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For the first time in the UK - and possibly the world - air pollution has been recognised as a cause of a person's death. But was the ruling just a one-off? And what does it mean for others? | By Claire MarshallEnvironment correspondent
On 16 December, Southwark Coroner's Court in London found that air pollution "made a material contribution" to the death of nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah.
She had lived near the South Circular Road in Lewisham and died in 2013, following an asthma attack.
Her case has been making headlines around the globe.
Ella had a rare type of acute asthma; she was particularly susceptible to the toxic gases and particles in air pollution. In his verdict, the coroner Philip Barlow said the cause was "multi-factorial. It was down to both genes, and the environment".
From a legal perspective, David Wolfe QC, a barrister specialising in public law, said: "Although this decision does not have any binding impact on other courts, it is still important as the first formal legal recognition of air pollution as contributing to the death of a particular individual.
"That will help other individuals who want to press for greater action on air pollution. That could be action from public bodies which make decisions about polluting activities such as traffic and roads, or the public and private bodies which themselves cause major air pollution."
At the conclusion of the two-week inquest, Mr Barlow said Ella had been exposed to "excessive" levels of pollution. The pollutants included nitrogen dioxide (NO2) - a gas emitted by combustion engines that can irritate the airways and aggravate respiratory diseases.
Levels of NO2 near Ella's home exceeded World Health Organization (WHO) and European Union guidelines.
The inquest heard that, in the three years before her death, she had had multiple seizures and was admitted to hospital 27 times.
Katie Nield, a lawyer with the firm Client Earth, which has brought numerous legal cases against European governments over air pollution, said: "This was a decision about the cause of Ella's death, rather than a determination of who was at fault - so it doesn't provide a direct precedent that others can rely on."
"By explicitly identifying air pollution as a cause of death, this could serve as a signal for the possibility of justice for other people. The evidence at this inquest was found to be strong enough to show that pollution played a role in cutting Ella's life short.
"The possibility of making this link in a court of law for the many people who suffer as a result of breathing the dirty air around them may now seem like less of a leap."
But does this case alter how experts view the science behind air pollution? In his verdict, the coroner noted that the health impacts of air pollution "have been acknowledged for many years".
He referred to a report by the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee in 2010, which concluded there were 35,000 premature deaths a year as a result of air pollution. He also referred to several other papers.
The key in Ella's case was that a leading professional in his field, Prof Sir Stephen Holgate, was prepared to investigate all the evidence to find the link between a single death, and levels of pollutants in the air. He was the star witness in the inquest.
"This is the first time a distinguished medic has stuck his head above the parapet," said environmental health and air quality scientist Prof Roy Harrison, from Birmingham University.
"He looked at the data, looked at the health records, and said on the balance of probabilities air pollution was a major causal factor in the death of this child."
Establishing links
However, Prof Harrison said it had not changed the science in any way. Instead, it had confirmed what scientists had long known was the case, Nevertheless, he said, it would be hard for pollution to be put on another death certificate without such a detailed inquiry.
"I'm afraid that same thoroughness would be required in other cases," he explained.
Ella's mother, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, has worked tirelessly to uncover the facts behind her daughter's death.
"Unless a parent or a dependent of a person… were extremely persistent, as Ella's mother was in this case, I think it's very unlikely. I don't think a doctor is going to feel sufficiently confident in writing a death certificate to put air pollution as a causal factor, even though it's opened up as much more of a possibility for them."
He added: "Establishing that link in an individual case is going to be extremely difficult."
But Prof Harrison said that, now, the UK government couldn't "turn around and say it's just a load of statistics".
Asked whether this verdict only be relevant to people with asthma as unusually severe as Ella's, Prof Jonathan Grigg, another of the expert witnesses in the case, said: "The evidence isn't that... actually, the evidence we know about asthma attacks, asthma deaths, causation of asthma, is for the whole mix of asthmas. You don't have to have this particular variant. It shows that small changes have this avalanche effect."
He told BBC News that asthma deaths were rare. But now, for an individual living in a zone of known high air pollution, he said it was "going to be difficult to say that air pollution has not had a role".
He added: "You wouldn't have to have such a detailed discussion. What it will do [is that] the profession will be much more amendable to discussing this."
Re-housing case?
Prof Grigg said that a patient could now be advised: "You live on the North Circular road, your child has severe asthma, you know the case of Ella, how can we help you to consider moving away from that area?
"If you are in social housing, there would now be a strong case for the council that they had to re-house you. That could make a tremendous difference to a lot of individuals who have severe asthma."
Prof Gavin Shaddick, a government adviser on air pollution, who conducts epidemiological studies on a national and global scale, said the harmful impact of air pollution had "often been difficult to understand, and communicate".
"This deeply regrettable case will help us to think about the effects of air pollution in a bottom-up manner; effects on individual people that together sum to those population level estimates of health impacts.
"It will... add to the substantial, and growing, evidence of the adverse health effects of air pollution, both in the UK and internationally."
Follow Claire on Twitter.
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Some paedophiles say they would never abuse children. But what support is there for people like this and how should society treat them to prevent abuse happening? | By Catherine BurnsBBC Victoria Derbyshire programme
Warning: Due to the subject matter, there are disturbing details in this article.
Adam messaged a few days before we were due to meet for the first time.
I'll let you know what colour top i'm wearing or something so you can recognise me. Although I'll just be the creepy looking guy :D lol.
It was the kind of place that would be packed full of people enjoying two-for-one cocktails on Saturday nights, but Adam just wanted tap water.
He was clearly nervous.
In his early 20s, but he could pass for younger. Slight and fresh-faced. Brown hair, clear skin and softly spoken. Not "creepy looking" at all.
He describes himself as "normal" and says he likes to hang out with friends, go travelling and play video games. On the surface, it's hard to argue with his self-description.
But he has a secret.
"Adam" isn't his real name. He didn't want us to use that, though he insists he's never done anything illegal.
But he is a paedophile.
That term is widely used today. It's used interchangeably with child sex abuser by the public - you can find it in many news reports describing the actions of molesters.
But academics use the term differently. In the DSM-5, the manual issued by the American Psychiatric Association, and used by psychiatrists across the world, paedophilia is listed as a "paraphilic disorder".
Effectively, it is defined as a form of mental health condition where an adult has a primary sexual attraction to pre-pubescent children.
It doesn't mean that they have abused children, and in fact, psychiatrists and criminologists believe that not all child abusers are paedophiles. Many are motivated by a desire for power or control.
People like Adam refer to themselves as "anti-contact" paedophiles. They recognise their own attraction to children but understand that is wrong to abuse them.
Adam first realised that there was something different about him when he was 13. His friends suddenly started talking about girls and he just wasn't interested.
He couldn't reveal the truth. He didn't think about girls at all, but about boys who were younger than him.
At that stage, the age gap wasn't dramatic, just a few years.
"As I got older, the age stayed the same and got even younger really."
Adam spent the next few years doing what almost every teenager does - trying to fit in.
When he describes this period, his words come out in a rush. "I felt isolated. I tried to hide it, just tried to ignore it, pretend it wasn't there, pretend I was normal, concentrate on my schoolwork, concentrate on playing football."
Deciding to lie, he pretended to like a girl in his class. Adam knew enough to pick someone who was considered pretty. As he was so shy, no-one really questioned why he didn't ever ask her or anybody else on a date.
But Adam wasn't yet at a point where he thought of himself as a paedophile.
"I thought I was too young, really. I thought paedophiles were old men who looked at children."
This has elements of truth in it. The APA says only people aged 16 or older can be classified as paedophiles. There must also be an age gap of five years or more between the subject and the children they are attracted to.
Prof Derek Perkins is a consultant forensic psychologist and has set up treatment programmes for sexual offenders.
"It's a recognised mental disorder and it's something that people don't choose to have. It's a condition in the same way that someone might have depression or ADHD.
"A lot of people are able to manage it without acting on it."
By the time Adam got to 17, he'd spent four years trying to ignore his feelings about children. Realising this wasn't something he would grow out of, he decided to try to "solve it".
When he talks about this time in his life, the word he uses most is "scared".
The other word that comes back is "normal". He repeats it as he explains that he had always wanted to have a wife and children one day.
But something made him realise this just wasn't possible.
"I got really worried that I'd end up hurting a child and go to prison. My life would be over."
There's a growing body of research into young paedophiles like him, including those who have never been through the legal system.
People like Adam have started to form online forums and chat groups where they discuss their struggle.
Many of them, including Adam, dislike the word "paedophile" because of the way the media uses it interchangeably with "child rapist" or "child abuser".
Instead, he refers to himself as an "MAP", which stands for "minor-attracted person".
Adam seems likeable on the surface. It would be easy to assume he is merely manipulative, trying to project a nice-guy image. I can't speak to his innermost motivation, but I don't think that's the case.
When we first met, I asked him to show me photo ID to prove his real name and age. The picture was a few years old, and he had a dodgy haircut. He was able to tease himself for how outdated it looked.
He is invariably polite and keen to highlight his intelligence. He mentions that he went to a good university and talks about compliments from his boss.
But it's clear he is not a naturally confident person and doesn't find it comfortable speaking to a journalist. He even gets nervous about dealing with public transport.
I should say now I am very introverted etc, so at least half the problem isn't me actually trusting you, it's me actually having the courage to meet a stranger to talk to.
Was he ever tempted to act on his attraction during puberty?
"I was too shy to do anything, anyway, with anyone. Even if I wasn't a paedophile."
Adam wants to speak to out, he says, because he wants to protect children.
He explains that he gets "so upset" when he sees stories about child abuse on the news: "I'm doing this so that some people will stop that."
Adam is very firm on this point. He says he has never abused a child, either online or in person.
He doesn't even wait until the end of the question before replying emphatically: "I would never. I'd never do that."
There's not an ounce of hesitation. He sits upright and doesn't slouch or fidget. He says he would kill himself before hurting a child.
And yet when he is asked about the precise nature of his attraction, he starts to become uncomfortable.
He squirms, stammers and clams up. He can't get the words out and the conversation moves on.
He admits to having "crushes" on young boys but he says he works hard to distract himself.
In a message, Adam explains his "age of attraction".
Sorry for not being able to answer when you asked the ages, it's something I was dreading you asking … I hope you understand. My aoa is 1-15, but the emotional side is a lot stronger than the physical side with the lower ages.
In person, he uses almost the exact same phrase.
"My age of attraction is one to 15 but as they get younger the emotional attraction is more prominent."
He picks his words carefully, pausing before speaking.
By this stage, I had built up a relationship with him. He had opened up about the isolation of his teenage years and his firm resolve to never abuse children.
It's difficult to hear him talking about an attraction for very young children.
"I don't really think of a toddler in much of a sexual way, but rather, I want to cuddle one and make sure they're happy. That is mainly it with younger children."
It's hard to avoid being unsettled by this - and that sense of what is not being said, especially with the qualifiers "much of a sexual way" and "mainly it".
He tries to clarify: "If you're a parent and you have a toddler, you cuddle them, kiss them, make sure they're fed and safe and happy. And that's kind of the same feeling, but I just get it with all children. Or boys."
But most people want to make sure children are safe and happy.
After a slight hesitation, he replies that there is obviously "some slight attraction" but that it is drowned out by his emotional response.
There's some debate about the numbers, but it's estimated that between 1% and 5% of men have some form of sexual interest in children.
There do exist a small number of female sex offenders, but it is unknown how many of them might be genuine paedophiles. Although there clearly are women who molest children, a large proportion do so in conjunction with a male offender.
Some paedophiles are exclusively attracted to children. Others are also drawn to adults and have "normal" relationships with their peers.
Adam wishes he was attracted to adults but he just isn't.
What has made him like this?
It was long thought that paedophiles had typically been abused or had a traumatic event in their own childhoods.
But Canadian clinical psychologist James Cantor argues that paedophilia is down to "cross-wiring" in the brain.
He looked at MRI scans of paedophiles and found that they had less white matter, which links parts of the brain together.
Cantor thinks the key is how the brain is formed in the early stages of pregnancy.
"The dream is to prevent it before the paedophile is even born."
Despite his dedication to avoiding contact with children, there was a period when Adam wavered.
At about the age of 18, Adam came across "pro-contact" paedophiles online. They told him that "having sexual contact with children is OK, that there's nothing wrong with it and that it doesn't harm the child".
He wanted to believe them.
Clearly uncomfortable talking about this period in his life, he sits still, his fingers rubbing together nervously.
I ask if he thought he might end up abusing a child.
He admits: "I thought maybe at some point in my life, maybe I would. Not imminently. But I realised, hey this actually hurts children and I don't want to be part of this."
But did he view illegal images of children online?
He says that he hasn't. Partly because he wasn't "tech savvy" enough to know how to avoid getting caught.
That seems a strange explanation.
But later, he messages with more context.
I guess I wanted to look due to curiosity. I think maybe deep down I knew it was wrong (being pro contact) but I kind of just made myself believe it was ok because I didn't want to be sad and alone for the rest of my life. I guess that's why I didn't follow through or try harder to look, because deep down I knew it was wrong but on the surface I convinced myself it was ok.
Other "anti-contact" paedophiles tell me they went through similar phases where they thought they would end up offending. One described himself as "a ticking time bomb".
Adam says he has never blamed himself.
"I didn't choose it. I got unlucky in life. I've never been horrible to anyone, so why has this horrible thing happened to me?"
He says that he was suicidal during that time, but that the feeling is much rarer now.
He broke away from the "pro-contact" paedophiles after doing more research, and he says he couldn't possibly get any pleasure from looking at illegal images of children. Adam resolved never to abuse a child.
If you are affected by the issues raised in this piece, the following organisations can help:
StopSO (the Specialist Treatment Organisation for the Prevention of Sexual Offending) can work with people who are worried about their sexual thoughts.
Stop It Now! is a sexual abuse prevention campaign run by child protection charity The Lucy Faithfull Foundation. It also operates the Get Support website.
The NSPCC specialises in child protection.
The National Association for People Abused in Childhood offers support, advice and guidance to adult survivors of any form of childhood abuse.
Childline is a private and confidential service for children and young people up to the age of 19.
The Children's Society works to support vulnerable children in England and Wales.
Jake - again not his real name - is another "anti-contact" paedophile. He's a year or so younger than Adam, and their stories are remarkably similar.
Jake also realised during puberty that he was attracted to younger children - girls aged 5-11.
He's also attracted to women his own age. It's not quite as powerful as his feelings towards children, but it gives him hope for his future.
Like Adam, he wouldn't stand out in a crowd. He is handsome enough for people to wonder why he is always single. But he is also shy.
For our entire conversation, he sits almost totally still with his arms hugged around his body. It doesn't come across as rude - more like he's physically steeling himself for an ordeal.
He says the hardest part of being a paedophile is knowing that he is "one of these people that everyone hates".
But he's clear in his resolve to never abuse children.
"I still have morals. I still know what's good and what's bad. I'm not going to hurt someone like that just to make myself feel better."
Like Adam, he went through a period when he couldn't stop his mind "justifying things that weren't really justifiable".
So even though he says he was firmly against sexual contact, he decided that "romantic relationships" with 11-year-old girls would be acceptable. But he's fuzzy on what he meant by that - only going so far as to mention "dates and stuff."
But he insists he didn't ever act on those thoughts.
At one stage, he thought about going to his GP for help, but decided against it. Despite doctor/patient confidentiality, medics and other professionals have a duty to tell authorities if they think a child has been, or could be, harmed.
"I realised how risky it was. You never really know if they're going to want to report you if they feel like you're a danger."
He felt that his paedophilia was under enough control for him not to pose a threat to any children, but he knew his doctor might not believe him.
If he had been able to get professional help, it would have made a big difference, he suggests.
"I wouldn't have gone down kind of the route I did of deluding myself into thinking certain things."
This is something that many of the experts agree with. Prof Derek Perkins says there might be no magic cure for paedophilia, but he is adamant that treatment helps.
And that treatment isn't just about helping paedophiles cope with their attraction to children.
The primary aim is to reduce the possibility of child sexual abuse.
"From a child protection point of view, the more help that can be provided as early as possible, the better."
Tom Squire, clinical manager of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, says there isn't enough support.
The charity aims to prevent child sexual abuse by working to stop would-be sexual offenders committing a crime in the first place. It runs the Stop It Now helpline.
It takes calls from people who are worried about children being sexually abused. That can be anyone from parents and teachers to paedophiles who are concerned about their own thoughts and actions.
All callers can stay anonymous.
But if they give a real name, and say anything that makes the call handler think a child or anyone else is at risk, the charity will report it to the authorities.
The foundation also runs face-to-face sessions for people who have viewed images of abuse or committed abuse. Non-offenders can also be treated but the cost is between £700-£1000 and there is no anonymity.
Another charity, StopSO (the Specialist Treatment Organisation for the Prevention of Sexual Offending), can help paedophiles who have not offended by putting them in contact with a specially trained therapist in their area.
But funding - or the lack of it - is an issue. The cost of treatment is an obstacle to taking it up.
StopSO chief executive Juliet Grayson is calling for more government support in the UK. "Surely prevention is worth investing in, saving lives and money."
The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) has a slightly more nuanced view.
It welcomes any work to prevent sexual abuse. But it points out that survivors need support too.
Chief Executive Gabrielle Shaw says: "Support for survivors and victims of abuse is woefully inadequate across the UK.
"This is not an either/or situation, but government and society at large need to realise that more resources are necessary across the piece."
The NSPCC echoes this. It argues that it is "vital" to support both potential offenders and any victims.
The Home Office acknowledges the need for services.
"It is vital that every effort is made to prevent offending in the first place. We are supportive of efforts in this space and would welcome further innovative work by charities and the private sector to better protect children from harm."
In other words, there seems to be a consensus between government, experts and charities that treating paedophiles would help prevent children being sexually abused.
But it's striking that none of the young paedophiles that I've contacted have had any professional help.
They seem to get the most support from other paedophiles.
Adam credits online forums dedicated to non-offending. He says they help reiterate that offending is wrong.
"I've realised that you can actually be happy, and anti-contact and just be who you are."
Jake agrees that these online groups helped him to become firmly "anti-contact". "It made me realise how bad my thinking was starting to get."
He's certain that he will never offend, insisting over and again that if he ever was tempted, his anti-contact online friends would always push him back "on to the right path".
His goal is a relationship with a woman his own age. He says the main barrier is that he "needs to get better at talking to girls".
He kept his paedophilia a complete secret for years, until he had come to terms with it himself.
Then, he was able to tell his friends. He says he felt that he needed to "get it off his chest".
He says the first time he told anyone, it started off almost as a joke. Since then he's told more friends - even accidentally talking about it when he was a "bit too drunk".
But the people he has told have all taken the news "surprisingly well".
He explains: "I mostly kind of say that I'm attracted to people younger than myself, and that I haven't actually hurt anyone and I'm not going to.
"They ask questions and stuff, but I think they believe me."
Adam also told some friends and got a supportive reaction. He says he felt almost high the first time.
Telling his mum was much more complicated though.
He didn't plan it, but one day she found him crying. She asked him what was wrong but he told her he couldn't talk about it.
She thought that maybe he was gay, and asked if it was because he liked men. He said no, so she guessed again.
Did he like women?
No.
And eventually, she asked her son if he liked children?
Yes.
Adam says she believed that he would never abuse a child. But she couldn't hide her reaction when he told her that he was attracted to children as young as one.
Looking at him tell this story, you realise how slim and slight he is. It reinforces how young he is, even now. Normally he speaks clearly and fluently, but for this, there are long pauses and repetition.
"She... kind of didn't believe me… She, she, she, erm, she was saying 'That's too young'.
"She had to keep asking me if that was right. Her face was kind of just blank, she was looking at me like completely blankly. As if disbelieving kind of thing.
"She just didn't really believe how young it was. It was horrible. It felt horrible because I didn't want to make her feel bad and I didn't want to be a bad son.
"I just felt so... disgusted with myself I guess. She made me feel like that."
When asked about his hopes for a happy and fulfilled future, Adam bleakly says: "I don't know."
He's still so young. I point out that he might be totally convinced now that he will never offend, but that he's got a long life ahead of him.
But he's firm. "I've never been one to hurt people in any way, children, adults, anyone. I just don't think I have it in me to hurt anyone."
Illustrations by Katie Horwich
Watch the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel.
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The Holyrood budget had little to do with austerity. It was modest in its ambitions, but political too. The big themes included the environment, children in poverty and re-balancing the tax burden. The background economic story is not looking good, with growth sluggish and red flags being raised more widely. | Douglas FraserBusiness/economy editor, Scotland
At last, a budget that wasn't dominated by austerity. It's not that the impact of the 10-year squeeze has gone away. But the draft Holyrood budget was more about a positive, though modest, range of choices than about the familiar tale of cuts.
Amid the numbers issued with Thursday's draft budget for Holyrood was an assessment of the journey from 2010, as Conservative chancellors sought to "consolidate" the budget, and get the deficit down.
By 2016-17, the real terms impact of the squeeze on Scottish government funding brought spending 8.3% below the previous peak of 2010-11.
Since then, the grip of the Treasury has been relaxed. The shortfall on 2010 levels fell to 1% in real terms during the current year. At last, it turns positive in 2020-21, at 0.9% above the level a decade ago.
So, it's as you were? No. During that time, the demand on the budget has changed. Health and social care gobbles up an ever-bigger chunk of it.
Together, that budget has topped £15bn for next year. With health costs, expectations, chronic conditions and demographics, that's only likely to go in one direction.
It is local authorities that have faced much of the squeeze. They get £500m more out of the 2020-21 budget, but much of that is earmarked for the Scottish government priority of childcare and to fund a second year of the teachers' pay deal, as well as pensions.
Belching
As with any half-decent budget, Kate Forbes - the first woman to present and manage a budget at Holyrood or at Westminster - had political priorities in mind. She aimed to please or placate every lobby group - or at least, groups that vote.
This will be the last financial year before the next Hollyrood election, so it has a political job to do. Here, then, are three themes.
Climate change is requiring some big shifts in spending priorities. Add up all the elements, and you get to quite a lot that's intended to impress on visitors to Glasgow's mega-conference in November that Scotland is making an effort on reducing harmful emissions.
That includes funds to replace gas heating for homes and businesses, with a shift to district heating schemes.
They will require a lot of pipework, so the money is only a down payment on a lot of work yet to be done. It should be good for job creation though.
There's more to turn around the declining use of buses, and so-called "active" travel - cycling and walking.
Buses are being championed by Labour and the Greens, with similar calls for free tickets if you're under 25. Expect to hear more of that at next year's hustings.
With much bovine belching, farming is a major contributor to those damaging emissions, and there is a down payment to help spark the change that will be required to agricultural practice.
Forestry already has an ambitious tree-planting schedule, at 12,000 hectares a year. That's being stepped up to 15,000 hectares, using leaves to absorb carbon dioxide.
Likewise, peatlands act as a carbon sink. Protecting and enhancing that role is getting more funds from April, and a big SNP election pledge of £250m over the next 10 years.
Legacy
Theme two: families and poverty. While the really big number being added to this year's budget is the £3bn of Westminster welfare spending being devolved to Holyrood, only one minor change is scheduled to come in any time soon - a Scottish child payment.
Other changes to disability living allowance and to attendance allowance will have to wait until the systems are ready for divergence, and until ministers can see how much a more generous welfare system is likely to cost them.
But underlying recent budgets at Holyrood has been the expensive project of expanding childcare to hit the target intended for the 2021 election. That works for parents (mostly mothers), it helps with early education and with relieving stress on the many families living in poverty.
That is what Nicola Sturgeon wants to take to the electorate next year, having chosen this over other possible priorities. It's about legacy.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, with expertise in poverty policy, praises the Scottish government for its child payment, but says the 2020-21 budget choices do not go far enough.
Scottish director Jim McCormick is looking for a longer-term commitment to lowering the cost of housing, and to a deeper, more sustained commitment to those in poverty despite being in work. Two thirds of Scottish children in poverty are living in such households.
Fiscal creep
Theme three: being progressive. That means a shift of the tax burden towards those better able to shoulder it.
The risk is that pushing that re-balance so far that it proves counter-productive. This budget made only a modest change in that direction. Those earning up to £43,431 will see tax thresholds rise with inflation. That means their tax bills, on a given income level, will take no more off them in real terms.
But those with earnings above £43,431, that threshold will remain the point at which Scottish ministers begin to take 41 pence of every extra pound they earn.
That's what they call "fiscal creep": as earnings go above that level, people move into the higher tax bracket, and as pay goes up with inflation, the Scottish government takes a bigger chunk of it.
Mind the gap
Not knowing what Sajid Javid will do with his tax choices on his budget day, March 11, we don't yet know how Scottish tax will compare with that in other parts of the UK.
There have been hints that the chancellor will shift the threshold at which people start paying National Insurance contributions. Being undevolved to Holyrood, that would not alter the relative tax bills.
But as things now stand, the gap has quite a significant look to it at higher income levels. The Chartered Institute of Taxation has helpfully provided me with a ready reckoner.
It shows that Scots paying tax on lower levels of income are a whole £21 better off than those on the same pay down south. The level at which Scots start paying more in tax than someone on the same pay in England has gone up by £250, to £27,243.
If you're on £40,000 a year, the gap is only £128. Not much to ask for free prescriptions etc?
But on a £50,000 salary, that rises to £1,542 (£,7500 income tax paid south of the border, and £9,042 in Scotland). On £100,000, the gap is just over £2,000.
Fragile
Looking back over the past decade, getting up the pay scale has also been proving tough. The Scottish Fiscal Commission published its updated assessment of the Scottish economy and revenue, alongside the budget.
It reflects the state of the Scottish economy, and it's not looking that healthy. Employment levels remain strong, even though a gap with the rest of the UK has opened up recently.
Growth was weaker than forecast last year, at 0.9%. It's little better this year, at only 1%. That barely grows in the next few years.
That has a lot to do with productivity growth. It is up on a dismal 0.3% in 2019, but at 0.6%, that's a dispiriting measure of how much more prosperous we can expect to become this year.
There are new measures in this budget intended to help. Capital funding for the Scottish National Investment Bank is one of the bigger items, though it's hardly a quick fix. Others are more modest.
Evidence from business has recently suggested more clarity about Brexit, following the December election, has helped unlock some more business activity. But it's not yet looking like a game-changer.
The economic end of Brexit uncertainty continues. It's still a drag on business confidence. And the potential impact of coronavirus is raising red flags about supply chains and travel disrupted, bringing a sharp decline in global growth. Beyond Holyrood, the wider economy looks fragile.
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Opening this week is what's being presented as the first British Vietnamese play. Summer Rolls at London's Park Theatre shows the younger generation embracing cultural change - and unsettling their families who arrived as migrants 40 years earlier. | By Vincent DowdArts reporter, BBC News
Tuyen Do's play is itself illustrative of this change. Its cast was chosen from the growing pool of British Vietnamese actors - something which would have been impossible just a few years ago.
In the late 1970s, most people in Britain would have been hard-pressed to identify a Vietnamese presence in the country at all. Today the community has grown but it's still not huge - probably just over 50,000 people nationwide.
Do's play gives a rare insight into what life has been like for British Vietnamese families since their perilous journeys from home after the fall of Saigon in 1975 and the end of the Vietnam War.
Though her story takes place mainly in Britain, it starts in 1979 on the Mekong river. A mother sends her 11-year-old son off on a boat to what she hopes will be prosperity elsewhere.
Do says the term Boat People isn't much liked by today's British Vietnamese community. But she knows it's what will come to mind for many audiences.
"After 1975 people around the world saw TV pictures of Vietnamese leaving the country on these unsafe boats. Some came to Britain, normally by way of Hong Kong. Really it was the first Britain knew of Vietnamese people.
"But what I'm trying to do is get away from the cliche that the British Vietnamese now all work in restaurants and in nail bars."
Do says the story is fictional. "But a lot of the detail and the characterisation comes from my own lived experience," she adds. "Mai is a younger daughter and she has to negotiate her own way through life in Britain as a second-generation immigrant.
"So partly it's a very personal story about love and tension within a particular family and how far parents can intervene in a young woman's life. But also there's a bigger picture about the status of refugees."
Do says when writing the play she was conscious of parallels with political events today. "The terrible situation of many migrants was just the same as now. Where were they going to find homes and safety? Which nations would take them? I think the problems go on and I'm sure people watching the play are going to pick up on that."
The numbers who came to the UK immediately after the Vietnam war were quite small - more Vietnamese left later following border disputes with China. The best estimate is that around 23,000 people had settled in the UK by the late 1980s.
But Do says she wants the play to work mainly through its depiction of family life. The importance of food is central, as the title Summer Rolls might suggest.
"Eating together around a table is a celebration and it's a way of connecting. And of course over the past 15 years Vietnamese food has also had a real impact on British culture. It's exploded onto the scene and, though I'm not keen to deal in stereotypes, that's part of the story of British Vietnamese people too."
Though she's not appearing in her own play, Do has been acting for several years. Last year she was in The Great Wave at the National Theatre, set in Japan and North Korea. She's pleased Summer Rolls boasts a wholly British Vietnamese cast (apart from Keon Martial-Phillip, who plays Mai's Black British boyfriend).
Michael Phong Le is another member of the cast. He left drama school in Birmingham five years ago and says for an actor being British Vietnamese has proved a two-edged sword.
"It's rare that there's a specific role to go up for. But on the other hand, if there is one it's likely I'll be called in to audition. The category of actors I fit into is very small and I spent a long time thinking there just wasn't a group of British Vietnamese creatives out there. I was wrong - but in terms of actors you could probably count us on the fingers of both hands."
So does Phong Le find himself considered for other Asian roles such as Chinese or Korean? He smiles.
"I think I used to be but it's become more difficult. The industry as a whole has become very worried about casting and it's trickier than it was.
"When I first came out of drama school I was seen for specifically Chinese roles. But everything is now so sensitive that casting directors and producers sometimes feel only people of Chinese descent should be seen for Chinese roles.
"On TV I've been in the Catherine Tate Show, DCI Banks and Hooten & the Lady. Two of those roles were Vietnamese but one was Chinese. The day before we shot they phoned me up: they were worried I was Vietnamese and we had to talk the whole thing through. I think maybe now I'm seen less often for Chinese parts.
"But I'm a bit of an optimist so overall I'd say things are getting better for ethnic minority actors. But Vietnamese people are often seen as a minority within a minority, which creates its own problems."
But there's a bigger question which casting directors and writers now face. Why should performers be limited by their ethnic background anyway? There will never be a huge number of specifically British Vietnamese roles on stage or TV - but why can't actors such as Phong Le and Do be considered to play, say, an administrator or a doctor where a specific ethnicity is irrelevant?
Phong Le says his dream is to be cast as "'Dave the normal guy at the office'. Yes my heritage is completely Vietnamese but I was brought up here in Britain and I could play a range of British characters. We're at the point now where we need to persuade the industry to see us that way. We're not there yet."
Do is as ambitious in her acting career as she is as a playwright. "I want to be Sandra Oh and have an Emmy award in my hand. I want to be recognised as an artist more than for being British Vietnamese."
Summer Rolls is at the Park Theatre in London until 13 July.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].
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On a thickly wooded mountainside overlooking Russia's Black Sea coast, an extraordinary building has gradually taken shape. It is alleged to be a palace built for the personal use of Vladimir Putin, with massive and illegal use of state funds. | By Tim Whewell BBC News
Originally conceived, it is said, as a modest holiday house with a swimming pool, it now boasts a magnificent columned facade reminiscent of the country palaces Russian tsars built in the 18th Century.
The massive wrought-iron gates into the courtyard are topped with a golden imperial eagle. Outside are formal gardens, a private theatre, a landing pad with bays for three helicopters, and accommodation for security guards.
All this and more is revealed by satellite images of the area and photographs on the internet, some of which you see here, which campaigners say were leaked by workers at the site.
The mystery of why the palace was built and who provided the enormous sums of money required to pay for it is much harder to uncover.
But now, with Vladimir Putin about to be sworn in for a third term as Russia's president, one of his former business associates has spoken to BBC Newsnight, giving more detail than ever before about how he says the mansion was built to the leader's specifications for his personal use.
Sergei Kolesnikov, who now works in the Estonian capital Tallinn having fled Russia, was for several years one of those responsible for building the palace.
He is the first insider from Mr Putin's business circle to blow the whistle on what he says is the high-level corruption threatening to destroy the country's economy.
Kolesnikov says he was involved with two of Mr Putin's friends - Nikolai Shamalov and Dmitri Gorelov - in a venture, proposed by Mr Putin himself, to provide Russian hospitals with new equipment.
Several Russian oligarchs, including Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, donated millions of dollars to help upgrade Russia's hospitals.
Kolesnikov imported the medical equipment, and he says his company was able to get big discounts on the supplies.
Some of the donors deny that was possible. But Kolesnikov says millions of dollars were saved in this way, and at Mr Putin's suggestion much of that money was put into offshore companies - without the donors' knowledge - for use in other investment projects.
These included ailing industries such as shipbuilding - projects Kolesnikov says he discussed directly with Putin - but an ever-greater proportion of the extra funds, he says, went into "Project South" - the Black Sea palace near the village of Praskoveevka.
Kolesnikov told Newsnight that he was at a meeting with Putin at his country house outside Moscow when the issue of the Black Sea palace was raised directly.
He says the Russian leader ordered his powerful deputy prime minister, Igor Sechin, to deal with it. Shortly afterwards, Kolesnikov says, Sechin summoned him to discuss details.
He also says he had many other meetings at the palace itself where Mr Putin's instructions for fittings and furnishings were discussed with a senior officer in the Federal Security Service, which guards the president and prime minister.
More usually, he says, Putin passed on his instructions for the building through his friend, and Mr Kolesnikov's partner, Nikolai Shamalov.
"He didn't seek to justify it," Kolesnikov says. "He considered that whatever the tsar decided, it wasn't our business to discuss.
"There was a tsar - and there were slaves, who didn't have their own opinion," Kolesnikov says.
But the whistleblower says he eventually became disgusted by the sums being spent on the palace, and fell out with his partner Shamalov.
"I hadn't worked 15 hours a day for 10 years to build a palace," he says. "That didn't interest me."
In December 2010, Kolesnikov wrote an open letter to President Dmitry Medvedev detailing the involvement of himself and others in the project and outlining his allegations against Putin, then prime minister.
Newsnight attempted to contact Shamalov and Kolesnikov's other former partner Dmitri Gorelov, but their companies said they were unavailable for comment on this story.
Putin's spokesman has denied Mr Kolesnikov's allegations, along with other claims about the Russian leader's personal assets.
Officially the palace belonged, until recently, to a company partly owned by Shamalov.
Now it is owned by another businessman who is not directly connected to Putin.
But documents obtained by one of Russia's few opposition newspapers, Novaya Gazeta, and seen by Newsnight suggest that the Kremlin lied when it said it had no involvement in the building of the palace.
An agreement to build the mansion on state-owned land was signed by the head of the Department for Presidential Affairs, Vladimir Kozhin, who subsequently denied knowing anything about the site.
The documents do not prove that the palace was meant for Putin himself, or that he was personally involved in its construction.
But mystery still surrounds it.
When anti-corruption campaigners managed to get through to the front of the palace last year, they were met not only by private security guards, but also by uniformed members of the official Kremlin guard service.
Later the private security company claimed its employees had simply bought the uniforms - and Kremlin identity cards - in a shop.
But for the campaigners, and for Kolesnikov, the Kremlin guards' presence and the elaborate infrastructure indicate the true purpose of the building, and what they say is the massive illegal use of state funds.
"It's the building of a road direct to the palace on government money," Kolesnikov says. "A high-power electric line, direct to the palace. The government spent tens of millions of dollars on these.
"If it was just for Putin's friend Shamalov, why would the Federal Guard Service commission and monitor the building of the palace? Why would he need three helipads?
"A private person doesn't need these. But for a president they're essential."
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A man has admitted attempted murder after stabbing one woman and injuring another near Shrewsbury. | The stab victim was injured in the chest on 8 March outside property in Sefton Drive, Bomere Heath, and another woman had head injuries.
Wayne Williams, 54, of Sefton Drive, admitted one count of attempted murder and one of grievous bodily harm with intent.
He will be sentenced at Stafford Crown Court on 10 July.
Read more news for Shropshire
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I missed an appointment the other day because it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to leave Broadcasting House. My place of work has changed a bit since I last set foot in W1A pre-lockdown. A one-way system has been introduced to allow for social distancing, which is a good idea. That the job was given to a brilliant escape-room game designer is evidence that someone, somewhere has a mischievous sense of humour. | Will GompertzArts editor@WillGompertzBBCon Twitter
Still, better get used to it.
One-way is the new way nowadays. Supermarkets, coffee shops, and now arts venues have all gone down the same one-way street.
The National Gallery in London was the first of the major national museums to reopen to the public on Wednesday, offering a lockdown-easing visitor experience that is markedly different from the pre-pandemic wander-at-will affair.
It is still free to see its collection of world-class paintings but tickets have to be booked online for a specific day and time. Once in the gallery you are encouraged to wear a face covering, use the hand sanitiser stations, and choose from one of three prescribed one-way routes: A, B or C (you can do them all if you want).
Each trail takes around 30 minutes and features hundreds of stunning paintings. All three options are something of a smorgasbord of styles and epochs, but broadly speaking route A focuses on Italian paintings, route B is more Flemish and Dutch, and C is German and British.
There are way-finding arrows on the floor which double-up as two-metre markers for social distancing. They work well on the whole, but become a little confusing when the B and C routes converge. I was whisked off in the direction of Lucas Cranach the Elder's mean-mouthed masterpieces when I'd set my sights on the swirling Baroque of Peter Paul Rubens.
As wrong turnings go, that's hardly a disaster. But you can't rectify your mistake.
The defined routes are like motorways, once you're on one you have to go with the flow until the next exit, which in this case, is the exit.
That said, there are plenty of visor-wearing gallery assistants to ask for directions. They are very helpful as long as you don't try to swim against the tide; if you do they'll read you the riot act (moon walking won't fool them, I tried).
Fair enough. The safety of visitors and staff alike is paramount, and with levels of anxiety running high, the gallery can't afford to have people going off-piste. The digressive pleasures of gallery-going have gone, for the time being at least.
The new normal is the curated walking tour, which, it turns out, has a lot going for it.
It is helpful, for instance, if you're not a regular at the National Gallery, which can be overwhelming: which way should you turn, what should you see?
Now, you can't go wrong, each of the three routes serves up room after room of exquisite paintings, contextualised within their period and style. Take your pick: do you fancy a gallery full of Rembrandts or one chock-a-block with Holbein's (my advice, go around twice, see them both).
Route A is the shortest and has fewest pictures, and conveniently takes you back to the starting point for all three options, unlike B and C which both finish with the Impressionists and a five-minute hike back to the beginning if you want to try another option. It also features some wonderful pictures including Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin of the Rocks, Jan van Eyck's The Arnolfini Portrait, and Piero della Francesca's The Baptism of Christ, which is one of the most exceptional paintings you will ever set eyes upon.
Route B is just as good.
Not only has it the aforementioned rooms dedicated to Rubens and Rembrandt (including the splendid A Woman bathing in a Stream, and a very late, very moving self-portrait), but also Velázquez's The Toilet of Venus, Seurat's magnificent Bathers at Asnières, and Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus.
Does that mean Route C is the weakest link? Absolutely not.
It has Turner's The Fighting Temeraire, Constable's The Hay Wain, and Joseph Wright of Derby's An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump. And that's just a few of the Britons.
Elsewhere, you'll also see Van Gogh's A Wheatfield with Cypresses, Holbein's The Ambassadors, and Bruegel's Christ and the Woman taken in Adultery.
It's like a feast of all your favourite dishes, served at once, leaving you with no choice other than to gorge yourself until you can't take any more.
Maybe it is too much, but it's difficult to see what more the National Gallery could do in the current circumstances. It has clearly thought long and hard about how to best display its collection in a manner that will give the greatest access to its greatest pictures, while also giving confidence to the public visiting at a time when Covid-19 still lurks ominously like the black spot of syphilis in Hogarth's famous moralising satire Marriage A-la-Mode (route C).
I was just happy to be back among one of the finest fine art collections in the world, and grateful to all of those who have made it possible. It felt safe enough, and the few small teething problems are insignificant compared to the show that has been put on in such a challenging climate.
Welcome back the National Gallery. And congratulations for finding an intelligent solution to a difficult situation: turning expert curators into art-route planners might be more than a quick fix, it could be the future.
Recent reviews by Will Gompertz
Follow Will Gompertz on Twitter
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Motorists have been warned to care on the roads on Tuesday with ice predicted for most of Wales. | The Met Office's yellow warning comes into effect on 00:00 GMT on 22 January and lasts for 12 hours.
A spokesman said there could be ice on roads and pavements, and warned that railway journeys might also be affected.
The warning is also in place for the whole of England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
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A 5ft (1.5m) long pet lizard that went missing from a Swansea garden after being let out of the house for some exercise has been found. | It disappeared from King Edwards Road at around 16:30 BST on Saturday.
South Wales Police made appeals for sightings of the lizard which has black and white scales to be reported.
But the force said on Monday that the lizard, which is not considered dangerous, has now been found and returned to its owner.
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In India, child sexual assault must be reported within three years or a case cannot be brought against an abuser. But for adult survivors who struggle to come to terms with their ordeal this means their abuser, frequently someone close to the family, will never be brought to justice. The BBC's Geeta Pandey met one survivor campaigning for a change in the law. | A 53-year-old Canadian woman of Indian origin recently met with India's Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi. Her mission was to lobby for a change in the law so that adult survivors can report childhood sexual abuse.
Purnima Govindarajulu, who grew up in the southern Indian city of Chennai (formerly Madras) before moving to Canada in 1986, says she was abused by her cousin's husband regularly between the ages of six and 13.
After meeting Ms Govindarajuluin in Delhi, Mrs Gandhi said her ministry was "considering measures that will help child abuse survivors report their abusers, many years after the crimes had been committed". The law at present says a case must be brought within three years of abuse.
"I would wake up at night to find him sitting next to me in the dark. He would put his hands and mouth on my private parts," Ms Govindarajulu, who works as a conservation biologist for the Canadian province of British Columbia, said.
Although the "more intrusive penetrative acts took place at night or while travelling during the holidays", the abuse continued during the day too.
"Whenever he would find me alone, he would stick his fingers into my panties. There would be fondling, groping."
Growing up in conservative Chennai, she says she had no clue that what was happening to her was wrong and was not her fault.
"I never thought of protesting because I believed I was evil, I was dirty, I was bad. I had no idea about sex. I had three older brothers and when at the age of 13, I began menstruating I thought I had cancer.
"I thought I was about to die but that came as a relief to me because I was so miserable in my life."
But then an aunt showed up and saw her "blood-soaked panties and assured me that I was not going to die".
"She said you are a woman now. She told me it was normal. She said this means you can have a baby. She also told me don't let anyone touch you."
It was advice that had come too late for Ms Govindarajulu, but it was still good advice.
"For the first time it made me feel I had some sort of power. So the next time he tried to touch me, I told him to stop."
And he did. "He said, 'Okay if you don't want it, I'll stop.' I realised I could have done it earlier. And that made me feel terrible that why didn't I do it?"
So all through her teen years, she says, she struggled with self-hate, and was "depressed and suicidal".
Incest and child sexual abuse are huge problems in India. According to a 2007 government study, 53% of children surveyed said they had been subjected to some form of sexual abuse. The study also revealed that a substantial number of abusers were "persons in trust and care-givers" which included parents, relatives and school teachers.
But there's a general reluctance to talk about the topic and abuse by family members is rarely reported.
It's not surprising then that Ms Govindarajulu had no idea that what had happened to her was not unique.
It was only in the late 1980s when she had moved to Canada and saw a television programme on child sexual abuse that the penny dropped.
"I was sitting on the couch in my brother's home with his wife, we were flicking channels and we came across this show. I realised I wasn't alone. I wasn't evil or bad or dirty."
Marrying a cousin is not uncommon in some Hindu communities in southern India and her sister-in-law is none other than her childhood friend, her abuser's daughter.
"She said, 'This would never happen in India.' I contradicted her, 'It does, it happened to me'. She asked me, 'It was my father, wasn't it?'," Ms Govindarajulu says.
It made sense to other family members too because, as they all said, "he doted on you while you hated him".
It still took her - and her family - years to do something about it.
In 1999, when her brother visited Chennai, he confronted the abuser about it.
"Initially he denied it. Then he said, 'Yes I touched her, but always with love.' My brother asked him if he'd also touched his daughter that way. 'Of course not,' he said.
"My brother asked him if he'd touched others too? 'None of your business,' he told him. "And then he added, 'At least I never used my penis.' Maybe he was trying to tell him that he had done nothing illegal," Ms Govindarajulu says.
"When my brother spoke to my abuser's wife, my cousin, she said, 'That makes sense. I'd see him around her bed at night but he always said that he was comforting her because she'd had nightmares."
Ms Govindarajulu says her cousin called her to say it was best to let bygones be bygones.
"She said, 'I've forgiven him, you forgive him too. He's god to me. I'm married to him.' I have not spoken to her since. It's been a huge loss for me. She was a big sister to me."
On his return from India, her brother sent out an email to the wider family. And a cousin, who didn't want to go public, confided in him that she too had been abused by the same man.
Her brothers and the rest of the family rallied around Ms Govindarajulu, offering her support, and everyone vowed that they would make sure the man had no access to children again.
But in 2013, when Ms Govindarajulu visited his house to meet her aunt who was bedridden and couldn't leave home, she felt that little had changed.
So in 2015, she took the tough decision to go public. "I went to the police in Canada, I told them I wanted to file a case but they said they had no jurisdiction" since the abuse had happened in India and that all the people were based there.
"But they were extremely supportive, they counselled me and wrote out a report for the Chennai police."
Ms Govindarajulu says the Chennai police were also "very sympathetic", but they said they couldn't register a complaint because the statute of limitations had run out.
So last August, she filed a petition on change.org demanding that the law must be amended to allow adult survivors to report childhood abuse to stop repeat offences by molesters.
Her petition has received more than 120,000 signatures and her cause has also won support from the women and child development minister.
In recent days, some of the Indian press has reached out to the man, but he has refused to respond to Ms Govindarajulu's allegations. "I have already spoken to the police about this last year. There is nothing more that I would like to say," he told one website.
Ms Govindarajulu, however, says she's not seeking just personal justice. Moreover, she says she has little hope that she will ever see her abuser prosecuted.
"He's 75 and even if a court case is brought against him, it will take a long time and he may not even live that long. But such people are almost always repeat offenders and I feel guilty about not being able to protect other children. At least we can stop him from abusing other children in future."
The abuse, she says, has affected her entire life. "I struggled with relationships, I couldn't have children."
But she draws some satisfaction from the fact that after she went public, his social status has suffered and her other cousins no longer socialise with him.
But her decision to go public has not found favour with her eldest brother who says it could embarrass the abuser's son and daughter.
"But I say there's only one criminal in this story and that's not me," says Ms Govindarajulu.
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A clubber has died after taking a "bad batch" of drugs which hospitalised four others, police said. | The 18-year-old man from Chelmsley Wood, Solihull, was taken to hospital on New Year's Day after partying at the Rainbow in Digbeth.
Three men and a woman have now been released from hospital after treatment.
Police believe class A pills were distributed inside the club by a woman and two men, one of whom may have been wearing a fluorescent jacket.
All five casualties went to the same nightspot on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.
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Before the Covid-19 pandemic, working from home was often seen as a luxurious oddity. For many, though, it has become the norm - not just for them, but their partners, too. How are couples coping? | By Laurence CawleyBBC News
When James and Jo Williamson first started working from home together, everything was fine.
"We both had our desks set up in our home office. It was all lovely," says James.
"But then it turned out I was too loud to work next to."
James, an analyst programmer, and Jo, a contracts officer for a university, began working together at home, in Jaywick, Essex, in March.
It was the month that Prime Minister Boris Johnson advised people to do so if possible to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection.
Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures show that by the following month, nearly half the entire UK workforce was doing at least some of their work from home.
Yet home-working was not possible for millions of workers, including those most at risk of infection - such as nurses, paramedics and others in the healthcare sector.
People in the professional, technical and managerial occupations were, according to the ONS, the most likely to be able to work from home, while those in skilled trades, sales or factories were the least likely.
A study into the high death rate among another group who could not work from home - London bus drivers - concluded an earlier lockdown would likely have saved their lives.
The Williamsons, however, doubled up in their home office with extra monitors, a desk and an office chair for Jo.
"It is like a control centre in there," says James. "I can do the majority of my work from home, which has been pretty handy. I can get access to all the servers and bits and pieces that I need to."
But their side-by-side experiment was over within days.
"I moved out," says Jo. "That's because when our meetings clashed, which they often do, he's just a lot louder than I am, so I had to go off and shut the door.
"So I am now in another room."
Gareth and Courtney, who asked for their surname to be withheld, have had to adapt the living arrangements in their small townhouse in Woburn, Bedfordshire, to accommodate their new working-from-home set-up and the needs of their two young children.
The couple both hold senior roles with internationally-known firms.
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Before the pandemic, Courtney was travelling to up to three different countries per week in her role.
"It has been a juggling act," she says. "We had to figure out a really robust plan, and that even involved us setting up an Excel schedule and painting one of our walls with blackboard paint and then writing out our work calendars on it and then working out who has the more critical meetings that day."
Gareth has largely been based in a spare bedroom while Courtney has set up shop on the kitchen table.
"I think we will look back on this year at some stage and feel a bit nostalgic about it. I've never felt more married than I have this year and it has tested every inch of our family dynamic," she says.
While working from home together has worked for Jo and James and Gareth and Courtney, it has not been plain sailing for many other couples.
One Suffolk mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, tells how her and her husband's marriage collapsed after lockdown brought their differences into sharp relief.
"We both have quite high powered jobs and our little boy was previously in full-time nursery," she says. "Lockdown meant that all changed and he was at home all of the time."
Her husband, she says, refused to play any role in looking after their son, leaving childcare entirely to her, which meant she was starting work in the very early hours and restarting, often working into the small hours.
"He played no role whatsoever. In reality it just highlighted things that had been building in our relationship for a number of years.
"It was the sense of isolation that was the worst thing. There are few things more lonely than feeling alone in a marriage."
Marriage counselling via the internet failed, and she left the family home in May, with her son.
"We live in a flat now, which I just love," she says. "The strange thing is that now the custody arrangements are in place, my ex-husband has become a much better father."
How to be happier while working from home
Source: BBC
Relate, which offers relationship support, surveyed its counsellors and found that of the 68 who responded, more than half reported an increase in clients struggling to maintain a good work-life balance, and 65% said they had seen a rise in the number of clients presenting with issues relating to a change in job or working circumstances.
One of Relate's counsellors is Holly Roberts, who has also found herself working from home alongside her partner in their Brighton flat.
"One of the common issues seems to stem from when somebody had been working, or primarily in the home, since before the pandemic. They have then had the issue of trying to manage the space and responsibilities between them," she says.
"There have also been difficulties with sharing issues at work, in which a person working from home tries to talk about things they would normally talk about in the office with their partner. The other person sometimes finds themselves saying, 'Look, I'm your partner, not your co-worker.'"
Then there the expectations people have of each other, including domestic tasks such as doing the laundry or making lunch.
"That kind of things can cause friction," she says.
"The year has been anxiety-inducing in all sorts of ways and, for those with children too, it has been really hard to manage relationships, time, work and children and it has left some feeling that they are a terrible partner or parent.
"I've had couples who tell me they thought they had a really good relationship and they now worry that perhaps they don't have as good a relationship as they thought."
So how does she help them resolve their issues?
"I'm trying to help people understand that what they are feeling is entirely natural, to be kinder to themselves, to accept the feelings they are having and to know they are so far from being the only people feeling that way."
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A man has been charged with murder after a 92-year-old man was stabbed to death at a house in Leicestershire. | Police were called to a property in Greendale Road, Glen Parva, at about 16:00 BST on Tuesday and found Edwin Whatsize's body.
Darren Whatsize, 46, of Greendale Road, Glen Parva, has been remanded in custody to appear at Leicester Magistrates' Court, on Thursday.
An elderly woman was in the property at the time but was not injured.
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During the summer riots in 2011 police officers came under attack from thousands of people involved in civil unrest and looting. Lawlessness broke out in cities across England in perhaps the largest example of disorder in post-war Britain. | Here, two former Metropolitan Police officers describe what it was like policing London, where the riots began.
The view from the front line
The riots began following a protest in Tottenham over the shooting of Mark Duggan by police.
Sgt Simon Willmott and a fellow officer filming the disorder found themselves facing a violent mob of several hundred people.
He only had a see-through plastic shield to protect himself.
"I was on the front with the shields with the other officer who was doing the filming, and we were getting hit," he said.
The pair were hit with bottles and fruit.
"It just seemed surreal. We were then getting attacked with tins of baked beans and soup. We weren't trained for that.
"We were getting hit all the time with missiles. I thought it is only going to be a matter of time when we will get hit with something that will cause me serious injury."
While not specifically afraid for his life, at the back of his mind was the knowledge he could be shot at too.
"Being in an area such as this [Tottenham, north London] with the link to firearms that it has, there's that risk of threat as well," he added.
Flitting through his mind was the thought: "Is a gunman going to come out of the rioters and suddenly shoot at you?"
Years of training and experience stopped him from being paralysed with fear though.
"You are working with your colleagues who you trust and you're there to do a job. At the end of the day, whilst there were several hundred, if not thousand, people causing destruction on the streets of Tottenham, we were there to protect many other thousands that were in that area."
Mr Willmott, a police officer of 32 years, retired from the Met in 2013, but for him the memories of 2011 are still vivid.
"I was involved in policing many violent disorders in my career, but this was without doubt the most serious one.
"It went on for the longest, the intensity was quite overwhelming and the destruction on the night will forever stay in my mind."
Buildings burned down, windows were smashed and glass, bottles and other debris clogged the roads.
In his experience "serious disorders don't last long".
"I expected this one to sort of peak-out quite soon, but it just seemed to go on, and on, and on."
It was light when we he started his shift and it was light when he and his colleagues finished the following morning as more officers moved in to replace them.
He said walking down Tottenham's High Road on the second day of the riots was like surveying a "war-torn scene".
Afterwards he spent hours poring through the tapes he and his colleague had filmed to see if they could identify any of the rioters and looters.
"It was an opportunists' night, people came and seized what was a peaceful demonstration - and in some eyes a justifiable one - and turned that around and attacked the community."
"They wanted to hurt people, regardless, I think, of who they were."
The view from the control room
Former Croydon Borough Commander Adrian Roberts said he felt helpless many times as he watched events unfolding on the screens in front of him in the police control room.
Five years on, he recalls the moment when he thought the situation had escaped from police control.
"We had received some intelligence of looting taking place and we got there as the looters were entering the premises," he said.
"The looters made their getaway with a series of police officers chasing after them down the street, and I was watching this all on camera. The next thing I saw was two vehicles driving back running over police officers.
"I think for the first time in my career I felt, we've lost police officers. That just sent a cold chill through the rest of my body, but then remarkably those officers got up and they only suffered minor injuries.
"That was a rude awakening, you felt responsible. You felt you were leading this and when you saw that, you just thought 'this is out of my hands and I can't do anything to put it right'."
Mr Roberts, who retired as a chief superintendent after 30 years in the Met, praised the bravery of the officers.
"The thing that still stands out for me now, from those four or five days in August, was we saw the very worst and best of society.
"On the one hand, we had brazen criminality and lack of regard to property and life in some respects, and tremendous losses by communities which were devastating.
"On the other hand, we had outstanding bravery and leadership by the emergency services, not just by police, and communities coming together. They were making a very clear statement that they are not going to tolerate this and we want to get back to normality as soon as possible."
"My job is to protect people and that was probably the only time in my career that it had come to the point where the police service was really stretched so far that we weren't able to achieve that everywhere.
"People, largely yes, but property, no.
"It felt awful. There came a point when I had to make a decision about life over property in some areas. That's not a difficult decision to make, but to see the videos of people, criminals, targeting outlets and stealing property and us not having the resources to deal with it, that was soul destroying."
On a personal level he found it particularly upsetting to see his borough suffer over the course of a couple of evenings.
"I was brought up here in Mitcham. Croydon was my local town. I was married in Croydon. My wife's from Croydon.
"I was at Croydon for the best part of four years, worked with the local communities and chief executives and we had really made a difference in Croydon. In a couple of nights this had all been threatened."
After the third night of riots on Monday 8 August, his wife called to chide him about not contacting her for hours during the unprecedented levels of disorder.
"[She] rang me up and told me off for not speaking to her for 12 hours on the phone, and was in tears, and said 'do you remember that was where we bought our first sofa, from Reeves Corner that got razed to the ground'.
"That got me very upset. Just like the carpet store in Tottenham, it was a symbol for local communities. It had always been there. It was somewhere we always used locally. And the fact that had been razed to the ground was evidence about how serious it was and how unique this whole tragic event was.
"When I went back to Croydon at the end of the week and walked the town and saw the absolute devastation, thankfully it seemed as if the local communities had quickly restored themselves and moved forwards."
The loss of the 144-year-old furniture shop House of Reeves is something he says he will never forget.
"We had never experienced anything like this in the UK before, such widespread criminality, in such large areas, driven by social media.
"What doesn't make the press was the many places we managed to get to and save," he adds.
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Nigeria's militant Islamist group Ansaru has proved to be a formidable threat during its short existence, using dynamite to penetrate heavily-fortified compounds and taking foreigners hostage - seven of whom it said it had killed on Saturday. | By Farouk ChothiaBBC Africa
Ansaru was formed in January 2012, though it rose to prominence only about six months later through the release of a video in which it vowed to attack Westerners in defence of Muslims worldwide.
"For the first time, we are glad to announce to the public the formation of this group that has genuine basis," said a statement issued by the group in January 2012 and quoted in local media.
"We will have [a] dispassionate look into everything, to encourage what is good and see to its spread and to discourage evil and try to eliminate it."
Its full Arabic name, Jama'atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan, means: "Vanguards for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa".
This suggests that it has a wider regional agenda, with the UK listing Ansaru as a "terrorist group" linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Just two months after it was formed, the UK said the militant group had killed a Briton and an Italian taken hostage in the north-western state of Sokoto after a failed attempt to rescue them.
Then in December 2012, it abducted French national Francis Colump, 63, following an attack on a well-guarded compound in the northern town of Rimi, about 25km (15 miles) from Katsina city.
About 30 Ansaru gunmen used dynamite to force their way into the compound, seizing Mr Colump who, officials, said, was working on a wind power project.
It carried out a similar attack in February 2013, capturing seven foreign nationals from a housing compound owned by the Lebanese construction company Setraco.
It said the attack was to avenge "transgressions" by European nations in Mali and Afghanistan, where Western forces are battling Islamist insurgents.
On Saturday, it released a video saying it had killed the "Christian" hostages because the UK and Nigerian forces were planning an operation to rescue them - an allegation the UK denied.
'Lost dignity of Muslims'
It has also carried out attacks on Nigerian targets.
In January 2013, Ansaru said it had carried out an attack which killed two Nigerian soldiers as they prepared to deploy to Mali.
The group said it targeted the troops because the Nigerian military was joining the French-led military campaign to "demolish the Islamic empire of Mali".
French journal Jeune Afrique-L'Intelligent says Ansaru is led by the little-known Abu Ussamata al-Ansary.
It quoted a statement by him as saying that the Nigerian government was "incapable of defending Muslims in inter-religious violence with Christians".
The group also said it was fighting to reclaim "the lost dignity of Muslims of black Africa" and the creation of an Islamic caliphate from Niger to Cameroon and northern Nigeria.
Analysts believe it is an off-shoot of Boko Haram, which launched an insurgency in 2009 to create an Islamic state in Nigeria, rather than across the region.
"To some, the sect headed by Ansary is seen as one that will compliment the 'struggle' by the Boko Haram sect under Imam Abubakar Shekau but to many it is an indication that all is not well with the leadership of the Boko Haram sect and that there has been conflict about its ideology and its understanding of Islam," wrote journalist Tukur Mamu in Nigeria's Desert Herald newspaper last year.
"Hence, the decision to form a new group."
According to Nigeria's Standard newspaper, Ansaru has denounced Boko Haram's style of operation as "inhuman to the Muslim ummah [nation]", an apparent reference to killing of innocent Nigerians - Christian and Muslim - through bombings and assassinations.
"Islam forbids killing of innocent people, including non-Muslims. This is our belief and we stand for it," Mr al-Ansary said in the video released last year.
But Mr al-Ansary added that non-Muslims can be killed "in self-defence or if they attack Muslims", which seems to explain the killing of Nigerian soldiers to be deployed to Mali.
However, analysts say it does not justify the killing of civilian hostages - unless Ansaru holds them accountable for the actions of Western governments in countries such as Mali, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Analysts believe that Nigeria's government will find it more difficult to end the Islamist insurgency now that two groups are operating.
The government is said to be working with counter-terrorism experts from several countries - including the US and UK - in an attempt to neutralise the threat posed by Boko Haram and Ansaru, amid fears that they could worsen instability across West and central Africa.
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The European Union has expressed concern over reports that relatives of three Tamil parliamentarians have been kidnapped.
In a statement, the European Union condemned the abductions and called for the release of the hostages. | On Wednesday, a member of parliament for the Tamil national Alliance, Suresh Premachandran, said relatives of three of his
parliamentary colleagues had been abducted in three different incidents in the North.
Premachandran alleged that the three members of parliament, all of whom belong to the Tamil National Alliance, were under
pressure not to vote against the government's budget on Friday.
Speaking to Sandeshaya the spokesman of the British High Commission in Colombo, John Cully said that the European Union urges
any one with influence over the kidnapers to act urgently to secure the release of the victims unharmed
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Prosecutors in Bulgaria say they have smashed a passport scam which saw thousands fraudulently acquire Bulgarian citizenship - and with it, the right to travel and work throughout the European Union. | More than 20 people have been arrested, including officials.
Applicants are said to have paid up to $5,690 (£4,445) for fake certificates of Bulgarian origin.
Police have raided the offices of the State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad.
Staff at the agency were allegedly involved in selling fake certificates to buyers in nearby non-EU countries.
Many of the false applications are believed to have come from states with sizeable ethnic Bulgarian minorities, including Moldova, Macedonia and Ukraine.
Some reports suggest the agency was issuing about 30 dubious certificates a week.
Prosecutors say they are investigating the agency's work on counts including bribe-taking, forgery and abuse of office.
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The French are renowned as enthusiastic hunters. The country even has a political party called Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition. But, as John Laurenson reports, each new generation has a greater aversion to harming animals. | In a wood near the village of Hanches, 50 miles west of Paris, it's so quiet you can hear the rain dripping off the trees.
"I like to hear all the noise in the forest. I think I am like an animal, like a prehistoric man. It's in my nature," whispers Mathieu Andro, a 38-year-old agronomy researcher with a rifle.
Strung along this forest path are seven other hunters. And soon we start to hear the strange yelps of six more who, with a couple of dogs, are beating their way towards the line.
There's a scuffling in the bushes and a deer darts out of the wood, stands there for a moment and bounds on.
Andro swears, fumbles for his hunting horn, gives the two-blast signal for a roe and swears again.
Even if he'd had time to get a shot in, the angle was too risky, he explains. If he'd taken a shot, he might have hit the next hunter in the line. But still it's annoying.
He had already missed a stag the previous week. It was a pretty amazing experience though, he says, tracking it for three hours. "I was so close I could smell him."
Mathieu Andro is one of the approximately one million hunters (1,246,000 according to the French Hunting Federation, 960,000 according to anti-hunting pressure groups) that make France the biggest hunting country in Europe.
But every year for as long as anyone can remember the number gets smaller. Thirty years ago there were roughly twice as many.
This is partly due to the decline of animals to hunt.
"I've been hunting since I was 16. I'm 64 now. I can remember when there were 120 of us. Now we're 28," says Bernard Poirier, president of the Hanches hunters' association.
"It's because of intensive farming," he says. "They've killed most of the small game (hare, partridge, pheasant, woodcock) grubbing up hedgerows and creating the massive fields we have now. The hare eat the pellets the farmers put down for the slugs and die and the partridges are mangled in their machines."
France's deer and wild boar populations, on the other hand, are on the rise. There are so many of the latter - rooting around in crops, ramming Renault Scenics - that hunters are allowed to shoot pretty much as many as they like.
Sometimes, the authorities even step in to shoot a few more.
At about 10am, after succeeding in shooting precisely nothing, the Hanches hunt takes a break. There are no labels on the jars of pâtés or the bottles of wine they open up. Everything's made by the hunters themselves or their friends.
I get talking to a mechanic, a school canteen cook, a bus driver and a chip stand-owner and hear about another reason for the decline of the French hunter - the cost.
There's the price of the gun, the bullets and cartridges and the clothes that make you look like you've walked in from a war zone, the licence and the fee for every animal you kill (up to 300 euros for a stag).
The National Federation of Hunters gives me a further reason for the disruption of hunting - people moving from the country to the towns and, more generally, from place to place.
Bernard Poirier, meanwhile, says young people can't be bothered to get up early and tramp around the wet fields but prefer to fiddle around with their mobile phones.
Whatever the cause, an old French tradition is under threat.
French schoolchildren, taking a first stab at grown-up reading, often have a go at My Father's Glory by one of France's best-loved novelists, Marcel Pagnol. The "glory" in question is a brace of rock partridges.
Guy de Maupassant wrote enthusiastically about hunting too. So did Albert Camus.
All would have been keenly aware that the common people's right to hunt was the first won from the nobility by the French Revolution.
Find out more
Listen to John Laurenson's report for the World Tonight on the BBC iPlayer
But now it's the opponents of hunting who are on the rise.
In front of the Senate, the upper house of the French parliament, where a few dozen protesters are chanting "No hunting, no hunting!" I meet François Darlot, president of France Without Hunting, a pressure group that hopes that France will follow the lead of the canton of Geneva, in Switzerland, which banned hunting back in 1974.
"Things have changed a lot since my father's day," Darlot says.
"He was a farmer and a hunter at a time - about 50 years ago - when France had two-and-half million hunters.
"The main reason for the decline is that our values have changed. We have so much more sensibility now when it comes to the animal world."
On my next outing with the Hanches hunters, a small group this time, we walk over a field of wet rapeseed looking for small game.
One of the younger hunters, Christophe Potier, is the first Frenchman I've seen in a good long while who wears a beret.
His dog puts up a partridge. He aims, fires and brings it down. It struggles on the ground for a moment before his dog finishes it off and brings it to its master. A beautiful bird. Still warm.
One of the things Christophe's hunting friend Mathieu had told me in that wood the previous day was that, a generation or two ago, French country dwellers were able to kill a chicken without thinking twice about it. Not any more - many now are too squeamish.
But Christophe is more old-school. And he's got plans for his partridge.
"I'm going to pluck it and cook it," he says. "Roast it probably. With mushrooms."
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Detectives have released a picture of man they want to trace as part of a murder investigation at a seaside resort. | Caroline Fisher, 52, from Eastwood in Nottinghamshire, died in hospital after a fight outside Buzz Bar on Sea Lane in Ingoldmells, Lincolnshire, on 20 July.
Lincolnshire Police said the man may have witnessed the incident that led to her death.
The force said he may have also been a victim of an assault himself.
A 30-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man from South Yorkshire arrested on suspicion of murder have been bailed.
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South Africa was swift to impose a strict lockdown and rigorous testing at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, but its vaccination programme can best be described as stuttering - despite it having the worst mortality figures on the African continent. | By Pumza FihlaniBBC News, Johannesburg
In January, the country appeared to be finally out of the blocks - and faster than other African countries when it came to getting hold of the vaccines - but the rollout has since faltered.
With only 0.5% of the population vaccinated, South Africa lags behind the likes of Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
The government has had to push back its target of injecting 40 million South Africans, about two-thirds of the population, by December to next March.
And with winter fast approaching there are concerns about a third wave of coronavirus infections - particularly as not all frontline health workers have yet had a jab.
Critics say that had officials planned better, millions of South Africans - instead of just 300,000 - would be vaccinated by now.
Last year, the government talked tough about how seriously it was taking the virus and how closely it was following the science. Yet when it came time to securing vaccines, the country seemed to rely on getting them through the global Covax scheme.
The idea behind the initiative was to pool resources to support the development of vaccines with a view to ensure that all countries received a fair supply of effective vaccines.
But wealthier nations have seemingly stymied its effectiveness by doing deals with manufacturers guaranteeing themselves a supply meaning Covax has struggled to obtain enough doses.
AstraZeneca vaccines rejected
Covax aside, South Africa's vaccine programme had other problems.
The country eventually secured a deal in January to buy the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India, paying more than double the amount charged to the European Union.
Then in February a study in South Africa involving some 2,000 people found that the vaccine offered "minimal protection" against mild and moderate cases of the coronavirus variant that is most common in the country.
As a result, the vaccine programme was put on hold, and South Africa sold its one million doses to the African Union.
Prof Shabir Madhi, who led the AstraZeneca trials in South Africa, said the sale was a mistake, as the vaccines already acquired should have been used for high-risk people.
"The AstraZeneca will still protect against severe disease, even if it didn't protect against mild and moderate case," local media quoted him as saying.
"Selling our AstraZeneca vaccines was a miscalculation by our government; one that has set us back by several months in terms of our vaccination rollout."
In February the country did become the first in the world to administer the single-dose Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine after studies showed it had a higher protection rate against the South African variant than other jabs.
Johnson & Johnson delay
It was issued before its licence was granted as part of a trial, known as the Sisonke study, to vaccinate heath workers
Though this too hit a hurdle early in April when the US Food and Drug Administration suspended it after it found six people had developed a rare blood clot after having the vaccine.
South Africa followed suit, saying it needed time to consult local health experts on how to procced.
The suspension was lifted later in the month, yet unlike the US, South Africa had not had the luxury of changing to another vaccine during the J&J suspension.
"The lesson here is to truly consider the benefit-risk ratio before taking such a decision," the Businesstech website quotes Prof Madhi as saying.
It is a sentiment shared by Dr Mvuyisi Mzukwa from the South African Medical Association, an advocacy organisation for doctors.
More on South Africa's Covid crisis:
"At the time of the US decision we had our own data from more than 200,000 health workers who were part of the Sisonke trial," he told the BBC.
"What the government should have done was look at that data first and see whether there had been any reports of a similar problem instead of simply copying and pasting what the US were doing and stopping the trial abruptly."
'Delays create suspicion'
Dr Mzukwa is concerned that the way the J&J issue was handled may contribute to vaccine hesitancy.
"It may cause more suspicion now. The government will need to make a concerted effort to assure communities, in their own language, that the vaccine is safe to take. If they don't, we may find ourselves facing vaccine hesitancy and we can't afford that in vulnerable communities."
And some do have the jitters, like Johannesburg-based insurance salesman Langa Mavuso, who told the BBC he would not get the injection unless it became mandatory, despite the World Health Organization saying the vaccines are safe, with some experiencing only mild side effects.
"I personally don't want to be the first to get the vaccine. What if there are irreversible problems?"
Even physiotherapist Donna Dudley, whose family has a history of blood clots, is nervous but may get the injection to protect her patients.
For Johannesburg estate agent Eniel Noeth it all comes down to safety: "I'm happy about the delays because I believe that testing still continues during this time and hopefully when improvements have been made to the vaccines."
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize denies that the pauses were an overreaction and rejects accusations that the vaccination programme has been haphazard.
And he does not foresee further delays, recently announcing that the country had now secured a total of 51 million jabs from various manufacturers to be delivered in tranches during the course of the year:
The vaccinations will then be done in three phases:
But for some, the plan is just too slow.
Reality Check:
"Hundreds of people come in and out of the shop every day. Yes we take measures to protect ourselves but I want the vaccine so I'm sure I've done everything to protect my family," Thembeka Mnisi, a retail store manager and mother of two, told the BBC.
Prof Thumbi Ndung'u, deputy director of the African Health Research Institute, says there is an urgency in light of new waves and mutations.
"We need to be vaccinating people at a much faster rate than we are doing currently," he told the BBC.
"It is important that our government learns some lessons from other countries such as India on how devastating this virus can be."
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The UK has one of the most advanced health systems in the world, but one of worst child mortality rates in Western Europe.
In this week's Scrubbing Up, Dr Ingrid Wolfe of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and lead author of a report published this week entitled 'Why Children Die' examines why the UK is lagging behind its European counterparts and suggests what we should be doing about it. | By Dr Ingrid WolfeRoyal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Around 6,000 children and young people die a year in the UK. Over two-thirds of these are aged under five, and the majority are under the age of one.
These statistics alone don't tell us much.
However, by looking at where the UK sits compared to other European countries, we get a much clearer picture of how well we're actually performing.
Lagging behind
A paper published this week in the Lancet reveals that the UK is bottom of the Western European league table when it comes to child mortality rates of under-fives.
We have higher rates than countries including Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Portugal and are more in-line with Poland and Serbia than with the high performing countries such as Iceland, Sweden and Germany.
Even if you don't compare the UK to other individual countries and instead look at the Western European average, the number of under-fives deaths is around 25% higher in the UK.
Perhaps even more worryingly, despite overall child mortality rates declining in the UK, the rate of improvement is slower than other Western European countries.
The Lancet paper shows that by 2030 we'll still be lagging behind other European countries.
So we know for a fact that we are performing badly and we're not improving quickly enough.
But why is the UK lagging behind?
Is it the healthcare system and quality of care our children receive, or are there lifestyle factors at play? What is it that makes other countries better than us?
In reality, it's a combination of factors; but just because the causes are complex that shouldn't stop us looking for solutions.
No coincidence
This week the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health launched a report - Why Children Die - that dug deeper into what it is children die from and which of these deaths can be prevented.
Our overarching conclusion was that risk of child death disproportionally affects poorer families.
When you compare Britain to the rest of Europe, we are one of the most unequal societies, with a growing gap between rich and poor.
It is no coincidence that our child mortality rates are also the worst.
Our analysis of the causes of child deaths shows many deaths in under-fives are due to risky behaviours (such as smoking) during pregnancy, which is more common among women who are socially disadvantaged.
Drinking during pregnancy is another risk factor, as is children being around second-hand smoke and unsafe sleeping - all of which can contribute to premature death.
So what do we want to see?
The focus has to be on reducing the growing gap between rich and poor - put simply, countries that spend more on social protection have lower child mortality rates.
Stark message
Social protection means things like helping poor families to make sure they have safe secure housing, enough healthy food to eat, and money to buy shoes for their children.
But we also need to focus on improving health of mothers, preventing babies being born too early, and making sure all healthcare professionals who look after babies are better trained to spot early when a child may become seriously ill and act quickly.
Our report 'Why Children Die' recommends:
•Withdrawing the new cap on welfare spending and implementing a safety net so that the rising living costs do not hit families with the lowest incomes
•Action across the health system to promote smoking cessation in pregnancy and before
•Targeted awareness campaigns for safe sleeping to prevent sudden infant death syndrome
•Better training for healthcare staff: All frontline health professionals involved in the acute assessment of children and young people should be confident and competent to recognise a sick child and know what to do about it.
The messages are stark; living in an unequal society raises the risk of children dying. It's time to put piecemeal policies aside and bring the UK up to standard of the best when it comes to the health of our children.
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Two men have been charged in relation to an aggravated burglary in Strabane, County Tyrone, on Sunday. | Police received reports of two men forcing entry to a house in Ballycolman estate and attacking two occupants with a hammer and stealing a car.
The men, aged 22 and 24, will appear before Strabane Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.
They face charges including grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary with intent to steal and criminal damage.
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Two men have been arrested on suspicion of attempting to kill a man who was doused in a flammable liquid and set on fire as he answered the door of his home. | The 48-year-old was targeted in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, in the early hours of Thursday.
Two men aged 32 and 35, were held on suspicion of wounding, attempted murder and arson with intent to endanger life.
The two arrested men, from Liverpool and Skelmersdale, remain in custody.
The victim suffered serious burns and remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital, police said.
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Korea's sour and spicy national dish, kimchi, has begun popping up in supermarkets and on restaurant menus in Europe and the US. Even America's First Lady Michelle Obama has shared her recipe. And the government is hoping it will spearhead a drive to promote Korean food overseas. | By Lucy WilliamsonBBC News, Seoul
Standing in her well-equipped kimchi laboratory, her coral lipstick bright against her white lab coat, Kim Soon-ja directs a team of research assistants in their latest project. Giant flasks of pink and yellow kimchi stock tower over the work-table, as they test salt levels in a petri-dish of spicy gloop.
Mrs Kim is South Korea's kimchi Grand Master, and a secret weapon in expanding the appeal of the country's national dish.
"I started to experiment with kimchi recipes when I was a child," she said. "I couldn't imagine my life without it."
Few Koreans could. Kimchi, traditionally made with cabbage, is seen as synonymous with national culture, credited with fighting off infections, the respiratory illness SARS and even cancer.
The annual Korean ritual of making it has recently been listed as by the UN cultural organisation Unesco as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. Quite a lot for a humble dish of fermented vegetables.
"Kimchi is symbolic of Korea," said Dr Park Chae-lin of the World Kimchi Institute in Gwangju. "One can see it on every meal table throughout the day."
"And because [Koreans have] been exposed to it from such a young age, there's a feeling of nostalgia for it when they get older: the flavour of their mother's kimchi. It's part of the identity of Koreans."
So why is Mrs Kim tinkering around with a national icon?
The answer lies many thousands of miles away - in the factories of China and the restaurants of the West.
Kimchi has already started to appear on upscale London menus. New pop-up snack stalls are offering kimchi-topped burgers or Korean-flavoured tacos to the city's cosmopolitan lunchtime crowd.
This new visibility is partly the result of South Korea's growing cultural prominence, and partly the fruit of a long-running government campaign to promote Korean food overseas.
"Ever since Korea hosted the Olympics in 1988," says Dr Park, "there was a strong drive to introduce kimchi to the world, as a food that represented Korea."
"But there was also a hesitation back then; a lack of confidence about whether people would really like it, or would be put off by the garlic smell."
Kimchi is traditionally made by adding a paste of chilli, garlic and fish sauce to salted cabbage, and allowing it to ferment - sometimes for several months, or even years. It has a distinctive sharp-sour smell and a robust, spicy flavour, which varies between each batch, and each family recipe.
Korea may be more confident now, but the old recipes, says Mrs Kim, are still considered too spicy and too "aromatic" for modern global tastes.
"Foreigners don't like it too spicy. Even Korean children don't like it too strong these days."
"These pink and yellow liquids are my new patented kimchi mixtures," she said. "They're less spicy, less salty and they have no smell at all."
This year, the government is due to invest almost $9m (£5.5m) in R&D into Korean traditional foods, with kimchi at the forefront of that campaign.
There is another $34 million (£21m) available for improving manufacturing facilities. But then there are strong reasons, aside from cultural diplomacy, why the government might be keen to promote its national icon overseas.
China competition
For all South Korea's pride in kimchi, its trade statistics reveal a different story: that South Korea is a net importer of its national dish.
In 2012, the country imported almost eight times the amount of kimchi it exported, with most of those imports coming from China.
Kimchi produced there is cheaper, but few Koreans know they're eating it, because Chinese-made kimchi doesn't appear on supermarket shelves here: sales staff say that customers would not buy it.
Instead, it ends up in the catering industry, where it's hidden from view.
Worried by China's growing role as a kimchi producer, the South Korean government is planning to tighten rules on restaurants this year, insisting they list the origin of their ingredients prominently for customers to see.
"We need to raise awareness of the true value of Korean national kimchi" said Lee Yong-jik, deputy director at the Ministry of Agriculture's kimchi department.
Many Koreans, like him, insist that national geography is crucial to kimchi's alleged anti-bacterial properties.
"The ingredients are really important," Mrs Kim explained in her kimchi lab, "not to mention the water, the temperature and also the humidity."
"It's Korea where those elements exist, so the kimchi made in Korea is full of very healthy enzymes. In China, the ingredients are different, and the environment is different as well, so you don't get the same enzymes. Korean kimchi and Chinese kimchi are two totally different things."
Perhaps the ultimate irony in all this is that, as government investment and global interest in their national dish grows, Koreans themselves are eating less of it.
"Domestic consumption has dropped dramatically," says Dr Park of the World Kimchi Institute.
"People rarely have all three meals at home these days, they're trying to eat less salty foods, and there's more choice available. Western foods are becoming much more common, even at home, and people don't tend to eat kimchi with spaghetti."
The government has noticed the trend too - and wants to reverse it.
"We're trying to educate people," said Mr Lee of the Agriculture Ministry. "To get them accustomed to Korean food, starting from childhood; hold training courses, and make it fun for families."
With increasing competition from overseas producers, and declining consumption at home, kimchi, as one prominent politician put it, "is going through an ordeal as harsh as a Korean winter".
But its place on Western menus also offers South Korea the chance to reinvent its iconic, home-spun dish. Mrs Kim's formula for foreigners may end up working quite well at home.
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An exhibition of photographs by Davide Monteleone, winner of the fourth Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Award, has opened in London.
The Italian's project, Spasibo, documents life in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya, focusing on the social, political and economic situation.
| Surrounded on nearly all sides by Russian territory, Chechnya also shares a remote border with Georgia, high in the Caucasus mountains. Rich in oil, Chechnya's economy and infrastructure were reduced to ruins by years of war between local separatists and Russian forces, combined with armed banditry and organised crime.
Monteleone became an editorial photographer for the Contrasto agency in 2000. The following year, he moved to Moscow as a correspondent and now pursues long-term personal projects.
He says: "Even though I come from the tradition of documentary photography, my goal is not only to inform, but to create images that are the interpretation of an idea. I want the audience of my work to get curious about the subject of my research and to start investigating themselves."
Monteleone travelled to Chechnya in late 2013 through to April 2014 to produce this project.
Wrestling practice in Grozny's central gym takes place under portraits of Akhmad Kadyrov, Vladimir Putin and Ramzan Kadyrov. Mr Kadyrov is the son of assassinated President Akhmad Kadyrov and a dominant figure in Chechen politics. He was nominated for the Chechen presidency by Russian President Vladimir Putin in spring 2007 and approved almost unanimously by the Chechen parliament.
"A group of pro-Kadyrov activists in the main city square for the 10th anniversary celebration of Constitution Day. In the background, the Central Mosque and the Grozny-City skyscrapers, the main symbol of the reconstruction of Grozny and Chechnya thanks to the efforts of President Kadyrov and money from Moscow," says Monteleone.
Security forces attend the same event. In the background, the five gleaming Grozny-City Towers.
"A group of men leaving the Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque, officially known as The Heart of Chechnya, after the Friday prayer. Islam, so long suppressed here, is now heavily promoted," says Monteleone.
"A girl praying in the only official female madrassa in Chechnya and in Russia. This is one of the oldest madrassas, where girls and women can study the Islamic religion," Monteleone adds.
"There is little left of the Orthodox religion in Chechnya. Most of its Russian Christian minority fled in the early 1990s, during the creation of Dzhokhar Dudayev's independent Chechen state."
"Rada, age 14, trying on a wedding dress designed by her sister, on board a bus during the rehearsal for the shooting of a movie on Chechen deportation."
Spasibo, an exhibition of photographs by Davide Monteleone, fourth laureate of the Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Award, runs 11 October - 3 November 2014, at the Saatchi Gallery, London.
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New guidance from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has stopped short of recommending specific limits on screen time, saying there is little evidence that it is harmful. But some parents have told the BBC they are frustrated by the advice and England's children's commissioner has said parents need more support. | By Laurel IvesBBC Health
Andy, whose son is 14, contacted the BBC to say he was disappointed by the advice.
"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that screen time is damaging school performance and sports performance and dangerously addictive.
"I have had to restrict my son's screen time to a Friday after school and a Saturday, due to lack of focus at school. His default was to head straight to the Xbox (which I would certainly classify as screen time... it is just a game after all which most boys are engaging in across all devices).
"After some grumbling, he has settled in and we have seen an improvement in school performance.
"I coach the under-15 football team and it is very clear, even with a 14:00 kick-off on a Sunday, who has been up all night on some form of screen."
Anne Longfield, the children's commissioner, believes guidance is sorely needed by parents.
"The fact that there isn't enough evidence doesn't mean we shouldn't have a view and try to work out what's best to do. Children are getting screens earlier, the average age to get a smartphone is now nine. Parents tell me that it is the one thing that drives them mad, causes huge rows, and they don't know what to do about it.
"Parents are worried their kids will be socially damaged if they don't give them a phone, so they're in a tough spot."
Is your family's screen time out of control?
The RCPCH said there was no good evidence yet that time in front of a screen is definitely "toxic" to health, although they did publish a list of questions families can ask to assess whether screen use is affecting their children negatively.
The questions are:
So if parents feel like screen time is having an adverse impact on their children's life, what should they do?
Set boundaries
Last year, Anne Longfield published the Digital 5 A Day campaign, which encouraged the whole family to have a healthy digital lifestyle, including parents.
"It can't be that parents have their phones in their hand the whole time. It works best if the whole family can look into a healthy digital way of life."
Anne Longfield's tips for managing screen time include:
Ms Longfield is now calling on the government to put digital emotional resilience into schools in Years 6 and 7. She is also calling for tech companies to be more "robust and have a duty of care for their users".
Prioritise sleep
Dr Richard Graham is a child and adolescent psychiatrist. In 2010, he launched the UK's first Technology Addiction Service for young people, and is on the board of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety.
He recommends that clients adopt the American Academy of Pediatrics family media plan, which allows a family to set limits together.
"This plan helps a family to look at the sort of media you are going to access, rather than restriction without explanation.
"There is good stuff online, which can make us feel well and healthy. A funny filter on Snapchat for example, can lift a child's mood. But there is also toxic content, and also the fact that screen time can disrupt important and necessary things like sleep, exercise and conversation."
His tips include:
'A focus on appearance can lead to unhappiness'
Dr Tara Porter, a clinical psychologist specialising in child and adolescent mental health, says she is concerned about screen use as a clinician and a parent.
"Girls are being sucked into drama at a younger age, things said face-to-face are often less hurtful than things said in the online echo chamber, which can be escalated," she says.
"A focus on the best appearance can also lead to dissatisfaction and unhappiness."
Her tips include:
Use tech to limit screen time
Concerned parents have a bewildering array of options to choose from when seeking to manage how much time their children spend on screens.
Some home routers and security packages allow parents to set time limits for devices and monitor and police what can be seen online. Some can be used to impose time limits but these can be very blunt tools.
Most game consoles and computers include tools that can restrict how long the particular gadget is used for.
Finally, there are apps and other tools from Apple, Google, Facebook and others that can monitor how much time is spent on various programmes. Some let parents set hard limits so net access, apps or machines are locked at specific times.
A non-profit organisation Child Net has a guide that gives advice and links for concerned parents.
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Reports in the media say the Queen has been left "heartbroken" by the loss of her corgi Willow , who famously appeared in a film with Daniel Craig's James Bond during the London Olympics' opening ceremony. | By Lucy WebsterBBC News
Pets are members of the family, and it can feel like a huge loss when they pass away.
So how can you cope if this happens, and what support is out there if you need a little help doing so?
Alessandra had to explain to her son Ethan, who has autism, that his support dog Cocoa had died suddenly from eating sweets at a family friend's house.
"It tore our life apart," says Alessandra. Cocoa had helped Ethan learn to walk, to go outside in busy London, and to cope with separation from his mum. And on some occasions she saved his life, Alessandra says, by sensing he was about to have a seizure.
She described the loss as "devastating, life changing".
"For myself as a single parent, she was my reason to get out and talk to people. She was a therapy dog when my son was at school. She was an angel and touched so many lives."
Alessandra knew it would be very difficult to explain to Ethan what had happened, as he has limited comprehension. While Ethan was at school, she found a statue of a sleeping dog.
"I left it in the place where Cocoa always slept. When he came back I explained that 'Cocoa is now sleeping with angels'. That really helped."
Tips for coping
Kiran Singh, a mindfulness, wellbeing and relationship life coach, sets out three ways to help yourself deal with the loss of a pet:
Talk through it - The best thing you can do is find people you can talk to about your pet. Reach out to others who have lost pets. Check out online message boards, pet loss hotlines, and pet loss support groups. Find a support group — many veterinary schools have them.
Look after yourself - The stress of losing a pet can quickly deplete your energy and emotional reserves. Looking after your physical and emotional needs will help you to get through this difficult time. Eat a healthy diet and get plenty of sleep.
Exercise - Pets help many older adults to stay active and playful, which can boost your immune system and increase your energy. It's important to keep up your activity levels after the loss of your pet. Check with your doctor before starting an exercise programme and then find an activity that you enjoy.
'Special bond'
The Blue Cross, a leading UK pet charity, offers support to people whose pets have died. It emphasises that mourning for a pet can be an unexpectedly hard time: "Feelings of despair, loneliness and even depression can be overwhelming," it says on its website.
It says: "There may also be a strong sense of guilt and self-doubt, particularly when a decision has been taken to euthanase or rehome a pet.
"These feelings are normal and a testimony to the special bond between people and their pets."
The charity offers support because, it says, "we often hear that friends, family members or colleagues don't quite understand the upset that losing a pet can bring, and grieving for a pet can be a very lonely experience."
Bereaved owners can submit an online form, or call or text the Blue Cross, to get support from a fully trained team.
For Naomi Timperley, the key to dealing with losing her cats has been to bond with new animals.
"My way of coping emotionally has been to get cats who have looked similar to the previous cats." This means she has had a succession of black and white cats - from Ludwig, Dave and Rolo to new kitten Winnie.
"This has helped me with the grieving process. I will never forget any of my cats."
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Ten years ago mass car production at Longbridge plant in Birmingham came to an end. Before that though the factory, which Herbert Austin set up in 1906, survived World Wars One and Two.
It also fought off post-war economic depression and the emergence of the motor industry abroad. It also recovered from strike action, mergers and take-overs and drops in its share value. | By Bethan BellBBC News
Herbert Austin resigned from his job at car-maker Wolseley in 1905, in order to set up his own firm - the Austin Motor Company.
He had already found a site he wanted for his factory, and in 1906 he bought buildings and land at Longbridge.
He sold 23 cars that year, with a turnover of £4,772.
Also in 1906
In 1908, Austin, along with Frank Kayser of Kayser, Ellison and Company, and Harvey du Cros of the Dunlop Rubber Company formed a private limited liability company. Turnover shot up to £19,744 and 254 cars sold.
At the time, other manufacturers were making six-cylinder engines. Determined to stay with the competition, Austin added two cylinders to his 40hp model.
Also in 1908
A smaller, cheaper car went into production in 1909 - the Austin 15. It was unusual in that the driver sat centrally and above the engine. The 15 continued in production until 1919.
By 1910, nearly 1,000 workers were employed at Longbridge and a night shift was introduced.
Also in 1910
The advent of World War One saw the company produce munitions, including 8 million shells, 2,000 aircraft and 2,000 trucks and lorries.
The factory expanded and to accommodate workers, Austin established a village for his employees - bungalows with at least seven bedrooms and houses with 12, which were used dormitory-style.
Also in 1914
Accounts for 1920-21 showed the company suffered in the post-war years. Austin's ordinary shares plunged in value. In an attempt at recovery, the Austin 7 was created.
The new model was exhibited at the 1922 Olympia Motor Show. With a price of £25, many more people were able to afford to buy a car. The factory expanded in 1926 to cover 62 acres.
Also in 1922
In 1936, Sir Herbert Austin was elevated to the peerage, taking the title of Lord Austin of Longbridge. He died in 1941.
World War Two saw the plant produce more than half a million jerry cans and helmets, as well as suspension units for tanks.
Also in 1941
Austin and Morris (Nuffield) Motors merged to form the British Motor Corporation in 1952.
The brainchild of car designer Sir Alec Issigonis, the Morris Mini Minor seized the imagination of the public.
In 1968, the British Motor Company was taken over by Leyland to become the British Leyland Motor Company.
Also in 1968
The Austin Allegro, with its square steering wheel, was launched in 1971. It became popular despite problems including the fact the boot lid was too small for the boot aperture and windscreens would pop out.
Launched in 1980, the Mini Metro brought the restoration of the Austin name to a British Leyland car.
Also in 1980
In 1986, Austin Rover became known as the Rover Group and the car lost its Austin badge in 1987. The Rover Metro became the Rover 100, which it remained until it ceased production in 1997.
The Rover Group was sold to British Aerospace in 1988, to BMW in 1994, and to the Phoenix Consortium in 2000.
The new company went into administration in 2005. It was announced 6,000 people would be made redundant.
Eventually bought by China's largest vehicle manufacturer, SAIC, a 60-acre site now employs about 400 people, where cars built in China are assembled.
Anniversaries source: BBC Archives
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The M25 in Surrey has reopened after traffic delays built up for several miles following a collision involving two vehicles.
| The crash happened between junction 11 at Chertsey and junction 10 at Wisley at about 07:30 GMT on Monday.
Long traffic delays built up as both carriageways were closed to allow an air ambulance to land.
All clockwise lanes reopened at 08:05 GMT, with three anticlockwise lanes opening at 09:10 GMT.
At the height of the delays traffic built up anticlockwise as far as junction 16 with the M40.
Traffic was redirected away from the motorway at junction 11 but several miles of trapped traffic had to wait to be released.
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A spate of knife crime in England has been linked to an increase in the number of young people excluded from school. But in Scotland - where just five pupils were permanently removed from the classroom in 2017 - knife violence has fallen. | By Nichola RutherfordBBC Scotland News
Why has Scotland's school exclusion rate dropped - and has it had a real impact on crime?
How many children are excluded from school in Scotland?
Official statistics show that more than 18,000 children were temporarily removed from their classroom in 2016/17.
Just five young people were excluded permanently or "removed from the register".
Exclusions of all kinds have dropped by 59% since 2006/07, when 44,794 children were suspended from school - 248 of them on a permanent basis.
The statistics relate to publicly-funded local authority schools in Scotland, not grant-aided or independent schools, or early-learning and childcare establishments.
However in England Department for Education figures show that permanent exclusions increased by 56% between 2013/14 and 2016/17.
The number of permanent exclusions across all state-funded primary, secondary and special schools stood at 7,720 in 2016/17.
Why has there been a drop in exclusions in Scotland?
Young people in Scotland can only be excluded from school in the most extreme circumstances.
And councils are duty-bound to provide a school education to all excluded pupils - whether that is in another local school, a school in a different education authority, or at an alternative location to school.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish government said: "We are committed to ensuring that all children and young people get the support that they need to reach their full learning potential with a focus on prevention and early intervention.
"Pupils are not 'removed from the roll' in Scotland and we expect children continue to receive an education while excluded, either at another school or alternative location."
She added: "Our approach to knife crime, also focusing on early intervention and prevention with young people, is recognised across the UK and internationally as making a real difference in keeping people safer."
How do schools deal with difficult students?
For many young people facing exclusion, their behaviour has been a "cry for help".
Meg Thomas, who works with schools in Glasgow and North Lanarkshire, said pupils can be communicating stress they are experiencing at home.
If they are excluded and sent back home, they return to that stressful place. It can also put them at risk of sexual and criminal exploitation.
Ms Thomas works for Includem, a third-sector organisation that supports young people in challenging circumstances.
She said that when students are at risk of exclusion, Includem often join meetings which are held with social workers, health staff, police officers.
They try to uncover the root of the difficult behaviour, to help the young person understand the consequences of their actions and their own emotions.
She may discover that they have experienced trauma, witnessed domestic abuse or they undiagnosed health problems.
And it allows the school to understand how they can best help the student - without resorting to exclusion.
Ms Thomas says it is a system which works but Includem currently only works in a small number of Scottish local authority areas.
"We need to stop getting kids excluded because we know it mean they stop entering the criminal justice system," she said.
"If we put the money in the right place at the right time, it will have long term cost savings across Scotland."
Is there a link between school exclusions and knife crime?
Research by Edinburgh University academics has found that young people who were excluded from school were much more likely to be end up in the criminal justice system and prison.
But Prof Susan McVie, one of the authors of the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime, said the link with knife crime was less clear.
"There is a connection in the sense that people who are excluded from school are more likely to be involved in carrying weapons," she said.
They found that young people who carried weapons were twice as likely to be excluded from school as those who did not carry weapons.
"But when we looked at a whole raft of factors that might impact on whether people carried weapons, school exclusion actually turned out to be quite marginal," Prof McVie added. "It wasn't the most important thing in terms of explaining people's behaviour."
She said young people who self-harmed were more likely to carry weapons, as were those who were poorly supervised by their parents and those who felt socially-marginalised in their communities.
Although there has been a reduction in violent crime in Scotland and school exclusions, she said it was very difficult to prove a causal connection.
And she suggested that Scotland's experience proved there was not one single solution to the apparent surge in knife crime in England.
"We have seen big reductions in violent crime in parts of Scotland where it was very, very high," she said.
"But it's worth also saying we've seen big reductions in violence where it wasn't very high. It not just what was done in Glasgow around the violence reduction unit that has been effective, there's a whole raft of things, of which reducing school exclusion was one.
"But better education, better youth work, better employment opportunities for young people - there's a whole raft of things and there's no one single solution."
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A total of 30 jobs are under threat at two First Milk creameries in Pembrokeshire and the Lake District. | Bosses said the move was part of an efficiency drive, with 10 posts set to go in Haverfordwest and 20 at its plant in Aspatria, Cumbria.
"We recognise that the impact of these proposed changes is significant for the people affected and we are committed to treating people with respect and consideration," said a spokesman.
A staff consultation starts this week.
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A pedestrian has died after being knocked down by a lorry in Weymouth. | Dorset Police said the crash happened shortly before 10:00 GMT on Lynch Lane in the town.
The pedestrian, a woman aged in her 50s and from Weymouth, died at the scene. The lorry driver was unhurt.
The road was closed for a time while investigation work was carried out. Police have appealed for information from witnesses or anyone who has dashcam footage.
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An otter has been found dead in the Cairngorms in what police said appeared to be old, discarded fishing gear. | The animal, an adult male, was found in the small loch near Aviemore on 9 August. Otters are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
Local police wildlife officer PC Gary Dunlop said it was an "unfortunate incident".
He said: "Although the net is old it was still in a condition to cause the death of this animal."
The officer added: "We would ask anyone visiting a loch in the area to respect the countryside and take away whatever they bring with them, including disposable food containers.
"Local landowners have been contacted, made aware of the incident and fully support this message."
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As violence has intensified in Indian-administered Kashmir, people have been flocking to the region's fabled Sufi shrines in search of solace. Sameer Yasir speaks to photographer Azan Shah, who has been documenting the anguish of the devotees. | Bakhti Begam is a regular at Khanqah-e-Moula, a Muslim Sufi shrine located on the banks of river Jhelum, which careens through the heart of Srinagar city.
She arrives quietly, holding a framed photograph of her missing son in a torn plastic bag. She places it on the stairs leading to the sanctum sanctorum and prays to be united with him.
"Please listen to me, my peer [saint]. I am broken, my peer," the 75-year-old cries with folded hands. Her son, Manzoor Ahmad Wani, who was 25 at the time, disappeared on 22 December, 2001, a few days after he got married.
Bakhti Begam regularly makes the 80km (50-mile) trip to the shrine from her home. But her prayers are yet to be answered.
"I have come from far away, my peer. Please give me my Manzoor. I will sleep peacefully after 17 years," she laments.
Bakhti Begam is just one of the many characters featured in the works of photographer Azan Shah.
Mr Shah came into the limelight when his pictures were published in a book called Witness along with a number of other photojournalists who have worked in the state during decades of conflict. The book was among the 10 best photo books of 2017 chosen by the New York Times.
Separatists have waged a violent campaign against Indian rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir since 1989. The region remains a subject of bitter dispute between India and Pakistan, who have fought two of their three wars over it. India has long accused Pakistan of fuelling the unrest, a charge Islamabad denies.
The insurgency, which had begun to wane since the late 1990s, intensified in 2016 after forces shot dead popular militant leader Burhan Wani.
Human rights organisations estimate that about 100,000 people have died as a result of the violence since the 1980s, many of them civilians. As a result, fear dominates the streets and few venture out after dusk.
Many find salvation in Sufi shrines to heal the wounds of war - not just in Srinagar, but even in remote areas of the region.
Like Bakhti Begam, there are thousands of Kashmiris, particularly women, for whom Sufi shrines have long been places of hope. Many of them, psychiatrists say, show symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Maroofa Ramzan is among them. Every week she meets a psychiatrist at Srinagar's Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital. Her mental health has worsened in recent years after the death of her son. In the darkness, she claims to hear the voice of her son, Abir Ahmad, laughing and talking. He was shot dead by the army in 2010 during a protest.
After consulting the doctor, Maroofa Ramzan takes a bus to the Dastgeer Sahib, a 200-year-old shrine.
"He is alive, isn't he," she asks the Sufi saint at the shrine. Then, after some time, she slowly moves towards the gate and waits for the bus that will take her home.
A survey by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in 2016 found nearly 1.8 million people, translating to roughly 45% of the population in Indian-administered Kashmir, suffering from similar symptoms.
Azan Shah's pictures of devotees to Sufi shrines, all of whom have their own stories of pain and loss because of the violence in Kashmir, are intentionally blurred, shaky or tilted to give a sense of chaos and uncertainty in the moment.
Mr Shah says he tries to capture the unflinching faith of thousands of devotees who converge at these shrines.
"I prefer a tilted angle because it creates a psychological uneasiness. Things feel off-kilter, unsteady and unusual," he says, adding that he tries to convey the fact that "you can't control peoples' emotions".
"People find a mediator between God and themselves in these shrines," says Showkat Hussain, a professor of Islamic Studies at the Islamic University of Science and Technology, who has written on mysticism in Kashmir.
Arshad Hussain, a leading psychiatrist based in the region, adds that in Kashmir, these spiritual spaces serve as institutions of distress alleviation. "They started in times when there was no institution [to help] or redressal mechanism. Then it became a culture. People with sickness and domestic issues would end up in shrines with their pleas.
"In the current situation, after a conflict, many distressed women after paying me a visit end up in these shrines. They feel better talking about distress in spiritual spaces than to an individual."
All photographs by Azaan Shah
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Two years ago Jo Milne became an internet sensation when footage of her hearing for the first time appeared on YouTube. Since then she has rekindled a long-lost friendship, enlisted the support of 1970s pop group The Osmonds and travelled to Bangladesh to help hundreds of deaf children. | By Julie CushBBC News
More than 10m people shared the moment when Jo Milne, who was born deaf, heard for the first time at the age of 39. She had been fitted with cochlear implants and the footage of her tears of joy on hearing a nurse read to her went viral.
Amid the flood of well-wishers was a long-lost friend - Amina Khan.
Jo had known her since she was 11 but, when Amina married at 16 and moved away to Bangladesh, the pair lost touch.
They had formed a close bond because they were both "different", Amina said. Her family was the only Asian one on their Gateshead estate and Jo was deaf.
"It was a special bond because we were different and there was a little bit of bullying going on," she said. "It was always a warm and friendly place, but there were some spiteful kids.
"But we were so close we didn't even realise. We were in our own little world."
They had plans for their future, too.
"As we were growing up we always used to say to each other that one day we would try to help the poor children of Bangladesh," said Amina.
Support for the pair's plans came from an unlikely source - The Osmonds, six brothers from Utah who formed a band with the intention of making money for their deaf elder brothers.
Members of the band had seen Jo's video and were so moved they got in touch to ask her to be an ambassador for their charity, the Hearing Fund UK.
Two years later she turned to them for the contacts she needed to transform a vague childhood promise into reality.
Jo said 5% of children in Bangladesh - 1.2m - are deaf. The plan was to fit 500 of them with hearing aids in the space of two days.
Simply boosting sound, aids are a more basic solution than the cochlear implants Jo had fitted - electronic devices that replace the function of the damaged inner ear, sending sound signals to the brain.
Jo travelled to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh where Amina lives, to film the life-changing clinics.
The "hustle and bustle" of one of the most congested cities in the world was a shock to Jo's newly revived sense of hearing.
"I was looking this way and that - I've never known so much traffic, so many people," she said.
As the day of the first clinic dawned, the queue outside grew longer and longer.
Despite being highly planned with lots of volunteers, the sheer number of people needing help meant families waiting for hours in the intense Dhaka heat.
For hearing aids to be fitted, the ears need to be perfectly clean so many of the youngsters had to have theirs cleaned before moulds were made. Once the aid was fitted the volume was gradually turned up to reach the right level.
"Watching their eyes light up, they are all reacting differently to hearing sound," Jo said.
"Some having a quiet reaction others crying. Watching them turning from left to right reacting to sound is amazing."
The hearing aids worked for most, but not all, of the children.
Rokaya Begum, whose two sons and daughter had them fitted, said: "My children can hear me and have conversations - it doesn't get much better."
Sixteen-year-old Morium said she could hear the pigeons. "They sound good," she said.
Her mother said it would mean she could get an education and job and be able to look after her parents.
To eventually see their dream of helping children in her home country come true had been "a very emotional journey" for them both, Amina said.
"I couldn't have done it alone," Jo said. "There were so many children involved."
The hearing aids "had broken down all those isolating barriers," she said.
For Jo, the chance to see the children's reactions is priceless. Despite regaining her hearing, her disorder - Usher syndrome - means she is now losing her sight.
She compares her diminishing vision to looking at the world "through a letterbox".
"It was a thought provoking visit - being deaf is a very isolating condition anyway," she added. "The stigma surrounding deafness is a world-wide issue.
"But there are thousands and thousands of children like Morium.
"At the end of the day it is a hearing world and hearing aids have enabled me to be a part of it.
"This has been a humbling experience, but it's not over - there are so many more children that I want to reach."
The Gift of Hearing will be shown at 19:30 GMT on 29 July on BBC One in the North East and Cumbria, and at 23:05 BST on 4 August on BBC Two nationwide.
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It is regarded as tradition for wives to take a man's name after marriage. Why, asks Dr Sophie Coulombeau. | My name is Sophie Coulombeau. But a year from now, after the fuss from my wedding has died down, it could be something rather different. For me, to adopt the surname of my partner and relinquish my own would profoundly affect how I think about my own identity.
On the one hand, it would bind us into a family unit and make it easier to know what to write on the birth certificates if we ever have children. But on the other, it would make me first and foremost a wife, while my husband would remain, quite simply, himself. Introducing myself as "Sophie Hardiman" would mean that saying "I do" had fundamentally changed the answer to the question "Who am I?"
If I chose to take my new husband's name, I'd be far from alone. A Eurobarometer survey, conducted in 1994, suggested that 94% of British women took their husbands' names when they got married. Recent smaller-scale research, however, suggests that this proportion has shrunk over the last two decades, especially among highly-educated and younger women. In 2013, academic Dr Rachel Thwaites found that 75% of respondents took their husband's names. Just last month, the Discourses of Marriage Research Group, a multi-institutional network interested in marriage equality, found that 54% of female respondents did the same.
Since in Britain it has always been legal to call yourself whatever you like (as long as you're not committing fraud), it's hard to get a clear and definitive picture. But as a rough guide we can estimate that when the confetti has fallen, two-thirds to three-quarters of married British women still sign documents using their husband's surname or introduce themselves using it - they apply for new passports and credit cards, or they change their handles on social media.
Feelings can run high over the issue of surname change, as demonstrated by recent criticism of Amal Alamuddin's decision to change her name when she married George Clooney. Some feminists point out that women suffer serious detriment to their careers when they change their names - that they signal their submission to their husbands, and reinforce to their own children the idea that women are inferior to men.
Others shrug the issue off and say that women's names mean little to them, or point out that a birth name is usually the name of the woman's father anyway. Those who think a woman should change her surname often say that it's not really important, but, given the choice between the various options, they prefer to go with "tradition".
This argument, of course, presupposes that traditions are worth preserving. But in fact, just a brief dip into the history of marital surname change - a specifically English phenomenon - reveals that its origins are at best controversial. And at worst, they are deeply unsavoury.
British hereditary surnames are only about 1,000 years old. Imported by the French around the time of the Norman Conquest, they stabilised throughout much of English society by the 14th Century, with Celtic regions taking longer to adapt. Married women, however, were perceived to have no surname at all, since the Normans had also brought with them the doctrine of coverture, the legal principle that, upon marriage, a woman became her husband's possession. Her state of namelessness reflected this. In the words of one court in 1340, "when a woman took a husband, she lost every surname except 'wife of'".
But, around the turn of the 15th Century, the French doctrine of coverture received a unique English twist. There was another interpretation of coverture available, based on scriptural ideas, which focused not on the husband's power over his wife but on the unity that marriage gave them.
In the words of the English jurist Henry de Bracton, they became "a single person, because they are one flesh and one blood". As this idea gained ground, so did the clerical habit of designating a married woman by her husband's surname. The married woman had formerly been a vassal with no surname at all, but now, in theory, she came to share the surname of her husband as a symbol of their legal and spiritual unity.
However, if there was one person in a marriage, that person was the husband. Married women still could not hold property, vote, or go to law. Legally, at the point of marriage they ceased to exist.
By the early 17th Century, the custom of the woman adopting her husband's surname was sufficiently entrenched in England that the antiquarian William Camden could write: "Women with us, at their marriage, do change their surnames, and pass into their husbands names, and justly. For they are no more twain, but one flesh."
Crucially, the custom was also specific to England. Camden noted with disapproval: "And yet in France and the Netherlands, the better sort of women will still retain their own name with their husbands… But I fear husbands will not like this note, for that some of their dames may be ambitiously over-pert and too forward to imitate it."
William Camden 1551-1623
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So even in 1605, Camden identified a woman's desire to retain her own name on marriage with "ambition", "pertness" and "forwardness". Perhaps this was because he saw the surname as an especially important component of the name. Surnames were, he declared, "especially respected as whereon the glory and credit of men is grounded, and by which the same is conveyed to the knowledge of posterity".
By the middle of the 18th Century, as print culture expanded and literacy increased, some of those most preoccupied with "glory", "credit" and "posterity" were wealthy, powerful or famous married women who resented that their names would die with them. In Mary Wortley Montagu's words, women desired "that Fame which Men have engross'd to themselves and will not suffer us to share".
The pioneering feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft, for example, married her fellow philosopher William Godwin in 1797. Immediately after their marriage, however, she still signed herself "MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT femme [or wife of] Godwin" - perhaps reflecting uneasiness at some of the implications of her new wedded state.
Mary Wollstonecraft 1759-1797
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More conservative 18th Century women might have hesitated to take such a radical step - Camden's accusations of "ambition" and "forwardness" were still damaging, and to sign a different surname to one's husband or children could suggest that one was living in sin, causing immense reputational damage. But in many cases these women found other ways to perpetuate their own surnames, thus cheating the companion tradition that had arisen from that of the wife taking her husband's surname - that of the children inheriting the paternal surname too.
Hester Piozzi, one of the most influential literary women of the late 18th Century, petitioned the king to allow her husband's nephew to adopt her maiden name of Salusbury, and thus continue it to posterity. The fact that he had taken her maiden name, she wrote - even though she herself had abandoned that name on her marriage - made him "my Son at last - in true Earnest; my Son by Adoption, inserted into the Pedigree of my Descent".
Other women would do the same, or even petition Parliament to pass a private act ensuring the continuation of their maiden names. This vogue for women keeping or perpetuating their surnames was deeply controversial. The novelist Frances Burney plotted her second novel, Cecilia: Or, Memoirs of an Heiress, to revolve around the problem of a man who had to take a woman's surname. Burney's novel ignited impassioned debates in drawing-rooms all around literary London, with the Duchess of Portland declaring that "nothing, the nearest our own Hearts, could have been debated more warmly".
But the royal licence and the private act of parliament were solutions for only a few very wealthy English women. As the 19th Century dawned, the majority continued to take their husband's surnames and see their own die out. Over the Victorian period, however, several English women braved fierce criticism to obtain landmark court decisions that confirmed their right to call themselves the name they chose. Florence Fenwick Miller won the right to be elected to her school board under her maiden name in 1877, and two of the first married women to stand for Parliament, Mary Macarthur and Violet Markham, did so under their maiden names. Often they still had to deal with ignorant officials who maintained that it was the law for women to take their husband's names. But the barriers came slowly down, and in 1924 Helena Normanton, the first female barrister in England, succeeded in getting the British Foreign Office to issue her a passport in her maiden name.
One of the first things Normanton did after receiving her passport was travel to the USA to mentor a group of women who were fighting for a similar right. For the custom of marital surname change had taken on a global life. Over the 19th Century it had spread to Scotland, Ireland and Wales, as well as overseas to British colonies and ex-colonies, and to parts of mainland Europe. As the legal restrictions of coverture were gradually abolished, its symbol lived on - and in some other countries, it became law.
The battle for the maiden name was particularly fierce in the USA. Lucy Stone, a 19th Century US suffragist and abolitionist, was inspired by African-American customs to keep her maiden name after her marriage, signing her correspondence "Lucy Stone (only)." She faced challenge from legal officials who wouldn't let her buy land without signing her husband's name, which inspired her to seek legal assurance that there was, in fact, no law in existence that dictated she must do so. When this was confirmed, Stone made a public announcement that her name had not changed and never would. Her fellow activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote, "Nothing has been done in the woman's rights movement for some time that has so rejoiced my heart as the announcement by you of a woman's right to her name. It does seem to me a proper self-respect demands that every woman may have some name by which she may be known from cradle to grave."
Lucy Stone 1818-1893
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In 1921, Stone's example inspired the journalist Ruth Hale to found the Lucy Stone League, an American organization supporting women's rights to keep and use their maiden names. Mentored by Helena Normanton, and open to both women and men, the 'Lucy Stoners' challenged in federal court any government edict that would not recognise a married woman by the name she chose to use. Their slogan was "My name is my identity and must not be lost." During the 1920s they succeeded in getting real estate deeds, passports, bank accounts and voter registrations issued in the names that they chose.
But various US states countered their success by passing new laws compelling women to take their husbands' surnames. One attorney-general told a women who wished to keep her name that she was "an oddball", a "sick and confused woman", whose need was "not for a change of name but a competent psychiatrist". It was only in 1972 that a succession of legal cases confirmed that women could use their maiden names in whatever ways they pleased.
Some would say that the fight is now over. Both in the UK and the US, the restrictive provisions of coverture have long been abolished and women are, at least in law, equal to their husbands. They can now make a free choice about what to do with their names - and some couples are turning to double-barrelling or even hybrid names as a compromise. Yet in Britain, the US, and many other countries that adopted this originally niche English custom, the debate rages on. Despite the protests of some people that the surname question is unimportant, it still rakes up strong feelings like few other issues. And we might well ask, in the wake of last year's Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act, whether a custom that depends on a gender-normative idea of marriage - a woman automatically sacrificing her name to take that of a man - is starting to look more outdated than ever.
I believe that every woman must make this choice for herself, and that it is important not to let a respectful debate become hijacked by judgmental accusations about who is, and is not, a true feminist. Having said that, I don't live free of history, and I can't bring myself to ignore it. If I look at the bureaucratic form that would enable me to change my name, I see the medieval script, "she has lost all surname but wife of". I see the royal licences bought by aristocratic women desperate to transmit their names to posterity. I see the legal judgment of the US attorney-general upon the "sick and confused woman… in need of a psychiatrist", and I see the signature of "Lucy Stone (only)."
When it comes to my own wedding day I will be "ambitious", "pert" and "forward". To abandon my surname and take that of my partner would mean abandoning Sophie Coulombeau, along with all the errors, achievements and resonances she created over thirty years. I would become, first and foremost, my husband's wife. And that's not the whole of me. So I will keep the name Coulombeau. I'll keep it with all its baggage, its embarrassments, its frequent misspellings, and its bad jokes about detectives. And as I sign my unchanged name in the register, I'll think of the women who made it possible for me to do so.
Listen to Is Marriage an Identity Crisis? on BBC Radio 3 on Wednesday 5 November at 22.45 GMT or catch up afterwards on BBC iPlayer.
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It used to be known as the "brain drain". | By Tara MillsBBC Newsline
The phenomenon during the Troubles whereby Northern Ireland's brightest and best students would leave to study elsewhere and never return.
Now, with more than 600 days without a government and Brexit fast approaching, are students who study elsewhere in the UK and the Republic of Ireland less likely to settle back in Northern Ireland?
I travelled to Liverpool to ask students from home for their views on the political stalemate.
Katherine Parke, from Londonderry, has been in Liverpool since 2012.
"I came here to get out of my comfort zone and to broaden the horizons a bit," she said.
'Stuck in the past'
A politics student, who is currently completing a master's degree, would the ongoing failure of Stormont influence where she settles in the future?
"It would be the opposite," she said.
"It would have a sort of a galvanising effect. I've come here and had all these opportunities."
That's not how Lucy Buller sees it.
Originally from Holywood in County Down, she is in her first year studying Geography.
"I just feel Northern Ireland is stuck in the past and stuck in such an old traditional way and we can't move out of that," she said.
"We can't think about the future because we're so stuck in the past."
'Lack of opportunities'
For other students, the lack of an executive to push forward an economic programme was the biggest issue.
Asa Mallon, from Lisburn, feels that's where the shame should be felt by politicians.
"If they're not looking after us and creating jobs for us then that's the real tragedy," he said.
Jacob Hussein was born in Birmingham, but moved to the Shankill area of Belfast with his mum and dad at the age of two.
His dad is Pakistani and his mum considers herself to be British Asian: "I'm the son of a first-generation migrant and my dad came to Belfast for the opportunities and now as a young person I'm leaving because of the lack of opportunities."
'Progressive place'
Prof Peter Shirlow is from Lisburn and lectured at Queen's University for years. He's now heading up the Centre for Irish Studies at Liverpool University.
He attended the same university in the 1980s.
"Back then students came here to study to take those skills and talents back home, but I now get the impression that's not the case," he said.
"They come here, they feel more comfortable here, they sense that this is a very progressive place and that it's a place you'd get a higher paid job and the availability of work as well.
"I get a sense now that the people who come here are very rooted and they sense this is the place they want to be."
Prof Shirlow feels the last 10 years in particular in Northern Ireland will influence today's undergraduates in Liverpool.
"This a comfortable place to live," he said.
"We don't have the legacy of the conflict, we don't have the proxy war about victims, no suspended parliament, no questions about RHI and that is one thing you do get with young people - they're fed up with the constant reference to the past."
Over in the department of electrical engineering and electronics, Belfast native Prof Alan Marshall believes students in Liverpool are much better placed for job opportunities.
"The range of opportunities for ICT-type students is much wider and broader than Northern Ireland from the automotive industry, to the aerospace industry, the defence industry, the security industry, the opportunities are much, much wider," he said.
The verdict from the students is clear - ultimately it's the economic climate, rather than the political one, which will influence their decision on where to call home.
For the full story, watch BBC Newsline on Wednesday 9 October at 18:30 BST.
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Costing around £20 million, it would be England's first new Further Education College for 20 years. Training the next generation of railway engineers for the age of the high-speed train, it could open in as little as three years' time. | Patrick BurnsPolitical editor, Midlands
It would unveil new horizons for specialists in rail construction and environmental studies.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills says the college would have "cutting-edge technology and use state-of-the-art equipment" providing training courses for the "specific needs" of the project which is expected to generate more than 2,000 apprenticeships.
Sounds great.
But where exactly would it be?
I understand several towns and cities are lining-up with an assortment of rival claims:
Manchester
Already a major player in further and higher education, with a top Russell Group university, the city would be close to the middle of the entire system if and when the network between London and Scotland is completed.
Crewe
The ultimate railway town is backed by, among others, the record producer Pete Waterman. Thirty years ago he pioneered the Railway Heritage Trust, based in the town, to preserve the skills of the railway era.
Derby
Although not due to be on a high-speed line itself, the long-time home of train-making embraces a cluster of over 100 rail or rail-related businesses, the largest in Europe say the Derby and Derbyshire Rail Forum.
Each of the above will no doubt find staunch advocates among my esteemed counterparts in their respective regions.
Because this is where I concentrate on the claims of the other city expected to go into the hat:
Birmingham
The driving force behind the city's charm offensive is the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership. The Midlands' biggest LEP includes not just the conurbation itself but also large areas of South and East Staffordshire and North Worcestershire.
They are hoping nine FE colleges from Burton-upon-Trent to Kidderminster will be able to join a consortium capable of delivering a truly collegiate approach to turning the government's vision into reality.
The University of Birmingham's Centre for Railway Research and Education is also at the forefront of high-speed rail research.
But the idea has had a mixed reception from educationalists.
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers says: "The government should be helping FE Colleges to provide engineering and requisite skills. The need for an HS2 college may show there should be a review of how vocational education and training fit into wider industrial policy and skills development. The government seem to think inventing new schools and colleges is the answer to everything."
The other big concern raised by opponents of high-speed rail is that far from bringing in the promised jobs and investment, HS2 is costing the Midlands dear already. Jerry Marshall, whose home at Burton Green in Warwickshire is on the route of the proposed line, sees HS2 as an extraordinarily expensive way of creating jobs.
'Cost thousands of jobs?'
Take for example the plans drawn up by HS2 Ltd, the company charged with delivering Phase 1. They envisage the main HS2 maintenance depot would be on a site adjoining the former LDV Van factory at Washwood Heath in Birmingham, an area which is currently struggling with unemployment rates among the highest in the UK.
The local Labour MP Liam Byrne says the HS2 depot could cost thousands of jobs because it would scupper alternative proposals for a high-tech business park in the same area which Birmingham's Labour-controlled city council hope would create 6,500 well-paid jobs.
So could the idea of the maintenance depot and an HS2 college in the same area yet turn out to be a marriage made in heaven?
Or in hell?
This will be our main talking point on this week's Sunday Politics Midlands when I will be joined in the studio by the aforementioned Jerry Marshall and by two of our leading MPs:
As Shadow Education Secretary, the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central Tristram Hunt could be responsible for overseeing the training of the high-speed rail engineers of the future.
And the Conservative MP for Wolverhampton South West, Paul Uppal is in the Prime Minister's inner circle as a member of the Downing Street Policy Board.
I hope you will join me too at 11:00 on Sunday morning on BBC One Midlands.
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High winds in the Irish Sea are continuing to cause disruption to Isle of Man Steam Packet ferry crossings.
| The 08:00 GMT Douglas to Birkenhead sailing and 14:00 GMT Birkenhead to Douglas crossing have both been cancelled due to the weather.
Sunday's services to and from Douglas are to be diverted from Birkenhead to Heysham with a coach transfer for foot passengers to Liverpool.
Further details can be obtained from the Isle of Man Steam Packet website.
A Friday evening and early Saturday sailing were both also cancelled.
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A man has been charged with murder after the death of a woman, Kent Police said. | Officers were called to an address in Godwin Road, in the Cliftonville area of Margate, just before 11:00 GMT on Thursday, where they found the woman, who had been "fatally injured", police said.
Abdelaziz El Msseyah, 57, of Godwin Road has been charged with murder.
He is due to appear at Folkestone Magistrates' Court later.
Related Internet Links
HM Courts Service
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Across the world the cost of government borrowing is rising. The yield (or interest rate) on a 10-year UK government bond (the debt issued by the UK government) has risen from around 1.6% a month ago to 2.0% today. | Duncan WeldonNewsnight economics correspondent@Duncanweldonon Twitter
In Germany the move has been even more dramatic - from around 0.05% to 0.7%. These sorts of moves are being seen in the US, Japan, Australia, Thailand, India and just about any other country one chooses to name.
The yield on bonds moves inversely to the price (so has the price increases the interest rate falls and vice versa). In other words, the price action of recent days has been a sharp fall in the price of government bonds. This could have huge implications for the price of other financial assets, for the interest rates faced by firms and households and, potentially, a negative impact on the real economy.
The bond market, especially the market for highly-rated, safe government debt is often regarded as sleepy place.
In contrast to the high octane worlds of share and currency trading, it's a market which (it is usually assumed) takes a longer-term and more considered view. The kinds of moves that have taken place over the last few weeks - and picked up pace today - are highly unusual.
All things being equal, sovereign bond prices should be counter-cyclical, they should move in the opposite direction to the wider economy. In theory, when the economy is weak and expected to remain weak then the market will assume that short-term interest rates are set to remain low or be cut.
That is good for bond prices which will remain high or rise, pushing down the yield. If the economy is strengthening, then the markets should assume that short term interest rates are likely to rise, that would push the price of bonds down and the yield up. Investors would start to switch out of bonds and into assets that perform better in a growing economy - such as stocks or commodities.
Is the 'bond bubble' over?
But that all relies on "all things being equal" and they rarely are. So, while a gradual rise in bond yields (and fall in prices) could usually be taken as sign that an economic recovery is being entrenched, the pace of the move in recent days suggests that this benign scenario may not play out.
Two factors are sitting behind the move. First, by almost any conventional metric, sovereign bonds across much of the world (and especially in the eurozone) look to be seriously overvalued. There's been talk of a "bond bubble" and, if there is one, it seems to be in the early stages of popping.
A month ago, when the German 10-year bond yielded only 0.05% (and the price of the bond was high) then anyone buying those bonds was either betting that the economic prospects for Europe were so abysmal that interest rates would be held low for a decade or, and perhaps more likely, they thought they would be able to find someone else to sell the bonds to in the future for an even higher price. They might be overpaying but hoped they could find someone else who would overpay by even more.
This overvaluation has left bonds vulnerable to a sell-off.
Second, for months there have been worrying signs that liquidity in the bond markets has been drying up. It has become harder and harder to buy or sell bonds without moving the price.
Liquidity link
This is due partially to tightened financial regulation, which has made the big banks less happy to hold large portfolios of bonds and act as "market makers" (buying and selling to provide liquidity) and partially as the supply of safe government bonds has fallen as government deficits have come down across the developed world and central banks (through quantitative easing) have bought up bonds and effectively taken them out of the market.
In recent moves, this lack of liquidity has helped explain some of the scale of the price rises - in an illiquid market a relatively small pick-up in buyers can push prices higher. Today that lack of liquidity is contributing to the large falls.
Overvaluation and the lack of liquidity are the ultimate drivers of today's moves. The swing factor prompting the sell-off is still being debated but one likely candidate is a change in the market's expectations of inflation.
Go back a few months and the view that the West faced a period of very low inflation - or even outright deflation (falling prices) - was near consensus. In that environment, interest rates would remain low and bond prices high.
Academic rates discussion?
But with the price of oil spiking since January and measures of inflation in the UK, US and the eurozone looking to be turning a corner and showing signs of picking up, that view is becoming less common.
It may be that the market calms down in the coming hours and days. A gradual rise in yields as inflation picked up and growth became more entrenched (especially in the eurozone) would be something to welcome.
But the fear is that yields had become lower than the actual fundamental state of the global economy warranted. They may now swing the other way.
Back in December, several newspapers made a big deal of UK mortgage rates hitting historic lows. If the yield on UK government debt spikes higher, that will not last for long. Borrowing costs across the economy will rise.
For much of the last year there has been an earnest discussion on when the Bank of England or the Federal Reserve will start to raise rates, but this could soon become academic. Whatever the level of short-term rates, the market-determined (and more important) level of longer term borrowing costs could rise.
Managing the process of returning interest rates from record low to more "normal" levels was always going to be a challenging task for central banks. If the price moves of the last few days continue then it may be taken out of their hands.
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A number of people who had to leave their homes in Limavady due to a security alert have been allowed to return. | The alert began following the discovery of a suspicious object in the Mount Eden area on Thursday afternoon.
It was examined by Army bomb experts and declared an "elaborate hoax", the Police Service of Northern Ireland said.
Residents were allowed to return to their homes shortly after 20:00 GMT.
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Thousands of music fans are heading to south west Scotland as the annual Wickerman Festival gets under way. | The event, at East Kirkcarswell near Dundrennan on Friday and Saturday, will see acts including Del Amitri and Dizzee Rascal perform.
It is the 13th edition of the Dumfries and Galloway festival.
Other acts involved this year include the likes of Shed Seven, The Feeling, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, The Zombies and Big Country.
The festival will conclude, as is its tradition, with the burning of a giant wicker figure.
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Chinese police have arrested more than 500 members of a doomsday cult for spreading rumours about the imminent end of the world, state media say. | At least 400 followers of the Almighty God Christian group were detained in western Qinghai province in recent days. Dozens more were held elsewhere.
In Henan province, six officials have been sacked after a knife attack by a suspected doomsday cult disciple wounded more than 20 children.
The attack sparked widespread anger.
The officials sacked had handled the incident improperly, state media said.
A number of people around the world believe that an apocalypse will take place on Friday 21 December, as the Mayan "Long Count" Calendar ends a 5,200-year cycle.
China's state news agency Xinhua describes the Almighty God Christian group as a cult, saying it was established in 1990 in Henan.
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When British TV got its first black female reporter in 1968 some viewers strongly objected and she was sacked in less than a year. Now, half a century later, a British Journalism Award has been named in her honour. Looking back, how does Barbara Blake Hannah feel about the way the country treated her? | By Simi JolaosoBBC News
"Too many times you buy a sandwich that you later realise had been spat in, or you're walking down the street and are spat at yourself, or best case scenario, are told '[N-word] go home.'
"But when I roamed the streets as a reporter with a camera, no-one cared that I was black. They just cared about being on TV, that's one reason why I loved the job."
Barbara Blake Hannah was 24 when she first arrived in the UK to work as an extra on the 1965 movie, A High Wind in Jamaica. And when filming finished, she and a friend decided to stay.
"Britain seemed to be opening up with opportunities at that time. I was young, living in London during the swinging 60s. It was all so exciting," she says.
She had plenty of journalism experience from Jamaica, having read the news on TV and written for a magazine owned by her father, Evon Blake, the founder of Jamaica's Press Association.
But despite this, it wasn't easy to get a job in the industry. She had to settle for temporary secretarial work "using shorthand and typing skills from training as a journalist", but she didn't stop applying for writing jobs, and eventually broke through.
In 1966, Barbara noticed the Sunday Times magazine was running a series on food around the world, so she got in touch and offered to write something on Jamaican cooking. "I was given a nice colourful page feature in my Jamaican costume," she says.
This was followed by a number of other plum assignments, including interviewing the A-list entertainer Sammy Davis Jr - the only black member of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack - and Jacqueline Susann, author of a 1966 blockbuster novel, Valley of the Dolls, whom Barbara describes as "fabulous, a real superstar, like something out of Dynasty".
Barbara also wrote for the now defunct West Indian World and Caribbean Times newspapers, and for Cosmopolitan and Queen Magazine.
"It was great to be a young journalist again. I made friends with other writers, we'd go out and about on Fleet Street. There was the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, the anti-war-in-Vietnam movement, the play Hair, the Supremes, Tom Jones, Cilla Black… It was fantastic."
During the summer of 1968, Barbara heard about the launch of Thames Television. In true go-getter fashion, she wrote to them asking for a job, and was asked to audition.
"I was the most interesting, I could write a good script and I made them laugh," she says. Her impressive French and Spanish skills, which she'd learnt at boarding school in Jamaica, didn't go unnoticed either. She was immediately offered a contract on the daily evening show, Today, hosted by Eamonn Andrews.
But a black woman reporting the news was unheard of. This was five years before the UK was introduced to ITN's first black reporter, Trevor McDonald, and more than a decade before the arrival of the BBC's Moira Stuart.
The first black TV reporter?
Three years before Barbara Blake Hannah began work at Thames Television, the BBC hired another Jamaican, Eric Anthony Abrahams, as a trainee reporter. By January 1966, if not earlier, he was reporting for the current affairs programme, 24 Hours; items he filed from Nigeria, Ghana, Haiti and London survive in the BBC archives.
Clyde Alleyne, from Trinidad, started work as an "announcer" for Tyne Tees television in 1967, but also made at least three television reports. Two have been digitised by the North East Film Archive, including an interview with US civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
The Times newspaper did a full-page spread on Barbara's debut, but she wasn't fazed.
"To me, it was just another job. I would get briefed in the newsroom, go out to film, come back to edit and be in the studio. I had already gone through the jitters of being on TV during my time in Jamaica, it was just really nice to be able to do what I enjoyed.
"I wasn't famous like Twiggy, but I guess I was known by a few. It's only nowadays I hear from people who say they or their parents watched me back then."
Barbara reported on it all, from crime stories to the closure of the Beatles' Baker Street shop, often called the Apple Boutique. She interviewed Sir Michael Caine, round-the-world sailor Sir Frances Chichester, and the "great beauty", Bianca Jagger.
"Eamonn Andrews, though he was famous, was a lovely man and genial host. My colleagues didn't treat me differently because I was black. In the office, I was just treated as another worker. It was a really great show to be on."
However, nine months into her role, Barbara's time at Thames Television came to a sudden end. Her journalistic skills and warm on-screen presence did not impress some viewers who could not see past the colour of her skin. A producer told Barbara that the station had received almost daily requests to "get the [N-word] off the screen", and so they did.
"It was the most hurtful thing that happened to me because I was black, and trust me, a lot of things happened to me," she says.
"It was almost as if I had been found to have a communicable disease. I had been so excited to get this job, and now I had to tell my friends I no longer had it, just because I was black. I hid myself in shame for a long time.
"I didn't receive any compensation, an apology, nothing. I didn't think of even asking for one, we black people weren't protected [against discrimination] in the workplace - maybe later on paper, but definitely not in the practical sense.
"But you know what, even just an apology would be nice, 50 years later."
Thames Television ceased to exist in 2003.
Six months later, Barbara was hired as a reporter for ATV in Birmingham. She says she couldn't find a hotel in the city that would have her as a guest, so she commuted from London until she discovered she could stay at the YWCA. Some of her colleagues were also less than welcoming, using racial slurs to describe black people in her presence.
"They'd say things like, 'If we are all so equal, then why didn't black people create the Mona Lisa?' But I didn't speak up. I just didn't know black history and art then, like Timbuktu and Tutankhamen.
"I remember at a party, a glass cut me and I bled a little. A girl exclaimed, 'Oh look, it's red!' referring to the colour of my blood. Her friends roared with laughter. I was just so embarrassed. I wanted to hide."
Ignorant and prejudiced attitudes like this seeped into the programme, Barbara says.
"I was once asked to swim a lap in a pool with one of the white reporters. I am a good swimmer, having swum in the Kingston Harbour race when I was 15, but because I was on camera that day I decided to keep my head above water, because I had straightened my hair," she remembers. But the position of her body in the water as she swam breast stroke with her head up - less horizontal than the body of the other reporter, who swam front crawl - was then presented as evidence supporting a theory that black people can't swim as well as white people.
The report actually opened with images of her perfect strokes in the pool, and a researcher commenting: "She's much lower in the water at the back end."
"I was shocked," Barbara says.
Barbara on ATV
Some of Barbara's ATV reports can be watched on the website of the Media Archive of Central England (search for Barbara Blake), including:
One of the worst moments at ATV was when she was sent out filming on a bitterly cold day, only to be told later it was because Wolverhampton MP Enoch Powell - fresh from his anti-immigration Rivers of Blood speech - had agreed to do an interview at the studio on condition that "the black girl" was not there.
"I was a little upset, but that was to be expected from him. He was a pretty scary man. Looking back, I wished I'd been around to ask him some very tough questions."
ATV ceased broadcasting in 1982.
Immigration and race relations in the 1960s
Barbara was glad when her six-month contract came to an end. She then moved behind the scenes, working as a researcher on the BBC documentary series, Man Alive, after much encouragement from editor Desmond Wilcox during a job interview. "It was the best job I had in TV. People were pleasant and we did some really nice stories, including a one-hour documentary at the Cannes Film Festival, which opened the door for me to go back to Jamaica."
After the documentary aired, she was asked to help promote the 1972 movie, The Harder They Come, starring reggae legend Jimmy Cliff - often described as Jamaica's first feature film. For Barbara, it seemed like the film was calling her home, and she decided to move back to Kingston later that year.
"The film blew my mind. It showed me a culture and country that I didn't know existed. The reggae and the Rasta world, which wasn't part of the life I'd experienced there before. I felt that was an opportunity for me to see a new Jamaica. The real Jamaica," she says.
She continued working on films and attended film festivals around the world, including one in Iraq hosted by President Saddam Hussein. She also wrote books, including Rastafari - The New Creation, inspired by her new religion, and her 1982 memoir on her time in Britain, Growing Out: Black Hair and Black Pride in the Swinging Sixties. She continued reporting for Jamaican publications, and interviewed the likes of Cuban President Fidel Castro and UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson - annoying the latter with questions about Rhodesia's declaration of independence.
From 1984-1987, Barbara served as the first Rastafari senator to sit in the Jamaican parliament. It was during this period that she gave birth to her only child, a son.
"He tells me every day, 'I'm so proud of you mummy.' We've had some hard times together, but we made it through."
Barbara has only visited the UK three times since 1972, for very short spells. This included a 1983 trip to make the documentary Race, Rhetoric, Rastafari for Channel 4, which explored Rastafari beliefs and race relations in England.
Now 79, watching the UK from afar, she says it seems clear to her that systemic racism remains a problem.
"People still have the same attitudes," she says. "Look at how shocked people were when Harry, the most loved member of the Royal Family, married a black woman."
But she was excited by the recent Black Lives Matter demonstrations, including the toppling of the Edward Colston statue by demonstrators in Bristol.
"When I saw that statue come down I thought, 'Oh my goodness!' I just had to smile and clap. I am part of a generation that was brought up to humbly obey and accept racism, so I am glad to see our next generation are not putting up with it any more."
Barbara's accomplishments continue to be recognised on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2018, she was honoured with the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government for her contribution to culture.
In the UK, the Press Gazette this year introduced a Barbara Blake Hannah Prize to its annual British Journalism Awards. It is to recognise emerging journalists from black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds and will be awarded for the first time in December. Barbara has ensured that the winner will receive a free trip to Jamaica, if the pandemic allows.
Barbara hopes the award will help address the lack of diversity in the British media. According to a 2016 Oxford University survey, only 0.2% of journalists in the UK are black, despite black people making up 3.3% of the population.
If you include Asians and other ethnic minorities too, there is still a disparity, though not quite such a large one; 6.3% of journalists come from one of these backgrounds, compared with 14% in the general population.
"What happened to me 50 years ago has now turned into something that will recognise and create opportunities for young black journalists today. This is the most rewarding thing to have come out of my career.
"I want those who hear my story to know we still have a long fight ahead of us, but remember you have the same right as anyone else to be where you are. Don't allow yourself to be stereotyped. Be confident in yourself. Fight for yourself to be included."
Barbara Blake Hannah's documentary Race, Rhetoric, Rastafari can be watched on her YouTube channel
Correction and update 20 November 2020: This story originally stated that Barbara Blake Hannah was the UK's first black TV reporter, but the first now appears to have been Eric Anthony Abrahams. Information about him and Clyde Alleyne, another black broadcaster who worked in television in the 1960s, has now been added to the story.
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"When I hear the word I shudder. I think of my dad hearing the words, 'Get the [N-word]!' while being chased through the streets of Liverpool by racist football fans as he went to watch Man City," writes Cherry Wilson. It has its origins in slavery, she says, when Spanish and Portuguese slave traders docked in American ports, using the word for "black" in their native language.
The troubled history of the N-word
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Twenty-five families in India's capital Delhi woke up to the news on Friday morning that someone they loved had died in the city's Sir Ganga Ram hospital, reportedly because coronavirus patients could not get enough oxygen. | By Janhavee MooleBBC Marathi
The hospital's medical director said a severe shortfall had slowed the flow of oxygen to 25 of the sickest patients, who needed a high pressure, stable supply.
The tragedy came at the end of a week where several major hospitals in Delhi have repeatedly come close to running out of oxygen, which can help patients with the virus who need support with their breathing stay alive.
On Tuesday, it took a desperate public plea from the chief minister and an intervention from the high court for the Indian central government to organise a late night refill.
An oxygen tanker eventually arrived at Sir Ganga Ram hospital on Friday morning, shortly after a dire warning that 60 more patients were on the verge of death.
But India's rising wave of cases is pushing its healthcare system to the brink - from the country's richest cities to its remotest corners.
A battle for breath
Maharashtra and Gujarat in the west, Haryana in the north, and Madhya Pradesh in central India are all facing an oxygen shortage.
In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, some hospitals have put "oxygen out of stock" boards outside, and in the state capital Lucknow hospitals have asked patients to move elsewhere.
Smaller hospitals and nursing homes in Delhi are doing the same. Desperate relatives in several cities are lining up outside oxygen refilling centres. One plant in the southern city of Hyderabad hired bouncers to manage the crowd.
Many stricken with coronavirus are dying while they wait. Hospitals are struggling to accommodate breathless patients, or even keep alive those who were lucky enough to find a bed. Social media feeds and WhatsApp groups are full of frantic pleas for oxygen cylinders.
For a week, India has been reliving this nightmare on repeat, waiting for the terrifying moment when there is no oxygen left at all.
For anyone who has watched the pandemic unfold here - from doctors to officials to journalists - this feels like déjà vu. Seven months ago, the country had grappled with a similar oxygen shortage amid a rapid surge in case numbers. But this time, it's much worse.
Typically, healthcare facilities consume about 15% of oxygen supply, leaving the rest for industrial use. But amid India's second wave nearly 90% of the country's oxygen supply - 7,500 metric tonnes daily - is being diverted for medical use, according to Rajesh Bhushan, a senior health official.
That's nearly three times higher than was consumed every day at the peak of the first wave in mid-September last year.
Then, India was adding about 90,000 cases daily. Just two weeks ago, in early April, the single-day spike was around 144,000. Now, the daily caseload has more than doubled to well more than 300,000.
"The situation is so bad that we had to treat some patients in a cardiac ambulance for 12 hours until they could get an ICU bed," said Dr Siddheshwar Shinde, who runs a Covid hospital in Pune, a western district with India's second-highest active caseload and third-highest death toll from the virus.
Last week, when there were no ventilators left, Dr Shinde began moving patients to other cities - unheard of in Pune, where patients usually arrive from nearby districts seeking treatment.
The state of Maharashtra, where Pune is located, is among the worst-affected parts of India, and currently accounts for more than a third of active cases. The state is producing about 1,200 metric tonnes of oxygen daily but all of it is already being used for Covid patients.
And demand is rising along with cases, and outstripping supply. It shows no signs of letting up.
"Usually hospitals like ours were able to have enough oxygen supply. But in the past fortnight, keeping people breathing has become a task. Patients as young as 22 need oxygen support," said Dr Shinde.
Doctors and epidemiologists believe the deluge of cases is delaying tests and consultation, leading to many people being admitted to hospital when their condition is severe. So the demand for high-flow oxygen - and therefore more oxygen - is higher than it was during the last wave.
"Nobody knows when this is going to end," Dr Shinde said. "I think even the government did not foresee this."
A scramble to find supply
Some governments did. The southern state of Kerala increased supply by monitoring demand closely and planning for a rise in cases. Kerala now has surplus oxygen that it is sending to other states.
But Delhi and some other states do not have their own oxygen plants and are relying on imports.
The Supreme Court has weighed in, asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration for a national Covid plan that addresses the oxygen crunch.
The federal health ministry had invited bids for new oxygen plants in October last year - more than eight months after the beginning of pandemic in India. Of the 162 that were sanctioned, only 33 have been installed so far - 59 will be installed by the end of April and another 80 by the end of May, the ministry has said.
The scramble to increase supply points to the lack of any emergency plan.
Liquid oxygen, pale blue and extremely cold, with a temperature of around -183C, is a cryogenic gas that can only be stored and transported in special cylinders and tankers.
About 500 factories in India extract and purify oxygen from air and send it to hospitals in liquid form. Most of it is supplied through tankers.
Major hospitals usually have their own tank where oxygen is stored and then piped directly to beds. Smaller and temporary hospitals rely on steel and aluminium cylinders.
Oxygen tankers often queue outside a plant for hours and it takes about two hours to fill one tanker. It takes several hours more for these tankers to travel to various towns within or across states.
The tankers also have to follow a specific speed limit - no more than 25mph (40km/h) - and they often don't travel in the night to avoid accidents.
The head of one of India's biggest oxygen suppliers has said part of the struggle has been getting oxygen from eastern India, where supply in industrial states such as Orissa and Jharkhand is high, to western or northern India such as Maharashtra or Delhi, where cases are rising fast.
And the demand for oxygen at individual facilities is unpredictable, making it difficult to gauge a hospital's requirement and adequately get supply where it is needed.
"Not every patient needs the same amount of oxygen for the same duration. How many patients need oxygen changes by hour in a hospital," said Dr Om Shrivastav, an infectious diseases expert at a Mumbai hospital.
"We are taking all the care we can. But I've not seen anything like this. I think nobody here has."
Too little, too late
Before the crunch of the oxygen crisis, the federal government was already facing criticism for allowing election rallies and a massive Hindu festival, and failing to expand the vaccination drive quickly enough. Critics have accused various state governments of doing too little to prepare for the devastating second wave now washing through the county.
Doctors and virologists who spoke to the BBC said the oxygen shortfall was more a symptom than a cause of the crisis - effective safety protocols and strong public messaging could have kept more people at home, and the virus at bay.
But a sharp drop in cases by January lulled the country into a false sense of safety, they said, creating the conditions for a terrible second wave.
Mr Modi's government has now started an "oxygen express", with trains carrying tankers to wherever there is demand, and the Indian Air Force is airlifting oxygen from military bases. They are also mulling plans to import 50,000 metric tonnes of of liquid oxygen.
"We have been telling authorities that we are willing to increase our capacity, but we need financial aid for that," said Rajabhau Shinde, who runs a small oxygen plant in Maharashtra.
"Nobody said anything and now suddenly, hospitals and doctors are pleading for more cylinders," he said.
"This should not have happened. As the saying goes, dig the well before you're thirsty. But we didn't do that."
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Read more of our coverage on Covid-19
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The styles of the contending campaigners are contrasting, but the goal is the same - the capture of power in India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, where multi-stage elections could hold the key to national polls in 2014. | By Amit BaruahEditor, BBC Hindi
A lot is at stake for Rahul Gandhi, the fourth-generation scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty; Mulayam Singh Yadav, the old warhorse of Uttar Pradesh politics; and Ms Mayawati, a champion of India's oppressed Dalit underclass and currently chief minister of the state.
As Rahul Gandhi's helicopter descends from the skies at one of his many campaign stops, several thousand people are waiting to see this aspirant for India's top job in the 2014 parliamentary elections.
But, here, in Morava village, just outside the state capital of Lucknow, Mr Gandhi is fighting a semi-final battle to the big game in 2014.
Even a moderate success in the Uttar Pradesh elections would mean that a tottering Congress party, which has been out of power in the state for more than 20 years, is seen flying its flag again.
Clad in a flowing white tunic and white pyjamas, Rahul is constantly rolling up his sleeves, signalling that he is in the thick of political battle.
His speech is direct, to the point and is aimed at Ms Mayawati, accusing the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader of pilfering money sent by the Congress-run government in Delhi for the poor in Uttar Pradesh.
"Where has all the money gone?" he asks the audience. He then answers his own question - the money from the central scheme has been eaten up by the "hathi" or elephant, the electoral symbol of the BSP.
He scorns former chief minister and Samajwadi (Socialist) Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav's promise of providing electricity to every household in this power-starved state.
There is the positive as well. The central government in Delhi has ensured that every unemployed person will get 100 days of employment a year at 120 rupees ($2.40, £1.54) per day.
The Congress party has also introduced a food security bill in parliament which, if passed, will provide 35kg of grain to every poor family in the country.
He repeatedly refers to the women at the rally. Clearly, he is confident that women will play a crucial role in how his party fares.
Many in the audience tell me that they are seeing Mr Gandhi for the first time. Others say they have come to not just see him but to hear him out.
But merely being present at the rally of a political leader does not mean that a vote for the party is guaranteed.
'No comment'
From the direct message of Rahul Gandhi, the scene in Chhibramau, Kannauj district, where Mulayam Singh Yadav is to speak, is quite different.
Local leaders heap praise on this veteran politician, and full-throated slogans in support of the party are the flavour of the day.
Unlike in Rahul Gandhi's rally, where security was heavy, Mr Yadav's rally is quite relaxed.
In his brief speech, the Samajwadi Party leader promises not just electricity but free treatment for those suffering from heart, kidney and liver-related illnesses.
And, to loud cheers, Mulayam Singh Yadav says he always implements what he promises.
Red-capped party supporters rush towards the man, only to be pushed back by the police.
Just before he boards the helicopter, I manage to ask him what he thinks about Rahul Gandhi and his campaign. "No," he says firmly, "I don't want to comment." I persist with my question, but he refuses to answer.
Careful politician that he is, Mr Yadav does not want to personalise the election especially since there is a possibility of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party forming an alliance government after the elections.
A warning
The third day of this election tour is reserved for a Mayawati rally. She is an unlikely woman politician who has risen to be chief minister. Unlike the other two, Ms Mayawati reads from a prepared text.
It sounds more like a sermon than a speech. She is speaking to her underclass Dalit electorate, which makes up 18% of the state's population. Ms Mayawati is speaking in Etawah, considered to be a stronghold of her political rival Mulayam Singh.
After a frontal attack on the central government for not providing her state with funds, Ms Mayawati does what Indian politicians do not often do. She sounds a warning - telling her flock that if they are misled by the propaganda of other parties they would be responsible for her defeat.
In a country, where politicians usually go around begging for votes, she is certainly different. Her supporters, often at the receiving end of upper caste anger, are also told that their women and daughters would not be safe if Ms Mayawati and party do not return to power.
Ms Mayawati is unfazed by the allegations levelled against her; and her confidence in her support base appears supreme. The crowd is large, many of them poor. Unlike in Mr Mulayam's rally in Chhibramau, there are many more women here in Etawah.
Much more than the fortunes of any party or individual leader are at stake here in India's most politically crucial state. The results of these elections could well set the course for the country's national politics for the next five years.
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A damning report into the Rotherham child sex abuse scandal branded the town's council "not fit for purpose". Its leader has left and confidence in its ability to protect children remains low. Where does the town go from here? | By Dan JohnsonNorth of England correspondent, BBC News
Rotherham Council is in limbo. It is currently without a leader following the resignations in the wake of the Casey report's damning criticism.
It will take at least two weeks for the government to appoint its commissioners to take over and the council has admitted it needs help.
In the meantime, the deputy leader and the interim chief executive are making the decisions.
The council has stressed the day-to-day running of services will not be disrupted. The bins are being emptied, the streets are being cleaned.
But people's faith in the authority has been undoubtedly diminished.
They already knew their council was failing to protect young people from abuse. Now they have been shocked by the "culture of denial" and cover up, the lack of action and the skewed sense of political correctness.
People are upset the reputation of their town has been dragged so low by the actions of a small group of abusers and a failure of leadership by a handful of politicians.
Shopkeepers say the town centre is quiet and there are few visitors. Some people even deny they are from Rotherham, telling others they live the other side of the M1 in Sheffield.
A new cabinet, the group of senior councillors in charge, will have to be selected. A new leader must be found.
But their decisions will be subject to approval by the five commissioners who will need to review, from top to bottom, the way services are run.
Their priority will be making sure young people are properly protected. They must make the rest of the council "fit for purpose".
When a team was sent in to turn around neighbouring Doncaster Council in 2010, it was four years before local politicians took back control.
The hope is that services in Rotherham can be handed back gradually as they are brought up to standard.
In May 2016 every councillor will face re-election - the fresh start the report states is needed.
Rebuilding reputations and restoring confidence could take much longer.
"Suddenly everyone has heard of Rotherham and they've only heard of it for bad things," said Andrew Blakeley, a social strategist at advertising agency Tribal Worldwide.
Rotherham: Timetable of a scandal
September 2012: The Times publishes an investigation revealing that a confidential 2010 police report had warned thousands of child sexual exploitation crimes were being committed in South Yorkshire each year by networks of Asian men.
August 2014: Professor Alexis Jay's report into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham is published, revealing that up to 1,400 young girls had been exploited.
September 2014: South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright resigns. Mr Wright was head of children's services in Rotherham between 2005 and 2010.
November 2014: The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) says it is to investigate 10 South Yorkshire Police officers over the handling of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham.
February 2015: A report by Louise Casey says Rotherham Council is "not fit for purpose" prompting Eric Pickles to announce plans to hand control of the council to a team of five commissioners.
Rotherham abuse victims tell their stories
Read more about key points in the scandal
Mr Blakeley is proud to be from the town and even though he now works in London, he's set up a Twitter account, @UnitedRotherham, to share positive stories.
"If you want to change people's perception about a brand or a product you have to appeal to their emotions, you can't just present them with rational argument or facts, you have to move them," he said.
"For me, Rotherham needs to tell all the positive human stories that real people are living day to day to make the town a better place.
"It's a long and difficult slog to turn around such negativity."
Mr Blakeley is hopeful a new generation of motivated local leaders will emerge from the anger of the current mess and offer a better future.
It's not just the council that has let people down. The police and other agencies have questions to answer too. There are more investigations to be concluded. Criminal charges could follow.
And amid all the calls for accountability and improvement the victims must not be forgotten. They want justice. They also want reassurance that it can never happen again.
The road ahead is long and challenging. Much is still to be worked out. Rotherham's rehabilitation is only just beginning.
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Author Ian Rankin is to appear at the final Loopallu festival in Ullapool. So what better chance to catch up with Scottish literature's "frustrated rock star" and quiz him about writing, music and his love of the Highlands? | By Steven McKenzieBBC Scotland Highlands and Islands reporter
This month will see the staging of the 13th, and last, Loopallu after the organisers were unable to secure the continued use of the event's site.
Those involved in the festival hope it goes out with a bang with headline acts that include The View, Glasvegas, The Pigeon Detectives and The Vatersay Boys - and the book tent slot filled by Rankin.
The Fife-born, Edinburgh-based writer is famed for his John Rebus detective stories, and also for his love of music which has seen him appear on Desert Island Discs and also write lyrics for a group that rose to prominence in the 1990s.
"I am a frustrated rock star," says Rankin, who in his teens fronted a short-lived punk rock band. "I'd love to be playing the main stage at Loopallu, no question about it.
"But I had my attempt at music when I was 17-18 and got nowhere," he adds.
"But I will be the only writer at the festival with a top five album," says Rankin, referring to lyrics he wrote for a track for 90s indie band The Charlatans' new album Different Days.
"Through my writing - I write about music and bands in my books and use song lyrics in titles for books - I have still been able to be part of that world.
"I have been able to meet some of my heroes by writing about music," adds Rankin, whose wide-ranging tastes includes the sounds of Jamaican musicians Dave & Ansell Collins, the post-rock tunes of Mogwai, jazz music and the post-punk of Joy Division.
'No TV'
The author is looking forward to his trip to Wester Ross for Loopallu.
"It will be my first time at Loopallu. Sadly it is being held for the last time," he says.
"The great thing about festivals is it is like grazing. You can go round a festival finding bands you know nothing about and enjoying their music."
While it will be his first visit to Loopallu, Rankin is no stranger to Ullapool - Loopallu is the village's name backwards.
"I've been to Ullapool's book festival and have been up on other visits.
"My wife is interested in weaving and textiles and we've often travelled up to Ullapool from a house we have in Cromarty to go to textiles exhibitions."
In Ullapool, Rankin has also been able to slake his thirst for music after stumbling upon a gig in a bar by Martin Stephenson, of folk/rock/pop group Martin Stephenson & The Daintees.
Cromarty, a village on the Black Isle and about an hour and half's drive from Ullapool, provides an important base for Rankin.
"In the house there is no mobile reception and no TV," he says. "So it is somewhere I can get peace and quiet to write the early stages of a book.
"I can get the first 100 pages written there. Once I have got those written I know I can go back to the city and finish the book.
"Also in Cromarty, if I'm struggling to write, I can just go out and have a walk along the sea front and collect my thoughts."
'Dodgy suspect'
Rankin's stories are filled with references to the Highlands. They include Rebus' daughter living in Tongue on Sutherland's north coast.
"People asked me to put the Black Isle in one of my books," he says.
"So, I did. I had a murderer who came from the Black Isle.
"Folk were then asking me why I was so horrible to the place. You can't please everyone," he adds with tongue firmly in cheek.
"I'm not sure how friendly the reception will be for me at Loopallu," he adds.
"I had Rebus go up to Ullapool to interview a dodgy suspect."
The last Loopallu is being held on 29 and 30 September.
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A hotel owned by celebrity chef Marco Pierre White is being investigated over claims its flock of guinea fowl are a noise nuisance. | Neighbours of the Rudloe Arms in Corsham have complained to Wiltshire Council about the noise the birds make.
They claim the 30 birds are waking them up at 06:00BST, roosting in trees and covering their properties in droppings.
The hotel, owned by the Michelin-starred chef, is now being investigated by environmental health officers.
A spokesman for the council said: "We have had complaints from neighbours about loud noise from birds on the hotel premises.
"We are currently in discussion with the management of the hotel and together we are looking to resolve this issue as quickly as possible."
The hotel, which is part of the chef's Wheeler's of St James brand, declined to comment.
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Kezia Dugdale has resigned as leader of Scottish Labour, saying it is time to "pass on the baton" to someone else. | The Lothians MSP has previously criticised UK leader Jeremy Corbyn, and has faced criticism from left-wing members of her own party.
She insisted she was leaving the party in a much better state than she had found it.
But she said a new leader was needed with "fresh energy, drive and a new mandate".
Ms Dugdale is the third Scottish Labour leader to have resigned since the 2014 independence referendum, with predecessors Johann Lamont and Jim Murphy both having stood down.
She said she wanted to give her successor the "space and time" to prepare for the next Scottish Parliament election in 2021.
And she strongly denied suggestions that she was leaving now in order to avoid being pushed out by supporters of Mr Corbyn.
In an exclusive interview with BBC Scotland's political editor, Brian Taylor, she said she had taken over the leadership when the party was "on its knees" in Scotland.
Ms Dugdale, who is leaving with immediate effect, said she had devoted "every waking moment of my life" to improving Labour's fortunes in Scotland, with a lot of progress being made and the party now ready for someone else to take it on the next stage of its journey.
'Precious thing'
She added: "I have thought long and hard about this. I care deeply about the Labour Party - I love it and I have devoted my adult life to serving it in a number of different capacities.
"And I have just come to the conclusion that the best thing for it, the Labour Party, this precious, precious thing that has done so much good in our country, and indeed for me, is to pass that baton on."
Mr Corbyn thanked Ms Dugdale for "the important role she has played in rebuilding the party in Scotland".
"Kezia became Scottish leader at one of the most difficult times in the history of the Scottish Labour Party, and the party's revival is now fully under way, with six new MPs and many more to come," he said.
"I want to thank Kez for her tireless service to our party and movement."
Ms Dugdale's deputy, Alex Rowley, has become interim leader, with Scottish Labour's executive committee due to meet on Saturday 9 September to agree the timetable and process for a leadership election.
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband tweeted that Ms Dugdale had given her "heart and soul to leading Scottish Labour".
He added: "Thank You. You deserve to get your life back. Enjoy."
SNP leader and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among political rivals to pay tribute to Ms Dugdale
She wrote on Twitter: "We may be opponents, but @kezdugdale led her party with guts and determination and I admired her for that.
"I wish her well for the future."
And Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson tweeted: "Leadership can be tough and @kezdugdale deserves the thanks of her party for putting in the hard yards. I wish her well."
'Mounting pressure'
Ms Dugdale replaced Jim Murphy as Scottish Labour leader in August 2015, after the party lost all but one of its Westminster seats in Scotland to the SNP.
Under her leadership, Labour finished third behind the SNP and Scottish Conservatives in last year's Scottish Parliament election - but went on to win seven seats in the snap general election in June.
Ms Dugdale backed Owen Smith to replace Mr Corbyn in last year's leadership contest, arguing at the time that: "I don't think Jeremy can unite our party and lead us into government."
Labour's stronger-than-expected performance in June's election has seen pressure mount on her from supporters of Mr Corbyn, who believe the party's improvement in Scotland was down to him rather than Ms Dugdale.
Mr Corbyn recently completed a five-day tour of Scotland, when he appeared alongside Ms Dugdale at events in Glasgow.
Analysis by Brian Taylor, BBC Scotland political editor
Kezia Dugdale was elected to Holyrood in 2011, after working for the former Labour MSP Lord Foulkes.
She was Jim Murphy's deputy as Scottish party leader - and replaced him in the top job when he stood down after the party's calamitous defeat in the 2015 UK general election which left Labour with only one Westminster seat in Scotland.
Initially highly critical of Jeremy Corbyn, she has since argued for party unity. However, that has not prevented elements of the left in Scotland from arguing that she should stand down or face a challenge.
There is no recrimination or name-calling in her departure. Rather, she pledges to continue to work for Labour as a list MSP.
But there is an oblique reference in her resignation letter to the tensions at the top, when she says that "being leader has always been a difficult but fulfilling challenge".
She adds it was a challenge that "until now" she had enjoyed.
Speculation will now centre upon her likely replacement. Contenders on the left might be Neil Findlay, Richard Leonard and the current deputy Alex Rowley. Other names mentioned include Anas Sarwar, Jackie Baillie, Jenny Marra and James Kelly.
Ms Dugdale's resignation takes immediate effect. Her deputy, Alex Rowley, will serve as acting leader - unless he decides to resign from his post to contest the leadership himself.
Ms Dugdale insisted she was not leaving now in order to avoid a possible challenge to her leadership from a more left-wing rival.
And she said Mr Corbyn has her full support, and that she expects him to become prime minister.
She said: "On a personal level we continue to get on extremely well, and I wish him every success for the future".
In her resignation letter, Ms Dugdale also referred to the death earlier this year of her close friend Gordon Aikman, a Labour Party activist who died at the age of 31 after a battle with Motor Neurone Disease.
Ms Dugdale - who celebrated her 36th birthday this week - said his example taught her "how precious and short life was and never to waste a moment."
Ms Dugdale recently announced that she was dating SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth after splitting with her long-term partner Louise Riddell.
She said she had thoroughly enjoyed her time as party leader, and believes she still has a lot to offer public life in Scotland - but stressed that would not always be in the Scottish Parliament, although she will remain as a backbench MSP for now.
And she admitted that the "immense" period in Scottish politics over the past three years, which has included the independence and EU referendums alongside two general elections and a Holyrood election, had taken its toll on her.
Ms Dugdale added: "Of course it is tough - it should be tough. It is important decisions you are taking all of the time, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
"I have taken on some of the big battles of our time, whether that be around the constitution or making the case for progressive taxes.
"I have delivered two sets of diverse candidates, 50% men and 50% women, and I have guaranteed the autonomy of the Scottish Labour Party.
"Nobody has ever told me what to do in this job - it is not something dictated from London any more, that is beyond all doubt."
Full text of Kezia Dugdale's resignation letter:
Dear Linda,
As Chair of the party, I am writing to you today to resign as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party.
It has been an honour and a privilege to have served this party in a leadership position for the last two and a half years, covering four national elections and one referendum.
I have worked with many great people, not least the staff in our HQ led by Brian Roy and those in the Scottish Parliament, whose boundless energy, expertise and good humour has guided our party through some dark hours and difficult times.
I'd like to thank my shadow cabinet for their efforts, and in particular Iain Gray for his unflinching love and support and James Kelly for the thankless but crucial job he does so well as our Business Manager.
Earlier this year I lost a dear friend who taught me a lot about how to live. His terminal illness forced him to identify what he really wanted from life, how to make the most of it and how to make a difference. He taught me how precious and short life was and never to waste a moment.
Being leader has always been a difficult but fulfilling challenge. One that until now I have enjoyed, driven by a clear guiding purpose and goals, many of which I have achieved.
I am proud of the fact that I've demonstrated how the parliament's powers can be used to stop austerity with progressive taxes and the creation of new benefits. Proud to have advanced the call for federalism across the UK. Proud to have delivered real autonomy for the Scottish Labour Party and a guaranteed voice for Scotland and Wales on the NEC.
Educational inequality is the number one issue in Scottish politics after the constitution because Scottish Labour under my leadership put it there.
I am proud to have delivered 50/50 slates of amazing and diverse candidates in both the Scottish and U.K. Elections and equally proud to have invested in the next generation of labour activists and parliamentarians with leadership programmes. These have already furnished us with two of our magnificent seven MPs. With that re-established Scottish Labour group at Westminster, and a talented and effective group in Holyrood, Scottish Labour has a bright future.
A marker of success for me was to leave as leader with the party in better shape than I found it and I have done that.
Emerging from the challenging times following the 2014 referendum, and the 2015 UK election, we now have a solid platform on which to build towards success, and government.
I have given the task of achieving this all that I have. But with nearly four years now until the next Scottish Parliament elections, I am convinced that the party needs a new leader with fresh energy, drive and a new mandate to take the party into that contest.
I will continue as a Labour MSP for the Lothians and am already looking forward to spending more time with constituents and on constituency issues.
Too often our leaders leave in a crisis, with scores to settle. I love this party too much for that to be my way. There will be no press conference and no off the record briefing in my name. I choose to stand down because I believe it is best for me and best for Scottish Labour, at a time when we can be positive and optimistic about our future.
I remain in awe of all those party activists who devote their time to this movement without pay or reward. I thank them for their belief in me.
Yours in solidarity,
Kez Dugdale
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Ullapool's Loopallu music festival has sold out for an 11th year in a row. | This year's headline acts include The Temperance Movement and Reverend & The Makers.
The event on 25 and 26 September will also feature The Damned, Skipinnish, Skerryvore, Little Mammoths and The Supernaturals.
Ullapool Pipe Band will also be making its traditional appearance at the music festival.
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It was 02:30 on a hot summer night in Damascus. | By Lina SinjabBBC News
The sound of rockets landing was nothing new. At least six of them exploded, one after the other, in the north-eastern districts of Zamalka and Ein Tarma.
Majed, a 26-year-old civil society activist in nearby Douma, was trying to get some sleep when the calls for help started arriving.
The law student regularly documented incidents for the Violation Documentation Centre (VDC), an organisation that keeps track of the tens of thousands of deaths and disappearances in Syria.
But Majed was not prepared for what he saw on 21 August 2013 in the eastern Ghouta, the agricultural belt around the Syrian capital.
Chaos
"There was chaos everywhere. People were running from one place to the other and shouting, screaming: 'Gas! Gas! They hit us with gas!'," he recalls.
"At that point no-one had realised what was going on. People did what they usually do when there was an attack. They went to the basements, women and children first.
"They sought shelter in the most dangerous place when there is a chemical attack. The gas concentrates in lower areas and that's where the highest number of victims died."
UN chemical weapons inspectors have confirmed that the rockets that landed in Zamalka, Ein Tarma and the western suburb of Muadhamiya, contained sarin.
Sufficient exposure to the nerve agent, the vapour from which is heavier than air, can lead to death via asphyxiation within minutes.
Beyond comprehension
Majed rushed around the suburbs of the eastern Ghouta - from Irbin to Zamalka to Hammuriya - going to field hospitals and mosques to count the dead and take photos as evidence.
Before that night, the most bodies he had documented after one attack was 27. What he witnessed was beyond comprehension, he says.
"In one single room at a field hospital, there were 600 bodies lying on the floor. One child after another; boys and girls who had their eyes open and white liquid coming out of their nose and mouth."
Graphic photos posted by activists in the hours following the attack showed dead children, women and men. Each was later wrapped in a white shroud and given a number. In many cases, they were not identified.
Majed wanted to take a wide-angle photo of the scene at the field hospital, thinking that he would be able to show all of the bodies in one frame. But no matter how far stepped back, he could not.
"People would come in to field hospitals and be forced to walk up and down between the bodies looking for members of their family."
But Majed says one scene is etched in memory.
One father arrived looking for his children, he recalls. After finding the body of his eight-year-old daughter, he picked her up and burst into tears.
"Holding her in his arms, he kept on looking and soon discovered his younger daughter," Majed says. "But he completely lost it when he found his third little girl also dead. He dropped the three bodies on the ground and collapsed."
'World's shame'
It has been difficult to establish the precise death toll from the attacks, owing to the chaos resulting from the large number of casualties and the lack of any large hospitals in the affected areas.
Many cases went undocumented as mass graves were dug and victims buried without being counted.
However, estimates on the number killed range between about 350 and 1,500. In some areas, no-one was left alive. In others, entire extended families perished.
Even medics who rushed to help the victims died after inhaling sarin lingering in the air.
US President Barack Obama subsequently accused the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of crossing a "red line" by using chemical weapons on its own people.
Mr Obama was on the verge of launching punitive air strikes against Mr Assad's forces when Russia came up with a proposal to avert them.
The UN-backed deal led to Mr Assad handing over Syria's arsenal of chemical weapons but also left his supporters free to continue using conventional weapons against rebel forces and civilians, angering many Syrians.
"People hoped that the West was finally coming to save them," says Majed. "But instead, they gave Assad a green light to kill more, using other types of weapons."
"It is to the world's shame that it witnessed such a massacre and remained unmoved. We don't seem to matter to anyone. This issue about human rights and democracy is only a lie that the West and UN use when it suits their interests."
'No-one cares'
A year on, the war in Syria continues to rage and has spilled over into neighbouring states. The death toll is now approaching 200,000, according to activists.
The hope of salvation has now vanished for many Syrians.
Majed, an advocate of civil disobedience and opponent of armed rebellion, has left Syria.
He continues his work to help people inside his homeland but worries that things will only get worse.
"The world has failed the Syrian people," he says.
"After the chemical attack I saw many men around me turn to extremism. The disappointment caused by the West's inaction created a fertile recruiting ground for extremist groups, who told those who had lost their loved ones that they were their only hope."
"People want a way out of the violence Assad is inflicting on them."
Many other Syrians feel the same.
"No-one cares about us," is a complaint you often hear, as is: "They even stopped calculating the number of dead or refugees amongst us."
The readiness of the US to launch air strikes against Islamic State fighters in neighbouring Iraq to protect members of the Yazidi religious minority has caused further disappointment to those who once took to the streets calling for freedom and are now left suffering atrocities carried out by both Assad's forces and IS.
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Staying in touch with a loved one in prison can be hard - but a simple voicemail app is making it a lot easier. | By Ruth EvansBBC World Service
A year ago, Clare had a call out of the blue from an unknown number. She knew the voice in an instant, but hadn't heard it for years. It was her mum, Kath. She said she needed help, and didn't have anywhere else to go.
Clare was wary, and unsure what to do. "Part of me was quite angry that she felt like she could come back in my life."
But she quickly bought some clothes and toiletries and went to meet her mum in a park, and they talked and shared a bag of chips. It was the first contact they'd had in a long time.
Kath was in a bad way. "I was homeless. I had active mental health issues. I was in the throes of a big heroin addiction," she says. "I was in quite a state, to be honest."
A few weeks later, she pleaded guilty to drugs offences and was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison.
Kath had had quite a difficult childhood. Her dad had been in prison, and she'd had Clare when she was a teenager. Growing up, Clare had been aware that her mum took drugs - not frequently, and not hard drugs, but the signs were there.
"It wasn't, you know, the whole nuclear family, white picket fence, but she did try," Clare says. "She did really, really try and I do have quite a few good memories."
Kath had blonde highlights and a belly bar [navel piercing]. Clare remembers listening to drum and bass on the way to school, full blast in the car.
At one point they lived in a flat with her mum's then-partner and a Staffie puppy. Clare remembers coming back from Scout camp and the little dog running down the hallway to meet her, with her mum behind him, just as excited to see her. By the age of 12 she was the taller one, and in a tight hug she could rest her head on top of her mum's.
They moved around a lot and Clare remembers some questionable partners. Social services were heavily involved.
Later, when she was about 13, Clare went to live with her dad. She carried on seeing her mum for a couple of years but came to realise she was going down a path she didn't want to be involved with.
"If I had anything to do with that, my life wouldn't go where I wanted it to. So I decided that it would probably be best for me to cut a bit of a tie."
Clare had firm plans for her future. "Even at a very young age, I decided that I wanted to go into healthcare, which is what I'm in now," she says.
Now 21, she is studying for a degree while she works. She lives with her partner, has a dog, and feels safe and settled - a feeling, she says, "I never thought I'd have."
Which is why, when Kath first made contact, Clare responded guardedly, "not really seeing her as my mum".
"It was more like, 'Oh, you know, I'm just helping someone out.'"
But on the first prison visit, something happened. Clare remembers looking at her mum. "She was very skinny. She looked really, really ill. And she wasn't who I remembered at that point. I was sort of like, 'You know what? Why not?'"
Clare decided she was going to try to support her mum through her sentence, and quickly found that staying in touch with someone behind bars can be hard.
She sent letters and visited as often as she could. The journey to HMP Send, in Surrey, took four hours by public transport - this was before Covid hit and all prison visits were cancelled.
So the main means of communication was a payphone on Kath's prison wing, as prisoners are not allowed mobile phones. In HMP Send there is one payphone for 20 women on average, and they get 20 minutes each per day. In the resettlement wing, where Kath was, they can make calls until nine o'clock at night. But on other wings women can only access phones when their cells are unlocked.
This means that prisoners have a limited ability to make calls out, but their families can't ever call them. A missed call can be hugely stressful for both sides.
"When people are in prison, they are still someone's mother, father, sister brother," Clare says. "And although they should have some description of punishment, having a lack of family ties shouldn't be one of them."
Clare joined a Facebook group for people with a family member in prison, and posted about the difficulties she was having speaking to her mum.
Someone recommended an app called Prison Voicemail, which lets an approved contact leave messages for a prisoner at any time. The prisoner can access them from a payphone by calling their unique number and putting in a pin number.
So Clare signed up and left her first message:
Hi Mum, it's apparently a thing, it's like a voicemail, it's quite cool! I've got an app on my phone and everything… Um, I miss you I hope you're doing OK and it's not too hard or stressful. And I hope you've got a little bit of support at least.
She left a few more, updating her mum on what was going on in her life.
The person in prison can send messages back, using the payphone. This was Kath's reply, the first time she heard Clare's messages:
Oh my God, I didn't realise I could get messages. I just listened to yours they're amazing. It's so, so good to hear your voice. I didn't even know I had this [voicemail] until today, when they gave me the letter. But all your news is amazing! Your job, your tattoo, you're in a circus metal band? And you're coming to see me - oh my good God I'm so so so so damn excited. Um, it's really not that bad here, but to hear your voice is just the best thing ever… My money's going to run out but I miss you and I love you and I'll see you soon. Bye!
They carried on sending each other messages back and forth.
Clare works shifts, and Kath was working in the prison kitchens, so they found voicemail communication really useful.
There were times when Clare was working and couldn't answer when Kath had access to a phone, but they could still record a few words for one another, "just so we know we're thinking of each other," as Kath puts it.
The messages they left are snapshots of normal life, the ordinary chat that a relationship is built on.
Hi Mum, I got you a Christmas present! It's quite sweet... Just having a day off 'cos it's my weekend. Cleaning the floors, sorting out clothes, petting the cats. Yeah. I love you Mum. Bye.
It allowed them to get to know each other again.
Hello beautiful, that's very good about your maths course isn't it? That's wonderful news, that's exactly what you need for your plans to go ahead, I'm very pleased.
And over time they got closer.
Happy New Year! Happy New Year Mum, I love you. Bye!
The voicemail app is very simple, but has only been around since 2015. The co-founder, Kieran Ball, thinks no-one had made it before because prisoners and their families are not the sort of customer tech companies usually have in mind.
"No-one is trying to innovate. I mean it seems so obvious, in hindsight, but no-one had done it because people aren't trying to help the families of prisoners," he says.
Find out more
Kath found it really helped keep her spirits up.
"If she's listening to music that she remembers from her childhood, she leaves me little song clips on it," she told me, speaking from inside the prison. "And she'll always leave me a message saying that she loves me or just a little funny joke or something, just so I know that she was there, and she was thinking of me. It will just cheer me up."
Clare even shared her dog's new tricks with her mum.
Mum! Marcus can do something now, listen: Right Marcus, speak [Bark!] Speak [Bark!] Speak [Bark!] Good boy! He got the biscuit. I love you!
She didn't want Kath "to feel like everyone's moved on or forgotten about her".
While the messages helped Kath get through her sentence, they also helped Clare, on the outside. Last year, she had some serious health problems, and was rushed to hospital for an emergency blood transfusion. She felt dizzy and scared while she waited, so she put her headphones in and started replaying messages from the app, listening to her mum chatting away. "And it was sort of like she was there."
Oh so good to hear your poor little voice, I was so worried about you, oh my God.
Hearing her mum helped calm her down. "Because at the end of the day, I am only 21. And there's times where I do feel like I just need my mum, doesn't matter how old you are."
Family relationships are recognised by experts as a crucial part of rehabilitation. Ministry of Justice research suggests that prisoners who have visits and maintain family ties are 39% less likely to reoffend.
But Dr Lorna Brookes, who runs Time Matters, an organisation supporting children with a parent in prison, says regular contact also alleviates the effects of prison sentences on those left on the outside, especially children, who haven't done anything wrong.
"It reduces their separation anxiety, it reduces their worry about their parents' well-being," she says. It can also reduce the sense of isolation that they often feel, along with shame and grief.
It's estimated that parental imprisonment affects around 310,000 children in the UK.
Some campaigners argue that too many women are in prison in the first place - the Prison Reform Trust points out that 82% of women sentenced to prison in England and Wales in 2018 had committed non-violent offences.
In fact, the government's own Female Offender Strategy, published in 2018, made it a strategic priority to reduce the female prison population by increasing the use of non-custodial sentences, and to improve conditions in custody by taking a number of steps, including improving family ties. A subsequent review by Lord Farmer in 2019 drew attention to the high cost of calls made from prison payphones, which often consume women prisoners' entire weekly wage.
Clare says the Prison Voicemail app allowed her and her mum to rebuild their bond, and they are now closer than ever.
"I actually have a relationship with her for the first time in, probably about nine, 10 years. And that was a relationship I never ever thought I'd have again," she says.
Clare asked her mum to try to come off methadone by her 21st birthday. She knew that detoxing from the prescription opioid would be hard and there would be times when Kath would struggle. She knows that some prisoners take drugs inside. "There's ways to get things in prison and it would be ignorant to say that there isn't."
But Kath didn't, and she got clean three weeks before the milestone birthday.
"I'm free of substances, I have been for months and months now. I've worked through lots of issues and therapies and I am clean for the first time in about 12, 13 years," she says.
She thinks she would have been able to detox without the contact with Clare, but it was a huge help.
"Even if it's 20 minutes a day, you need to be able to just have that connection with your loved ones. It would have been a lot harder to deal with if I hadn't been able to do that.
"It just reminds you that there's people there for you, that you're loved. Ultimately, you have to fix yourself for yourself, but there's people that are rooting for me."
A week ago, Kath was released from prison and Clare could not be more pleased to have her mum back.
"She's healthy now and I am more proud of her than I think I would ever have been in any other situation. I'm ridiculously proud of her."
All right darling, I love you lots! I love you. Take care. Bye!
Illustrations by Camilla Ru
If you want to hear the messages and find out more about the Prison Voicemail app have a listen to the People Fixing The World podcast
Follow Ruth Evans on Twitter
You may also be interested in:
For many people, receiving a jail sentence would be the worst thing that ever happened to them. But when you've been experiencing domestic abuse - as most female prisoners have - you may see things slightly differently.
'The day I went to prison, I got my life back' (2019)
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In his first interview since being indicted in 2009 for masterminding the second-largest Ponzi scheme in history, convicted US fraudster Allen Stanford has told the BBC he is innocent. | Dan Roan and Patrick NathansonBBC News
"I didn't do anything wrong" said the 65-year-old Texan, speaking from a maximum security penitentiary in Florida. "Will I apologise? No. Mark my words... I am going to walk out the doors of this place a free man."
Stanford says his life behind bars is "hell". He describes being assaulted by fellow inmates in 2009, saying the treatment he received by the authorities after the attack was "barbaric".
Stanford's lack of contrition is sure to anger the victims of his fraud, thousands of whom have little hope of ever recovering the money they lost in his $7bn (£5bn) scam.
The former Houston banker was handed a 110-year sentence in March 2012 on fraud, conspiracy and obstruction charges after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shut down his global empire.
Read more: 'Embarrassment to England cricket makes me sad'
Prosecutors said the former billionaire had run a massive, two-decade scam centred on the sale of certificates of deposit. They alleged he was a swindler, misusing the money of thousands of clients to fund risky investments and an opulent lifestyle, including the sponsorship of cricket tournaments.
Once considered one of the richest men in the world, Stanford has always insisted he is is not a conman, blaming the federal government, the SEC and a court-appointed receiver for tearing down his business empire and preventing investors from getting their money back. In October an appeals court rejected his bid to overturn his conviction but Stanford has now filed for a rehearing.
"I am going to win this" he said. "And I'm going to win for the people who were harmed also."
Stanford is housed in the high-security Coleman II federal prison in Sumterville, Florida. He is not eligible for release before 2105 and for the last three years he has been helping a fellow inmate write a book, Brutal Takeover, detailing his demise.
It says he was made a scapegoat by the US authorities for the financial crisis in 2008, and following their failure to detect infamous financier Bernard Madoff's record $65bn fraud.
"I am in this situation caused by the wrongful actions of the US government and particularly the SEC," he insists.
"There is no question that I was a scapegoat for what happened in 2008 and 2009, post-Madoff... They needed a head on a block."
Stanford on his conviction
Stanford was born into a lower middle-class family in the small Texan town of Mexia in 1950. After his early business ventures ended in failure, he founded Stanford International Bank in 1991 on Antigua, laying the foundation of his empire and becoming the island's largest employer. At its most successful, the Stanford Financial Group claimed clients from 140 countries with assets of $50bn under management.
By 2008, Stanford was one of the richest men in America, worth an estimated $2.2bn, and living an extravagant, jet-setting lifestyle in which he enjoyed power and privilege.
But amid suspicions he was treating the savings of depositors as his own personal piggybank, and using certificates of deposit sold as safe investments for far riskier private equity and real estate, the SEC filed a civil complaint, accusing Stanford of fleecing about 25,000 investors worldwide. Jim Davis - Stanford's right-hand man since the 1980s and the company's chief financial officer - then agreed to testify in exchange for a reduced sentence.
In 2012 Stanford was convicted on 13 of 14 criminal charges against him. Calling Stanford arrogant and without remorse, prosecutors asked for a 230-year sentence, with defence lawyers arguing for a lenient term of 44 months.
'Wildly delusional'
Throughout his trial, he steadfastly maintained his innocence, insisting his businesses were legitimate. He said that Mr Davis's testimony was false, and that he had been scapegoated by the authorities, but the jury rejected his story, and believed Mr Davis. Federal prosecutor William J Stellmach called Stanford's version of events "obscene". "This is a man utterly without remorse," he said. "From beginning to end, he treated all of his victims as roadkill."
"I did not do anything wrong," Stanford counters. "When I was sentenced I got up before the judge and the packed courtroom, and I looked everyone in the eye and I said 'I did not do what you have accused me of doing, and I am not guilty but I'm going to prison and if I go to prison for the rest of my life, I will go to bed in a prison cell at peace with myself knowing that I never did anything illegal or unethical'. I never stole a damn penny from anyone in business in my life. I was audited every single year for 12 years, prior to the SEC coming in, by the Internal Revenue Service."
"This is the biggest unjust act ever committed by the SEC and probably by the Department of Justice in the history of the US. As I am sitting here right now, and as God is my witness, I did not misspend one penny ever. What I earned, I earned legally, ethically, honestly.
"If I was in somebody else's shoes and for seven years all I had seen and heard was 'this guy is the biggest Ponzi schemer that ever lived, he stole money from widows and orphans', yeah, than I would probably think, 'Allen Stanford got what he probably deserved, and he's a sorry son of a bitch'.
"But on the other hand if you take the time to read the book, you understand that there is another side to this story, not just the government propaganda of disinformation, their trawling of lies. They have hood-winked everybody, it will shock you. This story is as big as it gets… what anybody thinks of me quite frankly at this point in my life, I don't give a damn."
Stanford on the fraud victims
To date only around $292m has been recovered, with $73m returned to Stanford's estimated 28,000 investors. Many are elderly and more than 170 have died since the scandal broke in 2009. Stanford is highly critical of the way the receivership has been handled, describing it as "a court-sanctioned theft of unimaginable proportions".
Some $90m has been paid in fees and expenses to receiver Ralph Janvey and other professionals working on the case. "My business was effectively ruined, with assets sold at fire sale prices immediately under a receivership, all before I was ever convicted," says Stanford. "There had been no proof of fraud, no proof of wrongdoing, assets were frozen, were starting to be spent on attorneys, accountants and other so-called professionals to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. What if I had been found not guilty? Who was going to undo the damage that had been done? I had to be found guilty.
"Let me tell you what my feelings are to the people who have been impacted by this in a negative way because of the actions of the SEC, the Department of Justice, and the US government. I am so incredibly sad for what happened to you and I cannot do anything about that, but do I owe you an apology? No. Will I apologise? No. Will the government ever apologise? I don't know. But they are going to financially make whole these people. Can they undo what they have done? Can they take back the seven years of my life, the seven years of damage to these other real victims? No. But nobody lost a single dollar until the government of the US stepped in, and only then did anybody suffer any financial harm."
In a statement, a law firm acting on behalf of US victims told the BBC, "Allen Stanford, the group of brokers, and third party institutions supporting the Stanford Platform have destroyed the lives of working people. Victims are left wondering, where does this story end? No one knows what will happen and who will recover what monies."
In a statement, Mr Janvey said his work was court-approved and complex, and that $200m of frozen assets in Switzerland could not be released until Stanford's appeals were concluded. "It is Stanford's wildly delusional persistence in his innocence that is the major immediate stumbling block to the return of those assets…he stands convicted of a crime of epic proportions," he said.
Stanford on his assault and 'barbaric' treatment
In September 2009 while awaiting trial, Stanford was severely beaten by fellow inmates. He was transferred to a federal prison medical facility as the result of an addiction to anti-depressants, which he developed after the assault. His lawyers claimed this led to memory loss. After two year delay, a judge determined he was fit to stand trial.
"I was on the phone trying to reach my daughter inside a four-man cell that they had crammed 10 of us into, and I was attacked from behind. Some guys slammed my head into a concrete wall, split my skull open and then proceeded to put me in a choke hold... and then they stomped on my face and broke 32 bones in my head and face... After my brain swelling went away five days later they did an eight-hour operation to repair the damage. Thirty-two fractures were put back together with mesh and titanium screws. They then put me into a 7 by 6 ft 'hole' - that's the slang we use for the special housing unit where they separate you from everyone else. And I was left there for a month to recover and I saw the doctor one time in that 30 days to remove some stitches. I was given no antibiotics and no painkillers. I was put on psychotropic drugs which is the worst thing you can do for someone with a severe brain injury. I had severe concussion and my skull was cracked.
"I was pre-trial, I was presumed innocent… I was denied bail and my treatment, I would call it barbaric. It was something you'd think you'd receive if you were in North Korea or Iran or Russia or somewhere, but not the US.
"My memory began to go on me... I was having residual bleeding on my temporal lobe which they refused to do an MRI on and refused to give me proper neurological care on.
Stanford on prison life
"It's really beyond comprehension when you're in a penitentiary - there's four levels of custody: camp, low, medium - and I'm in the maximum security setting - and I'll just use some penitentiary language here; a penitentiary is violent... and it is a violent existence, and it will test everything you are made of.
"I have been able to weather this storm from hell probably better than most people could have, and you don't really know what you're made of until these things unfortunately come your way. I certainly never thought I'd spend now nearly seven years of my life in a US penitentiary and be subjected to things that are really horrific but mentally I'm back, I think, close to where I was before all this started. Physically I'm doing very well, thank God, and I'm fighting every single day. I am not going to lose this, this was a wrongful prosecution and I am going to win.
"There's a points system in prison in the US. It goes from 1 to 46, 46 being the most violent and most lengthy of criminal history, 1 being the least. I am a 1. I've been told I am the lowest points-system inmate in the whole prison. I would normally qualify for a camp or a 'low' prison, but they've stuck me here... The purpose for that - there's no question - is to make it more difficult to continue to fight. This is not conspiratorial, conjecture or whining - I'm certainly not whining about a damn thing.
"I have seen people stabbed I have seen people beaten senseless. I have seen guards attacked, inmates attacked, I've seen some pretty bad things happen. I've been in the middle of a riot, 100 guys right in the middle of a big riot, then they bring in the real guns and shoot with real bullets, I've pretty much seen it all.
"I read a Bible verse every morning... without that belief I could not let this anger go, I could not let this hate that boils up in me from time to time go. So it comes and then I just let it go because ultimately you hurt yourself, it will eat you alive and I have seen it do that to a number of guys in here… I miss my freedom. Like anybody in a penitentiary, you cannot even begin to tell someone what it's like to lose your freedom until you have lost your freedom.
Stanford on his downfall
"It is hard to believe every single, waking, moment, that I am inside this penitentiary, and now going on almost seven years of this hell it is still hard to realise. But as they do say, you either become stronger or weaker. In my case, I think I've shown I've become a stronger person and I've been supported by my family, and a handful of friends.
"The darkest moment was probably when I was... coming off this addiction that the government got me on... the government turns me into a damn drug addict. While I was getting off these psychotropics, my mother moved up to to visit me... and I was having trouble remembering that both my younger brothers had died tragically years ago, and that was a very difficult time for her emotionally."
Stanford on his appeal
After serving three of his 110 years behind bars, Stanford filed an appeal on his own behalf, without an attorney. In October 2015, a court rejected 10 arguments, including that he was not competent to stand trial, that the SEC did not have jurisdiction over his offshore business, that the government did not prove its case, that the sentence was too long, and that the trial judge was biased toward prosecutors.
"We find no evidence that the district court was partial to the government in derogation of Stanford's right to a fair trial under the Constitution," the circuit judge wrote. Stanford was found to have manipulated financial reports to show fake profits, bribed an Antiguan official, impeded SEC scrutiny and orchestrated a fraudulent financial empire. He denies any wrongdoing and has lodged a further appeal.
"I was not fit to go to trial, I did not have the preparatory time. All four of my attorneys... unfortunately were spineless. They did they best they could. They didn't even bring up issues that should have been addressed. They didn't understand what they were really doing. It was an enormously complex case, the government had three and a half years, they used Stanford money, receiverships, assets, civil investigatory powers to get and do things illegally to get me and prosecute me.
'Never any issues'
"There was no misrepresentation of any annual report. When 2009 rolled around and the financial crisis was at its worst, when the SEC came in, we were under the regulatory look-and-see of 14 countries and 70 different regulatory and other bodies that examine your business, including our insurance underwriters who have to do risk audits of the way you manage your assets. We never had any issues other than the normal 'you can do better here and there' - nothing of any significance, never had any issues ever.
"The whole thing about bribes was manipulated by the SEC… The SEC did not have the regulatory authority nor the jurisdiction to do what they were wanting us to do, but to bend over backwards we invited them to come and see for themselves. The Antiguan authorities then agreed they would send with them their regulators, their internal auditors to go look at the books with them should they choose to do that - both times they said no.
"I work non-stop, I'm working seven days a week on my case, that's all I do. I just work on my case. I don't think about dying in prison, my thought is on winning, I plan to win.
Stanford on his family
"What happened to my six children was wrong, terribly wrong… They got put out on the street, they got the silver spoon taken out of their mouth, their billionaire father who was providing for them that got yanked out from underneath them, they did not whine, they did not cry, they did not complain, they sucked it up and showed me they had the grit and determination to carry on. And it's just been an awe-inspiring thing for me to watch my children all six of them - how they have been able to show me what they're made of.
"I am sad for what they have had to go through but I don't feel guilty for what they have had to go through. I didn't cause that. What I have a guilt for is that before any of this happened I didn't spend the time I should have spent with my children, instead I spent it in my business… But in terms of what's happened, I have nobody to be apologetic to, I have nothing to apologise for, I have done nothing wrong.
Stanford on his former lifestyle
"I owned six jets, I had a Global Express, two Gulf Streams and three Hawker jets. All of those were corporate aircraft, all used for business purposes. Without that I couldn't have done what I did, which was travel constantly, and I worked my rear end off. So to that end I needed the aeroplanes. I was one of the wealthiest men on the planet and anybody in my position would have his own aeroplane. You're going to have planes because we had business in 140 countries and offices in 14 countries. The opulent lifestyle is really a funny thing to me. What is opulent? I had a 112ft sports yacht. Is that a big boat? Of course it is, if you have a 14ft boat as a dream boat. But if you are Larry Ellison and you've got four 300ft boats maybe it's no more than a tender. It's all relevant. I lived very modestly in terms of how I could have lived. My lifestyle in terms of my profile was probably much bigger than how I actually lived personally.
Stanford on the future
"Let's not talk about if, let's talk about when I'm released.
"I will go back to being who I was, but more in tune to what I do with my family and my children... I want to be back in the Caribbean, that's my favourite place in the world and I love the people in the West Indies, they're my second family. I love Antigua, I miss it greatly.
"I know it's going to happen, so it's not a dream, it's reality and it's right around the corner so yes, I think about it very, very often and I have a smile on my face, and I know it's going to happen. And I feel very confident it's going to happen very, very soon."
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A man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of a three-month old baby. | Paul Rich appeared before Bristol Crown Court charged over the death of Patrick Bradley in Swindon in March 2017.
The 52-year old from Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, also faces two charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to the infant. It is understood he is not the boy's father.
Mr Rich, who was remanded in custody, denies all the charges. He will face trial on 4 June.
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MSPs have hit out at the lack of ethnic minority representation at Holyrood as the Black Lives Matter movement continues to reshape politics. But why has Holyrood had so few members from minority backgrounds, and how could this change in 2021? | The Black Lives Matter movement has been debated in the Scottish Parliament, but it has also raised questions about why there are only two MSPs from ethnic minority backgrounds to take part in such debates.
In five Holyrood elections since 1999, each electing 129 MSPs, Holyrood has had a total of four members from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities - all of them men of Scots-Pakistani heritage.
One of the four - Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf - said that a record of "no black MSP ever, no female BAME MSP ever" was "frankly a failure of all of us, regardless of party".
In a recent speech he also pointed out that the director general of every Scottish government department and the chair of every public body is white, saying "that is not good enough".
With parties now working on their candidate lists for the 2021 elections, what needs to change?
With many MPs and MSPs beginning their careers in local politics, the issue extends to Scotland's councils too.
Soryia Siddique is a Labour councillor in Glasgow, and stood for the party in the last Holyrood election in 2016.
She told BBC Scotland's The Nine programme that she has had to deal with racism, sexism and Islamophobia, saying that people would frequently mix her up with a colleague who also wore a hijab, with even council officials apparently "not being able to differentiate between us".
She said: "When I stood in 2012 as a Muslim woman of colour, some of the comments I heard were 'she's unelectable', 'she needs to be more modernised'.
"That hurt - you would hear people saying I don't come across as being Scottish enough because of the way I choose to dress.
"In 99% of the meetings I go to I'm the only woman of colour at that meeting. In policy decisions and in terms of policy shaping, it's not acceptable.
"I know there's no lack of talent, no lack of aspiration or lack of ambition. There has to be a recognition that something is happening before people get to that stage.
"Children from a BAME background don't see themselves for example in a senior management role, as senior teachers, or as policy makers and these things have an impact, without a doubt."
Fatima Zahra Joji - an SNP activist from Aberdeenshire - said more has to be done by political parties "that claim they are progressive and inclusive", but have not delivered results.
She said that "diversity is key in terms of societal progression, and if you look at today's Scottish society, we have failed in that aspect".
She said: "If you look at our black and minority ethnic population, we've got 1% who are black and if you include Asian and minority ethnic it's about 5%.
"It might seem small, but if you look at 5% of 5.5 million, you're talking about hundreds of thousands people. That's hundreds of thousands of people that you're ignoring.
"I think we need to look at our Scottish history, and how our society is rooted in systemic racism and oppression and unconscious bias, to the point where we don't even realise we're doing it.
"You need the diverse experience, the lived experiences if you want to make a society that you claim is representative and progressive, and when many people are held back it's going to affect people who claim they are not."
Efforts are being made to get more young people to at least get a taste of life at Holyrood. The John Smith Centre - a think tank at the University of Glasgow - has recently doubled the number of recruits to its parliamentary internship programme, with the aim of half of them being taken up by students from BAME backgrounds.
Rafe Uddin is a student who went on one of these internships, and said that "the moment you walk into Holyrood, it's quite obvious that you're one of a few people in parliament from an ethnic minority background".
He said too often the onus is put on people from ethnic minority backgrounds to fix the problem themselves - that they are "sort of burdened with having to find the solution to problems that are very much out of their control".
Rafe said having candidate shortlists that deliberately promote black and Asian women could help boost representation.
He said: "All-women shortlists have been incredibly effective in the Labour party in particular, it's reshaped the composition of that party and put more women in politics and actually at the fore of politics too.
"You can have ethnic minority shortlists as well, and there's nothing to say you couldn't have shortlists with black women and Asian women in particular to actually help both with gender composition and ethnic minority representation."
What are the parties doing?
The SNP said Holyrood needs to "better reflect our population", saying the first job was to "encourage many more BAME members to come forward" as candidates.
A party spokesman said legislation might prevent them from "addressing this in the same way that we did to increase the number of women being elected", but said they would "be taking steps to make sure that BAME candidates are involved in selection contests in as many seats as possible"
The Scottish Conservatives have set up a commission led by former MEP Nosheena Mobarik which aims to get more women and ethnic minority candidates elected.
A spokesman said the party has "a vibrant and diverse range of members, activists and staff from all backgrounds that are now working through the ranks", and that the best way to improve representation was "removing barriers that are stopping people from standing".
Meanwhile, the Lib Dems are considering plans to put candidates who are women, disabled or from minority ethnic backgrounds forward in their "most winnable" seats in 2021.
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Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram - which has caused havoc in Africa's most populous country through a wave of bombings, assassinations and abductions - is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state. | Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it "haram", or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western society.
This includes voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular education.
Boko Haram regards the Nigerian state as being run by non-believers, regardless of whether the president is Muslim or not - and it has extended its military campaign by targeting neighbouring states.
The group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad".
Resisting British rule
But residents in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, where the group had its headquarters, dubbed it Boko Haram.
Loosely translated from the region's Hausa language, this means "Western education is forbidden".
Boko originally meant fake but came to signify Western education, while haram means forbidden.
Boko Haram at a glance
Islamic State strengthens ties with Boko Haram
Is Islamic State shaping Boko Haram media?
Jihadist groups around the world
What is jihadism?
Recruiting ground
Since the Sokoto caliphate, which ruled parts of what is now northern Nigeria, Niger and southern Cameroon, fell under British control in 1903, there has been resistance among some of the area's Muslims to Western education.
Many still refuse to send their children to government-run "Western schools", a problem compounded by the ruling elite which does not see education as a priority.
Against this background, charismatic Muslim cleric Mohammed Yusuf formed Boko Haram in Maiduguri in 2002. He set up a religious complex, which included a mosque and an Islamic school.
Many poor Muslim families from across Nigeria, as well as neighbouring countries, enrolled their children at the school.
But Boko Haram was not only interested in education. Its political goal was to create an Islamic state, and the school became a recruiting ground for jihadis.
In 2009, Boko Haram carried out a spate of attacks on police stations and other government buildings in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state.
This led to shoot-outs on Maiduguri's streets. Hundreds of Boko Haram supporters were killed and thousands of residents fled the city.
Nigeria's security forces eventually seized the group's headquarters, capturing its fighters and killing Mr Yusuf.
His body was shown on state television and the security forces declared Boko Haram finished.
But its fighters regrouped under a new leader, Abubakar Shekau, and stepped up their insurgency.
In 2013, the US designated it a terrorist organisation, amid fears that it had developed links with other militant groups, such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, to wage a global jihad.
Facial marks
Boko Haram's trademark was originally the use of gunmen on motorbikes, killing police, politicians and anyone who criticised it, including clerics from other Muslim traditions and Christian preachers.
The group then began to carry out more audacious attacks in northern and central Nigeria, including bombing churches, bus ranks, bars, military barracks and even the police and UN headquarters in the capital, Abuja.
Amid growing concern about the escalating violence, the government declared a state of emergency in May 2013 in the three northern states where Boko Haram was strongest - Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.
It draws its fighters mainly from the Kanuri ethnic group, which is the largest in the three states. Most Kanuris have distinctive facial scars and when added to their heavy Hausa accents, they are easily identifiable to others Nigerians.
As a result, the militants operate mainly in the north-east, where the terrain is also familiar to them.
Foreign links
The deployment of troops and the formation of vigilante groups drove many of them out of Maiduguri, their main urban base and they retreated to the vast Sambisa forest to the south and the Mandara Mountains, close to the border with Cameroon.
From there, the group's fighters launched mass attacks on villages and towns, looting, killing, abducting women and children and conscripting men and boys into their army.
In April 2014, Boko Haram drew international condemnation by abducting more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok town in Borno state, saying it would treat them as slaves and marry them off - a reference to an ancient Islamic belief that women captured in conflict are considered war booty.
And it switched tactics, starting to hold on to territory rather than retreating after an attack.
In August 2014, Mr Shekau declared a caliphate in areas under Boko Haram's control, with the town of Gwoza its seat of power.
"We are in an Islamic caliphate," said Mr Shekau, flanked by masked fighters and carrying a machine gun. "We have nothing to do with Nigeria. We don't believe in this name."
Later, Mr Shekau formally pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group, turning his back on al-Qaeda.
IS accepted the pledge, naming the territory under Boko Haram's control as the Islamic State of West Africa Province and as being part of the global caliphate it was trying to establish.
Chronic poverty
But by March 2015, Boko Haram had lost all the towns under its control as a regional coalition - made up of troops from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger - was formed to fight it.
Once again, Boko Haram retreated to the Sambisa forest, where the Nigerian military pursued it, freeing hundreds of captives.
In August 2016, the group apparently split, with an IS video announcing that Mr Shekau had been replaced with Abu Musab al-Barnawi, believed to be a son of Boko Haram's founder.
Mr Shekau disputed this, insisting he was still in charge.
And in a big surprise, 21 of the Chibok girls, seen as prized assets for Mr Shekau, were freed in October 2016 following talks involving the militants, the Nigerian and Swiss governments and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
But with Amnesty International saying that some 2,000 children remain in captivity, many more are still to be freed.
And while many fighters have been killed and weapons seized, some analysts say it is too early to write off Boko Haram.
Boko Haram has outlived other militant groups in northern Nigeria, and has built a presence in neighbouring states where it has carried out attacks and has recruited fighters.
It has a force of thousands of men - CIA officials have estimated around 9,000 - and cells that specialise in bombings. Through its raids on military bases and banks, it has gained control of vast amounts of weapons and money.
So, the chances of it being routed anytime soon - despite Mr Buhari's claim that it had been "technically defeated" - are slim, with the region's chronic poverty and poor education system helping it gain new recruits.
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Between 25 and 35 million Kurds inhabit a mountainous region straddling the borders of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia. They make up the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East, but they have never obtained a permanent nation state. | Where do they come from?
The Kurds are one of the indigenous peoples of the Mesopotamian plains and the highlands in what are now south-eastern Turkey, north-eastern Syria, northern Iraq, north-western Iran and south-western Armenia.
Today, they form a distinctive community, united through race, culture and language, even though they have no standard dialect. They also adhere to a number of different religions and creeds, although the majority are Sunni Muslims.
Kurdistan: A State of Uncertainty
Why don't they have a state?
In the early 20th Century, many Kurds began to consider the creation of a homeland - generally referred to as "Kurdistan". After World War One and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the victorious Western allies made provision for a Kurdish state in the 1920 Treaty of Sevres.
Such hopes were dashed three years later, however, when the Treaty of Lausanne, which set the boundaries of modern Turkey, made no provision for a Kurdish state and left Kurds with minority status in their respective countries. Over the next 80 years, any move by Kurds to set up an independent state was brutally quashed.
Aiming to change the outcome of World War One
Why were Kurds at the forefront of the fight against IS?
In mid-2013, the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) turned its sights on three Kurdish enclaves that bordered territory under its control in northern Syria. It launched repeated attacks that until mid-2014 were repelled by the People's Protection Units (YPG) - the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).
An IS advance in northern Iraq in June 2014 also drew that country's Kurds into the conflict. The government of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region sent its Peshmerga forces to areas abandoned by the Iraqi army.
In August 2014, the jihadists launched a surprise offensive and the Peshmerga withdrew from several areas. A number of towns inhabited by religious minorities fell, notably Sinjar, where IS militants killed or captured thousands of Yazidis.
In response, a US-led multinational coalition launched air strikes in northern Iraq and sent military advisers to help the Peshmerga. The YPG and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey for three decades and has bases in Iraq, also came to their aid.
In September 2014, IS launched an assault on the enclave around the northern Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee across the nearby Turkish border. Despite the proximity of the fighting, Turkey refused to attack IS positions or allow Turkish Kurds to cross to defend it.
In January 2015, after a battle that left at least 1,600 people dead, Kurdish forces regained control of Kobane.
The Kurds - fighting alongside several local Arab militias under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, and helped by US-led coalition air strikes, weapons and advisers - then steadily drove IS out of tens of thousands of square kilometres of territory in north-eastern Syria and established control over a large stretch of the border with Turkey.
In October 2017, SDF fighters captured the de facto IS capital of Raqqa and then advanced south-eastwards into the neighbouring province of Deir al-Zour - the jihadists' last major foothold in Syria.
The last pocket of territory held by IS in Syria - around the village of Baghouz - fell to the SDF in March 2019. The SDF hailed the "total elimination" of the IS "caliphate", but it warned that jihadist sleeper cells remained "a great threat".
The SDF was also left to deal with the thousands of suspected IS militants captured during the last two years of the battle, as well as tens of thousands of displaced women and children associated with IS fighters. The US called for the repatriation of foreign nationals among them, but most of their home countries refused.
In October 2019, US troops pulled back from the border with Turkey after the country's president said it was about to launch an operation to set up a 32km (20-mile) deep "safe zone" clear of YPG fighters and resettle up to 2 million Syrian refugees there. The SDF said it had been "stabbed in the back" by the US and warned that the offensive might reverse the defeat of IS, the fight against which it said it could no longer prioritise.
Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebels made steady gains in the first few days of the operation. In response, the SDF turned to the Syrian government for help and reached a deal for the Syrian army to deploy along the border.
The Syrian government has vowed to take back control of all of Syria.
What has Kobane battle taught us?
Raqqa: The city fit for no-one
Why does Turkey see Kurds as a threat?
There is deep-seated hostility between the Turkish state and the country's Kurds, who constitute 15% to 20% of the population.
Kurds received harsh treatment at the hands of the Turkish authorities for generations. In response to uprisings in the 1920s and 1930s, many Kurds were resettled, Kurdish names and costumes were banned, the use of the Kurdish language was restricted, and even the existence of a Kurdish ethnic identity was denied, with people designated "Mountain Turks".
In 1978, Abdullah Ocalan established the PKK, which called for an independent state within Turkey. Six years later, the group began an armed struggle. Since then, more than 40,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.
In the 1990s the PKK rolled back on its demand for independence, calling instead for greater cultural and political autonomy, but continued to fight. In 2013, a ceasefire was agreed after secret talks were held.
The ceasefire collapsed in July 2015, after a suicide bombing blamed on IS killed 33 young activists in the mainly Kurdish town of Suruc, near the Syrian border. The PKK accused the authorities of complicity and attacked Turkish soldiers and police. The Turkish government subsequently launched what it called a "synchronised war on terror" against the PKK and IS.
Since then, several thousand people - including hundreds of civilians - have been killed in clashes in south-eastern Turkey.
Turkey has maintained a military presence in northern Syria since August 2016, when it sent troops and tanks over the border to support a Syrian rebel offensive against IS. Those forces captured the key border town of Jarablus, preventing the YPG-led SDF from seizing the territory itself and linking up with the Kurdish enclave of Afrin to the west.
In 2018, Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebels launched an operation to expel YPG fighters from Afrin. Dozens of civilians were killed and tens of thousands displaced.
Turkey's government says the YPG and the PYD are extensions of the PKK, share its goal of secession through armed struggle, and are terrorist organisations that must be eliminated.
Turkey's fear of a reignited Kurdish flame
Profile: The PKK
What do Syria's Kurds want?
Kurds make up between 7% and 10% of Syria's population. Before the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011 most lived in the cities of Damascus and Aleppo, and in three, non-contiguous areas around Kobane, Afrin, and the north-eastern city of Qamishli.
Syria's Kurds have long been suppressed and denied basic rights. Some 300,000 have been denied citizenship since the 1960s, and Kurdish land has been confiscated and redistributed to Arabs in an attempt to "Arabize" Kurdish regions.
When the uprising evolved into a civil war, the main Kurdish parties publicly avoided taking sides. In mid-2012, government forces withdrew to concentrate on fighting the rebels elsewhere, and Kurdish groups took control in their wake.
In January 2014, Kurdish parties - including the dominant Democratic Union Party (PYD) - declared the creation of "autonomous administrations" in the three "cantons" of Afrin, Kobane and Jazira.
In March 2016, they announced the establishment of a "federal system" that included mainly Arab and Turkmen areas captured from IS.
The declaration was rejected by the Syrian government, the Syrian opposition, Turkey and the US.
The PYD says it is not seeking independence, but insists that any political settlement to end the conflict in Syria must include legal guarantees for Kurdish rights and recognition of Kurdish autonomy.
President Assad has vowed to retake "every inch" of Syrian territory, whether by negotiations or military force. His government has also rejected Kurdish demands for autonomy, saying that "nobody in Syria accepts talk about independent entities or federalism".
Will Iraq's Kurds gain independence?
Kurds make up an estimated 15% to 20% of Iraq's population. They have historically enjoyed more national rights than Kurds living in neighbouring states, but also faced brutal repression.
In 1946, Mustafa Barzani formed the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to fight for autonomy in Iraq. But it was not until 1961 that he launched a full armed struggle.
In the late 1970s, the government began settling Arabs in areas with Kurdish majorities, particularly around the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, and forcibly relocating Kurds.
The policy was accelerated in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq War, in which the Kurds backed the Islamic republic. In 1988, Saddam Hussein unleashed a campaign of vengeance on the Kurds that included the chemical attack on Halabja.
When Iraq was defeated in the 1991 Gulf War, Barzani's son Massoud and Jalal Talabani of the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led a Kurdish rebellion. Its violent suppression prompted the US and its allies to impose a no-fly zone in the north that allowed Kurds to enjoy self-rule. The KDP and PUK agreed to share power, but tensions rose and a four-year war erupted between them in 1994.
The parties co-operated with the US-led invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam and governed in coalition in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), created two years later to administer Dohuk, Irbil and Sulaimaniya provinces.
Massoud Barzani was appointed the region's president, while Jalal Talabani became Iraq's first non-Arab head of state.
In September 2017, a referendum on independence was held in both the Kurdistan Region and the disputed areas seized by the Peshmerga in 2014, including Kirkuk. The vote was opposed by the Iraqi central government, which insisted it was illegal.
More than 90% of the 3.3 million people who voted supported secession. KRG officials said the result gave them a mandate to start negotiations with Baghdad, but then Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi demanded that it be annulled.
The following month Iraqi pro-government forces retook the disputed territory held by the Kurds. The loss of Kirkuk and its oil revenue was a major blow to Kurdish aspirations for their own state.
After his gamble backfired, Mr Barzani stepped down as the Kurdistan Region's president. But disagreements between the main parties meant the post remained vacant until June 2019, when he was succeeded by his nephew Nechirvan.
Iraqi Kurdistan: State-in-the-making?
Iraqi Kurdistan profile
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When the guards come, these inmates never know if it is for the last time. On death row in Belarus, the only country in Europe that still uses the death penalty, they are never told when they will be executed. And when it happens, it is all kept as a state secret. | By Hugo BachegaBBC News
For the 10 months he spent on death row, Gennady Yakovitsky could only tell whether it was day or night by the dim light filtering through the protective cover on the window of his cell, where the white lamps stayed on even while he slept.
It was easy to lose sense of time. He was held in isolation, any walk outdoors was forbidden. Visits were tightly controlled and, other than lawyers, only close relatives were allowed to see him, once a month.
On those days, Yakovitsky would be taken from his cell and escorted, hands cuffed behind his back, with guards forcing his face down. He, like all the others, was never told where he was going, said his daughter, Alexandra. They were kept guessing: "Is it to meet their relatives? Lawyers? To be shot?"
Father and daughter saw each other through a glass window, always closely watched by guards. "We didn't talk about the case, it was forbidden. We could only talk about family things." On one of her eight visits, Alexandra, then 27, complained to him about the long time it was taking to receive a new passport.
"The guards said sarcastically: 'You still have a little time left'."
Often described as "Europe's last dictatorship", Belarus is the only country in Europe and the former Soviet Union still to use the death penalty, and the process is shrouded in secrecy.
Executions are carried out by a shot in the head, but the exact number is unknown: more than 300 are thought to have happened since 1991, when Belarus became an independent country.
Two executions were carried out there last year, according to Amnesty International, and, currently, at least six men are believed to be on death row - under the country's laws, women cannot be sentenced to death.
Those convicted, usually for homicides with aggravating circumstances, are kept in one of the high-security cells in the basement of Pre-trial Detention Centre 1, a jail set up in the building of a 19th Century castle, now partially collapsed, in the centre of the capital Minsk. Activists and journalists are rarely given any access.
There they face gross human rights violations, including "psychological pressure", with agents often using "torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment", a report by Viasna, a local human rights group, said in 2016.
Inmates are not allowed to lie or sit on the beds outside the designated sleeping hours, a former prison worker told the group, and spend most of their days walking around their cells. Even their right to send and receive letters is often said to be disrespected.
"The conditions are appalling," said Aisha Jung, Amnesty's campaigner on Belarus, who worked for a decade on the country's executions. "They're treated as if they're already dead."
Gennady Yakovitsky, who lived in Vileyka, a town about 100km (60 miles) from Minsk, had been accused of killing his 35-year-old partner in their flat after two days of drinking with friends in July 2015, according to reports by human rights groups.
After an argument, in which he allegedly struck her several times with his fists, they went to a separate room, where Yakovitsky fell asleep. What happened next he said he could not remember.
When he woke up, he found her already dead, with a broken jaw and partially naked. He dressed her in her jeans that contained bloodstains that had not been there before, the reports claimed, and alerted the police. Three days later, he was arrested.
Activists said that Yakovitsky faced psychological pressure during his first interrogation and that the people who were in the flat at the time gave contradictory testimony. "Some witnesses were drunk in court," his daughter said. "[Later] they said they couldn't remember what happened. No evidence was provided".
Yakovitsky had already been sentenced to death for murder in 1989, but this was commuted to a 15-year jail term. Alexandra said the court in Minsk had used this as "the main proof" against her father.
In January 2016, he was found guilty of a second murder, which he denied, and sentenced to death.
On execution day, prisoners are told by a public prosecutor that their appeal for a presidential pardon has been rejected. Aleh Alkayeu, former head of the prison where the executions are carried out, told Viasna: "They trembled either from cold or from fear, and their crazy eyes radiated such a real horror that it was impossible to look at them."
The inmates are blindfolded and taken to a specially-arranged room where access is restricted only to those allowed by the prosecutor: never a member of the public, according to accounts from former agents.
They are then forced to their knees and shot dead.
The whole procedure is said to last some two minutes. Only weeks or even months later are their relatives informed. In some cases, this happens when a box is sent by mail with some of the convict's personal belongings.
The bodies are never returned to the families and the locations where they have been buried remain a state secret, a violation of the human rights of the inmates and their relatives, UN special rapporteur Miklós Haraszti said in 2017. This, he added, amounted to torture.
In a referendum in 1996, 80% of Belarusians were against abolition of the death penalty. The result was not recognised internationally because, as with any other vote in Belarus, there were claims of widespread violations.
The government of President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, still uses this result to justify its policy and has made any change conditional on another popular vote. Meanwhile, a group in parliament is now discussing what can be done, but observers say it may take some time before any decision is taken.
Until then, Belarus is likely to remain the only European country outside the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights watchdog.
"Ultimately Belarus will have to choose the way it's going to abolish the death penalty," said Tatiana Termacic, from the Council's Human Rights and Rule of Law Directorate. "It's on the way towards abolition and we hope it'll be sooner rather than later."
Yet, she said, it was a "black stain" on a continent almost totally free of the death penalty.
Recent polls in Belarus suggest public support for capital punishment has fallen as campaigns have raised awareness. There was an outcry of sorts in 2012, when two men were put to death for a deadly bomb attack on the Minsk metro a year earlier.
Nevertheless, between 50% and two-thirds of people are believed to still favour the practice.
"More and more people are speaking against the death penalty," said Andrei Paluda, co-ordinator of the campaign Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus. "But the government is using the fact that it's the last European country where the death penalty is applied in order to force European countries to negotiate."
The president's office did not respond to a series of BBC requests for comment.
Read more about Belarus
Gennady Yakovitsky's lawyer appealed to the Supreme Court against his conviction, arguing the trial had not been fair and his guilt had not been unequivocally established. He was quoted as saying vital evidence had been omitted, including a forensic examination that had found traces of unidentified blood under the victim's nails.
But the court upheld his sentence and, in November 2016, Yakovitsky was executed, at the age of 49.
A month later, his family received a letter by post confirming that the sentence had been carried out. "I didn't receive his personal belongings, we didn't see the body," said Alexandra who now campaigns against the death penalty in Belarus.
"I had given him photos," she said. "I got nothing back."
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A driver has been stopped by police for having several feet of guttering sticking out of the car window, overhanging the pavement. | The BMW was pulled over in North Quay, Great Yarmouth, on Wednesday morning.
Norfolk and Suffolk Road Policing tweeted a photograph of the car and said "4m of guttering does not fit in a 2 door saloon. #RoadSafety".
On Friday, a car was stopped in Great Yarmouth with a wardrobe strapped to the roof with bubble wrap.
Police are yet to comment further on the latest incident but are deciding whether to prosecute the driver using a "clearly very dangerous" method to transport furniture.
Sgt Chris Harris tweeted an image and said the thin plastic was "not sufficient to secure a wardrobe to a car roof".
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Guernsey's environment minister has denied claims the new Les Beaucamps High School does not resemble the original plans. | Some Castel parishioners have complained about the height of the steel framework put up on the site.
Deputy Peter Sirett said it was the same height as in the plans and the finished school would be something the island could be proud of.
He said: "Once it's clad it's not going to stand out like it does."
Deputy Sirett said: "It's what it is, it's what it's been designed as, it's going to be a superb building when it's finished."
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After facing criticism for being slow off the mark ahead of the 2016 mayoral race, the Conservatives have been quicker with their shortlist of candidates for 2020 London Mayoral Election. But who are the three left on the shortlist... | By Georgia RobertsBBC Political Research Unit
Shaun Bailey
Born: North Kensington, London
Age: 47
Current residence: Romford
Position on EU: Leave
Known for: London Assembly member, former special advisor to David Cameron, former youth worker.
Background: Mr Bailey grew up in the Ladbroke Grove area of West London, on the Bracewell Road estate. His family are of Jamaican origin.
He was brought up by his mother after his father, a lorry driver, left the family - although he went on to rebuild his relationship with his father.
Mr Bailey, who is married with two children, worked as a security man at Wembley and London's Trocadero Centre to help finance his way through his time at university.
In 2008, Mr Bailey was branded "future home secretary" by society magazine Tatler and was subsequently dubbed one of five "Tatler Tories" whose parliamentary bids were unsuccessful in 2010.
He was elected to the London Assembly in May 2016. He is currently deputy leader of the Conservative Greater London Authority Group.
Mr Bailey has cited a Public Enemy Song, "She Watch Channel Zero?!", as influential on his decision to enter politics.
In 2005, he published a document for the Centre for Policy Studies (of which he remains a research fellow), No Man's Land, in which he criticised liberalism and the state of inner-city neighbourhoods: "The more liberal we have been, the more our communities have suffered." He was particularly citing the Ladbroke Grove area of London.
In 2006, Mr Bailey helped establish My Generation, where he worked as a youth worker for almost twenty years. The charity aimed to combat drugs, teenage pregnancy and encourage self-help before it was dissolved in 2012.
Mr Bailey ran as a parliamentary candidate for Hammersmith, west London, in 2010 - a key marginal seat, but he failed to get elected.
He was one of Cameron's 100-strong "A list" candidates for the then leader's "changing faces of the Conservative Party" campaign. Only 38 of these ended up getting elected in 2010.
He's said of David Cameron: "He's very sharp, and for someone from Eton he has a real understanding."
Mr Bailey also stood in Lewisham West and Penge in the 2017 election, coming second.
Following the 2010 general election, he served as a special adviser for David Cameron between 2010 and 2013.
He was appointed as the ambassador for David Cameron's big society agenda in 2011, before he was made a special advisor on youth, crime and welfare issues. He also went on to serve in advisory roles in the Cabinet Office and the Department for Education.
Mr Bailey has said poor communities "need a bit more right-wing politics". He has spoken of his hatred of what he claims is an oversized welfare state in Britain, blaming this "liberalism", for the dependency culture he says it has produced among the British black population.
Mr Bailey told the Telegraph in 2008 part of his value to the Conservatives is as a "social translator", explaining to the middle classes how people on estates think.
2020 Mayoral Pledge: "My family first came to London in the fifties as part of the Windrush generation. They came to work hard and contribute to the country. I want to continue that tradition by making London an even better place to work, and a better place for your family.
"Sadiq Khan is a mayor who has constantly broken his promises to Londoners. He is far more interested in promoting his image and pursuing PR opportunities than he is in showing leadership on tackling knife crime or building the homes London needs. Londoners deserve better."
Joy Morrissey
Born: United States
Age: 37
Current residence: Ealing
Position on the EU: Leave
Known for: Ealing and Acton councillor
Background: Ms Morrissey was born in Indiana, in the United States. Her father is a church leader from Ohio, earning her the media nickname "the other vicar's daughter" (alongside Theresa May). She has been a British citizen for around ten years, having originally come to the capital to study for her Masters in European Social Policy at the London School of Economics. She's married with one daughter.
Ms Morrissey joined the Conservative Party in 2008 and was elected to Ealing Council in 2014. She worked as an actress under the name Joy Boden before entering politics, starring in films such as Geek Mythology (2008), and Only One Can Play (2009).
She told Ealing Today: "After deciding not to go back to work in the film industry after having a child I actually looked at going back to get my PhD in international development but got involved with the local Ealing Conservatives. One thing has led to the other and here we are."
As a councillor, she is the current Conservative policy forum champion for social housing tenants. Since 2016 she has also worked for the Centre for Social Justice.
Ms Morrissey was a Conservative parliamentary candidate in the 2017 general election for the Ealing Central and Acton constituency, which at the time was an ultra-marginal seat - Labour had slipped through in the 2015 election with a 274 vote majority.
The councillor threatened legal action against the constituency's sitting Labour MP Rupa Huq, and pulled out of hustings for what she described as lies in Labour campaign leaflets (in particular, claims she supported the closure of Ealing Hospital and that she was a "Hard Brexit Activist"). Ms Huq went on to hold the seat, with a vote increase of about 12%.
Ms Morrissey has made the case for "compassionate" Conservatism that places social action and initiatives for disadvantaged communities at the heart of policy. She advocates locally-driven initiatives as opposed to state-led intervention.
Ms Morrissey also believes Conservative policy on the housing crisis should focus on market-based solutions, and believes cutting "suffocating red tape" will give police officers better scope for tackling crime.
2020 Mayoral pledge: Ms Morrissey says her campaign will focus around three main issues; tackling London's crime rate, social justice and affordable housing.
She told Conservative Home: "Like a lot of Londoners, I wasn't born here. I moved here as an immigrant and I fell in love with this vibrant city which is now my home and the place I'm raising my family.
"I have shared the journey of frustration that many Londoners experience when it comes to trying to get on the housing ladder. Addressing this struggle, that so many face, must be one of our top priorities."
Andrew Boff
Age: 60
Current residence: Barking Riverside
Position on EU: Leave
Stance on key policies: Supports legalisation of cannabis
Known for: London Assembly member, bids for mayoral office over the years
Background: Mr Boff was born in Hillingdon to a mother who was an NHS worker and local councillor from east London. His father was a policeman from west London.
He was active in Conservative Youth branches in the 1970s, founding a branch himself whilst at school.
He is the nephew of Roy "Little Legs" Smith, who allegedly worked for notorious London gangsters the Kray brothers.
A former Hillingdon councillor and European election candidate in the 1990s, Mr Boff, who now works as an IT consultant, will be a familiar face to many Londoners. He ran for the Conservative nomination in 2000, 2004 and 2008 - coming second in both the latter years. He's reportedly described his attempts at the mayoral candidacy as a "tradition".
He also came second in both attempts to become the mayor of Hackney in 2002 and 2006. Mr Boff ran again for the mayoralty in 2010, coming third.
In 2008, Mr Boff was elected to the London Assembly. He was subsequently re-elected in 2012 and 2016. He served as leader of the Conservative Party in the London Assembly from 2012 to 2016.
Mr Boff has written and spoken extensively on his libertarian principles. He supports the legalisation of cannabis to end "the violence and misery brought about by prohibition". He has also called for a London trial of a "managed street prostitution area" as a way to provide better protection for street sex workers.
2020 Mayoral pledge: Violent crime, housing and changes to the Hammersmith and City underground line have been identified as key priorities for Boff.
He told Conservative Home: "I want a plan for London that respects this city's different parts, that enhances them rather than just trying to make them the same.
"I reject Khan's thinly-veiled war on the suburbs which aims to turn outer London into inner London. I also reject the idea that Central London is some kind of theme park, hostile to people who want to bring up families."
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A boa constrictor has gone missing from its home, prompting police to issue a warning to people in the area. | The 5ft (1.5m) long black and silver reptile slithered away from an address in Cwmgiedd, near Ystradgynlais, Powys.
Ystradgynlais police tweeted a warning to people, urging them to keep windows and doors shut and their pets indoors.
Boa constrictors are non-venomous ambush predators that kill by squeezing the life out of their prey and can reach up to 3m (10ft) in length.
Dyfed-Powys Police urged anyone who spots the animal to call 101.
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An injured seal pup, thought to have been bitten by a dog, has been rescued from a beach on Anglesey. | The three-week-old was found close to a public footpath at the back of the beach at Rhosneigr and has since been transferred to a rehabilitation centre.
RSPCA has urged people to keep their dogs away from seal pups.
Inspector Mike Pugh said: "Dog walkers should also be vigilant if they walk their dogs near seal hotspots."
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Director Christopher Nolan's films have made more than £2bn worldwide, while the themes of his directing - time, memory, non-linear storytelling - have maintained his reputation as an auteur with films such as Memento and Inception. | By Emma Jones Arts and entertainment reporter, BBC News
His reworking of Batman - the Dark Knight trilogy - has also earned him a popular fanbase. The British film-maker seems to be able to do no wrong in Hollywood so can his latest release Interstellar help him sustain that lofty status?
Interstellar is a three-hour space epic, set both in distant galaxies and on a devastated Earth.
It stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and a Nolan regular, Sir Michael Caine, marking the sixth time the pair have worked together.
As Hollywood's most commercially successful director since Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, Nolan, whose production company Syncopy is still based in Britain, was handed a budget of £100m to make Interstellar - with almost no studio input into the final product.
As on past productions, the director co-wrote the original screenplay with his brother Jonathan, and produced it with his wife Emma Thomas.
Anne Hathaway, who also worked with Nolan on 2012's The Dark Knight Rises, says "this is treatment that very few directors receive these days. But Chris Nolan, to me, is the perfect marriage of blockbuster and independent film-making.
"There was a large amount of money behind us, but there was no waste. Every choice that was made was intelligently and carefully considered by Chris and Emma.
"There were no extra frills, we all had to share trailers, and nobody got luxury accommodation when we went to shoot on location in Iceland.
"Chris has his own way of doing things, there's no green screen, he builds sets instead; he prefers to shoot on IMAX film and doesn't care for digital; but every dollar he's given ends up on screen.
"In the end, we wrapped on Interstellar two weeks early and I believe he came in under budget. Who else does that?"
McConaughey, who won the best actor Oscar earlier this year for The Dallas Buyers Club, says Nolan's independent film-making background has stood him in good stead.
Before he was chosen to make Batman Begins in 2005, the director, who studied film in London in the 1990s, made indie cult hits such as 1998's Following and Memento in 2000.
His first film that was studio funded was 2002's Insomnia, a thriller starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams.
"He's earned his stripes and he knows how to deliver bang for his buck," says McConaughey. "It's a rare skill.
"I'd say Christopher has a healthy ego and an incredibly ambitious mind. His reach is always exceeding his grasp and he gets obsessed with every film he does, like it's the only one he'll ever do. It's wonderful to see."
Nolan's mass appeal seems more extraordinary given the difficult subjects he tackles - and in Interstellar, they involve complicated astrophysics.
When the earth is devastated by an agricultural crisis, the last spaceships are used to find new habitats for humankind, after a wormhole is discovered which allows different dimensions of time and space to be explored.
McConaughey's character Cooper must choose between his mission to save the planet and missing his two children growing up.
The director, who rarely gives interviews, has described Interstellar's main theme as "the relationship between a father and his children.
"It's all about being a father to me, and what it means to be one - I have four children. I just like to contrast it with the cosmic scale of the universe around us".
McConaughey says "the film manages to be deeply personal, despite its grandeur" but admits he still grapples with concepts like relativity, gravity, five dimensional time, wormholes and black holes - terms which pepper nearly all his lines.
"I am a complete beginner at this," he says.
"I wouldn't dare to describe myself as an intermediate, even after shooting the movie.
"But Chris's worlds are very original and it's not just abstract theories that he's coming up with, they are based on scientific fact. It's not condescending to audiences."
Jessica Chastain, who plays an astrophysics genius in the movie, admits her ignorance too of the concepts she speaks of, and calls Nolan "one of those people that if you have a conversation with him, you feel inadequate - he knows so much".
Reviewers have noted the complexity of Interstellar, and compared it - mainly favourably - to another hit set in space, Alfonso Cuaron's Oscar-winning Gravity, released a year ago.
McConaughey says, despite its complexities, working on Interstellar "has made me think that the backyard is bigger than I thought it was. Chris has made me more curious about the practicalities of heading out into space, and what's out there. I look up a lot more now".
Michael Caine has different opinions: "I'd do anything for Chris," he says. " I'll work with him on any project he wants me to, it's literally a family atmosphere on set. But I won't actually ever contemplate going into space for him. I prefer gardening."
Interstellar is released in the UK on 7 November.
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There are two flood warnings in place with several roads closed due to localised flooding across north and mid Wales. | Two people were rescued from their car in flood water near Welshpool, Powys, by Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue.
Rail services have been affected in Conwy county, Powys and Ceredigion, said Arriva Trains Wales.
On Saturday, the Met Office said up to 6cm (2in) of rain could fall.
At Capel Curig in Snowdonia there were gusts of nearly 70mph (112km/h).
The flood warnings by Natural Resources Wales cover the Lower Dee Valley in Wrexham and the River Severn at Pool Quay, north of Welshpool.
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Feeding up to 5,000 people in a day is no easy task but a team of chefs and volunteers are hoping to do just that in Edinburgh on Saturday to highlight the issue of food waste.
They will be creating free meals using ingredients which might otherwise not have been used. | By Gillian SharpeBBC Scotland
Scottish households throw away 566,000 tonnes of food waste every year, according to Zero Waste Scotland.
In the small kitchen of an Edinburgh restaurant preparations are under way for lunchtime service. Freshly baked sourdough bread comes out of the oven, meanwhile the chef is examining lobsters, mussels and potatoes from their allotment.
"I dug these up on Sunday," says Neil Forbes, chef director at Café St Honore.
"These are a variety called pink fir apple potatoes, which are just sensational, look how nutty and knobbly they look. Incredible."
'Business hat'
He is passionate about kitchen traditions, but on Saturday he will be swapping his own kitchen for a marquee as he oversees the cooking by a team of other chefs of up to 5,000 meals. He believes the issue of food waste is crucial.
"You have to put your business hat on sometimes and think well if I could sell that and there's nothing wrong with it, why would I throw that away if it's perfectly edible and good to eat.
"It may not be attractive to look at, it may be a wonky carrot or a misshapen courgette but there's nothing wrong with it taste-wise, so by the time you've cut it up or made it into a pot of soup or a stew, then surely it's just madness to throw it away."
The most wasted foods are fresh fruit and vegetables, salads, bread and cakes, with the average Scottish household throwing out something like £430 worth of food a year
"In Scotland we throw away 566,000 tonnes of food waste every year from our homes, that's the equivalent of 38,000 double-decker buses," says Ylva Haglund of Zero Waste Scotland.
"Three quarters of this could have been avoided if we managed our food a little bit better, for example using it up in time or not over-cooking and ending up throwing out food afterwards."
But is that message getting through?
"I'm pretty good at using what I buy," says one woman shopper in the centre of Edinburgh.
Another woman, hurrying along with bags under her arms, admits she is rather less efficient: "Vegetables that I haven't got through, stuff that's in the fridge, after a week, you just clear it all out.
"I should really watch what I buy."
The vegetables being used to cook up Saturday's meals are mainly ones which might not meet the specifications for retail in supermarkets and could go to other parts of the food chain or even cattle feed.
The Scottish Retail Consortium says the major grocery retailers "have been at the forefront of ensuring that EU fruit and vegetable marketing regulations were relaxed so that the strict marketing conditions on 26 types of fruit and vegetables were loosened so that more 'wonky' fruit and vegetables could be sold in dedicated value ranges.
"They are also working with farmers to make more of the crop by, for example, using 'wonkier' fruit and vegetables in basic lines or using it in processed products."
It also says it is working to reach targets "agreed with the Scottish government to reduce food waste in the supply chain and help consumers reduce household waste."
Saturday's event, organised by the group, Edible Edinburgh is also trying to touch on wider issues of food sustainability in the city and the public will be asked for their views on developing a strategy to advance that.
"The amount of food that we waste in the north, the developed world is more than the amount of food people eat in sub-Saharan Africa," says Pete Ritchie, director of the group Nourish Scotland. He is also a member of the Edible Edinburgh project.
"It's pretty poor, it shows how disconnected we've become from the value of food."
One of the dishes on offer on Saturday will be a vegetable curry, cooked with a glut of coriander and tomato puree nearing its use by date.
"I'm hoping we will have created discussion and debate," says Charlie Cornelius, the chef-proprietor at Iglu restaurant in Edinburgh. He will be in charge of that curry kitchen which could turn out about 830 meals.
"That people will have had fun coming out, coming together through food, creating community through food. There's nothing more important than that."
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The Newport Street Gallery is one of six UK buildings up for the 2016 Riba Stirling Prize for architecture. A select line-up of judges will decide the winner, but the BBC, in partnership with Riba, is inviting you to vote for your favourite. Find out about the other buildings here . |
If you are viewing this page in the BBC News app, tap here to vote.
What is it and where?
Artist Damien Hirst's new gallery houses more than 3,000 pieces of art from his personal collection. Designed by Caruso St John, the gallery occupies a row of converted and extended former industrial buildings in Vauxhall, south London.
How much did it cost?
Confidential, but reported to be £25m.
What was the vision?
To link together the ground and upper floors of the five buildings, so the space can be used flexibly for different exhibitions. The two levels are connected with two (much praised) new spiral staircases. The proportions of the three Victorian workshops, with their low-level windows and high blank walls, are echoed in the design of the two new buildings bookending the former industrial units.
What have people said about it?
"It's a sturdy yet finely crafted building on a tough site." Hank Dittmar, Building Online, August 2016
"Its location is rather uncool. Still - it is very, very Caruso St Johnny. Lovely staircase. Nice brickwork. Tasteful all round." Rory Olcayto, Archinect, July 2016
"It may be the creation of a multimillionaire artist with his own agenda to pursue, but it has a real and generous public spirit." Rowan Moore, Guardian, July 2016
Explore the other buildings on the shortlist
BBC Riba Stirling home page
Find out more about the BBC Riba Stirling Prize partnership
Credits: Video by Richard Kenny and Dave O'Neill Artworks © Jeff Koons and © Damien Hirst and Science ltd. All rights reserved, DACS 2016, gallery images © Victor Mara
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
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Without a name, they are referred to by the clothes they died in or some other distinguishing feature. The lady in the Afghan coat and a woman who may have been a sex worker known as The Duchess are just two of the hundreds of unidentified body cases reported to the National Crime Agency (NCA) each year. Half will be identified and returned to their loved ones. But what happens to the rest? | By Laurence CawleyBBC News
"I feel I know her, I really do, because I know so much about her," says Det Ch Insp Andy Guy.
He knows what she ate (a lot of seafood), where she came from (probably Denmark), that she was right-handed and had given birth.
What he does not know is her name, or the whereabouts of her head.
The unidentified woman, whose decapitated body was found bound and covered in a dustsheet off a rural path in Cockley Cley, Norfolk 41 years ago, is one of about 1,500 cases registered with the National Crime Agency.
Some are complete bodies, some just body parts.
Sometimes the gender and a rough age of the remains can be determined, other times they cannot.
About 150 unidentified body cases are reported each year.
Most are found by dog walkers, joggers or mushroom foragers, and usually in autumn or late winter, when the foliage has died back.
The oldest case on the NCA's database is that of a man, possibly a vagrant in his 40s, whose decomposed body was found in a derelict house in east London.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the discovery.
After London, the areas with the most unidentified people cases are Sussex, with 52, Kent with 31, Essex, with 29 cases and Devon and Cornwall, with 28.
But why would Devon and Cornwall, an area with 1.65m people, have three times as many unidentified cases as somewhere such as West Yorkshire, with its population of 2.2m?
The answer, says Louise Vesely-Shore at the NCA, is the coastline. Bodies not only wash up on the shore, she says, but they also tend to be harder to identify because of the effects of sea water.
"We aim to reconcile 50% of the 120 to 150 cases that come in each year," says Ms Vesely-Shore.
A significant number of unidentified body cases relate either to people who have lost contact with family - and are therefore not reported missing - or foreign nationals who die on UK soil.
Roughly one in 10, says the NCA, is crime related.
Coroners decide what happens to the bodies and although most are buried, some are kept in morgues.
The importance of DNA profiles
The body of a newborn baby was found in a water-filled pit at Weasenham St Peter in Norfolk in June 1988.
For more than a quarter of a century, nobody knew who the baby's mother was or the circumstances of his death.
But in April 2014 the body was exhumed and a DNA profile was taken.
Using that profile, Norfolk Police managed to track down the infant's mother. What emerged was a sad story of a young woman who had hidden her pregnancy from family and friends and who delivered a stillborn baby alone.
Initially arrested on suspicion of infanticide, the woman - whose identity has not been revealed - was later released without charge.
Det Ch Insp Guy said of the case: "One can only feel for the lady involved who has had to carry this enormous burden in secret for all this time."
Ms Vesely-Shore said there were no currently agreed procedures dictating what should happen when a body is found.
She said the NCA "encourages" police and coroners to take samples, fingerprints and DNA, record dental information, and bury in a marked single grave, in case exhumation is needed in future.
In those cases in which the bodies have been cremated, she said, no DNA profile will ever be gleaned. And bodies buried in multiple graves make finding the "right" body "challenging".
Some of these cases, she warns, will now never be solved.
"It is sad. And because we have contact with families who are searching, we can see the impact it has on them. Families do not stop searching."
And nor do those officers tasked with trying to solve what are sometimes seemingly impossible cases.
Det Ch Insp Guy, of Norfolk Police's cold case unit, took over the Cockley Cley case in 2007.
Having reviewed the original investigation he brought modern forensic techniques to bear on the case. These revealed she had consumed water found in an area of Scotland and ate a diet heavy in fish and crabs. Armed with her DNA profile, they managed to rule out 555 of the 590 active missing women cases.
One line of inquiry being pursued came from a truck driver about a woman known only as The Duchess.
She is understood to have worked as an escort around the Great Yarmouth docks area in the mid 1970s. Her clients were often truck drivers.
She was in her late 20s or early 30s, came from Denmark and travelled repeatedly across the North Sea between East Anglia and Denmark.
Could the Cockley Cley body have been The Duchess? Norfolk Police hope to find out.
Not all breakthroughs yield results.
Hertfordshire Police are continuing to investigate the case of a young woman who suffered horrific injuries on the A1 in February 1975.
Wearing no shoes, she was hitch-hiking for a lift into London and spoke to both a lorry driver and a milkman, taking a yogurt from the rear of the latter's float.
She wore an Afghan-style coat and spoke with a "foreign accent".
A short while later the woman, aged between 23 and 25 and about 5ft 4in tall (1.62m), was run over by a number of vehicles.
In 2010, the force's cold case team garnered her DNA profile and commissioned the University of Dundee to create a post-mortem depiction of how she probably looked.
The image was seen by a family in Stotfold, Bedfordshire, who thought she could be a young woman who had stayed with them for a few months during the mid 1970s to study English.
Her name, though the spelling is uncertain, was Odile Ludic.
The cold case unit focused in on Ms Ludic and found that she drank locally in Stotfold and had worked for a local company.
They also learned she was most likely from northern Paris. But then the trail went cold. A man believed to have been her former boyfriend is now dead.
"So far it (the suggested name) hasn't really taken us anywhere," admits Mick Flavin, from the force's cold case unit.
"But we do still hope to solve this case."
Inside Out will be broadcast on BBC One in the east of England at 19:30 GMT on Monday and available on iPlayer afterwards
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The past week has seen parts of the web in tumult. On Wednesday Wikipedia, WordPress and thousands of other sites took their content offline. | Webmasters offered warnings of the potential damage posed by the Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (Pipa) - two bills being considered by members of the US Congress.
On Thursday the Department of Justice announced that it had shut down Megaupload, one of the internet's biggest file-sharing sites, and had charged several of its employees with copyright infringement.
On Friday "hacktivists" who align themselves under the name Anonymous mounted attacks against websites belonging to the US authorities, music companies and other advocates of a piracy crackdown.
The US Congress subsequently halted debate on the two bills for the time being.
The BBC asked a range of stakeholders to analyse the events and discuss what will happen next.
Geoff Taylor, BPI
The attacks by hackers on the FBI, Department of Justice and creative industry and the recent protest by tech companies against new anti-piracy laws have exposed the dirty underbelly of the internet piracy economy.
Anonymous accuse governments and the creative community of being "tyrants" for trying to prevent them stealing other people's work. This illustrates the extremism of much of the anti-copyright movement.
Not only is it morally wrong to justify taking someone else's work for nothing, it ignores the simple truth that anything of value, including entertainment, takes time and money to create. One would hope that such naive views would carry little public influence. But they have some very powerful allies.
Under the guise of fighting for their vision of an "open internet", some Silicon Valley behemoths have launched a high-profile campaign to oppose new US laws to tackle major pirate websites. As publicity stunts for this campaign, Wikipedia closed for a day and Google "censored" its doodle, asking their users to oppose the legislation.
These large corporations argue that blocking access to some mass piracy sites amounts to Chinese-style censorship of free speech and will "break the internet" - ignoring that other types of illegal sites are routinely blocked, and people will always be free to express their points of view through the millions of perfectly legal websites that don't infringe copyright.
But is the tech community's opposition to tackling piracy motivated by principle - or by profit?
Many consumers see digital theft as a kind of victimless crime - musicians and film stars have loads of money, right?
In fact, most musicians earn less than the national average income and everyone who works in the creative sector, from roadies to mastering engineers, is negatively affected by piracy. But the money that downloaders save by taking music, films and books for nothing is flowing silently into the pockets of large tech corporations.
Online hosting services pay users to upload the most popular files and charge freeloaders for faster downloads.
Search giants earn billions from online advertising, with searches for illegal free music and films a major driver of traffic.
Broadband providers charge users for all the extra bandwidth they consume downloading stuff for free.
The internet advertising industry earns commission from the ads on pirate sites, and brands reach a huge audience cheaply.
This is the hidden internet piracy economy.
Most of the internet companies that benefit from this routinely claim that they don't support piracy. They may well be sincere. Yet they consistently oppose every new measure to tackle it, and offer up no effective alternatives of their own.
Long term, this cannot be the way forward.
Apple's former chief executive, the late Steve Jobs, understood that the creative and technology industries should be partners, and that consumers benefit from better quality services as a result. Spotify and others have taken up the mantle and there are new examples to welcome, with Google and some ISPs launching their own digital music services.
But if we want a digital economy that works, the big players on the internet need to kick their addiction to the money flowing from piracy. Like Steve Jobs, they need to show that they value other people's creativity as well as their own.
Geoff Taylor is chief executive of the BPI - the trade body that represents the British recording industry.
Ernesto, Torrentfreak.com
Aside from increasing liability for many legitimate tech companies, the problem with the pending Sopa and Pipa bills is that they might achieve next to nothing in stopping piracy.
It may become easier to take out what the entertainment industry calls "rogue sites" dedicated to copyright infringement, but the recent past has shown that for every service that gets shut down, a dozen new ones appear.
Ten years ago the major threat was said to come from Napster, a few years later it was Limewire, and today it is Megaupload.
All these services are now offline but there are no signs that file-sharing is declining, on the contrary.
Instead of aggressively attempting to legislate piracy away and alienating consumers, a much better approach is to take a good look at why many people share copyrighted material.
To a great extent piracy can be interpreted as a marketing signal. Consumers see a mismatch between the offerings of the big media companies and their demands.
When the MP3-player (and iPod) first came along there was no way for people in some countries to legally buy songs to put on them.
The demand was huge but big media wasn't serving it. We still see a mismatch today, and it's one of the main motivations for people to pirate.
Piracy will always remain, but if the entertainment industries are smart enough they'll eventually deliver services that make unauthorised downloading obsolete for most people.
In Europe, for example, many people don't want to wait years before their favourite US shows air on TV, so they use file-sharing sites instead.
This is more about availability than the fact that these shows are free. The same is true for movies and music.
What the public wants is better services and increased availability at a fair price.
Ernesto is the Netherlands-based co-editor of the blog Torrentfreak.com. He asked to withhold his full identity and photograph.
Neelie Kroes, European Commission
I've said that we have to safeguard the benefits of an open internet and that Sopa is not the model for Europe. What we need instead is laws that are effective, proportionate and preserve the open internet we cherish.
Or, as I put it on Twitter, speeding is illegal but you don't stop it by putting speed bumps on the motorway.
In the digital age, our current copyright system is not succeeding in its objectives. I agree we should fight against piracy. But it's becoming increasingly hard to legally enforce copyright, and enforcement is only one side of the coin.
On top of that virtually all artists are earning under £800 a month from copyright. That's pretty devastating, for the artists themselves and for Europe as a whole.
There are lots of potential ideas out there for new systems of recognition and reward - but too often they are killed stone dead by rigid, pre-digital legislation.
Meanwhile legislation can discriminate against innovative forms of distribution - for example, e-books don't benefit from the same VAT reduced rates as "physical" books.
Overall, I have been clear that we need to go back to basics and put artists back at the centre of copyright law.
We need to ensure internet access is as widespread as possible. And we need to deal with piracy from both angles. Piracy won't be minimised until the amount of legally available content is increased.
Neelie Kroes is the vice president of the European Commission and is responsible for issues relating to the Digital Agenda
Prof William Dutton, University of Oxford
The worldwide diffusion of the internet is one of the most promising technological developments of the 21st Century. Over two billion people already use the internet and that number is set to grow as more people in the rapidly developing nations come online. There are already more Chinese users than there are Americans on the planet.
It is a core infrastructure for economic development in developed and rapidly developing nations alike, and is enabling networked individuals to hold governments and other institutions accountable in ways that are as powerful as the press in earlier eras.
However, the vitality of the internet, web and related technologies is being placed at risk by an ideologically blinkered stand-off between two single-issue groups - one seeking to protect copyright versus another protecting freedom of expression.
The internet and web grew out of a culture of sharing and free expression within academic communities, and more than 40 years on from the invention of the internet, many users remain supportive of online freedom of expression. Given the high levels of support for this underlying culture it should not be surprising that threats to freedom of expression have created major counter-reactions.
Legislative routes to protecting copyright would have a chilling effect on the internet, as they would usher in greater surveillance and governmental sanctioning of the blocking of content as well as the disconnection of users. That is why Wikipedia, Google and other responsible stakeholders in the internet have protested Sopa and Pipa.
At the very moment that protests over these legislative actions appeared to be gaining ground among US elected officials, the Department of Justice raised the stakes by taking the domain names of the Megaupload file-sharing site offline and charging its founders with violating piracy laws.
As a result the internet "hacktivist" group, Anonymous, launched its denial of service attacks. The actions of nearly every stakeholder in this conflict have been seriously uncompromising.
In the short run, it is time to talk and to stop these flame wars. Each side has failed to be open to discussion, but that is exactly what is needed. In the long term, the creative industries must focus on new business models that are sustainable in the digital era. Government can help support the research and development to enable these innovations.
More generally, all stakeholders need to understand that freedom of expression and copyright cannot be pursued as single issues. Both are part of a larger ecology of policies that have major interactions.
It is tempting to say that freedom of expression trumps all other values and interests, but the evidence is right before us that freedom of expression is being eroded by copyright, liability, privacy and data protection, public safety and other concerns. Single-issue political posturing could undermine the internet's future.
William Dutton is professor of internet studies at the Oxford Internet Institute
Neil Roiter, Corero Network Security
Ideologically based attacks are now a fact of life. Organisations have to prepare for them and be ready to respond.
The distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks launched by Anonymous in the wake of the Megaupload takedown are not a surprise: these attacks are becoming the rule, rather than the exception.
Ideologically motivated groups, or "hacktivists", launch these DDoS attacks, in particular, at any time and for whatever rationale. We've just witnessed ideologically motivated attackers in the Middle East take down the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and El Al Airlines sites.
Expect to see more of these types of attack. Some will be nuisances, while others will cause substantial damage by disrupting commerce, the flow of information and/or access to critical online services.
DDoS attacks are well within the means of any number of groups or individuals.
In this instance, we are seeing groups like Anonymous, which took credit for the attacks in the wake of the Megaupload takedown and arrests, enlist participants through the simple act of clicking on a link.
The fact is anyone can rent an army of compromised computers, also known as botnets, for some £60 and launch an attack that floods an organisation with false messages and brings a website to a halt. And the sophistication of attack methods is only increasing and becoming more difficult to detect. Organisations need to be vigilant.
Organisations such as the ones that have been targeted in these attacks should never be taken off-guard. Government agencies are by definition on the front line.
For example, industry groups such as the Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America and the entertainment companies that have led the charge to suppress digital copyright infringement for years are in the crosshairs and likely calling fire down onto their foxholes.
Organisations and agencies can do a lot more than simply weather the storm. They must have corporate security policies, processes and technologies in place to detect, respond and mitigate.
These technologies include working with their ISPs to increase bandwidth to absorb DDoS flooding attacks; subscribing to services that can reroute some types of attack traffic or "scrub" traffic clean; and deploying on-premises appliances that are effective against all types of denial-of-service attacks.
Hacktivist attacks are a real and, we can expect, enduring threat for the foreseeable future. Every organisation is a potential target based on their actions, their corporate philosophy or simply who they are. They must protect themselves accordingly.
Neil Roiter is director of research at Corero Network Security
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Funding to further develop a food park in the west of the Isle of Man has been granted by the Manx parliament. | The island's Environment Minister Phil Gawne applied to the June sitting of Tynwald for £915,000 to complete work on a fish processing centre in Peel.
Mr Gawne said the project, which has already cost £2m, will provide a "valuable boost" to the Manx economy.
About 70 jobs have already been created at the park and it has been estimated the figure could rise to 125.
The government said the money will be used to develop an additional 1,220 square metres of industrial units.
Work will also be done to improve utilities and roads within the established park.
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The cost of alcohol abuse to taxpayers could be reduced if investment was made in early intervention services, two addiction charities have claimed. | Addiction NI and FASA said alcohol abuse cost £900m a year.
In a report, they claim the cost of alcohol-related harm equates to about one tenth of Northern Ireland's block grant from Westminster.
Addiction NI director Thelma Abernethy said this figure did not take into account the human cost to individuals.
"We need to educate society about alcohol and its impact," she said.
"It is important that everyone is working together to help bring about a real change within society.
"Ultimately alcohol is everyone's business."
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Farmers are on the boil again in India. | Soutik BiswasIndia correspondent
In western Maharashtra state, they have been on strike for a week in some seven districts now, spilling milk on the streets, shutting down markets, protesting on the roads and attacking vegetable trucks. In neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, curfew has been imposed after five farmers were killed in clashes with police on Tuesday. Last month, farmers in southern Telangana and Andhra Pradesh staged protests and burnt their red chilli crop.
The farmers are demanding waivers on farm loans and higher prices for their crops. For decades now, farming in India has been blighted by drought, small plot sizes, a depleting water table, declining productivity and lack of modernisation.
Half of its people work in farms, but farming contributes only 15% to India's GDP. Put simply, farms employ a lot of people but produce too little. Crop failures trigger farm suicides with alarming frequency.
The present unrest is, however, rooted in a problem of plenty.
In Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, the farmers are on the streets because a bumper harvest fuelled by a robust monsoon has led to a crop glut. Prices of onions, grapes, soya-bean, fenugreek and red chilli, for example, have nosedived.
In most places, the governments have been less than swift in paying the farmer more for the crops - the government sets prices for farming in India and procures crops from farmers to incentivise production and ensure income support.
So why has a bumper crop led to a crisis in farming?
Some believe that the price crash is the result of India's controversial withdrawal of high value banknotes - popularly called demonetisation - late last year.
The ban, surprisingly, did not hurt planting as farmers "begged and borrowed" from their kin and social networks to pay for fertilisers, pesticides and labour, Harish Damodaran, rural affairs and agriculture editor at The Indian Express newspaper told me.
So more land was actually cropped, and bountiful rains led to a bumper crop. But traders, Mr Damodaran believes, possibly did not have enough cash to pick up the surplus crop.
"Although the chronic cash shortage has passed, there is still a liquidity problem. I have been talking to traders who say there's not enough cash, which remains the main medium of credit in villages. I suspect the price crash has been caused by a lack of cash."
'Exaggerated fears'
A prominent trader in Lasangaon, Asia's biggest onion market in Maharashtra, a state which accounts for a third of India's annual production, told me that concerns over shortage of cash leading to crop price crashes were "exaggerated".
"There has been a good crop for sure, but a lot of traders have picked up crop, paying cash, issuing cheques and using net banking. Some of the glut and wastage has been due to the ongoing strike, when trucks of vegetables have been attacked on the highways," Manoj Kumar Jain said.
Still others believe the main reason for the ongoing crises actually rooted in India's chronic failure of coping with surplus harvests because of lack of adequate food storage and processing capacity.
"If the rains are good, you end up with a glut of crops and prices crash. The glut only highlights the inefficiencies of the farming value chain and hits farmers," Ashok Gulati, an agriculture specialist at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, told me.
Take onions, for example. The vegetable is 85% water and loses weight quickly.
In Lasangaon, traders buy the crop from farmers and store the onions on concrete in tarpaulin-covered sheds. If the weather stays right, 3-5% of the stored crop is wasted in storage. But if the mercury soars, more onions dry up, lose weight and 25-30% of the stored crop could be wasted.
In a modern cold storage, however, onions can be stored in wooden boxes at 4C. Crop wastage is less than 5%. Storage costs about a rupee (less than a US cent) for every kilogram of onion a month.
So the government needs to make sure - or even subsidise - to keep the vegetable affordable to consumers once it reaches the retail market.
"We need to make the supply storage chain so efficient that the customer, farmer and the storage owner are happy. Unfortunately India hasn't been able to make that happen," Dr Gulati said.
Poor storage
For one, India just doesn't have enough cold storages.
There are some 7,000 of them, mostly stocking potatoes in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Resultantly, fruits and vegetables perish very quickly. Unless India hoards food effectively, a bumper crop can easily spell doom for farmers.
Secondly, there's not enough processing of food happening to ensure that crops don't perish or go waste.
Take onions, again.
One way to dampen volatility in onion prices is to dehydrate the bulb and make these processed onions more widely available. Currently, less than 5% of India's fruit and vegetables is processed.
Thirdly, farmers in India plant for new harvest looking back at crop prices in the previous year.
If the crop prices were healthy, they sow more of the same, hoping for still better prices.
If the rains are good, a crop glut can happen easily, and lead to extraordinary fall in prices. Farmers hold on to the crops for a while, and then begin distress sales.
"You need to allow future prices through contract farming, not cropping based on last year's prices," says Dr Gulati.
Radical measures
Clearly, farming policies in India need a radical overhaul.
Punjab, India's "granary", is a perfect example.
At a time when India does not suffer food shortages, water-guzzling wheat and rice comprise 80% of its cropped area and deplete groundwater.
Rising production of cereals has meant that government has been giving paltry rises to the farmers while buying paddy and wheat, eroding their profitability.
"They [the policies] are distorting the choices that farmers make - those who should be finding ways to grow vegetables, which grow more expensive every year, are instead growing wheat we no longer need," says Mihir Sharma, author of Restart: The Last Chance for the Indian Economy.
But the best that the governments here do is to quickly raise crop buying prices and alleviate the farmers' suffering.
Faced with a crop glut at home, the newly appointed BJP government in Uttar Pradesh was smart enough to promptly raise the procurement price of potatoes - and announce a controversial farm loan waiver - and quell a simmering farmers' revolt .
The government in Madhya Pradesh, ruled by the same party, failed to act in time. Now it says it will pay more to buy off the surplus onions. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
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The cramped rubber dinghy was drifting, directionless, with 53 migrants on board. The coast of Libya, from which the boat had set out, was 47 miles to the south and the nearest part of Europe was out of reach, about 140 miles north. | By Roland HughesBBC News
The boat was spotted shortly before 10:00 on 12 June by a French plane. The plane's crew of volunteers had been scouring the Mediterranean for people in distress, and they alerted another rescue team on board a nearby charity ship, the Sea-Watch 3.
The crew of the Sea-Watch 3 made their way towards the distressed dinghy and rescued those on board. At that point, the crew could have handed the migrants over to Libyan coastguards, but the Sea-Watch 3's captain, a 31-year-old German named Carola Rackete, did not consider that an option.
Libya has in recent years descended into a lawless, chaotic state policed by armed militias, and Sea-Watch, a German charity, had already vowed never to return migrants to its shores.
"Forcibly taking rescued people back to a war-torn country, having them imprisoned and tortured, is a crime that we will never commit," the charity said in a statement last month.
The next closest port to the Sea-Watch 3 was on the Italian island of Lampedusa, but the Italian government had banned rescue ships bearing migrants from docking at its ports. Rackete spent two weeks in international waters, before deciding on 29 June that the health of those on board was at risk.
Italy, where her human cargo was not welcome, was the only option.
The Italy Rackete headed towards aboard Sea-Watch 3 was not the Italy of mid-2015, when Europe's migrant crisis was at its height.
Of the more than a million migrants who fled into Europe that year, 154,000 arrived into Italy and the then-prime minister Matteo Renzi pleaded with other EU nations for support. The number of migrants reaching Italy's shores has drastically diminished - just 2,800 so far this year - and the country is now led by a right-wing populist coalition elected partly on an anti-migrant platform.
Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, the man nicknamed Il Capitano (The Captain) by his supporters, delivers live broadcasts on Facebook in which he thumbs his nose at the EU. Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Emmanuel Macron, the leaders he blames for ruining the union, are regular targets.
"Italy has stopped bowing its head to obey," he wrote on Twitter in August 2018, two months after taking office, and after ordering Italian ports to prevent rescue ships carrying migrants from docking. "This time there are those who say NO," he wrote.
The Italian government's position is that Libya's coastguard should take migrants back, and that rescue ships are acting as a taxi service that facilitate traffickers' work. Many Italians seem to agree. One study by the Pew Research Center in March found that 52% of Italians thought migrants were a burden on their country, and that the number of Italians who believed immigrants helped make their country stronger had dropped significantly in the past four years.
The number of migrants reaching Italy is now "minute", Christian Dustmann, director of the London-based Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, told the BBC. "But the way the Italian government has reacted is very much to make migration the joker in the pack, with Salvini trying to cultivate this image of a guy sorting out a problem which he makes out to be much bigger than it is."
One well-known humanitarian ship, the Aquarius, was forced to end all its rescue operations last year, after it was stranded with more than 600 migrants on board and no port in which to dock, its licence withdrawn.
On 11 June, Italy's cabinet passed an emergency decree ruling that any vessel that sailed into Italian waters without permission would face a fine of up to €50,000 (£45,000; $56,000). It was the following day that Rackete received the distress call about the drifting migrant boat.
Thirteen migrants would be taken off Sea-Watch 3 for medical treatment over the following two weeks. But another 40 would remain on board until the end, along with the ship's 22 crew members, in worsening conditions in a heatwave.
"Matteo Salvini has made you his main enemy at the moment, how do you respond?" Rackete was asked in a video interview on board the ship on 28 June. Rackete, who has long dreadlocks, squinted in the Mediterranean sun. "To be honest, I haven't read the comments, I haven't had time," she said. "With more than 60 people to take care of, Mr Salvini needs to get in line."
If anyone was to ever defy Salvini, Carola Rackete was a good fit. Born in the German town of Preetz, near the Danish border, Rackete travelled the world as a child with her parents before settling in Hambühren, northern Germany. From there, she went to study at a polar research institute where she picked up the navigation skills she would later put to use in the Mediterranean.
Former colleagues speaking to the BBC described an earnest person with a keen sense of her role in a global society. One, Greenpeace operations campaign adviser Grant Oakes, said: "She is very globally aware and committed to her principles and her responsibilities in the global community. Very humble. Fun, hard-working."
In a varied career, Rackete has taken part in rescues off the Greek coast at the height of the migrant crisis, studied albatross nesting sites in the southern Atlantic, worked with Greenpeace clearing plastic from Scotland's west coast, and led expeditions to the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic to educate visitors on how climate change was affecting the region's ecology.
In her first operation for Sea-Watch, she helped recover the bodies of 45 migrants who had drowned in a shipwreck in the Mediterranean, German broadcaster Deutsche-Welle reported.
"In this case, you had a symbolic figure in Carola," Christopher Hein, a professor of law and immigration policies at Rome's Luiss University, told the BBC. "She's young, brave, a woman - and German.
"Everybody in Italy is now speaking about her, either as a good friend or a bad friend of the people. On one hand, you have a man representing the vast majority of the Italian parliament. And on the other hand, you have a young woman who is dedicated to humanitarian activities."
Nando Sigona, an Italian professor specialising in migration and refugee issues at the University of Birmingham says Salvini "has been searching for a big moment to grab attention, to get to this point of attacking NGOs and humanitarian organisations". The Sea-Watch 3 presented jus such an opportunity, he said.
Those who know Rackete and followed the events on the Sea-Watch 3 told the BBC they were in no doubt how she would act under such a spotlight. She would respond according to her convictions, they said, having carefully considered what she thought was correct, legal and fair.
After more than two weeks in limbo, Rackete said conditions on board the Sea-Watch 3 were beginning to deteriorate and that some migrants had started to self-harm.
Rackete decided to guide the ship into port in the middle of the night on 29 June. In doing so, her ship trapped an Italian police patrol boat against the quay. Salvini called the move "an act of war", and accused Rackete of being a pirate, outlaw, and a "rich, white, German woman".
"She tried to sink a police launch with officers on board at night," he said. "They say 'we're saving lives', but they risked killing these human beings who were doing their job, it's clear from the videos."
Soon after Sea-Watch 3 arrived in Lampedusa, the migrants were taken off the ship, and Rackete was arrested and warned she could face 10 years in jail. She apologised and denied she had tried to ram the boat, blaming a positioning error while docking.
In the end, the judge sided with Rackete on Tuesday, and with her interpretation of maritime law: as the ship's captain, she had a duty to protect the lives of those on board. She was carrying out that duty, judge Alessandra Vella said, and had not endangered life in doing so.
As she left house arrest, opponents gathered outside. One held a placard that read: "Salvini, our only captain."
Rackete is believed to have received threats and has been moved to a safe location. While Salvini has insisted she must leave Italy, she is not thought to have done so.
The case, thanks to the two people at its core, has highlighted a rising polarisation of opinion, Prof Hein of Rome's Luiss University, says. "There are splits in Italian society," he said. "It did not start with Sea-Watch 3. But it has become much more evident and harsh."
According to Nando Sigona, "the middle ground has been almost completely lost in this conversation".
The Italian government insists that what happened was an attack on the country's sovereignty. And in recent days, Salvini has fought back against the captain, judge Alessandra Vella and the critics of his handling of the situation within the French and German governments.
Sea-Watch has benefited from a build-up of support in Italy and outside. Two online campaigns have raised close to €1.4 million (£1.3m, $1.6m) between them over the past week. The court ruling, a Sea-Watch spokesman said, "re-establishes the dignity" of Italy.
With ships still rescuing migrants in distress in the Mediterranean, the test of whether that court ruling acts as a legal precedent may come sooner rather than later.
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Two health trusts in Norfolk and Suffolk could be merged in a bid to make efficiency savings.
| The Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (SMHP) is looking at merging with the Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.
The SMHP's board, meeting on Wednesday, will decide whether to halt its existing application for NHS Foundation Trust status, to merge trusts instead.
The board will look at the potential benefits to the services.
It will look at "opportunities for staff and economies of scale which might be achieved through a merger", an SMHP spokeswoman said.
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A Hindu temple complex in Malaysia has been given a stunning makeover, with the 272 steps leading up to the Batu Caves painted in a dazzling array of colours. | The complex on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur is both a pilgrimage site and popular with tourists. Its hugely instagrammable new look has been a hit with visitors.
However, local media report the temple's management committee could be in trouble with the government for allegedly failing to get permission for the paint job - the site is protected under heritage laws.
Enjoy these images, then, in case the decorators have to return.
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Even in refugee camps life must go on, and when a man and a woman decide to marry the rare chance for a big celebration may be seized with both hands. In one camp in northern Iraq, beautician Rozhin Ahmed-Hussein - herself a Syrian Kurdish refugee - finds that she is rarely short of work. | By Helen NianiasNorthern Iraq
"Most of the people in the camp are poor, and Syrian refugees like me, so when I do a beautiful bride, usually I'll dance out of the door with her because I feel so happy," says Rozhin Ahmed-Hussein.
A dusty refugee camp north of Mosul may not be the first place you'd expect to find a beauty salon and gown-hire shop, with frothy white frocks and diamante winking through the windows in the fierce sunlight - and slinky party dresses in vivid fuchsia and turquoise hanging from the rails.
In this camp, makeshift homes are separated by vast stretches of light brown gravel paths, which kick up dust in the wind and feel hot even through shoes in the 47C (117F) heat. There are 41,000 Syrian refugees living in two neighbouring camps here. The situations they've fled from are often desperate but that doesn't stop people falling in love. And when that happens, they do what people everywhere do, they get married.
Rozhin's salon isn't the only one in the camp, but it may be the most stylish. Small details, such as a coral sink placed next to a coral chair and proper reclining seats, let you know that Rozhin is not new to the business. She herself is immaculate, with no make-up. "I do make-up all day, it's like work for me," she says. Her five daughters aged from one to seven often wear matching outfits.
"I like to look glamorous, I'm always like this," she says.
Rozhin and her family fled Qamishli, a Kurdish town in Syria in 2012, as the civil war picked up pace.
"In Syria I had a normal life, a normal job as a beautician, and then when we came here it was too hard, too tough to adjust to the environment," she says.
She cried a lot, she says, because her daughter fell ill and she was homesick.
"I kept begging my husband to go back, even though it was dangerous, but he refused. In time, I adapted to the situation and my daughter got better."
It helped that she was able to open her business. The shop was initially a grocery run by her husband, but after it failed to make enough money, Rozhin saw her opportunity. She borrowed some money from her uncle and turned it into a salon.
After spotting the demand for wedding gowns and party dresses, she started stocking those too. Now the shop has been going for five years. It's named Tulin, after her daughter.
Aside from regulars coming in wanting a haircut, an eyebrow shape or a catch-up, Rozhin does up to 30 weddings a year. Many of her customers are Kurdish, and it cannot be overstated how lavish these weddings are.
The two suitable halls in the camp host 300-400 guests, which is - everyone in the room jumps in to explain - extremely small by Kurdish standards. One thousand guests would be more typical, they say. At Kurdish weddings, even the guests are made up exquisitely with flicked eyeliner, I'm told, thickly applied pale foundation, bum-length hair extensions or hijabs patterned with designer logos.
Because of the heat and sheer quantity of make-up needed, usually Rozhin does the bride's hair first and the make-up is done last to reduce the risk of it melting on the bride's face. Weddings usually take place at 7pm or 8pm when the air has cooled, but in the summer the temperature will still be in the 30s - which you have to factor in when the wedding make-up is as thick as face paint.
Each bride takes around two-and-a-half hours to get ready, but it's not just the brides. The whole wedding party may want their hair and makeup done, and sometimes Rozhin has two weddings to do in one day.
Fortunately she has friends on hand to help. The International Medical Corps runs a programme training survivors of gender-based violence to do hair and make-up, so she brings them in to lend a hand. "There's a lot of work to do with the bridal party," says Rozhin. "When I call them to come and help they're so happy - we are all sisters and we have confidence in each other. After the job is done we drink tea and coffee together."
The majority of Rozhin's brides are very young.
"Usually I don't ask how old they are, but from their faces they are 18 or 19 on average.
"I don't know why they get married in every case, but when you're 18 years old and you're living here with your family - what else is there to do?"
It also means having a big party. This is important for people coming to terms with a difficult past, and everyday refugee camp life - which means 20 people to one latrine, makeshift housing and constant vigilance against disease.
"For every single woman this is one special day to have a big glamorous dress and make-up," says Rozhin. "Just one day to feel special. No-one will be hurt by this."
While some brides might relish the experience of being made to feel glamorous, a mural showing a bride holding a teddy bear is painted outside the shop. It's a sobering reminder of the problem of young girls being married off to much older men - something which is particularly rampant in refugee camps.
But the shop is a place for escapism, even if the women can't forget their problems altogether.
"In the salon we try out new techniques with make-up, but we are always thinking about our friends and relatives."
Thinking about them, and often worrying about them.
Rozhin is the main breadwinner of the family. Her husband, Ahmed, finds work some days, but the next day there be no work to be had, and he stays at home.
"I am the one who brings money to the family and my husband does not have any problem with this. Usually the men here don't like that, for a woman to be in charge. But he says, 'If we're getting money that's OK.'"
Business has been up and down. Having her twin girls recently meant she had to close up for a few months, allowing her rivals in the camp to pick up some of her regular customers, but now things are getting better.
"There are another three that have a lot of customers," Rozhin says.
Many of the families in the camp have been living here for at least as long as Rozhin has. Communities build up, neighbours get to know each other, people fall in love. Getting married means having a stake in the future, even when that future is uncertain. If you look carefully at the wedding dresses in Rozhin's shop, you can see the hems are lightly stained the same colour as the gravelly paths of the camp.
How many women have worn these dresses, and made the same journey to the same hall, careful not to mess up their hair and make-up, and wondering what comes next?
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
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A nature charity has bought three wildflower meadows in a bid to preserve them. | Worcestershire Wildlife Trust used a £50,000 grant to purchase the Boynes Meadows site, opposite its nature reserve near Upton-upon-Severn.
The areas, although "important wildlife habitats", are not legally protected, they said.
Helen Woodman, from the trust, said it would enable it to "protect and sustain these...fast-disappearing habitats".
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This was a "something must be done" moment. | By Chris MorrisBBC News, Brussels
Europe's leaders could not accept that so many people have been dying, trying to reach their shores.
And even the United Nations had urged the EU to "go beyond its present minimalist approach."
So EU leaders have tripled funding for rescue operations in the Mediterranean.
Which takes it back to the level it was at a year ago but will it be enough?
Human rights groups are already criticising the summit for failing to expand the operational area of EU-led naval patrols, which could have taken them closer to the Libyan coast.
Unless the ships are in the right place, they argue, migrants will continue to drown.
Angela Merkel has said that if more is needed, more will be provided - money should not be an issue, she said.
That may well be put to the test in the coming weeks.
'Historic proportions'
Europe's long term problem is that it is struggling to cope with the scale of what is happening on its southern shores.
It is facing a mass movement of people which is of historic proportions.
And even if naval operations manage to rescue the vast majority, there are bitter disputes about how to deal with the tens of thousands who make it to safety.
Britain, for example, has said it will provide significant naval support, but it won't accept more asylum seekers.
Some people in southern Europe say that's not enough. The burden has to be more equitably shared.
But there is no common asylum and immigration policy within the EU. Different countries have very different priorities.
It will take years to get the balance right. This summit is only the start.
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Fours cows have had to be euthanised after a 4x4 car towing a trailer with the animals inside overturned in Leicestershire, police have said. | The incident happened at about 10:45 BST on the A46 northbound between Anstey and Wanlip causing traffic disruption for several hours.
Highways England said it blocked the dual carriageway southbound to allow northbound traffic to be released.
Leicestershire Police confirmed no people were injured.
Recovery work was carried out between A5630 and A6 Loughborough Road and diversions were in place during the "severe accident".
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At 19 years old, Asa Butterfield already has a box-office record any actor twice his age would be proud of. But he's achieved it by choosing unusual and unexpected roles. What attracted him to taking such a unconventional route to fame? | By Steven McIntoshEntertainment reporter
Asa Butterfield must surely have one of the most varied filmographies of any actor.
The movie that put him on the map, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, dealt with the holocaust. X+Y saw him play a socially awkward maths genius.
His latest film, Ten Thousand Saints, covers a wide spectrum of serious themes for a teen film - adoption, drug abuse, death and teenage pregnancy.
"I've played a worrying number of orphans, children who have been abandoned or had something terrible happen to them," says Butterfield, half-jokingly.
"I think I'm good at playing dramatic and serious roles, but it's not necessarily what I want to keep doing.
"I'd also like to do some comedy.
"It's just the way things have worked out."
His latest film, Ten Thousand Saints, released in the UK this week, is based on the novel of the same name by Eleanor Henderson.
Co-starring Ethan Hawke, Hailee Steinfeld and Emile Hirsch, it sees the Islington-born actor appearing alongside some of Hollywood's big hitters.
Set in the 1980s, Butterfield plays 16-year-old Jude, who leaves his adoptive mother to go and live with his father, played by Hawke, who sells drugs in New York City.
Ten Thousand Saints doesn't have the usual, predictable, boy-meets-girl structure. True, there's a girl. True, Jude has to make some tough decisions. True, it's been widely described as a coming-of-age tale. But there are some surprising plot twists along the way, to say the least.
"I guess I was at a similar time in my life, being 17 when I filmed it," Butterfield says of the role.
"That transition of boy to man, being in that situation myself, is something that we all go through, and that made it easier and more relatable.
"I loved the script because it was one of the first I was sent that felt like a departure from the younger roles which I'd been used to playing.
Early fame
"It was a chance for me to take those first steps to being a more adult actor and dealing with some more serious issues."
Butterfield is now 19, but, despite his youth, he's just bought a house in London and even recently wrote a will - perhaps not what most people his age spend their time doing.
But then again, most people didn't start their career at the age of 11 by appearing in a critically acclaimed box-office hit.
Released in 2008, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is set during World War Two and tells the story of Bruno, a young boy - played by Butterfield - who befriends a Jewish boy named Shmuel in a concentration camp.
Bruno regularly goes to visit him, and, over the course of the film, the pair have conversations, separated by the fence of the camp.
The story is told through the eyes of Butterfield's eight-year-old character.
The actor convincingly portrays the young boy's innocence and lack of awareness about the horrific events taking place - something Butterfield says is down to his own youthful naivety at the time.
"I think I was aware of World War Two and some of what had happened, but at that age you never have a full understanding of the events that took place and what they meant," he says.
"So I was in the dark but in the best way possible. My character in the movie is supposed to be this innocent, naive chid. So it helped that I was also somewhat naive in understanding what was going on, and I think that translated well."
A successful film can be both a blessing and a curse for a child actor.
'Chance to show off'
Young stars who become well-known for a single role may enjoy short-term success, but then face the added pressure of proving their credentials as an actor in later years.
Abigail Breslin, Daniel Radcliffe and Haley Joel Osment were all keen to try something different for the films following their initial success to avoid becoming synonymous with the role that made them famous.
Nicholas Hoult, known for About A Boy, recently shook off the youthful innocence of some of his previous roles by taking the lead part in the 18-rated Kill Your Friends.
In Ten Thousand Saints, Butterfield appears alongside another former child star, Hailee Steinfeld - who has followed a notably similar path to him.
The actress rose to prominence at the age of 13, receiving an Oscar nomination for her role in True Grit, and has since appeared in Begin Again and Pitch Perfect 2.
"This is the second film we've done together, before this we were quite good friends," Butterfield says of his co-star.
"But for both of us it was a chance to show off very different characters to the ones we've played before.
"We both had the opportunity to explore some darker elements to these characters."
Despite Ten Thousand Saints only just being released in the UK this week, Butterfield has already shot two new films since he completed filming.
"I've shot two movies since then, The Space Between Us and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, directed by Tim Burton," he says.
"I love the way [Burton] works. It's very chaotic, but at the same time everyone involved is in the same kind of chaos, so it ends up working."
If Butterfield continues his string of box-office hits with these, and other, future projects - we could certainly be seeing him on the silver screen for many years to come.
But, he says: "I don't see myself acting for the rest of my life.
"I'd really likely to shoot wildlife documentaries, I watched so many of those as a child, and I'm quite into wildlife and love photography as well, so that's something I'd like to do."
He jokes: "I'll hopefully be able to make something of it and get out of the UK because in London there's not all that much to film in terms of wildlife - maybe some foxes and pigeons, but that doesn't make a very exciting documentary, so I'd like to go somewhere more interesting."
Wherever Asa Butterfield is headed next, few will have any doubt it will, indeed, be interesting.
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People with concessionary bus passes in Cornwall will have to pay to travel at certain times from January to help save the council money. | Pass holders will be charged the standard fare for journeys before 0930 or after 2300 from Monday to Friday.
Free travel will continue for holders at all other times, including weekends and Bank Holidays.
Cornwall Council said the money generated would help protect evening and weekend bus services.
In November the council set its emergency budget in a bid to save £170m over the next four years.
The council said introducing peak-time charges would bring it into line with local authorities in other parts of the country.
"We understand how important the evening and weekend services are to people in Cornwall and have had to take this necessary measure to protect them," spokesman Graeme Hicks said.
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A £1.8m canal bridge in Stroud is expected to open by mid-June, engineers have said.
| The new A46 Merrywalks Bridge, which will allow boats to pass underneath, was due to be finished by November.
But problems caused by heavy rain and an unexpected excavation at the base of the bridge caused delays.
The bridge is being built by Gloucestershire County Council as part of the Cotswold Canals Restoration Project.
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The attack on the British embassy in Tehran and the expulsion of Iranian diplomats from London propelled UK-Iranian engagement into the deep freeze. But in the world of television, relations have been frosty for some time. | By Linda PresslyBBC Radio 4, The Report
Press TV is a glossy, English-medium channel that comes under the umbrella of Iran's state broadcaster, the IRIB. In the UK it is available on the Sky satellite service.
The station's high-profile presenters include the former MP George Galloway and, until earlier this year, it counted on the services of the former London Mayor, Ken Livingstone.
Press TV Ltd in London sells programmes to Iran, mainly talk shows, and Press TV International in Tehran produces most of the news and documentaries.
When Press TV launched in 2007, its stated aim was to give Western audiences what it called "a second eye".
It is pro-Palestinian, anti-sanctions against Iran, and critical of Western - especially US and UK - foreign policy.
Arrested for 'spying'
But in the UK, the channel has come under scrutiny. Earlier this month Press TV was fined £100,000 by the broadcasting regulator Ofcom, who upheld a complaint by Maziar Bahari.
A journalist and film-maker of Iranian origin, Bahari was in Iran in 2009 covering the presidential election for Channel 4 News and Newsweek magazine.
He filmed the demonstrations that followed the contested election.
Then he was arrested, accused of being a spy, held in solitary confinement and interrogated.
Bahari was told that if he did a television interview according to a pre-agreed script, he would be released.
He says one of the crews who came to film the "interview" was from Press TV.
"My interrogator's boss wrote the scenario and it was divided into questions and answers. The reporters asked the questions and I gave the answers, so we were basically reading from the same sheet," he told Radio 4's The Report.
When Press TV aired a report claiming the Western media's coverage of the demonstrations was biased, they included a clip from Bahari's prison interview.
Once he was released after 180 days in jail, he returned to the UK and made a complaint to Ofcom.
He claimed the airing of part of the interview by Press TV had breached broadcast rules on fairness and privacy. Ofcom agreed.
Farooq Bajwa, a solicitor who acts for Press TV, says the channel realises interviewing prisoners under arrest is not ideal.
"The fine is something Press TV can live with," he says.
"But I think it may help reinforce the image amongst Press TV supporters that in fact Ofcom is treating Press TV more harshly than it might have treated other news channels."
He points to one of the US embassy cables from February 2010 that was released by Wikileaks.
"Her Majesty's government is exploring ways to limit the operations of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting's Press TV service, which operates a large bureau - over 80 staff - in London," it read.
'Being watched'
Mr Bajwa believes this is evidence that Press TV in the UK is under suspicion.
"We know from Wikileaks that in fact the British government has discussed Press TV at the highest level with their American counterparts.
"So to pretend that it is just another channel in the same way that you might look at a French or German channel just isn't credible.
"Press TV is obviously viewed differently. That means it is watched like a hawk."
Inside Iran there is no doubt that the authorities are watching the BBC's Persian television, according to its head, Sadeq Saba.
"The Iranians have been jamming BBC Persian television on and off for the last three years.
"Now Iran targets certain programmes. A couple of months ago we made a documentary about Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, and they started jamming it on all satellites.
"So it's become 'intelligent' jamming - they jam programmes they think are most harmful to them," he said.
Bahari thinks the jamming of BBC Persian in Iran is a good argument for taking Press TV off the air in the UK.
"I think it should be banned at least because of reciprocity. People who are working for BBC Persian in Iran can be charged with espionage, they can be incarcerated, they can even be executed."
Sadeq Saba understands why some people feel strongly.
"I sympathise with people who say something must be done because the BBC is not allowed to operate in Iran and Press TV is operating in London," he says.
"In Iran the BBC has no bureau, this is an anomaly. We could easily jam Iran, but we never do that because we believe in freedom of expression."
But Abbas Edalat, from the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran, says it is unfair to compare the jamming of the BBC in Iran with any proposal to take Press TV off the air in the UK.
"The Iranian authorities see themselves in a state of siege," he says.
"They are surrounded by US military bases, they are threatened with military attack, and there are covert military operations in Iran.
"None of these things exist for the UK. So it is not an equal situation."
With diplomatic relations between the UK and Iran on ice, and tensions high across the Middle East, all television will inevitably find its output subject to scrutiny and debate.
The Report is on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday 29 December at 20:00 GMT. Listen to the full programme via the Radio 4 website or download the programme podcast.
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David Beckham's move to Los Angeles was supposed to transform the status of American soccer. He and his wife Victoria arrived as the UK's biggest celebrities. Now he has played his last US game, did Americans really fall for the allure of Brand Beckham? | By Jon KellyBBC News Magazine, Washington DC
As he sat on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport one evening in July 2007, David Beckham knew what was expected of him.
His new employers, the LA Galaxy, had committed a huge sum - reportedly $32.5m (£20m) over the next five years - for the benefits of his footballing services.
But it wasn't just his playing skills that made him such a valuable commodity.
The then-32-year-old and his erstwhile pop-star wife Victoria were among the world's most recognisable faces. Back home in the UK, they were by far the country's biggest celebrities.
The expectation was clear - as the Beckham glitter entranced the US, Major League Soccer (MLS) would be elevated from minority sport status to become a national game on a par with American football, baseball and basketball.
Beckham had said as much himself at a press conference during his unveiling as a Galaxy player-to-be six months previously. "Soccer is huge all around the world apart from America, so that's where I want to make a difference with the kids," he told reporters.
Back in the UK, the Daily Mirror proclaimed that he was on a "one-man mission" to be a "success in a country where even Pele had failed". The Brazilian legend had proved unable to win the US over to the Association code despite his signing by the New York Cosmos in 1975.
So expectations were high. And, as the couple emerged from the plane at Los Angeles airport nine days before David's first game, the Beckhams were swamped by photographers and news crews in a scene more in keeping with red-carpet showbusiness than the arrival of a sportsman.
Nancy Armour of Associated Press began her report of the occasion: "It's safe to say no athlete, no matter how famous, has ever gotten a welcome quite like David Beckham."
And so it continued for Beckham's first Galaxy game - a friendly against Chelsea, which the home side lost 1-0 - watched by such luminaries as Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Eva Longoria and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Unfortunately for all concerned, what followed did not quite live up to the billing. Due to injury, Beckham played only five league games for Galaxy in his first season.
"It was a bit of a mess for the first couple of years," says Kyle McCarthy, who writes about MLS for FOX Soccer, the Boston Herald and Goal.com. "Galaxy couldn't really get itself sorted out on the field.
"Plus, it was always going to be difficult because David Beckham made so much more money than anyone else."
In his first two seasons with the club, the LA Galaxy failed to make the end-of-season play-offs.
Beckham was booed by Galaxy fans after he missed the start of the MLS season to extend a loan spell with AC Milan in 2009. Team-mate Landon Donovan, from whom Beckham had taken the captain's armband, publicly questioned the Englishman's commitment.
Off the pitch, by contrast, the Beckhams' celebrity status was in the ascendant.
Though David may have played in a league most Americans did not follow, and Victoria's chart peak with the Spice Girls was a decade old, the US paparazzi regularly followed them from their $18.2m (£11.3m) Beverley Hills mansion and their faces became ubiquitous in gossip magazines.
Tim Teeman, US correspondent of The Times, says their status was elevated by two principal factors, neither of them football-related. One was the couple's high-profile friendships with Hollywood aristocracy like Tom Cruise and his then-wife Katie Holmes.
The other was a series of adverts, prominently displayed in American cities, of David modelling underpants.
While the pair may never quite have entered the US A-list, Teeman believes their brand was perfectly pitched for American consumption.
"I don't think they've changed the image of Britain abroad in the way that someone like Kate Middleton has," he says. "I don't think many people would say Britain is the Beckhams.
"But they've carved out their own niche. They appear a happy family and they are pretty. These are things Americans like."
While David's performance with Galaxy may have been less than all-conquering, his wife was re-inventing herself as a fashion designer.
When she moved to the US, Victoria was "regarded not just with suspicion but with ridicule", according to the couple's biographer, Ellis Cashmore. Her Spice Girls days were behind her and David was seen as the driving force.
But through sheer industriousness and canny recruitment of underlings, Cashmore adds, she began to be taken seriously as a player in the fashion world.
By 2011, sales of Victoria's clothing were worth around $12m (£7.5m). She has become a regular fixture at top fashion weeks around the world. In the Middle East and Asia she is now much better known as a style mogul than as a pop star.
"The single biggest beneficiary of the move by some way has been Victoria," says Cashmore.
"She's now a legitimate, credible designer. She's emerged from it quite triumphant."
And, for David, things began to fall into place on the pitch, too.
The arrival of coach Bruce Arena settled the Galaxy squad. Beckham's final game saw the team win its second consecutive MLS Cup.
The MLS has become a healthier league since his arrival. Average attendances across the division have risen from 15,500 per match in 2006 to 18,800 in the current season. The number of clubs has expanded from 13 to 19.
Big-name players from the English Premier League such as Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane followed Beckham to US clubs.
Television viewing figures for MLS games remain modest, however.
And, Kyle McCarthy argues, the league had been on an upward trajectory even before Beckham. His arrival, the writer argues, was verification of soccer's rising status, not a catalyst in itself.
"Signing David Beckham was a huge landmark for MLS - to be able to bring in Beckham to a league that was already developing," McCarthy adds. "It was a confirmation of growth."
In retrospect, it appears it was too much to hope that the glamour surrounding the Beckhams could single-handedly transform Americans into a nation of soccer fanatics.
As the couple plot their next move, however, their brand has been burnished by the Galaxy episode - and in times as celebrity-obsessed as these, perhaps that will be seen as the more significant achievement.
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A mysterious assassin in the police force, a detective haunted by decades-old crimes and the austere beauty of Strangford Lough - it could be yet another drama rooted in Northern Ireland's troubled past. | By Luke SprouleBBC News NI
But Bloodlands is a different kind of thriller, according to star James Nesbitt.
"It's a thriller that could be set anywhere, it just happens to be set here," he says.
"It's not really about the Troubles. Certainly they're in the backdrop but it's really about a father and daughter.
"It's about him trying to uncover unanswered questions from the past, but also build a safe future for his daughter going forward."
Nesbitt plays DCI Tom Brannick, who is sucked into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse after a car containing a possible suicide note is pulled out of Strangford Lough.
He quickly links it to an infamous cold case - the hunt for Goliath, a legendary assassin possibly operating within the police force.
For Brannick, it's personal. His wife Emma was possibly one of the killer's victims.
The four-part drama also gives Coleraine native Nesbitt the chance to work with Line of Duty writer Jed Mercurio, who is the series' executive producer, for the first time.
"I've wanted to work with him for a long time and we finally found this," Nesbitt says.
"The writer Chris Brandon is from County Down, he's a new writer and it's a sensational character he's created."
For Brandon, the character of Brannick personifies the struggles of how Northern Ireland deals with its history, but also how times have changed.
"As a veteran detective Brannick has a foot in both the past and the present," he says.
"He has hope for the future in the potential of his daughter, but he is stopped from moving forward by the resurrection of an assassin myth; a symbol of police collusion in past violence that holds deeply personal significance.
"Tom must cut out the root of this myth in order to have any hope of a peaceful tomorrow.
"He must confront his past to protect the future he prizes above all."
The series also stars Charlene McKenna as DS Niamh McGovern, Lorcan Cranitch as veteran police officer Jackie Twomey and Lisa Dwan as Tori Matthews, a doctor teaching at Queen's University in Belfast, where she runs into Brannick's daughter.
Dwan says part of the joy of working on Bloodlands was collaborating with a film industry in Northern Ireland that has been involved with some of the biggest hits of recent years, from Mercurio's Line of Duty to the global sensation Game of Thrones.
"I think there's a confidence in the Northern Ireland film industry all over, there's production companies setting up left, right and centre," she says.
"There's a plethora of talent here and its' a very young, creative spirit that hasn't been overmined. There's no cynicism, everyone is just so delighted to be working and creating."
The series was filmed last year before lockdown took hold.
Both Nesbitt and Dwan both say they relished working in the settings of Strangford Lough and the Mourne Mountains, a landscape that Brandon says has an "austere beauty" that "holds memories of stories past".
But the location and the Northern Ireland weather also brought its challenges.
"It was incredibly cold, particularly when we had to go down to the islands of Strangford Lough," Nesbitt says.
"At times it was hard to speak, my mouth would be paralysed and I just couldn't get my jaw moving.
"The privilege of the job is the hardness of it sometimes, because that's what you want to do, that's why you go into acting. It was challenging but fabulous."
Bloodlands starts on BBC One at 21:00 GMT on Sunday, 21 February.
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A tragic case in the Republic of Ireland involving a woman who died after reportedly being refused an abortion has brought into sharp focus the fact that doctors in Northern Ireland are also operating without clear guidelines. | By Tara MillsBBC News
The case in Galway involved 31-year-old Savita Halappanavar, who was miscarrying and later died from a blood infection. Her husband said she had repeatedly asked for a medical termination but he claimed that her request was refused.
The hospital authorities said the "facts of this tragic case have yet to be established" and Mrs Halappanavar's death is now the subject of two investigations.
But could a similar situation arise in Northern Ireland?
In most pregnancies the scan pictures bring excitement and anticipation, but for some it can bring bad news. Leanne Murphy from Belfast was 12 weeks pregnant when she was told there was something wrong.
Option
She said: "They offered me further tests, a CVS (chorionic villus sampling test) and an amnio (amniocentesis) and they also said that if anything came back on those tests, a termination would be made available to us.
"At the time I was in shock really that there could possibly be something wrong with my baby. It was only after, when I thought about it, I was taken aback the fact that this was an option for somebody whose baby possibly had a disability."
She chose not to have further tests or a termination: "Personally no, a termination was not an option for us - we just continued on with the pregnancy regardless of the testing."
For Leanne it was a happy ending - she gave birth to a healthy baby boy who is now four years old. For other women it is not so straightforward.
The BBC has been told of other cases where women, particularly in rural areas, have been told late into their pregnancies that something is wrong.
Legal position
If they want to have a termination they have to travel outside of Northern Ireland and go into labour as part of the procedure.
So what is the legal position? In a recent statement NI Attorney General, John Larkin, said: "It must be stressed that termination of a pregnancy based solely on the abnormality of an unborn child is always unlawful."
But in a recent interview with the Sunday Politics programme Health Minister, Edwin Poots, was asked how he viewed the legislation.
"Having had a brother who was severely learning disabled, I was brought up in a home to love and appreciate people who have disabilities.
"I was brought up in a home where you got a special amount of love from someone who had a learning disability. I actually detest (the idea) that if someone has Down's Syndrome or some other sort of abnormality detected in the womb that that life is of no value.
"I think that it is wholly wrong and I think that sort of selection of mankind, of human beings, is something we would do well to avoid
Dilemma
But he added: "There may be circumstances where a child cannot live outside of the womb where those discussions take place and we have to leave those things to the clinicians who are well placed to act within the legislation."
Women face the dilemma but medical staff also operate in uncertain circumstances. There is no legislative law regarding abortion in Northern Ireland, only case law.
Doctors, nurses and midwives can opt out on the grounds of conscience. But medical staff who are willing to carry out abortions are often fearful of legal action.
Dr Noel Scott is a retired pyschiatrist with more than 30 years experience working in Belfast City Hospital. He believes the law should change in Northern Ireland.
"My understanding is that 70 abortions were carried out in the last year (for which) figures are available. But in that same time 1,100 women went to England. That's a human rights issue. They should not have the trauma and expense of having to travel to England."
Professor Bill Rolston from the Universtiy of Ulster has written extensively on the subject of abortion. He believes the law is failing women in Northern Ireland.
Guidelines
"I think that this lack of clarity and lack of legal guidance for doctors is not helping at all - for every woman who has a legal abortion here there are the same number who are having to take themselves to England and that should not be.
"This is a standard view across the world in United Nations countries - they should have a service available locally," Prof Rolston added.
All hospitals in Northern Ireland have to keep a tally of the number of terminations - but they do not record the reason they were carried out.
Some Stormont MLAs, including the SDLP's Pat Ramsey, have been trying to get a breakdown.
"There clearly (are) terminations taking place - it's simply a case of trying to find out the reason or the rationale that a consultant has used. And that's important.
"We must ensure that it's consistent and make sure that there is no wholesale abortion happening in Northern Ireland," Mr Ramsey said.
Difficult decisions
The question many are asking now is - could the tragic situation that arose in Galway happen in one of Northern Ireland's hospitals?
The Family Planning Association (FPA) has been campaigning for ten years to force the Department of Health to publish guidelines for doctors - to protect them in the eyes of the law.
So far, they have not succeeded and the FPA's Audrey Simpson said there is every chance a doctor in Northern Ireland, faced with similar circumstances, would decide not to carry out a termination.
She said doctors faced with such difficult decisions will always be worried that a pro-life group would be ready to take legal action against them.
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Was this image drawn by the first member of an exclusive and much misunderstood club? Back in September 1825, Jonathan Backhouse watched the inaugural journey of the Stockton to Darlington railway.
| The resulting letter he wrote to his sisters was filled with such enthusiasm, that it could be said to be the earliest documented evidence of trainspotting.
The letter is on show, along with dozens of other photos, in a new trainspotting season at the National Railway Museum, York. Take a look with exhibitions manager Amy Banks.
Trainspotting can be seen at the National Railway Museum York until 1 March 2015.
All images subject to copyright. Images courtesy National Railway Museum, York. Additional 1825 artwork from Getty Images.
Music by KPM Music, The Kinks, New Muzik, Gallagher and Lyle. Photofilm production by Paul Kerley.
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Trainspotting - National Railway Museum, York
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The driver of a decommissioned ambulance that crashed into a railway barrier has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and other charges. | Shane Hughes, from Halifax, appeared at Skipton Magistrates' Court. He denied a number of offences. Two charges were withdrawn.
The ambulance hit a barrier near Kildwick, North Yorkshire, in July.
Mr Hughes was given unconditional bail and is to appear at Bradford Crown Court on 14 September.
More stories from Yorkshire
He pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and endangering the safety of persons on the railway.
But he denied failing to provide a specimen for analysis, trespass and possession with intent to supply.
Charges of failure to stop for police and obstructing a railway were withdrawn.
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Eleven women have denied running an illegal pyramid scheme.
| The defendants, from Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Somerset, are accused of taking part in schemes known as Key to a Fortune and Give and Take.
They are the first in Britain to be prosecuted under new consumer protection regulations.
The offences are alleged to have happened between 26 May 2008 and 29 April 2009, a hearing at Bristol Crown Court was told.
The women are:
They each pleaded not guilty to two charges of operating a promotional pyramid scheme contrary to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
The court heard there will be two trials, with the first likely to take place next year.
Judge Mark Horton released the women on unconditional bail.
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Palestinians are preparing for their first general election in a decade and a half. Many hope for a democratic revival after years of stagnation and splits. The pot of Palestinian politics is being stirred. But that's also awakening anxieties. | By Tom BatemanBBC News, Jerusalem
It was the clumsiness of childhood that saved Najwa Odeh's life. The nine-year-old Palestinian knocked her spoon off the dinner table and reached to pick it up when a bullet whistled over her head.
It was the Middle East war of June 1967 and Israeli troops were about to capture East Jerusalem from Arab armies. Fighting had erupted outside her family home in the neighbourhood of Silwan.
Israel later annexed the eastern half of the city, whose population is overwhelmingly Palestinian, in a move not recognised internationally. It remains in control to this day across what it sees as its undivided capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state comprising the West Bank and Gaza Strip - territories also occupied by Israel in 1967.
Ms Odeh has a wry smile as she recalls her luck in that childhood near miss.
"After that I decided I don't want to go anywhere. I have to be in Jerusalem all my life… I cannot be quiet," she says.
Now she is running to be an MP for the party of President Mahmoud Abbas in the first Palestinian general election in 15 years.
"This is my right - it's democracy," she says. "The Israeli people went to the election four times in two years. Why it's not allowed for me?"
Jerusalem is always at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So too now. Agreements with Israel give Palestinians in East Jerusalem the right to vote for their West Bank-based parliament, but their political institutions can't operate in the city.
"We need new blood, a new generation to come and solve the problems. We need… to renew our legitimacy", says Ms Odeh.
Devastating splits
The parliamentary and presidential polls were announced last year by the ageing Palestinian leader after days of talks with other parties in Cairo. Few thought the elections would really happen given similar past promises and the unresolved, bitter rivalry between the two main factions - his secular Fatah movement, and their Islamist opponents Hamas.
A bloody conflict broke out between them in 2007 after Hamas unexpectedly won the last national vote. The fighting saw the armed movement take full control in the Gaza Strip. It was isolated by much of the international community which, like Israel, views it as a terrorist group.
President Abbas was effectively left in charge only in parts of the occupied West Bank. The parliament - the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) - was mothballed. Mr Abbas issued laws by decree and his four-year term should have ended over a decade ago.
"It was devastating," says political scientist Dr Ghassan Khatib of Birzeit University, when asked about the fallout from 2006. "The absence of any election or political checks and balances is the reason for… the growing gap between the Palestinian public and the Palestinian leadership."
This vacuum has added to a popular sense of fatigue. Asked which of their parties they trust the most, nearly 40% of Palestinians said "none", according to a poll released this week by the Palestinian media research group JMCC.
The factions' deal to hold new elections shows their "need for legitimacy", says Dr Khatib.
'Don't give up on us'
But there are more reasons. Many in the international community - especially European countries - have for years pushed Mr Abbas to get fresh democratic backing for the Palestinian institutions some of these countries help fund.
And Palestinians are eager to vote, according to the early indications.
More than 93% of an eligible 4.5 million voters have registered, according to the Central Elections Commission. There are 36 political parties and lists slated to run.
"This is overwhelming in a way that reflects the interest in the Palestinian [political] scene", says Sabri Saidam, a senior official in Fatah, which dominates the internationally-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).
He believes his movement, founded by former leader Yasser Arafat, still reflects the best hope for Palestinian nationalism, based on the Western-backed formula of a "two-state solution" of an independent and sovereign Palestine alongside Israel.
But he admits that the high numbers registering to vote includes "people who have given up on us".
'Even our dreams are under control'
For some in the West Bank, the poll amounts to a first flourish of democracy amid what they see as dual obstacles - living in areas of limited self-governance under an ossified Palestinian leadership within Israel's military occupation.
In the city of Hebron, 29-year-old Doa Jabari will be voting for the first time. She explains the problem for her. She came top in her university law exams but says she has been unable to get a decent job.
This is because the PA controls who gets hired into public legal positions and she doesn't have the right connections - or wasta, as it's known in Arabic.
"I don't have relatives in the Authority, then I don't have a chance", she says. "That's why I want the election - to stop this."
Many Palestinians feel the generation of Fatah leaders still in power - those behind hard-won international recognition in the 1990s - have failed to deliver. The breakthrough Oslo peace accords with Israel created the PA, but hopes it would lead to an independent state haven't materialised.
Ms Jabari describes layers of power in a military occupation she cannot hold to account. Israel controls much Palestinian movement in the West Bank - it says for its security. Ms Jabari says it leaves her feeling "shackled".
"Even our dreams are under control. I dream every day to go to the beach. You cannot see it, not even feel it or touch it," she says.
A one-man show?
Despite complaints about tough rules to run in the election, new political groups have been emerging - particularly younger activists, who reject the political dominance of Fatah and Hamas.
Of around 1,400 candidates, nearly a third are women and 39% are aged under 40, according to officials.
But for many, the biggest surprise of the election is that President Abbas still hasn't cancelled it - with the legislative vote due in less than a month, on 22 May.
"This is a one-man show," says the Palestinian pollster Dr Khalil Shikaki.
"The Palestinians at this time have no institutions that make decisions," he adds, predicting that Mr Abbas can call off the vote if he thinks it's not in his interest.
And he may well be feeling the pressure. Fatah's decades-old family feud has spilled back into the open. In the run-up to the poll, Mr Abbas' officials have lobbied hard to stop a split, but failed. The movement is effectively running as three different factions - or candidate "lists".
One rival is the breakaway Future list backed by Mohammed Dahlan, a former Fatah security chief living in exile in the UAE. Mr Abbas expelled him in 2011, accusing him of a coup attempt and raising unsubstantiated claims he had a hand in Yasser Arafat's death.
But the major challenge to Mr Abbas' authority comes from the jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, a popular Fatah reformist who was convicted by Israel on five counts of murder in 2004 during the second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising.
Polls suggest Mr Barghouti would comfortably beat Mr Abbas in a head-to-head race, and he is expected to run from his prison cell in the presidential poll slated for 31 July.
He is backing a new list - Al-Hurriya, or Freedom - for the parliamentary vote. His wife, lawyer Fadwa Barghouti, is a candidate along with Nasser al-Qudwa, a veteran diplomat and the nephew of Yasser Arafat who calls for an end to corruption in the PA.
"Nobody can deny that a huge number of people are disgruntled, are angry. They hate what they see and they will not elect Hamas nor Fatah," says Mr al-Qudwa, arguing his group offers a "chance to deliver".
He says his split from the official Fatah list was "not planned", but followed rows over how to handle Hamas. He thinks Fatah's rivals gained too much from the deal to hold elections without a clear pledge to return control of Gaza to the "political and administrative Palestinian system" - ie, to the PA.
'Big zero' for the West
The enmity between Fatah and Hamas is the recurrent issue that has paralysed Palestinian politics.
Mr Abbas says there can be only "one authority, one law, one gun" - a rejection of separate militant factions. But Hamas holds onto its weapons, promoting itself to its followers as the effective "armed resistance" to Israeli occupation. Much of the global community conditions dealing with Hamas on it recognising Israel, renouncing violence and signing up to previous Palestinian agreements made internationally.
That's unlikely to happen any time soon - meaning, like in 2006, any newly elected Palestinian government including Hamas could be abandoned by its Western donors. The group itself accuses countries of abandoning Palestinians' democratic choices.
"After 15 years it is clear [the West] has failed, an absolute failure, to kick Hamas out of the political theatre. Hamas is still there representing a good majority of the Palestinian people," says senior Hamas official Basem Naim. "On the other hand [those countries] have failed to achieve anything politically with the Israelis… [towards a] two state solution.
"The outcome was a big zero," he says.
But analysts believe Hamas may fare worse than before, plagued by discontent over its running of Gaza. The dire humanitarian situation stems largely from Israel's land, sea and air blockade - coupled with border closures also imposed by neighbouring Egypt. Israel says it is to stop weapons reaching the group, which has fought repeated rounds of conflict with it.
The recent JMCC poll puts overall support for Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza at just 8%. However, polling before the last election significantly underplayed its support.
Frying the omelette
Some fear by announcing elections Mr Abbas has unleashed more uncertainty on an unstable region. He is bypassing failed reconciliation talks between the factions by asking the people to decide instead. That formula backfired with bitter recriminations and violence last time around.
In effect, Mr Abbas hopes to keep his slice of the political cake before it's been fully baked.
Many analysts suspect he could be looking for a way to backtrack. His officials have been getting more vocal calling on Israel to let Palestinians vote in East Jerusalem. Israel is obliged to do so under the Oslo accords, and in 2006 it allowed voting in a limited number of post offices. But so far this year Israel has remained officially silent about it.
Mr Abbas says failure to let people vote there would provide just grounds - his critics would call it a pretext - to postpone the poll.
For Najwa Odeh, the Fatah candidate who dodged a bullet 54 years ago, she's not surprised her home of East Jerusalem is back at the centre of things.
"Like Abu Mazen [President Abbas] has said, there will not be an election without Jerusalem," she says. "I don't care what people are saying. We are preparing everything - it's not a show. We are going for the elections."
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Fifteen men and two youths have appeared before magistrates in Grimsby charged with violent disorder after trouble at a football match. | Glasses, bottles and other items were thrown at a pre-season friendly between Grimsby Town and Sheffield United.
A total of 29 people were charged after rival fans clashed outside Blundell Park, Cleethorpes, in July.
Those appearing on Wednesday have had their cases moved to Grimsby Crown Court to be heard in January.
Of those charged, 17 are from the Grimsby area with 12 from Sheffield.
Those from Sheffield are due before magistrates in Grimsby on 14 December.
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Many governments hedge on China. Who, after all, can predict what is going to happen in such a vast and complicated country as it endures the birth pains of modernity and attempts to marry markets with one-party rule and find a fitting place in the international order? | Carrie GracieChina editor@BBCCarrieon Twitter
So from Washington to Tokyo, Berlin to Singapore, governments hedge, hoping for the best in China but preparing for outcomes less than the best.
Not the British government. Not any more.
Chancellor George Osborne said he rejects such thinking. Britain wants to be China's "best partner in the west".
"We want a golden relationship with China that will help foster a golden decade for this country."
The tone is particularly striking when set against the blunt language coming from Washington in the lead-up to President Xi Jinping's US state visit this week.
Of China's record on cyber hacking, US President Barack Obama said: "There comes a point at which we consider this a core national security threat. We can choose to make this an area of competition, which I guarantee you we'll win if we have to."
The strategy of engagement with China has lasted through eight presidents since Richard Nixon in 1971.
But it is now under intense scrutiny across the board, with companies complaining that they are being squeezed out of Chinese markets and Republican presidential candidates railing against China for trying to "steal American jobs" and "undermine US interests".
'Constant accommodation' of Beijing?
Washington has noticed the difference in tone.
When Mr Osborne rushed to sign the UK up as a founder member of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, unnamed American officials complained of London's "constant accommodation" of Beijing.
This month, the Chinese Communist Party Propaganda Department directed all media outlets to "promote the discourse on China's bright economic future and the superiority of China's system".
Mr Osborne has helped by giving Beijing face, at least on the first part.
"The growth in the Chinese economy will be more than the entire British economy at least in the coming five years.
"Even as China's growth slows, it will continue to be a powerhouse for the global economy. There will be many new opportunities for the UK."
All of this is true of course. But it is not a complete picture.
For all its great strengths and magnificent achievements, China's economy remains very complicated with contradictory government impulses to liberate and to control.
As for the spin on the superiority of the Chinese system, until recently, Mr Osborne's hosts needed no reassurance from foreigners on that score.
Having weathered the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and the global financial crisis a decade later, they prided themselves on a reputation for unshakable confidence and competence.
China, it seemed, had miraculously avoided the cyclical economic and electoral shocks to which more earthbound economies were vulnerable.
The fading Chinese dream?
But after this summer's carnage on the stock market and mishandled currency devaluation, that particular China dream is fading.
The painful growth slowdown Beijing has long warned of, is upon it and in some ways worse than it feared.
So China's leaders look mortal and their system less superior.
While the Chinese economy is still upbeat about all the positive things Mr Osborne has talked about on his trip, it is still a middle income country with fragile economic institutions, unaccountable politics and protected markets.
Even some of the long-promised reform agenda is looking vulnerable.
But Mr Osborne's determination not to hedge on any of this has produced some striking outcomes which set the UK apart from its European and American allies.
It is unimaginable, for example, that the United States would consider letting China design, build and operate a nuclear power station on US soil.
The UK will be the first Western government to do so.
Quite apart from the safety questions, Washington would have national security objections about involving China in its critical national infrastructure.
Of course, the United States and China are strategic rivals in Asia in a way which Britain and China are not.
'Security concerns'
But until recently, Britain's intelligence agency MI5 was complaining loudly of Chinese attempts "to steal our sensitive technology on civilian and military projects".
Of course, China has its own security concerns.
In the wake of the Snowden revelations of massive American surveillance programmes, China began work to remove its dependence on foreign telecoms technology and new national security legislation is likely to make it even harder for outsiders in sectors with a security dimension.
And on China's definition of national security, that means many of the most profitable and fast growing parts of the economy.
What's more, Beijing would not consider allowing another country to build a nuclear power station or any other key infrastructure on Chinese territory.
And Britain is currently barred from sectors where it is strong, like financial services, IT, media and healthcare.
All of which will make it hard for Mr Osborne to reach his goal is to make China Britain's second largest trading partner by the end of the decade.
And meanwhile the process of trying will close down other aspects of UK China policy.
Put simply, there can be no stellar exports and no "golden era" if senior members of the British government do things which irritate Beijing.
So do not expect to see the Dalai Lama in Downing St between now and 2020.
And do not expect to hear a robust defence of the political rights of Hong Kong's citizens from London.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that nearly a quarter of a billion Africans could contract coronavirus in the first year of the pandemic, with between 150,000 and 190,000 of them dying. | Africa has had less than 100,000 cases so far, but WHO experts believe the continent will have a prolonged outbreak over a few years - and, aid workers say, the huge focus on containing the virus has led to other health issues being neglected.
Here, five BBC reporters give a snapshot of what is happening in their countries:
Congolese 'probably had virus without knowing it'
By Emery Makumeno, Kinshasa
The Democratic Republic of Congo confirmed its first case of Covid-19 in early March, but a doctor in the capital, Kinshasa, believes the disease arrived earlier.
"During December and January, I can't remember how many patients came for medical treatment, coughing and with fever and headaches," he said, referring to Covid-19 symptoms listed by the WHO.
"I am convinced that we, the medical staff, have been exposed to coronavirus already, without knowing it, and we have built a sort of immunity," he added.
But DR Congo has carried out few tests to check the Covid-19 status of people, because of a lack of medical equipment.
Countries with successful testing strategies, such as South Korea and Germany, have rapidly reached at least 1% of their population, UK medical journal The Lancet points out.
If equipment is available, many African states could ramp up tests - some, though not DR Congo, did more HIV tests between 1 October and 31 December than the 1% target for Covid-19 testing, The Lancet says.
Sources: Africa CDC; The Lancet
So far, DR Congo has recorded more than 1,600 cases of the virus - the ninth-highest number in Africa, according to WHO.
The first Covid-19 case was detected in La Gombe, the main business district in Kinshasa. The government moved swiftly to introduce a lockdown, but the virus has since spread to seven of the country's 26 provinces - including the mining hub of Lubumbashi.
The outbreak comes at a time when DR Congo - which has poor health services, and has been hit by decades of conflict in the east - is also grappling with an Ebola outbreak. It has killed more than 2,000 people since 2018. Covid-19 has so far claimed the lives of more than 60 people.
The UN children's agency, Unicef, has also raised concern about a reduction in vaccination rates, saying gains made from immunisation over the past two years could be erased.
Unicef said vaccinations were already declining at the beginning of this year, and that the effects of coronavirus will make it worse.
Hundreds of thousands of children had not received polio, measles, yellow fever and other vaccines.
DR Congo might lose its polio-free status and there could be a resurgence of other deadly diseases.
Health workers lacked equipment to protect themselves or the children from Covid-19, and parents were afraid to bring them to vaccination centres.
Kenya hospital has 'fewer patients but more corpses'
By Mercy Juma, Nairobi
A major public hospital in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, saw an almost 40% increase in respiratory illnesses such as tuberculosis, pneumonia and asthma between December and early March, a doctor who works there told the BBC.
However, the hospital had a sharp decline in such cases since mid-March, said the doctor, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
One reason was that the government had imposed a nationwide dusk-to-dawn curfew to contain the spread of coronavirus.
This has resulted in a drop in night-time admissions, but an increase in the number of dead people being brought to the hospital's mortuary, the doctor said.
People also seemed to be avoiding hospital for fear of being diagnosed with Covid-19 and being sent to quarantine centres, he said.
This is because quarantining has been controversial in Kenya, with the government forcing suspected Covid-19 patients to pay for their own confinement.
The price ranges from $20 (£16) to $100 a night, depending on the centre, though the government has now promised to cover costs at public quarantine centres.
Sources: Africa CDC; The Lancet
Hostels at schools and universities as well as private hotels have been used as quarantine centres.
A video clip went viral last month, showing several people scaling a wall to flee a centre in Nairobi.
Those quarantined have complained that some centres are not much better than prisons, with poor hygiene and overcrowding making it impossible to practise social distancing.
'More patients and more corpses' in northern Nigeria
By Ishaq Khalid, Abuja
There have been reports of more people falling ill and dying in Nigeria's most populous state, Kano, since the outbreak of coronavirus nearly three months ago.
So, it is not surprising that President Muhammadu Buhari has extended the lockdown in the northern state to the end of the month.
A grave digger at the Abattoir Graveyard in the main city, also known as Kano, told the BBC: "We have never seen this, since the major cholera outbreak that our parents tell us about. That was about 60 years ago."
Prof Musa Baba-Shani - the head of the department of medicines at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, the main hospital in the state - told the BBC that they have been treating more patients with illnesses such as asthma, pneumonia, and tuberculosis, as well as chest pains and sore throats.
The professor, who works with the respiratory diseases unit of the hospital, said there had been an increase of between 40% and 45% in the number of respiratory cases in about the last three months.
He attributed the rise to the closure of many hospitals in the state, especially private clinics, because of a lack of protective gear for medics. This has forced more patients to seek treatment at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital.
Prof Baba-Shani said some of those with respiratory illnesses were diagnosed with coronavirus, and referred to the treatment centres set up for Covid-19 patients.
He decried the slow testing for coronavirus in Africa's most-populous country, which has a population of around 200 million. It would be better for both patients and hospitals if testing was speeded up, he said.
Sources: Africa CDC; The Lancet
Another doctor at the hospital, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said some people were avoiding seeking treatment because they feared contracting Covid-19 in hospitals.
In north-eastern Yobe state, an unusually high number of people - 471 - have died in the past five weeks.
It is unclear whether the deaths are linked to coronavirus, but the state's health commissioner, Dr Muhammad Lawan Gana, told the BBC that a preliminary investigation had found that most of the dead were elderly people with pre-existing health conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.
Nigeria has more than 6,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, the third-highest in Africa.
The commercial capital, Lagos, is at the epicentre of the outbreak, but a lockdown imposed at the end of March has been partially eased, raising fears that the virus could spread.
"It's tough decision, but I think it was the wrong call," said Dr Andrew Iroemeh, who works at a Covid-19 isolation centre in the city,
"It's recommended [that] for a lockdown to be relaxed we should have a consistent reduction in the rate of infection for at least 14 days. We haven't seen that," he added.
'Few signs of virus' in Ethiopia
By Kalkidan Yibelta, Addis Ababa
Respiratory infections are common in Ethiopia, Africa's second most-populous state, with a population of more than 100 million. Research shows they are the third major cause of death each year, after neonatal disorders and diarrheal diseases.
The coronavirus outbreak does not seem to have led to more patients with respiratory infections being admitted to hospitals over the past few weeks.
A doctor in the capital, Addis Ababa, told the BBC that he was looking for signs of unreported Covid-19 cases but he did not detect anything unusual.
Sources: Africa CDC; The Lancet
There was no increase, for example, in the number of patients with pneumonia, a severe complication caused by the virus.
Similar reports were given by a doctor and a nurse the BBC spoke to in eastern and southern Ethiopia respectively.
In recent days, the number of cases detected daily has risen from single to double digits. This has raised some concern, but the overall number is still low - less than 400.
This is despite the fact that Ethiopia, unlike many other states, has not introduced a lockdown, taking limited measures, such as a ban on sporting events and gatherings of more than four people, to curb the spread of the virus.
The doctor in Addis Ababa said Ethiopians might have been spared the worst of the virus because of less foreign travel, or there may be other unknown factors at play.
He said people should take precautions to prevent the spread of the virus as the possibility of a surge could not be ruled out.
Uganda to focus on 'verbal autopsies'
By Catherine Byaruhanga, Kampala
Uganda has imposed one of the strictest lockdowns in East Africa and so far it has one of the lowest number of Covid-19 cases in the region - around 260 - and no deaths.
Most of the testing in Uganda has been on truck drivers who arrive from neighbouring states. Last week, Health Minister Ruth Aceng said that of the 139 confirmed cases at the time, 79 were truck drivers.
The President of the Uganda Medical Association, Dr Richard Idro, said that doctors around the country had not reported seeing more patients with respiratory illnesses, though the lockdown - which includes a ban on travel - could have prevented them from going to hospital.
People with mild symptoms of coronavirus might have also stayed at home, resulting in some cases going unrecorded.
Sources: Ugandan government; The Lancet
In a recent address, Uganda's President Museveni said the government planned to carry out "verbal autopsies" in communities to find out whether people might have died from Covid-19.
The government has promised to distribute free masks to all citizens above six years old over the next two weeks before easing lockdown measures.
Ugandans on social media have generally been sceptical about the plan, pointing to the delays in giving food to 1.5 million people in and around the capital, Kampala, after they lost their income because of Covid-19 restrictions.
If the mask distribution is successful, Mr Museveni has promised that shops will be allowed to open, public transport will be back on the road but carrying half the number of passengers and food market vendors - who have been sleeping at their stalls under the president's orders - will be allowed to go home at the end of each day.
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US President Barack Obama touched down in Japan on Wednesday to hold talks with America's key Asian ally. China's leaders will be watching the visit from afar. Ahead of his arrival, Mr Obama told a Japanese newspaper that a cluster of islands in the East China Sea that both Tokyo and Beijing claim fell under the scope of a decades-old bilateral security alliance. | By Celia HattonBBC News, Beijing
Known as the Diaoyu Islands in China, and the Senkaku Islands in Japan, the territory is easy to miss on a regional map. This tiny string of five uninhabited islets and three barren rocks lies almost exactly between mainland China and southern Japan.
For decades, Japanese authorities have controlled the islands, prized for their strategic location in the East China Sea and possible oil and gas deposits below. But in the past few years, Beijing has reinvigorated its campaign to assert its historical ownership over a minute piece of territory that's causing huge regional arguments.
China's Communist leaders first disputed Japan's ownership of the islands in the 1970s, but both countries agreed to leave the problem to future generations.
The issue heated up again in 2012, when the Japanese government purchased the islands from a private landowner. Japanese nationalists wanted to develop the islands, Tokyo said. It wanted to halt that plan, partly to placate China. Few in Beijing believed that explanation.
Instead, the change to the status quo gave China an opportunity to exercise its growing political appetites.
"When Xi Jinping came to power, he changed the basic approach of Chinese foreign policy," explains Renmin University Professor Cheng Xiaohe. "From maintaining the status quo to maintaining a low profile to a new approach of doing something."
To the frustration of China's leaders, Japan has not publicly acknowledged Beijing's claim. So, to pressure Tokyo, Beijing stepped up patrols of the area.
Chinese fighter jets regularly fly above the islands, while naval ships sail below.
"If Japan refuses to talk about this problem, China has to cruise around the Diaoyu Islands to assert China's sovereign rights," explains Liu Jiangyong, a professor at Tsinghua University.
Last November, Beijing made a surprise move, declaring new air traffic restrictions in a zone covering the disputed area. Some countries, including the United States, ignored China's rules, but it is all part of the country's long-term strategy, says Dr Cheng.
"China's design [is] to reserve some kind of rights and freedoms for China to take military action if something happens in Diaoyu Islands or some other disputed area," he explains.
'One inch of territory'
Inside China, the government is using another tool - anti-Japanese propaganda - to keep the island issue at the forefront of foreign policy. Even young Chinese audiences are regularly reminded of unresolved tensions dating back to World War Two.
"Shoot Japanese Demons", an online videogame, was released in February by People.com, a government website.
Players choose a so-called Japanese warlord from a gallery of real historical figures and then score points by shooting the chosen person with a gun.
The game is cartoonish, but it's important to ask: is Beijing's campaign all just a game? Would Xi Jinping really go to war for a speck of uninhabited territory? Well, yes.
"Yes, the islands are small, but from Chinese perspective, one inch of territory is big enough for China to fight for," says Dr Cheng.
Ultimately, it's a circular problem. The symbolic value of these islands will continue to rise as long as both countries push to control them.
"If China and Japan had a friendly relationship, military interest in the islands would drop," Dr Liu adds.
Outside the Japanese embassy, security remains tight. Forbidding 4m-high (13ft) walls prevent anyone from looking in, and grim-faced soldiers circle the exterior.
There are many reasons why China and Japan would avoid a territorial war, including rising trade links and the threat of Washington's involvement. But the presence of these guards reminds those both inside the embassy and out that the threat of a serious military confrontation is never far away.
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A 72-year-old man has died in a bungalow fire. | Crews from Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire attended the property in Kingsfield, Ringwood after the blaze broke out at about 17:30 BST on Wednesday.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics from the South Central Ambulance Service.
Firefighters are investigating how the blaze, in the bungalow's lounge, started.
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The apparent ease with which contract killings can be set up in South Africa was highlighted during the trial of Shrien Dewani, who has been cleared of arranging the murder of his new bride Anni on honeymoon in Cape Town. | By Rhiannon BeachamBBC News
Mr Dewani was earlier cleared of arranging the killing, which happened after the couple's taxi was hijacked in the township of Gugulethu.
Prosecutors had argued he conspired with taxi driver, Zola Tongo, to set up the murder within half an hour of arriving at the airport. Tongo had told how he helped set up the killing for the following evening, despite having no criminal experience or contacts.
But the defence successfully argued his evidence was "not only highly improbable but is also riddled with contradictions".
Unemployment and hunger mean it is easy to find a hitman in South Africa, according to freelance journalist Sandiso Phaliso, who lives in one of Cape Town's townships, Philippi.
Following the murder of Anni Dewani in 2010, when Mr Phaliso was working for West Cape News, he was asked to find out how easy it was to hire a contract killer.
He says he found three in half a day.
"It's easy to find one," he said. "It's easy for me because I live in the township, I know gangs, people involved in gangs."
"It's common because the country has a high rate of unemployment and the government is not doing enough to cut unemployment.
"People come up with many ways, schemes, to put food on the table. They are doing it for the money."
He said people in South Africa were willing to work for 2,000 rand - about £110 a month.
"For anything beyond that, 3,000, 4,000 rand, they are willing to take that offer, they are willing to take the job," he added.
"These are people for who a month goes by without them earning anything, so 1,000 rand for two days work or a week they will do it."
The 29-year-old said contract killings in South Africa were a daily occurrence.
"I'm not exaggerating," he said. "Mostly what happens is people do it for an insurance policy. When it's 'accidental', someone is shot or killed by a car, the money doubles.
"Now it's happening more because a wife wants to kill a husband or a husband wants to kill a wife."
But he said many of these killings went unrecorded.
"It's not unusual. Sometimes when a hit happens, people are hired for arson to burn houses, sometimes people are hired to kill someone in an 'accident'. It happens more often, but these cases are going unreported."
Gareth Newham, head of the Governance, Crime and Justice Division at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, said he was not aware of any research or statistics on contract killings in South Africa.
"Unless the police solve the case and prosecute those involved, these crimes do not come to the fore," he said.
It had been alleged in Mr Dewani's trial that he set up Anni's murder through taxi driver Tongo.
Tongo told the court that, while he was "not involved in any such activities", he knew someone who might know someone who was.
According to his evidence, he then spoke to Monde Mbolombo who immediately found him the two hitmen - Mziwamadoda Qwabe and Xolile Mngeni.
But William Booth, of the South African Law Society, said he did not think it could be so easy.
Mr Booth, a criminal defence lawyer, said: "One of the things I've found very amazing is Dewani could get off an aeroplane and in a short time speak to someone like Tongo and engage him to kill his wife. It's something that bothered me all the way through the trial.
"Yes, people who are approached who are unemployed are more readily willing to assist with crime and there's major unemployment in South Africa and people earning low income so that kind of temptation is there.
"But, look at Tongo. He was earning a good salary according to the evidence in court, he had a motor car which was valuable. It wasn't as if he was desperate for money, but people are greedy.
"It's a fact people are poor and the unemployed more readily agree to commit crime, but crime doesn't mean they're prepared to shoot someone, that's a big jump to make."
Mr Phaliso agreed it would be harder for a tourist to find a hitman as they would need to befriend someone first who has criminal contacts and could act as a middleman.
"It's not going to be easy for someone they don't know to talk to them, someone they don't trust," he said. "Sometimes police go undercover and pretend to be someone else."
"A lot of the time, a week will be enough [to organise a hit], it can be 48 hours," he added. "A week is the longest time it will take for them to do that.
"For me, living in South Africa, it's scary because anything can happen at any time. You could be dead, there could be no trace, and if you're not a well-known person the police won't solve it.
"It's not easy for the courts to convict someone when you're killed."
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What is it like to surf the Internet in the most secretive country on Earth? The short answer is - strange, at least by the rest of the world's standards. But as North Koreans begin to put their lives at risk just to connect to the outside world, it could mark a dramatic moment in the country's history. | By Dave LeeTechnology reporter, BBC News
There's a curious quirk on every official North Korean website. A piece of programming that must be included in each page's code.
Its function is straightforward but important. Whenever leader Kim Jong-un is mentioned, his name is automatically displayed ever so slightly bigger than the text around it. Not by much, but just enough to make it stand out.
It's just one facet of the "internet" in North Korea, a uniquely fascinating place.
In a country where citizens are intentionally starved of any information other than government propaganda, the internet too is dictated by the needs of the state - but there is an increasing belief that this control is beginning to wane.
"The government can no longer monitor all communications in the country, which it could do before," explains Scott Thomas Bruce, an expert on North Korea who has written extensively about the country.
"That is a very significant development."
Year 101
There's just one cybercafe in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang.
Anyone logging on at the cafe would find themselves at a computer that isn't running Windows, but instead Red Star - North Korea's own custom-built operating system, reportedly commissioned by the late Kim Jong-il himself.
A pre-installed readme file explains how important it is that the operating system correlates with the country's values.
The computer's calendar does not read 2012, but 101 - the number of years since the birth of Kim Il-sung, the country's former leader whose political theories define policy decisions.
Normal citizens do not get access to the "internet". That privilege is left to a select number in the country, known as elites, as well as some academics and scientists.
What they see is an internet that is so narrow and lacking in depth it resembles more an extravagant company intranet than the expansive global network those outside the country know it to be.
"The system they've set up is one that they can control and tear down if necessary," explains Mr Bruce.
The system is called Kwangmyong, and is administered by the country's lone, state-run internet service provider.
According to Mr Bruce, it consists mainly of "message boards, chat functions, and state sponsored media". Unsurprisingly, there's no sign of Twitter.
"For a lot of authoritarian governments who are looking at what is happening in the Middle East," says Mr Bruce, "they're saying rather than let in Facebook, and rather than let in Twitter, what if the government created a Facebook that we could monitor and control?"
The Red Star operating system runs an adapted version of the Firefox browser, named Naenara, a title it shares with the country's online portal, which also has an English version.
Typical sites include news services - such as the Voice of Korea - and the official organ of the state, the Rodong Sinmun.
But anyone producing content for this "internet" must be careful.
Reporters Without Borders - an organisation which monitors global press freedom - said some North Korean "journalists" had found themselves sent to "revolutionisation" camps, simply for a typo in their articles.
Beyond the Kwangmyong intranet, some North Koreans do have full, unfiltered internet access.
However, it is believed this is restricted to just a few dozen families - most directly related to Kim Jong-un himself.
'Mosquito net'
North Korea's reluctance to connect citizens to the web is counteracted by an acceptance that, as with trade, it needs to open itself up slightly if it is to continue to survive.
While China has its infamous "great firewall" - which blocks out the likes of Twitter and, from time to time the BBC website - North Korea's technology infrastructure is described as a "mosquito net", allowing only the bare essentials both in and out.
And it's with mobile that the mosquito net is most porous.
While there is an official mobile network, which does not offer data connections or international calls, North Koreans are increasingly getting hold of Chinese mobile phones, smuggled across the border.
The handsets generally work within about 10km (6 miles) of the border between the two countries - but not without considerable danger.
"The level of risk that people are taking now would be unthinkable 20 years ago," says Nat Kretchun, co-author of a groundbreaking report into the changing media environment in North Korea.
The paper, entitled A Quiet Opening, interviewed 420 adults who had defected from the country. Among their stories was a glimpse at the lengths people would go to use these illegal mobile phones.
"In order to make sure the mobile phone frequencies are not being tracked, I would fill up a washbasin with water and put the lid of a rice cooker over my head while I made a phone call," said one interviewee, a 28-year-old man who left the country in November 2010.
"I don't know if it worked or not, but I was never caught."
While the man's scientific methodology is questionable, his fear was certainly warranted.
"Possession of illegal cellphones is a very major crime," explains Mr Bruce.
"The government has actually bought sensor equipment to try and track down people who are using them.
"If you use them, you want to use them in a highly populated area, and you want to be using them for a short amount of time."
Honest information
During his leadership, Kim Jong-il would parade hundreds of tanks through the streets to show himself as a "military genius".
Many observers say that his son, Kim Jong-un, must in contrast show himself to have an astute technological mind, bringing hi-tech enhancements to the lives of his citizens.
But each step on this path brings the people of North Korea something they've not had before - honest information, which can have a devastating effect on secretive nations.
"I don't see an open door towards an Arab Spring coming that way any time soon," Mr Bruce says.
"But I do think that people are now expecting to have access to this technology - and that creates an environment of personal expectation that cannot be easily rolled back."
With thanks to Flickr user comradeanatollii for the image of Red Star OS.
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Birds that create storms when they fly, long-snouted "mole-like" creatures who have a talent for sniffing out treasure and "ape-like" animals who have the power to become invisible - yes, the fantastic beasts have arrived. | By Gemma-Louise StevensonBBC News
In the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a spin-off of the Harry Potter series, Newt Scamander uses magizoology, a science studied in JK Rowling's imaginary wizarding world, to help him understand these strange creatures.
But does such a branch of science exist in the "muggle" (or non -magical) world?
Perhaps cryptozoology, the science which identifies and describes creatures from folklore and fossil records, could give us some clues.
Anthony McAtamney, 44, is from County Armagh and describes himself as an "ordinary bloke" who has "a life-long interest in the paranormal and cryptozoology"
He said: "It's an enigmatic field that few scientists delve into and it's not just about the myths and what-ifs.
"Remember the giant squid - referred to as the Kraken in cryptozoology before it was renamed by scientists upon its discovery - was not photographed or filmed live until 2004."
A cryptozoologists' guide
James Newton, a university disability advisor by day, is the founder of The London Cryptozoology Club and offers his advice to any budding cryptozoologists.
"I would say read books, don't get all your info off the internet - there's a lot of good information on the internet but you have to sift through a load of rubbish too."
"I would also say research older materials," he said. "Lots of contemporary resources - books, TV shows etc - are very fast-paced but with little depth.
"If people are really interested in zoology in general and cryptozoology in particular I would advise them to make inroads wherever possible into mainstream science and work on getting at least certain aspects of the study more credibility.
"Don't be embarrassed about your interest - it's what makes you a thinking and interesting individual."
Anthony cites one of his heroes and main influences within this field as Dr Karl Shuker.
"In my mind he was balanced and provided the folklore and the facts where he could around the sightings but also gave alternates to the sightings where possible," he said.
"He also gave examples of how such creatures may exist which almost inspired a romantic notion in me that the world has more to offer even as we become more modern.
"Whilst he does have a scientific approach he doesn't openly ridicule - his work is thought provoking and well researched."
The cryptozoology behind the characters
From Murtlaps to Mooncalfs JK Rowling has added a whole menagerie of magical creatures to the wizarding world in this, the first of the Fantastic Beasts film franchise.
And Anthony can see parallels with certain animals identified in cryptozoology, known as cryptids.
One such creature is the Thunderbird, described on Pottermore as "a magical American bird closely related to the phoenix" who can "sense danger and create storms as it flies."
Thunderbirds also have one of the houses of the American school of witchcraft and wizardry, Ilvermorny, named after them.
"People sometimes equate Thunderbirds to modern day sightings of Pterosaur that we hear from in Ohio, New Mexico and Papa New Guinea," Anthony said.
"However the Thunderbird is a North American cryptid and has basis in legend with the Native Americans.
"So her [Rowling's] linking it to Native Americans is very good and indicative of her research.
"There are theories that Thunderbirds were large birds that used the currents from storms, much like eagles, to whip up warm updrafts to aid them in flights, hence they may have been spotted following paths of thunderstorms which in turn gave rise to the flapping of the wings creating thunder."
He can see parallels with the "ape-like" Demiguise and many cryptids based on ape-like creatures such as Bigfoot and the Ebu Gogo too.
Although Anthony also believes that there are characteristics of standard zoological apes present in this character as well.
"There are so many real species of monkey and especially the marmoset monkey which I think it resembles," he said.
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