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: Concerns that the public body could be merged with Scottish Enterprise were raised by Labour MSP David Stewart earlier this week.
Ms Sturgeon made her comments during First Minister's Questions in Holyrood.
Green MSP John Finnie had earlier asked a question on the future of the development agency.
The first minister said: "I think Highlands and Islands Enterprise does a fantastic job, and has done a fantastic job over the last 50 years.
"I can give the assurance to the member that we will make sure it is in a position to carry on with those functions and provide the excellent services it does to the Highlands of Scotland."
HIE provides support and services to businesses in the Highlands, Western Isles, Northern Isles, Moray and Argyll.
Earlier this week, Mr Stewart raised his concerns that HIE was to be wound up.  Inverness-based economic consultant Tony Mackay had reported the Scottish government was considering merging HIE with Scottish Enterprise.
The Scottish government announced in May that it would carry out a review of enterprise and skills support.
The review, carried out over the summer, included an "end-to-end review of the roles, responsibilities and relationships" of Scottish Enterprise, HIE, Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council.
Its findings have yet to be released.
Ahead of the move, ministers said they wanted to ensure that the Scottish government and public agencies were "delivering the joined-up support that our young people, universities, colleges and businesses need to increase sustainable economic growth".

Summary: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said the Scottish government will make sure Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) can continue to provide its services.
###
Article: The composite of the extinct flightless bird was put together from bones collected over a number of decades.
The private collector offering it for sale only lacked part of the skull and one set of claws when he assembled the specimen in the early 2000s.
It is being sold by Summers Place Auctions in West Sussex in November, and is set to fetch a six-figure sum.
Director Rupert van der Werff said: "The rarity and completeness of this specimen cannot be overemphasised.
"It provides a unique opportunity for an individual or an institution to own a specimen of this great icon of extinction."
The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was native to Mauritius but became extinct in the late 17th Century, within less than 100 years of Europeans settling the Indian Ocean island.
The bird, which could not swim or fly, was bigger than a turkey and weighed about 50lbs (23kg).
It evolved in isolation from predators and had no fear of humans. Dodo meat was said to be very tasty, although very little is known about the animal.
The majority of the bones in the specimen up for auction were recovered from the Mare aux Songes swamp, in south-eastern Mauritius, in the 19th Century.
The Mauritian government has since banned all exports of dodo bones.
Only one dodo skeleton exists that is made up from the bones of a single animal. It is on display in Port Louis, Mauritius.
About a dozen other specimens are composites made up from bones from several birds.
The 95% complete composite skeleton being offered for auction is said to be the first put together since the early 20th Century.
It will be part of the fourth Evolution sale at the auction house in Billingshurst on 22nd November.

Summary: The first almost complete skeleton of a dodo to come up for sale in nearly a century is to be sold at auction.
###
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:


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: Their study on 111 people, published in the journal Physical Biology, could spot the difference between healthy and heart-attack patients.
They are investigating whether testing for the cells can be used to predict those about to have a heart attack.
The British Heart Foundation said it was unlikely to change practice in the short term.
The team, at the Scripps Research Institute in California, looked for circulating endothelial cells in the blood of patients.
Fatty plaques build up on the walls of blood vessels and can ultimately rupture, releasing fragments of the plaque into the bloodstream. This can block the flow of blood in the vessels around the heart and cause a heart attack.
During this process endothelial cells were also released into the blood, the researchers said.
Tests in 79 patients after a heart attack were compared with 25 healthy people and seven having treatment for diseased blood vessels.
One of the researchers, Prof Peter Kuhn, said: "The goal of this paper was to establish evidence that these circulating endothelial cells can be detected reliably in patients following a heart attack and do not exist in healthy controls, which we have achieved.
"Our results were so significant relative to the healthy controls that the obvious next step is to assess the usefulness of the test in identifying patients during the early stages of a heart attack."
Commenting on the findings, Dr Mike Knapton, from the British Heart Foundation, said: "In the short to medium term, it is unlikely to change how people in the UK are treated as we already have good ways to treat and diagnose heart attacks, and targets to ensure rapid pain-to-treatment times.
"This study appears to be laying the groundwork for future research to see if this test could be used to identify patients in the early stages of a heart attack."

Summary: Patients who have a heart attack have unique cells floating in their blood, say US researchers.
###
Article: Culture Secretary John Whittingdale told MPs a decision had to be made on whether the BBC should try to do "all things" or become more "precise".
Launching a Green Paper on the corporation's future, he said he wanted the corporation to "thrive".
But the BBC said the review suggested "a much diminished, less popular, BBC."
"That would be bad for Britain and would not be the BBC that the public has known and loved for over 90 years," it said in a statement.
Speaking in Parliament, Mr Whittingdale said the consultation would raise four fundamental questions:
"The British Broadcasting Corporation is cherished and admired not only in this country but around the world," he said. "At its best, the BBC sets international standards of quality."
Citing the 2012 Olympics, Sherlock and Doctor Who, he added that the BBC's "most popular programmes continue to draw the country together in a shared experience."
However, he said there were "particular challenges" around how the corporation reached ethnic minorities and younger people.
Mr Whittingdale also quashed rumours he wanted to scrap popular shows like Strictly Come Dancing; and insisted there was "no proposal to close Radio 1 or Radio 2".
But he stressed the BBC should remain "distinctive" instead of competing with its commercial rivals.
Addressing the question of how the BBC should be funded, the culture secretary said there was "no easy solution" but described the current licence fee model as "regressive".
Alternatives - including a household levy and a subscription model - will be investigated as part of the review, although he admitted subscription "cannot work in the short term because the technology is not yet in every home to control access".
Mr Whittingdale also announced that an independent review had concluded that non-payment of the licence fee - which the BBC has said would cost it Â£200m - should not be decriminalised.  That recommendation will be considered during charter review.
Meanwhile, the BBC has already agreed to take on the cost of free TV...

Summary: The government says it will ask "hard questions" about the size and ambition of the BBC as part of a consultation on its future.
###
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:

Article: {{document}}

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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: Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith tabled a proposal which would have excluded Parliament's standards committee from any role in determining whether errant MPs should face re-election.
But MPs rejected the idea by 340 to 166 following a free vote in the Commons.
Introducing recall powers was a key part of the 2010 coalition agreement.
The government-sponsored Recall of MPs bill is being scrutinised in Parliament, after it passed its second reading last week.
The bill proposes that an MP would face a by-election if 10% of constituents sign a petition after the MP is found guilty of "serious wrongdoing".
The bill has been referred to the Committee of the whole House, meaning its individual clauses can be examined by any MP in the House of Commons chamber, rather than the usual committee of between 16 and 50 MPs.
Under the government-backed plans there would be a by-election if 10% of constituents sign a petition after the sitting MP is either sentenced to more than 12 months in jail, or banned from the Commons for more than 21 days.
Mr Goldsmith, MP for Richmond Park and North Kingston, has created a rival plan in which MPs are to face a recall referendum if 5% of voters in a constituency sign a "notice of intent to recall" and 20% then sign a "recall petition".
Only if all three stages are passed would there be a by-election called.
Mr Goldsmith said his amendment would give more power to the public to force a vote but it was overwhelmingly defeated in a Commons vote on Monday.
Speaking during the four-hour debate, Mr Goldsmith urged MPs to put aside concerns about the technicalities and cost of recall elections and focus of the principles involved.
"What is at stake now is a matter of principle - do we trust our voters to hold us to account or not?
"The public today is better informed, better educated, less deferential than at any time in our history. Recall is not radical - it is a mere nod towards those changes."
Constitution Minister Sam Gyimah pledged instead to look at a new Liberal Democrat proposal to...

Summary: The Commons has rejected calls for Parliament's role in a proposed new system for recalling misbehaving MPs to be substantially reduced.
###
Article: Hundreds of meteors will streak across the sky in the beautiful natural firework show, visible around the world.
The shower peaks in mid August but a full moon on August 7th means that this weekend may be the best time to see the natural wonder.
And it's not just the Perseid, two other meteor showers will be visible this weekend also.
The Alpha Capricornids Shower will peak tonight and then hang around a few more nights, and the Southern Delta Aquariids showers will peak Saturday and Sunday.
The Perseids are actually tiny pieces of the Swift-Tuttle comet that can be seen every year when the Earth passes through a cloud of the comet's debris.
They're bits of ice and dust, which can be as small as a grain of sand or as big as a pea.
The fragments were left behind whenever Swift-Tuttle passed close to Earth - the last time was in 1992.
The meteors appear to come from a point in the constellation of Perseus, hence the name Perseid.
They hit the Earth's atmosphere at a whopping speed of 134,000 mph, but don't pose any danger to us on Earth.
The celestial show is expected to hit its peak overnight between 11-12 August but you can see it any night until then starting tonight.
Unlike some other cosmic events, spectators don't need special technology to watch the Perseids unfold.
It's best to find a wide open space away from tall buildings or trees, and with as little light as possible.
The more of the sky you can see, the better.
This year's shower could see 200 meteors an hour become visible in the night's sky, in an event known as an "outburst".

Summary: Stargazers are getting ready to enjoy the spectacular Perseid Meteor Shower.
###
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 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: The lights at the roundabout close to the Kessock Bridge have been the cause of frustration for motorists.
Transport Scotland four options to ease travel have been considered, including removing the lights.
However, it said speeding up the timing of the signals "was shown to deliver the best results".
Following consultation with Highland Council, the new timings will be trialled between mid-August and mid-September.
Transport Scotland's operating company manager, Jonny Moran, said: "We are very aware of the concerns of those who use the Longman Roundabout and we want to address these to improve conditions for road users.
"Our analysis has shown that changing the timings of the signals will have a positive effect on traffic flows and we will trial the new approach at the end of the summer.
"Many people in the area have told us that they want the lights to be switched off permanently and we did consider this option.
"However, the assessment showed that the timing changes that we intend to trial delivered better results for all road users, especially at peak times."
Mr Moran said the trial would be monitored and then evaluated before a decision was made on the future operation of the lights.
He added: "We very much appreciate the patience of those who use the roundabout during this process.
"It does take time to collect the information required to make any changes as we have a responsibility to maintain road safety and an evidence based approach is the most effective way of doing that."
A flyover to take traffic crossing the Kessock Bridge up and over the roundabout has been proposed as part of the Inverness City Region Deal, which was announced in March.

Summary: The traffic lights at Inverness's Longman Roundabout are to change quicker in an effort to ease congestion at the busy site on the A9.
###
Article: The financial information service said the cost of all types of fixed rate mortgage had dropped on average since January.
It said the lower costs were driven by competition.
Even though loan costs have fallen, many potential first-time buyers still struggle to raise the funds required.
Government figures released last week show that the number of first-time buyers in England has fallen by a third in the past decade.
A report from UK's largest mortgage lender the Halifax, published on Saturday, shows that house prices are on average 12.5 times local earnings in the most unaffordable area of the country for property - Brent, in north London.
The Halifax data also shows that first-time buyers face the highest prices in London, paying £384,000 on average, compared to just £110,00 in Northern Ireland.
Where can I afford to live?
Once on the ladder, homeowners are seeing historically low costs for home loans.
Moneyfacts said that those looking for a mortgage now would be substantially better off than they would have been had they looked six months ago.
For example, a borrower with a £200,000, average five-year, fixed rate, 25-year repayment mortgage would pay £240 less now than if they had taken the same mortgage in January.
Average rates for two-year, five-year and 10-year deals have all fallen since the start of the year, with the most common two-year terms now recording an average rate of 2.52%.
"With competition still fierce in the market it is little surprise that mortgage rates have fallen in the first half of 2016, reaching record lows yet again and currently showing no signs of stopping," said Charlotte Nelson, at Moneyfacts.
"While the economy may have faced some uncertainty after the EU referendum one thing is for certain: mortgage competition is currently here to stay."

Summary: UK mortgage interest rates - already at record lows - have fallen in the first half of the year and "show no signs of stopping", according to Moneyfacts.
###
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:


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: Hotels, restaurants, caterers and other businesses in the hospitality sector have benefited from the reduced 9% VAT rate since 2011.
Industry lobbyists say the rate has encouraged sales and employment.
But figures show the prices charged to consumers in many of these industries have actually risen in the last year.
Figures from the Revenue Commissioners show that if VAT returns had been paid at the full 13.5% there would have been an additional 644m euro (£472m) paid to the state, since 2011.
It is not possible to tell how much of those returns only exist because the rate was reduced.
Irish finance minister Michael Noonan warned the industry last year that the reduced rate would be reconsidered if prices began to rise.
However, the Consumer Price Index shows the cost of hotel accommodation rose by 5.2% between January 2014 and January 2015.
During the same period, hotel sector VAT returns totalled 135.6m euro (£99.5m).
If those sales had been charged at the higher rate, the return to the exchequer would have been an additional 69m euro (£50.6m).
A similar pattern emerged in the restaurant sector, with prices rising by almost 2% in the last 12 months.
During the same period, the Revenue may have lost out on 72m euro (£52.8m) in VAT payments from restaurants.
The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) warned that the long-term future of the industry could be affected if the rate is returned to 13.5%.
It said tourist numbers have increased from 5.9m in 2011 to 7.3m in 2014 and significant employment has been generated as a result of the measure.
IHF president Stephen McNally said: "The government has to think if they turn off the tap are they at risk of chasing tourists away from the country?
"If you talk to anyone in the industry they will tell you it has worked for them. If the rate is not maintained big questions will be asked about what will happen."
However, the trade union SIPTU has accused the industry of "pocketing" the reduced VAT rate.

Summary: A reduced VAT rate for the hospitality industry in the Republic of Ireland may have cost the state more than 600m euros (£440m).
###
Article: John Larkin said he may bring a case against the Department for the Economy for introducing the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme before it went to the full executive.
He made the comments during a separate case at Belfast's High Court.
"My primary responsibility is as guardian of the rule of law," he said.
"If it's an issue about public money and a claim being made against the government founded on the 2012 regulations, I may be the only person able to put a hand up."
The development came as more than 500 members of the Renewable Heat Association NI Ltd were granted leave to seek a judicial review of Economy Minister Simon Hamilton's plan to cut tariff payments.
The RHI scheme was an attempt by the Northern Ireland Executive to help to increase creation of heat from renewable sources.
But flaws in setting the scheme's subsidy rate left it open to abuse as claimants could earn more cash the more fuel they burned, with the overspend estimated to be about £490m.
Last month, Mr Hamilton set out revised 2017 RHI regulations in a bid to cut costs and ease the financial burden.
Lawyers for the Renewable Heat Association (RHANI) of Northern Ireland are set to claim this was an illegal step against boiler owners with 20-year contracts.
Part of their case is that 2017 regulations are rendered unlawful because they were not discussed and agreed on by the Executive.
Mr Larkin will definitely now feature in that case after an issue of devolution was raised.
"The 2012 regulations never came before he Executive to be discussed and agreed," he told the court.
"So the point that is made against the 2017 regulations it seems to me can equally be made against the 2012 regulations."
Proceedings have been brought by RHANI and some boiler owners have been granted anonymity in a separate action against Mr Hamilton's plans to publish the identities of those using the scheme.
The attorney general has said his primary responsibility is as a guardian of the rule of law.
But critics suggest the issue presents a...

Summary: The attorney general is considering challenging the legality of a botched energy scheme that could cost taxpayers £490m.
###
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: Author Ian Rankin, actor Bill Nighy and comedian Miranda Hart will be among the 1,000 guests taking part in the annual 10-day event.
Other big names making an appearance include Mary Berry, Matt Lucas and Salman Rushdie.
Now in its 68th year, the UK's oldest literature festival will take place in October.
It attracts some of the biggest names from the world of culture, politics and sport.
The programme includes new Children's Laureate Lauren Child and children's author and illustrator Judith Kerr, creator of The Tiger Who Came to Tea.
Russell Brand, Sarah Millican and Peep Show star Robert Webb are among the comedians who will be talking candidly about their lives.
Also making an appearance will be author Michael Morpurgo, the original supermodel Twiggy and cook Nigella Lawson.
Nicola Tuxworth, head of programming, said the line-up was the "culmination of a very intensive few months of hard graft".
"We want to be a festival where people can scroll down down the list and all see something they want to go to," she added.
The festival will take place between 6-15 October at various venues around the Gloucestershire town.

Summary: The full line-up for the 2017 Cheltenham Literature Festival has been announced by organisers.
###
Article: Sam van Tilburgh said his team had managed to identify the teenager and obtain some of his schoolwork, which it then published online as a warning.
The firm followed this up with its own threat to alert the youth's family to his activities.
More than a decade later, the stolen materials remain private.
Mr Van Tilburgh disclosed the affair at an event held by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) on Tuesday evening.
Others on the panel gasped when they heard of the unusual tactics taken by Lionhead Studios, which occurred before the developer was sold to Microsoft.
The events took place in 2003, at which point Lionhead was working on what was to become its biggest game: Fable.
"There was this little group, and they were called Kibitz," Mr Van Tilburgh recalled.
"They managed to get their hands on some screenshots.
"One of which was the hero of Fable stabbing a little kid through the head. It was never meant to be released for obvious reasons.
"But they managed to get their hands on more material unannounced to this day... and they threatened us, the community team, with releasing them."
In tackling the crisis, the Guildford-based community managers had one crucial element in their favour.
The images had been posted to Lionhead's own forums, which gave the staff access to the internet protocol (IP) address of the person who had uploaded them.
IP addresses can easily be traced back to a physical location through a variety of online tools, assuming the user has not taken steps to conceal the details.
In this case, the 16-year-old culprit had not taken the precautionary measures.
"We knew where the guy was living and managed to get a hold of the guy's high school record through a mate, including the poem that he had recited at his end of year [class]," Mr Van Tilburgh said.
"We wrote a public message as Lionhead Studios to the group Kibitz and we started the message with the opening lines of the poem he had recited in high school, and we included the landmark he could see from his house where he...

Summary: A video game industry insider has revealed how he helped track down a "troll" who had threatened to leak his company's secrets.
###
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 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.
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Article: Iain Duncan Smith's resignation has put the issue at the heart of the government's approach to the economy - whether George Osborne's announcements in the Budget last week were "fair".
Mr Duncan Smith told the Andrew Marr programme on Sunday morning that the Budget was "deeply unfair", as it proposed restrictions to increases in the disability payments budget whilst at the same time provided an effective tax cut for those with higher incomes.
The first, Mr Duncan Smith suggested, was being used to fund the second.
To analyse the impact of the Budget on different income groups, economists turn to what is called a "distributional analysis" which aggregates the effect of tax and benefit changes.
By way of such an analysis, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says that last week's Budget left the richest 10% of households about £260 a year better off.
The poorest 10%, the IFS says, were no better off and could actually see their net income fall slightly as benefits are reduced.
To understand the differential impact it is worth going back to the pledges made in the Conservative manifesto - to increase the personal allowance before those in work start paying income tax.
And second, to increase the threshold at which the higher 40p tax rate kicks in.
Both policies have a tendency to benefit the better off for two reasons.
If you earn under the new personal allowance announced in the Budget of £11,500 then the tax changes have no effect.
And you only receive the benefit of the increase in the 40p tax threshold if you earn more than £45,000.
Using the IFS's model, many would say that the Budget was "unfair" in that the richest gained more than the poorest.
Which appears to contradict George Osborne's big point in the Spending Review way back in 2010 that those with "the broadest shoulders should bear the greatest burden".
But - the Treasury looks at distributional analysis in a radically different way.
Looking back to 2010, it argues that it is more revealing to consider the proportion of taxes paid and public...

Summary: Fairness - a word as easy to shout about as it is difficult to define.
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Article: The pair, aged 20 and 21 who have not been named yet, are thought to have made that error and snorted the drug.
Sold as a "white powder", the drug has traditionally come from south-east Asia and sold in places like Australia.
"It's a really difficult job for someone who's new or naive to opiates to pick [between] heroin and cocaine.
"The main risk with white heroin is people who are naive users is that it's a light, white-coloured powder," says Prof John Fitzgerald, of the University of Melbourne.
He has studied the illegal drug trade in Australia for many years.
"It can be confused with other white and light-coloured powders."
He adds: "For people who don't usually use strong psychoactive drugs, the general advice would be that if you're in an unfamiliar place, don't do it."
Get help and information about drugs at BBC Advice.
He says that even those selling the drug may not always be completely sure what substance they are dealing in.
"It's very possible that you get people who are dealing in quantities or purities that they haven't dealt with before and that accidents happen," Prof Fitzgerald.
Rob van de Veen, a police spokesman in Amsterdam, says white heroin is "much more expensive" than cocaine, but the dealer "sold it for the same price [as cocaine] several times".
"We think he doesn't know what he is selling," he says.
He says that in the past different types of heroin ended up in different markets.
While white heroin tends to be produced in south-east Asia and sold in the southern hemisphere, brown heroin originates in places like Afghanistan and typically makes its way to Europe.
"It's much easier with brown heroin [to tell the difference] because it certainly looks brown and cocaine doesn't come in a brown form," says Prof Fitzgerald.
In recent years however, brown heroin has become more prevalent in Australia and according to Prof Fitzgerald, it is difficult to know whether more white heroin will come to Europe.
"The drug market is inherently unpredictable," he says.
"Whilst there's been a sharp...

Summary: Typically purer than brown heroin and easily mistaken for cocaine, white heroin caused the death of two young British men in Amsterdam this week.
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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:


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.
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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.
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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.
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Article: The culprit left the Christmas paper after unwrapping and stealing Â£900 in items, including three Android tablets.
Sue Percival's grandchildren and daughter, Steph Summers, found the grim scene when visiting her home at Tonypandy, Rhondda Cynon Taff.
Her four-year-old, Tristan, the first in the house, told her: "Mum, Santa's been. All the presents are open."
Grandmother-of-seven Ms Percival said: "We are devastated.
"I had finished all of my Christmas shopping because I started it in September.
"They stole the presents, including the electronic tablets I bought, all the alcohol and even all of my change that I had put in a coin counter for emergencies.
"The police said they think it is a personal targeted attack and that somebody might had waited for me to go to work."
South Wales Police's Sgt Adam Johnson said the burglar struck on Wednesday between 07:30-11:30 GMT.
He said: "The burglar forced the back door and made a search of the house, spending time to unwrap the Christmas presents which were in the house and choosing to take the high-value items and alcohol.
"The carnage was discovered by the children in the family who have now had their Christmas spoilt thanks to this callous person."
Among the items stolen were three computer tablets, trainers, perfumes sets and a large amount of alcohol.

Summary: A "callous" burglar has broken into a family's home and stolen their Christmas presents from under the tree.
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Article: They say the method should help with donor shortages since it does not require a perfect cell match.
Mohammed Ahmed, who is nearly five years old, was among the first three children in the world to try out the new treatment.
He has severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome and had been waiting for a suitable donor for years.
Mohammed, who lives in Milton Keynes, was referred to Great Ormond Street Hospital when he was a year old.
His condition - a weak immune system - makes him more susceptible to infections than most, and a bone marrow transplant is the only known treatment.
While Mohammed was on the transplant waiting list, he became extremely sick with swine flu.
At that time, his doctors decided Mohammed's only real hope was to have a mismatched bone-marrow transplant, with his father acting as the donor.
Mohammed's dad, Jamil, agreed to give the experimental therapy a go.
Before giving his donation, Jamil was first vaccinated against swine flu so that his own bone-marrow cells would know how to fight the infection.
Mohammed's doctors then modified these donated immune cells, called "T-cells", in the lab to engineer a safety switch - a self-destruct message that could be activated if Mohammed's body should start to reject them once transplanted.
Rejection or graft-v-host disease is a serious complication of bone-marrow transplants, particularly where tissue matching between donor and recipient is not perfect, and is one of the most difficult challenges faced by patients and their doctors.
Mismatched transplants in children - where the donor is not a close match for the child - are usually depleted of T-cells to prevent graft-v-host disease, but this causes problems in terms of virus infections and leukaemia relapse.
The safety switch gets round this - plenty of T-cells to be transfused and later killed off if problems do arise.
Thankfully, the transplant carried out in 2011 was a success - Mohammed's doctors did not need to use the safety switch.
Although Mohammed still has to take a number of medicines...

Summary: Doctors at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital have carried out a pioneering bone-marrow transplant technique.
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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: