It's very, very cleverly created."
The songs have been written by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, who also composed the score for the musical Ragtime.
The show, which stays true to the story of the plucky amateur boxer Rocky Balboa, has a script by Thomas Meehan, who wrote the stage versions of The Producers and Hairspray.
When it opened last year, it was generally well-received by German theatre critics.
It is the latest in a long line of film adaptations to have reached the stage. Shows from Shrek to Spider-Man have appeared on Broadway in recent years.
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Popular wisdom suggests that Donald Trump expects to lose the House of Representatives, although Democrats don't believe anything is in the bag.
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Emily MaitlisPresenter, BBC Newsnight@maitlison Twitter
In the lower chamber there are about 30-35 tight races right across the country.
The key may be the liberal, affluent voters - if they vote for the economy they back Republicans. If they vote for their social values, they go Democrat. That's a big if which decides who controls one house of congress.
The senate is easier for Trump's party to keep, as a lot of the tight races are in states that went for him.
Interesting ones will be places like Missouri, Indiana - Democrat senators sitting in very red states. Many of them are campaigning more like independents - cautious not to mention their own party , so they don't scare off Conservative voters.
The red meat state
But all eyes are on Texas where a young skateboarding Democrat, Beto O'Rourke, has got a truly Republican state within his grasp.
His opponent is Ted Cruz - who clashed with Trump in 2016. But the president has supported him this time around - campaigning there often.
And Texas is a red meat, red heart state with open carry gun laws. It's almost unthinkable they could elect a democrat. But anything could happen there this race.
In Arizona - state of the late John McCain - two women are vying for the senate. The Republican is a former fighter pilot and its neck and neck.
In Nevada a Republican is trying to hold on in a state won by Hillary Clinton. And this part of the world is getting less white and more Latino - which often means more blue voters.
Florida is always a nail biter. The fourth term Democrat fighting the former Republican governor. They've clashed sharply on gun violence in a state that saw the young rise up after a mass school shooting.
There are nearly 500 races across the country. Will this be a referendum on Trump? The president would like to think so.
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Half of mothers who responded to a new survey said they felt they let their baby down when they struggled to breastfeed.
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More than a third of the 1,162 respondents to the UK-wide poll, commissioned by BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour and BBC Radio Sheffield, revealed they felt ashamed for giving their child formula.
Four new mums talk about the struggles they faced and how they coped.
'You feel like you are giving them poison'
Amy Quick, 31, had always thought she would exclusively breastfeed her now five-month-old son Oliver.
"He latched himself about 40 minutes after he was born," she said. "I felt like we'd got off to a really good start."
But after three days Oliver's weight dropped by more than 10% and she began topping up his feeds with formula. By day five she had been referred to a feeding specialist.
"I got a prescription for Domperidone, it ups your levels of prolactin [the hormone responsible for milk production] to try and get your milk to come in.
"I was on that, I also got fenugreek - I was eating oats till they were coming out of my ears. All these different supplements I was trying but nothing was really working."
She said she felt "ashamed" at feeding Oliver with formula.
"You feel like you are giving them poison," she said. You get told breast is best, so when you can't do it it's a bit of a hit to the system.
"Now, I look at it all and I wonder what I got myself so worked up about, because he's a healthy, happy little baby."
'Bottle-feeding was the best thing ever'
Nazneen Mahmood, 34, said feeding her son Rehan formula was "the best thing ever" but felt it had never been presented as an option.
"The first night he just cried and I didn't know what to do," she said.
"I was willing myself to get a couple of drops out but there was nothing in there - there was nothing. I just couldn't.
"After I went home my mum marched me to the supermarket, bought me formula, made a bottle and sent me upstairs to have a bath while she fed him, and that was that.
"I felt like a failure. I felt like the worst person in the world. But [later] I didn't really care. I just thought: 'He's feeding, he's feeling better, he's putting weight on'.
"I thought: 'Why is this a secret? Why did no-one tell me that this [bottle-feeding] was the best thing ever?' And it really was the best thing ever.
"I feel like people need to be honest. Don't tell parents, mums especially, that breastfeeding is easy because it's hard and it's lonely and it's painful.
"If it's easy, why are there so many women who have said: 'I've had the worst time?'"
'Breastfeeding saved me'
Mother-of-three Natalie Bayarri, 34, said she wanted to breastfeed her firstborn, and after having an emergency C-section she felt even more determined.
"I just felt that my body has just absolutely messed up, this was not what was meant to happen and I was adamant that I was going to breastfeed so I felt like I could redeem myself," she said.
"I was very determined but my milk didn't come in for three days, which is very normal, but my baby was losing weight and it was all very stressful.
"I was being advised to give him top-ups [with formula] but I was quite pigheaded and just said no.
"I think if I had not been able to breastfeed him after the birth I'd had, I would have found it very difficult to find my identity as a mother.
"I think I could have really struggled mentally with that, so I feel that the breastfeeding kind of saved me."
She has since gone on to breastfeed her other two children.
"I can't quite imagine not doing it," she said.
"Sometimes it drives me crazy; it can be quite restrictive and my social life has definitely taken a massive dip in the last few years, but I just feel it is so precious and magical: a brilliant gift I can give my kids."
'That's the sound of your baby starving'
Rebecca Dudley, 34, said she was "110% determined" to breastfeed her daughter but after an unplanned homebirth and difficulties feeding she switched exclusively to formula.
"I just felt that breastfeeding was the only thing really and I thought: 'When this baby comes it's just going to happen'.
"They kept putting her on me and kept putting my nipple to her and she would sort of latch on and she would suck a couple of times and then nothing.
"I was really confident that it would happen. I just thought everything would be fine.
"But then we had to stay in [hospital] overnight and she absolutely refused to come anywhere near me.
"She continued to refuse to feed and then a healthcare support worker or somebody came and said: 'That's the sound of your baby starving - what are you going to do?'
"They would say: 'Look, she is so hungry, she is starving, you are going to have to do a top-up feed, you are going to have to give her formula'.
"I just wanted to be at home and they said the only way I'd be able to leave is if I said that I would bottle-feed.
"I felt elated to start with that I had made a decision but within half an hour I felt this huge sense of guilt - shame, even, of how I was going to be viewed by other people. I just felt like a failure.
"At no point did anyone sit down and say to me: 'You've lost so much blood because you haemorrhaged and that's potentially a reason why your milk isn't coming'.
"All throughout this I just thought it was me not being able to do it."
Breastfeeding guidance
The World Health Organisation recommends breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months, and continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond.
However, in June 2018 the Royal College of Midwives guidance published new guidance for mothers, saying the decision to breastfeed - or not - "is a woman's choice and must be respected".
It said that while it deemed the exclusive use of breast milk the "most appropriate method of infant feeding" for the first six months, what was most important was that parents made an informed decision.
The findings of the poll will be discussed live on Woman's Hour on Tuesday 29 January with a panel of guests and throughout the week on BBC Radio Sheffield.
On Wednesday 30 January a phone-in will be broadcast on both BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Sheffield from 10:00 GMT.
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Families "making their own judgements" on coronavirus guidelines are keeping rates high in Blackburn with Darwen, the public health director has said.
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The Lancashire borough has recorded the highest infection rate in the country despite being subject to additional Covid-19 measures for months.
Professor Dominic Harrison said some households were "not complying completely" with self-isolation and social mixing guidance.
He wants a short national lockdown.
Mr Harrison said a circuit-breaker would provide "a much better chance" to stop rising cases.
But the prime minister has said he hopes the tier system will avoid a national lockdown.
Lancashire moved into tier three - the top level of England's coronavirus restrictions - on 17 October but Blackburn with Darwen has had additional measures in place since July.
"What's becoming increasingly obvious is that tier three is the right medicine at the wrong dose," Mr Harrison said.
Mr Harrison predicted that in 28 days "we're going to find that we exit tier three all over the north of England at a level of coronavirus confirmed cases that's higher than that which we entered".
"The evidence suggests that if you go for a harsher, shorter, earlier, complete lockdown you have a much better chance of stopping rising rates of the virus," he said.
Taking children - other than those of key workers - out of schools and more distanced learning "would also make a big impact" on reducing cases, he said.
"Everyone's fed up, including the people like me trying to do something about it," Mr Harrison added.
"People are making their own judgements because they've lost patience with the measures to shut community transmission rates down.
"We need to work very hard with communities on that, and I think in the end that's going to be the thing that makes the biggest difference."
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The Brexit Party has won three of the eight seats available in the North West region in the European elections.
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Labour held on to two seats but lost one. The Lib Dems also won two, with the Green Party taking one seat.
The Brexit Party's MEPs in the new parliament will be Claire Fox, Henrik Nielsen and David Bull.
Former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson blamed the media, police and government interference for his failure to win a seat.
The Independent candidate claimed he faced a "near impossible task" because he was unable to get across his message on social media platforms - because he is banned.
There were loud cheers from rival parties at the count as he polled 38,908 votes, coming eighth.
In her victory speech, Claire Fox said the Brexit Party "will remake the world in a new form".
The former leading member of the Revolutionary Communist Party said: "This is a victory for grass roots democrats. Our cry for freedom will be heard."
There were huge cheers as Gina Dowding won for the Green Party.
She said: "We are seeing a Green wave across Europe for positive actions to address climate change."
Chris Davies and Jane Brophy won for the Lib Dems, while Theresa Griffin and Julie Ward triumphed for Labour.
Mr Davies hailed the Lib Dems' good showing which has seen them come second behind the Brexit Party.
He said: "We will confine Brexit to the dustbin. We will be in Brussels longer than five months."
Re-elected Labour MEP Theresa Griffin said: "Labour will be back. We have more in common than that which divides us."
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The construction of a second golf course at President Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire resort has been approved.
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The 18-hole MacLeod course is to be built to the south and west of the controversial original course at Menie, built in 2012.
It is named after his mother Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born on Lewis but emigrated to New York.
Councillors gave construction the go-ahead on Friday, despite local objections.
There were 15 conditions, mainly focused on environmental issues such as preventing pollution, protecting wet dunes and safeguarding bird habitats.
Permission for the resort - including houses, holiday homes and a hotel - was granted in 2008 while plans for the second course were approved last year.
Public objections
The Menie resort has made losses in the last seven consecutive years.
It was blamed for "destroying" the sand dune system, causing permanent habitat loss.
The Trump Organisation previously reacted to the suggestion the area should lose its protected status by calling the move a "stitch-up".
The construction of the second course was met with disapproval from locals who said it would "severely affect the natural habitat and landscape" and "restrict resident access" on the beach.
One local claimed there had been "little meaningful public consultation" on the matter.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) also objected to the application, saying the water management plan was inadequate and the environmental management plan was not appropriate.
'Highest specifications'
Sarah Malone, executive vice president of Trump International Scotland, said: "We continue to remain focused on the long-term vision for our magnificent estate and are moving steadily forward with our infrastructure and development plans for the next phase of construction at our world-class resort.
"Golf, more so now than ever, is the sport of choice for many people, including families, and we are delighted to have the support of Aberdeenshire Council to move forward with our second golf course.
"The MacLeod Course, will be built to the highest specifications and standards to complement our award-winning championship links. The course will be constructed alongside our estate residencies, cottages and country homes that were approved at the end of last year. "
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Sophie Ellis-Bextor has said she is recovering at home with a "newly glued forehead" following a bike crash in London.
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The pop star said on Instagram she had not broken any bones after falling from her bike while cycling along the Thames with her husband on Tuesday.
Ellis-Bextor, who had said she had "some impressive bruises", added that she was being "well looked after".
The 41-year-old posted a photo from A&E on Tuesday of her injuries.
Sharing an image of a bouquet of flowers on Friday, Ellis-Bextor updated fans on Instagram, saying: "Hello all. Just to let you know I'm doing ok. I've been so well looked after at home and am currently laid up on a sofa surrounded by my 3 smallest boys.
"I've got some impressive bruises and a swollen and newly glued forehead which I'm completely fascinated by.
"If I hurt myself, I'm always satisfied by a spectacular healing process and my puffy face has not disappointed."
She thanked fans for their kind messages. "Quite overwhelming really, and almost worth falling off my bike for," she added.
She said she felt "incredibly lucky" to have not broken anything and was fortunate to have so much support.
The singer was taken to West Middlesex Hospital in West London following the accident.
Ellis-Bextor, whose hit songs include Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) and Murder On The Dancefloor, made it to the final of the 11th series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2013, securing fourth place.
During lockdown she has been entertaining fans by hosting "kitchen discos" from her house every Friday night, usually wearing sparkly outfits and accompanied by her husband and five children.
She told fans in her latest post: "Have a boogie for me. I'll be dancing with you again in no time."
Follow us on Facebook or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].
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Changes to planning rules intended to help the economy grow have been unveiled by the Welsh government.
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An overhaul of the policy, announced on Wednesday, had been in the pipeline.
Environment Minister John Griffiths announced the policy on a visit to an energy efficiency scheme in Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf.
The Welsh government says he will try to "strike a balance" between the economy, environment and social factors.
Conservation groups have previously called on him to maintain protection for the environment.
The changes will mean councils are told to fully consider the economic benefits of planning applications, which on occasions could outweigh environmental and social factors.
It follows critical reports about planners rejecting developments and failing to grasp economic benefits.
Assessing demand
Local authorities will have to consult economic development officers on proposals which have the potential to generate or retain jobs.
They will have to use a "robust evidence base" of the economy when preparing local development plans.
It is meant to ensure decisions are based on a realistic assessment of demand.
It comes as Cardiff council is consulting on a local development plan that could lead to the creation of 45,000 homes and the biggest expansion of the city for more than half a century.
Mr Griffiths said the planning system had to give "full consideration to the social, economic and environmental impact of any development".
"This new policy is about balance," he said.
"It recognises that jobs and growth are essential to Wales' economy, but also recognises that we must never lose sight of the other factors that are vital to people's long-term quality of life."
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An official who helped run the RHI green energy scheme has again denied that he inadvertently helped cause the huge spike in applications.
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Stuart Wightman told the RHI Inquiry on Tuesday that he wishes he had not held informal conversations with the poultry and energy industries.
Mr Wightman was recalled to address the inquiry panel on Tuesday.
He accepted his engagement with RHI stakeholders had "led to increased awareness" of proposed tariff changes.
But he said there was "no evidence" that it resulted in an increase in applications during July or August 2015.
The informal engagement took the place of a wider formal consultation.
"I realise that some of the engagement does look naïve now, given hindsight," said Mr Wightman.
"But it was done for the right reasons at the time, with the information I had available to me. But I totally look back now and say I wish I hadn't done that."
In July 2015, Mr Wightman began informal consultation with poultry giant Moy Park and a number of renewable energy companies about proposed changes in the scheme.
They were introduced in November that year.
They included cost controls designed to address growing pressure on the budget from increasing numbers of applications.
Mr Wightman said DETI's then energy boss John Mills knew he was in touch with industry but he could not remember having a discussion with him in which he laid out that the changes were being revealed to the industry.
This is the 64th day of the RHI Inquiry and the first day it is sitting this week.
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Will Ferrell is to make a follow-up to 2004 comic film Anchorman, the actor has confirmed on US television.
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The movie star appeared on talk show Conan in character as 1970s San Diego newscaster Ron Burgundy to make the announcement.
Adam McKay is returning to direct, while original co-stars Paul Rudd and Steve Carell are also expected to return for next year's release.
The original movie made $91m (£57.2m) at the box office around the world.
It saw Burgundy's position as the king of the male-dominated newsroom challenged by the arrival of a new female presenter, played by Christina Applegate.
Plot details of the sequel to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, co-written by Ferrell and McKay, have yet to be announced.
Jazz flute performance
As part of his in-costume appearance on Wednesday night's Conan O'Brien show, Ferrell said: "I want to announce this to everyone here in the Americas, to our friends in Spain, Turkey and the UK - including England - that as of 0900 mountain time, Paramount Pictures and myself, Ronald Joseph Aaron Burgundy, have come to terms on a sequel to Anchorman."
He also gave a jazz flute performance in keeping with the outlandish character of Burgundy.
Other stars of the film, including Carell and Rudd, have seen their careers blossom in the eight years since the original movie hit cinema screens, with a series of box office hits.
In the film Carell played slow-witted weatherman Brick Tamland, while Rudd was roving reporter Brian Fantana.
The new film is expected to start production later this year.
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Labour is urging ministers to delay signing a new West Coast Mainline contract until Parliament returns.
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The party says MPs must have the chance to consider the decision to take the franchise from Virgin Trains and give it to FirstGroup for the next 13 years.
FirstGroup says it will bring in key improvements for passengers but critics fear it will not be able to afford the £5.5bn it is paying for the franchise.
The Department for Transport said it had "no reason" to delay the signing.
That is due to happen as early as Wednesday with a "cooling off period" due to end at midnight on Tuesday.
But Virgin's Sir Richard Branson has offered to run the service "for free" while a review is carried out.
The Department for Transport spokesman said: "We note the offer that one of the bidders appears to have made via the press.
"However, the winning bidder was decided by a fair and established process and no reason has been advanced to convince DfT not to sign the agreement."
Service improvements
Aberdeen-based FirstGroup already operates a number of rail routes including Great Western and ScotRail.
The company, under the name First West Coast Limited, will take over the franchise from 9 December and is due to to operate the service until 2026.
The West Coast Mainline route serves 31 million passengers travelling between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the central belt of Scotland.
Virgin has run the franchise since 1997, during which time passenger numbers have doubled.
FirstGroup has promised to introduce better wi-fi and food, more frequent trains and more seats, and to cut standard fares by 15%.
The firm said it would introduce 11 new 125mph six-car electric trains on the Birmingham to Glasgow route and provide more direct services between destinations.
Lobbying campaign
Tim O'Toole, FirstGroup chief executive, said it had won the bid for the West Coast Mainline franchise "fair and square".
He added: "We are pleased that the Department for Transport sees no reason to revisit the process.
"We can understand why Virgin are disappointed to have lost, but the fact is that under its stewardship, the West Coast Mainline has experienced the poorest punctuality and reliability of any route in the country whilst our franchises are all above 90%.
"Virgin has also had a higher level of passenger complaints than all four First franchises put together. Our job over the next 14 years will be to put that right and give passengers a railway that is good value, reliable and offers great service."
But BBC deputy political editor James Landale said there was a fierce lobbying campaign, in the final hours before pen is put to paper, to put the decision on hold.
More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the decision to be reconsidered.
Labour's Maria Eagle, the shadow transport secretary, is urging the government to put the contract on hold until MPs return and have a chance to consider the deal.
And Labour's Louise Ellman, who chairs the House of Commons transport committee, has written to Transport Secretary Justine Greening asking her to delay signing the contract.
'Transparency' call
On Sunday, Sir Richard said that if reviewing the decision meant the December deadline had to be postponed, his company and Stagecoach would be willing to continue operating the railway lines while donating any profits to charity.
Speaking on Monday, Sir Richard told the BBC that he wanted a proper examination of the facts.
"We've asked 40 questions - not one of them have been answered. What we want is transparency.
"If the figures stack up, we'll bow out gracefully, we'll be very happy, we've got lots of other things to do, we'll move on in a month's time.
"But what should not happen is, tomorrow, the Department for Transport shouldn't rush through, get this signed and keep all these facts under cover."
Bruce Williamson, from the pressure group Railfuture, said Louise Ellman's call for a pause before the contract is signed was "significant".
He added: "The online petition, last time I looked, it was up to 133,000 signatures, which means that it triggers a parliamentary debate. So it would be a little bit bizarre to have a parliamentary debate in the next couple of weeks, sort of after the horse has bolted."
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The mother of a soldier who died at Ballykinler army base has questioned why soldiers who served in Afghanistan were stationed there.
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By Michael FitzpatrickBBC News NI North-East Reporter
Linda Ketcher said she did not believe it was acceptable that young men who had served in the country were sent to the "isolated" barracks.
She was speaking at an inquest into the death of Lance Corporal James Ross, 30 in December 2012.
The inquest is also examining the death of London Rifleman Darren Mitchell, 20.
Both men died from suspected suicide within three months of each other at Ballykinler in County Down.
At Ballymena courthouse, Ms Ketcher said her son was "gutted" to be posted to Ballykinler after his second tour of Afghanistan from October 2011 to April 2012 and that he would have been able to "access family more easily" if he had been closer to home.
Ms Ketcher also said her son told her about a number of incidents in Afghanistan which had affected him.
She told the inquest on one occasion an Afghan man came running towards him carrying something in a basket.
"As he approached the man opened the blanket, a little girl was in there who was badly injured," she said.
Ms Ketcher said it was an incident that had been "very distressing" for her son.
Earlier the inquest heard how Lance Corporal Ross had been making plans to come home to Leeds for a late Christmas before his death.
Ms Ketcher said he had cancelled Christmas leave to allow others to spend time with their children and to "catch up on admin."
She also said that he had made plans to visit Paris with his girlfriend for New Year's and had told his family to leave his presents "under the tree".
The soldier's mother said that her son had been pleased at his recent promotion to Lance Corporal.
Ms Ketcher also told the inquest that while attending her son's funeral she felt that Ministry of Defence personnel were trying to prevent her from speaking to her son's friends.
She said that whenever one of his friends came to speak to her they were interrupted by a more senior member of staff.
"A few of them were visibly upset and quite tearful," she said.
Ms Ketcher also questioned why there were two incidents where young men appeared to take their own lives within three months of each other at the barracks.
"We are asking, is there adequate care there?"
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A "tough" six months lies ahead for Europe, which is again the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.
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Hans Kluge, WHO Europe director, said the continent had recorded more than 29,000 new Covid-19 deaths last week.
However, he said new cases were declining as lockdowns curb infections.
And at a virtual summit on Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc could approve two vaccines by year's end.
Most European countries reintroduced tight restrictions to stem the spread of the disease as a second wave of the pandemic gathered pace in October.
So far, Europe has seen 15,738,179 confirmed infections and 354,154 deaths attributed to the coronavirus, with only the Americas reporting higher region-wide figures, according to WHO data.
A large portion of those infections and deaths have been registered in the UK, Russia, France, Spain, Italy and Germany. In Europe, the UK has the highest death toll at 53,870, while France has the highest number of cases at 2,115,717.
What did Dr Kluge say?
He said Europe accounted for 28% of global cases and 26% of deaths.
He expressed particular concern over the situation in Switzerland and France, where intensive care units are at 95% capacity.
"Europe is once again the epicentre of the pandemic, together with the United States," Mr Kluge told a news conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, adding that latest figures showed there was "one person dying every 17 seconds".
"There is light at the end of the tunnel but it will be a tough six months," he said, referring to the development of vaccines.
The development of vaccines, which train the immune system to fight off the virus, have raised hopes of bringing the pandemic under control.
Four vaccines - Oxford, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sputnik and Moderna - have reported good preliminary data.
What happened at the EU summit?
EU leaders discussed the pandemic response at a virtual summit on Thursday.
Mrs von der Leyen said the European Medicines Agency could give "conditional marketing authorisation" for the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines "as early as the second half of December if all proceeds now without any problem".
"We will continue co-ordinating our efforts to keep citizens informed on vaccination," she added.
EU leaders have come up with a €1.8tn (£1.6tn) EU budget until 2027. including a €750bn coronavirus recovery fund. But Hungary and Poland have blocked approval of the budget, over a clause that ties funding with adherence to the rule of law in the bloc.
Meanwhile, researchers in the UK and the Netherlands have said that a drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis - tocilizumab - appears to treat people who are critically ill with Covid-19.
The findings are the results of early data from a trial focusing on the most severely ill patients - some experts have urged caution until the full data is released.
More on vaccines:
Mr Kluge said recent progress on vaccines was promising, but did not yet represent "a silver bullet" because "we know the supply will be limited particularly in the beginning".
In the meantime, social distancing and wearing a mask remained the best ways to mitigate the spread of the virus, he said.
"Lockdowns are avoidable, I stand by my position that lockdowns are a last resort measure," Mr Kluge said. "Mask use is by no means a panacea, and needs to be done in combination with other measures. However, if mask use reached 95%, lockdowns would not be needed."
What's happening in individual countries?
France is in its second national lockdown, with people only allowed to leave home to go to work or school, buy essential goods, seek medical help or exercise for one hour a day.
Anyone going outside must carry a written statement justifying their journey.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that while it was too soon to lift restrictions, the virus was not circulating as widely as before the latest measures were introduced.
He told a news conference that anxiety and uncertainty caused by the pandemic was affecting the mental health of the population but that "we must not reduce our efforts".
In Italy, where Covid-related deaths have already more than doubled in November compared with October, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that Christmas would look very different this year.
"Big parties, kisses and hugs will not be possible, this would mean an abrupt rise in the [infection] curve in January," he said, adding: "We hope that we can still buy and exchange gifts."
Scientists advising the UK government have raised similar concerns, warning that mixing between households at Christmas could pose "substantial risks", particularly for older people more vulnerable to coronavirus.
Another 22,915 daily cases of Covid were recorded in the UK on Thursday, and there were 501 further deaths within 28 days of a positive test, the government's dashboard shows.
Russia is also recording more than 20,000 new cases each day. Authorities in the capital Moscow have opened five field hospitals to help cope, including one in an ice rink.
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Futuristic 3D action movie Dredd has become the first film carrying an 18 certificate to top the UK and Ireland box office chart since 2010.
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Based on 2000AD character Judge Dredd, it claimed the top spot after taking £1.05m between Friday and Sunday.
The last 18-rated release to top the chart was horror movie Saw 3D, which made £3.6m in its opening weekend.
Overall cinemas were hit hard by the warm weather, with takings down 42% on the previous weekend.
Dredd was the only title to break the £1m barrier, with several new releases making disappointing debuts.
Prohibition-era gangster movie Lawless claimed second place with receipts of £973,234, a figure that includes £82,469 from previews.
The combination of such rising talents as Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Jessica Chastain was not enough to attract the public to John Hillcoat's violent period thriller.
Literary adaptation Anna Karenina also failed to entice audiences in from the sunshine, making just £875,702 from its 496 screens.
Last week its producer Tim Bevan told the BBC he feared the weather might mean empty seats for Keira Knightley's latest collaboration with Atonement director Joe Wright.
Adam Sandler comedy That's My Boy, another new release, fared particularly poorly, opening outside the Top 10 in 11th place.
Exhibitors will be hoping that this week's new releases will prove more of a draw in a weekend in which there will be no Olympics or Paralympics to keep people at home.
New titles include British crime film The Sweeney, an update of the popular ITV police series that plays in cinemas from Wednesday.
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Pressure is growing on government to act to protect construction workers against the risk of coronavirus.
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Workers are still commuting to busy building sites despite the government crackdown on social distancing.
Housebuilding giant Taylor Wimpey is one of the few construction firms that has announced it is closing its sites to prevent the spread of Covid-19,
But Cabinet minister Michael Gove told the BBC building work could continue if it can be done safely in the open air.
Photos of workers crammed into tube trains and on crowded building sites have angered many.
Rival politicians, unions and workers themselves all warn that the work is non-essential and putting people's health at risk.
Some projects have been shut. Transport for London said it will suspend work on the Crossrail scheme "unless they need to continue for operational safety reasons".
But some construction workers have told the BBC other sites remain open with few safety measures to guard against coronavirus in place.
'Everyone is very worried'
"Almost everything in the country has shut down or has begun to at least, apart from construction sites," an architect, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of losing their job, told the BBC.
"There is no other viable option to keep workers safe other than a lock-down. They've done it with pubs and clubs, and they should be doing the same here."
One of the sites has thousands of people going in and out of it daily, the architect warned.
"Even though they have added hand sanitiser stations everywhere, people still have to use fingerprint scanners to gain access to the site when they go in or out which seemingly defeats the object of social distancing.
"Everyone is very worried."
Housebuilder Redrow - whose current building work includes developments in South Wales, Manchester and London - said on Tuesday that its sites "currently remain open with strict precautions in place including enhanced levels of cleaning, additional hygiene facilities and social distancing".
But other workers are not being given the same protections.
One builder in Cambridge is currently working on a site in close proximity to 300 other workers.
"It has a small smoking area, fingerprint turnstiles and a canteen not capable of the social distancing standard," the worker reported, asking to remain anonymous because of the worry of being sacked.
"The fear of the economic impact is the only reason we carry on."
Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said building sites "should close for the period of the efforts to combat this virus".
"There are still too many people across our country who have been expected to, or are expecting, to go to work as normal and that presents a serious and unnecessary risk of spreading the virus," she said.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan told the BBC: "The government is saying construction workers should go to work, I disagree.
"I've worked on a construction site. It's very difficult to keep the two metre distance."
He added that if construction was there for a safety reason "that's critical and it should carry on. But a lot of construction isn't critical or essential."
'Stark choice'
Union leaders, too, have been outspoken about the risk that workers face.
Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said: "Photos of crowded construction canteens will horrify the general public and in particular the loved ones of construction workers who fear for their safety.
"No worker should be put at risk by travelling to work, while on site, in any welfare area or undertaking any non-critical designated work.
"However, with well over a million construction workers being officially registered as self-employed, they have a stark choice of working or they and their families facing hunger."
Some construction companies have begun to take action.
Transport for London and Crossrail said they were shuttering its sites "to ensure the safety of our construction and project teams and also to further reduce the number of people travelling on the public transport network".
Taylor Wimpey announced on Tuesday it will close all its sites "to help prevent the spread of Covid-19" among its 16,000 site workers.
It said: "Our number one priority is the health and safety and wellbeing of our employees, subcontractors and customers and we are taking this action because we believe it is the right thing to do."
However, while Taylor Wimpey said it intended to pay the workers it directly employed on its sites - totalling 2,000 people - the additional 14,000 workers are sub-contractors.
It said it was looking for ways to support these people.
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The clock will soon stop ticking for the owner of a missing £12m lottery jackpot ticket bought in a Birmingham suburb.
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Lottery operator Camelot says the ticket for the 31 May draw was purchased in the Ladywood area.
The winner has until 23:00 GMT to claim the jackpot, or the money will go to charity.
Ladywood is one of the most deprived constituencies in the country, with officially the highest rate of unemployment in the UK. More than 8,500 people in the area claim Job Seekers Allowance.
Average house prices in Ladywood are £115,538 - meaning the lucky winner could buy 104 of them.
The BBC spoke to several Ladywood residents and shopkeepers as the deadline approaches.
Danny Kilgallon, 57
"That ticket could be absolutely anywhere, couldn't it?" Mr Kilgallon said. "It could be blowing down the street or in somebody's bin.
Mr Kilgallon, like most residents, began a frantic search for the winning ticket when the numbers were announced in May.
"All I know is, I haven't got it," he said. It is just bizarre that in six months nobody around here has claimed it."
Having the odds stacked against him hasn't hindered Mr Kilgallon's plans of how he would spend the money if he found the ticket.
"I'd move out of Ladywood, I think," he said. "I've been here in Ladywood for 57 years, so maybe I would move somewhere else. Perhaps to Harborne.
The winning ticket is numbered JRG437445, Camelot confirmed. If unclaimed, every penny will go to charity.
That would be perfect for Iris Walcott, 72.
"I would give it all to charity," the pensioner said. "What on earth would anybody want that much money for? You'd have trouble spending the interest it was gaining in the bank, let alone £12m.
"People are too greedy. It's charities that need money. I'd give local charities every penny."
Ladywood shopkeepers say they are currently dealing with an influx of calls from residents, with requests for them to trawl CCTV for a glimmer of hope that they purchased the ticket, to anonymous requests for lottery information.
Amarjit Singh, who runs Ladywood Supermarket, has been fielding such requests alongside his shop-running duties.
"People are panicking, that's what it is," he said. "They realise they might have purchased the ticket, that they may have purchased it at my shops, and they're phoning us up.
"I've been asked by one customer to check the CCTV for when the ticket was purchased in May. I haven't done that. It wouldn't be practical. I've told them to contact Camelot.
"I wouldn't want the money, to be honest. What do you do with that much money? It would be a nightmare."
Patrick Lisoire, from Camelot, said it was very rare for lottery prizes to go unclaimed, although some people stored tickets up and only checked them after several months.
He said: "This is very uncommon. But we have had people contact us in the final 24 hours to claim their prize, so it is still possible the winner will step forward."
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A retired Colombian police general accused of drug trafficking says he will face the charges head-on.
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A US court has accused Gen Mauricio Santoyo of helping Colombian drug gangs and right-wing paramilitaries to smuggle cocaine to Mexico and the US.
He allegedly committed the crimes while he was serving as the head of security for the Colombian president at the time, Alvaro Uribe.
Mr Uribe has urged Gen Santoyo to answer the charges.
The US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has indicted Gen Santoyo on conspiracy to distribute cocaine "knowing and intending that it would be unlawfully imported to the United States".
Gen Santoyo allegedly helped a drug gang called Office of Envigado and right-wing paramilitaries of the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) to smuggle cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Central America to the United States.
'Double agent'
According to the indictment, he provided intelligence information collected by the Colombian security forces to drug traffickers.
Prosecutors say this included information about the whereabouts of rival dealers, who would later turn up dead, presumed killed by the drug traffickers to whom Gen Santoyo had handed the information.
The indictment also accuses the general of tipping off drug dealers about impending security operations by the Colombian forces, the US Drug Enforcement Administration and British counter-narcotics agents.
The prosecution says that in exchange for his help, the AUC and the Office of Envigado paid Gen Santoyo sizeable bribes.
Gen Santoyo said he was certain he would be able to rebut all the charges made against him.
"I served Colombia for more than 30 years in the National Police, and I'm sure I can dispel any doubts about my actions", he told Colombian newspaper El Tiempo on Monday.
'Full collaboration'
The charges had first been reported on Saturday by El Tiempo, which had seen a copy of the indictment.
Asked for a response to the charges, he said he "couldn't well answer until I know the document in question".
"I always have been and will continue to be at the disposal of the relevant authorities to dispel any accusations made against me," he said.
Colombian Police Director Gen Jose Roberto Leon Riano said the police had not yet received an arrest warrant for Gen Santoyo.
"As soon as we receive a formal request, we will offer our full collaboration," Gen Leon Riano said.
Gen Santoyo served as the commander of Colombia's elite counter-terrorism force from 2000 to 2002.
From 2002 to 2006 he was the head of security for the president at the time, Alvaro Uribe.
'Embarrassing connections'
According to the indictment, it was during this time period that he conspired with the Office of Envigado and the AUC.
Mr Uribe tweeted that he hoped that "Santoyo and the police institution would explain the case".
The BBC's Jeremy McDermott says news of the indictment is another embarrassment for the former president.
Our correspondent says Gen Santoyo is just the latest in a long line of Mr Uribe's close associates and family members to be linked to drug cartels and right-wing paramilitary death squads.
Gen Santoyo is the highest ranking police officer to be investigated over drug charges.
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Jeremy Corbyn has promised a further referendum on Brexit with a "credible Leave option" versus Remain if his party wins the next general election.
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He said Labour was "ready" for the campaign, but its "priority" was to stop a no-deal Brexit.
Its manifesto will promise to reach a better Brexit deal, but is not expected to commit to either Leave or Remain.
Some senior party figures - close Corbyn allies - say they will campaign to stay in the EU in any circumstances.
They include shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, who have both said remaining would be the best thing for the UK - even if the other option is a Labour-negotiated Brexit deal.
Union leaders want Leave on the ballot and met Mr Corbyn earlier to discuss the issue.
The BBCs political correspondent, Iain Watson, said senior Labour figures had been arguing that backing Remain would recover ground lost to the pro-EU Liberal Democrats in recent elections.
Pro-Remain Labour activists are also hoping the party's conference later this month will commit the leadership to backing Remain under all circumstances.
But, while Labour-affiliated unions - including Unite, who are one of the party's biggest backers - would rather stay in the EU than have no deal, they believe a Corbyn government should offer voters a choice in a referendum between a negotiated deal and Remain.
'Ready to unleash'
Speaking to the TUC conference in Brighton on Tuesday, he said: "Our priority is first to stop no-deal and then to trigger a general election.
"No one can trust the word of a prime minister who is threatening to break the law to force through no deal.
"So a general election is coming, but we won't allow Johnson to dictate the terms."
He added: "We're ready for that election. We're ready to unleash the biggest people-powered campaign we've ever seen.
"And in that election we will commit to a public vote with a credible option to leave and the option to remain."
'Decisive' meeting for Corbyn's Brexit policy
The basis of Labour's election policy on Brexit became clear today.
Jeremy Corbyn agreed with Labour's significant funders - the affiliated trade unions - that if elected, the party would negotiate a new Brexit deal and put that to a referendum, along with the option to remain.
But the party will not say which option it would back during a general election.
So, during an imminent campaign, the leadership will be unable to tell voters if a future Labour government would advocate coming out or staying in the EU.
The Labour leader has rejected calls from senior figures in the party and grassroots activists to campaign explicitly to Remain during the election, amid fears votes and seats will be lost to the Lib Dems.
Today's union meeting was described as a senior Labour source as "decisive" in determining policy because the unions are formally represented on the committee which draws up the manifesto, so have huge influence over it.
Labour insiders hope to confine any disagreements on Brexit to a referendum, but sources admit the election campaign will be difficult to manage, as some shadow cabinet members have said they'd personally campaign to Remain even against a Labour deal.
In a wide-ranging speech, Mr Corbyn also promised to "put power in the hands of workers", pledging a future Labour government would enact "the biggest extension of rights for workers that our country has ever seen."
If elected, Labour would set up a specific government department for employment rights, he said, and give the brief to a dedicated cabinet minister.
Enforcement of rights would be boosted by a new agency with the power to enter workplaces and bring prosecutions on behalf of staff, he added.
Where do the other Westminster parties stand on Brexit?
Conservatives - 288 MPs
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he wants to leave the EU on 31 October "do or die". He says he wants to leave with a deal, but is willing to exit without one to ensure Brexit goes ahead by the current deadline.
SNP - 35 MPs
The SNP is pro-Remain and wants the UK to stay a member of the EU. It has been campaigning for another referendum on Brexit, and if it were to get one, would support Remain.
Liberal Democrats - 17 MPs
The Lib Dems also want to stay in the EU and have another referendum to achieve their goal - to revoke Article 50 (the law that sees the UK having to leave the bloc).
Democratic Unionist Party - 10 MPs
The DUP has a confidence and supply agreement with the Conservatives, giving them their support in the Commons. They are backing the PM's plans to leave the EU with or without a deal at the end of October.
The Independent Group for Change - 5 MPs
This party is made up of MPs who left the Conservatives and Labour because of their positions on Brexit (as well as allegations of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party). They back another referendum, or "People's Vote", and want the UK to remain in the EU.
Plaid Cymru - 4 MPs
The Welsh Party backs remaining in the EU, despite Wales voting out in the referendum. They want a further referendum and to Remain.
Green Party - 1 MP
The party's one MP, Caroline Lucas, has been a vocal campaigner for another referendum and believes the UK should stay in the EU.
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An inquest into the deaths of five men at Camber Sands will have to examine whether the local authority was to blame, a lawyer has said.
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Barrister Patrick Roche represented the families of those who died at the Sussex beach last summer, at a pre-inquest review in Hastings.
Coroner Alan Craze agreed the inquest should take place before summer "in the interests of safety recommendations".
The five who died on 24 August were all from south-east London.
They were:
Two others, Brazilian Gustavo Silva Da Cruz, 19, and Mohit Dupar, 36, from Hayes, west London, lost their lives in July 2016.
Mr Dupar died in hospital on 28 July, four days after trying to rescue Mr Da Cruz.
Mr Roche said the inquest should look at whether Rother District Council "could or should" have done more given the history of Camber Sands.
He told the pre-inquest review there had been one death there in 2015, followed by the two last July, but no remedial measures came in until after the five further deaths a month later.
"This is very much a case where the court will have to examine whether the local authority is to blame for these deaths," he said.
The coroner revealed a letter had been received from a "thoroughly disaffected" ex-employee of the council who worked for the authority until 2007.
The author said that in 2007 contracts were changed, a rescue boat was sold and life-saving employees had their employment discontinued.
Mr Craze said he had no intention of calling the author to the full inquest as his evidence was by now "so peripheral", but "it does spark me to inquire into the history".
He said the full inquest would be held in Hastings from 26 June but he would defer a decision on whether or not to hold it with a jury.
Last month, Rother council allocated £51,000 for lifeguards at Camber this summer.
They will be stationed at the beach from the late May bank holiday until the end of the summer holidays.
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The UN Security Council is set to hold a vote on a resolution authorising the initial deployment of monitors to Syria to oversee the ceasefire there.
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A draft text was finalised on Friday. Russia has said that it is satisfied with the revised text and that it is prepared to vote in favour.
A truce has generally held in Syria since it began on Thursday, but both sides have alleged breaches.
Syria's opposition says troops shelled parts of the city of Homs overnight.
And on Saturday activists accused Syrian security forces of opening fire at a funeral in Syria's second city of Aleppo, killing four and injuring dozens.
State TV blamed rebel gunmen firing at random and accused the opposition of trying to derail the peace plan.
State media also accused armed rebels of killing at least three security officers in different parts of the country.
One person was said to have died in the shelling of Homs, reportedly the first fatality in the restive city since the ceasefire.
Activist video showed mortars and tank shells hitting parts of Homs, especially the Qarabis quarter, from shortly after prayers on Friday.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says the shelling in Homs is an alarming lapse in the fragile ceasefire.
But the intensity of the bombardment is nothing like the levels reached in the weeks before the truce, when dozens of people were killed or injured every day, our correspondent says.
UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has called for an advance monitoring team to be deployed immediately to ensure compliance with his peace plan.
Mr Annan's plan aims to end over a year of violence in Syria which has killed over 9,000 people, mostly civilians.
'Very tough'
In New York, efforts to draft a text were hindered by disagreements between Russia and the US, which prevented a vote on Friday.
Diplomats revised a US-proposed draft on Friday to accommodate Russian objections.
The text was to be sent to governments for approval overnight, and a vote is now expected at 11:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Saturday.
"There was a negotiation, there is not yet an agreement," French UN Ambassador Gerard Araud told reporters. "It's very tough, but there will be a vote in any case."
US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said it "would be wise not to make predictions" on the outcome.
The resolution calls for the deployment of an advance team of 30 monitors. Additional approval will be required to increase the deployment to 250, the total which Mr Annan is seeking.
A spokesman for Mr Annan has said that a small group of observers is ready to leave for Syria as soon as a resolution is passed.
"At the moment we have the advance team standing by to board planes and to get there, to get themselves on the ground as soon as possible," Ahmad Fawzi said.
Earlier, President Barack Obama authorised an increase in US aid for Syria's "non-violent, political opposition", including communications equipment and medical supplies, officials said.
Lower casualties
Prayers on Friday were seen as a major test for the truce. Several deaths were reported as thousands of protesters poured out of mosques and took to the streets across the country in fresh revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
Activists reported that the number of demonstrations nationwide - more than 750 - was higher than on any Friday since the revolt began 13 months ago.
The opposition said security forces fired into the air in many places to prevent or disperse protests. But in others, protesters were killed by gunfire.
But our correspondent says the overall casualty figures for Friday were very much lower than many had feared.
In general, he says, the ceasefire has brought a sharp drop in the level of violence and deaths but, with troops, tanks and heavy weaponry still deployed in and around population centres, it is still very fragile and there are many ways in which it could unravel.
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(Close): Shares in Circle Holdings closed down 25% after it said it would pull out of the contract to run Hinchingbrooke hospital.
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Circle was the first private healthcare firm to run an NHS hospital trust, but it said the contract was "no longer sustainable" because of funding cuts and increased demand for A&E services.
The trend among majors was lower. The FTSE 100 ended 68.82 down at 6501.14.
Good jobs data from the US failed to buoy the mood.
Official jobs data showed the US ended its best year for hiring in 15 years with another 252,000 jobs being created in December.
Shares in housebuilders were hit by downgrades from broker Jefferies.
The company said shares in the sector were likely to be weak in the first quarter of the year following signs of the slowdown in the market.
It downgraded its ratings on Barratt Developments, Berkeley and Persimmon to "underperform".
Shares in Barratt Developments fell 5%, Persimmon dropped 5% and Berkeley was 4.2% lower.
Investors are waiting for the latest set of US jobs figures due out later. Analysts are expecting the US economy to have added about 240,000 jobs last month.
On the currency markets, the pound rose 0.4% against the dollar to $1.5141, and climbed 0.26% against the euro to €1.2829.
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A town centre Christmas tree labelled "a twig" by critics has been removed after just one day.
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The 12ft (4m) tree was given to Clacton by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and was put up in the Town Square.
But Tendring District Council said it had now taken the tree down saying it was "not man enough for the job".
The FSB has yet to comment on the tree's removal. The council said the gift had been "a generous gesture".
But shortly after it was put up, people in the town voiced their disappointment, with one comparing it to a "twig" and another describing it as "definitely a downgrade".
The council said it hoped the business group would understand.
Peter Halliday, leader of the Conservative-controlled council, said "It is very disappointing after we were donated a tree, but there was no other decision that could be made but to take the tree down.
"It is just too prominent a site for a tree of that size and on a site that is exposed to some pretty strong winds.
"We would be letting our residents and traders down if we did not come up with something more substantial," he said
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