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Suffolk PC saves dog in the wake of Hurricane Irma - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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PC Jonathan Harvey says he knew he had to save Buddy when the dog "would not let him go".
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Suffolk
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Buddy was found wandering alone on the island of Tortola
A British policeman has rescued a dog he befriended in the Caribbean in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
Suffolk PCs Peter French and Jonathan Harvey flew out to the British Virgin Islands to help maintain order in the wake of the devastating storm.
While on patrol on the island of Tortola, the pair encountered Buddy, a stray Labrador cross.
The dog is in quarantine for 21 days before he can fly to the UK to start a new life in Ipswich.
PC Harvey said: "He was fairly slim and slender, his paws were quite raw, he was clearly quite shaken up."
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The officer said they spent about 30 or 40 minutes with Buddy, giving him food and water, and it was when they went to leave that PC Harvey realised he had to save him.
"He put his paws around my thigh and buried his head in my stomach and didn't want to let go, bless him," said PC Harvey.
PC Jonathan Harvey, right, built a rapport with Buddy while out on patrol
The two officers spent three weeks on the Island of Tortola, helping to maintain order after the hurricane
PC Harvey said they took the dog to the vet, who established he is about two years old and had not been micro-chipped.
Buddy has had the necessary vaccinations and checks and is currently in quarantine in Washington DC.
PC Harvey said he was looking forward to having Buddy home with him in Ipswich.
"I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun, walks and playing about with family," he said.
Buddy is spending 21 days in quarantine before starting a new life with PC Harvey (left)
Hurricane Irma, described as the most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade, hit the British Virgin Islands on 6 September.
Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Maria also hit the Caribbean.
More than 1,300 UK troops were sent to help the relief effort.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-41597834
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The city where children go to school in a plywood box - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Cambridge has the highest concentration of box bikes of any place of its size outside the Netherlands.
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Cambridgeshire
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Nobody knows exactly how many cargo bikes are out there but more than 500 of just one brand have been sold in Cambridge
There's a new kid on the school run block - the cargo bike. And in one particular university city, parents are eagerly embracing them.
"Initially the kids thought it was magic - now it's just part of the furniture."
Dr Sara Lear is the proud owner of a "box bike" which was designed in the Netherlands in the late 1990s for ferrying children around.
While most are two-wheeled, hers is a three-wheeled model used to transport Dan, aged eight, Susie, six, and five-year-old Jim on their two-mile (3.2km) daily trip to school in Cambridge.
"They like taking friends for rides and they like that it saves them the legwork, the lazy worms," she joked.
The box bike has a large wooden container between the handlebars and the front wheel.
It is a descendant of the cargo bike, which has an illustrious history as the delivery vehicle of choice for butchers and bakers for more than a century.
Collectively known as "bakfietsen" - Dutch for box bikes - there are now a variety of versions on the market costing £1,500 or more.
The twist with the modern-day box bike is that children have become the cargo.
Maartin van Andel said he made the first wooden box bike for children in 1999
Nobody knows exactly how many cargo bikes are out there.
The reason for this is that most are built by boutique makers and largely sold by independent bike shops rather than large chains.
Independent market researchers Mintel said the cargo bike share of the £1bn annual UK bike industry was not yet large enough to claim a bar on a chart.
Steve Garidis, operations director at the Bicycle Association, said although it is known that 95% of all bikes on sale are imported, the breakdown of what types of bikes are being brought in is hard to pinpoint.
He said getting better data was something the association was "trying to tackle".
Exact numbers aside, what is clear is that Cambridge is home to a cargo bike boom.
The ground level of the city's railway station cycle park is given over entirely to cargo bikes.
And the original box bike company, Bakfiets, said it had sold more of its box bikes in the university city - more than 500 to date - than in any other place of its size outside its native Netherlands.
The idea of marrying a wooden box with a standard push bike for the school run came from an unlikely source - an expert in prosthetics.
Maartin van Andel, who lives in Amsterdam, wanted a means of taking his children to school without having to drive his car. The answer was the box bike.
He said he made the first wooden one specifically for children in 1999.
The wooden box bike has become a familiar sight on the streets of Cambridge
"I just wanted to make my own life easier," he remembers. "I had no intention to make something commercial. It was convenient - and it was easy and cheap to make it using wood."
He said he never imagined breaking into the lucrative £850m Dutch bicycle industry, in which one million bikes were sold in 2016.
"I took the design around but no-one was interested in it at first, so I was obliged to start my own business.
"When other parents said they wanted one too, I ended up making 10 myself. It took off from there."
Hugh Salt, a friend of the inventor, later brought the unusual cycle to Cambridge. Mr Van Andel describes him as "my first British dealer".
Hugh Salt says similarities with Holland make Cambridge ideal for a cycling revolution
Mr Salt now runs a business selling and servicing the bikes in the city's Hope Yard.
He says the rise in popularity of box bikes is down to the cosmopolitan population built around the university and a flat landscape.
"The science park, the university colleges, the hospital - they're all accessible by bike," he says.
"You can be very time efficient down to the last minute."
The ground level of Cambridge station's cycle park is given over to cargo bikes
Parents say the school run has a little more magic when it involves a cargo bike
The city currently has about 80 miles of cycle paths and wider cycle lanes are emerging in many of its commuter routes.
Roxanne De Beaux, of Camcycle, said the city's infrastructure needed improvement to encourage more people to cycle.
"While cycling is very safe it's the perception of danger that people base their decisions on - and sharing space with fast-moving traffic is not pleasant even for experienced cyclists," she said.
"What we need are more protected cycle [routes] with adequate width for these kinds of bikes and for people to cycle alongside each other, especially parents and children."
One of the original sketches Maarten van Andel made in the design of his wooden cargo bike
Dr Emily Dourish uses a cargo bike to ferry Eleanor, aged six, almost two miles each day to school.
Her other daughter Sarah, eight, now cycles separately.
"The best thing is being able to chuck all your stuff in, swimming bags, violins and so on and knowing that they'll stay dry if it rains.
"Now that we have it, I am a complete evangelist. And it keeps me fit.
"It can be a bit scary on windy days - with just two wheels it feels like we get buffeted around sometimes."
Emily Dourish, left, and Sara Lear, right, have become evangelists for the box bike
The question of box bike safety has left some flummoxed.
In 2013, for example, a father on a cargo bike in London made national news after he was pulled over by a police officer wanting to know if it was legal.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said it did not yet have enough information about the safety of cargo bikes to offer a view on them but would keep a watchful eye on their growing use in case any issues emerge.
Although a European safety standard exists for bicycles, there is not one yet written for cargo or box bikes.
In August, the European Standardization Committee began looking at whether a new standard for cargo bikes was needed.
The British Standards Institute said it would be involved in the process. If a new standard was needed, the institute said, it might not be completed until 2020.
Sam Jones, of Cycling UK, said the child-carrying bikes provided a viable and safe alternative to the car.
"The long wheel base and low centre of gravity of most cargo bikes also makes them more stable - and therefore easier to ride and safer."
Although the city is awash with them, Cambridge is not the only place to witness the rise of the cargo bike.
In London, various cycle hire companies offer cargo bikes. In Manchester, university staff can get free use of a cargo bike as part of an EU-funded scheme.
Waltham Forest Borough Council has also got in on the action, beginning a year-long trial this month offering various types of cargo bikes on free short-term loans.
The box bikes come in all shapes and sizes, with larger versions and brands holding four children at a time
But whether the cargo bike is a fad or here to stay remains to be seen.
"When the children were small they loved chatting and singing songs at each other and me, and waving at people like the Queen," Dr Dourish said.
"It's mainly tourists who point and take photos. The novelty has worn off for most Cambridge people."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-40600234
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England cricketer Ben Stokes marries - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The all-rounder, currently under investigation over a late-night brawl, is joined by team-mates.
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UK
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The couple have been engaged since 2013
England cricketer Ben Stokes has married Clare Ratcliffe at a ceremony in East Brent, near Weston-super-Mare.
International team-mates Joe Root, Stuart Broad and Alastair Cook were among the guests at the church service.
Stokes, 26, was arrested last month on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm following an incident outside a nightclub in Bristol.
Earlier this week, his agent said the all-rounder would publicly explain what happened "when the time is right".
Stokes was arrested on 26 September, hours after England's win over the West Indies in their third one-day international, following claims of an early-hours brawl. He was released without charge but remains under investigation.
The Durham star's right hand was clearly bandaged as he arrived for the wedding ceremony, though the bandages appeared to have been removed for the official photographs afterwards.
Stokes's bandaged right hand was apparent in photos taken before the ceremony
Clare Ratcliffe is Stokes's long-term girlfriend and mother of their two children
England cricketers Alastair Cook and Stuart Broad were among Stokes' team-mates at the ceremony
The newly-weds, who have two children, posed for photographs outside the church before going on to a reception at a nearby hotel.
Wicket-keeper Jos Buttler and Durham colleague Paul Collingwood joined the friends and family at the Somerset church, alongside England teammates Eoin Morgan, Graham Onions and Sam Billings.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has said that Stokes will not travel to Australia on 28 October with the rest of the Ashes squad "at this stage", but has not ruled out his selection for the series.
Stokes's agent, Neil Fairbrother, said the cricketer would discuss his version of events in due course, but did not wish to prejudice the investigation.
The 40-minute service was held in the church of St Mary the Virgin in East Brent
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41622899
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Fake holiday sickness couple from Wallasey jailed - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A judge warns other holidaymakers making bogus sickness compensation claims to expect jail terms.
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Liverpool
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The couple boasted about their holiday on social media
A "greedy" couple made "fake" holiday sickness compensation claims while boasting about holidays full of "sun, laughter and fun", a court heard.
Deborah Briton, 53, and partner Paul Roberts, 43, were jailed at Liverpool Crown Court after admitting fraud.
They tried to claim nearly £20,000 saying their two children fell ill on holidays to Majorca in 2015 and 2016.
Judge David Aubrey QC said there had been an "explosion" in gastric illness claims made by UK holidaymakers.
Briton, who was jailed for nine months, and Roberts, who received a 15-month term, bragged about their holidays on social media, the court heard.
The pair, from Wallasey, Wirral, both admitted four counts of fraud in the private prosecution, brought by holiday company Thomas Cook.
Family members, including Briton's daughter Charlene, who had initially been charged with two counts of fraud that were later dropped, shouted out in court as the couple were jailed
The court heard that had they succeeded, the couple would have also cost the holiday firm a further £28,000 in legal expenses.
Judge Aubrey said their claims had been a "complete and utter sham".
"They were bogus from start to finish, you were both asserting on your behalfs and on behalf of your two children that on two separate holidays you had suffered illness.
"They were totally and utterly fake."
He said the claims, made in August last year, must have required planning and premeditation.
He said: "Why? Pure greed. Seeking to get something for nothing."
The judge said those tempted to make a dishonest claim must "expect to receive an immediate custodial sentence" if convicted.
A Thomas Cook spokesman added "We had to take a stand to protect our holidays and our customers from the minority who cheat the system."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-41609527
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Bethnal Green sex assaults: Girl attacked three times in hour - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Police say the teenager, who was on her way home from a night out, may have been drugged.
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London
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Police released CCTV of men they want to trace
A teenage girl was sexually assaulted by three different men within an hour as she walked home from a night out.
Police said the 17-year-old was attacked in Bethnal Green, east London, after becoming separated from friends.
They believe the girl, who was found "distressed" by a member of the public, may also have been drugged.
Images have been released of two men police want to speak to in connection with the attacks, which happened on the night of 29 and 30 September.
Police want to speak to a bearded man who was on a racing bike
The victim was spotted on camera shortly before midnight being carried by a man, who was wearing dark clothing, in Cambridge Heath Road.
The pair appeared to go into a doorway on the same road, and some of the girl's clothing was later found nearby.
Shortly after midnight, the girl was seen on CCTV stumbling down Mint Street, followed by another man on a racing bike who is described as having a beard and wearing a baseball cap backwards and a hooded zipped jacket.
She was then attacked for a second time.
Minutes later, detectives believe the girl suffered a third attack, possibly involving two or three men.
They say she was approached by a third man, who police describe as walking unevenly, "perhaps being slightly bow-legged".
The man with a beard was wearing a baseball cap backwards
Police say she was then found by a member of the public who saw her lying in Corfield Street in "a state of distress" and rang 999.
Det Insp Suzanne Jordan said: "This is a horrific multiple sexual assault on an young female who was simply making her way home after a night out.
"We would like to thank the members of the public who intervened to help her and possibly prevented her ordeal from continuing even further."
She urged anyone with information about the "hideous crimes" to contact them urgently.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41605935
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Baby loss: 'People sharing stories is the biggest comfort' - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Stillbirths are rarely spoken about. But insights from those who have navigated the heartbreaking experience can help parents come to terms with their grief.
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Magazine
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Stillbirth is rarely spoken about. But insights from those who have navigated the heartbreaking experience can help parents come to terms with their grief.
A new website, Stillbirth Stories, which collects detailed interviews with mothers, fathers and clinicians, has been launched to coincide with Baby Loss Awareness Week.
It aims to nurture a conversation about a once-taboo subject. Here are extracts of some of those stories.
"There was a cold cot that I could put Jannah in. She could stay overnight. And that was really lovely - it was special."
At 41 weeks, Rabia went into labour. But in hospital, she and David were told there was no heartbeat. Jannah was stillborn. The couple were able to stay with their baby for two days in the hospital's bereavement suite.
David recalls the time they spent together as a family:
"I was with her for two days in the hospital - they were absolutely amazing, what they did. They had their own bereavement suite, so you [could have] your own time with the baby.
I never let Jannah be on her own at any moment. I wanted someone always with her - even though I knew she had gone. But I always felt that she had the right to be loved for those days - to be hugged and kissed and whatever, and not left alone. Like a baby.
"The bereavement suite had a double bed, so I could stay as well. It was like us three sleeping together. It was quite nice to have her with us as part of our family. We spent a lot of quality time with her [there]. We talked to her, made lots of videos, lots of photography, and tried to keep as much memory of her as [we] could. I don't know if it's odd or not, but I looked at every little part of her, right down to between her toes.
"I've got somewhere I can go, and I know she's there. I can put flowers on her grave - but it's not the same."
Alexis was stillborn at term. It was 1963 and neither Marjorie nor her husband, Alex, were allowed to see, or hold, their baby. It would be another 50 years before they found out where she had been buried.
"I knew Alex had to go and register the baby. I must have said to him: 'What are they going to do with her?' And he just said: 'Well, you know, they're going to have her buried.' We went to the hospital at one point and asked where she was, and they just said that she had been buried somewhere in Stockport, in one of the cemeteries.
"I'd started to have more children, and it was, you know, one day we will find her. Until the day came that we did go and look for her.
"We went to the big crematorium in Stockport, and they sent us to the central library. They said everything was on microfilm, and we looked through it and we found two burials around the time Alexis would have been taken there. She was born on the 15th [of April], there was just this one buried on the 17th - a girl of 31. And underneath it said: "Stillborn". So I knew they'd put a stillborn in the grave. And that's when we went back to the cemetery. I saw a different lady, and she said: 'Oh did they not get the little book out for you? We have a little book for all the stillborn babies.' She brought it, and it was there, and she gave us a grave number."
Stillbirth Stories is a collection of honest interviews from parents and and those who have worked with them. Besides offering emotional support, the site is a learning resource for clinicians. The project is supported by Wellcome.
"We went to look for it, and couldn't find it. There was no stone, it was just grass. Eventually, I did ask if I could put something on [the grave]. They said: 'No. The grave belongs to somebody, it's registered to somebody. You can put flowers on, but no, you can't put anything else on.' So, for a while, I just bought something that you could stick in the grass and put flowers on. Then I got a bit angry about it. I've had a proper stone flowerpot with her name put on it.
"Over the other side [of the cemetery] is where all the babies are buried. And that haunts me - to think that she was just put in a grave with somebody that I don't know. I just hope and pray it never happens to anybody else, because it's one of the cruellest things you can do to a couple. I know I can go there and put flowers on for her, but it's not the same."
"I bathed him for the funeral, which you do in Muslim culture."
Mohammed was stillborn at 27 weeks gestation. Parents Shazia and Omar decided to bury their baby according to the Muslim faith. Shazia says the hospital midwife appreciated the need to have the body released for the funeral as quickly as possible, and helped with the process.
It was Omar who performed the Ghusl - or ritual bath - for the funeral.
"So it was just me and him, and a priest. That was the time, I guess, it was just us two.
"That was the toughest part of all of this for me. That's where, you know, you're sort of past the birth and it's the day of the burial, and the funeral. It's a duty that you need to do. At that time, I guess, religion sort of took on a different aspect for me.
"And it was this grief that actually cemented my religion a little bit: maturing and going through that experience, learning what you do when, when it's your responsibility for the funeral. That point where I was bathing him, was the point where I was close to totally breaking down. But I soldiered through - for want of a better phrase.
"Something that I'm proud of, is that me and Shazia made it through it, having seen some really, really low, low times, to where we are now."
At the time of interview Shazia and Omar had recently had their fourth child.
"I just want people to understand it's much more common than they think. There's like over 300 babies a month stillborn."
Guy was stillborn on 13 November 2015 at 25 weeks and five days, to parents Sam and Martin.
"We had a couple of close friends we'd told at the time [when Guy died]. I just physically couldn't even speak to get the words out to tell people.
"Once he was born, we just decided to use Facebook. We thought that is the quickest way to get the message out there and not have to speak to anybody really.
"I got such an overwhelming response from that. So many people messaged me privately to say that they'd had similar experiences; that they'd had losses, various stages, and that was - I want to say comforting, to know that there were other people out there. But I wondered why nobody had ever said anything. And even then, they were posting it privately to me and I thought, well, tell people.
"It was nice to know that they'd opened up and they'd gone on to have their own children, and were trying to put that little bit of hope out to us.
"People sharing their stories is the biggest help, the biggest comfort - because a lot of people will shy away from it.
"The thing about meeting people online, is that you don't know if they're who they say they are. But these were all genuine people sharing their stories. I ended up meeting a few [of them] at a memorial service. A couple of the girls that I was following were going, so we said we'd meet up there, just to put faces to the names, and the stories. Over the last few months, I've just found my own little group of friends
"I've put [Guy's] story out there quite a lot. I've done a lot of fundraising, mostly for Tommy's. Then we've done some for Aching Arms, because they're the charities we feel have helped us the most."
"We had like a little selection of little knitted dresses, little gowns that a woman had made via a charity"
Petal was born at 23 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy to Aimee and Marc. In the UK, the definition of 'stillborn' is a baby born with no signs of life at 24 or more weeks of gestation. Had Petal been born one day later she would have been legally 'stillborn'.
"Before I was induced, the bereavement midwife come round and she gave us a selection of clothes that Petal could have to wear. She was too small for babygros and things. We'd bought blankets and dolls and things for her [the day before], but none of the clothes would fit her. We had a selection of little knitted dresses, little gowns that a woman had made via a charity. It was really personal to be able to pick something for Petal to wear. So, when I delivered her, Marc bathed her and then dressed her in a little purple, pink gown, with a little hat and gloves.
"It was precious. It's all we have of her. That's the memory that I have of her that feels real - that she was really here.
"She was classed as a late miscarriage instead of a stillbirth. If she would have been born 22 hours later, I would have been able to register her and she would have had her own death certificate. We don't have any legal documentation for her.
"Sometimes I feel like that because she doesn't have a death certificate, she never existed.
"Since I lost Petal, I felt that people pitied me because of that experience, but I don't want to be defined as the mother who lost a child. I'm also a mother of three healthy children as well, who just wants to say that there is help out there for bereaved parents to carry on."
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-41588548
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Magic mushrooms can 'reset' depressed brain - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Psilocybin - the hallucinogenic ingredient in mushrooms - may help in depression, a study suggests.
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Health
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A hallucinogen found in magic mushrooms can "reset" the brains of people with untreatable depression, raising hopes of a future treatment, scans suggest.
The small study gave 19 patients a single dose of the psychedelic ingredient psilocybin.
Half of patients ceased to be depressed and experienced changes in their brain activity that lasted about five weeks.
However, the team at Imperial College London says people should not self-medicate.
There has been a series of small studies suggesting psilocybin could have a role in depression by acting as a "lubricant for the mind" that allows people to escape a cycle of depressive symptoms.
But the precise impact it might be having on brain activity was not known.
The team at Imperial performed fMRI brain scans before treatment with psilocybin and then the day after (when the patients were "sober" again).
The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, showed psilocybin affected two key areas of the brain.
Dr Robin Carhart-Harris, head of psychedelic research at Imperial, said the depressed brain was being "clammed up" and the psychedelic experience "reset" it.
He told the BBC News website: "Patients were very ready to use this analogy. Without any priming they would say, 'I've been reset, reborn, rebooted', and one patient said his brain had been defragged and cleaned up."
However, this remains a small study and had no "control" group of healthy people with whom to compare the brain scans.
Further, larger studies are still needed before psilocybin could be accepted as a treatment for depression.
However, there is no doubt new approaches to treatment are desperately needed.
Prof Mitul Mehta, from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, said: "What is impressive about these preliminary findings is that brain changes occurred in the networks we know are involved in depression, after just a single dose of psilocybin.
"This provides a clear rationale to now look at the longer-term mechanisms in controlled studies."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41608984
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British man falls to death in India on 'middle-aged gap year' - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Roger Stotesbury fell 30ft while taking photos at an Indian temple during a world trip with his wife.
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Oxford
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Roger Stotesbury was on a "middle-aged gap year" with his wife Hilary and they were due to return home this month
A British man has fallen to his death while taking photos at a temple in India during a year-long world trip.
Roger Stotesbury, 56, was visiting Orchha, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, with his wife Hilary on Friday when he plummeted 30ft (9m) from the Laxmi Narayan temple.
The couple, from Oxford, were blogging about their "middle-aged gap year".
The Foreign Office said it was providing assistance to the family of a British man following his death.
Mr Stotesbury's family said the father of two had just finished taking shots of the scenery from the 17th Century temple, about 160 miles south of the Taj Mahal.
The couple had been due to return to the UK this month, after completing their India trip.
Mr Stotesbury was taking photos on first floor of the Laxmi Narayan temple when he fell 30ft
A family spokesman said: "They were the most happily married couple I have ever known. They were just so devoted to each other.
"Roger took lots and lots of photographs, and he had gone to take some views from the temple.
"He put his equipment down and then he fell."
On their blog, Mr Stotesbury wrote that his motto was to "die young as late as possible".
The couple also wrote: "We took the view that on your deathbed you never wish you'd spent more time in the office.
"We've seen our two kids off into the wider world and we have no more caring responsibilities for our parents.
"So we thought now is the time to take a gap year and travel whilst we still have the health and energy. After all you only live once."
In a statement issued on their behalf by the Foreign Office, his family said: "Roger Stotesbury was one of the most enthusiastic men who walked the planet, and was incredibly loved by his wife, children and the surrounding community.
"He brightened every room he entered. He and his wife, Hilary had planned their round-the-world gap year since the beginning of 2016 and set off on 1 November last year.
"They loved the last 11-and-a-half months of energetic travel, exploring from the bottom tip of Patagonia, right up through the Americas, to Canada, Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and finally India."
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are providing assistance to the family of a British man following his tragic death in India on 13 October.
"Our thoughts are with the family at this sad time."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-41621452
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Will fashion brand Marchesa be tainted by Weinstein scandal? - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The label run by Harvey Weinstein's wife is under pressure after sexual assault allegations against the Hollywood producer.
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Newsbeat
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As allegations of sexual assault mount up against Harvey Weinstein, his wife of 10 years has left him.
British fashion designer Georgina Chapman said her "heart breaks" for all the women who suffered pain because of him.
The Hollywood producer's been accused of inappropriate behaviour by a number of actresses, including Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow.
And now the scandal is hitting his wife's fashion label Marchesa - a favourite with stars on the red carpet.
Celebrity fashion stylist Alex Longmore told Newsbeat: "If any celebrity is seen wearing Marchesa at the moment, it's almost like they're slightly supporting what's gone on before.
"Harvey got his leading ladies like Jennifer Lawrence and Nicole Kidman to wear Marchesa. It was a statement and Georgina's brand kind of went hand in hand with Harvey's."
Georgina Chapman is a co-founder of Marchesa, which launched in 2004 - the same year she started her relationship with Weinstein.
The label's dresses cost thousands of pounds and are very popular on red carpet premieres at events like the Oscars and the Golden Globes.
Harvey Weinstein was often seen on the front row at Marchesa fashion shows.
Mandy Moore (second left), Harvey Weinstein, and Anna Wintour attend the Marchesa fashion show during New York Fashion Week 2017
Alex Longmore, who's styled the likes of Little Mix and Emma Bunton, believes actresses in Hollywood may no longer want to wear Marchesa because "they will not want anything to do with Harvey, his entourage or his family".
The celebrity stylist met Georgina Chapman in London and told Newsbeat: "She works very hard. Up until now, her and her business partner have been clever with how they've marketed their brand."
Rita Ora is often seen in Marchesa. She starred in Southpaw alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, which was produced by the Weinstein Company.
Others who have worn the label include Selena Gomez and the Duchess of Cambridge.
The Duchess of Cambridge has worn Marchesa in the past
So how will the allegations against Weinstein affect the Marchesa brand?
An American jewellery company was due to produce a range with Marchesa but in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Helzberg Diamonds said: "The company is not launching the Marchesa brand at this time."
The diamonds are still available on Helzberg's website but without the name Marchesa.
Marchesa has also postponed its Spring Summer 2018 preview.
Brand strategist Andi Davids told Newsbeat that Marchesa needs to do damage control and "make clear that they don't condone his [Weinstein's] behaviour".
"Her brand started to take off right around the same time as their relationship.
"But if it comes out that she didn't know about these types of allegations, people would actually support her as a potential victim as well."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/articles/41600214
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Newspaper headlines: GPs quiz sexuality, and 'divisive' Hammond - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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NHS plans to ask patients about their sexual orientation make Sunday's headlines, as well as reports of a fresh Brexit row.
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The Papers
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The Sunday Times and Mail on Sunday both lead with the story that NHS doctors and nurses in England will be required to ask patients about their sexual orientation.
"Doctors to ask: are you gay?" is the headline in the Mail, which says the "astonishing diktat" has been condemned as "intrusive" and "insulting".
It says: "Never before has the state insisted citizens face a question about their sexual identity." Dr Peter Swinyard, of the Family Doctor Association, tells the Mail that it is "a confounded cheek".
The Sunday Express welcomes life sentences for causing death by dangerous driving.
"For too long", it argues, "the scales of justice have been tipped in favour of those who treat our roads like their own personal race track."
The Sunday Mirror agrees. In its opinion, drivers who kill through a "cavalier" disregard for the lives of others are no less guilty of manslaughter - "because their weapon was a car".
According to the Sunday Telegraph, the Conservatives' allies, the Democratic Unionists, have told Theresa May to sack the chancellor, Philip Hammond, unless he changes his "highly sceptical" approach to Brexit.
The paper says senior DUP parliamentary sources are "deeply concerned" that Mr Hammond is "divisive" and appears to be "trying to frustrate the negotiating process".
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, the former Conservative deputy prime minister, Lord Heseltine, complains that the chancellor is being made a scapegoat and subjected to a "show trial" by Brexiteers.
The Observer tells the prime minister she must silence what it calls the "deluded no-Brexit-deal zealots" in her party.
The Sun on Sunday reports that the chancellor is planning a "daring" November Budget to boost Brexit and save his job, predicting a cut in air passenger duty.
The Sunday Times says plans for a "safety first" Budget have been ditched - and Mr Hammond is planning something "big and bold".
Ideas under consideration, it reports, are lower tax rates for young people and writing off student loans.
Finally, The Washington Post carries a full-page advertisement offering a reward of $10m (£7.5m) for information leading to the impeachment of President Trump.
The ad has been placed by the pornographic magazine publisher, Larry Flynt, who tells the Post he cannot think of anything more patriotic to do than to try "to get this moron out of office".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-41625390
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Newspaper headlines: EU 'enemy' apology and a weekend heatwave - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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Saturday's papers are dominated by the chancellor's apology for calling the EU the "enemy", while temperatures in the UK are set to rise.
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The Papers
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After years of being characterised as dull, it seems Philip Hammond is now in the firing line for being too outspoken.
The chancellor's use of the word "enemy" to describe EU negotiators on Friday is roundly condemned by The Sun. "The Chancellor should be focused on his pivotal budget next month," it says. "Instead he's lurching around, barking randomly. He must shut his gob."
According to The Times, some Tories are pressing the prime minister to sack both the chancellor and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson - a move that they say would reassert her authority, with honour satisfied on both Leave and Remain wings of the party.
"Trump's stance on Iran finds few in accord," says a headline in the Daily Telegraph.
The paper says he was reprimanded by world leaders for refusing to certify the Iran nuclear deal, and was warned he could trigger war.
That is echoed by the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, which says Donald Trump is prepared to risk mayhem to satisfy his ego and erase Obama's legacy.
His "Iran deal bombshell" undermines American credibility and gives North Korea the perfect excuse to avoid deal-making, it says.
One of Iran's biggest selling papers, Hamshahri, says Tehran has replied to Mr Trump's claim that the Revolutionary Guard is a terrorist group - by placing the US military on a list of groups that undermine international security and stability.
The Guardian is among the papers to quote claims that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has floated the idea of stopping people from attending A&E departments unless they have first consulted their GP or called NHS 111.
An NHS England adviser, Dr Helen Thomas, is quoted as telling a conference that Mr Hunt suggested it to her and that the idea could be piloted - although NHS England denies the suggestion.
Meanwhile, the i carries claims that some family doctors have been threatening to remove patients who "check Dr Google" before appointments.
GPs are apparently becoming exasperated by the number of "cyberchondriacs" - people who cannot stop self-diagnosing online.
For the Daily Mirror, the main news is the jailing of a couple from Merseyside who lied about being ill on holiday in an attempt to claim £20,000 in compensation.
Paul Roberts was sentenced to 15 months and Deborah Briton nine months.
It should serve as a warning to other fraudsters, the Mirror says, which adds that it is not a victimless crime - since scammers put up the cost of insurance for everyone else, as well as ripping off hoteliers.
According to the Daily Mail, more than eight in 10 people who drive to work do not know the names of the roads they use, because they rely on sat-navs.
And a study found nine in 10 motorists cannot name the roads around their home for the same reason.
The Daily Star warns readers that after a 25C heatwave over the weekend, 100 mph Hurricane Ophelia will "smash" into our shores.
The Daily Express says Britain is hours away from the worst storm in a decade, calling it "Hurricane Hell".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-41617895
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Liam Gallagher gets to number one on his own - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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The Oasis singer's debut solo album sells 103,000 copies in a single week.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Oasis star Liam Gallagher has topped the charts with his first ever solo album, As You Were.
The record sold 103,000 copies in its opening week, more than the rest of the Top 10 combined.
According to the Official Charts Company, it is the third fastest-selling album of 2017 behind Ed Sheeran's ÷ and Rag'n'Bone Man's Human.
"I want to thank everyone who bought it," said Gallagher. "I want to thank everyone who helped make it."
Gallagher poses with his official number one award
The singer is no stranger to the top of the charts, having scored eight number one albums with Oasis.
The band's third album, Be Here Now, was a sales phenomenon, selling 696,000 copies in just three days - a record that still stands 20 years later.
But Gallagher's subsequent band, Beady Eye, never managed to top the charts. In fact their second album, 2015's BE, has sold fewer copies to date (77,575) than As You Were sold in its first week.
The solo album sees the singer working with a number of established writers, most notably Greg Kurstin, whose previous credits include Adele and Sia, and Iain Archer, who co-wrote James Bay's Hold Back The River.
He's promoted the record with appearances on the Graham Norton Show, Later... With Jools Holland and the Glastonbury festival. The 45-year-old is also due to perform on BBC One's new pop show, Sounds Like Friday Night, next month.
Other new entries in this week's album chart include rapper Giggs, whose new mixtape Wamp 2 Dem is a response to Americans who criticise UK rap.
"People wasn't really respecting England," the South Londoner told Beats One. "Wamp 2 Dem was more showing where we're coming, [explaining that] we're the same as you."
Giggs wants to correct the misrepresentation of UK rap
A-ha, Marilyn Manson, JP Cooper and comedian-turned-crooner Jason Manford also make debuts in this week's Top 10.
The slew of new entries means that last week's number one, Shania Twain's Now, is immediately evicted from the Top 10, landing at number 11.
In the singles chart, New York rapper Post Malone wins a second week at number one with his latest single Rockstar.
The track fends off a challenge from Camila Cabello, whose Latin-tinged single Havana climbs a place to number two; while Dua Lipa's New Rules racks up its tenth week in the top five.
Camila Cabello is about to hit the UK on a promotional tour, which could push her single up to number one
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41613066
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Hurricane Ophelia strengthens before storm reaches UK - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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The UK braces for the tail end of Hurricane Ophelia with high temperatures and winds forecast.
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UK
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The UK is set to experience the tail end of a category three hurricane with high temperatures and wind forecast.
As a result of Hurricane Ophelia, parts of England could see temperatures reach 25C on Sunday beating the 15C average for mid-October.
On Monday some areas of the UK will be hit with winds of up to 80mph (128km/h).
The hurricane will be a storm when it hits the UK, exactly 30 years after the Great Storm of 1987 killed 18 people.
On its way from the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Ophelia is currently blowing winds of 115mph (185km/h) setting the record for the most eastern category three hurricane in the Atlantic.
Category three hurricanes are defined as having wind speeds of between 111mph (179km/h) and 129mph (208km/h) and can cause major damage to well-built homes.
Though it is forecast to gradually weaken later on Sunday, the US National Hurricane Center said Ophelia would still be blowing hurricane-force winds as it approaches Ireland on Monday.
The Republic of Ireland's Met Office has issued a red warning for counties in Munster and Connacht, predicting that coastal areas will be hit by winds in excess of 80mph (130km/h) from 09:00 BST on Monday until Tuesday.
The ferocity of the hurricane will dissipate before it reaches the UK, but Ophelia's remnants are forecast to bring high winds in coastal areas.
Western England, Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland will be most affected by the storm winds.
Weather presenter Michael Fish is remembered for dismissing reports that a hurricane would hit the south of England in October 1987.
The storm is often remembered for BBC Weather presenter Michael Fish dismissing reports that "there was a hurricane on the way".
Although he was right, storm winds of 100mph did batter the south of England, leaving a trail of destruction.
Eighteen people died and 15 million trees were destroyed as a result of the high winds.
It is thought that the storm caused £1bn in damage to property and infrastructure.
The Met Office has issued severe weather alerts ahead of Ophelia and has warned there could be potential power cuts, disruption to road and rail networks, and damage to buildings as a result of Monday's stormy weather.
But parts of England will benefit from the warm temperatures brought by the storm, with areas as far up as Nottingham expected to hit highs of 21C on Monday.
Clouds in central and southern England are expected to break up to provide sunny spells over the course of the weekend.
Some parts of the country have been enjoying a "mini heatwave" already. Ian Senior tweeted a screenshot of the temperature in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, which was 17C on Saturday morning.
Jennie, who lives in Leeds, also wrote on Twitter that she never thought she would be "walk[ing] around bare legged wearing a skirt and short sleeved T-shirt" in mid-October.
But some parts of the country were still waiting for the temperatures to improve. Martin Cluderay, from Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales, posted an overcast scene from the town titled: "Welcome to the heatwave."
West Scotland and Northern Ireland are forecast to receive heavy rainfall on Sunday.
BBC Weather has tweeted that Monday will bring "contrasting fortunes" - wild and windy in some western areas, warm and breezy in the east.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41620071
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Meet some of the UK's oldest university students - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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In your 70s and 80s? Time to start university, say the second-chance students.
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Family & Education
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Freshers' fair? Maureen, a 79-year-old law student, says she had a great time socialising
What does a student look like?
Forget the stereotypes. Think of diversity in a different way. And meet some of the country's oldest undergraduates.
Maureen Matthews is starting a three-year law degree at the tender age of 79.
She's not even the oldest student on her new course at the University of West London in Brentford.
Sitting next to her in lectures is 84-year-old Craigan Surujballi.
This isn't dabbling in learning with an evening course - it's an intensive, full-time degree, studying alongside people with ambitions to become lawyers.
"You may look at me and see an older face - as may many young people," says Maureen.
Craigan and Maureen have begun a three year, full-time law degree
"But through my eyes I'm experiencing the same aspirations that I had before.
"It's always been to engage in involving myself in education," she says.
Maureen says older people should not be intimidated by the prospect of learning in an environment traditionally associated with the young.
Think of the law school film Legally Blonde, but in terms of overturning ageism rather than sexism.
"All older people are capable of being up for a challenge. They've been through life where they've had to meet many challenges," says Maureen.
If there are practical problems, such as mobility, she says they are never insurmountable and help is available.
The law class at the University of West London has a much wider variety of ages than usual
"I would say to older people, recognise the fact that your hearing may have decreased, your eyesight may not be as good as it was before, maybe you can't use the computer very well, but think about strategies that will enable you."
This extended to taking part in the freshers' week events for new students, which she says gave her a chance to socialise with other new students at the university.
But this is not a sugar-coated story.
Craigan came to England from the Caribbean in the early 1960s, after a long journey by sea.
Forget your stereotypes about age, says Millie Mbabazi: "It is literally just me, but older."
He says it was a time of much discrimination, in housing and work, but he had a deep hunger to keep studying and educating himself.
He was in his 30s before he studied for his A-levels - but his ambition to become a lawyer eluded him.
At least until now. Even if he doesn't get to practise as a lawyer, he says he might be able to help with legal problems at a Citizens Advice office.
When about half of young people now go into higher education, it's easy to forget how much university was once out of reach for the vast majority of people.
Law lecturer Mike Derks says the different age groups fit together "seamlessly"
In the 1950s, when Craigan and Maureen were in their 20s, there were fewer than 20,000 student places each year.
Even though the number of older students has increased, it's still only a relatively tiny number grabbing this second chance to learn.
The most recent figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show there were 25 students starting full-time undergraduate degrees after the age of 70, out of a cohort of almost half a million.
However, the fees system is in many ways more generous to older students. There is no upper age limit on loans to cover tuition fees - and with repayments based on earnings, it's unlikely that many pensioners will ever pay back what they have borrowed.
"It's crazy how much they know," says Patrice Murdoch, impressed by her older classmates
The University of West London is unusual in the extent of the diversity of its intake. This is a long way from the Pimms and ivy-clad-buildings end of higher education.
Almost three-quarters of students here are over the age of 21 when they enter.
It has one of the highest proportions of state school pupils - 98% - and more than half of students are from ethnic minorities and from families where no-one has previously been to university.
The university has other students beginning degree courses at a time of life when some of their age group would be thinking about early retirement.
Rita is also studying law - and is a university student at the same time as two of her daughters.
Rita says she wants to study law to help women in her community
She wants to study law because of the injustices she says she has seen facing women in her community, particularly over issues such as domestic violence.
Clifford, sitting with her in the university cafe, worked when his son was going through university.
Now it's his turn and he wants to be able to understand the law so that he can stand up for people more effectively as a union representative.
Law lecturer Mike Derks says the range of ages "fit together quite seamlessly".
Clifford is taking his chance at university, after seeing his son getting a degree
Teaching older students is very rewarding. "They seem to get more out of it. It's unusual, but they're still very engaged."
But what do the young students make of finding themselves alongside classmates old enough to be their grandparents?
"At first it was quite weird. But it was actually quite good, because you admire them," says Patrice Murdoch.
Omar Idrees says the determination of older students to learn is an inspiration
"It shows you can start education at any age and you can always go back. It's crazy how much they know. It makes us look not so up with it," she says.
"If anything I feel it's inspirational that they can come back into education and they always seem to have more knowledge," said Millie Mbabazi.
"I don't have any negative stereotypes about older people. It is literally just me, but older."
Omar Idrees says: "Maureen and Craigan are an inspiration to all of us.
"They've proved to us that no matter how old you are, no matter what life has put you through, you can walk in and say, 'This is what I've always wanted to do. I'm still young, I can still do it.'"
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-41573213
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Where can you spend your old pound coins? - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The deadline for spending old pound coins is almost here, so what can you do with any coins you still have?
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UK
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The deadline for spending your old pound coins is looming large, but what happens if you find a stash of cash after they're no longer legal tender?
So you finally get around to lifting up the cushions on the sofa while vacuuming, and the good news is that you find some pound coins lurking in the nooks and crannies.
This scenario is perfectly possible, with the Royal Mint estimating there are £500m of old-style coins still in circulation.
The bad news is that after Sunday, the old pound coins can't be spent any more because they've been replaced with shinier, newer ones, which are harder to copy illegally.
However, all is not lost - there are still a few ways you can use those tiny golden nuggets.
Poundland will wait a bit longer for people to crack open their piggy banks in the hunt for old coins
The coin is king at the Poundland chain of shops, and 850 stores around the country will continue to accept the old pounds. Branded the "Legal Tender Extender", the initiative runs until 31 October.
Poundland's managing director Barry Williams describes the chain as "the official home of the pound" (which may be news to the Treasury).
He added: "It's a no brainer that we offer all Brits the opportunity to spend their hard-earned round pounds for longer."
Hands up if you've found a shopping trolley that accepts the old pound coin
Supermarkets are counting down to the changeover.
Tesco says it will accept the old coins at the till and in its vending machines one week beyond the deadline, to "do right" by its customers.
Lidl's trolleys can accept both new and old coins, but the old ones will not be accepted at their tills.
However, Sainsbury's have taken the national deadline to heart. Its trolleys already now only accept the new pound coins, and old pound coins will not be accepted at its tills.
The Federation of Small Businesses has advised its 170,000 member businesses to continue accepting the coinage "at their discretion".
A spokesman added that many businesses "could choose to continue accepting", so long as they "only bank them" given the "vast amount" still in operation.
If you find old pounds after the deadline, don't worry - Pudsey will take them off your hands
The Royal British Legion is running the #poppypound campaign, making old pound coins available for donation until Remembrance Sunday on 12 November.
The old coins can be taken to Legion branches in Plymouth, Southampton, Brighton, Swindon, Bristol, London, Colchester, Cardiff, Aylesbury, Derby, Birmingham, Belfast, Merseyside, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle.
And they'll be accepted by poppy sellers, who will be taking donations on the streets.
Claire Rowcliffe, director of fundraising at the Legion, says the charity will be "delighted to turn your out-of-date pounds into poppies".
Other charities are also running similar initiatives - these include the Rainbow Trust Children's Charity, Stratford Town Trust, Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation, and Epilepsy Action.
The new pound coins are harder to counterfeit
The Money Saving Expert website reports that Barclays, Halifax, Lloyds, Nationwide Building Society, Natwest, RBS and Santander will continue to accept the old pounds.
However, this will only be as deposits from their own customers.
The word from the Post Office is that some branches will accept the old-style coins as deposits, but best to check if your local is one of the obliging branches.
But before you go handing over those unloved coins, do take a closer look.
Some specific types of the old pound coin are worth a lot more than just a quid. The Edinburgh City coin, for example, is worth up to £50 if it's in excellent condition.
Perhaps you should check the kids' piggybank just one more time.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41592643
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World Cup 2018: Does height matter in football? - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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The ex-Scotland boss claimed his team failed because they were shorter but does it really make a difference?
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Scotland
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Gordon Strachan said genetics were to blame for Scotland's failure to beat Slovenia
The claim: Gordon Strachan, the former manager of Scotland, said after the country's failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia that his team lacked the height and strength to compete, saying that Scotland were the second-shortest team "in the last campaign".
Reality Check verdict: In recent years, Scotland have been among the shortest teams in Europe, when measuring average height of the squad - but not the second-shortest. However, height in football doesn't necessarily lead to success.
After failing to lead Scotland to victory in their must-win World Cup qualifier against Slovenia, where did ex-manager Gordon Strachan lay the blame?
Scotland's opponents might not have been technically superior, but they had "height and strength" the Scots had been unable to combat, Strachan said.
"Genetically, we are behind," he said. "In the last campaign we were the second-smallest, apart from Spain."
Strachan's comments sparked a debate in the football world about whether Scotland, or any football team, needed more height in their team to succeed.
Reality Check looked at whether Strachan has a point.
Little and large. Shaun Wright-Phillips and Peter Crouch training for England.
Slovenia are one of the tallest teams in Europe. Scotland's starting XI in Ljubljana were, on average, more than 3cm (1in) smaller than their opponents.
Strachan's team, featuring players with an average height of 180.1cm, are actually in the top 10 of the "shortest" teams in Europe this year, according to research by the International Centre for Sport Studies (CIES) football observatory.
In fact, by the average measure, they are surpassed - or maybe undercut - by only Cyprus, Israel and Armenia, level with Spain.
Based on research by the CIES, which excludes seven countries (none of whom qualified), only two of the 10 shortest teams - Spain and France - will qualify for Russia 2018.
The height of footballers does not necessarily reflect the national trend. Dutch men are the tallest in world, but their football team is currently one of the shortest in Europe.
Lionel Messi, in action here for Argentina against Ecuador, is 170cm (5ft 6in) tall.
Seven out of the 10 tallest teams in 2017, excluding the World Cup hosts Russia, either qualified automatically - Serbia, Iceland, Belgium and Germany - or made the play-offs - Sweden, Greece and Denmark.
So it's certainly true that in the run-up to the World Cup, some of the tallest teams in Europe were in form this year.
But it's difficult to say whether these teams were successful because of their stature.
Strachan also claimed that Scotland had been the second-shortest team in their previous qualifying campaign (for Euro 2016). But they were in fact the sixth-shortest in 2015. The eventual winners of the tournament were Portugal, who were also one of the shortest teams, suggesting height was not necessarily a bar to success.
Globally, the top 10 shortest teams in 2015 contained some of the most successful football nations, and four World Cup winners: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Spain.
Among the tallest countries, there was only one previous World Cup winner: Germany.
At the top of the list, with an average height of 1.86m, was Serbia.
Who has the tallest team? Average heights of European national teams in 2017.
This article has been updated since its original date of publication to reflect new data.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-41549709
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Mallima speed! How to decode North Korea's rhetoric - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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What does North Korea mean when it says someone is thrice-cursed?
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Asia
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Pyongyangites go about their daily business with the Tower of Juche in the background
North Korean media often dips into its own vocabulary to describe what's going on in the country, using words like "Songun" and "Juche" on a daily basis.
These expressions appear as part of the glorification of its leadership, while colourful language such as "thrice-cursed" is used against the US, Japan and South Korea.
As the communist country marks the founding anniversary of its ruling Workers' Party, here is a selection of some frequently-used ideological phrases and what they mean to the outside world...
Songun is North Korea's military-first policy, started by then leader Kim Il-sung in 1960 as a way to rule the country.
State media showered praise on his son and successor, the late Kim Jong-il, on 8 October this year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of him becoming the Workers' Party general secretary. "His outstanding political calibre was fully displayed in strengthening the WPK into a guiding force of Songun (military-first) revolution", a report in KCNA news agency said.
"The Day of Songun" is a national holiday in North Korea, marked on 25 August.
The Songun policy is being taken forward by Kim Jong-il's son and current leader Kim Jong-un, who has expedited the pace of the country's nuclear and missile programmes despite international warnings and sanctions.
This refers to North Korea's ideology of self-reliance, named by founder Kim Il-sung.
The word was also used extensively in state media coverage of the Workers' Party plenum held on 7 October. References included remarks by Kim Jong-un urging "unyielding efforts" to develop the economy and make it "Juche-based".
A monument called the "Juche Tower" is located in Pyongyang.
North Korea also uses the Juche Calendar, which came into effect in 1997. It starts with the birth of founder Kim Il-sung in April 1912. For example, the year 2017 is written as Juche 106 in state media reports.
Kim Jong-un has expanded on Juche and Songun to justify the country's nuclear weapons programme
This is North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's signature policy, which seeks simultaneous development of nuclear weapons and the economy.
At a rare party congress in May 2016, Kim pledged to pursue the policy, which was first announced in 2013.
At the recent party plenum on 7 October, Kim Jong-un said the "prevailing situation and the reality" had shown that the party was "absolutely right" to do so, KCNA reported.
Chollima is an imaginary horse with wings which can run at least 400 km a day.
North Korea launched the Chollima Movement in the late 1950s as an economic campaign to rebuild its economy after the 1950-53 Korean War.
North Korea has a Chollima Steel Complex which is one of the biggest plants in the country.
Mallima also refers to an imaginary horse, but one that can run very long distances at extremely fast speeds - 10 times faster than Chollima.
The "Speed of Mallima" is often used in the media to coax North Koreans to work harder to achieve the country's economic goals.
In March, ruling party paper Rodong Sinmun wrote: "To be riders and front-runners in the Mallima movement is the bounden duty and noble obligation of our generations who were born in the motherland of Juche and grew up learning the epic of the Chollima age."
The Chollima horse is fast, but it's not Mollima Speed
These words have been coined in praise of late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, and refer to their philosophies of Songun and Juche.
State media say these form the basis of the country's path and are responsible for its advances as a "nuclear power" despite threats by the US.
"Korean-style socialism has victoriously advanced along the orbit of Juche... which no formidable enemy dares to provoke. This is a clear proof of the validity and vitality of great Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism", an article in Rodong Sinmun said in late March.
Both leaders also have flowers named after them. A special orchid has been named Kimilsungia after the country's founder, while Kimjongilia is a red begonia.
These campaigns are a method employed by the North Korean regime to mobilise its people to maximise production in a fixed period of time.
In 2016, North Korea organised the so-called 70-day and 200-day campaigns of "loyalty", in an attempt to give out the impression that it was unaffected by international sanctions over its nuclear and missile tests.
Similar campaigns are mentioned in the media in the event of droughts or floods to project the country's strength in overcoming natural disasters.
Portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il hang from every public building and in every home
This refers to a period of severe famine in North Korea in the 1990s, which led to the death of around three million people in the country.
The phrase was used extensively in the state media in early 2017 to prepare the people for economic difficulties owing to international sanctions.
The ruling Kim family is described as the "Mt Paektu bloodline" in the country. Only members of the Kim family (Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il and now Kim Jong-un) have ruled the country since its establishment in 1948.
The phrase "Mt Paektu bloodline" is used to encourage ordinary North Koreans to pledge loyalty to their leadership. The "Great persons of Mt Paektu" are the three rulers of the Kim bloodline, plus Kim Jong-suk who was Kim Il-sung's first wife and Kim Jong-il's mother.
Mount Paektu, on the Sino-North Korean border, is the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula. It is considered to be the mythical birthplace of the Korean people, and is also showcased as the "sacred origin" of Kim Il-sung's Korean revolution.
According to North Korean propaganda, Kim Jong-il was born in Samjiyon on the mountain, although he's widely considered to have been born in Russia.
Mount Paektu is a volcano which last erupted over 1,000 years ago
This refers to a phrase used in the North Korean media which means that if a serious - usually ideological - crime is committed by a person, the punishment will be meted out to three generations of the family.
The phrase has been used frequently to lash out at state enemies. Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye (already the daughter of thrice-cursed Park Chung-hee) has been attacked in North Korean media as "paying dearly for her thrice-cursed crimes as she had turned south Korea into a graveyard of freedom".
US President Donald Trump was also on the end of KCNA's sharp tongue. It called his speech at the UN "thrice-cursed sophism made by the mentally deranged hooligan".
This is a term used to describe the appearances by North Korean leaders. The activities are a useful way for North Korea watchers to track the leaders' whereabouts in the secretive society, and also get an insight into their health.
State media regularly releases reports and photos on the activities of current leader Kim Jong-un.
Interestingly, North Korean leaders are always quoted as giving guidance during their inspections of military or economic facilities, and are surrounded - without fail - by men in uniform taking notes.
On-the-spot guidance with a nuclear bomb and the ever-present notepads
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41566753
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Ivory Coast crash: Four die when cargo plane plunges into sea - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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Four Moldovans are killed and four French nationals are among the six injured.
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Africa
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Mobile phone footage shows the wreckage of the cargo plane
A cargo plane has crashed into the sea off Ivory Coast, close to Abidjan airport, killing four people and injuring six.
The wreckage of the turboprop plane, which was carrying 10people, was swept toward a beach where rescuers treated surviving crewmen on the sand.
All four of the dead are Moldovan while four French nationals and two Moldovans were injured.
Local police told AFP the aircraft had been trying to land when it crashed.
Rescuers used a cable to pull the wreck towards the shore
According to local news site Ivoire Matin one person was taken into custody after the crash. It is unclear if they are a member of the crew.
Reuters news agency reports that the plane crashed during a storm with heavy rain and lightning.
The plane was a Ukrainian-made Antonov chartered by the French army as part of its anti-jihadist Operation Barkhane, a French military source told AFP.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41620589
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Canadian hostage Joshua Boyle says Taliban killed daughter - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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Joshua Boyle says captors also raped his wife, during their five-year Afghan kidnap ordeal.
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US & Canada
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Joshua Boyle said he hoped his family could rebuild a normal life
A Canadian held hostage by the Taliban has spoken of the group's "stupidity and evil", revealing they murdered his daughter and raped his wife.
Joshua Boyle spoke to reporters after landing in Canada with his wife Caitlan Coleman and children following almost five years in captivity.
They were captured while reportedly backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012.
Ms Coleman's father has said the decision to visit the dangerous country was "unconscionable".
Both sets of parents have previously questioned why the couple were in Afghanistan in the first place.
"What I can say is taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place is to me and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable," Jim Coleman told ABC News following their rescue on Wednesday.
"I can't imagine doing that myself. But, I think that's all I want to say about that."
However, Mr Boyle told reporters at Toronto's Pearson International Airport the couple had been trying to deliver aid to villagers in a part of the Taliban-controlled region "where no NGO, no aid worker, and no government" had been able to reach when they were kidnapped.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "It was amazing" - Boyle's parents relive the moment they heard of his release
Ms Coleman was heavily pregnant at the time with their first child. This week, they returned with three children, all born in captivity, the youngest of whom is understood to be in poor health.
In his statement, Mr Boyle appeared to suggest they had had a fourth child, a baby girl who had been killed by their captors, the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network, as he also revealed they had raped his wife.
It was, he said, "retaliation for my repeated refusal" to accept an offer made to him by the network.
"The stupidity and the evil of the Haqqani network in the kidnapping of a pilgrim... was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter," he said.
"And the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife, not as a lone action by one guard, but assisted by the captain of the guard and supervised by the commandant."
The family were finally rescued by the Pakistani army after a US tip-off during an operation near the Afghan border.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. File video of Joshua Boyle and his wife Caitlan Coleman while in captivity
Initial reports suggested Mr Boyle had refused to board a US military flight out of Pakistan.
Mr Boyle was once married to a woman who espoused radical Islamist views and is the sister of a former Guantanamo Bay inmate, Omar Khadr. CNN suggested he might fear prosecution by the US authorities.
But Mr Boyle rubbished the reports after arriving in Canada.
He said the family were looking to put their terrible ordeal behind them and the couple were now hoping "to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41620131
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'First female nipple' broadcast in daytime TV advert for breast cancer - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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The advertisement for breast cancer awareness was seen on TV on Friday and will be fully broadcast on Monday.
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UK
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The CoppaFeel! advert encourages people to check themselves for signs of breast cancer
The first advertisement to appear on UK daytime television with a female nipple fully visible has been broadcast, with the full advert being shown on Monday.
Created for the CoppaFeel! charity, it is being shown during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
It was broadcast on Good Morning Britain on Friday, during a discussion about the disease with the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, with one person diagnosed every 10 minutes, with almost all of them women.
TV stars AJ Odudu and Olivia Buckland feature in the advert
The advert encourages people to examine their own breasts to check for signs of irregularities, which could be symptoms of cancer.
It shows inanimate objects being touched, as well as men and women touching their own chest and nipples.
Scheduled to run on TV and in cinemas, in 60 and 40-second versions respectively, it will not be shown in or around children's programmes.
It also shows inanimate objects, encouraging viewers to explore them by touch
Natalie Kelly, CEO of CoppaFeel!, said: "In demonstrating the power of our hands and celebrating our touch as the best tool for checking, we hope to encourage more young people across the UK to adopt a healthy boob-checking habit, which could one day save their life."
One in eight women in the UK will develop breast cancer in their lifetime.
Some 5,000 people will be diagnosed during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Survival rates for the disease are improving, and have doubled in the last 40 years in the UK.
Almost nine in 10 women survive breast cancer for five years or more, while every year about 11,400 people die from breast cancer in the UK.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A BBC News animation shows how you should check your breasts
See your GP if you notice:
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41611952
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Why Pinterest boss Tim Kendall takes a daily ice bath - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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A daily ice bath is "like having morning coffee", the tech giant's president Tim Kendall tells the BBC.
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Technology
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When you think of the giants of Silicon Valley, Pinterest may not immediately spring to mind.
But with 200 million active users and a recent valuation of $12.3bn (£9bn), the platform that started out in 2012 as a quirky online scrapbook has quietly become a hot commodity for advertisers and investors alike.
Perhaps that's why Pinterest president Tim Kendall chooses to keep his cool with a daily ice bath.
And the BBC's Zoe Kleinman found out that's not his only unusual routine...
Zoe Kleinman: Is it true that you have an ice bath every morning?
Tim Kendall: I now have a freezer on my back deck that I put water into, and now I get into that because the bath with ice wasn't quite cold enough. So, it continues to escalate.
It's like people having coffee in the morning. It's a slightly more extreme version of that.
It gives me a lot of energy, wakes me up, resets my mind and my body. Our days are long and intense and I find that if I do it I feel better throughout the day.
My children love it. They like to talk to me while I'm in it, they ask how much it hurts, they dip their fingers in and then shake and say "Argh, it's so cold!" They're pretty entertained by it but I don't know how long that's going to last.
I do ask them every once in a while, "Hey, do you want to get in?" And they are very clear that they do not want to get in it.
ZK: You are renowned for always wearing a T-shirt with the word "Focus" on it. You're wearing one today - what's that about?
TK: It's a shirt that I've been wearing for almost five years. It's not the same shirt but it says the same word on it.
It started as a bet with a colleague of mine, seeing who could wear the shirt for longer. He and I kept wearing it and eventually I kept wearing it longer.
The whole point is that we philosophically think that if you do fewer things, you can do those fewer things much better than if you are spread across too many things.
It's important that we remind ourselves of that. Sometimes I'm not great at focusing but if I put this shirt on every day, in a small part it reminds me that I need to stay focused and remember to say "No" a lot, which I think most people - including myself - are not great at.
ZK: You don't allow laptops or mobile phones in meetings. Isn't that unusual for a tech boss?
TK: I don't stick to my own rules as much as I like to.
I think that in my experience, if you're having a meeting there's probably important information - hopefully. If it was set up thoughtfully, the right people are in it and the agenda is right, it should be content you should be paying attention to and if you're on your phone or on your laptop you are definitely not paying attention to it.
I've been in meetings where I've been on my laptop and I've missed critical information that I needed to hear, so we try to make it somewhat informal but a bit of a rule that we try to to follow, so we're all engaged with each other.
When you leave the meeting, get back on your laptop, get back on your phone. But when you're in the meeting, be in the meeting.
• None Are photos the future of search?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41611854
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Original Asterix illustration sells for 1.4m euros in Paris auction - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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It was signed by both the creators of the iconic French comic book series.
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Europe
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The French-Belgian comic book series Asterix has been translated in to more than 100 languages
A signed original illustration for an early Asterix comic book cover has sold for more than 1.4m euros (£1.25m; $1.7m), auctioneers in Paris say.
The record sum was more than seven times the expected price.
The drawing for the 1964 comic Asterix and the Banquet (Le Tour de Gaule in French) was signed by the creators of the series, Albert Uderzo and Rene Goscinny.
Hundreds of millions of Asterix books have sold since the series began.
Set in 50BC, their stories centre around Asterix, a Gaul, and his sidekick Obelix, as they attempt to stave off Roman invasion with the aid of a potion that confers superhuman strength on the drinker.
Mr Goscinny died in 1977 and Mr Uderzo handed the reins to other artists six years ago.
The auction house Drouot said that both men signed the illustration, dedicating it to Pierre Tchernia, a French TV and cinema producer.
Another illustration dedicated to the same man sold for nearly 1.2m euros.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41618156
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Iraq conflict: Peshmerga 'deadline to leave Kirkuk' passes - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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Kurdish fighters say they are preparing to defend their positions against Iraqi forces.
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Middle East
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Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have been ordered to defend Kirkuk "at any cost"
A deadline allegedly set by Iraq's central government for Kurdish fighters to withdraw from key sites in the disputed city of Kirkuk has passed.
Kurdish security officials said the deadline had been set for early on Sunday but Iraqi authorities denied it.
Some reports now suggest the deadline has been extended by 24 hours.
Both sides have sent troops to Kirkuk and brief clashes have already erupted between Kurds and Shia militia backing the government.
Peshmerga fighters say they are preparing to defend positions in the city against possible attack by Iraqi forces.
Tensions have been on the rise since Kurds held a referendum on independence last month, which Iraq called illegal.
The Iraqi parliament asked Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send troops to Kirkuk and other disputed areas after the official referendum results - which overwhelmingly backed independence - were proclaimed.
The referendum was held in three autonomous provinces of Iraqi Kurdistan, but also in nearby Kurdish-held areas including Kirkuk.
The province, which bears the same name as the city, is thought to have a Kurdish majority, but Kirkuk has large Arab and Turkmen populations.
On Saturday, there was a brief outbreak of fighting near Kirkuk, with each side blaming the other, reports the BBC's Orla Guerin in Iraq.
Mr Abadi said last week he would accept disputed areas being governed by a "joint administration" and that he did not want an armed confrontation.
On Thursday, the prime minister and the Iraqi military reiterated that they had no plans for a military operation in Kirkuk and were focused on recapturing the last IS foothold in Iraq near the border with Syria.
But since then there has been a major build up of Iraqi forces around the city and Kurdish officials say the Peshmerga have been ordered to defend their positions "at any cost".
The oil-rich Kirkuk province is claimed by both the Kurds and Baghdad, though the two sides were recently united in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces took control of much of the province in 2014, when IS militants swept across northern Iraq and the army collapsed.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-41621754
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Hull Fair ride failure leaves dozens trapped 70ft in air - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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More than 30 people are stuck for five hours on a fairground ride in Hull because of a fault.
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Humberside
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Riders were trapped 70ft up in the air after the Power Tower ride malfunctioned
More than 30 people were trapped in mid-air for five hours when a fairground ride broke down.
A fault with the Power Tower ride at Hull Fair on Friday left the riders, aged between nine and 60, stranded about 70ft (21m) in the air.
Firefighters used an aerial platform to rescue those stuck on the ride.
The organisers of Hull Fair have apologised, saying a computer malfunction had caused the automatic brakes to activate.
Hull City Council said the ride would remain closed on Saturday to allow the owners to conduct "thorough and rigorous tests to find the cause of the computer system failure".
Firefighters used an aerial platform to rescue those stuck on the ride
Incident commander for Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, Phil Leake, said the ride became stuck at about 19:00 BST and the last riders were taken off at about 01:00.
"We used our aerial platform - it's like a very large cherry picker," he said.
"We had to position that at certain points around the ride and then start to gradually take people off."
Riders were given drinks and blankets as the fire service worked to remove them from the ride.
Mr Leake paid tribute to those trapped, saying: "I would like to pass on my thanks to the members of the public that were on that ride.
"They were extremely patient and calm through the whole very long timescale of the incident."
A spokesperson for Hull Fair said: "We can only apologise for inconvenience caused.
"Unfortunately rides, whether they are located in a theme park or fairground, can break down."
Hull City Council said: "We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this closure, however the safety of visitors to Hull Fair is a top priority for both the council and fairground operators."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-41620731
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Carrying acid in public could lead to six months in jail - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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The victim of an attack tells the BBC those carrying out such assaults should face a life sentence.
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UK
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Adele Bellis says the consequences of the attack are "always going to be with me."
People caught twice carrying acid in public should receive a mandatory six-month prison sentence, the Home Office has proposed.
It is aimed at curbing the number of acid attacks committed, which has more than doubled in five years.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said she intended to ban the sales of corrosive substances to under-18s.
Survivor Adele Bellis told BBC Radio 5 live that those who carry out acid attacks should face a life sentence.
Between November 2016 and April 2017 there were 408 attacks, of which about 21% were committed by under-18s.
Speaking to the BBC News Channel, actor and youth campaigner Theo Johnson said there needed to be more education about the consequences of carrying out acid attacks.
"People don't look for the future, so they'll do something today and not think about the lifetime effects of it happening."
Ms Rudd said the government was sending a message that "the cowards who use these [acids] as weapons will not escape the full force of the law".
The new legislation would make it an offence to possess a corrosive substance in public.
An individual caught with the substance would have to prove they had good reason for possessing it.
If a person is caught twice with acid, they would serve a minimum six-month sentence if over the age of 18.
At this year's Conservative Party conference, the home secretary announced plans to ban sales of the substance to under-18s, saying that acid attacks were "absolutely revolting".
Recent years have seen a number of high-profile acid attacks across the UK.
Adele Bellis was waiting for a bus to work on 14 August 2014 when her life was changed forever.
A man paid £500 by the then 22-year-old beautician's abusive ex-boyfriend, Anthony Riley, hurled sulphuric acid at her from a sports drink bottle as she stood at the bus stop.
The corrosive substance destroyed her right ear and scarred the right side of her head and neck, her arm and chest.
The government's plan would see those caught simply carrying a corrosive substances face a mandatory six-month term for a second offence.
But acid attacks are usually charged as grievous bodily harm (GBH), which can carry a life sentence.
Riley was later jailed for life, with a minimum term of 13 years, after being convicted of conspiracy to commit GBH.
Jason Harrison, then 28, who admitted carrying out the attack in Lowestoft, Suffolk, was sentenced to four years for the same crime.
Ms Bellis told BBC Radio 5 live the government's plan was "a start" but there was currently "no consistency" in sentences for those carrying out attacks.
She said: "It's going to get worse if nothing gets done. How many acid attacks does it need for something to be done about it?
"There is no consistency in the acid attack sentences. I think that acid attacks should have a separate law. At the minute you just get done for GBH.
"There should be a separate acid attack charge and I believe there should be a life sentence in there, whether you chuck it or you conspired in it.
"We are scarred for life."
Home Office minister Sarah Newton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We treat it as seriously as we treat knives.
"So we are introducing this possession offence with a similar regime to that of knives so that if you are caught a second time in possession you have a mandatory sentence."
Detective Superintendent Matt West, the Metropolitan Police's lead on corrosive-based crime, told the programme that 20% of crimes involving acids were robberies.
John Biggs, elected Labour mayor of the London borough of Tower Hamlets, said there was a "massive fear" of acid attacks.
He told BBC Radio 5 live he wanted more to be done, including looking at reintroducing a registration system for sellers of harmful substances.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What should you do in case of a chemical burn?
Sales could also be restricted to people using credit or debit cards, so their identity is known, Mr Biggs added.
Asked whether the proposals risked increasing controversial "stop and search" tactics by police, he said: "Stop and search is a complicated issue and of course there has been a backlash of people feeling it's a way of labelling and targeting particular communities.
"But when I talk to the parents of people who have been injured, from whatever cause, they want bad people to be stopped.
"So it is an area where we know there is a gang problem, I think there is a wider social acceptance that we should be scrutinising people's behaviour."
In 2014 Andreas Christopheros, from Truro in Cornwall, was attacked at his front door with sulphuric acid in a case of mistaken identity.
He was left with permanent facial scarring and he remains blind in one eye.
Mr Christopheros said: "[The acid attack] impacted every aspect of my life.
"From the moment I've woken up, every morning it takes me about half an hour to regain my sight.
"I've lost my eyelids three times now from the contractions of the scars."
The proposed legislation on acid would mirror the 'two strikes' rule which makes knife possession an offence.
The Home Office is also considering criminal proceedings against online retailers who deliver knives to a buyer's home.
It is hoped the measure would curb the sale of blades to children or teenagers.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41614990
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Penguins die in 'catastrophic' Antarctic breeding season - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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Only two chicks survived in a colony of 36,000 in a "catastrophic" breeding season in east Antarctica.
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Science & Environment
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It is the second catastrophic season for the southern penguins in five years
All but two Adelie penguin chicks have starved to death in their east Antarctic colony, in a breeding season described as "catastrophic" by experts.
It was caused by unusually high amounts of ice late in the season, meaning adults had to travel further for food.
It is the second bad season in five years after no chicks survived in 2015.
Conservation groups are calling for urgent action on a new marine protection area in the east Antarctic to protect the colony of about 36,000.
WWF says a ban on krill fishing in the area would eliminate their competition and help to secure the survival of Antarctic species, including the Adelie penguins.
Adelie penguins pictured at the French monitoring station in Dumont d'Urville in east Antarctica
WWF have been supporting research with French scientists in the region monitoring penguin numbers since 2010.
The protection proposal will be discussed at a meeting on Monday of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).
The Commission is made up of the 25 members and the European Union.
"This devastating event contrasts with the image that many people might have of penguins," Rod Downie, Head of Polar Programmes at WWF, said.
"The risk of opening up this area to exploratory krill fisheries, which would compete with the Adelie penguins for food as they recover from two catastrophic breeding failures in four years, is unthinkable.
"So CCAMLR needs to act now by adopting a new Marine Protected Area for the waters off east Antarctica, to protect the home of the penguins."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41608722
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Harvey Weinstein: 'Business as usual' at Weinstein Co, brother insists - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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Harvey Weinstein's brother Bob insists their production company is not facing closure or sale.
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US & Canada
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. On some red carpets, Harvey Weinstein is not a welcome subject
Harvey Weinstein's brother, Bob, has denied media reports that the film production company they co-founded could be closed or sold.
"Our banks, partners and shareholders are fully supportive of our company," he said in a statement. "Business is continuing as usual."
The company fired Harvey Weinstein on Sunday amid a slew of sexual harassment allegations.
The claims have prompted police investigations in both the US and UK.
On Friday, the scandal surrounding Weinstein - who produced films including Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - deepened when he was accused of rape by US actress Rose McGowan.
Bob Weinstein co-founded the studio with his brother in 2005
He was already facing claims of rape, sexual assault, groping and harassment.
Weinstein, who is believed to be in Europe seeking therapy, has insisted through a spokeswoman that any sexual contacts he had were consensual.
Since the avalanche of claims began, the company has been trying to disassociate itself from its co-founder and save the business, reports say, with efforts made to buy Harvey Weinstein out, rebrand and keep creative partners on board.
But reports in the Los Angeles Times said that financers had begun to pressure the company to sell and potential buyers were circling.
The Wall Street Journal also reported the company was "exploring a sale or shutdown" and was "unlikely to continue as an independent entity".
The Weinstein Company fired Harvey Weinstein last weekend, but there remains intense speculation about its future
The company is thought to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars but before the recent allegations had already faced questions about its future prospects amid increasing competition from media streaming services.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs said on Friday it was investigating options to sell the small stake it holds, citing the reported "inexcusable behaviour".
On Saturday, the organisers of the Oscars film awards will hold emergency talks amid speculation it could suspending Harvey Weinstein's membership. Bafta, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, has already done so.
The New York Times broke the story on 5 October when it detailed decades of allegations of sexual harassment against Weinstein.
Since then police forces in the US and UK have launched investigations into sexual assault allegations against Weinstein:
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41617349
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Leah Dixon and Jasmine Agnew traced in Falkirk - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Leah Dixon and Jasmine Agnew were reported missing after failing to return to their homes in Renfrewshire.
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Glasgow & West Scotland
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Two schoolgirls who had been reported missing have been found "safe and well".
Leah Dixon, 14, and Jasmine Agnew, 12, were reported missing on Friday night after failing to return to their homes in Renfrewshire.
Police said they believed they may have travelled to the Falkirk area. Officers said they had been found there.
Leah's mother Pauline Dixon appealed on Facebook for help in tracing her daughter.
Police Scotland thanked the media for their help in tracing the girls.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-41623309
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Jeremy Corbyn: Let workers control robots - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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The Labour leader warns about the rise of robots and suggests firms like Uber could be run as co-ops.
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UK Politics
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Robots in the workplace should be owned and controlled by workers rather than bosses, Jeremy Corbyn will suggest.
The Labour leader, who has previously warned of the risk to jobs of automation, will say new technology has led to "a more rapacious and exploitative form of capitalism".
He will also suggest "gig economy" firms like Uber could be replaced by co-operatives.
Drivers would collectively agree their own pay and conditions, he will say.
Earlier this year, a study by accountancy firm PwC said robotics and artificial intelligence could affect almost a third of UK jobs by the 2030s, with "more manual, routine jobs" which "can effectively be programmed" the most at risk.
The report also said automation could create more wealth and additional jobs elsewhere in the economy.
Speaking to the Co-operative Party Conference in London on Saturday, Mr Corbyn will return to his warning made in Labour's conference about the possible impact on workers.
Labour does not "have all the answers" but is "thinking radically" he will say, pointing to the party's Alternative Models of Ownership report, launched last month.
To prevent "the rise of the robots" only benefitting "a powerful and wealthy few", the report suggests "putting the ownership and control of the robots in the hands of those who work with them," he will say.
"The technology of the digital age should empower us both as workers and consumers, allowing us to co-operate on a scale in a way that wasn't possible in the past," he will add.
"And yet too often it has given rein to a more rapacious and exploitative form of capitalism."
Mr Corbyn will criticise the wages and conditions offered by the likes of cab-hailing app Uber and food delivery service Deliveroo.
Such companies say their drivers and riders are self-employed and therefore can work when they want - and in return for that flexibility they do not get the same benefits as full-time staff.
Mr Corbyn will say: "Imagine an Uber run co-operatively by their drivers, collectively controlling their futures, agreeing their own pay and conditions, with profits shared or re-invested.
"The biggest obstacle to this is not technological, but a rigged economic system that favours wealth extractors not wealth creators."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41614820
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Philip Hammond says his remarks were a poor choice of words - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The chancellor later tweeted that his comments were a "poor choice of words".
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Business
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The chancellor has labelled the European Union's Brexit negotiators as "the enemy" - a remark he subsequently described as a "poor choice of words".
During a television interview, Philip Hammond also called the negotiators "the opponents" and said they should "behave like grown-ups".
But he tweeted later: "I was making the point that we are united at home. I regret I used a poor choice of words."
Mr Hammond is in Washington for an International Monetary Fund meeting.
He has been criticised for saying that the Brexit process has created uncertainty, and this week a former chancellor claimed he was trying to sabotage the talks.
During a series of media interviews in Washington, Mr Hammond told Sky News that "passions are high" in the party "but we are all going to the same place".
But he added: "The enemy, the opponents, are out there on the other side of the table. Those are the people that we have to negotiate with to get the very best deal for Britain."
Despite his regrets, Mr Hammond's comments drew fire from political opponents. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said it was an "inept approach from a failing government. Insulting the EU is not the way to protect our economic interests".
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During his interviews, the chancellor also has described as "bizarre" and "absurd" accusations he is talking down the economy.
Mr Hammond said he was a realist and that he wanted to "protect and prepare" the economy for the challenges ahead.
The chancellor said: "It is absurd to pretend that the process we are engaged in hasn't created some uncertainty. But the underlying economy remains robust.
"I am committed to delivering a Brexit deal that works for Britain," he added.
He refused to answer how he would vote if another referendum was held now. "We've had the referendum," he said. "You know how I voted in it."
This week, former Conservative Chancellor Nigel Lawson called for Mr Hammond to be sacked, saying he was unhelpful to the Brexit process.
Lord Lawson said: "What he [Mr Hammond] is doing is very close to sabotage".
Responding to these comments, Mr Hammond said: "Lord Lawson is entitled to his view on this and many other subjects and isn't afraid to express it, but I think he's wrong."
The chancellor, who has been accused of being too pessimistic about Brexit, told the Treasury Committee of MPs this week that a "cloud of uncertainty" over the outcome of negotiations was "acting as a dampener" on the economy.
But speaking on Friday, Mr Hammond said he was optimistic about the UK's economic future and was in Washington to promote it.
"What I'm doing here in Washington is talking Britain up, talking about Britain's future as a champion of free trade in the global economy, seeking further moves on liberalisation on trade in services which will hugely benefit our economy."
He added that Britain had "a very bright future ahead", but added that it was "undoubtedly true" that the process of negotiations had created uncertainty for business.
"If you talk to businesses, they would like us to get it done quickly so that they know clearly what our future relationship with the European Union is going to look like."
Mr Hammond said the Cabinet was united behind Prime Minister Theresa May's recent speech in Florence setting out her Brexit plans.
"We know what our proposal is, we put it on the table effectively. Now we want the European Union to engage with it… challenge us… but let's behave like grown-ups." he said.
Mr Hammond said the government would not spend taxpayers' money preparing for a "no-deal" Brexit until the "very last moment".
He said he would not take money from budgets for other areas such as health or education just to "send a message" to the EU.
One former minister, David Jones, has said billions of pounds should be set aside in November's Budget for a "no deal" scenario.
He argued that if this did not happen it would be seen as a "a sign of weakness" by EU leaders, who would think the UK was not serious about leaving the EU without a deal.
• None Hammond's 'last moment' plan for 'no deal'
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41608243
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First commercial flight lands on remote St Helena - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Commercial jet lands for the first time on airstrip branded the "world's most useless airport".
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Africa
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. First commercial flight touches down at "the world's most useless airport"
The first scheduled commercial airline service to the remote British island of St Helena in the south Atlantic has touched down safely.
The virgin flight, an SA Airlink service from South Africa, ends the island's long-standing reliance on a ship which sailed every three weeks.
It is hoped that the service, funded by the UK, will boost tourism and help make St Helena more self-sufficient.
But British media have dubbed it "the most useless airport in the world".
The opening of the airport was delayed by problems with wind
Built with £285m ($380m) of funding from the UK Department for International Development (Dfid), the airport should have opened in 2016, but dangerous wind conditions delayed the launch.
After further trials this summer, the weekly service between Johannesburg and St Helena was passed as safe.
As seen from inside the cabin, the first ever commercial flight lands at St Helena Airport
St Helena had for decades been one of the world's most inaccessible locations, served only by a rare ship service from South Africa.
It is chiefly known as the island to which French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled after his defeat in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, and where he died.
The Embraer E190-100IGW aircraft took off from Johannesburg on Saturday morning, carrying 78 passengers. It reached St Helena in the afternoon after stopping in the Namibian capital, Windhoek.
"I for one am getting really excited about the new chapter in St Helena's history," said St Helena governor Lisa Phillips.
Previously travel to and from the tiny island, with its population of just 4,255, was only possible on the RMS St Helena, which took around six days to complete the journey from South Africa.
The ship's final voyage is scheduled for February.
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St Helena relies on British aid of £52m a year and officials hope increased tourism will make it more self-sufficient.
"This is an important moment in St Helena's route to self-sufficiency," a Dfid spokeswoman said.
"It will boost its tourism industry, creating the opportunity to increase its revenues, and will bring other benefits such as quicker access to healthcare for those living on the island."
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According to a report in The Guardian newspaper, the island's diverse geology and wildlife, such as the whales that gather off its coast, may appeal to visitors.
But "more flights will have to be added if the airport is to be deemed a success - and not an expensive white elephant", the report said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41620003
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The UK city where sex work is banned, but hasn't stopped - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Hull is the UK's only city to have banned sex workers from its red light district. The council says the policy is working. An ex-sex worker disagrees.
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Magazine
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Hull is the UK's only city to have banned sex workers from its red light district, effectively making prostitution illegal. The council says the policy is working, but Millie, who once worked on the streets herself, says it increases the danger for the women involved.
Sex work "slithered" into Millie's life when she was in her twenties. "It happens quite slowly at first and then all of a sudden you're in this mad cyclone and you can't find your feet, you get lost," she says.
The cocky bravado of the women in Hull's red light district made it seem like an easy way of funding her drug addiction. But now, with more than five years on the streets behind her, she knows all that banter is just body armour against the violence and vileness that comes with the job.
"Oh, you must love sex," punters would say with a smirk. "No. I love heroin," was Millie's sharp retort. "There is no love of sex, working on the streets - it's always a last resort."
Millie's drug addiction began as a teenager, when she would steal her mum's sleeping pills and Valium. When her mum's mental illness was at its height, she would whisper menacing things through Millie's bedroom door at night: "There's evil inside you, I can see it. You are a demon, spawned from demon seed." The pills helped to block it all out. From there she graduated to ecstasy, opioids - and eventually, heroin.
"Then you get trapped in addiction because you end up needing the drugs to get through it, to block out the things you've had to do," says Millie.
She remembers how women would steel themselves for a night on Hessle Road - Hull's red light district - telling themselves that they wouldn't do anything for less than £60. But their resolve would weaken as soon as withdrawal symptoms set in. "When you're rattling you'll get in that car for less than £20 - you'd do it for a fiver, simple as that," says Millie.
When we meet, Millie has just finished reading a book about the Victorian serial killer, Jack the Ripper, and can relate to his victims. "Back then we were referred to as 'unfortunates'," she says. "We have different names now but still the same social problems: the poverty, the addiction, the violence."
In Hull, the fishing industry and the sex trade have always been intertwined, she says, the poorest women in the fishing community at risk of sliding into prostitution. Millie knows lots of sex workers today whose fathers were trawlermen in the 1970s, when the industry went into steep decline.
"Generation after generation of women from these fishing families are working the streets - it is a terrifying prospect."
But while Hull has celebrated its fishing heritage with statues and murals as UK City of Culture this year, it takes a hard line on the sex trade. Three years ago - not long after its status as 2017's city of culture had been confirmed - it became the only local authority in the UK to effectively make prostitution illegal.
An end-of-terrace mural on Hessle Road, created for Hull's year as UK City of Culture
It did this by obtaining powers from the county court to issue injunctions under Section 222 of the Local Government Act 1972, to people found loitering, soliciting or having sex in the Hessle Road area. If they continue their anti-social behaviour they have broken the injunction, and can be arrested, prosecuted, and even jailed.
The policy currently affects more than 100 women. Last year the Lighthouse Project, a charity, had contact with 113 women working on the streets of Hull, and another 15 who had stopped - either temporarily or permanently. Women who break free may be back in a few years, charity workers say.
Millie, who has been out of the sex trade and clean from drugs for about 10 years, says Section 222 has forced the sex workers out of sight, making their lives more dangerous. To dodge police, they work increasingly in back streets or on isolated industrial estates - areas that are poorly lit and away from surveillance cameras.
"Even without Section 222 to contend with, it's lonely, it's frightening, it's degrading - and it's a secretive life," Millie says.
"I can understand that Hull City Council wants to clean up the streets, but I think the best way to do that is not an Asbo, or to victimise victims, I think it is to provide support and proper treatment and look at the social issues - the homelessness, the domestic violence, the exploitation, the drug addiction, the mental health problems."
Millie is one of 11 women who worked with the Lighthouse Project to produce An Untold Story, a book documenting the reality of being a sex worker in Hull. In the three-and-a-half years it took to prepare, five women working on the streets were murdered. Another 11, including two of the book's contributors, died from other causes - pneumonia, drug overdoses or other conditions resulting from years of sex work, and drug or alcohol abuse.
Sorry. It's only one word containing five letters. It's not enough, it will never be enough.
I miss being a mum. It's down to me that I'm not any more. I hold my hands up to all the mistakes and bad decisions I've made, but it's not enough. It will never be enough.
It's not just birthdays, but the silly little things, like making up daft songs about what we were having for tea and singing them all the way home from the shops. Or writing teeny tiny letters from the tooth fairy in minuscule writing, thanking them for an incredible tooth and to keep up the good work. That their tooth would be used to help build the fairy kingdom.
I miss being a Mum. My memories of my three children are tainted by guilt, filled with shame, saddened by regret.
Since the policy came into force, 29 women have been arrested and served with court orders and four have been prosecuted. Two women have been sentenced to jail; one to 14 days, the other to one month, though her sentence was suspended for a year. Five women are currently waiting for a court date. "Sending them to prison for two weeks won't do anything and it isn't even enough time to provide rehabilitation," argues Millie, who served short sentences in prison herself, and would go back on the streets the day she was released.
A couple of times a month, Millie goes out at night on a Lighthouse Project bus. Women who board it are given condoms, hot drinks and information on dangerous individuals - passed on by Ugly Mugs, a charity that collects reports of incidents from sex workers and fields them out to warn others.
"They come to unburden their day - they're telling me their problems and they're the same ones I faced," says Millie. She commiserates with them on painful anniversaries - the day their children were taken away by social services, or the last time they spoke to their parents.
But since Section 222 came into force, women have been more afraid to use outreach services, says Emma Crick, who led the Untold Stories Project.
During the day, Hessle Road is a busy shopping street
"Many times when I have been working in evening outreach, police are around and appear to be waiting for the women to get on or off the vehicle so they can target them," she says.
As a result of the strong police presence, Hull's sex workers have also become more dispersed, making it harder to offer them support services, Crick says.
The director of Ugly Mugs, Georgina Perry, says the charity has received just two incident reports for Hull in 2016/17 - well below average for a city of its size. In Nottingham, a similarly-sized city, 35 incidents were reported during the same period, she says.
"What we see in every authority where there is a heavy-handed enforcement approach is that the number of reports [to Ugly Mugs] goes down and the number of women then willing to take it to the police goes down too, because they are frightened about criminalisation," she says.
Perry brands Hull council's approach to sex workers a "quick and dirty way of superficially dealing with a problem that is about poverty and deprivation".
You're usually "sorting somebody out" [buying their drugs]. I was sorting out my boyfriend, and a couple of his mates. There's always spongers who just soak up everything that they can get hold of, drug-wise.
A lot of fellas, they say, "I'm looking after our lass," and, "I'm looking after my girl." No they're not! They don't want to miss out, so they need to be there when the punter drops her off. If not, they might not get anything.
By contrast, Graham Paddock, anti-social behaviour team leader at Hull City Council, says the ban has "been a success so far" and was renewed in December 2016 for another three years.
"We had reports of sexual intercourse in gardens and against fences, so we had to do something to protect the community," he says.
"We are never going to stamp out prostitution in Hull entirely, but at the end of the day we have to send a message out that that kind of behaviour will not be tolerated."
Doing sex work is known in Hull as "going down the lane", after the former red light district, Waterhouse Lane
Residents reported an improvement after the policy based on Section 222 was introduced, he says.
But is this a case of "victimising victims", as Millie puts it?
"I can see that argument, but I guess our number one responsibility is the local community being affected," Paddock replies.
He adds that police tactics have changed over time, so that it isn't just the women who are targeted.
"When it first came into place in 2014 we were concentrating a lot on the girls themselves, but it was always intended for anyone - whether it be pimps, partners, boyfriends - so I've noticed there's been a change recently where more punters are actually being served with the orders now."
No men have yet been prosecuted, however.
Slum housing on the edge of the red light district has been demolished in recent years, to make way for modern homes
A multi-agency group made up of representatives from the police, the council and charities - including the Lighthouse Project - is now meeting to discuss the best way of using Section 222, while also supporting the women involved in sex work. But Millie is frustrated that no-one with experience of sex work has been invited to take part. She thinks she could have made a useful contribution.
She would have argued that if the goal is to protect the local community, then the women and most of their clients are also members of the local community. And she would have underlined that they can be helped to find a way out of prostitution.
"The saying 'once a junkie always a junkie' isn't true - you can break free from addiction," she says. It wasn't easy - she relapsed many times - but after moving into a hostel and getting the right counselling, she started to claw back control of her life.
She remembers the first time she decided not to use her money to buy heroin - she bought a necklace instead. It was a silver cross with her mum's birthstone in it - amethyst.
"I remember the pride I felt - I wasn't used to feeling pride, it was an emotion I'd lost long ago."
Kate's been my ever-patient mentor for all the years I've volunteered for Lighthouse...
We continue our walk up the main road of the red light district in Hull, towards the next working girl, stood on the next street corner. The Lighthouse car pulls up in front of us again, playing a crazy game of leap frog with us, keeping Kate and I within sight.
Another working girl opens the side door as we arrive at the car. She's in a hurry so she just needs a hot drink and a goody bag, then she's on her way.
For the next two hours we stop and talk to every working girl we see. Most we know. Some are new.
When the night shift is over and I'm snuggled up under the duvet with my dog curled up behind my knees, my husband breathing rhythmically sleeping beside me, a man who's never once thrown my past in my face, I once again realise how fortunate I am.
Millie's name has been changed
See also: My work as a prostitute led me to oppose decriminalisation
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-41533411
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Hogwarts Express rescues family stranded in Highlands - BBC News
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2017-10-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The train featured in the Harry Potter films picked them up after their canoe was swept away.
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Highlands & Islands
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The Harry Potter train made an unscheduled stop close to the bothy
A family stranded in the Scottish Highlands have been rescued by the "Hogwarts Express" steam train.
Jon and Helen Cluett and their four young children were staying at a remote bothy in Lochaber when their canoe was swept away by a swollen river.
Facing a long walk back to their car across boggy land, they phoned the police for advice.
To their delight, they arranged for the steam train used in the Harry Potter films to pick them up.
The train, called The Jacobite, is used for excursions on the West Highland Railway Line, crossing the iconic Glenfinnan Viaduct that also features in the movies.
The Jacobite crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct, made famous by the Harry Potter films
The Cluetts and their children - aged six, eight, 10 and 12 - were enjoying a half-term break at the Essan bothy, on the south shore of Loch Eilt.
"You can get to it by quite an arduous walk in - or you can paddle for 10 minutes in a canoe across the loch from the road. We had a canoe so we paddled across the loch to the bothy," explained Mr Cluett.
"We were all in the bothy, warm and fed - all was good - but we'd moored the boat in a little burn behind the bothy, tied it to a wall, pulled high out of the water. My daughter woke up yesterday and says 'Daddy, Daddy - the stream is massive'.
"The burn was overflowing. The entire area was underwater. The rocks I'd tied the boat to were pulled apart and the boat was gone."
The bothy, in the distance, is easily accessible by canoe but less so on foot
The family weighed up their options for getting back to their car. A three-mile walk with small children across difficult boggy ground or along the nearby railway line were discounted as impractical or too dangerous.
"In the end I decided the only option was to phone the police and mountain rescue, ask if they have any local knowledge that could help us out," said Mr Cluett.
The police came back with a magical solution. They arranged for the next train on the railway line that runs close to the bothy to make an unscheduled stop.
"The amazing thing was it wasn't just any train. The next train that was passing was the Jacobite steam train - the Harry Potter, Hogwarts Express steam train that goes up and down that line."
The family hurriedly packed up their belongings and made their way to the line, about 400 metres way.
"We threw all our stuff into some bags and boxes and ran out of the door of the bothy at the same time as the train is coming around the tracks,' said Mr Cluett.
"The train is getting closer, we're running down, stuff bouncing everywhere, big smiles on the kids faces. It all started to be fun at that point.
"I'm slightly sad because I'd lost my boat - but the kids, when they saw the steam train coming, all sadness left their little faces and was replaced by excitement and fun - just the real joy of having an adventure and having the train stop right next to them."
The adventure turned out more magical than anyone expected
The family were dropped off at the next stop, at Lochailort, from where Mr Cluett was able to hitch a lift to retrieve his car.
He reflected: "The kids have certainly had an adventure. We've all had an adventure - a big thanks to everyone who helped us."
His only regret is that his canoe has still not turned up - although he remains hopeful someone will find it.
"I think it will still be bobbing around in the loch somewhere. A big red canoe - so if you see it, that would be helpful. That would make the last part of the story even better."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-41621266
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MPs can stop no-deal Brexit, says Labour's McDonnell - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Labour will work with others to stop the UK leaving the EU without a deal, the shadow chancellor says.
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UK Politics
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Leaving the EU without a deal was "not a realistic option", Mr McDonnell claimed
Parliament can stop the UK leaving the EU without negotiating a deal, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said.
There was not a Commons majority for such an outcome, he told the BBC, and Labour would work with other parties to stop the "damage" it would cause.
He urged ministers to "come to their senses" and publish legal advice about what was owed in financial liabilities.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the UK will "succeed come what may" but he was confident of a "sensible deal".
Dismissing Mr McDonnell's comments as "complete nonsense", he told the Andrew Marr show on BBC One that it was a "legal reality" that the UK would be leaving at the end of March 2019 after Article 50 was triggered earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Brexit minister Robin Walker has suggested the three million citizens of other EU countries currently living in the UK will be able to stay regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, telling Pienaar's Politics on BBC Radio 5 live "yes, people will be allowed to stay".
Prime Minister Theresa May has said she believes the two sides will reach a deal but the UK must prepare for all eventualities.
As it stands, the UK will leave the EU in March 2019 whether it agrees a deal on the terms of withdrawal or not.
But Mr McDonnell said he could "not countenance" such a situation and Parliament had the power to force the government to conceded a "meaningful vote" on the terms of exit, by amending the EU Withdrawal Bill or other relevant legislation related to Brexit.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What practical steps are being taken to prepare for the possibility of no deal?
"I don't think no deal is a realistic option," he said. "There are enough sensible people in the House of Commons to say 'this cannot happen, we cannot damage our country in this way'."
Urging ministers to stop "fighting" among themselves and focus on what was best for the economy, he added: "They should come to their senses, behave responsibly and look after the interests of the country."
He called on ministers to publish legal advice about the size of the so-called divorce bill, saying the UK should honour its obligations but the final figure should not be anywhere near the £60bn quoted in some quarters.
The government has appointed a Brexit "contingency minister" and will spend £250m this year on preparing for the UK's exit, including the possibility of it leaving without an official deal.
Speaking on the same programme, Mr Grayling said talks were always going to be "long and challenging" and it was fanciful to suggest the two sides would "shake hands and do a deal in half an hour".
The airline industry was confident things would continue as normal, Mr Grayling said
While he believed that the two sides would ultimately reach agreement, he said Labour was wrong to argue for a deal in any circumstances and he was not personally afraid of the UK leaving the EU without one.
"Britain will succeed come what may but I don't think we will come to that. I think we will agree a sensible trading partnership... because it is in both of our interests for this to happen."
He rejected suggestions that flights would be grounded - as one major airline has suggested - in the event of a no-deal Brexit, insisting "people will be able to carry on making their bookings".
Asked about reported cabinet divisions, Mr Grayling said ministers were "not clones" but there was a spirit of collaboration and Philip Hammond, criticised in recent days for being too gloomy, should remain as chancellor.
Amid talk of supporters of a "soft Brexit" joining forces to put pressure on the government, ex-Tory education secretary Nicky Morgan said most MPs wanted "a sensible deal that protects our economy and supports jobs".
While the UK would be "resilient" whatever happened, she told ITV's Peston on Sunday that she was dismayed that some of her colleagues were talking up a no-deal Brexit as a "favourable outcome".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41627340
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Hogwarts Express rescues family stranded in Highlands - BBC News
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2017-10-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The train featured in the Harry Potter films picked them up after their canoe was swept away.
|
Highlands & Islands
|
The Harry Potter train made an unscheduled stop close to the bothy
A family stranded in the Scottish Highlands have been rescued by the "Hogwarts Express" steam train.
Jon and Helen Cluett and their four young children were staying at a remote bothy in Lochaber when their canoe was swept away by a swollen river.
Facing a long walk back to their car across boggy land, they phoned the police for advice.
To their delight, they arranged for the steam train used in the Harry Potter films to pick them up.
The train, called The Jacobite, is used for excursions on the West Highland Railway Line, crossing the iconic Glenfinnan Viaduct that also features in the movies.
The Jacobite crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct, made famous by the Harry Potter films
The Cluetts and their children - aged six, eight, 10 and 12 - were enjoying a half-term break at the Essan bothy, on the south shore of Loch Eilt.
"You can get to it by quite an arduous walk in - or you can paddle for 10 minutes in a canoe across the loch from the road. We had a canoe so we paddled across the loch to the bothy," explained Mr Cluett.
"We were all in the bothy, warm and fed - all was good - but we'd moored the boat in a little burn behind the bothy, tied it to a wall, pulled high out of the water. My daughter woke up yesterday and says 'Daddy, Daddy - the stream is massive'.
"The burn was overflowing. The entire area was underwater. The rocks I'd tied the boat to were pulled apart and the boat was gone."
The bothy, in the distance, is easily accessible by canoe but less so on foot
The family weighed up their options for getting back to their car. A three-mile walk with small children across difficult boggy ground or along the nearby railway line were discounted as impractical or too dangerous.
"In the end I decided the only option was to phone the police and mountain rescue, ask if they have any local knowledge that could help us out," said Mr Cluett.
The police came back with a magical solution. They arranged for the next train on the railway line that runs close to the bothy to make an unscheduled stop.
"The amazing thing was it wasn't just any train. The next train that was passing was the Jacobite steam train - the Harry Potter, Hogwarts Express steam train that goes up and down that line."
The family hurriedly packed up their belongings and made their way to the line, about 400 metres way.
"We threw all our stuff into some bags and boxes and ran out of the door of the bothy at the same time as the train is coming around the tracks,' said Mr Cluett.
"The train is getting closer, we're running down, stuff bouncing everywhere, big smiles on the kids faces. It all started to be fun at that point.
"I'm slightly sad because I'd lost my boat - but the kids, when they saw the steam train coming, all sadness left their little faces and was replaced by excitement and fun - just the real joy of having an adventure and having the train stop right next to them."
The adventure turned out more magical than anyone expected
The family were dropped off at the next stop, at Lochailort, from where Mr Cluett was able to hitch a lift to retrieve his car.
He reflected: "The kids have certainly had an adventure. We've all had an adventure - a big thanks to everyone who helped us."
His only regret is that his canoe has still not turned up - although he remains hopeful someone will find it.
"I think it will still be bobbing around in the loch somewhere. A big red canoe - so if you see it, that would be helpful. That would make the last part of the story even better."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-41621266
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The city where children go to school in a plywood box - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Cambridge has the highest concentration of box bikes of any place of its size outside the Netherlands.
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Cambridgeshire
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Nobody knows exactly how many cargo bikes are out there but more than 500 of just one brand have been sold in Cambridge
There's a new kid on the school run block - the cargo bike. And in one particular university city, parents are eagerly embracing them.
"Initially the kids thought it was magic - now it's just part of the furniture."
Dr Sara Lear is the proud owner of a "box bike" which was designed in the Netherlands in the late 1990s for ferrying children around.
While most are two-wheeled, hers is a three-wheeled model used to transport Dan, aged eight, Susie, six, and five-year-old Jim on their two-mile (3.2km) daily trip to school in Cambridge.
"They like taking friends for rides and they like that it saves them the legwork, the lazy worms," she joked.
The box bike has a large wooden container between the handlebars and the front wheel.
It is a descendant of the cargo bike, which has an illustrious history as the delivery vehicle of choice for butchers and bakers for more than a century.
Collectively known as "bakfietsen" - Dutch for box bikes - there are now a variety of versions on the market costing £1,500 or more.
The twist with the modern-day box bike is that children have become the cargo.
Maartin van Andel said he made the first wooden box bike for children in 1999
Nobody knows exactly how many cargo bikes are out there.
The reason for this is that most are built by boutique makers and largely sold by independent bike shops rather than large chains.
Independent market researchers Mintel said the cargo bike share of the £1bn annual UK bike industry was not yet large enough to claim a bar on a chart.
Steve Garidis, operations director at the Bicycle Association, said although it is known that 95% of all bikes on sale are imported, the breakdown of what types of bikes are being brought in is hard to pinpoint.
He said getting better data was something the association was "trying to tackle".
Exact numbers aside, what is clear is that Cambridge is home to a cargo bike boom.
The ground level of the city's railway station cycle park is given over entirely to cargo bikes.
And the original box bike company, Bakfiets, said it had sold more of its box bikes in the university city - more than 500 to date - than in any other place of its size outside its native Netherlands.
The idea of marrying a wooden box with a standard push bike for the school run came from an unlikely source - an expert in prosthetics.
Maartin van Andel, who lives in Amsterdam, wanted a means of taking his children to school without having to drive his car. The answer was the box bike.
He said he made the first wooden one specifically for children in 1999.
The wooden box bike has become a familiar sight on the streets of Cambridge
"I just wanted to make my own life easier," he remembers. "I had no intention to make something commercial. It was convenient - and it was easy and cheap to make it using wood."
He said he never imagined breaking into the lucrative £850m Dutch bicycle industry, in which one million bikes were sold in 2016.
"I took the design around but no-one was interested in it at first, so I was obliged to start my own business.
"When other parents said they wanted one too, I ended up making 10 myself. It took off from there."
Hugh Salt, a friend of the inventor, later brought the unusual cycle to Cambridge. Mr Van Andel describes him as "my first British dealer".
Hugh Salt says similarities with Holland make Cambridge ideal for a cycling revolution
Mr Salt now runs a business selling and servicing the bikes in the city's Hope Yard.
He says the rise in popularity of box bikes is down to the cosmopolitan population built around the university and a flat landscape.
"The science park, the university colleges, the hospital - they're all accessible by bike," he says.
"You can be very time efficient down to the last minute."
The ground level of Cambridge station's cycle park is given over to cargo bikes
Parents say the school run has a little more magic when it involves a cargo bike
The city currently has about 80 miles of cycle paths and wider cycle lanes are emerging in many of its commuter routes.
Roxanne De Beaux, of Camcycle, said the city's infrastructure needed improvement to encourage more people to cycle.
"While cycling is very safe it's the perception of danger that people base their decisions on - and sharing space with fast-moving traffic is not pleasant even for experienced cyclists," she said.
"What we need are more protected cycle [routes] with adequate width for these kinds of bikes and for people to cycle alongside each other, especially parents and children."
One of the original sketches Maarten van Andel made in the design of his wooden cargo bike
Dr Emily Dourish uses a cargo bike to ferry Eleanor, aged six, almost two miles each day to school.
Her other daughter Sarah, eight, now cycles separately.
"The best thing is being able to chuck all your stuff in, swimming bags, violins and so on and knowing that they'll stay dry if it rains.
"Now that we have it, I am a complete evangelist. And it keeps me fit.
"It can be a bit scary on windy days - with just two wheels it feels like we get buffeted around sometimes."
Emily Dourish, left, and Sara Lear, right, have become evangelists for the box bike
The question of box bike safety has left some flummoxed.
In 2013, for example, a father on a cargo bike in London made national news after he was pulled over by a police officer wanting to know if it was legal.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said it did not yet have enough information about the safety of cargo bikes to offer a view on them but would keep a watchful eye on their growing use in case any issues emerge.
Although a European safety standard exists for bicycles, there is not one yet written for cargo or box bikes.
In August, the European Standardization Committee began looking at whether a new standard for cargo bikes was needed.
The British Standards Institute said it would be involved in the process. If a new standard was needed, the institute said, it might not be completed until 2020.
Sam Jones, of Cycling UK, said the child-carrying bikes provided a viable and safe alternative to the car.
"The long wheel base and low centre of gravity of most cargo bikes also makes them more stable - and therefore easier to ride and safer."
Although the city is awash with them, Cambridge is not the only place to witness the rise of the cargo bike.
In London, various cycle hire companies offer cargo bikes. In Manchester, university staff can get free use of a cargo bike as part of an EU-funded scheme.
Waltham Forest Borough Council has also got in on the action, beginning a year-long trial this month offering various types of cargo bikes on free short-term loans.
The box bikes come in all shapes and sizes, with larger versions and brands holding four children at a time
But whether the cargo bike is a fad or here to stay remains to be seen.
"When the children were small they loved chatting and singing songs at each other and me, and waving at people like the Queen," Dr Dourish said.
"It's mainly tourists who point and take photos. The novelty has worn off for most Cambridge people."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-40600234
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England cricketer Ben Stokes marries - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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The all-rounder, currently under investigation over a late-night brawl, is joined by team-mates.
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UK
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The couple have been engaged since 2013
England cricketer Ben Stokes has married Clare Ratcliffe at a ceremony in East Brent, near Weston-super-Mare.
International team-mates Joe Root, Stuart Broad and Alastair Cook were among the guests at the church service.
Stokes, 26, was arrested last month on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm following an incident outside a nightclub in Bristol.
Earlier this week, his agent said the all-rounder would publicly explain what happened "when the time is right".
Stokes was arrested on 26 September, hours after England's win over the West Indies in their third one-day international, following claims of an early-hours brawl. He was released without charge but remains under investigation.
The Durham star's right hand was clearly bandaged as he arrived for the wedding ceremony, though the bandages appeared to have been removed for the official photographs afterwards.
Stokes's bandaged right hand was apparent in photos taken before the ceremony
Clare Ratcliffe is Stokes's long-term girlfriend and mother of their two children
England cricketers Alastair Cook and Stuart Broad were among Stokes' team-mates at the ceremony
The newly-weds, who have two children, posed for photographs outside the church before going on to a reception at a nearby hotel.
Wicket-keeper Jos Buttler and Durham colleague Paul Collingwood joined the friends and family at the Somerset church, alongside England teammates Eoin Morgan, Graham Onions and Sam Billings.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has said that Stokes will not travel to Australia on 28 October with the rest of the Ashes squad "at this stage", but has not ruled out his selection for the series.
Stokes's agent, Neil Fairbrother, said the cricketer would discuss his version of events in due course, but did not wish to prejudice the investigation.
The 40-minute service was held in the church of St Mary the Virgin in East Brent
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41622899
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Boy crushed by wooden pole in Kelloholm identified - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Investigations are continuing into the accident which claimed the life of Keiran Esquierdo on Sunday.
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South Scotland
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Keiran Esquierdo died at the scene of the accident in Kelloholm
A 12-year-old boy who was crushed to death by a heavy wooden pole as he played with friends has been named by police.
Keiran Esquierdo died at the scene of the accident in his home village of Kelloholm, in Dumfries and Galloway.
Emergency services were called to open ground near to the medical centre on Corserig Crescent on Sunday afternoon.
Det Insp Bryan Lee said investigations were continuing and the procurator fiscal had been informed.
A Police Scotland spokesman said they found the boy trapped under the pole but, despite efforts to free him, he could not be saved.
Insp Rory Caldow told BBC Scotland that initial indications suggested he had been playing with friends when the accident happened.
Firefighters and paramedics were also called to the accident after the alarm was raised
Insp Rory Caldow said the accident was a "real tragedy"
He said the incident would have a big impact on the community.
"You can appreciate this has really been a tragedy," he added.
"The kids raised the alarm at a nearby neighbours and they were really, really upset by what had happened.
"It's devastating to the family and to the community as a whole.
"The kids are off the school at the moment and I'm sure the victim will be well known to everyone in this small community town of Kelloholm."
He added that an investigation into the incident is continuing.
Officers described the object as "similar to a telegraph pole".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-41631294
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Family dog 'may have killed young boy' in Glengormley - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Police investigate the death of a 10-year-old boy after an incident in County Antrim on Sunday.
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Northern Ireland
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Police investigating the death of a 10-year-old boy in County Antrim believe he may have been attacked by the family's German Shepherd dog.
Paramedics were called to a house on Queen's Avenue in Glengormley at 12:00 BST on Sunday.
The ambulance service said the boy had lacerations and was taken to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.
A post-mortem examination was completed on Monday and further forensic tests are to be carried out.
A-38-year-old man who had been helping police with their inquiries was released on Monday night.
A neighbour said she heard loud noises coming from the house minutes before emergency services arrived at the scene.
A boy, bloodied and heavily bandaged, was later taken to an ambulance, she added.
Forensic officers carried out an investigation inside the house through until Sunday night and police cordoned off the area around it.
SDLP councillor Noreen McClelland said people in the area had been left deeply shocked after the "absolute tragedy" in what is a "quiet and tight-knit community".
"There are no words to describe the horror in this community - people are just devastated," she added.
"My thoughts and prayers are with the child's family and friends at this horrendous time.
"I know that people will rally around them to offer their support."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-41629529
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All Northern Ireland schools to close after storm warning - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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All schools in Northern Ireland will close on Monday due to the risk posed by gusts resulting from Hurricane Ophelia.
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Northern Ireland
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All schools in Northern Ireland are to close on Monday due to risks posed by gusts resulting from Hurricane Ophelia.
The announcement was made by Stormont officials late on Sunday night after severe weather warnings were issued for Northern Ireland.
The Met Office is forecasting winds of up to 65mph (105km/h) across the region on Monday.
The Department of Education said its decision on school closures was "entirely precautionary".
"However, given the weather warnings and the fact that the most severe weather is forecast for when pupils are due to be leaving school, the department believes that this is an appropriate response," it added.
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Ulster University announced that its four campuses will be shut for the day, while some colleges announced that they would be cancelling all classes.
Hurricane Ophelia will be a storm when it hits Ireland and the UK as it weakens on its path across the Atlantic Ocean.
But it could still cause major damage, according to weather forecasters.
The Met Office said that a spell of "very windy weather" on Monday afternoon and evening has the "potential for injuries and danger to life".
Issuing an amber warning - its second most severe - it said there is a good chance that some areas could suffer power cuts.
All parts of Northern Ireland are expected to be hit by winds of up to 65mph (105km/h) but gusts could reach speeds of 80mph (129km/h) in the far south-east.
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Public transport operator Translink said its services could be disrupted by the weather on Monday - it will issue updates from 07:00.
Some flights from Belfast City Airport have been cancelled due to the strong winds.
All Aer Lingus departures from the airport on Monday have been grounded, and other airlines are affected.
Senior civil servants in Northern Ireland met on Sunday night to discuss "a co-ordinated approach in light of the latest Met Office assessment".
The Department of Education came in for criticism from parents on social media for the timing of its announcement on school closure.
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SDLP MLA Colin McGrath said the decision should have been made earlier on Sunday, adding that parents with work or other commitments would struggle to arrange childcare.
"Principals and teachers will also be under huge strain to communicate with parents and staff about the closure," he said.
"However, the priority is to ensure that all children are kept safe."
Schools and colleges in the Republic of Ireland are also to close on Monday after a red warning - the most severe - was issued across the country.
The Irish national weather agency Met Éireann is forecasting "violent and disruptive gusts" and is warning that "all areas are at risk".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-41631481
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Man dies after Walsall boxing match brawl - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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The 19-year-old is thought to have been stabbed in the neck in a fight outside Walsall Town Hall.
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Birmingham & Black Country
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A 19-year-old man has died after "large-scale disorder" broke out at a boxing event.
Police have launched a murder inquiry after the brawl at Walsall Town Hall on Saturday, where it is believed the man was stabbed in the neck.
The scene remained cordoned off on Sunday, as police searched for discarded weapons.
The venue was hosting an IBF Youth Lightweight title fight between Luke Paddock and Myron Mills.
A witness said the scene inside the town hall as violence flared was "like a riot"
Police said violence spilled on to the street at about 23:00 BST.
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Kay Ellis was at the event with her husband Robert and a friend. She said people were searched before entering the venue.
Mrs Ellis, from Netherton, Dudley, said tension had been building between rival supporters during the evening and violence flared between about 50 people when a plastic cup full of liquid was thrown.
"There was food flying and then they were picking up chairs, turning tables over and just ploughing into each other.
"It was horrendous, it was like a riot."
Black Country Boxing said: "Our thoughts are with the victims and we will be liaising fully with the police and venue."
Chairs were thrown during the disorder
Det Insp Ian Wilkins from West Midlands Police, said: "We have widened our cordon following an initial examination to search for potentially discarded weapons and any other evidence which can lead us to those involved.
Walsall Council, which runs the town hall, tweeted to say it was supporting the police investigation.
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The bout was won by Myron Mills, from Derby, following a split decision.
Writing on Facebook following the disorder, Luke Paddock, from Walsall, said: "It's just a shame about the violence outside the ring at the end of the show."
Several roads remained closed on Sunday. Walsall Library was shut as it falls within the cordon.
A second event planned for Sunday was cancelled.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-41627420
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California wildfires: Death toll rises as blazes continue - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Hundreds are still missing and thousands have had to leave their homes, as death toll mounts.
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US & Canada
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. It's the most lethal outbreak of wildfires in California's history
Forty people have died and hundreds are still missing in California after six days of wildfires that have devastated swathes of countryside and destroyed thousands of homes.
California's governor said it was "one of the greatest tragedies" the state had ever faced.
More than 10,000 firefighters are battling 16 remaining blazes.
Winds of up to 70 km/h (45mph) brought them to new towns, forcing many more people to evacuate.
One of the worst-affected areas is the city of Santa Rosa, in the Sonoma wine region, where 3,000 people were evacuated on Saturday.
"The devastation is just unbelievable," Governor Jerry Brown said on a visit to the city.
"It is a horror that no one could have imagined."
It is the most lethal outbreak of wildfires in the state's history. More than 100,000 people have been displaced. and whole neighbourhoods have been reduced to ash.
Firefighters had made some headway on Friday, clearing dry vegetation and other combustible fuel around populated areas on the fires' southern flank.
But the return of strong winds combined with high temperatures and dry air spread the fires further.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Officers braved the fires rampaging across the state's famous wine country
The huge fires have sent smoke and ash over San Francisco, about 50 miles away, and over some towns and cities even further south.
At least 13 Napa Valley wineries have been destroyed, a trade group said, and the owner of a winery in Santa Rosa told the BBC that the fires had destroyed millions of dollars worth of wine.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Why the California wildfires are deadly
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41626201
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Somalia: At least 230 dead in Mogadishu blast - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Saturday's truck bombing in the capital is the deadliest attack in Somalia's 10-year insurgency.
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Africa
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The death toll continues to rise after the deadly blast
A massive bomb attack in a busy area of the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday is now known to have killed at least 230 people, police say.
Hundreds more were wounded when a lorry packed with explosives detonated near the entrance of a hotel.
It is the deadliest terror attack in Somalia since the Islamist al-Shabab group launched its insurgency in 2007.
President Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed blamed the attack on them, calling it a "heinous act".
No group has yet said it was behind the bombing.
"Brothers, this cruel act was targeted at civilians who were going about their business," the president said.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The aftermath of the explosion in Mogadishu
He has declared three days of mourning for the victims of the blast.
Local media reported families gathering in the area on Sunday morning, looking for missing loved ones amid the ruins of one of the largest bombs ever to strike the city.
There are fears people are trapped under the rubble
Police official Ibrahim Mohamed told AFP news agency the death toll was likely to rise. "There are more than 300 wounded, some of them seriously," he said.
Officials also confirmed that two people were killed in a second bomb attack in the Madina district of the city.
Mogadishu's Mayor Thabit Abdi called for unity while addressing a crowd of people who had gathered to protest.
"Oh, people of Mogadishu, Mogadishu shouldn't be a graveyard for burnt dead bodies," he said.
"Mogadishu is a place of respect, and if we remain united like we are today, moving ahead, we will surely defeat the enemy, Allah willing."
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A BBC Somali reporter at the scene of the main blast said the Safari Hotel had collapsed, with people trapped under the rubble.
An eyewitness, local resident Muhidin Ali, told AFP it was "the biggest blast I have ever witnessed, it destroyed the whole area".
Meanwhile, the director of the Madina Hospital, Mohamed Yusuf Hassan, said he was shocked by the scale of the attack.
"Seventy-two wounded people were admitted to the hospital and 25 of them are in very serious condition. Others lost their hands and legs at the scene.
"What happened yesterday was incredible, I have never seen such a thing before, and countless people lost their lives. Corpses were burned beyond recognition."
Protesters gathered, wearing red headbands to show their anger at the blast
The international community has been quick to condemn the attack:
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41621660
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British man falls to death in India on 'middle-aged gap year' - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Roger Stotesbury fell 30ft while taking photos at an Indian temple during a world trip with his wife.
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Oxford
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Roger Stotesbury was on a "middle-aged gap year" with his wife Hilary and they were due to return home this month
A British man has fallen to his death while taking photos at a temple in India during a year-long world trip.
Roger Stotesbury, 56, was visiting Orchha, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, with his wife Hilary on Friday when he plummeted 30ft (9m) from the Laxmi Narayan temple.
The couple, from Oxford, were blogging about their "middle-aged gap year".
The Foreign Office said it was providing assistance to the family of a British man following his death.
Mr Stotesbury's family said the father of two had just finished taking shots of the scenery from the 17th Century temple, about 160 miles south of the Taj Mahal.
The couple had been due to return to the UK this month, after completing their India trip.
Mr Stotesbury was taking photos on first floor of the Laxmi Narayan temple when he fell 30ft
A family spokesman said: "They were the most happily married couple I have ever known. They were just so devoted to each other.
"Roger took lots and lots of photographs, and he had gone to take some views from the temple.
"He put his equipment down and then he fell."
On their blog, Mr Stotesbury wrote that his motto was to "die young as late as possible".
The couple also wrote: "We took the view that on your deathbed you never wish you'd spent more time in the office.
"We've seen our two kids off into the wider world and we have no more caring responsibilities for our parents.
"So we thought now is the time to take a gap year and travel whilst we still have the health and energy. After all you only live once."
In a statement issued on their behalf by the Foreign Office, his family said: "Roger Stotesbury was one of the most enthusiastic men who walked the planet, and was incredibly loved by his wife, children and the surrounding community.
"He brightened every room he entered. He and his wife, Hilary had planned their round-the-world gap year since the beginning of 2016 and set off on 1 November last year.
"They loved the last 11-and-a-half months of energetic travel, exploring from the bottom tip of Patagonia, right up through the Americas, to Canada, Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and finally India."
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are providing assistance to the family of a British man following his tragic death in India on 13 October.
"Our thoughts are with the family at this sad time."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-41621452
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Why can't California control the wildfires? - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Northern California is experiencing the deadliest wildfires in its history. Why are so many dying?
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US & Canada
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California firefighters have struggled to contain the deadly blazes raging across the state
The wildfires raging across northern California are already the most fatal in the state's history; at least 40 people are dead and thousands of homes have been razed.
Wildfires are a common occurrence in California towards the tail end of the state's long, hot, dry summers, but this year a combination of extremely high temperatures, strong winds, a long drought, and population growth have produced lethal, fast-moving blazes.
The fires are burning in one of the world's most developed countries though. Arrayed against the flames are more than 10,000 firefighters, 880 fire engines, 134 bulldozers, 14 helicopters, and more. So why is this blaze so difficult to control, and the death toll so high?
The late summer winds that blow into California from the Great Basin region, east of the state - the so-called "Diablo winds" - drop elevation as they move out towards sea level. That has a few knock-on effects. As the pressure increases at lower altitudes, the air gets warmer, the wind speed increases, and the humidity level drops.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Why the California wildfires are deadly
That produces ideal conditions for a fast-moving wildfire. Northern California recorded gusting wind speeds of up to 70 mph this week, spreading the flames faster than firefighters could tackle them, and faster than some people could escape.
The high winds also overwhelm man-made and natural firebreaks, such as protection zones and wide highways, carrying embers across gaps in the brush that might otherwise contain the blaze. Hillsides compound the spread, as heat rises quickly up the steep terrain.
California has just experienced its hottest summer on record, with less than 25% average rainfall. The heat dries out vegetation, making it all the more combustible if a spark ignites in the wrong place.
The state is also still feeling the effects of a five-year drought that parched its forests, leaving tens of millions of dead trees in its wake - more fuel for the fire.
And counter-intuitively, California's extremely wet 2016-2017 winter may have also contributed to the spread of the blaze. The large amounts of vegetation that grew in the rain then dried out in the extremely hot summer that followed, providing even more fuel.
California's population is growing, and with it the number of homes built in high-risk fire areas. A 2014 study of residential growth in the state predicted that by 2050 there will be 645,000 homes built in "very high severity" zones.
Homes and other structures are increasingly being built adjacent to combustible areas of woodland. California law requires any structures in such a position to create 100 ft of "defensible space" - or firebreak - in every direction.
But the law is not aggressively enforced, it is left largely up to homeowners to police their own safety measures. And with a conflagration moving as fast as this one, in high winds, even a properly maintained firebreak might prove useless.
Firefighters try to extinguish a house fire near Calistoga, California
Story after story is emerging from California of people surrounded by fire in the middle of the night before they had a chance to escape, or of slight hesitations and delays that led to tragedy.
"This is what was so extraordinary about this event," Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, told Inside Climate News. "Essentially it was a forest fire, a wildfire, that moved into an urban area. At some point it was jumping from house to house, not tree to tree."
Even in the world's most developed country, there is no high-tech solution to a wildfire of this size. Firefighters rely on relatively old-fashioned tactics to starve the massive conflagrations.
A fleet of planes and helicopters - including DC-10 airliners - is dumping water and fire-retardant on the blazes in an attempt to cool the air temperature and deprive the fires of oxygen.
Firefighters are also creating so-called containment lines, purposefully burning vegetation in the path of the blaze to deprive it of fuel. In recent years, a steep increase in the number of dead trees - from disease and drought - has made it too dangerous for fire crews to enter certain areas, as the trees are more susceptible to sudden collapse.
That means containment lines have to be created further back from the blaze itself, allowing more woodland to burn before the fire can be deprived of fuel.
One key way to save lives is to warn people early, but questions have been raised about the warning system in this case. Text alert warnings were issued last Saturday night, as the blaze began to spread, but only to those who had signed up to receive them.
The emergency "amber" alert system, which pings every phone in a region, was not activated by authorities. "There wasn't time to map out anything. There wasn't time to make a plan," Sergeant Spencer Crum of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, told the New York Times.
Beyond evacuation plans and firefighting tactics, California may need some help from above. A sustained, end-of-season rainfall would soak the vegetation and lower the air temperature. But it's a waiting game.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41627751
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American cricket gets ready for take-off - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Could a new generation of immigrants help cricket finally crack America?
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US & Canada
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One of the world's most popular sports is barely known in the US. But, driven by a new generation of immigrants, could cricket finally take off?
It is a hot, sunny day in Hyattsville, Maryland.
Young men play basketball in the park. Barbecue smoke hangs in the hazy, late-summer air.
A cyclist rides past with the Stars and Stripes on his trailer. And then, through the trees, comes a most un-American sound.
Imran Awan was 17 when he moved from Pakistan to the US in 1997. He didn't think Americans played cricket but he brought his equipment, just in case.
A day after arriving, Imran played his first game on American soil, for a family friend's team. Within two years he was picked for the US national side.
Imran represented his new country in matches around the world - from Abu Dhabi to Nepal - and, aged 38, still plays locally. On this hot day in Hyattsville, he's captain of the Washington Tigers.
The Tigers are in the final of the Washington Cricket League Twenty 20 tournament, premier division. With the first and second division finals also taking place, it's a big day.
Banners hang from the bleachers. Supporters gather in the shade. Two commentators sit behind a camera, broadcasting the games live across the internet.
Imran is a bowler and his side is batting, so he stands on the sideline, waiting for his chance. In his youth, he bowled at 90 miles per hour. Has he still got it?
"I try," he says, smiling. "I try."
The Washington Cricket League is thriving. There are 42 teams in total, and new applicants are turned away each year because of a lack of pitches.
Another local league, the Washington Metropolitan Cricket Board, has 18 clubs. For an area with barely any "real" pitches, it's astonishing.
Most grounds are hired from schools or counties. Today's game is played on a matting wicket: when the game finishes, the matting is pulled up, and the field reverts to more "American" sports.
Anand Patel is a 31-year-old engineering professor at Cecil College in Maryland. He moved from Gujarat in India to study at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in 2007.
He started playing for his college side - "the cricket team was actually one of the reasons I picked the school," he says - and now plays for 22 Yards, Washington Tigers' opponents in the final.
"When I arrived, it was hard to get cricket equipment," he says. "We were buying online, importing from India, or going to New York where they might have a vendor.
"Now, just in the state of Maryland you have at least five or six vendors."
The increase in cricket's popularity has followed a rise in immigration from the sub-continent.
In 2000, the Indian immigrant population in the US was just over one million, according to the Migration Policy Institute. By 2015, it was 2.4 million.
That sub-continental influence is clear in the Washington Cricket League. Ram Ragoo, 73 and from Trinidad, has been involved since the league began in the 1960s.
Back then - aside from the embassy teams - "most of the league was West Indian", he says. Among them was Keith Mitchell, who studied in Washington and is now the prime minister of Grenada.
"Keith was the president of the league in 1981," says Ram, smiling. "Really nice guy. But Reagan sent him to Grenada after the overthrow (in 1983)."
Ram, who brims with Caribbean charisma, says the league reflects the changing face of immigration.
"The Indians came in, Pakistanis came in, the Sri Lankans started coming in, and the West Indians started to go out," he says.
"The young West Indians didn't want to play cricket. They got 400 or 500 dollars to go and play a soccer game."
In the premier division final, most players have a sub-continental background, but other cricket-playing nations are represented.
Derick Narine, the Tigers' left-handed opener, is from Guyana, as is teammate Christopher Vantull. For 22 Yards, Johan de Wet is a South African who moved to the US this summer to be with his wife.
"I arrived just before the 4 July weekend," he says. "That weekend there was a big Twenty 20 tournament, I saw 22 Yards had organised it, so I gave the guys a call.
"I played my first game probably within two weeks."
What did the wife make of it?
"She is Indian so she gets it," says Johan, laughing.
In a further example of cricket's global reach, WCL side Vikings recently renamed itself. It is now the Afghan Cricket Club of USA.
While the Washington Cricket League is certainly cosmopolitan, one thing is missing: Americans from non-cricket backgrounds.
"When we were in school, once in a while you would get an American guy showing up for practice," says Anand Patel.
"But it's hard to get used to cricket. For them to learn how to bowl or bat is difficult, even if they've played baseball. In baseball you don't bounce the ball - here you bounce the ball."
Ram Ragoo agrees. "I only know one or two born Americans who play the game," he says.
"The ICC (International Cricket Council) is trying to create (university) scholarships to get American kids involved."
For now, though, American cricket remains an immigrant-driven sport. As the big-hitting Narine scores another six, bhangra blasts out across this small corner of Maryland.
Helped by Narine's 71 in 39 balls, the Tigers are impressive, reaching 163-8 in their 20 overs. In reply, 22 Yards start well - nine runs from the first five deliveries - before a certain 38-year-old gets involved.
Imran Awan - the Tigers captain who moved to America aged 17 - dismissed Shahid Hanif for 8. He takes another wicket in his next over and 22 Yards end up 80 all out.
Imran, certainly, has still got it.
The Tigers take the title, the trophy is lifted, and another cricket memory is made in this most unlikely place. It won't be the last.
• None Could America take to cricket?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41590142
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Conjoined twins survive gruelling journey to separation - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The one-week-old baby girls had to go on a 15-hour journey on the back of a motorbike.
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Health
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The family lives in a remote village in western Democratic Republic of Congo, in Africa
Conjoined twins born in a remote village in the Democratic Republic of Congo have survived a 15-hour journey on the back of a motorbike to be separated.
They were then flown to the capital, Kinshasa, where they were operated on by a team of volunteer surgeons.
In total, the one-week-old girls had to endure an 870-mile (1,400km) round trip across jungle, on treacherous roads and by air.
The twins are now being monitored.
The babies - Anick and Destin - will return to their village in three weeks. They were born at 37 weeks in August, were joined at the navel, sharing some internal organs.
Conjoined twin girls Anick and Destin survived their birth before being separated
About one in every 200,000 live births results in conjoined twins and their survival is never certain, especially in remote areas where no medical help is available.
But to the astonishment of doctors, these twins were born naturally in the village of Muzombo, in the west of the African country.
Realising that the babies needed surgery, their parents Claudine Mukhena and Zaiko Munzadi wrapped the babies in a blanket and set off on an epic journey through jungle to their nearest hospital in Vanga.
Without the equipment or experience to carry out the complex separation surgery in the small hospital, doctors transferred them to a hospital in Kinshasa more than 300 miles away.
An emergency plane flew the family to the capital city for surgery
To get there, the family was flown by MAF, a humanitarian airline which operates in remote regions, rather than risk another long journey over dangerous roads.
Dr Junior Mudji, who is now caring for them at Vanga Evangelical Hospital, said he was delighted.
"At 37 weeks, conjoined twins born naturally - it's unheard of," he said.
"They are doing fine, they sleep well and eat well. In general, they are doing well.
"We will keep them here for three more weeks to be sure everything is normal."
Dr Mudji believes the operation was the first to separate conjoined twins in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41607653
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Five charts about the fortunes of the Chinese family - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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China has become richer and more powerful, but what does this mean for the ordinary Chinese family?
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China
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In the five years since President Xi Jinping moved to the helm, China has become richer and more powerful. But what has this growth meant for the fate and fortunes of the ordinary Chinese family?
As China's most powerful decision-makers meet to set the course of the nation for the next five years and a new generation of leaders emerges, we look at data from Chinese authorities and major surveys, to get some clues about how China's family life and society is changing.
In 2015, the government threw out its notorious one child policy which had been intended to keep population figures low but had led to a crippling gender imbalance.
So while now the door is open for more kids and bigger families, a look at marriage and divorce rates increasingly shows the same trend as the rest of the developed world: Marriage rates are falling while more and more people end up divorced.
Yet this first impression might be misleading.
"China has always had and is still having a much lower divorce rate than US and western European countries," Xuan Li, assistant professor of psychology at New York University Shanghai, explains.
"A much higher percentage of mainland Chinese people marry eventually, in comparison to those in neighbouring areas and countries. So the idea that the Chinese families (and ergo, the society and nation) are falling apart is statistically ungrounded."
China might have overturned its one-child policy in 2015 yet its legacy will continue to be a problem for years to come. There is even a term for unmarried men over 30: Shengnan, meaning "leftover men".
In 2015, a Chinese businessman in his 40s reportedly sued a Shanghai-based introductions agency for failing to find him a wife, having paid the company 7m yuan ($1m, £780,000) to conduct an extensive search.
"China's one-child policy advanced and amplified a demographic transition," explains Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics. "Falling birth rates and an aging population have been exerting downward pressure on the labour force and thus on economic growth."
"Although the one-child policy was changed in January 2016 into a two-child policy, higher birth rates now will only show up in the labour force in around two decades," he estimates.
But higher standards of living are slowly affecting traditional gender perceptions and that in turn will have a positive effect on the gender imbalance.
"The gender imbalance is already changing," Mu Zheng of the Centre for Family and Population Research at National University of Singapore told the BBC.
"That's because of the relaxed fertility policy, changing attitudes, women's advanced profiles in both education and work, and with a more established social security system,"
But for now, the current gender imbalance does make it hard for men to find wives.
Amid the constant talk about China's housing bubble about to burst, here's a detail that stands out: Among millennials, China has a towering percentage of homeowners, a different league it seems from European countries or the US.
While the above data from HSBC largely covers urban China, it still illustrates a crucial point: parents are trying whatever they can to equip their sons with some added extras to woo women into wedlock.
"It is the custom that husbands will provide a home," Dr Jieyu Liu, deputy director of the SOAS China Institute, told the BBC in April when HSBC released the data.
"Many love stories fail to turn to marriage if the men fail to provide a marital house."
So once charm, luck or a property have helped China's singles get hitched - what is life like for families?
China's average income has seen a steady rise, both in rural and in urban areas. While the relative expenses on food have dropped significantly over the past decade, the money spent on things like health, clothes or transport has gone up. The same goes for communications. The surge in mobile phones illustrates that point.
Smartphones are not just another communications expense - the WeChat app for instance is so woven into everyday routines that life without a phone is virtually unthinkable.
"WeChat is designed as an app that is like a toolkit for life, sort of a digital Swiss Army knife," Beijing-based tech analyst Duncan Clark of ABI Research explains.
He says consumers have been embracing the convenience of it covering everything from paying utility bills, cashless payments in shops, taxis and bike rentals, money transfers and of course - communication.
Higher incomes translate into more money spent on children's education and recent years have shown a steady rise in parents sending their children overseas to study. What's more, they are coming back.
"A large proportion of these students are returning to China, with 433,000 having returned in 2016," explains Rajiv Biswas, APAC chief economist at analytics firm IHS Markit.
This rapidly growing pool of Chinese graduates with international degrees and experience of living abroad will make the next generation of Chinese business and government leaders "very international in their thinking and understanding of other cultures, which will be increasingly important as China assumes the mantle of the world's largest economy in about a decade".
And while a degree from a European or US university is likely to boost your chances on the job market - it might also drive up your chances of bagging the right partner.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-41424041
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Newspaper headlines: GPs quiz sexuality, and 'divisive' Hammond - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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NHS plans to ask patients about their sexual orientation make Sunday's headlines, as well as reports of a fresh Brexit row.
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The Papers
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The Sunday Times and Mail on Sunday both lead with the story that NHS doctors and nurses in England will be required to ask patients about their sexual orientation.
"Doctors to ask: are you gay?" is the headline in the Mail, which says the "astonishing diktat" has been condemned as "intrusive" and "insulting".
It says: "Never before has the state insisted citizens face a question about their sexual identity." Dr Peter Swinyard, of the Family Doctor Association, tells the Mail that it is "a confounded cheek".
The Sunday Express welcomes life sentences for causing death by dangerous driving.
"For too long", it argues, "the scales of justice have been tipped in favour of those who treat our roads like their own personal race track."
The Sunday Mirror agrees. In its opinion, drivers who kill through a "cavalier" disregard for the lives of others are no less guilty of manslaughter - "because their weapon was a car".
According to the Sunday Telegraph, the Conservatives' allies, the Democratic Unionists, have told Theresa May to sack the chancellor, Philip Hammond, unless he changes his "highly sceptical" approach to Brexit.
The paper says senior DUP parliamentary sources are "deeply concerned" that Mr Hammond is "divisive" and appears to be "trying to frustrate the negotiating process".
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, the former Conservative deputy prime minister, Lord Heseltine, complains that the chancellor is being made a scapegoat and subjected to a "show trial" by Brexiteers.
The Observer tells the prime minister she must silence what it calls the "deluded no-Brexit-deal zealots" in her party.
The Sun on Sunday reports that the chancellor is planning a "daring" November Budget to boost Brexit and save his job, predicting a cut in air passenger duty.
The Sunday Times says plans for a "safety first" Budget have been ditched - and Mr Hammond is planning something "big and bold".
Ideas under consideration, it reports, are lower tax rates for young people and writing off student loans.
Finally, The Washington Post carries a full-page advertisement offering a reward of $10m (£7.5m) for information leading to the impeachment of President Trump.
The ad has been placed by the pornographic magazine publisher, Larry Flynt, who tells the Post he cannot think of anything more patriotic to do than to try "to get this moron out of office".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-41625390
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UK farmers will 'grow more food' if no Brexit deal - minister - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Supermarkets would also buy more global produce to counter any rise in EU prices, a minister says.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Chris Grayling said that British farmers would produce more if food prices increase post-Brexit
British farmers would produce more food themselves in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a trade deal, a cabinet minister has suggested.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling was responding to industry claims that food prices could rise sharply in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
If this happened, he said the UK would respond by "growing more here and buying more from around the world".
Labour said his comments amounted to telling people to "dig for no deal".
The National Farmers Union has argued Brexit is an opportunity to "reverse the downward trend" in the UK's self-sufficiency in food but insisted this should not be done by "closing off markets".
Mr Grayling's comments comes amid fresh warnings from supermarket bosses that the UK leaving the EU in March 2019 without at least the outline of a future trade partnership would be bad for British consumers.
Sainsbury's chairman David Tyler told the Sunday Times that a no-deal Brexit could result in an average 22% tariff on all EU food bought by British retailers.
The British Retail Consortium has said this could translate into a minimum 9% rise in the cost of tomatoes, 5% for cheddar and 5% for beef, while warning the figures could actually be much higher.
Agricultural products are one of the UK's most important exports while the UK sources roughly 70% of the food it imports from the EU, leading to claims that items could "rot" at the border if there are hard customs checks or supply chains are disrupted after Brexit.
Broccoli is one of a number of products that could be more expensive in the event of a Brexit no-deal
Given the UK's importance to farmers across Europe, Mr Grayling said it was not in their interests to see an outcome which resulted in higher costs and new obstacles to trade.
"You may remember the brouhaha over the Walloon farmers when they objected to the Canadian trade deal. I had a look to see who their biggest customer was - it was us," he told the Andrew Marr Show on BBC One.
"We are the biggest customers of the Walloonian farmers - they will be damaged if we don't have a deal."
But if the UK ended up without a deal, which would see it default to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, Mr Grayling suggested domestic producers and retailers would respond by rethinking their sourcing.
"What it would mean would be that supermarkets bought more from home, that British farmers grew more and that they bought more from around the world," he added.
The UK is forecast to become steadily less self-sufficient in food
"What we will do is grow more here and buy more from around the world but that will mean bad news for continental farmers and that is why it will not happen - it is in their interests to reach a deal."
The British Retail Consortium said maintaining tariff-free trade with the EU during a post-Brexit transitional period was vital to preventing the UK facing potential tariffs straightaway of up to 40% on some beef and dairy products under WTO rules.
The trade body, which recently published research on the subject, acknowledges forecasting the consequent impact on food costs is complex and a range of other factors would have to be taken into account.
But it said there was a risk that domestic producers could put up their own prices to increase their competitiveness and if this happened, the cost of items like tomatoes could rise by up to 18%, broccoli by up to 10% and cheddar by a maximum of 32%.
A spokeswoman said that while retailers could review their buying policies in the medium to long term to adjust, it was "very unrealistic to expect farmers to make up the surplus of produce straight away".
The NFU has said the UK's ability to feed itself has stagnated and if the country relied entirely on home-grown produce, the cupboard would look bare after about seven months.
Labour said farmers, as much as anyone, wanted to avoid a "cliff-edge" departure from the EU.
"Rather than planning for no deal, ministers appear to be telling us to dig for no deal," said shadow Brexit minister Jenny Chapman. "British farmers already work incredibly hard and to suggest that they could simply grow more food is ridiculous."
• None Reality Check: What would 'no Brexit deal' look like?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41627341
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Kempton Park racecourse: Man dies after stables injury - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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It is believed groom Ken Dooley, who was in his 50s, was kicked by a horse in the stables.
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Surrey
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Ken Dooley had worked all his life as a jockey, trainer and coach
A stables worker has died after being injured at Kempton Park racecourse.
It is thought the groom, who has been named by his employer as Ken Dooley, was kicked by a horse.
Surrey Police said it had been reported a man in his 50s sustained a serious injury to the head while tending to a horse in the stables.
Mr Dooley had worked at the West Sussex yard of horse trainer Amanda Perrett, who said he had been with the close-knit family business for seven years.
In a statement, Ms Perrett said: "It is with huge sadness that I can confirm we lost our friend and colleague Ken Dooley after an incident in the stable yard at Kempton last night.
"He was an excellent employee, very experienced with racehorses having worked all of his life with them as a jockey, trainer and jockey coach around the world."
Police are working to establish the circumstances of Mr Dooley's death
Police were called to the Sunbury-on-Thames venue at 21:20 BST, and doctors at the course also attended.
Saturday's fixture was abandoned with two races remaining as emergency teams responded to the accident.
A police spokeswoman confirmed the death was not being treated as suspicious and also said the man's family had been informed.
She said police would be working with the coroner and local authority to establish the circumstances surrounding Mr Dooley's death.
Jockey Martin Dwyer, who was riding at the course, told Racing UK there was a "sombre mood" and shock as the news emerged.
He said: "Unfortunately, horses do kick out and I believe that's what happened.
"They have metal shoes on and if you get a kick from a horse it can be very serious."
Staff as well as jockeys at Chepstow and Goodwood are wearing black armbands on Sunday as a mark of respect.
In a statement, the Racecourse Association said: "Racecourses do everything they can to provide a safe working environment in all areas and are equipped to provide the highest level of medical care and attention whenever it is required.
"This tragic accident is a reminder of the dangerous nature of the work stable staff do day in day out, and our thoughts are very much with everybody affected."
Saturday's fixture was abandoned with two races remaining
Chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority Nick Rust said: "The entire industry will join in mourning over this tragedy.
"We owe so much in our sport to the racing grooms who provide such first-class care and attention to our horses.
"The love and attention that they give to their mounts is unconditional and comes with that small but ever-present level of risk that exists when working with large animals."
Organisers at Kempton Park - one of the UK's best known racecourses - announced Saturday's cancellation on social media.
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Steve Parlett, general manager at the racecourse, said: "All the team here are shocked and upset by the sad loss of a training stables employee last night.
"Our thoughts and deepest condolences are very much with his family, friends and colleagues."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-41625839
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Hurricane Ophelia strengthens before storm reaches UK - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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The UK braces for the tail end of Hurricane Ophelia with high temperatures and winds forecast.
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UK
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The UK is set to experience the tail end of a category three hurricane with high temperatures and wind forecast.
As a result of Hurricane Ophelia, parts of England could see temperatures reach 25C on Sunday beating the 15C average for mid-October.
On Monday some areas of the UK will be hit with winds of up to 80mph (128km/h).
The hurricane will be a storm when it hits the UK, exactly 30 years after the Great Storm of 1987 killed 18 people.
On its way from the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Ophelia is currently blowing winds of 115mph (185km/h) setting the record for the most eastern category three hurricane in the Atlantic.
Category three hurricanes are defined as having wind speeds of between 111mph (179km/h) and 129mph (208km/h) and can cause major damage to well-built homes.
Though it is forecast to gradually weaken later on Sunday, the US National Hurricane Center said Ophelia would still be blowing hurricane-force winds as it approaches Ireland on Monday.
The Republic of Ireland's Met Office has issued a red warning for counties in Munster and Connacht, predicting that coastal areas will be hit by winds in excess of 80mph (130km/h) from 09:00 BST on Monday until Tuesday.
The ferocity of the hurricane will dissipate before it reaches the UK, but Ophelia's remnants are forecast to bring high winds in coastal areas.
Western England, Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland will be most affected by the storm winds.
Weather presenter Michael Fish is remembered for dismissing reports that a hurricane would hit the south of England in October 1987.
The storm is often remembered for BBC Weather presenter Michael Fish dismissing reports that "there was a hurricane on the way".
Although he was right, storm winds of 100mph did batter the south of England, leaving a trail of destruction.
Eighteen people died and 15 million trees were destroyed as a result of the high winds.
It is thought that the storm caused £1bn in damage to property and infrastructure.
The Met Office has issued severe weather alerts ahead of Ophelia and has warned there could be potential power cuts, disruption to road and rail networks, and damage to buildings as a result of Monday's stormy weather.
But parts of England will benefit from the warm temperatures brought by the storm, with areas as far up as Nottingham expected to hit highs of 21C on Monday.
Clouds in central and southern England are expected to break up to provide sunny spells over the course of the weekend.
Some parts of the country have been enjoying a "mini heatwave" already. Ian Senior tweeted a screenshot of the temperature in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, which was 17C on Saturday morning.
Jennie, who lives in Leeds, also wrote on Twitter that she never thought she would be "walk[ing] around bare legged wearing a skirt and short sleeved T-shirt" in mid-October.
But some parts of the country were still waiting for the temperatures to improve. Martin Cluderay, from Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales, posted an overcast scene from the town titled: "Welcome to the heatwave."
West Scotland and Northern Ireland are forecast to receive heavy rainfall on Sunday.
BBC Weather has tweeted that Monday will bring "contrasting fortunes" - wild and windy in some western areas, warm and breezy in the east.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41620071
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Harvey Weinstein a sad, sick man - Woody Allen - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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The director's remarks come as he clarifies earlier comments that he was "sad" for Weinstein.
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US & Canada
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Woody Allen has worked with Harvey Weinstein, pictured together in 2008, on many films
Woody Allen has described Harvey Weinstein as a "sad, sick man", as the producer faces sexual assault claims.
His remarks came as he clarified comments to the BBC that the story was tragic for the women involved but also sad for Weinstein as his life was "so messed up".
The film-maker added he had heard rumours but not "these horror stories".
Weinstein was voted off the board behind the Oscars on Saturday following allegations from numerous women.
Allen faced his own sex claims - he was accused of molesting his adopted daughter - a claim he has always strongly denied.
Weinstein has been credited with reviving Allen's career after Allen was accused of abusing Dylan Farrow, his daughter with actress Mia Farrow.
The allegation emerged in the early 1990s following Allen's separation from Farrow.
The actress left Allen after discovering he was having an affair with her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn.
But despite working with Weinstein on a number of films - including the Oscar-winning Mighty Aphrodite - Allen said he had never heard of any allegations of rape and sexual assault.
"No-one ever came to me or told me horror stories with any real seriousness," Allen told the BBC. "And they wouldn't, because you are not interested in it. You are interested in making your movie.
"But you do hear a million fanciful rumours all the time. And some turn out to be true and some - many - are just stories about this actress, or that actor."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. On some red carpets, Harvey Weinstein is not a welcome subject
"The whole Harvey Weinstein thing is very sad for everybody involved," he added. "Tragic for the poor women that were involved, sad for Harvey that [his] life is so messed up.
"There's no winners in that, it's just very, very sad and tragic for those poor women that had to go through that."
Allen later expanded on his comments in a statement quoted by Variety magazine.
"When I said I felt sad for Harvey Weinstein I thought it was clear the meaning was because he is a sad, sick man," he said.
"I was surprised it was treated differently. Lest there be any ambiguity, this statement clarifies my intention and feelings."
Allen said earlier in the BBC interview he hoped the revelations, which emerged after an investigation by the New York Times, would lead to "some amelioration".
He said it was important to avoid "a witch hunt atmosphere" where "every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself".
The star added that his hope was that recent developments could be "transformed into a benefit for people rather than just a sad or tragic situation".
Among those who investigated Weinstein were Allen's own son, Ronan Farrow, who spoke to 13 women who said the producer had sexually harassed or assaulted them.
Weinstein, 65, insists any sexual contacts he had were consensual. His spokeswoman Sallie Hofmeister said earlier this week: "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr Weinstein."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41626750
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Mick Fleetwood on the early days of Fleetwood Mac and why he's a terrible drummer - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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The Fleetwood Mac star on the band's early days, and why he can't play the same rhythm twice.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Mick Fleetwood backstage at Top of the Pops in 1969
Mick Fleetwood is the backbone of the band that bears his name; the man who kept Fleetwood Mac rolling through the best and hardest of times.
In the early days he was their manager, hiring and firing musicians like a soft rock Alan Sugar.
By the late 70s, he was the bandage that stopped them falling apart amidst drug abuse, infidelity and betrayal.
And sitting behind his "back to front" drum kit, Fleetwood is the band's beating heart, constructing dozens of unforgettable rhythms - from the syncopated shuffle of Go Your Own Way, to the fidgety cowbell riff of Oh Well.
But surprisingly, the 70-year-old doesn't rate his own drumming.
"There's no discipline," he says. "I can't do the same thing every night."
Anyone who's listened to the deluxe edition of Fleetwood Mac's Tusk will know otherwise. There, you can hear multiple outtakes from the title track, with Fleetwood sitting doggedly on the song's distinctive groove for more than 25 minutes.
Still, he insists: "I am very not conformed, I change all the time."
The star says he can't play a rhythm the same way twice
The confession is prompted by a discussion about Fleetwood's lavish new picture book, Love That Burns, which chronicles his early career and the first incarnations of Fleetwood Mac.
It's being released 50 years after the band played their first show: A 20-minute set at the Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival alongside artists like Cream, Pink Floyd and Jeff Beck.
Back then, they were a hard-edged blues combo, working under the guidance of guitarist Peter Green - who, like Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, had previously played in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.
Green called the group Fleetwood Mac "because I knew I was probably going to leave," he later recalled, adding: "I always wanted Mick and John to have a job."
In the late 60s, the band enjoyed hits with Albatross, Oh Well and Black Magic Woman (later covered by Santana) before the ominous The Green Manilishi presaged Green's descent into drug-induced psychosis.
It's a period of the band's history that's frequently overshadowed by their wildly-successful 70s incarnation, the one that produced Rumours and Tusk, and that's what Fleetwood hopes to correct in the new book.
"The other thing is so big and so famous that this [story] could just get swallowed up," he says, "I'm happy that at least there's something that says, 'Hey, this is how it all started.'"
Fleetwood says researching the pictures for his new book brought back unexpected memories
As the story begins, the young Fleetwood is a three-time runaway from boarding school, who's been cut loose by his parents and is barrelling around London in a second-hand taxi, dropping in and out of blues bands as he learns his craft.
"In those days, if you had a drum kit that was worth something it was almost more important than if you were a half-way decent drummer," he laughs.
"So if you had the drums and the taxi it was like, 'Yeah, let's give him the gig!'"
One of his first paid jobs was with The Cheynes, who were hired as the backing band for visiting blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson when he played London's Marquee Club.
Unprepared for Williamson's tendency to improvise, the band completely lost their way and got a "monumental scolding" in front of the audience.
After bouncing between gigs for a couple of years, Fleetwood ended up in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, replacing their previous drummer, Aynsley Dunbar.
"Aynsley is a brilliant drummer," says Fleetwood. "Technically, he's in a whole different league than I am, but he was probably getting a bit too clever.
"The band didn't want any more drum solos, so he was out and I was in."
That didn't go down well with the audience, however, who started chanting "Where's Aynsley?" every night.
"And I always remember, in the early days, John [McVie] came to my rescue and basically came to the microphone and told them to shut up."
An early line-up of Fleetwood Mac (L-R): Peter Green, John Mcvie, Jeremy Spencer, Mick Fleetwood and Danny Kirwan
It was a beginning of a beautiful friendship. Fleetwood and McVie not only gave their names to Fleetwood Mac, but they are the only constants in the band's ever-changing line-up.
In the book, Fleetwood says of McVie: "Musically, he helped me survive whenever I was drowning." And it's this comment that prompts the revelation about the drummer's supposed lack of skill.
"For a while, he thought he could train me into doing the same bass drum pattern every night but I couldn't... because of the way my mind works," he explains, "so John learned to push all his notes around what I do."
"It's become this weird thing. It's not really how a rhythm section should work. They're supposed to be doing exactly the same thing at the same time. I'm doing different stuff and he's falling in between the gaps."
After three years of success, Fleetwood Mac's future was jeopardised when Green quit, giving away most of his earnings in the process.
The guitarist's mental health deteriorated soon after, and he was eventually diagnosed with drug-induced schizophrenia, spending long periods in psychiatric hospitals and undergoing electroconvulsive therapy.
"I don't know why I left the group in the end," Green writes in Fleetwood's book. "I know that people looked at me like I was in a dream. I could tell that, even at the time."
Mick Fleetwood: "Even after Peter left, we didn't realise how serious it had become"
Fleetwood describes Green's decline with tenderness and regret. It's clear he still feels responsible, in some way, for not spotting his friend's illness sooner.
"I wish we had been better equipped," he tells me. "Maybe we could have seen something that could've helped - not to keep him in the band, but to help this person through the beginnings of a very emotional ride that, really, he's still on as we speak.
"It affected his life in a very dramatic way," he adds. "I don't think he was treated right for what turned out to be his illness, but he's healthy now and doing ok. I'm going to go and see him on Sunday, in fact."
After Green left, Fleetwood Mac floundered for a while, before recruiting John's wife Christine McVie - who was already a solo star in her own right.
She went on to write some of the band's most memorable songs - Songbird, Don't Stop, Over My Head - and remains part of the line-up today. But the band's fortunes really turned around in 1974, when they were joined by two young American singers, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
It's at this point that Love That Burns draws to a close. Fleetwood says there are plans for a Volume Two, which promises to go behind-the-scenes on Rumours, the seventh best-selling studio album of all time, and one which was recorded as the personal lives of Fleetwood Mac's five members unravelled.
"That will be a big monster," laughs Fleetwood.
"I don't know when we're going to do it, but that story needs to be told."
Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and the rest of Fleetwood Mac with their Grammy for Rumours in 1978
Love That Burns - A Chronicle of Fleetwood Mac, Volume One is out now via Genesis Publications.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41597857
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The fateful life of history's most famous female spy - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Remembering Mata Hari, 100 years after her execution by firing squad
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Europe
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On the morning of 15 October 1917 a grey military vehicle left the Saint-Lazare prison in central Paris. On board, accompanied by two nuns and her lawyer, was a 41-year-old Dutch woman in a long coat and a wide, felt hat.
A decade earlier this woman had the capitals of Europe at her feet. She was a legendary 'femme fatale' known for her exotic dancing, and her lovers included ministers, industrialists and generals.
But then came the war, and the world changed. She thought she could keep charming her way around Europe. But now the men in top hats wanted something more than sex. They wanted information.
This was Mata Hari, and she was about to be put to death.
Her crime? Being an agent in German pay, gleaning secrets from Allied officers who she slept with, and passing them on to her paymaster, leading to lurid newspaper claims about her being responsible for sending thousands of Allied soldiers to their deaths.
But the evidence presented at her trial, plus other documents, cast a different light: that she was actually a double agent and may have died as a scapegoat.
Now, exactly a hundred years on, new light has been shed on the most famous woman spy of all time with the release of hitherto unseen documents by the French defence ministry.
These include transcripts of her interrogation by the French counter-espionage service in 1917. Some are also on display at a new exhibition at the Fries Museum in her hometown of Leeuwarden in the Netherlands.
Mata Hari facing the firing squad. There is doubt over this picture and it may be a still from a contemporaneous film
Among the papers is the telegram to Berlin from the German military attaché in Madrid which led to Mata Hari's arrest at a hotel on the Champs-Elysees, and later served as a key piece of evidence at her brief trial.
Born Margarethe Zelle in 1876, Mata Hari (the name is said to come from the Indonesian for 'eye of the day' - the sun) had an extraordinary and tragic life. After a miserable marriage in the Dutch East Indies she reinvented herself as the louche diva of 'Belle Epoque' Paris, where her sensual dances were a ticket to the inner courts of European society.
"Even without the spying, Mata Hari would be remembered today because of what she did in the capitals of Europe in the early part of the last century," says Hans Groeneweg, curator of the Fries Museum.
"She more or less invented the striptease as a form of dance. We have her scrapbooks on display at the exhibition, and there are piles and piles of newspaper clippings and photographs. She was a celebrity socialite."
Sadly though, the Mata Hari myth is dominated by the espionage. Over the years many historians have come to her defence. She was sacrificed - some say - because the French needed to find a spy to explain their succession of reverses in the war.
For feminists, she was the perfect scapegoat because "loose" morals made it easier to tar her as an enemy of France.
Until now the full details of her interrogation by prosecutor Pierre Bouchardon (incidentally the man who later prosecuted Marshal Petain) has been off-limits to historians.
It was known, though, that in 1916 - after a brief sojourn in London where she was interrogated by the British security service, MI5 - Mata Hari returned to France via Spain.
In Madrid she made the acquaintance of Arnold von Kalle, the German military attaché. Her later story was that this was all in pursuance of her prior arrangement with French intelligence, under which she undertook to use her pre-war web of German contacts to help the Allied effort.
But it was von Kalle's subsequent telegram that led to her undoing. In it he set out to his masters in Berlin the details of a certain Agent H21. It gave addresses, bank details, and even the name of Mata Hari's faithful maid. There could be no question to anyone reading it that Mata Hari was agent H21.
The telegram, intercepted by French intelligence, is now available for scrutiny at the Leeuwarden exhibition. Or rather, the official translation of the telegram is available. Because therein lies the rub.
According to some historians, the whole telegram episode is fishy.
Police photo of Mata Hari from the day of her arrest
The French - it is argued - had long since cracked the code in which the telegram was written. The Germans knew the French had cracked it. And yet still von Kalle sent the message. In other words, he wanted the French to read it.
So, in this theory, it was the Germans who led the French by the nose into arresting and executing their own agent.
Or there is the other theory.
Why is there only a translation in the archives? Where is the original telegram? Could it be that the French themselves invented the document in order to pin the blame on Mata Hari? That way they would find their "spy". And the public would be satisfied.
Both theories make Mata Hari into a victim. One side or the other found it convenient to get rid of her, and so they did.
But the French archives throw up another detail, which actually relegates these hypotheses to the junior division. Because what the transcripts also show is that in June 1917, during her umpteenth interrogation, Margarethe Zelle decided to come clean: she confessed.
She told Bouchardon that yes, she had been recruited by the Germans. It was back in 1915 in The Hague.
Mata Hari's brooch is just one artefact in the Fries museum's exhibition
Caught outside France at the start of the war, she was desperate to get back to Paris. Karl Kroemer, German consul in Amsterdam, offered her the means… if she would be so good as to help them with certain information from time to time. Thus was created Agent H21.
Mata Hari insisted to her interrogators that she just meant to take the money and run. She said her loyalty was to the Allies, as she had shown when she subsequently promised to help French intelligence. But the evidence against her was now clear.
Arriving at the Chateau de Vincennes on the eastern outskirts of Paris, Mata Hari was led to a piece of ground where a post had been erected in front of an earthen bank. Twelve soldiers formed the firing squad.
Some reports say she refused to be blindfolded. As one hand was being tied to the post, with the other she made a brief wave to her lawyer. The commander lowered his sword in a swift motion, there was the sound of rifle fire, and Mata Hari crumpled to her knees.
An officer approached with a revolver and shot her once through the head.
After the execution, no-one came to claim Mata Hari's body. So it was delivered to the school of medicine in Paris where it was used for lessons in dissection. Her head was preserved at the Museum of Anatomy. But during an inventory some 20 years ago, it was found to have disappeared.
• None MI5 advised spies not to use sex
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41595828
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Vauxhall plans 400 job cuts at Ellesmere Port as sales fall - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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The carmaker says the 400 job losses at its Ellesmere Port factory are needed to stay competitive.
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Business
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Vauxhall is cutting about 400 jobs at its Ellesmere Port car plant due to falling sales.
The carmaker, now owned by France's PSA Group - maker of Peugeot and Citroen - is "facing challenging European market conditions," a spokesman said.
Ellesmere Port, which makes the Astra models, will move staff from two production shifts to one in early 2018.
PSA said that manufacturing costs at Ellesmere were higher than other "benchmark plants" in the group.
Vauxhall employs about 4,500 people in the UK, with about 1,800 at Ellesmere Port. The company also has a factory at Luton, which makes vans.
PSA became Europe's second biggest carmaker after Volkswagen in August when it completed the purchase of Vauxhall and German brand Opel from US car giant General Motors.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May personally sought assurances from PSA chief executive Carlos Tavares during a phone call in February.
Last month, Mr Tavares said it was hard to decide upon the group's strategy for Vauxhall given a lack of clarity over the UK's plans to leave the European Union.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. PSA boss Carlos Tavares was asked last month about guarantees for Vauxhall-Opel workers
However, a Vauxhall spokesman said the move from two shifts to one was nothing to do with Brexit uncertainty, but was about maintaining competitiveness in a changing industry.
He pointed out that sales of so-called sports utility vehicles (SUVs) have grown rapidly across Europe, while the type of five-door estates and saloons made at Ellesmere Port have fallen.
Earlier this year, Ellesmere was producing an annual rate of about 140,000 Astra cars.
The spokesman said there will be a new-generation Astra model in the early 2020s, so Vauxhall wanted to make Ellesmere Port more productive so it can get this car contract.
However, PSA's statement on Sunday suggested there would no decision until Brexit uncertainty had cleared.
"Once [PSA] has enough visibility on the future trading relationship with the EU, and the plant competitiveness has been addressed, the company will be in a position to consider future investments."
Prof David Bailey, from Aston Business School, said the shift in market trends to SUVs was only part of the problem for Ellesmere Port.
He told the BBC: "The depreciation of sterling since the Brexit vote has meant that the cost of importing components has gone up, so it's a more costly plant."
PSA's other acquisition from General Motors, Opel, employs about 33,500 staff in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Spain and Italy.
Prof Bailey said the only way PSA can make the Vauxhall-Opel purchase work is by cutting costs out of the business.
Tackling Ellesmere Port's competitiveness now could turn out to be a very positive move for the business, "but it does show how vulnerable the plant is," he said.
The Unite union said it would not comment on any job losses until it had spoken to shop stewards at Ellesmere Port on Monday.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41627237
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Inflation 'to cause £300 benefit squeeze'- think tank - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Inflation at 2.9% will worsen the effects of the chancellor's measures, the Resolution Foundation warns.
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Business
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Benefit freezes combined with the predicted rise in inflation could set some low-income households back £300 next year, a think tank has warned.
September's inflation data will be released on Tuesday, and some analysts predict the Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be 2.9%.
The Resolution Foundation says loss of income due to benefit freezes would be £225 for a single parent in work.
It says the chancellor should "ease the squeeze" on benefit households.
September inflation data is normally used to adjust benefits and tax thresholds the following April.
The think tank's research indicated that Chancellor Philip Hammond's benefit freeze, which will begin its third out of four years in 2018, will hit working families the hardest.
Its analysis says: "2018 is set to be the year the freeze bites deepest. Should CPI hit 2.9% on Tuesday, the freeze will save [the Treasury] £1.8bn next year."
The Resolution Foundation's analysis found that a single unemployed person would be £115 worse off, a single parent in work with one child would be £225 worse off, and a single earner couple with two children would be £305 worse off.
Torsten Bell, director of the Resolution Foundation, said Mr Hammond should use his upcoming Budget to "ease the squeeze on low and middle income families not make it worse".
But he added: "Government policy is currently set to do the opposite, freezing the value of crucial support that 11 million families receive. With inflation approaching 3%, families are on course for the biggest real-terms cut in the value of their benefits for decades."
The Resolution Foundation is calling on the chancellor to thaw the benefit freeze and allow working age benefits to rise in line with CPI next April.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41617045
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North Korea crisis: Tillerson says diplomacy will continue - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Rex Tillerson insists the US wants to resolve the North Korean crisis through diplomacy.
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Asia
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South Korean forces have been holding exercises along the border with the North
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has insisted President Donald Trump wants to resolve the confrontation with North Korea through diplomacy.
It will continue until "the first bomb drops", he told CNN.
Sanctions and diplomacy, he said, had brought unprecedented international unity against North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
Last month, Mr Trump told Mr Tillerson not to waste time seeking talks with Kim Jong-un.
Mr Tillerson's remarks come as the US and South Korea begin their latest joint military exercise in waters surrounding the Korean peninsula, involving fighter jets, destroyers and aircraft carriers.
The drills regularly anger the North, and Pyongyang has in the past denounced them as a "rehearsal for war".
In Sunday's interview, Mr Tillerson again refused to comment on whether he had referred to Mr Trump as a moron after a July meeting at the Pentagon.
"I'm not going to deal with that petty stuff," he replied, saying he would not dignify the question with an answer.
The president responded by challenging the secretary of state to an IQ test but a spokeswoman said later it had been a joke.
In recent months, North Korea has defied international opinion by conducting its sixth nuclear test and launching two missiles over Japan.
Analysts say the secretive communist state is clearly set on developing a nuclear-capable missile, able to threaten the continental US, despite UN sanctions.
At the end of last month, Mr Tillerson disclosed that the US was in "direct contact" with the North and looking at the possibility of talks.
After months of heated rhetoric, it came as a surprise to some that the two countries had lines of communication.
However, the next day Mr Trump tweeted Mr Tillerson to say: "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!"
This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Donald J. Trump This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41629233
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Ivory Coast crash: Four die when cargo plane plunges into sea - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Four Moldovans are killed and four French nationals are among the six injured.
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Africa
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Mobile phone footage shows the wreckage of the cargo plane
A cargo plane has crashed into the sea off Ivory Coast, close to Abidjan airport, killing four people and injuring six.
The wreckage of the turboprop plane, which was carrying 10people, was swept toward a beach where rescuers treated surviving crewmen on the sand.
All four of the dead are Moldovan while four French nationals and two Moldovans were injured.
Local police told AFP the aircraft had been trying to land when it crashed.
Rescuers used a cable to pull the wreck towards the shore
According to local news site Ivoire Matin one person was taken into custody after the crash. It is unclear if they are a member of the crew.
Reuters news agency reports that the plane crashed during a storm with heavy rain and lightning.
The plane was a Ukrainian-made Antonov chartered by the French army as part of its anti-jihadist Operation Barkhane, a French military source told AFP.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41620589
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Thomas Sankara - interviewing an African legend aged 11 - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Thirty years after his death, Becky Branford recalls interviewing Burkina Faso's legendary leader just before he was assassinated.
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Africa
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Becky (aged 11) meeting Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou in 1987, shortly before his assassination
One picture brings it all back home to me again: Me, an 11-year-old London school pupil, gazing up smiling into the eyes of Thomas Sankara, then president of Burkina Faso.
The picture is too dark; it isn't particularly well composed - the sound engineer is in the way, getting my fellow interviewer, 14-year-old Dan Meigh, ready to film our encounter.
But it's the kindly warmth in Capt Sankara's eyes as he looks back at me that takes me back; the sense of calm composure, of someone at ease with himself, and at ease with his young, potentially unpredictable young interlocutors.
It's the simple furniture, the lack of opulence, the lack of Western power-dressing in favour of African fabrics and bare arms.
Little did we realise at the time that we would become the last non-Africans to interview the Burkina Faso leader.
On 15 October 1987, he was assassinated in a coup led by his erstwhile brother-in-arms and best friend Blaise Campaoré - who went on to lead the country for the next 27 years.
We had been in Burkina Faso as winners of a competition run by the BBC news programme for children, Newsround - sent to look at projects run by Sport Aid, a famine-relief fundraising campaign.
The interview took place in the spartan presidential palace
Hearing the news of Capt Sankara's death back home in London, as editing of our programme was still under way, I was saddened and shocked, but the shock was soon superseded by the interview requests that came flooding in from prime-time chat shows, where I was jokily quizzed about bagging a "scoop" at such a young age.
It was only as I grew older that I began to appreciate the legendary status of the man I had interviewed - despite some criticism of his rule, his admirers remain numerous and ardent - and of the symbolism of his murder in the political context of post-colonial Africa.
For Capt Sankara was pursuing a political project described as revolutionary in scope. And unlike many other African icons, such as South Africa's Steve Biko, he did - at least for a time - have the power to begin trying to make his vision a reality.
I witnessed some of it for myself when I was there.
As I have said, he did away with the ornaments enjoyed by many leaders.
We saw few guards at the presidential residence, something Capt Sankara may have come to regret.
Outside there were no luxury cars - we heard he had given them to the national lottery as prizes, replacing the fleet with cheap Renaults.
One of Capt Sankara's priorities was fighting the desertification of his country.
He told us he wanted to make it a commonplace that everyone should plant a tree on their birthday - we planted our own.
He had sent 200,000 people to plant trees and cordon off land, preventing nomadic animals from stripping the land of vegetation.
We saw home-grown solutions being implemented to problems of malnutrition and poverty - for instance, people building "diguettes", stone walls which stop fertile topsoil running off arid agricultural land when it rains, permitting more abundant crops to be grown.
Statistics suggest that the policies Capt Sankara implemented during his short four years in office yielded some startling results.
Many more children went to school under Thomas Sankara's rule
School attendance went from 6% to 22%, millions of children were vaccinated and 10 million trees were planted. The number of women in government soared, female genital mutilation was banned, and contraception was promoted.
Like me, Lamine Konkobo, a Burkinabé journalist with BBC Afrique, was only a child when Capt Sankara was killed - and, like me, he only came to fully understand his political importance as he grew up.
"I was growing up in a village where Sankara was seen as a challenging figure in terms of the ideas he promoted, in terms of women's independence and empowerment, for instance," he told me.
"That did not sit well in the countryside."
Capt Sankara had challenged the old centres of power in Burkina Faso: Traditional leaders and big business.
So among them there was a sense of relief when his rule was over, a relief shared by Lamine's father.
Most young people supported Capt Sankara, but misgivings about his rule even extended to progressive figures, including some intellectuals, who felt his quest to develop the country had an overly paternalistic, authoritarian edge.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A look back at former Burkina Faso President Thomas Sankara's time in power
President Sankara made physical exercise mandatory, for example, so he could harness the powers of the population for his projects and do it without relying on external aid.
Workers accused of not pulling their weight were sometimes tried in "revolutionary tribunals", which were supposed to target corruption.
But the perceptions of Capt Sankara changed after Mr Campaoré came to power.
Under President Campaoré's programme of "rectification", power was restored to traditional leaders and businessmen.
"Justice for Sankara" became a rallying cry decades after his demise
Opponents were assassinated and a market economy was implemented that many blamed for impoverishing the majority and enriching a tiny elite, including Mr Campaoré and his own family.
These changes brought about a reappraisal of Capt Sankara's achievements among many - including Lamine's father.
"After [Sankara] died, we discussed his integrity, his public service, and my dad said everyone had been defending their own interests and had not been not open enough to hear him. 'Now I understand he was much better than what we have now,' my dad said. He died a repentant man."
Although Mr Campaoré, who was overthrown in 2014, erased Capt Sankara's project, ultimately he failed in his aim to erase his vision, Lamine believes.
"This is the real legacy of Thomas Sankara. The ideas he tried to promote remain despite all the efforts of Blaise Campaoré to get people to forget.
"Ultimately those ideas were what spurred people to rise up in 2014 against Blaise Campaoré: They confronted armed police officers and soldiers and they made their point.
"The uprising would not have been possible without young people being driven by this powerful belief within them - the belief that they were pursuing a vindication, that the regime that killed their hopes would go."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41580874
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Exploring the casting couch culture of LA - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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The casting couch may seem like a relic of the golden age of Hollywood - but women say sexual harassment is rife.
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US & Canada
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. On some red carpets, Harvey Weinstein is not a welcome subject
The casting couch may seem like a relic of the golden age of Hollywood - but women here say sexual harassment is rife and that exploitation is a price you pay for being part of the industry.
News that at least 30 women have accused Weinstein of sexually assaulting them - four alleging rape - has been met with sadness and outrage in Tinseltown.
But no one seems that surprised and many expect other powerful men will be exposed.
"I think everyone is shocked - not surprised," says actress Rita Moreno at a Women in TV gala in Beverly Hills. Ms Moreno, now 85, urged women to tell their stories. She says she was aggressively pursued by the head of a studio when she was 19.
"It was frightening and scary."
Mr Weinstein's Oscar for Shakespeare in Love has been tarnished by reports of lewd abuses of his immense power. But women in Hollywood say sexual harassment is common - for actresses and for women behind the scenes on film and TV sets.
We interviewed dozens of people who work in front of and behind Hollywood's cameras.
Almost every person reported experiencing sexism - though no one reported behaviour as severe as the allegations against Weinstein.
But a culture of pervasive sexism emerged. Some are stories of producers soliciting casual sex in exchange for jobs. Most stories involved daily ridicule and disrespect.
"The casting couch is still a major issue in Hollywood many women are being victimised and are being asked for sexual favours in order to get a job, to keep a job or to be promoted," says attorney Gloria Allred who represents women making complaints against Weinstein.
Ms Allred says she has women calling her with stories about other powerful Hollywood players.
The organisation Women in Film has been inundated with calls after they set up a hotline for victims to report abuse this week.
Women in Film's president Cathy Schulman says the revelations this week about Weinstein may be a tipping point - a chance to reform by employing more women in positions of power.
"It's a sad situation but we have to turn that into action. What angers me is women believing that they don't have the power to make change," says Schulman.
"What I get angry about is a system that lets them believe that they deserve to be treated this way."
Many men and women in the industry agree that more women in power would help stop the cliché of powerful Hollywood executives abusing young women.
Weinstein denies raping anyone and has apologised for hurting colleagues in the past. But his company has fired him and his wife has left him. Two weeks ago he was arguably the most powerful producer in Hollywood. Today, he's reportedly seeking therapy in Arizona.
While many of the women who say Weinstein harassed them are A-list actors like Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, others had their lives and Hollywood careers shattered before they began.
It's worrying for the newest recruits in the business.
At the Acting Corps in Los Angeles, Hollywood hopefuls warmed up with word games and improvisational exercises before their big scene.
These aspiring actors have yet to catch their big break, but many of them said they fear propositions from powerful people.
Several male actors have also said they've been groped and hassled by powerful men in Hollywood. The abuses, they say, are about power, not gender.
For years, there have been rumours about A-list actors and producers abusing children and young men in Hollywood.
Stacey Morphis came to LA from England. She left a girl band after being harassed by a colleague.
"I feel like in music or movies it's all about who you know and what you're willing to do," she said before her acting class. "I feel like that's the way it is and there's nothing I can do about it."
Auditions have become a little scarier for Fia Mann since news of Weinstein broke. She said auditions were already scary enough and that it's common for actors to be riddled with self-doubt and insecurities.
"Before you even step into the room - am I the right look? Are they going to like me because of this? I don't have that. But what if they ask me to do that? I can't do that. OK, maybe I shouldn't go.
"It sounds crazy but that's literally the conversation that goes on in your head."
The allegations have brought a darker side to auditions, says Fia Mann
But many people interviewed about sexism in Hollywood and Weinstein still do not want to be identified. There is still a fear about speaking out and upsetting someone who might be the ticket to your next job.
A woman in the costume department said when she was bent down on her knees fixing a male actor's belt, a fellow crew member took her picture and circulated it on set. She demanded he delete it but doesn't know if he did.
Female cinematographers are daily asked how they manage to carry such a heavy camera. "That's a man's job," is a common jibe.
Filmmaker Rachel Elder says a lighthearted Facebook group for mothers that she belongs to has transformed into a support group for sexual assault victims. She wrote about how she was sexually assaulted by her first boss in LA when she was 21.
"I'm very overwhelmed. In the last 72 hours I'm reading about all my friends writing about how they were raped and assaulted," she said.
"So many people are sharing really graphic stories that they've never told anyone before. You have to read it. You want to make people feel heard. It's really hard."
If more women talk about their experiences, will it really bring about change in a male-dominated industry?
A lot of people in Hollywood say they are not surprised
Christy Lamb is a co-founder of Moms in Film. She's worked as a producer for 13 years and also as an actress and in the art department.
"It's such a boys' club," she says, while on her (6pm) lunch break. "We are usually 10% of the people working on projects."
Many say Weinstein's career is over. But Hollywood is a forgiving place and they love a comeback story. The town has forgiven men after rape before.
Ms Lamb is confident that the culture has changed and that Weinstein will not be welcomed back.
"A year ago when Trump offended all women with 'Grab them by the pussy' we weirdly didn't get to execute much power," she says.
Trump was elected, after all, with 46% of women's support.
"But in this situation we can fire him [Weinstein] and we can be sure he doesn't work again."
Ms Moreno - who has won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy and a Tony award - says she's confident that this kind of publicity means young hopefuls in Hollywood won't go through what she did nearly seven decades ago.
"Who knows? Predators are predators," she said. "It's certainly going to make them very careful, I think."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41614221
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Newspaper headlines: 'Tax raid' on older workers and Ophelia 'chaos' - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Plans to tax older workers in the upcoming Budget and an impending storm feature on Monday's front pages.
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The Papers
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The man expected to be Austria's new leader, Sebastian Kurz, features heavily this morning.
The website Politico says a win for Mr Kurz and his People's Party heralds a "tectonic shift" in Austrian politics after more than a decade under a centrist coalition.
It believes his win illustrates the "continued potency of the refugee crisis in European politics" and will resonate across the European Union.
The Austrian newspaper, Wiener Zeitung, writes that Mr Kurz may struggle to woo his fellow European leaders, given that he is tipped to form an alliance with the nationalist Freedom Party - which has raised the prospect of leaving the Euro and perhaps the EU altogether.
The Daily Mail reports that inmates in England and Wales are being paid to cold call households from prison.
It says convicts - including a man who ran a telemarketing scam - are receiving £3.40 a day to call potential customers for insurance policies.
In its editorial, the paper asks: "Shouldn't we have the right to know if we are giving intimate details of our home to a convicted burglar?"
The Prison Service says inmates do not have access to personal and financial information.
The Sun leads on a report that the Metropolitan Police will no longer investigate some crimes - unless the victims can identify a possible suspect.
The paper calls the idea "criminal" and says it is a "licence to steal". Scotland Yard is quoted as saying the force has to "prioritise" due to shrinking resources.
Britain is £490bn poorer than thought, according to The Daily Telegraph. The paper reports that the UK no longer has a reserve of foreign assets to help protect against the consequences of Brexit.
The British ship HMS Sheffield was hit by an Argentine missile on 4 May 1982
Quoting the Office for National Statistics, it says Britain's international investment position has collapsed from a surplus of £469bn to a net deficit of £22bn.
The Guardian says the catalogue of errors that ended in the sinking of HMS Sheffield during the Falklands War can now be disclosed, 35 years later.
The paper says a newly-declassified report reveals that the vessel was "not fully prepared" for an attack and a radar which could have sensed the incoming missile was being blocked by another transmission.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-41631277
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Harvey Weinstein: More women accuse Hollywood producer of rape - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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British actress Lysette Anthony says he attacked her at her London home in the late 1980s.
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US & Canada
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Lysette Anthony said she had reported the alleged rape to police
Two more women have accused Harvey Weinstein of raping them as the top Hollywood producer finds himself increasingly shunned by his peers.
British actress Lysette Anthony says he attacked her at her London home in the late 1980s while another, unidentified woman says she was raped in 1992.
The organisation behind the Oscars has voted to expel Weinstein and his own brother called him "sick and depraved".
Weinstein, 65, insists sexual relations he had were consensual.
Police in London and New York are investigating various allegations against Weinstein.
More than two dozen women - among them actresses Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rose McGowan - have made accusations against him including rape and sexual assault.
Weinstein has been a huge figure in the film world, where his productions received more than 300 Oscar nominations and won 81.
Lysette Anthony told The Sunday Times she had reported an attack by Weinstein to the London Metropolitan Police.
The actress, who stars in the British TV soap Hollyoaks, said she had met the producer when she starred in 1982 sci-fi film Krull and the alleged assault had come a few years later.
It was a "pathetic, revolting" attack, she said, that had left her "disgusted and embarrassed".
The Metropolitan Police said it was passed an allegation of sexual assault, without giving details.
Separately an unidentified woman told the Mail On Sunday newspaper she had been raped by Weinstein in 1992 when she was working at his film company offices in West London.
On Saturday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said its board had "voted well in excess of the required two-thirds majority" to expel Weinstein.
Board members include Hollywood figures such as Tom Hanks and Whoopi Goldberg.
The "era of wilful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behaviour and workplace harassment in our industry is over", the Academy said.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Film Critic Jason Solomons says Harvey Weinstein "came for me and shook me" after a bad review
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter magazine, Bob Weinstein said he had had no idea of "the type of predator" his brother was.
He refused to comment on reports that he and the board of Weinstein Company had been aware of Weinstein's settlements with women during recent contract negotiations, saying only that the board "did not know the extent of my brother's actions".
The New York Police Department is looking into an allegation against Weinstein dating from 2004 and is reviewing whether there are any additional complaints.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. On some red carpets, Harvey Weinstein is not a welcome subject
The last time Harvey Weinstein was seen in public, outside his daughter's home in Los Angeles on Wednesday, he told reporters: "Guys, I'm not doing OK but I'm trying. I got to get help. You know what, we all make mistakes."
Weinstein's spokeswoman Sallie Hofmeister said earlier this week: "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr Weinstein."
"Mr Weinstein obviously can't speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual," her statement added.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41626563
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Hurricane Ophelia: Three people die as storm hits Ireland - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Thousands are without power as the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia reaches the British Isles.
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UK
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Two men and a woman have been killed as the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia hit the British Isles.
As hurricane-force gusts battered the Republic of Ireland, one woman and a man died in separate incidents when trees fell on their cars.
A second man died in a chainsaw accident while attempting to remove a tree felled by the storm.
Thousands of homes and businesses lost power in Northern Ireland and Wales, along with 360,000 in the Republic.
The power company Northern Ireland Electricity said 15,000 households in the province should prepare to spend Monday night without power.
Police in Scotland say the storm has hit Dumfries and Galloway and it is forecast to continue over the region into the evening.
And in Cumbria, police in Barrow closed roads around Barrow AFC's stadium after wind damaged its roof.
Cumbria Police said it was dealing with "numerous incidents" related to the high winds, which reached up to 70mph in the area.
The force had received reports of roofs and debris on the roads and overhead cables which had come down and it was urging people to only make essential travel.
In Wales, roads and railway lines have been closed and a gust of 90mph was recorded in Aberdaron, Gwynedd.
The Welsh Ambulance service said a woman has been injured after being hit by a falling branch in Wrexham.
In Ireland, the woman, in her 50s, died near Aglish, County Waterford, and a female passenger, in her 70s, was injured.
Her injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, the Gardai, Ireland's police force, said.
One of the men died near Dundalk, Co Louth, after his car was struck by a tree at about 14:45 BST, the Gardai said.
The other man, in his 30s, was killed in Cahir, Co Tipperary.
All road users were urged to stay indoors and not travel unless their journey was absolutely necessary.
Flights were also disrupted as several UK planes were forced to land or divert after reports of a "smoke smell" linked to weather conditions.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A reporter at the scene is caught in Ophelia's wind
BBC Weather said the strongest winds recorded so far were at Roches Point, near Cork in the Republic of Ireland, where they reached 97mph.
Ireland's meteorological service said its highest gust was 109mph at Fastnet Rock.
The Met Office's amber warning for Northern Ireland, western Wales and western parts of Scotland is still in force for wind.
Forecasters are predicting that the far south-west of Scotland will see winds of 80mph on Monday evening, followed by 60mph gusts over Glasgow and the central belt in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The main danger facing Scottish commuters in the morning would be debris on roads, they said.
Other parts of the UK have seen unseasonably warm temperatures.
And skies have turned red and yellow as Ophelia drags dust from the Sahara through the atmosphere.
An amber warning is in force in Northern Ireland
It could be several days before power is restored to some homes in the Republic of Ireland, ESB Networks has warned.
The roof of Cork's football stadium has also been blown off by the winds.
Ophelia has arrived from the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean and coincides with the 30th anniversary of the UK's Great Storm of 1987.
BBC Ireland correspondent Chris Page said it would be the most severe storm to hit Ireland in half a century.
The Irish Republic's Met Eireann said the storm was forecast to continue travelling north over western parts of Ireland, with "violent and destructive gusts" of 75mph to 93mph expected countrywide.
It also warned of possible flooding due to heavy rain and storm surges.
"There is a danger to life and property," it said.
It has issued a red alert for the country.
In England, three flood warnings - meaning flooding is expected - have been issued in the South West, and there are several flood alerts - meaning flooding is possible - across other parts of the country.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has put a series of flood alerts and warnings in place for south-west Scotland.
A trampoline was blown away by strong winds in Cork, Republic of Ireland
The storm hit Land's End leaving these two dogs windswept
And at Trearddur Bay, Wales strong winds whipped up sea foam on to the road
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41627442
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Gatwick flight drone near-miss 'put 130 lives at risk' - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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A large drone went "right over the wing" of a passenger jet near Gatwick Airport, a report says.
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Sussex
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Many airports have logged near misses between aircraft and drones
A drone put 130 lives at risk when it passed directly over the wing of an aircraft approaching Gatwick Airport, a report has revealed.
A UK Airprox Board report said the drone was "flown into conflict" with the Airbus 319 on 9 July and said there was a high risk of a collision.
It said: "A larger aircraft might not have missed it and in the captain's opinion, it had put 130 lives at risk."
An "airprox" is when distances between aircraft are seen to compromise safety.
Former RAF and British Airways pilot Steve Landells said it was a "worrying near-miss that could have ended in tragedy".
The plane was preparing to land and a small, black object seen by the first officer was thought at first to be a bird before it became apparent it was a drone, the report said.
Twilight conditions at 20:35 BST meant the drone appeared black, or dark in colour, the report continued.
"At its closest point, it passed between the wing-tip and the fuselage, above the right wing," it said.
The plane landed safely and Gatwick police attended the incident at the West Sussex airport.
The report said the drone was "very large, certainly not a toy", with an estimated diameter of 1m (about 3ft) and four blades.
The report said the pilot's estimate of the distance, and his inability to avoid the object "portrayed a situation where providence had played a major part" in avoiding a collision.
In July, the Department for Transport (DFT) unveiled plans for a drone registration system after research found drones could smash plane windscreens.
Mr Landells, flight safety specialist at pilots' association Balpa, said the organisation wanted to see details of the legislation and a timescale for implementation.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-41627552
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Harvey Weinstein: Met police investigate new sex assault claims - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein is accused of a number of sexual assaults in London, the BBC understands.
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Entertainment & Arts
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UK police are investigating a number of sexual assault allegations involving Harvey Weinstein, the BBC understands.
The Metropolitan Police says he is accused of assaulting three women in separate incidents in London in the late 1980s, 1992, 2010, 2011 and 2015.
Officers are looking into claims they were attacked in Westminster, Camden and west London.
The Hollywood film producer has "unequivocally denied" any allegations of non-consensual sex.
No arrests have been made over any of the allegations, police say.
New York police are also investigating claims against Weinstein, including rape and sexual assault.
More than two dozen women - among them actresses Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rose McGowan - have made a number of accusations against him.
Weinstein, 65, is a huge figure in the film world, where his productions have received more than 300 Oscar nominations and won 81.
On Saturday, the organisation behind the Oscars (the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) voted to expel Weinstein.
Hollywood figures including Tom Hanks and Whoopi Goldberg sit on its board.
Announcing its decision, the Academy said the "era of wilful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behaviour and workplace harassment in our industry is over".
French President Emmanuel Macron has said he has taken steps to revoke Weinstein's Legion d'Honneur - the country's top honour - which he was awarded in 2012.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Film Critic Jason Solomons says Harvey Weinstein "came for me and shook me" after a bad review
British actress Lysette Anthony is the latest named star to accuse Weinstein after she told the Sunday Times he attacked her at her London home in the late 1980s.
Anthony says she reported the attack to the Met adding she met the producer in 1982 when she was in sci-fi film Krull and the alleged assault happened a few years later.
It was a "pathetic, revolting" attack, the actress said, that had left her "disgusted and embarrassed".
The Metropolitan Police said it was passed an allegation of sexual assault, without giving details.
BBC home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford says detectives have two problems going forward - one will be gathering evidence from the time of these allegations, including an incident from 35 years ago.
He adds the other is that because Weinstein faces allegations in the United States, police will want to deal with that first before agreeing to extradite him to the UK to face any charges against him there.
Meanwhile, Woody Allen has said he had heard rumours about Weinstein but not "these horror stories", adding he was "sad" to hear about the numerous allegations.
The film-maker later clarified his comments. "When I said I felt sad for Harvey Weinstein I thought it was clear the meaning was because he is a sad, sick man," he told Variety.
Harvey Weinstein's brother has refused to comment on whether the board of Weinstein Company had been aware of settlements with women during recent contract negotiations.
But Bob Weinstein told the Hollywood Reporter he had no idea of "the type of predator" his brother was.
Weinstein was an executive producer on The Reader, the film which earned Winslet her Oscar
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41629689
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Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner to marry Joe Jonas - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, and US singer Joe Jonas are engaged.
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Entertainment & Arts
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British actress Sophie Turner and US singer Joe Jonas are to marry.
The pair, who have been together since 2016, both shared the news on Instagram with the same picture of a diamond ring.
Turner, who plays Sansa Stark in fantasy TV drama Game of Thrones, posted the photo with the caption "I said yes".
Jonas's brother Nick, who was also in American pop band The Jonas Brothers, tweeted his congratulations.
He said: "Ahh! Congratulations to my brother... and sister in law to be on your engagement. I love you both so much."
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The Jonas Brothers was formed in 2005 and gained fame after appearances on the Disney Channel. The band was made up of the three brothers Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas.
The three-piece broke up in 2013 and Joe Jonas is currently the lead singer for US dance-rock band DNCE.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41630674
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Storm weather warning issued for Northern Ireland - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Damaging gusts are likely across Northern Ireland on Monday, says the Met Office.
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Northern Ireland
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A weather warning has been issued for Northern Ireland as Hurricane Ophelia makes its way across the Atlantic.
The Met Office said winds of between 55mph (89km/h) and 65mph (105km/h) are likely across the region, particularly during Monday evening's rush-hour.
It added that "damaging winds" have the potential to pose "danger to life" due to the likelihood of flying debris.
All schools, colleges and courts in the Republic of Ireland will close on Monday due to the risk the gusts pose.
Hurricane Ophelia will be a storm when it hits Ireland and the UK as it weakens on its path across the Atlantic Ocean.
But national weather services in both countries have issued alerts about severe weather.
The Met Office said its warning is of a less severe grade than that of Met Éireann because their systems for gauging the alerts differ.
Met Office warnings outline the likely impact of weather, whereas Met Éireann issues its alerts when forecasted weather meets certain risk levels.
In Northern Ireland, the Met Office's amber warning will take effect from 15:00 BST on Monday, lasting until 22:00.
Gusts in the far south-east of Northern Ireland could reach speeds of between 70mph (112km/h) and 80mph (129km/h).
"There is the potential for damage to trees, there could be a danger to life from flying debris," said John Wylie of the Met Office.
"A very stormy period is to come on Monday evening."
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NIE Networks, which controls Northern Ireland's electricity network, said it is preparing to move emergency crews to areas worst affected by the storm.
Anyone who experiences a power cut should report it online or by contacting the 24-hour helpline on 03457 643643.
The Irish national weather service Met Éireann had initially issued a red warning - its most serious - about the storm winds for counties Clare, Cork, Galway, Kerry, Limerick, Mayo Waterford and Wexford.
It extended that to a country-wide warning on Sunday evening.
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It said "violent and descriptive gusts are forecast with all areas at risk".
"Heavy rain and storm surges along some coasts will result in flooding," it added.
The Irish national emergency co-ordination group met on Sunday to discuss preparations for Hurricane Ophelia.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the country's defence forces are being deployed to the areas that are expected to be worst hit.
The south and south-west of the country is due to be hit by winds in the morning, with eastern counties feeling their force in the afternoon.
Are you affected by Hurricane Ophelia? E-mail your stories and pictures to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
Please do not put yourself in any danger to take images and please heed all safety warnings.
You can also contact us in the following ways:
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-41627645
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NHS patients to be asked about sexuality - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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NHS England says the question will deter discrimination against lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
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Health
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NHS England advises sexuality is recorded during "face to face contact" with patients
Health professionals in England are to be told to ask patients aged 16 or over about their sexual orientation, under new NHS guidelines.
NHS England said no-one would be forced to answer the question but recording the data would ensure that "no patient is discriminated against".
The guidance applies to doctors and nurses, as well as local councils responsible for adult social care.
A spokeswoman said: "It will have no impact on the care [people] receive."
She added: "All health bodies and local authorities with responsibility for adult social care are required under the Equality Act to ensure that no patient is discriminated against."
She said the information would help NHS bodies comply with equality legislation by "consistently collecting, only where relevant, personal details of patients such as race, sex and sexual orientation."
NHS England recommends health professionals - such as GPs and nurses - ask about a person's sexual orientation at "every face to face contact with the patient, where no record of this data already exists".
But the Family Doctor Association said it was "potentially intrusive and offensive" for GPs to monitor people's sexuality.
Chairman Dr Peter Swinyard told the BBC that for older patients in particular, sexuality "doesn't affect health outcomes or care".
He said that GPs tend to know patients' sexuality, or would ask, if it was relevant to their medical condition.
For example, patients at a sexual health clinic are likely to be asked, but not those attending a wart clinic.
He added: "Given the precious short amount of time a GP has with a patient, sexuality is not relevant."
He said there were "relatively few medical conditions" that it affected.
NHS England said the data was already being collected in many areas but that the new guidance makes it standard, and that it expects sexual orientation monitoring to be in place across England by April 2019.
Under the guidance, health professionals are to ask patients: "Which of the following options best describes how you think of yourself?".
The options include heterosexual or straight, gay or lesbian, bisexual, other sexual orientation, not sure, not stated and not known.
NHS England said lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people were "disproportionately affected" by health inequalities such as poor mental health and a higher risk of self-harm and suicide.
It said public bodies had a legal obligation to pay regard to the needs of LGB people under the Equality Act 2010.
"Collecting and analysing data on sexual orientation allows public sector bodies to better understand, respond to and improve LGB patients' service access," the guidance states.
Paul Martin, chief executive of Manchester's LGBT Foundation, which worked with NHS England and others to develop sexual orientation monitoring, said he was "so proud" of the new standard.
He said earlier this week: "If we're not counted, we don't count."
The launch of sexual orientation monitoring was a "hugely important step in the right direction" towards addressing LGB inequality in health and social care, he said.
However, the foundation's good practice guide for healthcare professionals concedes that "some people will feel uncomfortable asking or being asked" about their sexuality.
It warns: "It would not be appropriate to ask someone's sexual orientation out loud in a busy reception area."
If a patient does not want to disclose their sexuality, "not stated" would be recorded as their response.
The guidance also says patients who are not able to declare their sexual orientation, for example if they require specialist mental capacity care, would be recorded as "not known".
Former Conservative education secretary Nicky Morgan said that "what looks good on paper... actually when translated into real life becomes very intrusive".
She told ITV's Peston on Sunday: "Could it be appropriate in some circumstances about some conditions or problems that people come to see their doctors about?
"But clearly (for) the majority you wonder why on earth they need to know."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41625402
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Can we teach robots ethics? - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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We are not used to the idea of machines making ethical decisions, but the day when they will routinely do this - by themselves - is fast approaching.
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Magazine
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We are not used to the idea of machines making ethical decisions, but the day when they will routinely do this - by themselves - is fast approaching. So how, asks the BBC's David Edmonds, will we teach them to do the right thing?
The car arrives at your home bang on schedule at 8am to take you to work. You climb into the back seat and remove your electronic reading device from your briefcase to scan the news. There has never been trouble on the journey before: there's usually little congestion. But today something unusual and terrible occurs: two children, wrestling playfully on a grassy bank, roll on to the road in front of you. There's no time to brake. But if the car skidded to the left it would hit an oncoming motorbike.
Neither outcome is good, but which is least bad?
The year is 2027, and there's something else you should know. The car has no driver.
Dr Amy Rimmer believes self-driving cars will save lives and cut down on emissions
I'm in the passenger seat and Dr Amy Rimmer is sitting behind the steering wheel.
Amy pushes a button on a screen, and, without her touching any more controls, the car drives us smoothly down a road, stopping at a traffic light, before signalling, turning a sharp left, navigating a roundabout and pulling gently into a lay-by.
The journey's nerve-jangling for about five minutes. After that, it already seems humdrum. Amy, a 29-year-old with a Cambridge University PhD, is the lead engineer on the Jaguar Land Rover autonomous car. She is responsible for what the car sensors see, and how the car then responds.
She says that this car, or something similar, will be on our roads in a decade.
Many technical issues still need to be overcome. But one obstacle for the driverless car - which may delay its appearance - is not merely mechanical, or electronic, but moral.
The dilemma prompted by the children who roll in front of the car is a variation on the famous (or notorious) "trolley problem" in philosophy. A train (or tram, or trolley) is hurtling down a track. It's out of control. The brakes have failed. But disaster lies ahead - five people are tied to the track. If you do nothing, they'll all be killed. But you can flick the points and redirect the train down a side-track - so saving the five. The bad news is that there's one man on that side-track and diverting the train will kill him. What should you do?
This question has been put to millions of people around the world. Most believe you should divert the train.
But now take another variation of the problem. A runaway train is hurtling towards five people. This time you are standing on a footbridge overlooking the track, next to a man with a very bulky rucksack. The only way to save the five is to push Rucksack Man to his death: the rucksack will block the path of the train. Once again it's a choice between one life and five, but most people believe that Rucksack Man should not be killed.
This puzzle has been around for decades, and still divides philosophers. Utilitarians, who believe that we should act so as to maximise happiness, or well-being, think our intuitions are wrong about Rucksack Man. Rucksack Man should be sacrificed: we should save the five lives.
Trolley-type dilemmas are wildly unrealistic. Nonetheless, in the future there may be a few occasions when the driverless car does have to make a choice - which way to swerve, who to harm, or who to risk harming? These questions raise many more. What kind of ethics should we programme into the car? How should we value the life of the driver compared to bystanders or passengers in other cars? Would you buy a car that was prepared to sacrifice its driver to spare the lives of pedestrians? If so, you're unusual.
Then there's the thorny matter of who's going to make these ethical decisions. Will the government decide how cars make choices? Or the manufacturer? Or will it be you, the consumer? Will you be able to walk into a showroom and select the car's ethics as you would its colour? "I'd like to purchase a Porsche utilitarian 'kill-one-to-save-five' convertible in blue please…"
Ron Arkin became interested in such questions when he attended a conference on robot ethics in 2004. He listened as one delegate was discussing the best bullet to kill people - fat and slow, or small and fast? Arkin felt he had to make a choice "whether or not to step up and take responsibility for the technology that we're creating". Since then, he's devoted his career to working on the ethics of autonomous weapons.
There have been calls for a ban on autonomous weapons, but Arkin takes the opposite view: if we can create weapons which make it less likely that civilians will be killed, we must do so. "I don't support war. But if we are foolish enough to continue killing ourselves - over God knows what - I believe the innocent in the battle space need to be better protected," he says.
Like driverless cars, autonomous weapons are not science fiction. There are already weapons that operate without being fully controlled by humans. Missiles exist which can change course if they are confronted by an enemy counter-attack, for example. Arkin's approach is sometimes called "top-down". That is, he thinks we can programme robots with something akin to the Geneva Convention war rules - prohibiting, for example, the deliberate killing of civilians. Even this is a horrendously complex challenge: the robot will have to distinguish between the enemy combatant wielding a knife to kill, and the surgeon holding a knife he's using to save the injured.
An alternative way to approach these problems involves what is known as "machine learning".
Susan Anderson is a philosopher, Michael Anderson a computer scientist. As well as being married, they're professional collaborators. The best way to teach a robot ethics, they believe, is to first programme in certain principles ("avoid suffering", "promote happiness"), and then have the machine learn from particular scenarios how to apply the principles to new situations.
A humanoid robot developed by Aldebaran Robotics interacts with residents at a care home
Take carebots - robots designed to assist the sick and elderly, by bringing food or a book, or by turning on the lights or the TV. The carebot industry is expected to burgeon in the next decade. Like autonomous weapons and driverless cars, carebots will have choices to make. Suppose a carebot is faced with a patient who refuses to take his or her medication. That might be all right for a few hours, and the patient's autonomy is a value we would want to respect. But there will come a time when help needs to be sought, because the patient's life may be in danger.
After processing a series of dilemmas by applying its initial principles, the Andersons believe that the robot would become clearer about how it should act. Humans could even learn from it. "I feel it would make more ethically correct decisions than a typical human," says Susan. Neither Anderson is fazed by the prospect of being cared for by a carebot. "Much rather a robot than the embarrassment of being changed by a human," says Michael.
However machine learning throws up problems of its own. One is that the machine may learn the wrong lessons. To give a related example, machines that learn language from mimicking humans have been shown to import various biases. Male and female names have different associations. The machine may come to believe that a John or Fred is more suitable to be a scientist than a Joanna or Fiona. We would need to be alert to these biases, and to try to combat them.
A yet more fundamental challenge is that if the machine evolves through a learning process we may be unable to predict how it will behave in the future; we may not even understand how it reaches its decisions. This is an unsettling possibility, especially if robots are making crucial choices about our lives. A partial solution might be to insist that if things do go wrong, we have a way to audit the code - a way of scrutinising what's happened. Since it would be both silly and unsatisfactory to hold the robot responsible for an action (what's the point of punishing a robot?), a further judgement would have to be made about who was morally and legally culpable for a robot's bad actions.
One big advantage of robots is that they will behave consistently. They will operate in the same way in similar situations. The autonomous weapon won't make bad choices because it is angry. The autonomous car won't get drunk, or tired, it won't shout at the kids on the back seat. Around the world, more than a million people are killed in car accidents each year - most by human error. Reducing those numbers is a big prize.
Quite how much we should value consistency is an interesting issue, though. If robot judges provide consistent sentences for convicted criminals, this seems to be a powerful reason to delegate the sentencing role. But would nothing be lost in removing the human contact between judge and accused? Prof John Tasioulas at King's College London believes there is value in messy human relations. "Do we really want a system of sentencing that mechanically churns out a uniform answer in response to the agonising conflict of values often involved? Something of real significance is lost when we eliminate the personal integrity and responsibility of a human decision-maker," he argues.
Amy Rimmer is excited about the prospect of the driverless car. It's not just the lives saved. The car will reduce congestion and emissions and will be "one of the few things you will be able to buy that will give you time". What would it do in our trolley conundrum? Crash into two kids, or veer in front of an oncoming motorbike? Jaguar Land Rover hasn't yet considered such questions but Amy is not convinced that matters: "I don't have to answer that question to pass a driving test, and I'm allowed to drive. So why would we dictate that the car has to have an answer to these unlikely scenarios before we're allow to get the benefits from it?"
That's an excellent question. If driverless cars save life overall why not allow them on to the road before we resolve what they should do in very rare circumstances? Ultimately, though, we'd better hope that our machines can be ethically programmed - because, like it or not, in the future more and more decisions that are currently taken by humans will be delegated to robots.
There are certainly reasons to worry. We may not fully understand why a robot has made a particular decision. And we need to ensure that the robot does not absorb and compound our prejudices. But there's also a potential upside. The robot may turn out to be better at some ethical decisions than we are. It may even make us better people.
Illustrations are From Would You Kill The Fat Man? By David Edmonds. Princeton University Press, 2014
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-41504285
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Leah Dixon and Jasmine Agnew traced in Falkirk - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Leah Dixon and Jasmine Agnew were reported missing after failing to return to their homes in Renfrewshire.
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Glasgow & West Scotland
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Two schoolgirls who had been reported missing have been found "safe and well".
Leah Dixon, 14, and Jasmine Agnew, 12, were reported missing on Friday night after failing to return to their homes in Renfrewshire.
Police said they believed they may have travelled to the Falkirk area. Officers said they had been found there.
Leah's mother Pauline Dixon appealed on Facebook for help in tracing her daughter.
Police Scotland thanked the media for their help in tracing the girls.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-41623309
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First commercial flight lands on remote St Helena - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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Commercial jet lands for the first time on airstrip branded the "world's most useless airport".
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Africa
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. First commercial flight touches down at "the world's most useless airport"
The first scheduled commercial airline service to the remote British island of St Helena in the south Atlantic has touched down safely.
The virgin flight, an SA Airlink service from South Africa, ends the island's long-standing reliance on a ship which sailed every three weeks.
It is hoped that the service, funded by the UK, will boost tourism and help make St Helena more self-sufficient.
But British media have dubbed it "the most useless airport in the world".
The opening of the airport was delayed by problems with wind
Built with £285m ($380m) of funding from the UK Department for International Development (Dfid), the airport should have opened in 2016, but dangerous wind conditions delayed the launch.
After further trials this summer, the weekly service between Johannesburg and St Helena was passed as safe.
As seen from inside the cabin, the first ever commercial flight lands at St Helena Airport
St Helena had for decades been one of the world's most inaccessible locations, served only by a rare ship service from South Africa.
It is chiefly known as the island to which French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled after his defeat in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, and where he died.
The Embraer E190-100IGW aircraft took off from Johannesburg on Saturday morning, carrying 78 passengers. It reached St Helena in the afternoon after stopping in the Namibian capital, Windhoek.
"I for one am getting really excited about the new chapter in St Helena's history," said St Helena governor Lisa Phillips.
Previously travel to and from the tiny island, with its population of just 4,255, was only possible on the RMS St Helena, which took around six days to complete the journey from South Africa.
The ship's final voyage is scheduled for February.
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St Helena relies on British aid of £52m a year and officials hope increased tourism will make it more self-sufficient.
"This is an important moment in St Helena's route to self-sufficiency," a Dfid spokeswoman said.
"It will boost its tourism industry, creating the opportunity to increase its revenues, and will bring other benefits such as quicker access to healthcare for those living on the island."
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According to a report in The Guardian newspaper, the island's diverse geology and wildlife, such as the whales that gather off its coast, may appeal to visitors.
But "more flights will have to be added if the airport is to be deemed a success - and not an expensive white elephant", the report said.
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Austria holds watershed election marked by migrant crisis - BBC News
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2017-10-15
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The country is tipped to return Europe's youngest leader amid a shift to the right after the migrant crisis.
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Europe
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Sebastian Kurz has taken the conservatives further to the right
Austrians are voting in a general election in which the frontrunner, conservative People's Party (ÖVP) leader Sebastian Kurz, is just 31.
The far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) and Social Democrats are competing for second place, opinion polls suggest.
The Social Democrats led the outgoing coalition with the ÖVP.
Immigration has been a dominant issue in the campaign and the FPÖ is thought to have its best chance in years of returning to government.
The party narrowly missed out on the presidency in December when Norbert Hofer was defeated by Alexander Van der Bellen, head of the Greens, who won with about 53% of the votes.
The election comes amid anxiety in Europe over the huge influx of undocumented migrants and refugees in 2015, which fuelled an electoral breakthrough by the far right in neighbouring Germany last month.
If the polls are correct, a political shake-up could be on the cards in Austria, the BBC's Bethany Bell reports from Vienna.
After more than a decade in which the Social Democrats have led a coalition with the conservatives, the mood in Austria seems to be moving to the right, our correspondent says.
Mr Kurz, the outgoing foreign minister, reinvented the ÖVP after becoming leader in May, moving it rightward with promises to:
Mr Kurz forced the snap election when he refused to continue in coalition with the Social Democrats, led by incumbent Chancellor Christian Kern.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Conservative Sebastian Kurz is the frontrunner in the run up to Austria's general election.
The FPÖ accuse Mr Kurz of stealing their policies. Their candidate, Heinz-Christian Strache, has called him an "imposter".
If his party wins, as polls suggest it will, Mr Kurz would become the youngest leader in Europe, and analysts say his party is likely to form a coalition with the FPÖ.
Mr Kern warned on Saturday that the country "was at the most important crossroads in decades".
His own party has been struggling after several scandals including an online smear campaign against Mr Kurz.
The party's campaign focused on economic growth, jobs and social justice.
After a tumultuous year with internal rifts, the pro-refugee Greens are among several smaller parties uncertain of reaching the 4% vote threshold required to enter parliament.
Traditionally, the winning party is tasked with forming the next government which, since the 1980s, has been a coalition with one of the other parties.
Under the late Jörg Haider, the Freedom Party was the junior party in two coalitions with the ÖVP, between 2000 and 2007.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41625544
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Hampshire YMCA centre guilty after girl 'nearly hanged' - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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The 11-year-old slipped and was left hanging by a safety lanyard around her neck
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Hampshire & Isle of Wight
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This image of a rope bridge was shown in court, but does not feature the girl involved
A YMCA activity centre has been found guilty of failing to ensure the safety of a girl who was left hanging by her neck from a rope bridge during a school trip.
The then 11-year-old slipped on the bridge at the YMCA Fairthorne Manor activity centre near Botley in 2012.
Portsmouth Crown Court heard she was left hanging for several minutes by a safety lanyard looped around her neck.
The unconscious girl was cut free by instructors and later recovered.
The girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was taken to hospital by air ambulance and made a full recovery.
The YMCA Fairthorne Group had denied two charges brought by Winchester City Council over the incident on the so-called Burma Bridge rope bridge activity.
She was among a group of 40 pupils from a school in Chandler's Ford who were on a trip to celebrate the end of the school year in July 2012.
During the trial, prosecutors said the rescue was "pretty shambolic" and it was "a matter of luck more than judgement she wasn't seriously hurt".
In the end a cable was severed and the girl dropped into the water under the bridge, along with one of two instructors trying to support her.
The company was found guilty of "failing to discharge a duty in the conduct of an undertaking, to ensure the safety of persons not in their employment".
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on a second charge against the YMCA Fairthorne Group of failing to ensure that employees were adequately trained.
The group said it was "disappointed" with the verdict and described the incident as an "unfortunate isolated event".
"The YMCA Fairthorne Group has a first-class safety record and takes the issue extremely seriously," it added.
Sentencing is due to take place on 3 November.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-41607953
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Marilyn Manson was in 'excruciating pain' after stage accident - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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The star speaks for the first time about the stage accident that left him with several broken bones.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Marilyn Manson has discussed for the first time the "excruciating" stage accident that resulted in a leg injury and nine postponed tour dates.
The singer was crushed when a giant prop gun collapsed on him during a concert in New York on 30 September.
"It was terrifying," said the rock star, who needed a plate and 10 screws in his fibula after the accident.
He told Yahoo news that, contrary to media reports, he was not responsible for the prop toppling over.
"I wasn't trying to climb it," said the 48-year-old.
"It started to fall and I tried to push back and I didn't get out the way in time.
"I'm not sure what I hit my head on, but it did fall on to my leg and break the fibula in two places. The pain was excruciating."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Eyewitness Anthony Biscardi recalls the moment a prop collapsed on US rockstar Manson
It took several minutes for the stage crew to free Manson, who appeared limp and unconscious.
As well as the injury to his lower leg, the star required a screw through his ankle bone. He has spent the last two weeks recovering at home in Los Angeles.
Manson said he regretted that his tour "got cut off right" just as he "was about to put it into second gear".
But he added, "I'll be back there really shortly, and it's going to be as exciting as it was starting out."
The star has rescheduled several US tour dates for January and February 2018. He is due to play seven UK dates in December.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41634576
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Portugal and Spain wildfires: Dozens dead and injured - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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At least 31 people are dead in Portugal and three in Spain as dozens of wildfires spread.
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Europe
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A wave of wildfires in central and north Portugal which started at the weekend has killed at least 31 people, civil defence authorities say.
Dozens of the 145 fires still raging are considered serious, a spokeswoman said.
To the north, fires which broke out across the border in Spain's Galicia region claimed at least three lives.
Thousands of firefighters are battling the flames, which erupted after a hot dry summer.
Conditions were worsened by Hurricane Ophelia, as it approached Europe's western coast, bringing strong winds to fan and spread the flames.
More than 50 people have also been injured in Portugal; 15 are reported to be in a serious condition. Local media say several people are still missing there, including a month-old baby.
In Spain, two of the victims were found in a burned-out car by the side of the road.
Rain is forecast for the affected regions late on Monday.
The latest fires in Portugal come just four months after the deadliest wildfire in its history
Some 30 "major" fires were reported to still be raging in Portugal on Monday
In addition to the human casualties, huge damage has been done by the fires
A state of emergency has been declared in Portugal north of the Tagus river - about half of the country's land area. More than 6,000 firefighters in 1,800 vehicles were deployed by early Monday morning.
As a result of the fires, at least a dozen roads were closed, as well as schools in some places.
The Portuguese deaths were in the Coimbra, Guarda, Castelo Branca and Viseu areas.
"We went through absolute hell. It was horrible. There was fire everywhere," a resident of Penacova, near Coimbra, was quoted as telling Portuguese RTP radio and TV.
Fabio Ventura, who lives in Marinha Grande, in Leria district, told the BBC that some of his friends in villages in the nearby forest had lost their homes.
"Currently, we don't have water in our homes because the pipes were damaged by the fire. We are avoiding taking showers to save water. The mobile network is going down several times and there is a huge cloud of smoke and ashes above my city.
"Schools were closed, public services are closed, some roads are also closed. I have friends that lost their homes, but everyone is OK in my area."
Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy travelled to the Pontevedra area of Galicia and met emergency workers on Monday afternoon.
"What we are dealing with here is something that is not caused by accident. It has been provoked," Mr Rajoy said.
"We are here in Pazos de Borden where there has been a big fire which began at 01:30 (22:00 GMT) in the morning at five different points. So as you can see it's impossible for this to be triggered under natural circumstances."
Conditions are making it difficult to contain the fires, the Galicia regional government head says
Over the border in Spain, authorities are also dealing with multiple fires
The Spanish prime minister, who is from Galicia, visited the region on Monday
Galician leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo has claimed the fires were deliberately set by arsonists, in what he called "terrorist acts".
Earlier, Spain's Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said several people had already been identified in connection with the fires, and appealed for anyone with further information to share it with the national protection service.
The wildfires follow a massive forest blaze in Portugal in June which killed 64 people and injured more than 130. Firefighters tackling that blaze also alleged it had been started by a "criminal hand".
But in the aftermath, questions were raised about the speed of the response and the readiness to tackle such a fire. It also emerged that the country's rescue network, a public-private partnership, failed to connect several emergency calls to firefighters.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41634125
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'Smoke smell' forces flights to land at UK airports - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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Airlines British Airways, Flybe, Easyjet and Auringy say the smells are linked to weather conditions.
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England
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A flight to Hamburg was in the air for 20 minutes before it returned to Manchester Airport
A number of flights to UK airports have been forced to land or divert following reports of "smoke smells".
Precautionary landings were reported from flights travelling to and from Dublin, Manchester, Liverpool and Jersey.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport said the smells appeared to be connected with "atmospheric conditions".
British Airways, Easyjet and Aurigny confirmed reports of smells on flights were linked to weather conditions.
A spokesman for John Lennon Airport said there were three "precautionary landings" following reports of smells in the cockpit of the planes.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said crews were called to the airport at about 07:39 BST and supported airport fire personnel, who boarded a passenger jet.
Steph Whitehead, from Liverpool, was on Easyjet flight EZY1841 which was due to travel from Manchester Airport to Hamburg at 12:25 BST.
She said the flight was airborne for about 20 minutes when the captain said there was "smoke in the cockpit", and returned the plane to Manchester.
Ms Whitehead said passengers in the cabin also caught a whiff of the smoke, which "smelled like a firework", adding people were "a bit worried at first" about it.
Passengers were escorted away from the plane by fire crews, before being put back on the same plane for departure.
NATS, a company that provides air traffic control services in the UK, said it had facilitated "a number" of diversions from aircraft reporting fumes being detected in the cockpit.
All of these flights had landed safely, a spokesman added.
It comes following reports of an "unusual" reddish sky across parts of England, which experts are attributing to the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia dragging in tropical air and dust from the Sahara, as well as debris from forest fires in Portugal and Spain.
The Met Office said: "The same southerly winds that have brought us the current warmth have also drawn dust from the Sahara and smoke from wildfires occurring over northern Iberia (Spain/Portugal) to our latitudes."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41639386
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Why I secretly taped my disability assessment - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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Some ill and disabled people are so worried about the process, they are using mobile phones to secretly record those interviews, critics say.
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Health
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Nev Cartwright has been left with complications including chronic infections and emphysema.
Every month 60,000 ill and disabled people have their needs assessed for benefits. Some are so worried about the process that they are using mobile phones to secretly record those interviews, critics say. But using that evidence to overturn a decision is not straightforward.
In 2015, Nev Cartwright sat down with his specialist at a hospital in Leeds. He was told his hacking cough and breathing difficulties were caused by a tumour in his left lung. He was 45.
Since then he has had three operations and a lung removed. Nev was awarded the highest rate of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) - a benefit meant to pay for the extra costs of his condition.
But a year later he received a letter saying the DLA was being replaced by a new benefit, the Personal Independence Payment, and his needs would have to be reassessed by a private company.
The night before his assessment he watched a documentary which questioned how they were being conducted.
"I was really nervous about it and made the decision to audio record the interview covertly. It was a safeguard, an accurate record of what had taken place," he says.
The face-to-face assessment is typically an interview with a health professional, such as a nurse or paramedic, lasting between 30 and 90 minutes. It can also include basic medical tests and a physical examination.
The claimant is assessed depending on their ability to complete day-to-day tasks. That report is sent to an official at the DWP who will then decide the final level of disability benefit that person is awarded.
But things did not go as planned. Nev says he had misgivings from the start but it was only later, when he saw the assessor's final report, that he realised something was seriously wrong.
"Some details discussed in the interview were not in the report and others were completely altered," he says.
"She said she'd done a physical examination of my mobility. It was very evident on the audio recording, that she never did that at all."
On his phone recording you can clearly hear the assessor carrying out a peak test to measure his lung function, and reading out the data.
But in the final report, his last reading appears to have doubled from 150 L/min to 300 L/min, making him seem better than he actually was.
"I totally agree that anyone entitled to benefits should have their needs assessed," he says. "But everyone deserves just and fair treatment."
After his interview Nev had his disability payments cut and had to return the car paid for by the mobility element of his benefits.
He wrote to the DWP and told them about his recording, sending them a written transcript put together by an independent firm.
Claimants can record their assessments but only if they provide tamper-proof equipment like this, which can cost £1,500.
Under government rules, secret or covert recording like this is banned. If it is spotted, the claimant is told to stop. If they refuse it is likely that their benefit application will be rejected.
The government tried to get his recording thrown out before his appeal at tribunal.
But exceptionally, in his case the judge agreed a transcript could be entered into evidence. He went on to win his case and his car was eventually returned.
"I've wasted 12 months of my life in an unfair fight with a government department and the people who work for it," he said.
The private company which carried out his assessment says its "high standards were not met on this occasion" and it has now changed the way it gathers evidence in cases like this.
Critics of the assessment process say formal audio recording of all PIP interviews should be mandatory and available to both sides.
"It would remove the distrust and give so much transparency to everyone," said Tony Lea, lead welfare rights officer at Benefit Resolutions, a disability advocacy service which has been campaigning for a rule change.
As things stand the official rules are complex.
A claimant does have the right to ask for a PIP interview to be formally taped and used as evidence, but unlike other disability benefits like ESA, they have to provide their own equipment.
This must be a secure, tamper-proof double recorder which can cost as much as £1,500. A mobile phone, digital recorder or dictaphone does not meet the requirements.
In March, a major independent review of the PIP system commissioned by the government recommended switching to compulsory audio recordings with an opt-out for people who do not want it.
The government says it is "considering the results" of a pilot of recording in the West Midlands.
A spokesman for the DWP said: "Anyone is free to record their face-to-face consultation, but it must be done in a way that best protects both claimants and assessors."
Nev says his experience shows that some vulnerable people need more protection.
"I should probably be more diplomatic but I think the whole system is a mess," he adds.
"The importance for me of getting that audio recording into evidence was the potential to help other people in the future."
Watch the Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41581060
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Fault delays new high-speed train's first journey from Bristol to London - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Broken air conditioning and delays overshadow the launch of a new fleet of high-speed engines.
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Bristol
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The first of the new GWR trains was more than 20 minutes late with leaking air-con
Broken air conditioning and a 41-minute delay have overshadowed the launch of the UK's new fleet of high-speed trains.
The Hitachi 800 engine will be faster and carry more passengers and will run on GWR for the next 27 years.
But passengers on the first Bristol to London service arrived late and some had to dodge drips as water leaked from an air conditioning unit.
Hitachi said the delay was due to a "minor technical issue".
Karen Boswell, the managing director of Hitachi Rail Europe, said "an air conditioning issue" had resulted in water entering the carriage rather than being discharged outside.
"I want to say to passengers that we are really sorry that the first service from Bristol didn't go as planned today," she said.
"I was actually on the train and the delay and water leak meant that it was not the standard of service we expect and are known for. We can and will do better."
The fleet of intercity trains was designed to be electric, but due to delays in electrification of the line engines will also be fitted with diesel power.
The service was supposed to leave Bristol Temple Meads at 06:00 BST but got under way at 06:25 and finally arrived at Paddington 41 minutes late.
The air conditioning had to be turned off after the leak was spotted.
A Hitachi Rail Europe spokesman said: "There was a minor technical issue just before the train left the depot which engineers were able to fix, but meant the train was late leaving Bristol."
He said the air conditioning was a separate issue and the train had been taken to the London depot to be fixed.
Great Western Railway and Network Rail have installed overhead cables for the electric trains, that will eventually replace Intercity 125s completely.
Due to budget cuts and delays, electrification has fallen short of the Bristol rail section so far.
It means the trains will run on diesel from Maidenhead to Bristol.
The problems prompted complaints on social media by passengers.
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The Department for Transport says the new trains will cut journey times, increase the number of seats and services, and be more comfortable.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, who was on the first service, says the new trains will be "transformational" for people from Bristol.
He said: "These are the smartest trains in the country, probably the best we have ever had in the country.
"This going to be a fantastic service, really regular trains and far more capacity."
Hitachi said the longer carriages provided much more space and comfort for passengers.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-41633356
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England's best and worst motorway service stations named - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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All 112 motorway service stations are ranked. Where is your favourite?
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UK
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Neither synonymous with glamour nor a byword for luxury, England's best motorway service stations have been unveiled after a comprehensive survey... but the services from hell are named and shamed too.
In compiling the list, the travel watchdog questioned 8,700 customers on key factors including staffing, food and the all-important lavatories.
Perhaps surprisingly, the same company. Moto, operates service stations at both extremes of the ranking.
The M4's Reading Services Westbound takes the crown for the country's best stop-off - with a customer satisfaction score of 100%.
But bottom of the pile came Heston Services Eastbound, with a rating of 62%.
The west London respite - which turns 50 next year - is the subject of scathing Google reviews.
One described it as "dirty, old and tired", while another said it was the "worst motorway services I've ever been to".
Toilets are condemned as "pretty rank", while another reviewer advised: "Keep going, you are nearly in London."
A spokesman for Moto, which operates Heston and Reading services, said: "We're disappointed that the visit to Heston East was done in the middle of building works, although we recognise that in this instance we haven't done as well as we should have done.
"It's only fair to point out that Heston East is one of the smallest service areas on the motorway network and so is unable to provide many of the facilities we have at our larger sites."
AA president Edmund King said: "British drivers have a love/hate relationship with service areas.
"For some people, being able to get a decent, discounted coffee is all they ask for - and that might just enhance their safety."
Heston Services Eastbound were rated the worst service station in England
Transport Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: "Our research shows that up and down the country motorway services are providing customers with a good experience and are playing a positive role.
"They tell us they feel less stressed and are more awake after a good break.
"Motorway service operators must not rest on their laurels, however."
Transport Minister John Hayes said: "Motorways services can and should be lovely places for drivers to enjoy - not just places they have to stop.
"Congratulations to those scoring the most highly. They show what can be done."
Which motorway service stations do you love or hate and why? Share your views and experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41630827
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Drone collides with commercial aeroplane in Canada - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The aircraft sustained only minor damage and landed safely, the Canadian transport minister said.
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Technology
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As drones become more popular, countries will need to consider regulations to restrict usage
A drone has collided with a commercial aircraft in Canada, the first such incident in the country, according to the Transport Ministry.
The drone struck one of the plane's wings, while six passengers and two crew members were aboard.
The aircraft sustained only minor damage and was able to land safely, the Canadian transport minister said.
Earlier this year, Canada announced that it was making it illegal to fly recreational drones near airports.
The law prohibited airborne drones within 5.5km (3.5 miles) of an airport and restricted the height of a drone's flight to 90 metres (300ft).
Those breaking the restrictions could face fines of up to 25,000 Canadian dollars ($20,000, £15,000).
The Skyjet flight was heading to Quebec City's Jean Lesage International Airport when the drone hit it on 12 October.
In a statement, transport minister Marc Garneau said: "Although the vast majority of drone operators fly responsibly, it was our concern for incidents like this that prompted me to take action and issue interim safety measures restricting where recreational drones could be flown.
"I would like to remind drone operators that endangering the safety of an aircraft is extremely dangerous and a serious offence."
According to a UK Airprox Board report, a drone passed directly over the wing of an aircraft approaching Gatwick Airport this summer.
The drone was "flown into conflict" with the Airbus 319, with a high risk of collision, read the report.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41635518
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Matthew Falder posed as female artist for online sex attacks - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Cambridge graduate admitted dozens of offences, including encouraging the rape of a four-year-old.
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Birmingham & Black Country
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A man said to be among the UK's worst paedophiles blackmailed people online into carrying out "degrading" sexual acts, a court heard.
Cambridge graduate Matthew Falder, 28, admitted more than 100 offences, including encouraging a teenager to rape a four-year-old boy.
Falder contacted 50 victims online over seven years, posing as a female artist, and sharing images on the dark web.
It took about 30 minutes to list the offences at Birmingham Crown Court.
Falder, of Edgbaston, Birmingham, a former geophysicist researcher at Birmingham University, admitted 137 charges, and denied another 51 which will remain on file after his not guilty pleas were accepted by the prosecution.
The number of offences makes him one of the country's most prolific paedophiles, BBC Home Affairs Correspondent Danny Shaw said.
Falder's case is said to be the National Crime Agency's first successful so-called "hurtcore" prosecution. Hurtcore relates to hidden forums on the dark web dedicated to sharing images and videos of rape, murder, sadism, torture, paedophilia, blackmail, humiliation and degradation.
His victims were offered money in return for sending him naked photos, the court heard.
Falder used the online names "666devil" and "evilmind" on websites such as Gumtree. He then blackmailed his victims into sending increasingly obscene images.
He also admitted charges of causing the sexual exploitation of a child, encouraging the rape of a four-year-old, making and distributing indecent images of children and voyeurism.
It took 30 minutes to read out all the charges against Matthew Falder
Images that Falder shared included photographs showing children and babies being tortured, the court was told.
Ruona Iguyovwe, of the Crown Prosecution Service described Falder as "highly manipulative".
"He clearly enjoyed humiliating his victims and the impact of his offending, which carried on over several years, has been significant," he said.
Matthew Long, head of operations at the NCA, thanked the victims for their bravery in coming forward.
Falder is expected to be sentenced on 7 and 8 December.
A spokesman for the University of Birmingham said: "The university is shocked to hear of the abhorrent crimes committed by a former post-doctoral researcher.
"We have no reason to believe that the offences are in any way connected with the university."
A University of Cambridge spokesperson said Falder was a student there between 2007 and 2016.
"We continue to offer support to anyone who has concerns about the case," they added.
"The university is deeply shocked and saddened by this case."
Gumtree, which was named in the court case, said it was pleased that Falder had been brought to justice.
"Gumtree simply does not tolerate the exploitation of users or the illegal misuse of our platform," a spokeswoman said.
"… Our dedicated safety team has lent its full support and co-operation to the NCA in their investigation of this case, which has been active for several years. Gumtree takes the safety of its users extremely seriously and we are committed to making the site as safe as possible."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-41640079
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Boy crushed by wooden pole in Kelloholm identified - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Investigations are continuing into the accident which claimed the life of Keiran Esquierdo on Sunday.
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South Scotland
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Keiran Esquierdo died at the scene of the accident in Kelloholm
A 12-year-old boy who was crushed to death by a heavy wooden pole as he played with friends has been named by police.
Keiran Esquierdo died at the scene of the accident in his home village of Kelloholm, in Dumfries and Galloway.
Emergency services were called to open ground near to the medical centre on Corserig Crescent on Sunday afternoon.
Det Insp Bryan Lee said investigations were continuing and the procurator fiscal had been informed.
A Police Scotland spokesman said they found the boy trapped under the pole but, despite efforts to free him, he could not be saved.
Insp Rory Caldow told BBC Scotland that initial indications suggested he had been playing with friends when the accident happened.
Firefighters and paramedics were also called to the accident after the alarm was raised
Insp Rory Caldow said the accident was a "real tragedy"
He said the incident would have a big impact on the community.
"You can appreciate this has really been a tragedy," he added.
"The kids raised the alarm at a nearby neighbours and they were really, really upset by what had happened.
"It's devastating to the family and to the community as a whole.
"The kids are off the school at the moment and I'm sure the victim will be well known to everyone in this small community town of Kelloholm."
He added that an investigation into the incident is continuing.
Officers described the object as "similar to a telegraph pole".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-41631294
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All Northern Ireland schools to close after storm warning - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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All schools in Northern Ireland will close on Monday due to the risk posed by gusts resulting from Hurricane Ophelia.
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Northern Ireland
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All schools in Northern Ireland are to close on Monday due to risks posed by gusts resulting from Hurricane Ophelia.
The announcement was made by Stormont officials late on Sunday night after severe weather warnings were issued for Northern Ireland.
The Met Office is forecasting winds of up to 65mph (105km/h) across the region on Monday.
The Department of Education said its decision on school closures was "entirely precautionary".
"However, given the weather warnings and the fact that the most severe weather is forecast for when pupils are due to be leaving school, the department believes that this is an appropriate response," it added.
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Ulster University announced that its four campuses will be shut for the day, while some colleges announced that they would be cancelling all classes.
Hurricane Ophelia will be a storm when it hits Ireland and the UK as it weakens on its path across the Atlantic Ocean.
But it could still cause major damage, according to weather forecasters.
The Met Office said that a spell of "very windy weather" on Monday afternoon and evening has the "potential for injuries and danger to life".
Issuing an amber warning - its second most severe - it said there is a good chance that some areas could suffer power cuts.
All parts of Northern Ireland are expected to be hit by winds of up to 65mph (105km/h) but gusts could reach speeds of 80mph (129km/h) in the far south-east.
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Public transport operator Translink said its services could be disrupted by the weather on Monday - it will issue updates from 07:00.
Some flights from Belfast City Airport have been cancelled due to the strong winds.
All Aer Lingus departures from the airport on Monday have been grounded, and other airlines are affected.
Senior civil servants in Northern Ireland met on Sunday night to discuss "a co-ordinated approach in light of the latest Met Office assessment".
The Department of Education came in for criticism from parents on social media for the timing of its announcement on school closure.
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SDLP MLA Colin McGrath said the decision should have been made earlier on Sunday, adding that parents with work or other commitments would struggle to arrange childcare.
"Principals and teachers will also be under huge strain to communicate with parents and staff about the closure," he said.
"However, the priority is to ensure that all children are kept safe."
Schools and colleges in the Republic of Ireland are also to close on Monday after a red warning - the most severe - was issued across the country.
The Irish national weather agency Met Éireann is forecasting "violent and disruptive gusts" and is warning that "all areas are at risk".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-41631481
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Man dies after Walsall boxing match brawl - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The 19-year-old is thought to have been stabbed in the neck in a fight outside Walsall Town Hall.
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Birmingham & Black Country
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A 19-year-old man has died after "large-scale disorder" broke out at a boxing event.
Police have launched a murder inquiry after the brawl at Walsall Town Hall on Saturday, where it is believed the man was stabbed in the neck.
The scene remained cordoned off on Sunday, as police searched for discarded weapons.
The venue was hosting an IBF Youth Lightweight title fight between Luke Paddock and Myron Mills.
A witness said the scene inside the town hall as violence flared was "like a riot"
Police said violence spilled on to the street at about 23:00 BST.
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Kay Ellis was at the event with her husband Robert and a friend. She said people were searched before entering the venue.
Mrs Ellis, from Netherton, Dudley, said tension had been building between rival supporters during the evening and violence flared between about 50 people when a plastic cup full of liquid was thrown.
"There was food flying and then they were picking up chairs, turning tables over and just ploughing into each other.
"It was horrendous, it was like a riot."
Black Country Boxing said: "Our thoughts are with the victims and we will be liaising fully with the police and venue."
Chairs were thrown during the disorder
Det Insp Ian Wilkins from West Midlands Police, said: "We have widened our cordon following an initial examination to search for potentially discarded weapons and any other evidence which can lead us to those involved.
Walsall Council, which runs the town hall, tweeted to say it was supporting the police investigation.
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The bout was won by Myron Mills, from Derby, following a split decision.
Writing on Facebook following the disorder, Luke Paddock, from Walsall, said: "It's just a shame about the violence outside the ring at the end of the show."
Several roads remained closed on Sunday. Walsall Library was shut as it falls within the cordon.
A second event planned for Sunday was cancelled.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-41627420
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Financial regulator warns of growing debt among young people - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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There has been a "pronounced" rise in debt among young people, the Financial Conduct Authority head warns.
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Business
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Jessica Malolepszy tells the BBC how her debt problems began with a holiday loan
The chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority has warned of a "pronounced" build up of debt among young people.
In an interview with the BBC, Andrew Bailey said the young were having to borrow for basic living costs.
The regulator also said he "did not like" some high-cost lending schemes.
He said consumers, and institutions that lend to them, should be aware that interest rates may rise in the future and that credit should be "affordable".
The head of the FCA was talking to the BBC as part of its 'Money Matters' coverage, looking at the issues of credit and debt in the UK.
Mr Bailey said action was being taken to curb long-term credit card debt and high-cost pay-day loans.
The regulator is also looking at charges in the rent-to-own sector which can leave people paying high levels of interest for buying white goods such as washing machines, he added.
"There is a pronounced build up of indebtedness amongst the younger age group," Mr Bailey said.
"We should not think this is reckless borrowing, this is directed at essential living costs. It is not credit in the classic sense, it is [about] the affordability of basic living in many cases."
Although Mr Bailey said that high levels of consumer debt was not a crisis "in the macro-economic sense", it did matter to struggling individuals whose stories he had listened to during visits to debt management charities.
"There are particular concentrations [of debt] in society, and those concentrations are particularly exposed to some of the forms and practices of high cost debt which we are currently looking at very closely because there are things in there that we don't like," Mr Bailey said.
"There has been a clear shift in the generational pattern of wealth and income, and that translates into a greater indebtedness at a younger age.
"That reflects lower levels of real income, lower levels of asset ownership. There are quite different generational experiences," he said.
Mr Bailey says more people have "erratic" money flows because of the changing workplace
Mr Bailey was speaking as research shows young people in particular are concerned about the amount of debt they are carrying and their ability to repay that debt
He said the high price of renting and lack of income growth meant that more people had to use credit to make ends meet.
Recent Bank of England figures show that consumer debt, excluding mortgages, now totals over £200bn and is approaching levels not seen since the financial crisis.
The increase in what is known as "unsecured lending" on credit cards, car loan schemes, personal loans and overdrafts is running at 10% a year.
People are also saving less as ultra low interest rates eat into returns.
"Obviously we all question how long this can that go on for," Mr Bailey said. "But in aggregate it isn't on its own something that we should be describing as a crisis."
He added: "I am not of the school of thought that credit should not be available to this section of society because credit should be there to smooth income in the classic sense, and we know there are more people with erratic income flows, that is one of the features of the so-called gig-economy."
Mr Bailey said that "sustainable credit is a necessary part of society".
• None How a holiday loan spiralled out of control. Video, 00:00:51How a holiday loan spiralled out of control
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41627238
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Photos from 1970s show life in Manchester's Moss Side - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The images paint a very different picture of one of Manchester's most notorious neighbourhoods.
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Manchester
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Children play on the street in Moss Side in 1972
Moss Side has long been associated with drugs, gangs and violence. But a collection of rarely seen images paint a very different picture of one of Manchester's most notorious neighbourhoods.
When Daniel Meadows moved to the city in 1970, he had a less than complimentary view of it.
"It was a big dark city, it was very dirty, it was damp, it rained all the time.
"But it was full of the most wonderful mix of people."
A family poses for a portrait in the street
It was a sharp awakening for the aspiring photographer, who recalls having a "protected, sheltered childhood" in Gloucestershire.
"By the time I was 18, I was exploding with curiosity about the world and I found myself in Manchester - I might as well have landed on the moon really."
He based himself in Moss Side "because it was cheap" and close to his art school at the former Manchester Polytechnic.
"I found myself living in the middle of this place where something epic was happening - they were completely bulldozing the place."
A couple in cowboy hats are captured while watching a local parade
Demolition in Moss Side was part of a nationwide slum clearance of Victorian terraces, where the houses were described by the area's former Conservative MP, James Watts, as "unfit for human habitation".
It made way for new accommodation and while some residents remained, many were relocated to other parts of the city or chose to move.
Prof Gus John joined other local figures in campaigning against the destruction while working at the University of Manchester.
"The houses were very sturdily built and could have been renovated with some help from government… the area could have been spruced up.
"What they were doing was not just demolishing old houses, they were demolishing communities - there never was that sense of integrated community identity [again]."
Two young friends smile shyly for their photograph
The make-up of the neighbourhood included families of Irish, Polish, Asian and African-Caribbean origin - a "good spread" with a "high level of integration", Prof John said.
"The sense of mutual collaboration on all kind of issues... was absolutely fantastic.
"There were, and still are, people of all dispositions living in Moss Side, people who propped up the health service, people who propped up the industries in Trafford Park."
The portraits were taken in a studio in a disused shop
Keen to document life in Moss Side, Mr Meadows rented a disused barber's shop in 1972 and set up a studio where residents could get their picture taken for free.
He also took snaps on the streets, with curious children edging into shot and people, both young and old, neatly turned out despite the deprivation.
Many women were seamstresses and tailored stylish outfits for their daughters.
Children look at the images in the studio's front window
Three girls edge into a shot in the street
Many of the girls had stylish, tailored outfits
"Most of the parents had high aspirations for the young people," said Prof John, adding that there were several youth clubs and active churches.
"They had a thriving community... and a much greater level of economic activity among that population than you would find now."
Mr Meadows' subjects included local characters and a woman with her foster children
Former resident Christine Henry said: "It was more friendly… if you were going out you would ask a neighbour to take a child in, or they would come to your house.
"I've still got friends [from then] - their kids call me auntie, my children call them auntie, we look at each other as family… we look at each other as sisters."
An elderly gentleman joins two girls to peer at the pictures in the studio's window
Local families struggled financially but affordable housing in Moss Side provided a rare opportunity to own a home.
Former resident Freddie Crooks recalled the demolition as a "heartbreaking" experience.
"The thing is [our home] was a beautiful house… with enough space for a couple and six children."
Prof John believes the destruction of the houses and by extension, the communities, contributed to the headline-grabbing crime of the 1980s onwards.
"There was something quite toxic about the way in which people were expected to live on those [new] estates - it was like herding people.
"You had to walk miles to a shop, there were no facilities for integrating people - no community centres, for example.
"The decision-makers thought that by simply renewing the physical infrastructure, they would actually be improving communities, but quite the opposite happened."
Daniel Meadows, pictured at the back, poses with locals outside his studio
Mr Meadow's first exhibition was at the Manchester Caribbean Carnival
Mr Meadows held his first exhibition of photos showing life in Moss Side at the inaugural Manchester Caribbean Festival in 1972, nailing his pictures to a tree at Alexandra Park.
He continued to document everyday life, taking pictures as he toured England in a bus, which were later exhibited at Tate Britain.
Over the summer, he returned to the festival to meet some of the subjects he photographed 45 years ago.
"Sometimes it got too much negative press," he said, reflecting on the escalation of crime in Moss Side after he left.
"Things happen elsewhere as well but they just concentrated too much on this part of it," he said.
"But I'd like to think that's the past."
See the full report on BBC Inside Out North West on BBC One at 19:30 BST 16 October.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-41361171
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Daimler recalls 400,000 Mercedes-Benz cars in the UK - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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More than a million vehicles worldwide are being recalled over a potential airbag safety issue.
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Business
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About 400,000 Mercedes-Benz cars are being recalled by Daimler in the UK over a potential airbag safety issue.
The firm's safety recall covers more than a million vehicles worldwide, including 495,000 in the US.
The recall is not related to the exploding Takata airbag scandal, and there have been no fatalities.
The problem affects certain A, B, C, and E-Class models, together with CLA, GLA and GLC vehicles, built between November 2011 and July 2017.
The fix for the airbag issue takes only an hour to perform.
A Mercedes-Benz spokesperson told the BBC that the airbag issue only affected certain vehicles in "rare circumstances".
"If the steering column module clock spring is broken and the wiring components are not sufficiently earthed, this could lead to an electrostatic discharge which could inadvertently deploy the driver's airbag," the spokesperson said.
The cars are safe to drive under normal operating conditions, but if the driver airbag warning light comes on, customers should call roadside assistance or contact their nearest retailer.
Mercedes-Benz will contact all customers whose cars may be affected by the airbag problem, and ask them to bring their vehicle in.
The work is performed free of charge and only takes an hour, after which the car is safe to drive as normal.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41633941
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Hurricane Ophelia: As it happened - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Ophelia battered Ireland with high winds, causing three deaths, power outages and school closures.
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Northern Ireland
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Keep up to date at bbc.co.uk/newsni
That's brings to an end our live coverage of Hurricane Ophelia - we'll keep you up to date with any further developments on our BBC News NI website. You can keep across the latest on road closures on the TrafficwatchNI website.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-northern-ireland-41633566
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Red sun phenomenon 'caused by Hurricane Ophelia' - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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Saharan dust and forest fires are to blame for the phenomenon, says a weather expert.
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England
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Central London was one of many parts to witness the phenomenon
An "unusual" reddish sky and red-looking sun have been reported across many parts of England.
The phenomenon was initially seen in the west of England and Wales before spreading to other areas.
BBC weather presenter Simon King said it was due to the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia dragging in tropical air and dust from the Sahara.
He added that debris from forest fires in Portugal and Spain was also playing a part.
The dust has caused shorter wavelength blue light to be scattered, making it appear red.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. BBC Weather presenter Charlie Slater explains why the sun looks red
The red-looking sun was seen in Bristol city centre
He said: "Ophelia originated in the Azores where it was a hurricane and as it tracked its way northwards it dragged in tropical air from the Sahara."
This meant dust from the Sahara was brought with it, he said.
"The dust gets picked up into the air and goes high up into the atmosphere, and that dust has been dragged high up in the atmosphere above the UK," Mr King explained.
The particles in the air cause blue light to scatter, leaving longer-wavelength red light to shine through.
The Met Office said the "vast majority" of the dust was as a result of forest fires in Iberia, which have sent debris into the air and that has been dragged north by Ophelia.
An orange sky was visible in Bransford in Worcestershire
A red sun was spotted in the sky over Bromsgrove in Worcestershire
This was the scene in Ludlow, Shropshire
Meanwhile, hundreds took to Twitter to share their theories and snaps of the unusual red sun and yellow skies.
Using the hashtags #redsun and #ophelia, pictures were posted with earnest tags insisting that: "There is NO colour correction on this image".
As the skies turned beige over London, Hugh Bennett wondered if: "This is what it must have been like living in the olden days when everything was sepia", while James McNicholas blamed "the hipsters" for putting "an Instagram filter" on the city.
But trending alongside #redsun, #yellowsky and #orangesky was the hashtag #apocalypse.
Like many Ben Shephard posted that: "Not messing around this light is really freaking us out!", while Henry Tudor, said: "This weird light is very disturbing. I keep expecting four blokes on horses to home galloping out of the sky."
Elliot Wagland said: "I just looked out of the window and it appears the world is about to end", and Archer Hampson said: "Somebody said we should head outside because the world was ending. We thought we'd take our cameras."
Louise Lucas, meanwhile, wanted to know if she had missed the memo "about going home early due to #apocalypse?!" and Anthony Court posted that: "If the world does end -please could it be before 10pm tonight when I start my nightshift."
This was the view from Gloucester Docks
The "strange-coloured sun" was photographed over Elkesley in Nottinghamshire
But not everyone was spooked, some were inspired to write poetry like @Scott_W88, who wrote: "Ophelia, you're breaking the sun, You're shaking my garden fence daily".
While Helen Glew, said simply: "The most amazing thing is just how much of the UK is actually seeing the sun on a single October morning."
This was the scene at midday in Cliburn near Penrith, Cumbria
• None Why does the sun look red? Video, 00:00:26Why does the sun look red?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41635906
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Einstein's waves detected in star smash - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Scientists detect the warping of space generated by the collision of two neutron stars.
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Science & Environment
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Hear the 'sound' of two dead stars colliding
Scientists have detected the warping of space generated by the collision of two dead stars, or neutron stars.
They have confirmed that such mergers lead to the production of the gold and platinum that exists in the Universe.
The measurement of the gravitational waves given off by this cataclysmic event was made on 17 August by the LIGO-VIRGO Collaboration.
The discovery enabled telescopes all over the world to capture details of the merger as it unfolded.
David Reitze, executive director of the LIGO Laboratory at Caltech in Pasadena, California, said: "This is the one we've all been waiting for."
The outburst took place in a galaxy called NGC 4993, located roughly a thousand billion, billion km away in the Constellation Hydra.
It happened 130 million years ago - when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. It was so far away that the light and gravitational waves have only just reached us.
The stars themselves had masses 10-20% greater than our Sun - but they were no larger than 30km across.
They were the crushed leftover cores of massive stars that long ago exploded as supernovas.
They are called neutron stars because the process of crushing the star makes the charged protons and electrons in the atoms of the star combine - to form an object made entirely of neutrons.
Such remnants are incredibly dense - a teaspoonful would weigh a billion tonnes.
In the landscaped campus of one of the laboratories that made the detection, a fountain sprays jets of water skyward which are then pulled back down by gravity, sending ripples across the crystal clear pond.
The LIGO detector, sitting incongruously in the vast woodland of Livingston in Louisiana, was designed to detect the gravitational ripples across the Universe created by cataclysmic cosmic events.
Since it was upgraded two years ago, it has four times sensed the collisions of black holes.
Gravitational waves caused by violent events send ripples through space-time that stretch and squeeze everything they pass through by a tiny amount - less than the width of an atom.
The LIGO lab at Livingston consists of a small building with two, two-and-a-half-mile pipelines stretching out at right angles. Inside each pipe is a powerful laser accurately measuring any change in its length.
I walk along one of the pipes with Prof Norna Robertson, a Scot who used to work at Glasgow University - and more recently helped to design the instrument's detection system.
Prof Robertson's work has helped the LIGO-VIRGO Scientific Collaboration to make the first ever detection of the gravitational waves given off by the collision of two neutron stars.
"I'm really thrilled about what we have done. I started off as a student in Glasgow 40 years ago working on gravitational waves. It's been a long long road; there have been some ups and downs but now it's all come together," she told BBC News.
"These last couple of years, first of all with the detection of black holes mergers and now a neutron star merger, I really feel we are opening up a new field, and that's what I wanted to do and now we've done it."
The detection enabled 70 telescopes to obtain the first ever detailed pictures of such an event.
These show an explosion 1,000 times more powerful than a nova - a burst called a kilonova.
Gravitational waves - Ripples in the fabric of space-time
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A visualisation shows the coalescence of two orbiting neutron stars
Researchers had suspected that this huge release of energy leads to the creation of rare elements, such as gold and platinum.
Dr Kate Maguire, from Queen's University Belfast, who analysed the collision's burst of light, said that the theory was now proven.
"Using some of the world's best telescopes, we have discovered that this neutron star merger scattered heavy chemical elements, such as gold and platinum, out into space at high speeds.
"These new results have significantly contributed to solving the long-debated mystery of the origin of elements heavier than iron in the periodic table."
Dr Joe Lyman, of the University of Warwick said described the observations as "exquisite".
"They tell us that the heavy elements, like the gold or platinum in jewellery are the cinders, forged in the billion degree remnants of a merging neutron star."
It was also direct confirmation that short bursts of gamma-ray radiation are linked to colliding neutron stars.
By combining information from gravitational waves and the light collected by telescopes, researchers also used a new technique to measure the expansion rate of the Universe. This technique was first proposed in 1986 by the University of Cardiff's Prof Bernard Schutz.
Prof Stephen Hawking of Cambridge University told BBC News that this was "the first rung of a ladder" for a new method of measuring distances in the Universe.
"A new observational window on the Universe typically leads to surprises that cannot yet be foreseen. We are still rubbing our eyes, or rather ears, as we have just woken up to the sound of gravitational waves," he said.
The LIGO Louisiana lab has 4km-long pipes running out from its control centre
Prof Nial Tanvir, from Leicester University, uses the VISTA telescope in Chile.
He and his colleagues started searching for the neutron star collision as soon as they heard of the gravitational wave detection.
"We were really excited when we first got notification that a neutron star merger had been detected by LIGO," he said. "We stayed up all night analysing the images as they came in, and it was remarkable how well the observations matched the theoretical predictions that had been made."
LIGO is now being upgraded. In a year's time it will be twice as sensitive - and so will be able to scan eight times the volume of the space.
The researchers believe that detections of black holes and neutron stars will become common place. And they hope that they will begin to detect objects that they currently cannot even imagine and so usher in a new era of astronomy.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41640256
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Wi-fi security flaw 'puts devices at risk of hacks' - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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Researchers have revealed details of a major problem with the way wi-fi data is protected.
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Technology
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The wi-fi connections of businesses and homes around the world are at risk, according to researchers who have revealed a major flaw dubbed Krack.
It concerns an authentication system which is widely used to secure wireless connections.
Experts said it could leave "the majority" of connections at risk until they are patched.
The researchers added the attack method was "exceptionally devastating" for Android 6.0 or above and Linux.
A Google spokesperson said: "We're aware of the issue, and we will be patching any affected devices in the coming weeks."
The US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (Cert) has issued a warning on the flaw.
"US-Cert has become aware of several key management vulnerabilities in the four-way handshake of wi-fi protected access II (WPA2) security protocol," it said.
"Most or all correct implementations of the standard will be affected."
Most wi-fi devices could be at risk
Computer security expert from the University of Surrey Prof Alan Woodward said: "This is a flaw in the standard, so potentially there is a high risk to every single wi-fi connection out there, corporate and domestic.
"The risk will depend on a number of factors including the time it takes to launch an attack and whether you need to be connected to the network to launch one, but the paper suggests that an attack is relatively easy to launch.
"It will leave the majority of wi-fi connections at risk until vendors of routers can issue patches."
Industry body the Wi-Fi Alliance said that it was working with providers to issue software updates to patch the flaw.
"This issue can be resolved through straightforward software updates and the wi-fi industry, including major platform providers, has already started deploying patches to wi-fi users.
"Users can expect all their wi-fi devices, whether patched or unpatched, to continue working well together."
It added that there was "no evidence" that the vulnerability had been exploited maliciously.
Tech giant Microsoft said that it had already released a security update.
The vulnerability was discovered by researchers led by Mathy Vanhoef, from Belgian university, KU Leuven.
According to his paper, the issue centres around a system of random number generation known as nonce (a number that can only be used once), which can in fact be reused to allow an attacker to enter a network and snoop on the data being sent in it.
"All protected wi-fi networks use the four-way handshake to generate a fresh session key and so far this 14-year-old handshake has remained free from attacks, he writes in the paper describing Krack (key reinstallation attacks).
"Every wi-fi device is vulnerable to some variants of our attacks. Our attack is exceptionally devastating against Android 6.0: it forces the client into using a predictable all-zero encryption key."
Dr Steven Murdoch from University College, London said there were two mitigating factors to what he agreed was a "huge vulnerability".
"The attacker has to be physically nearby and if there is encryption on the web browser, it is harder to exploit."
More details can be found at this website.
Prof Alan Woodward explained the issue to the BBC.
When any device uses wi-fi to connect to, say, a router it does what is known as a "handshake": it goes through a four-step dialogue, whereby the two devices agree a key to use to secure the data being passed (a "session key").
This attack begins by tricking a victim into reinstalling the live key by replaying a modified version of the original handshake. In doing this a number of important set-up values can be reset which can, for example, render certain elements of the encryption much weaker.
This attacks appears to work on all wi-fis tested - prior to the patches currently being issued.
In some it is possible to decrypt and inject data, enabling an attacker to hijack a connection. In others it is even worse as it is possible to forge a connection, which, as the researchers note, is "catastrophic".
Not all routers will be affected but the people this could be most problematic for are the internet service providers who have millions of routers in customers' homes. How will they make sure all of them are secure?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41635516
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Somalia: At least 230 dead in Mogadishu blast - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Saturday's truck bombing in the capital is the deadliest attack in Somalia's 10-year insurgency.
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Africa
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The death toll continues to rise after the deadly blast
A massive bomb attack in a busy area of the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday is now known to have killed at least 230 people, police say.
Hundreds more were wounded when a lorry packed with explosives detonated near the entrance of a hotel.
It is the deadliest terror attack in Somalia since the Islamist al-Shabab group launched its insurgency in 2007.
President Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed blamed the attack on them, calling it a "heinous act".
No group has yet said it was behind the bombing.
"Brothers, this cruel act was targeted at civilians who were going about their business," the president said.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The aftermath of the explosion in Mogadishu
He has declared three days of mourning for the victims of the blast.
Local media reported families gathering in the area on Sunday morning, looking for missing loved ones amid the ruins of one of the largest bombs ever to strike the city.
There are fears people are trapped under the rubble
Police official Ibrahim Mohamed told AFP news agency the death toll was likely to rise. "There are more than 300 wounded, some of them seriously," he said.
Officials also confirmed that two people were killed in a second bomb attack in the Madina district of the city.
Mogadishu's Mayor Thabit Abdi called for unity while addressing a crowd of people who had gathered to protest.
"Oh, people of Mogadishu, Mogadishu shouldn't be a graveyard for burnt dead bodies," he said.
"Mogadishu is a place of respect, and if we remain united like we are today, moving ahead, we will surely defeat the enemy, Allah willing."
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A BBC Somali reporter at the scene of the main blast said the Safari Hotel had collapsed, with people trapped under the rubble.
An eyewitness, local resident Muhidin Ali, told AFP it was "the biggest blast I have ever witnessed, it destroyed the whole area".
Meanwhile, the director of the Madina Hospital, Mohamed Yusuf Hassan, said he was shocked by the scale of the attack.
"Seventy-two wounded people were admitted to the hospital and 25 of them are in very serious condition. Others lost their hands and legs at the scene.
"What happened yesterday was incredible, I have never seen such a thing before, and countless people lost their lives. Corpses were burned beyond recognition."
Protesters gathered, wearing red headbands to show their anger at the blast
The international community has been quick to condemn the attack:
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41621660
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Why can't California control the wildfires? - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Northern California is experiencing the deadliest wildfires in its history. Why are so many dying?
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US & Canada
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California firefighters have struggled to contain the deadly blazes raging across the state
The wildfires raging across northern California are already the most fatal in the state's history; at least 40 people are dead and thousands of homes have been razed.
Wildfires are a common occurrence in California towards the tail end of the state's long, hot, dry summers, but this year a combination of extremely high temperatures, strong winds, a long drought, and population growth have produced lethal, fast-moving blazes.
The fires are burning in one of the world's most developed countries though. Arrayed against the flames are more than 10,000 firefighters, 880 fire engines, 134 bulldozers, 14 helicopters, and more. So why is this blaze so difficult to control, and the death toll so high?
The late summer winds that blow into California from the Great Basin region, east of the state - the so-called "Diablo winds" - drop elevation as they move out towards sea level. That has a few knock-on effects. As the pressure increases at lower altitudes, the air gets warmer, the wind speed increases, and the humidity level drops.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Why the California wildfires are deadly
That produces ideal conditions for a fast-moving wildfire. Northern California recorded gusting wind speeds of up to 70 mph this week, spreading the flames faster than firefighters could tackle them, and faster than some people could escape.
The high winds also overwhelm man-made and natural firebreaks, such as protection zones and wide highways, carrying embers across gaps in the brush that might otherwise contain the blaze. Hillsides compound the spread, as heat rises quickly up the steep terrain.
California has just experienced its hottest summer on record, with less than 25% average rainfall. The heat dries out vegetation, making it all the more combustible if a spark ignites in the wrong place.
The state is also still feeling the effects of a five-year drought that parched its forests, leaving tens of millions of dead trees in its wake - more fuel for the fire.
And counter-intuitively, California's extremely wet 2016-2017 winter may have also contributed to the spread of the blaze. The large amounts of vegetation that grew in the rain then dried out in the extremely hot summer that followed, providing even more fuel.
California's population is growing, and with it the number of homes built in high-risk fire areas. A 2014 study of residential growth in the state predicted that by 2050 there will be 645,000 homes built in "very high severity" zones.
Homes and other structures are increasingly being built adjacent to combustible areas of woodland. California law requires any structures in such a position to create 100 ft of "defensible space" - or firebreak - in every direction.
But the law is not aggressively enforced, it is left largely up to homeowners to police their own safety measures. And with a conflagration moving as fast as this one, in high winds, even a properly maintained firebreak might prove useless.
Firefighters try to extinguish a house fire near Calistoga, California
Story after story is emerging from California of people surrounded by fire in the middle of the night before they had a chance to escape, or of slight hesitations and delays that led to tragedy.
"This is what was so extraordinary about this event," Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, told Inside Climate News. "Essentially it was a forest fire, a wildfire, that moved into an urban area. At some point it was jumping from house to house, not tree to tree."
Even in the world's most developed country, there is no high-tech solution to a wildfire of this size. Firefighters rely on relatively old-fashioned tactics to starve the massive conflagrations.
A fleet of planes and helicopters - including DC-10 airliners - is dumping water and fire-retardant on the blazes in an attempt to cool the air temperature and deprive the fires of oxygen.
Firefighters are also creating so-called containment lines, purposefully burning vegetation in the path of the blaze to deprive it of fuel. In recent years, a steep increase in the number of dead trees - from disease and drought - has made it too dangerous for fire crews to enter certain areas, as the trees are more susceptible to sudden collapse.
That means containment lines have to be created further back from the blaze itself, allowing more woodland to burn before the fire can be deprived of fuel.
One key way to save lives is to warn people early, but questions have been raised about the warning system in this case. Text alert warnings were issued last Saturday night, as the blaze began to spread, but only to those who had signed up to receive them.
The emergency "amber" alert system, which pings every phone in a region, was not activated by authorities. "There wasn't time to map out anything. There wasn't time to make a plan," Sergeant Spencer Crum of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, told the New York Times.
Beyond evacuation plans and firefighting tactics, California may need some help from above. A sustained, end-of-season rainfall would soak the vegetation and lower the air temperature. But it's a waiting game.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41627751
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American cricket gets ready for take-off - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Could a new generation of immigrants help cricket finally crack America?
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US & Canada
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One of the world's most popular sports is barely known in the US. But, driven by a new generation of immigrants, could cricket finally take off?
It is a hot, sunny day in Hyattsville, Maryland.
Young men play basketball in the park. Barbecue smoke hangs in the hazy, late-summer air.
A cyclist rides past with the Stars and Stripes on his trailer. And then, through the trees, comes a most un-American sound.
Imran Awan was 17 when he moved from Pakistan to the US in 1997. He didn't think Americans played cricket but he brought his equipment, just in case.
A day after arriving, Imran played his first game on American soil, for a family friend's team. Within two years he was picked for the US national side.
Imran represented his new country in matches around the world - from Abu Dhabi to Nepal - and, aged 38, still plays locally. On this hot day in Hyattsville, he's captain of the Washington Tigers.
The Tigers are in the final of the Washington Cricket League Twenty 20 tournament, premier division. With the first and second division finals also taking place, it's a big day.
Banners hang from the bleachers. Supporters gather in the shade. Two commentators sit behind a camera, broadcasting the games live across the internet.
Imran is a bowler and his side is batting, so he stands on the sideline, waiting for his chance. In his youth, he bowled at 90 miles per hour. Has he still got it?
"I try," he says, smiling. "I try."
The Washington Cricket League is thriving. There are 42 teams in total, and new applicants are turned away each year because of a lack of pitches.
Another local league, the Washington Metropolitan Cricket Board, has 18 clubs. For an area with barely any "real" pitches, it's astonishing.
Most grounds are hired from schools or counties. Today's game is played on a matting wicket: when the game finishes, the matting is pulled up, and the field reverts to more "American" sports.
Anand Patel is a 31-year-old engineering professor at Cecil College in Maryland. He moved from Gujarat in India to study at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in 2007.
He started playing for his college side - "the cricket team was actually one of the reasons I picked the school," he says - and now plays for 22 Yards, Washington Tigers' opponents in the final.
"When I arrived, it was hard to get cricket equipment," he says. "We were buying online, importing from India, or going to New York where they might have a vendor.
"Now, just in the state of Maryland you have at least five or six vendors."
The increase in cricket's popularity has followed a rise in immigration from the sub-continent.
In 2000, the Indian immigrant population in the US was just over one million, according to the Migration Policy Institute. By 2015, it was 2.4 million.
That sub-continental influence is clear in the Washington Cricket League. Ram Ragoo, 73 and from Trinidad, has been involved since the league began in the 1960s.
Back then - aside from the embassy teams - "most of the league was West Indian", he says. Among them was Keith Mitchell, who studied in Washington and is now the prime minister of Grenada.
"Keith was the president of the league in 1981," says Ram, smiling. "Really nice guy. But Reagan sent him to Grenada after the overthrow (in 1983)."
Ram, who brims with Caribbean charisma, says the league reflects the changing face of immigration.
"The Indians came in, Pakistanis came in, the Sri Lankans started coming in, and the West Indians started to go out," he says.
"The young West Indians didn't want to play cricket. They got 400 or 500 dollars to go and play a soccer game."
In the premier division final, most players have a sub-continental background, but other cricket-playing nations are represented.
Derick Narine, the Tigers' left-handed opener, is from Guyana, as is teammate Christopher Vantull. For 22 Yards, Johan de Wet is a South African who moved to the US this summer to be with his wife.
"I arrived just before the 4 July weekend," he says. "That weekend there was a big Twenty 20 tournament, I saw 22 Yards had organised it, so I gave the guys a call.
"I played my first game probably within two weeks."
What did the wife make of it?
"She is Indian so she gets it," says Johan, laughing.
In a further example of cricket's global reach, WCL side Vikings recently renamed itself. It is now the Afghan Cricket Club of USA.
While the Washington Cricket League is certainly cosmopolitan, one thing is missing: Americans from non-cricket backgrounds.
"When we were in school, once in a while you would get an American guy showing up for practice," says Anand Patel.
"But it's hard to get used to cricket. For them to learn how to bowl or bat is difficult, even if they've played baseball. In baseball you don't bounce the ball - here you bounce the ball."
Ram Ragoo agrees. "I only know one or two born Americans who play the game," he says.
"The ICC (International Cricket Council) is trying to create (university) scholarships to get American kids involved."
For now, though, American cricket remains an immigrant-driven sport. As the big-hitting Narine scores another six, bhangra blasts out across this small corner of Maryland.
Helped by Narine's 71 in 39 balls, the Tigers are impressive, reaching 163-8 in their 20 overs. In reply, 22 Yards start well - nine runs from the first five deliveries - before a certain 38-year-old gets involved.
Imran Awan - the Tigers captain who moved to America aged 17 - dismissed Shahid Hanif for 8. He takes another wicket in his next over and 22 Yards end up 80 all out.
Imran, certainly, has still got it.
The Tigers take the title, the trophy is lifted, and another cricket memory is made in this most unlikely place. It won't be the last.
• None Could America take to cricket?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41590142
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'Accelerate' - the word the Tories need - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The government now has one word they can use as evidence that they are getting somewhere.
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UK Politics
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OK, in theory, if I am driving a car at four miles per hour and I speed up to eight miles per hour, technically I am accelerating.
I may still be basically crawling along. I still may be late - very, very late - for my eventual destination. But, by the very action of pressing the pedal and going faster, I am actually speeding up.
If anyone accuses me of going nowhere, or slowing down - well, look at my speedometer. I am going faster and I have evidence that you are wrong!
That is why, in the next few days, don't be surprised if every Tory politician you see, hear, or read about is using that word (at least those loyal to the government) to claim that there is progress in the Brexit talks, just days after the chief negotiator on the EU side declared a deadlock.
As we've talked about before, Michel Barnier's choice of language last week didn't mean that nothing had happened or that there's been no movement at all.
But it made headlines, and all political negotiations of this ilk are in a sense a fight over words, too.
So tonight, the government, beset by its own rows about preparing for a deal, preparing for no deal, preparing to look like they know what they are doing, have a word - one word - that they can use as evidence that they are getting somewhere.
Look, even the arch Eurocrat Jean-Claude Juncker agreed to "accelerate" the talks, you can almost hear them say. Give the news cycle another 12 hours and I'd bet a fiver that will have happened.
But what Number 10 is really hoping for is an agreement on Friday at the summit that points to the way ahead - not just a speeding up, but a commitment to the next junction - to allow the talks to start moving onto the transition.
Despite the promise of acceleration, there is no sign yet tonight that either side is willing to budge far enough to inject some real vigour into the process.
There's no sign the UK is willing to put more cash on the table, yet. There's no sign that a majority of the other side are willing to expand the talks without that promise of more cash, yet.
The talks can accelerate all they like, but without one of the two sides being willing to budge to reach an accommodation, they could be going nowhere fast.
PS: There is precious little detail so far of what actually was discussed at the dinner, and no sign yet of the huge leak of info from the last dinner between this group.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41642052
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London's role in the Russian Revolution - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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How events in London in the early 20th Century played a vital role in the lead up to the Russian Revolution.
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UK Politics
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The Islington pub where Bolsheviks and Mensheviks argued fiercely during the 1903 party congress
In August 1903, a small band of dedicated but argumentative political activists held a fractious conference in London.
It consisted of Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and about 50 other committed agitators who wanted to overthrow the autocratic rule of the Russian Tsar. Their quarrels might have seemed minor at the time, but they have rippled out across history.
This was when the Russian revolutionary movement divided into the two rival factions of Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. And a key vote happened in a pub in Islington.
The Bolsheviks, described as the 'hards' and led by Lenin, wanted a tightly centralised and disciplined political party; the Mensheviks or 'softs' favoured a looser, broader-based alliance with sympathetic forces. Over the following years, as issues and affiliations shifted, their differences fluctuated but were to become deeper.
Fourteen years later, in the second (October) revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks took power, sidelining and defeating the Mensheviks, and went on to form the Soviet Union.
At the 1903 congress in London, where the split emerged, Lenin's faction narrowly lost the vote on the nature of party membership.
But then seven anti-Lenin delegates walked out over other disagreements, and with his opponents depleted, his side then won a crucial vote on the editorial board for the party's journal.
This outcome enabled Lenin to call his group the Bolsheviks, meaning 'majority' in Russian, while his rivals became the Mensheviks or 'minority'.
The bitter dispute prompted uproar in the meeting. According to Richard Mullin, a researcher into early Russian Marxism, Lenin's notes indicate that the tumultuous session took place in the Three Johns pub in Islington.
The Whitechapel building where Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky and others arrived for the 1907 congress
"The 1903 London congress is regarded as decisive in the development of Bolshevism - it's hugely significant", says Neil Faulkner, author of A People's History of the Russian Revolution.
But of course its significance is seen differently according to different political viewpoints.
"Most people on the revolutionary left would say this is the decisive break between revolution and reform," explains Dr Faulkner.
"A lot of liberal commentators would see it as the tiny seed from which ultimately grows the gulags and the labour camps of the 1930s."
To avoid being monitored during their conference, the Russians moved from venue to venue over a fortnight, often using meeting rooms in pubs recommended by friendly British trade unionists.
Leon Trotsky met Lenin for the first time in London
The first session in London occurred in a club in Charlotte Street in central London. Otherwise most of these locations are unknown today.
The 1903 congress had actually started in Brussels, but after harassment from the Belgian police it moved to London. The British authorities showed more acceptance of exiled Russian revolutionary activities than did many other European countries.
This comparative tolerance meant that some other key events in the history of the Russian revolutionary movement also happened in Britain.
The 1907 party congress moved to London after being banned in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. This was a much bigger affair of more than 300 delegates, following an outbreak of major social unrest against the Tsar in Russia in 1905.
The congress took place in the Brotherhood Church in Hackney, which has since been knocked down and replaced by a housing development.
Those present included almost all the future leaders of the Bolshevik revolution, including Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin (a minor figure at the time), Zinoviev, Kamenev and Litvinov, as well as the prominent Russian writer Maxim Gorky. This was the last full congress of the party until after the revolution.
Lenin briefly lived in Tavistock Place in Bloomsbury, central London in 1908
The participants first registered for the conference at a building in Fulbourne Street, Whitechapel, which still stands today. At the time it was a Jewish socialist club.
Stalin and Maxim Litvinov (who later became Soviet foreign minister) stayed in a doss house nearby in Fieldgate Street, which has since been converted into a somewhat more salubrious block of flats.
The conference saw further disputes between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. One issue for discussion was whether to approve the use of bank robberies to help fund revolutionary activities.
Most delegates could only afford the trip back to Russia when the impoverished party secured a loan from an eccentric soap manufacturing London businessman who was inspired by watching conference proceedings.
A few years earlier Lenin had spent 12 months in London, in 1902-3. He mainly divided his time between researching and writing at the British Museum reading room, and editing a revolutionary journal, Iskra ("The Spark").
In the reading room he studied works on economics and on the Russian peasantry.
Lenin was able to obtain books which would have been confiscated in Russia, and was rather impressed by the British state's commitment to the library, telling a friend: "The British bourgeoisie do not spare any money as far as this institution is concerned, and that is as it should be."
On his various visits to London, Lenin generally stayed around the Bloomsbury area, so that he had easy access to the museum.
In 1902 Iskra was produced in London and smuggled across Europe into Russia. Lenin was provided with an office and printing facilities by a supportive left-wing publishing company.
The 'Lenin room' in the Marx Memorial Library
This building is now the Marx Memorial Library in Clerkenwell. They have preserved what they call 'the Lenin room' with busts of him, old editions of the journal, and copies of Lenin's voluminous collected works.
A map on the wall outside shows the smuggling routes used. For Lenin, the journal was crucial both for building up a network of revolutionary activists and also for spreading the political analysis he favoured.
It was in London, in October 1902, that Lenin and Trotsky met for the first time. The pair discussed the political circumstances of Russia, but Lenin also showed Trotsky the sights of London.
When they went past the Houses of Parliament, Lenin said to his companion "that is their famous Westminster".
Trotsky later wrote it was obvious that by "their", Lenin didn't mean it was the British parliament, he meant it was the ruling class's parliament.
Yet it was that parliament, and the system it represented, which gave Lenin, Trotsky and their comrades the political freedom to pursue their goals.
Martin Rosenbaum is the presenter of The British Road to Bolshevism on BBC Radio 4 at 20:00 on Monday, 16 October 2017. You can follow Martin Rosenbaum on Twitter as @rosenbaum6
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41629394
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Five charts about the fortunes of the Chinese family - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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China has become richer and more powerful, but what does this mean for the ordinary Chinese family?
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China
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In the five years since President Xi Jinping moved to the helm, China has become richer and more powerful. But what has this growth meant for the fate and fortunes of the ordinary Chinese family?
As China's most powerful decision-makers meet to set the course of the nation for the next five years and a new generation of leaders emerges, we look at data from Chinese authorities and major surveys, to get some clues about how China's family life and society is changing.
In 2015, the government threw out its notorious one child policy which had been intended to keep population figures low but had led to a crippling gender imbalance.
So while now the door is open for more kids and bigger families, a look at marriage and divorce rates increasingly shows the same trend as the rest of the developed world: Marriage rates are falling while more and more people end up divorced.
Yet this first impression might be misleading.
"China has always had and is still having a much lower divorce rate than US and western European countries," Xuan Li, assistant professor of psychology at New York University Shanghai, explains.
"A much higher percentage of mainland Chinese people marry eventually, in comparison to those in neighbouring areas and countries. So the idea that the Chinese families (and ergo, the society and nation) are falling apart is statistically ungrounded."
China might have overturned its one-child policy in 2015 yet its legacy will continue to be a problem for years to come. There is even a term for unmarried men over 30: Shengnan, meaning "leftover men".
In 2015, a Chinese businessman in his 40s reportedly sued a Shanghai-based introductions agency for failing to find him a wife, having paid the company 7m yuan ($1m, £780,000) to conduct an extensive search.
"China's one-child policy advanced and amplified a demographic transition," explains Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics. "Falling birth rates and an aging population have been exerting downward pressure on the labour force and thus on economic growth."
"Although the one-child policy was changed in January 2016 into a two-child policy, higher birth rates now will only show up in the labour force in around two decades," he estimates.
But higher standards of living are slowly affecting traditional gender perceptions and that in turn will have a positive effect on the gender imbalance.
"The gender imbalance is already changing," Mu Zheng of the Centre for Family and Population Research at National University of Singapore told the BBC.
"That's because of the relaxed fertility policy, changing attitudes, women's advanced profiles in both education and work, and with a more established social security system,"
But for now, the current gender imbalance does make it hard for men to find wives.
Amid the constant talk about China's housing bubble about to burst, here's a detail that stands out: Among millennials, China has a towering percentage of homeowners, a different league it seems from European countries or the US.
While the above data from HSBC largely covers urban China, it still illustrates a crucial point: parents are trying whatever they can to equip their sons with some added extras to woo women into wedlock.
"It is the custom that husbands will provide a home," Dr Jieyu Liu, deputy director of the SOAS China Institute, told the BBC in April when HSBC released the data.
"Many love stories fail to turn to marriage if the men fail to provide a marital house."
So once charm, luck or a property have helped China's singles get hitched - what is life like for families?
China's average income has seen a steady rise, both in rural and in urban areas. While the relative expenses on food have dropped significantly over the past decade, the money spent on things like health, clothes or transport has gone up. The same goes for communications. The surge in mobile phones illustrates that point.
Smartphones are not just another communications expense - the WeChat app for instance is so woven into everyday routines that life without a phone is virtually unthinkable.
"WeChat is designed as an app that is like a toolkit for life, sort of a digital Swiss Army knife," Beijing-based tech analyst Duncan Clark of ABI Research explains.
He says consumers have been embracing the convenience of it covering everything from paying utility bills, cashless payments in shops, taxis and bike rentals, money transfers and of course - communication.
Higher incomes translate into more money spent on children's education and recent years have shown a steady rise in parents sending their children overseas to study. What's more, they are coming back.
"A large proportion of these students are returning to China, with 433,000 having returned in 2016," explains Rajiv Biswas, APAC chief economist at analytics firm IHS Markit.
This rapidly growing pool of Chinese graduates with international degrees and experience of living abroad will make the next generation of Chinese business and government leaders "very international in their thinking and understanding of other cultures, which will be increasingly important as China assumes the mantle of the world's largest economy in about a decade".
And while a degree from a European or US university is likely to boost your chances on the job market - it might also drive up your chances of bagging the right partner.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-41424041
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The seaside towns hit by a rising tide of debt - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Seaside towns - and the young families living in them - are suffering the worst debt levels.
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Business
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Seaside towns in England and Wales - and the young families living in them - are suffering the worst levels of debt in the country, new figures reveal.
The Isle of Wight has the highest level of insolvencies amongst young adults, according to the Insolvency Service, followed by Torbay and Scarborough.
Overall the number of 18 to 34 year-olds becoming insolvent rose by 31.3% between 2015 and 2016.
It comes ahead of a possible rise in interest rates as soon as next month.
Any increase would be the first in the UK for over ten years - and would inevitably make borrowing more expensive.
Coastal communities tend to be the worst affected because much of the work is low-paid and seasonal.
Daniel and his wife Laura - who live on the Isle of Wight - have joint debts of around £30,000.
He works full time in construction, while she looks after their two-year old son. They're both 28 years old.
Unable to pay for food, they built up debts of £7,000 on a credit card. They also owed £3,000 in council tax.
"At one point, to survive, we had chickens. We were living off eggs. Just eggs, bread and milk, because that's all we could afford," says Daniel.
But things got even more serious than that.
"I couldn't have been in a worse place," says Laura. " I had depression and anxiety, and I was pregnant. At times I even felt suicidal.
"And that's the worst thing, because I look back and think If I'd ever gone through with that then my son wouldn't be here. I didn't want to exist."
Daniel is in the process of declaring himself bankrupt, while Laura has applied for a Debt Relief Order (DRO), a separate form of insolvency.
Torbay in Devon has the highest overall rate of insolvencies in England and Wales, with 43 per 10,000 residents in 2016. Stoke on Trent has the second highest rate, with the Isle of Wight and Scarborough in joint third.
Great Yarmouth and Ipswich also have high insolvency rates.
Sandra Snell, who works as a debt counsellor for Christians Against Poverty on the Isle of Wight, believes there are particular pressures on seaside communities.
Unemployment is high, and much of the work is seasonal.
'People are expected to live on nothing', says Sandra Snell
"In the season there'll be more work because of the tourist trade," she says.
"Some people will slot into jobs, whether it's cleaning the chalets or waiting on tables; then when the season comes to an end, they're back to square one, and they've got no work."
When people transfer onto benefits in the winter months, there can be delays before their money comes through.
"People are waiting at least 12 weeks. There's no money coming in and they're expected to live on nothing."
The cost of living can also be much higher than elsewhere. Petrol is on sale on the Isle of Wight for up to 130 pence a litre - around 10% higher than the national average.
A survey for the accountancy firm PwC suggests that 28% of those in the 25 to 34 year-old age group are worried about making repayments on their debt.
And 20% of young adults have used credit cards to pay for essential items like food.
Official figures show that insolvency rates are now rising for the first time since 2009. However they are a long way from the peak of insolvencies, seen in 2009.
Similarly, the total amount of consumer credit - the measure of borrowing used by the Bank of England - may have reached £203bn in August, but that is lower than in 2008.
Consumer credit is currently growing at 9.8% a year - down from a 10.9% peak last November, and way below the 15.8% growth seen in September 2002.
Meanwhile Daniel and Laura say the debt help they received from CAP has transformed their outlook.
"They possibly saved my life," says Laura.
"My wife wouldn't be here without them," adds Daniel.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41608881
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UK TV drama about North Korea hit by cyber-attack - BBC News
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2017-10-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The TV series Opposite Number was cancelled following a cyber-attack in 2014.
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Technology
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Kim Jong-un's officials described Opposite Number as being "slanderous"
North Korean hackers targeted a British television company making a drama about the country, it has emerged.
The series - due to be written by an Oscar-nominated screenwriter - has been shelved.
In August 2014, Channel 4 announced what it said would be a new "bold and provocative" drama series.
Titled Opposite Number, the programme's plot involved a British nuclear scientist taken prisoner in North Korea.
The production firm involved - Mammoth Screen - subsequently had its computers attacked.
The project has not moved forward because of a failure to secure funding, the company says.
North Korean officials had responded in anger when details of the TV series were first revealed. Pyongyang described the plot as a "slanderous farce" as it called on the British government to pull the series in order to avoid damaging relations.
The North Koreans did more than protest though - they hacked into the computer networks of the company behind the show.
The incident was first reported by the New York Times, which cited Channel 4 as the main target. However, the BBC understands that it was actually Mammoth Screen that was hit by hackers.
Opposite Number's screenwriter Matt Charman was nominated for an Oscar for the 2015 Spielberg movie Bridge of Spies
The attack did not inflict any damage but the presence of North Korean hackers on the system caused widespread alarm over what they might do.
"They were running around with their hair on fire," a TV executive from another company told the BBC, describing the level of concern.
British intelligence was also aware of the attack.
The concern was compounded because Sony Pictures experienced a significant cyber-attack in November 2014. A group called the Guardians of Peace claimed it was behind it but US officials said they believed North Korea was responsible.
That attack was also in retaliation for a drama - in this case the planned release of the film The Interview, a comedy in which the North Korean leader was assassinated.
The studio had its emails stolen and publicly released but also had a significant portion of its computer network destroyed by the attackers. The film was eventually released online amid concerns that cinemas would not show it because of threats.
Sony pulled The Interview from US cinemas after it was hacked
It also led to a strong reaction from the Obama White House, including the imposition of sanctions. There was no commensurate complaint from the British government, despite officials knowing that a UK company had also been targeted - although not affected in the same way as Sony Pictures.
In the UK, Opposite Number has been shelved. The drama was due to be the second commission to come out of Channel 4's newly formed international drama division.
At the time, Mammoth Screen and its distribution partner, ITV Studios Global Entertainment, said they were seeking an international partner. But a spokeswoman for ITV Studios - which purchased Mammoth Screen in 2015 - told the BBC in February that "the co-production hasn't progressed because third-party funding has not been secured".
Those involved will not comment on whether the failure to attract funding and move forward with the production was in any way linked to the cyber-attack.
Mammoth Screen went on to make the ITV/PBS series Victoria
The cyber-threats from North Korea have not stopped. Its hackers have proved increasingly aggressive and adept, targeting banks to steal money and media in South Korea.
British officials also believe North Korea was behind the Wannacry ransomware that struck around the world in May, with significant parts of the NHS affected, although there has been no official response from the UK government to this incident.
But the revelations about an attack on a TV production company may raise further concerns about what North Korea is capable of and how companies in the UK - and the British government - react when it happens.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41640976
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