The race was won by a horse trained by Colin Tizzard, who has been in the saddle for the last two years.
The trainer said: "He's a very good horse. He's a very good horse. He's a very good horse. He's a very good horse. He's a very good

Thistlecrack ended the three-year reign of Reve De Sivola to cruise to an impressive victory in the Grade One Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot.

Article: UK scientists found that putting patients in a virtual reality (VR) environment while being treated can reduce anxiety levels.
The researchers said this "bottled nature" approach could help many people get past their fears - but not all.
Those who experienced a more urban VR environment in the study did not receive the same benefits.
The findings have been published in the Environment and Behaviour journal.
"Our idea was that if we bring nature into a stressful situation, such as the one in a dentist's surgery, then that should have a similar benefit as when people are able to go out into nature," explained co-author Sabine Pahl from the University of Plymouth, UK.
"We know about the benefits of the natural environment in psychological and physiological terms - people can feel relaxed and restore their cognitive resources.
"We also know in dentistry, there is a high percentage of people with dentist anxiety and their teeth tend to be in a worse state and they tend to miss appointments because they are worried about going to the dentist; and that, of course, has an effect on their teeth.
"We are trying to intervene in that dental anxiety process," Dr Pahl told BBC News.
Because it was not possible to walk on the beach or in the woods while receiving treatment in a dentist's chair, the researchers decided to "bottle nature" and allow patients to experience it via virtual reality technology.
The team's study involved 70 patients, divided into three groups: one receiving standard care, without the use of VR technology; another being treated while experiencing an urban environment via VR; and a group experiencing a VR beach (nature) environment.
"What we found was that the experience of pain was much lower among the people in the nature VR group," Dr Pahl observed.
"This finding is important to us because people could say that it was just the distraction provided by VR, but the difference was stronger in the nature VR than in the urban VR.
"In fact the response among patients in the standard care and urban VR...

Summary: Could sitting in the dentist's chair really be as enjoyable as a walk on the beach?
###
Article: The number of nose jobs, face lifts and breast implant operations all soared by more than 10% last year.
The biggest boom was in the popularity of liposuction - up by 41%.
Baaps said it was "the most impressive rise in demand" since the start of the recession in 2008.
There were 50,122 cosmetic procedures in 2013 - a rise of 17% on the previous year. Baaps said the increase had been "across the board".
The top 10 procedures were:
Breast enhancements were the most popular operation in women, while nose jobs were the cosmetic surgery of choice in men.
Rajiv Grover, a consultant plastic surgeon and president of Baaps, said: "Both the UK economy and the British public seem to be well on the way to regaining their shape with the most impressive rise in demand for cosmetic surgery we have seen since the onset of the recession in 2008.
"The continued double-digit rise of cosmetic surgery underlines the fact that whether it is breast augmentation or anti-ageing procedures like face-lifting, the public are choosing tried-and-tested surgical methods rather than the magical-sounding quick fixes that fail to deliver promised results."
The reputation of the cosmetic surgery industry was brought into question during a scandal involving faulty breast implants.
A lack of record-keeping meant some surgeries were unable to tell their patients if they were affected by the recent scare over sub-standard PIP implants.
Health ministers described it as a "cowboy industry" steeped in "murky practices".
In January a new register was set up to record the details of every breast implant operation in England.
Fresh efforts are also being made to regulate adverts for surgery, to end the era of "win a boob job" competitions.
The industry was worth Â£750m in the UK in 2005, Â£2.3bn in 2010 and is forecast to reach Â£3.6bn by 2015.

Summary: There has been a dramatic increase in the popularity of plastic surgery in the UK, according to figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps).
###
Article: Mr Li, who serves as vice chairman of China's parliament, reportedly engineered the promotion of his nephew to a plum government position.
In October, Mr Li was promoted to join China's elite 25-member Politburo. Now, the Hong Kong media reports he has checked into a Beijing military hospital, suffering from stress.
If Chinese investigators are pursuing a case against Li Jinguo, he has good reason to be worried. China's new Party leader, Xi Jinping, vowed to crack down on corruption in his first speech to the public in October and so far, he appears to be keeping his word.
Just last week, Mr Xi promised he would battle both "tigers" and "flies", indicating that officials at all ranks were under scrutiny.
Li Xinde, an influential citizen journalist, was the first person to interview the whistleblower exposing Li Jianguo's high-flying nephew. The fact that this case has been picked up by the authorities, he says, shows that things are changing in China.
"When Xi came into power, people were accustomed to ineffective anti-corruption campaigns," Li Xinde explains.
"They're usually characterised by lots of words and few actions, or 'big thunder, small rain', but this time, Xi's speeches have produced real results."
Li is a common surname in China and the two Lis are unrelated.
The blogger, Li Xinde, also points to a second case, the downfall of China's "Housing Sister", to underline the fact that this time, the Party is serious about tackling corruption. Gong Ai-ai is believed to have illegally purchased more than 20 units of China's so-called affordable housing, building up a portfolio worth $159m (Â£100m).
"These cases were successful not only because Chinese internet users exposed them, but also because the Party acted so swiftly to deal with it," Mr Li says.
All evidence, he says, that individual citizens are no longer working alone to expose corruption on a case-by-case basis. Instead, there is new hope that the system as a whole is becoming more transparent.
More transparent, maybe. But the Chinese...

Summary: Even among China's jaded internet users, this was big news: Li Jianguo, a Communist official operating at the very top of the party, was under investigation for corruption.
###
Article: Trained by Colin Tizzard, the 2-1 favourite took control at the penultimate hurdle and pulled away to win by eight lengths.
Jockey Tom Scuadmore said: "He gave me a lot of pleasure. It's a special day."
Reve De Sivola held on for second and Deputy Dan trailed in third, another 12 lengths further back.

Summary:


A new study has found that the UK's most popular bird, the chaffinch, is doing well in the UK, while the goldfinch is on the decline.
The study, published in the journal Nature, found that the UK's most popular bird, the chaffinch, is doing well in the

Competition for nesting sites could explain why some birds and bumblebees are declining faster than others.

Article: The team were studying the birth of stars when they discovered a supermassive black hole and saw clouds speeding towards it at 800,000 mph.
The observation supports a theory black holes feed on clouds of cold gas.
Dr Timothy Davis from the school of physics and astronomy said it was a "magical" experience.
He added: "At that very moment, nature gave us a clear view of this complicated process, allowing us to understand supermassive black holes in a way that has never been possible before.
"It's possible that the black hole has an ever bigger appetite and is devouring even more of these cold clouds of gas surrounding it."
Researchers said previous models suggested the gradual growth of supermassive black holes happened when surrounding hot gas accumulates smoothly onto them.
But these observations - a first - suggest in addition to this, these black holes may occasionally "gobble up" faster-moving cold gas as it comes nearby.
The astronomers are part of an international team studying the Abell 2597 galaxy, one of the brightest in the universe.
The results were published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
Prof Michael Macdonald, co-author of the paper, from MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, admits they got "very lucky."
"We could probably look at 100 galaxies like this and not see what we saw just by chance," he said.

Summary: Astronomers at Cardiff University have observed a supermassive black hole preparing to "feast" in a galaxy one billion light years from Earth.
###
Article: Ashley Keast, 26, was jailed for 32 months in March after he admitted breaking in to a property in Rotherham.
On Wednesday, he was jailed for a further four years after being found guilty of making threats to kill.
Keast, of Norfolk Court, Rotherham, was convicted after a trial at Sheffield Crown Court.
The court heard Keast had arranged for a threatening letter to be sent to the victim of the burglary after he was jailed.
He was also found guilty by a jury of witness intimidation and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Keast was arrested in connection with the burglary after he took a selfie on a stolen SIM card and sent it to his victim's colleagues.
PC Adam Broughton said: "Following the original conviction for burglary, the victim in this case felt that justice had been done. Unfortunately, this was not the end of the ordeal.
"The safety and wellbeing of any victim of crime is our main priority and this sentence reflects the seriousness of threats, intimidation and attempts by anyone to pervert the course of justice."

Summary: A thief jailed after taking a picture of himself burgling a house has been sentenced to a further four years for threatening to kill his victim.
###
Article: His short-lived presidential campaign, unambiguously calling for a tighter application of Sharia, or Islamic law, quickly gained appeal among ordinary Egyptians.
It also produced some of the most surprising drama of the political race.
Well-known for his anti-American rhetoric, Mr Abu Ismail, a lawyer and television preacher, was told he was disqualified after it emerged that his dead mother had a US passport.
This made him ineligible under election laws that specify that the parents and spouse of a presidential candidate must only ever have held Egyptian citizenship.
For Egypt's leftists and liberals, the development inspired a tide of irreverent jokes at his expense on social media.
However, there could be a much more serious side to the end of Hazem Abu Ismail's presidential bid.
His angry supporters spent the night outside the presidential election headquarters building in northern Cairo after it rejected his appeal against the decision. There have been clashes with security forces.
"If Sheikh Hazem doesn't succeed, there will be another revolution in this country," said one Salafist, Mohamed Said. "This man's reputation has been torn apart. It is a conspiracy by the United States and Egypt."
The "sheikh" has consistently shown an ability to bring out large crowds. At his rallies, he has sometimes looked like he is in danger of being crushed by the sheer numbers of enthusiastic fans.
Hardline Islamism mixed with charisma has been the secret to his popularity. It helped him turn from a fringe candidate into a mainstream contender.
"We love him because he is a Muslim and will enforce Sharia law. This is in the interests of all Egypt," said Abdullah Mohammed at a support rally. He wore a mask of Mr Abu Ismail's face over his own long beard and held up an Egyptian flag.
"President Mubarak made us eat bread with salt but Sheikh Hazem will let us eat bread with butter," he added.  "He has many good ideas."
Mr Abu Ismail, who is 51, has expounded his political beliefs in weekly lectures at the Asad Ibn al-Farat...

Summary: With his signature smile and long, whitish beard, Hazem Abu Ismail, can still be seen on posters all across Cairo - on cars, roadsides and even on the walls of some schools and government buildings.
###
Article: Research suggest animals that build their nests in early spring may win the fight for available habitat at the expense of late breeders.
Conservation efforts should focus on ensuring rare species have enough places to nest, say scientists.
For example, areas could be left to grow wild between spring and summer to help bumblebees establish nests.
Habitats such as hedgerows and hay meadows are being lost in many countries, meaning that fewer nesting sites are available.
Competition among animals for a suitable place to nest could explain why some species are struggling to survive.
"Ecologists understand why some groups of species are declining more, such as why farmland species are declining more than woodland species," said Dr Andrew Higginson of the University of Exeter.
"But an enduring mystery is the big variation in the declines of closely related species. Fighting over nest sites may be part of the reason - when nest sites are hard to come by, the species that will suffer most are those that nest later in the year."
The University of Exeter study analysed population changes in more than 200 bird species and 40 bumblebee species around the world.
The population data was combined with a mathematical model that used game theory to predict the likely behaviour of bees and birds when faced with competition for nesting sites.
It calculated the implications of fighting for nesting sites, based on the size of each species, the time of nesting and the quality of the nesting site.
The study found larger species that nest early generally do better, while smaller bees and birds that nest later in the year lose out in the struggle for habitat.
For example, the chaffinch is doing well in the UK, while the goldfinch is on the decline.
"We need to have a more holistic approach to providing good habitat for animals," Dr Higginson told BBC News. "We need to worry about the whole life cycle not just what they eat."
He said conservation efforts for animals such as birds and bees tend to focus on providing food.
Restoration...

Summary:

Article: {{document}}

Summary: ||| {{target}}


The organisers of T in the Park have announced a new campsite layout.
The festival will take place between 8 July and 10 July.
The Stone Roses, Calvin Harris and Red Hot Chili Peppers will headline the main stage over the three nights.
Last year's T in the Park had a daily attendance of

T in the Park organisers have announced an overhaul of the festival's campsite that will see it increase in size by a quarter.

Article: The UK's only snowsports music festival was held at the weekend.
Groove CairnGorm, which made its debut in 2016, has been set up along the lines of continental snowsports music festivals Snowbombing and Snowboxx.
It is held in partnership with CairnGorm Mountain ski centre and Badaguish Outdoor Centre near Aviemore.
This year's acts included DJ sets by Basement Jaxx and Mike Skinner, also performances by Blonde and The Lafontaines.
Photographer James Roberts captured some of the scenes from the weekend.

Summary: All pictures copyrighted.
###
Article: Asda has given a commitment to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that it will alter the way it presents promotional deals.
However, the supermarket said there were no specific findings against it.
The regulator was investigating whether supermarkets were misleading customers with confusing price promotions.
The investigation came after a super-complaint by the consumer group Which?.
At the time it issued the super-complaint, in April 2015, Which? cited several examples of what it called misleading pricing by supermarkets:
In July last year, the CMA said it had found evidence that supermarkets were misleading consumers with promotions, and found some examples that "could be in breach of consumer law".
Presenting the CMA's latest findings, executive director Michael Grenfell said: "The CMA's examination of the market, following the super-complaint, found that supermarkets generally take compliance seriously, but there were some promotional practices that could mislead shoppers."
The CMA said it had "had particular engagement with Asda in relation to specific areas of concern".
It added that Asda had made a commitment to change the way it operates "was/now" and multi-buy pricing deals.
Asda has said it will ensure that:
A spokesperson for Asda said, "All supermarkets were asked to review their pricing practices and make any necessary changes.  The CMA has asked for a commitment from Asda on our promotional pricing rules and we were happy to provide this.
"It's important that customers know that the CMA did not make any findings against Asda, and it hasn't questioned our commitment to every day low prices."
The CMA said Asda had been asked to make the changes by August this year - and it would check how those changes were working six months later.
Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director, said: "We are pleased to see the CMA investigation has resulted in Asda taking action to stop misleading special offers.
"Asda has been found breaking the rules and now must immediately clean up their act."

Summary: Asda is to change its price promotions after being singled out by the competition regulator in a probe into supermarket pricing practices.
###
Article: But the judge - in halting the president's controversial executive order on immigration - said he was making sure President Trump's actions follow the law.
That sets two theoretically equal branches of the government against one another - and could bring about a crisis.
The separation of powers is crucial to understanding how the US is governed.
The country's constitution established its treasured system of checks and balances - where the different branches of government hold equal authority and offset one another.
The federal government's power is split into three distinct parts - the executive branch, which includes the president and his cabinet; the legislative branch, Congress, which makes the laws; and the judiciary.
This works well most of the time, with each branch co-operating with the next.
But with the president in open conflict with another branch, there are fears that an impasse could be reached.
That could lead to a constitutional crisis - a scenario in which the situation cannot be resolved - particularly after Mr Trump seemed to openly question the judge's authority.
"The President's hostility toward the rule of law is not just embarrassing, it is dangerous," Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, from the Senate judiciary committee, said.
"He seems intent on precipitating a constitutional crisis."
There are about 700 federal district judges in the US - the type facing down the president's order.
Unlike state court judges, these men and women are part of the federal court system - along with the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals.
Day to day, it's the 94 District Courts which deal with interpretation of US laws, treaties, and public officials - powers devolved to them from the Supreme Court.
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made...
But the courts do not offer opinions on government policy unless they are asked - they only interpret law when a case is brought...

Summary: Donald Trump says he is defending the United States from terrorism - but a "so-called judge" is "making the job very difficult".
###
Article: Last year's event, the first at Strathallan in Perthshire, was criticised over traffic issues and antisocial behaviour.
DF Concerts said improvements include colour-coded zones, better signage and 24-hour dedicated management teams.
This year's event will take place between 8 July and 10 July.
The Stone Roses, Calvin Harris and Red Hot Chili Peppers will headline the main stage over the three nights.
Last year's T in the Park had a daily attendance of about 85,000 people with an estimated 70,000 of those camping.
DF Concerts has produced an animated video highlighting the new campsite layout.
T in the Park security manager Colin Brown, said: "We have overhauled the campsite layout and management and guarantee there will be well-informed stewards on hand to assist with any questions.
"The layout, clearly marked-out zones and improved signage will make getting about much easier, meaning our campers can concentrate on having a good time."
DF Concerts said the Slam and King Tut's tents would open exclusively for campers on Thursday 7 July.
Last week, the promoter announced that this year's festival arena will increase in size by a third.
It will publish revised transport plans for the event next week.
Campsite entertainment manager Gail MacKenzie said: "We know that the campsite is a huge part of the T in the Park experience and have listened to feedback from last year.
"As a result the entertainment will be enhanced and we're even opening the King Tut's Tent on the Thursday for the first time ever. "

Summary:


A man has been jailed for three years after he was found guilty of sexually abusing a boy aged between 11 and 13.
Article: A man has been jailed for three years after he was found guilty of sexually abusing a boy aged between 11 and 13.
Summary: A man has been jailed for three years after he

A bell-ringer who "wheedled, connived, bullied and bribed" boys as young as eight has been jailed for 10 years for a string of sex offences.

Article: Minuscule sensors have been glued to the backs of 10,000 healthy honey bees around the world to help understand why huge numbers of bees are dying.
Like electronic tags that track the movement of cars through toll roads, these tiny trackers send information back to receivers half the size of a credit card that are strategically placed at bee hives.
Australian researchers involved in the global research project compare the sensor to an adult carrying a backpack, weighing about a third of what a honey bee can carry.
But unlike the average backpacker, this extra load will remain in place for the rest of the bee's life.
The microscopic technology has been developed in Tasmania by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) over the past two years as part of an international research project investigating bee health.
Around the world, wild bee populations have plummeted thanks to habitat loss, pesticides and diseases, say scientists.
That puts crops that need to be pollinated at risk, says CSIRO Science Leader Professor Paulo de Souza.
"In some parts of the world, a healthy hive of bees can be like clockwork one day, and then every single bee is dead the very next day, and we have no idea why," Prof. de Souza told the BBC.
"It's happening so frequently that it's now a syndrome called colony collapse disorder, and no scientist working alone would be able to solve this," he says.
A predatory mite called the Varroa destructor has killed many colonies over the past decade.
Australian honey bees have so far remained immune to the devastating mite, putting Australia in an ideal position to coordinate a global research effort, says the CSIRO team.
The tiny sensors they have developed weigh just 5.4 milligrams. They contain a battery that generates energy by vibration, and record a bee's time away from the hive and the distance each bee travels.
Each sensor will record a bee's exposure to pesticides, air pollution and water contamination, as well as taking note of the insect's diet and...

Summary: An international group of scientists, beekeepers, farmers and technology companies is using cutting-edge technology to help find out why honey bee populations around the world are crashing.
###
Article: Reports say the ECB will inject up to €1 trillion by buying government bonds worth up to €50bn (£38bn) per month until the end of 2016.
Creating new money to buy government debt, or quantitative easing (QE), should reduce the cost of borrowing.
The ECB also said eurozone interest rates were being held at 0.05%.
The eurozone is flagging and the ECB is seeking ways to stimulate spending.
Lowering the cost of borrowing should encourage banks to lend and eurozone businesses and consumers to spend more.
It is a strategy that appears to have worked in the US, which undertook a huge programme of QE between 2008 and 2014.
The UK and Japan have also had sizeable bond-buying programmes.
What is a government bond?
Governments borrow money by selling bonds to investors. A bond is an IOU. In return for the investor's cash, the government promises to pay a fixed rate of interest over a specific period - say 4% every year for 10 years. At the end of the period, the investor is repaid the cash they originally paid, cancelling that particular bit of government debt.
Government bonds have traditionally been seen as ultra-safe long-term investments and are held by pension funds, insurance companies and banks, as well as private investors. They are a vital way for countries to raise funds.
Up until now, the ECB has resisted, although the bank's president, Mario Draghi, reassured markets in July 2012 by saying he would be prepared to do whatever it took to maintain financial stability in the eurozone, nicknamed his "big bazooka" speech.
Since then, the case for quantitative easing has been growing.
Earlier this month, figures showed the eurozone was suffering deflation, creating the danger that growth would stall as businesses and consumers shut their wallets, as they waited for prices to fall.
The ECB's bond-buying programme is likely to begin in March, although the final decision over whether to start the measures will be taken at a meeting of the bank's 25-member policy-making board on Thursday.
There remains a possibility...

Summary: The European Central Bank (ECB) has confirmed it will shortly announce "further measures" to stimulate the ailing eurozone economy.
###
Article: But they add that the drop will roughly be balanced by slow uplift due to tectonic activity.
And they have yet to analyse satellite images of the region in which the most famous Himalayan peak - Everest - is located.
However, there continues to be debate over exactly how tall Everest is.
"The primary stretch that had its height dropped is a 80-100km stretch of the Langtang Himal (to the northwest of the capital, Kathmandu)," said Richard Briggs, a research geologist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The Langtang range is the region where many locals and trekkers are still missing, presumed dead, after the avalanches and landslides that were triggered by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 25 April.
Scientists believe the height of a handful of other Himalayan peaks, including the Ganesh Himal to the west of the Langtang range, may also have dropped.
The satellite images they have analysed so far have focused on central Nepal, which was the hardest hit by the quake. Everest is to the east of this main shaking zone.
Scientists say whether or not the world's highest peak saw a change in its height by few centimetres will have to be further confirmed by ground survey and GPS or an airborne mission.
"But what we see in the data that we evaluated further away from the plate boundary, to the north of the capital Kathmandu, is a clearly identifiable region with subsidence of up to 1.5m," says Christian Minet, a geologist with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), which processed the Nepal earthquake data sent by the Sentinel-1a satellite.
Scientists with DLR's Earth Observation Centre of compared two separate images of the same region sent by the satellite, before and after the quake.
"The positive value we have received (from the satellite image) after the quake means the area (the mountains in and around the Langtang region) is further away from the satellite and it is lower now," said Mr Minet.
"But with this result we cannot say that a specific mountain is one-point-something-metres lower; it is the...

Summary: The height of a swathe of the Himalayas has dropped by around one metre as a result of the devastating Nepal earthquake, scientists say.
###
Article: Liam Cann, 22, of Blind Lane, Goldhanger, Essex, contacted a number of boys while playing Xbox games online, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
He was convicted of 23 sex offences in October last year, having abused six boys from 2006 until 2014.
Judge John Dodd described the defendant as "clever and calculating".
The judge told the court that Cann, a bell-ringer at his local church, had bribed his victims "with Fifa game currency", which players can use to buy in-game features and build their teams of footballers.
Cann, who admitted one offence of possessing indecent images, was given an extended licence period of six years to remain in place after his release, and was placed on the sex offenders register for life.
His other offences included sexual grooming, attempted rape of a child under 13, and nine counts of sexual activity with a child.
A police investigation was started after one of the boys' mothers contacted the NSPCC.
One of his victims told the court he had been contacted by Cann "by messaging" and had later received a naked image of the 22-year-old.
"He gave me £20-£50 through the Xbox and I drew it on Liam's account. I knew he gave another boy £200."

Summary:


A dog owner has been fined after a dog escaped from its garden and bit a postman.
Article: A dog owner has been fined after a dog escaped from its garden and bit a postman.
Summary: A dog owner has been fined after a dog escaped from its garden and bit a postman.

A sheriff has warned the owner of a dog which bit a postman delivering the mail that her pet will be destroyed if it bites someone again.

Article: World-Check Risk Screening contains details about people and organisations suspected of being involved in terrorism, organised crime and money laundering, among other offences.
Access is supposed to be restricted under European privacy laws.
The database's creator, Thomson Reuters, has confirmed an unnamed third-party exposed an "out of date" version online.
But it says the material has since been removed.
Security researcher Chris Vickery said he discovered the leak. He notified the Register, which reported that it contained more than two million records and was two years old.
"There was no protection at all. No username or password required to see the records," Mr Vickery told the BBC.
"I want to be clear that this unprotected database was not directly hosted by Thomson Reuters itself."
A spokesman for the financial data provider said it was trying to tackle the problem.
"We are grateful to Chris Vickery for bringing this to our attention, and immediately took steps to contact the third party responsible - as a result we can confirm that the third party has taken down the information. We have also spoken to the third party to ensure there will be no repetition of this unacceptable incident," David Crundwell said.
"World-Check aggregates financial crime data from the public domain, including official sanctions data, to help clients meet their regulatory responsibilities."
Other sources of information used to collate the database include :
Individuals' dates and places of birth are also listed, in order to help banks check they are looking into the right people.
"The worst possible situation that could arise is that someone who may be innocent, but accused of criminal activity in the database, could be permanently branded on a global scale if this database were to be spread publicly," said Mr Vickery.
A spokeswoman for the UK's Information Commissioner Officer said the Data Protection Act required personal information to be kept secure even if it had been collated from public sources.
"Organisations must take...

Summary: A financial crime database used by banks has been "leaked" on to the net.
###
Article: Portsmouth, promoted from League Two on Monday, are subject to a bid from American billionaire Michael Eisner.
Eisner is in exclusive negotiations with Portsmouth until 1 June.
The PST surveyed its members over a potential ownership change with 94% agreeing to the importance of retaining at least one board member at the club.
In a recent interview, former Walt Disney chief executive Eisner said he would remove fan representation from the board if his takeover bid was successful.
The PST, which currently owns 48% of the club's shares, has three members out of nine on the board.
In a statement, the PST said: "Given we represent the largest share in the club, we would hope to see our members' views on supporter ownership and involvement, and protection of the club's heritage, reflected in any bid.
"Ultimately, it will be our shareholders and members who will vote to decide whether this, or any other bid for the club, is successful."
More than 2,000 people responded to the survey on hopes, concerns and opinions relating to an ownership change over a week-long period.
It revealed 64% initially felt positive about Eisner's interest, rising to 74% the more they heard about his intentions.

Summary: Shareholders and members of the Pompey Supporters Trust (PST) are in favour of retaining representation on the club's board in the event of a takeover.
###
Article: Normally the stuff of science fiction in Star Trek or Star Wars, physicists at the university used an ultrasound array to exert force on an object and pull it towards the energy source.
They say it is the first time such a beam has been used to move anything bigger than microscopic targets.
The technology could be put to use in medicine, helping to develop ultrasound-based clinical techniques.
Dundee researchers worked alongside colleagues in Southampton and Illinois on the project, the results of which have been published in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters.
In another sci-fi inspired project, the same team from the university's Institute for Medical Science and Technology (Imsat) created a Doctor Who-style "sonic screwdriver", also using ultrasound.
"This is the first time anyone has demonstrated a working acoustic tractor beam and the first time such a beam has been used to move anything bigger than microscopic targets," said Dr Christine Demore of Imsat.
"We were able to show that you could exert sufficient force on an object around one centimetre in size to hold or move it, by directing twin beams of energy from the ultrasound array towards the back of the object."
The team used an ultrasound device that is already clinically approved for use in MRI-guided surgery.
The team's work was carried out as part of a Â£3.6m programme initiated by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, combining expertise at four UK universities in Bristol, Dundee, Glasgow and Southampton with industrial firms.
Professor Sandy Cochran, of the University of Dundee, said: "Our partnership with industry has been vital to developing devices and capabilities that are delivering unprecedented sophistication in the field of ultrasound."

Summary: Scientists at Dundee University have created a working "tractor beam".
###
Article: Roslyn Condie, of Mossdale, near Castle Douglas, admitted being the owner of a dog which was dangerously out of control last September.
A court heard how her Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Nipper, bit the postman on the leg leaving a puncture wound.
Sentence was deferred on Condie for six months.
Dumfries Sheriff Court heard how the incident happened while the postman was delivering mail in the village of Mossdale.
Local residents gave him first aid and he later had medical treatment for the bite.
Fiscal depute Jennifer McGill said there was concern in the area over the dog which had on occasion escaped from the garden of its home.
A solicitor for Condie said she had had the dog since it was a puppy and it was very affectionate.
She now kept it muzzled when taken out and the garden fences had been made escape proof.
Sheriff Brian Mohan handed out the warning that a second bite would bring destruction and deferred sentence on Condie stressing that she should keep the dog under control with appropriate measures.

Summary:


Ayres, 49, of Fairlop Avenue in Canvey, denies murdering Kelly Pearce, 36, in the flat in November.
At Chelmsford

A prosecution witness in the trial of a man accused of the "frenzied" murder of a woman, has been accused of carrying out the killing himself.

Article: It had been assumed that life under the waves reflected life on land and that slow-growing species were most at risk.
The researchers found that overfishing was key, but making fisheries more responsive to environmental changes could help avoid future collapses.
The findings appear in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B journal.
"On the land, slow growing animals are at most risk of decline and we used to think the same was true in the oceans," explained co-author Malin Pinsky from Rutgers University, US.
"But we studied more than 150 populations around the world and found that nearly the opposite was true."
Life on the edge
Dr Pinsky and colleagues found that over the past six decades, fast-growing species that were commercially fished were three times more likely to experience a population collapse than their slow-growing cousins.
He told BBC News that the team identified two main risk factors that made species particularly sensitive to overfishing.
"One is species that grow quickly and the other is species that are found in highly seasonal environments," he said.
"You can think of it like a finely tuned race car travelling at 200 miles per hour - one wrong move and you'd be off the track. Managing a fishery for a fast-growing species is a bit like that: you don't really have time to act when environmental conditions change."
In their paper, the researchers highlighted an example that illustrated their findings: "The collapse of the fast-growing California Current sardine (Sardinops sagax) provides a well-studied example of these interacting factors.
"The stock famously declined in the 1950s during a period of cooling temperatures that were tied to poor recruitment and a much delayed response from management to reduce harvest quotas."
Dr Pinsky said that the findings suggested that management measures needed to pay closer attention to seasonal changes in the environment.
"If you are fishing at a certain level and then the environmental conditions become poor and the fish population starts growing more...

Summary: A study of global fish populations has suggested fast-growth fish species are more vulnerable to population collapses than previously thought.
###
Article: Citizens Advice says that half of those on a zero hours basis - more than 900,000 people - are not aware of their holiday benefits.
The charity said bosses are either ignorant of workers' rights, or are "deliberately flouting the law".
It is calling on the next government to step in to help protect workers.
Based on the most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics, Citizens Advice also says that two out of five people on temporary contracts do not know they can take paid time off.
Zero hours contracts allow employers to hire staff with no guarantee of work. Unlike the so-called "gig economy", where people are paid on a job-by-job basis, those on zero hours contracts are entitled to basic rights such as rest breaks, the National Minimum Wage and paid leave.
Citizens Advice said that while some employers mislead employees about holiday entitlement due to the ignorance of bosses, others purposefully flout the law and exploit workers' confusion.
It cites an example of one man who worked 48 hours a week in a care home for five years. He was told that staff who worked at night did not get paid holiday. He subsequently discovered he had missed out on Â£8,900 worth of paid leave.
Of the 185,000 people who sought help from Citizens Advice in the last financial year, 10,000 were cases about holiday.
Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said: "Thousands are missing out on rights they are entitled to due to a lack of awareness, confusion and in some cases deliberate dirty tactics by employers.
"With more than half of employers having staff working shifts or variable hours, action needs to be taken now to protect workers rights."
Citizens Advice wants a single body set up to oversee enforcement of all employment rights and a Â£50 cap on employment tribunal fees.
Sports Direct came under fire last year for its working conditions, including at its Shirebrook distribution centre. While the retailer announced that people who work in its shops will be moved onto guaranteed hours, those in the distribution...

Summary: Thousands of workers on zero hours contracts miss out on paid holiday because they are lied to or do not know their rights, it has been claimed.
###
Article: A large Dutch study found the risk of severe complications to be one in 1,000 for home births and 2.3 in 1,000 for hospital births.
The Royal College of Midwives said the study was further evidence of the safety and benefits of home birth.
Obstetricians warn that the system in the Netherlands is different to the UK.
For low-risk women having their first baby at home, the study calculated their risk of being admitted to intensive care or needing a large blood transfusion to be small - and similar to women giving birth in hospital.
This was 2.3 per 1,000 for home births, compared with 3.1 per 1,000 for planned hospital births.
But in women who had given birth before, severe complications were found to be less common during planned home births.
The researchers, including midwives and obstetricians from universities in Amsterdam, Leiden and Nijmegen, said those figures were "statistically significant".
In this group of women, the risk of severe blood loss after delivery (also known as postpartum haemorrhage) was 19.6 per 1,000 for a planned home birth compared with 37.6 per 1,000 for planned hospital births.
In the study of nearly 150,000 low-risk women in the Netherlands who gave birth between 2004 and 2006, 92,333 had a planned home birth and 54,419 had a planned hospital birth.
Home births in the Netherlands account for around 20% of all births. Currently in the UK, 2.4% of births are planned at home, down from 3% in 2008.
Ank de Jonge, a practising midwife and senior researcher on the study from the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, said their findings showed that the system in the Netherlands was working well.
But she emphasised that this depended on a number of different factors.
"This comes from a good risk selection system, good transport in place and well-trained midwives."
She also warned that in emergencies the right facilities had to be in place.
"Women who give birth at home are less likely to have interventions at home, but if there is a serious problem there should be a good system to deal...

Summary: Planned home births are less risky than planned hospital births, particularly for second-time mothers, says research in the British Medical Journal.
###
Article: Kelly Pearce, 36, was found with fatal throat wounds in a flat belonging to witness Joseph Withers on Canvey Island, Essex, on 19 November.
Accused Anthony Ayres, 49, of Fairlop Avenue in Canvey, denies murdering her.
At Chelmsford Crown Court his defence claimed Mr Withers killed her and then blamed Mr Ayres who arrived later.
Ms Pearce had been stabbed 40 times in the face and neck and bludgeoned to death with a weapon "consistent" with a hammer in a "frenzied attack", the court heard.
More on this and other news from Essex
She sustained fatal neck wounds and skull and brain damage, and died later in hospital.
The court was told she had been attacked in the bathroom of a flat in Fairlop Avenue in Canvey, belonging to Mr Withers.
On the day of the killing, Mr Withers, who described himself in police interviews as a paranoid schizophrenic, said he was briefly locked out of his flat, while Ms Pearce and Mr Ayres were inside.
When he got back in he claimed to have seen Mr Ayres swinging a hammer.
"I saw him hitting her with the hammer or something. I just saw him hitting like that," he told the court.
Defence lawyer Oliver Saxby, QC, said: "It sounds like you weren't sure. Why did you say 'or something'?"
"That's best description I could give," Mr Withers replied.
He claimed he had then run from the flat to call the police.
However, Mr Saxby said: "I'm suggesting that either you lost it with her, or that there was somebody else in there who was responsible for what happened."
"It was Tony," Mr Withers replied.
He had said early in the cross-examination: "You're trying to say I attacked Kelly. I would never attack anybody. I'm scared of Kelly."
The trial continues.

Summary:


A wave of selling sweeping across bond markets resumed on Monday as investors continued to digest the impact of a Donald Trump presidency.

Article: "This is simply some kind of hysteria. You can't seem to stop. Do we need to give you a tablet?" he said in a debate at the St Petersburg Economic Forum.
A US journalist had asked him if Russia had reached a secret deal with Mr Trump to soften US sanctions on Russia.
Mr Putin again denied Russian meddling in the election that Mr Trump won.
The allegations of Russian interference in the presidential election were "harmful chatter" detrimental to international relations, security and the fight against terrorism, he said.
"This is an attempt to resolve domestic political issues by using foreign policy instruments," he said.
"It's easier to say 'we're not to blame - the Russians are to blame, they interfered in our election, and we're good'. This reminds me of anti-Semitism. The Jews are blamed for everything," he added.
The US intelligence agencies say the hacking of the US Democrats last year bore the hallmarks of Russian state security services.
President Trump's campaign aides are currently being investigated over possible collusion with the Russian government.
Mr Putin accused the West of carrying out "crude and systematic interference in Russian affairs for many years".
Russia: The scandal Trump can't shake
US Congress issues Russia probe subpoenas
Earlier, Mr Putin urged US business executives to help improve Russian-US relations, amid continuing Western sanctions.
He said those relations had hit "their lowest point since the Cold War".
"I want to pass the buck back to you - help us to restore a normal political dialogue," he said at the forum.
Besides the US allegations of Russian meddling, tensions have risen during the Ukraine and Syria conflicts.
Russia remains under US and EU sanctions because of its involvement in the Ukraine conflict and annexation of Crimea.
Western governments back Sunni Arab and Kurdish groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed militarily by Russia and Iran. But Islamic State (IS) jihadists are being targeted by both the West and Russia.
"I appeal to you and...

Summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Americans must stop their "hysteria" about an alleged Russian deal with US President Donald Trump.
###
Article: He described his fellow UMP conservative as "irritable, rash, overconfident and allowing for no doubt, least of all regarding himself".
He praised Socialist Francois Hollande, tipped as Mr Sarkozy's main rival if they stand in the 2012 election.
Some analysts suggest Mr Chirac is taking revenge for perceived slights.
Mr Sarkozy failed to support Mr Chirac during the 1995 election which put him in office and, following his re-election in 2002, made fun of the older man's love of Japan and sumo wrestling - a point raised in the memoirs.
He won the 2007 election, in which Mr Chirac had to stand down because he had served two consecutive terms in office.
Since his retirement, and despite a looming trial on corruption allegations dating back decades, Mr Chirac has enjoyed a popularity which often eluded him while president.
An Ifop opinion poll last summer suggested he was France's most admired political figure, with Mr Sarkozy placed just 32nd.
Volume II of Mr Chirac's memoirs is due to be published next week but extracts have appeared in the French press.
"Sarkozy - Chirac tells all" was the headline in news magazine Le Point.
"We do not share the same vision of France, we do not agree on the basics," Mr Chirac writes in his book.
After describing Mr Sarkozy as "one of the most gifted politicians of his generation", he frowns on his "inappropriate declarations", notably his call to "hose down" crime-ridden housing estates when he was interior minister in 2005.
He suggests he once considered sacking him as a cabinet minister for insubordination but decided against it, in order to avoid a destructive confrontation.
Another news magazine, Le Nouvel Observateur, homed in on the scorn Mr Chirac heaps on Mr Sarkozy's military service record, with the headline "Sarkozy, a special kind of squaddie".
Mr Chirac, who fought as an officer in the Algerian War, sneers at the manner in which Mr Sarkozy set about his 12-month compulsory service as a young man in 1978.
He describes him as a "military service skiver" because, Le...

Summary: Former French President Jacques Chirac has mocked his successor and party colleague Nicolas Sarkozy in memoirs covering his 12 years in office.
###
Article: The claim: The cost of Hinkley Point C to bill payers has risen from £6bn to about £30bn.
Reality Check verdict: The projected additional cost of guaranteeing the amount paid for electricity from Hinkley C has risen considerably because the government forecast for the wholesale price of electricity has fallen.
The Chinese government will pay about a third with EDF paying the rest.
In return, the UK government has guaranteed EDF a fixed price for the electricity it produces for 35 years.
That fixed price, or strike price, is £92.50 per megawatt hour. One megawatt hour is enough electricity to run about 18,000 40in televisions for an hour.
In the UK, electricity is generated then sold to suppliers at a wholesale price. That electricity is then supplied to UK households and they pay for it through their electricity bills.
Energy companies charge us more than the wholesale price to cover their costs, various government charges, and make a profit.
The wholesale price moves up and down but the government has promised EDF it will get paid £92.50 per megawatt hour of electricity from Hinkley Point no matter what the wholesale price is. It will be £89.50 if another planned station, Sizewell C, comes online.
If the agreed strike price is above the wholesale price then consumers will have to pay higher bills to fund it.
The estimated extra amount they will pay has risen for one simple reason - the government's forecast for the wholesale energy price in the future has fallen. The lower the wholesale price, the bigger the chunk UK households have to pay to make sure EDF gets paid £92.50 per megawatt hour.
Oil and gas prices have fallen sharply since 2014 and the government has cut its wholesale price estimates as a result. Between 2012, when the strike price was agreed with EDF, and last year, wholesale price forecasts have been cut by more than a fifth.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said: "We estimate that the value of future top-up payments under the proposed HPC CfD have increased from £6.1bn in October 2013, when...

Summary: The French state-owned power company EDF has agreed to shoulder the estimated £18bn cost of building Hinkley Point C, the first new nuclear power station in the UK for a generation.
###
Article: US and European bond prices have sunk in expectation that he will enact inflationary policies that speed the pace of interest rate rises.
On Monday, some bond yields - which rise as the price falls - hit their highest for more than six months.
Bonds globally lost $1.29tn (Â£1tn) last week, according to Bank of America.
And there is no sign that the bond sell-off is easing, depressing the value of some pension investments and making it more expensive for countries and companies to borrow money.
On Monday, the 30-year US Treasury jumped above 3% for the first time since January. In the UK, the 10-year gilt yields returned to levels not seen since June's Brexit referendum vote. And German 30-year bunds rose above 1% for the first time since early May.
Italian bonds have been among the most affected. Rome's 10-year yields rose four basis points to 2.01% on Monday, their highest in 14 months.
"It is a continuation of this recent trend. There are still these expectations that inflation could go up if the US takes a more expansionary fiscal stance," said DZ Bank strategist Daniel Lenz said.
Jim Cielinski, head of fixed income at Columbia Threadneedle, said the sell-off trend was not surprising, but the "ferocity of the reversal" was.
And in a research note for Societe Generale, analyst Daniel Fermon said that rising interest rates may not be a good thing.
"As central banks are now less active in the bond market and Trump expects to cut taxes and launch a $1tn infrastructure investment plan, increasing the deficit, we believe rising US long-term rates remain a major risk for financial markets," he said.
Investors had piled into bonds, seeking a safe - but low - rate of return during what has been years of sluggish growth in the US, Europe and Japan.
But since inflation and interest rates are seen as likely to rise, investors are seeking assets with a more attractive return. With a Trump administration promising economic stimulus through spending and tax cuts, investors are worried about putting money into low...

Summary:


A man who threw a nine-week-old puppy out of a window has been jailed.
Article: A man who threw a nine-week-old puppy out of a window has been jailed.
Summary: A man who threw a nine-week-old puppy out of a window has been jailed.

A Dickensian-style protest has been held to oppose Sports Direct's use of zero-hour contracts at the company's annual general meeting.

Article: Wayne Keightley, 42, of Rutland Street, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, had already been convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
Leicester magistrates sentenced him to 10 weeks prison and banned him from keeping a pet for three years.
The RSPCA, which brought the case, said Gypsy was left "terrified and in pain" but was now recovering well.
Keightley claimed the female Staffordshire bull terrier fell as he tried to escape a gang who had broken into the flat.
He said he threw a vase through the second floor window before jumping himself and breaking his ankle.
His trial earlier this month heard he told paramedics at the scene he had been drinking and had taken drugs.
The defence insisted Keightley had been a "dog lover all his life".
District Judge Tim Daber said: "Thankfully the injuries seem to be superficial, but it was the result of quite an horrific act, for whatever reason that act was committed."
Keightley was jailed for a further four weeks after activating a suspended sentence for knife possession.

Summary: A man who committed a "horrific act" in throwing a nine-week-old puppy out of a upstairs window has been jailed.
###
Article: Kieran Milledge, 22, was caught on CCTV attacking his Staffordshire bull terrier on a train between Braintree and Witham, Essex, in October.
He was seen abusing the animal in what Chelmsford Magistrates' Court heard was a "continued and brutal attack".
Milledge, of no fixed address, admitted animal cruelty and possession of a bladed weapon.
Live: For more on this and other Essex stories
He was jailed for 21 weeks for the animal cruelty offence and, to be served concurrently, eight weeks for breaching a suspended sentence order and six months for the weapon offence.
The attack on his dog, called Ronnie, happened over a 20 minute period, the court heard.
Milledge hung the dog by its lead and then swung him against the wall of the train before pushing his foot against his pet's face.
During the attack, Ronnie appeared to lose consciousness and fouled the seat he was on.
He died three days later, the court was told.
Milledge said he had been so drunk that he could not remember what happened.
Sgt Steven Maguire, of British Transport Police, said: "I welcome today's sentence as it has taken a violent dog abuser off the streets.
"Milledge's cruel beating of his dog was simply inexcusable and I am pleased that he now has an indefinite ban from keeping animals."

Summary: A man whose dog died days after he beat and threw it around a train carriage has been jailed.
###
Article: It's a sunny Friday in August 2014. All around Shepperton Studios, threatening signs warn against unauthorised entry to the soundstages.
The film they're keeping under wraps is of Avengers: Age of Ultron, although the notices only refer to the movie's code name "Afterparty".
And what a party the original Avengers turned out to be. It took more than $1.5 billion (Â£991 million)at the global box office, and delighted millions of fans across the world with its mix of irreverent humour and budget-busting action sequences.
I'm here on what is day 89 of a 93 day shoot. During a brief break in filming, the movie's writer and director Joss Whedon confesses to feeling the pressure - but it's not the pressure of outside expectation. It's the pressure he puts on himself.
"The fact is there's a certain amount of expectation, obviously," he admits. "But for me the expectation is, can I make a better movie? Can I make this more interesting? Can I push myself as a filmmaker, can I push the actors? Can I expand the Marvel universe in the way that it should be expanded? Not just make it bigger, but make it deeper."
Last week, a few days before the film's release, Whedon is still tired. Even more than the last time we met.
"It feels like I'm at the end of a two or three year journey," he sighs, "and it was all uphill."
"When you start out, it's all perfect in your head. When you work with the actors, it gets better.
"And then at some point you've been editing it for so long you start thinking 'What am I? What's happening?' and you forget why you ever showed up.
"And you despair. It's a very bleak experience."
Luckily, he's now had the privilege of watching audiences' enjoyment of the finished film - and it's been something of a vindication.
"When you get a reaction, particularly if it's something you fought for. Then it's pretty wonderful."
It's hard to overstate how important Joss Whedon has become to the series of films that make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He's been a creative consultant on the franchise for three...

Summary: BBC Entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba goes behind the scenes on Marvel's latest blockbuster, Avengers: Age of Ultron.
###
Article: The union Unite organised the rally at the firm's headquarters in Derbyshire.
The union has called for an end to "Victorian working practices" and demanded staff get a living wage of Â£7.85 an hour.
Sports Direct said casual workers receive holiday and sick pay, and are included in incentive schemes.
The protest at the company headquarters was one of about 40 being held on Wednesday, with Sports Direct shops across the country also being targeted.
A Sports Direct spokeswoman said: "Much of the comment around the group's use of zero hours has been unfounded and inaccurate.
"The group complies fully with all legal requirements which relate to casual workers, including holiday and sick pay and freedom to gain other employment.
"Casual workers also benefit from general incentive schemes."
Unite said an estimated 3,000 workers are on zero-hour contracts at Sports Direct's Shirebrook headquarters.
A further 75% of staff across its UK stores are also on zero-hour contracts, with Sports Direct accounting for a fifth of all such contracts in the retail sector, according to Unite.
One institutional investor, Royal London Asset Management, earlier called for the resignation of Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley citing anger on his failure to attend four board meetings.
Ashley Hamilton Claxton from Royal London Asset Management, said: "We have lost confidence in the board and are very concerned about the long list of corporate governance failings that have not been addressed."
But both Mr Ashley and Sports Direct chairman Keith Hellawell were re-elected to the board at the meeting.
Unite representative Cheryl Pidgeon said: "We want an end to zero-hour contracts - because young people cannot stand 'forever and a day' to be on zero-hour contracts.
"We think Sports Direct makes enough money to ensure that their workers have to dignity, respect and fair wages."

Summary:


the UK has risen by more than a third in the past

Nearly 60% of all syphilis cases reported in England were in London, it has been revealed.

Article: The "consultation" vote called by Artur Mas was suspended by the Constitutional Court last month after a challenge by the central government.
However, Mr Mas said he could use a different legal framework to proceed.
Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy had earlier welcomed reports that the vote was being called off.
The government has portrayed the vote as an actual referendum and argues that it cannot be held without the consent of the Spanish state.
Economic and cultural grievances have fuelled Catalan nationalism.
The wealthy region of 7.5 million people contributes more to the Spanish economy than it gets back through central government funds.
Like other Spanish regions, it enjoys a degree of autonomy but campaigners accuse Madrid of recently seeking to undermine Catalan in favour of Spanish as the main language of instruction in schools.
On Monday evening, the Catalan regional government reportedly announced to a meeting of pro-consultation parties that the vote was off.
But on a morning of high drama at government house in Barcelona, Mr Mas went before reporters to say the vote would still be held, with the same two questions about independence within Spain and full independence.
"The vote on 9 November can be considered the preparatory vote before the definitive one," he explained.
The "definitive" vote, he explained, would be a new election in Catalonia.
The vote will be run by volunteers and will have no formal electoral roll, leading one local analyst, Josep Ramoneda, to remark that it looked "a bit pathetic", according to AFP news agency.
Outlining the preparations for the 9 November vote, Mr Mas said: "There will be ballots and ballot boxes. We can't apply the decree [to hold a referendum] but it will be possible to vote."
"Do you want Catalonia to be a state?
"If so, do you want Catalonia to be an independent state?"
Catalonia's quarrel with Spain
Catalan municipal buildings will be used for the vote, so Spanish government support will not be required, he said.
"The Catalan government has jurisdiction over...

Summary: The head of Spain's Catalonia's region has said a non-binding vote on independence will go ahead on 9 November, in defiance of Madrid.
###
Article: In an email, the firm told buyers of self-balancing scooters with "non-compliant UK plugs" to dispose of the product at a recycling centre.
Such customers would be automatically refunded within three days, it said.
It comes after Trading Standards seized 15,000 unsafe boards being brought into the UK.
Many had faulty cables, chargers or plugs that could catch fire or explode, it said.
Amazon is understood to have stopped selling the devices. Retailers Argos, John Lewis have also reportedly pulled them from sale.
A Tesco spokesman said: "We've suspended the sale of all hoverboards both in store and online as a precautionary measure."
In the email, Amazon said: "We regret the inconvenience this may cause you but trust you will understand that your safety and satisfaction is our highest priority."
It advised customers to dispose of their product at a centre registered to recycle electrical items "as soon as possible", and said a refund was being automatically processed.
The company also sent a separate email to customers who had bought the so-called hoverboards with compliant UK plugs to give them tips on safe battery and plug use "as a precaution".
Such customers could contact Amazon customer services if they did not wish to keep the product, the firm said.
Earlier this month, Trading Standards officers said they had seized 88% of all scooters examined since October 15, mainly for having non-compliant electrical components that could explode or catch fire.
Many of the boards were found to have plugs without fuses, and cut-off switches which failed when tested.
Chargers, cabling and batteries were also found to fail safety standards.
The London Fire Brigade has warned that at least three house fires were caused by such devices over 10 days in October.
Trading Standards is giving these tips to consumers who have bought a "hoverboard", or are thinking of buying one:
Anyone who finds such products for sale is being urged to contact the Citizens Advice helpline on 03454 04 05 06.
The Retail Ombudsman watchdog urged...

Summary: Online marketplace Amazon has told customers who bought certain "hoverboards" to throw them out after concerns they can catch fire.
###
Article: American scientists found that the mutant cockroaches had a "reorganised" sense of taste, making them perceive the glucose used to coat poisoned bait not as sweet but rather as bitter.
A North Carolina State University team tested the theory by giving cockroaches a choice of jam or peanut butter.
They then analysed the insects' taste receptors, similar to our taste buds.
Researchers from the same team first noticed 20 years ago that some pest controllers were failing to eradicate cockroaches from properties, because the insects were simply refusing to eat the bait.
Source: Natural History Museum
Dr Coby Schal explained in the journal Science that this new study had revealed the "neural mechanism" behind this refusal.
In the first part of the experiment, the researchers offered the hungry cockroaches a choice of two foods - peanut butter or glucose-rich jam [known as jelly in the US].
"The jelly contains lots of glucose and the peanut butter has a much smaller amount," explained Dr Schal.
"You can see the mutant cockroaches taste the jelly and jump back - they're repulsed and they swarm over the peanut butter."
In the second part of the experiment, the team was able to find out exactly why the cockroaches were so repulsed.
The scientists immobilised the cockroaches and used tiny electrodes to record the activity of taste receptors - cells that respond to flavour that are "housed" in microscopic hairs on the insects' mouthparts
"The cells that normally respond to bitter compounds were responding to glucose in these [mutant] cockroaches," said Dr Schal.
"So they're perceiving glucose to be a bitter compound.
"The sweet-responding cell does also fire, but the bitter compound actually inhibits it - so the end result is that bitterness overrides sweetness."
Highly magnified footage of these experiments clearly shows a glucose-averse cockroach reacting to a dose of the sugar.
"It behaves like a baby that rejects spinach," explained Dr Schal.
"It shakes its head and refuses to imbibe that liquid, at the end, you can...

Summary: A strain of cockroaches in Europe has evolved to outsmart the sugar traps used to eradicate them.
###
Article: Almost 3,000 cases were diagnosed in the capital out of a total of 5,042 in the country in 2015, figures from Public Health England (PHE) show.
Since 2010 the number of cases among Londoners has risen by 163%, with 90% of those reported in 2015 among men who have sex with men.
PHE said people were "putting themselves at risk through unsafe sex".
Syphilis is a bacterial infection that initially causes highly infectious sores but can go on to cause serious conditions such as heart problems.
In most circumstances it can be treated with antibiotics but in extreme cases, the sexually transmitted infection can prove fatal.
2,811
cases in the capital in 2015
2,406 cases recorded among men who have sex with men (MSM)
36 median age of MSM diagnosed
74% of MSM diagnosed were white
44% of MSM diagnosed were born in the UK
There are about 54.7m people living in England, 8.7m of which live in London according to the Office of National Statistics.
In 2015, syphilis was diagnosed in all London local authorities with the highest numbers in Lambeth, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Westminster.
The number of cases among heterosexual men and women has risen slightly but there was a much larger increase among men who have sex with men.
The group, which represents about 2% of the total London population, accounted for 2,406 of 2,811 cases in the capital.
Dr Yvonne Doyle, regional director for PHE London, said it was "worrying to see such alarming rises in syphilis year on year".
She said: "We are seeing large increases in cases of syphilis among men who have sex with men and they now represent 90% of syphilis cases in London.
"Although diagnoses among heterosexuals in the capital are more stable they too continue to be higher than we would like given the effective preventative measures in place."
She called on people to practise safe sex, "including using condoms, regularly being tested and avoiding overlapping sexual relationships".

Summary:


The BBC has launched a new series of its popular drama series, The Bill.
The new series, which will be broadcast on BBC One, will see the return of the popular character, Bill, played by actor Bill Bailey.
The series will see Bill, who is a former police officer, return to the force

An Essex town buoyed by the popularity of a reality television show needs to plan for when the "bubble bursts", businesses have been told.

Article: The Kiev city government has introduced a compulsory "mask regime" for its workers.
So far, the virus has killed 60 people, and is approaching, or has reached, epidemic levels in parts of the country - including the eastern Donetsk region, where fighting continues against Russian-backed insurgents.
Still, health authorities insist there is no reason for undue concern - an outbreak of swine flu was anticipated for this winter. The measures are primarily "prophylactic," they say, in order to prevent the disease from growing into uncontrollable levels.
"There is no reason for panic," Alexander Kvitashvili, the country's health minister, said on Tuesday. "Ukraine is in the same situation as its neighbours in Central and Eastern Europe."
Still, the disease seems to have caught Ukrainian officials flat-footed. And the number of fatalities, which has surged in the last week, is a cause for worry.
"From the point of view of doctors, the situation is serious," said Dr Fyodor Lapiy, Kiev's chief immunologist. "The number of cases of sickness are growing, and very many young people have fallen ill."
According to Dr Lapiy, one of the main reasons for the increase is the lack of a "culture of vaccination" among both doctors and the general population.
The number of physicians recommending to their patients to be immunized is extremely low, and the percentage of those who have actually received their flu shots is "practically non-existent," he says.
Another factor contributing to the seriousness of the outbreak is that many people do not seek treatment until the flu has progressed to an acute - and difficult to treat - stage.
"I encourage all people who suspect they have the flu, whether it is actually the flu or not, to go immediately to your physician," said Health Minister Kvitashvili.
Also, needed equipment, such as respiratory devices or surgical masks, are in short supply - or are misused.
However, this instance of swine flu also points to deeper and more chronic problems within Ukraine's health system. Seemingly,...

Summary: Ukrainian officials have introduced a number of urgent measures to head off an outbreak of swine flu in the country, such as temporarily closing schools and banning some public gatherings.
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Article: Prince William flew to an incident in Garboldisham in Norfolk on Tuesday. "Patient confidentiality" prevented the EAAA giving details of the mission.
The duke's first shift began at Cambridge Airport on Monday morning.
Later that day what would have been his first active mission to a road accident in St Albans was stood down, EAAA said.
Prince William completed a civilian pilot course in September before taking dedicated 999-response training in order to take up his role with the air ambulance service.
The former RAF helicopter pilot's duties will cover incidents in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire.
On Monday the prince admitted to "feeling the nerves" as he began his first nine-and-a-half hour shift as co-pilot alongside medical staff.
However, within three hours he was called on to fly a helicopter to an incident in Hertfordshire, as reported in the Cambridge News.
An EAAA spokeswoman confirmed to the BBC the prince and the rest of the crew were called back to base when it was realised the air ambulance was not required.
Now it has emerged Prince William piloted his first EAAA rescue mission the next day, landing his helicopter in Garboldisham.
"We are unable to confirm any more details of this incident because of patient confidentiality," an EAAA spokeswoman said.
Prince William's shift pattern is expected to be four days on, four days off, but will take into account his official royal duties.
Bond Air Services operates the air ambulance on behalf of the charity and the prince will be paid a salary which he is donating to charity.

Summary: The Duke of Cambridge has flown his first active rescue mission as a co-pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA).
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Article: It comes over claims of irregularities in the use of Fifa grants.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied claims by Dalung that there is $802,000 (£656,500) unaccounted for in its finances.
The discrepancy has led to world football's governing body halting its annual $1.1 million grant to Nigeria.
The federation insists there were no distortions during an earlier audit and that 'the minister was clearly misinformed about the activities of the NFF board'.
The audit report must be made public so as to promote transparency, build credibility and enhance your market value.
But Dalung, who was speaking at the NFF's Annual General Meeting in Lagos, wants a fresh audit of federation finances to examine how Fifa money was awarded and spent.
"According to a report, Fifa has withheld all development funds to Nigeria for lack of proper documentation of $802,000 out of the funds released to NFF," said Dalung.
"This is a very serious issue that must be given urgent attention to avoid another international embarrassment.
"Even more so that the present administration under the leadership of Mr. President, His Excellency, Mohammadu Buhari has zero tolerance for any act of misappropriation, misapplication, embezzlement or fraud in any guise.
"To this end, the NFF is directed to immediately provide my office with detail information of receipt, disbursement and application of the Fifa development grant accordingly.
"In addition, a reputable audit firm should be appointed urgently to check the account books of the federation to ensure that funds are judiciously expended.
"The audit report must be made public so as to promote transparency, build credibility and enhance your market value."
However, the NFF released a communiqué after the AGM saying its congress expressed satisfaction with the explanation provided by the NFF board on the issues raised by the minister.
It states that: "the audited account of the Federation for the year, as audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers, an internationally reputable audit firm, was...

Summary: Nigeria's sports minister Solomon Dalung has called for a "reputable audit" of the country's football federation.
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Article: ITV's The Only Way is Essex (Towie) has been "largely positive" for Brentwood, where it is set, but "everything has a shelf-life", the council leader said.
Lisa Bone, of Visit Essex, added: "If its bubble bursts we could be left with stereotypes, not economic benefits".
A meeting is being held on Tuesday to discuss the town's "sustainability".
The show Towie, now in its 11th series, features ordinary people appearing in modified situations based on their actual lives.
Many run their own businesses in Brentwood, including shops, salons and nightclubs, which feature in the programme.
"Towie won't always be around and while it brings in a lot of tourism it has also given the town a certain stereotype, perception and image," Ms Bone said.
"Brentwood is full of beautiful historic buildings and family-friendly parks and we need to ensure we emphasise those, making the town attractive to everyone and ensuring its sustainability."
Borough council leader Louise McKinlay, said: "The popularity of the show has been very good for the town centre, retailers and the tourism trade, bringing so many people in to the area.
"Whether we like it or not, Towie has put Brentwood on the map. Yes, there's a lot about tans and nails in Towie, but there's also a great entrepreneurial spirit and that's evident everywhere in the town.
"I'd like to say that the only thing that's orange in Brentwood is our recycling bags."
Businesses in the town are being asked to consider Brentwood's "unique selling point and future branding" at Tuesday's meeting hosted by the council and Visit Essex.

Summary:


A new speed camera has been installed on the M4 in Wales.
The camera, which is the first to be installed on a Welsh section of the M4, has been installed on the southbound carriageway between junction 12 and junction 13.
The camera, which is the first to be installed on

More than 500 speeding drivers have been caught by new cameras on the M4 in just five days.

Article: 'GcMAF' is an injectable product made from blood which was offered for sale at a health food shop in Bournemouth.
Cancer Research UK say the evidence for GcMAF is "scientifically extremely dubious".
The BBC has handed a file to the medicines regulator, the MHRA, which is now investigating.
In the UK it is illegal to sell an unlicensed medicine.
5 live Investigates received a tip-off that the unlicensed product was available from a man called Nick Greenwood, who works at Earth Foods, a health food shop in Bournemouth.
An undercover reporter posed as a customer seeking GcMAF for a relative with cancer, and was told: "It is one of the best ways to try and tackle it".
She was offered a month's supply for Â£600 and told the product would need to be taken for six to 12 months.
Patients are told to self-inject 0.5ml of GcMAF every four days, and spray the product under the tongue twice daily.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) told the BBC that GcMAF is "an injectable blood product, the source of which we have no knowledge. We take this issue very seriously".
Peter Johnson, chief clinician at Cancer Research UK and a professor of medical oncology, warned there was no credible evidence to support the claims made for GcMAF.
He said: "The papers that have been published about GcMAF are scientifically extremely dubious and several of them have been retracted after publication because of doubts about the evidence that they presented.
"If it was me, I wouldn't take it," he added.
At the small high street shop in Bournemouth, surrounded by shelves stacked with herbs and homeopathic remedies, Mr Greenwood told the BBC reporter about five cancer patients who had taken GcMAF, and none had reported side effects.
He said that two of them, who had late-stage cancer, had died.
He implied that they had not taken enough of the product, saying in his opinion: "You need to spend more".
Mr Greenwood took a medical history from the reporter and said it would be passed on to the shop's supplier - a British...

Summary: An undercover investigation by 5 live Investigates has found an unlicensed blood product being sold illegally in the UK to treat cancer.
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Article: Cuba's national football team was knocked out of the Gold Cup at the weekend but the team's return flight from the US will have a few extra spaces.
At least four players have defected since the tournament kicked off on 7 July. Maybe more.
The Cuban team came to their quarter-final match in Baltimore with a 19-man squad, just one more than what is required to participate in the tournament.
"I think it's enough to play the game and to play the tournament," coach Raul Gonzalez told reporters.
The American team's coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, seemed to feel his counterpart's pain when he said: "We know what they're going through on and off the field, so it's huge admiration with how they dealt with everything they went through."
Since Presidents Obama and Castro announced a historic rapprochement between the two ideologically opposite neighbours in December, relations have been warming.
On Monday, a Cuban embassy opened in Washington and an American embassy started business in Havana -Â the first embassies the two countries have exchanged in a half-century.
The defecting players are taking advantage of a policy known as "wet foot, dry foot" which, despite warming relations, remains in place.
The policy, which has been in effect since 1995, allows Cuban nationals who reach US land to stay and apply for residency - immigrants who are picked up by authorities at sea are not.
The policy has drawn the ire of the Cuban delegation during historic talks that have taken place over the past few months, and has been the scourge of Cuban sports teams for quite a while longer.
The Obama administration has recently said that it has "no plans to alter the current migration policy", including the Cuban Adjustment Act, from which the policy is derived.
Cuban baseball has lost several players to the US leagues over the years, but this has traditionally been due to the huge sums of money paid to professional players in the US and the poor economy in Cuba.
"Most of the defections have involved players leaving illegally (often with the...

Summary: US-Cuba relations may have entered a new era with the opening of embassies but defections to the US seem to be on the rise.
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Article: He added that "the buck must stop" with LTA chief executive Michael Downey, who he says has done "a poor job".
Following Great Britain's Davis Cup victory, Andy Murray said that speaking to the LTA about the future of British tennis is a waste of his time.
"The LTA do not run the game very well. They haven't for many, many, many years," Lloyd told BBC World Service.
"They have poor management, poor systems."
The former Davis Cup captain and successful businessman said the LTA had invested millions "but not in the right places".
LTA boss Downey said in a statement on Tuesday: "We value the opinions of all of our players on how we grow the game in Britain and our door is always open to Andy, Dan [Evans], Dom [Inglot], James [Ward], Jamie [Murray] and Kyle [Edmund] to hear their views and work collaboratively with them and all of our partners."
Media playback is not supported on this device
Murray criticised British tennis' governing body after inspiring his country's first Davis Cup win in 79 years against Belgium in Ghent over the weekend.
The 28-year-old said he "did not know where the next generation are" and that on a visit to the National Tennis Centre (NTC) in October he found "not one person using any of the indoor courts and not one person in the gym".
Lloyd, 67, who accused Murray of not putting enough back into the British game before the Davis Cup final, said it is "fantastic" that the Scot spoke out as he has "enormous power in controlling the way the game should be run".
"Someone must take the blame," Lloyd added. "Bob Brett was hired [as director of player development] and then left within a year, not because he wasn't good but he was in the wrong job. They hired him for a job that he can't do.
"You've got to put people in the right positions if you're running a company. The buck has to stop at the chief executive's door. He has done a poor job."
Lloyd, who says he twice applied for the LTA chief executive job but was turned down on both occasions, believes the governing body squanders the annual...

Summary: British tennis is "a mess" and the Lawn Tennis Association must make changes, says former player David Lloyd.
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Article: Four average 50mph enforcement cameras were installed in October on a two-mile stretch at Port Talbot and they went live on Monday.
But around 125-a-day have been caught in less than a week.
The cameras are the first to go into operation on a Welsh section of the M4, and during a pilot before Christmas around 700 drivers a day were caught.
However, Wales Road Casualty Reduction Partnership GoSafe welcomed the reduction in drivers caught compared with the trial period.
Partnership manager Chris Hume said: "There is a clear indication that there has been a decrease in the numbers of people exceeding the limit.
"Excessive and inappropriate speed remains a factor in collisions and associated fatalities and serious injuries on our roads in Wales.
"Our main priority is to continue to educate motorists about the effect of inappropriate speed with enforcement being the last resort after engineering solutions are considered."

Summary:


The Welsh Government has announced it will be giving £20,000 to the Lap of Wales Challenge.
The event, which saw a number of Welsh celebrities undertaking a week-long journey through Wales in July 2015 to raise awareness of the Welsh Government's changes to the organ donation law, was arranged in aid of Cronfa

Auditors have questioned the way a health board handled funding awarded to a celebrity-led charity event.

Article: It said it had taken the step as part of an ongoing strategy to be more accessible and open about the work it does for the UK.
The first tweet that it sent from the @GCHQ account was just two words: "Hello, world."
It said it would be sending messages about its history as well as languages, maths, the outcomes of missions and technology.
In a statement, GCHQ media head Andrew Pike said the agency would not share intelligence updates or give away the "tradecraft" it employs. Instead, he said, it would be a way for GCHQ to get involved in debates on technology and cyberspace which was key for a "technical organisation with computing at its core".
This technical focus also drove GCHQ's choice of its maiden message, said Mr Pike. The short phrase is often the first that people learning to code get displayed on screen as they wrestle with a programming language.
One of the first accounts @GCHQ followed was @007 - the official account for fictional spy James Bond.
Many people on Twitter said it was ironic that they were now following GCHQ, given the agency's widely reported work on large-scale surveillance.
The Twitter account follows other moves by GCHQ to engage with the technical world. It also maintains a repository on the Github code-sharing site through which it has shared one of its internal tools called Gaffer. The tool helps with the analysis of large-scale graphs.

Summary: The UK's intelligence agency GCHQ has set up an official account on Twitter.
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Article: The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest living structure, and is home to thousands of plants and animals - it is so big it can even be seen from space.
Divers have found that an increase in the sea's temperature has been putting the coral which grows there under a lot of stress causing 'bleaching', which means a loss of colour.
Many types of coral have a special relationship with tiny algae that live in the coral.
These tiny algae produce about 90% of the food the coral needs to grow, and give them their bright colours.
Bleaching happens when sea temperatures get too high or low, causing the algae to get 'stressed out' and leave the coral.
This turn the coral white and leaves it very vulnerable.
An increase of just one degree Celsius for four weeks can cause bleaching. If this continues for more than eight weeks, the coral can die.
In 2002 the surface temperature of the sea water in the Great Barrier Reef increased by around 2-3 degrees causing one of the worst bleaching incidents on record, affecting more than 60% of the coral.
While some coral reefs can recover from bleaching in a few years, others don't recover at all.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority have now raised the bleaching threat level, and have said that there is a very high risk of mass coral bleaching this month.
The Australian government said it is working closely with the marine rangers to help keep an eye on the coral for the next few months to see how it is doing.

Summary: Authorities in Australia have raised the threat level for coral 'bleaching' in the Great Barrier Reef, after divers found that lots of coral had died.
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Article: Media playback is unsupported on your device
15 October 2014 Last updated at 13:18 BST
The steppe eagle flew 45 times over the Brecon Beacons wearing a miniature rucksack packed with scientific instruments.
The experiment showed that by collapsing his wings in heavy wind, Cossack can fly in conditions that would have grounded an aircraft.
Scientists say birds such as vultures and kites may use the same technique.
During each "wing tuck" Cossack's wings are, for a split-second, folded beneath his body so that he is effectively falling. This occurs up to three times a minute in some conditions.
Study leader Professor Graham Taylor, from Oxford University's Department of Zoology, said: "Soaring flight may appear effortless but it isn't a free ride...it also puts an enormous strain on its flight muscles."
He compared the technique to suspension on a car stopping a disturbing ride.
The 75g (3 oz) "black box", which does not interfere with flying, tracks his position and records acceleration, rotation rate and airspeed.
Prof Taylor believes the lessons learned from Cossack could be useful to human aviation.
"This kind of technique could potentially be used to keep micro air vehicles aloft even in very windy conditions," he said.

Summary: An eagle called Cossack has been fitted with a "black box" to reveal his secret weapon against turbulence.
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Article: Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) gave £20,000 towards the Lap of Wales Challenge.
But the Wales Audit Office found the board breached its own rules and regulations in handling the funding.
Board officials said they would learn from the experience after auditors highlighted a lack of transparency and poorly-managed conflicts of interest.
Auditors also found the health board failed to follow procurement rules when appointing suppliers for the event.
The Lap of Wales Challenge was organised by Cerddwn Ymlaen under the leadership of its national organiser Eryl Vaughan and was fronted by the Welsh opera singer Rhys Meirion.
The event cost more than £150,000 to arrange and the surplus was £1,368.
The challenge saw a number of Welsh celebrities undertaking a week-long journey through Wales in July 2015 to raise awareness of the Welsh Government's changes to the organ donation law.
It was arranged in aid of Cronfa Elen. The fund was set up by Mr Meirion in memory of his sister who died in 2012, and was incorporated within BCUHB's own official charity, Awyr Las/Blue Sky in 2014.
The health board awarded £20,000 towards the event, with another £20,000 coming from Cardiff and Vale Health Board and £45,000 from the Welsh Government.
The report found £10,000 of BCUHB's contribution was awarded as a loan, but the paperwork was not processed by the health board's financial team.
Despite that, the funds were transferred.
Cerddwn Ymlaen said it was not aware it received a loan rather than a grant and would not have agreed to it, had it known.
To ensure the Lap of Wales project was not in deficit, Cerddwn Ymlaen undertook additional fundraising to meet the £154,054 cost of completing the challenge.
Concerns were also raised about a breach of the health board's financial regulations in relation to the challenge.
A spokesperson for BCUHB said: "The health board was very keen to learn from this experience which is why it asked the Wales Audit Office to carry out this review, as we recognise that to achieve the...

Summary: