Russia has said bomb attacks which killed at least 140 people in Syria were aimed at "subverting attempts" to reach a political settlement.

Article: The Financial Conduct Authority said it was the largest fine that it or the former Financial Services Authority had imposed for retail conduct failings.
The bonus scheme pressurised staff to hit sales targets or risk being demoted and have their pay cut, the FCA said.
Lloyds Bank has accepted the regulator's findings and apologised to its customers.
"The findings do not make pleasant reading," said FCA director Tracey McDermott.
By Simon GompertzPersonal finance correspondent, BBC News
There was a grim atmosphere in some Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland branches, as staff tried to avoid being demoted and having their pay cut for failing to meet sales targets.
"I left just before I was likely to have had a breakdown," one staff member told the BBC.
Another reported that "The only thing that matters is hitting sales numbers, not the customer."
And one who lost his job said: "I can only describe my nine months in a branch as a disgrace."
Lloyds has embarked on a trawl of sales to 692,000 customers to see how many may have lost out.
About 11,000 cases are being prioritised - cases where the behaviour of advisers seemed to be most questionable.
There are suggestions that Lloyds may have set aside as much as £100m to cover compensation for failings including the ones highlighted today.
The fine could have been £35m had Lloyds not agreed to settle early, the FCA said.
Lloyds has already set aside £8bn for mis-selling loan insurance and £400m for mis-selling interest rate swaps. And in 2003 it was fined £1.9m and handed a £100m compensation bill by the Financial Services Authority for mis-selling so-called "precipice bonds".
Richard Lloyd, executive director of consumer organisation Which?, said: "This should send a clear message to the banking industry that mis-selling won't be tolerated and that customers, not sales, must come first."
He called for the FCA to deliver "a big change in banking culture across the industry".
"In one instance, an adviser sold protection products to himself, his wife and a colleague...

Summary: Lloyds Banking Group has been fined £28m for "serious failings" in relation to bonus schemes for sales staff.
###
Article: That pledge was made as the league launched a new scheme to boost player safety at all levels of the game.
It comes after a $1bn settlement to compensate former players for brain injuries was agreed earlier this year.
"When it comes to addressing head injuries in our game, I'm not satisfied - we can and will do better," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said.
The settlement figure with former players was agreed in April following a lawsuit by 5,000 former players who successfully claimed the NFL hid the dangers of repeated head trauma.
The Play Smart, Play Safe initiative will fund further medical research into such injuries as well as engineering research - looking into more protective helmets, for example.
It will also look to develop schemes that raise awareness of head injuries and concussion among players, and examine how the game can improve the way it deals with such injuries.
Goodell said: "While we can never completely eliminate the risk of injury, we are always striving to make the game safer.
"The NFL has been a leader on health and safety in many ways, and we've made some real strides in recent years. But when it comes to addressing head injuries in our game, I'm not satisfied, and neither are the owners of the NFL's 32 clubs."
This season, the NFL has come under scrutiny after Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton suffered four 'helmet-to-helmet' clashes in an opening-game defeat by the Denver Broncos. Denver safety Darian Stewart and linebacker Brandon Marshall subsequently received fines for the hits.
Only one of the hits was penalised by the game's officials, and Newton was at no point checked for concussion.
But Goodell said the new scheme would be "an initiative to drive progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of head injuries, enhance medical protocols and further improve the way the game is taught and played by all who love it".
An independent, scientific advisory board will also be created to lead the way on how the league implements the latest research and advice on head...

Summary: The NFL is to spend $100m (£75m) on medical and engineering research to increase protection for players.
###
Article: The FBI says Apple's lack of co-operation is hindering its investigation.
Here's a plain English guide to the debate, and an explanation of what may happen next.
Before we begin, let's establish what the FBI isn't asking for: it doesn't want Apple to break the encryption on the device. Why? Because it can't.
Apple made the conscious choice in 2014 to remove itself from being able to access encrypted devices, mainly to avoid ethical dilemmas like this. So...
Here are the FBI's specific demands, as outlined in court documents.
The FBI wants Apple to alter what is known as a SIF - System Information File. In this context, the FBI is basically referring to the software that runs on the device. The FBI wants Apple to create a new SIF to place on Farook's iPhone that will allow it to carry out several functions normal iPhones do not allow.
The FBI wants to be able to:
As this row goes through the courts, expect that final element to be a key point the FBI makes - it will argue that the SIF will only work on Farook's phone, and will be known only by Apple, who could choose to destroy it.
In a letter to customers, Apple boss Tim Cook said he did not want to introduce what is known in IT security as a "back door". Like a literal back door, it's simply a different way in. In this case, a different way to get into the phone other than by using the passcode, i.e. the front door.
Back doors are a big deal in security. Hackers make their money from finding them - a back door into a major piece of software or popular device can be highly lucrative. Buyers range from criminals to governments looking to spy or obtain data they otherwise wouldn't be able to reach.
Apple says introducing a back door into the iPhone wouldn't just make Farook's phone insecure and accessible to the US government - it would make every iPhone inherently weaker.
"You can't have a back door that's only for the good guys," Mr Cook said in an interview in 2015.
"Any back door is something that bad guys can exploit."
Most experts the BBC has spoken to...

Summary: Apple chief executive Tim Cook says the FBI's court order to access the mobile phone of San Bernardino killer Syed Farook is "dangerous", "chilling" and "unprecedented".
###
Article: A monitoring group said troops had seized control of Qadi Askar and Karm al-Qaterji, hours after Karm Myassar and Karm al-Tahan were retaken.
A rebel official said the key district of Shaar was also "considered fallen".
If confirmed, that would mean the government had recaptured about 70% of eastern Aleppo in just over a week.
The UN estimates that almost 30,000 civilians have been displaced by the fighting.
More than 100,000 others may be under siege in districts still under rebel control, where food supplies are exhausted and there are no functioning hospitals.
The government's ally, Russia, is confident that it can reach a deal with the US, which backs the opposition, that would lead to the withdrawal of rebel fighters.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference that talks would start in Geneva on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, and that a UN resolution demanding a temporary ceasefire, due to be voted on at the world body on Monday, would be counterproductive.
Meanwhile, a second Russian fighter jet has crashed while trying to land on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. It follows a similar incident last month. The pilots in both cases ejected safely.
The Admiral Kuznetsov is part of a group of Russian warships deployed near the Syrian coast.
Aleppo was once Syria's largest city and its commercial and industrial hub before the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011.
It has been divided in roughly two for the past four years. But in the past 11 months, Syrian troops have broken the deadlock with the help of Iranian-backed militias and Russian air strikes.
In early September they reinstated a siege of the east, and launched a ground assault later that month accompanied by an aerial bombardment of unprecedented scale and intensity.
On Sunday evening, the official Sana news agency cited a Syrian military source as saying that army units had retaken control of Karm Myassar and Karm al-Tahan, and entered Qadi Askar.
By Monday morning, they had taken full control of...

Summary: Syrian government forces are reported to have recaptured more parts of besieged, rebel-held eastern Aleppo, as they continue a large-scale offensive.
###
Article: Mr Tusk faces questions over embarrassing remarks attributed to his Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, about close allies the US and UK.
In another leaked tape, the country's top banker discusses the next election with the interior minister.
Investigations continue into how Wprost magazine obtained the recordings.
Published by the magazine over the past two weeks, they were made in one or more restaurants in the capital, Warsaw, and are believed to date back as far as last summer.
Wprost's chief editor, Sylwester Latkowski, was being questioned on Tuesday as a witness in the inquiry after he resisted attempts to search the magazine's office and computers last week.
Mr Sikorski has not denied the remarks, accompanied by obscenities, that have been attributed to him. Central bank governor Marek Belka has said he will not resign over the remarks he is alleged to have said.
The conservative opposition party, Law and Justice, is calling for Mr Tusk's centre-right coalition to resign but correspondents say this is unlikely at present.
The scandal is especially embarrassing for Poland, the biggest of the former Soviet bloc states to join the EU, as it celebrates 25 years of freedom, marking the overthrow of its communist government and first, semi-free elections in 1989.
The Sejm, or lower house of parliament, is assembling for a three-day debate on the issue, state radio reports.
In one recording, Mr Sikorski can apparently be heard saying Poland's relationship with the US would prove worthless in the event of a crisis involving Germany or Russia: "It is downright harmful because it creates a false sense of security."
As heard on the tape, he also ridicules UK Prime Minister David Cameron's immigration policy and views on the EU.
Mr Sikorski, Poland's nominee to replace Catherine Ashton as EU foreign policy chief, also uses obscene and possibly racist language, according to the transcript published by Wprost.
Defending himself this week, he said the government had come under attack from an as yet unidentified...

Summary: A scandal over leaked recordings of top officials in Poland is going to parliament as Prime Minister Donald Tusk prepares to defend his ministers.
###
Article: Russia's foreign ministry condemned the "atrocious crimes of extremists".
Sunday's attacks hit the Shia shrine of Sayyida Zeinab, south of Syria's capital Damascus, and the city of Homs.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said it carried out the attacks. Both targeted areas dominated by Islamic minorities reviled by IS.
Four blasts in Sayyida Zeinab killed at least 83 people, according to state media. A monitoring group reported that 57 people, mainly civilians, were killed in a double car bombing in Homs.
The UK-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) put the toll from the Damascus attacks at 120 and said they were among the deadliest to occur during the whole of Syria's civil war.
SOHR also reported on Monday that heavy fighting had cut off the government's only supply route to the northern city of Aleppo.
IS and other Islamist militia had cut the road between Aleppo and the town of Khanasser to the south-east, it said.
More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed in the conflict.
Some 11 million others have been forced from their homes, of whom four million have fled abroad - including growing numbers who are making the dangerous journey to Europe.
History of the conflict - how the civil war has spread
Maps of the conflict - the shifting territorial gains
The Sayyida Zeinab district is the location of Syria's holiest Shia Muslim shrine, said to contain the grave of the Prophet Muhammad's granddaughter.
The district was hit by suicide attacks last month that left 71 people dead and which IS fighters also said they had carried out.
On Sunday US Secretary of State John Kerry said a "provisional agreement" had been reached with Russia on a partial truce.
However he admitted issues remained to be resolved and said he did not expect any immediate change on the ground.
Earlier this month, world powers involved in the crisis in Syria agreed to seek a "cessation of hostilities", but the Friday deadline came and went.
In Homs, the blasts happened in a predominantly Alawite district, the sect to which...

Summary:


A breast surgeon accused of carrying out unnecessary operations has told a court that witness statements against him have been "coached".

Article: The service was stopped after concerns were raised over the number of organs rejected by Leicester General Hospital.
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust called for an external review which found problems with its procedures.
It has suspended the service while changes are made affecting about seven patients.
Experts were called in January after it was revealed the hospital appeared to refuse a higher than average number of kidneys offered to Leicester's Renal Transplant Service.
By Rob SissonsHealth Correspondent, BBC East Midlands Today
Kidney transplants are one of the miracles of modern medicine, something that truly transforms people's lives.
Without it, they face months, years, on dialysis, wired up to a machine every few days and with restrictions on food and drink.
The news that Leicester's unit may have turned down kidneys that might have been used locally, will not sit well with people waiting for that phone call.
People die waiting for a kidney.
The decision on whether or not to accept an organ for transplant can be a tricky one for surgeons and sometimes they might think it's worth waiting for a better match.
The review team visited last week to speak to staff, examine paperwork and patients' outcomes.
It found no patients had been harmed, the trust said, but it raised questions about the "policies, processes and guidelines" and also the way the team worked together.
Andrew Furlong, the trust's deputy medical director, said it was "incredibly disappointing".
He added: "We have decided to pause the surgery because for this, or any other kind of complex surgical procedure, we have to have cast iron processes, policies and procedures underpinning the surgery itself and good team working between the clinicians, until it can be independently verified that these are in place we would prefer to err on the side of caution."
The review team will return in two weeks and will make further recommendations including whether kidney transplants should resume.
Three patients were due to have live...

Summary: Kidney transplants in Leicester have been suspended for at least two weeks while an urgent review is carried out.
###
Article: Charles Bloch, 22, was with his girlfriend and dog Carlo on Friday when he was told by a taxi driver he could not take the dog for religious reasons.
It is the second time this year Mr Bloch has been refused a taxi because of his dog but this time his girlfriend shared a video of it on social media.
ADT Taxis admitted its driver broke the law and he has since been sacked.
Commenting on the case, Leicester City Council said religion was "not a sensible excuse" and drivers are told about the law on their licence and during exams.
"It's extremely frustrating," said Mr Bloch, a student at De Montfort University in Leicester. "But, it's a very common thing and happens a lot."
Mr Bloch has deteriorating eyesight due to glaucoma and in April was refused a ride by an Uber driver who also cited religious reasons.
"I have no hatred towards the driver and his religion, and I would respect that if the law wasn't there, but the law is there to help people be more integrated into the community," he said.
Under the Disability Discrimination Act, it is illegal for a private hire vehicle to refuse to take a disabled person because they have an assistance dog, nor can they charge more.
Anyone found guilty of an offence under the act is liable to a fine.
Assistance dogs are defined as dogs trained to guide someone who is blind, deaf, epileptic or suffers a condition which affects mobility.
Drivers can apply to a licensing authority for exemption from carrying assistance dogs, but only on medical grounds.
Source: UK Government
ADT Taxis posted a statement on its Facebook page, saying it was "deeply ashamed" by the driver's conduct.
A city council spokesman said: "Drivers are legally required to accept bookings from passengers with assistance dogs unless the driver has a medical exemption certificate.
"We're not aware of any taxi drivers in Leicester to which this applies."
He said they were considering whether to revoke the driver's licence and had contacted Mr Bloch with regards to legal action being taken.

Summary: A blind man was barred from using a taxi by a driver who took religious exception to his guide dog.
###
Article: The Local Data Company (LDC) which compiled the figures said the vacancy rate during the period increased by 1.3% to 16.7% - more than 2% higher than the average across the UK.
All Scottish cities apart from Aberdeen and Stirling saw an increase in the number of empty shops.
Paisley has more empty shops than anywhere else.
The figures, released ahead of Scotland's Towns Conference in Perth, suggest vacancy rates in shopping centres, at 17.9%, are higher than in high streets, at 16.7%, and in retail parks, at 9.1%.
However, the LDC said although the number of empty shops was rising, the "negative trends of 2011 have slowed".
Matthew Hopkinson, director of the LDC, said: "Scotland's retail centres are under the same national pressures of weak consumer spend and the decline of multiple retailer shop numbers.
"As with the rest of UK, independent retailers have remained positive in their growth rates and the multiple closures have slowed but still remain negative."
In the first half of 2012, the number of independent retailers in Scotland increased by 2.3% while the multiple retailers declined by 0.48%.
Professor Leigh Sparks, from the Institute for Retail Studies at Stirling University, commented: "We need data on retail change in town centres and we need regular reporting of activity.
"We need town centres and those interested in them, to recognise this need and act on it."
The Scottish government announced earlier this month that it was reviewing town centres to "scope out" potential solutions to the issues facing them.

Summary: The number of empty shops in Scotland has increased in the first half of this year, according to a new report.
###
Article: Lord Digby Jones said there were not enough skilled workers in Wales and called for the UK's immigration policy to be used to address the issue.
He also criticised the standard of education offered which he said had "failed the people of Britain".
The Home Office wants bosses to get "far better" at recruiting UK workers.
Lord Jones spoke out as figures from the Office for National Statistics showed 641,000 people immigrated to the UK in 2014, up from 526,000 in 2013.
He told BBC Radio Wales Britain should remain in the European Union if member countries can focus on education and training to arm migrant workers with skills.
"The United Kingdom and, indeed, south Wales particularly, does not have enough skilled people," said the former head of the Confederation of British Industry.
"So the immigration policy of the nation should start there. It should start with the fact we want more and better-skilled people.
"So regardless of the colour of their skin, regardless of the god they worship, regardless of where they come from in the world... if they've got a skill and a job to go to with a sponsoring employer, frankly, we should say 'you're welcome'."
Lord Jones, a former skills envoy, said the education policies of central and devolved governments have "failed the people of Britain".
"Just under half the people at 16 are coming out of school unable to read, write and count to the standard expected of 11-year-olds," he added.
"And it knocks on to the fact - if you're going to compete in a global economy you have to win on adding value, being innovative and delivering quality."
A Home Office spokesman said: "In the past it has been too easy for some employers to bring in workers from overseas rather than to take the long-term decision to train our workforce here at home.
"As the prime minister said in parliament, we need to do more to change that, which means reducing the demand for migrant labour. That is why we have commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee to provide advice on significantly reducing...

Summary: Skilled migrants should be recruited by the UK government to plug a current shortfall in Wales, an ex-trade minister has said.
###
Article: Maidstone Crown Court heard Alastaire Scott, 23, punched Frazer Stent, 28, outside a cell at Rochester Prison when prisoners were allowed free movement.
Mr Stent fell to the ground and was taken to Medway Maritime Hospital, where a CT scan showed he had bleeding on the brain. He died a week later.
Scott was jailed for four years after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
The court was told that 15 minutes before he was attacked on 12 October, Mr Stent was part of a group of men involved in a row with a prisoner who was a close friend of Scott's.
Scott followed him down a corridor, where he punched him.
Kent Police said when he was interviewed, Scott said he did not intend to kill Mr Stent and only attacked him because of the earlier confrontation with his friend.
"Alastaire Scott's decision to punch Frazer Stent was both reckless and stupid and the consequences could not be more tragic," said Det Insp Gavin Moss.
"He gave little thought to the consequences and the impact it would have on his victim."

Summary: A prisoner who killed another inmate with a "reckless and stupid" punch to the head has been jailed.
###
Article: Dr Ian Paterson denies 20 counts of wounding with intent against nine women and one man at Nottingham Crown Court.
He said he had never told alleged victims they had "a ticking bomb" of cancer inside them.
He said the phrase appears in three witness statements which was "clear evidence" statements have been coached.
"It's a scary thing, why would I intentionally scare a patient, that you've got a time bomb?" he said.
More updates on this and other stories in Birmingham and the Black Country
The 59-year-old also said one patient, John Ingram, who had a double mastectomy after tests showed only potentially abnormal cells, was a "quivering mass of anxiety", convinced he would get cancer.
Nothing he told him would have changed his mind, Mr Paterson said.
Mr Ingram gave evidence saying Mr Paterson, who worked at hospitals run by the Heart of England NHS Trust and Spire Healthcare, told him in 2006 he was "on the road to developing breast cancer".
But Mr Paterson, of Ashley, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, said on Wednesday that Mr Ingram's memory had become "confused" over time.
He described his patient as a "troubled gentleman with multiple phobias - one of them breast cancer, because his mother had died of breast cancer, aged 42".
"So the minute he had an abnormality in his chest wall, in his head he was on the way to getting breast cancer," he said.
"Very little I told him thereafter would disavow him of that view."
Prosecutor Julian Christopher QC asked whether it was "quite wrong" to say he would "travel in time towards cancer".
Mr Paterson said: "I doubt I said that, simply because nobody has a crystal ball."
The trial continues.

Summary:

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A new "blanket ban" on so-called legal highs will carry prison sentences of up to seven years, the government says.

Article: The change will eventually mean swapping the home routers of millions of customers as older devices cannot work with the new system.
About 1.5 million BT customers already use IPv6-ready hardware.
Rival Sky has converted about one million customers to IPv6, and many mobile operators use it widely.
The net is steadily moving to adopt IPv6 because stocks of the older addresses have run out.
In a presentation to an industry conference, BT said it planned to "enable" IPv6 on half of its network by April 2016 and complete the transition by the end of the same year.
BT currently has about 7.8 million customers, and 6.3 million of those use its Homehub 4, which cannot currently work with IPv6.
BT said it was "looking at options" for how to upgrade that hardware to use v6 addressing.
As hardware is changed, BT intends to support both old and new addressing systems on its network to avoid disruption.
Sky said it was running extensive trials that had, so far, converted more than one million customers and staff to IPv6. The BBC understands that the majority of Sky customers should be switched over by early 2016.
TalkTalk and Virgin are currently running smaller scale trials.
Adrian Kennard, who runs the A&A ISP and has been offering IPv6 for 13 years, welcomed news of BT's plans and wished it luck with the project.
"Our experience deploying IPv6 was that we did not find any serious problems and that it all 'just works'," he said. "Hopefully, other major providers will follow soon."
Mobile networks have been among the most aggressive adopters of IPv6, because the addressing system is widely supported on modern handsets.
"It's easier for the mobile operators to do this due to the nature of the smartphone devices they sell, and the rate at which consumers refresh them," said Dr Tim Chown, co-chairman of the UK's IPv6 Council and a computer science lecturer at the University of Southampton.
Already, he said, 30-50% of all the browsing that people do would be via IPv6, because widely used content networks and websites,...

Summary: BT has announced that by the end of 2016 its entire network will be able to use IPv6 - the next version of the net's core addressing system.
###
Article: Details of the cost, sign posting, and enforcement are due in a report in March.
Work on the scheme is due to begin later this year with it being completed over three financial years.
The plans were approved by members of the council's transport and environment committee.
About 25 miles of Edinburgh's roads, from Arthur's Seat to Blackford Hill, are already covered by a 20mph limit.
The scheme is designed to improve safety and encourage more people to walk or cycle.
Environmental campaigners welcomed the move but some cautioned that more needs to be done to tackle air pollution and encourage active transport.
The local authority said the new arrangements will come into effect on a phased basis from the end of the year onwards, provided the necessary speed limit orders are secured.
Limits of 30mph and 40mph will be maintained on key arterial routes in the city.
Transport convener Lesley Hinds said: "I'm pleased that committee has today given the green light for our 20mph plans.
"This initiative has been under development for nearly three years and we've carried out a huge amount of public consultation.
"The most recent and most extensive consultation last autumn found that 60% of respondents were supportive or strongly supportive of our proposals."
Friends of the Earth Scotland's air pollution campaigner Emilia Hanna said: "We welcome Edinburgh Council's decision to introduce 20mph zones across the city.
"20mph zones will create safer, more attractive and more enjoyable streets for everyone. They will encourage more cycling and walking and help to fight dangerous air pollution.
"One of the biggest barriers to walking and cycling is fear of speeding traffic, so 20mph zones, if accompanied by greater investment in active travel infrastructure, could transform how people move around the city."
Figures released by the charity at the weekend showed that some streets in Edinburgh are still breaking Scottish and European standards for clean air.
It said 20mph zones can lead to traffic flowing more smoothly, cutting...

Summary: Councillors have passed plans for more than 80% of Edinburgh's roads, including the whole of the city centre, to have a 20mph (32kmph) speed limit.
###
Article: Last week, China announced a ban on coal imports during 2017, in response to North Korea's continuing ballistic missile tests.
The statement did not name China, but referred to a "neighbouring country" which "often claims" to be friendly.
"This country, styling itself a big power, is dancing to the tune of the US," the state-run news agency said.
In a direct reference to the ban on imports, the statement said China had "taken inhumane steps such as totally blocking foreign trade", which would help its enemies "to bring down the social system" in North Korea.
The country relies on the coal trade with China for cash income.
Although China backs North Korea, alone among the international community, it has been a critic of its nuclear programme, and has backed UN sanctions against it.
Its ban on coal imports came a week after North Korea tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile, in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.
The following day, Chinese media reported that a coal shipment from Korea worth $1m (Â£0.8m) had been stopped at Wenzhou port, on China's eastern coast, before the ban was officially announced a few days later.
North Korea claims to have advanced nuclear capabilities that have never been verified. The country said it created a nuclear weapon in just a few years without any external aid.
If it successfully created a fully functional inter-continental ballistic missile, it could conceivably threaten the United States - about 9,000 km (5,500 miles) away - as well as closer neighbours.
But the government remains defiant in the face of international pressure.
"It is utterly childish to think that [North Korea] would not manufacture nuclear weapons and inter-continental ballistic rockets if a few [pennies] of money is cut off," it said in its statement.
The words "dancing to the tune of the US" may refer to President Donald Trump's remarks, before taking office, that China should bring North Korea "under control".
"China hasâ€¦ total control over North Korea," he said in an interview with...

Summary: North Korea has lashed out at its only international ally, China, accusing it of giving in to American demands.
###
Article: This is a $10tn market in which companies sell debt to investors for set terms averaging about eight years.
The market has doubled in size in the past decade, swelled by cheap money after years of low interest rates.
At the same time, banks - the market-makers for these assets, or traditional shop front - have cut their holdings.
The Bank of England estimates there has been a 75% reduction in the bond inventories of dealers in the marketplace since 2008.
This means that buying or selling bonds could become harder, which could in turn lead to larger pricing swings.
Why does this matter?
As the market has grown, credit mutual funds have tripled in size since the 2008 financial crisis. And as savers have searched for better returns, many have put their money into these funds rather than accept the fractions of percent of interest available from traditional bank accounts.
Looming on the horizon is a potential interest rate increase in the UK - one in the US is likely to be sooner - and this normally spells bad news for bond prices.
So why is liquidity the big issue?
Regulations and capital requirements mean it is now "very expensive to carry inventories" for corporate debt, says Soren Willemann, head of European credit strategy at Barclays. Inventories have been in a slow decline since 2009, he adds.
What makes corporate bonds a different market from shares is while a company may have one share-denoting ownership, it could issue dozens of types of bond, meaning keeping an inventory of bonds is harder.
Jim Leaviss, head of retail fixed interest at M&G Investments, overseeing about £50bn of investments, says the drop in inventory is due to stricter bank regulations.
"For US investment banks in particular, regulation has meant that more capital is needed to own an inventory of bonds. The regulation is to make investment banks smaller," he says. There are similar effects on banks globally as part of an effort by policymakers to make banks safer.
For Citi's credit strategist Matt King, all this is part of a broader...

Summary: The past few months have seen a number of market watchers express concern about the corporate bond market.
###
Article: A snack pack, also known as an HSP, is a hearty pile of kebab meat, chips and sauce which has become a staple of Australian takeaway shops.
It's perhaps an unlikely platform for political debate, but this year the dish rocketed into Australia's national consciousness, becoming a symbol of peaceful multiculturalism for many, but for others, an unwelcome sign of the growing influence of Islam.
This year the dish, made to Islamic religious standards, found its way into politics, after right-wing anti-Islam politician Pauline Hanson refused an invitation to eat one.
In congratulating her on her election to the Senate in July, Labor Senator Sam Dastyari - a "non-practising Muslim" - told Ms Hanson: "I'll take you out for halal snack pack out in Western Sydney, whenever you want."
Mr Dastyari was arguably slightly trolling Ms Hanson, whose One Nation party believes that by "buying halal certified products, it means that you are financially supporting the Islamisation of Australia".
"It's not happening, not interested in halal, thank you," she replied, arguing (without evidence) that "98% of Australians" were also against halal.
The dish subsequently enjoyed a surge in popularity. One Melbourne kebab shop even added "The Pauline Hanson" to its menu - "Lamb kebab roasted to perfection in the rotisserie, mint yoghurt, chilli sauce, cheese, beer battered chips".
The halal snack pack is an Australian creation, but its creators were immigrants or descendants of recent immigrants from the Middle East and Europe.
It's a fusion of these cuisines, and even has its own appreciation society on Facebook, for "sharing great snack pack stories and discussing possible best snack pack in world".
The forum asks members to "show us a sick pic of ur halal snacky, whered ya get it?, is it sick?, is it halal? and salrite or na? also, is it a halal snack pack mountain or na?"
The group, which has close to 180,000 members, was inspired by a visit its founders made to Oz Turk Jr, a kebab shop in Sydney.
"Before, we used to sell 10 kebabs...

Summary: "Halal snack pack" has been named People's Choice Word of the Year 2016 by Australia's Macquarie Dictionary.
###
Article: Ministers are to publish draft laws they say are a "landmark" in prohibiting the substances' production, distribution, sale and supply.
Legal highs, officially called new psychoactive substances, have been linked to a number of deaths.
Ministers said young people who took them were "taking exceptional risks with their health".
A blanket ban on legal highs, which are often sold online or on the high street, was in the Conservative Party's election manifesto and featured in the Queen's Speech.
Labour also promised to ban their sale and distribution in its manifesto.
The Psychoactive Substances Bill applied to "any substance intended for human consumption that is capable of producing a psychoactive effect", the government said.
Alcohol, tobacco and caffeine will be excluded, and there are also exemptions for food and medical products, while controlled drugs will continue to be regulated by existing laws.
The new restrictions will also extend to the sale of nitrous oxide - also known as laughing gas or "hippy crack" - for human use.
What are legal highs?
The government said the "legitimate sale" of nitrous oxide, which is also used for food processing, medicinal and industrial purposes, would not be affected.
Home Office minister Mike Penning said the measures would "fundamentally change the way we tackle new psychoactive substances".
They would end the "game of cat and mouse" whereby new drugs appeared on the market more quickly than the government could identify and ban them, he said.
He added: "The blanket ban will give police and other law enforcement agencies greater powers to tackle the reckless trade in psychoactive substances, instead of having to take a substance-by-substance approach."
Legal highs are not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act, although individual substances, such as mephedrone, have been outlawed.
The government's proposals would apply throughout the United Kingdom, and would include powers to seize and destroy legal highs and to search people, premises and vehicles.
Civil measures -...

Summary:


Toyota says its full-year profits will be better than expected thanks to a pick-up in sales and a boost from currency fluctuations.

Article: Tim Farron said the Labour leader was "blinkered" to the risk of an exit in the 23 June referendum.
Mr Corbyn was forced to defend himself after criticism he was not making a more "passionate" case to Remain.
Mr Farron urged unhappy Labour members to switch to his "united force".
At the Lib Dems' spring conference in York, he said: "Jeremy Corbyn, please do not let your own internal party chaos get in the way of winning this campaign.
"I know you may have wanted to leave in the past, but we treat your conversion as genuine and so I ask you to show the zeal of the convert and get on board."
He added: "If your party leadership remains blinkered to the risk, then your party is sleepwalking to the exit. So, come with us, share a platform, and let's make the positive, unified case that we all believe in."
Mr Corbyn, a longstanding critic of the EU, has defended Labour's campaigning on the referendum, saying his party is pushing for "a social Europe".
Speaking on a visit to Dagenham on Tuesday, the Labour leader said there were issues on which the EU should be challenged, but "at the moment we're campaigning because we want this sense of unity across Europe".
His spokesman added he would be making a "big" speech on the EU "in due course".
Mr Farron also attacked Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith for "appalling" claims last month that staying in the EU would leave the country vulnerable to a Paris-style terrorism attack.
"Some of the rhetoric in the campaign recently has been unpleasant, to put it mildly," Mr Farron told a rally of party activists.
"People on both sides have tried to scaremonger about borders, refugees and migrants. Using desperate people fleeing war and terror as pawns to score points is appalling and it is weak.
"This campaign needs the opposite. This campaign needs strength and compassion."

Summary: Jeremy Corbyn should not allow "internal party chaos" to jeopardise the campaign to keep Britain in the European Union, the leader of the Liberal Democrats has said.
###
Article: He initially planned to speak at the event in June but pulled out following advice from Palestinian academics.
Pro-Palestinian campaigners said the 71-year-old wrote to the organisers on 3 May saying that he had planned to criticise the Israeli government.
The conference chairman criticised the move as "improper".
Previous speakers at the Israeli Presidential Conference include former UK prime minister Tony Blair, former US president George W Bush and former US Secretary of State and Nobel Peace laureate Dr Henry Kissinger.
A statement published on Tuesday by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine, with Prof Hawking's approval, said: "This is his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there."
A spokesman for the University of Cambridge - where Prof Hawking is a director of research - said the scientist had written to the Israeli president's office regarding his decision.
"We had understood previously that his decision was based purely on health grounds having been advised by doctors not to fly," the spokesman added.
The withdrawal follows representations Prof Hawking received from Palestinian academics and pro-Palestinian groups.
But he was sharply criticised by conference organisers.
"The academic boycott against Israel is in our view outrageous and improper, certainly for someone for whom the spirit of liberty lies at the basis of his human and academic mission," conference chairman Israel Maimon said in a statement.
A spokesman for the Fair Play group, which campaigns against boycotts of Israel, described the scientist's withdrawal as "bizarre".
"Prof Hawking could have joined the conference and explained his views on the conflict in the region, just as many other participants have done.
"By boycotting the conference, he has thrown away this opportunity and will help nobody."
The Israeli Ambassador in London said it was a shame Prof Hawking would not be attending.
"Rather than caving into...

Summary: UK cosmologist Prof Stephen Hawking has withdrawn from a high-profile Israeli conference, in support of an academic boycott of the country.
###
Article: A full collection of the books, from its first edition to the most recent published this year for the comic's 80th anniversary, went under the hammer at Curr and Dewar in Dundee.
The very first book fetched £2,800, with the second and third selling for £1,500 and £900 respectively.
An original piece of artwork by Beano artist Dudley D Watkins sold for £950.
The third edition of the Broons annual fetched £1,400 at the auction.
Auctioneer Steven Dewar said there had been "significant interest" in the comic collection from buyers.
The set of books was discovered by a man in his loft years after they had been handed down to him by his father.
The vendor, who opted to remain anonymous, was in the saleroom to see the books go under the hammer.
Mr Dewar said: "He is delighted, and so are we. There was a lot of interest and the sale has gone really well."
The full-size framed Lord Snooty cartoon, an original hand drawn by Dudley D. Watkins, shows German bombers suspending a bee hive from swastika adorned planes.
The artwork, which was published in the Beano in April 1940 was described by auctioneers as "an outstanding work".
Mr Dewar said the Oor Wullie books had been found in an attic by their owner after he had spotted an identical one on the BBC's Antique Roadshow.
Mr Dewar said: "He saw it and thought 'I've seen that' and went into the loft and there it was.
"They were his father's, but he has no family and so the time was right to sell them."
Mr Dewar said another seller approached him with the Dudley D. Watkins artwork after he put a note about the Oor Wullie books on the auctioneer's website.
Mr Dewar said: "The vendor says he almost certainly bought it from my father at auction in the 70s - and wouldn't have paid more than £20 for it.
"It was drawn for Beano number 92 and appeared on 27 April 1940.
"Whether there was a little bit of a government push to boost the people's morale we don't know.
"It is a great story - it really is."

Summary: A rare set of the earliest Oor Wullie books has sold for more than £5,000 at auction.
###
Article: The Public Administration Select Committee said the arrangement could end up as a "short term experiment" due to levels of opposition in the Commons.
Legislation deemed to affect England, or England and Wales only, is now subject to an extra stage of scrutiny, involving only MPs elected there.
Ministers said it was an "important balance" to devolution elsewhere.
The rules, introduced in response to calls for a stronger voice for English MPs following increased devolution to Scotland, were activated in the House of Commons for the first time last month.
English and Welsh MPs gave their consent to parts of the Housing and Planning Bill that only apply to their constituencies, as part of a new stage in the legislative process for considering bills applying only to their constituents.
In a report on the new system, the cross-party committee of MPs said there was "strong English demand" for measures to address the "constitutional anomalies" that devolution had brought.
But it said the new provisions were "ad hoc", lacked transparency and appeared incompatible with the 40-year old Barnett Formula for distributing funds to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"The new standing orders do require further consideration and evaluation if they are to be anything more than a short-term experiment in the House's internal procedure," the MPs said.
"That former clerks of the House of Commons - individuals steeped in decades of learning about Parliamentary procedure - should have difficulty in discerning what these standing orders mean should raise serious further doubts about how sustainable they are."
The report said the test for whether legislation applied only to England, which is determined by the Commons Speaker, was not "very simple" and risked putting the Speaker in an "unnecessarily controversial position".
The extent of the opposition to the system, which has united Labour, the SNP, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Democratic Unionist Party, "underlined their vulnerability", the committee said.
The SNP...

Summary: The new system of "English Votes for English Laws" is overly complicated and may not last long, MPs have warned.
###
Article: Will Tuckett's take on Tchaikovsky's Christmas ballet had been due to open on 30 November in London.
But the production has been put on hold due to a lack of funding, organisers announced.
Producer Bob Watts said: "It is with enormous regret that we are having to put the production on hold."
"It was a huge privilege to see Will Tuckett's vision come to life - his Nutcracker was shaping up to be an extraordinary experience."
He added: "I hope it will come to a London audience soon."
The immersive element of the production would have allowed audience members to become guests at the Christmas party scene in the first act and wander through the Kingdom of the Sweets in Act Two.
The production had recently changed venues and was due to open at The Printworks in London's Canada Water.
Tuckett told The Guardian: "Everyone is saying to me that it's a really good show and that it's going to happen. It's just not going to happen right now."
The writer's previous credits include a 2014 production of The Wind and the Willows, which won the best entertainment and family prize at the Olivier Awards.
All ticket holders holders are in the process of being contacted and will receive a full refund, producers said.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Summary: A production of The Nutcracker which had been billed as the world's first "immersive" ballet has been put on hold.
###
Article: The Japanese firm expects net profit in the year to March of 1.7 trillion yen ($15.1bn; Â£12.1bn), compared with a previous forecast of 1.55 trillion yen.
That is despite losing its top-selling carmaker status to Volkswagen in 2016,
Meanwhile, Toyota said it had begun formal talks to work with Suzuki on projects including safety technology.
Analysts said the partnership - which could also involve collaboration on vehicles that were less damaging to the environment - would give Suzuki access to Toyota's technology. Benefits for Toyota are likely to include tapping in to Suzuki's strong market position in India.
The forecast for 2016-17 profits is still below the 2.1 trillion yen profit it recorded a year earlier.
But with Japan's yen weakening against the dollar, it will benefit from sales overseas which are worth more when converted back into the local currency.
Like other Japanese carmakers, Toyota is watching closely for any trade tariffs introduced by the new US administration.
At the moment, only about half of the cars it sells in the country are manufactured locally. Last month, US President Donald Trump criticised it for making vehicles in Mexico to sell over the border.
The US is its biggest market, and it is struggling to meet demand for bigger vehicles such as sport utility vehicles. Lower petrol prices have made such models more affordable to drive.

Summary:


Stronger than expected jobs figures helped to lift US stocks on Friday, leading the Dow to another record.

Article: Colin Evans, 39, was found dead at home in Broomfield Road, Chelmsford, Essex, in September 2014.
He had been stabbed multiple times by Jose Correia Agrela, of no fixed address, who fled wearing his victim's clothes and taking his pet dog.
Agrela, 30, was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years and three months at Chelmsford Crown Court.
On sentencing, Judge Christopher Ball QC told him he had abused the help of a man who "had befriended you, offered you food and friendship".
Agrela denied murder - trying to claim someone else killed Mr Evans while he had been out walking the dog, Sweep - but was convicted in court last month.
Det Ch Insp Martin Passmore, from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said Mr Evans had invited Agrela into his home "as an act of charity after he became homeless".
"It beggars belief that Agrela could launch such an attack on a man who had given him a roof over his head," he said.
He added the sentence length reflected the "savage nature of the attack".

Summary: A homeless man who brutally murdered a cafe worker who had "befriended" him has been jailed for more than 20 years.
###
Article: -6%
Overall use since 2006
-12% Bus passengers
-7% Ferry passengers
+29%  ScotRail passengers
The National Transport Strategy also said that in the same period, traffic on the country's roads went up by 2%.
Transport Minister Derek Mackay said the Scottish government had "invested heavily" in transport since the first strategy was published in 2006.
He added that progress in key areas had been made, "despite the recession".
The updated strategy looked at trends and statistics over the last nine years and said;
The report also detailed the "significant" fall in road deaths.
It said the number of people killed was down from 314 in 2006 to 200 in 2014, a reduction of 36%.
Director of lobby group Transform Scotland, Colin Howden, said it was "tragic" that there had been "absolutely no progress" in moving people from cars to public transport.
He added: "As the new strategy sets out, the past decade has seen a 2% increase in traffic levels, while public transport use has declined by 6%.
"Whether one wants to tackle congestion, improve connectivity, or cut emissions, the evidence in this new strategy highlights a wasted decade in improving Scotland's transport."
However, Mr Mackay believed the review had produced "good news" on a range of issues including;
He said: "Rail has performed particularly strongly with more passengers than ever before now choosing to travel on Scotland's railways, with the newly opened Borders Railway leading the line in this success.
"The Scottish government has committed Â£5bn to transforming Scotland's rail network, including Â£475mn for the largest-ever train improvement programme seen in Scotland.
"This will see 10% more trains for the ScotRail fleet, providing 23% extra seats for passengers, and mean that 90% of all Scotland's trains will either be new or fully refurbished by 2019."
And Transport Scotland said that despite the economic squeeze investment in the infrastructure had continued since 2006.
A spokesman pointed to the growth in rail passengers which had recorded a 30%...

Summary: The number of people using public transport in Scotland over the last nine years has fallen by 6%, a new report has revealed.
###
Article: It was the worst performing part of the UK last October, according to a regular survey of 3 and 4 star hotels by accountants BDO.
Scotland was the only part of the UK to see a fall in both occupancy rates and in revenue in the year to last autumn.
Occupancy across Scottish cities fell 5.6% to 81% of capacity.
Revenue was down 9.5% to average revenue per room of Â£51.73.
Revenue per room rose 10% in England and by 42% in Wales, though both had averages below that of Scotland.
Aberdeen hotels faced a fall in occupancy of 20% since October 2014, to 65%, and revenue was down 46% to Â£43.05.
Taking the evidence for January to October, Aberdeen occupancy was down 14%, and revenue by 18%. The bigger fall for October indicates an acceleration of the hotel sector's problems during autumn.
Edinburgh hotel occupancy in October fell 5% compared with the previous year, to 85%, and revenue by less than 1%.
Both Glasgow and Inverness saw occupancy drop slightly, but revenue per room rose.
Alastair Rae, a partner at BDO and specialist in the hospitality sector, said that, apart from Aberdeen, the decline was not a cause for concern.
He said the drop in oil company activity has been "substantially dampening demand in the city".
"The fall in occupancy and revenue in Edinburgh is perhaps an early indication of consumer confidence being slightly dented in the autumn and a small reduction in leisure activity," he added.
"Inverness continued to have a good year and has the best occupancy and revenue to date figures for 2015 of any of Scotland's main cities."

Summary: Aberdeen hotels have suffered a 46% one-year drop in revenue per room, as the oil industry downturn has seen business spending cut.
###
Article: A working group, which includes representatives from the church's six diocese, will look at how the position can be supported in the future.
It follows a call by current archbishop Dr Barry Morgan to look at "the demanding role", which involves duties within the church and nationally.
The group is expected to report back by Easter, next year.
Prof Gareth Lloyd Jones, chairman of the group, said: "We need to be sure that what we ask of our Archbishop in future is reasonable, and appropriate for today's Wales."

Summary: A review of the role and responsibilities of the Archbishop of Wales has been launched.
###
Article: Sainsbury has started a campaign to encourage use of blemished bananas, while Morrisons has a new "wonky" range that includes avocados for 39p.
Others, including Waitrose, Tesco and Asda, have also branched out into selling misshapen fresh items.
Shops have been criticised for being too fussy, causing farmers to throw away perfectly edible fruit and veg.
But if customers will only accept blemish-free produce, there's little point in a supermarket putting it on the shelf only to throw it away unsold later.
That's one reason why retailers are giving such goods clear labelling and other promotional pushes.
Sainsbury says it is trying to half the amount of food the average family throws away each year from its current Â£700.
This week it is turning its attention to the banana, with pop-up "banana rescue" stations in about 500 stores to encourage consumers to use fruit that is overripe or past its best.
The Government's food waste awareness service, Wrap, found that 1.4 million bananas are thrown out every day for having minor bruises or black marks on their skin, which it says add up to Â£80m in waste a day.
Sainsbury's suggestions include using them to make banana bread or muffins.
For those without the time to bake, Sainsbury reminds us that bananas can be blended into smoothies, and even chopped up to be added into fruit salads.
Paul Crewe, Sainsbury's head of sustainability and environment, said: "Sixty one per cent of Britons admit they never use otherwise discarded bananas in baking, so we want to inspire customers to use their fruit in different ways. There's no need to bin the bruised ones any more."
Tesco, which has a Perfectly Imperfect range, has a strategy that no food safe for human consumption will go to waste from its UK outlets by the end of 2017.

Summary: UK supermarkets are making more space for increasing amounts of less-than-perfect produce.
###
Article: Official data showed the US economy added 209,000 jobs last month, beating analysts' expectations, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.3%.
The Dow Jones closed at a record for the eighth consecutive day, rising 0.3% to 22,092.81.
The wider S&P 500 index closed up 0.19% at 2,476.83, while the Nasdaq rose 0.18% to 6,351.56.
Analysts said the latest jobs report meant the Federal Reserve was still on track to raise interest rates later this year, which would be the third increase in 2017.
Shares of banks, which benefit from higher rates, saw some of the most significant gains on Friday. Goldman Sachs was among the biggest winners on the Dow, rising 2.6%.
Among individual stocks, Viacom shares sank nearly 14% after it forecast a drop in sales to US pay-TV companies and streaming services in the current quarter.
Consumer review website operator Yelp saw its shares jump by more than a quarter after it announced the sale of its Eat24 business to Grubhub for $287.5m.
Yelp also reported revenues of $209m for the second quarter of the year, which beat analysts' expectations.
US stocks are in record territory this year. The Nasdaq is up almost 17% since January. The Dow has risen 11% and the S&P 500 is climbed almost 10%.

Summary:


Two men arrested in connection with the suspected murder of a missing man have been released on bail.

Article: It is the terminus where the heroine of Leo Tolstoy's 19th Century novel Anna Karenina watches a man being cut in two by a train - a warning of the tragedy to come.
Today the station is still a busy place, with long-distance trains setting off for St Petersburg and the Arctic.
This month, on a Tuesday night, well after midnight, an elderly woman made her way through the crowds and bustle to board the "Arktika" express to Murmansk. It was the start of a long journey in a two-bed sleeper compartment.
Marina Khodorkovskaya was not heading for Murmansk. She was planning to alight a few stops earlier at Segezha - a scruffy town close to the Arctic Circle, known for its pulp and paper factory and for the gulag of the Stalin era.
These days there is still a prison in Segezha - Penal Colony No 7.
That is where Mrs Khodorkovskaya was heading to visit her son Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, and now seen by many as its longest serving political prisoner.
She makes the journey every three months, and this month she agreed that we could travel with her.
She told me she had lost count of the number of times over the last 10 years that she had made the journey either to Segezha or to Eastern Siberia where her son use to be held.
"I used to collect tickets," she recalled. "But then I threw them all away."
When she described the visiting room, it sounded more suited to violent criminals than those convicted of economic crimes.
"It is a long room divided into two with prisoners on one side and relatives on the other," she explained. "Then there are partitions - each with a little desk and a phone set on either of the thick glass. If somebody talks loudly next to you, you can hardly hear anything."
The journey to Segezha takes 20 hours in each direction. The three-monthly visits last four hours.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky is also allowed a 15-minute weekly phone call from a booth outside.
"It's very cold there in winter," Mrs Khodorkovskaya said. "Once we thought he was ill, because he was speaking very strangely....

Summary: Moscow's Leningradsky Vokzal is the best known railway station in Russia.
###
Article: About 86% were ranked in these top two categories of school effectiveness by Ofsted, up from 84% in August.
Primary schools performed better, with 87% judged good or outstanding, compared with 76% of secondaries.
There are still big regional variations, with fewer good schools in large parts of northern England and the Midlands.
In these areas, there are 17 local authority areas where fewer than 60% of secondary schools are judged good or outstanding.
In the south and east of England, there are seven local authorities in this situation.
At the lower end, Ofsted said: "Primary schools continue to perform more strongly than secondary schools, and at the end of March 75% of primary schools that required improvement had improved at their next inspection.
"However, the proportion of secondary schools that improved from 'requires improvement' has increased from 45% in August 2015 to 52% as at March 2016."
The Department for Education said: "In this academic year alone 100,000 more pupils are now benefiting from attending good or outstanding schools."
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said: "We are determined to spread educational excellence everywhere and today's figures reveal that we have come a long way in doing just this.
"Since 2010 over 1.4 million more children attend the best schools in our country - a triumph for hard-working teachers and pupils everywhere."
Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "This continued progress has come despite severe funding pressures and teacher shortages.
"These issues must be tackled urgently in order to maintain and raise standards further.
"Young people only get one chance to go through their school and college career and a successful education system is essential for the future economic and social wellbeing of our country."

Summary: There has been a slight increase in the proportion of schools and academies in England judged good or outstanding.
###
Article: The Disney space adventure is joined by The Imitation Game, Clint Eastwood's American Sniper, Gone Girl and Wild.
Guardians, based on a Marvel comic, topped the US box office in 2014, with ticket sales of $332.8m (Â£203.9m).
The guild nominated 14 screenplays across three categories: Adapted, original and documentary.
Boyhood, Foxcatcher, Nightcrawler, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Whiplash vie in the original screenplay category.
Finding Vivian Maier, The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz, Last Days of Vietnam and Red Army are nominated in the documentary category.
WGA winners have a reliable track record for predicting the Oscar screenplay winners.
However, this year there exists some disparity as Whiplash, the Sundance winner about a jazz drummer, is nominated as an original screenplay in the WGA shortlist but is considered a contender in the adapted category for the Oscar nominations.
Damien Chazelle's tale was inspired by his own life. However, it first appeared as short film at the 2012 Sundance film festival in order to drum up finance.
Academy rules considers a "short" to qualify under their guidelines of  "screenplays based on previously produced or published material".
Sony Pictures submitted it as an original screenplay to both bodies, but did not learn until earlier this week that the Academy had marked it for consideration in the adapted category.
Strict
Musical adaptation Into the Woods and Angelina Jolie's Unbroken did not make the WGA nominations.
Other notable absences included Stephen Hawking drama The Theory of Everything, Hollywood satire Birdman and Martin Luther King drama Selma.
They did not qualify under the guild's stringent rules - which require that scripts be written by a WGA member and produced under WGA jurisdiction.
Last year, 12 Years a Slave was also ineligible according to WGA rules - but the script, by Britain's John Ridley, went on to win the Oscar for best adapted screenplay.
Spike Jonze's Her won best original screenplay at both the guild awards and the...

Summary: Guardians of the Galaxy has received a surprise nomination in the adapted screenplay shortlist, as selected by the Writers Guild of America (WGA).
###
Article: Owen Delaney, 40, from Teddington, has been mapping out Christmas-themed images using Strava - an app which uses GPS to track users running routes.
During his jogs in Bushy Park, Richmond, he has created pictures of Santa Claus, a cracker and a snowman.
The father-of-two said he hopes to draw something new "every day until Christmas".
"The idea first came about a couple of years ago when I did something similar for an online competition," he told the BBC.
Originally Mr Delaney had intended to stop after his first drawing - a depiction of Rudolph.
"But my friends seemed to like it so I did the Santa one the next day," he said.
Each run takes meticulous planning to avoid "having to wade through any rivers or ponds" and can take up to up to an hour to design.
"I used to draw a lot of cartoons when I was younger, and sometimes made hand drawn Christmas cards for people," Mr Delaney said.
"I guess this is a similar theme, but I never imagined being able to use the park as a canvas."
Mr Delaney is keeping the design for his final run on Christmas day a secret.
He said: "Everyone seems to be enjoying it and it's bringing lots of smiles and lovely comments from people.
"We could all do with something simple and happy this year I think."

Summary: A jogger has used a fitness tracking app on his mobile phone to turn his park runs into festive art work.
###
Article: The judgement prevents Microsoft from registering a trademark for Skype's name and bubble-design logo.
The US company intends to appeal against the decision.
Judges at the General Court of the European Union said: "Conceptually, the figurative element conveys no concept, except perhaps that of a cloud."
"[That] would further increase the likelihood of the element 'Sky' being recognised within the word element 'Skype', for clouds are to be found 'in the sky' and thus may readily be associated with the word 'sky'."
Microsoft had brought the case to challenge an earlier ruling by the European Union's Office for Harmonisation of Internal Markets, which, following a 2005 complaint by the broadcaster, also said Skype branding was too similar to Sky's to be granted an EU-wide trademark.
This is not the first legal clash between the two companies.
In 2014, Microsoft changed the name of its cloud storage service from SkyDrive to OneDrive after the High Court in London ruled Sky's trademark had been infringed.
However, a spokeswoman for Microsoft said it was not now facing the prospect of another imminent rebrand.
"The case was not a legal challenge to Skype's use of the mark, it was only against the registration," she told BBC News.
"We're confident that no confusion exists between these brands and services and will appeal. This decision does not require us to alter product names in any way."
Microsoft believes it still had the means to prevent anyone else from trying to call their product Skype.
In theory, Sky could now try to pursue Microsoft for a licensing fee even if it did not want to block the use of Skype's name outright.
However, the firm did not directly address this point in a statement released following the ruling.
"Sky notes today's decision from the General Court of the European Union," it said.
"This relates to a long-running dispute with Skype over the extension of its trademark applications to cover a broad range of goods and services that overlap with Sky's own trademark registrations - including,...

Summary: Video chat software Skype's name is so similar to the broadcaster Sky's that the public is likely to be confused between the two, an EU court has ruled.
###
Article: Chris May, 28, was last seen by family at his home in Kelvedon on 25 May 2015. His abandoned Volkswagen Golf was found 10 miles (16km) away in Fairstead.
His case was formally declared a murder by Essex Police investigation exactly a year later.
A 35-year-old Braintree man and a 25-year-man from Kelvedon have been released pending further inquiries.
The two men will have to report back to police in late July.

Summary:


The UN has ended its campaign with comic book heroine Wonder Woman, a spokesman says, less than two months after her appointment sparked outrage.

Article: Norman Davies, 56, took the Patterdale terrier for a walk in May to a secluded area before holding her collar and cutting her with a kitchen knife.
Misty managed to escape and was found the next day before being taken to the vets, who were able to save her.
Davies, of Grafton Road, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, admitted causing unnecessary suffering at an earlier hearing before magistrates in Chester.
He admitted in an interview to slitting the three-year-old dog's throat because she was "urinating inside", the RSPCA said.
Davies has also been banned from keeping animals for life.
RSPCA inspector Lisa Lupson said: "Misty would have been absolutely terrified and it would have been excruciatingly painful for her.
"Davies cut clean through her skin but missed her main arteries. If Misty had not managed to get free when she did then she may not be here today - she had an incredibly lucky escape."
Misty has since been rehomed and is "making progress", she added.

Summary: A man who slit his pet dog's throat has been jailed for 18 weeks.
###
Article: Dumfries and Galloway Council has terminated the lease for the fixed nets near Annan.
It followed warnings that the nets may be intercepting salmon destined for the River Eden in Cumbria.
The Salmon and Trout Association (Scotland) said the council could be breaching the EU's Habitats Directive.
It threatened a judicial review if the local authority did not agree to halt stake net fishing immediately.
A spokesman for the council said it ended the lease "with much regret".
"However, we take our environmental responsibilities seriously and understood that to continue at this point in time without having conducted a proper scientific assessment with conclusive results would be in breach of the Habitats Directive," he added.
"Our council maintained the stake nets licences for as long as possible in the face of challenge until the legal advice indicated that this position was untenable."
He said the matter will be kept under review and the decision will not affect traditional haaf and poke netting on the River Annan.
Andrew Graham-Stewart, the director of the Salmon and Trout Association (Scotland), welcomed the move by the council.
He said: "Against a background of declining wild salmon stocks across almost all of the North Atlantic, the Solway rivers have been particularly badly affected with precipitous declines.
"The evidence from rod catches is compelling."
The River Annan's rod catch of 317 in 2014 compared to a five-year average of 1,557.
In the Nith in the same year, the rod catch was 520 - significantly lower than the 1,658 average.
Mr Graham-Stewart said the River Eden's rod catch in 2014 was 40% of the five-year average.
He added: "In the circumstances there can now be no justification for any commercial salmon netting in the Solway."
Nick Chisholm, director of the Royal Annan District Salmon Fisheries Board, said: "I think it's a brave and right decision by Dumfries and Galloway Council. It wasn't an easy one for them to make."
Stake nets are fixed into the ground on parts of the Solway coast.  At...

Summary: Fishermen have been banned from using stake nets in the Solway Firth in an effort to boost salmon numbers in nearby rivers.
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Article: Divers have recovered a series of objects from the ship called The London, which exploded off the coast of Southend in 1665.
The haul so far includes pewter spoons, coins and navigational dividers.
A project spokesman said: "The artefacts we can recover may be similar in scope to those... from the Mary Rose, but 120 years later in date."
The Mary Rose saw 34 years of service before it sank while leading an attack on a French invasion fleet in 1545. Around 19,000 artefacts were found on board after it was raised from the seabed of the Solent in 1982.
The London was built in Chatham in Kent and mysteriously exploded on a journey along the coast to Gravesend in 1665.
Specialist divers have undertaken 10 dives of the site of the wreck, which lies in two parts on the seabed.
Mark Dunkley, a maritime archaeologist at English Heritage, said: "There are still five dives to go but what we have confirmed so far is that the well preserved and vulnerable remains of the wreck of the London are consistent with the historical records that she did in fact blow up."
Steve Webster, project manager at Cotswold Archaeology, said: "This two-year project is the only ongoing excavation on an underwater wreck in England.
"This will allow us to better understand a whole range of changes that occurred between the first half of the 16th Century and the second half of the 17th Century, a period that saw the expansion of Britain's sea power and marks the start of the British Empire."
The London was rediscovered during preparatory works before the start of the London Gateway Port development in Thurrock in 2005.
The objects found will be curated by Southend Museums Service.

Summary: The excavation of an underwater wreck could be "similar in scope" to the Mary Rose warship, archaeologists have said.
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Article: In a report on literacy standards of 11 to 14-year-olds, education watchdog Estyn blamed a lack of time and support for schools.
The provision to develop pupils' literacy skills in a majority of schools was only "adequate".
Education Minister Huw Lewis said the policy was having an impact.
The Literacy and Numeracy Framework (LNF) was introduced in 2013 for pupils aged five to 14 following concerns they were falling behind.
It aimed to improve how pupils read, write and express themselves in all subjects.
The LNF includes annual tests to see how they are progressing.
But two years after its introduction, the report said the LNF was not producing results.
Standards in general were judged excellent in about one in nine secondary schools, inspectors found.
They were good in close to two in five, which is similar to the previous two years.
"The LNF was introduced quickly, but progress in implementing the framework has been slower than expected," Estyn said.
The watchdog noted:
Inspectors have said the Welsh government should "provide guidance and support" for teachers to help them implement the LNF and "develop literacy skills across the curriculum".
Last week, a study conducted by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers Cymru found almost two-thirds of teachers in Wales think the national reading and numeracy tests are "not fit for purpose".
Fewer than half (49.2%) of those questioned said all their pupils were able to access the tests and only 37% said they were fit for purpose.
Amid concerns blanket test papers are not suitable for younger children, the union said "disadvantaged learners" were among those finding them most difficult to use.
The Welsh government said developing the literacy skills of young people remained "a critical issue for Welsh education and a key government priority" and there was "still much to do".
Mr Lewis told BBC Wales it was a "profound shift" and he said he would not apologise for reform taking place with a sense of urgency.
"Estyn is talking about events 12 months ago and a very...

Summary: A key policy to drive up standards in numeracy and literacy in Wales has made "modest" progress, partly due to a lack of support from the Welsh government.
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Article: The 1,180-mile (1,900km) pipeline will carry tar sands oil from Canada to refineries on the Texas coast.
A lawsuit filed in Montana by a coalition of groups says more environmental scrutiny is required.
They - and some landowners - are concerned about potential contamination of ground and surface water.
Supporters of the project say such fears are exaggerated.
President Trump, who overturned President Barack Obama's rejection of the project, has said the pipeline will create jobs and improve US energy independence.
Keystone XL pipeline: Why is it so disputed?
The environmental groups - including the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northern Plains Resource Council, Bold Alliance, Friends of the Earth and the Center for Biological Diversity - say an environmental review of the proposed pipeline that was completed in 2014 is inadequate and outdated.
Their lawsuit says that review minimises or ignores significant environmental impacts of Keystone XL, which will carry a particularly dirty type of crude oil, "including harm to land, air, water, and wildlife".
The $8bn pipeline, first proposed in 2008, would carry more than 800,000 barrels of oil a day.
TransCanada, a Calgary-based company, wants to build it to carry oil from Canada through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. From there, it would connect with an existing Keystone pipeline network that would transport the oil to Texas Gulf Coast refineries.
The US state department issued a permit for the project earlier this month after an evaluation which was required because the pipeline crosses an international border.
But regulators in Nebraska have still to review the proposed route through their state before approving or rejecting it.
The state's elected Public Service Commission will decide whether it believes the project serves a public interest, after reviewing evidence presented at a public hearing.
TransCanada says the pipeline will create 13,000 jobs over two years, but opponents argue the vast majority of these jobs will be short-term...

Summary: Environmental groups in the US have begun a legal challenge to President Donald Trump's approval of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.
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Article: The superhero had been declared an honorary ambassador to promote messages about women's empowerment and gender-based violence.
The character's "sexualised" appearance was one element critics seized on to deem the choice inappropriate.
A petition against the selection gathered nearly 45,000 signatures.
The UN did not explain why the project with Wonder Woman, announced in October, would end on Friday.
But spokesman Jeffrey Brez said campaigns using fictional characters often lasted no longer than a few months, Reuters news agency reported.
DC Entertainment, which publishes DC Comics, said it was pleased with the exposure Wonder Woman had brought to the cause.
Warner Bros and DC Entertainment are supporting a year-long campaign by the UN and its children's agency, Unicef, for gender equality and women's empowerment.
In the petition against the character's appointment, opponents said the image she projected was "not culturally encompassing or sensitive".
"It is alarming that the United Nations would consider using a character with an overtly sexualised image at a time when the headline news in United States and the world is the objectification of women and girls," it said.
Wonder Woman - an Amazonian from the all-female paradise of Themyscira - masquerades as Diana Prince, whose occupations include an army nurse, until her services are called on by a society in peril.
She first came to the public's attention in October 1941, and was most famously played by actress Lynda Carter in the hit US TV series that ran from 1975-79.
The announcement came as the UN itself was under criticism for having a lack of gender parity in senior roles.
Despite campaigns there has never been a female secretary general and one analysis found that in 2015 nine of 10 senior leadership jobs went to men.

Summary:


Harlow is celebrating the 70th anniversary of being designated a new town.

Article: The fund, which pays for drugs not routinely available on the NHS, has cut the number of treatments offered in order to balance the books.
Four appeals were subsequently rejected, but Regorafenib will now continue to be offered on the scheme.
Charities had criticised the decision to remove the other drugs.
All the drugs on the Cancer Drugs Fund have been rejected by the NHS as a whole for not being cost-effective.
Meanwhile NHS England announced that this fund was due to go Â£100m over budget in 2014-15.
In a large review of how the fund operated, NHS England decided to continue paying for only 59 of the 84 treatments it had previously offered as recently as January.
At the same time, three new drugs were added to the scheme.
Many of the companies who had drugs removed from the list appealed against the decisions, and five drugs were reappraised.
As a result just one, Regorafenib which is developed by Bayer, will now continue to be offered.
Prof Peter Clark, the chairman of the fund, said: "We have been through a robust, evidence-based process to ensure the drugs available through the Cancer Drugs Fund continue to offer the best clinical benefit, getting the most for patients from every pound that we have.
"These are difficult decisions, but if we don't continue to prioritise the drugs that offer the best value, many people could miss out on promising, more effective treatments that are in the pipeline."
Olaparib, an ovarian cancer therapy, will not be funded on the scheme.
Katherine Taylor, from Ovarian Cancer Action, said: "Women living with ovarian cancer deserve the right to have access to effective, proven treatments.
"We strongly urge NHS England to make this ground-breaking treatment available to the patients who so desperately need it."
Paul Catchpole, from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said: "The ABPI believes that the CDF re-evaluation process is fundamentally flawed and the CDF remains a sticking plaster covering a seeping wound.
"A sustainable solution is urgently required."

Summary: The Cancer Drugs Fund in England will continue to pay for a stomach cancer drug after an appeal by the manufacturer.
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Article: The accord, signed with the left-wing rebel group last month, was narrowly rejected in a national referendum.
Mr Santos has spent the past few days meeting those who campaigned for a "No" vote.
He will take new proposals to a meeting with Farc leaders in the Cuban capital, Havana.
The original ceasefire ended with the referendum and has already been extended until 31 October.
In a televised address, Mr Santos said he had made the decision to extend the ceasefire further after meeting student leaders who had organised marches through Bogota in support of the peace deal.
"One of the students reminded me that in the army and in the guerrilla ranks, there are young people waiting to see what happens, hoping that they don't need to fire another shot," he said.
"For that reason, and at the request of the students, I have taken the decision to extend the ceasefire until 31 December."
Mr Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for reaching the peace agreement, which took more than four years to negotiate.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Ivan Marquez, the Farc's lead negotiator at the peace talks in Havana, denied that the original agreement was moribund.
"This final accord is the key, is the formula, is the roadmap to peace - a peace with dignity, which is what we want, and with democracy," he said.
Mr Marquez acknowledged the "no" campaign's victory in the referendum, but said: "It was a technical draw between the 'no' and the 'yes'. The 'no' didn't obtain an absolute majority. But they have an Achilles heel: the 'no' campaign was constructed on a base of lies."
Former president, Alvaro Uribe, who led the "no" campaign, has called for the Farc's top leadership to serve prison sentences, but that concession is unlikely to come from the guerrillas.
"If Alvaro Uribe couldn't win the war [in the eight years he was president]," Mr Marquez said, "then he should move aside and let Colombians make peace."
But Mr Marquez insisted a process of consultation between all sides, including the millions who abstained in...

Summary: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has extended a ceasefire with Farc rebels until the end of the year to give more time to save a peace deal.
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Article: The filmmaker got word that Gil - also a famous musician - was hosting a prestigious viewing session of Padilha's first feature film "Elite Squad" at his house.
Padilha was furious, as his movie had just been released in cinemas. But a copy of the film leaked during post-production, and hit file sharing websites four months before its official release.
It became a piracy "super-hit" in Brazil. Some analysts estimated that more than a million people watched illegal copies of "Elite Squad" before the movie ever hit the big screens.
When Padilha heard that the culture minister was about to be part of that statistic, with an illegal copy of his movie, he evaded security and knocked on Gil's door demanding the pirate DVD be handed to him - which was promptly done by an embarrassed servant.
Brazil has long been a haven for movie piracy.
A government study found that 41% of Brazilian internet users have downloaded content illegally from the internet.
Piracy is also prevalent on the streets - with DVDs being openly sold in most commercial places and roads, and even outside movie theatres.
So Brazil is an unlikely place for movie subscription service Netflix to be successful.
Yet, since it was launched in Brazil in 2011, Netflix subscriptions have soared in the country.
The company does not release country-specific numbers, but two independent studies suggest Brazil has over the years become the fourth-largest market for Netflix - after US, Canada and the United Kingdom. The company has 69 million users worldwide.
Netflix's chief executive Reed Hastings - who usually refrains from commenting on countries - says Brazil is a "rocket ship" for its company.
When Netflix's Brazil and Latin Americas service started in September 2011 it was the firm's first venture outside of North America.
The region was chosen for three primary reasons - broadband penetration was considered big enough as a market, incomes at the time were rising rapidly, and there was an appetite for Hollywood content.
Netflix's chief communications...

Summary: In 2007, the acclaimed Brazilian movie director Jose Padilha pulled a daring stunt on the country's then Culture Minister, Gilberto Gil.
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Article: The 18-carat gold Dent watch went under the hammer at the The Swan antiques centre in Tetsworth, Oxfordshire.
Churchill had gifted the timepiece to G Wallace Carter, on winning the first Liberal victory in the 1910 General Election.
Paul Hayes, from the antique centre, said the watch was still in "good working order".
The inscription on the 52mm diameter watch reads: "Presented to G. Wallace Carter in Recognition, The National Free Trade Services in Organizing The National Free Trade Lectures in the Memorable Year of Liberal Victory, 1910, Winston S. Churchill".
The auctioneers said the watch was chosen personally by Churchill, who was a patron of Dent, the watchmakers that also constructed Big Ben's clock.
It was auctioned off along with its original silk and velvet lined burgundy leather presentation case.
The watch reached its lower estimate, which was set at £12,000 to £15,000.
Churchill's first watch was also a Dent pocket watch, and he took a Dent wristwatch on campaign.

Summary: A pocket watch inscribed by Winston Churchill has been sold for £12,000 at auction.
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Article: New research shows that the system around the star - called J1407 - consists of over 30 rings, each of them tens of millions of kilometres across.
"This planet is much larger than Jupiter or Saturn," said Eric Mamajek, who helped write the research.
"Its ring system is roughly 200 times larger than Saturn's rings. You could think of it as kind of a super Saturn."
Researchers from the University of Rochester in New York, also found gaps in the rings, which suggests that moons may have formed and started to orbit the star.
"If we could replace Saturn's rings with the rings around J1407, they would be easily visible at night and be many times larger than the full moon," added Matthew Kenworthy from the Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands, which helped with the study.
The young Sun-like star was first discovered in 2012, and researchers spotted that the light it gave off was varied - with regular eclipses. They thought these eclipses were being caused by giant rings, which further study has revealed to be the case.
The results from the study will be published in the Astrophysical Journal.

Summary: Scientists have discovered an enormous ring system around a star, the first of its kind outside our solar system.
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Article: It became one of the UK's first post-war settlements in 1947 following the previous year's New Towns Act.
It is credited as having the first modern high-rise residential tower block, The Lawn, which opened in 1951.
Designed for 60,000 by English architect, Frederick Gibberd, the town also included the first all-pedestrian shopping precinct.
In April 1964, councillor Reginald Ward, chairman of the Harlow Urban District Council, showed off Harlow to visiting Italian prime minister Aldo Moro, from the roof gallery of the Town Hall.
Today, Harlow is a thriving town with a population of 85,500, which includes residents from a wide range of countries.
A mural featuring Harlow citizens, including its MP Conservative Robert Halfon, was created by Polish artist Jola Kudela for the book festival this month.
The artwork, called "We're all the same boat", was created after a Polish man was killed in the town.
The artist Ms Kudela said: "The message is just relax guys and let's live together peacefully and quietly."
A large number of events are being planned to celebrate the town's 70th birthday and more information is available on the Harlow 70 council website.

Summary: