The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic version of the EpiPen, which is used to treat severe food and insect allergies.
The generic version will be available in the US in several weeks at a list price of $300 (Â£230).
The product generates annual sales of $1bn for

The maker of the EpiPen will start selling a generic version in the wake of criticism about steep price increases.

Article: The proposals are contained in a public consultation jointly published by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) and the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland.
However, the consultation has been criticised by the Northern Ireland's biggest public sector union, Nipsa.
It claimed it was an uncosted bid to "save money and dress it up as reform".
Nipsa official Dooley Harte said: "This document provides no options but rather is a blatant attempt by the Northern Ireland Office and the chief electoral officer to lead the Northern Ireland public right up the path to a worse service that we could end up paying for."
He added that the consultation "provides no financial information on what it costs to run the current offices, how much it will cost to devolve functions to councils, what services will be lost or reduced".
Mr Harte further claimed that there has been no proper engagement with councils "to get their agreement to devolution".
However, Northern Ireland Minister Kris Hopkins said: "I have seen first-hand how councils can play an important role in the delivery of elections, maintaining a vital local link to the wider democratic process.
"I am pleased therefore that this consultation seeks views on giving them an enhanced role."
The Northern Ireland consultation process is due to end in January. The Electoral Office have said they are hopeful the system will be running by 2017.
In Great Britain, 90% of voter registrations are now made online.
Mr Hopkins added: "Digital registration will bring Northern Ireland into step with the rest of the UK and promises to make registering to vote more straightforward."
Legislation to introduce electronic registration is due be presented to parliament next month.
Nipsa has called on the public to "fight for the retention of the current regional electoral offices".

Summary: Plans have been announced to allow Northern Ireland voters to register electronically and to give councils more involvement in running elections.
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Article: Mylan said it expected to start selling a cheaper generic product "in several weeks" at a list price of $300 (Â£230).
That is about half the list price of the existing product, which is used in emergencies for severe food and insect allergies.
The cost of EpiPens in the US has risen by 500% in less than a decade.
Mylan said the generic version would be identical to the branded EpiPen, which costs $600 for two doses.
Allergy sufferers often have several pens - one to keep at home, as well as others at school or work, or in the car. They also expire after 12 months.
Mylan chief executive Heather Bresch said the company had spent hundreds of millions of dollars improving the product since buying the product from Merck in 2007.
"Our decision to launch a generic alternative to EpiPen is an extraordinary commercial response," she said. "We determined that bypassing the brand system in this case and offering an additional alternative was the best option."
The move is unusual because the branded version is still under patent and other rival treatments have failed to get regulatory clearance. The product generates annual sales of $1bn for Mylan.
Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal said: "We suspect Mylan will continue to receive some heat for its price increases and there will be heightened pressure on FDA [regulator the Food and Drug Administration] to bring competition to the market."
Ms Bresch also blamed the complex US health care system for the price rises and said that Mylan took just $274 of the $600 list price, while insurers, pharmacies and other parties shared the rest.
How much individuals pay for an EpiPen prescription can depend on their insurance coverage.
Politicians and parents have challenged the price hikes, with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton calling them "outrageous" and unjustified.
The outcry over EpiPen price rises sent Mylan shares falling about 12% last week. The stock was flat at $43.04 in afternoon trading in New York.
Actor Sarah Jessica Parker, who had endorsed EpiPens, said...

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A bull has been rescued from a deep, muddy hole it fell into while roaming around looking for cows.
Article: A bull has been rescued from a deep, muddy hole it fell into while roaming around looking for cows.
Summary: A bull has been rescued from a deep, muddy hole it fell into while roaming

A man who survived a cow trampling attack in which his brother was killed has told the BBC public footpaths need to be made safer.

Article: The one-tonne, Â£2,000 animal was lost for 48 hours in the storm drain on peatland near Ben Aketil Wind Farm on the Isle of Skye.
The bull vanished from the place it was kept last Friday before being found on Sunday.
Firefighters and local crofters took 20 minutes to free the animal, which was hungry but unharmed.
Fifteen people were involved in the operation with firefighters from Portree, Broadford and Dunvegan involved.
Broadford firefighter Martin Benson said: "The bull had been stuck for a considerable amount of time and had lost a lot of weight.
"We cut the peat bank as best we could around the bull which was about three feet below ground level - and stuck at either side when we arrived.
"Eventually we managed to carve out some room for the bull to wriggle itself free."
He added: "The first thing the animal did was shake itself down and go for something to eat.
"In such a remote, agricultural area these rescues are sometimes necessary - and it's nice to have a happy outcome."
Crofter Ian Duncan last saw the animal on Friday morning and began to worry on Saturday afternoon.
He said: "He disappeared on the Friday while searching for cows.
"It's not uncommon for a bull to go missing in such a large area but this bull had never gone missing for such a time before.
"When we found the animal I was surprised at how far he'd travelled.
"I called the fire service right away and they did a magnificent job of digging him out."
He added: "He's been eating a lot more - but apart from that he's looking okay."

Summary: A bull has been rescued from a deep, muddy hole it fell into while roaming around looking for cows.
###
Article: John Porter's brother Mike, 66, died at the scene after the men were knocked to the ground by cows in Wiltshire.
After an inquest jury returned a verdict of accidental death, he said he hoped more could be done to prevent a further tragedy.
The jury noted that there had been previous attacks in the same fields.
And jurors noted a lack of separation between cattle and public, in a narrative accompanying their verdict.
Mr Porter, 74, from Monkton Combe, near Bath, told the BBC: "Accidents will always happen, sadly. But I do think that we do need to look at ways in which we can make our footpaths safer."
His brother was visiting from Edinburgh in May 2013 when they walked dogs on leads across a public footpath through Elbow Field, Turleigh. They were knocked to the ground by two cows and stamped on. Mike died at the scene of internal bleeding.
The inquest heard that Simon Dark, Bleddyn Griffiths and David Billington had also suffered injuries after being trampled in the fields in 2008 and 2011 - although it was not possible to say whether the same cows were involved.
The farmer Brian Godwin, 81, had been visited by the Health and Safety Executive after Mr Billington was injured. He had put in place some safety measures, including signs and some electric fencing. He has since sold the cattle and is trying to establish a new herd.
The lawyers representing Mike Porter's partner Adrienne Sillar and their two sons said there was a "clear issue" about whether Elbow Field should remain a public right of way and "whether cows should share the enclosure".

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A man has been jailed for life for the murder of a man who was shot dead in a pub in Ashton-under-Lyne.
Anthony Henry, 32, was found guilty of murder at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday.
He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years.
The court heard

Two more men have been found guilty of murdering another man who was shot outside a Greater Manchester pub.

Article: Some infections are becoming almost impossible to treat, because of the excessive use of antibiotics.
And more than half of those used around the world are used in animals, often to make them grow more quickly.
The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance called for new targets on the amount of antibiotics used.
The great threat of excessive antibiotics use in agriculture was highlighted in China last month.
Scientists warned the world was on the cusp of the "post-antibiotic era" after discovering bacteria resistant to the antibiotic colistin - the medication used when all others have failed.
It appeared to develop in farm animals before also being detected in hospital patients.
In some cases, antibiotics are used in agriculture to treat infections - but most are used prophylactically in healthy animals to prevent infection or, controversially, as a way of boosting weight gain.
Using antibiotics as growth promoters was banned in the EU in 2006.
Such uses are more common in intensive farming conditions.
Based on current rates, the global consumption of antibiotics is expected to increase by 67% by 2030.
In the US alone, every year, 3,400 tonnes of antibiotics are used on patients, while 8,900 tonnes are used on animals.
The economist who led the review, Jim O'Neill, said such figures were simply "staggering" and 10 million people would die each year from drug-resistant infections by 2050.
He said a reasonable target for agricultural antibiotic use would be 50mg for every 1kg of livestock - a level already achieved by one of the world's biggest pork exporters, Denmark.
The UK uses just over 50mg/kg, the US uses nearly 200mg/kg, while Cyprus uses more than 400mg/kg.
Mr O'Neill told the BBC: "I'm sure many farmers will immediately think, 'Well, if we have to do this, that means the price goes up and I'll go out of business'.
"The Danish example shows that, after a very initial transition cost, actually over the long term prices weren't affected and Denmark has continued to maintain its market share."
Antibiotics are...

Summary: Farmers need to dramatically cut the amount of antibiotics used in agriculture, because of the threat to human health, a report says.
###
Article: Kieran McGrath, 26, was shot after leaving the Sheldon Arms pub in Ashton-under-Lyne on 4 October 2014. He drove to a police station but died later.
The man who orchestrated his killing, Anthony Henry, 32, was found guilty of murder on Friday.
Troy Beckford, 24, and Jace Smith, 31, were convicted after a trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
The jury was unable to agree in the case of two other men, Remi Adams, 34 and Scott Chapman, 27, also charged with murder.
Mr Adams was found not guilty of possessing ammunition without a certificate.
A woman, Bretony Gallimore, 24, was found guilty of assisting an offender.
The gun used to kill Mr McGrath was the same gun used to kill Manchester shopkeeper Pragaret Singh three weeks later. Police believe the firearm was passed between criminals.
Mr McGrath was shot after leaving the pub at about 22:25 BST.
Anthony Henry had tracked Mr McGrath's Audi S3 and watched his movements on an iPad, the trial heard.
After being shot, the 26-year-old drove away from the scene to a nearby police station but died after collapsing near the front door.
He died from a single gunshot wound, a post-mortem examination found.
No witnesses to the attack have come forward.

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The BBC reports that the UK's National Health Service is to trial a new system that will allow patients to access their medical records online.
The system, which is being trialled in a number of hospitals, will allow patients to view their medical records online.
The system, which is being trialled in a number

A baby has been born to a previously infertile couple in Ukraine using a new type of "three-person IVF".

Article: The original ruling, made by the Belgian Privacy Commissioner (BPC) in November, relates to Facebook cookies that track the activity of non-users.
The company expects to receive an order this week, which it will contest.
But in the meantime, cookies will not be set for non-users and accounts will be needed to access content.
Cookies are text files, and some record the web activity of users. The one in question, which Facebook has named datr, can live in a web user's browser for two years.
Facebook has argued that the cookie provides better security for the site's members by preventing the creation of fake accounts, reducing the risk of accounts being hijacked, protecting users' content against theft and deterring denial-of-service attacks.
"We had hoped to address the BPC's concerns in a way that allowed us to continue using a security cookie that protected Belgian people from more than 33,000 takeover attempts in the past month," said a Facebook spokeswoman.
"We're disappointed we were unable to reach an agreement and now people will be required to log in or register for an account to see publicly available content on Facebook."
In a letter on Tuesday, the company told the BPC it would comply "fully" with the order as soon as it was received.
As well as blocking access to pages for non-users, datr cookies will no longer be set for non-users and existing cookies for such individuals will be deleted where possible.
Facebook also says it will implement cookies for users who are logged in to protect against certain attacks on its network.
"We continue to have significant concerns that requirements set forth during these proceedings in respect of cookie practices have not been applied fairly and equitably within Belgium to other internet services, as demonstrated in the reports we have submitted in the past," commented Facebook in the letter.
"I think the other protection authorities all over Europe will be looking at this," said Paul Bernal, a privacy commentator and law lecturer at the University of East...

Summary: Facebook has said that it will respond to a privacy ruling in Belgium by requiring users to log in to view pages on the site.
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Article: The Times reports that doctors in Kiev used a method called pronuclear transfer in what is a world first.
It is not the first baby born with DNA from three parents, however.
The baby girl, born on 5 January, is thought to be the world's second "modern three-parent baby" - another child was created using a slightly different method in Mexico last year.
The Kiev team fertilised the mother's egg with her partner's sperm. They then transferred the combined genes into an egg taken from a donor.
The child has the genetic identity of the parents, alongside a tiny amount of DNA from the second woman.
Doctors developed three-person IVF to help women who are at risk of passing on serious genetic disorders, called mitochondrial disease, to have a healthy child.
Eggs from a mother with unhealthy mitochondria and a donor with healthy mitochondria are collected.
The Nadiya clinic in Kiev used the technique to treat an infertile couple, not a couple carrying a mitochondrial disease.
UK experts said this was "highly experimental".
Valery Zukin, who led the work, said they had a hunch it would work for the Ukrainian couple who had not been able to conceive with conventional IVF.
He said he had a second patient - in a similar situation - who is expected to give birth in early March.
The UK has already passed laws to allow three-person IVF for couples with mitochondrial diseases, although no such baby has been born in Britain yet.
The science is new and controversial and raises ethical questions, including how any child from the technique might feel about having DNA from three people.
Prof Adam Balen, chairman of the British Fertility Society, said: "Pronuclear transfer is highly experimental and has not been properly evaluated or scientifically proven.
"We would be extremely cautious about adopting this approach to improve IVF outcomes."

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A man has been arrested after a crash involving a roadsweeper in Wiltshire.
Police said the incident happened at about 19:20 BST on Wednesday on Station Road in Purton, near Swindon.
Wiltshire Police said the roadsweeper was travelling towards Hook and was not believed to have

Steve Dillon, the legendary British comic book artist, known for his work on Preacher, Punisher, and 2000AD's Judge Dredd has died aged 54.

Article: Daniel Climance was struck by the vehicle while out riding his bike at about 19:20 BST on Wednesday on Station Road in Purton, near Swindon.
He died at the scene. Wiltshire Police described it as a "tragic accident".
In a statement issued through the force, Daniel's family said he would be "sadly missed" by his brothers.
"Daniel was a local Wiltshire lad who divided his time equally between his mum in north Swindon and his Dad in Purton," the statement continued.
It said he was in his final year at Bridlewood Primary School and was looking forward to starting Bradon Forest School in September, joining his older brother Robbie.
"Daniel was a beautiful, loving child, with a fantastic sense of humour, caring and loving with a wide circle of friends," it said.
"He will be sadly missed by his brothers Robbie, George and Noah, and all of the extended family."
Daniel, who "loved" playing football for the Wootton Bassett under-11 team, had just completed his second-degree black belt in Taekwondo, of which he was "immensely proud", his family added.
Police said the roadsweeper was travelling towards Hook and was not believed to have been operating at the time.

Summary: The family of an 11-year-old boy who died after being hit by a roadsweeper in a Wiltshire town have paid tribute to their "beautiful, loving child".
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Article: His brother Glyn confirmed the death on Twitter, saying his "big brother and hero" had died in New York City.
Dillon was a prolific artist who began professional work at age 16, drawing for Marvel UK's Hulk magazine.
He was best known for his US collaborations with writer Garth Ennis, creating classic cult comic titles.
In his Twitter profile, Dillon, originally from Luton, describes himself as: "A comic book bloke. Co-creator/Artist of Preacher. Co-founder/Editor of Deadline magazine. Artist on Punisher, Judge Dredd and many others."
He was born in Luton in Bedfordshire in 1962. When he was 16 he embarked on his first professional job, drawing the character Nick Fury for Hulk Weekly.
In the 1980s his career started to take off and he regularly contributed to Doctor Who Magazine, creating the character Abslom Daak.
More work followed and he was on the comic anthology Warrior from its inception in 1982.
He also drew for the British sci-fi and fantasy comic 2000AD, where he was perhaps best-known for his work as an artist on Judge Dredd.
Dillon arrived in the United States in the late 1980s, where some of his most popular strips were created.
The Hollywood Reporter says it was at DC's Vertigo imprint that he collaborated with author Garth Ennis, first on the critically acclaimed Hellblazer and then on Preacher.
Vertigo Comics paid tribute on Twitter, saying: "We lost a giant among creators and artists today. He will be missed by all of us here."
The Preacher strip inspired the US television series of the same name. In a statement, TV company AMC said: "Steve Dillon was an enormously talented illustrator who, with Garth Ennis, created a cult classic comic we were so proud to bring to television."
Dillon and Ennis then worked together on multiple series of the Punisher at Marvel, who have described the artist as "a great storyteller" on Twitter, and said they will remember his "incredible work".
On his blog of British comics, Lew Stringer who describes himself as one of Dillon's "legions of fans", paid tribute,...

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A bottlenose dolphin has been pictured flipping a porpoise into the air in a deadly attack.
The BBC's Nasidi Adamu Yahya in the capital, Abuja, says Nigerian MPs often come under the media spotlight because of the huge money they earn.
However, Senator Bala Ibn Na'

Nigerians have been reacting angrily to a draft bill being discussed in the Senate which aims to punish anyone who "propagates false information" on electronic media.

Article: The rarely seen event was witnessed by gig rowers in Newlyn Harbour in Cornwall.
Dolphin attacks on porpoises accounted for about one death a year on average, said Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT).
It is unclear why dolphins attack porpoises but it could be an aggressive response to feeding competition or even "misdirected sexual aggression".
More on the deadly attack, plus more Devon and Cornwall news
The pictures were captured by the Pendeen Pilot Gig Club in a training session.
CWT said: "We are unsure of why this happens and it is certainly not predation.
"Many theories have been put forward, including misdirected infanticide (bottlenoses will kill calves), misdirected sexual aggression or play behaviour and an aggressive response to feed competition are just some."
Marine Strandings Network said it found the carcass of the porpoise, which had "multiple severe injuries as a result of the attack".
"We do have a number of dead porpoise, and more unusually common dolphin, reported to us with injuries resulting from bottlenose dolphin aggression."

Summary: A bottlenose dolphin has been pictured flipping a porpoise into the air in a deadly attack.
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Article: Tweeters have been using #NoToSocialMediaBill to campaign against the proposal.
It proposes up to a seven-year sentence or $25,000 (£16,000) fine for anyone found to be sending "abusive messages".
Human Rights Watch condemns the move as an attempt to muzzle free speech.
Millions of social media users in Nigeria, as well as those sending text messages, could be affected, it says in a statement.
The bill does not define "abusive statement or messages."
There will be a public hearing on the bill before it can be passed.
Activists see the bill as an attempt to target critics of lawmakers and politicians.
The BBC's Nasidi Adamu Yahya in the capital, Abuja, says Nigerian MPs often come under the media spotlight because of the huge money they earn.
However, Senator Bala Ibn Na'allah of the governing All Progressive Congress, who sponsored the bill, said the publication of false stories was becoming rampant in the country.
"You can't write false stories just because it is social media," he told the BBC Hausa service.
The offences the proposed bill seeks to criminalise already exist under Nigerian laws including those on treason, defamation, and libel, our reporter says.
Nigeria has a vibrant civil society, with many activists who use social media for their campaigns. It has the largest number of mobile phone users in Africa.

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The BBC has been accused of clogging up the courts with licence fee evasion cases.
The BBC has been accused of clogging up the courts with licence fee evasion cases.
The BBC has been accused of clogging up the courts with licence fee evasion cases. The BBC has been accused of clogging up the courts

Egypt's internet activists have played a key role in the pro-democracy protests from the outset, but they tell the BBC that the online campaigning is evolving to suit their real-life activism in Tahrir Square.

Article: A total of 181,880 people were summoned to appear at magistrates' courts in England for the offence last year.
The figures, revealed in the House Of Lords, prompted some critics to accuse the BBC of "clogging up" the courts.
But the TV Licensing authority said most cases were dealt with in "bulk sessions" that took up a "small proportion" of court time.
The authority is contracted by the BBC to collect and enforce the fee, which is Â£145.50 for a colour television.
Most people who own a television set, or who stream live broadcasts through their computer, must pay the annual charge.
Those who do not face a fine of up to Â£1,000. Anyone who refuses, or is unable, to pay the fine could face prison.
The number of people caught watching TV without a licence has remained steady since 2010, at about 400,000.
However, the number of prosecutions for evasion has risen from 164,444 in 2010 to 181,880 in 2012, Ministry of Justice figures show. With magistrates handling 1.48m cases in 2012, licence fee evasion accounts for 12% of their workload.
Two-thirds of those prosecuted were women - believed to be because they are more likely to be at home when inspectors visit.
About 15% of the cases, a total of 26,745, were unsuccessful last year.
Lord Pearson, leader of the UK Independence Party in the House Of Lords, called the figures "outrageous".
"I believe that non-payment should be treated in the way that parking tickets are," said the peer, who is sponsoring a bill to decriminalise non-payment of the licence fee.
"It is absurd that the courts are being clogged up by such a minor offence," he told the Telegraph.
The figures came to light after Lord Laird submitted a written question to Parliament.
A TV Licensing spokesman said: "We always prefer people buy a licence so we work with money advice organisations to inform the public of the many payment methods available, including small weekly cash payments.
"However, we have a duty to enforce the law on behalf of the 95% of people who pay. TV Licence evasion cases take up a...

Summary: More than one in 10 criminal prosecutions in 2012 were for non-payment of the BBC licence fee.
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Article: This revolution is the result of someone sending a Facebook invitation to many people.  I got it like other people on our network.  The buzz around it was then created on different social media websites and with videos.  I was here on 25 January when riot police forced us out and by the 28th, we were back following the violence.  I've been sleeping here most of the time since.
Our social network was established in 2005, when there was a democratic opening around the time of the presidential elections. People from different backgrounds all met through blogging and hoped to use technology for social change.  It meant we have all gained good contacts, experience and strong networks.
I like to think the social network is the people itself.  Things like Facebook, Twitter, SMS and phones are just social tools.  When they blocked Facebook and shut down technology, our network still operated because it's about people.  Internet activists are also people and a lot of our organising, social work and relationships are developed offline.
This is something that people dreamt of but didn't anticipate happening in reality.  If anything, it shows that all the effort we put in over the past few years has not been wasted.  It has climaxed into this critical mass of people you see in the square.
At the moment I'm not getting a lot of internet connection.  I'm trying not to drain my phone battery. We're still using it to distribute footage people are bringing to us that we've sorted through.
I hope the internet will continue to play a complementary role in activism.  At the moment we physically exist in downtown Cairo and I hope that when we have finished this sit-in, we will have won the right to organise ourselves outside the internet.
Twitter: Amr Gharbeia
I was involved in this revolution from the first day, 25 January, and I've now been spending my nights here for a while. For the past five years, I was very active online, blogging and tweeting.  As we live under emergency laws in Egypt it has been very difficult to meet or...

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A man who was convicted of possessing a prohibited weapon and ammunition without a certificate has been jailed for 15 months.
The court heard that the defendant, who was a former soldier, was arrested in January last year and charged in December.
He had already admitted three firearms offences, possessing prohibited ammunition and possessing ammunition without a

A former SAS soldier has been jailed for possessing weapons and ammunition.

Article: That is the conclusion of astronomers who surveyed thousands of galaxies, living and dead, to assess whether the transition is rapid or slow.
In the dead galaxies they detected high levels of metals, which build up during star formation and point to a slow strangulation process.
The work appears in the journal Nature.
"Metals are a powerful tracer of the history of star formation: the more stars that are formed by a galaxy, the more metal content you'll see," said Dr Yingjie Peng from the University of Cambridge, the paper's lead author.
"So looking at levels of metals in dead galaxies should be able to tell us how they died."
If a galaxy's death was quick and violent, with the cool gas that feeds star formation stripped away by internal or external forces, it would immediately stop forming stars and its metal content would remain the same.
On the other hand, if the galaxy is cut off from its supply of gas but it continues to use up what remains, metal would continue to build up until the galaxy eventually "suffocates".
In a commentary for Nature, fellow astronomer Andrea Cattaneo from the Observatoire de Paris compared this tell-tale evidence to the high levels of carbon dioxide seen in a strangled human body.
"During [strangulation], the victim uses up oxygen in the lungs but keeps producing carbon dioxide, which remains trapped in the body," wrote Dr Cattaneo.
"Instead of building up CO2, the strangled galaxies accumulate metals - elements heavier than helium - produced by massive stars."
The team led by Dr Peng spotted that accumulation of metal when they compared the spectrum of light emitted by 23,000 red, passive galaxies and 4,000 blue, star-forming ones.
They used data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey - a vast collection of detailed, multi-coloured images spanning a third of the sky, which has been used to compile a precise 3D map of the universe.
On average, the living, star-forming galaxies were four billion years younger than the dead ones. This matches the amount of time that the astronomers...

Summary: When galaxies stop making stars, their death is usually a slow process that chokes them of the necessary cool gases over about four billion years.
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Article: A 9mm self-loading pistol, ammunition, four Enfield pistols and a rifle component were found at Albert Patterson's house in Hereford, the Hereford Times reported.
The 65-year-old was jailed for 15 months at the city's Crown Court.
He had already admitted three firearms offences, possessing prohibited ammunition and possessing ammunition without a certificate.
More on this story and others from Herefordshire
West Mercia Police said Patterson was arrested in January last year and charged in December.
Two charges of possessing a prohibited weapon and a second charge of possessing ammunition without a certificate will remain on file following Wednesday's hearing.
Former SAS soldier Lofty Wiseman who helped train Patterson, described him as a "good lad" who had been naive.
"He broke the law unfortunately. He had to get punished," he said.
"If he wanted a weapon as a keepsake, you could have had it de-activated, but by having a weapon, a serviceable weapon and ammunition, I think it's the ammunition that's really been the nail in the coffin.
"If you have a weapon in a house with ammunition, there's always that temptation... you can never say you're going to use it but different circumstances, state of mind, if it's there, it can be used so that's where you must have laws."

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The Welsh government has spent more than £52,000 on advertising the Metro project in south Wales.
The Welsh government said it was "unapologetic" about the campaign.
A spokesman said: "We are not going to apologise for informing the Welsh public about one of the most important economic and social projects in

An advertising campaign promoting the South Wales Metro has been criticised as "useless" and a "cynical way of spending public money".

Article: In a letter to school governors seen by the BBC, the employers said the proposed strike action by some NASUWT members later this month is based on a ballot conducted five years ago.
In response, the NASUWT maintain their plans for action are entirely lawful.
Their members at schools in Belfast and Newtownabbey are due to stage a one-day walk out on 30 November.
The action is over pay, workload and job insecurity.
The letter is from the management side of the Teachers' Negotiating Committee.
It represents the main school employing bodies, including the Education Authority (EA) and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS).
The letter points out that the strike is based on a ballot taken "in November 2011".
"We reserve the right to challenge the legality of the current action with particular reference to the unacceptable continuous rolling over and escalation of the industrial action purportedly authorised by historic ballots notwithstanding clear changes to the nature of the disputes," it said.
Last month, all teaching unions in Northern Ireland rejected an offer which would have seen their pay frozen last year and a rise of 1% for 2016-17
The other teaching unions - INTO, UTU and ATL - are currently taking non-strike industrial action.
For example, INTO members are not attending school meetings arranged before school or at break or lunchtime.
The employers' letter said that they want to resolve the industrial action.
However, it said they "are concerned about the long-term nature of the industrial action the unions are currently engaged in and the detrimental impact on the education of pupils and effective running of schools".
In response, the NASUWT said that they are pursuing "a lawful trade dispute on pay, pensions, working conditions and jobs which has been recognised by the education minister
"The NASUWT's plans for strike action are entirely lawful and members participating in the NASUWT industrial action will continue to be protected in law by the existing yes vote from the ballot of all...

Summary: The body representing teaching employers is considering legal action against a strike plan by some teachers.
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Article: Liberal Democrat AM Eluned Parrott said the Welsh government had "wasted" more than £52,000 on them at railway stations in south Wales.
She accused ministers of spending public money to "promote themselves before an election".
The Welsh government said it was unapologetic about the campaign.
A spokesman said: "We are not going to apologise for informing the Welsh public about one of the most important economic and social projects in Wales' history.
"Are the Liberal Democrats really saying that we should not be providing people in Wales with this important information?"
Ms Parrott said her party backed the project, but added: "To all intents and purposes, here we have Labour ministers spending over £50,000 of public money to promote themselves before an election.
"This is money spent only on marketing the fact that one day, years in the future, there will be a Metro in south Wales.
"This is a cynical way of spending public money. The minister is wasting tens of thousands of pounds on a useless poster campaign."
Work on the Metro is set to start in 2017 and finish in 2020, a government spokesman said.
Formal consultation for the £600m programme to develop an integrated network of rail, bus and light rail services begins in 2016.

Summary:


Oldham Athletic have offered free entry to all fans for their rearranged League One fixture against Peterborough United on Tuesday, 24 January.

Article: The areas have been identified as having "high wildness" and include islands, mountain ranges, moorlands and blanket bogs, said the agency.
Among the 42 sites are parts of Jura and also Hoy in Orkney, Breadalbane-Schiehallion in Perth and Kinross, Lochnagar and Skye's Cuillin Hills.
Public comments have been sought on draft guidance on protecting the areas.
Other sites include Talla-Hart Fells north of Moffat, Causeymire-Knockfin Fells in Caithness and Ronas Hill and North Roe in Shetland.
SNH said descriptions were based on extensive field study work and illustrated with photographs and maps.
Peter Hutchinson, SNH's planning and renewables manager, said: "Our Wild Land Areas have a distinct and special character.
"They are part of Scotland's identity and bring broad and significant benefits. For example, they attract many thousands of visitors each year and provide important havens for Scotland's wildlife."
The public consultation on the draft guidance, which is designed to protect the areas from new developments, runs until 7 April.
Landscape conservation charity, the John Muir Trust, has welcomed the publication of the descriptions and draft guidance.
Stuart Brooks, the trust's chief executive, said: "We would applaud the work that SNH has carried out to create vivid and detailed descriptions of each individual wild land area, which examine landscape, ecology, geology, archaeology and current human activity.
"They will help bring to life Scotland's most beautiful, wild and remote places - turning lines on maps into real places."

Summary: Descriptions of 42 Wild Land Areas of Scotland have been published by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).
###
Article: The original game was postponed on 26 November because of a frozen pitch.
The offer from the Latics is for both home and away supporters visiting SportsDirect.com Park.
Oldham, who are next to bottom of the table, three points from safety, have just exited a transfer embargo and reappointed John Sheridan as manager.
"We want as many supporters to welcome back the manager to the football club as he takes his place on the sidelines for the first time," said a club statement.
Supporters are, however, being invited to make a donation to a local charity.
Brentford were the first team to offer free entry for a league game in England when they played Peterborough in 2001.

Summary:


The Welsh Government has announced a £1.7m fund to help employers in Wales to recruit and retain staff.
The fund, which will be administered by the Welsh Government's Skills and Apprenticeships Board, will be available to employers in Wales who are facing difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff.
The Skills and

One tenth of the workforce at a Welsh Government-funded careers service is facing redundancy, according to Unison.

Article: To New Zealanders, their big brother across the Tasman Sea in Australia was always brash and exciting. Lured by the prospect of well-paid jobs and sunshine, the Kiwis have traditionally flocked west in vast numbers.
But things are changing. New Zealand has a renewed sense of confidence, and buoyed by the international success of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies it is not only foreign tourists that are heading to Middle Earth. Others are seeking fresh opportunities in a "rock star" economy.
For the first time in 24 years, more people are now heading east from Australia to New Zealand.
The end of a long mining boom in Australia and the rebounding of its trans-Tasman neighbour's fortunes are among the main factors.
"We've been describing New Zealand as a rock star in the sense that it has been outperforming almost all of the other developed world economies over the past couple of years," says Paul Bloxham, HSBC's chief economist for Australia and New Zealand
Recent figures show that employment growth in Australia is running at 2%, while across the Tasman Sea the Kiwis are enjoying rates of more than 3%.
The government in Wellington is expecting a budget surplus within the next year or two, while its counterpart in Canberra can see only deficits ahead.
At the heart of the Kiwi recovery are construction booms in Auckland and post-earthquake Christchurch.
"The tide has turned a little bit now and we are seeing Australians suddenly taking more notice of what's going on in New Zealand that has an economy which is growing really strongly," says Peter Townsend, chief executive of the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce.
"New Zealand has the second-largest diaspora in the world, as I understand it on a per capita basis, so we have a million Kiwis living offshore.
"It is the New Zealand way to go offshore and experience new things, and the economic positioning of New Zealand now and the rebuild of Christchurch is attracting some of those Kiwis back home," he says.
Official reports show that New Zealand...

Summary: It has long been like a fractious, but ultimately friendly, relationship between siblings.
###
Article: A total of 60 jobs at Careers Wales, which employs around 600, are to be axed, the union has said.
Careers Wales said it is facing a "budget shortfall" and "all options" are being explored.
The Welsh Government said it was aware Careers Wales was consulting on a "voluntary release scheme".
Unison said all employees of Careers Wales, which provides careers advice and information and is funded by Welsh ministers, had been written to asking if they would take voluntary redundancy.
The union said that, although Careers Wales' core funding for the year remained at £18m from the year before, the organisation was facing a £2.7m cut in overall funding for 2016-17 through the withdrawal of a fund that had prevented redundancies in the last financial year.
The Welsh Government said the fund was a one-off project actually worth £1.7m, and it was disingenuous to suggest extra funding had been withdrawn.
Jeff Baker, Unison regional organiser, said: "The government's plans don't make any sense."
"The Welsh Government hasn't concluded its strategic review with Careers Wales and by slashing funding to that organisation, it's forcing Careers Wales to sack people and its future is threatened.
"This is a ridiculous way to plan and fund a key public service."
Unison said Careers Wales staff numbers have halved in the last five years and it was making the staff cuts despite bidding to provide the Welsh Government's Employability and Apprenticeship training programme.
Richard Spear, chief executive of Careers Wales, said: "An anticipated reduction in our overall funding for 2017-2018 and a need to make further savings has resulted in a budget shortfall for the organisation.
"All options are being explored to address this shortfall.
"We will attempt to make the required savings via a voluntary early release scheme, in line with compulsory redundancy-avoidance best practice."
He said a 30-day consultation had started.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: "We are aware of Careers Wales' decision to initiate consultation on a voluntary...

Summary:


A woman who tried to save a man's life at a brothel has been found guilty of helping to run the establishment.
Article: A spokesman for the bank said they were "working flat out to get these payments updated for our customers no later than Saturday". Its parent company RBS said about 600,000 payments

Ulster Bank is working to restore payments and direct debits that were delayed by a computer glitch involving the RBS group of banks.

Article: Christy Norman, 70, from Poole, Dorset, told a court she dialled 999 and performed CPR while everyone else fled.
The English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), which supported her, said she was only a cleaner working two days a week at the brothel in Bournemouth.
Norman denied assisting in the brothel's management but was found guilty at Poole Magistrates' Court.
She was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay Â£400 court costs.
Cari Mitchell, from the ECP, said the "traumatised" defendant was only guilty of trying to save a life.
Ms Mitchell, who was present in court, said: "It is a terrible injustice that a woman who performed a civic duty by trying to save another human being should find herself with a criminal record.
"Shame on the police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the judge.
"If they had any morals or were in anyway concerned for women's safety this prosecution would never have been brought."
The man had asked to come and sit in the Bunnies Ranch premises on 19 May 2016 after feeling unwell, the court heard.
He then collapsed and Norman spent eight minutes performing CPR before paramedics and police officers arrived. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Norman was later arrested and charged.
In a statement, the CPS said Norman was "clearly involved in the running and management of the brothel".
District prosecutor Tim Cole said: "She had been publicising the Ranch's services on local sex sites and was keeping a book where she would record the sexual practices of the employees with their clients."
Norman, of Arley Road, was "too upset to comment", the ECP said.

Summary: A woman who tried to save a man's life at a brothel has been found guilty of helping to run the establishment.
###
Article: A spokesman for the bank said they were "working flat out to get these payments updated for our customers no later than Saturday".
Its parent company RBS said about 600,000 payments were affected.
It said it had now identified and fixed the underlying problem.
Ulster Bank said concerned customers should "come into a branch or get in touch with our call centres".
"We will ensure no customers are left out of pocket as a result of this issue," a spokesman said.
In 2012, the RBS group was hit by a major IT meltdown that led to a large fine.
RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank customers were affected in June 2012 after problems with a software upgrade. On that occasion, the IT failure affected more than 6.5 million customers in the UK over several weeks.
The banking group said it had invested hundreds of millions of pounds to improve its computer systems since then.

Summary:


The Liberal Democrats have been fined £20,000 by the Electoral Commission for failing to declare all their spending in the 2015 general election campaign.
Article: The Liberal Democrats have been fined £20,000 by the Electoral Commission for failing to declare all their spending in the 2015 general election campaign.
Summary: The Liberal

A Lady Penelope puppet, donated by the son of Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson, is to be sold for charity.

Article: An investigation by the commission found that 307 payments totalling £184,676 were missing from the party's spending return.
The commission said it had referred the matter to the police to see if any criminal offences had been committed.
The Lib Dems said "human error and failures of process" were to blame.
Bob Posner, director of political finance at the Electoral Commission, said their investigation uncovered "systemic failures in ensuring that the rules were being followed".
"This is an experienced party that failed to meet the basic requirements of the law, and cases like this undermine voters' confidence in our political finance system," he said.
"This is why we have applied the highest financial penalty available to us."
The commission repeated its call for an increase to the maximum penalty, saying a £20,000 fine was no longer a strong enough deterrent to the larger political parties which spend millions of pounds.
The commission said it had notified the Metropolitan Police that the campaigns officer, Tim Gordon, may have committed a criminal offence if he "knowingly or recklessly signed a false declaration" about the spending.
A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said the mistakes had been caused by issues with a small number of local accounting units.
He said steps were being taken to ensure these mistakes were not repeated, and the party would co-operate fully with any investigation.
"We always endeavour to ensure our reports of national campaign expenses are completed in full, in good time and according to all applicable rules," he added.
The Liberal Democrats were badly defeated in 2015, keeping just eight of the 57 seats they had won in 2010.
In October, Labour was also fined a maximum £20,000 for failing to declare all of its general election expenses, including an 8ft stone tablet, known as the "Ed Stone", that was carved with ex-leader Ed Miliband's key pledges.

Summary: The Liberal Democrats have been fined £20,000 by the Electoral Commission for failing to declare all their spending in the 2015 general election campaign.
###
Article: Mr Anderson, who also created science-fiction series Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and Stingray, died in 2013 following a battle with Alzheimer's disease.
His son Jamie, from Highworth in Wiltshire, said the proceeds will be donated to the Alzheimer's Society.
The 19in (48cm) replica with optic eyes and the "same make of teeth as the original", is being auctioned on eBay.
The science-fiction fantasy about a daring rescue squad, was filmed in a studio on the Slough Trading Estate in Berkshire and was first aired on TV screens in October 1965.
At its peak, Thunderbirds was attracting an audience of 100 million fans in 66 countries around the world.
But, according to Jamie Anderson, after his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2011 - he "had no idea" he was its creator.
"For a man who made Thunderbirds, created it and was best known for that - he would say to me: What was that show that I made?," he said.
"I could say the name 'Thunderbirds' and it meant nothing to him.  For the disease to affect him in that way, was a really distressing thing to see."
Donated by a fan to the son of her original creator, the Lady Penelope puppet boasts a head made of fibre glass - like the original - and real human hair.
"Before Dad died he fulfilled his ambition of raising awareness of dementia and funds for Alzheimer's Society," said Mr Anderson.
"He'd be so pleased to know of the sale of one of his most iconic characters in aid of a charity that was so close to his heart."

Summary:


The US has warned that it will impose sanctions on Venezuela if it does not stop its "illegal" oil exports.
The US Treasury Department said on Wednesday that it was imposing sanctions on Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA.
The move comes after the US imposed sanctions on PDVSA in January.

A power cut left Venezuela's parliament in the dark as it discussed a law dedicated to the energy sector.

Article: He died in the US, where he lived and had been a citizen since the 1960s.
He became famous after writing about his experiences as a teenager in Nazi concentration camps, where he lost his mother, father and younger sister.
He dedicated his life to ensuring the atrocities committed under the Nazis were never forgotten, and the president of the World Jewish Congress has called him "a beacon of light".
Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust remembrance centre announced his death on Saturday.
US President Barack Obama said Mr Wiesel was "one of the great moral voices of our time".
Elie Wiesel was born in Romania in 1928. In 1940 his town, Sighet, was part of a region that was annexed by Hungary. Four years later the town's entire Jewish population, including 15-year-old Elie and his family, was deported to Auschwitz.
Mr Wiesel's mother and one sister were killed in Nazi death chambers. His father died of starvation and dysentery in the Buchenwald camp. Two other sisters survived.
After the war, Mr Wiesel lived in a French orphanage and went on to become a journalist.
He wrote more than 60 books, starting with Night, a memoir based on his experiences in the death camps.
It included the lines: "For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living.
"To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time."
Mr Wiesel's use of the term Holocaust helped cement the word's association with Nazi atrocities against the Jews.
In 1986, he was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for his role in speaking out against violence, repression and racism.
When accepting it, he said: "Whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation, take sides.
"Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
After Mr Wiesel's death, the head of the World Jewish Congress said he was "undoubtedly one of the great Jewish teachers and thinkers of the past 100 years".
Ronald...

Summary: The Holocaust survivor and Nobel peace laureate Elie Wiesel has died aged 87.
###
Article: Lights first went off as Ramon Lobo, a pro-government lawmaker, defended the energy policies of President Nicolas Maduro, reports said.
Opposition MP Luis Florido quipped on Twitter: "The country's reality has hit them in the face."
The session was later suspended. Venezuela faces a severe electricity crisis and shortages are frequent.
Reports said other buildings in the same area of the capital, Caracas, were also hit by power cuts, on Wednesday afternoon.
Venezuela's National Assembly is controlled by the opposition.
Delsa Solorzano, an opposition MP, tweeted a video of the chamber in the dark.
MP Freddy Guevara, also from the opposition, said: "What a shame: the parliament session was interrupted because the energy went off. Right on the day we're discussing the energy sector law."
Oil-rich Venezuela is in the middle of a deep economic crisis caused by a drop in global oil prices. The country is suffering from a shortage of basic goods, food and electricity.
Earlier this year, the government introduced power rationing and a two-day working week for public sector workers as ways to tackle the crisis.
It said a major drought, which dramatically reduced water levels at its main hydroelectric dam, was to blame. But the opposition accused authorities of mismanagement.
Some of the measures have already been lifted.

Summary:


A man has been arrested after a man was attacked in Reading.
The victim was attacked in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The victim was walking along the street in the town centre when he was attacked.
He was punched in the face and kicked in the head.
The victim was taken to hospital with

Organisers of the Henley Royal Regatta are supplying hours of CCTV footage to police after a woman was raped.

Article: They were found to have improperly taken their oaths of office in 2016.
The ruling comes just weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Hong Kong against challenging the mainland's authority over the city.
The territory saw major pro-democracy protests in 2014 demanding electoral reform and more autonomy from Beijing.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, became a special administrative region of China in 1997. It is governed under the principle of "one country, two systems", enjoying a high degree of autonomy.
The four disqualified lawmakers are all members of the territory's pro-democracy movement. At the oath-taking ceremony in October 2016,
The ruling is a serious blow to the pro-democracy bloc in the Legislative Council and will affect its bargaining power.
The BBC's Hong Kong correspondent Juliana Liu said the crowd waiting outside the court went silent after news emerged the four had been disqualified. Some members of the public cried and embraced each other in response to the ruling.
The court's move comes after Beijing made the unprecedented step of issuing an interpretation of Hong Kong's Basic Law.
The city's quasi constitution does not mention any consequences if officials fail to be sworn in properly, nor whether they would be able to retake the oath.
But China's parliament in Beijing decided that officials must "accurately, completely and solemnly" read out the portion of the oath that swears allegiance to Beijing.
This interpretation led to the the disqualification of two pro-independence lawmakers in November 2016.

Summary: Hong Kong's High Court has disqualified four lawmakers who protested against Beijing when they were sworn in to the city's Legislative Council.
###
Article: The woman, aged in her 20s, was attacked after leaving the event's Chinawhite enclosure early on Sunday, with men she met there.
She walked with them to the Harpsden Road and Reading Road area and was raped outside a car, which the men then drove off in.
A passerby found the victim near the Three Horseshoes pub shortly after.
Daniel Grist, secretary of the regatta, said: "We have been liaising with Thames Valley Police, regarding this terrible incident, which took place after Regatta facilities had closed and racing had finished for the day on Saturday 1 July.
"The Chinawhite area is not located on land managed by Henley Royal Regatta but we will continue to assist Thames Valley Police and are working with them to secure CCTV footage to assist in identifying the perpetrators."
Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses, and specially-trained officers are supporting the woman, who left the Chinawhite enclosure between 00:00 and 02:30 BST.
Det Ch Insp Lis Knight said such incidents were rare in the area.
The Â£3m rowing regatta sees more than 200 races take place on the river Thames over five days.
The annual regatta, which has been held since 1839, was expected to attract 200,000 spectators to this year's event.

Summary:


A man has been arrested after a crash in Lincolnshire.
Lincolnshire Police said the incident happened at about 12.30pm on the A15 at the junction with the B1191 at Thornton.
The man was taken to Lincoln County Hospital with serious injuries.
The road was closed in both directions between

A man has died in a collision between a tractor and a motorcycle in Lincolnshire.

Article: Advocate General Cruz Villalon said the ECB's Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme is compatible, in principle, with EU law.
But he said that if the programme is implemented, its compatibility will depend on certain conditions being met.
The bond-buying is aimed at avoiding a break-up of the euro, but has faced a legal challenge from Germany.
Announced in 2012, the OMT plan has never been put into practice, although it has helped restore confidence in eurozone markets.
However, with the eurozone facing the threat of deflation and recession, there is increasing pressure on the ECB to start a separate programme of quantitative easing (QE), which would involve starting a bond-buying operation similar to OMT.
Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics, said: "Overall, then, the final hurdle to quantitative easing appears to have been cleared.
"But given the ECB's natural caution, Germany's objections and the limited effects of QE in other countries, it would be hopeful to expect it to transform the eurozone's economic outlook."
Analysis: Andrew Walker, BBC World Service economics correspondent
The sighs of relief from the ECB and eurozone finance ministries are almost audible.
It's worth emphasising just how successful the OMT programme has been in taking the heat out of the eurozone financial crisis. Of course, the wider economic challenges are still profound. OMT will not fix them. But it did bring real calm to the financial market dimension of the crisis, despite the fact that the ECB has not spent a single euro under the programme.
It's a striking example of how a policymaker's statement that it's willing in principle to do something can sometimes shift expectations so much that the announcement alone gets the intended result. As for quantitative easing - which we expect the ECB to embark on soon - this legal opinion may not have a direct bearing, but QE is also about bond-buying, so it could have presented some serious legal complications.
The Advocate General has avoided...

Summary: A top European Union lawyer has said that the European Central Bank's planned bond-buying programme is legal.
###
Article: The crash happened at about 14:15 BST on the B1191 at Thornton, near Woodhall Spa.
Lincolnshire Police said the motorcyclist killed in the collision lived locally, but has not released any further details. The tractor driver was not injured.
The force has appealed for witnesses to the collision to come forward.
The B1191 was closed in both directions between the B1192 Tattershall Road junction in Woodhall Spa and the A158 Jubilee Way junction in Horncastle

Summary:


The number of people who have been diagnosed with the norovirus in the UK has risen by more than a third in the past year, new figures show.
The number of people who have been diagnosed with the norovirus in the UK has risen by more than a third in the past year, new figures show

A hospital has suspended visits to patients on all its wards following an outbreak of the norovirus bug.

Article: This at least is my mantra when attempting to interpret data I've requested through legislation - be it from local authorities, health boards or the police.
It's all too easy to look at a data set, tot up the numbers, and jump to a conclusion.
The practice of data journalism - more than anything - requires not only a double-checking of your arithmetic but, above all, context.
The Scottish Conservatives research on the number of headteacher vacancies in the country's schools is a case in point.
They say: "Many Scottish primary schools are struggling to recruit heads."
But, what is meant by "many"?
Well, let's take a closer look.
The Conservatives' figures reveal 51 primary schools in Scotland are without a headteacher.
Granted, while this situation is far from ideal, bear in mind there are 2,056 primary schools in Scotland.
So, does 2.5% of Scotland's primary schools count as "many"?
Let's dig a little deeper.
The Conservatives include statistics from the local authorities of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire where the 16 leaderless primary schools account for nearly one third of the national total.
Aberdeen City Council is listed as having the most head teacher vacancies (10) which, when divided by the number of primary schools in the area, equates to 21% of primary schools.
That's a fifth of schools, which is not an insubstantial number.
And what about Aberdeenshire, which has the second largest number of vacancies with six?
Well, when divided by the number of primary schools in the area (150), that equates to just 4% of schools.
By contrast, let's look at East Dunbartonshire Council where there's just four vacancies.
However, with only 39 primary schools, that actually equates to a higher vacancy rate of 10% - more than double the figure for Aberdeenshire.
This shows us that you can't simply look at the raw numbers, the picture changes when you provide context.
There are also a number of other factors to bear in mind when looking at these figures.
Whenever I submit FOIs (freedom of information requests) I'm...

Summary: With the great power of the Freedom of Information Act, comes great responsibility.
###
Article: Four wards were closed to visitors at Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral, on Monday before the visiting ban was extended on Thursday.
The ban does not affect Wirral Women and Children's Hospitals.
Gaynor Westray, director of nursing and midwifery at the hospital, said the decision was "in the best interests of our patients".
She said: "The safety of our patients is paramount to us and it is never an easy decision to make but this will help us contain the spread of this highly contagious bug."
The hospital has also asked the public to not visit its accident and emergency department if they have symptoms of the bug.
Norovirus - which causes vomiting, stomach cramps, fever and diarrhoea - is easily spread from person to person.
Symptoms usually begin between 12 to 48 hours after a person becomes infected, with most healthy people making a recovery within one to three days.
Arrowe Park has not given an indication of how long the ban is likely to remain in effect.

Summary:


A man has been arrested after a complaint was made to Durham Constabulary.
The force said the man had been bailed pending further inquiries.
The vicar has been suspended for the duration of the investigation by the Bishop of Leeds, the Diocese of Leeds said.
It added in a statement: "Appropri

A vicar arrested in connection with historical sexual abuse has been suspended by the Church of England.

Article: Each year more than 1,500 seals are born on the islands, which are situated off the Northumberland coast and are managed by the National Trust.
Rangers spend two months each autumn monitoring what is one of the largest Atlantic grey seal colonies.
In 2015, 1,876 pups were recorded - the highest number since 1971.
The arrival of the pups begins as early as mid-September in some years and the majority are born in November, the National Trust said.
Ranger Ed Tooth said: "A lack of predators and a plentiful supply of sand eels and gadoids (cod) - which make up a majority of the seals' diet - has contributed to the success of the colony.
"The seals have also selected a different location for their rookeries, the breeding sites for the seals.
"This has resulted in mortality rates dropping, possibly because the islands offer better protection from storms and high seas."
The rangers, who live on the islands for nine months of the year, count the seals every four days.
The youngsters are sprayed with a harmless dye to show the week they are born to allow conservation staff to keep track of their numbers.
Mr Tooth added: "Waiting for the first seal pup to be born is always an exciting time of year.
"It's impossible not to be fascinated by the bright white, fluffy, wide-eyed pups even though we will hopefully see more than 2,000 pups over the coming weeks."

Summary: The first seal pups of the year have been seen on the Farne Islands, triggering the start of the annual census of the animals.
###
Article: The 51-year-old man, who has not been named, was arrested in North Yorkshire on Wednesday following a complaint made to Durham Constabulary.
The force said the man had been bailed pending further inquiries.
The vicar has been suspended for the duration of the investigation by the Bishop of Leeds, the Diocese of Leeds said.
It added in a statement: "Appropriate pastoral and safe guarding arrangements have been put in place.
"No further statement will be made at this time."

Summary:


Zac Goldsmith has won the Conservative nomination for London mayor.
He beat Sadiq Khan, who was the favourite, by a margin of more than 10,000 votes.
Mr Goldsmith, who was the favourite for the Tory nomination, said he hoped to build on current mayor Boris Johnson's achievements.
But

Zac Goldsmith will contest the 2016 London mayoral election for the Conservatives, it has been announced.

Article: The former Nottingham Forest manager, 48, will work alongside Redknapp, assistant manager Kevin Bond and first-team coach Joe Jordan.
A QPR spokesman said it was "an open-ended arrangement" with no fixed timescale.
Cotterill, who has managed six clubs, was sacked by Forest in July 2012 after nine months in charge.
QPR, who were without a win this season in the Premier League before Redknapp took over in November after the departure of Mark Hughes, have since secured nine points from nine matches, including a shock 1-0 win at Chelsea on 2 January.
"Steve Cotterill has just come in on a short-term deal to help us out. He's bright and has got something to offer," said Redknapp.
"He'll spend his time with the rest of the backroom staff. We need as many people helping us out as possible."
Cotterill began his career at Cheltenham, leading them out of the Conference in 1999 and then to promotion to League One three years later.
He had a short spell as Stoke boss and was then assistant to Howard Wilkinson at Sunderland before spending three years at Championship side Burnley.
He led Notts County to the League Two title in 2010 during a three-month stint at Meadow Lane, before taking over at Portsmouth in June of that year.
Pompey finished 16th in the Championship in Cotterill's one full season in charge before he replaced Steve McClaren at Forest, helping the club avoid relegation by finishing 19th but leaving in July last year following the takeover by the Al Hasawi family.

Summary: Steve Cotterill has joined QPR manager Harry Redknapp's backroom team in a short-term coaching role.
###
Article: The Richmond Park and North Kingston MP said he was "honoured" after winning 70% of the 9,227 votes cast using an online primary system.
He beat London Assembly Member Andrew Boff, MEP Syed Kamall and London's deputy mayor for crime and policing Stephen Greenhalgh.
Mr Goldsmith's main rival is likely to be Labour's Sadiq Khan.
Mr Khan beat former cabinet minister Tessa Jowell and a number of other current MPs to win the Labour nomination last month.
Caroline Pidgeon is the Lib Dem candidate, Sian Berry will contest the election for the Greens and UKIP has chosen its culture spokesman Peter Whittle. Former Respect MP George Galloway is also running.
Mr Goldsmith, who was the favourite for the Tory nomination, balloted his constituents earlier this year to seek permission to stand.
At the very point of his entry into the race for London mayor, Zac Goldsmith's decision revealed two big characteristics.
Only a politician with an acute sense of accountability would have sought permission to stand through a ballot of his constituency members in Richmond and North Kingston.
Only someone with his personal wealth would have been able to afford the estimated Â£60,000 cost of doing it.
Both characteristics could come to feature heavily in the months to come.
Read the whole article
He won Friday's vote comfortably, getting 6,514 votes, more than the other three candidates combined.
Syed Kamall came second with 1,477 votes ahead of Stephen Greenhalgh (864) and Andrew Boff (372).
Mr Goldsmith - who first entered Parliament in 2010 - told the BBC's Daily Politics that he hoped his environmental record would appeal to Green and Lib Dem voters and he also hoped to "reach out" to UKIP supporters frustrated with politics as usual and the UK's relationship with the EU.
Mr Goldsmith, who has confirmed he would stand down from Parliament if he became mayor, triggering a by-election, said he wanted to build on current mayor Boris Johnson's achievements.
But he said anyone who attempted to replicate Mr Johnson's style of leadership...

Summary:


A man who was found dead in his home in Washington state has been identified by DNA from a pizza he was eating.
Article: A man who was found dead in his home in Washington state has been identified by DNA from a pizza he was eating.
Summary: A man who was found dead in his home in

Police have arrested a man they believe held a family and housekeeper hostage in their Washington DC home before killing them.

Article: John O'Neill, 45 of York, now has to inform police "as soon as is reasonably practicable" if he wants to form a sexual relationship with a partner.
District Judge Adrian Lower imposed 12 conditions, including Mr O'Neill's internet usage being monitored by North Yorkshire Police.
Mr O'Neill said "I still have to tell police to have sex, in practical terms I am not seeing much difference."
"This is a predictive allegation of a sex crime and the new law allows it to be offloaded to a civil court", he told the BBC.
Mr O'Neill said he may appeal against the new order and complied with it because of the "threat of prison".
"Every medical assessment determines me to be no risk", he added.
Mr O'Neill also said he had made a notification to police under the terms of the order covering "sexual contact" so he could "talk frankly" with a friend.
Under the new conditions Mr O'Neill is not allowed to discuss fantasies and sadomasochistic tendencies with medical staff.
A third party is to be required to be present at his medical appointments, except in an emergency.
The judge, sitting at York Magistrates' Court,  described Mr O'Neill as a "manipulative man" and said "I'm quite satisfied you are a risk to women".
Mr O'Neill had been the subject of an interim sexual risk order despite being cleared of rape.
The judge reimposed the order with terms aimed at protecting women.
Mr O'Neill was cleared of rape at Teesside Crown Court in November last year, but after the jury had been dismissed the judge called him a "very dangerous individual".
North Yorkshire Police then applied for the order on the basis of comments he had made to health professionals.
During an earlier hearing the court heard details of confessions to medical staff that included choking a woman unconscious and thinking "a lot" about killing her.
North Yorkshire Police said the sexual risk order and the prohibitions applied showed the force had taken the "correct course of action" to protect the public from the risk the court "acknowledged Mr O'Neill poses to the public".

Summary: A man no longer has to notify police 24 hours before he has sex.
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Article: Daron Dylon Wint, 34, who had previously worked for the victims' family business, was detained late Thursday in the US capital.
He is accused of killing the four victims and setting the house on fire.
Police refused to confirm reports Mr Wint was identified by DNA from the crust of a pizza delivered to the home.
Savvas Savopoulos, 46, chief executive of American Iron Works, was found dead in his family's home in Woodley Park, northwest Washington, just blocks away from the home of Vice-President Joe Biden.
Police discovered his body alongside those of his wife Amy, 47, his 10-year-old son Philip and housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa, an El Salvador national.
A week after the gruesome discovery, investigators have provided few details in a case that has shocked the city and its high-profile social circles.
There have been media reports of a $40,000 cash drop being made to the home hours before the incident, and a text message from Mrs Savopoulos telling a member of staff not to come into work that same day.
The Washington Post reported that a delivery order was placed with a local pizza company while the family was being held hostage and DNA found on a crust has been matched to Mr Wint.
Police officials would not confirm or deny this report to the BBC.

Summary:


The Scottish Government has announced a new £1.5m fund to help people with learning disabilities to live independently.
The Scottish Government has announced a new £1.5m fund to help people with learning disabilities to live independently.
The Scottish Government has announced a new £1.5m fund to help people

Search and rescue helicopter crews based at Inverness Airport have completed 500 missions since the start of their duties in April last year.

Article: Gordon Ross, 66, who suffers from degenerative Parkinson's disease, is concerned that anyone who helped him end his life would face prosecution.
He wants the Lord Advocate to issue guidelines in the way the Director of Public Prosecutions has for England.
A judge rejected his case in September. His appeal is being heard by three judges at the Court of Session.
Mr Ross, a former TV producer, who lives at a care home in Glasgow, did not attend the hearing in Edinburgh as he was too ill.
Mr Ross brought his case for a judicial review to the Court of Session in Edinburgh in May.
He wanted Scotland's most senior prosecutor, the Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC, to set out guidance on what circumstances he would take into account before deciding whether to prosecute somebody who had helped another person end their life.
His QC, Aidan O'Neill, had argued that under the European Convention on Human Right there was a substantive right to "a dignified suicide".
Gerry Moynihan QC, counsel for the Lord Advocate, said there was no proper foundation in law for the outcome that was being sought.
In a written judgement issued in September, Lord Doherty ruled that the current Crown policy was legal and did not breach the European Convention on Human Rights.
Mr Ross's appeal is scheduled to last two days before the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Carloway, sitting with Lady Dorrian and Lord Drummond Young.
Lord Carloway asked Mr O'Neill QC, what "precise mechanism of assisted suicide" Mr Ross had in mind.
Mr O'Neill said: "He is not at the stage of formulating positive ideas as what means of assistance he might require."
The counsel said he was in a situation where he was physically deteriorating but remained mentally alert.
He said that Mr Ross wanted to get guidance, such as that offered by the director of public prosecutions in England and Wales, and in the light of that "to make his informed choices".
"This is to do with how the Lord Advocate sets out in public terms how he will exercise the discretion he is undoubtedly given...

Summary: A severely disabled man has launched a fresh bid to get legal guidance issued in Scotland regarding assisted suicide.
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Article: Operated for the HM Coastguard by Bristow Helicopters Limited, the crews took over a role previously carried out by the RAF and Royal Navy.
The 500 missions include rescues of hillwalkers and climbers and searches for missing people.
The Inverness base is one of the UK's busiest search and rescue units.

Summary:


The Channel Tunnel has been closed for more than a day after a lorry fire.
The fire broke out at around 11am on Saturday, with the north tunnel closed to all traffic.
The fire was located in the north tunnel, which remained closed during Sunday.
Eurostar said it planned to run a "

Families of two men who died in prison have lost a High Court case related to the high rate of suicides there.

Article: Six Eurostar services from London were cancelled, as well as two from Paris and three from Brussels, after an unrelated power supply problem.
Rail services resumed on Sunday morning - but passengers have been warned there could be further delays on Monday.
About 12,000 passengers were affected when the tunnel was closed on Saturday.
The fire was located in the route's north tunnel, which remained closed during Sunday.
Train operator Eurostar said it planned to run a "full service" on Monday, but warned trains could be delayed by up to 30 minutes.
It said Eurotunnel - which manages and operates the Channel Tunnel - was carrying out engineering works overnight and would put more sections of the north tunnel back into service on Monday.
Meanwhile, Eurotunnel said the north tunnel was not anticipated to be back in full operation until Tuesday.
"We're optimistic, however, that we will regain use of part of this tunnel and will operate a more regular timetable than we have today," it said.
Eurostar passenger trains had started moving through the tunnel again at about 11:30 GMT, but at a reduced speed as only the south tunnel was open.
However, there were fresh problems when a power supply fault - unrelated to Saturday's lorry fire - meant the temporary closure again of the south tunnel.
Eurostar cancelled the 14:04, 15:31, 17:04, 18:04, 18:31 and the 20:04 (all times GMT) departures from London, as well as the 16:43 and 18:43 trains from Paris, and the 15:56, 17:56 and 18:56 services from Brussels.
On Sunday evening, Eurotunnel - which operates car and lorry services - tweeted there was still a one-hour queue to check-in and a three-hour wait to board shuttles for France.
The delay for Eurotunnel passengers heading from France to the UK was four-and-a-half hours, with some customers waiting up to two hours to check in at Calais, Eurotunnel added.
Eurotunnel's services started running again in the early hours of Sunday morning after "residue smoke" was cleared from a tunnel.
The company said it had expected to...

Summary: Eleven Eurostar trains have been cancelled on Sunday, amid continuing delays following Saturday's Channel Tunnel closure due to a lorry fire.
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Article: Ian Brown, 44, and Daniel Dunkley, 35, took their own lives at HMP Woodhill last July.
Their relatives claimed Woodhill's governor had not complied fully with Prison Service Instructions (PSIs).
The governor and Justice Secretary Liz Truss said the judicial review claim was "neither appropriate or necessary".
PSIs cover management of prisoners at risk of harm to themselves, to others and from others, early days in custody and medical emergency response codes.
Heather Williams QC, for the families, said the claim addressed what she said was an "exceptionally high" rate of self-inflicted deaths at the Milton Keynes prison.
Seven prisoners killed themselves last year, five in 2015, with 18 in total since May 2013.
Ms Williams said the case raised serious ongoing breaches of Article 2 of the Human Rights Act, which protects the right to life, and involved long-term failures to comply with the responsibility placed on the authorities to protect prisoners.
James Strachan QC, defending, said: "Not only have the governor and the secretary of state taken significant action in 2016 to improve the situation, but this is a continuing high priority."
Lord Justice Irwin and Mr Justice Garnham rejected the judicial review claim.
In their ruling, they said the families had failed to establish a "systemic failing".
Mr Justice Garnham said: "The defendants have made it clear that they share the great concern of the claimants about the rate of suicides in prisons generally, and HMP Woodhill in particular.
"They have in place sensible and satisfactory policies.
"The defendants have acknowledged that, on occasions, operational errors have been made by their staff in dealing with those at risk of suicide and have sought to prevent those mistakes being repeated."

Summary:


The Daily Record has been named Scotland's newspaper of the year at the Scottish Press Awards.
Summary: The Daily Record has been named Scotland's newspaper of the year at the Scottish Press Awards.
Summary: The Daily Record has been named Scotland's newspaper of the year at the Scottish Press Awards.
Summary: The

In March, online community Reddit killed its "warrant canary" - a statement on its website declaring that it had not received any secret data snooping requests from government or law enforcement agencies.

Article: The tabloid also scooped the campaign of the year for its coverage of the refugee crisis and war on terror.
Mark Macaskill from The Sunday Times was named journalist of the year and reporter of the year.
The Scottish Newspaper Society's director John McLellan said the awards demonstrated the "excellence of journalism" in Scotland.
The Fife Free Press was named weekly newspaper of the year.
The Sunday Mail landed the scoop of the year for a story about a "forgotten suspect" in the Emma Caldwell murder inquiry.
Austin Lafferty, the chairman of the judges, praised the Daily Record's win.
"A year after the referendum, the Daily Record is engaged by the power brokers, has a mass readership and looks after emerging talent in the industry," he said.
"The Daily Record has survived the decline of the Labour party without falling, and is transcending the Scottish political landscape as well as building an aggressive new media strategy, keen to embrace our digital future."
The full list of winners:

Summary: The Daily Record has been named Scotland's newspaper of the year at the Scottish Press Awards.
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Article: While the site has remained quiet about its canary's demise, it has hosted a discussion on the subject by a group of lawyers.
A warrant canary is a statement saying a company has not received secret requests for user data by government or law enforcement officers.
It is named after the birds that were taken down mineshafts to alert workers to toxic gases.
If the canary died in the mine the workers knew they had to leave quickly.
Similarly, the existence of a warrant canary on a website indicates the "all clear". When it disappears, visitors might assume the website has received classified requests for data.
Many websites publish a warrant canary in an effort to be transparent with visitors. The concept gained popularity after the extent of US government surveillance was revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
In the US, law enforcement can issue requests for user data that come with a gagging order, preventing the demand from being disclosed.
Demands known as national security letters are designed to allow law enforcement agencies to conduct an investigation without interference or alerting the target.
But critics say the confidential nature of national security letters, which can be issued without a court order, makes them ripe for abuse by law enforcement.
Reddit, Adobe and Tumblr are among the sites that have published warrant canaries.
The disappearance of a warrant canary usually only reveals that a website has received at least one secret surveillance request. They are often written in broad terms, as their legality has not been tested in court.
"The more practically useful and informative they are, the more legally risky they are too," said Brett Max Kaufman, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union.
Before it was killed, Reddit's warrant canary said: "Reddit has never received a National Security Letter, an order under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or any other classified request for user information."
One Reddit member asked whether websites could print an individual warrant...

Summary:


The Great North Run is set to have more countries represented in a single running event in history.
Summary: The Great North Run is set to have more countries represented in a single running event in history.
Summary: The Great North Run is set to have more countries represented in a single running event in history.

Runners from 178 different nations, from Azerbaijan to Zambia, will be represented in the Great North Run on Sunday.

Article: At least 80 people died in the fire on 14 June, although the final toll will not be known for many months.
Nearly 400 holidays have been offered by the Grenfell Tower Holiday Appeal Facebook Group, set up by Angie Mays and Kay Gilbert from Devon.
The man and his family will have a week in a cottage in Marsden, Yorkshire.
More on the holiday offer for Grenfell victims and other Devon news.
The firefighter's wife, who wishes to remain anonymous to protect her husband, said: "What Kay and Angie have done from the kindness of their hearts will help so many families at such a distressing time in their lives.
"This has been the most horrific job of my husband's career and he has been utterly broken by it - as we all have - trying to support him emotionally, and trying to understand what he has been through, not to mention praying he comes home in one piece.
"Thanks to the utter kindness of these wonderful ladies and all of the generous donations to this cause, we will be able to go away for a week as a family for some much needed R&R.
"This means the world to me that I can take them away from it all, if just for a moment."
Ms Mays, a fundraiser from Ilfracombe, said short-stay offers have come mainly from small businesses, B&Bs and guesthouses all over the UK, but also in Spain and Cyprus, adding that other firefighter families are also in the process of taking up offers.
Other donations include counselling sessions, beauty treatments and meals.
Separate Facebook groups have been also set up to provide holidays in Cornwall and the Highlands.

Summary: A firefighter "utterly broken" by the Grenfell Tower blaze is to take up the offer of a free holiday with money raised by members of the public.
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Article: Media playback is not supported on this device
Now in its 36th year, the Great North Run will have more countries represented in a single running event in history.
If you'd like to find out how to get into running, take a look at our special guide.

Summary:


The US government has been accused of using facial-recognition technology to spy on people in the UK.
The Guardian reports that the US National Security Agency (NSA) has been accused of using facial-recognition technology to spy on people in the UK.
The Guardian reports that the US National Security Agency (NSA

Malorie Blackman's young adult novel Noughts and Crosses is to be made into a BBC One drama series.

Article: The New York Times says leaked National Security Agency documents show in 2011 it intercepted about 55,000 "facial-recognition-quality images" every day.
The leaks suggested the photos had been harvested from emails, text messages, social media and video chats, it says.
The NYT added the images were then cross-referenced with other databases.
These are said to include photographs of airline passengers, and pictures taken from other countries' national identity-card schemes.
The NSA has said that it does not have access to photos taken for US passports or US driving licences, but declined to comment about photos submitted by foreigners applying for visas to the country.
"We would not be doing our job if we didn't seek ways to continuously improve the precision of signals intelligence activities - aiming to counteract the efforts of valid foreign intelligence targets to disguise themselves or conceal plans to harm the United States and its allies," Vanee Vines, an NSA spokeswoman said.
The allegations are the latest to result from documents released by Edward Snowden, who gathered the material while working at the NSA's regional centre in Hawaii.
The papers themselves highlight the limitations of relying on face-matching technology.
The NYT reported that Tundra Freeze - the codename for the NSA's main in-house facial-recognition effort - had returned several obvious mismatches when it had tried to identify a photo of a young bearded man with dark hair, according to a report dated 2011.
The paper said the software had also returned inaccurate results when agents had queried it about a photograph of Osama Bin Laden.
However, the NYT added that a leaked Powerpoint presentation had also provided an example where the software had successfully matched a photo of a bald man taken at a water park with another picture of the same person taken when he had hair, was wearing different clothes, and was at a different location.
Campaign group Privacy International said it was concerned about the security agencies' use of...

Summary: US cyber-spies have collected millions of photos of people's faces from the net for use in facial-recognition programmes, according to reports.
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Article: The adaptation will be based on the critically-acclaimed first book in the Noughts and Crosses series, set in a dystopian society where black people are the ruling class.
It tells the forbidden interracial love story between Sephy, a "Cross" and politician's daughter; and Callum, a "Nought" and member of the underclass.
The drama is expected to air next year.
Blackman, who was the children's laureate from 2013-15, said she was "beyond thrilled" her book was being dramatised.
"Callum and Sephy seem to have meant a lot to readers over the years and I'm excited at the prospect of watching them on my TV," she said.
The series is being produced by Mammoth Screen, the company behind hit BBC drama Poldark.
The commission was announced at the Edinburgh Television Festival by director of BBC Content Charlotte Moore as part of a new raft of programming designed to "reflect the diversity of modern Britain".
Also announced were three new original drama series and two factual programmes:
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Summary:


The UK's highest court has ruled that the government must take immediate action to cut air pollution.
Article: The scheme was introduced by the Irish government four years ago to forge connections with some of the 70m people abroad who claim to have Irish roots. It was an official confirmation of Irish ancestry, aimed at those who

The Certificate of Irish Heritage scheme, which officially recognises people of Irish descent around the world, is to end due to a low uptake.

Article: The ruling is a significant victory for campaigners, who began legal action after the UK breached EU limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the air.
Diesel vehicles are a key source of so-called NOx emissions, and NO2 is linked to a range of respiratory illnesses.
The Environment Department said work had already been started on revised plans to meet EU targets on NO2.
In a unanimous ruling, a panel of five judges, headed by the court's president Lord Neuberger, ordered "that the Government must prepare and consult on new air quality plans for submission to the European Commission... no later than December 31 2015".
The case had been brought by ClientEarth - a group of environmental lawyers - which notes that air pollution causes tens of thousands of premature deaths a year in the UK.
Announcing the decision, Lord Carnwath said: "The new government, whatever its political complexion, should be left in no doubt as to the need for immediate action to address this issue."
Analysis: Helen Briggs, environment correspondent
The official number of early deaths from air pollution in the UK is put at 29,000 a year - more than obesity and alcohol combined. According to scientific experts, this may be an underestimate as it does not include all air pollutants, including NO2, which is produced by emissions from diesel-powered vehicles.
The UK has been breaching legal limits for nitrogen dioxide since 2010 in 16 different cities and regions. The judgment forces the next government to draw up new air quality plans - for submission to the EU - by the end of the year.
This represents a considerable challenge - under existing plans, nitrogen dioxide limits set by the EU would not be met until 2030. Campaigners say the government should be looking to cities such as Paris, where there is free public transport in towns and cities on days of high air pollution.
It may also have to consider measures such as low emission zones and congestion charging across the UK, working with local authorities and devolution partners.
ClientEarth...

Summary: The UK's highest court has ruled that the government must take immediate action to cut air pollution.
###
Article: The scheme was introduced by the Irish government four years ago to forge connections with some of the 70m people abroad who claim to have Irish roots.
It was an official confirmation of Irish ancestry, aimed at those who do not qualify for full citizenship.
However, as few as 3,000 certificates have been sold since the 2011 launch.
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said: "The uptake of the Certificate of Irish Heritage has been considerably less than anticipated.
"No further certificates will be available for purchase after 24 August 2015."
The department said the scheme had been set up to encourage people of Irish descent to trace their family roots and to give "greater practical expression to the sense of Irish identity felt by many around the world".
Previous recipients have included a number of high-profile figures, including US President Barack Obama, former US President Bill Clinton and the Hollywood actor Tom Cruise.
Applicants were asked to provide details of their Irish ancestors online, so their ancestry could be verified through record checks.
The certificates cost 45 euros (Â£32) or 120 euros (Â£85) for a framed version, but the Department of Foreign Affairs said it never anticipated that the scheme "would provide significant revenue to the government".
The website where applications are processed described the initiative as representing the "enduring emotional ties and sense of identity bestowed by Irish ancestry, recognising the continuing emotional attachment of the descendants who left our shores long ago".

Summary:


A man has been jailed for three years after he was caught on camera threatening to kill a woman in a car park.
Summary: A man has been jailed for three years after he was caught on camera threatening to kill a woman in a car park.
Summary: A man has been jailed for three years after he

A nursery suggested referring a four-year-old boy to a de-radicalisation programme after he mispronounced the word "cucumber", it is alleged.

Article: Drivers from West of Scotland Heavy Haulage won praise on social media after being filmed navigating a tiny bridge in Dumfries and Galloway.
Landscape gardener Dabby McCreadie captured their skills when police stopped him as the convoy passed Bargrennan Bridge near Newton Stewart.
"They do a brilliant job transporting these loads safely," said Dabby.
"These drivers make two or three trips a week down to the wind farm," he added.
"The loads can be up to 68m long. They have a steersman who operates the back end by remote as the driver can't see it."
The blades were being transported to Scottish Power's Kilgallioch wind farm.
Dabby's video has been viewed more than 40,000 times since he posted it to his Facebook page.
It was filmed at the same spot where a wind turbine lorry caught fire in August this year.

Summary: It can be tight squeeze on Scotland's rural roads, but imagine doing it with a wind turbine blade in tow.
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Article: Concerns were raised after the youngster drew a picture of a man cutting the vegetable.
Staff in Luton told the child's mother they believed he was saying "cooker bomb" instead of "cucumber".
The case was sent to a police and social services panel instead of de-radicalisation scheme Channel.
It decided not to take further action.
The boy's mother, who has not been named to protect her son's identity, concluded the confusion was due to the way her son pronounced the word.
"She (the member of nursery staff) kept saying it was this one picture of the man cutting the cucumber....which she said to me is a 'cooker bomb', and I was baffled," she told the BBC Asian Network.
Read this and more stories from Beds, Bucks and Herts
She said she feared her children would be taken away from her and added: 'But I haven't done anything wrong... It was a horrible day."
Teachers and public service workers have a legal obligation to report any concerns of extremist behaviour to the authorities since July.
Just under 2,000 under-15s were referred between January 2012 and December 2015.
Teaching unions say there is confusion over the government's counter-terrorism strategy in schools.
Alex Kenny from the National Union of Teachers said: "Teachers are scared of getting it wrong.
"They think Ofsted is going to criticise them if they haven't reported these things, and you end up [with] the boy making the spelling mistake, or the boy saying something in Arabic - that then gets reported on."
The Department for Education said its counter-terrorism strategy Prevent is "entirely consistent" with schools' responsibilities and "good schools would already be safeguarding children from extremism".

Summary: