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CCTV is to be installed at Aberdeen's derelict Broadford Works after a spate of fires, the city council has said.
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Crews tackled four separate blazes in the disused factory on Thursday alone.
Aberdeen City Council said it would install cameras following the fires at the former Richards textile mill, off Hutcheon Street.
A spokesman said: "The building is surrounded by homes, businesses and busy roads so the consequences could have been devastating."
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An exhibition dedicated to fashion designer Alexander McQueen has broken the Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museum's attendance record, attracting more than 480,000 people in five months.
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That is 100,000 more than expected, the V&A's deputy director Tim Reeve said.
The show, titled Savage Beauty, was so popular that it stayed open all night over its final two weekends.
"We have a lot of experience running big exhibitions, but we did not predict it would be that big," Mr Reeve said.
The ticket tally beat previous hit exhibitions including the Art Deco exhibition, which sold 359,499 tickets in 2003, and 2013's David Bowie show, which attracted 311,956 visitors.
The exhibition, which closed on Sunday, showed elaborate costumes McQueen designed, including a dress of razor clams and a skirt made from plywood.
It spanned his career from his degree show to his death at the age of 40 in 2010.
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When the water surged to the level of their house's roof, Adrian Farrington grabbed his five-year-old son and put him there, thinking he would be safe. For almost an hour, he had been fighting the flood with a broken leg, carrying Adrian Farrington Jr, who would not stop crying.
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"I keep telling him, 'Don't cry. Close your month,'" he told the Nassau Guardian, "'Don't cry. Keep breathing. Don't cry. Close your mouth.'" But before he could sit on the roof to hold his son, known as AJ, a gust of wind blew the boy back into the water.
AJ screamed for help, "Daddy", but it was too late. The strong surge caused by Hurricane Dorian had already swallowed him. Yet Mr Farrington, 38, tried to rescue his son. He swam, hoping to find a piece of clothing or a shoe. But underwater there was nothing he could see.
People who were in what was left of their neighbourhood in Murphy Town on Abacos Islands, the hardest-hit area, had already carried his wife to safety, and kept calling him. But Mr Farrington did not want to go. Not without his son.
He tried again. And again, he found nothing.
Exhausted from fighting the powerful currents, Mr Farrington, a carpenter, sought safety on higher ground. "If [my son is] rescued, I praise the Lord," he said. "You had sharks swimming in the water - anything could happen."
Slowly, stories of survival and of families desperately searching for their loved ones are emerging from the Bahamas, where authorities are warning that the number of deaths caused by the hurricane will be "staggering".
Dorian devastated the northern Bahamas as a category five hurricane, with winds reaching 185mph (297 km/h), matching the highest ever recorded at landfall. It stayed over affected areas for two days.
Up until now, 30 people have been confirmed dead but this is likely to rise further as hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are still missing in the Abacos and Grand Bahama.
Mr Farrington told the newspaper he had seen "the surge push homes off the foundation". And what the water did not destroy, the winds did. The Abacos are said to be virtually uninhabitable, with bodies piled up, no water, power or food, and militias formed to prevent looting.
Aerial images over the Abacos showed mile upon mile of destruction, with roofs torn off, scattered debris, overturned cars, shipping containers and boats, and high water levels. Officials were sending morticians and 200 body bags.
With telephone lines down in many areas, residents have posted lists of missing people on social media. On Facebook, a post by Our News Bahamas, a local news outlet, had more than 2,500 comments, mainly listing lost family members.
After finding safety away from the water, Mr Farrington said he managed to reach a church where a dozen people were taking shelter. "The wall of the church was moving like when you put clothes on the line on a breezy day," he said.
It then collapsed.
He swam from the rubble, he told the newspaper, and watched a family trapped inside a house, unable to get out, as the water was blocking the door. In less than an hour, he said, he saw some 15 people die. Many bodies are still believed to be under the ruins of collapsed buildings across the island.
Mr Farrington spent the night alone and was later rescued by residents who were probably looking for relatives. On Monday, he was flown to the capital, Nassau, and sent to the Princess Margaret Hospital where he was being treated for injuries on his right hand and two fractured bones in his right leg.
AJ's older brother, Richard Johnson, is trying to find him. He carried a flyer with pictures of his missing brother to the National Emergency Management Agency. "There's a possibility he might be in a shelter," he told CBS News.
As for Adrian Farrington, the only thing he wants is to hear AJ is alive. He told CBS: "I would want him to understand is that I love him and I tried everything possible... to save him."
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With the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola revealing woefully inadequate health systems in West Africa, especially in those countries recovering from civil war, the international response and leadership of the World Health Organization (WHO) has also come in for criticism.
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By Thomas FessyBBC West Africa correspondent
Announcing US plans, President Barack Obama said the outbreak was "a threat to global security" which required a "global response".
So, what would bring the epidemic under control? Here are five things officials say would help:
1) More treatment centres
All agree this is key as the real number of cases is believed to be much higher than the 4,366 recorded.
Victims in Liberia - the country worst-affected by Ebola - are spreading the virus, some dying on the streets, because there is not enough room at isolation clinics set up to treat infected patients.
President Obama's plan to send 3,000 troops to build 17 healthcare facilities and train health workers has been met with some relief, especially in Liberia where most of this deployment will go.
But it may take weeks before the first US beds are operational, and the WHO has confirmed that there are no free beds anywhere in Liberia at present.
The aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has urged other countries to "deploy their civil defence and military assets, and medical teams, to contain the epidemic".
Last week, the UK announced it would set up a 65-bed treatment centre for infected medical staff in Sierra Leone, and France has put a team of about 20 experts on rotation to Guinea.
But Philippe Maughan, who works for Echo, the humanitarian aid branch of the European Commission, thinks MSF's expectations may be too high.
"If it thinks there is a sort of foreign legion ready to deploy for this outbreak, there isn't," Dr Maughan says.
"Ebola is a very specific virus for which even specialists in infectious diseases are not necessarily skilled."
2) Home care
Until promised treatment centres are set up, this will be the best attempt to stem infections - especially in Liberia.
Under broad medical supervision, affected communities would learn how to provide basic care using rehydration and painkillers.
"It won't be possible without the participation of the community," warns Tarik Jasarevic, a WHO spokesman.
This will include breaking down the fear of people wearing protective suits. But it is a risky move.
"The need in personnel to have this work is big; supervision and discipline are key," says Dr Maughan.
"Some will fail and some will work. It's not ideal, this is a last resort."
MSF warns it will only work in the early stages of treatment.
"As soon as their family member shows more severe symptoms, like bleeding, they will seek to bring them in a treatment centre anyway," says Brice de la Vigne, MSF's director of operations.
3) Air bridge and medevac system
Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the worst-hit states, have been isolated because of flight bans and borders being shut - despite WHO recommendations to the contrary.
It has dealt a blow to their economies and food security will soon become an issue.
Aid agencies are lobbying states to grant them humanitarian corridors.
President Obama has promised to develop an air bridge to get supplies into affected countries faster.
Senegal, where many UN agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have their regional offices, is expected to become a logistical hub.
The authorities there have officially agreed to it but, sources say, remain reluctantly slow in turning the theory into practice.
"I understand the concerns from the Senegalese government; Ebola was brought to Nigeria by an airline passenger after all, but we need to get equipment in these countries and we need to get staff in and out," Dr Maughan says.
The evacuation of infected medical staff is also an issue, potentially limiting volunteers.
4) Preparation elsewhere
Don't wait until there is a confirmed case to get ready and make sure what looks good on paper can work on the ground, is the warning to countries in the region.
When it arrived in Nigeria, people were spooked, one diplomat told the BBC.
"If the CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) hadn't sent 50 experts to Nigeria, they would not have it under control," Dr Maughan says.
Medical kits are now being dispatched throughout the region and some countries have started public awareness campaigns.
Medical agencies believe that if there are more cases in Senegal, where 67 people are still under surveillance after coming into contact with an infected Guinean student, the outbreak could be quickly stopped.
But concerns remain over the capacity to act quickly in countries most at risk - Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Ivory Coast.
"We are working with the authorities in Mali to get all the 86 health centres and hospitals we sponsor there ready," says Alexis Smigielski, head of the Dakar-based medical charity Alima.
5) Vaccines
At least two experimental vaccines are looking promising and could be made available in West Africa in November if trials are conclusive.
Injections would be given to medical staff as a priority.
"It holds quite a lot of hope," says Dr Maughan.
However, it could take several months to reach a production that would respond to the scale of demand.
The WHO has also indicated that people who have survived can now provide blood to treat patients who are sick.
But the UN health agency has warned that current lab experiments should not distract from the actual needs on the ground.
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Oil giant BP has announced the sale of its stakes in two North Sea fields for $280m (£179m).
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BP has agreed to sell its minority interests in the Alba and Britannia fields to Japanese trading company Mitsui and Co.
Trevor Garlick, regional president for BP North Sea, said the move was "part of our strategy to develop a more focused business in the UK and Norway".
The deal is due to be completed by September.
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In our series of letters from African journalists, Ghanaian writer Elizabeth Ohene looks at the uproar that greeted Ghana's decision to allow two Yemenis freed from the US jail in Guantanamo Bay to live in the West African state.
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There is a general belief here that if you typed Ghana or Ghanaian into a search engine, the words that would be suggested automatically as a follow-up should be politics and football.
It is these two subjects that spark animated discussions and get the juices flowing. Even though in football, we have not won anything on the continental or world stage for a very long time, we still believe that the Black Stars, our national team, are special.
One of the inner sources of the strength that help Ghanaians survive is the fact that our national team regularly beats the national team of the United States at football.
Trying to get a visa from Ghana to the United States is one of the most humiliating experiences for Ghanaians.
But we are able to endure it all by simply repeating over and over again under our breaths: "World Cup 2006, we defeated you, World Cup 2010, we defeated you."
Now, we discovered quite unexpectedly that defeating the US at football has even deeper implications, when news broke that our government had accepted two Yemeni ex-detainees, Khalid al-Dhuby and Mahmoud Omar Bin Atef, from Guantanamo Bay, where the US detains terror suspects, to live in Ghana.
Elizabeth Ohene:
"They are excited to come to Ghana because of Asamoah Gyan, the captain of the Black Star - they know him and they like him very much"
The government has struggled to explain this decision.
We have been told the two men pose no danger whatsoever to Ghana; they were innocent 20-year-olds when they were arrested and to drive home their innocence, our president compares them to his own 20-year-old son.
We have been told that even though the two men are such thoroughly harmless and nice people, their every move will be monitored.
Normally taciturn officials from the US embassy are suddenly all over the radio and television trying to assure us we should all be proud of our government for bringing to Ghana men the US Senate deems too dangerous to enter their country.
When none of these interventions appeared to be calming the protests, the two thoroughly harmless and nice men were brought out to state their own case on national radio.
Guantanamo Bay prison:
The pair said they do not belong to any terrorist group, and have been wrongly arrested for 14 years without any charge.
They have suffered but are not looking for revenge. They want to live in Ghana quietly and peacefully, and put their lives together.
All that did not sound very convincing to any of us here; what everybody really wanted to know was why they had been brought to Ghana - did they just pick us on the map because Ghana happens to be the physical centre of the world?
'Celebrating the Black Stars'
And suddenly it all comes tumbling out. They are excited to come to Ghana because of Asamoah Gyan, the captain of the Black Stars, they know him and they like him very much.
A lot of the detainees like Ghanaians very much, and during the 2010 World Cup, most of the people there in Guantanamo Bay - no, not most of them, all of them - were with Ghana and when the Black Stars beat America, they were very happy.
So now we know... beating America at football has consequences. I am afraid I don't know what happened to our secret supporters in Guantanamo in 2014.
They obviously did not cheer loud enough that year, which must be why we lost to the US.
And for that reason alone, I think our two long-term visitors should be sent back to reorganize our supporters club in Guantanamo.
More from Elizabeth Ohene:
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The Sun has become the first British newspaper to publish the photos of a naked Prince Harry taken in Las Vegas. This was despite warnings from the Royal Family's lawyers that it would be an invasion of his privacy. Here is some of the reaction to the decision and the issues the photos have raised.
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The Sun
"There is a clear public interest in publishing the Harry pictures, in order for the debate around them to be fully informed. The photos have potential implications for the prince's image representing Britain around the world. There are questions over his security during the Las Vegas holiday. Questions as to whether his position in the Army might be affected.
"Further, we believe Harry has compromised his own privacy. These are not pictures of him and a girlfriend at Balmoral. The prince was in Vegas, the party capital of a country with strong freedom-of-speech laws, frolicking in the pool before inviting strangers to his hotel room for a game of strip billiards. These are hardly the acts of a man jealously guarding his privacy."
St James's Palace
"We have made our views on Prince Harry's privacy known. Newspapers regulate themselves, so the publication of the photographs is ultimately a decision for editors to make.
"We have no further comment to make either on the publication of the photographs or on the story itself concerning Prince Harry's private holiday in Las Vegas."
Kelvin MacKenzie, former Sun editor
"Fortunately America is known as the land of the free, which is the opposite position of the UK where you're starting to get prime ministers like Cameron wheeling out judges like Leveson, and Parliament, who want to gang up exclusively on newspapers in the UK. Whereas, of course, readers in every other part of the world and on every website in the world, including major news organisations like CNN, have been publishing these pictures for the last 36 hours. It really is absolutely shocking."
Paul Connew, former News of the World deputy editor
"A running theme during the Leveson Inquiry, and one of the great dilemmas I think for Lord Justice Leveson as he sits down and writes his report, is the future and the economic viability of newspapers, both broadsheets and popular, in the UK in the age of the web.
"Can you have a scenario where what's available on the web and also being carried by legitimate major organisations like CNN and NBC around the world, and yet it can't be printed in the UK itself? I think that's simply irrational and also illogical, and effectively doesn't fit with the world as it is in the age of the internet and social media."
Mark Stephens, media lawyer
"The law [on Thursday] in this country was that they couldn't publish the pictures, absent some pressing public interest. There is no public interest yesterday and there's no public interest today and there'll be no different public interest tomorrow. So it was illegal yesterday to publish these pictures, it's illegal today to publish them and its illegal tomorrow to publish them. And I think this is just a publicity stunt from the Sun."
Brian Cathcart, director of campaign group Hacked Off
"This is the country's biggest-selling newspaper breaking the industry's own code [of practice] despite clear warnings. It is flagrant proof that our national newspapers are incapable of regulating their own affairs. The Sun's argument that this is about freedom of the press is nonsense. This is about the Sun's right to trample over the industry's own feeble rules when it likes, and also to invade people's privacy whenever it chooses."
John Whittingdale, Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairman
"I'm not sure where the public interest lies in publishing them [the pictures]. The fact that they happened is well known. How the public interest is served by doing this is not clear. I don't at the moment know their reasons for publishing them but I would be concerned if this is more about trying to boost the circulation of their newspapers."
Gerry Sutcliffe, Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee member
"I think it's a grave mistake. First of all, we need to know, did the Sun pay for any of the pictures, which would be an interest as far as I'm concerned. But I'm just concerned. Yes, people know the pictures are around. This was supposed to be a private situation and clearly it's not. And what is the public interest?"
Don Foster, co-chairman, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Policy Committee on Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport
"I don't think that there is any public interest justification in showing photographs of an individual that happens to be a member of the Royal Family in a private setting. I can see no justification for that whatsoever.
"I think that the person who's done the most wrong, of course, is the person who broke Prince Harry's trust and sold the photographs."
Lord Prescott, former Deputy Prime Minister
"It is not about privacy. It is about money, money, money. And they know that by exclusively printing the pictures, assuming they are the only paper which does, they will get everybody buying the paper to see this. So they show an utter contempt even for the body [the Press Complaints Commission] they still have some influence in."
Chris Blackhurst, editor of the Independent
"We've taken the decision from the very off that we're not going to publish these pictures. They were taken in a private place, private party, we thought there was an issue of privacy, and that's where we are. He was only doing, let's face it, what a lot of Sun readers do every weekend on stag parties and they don't expect to be on the front page of that morning's paper."
Daily Mirror spokesman
"The Daily Mirror took the decision not to publish the pictures of Prince Harry because we would be in clear breach of the Press Complaints Commission's Editors' Code of Practice, regarding intrusion of privacy, which we signed up to and we stand by that decision."
Gordon Young, editor of the Drum, which says it was the first UK media organisation to publish the pictures
"There's really two levels to this story. Obviously you've got the primary story which is really about the existence of these pictures which is much more of a mainstream newspaper type angle. But our interest in this is really the secondary story of really looking at the media response, and also the Royal Family's response to that media coverage. So from our point of view it would have been very difficult not to use these pictures."
Steve Hewlett, media commentator
"If this was a court case and it was a question about whether information could be published or not, then a judge would say 'well, once it's out there you can't put the genie back in the bottle, in which case I'm not going to restrain publication any further'. So there does come a point of kind of common sense, when it's so widely available that it simply, it's almost meaningless and potentially quite an improper infringement on liberty to try and restrict it. We are at this point with these pictures.
"A year ago I think these would have been published without question and very widely commented on."
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
"I think it'd be disgraceful if a chap wasn't allowed to have a bit of fun in Las Vegas. The real scandal would be if you went all the way to Las Vegas and you didn't misbehave in some trivial way."
Hugh Robertson, Sports Minister
"On a personal level, I feel very, very sorry for him. He's a smashing young man, he's given great service to this country and I'm sure he must be feeling pretty wretched.
"I just hope everybody can say to him that we understand why it happens and it's not going to affect the way that people look at him because he is a smashing young man."
Graham Smith, chief executive of campaign group Republic
"Would the media have published these photographs immediately if they were of a politician? If so, then it's a clear case of double standards. We need to ask why we treat the Windsor family differently to other public servants.
"The last people the media should be kowtowing to are the royal family, especially given their exemption from the Freedom of Information Act and the secrecy surrounding their finances."
Max Clifford, public relations consultant
"Yes, there is huge public interest. Yes, it is a ridiculous situation that everybody around the world can see these pictures and people in Britain can't. But should we be looking at these pictures? Do we have the right? Can we justify it?
"In my view it clearly invades his privacy and the ends don't justify the means."
Elisabeth Murdoch, chairwoman of TV production company Shine, owned by News Corp
"I think it would be very sad if we lived in a world where we can't publish that picture.
"We've all seen the pictures online. If newspapers can't participate in that, I think it asks questions about where print and online are going."
Dominic Ponsford, editor of trade magazine Press Gazette
"I don't completely buy the Sun's argument that the 20% of Britons without internet access have as much right to see pictures of Prince Harry's bum as those who are online.
"But I think they had a duty to make that argument and to publish the pictures in the UK.
"I can't help feeling that if everyone had dutifully abided by the wishes of Clarence House, UK press freedom would have been diminished."
Thomas Mills, secretary general of the British Monarchist Society
"David Dinsmore's decision to run these photos truly shows the Sun's desperation to capitalise on Prince Harry's private moments in a private atmosphere to advertise and sell the Sun newspaper.
"The photos were already online and available to the masses, and those who wanted to see them already have for free, so the decision to run these private photos only works in the interest of the Sun itself, and for the freedom of the press which is the premise the Sun used as a defence to publish the photos.
"This is not about Prince Harry, but the Sun's blatant violation of the codes of reporting they agreed to and to see how far they can push boundaries for their own agenda."
Dai Davies, former head of Royal protection, Metropolitan Police
"Threat comes from a variety of different sources and those officers [who were with Prince Harry in Las Vegas] should know that. And particularly in this particular environment, the threat could have come from terrorism, from pro-IRA and indeed from certain aspects of the press.
"This could easily have been a set-up for him and I am really concerned that those in authority in the Metropolitan Police still seem to say that their job is just to physically protect him.
"I take the view the reputation of the Royal Family is about their whole reputation, and this has tarnished it. And no matter how we all like Harry - and indeed the esteem that the family has been held in the last year has gone up tremendously, and has to be applauded - but this kind of behaviour, either by him and those charged with protection, doesn't do any favours to anyone in my opinion."
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By late autumn 1995, Drs Lin and Shaun Russell had made the difficult decision to uproot their idyllic life in the Nantlle Valley on the edge of Snowdonia National Park, and move with their two young daughters to Kent.
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There were mixed emotions about leaving the mountains for Granary Cottage in the picturesque village of Nonington, a short drive from Shaun's new lecturing job at the University of Kent in nearby Canterbury.
But the girls, Megan, six, and nine-year-old Josie, had settled in well at the village school. For Lin, 45, a geologist and lecturer who had enjoyed a successful career working in Africa for many years, family life was now her priority.
It was, Shaun recalled, "a lovely existence".
It was short lived.
Just months after relocating, the family was victim to what Kent Police described as "one of the most horrific crimes ever committed".
What happened just before 16.30 BST Tuesday, 9 July 1996, as the girls, Lin and Lucy the dog, walked the two-or-so miles home from school along Cherry Garden Lane, an unmade track, flanked on one side by a corn field and a small wood on the other, is hard to imagine.
They were accosted by a man, tied up with torn strips of damp towels they had used just minutes before at a swimming gala, made to sit in a copse, blindfolded and bludgeoned with a claw hammer, one by one - Lin, Josie, Megan and the dog.
When they were found eight hours later, it was thought all were dead. Josie was found to have a faint pulse. Remarkably, she survived.
She lives and works as an artist in north Wales, having returned to Gwynedd with her father soon after the attack.
A year later the crime remained unsolved.
On the anniversary of the murders a Crimewatch appeal prompted a tip off from a psychologist who worked at a local psychiatric assessment centre. Police arrested and charged 36-year-old Michael Stone from Gillingham.
He was convicted in October 1998.
In the absence of any forensic evidence, the jury believed the main thrust of the prosecution's case - three prison inmates who claimed Stone had confessed.
One of the inmates admitted soon after the trial ended that they had lied and another was discredited. A re-trial was ordered.
But one of the inmates, Damien Daley, then aged 26, held firm to his claim that Stone had confessed to him in grisly detail.
Daley, a self-confessed liar, told the court: "I like to get by in life. I am a crook, that's what crooks do: they beg, borrow and steal to get by in life. But if you were to say to me now are you lying, I would say no, I'm not lying."
The judge's summing up to the retrial jury was unequivocal: "The case stands or falls on the alleged confession of Damian Daley."
In late 2001 Stone was once again found guilty and given three life sentences
Sentencing Stone the judge Mr Justice Poole told him: "There can't be anyone in this country who doesn't understand the horror of these offences."
Stone cried out: "It wasn't me your Honour, I didn't do it!"
Since then Stone has launched and failed in two appeal bids.
Over the years circumstantial evidence has been challenged and doubt cast on some of the prosecution's witnesses by his legal team.
Now, two decades on, they say new evidence, seen by BBC Wales Investigates, brings them closer than ever to proving his innocence.
They claim notorious serial killer Levi Bellfield - currently serving two whole life terms for three murders, including schoolgirl Milly Dowler - has confessed that he murdered Lin and Megan Russell.
And crucially, they allege, he has divulged information only the killer or police would know.
Stone's legal team also say they have an eye witness who is convinced she saw Bellfield speeding away from the murder scene.
Details have been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission - an independent body which investigates suspected miscarriages of justice - in the hope they will refer the case to the Court of Appeal.
But cell confessions by their very nature are controversial and no one has criticised their use as evidence more than Stone.
It is not without irony then that it is one such confession that Stone bitterly blames for his wrongful conviction and now another he hopes will redeem his name and freedom.
When asked to respond to the new allegations, Kent Police said Michael Stone's protests of innocence have been thoroughly tested by the judicial system.
While some insist Levi Bellfield could well be guilty others are convinced Stone met with the justice he deserves.
So what exactly do we know about the two alleged prison cell confessions and the events that led up to them?
The 'confessions'
Michael Stone: Stone had been arrested in connection with the Russell murders but not yet charged. He had, however, been charged with a separate robbery and burglary and was being held on remand at Canterbury prison.
Stone was being linked to the Russell murders in newspaper reports and after hearing inmates making up stories he insisted he was put in solitary confinement to avoid any fabricated confessions.
Damien Daley, 23, claimed Stone confessed all to him, communicating through a gap between the wall and a heating pipe which linked their cells.
"It was like being told a horror story," Daley said at the time.
"He talked about wet towels and someone being disobedient or something, trying to get away but then didn't get far and then it carried on. Something about they didn't have what they wanted. They were paupers or something. He said the dog made more noise than they did."
Stone's lawyers argue that the confession was unreliable - all the information was in the public domain and matched reports in that day's Daily Mirror which had been passed to Daley in his cell.
They also argue that Daley, who was on remand for a GBH and arson charges, has since admitted to others that he lied in order to get the charges dropped. The charges were dropped but due to insufficient evidence, according to the CPS.
Three years ago Daley was found guilty of a drugs-related murder.
This, says Stone and his legal team, along with a history of drug taking and mental health problems, further undermines his credibility.
Levi Bellfield: The man it is claimed Bellfield confessed to wishes to remain anonymous. He too has been convicted of serious offences and was housed in the same high security wing as Bellfield who, he said, had grown to trust and respect him.
This is not the first time Bellfield has been linked to the Russell murders. There has been a war of words between the two convicted killers from behind bars at Durham's Frankland prison where they are both being held, which has been reported in newspapers.
A BBC2 investigation of the Russell murders entitled The Chillenden Murders was broadcast in June this year. A panel of experts was given access to all case files to re-examine the evidence.
They concluded that despite advancements in DNA there was still no forensic link to Stone and it was likely another man was at the scene.
It was this two-part programme which is said to have prompted the alleged confession.
In the minutes leading up to its broadcast Bellfield was reportedly "physically, uncontrollably shaking and put it down to being anxious about watching it".
Following many days of lengthy conversations the unnamed prisoner says he had with Bellfield, he made notes and reported what he had been told to his solicitor, a police officer, and a prison liaison officer.
The prisoner said: "He (Bellfield) said 'I've never told anyone this before…'
"'I killed another child and got away with it… the police were never even close'."
Bellfield is alleged to have told him he had spotted the Russells walking home by chance and he stopped.
He said he approached them with a hammer in his hand and Lin had begged him not to hurt her children. Bellfield said, the prisoner claims, he struck her first and then Josie; the dog was killed followed by Megan.
The prisoner said: "I said if I was him I would have been a bit more careful, saying it was risky being so close to the road entrance as anyone passing would see.
"He reassured me he attacked them far enough up the lane that it couldn't have been seen by the road."
But even though he wore gloves, Bellfield was reportedly worried about DNA advances saying "my life in jail would be over if they could prove it was me" and that it would "tear his mother in two".
What makes this alleged confession credible, Stone's legal team insist, is that it appears to contain some detail only very few people would be aware of - such as the police or the killer himself.
"Knowing something in a confession that other people would not know goes to the core of credibility of the confession," Stone's barrister Mark McDonald QC says.
Further to that he says, it is corroborative in that the informer has written contemporaneous notes and immediately informed his solicitor what he had been told.
'Forensic link'
Mr McDonald adds: "We have evidence from his confession that's not in the public domain and which includes a possible forensic link."
For legal reasons we are unable to expand on this further.
It is also claimed Bellfield gave information about Milly Dowler, the schoolgirl he abducted and murdered as she walked home from school in Surrey in 2002.
As well as that it is claimed he had a list of 96 other crimes he has never been tried for - which Bellfield denies - and that he said he had accomplices on several of the attacks.
Bellfield has been contacted by BBC Wales Investigates. He denies murdering the Russells and denies having made the confession.
He claims he has three letters from Stone and has complained about his "persistent attempts" to get him to take responsibility. He also alleges Stone has offered to give him a share of any compensation money he might get for wrongful conviction.
Stone vehemently denies this.
Bellfield added that he had challenged Stone to a lie detector test. Stone has spoken about his reluctance to do this claiming he had been advised his history of psychiatric problems and drug addiction could impact its accuracy.
Alibis
Michael Stone: When arrested he did not appear to have one. When asked where he was, he said: "I can't remember. I can't remember for two reasons. One - I was badly on drugs and two - it was so long ago."
Stone claims he has since pieced events together and was with friends in the Medway town of Strood at the time of the murders.
When he was arrested though, his last confirmed sighting was at his mother's home in Gillingham. This meant he would have had the necessary time to drive the 40 miles to Chillenden.
Levi Bellfield: His former partner Johanna Collings, the mother of one of his 11 children, insists that he was with her throughout the day of the 9 July 1996.
She recently confirmed to BBC Wales Investigates: "It was my birthday and we spent whole day from when we got up to when we went to bed together…
"All the rest of the crimes yeah, 100%, again I think he did them but that one (Russell murders) he didn't."
Even so, Stone's legal team say police have never tested the alibi because Bellfield has never been investigated for these murders.
"There are questions marks about her alibi," says Mr McDonald, "as to whether or not she is mistaken... That is for others to decide not for me, I don't know. But it's not black and white."
Modus operandi and motive
Michael Stone: Diagnosed with a violent personality disorder and under psychiatric supervision, he was also a known heroin addict with a criminal history dating back to 1972.
In 1981 he was sentenced to two years for attacking a man with a hammer.
During an interview with BBC Wales Investigates from HM Prison Frankland, Stone claims he had confronted a paedophile at his home and that he reached for a mallet, which did not belong to him but was on a table nearby, as the other man tried to strangle him.
"It's nothing like attacking a child or a mother and child... there's no similarity really," Stone insists.
Two years later he was sentenced to four-and-a-half years for stabbing a friend while the victim slept; self-defence, Stone says.
In 1987 he was sentenced to 10 years for two armed robberies.
During his second trial for the Russell murders the court heard that Stone supplemented his income by driving around Kent stealing lawnmowers and other easily disposable goods.
One former friend said he knew the area "like the back of his hand" and had driven around its country roads looking for farm houses to burgle.
While admitting he knew parts of Kent well, Stone denies he knew the country lanes around Chillenden well and says the claim was made by a man who had an axe to grind.
The prosecution pointed to the fact that Stone had been resident at a children's home four miles away from the murder scene.
His sister Barbara, who has long campaigned to clear his name, says they were there for just three weeks and were not allowed out to wander the countryside.
Shortly before the Russell murders Stone is reported to have made threats to kill his probation officer and the officer's family after blaming him for a split with his girlfriend.
"Michael's behaviour was increasingly agitated and voluble and he was not amenable to reasoning," read a statement from Stone's psychiatric nurse.
His motive? Robbery, the police said, to fuel a ferocious drug habit. Josie had later recalled the man asking for money. Lin Russell, who had no money with her, was still wearing her necklace and had a watch in her pocket which, some believe, undermines this theory.
Levi Bellfield: Convicted of three murders between 2002 and 2004 - Milly Dowler, 13, Marsha McDonnell, 19, and Amelie Delagrange, 22, as well as attempting to murder Kate Sheedy, then aged 18. Each of the attacks happened in Bellfield's native south west London.
Known as the 'Bus Stop Killer', he randomly murdered Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange after they got off a bus and walked home at night. He would launch a so-called 'blitz attack' from behind, striking them repeatedly on the head with a hammer.
Experts have found that motive played little part in Bellfield's attacks which they say gave him a kick simply because he kept on getting away with it.
The types of crime committed by Bellfield are very rare, says retired DCI Colin Sutton, the senior investigating officer who finally brought Bellfield to justice in 2008 and 2011.
"The similarities you've got are a woman in a quiet location, a blitz attack with something heavy and blunt like a hammer," he said.
"For no apparent reason, no previous interaction between them as far as we know. And that in itself, you know, just those features make it an extremely rare crime.
"And because of that there is the natural tendency to look at who else do we know who's committed crimes that have got these very rare features and very rare MO (mode of operating)?
"And, of course, you end up looking at Bellfield."
Geoffrey Wansall, a journalist and author of a book about Bellfield, says his crimes were random, opportunistic and the only motive appeared to be indulging his deep-seated hatred of young, particularly blonde, women and a fascination with schoolgirls.
But Bellfield's criminality was not confined to hammer attacks.
His former partner revealed that in late 1996 she found a jacket, balaclava and carving knife in a bin liner in the garage of the home they shared. She told how he would stalk an alleyway near a neighbouring train station.
"And that was one of his hunting grounds, he used to go and wait for people to see if he could get someone down there," she says.
Levi Bellfield: Profile of 'heinous' serial killer
Michael Stone refused new appeal over Russell murders
Bellfield, it has been reported, also used his job as a nightclub bouncer to lure young teenage girls into a van kitted out with a mattress where he would drug his countless victims before raping them.
Colin Sutton says Bellfield, at one time a registered police informant, was "a very complex character and you have to understand that he committed various different sorts of crime".
"I'm sure that we've only scratched the surface…," he adds. "His criminality knew no bounds in my view and I think he's probably committed hundreds if not thousands of offences over the years."
When we asked if Bellfield could have been responsible for the Russell murders, Mr Sutton said he would be a good suspect, given the manner of the attacks and that he had links to Kent (through selling drugs and wheel clamping and a family caravan).
But, he stressed, a good suspect only in the absence of other facts - that Kent Police remain convinced Stone is guilty and that Bellfield has an alibi from a former partner who, he says, has no reason to shield a man she gave evidence against in court.
The jacket
Stone's lawyers say they have new evidence from an eye witness - an un-named woman, now in her 50s, who was driving a couple of miles from the murder scene around the time of the attack.
In a statement given to Kent Police a few weeks after the murders she describes driving home sometime between 16:15 and 16:50 BST and being alarmed by a car which failed to slow down at a junction. The junction was at the end of a road which led directly to the murder scene.
It was a Ford Sierra or Escort, she said, driven by a man with slightly tanned skin, oval face, aged between 35 and 50.
"The car accelerated harshly with the tyres screeching and I heard the gears crunch as a gear change was made," her statement read.
"He was wearing a brown blouson jacket with a stand up collar which was chunky. This man sat tall in his seat. The top of his head was obscured by the driver's sun visor."
Speaking recently to Stone's legal team she said: "What struck me as unusual was it was a very hot humid day… the guy that was driving had a ski jacket on," she says, "and it was done right up over his mouth, like the big high collars, and he also had the sun visor down. And I thought that's so unusual."
The area a couple of miles from the murder scene in the same direction as the hamlet of Rowling where the bloodied towels were later found dumped.
After making her statement, the women says she was not in contact with Kent Police again.
Then last year, she was watching a documentary about the murder of Milly Dowler.
"A picture came up on the screen and it struck me, stunned me," she says. "So much that I paused the television and took a photo of it on my phone… exactly the collar, type of high collar, coat I described on my police statement that I saw on that day.
"And that was a photograph of Levi Bellfield, I believe. But it was the coat."
There were other eye witness reports on the day of the murder who do not describe the same man. Indeed, some say they say two or three men in the area.
Josie herself, who by that stage had recovered sufficiently to relay some details of what had happened, described a man a bit taller than her father who is 6ft, with yellow, spiky hair.
Stone is 5ft 7ins tall with medium brown hair. Bellfield is 6ft 1ins tall and although naturally dark, he dyed his hair from time to time although it is not clear if he had done so in the summer of 1996.
Another witness helped police put together an e-fit of the man she saw driving away from the murder scene. Josie confirmed it was a good likeness.
That same e-fit helped police to identify Stone as a suspect for the first time. But supporters of Stone say it more closely resembles Bellfield.
Josie did not pick Stone out of an ID parade held but she was traumatised and said to have been unable to properly evaluate the men. The eye witness who helped draw up the e-fit said Stone "looked familiar" but could not be certain.
The car
Bellfield is alleged to have said in his confession that he was driving his then girlfriend's car when he killed the Russells.
"I think he said a Ford Sierra," the prisoner claims, "not red though but beige which after the murders was burned out and she had claimed on insurance."
A number of witnesses reported to police they had seen a red/brown or beige Ford Escort or Sierra near to the murder scene.
Michael Stone says he did not own a beige car and drove a white Toyota Tercel at the time of the murders. No microscopic evidence of the murders was ever found in his car.
Bellfield, who was known to constantly change his cars to avoid detection by police, did have the use of a beige Ford Sierra Sapphire which belonged to his then partner Johanna Collings.
When asked what happened to the vehicle, Ms Collings told BBC Wales Investigates: "Funnily enough it got stolen and found burned out as so many of his cars or they're never found again."
Bellfield denies borrowing his girlfriend's car.
She confirmed he had claimed on the insurance for the car but says it had "probably been the end of in the March" of 1996 - four months before the Russell murders.
The bootlace
A black bootlace was found on the track not far from the murder scene. It was bloodstained from two of the victims.
During Stone's trial a forensic scientist said marks on Megan's neck suggested a lace had been used as a ligature.
He also said the lace could also have been used as a tourniquet by a drug user. The prosecution used this to link heroin addict Stone to the crime scene.
Hairs were found on Josie's shoes and on Lin's Trousers. Red fibres were also found at the scene as well as on Lin's body - neither was related to the victims nor Stone.
A bloodstained finger print found on a lunchbox belonging to one of the girls was also ruled out as being Stone's.
Tests have been conducted on the strips of towels used to tie up the Russells, found in a bag dumped in a hedgerow a mile-or-so from the murder scene.
Using DNA voluntarily given by some of Bellfield's relatives, results revealed three component matches with his DNA. This shows merely that he cannot be excluded from the DNA. Stone, on the other hand, can be excluded.
Forensic scientist Dr Georgia Meakin - one of the six experts who re-examined the case as part of the BBC's Chillenden Murders programmes - said: "When you determine the evidential weight of that potential contribution, it's a random match probability of just one in 30 which means if you have 30 people in a room, one of them would be a potential contributor. You can see that evidentially speaking it's not very strong."
Evidence missing
The experts said what might make for stronger evidence is to test the bootlace for a) the presence of heroin and b) DNA from the killer using advances in testing techniques.
But the one piece of evidence which could possibly hold the key of the identity of the murderer is missing.
All that remains of the bootlace it is an empty plastic bag with an exhibit label number.
The forensic laboratory which last examined the lace insists it was returned to Kent Police intact.
Kent Police said they had searched for it and said that the lace had not been lost but had been tested to destruction.
That aside, Stone's barrister Mark McDonald QC is undeterred.
"Given what we know about the lack of evidence… presented to the jury in the actual trial," he says, "this confession is so profound, significant, that it goes to the heart of the conviction of Michael Stone. It's unsafe."
BBC Wales Investigates: 'Confession' of a serial killer Thursday at 20:30 GMT BBC One Wales and BBC iPlayer
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Ministers are scrapping the anti-social behaviour order, but its acronym - immortalised via countless nicknames and T-shirt slogans - will take longer to shift from British common parlance. So why did Asbos capture the imagination?
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By Jon KellyBBC News Magazine
In 2005 a new word entered both the Oxford and Collins English dictionaries. Four letters and two syllables long, it was concise and instantly memorable - Asbo.
It stood for anti-social behaviour order, a legal mechanism first introduced across England, Scotland and Wales in 1998.
But very quickly it came to mean something altogether more.
Perhaps it was the acronym's brevity and rhythm. Or it might have been to do with burgeoning unease about social breakdown.
Either way, Asbo quickly became shorthand for anything to do with disruptive, antagonistic behaviour contrary to societal norms.
Headline writers seized upon the term with gusto. A mini-industry flourished selling T-shirts, hoodies and even babies' playsuits emblazoned with Asbo-related slogans.
Bands were formed with names like Asbo and The Asbo Kid, the freshly minted word offering a suggestion of rebelliousness and up-to-the-minute savvy.
The trend extended to the animal kingdom. An American pit bull cross shot dead by police marksmen after it mauled a baby in south London was the subject of
widespread press attention
after it emerged the dog's owner had named it Asbo.
Two years later an aggressive swan which attacked a series of rowers on the River Cam in Cambridgeshire was, inevitably, christened
Mr Asbo
by the media.
But then concerns began to be expressed that those "Asbo" T-shirts were not only being sported by individuals with a keenly developed sense of irony. In 2006, a report by the Youth Justice Board suggested the order had become a "badge of honour" to some.
Critics argued over whether it was a symbol of the Blair government's creeping authoritarianism or a godsend for communities blighted by a minority of nuisance neighbours.
Either way, Asbos had made the leap from legal jargon into popular culture.
Now the government has announced plans to scrap them and six related orders, replacing them with the less-euphonious CBOs (Criminal Behaviour Orders) and CPIs (Crime Prevention Injuctions).
But it may take longer to shift the word itself from conversational English.
"As acronyms go, it's an easy one to pronounce," says Charlotte Brewer, professor of English language and literature at Hertford College, Oxford. "If you're reading an article it jumps out of the page at you.
"It's not that it was describing a new phenomenon - people have always behaved badly to their neighbours. But sometimes a word just takes off."
Certainly, there were plenty of Asbos that captured the imagination. A Wearside woman banned from
having noisy sex
with her husband, an 87-year-old ordered to stop
playing her Glenn Miller records too loudly
and a man banned from
sniffing petrol
on forecourts in Teesside all secured reams of column inches for the orders.
But some argue that the acronym caught on because it reflected a common sense of malaise. The year 2005 saw another word added to the Collins English Dictionary - chav, defined as "a young working class person who dresses in casual sports clothing".
According to Peter Squires, professor of criminology and public policy at the University of Brighton, both terms were popularised at a time when the poorest in Britain were increasingly set apart from the rest of society and demonised.
"It was a media phenomenon - Vicky Pollard, Jeremy Kyle, this intense scrutiny of the underclass," he says. "And then you had Asbo T-shirts. It became an alternative cultural icon."
Nonetheless, Squires believes that, although overall crime rates were falling in this period, genuine frustrations about anti-social behaviour and the failure of the authorities to tackle it were widespread.
"What was preoccupying people was a range of low-level nuisances that the police didn't prioritise," Squires adds.
"It's the idea of the short, sharp shock - a metaphorical clip around the ears. The Asbo had that element of quick and dirty justice. That was part of its populist appeal."
This certainly won the system many supporters in areas affected by anti-social behaviour. For nearly two years Lesley Pullman, 63, had to endure near-constant noise and harassment before she helped secure Asbos against a gang who congregated around a house in her street in New Moston, Manchester.
Residents who complained were subjected to intimidation and Pullman's car was repeatedly vandalised. But as a result of the orders - secured directly as a result of campaigns by local people - two troublemakers were jailed, and the torment ceased.
"It was like a magic wand round here," she says. "It was the first time in my life that legislation was brought out specifically for communities. It was empowering."
For sceptics, however, Asbos were an illiberal mechanism to target behaviour that would not ordinarily warrant criminal prosecution.
Civil libertarians protested that the orders undermined Labour's promise to be "tough on the causes of crime" and tacitly encouraged vigilantism.
"They made us a more judgemental, censorious country," Squires says. "But I'm not sure they were very effective at all."
As evidence he cites Youth Justice Board research suggesting that after being imposed, half of all Asbos were broken.
For Pullman, however, this was not evidence of failure but proof that firm action needed to be taken against the perpetrators - a mechanism that she says would not have existed without Asbos.
"We expected (the orders) to be breached," she says. "These were repeat offenders, after all.
"But the badge of honour stuff was rubbish. It's just bravado - the perpetrators hate them. You see it in their faces when they go into court. That's why they get their solicitors to fight them so hard."
The public's own attitude towards them was curiously counter-intuitive. A Mori poll in 2005 suggested that 82% supported Asbos, despite the fact that only 39% believed they were effective.
Now, of course, their days are numbered. Ministers say Asbos are overly bureaucratic to impose and that crime should be treated as crime.
In their place, the government says its new orders will be available at an earlier stage of bad behaviour and be easier and faster to use. They are also piloting a "community trigger", whereby police would be forced to respond if five households complain, or the same individual complains three times.
Even before the Conservative-Liberal coalition came to power, the government had fallen out of love with the Asbo. The year 2006 saw the number issued drop by 34%. In 2008, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith called for greater use of "early intervention" measures, echoing remarks by Children's Secretary Ed Balls that he wanted to live in a society that "puts Asbos behind us".
Despite this, the term itself shows little sign of departing the national discourse.
"This interesting thing is, when it disappears judicially, whether the word will stay," says Brewer.
If it does, popular culture's attachment to this handy acronym might tell us yet more about modern Britain.
Key changes explained
Existing powers on the left, proposed powers on the right
Key: CRASBO = Criminal Anti-Social Behaviour Order; DBO = Drink Banning Order; CR DBO = Drink Banning Order on Conviction; ASBI = Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction; ISO = Individual Support Order; IO = Intervention Order.
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What if it all depended on a rock, paper, scissors contest? Everything you had ever worked for your entire life, decided by a split-second choice. Rock. Paper. Scissors. For 24-year-old Miku Tanabe, that is exactly what happened.
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By Mariko OiBBC News
When gripping footage emerged last month of what appeared to be the most intense and melodramatic response to victory in any rock, paper, scissors contest in the history of mankind, the internet was beside itself with bewilderment.
The crowd roared, she doubled over, wept with joy, the frenzy rose - and finally, she just looked at her hand, her bare hand, the true hero of this historic win.
What most people did not know was this was a contest that decided which member of wildly popular Japanese girl group AKB48 would get to front the band.
"For the last decade, I didn't get to do much TV work or didn't stand in the front row of our performance at the AKB theatre," Tanabe told the BBC.
Suddenly her hysteria made much more sense. What lies behind the almost comic melodrama is actually a story of personal ambition, disappointment and an insight into Japan's unique music industry.
Since 2005, the AKB48 group has sold more than 40 million singles and it has become little short of a phenomenon in the time it has been active.
There are some 130 girls, not 48, in AKB48, and not all of them get to be part of their songs or TV appearances. They gained popularity as "idols you can go and meet" because members hold a daily performance at the AKB theatre in Akihabara.
They are usually selected by producer Yasushi Akimoto based on their popularity. And in what's known as the "AKB48 general election", the members of not only AKB48 but also its sister groups have been ranked by their fans annually since 2009.
The competition between them can be intense and despite making it to one of the most sought-after pop music outfits in the country, it is easy to feel like you have failed.
While Tanabe is a 10-year veteran of the band, it's safe to say she hasn't really enjoyed the spotlight. Her best performance was when she came 71st out of 296 girls in 2014 in the popularity contest.
At that time it seemed to be the best outcome she could hope for so for the last two years, she didn't even stand in the AKB general election.
She appeared to have given up becoming identified as a successful member of the group.
But seven years ago the selection took an unusual twist when the management began holding an annual competition of rock, paper, scissors, or scissor, paper, stone, as it is otherwise known.
"This competition gives an opportunity to any members, so when I first heard that I could grab an opportunity to be selected by winning at rock, paper, scissors, I was excited and was very motivated," she told the BBC.
For six years, she didn't come close to winning this game of chance. In 2010, she came 12th in the rock, paper, scissors competition. Then it got to October 2016.
"When I got to the final match, when I realised I might actually win, I was actually more scared than being thrilled," she recalled.
The rest is internet history.
As the winner, Tanabe got to be the lead singer of a seven-member unit for their newly released song "Sakasa zaka".
"I felt that all my hard work for the last decade has paid off," she told the BBC.
Four months before she won the rock, paper, scissors competition, she wrote in her blog that "I am probably approaching the end-of-life as an idol but I want to do what I can."
So the victory came as a surprise and reassured her that she was right not to have given up and felt justified in persevering despite the setbacks.
"I was selected because I continued being part of AKB48," she said.
"It was purely based on luck and the result was something I've long been wanting for."
The competition is not without controversy.
Some viewers complained in 2012 - when Japan's territorial dispute with China was at its recent peak - to ask why a TV station dropped a news programme to broadcast a mere rock, paper, scissors competition.
When an already popular member won the competition in 2013, others asked if it was staged.
And despite the brief attention that Tanabe enjoyed, her song hasn't been performing too well.
This is a brutally competitive industry which is difficult to get into and even harder to maintain any hard-earned popularity and certainly comes with the dark side.
AKB48 as a group has so far survived its ups and downs, partly thanks to the reality TV elements of these competitions.
And Tanabe is well aware the spotlight won't be on her forever.
On the day of her CD sale, she had a poignant tweet: "I doubt I'd ever take centre stage again in my life," and urged her fans to buy it for memory's sake.
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A wood panel manufacturer has met with local councillors and environment officials to discuss the release of sawdust from its factory in Chirk.
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Kronospan apologised for the incident which caused fibres to fall on homes and businesses, prompting complaints.
Monday's routine meeting was held behind closed doors.
Wrexham council described the meeting as "positive". A spokesman said investigations by its officials and the company were continuing.
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"It would have taken us much, much longer to take this back, if it hadn't been for the air strikes," said the Peshmerga commander as he picked his way through a sea of rubble and debris.
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By Jim MuirBBC Middle East correspondent, Syria-Iraq border
He was at the unfinished hospital building in Rabia where militants of the Islamic State (IS) held out for three days against Kurdish forces as they battled to regain the strategic border town last week.
Rabia controls the main highway linking the two biggest cities of the northern Arab world, Mosul in northern Iraq and Aleppo in Syria, at the point where it crosses the border between the two countries.
The hospital building where IS fighters made their stand was devastated by the fighting. It had never been commissioned as a hospital, and will need to be completely rebuilt before it is.
While the basic structure is still standing, huge blast-holes show where missiles or bombs from coalition air strikes penetrated the building, blowing out much of the interior.
This was where the British RAF staged its first air strikes in Iraq in the current conflict, after conducting many reconnaissance flights.
Still sprawled in the chaotic debris are the gruesome remains of several IS militants who died there, their corpses left to rot in the rubble after a desultory attempt to cremate them by pouring fuel over them and setting them alight.
The battle for the hospital building illustrated the effectiveness of air strikes which, the Kurds say, sped up their operation and probably enabled them to avoid taking heavier casualties themselves.
But the limitations of Western coalition support for the Kurds were highlighted by events just 10km (six miles) away to the east, on the highway that leads to IS-held Tal Afar and Mosul.
Iraqi arms
On the day that Rabia fell, the Kurds say an earthworks barricade they erected on the road to prevent IS bringing up reinforcements came under attack from no fewer than seven suicide vehicle bombs.
Several of the attacks were foiled when Peshmerga fighters shot and killed bombers in civilian cars before they could set off their charges.
But a tanker truck with an armoured cab defied everything the Kurds had to throw at it.
It crashed into the barricade, hitting one of the unexploded car bombs and setting off a blast which devastated several Peshmerga vehicles.
Among the 10 members of the Peshmerga's elite special forces who died in the explosion was one of its commanders, General Shaikh Omar Babkai, who we had filmed just two weeks earlier on a visit to the front by the Kurdistan president, Masoud Barzani.
After the death of Gen Babkai, a veteran Peshmerga who was wounded five times over the years in battles with Saddam Hussein's forces, we drove to his home village, Mamola, in the mountainous far north of the country near the Turkish border, where we spoke to his brother Samad.
Like Gen Babkai and many other men in the area, Samad is also a Peshmerga officer. Gen Babkai's only son, Mir Khan, who is 17, is preparing to join the Peshmergas when he finishes his studies.
"We are proud of his martyrdom in this way, and we are ready to offer more sacrifices to protect and liberate Kurdistan," Samad said.
"But there is a deficiency in the arms we have. If they'd had more advanced weapons there, my brother would not have been killed, and the enemy would have been smashed much more quickly.
"Only the Peshmerga are seriously fighting IS," he added. "If we had the kind of arms the Iraqi army was given, we'd have destroyed the terrorists long ago."
Defying death
In Mazne, a nearby village in this Kurdish heartland, the point was echoed by one of the survivors of the suicide attacks at Rabia.
Nabih Hassan was with three other Peshmergas, all from the same family in Mazne, who were in one of the vehicles destroyed in the bomb blast.
Badly wounded, he was the only one of the four who lived.
"If we'd had more sophisticated weapons, such as anti-armour missiles, we could have blown up the tanker while it was still far away, before it could get to us," he said.
One of the Mazne Peshmergas who died in the same vehicle was Ziro Hassan, who was manning an anti-aircraft "doshka" weapon used as a machine gun.
"He is not the first martyr we have given, nor will he be the last," said his brother Majid Hassan, also a Peshmerga general.
Such words, repeated by all the bereaved, are not empty rhetoric.
"Since 1961, our family has given 39 martyrs," he said. "We are ready to sacrifice to the last drop of our blood to preserve Kurdistan."
While the Kurdish readiness to fight and die for their country is well established - "Peshmerga" means, roughly, "those who defy death" - the IS cult of embracing "martyrdom" by committing suicide on the battlefield is something else.
Suicide belts
We saw evidence of it at the same front-line position east of Rabia where the multiple vehicle bomb attacks were mounted.
Three days later, the IS militants launched a frontal attack on the Peshmerga defence line by around 100 fighters, many of them strapped up with suicide belts.
But the Kurds were ready. The maize and sunflower plantations on the plain in front of them were turned into a killing field. The Peshmerga said many of the attackers exploded as they were hit by gunfire.
We found at least 20 IS corpses scattered in the dirt. One was still wearing a suicide device, its detonator clearly visible. All that was left of another, whose explosives had gone off, was his head and upper chest.
"They are ready to die, they love death, and it's hard to stop an enemy if they want to die," said Masrour Barzani, head of security and intelligence in Iraqi Kurdistan.
"This is the enemy we are facing - they love to kill, they love to die, and unfortunately, they have access to the weapons they need to fight with.
"The problem is that right now the kind of support and armament that we are getting is not to the level where it can help the Peshmergas fight this enemy, especially when they have these armoured vehicles.
"We have not asked for any ground forces. Our Peshmergas are here, they are giving their lives, and all we need from the rest of the world is to help us with effective weapons to protect these people who are actually fighting on its behalf, fighting these terrorists who have come from all over the world."
Future planning
Kurdish leaders say that, in addition to armour-piercing weapons which would stop suicide bombers and other armoured IS attacks, they believe that a qualitative upgrade to tanks and helicopters would give them a much better chance of defeating the militants.
They admit that such weapons would require extensive training, which would take time.
"But if we don't start now, we won't have them next year, when this war will still be going on and we will need them," said one senior official.
"It's going to be a very tough fight, and we're going to lose people," added Mr Barzani.
"We are not getting what we need. Air strikes are very effective, we're grateful for them and we hope that they could continue and be expanded, but definitely there is much more to be done, especially on the ground."
So far, most of the arms supplied to the Kurds since the current crisis began have been restricted to light weaponry and ammunition, though Britain has delivered 40 heavy machine guns and the Germans are training the Peshmerga on Milan anti-tank rockets.
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Ronnie Corbett has been made a CBE for services to entertainment and charity in the New Year Honours. One of Britain's best loved comics, he has been performing for more than 60 years and puts success down to his family.
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Famous for his rambling monologues and jokes about his short stature, at 81 Ronnie Corbett already has an OBE - picked up in 1978.
He is best known for starring in the BBC's TV sketch show the Two Ronnies alongside his late comedy partner Ronnie Barker. It began in 1971 and ran for 12 series over 17 years.
But the Edinburgh-born comedian began his career in the early 1950s.
He decided to go into showbusiness after playing the wicked aunt in a youth club pantomime in his home city, and after doing his national service in the Royal Air Force his first jobs were bit parts in film and theatre.
It was while performing as part of Danny La Rue's cabaret show at Winston's in London - a spell he describes as "very important" to his career - that he was first spotted by David Frost, who asked him to appear in 1960s satire The Frost Report.
'Extremely happy'
He first rose to fame alongside John Cleese and Ronnie Barker on the show.
Corbett has not been shy of joining forces with the next generation of comic talent.
Much to the public's delight, he appeared as a mischievous version of himself in an episode of Extras five years ago, in which he snorts cocaine during the Baftas.
This summer he presented a two-part series, Ronnie Corbett's Comedy Britain, in which he delved into the comedy archive to find out who inspired stars such as The Office's co-creator Stephen Merchant, sitcom star Miranda Hart and Peep Show duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb, among others.
He has supported several charities during his career including the RNLI and Comic Relief, for which he teamed up with comedian Peter Kay in the charity video of Is This The Way To Amarillo?
In August he said that the secret to his success has been his happy family life.
Corbett, who married actress and dancer Anne Hart in 1965, said then: "My extremely happy marriage is the spine of the whole thing.
"I have a contented life with two lovely daughters, so that makes it all rather special."
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Welsh housing associations directly contributed more than £1bn to the economy in 2014/15, an independent report has said.
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The Welsh Economy Research report showed 79% of direct spend was retained in Wales, and associations built nearly 2,000 affordable homes.
This was an increase of 4% on the previous year.
The annual report, commissioned by Community Housing Cymru, looked at the impact of social housing in Wales.
Welsh Housing Associations
£1.1bn
contributed to the economy in 2014/15
£872m of that was retained in Wales
1,923 new homes built in 2014/15
£301m on repairs/maintenance in 2014/15
£532m on regeneration in 2014/15
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People chat in the sun in Coventry's new pedestrian square while others watch acrobats rehearse for a Cultural Olympiad event. The city, which is hosting Olympic football, has a twinkle in its eye.
But will there be an Olympic legacy for Coventry after the buzz has gone?
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By Clare LissamanBBC News
John Mutton, Coventry City Council Leader, likes to sit in Broadgate, the central square pedestrianised as about £8m of work was carried out ahead of the Olympics.
"I just sit on a bench sometimes reading a newspaper, trying to be hidden away and I love hearing what people say," he said.
The Olympics were the "hook" that attracted £3.5m of European funding to the council's spending and speeded projects up.
"We used the Olympics as a council as a reason why we needed to improve the look of the city and particularly the city centre and it's not just for visitors because that's part of the legacy for Coventry people," he said.
Simon Chadwick, professor of Sports Business Strategy and Marketing at Coventry University, said some city schemes did not result from the Olympics, but their value was as "enabler and facilitator" bringing projects forward.
The city's revamp has also included bringing into better use medieval properties, removing "grotty subways" and providing more green spaces.
Labour leader Mr Mutton said two or three international companies were showing interest in rebuilding the city centre, which would be a "major boost" for the economy.
"They have seen that we are a city that is not prepared to use the recession as an excuse to sit back and do nothing and we want to drive this city forward," he said.
Mr Mutton said although it was "hard to quantify" the economic benefits of the Olympics, they had had a significant impact on creating and safeguarding jobs.
Firms in the city and Warwickshire won contracts exceeding £80m, including a factory which made the Olympic relay torches.
And he had heard predictions that £50m would be spent in Coventry by visiting football fans.
'Legacy of pride'
However, Prof Chadwick said many visitors were bypassing the city and going straight to the Ricoh Arena - renamed the City of Coventry Stadium for the Olympics.
He anticipated their spend would therefore be "in the hundreds of thousands" rather than millions.
"I'm not sure the economic impact will be significant," he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Mutton said although legacies were very difficult to predict, he hoped the city's appearance on the world stage would have a profound impact.
There has been more than 50,000 downloads of the city's Olympic app around the world which he said had prompted much interest in Coventry, including from tour operators.
Mr Mutton said he wanted tourists to stay in the city for several days instead of the traditional hour at the cathedral before going "off to Stratford or the Cotswolds".
He also hopes the city's Games involvement will install pride.
"That's what I want, because I believe if that happens, a lot of the other problems that exist in the city will be overcome as well," he said.
This is a view shared by Tom Clift, who has been finding ways of bringing regional benefits from the Olympics, both as manager of a group combining voluntary, private and public bodies, and now for the council.
He highlighted how up to 8,000 pupils had tried activities as part of the Festival of Sport programme, while about 1,000 residents were involved in Godiva Awakes - the city's Cultural Olympiad festival.
More than 300 people had also volunteered to welcome visitors as "Coventry ambassadors".
"I think the legacy will be pride from local people, the building work achieved and the local economic impact," Mr Clift said.
'Jury out'
He added the Africa Inspires project, which twinned five Coventry and Ugandan schools and forged links between rotary clubs, helped provide access to clean water in Kampala and created sports opportunities.
As it was a pilot project, Mr Clift said funding partners would decide if it would continue.
Prof Chadwick said this was key as Olympic legacies "came from people" and were determined by having the "advocates" and finances to continue projects.
"It feels good being here at the moment, but the question is how much of all this can be sustained once the Games is over?" he asked.
"In all discussions about legacy, subtle political rhetoric is at play and some claims can be disingenuous."
He said there was compelling evidence that, for Barcelona, hosting the 1992 Olympics "changed the city", but Coventry dose not have the infrastructure projects in place for such a change.
And he added that the "jury was still out" on whether hosting the Games had resulted in sustained economic activity in Athens, Montreal and Los Angeles.
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The Starbucks franchise at Jersey Airport is to be replaced.
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The redeveloped cafe in departures will offer a more "local flavour", according to Autogrill UK which runs the airport's catering operation.
Starbucks will close on 5 November and the new Island Coffee Shop will open on 11 November.
Two local businesses, Cooper & Co and Truly Scrumptious, will offer speciality teas and coffees, home-made cakes and pastries in the cafe.
Jersey airport director Julian Green said: "While the Starbucks product has proved popular, we have been working with Autogrill to help ensure the product range better matches the needs and expectations of our customers."
A temporary refreshment kiosk will be set up during the refurbishment work.
No-one from Starbucks was available to comment.
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A widow has been left devastated after burglars stole a box containing her husband's ashes during a burglary.
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The wooden casket was found lying by a roadside after being thrown from a white Seat Leon in Bobbington, South Staffordshire.
It was stolen from the 71-year-old's home in Six Ashes Road on Thursday.
Det Sgt Cathryn Holland said: "This is a serious offence that has left an elderly woman feeling understandably distressed and heartbroken."
It is not known whether any of the ashes have been salvaged from where they were dumped.
The thieves smashed the glass of a back door to break in and ransacked the house, shortly before 13:00 BST.
They also fled with cash and costume jewellery.
Police are urging anyone with information to come forward.
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In the space of a month, the United Kingdom has transformed beyond recognition. And most of us haven't had time to stop and take stock.
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By Jon KellyBBC Stories
One Friday afternoon, when the UK was another country, a chalkboard leaned against the outside wall of a country pub. A message had been written in neat, thin capital letters.
"Unfortunately a customer who visited us has tested positive for the coronavirus," it read. "So as a precautionary measure we are closing for a full deep clean." It was signed by the landlord and landlady, who apologised for the inconvenience.
The pub was located along a quiet, narrow road just outside Haslemere in Surrey. The patient who had gone there lived somewhere in the county. Unlike previous British cases detected up to that point - he was the 20th - he hadn't been abroad recently. As far as anyone knew, he was the first to catch the virus inside the UK.
On the same day, 28 February 2020, came another news update. A grimmer milestone. A British man who'd been infected on the Diamond Princess cruise ship became the first UK citizen to die, in Japan, from Covid-19.
That afternoon, children were still in classrooms and adults were still at work. People shook hands and hugged and kissed. In the evening, they went to pubs and restaurants. Some went on dates and others visited elderly relatives. They assembled in groups and mingled with residents of other households.
As the weekend went on, football fans crammed into stadiums. Worshippers gathered in churches, mosques, temples and synagogues.
You could go outside for as long as you liked, if you didn't mind the rain. On supermarket shelves, toilet paper and paracetamol were plentiful. Recent storms had left large swathes of the country flooded, but for most British people, life went on as it always had and seemingly always would.
Insofar as any of this describes a British way of life, though, it was one that ceased to exist entirely within just a few weeks.
The changes didn't happen smoothly, in steady, barely noticeable steps. Instead, the UK's sense of what was normal shifted in sudden movements, as though a ratchet was being yanked.
On 28 February 2020 people in the UK were already taking notice of the outbreak. It would have been difficult to ignore entirely the headlines about what was happening in China, South Korea, Iran and Italy. The first confirmed cases among travellers returning to the UK had come as early as January, but it still seemed possible to regard this as something happening, for the most part, a long way away.
Not every newspaper front page that Friday morning led with Covid-19 - the Daily Mail splashed on the saga of Harry and Meghan, the Daily Express with Brexit talks - but most did. In the final week of the month 442,675 phone calls were made to the non-emergency NHS line 111. People weren't yet panicking, but a generalised sense of low-level anxiety was everywhere.
By 1 March, the virus had reached the four corners of the United Kingdom - cases had been detected in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Two days later, with the total number at 51, Prime Minister Boris Johnson stood behind a lectern and launched the government's Coronavirus Action Plan. The outbreak was declared a "level four incident".
Up to a fifth of the workforce might be off sick at its peak, the prime minister warned. Schools might have to close and large-scale gatherings be reduced. However seriously anyone took the warning, it was still difficult to visualise.
The following day, a woman in her 70s with an underlying condition - those last four words soon became grimly familiar to anyone who followed news bulletins - became the first person to die inside the UK after testing positive for the virus. The first reports of hand sanitiser selling out in supermarkets were published.
Each day the number of confirmed cases crept up - 115 by 5 March, 206 by 7 March, 273 by 8 March. On 11 March, the day that the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, Liverpool FC hosted Atletico Madrid - who were already playing their home games behind closed doors.
There were anxieties about whether it was a great idea to allow the 3,000 Spanish supporters to fly into a major British city where they would eat, drink, mingle and sleep. Anyone with plans to fly out of the UK was beginning to reconsider.
Another twist of the ratchet was imminent.
The following day, the government's Sage committee of scientific experts was shown revised modelling of the likely death toll. The figures, according to the Sunday Times, were "shattering". If nothing was done, there would be 510,000 deaths. Under the existing "mitigation" strategy - to shield the most vulnerable while letting everyone go about their business mostly as normal - there would be a quarter of a million.
In a press conference, the prime minister told anyone with a continuous cough or a fever to self-isolate. His instruction came with a warning that "many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time". The bluntness was shocking. Some asked why, in that case, more wasn't being done.
On Friday 13, the London Marathon, the Premier League and English Football League and May's local elections were all postponed. Scotland had its first coronavirus-related death.
Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 March was the last relatively normal weekend. You couldn't watch league football but you could go to the pub. Hand sanitiser now wasn't to be found on any supermarket shelves, but you could tell your friends about your plans to practise "social distancing" if you met them on the street.
Around the country, people looked at Italy, France and Spain, which had already gone into lockdown, and wondered if the UK was next. Volunteers began forming mutual aid groups to deliver food and medicine to vulnerable people who were self-isolating.
In person and on WhatsApp, families and groups of friends argued about what it all meant. The more anxious wondered why the British government was moving more cautiously than its counterparts on the continent. The more blasé complained about why they were going to all this bother. Wasn't it just a bit of flu?
The latter sentiment was exactly the kind of thing the government's advisers were most worried about. On Monday 16, the prime minister advised against "non-essential" travel, urged people to avoid pubs and clubs and work from home.
Across the country, kitchen tables were cleared to make way for laptops. Thanks to Skype and the virtual meetings app, Zoom, white-collar workers started getting a glimpse of their colleagues' interior decor. Those who couldn't do their jobs like this wondered how on Earth they were supposed to earn money and stay safe.
On 17 March, the government began holding daily press conferences - events that would soon become regular viewing for nervous families. Just six days after presenting his budget, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced £300bn in loan guarantees - a huge expansion of state intervention in the economy by a Conservative government.
There were still calls for more to be done to stop Britons infecting each other. The following day, most school pupils - those whose parents weren't designated key workers - were told they wouldn't go back to their classes until further notice. Exams, proms, farewells to classmates and teachers would now never happen.
But although the UK had been told not to go to restaurants, cafes and pubs, many restaurants, cafes and pubs stayed open. They were quieter than usual but some customers still came. On the evening of Friday 20, the prime minister - who in a long career as a newspaper columnist had steadfastly demonstrated libertarian instincts - ordered restaurants, cafes and pubs to close, a measure that even in the darkest moments of World War Two would have been unthinkable.
For much of the weekend that followed, there was bright sunshine, and people poured outside to take advantage of the last leisure option open to them. But when they crowded into parks and on to the summit of Snowdon they were seen - and widely condemned. This was not how "social distancing" - now regarded as everyone's social duty - was meant to operate.
The lockdown was coming.
On Monday 23 at 20:30, the television screens showed the prime minister sitting behind a desk. He was about to announce some of the most draconian restrictions on individual liberty the UK had ever seen.
You could only leave home to exercise once a day, travel to and from work when absolutely necessary and only go shopping for essential items. You had to stand two metres apart from people you didn't live with. You weren't to gather in public in groups bigger than two.
The British people were being told to avoid human contact when they needed it most.
All through the following week, people would look forward to their one state-sanctioned form of outdoor exercise a day. Or they would stand in front of their laptops, following the instructions set by the fitness coach, Joe Wicks.
By the time the weekend arrived, there were more than 537,000 confirmed cases in 175 countries. More than a quarter of all the people on the planet were living under some kind of restrictions in their social contact and movements.
British life had been transformed so dramatically, and so fast, that you hadn't had time to dwell on it. On 28 February, London's Excel Centre had been hosting The Baby Show, "the UK's largest parenting event". A month later, the venue was a giant field hospital.
This wasn't normal.
Everything was described as "unprecedented" now, because it was. Speaking to the BBC's The World At One, historian Lord Peter Hennessy predicted that, in future, post-war Britain will be demarcated "BC and AC - before corona and after corona".
Before 28 February, the UK was still widely portrayed as a place divided by Brexit, with younger, metropolitan Britons on one side, and their older counterparts in towns and the countryside on the other. That soon came to seem an anachronism. Elderly people were most at risk and those of working age, in the NHS and other key professions, were there to try and save them. Everyone was in this together.
The framing of political debate since 2016 seemed inadequate to the new reality. Coronavirus would not be defeated by a populist attack on the elites. More than ever, the UK needed experts to lead the way. But the experts needed the masses, too - if the vast majority of the population didn't act, then Covid-19 couldn't be stopped.
Initially, the lockdown was supposed to last three weeks. But a month on from 28 February, the UK is settling in for the long haul, with the prime minister, the health secretary and the first in line to the throne all having tested positive for the virus.
You remember your last trip to the gym, the last drink you had in a cafe or a pub, the last time you hugged your mum or your grandad. You think about the life you once took for granted. You wonder if it will ever return.
Follow @mrjonkelly on Twitter
Picture editor Emma Lynch
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A man has been charged in connection with the death of 39-year-old Ryan Barrie in Dundee.
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Police received a report that a man had died in Benvie Gardens in the city's west end at about 02:50 on Sunday.
Officers said a 33-year-old man is expected to appear at Dundee Sheriff Court on Tuesday.
A property in the residential cul-de-sac remained sealed off on Monday with a blue police tent erected in the street.
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Conservationists are to visit Skye to learn more about otter habitats ahead of a proposed reintroduction of the mammals to Japan.
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Otters were declared extinct on the Japanese islands by its Ministry of the Environment in August 2012.
The Skye-based International Otter Survival Fund (IOSF) has been helping with the reintroduction preparations.
Dr Takahiro Murakami, who will lead the Japanese visit to Scotland, has never seen otters in the wild.
The Japanese otter was believed to be either a subspecies of the Eurasian otter or possibly even a separate species.
Conservationists have suggested reintroducing otters to Hokkaido, an island in north Japan.
IOSF supports conservation projects across the world.
It also rescues and raises orphaned otter cubs.
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Sergei Skripal was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok, Alexander Litvinenko was killed with radioactive polonium… by contrast the man who attacked Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov was armed with nothing more than a hammer. But he is still convinced that Russian security services were involved, reports Nick Sturdee.
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It's 26 February 2020. A half-naked man is catching his breath, filming himself in the half light. He's just grabbed the phone and is streaming live on Instagram. He switches from selfie mode and we see a second man, fully dressed, lying face down next to a bed. From his head, a half-metre trail of thick blood, pasted along a linoleum floor across which he has apparently been dragged.
"Who sent you?" demands the man who is filming. "Who sent you?!" he repeats, raising his voice.
His name is Tumso Abdurakhmanov, and he's a Chechen blogger living in hiding in the town of Gavle, in eastern Sweden.
He's holding a hammer, and anxiously looks over his shoulder - clearly concerned there might be someone else in the flat.
"Who sent you, I asked!"
The man groans. He says weakly that he was sent by a man from Grozny - the Chechen capital. And that he's from Moscow.
"How did you get my address?" asks Tumso.
"They told me."
"And what's your name?"
"Ruslan."
Tumso Abdurakhmanov is an asylum seeker, and he has just managed to beat off a man who assaulted him with a hammer as he slept. He has been expecting something like this to happen. In the preceding six months two other Chechen asylum seekers have been attacked - one gunned down in a Berlin park, the other stabbed to death in a hotel in northern France. He's been tipped off there's money on his head too.
Three months later, speaking to the BBC from a new, secret location in Sweden, 34-year-old Tumso describes being woken by a series of blows to the head, the struggle to get out from under his duvet, and an exhausting wrestling match that ensued, on and off the bed. Tumso isn't a big man, but at a certain point he succeeded, stunned, in getting on top of his assailant, to see his own blood drip on to the other man's face and into his mouth. The bigger man then overpowered him, but eventually, as they struggled, the hammer fell from his slippery woollen gloves.
Tumso then seized it and dealt a series of blows to his attacker's head.
"To start with he fought back fiercely, he tried to protect himself. But after a few blows with the hammer he started to talk to me. Up till then we hadn't spoken at all. I didn't know if he spoke Russian, or who he was. He gave his name. He said, 'Please don't hit me. I'll tell you everything.'"
Police arrived to find the gruesome spectacle of two Russian citizens, their heads bloodied from a vicious fight with a hammer. The larger, fully dressed man had already slipped into unconsciousness. The less wounded of the two - Tumso - was arrested. But after three days of police questioning he was reclassified as a crime victim, and the second man, 29-year-old Ruslan Mamaev, was detained on suspicion of attempted murder, which he denies.
In an extremely rare development, the investigation was handed to the country's Security Services. For Tumso's lawyer, Jens Sjolund, the reason is clear - suspicions that another nation state is behind the attack. Russia.
Tumso Abdurakhmanov is one of up to 130,000 Chechen refugees in European countries, many of whom have fled from the violent and tyrannical rule of the semi-autonomous republic's Kremlin-backed leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.
He left three years ago after a run-in with the then mayor of Grozny, Kadyrov's cousin, led to threats that he would be disappeared - abducted, tortured and possibly killed - like so many other critics of the regime.
Since then he has become the single most influential and prominent opponent of Kadyrov in a busy émigré blogosphere. With more than 350,000 subscribers to his YouTube channels - despite the fact that the population of Chechnya is only 1.2 million - he relentlessly hits out at Ramzan Kadyrov's apparently limitless power in Chechnya, the regime's human rights abuses and its corruption.
New clouds began to gather for the blogger following a long phone conversation with Ramzan Kadyrov's right-hand man, the chair of the Chechen parliament, Magomed Daudov. In Chechnya this universally feared man, believed to be personally responsible for the well-documented campaign of persecution of the republic's gay community, is known simply by his nickname "Lord".
Lord initiated the conversation with Tumso but found himself lambasted by the blogger, who then posted the whole thing on YouTube, in a series of posts lasting more than two hours. Later, when Tumso publicly called Kadyrov's father Akhmat a traitor for siding with the Russians in their 1999 invasion of the republic, Lord evidently decided it was time to teach him a lesson.
In March last year Lord posted online an extraordinary announcement for a serving Russian state official. "Tumso," he said, looking at his phone as he filmed himself, "I am officially telling you from me, and from my brothers. You know who my brothers are. You talked about Akhmat [Kadyrov], and this is now a blood feud. For as long as I have blood in my veins, you are my enemy, and the enemy of my brothers. And we're going to find you."
The tradition of the blood feud, the revenge killing of a murderer or their relative, is still alive and well in Chechnya. That Tumso had killed nobody did not seem a problem for Lord.
He went on to say that Tumso would not actually be killed, he'd just be given an "amazingly fun time". But for Chechens, the word for blood feud that Lord used - chir - leaves no room for doubt.
Things looked even more ominous for Tumso when pro-government social media broadcast the spectacle of his remaining family in Chechnya - an elderly uncle and two other relatives - pronouncing that they were disowning the blogger. More than that, they explicitly gave permission for him to be murdered.
"Let them do whatever they like," said Tumso's uncle and cousins. "He is no long longer part of our family. From this moment on, if anyone kills him, we allow that person to take his blood." A blood feud was being publicly condoned - evidently under duress - by the planned victim's family.
When the attack came, it was on Lord's birthday - a fact eerily reminiscent of the 2007 murder of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, one of Kadyrov and Vladimir Putin's most prominent critics, who was shot dead on Putin's birthday, 7 October. In a defiant Instagram post after his release from police questioning, Tumso filmed himself smiling and winking mockingly at the camera, with the written message: "Happy birthday, Daudov! Sorry I'm a bit late."
Then he added a hammer emoji.
Tumso - and many Chechens - were in no doubt who was behind the attack. The Chechen authorities deny involvement.
Chechens in Europe's diasporas say they live under the constant threat of retribution and violence - visited either on themselves or on their relatives back at home. Critics have been beaten and pressured, and Kadyrov's opponents murdered widely over the years, in Qatar, Austria, Turkey and Dubai, as well as in Moscow and in Chechnya itself. Some were influential militants - sometimes accused of terrorist attacks in Russia - but others were political rivals, or merely critics.
Russian security forces appear to have been involved in more than one of the killings.
Last August Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a senior commander in the second Chechen war (1999-2005), was approached by a man on a bike and in motorbike leathers in the Kleiner Tiergarten Park in Berlin. Khangoshvili had been on his way to his local mosque for Friday prayers, and had for some reason taken a diversion into the park. His family believe he had been lured there.
The cyclist shot Khangoshvili several times, killing him with a shot to the head. He then jumped on a waiting hire scooter, and escaped to a secluded location by the nearby River Spree, where he changed into a pink T-shirt and shorts, and threw a bag into the water. Two teenage boys witnessed the scene and called the police. The man was arrested minutes later, just before he could disappear into the crowd of tourists in central Berlin. He presented a valid Russian passport under a false name. A bag was recovered from the Spree containing the leather clothes, a wig, and a Glock pistol.
The assassination had been intricately and expertly planned and, if it hadn't been for the two boys, the killer would probably have escaped undetected. He had arrived in Berlin hours before the murder, after travelling to Poland where it is thought he picked up the pistol. He knew exactly where and when to find Khangoshvili, he had a means of getaway planted precisely where he needed it, and was evidently acting on a pre-determined exit plan. He must have been operating with accomplices and detailed intelligence - raising suspicions of a sophisticated hit by Russian intelligence.
These suspicions grew after the journalist Christo Grozev, at the investigative website Bellingcat, established the true identity and biography of the killer - a former Russian special forces soldier called Vadim Krasikov. This man had already committed at least three contract killings in Russia - of businessmen and a regional politician - and had been shielded from prosecution by the intervention of the Russian security services, the FSB.
Having identified Krasikov's phone number - through documents online relating to the purchase of a car by his wife - Grozev then used leaked mobile phone data to trace his movements over the weeks running up to his trip to Berlin. Other than his home, the locations where Krasikov had spent most time were the FSB anti-terrorism office in Moscow - for a few hours at a time - and a high-security and heavily restricted FSB special forces training camp just outside Moscow, where he had spent three days before travelling.
The Russian security services, it appears, had trained and dispatched someone from the criminal world to eliminate a perceived enemy on the streets of Berlin. Grozev wasn't surprised.
"The FSB have their own contingent of former officers," he says. "Or just criminals they can trust or they can hold forever indebted because of, for example, compromising material on them. The FSB is a very corrupt, sprawling organisation."
In January, a second Chechen was murdered by a travelling assassin, this time, in France. Unlike Khangoshvili, the victim was not a former military commander - he wasn't a potential security threat - but a blogger on medication for PTSD, who had insulted Ramzan Kadyrov online.
Although Tumso Abdurakhmanov was in Sweden at the time, he was tipped off about the appearance of a suspicious Chechen, Usman Mamadiev, among the diaspora in Berlin. Immediately he feared for the safety of his wife, children, mother and brother, who were living in the German capital. He provided Mamadiev's details to German police, he says. But instead the visitor travelled on to Belgium.
There he visited the blogger, Imran Aliev, whom he had befriended online, pretending to be a cancer patient travelling to Europe for treatment. On 29 January the two of them travelled to Lille, in northern France, checking in to the Coq Hardi Hotel. The next morning Aliev's body was found in their room, with a reported 135 stab wounds. By then Mamadiev had left for Berlin and was soon on a flight back to Moscow.
Following Aliev's murder, Tumso carried out an investigation and posted the results online. He said he had established Mamadiev's connection to a close Kadyrov ally, a member of the Russian parliament for the ruling United Russia party, Adam Delimkhanov. He also reported that Mamadiev had suspiciously bought a car soon after his return home.
The Chechen authorities have denied involvement in Imran Aliev's killing. It has not been possible to reach Mamadiev for comment.
Less than a month later, Tumso himself was the target. His head and body are marked by scars and wounds from the hammer blows, and he is clearly extremely lucky to be alive. "It was a miracle," he says. "I realised that as I sat at the police station and thought through what had somehow passed me by. The first emotions you get are impossible to convey. You feel at that moment as though you've been born again, when you think of how you were on the very edge when someone was hitting you with a hammer."
It was fortunate, perhaps, that his family remained in Germany.
Unlike Khangoshvili's killer, Tumso's attacker, Ruslan Mamaev, had not travelled on fake ID. It's even easy to find his Facebook page, where the last comment is from his father, Marat, wishing him a happy birthday last August. Photos reveal a tall man with Asiatic features and dark, modishly cut hair, sitting in what looks like a fashionable café, with Central Asian carpets behind him.
Mamaev is originally from Kazakhstan, but moved to Omsk in Siberia as a boy. There he started college but dropped out, before travelling to Moscow and apparently working in construction. Judging from a 2018 court ruling, Mamaev seems to have had money problems. He was ordered to pay back half a million roubles - about £5,500 - that he had borrowed from a bank.
I've reached out to some of Mamaev's friends and his family. His girlfriend told me on social media that he wouldn't harm another person, that the whole family is in shock and that she doesn't understand how or why he went to Sweden. Apart from that, no-one seems to want to talk.
Nothing in Mamaev's biography seems to suggest a killer - nor any prior connection with Chechnya. But flight data records in Russia, leaked to Bellingcat, do demonstrate that he travelled to Grozny on two occasions shortly before he travelled to Sweden. He returned to Moscow from his second trip on 15 February. Five days later, he booked his flight to Copenhagen for 24 February. Two days after that he was in Tumso's flat in Sweden, with a hammer.
It has also emerged that immediately after his December trip to Grozny, Mamaev flew to Copenhagen - on what looks like a short recce. According to Bellingcat, it was the first time he had ever travelled outside the former Soviet Union, and he speaks no foreign languages. Like Krasikov in Berlin, he would certainly have been receiving help from accomplices.
A second individual, a Chechen woman, has been detained by Swedish police as a suspect. She travelled to Sweden from France shortly before the attack. And last weekend the Swedish authorities announced they were arresting - in absentia - a third Russian citizen. He's been named as Imran Khaskhanov, a Chechen from Mamaev's hometown of Omsk, and he's also believed to have travelled to Sweden at the time of the attack.
Mamaev's motive for apparently trying to kill a man he had never met is unclear, but Tumso has a theory. Much as Vadim Krasikov may have been drawn into the FSB's orbit as a result of his prosecution for murder, Tumso believes that Mamaev's debts may have laid him open to recruitment and exploitation by those who wanted to organise an assassination attempt that could easily be denied.
Tumso is confident that the organisation of the attack was beyond the abilities of Kadyrov's circle. Mamaev had managed to establish Tumso's address in hiding, to get through a door requiring a pincode, and to find and enter his apartment unnoticed as he slept. The blogger believes this points to FSB involvement.
But Tumso is not a defector from Russian military intelligence, like Sergei Skripal, or a former officer of the FSB working as a consultant for British intelligence, like Alexander Litvinenko. Why would the FSB organise an assassination attempt on a Chechen blogger living in Sweden? Tumso, again, has an explanation - money.
"I have information - which I can't prove or confirm - that the FSB may have sold that information to Kadyrov. And if that's true, there's nothing remotely strange about that," he says. "This is Russia - and it's totally normal for different state structures merely to sell things to each other. In Chechnya we've seen that for a long time."
The relationship between Russia and Chechnya, one of the Russian Federation's 22 republics, is itself partly a financial one. Moscow props up Chechnya by pouring in millions of dollars. In return Kadyrov's brutal rule ensures there is no dissent.
"It's a marriage of convenience," says Katya Sokirianskaia of the Moscow based Conflict Analysis and Prevention Centre. "Very clearly Putin thinks that Ramzan is solving his problems in Chechnya. On the other hand, on the Ramzan side, it is very clear that Vladimir Putin guarantees his biological survival - the survival of Ramzan himself and his family, his children and his close friends, his circle."
Because Kadyrov and his circle, as they well know, can not only declare blood feuds - they can be the subject of them.
"Ramzan Kadyrov has blood enemies, and many of his associates as well. They have blood. People who blame them for death and humiliation. And they're waiting for the moment to take their revenge, to execute this blood feud. And Chechens can wait for a very long time."
It's not known who ordered Ruslan Mamaev to travel to Sweden and attack Tumso with a hammer as he slept. It's not known whether the FSB was involved, and it cannot be proved it was the execution of a blood feud
But the second most powerful public official in Chechnya expressly warned of such an action, and pro-government social media effectively condoned it by carrying the statement made by Tumso's relatives, in which they gave their consent for him to be murdered.
And for this, it would appear, neither Kadyrov nor the Chechen government have received any criticism from the Russian government - or President Vladimir Putin.
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A series of assassinations has taken place in Turkey of men from the countries of the former USSR. There's evidence that some were carried out by killers from Russia - including, in one case, names, photographs and a memory stick carelessly left behind for Turkish police to study.
Have Russian hitmen been killing with impunity in Turkey? (2016)
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A carnival parade, a picnic and a prince.
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Peter HuntDiplomatic and royal correspondent@BBCPeterHunton Twitter
William was on The Mall to praise the woman who was the focus of this celebration.
The future king's words were directed at his monarch and his grandmother.
The Queen travelled, with her husband, in an open-top car, while William, Kate and Harry were in the vehicle behind.
It presented an image of the present and the future of the monarchy.
It was a notable image with a notable absentee.
Prince Charles had chosen to miss the Patron's Lunch and instead attended a street party near his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire.
For a Queen, now 90, there will be ongoing adjustments made to her programme. Lifts will be used rather than flights of stairs; the length of visits will be not too long, and standing around will be kept to a minimum.
But, officials insist, Elizabeth remains this country's active and fully-engaged head of state.
Guests brave rain at Queen's picnic lunch
In pictures: The Queen's birthday
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Tunisians vote on 26 October in a parliamentary election, which they hope will see the end of a nearly-four year transition period which followed the ousting of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.
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The "cradle of the Arab Spring" will this time see officials of the former government taking part in the election, prompting interim President Moncef Marzouki to call it a contest between "supporters of the revolution and supporters of the counter-revolution".
How does the electoral system work?
The system is based on proportional representation, with each of the country's regions having a fixed number of seats based on population.
Lists of candidates are drawn up by parties, coalitions and independents and endorsed by the overseeing body, the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE).
Some five million Tunisians have registered to vote. Candidates must be aged 23 or over and have held Tunisian nationality for at least 10 years.
Are women's rights being respected?
According to ISIE, 49% of newly-registered voters are women. And the 26 January 2014 constitution introduced - for the first time in the Arab world - parity between men and women in elections.
The law stipulates that women should comprise 50% of all electoral lists and there must be an equal number of lists headed by women and men.
Tunisian women take a 'step backwards'
Who is likely to win?
Tunisia's election process means that no party is likely to win a majority of seats in the renamed National Assembly. However, political observers agree - in the absence of opinion polls, which are banned during the campaign - that the favourites are the Islamist Ennahda Movement and their secular opponents, the liberal Nidaa Tounes (Tunisia's Call).
A number of other parties are in contention, including the centre-ground secular Congress for the Republic (CPR) and secular Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberty (FDTL or Ettakatol) and those led by former officials of Ben Ali's regime.
Most candidates claim to have the economy at the heart of their campaign, realising that poverty and unemployment were the main factors that triggered the 14 January revolution in 2011.
Which are the main parties, groups?
Ennahda won 89 of 217 seats in 2011 and led a coalition government with CPR and FDTL. It lost power in January following street protests but hopes to make a comeback. It has said it is willing to form a coalition with any other party.
Nidaa Tounes wants to rally nationalist and liberal supporters to weaken the position of Ennahda. It was founded by Beji Caid Essebsi, a former transitional prime minister, and enjoys the support of the Tunisian General Labour Union and some business groups. Nidaa says it will not contemplate any coalition with Ennahda until that groups "clarifies" its relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood across the Middle East and North Africa.
Congress for the Republic (CPR) is led by interim President Marzouki and won 29 seats in 2011.
Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties was founded in 1994 by National Constituent Assembly Speaker Mustapha Ben Djaafar. It won 20 seats in 2011.
Popular Front is a coalition of five left-wing and Baathist parties led by Hamma Hammami. It played an important role in mobilising street protests to bring down two Ennahda-led governments. The Front parties, however, do not seem to have significant electoral support.
Will armed Islamists disrupt election?
The al-Qaeda-affiliated Okba Ibn Nafaa battalion, active on Tunisia's border with Algeria, has threatened to disrupt the election.
Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou has said his ministry has plans in hand to deal with the "terrorist" threat, which he described as "serious". Tunisia is to mobilize 50,000 security officers and nearly 20,000 soldiers to secure the election.
How did the campaigning go?
Tunisians have shown only "lukewarm interest", according to al-Jazeera TV on 20 October. Tunisian academic Abdellatif Hanachi told al-Jazeera that this is partly because of the difficult economic and social conditions in the country.
He added that voter apathy was due to a "sense of frustration" among a broad section of people at the failure to fulfil revolutionary promises. However, he concluded that this could all change on polling day, as it did in 2011.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.
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Twelve ferry services between Wales and Ireland have been cancelled on Sunday and Monday due to bad weather, Irish Ferries said.
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The services affected are the HSC Jonathan Swift sailings from Holyhead and Pembroke.
Strong winds have also led to speed restrictions and lane closures on the M48 Severn Bridge in Monmouthshire and Anglesey's A55 Britannia Bridge.
Natural Resources had two flood alerts in place for north east Wales.
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A 71-year-old woman has died in a house fire in Nottinghamshire, the fire service said.
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Emergency services were called to Rock Street, in Bulwell, just before 19:00 BST on Saturday.
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said an investigation into the cause of the fire was under way.
The service tweeted crews would be in the area over the next few days to "offer reassurance and support" to the community.
Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].
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It is rare to get access to Eritrea, which is considered one of the world's most repressive and secretive states. A BBC team were recently allowed to visit to cover a story about healthcare and the photos from their trip give a glimpse of what life is like there:
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Despite the thousands of young Eritreans who flee the country each month, the capital city, Asmara, was buzzing with life. Here young Asmarinos enjoy their evening after drinking coffee in the centre of the city.
Eritrea has been criticised for its levels of freedom of expression. There is no privately owned domestic media. Rights groups say that government journalists arrested in 2009 and 2011 are still imprisoned in solitary confinement without any prospect of a trial. But the ruling party's Yemane Ghebreab said the government-owned media was able to give a "forum for different opinions".
There are many large murals around the country, reminding people of the need for self-reliance. Eritrea had a long struggle for independence which it gained from Ethiopia in 1993. It also fought a border war with Ethiopia between 1998 and 2000.
On the outskirts of Asmara lies this tank graveyard, with old Ethiopian tanks, trucks and other military vehicles captured during decades of conflict.
On the road from Asmara to the port city of Massawa, one drives through the mountainous green belt, a lush part of the country which is a haven for wildlife.
This old bank in Massawa was used as a shelter during the conflict with Ethiopia - and has been left untouched as another reminder.
Asmara's leafy boulevards and modernist buildings are also a reminder of its Italian colonial past. The country was occupied by the Italians for nearly 50 years until 1941.
Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini wanted Asmara to be the "Piccolo Roma" (Little Rome) in Africa, as he planned a new Roman Empire in the 1930s. Cinema Roma was built in 1937, its facade covered in marble. The cinema is still in working order and boasts a stylish cafe inside.
This is the oldest chemist in Asmara, built in 1897. Most of the interior has been left untouched since its construction. The till, purchased in the same year, is still used today.
"I love coming to work every day, it is the most beautiful place to work," one of the chemists said. "This was built by the Italians and they know how to build beautiful buildings. Asmara has changed a lot but it's important we keep our history - without our history we are nothing."
The Fiat Tagliero building in Asmara is a petrol station designed by Italian architect Giuseppe Pettazzi. Completed in 1938, it was meant to resemble an aeroplane. We were told by officials that planners at the time insisted each wing should be supported by pillars. However, Pettazzi reportedly held a gun to the builder's head and threatened to kill them if the supports were not removed.
The most common wedding season in Eritrea is in January - which is supposed to be when farmers' workloads are at their quietest. Hundreds of Eritreans from Asmara and across the world came together to celebrate this couple's marriage in a large hall awash with food and drink.
Eritrea's healthcare system has improved dramatically over recent years. Dr Berhane Haileh (not pictured) from the health ministry says the government covers the medical bills for poor people. "To be productive, you have to be healthy - so the government takes health as a priority in the country," she says.
In hard-to-reach rural areas, healthcare supplies are sometimes transported by camel. Much of Eritrea's healthcare success has come from mobilising communities to raise awareness about various diseases and identify issues early on. Photos by the BBC's Javier Manzano and Sam Piranty
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The summer of 2007 was the wettest on record. There was 414mm of rainfall across England and Wales from May to July - more than in any period since records began in 1766. Across Yorkshire and the Midlands, thousands of people were rescued, whole towns cut off and families forced to flee their properties.
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By Lisa WrightBBC News
In late July, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire became the latest parts of England to be inundated. Flooding left 48,000 homes without power for two days, and 10,000 motorists were stranded on the M5 overnight.
In Tewkesbury, the whole town became cut off and the RAF and Army were drafted in to help with the relief effort. Three people died.
An aerial photograph of the town and its famous abbey, depicting an island surrounded by a sea of brown water, became one of the defining images of that most sodden of summers.
Ten years on, the BBC revisits some of those caught up in the flooding.
'There was somebody coming up the road in a canoe'
The day - 20 July - had started off like any other.
But while at work, where she was a partner at a lettings firm in Cheltenham, Sheila Heath noticed the drains "bubbling" up with water from the torrential rainfall.
She knew immediately something was "seriously wrong", so she sent her staff home and tried to make her way back to Tewkesbury but was forced to abandon her journey and stay with a friend.
When she made it home the following morning, Mrs Heath, now 63, arrived to find her house had been inundated. She had to wade through waist-deep water to get to her front door.
"The whole area was like a lake," she recalls. "There was somebody coming up the road in a canoe; it was totally surreal."
It was six days before the water subsided, during which time the family lived at a nearby bed and breakfast.
With their house uninhabitable, they bought a caravan and pitched it outside, remaining there for seven months.
With many in the street doing the same, it became "like a caravan site", she said.
The cost of the damage - which was covered by the insurers - was £98,000, but many treasured possessions were irreplaceable.
"It was what we had built up all our married life, it was our home, all of our personal possessions," said Mrs Heath.
"It's still upsetting to this day.
"Everything you've built up over your life is just gone. All the photographs have gone, all the memories, gifts from the children, all your personal things have gone."
The summer 2007 floods - in numbers
Source: Environment Agency
'An icon of hope'
It was after saying afternoon prayers on 20 July 2007, that the Reverend Canon Paul Williams, the vicar of Tewkesbury Abbey, first became aware something unusual was happening.
"I noticed that the rain hadn't stopped all day," he said.
"I felt an eerie feeling so I went out up to the borough council and the mayor was there. He said 'we've been warned something serious is on the way and will we open the abbey to make sure it's a place of refuge'."
Drivers caught in the downpour slept in the abbey, with hundreds put up that Friday night.
"People were sleeping on kneelers, one family was wrapped in an altar cloth," he said.
"During that night lots of people were up and making sure that people using the abbey as refuge were looked after."
The rain had cleared on Saturday and those stranded were able to leave the abbey, which was even able to host a wedding ceremony.
But on Sunday 22 July the rivers broke.
"The abbey changed from being an ark to being an icon of resilience," said Canon Williams. "It was like a ship ploughing through the waters. It was an icon of hope."
It was that Sunday the famous photographs of Tewkesbury Abbey, standing proudly above the floodwater, were taken. They went on to become some of the most enduring images of that summer's floods.
"Someone once said it was one of the iconic images, like St Paul's in the Blitz, it's that type of image that will remain with people. You need icons to give you hope; the abbey gave us hope at that time," said Canon Williams.
During the Gloucestershire town's short spell as an "island", the sense of community spirit shone through.
"There was an extraordinary feeling of camaraderie, particularly after the rivers broke - we were helping each other, making sure people were OK. There wasn't fear, there was respect.
"You couldn't get in or out. We were completely cut off. We got on with our business."
Remarkably, the abbey came away relatively unscathed.
The same could not be said for the rest of Tewkesbury.
More than 800 properties were flooded that July - largely by surface water and some smaller tributaries, before the Rivers Avon and Severn rose to record levels.
During the same period, the Mythe Water Treatment Works also flooded, leaving half the homes in Gloucestershire without water for 17 days.
And while it took years for the town to fully recover, Canon Williams says the community is "moving forward together".
"Of course that's part of our history, but we are looking to the future."
'It devastated the whole town'
Grahame Bunn, landlord of the Kings Head pub in Upton upon Severn, was gearing up for the town's blues festival when the rain started.
"The Environment Agency had said on the Wednesday that there was a possibility the river would flood, [but] this was the summer - we thought the Environment Agency was talking of their bottom," he said.
The Worcestershire town was supposed to be protected by temporary flood barriers, he said, and thousands of pounds worth of stock was sitting in his cellar.
"They said the barriers would go up on Friday, [but the] rivers started rising late Thursday."
It was too late to save his stock; the pub flooded waist-high with water.
His wife Claire, their son and three dogs were among those taken by boat through the floodwater.
The pub closed for four months and did not fully reopen until February 2008.
"It just devastated not only my business, but the whole of the town," said Mr Bunn, 58. "I don't think it has ever recovered."
While the Bunn family, who lived above the pub, were able to remain there as repairs were carried out, hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage was caused. Mr Bunn got a job working on the gravel barges on the river as the family had no income while the Kings Head was closed.
"We bought the pub in 2000 and knew there was a possibility it was going to flood," he said. "We had flooded many times before 2007, but this time it was different - we weren't able to reopen."
Mr Bunn, who now runs the nearby Ye Olde Anchor Inn, believes improved flood defences installed over the past decade mean the scenes of 2007 will not be witnessed again.
"Hopefully, the horrendous flooding of this town will be a thing of the past."
BBC reporter Catherine Mackie
Anyone who experienced the great flood of July 2007 has a story to tell.
I was soaked to the skin, shivering with cold and stranded in a pub car park in Herefordshire.
Inside the pub there was a small crowd of people who'd abandoned their cars on the roads-turned-rivers, resigned to spending an uncomfortable night with strangers.
Our satellite truck had died after the last live broadcast so I bunked down with the crew Andy and Brian in a caravan kindly donated by the landlady.
The rain continued to hammer down on the roof with the noise occasionally drowned out by Brian's snoring.
'People were scared for their lives'
Floods had been a fairly frequent occurrence in the south-west Midlands, with fire stations in Evesham, Hereford and Worcester equipped with boats to cope with water rescues.
But nothing could prepare crews for the rain of July 2007.
Firefighter Dave Hunt was on duty when his team received the call that Sedgeberrow, near Evesham, was flooding.
"There was a lot of rain so we were having a number of calls and then the call came in to Sedgeberrow," he said.
Two boats were sent to the village from Worcester fire station.
Crews arrived to discover two men on the roof of a Ford Transit van.
"They were clinging on to the roof and the van was submerged," recalls Mr Hunt. "We launched the boats and the priority was to save them and bring them back to land."
Some rescues proved tricky, with crews unable to see house numbers or road names and, with lives on the line, decisions had to be made to prioritise those at greatest risk.
"We made several rescues of people and pets, there were about 90 flooded homes and we made rescues from 30 of the houses," added Mr Hunt.
"The most memorable rescue which we carried out was in liaison with the RAF helicopter of a pregnant lady and her toddler. They were trapped in floodwater.
"The RAF Sea King lowered and winched down. The toddler was rescued on a board. The winchman entered the bedroom and harnessed the pregnant lady and they both got winched up into the helicopter."
He described the floods as on a scale never seen before.
"People were scared for their lives [and] I would say a number of them were in danger of losing their lives," said Mr Hunt.
"We had never dealt with anything like it. That's the worst I've ever seen."
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A former professional footballer has completed a three week 1,000-mile (1,600km) challenge running to all 20 Premier League grounds.
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Francis Benali, who made more than 300 appearances for Southampton Football Club, embarked on the run to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
He has raised more than £100k for the charity.
Mr Benali started at St James' Park in Newcastle and finished at Southampton's St Mary's Stadium.
Arriving during Saints' game against Newcastle United he ran a lap of the pitch at half-time to a standing ovation from supporters.
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Zimbabwe's military says its actions do not amount to a takeover. It still refers to Robert Mugabe as the commander-in-chief of the country's defence forces. But practically speaking, Mr Mugabe is not in charge if his forces can step in to usurp his authority.
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By Tomi OladipoBBC Monitoring Africa security correspondent
This is not a coup d'état in name, but it appears to be in action.
The military takeover of the national broadcaster, the presence of troops on the streets and major access points, and even forced entry into the presidential palace are traits of a military takeover - at least as we have seen them in Africa.
One thing that is lacking is that the constitution has not been suspended.
The cementing of democracy across Africa has led to a general regional and continent-wide aversion to violent takeovers of government.
Even in the past, coup-stagers often promised a quick handover to civilian government through elections or a negotiated transition.
So far in Zimbabwe, the military is not showing any intention of assuming a governing role.
However, it has someone it would prefer to do that. Emmerson Mnangagwa, the recently sacked vice-president, is held in high regard in Zimbabwean military circles.
He was involved in the struggle for independence, and in 1980 created the Zimbabwe National Army by fusing the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (Zipra) and Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (Zanla) with the remnants of the former Rhodesian security forces.
He was seen as the natural successor for the top office.
President Mugabe sacked Mr Mnangagwa last week at the prompting of the First Lady Grace Mugabe, who has political aspirations and has publicly opposed the former vice president, but does not have support within a military where the liberation legacy is held in high esteem.
The top military officials were part of the liberation struggle, like their comrade and president Mr Mugabe, so they have supported his government over the years because he has served their interests.
They did not act this way in 2014, when Mr Mugabe sacked his previous Vice President Joice Mujuru, a former independence fighter, in a similar power struggle.
This time though, there is a sense the president might have gone too far.
Earlier this week, the commander of Zimbabwe's Defence Forces, General Constantino Chiwenga, warned the Zanu-PF governing party to stop the purge against independence war veterans.
Following his dismissal and escape to South Africa, Mr Mnangagwa promised to return to regain control of the ruling party from the Mugabes.
This suggested his confidence in the support he had from the military.
So the next step would be to negotiate his return ahead of the party congress in December, where he could be affirmed as the president's successor.
At worst, the military will force Mr Mugabe to resign - but they will not want to humiliate him further because of the history they share.
They will also extend the courtesy to Grace Mugabe, in spite of her recent actions.
Painful memories
Prior suggestions that the armed forces were divided have not been revealed so far this week.
The rise of an opposing faction would probably be bloody, and not something Zimbabweans would like to see, regardless of how tough life has been in recent years.
The end of the Mugabe era would be a relief to many, but Mr Mnangagwa is not necessarily popular in all parts of the country.
Under his tenure as security minister in the early 1980s, government forces crushed a rebellion in the Midlands and Matebeleland province, and allegedly killed thousands of civilians.
There is still bitter resentment among people from the affected regions.
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Education services bring in £17.5bn a year to the UK economy, but what is driving the demand for a British education and why are some parents willing to spend thousands of pounds to secure a "super tutor" for their child?
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By Katie HopeBusiness reporter, BBC News
"It was on the plane over I realised I'd made a mistake," a 25-year-old private tutor tells me.
He was flying to New York to spend the summer helping to prepare a 12-year-old boy for the Common Entrance exam - a test taken by children applying to private secondary schools.
The boy's mother had insisted he sat next to the boy so he could spend the flight time teaching him.
He did an hour and then given they were spending the next three weeks together, decided to take a nap.
The next thing he knew, he was being woken up by the mother standing over him, shouting "You think this is some kind of holiday?".
Given the high fees charged by such tutors and the intense competition for places at top British schools it's perhaps not surprising that tensions can sometimes run high.
"In an already privileged world, tutoring is an extra level of pushing," he says.
The Londoner uses the job's flexibility to fund his real passion of film production and acting. He is unwilling to be named in this article in case it jeopardises future jobs.
Yet he says the money easily makes up for the occasional difficulties. He charges anywhere from £40 to £90 an hour in the UK, although the agencies he is hired through take a 25% to 50% cut of this.
When he takes an overseas job, the fees are much higher to compensate for the fact that he can't do any other work. Typically he earns between £800 and £1,500 a week.
In three years as a tutor he's worked in India, Indonesia and Costa Rica, as well as the US.
Hiring an English tutor is increasingly common in many countries, particularly for those who want their children to go to an overseas private secondary school, he says.
The fact that he "sounds a bit posh" and went to a top London school are "valuable trading cards" in an international industry which is "a lot about image as well as actual background," he says.
This kind of tutoring is one of the British education services that makes a valuable contribution to the UK economy. Collectively, education exports were worth a whopping £17.5bn in 2011, the most recent figure available. This includes education products and services, income from international students in higher education as well as schools and English language lessons.
Those working in the industry suggest the value is likely to have grown since then.
Mark Maclaine, who co-founded the agency, Tutorfair, in 2012 after over a decade of tutoring, says overseas demand is enormous and growing. His overseas customers are mostly from Asia, the Middle East, eastern Europe and Russia.
Dubbed "a super tutor" due to his students' success rate, he charges fees on a sliding scale, anywhere from £150 an hour up to a staggering £1,000.
At the upper end of the scale, he says it's typically consultancy. A short time to teach someone how to study and prepare for an exam independently as opposed to a continuing arrangement.
Toxic environment
Word of mouth recommendations have seen him hired by US actors and actresses and he's taught in a variety of exotic locations from a yacht sailing around the Caribbean to private islands in luxury holiday resorts.
He admits that the high pressure can create a toxic environment, and says experience has taught him to interview a family before he commits to a job.
We're speaking over the phone while he's in Bali, where he has tagged a holiday onto the end of a tutoring job.
"The British private education system is seen as one of the best in the world. Royal families, rulers of countries are very very keen that their kids get some form of education in Britain," he says.
The demand is high enough that two to three times a year Mr Maclaine will get an "emergency call" from a family desperate for his immediate services.
Normally these calls come when a child has failed a practice exam for a UK school and "everyone panics".
Often he'll offer to tutor by Skype, but occasionally when he's offered a "stupid amount of money" he'll agree to fly out.
"I'm a human being. I've got a mortgage to pay".
To help address the balance, Tutorfair says that for every child whose parents pay for its service it gives tutoring to another boy or girl whose mother and father, or other guardian, cannot afford to pay.
It's not just tutoring agencies cashing in on the foreign demand for a British education.
Many private schools have opened branches overseas: Harrow has schools in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Bangkok; while Dulwich College and Wellington College both have overseas franchises in China.
Such extensions create a handy extra revenue stream for private schools as the domestic market slows.
But Charles Bonas, founder of Bonas MacFarlane, which offers tuition and also advises on choices of schools from nursery to university, says many families still prefer to send their children to school in the UK.
He says partly it's because it's a way for wealthy families with drivers and nannies to help their offspring become more independent.
But he says the main reasons that parents choose the UK is because English is spoken as a first language, and the education is deemed well-rounded - teaching children how to think critically and take risks.
Global Trade
More from the BBC's series taking an international perspective on trade:
How shops are coping with a weaker pound
The apples that need shading from the sun
How the 'better burger' is taking over the world
What it takes to get Beyonce on a world tour
The country losing out in the breakfast juice battle
Why a $1.6bn car plant has been left to decay
Read more global trade series here.
Often parents only want the top name schools, he says recalling the time two years ago when the parents of a five-year-old girl said they wanted her to go to Eton next term. "They didn't take no as an immediate answer," he says.
But this is where the firm uses its consultation skills, a process costing from £3,000 to £12,000 with a relationship that can last years.
"I took on a parent last year whose children weren't even born yet. They're going to need a nursery, pre-prep, prep and a senior school," he explains.
Whether or not these arrangements are simply perpetuating inequality, Mr Bonas argues that they are of long-term benefit to the UK, and not just because of the economic boost.
"These children have often got a family business to take over and will be the movers and shakers in their world.
"If they have an affinity for Britain then that can only be a good thing," he says.
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A 20-year-old man has appeared in court charged with murder following the death of a 51-year-old man in Aberdeenshire.
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Anthony McGladrigan died on Wednesday after an incident in Cuminestown.
Liam Hay, of Aberdeen, appeared at Peterhead Sheriff Court. He made no plea and was remanded in custody.
Relatives of Mr McGladrigan earlier said: "Tony was loved, brave and an amazing son, husband, father, brother and exceptional friend. He will be missed every day."
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BBC research shows people living in the poorest parts of the UK are more likely to die prematurely. But what is it like for people in parts of Manchester, which has one of the highest early mortality rates in the country?
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The mortality rate from avoidable causes is more than three times higher in some of the most deprived parts of the country than the most affluent.
Manchester's avoidable death rate is 388 per 100,000 - a situation the Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has described as "scandalous".
Tommy Johnson lives in the inner city suburb of Gorton, a mainly residential area just over a mile from Manchester City's Etihad Stadium and one of the city's most deprived districts.
Mr Johnson said the figures showed there was a health "postcode lottery" in the country.
The 64-year-old said some of his friends had "died early", adding: "I think if they had lived in a richer area down south it would have been different."
Avoidable deaths are counted as people who die under 75 from heart disease, some cancers, respiratory conditions and type 2 diabetes.
Mr Johnson's friend Jim Wilson, 68, said he was "not surprised by the high death rates in Manchester".
He added: "You don't need a survey to tell you that if you are poor you will not live as long.
"The rich are getting richer and the poor are dying."
The analysis found a correlation between deprivation and the number of people dying prematurely.
In England, Chiltern, South Oxfordshire, South Cambridgeshire and Hart in Hampshire had the lowest avoidable death rates.
Places with the highest rates include Manchester, Blackpool, Middlesbrough, Hull and Liverpool.
Donna Buckley, 36, said she believed the poor health in the area was caused by poor diet.
"I think lifestyle has a lot to do with death rates, " she said.
"I believe the food we eat affects us. That is why I am a vegan.
"People eat a lot of junk food around here and that can cause cancer and heart problems."
Margaret Connors, 80, has lived in the area for 50 years.
"My husband died a few tears ago of lung cancer but he was a very heavy smoker," she said.
"Our quality of life in Gorton is pretty good. The health service is good round here.
"I came down from Greenock in Scotland 50 years ago. I think a a lot of it is due to lifestyle.
"I eat well and don't drink. I smoke but I am doing ok to reach 80."
The Department of Health and Social Care (DoH) said more than £16bn was being invested in local government services to tackle public health issues in addition to free NHS health checks and screening programmes.
It also offers a free flu vaccination programme, a national diabetes prevention programme, a childhood obesity plan and a tobacco control plan.
A DoH spokesman said cancer survival was at a record high, with smoking rates at an all-time low. She added: "Generally, people are living longer."
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It's no secret that the Russians have long tried to plant "sleeper agents" in the US - men and women indistinguishable from normal Americans, who live - on the surface - completely normal lives. But what happens when one of them doesn't want to go home?
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By Brian WheelerBBC News, Washington DC
Jack Barsky died in September 1955, at the age of 10, and was buried in the Mount Lebanon Cemetery in the suburbs of Washington DC.
His name is on the passport of the man sitting before me now - a youthful 67-year-old East German, born Albert Dittrich. The passport is not a fake. Albert Dittrich is Jack Barsky in the eyes of the US government.
The story of how this came to be is, by Barsky's own admission, "implausible" and "ridiculous", even by the standards of Cold War espionage. But as he explains in a new memoir, Deep Undercover, it has been thoroughly checked out by the FBI. As far as anyone can tell, it is all true.
It began in the mid-70s, when Dittrich, destined at the time to become a chemistry professor at an East German university, was talent-spotted by the KGB and sent to Moscow for training in how to behave like an American.
His mission was to live under a false identity in the heart of the capitalist enemy, as one of an elite band of undercover Soviet agents known as "illegals".
"I was sent to the United States to establish myself as a citizen and then make contact, to the extent possible, at the highest levels possible of decision makers - particularly political decision makers," he says.
This "idiotic adventure," as he now calls it, had "a lot of appeal to an arrogant young man, a smart young man" intoxicated by the idea of foreign travel and living "above the law".
He arrived in New York in the Autumn of 1978, at the age of 29, posing as a Canadian national, William Dyson. Dyson, who had travelled via Belgrade, Rome, Mexico City and Chicago, "immediately vanished into thin air", having served his purpose. And Dittrich began his new life as Jack Barsky.
He was a man with no past and no identification papers - except for a birth certificate obtained by an employee of the Soviet embassy in Washington, who had kept his eyes open during a walk in the Mount Lebanon cemetery.
Barsky had supreme self-confidence, a near-flawless American accent, and $10,000 in cash.
He also had a "legend" to explain why he did not have a social security number. He told people he had had a "tough start in life" in New Jersey and had dropped out of high school. He had then worked on a remote farm for years before deciding "to give life another chance and move back to New York city".
He rented a room in a Manhattan hotel and set about the laborious task of building a fake identity. Over the next year, he parlayed Jack Barsky's birth certificate into a library card, then a driver's licence and, finally, a social security card.
But without qualifications in Barsky's name, or any employment history, his career options were limited. Rather than rubbing shoulders with the upper echelons of American society, as his KGB handlers had wanted, he initially found himself delivering parcels to them, as a cycle courier in the smarter parts of Manhattan.
"By chance it turned out that the messenger job was actually really good for me to become Americanised because I was interacting with people who didn't care much where I came from, what my history was, where I was going," he says.
"Yet I was able to observe and listen and become more familiar with American customs. So for the first two, three years I had very few questions that I had to answer."
The advice from his handlers on blending in - gleaned from Soviet diplomats and resident agents in the US - "turned out to be, at minimum, weak but, at worst, totally false", he says.
"I'll give you an example. One of the things I was told explicitly was to stay away from the Jews. Now, obviously, there is anti-Semitism in there, but secondly, the stupidity of that statement is that they sent me to New York. There are more Jews in New York than in Israel, I think."
Barsky would later use his handlers' prejudices and ignorance of American society against them.
But as a "rookie" agent he was eager to please and threw himself into the undercover life. He spent much of his free time zig-zagging across New York on counter-surveillance missions designed to flush out any enemy agents who might be following him.
He would update Moscow Centre on his progress in weekly radio transmissions, or letters in secret writing, and deposit microfilm at dead drop sites in various New York parks, where he would also periodically pick up canisters stuffed with cash or the fake passports he needed for his trips back to Moscow for debriefing.
He would return the to the East every two years, where he would be reunited with his German wife Gerlinde, and young son Matthias, who had no idea what he had been up to. They thought he was doing top secret but very well-paid work at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Barsky's handlers were delighted with his progress except for one thing - he could not get hold of an American passport. This failure weighed heavily on him.
On one early trip to the passport office in New York an official asked him to fill out a questionnaire which asked, among other things, the name of the high school he had attended.
"I had a legend but it could not be verified," he says. "So if somebody went to check on that they would have found out that I wasn't real."
Terrified that his cover might be blown, he scooped up any documents with his name on them and marched out of the office in a feigned temper at all this red tape.
Without a passport, Barsky was limited to low-level intelligence work and his achievements as a spy were, by his own account, "minimal".
He profiled potential recruits and compiled reports on the mood of the country during events such as the 1983 downing of a Korean Airlines flight by a Soviet fighter, which ratcheted up tensions between the US and the Soviet Union.
On one occasion, he flew to California to track down a defector (he later learned, to his immense relief, that the man, a psychology professor, had not been assassinated).
He also carried out some industrial espionage, stealing software from his office - all of it commercially available - which was spirited away on microfilm to aid the floundering Soviet economy.
But it often seemed the very fact of him being in the US, moving around freely without the knowledge of the authorities, was enough for Moscow.
"They were very much focused on having people on the other side just in case of a war. Which I think, in hindsight, was pretty stupid. That indicated very old thinking."
The myth of the "Great Illegals" - heroic undercover agents who had helped Russia defeat the Nazis and gather vital pre-war intelligence in hostile countries - loomed large over the Soviet intelligence agencies, who spent a lot of time and effort during the Cold War trying to recapture these former glories, with apparently limited success.
Barsky later found out that he was part of a "third wave" of Soviet illegals in the US - the first two waves having failed. And we now know that illegals continued to be infiltrated in the 1980s and beyond.
He believes about "10 to 12" agents were trained up at the same time as him. Some, he says, could still be out there, living undercover in the United States, though he finds it hard to believe that anyone exposed to life in the US would retain an unwavering communist faith for long.
He is scathing about his KGB handlers, who were "very smart" and the "cream of the crop" but who seemed chiefly concerned with making his mission appear a success to please their bosses.
"The expectations of us, of me - I didn't know anybody else - were far, far too high. It was just really wishful thinking," he now says of his mission.
On the other hand, the KGB's original plan for him might actually have worked, he says.
"I am glad it didn't work out because I could have done some damage.
"The idea was for me to get genuine American documentation and move to Europe, say to a German-speaking country, where the Russians were going to set me up with a flourishing business. And they knew how to do that.
"And so I would become quite wealthy and then go back to the United States without having to explain where the money came from. At that point, I would have been in a situation to socialise with people that were of value."
This plan fell through because of his failure to get a passport, so the KGB reverted to Plan B.
This was for Barsky was to study for a degree and gradually work his way up the social order to the point where he could gather useful intelligence - a mission he describes as "nearly impossible".
The degree part was relatively straightforward. He was, after all, a university professor in his former life. He graduated top of his class in computer systems at Baruch College, which enabled him to get a job as a programmer at Met Life insurance in New York.
Like many undercover agents before him, he began to realise that much of what he had been taught about the West - that it was an "evil" system on the brink of economic and social collapse - was a lie.
"There was a way to rationalise that because we were taught that the West was doing so well because they took all the riches out of the Third World," he says.
But, he adds, "what eventually softened my attitude" was the "normal, nice people" he met in his daily life.
"[My] sense was that the enemy was not really evil. So I was always waiting to eventually find the real evil people and I didn't even find them in the insurance company."
Met Life almost felt like home, he says, "because it was a very paternalistic, 'we take care of you' kind of a culture".
"There was nothing like we were taught. Nothing that I expected. I wanted to really hate the people and the country and I couldn't bring myself to hate them. Not even dislike them."
But he was keeping a far bigger secret from his KGB bosses than his wavering commitment to communism.
In 1985, he had married an illegal immigrant from Guyana he had met through a personal ad in the Village Voice newspaper - and they now had a daughter together.
He now had two families to go with his two identities, and he knew the time would come when he had to choose between them.
It finally happened in 1988, when after 10 years undercover he was suddenly ordered to return home immediately. Moscow was in a panic, believing the FBI was on to him.
To do anything other than run as ordered - grab his emergency Canadian birth certificate and driver's licence and get out of the US - would be potentially suicidal.
He dithered and stalled for a week. Could he really leave his beloved baby daughter Chelsea behind forever?
But the KGB was losing patience. One morning, on a subway platform a resident agent delivered a chilling message: "You have got to come home or else you're dead."
It was time for some lateral thinking.
From discussions with his handlers in Moscow, Barsky had come to believe the Soviet hierarchy feared three things about America.
He already knew about their anti-Semitism and their fear of Ronald Reagan, who they saw as an unpredictable religious zealot who might launch a nuclear strike to "accelerate" the Biblical "end times".
But he also remembered their "morally superior" attitude to the Aids epidemic - their belief that it "served the Americans right" and their determination to protect the motherland from infection.
Barsky stalled a bit more and then hatched a plan.
"I wrote this letter, in secret writing, that I wouldn't come back because I had contracted Aids, and the only way for me to get treatment would be in the United States.
"I also told the Russians in the same letter that I would not defect, I would not give up any secrets. I would just disappear and try to get healthy."
To begin with Barsky lived in constant fear for his life, remembering that threat on the subway platform. But after a few months, he began to breathe more easily.
"I started thinking 'I think I got away with this.' The FBI had not knocked on the door. The KGB had not done anything."
He gradually let his guard down and settled into the life of a typical middle-class American in a comfortable new home in upstate New York.
While he had fallen for the American Dream and the trappings of the consumer society, he still had some conflicting feelings.
"My loyalties to communism and the homeland and Russia, they were still pretty strong. My resignation, you can also call it a 'soft defection' - that was triggered by having this child here. It was not ideological. It would be easy to claim that. But it wasn't true."
Playing at the back of his mind was always the question of whether his past would catch up with him. And, finally, one day, it did.
The man who exposed him was a KGB archivist, Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin, who defected to the West in 1992 - after the fall of communism - with a vast trove of Soviet secrets, including the true identity of Jack Barsky.
The FBI watched him for more than three years, even buying the house next door to his as they tried to figure out whether he really was a KGB agent and, if so, whether he was still active.
The 'illegals' programme
In the end, Barsky himself gave the game away, during an argument with his wife, Penelope, that was picked up by the FBI's bugs.
"I was trying to repair a marriage that was slowly falling apart. I was trying to tell my wife the 'sacrifice' I had made to stay with Chelsea and her. So in the kitchen I told her, 'By the way, this is what I did. I am a German. I used to work for the KGB and they told me to come home and I stayed here with you and it was quite dangerous for me. This is what I sacrificed.'
"And that completely backfired. Instead of bringing her over to my side, she said: 'What does that mean for me if they ever catch you?'"
It was the evidence the FBI needed to pick him up. In a meticulously planned operation, Barsky was pulled over by a Pennsylvania state trooper as he drove away from a toll booth on his way home from work one evening.
After stepping out of his car, he was approached by a man in civilian clothes, who held up a badge and said in a calm voice: "Special agent Reilly, FBI. We would like to talk with you."
The colour drained from Barsky's face. "I knew the gig was up," he says. But with characteristic bravado he asked the FBI man: "What took you so long?"
He kidded around with Joe Reilly and the other agents who interrogated him, and tried to give them as much information about the KGB's operations as he could. But inside he was panicking that he would be sent to jail and that his American family, which he had been trying to hold together, would be broken up.
In fact, luck was on his side. After passing a lie-detector test he was told that he was free to go and, even more remarkably, that the FBI would help him fulfil his dream of becoming an American citizen.
Reilly, who went on to become Barsky's best friend and golfing partner, even visited the elderly parents of the real Jack Barsky, who agreed not to reveal that their son's identity had been stolen.
"I was so lucky and so was my family that the decision-makers were nice enough to say, 'Well, you were so well-established, we don't want to disrupt your life,'" he says.
"It required some interesting gymnastics to make me legal because one thing I didn't have was proof of entry into the country. I came here on documentation that was fraudulently obtained, so it took 10-plus years to finally become a citizen. And when it did, it felt good."
Barsky is now married for a third time and has a young daughter. He has also found God, completing his journey from a hardline communist and atheist to a churchgoing, all-American patriot.
He has even managed to reconnect with the family he left behind in Germany, although his first wife, Gerlinde, is still not speaking to him.
"I have a very good relationship with Matthias, my son, and his wife. And I am now a grandfather. When we talk about things like Americans playing soccer against Germans, I say 'us'. I mean the Americans. I am not German any more. The metamorphosis is complete."
The final act in his story came two years ago when he revealed the secret of his extraordinary double life on the US current affairs programme, 60 Minutes.
He had long wanted to share his story with the world, but his bosses at the New York electricity company where he worked as a software developer were less than impressed to find they had a former KGB agent on the payroll, and promptly fired him.
Barsky says he has no regrets. He knows how fortunate he has been.
"This kind of double life wears on you. And most people can't handle it. I am not saying that I lived a charmed life but I got away with it.
"I am in good health. I have had some issues with alcohol that I have overcome and I got another chance to have a good family life. And another child. And I am finally getting to live the life that I should have lived a long time ago. I am really lucky."
Perhaps the supreme irony of Jack Barsky's story is that he was only able to complete the mission the KGB had set him - to obtain an American passport and citizenship - with the help of the FBI. He cannot resist a smile at the thought of telling his KGB handlers that he has not been such a failure after all.
"I wouldn't mind meeting one or two of those fellows I worked with and saying 'Hey, see I did it!'"
Deep Undercover - My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America, by Jack Barsky and Cindy Coloma, is published next month
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A cannabis factory with plants worth about £250,000 has been uncovered in Salisbury.
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Wiltshire Police raided a house in Old Blandford Road on Wednesday and found 786 plants, along with hydroponics equipment.
Hoa Thi Hoang, 21, from Vietnam was arrested and charged with the production of cannabis plants.
He has been remanded in custody and will appear before Salisbury Magistrates' Court at a later date.
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All may not be rosy with the HS2 programme.
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By Tom EspinerBusiness reporter, BBC News
There have been ongoing questions raised about whether the project can be delivered on time and within budget.
And the recently-appointed HS2 chairman Sir Terry Morgan resigned from his post on Wednesday, after predicting that he would be asked to go by the Department for Transport.
Why is HS2 being built?
Thousands of rail commuters in the UK have to endure train services that are often subject to delays and cancellations.
As well as having to contend with strikes, in the early part of this summer timetabling chaos caused severe disruption.
Even Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has admitted that parts of the UK rail system are stretched to breaking point.
"The system is bursting at the seams… The reality is, the system is full," he told the BBC's Today programme, adding that on certain lines "if the slightest thing goes wrong, that can disrupt the network quite significantly".
That is why, he says, the UK needs high-speed rail links, such as the government's flagship HS2 programme, to take the pressure off commuter services and leave more room for freight.
Why did the HS2 chair quit?
Earlier this week, Sir Terry told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he expected to be sacked due to delays and cost overruns on another major rail project he heads, Crossrail.
"My expectation is that I will be asked to resign [from both projects]," he presciently said.
But Sir Terry also hinted at HS2 problems.
"The challenge, of course, is the scope, the time, and the cost [of HS2] have already been set, and the engineers are now busy trying to assess just how they will build the work that's needed to construct it. There is a challenge inside the project," he said.
In a nutshell, HS2 has been set a budget of £55.7bn to deliver rail lines from London to Birmingham and on to Manchester and Leeds, with the first phase to open by December 2026.
Now engineers are trying to work out how they can do it.
How much trouble is the project in?
Some experts say there is absolutely no doubt that HS2 will cost substantially more than £55.7bn, including consultant Michael Byng, who wrote Network Rail's guidelines on how to estimate costs.
Mr Byng estimates that the cost for just the first phase of the project, from London to Birmingham, will be just under £56bn, and that the whole project could cost double that.
"It's very difficult to see how you maintain a positive, attractive cost-benefit analysis, prepared in 2015 before the project received royal assent, when the costs have probably doubled. That cost benefit-analysis will probably have disappeared," he told the Today programme.
In other words, if the cost doubles, will the project be worth it?
Rail expert and long-term HS2 critic Lord Berkeley also said HS2 will be substantially more costly.
"I think there is a lot of bad news to come from the [HS2] numbers. The work that we've done indicates that the cost will be about double," he told the Today programme.
"I think that's really serious. When you get into a figure that's probably £100bn for a high-speed line, that's an awful lot of money."
What does the government say?
Chris Grayling, however, was adamant that the project would not cost more than £55.7bn.
"I'm very clear on HS2 - it's got a budget, it's got to live with that budget. The budget is [about] £55.5bn at 2014 prices, that's all there's going to be.
"The project has got to work within that. It's going through the early stages of getting its budget in shape at the moment, working with contractors to make sure it's got the right scope, the risk that's carried between the public sector and the contractors is balanced in an appropriate way, but there's a budget and it's got to stick to that."
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Grayling also called into question Mr Byng's judgement.
"Michael Byng has been saying a lot of things. He's not somebody who is entirely well respected within his part of the industry, and I would question his judgement on this."
However, Lord Berkeley described Mr Byng as "one of the best and most respected cost-engineers in the country. I absolutely believe him."
Has work started on HS2?
Civil engineering work on HS2 has been pushed back to a June 2019 start date, a delay of seven months, according to reports.
However, Chris Grayling said some work had started.
"It's happening now. I've been to the start of works ceremony in Birmingham. The work is taking place in and around Euston, in and around Birmingham station at the HS2 station there. The work is happening, it currently employs 6,000 people."
A Department for Transport spokeswoman insisted that phase one of HS2 would be completed by December 2026.
The new chairman of HS2 is chartered engineer Allan Cook.
Will he be able to keep HS2 on time and on budget? Time will tell.
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A man who died after being found collapsed in Stoke-on-Trent with stab wounds to his leg has been named.
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Anas Chergat, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene in Josiah Wedgwood Street, Etruria, at 02:40 BST on Friday.
A murder investigation has begun but the circumstances of his death are not yet clear, police said.
Mr Chergat's family said: "We are devastated by the loss of Anas. We loved him very much and he will be missed greatly by all of his family."
They appealed for anyone with information about his death to contact police.
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Ten industrial sites that helped shaped England have been chosen for a campaign to bring the country's history to life.
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The Piece Hall in Halifax, Cromford Mills in Derbyshire, Castlefield Canal Basin in Manchester and the Lloyd's building in London made the list.
Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A Museum, selected the places from more than 700 nominations from the public.
It is part of Historic England's A History of England in 100 Places campaign.
Cromford Mills near Matlock is home to the first water-powered cotton spinning mill
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Picking up litter. Buying someone in need a coffee. Or just doling out free hugs. There's a growing movement of people doing nice things for strangers, but do they make for a kinder society?
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By Sam JudahBBC News Magazine
Each week, Elisa Ng trawls the streets of Singapore picking up rubbish discarded by her fellow citizens. She is not searching for treasure hidden in the litter. Her only goal is to leave the city a little cleaner than before.
"I want to encourage other people to pick up a piece of litter every day," she says.
Recently, she chased an errant lorry driver who had thrown a plastic bag from his window. "He looked quite apprehensive and seemed apologetic," she says.
Thankless though the task seems, Ng is just one of many residents of the city who have been inspired by the Singapore Kindness Movement, a government-funded body which aims to promote helpful and courteous behaviour amongst its people.
"It definitely makes a difference," says William Wan, the leader of the movement. "We have changed the way that certain social norms are accepted. People are starting to give up their seats on buses now, which they never used to do."
A similar organisation, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, was founded in Denver, Colorado, in response to the city's "Summer of Violence" in 1993, when dozens of people were killed in gang-related shootings, including several children. One victim of stray gunfire was just 10 months old.
The organisation borrowed the writer Ann Herbert's call for people to "practice random acts of kindness, and senseless acts of beauty".
The phrase has since been popularised on doormats and bumper stickers across the US and encourages Americans to surprise one another with good deeds.
Kelsey Gryniewicz, a director at the foundation, advocates activities such as anonymously leaving hampers of food on neighbours' doorsteps and paying for the person queuing behind you at a coffee shop.
"It's not just about single acts, though," she says. "It's about changing your mentality from day to day."
The World Kindness Movement represents the work of organisations from 23 different countries. "It has gone way past the level of community endeavour," says its secretary general Michael Lloyd-White.
But measuring the impact of these groups is not easy.
Each year, the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) publishes a World Giving Index, which attempts to track certain types of giving behaviour in 146 countries across the globe.
The data is extracted from an annual poll conducted by research firm Gallup and ranks countries according to the proportion of people who have volunteered, helped strangers at random, or donated money to charity in a typical month.
In first position last year was Australia, where a third of the population volunteers each month and two-thirds claim to have helped a stranger and donated money to charity.
Lisa Grinham, from CAF's Australian branch, says that the rise is due to the flooding that hit Queensland and Victoria the year before, pointing out that figures tend to rise in times of national hardship.
Globally, however, the position is very different. "The trend that has been revealed is a disturbing one," says Dr John Law, the chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation. The number of acts of kindness and charity dropped by hundreds of millions last year due to the global recession, he says.
Singapore dropped from 91st to 114th place in the 2012 World Giving Index. The country's own Graciousness Index also indicated that fewer people had experienced "gracious acts" last year.
William Wan of the Singapore Kindness Movement blames the decline on "bread-and-butter issues" such as the rising cost of housing and transport.
In the US, which dropped from first to fifth place in the global index last year, a team of academics is working on a programme of compassion education in schools to try to reverse the decline.
Richard J Davidson from the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison thinks that the level of kindness in society can be improved if children are taught to be more empathetic from an early age.
"Compassion should be regarded as a skill that can be cultivated through training," he says.
The kindness curriculum is currently being taught in 10 schools across Wisconsin. The project is still at the research stage, but "the early signs are promising", he says.
Not everybody is convinced that focussing on compassion in this way is helpful, however.
"We have made altruism a sacred object, so we've been blinded to its deleterious effects," says Barbara Oakley from the University of Oakland, Michigan.
In a new book called Pathological Altruism, she argues against what she sees as a cultural obsession with the notion of kindness.
"There's a misguided view that empathy is a universal solvent. Helping others is often about your own narcissism. What you think people need is often not actually what they need."
Kelsey Gryniewicz doesn't think that the American kindness movement is guilty of that charge, arguing that there are tangible, practical benefits to the activities they recommend.
"It doesn't have to be about cradling people in a bubble of kindness," she says.
In Singapore, William Wan takes a more reflective view. "We must be realistic. We mustn't be naive. Kindness movements can't solve all our problems, but if they can solve some of our problems, why not use them?"
There are more volunteering stories in the BBC News series Making Time
Do you carry out small acts of kindness for strangers, or for you local area? Tell us on Facebook or Twitter using #guerillakindness
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America's biggest shopping mall grabbed headlines this week by hiring its first African-American Father Christmas. But black Santas have been around for a lot longer than you might think - and even played a role in the civil rights struggles of the 1960s.
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By Brian WheelerBBC News, Washington DC
"Everything that Santa represents has to be you. That's my honest belief. You can't have some grumpy old guy who doesn't love kids sitting there representing somebody who is joyful, somebody who is loving."
Kenny Green is a man who takes his job seriously.
He has been playing Santa Claus for the past five years and although the mall where he works, in a suburb of Washington DC, has hosted a black Santa for as long as anyone can remember, he says they are still "few and far between" in the rest of America.
African-American families come from as far afield as Delaware, 80 miles away, to visit his grotto, at the Shops at Iverson mall.
Which is why, he says, it was "huge" that the Mall of America - the country's biggest indoor shopping complex - decided to hire a black Santa for the first time this year.
The Minnesota shopping centre hired Larry Jefferson at a Santa convention in Missouri, where among more than 1,000 attendees he was the only African-American.
He only appeared at the Mall of America for one weekend but it was still enough to spark racist abuse on message boards.
In the overheated post-election atmosphere, Santa Claus is seen by some as another cherished cultural institution under attack by the forces of political correctness. The traditional image of Santa, as a jolly, rotund, and white, character is deeply embedded in American culture.
"Going to a department store, sitting on Santa's lap, all of that, is very central to a certain kind of post-war, white middle-class identity," says Prof Victoria Wolcott, a history professor at the University of Buffalo, who writes about segregation.
"To challenge that, by having a Santa Claus of colour, disturbs people."
It appears to have been disturbing people for more than a century, judging from local newspaper reports about "negro Santas", which tend to veer from an amused "whatever next" tone to examples of flat-out racism.
Santa's origin story
"A negro Santa Claus went down a chimney head first and landed on the fire," A 1901 news report, from Bloomfield, New Jersey, read. "The surprised occupants of the room flogged him."
Other reports from the time tell of Christmas parties enlivened by "black-face" Santas, singing "negro melodies".
In 1915, a gushing account of President Wilson's honeymoon at a Virginia resort included a description of a festive party "presided over by a dusky Santa Claus", with a large "gaily decorated" Christmas tree.
"Before [the tree] disported 15 negroes, whose antics and musical efforts kept the President and everybody else almost convulsed with laughter."
Four years later, the Pittsburgh Daily Post carried a report about the "the first negro Santa ever put on the streets of any city". He had been hired by the Volunteers of America in response to "appeals from poor coloured children", the newspaper added.
But the real breakthrough for black Santas came in 1936, when tap-dancing legend Bill "Bojangles" Robinson became Harlem's "first negro Santa Claus" at an annual Christmas Eve party for underprivileged children.
In previous years, the children had been visited by a "Nordic Santa" from downtown New York, reported a local newspaper.
In 1943, one of Harlem's biggest department stores, Blumstein's, hired its first black Santa Claus. It was followed, in 1946, by a store in Chicago.
As white people moved out to the suburbs, and began shopping at the giant new malls that were being built there, it made economic sense for downtown department store owners to tailor the Christmas shopping experience to their now mainly black customers.
By the 1960s, Santa had been recruited by the civil rights movement, which was starting to use economic boycotts as a weapon in the fight for racial equality.
In 1969, Santa Claus was described as "one of the established symbols of racism" by a civil rights leader, in a dispute with Shillittoes, a Cincinnati department store, that refused to hire a black Father Christmas.
The store owner's Fred Lazarus III said: "This has nothing to do with equality of employment. It just doesn't fit the symbol as kids have known it."
But the Rev Otis Moss Jr, a regional director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, hit back, saying: "If a department store cannot conceive of a black man as Santa Claus for 30 days, it most assuredly cannot conceive of his being president or vice president for 365 days."
The store caved in and hired a black Santa the following year, something that began happening with increasing frequency across the country in the early 1970s, including at Macy's flagship New York store.
One department store in Brooklyn even set up rival black-and-white Santas, separated by a low partition, to enable people to make their choice.
At the Iverson mall, Kenny Green is fully suited up and in character, dispensing Christmas cheer to his young fans.
Shameka Pettus, whose two youngest children, Christopher and Jonathan, can hardly contain their excitement at meeting their Yuletide idol, says: "When I was a kid we only had white Santas so this is pretty cool to see a black Santa in the mall for the kids."
But she adds: "I don't think the colour matters. Santa is Santa."
Green says even some African-American people have difficulty with a black Santa, recalling some "shocking" comments made by one woman last year, who told one of his elves Santa should be white.
But he adds: "When it comes to the spirit of Christmas and what the spirit of Santa is all about, it's not about race, it's not about white or black, it's about the love you have and the spirit you represent."
He says the Mall of America's black Santa will "open a lot of eyes" and could lead to an "influx" of Santas from all different ethnic backgrounds, not just African American.
"I would definitely take my children to go see an Hispanic Santa. I would definitely take my children to go see an Asian Santa," he says.
"Because that's letting them know that Santa is a representation of all of us. That's who we should be. We all should be Santas. We all should have Santa in our heart and in our spirit."
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Former Liberal Democrat MP Julia Goldsworthy has been appointed special adviser to Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander.
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Ms Goldsworthy, 31, lost the Camborne and Redruth seat in Cornwall by only 66 votes in the general election.
The post will be unpaid initially because she received more than £30,000 in a resettlement grant after losing her seat.
Special advisers are civil servants who give political advice to ministers.
Ms Goldsworthy, who lost her seat to Conservative George Eustice in May, studied history at Cambridge University and did post-graduate work in economics.
She was shadow chief secretary to the Treasury from 2006 to 2007 when she became shadow secretary of state for communities and local government.
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Technology is changing the way we work and the jobs we do. Will artificial intelligence and robots relieve us of humdrum tasks, making our working lives easier, or will they take our jobs away altogether? As part of our Future of Work series, we look at the cryonics technicians - who are trying to help their clients cheat death.
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By Eleanor LawrieBusiness reporter, BBC News
Are you open minded about the future? Do you have a medical background and can you complete tasks under time pressure?
Are you comfortable working in the presence of a dead body?
This is not the job description for a Victorian grave snatcher.
Instead, it's the ideal attributes of a cryonics technician; someone who preserves the bodies of the recently deceased in the hope they will one day be revived.
Advocates describe it as an "ambulance to the future". They say that as medical science develops, these technicians could become a common sight in our hospitals, purporting to offer believers a second chance at life.
However, most highly doubt it will work.
Buying time
Cryonics seeks to freeze someone after they have legally died in order to keep their body and mind as undamaged as possible. This aims to buy the patient time until future medical science can bring them back to life, and cure them of whatever it is they died from.
As soon as the patient dies, the clock is ticking to start the procedure. The heart has stopped pumping and the brain is no longer receiving oxygen, meaning within minutes it will lose the ability to make new memories, and soon after that the cells will begin to die.
This means the technician must get to work immediately after the individual is declared legally dead, cooling their body in an ice bath in order to slow down the process of degeneration.
Future of Work
BBC News is looking at how technology is changing the way we work, and how it is creating new job opportunities.
After this blood is drained from the body and replaced with cryoprotectant agents - similar to antifreeze - in an attempt to stop ice crystals forming in the blood cells.
The body is then placed in a storage tank and brought down to the temperature of liquid nitrogen (-196C) in an attempt to preserve the organs and tissue.
Necessary skills
While cryonics has been practised since the 1970s, only the US and Russia actually have small storage facilities.
In the US state of Michigan, the Cryonics Institute has about 2,000 living people signed up, and 165 patients who have already gone through the process.
Dennis Kowalski is the institute's president and performs some of the cryonic procedures. By day, he is a paramedic.
"The training to become a paramedic is perfect to become a standby in cryonics," he says.
"You also need someone with a funeral director's licence (because you are still legally handling dead bodies), experience running a perfusion pump, and basic surgical skills."
Future role
The Cryonics Institute is a co-operative with just three full-time members of staff, but Mr Kowalski thinks this will grow as medical science evolves.
So far just 5,000 people around the globe have signed up but the numbers are growing so funeral homes may start to offer this as an option, he says.
"Artificial intelligence, genetic modification, stem cell engineering - all these fields are vindicating what we are doing, which is giving people the greatest opportunity possible."
One of the 5,000 is Dr Anders Sandberg, a senior research fellow at Oxford University's Future of Humanity Institute.
He is on the board of the Brain Preservation Foundation and has elected to have only his head preserved after death, even though he estimates a success rate of just 3%.
Like Mr Kowalski, he argues the skills needed to become a cryonics technician are already in use in many medical professions.
"Right now cryonics feels a little too cold or impersonal and it relies on the admission that it is uncertain, but I do think it will grow.
"In the future, wouldn't having a cryogenicist at the hospital make sense? When you do heart or brain surgery you lower the body temperature to buy more time and I imagine that over time we will start doing more low temperature surgery.
"This is a job that you might want to do if you started out as a nurse or a perfusion specialist. It would not be a big leap from a technical standpoint, only from a social one, as it's using arguments from within medicine.
"There's a lot of resistance to overcome but from a practical perspective it makes sense and might save us from a lot of wasteful medicine."
Cryonics and cryogenics
Although they sound similar, cryonics and cryogenics are viewed very differently by the scientific community.
Cryonics specifically relates to the preservation of the human body after death. Most supporters of the process admit they do not know if or when the technology will exist to revive people, or whether the techniques used to prepare the body for storage will have worked.
Cryogenics, on the other hand, has many applications in today's society. It involves the freezing of matter at temperatures of -150C or lower. In medicine, this includes the freezing of embryos, eggs, sperm, skin, and tissue in order to preserve them for future use.
Clive Coen, professor of neuroscience at King's College, London, suggests applying validated cryogenic techniques to the brain or whole body is doomed to failure.
That's because the application of antifreeze during the preservation process fails to reach all of the brain, and it would be impossible to defrost each part of the body at the same time, he says
"Advocates of cryonics are naive in comparing their wishful thinking with the successes achieved in storing loosely packed cells - such as sperm - at low temperatures.
"And they shouldn't forget that any resuscitation process that isn't instantaneous will merely set the process of decay running again."
But Prof Coen says cryogenics is an exciting field ripe for expansion.
Although the brain is far too complex, cryogenicists are currently working on freezing other organs. This could revolutionise the process of transplantation, which would no longer have to take place immediately.
"People are tremendously hard at work in this field trying to store organs such as the kidney, and even the heart on a long term basis. That would be a tremendous boon to our health and wellbeing," Prof Coen says.
"But a whole body? Forget it."
Illustration by Karen Charmaine Chanakira
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Two men have been charged with human trafficking and running a brothel following a series of police raids.
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Officers found five women in houses on Uttoxeter New Road and Violet Street in Derby.
Daniel Zemencsik, 27, of Uttoxeter New Road, and Geza Horvath, 32, of Station Court, Burton, both appeared at Derby Magistrates' Court.
Mr Zemencsik and Mr Horvath were remanded into custody to attend Derby Crown Court on 17 May.
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The family of Gerry Evans are still waiting for formal identification after human remains were found in County Louth.
The Crossmaglen man was last seen in March 1979.
BBC reporter Barbara Collins was with the family as events unfolded at the site in Carrickrobin.
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The light was fading when John Hill from the Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains gave the nod that the family and friends of Gerry Evans could go down the narrow, mucky lane to the site where they had found his remains.
Just a few hours before, they had been given the news they had been waiting for. It was obvious from their faces that they were struggling to take it all in.
Two weeks ago, the commission had announced they were winding down the search at Carrickrobin after 16 months of painstaking excavation.
Hope
They had unearthed an area the size of four football fields but had found nothing. The family were devastated. Gerry Evans' brother Noel said they were losing hope that he had ever be found.
Time was passing, memories were fading and the landscape was changing, but a renewed appeal for information gave the commission what they needed to complete their task.
As we walked down the lane, treading carefully to avoid the pools of mucky water and stones, we saw the huge machines they had used to drain the bog and rakes and shovels lying on the ground.
Further down stood a small temporary building and the cars belonging to the team who'd been working at the remote site, day after day, in all weathers.
They stood now, in their distinctive orange overalls, behind a hearse containing a small coffin.
Beside them, the parish priest, ready to say prayers over the remains.
Stoic
Mary Evans walked over and stood silently, stoically. Her face was composed, but her hands were shaking. She had waited for this moment for more than three decades.
She had never locked her back door in all that time, hoping that one day Gerry would walk through it. Deep down, she knew he was dead, but she never lost hope that one day she would at least have a grave to visit.
After the priest blessed the coffin with holy water, she turned to shake hands with hands with the people from the Commission who had found her son at last.
Then she got into one of the waiting cars, ready to follow the hearse up the lane.
When it reached the main road, it turned left for Dublin, where forensic scientists will spend the next few weeks formally identifying the remains.
The two cars containing Gerry Evans' immediate family turned right for Crossmaglen.
There was nothing else to wait for at the site, nothing more to do but to go home and wait some more.
But this wait of a few short weeks will be nothing to the three decades they've been waiting to give Gerry Evans the burial they'd prayed for.
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Police investigating the shooting of three men in Coventry have identified a taxi driver, following an appeal.
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The three victims were attacked on Far Gosford Street on Thursday night, but have since been discharged from hospital.
At the time, officers said they believed the taxi driver could have valuable information. He is now helping with the inquiry.
West Midlands Police said no arrests had yet been made.
The force renewed an appeal for anyone with information to come forward.
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Journalists in Afghanistan have held a candlelight vigil in memory of Sardar Ahmad, the senior reporter for Agence France-Presse, who was killed in a Taliban attack on 20 March.
An experienced and popular journalist, Mr Ahmad was gunned down along with his wife and two of his young children at the Serena Hotel in Kabul. The BBC's Harun Najafizada remembers a colleague and friend.
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By Harun NajafizadaBBC Persian
I first met Sardar Ahmad in 2003 in the early days of the new Afghanistan.
It was a time of hope. The Taliban had gone, a new government was in place and our country seemed to be at the centre of the world's attention.
We had both just been recruited as reporters. Sardar was covering news coming out of Bagram, the largest US base in the country, while I was posted to Mazar-e Sharif in the north.
We often met in Kabul to chat about our stories and Afghan politics or just to listen to Hindi music that we both loved.
As the Taliban made a comeback and the security situation began to deteriorate we were both posted back to Kabul.
Sardar was a bright, energetic and committed journalist with eyes and ears always open.
With his charm and language skills, he built up an impressive network of contacts within the Afghan government, among international players, foreign journalists, local society and even within the insurgent networks.
He was key in covering Afghanistan for a world audience, always aware of the ups and downs of Afghan politics.
And he was always full of fresh ideas - from the opening of a new bowling alley in Kabul, to police female commandos and most recently the fate of a pet lion he'd discovered being kept in a house in Kabul.
I last saw him in at an election rally here in Kabul, striding through the crowd with a camera on his shoulder. He smiled and waved to me from the other side of the Ghazi Stadium.
I thought to myself: 'I'll let him get on with his job and later in the week I'll go over to his place and we can go bowling.'
But a few days later, four teenage gunmen with pistols hidden in their socks penetrated several layers of security to attack the Serena Hotel in the centre of Kabul.
They shot my friend, his wife Humaira, his seven-year-old daughter Nilofar and his five-year-old son Omar from close range while they were having dinner to celebrate Nowruz, our New Year's eve.
They also shot his younger son Abozar at least three times, but he survived and is now recovering to keep Sardar's name alive.
As details of the attack emerged later, Afghan officials said they did not believe Sardar was the target. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We began to worry when the usually regular tweets from Pressistan, the local news agency he founded, suddenly stopped.
We all wondered why Sardar was silent when such a big news story was happening in our city.
The next morning we found out that he had been silenced forever.
Like many other Afghan journalists, Sardar had many opportunities to leave the country and seek a better life abroad.
But he wanted to stay and be part of the transition process. He hoped that one day Afghanistan would leave violence and chaos behind and he looked forward to reporting on a more normal life.
When I first heard the news about his death I hoped against hope that it wasn't true. I felt shocked, angry and frustrated.
For many of us journalists in Kabul, Sardar's death has suddenly brought home the grim reality of the relentless violence in our country.
It's given a human face to civilian casualties that we have been reporting on for more than a decade.
It's one tragedy against the background of so many all across Afghanistan. But it's left everyone - not just the media community, feeling deeply shocked.
We will all miss Sardar very much.
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About 40 firefighters tackled flames that engulfed a historic church in the centre of Ipswich on Saturday morning.
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The fire broke out at St Mary at the Elms, a 13th Century church, in Elm Street just before 0830 BST.
The fire severely damaged the church's tower and a crew spent much of the day monitoring for hot spots, Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service said.
Father Paul Hamlet, assistant priest, said he hoped services could be held outside the church this weekend.
"But we will have to look for another place to hold them for the near future," he said.
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Sex and relationships for disabled people can give rise to unspoken questions and sensitivities - often among the able bodied. But amid the awkwardness there is humour. The following is an edited version of a monologue by Ruby MacKellar, who has dyspraxia.
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Everybody had already taken all the good disabilities, so I got left with dyspraxia. Somebody had to have it.
It's a developmental, co-ordination disorder - the less sexy cousin of dyslexia. It largely affects motor control and speech, and memory and information processing, so what generally happens is I fall over a lot and I cock everything up.
Little things are difficult for me, like clothes, hair and make-up, so I like wearing large, elasticated clothes that don't show I've dropped my dinner down them. I've no excuse for my hair, obviously.
I love living alone because of people. And so my favourite activity is sitting alone on the sofa in my pants, watching telly.
I can't actually keep pets or houseplants alive, so I certainly can't keep love and affection alive - that's far too much commitment.
I do have some needs though, so to that end I went online and did a bit of online dating. Online dates, generally, can work in your favour because people are invested in them and they want to be there. They're trapped, which is good news for me.
Often with dyspraxia, I come over very loud and sweary initially, and if I don't know people I get a bit overpowering and overwhelming.
This is apparently a classic dyspraxia symptom and I hadn't realised. I used to think I was this fascinating person with all these quirks and I've discovered I'm nothing but a list of symptoms. I was gutted when I realised this, but don't tell anyone, obviously.
Watch all the stories from the Ouch Storytelling event
So my date's looking a bit nervous and I thought, we'll go to the nearest pub. I'm going along as I usually do, tripping over, talking loudly, waving my arms around, hitting lampposts and then we try to get into the pub and the bouncer says, "No, you're not coming in." I said, "What?"
This is in the afternoon, and the guy says, "No, you're obviously too drunk, you can't come in."
I do get this a lot, so I thought I'd argue with him because, as we all know, arguing with a bouncer, you're never going to lose that argument.
This was not going well, as you might imagine. And, not being gracious in defeat, I was just swearing and stomping off, having a go at him under my breath and generally vindicating him that I shouldn't be allowed in.
And my date says: "No, it's fine, we're going to carry on."
The grim determination to have a good time.
We're going along and I was thinking I was looking quite good in my heels. I can't walk in high heels, I can barely stand in high heels but this doesn't stop me.
They're fairly orthopaedic-looking, flat ones, but it still counts and I imagine it makes me look like a girl, a delicate little flower all sanguine and sexy. Not like the angry tractor that I usually look like.
Inevitably, I fall. And I don't fall in the way I would fall in my head [delicately]. No, I come along and I stack it on the pavement. Face on the pavement, limbs flailing, collateral damage, people screaming, swearing loudly. It was a terrible mess.
My top tip for this is: don't style it out, just stay on the ground. Otherwise everyone mocks you and people stand around filming it for YouTube, thinking it's hilarious.
You stay down and they start to worry and think, hang on, it might actually be serious and, how bad will I look if I'm laughing? So you wait for assistance and someone always comes over and helps you up.
The date picks me up off the ground. I'm galled that he didn't prevent it from happening in the first place - I'm already resentful. But fortunately this has taken place outside a pub. I go in and the landlady sees me bleeding everywhere and she comes over with a roll of toilet paper, trying to stem the bleeding and save the furniture.
I wasn't too badly hurt because I'm so scarred my knees are nothing but scar tissue from years of falling over. I'm slowly building an exoskeleton of scar tissue and stitches, so you can't actually hurt me at all, like Terminator.
We send someone off for TCP and I'm sitting there in the pub with blood, tissues, pouring this [TCP] over my leg because that adds ambience to a sexy date I find. The smell of TCP everywhere - who doesn't love that?
By now, I'm drinking and within seconds I'm crying, saying: "Why is everything so difficult? Why is this happening to me?"
At this point, I remember you're meant to chat, do small talk, which I can't do. I don't understand it. So I'd written little cues up my arm and tried to pass it off as a tribal tattoo. So I'm chatting away - "What do you do? Where do you live?"
It was every bit as scintillating as you might imagine. We decided to leave, and we left of our own volition, which is always a win - not being asked to leave.
I get back home and just try and forget all about it, watch cartoons, sit on the sofa in my pants - equilibrium is restored. I'm much happier again. I'm pretty much accepting that I'm going to die penniless and alone and I'm well on course for that. Achievable goals.
But then a few days later I hear from the date. He texts me, wants to see me again! Why? Why would you put yourself through that? What sort of person would want to experience all that again, what sort of self-esteem problems do you have?
It's absolutely ridiculous. I think, God, I don't want to know anyone that wants to go out with me again, what a loser! And that'll be one of the many, many reasons I've been single for 10 years.
Thank you for laughing at my misfortune, I'm very glad that you did!
Illustration by Nick Willis
You can watch the performers tell their stories on a special programme on the BBC News Channel at 21:30 BST on Sunday. It will also be available on BBC iPlayer for 30 days afterwards.
For more Disability News, follow BBC Ouch on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to the weekly podcast.
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Plans to build a 600ft (183m) viewing platform on Brighton seafront have been given a cash boost after councillors agreed to lend £21.4m to the project, on top of the £14.8m already agreed.
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The i360 tower was given planning consent in 2006, but a private backer withdrew £15m last year - the new loan means work could now start in June.
A council report said project costs were estimated at £38.8m in July 2012.
That rose to £46.2m by December 2013 because of inflation and fee increases.
The i360 is to be built by the team who created the London Eye.
'Economy boost'
Council leader Jason Kitcat said the council would take out a government loan for the scheme, from the Public Works Loans Board, and pass that on to developers.
He said the move would earn the council over £21m in interest payments and fees, which could be used to repair seafront arches, structures, sea defences and walls that are currently in need of £70m repairs.
A further £6m is to come from Marks Barfield, the architects behind the scheme, and £4m from the Coast to Capital local enterprise partnership.
The project was crucial for revitalising the city's tourism industry and seafront and would be a clear signal the city was open for business, he said.
The council has said the tower, near the ruined West Pier, is projected to earn three times more than it needs to cover its loan repayments, and if work starts this spring, the tower could open in June 2016.
Council papers said the tower would attract 700,000 to 750,000 visitors a year, including an increase in visitors to the city of 165,000 to 305,000, and would be a focal point around which other businesses could thrive.
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Thanet Council has a Labour leader after Conservative leader Robert Bayford was removed in a narrow vote.
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Clive Hart was elected by 28 votes to 26, with one abstention, at Thursday night's council meeting.
Thanet became a hung council after the May local elections, with 27 Tories, 26 Labour and three Independents.
However, the recent resignation of a Conservative councillor to join the Independents prompted a motion from Mr Hart to remove the Conservative leader.
Thanet is now the second council in Kent with a Labour leader.
Gravesham became a Labour council following the local elections.
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The UK finished in last place at Eurovision on Saturday, despite the best efforts of singer Michael Rice. The talent show winner has reportedly blamed a Brexit backlash, as have some disgruntled British Eurovisionophiles.
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By Ian YoungsEntertainment & arts reporter
Rice told The Sun that even Gary Barlow or Elton John would have finished last this year.
But it's now a decade since the UK has earned a place in the top 10 and more than 20 years since the last win - a losing streak that stretches back long before the EU referendum was a twinkle in David Cameron's eye.
So can we really blame politics? And what other factors are at play? Here are five possible reasons the UK flopped - and keeps flopping.
1. Brexit
If Europe thought the UK was sticking up two fingers in its direction when the 2016 referendum happened, it's logical to think this could be Europe's way of sending the same message back.
But the UK was also doing terribly before the Brexit vote.
Some people trace the UK's apparent unpopularity back further.
TV critic Kevin O'Sullivan said: "It's because we invaded Iraq. It's because of Afghanistan. To the participants in the Eurovision Song Contest, we're the nearest thing we've got to America and they hate us."
But the politics are a red herring, according to The Spectator editor and Eurovision enthusiast Fraser Nelson.
He told BBC News: "It's tempting for us Brits to blame politics or Brexit when we flop in Eurovision, but we have to face the facts here. Politics didn't help the Dutch win - they had a superb song and we just didn't.
"As long as Britain keeps blaming politics for our Eurovision failure, we're going to keep falling flat on the world's largest musical stage and we're going to keep sending entries that are visibly worse than those submitted by countries a tenth of our size."
2. The selection process
As the dust has settled after Saturday's contest, there have been calls for the BBC - which runs the UK selection process - to up its game.
"If we want to win as a country, we have to put more resources behind it," Grammy-winning record producer Steve Levine told BBC Breakfast.
Nelson agreed, saying the corporation needs to take the contest more seriously - with funding to match. Most other top countries have a more rigorous and competitive selection process with more songs to choose from, he explained.
"I think the BBC ought to ask whether it's sufficiently committed to Eurovision to keep doing this," he said. "Britain puts in less effort than the vast majority of countries when it comes to how many heats you do. You get out of this what you put into it."
The Netherlands won on Saturday after a 44-year barren spell, and Eurovision expert Paul Jordan said they had turned their fortunes around after getting record labels involved.
"The team from the BBC really try hard, but without the record companies' involvement you're not going to get the great songs and songwriters coming through."
3. The talent
However, great British songwriters and performers don't want to touch Eurovision with a bargepole, partly in case they flop too and partly... because it's Eurovision.
"People are not applying and putting their best songs in because they don't want to be associated with Eurovision," superfan Will O'Regan told BBC Breakfast.
That wasn't always the case. Acts like Sandie Shaw and Cliff Richard were already stars when they participated in the 1960s.
"We need to look at where the songs are coming from," Levine said. "Traditionally, it was people who were at the top of their game. We need to make sure we're getting the songs from the very finest professional songwriters, and we get their A-list songs."
Nelson added: "Britain is the only country in Europe that's a net exporter of music.
"We are just dripping in musical talent here and to see us on the world's most-watched non-sporting event sending in songs that do not reflect any of our national talent, it's embarrassing because we can do so much better."
4. The song
Rice's entry Bigger Than Us was actually written by John Lundvik, who competed for Sweden this year.
London-born Lundvik co-wrote two songs, but he, his management and record company decided to go with Too Late For Love - which took him to sixth place.
Rice got the other one. "I thought the song was just very boring, and I thought it sounded very old fashioned," comedian and radio host Ayesha Hazarika told BBC Radio 5 Live. "He was like a wee guy who lost his boy band."
And what is bigger than us precisely? Its lyrics are pretty generic, whereas The Netherlands' victor Duncan Laurence was inspired to write his winning song, Arcade, about a loved one who died young. The previous year, Netta won with another song that meant a lot to her - albeit in a very different way.
YouTuber and Eurovision fan Alesia Michelle said it helps if an artist has a personal connection to their song. "At the end of the day that's what makes the difference," she told 5 Live.
"People at home are going to know you're truly connected to the song you're singing, and I think that's truly why Duncan ended up winning - because it wasn't just a good pop song, it wasn't [just] something that was catchy, it was something that truly felt authentic to him and it was a story he could get on the stage and sell because it was real to him."
UK jury spokesman Rylan Clark-Neal told the BBC's Eurovision Calling podcast that Rice gave "one of the best vocals in the competition", but wasn't helped by the song's slow start.
"I'm not sure if it was the sound or what it was, but I thought the beginning was extremely quiet, the vocals," he said. "That first 10 seconds are all about viewers at home [thinking], am I going to grab another drink? Am I going for a wee?"
Meanwhile, writer Kit Lovelace analysed the last 20 winners and losers, and found that winners were more likely to be in a minor key, and last-placed songs were more likely to be in a major key. Bigger Than Us was in C major.
And The Guardian's Martin Belam pointed out that things started going downhill for the UK in 1999 - the year the rules changed to allow other countries to sing in English, which may have removed an advantage for the UK (and Ireland).
5. The semi-finals
As one of the "big five" countries that contribute the most funds for the contest, the UK doesn't have to compete in the semi-finals and goes straight to the final.
But that's not always an advantage. Of the big five, Italy is the only country that has not consistently underperformed.
Average positions of the big five in Eurovision finals since 2011
Perhaps the big five are at a disadvantage because fans aren't so familiar with their songs, or because the acts haven't had the extra practice of the semi-final. Or perhaps fans resent the fact they get a free pass.
Nelson said it had "made us lazy over the years" because the UK had not been forced to qualify from the semis.
"We haven't worked out just what a sophisticated operation Eurovision is - that you need choreography, you need staging, you need a very different song that will cross all of these linguistic boundaries," he said.
But things could all change quickly if the UK decided that this year's experience was a humiliation too far, he added.
"If we want to properly join this contest and put in as much effort as some other European countries... if we were to properly try, then we could get back in the top 10 next year.
"We could win next year if we wanted to."
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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Three days before Jack Shepherd was due to stand trial for manslaughter by gross negligence, police found he had disappeared. He was convicted in his absence of killing Charlotte Brown in a drunken speedboat crash and has spent the last six months on the run. Can a fugitive really evade the law forever?
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By William McLennanBBC News
Shepherd had been trying to impress Ms Brown when he let her drive his defective boat along the River Thames on their first date in 2015.
It was a drastic error of judgement which ended with the speeding vessel capsizing, throwing the pair into the water, where the 24-year-old drowned.
Rather than face the consequences, the 30-year-old web developer skipped bail before his court appearance and fled, sparking a manhunt that Ms Brown's family described as "prolonging the agony for everyone".
He was sentenced regardless to six years in prison, not a day of which he has served, and his whereabouts remain a mystery.
But should police prioritise his capture above the two dozen hardened criminals on its most wanted list - and where do officers even start when a suspect goes on the run?
The first step is to prevent a fugitive leaving the country. When officers update the UK's police national computer, marking a suspect as internationally wanted, an alert will be circulated to forces at all UK ports and across Europe, via a crime-fighting database known as the Schengen Information System II.
"If he tried to get out through one of the established ports using his ID, he'd get picked up," said Nick Biddis, a retired detective superintendent who led Kent Police's capture of Kenneth Noye, one of Britain's most infamous fugitives.
This, however, can be circumvented using smaller ports or forged documents.
And while it is not known if Shepherd has left the country, recent cases have demonstrated the ease with which criminals can slip over borders.
Shane O'Brien, who was wanted over the murder of Josh Hanson in 2015, left the country on a private flight from Biggin Hill Airport.
He was arrested by Czech police in February 2017 while using fake Italian documents and released before officers discovered his true identity. He remains at large.
Peter Bleksley, a retired Met Police detective and star of Channel 4's Hunted - which pits a team of professional investigators against contestants - said forged documents were no longer the preserve of well-connected underworld figures, thanks to illicit marketplaces on the dark web.
Tech-savvy Shepherd was "going to know his way around the dark web better than your average Joe," he said.
A fugitive's "family and known associations" would be the next port of call.
"You rattle the cages of those that are near and dear to him," said Mr Bleksley. "Search their homes, check their devices. Is each and every number allocated to a person or is there a phone call received from an unknown number?"
In some cases, officers would be deployed to monitor their movements.
"But this is all manpower intensive," he said. "I have my concerns about just how many officers will be actively working on [Shepherd's] case."
Other tactics include utilising a network of cameras, known as the automatic number plate recognition system, to track a suspect's car. An application to the Home Office for authority to trace known phone numbers, email addresses and social media accounts, could also be sought.
"You look at any phones he has used. Who has he called and emailed? Has he laid his hands on a burner [disposable] phone?" asked Mr Bleksley.
Bank accounts can be monitored or frozen.
In Shepherd's case, the Met said he had not accessed any bank or line of communication that they knew of.
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Tony Imossi, a private investigator with more than 30 years' experience, said staying "below the radar" required support. To avoid detection Shepherd would have had to ditch his phone, bank accounts and all known online accounts, as well as staying away from government agencies, like the NHS.
He would also have had to avoid contacting his loved ones.
"It's very difficult for someone to drop out of their circle and live completely hidden," said Mr Imossi. "You need someone to have a bank account in your name, to have a car insurance in your name, all this is expensive. It requires a lot of support."
If he flew out of Britain before border staff were alerted, Shepherd could have left Europe along an established route without leaving a trace, the investigator said.
"He could have caught a flight to Gibraltar... From there he can cross the border into Spain and could then get to Morocco and be in Africa without leaving any footprint."
Mr Imossi said the focus would be on building a profile of Shepherd and his acquaintances, before carrying out "intensive surveillance" and door-to-door inquiries.
"He will emerge eventually. He would not be living a life of luxury, drinking cocktails on a sandy beach. At some point he will run out of finances and help and will live an uncomfortable life. Even [Great Train Robber] Ronnie Biggs had to come home eventually."
The stress of evading police would eventually take its toll, Mr Bleksley added.
"Going on the run is draining, both physically and mentally."
The National Crime Agency (NCA) plays a vital role in tracking fugitives and co-ordinating the actions of police forces in the UK and abroad. It declined to detail its methods but a spokesman said officers work to "develop intelligence" using both "open sources and police sources of information".
The agency's UK International Crime Bureau works with Interpol.
The extradition unit of the Met's serious and organised crime command, known as SCO7, tracks foreign criminals in the UK. The force relies on counterparts in similar units abroad - like the Serious and Organised Crime Team in Holland, which has become a notorious bolthole for British fugitives.
In recent years, the Dutch unit has been responsible for capturing James Taylor, Anthony Downes and Kirk Bradley - responsible for knife, gun and grenade attacks in Liverpool.
In the case of Shepherd, the Met would only confirm that the search is "being supported by detectives from other specialist departments". An international arrest warrant has been obtained and law enforcement agencies across the world have been alerted.
Det Ch Insp Mick Norman, who is leading the hunt for the force's homicide and major crime command, said Shepherd may be using the accounts of friends or associates to evade arrest and extradition and urged anyone helping him to "do the right thing".
Kevin Moore, a retired chief superintendent with more than 40 years of policing experience, said fugitives were often only caught when arrested for another crime.
Despite technological advances - and revelations about the vast reach of Britain's intelligence services - breakthroughs in long-running manhunts also often come from tip-offs.
"Unless there is intelligence fed back that an individual is in a particular place, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack," Mr Moore said. "If you have got the financial backing or are a high level criminal, if you keep your head below the parapet, it's quite easy to disappear. It's a big world."
Mr Biddis, who led the team that tracked down Noye in Spain following a tip-off, said police were likely to receive daily suspected sightings of Shepherd, the majority of which are "probably cobblers".
"You can't ignore any. It's like panning for gold. You just have to sift through it all, looking for a nugget."
Mr Bleksley believes somebody will recognise Shepherd and contact police, describing it as "his Achilles heel".
If he is located abroad, police will face the question of how to bring him back to the UK. In countries with existing extradition treaties - or the 28 members of the EU, which observes European Arrest Warrants - the process would be straightforward, Mr Biddis said.
Elsewhere, police will have to request the Home and Foreign Offices to go through diplomatic channels and the country's judicial process.
"That can take weeks or months, if they fight it."
According to the NCA, 183 suspects wanted in Britain were arrested under European Arrest Warrants last year.
The agency features 27 people on its most wanted list who have been convicted, or suspected of, crimes including murder, rape and importing class-A drugs. Shepherd is not currently listed.
Ms Brown's sister, Katie, from Dartford, Kent, has called for a review of how he was able to communicate with his lawyers and win the right to appeal against his conviction, while evading justice.
"In a perfect world there would be a team of experienced, dedicated, resourceful detectives applied to the search for Shepherd," Mr Bleksley said.
"But, the fact of the matter is there are murders happening in the UK on a daily basis and they will need investigating too."
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Heavy rain has brought extensive flood damage to the UK, with further threats to come in the coming weeks.
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The expectation is that this will bring a string of insurance claims from residents whose homes and vehicles have been damaged.
It comes after the St Jude storm in southern England in October, which led to insurance payouts of about £130m, and the tidal surges and gales during December and the festive season.
Insurers have representatives in many of the areas affected, along with other authorities.
But the Association of British Insurers (ABI) says that people can take action to mitigate the damage.
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A Kentucky Fried Chicken Colonel Sanders logo stolen from a restaurant has been found hidden under the suspected thief's bed.
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Thieves legged it with colonel's large head from the front of the KFC in Colchester High Street over Christmas, police said.
However, officers kept abreast of the matter, and while searching a house for other items found the sign under a bed.
They said two men were "dealt with for their silly behaviour".
Officers posted about their finger-lickin' find on Facebook, using the hashtag "winner winner chicken dinner".
A KFC spokesman said: "We've heard of some weird fetishes - but this is ridiculous. Under the bed?
"We'll have to get him steam-cleaned now."
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There's a sense of phoney war about Parliament at the moment in two different but interlocking ways.
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Mark D'ArcyParliamentary correspondent
First, huge decisions loom on the pandemic, Brexit and taxes, but the Commons and Lords are ticking over with a light legislative agenda - leaving room for opposition and Backbench Business Committee debates.
Second, the social distancing rules of the pandemic Parliament draw much of the sting from moments of crisis.
This was particularly evident on Tuesday, when Gavin Williamson delivered his statement on the emergency grading system for exams and the return to school.
In normal times, this would have been a brutal gladiatorial affair, with baying backbenchers and huge pressure on the minister - the sort of occasion which has made or broken careers.
This one, however, was a rather flat, low key anti-climax.
What's missing is the "mood of the House" - the moment where, in the cauldron of the Commons, both arguments and ministerial mettle are tested and a reaction crystallises.
One old hand told me recently he could think of three speeches this year that might, in normal times, have swung backbench opinion and shifted government policy - but in the pandemic parliament, they fizzled out.
Still, there are plenty of big arguments to be made and the thing to listen out for at Westminster next week will be the mood music - the overtures to those big decisions to come - with backbenchers finding opportunities to fire off warnings about tax increases or Brexit deals, lockdowns and returning to work, or China, Russia and climate change.
Meanwhile, there are a few House points to note.
Backbench Business Committee debates resume on Thursday, after a long hiatus, and there is the prospect of Westminster Hall debates resuming in October.
I'm not sure whether there will be the opportunity for virtual participation by MPs who can't come in to Westminster, but the result will be more opportunities for MPs to sound off on issues of concern - with Thursday's two backbench debates, on the troubles of the aviation and tourism industries, just the start.
In the Lords, new arrivals from Boris Johnson's honours list begin to take their seats.
The atmospherics for this will be interesting, with many peers grumbling about the numbers and the individuals ennobled.
Here's my rundown of the week ahead...
Monday 7 September
The Commons week begins at 14:30 BST with an hour of education questions, which will probably be followed by the usual clutch of post-weekend ministerial statements and urgent questions.
The day's main legislative work is to complete consideration of the Fire Safety Bill. This is the post-Grenfell Tower measure to clarify the responsibility for such matters as cladding and safety measures in multi-occupied, residential buildings.
Its aim is to allow fire and rescue services to take enforcement action and hold building owners to account.
But Labour has concerns that the small print of the bill allocates too much of the cost of safety measures to leaseholders, rather than the freeholders.
The day's committee action includes Public Accounts at 13:45, returning to the issue of the tax gap - the gap between the amount of tax that should be collected and the amount that actually is, or to put it another way, big corporate tax avoidance.
They will be quizzing officials from the Treasury and HMRC.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights has a session on black people, racism and human rights at 14:30.
Meanwhile, in the Lords at 13:00, the Rt Rev Dr David Walker takes his seat as the Lord Bishop of Manchester.
He promises to be an interesting addition to the Bishops' Bench, where he will presumably be the only member of the Lords who shuns socks as a committed wearer of sandals (without socks) in all weathers and all environments.
He also took the nativity story to the streets of Manchester in December 2013 by riding a camel, though I understand he'll be taking more conventional transport to his introduction.
The new entry is often considered one of the more vocal bishops on issues of public policy, and his areas of interest in the Lords are expected to be housing, welfare and poverty, and ethical investment.
Ministers will face questions on ensuring small and medium-sized enterprises are awarded public procurement contacts and on new highways near sites of ecological, cultural or scientific significance.
There will also be questions on finalising a digital evidence policy for access to complainants' and witnesses' mobile phones, particularly in relation to cases of alleged rape and sexual assault, and the review into the Post Office Horizon scandal - another question from the Conservative Lord Arbuthnot, who has long campaigned on this issue.
Then peers move on to the first of three days of Committee Stage scrutiny of the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill - which ends free movement, repeals other retained EU law relating to immigration and will confer power to modify retained direct EU legislation relating to social security co-ordination.
In Grand Committee, peers debate a series of reports on the way Parliament processes international treaties, with the anticipated wave of post-Brexit report trade treaties very much in mind.
All very techy - but the process could turn out to be very important, as new treaties are put before MPs and Peers for approval.
Tuesday 8 September
The Commons opens at 11:30 with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Questions - the first since the Department of International Development was absorbed by the Foreign Office.
It is a fair bet that the talk of cutting the UK's international development budget will come up
The day's Ten Minute Rule Bill, from Labour's Yvonne Fovargue, is the White Goods (Registration) Bill, which would require retailers to register white goods - such as washing machines, fridges etc - at the point of sale.
The aim is to help with product recall, so that faulty - and possibly dangerous - products can be dealt with, and to take the onus off the consumer by establishing a central register.
Then MPs polish off the Extradition (Provisional Arrest) Bill, which allows police to arrest someone identified as an international fugitive - for example, the subject of an Interpol alert - rather than having to release them, seek a warrant and try to find them again.
This power already exists for people wanted by EU member states.
The adjournment debate, led by Conservative former Cabinet Minister Theresa Villiers, is on the inclusion of black history in the history curriculum.
On the committee corridor, composer and producer Andrew Lloyd Webber is the star witness in the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport evidence session at 09.30.
He will speak about the challenges to the return of live audiences to performance venues while meeting the government's social distancing requirements.
Evidence from the sector suggests that venue capacities will be far below the level required to break even, when audiences and sports fans are required to maintain social distancing.
Lloyd Webber has urged the government to announce a target date for venues to reopen without social distancing, but the Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, has estimated November would be the earliest date possible.
At 10:00, the Health and Social Care Committee rounds off its inquiry into the funding of social care and its workforce, which aims to establish how much extra money the government needs to allocate to social care if pressures on the NHS are to be reduced.
First they will quiz James Bullion, vice president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, and Sarah Pickup, the deputy chief executive at the Local Government Association.
Then, at 11:00, Health Secretary Matt Hancock will appear.
Elsewhere, the Defence Committee takes evidence at 14:00 on defence industrial policy from industry and trades union witnesses, while the Foreign Affairs Committee examines the FCO's role in blocking foreign asset stripping in the UK at 14:30.
The Lords' day begins at 12:00 with the introductions of two new peers - the Brexit chief negotiator David Frost, and the former Home Office minister Nick Herbert.
Questions to ministers range from delivering the government's levelling up agenda in the wake of the COVID-19 and the number of new homes needed by 2025 to deliver the 300,000 new homes per year target, to the UCAS End of Cycle Report 2019 findings on low entry rate for white students from state schools.
Then peers rattle through the Third Readings of two bills - the Sentencing Bill which consolidates existing sentencing legislation in England and Wales into a new sentencing code, and the Prisoners (Disclosure of Information About Victims) Bill - or Helen's Law, named after Helen McCourt, whose killer, Ian Simms, was freed from jail without disclosing the location of her remains.
It has taken three years, two general elections and two prime ministers to get the law through, and it will bring in a new requirement for the Parole Board to consider the non-disclosure of information about a victim's remains when considering the release of a prisoner.
It is not a "no body, no parole" bill, but it makes clear to Parole Board panels a refusal to give information that can ease a relative's pain, such as non-disclosure of remains, should weigh on their decision-making.
That is followed by the Second Reading of the Trade Bill, which sets out a new framework for rolling forward existing trade arrangements and for reaching post-Brexit trade deals with other countries.
What it doesn't do is set out specific trade arrangements - the bill is about how they're processed when agreed.
The previous incarnation of this bill was heavily amended, before being paused by Theresa May's government, and then lost at the 2019 general election.
But some of the debates from that era may be re-fought in the Lords, including over the requirements for future parliamentary scrutiny of trade deals.
In Grand Committee at 14:30, peers begin detailed scrutiny of the Parliamentary Constituencies Bill - the measure to equalise the electorates in Commons seats.
Votes are seldom held at Committee Stage in the Lords, and never in Grand Committee, so any clashes over the detail of the bill will be fought out later, at Report Stage.
The Lords Public Services Committee will also take place at 09:00, taking evidence from Tiawanese minister Audrey Tang on their handling of the pandemic, and the Lords special Covid-19 Committee starts at 10:00 with an evidence session on life beyond the virus.
Wednesday 9 September
The Commons day begins at 11:30 with half an hour of Scotland questions, followed by Prime Minister's Question Time
The day's Ten Minute Rule Bill, from "Red Wall" Conservative Ian Levy, would increase the penalties for a breach of the licensing conditions for houses with multiple occupants.
The main debates are on two Labour Opposition Day motions - first, on the protection of jobs and businesses, then on the personal role and involvement of the prime minister and education secretary in this summer's exams fiasco.
On the committee corridor at 09:30, the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union hears from witnesses from the Road Haulage Association and the Customs Clearance Consortium.
Following its fascinating session on the Troubles with the key investigator of some of the most contentious crimes, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee continues its look at the UK government's new proposals to deal with the legacy, with former Secretary of State Lord Hain and Ulster Unionist Lord Empey.
The Transport Committee hears evidence on the implications of coronavirus at 09:30 from transport union the RMT and transport ministers Kelly Tolhurst and Rachel Maclean
And the Treasury Committee takes evidence at 14:30 on the decarbonisation of the UK economy and green finance
In the Lords from 12:00, ministers face questions on the benefits and risks of AI in recovering from Covid-19, the steps taken by Office for Veterans' Affairs to support veterans and the future of Britain's railways.
After that, peers have their second day of Committee Stage scrutiny of the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill - as ever, Committee Stage proceedings are exploratory, and serious attempts to rewrite the Bill won't begin until the later Report Stage.
In Grand Committee from 14:30, peers debate the report from the Science and Technology Committee, "science research funding in universities".
Thursday 10 September
Commons business opens at 09:30 with 40 minutes of questions to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
This will be followed by a mini-question time for the MPs who speak on behalf of the Church Commissioners, the House of Commons Commission (which now covers the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body - the quango in charge of the restoration of the building), the Public Accounts Commission and the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission.
Then comes the weekly Business Statement, announcing the future agenda for the House, and Business Questions to the Leader of the Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg.
After that, it's the return of Backbench Business Committee debates, with two general debates on the aviation sector and on support for the tourism industry after the lockdown.
The day's committee action includes Public Accounts at 09:30 recalling witnesses from the Home Office, including Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft, to discuss their handling of the Windrush scandal.
The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee quizzes the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove, at 14:00 on the work of the Cabinet Office.
In the Lords at 12:00, former DCMS Minister, Ed Vaizey, and former Northern Powerhouse Minister, James Wharton, are introduced as peers.
Question time covers the continuity of military operations and support during the pandemic, gambling legislation, and support of the music industry - particularly the self-employed and sole traders.
Then peers debate (some time after the event) the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Leicester) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 - the legal underpinning of the Leicester lockdown.
In Grand Committee at 14:30, it's day two of Committee Stage consideration of the Parliamentary Constituencies Bill.
Friday 11 September
Private Members' Bills are back, and at 09:30 MPs sit with a long list of bills on the Order Paper - most of which will not be debated and will then end up in legislative limbo.
It is rare for more than three or four bills to be debated on a single Friday, which means measures like the new Lib Dem leader, Sir Ed Davey's Coronavirus Inquiry Bill - which lurks at the end of the agenda - have no chance of getting a Second Reading.
The get-out clause, as aficionados of this process will know, is that, on rare occasions, a bill can be given a formal Second Reading if no-one shouts "object" as its title is read out at the close of the day.
This is a kind of magic pole vault which can allow favoured bills to jump the normal Second Reading debate and go straight into committee stage scrutiny.
But it is very rarely used, not least because the Private Members Bill awkward squad of Tory backbenchers dislike it, as a matter of principle.
First up is the Second Reading of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies (Environmentally Sustainable Investment) Bill, proposed by Labour's Anna McMorrin, who placed third in the annual ballot awards MPs some priority for debate for the measure of their choice.
Her bill is designed change the rules under which cooperatives and community associations operate to make it easier for them to create green jobs and skills.
In permitting environmentally sustainable investment, the bill would see the expansion of much-needed renewable energy or housing projects.
And Ms McMorrin hopes the result would be cheaper, greener energy, warmer, more energy efficient homes, and cheaper, more sustainable locally-sourced food.
Second up is the Unpaid Work Experience (Prohibition) (No. 2) Bill from Labour's Alex Cunningham.
This does what it says on the tin, and the "No 2" indicates that there is an identical bill before the House of Lords, which could speed things up if the bill clears the Commons.
Below that are a number of presentation bills from Friday frequent flyer Peter Bone, who won some minimal priority for debate by camping out overnight in the Public Bills Office to be first in the queue after the MPs who had won places in the annual ballot.
In practice, this gives him the opportunity to place his bills strategically on days when he thinks they might get a chance of some debate towards the end of the day, and so get a chance to raise some of his issues for a few minutes.
These include the Hospitals (Parking Charges and Business Rates) Bill and the Parliamentary Constituencies (Amendment) Bill.
Then come all manner of presentation bills and Ten Minute Rule bills, with Sir Ed's bringing up the rear.
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Plans for a £200m overhaul to ease congestion on the A55/A494 dual carriageway in Flintshire are to go out to public consultation.
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Proposals to tackle hold-ups on the Deeside corridor between Queensferry and Northop date back over 10 years.
One option includes a new link road to the A55 at Northop via Flintshire Bridge on the A548, and the second involves improving the existing road.
The 12-week consultation starts in March, the Welsh Government announced.
Economy Secretary Ken Skates said: "The road is consistently carrying more traffic than it was designed to do and this is causing regular congestions issues.
"There is clear need for the road to be upgraded and brought up to modern standards.
"Both options in this consultation will deliver a safer, more sustainable, better connected road, with improved capacity, reliability and journey times."
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People have been urged to use their time in lockdown to dig out and check old lottery tickets - with a £1m prize still outstanding.
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The money was won in the EuroMillions draw on 7 February, with the ticket bought in Ceredigion.
Players were told to check their tickets after someone missed out on a £1m prize last week.
The ticket was bought in Rhondda Cynon Taff for a draw that took place on 22 October.
However, the winner failed to claim it within the 180-day window.
Camelot spokesman Andy Carter said: "In the current situation and to avoid this unfortunate situation happening again, we're urging all National Lottery players to play and check their tickets online."
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On social media there are several accounts claiming to be the mouthpiece of Zimbabwe's governing Zanu-PF party, but it's unclear which, if any, are official, and what links they have with those currently in charge.
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By BBC TrendingWhat's popular and why
News networks across the world have been reporting on the seizure of power by military generals in Zimbabwe.
Many media outlets, including the BBC, reported posts by the unverified Twitter account @zanu_pf which claims to be "the only official handle" for the Zanu-PF party.
But it's far from clear who is in control of the account and what their connection to the party is.
The account was described as a fake by PRI in 2012, and has previously adopted a tone at odds with what might be expected from official accounts.
Its Twitter history is full of rants and proclamations about pornography, eggs Benedict and imperialism.
Several journalists in Africa, or specialising on African issues, quickly derided the reporting on the Zanu PF account.
Matina Stevis-Gridneff, Africa reporter at the Wall Street Journal referred to it as a "parody account," but said she, too, had earlier mistakenly retweeted its content.
Alastair Jamieson, from NBC News' London office, tweeted he was trying to establish whether the account was not to be trusted, but could not find the evidence.
The confusion about who's running the account isn't limited to outside observers. At times Zanu-PF officials have publicly wondered who is running the account.
In 2013 another account, reported to be that of a spokesman for the Zanu-PF party, tried to "urgently" establish contact with the person running the @zanu_pf handle.
It is not known what contact was made between the account @zanu_pf and the Zanu-PF party.
In a surreal turn of events, the unverified account was accused of being a fake in 2016 by a parody account mocking Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
In the post the fake Mr Mugabe claimed the "official party account" was @ZANUPF_Official.
The @ZANUPF_Official account is another which has seen a popularity boost after recent events in the country.
It had slightly over a thousand followers in 2013, a few thousand on Wednesday morning, and over 10,000 by Thursday morning. Again, it's unclear what connection the account has, if any, with the party leadership.
It has tweeted infrequently - just 535 times since 2013. Unusually for a party account claiming to be official, it did not post at all during 2014 or the first half of 2017.
The account became active again in August with a post stating that it, and not the other account - @zanu_pf - was the real deal.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, social media users replied expressing their confusion and questioning the legitimacy of both @zanu_pf and @ZANUPF_Official.
"Look at these jokers," posted one Harare resident. "Both from the same tree."
"Get verified so we know which one is real," suggested a business analyst from East Zimbabwe.
And "now we don't know which one is the fake one," joked a third user from South Africa.
The lack of clarity over who is running these political accounts extends to another Twitter account, one claiming to be the youth wing of the party.
Posting between 6 and 14 November, the account @YLZANUPF1 was highly critical of former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa and General Constantino Chiwenga, and supportive of Grace Mugabe's bid for the vice-presidency.
However, since the military seized power on Wednesday morning the tone of their posts had radically changed. It sent out tweets praising the "gallant Zimbabwean Army" which was "professionally and peacefully carrying out the National Democractic Project". Some have been left questioning if control of this account has changed hands.
But why has there been such confusion over Twitter accounts? Some see it as a symptom of a wider problem in the representation of African users on social media.
Chipo Dendere took aim at Twitter for "not verifying African accounts", arguing a lack of verification causes confusion.
Replying to Sally Hayden, one of the first journalists to raise the alarm over the citing of the @zanu_pf account on Wednesday morning, fellow journalist Caelainn Hogan asked: "If there was more credence and respect given to nameless 'journalists in Africa', or better yet Zimbabwean journalists and researchers, maybe this wouldn't be such an issue?"
The online confusion reflected the foggy situation on Wednesday morning, with Zimbabwe's media not covering the takeover until the lunchtime news and organisations involved avoiding the term "coup".
Other media outlets have run footage from September, believing it to be showing armoured vehicles approaching Harare on Tuesday.
Several newspapers and websites claimed Emmerson Mnangagwe had returned to Harare from exile, using a still from a video filmed in August of the former vice-president arriving at Manyame Air Force Base to support this claim.
Multiple accounts, some switching their messages, many accused of parody, international journalists uncertain which can be dismissed, local journalists hesitant, and a lack of verification on African Twitter: Who to believe on Zimbabwean social media remains unclear.
Live page: Latest updates
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.
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The coalition government is inviting all schools in England to become academies and encouraging parents to set up their own schools, called free schools. The Academies Bill, which paves the way for these changes, is currently being debated in the House of Commons. The BBC News website examines key questions about academies and free schools.
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What is an academy?
Academies are publicly funded schools which operate outside of local authority control. The government describes them as independent state-funded schools. Essentially, academies have more freedom than other state schools over their finances, the curriculum, and teachers' pay and conditions.
A key difference is that they are funded directly by central government, instead of receiving their funds via a local authority. In addition, they receive money which would previously have been held back by the local authority to provide extra services across all schools, such as help for children with special educational needs. This is estimated to range from 4 to 10% of the funds allocated to the school.
Academies do not have to follow the national curriculum. They can choose their own curriculum, as long as it is "broad and balanced".
Don't academies exist already?
Yes, there are more than 200 of them in England at the moment, all secondary schools. They were established by the Labour government, seen as a way of turning around the worst-performing schools and schools in disadvantaged areas.
Under Labour, academies had to have sponsors - who invested up to £2m in return for receiving state funding directly from central government. Sponsors included businesses, church groups, charitable trusts and private schools. New academies were usually established with state-of-the-art buildings and the philosophy that transforming children's environment would help them engage more with learning.
Academies set up before 2007 were able to set their own curriculum, but those which came afterwards had to teach the national curriculum in English, maths and science. Those academies will have to renegotiate their agreements with the government to to get the new academy freedoms over the curriculum.
What is the government's vision for academies?
The coalition wants all schools to have the chance to become academies, including primary and special schools, as part of an "education revolution".
In its Academies Bill, which will make the legal changes needed for this academies expansion, the government says becoming academies will "give schools the freedoms and flexibilities they need to continue to drive up standards".
Its says it aims to raise standards for all children, narrow the attainment gap between the most and least advantaged, and create a "world-beating system".
However, in contrast to Labour, the coalition is focusing first on the top end of schools. It wants to enable schools judged "outstanding" by Ofsted to convert into academies by September, although it then wants successful schools to mentor struggling ones.
Education Secretary Michael Gove sees academies as a way of cutting bureaucracy and giving more control to schools.
The changes could mean thousands of schools opting out of local authority control and a much-reduced role for local councils in education.
The Bill removes the need for local authorities to be consulted about the setting up of an academy.
How fast will academy numbers grow?
The Academies Bill is due to be passed by the Commons before MPs break for the summer. This will mean that some schools - those judged outstanding by Ofsted - can convert in September, if they are able to overcome the necessary legal hurdles in time.
The government has not yet said how many schools will be in a position to become academies in September. More than 1,500 schools have expressed interest in becoming academies, it says. Labour questions this number, saying the schools were merely interested in getting more information.
What is a free school?
Free schools are schools which will be set up by groups of parents, teachers, charities, trusts, religious and voluntary groups. They will be set up as academies and will be funded in the same way - directly from central government.
The Academies Bill will make it easier for such groups to set up schools by removing the need for them to consult local councils.
The Free Schools programme attracted a lot of attention in the run-up to the general election.
The scheme is similar to the Charter School system in the United States and the situation in Sweden, where non-profit and profit-making groups can set up schools - funded by the government - but free from its control.
So is there a difference between free schools and academies?
Essentially not, because free schools will be established as academies. But the free schools programme will give parents and teachers the chance to initiate in the creation of a new school if they are unhappy with state schools in a particular local area.
The day-to-day running of free schools will often be by an "education provider" - a group or company brought in by the group setting up the school. The provider would not be allowed to make a profit from running the school.
What happens to the schools left under local authority control?
They will stay as they are.
What are the criticisms of the Academies Bill?
Labour and the big classroom teachers' unions are the chief critics. Labour says the changes will benefit more privileged neighbourhoods and that the best schools will be able to "suck the best teachers and the extra money", leaving those left under local authority being regarded as second best.
Critics also say that the ability of local councils to provide extra services for schools such as help for children with special educational needs will be weakened if a lot of schools in an area become academies.
The NUT (National Union of Teachers) said the move could spell the end of state-provided education and the NASUWT (National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers) that it could "segregate and fragment communities".
There have also been fears that the changes will give too much freedom to faith schools or fundamentalist agendas - for example that they would allow the teaching of Creationism. These have been dismissed by the Education Secretary Michael Gove. He says to reach the necessary "funding agreement" with the government, a school will have to show that its curriculum is broad and balanced.
How will academies be regulated?
They will be subject to inspections by England's schools inspectors Ofsted as other schools are. The government has announced that all outstanding schools will no longer be subject to routine Ofsted inspections - and the first wave of new academies will all have been judged outstanding.
The results of their public exams will continue to be published.
What is the role of local authorities in schools now and how will that change?
Local authorities have a duty to ensure that children in their area receive an education. They coordinate the admissions system - whereby school places are allocated - and will continue to do so, although academies will be responsible for drawing up their admissions criteria in line with the Admissions Code.
Councils are also responsible for monitoring standards in the schools they maintain, in terms of their performance and financial arrangements. They will not have this responsibility over academies.
Mr Gove has said he sees councils continuing to play a strong strategic role in the schools system. The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents local councils, says councils do not run schools but advise and support them. It wants clarification of what this strategic role will involve. It proposes a new role for councils, "as local commissioners of education".
Councils pass on money allocated for schools to individual schools - in most cases about 90% of it. They use the remainder to provide services for pupils with special educational needs and those who are expelled or excluded from mainstream schools. Some money is also spent on nurseries.
New academies will receive all of their funding allocation and will be expected to organise and pay for special education provision themselves. The government has said they will be free to choose to buy in these services from the council as well as other providers.
Why has there been a row about the Academies Bill?
The government has been accused of rushing the bill through Parliament. It wants the law passed in time for some schools to convert to academies in September. MPs have just a week to consider it on the floor of the Commons.
Usually, a bill would pass through a "committee stage", when a panel of MPs would scrutinise it. But in this case, the committee stage is being taken on the floor of the House.
The government has said it made an election pledge to allow schools to take on academy freedoms in September; that the bill has been scrutinised at length in the House of Lords and that taking the committee stage on the floor of the Commons allows more MPs to have their say on this important bill.
The Department for Education has produced a list of "Frequently asked questions" on academies for its website.
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The idea that you could speak into a device in one language and it would emerge in another has long been a sci-fi fantasy. But this week that kind of automated translation came a step closer to reality when Skype launched the beta version of its Translator service.
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Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent@BBCRoryCJon Twitter
For now it's an invitation-only trial and the only languages that it can handle are English and Spanish. I tried it out, talking to Maria Romero Garcia, a Spanish professor in Seville, who works with Skype.
What I found is that you have to use a good quality microphone and speak clearly in full sentences without pauses - otherwise the machine translation will kick in and interrupt you.
But the results were not bad at all. I asked Maria what she had been up to that morning. She replied in Spanish: "Esta manana ha estado trabajando un poco poco y concertando citas para ver a mis amigos esta tarde."
That came out in English as this: "This morning has been working a little bit and arranging appointments to see my friends this afternoon."
The technology does struggle at times - when Maria's cat wandered in front of the camera I asked what it was called and Translator decided I'd asked whether it was cold.
But there is a lot going on here, as Vikram Dendi, Microsoft's lead engineer on the project, explained on the line from the US. Live translation involves speech synthesis, voice recognition and machine translation - "each technology on its own is pretty complex, putting them together is a very difficult problem."
As someone who studied languages at university, spending many hours toiling my way through translation - and seeing friends go into the interpreting profession - I could see that teaching a computer a language was a huge challenge.
But it seems it is not a question of getting the machine to learn like a human. "It's not like someone who goes to school and learns a language by learning the rules," Vikram explains. "Computers use a different approach. They take large amounts of parallel texts - high-quality translated texts - and then use that text to build a probability base language model."
Computers, then, are living off the work of human linguists, scouring the web for examples of translated text. If this blogpost is translated into other languages, for instance, it could help feed translation engines of the future. That means the poor old human translators are helping to build the robots that could take their jobs, doesn't it?
Vikram Dendi says that is much too pessimistic a view - he believes that the explosion in internet use by people whose first language is not English will lead to a surge in demand for translation. "This will increase the amount of translation that will happen in the world - a portion of that will be done by technology and a portion by technology in conjunction with human translators."
In any case, Skype's Translator and its rivals have some way to go before they can match the abilities of a skilled human linguist. You would not want them involved in vital negotiations between world leaders for example. But over the next decade, you can expect to chat to friends whose language you don't share without stopping to flick through a dictionary.
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Imagine a far flung land where you can catch a ride from the Jackie Chan bus stop to a restaurant called Translate Server Error, and enjoy a hearty feast of children sandwiches and wife cake all washed down with some evil water.
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By Mark SmithTechnology of Business reporter
If such a rich lunch gets stuck in your gnashers, you'll be pleased to know there are plenty of Methodists on hand to remove your teeth.
And if by this point you've had enough of the bus, fly home in style on a wide-boiled aircraft. But whatever you do, please remember that when you land at the airport, eating the carpet is strictly prohibited.
No, I haven't gone mad. These are all real-world examples of howlers by auto-translation software.
Joking aside, poor translations can have big implications for firms who run the risk of offending customers and losing business, or at least looking very amateurish.
Yet we keep being promised that machine learning and natural language processing will soon make flawless, near-instantaneous translation a reality.
So how long will businesses have to wait?
Obscenities
In January, Skype rolled out its real-time translation software, which allows voice-to-voice translation in seven languages.
But even this hi-tech development was not without its teething problems, randomly turning Mandarin words into obscenities on one occasion.
The glitch was spotted by photographer Tom Carter who was in China shooting a Skype commercial and had been using it to speak to people in Mandarin.
When he said: "It's nice to talk to you" to a local scout in Yangshuo, Skype translated it into a very offensive stream of swear words.
The issue was blamed on how the Great Firewall - China's way of censoring the web - had interrupted the Skype conversation.
Neural networks
Translation programs, such as Google Translate, have traditionally been built around phrase-based statistical machine translation.
This works by analysing a back catalogue of texts that have already been translated - such as academic papers and glossaries. It analyses them in parallel in both their original and target languages, then uses statistical probabilities to select the most appropriate translation.
Its effectiveness depends greatly on the quality of the original language samples and it's prone to mistakes, often sounding clunky and mechanical.
For this reason, Alan Packer, director of engineering language technology at Facebook, said recently that statistical machine translation was reaching "the end of its natural life".
Instead, translation tech is now moving towards artificial neural networks. These are structured similarly to the human brain and use complex algorithms to select and use the appropriate translation.
But rather than just translate the words, a neural network can learn metaphors and the meaning behind the language, allowing it to select a translation that means the same thing to a different culture, rather than a direct literal translation which may in some cases cause offence.
Facebook, which carries out up to two billion translations a day in 40 languages, plans to roll out such a system later this year.
Search giant Google, too - which now offers 103 languages covering 99% of the online population - is also reported to be working on switching its translation service over to neural networks.
But it has not said publicly how soon it plans to make that transition.
'Hard problems'
But before you think auto-translation is on the verge of perfection, think again.
Professor Philipp Koehn, a computer scientist and expert in translation technology at the University of Edinburgh, tells the BBC there is still some way to go.
"There are very hard problems with semantics and knowledge representation that have to be solved first, and that we are not close to solving," he says.
"The main challenges are when there is less explicit information in the source language than what is needed for generating proper target language."
For example, Chinese doesn't have the equivalent use of plurals, verb tenses, or pronouns as in English, which makes exact translation very difficult, he says.
And English doesn't use gendered nouns, which makes things tricky when translating into languages that do, such as French, Italian and German.
Human touch
Until these challenges are overcome, mistranslations are likely to continue, whether that's Chinese bus routes changing Sichuan Normal University Campus Station to The University Jackie Chan Campus Station, or restaurant owners calling their establishments "Translate Server Error".
Although translation technology may be improving rapidly, the cost of failure is potentially huge, so many businesses are unwilling to put their faith in it entirely.
Clem Chambers is chief executive of ADVFN, a global stocks and shares information website that covers over 70 stock exchanges around the globe.
He says: "For us, when it comes to creating geographic and language-targeted websites, nothing beats having native speakers who actually have a thorough understanding of the financial markets.
"Translation tech has come a long way and can provide good literal translations, but what we need is something that really speaks the language of the local end user, with all the subtleties and colloquialisms specific to their country."
In other words, translation tech has its uses, but rely on it entirely at your peril.
Follow Technology of Business editor @matthew_wall on Twitter
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It used to be the hottest of topics in Scottish politics. Three Holyrood elections ago, in 2003, the BBC's "issues poll" found that the private financing of public services was the most unpopular policy, and fourth on a list of concerns.
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Douglas FraserBusiness/economy editor, Scotland
(As you're probably wondering, and contrasting with 2016, "bobbies on the beat" was top, followed by nurses pay.)
Private finance of public services has intruded into this year's Scottish Parliament elections in the kind of intervention that no-one could have foreseen - more than 7,000 Edinburgh pupils unable to attend school because of a risk that the walls might tumble on them.
If you're in the business of government (or, indeed, the government of business), this is a serious issue. Parents need to know that children are safe at school. So does everyone else.
Sorting things out is a priority. But in election season, so is the placing of blame.
Is this a sign of the failure of the private financing of school buildings? Could the private funding model that is now being used by government ensure this could not happen?
Does conventional procurement offer any better protection against walls falling down?
To get at answers, some other questions might first be useful, to explain private finance of public assets. Here are some of them:
How do we fund the building of schools and other public assets?
Some projects are funded by conventional means. Government (or a council or a health board, Police Scotland or the Scottish Prison Service, etc) commissions a design, and after competitive bidding, a building contractor to build it. Once it is completed, it is handed over for the public agency to operate.
If something goes wrong with the design, then the client or designer takes responsibility. If the building is faulty, the contractor retains responsibility for lots of things over 12 months, and long after that for latent defects.
And what about private finance?
I was coming to that. Over the past 30 years, private finance has been deployed to design, build and to operate assets.
Government (or its agencies) negotiates a contract with private companies to build an asset such as a school. The private companies typically form a consortium comprising a construction firm, facilities manager and investment funds.
For an agreed monthly fee, and usually for 25 or 30 years, the consortium provides and maintains the infrastructure. A lot of the profit from this is derived from managing the facility.
That can mean facilities management of a school or clinic, but not the service in it, or it can extend to running every aspect of a prison.
What is the appeal of the private finance option?
With constrained capital budgets, it spreads costs over decades, and pushes the cost onto the revenue budget - as if renting the building and paying for it to be maintained and factored.
It is also argued that the private sector brings tougher financial disciplines, so that projects are delivered on time, and the risk of going over-budget is transferred away from the taxpayer.
But transferring risk comes at a price, and that is factored into the monthly payments. And as it is mandatory for public authorities to provide services such as schools and hospitals, they always have to step in as a last resort. So an element of risk remains with the taxpayer.
Some contracts have suffered from inflexibility, or hidden extra charges.
Critics of private finance point to high lifetime costs for government, and big profits for financiers. The secure future stream of payments is an asset that can be sold in a secondary market, and some have changed hands for obscene sums.
How has private financing of public assets changed over time?
In the 1990s, under Conservative government, the first Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects were particularly controversial. The Skye Bridge, for instance, was seen as very poor value for the public and toll-payers. The contract was eventually bought out.
The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary deal was notoriously inflexible. The business model relied on charging patients and visitors, for instance for use of a television and for car parking.
The Labour government came to office in 1997 promising to end the excesses. But it liked the integration with private finance, at a time when renewal of schools and other public buildings was overdue.
Under Tony Blair, Labour re-badged the policy as the Public-Private Partnership (PPP). In Scotland, the party embraced the opportunity to have a huge school building programme without needing the capital budget to pay for it, along with LibDems once in Holyrood coalition.
Meanwhile, public sector officials were gaining experience in negotiating contracts. The early deals had been done with little understanding of financial risk.
The Internal Rate of Return, reflecting that risk, was very high in the early days. As negotiators on both sides got experience, the typical IRR fell sharply.
Bidding was getting more competitive, and as profits got tighter, some consortia even went bust.
The SNP was against PFI-PPP, so surely it ended this when it came to power?
Yes. And no. The Scottish National Party came to power in 2007 with a promise of a new funding mechanism.
Something called the Scottish Futures Trust would use council borrowing powers, bundled up for national projects and issued as bonds.
It didn't work out that way. The Scottish Futures Trust was introduced by the SNP government, but it looks very different to the pre-election plan.
It is an organisation which offers project funding expertise for the public sector.
It commissions hubs - buildings shared by public organisations to improve efficient use of taxpayer pounds.
This year, it intends to complete 21 school buildings or upgrades, start construction of 19, and start planning for 19 more.
It is an arm of Scottish government policy, for instance looking at ways to expand capacity for nursery education and childcare.
It has sought to reduce design costs with model buildings, as guidelines for others throughout Scotland.
Re-use of designs has been one of the ways in which private financiers have reduced cost - though it looks less clever now in Edinburgh, where repeated designs may have led to repeated mistakes.
So the SNP didn't introduce a new model for funding?
It was new-ish. The Non-Profit Distributing model had already been tried for projects in Argyll and Bute and Falkirk. And the incoming SNP government embraced it.
NPD is similar to PFI-PPP, with one difference in its design. Contractors do not have ownership of the assets. That means they provide finance as debt, in return for a predictable flow of income. Without equity, they lack the opportunity for unlimited profits.
But finance experts point out that equity had already become a minor part of the deal, as the rate of return was brought down.
And financiers expect the same Internal Rate of Return that they could expect for their money if invested in English PPP.
If they don't get that as return on equity, they'll increase the IRR on the debt to get to the same numbers, and the same profitability.
How extensive are these privately-funded projects, and how much is being paid out for them?
The revenue cost for all of the PFI-PPP projects to which the public sector is committed runs to just over £1bn this year. That is just under 4% of all spending, while the SNP has set a ceiling of 5% of spend.
Roughly a third of that is in education, and just under a quarter is in health and sport.
Scottish government figures issued last July show more than £6bn of capital value to these privately-funded projects, 8% of which was then NPD (but growing quite fast).
Thirty-eight schools accounted for £3.4bn, 28 hospitals and clinics for £1.3bn.
The next big tranches were in transport, at £610m, and waste water, at £562m.
So what could all this have to do with walls falling down in Edinburgh schools?
Perhaps not very much. We know from problems in Glasgow's Lourdes Primary that a similar problem has been found in a conventionally procured building.
We know from the Holyrood Parliament building project that conventional procurement can also turn into a fiasco.
It could be that work on the Edinburgh schools was done too hastily, or with the wrong materials, in order to cut costs.
But if you were a builder cutting corners, you probably wouldn't start with wall ties.
The self-certification of building completion looks a likely line of inquiry, once one gets under way.
But it's not clear there is any connection between that and the source of funding. That building standards regime operates equally across building sites.
The only difference between conventional procurement of a school and private finance is one that points to a higher chance of shoddy workmanship in a conventional contract.
That is, a construction company contracted to be responsible for maintenance over 25 years has an incentive to build to a higher quality than otherwise, so as to minimise cost over that term.
So who is responsible for the Edinburgh schools scandal, and who will pay for it?
The political blame game will surely go on, arguing over the funding methods. An inquiry ought to shed some light on whether there was any connection. But there's no evidence yet.
PFI, PPP and NPD have kept a lot of the contractual detail private. But there's not much doubt the private consortium will be held liable for the costs of repair and of disruption.
How much will they pay out? Well, the construction industry is quick to resort to lawyers to fight over such costs. It seems a safe bet that this will land up in court, or in arbitration.
And one of the questions for parents is whether they too can claim the cost of disruption to their family, childcare and working lives.
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Just over a year ago, Greek pilot Vasileios Vasileiou checked into a luxury hilltop hotel in Kabul. The Intercontinental was popular with foreign visitors - which is why, on 20 January, Taliban gunmen stormed it, killing at least 40 people. Vasileios explains how he survived.
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I had decided to go for dinner early - at six o'clock - with my friend, another pilot called Michael Poulikakos. It was the first time in the three or four months that I had been coming to the Intercontinental that I'd done this - usually I had dinner at around 8.30pm.
We finished dinner about 7.30pm and then I went up to my room - room 522 - on the top floor, to make some calls. At 8.47pm I was on the phone to Athens when I heard a big explosion down in the lobby.
I went out on to the balcony. I could see a man on the ground covered in blood and I could hear gunfire coming from inside and outside the hotel. I realised how lucky it was that I wasn't in the restaurant at that moment and said to myself, "OK Vasileios, you have to do something in order to survive."
I left the balcony door open and locked the door to my room. There were two beds in my suite so I took one of the mattresses and put it against the door to protect myself from grenades, and then I gathered some bed sheets, towels and clothes and made a rope that I could use to get to the fourth floor if I needed to.
Because I'm a pilot and a trainer I've studied crisis management and decision-making for years, so even if I'm only going to a restaurant or to the theatre I think about sitting by the door, or close to the emergency exit - it's automatic, almost second nature.
I started thinking about what I was going to do next. I had no idea how many attackers there were or where they were in the building, and jumping from the fifth floor wasn't wise, so I said to myself, "Vasileios, stay inside and try to do as much as possible to protect yourself."
For some reason I can't really explain, I was unexpectedly calm.
I made the bed with the mattress on it look a little bit untidy, and the other one - the one I had removed the mattress from - look tidy. I turned off the light and decided to hide behind the heavy curtains and furniture in the dark.
About an hour-and-a-half passed, and although I didn't know it at the time the attackers had by now killed almost everyone in the lobby, the restaurant, and on the first and second floors of the hotel. They had rushed through the third and fourth floors to the fifth floor and I could hear them running around on the rooftop above my head, where they were managing to keep away helicopters belonging to the international forces.
I heard gunfire in the corridor nearby and suddenly all the electricity in the hotel went off.
The first room on the fifth floor that the attackers went into was room 521, the room next to mine, which became their operational centre for the duration of the overnight siege.
I heard guns being fired into the door to my room and I thought to myself, "This is not a good position to be in."
I got on to the floor and went underneath the bed that still had a mattress on it to try to protect myself. I was holding this single bed up with my fists and the tip of my toes, supporting the weight of the bed.
I could see a little, because the bed was elevated about 10cm into the air. They shot through the lock, hit the door with a heavy hammer and then four men came into my room. One immediately ran to the balcony because he saw that the door was open.
I heard gunfire from a pistol, one shot, and I thought that in the next few seconds I was probably going to die. I thought about my family, the faces of my children, and the good and bad moments in my life.
The door was left open and the gunmen were coming in and out all the time. Then they started opening other doors on the fifth floor. Just across the corridor from me was an air steward and some other pilots that I'd worked with. Sometimes I would hear their cries before they were executed. Sometimes nothing.
I think they opened every single door on the fifth floor and killed everyone that they found. I'd hear the cries, hear the bullet - just one bullet - and then they'd crash through the next door. Each time they would laugh afterwards, like they were just playing around, or like it was a big party or something.
Around three o'clock in the morning, they started a big fire on the fifth floor and then left because the smoke was so heavy. For 20-25 minutes there was no gunfire, so I decided to come out from underneath the bed.
When I came out, I realised that while I had been hiding underneath one of the two beds they had shot at the other bed and then lifted up its wooden base to look for anyone who might be hiding there.
I thought, "This is the second time today that I have escaped with my life."
Before long, smoke began coming into my room. I had to do something, so I went out on to the balcony. I could see the fire on my left hand side, it was heavy and I realised that if it reached my room I wasn't going to survive.
I saw some TV cables hanging from the roof, going straight down to the ground. I stretched to grab them to see if they could support my weight and I could use them to slip down, but just at that moment I heard bullets passing right next to me. One bullet passed about 20cm from my left shoulder and another about half a metre away. They left two holes in the window glass right behind me.
Find out more
Vasileios Vasileiou spoke to Outlook on the BBC World Service
You can listen again here
It was probably a sniper belonging to the international forces who'd seen me through night vision cameras coming out of room 522 and assumed that I was one of the bad guys. Snipers never miss at that distance, but in the split second that they'd fired I'd moved my body to grab the cables, and the bullets had just missed me.
I decided to go inside. I went to the bathroom - very, very slowly, so as not to make a noise. I had some nail scissors among my things and I took them, went back underneath the bed and, using the small scissors, opened a hole in the plastic material which covered the underside of the bed's wooden base. There was just enough room for me to crawl inside.
I took two bottles of water and some milk from the little fridge in my room and a T-shirt. I cut the T-shirt into small pieces and put some inside my nose to filter the smoke. I put another piece of the T-shirt around my mouth and put lots of milk and water on it, like a double filter, something I'd learned from training with the fire department at Athens International Airport.
Almost as soon as I was inside the bed they were back. One of the guys came and sat on the bed that I was inside. I could see his feet and he kept spitting on the floor. He was giving orders to the other guys, telling them what to do, and I still remember his voice. Then he went to the bathroom, and after that he went on to the balcony and fired a few AK-47 magazines. I couldn't risk making any noise at all because when the gunfire stopped there was complete silence.
At that moment something in my brain told me that I wasn't going to die that day. I had survived when I hadn't gone for dinner at my usual time. I had survived when those guys first came into my room and had shot at the other bed, not the one that I was underneath. I had survived when the sniper's bullets had missed me. And right now I was well hidden.
I thought that the international forces would take over somehow, so I decided that if I just stayed where I was and did nothing, I'd be OK.
But early in the morning the international forces began to fire from a tank into the rooms. They concentrated on room 521, the one next door to me, but also fired at some of the other rooms, because the gunmen were moving around and firing at them from other places too.
Each time the heavy guns on the tank fired the whole hotel shook. Later I saw the damage that they had done - all of the furniture had been turned to dust and holes had been opened in the ceilings. Again I felt lucky to still be alive.
They started a second fire about six o'clock in the morning, right outside my room. I had heard the guys collecting some of the clothes from my closet, then they took the carpets and poured a lot of diesel on them. They burned their room - room 521 - too.
The fire was very close to me and I knew that in the heavy smoke and heat I would only be able to survive for 15-20 minutes, maybe half an hour maximum. I was breathing from the floor to get the last oxygen from the heavy cold air coming into my room from the open balcony door.
The smoke didn't smell like the usual smell that you get from fires of wood or carpets. It was not a good smell. It was the smell of human bodies burning.
Since I couldn't hear anyone around, I decided that I'd come out. But as I emerged, I suddenly heard the sound of breaking windows. It was coming from room 521 but then the same thing began happening in my room and I had to try to protect myself very quickly.
The international forces outside were firing pressurised jets of water into the rooms to extinguish the flames and these were shattering the windows. The fire was quickly put out but I was now soaked to the skin in cold water in a room without windows or doors, on a cold Kabul night, when the outside temperature was about -3C. I would soon be suffering from hypothermia.
At 9.25am I heard gunfire coming from down the corridor near the elevators - it sounded different, so I guessed that it must be the international forces. A gunman in room 521 was answering that gunfire with a Kalashnikov.
Between 9.30am and 11.15am the international forces were throwing numerous grenades, I would hear them rolling across the floor. Sometimes they landed in room 521 and sometimes they exploded outside the open door of my room. I still have a flight case that was dented by one of those grenades, which I've kept as a kind of souvenir.
By about 11.30am there seemed to be only one gunman left near me - the man in room 521. I heard his gunfire switch from a Kalashnikov to a pistol. He was out of ammunition. Then he tried to set a new fire using a blowtorch, but soon was out of gas.
I was so excited and full of adrenaline that I put my hand over my mouth in case I started laughing. He disappeared after a few minutes.
I was so tired. I'd had to fly late the night before all of this began, then hadn't slept the day or night previously, so I'd been awake for more than 35 or 40 hours.
Not much later I began to hear other noises and people walking towards my room but I couldn't see if it was the bad guys or the good guys. Around 11.40am somebody called out, "Police! Police!" in an Afghan accent, but I decided not to come out in case it was the bad guys. Then after 10 or 20 seconds I heard some people with English accents also shouting, "Police!" and I was so happy that I began yelling and crawling out of the bed. It was difficult to get out and I could barely breathe - my chest was hurting so much from being inside the bed, in one position, for so long.
I was black with smoke so they couldn't see my face and the four commandos were shouting, "Stay down! Stay down!" while pointing their guns at me.
One of them whispered: "This must be a ghost!"
I was freezing cold but managed to say, "I'm the captain from Kam Air. Please, don't shoot!"
They couldn't believe what they were seeing. They asked me how many hours I'd been there. I told them I'd been there all the time. They looked at the bed and asked me how I had managed to survive.
One of them said to me, "OK, I'm gonna take you down, but listen, I have to have a photo with you before we go," and I said I'd like to have a photo to remember that moment too.
I was the last to come out of the hotel. They took all of the survivors to the British base in Kabul. As soon as I saw my colleague Michael there I was so happy, I couldn't believe it. I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. But there were mixed feelings. We had lost so many friends - so many people that we used to work with - pilots, operational personnel, engineers.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs had told my family that they had evacuated all the survivors from the hotel, but that they hadn't found me, so my family thought I hadn't made it. You can't imagine their happiness when three or four hours later I called them and told them that I was OK.
I have always been a positive person, but nowadays I am even more so. I enjoy every single moment of life and feel grateful for what I have. Life is a gift and we should enjoy it for as long as it lasts.
You know, sitting on the beach in Greece with friends I've heard people complaining that because we had a financial crisis they miss some of the comforts they used to have. I am like, "Come on! Enjoy your life and health. You are eating sardines and drinking Ouzo by the beach. We are free, we have good friends around and we laugh - this is what people are supposed to do."
Don't concentrate only on work, stressful and bad things in your life. Concentrate instead on creating good moments and being around good people, because life is so beautiful.
I really realise that after Kabul - life is extremely beautiful. And, believe me, I enjoy every moment.
At least 40 people died as a result of the Intercontinental Hotel attack.
All photographs courtesy of Vasileios Vasileiou, unless otherwise indicated.
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In February 2014 two divers died at a depth of more than 100m in a huge cave system in Norway. The authorities said it was too dangerous to retrieve their bodies, but four friends of the men decided to take the risk - and seven weeks later they descended into the dark and glacial waters.
Read: The cave divers who went back for their friends
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The Chinese region of Xinjiang is home to millions of ethnic Muslim Uighurs who have lived there for decades. Rights groups say hundreds of thousands have been detained in camps without trial, but China argues they voluntarily attend centres which combat "extremism". The BBC went inside one of them.
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By John Sudworth BBC News, Xinjiang
I'd been to the camps before.
But the closest I'd managed to get on previous visits were snatched glimpses of the barbed wire and watchtowers from a passing car, while the plainclothes police officers tailing us tried to stop us getting any closer.
Now I was being invited inside.
The risks of accepting were obvious. We were being taken into places that appeared to have been carefully spruced up - with satellite images revealing that much of the security infrastructure had recently been removed.
And one by one the people we spoke to inside, some of them visibly nervous, told us similar stories.
All of them members of Xinjiang's largest, mainly Muslim ethnic group - the Uighurs - they said they'd been "infected by extremism" and that they'd volunteered to have their "thoughts transformed".
This was China's narrative in the mouths of people selected for us, and for whom any cross-examination might pose a serious risk.
What might be the consequences if they did let something slip? How could we safely separate the propaganda from the reality?
Radicalised and reborn
There are plenty of precedents for this kind of reporting dilemma.
There was the heavily managed 2004 press tour of the US-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, in the wake of the abuse scandal, with reporters herded away from detainees clamouring to have their voices heard, some while waving their prosthetic legs.
Or there's the example of the rare and restricted media access to Australia's offshore immigration detention centres.
And in the 1930s and 1940s, Germany organised media trips to camps at Sonnenburg and Theresienstadt, designed to demonstrate how "humane" they were.
In all such cases, the reporter is witness to a story of vital global importance, but forced to try to tell it with only limited or highly controlled access to those most affected by it.
In Xinjiang though, there is one big difference. The authorities grant access not only to show that the conditions inside the facilities are good, they also want to prove that they are not prisons at all.
We were shown adults seated in rows at school desks in brightly lit classrooms, chanting in unison while learning Chinese.
Some performed highly staged and choreographed music and dance routines for us, wearing traditional ethnic costumes, whirling around their desks, smiles fixed in place.
And what was quite clear was that the Chinese officials accompanying us believed wholeheartedly in the narrative on display, some almost moved to tears as they looked on.
These people, we were urged to recognise, were reborn. Once dangerously radicalised and full of hatred for the Chinese government, they were now safely back on the road to reform thanks to the timely, benevolent intervention of that same government.
The West could learn a lot from this was the message.
Referring to the date the re-education policy began, one senior official looked me sternly in the eye.
"There has not been a single terror attack in Xinjiang in 32 months," he said. "This is our patriotic duty."
'Oh my heart don't break'
But in accepting the access, our job was to try to peer beneath the official messaging and hold it up to as much scrutiny as we could.
There were the bits of graffiti we filmed, written in Uighur, that we later had translated.
"Oh my heart don't break," read one. Another in Chinese said simply: "Step by step."
There were the answers, in extended interviews with the officials, that revealed much about the nature of the system.
Those in it were "almost criminals," they said, viewed as a threat not because they'd committed a crime, but because they might have the potential to do so.
And there was the admission that, once identified as having extremist tendencies, they were given a choice - but not much of one.
The option was "of choosing between a judicial hearing or education in the de-extremification facilities".
"Most people choose to study," we were told. Little wonder, given the odds of a fair trial.
And we know, from other sources, that the definition of extremism is now drawn very widely indeed - having a long beard for example, or simply contacting relatives overseas.
We saw the dormitories in which these "extremists" slept, up to 10 per room, in bunk beds and with a toilet at one end, shielded with only a thin sheet of fabric.
And then there was the cautious questioning that revealed much, not in what they could say, but what they couldn't.
I asked one man, who'd been there for eight months already, how many people he'd seen "graduate" in that time.
There was a slight pause before he answered. "About that, I have no idea," he said.
Just one voice from within a giant system of mass internment thought to hold more than a million people on the basis of their ethnicity and their faith.
However faint and muted, we should listen carefully to what such voices might be telling us.
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Why do people mourn the loss of buildings?
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By Vicky BakerBBC News
Across the world, destruction of cultural attractions causes a specific sort of communal grief.
Parisians have spoken about how the devastating fire at Notre-Dame cathedral has made them think about identity, memory and shared culture.
Here, people from other countries talk about their experiences seeing important sights destroyed - some under very different circumstances.
Brazil: The National Museum
The 200-year-old former royal palace that housed Brazil's national museum in Rio de Janeiro was gutted by fire in September last year. Flames tore through rooms containing some 20m artifacts; very little survived.
Bruna Arakaki, a graphic designer from Rio, watched the blaze from her apartment. She says seeing the Notre-Dame fire in the news brought that sadness back and evoked a sense of solidarity with Parisians.
"It felt like part of who we are and our history burnt alongside the museum," she says. "People were very fond of it. It was in a poorer part of the city and was one of few museums in that area. For many generations, it was the first museum they visited."
Many people have blamed the authorities, saying a lack of funding had left it vulnerable. "Watching it burn, there was a feeling of impotence and revolt," says Ms Arakaki. "It was so imposing and had been there so long, no-one expected that one day it would just end."
Filmmaking student João Gabriel Barreto was an intern at the museum in 2014. He is still in a WhatsApp group with his old colleagues, and they shared tearful, panic-stricken messages on the night of the fire.
"We didn't know what to feel or think about it. It was so messed up," says Mr Barreto. "It felt like a huge part of our bonding was being ripped away from us."
He has not been back to the site as he cannot bear to see it as an empty shell.
President Jair Bolsonaro sent sympathies to France on Monday, but has previously emphasised that he cannot "work miracles" to rebuild Brazil's national museum. "It has already burned - what do you want me to do?" he said last year.
Syria: Palmyra
Syria does not have the luxury to consider rebuilding its lost culture amid its civil war. The conflict has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and destroyed many of its most precious cultural sites.
Among these is the ancient city of Palmyra. Photographs of it lying in ruins made international headlines in 2017.
"It's controversial," says Khaled Nashar - a Syrian who left the country in 2015 and is now based in the UK. He is referring to how Syria talks about its cultural losses. "One could think it is selfish to look at the loss of 'some stones' and not the loss of people."
But can both feelings co-exist?
Hazza Al-Adnan, a lawyer turned journalist living in Idlib, describes it as a different sort of sadness. "It is a kind of regret. It is not the same grief as when people die," he says.
He lives in one of the last remaining rebel strongholds. "Next to the city where I live, there is a Roman archaeological village called Shansharah. The war has destroyed much of it and then turned into a camp for the displaced," he says.
He also remembers the day he first heard that Palmyra had been ruined, and how it still stunned him - even amid such constant disaster. "It was a shocking event. Isis does not give any value to civilisation and human history," he says, adding that the fact that it was deliberate made it much worse.
Mr Nashar agrees that it is hard to process. He says: "The feeling of sadness is even greater when you realise the country has not been only losing its future, but also a significant part of its past."
Haiti: Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince
Business student Naomi Handal, from Haiti, lived through her country's 2010 earthquake, and now lives on the same street as the Notre-Dame in Paris.
"The hard thing about Haiti was knowing the destruction came from natural causes. It was not an accident, there was no-one to blame, there was no reason why. It is like something that cannot be tamed. It could happen again," she says.
Around 160,000 people died in the magnitude seven quake. The government of Haiti estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings collapsed or were severely damaged.
Amid all that carnage, Ms Handal said there was a "disorientating" feeling that came from losing the presidential palace. "It symbolised the government and when you saw they were impacted too, you did not know whom to turn to. We were so lost."
There has been talk of rebuilding it, and France offered to help, but the proposal split opinions. Some feel there are still too many other priorities.
"The symbolism of the National Palace is very important for Haitians," says Eveline Pierre, executive director of the Haitian Heritage Museum, based in Miami. "Haiti was the first black nation to gain independence and the palace represented this for each individual. That is something that cannot be taken away."
She says many other buildings were also lost, including Port-au-Prince Cathedral and the Holy Trinity Cathedral, with its important murals of Biblical characters depicted with black skin. "There are many cultural losses that were, for sure, undocumented and no-one knows the full extent," says Ms Pierre.
As of Tuesday night, Ms Handal has been unable to return to her Paris apartment.
"It is sad, a tragedy," she says. "But around the world, there are so many worse things going on. It sounds so blunt to say it. But nobody died."
She worries now about the small businesses around her apartment, because they rely on tourism.
Germany: Dresden's Frauenkirche
Dresden's Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) was destroyed by bombing in World War Two and left in ruins for decades.
After the reunification of Germany in 1990, its reconstruction became a metaphor for reconciliation. It was finished in the mid-2000s, thanks to a €180m ($217m) project, mostly based on private donations.
Raka Gutzeit, a retired English teacher, has lived in Dresden since 1994. "We were all very moved when the renovation started," she says. "It was based on so much goodwill. There were workers from all over Europe, working all hours. It was beautiful to watch."
Some people she knew moved back to the city because of their emotional attachment to the Frauenkirche.
She admits it has taken a while for the new building to blend into the city. "It needed some greenery around it and it looked so bright at first," she says. "It is still becoming part of people's lives again."
David Woodhead, a former trustee from the Dresden Trust, a British organisation that helped raise funds for the project, says the Frauenkirche has the same sort of significances for the people of Dresden as Notre-Dame has for Parisians.
"It was a prominent part of the Dresden skyline, featuring in so many 18th Century paintings," he says. "During the 1945 bombing raids, a firestorm caused the original building to melt. Sandstone melts at 800C (1470F) and temperatures were said to have reached 1000C, so it imploded."
It was something no-one thought would be possible and it created a profound sense of something being "missing".
He says there was controversy over whether it should be rebuilt in the same way or take a new form, but ultimately its Baroque grandeur was restored. "It is not intended as a war memorial, but to be looking forward," he says.
Ms Gutzeit agrees. "Notre Dame is much bigger and older than Frauenkirche, and it has much more international status," she says. "But I hope Dresden's story brings hope to Parisians."
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When video journalist Nichole Sobecki (above) arrived at the Westgate mall in Nairobi on Saturday, she saw a stream of people running out of the building. But as others escaped from the gunmen who had opened fire, the AFP reporter decided to go into the complex. Here she tells her story.
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I could see that ambulances were picking people up and trying to get them out from the third floor, so I thought that might be an opportunity to get inside.
When I got close to the third floor entrance of the mall I followed a security officer inside and linked up with another security team.
I never saw any of the attackers. It was unclear where the shooters were, so we were sweeping from shop to shop through the mall trying to locate the shooters and also looking for civilians that were trapped, and trying to get them out to safety.
When I first arrived in the mall a security team was trying to disable the elevators to prevent the attackers from moving between floors and popping out and surprising someone.
Before they were able to to that, one of the elevator doors did open and a middle-aged woman crawled out - she was obviously terrified and they were able to get her out quickly to safety.
It seemed like everywhere we looked, more people would come out as soon as they realised that this was the security forces and that they were safe, or at least that they had an opportunity to try to get out.
People were hiding in air vents, crouched on the floor, hiding in cinemas, casinos, beauty salons, locking themselves in.
This is a mall that I go to frequently. It's not far from where I live and to see it become the scene of terror was absolutely surreal - the mall soundtrack with pop music continuing to play but otherwise the sort of eerie silence, bursts of gunfire.
I have covered conflict before in a more conventional sense, in Afghanistan and Somalia - places where you go and you have an expectation of what you are going to find. To see a mall on a busy Saturday afternoon transformed into such horror was really surprising.
I was inside the mall for about three hours, and of course you are afraid in these situations, it's very stressful, you are always looking where you could find cover if you have to move, which direction you will be going in.
We were with a team of security forces and you just need to make sure that you are staying rational, that you are making good decisions and that you are not putting your life or the lives of anyone around you at any greater risk.
There was little the security forces could do aside from trying to get people out.
They were searching them on their way out to make sure that no-one was armed, to make sure that anyone leaving the building was doing it as a civilian. But if some of the attackers did try to pose as civilians there was not that much that they could do. They had to get people out, they had to evacuate the mall and that was a risk.
Any attack of this sort is meant to divide people and the more [Kenyans] can reach out together as they have been, donating blood, coming together to call for unity, making sure that there is no backlash on the Somali community in Kenya, I think that is what is going to make Kenya move forward after this horrible attack.
Nichole Sobecki spoke to Newsday on the BBC World Service.
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The Welsh budget has a different feel today.
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By Sarah DickinsBBC Wales economics correspondent
As well as broad spending commitments on areas like education and health, the Welsh Government announced the rates and bands of the two taxes it has control of from next April.
The Land Transaction Act - which was Stamp Duty - and Landfill Disposals Tax are expected to collect together around £300m a year for the Welsh Government.
They only account for a tiny fraction of funding but the fact that they will be under Welsh Government control is significant.
But this is just the start of a wider change.
The Welsh Government has already asked for suggestions of what other taxes people think should be introduced and it has had 300 responses with ideas for 60 different taxes.
There is also a Tax Forum made up of representatives from the public and private sectors and a Tax Advisory Group to discuss how money should be raised in the future. This is chaired by Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford and includes civil servants, accountants, lawyers, business and voluntary sector representatives.
Ideas from a chewing gum tax to a sun bed tax were suggested but four have now been shortlisted. One will be selected to go forward.
The four shortlisted ideas unveiled on Tuesday are:
A tourism tax:
This could be a small charge per night for tourists staying in accommodation - say £1 paid when they book in - with the money raised spent on public services and infrastructure related to tourism
A disposable plastics tax
Greenpeace has already called for a tax on plastic coffee cups or "problem" plastics that cannot be recycled. Cardiff University research estimates such a charge on disposable cups could cut their use by up to 300m a year in the UK.
A vacant land tax
This would look at the issue of so-called "land-banking" - which is speculative accumulation of plots of development land by house builders and supermarkets, clogging up the system, so new homes are not built.
Analysis two years ago suggested that across the UK there are 600,000 plots of land that are not being developed that could be.
That has been highlighted as one of the issues that are escalating the shortage of homes in the UK.
It comes as Mr Drakeford announced £340m would go towards the flagship commitment to build 20,000 affordable homes.
A levy to support social care
It has been estimated that the cost of social care will rise by 4.1% a year over the next 15 years in Wales, presenting a huge challenge.
Mr Drakeford spoke of the "significant pressures" on the Welsh budget from the growing demands and said he wanted to explore potential financial levers, including taxation.
Ministers here will also work with UK government to help support a soft drinks industry levy in Wales.
This could raise the cost of excessively sugary food and drinks - and be a deterrent. A proposed tax on drinks has already been outlined by the UK Government, which it is estimated could add up to 8p to the price of a can of fizzy soft drink.
The Welsh Government is keen that there should be a distinctive Welsh approach to taxation encouraging behavioural change - in the way that the levy on single use carrier bags has already changed people's habits in the six years since it came in.
It is estimated that bag use was cut by more than 70% in the first three years. As well as millions of pounds raised for charity, it has made people think about their use of plastic bags.
Under the Wales Act 2014, the Welsh Government's proposals for new taxes will still have to be agreed by AMs, the UK Government, the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
In June, ministers published their Tax Policy Framework. This said tax would be used to help achieve wider objectives of fairness and economic growth and be developed by collaboration.
The debate about what taxes should be levied and how they should be spent will increase in intensity right up to the next Welsh elections.
By this time next year the debate will be about possible changes to income tax. From April 2019 ministers will be able to cut or raise rates by 10p in the pound within each tax band.
However, First Minister Carwyn Jones has made it clear there is no intention to change income tax rates before the election in 2021.
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A training programme designed to discourage police misconduct is being adopted across the US after months of protests over the use of excessive force. The Holocaust survivor behind the training believes that, after initial success in one city, it can change police culture nationwide.
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By Daniel Gordon & Joshua NevettBBC World Service
As World War Two reached its crescendo, the actions of two people left an indelible mark on Dr Ervin Staub's life.
Born in Hungary to a Jewish family, he was a six-year-old child when Nazi German forces occupied Hungary in 1944. At the behest of the Nazis, hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews were rounded up and deported to extermination camps.
Two decisive interventions ensured Dr Staub and his family did not meet the same fate.
A woman named Maria Gogan hid him and his one-year-old sister with a Christian family.
"She looked after us kids," Dr Staub told the BBC. "I was walking with her and my sister in Budapest when the German tanks rolled in."
For a while, Dr Staub and his sister posed as Ms Gogan's relatives from the countryside. Then, when Dr Staub's mother obtained protective identity papers for his family from Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, they moved into a safe house nearby.
To Dr Staub, Ms Gogan was a second mother. She continued to live with the family at the safe house, risking her life to bring them food and pass another letter of protection to Dr Staub's father through the barbed wire of a forced-labour camp.
One time, as Ms Gogan returned home, she was held up at knifepoint by Hungarian Nazis. They threatened to kill her for helping Jews.
"A man who knew her came in and said, 'let her go, she's a good person'. So they let her go," Dr Staub said.
Thanks to these acts of kindness, Dr Staub and his family lived to see the end of Nazi tyranny in Hungary.
After enduring the war, and a decade of communism in Hungary, Dr Staub fled via Vienna to the US, where he studied the psychology of violence, genocide and morality. He did a PhD on the topic at Stanford University and taught at Harvard University, before applying his theories on harm prevention to experiments and field research.
For a project in Rwanda, for example, he tried to promote reconciliation after the country's genocide of 1994. Fittingly enough, his most recent book was titled "The Roots of Goodness and Resistance to Evil".
Nowadays, it's not genocide that worries Dr Staub. It's the excessive use of force by police officers in the US.
To quell this violence, Dr Staub had a simple idea, one that hinges on the role of active bystanders like Ms Gogan and the diplomat who saved his life.
"These people were heroic active bystanders who put themselves into great danger," Dr Staub said. "They had a huge influence on my motivation to study what leads people to help others."
At 82, Dr Staub is enjoying a renaissance of his school of thought. His active-bystander concept has started to gain traction in 2020, a year of reckoning for police forces in the US.
The case of George Floyd, a black man who died in custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota in May, reignited a long-running debate about racial injustice and policing in the US.
Widespread calls for police reform have sprung from the killing of Mr Floyd, and that of other black Americans.
At more than 30 police departments across the US, a training programme based on Dr Staub's ideas has been included in that push for reform.
More on policing and protests in the US:
Dr Staub has long stepped back from teaching at the University of Massachusetts, where he founded a PhD course on the psychology of violence. He was thinking about retiring for good this year, but demand for this training has thrust him back into the fray of the police-reform movement in the middle of a pandemic.
With a youthful inquisitiveness that belies his age, Dr Staub has acquainted himself with the trappings of 2020, from video conferences on Zoom to the demands of Black Lives Matter protests. Times have changed yet for Dr Staub, the principles of ethical policing training finally appear to be coming of age.
"Some people want to defund police departments," Dr Staub said. "We do need police, but we also need a transformation in police departments."
The training, called Ethical Policing Is Courageous (EPIC), encourages officers to intervene if they see misconduct within their ranks. It was first introduced by the police force in the Louisiana city of New Orleans in 2014.
Crucially, it emphasises the responsibility, not of the perpetrator, but of bystanders. Every officer is reminded of their duty to act if they see bad behaviour, repudiating the so-called blue wall of silence. This ethos upends the way officers traditionally think about loyalty to their partners.
"Loyalty isn't saying, 'well, you've done something wrong, I'm going to protect you'," Lisa Kurtz, an innovation manager at the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), told the BBC. "Loyalty is me saying, 'you're about to do something wrong, and I'm going to stop you'."
Ernest Luster, a veteran NOPD officer, said the training has completely changed the dynamic of policing in the city.
"There was always this perception with police of us versus them, of them against us," says Mr Luster, a sergeant with more than 20 years' experience. "Now we're working together to make the community safe."
Mr Luster usually starts his shift with a team briefing. He reminds his colleagues to protect the community, from criminals and each other. On the beat, officers can wear EPIC pins on their lapels to signal they consent to intervention.
Ultimately, the sergeant wants the public to see officers as heroes, not villains. To that end, he likens an active bystander to Superman, "one of my biggest heroes of all time".
Knowing how, and when, to step in is a lesson that every member of the force is taught in EPIC training. And no one, not even the sergeant himself, is exempt from that lesson.
"You can have 50 years on the job, but you're still a human being," he said. "You're still vulnerable to certain people pushing a button."
Even Mr Luster, an EPIC trainer, can recall an incident when he struggled to keep his emotions in check. He almost hit a handcuffed man who had resisted arrest for trespassing.
"At that moment, a rookie cop walks over to me. He puts his hands on my chest, and immediately I thought about EPIC. Just like that. And I walked away. Now, had he not done that, I could have lost my job for excessive force."
Mr Luster's testimony certainly chimes with recent data on police conduct in New Orleans. The EPIC programme, alongside other reforms, appear to have yielded results.
A 2019 report by an independent police monitor noted a sharp drop in "critical incidents" involving the use of force by officers in New Orleans. These incidents fell from 22 in 2012, to five in 2018. That year, the NOPD did not shoot at, critically injure or kill any civilians, the report said.
Satisfaction with police has increased, too. A 2019 survey found that 54% of New Orleans residents were satisfied with the NOPD's overall performance, a rise of 21% since 2009.
These improved results signal just how far the NOPD has come since the dark days of the 2000s. Back then, the force was engulfed by scandal. Criminality and misconduct were rife.
"If you take almost every major federal felony that we have in law, except for possibly treason, we've had a New Orleans police officer who has been arrested, convicted, prosecuted and sued for those acts," Mary Howell, a New Orleans-based civil rights lawyer, told the BBC.
Ms Howell has devoted much of her 40-year career to pursuing justice for the victims of these acts.
One of the most troubling incidents, she recalled, happened in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. That year, New Orleans officers shot six people on the city's Danziger Bridge, killing two. All of the victims were African Americans. None were armed, nor had they committed any crimes. Eleven officers ultimately pleaded guilty to charges related to the shootings, and an attempt to cover them up.
Ms Howell said she was dismayed by this and other similar incidents, which happened time and again in New Orleans. The violence, she said, came in cycles.
"You see the same patterns with domestic violence," Ms Howell said. "There would be a terrible incident, and then there would be the candy, and the flowers, and 'I am so sorry'. Then it would happen again."
At its nadir in 2012, the NOPD was brought under federal supervision. Known as a consent decree, the supervision order required the force to undertake sweeping reforms. The use of force, stops, searches, seizures and arrests; everything was revised to rebuild trust and improve public safety. A new training regime was a key component of that change.
That training was where Ms Howell and Dr Staub came in. Ms Howell first stumbled across Dr Staub's work in the 1990s. The lawyer read a New York Times article in which Dr Staub talked about a training programme he had designed for police forces in California.
The training programme was commissioned after the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers in 1991. Dr Staub said he saw "no sign of this training", despite assurances it would be implemented.
Nevertheless, Ms Howell was convinced Dr Staub was on to something. For his theories on harm prevention, Dr Staub was seen as a cult figure in police-reform circles.
Years later, sensing an opportunity to spur change in New Orleans, Ms Howell revisited Dr Staub's concept of ethical policing. Maybe this could work in the city, she thought.
At Ms Howell's suggestion, the NOPD developed a peer-intervention training programme. EPIC was the outcome.
When the consent decree came into effect in New Orleans, Jonathan Aronie was one of the lawyers appointed to monitor its progress. He was impressed by EPIC, mainly because it was aimed at all officers, not just a "small number of wrongdoers".
"This was a programme for the high percentage of people in the world, and in the police department, that want to do the right thing," Mr Aronie said. "They would want to prevent harm, if they only had a skill to do it."
A new national initiative, launched after Mr Floyd's death, seeks to give officers that skill.
The Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) project will offer support to police departments across the country in developing their own peer-intervention training programmes. Built on the principles of EPIC, ABLE training, technical assistance and research will be provided, free of charge.
An initial $400,000 (£307,000) has been raised to fund the project, led by Georgetown University and law firm Sheppard Mullin. With demand for police reform growing, ABLE organisers are hoping more funding will follow.
"After the George Floyd killing we probably received 100 calls from police departments wanting EPIC training," said Mr Aronie, chair of ABLE's board of advisers.
By October, 34 police departments in Boston, Denver, Philadelphia and other cities will have undertaken a "training of trainers" for the ABLE programme. To qualify for the training, each agency had to commit to ABLE's standards and submit letters of support from prominent community organisations.
On its own, this training does not represent a panacea for police misbehaviour, Mr Aronie said. It needs to be part of a broader cultural transformation in policing that goes beyond "pimping the programme for publicity", he said.
Still, Dr Staub's ideas are becoming the foundation of that transformation.
EPIC "could have changed the whole dynamic" of Mr Floyd's fatal arrest, Dr Staub said. Had they received the training, the three officers who watched on "would have felt empowered" to intervene.
They, just like Ms Gogan and the diplomat who took risks for Dr Staub, could have stepped in to challenge the actions of one, with the combined will of three.
"Individuals can make a huge difference," Dr Staub said. "They have great power, and when they join together, they have substantial power."
BBC World Service radio talked to Dr Staub about his role in transforming policing in the US for its latest episode of People Fixing the World.
You can listen to the podcast on BBC Sounds from 6 October.
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Plans to turn 100 acres (40 hectares) of open space into recreational land with play facilities and allotments have taken a step forward in Powys.
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The move by Powys council and Newton town council allows a £1.1m lottery bid to be submitted to try to turn the plans into reality.
Land ownership will transfer to the town council under the new agreement.
It would then be eligible to bid for funds to support "exciting" sport and recreation developments in Newtown.
Local environmental group Cwm Harry Land Trust secured £50,000 earlier this year to help develop the plans to enhance the town's riverside play park, provide more allotment plots, build a bike track and increase water-based recreational facilities on the River Severn.
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For Europe, 2015 will witness another attempt to reach a place of safety. For the past two years European officials and leaders have declared the economic crisis over. In the past six months a sense of foreboding has returned.
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Gavin HewittEurope editor@BBCGavinHewitton Twitter
The dangers are not the same as 2012. There is no danger of countries being unable to fund their debts. The threat now is of stagnation and deflation.
European officials have warned time and again that the failure to create growth and new jobs risks not just social tension but support for the European project. Currently the economy will not return to its 2007 level until 2020.
In 2015 economic recovery will be uneven. Demand is chronically weak. Germany will remain the engine room of the European economy but will not be the powerhouse it was two years ago. Growth in France will be around 0.7%. Italy should edge away from recession but the eurozone is not expected to achieve growth of more than 1% and that will not be enough to dent an unemployment rate that remains at 11.7%.
Once again eyes are turned towards the President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi. Sometime in the first three months of the year he is expected to turn on the taps, boost demand and buy sovereign bonds. It may not be straightforward however. There is opposition in Germany; there may well be legal challenges and there are doubts over what impact all of this will have.
Anti-austerity movements
Europe still seems to be placing its bets on keeping the value of the euro low and relying on cheaper exports to boost demand at home.
Popular discontent with austerity is growing. Once again there are likely to be tensions between Berlin, which continues to demand deficits be reduced to below 3% and reforms are made to labour laws, and Paris and Rome, which believe Europe needs growth and investment in large-scale infrastructure projects.
2015 will once again give the anti-establishment parties the opportunity to mine Europe's discontent. There are elections where these insurgent parties may play key roles. Within weeks Greece could be voting with the radical left-wing party Syriza, who are currently ahead in the polls. If successful, the party would be looking to restructure its debts and it would raise fears that the Greek crisis might return.
Later in the year Spain will got to the polls. It, too, has a fast-charging radical left party called Podemos which is fiercely anti-austerity.
And in Britain in May, the United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip) may have a say in any post-election bargaining for power.
One of the key factors in undermining support for the mainstream parties is unemployment. In France the number of people looking for work has reached a record high. In November the unemployment figures rose by 27,400 to 3,488,300. The numbers looking for a job have risen by 5.8% in the past year. This threatens the political future of President Francois Hollande. Unless his administration can start creating jobs in 2015 he will become a lame duck president and that plays into the hands of Marine Le Pen's Front National.
2015 will also test whether the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy not only has a firm grip on his party but whether the French people might give him a second chance.
In Italy, Matteo Renzi is facing popular opposition to his reforms but the test will be whether those reforms are watered down and whether they are rigorously implemented.
The mood in Italy is fragile; a country which has seen little growth in the past ten years. Two of the country's opposition parties are openly anti-EU with one pushing for a vote on staying in the euro.
Immigration concerns
No issue reflects the volatility of the European mood more than migration and immigration. Once again the summer months will see large numbers of people fleeing instability in the Middle East and Africa trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe.
Mainstream politicians will struggle with this challenge. Germany, which has taken in far more refugees from the Middle East than other countries, has recently been shaken by protests. Just before Christmas 17,500 people marched in Dresden under the banner "Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West". There were protests in other cities. The German political establishment has been shocked by these street protests and political leaders have appealed for "understanding and openness".
What this demonstrates is that concerns about migration are not confined to Britain. In many European countries it is a potent political issue that is contributing to the rise of anti-establishment parties. Europe's leaders have yet to discover a convincing response.
Europe will wait with some anxiety to discover the outcome of the British election. One senior European official said the UK - after the European economy - will be the central European question for the next three years.
If David Cameron stays in office it is expected that discussions will start in the second half of the year on what his re-negotiation shopping list will look like - ahead of an in/out referendum on EU membership in 2017. At the European Council meeting in June he will be expected to set out what he broadly wants. He will face both a desire to keep Britain in the EU but an unwillingness to offer concessions that makes the UK a special case or which undermines the fundamental principles of the EU such as freedom of movement.
It remains unclear what the process for these negotiations will be. Some European leaders are hopeful changes can be made via secondary legislation but ultimately it seems likely that a British re-negotiation might require treaty change.
Some countries, like Germany, believe that treaties will have to be changed to support the new architecture of the eurozone. They believe the EU is already at the margins of what is permissible under the treaties. But there is little appetite to call an inter- governmental conference and France, in particular, will oppose any steps that lead to a referendum.
So for the UK the road to re-negotiation will be long and winding and will be a major test for British diplomacy which, recently, has not always read the European mood correctly.
In 2015 the new European Commission will have to demonstrate it has the will and flexibility to embrace meaningful reforms. Will its 300 billion euro investment fund actually fly? Will the EU take steps towards a digital single market or energy union?
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is off to a confident start. He is a wily tactician presiding over a pragmatic Commission. He remains vulnerable, however, over his time as Luxembourg prime minister when companies based their companies in the Duchy to lower their tax liabilities elsewhere.
On balance he should survive because the two largest parties in the European Parliament are solidly behind him.
However Mr Juncker would be at risk if it turned out that he had been an activist prime minister, encouraging companies to embrace schemes that helped them avoid paying taxes.
The star of the new Commission looks set to be Frans Timmermans, the first vice-president. He is already emerging as an able advocate for the EU in several languages and will surely play a key role in any future UK referendum.
Russia test
Russia will remain a troubling unknown. A miscalculation in Eastern Ukraine could tug Europe towards a new cold war.
The Russian economy is hurting. Recently a former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said "we have entered or are currently entering a full economic crisis".
That would hurt the wider European economy. 2015 is likely to see European unity tested again over Russia. Some countries - like France and Italy - may yet be tempted to push for an easing of sanctions.
Russia has the potential to become the dominant European story of 2015.
In interviews on the street many young people refer to themselves as the "precarious generation". In order for Europe to rediscover stability and to restore faith in the European project them the insecurities of a new generation have to be addressed.
The best sense of what is at stake came from Herman Van Rompuy, the outgoing president of the European Council. He said: "Without the UK, Europe would be wounded, even amputated - therefore everything should be done to avoid it. But it will survive. Without France, Europe - the European idea - would be dead."
Once again in 2015 Europe will face big questions about its future.
To all those who follow this blog - best wishes for the New Year!
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Police have appealed for witnesses after a serious crash involving a livestock carrier and a car on a minor road in Dumfries and Galloway.
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The incident took place at about 07:20 on the B723 at Longmoor near Hoddom.
It involved a green Peugeot 206 and a white Mercedes livestock carrier.
The driver of the car was taken to the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow for treatment. Police asked drivers to avoid the area if possible and expect delays if travelling near the route.
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The feasibility, practicalities and costs of commercializing Guernsey Airport will be investigated by the island's government.
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It follows a report into the subject by York Aviation, which raised some concerns regarding the way the airport was currently run by the States.
These included an inability to make changes quickly, including reacting to customer needs.
The States approved a budget of £50,000 for the investigation work.
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BBC Radio Devon listeners have contributed more than £15,000 to the Devon Air Ambulance in a 24-hour fundraising marathon live on air.
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Musicians Seth Lakeman, Ellie Williams and Steve Skaith were among the performers who raised £15,663.48.
Lakeman said afterwards: "We've had a fabulous time and the amount of money they raised is fantastic in 24 hours."
The Radio Devon Air Ambulance Appeal has raised £181,849 towards a target of £600,000 for a new helicopter.
Devon Air Ambulance Trust thanked all the listeners for their contributions.
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A man in his 80s has been released after being interviewed by detectives investigating allegations which arose following revelations about TV presenter Jimmy Savile.
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The man, from Berkshire, attended London police premises by appointment and was interviewed under caution.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Operation Yewtree searched an address in Berkshire on Saturday.
The police said it was part of the inquiry not directly related to Savile.
The man arrived at 12:00 GMT, said the Met. He has not been charged.
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A bicycle hire scheme in Reading will open next month.
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The first phase of the ReadyBike scheme, which will include 200 bikes located at 29 docking stations, will be ready for the summer Reading Borough Council has confirmed.
Infrastructure for the scheme is currently being established at sites including Broad Street, the University of Reading and Green Park.
The bikes have also been changed in colour from pink to purple and orange.
Reading Borough Council transport boss Tony Page said the decision was made after speaking to residents.
He said: "We consulted on the bikes and felt that it was appropriate to make a slight change to the colour."
'Overwhelming support'
He added that there has been "overwhelming support" for the £1.2m project, which aims to help create an extra 2,300 daily cycle trips across the town.
The system is currently undergoing testing by volunteers.
The bikes can be hired for £4 per day for members via the ReadyBike website where real-time information will show how many machines are available at each location.
However, some residents have expressed disappointment that the west of Reading has not been included in the launch.
Chris Price, who regularly cycles in the city, said: "I think it a shame that the opportunity offered by the scheme succeeding in the first phase will be lessened because locations in west Reading are not served."
Concerns have also been raised about the fact that people are locking their own bikes to the new docking stations.
The council says it hopes this will stop happening once the bikes become a familiar sight. It also stressed that this is the first phase of the scheme and there is the opportunity for it to expand in the future.
Related Internet Links
ReadyBike
Reading Borough Council
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Major restrictions to people's lives have been introduced after Wales entered a 17-day "firebreak" lockdown.
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Until Monday 9 November people living in Wales are being told to stay at home.
Pubs, bars and restaurants, gyms, and all non-essential shops have been made to close.
But what does it mean, and what can you do from 23 October to 9 November without breaking the law?
Can I leave my house?
Similar to during the first lockdown in March, people are being told to stay at home in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus in Wales.
You are only allowed to leave your house to go to the shops to buy essential food and medication, get health care and treatment, to provide care, or to take exercise.
You should also work from home unless it is not possible.
Can I go to the shops?
All but essential shops had been told to close from 18:00 BST on Friday.
While people are not limited to their local authority, they are being told to shop as close to home as possible and not travel long distances.
Supermarkets, pharmacies, post offices and banks remain open, but are being told not to sell non-essential items, such as clothing, toys and homeware.
Can I see friends?
No. Under the new rules people cannot mix with others they do not live with.
From Friday you are not meant to meet others indoors, or socialise outdoors, such as in parks or people's gardens.
I live alone - can I see my family, partner or friend?
During local lockdowns people living alone were allowed to meet one other household indoors from their local areas, after concerns about isolation.
This has not changed, with those who live alone or in a single parent households being the only ones able to meet a household they do not live with.
This has to be the same one every time. But they can live anywhere, due to this being a national lockdown, however, the Welsh Government has urged people to form an extended household as "locally as possible".
Over the coming days, expect to see a return to the days of Zoom chats, virtual parties, people waving at each other from the end of drives, and people leaving shopping on door steps.
Can my children go to school?
Primary and special schools will re-open as normal on 2 November after the half-term break - there is no extra time off.
In secondary schools only pupils in Years 7 and 8 will go back to class.
Pupils sitting exams will be able to go in to take them but all other pupils will continue their learning from home for an extra week.
What about childcare?
Childcare facilities are staying open during the 17 days in a bid to keep schools open.
Grandparents and other relatives can still care for children, but only if no other methods of childcare are available.
Where parents live apart, children will be allowed to continue to stay with both parents, with arrangements continuing as normal.
Can I go to the pub or a hotel?
No - from 18:00 BST on Friday pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels closed for 17 days.
This is similar to the first Wales-wide lockdown back in March. Beer gardens will be shut, and people are being warned not to drink in their friends' homes or gardens, or to gather in parks.
Pubs and food establishments are able to operate as takeaways.
Hotels and businesses in the tourism sector will not reopen until 9 November.
Can I go on holiday or visit my second home?
No, travelling to go on holiday in Wales, or outside Wales, including abroad, is not classed as "essential" travel during lockdown.
If you have pre-booked and paid for a holiday, the Welsh Government is advising people to contact their travel company to discuss the situation.
If you live outside of Wales or within Wales, travelling to stay, visit or check on your second home is illegal.
I'm worried about a friend or loved-one - can I visit?
You can travel to provide care or to help someone in need - such as an older person, a child or a vulnerable adult - even if they are not part of your household.
You can travel to visit someone on "compassionate grounds".
This may apply if you are worried someone is struggling with being isolated due to the restrictions, is having issues with their mental or physical health, has recently lost a loved one, or you are concerned about their wellbeing or welfare.
My family live in England - can I see them?
Travel across the border is now limited to "essential travel".
This includes providing care, or if you need to visit on compassionate grounds. If you live in a single person or single parent household you can travel across the border to visit your extended household.
People who live in Wales but work over the border are able to travel, if they cannot work from home.
Can I visit someone in a care home or hospital?
Indoor visits to care homes may be allowed but only in "exceptional circumstances", such as for end-of-life visits.
But this is up to local councils and individual homes to decide if it can be done safely, and must be prearranged.
Similar rules apply to hospital and children's home visits.
Can I go to the gym?
No - gyms, pools and leisure centres are now closed for the 17 days.
However local parks, playgrounds and outdoor gyms remain open.
Can I go for a walk, bike ride or run?
Yes - under the new national lockdown you can leave your house for exercise.
Unlike back in March, there is no limit to how many times you can leave the house to exercise or how far you can run, cycle, walk or jog, or to where - as local lockdown boundaries have now ended.
But exercising with others, such as running and cycling clubs, is not allowed, and you should start your exercise from home.
People are being asked not to drive anywhere to do sport as exercise, unless they have specific health reasons, and people are banned from driving "significant distances" to get to mountains, beaches and beauty spots.
The government is also asking people to avoid activities which involve a "significant degree of risk", such as open water swimming and water sports.
Golf and tennis clubs are required to close during the period of the lockdown.
What about community support groups?
The Welsh Government has confirmed that community support groups, who meet on non NHS premises, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, will have to temporarily stop.
This is due to gathering restrictions, and rules meaning you are not allowed to meet others from outside your own household.
A spokesman said they would be able to meet online.
What about rugby and football?
The autumn Internationals and professional football are allowed to continue behind closed doors, and be broadcast into people's homes.
Sportspeople who work and earn a living through sport are allowed to continue working, and like everyone else they can leave home to do so if they cannot work from home.
However, elite athletes in sports such as boxing, gymnastics, judo, swimming and athletics who live and train in Wales have seen programmes suspended.
All community, amateur sport and training is suspended during the 17 day period.
I live in a house share - what can I do?
People living in houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) who are single are able to "bubble up" with another household in Wales.
This also applies to students living in HMOs and to people in supported living arrangements with individual tenancies.
Can I drive or go on holiday?
You can travel, but only for a "reasonable" cause.
These include trips to buy essential items - such as food and medication - to seek medical help, get a coronavirus test, or to deliver care.
You can also travel to work, but only if you are a critical worker, or you do a job where you cannot work from home.
Travelling to go on holiday is against the law.
Also, people from outside Wales cannot visit on holiday.
Will public transport be running?
Yes, but with reduced services.
Economy Minister Ken Skates said he had asked train and bus operators to cut down their services, particularly outside peak hours.
He said services would be similar to those running in August, and said it was "imperative" the remaining spaces were available for key workers and essential journeys.
Taxis are allowed to run if they have measures to cut the risk of transmitting the virus in the car.
But they should only be used for essential journeys.
What if I am at university?
Cases have been confirmed at university halls of residence, with thousands of students self-isolating on campuses across Wales.
During the 17 days students have been told not to head home, but to stay where they are.First Minister Mark Drakeford added: "In the same way we are asking everyone to stay at home, if students have reading weeks or half-term they will also need to stay at home in their university accommodation."
Do I have to shield again if I am high risk?
During the last lockdown thousands of vulnerable people with medical conditions and the elderly where told to stay in the house and shield, due to being high-risk from the virus.
However, the Welsh Government has not re-introduced shielding for such people.
The first minister said this was because if everyone stuck strictly to the rules the risk of exposure would be reduced.
People are being advised to shop at quieter times of the day if they are high risk.
What about health services?
The Welsh Government has stressed that people should still seek medical help.
Dentists, opticians, audiology services, chiropody, chiropractors, osteopaths, and counselling and mental health services will remain open.
Can I have my hair cut or a beauty treatment?
Many people resorted to home cuts during the last national lockdown back in March, with hairdressers trying to repair dodgy shaves and cuts when they reopened.
Once again, you will have to wait until you can see your hairdresser again.
Hair salons, barbers, and beauticians are now closed until the end of the national lockdown.
Can I get married, go to a funeral or go to my place of worship?
During this 17-day lockdown places of worship are closed to congregations, apart from the holding of weddings, civil partnerships and funerals.
Numbers allowed at ceremonies will depend on how many people can fit in the venue, with social distancing in place.
Receptions are banned once again.
Funerals can go ahead, with social distancing in place, and numbers depending on the venue size.
You will not be allowed to host a wake or any gathering following the funeral.
Can I move house?
Yes, you can move house, if you cannot delay the moving date until after the short lockdown period is over.
However, property viewings cannot take place during the circuit-breaker period and high street estate agencies are required to close.
What about my car and home repairs?
Work can be carried out in people's homes, for example by tradespeople, as long as it is managed in a safe way and both the worker and household members have no symptoms of coronavirus.
But the Welsh Government is recommending people consider if the work can be safely deferred until after the lockdown.
No work should be carried out in any home where someone is isolating, unless it is to repair a fault which poses a direct risk to people's safety.
If the MoT on your vehicle is due, you should still take it to the garage.
Driving lessons are banned, and driving tests are not going ahead.
What about Halloween and Bonfire Night?
This will be an autumn like no other.
With people banned from meeting outdoors, trick-or-treating and fireworks are both off.
The ban will be "self-policing", says First Minister Mark Drakeford.
However, planned Remembrance Day events on Sunday 8 November - just hours before the new lockdown ends - will be allowed to go ahead.
What happens if you break the rules?
You may be told to go home or removed from where you are and returned home.
You could have to pay a fixed penalty notice of £60. This will rise to £120 for the second breach.
Or you could have criminal proceedings brought against you and, if found guilty, you will have to pay a fine.
What happens next?
The first minister has suggested there will not be a return to local lockdown measures in Wales once the 17 days are over.
Instead of different communities having different rules, Mr Drakeford has stressed the need for national rules, which will apply in all parts of Wales, so that people will know who they can spend time with over the festive period.
It remains to be seen what these measures will be.
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People often feel nervous when they visit a doctor with some fearing their symptoms may not be believed. But what if you are the doctor, and your colleagues dismiss your disabilities and mental health difficulties? Miranda Schreiber explores this challenging relationship.
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When I was 15, I described what turned out to be the neurological symptoms of mental illness to my doctor. I told him I couldn't do schoolwork, feel the cold, or understand a book. He suggested I go on walks if I was stressed.
This breakdown in communication, in which patient and doctor seem to live in different worlds, is well-documented by disabled people. Many feel they have to translate their experience, because disability and medical structures seem incompatible.
But this experience is familiar to disabled doctors too, and some are seeking solutions.
Sarah Islam was a fourth year medical student at Indiana University when she developed a chronic illness which caused exhaustion, chronic pain, and cognitive impairment. She said her symptoms, which didn't tick a specific box, made her feel like she lacked fluency in the medical language she was learning.
'Brick wall'
"I remember, even as a med student, having the vocabulary to explain what I was going through but feeling like I had hit a brick wall," she says. "I actually didn't know how to describe it."
With her experience of sickness, Islam shifted from believing legitimate illness could be diagnosed to living as a patient with symptoms which didn't fit a clear disease profile.
But she noticed a change in her colleagues too, when she returned to medical school after a period of recovery.
"If I said the word 'pain' [colleagues] took it as coded language for 'I'm lazy' and 'I can't do my work'.
"They would challenge my reality," she says, something which led her to conceal her symptoms. "I felt like everything I shared was going to be weaponized against me. They would say 'you walked two days ago so why can't you walk today?' Almost like they caught me in a lie.
"The baseline understanding of what it means to be disabled is not there."
This sort of discrimination is often referred to as ableism - which favours non-disabled people over those with disabilities.
It is made all the harder to confront in medicine when disabled clinicians are vastly underrepresented. Disabled people make up about 20% of the population in the UK and US but only 2% of British and American doctors.
Islam says simple accommodations like taking notes in front of patients, or taking the elevator rather than the stairs, were criticised by her advisors as unprofessional. And these same attitudes, Islam explains, manifest in patient interviews.
"It's completely baffling to me how we can expect patients to respect us when we won't even believe what they're telling us.
"It's scary to be viewed as good or bad because you can or cannot work," she says.
Hardeep Lotay, a fifth year medical student at the University of Cambridge and mental health advocate, sympathises with Islam. "There's the idea in medicine you have to stretch yourself further than is reasonable because that's the nature of the profession," Lotay says, who also researches medical racism.
"I took a year-and-a-bit out from the course. In medical school any difference is seen as weakness, and any weakness is taken to mean you're not as good as your cohort. There's stigma in everyone knowing you've taken time off.
"It can be very negative to see the perception of psychiatry patients from your colleagues and seniors."
The attitudes Lotay and Islam experienced were also identified in research by Drs. Havi Carel and Ian Kidd, philosophy professors at the University of Bristol and University of Nottingham.
They found medical experts often perceive disabled patients as incapable, unreliable, and emotionally unstable, leading clinicians to "downgrade the credibility" of what disabled patients say.
This discrimination can impact treatment decisions and compromise disabled patients' health, increasing their risk of secondary conditions.
'Gaslighting the patient'
Revealingly, Canada Care Connection, which helps patients find family doctors, found in its team audits that patients with chronic pain took the longest to place, and that some family doctors refused to see "undesirable" patients because of a disability. "They just won't accept them," one Care Connector wrote.
Joanna, a disability activist from New Jersey, has mast cell activation syndrome. The disorder causes overactive mast cells - which form part of the immune system - which trigger anaphylaxis. Joanna lived without medical support until she was 25 because doctors believed she was exaggerating her symptoms.
"I wish medical students were taught to be open to information disabled patients provide," she says. "It's okay for a medical student or doctor to admit that they don't have the answer. That's so much more helpful than gaslighting the patient."
This is something the University of Michigan is trying to address. Its medical school has started providing students with teaching sessions focused on disability in its entirety - from disability pride to the everyday and justice.
But there are also the disabled activists, medical students and doctors who propose that the breakdown in communication could be reduced if there were more disabled physicians.
"As a disability activist who's proud of being disabled, there's a vocabulary of identity that I can't use with doctors," says Charis Hill, an activist from Sacramento, California. "They think disability is bad. It's what they want to keep you from becoming.
"With a disabled doctor I wouldn't have to explain so much because we're speaking the same language," they say. "My care outcomes would be so much better because I would be understood."
Lotay and Islam have both used their personal experience to guide the way they approach medicine.
"If a patient comes to you and tells you they're completely deflated, you can communicate with them and speak a language of mental health," says Lotay.
Dr. Duncan Shrewsbury, a clinician and senior lecturer at Brighton and Sussex Medical School who has ADHD, agrees.
"We should be systematically looking at how we support and advocate for disabled learners, both at university and postgraduate training levels," he says.
"It wasn't until disabled people chained themselves to the front of a bus [in the UK] that disability legislation started looking at public services needing to cater to people with different abilities," he says, reflecting on the 1995 protests for disability rights.
The University of Michigan has also tried to address barriers by altering its technical standards for admission. Disabled applicants no longer need to demonstrate physical competencies, like being able to lift a patient.
But Islam observes that practicing medicine is only part of the challenge.
"The barriers start before any of us even apply," she says. "If this had happened to me when I was 17 I probably wouldn't have had the energy, or the finances frankly, to apply. It's clear you are not the person wanted in this field."
But with systemic change, things could be different.
The experiences I described to my doctor when I was 15 did not need to be beyond understanding.
Perhaps, rather than recommend I go on walks, my doctor might have said: "I have felt the same way."
For more disability news, follow BBC Ouch on Twitter and Facebook and subscribe to the weekly podcast on BBC Sounds.
Related Internet Links
Canada Care Connection
University of Michigan
University of Bristol
Brighton and Sussex Medical School
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The Prince of Wales has personally given keys to a family who bought the 250th home in an experimental Dorset town he set up in the 1990s.
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The prince met Nathan and Sarah Dunford and their four children outside 54 Peverell Avenue East, in Poundbury.
The prince also officially opened the Poundbury Cancer Institute in the town and met staff.
The institute's aim is to help identify the most effective treatment for individual cancer patients.
Poundbury is an urban extension to the Dorset county town of Dorchester and is based on the prince's planning ideals.
The development aims to combine social and private housing with work and leisure facilities to create a "walkable community".
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It's that time of year again when social media fills up with photographs of shiny-faced children wearing too-large new uniforms as they head off for the first day of school. But what of those who are home educated? The hashtag #notbacktoschool has been gaining traction as parents post their first day pictures.
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Here are some of the pupils - and teachers - who do their learning away from the formal classroom.
Jane Ellis, Rochester
We have a picnic every September to celebrate home education and to welcome and answer questions from new home educators or those who are considering it. Schooled siblings are also welcome although most are back at school then.
Some families have a child in school and home educate another child so we are very inclusive of all situations. I home educate as it allows my children learn at their own pace and follow their interests, as well as to socialise in a mixed age group.
Laura Avery
Our Not Back to School picture shows us at The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, learning more about Vikings and Hans Christian Andersen.
We love home education there is no bullying, no forcing square pegs into round holes, no stress, no little tick boxes to fulfil. They're learning at their own pace.
Vikki Voyce, Kent
Nine-year-old Harry is home educated due to a lack of suitable provision at his old school. He would spend all day in a tiny room doing nothing. Curtis, 12, receives an education at home due to wanting a more tailored, suitable education that suits his needs better.
This picture shows them setting up a "not back to school" picnic fete.
Katie Pybus, West Sussex
The home education families we know are making huge sacrifices, mainly financial, and in many cases, it would be much easier to send the children to school every day.
Home education is more than about not going to school. When you are with your family all the time you can have different rules about meals, bedtimes and TV.
We are not totally there, our daughter can "self-police" much more effectively than our son, for example, but it is a journey and that is where we would like to go.
So for us it is about being in control, not of our children - aged seven, nine and 11 - but of our lives and having the freedom to seize the moments.
Ten minutes with an interested child is more beneficial than a whole day with someone who is not listening. They don't stop painting because the bell goes, they stop because they have finished.
Home Schooling in the UK
Parents are entitled to teach their child at home, either full or part-time.
If your child has already started school, write to the head teacher and tell them you want to take your child out of school. If you're taking your child out completely, they must accept. They can refuse if you want to send your child to school some of the time.
You must make sure your child receives a full-time education from the age of five but you don't have to follow the national curriculum.
If your local council wants to check on your child's education, it can make an "informal enquiry" to make sure your child is getting a suitable education at home. They can serve a school attendance order if they think your child needs to be taught at school.
Louise Alsford, Portsmouth
I have a four-year-old daughter, Mabel, who was due to start school this September but we decided to decline her place and home educate instead. She settled fine at preschool when she first started, but then she began to struggle with the number of children all together and without me there.
She's really sociable when we go to the park, or anywhere she can meet other children - she's always looking for friends to make. But she likes to make friends in smaller groups of one-to-one and she likes to have the back up of her mum or dad nearby, just in case. As she's still so little, I don't see a problem with that, and I'm sure she'll expand her social horizons in her own time.
We've already started homeschooling really, it's mostly playing and being creative, lots of reading and the odd maths game and phonics workbook thrown in for good measure. But when all the "first day of school" photos started going up... that was the milestone moment.
I also have a two-year-and-nine-month old, Greta, who is not starting preschool, and a nine-month-old called Ernie.
Instead of school and preschool we read stories, we paint, we play games, we explore our local area, we cook and bake together, we talk about everything and anything - and the girls play endless dressing up games that I don't even pretend to understand.
Maria Parker, Malvern
We have just started home educating - until now my children have been in a private school. My son Alex would have been in Year Four and Jayden would have been in Year One.
The school was absolutely brilliant and provided amazing opportunities for both of my children and I thought they would miss out on so much by taking them out.
But I realised that by home educating them and going to different groups within the home education community they will gain more than even a private school can provide, such as more knowledge of the world.
They will definitely benefit from something very precious - which is time with family.
I also have a 17-month-old baby who will be home educated as well.
Katie Grey, Hemel Hempstead
I home educate my children aged 11 and 14. I also have a two-year-old who will not be going to preschool or nursery either.
We choose to home educate following a much more child-led and relaxed approach.
Each of them is able to learn about what interests them in a way that works for them - we are able to provide them with an individual education that meets all of their (constantly changing) needs at any one time.
There is no "one-size-fits-all" package; my children are not pressured to keep up in areas they struggle with and nor are they held back in those areas they find easier.
They are able to form friendships in a more realistic and lifelike sense based around shared interests and common ground rather than only mixing with children born in the same 12-month period as them, and they are able to learn, play and socialise in environments free from bullies.
Home educated children are able to study for GCSEs and other qualifications, and access colleges and universities. For us as a family there isn't really a downside to home education.
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Eight wards at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital have been closed to visitors following an outbreak of the winter vomiting bug norovirus.
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Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said visitors were only allowed access to outpatients, intensive care, paediatrics and maternity units.
Exceptional visiting can be arranged by prior agreement with the ward manager, the trust said.
Restrictions also apply to hospitals in Redditch and Kidderminster.
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A captive breeding programme that has tripled numbers of lynx in Spain over the last 15 years may now be followed by the reintroduction of the lynx to the UK after an absence of more than 1,000 years. While the return of a major predator worries farmers, the tufty-eared cat is proving a major hit with others in both Spain and Germany, writes Fergal MacErlean.
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In 2002, things were looking bad for the Iberian lynx. Once widespread in Portugal, Spain and southern France there were fewer than 100 adults left - all in southern Spain - and only 25 breeding females.
Cork oak forests, the lynx's favourite habitat, had been being felled or thinned for more than a century, and the move to screw-top wine bottles was threatening even what remained. At the same time the rabbit population, the lynx's main food, had been ravaged by disease.
It was at this point that urgent steps were taken to capture young animals and start a breeding programme.
The first animals born in captivity were released in 2010. In 2014 and 2015, 124 animals were released. By the end of last year there were 400 lynx on the Iberian peninsula, the vast majority in Andalusia, in southern Spain, but with smaller new populations in the hills near Toledo, in Extremadura (south-western Spain) and in southern Portugal.
Just occasionally the breeders have been surprised by one of these reintroduced lynx. Most scent-mark a territory of 20 sq km and stay put to defend it - though the territory of males and females may overlap - but four of the released animals have gone wandering.
Two brothers, Kahn (pictured at the top of the page) and Kentaro (pictured at the bottom of the page), have been followed thanks to the GPS transmitters they wear, with Kahn heading north and west, Kentaro south and west. Contact with Kentaro, who is now surviving on roe deer rather than rabbits, is about to be lost, as the battery in his transmitter is running out.
Efforts to capture him over the last month, in order to replace the battery, have proved fruitless.
"He is not entering the traps. Whenever he sees anything strange he goes the other way," says Ramon Perez de Ayala, head of the WWF-backed LIFE-Iberlince recovery programme.
"Some animals just like travelling. Males especially need to move so populations don't have genetic breeding problems."
The Iberian lynx differs in some respects from the Eurasian lynx, the species that populates other parts of Europe. It's smaller, with shorter fur and darker spots. While the Iberian lynx eats mostly rabbit, the Eurasian lynx eats mostly deer - it's the third largest predator in Europe after the brown bear and the wolf. One competes with foxes for food - the other eats fox.
But the success of the Iberian lynx programme provides encouragement to those hoping to reintroduce the Eurasian lynx to Britain.
Know your lynx
"The Iberian lynx project has been incredibly successful and we hope to emulate that in the UK," says Dr Paul O'Donoghue, an adviser to the International Union for Conservation of Nature cat specialist group.
While the UK could support hundreds of lynx, he says, the Lynx UK Trust aims to start with a five-year pilot project that will see the release of three male and three female animals of breeding age from Romania.
Any offspring will be "the first lynx born in the UK for 1,300 years" he says - an estimate based on carbon-dating of lynx skeletons. "It's incredibly exciting."
In July the Trust will apply for a licence for a single unfenced site in one of five locations in Cumbria, Norfolk, Northumberland, Argyll and Aberdeenshire. This could see the lynx released as soon as the autumn, though it may take longer to persuade people in the community that they do not present a threat.
Completely harmless to humans, they have been known to kill sheep in Norway, and in the French Jura mountains.
"They're reputed to do a lot of their hunting within a 200-250m area surrounding woodland, and there is an awful lot of grassland grazed by sheep surrounding woodland," says Phil Stocker, chief executive of the National Sheep Association (NSA).
O'Donoghue, though, thinks the threat to British sheep is minimal. He describes the lynx as a "deer specialist" - it can be used to control excessive numbers of roe and muntjac deer - and a "forest ambush predator".
"You will never see Eurasian lynx running across an open field," he says.
In Spain a compensation programme has also helped to assuage farmers' concerns about the lynx reintroduction programme - in their case, the casualties have mostly been poultry.
Whether or not lynx are a threat to British sheep, it does appear that they could excite nature lovers.
In Spain companies are already offering tours promising customers a chance to see the elusive creature in the wild.
In Germany, meanwhile, the Harz national park has been rebranded as "lynx country", with a lynx enclosure near Bad Harzburg as the main attraction. Members of the public get a chance to watch the lynxes Pamina and Tamino climbing trees or on the prowl through woodland, as they are too tame to be released into the wild.
There are plans now to reintroduce lynx into the south-western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate too.
The lynx is not an animal you are ever likely to see on a country walk. Those who want to see one in the wild will probably have to pay for the experience.
But compared to the situation 14 years ago, things are undoubtedly looking up for the Iberian lynx - and the prospects for the "British lynx" are better than they have been for more than a millennium.
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The pre-dawn queue out of the Porte de la Chapelle migrant camp snaked beneath Paris's massive ring-road. Hundreds of people waited to leave: their belongings stuffed into back-packs and shopping bags, their children wrapped in blankets against the rain.
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By Lucy WilliamsonBBC Paris correspondent
By the time offices opened here on Thursday, more than 1,600 people - around half the area's migrant population - had been loaded on to buses and taken to shelters to be processed.
Many, like Muhammad who moved here from Afghanistan, said they were glad to leave their cold, wet, sometimes violent home for a few nights in a shelter.
"It's a good reaction," he said. "We're very happy about the French government. They help us, give us food, it's good."
But the prospect of being registered, processed and possibly deported by the French authorities meant some residents fled before the buses had even arrived.
One woman from Ethiopia told me before police moved in that she had come to France after being rejected several times by another EU country.
"It wasn't really my choice to come to France, but I heard it was better here," she told me. "And I saw a programme about the football team. It seemed that France was an international country, with more black people."
She wasn't in the camp on Thursday morning.
Read more from Lucy on France's migrant issue
"It's clear that for people who have already had their asylum claims rejected, or for the 'Dublin' people things will become much harder," said Yann Manzi, who heads the migrant organisation Utopia56. Under the EU's Dublin Regulation, anyone seeking asylum should be considered in the first member state in which they arrive.
He believes the police operation will mean more people trying to reach the UK via camps in France's Channel ports.
"We've seen before that those who can't apply for asylum go to Calais, so we think this will intensify what's happening in Calais and Dunkirk."
The Paris clearance is the first strike in new tougher immigration policies, announced this week by French PM Edouard Philippe, including quotas for those with professional skills, a mass clearance of France's migrant camps, and restricted access to medical care for those who arrive here illegally.
"It's about sovereignty," the prime minister said. "We want to take back control of our immigration policy. Taking back control means ensuring that when we say yes, it's really yes. And when we say no, it's really no."
The government has vowed to clear all the major migrant camps in France before the end of the year.
Another operation is planned to evict the remaining areas of Porte de la Chapelle in Paris. Patrols have been brought in to make sure migrants don't return, as they have in the past.
The Paris camp grew so large partly because of a chronic lack of accommodation for migrants claiming asylum.
As part of its package of 20 measures to "take back control", the government has announced the creation of 16,000 more housing places, along with three more detention centres for those who remain here illegally.
The new policy is popular with many right-wing voters, but condemned as a PR stunt by some on the left.
President Emmanuel Macron's party is facing a duel with the far-right party of Marine Le Pen in local elections next year. Polls currently put them neck and neck.
Mr Macron was trying to win over Le Pen supporters, Yann Manzi told me.
But if he sails too close to the nationalist opposition, voters in future may decide they prefer the original.
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A friend of an eight-year-old boy who died after a gravestone fell on him as they played in a cemetery shouted "you're murderers, we're murderers" at other boys.
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Ciaran Williamson died at Craigton Cemetery in Cardonald, Glasgow, in May.
He had been playing with a group of boys when "the big stone" toppled over, a fatal accident inquiry has heard.
One of his friends said he tried to lift the stone off Ciaran after also being struck.
The boy told police officers: "I tried to help him but couldn't because the gravestone jammed his foot.
"So I tried to lift it but I wasn't strong enough because my back hurt so then I just helped (another boy)."
The schoolboy was asked what he saw when he looked at Ciaran and said "just blood". He added that it was "at his mouth and nose".
Another boy in the group said one of his friends had jumped on a gravestone to try to get on to a wall and it "just collapsed". He said Ciaran ended up underneath it.
'Very shaken'
The boy told police he believed he then blacked out.
He said: "I don't know what happened then next thing I woke up, I was standing up, turned round, the gravestone was on Ciaran.
"(A boy) was saying 'you're murderers, we're murderers'. Then I said 'no we're not it's just an accident'."
The inquiry will establish if there were any reasonable precautions that could have prevented the tragedy and if there were any defects in the system of work which caused or contributed to Ciaran's death.
PC Neil Galbraith told the inquiry he was the first officer on the scene after hearing a young person in the cemetery had a possible head injury.
He said Ciaran was already in the ambulance when he arrived.
The officer said he had to "coax" one of Ciaran's friends who was "very shaken, very nervous" when he took a statement later that night.
He said: "It was very hard to take information from him, however we were trying to establish exactly what happened."
The inquiry heard the boy said he went into the graveyard "through the hole in the wall" with friends including Ciaran.
'Pushed off from gravestone'
He told police: "We seen a tree we wanted to climb, the tree was next to a big stone.
"Ciaran was standing in front of the big stone. Me (and others) all jumped from the tree at the same time.
"As soon as I landed, the big stone fell on my back. It hit Ciaran in the face.
"I stayed with Ciaran while everyone ran for help."
PC Galbraith also took a statement from another boy who was with Ciaran at the time of incident.
He told police some of the boys wanted to use gravestones to get on to a wall.
He said a group of youngsters climbed up and Ciaran was "waiting at the tombstone to get up on to it".
The child claimed one of the boys pushed off from the gravestone as he tried to get from the tree to the wall.
The boy said: "As he pushed off the tombstone, it fell. I leapt out the road but it caught me on my heel."
The inquiry before Sheriff Linda Ruxton continues.
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Hot Chip, Kelis, Emeli Sande, Azealia Banks and Friendly Fires are among the first names announced for this year's Lovebox festival.
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The three-day event takes place in Hackney, east London, from 15-17 June.
Also set to play are Magnetic Man, Sub Focus and Little Dragon, while US soul singer Bobby Womack will fill the legends slot.
This is the 10th anniversary of the Victoria Park event, which started as a club night before becoming a festival.
Previous years have featured Groove Armada, Snoop Dogg, Mark Ronson and Florence and the Machine.
The last day of the festival will once again have a Mardi Gras atmosphere, with an Out and Out Fierce theme of high-energy disco and electro.
More names will be announced in the coming months.
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Is London's weekend Night Tube plan dying?
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Tom EdwardsTransport correspondent, London@BBCTomEdwardson Twitter
With talks between London Underground (LU) and the unions at an impasse and showing little sign of progress, are there now further signs the idea of a Night Tube is withering?
Previously London Mayor Boris Johnson has said the Night Tube could not be at "any cost" and today he told LBC Radio the weekend service was not "absolutely critical".
Asked whether he could provide a date for the introduction of the 24-hour Tube, Mr Johnson said: "I've got to tell you this is something that the city of London has done without for 150 years. What I won't do is pay an unreasonable price for it, which Londoners would feel in their fares.
'Political apathy'
"There's a very good deal on the table. I just hope that members of the Tube unions will get a chance to look at it. No-one will work more hours than they do today. Drivers have the same number of weekends as now.
"I want you to know that this is something I think we should have but - I hope my attitude is clear - it is not something that I regard as absolutely critical."
That is arguably a further shift away from a policy announced with much fanfare alongside the closure of ticket offices two years ago.
Compared to the policy of closing ticket offices the differences are stark. LU forced those closures through even though the unions didn't want the changes.
With the Night Tube it depends on the agreement of those same unions, but it cannot force the changes through without drivers.
There also doesn't seem to be a sense of uproar from anyone that the plans for the Night Tube now seem to be in disarray; there is no start date and there seems to be political apathy around the whole idea.
Of course there is much bluff and bluster during these talks, but it does makes you wonder if it'll ever happen?
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A selection of your pictures of Scotland sent in between 16 and 23 October. Send your photos to [email protected]. Please ensure you adhere to the BBC's rules regarding photographs which can be found here.
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Thousands of people from all over the UK and beyond have taken part in the Whitby Goth Weekend.
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The event, which was first held in 1994, was prompted by the town's association with Bram Stoker's gothic novel, Dracula.
Organisers said the weekend was now one of the biggest of its type anywhere in the world.
Since 1997, it has been held twice a year, in April and October.
More on this and other stories from across Yorkshire
The event is also said to generate about £1m in revenue at what is otherwise a quiet time of year for local hoteliers.
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A fourth teenager has been charged with murdering a 17-year-old who was chased and stabbed in Nottinghamshire.
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The 15-year-old girl is due before Nottingham magistrates later accused of Lyrico Steede's murder.
Lyrico died six days after suffering a number of injuries in the attack in Stock Well, Bulwell, in February.
Kasharn Campbell, 19, from Bobbers Mill and two 17-year-old boys have already been charged with murder and are due to go on trial in October.
A 17-year-old girl has also been charged with assisting an offender
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Tension remains high outside a Venezuelan prison where hundreds of inmates began rioting 11 days ago in protest at plans to close the jail and move them to other facilities.
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Heavy gunfire was heard for a couple of hours on Tuesday from inside La Planta prison, in the capital, Caracas.
There was panic outside, where relatives had gathered desperate for news.
They threw stones at the police, who responded with tear gas.
La Planta prison, in the capital, Caracas, is being closed after two escape attempts.
Many of the inmates have already been relocated, but hundreds have refused to be moved.
They say they fear for their lives if they are transferred to other already overcrowded jails.
Human rights organisations have repeatedly criticised conditions in Venezuelan prison system.
An evangelical vicar who has been mediating the standoff told El Universal newspaper that the inmates at La Planta jail were hoping to reach a peaceful solution.
But he says they remain adamant and will not accept relocation.
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Police investigating the death of a pedestrian hit by a car have appealed to the drivers of two cars seen before the crash to contact the force.
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The man in his 90s died in hospital after he was struck by a silver Nissan in The Green, near Brook Lane junction, in Thringstone, on 16 October.
A red car and a 2007 five door blue VW Golf drove past Ruby's chip shop before the crash at about 09:00 GMT.
Leicestershire Police said the drivers could help with their enquiries.
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Boom! After a humdrum, almost completely unrevealing Prime Minister's Questions, the Commons erupted over Speaker John Bercow's decision to allow an attempt to change the rules for the resumed "meaningful vote" debate.
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Mark D'ArcyParliamentary correspondent
This is no mere technicality. The amendment proposed by former Attorney General Dominic Grieve would require the government to come back within three days, rather than 21, to debate the implications of not having a Brexit deal - if the prime minister's deal is indeed voted down next Tuesday.
Under the previous rules, that debate would be kicked back to late February, with the Brexit clock ticking remorselessly in the background.
The new Grieve amendment, now passed by MPs, means that in the event the PM loses next week, the Commons will then have a chance to vote on alternative policies - everything from a "managed no-deal" to a further referendum, via a "Norway option" or a reheated version of the current deal, could be on the table.
If a majority could be found for anything, it would not have the force of law - but it would at least indicate a policy which had the support of MPs.
This is, in short, a massive ruling by the Speaker, made, apparently, against the advice of the Commons Clerk, Sir David Natzler.
Sweeping precedent?
I don't want to delve too deeply into the arcana of Business of the House motions only amendable by ministers of the Crown, but this drove a coach and horses through accepted normal practice, and will have huge implications for the course of Brexit.
The decisions will come much faster, and potentially, those plotting an alternative course to the PM's would have more space in which to work.
And it may also set a sweeping precedent allowing MPs far more grip over their debates, on Brexit and pretty much anything else.
If such a precedent can be made to stick, it would be a huge blow against any government's accustomed control over the business of the Commons.
This is the biggest thing the Speaker has done, or is likely to do, easily eclipsing his decision to allow an extra amendment to the 2013 Queens' Speech, kicking off the Commons campaign which ultimately led to an EU Referendum becoming official Conservative policy.
He got through a testing hour of points of order - which represents a victory of sorts, because he wasn't toppled by angry MPs in the way Michael Martin was a decade ago. But there will be consequences.
For a start, a motion of no confidence in him now looks pretty certain. It may just languish in the "Remaining Orders and Notices" section of the Commons Order Paper, but it may take off and attract a critical mass of support from enraged Tories.
Beyond that, the Speaker already has Conservatives openly accusing him of pro-Labour bias. Once unthinkable, that has now become a daily event, and may now become an hourly event.
'Turbulent tenure'
Criticism of other aspects of his running of Commons business (too many urgent questions, emergency debates and over-running PMQs) may become continual.
Things are about to become very uncomfortable in the Chamber.
Above all there's the bullying inquiry and the allegations levelled against the Speaker himself, which have been repeatedly denied, that he has bullied colleagues.
This is an inquiry that should not be postponed to protect the Speaker, nor weaponised to destroy him; but it could well be.
I suspect that, one way or another, Mr Bercow's turbulent tenure in the Commons chair is coming to an end.
Perhaps in months rather than weeks, but not before the big Brexit votes (and it's not impossible that somewhere along the way, he might have to make this kind of ruling again).
The basic question his would-be successors will have to answer is how much of the Bercow revolution in the way the Commons works should be scrapped - and how much should be retained?
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Less than two weeks before Father's Day, the man once affectionately known as America's Dad stepped back into the public spotlight to defend his legacy as he faced one of dozens of sexual assault allegations against him.
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By Courtney SubramanianBBC News, Philadelphia
Dressed in a dark navy suit, the 79-year-old was supported by the use of a cane and Keisha Knight Pulliam, the woman who played his precocious daughter, Rudy Huxtable, on the landmark television series The Cosby Show.
But his reputation as a fatherly figure has been overshadowed in recent years by the more than 50 women who have come forward to accuse him of sexual assault.
The actor and comedian is facing three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault stemming from a 2004 incident in which former Temple University employee Andrea Constand claims he drugged and molested her.
He maintains his innocence, though some among the chorus of women who have offered up similar accounts appeared in court in Norristown, Pennsylvania, wearing pins with the words emblazoned: "We stand in truth."
Stained legacy
Though the allegations have tarnished Mr Cosby's reputation, the actor has long been considered a Hollywood trailblazer for African Americans.
He rose to fame as the first black actor to star in a major drama series, I Spy, in 1965. The role earned him three of his four Emmy awards before he created several shows including the influential The Cosby Show in 1984.
Darnell Hunt, the director of the Ralph J Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA, says his depiction of an upwardly mobile African-American family transcended race and broke new ground in an era otherwise criticised for portraying the "ghetto-centric" black stereotypes.
"It showed that black people were American, too, which was sort of Cosby's political philosophy," he said.
"It was and is still one of the most talked about TV shows ever and it certainly had a huge impact on this sort of whole discussion of images of black people and media."
In fact, Mr Cosby enlisted Harvard psychiatrist Dr Alvin Poussaint as a consultant to ensure the scripts underscored a genuine family dynamic.
Which is why it may be difficult for some Americans to separate the career he has made on promoting family values and education from the man Assistant District Attorney Kristin Feden accused of being a sexual predator in court on Monday.
Racial undertones?
Mr Cosby and one of his daughters have recently suggested race played a role in the allegations against him.
The suggestion sparked outrage among some critics who point to previous comments he made in which he criticised single African-American mothers and young black men.
"Many blacks felt it was him talking down to them and blaming them as opposed to the systemic forces that keep black people subordinated," says Mr Hunt.
"But the sad reality is race is always a factor in America and that lens will be significant regardless of whether or not the allegations are racially motivated," says Mr Hunt, who wrote OJ Simpson Facts and Fictions, a book on the racial divide and perception of the American footballer's famous trial.
"There is probably a lot of ambivalence in the black community with respect to the meaning of all of this," he added. "People are probably waiting to see how all of this works out with the trial."
Some Philadelphia residents like Rickey A Rivera, who lives in Mr Cosby's childhood neighbourhood, remain convinced the case has racial undertones.
"He can never be who he was and that's what's sad to me," Mr Rivera says.
Fallen idol
Other Philadelphia residents have struggled to reconcile how to talk about the local hero and the allegations against him.
A mural that once stood on Broad Street depicting Mr Cosby and other famed fathers has disappeared, but another still stands amid the housing projects where he grew up in North Philadelphia's Poplar neighbourhood.
William "Buddy" Savin, who owns a funeral home in the area, points out his own partially eroded image on a similar pillar beneath an overpass less than 100ft (30 metres) away from the portrait of Mr Cosby.
Mr Cosby is seen flashing his signature grin, holding his fist in what appears to be a nod to black power as children play in the foreground.
Mr Savin grew up with Mr Cosby in the Richard Allen housing project and spoke to him as recently as last week about the death of a mutual friend and Philadelphia jazz legend, Mickey Roker.
The projects have mostly been torn down and replaced with new rows of town homes, but remnants of a past life - and Mr Cosby's legacy - still exist.
"He was a black person who made it but he never forgot his roots," Mr Savin says. "He always came back to the projects."
Though some residents are cagey when asked about Mr Cosby, everyone seems to have an anecdote about the comedian.
A women standing in her front yard not far from where his house stood explains how she once saw Mr Cosby perform at her high school, but demurs when asked about her feelings on him now.
"I have his autograph," she tells the BBC. "That's all I can say about him."
But Mr Savin is happy to recount Mr Cosby's community work despite the scandal that has engulfed him over the last few years.
A bespectacled man dressed in a pinstriped suit, he recalls how Mr Cosby returned to the neighbourhood when the new Richard Allen townhomes opened in 2003.
He speaks about Mr Cosby's generous funding for dozens of children's education and his contributions to the nearby Temple University.
The Temple "T" logo stands tall atop a building visible from the Richard Allen homes.
Mr Cosby, one of the Temple's most famous alumni, is often credited with helping to transform Temple from a local school to a nationally recognised university.
The school, just blocks away, is where he met Ms Constand while serving on the school's board of trustees.
In the wake of the allegations, Temple eventually joined a growing number of colleges and universities that revoked the dozens of honorary degrees he received over the years. He was also removed from the board of trustees.
Mr Cosby's presence on campus has mostly been erased, but university students like Olivia Jefferson, 25, remain conflicted.
"He was the ideal black father. He showed this image personally we didn't see in the black community often growing up," she says. "And all these allegations coming out, it's a betrayal."
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Condor Liberation ferry services between the Channel Islands and the UK have been cancelled on Saturday, following a technical problem with the vessel.
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Passengers travelling on the ferry to Guernsey had to wait when it stopped outside St Peter Port harbour for engineers to fix it on Friday.
Condor said there was a fault with one of the lube oil filter on the engine.
Alternative ferry sailings on Saturday have been offered to passengers.
Condor said it would ensure all customers got to their destinations on the same day, but on a different ship and at a different time.
Passengers booked to travel to and from the UK will be able to travel on the Commodore Clipper ferry, while the Condor Rapide will provide sailings to Guernsey.
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A tanker has crashed into a river in west Wales, spilling milk and turning the water white.
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The lorry left the A482 near Llanwrda in Carmarthenshire on Wednesday evening and crashed into the River Dulais.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said an "unknown quantity" of milk had leaked from the tanker, which caused "significant discolouration".
NRW said its officers would return on Thursday morning to continue to assess the impact of the spill.
May Lewis posted a video on Twitter which shows milky white water cascading over a small waterfall.
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Dozens of bushfires are burning across vast swathes of Australia's east coast - including the area around Sydney.
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The spate of blazes across New South Wales (NSW) have left three people dead and destroyed more than 300 homes.
But authorities say the worst is "still ahead" as hot and dry conditions are expected to continue.
Around 3,000 firefighters have been on the ground battling the flames in NSW, a state home to around six million.
"We've got the worst of the summer still ahead of us," said NSW Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.
Mr Fitzimmons said nothing except rain would make "any discernible difference to conditions".
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A 10-day biking festival reckoned to be worth more than £500,000 to the local economy is under way in the Borders.
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The TweedLove event is now in its third year and has extended its programme from previous week-long editions.
It includes a range of free and paid-for events both on and off road and for all ability levels.
Festival director Neil Dalgleish said: "We all want to share our love of bikes and the great trails and routes we have here in the Tweed Valley."
The programme, which has secured financial support from both Scottish Borders Council and EventScotland, runs until 5 June.
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A hospital has reopened to visitors more than a week after it closed due to a norovirus outbreak.
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Hywel Dda health board closed Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli on 2 December because patients had diarrhoea and vomiting.
Infection control measures were put in place at the Carmarthenshire hospital.
The 205-bed general hospital reopened on Tuesday. The board asked patients and visitors to wash their hands to prevent the spread of infections.
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US First Lady Melania Trump has dismissed speculation about the state of her marriage, saying her husband's alleged extra-marital affairs are not her "concern or focus" because she has better things to do.
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In an interview with ABC News, she said media speculation about her marriage was not "pleasant".
Asked if she loves President Donald Trump, she said: "Yes, we are fine."
He denies having had extra-marital affairs.
Porn-star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal allege they slept with him.
Mrs Trump said she loved her husband and that the media's coverage of their relationship was not always correct.
"It is not a concern and focus of mine. I'm a mother and a first lady and I have much more important things to think about and to do," she said.
"I know what is right and what is true and not true," she added.
The interview was recorded on her trip last week across four African nations.
Mrs Trump refused to be drawn on comments by President Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who maintained publicly that Melania Trump believed her husband's denials of involvement with Stormy Daniels.
"I never talk to Mr Giuliani," she said.
In the first part of the interview released on Thursday, Mrs Trump said women who allege sexual abuse must produce "really hard evidence".
Mrs Trump also claimed she was "the most bullied person on the world."
What are the alleged affairs?
Ms McDougal says she had a 10-month relationship with Mr Trump starting in 2006. He was already married to Melania and hosting TV show The Apprentice.
Ms McDougal had signed a $150,000 deal with the tabloid The National Enquirer which gave them exclusive story rights.
However, her account was not published but she reached a settlement with the paper's publisher, AMI, in April freeing her to share her story.
In the case of Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, she alleges that she had sex with Mr Trump in his room at Lake Tahoe, a resort area between California and Nevada, in 2006, and had an "ongoing" relationship after this encounter.
Ms Daniels is suing the president to get out of a so-called "hush agreement" before the 2016 election - the focus being a payment of $130,000 (£96,000) given to her by Mr Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, in exchange for her silence.
Mr Trump has rejected the allegations of both women.
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The Washington Redskins football team has come under increasing pressure to change its name and stop causing offence to Native Americans. A visit to a reservation in North Dakota helps explain why there is such strong feeling over the word "redskin".
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By Michael WendlingBBC News
It was the fastest $50 I ever lost. Late at night I wandered the smoke-filled floor of the Sky Dancer Casino, way at the top of frozen, flat North Dakota.
In a back room, a poker game was in full swing. Now I can mostly resist the dumbly flashing lights of slot machines, but given the chance to play cards, I'm all in.
I gave my money to the cashier and got a stack of chips in return. As I sat down at the table eight pairs of eyes looked me up and down.
You might say the locals saw me coming. In their leather jackets, baseball caps and jeans, they were friendly - but business-like.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04tljk6
I didn't really get the chance to chat. Because within 15 minutes they had entirely cleaned me out. My chips all gone, I slunk away to the bar.
The next day I sheepishly recounted my losses over breakfast with Jordan Brien, the young Native American who was my guide around the reservation.
"Let me ask you this," he says, "were they all Natives around the table?"
"Yes," I guess, judging by skin colour and accent - the Native American one is just slightly different from the upper Midwest honk that will be familiar to fans of the movie Fargo.
"Think of it this way - you probably fed a family for a week. Some of those guys make a living like that," says Brien. I guess that made me feel a little bit better.
Jobs at the Sky Dancer casino - whether they be fleecing visiting poker players, or more conventionally, working behind the bar - are one of the few economic bright spots on the Turtle Mountain reservation.
If you arrive, like I did, after driving half a day along straight, paper-flat roads, you'll notice that those mountains aren't really mountains at all - it's a stretch to even call them hills.
Still, any rise in the Great Plains landscape gives you a glorious panoramic view. This is "big sky" country, almost exactly at the centre of the North American continent.
Brien grew up here and it almost killed him: alcohol, drugs, wayward relatives, a broken home.
He's 30, but in a hoodie he looks a lot younger- it's almost as if moving off the reservation took years off his life.
He now has a musical career, a steady job, a wife, and a child on the way, but something keeps drawing him back to Turtle Mountain.
I find out what it is when we visit Brien's old school. The kids greet him with high fives and confidential asides - part pop star, part older brother.
He's greeted warmly by one of the teachers who points out the students she's most worried about.
"That one's been abandoned by his mother," she tells me. "Over there, she shows up to school with bruises. That one there, he's a father - he's just turned 14."
The obvious question is, with all the problems on Turtle Mountain, does the name of a football team in Washington DC, 1,500 miles (2,500km) away really matter?
The team's fans say the word "redskins" means honour and respect, and that it's a decades-old tradition that unites their city.
The team's owner says he'll never change it. Some argue that the row about the name is political correctness gone mad or, as they might say around these parts, "gone crazy".
But political correctness is a strange thing - often a straw man for those who would prefer the comfort of old ways to the difficulty of changing their minds.
The history of Native Americans is certainly a bleak one of depopulation, exile and brutality.
I've been shown a newspaper advert from Minnesota, dating from 1863: "The state reward for dead Indians has been increased to $200 for every redskin sent to purgatory."
To underline the point, the advertiser added: "This sum is more than the dead bodies of all the Indians east of the Red River are worth."
One fan of the team - who's open to changing the name - tells me: "If you don't think the word's offensive, next time you see a Native American, go up to them and say 'hey redskin, how's your day going?'''
I can think of many things to call those poker players at the Sky Dancer casino.
Shrewd maybe. Slightly richer for sure. Right after dropping those $50 I could have spat out much worse.
But "redskin"? - somehow, I don't think so.
More from the Magazine
Should the R-word be banned?
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After a tumultuous Westminster week laid bare the government's Brexit divisions, next week's important votes on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill cold rub salt into raw wounds.
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Mark D'ArcyParliamentary correspondent
The government has now published its response to the 15 amendments on which it lost votes in the Lords - and they vary from flat rejection (on the European Economic Area and the Customs Union) to watering-down (on the meaningful vote) to embracing with a bit of tweaking (the Northern Ireland amendment and the Dubs amendment on child refugees) to outright acceptance (on the continuing relationship with the EU, post-Brexit).
There is a handy cut-out-'n-keep guide, from the ever-helpful think tank, the Institute for Government, here.
But what of the politics? Earlier this week the Brexiteers were watching, gimlet-eyed, for a response from the government that shifted it towards a softer-Brexit position, but they now seem mostly happy that no deviation from the previous line has occurred.
For my money, the biggest flashpoints are, first, the amendment on "a" Customs Union, where the symbolic impact of the Commons agreeing an amendment which appeared to back a CU would eclipse the rather modest actual wording.
And then there's the "Hailsham" amendment on a "meaningful vote", which would put the decision on what to do if the government's final divorce deal was rejected by MPs into the hands of the Commons.
It aims to avoid a situation where MPs are told they must choose between the government's deal and leaving the EU without a deal. Brexiteers see this a Trojan horse for a second referendum, or very close alignment with the EU, and the government has offered instead a promise to provide a statement in those circumstances, rather than a vote.
Remainers say that is not much of a concession, and this issue could provide the sharpest confrontation of them all.
On the one hand, the Conservative pro-EU wing - or "economic realists" as they prefer to call themselves - insist they can muster enough votes to agree to the Lords amendments; on the other, there is the question of how many Labour Brexiteers, or Labour MPs in pro-Brexit seats, might vote with the government.
With passions and suspicions running high, the Brexiteers will expect their ministers and whips to die in a ditch to protect their existing policy; and failing that will want retribution visited on the Tory rebels.
The other interesting amendment is the Lords amendment calling for the post-Brexit UK to sign up to the European Economic Area (EEA - the so-called Norway Option). I don't see this being upheld, because the Labour leadership has set its face against this option and a substantial number of Labour MPs would regard signing up to an arrangement which maintained free movement of people as a betrayal of the referendum verdict.
I have a nasty suspicion that the real purpose of this amendment is to drive a wedge between the Corbyn leadership and Remainers in the Labour grassroots.
As for the rest of this week's parliamentary action ("but apart from that, Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play...?") there are some serious committee hearings and Westminster Hall debates (keep an eye on Yvonne Fovargue's Logbook Loans debate, on Tuesday) but the reality is that Brexit is all.....
Monday 11 June
The Commons meets (2.30pm) for Defence questions, after which the prime minister will probably deliver a statement on the latest meeting of the G7 - and, among other things, the outcome of her bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Trudeau, President Macron and Chancellor Merkel, as well as the wider discussions on Russia, Syria and the global economy. As ever, there may be other post-weekend statements and urgent questions, as well.
The main legislation is the second reading debate on the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill, which aims to update the law in the light of the latest understanding of patterns of terrorist behaviour.
It will outlaw the repeated viewing or streaming of terrorist material online, and an extension of the offence of inviting support for a proscribed organisation to cover expressions of support that are reckless as to whether they will encourage others to support the organisation.
It will ensure that individuals linked to the UK can be prosecuted for having encouraged or carried out acts of terror overseas in the same way as if they had committed them in the UK, and it aims to increase the maximum sentence to 15 years for collecting terrorist information.
The day will end with an interesting-looking adjournment debate led by the Cornish Conservative, Steve Double, pointing out that Cornish people have National Minority Status under the Council of Europe's Framework Convention, but are the only recognised British nationality not given the option of a tick box to identify as Cornish in the census. His debate is part of a campaign supported by all six Cornish MPs, Cornwall Council and numerous bodies across Cornwall to make the case for a tick box for Cornish national identity, in the next census.
In Westminster Hall (4.30 pm), there will be a debate on e-petition 205169: "Parliament's vote on the Brexit deal must include an option to remain in the EU."
This will be an appetiser for the debate later in the week on the Lords "meaningful vote" amendment to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill. The petition argues that "a lesser of two evils choice between a bad deal and no deal is not acceptable. Our country deserves better than Hobson's choice, and our MPs should be allowed to vote with their conscience to deliver what they believe is best for the country." The petition attracted 113,613 signatures.
In the Lords (2.30 pm) the main debate is on the serious violence strategy, led by the Conservative, Baroness Manzoor.
The Commons opens (11.30 am) with Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy questions. With a heavy bout of legislation coming up, any statements or urgent questions would have to be, well, urgent, to be allowed to postpone the day's main event, so it may be that the House moves straight on to a Ten Minute Rule Bill on Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (England), from the Conservative, Fiona Bruce.
The main event is the Lords amendments to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.
It is broken up into two three hour chunks, with the first three hours on the Lords amendments dealing with the system for parliamentary approval for statutory instruments to change EU law, the so-called "Henry VIII powers, the exit date, the Commons "meaningful vote" on the final terms of the divorce deal, the status of retained EU law, and delegated powers.
There will be a series of votes when the three-hour "knife" comes down.
Then, the second session will deal with the amendments relating to Northern Ireland. A further six hours of debate will follow on Wednesday.
In Westminster Hall, debates include Scottish Conservative Kirstene Hair (9.30am) highlighting the problems caused by coastal erosion in her constituency- she warns it threatens the historic golf links and the town of Montrose.
Later, the Conservative Fiona Bruce (11am) leads a debate on the care of prisoners' children - she wants to highlight the estimated 200,000 children each year in England and Wales who are separated from a parent or parents (including as many as 17,000 who lose a mother, and likely primary carer) when their parent is sent to jail. They are not offered the same support as children separated as a consequence of care proceedings so face significantly reduced life chances including an increased risk of mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction.
And keep an eye on the debate on protection from logbook loans led by Labour's Yvonne Fovargue (4pm). Having spent 20 years running a Citizens Advice Bureau, she has emerged as a Commons campaigner on a series of personal finance issues. The aim of this debate is to press the government to keep its promise to legislation.
Logbook loans are a way for borrowers to use their car or van as security for a loan and over the last 10 years their use has rocketed - but if payments are missed borrowers can face swift repossession.
One of the implications is that people who buy second hand vehicles in good faith can find themselves losing the vehicle or having to pay off somebody else's loan. In 2016 the Law Commission, which identifies necessary legal reforms, recommended changes to the law to protect buyers and borrowers, by giving them similar protections to those offered by hire-purchase law, and the government promised to act. But no legislation has materialised. Law commission bills, which make technical changes to laws, can go through Parliament under a streamlined procedure, so rapid legislation could follow.
On the Committee Corridor, there's a lot of interesting action starting with the Science and Technology Committee's first hearing in its energy drinks inquiry, which will examine the effects of energy drinks consumption on the mental and physical health of children and young people. The first panel of this session will hear from health care professionals, dieticians and a representative from one of the teachers unions. The second panel will consist of representatives from parts of the drinks/retail sectors.
And in a change to the advertised programme, Leave.EU funder Arron Banks and his colleague Andy Wigmore have announced they are pulling out of a scheduled appearance before the Culture Committee's inquiry into fake news, accusing the committee of conducting a "co-ordinated witch-hunt of Leave groups".
In the Lords (2.30 pm) questions include the former BBC Chairman, Lord Grade of Yarmouth on harassment of BBC Persian staff by the Iranian authorities, and then peers will turn to the detail of the Civil Liability Bill.
Issues at report stage include compensation levels for whiplash injuries. There are concerns that attempts to clamp down on excessive damages may lead to people with genuinely serious claims losing compensation. Watch out for amendments from the Lib Dem peer Lord Sharkey, who has conducted a guerrilla campaign on this issue.
The Commons opens (11.30am) with half an hour of Wales questions, followed by PMQs at noon. The day's Ten Minute Rule Bill from Labour MP Anna McMorrin, would require producers of packaging products to assume responsibility for the collection, transportation, recycling, disposal, treatment and recovery of those products.
Then it's on to day two of consideration of Lords amendments to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill - with six hours of debate on the amendments covering "a" Customs Union, possible UK membership of the EEA, more on retained EU law, the status of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, environmental protection, refugees - and the Dubs amendment on the right to family reunion for child refugees, and the continued relationship with EU.
In Westminster Hall, the opening debate (9.30am) is on the review of the business rates system - led by Labour MP Rachael Maskell.
She argues that the business rates system is driving high street business to their knees, both because rates have risen sharply in many areas, following the recent revaluation, and because they are increasingly competing with online sellers who do not face the same tax burden. She wants to probe the direction and timing of the review of the system promised in 2017, and to argue for a switch to a turnover tax, which would be levied on online retailers as well as high street traders.
Other debates include the economic effect of vaccinations in developing countries (2.30pm) and government policy on continuing healthcare for people with terminal illnesses (4pm).
On the committee corridor, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee will hold a one-off session with Defra Secretary, Michael Gove (9.30am) and in the afternoon it will hold the first hearing of its inquiry into Dangerous Dogs: Breed Specific Legislation, which will examine how effective the government's current approach is to protecting the public from dangerous dog attacks (2.45 pm).
And the Women and Equalities Committee continues its inquiries into sexual harassment, with evidence from Karon Monaghan QC of Matrix Chambers and Dr Purna Sen, Director of Policy at UN Women, on sexual harassment of women and girls in public places. Then it turns to the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace with evidence from the Minister for Women, Victoria Atkins (9.50am).
It's a light-looking day in the Lords (from 3pm) with peers polishing off consideration of the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill and dealing with a series of orders and regulations, before debating a report on the EU's attempt to disrupt human smuggling and trafficking networks in the Mediterranean - the clue's in the title: 'Operation Sophia: a failed mission'.
It will be the morning after the night before as MPs open (9.30am) with Exiting the European Union questions, where Wednesday's votes may have raised a series of interesting issues for the Brexit Secretary, David Davis, to address. Then comes the weekly Business Statement from the Leader of the House, Andrea Leadsom, who may be pressed for precise dates for the report stage debates on the Customs and Trade bills - which both have important Brexit ramifications, as well as soft-Brexit amendments awaiting them.
Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Tom Tugendhat will deliver a statement on his committee's new report on the Foreign Office's preparations for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which warned that England fans face an increased risk of attack, because of the UK's deteriorating relations with Russia, in the wake of the Salisbury attack.
After that comes a debate on the 70th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks - among other things the motion notes the critical role its passengers played in post-war reconstruction of the UK and in particular their work to support the establishment of the newly created NHS.
In Westminster Hall Neill Parrish, the chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, leads a debate on their report on Brexit and agriculture, which warns that high tariffs on food imports would raise the cost for consumers, while removing tariffs could lower the cost for consumers but have a devastating effect on agriculture, and could put many UK farmers out of business, leaving the UK dependent on imported food.
That is followed by a general debate on immigration detention of victims of torture and other vulnerable people.
In the Lords (11am) the main events are two debates led by Labour peers - first on the impact of the government's "hostile environment" approach towards illegal immigration on those with residency and employment rights - led by former Chief Whip and Home Office Minister, Lord Bassam of Brighton - and then on the use of personal data harvested from social media sites in recent election campaigns and the government's response, led by another former minister, Lord Knight of Weymouth.
It's private members' bill day in the Commons (from 9.30am) and the first item of business will be the report stage and third reading debates on Steve Reed's Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill also known as "Seni's Law" after Seni Lewis, who died after being restrained during his first mental health episode.
The bill aims to strengthen accountability for the use of force in mental health units - and it has government support. This should be a straightforward event but it looks as if it will be one of those annoying days where debate on a relatively uncontroversial matter is padded out, to prevent bills further down the agenda from having sufficient debate to be voted on.
In this case, the target will be the scheduled second reading of the Labour MP Andy Slaughter's Freedom of Information (Extension) Bill - which aims to close what he regards as a major loophole in the FOI Act, which does not normally apply to information held by contractors providing public services, such as housing, health or social care, public transport and prisons.
The Campaign for Freedom of Information, which backs the bill, says the kind of information which has been withheld as a result of this loophole includes information about the number of attacks at privately run prisons, whistleblowing policies of NHS contractors, incentives to issue parking tickets, the cost of TV licensing prosecutions and penalty fares on the London Overground.
And they suggest the Grenfell tower fire has highlighted the need for public access to information held by the providers of social housing.
Further down the batting order, and so unlikely to be debated are bills to create a June Bank Holiday to mark Brexit - from the Conservative Brexiteer, Peter Bone, and to bring in a Statute of Limitations for members of the Armed Forces - from the Conservative Richard Benyon.
The Lords is not sitting.
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As a widower urges "reckless" cyclists to learn from the death of his wife, who was knocked down and killed by a teenager on bike with no front brake in east London, a courier explains to the BBC's Laura Lea what made him ride a "fixie" - and why this may now change.
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Michael - not his real name - has worked as a bike courier for the last year and a half and believes the case - which led to an Old Bailey trial and national media attention - has "whipped up hatred against cyclists".
"I've heard other couriers saying to me they feel on edge and that pedestrians have looked at them differently," he says.
"In the last couple of weeks, with every courier I've met, this has been the first thing we've talked about," the 27-year-old adds.
He spends 9-10 hours a day delivering packages on the roads of central London and is paid on a job-by-job basis, so weaving in and out of traffic to complete the work quickly is vital.
'Sensation of control'
Michael rides a fixie - a fixed-wheel bicycle - with no front brake. This is illegal.
By law, a bike on a public road in the UK must have two brakes.
A fixed-wheel bicycle has a single gear and no freewheel mechanism. The rear fixed wheel of a fixie - which a rider can slow using the pedals - counts as a brake.
"I didn't actually know it was against the law until this case," he says.
"It takes a long time to get used to riding a bike without brakes," Michael says.
"People do it because it's this personal sensation of control with the bike. You never get that quick in London, it's more about how you cycle. I think most couriers who spend hours riding every day have the credentials."
He does admit you "can probably slow down quicker with a front brake".
"I wouldn't advise it for an 18-year-old kid who's been watching cycling videos," he adds.
The trial of Charlie Allison over the death of Kim Briggs heard how the then teenager had compared the experience of riding without a front brake to videos by a stunt cyclist.
'Most trained urban cyclists'
Mrs Briggs's husband, Matthew, asked why those who rode bikes without a front brake would take that "risk with somebody else's life".
But Michael does not believe he is taking a risk: "I wouldn't ride it if I felt there was a risk to others."
He does concede that it makes riding "exciting" and "fun" but says his fellow couriers are among the most trained urban cyclists in London.
Following the case, Michael is planning to get a brake fitted. But this isn't for the reason you might think.
"I'm worried going out on my bike, that the police are going to take my bike off me and then I won't be able to work," he says.
Mr Briggs said he hoped courier companies would communicate clearly and forcefully that bikes without two brakes are not legal.
Michael said this could have little effect as "so many [cycle] couriers are self-employed".
Cycling organisations and charities have widely supported Mr Briggs. Duncan Dollimore, from Cycling UK, called riding without a front brake on a busy road "stupid".
Josh Lane - a mechanic at Look Mum, No Hands, a cafe and workshop for cyclists in central London - told BBC Radio 4's Today programme many fixie riders "just think about their own safety" rather than anyone else.
He said: "The problem is you have younger guys that see these riders and think 'Damn , that is so cool. That's how I want to look'. Take their brakes off and maybe they can't stop or move in the way that these really professional riders can."
He said: "In this particular circumstance… someone has crashed into someone - that could have been avoided if they had brakes. You've got to take that into account. You've got to think of other people, not just yourself."
Mr Lane, who rides a fixie himself with a front brake, suggested that bikes should have to be regularly serviced and checked, much like the MOT system for cars.
He said: "People need to be intelligent enough to look at these videos, take away certain aspects of them but then maybe take a look at how they ride a bike, where they ride a bike and what the consequences can be."
But Michael believes there has been too much "fixation" on the issue of the brakes.
"It would be an entirely different story here if [Alliston] fell away from Mrs Briggs into an oncoming bus. This was a freak accident.
"People just step out in front and expect us to stop. There needs more education for pedestrians dealing with cyclists. The law needs to look at better cycling infrastructure."
He did agree, however, that "pedestrians have the right of way, even if they are wrong".
Crash investigators who studied CCTV of the incident concluded Alliston would have been able to stop and avoid the collision if the bike had been fitted with a front brake.
Alliston is due to be sentenced on 18 September.
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