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Marilyn Manson recuperating at home after stage accident - BBC News
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2017-10-02
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The star cancels nine dates after a stage prop collapsed on top of him on Saturday night.
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Entertainment & Arts
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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
Rock star Marilyn Manson is recuperating at home after a stage accident in which he was crushed by a prop, his spokesman has told the BBC.
The prop - apparently two large guns held together with metal scaffolding - fell as he was performing at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom.
An eyewitness said Manson lay on stage for up to 15 minutes before he was taken to hospital on a stretcher.
The singer has cancelled nine dates of his US tour after Saturday's incident.
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 Pop Crave 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.
Eyewitness Anthony Biscardi told the BBC that fans at the concert "instantly freaked out".
"He was performing the song Sweet Dreams," he said. "Towards the middle of the song it seemed as though he tried climbing onto a prop.
"The first touch of weight on those poles and it came crashing down onto him."
In videos of the incident posted online, stage crew and band members can be seen lifting the prop off the singer but he does not get back up.
"He was pretty limp, almost as though he was unconscious," Mr Biscardi said.
Mr Biscardi said a black sheet was put around him until he could be taken off stage, when an announcement was made that the show was cancelled "due to injury".
The 48-year-old 'shock rock' star has been nominated for four Grammy awards
In a statement, the star's publicist said: "Marilyn Manson is being forced to cancel several of his October dates on his forthcoming US tour.
"On Saturday night, the legendary performer suffered an injury on stage towards the end of his set at NYC's Hammerstein Ballroom causing him to cut the show short.
"He was treated for the injury at a local hospital and will be recuperating at home in Los Angeles.
The 48-year-old artist was three dates into his The Heaven Upside Down Tour. He was due to perform in Boston on Monday night.
Writing on Instagram, Manson's guitarist Tyler Bates said the tour was "on pause for a minute" but "Manson will be back in action soon".
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41467678
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Monarch airline awaits package holiday licence decision - BBC News
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2017-10-02
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The aviation regulator is set to decide whether to renew the airline's licence to sell package holidays.
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Business
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Monarch is in last-ditch talks with the aviation regulator about renewing its licence to sell package holidays.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) extended Monarch's licence by 24 hours on Saturday amid uncertainty about the company's future.
However, with the deadline now passed, the regulator has yet to announce a decision on what it means for the UK's fifth biggest airline.
About 10,000 people on holidays sold by the airline are thought to be abroad.
The CAA is understood to have contingency plans in place to bring those passengers home on other airlines if Monarch faces difficulties.
Monarch had until midnight on Sunday to reach a deal with the CAA - but neither the company nor the CAA have issued updates since then.
If the regulator decides not to renew its package holiday licence, consumer confidence in Monarch's scheduled airline operations could also be undermined.
Package holidays accounted for a fraction of the 6.3 million passengers Monarch carried last year to 40 destinations from Gatwick, Luton, Birmingham, Leeds-Bradford and Manchester airports.
The government's Atol scheme refunds customers if a travel firm collapses and ensures they are not stranded.
The agreement with the CAA on Saturday means package holidays bought from Monarch on Sunday are still Atol protected.
Monarch's owner, Greybull Capital, has been trying to sell part or all of its short-haul operation so it can focus on more profitable long-haul routes.
The airline reported a loss of £291m for the year to October 2016, compared with a profit of £27m for the previous 12 months, after revenues slumped.
Monarch, founded in 1968, is made up of a scheduled airline, tour operator and an engineering division. In total it employs about 2,500 people.
The company said its flights are operating as normal, and that it continues to work on plans to resolve its future.
Monarch has focused more on destinations such as Spain following terror attacks in Turkey and Egypt
Monarch has experienced the perfect storm of challenges in recent years.
The terror attacks in Turkey and Egypt have deprived the airline of a large chunk of its annual revenues, and forced it to compete on heavily congested traditional routes to Spain and Greece.
That has forced down prices and profits on top of weaker demand from UK travellers - for whom a less valuable pound has made travelling costlier.
Monarch will not be facing the winter with much confidence.
The short-haul market has been described as "horrendous" by senior aviation industry figures. It has already resulted in the collapse of Air Berlin and placed huge pressure on other airlines.
Put simply, there are too many seats and not enough bums to put on them to make a profit for all major carriers.
Are you currently abroad with Monarch or planning to travel soon? E-mail us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
You can also contact us in the following ways:
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41459453
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Hammond acknowledges business fears over Brexit uncertainty - BBC News
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2017-10-02
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The chancellor says the sooner firms gets more Brexit clarity, the sooner the economy will pick up.
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Business
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Businesses need more clarity on Brexit, the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has acknowledged.
He told the BBC's Today programme the sooner the government gave businesses more certainty about the process, the sooner the economy would pick up.
His comments follow warnings from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) that public disagreements between ministers were undermining business confidence.
Theresa May has said the cabinet is united on the UK's Brexit position.
The prime minister said on Sunday that the cabinet, including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, had agreed to the Brexit plans set out in her speech in Italy last month.
Mr Johnson wrote an article for the Sun at the weekend in which he said Mrs May's planned transition phase must not last "a second more" than two years. It is the second time in a fortnight he has set out his own vision for Brexit.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Hammond said: "There are short-term challenges and the uncertainty created by the Brexit negotiation process is one of them.
"We're already seeing some decisions being made. What we're hearing from business is a plea, 'Don't put us in a position where we have to assume the worst, give us a horizon so we can plan the future with confidence.'
"The sooner we can get some clarity, the sooner we can move forward, give businesses and investors more certainty about the future, the quicker this economy will start growing again."
He hinted there may be some room for help to business in the next Budget: "What I've said in previous fiscal events is we have the flexibility to respond to support the economy through what is a very difficult period as we negotiate our exit from the European Union.
"We will have to be prepared to support the economy as necessary throughout this period."
Mr Hammond is expected to announce an extra £300m to improve rail links in the north of England in his speech to the Tory conference.
The BCC, which is made up of business leaders who employ nearly six million people between them, flagged continuing business concerns about splits within government.
It said business was "growing impatient with division" at the heart of the government, particularly around the Brexit process, and called for ministers attending the Conservative party conference to show "competence and coherence".
The organisation's director general, Adam Marshall, said: "Public disagreements between cabinet ministers in recent weeks have only served to undermine business confidence, not just on Brexit negotiations."
Firms also want clear action on cutting business costs, building key infrastructure, helping firms plug skills gaps, and support for investment.
Another major business lobby group, the Institute of Directors (IoD), has called for the chancellor to boost private-sector investment.
IoD director general Stephen Martin pointed to a survey it has carried out that suggests business optimism has declined since the start of the year.
He said it showed "that businesses are not immune to their political surroundings and confidence cannot be taken for granted".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41462570
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Nuclear submarine captain relieved of command - BBC News
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2017-10-02
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The captain is being investigated after allegations of an "inappropriate relationship".
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Glasgow & West Scotland
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The captain of the submarine HMS Vigilant is at the centre of the investigation, the BBC understands
A nuclear submarine captain has been relieved of his command after an alleged "inappropriate relationship" with a member of his crew.
The Royal Navy captain is being investigated following the allegations, which involve a female member of crew.
The BBC understands the captain of the submarine HMS Vigilant is at the centre of the investigation.
HMS Vigilant is a Vanguard class submarine based at HMNB Clyde at Faslane in Argyll and Bute.
It is one of four British submarines armed with the Trident ballistic missile system.
The Royal Navy has confirmed an investigation is ongoing but said it had not had an impact on current operations.
A ban on women serving on board submarines was only lifted in 2011.
Since then, a few dozen women have undergone specialist training to serve on board Royal Navy submarines.
All Royal Navy vessels have a "no touching rule" that prohibits intimate relationships on board, but the Navy takes a particularly harsh view when it might affect the chain of command.
In 2014, the first female captain of a Navy warship - HMS Portland - was removed from command after she was found to have breached strict rules on relations with a member of her crew.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-41474888
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Monarch Airlines: Holidaymakers and staff 'devastated' by airline collapse - BBC News
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2017-10-02
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Holidaymakers arrive at airports to find their flights cancelled and staff are made redundant by email.
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England
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Natasha Slessor had worked as cabin crew for Monarch for nearly four years
Holidaymakers and airline staff have been left "devastated" by the collapse of flight operator Monarch.
Hundreds of people arrived at Leeds Bradford, Gatwick, Birmingham, Luton and Manchester airports to find their flights had been cancelled.
Cabin crew member Natasha Slessor was one of nearly 1,900 staff made redundant on Monday.
"How can you wake up and not have a job?" she said. "I still can't believe it really."
Monarch staff were in tears after being made redundant
Ms Slessor said she was keeping positive about her future.
"I love this job, I love my career," she said.
"I was hoping I would progress further and do it forever but I'm young enough to get another job. I will. I'm certain of that."
Ms Slessor said she was due to go on maternity leave and was worried for her colleagues.
"There's other people in this company who won't be so lucky and they've given their heart and soul to Monarch," she said.
Monarch had employed about 2,100 people. Administrators said 1,858 staff had been made redundant, with the remaining workers helping to bring back 110,000 Monarch holidaymakers from overseas.
Flight attendants Katie Leary, Kate Halbo, Debbie Jackson and Charlie Winter have worked for Monarch for 19 years and call themselves the "sky sisters".
It was more than just a job, it was "a way of life", they said.
The friends said they felt sorry for the customers who were stranded abroad and it pained them they could not be there to bring them back home.
From left, Katie Leary, Kate Halbo, Debbie Jackson and Charlie Winter said they had given 19 years of their lives to Monarch
Passenger Steve Walker said he was "gutted" he would miss defending his World Masters Powerlifting title in Sweden.
The 61-year-old from Hardingstone, Northamptonshire told the BBC he was off to compete in the 74kg Masters three class in Sundsvall on Tuesday.
He was on his way to Luton airport when he got a text from a friend at 04:30 BST telling him all Monarch flights were cancelled, he said.
"I'd been training for this for three months and this championship was supposed to be my last."
He added: "I've just had to cut my losses. I'm absolutely gutted. The competition will be streamed live online, but I don't want to see it. I don't want to watch a competition I should be in."
Steve Walker said he was "absolutely gutted" his cancelled flight meant he would miss a powerlifting competition
Customers in the UK yet to travel: Don't go to the airport, the CAA says.
Customers abroad: Everyone due to fly in the next fortnight will be brought back to the UK at no cost to them. There is no need to cut short a stay.
Those with flight-only bookings after 16 October are unlikely to have Atol scheme protection, so will need to make their own arrangements.
Customers currently overseas should check monarch.caa.co.uk for confirmation of their new flight details - which will be available a minimum of 48 hours in advance of their original departure time.
The CAA also has a 24-hour helpline: 0300 303 2800 from the UK and Ireland and +44 1753 330330 from overseas.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. 'So much for a cheap couple of days away'
Jenny Collin from Colchester was ready to fly from Luton to Barcelona with her husband for their golden wedding anniversary celebrations.
"We've got two cases all packed up ready to go," she said. "I just feel devastated and let down.
"It's just made me sick. I won't trust a travel company again."
Alan Jee said he and his family were "stranded"
Alan Jee was due to get married in Gran Canaria on Saturday and arrived at Gatwick Airport with 30 members of his family.
"I have spent £20,000 on my wedding and now I can't even go and get married," he said.
"I am gutted, absolutely gutted, and my missus is in tears, an emotional wreck."
About 250 passengers turned up Leeds Bradford Airport to find flights cancelled.
Phil Morcom from Leeds said: "Myself, my wife and my daughter were going to Dubrovnik for my niece's wedding on Wednesday.
"We are probably not going now but are busy scouring the web. We were not Atol-covered and had bought flights only so will lose the money it seems."
From left Rickey Lal, Tony Lal and Steven Singh were going to Barcelona from Birmingham
Manchester Airport said a "few hundred" people turned up for Monarch's early morning flights.
Denise Parry, 51, from Salford, said she had "thrown up with the stress of it all".
"We got to the airport at 03:00 and it was at 04:00 while we were in the queue that we found out," she said.
Ms Parry and her partner initially booked alternative flights to Dalaman with Thomson later on Monday but she was later told no more places were available on the plane.
"It is so annoying, we have had the holiday booked for 12 months. We're going home now," she said.
Ricky Lal, Tony Lal and Steven Singh were travelling to Birmingham Airport for their flight to Barcelona when they received a text from Monarch at 04:09.
"No one's told us anything, just given us these leaflets with no information," said Mr Lal.
The trio are now booked on another flight but say they are "frustrated" as they are out of pocket.
Anne and Barrie Chittenden from Nottinghamshire and Walters and Cathy Flanagan from Hartlepool were off to Lisbon for six nights.
They saw the news on Twitter at 04:30 while they were on the bus to Birmingham airport and have not heard from Monarch.
They said they were in "good spirits" and would sit it out to see what happened.
People due to return to England on Monarch flights have started to arrive back on planes drafted in from other airlines.
Joe Simon flew from Palma, Majorca, to Manchester and said he found out about Monarch's collapse from the taxi driver taking him to the airport.
"When we got there it was all normal, everyone seemed to go with the flow and no-one was worried," said Mr Simon from Bagillt in North Wales.
"When we got off the pilot said if passengers were going to Leeds and Gatwick, people would help them in the airport."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41467851
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Marilyn Manson struck by stage scenery in New York - BBC News
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2017-10-02
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The rock star was taken to hospital after the incident in New York on Saturday night.
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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. Eyewitness Anthony Biscardi recalls the moment a prop collapsed on US rockstar Manson
Rock star Marilyn Manson was injured during a concert in New York when a large piece of stage scenery fell on him on stage.
The prop - apparently two large guns held together with metal scaffolding - fell as he was performing at the Hammerstein Ballroom on Saturday.
An eyewitness told the BBC that the singer lay on stage for up to 15 minutes covered by a sheet before he was carried out on a stretcher and taken to hospital.
He has cancelled nine tour dates following the injury, according to Billboard magazine.
Eyewitness Anthony Biscardi told the BBC that fans at the concert "instantly freaked out".
"He was performing the song Sweet Dreams. Towards the middle of the song it seemed as though he tried climbing onto a prop.
"The first touch of weight on those poles and it came crashing down onto him."
The 48-year-old 'shock rock' star has been nominated for four Grammy awards
In videos of the incident posted online, stage crew and band members can be seen lifting the prop off the singer but he does not get back up.
"He was pretty limp, almost as though he was unconscious," Mr Biscardi said.
Mr Biscardi said a black sheet was put around him until he could be taken off stage, when an announcement was made that the show was cancelled "due to injury".
A representative told Rolling Stone magazine that: "Manson suffered an injury towards the end of his incredible NYC show. He is being treated at a local hospital."
The 48-year-old artist was three dates into his The Heaven Upside Down Tour. He was due to perform in Boston on Monday night.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41458046
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Philip Hammond: We must win 'clash of ideas' with Labour 'dinosaurs' - BBC News
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2017-10-02
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Chancellor Philip Hammond says "bring on" the fight with Labour "dinosaurs" over capitalism.
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UK Politics
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The chancellor said a 35-year political consensus over the free market was now at an end
The Conservatives must take on and defeat Labour "dinosaurs" in a great "clash of ideas" over the future of capitalism, Philip Hammond has said.
He told activists they must expose Jeremy Corbyn's "back to the future socialist fantasy" which he said was leading people "down a dangerous path".
The chancellor also said his party must address concerns over pressure on living standards and housing costs.
And he announced £300m for rail improvements in the north of England.
The new money will be used to ensure HS2 will link to faster trains between Liverpool and Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds and York - so-called Northern Powerhouse rail.
The chancellor used his keynote party conference speech in Manchester to mount a defence of free market economics, which he claimed was coming under assault from Jeremy Corbyn.
Describing the Labour leader and his shadow chancellor John McDonnell as "dinosaurs who had broken out of their glass cases", he said Labour's harking back to the "ideological experiments" of the 1970s presented a "clear and present" danger to the UK's future prosperity.
"They say politics is about the clash of ideas. So we say to Corbyn 'bring it on'," he said.
"Let them put their arguments, let them make their case. We will take them on. And we will defeat them. I promise you this: we will defeat them by the power of argument; by our logic; by the experience of history."
Mr Hammond insisted the British economy was "fundamentally strong", with employment at a record high and income inequality at its lowest level for decades.
While the UK faced a number of challenges, including Brexit-related uncertainty, sluggish productivity and a housing sector which many people young people thought was "rigged" against them, he said free markets were the only, not merely the best, way to improve living standards and underpin free societies.
The prime minister was among those in the audience
"While no-one suggests a market economy is perfect, it is the best system yet designed for making people steadily better off over time and underpinning strong and sustainable public services for everyone.
"As this model comes under renewed assault, we must not be afraid to defend it."
The BBC's political correspondent Chris Mason said Mr Hammond's speech offered a glimpse into an internal Conservative debate about how to take on Mr Corbyn, with some wanting to tack a little left but others saying they should stick to a full-throated defence of the free, albeit regulated, market.
For Labour, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: "After seven wasted years of Tory economic failure... he is continuing down the path of his predecessor and clinging to an old economic model that fails the many.
"It was a speech that contained more baseless smears on Labour than Tory policy announcements. But it betrays how fearful the Tories are of the challenge posed by Jeremy Corbyn."
Carolyn Fairbairn, the director general of the CBI business group, said: "The chancellor has given a passionate defence of free markets and the importance of business and government working to tackle inequality. That is necessary, but not sufficient.
"The UK is facing a generation defining-challenge. A potent cocktail of Brexit uncertainty and dogma-driven politics on both left and right threatens jobs, investment and living standards. Now is not the time for half measures."
The Conservatives kicked off their week in Manchester by announcing plans to freeze student fees and pledge an extra £10bn for the Help to Buy scheme as part of an effort to win over younger voters.
Mr Hammond said the Conservatives must "make a clear commitment to the next generation - that they will be better off than us; and that their children will be better off again than them".
The chancellor said new funding would improve the connectivity of HS2
On rail funding, the chancellor said cities in the East Midlands, such as Leicester, would also benefit from the £300m modernisation and connectivity package designed to help the north reach its "full potential".
The Northern Powerhouse rail scheme is being drawn up by local authorities and business leaders to create connections between HS2 and cities not directly on its route.
On Europe, Mr Hammond said Britain could be freer and more prosperous after Brexit but people should not take such a "prize" outcome for granted.
Earlier, he told the BBC that he operates on the basis "everyone is sackable", after Boris Johnson's repeated Brexit interventions prompted calls from some in the party for him to be replaced.
Mr Hammond said the foreign secretary's recent interventions were a "rhetorical flourish" but the cabinet was agreed on a transition period of "around two years" to give businesses "certainty and comfort" to plan ahead.
On the second day of the conference, Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke also announced new guidance to job centres for giving cash advances to benefit claimants.
The government has been under pressure to pause the national roll-out of Universal Credit amid mounting concern families forced to wait six weeks for their first payment will be left destitute and homeless.
Mr Gauke said he wanted to help those struggling to make ends meet but would not halt the programme, saying it was helping people to find work and progress to better-paid jobs.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41462577
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Monarch: Almost 1,900 jobs cut - BBC News
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2017-10-02
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Failed airline to lose 1,858 jobs; Travel plans for 860,000 people in chaos; Plus: Tesco trial, FTSE 100 closes up; Wall Street rises.
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Business
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Business live has been flooded with tales of woe from Monarch travellers, but let's not forgot the staff who have lost their jobs. A reader writes:
"Today, my 20-year-old brother came off his night flight and woke up to an email about a meeting. In this meeting staff were told they were no longer Monarch employees and were being made redundant. No 'thank you' or your service, no apology, just - "we advise you to go to the job centre and sign on".
"My brother is devastated to lose a job he worked so hard for and served his second summer season this year with the company. He has friends that were taken on just a few months ago for the summer season, moving to Birmingham from as far as Scotland only to be let down and left without redundancy money.
"For the company to keep this a secret from the staff and for them to wake up with no job this morning is disgusting. Even if they had been given a warning, some may have been able to look for new jobs or at least get a head start on it.
"I feel so sorry for all the staff, they have been mistreated and deceived and are now left with nothing. Summer season is over now, so other airlines may not have vacancies until next sumner. What are they supposed to do in the meantime?"
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/business-41444089
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Bags for life can pose food poisoning risk - Food Standards Agency - BBC News
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2017-10-02
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Keep raw meat and fish separately from other shopping to avoid getting stomach bugs, consumers told.
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Health
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Bags for life pose a food poisoning risk if they are used to carry raw foods such as meat and fish, a consumer watchdog is warning.
The Food Standards Agency says even if there is no leakage, packaging can harbour traces of harmful bacteria that can cause stomach bugs.
Shoppers should have separate bags for raw foods, ready-to-eat foods and household items such as detergent.
Reusable bags could be colour coded or labelled to avoid any mix-up, it says.
If there has been visible spillage, soiling or damage, plastic bags for life should be replaced, while fabric ones could be washed or cleaned.
"Even if there are no obvious spillages or staining after several uses, we would recommend that cotton/fabric bags for life be machine-washed regularly if they have been used for carrying raw items," the FSA website recommends in an updated post.
Although instances are rare, shop-bought chicken is a potential source of infection.
Tests by the FSA have shown chicken packaging can carry a bug called campylobacter - the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK.
Campylobacter poisoning usually develops a few days after eating contaminated food and leads to symptoms that include abdominal pain, severe diarrhoea and, sometimes, vomiting.
Eggs, fish and loose vegetables with soil on can also pose a food poisoning risk, says the FSA website.
Large shops in England have been charging 5p for single-use plastic carrier bags for nearly two years.
However, they are not required to charge for plastic bags for certain products - including uncooked fish, meat or poultry products.
Carrier bag charges were introduced in Wales in 2011, in Northern Ireland in 2013 and in Scotland three years ago.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41467099
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Is Europe's ghostliest train station about to rise again? - BBC News
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2017-10-02
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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It was one of the world's most opulent railway stations. Then it fell into disrepair. Now the building is showing new signs of life.
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Magazine
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It was one of the world's most opulent railway stations, sitting imposingly on the French-Spanish border - but then it fell into disrepair. Now, writes Chris Bockman, the building is showing new signs of life.
When they built the station at Canfranc, it was on a grand scale and with no expense spared. It had to be bold and modern - an architect's dream come true, built in iron and glass, complete with a hospital, restaurant and living quarters for customs officers from both France and Spain.
At the time it was nicknamed the "Titanic of the Mountains".
To give you an idea of its size - there are 365 windows, one for each day of the year; hundreds of doors; and the platforms are more than 200m long. The question is, how did such an extravagant station, high up on a mountainside in a village with a population of just 500 people, ever see the light of day?
The ticket hall fell in to disrepair after the French abandoned the train line in 1970
At the turn of the 20th Century, the Spanish and French authorities had a grand project to open up their border through the Pyrenees, enabling more international trade and travel. It was a remarkably ambitious scheme, involving dozens of bridges and a series of tunnels drilled through the mountains.
At one point, work stalled as the French workers were sent off to fight in World War One. They were replaced by Spanish counterparts.
Celebrating the digging of the Somport tunnel in 1912, which would form part of the international train line
The station was built just to the Spanish side of the border, but one of the platforms was still considered French territory - like a kind of foreign embassy. French police and customs staff sent their children to a French-speaking school installed in the village.
But the day the station was opened in 1928 by the French President Gaston Doumergue and Spanish King Alfonso XIII, flaws quickly became apparent.
The rail gauges were different, so passengers still had to change trains. It made transporting goods as freight too slow. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 didn't help.
In the early 1930s, as few as 50 passengers a day were using Europe's second-biggest train station. And then things got worse. During the Spanish Civil War, Franco ordered the tunnels on the Spanish side sealed off, to prevent his Republican opponents from smuggling weapons in.
When the international line re-opened during World War Two, however, the route was used by thousands of Jews and Allied soldiers to escape into Spain.
Today, the mayor of Canfranc is Fernando Sanchez, whose father was a customs officer at the station - he told me it became a spy hub for the Allies, but the Germans also used the rail line to transport gold they'd stolen from Europe.
After the war, the French lost interest in the line and allowed it to deteriorate. When a train derailed on the French side in 1970, that signalled the end and France abandoned the line.
The Spanish were furious, according to Fernando Sanchez - there was an international agreement to maintain the line and the French were accused of breaking it. Canfranc's population, which had risen to 2,000 thanks to the station, dwindled to 500.
The grand building itself went to rot. The tracks rusted, the ceilings fell in with the harsh winter weather and vandalism did the rest.
The bar at Canfranc station, which fell in to disrepair
But a few years ago the local government in Aragon decided to buy the place and restore it, claiming it was a major part of Spanish history. In the past four years 120,000 people have visited, wearing hard hats - ironically, far more than ever actually used the line when it was in service.
Nearly all the tourists are Spanish. They're fascinated by the station's size, and perhaps also a little proud of its symbolism - the image it projected to the world. There are now even two trains a day between Saragossa and Canfranc.
Now the Aragon government wants not only to refurbish the station as a hotel, but to build another one right next to it, and relaunch rail travel through the Pyrenees. The French regional government based in Bordeaux has agreed to reopen the line on its side too.
Its president, Alain Rousset, told me the route through the achingly beautiful Valley of Aspe will be branded the the "western trans-Pyrenean line" when it opens. He promised to find 200 million euros (£175m) to pay for it, and Brussels will offer matching funds.
Rousset says he has made a lot of enemies by pushing for this plan - pointing out that politicians in Paris had envisaged a motorway instead.
Graffiti scrawled on walls in the valley now read "Long live Canfranc". The line is back in favour.
If all goes to plan, the Titanic of the Pyrenees could be back in business within five years. I noticed that the massive wooden ticket counters at the station have already been restored.
Photographer John Sanderson discovered the delight of taking pictures as a 13-year-old, shooting the Strasburg Rail Road and its historic steam engine. Returning to the subject of railways in adulthood, he rebelled against his younger self and this time chose to photograph American railroads devoid of trains.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-41445860
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Catalan crisis: More populism than separatism? - BBC News
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2017-10-02
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The Catalan crisis looks more like populism than separatism, Europe editor Katya Adler writes.
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Europe
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Spain is gripped by the duel between Prime Minister Rajoy (L) and Catalan leader Puigdemont
Emotions are running high in Catalonia today. Of course they are.
"The Spanish government is like an abusive husband," one activist raged at me today. "He says he loves you, that he can't live without you. Then, he beats you to stop you from leaving."
Sunday's scenes during the Catalan referendum were awful and played over and over again across social media.
Barca football idol and Catalan-born Gerard Pique wept openly on Spanish television when questioned about the violence.
But it would be wrong to interpret the anger and anguish so palpable in Catalonia right now as an expression of political unity.
Catalans are as divided as ever on the question of independence.
What unites them today is a seething fury and resentment at the heavy-handedness of the Spanish government, represented by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, with what Catalans perceive as his Madrid-centric arrogance, brutishness and disregard for the rights of individuals.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Spanish police clashed with people trying to get to polling stations to vote
This is far less about separatism than populism. Anti-establishment, nationalist sentiment a la Catalana.
While the majority of Catalans say they don't actually want to leave Spain, they demand the right to choose. Legally and with dignity, in contrast to the chaos and intimidation on show at the weekend.
They are frustrated that their region pays more in taxes to Madrid than it gets back in investment, such as new infrastructure.
They are irritated that pledges of increased autonomy for Catalonia (already one of Europe's most autonomous regions) were then watered down, and still smarting that ordinary people in Catalonia - as across Spain - suffered so much in the 2008 economic crisis, while their tax contributions were used to bail out the banks.
To give you an idea - Catalonia is one of Spain's wealthiest regions. Youth unemployment is far lower here than across the rest of Spain. But it's still a shocking 35%.
Catalans want change, but that does not amount to a common call for independence.
Before this weekend, Mariano Rajoy - nicknamed by opponents as "The Robot", as he could never be accused of having the common touch - had all the cards:
But he's thrown those cards away.
He and the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, have walked if not arm-in-arm then at least back-to-back, duel-like, to the cliff's edge.
A cynic might point out that both men benefit personally from this constitutional crisis - arguably Spain's most severe in the 40 years since the transition to democracy.
Mr Rajoy heads a minority government, so short of support that it recently withdrew plans for the 2018 budget, for fear it wouldn't make it through the Spanish parliament. Meanwhile, Mr Puigdemont presides over one of the largest regional debts in Spain.
Both men are tainted by allegations of corruption, which swirl persistently around their governments.
The Catalan question is a very public distraction from unwelcome financial questions.
Both men score political points from standing their ground now, as opinions in Catalonia and across Spain harden.
As for the EU, some analysts have painted a picture of Eurocrats quaking in their blue and yellow boots. Refusing to condemn Sunday's violence, as they fear the flames of separatism will now spread from Catalonia to Corsica, northern Italy, Flanders and beyond.
But that was the early 2000s, when Basque separatist violence raged too.
Now Basque separatists support Prime Minister Rajoy in the Spanish parliament. Regional separatism is not a 2017 problem for the EU. Populism is.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41475770
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Stephen Paddock: Vegas suspect a high-roller and 'psychopath' - BBC News
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2017-10-02
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Stephen Paddock is said to have been a professional gambler who recently made some big bets.
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US & Canada
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"It was like living next to nothing," said a former neighbour of Paddock
Las Vegas concert gunman Stephen Paddock was a wealthy former accountant and high-stakes gambler who appeared to be living in quiet retirement with his girlfriend in a desert community.
The 64-year-old, of Mesquite, Nevada, had pilot's and hunting licences and no criminal record, said authorities.
One former neighbour said twice-divorced Paddock was "weird".
But his brother described him as a regular guy who liked playing video poker, live music and eating burritos.
Paddock has been identified by police as the man behind the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, with the death toll surpassing the 49 killed at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in June 2016.
He opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on Sunday night, killing 58 people and wounding almost 500 others, before turning the gun on himself as police closed in, said officials.
Police shared this updated timeline of events on Wednesday
Stephen Paddock had a troubled childhood, with a bank robber for a father, who regularly beat him, and a mother who struggled to bring him and his three brothers up, according to reports.
One of the gunman's brothers, Eric Paddock, told reporters the family were stunned.
"He liked to play video poker," he said. "He went on cruises. He sent his mother cookies."
Their father was once on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What gunfire tells us about weapons used
Twenty-three weapons were found in the 32nd-floor hotel room that Paddock checked into last Thursday.
Police found "in excess of" 19 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition in his Mesquite home, within a quiet retirement community 80 miles (130km) north-east of Las Vegas.
They also found several pounds of an explosive called tannerite, and ammonium nitrate, a type of fertiliser used as an explosive, in his car.
Police said no manifesto or anything else had been discovered to explain Paddock's actions.
"I can't get into the mind of a psychopath at this point," Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said.
The FBI said its agents had established no connection between Paddock and any overseas terrorist group, despite so-called Islamic State describing him as a "soldier of the caliphate".
Paddock only previous known brush with the law was a routine traffic violation.
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David Famiglietti, of the New Frontier Armory, told the BBC that Paddock had purchased firearms at his store in north Las Vegas last spring, meeting all state and federal requirements, including an FBI background check.
However, the shotgun and rifle Paddock bought would not have been "capable of what we've seen and heard in the video without modification", Mr Famiglietti said.
Two gun stocks were found in the hotel room, AP news agency reported, which can enable a weapon to fire hundreds of shots per minute.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Eric Paddock says he is in total shock after police named his brother, Stephen, as the shooter
According to NBC News, Paddock recently made several gambling transactions in the tens of thousands of dollars, but it was unclear if those bets were wins or losses.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Trump on Las Vegas shooting: 'It was an act of pure evil'
He had shown no sign of financial problems and reports said he owned a number of properties that he rented out.
Separately, Eric Paddock said that Stephen came up with the cash to ensure that family members - including their elderly mother - were provided for.
"Steve took care of the people he loved. He helped make me and my family wealthy. He's the reason I was able to retire. This is the Steve we know, we knew. The people he loved and took care of," Eric Paddock said in a news conference, according to CBS News.
He described his brother as "intelligent" and "successful."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Witnesses say people were being trampled
Stephen Paddock moved to his two-storey house in Mesquite from Reno, Nevada, in June 2016.
He lived in the property in Babbling Brook Court with his girlfriend Marilou Danley, 62.
Police have ruled out any involvement by Ms Danley, who was overseas at the time of the massacre but has now returned to the US, where she is facing questioning.
She is an Australian citizen who moved to Nevada 20 years ago, the government in Canberra said.
Marilou Danley, initially described as a person of interest, was located by police outside of the US
A former neighbour, Diane McKay, 79, told the Washington Post the couple always kept the blinds closed at home.
"He was weird," she said. "Kept to himself. It was like living next to nothing.
"You can at least be grumpy, something. He was just nothing, quiet."
Elsewhere the newspaper quoted neighbours in "several states" where Paddock owned retirement homes, describing him as "surly, unfriendly and standoffish".
But those who lived close to a house he owned in Melbourne, Florida, have described him as "very friendly".
According to US media, Paddock had a licence to fly small planes and owned two aircraft.
In 2012, he filed a negligence lawsuit against The Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas, after a fall he said was caused by an "obstruction" on the floor, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.
The legal action was reportedly dropped in 2014.
The relative lack of red flags in Paddock's personal history has only heightened the sense of bewilderment as a shocked nation asks: Why?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41472462
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'No point trying to be cool' - the Tories seeking young voters - BBC News
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2017-10-02
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More young people are voting than at any time in the last 25 years, but largely not for the Conservatives. What should they do?
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UK Politics
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The Conservatives have a problem. More young people are voting than at any time in the last quarter of a century, but largely not for them - so what can the party do to change that?
It's been labelled - perhaps unfairly - the "Tory Glastonbury". Around 200 activists, MPs, sympathetic thinkers and business people meet in the low September sunshine to discuss how the party can attract young voters.
Just two years ago, the split in support between Labour and the Conservatives among 18 to 29-year-olds was fairly even, 36% to 32%.
Fast forward to this June's general election and that small gap had become a chasm - according to pollsters YouGov - with Labour now on 64% to the Tories' 21%.
In fact, unless you were touching 50, you were in a minority if you voted Conservative.
Addressing worried-looking party figures at the Big Tent Ideas festival in Berkshire, Lord Cooper - one-time director of strategy for ex-Prime Minister David Cameron - puts it starkly.
Older Conservative voters, he says, are dying. And younger, more "open" voters are not going to decide when they hit 50 that "feminism and the internet and the green movement are a bad thing after all".
Unless the party responds, he adds, "it is going to die".
Bim Afolami says the party "realises that there is a problem" in not attracting enough young voters
"Somebody famous and clever said the Conservative Party only knows two modes - complacency or panic," says one of the Tories' youngest MPs. "And we're definitely in panic mode."
Bim Afolami, an old Etonian and former banker, is 31 and has only been an MP for a few months, but his thoughts have already turned to this question.
"The party generally, collectively, realises that this is a problem," he says.
With the Budget less than two months away, he says Chancellor Philip Hammond recently told a meeting of Conservative backbenchers that the party must address two of the key issues for younger voters - housing and student debt.
Victoria Borwick - who represented the safe seat of Kensington until she became one of the 33 Conservative MPs swept away by Labour's better-than-expected showing in June - echoes the message.
"Every single MP should go back to their own area and see how they can build more housing for the next generation."
It might be only 100 miles away, but the Big Tent Ideas Festival couldn't be further from Glastonbury.
The music is Bach - perfectly rendered by a violinist. The buffet is delicate and refined. And there are more MPs in attendance than the young voters whom the ideas are intended to reach.
"This is not Glastonbury," Mr Afolami points out. "It's more akin to (literature festival) Hay-on-Wye."
The comparison is clearly unfair, but does it matter?
The story goes that the brains behind the event, Conservative MP George Freeman, saw Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn cheered by thousands at Glastonbury over the summer and asked, "Why is it just the left who have all the fun in politics?"
MP James Cleverly says young people were offered an "electoral bribe" by Jeremy Corbyn
"Wow, a left-wing leader getting a good reception at a rock festival," he says, ironically.
"What kind of crazy world is it we live in that that kind of thing happens?
"It's a bunch of young people who've just been given a massive electoral bribe."
Mr Corbyn - who said before the election he would "deal" with student debt - will be punished for taking "younger voters for fools", Cleverly says.
"Being hip, being popular, being cool, that's really easy," says Cleverly.
"Until you have to make tough decisions. And when you have to make tough decisions, that veneer of coolness comes off real quick.
"So the better thing to do is to be right and be doing the right things for the right reasons rather than trying to be cool and popular and saying whatever thing is going to get good headlines or a big cheer at Glastonbury."
What, then, can the party learn?
Labour's general election campaign was praised for its use of social media and for reaching young people previously unmoved by party politics.
Tobi Alabi - a south Londoner who was invited to attend the ideas festival, and was courted by Conservatives there, but isn't a supporter - says the party was an irrelevance for most of his friends.
Labour, he says, related and appealed to young people.
Tobi Alabi says the Conservative Party did not display diversity
"That's something the Conservative Party didn't do. They didn't display diversity. They didn't display an appeal to young people. You have to tap into young people's interests."
So - if they do that - could those young people won over by Jeremy Corbyn's Labour one day support the Tories?
"Those people can be won back," says a hopeful Bim Afolami.
"Those are not people who have decided forever to vote for one person or one party.
"I think if we show them that we've got the right policies - but, more importantly, the right values - those are people that we can at least compete for 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/uk-politics-41434873
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Oxbridge uncovered: More elitist than we thought - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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The extent to which the Home Counties professional classes dominate Oxbridge admissions is revealed.
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Family & Education
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What do students feel as new data shows Oxbridge offers are moving backwards in terms of elistism?
The sheer dominance by the top two social classes of Oxford and Cambridge University admissions has been revealed in newly released data.
Four-fifths of students from England and Wales accepted at Oxbridge between 2010 and 2015 had parents with top professional and managerial jobs, and the numbers have been edging upwards.
The data, obtained by David Lammy MP, also shows a "shocking" regional bias, with more offers made to Home Counties pupils than the whole of northern England.
Mr Lammy said he was "appalled to discover" Oxbridge is actually moving backwards in terms of elitism.
Unveiling the data, he described the universities as the "last bastion of the old school tie" and highlighted stark regional divisions.
Nationally about 31% of people are in the top two social income groups. They are the doctors, the lawyers, the senior managers.
The data reveals these top two social classes cleaned up in terms of places, with their share of offers rising from 79% to 81% between 2010 and 2015.
This was despite both universities spending £5m each a year on efforts to cast the net wider for students, according to official figures.
The data on admissions by region provided by the universities themselves showed:
The University of Cambridge made nearly 2,953 offers to four home counties, and 2,619 offers to the whole of the north of England.
Whereas Oxford made 2,812 offers to applicants in five home counties and 2,619 to students in the whole of northern England.
Applications were, however, significantly higher from both the counties surrounding London and around the universities themselves.
A spokesman for Cambridge said its admissions were based on academic considerations alone, adding that the greatest barrier to disadvantaged students was poor results.
"We currently spend £5m a year on access measures leading to 190,000 interactions with pupils and teachers."
An Oxford spokesman said: "We absolutely take on board Mr Lammy's comments, and we realise there are big geographical disparities in the numbers and proportions of students coming to Oxford.
"On the whole, the areas sending few students to Oxford tend also to be the areas with high levels of disadvantage and low levels of attainment in schools.
"Rectifying this is going to be a long journey that requires huge, joined-up effort across society - including from leading universities like Oxford - to address serious inequalities."
Mr Lammy said the scale of the regional divide went far beyond anything he could have imagined.
He accused Oxbridge of failing to live up to its responsibilities as national universities, saying: "Oxbridge take over £800m a year from the taxpayer - paid for by people in every city, town and village.
"Whole swathes of the country - especially our seaside towns and the 'left behind' former industrial heartlands across the North and the Midlands are basically invisible.
"If Oxbridge can't improve, then there is no reason why the taxpayer should continue to give them so much money."
Mr Lammy added: "Whilst some individual colleges and tutors are taking steps to improve access, in reality many Oxbridge colleges are still fiefdoms of entrenched privilege, the last bastions of the old school tie."
He called for a centralised admissions system to be introduced at the universities and for Oxbridge to communicate more directly with talented students by writing to all straight A students to invite them to apply.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "It's quite unexpected...It's not something that happens where I'm from" says Max as he prepares to go to Cambridge University
We should all care who goes to our top universities because they end up running the country.
Less than 1% of the adult population graduated from Oxford or Cambridge, but the two universities have produced most of our prime ministers, the majority of our senior judges and civil servants, and many people in the media.
So surely it's good news that more of their students are from state schools?
As this research shows, that's only part of the story. The home counties of southern England are significantly wealthier than the north. You just have to look at how many children are from families earning so little their children qualify for free school meals.
In Buckinghamshire it's just 5.5% of pupils, in Surrey 6.8%. Travel north to Middlesbrough and it reaches 27.9%, and Rochdale 20.5%
• None 'It's not something that happens where I'm from' Video, 00:01:13'It's not something that happens where I'm from'
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-41664459
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Grammar school A-level row head suspended - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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The head of a school where some pupils were stopped from taking A-levels, is suspended.
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Family & Education
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Head teacher Aydin Onac has been suspended by the high-achieving grammar school
The grammar school head teacher at the centre of a row about pupils not being allowed to stay on to take A-levels has been suspended.
Aydin Onac, head of St Olave's in Orpington, has been suspended by the school's governors.
Parents had threatened legal action after some pupils were told to leave the school before the upper sixth year.
It raised questions about schools boosting their league table rankings by restricting who could take A-levels.
St Olave's, in the London borough of Bromley, is one of England's top-performing grammar schools.
But in August it was caught up in a high-profile dispute when some of its pupils were told they would not be re-admitted for their final year.
Parents began legal proceedings that claimed that removing pupils between Year 12 and 13 - the lower and upper sixth - would have been a form of unlawful exclusion.
The parents challenged whether the school could stop pupils returning because of their expected A-level grades.
St Olave's reversed its decision and allowed the pupils to return for upper sixth - and the planned court hearing did not take place.
But the school's governors have now decided that the head teacher, Mr Onac, should be suspended.
The governors say that the local authority is carrying out its own investigation into the A-level controversy.
St Olave's was at the centre of a controversy over pupils being removed from the school before A-levels
The St Olave's dispute began a wider debate about whether schools should be able to stop pupils progressing in this way - and whether filtering out academically-weaker pupils ahead of exams was being used to artificially boost results and league table rankings.
Other schools were forced to review their procedures on whether to allow pupils to continue into the final year of A-levels.
A statement from the chair of governors, Dr Paul Wright, said: "I have been informed that the London Borough of Bromley will be conducting an investigation of St Olave's Grammar School in respect of concerns that have been raised over recent weeks.
"In light of this, and in order to protect the integrity of the investigation, Mr Onac has been suspended from all of his responsibilities as headmaster of the school."
"Please remember that this suspension is without prejudice and does not presume any particular outcome. We are committed to full transparency and will be co-operating fully with the local authority in this matter."
Bromley Council confirmed "that there will be an investigation into concerns raised".
This year's A-level results at St Olave's saw 75% of all grades being awarded at A* or A and 96% were at A* to B grades, far above the national average.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-41683012
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CIA chief: North Korea 'on cusp' of nuclear capability - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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The head of the CIA says the North is close to being able to hit the US with a nuclear missile.
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Asia
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North Korea has ramped up its missile testing in recent months
CIA director Mike Pompeo has warned that North Korea is on the cusp of being able to hit the US with a nuclear missile.
He stressed Washington still preferred diplomacy and sanctions but said military force remained an option.
North Korea claims it already has the capability to strike the US.
Mr Pompeo also said that a US-Canadian hostage couple freed last week had in fact been held in Pakistan, rather than Afghanistan as initially assumed.
He said Canadian Joshua Boyle and his US wife Caitlan Coleman had been "held for five years inside of Pakistan".
This contradicted accounts from Pakistani officials, who said the family had been held in Afghanistan, and moved across the border into the Kurram tribal district of Pakistan on 11 October.
North Korea is "close enough now in their capabilities that from a US policy perspective we ought to behave as if we are on the cusp of them achieving that objective," Mr Pompeo said at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a conservative Washington think tank, on Thursday.
"They are so far along in that, it's now a matter of thinking about how do you stop the final step."
Mr Pompeo said military force had to remain an option
He warned Pyongyang's missile expertise was now advancing so quickly that it was hard for US intelligence to be sure when it would succeed.
"When you're now talking about months our capacity to understand that at a detailed level is in some sense irrelevant," he said.
Last weekend, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had also insisted President Donald Trump wanted to resolve the confrontation with North Korea through diplomacy.
His statement had come after Mr Trump had publicly told him not to waste time seeking talks with Kim Jong-un.
In his speech, the CIA director also commented on the return of hostages Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman.
The couple were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 and had three children while in captivity.
Mr Pompeo said they had been "held for five years inside of Pakistan" - contradicting the official story given by Pakistani authorities that the couple had been held by the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan, and were recently moved across the border into Pakistan.
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His comments reinforce US media reports of anonymous US officials claiming the hostages had in fact been held by a Pakistani militant group supported by the country's secret service the entire time.
The Haqqani militant group is regarded as a close Taliban ally with support from Pakistan's military-run intelligence service. Pakistan denies such claims.
"I think history would indicate that expectations for the Pakistanis willingness to help us in the fight against radical [Islamist] terrorism should be set at a very low level," Mr Pompeo said. "Our intelligence would indicate the same."
"I think we should have a very real conversation with them about what it is they're doing and what it is they should do and the American expectations for how they should behave," he added.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due to travel to Pakistan next week.
In his wide-ranging speech, Mr Pompeo also said that the intelligence community had concluded "that the Russian meddling that took place did not affect the outcome of the [US] election".
The CIA later issued a statement that appeared to contradict Mr Pompeo's remark.
"The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed, and the Director did not intend to suggest that it had," Dean Boyd, director of the CIA's office of public affairs, said.
Trump denies he or his team ever colluded with Russia
The public report by the Director of National Intelligence released in January stated that the intelligence community did "not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election."
US intelligence agencies believe Russia tried to sway the election in favour of Trump and now there are several investigations looking into whether anyone from his campaign helped.
However, they have not assessed whether alleged Russian interference affected the election outcome.
Russia denies the allegations and President Trump has denied any collusion between his campaign and Russian officials.
The allegations are currently investigated by several US parliamentary committees as well as a special counsel, former FBI director Robert Mueller.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41690253
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Robert Mugabe's WHO appointment condemned as 'an insult' - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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The UK government, an array of campaign groups and the Zimbabwe opposition express dismay.
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Africa
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Critics say health services have collapsed under Mr Mugabe's rule
The choice of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe as a World Health Organization (WHO) goodwill ambassador has been criticised by several organisations including the British government.
It described his selection as "surprising and disappointing" given his country's rights record, and warned it could overshadow the WHO's work.
The opposition in Zimbabwe and campaign groups also criticised the move.
The WHO head said he was "rethinking his approach in light of WHO values".
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had previously praised Zimbabwe for its commitment to public health.
He said it was a country that "places universal health coverage and health promotion at the centre of its policies to provide health care to all".
Mr Mugabe's appointment as a "goodwill ambassador" to help tackle non-communicable diseases has attracted a chorus of criticism.
Critics have long argued that Zimbabwe's health service is not meeting the needs of patients
The British government said it was all the more surprising given US and EU sanctions against him.
"We have registered our concerns" with the director general, a spokesman said.
"Although Mugabe will not have an executive role, his appointment risks overshadowing the work undertaken globally by the WHO on non-communicable diseases."
Zimbabwe's leader has been frequently taken to task over human rights abuses by the European Union and the US.
Critics say Zimbabwe's health care system has collapsed, with staff often going without pay while medicines are in short supply.
Dr Tedros, who is Ethiopian, is the first African to lead the WHO. He was elected in May with a mandate to tackle perceived politicisation in the organisation.
US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it was an embarrassment to give the ambassador role to Mr Mugabe, because his "utter mismanagement of the economy has devastated health services".
Critics of the president say that Zimbabwe's health care system is in a shambolic state
HRW's Kenneth Roth said Mr Mugabe's appointment was a cause for concern because the president and some of his officials travel abroad for treatment.
"When you go to Zimbabwean hospitals, they lack the most basic necessities," he said.
Zimbabwe's main MDC opposition party also denounced the WHO move.
"The Zimbabwe health delivery system is in a shambolic state, it is an insult," spokesman Obert Gutu told AFP.
"Mugabe trashed our health delivery system... he allowed our public hospitals to collapse."
Other groups who have criticised Mr Mugabe's appointment include the Wellcome Trust, the NCD Alliance, UN Watch, the World Heart Federation and Action Against Smoking.
President Mugabe heard about his appointment while attending a conference held by the WHO, a UN agency, on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Montevideo, Uruguay.
He told delegates his country had adopted several strategies to combat the challenges presented by such diseases, which the WHO says kill about 40 million people a year and include cancers, respiratory diseases and diabetes.
"Zimbabwe has developed a national NCD policy, a palliative care policy, and has engaged United Nations agencies working in the country, to assist in the development of a cervical cancer prevention and control strategy," Mr Mugabe was reported by the state-run Zimbabwe Herald newspaper as saying.
But the president admitted that Zimbabwe was similar to other developing countries in that it was "hamstrung by a lack of adequate resources for executing programmes aimed at reducing NCDs and other health conditions afflicting the people".
Medicine is often in short supply at Zimbabwe's hospitals, critics say
The UN has a bit of thing for goodwill ambassadors, especially famous ones.
Angelina Jolie, as ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency, was regularly pictured comforting displaced families in over-crowded camps.
Swiss tennis star Roger Federer visits aid projects in Africa for Unicef and plays charity matches to raise money.
Further back in time, film star and Unicef goodwill ambassador Audrey Hepburn visited disaster zones and graced gala dinners where her glittering presence was an encouragement to donors.
The publicity does attract support for relief efforts.
But it is hard to imagine 93-year-old Robert Mugabe fulfilling a similar remit.
Will he provide comfort in WHO field clinics in conflict zones? Would one of his suit jackets fetch a high price at auction? Would the presence of a man who is widely accused of human rights abuses encourage more $10,000-a-plate attendees at a gala ball?
Somehow it just does not seem likely, which begs the question, what exactly is Mr Mugabe going to do in his new role? The World Health Organization has not made this at all clear.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41702662
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Newspaper headlines: Roadworks 'misery' to end and EU 'saves May' - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Plans to increase a motorway speed limit and progress over Brexit talks are among the stories leading the papers.
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The Papers
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A number of papers focus on what the UK's Brexit bill might be
Some of the papers try to put a figure on what the UK's Brexit bill might be.
The Daily Mirror thinks it could be £36bn, noting that Prime Minister Theresa May did not rule out a doubling of the current £18bn offer.
The Daily Telegraph's suggestion is £40bn, while the Sun says it has been told by one senior Brussels diplomat the EU wants £48bn.
The paper says this would leave the prime minister needing to convince taxpayers why it is worth paying such a huge sum, although it does note some believe that the long-term losses from not striking a deal could dwarf this figure.
The way the EU referendum was fought and the role of Twitter is the subject of an article on the Buzzfeed website.
It says a study has found that a network of more than 13,000 bots - or automated pieces of software - tweeted predominantly pro-Brexit messages in the run-up to the vote.
The researchers at City, the University of London, say they are concerned this tactic gave a "false sense of momentum behind certain ideas".
Damian Collins, the Conservative chair of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, tells Buzzfeed he has written to Twitter to ask whether there has been any "interference in the democratic process".
Twitter says its systems identify more than three million suspicious accounts every week.
There seems to be a consensus that the EU softened its stance on Brexit at the European Council summit.
The Daily Telegraph thinks this was because of fears in Brussels that Mrs May's government could collapse if the negotiations remained deadlocked.
Oliver Duff, the editor of the i paper, goes further, arguing Mrs May successfully emphasised her weakness - in effect saying "you think I'm a pain in the proverbial? Try Boris or David Davis".
A number of papers focus on what the UK's Brexit bill might be
The Sun warns Brussels not to overplay its hand by asking for too much money in return for trade talks.
The Guardian thinks the prime minister had a decent 24 hours in Brussels and hopes there is a shared recognition that the EU and the UK have a common interest in making the best of Brexit.
The Times columnist, Matthew Paris, warns the crisis in Catalonia could bring a violent civil conflict to Spain and threaten its very existence.
He is angry that what he calls "tinpot nationalists on both sides have puffed themselves into an entirely avoidable high noon", arguing the problems could have been resolved with "a little respect".
According to the Financial Times, two board members of the Weinstein Company tried for years to investigate Harvey Weinstein because of allegations of sexual misconduct.
Donald Trump's tweet claiming crime in the UK has risen because of Islamic terror prompts a backlash in the papers.
The Daily Mirror quotes the Conservative MP Sir Nicholas Soames, who calls Mr Trump "a daft twerp", suggesting he should "fix gun control" instead.
The Washington Post suggests the president was again trying to raise the spectre of terrorism - days after another court blocked one of his travel bans.
In its coverage of the controversy, the Daily Telegraph compares crime levels in London and New York and comes to the conclusion the British capital is worse.
It says the cities both have similar populations but in London someone is six times more likely to be burgled and three times more likely to report a rape - although the murder rate in New York remains higher.
The paper puts the difference down to New York's zero tolerance approach in the 1990s.
On its front page, the Daily Mail asks "have our police lost the plot?" - picturing two support officers wearing bear masks.
It says forces are being urged to abandon silly stunts and get officers back on the beat.
In its lead, the Times reports that the 50mph (80km/h) speed limit imposed on drivers going past roadworks is to be eased.
It says research involving heart monitors suggests drivers are more relaxed going at 60mph (96km/h), in part because they can overtake slower-moving lorries.
But, it seems, motorists are facing added stress at airports because of a sharp rise in short-term parking fees.
According to the Daily Mail, they are being charged up to 35 pence a minute to drop off loved ones. taking the cost of a goodbye kiss to about £3.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-41702829
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Pollution linked to one in six deaths - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Pollution has been linked to nine million deaths each year worldwide, according to a report in The Lancet.
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Health
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Pollution has been linked to nine million deaths worldwide in 2015, a report in The Lancet has found.
Almost all of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries, where pollution could account for up to a quarter of deaths. Bangladesh and Somalia were the worst affected.
Air pollution had the biggest impact, accounting for two-thirds of deaths from pollution.
Brunei and Sweden had the lowest numbers of pollution-related deaths.
Most of these deaths were caused by non-infectious diseases linked to pollution, such as heart disease, stroke and lung cancer.
"Pollution is much more than an environmental challenge - it is a profound and pervasive threat that affects many aspects of human health and wellbeing," said the study's author, Prof Philip Landrigan, of the Icahn School of Medicine, at Mount Sinai in New York.
The biggest risk factor, air pollution, contributed to 6.5 million premature deaths. This included pollution from outdoor sources, such as gases and particulate matter in the air, and in households, from burning wood or charcoal indoors.
The next largest risk factor, water pollution, accounted for 1.8 million deaths, while pollution in the workplace was linked to 800,000 deaths globally.
About 92% of these deaths occurred in poorer countries, with the greatest impact felt in places undergoing rapid economic development such as India, which had the fifth highest level of pollution deaths, and China, which had the 16th.
In the UK, about 8% or 50,000 deaths are estimated to be linked to pollution. This puts the UK in 55th place out of the 188 countries measured, placing them behind the US and many European countries, including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Denmark.
Dr Penny Woods, of the British Lung Foundation, said: "Air pollution is reaching crisis point worldwide, and the UK is faring worse than many countries in Western Europe and the US.
"A contributing factor could be our dependence on diesel vehicles, notorious for pumping out a higher amount of poisonous particles and gases.
"These hit people with a lung condition, children and the elderly hardest."
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said a £3 billion plan had been put in place to improve air quality and reduce harmful emissions.
A spokesman said: "We will also end the sale of new diesel and petrol cars by 2040, and next year we will publish a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy which will set out further steps to tackle air pollution."
Mike Hawes from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said the latest diesel cars were the cleanest in history. He said the biggest change to air quality would be achieved "by encouraging the uptake of the latest, lowest emission technologies and ensuring road transport can move smoothly".
In the United States, more than 5.8% - or 155,000 - deaths could be linked to pollution.
The authors said air pollution affected the poor disproportionately, including those in poor countries as well as poor people in wealthy countries.
Study author Karti Sandilya, from Pure Earth, a non-governmental organisation, said: "Pollution, poverty, poor health, and social injustice are deeply intertwined.
"Pollution threatens fundamental human rights, such as the right to life, health, wellbeing, safe work, as well as protections of children and the most vulnerable."
The results were the product of a two-year project. The authors have published an interactive map illustrating their data.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41678533
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Daphne Caruana Galizia: Malta journalist killed by 'remotely detonated' bomb - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Officials discuss initial results of an inquiry into the killing of an investigative reporter.
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Europe
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Caruana Galizia was a harsh critic of the government and alleged corruption in Malta
Maltese officials say they believe investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed by a bomb under her car that was triggered remotely.
A government spokeswoman said this assumption was based on initial results of an investigation into Monday's explosion in Bidnija, near Mosta.
Caruana Galizia was known for her blog accusing top politicians of corruption.
Meanwhile, journalists held a rally in the capital Valletta, saying they would not be intimidated by the killing.
"The attack on one of us will not stop us from shining a light where others want darkness," said Herman Grech, online editor at the Times of Malta.
"The attack on one of us will not muzzle us," he said, reading a joint statement.
In a separate development on Thursday, Caruana Galizia's three sons said they refused to endorse a €1m (£890,000; $1,185,000 ) reward for evidence leading to a conviction in the case.
In a Facebook post, they said this was despite "unrelenting pressure" from Malta's leaders to endorse the move.
They also urged Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to resign.
"Show political responsibility and resign. Resign for failing to uphold our fundamental freedoms," they said.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A friend of the murdered Maltese journalist reflects on her death and corruption in Malta
The sons also demanded he replace Malta's police commissioner and attorney general "with public servants who won't be afraid to act on evidence against him and those he protects".
After Caruana Galizia's death, Mr Muscat denounced the killing, calling it an attack "on the freedom of expression in our country".
Speaking to the BBC, he said the journalist was "a very harsh critic of mine" and described her killing as "a nightmare".
"I wouldn't know whether this is because of something she had written, or something she was going write," he said.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Debris was strewn over the road and a nearby field
Caruana Galizia was a harsh critic of the government and effectively triggered an early election this year by publishing allegations linking Mr Muscat to the Panama Papers scandal.
Mr Muscat and his wife denied claims they used secret offshore bank accounts to hide payments from Azerbaijan's ruling family - and he was returned to power in the election, despite the controversy.
Caruana Galizia's popular blog had also targeted opposition politicians. She called the country's political situation "desperate" in her final post.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41689147
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Mexican comedian brings stand-up to female prisoners - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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How comedy workshops are helping inmates in Mexico's notoriously dangerous jails.
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Latin America & Caribbean
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Best known for her Netflix shows and stand-up tours, Sofía Niño de Rivera is one of Latin America's leading comedians.
The 35-year-old from Mexico City has long been making audiences laugh, but she recently embarked on a more serious mission: supporting vulnerable women in Mexico's notoriously dangerous prisons.
In a bid to help female inmates overcome frustration and depression, Sofía gave 10 stand-up workshops in the Mexican capital's vast Santa Martha Acatitla penitentiary over the summer.
The project came about after her cousin, Saskia Niño de Rivera, asked her to do a benefit gig to raise funds for Reinserta, a charity she runs to improve conditions in Mexican jails.
The comedian accepted but wanted to do more than just raise money. They agreed that stand-up workshops could help inmates to use comedy as an emotional release for the benefit of their mental health.
"Stand-up is a really cathartic psychological tool. It has helped me a lot in my life," Sofía says at a hotel in Guadalajara, the morning after a sold-out public performance.
"Women in prison don't have a lot of tools to help them handle emotional issues," she adds. "I think stand-up is something that can help them."
Women account for just 5% of Mexico's 211,000 prison population, but they receive fewer visits and are more likely to be abandoned by their families than male inmates, according to a Reinserta survey.
Saskia, a lawyer and philanthropist who founded Reinserta in 2013, says inmates rarely have access to psychologists and find therapeutic lessons difficult to put into practice when in "survival mode" in their cells.
The combination of her cousin's public profile and Reinserta's experience working in jails helped convince the prison authorities to back the project, but it proved tougher to persuade inmates to participate.
"It was very difficult because stand-up is a relatively new concept in Mexico," Saskia says. "The women in prison didn't know who Sofía was or what stand-up was, so it wasn't easy to introduce this activity."
Instead of giving stand-up performances herself, Sofía taught the inmates to laugh about their own experiences.
She also invited other Mexican comedians to perform specially tailored sets with jokes that inmates could relate to about life behind bars.
At first the women were reluctant to open up, but Sofía gradually began to win their trust.
"It's very hard to show them stand-up but it's been so interesting to learn their stories and watch them try," Sofía says. "It's a tool they didn't know they had."
Reinserta also works with children living inside the prison
While she encourages inmates to make light of their difficult surroundings, Sofía warns they must be careful to choose the right moment.
"It's not something they can use very publicly," she says, noting that one woman was transferred to a cell with stricter conditions for mocking the way a guard spoke.
Sofía and Saskia are currently working on a documentary to increase awareness about the conditions in Mexico's overcrowded and unsafe prisons.
A recent government survey revealed that almost half of inmates share their cell with more than five prisoners, nearly a third feel unsafe in prison, and one in five feel unsafe in their own cells.
One in three prisoners was a victim of illegal conduct last year, including theft, injury, extortion, threats and sexual assault. And four out of 10 inmates have suffered from corruption, with guards charging them to receive visitors, bedding, food, drinking water or medical attention.
Violent prison riots are common. More than a dozen inmates died in clashes at a prison in Nuevo Leon state last week.
Another riot at Acapulco's Las Cruces prison killed 28 people in July
Hazael Ruíz, the undersecretary for Mexico City's penitentiary system, says the stand-up workshops have helped ease tensions in Santa Martha Acatitla.
He's now planning more sessions in another women's prison and possibly a male facility.
"The girls that participated have shown a very positive change in attitude," Mr Ruíz says. "Through stand-up they found the tools to channel the negativity that they've experienced into comedy."
"They make daily life enjoyable," he adds. "They get along with less tension than the others and their new outlook on life is contagious."
Sofía is encouraged by this progress but warns that Mexico must do more to generate more humane conditions in its jails.
"Mexico would benefit if people inside a prison could really rehabilitate and go outside and not do drugs or be killers," she says.
"Prison is just like a little Mexico and every time I go in there I think: 'This country has a lot to change and it has to change fast.'"
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-41565813
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Meteor shower to fill weekend skies - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Debris from Halley's Comet will be seen in the early hours of Sunday, with 20 meteors an hour expected.
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UK
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Dozens of shooting stars are expected in the skies over the weekend
The sky will be filled with shooting stars this weekend thanks to debris from Halley's Comet.
The annual Orionid meteor shower will see around 20 meteors passing through the sky every hour.
The shower is visible throughout the month, but experts say the peak time to view it in the UK will be early on Sunday, between midnight and 03:00 BST.
Astronomer Tom Kerss said the Orionid meteors are known for their "speed and brilliance".
Halley's Comet is the only comet regularly visible from Earth by the naked eye and it comes into view once every 75 years.
The last time it appeared was in 1986, with the next viewing expected in 2061.
When Halley's Comet passes through the solar system, particles of debris break away from it.
These hurtle towards Earth at the speed of 148,000mph, and we see them as shooting stars.
Mr Kerss, who is based at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, recommended secluded spots with the darkest skies for the best view, but he said not to worry about bringing any equipment.
"There's no advantage to using binoculars or a telescope," he said. "Your eyes are the best tool available for spotting meteors."
"So, relax and gaze up at the sky, and eventually your patience will be rewarded."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41694290
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Hundreds of families block organ donation - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Legally, consent lies with the deceased, but in practice, relatives' wishes are always respected.
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Health
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Rachel wants to be an organ donor
Organs from 505 registered donors could not be made available for transplant in the last five years because of objections from relatives.
BBC 5 live found that almost a third of families blocked organ donation because they felt the process took "too long".
The law states that consent lies with the deceased, but in practice, relatives' wishes are always respected.
The NHS wants to reduce the number of "overrides" by encouraging prospective donors to talk to their relatives.
In England, NHS figures showed that 457 people died last year whilst waiting for an organ transplant.
Rachel, 17, from Stoke-on-Trent, wants to be an organ donor, but is concerned that her family do not support her wishes.
She told 5 live: "I wasn't aware when I signed up that your family had to be supportive of your decision. It seems like, well, what's the point of signing up if it could be overruled anyway?
"It does worry me because, if I died now, my mum does make the main decision. I hope I can trust her to make the right one."
When somebody dies who is on the Organ Donation Register, specialist nurses from NHS Blood and Transplant work with their family.
If relatives object, nurses will encourage them to accept their loved one's decision, and make it clear that they do not have the legal right to override it.
However, in practice, if a family still refuses, the donation does not go ahead.
Ben Cole, a specialist nurse for organ donation working in the Midlands, said it was "frustrating" when families say no.
"We understand that families are approached about donation at a very difficult time, and it can come as a shock to find out their relative had made the decision to donate.
"I had one family whose son had joined the Organ Donor Register, but they found it hard to believe because he'd never spoken about it.
"Another family said their dad would have ticked any box, and so weren't convinced he'd signed up intentionally.
"The relationship we build with a family at this time is so important, particularly as they can provide vital information about their relative before donation.
"If they are strongly opposed to donation, we would not want to upset them further."
Other reasons relatives gave for refusing consent include that they thought "the patient had suffered enough", they "didn't want surgery to the body", or the family were divided over the decision.
Anthony Clarkson, assistant director of organ donation and transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "Although the number of blocked transplants is declining, a number of families each year feel unable to support their relative's decision to be a donor.
"As a result hundreds of opportunities for potentially life saving transplants are being missed every year."
There are currently 6,406 people on the transplant waiting list across the UK.
Jess Harris, 29, from London, needs a pancreas and a kidney. She thinks it's a "crazy system" that gives families the final say.
"Why isn't it like your will? Why don't they have to honour your wishes?" she told 5 live.
"I don't know why anyone would be against donating organs - one person can save up to eight lives and you're not going to need them when you're dead."
But Dr Rebecca Brown, a research fellow in practical ethics at the University of Oxford, supports families having the final say.
She says: "There's an implication that these families are selfish or unreasonable, but I don't think that's the case.
"Losing a loved one, in sudden circumstances, is very traumatic and forcing them to go along with organ donation when it is something to which they feel strongly opposed, would be very distressing.
"This is a relatively small number of families and going against their wishes would be frankly awful for them and would create all sorts of problems."
In 2016/17 the total number of deceased donors was 1,413. In the same year, families blocked the donations of 91 people who had signed the register.
In December 2015, Wales adopted an opt-out system of organ donation, but families can still have the final say over their loved one's donation. Last year, nine people in Wales who had signed up to the organ donation register were blocked from donating their organs.
Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to introduce presumed consent for organ donation in England and a consultation will be held before the end of the year.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41671600
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'Handful of changes' make cancer - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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It takes between one and 10 mutations to turn a healthy cell cancerous.
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Health
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British scientists have worked out how many changes it takes to transform a healthy cell into a cancer.
The team, at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, showed the answer was a tiny handful, between one and 10 mutations depending on the type of tumour.
It has been one of the most hotly debated issues in cancer science for decades.
The findings, published in the journal Cell, could improve treatment for patients.
If you played spot the difference between a cancer and healthy tissue, you could find tens of thousands of differences - or mutations - in the DNA.
Some are driving the cancer's growth, while others are just along for the ride. So which ones are important?
The researchers analysed the DNA from 7,664 tumours to find "driver mutations" that allow a cell to be more selfish, aggressive and cancerous.
They showed it could take:
Dr Peter Campbell, one of the researchers, told the BBC News website: "We've known about the genetic basis of cancer for many decades now, but how many mutations are responsible has been incredibly hotly debated.
"What we've been able to do in this study is really provide the first unbiased numbers.
"And it seems that of the thousands of mutations in a cancer genome, only a small handful are responsible for dictating the way the cell behaves, what makes it cancerous."
Half the mutations identified were in sets of genetic instructions - or genes - that had never been implicated in cancer before.
The long-term goal is to advance precision cancer treatment.
If doctors know which few mutations, out of thousands, were driving a patient's cancer, it could allow drugs that specifically targeted that mutation to be used.
Drugs such as herceptin and Braf inhibitors are already used to attack specific mutations in tumours.
The researchers were able to pick out the mutations that were driving the growth of cancer by turning to Charles Darwin and evolutionary theory.
In essence, driver mutations should appear more often in tumours than "neutral" mutations that do not make the cell cancerous.
This is because the forces of natural selection give an evolutionary advantage to mutations that help a cell grow and divide more readily.
Dr Nicholas McGranahan, from the Cancer Research UK and the UCL Cancer Institute, said the approach was "elegant".
He said: "Cancer is a disease that evolves and changes over time, and it makes sense to use ideas like this from species evolution to work out the genetic faults that cause cancer to grow.
"But as this study focuses on one part of cancer evolution, it can only give us insight into part of the puzzle.
"Other components such as how DNA is packaged into chromosomes are also key in how a tumour progresses and will need to be looked at to give us a clearer picture of how cancer evolves."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41644020
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BBC sorry over gay conversion tweet - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The poll by BBC Radio Kent sparked outrage on social media.
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Kent
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BBC Radio Kent's poll has since been deleted from Twitter
The BBC has apologised for an online poll that asked whether gay conversion therapy is acceptable practice.
BBC Radio Kent tweeted: "TV Doctor Dr Ranj has told breakfast gay conversion therapy is akin to psychological abuse; Should gay conversion therapy be banned?"
The Gay Times said BBC radio had "asked the stupidest question".
The BBC deleted the tweet, which it said breached its own guidelines, and apologised for the offence it caused.
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It added: "We accept that the poll was not the most appropriate way of dealing with this sensitive issue."
One of the many Twitter users who took exception to the tweet was Guardian columnist Owen Jones, who asked: "Why are you doing this?"
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Dr Ranj Singh, from Chatham, who is the resident doctor on ITV's This Morning programme, had called for gay conversion therapy to be made illegal, during an interview on BBC Radio Kent that was prompted by the prime minister's recent condemnation of the controversial practice.
He said: "It should be illegal, it is akin to almost psychological abuse.
"We have to understand that it is not always black and white, there are some people who are definitely heterosexual, there are some people who are definitely homosexual and they know their identities, and there are some people who are in between."
During an interview on BBC Radio Kent, Dr Ranj Singh called for gay conversion therapy to be made illegal
The question "Should gay conversion therapy be banned?" was then posed to the station's 53,000 followers on Twitter, who were asked to either agree that it should be banned or say they thought it was an acceptable practice.
More than 100 people commented on the tweet, with most saying they were offended.
Some Twitter users also questioned the use of an emoji in the tweet that featured a lightning bolt, as gay conversion therapy practices can include electroshock treatment.
Human rights organisation Stonewall said it was unbelievable that the BBC thought it an appropriate topic for a poll.
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In 2015, 14 organisations, including NHS England, signed an agreement to stop gay conversion therapy being offered to patients.
Last month, BBC Radio Kent conducted a poll which asked: "Is it ever acceptable for people to 'Black up' even if it's for charity?"
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-41694893
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Japan's 'living artwork' invents new fashion style - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Minori reinvented a Japanese street fashion style eight years ago that now has a worldwide following.
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Entertainment & Arts
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An artist has garnered a cult online following internationally after inventing a quirky Japanese street fashion style eight years ago.
Minori combined Shironuri (which means "painted white") powdery make-up with vintage clothing to form a new style.
By using her body as a canvas, Minori is essentially a "living artwork", and her art is primarily depicted in photos.
Her creative expression has inspired other young women to adopt the trend.
Minori, 26, lives in Tokyo. The white make-up offers her anonymity, and only her friends and family know her real identity, which means that when she is not dressed up, she can live a private life away from prying eyes.
In her teens, Minori was just one of the many young women who frequented Harajuku, a district in Shibuya, Tokyo where people go to see and be seen in quirky, unusual and often outrageous fashion styles.
Minori says she is inspired by nature and the blank canvas white make-up offers
She used to enjoy wearing Elegant Gothic Lolita fashion, but over time she didn't feel that the style suited her.
"I always felt a sense of discomfort that my skin colour and make-up did not match my clothes," she tells the BBC.
"Once I painted my face white, I could make my face from my imagination, and that felt wonderful. 'This is it!' I thought."
Minori designs and creates all her outfits from scratch
In Japan, there is a long tradition of using white make-up that dates back to medieval times.
From the 9th to 11th Centuries, a time known as the Heian period, men from aristocrat families painted their faces as a mark of their status.
The trend was later adopted by women in the 17th century, when geisha - high class female entertainers - began to appear.
Then, during the Showa era - from 1926 to 1989 - the word "Shironuri" was first coined.
Inspired by the ultra-nationalism at the time, people wore male and female Japanese school uniform styles gakuran and sailor fuku, carried Japanese war flags, and painted their faces painted white using geisha make-up.
Instead of a political expression or entertainment tool, Minori has evolved Shironuri into an art form, applying unusual false eyelashes and intricate make-up that matches the themes of her outfits.
She grew up in the Japanese countryside, and considers nature to be one of the main inspirations for her art.
Minori emulating the sea and the sand
"The pattern of fallen leaves and tree branches, the shape of flowers - I thought that it would be beautiful if I combined white paint with such motifs in make-up," she says.
"At the time, only geisha make-up was mainstream, but I thought that it was boring. I really wanted to create something that no one had seen before, had never done before."
Over the last three years, Minori has started to appear at Japanese fashion events in other parts of the world, invited by fans who learned about her work from fashion blogs.
Minori has been invited to various countries, including Thailand, to showcase her art
She was also asked to appear in the ITV documentary series Joanna Lumley's Japan, and in the Japan episode of Chelsea Handler's Netflix series Chelsea.
However, she says that she is probably least popular in Japan, where views on what young women should be wearing are still quite conservative, despite the diversity of fashions seen in the capital.
"Many Japanese people think I am a strange being, but overall the response is more positive than before," she says.
Her family is very proud of her and her mother sells photo books featuring her many different outfits to friends.
Minori is not alone in her career as a living artwork - in the UK, artist, fashion designer and stylist Daniel Lismore, 32, has been doing something similar for the last 15 years. He has more than 6,000 items of clothing and accessories.
Minori says she wants to represent a sort of "living energy", while Mr Lismore seeks to trigger reactions from viewers.
But despite the differences in their work, both artists are no strangers to adversity.
"I've been spat on, beaten up, hurt and abused on the street, and then I've been put on private jets, flown around the world and invited to royal palaces, and my work's been put in museums around the world," he tells the BBC.
"It's a really interesting way to live - it's fun and it's creative, it opens up doors to me that probably wouldn't be open to me any other way, and closes doors as well.
"It's a chance for me to show my art. It's walking street art in way."
However, Mr Lismore has learned to become comfortable in his own skin, and during a recent meeting with Minori at the Frieze Art Fair in London, he urged her to continue with her art, no matter how other people react to it.
"You get all sorts of reactions, some very positive and some very negative," said Mr Lismore, who is an ambassador for Tate's Circuit Programme, which helps young people gain access to museums across the UK.
"There's a lot of fear in people. It's fear of the unknown, and fear via lack of culture.
"A lot of people won't like what you do and won't be able to understand it, but the right people will love you for who you are and what you do.
"Everyone else is irrelevant."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41665940
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King Felipe VI says Catalonia 'will remain' Spanish - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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King Felipe VI says Spain will solve the crisis through democratic institutions.
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Europe
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Spain's King Felipe VI has said Catalonia "is and will remain" an essential part of the country.
It is his second intervention in the Catalonia secession crisis.
He told an awards ceremony in the northern city of Oviedo that the Catalan government was causing a rift and Spain would solve the problem through democratic institutions.
Catalonia's leader has threatened to declare independence, and Madrid is making plans to impose direct rule.
According to the opposition Socialists - who support the central government's stand against Catalan independence - the plans include elections in Catalonia in January.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will announce the full set of measures on Saturday, two days after a deadline for Catalonia's autonomous government to abandon its independence bid.
The central government has said it will trigger Article 155 of the constitution, which allows it to impose direct rule in a crisis, for the first time.
Other moves may include taking control of Catalonia's regional police force.
Article 155 does not give the government the power to fully suspend autonomy.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Why is there a Catalan crisis? The answer is in its past
A referendum, regarded as illegal by Spain, was held in Catalonia on 1 October.
Of the 43% of Catalans who reportedly voted, 90% were in favour of independence. Most anti-independence voters boycotted the ballot.
King Felipe previously said Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and other separatist leaders who organised the referendum had "broken the democratic principles of the rule of law" and showed "disrespect to the powers of the state".
While the dissolution of Catalonia's parliament and the holding of snap regional elections may appear to offer a way of defusing today's state of extreme tension, there are plenty of reasons to doubt that such a strategy would provide a clear solution to the crisis.
The far-left CUP has suggested that it would boycott any election imposed on the region. Other pro-independence forces might do the same. Massive street protests against any form of direct rule from Madrid can also be expected.
And what are the potential consequences of forcing an election on Catalonia?
Mr Puigdemont has promised to call a formal vote on independence in Catalonia's parliament if Article 155 is invoked. If such a declaration were approved, the pro-independence forces could style the ballot as the election of a constituent assembly for a new republic, the next stage laid down in the secessionists' road map.
Assuming the participation of all parties, voters would be bound to interpret the election as a de facto plebiscite on independence. If a separatist majority emerged once again, it is hard to see how the conflict could be considered closed.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41702327
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Pussycat Dolls deny prostitution claims - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The pop band respond to former member Kaya Jones, who claims the group was a "prostitution ring".
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Entertainment & Arts
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The Pussycat Dolls have recently reformed, after a break of seven years
The Pussycat Dolls have issued a joint statement denying allegations that the pop group was a "prostitution ring".
Kaya Jones, who left the band before they became famous, claimed that she and other members were regularly subjected to sexual abuse.
"We are all abused," she said on Twitter, claiming the group were made to "sleep with whoever they say".
The band, led by Nicole Scherzinger, said they "were not aware of Kaya's experiences" and offered her support.
However, they firmly denied that the remaining members had been abused.
"We cannot stand behind false allegations towards other group members partaking in activities that simply did not take place," they said.
Kaya Jones says she walked away from the band to escape abuse
"To liken our professional roles in The Pussycat Dolls to a prostitution ring not only undermines everything we worked hard to achieve for all those years but also takes the spotlight off the millions of victims who are speaking up and being heard loud and clear around the world," the statement continued.
"We stand in solidarity with all women who have bravely spoken publicly of their horrific experiences of abuse, harassment and exploitation."
Jones's original accusations came in a string of Tweets last Friday:
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In their statement, The Pussycat Dolls said: "While we were not aware of Kaya's experiences that allegedly took place during her short time working with us, before the group signed a recording contract, we can firmly testify that we were not privy to any misconduct taking place around us.
"If Kaya experienced something we are unaware of then we fully encourage her to get the help she needs and are here to support her."
The Pussycat Dolls were founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a burlesque dance troupe. Their shows attracted a huge following in Hollywood, with stars like Britney Spears, Pink and Brittany Murphy joining them on stage.
In 2003, Antin decided to reinvent the troupe as a pop group, and held open auditions to find new singers and dancers.
Kaya Jones joined the band at this point, but had left by the time they released their debut single, Don't Cha, in 2005 and does not appear on any of their recorded output.
The Pussycat Dolls in 2008 (L-R): Melody Thornton, Kimberley Wyatt, Nicole Scherzinger, Ashley Roberts and Jessica Sutta
Speaking to The Blast on Monday, Antin called Jones's accusations "disgusting, ridiculous lies" and claimed the singer was "clearly looking for her 15 minutes".
Jones responded by warning the media not to "discredit the victim" by reporting Antin's denials, describing her as a "predator".
"You don't have to believe me," she added. "I lived it.
"It's now about helping other people in the world scared to stand up to their abusers."
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-41678697
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Should Alderney make its wartime camps tourist attractions? - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A community is divided over whether World War Two labour camps should be used to promote tourism.
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Guernsey
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Four major camps operated in Alderney between 1942 and 1944, named after the German North Sea Islands Helgoland, Borkum, Norderney, and Sylt
The western-most concentration camp in the Third Reich, Lager Sylt, was located on British soil - only about 70 miles south of Bournemouth on the island of Alderney. Should this camp and other relics of the Channel Islands' occupation by Nazi Germany be developed into tourist attractions?
Arrive in Alderney at its small and ageing airport and you will see an island map, pointing out Victorian forts, a Roman nunnery and World War Two coastal defences.
There is, however, no mention of the four wartime camps that housed thousands of slave labourers, many of whom died as part of Nazi Germany's attempts to turn Alderney into a fortress island.
Workers were kept in conditions of "deliberate inhumanity" with beatings, disease, and starvation rife, according to a post-war report
It is these locations that Marcus Roberts, director of the National Anglo-Jewish Heritage Trail, believes should be developed as "sites of memory", in part to boost the island's flagging tourism industry.
"Alderney is perhaps the best place to go to understand the realities of the Nazi slave labour system," he said.
"People could go and understand what the consequences of tyranny are and the mistreatment of other people.
"I think there's a role for respectable tourism, which would be part of the overall tourism strategy for the island."
Mr Roberts believes there were significantly more forced labourers on Alderney than post-war reports stated, including about 10,000 predominantly French Jews.
Albert Eblagon survived Norderney and described to Israeli journalist Solomon Steckoll in an account published in 1982 how fellow prisoners were beaten and starved to death.
Some aged over 70, they worked up to 14 hours each day building the island's fortifications.
"Every day there were beatings, and people's bones were broken, their arms or their legs," he recalled.
"People died from overwork. We were starved and worked to death; so many died from total exhaustion."
The number of his fellow prisoners and forced labourers who did not survive has been contested, ranging from an official post-war report that stated 389 deaths, to as many as 70,000.
Marcus Roberts says his research has shown a greater number of Jews were killed on occupied Alderney than has been previously estimated
Focusing on this traumatic past led to Mr Roberts being accused of promoting Alderney as a "bone-yard" and making it less attractive to visitors.
In response, he wrote a letter to the Alderney Journal in June defending his research and pointing to nearby northern France where military cemeteries are popular tourist attractions.
The number of people travelling to and from the island by air has fallen by more than a quarter in the 10 years to 2016, although there was a slight rise in summer 2017 compared to the year before.
But developing the island's former Nazi sites for visitors is something States of Alderney Vice President Ian Tugby is against.
"We're supposed to be a lovely island, going forward," he said.
"I'm more interested in the future, basically, than what's gone on in the past, because the past is gone.
"We can't change it, and do we want to continue to drag up the downside of what went on in Alderney all those years ago?"
The entrance posts of Lager Sylt, the western-most concentration camp in the Third Reich
The four major camps were run by the Todt Organisation, responsible for Nazi Germany's military and civic engineering.
Sylt, the only concentration camp, was taken over by the SS Baubrigade in 1943, part of the so-called death's head formation, which ran concentration camps.
More than 40,000 camps and incarceration sites were established by the Nazis across Europe for forced labour, detention - and mass murder.
Alderney inmates were predominantly Russian, and comprised of prisoners of war, forced labourers, "volunteers" from Germany and occupied countries, Jews, and political prisoners.
Helgoland and Norderney, today a campsite, both had the capacity for 1,500 forced labourers.
Borkum housed specialist craftsmen, many ordered there from either Germany or occupied countries, with between 500 and 1,000 prisoners at the site.
Mr Tugby's voting record in the island's parliament suggests he is serious.
In 2015, he and fellow Alderney-born politician Louis Jean were the only two politicians to vote against designating Lager Sylt a conservation area.
Economic independence for the island, reliant on its larger neighbour Guernsey, lies in approving a £500m electricity cable project linking France and Britain through the island, not in promoting its wartime occupation, Mr Tugby said.
The FAB Link project will run through a conservation area, at Longis Common, but developers say the cable would avoid known World War Two burial sites
Graham McKinley voted in favour of Lager Sylt becoming a conservation site, and would like the dark past of the three other island forced labour camps to be made more apparent to visitors
However, fellow politician Graham McKinley, who voted in favour of Sylt being protected, would like to see a similar memorial to the one at Sylt (pictured above) at the three other forced labour sites, including Lager Norderney, the largest, which is today home to Alderney's campsite.
"There should be some sort of memorial put up there, and some sort of indication that that was happening."
People would visit sites like these, he said, if they were more aware of the island's "unique wartime interest".
"Look at the prisoner-of-war camps in Poland and in Germany which attract an enormous amount of visitors every year and bring in much-needed revenue," he said.
"We need that sort of thing."
Alderney's population was evacuated ahead of its occupation, with few local eyewitnesses to what happened in the island's camps
Unlike with the island's plentiful occupation-era coastal defences, there is little remaining of the forced labour sites, except for entrance gates and the odd structure.
Sylt is protected after Alderney's government designated it a conservation area in 2015, while the other three sites could yet be afforded similar protection under a plan awaiting government approval.
The 2017 Land Use Plan would see the sites where the forced labour camps stood, and other locations of wartime significance, registered as heritage assets.
Only development that is "sensitive to the former use and history of these assets" would be permitted at the wartime sites, under the plan.
Various parts of Alderney, highlighted in purple, have been identified as "unregistered heritage assets of significant value"
Such protection is long overdue, according to Trevor Davenport, author of Festung Alderney, a book on German defences on the island.
Despite a long association with protecting World War Two sites, Mr Davenport does not, however, want to see former forced labour sites developed for visitors.
"I have no objection to people being made aware of the labour camps," he said.
"But it is not, unless you are a ghoul, a heritage issue that needs promoting, except as part of the overall occupation story."
The Alderney Museum in St Anne is home to a small section telling the story of the island's forced workers
Certainly, the island's tourism body Visit Alderney is reluctant to promote this part of the island's history above any other.
"Our tourism focus remains on the historical importance and education of all our heritage periods," a spokeswoman said.
"The local population are respectful of our past whatever the historical period.
"Promoting tourism and respectful memoriam should not be confused."
Former forced labour camp Norderney is today home to Alderney's campsite
The Hammond Memorial overlooking Longis Common contains tributes in many languages to those who died constructing this small section of Hitler's Atlantic Wall
But for Marcus Roberts, encouraging people to come to Alderney to consider what happened there during the Nazi occupation makes sense both financially and morally.
Not only was this important for the descendents of Nazi Germany's victims, he said, but also for the historical record.
"It's not just an island matter; it does affect people literally from around the world.
"Each person who died was someone's family, someone's son, and all lives are valuable."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-40940531
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10 fines at the dentist... that weren't fine - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Getting a £100 fine at the dentist is distressing, particularly if it is believed to be in error, say patients.
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Family & Education
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When dentists warned that tens of thousands of people were being unfairly fined £100 after a visit to the surgery - it prompted a big response from the audience.
They described their distress at getting mistakenly caught up in a system of penalties intended to catch fraudsters getting free treatment.
They talked of their confusion over forms and complained that fines had been applied without adequate checks.
The NHS Business Services Authority is looking for ways to improve information and simplify forms.
"I am most distraught because I received a penalty charge notice two days ago. I have worked most of my life and paid my NHS contributions. After suffering from breast cancer, the aftercare treatment had a horrendous effect on me, especially on my teeth. So I contacted the emergency dentist and on arrival I was asked for my NHS exempt card, which I provided.
"I received one filling - and weeks later the penalty charge notice came through the door. I am being fined £100.
"As I am on a low income and could not afford to pay the fine, I have been given the option to pay over a period of months. I am upset to the extreme to have received this fine."
"The same thing happened to my son a couple of months ago. My son is a vulnerable adult with Asperger's syndrome. He was sent a letter saying he had claimed exemption, but in fact we had paid for his dental care in full.
"I had to copy my receipts for the payment and go to the dentist's surgery to get a confirmation receipt as well as writing a cover letter.
"What a waste of time and resources for all concerned. Fortunately the penalty was withdrawn, but there was no hint of an apology in the letter for the stress and worry their mistake had caused."
"I no longer go to the dentist after receiving three penalty notices of £100 - the last two after already providing the evidence required. Normal citizens being treated as fraudsters has become normalised."
"This happened to my sister. She has a learning disability and completed the same form she had always completed, saying that she received a disability benefit and was entitled to free treatment.
"She subsequently received the £100 fine and, not understanding why this had been received, she asked me to investigate.
"I wrote to the chief executive of the NHS agency expressing how immoral and badly managed the system was - running the risk that it would discourage people from looking after their health.
"I pointed out that it penalised the most vulnerable people in society and ultimately me - as I had to pay the fine and waste time working out what had gone on. I received a reply explaining that they were unable to correspond with me, even though they accepted my cheque."
"My daughter is severely disabled and wheelchair bound. She has full time carers, but I handle all her paperwork. She is in receipt of the higher rate disability living allowance and enhanced employment support allowance (EESA).
"On her last trip to the dentist, they asked me again what was her entitlement to free treatment and I ticked the box for EESA. What I had failed to understand was that there are two types of EESA and only one type gives entitlement to free dentist care.
"Several weeks later, we received a penalty notice informing us of a fine of £100 plus the original dental costs of over £50.
"How could I have checked something that I didn't know about? There is no way she could have paid the penalty out of her benefits, so I had to."
"I am all for abusers being made to pay for NHS services when not eligible.
"But an honest mistake filling out a simple form at a dental surgery should have some flexibility or subsequent appeal or checks, so as not to penalise people in such a harsh manner."
"My adult dependent son has just been fined £100 because nobody knew what box to tick at the dentist.
"The receptionist was extremely unhelpful, and I paid for the treatment (a check-up). I then rang the NHS refund helpline, and they told me I should have ticked a particular box, despite the receptionist arguing against it.
Dentist Charlotte Waite says it is distressing when so many wrong fines are being issued
"After telling my dentist practice manager what the NHS helpline had said, I was refunded my money.
"My son then received a letter fining him £100, despite having no income and being aged 19 and still in full-time further education.
"How are patients supposed to navigate a system that is faulty? I have appealed and refused to pay the fine."
"I feel disgusted and embarrassed. I have been assumed as a fraud by the dentist and the NHS - due to them not, maybe, checking their paperwork, not asking me. It doesn't just affect vulnerable people."
"My wife has a severe brain trauma injury, which impacts on her mental capacity to understand simple issues.
"She commenced dental treatment at our NHS dental surgery and afterwards received a bill for £ 244 together with a £100 fine. I immediately responded, in sheer panic. I refused to pay the fine as she had done nothing wrong.
"The question was asked by the dentist if she was receiving benefits. What about employment support allowance (ESA)? Yes, she is in receipt of ESA. In that case your dental treatment will be free. It transpires that there are two types of ESA, and my wife's does not entitle her to free dental treatment.
"I received a call from a debt-recovery company, giving me an additional 30 days to provide medical evidence of my wife's brain injury.
"Regardless, we will not be paying this fine and if necessary will defend this in court.
"My wife together with all her other issues is aware of an impending fine but doesn't quite understand why. This in my opinion is sheer bullying tactics and these people must be challenged.
"It's having a severe impact on my wife and I. This matter is really taking its toll."
"I am now reluctant to arrange any more appointments having lost my job two months ago and not being in the position to risk getting fined again. The system is obviously flawed."
The NHS Business Services Authority says: "We continually review our data-matching process and make improvements where possible.
"We're also working with various partner organisations to educate patients and healthcare professionals on the rules around eligibility for free dental treatment, to reduce the number of incorrect claims caused by confusion or lack of awareness."
For anyone with concerns about fines or wanting information about free dental treatment there is a helpline 0300 330 1293.
An online checking tool is available and there is more online information about eligibility for free dental treatment.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-41683011
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Avon and Somerset Police face nail bar anti-slavery campaign anger - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The force got complaints after officers painted their nails to highlight modern slavery issues.
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Somerset
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Officers and staff from the force painted their nails to highlight modern slavery
A police force was inundated with complaints after officers painted their nails to highlight modern slavery issues.
Avon and Somerset Police officers tweeted the photos on Anti-Slavery Day to highlight issues in nail bars.
Some social media users described the move as an "epic fail" and a waste of the force's time and money.
But Ch Insp Mark Edgington said the campaign "worked as it's got people talking".
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Officers were endorsing the "Let's Nail It campaign", which was launched on Anti-Slavery Day last year by the charity Unseen, to highlight how people trafficked to the UK often end up working in nail bars.
The charity is part of the anti-slavery partnership that Ch Insp Edgington chairs in the West.
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Police later posted a response urging people who found reactions to their campaign offensive to report the messages to the force.
Officers, including the assistant chief constable, took part in the campaign.
Ch Insp Edgington, said: "In terms of being out and visible on the streets, it raises the question... people come up and ask why you've painted your nails and it starts the conversation."
On its website the force said that over the past 12 months it had dealt with 60 investigations of modern slavery and had seen a significant increase in modern slavery-related intelligence which had resulted in visits to premises suspected of modern slavery.
But Twitter users were unimpressed, with one saying "I'm offended that the police force is so out of touch with reality".
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Ch Insp Edgington, said: "Some people will disagree with the campaign, which is their prerogative, but the campaign has worked as it's got people talking.
"It's part of a much wider range of measures but we do need intelligence and information from the public and raising awareness is key."
Unseen began its campaign following a report from the UK's Anti-Slavery Commissioner into trafficking routes to the UK, which highlighted the problem of human trafficking victims ending up in places such as nail bars.
It prompted celebrities and nail salons to join the campaign, which worked to raise awareness of the problem and help to stop slavery in outlets.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-41691313
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Why Tina Turner came out of retirement - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A new musical based on the singer's life is hitting London's West End in 2018.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Adrienne Warren will play Tina Turner in the musical, which opens in April
A new musical based on the life of Tina Turner is set to open in the West End in 2018 - and the singer even came out of retirement (somewhat reluctantly) to work on it.
"Retirement is wonderful," Turner says as she launches Tina: The Musical in London.
"You sleep long, do what you want, decorate the house two or three times. Just easy things that you dreamt about when you were working and that's all you did."
She says her lifestyle when she was famous involved spending most of her time on tour buses, planes and cars, adding: "That was work and that's sometimes what you had to do.
"But you had a dream not to have to do any of it."
Turner, whose hits include The Best and What's Love Got To Do With It, was initially reluctant to sign up for working on the show, which opens at London's Aldwych Theatre in April.
"I didn't want to because I didn't really understand it or agree with it, whatever there is - the magic between stage and music is totally different," she says. "So I'm learning and experiencing what musicals are about."
The producers of Tina had to fly out to Switzerland, where Turner now lives, to convince her to give the project her blessing.
The pair performed together at the launch of the musical in London this week
Turner was eventually won over, and now comments: "This took me out of retirement... I'm very excited to be a part of it."
But the big question of course, was who was going to play Tina in the show. This week, the theatre world got its answer: Adrienne Warren.
"She can sing," Turner says. "She will do the dancing. Maybe she hasn't done the type of dancing that me and my girls would do, but she can do that. She's pretty. And we're giving it a try."
Giving audiences a flavour of what they can expect, Warren performed three songs at the launch, including two duets with Turner, proving in the process that she definitely has the voice to pull this role off.
Speaking after the performance, the Virginia-born actress said: "She's a motivation, inspiration to all women, and especially women of colour.
"It's the first time I ever realised that I could grow up in the South and have dreams that would take me all over the world. I wouldn't have become a performer if it wasn't for Tina Turner."
Adrienne Warren said audiences will find the musical "inspirational"
She adds: "When you haven an opportunity like this, I call it a responsibility. Because I'm a Tina Turner fan first, so that's a responsibility and I don't take that lightly."
Details of the plot and songs included in the show haven't been announced yet, but producers say it will be a fairly comprehensive telling of Turner's life story - not shying away from issues such as the domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband Ike.
Describing the show's content, Adrienne said: "Dark? No. Inspirational? Yes. It is the truth of her story. Sometimes the best things in life come out of the worst things in life, so that's what's so appealing about this show.
"There are challenges, the stamina that is required for this show was something like I've never seen before, and actually having Tina as my coach as I do this is something quite interesting as well, so I love every second of it.
"It shows all of us that no matter what obstacle comes your way, whether it's your family not supporting you, whether it's bullying, domestic violence, don't ever let that stop you achieving your dreams."
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-41666887
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Penny Lancaster says she was sexually assaulted - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The model and wife of Rod Stewart says her attacker was someone she worked with as a teenager.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Lancaster said she didn't feel she could tell her parents at the time
Model Penny Lancaster has said she was sexually assaulted as a teenager by someone she worked for.
Lancaster, who is married to rock singer Rod Stewart, told ITV's Loose Women that she had her drink spiked.
She said she found herself being attacked on a bed and "can't remember much of what happened".
"I just know he was on top of me and enjoying the experience but I certainly wasn't. I don't really remember much more. I was too afraid to tell anyone."
Lancaster, now 46, said she had been a virgin at the time of the assault, which she said happened after she went to the house of a man who had promised to take her to an event where she could make work contacts.
"I was like, 'Oh, someone will be interested, I might get some more work,'" Lancaster said.
"So I went with him. And he said: 'Oh, I have to stop at my apartment.'"
She said he gave her a drink "and unfortunately the next thing I knew... I found myself face down on a bed with him on top of me".
The model, who was in tears as she spoke, said: "I couldn't tell my mum and dad because I thought they would be saying to me, 'What on earth were you doing going back to his house?'
"But he was a guy that I had worked with and he promised me to meet other people and so I was naive and I trusted him."
She said she wanted to speak out so young girls in a similar situation could understand it was "not their fault".
"They are not guilty. The other person is. And they need to be brave enough to tell the authorities."
Lancaster was speaking out during a discussion on the chat show about the #MeToo campaign social media started by survivors of sexual harassment and assault, which followed the recent allegations about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41685301
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7 days quiz: Which country is embracing Scottish haggis for the first time in decades? - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A weekly quiz of the news, 7 days 7 questions.
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Magazine
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It's the weekly news quiz - have you been paying attention to what's been going on in the world over the past seven days?
If you missed last week's quiz, try it here
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-41687028
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Ibrahim Halawa freed from jail in Egypt - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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The Irishman was acquitted of all charges in Egypt over a month ago but his release was delayed.
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Europe
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Campaigners posted a Facebook message on Thursday to say Mr Halawa had been freed.
Ibrahim Halawa, an Irishman who has spent more than four years in prison in Egypt, has been freed.
Mr Halawa, who is from Dublin, was arrested during a siege at the Al-Fath mosque in Cairo in 2013.
He was accused along with 500 others, including three of his three sisters, of inciting violence, riot and sabotage.
The 21-year-old was acquitted of all charges more than a month ago, but his release was delayed.
That delay prompted a former Irish justice minister to call for Egypt's ambassador to Ireland to be expelled.
"We're helping him to get back to Ireland where he will be reunited with his family," said Mr Varadkar.
Campaigners posted a Facebook message on Thursday to say Mr Halawa had been freed.
Mr Halawa was 17 when he was detained by Egyptian security forces
Irish President Michael D Higgins was among a number of high-profile figures to welcome the news, wishing Mr Halawa well on his journey home.
"The release of Ibrahim Halawa will come as a great relief to his family," he said.
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Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney tweeted: "Delighted 2 confirm Ibrahim Halawa has been released, being supported by family + Embassy. Some formalities still required before flying home".
Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan, who attended the Irishman's trial, tweeted: "Great news coming out of Cairo."
An emotional Ibrahim Halawa celebrated his acquittal on 18 September 2017
She said Mr Halawa had been subjected to four years of "illegal imprisonment" and said the focus now was on "getting him home".
Mr Halawa was 17 when he was detained by Egyptian security forces during a siege at the Cairo's Al-Fath mosque on 17 August 2013.
Three of his older sisters were also arrested and imprisoned, but they were allowed to return home to Ireland within three months.
Ibrahim Halawa spent more than four years in jail before he was acquitted last month
Mr Halawa protested against his detention with a series of hunger strikes, and at one stage his family said he became so weak he was using a wheelchair.
The Halawas were acquitted of all charges against them on 18 September.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41689289
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Brexit: Has Theresa May promised EU more money? - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A move on the Brexit divorce bill would present Theresa May with a huge political problem.
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UK Politics
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It's all about the money.
The UK and the EU have managed together to make a tiptoe forward in the Brexit talks.
But listening to EU leaders this afternoon it is abundantly clear that unless they change their minds, the UK is going to have to budge on the cash to make enough progress by December to be able to truly get on to the next phase of talks.
Certainly public money is tight in this administration, but frankly a hefty Brexit bill in exchange for a good deal would be the one big payment that the Chancellor Philip Hammond would be happy to sign off.
A move on the money is, therefore, primarily a political problem rather than anything to do with the actual funds.
There are whispers that Theresa May has privately reassured the other leaders that she is willing to put a lot more than the implicit 20 billion euros (£17.8bn) on the table as we leave.
Number 10 doesn't deny this, Mrs May didn't deny it when we asked her in the press conference today, nor did she reject the idea that the bill could be as high as 60 billion euros.
If she has actually given those private reassurances though, there's not much evidence the other EU leaders believe her or think it's enough.
But if she is to make that case more forcefully she has big political problems at home.
A much bigger payment is anathema to many Conservatives, and could frustrate swathes of voters who plumped for Brexit, in part on a promise that the country would get money back.
Number 10 is well aware of this.
One insider told me "it's all about the quantum," what "the party would swallow'.
Could a party with a powerful group of Brexiteers, including ministers who have gone on the record to say we shouldn't be shelling out much, really tolerate the prime minister calling for support to pay tens of billions?
This is not a question for now, but it has been logged for future reference inside Number 10.
Will there be a day when the prime minister decides to make a plain admission to the country, that the potential cost of leaving with no deal is a scarier prospect than having to cough up as much as 60 billion euros? About half what we spend on the NHS, but more than we spend on defence?
Or will she be pushed by those in her party who genuinely believe that is far better to cut our losses and walk out, than commit to an expensive deal.
Carrying her party and her European counterparts at the same time is Theresa May's fundamental challenge - on the face of it almost impossible.
And today's tiptoe forward is no guarantee that ultimately she will be able to go all the way.
PS There's lots of speculation that when the French President said the UK was not even "half way there" he was hinting that the bill could therefore be ultimately at least double 40 billion euros.
It wasn't really clear during the press conference that is what he meant, or whether he was using "half way there" to describe the state of the negotiations.
However, for ages in Westminster there has been an expectation that the eventual bill will be somewhere in that region, somewhere between 40 and 60, so it is not crazy to imagine that Macron's comments are further evidence that's the case.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41701057
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MH370: Malaysia in talks with US firm to restart plane search - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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The Malaysian government is exploring a "no find-no fee" style deal with Texas-based company Ocean Infinity.
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Asia
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The search for the Malaysia Airlines plane was suspended in January
Malaysia is negotiating a "no find-no fee" deal with a US company to renew the search for downed flight MH370.
The government announced in a statement that it was in talks with Texas-based salvage firm Ocean Infinity.
If the deal goes ahead, Ocean Infinity will foot the bill and recoup costs only if it finds the missing plane.
The disappearance of MH370 remains shrouded in mystery. The flight fell off radar on 8 March 2014 en route to Beijing, with 239 people on board.
Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester said on Friday that a deal had been reached between Malaysia and Ocean Infinity, but the Malaysian government later clarified in a statement that it was still in talks.
A massive search operation for the plane cleared 120,000 sq km at an estimated cost of about A$200m (£120m; €133m), before it was suspended in January.
Ocean Infinity has not revealed the estimated cost of a search. According to Mr Chester, any new operation will focus on a 25,000 sq km area identified by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau as having a "high probability" of containing the aircraft.
Ocean Infinity is in talks with the government about using a centuries-old model known in the salvage industry as "no cure-no pay" - a type of deal usually applied in the recovery of valuable sunken cargo.
Under such a deal, a salvage company will take on the financial risk of a recovery and recoup from the owner a percentage of the cargo's value if it is found, often 80 or 90%.
In this case, Ocean Infinity would be working instead for a set fee from the Malaysian government, and for the significant publicity on offer should it find the wreckage, an industry expert told the BBC.
A search operation that went on for almost three years failed to find the wreckage
MH370 was carrying passengers and crew from 14 different countries when it disappeared, most from China and Malaysia.
Australia led the initial search, after aviation officials identified the ocean floor off its coast as the likely location of the wreckage. The country has agreed to provide technical assistance for the new search, Mr Chester said.
Earlier this month, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the government had received proposals from three private search firms - Ocean Infinity, Dutch firm Fugro and an unidentified Malaysian company.
Delivering its report into the disappearance earlier this month, Australia's Transport Safety Bureau said it was "almost inconceivable" that the aircraft had not been found.
• None More evidence on MH370's 'likely' location
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41691794
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Brexit: Talk of deadlock is exaggerated, says Donald Tusk - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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EU leaders say there is not enough progress to start trade talks yet, but they hope to begin in December.
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UK Politics
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Reports of deadlock over Brexit negotiations may have been exaggerated, European Council President Donald Tusk has said after a Brussels summit.
Progress was "not sufficient" to begin trade talks with the UK now but that "doesn't mean there is no progress at all", he said.
EU leaders will discuss the issue internally, paving the way for talks with the UK, possibly in December.
Theresa May said there was "some way to go" but she was "optimistic".
Speaking at the end of a two-day summit, Mr Tusk told reporters: "My impression is that the reports of the deadlock between the EU and the UK have been exaggerated."
The EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, described the talks as deadlocked earlier this month.
Mr Tusk said he was not at odds with Mr Barnier, but his own role was to be a "positive motivator for the next five or six weeks".
He said he felt there was "goodwill" on both sides "and this is why I, maybe, in my rhetoric, I'm, maybe, a little bit more optimistic than Michel Barnier, but we are also in a different role".
The so-called divorce bill remains a major sticking point in talks with the EU.
French President Emmanuel Macron said there was still much work to be done on the financial commitment before trade talks can begin, adding: "We are not halfway there."
Theresa May declined to say in a press conference after the summit what the UK would be prepared to pay, saying the "final settlement" would come as part of a "final agreement" with the EU.
The UK prime minister did not name any figures but refused to deny that she had told other EU leaders the UK could pay many more billions of pounds than the £20bn she had indicated in her Florence speech last month.
"I have said that ... we will honour the commitments that we have made during our membership," she said. But those commitments were being analysed "line by line" she said, adding: "British taxpayer wouldn't expect its government to do anything else."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Three key points about how the Brexit talks are going
There are whispers that Theresa May has privately reassured the other leaders that she is willing to put a lot more than the implicit 20 billion euros (£17.8bn) on the table as we leave.
Number 10 doesn't deny this, Mrs May didn't deny it when we asked her in the press conference today, nor did she reject the idea that the bill could be as high as 60 billion euros.
If she has actually given those private reassurances though, there's not much evidence the other EU leaders believe her or think it's enough.
But if she is to make that case more forcefully she has big political problems at home.
She said the two sides were within "touching distance" of a deal on other issues - particularly on citizens' rights.
"I am ambitious and positive for Britain's future and for these negotiations but I know we still have some way to go," she said.
The UK is due to leave the EU in March 2019, following last year's referendum result.
It had hoped to move onto phase two of negotiations - covering future trade arrangements - after this week's summit.
But EU leaders took just 90 seconds to officially conclude that not enough progress has been made on the issues of citizens' rights, the UK's financial obligation and the border in Northern Ireland, but "internal preparations" would begin for phase two.
The prime minister made a personal appeal to her 27 EU counterparts at a working dinner on Thursday night, telling them that "we must work together to get to an outcome that we can stand behind and defend to our people".
BBC Europe editor Katya Adler said all EU leaders knew Mrs May was in a politically difficult situation and did not want her to go home empty-handed, so had promised they would start talking about trade and transition deals among themselves, as early as Monday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there were "encouraging" signs of progress in Brexit negotiations and the process was progressing "step by step".
And European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he hoped it would be possible to reach a "fair deal" with Britain.
"Our working assumption is not the 'no-deal' scenario. I hate the 'no-deal' scenario. I don't know what that means," he said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41684111
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Is Jennifer Lawrence's nude line-up common practice? - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A casting director says Jennifer Lawrence's experience is not representative of the acting industry.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Jennifer Lawrence spoke out about her early career at the Elle Women in Hollywood Celebration
Many were shocked when Jennifer Lawrence revealed she was forced to stand in a "nude line-up" as part of a film casting.
She described the experience as "degrading and humiliating".
The actress spoke in light of recent allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of rape, sexual assault and harassment.
He has "unequivocally denied" the claims against him and said all sexual relationships he had were consensual.
Casting director Brendan McNamara said a nude casting call is "not a normal process"
But Lawrence's revelations raise questions about whether her casting experience is commonplace in Hollywood and the wider film industry.
Brendan McNamara, who worked as a casting assistant on The Bourne Supremacy, described Lawrence's ordeal as "an awful situation", which "isn't representative of the industry as a whole".
He now has his own casting company and makes British independent films, and said his job is to "make actors feel as comfortable as possible to get the best performance for our directors and producers".
"We want to put them in a position where they can give us their best and not feel awkward," he told BBC News.
"I've never had to do anything that might be risque, but if I did, we would contact their agent beforehand to make the actor fully aware and make sure they are comfortable with what we are doing.
When asked about standing naked in a line-up with other women at a casting and being told to lose weight by a casting director, McNamara added: "I don't think that's a normal process at all".
"It just seems horrible and cruel.
"It's not a casting director's job to say how someone looks or tell them to lose weight, it's our job to find someone who's right for the role."
McNamara's films include Treacle Jr which starred Tom Fisher and Game of Thrones' Aiden Gillen
He added that on his low-budget indie British films he now works on, "we try to treat everyone with the upmost respect and all these stories coming out are awful".
"I'm sure the Weinstein stories are not isolated, these people are in positions of power where they take advantage of those that are vulnerable."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41668106
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Tony Warren's script for Coronation Street forerunner found - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Tony Warren tried writing a different northern soap opera before creating Corrie.
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Entertainment & Arts
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A script for Coronation Street creator Tony Warren's previously unknown first attempt at a soap opera has been found.
Before Warren changed the TV landscape with Coronation Street in 1960, he started writing Seven, Bessie Street.
His friend David Tucker said it centres on a terraced street but is otherwise very different from Coronation Street.
The script was found in his possessions after he died in 2016 and is now part of an exhibition dedicated to Warren at Salford Museum and Art Gallery.
Warren left his estate to Mr Tucker, a friend of 22 years, with an instruction to destroy all creative works that weren't already in the public domain.
Seven, Bessie Street was billed as "a new soap opera in half-hourly episodes"
But Mr Tucker decided to keep the Seven, Bessie Street - with the proviso that no one else could read it.
The script is in a frame in the Salford exhibition with just the cover page, billing it as "a new soap opera in half-hourly episodes", on show.
Mr Tucker has read it, however, and says it was "quite obviously planned as a soap opera".
"The only thing really that relates to Coronation Street is the setting of a terraced street and the fact that it jumps a little bit between peoples' lives," he told BBC News.
"But there are no characters that relate to Coronation Street at all, and no scenarios. It's very different."
Seven, Bessie Street revolves around a family - perhaps inspired by Warren's own - who all have theatrical connections.
"That's what Tony did know about in his youth," Mr Tucker said. "That's probably why it would never have worked as it was, because there was so much in the stories about theatre.
"He was writing from what he knew in that Bessie Street script, but it probably wasn't going to relate that well to everybody else.
"So he then shifted the focus to the more mundane aspects of terraced street life."
Although Warren cast the script aside, Bessie Street did make its way into Coronation Street. Weatherfield's local primary school is called Bessie Street School.
The exhibition also includes the typewriter Warren used in his early years.
After jettisoning Seven, Bessie Street, Warren pitched a drama titled Our Street to the BBC. But he didn't hear back, so he reworked it as Florizel Street for Granada.
Florizel Street was changed to Coronation Street because - as legend has it - a tea lady named Agnes remarked that Florizel sounded like the name of a disinfectant.
Coronation Street launched in December 1960 and soon became one of the most popular programmes on television.
The exhibition also traces Warren's early life and career, which included acting in the BBC's Northern Children's Hour and writing for police series Shadow Squad.
According to a 1958 receipt, he was paid £150 for the latter.
The exhibition also shows his past as a male model, appearing on the cover of a 1957 edition of Knitters Digest and on the packet for a pullover knitting pattern.
There are many mementos from the Corrie years too, including his MBE, various awards, his red This Is Your Life book and letters from former poet laureate John Betjeman describing it as his "favourite programme".
Betjeman and Laurence Olivier were such fans that they were chairman and president respectively of the British League for Hilda Ogden, established in 1979.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41699055
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Norway massacre: 'We could hear the gunshots getting closer' - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Lisa Marie Husby recalls the day Anders Breivik opened fire as she sat with students attending a summer camp in Norway.
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Scotland
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Lisa was one of 650 people on Utoya island when Breivik came ashore
When Anders Breivik opened fire on youngsters attending a summer camp on the Norwegian island of Utoya, he carried out a massacre that to this day remains the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman anywhere in the world.
Among those taking part in the Labour Party youth camp was 17-year-old Lisa Marie Husby.
She was one of 650 young people gathered on the tiny island on 22 July 2011, when Breivik appeared dressed as a police officer and began shooting.
However, minutes before he arrived, Lisa had been on the phone to her mother in the wake of an explosion that had killed eight people in the centre of Oslo.
Lisa had been telling her mother that she was safe and that there was no need to worry because she was miles away from the Norwegian capital.
She said: "I wanted to tell her that I was far away from Oslo and I was safe. But as I talked to her, I heard the police cars leaving our part of Norway to go and help in Oslo and I told her this and she said 'I think you guys are the next target'.
"She just had a gut feeling and I said 'there's no way, we're on an island, we're safe' and then I hung up.
"Then a couple of minutes later I heard what I thought were fireworks."
Far right extremist Breivik went on to kill 69 youngsters, 33 of whom were under the age of 18. In total, he murdered 77 people that day, including those in Oslo.
Speaking to Stephen Jardine on Radio Scotland's Kaye Adams programme, Lisa said in the hours before the shooting began, people had been considering going home because of the weather.
She said: "It was very rainy and usually the island is beautiful, but this day it was flooding.
"A lot of people were thinking about maybe going home, because we were sleeping in tents, and a lot of rain is not good for that.
"But everyone was in good spirits and we had the first female prime minister of Norway coming to see us and later we were going to have a disco so everyone was happy and having a good time."
Then news of the terror attack in Oslo started to filter through to those in the camp.
Lisa said: "Some people wanted to go back to Oslo because they couldn't reach their family back there.
"But we realised it wasn't possible to go back to Oslo at that point because everything was closed - no buses, no trains or anything. We said the best thing to do was stay."
It was then that Lisa spoke to her mother and tried to reassure her about their position on the island.
She was with a group of a few dozen people, sheltered by a forest, who were about 50m (164ft) away when Breivik arrived on the island claiming to be there for security.
Locals gathered boats near the island to try and help those jumping into the water to escape
Then she began hearing what she thought was fireworks.
"Everyone was in shock at first, and I think we thought this is a horrible joke, this is too early to try and scare us.
"But then I realised seeing everyone who actually saw the gunman fleeing, that this was actually not a joke."
Lisa said her group were standing next to their tents looking confused by the sound of gunfire.
She said: "I don't think they understood what was going on. A lot of the people who actually saw what happened were fleeing, but this group were sheltered and they couldn't see what was happening, so they were just standing there not knowing what to do."
She added: "This island is very small. You can walk across it in 10 minutes. It's a lot of cliffs and trees everywhere. At the time, I didn't even think that I could get off the island by swimming, I didn't even think that I was on an island - I just thought I have to run and hide."
Lisa gathered the group and then ran through the forest to a cabin that had previously been used as a medical base.
She said: "By the time we got to the cabin, they had actually prepared for attack. They had had a drill earlier that week in case of attack so they had already barricaded the doors and blocked the windows by the time we got into the cabin.
"We managed to get in, but then I got completely shocked and scared and thought I needed to get back out.
"They said: 'if you go we will lock the door behind you', but I still kept running.
"And then I saw this girl who was shot and I decided to go back in because I realised how serious things were then."
Terrified youngsters hid in the woods, with some jumping into the water to escape the hail of bullets.
In total, 47 students, including Lisa, barricaded themselves into the cabin, hiding as best they could.
"At this point there was so many gunshots because of the automatic gun he was using, so we thought there was more than one shooter.
"We just hid under beds and tried to get into the small rooms inside the cabin and shelter ourselves from what was going on outside. We could hear the gunshots getting closer and further away and then suddenly they were very close."
Lisa and the other students heard Breivik try the door. When he could not get in he fired two shots through the window before walking off.
"We didn't know how long it would take the police to get to the island," Lisa said. "We could hear boats outside, but that turned out to be civilians helping out the people who had fled or who had tried to get out by swimming.
"And we could also hear helicopters, but that turned out to be news helicopters."
The 47 students spent more than four terrifying hours inside the cabin.
During that time they were receiving frantic calls from their families, who had warned them that the gunman was reportedly posing as a police officer.
Breivik shot 69 people dead on the island of Utoya during his rampage
The group had also decided that if Breivik entered the cabin they would lie still and pretend to be dead.
Lisa said: "The last message that I got from my family at the time was 'don't trust the police they say online that he's dressed as the police so don't trust anyone who says that they're from the police'.
"When we were just waiting, it got very quiet and the gunshots stopped.
"People started to come out from their hiding places because it got very, very quiet."
Lisa said that at this point the police suddenly stormed the cabin.
She said: "They told us to get on the floor with our hands above our head. We thought these people are here to kill us."
Lisa said she later learned that officers stormed the cabin unaware whether or not Breivik was inside with hostages.
"After the police came in we thought we were dead, we said our goodbyes. Then they asked is he here and I thought 'who's here - it's the terrorist' and then we understood they're not here to take us, they're actually looking for him."
As soon as he was confronted by officers, Anders Breivik immediately surrendered.
He was later jailed for 21 years following a trial that Lisa decided to attend.
She said she was struck by how small Breivik appeared in the dock and how sad it was that such a person could cause so much harm.
Lisa now studies at the University of St Andrews after being shown around the town by her partner Richard
For two years following the massacre Lisa tried to continue her life in Norway.
However, in 2013 her ordeal finally took its toll.
She said: "Something this traumatic is not going to leave you ever.
"So trying to go back to being a normal teenager again was very, very difficult.
"It started off with nightmares, a lot of flashbacks to the day. My nightmares sometimes got really, really bad where I woke up in the middle of the night actually believing that I was shot."
Lisa said she developed a sense of being on auto-pilot and of being an observer in her own life.
She then spent a year in intensive treatment, during which she learned to talk about her experiences and their aftermath.
She developed a sense of determination that "this one day in July wouldn't define my entire life."
Months later, Lisa met her partner Richard in Norway and she began to put her life back together.
She said: "He took me to St Andrews to show me around one day and I just completely fell in love.
"I said 'maybe this is what I need. I need to get out of Norway and try and study abroad' and that's always been a dream."
In 2016 Lisa began studying at the University of St Andrews in Fife and has since become an advocate for raising awareness about issues relating to mental health.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-41678010
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Strictly Come Dancing: Bruno Tonioli to miss weekend shows - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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This will be the first time the judge has missed the live shows in 13 years.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Bruno will be absent from the judging panel for the first time in 13 years
Bruno Tonioli is missing this weekend's Strictly Come Dancing shows due to "a very busy work schedule".
It will be the first time the judge has missed the shows in his 13 years on the panel.
A Strictly spokeswoman told the BBC: "As was always the plan, Bruno Tonioli is not on the judging panel this weekend".
He will return next weekend for the Halloween special and will be on the show for the rest of the series.
It has been confirmed that 61-year-old Tonioli will not be replaced with a guest judge.
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This means fellow judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell will have more sway when it comes to giving points to contestants.
As well as his role on Strictly Come Dancing, Tonioli is involved in its US counterpart Dancing with the Stars.
Tonioli explained on Twitter it was a clash with that show that led to him missing Strictly.
He replied to a fan, saying: "100% back next week just had a clash whilst in @DancingABC."
When asked if that meant the American show was "more important", he replied: "Far from it!".
Dancing with the Stars is currently in its 25th season, with contestants including singer Debbie Gibson and Malcolm in the Middle's Frankie Muniz.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41692243
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MP Clive Lewis sorry for 'unacceptable language' after video - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Labour's Clive Lewis apologises after he is filmed using offensive language on stage at a Labour event.
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UK Politics
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A Labour MP has apologised for using "offensive and unacceptable" language at the party conference last month.
Norwich South MP Clive Lewis was filmed on stage at a fringe event in Brighton saying: "Get on your knees, bitch" - the video emerged on social media.
Among female MPs criticising him was Labour's Harriet Harman, who tweeted: "Inexplicable. Inexcusable. Dismayed."
The Labour Party said the language "was completely unacceptable and falls far short of the standard we expect".
It is not clear who Mr Lewis, a former frontbencher, was addressing in the video. He is among several people on stage at the time.
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Aaron Bastani, the co-founder of left wing website Novara Media, tweeted: "I was there. The video has been up at @novaramedia for a month - Clive was saying this to a man."
But after criticism of his alleged comments, Mr Lewis tweeted: "I apologise unreservedly for the language I used at an event in Brighton last month. It was offensive and unacceptable."
Among MPs lining up to condemn his language on Twitter were the Conservative Mims Davies, who suggested Mr Lewis needed to go on a training course.
Mr Lewis's fellow Labour MP Jess Phillips said: "Just seen the Clive Lewis video. Obviously I am appalled, just listened to seven teenage girls speak up about gender inequality. Perhaps I'll bring them to work on Monday."
And Rebecca Hilsenrath, chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said Mr Lewis's use of language was "completely inexcusable" adding: "We, and the women in Mr Lewis's constituency, have every right to expect our MPs to behave in a more professional manner."
Education Secretary Justine Greening, who is also minister for women and equalities, called on Jeremy Corbyn to help stamp out misogynistic behaviour towards MPs.
The Conservative minister said the Labour leader should condemn Mr Lewis's words and asked Mr Corbyn to set out how he was going to stamp out sexism in his own party.
BBC East political correspondent Andrew Sinclair said the MP has told friends the comments were directed at a man during a "boozy and sweary" comedy event as part of "on-stage banter" and were not intended to cause offence.
But, he added Mr Lewis accepts he should not have said it and was full of remorse.
Chloe Smith, Conservative MP for Norwich North, said the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn should "seriously consider" withdrawing the whip from Mr Lewis.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41697615
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Tenants 'unfairly miss out on credit' - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Mortgage applicants are unable to rely on rent payment history as proof that they can afford a home loan.
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Business
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Tenants' regular rent payments should be recorded on their credit score and used as proof to lenders that mortgage demands can be met, MPs are to be told.
At present, mortgage applicants are unable to rely on rent payment history as proof that they would be safe to lend to when buying a home.
A debate is being held in Parliament on Monday following a petition which aimed to raise awareness of the issue.
The government has said that lenders should consider a range of factors.
The petition, signed by 147,307 people, argued that "paying rent on time [should] be recognised as evidence that mortgage repayments can be met".
Campaigners have argued that rent payment history should be included on a tenant's credit score, even though it is not strictly a form of credit.
Steve Burrows, managing director of LateRent which offers a service to landlords, said: "It is no secret that owning a property has become a distant prospect for many and the private rental sector continues to grow as a result.
"It is therefore oddly out of step that tenants are unable to utilise rental payments as part of their credit profile - particularly as the government increasingly seeks to promote homeownership across the UK."
Conservative MP Paul Scully, who will introduce and lead the debate on Monday, said that he was sympathetic to those who were paying more for credit, or being turned down, simply because they had been renting a home. This was particularly true when monthly rent was higher than typical monthly mortgage repayments.
"It is clear that in many cases if someone is renting, they can afford the equivalent mortgage," he said.
The petition was cut short owing to the general election being called earlier this year, but still garnered sufficient support for a debate to be called.
In its response to the petition, the government said regulators insisted that lots of financial information was needed to prove that an applicant could repay a mortgage, such as testing whether a borrower could cope were interest rates to rise.
"Lenders must consider a range of factors when assessing a mortgage application. Meeting rental payments is not sufficient in itself to demonstrate affordability over the lifetime of the loan," it said.
"It is important to be aware that home ownership brings a number of additional expenses that may not be incurred when renting, including maintenance costs and buildings insurance.
"Before extending a loan, lenders must satisfy themselves that a borrower will be able to meet these additional on-going costs when considering a mortgage application."
Where can you afford to live? Try our housing calculator to see where you could rent or buy This interactive content requires an internet connection and a modern browser. Do you want to buy or rent? Use the buttons to increase or decrease the number of bedrooms: minimum one, maximum four. Alternatively, enter a number into the text input How much is your deposit? Enter your deposit below or adjust the deposit amount using the slider Return to 'How much is your deposit?' This calculator assumes you need a deposit of at least 5% of the value of the property to get a mortgage. The average deposit for UK first-time buyers is . How much can you pay monthly? Enter your monthly payment below or adjust the payment amount using the slider Return to 'How much can you pay monthly?' Your monthly payments are what you can afford to pay each month. Think about your monthly income and take off bills, council tax and living expenses. The average rent figure is for England and Wales. Amount of the that has housing you can Explore the map in detail below Search the UK for more details about a local area What does affordable mean? You have a big enough deposit and your monthly payments are high enough. The prices are based on the local market. If there are 100 properties of the right size in an area and they are placed in price order with the cheapest first, the “low-end” of the market will be the 25th property, "mid-priced" is the 50th and "high-end” will be the 75th.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41696073
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Sunwing flyer sues because he got sparkling wine not champagne - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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The plaintiff says champagne was promised in the brochure; the airline calls the lawsuit "frivolous".
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US & Canada
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A Canadian man has filed a lawsuit against Sunwing Airlines for promising a champagne service and instead serving sparkling wine.
Daniel Macduff booked a holiday to Cuba through Sunwing that advertised a complimentary on-board champagne toast.
Mr Macduff, from Quebec, said he received a cheaper bubbly instead - and only on the outgoing flight.
The airline said it believes the lawsuit "to be frivolous and without merit".
Mr Macduff's lawyer says the class action hinges on misleading marketing and not the quality of the wine served.
"It's not about the pettiness of champagne versus sparkling wine," said Montreal-based lawyer Sébastien Paquette.
"It's the consumer message behind it."
Mr Paquette said references to real champagne - a sparkling wine variety made specifically in the Champagne region in France - was front and centre in Sunwing's marketing materials.
In an emailed statement, Sunwing said the terms "champagne vacations" and "champagne service" were used "to denote a level of service in reference to the entire hospitality package" and not to describe the in-flight beverages.
The airline says it still offers sparkling wine to all its passengers on flights to southern vacation destinations, but are no longer referencing "champagne service" in active marketing campaigns.
Sunwing said it has always described these services as including "a complimentary welcome glass of sparkling wine" and announce it as such on the aircraft.
The airline added the inflight service has been "consistently been well-received by customers".
The class action has yet to be certified by the courts, but seeks compensation for the monetary difference between the actual wine served and a glass of champagne as well as punitive damages.
Mr Paquette said about 1,600 other plaintiffs have come forward in Quebec to join the lawsuit.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41669611
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White House chief of staff John Kelly defends Trump over widow remarks - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Gen John Kelly says he is "broken-hearted" by a lawmaker's criticism of Mr Trump's condolence call.
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US & Canada
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The White House chief of staff has launched an impassioned attack on a "selfish" congresswoman who said President Trump made a war widow cry.
General John Kelly said he was "broken-hearted" by the Democrat's criticism of the president's condolence call to Sgt La David Johnson's wife.
Sgt Johnson was one of four killed in Niger by Islamist militants this month.
Gen Kelly also said he did not receive a call from President Barack Obama when his son died in Afghanistan in 2010.
The chief of staff, a former Marine Corps general, said in the White House briefing room that Representative Frederica Wilson was "an empty barrel".
Sgt Johnson's widow with his coffin at Miami International Airport
The Florida Democrat said on Wednesday that she had overheard Mr Trump telling bereaved Myeshia Johnson of her slain husband: "He knew what he was signing up for, but I guess it hurts anyway."
Ms Wilson said the president's alleged remarks, shortly before Sgt Johnson's coffin arrived by aircraft in his home city of Miami, made Ms Johnson break down in tears.
President Trump said the congresswoman had "totally fabricated" the comments, but the soldier's mother later backed up Ms Wilson, saying he had disrespected the family.
On Thursday, Gen Kelly said he was so "stunned" by Ms Wilson's attack that he spent more than an hour walking among soldiers' graves at Arlington National Cemetery, just outside Washington.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Congresswoman Frederica Wilson: "How insensitive can you be?"
The chief of staff said he had advised the president not to call the loved ones of the four American servicemen killed in Niger, telling him: "There's nothing you can do to lighten the burden on these families."
Gen Kelly described such a task as "the most difficult thing you can imagine".
"There is no perfect way to make that phone call," he added.
He also discussed the death of his own son, Robert Kelly, a 29-year-old Marine first lieutenant who died when he stepped on an Afghan landmine.
Gen Kelly said: "He [President Trump] asked me about previous presidents. And I said, 'I can tell you that President Obama, who was my commander-in-chief when I was on active duty, did not call my family.'
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Gold Star Mother Christina Ayube: "We don't need to be reminded of that on the way to receiving the body"
"That was not a criticism. That was just to simply say, I don't believe that President Obama called. That's not a negative thing.
"I don't believe President Bush called in all cases. I don't believe any president, particularly when the casualty rates are very, very high, that presidents call."
The controversy began on Monday when a reporter asked Mr Trump at the White House why he had still not called the families of the four soldiers killed in the fatal ambush in Niger on 4 October.
The president provoked outrage by suggesting that his predecessor, Barack Obama, and other former US presidents did not call the relatives of dead service members.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump ratcheted up the row by stating that President Obama did not call Gen Kelly's family.
Mr Kelly also said the Pentagon was investigating the details of the deaths of Sgt Johnson and the other servicemen in the west African country.
But Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was not being given any details, adding that he could issue a subpoena for the information.
Asked by reporters what information he still lacked, he said "everything".
And asked if the White house had been forthcoming, he responded: "Of course not."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41688684
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Home Office U-turn over stroke survivor's wife's visa - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Leah Waterman had previously been told she must go back to the Philippines to apply for a visa.
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South East Wales
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Leah Waterman cares for her husband Simon who can barely speak and needs 24-hour help
The wife of a stroke survivor who was told she must leave the UK to apply for a visa has now had it approved.
Leah Waterman, who is from the Philippines, had faced being split from her husband Simon who can barely speak and needs 24-hour help.
Mr Waterman had been told he would have to become the sole carer of their two children at their home in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire.
But the Home Office has now confirmed they can stay together.
Mrs Waterman said she felt "happy and overwhelmed".
"I'm looking forward to every day now we don't have to think about what's going to happen next," she said.
"We are more focussed on Simon's condition.
"We can be more relaxed and not worry about anything, it means we can move forward."
Leah Waterman cares for her husband who has seizures
Mr Waterman, who can communicate with the help of a mobile phone app, said he felt "happy, awesome, proud" after the decision.
Mr Waterman, 56, uses a wheelchair and has regular seizures after having a severe stroke in September 2015 when living in the Philippines.
After spending more than a month in hospital, Mr Waterman and his wife and children - now seven and 10 - visited family in Monmouthshire in December 2015.
Shortly afterwards, Mr Waterman developed seizures and the couple decided to stay near his family for support.
On the expiry of Mrs Waterman's visitor's visa in July 2016, she applied to remain in the country.
The Home Office had ruled the family did not have the exceptional circumstances required to apply for a visa from within the UK and Leah would need to apply from the Philippines, leaving the family behind.
But with the help of their MP David Davies, the visa has now been approved.
"In light of the new information provided as part of Ms Waterman's appeal, we were able to take into account her exceptional circumstances and have now granted her limited leave to remain," said a Home Office spokesperson.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-41699203
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Is Narendra Modi losing his mojo? - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Rising discontent about the economy and a lack of jobs have taken the sheen off India's powerful PM.
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India
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India is in the throes of an economic slowdown and a jobs crisis under Mr Modi's leadership
One of the reasons why Narendra Modi swept to victory with a historic mandate in 2014 was his combative and upbeat oratory. Three years on, the Indian prime minister is beginning to sound unusually defensive.
Many say Mr Modi's characteristic bluster and bombast have begun to wane. In recent speeches, he has described his critics as doomsayers, blamed the previous Congress government for India's economic ills, painted himself as an "outsider" and said he was "willing to drink poison" for the good of the country. Has the victor turned victim?
"A small number of people weaken us," Mr Modi told a gathering of company secretaries recently. "We need to recognise such people."
So is Mr Modi beginning to lose his mojo? Three years ago, when he won his landslide, he promised reforms and jobs. But under his leadership - and at a time when the world economy appears to be taking off - India is looking like a sorry outlier, battling an economic slowdown and a jobs crisis.
Banks are struggling with mountains of bad loans, which in turn has choked credit and hurt domestic investment. "India's economy is grounded," says economist Praveen Chakravarty.
Mr Modi's response has been criticised as piecemeal and clumsy. A controversial currency ban last November, politically sold as a crackdown on the illegal economy, ended up halting growth and causing a lot of misery.
The Goods and Services Tax was criticised for the way it was introduced
July's introduction of a much-lauded countrywide Goods and Services Tax (GST) to help India move towards a common market has caused widespread business disruption because of what is seen as shoddy execution.
In cities and towns, traders are upset over the grinding tax bureaucracy engendered by the GST. In villages - nearly half of Indians are engaged in agriculture - farmers are complaining of income insecurity as they believe the government isn't paying them enough for their produce.
Also, for the first time since winning power, Mr Modi's government is under attack.
A senior functionary from Mr Modi's party, the BJP, recently blamed his government for the economic slowdown. "The prime minister claims that he has seen poverty from close quarters," former finance minister Yashwant Sinha wrote. "His finance minister is working overtime to make sure that all Indians also see it from equally close quarters."
And Mr Modi is taking flak from the opposition too for a change. His main political rival, Rahul Gandhi, of the once mighty Congress party, appears to be suddenly re-energised and has been taking on Mr Modi more aggressively than ever before.
Added to this, the son of Amit Shah, Mr Modi's closest aide, is accused of corruption. Jay Shah denies the allegations and has threatened to sue non-profit news website The Wire over the story.
Thus far since taking office, Mr Modi has been greatly helped by four unrelated things.
Low oil prices - India imports most of its crude - helped boost growth and tame inflation. Second, a chunk of the domestic mainstream media which depends on government advertising has been largely uncritical of his government. Third, Mr Modi faces no leadership challenge from within his party, which he and Amit Shah dominate. Lastly, and most importantly, a political opposition largely in disarray has failed to offer aspirational Indians an alternative - and persuasive - narrative of hope.
Still, there's "something in the air", as Shekhar Gupta, editor of The Print news site, says.
One indication is that even Mr Modi's fiercely pugnacious supporters are markedly subdued on social media these days. On the other hand, social media is awash with memes making fun of the prime minister.
Mr Modi's politics are also causing discontent. By whipping up what many say is hysteria over the sale and consumption of beef and pandering to Hindu radicals, observers say his party has begun to frighten off many young people and urban folk.
To make matters worse, his party appointed a controversial Hindu religious leader known for anti-Muslim rhetoric to run the political bellwether state of Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP won a decisive mandate in March. About a fifth of Uttar Pradesh's 200 million people are Muslim.
In 2014, Mr Modi secured the overwhelming majority of the young votes. But is support from this quarter waning? BJP-supported student unions have lost elections in three major universities in Delhi and Hyderabad. Last month's unrest in a leading university in Mr Modi's constituency in Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, where police beat female university students protesting against an alleged sexual assault, will not endear him and his party to young voters.
On the economy, Mr Modi clearly seems to have overplayed his hand and questions are being asked over whether he can fulfil expectations. In June, the Economist said Mr Modi was "not the radical reformer he is cracked up to be". The magazine said he had few big ideas of his own - the GST, for example, had been initiated during the previous, Congress, regime.
Critics say despite running India's most powerful government in recent history, he has achieved little in creating functioning markets for land and electricity, and reforming labour laws. On his politics, they say, Mr Modi appears to be hostage to the party's ideological fountainhead, the right-wing Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteers' Organisation), known for what many say are visions of Hindu glory and achievement.
Economists such as Dr Chakravarty believe Mr Modi still has time to revive the economy by exploiting the buoyant stock market, which is flush with money from foreign institutional investors. Money could be raised by divesting stakes in state-run companies and used to recapitalise and clean up the ailing banks, so that they can begin lending again.
Also the rupee could be depreciated to boost exports, the GST simplified further to help small businesses and interest rates lowered to spur growth. Growth will also depend on social stability, but it is not clear whether Mr Modi will be able to rein in the radical hotheads.
However, Mr Modi is a redoubtable fighter. It is too early to say the tide is turning against him decisively. One opinion poll in August indicated he would win handsomely if elections were held. But then again, a month can be a long time in politics. State elections in BJP-ruled Gujarat in December will offer some clues - a recent survey by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) suggested people were "unhappy with GST". Nobody expects the BJP to lose, but the margin of victory will be closely watched.
Among his supporters, Mr Modi enjoys a reputation of being a hardworking and honest prime minister. "What has helped in stopping this wind of dissatisfaction from turning into a strong hurricane are two factors - the absence of a viable alternative, and the personal credibility of Mr Modi," says political scientist Sanjay Kumar.
"The only question that remains is: how long will Mr Modi be able to hold down this wave of resentment with his own image and credibility?" And right now that answer is blowing in the wind.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-41563751
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Newspaper headlines: No deal Brexit plans and 'rip-off' mobiles - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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David Davis is planning for no deal on Brexit talks, and millions overcharged for mobiles feature on Friday's front pages.
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The Papers
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Editors offer a different view of the Brexit talks with their choice of photographs.
The Daily Telegraph's front page shows Theresa May, flanked on either side by Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron.
They face Mrs May with their hands cupped over their mouths. "The whispering campaign," the paper calls it.
A similar picture appears in the Times under the label "crunch talks".
Many other papers show the three politicians all smiling. The Sun adds the caption "Give me summit to work with". The Daily Mail says: "Merkel finally gives Theresa news to smile about".
In the Guardian, the former Labour education minister, David Lammy, highlights his concerns about Oxbridge admissions and what he calls "social apartheid".
The paper reports that one in three Oxford Colleges didn't accept any black A-level students in 2015, and none was taken at six Cambridge colleges.
Mr Lammy notes that almost 400 black students got three As or more at A-level but few are attracted to Oxbridge. Both universities tell the paper they're working to improve the figures.
They are not the only institutions facing diversity issues. The Financial Times reports that MPs on the Treasury committee have warned that they could refuse to endorse high-level appointments at the Bank of England because there are too many white men.
A Treasury spokesperson tells the Guardian the recruitment process is fair and open.
Responding to Scotland's plan to ban smacking, the i reports that the UK's four children's commissioners want the other home nations to follow suit.
The Guardian says the case has also been made by the NSPCC. But the Sun says English MPs have vowed to resist such calls.
Scott Macnab suggests in the Scotsman that there's an "enthusiasm among MSPs for imposing bans" - "from smacking to fracking". He calls it "worrying" and a "wider erosion of personal liberty".
The increase in recorded crime is analysed by several papers. The Mirror headlines its report "not safe on our streets," and calls it a "damning indictment" on Theresa May's policing cuts.
The paper urges her to recruit more officers. The Daily Mail says burglars get away with nine out of 10 break-ins.
The Daily Telegraph suggests the police have been "side-tracked" by "other questionable priorities."
Among these it includes the investigation of thousands of historic sex allegations.
It also says counter-terrorism is stretching the Metropolitan Police. The paper proposes passing responsibility for terrorism to the National Crime Agency.
Beseeching puppy eyes stare out of several papers to explain how, as the Guardian puts it, "dogs turn on the charm for humans."
Researchers suggest that dogs have learned that widening their eyes elicits sympathy and affection in humans.
What they don't know, says the Daily Telegraph, is whether they aware that they look sad.
The i says it seems their expressions are doggy attempts to communicate. Although the paper says the scientists don't yet know if dogs can truly understand us or whether it's a learned response to seeing a face.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-41689097
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Storm Brian: Strong winds set to hit British Isles - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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The Atlantic storm is due to hit parts of the UK and the Republic of Ireland on Saturday morning.
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UK
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An Atlantic storm, which is due to hit parts of the UK and the Republic of Ireland this weekend, has been named Brian, the Irish Met office has said.
The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for strong winds and potential flooding in parts of southern and western England and Wales on Saturday.
Met Éireann issued an orange warning, of potentially "significant" impact, for parts of the Irish Republic.
It is the second named storm to hit the UK this winter, after Storm Aileen.
The storm - which could bring gusts of wind of up to 70mph (112kmph) - is likely to hit parts of south-west Ireland in the early hours of Saturday morning.
It is then forecast to affect parts of southern England and southern and western Wales later in the morning.
The Met Office's warning is in place from 04:00 BST (03:00 GMT) on Saturday.
It warned some coastal areas in the UK could be affected by large waves, with the potential for flooding.
Some transport disruption was "likely", with delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport all possible, the warning added. Short term loss of power and other services is also possible, it said.
The Met Office's chief forecaster Dan Suri said the worst of the storm was likely to be felt in Ireland.
"At the moment, we don't expect the same level of impacts for the UK," he said.
"Gusts exceeding 50mph are expected widely within the warning area, with gusts of around 70mph along exposed coastal areas. These are expected to coincide with high tides, leading to locally dangerous conditions in coastal parts."
The Met Office said it currently has no plans to issue an amber warning for any part of the UK, but the situation was "under continual review".
Met Éireann said there was a risk of coastal flooding in some areas of the Irish Republic.
Under storm naming guidelines, the Met Office and its partner agency Met Éireann name any storm with an amber - or orange - wind warning.
A storm - the tail end of Hurricane Ophelia which travelled across the Atlantic Ocean from the Azores - caused significant damage to the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and north Wales last week.
The Met Office and Met Éireann do not rename the remnants of storms that have moved across the Atlantic, if they have already been named.
On Monday, three people in Ireland died in the storm. Thousands of people were also left without water and power.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41684485
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Henry Hicks: Met officers cleared over moped crash death - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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A disciplinary panel rules police were not technically "in pursuit" when Henry Hicks, 18, crashed.
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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. The Met has released CCTV footage of Henry Hicks
Four Met officers have been cleared of gross misconduct over an 18-year-old man who died in a moped crash.
Henry Hicks was fleeing officers in two unmarked cars when he died, an inquest jury found.
Police were following him at speeds of more than 50mph when he came off his moped in Islington, north London, in December 2014.
A Met Police disciplinary panel ruled the four officers were not technically in a police pursuit at the time.
Henry Hicks died after his moped collided with another vehicle on Wheelright Street in Islington
Following the hearing Mr Hick's sister, Claudia Hicks, said: "We are beyond disappointed by this ruling.
"We won't stop fighting for accountability for Henry's death. We miss him every day."
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) had previously recommended to the force the pursuit had been carried out without proper authorisation and the officers should face disciplinary proceedings.
However, the panel ruled the accusations were not proven as they were not technically engaged in a pursuit, as defined by police rules.
Officers claimed they were travelling too far behind Mr Hicks for him to know he was being followed, even though they had turned on their blue lights and sirens.
Henry Hicks died after he collided with another vehicle on Wheelwright Street in Islington
Under Met Police policy, the control room has to be immediately alerted to pursuits, which must be authorised in all but exceptional circumstances.
Mr Hicks died when his moped crashed into a minicab in Wheelwright Street, near to Pentonville prison.
He was found to be carrying seven bags of skunk cannabis and multiple phones.
The teenager had been stopped and searched at least 71 times between October 2011 and December 2014.
Deborah Coles, director of Inquest - a charity which looks into deaths in custody - said the decision "raised serious questions about the integrity of police misconduct hearings".
"It is difficult to reconcile this outcome, reached after two days evidence of a police disciplinary panel, with the conclusions of an inquest jury after two weeks of evidence which came to the opposite conclusion," Ms Coles said.
Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Richard Martin said: "Every day in London we ask our officers to make difficult decisions in fast-moving situations.
"Policing is a job that people sign up to because they want to help the public."
Following Mr Hicks' death the Met carried out a review of its pursuit policy, he added.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41697985
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David Blaine under investigation over UK model's rape claim - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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The US magician denies claims by British-born Natasha Prince that he attacked her over a decade ago.
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UK
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US illusionist David Blaine is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police over an alleged rape of a British former model in 2004.
Natasha Prince, 34, claimed the US magician attacked her at a house in Chelsea, west London, when she was 21.
Police have asked Mr Blaine to travel to the UK for interview under caution, according to emails seen by the BBC.
Mr Blaine, 44, "vehemently denies" the allegations and will "fully co-operate" with a police inquiry, his lawyer said.
In an email to Ms Prince, the Met said officers had told Mr Blaine's lawyers that they were investigating a "historic allegation of sexual assault made by a female in London".
The allegation was reported to police in London in November 2016.
Ms Prince, who now works as an art dealer in New York, has waived her right to anonymity under sexual offences legislation to confirm she made the allegation.
She first made the claims public to US website the Daily Beast, saying: "I think I tried really hard to block it out. But I carried this awful feeling with me."
Mr Blaine's lawyer, Marty Singer, denied all the allegations and told the website: "My client vehemently denies that he raped or sexually assaulted any woman, ever, and he specifically denies raping a woman in 2004."
He said Mr Blaine will "fully co-operate" with any police investigation, saying he has "nothing to hide".
The Met's Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command confirmed it was investigating an allegation of rape at an address in Chelsea in June or July 2004 of a woman aged 21.
The force said there had been no arrests and enquiries were ongoing.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41697913
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Women's Ashes 2017: What happened after England won the World Cup? - BBC Sport
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2017-10-20
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As England begin their bid to regain the Women's Ashes, the players reveal what has happened since they won the World Cup.
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Coverage details: Ball-by-ball commentary of the series on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text commentary on the Tests & T20s on the BBC Sport website and app
Even when you have won the World Cup in the most-watched game of women's cricket of all time, finding somewhere to celebrate isn't as easy as you might think.
Yes, there was the emotion of family and friends joining the victorious England team on the Lord's outfield, and the singing of the team song in the dressing room was so loud it "made the walls shake".
But winning a World Cup on a Sunday is not ideal for finding a venue to keep the party going long into the night - the team's Kensington hotel had to be persuaded to reopen their bar when England returned.
While they waited, some players ordered cheese toasties, while others visited the takeaway across the road.
Captain Heather Knight was laid low with food poisoning, while match-winner Anya Shrubsole purposely kept a clear head for the early morning media appointments the following day.
Later on, a group who went looking for a nightclub - still wearing their kit - were left disappointed.
"It was Katherine Brunt's idea, but nowhere was open," said all-rounder Nat Sciver. "We had a taxi ride around London, got back to the hotel and no-one was left in the bar, so we went to bed."
The enormity of what happened on that grey July day dawned on coach Mark Robinson before he left Lord's, when he saw BBC News at Ten broadcasting live from the Grace Gates.
For the rest of the team, it would be revealed over the days and weeks that followed, both publicly and privately.
Knight saw pictures of herself on big screens as she passed through Euston Station. Jenny Gunn's welcome home was a banner on the front of her house. Shrubsole was guest of honour at her beloved Portsmouth. Danielle Wyatt paraded the trophy at Stoke City.
Tammy Beaumont, the player of the tournament, has since commentated on men's Twenty20 matches for Sky, while Knight temporarily lost the trophy when she appeared on BBC Test Match Special. The whole squad were invited to an NFL game at Wembley.
For spinner Alex Hartley, returning home to Manchester presented the unique challenge of keeping her medal from boyfriend and Lancashire wicketkeeper Alex Davies.
"After I got back, I had my medal on," she said. "He took it off me and said, 'Right, that's enough now. It's my turn to wear it.' So he wore it for half the day. We shared it for a while. We're a bit sad like that."
Sciver's problems were more practical. The house that she co-owns with Brunt, nicknamed 'Alan' because of the road on which it sits, is no longer home to Sciver, Brunt, Fran Wilson, Beth Langston, Amy Jones and Bailey the dog.
They have all vacated, replaced by Loughborough students, with Wilson now living with Tash Farrant.
Sciver, Brunt, Langston and Jones have relocated to a temporary abode while they wait for another Sciver-Brunt property to have an extension built. The result has been two house-moves in three months.
"Our time spent at home after the World Cup was actually time spent moving out," said Sciver.
"Hopefully the new house will be ready when we get back from the Ashes. We're missing the stressful part of the extension being built - Katherine's dad is being the project manager."
Busy with multiple moves, Sciver was not even aware of her place on the Cricketer magazine's list of the 50 most powerful people in English cricket - she came in at 48th, with Knight 33rd.
"I haven't had a lot of time to look at things like that," she said. "I don't think it will give me any more influence, or let me skip ahead in the queue for the bathroom."
Powerful or not, Sciver says she has only been recognised away from cricket once, and that was standing outside her front door: "We have to be careful not to make too much noise, because now the new neighbours know who we are."
For Hartley, being recognised at Old Trafford is not unusual. Being proposed to is.
"I was walking out after a Super League game, putting some stuff in the car, and I got shouted at by a group from a cricket club.
"One minute I was having a selfie with one of them, the next I was having a picture with the whole team. One of them proposed to me. It was a surreal moment."
With the Super League beginning little more than two weeks after the World Cup was won, the squad disbanded to their domestic teams and only reunited at the end of August for a trip to Downing Street to meet Prime Minister Theresa May.
"I had to back the more politically left-wing in the group to keep their opinions to themselves," said Robinson.
"Ali Maiden, the assistant coach, was convinced he could sort Brexit out given half an hour with the PM, but he never got his opportunity.
"The biggest problem was getting everyone in there and making sure they all had the right outfit on. Jenny Gunn put the wrong suit on and was a bit embarrassed."
Gunn actually had two suits with her in London, neither of which were right. That, though, wasn't the only problem with the team's outfits, as the prime minister would learn.
"We were all wearing heels and were in the garden, sinking into the ground. Once you were in one position you couldn't move off too quickly," said Sciver.
Hartley added: "There was a photo of me pointing at the prime minister's shoes because she had leopard-print flats. She knew what she was doing. I was telling her that her lawn isn't practical for heels.
"Apart from that, we were all on our best behaviour. No-one did a Matthew Hoggard.
"When I got inside I took my shoes off to feel what the carpet was like. It wasn't that soft. I was quite disappointed."
'People first and cricketers second'
Robinson admits the increased attention and demands on their time has "hit the players like a hurricane". When they met up to begin their preparations for the Ashes, which begin on Sunday, he said he found them to be "jaded, not as fresh as we would like them to be".
Before that World Cup win - the moment that changed their lives if not forever, then certainly for the foreseeable future - Robinson described his players as "lovely".
Has success, the limelight and adulation had an effect?
"They are definitely still the same people," he says. "They know that, as a team, they are not yet where they want to be, so we will make sure we keep striving.
"We wanted to win the World Cup and we want to win the Ashes, but it is not the be-all and end-all. Winning is the best feeling in the world, and you're a mug if you don't want that feeling, but winning does not define us.
"They are people first and cricketers second."
People first, cricketers second. Always World Cup winners.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/41546410
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Middlesbrough modified Kodi box trader gets suspended jail term - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Brian Thompson had planned to argue the law in connection with the boxes was a "grey area".
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Tees
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Brian Thompson had previously said he wanted to know whether he was doing anything illegal
A trader who sold TV boxes which allowed viewers to watch subscription films and football for free has been given a suspended jail term.
Brian Thompson had denied breaking the law by selling the Kodi boxes, setting up the prospect of a landmark trial.
But appearing at Teesside Crown Court he changed his plea to guilty.
The 55-year-old, who runs Cut Price Tomo's TV store in Middlesbrough, was given an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
Thompson, of Barnaby Avenue, Middlesbrough, admitted one count of selling and one count of advertising devices "designed, produced or adapted for the purpose of enabling or facilitating the circumvention of effective technological measures".
The court heard Thompson had been selling "fully loaded" Kodi boxes - ones that had been installed with third-party add-ons that can access pirated content.
He had previously claimed the law was a "grey area" and said he wanted to know whether he was "doing anything illegal".
Thompson had sold an estimated 400 boxes, earning him about £40,000, and losses to Sky were an estimated £200,000 in subscriptions, the court heard.
Judge Peter Armstrong said there could be no doubt now about the legality of the fully loaded boxes.
"Those who lawfully have to pay £50 a month or more on Sky or BT subscriptions, are done a disservice by people like you and those who buy these devices," he said.
He said he was suspending Thompson's jail sentence but others in the future may not be so fortunate.
Cameron Crowe, prosecuting, said streaming devices were not illegal if they were used to access free content.
But he added: "If they are designed, produced or adapted for gaining unauthorised access to copyright content or subscription services - such as Sky and BT Sports - they become illegal."
Some shops sell ready-to-use set-top boxes or television sticks preloaded with the Kodi software.
The developers behind Kodi say their software does not contain any content of its own and is designed to play legally owned media or content "freely available" on the internet.
However the software can be modified with third-party add-ons that provide access to illegal copies of films and TV series, or provide free access to subscription television channels.
Some traders sell Kodi boxes preloaded with third-party add-ons that can access pirated content. It is the sale of these "fully-loaded" boxes which was the subject of the case against Mr Thompson.
Trading Standards officers made a test purchase from Thompson's Dundas shopping centre outlet in 2015 and a raid was carried out.
He moved premises after the raid and advertised on Facebook claiming to have "every film and box set ever made, even ones at the cinema".
Paul Fleming, defending, said his client was a hard worker who had succeeded and failed in businesses over the years.
Kieron Sharp, the chief executive of Fact (formerly the Federation Against Copyright Theft), said one million illegal Kodi TV boxes had been sold in the UK in the past two years.
He said the perpetrators were not "Robin Hood characters", but criminals.
"Selling pre-configured streaming devices that allow access to content you normally would have to pay for is illegal," he added.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-41692804
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Brexit: How are the talks really progressing? - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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After five rounds of talks, the two sides are making competing claims about progress. How much has really been made?
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UK Politics
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So it's come down to money. Who would have thought it?
After five rounds of negotiations on Brexit, the EU remains insistent: there will be no discussions with the UK on a transition period, or on future relations, until financial commitments have been clarified.
So what exactly is it about the money that is proving so difficult to resolve?
It comes down to the detail (or lack of it) contained in Theresa May's carefully crafted speech in Florence.
Overall, the speech was greeted across the EU with a considerable sense of relief. It suggested that progress was at least possible at a time when some countries were beginning to fear the worst.
The prime minister opened the door for the UK to contribute roughly €20bn (£17.9bn) to the EU budget in 2019 and 2020, so that no-one else would be out of pocket.
And - crucially - she went on to say that "the UK will honour commitments we have made during the period of our membership".
But EU negotiators - under clear instructions from the member states - want to know exactly what that means in practice.
The prime minister said the UK would "honour commitments"
Looming large in the background is something called the Reste à Liquider (RAL) - EU money that has already been committed to projects in the long-term budget but has not yet been spent.
The RAL is currently running at an eye-watering €239bn, which could mean a UK share of more than €30bn.
Much of it is due to be spent on big infrastructure or development projects that have been delayed. There are also pensions and contingent liabilities, such as loans to other countries, to consider.
The EU isn't asking for a figure to be agreed - but for a guarantee within the negotiating process, probably in writing, that "honouring commitments" means "all commitments."
The UK position, on the other hand, is that the prime minister made a substantial gesture in her Florence speech, and it is in no position to move further unless it gets something in return.
"They are using time pressure to get more money out of us," the Brexit Secretary David Davis told the House of Commons this week. "Bluntly, that is what's going on."
It sounds like deadlock, but that's not necessarily the case. Three more rounds of negotiation have been suggested between this week's summit and another one in December.
The hope is that a way will be found to move forward, even if it takes a moment of crisis to get there.
"The EU27 don't believe the UK is too far off 'sufficient progress'," says Mujtaba Rahman, the managing director for Europe at the political consultancy Eurasia Group.
"They want Mrs May to be able to leave Brussels with a win that will enable her to strike a deal by December."
That's why both sides have said they want to accelerate the negotiating process, and prepare for discussions about the future.
If the language of the current draft of the summit's conclusions doesn't change much, the EU27 will agree to begin internal discussions about a transition period and the nature of a future relationship.
They won't talk directly to the UK about these issues until December at the earliest. And only then if "sufficient progress" has been made on all the "divorce" arrangements, including money.
It doesn't sound like much. But it's a start, and it is seen in Brussels as a carrot for the UK negotiating team.
So what might the EU be likely to decide in internal discussions over the coming weeks?
For EU officials involved in the negotiating process one thing about transition is clear: the more you keep things the same, the easier it will be to agree.
That's why the internal deliberations among the 27 on transition could be concluded very quickly. They will probably offer to prolong all existing EU rules and regulations (the body of law known as 'the acquis') - or, to put it another way - to extend the status quo.
That means that after Brexit - for "about two years" (ie for the length of a transition period) - the UK would be outside the EU's political institutions, but inside its economic arrangements.
It also means the UK would have to accept EU budget payments, EU regulations and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
To put it in the formal language of the European Council's Article 50 negotiating guidelines: "Should a time-limited prolongation of Union acquis be considered, this would require existing Union regulatory, budgetary, supervisory, judiciary and enforcement instruments and structures to apply."
The details of what that means are difficult for some Brexit supporters in the UK to stomach. But the prime minister, in her Florence speech, has already accepted that the framework for any transition (she prefers to call it an implementation period) would be "the existing structure of EU rules and regulations".
Problems would arise, however, if the UK tried to argue for exemptions or exceptions. Take, for example, one idea that has been floated (forgive the pun): leaving the Common Fisheries Policy at the same time as the UK leaves the EU in March 2019.
That doesn't really tally with the kind of transition that EU officials have in mind. Once you start unpicking the offer, all sorts of complications begin to arise. So it's not quite take it or leave it. But it's not far off.
Unpicking the agreement, such as leaving the Common Fisheries Policy, could lead to further complications
There are other potential problems with a transition period that will need to be resolved. What, for example, does it mean for trade agreements with third countries, when it makes a difference whether products (or parts of products) are manufactured in the single market or not?
But agreeing upon the terms of a transition will be much easier for the EU27 than agreeing on the outline of a final deal - on everything from trade to security. The 27 member states are a little more nervous about those discussions because differences of opinion are bound to emerge between them.
Many countries have obviously been thinking hard about this already. One internal German government paper has been reported here.
But there is another issue that overshadows debate about Brexit in capitals across the EU - what exactly is it that the UK wants? Every change of emphasis in London adds to the confusion.
As Finland's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Samuli Virtanen, put it this week: "It seems that at the moment the EU 27 is more unanimous than the UK 1. And that is one of the main problems here."
But it all rests on finding a compromise on money. And that really has to happen before the end of this year. Otherwise time is going to start running out.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41657248
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Derry mayor refuses to meet Prince Charles during visit - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Sinn Féin's Maolíosa McHugh said he would not meet the prince due to his role with the Parachute Regiment.
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Northern Ireland
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Prince Charles has been meeting people impacted by August's floods in Northern Ireland
The mayor of Derry has refused to meet Prince Charles, who is visiting flood victims in the north west.
Sinn Féin's Maolíosa McHugh said he would not meet the Prince due to his role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment.
Fourteen people were killed on Bloody Sunday when British paratroopers opened fire on a civil rights march through the city in January 1972.
Mr McHugh said meeting the Prince would be "premature".
Maolíosa McHugh said meeting the Prince would be 'premature'
Prince Charles arrived in County Londonderry earlier to visit communities affected by August's flooding.
Mr McHugh said: "Today's visit to Derry by Prince Charles is difficult for many families in the city, given his ongoing role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment.
"While I have supported meetings between Sinn Féin and members of the British Royal family, I believe that meeting him in Derry is premature given the ongoing and unresolved sensitivities around the legacy of the massacre carried out by that Regiment."
The DUP's East Londonderry MP, Gregory Campbell, of "retreating to the comfort of backwoods republicanism".
He added: "We hear a great deal from republicans about respect and criticisms of unionism for not reaching out to recognise other cultures and traditions.
"It is clear, however, that Maoliosa McHugh does not believe such responsibilities extend to him."
Prince Charles began his visit in Eglinton, where he met residents who had been forced out of their homes.
He also met farmers and business owners affected by the flooding.
The Prince is also due to visit Drumahoe, an area also badly impacted by the flooding and meet with representatives from the emergency services.
Almost two-thirds of the region's average monthly rain fell in a single night on 22 August.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-41692075
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Ex-Lancashire Police officer Jayson Lobo jailed for voyeurism - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Jayson Lobo secretly recorded sexual encounters with seven women on his mobile phone.
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Lancashire
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Jayson Lobo was found guilty of 11 counts of voyeurism
An ex-police officer who secretly filmed sexual encounters with seven women on his mobile phone has been jailed for three years.
Jayson Lobo, 48, formerly of Lancashire Police, met most of his victims on a dating website between 2011 and 2015.
Sentencing him at Liverpool Crown Court, Judge Neil Flewitt QC said his deceit was "staggering".
The former Commonwealth Games runner was found guilty of 11 counts of voyeurism following a trial.
He denied all the charges and was cleared of seven counts of the same offence, including one count relating to an eighth woman.
Lobo was caught when one of his victims found out he had a long-term partner during their relationship.
She had earlier caught him filming her as they had sex but he had promised he would delete it.
Lobo, of Mellor, Blackburn, was arrested after the woman made a complaint to police and had his phones seized which revealed the full extent of his offending.
Judge Flewitt QC said he had used the women to satisfy his sexual appetite and it was "a calculated and selfish course of conduct, pursued without regard for the feelings of those women concerned".
The Preston-based response officer was suspended from the force after his arrest in December 2015.
Lobo was then sacked for gross misconduct relating to a separate matter in August last year, after a hearing found he had shared details and images from police incidents.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-41701538
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Harvey Weinstein: Tarantino knew about film mogul's alleged misconduct - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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The famed director worked closely with the Hollywood producer accused of many sexual assaults.
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US & Canada
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Quentin Tarantino has worked closely with Harvey Weinstein on many of his films
US film director Quentin Tarantino has admitted knowing for years about movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's alleged misconduct toward women.
"I knew enough to do more than I did," Mr Tarantino told the New York Times.
His comments come as Los Angeles police are investigating Mr Weinstein over a suspected sexual assault in 2013.
The producer already faces allegations of sexual misconduct and assault from dozens of women. He has "unequivocally" denied having "non-consensual sex".
"There was more to it than just the normal rumours, the normal gossip. It wasn't second-hand. I knew he did a couple of these things," Mr Tarantino said in an interview with the US newspaper.
"I wish I had taken responsibility for what I heard. If I had done the work I should have done then, I would have had to not work with him."
Weinstein was one of Hollywood's top producers
The Hollywood director has worked closely with Mr Weinstein on many of his films, including Django Unchained and Inglorious Basterds.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles police announced its first investigation involving Mr Weinstein in California.
"The Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery Homicide Division has interviewed a potential sexual assault victim involving Harvey Weinstein which allegedly occurred in 2013," LAPD spokesman Sal Ramirez told the BBC.
"The case is under investigation. There is no more information at this time."
It falls within California's 10-year statute of limitations for the crime of rape, and could lead to a trial if prosecutors decide they have enough evidence to support a case against the filmmaker.
The alleged victim is a 38-year-old Italian model and actress, according to US media outlets.
She is reported to have met detectives this week.
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
Separate investigations into Harvey Weinstein are already under way in New York and London.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Tom Hanks: "Everybody has stories about some aspect of the so called casting couch"
Earlier on Thursday, the film star Tom Hanks said he believed there was now no way back for Mr Weinstein.
"We're at a watershed moment, this is a sea change," Mr Hanks told the BBC
"His last name will become a noun and a verb. It will become an identifying moniker for a state of being for which there was a before and an after."
Mr Hanks, who is on the board of the organisation behind the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said he could not comment on the recent decision to expel Mr Weinstein as a member.
Mr Weinstein also left the board of The Weinstein Company earlier this month.
He has admitted his behaviour has "caused a lot of pain" - but has described many of the allegations against him as "patently false".
His spokesperson has said that "any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied" and that there were "never any acts of retaliation" against women who turned him down.
Some of the accusers (L to R): Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Cara Delevingne, Lea Seydoux, Rosanna Arquette, Mira Sorvino
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41689153
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Ian Lavery MP received £165,000 from trade union - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Ian Lavery MP received £165,000 from the 10 member trade union he ran.
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UK
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MP Ian Lavery received £165,000 from the 10-member trade union he ran.
We have learned this from the trade union regulator which has now released a report into Mr Lavery's actions as general secretary of the NUM Northumberland Area.
He will now face questions on his record over a number of disputed payments by the union he ran.
Mr Lavery, who is the chairman of the Labour Party, denies any wrongdoing.
Ian Lavery is a coming power in the land, Jeremy Corbyn's general election joint co-ordinator and chairman of the Labour Party. If the Conservatives fall, he's most likely destined for high office. But, perhaps, for one thing: his refusal to answer a simple question asked by BBC Newsnight last year: "Did you pay off the mortgage?" BBC Newsnight asked him nine times without getting a reply.
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The answer, it turns out, is no. He didn't pay off his mortgage. The union of which he was general secretary for 18 years, the NUM Northumberland Area, paid it off and paid him much more besides.
Last year, both Jeremy Corbyn and the parliamentary watchdog cleared Mr Lavery. He denies any wrongdoing.
The reason we know more about Mr Lavery's peculiar mortgage arrangements is because the trade union regulator, the Certification Officer, Gerard Walker, examined the books after investigations by BBC Newsnight and the Sunday Times. Mr Lavery ran the NUM Northumberland Area for 18 years until he stepped down in 2010 to become the MP for Wansbeck.
The regulator's findings are available online.
The regulator found that that the Northumberland Provident and Benevolent fund had lent Mr Lavery £72,500 to buy a house in 1994. 13 years on, the union Mr Lavery was then running forgave the loan to Mr Lavery. So he was £72,500 the richer.
But there's more. He'd been paying into an endowment fund to pay back the capital cost of the house. It had underperformed, but it still paid out £18,000. The regulator found Mr Lavery kept that too.
The regulator found that in 2005, Mr Lavery sold a 15% stake in his house to the Union for £36,000. In 2013 the house was worth less, so he bought it back from the union for £27,500 - a notional profit of £8,500.
And then there's Mr Lavery's "termination payments", totalling £89,887.83. However, that total is a matter of some dispute between him and the union.
The regulator says that neither Mr Lavery nor the union could provide documentary evidence of the process or the decision by which Mr Lavery was made redundant - or why, given he was leaving for a job as an MP, he needed any redundancy payments at all.
Adding £89,887 he received for his undocumented redundancy package to the £72,500 for the forgiven house loan to the £18,000 he was gifted from his endowment, that totals £180,387.
But, then, it seems Mr Lavery and his old union fell out. The union recently realised it had overpaid Mr Lavery's redundancy by £30,600. The regulator's report shows that the union asked for it back. Mr Lavery disputed £10,600 of it - and said he'd only give them £15,000. When the regulator asked the union why they settled for this, they simply replied that they were mindful of Mr Lavery disputing it and the potential legal costs:
"Mr. Lavery was adamant that £15,000 was his final offer, we were left with little choice but to accept."
So our running total of dosh from the union to its one-time general secretary is reduced by £15,000 to £165,387. That's a bob or two in anyone's language.
A year ago, when we started questioning Mr Lavery on this matter, Jeremy Corbyn gave him the benefit of the doubt and the Parliamentary commissioner cleared him of wrongdoing, which he has always denied. Since then, Mr Lavery has risen in Labour's ranks to be one of the Labour leader's closest and most trusted lieutenants.
Now that we know just how much money he got from the trade union he used to run, it's fair to ask whether this man is a fit and proper person to be chairman of the Labour Party.
"Under my stewardship, the union always complied with the rules and the Certification Officer signed off every year's transactions. As the Certification Officer's report makes clear, no member of the union, past or present, has made a complaint about the financial affairs of the union. I am pleased that the Certification Officer has decided to not appoint an inspector or take further action.
"This report should draw a line under almost two years of allegations and innuendo directed at me and my former colleagues. Our legacy is helping miners and their families when others abandoned them, bringing millions of pounds of compensation into the Northumberland Coalfield. I remain immensely proud of our record."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41688280
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Obama and Bush decry deep US divisions without naming Trump - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Comments by the two ex-presidents are seen as a veiled rebuke of Donald Trump's leadership.
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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. Neither Barack Obama nor George W Bush mentioned President Donald Trump by name
Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush have voiced concern about the current political climate in the US, in comments seen as a veiled rebuke of Donald Trump's leadership.
Mr Obama urged Americans to reject the politics of "division" and "fear", while Mr Bush criticised "bullying and prejudice" in public life.
They were speaking separately. Neither mentioned President Trump by name.
Mr Trump, who has been critical of his two predecessors, is yet to comment.
Ex-presidents traditionally shy away from commenting publicly on their successors, and Mr Obama said on leaving office he would extend that courtesy for a time to Mr Trump, as George W Bush had to him.
He has broken his silence since to issue statements on Mr Trump's efforts to dismantle Obamacare, as well as his controversial "Muslim ban" and decision to abandon the Paris climate accord.
Speaking at a Democratic campaign event in Newark, New Jersey, Mr Obama said Americans should "send a message to the world that we are rejecting a politics of division, we are rejecting a politics of fear".
He added: "What we can't have is the same old politics of division that we have seen so many times before that dates back centuries.
"Some of the politics we see now, we thought we put that to bed. That's folks looking 50 years back. It's the 21st Century, not the 19th Century. Come on!"
He touched on similar themes at another event later in Richmond, Virginia, saying: "We've got folks who are deliberately trying to make folks angry, to demonise people who have different ideas, to get the base all riled up because it provides a short-term tactical advantage."
Speaking just hours earlier in New York, Mr Bush said: "Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication.
"There are some signs that the intensity of support for democracy itself has waned - especially among the young."
Americans, he said, have "seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty".
"At times it can seem like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together.
"We've seen nationalism distorted into nativism, forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America."
President Trump has in the past criticised both Mr Obama and Mr Bush
Both former presidents have until now largely avoided commenting publicly on Mr Trump's policies.
Before his election last year, Mr Trump was highly critical of both Mr Obama and Mr Bush, describing each of them at one time or another as "perhaps the worst president in the history" of the US.
Since his inauguration in January, Mr Trump's combative style and direct public comments on a number of key issues have caused controversy both among Democrats and Republicans.
He has regularly blamed the media, which he says do not focus on his achievements and instead choose to concentrate on what he describes as "fake news".
President Barack Obama still knows how to draw a crowd - and they queued round the block for hours to see him speak.
If they were hoping for head-on attacks on Donald Trump, they were to be disappointed.
However, the criticisms when they came were scarcely veiled - with talk of pandering to the extremes and sowing divisiveness.
The speech followed a much more full-frontal attack on the current political situation by former Republican President George W Bush.
He talked about bigotry and falsehood threatening American democracy - while celebrating immigration and arguing for a more open trade policy.
These attacks certainly aren't co-ordinated - but they do demonstrate just how widely concerns about the current president are shared.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41689805
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'Death Island': Britain's 'concentration camp' in Russia - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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British soldiers opened the first concentration camp in Russia in 1918, during World War One. To locals it was known as "Death Island".
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Magazine
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Marina Titova lays a carnation in memory of her great-great-uncle who died on Mudyug
When British soldiers were sent to Russia after the Russian Revolution their main enemies were the Germans - their opponents in World War One - but they also found themselves fighting and imprisoning Bolsheviks. In the process they opened what Russians regard as the first concentration camp in their country.
The boat sails down the River Dvina past onion-domed churches, lumber yards and logs floating in the water. Finally it reaches the open sea and an hour later a brown smudge appears on the horizon.
Getting closer, I can make out a lighthouse and a few radio towers. As my companions and I jump off the boat and walk along a deserted beach a pack of dogs surrounds us, barking furiously. They are not used to visitors. The only people who live on this remote spot today are border guards and a couple of meteorologists.
Back in the Soviet era, boatloads of day trippers came to the island of Mudyug to visit a museum. It was located among the remains of a prison camp - one very different from the scores of old Gulag outposts scattered across the Russian north and Siberia. For one thing, it was set up as far back as 1918. Even more remarkably, the people in charge were were British and French.
My colleague Natalia Golysheva, who grew up in the regional capital, Arkhangelsk - Archangel as it used to be known in English - says the place had a fearsome reputation. Locals called it Death Island.
"When I was little, people said if you don't behave, the Whites will come and take you to Mudyug," she says. "I didn't understand but when I tried to ask questions - 'What is Mudyug? Who are the Whites?' - my grandmother just said shush and turned her face away, meaning the conversation was over."
The Whites were the anti-Bolshevik forces that emerged after the October Revolution in 1917. They got the name from the cream-coloured uniforms worn by higher ranks in the Tsarist army. Some were reactionary military officers who wanted to bring back the monarchy, others were moderate socialists, reformers, tradesmen, fishermen or peasants.
When the Bolsheviks seized power in the autumn of 1917, Russia was still fighting in World War One, allied with Britain, France and the US against the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary and their Ottoman allies.
However, Lenin had come to power promising supporters not only bread to eat and a share of the aristocrats' land, but also peace. When he signed a peace treaty with Germany, Western governments acted rapidly to re-open this eastern front.
British and French troops lining up in Arkhangelsk in 1919
Within months, tens of thousands of soldiers from Britain, the United States, France, Canada, Australia and other countries were ordered to Russia in what became known as the Allied Intervention. Some went to the south and far east of Russia and 14,000 troops under British command were sent to Arkhangelsk, near the Arctic Circle. The men were told their mission was to protect military stores and stop Germany from establishing a submarine base.
But the foreign troops also took the side of the Whites in Russia's nascent Civil War. Some European politicians, such as Winston Churchill, worried about Communism spreading across Europe.
Soon after the Allies docked in Arkhangelsk on 2 August 1918, they began locking people up. "They didn't know who to trust or the difference between the Reds and Whites - so they decided to incarcerate anyone who seemed suspect," says Liudmila Novikova, a Moscow-based historian who has become an expert on the post-revolutionary period in the Russian north.
Since the main prison in the town was overcrowded, potential troublemakers were shipped to the island of Mudyug, 70km (45 miles) away. The first batch of inmates had to build their own prison camp in this desolate, windswept place.
Bolshevik prisoners in the prison camp on Mudyug island
We walk along the beach past a rickety watchtower before taking a path through a pine forest. It leads to some wooden barracks with rusty barbed wire on the windows.
The door opens with a creak and we are inside a long dormitory with hundreds of beds, divided by panels of wood. Each seems as narrow as a coffin.
Marina Titova, a young museum guide from Arkhangelsk who has joined us on the trip, sits on one of the beds, lost in thought.
Her great-great-uncle Fyodor Oparin, a roofer, had been at the front fighting the Germans in World War One. He was only briefly reunited with his wife and small daughter before he was arrested and sent to Mudyug, accused of recruiting the men in his village into the Red Army.
With few washing facilities and no change of clothes, inmates soon became infested with lice. Typhus spread like wildfire. Overall, about 1,000 people were imprisoned here and up to 300 died - either as a result of disease, or because they were shot or tortured to death.
When we visit it is a muggy summer afternoon and the air is thick with midges. I dread to think what it would be like here during an Arctic winter when temperatures can reach -30C (-22F). Signs from the now abandoned museum point out the "ice cells", left open to the elements, where rebellious prisoners were punished and either perished or lost limbs to frostbite.
Pavel Rasskazov, a radical journalist, spent several months on Mudyug. In his Prison Memoirs, which became a well-known and much-studied text in the Soviet era, he documented the appalling conditions and the lack of food.
He describes how, when dried bread was distributed in the morning, "starving, angry men with greedy eyes crawled all over the filthy, damp floor, full of spit, picking up each and every crumb".
Rasskazov managed to survive this place, unlike Marina's relative, Fyodor Oparin. According to one account, he tried to escape but was too weak to move fast and was shot as he ran. In another version of events, he was caught and executed the following day, along with 13 other prisoners.
Under some fir trees Marina has found a commemorative plaque to the men killed trying to escape. As she places two red carnations on the crumbling stone, a cloud of mist swirls through the trees and a soft rain falls.
"Perhaps it was just a coincidence," she says later. "But it seemed like a greeting from the past, and maybe those prisoners who suffered here, who tried to survive, could see that they were being remembered."
In Soviet times these men were remembered more often. On a small hill by the camp, there is a 25m-high obelisk adorned with a red star and hammer and sickle. Some chunks of granite have fallen off but you can still read the inscription which says it was built "in honour of patriots tortured to death by the Interventionists".
"This monument could be seen by all the ships sailing past," says historian Liudmila Novikova. "Foreign sailors who came to Arkhangelsk were often taken to Mudyug to remind them of all the atrocities their fellow countrymen and governments committed here."
Schoolchildren and factory workers also came on visits.
Near the monument, we find a run-down hall with dusty glass cases, peeling red posters on the walls and photographs of the "martyrs who gave their lives for the Revolution" or died here on the island, which is described in the inscriptions as a concentration camp.
There are pictures of Gen Edmund Ironside, the British commander of all the Allied troops in the region. Novikova says he would have known what was happening on the island even if he never visited.
This is confirmed by an entry in the leather-bound notebooks he kept in Russia, now in the possession of his 93-year-old son.
"Scurvy seems to be beginning among the Russian prisoners on Mudyug Island… and as it is a difficult place to get to, rations have been pinched," the general writes.
If the British established the camp and some of those in charge were French, many guards seem to have been local men. "We cannot have a scandalous camp," he writes. "I am responsible that the Russians treat their people well. I am always after them over the state of the prison."
But Novikova says improving conditions on Mudyug was hardly a priority for Ironside. "For him it was just a necessary security measure, and after all people were fighting and dying every day on all the fronts. So if prisoners in the rear were dying from bad conditions, that was just a drop in the ocean of suffering here."
The treatment of prisoners on Mudyug horrified one man who would later play a devastating role in northern Russia. A prominent Bolshevik close to Lenin, Mikhail Kedrov, was sent to Arkhangelsk after the October revolution and later became became a fanatical regional head of the Cheka - the secret police.
Alexander Orlov, a fellow Chekist who later defected to Canada, recalls Kedrov as a tall handsome man with ragged black hair. He writes that his eyes were often "gleaming like burning coal… possibly these were the sparks of madness".
Soviet citizens were encouraged to visit the Mudyug prison camp
While the Red Terror was not mentioned in the USSR for decades, the crimes of the White forces were endlessly listed in official propaganda. Atrocities were committed on both sides, says historian Liudmila Novikova, but the scale was different.
"The Whites and Allies who supported them were mainly pragmatic. They wanted to kill those who undermined their effort, troops who rebelled or members of the Bolshevik underground - they didn't care about eliminating their enemies totally. It was quite different on Red side because they were waging a war against the old regime - the bourgeoisie, Tsarist officers and whole classes were perceived as enemies who had to be liquidated," she says.
Lucy Ash tells the story of the forgotten war fought by Western troops in Arctic Russia in The Red and the White, on the BBC World Service
Click here for transmission times, or to listen online
Mikhail Kedrov set up a number of death camps in the North, including the first one of its kind, in Kholmogory, an hour's drive from Arkhangelsk.
Somewhere between 3,000 and 8,000 people were imprisoned and killed at a 17th Century convent. Many were White Army officers and sailors from the Kronstadt naval fortress near Finland who had rebelled against the Bolsheviks. But others had nothing to do with the military. Some were clergy, some were ordinary people who for some reason had been labelled "counter-revolutionaries".
At Kholmogory, where much of the convent is now held up by scaffolding and wrapped in corrugated iron, I met Elena, a parishioner who sings in the convent choir. She says people in the area sometimes find skulls when they dig pits to store potatoes over the winter.
Elena says the priest and volunteers collected some human remains in sacks and buried them under a marble cross on one side of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration. Each year they sing a requiem for those who died.
It's hard to pinpoint but there is an oppressive atmosphere which clings to this place, like the cold to the refectory walls when Elena invites us inside for a cup of tea.
Locals use the path through the garden as a shortcut across the town but Elena says few know - or care - about Kholmogory's terrible history.
Does she believe the Allied Intervention was the catalyst for Russia's devastating civil war, as Lenin and others have often claimed?
"I remember in my childhood hearing stories from my granny," she says. "I was a Young Pioneer and I told her the Reds were good and the Whites were bad and the Intervention troops were bad. And my granny said 'What are you talking about? The English came to our village, they brought us white flour, they gave the children sweets.' And I said: 'Granny - that is impossible they are our enemies!'"
Elena shakes her head. "They were not our enemies and to say they were responsible for the civil war is wrong. Of course not! We had enough of our own scoundrels without the intervention troops."
The radical journalist, Pavel Rasskazov, who documented his ordeal on Mudyug island, describes a French-Russian officer and former businessman from Moscow, a man "of medium height, stout, with a round, flabby face, like a bulldog".
Ernest Beaux was actually a perfumer who concocted scents for the tsar's family - such as the "Bouquet de Napoleon". But in 1918 he was working as a counter-intelligence officer on Mudyug, interrogating Bolsheviks captured by the White Russian and Allied armies.
By the end of the year, Beaux had emigrated to France, where a cousin of Nicholas II introduced him to the couturier, Coco Chanel. He has gone down in history as the man who invented Chanel No5. According to some accounts he wanted to capture the essence of snow melting on black earth and as inspired by his time in the "land of the midnight sun" - the Russian Arctic.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-41271418
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Mobile companies overcharging customers after contracts end - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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The UK government said the firms needed to inform customers when they had paid for their handsets.
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Technology
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The government thinks mobile operators need to inform customers once the handset is paid off
Vodafone, EE and Three are continuing to charge customers for the mobile phones they buy as part of a contract, even after the cost of the handset has been paid off, research suggests.
Citizens Advice found that customers who do not take out a new contract are paying an average £22 extra a month.
The government said the mobile firms needed to inform customers when they had paid for their handsets.
The operators said that their billing systems were fair.
Minister for Digital Matt Hancock said: "It's only right that mobile customers should be notified when they have paid off the price of their handset, and that their future bills should reflect this.
"I welcome Citizens Advice's call for better billing information for consumers, and hope that providers will now take the initiative by clearly separating the cost of handsets and tariffs in mobile contracts."
Vodafone told the BBC it strives to give customers "the price plan that best suits them".
Who's affected and what can you do?
"Wherever possible, we contact customers nearing the end of their contract to offer them a range of options. These include being able to upgrade their handset, receiving an extra allowance to enhance their existing plan or, if they choose, a sim-only plan," the firm said in a statement.
Three said: "Whenever a new customer signs with us, we make the end-date of the contract term very clear. We also let them know that they can contact us at any time to discuss the range of options available should they wish to change their plan with us."
And EE commented: "Separating phone and tariff doesn't always represent the best deal for consumers, it can sometimes result in them paying more."
O2 does separate airtime and device costs and chief marketing officer Nina Bibby said: "Forcing customers to continue to pay for a phone they already own not only hits their pockets but undermines trust and the reputation of the industry."
The majority of those who take out a mobile phone contract with the cost of the new handset included in the price will have paid off the price of phone over a period of two years, the study found.
The research suggested that users paying out for handsets such as the iPhone 7, the Galaxy S and Xperia XZ Premium, paid £38 extra a month, after the two-year period.
According to the study, people aged over 65 were the most likely to be stung - with 23% staying on their contract past the end of the fixed deal period.
Overall, 36% of people with a handset-inclusive contract failed to change it after the end of the fixed deal period.
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: "The cost of handsets are hidden within some mobile phone contracts giving phone providers a way to exploit their customers.
"It is clearly unfair that some phone providers are charging loyal customers for handsets that they have already paid for. It's especially concerning that older customers are more likely to be stung by this sharp practice."
She called on the phone providers to make sure that any customers staying on a contract past the end of the fixed deal have their monthly bill reduced to reflect the fact they have paid for the handset.
"Providers could make it much easier for consumers to compare prices by separating out the cost of handsets from the cost of services like data and minutes for all contracts; that way it would be much clearer what they're paying for," she added.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41679408
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What it's like being black and working class at Cambridge - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Newsbeat speaks to Chelsea Kwakye about her experience of being a student at Cambridge.
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Newsbeat
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Chelsea Kwakye is not your typical Cambridge University student.
Her mum is a nurse, her dad works in a post office depot, she went to a state school - and she's black and British.
Newly released data has found that four-fifths of students accepted at Oxbridge between 2010 and 2015 have parents in top professional and managerial jobs.
The figures also show that only three of Oxford's 32 colleges made an offer to a black A-level applicant every year over the same period.
Statistics from Cambridge revealed a quarter of colleges failed to make any offers to black British applicants during that time.
Chelsea, 20, is in her final year studying history at Cambridge.
She told Newsbeat how her university experience had in many ways been shaped by a lack of representation.
Chelsea is the only black female on her university course
"I'm the only black female on my course at the moment, and in terms of males I think there are about two," she said.
"There's so much opportunity to study such a breadth of history from all over the world, Europe, Asia and Africa.
"But it has been difficult at times being taught by a white lecturer and then being the only black student when you're doing a paper in the history of Africa."
"Visibility is definitely a problem. It's almost like a cycle where you don't see many black people at Cambridge or in courses like history so you think it's something that black people don't do."
A spokesman at Cambridge said it currently spent £5m on outreach to encourage students from all backgrounds to apply.
But in Chelsea's experience, she wishes the teachers at her state school had known more about the application process.
"The main resource that I had to use was the internet, so looking at the website online and going on YouTube to find out about the interview process," she said.
"But I remember at college my teachers didn't know a lot about the application process.
"So I think in terms of access it's not just about focusing on prospective students, but also the teachers and how they're encouraging students from state schools to apply."
Chelsea says she wishes teachers at her state school knew more about the Cambridge application process
Chelsea, who is vice-president of the Cambridge University African Caribbean Society, says the lack of representation extends further than race.
"For me something that I do try to emphasise is that black doesn't always mean working class.
"So I think we need to be careful when we talk about this situation as it affects white working-class people too.
"But in spite of this I've had a very good experience - we can't let a lack of representation stop us from getting the best out of our time here."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/articles/41696224
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Canada producer leaves TV amid flurry of sexual abuse allegations - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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Gilbert Rozon has been accused of sexually abusing and harassing women over the past three decades.
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US & Canada
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Gilbert Rozon (right) at a Gucci event in Paris
Canadian producer Gilbert Rozon has left several television productions amid accusations he sexually abused and harassed several women.
Montreal police are investigating an incident that took place in Paris in 1994, Radio Canada reported.
The 62-year-old resigned from his role as boss of the Just For Laughs comedy festival on Wednesday.
French channel M6 also suspended its broadcast of "France's Got Talent", which features Mr Rozon as a judge.
Mr Rozon issued a statement on Facebook shortly before a story by Montreal newspaper Le Devoir was published, detailing allegations of sexual abuse and sexual harassment from nine women spanning three decades.
"Shaken by the allegations against me, I want to dedicate all my time to review the matter," Rozon wrote on Facebook. "To all those who I may have offended in my life, I'm sincerely sorry."
In addition to leaving Just for Laughs, he also announced that he would be resigning from his role as commissioner of the Montreal 375th anniversary preparations.
Mr Rozon did not elaborate on the allegations, which range from sexual harassment to forced penetration, none of which have been proven in court.
Just For Laughs is one of the world's largest comedy festivals and attracts talents such as John Cleese
Mr Rozon is famous in both his home country of Canada and abroad. He founded the Just for Laughs festival in 1983 and has expanded the brand to include television shows and specials. The brand is currently used in 150 countries, and is considered the largest comedy festival in the world.
He also had a prominent role as a judge, similar to talent show judge Simon Cowell, on the French television show France's Got Talent.
But allegations of sexual misconduct have swirled around him for at least a decade. He pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a 19-year-old woman in 1998, which resulted in an absolute discharge.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41685262
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Catalonia crisis: Spain plans for elections as independence row grows - BBC News
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2017-10-20
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The region's parliament would be dissolved as part of measures to impose direct control.
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Europe
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Catalan authorities have refused to drop their campaign for independence from Spain
Spain's conservative government has agreed with the socialist opposition to hold regional elections in Catalonia in January, the socialists say.
The elections are part of a package of measures being put in place to suspend the region's autonomy, as its leader threatens to declare independence.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will announce measures to impose direct rule after a cabinet meeting on Saturday.
A referendum, outlawed by Spain, was held in Catalonia on 1 October.
Of the 43% of Catalans who reportedly voted, 90% were in favour of independence. Most anti-independence voters boycotted the ballot.
Mr Rajoy's Popular Party (PP) has not confirmed the agreement to press for a regional vote, announced by the socialist party (PSOE).
Speaking at a press conference in Brussels on Friday, Mr Rajoy said the measures to impose direct rule would have the backing of the PSOE and the centrist party Ciudadanos.
PSOE politician Carmen Calvo announced the agreement to hold regional elections in an interview on national television on Friday.
She appealed to Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont to endorse the elections. Mr Puigdemont has refused calls from the Spanish government to abandon his secessionist campaign.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Why is there a Catalan crisis? The answer is in its past
Catalonia's government will be dissolved ahead of the vote, which is part of a package of extraordinary measures being imposed on the region.
The government has said it will trigger Article 155 of the constitution, which allows Madrid to impose direct rule in a crisis but has never been invoked in its nearly 40-year history.
The full list of measures will be drawn up during Saturday's cabinet meeting. Spain's Senate, controlled by the PP and its allies, would then have to approve the list.
Other measures may include taking control of Catalonia's regional police force.
Article 155 does not give the government the power to fully suspend autonomy, and it will not be able to deviate from the list of measures.
While the dissolution of Catalonia's parliament and the holding of snap regional elections may appear to offer a way of defusing today's state of extreme tension, there are plenty of reasons to doubt that such a strategy would provide a clear exit from the crisis.
The far-left CUP has suggested that it would boycott any election imposed on the region. Other pro-independence forces might do the same. Massive street protests against any form of direct rule from Madrid can also be expected.
And what are the potential consequences of forcing an election on Catalonia?
Mr Puigdemont has promised to call a formal vote on independence in Catalonia's parliament if Article 155 is invoked. If such a declaration were approved, the pro-independence forces could style the ballot as the election of a constituent assembly for a new republic, the next stage laid down in the secessionists' road map.
Assuming the participation of all parties, voters would be bound to interpret the election as a de facto plebiscite on independence. If a separatist majority emerged once again, it is hard to see how the conflict could be considered closed.
As a deadline for the Catalan authorities to abandon independence came and went on Thursday, the government accused the region of seeking confrontation.
The independence campaign had caused "serious damage" to "the co-existence and the economic structure of Catalonia", the government said in a statement.
Mr Rajoy is currently attending an EU summit in Brussels.
The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, says there is no space for any international mediation or EU action on the Catalan crisis - though he did say there was "no hiding that the situation in Spain is concerning".
UK Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday sided with Mr Rajoy, telling reporters that "people should be abiding by the rule of law and uphold the Spanish constitution".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Catalonia independence and some of Europe's border changes
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41693318
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Robert Mugabe's WHO appointment condemned as 'an insult' - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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The UK government, an array of campaign groups and the Zimbabwe opposition express dismay.
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Africa
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Critics say health services have collapsed under Mr Mugabe's rule
The choice of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe as a World Health Organization (WHO) goodwill ambassador has been criticised by several organisations including the British government.
It described his selection as "surprising and disappointing" given his country's rights record, and warned it could overshadow the WHO's work.
The opposition in Zimbabwe and campaign groups also criticised the move.
The WHO head said he was "rethinking his approach in light of WHO values".
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had previously praised Zimbabwe for its commitment to public health.
He said it was a country that "places universal health coverage and health promotion at the centre of its policies to provide health care to all".
Mr Mugabe's appointment as a "goodwill ambassador" to help tackle non-communicable diseases has attracted a chorus of criticism.
Critics have long argued that Zimbabwe's health service is not meeting the needs of patients
The British government said it was all the more surprising given US and EU sanctions against him.
"We have registered our concerns" with the director general, a spokesman said.
"Although Mugabe will not have an executive role, his appointment risks overshadowing the work undertaken globally by the WHO on non-communicable diseases."
Zimbabwe's leader has been frequently taken to task over human rights abuses by the European Union and the US.
Critics say Zimbabwe's health care system has collapsed, with staff often going without pay while medicines are in short supply.
Dr Tedros, who is Ethiopian, is the first African to lead the WHO. He was elected in May with a mandate to tackle perceived politicisation in the organisation.
US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it was an embarrassment to give the ambassador role to Mr Mugabe, because his "utter mismanagement of the economy has devastated health services".
Critics of the president say that Zimbabwe's health care system is in a shambolic state
HRW's Kenneth Roth said Mr Mugabe's appointment was a cause for concern because the president and some of his officials travel abroad for treatment.
"When you go to Zimbabwean hospitals, they lack the most basic necessities," he said.
Zimbabwe's main MDC opposition party also denounced the WHO move.
"The Zimbabwe health delivery system is in a shambolic state, it is an insult," spokesman Obert Gutu told AFP.
"Mugabe trashed our health delivery system... he allowed our public hospitals to collapse."
Other groups who have criticised Mr Mugabe's appointment include the Wellcome Trust, the NCD Alliance, UN Watch, the World Heart Federation and Action Against Smoking.
President Mugabe heard about his appointment while attending a conference held by the WHO, a UN agency, on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Montevideo, Uruguay.
He told delegates his country had adopted several strategies to combat the challenges presented by such diseases, which the WHO says kill about 40 million people a year and include cancers, respiratory diseases and diabetes.
"Zimbabwe has developed a national NCD policy, a palliative care policy, and has engaged United Nations agencies working in the country, to assist in the development of a cervical cancer prevention and control strategy," Mr Mugabe was reported by the state-run Zimbabwe Herald newspaper as saying.
But the president admitted that Zimbabwe was similar to other developing countries in that it was "hamstrung by a lack of adequate resources for executing programmes aimed at reducing NCDs and other health conditions afflicting the people".
Medicine is often in short supply at Zimbabwe's hospitals, critics say
The UN has a bit of thing for goodwill ambassadors, especially famous ones.
Angelina Jolie, as ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency, was regularly pictured comforting displaced families in over-crowded camps.
Swiss tennis star Roger Federer visits aid projects in Africa for Unicef and plays charity matches to raise money.
Further back in time, film star and Unicef goodwill ambassador Audrey Hepburn visited disaster zones and graced gala dinners where her glittering presence was an encouragement to donors.
The publicity does attract support for relief efforts.
But it is hard to imagine 93-year-old Robert Mugabe fulfilling a similar remit.
Will he provide comfort in WHO field clinics in conflict zones? Would one of his suit jackets fetch a high price at auction? Would the presence of a man who is widely accused of human rights abuses encourage more $10,000-a-plate attendees at a gala ball?
Somehow it just does not seem likely, which begs the question, what exactly is Mr Mugabe going to do in his new role? The World Health Organization has not made this at all clear.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41702662
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Newspaper headlines: Roadworks 'misery' to end and EU 'saves May' - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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Plans to increase a motorway speed limit and progress over Brexit talks are among the stories leading the papers.
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The Papers
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A number of papers focus on what the UK's Brexit bill might be
Some of the papers try to put a figure on what the UK's Brexit bill might be.
The Daily Mirror thinks it could be £36bn, noting that Prime Minister Theresa May did not rule out a doubling of the current £18bn offer.
The Daily Telegraph's suggestion is £40bn, while the Sun says it has been told by one senior Brussels diplomat the EU wants £48bn.
The paper says this would leave the prime minister needing to convince taxpayers why it is worth paying such a huge sum, although it does note some believe that the long-term losses from not striking a deal could dwarf this figure.
The way the EU referendum was fought and the role of Twitter is the subject of an article on the Buzzfeed website.
It says a study has found that a network of more than 13,000 bots - or automated pieces of software - tweeted predominantly pro-Brexit messages in the run-up to the vote.
The researchers at City, the University of London, say they are concerned this tactic gave a "false sense of momentum behind certain ideas".
Damian Collins, the Conservative chair of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, tells Buzzfeed he has written to Twitter to ask whether there has been any "interference in the democratic process".
Twitter says its systems identify more than three million suspicious accounts every week.
There seems to be a consensus that the EU softened its stance on Brexit at the European Council summit.
The Daily Telegraph thinks this was because of fears in Brussels that Mrs May's government could collapse if the negotiations remained deadlocked.
Oliver Duff, the editor of the i paper, goes further, arguing Mrs May successfully emphasised her weakness - in effect saying "you think I'm a pain in the proverbial? Try Boris or David Davis".
A number of papers focus on what the UK's Brexit bill might be
The Sun warns Brussels not to overplay its hand by asking for too much money in return for trade talks.
The Guardian thinks the prime minister had a decent 24 hours in Brussels and hopes there is a shared recognition that the EU and the UK have a common interest in making the best of Brexit.
The Times columnist, Matthew Paris, warns the crisis in Catalonia could bring a violent civil conflict to Spain and threaten its very existence.
He is angry that what he calls "tinpot nationalists on both sides have puffed themselves into an entirely avoidable high noon", arguing the problems could have been resolved with "a little respect".
According to the Financial Times, two board members of the Weinstein Company tried for years to investigate Harvey Weinstein because of allegations of sexual misconduct.
Donald Trump's tweet claiming crime in the UK has risen because of Islamic terror prompts a backlash in the papers.
The Daily Mirror quotes the Conservative MP Sir Nicholas Soames, who calls Mr Trump "a daft twerp", suggesting he should "fix gun control" instead.
The Washington Post suggests the president was again trying to raise the spectre of terrorism - days after another court blocked one of his travel bans.
In its coverage of the controversy, the Daily Telegraph compares crime levels in London and New York and comes to the conclusion the British capital is worse.
It says the cities both have similar populations but in London someone is six times more likely to be burgled and three times more likely to report a rape - although the murder rate in New York remains higher.
The paper puts the difference down to New York's zero tolerance approach in the 1990s.
On its front page, the Daily Mail asks "have our police lost the plot?" - picturing two support officers wearing bear masks.
It says forces are being urged to abandon silly stunts and get officers back on the beat.
In its lead, the Times reports that the 50mph (80km/h) speed limit imposed on drivers going past roadworks is to be eased.
It says research involving heart monitors suggests drivers are more relaxed going at 60mph (96km/h), in part because they can overtake slower-moving lorries.
But, it seems, motorists are facing added stress at airports because of a sharp rise in short-term parking fees.
According to the Daily Mail, they are being charged up to 35 pence a minute to drop off loved ones. taking the cost of a goodbye kiss to about £3.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-41702829
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Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman: The couple taken by the Taliban - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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What’s next for the North American couple and their children rescued from five years of captivity?
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US & Canada
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Canadian Joshua Boyle and American Caitlan Coleman were rescued this month after being held captive for five years by a Taliban-linked insurgent group. But what were two Western backpackers doing in Afghanistan in the first place?
"Looking back, I think it was two years before we saw any proof they were alive," recalls Joshua Boyle's friend Alex Edwards.
"I had assumed that they were probably dead, and tried to make peace with that."
Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 after venturing into one of the most hostile regions of the war-torn country.
The last email from Boyle, sent to Coleman's parents on 8 October of that year, said they were in a part of Afghanistan he described as "unsafe".
The two were held in captivity for five years, suffering violence and abuse. Boyle says one of the children they conceived during the ordeal was killed by their captors.
Edwards says when he first heard his friend had travelled to Afghanistan with Coleman - who was seven months pregnant at the time - he couldn't understand how they had "done something so appallingly dangerous".
Family and friends have described Boyle and Coleman as naive idealists - a couple with strong convictions and humanitarian inclinations.
In interviews following their release, Boyle said he and Coleman travelled to Afghanistan to help people. He called himself a "pilgrim" on a mission.
He told reporters he went to help "the most neglected minority group in the world. Those ordinary villagers who live deep inside Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where no NGO, no aid worker and no government has ever successfully been able to bring the necessary help".
What exactly the couple intended to do to help is a question that hasn't been answered.
A French soldier secures a perimeter on a forward observing post in the Wardak province
Coleman, 31, grew up in Stewartstown, a small Pennsylvania town about 100 miles west of Philadelphia.
Boyle, 34, was raised in Smith Falls, near Canada's capital city Ottawa.
The two met online, reportedly bonding over a shared love of Star Wars. They married in 2011.
Friends interviewed in 2016 by Philadelphia magazine describe Coleman as a devout Christian who loved travel and had a gentle sense of humour - "big-hearted, relentlessly optimistic, adventurous, funny and flawed".
Boyle - a self-described "pacifist Mennonite hippie child" according to Edwards - has a more contentious past.
He was briefly married to Zaynab Khadr, the sister of former Guantanamo bay inmate Omar Khadr. The union pulled him publicly into the orbit of one of Canada's most notorious families.
Joshua and Caitlan before their capture
The Khadr family patriarch, who was killed in Pakistan in 2003, was an alleged close associate of Osama Bin Laden.
Zaynab herself is well known for her outspoken views, refusing to condemn terror attacks like the London bombings of 2005 or downplaying 9/11.
Omar Khadr, who was caught in Afghanistan at 15 by American forces, was held in Guantanamo for 10 years and charged with the murder of a US soldier.
Critics accuse him of being a radicalised fighter at the time of his capture.
But Omar's supporters considered him a child soldier and Boyle - a human rights advocate - took a deep interest in his case.
His marriage to Zaynab Khadr ended in 2010.
The Associated Press has reported that US officials don't believe Boyle's former ties to the Khadr family had anything to do with the kidnapping of him and his wife.
Before leaving on their Central Asian adventure, Coleman had told friends they would only travel to the "safe '-stans" during their six-month trip. But at some point, that changed.
The couple pictured before their kidnapping
In 2012, a UK man met Joshua Boyle and Coleman in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
Richard Cronin describes how Boyle - after a long night spent discussing historic explorers - convinced him to travel to Afghanistan.
Boyle and Coleman had been backpacking in Russia and the former Soviet Republics of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Afghanistan was next on the list.
"I asked Josh where he wanted to go in Afghanistan and he replied 'all over'.
"He had also said it was safe provided you didn't go to a region where there were foreign troops and the Taliban, namely the south," Cronin wrote in a blog about the encounter.
While in Afghanistan, Cronin learned that Boyle and Coleman had gone missing in the country.
Cronin later told a Toronto Star reporter who covered the couple's lengthy captivity: "I hope Josh and his family get out safely. I have some questions I'd really like to ask them. I'm sure you do too".
In 2013, after months of anguished mystery, the Boyle and Coleman families learned what had happened to the vanished couple.
They had been taken hostage by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network while travelling in the Wardak Province, a mountainous region outside Kabul.
A man believed to have ties to the Taliban emailed the Coleman family two videos of Boyle and their daughter, asking for the US and Canada to do more to free them from their captors.
In the video - the first of four released to the families - they appear tired, dispirited, and dazed.
Coleman had given birth to her first son in captivity.
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
Boyle and Coleman's families made those first two videos public in 2014 after the release of US soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who had also been held as a Taliban captive, hoping the publicity would help their appeal for the couple's safe return.
The last video released of the two came out just 10 months ago, shortly before Christmas. It showed Boyle and Coleman with two of their children.
In that video, Coleman described their situation as a "Kafkaesque nightmare".
The family was subject to mistreatment and violence during their captivity. In interviews, Boyle says the family was frequently shuffled between locations, often held in rooms not much bigger than a toilet stall.
There were times Boyle and Coleman were separated and beaten.
But Boyle has also said one of their biggest challenges was the daily tedium, the long hours with little to fill them.
In a short email exchange with the BBC, Boyle described passing the time educating their two sons.
"We had always intended to home school our own offspring - we just hadn't foreseen it would be without books, paper or pen... but we made do with what we had, tore up old garbage to make solar systems, splinters of wood to learn multiplying, bottle caps became compasses, etc," he wrote.
He told the Associated Press that they decided to have children in captivity because "we're sitting as hostages with a lot of time on our hands. We always wanted as many as possible, and we didn't want to waste time. Cait's in her 30s, the clock is ticking."
An Afghan security force member keeps watch at the site of a suicide attack in Wardak province
In the intervening years, Boyle and Coleman's family and friends expressed frustration at the apparent lack of interest from the US and Canadian officials, and the media and public's indifference to their plight.
"It doesn't get the attention it deserves, and I have no idea why," a friend told Philadelphia magazine in a 2016 feature about Coleman.
"It's just messed up. She's a person. She has a family. She's not just this 'kidnapped American woman.'"
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Caitlan Coleman's family makes an appeal for their daughter's return
Edwards says he received mostly disinterest when he tried to get the Star Wars and Firefly fan communities - Boyle was an aficionado of both - to help raise awareness of their case.
In retrospect, he feels it's clear why he couldn't rally people to their cause.
"People don't want to help with something unless they know it's the right thing to do, and there were just too many complicating factors in Josh and Caitlan's situation," he says.
"What were they doing in Afghanistan? What's the deal with the Khadr connection? I tried to answer those questions as best I could, but the fact that they even came up is a huge strike against people caring."
But Edwards says: "The fact that no one seemed particularly concerned about two Canadian children being held captive by the Taliban is a shocking indictment of our society."
The couple were captured in Afghanistan's Wardak province and rescued near Kohat, Pakistan
In 2015, a retired Special Forces officer testified before a US Senate committee about a plan to rescue to Boyle, Coleman and their children from captivity as part of a larger prisoner swap.
The Green Beret's team had been tasked with trying to help bring soldier Bowe Bergdahl home.
"We also realised that there were civilian hostages in Pakistan that nobody was trying to free so they were added to our mission," Jason Amerine said, mentioning Boyle and Coleman by name in his testimony.
The rescue plan collapsed, though Bergdahl was eventually released in 2014 in a controversial Taliban prisoner exchange.
It seemed that Boyle and Coleman were slowly being forgotten.
So their release after five years of captivity came as a surprise.
On 12 October, Pakistani and US officials confirmed Pakistani troops rescued the family in a successful but risky mission - shooting out the tyres of the car where they were stuffed in the boot.
Boyle, Coleman and their three children were safe and heading home.
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
Aisha Ahmad, a University of Toronto political scientist who studies jihadist groups, suggests it was no coincidence the timing of the rescue came during a tense period between US and Pakistan.
"The reason the Pakistanis were so willing to pull the trigger is because they desperately needed to mend relations with the new Trump administration," she says.
The family's release netted rare praise for Pakistan from Mr Trump who called it "a sign that it [Pakistan] is honouring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region".
"The Pakistani army and the intelligence community are very realistic in their calculations - they are strategists," says Ahmad. "They care about geopolitics, they play the long game."
On Thursday, CIA director Mike Pompeo told a Washington-based think tank Boyle and Coleman were held in Pakistan during their long captivity, contradicting earlier claims made by Pakistani officials.
After landing in Canada, Joshua Boyle struck out at his former captors.
He says the "criminal miscreants" raped Coleman and killed a fourth child - a daughter - in a forced abortion.
The Taliban have denied Coleman was assaulted and claim the child died due to a miscarriage.
Boyle told the BBC about the one captor he got to know, a man from the West with whom he could "ask esoteric questions on little-known points of Islamic law and history".
After the learning of the rape by some of the guards, the man defected to the so-called Islamic State "try to find a truer jihad" and promised "to try and tell ISIS of the cruelties, acts of disbelief and hypocrisy of the Haqqani Network".
"I offered him my fullest forgiveness, and Caitlan said she would forgive him all his minor sins against her, but she couldn't forgive what he'd done to the children in his blind exuberance for the group at the start," Boyle wrote.
Joshua Boyle plays outdoors with his son near his family's home
For now, Boyle, Coleman and their three children are adjusting to their newfound freedom in the suburban sanctuary of Boyle's parents' Ontario home.
The children have the resilience of youth and attentive grandparents, and Boyle has said they're slowly adapting to their new circumstances, though the family continues to sleep together in one small room.
"It's not welcome to the western world, it's not welcome to Canada, it's welcome to life," he told NBC's Today programme.
Coleman has not spoken publicly since her release and was admitted to hospital earlier this week with an undisclosed ailment.
Boyle told journalists the couple are focusing on building a safe home for their children and that he remains committed "to do the right thing no matter the cost".
"In the final analysis, it is the intentions of our actions, not their consequences, on which we all shall eventually be judged."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41656159
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Taxpayer-funded drugs 'too expensive for patients’ - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Campaigners say UK taxpayers "effectively pay twice" for medicines, increasing NHS budget pressures.
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Health
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Taxpayer-funded medical research is producing medicines which are increasingly unaffordable for patients who need them, says a new report.
Campaigners claim that the NHS spent more than £1bn on drugs developed from publically funded research in 2016.
A government spokesperson said it wanted the UK to be a global leader in research and development".
But NHS England said it was concerned about price "anomalies", and questioned whether regulatory action was needed.
It said that was essential that drug companies price their products responsibly.
It added: "Although the responsibility for the how prices are set for medicines lies with the Department of Health, and in general the system delivers value for money for patients, we are concerned about pricing anomalies at a time when the NHS needs to make significant savings which suggests further regulatory action may be needed."
The government said that it was committed to ensuring patients could access the effective medicines they needed, at a price that represented value for the NHS and for taxpayers.
A new report, seen by 5 live Investigates, claims that UK taxpayers and patients worldwide are being denied the medicines they need, despite the public sector playing a pivotal role in the discovery of new medicines.
The report, published by campaign groups Global Justice Now and Stop Aids, says that even when the government has part-funded the research and development, there is no guarantee that patients will be able to access the medicines at an affordable price.
It says: "In many cases, the UK taxpayer effectively pays twice for medicines: first through investing in R&D, and then by paying high prices for the resulting medicine once ownership has been transferred to a private company."
It claims the high prices of new medicines are "unsustainable for an already underfunded NHS".
Industry representatives counter that the situation is not that straightforward.
They say that turning scientific discoveries into medicines takes years of scientific trials and costs billions of pounds, and the process is risky, so not every drug they test will make it to market.
However, campaigners say drug companies are generating huge private profits from public funds.
Emma believes drug companies should reduce the price of cancer drugs
Emma Robertson, 35, has incurable breast cancer and is taking the drug, palbociclib.
This drug was originally developed using work carried out by publicly funded Cancer Research UK scientists in the 1980s, for which they won the 2001 Nobel Prize.
In February, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) made a provisional decision not to recommend the drug because the cost was too high in relation to its potential benefits.
However Ms Robertson is receiving the drug through a free trial provided by the drug company Pfizer.
A full course of treatment with palbociclib costs £79,650, which campaigners say means the manufacturer is vastly overpricing the drug.
They claim it could be made and sold for a profit for £1 per pill, but say in fact it is currently sold for 140 times more.
"Pfizer needs to dramatically reduce the price that it wants to charge for this drug," Ms Robertson says.
"We need to be asking some really serious questions about how drugs are researched and developed," she adds.
It told the BBC that it took more than 20 years to build on the work of the Cancer Research UK scientists.
Turning scientific discoveries into medicines takes "billions of pounds of investment, millions of hours of science and thousands of clinical trials," the firm explained.
There are around 45,000 new diagnoses of breast cancer each year in England.
Meanwhile, health bosses estimate that around 5,500 people in England would be eligible for treatment with palbociclib.
Richard Sullivan, professor of cancer and global health at Kings College London, said that while some drug companies price their drugs correctly, others "vastly overprice" their drugs.
"Many of these drugs are extremely profitable", he said, "but there is absolutely no link between the price set and with the returns on the research - it's a complete myth."
"When a drug is refused by Nice there's only one reason it's refused - the company has knowingly overpriced the drug."
Professor Sullivan told the BBC that the public sector had contributed anywhere between "30% and up to 90% of the overall research intellectual input" in the development of drugs.
"The public sector is essential for developing new medicines for cancer patients," he added.
The Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry responded by saying that the suggestion that companies intentionally overpriced drugs "doesn't make sense" because their overall objective is to ensure that the drugs are approved by Nice and then used by patients.
In 2015, the UK government spent £2.3bn on health research and development and the relationship been public funding and profits is complex.
Campaigners say more needs to be done to reform the system and that research and development should not be linked to sales revenue.
Instead, campaigners argue, companies should be rewarded for their research in exchange for limiting the price of drugs.
However the pharmaceutical industry says it provides thousands of jobs and the current system is crucial to encouraging drug development.
5 live Investigates is broadcast on Sunday 22nd October 2017 at 11am BST. If you've missed it you can catch up on the iPlayer.
Have you got something you want investigating? We want to hear from you. Email us.
• None Drug firms go to court over cost limits
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41693246
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Brazil police arrests 108 in major anti-paedophilia operation - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Officers seize more than 150,000 files with disturbing images of young children and teenagers.
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Latin America & Caribbean
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Suspects covered their faces as they were taken for questioning
Police in Brazil say they have arrested 108 people in the biggest operation ever against paedophiles in Latin America.
Suspects were arrested in 24 states and the capital, Brasilia.
Justice Minister Torquato Jardim said those detained were part of a ring that shared pornographic images of children through computers and mobile phones.
The operation comes at the end of a six-month investigation, which involved US and European immigration officials.
Investigators have found more than 150,000 files containing disturbing images.
They were accessed through the dark web, a part of the internet not reached by most search engines.
Among those arrested were retired policemen, civil servants and people in charge of football youth clubs.
More than 1,000 officers were involved in the operation
Mr Jardim said the paedophiles use sophisticated techniques to evade police investigations.
"They store their illegal, criminal photos in a computer of someone in another part of the country or even abroad," he said.
"And often the people storing the content are unaware," added Mr Jardim.
But after seizing dozens of computers, mobile phones, CDs and hard drives, investigators found out that the criminal group was also producing pornographic material to distribute on the internet.
The files contained disturbing images of babies and young children being abused.
Some of the children and teenagers denounced their own parents or other relatives to officers taking part in the operation.
It is not clear if the paedophile ring operated independently in Brazil or if it was connected with other criminal networks abroad.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-41704429
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King Felipe VI says Catalonia 'will remain' Spanish - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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King Felipe VI says Spain will solve the crisis through democratic institutions.
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Europe
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Spain's King Felipe VI has said Catalonia "is and will remain" an essential part of the country.
It is his second intervention in the Catalonia secession crisis.
He told an awards ceremony in the northern city of Oviedo that the Catalan government was causing a rift and Spain would solve the problem through democratic institutions.
Catalonia's leader has threatened to declare independence, and Madrid is making plans to impose direct rule.
According to the opposition Socialists - who support the central government's stand against Catalan independence - the plans include elections in Catalonia in January.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will announce the full set of measures on Saturday, two days after a deadline for Catalonia's autonomous government to abandon its independence bid.
The central government has said it will trigger Article 155 of the constitution, which allows it to impose direct rule in a crisis, for the first time.
Other moves may include taking control of Catalonia's regional police force.
Article 155 does not give the government the power to fully suspend autonomy.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Why is there a Catalan crisis? The answer is in its past
A referendum, regarded as illegal by Spain, was held in Catalonia on 1 October.
Of the 43% of Catalans who reportedly voted, 90% were in favour of independence. Most anti-independence voters boycotted the ballot.
King Felipe previously said Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and other separatist leaders who organised the referendum had "broken the democratic principles of the rule of law" and showed "disrespect to the powers of the state".
While the dissolution of Catalonia's parliament and the holding of snap regional elections may appear to offer a way of defusing today's state of extreme tension, there are plenty of reasons to doubt that such a strategy would provide a clear solution to the crisis.
The far-left CUP has suggested that it would boycott any election imposed on the region. Other pro-independence forces might do the same. Massive street protests against any form of direct rule from Madrid can also be expected.
And what are the potential consequences of forcing an election on Catalonia?
Mr Puigdemont has promised to call a formal vote on independence in Catalonia's parliament if Article 155 is invoked. If such a declaration were approved, the pro-independence forces could style the ballot as the election of a constituent assembly for a new republic, the next stage laid down in the secessionists' road map.
Assuming the participation of all parties, voters would be bound to interpret the election as a de facto plebiscite on independence. If a separatist majority emerged once again, it is hard to see how the conflict could be considered closed.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41702327
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Storm Brian: Gale-force winds and high seas hit UK coast - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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Some flood warnings remain in place, although disruption was not as bad as had been feared.
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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.
Storm Brian has eased after the UK saw gale-force winds and high seas, although disruption was not as bad as had been feared.
Gusts of 78mph were recorded in Capel Curig and Aberdaron, north Wales, with 84mph recorded on the Isle of Wight.
The Environment Agency said three properties had been flooded in the upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire.
There are Red and amber flood warnings in much of northern England and people are urged to "take immediate action".
There are also flood warnings in place in the South West and Wales, while the south of England and London were under yellow wind warnings.
The storm comes after three people were killed and hundreds of thousands of people - mostly in the Irish Republic - were left without power after the remnants of Storm Ophelia battered the British Isles after weakening from its earlier hurricane force.
Strong winds and high seas first reached the western coast of Ireland overnight on Friday.
Gusts hit 80mph (130km/h) in the country, said Irish weather agency Met Éireann, and there was flash flooding in several Irish cities, including Limerick.
A race meeting at Fairyhouse was cancelled and the Cliffs of Moher tourist attraction in County Clare was closed.
Flooding was caused by the storm in Limerick, Ireland
In Wales, trains and ferries were cancelled and seafront roads closed as a result of the weather.
Natural Resources Wales said the coastline was likely to be "extremely dangerous this weekend".
A lifeboat was sent to help a person in difficulty at Skrinkle, while Porthcawl RNLI warned people to watch the storm waves on its live feed, after people were spotted taking photographs from the harbour wall.
Ceredigion council also warned people to "keep away" from seafronts and "be careful" on low-lying land where coastal flooding was possible.
Flood barriers have been put up in Cornwall to protect costal towns
The Environment Agency has issued 30 flood warnings - meaning flooding is expected - in the north-west and south-west of England.
Flood barriers have been put in place in areas including Fowey in Cornwall, but Frank Newell, from the Environment Agency, said the surge had been lower than forecast.
"In terms of impact, we've had spray overtopping quaysides, but we don't have at the moment any reported property flooding," he said.
In Wales and southern England, fallen trees and other debris on railway tracks caused cancellations and disruption on some lines.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Waves crash into the seafront in Aberystwyth, Wales, as Storm Brian hits the UK
The Environment Agency's national flood duty manager, Ben Lukey, warned people against posing for photos during the hazardous conditions.
He said: "We urge people to stay safe along the coast and warn against putting yourself in unnecessary danger by taking 'storm selfies' or driving through flood water - just 30cm (11in) is enough to move your car."
Waves crashed over Mullion Harbour in Cornwall on Saturday
Have you been affected by Storm Brian? If it is safe to do so, share your pictures, video 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-41704779
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Shinzo Abe wins resounding victory in Japan, exit polls say - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The prime minister has kept his "super-majority" and says he will deal firmly with North Korea
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Asia
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's coalition has won a resounding victory in Sunday's general election, according to exit polls.
On hearing of his victory he said he would "firmly deal with" threats from North Korea.
The public broadcaster NHK put Mr Abe's Liberal Democratic Party-led (LDP) coalition at 312 seats, allowing it to retain its two-thirds "super majority".
This is vital to his ambition to revise Japan's post-war pacifist constitution.
Mr Abe has pushed for a shift in Japan's defence policy, calling for formal recognition of the military in the constitution.
He said he would try to "gain support from as many people as possible" for the task.
He said on Sunday: "As I promised in the election, my imminent task is to firmly deal with North Korea.
"For that, strong diplomacy is required."
Mr Abe announced the election on 25 September, saying he needed a fresh mandate in order to deal with the "national crises" facing Japan.
The crises include North Korea, which has threatened to "sink" Japan into the sea. Pyongyang has also fired two missiles over Hokkaido, the northernmost island in Japan.
A win in the election raises Mr Abe's chances of securing a third three-year-term as leader of the LDP when the party votes next September.
That would give him the opportunity to become Japan's longest serving prime minister, having been elected in 2012.
Japan went to the polls on Sunday as Typhoon Lan lashed parts of the country. The category four storm brought strong winds and heavy rain to the south of the country, causing flights to be cancelled and rail services to be disrupted.
It is expected to blow into the Tokyo area early on Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Speaking to the BBC, one observer described voting for Mr Abe's Liberal Democratic Party as TINA, or "there is no alternative".
The snap election was called a year ahead of schedule
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41711369
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Why Tina Turner came out of retirement - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A new musical based on the singer's life is hitting London's West End in 2018.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Adrienne Warren will play Tina Turner in the musical, which opens in April
A new musical based on the life of Tina Turner is set to open in the West End in 2018 - and the singer even came out of retirement (somewhat reluctantly) to work on it.
"Retirement is wonderful," Turner says as she launches Tina: The Musical in London.
"You sleep long, do what you want, decorate the house two or three times. Just easy things that you dreamt about when you were working and that's all you did."
She says her lifestyle when she was famous involved spending most of her time on tour buses, planes and cars, adding: "That was work and that's sometimes what you had to do.
"But you had a dream not to have to do any of it."
Turner, whose hits include The Best and What's Love Got To Do With It, was initially reluctant to sign up for working on the show, which opens at London's Aldwych Theatre in April.
"I didn't want to because I didn't really understand it or agree with it, whatever there is - the magic between stage and music is totally different," she says. "So I'm learning and experiencing what musicals are about."
The producers of Tina had to fly out to Switzerland, where Turner now lives, to convince her to give the project her blessing.
The pair performed together at the launch of the musical in London this week
Turner was eventually won over, and now comments: "This took me out of retirement... I'm very excited to be a part of it."
But the big question of course, was who was going to play Tina in the show. This week, the theatre world got its answer: Adrienne Warren.
"She can sing," Turner says. "She will do the dancing. Maybe she hasn't done the type of dancing that me and my girls would do, but she can do that. She's pretty. And we're giving it a try."
Giving audiences a flavour of what they can expect, Warren performed three songs at the launch, including two duets with Turner, proving in the process that she definitely has the voice to pull this role off.
Speaking after the performance, the Virginia-born actress said: "She's a motivation, inspiration to all women, and especially women of colour.
"It's the first time I ever realised that I could grow up in the South and have dreams that would take me all over the world. I wouldn't have become a performer if it wasn't for Tina Turner."
Adrienne Warren said audiences will find the musical "inspirational"
She adds: "When you haven an opportunity like this, I call it a responsibility. Because I'm a Tina Turner fan first, so that's a responsibility and I don't take that lightly."
Details of the plot and songs included in the show haven't been announced yet, but producers say it will be a fairly comprehensive telling of Turner's life story - not shying away from issues such as the domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband Ike.
Describing the show's content, Adrienne said: "Dark? No. Inspirational? Yes. It is the truth of her story. Sometimes the best things in life come out of the worst things in life, so that's what's so appealing about this show.
"There are challenges, the stamina that is required for this show was something like I've never seen before, and actually having Tina as my coach as I do this is something quite interesting as well, so I love every second of it.
"It shows all of us that no matter what obstacle comes your way, whether it's your family not supporting you, whether it's bullying, domestic violence, don't ever let that stop you achieving your dreams."
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-41666887
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Titanic letter sells for world record price at auction - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Passenger's letter home, written a day before the ship hit an iceberg, fetches £126,000 at auction.
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Northern Ireland
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The letter was written by Oscar Holverson to his mother
One of the last known letters to have been written on the Titanic has sold for a world record price at auction.
The letter, written by American businessman and Titanic passenger, Oscar Holverson, fetched £126,000.
It was sought-after because he wrote it on 13 April 1912 - the day before the Belfast-built ship hit an iceberg.
It is the only known letter, on headed Titanic notepaper, to have gone into the Atlantic and survived.
The sea-water stained document was sold to a British buyer, whose bid to the auction in Wiltshire came in via phone.
The auctioneer, Andrew Aldridge, described the anonymous customer as someone "who collects iconic items from history".
Mr Holverson, a successful salesman, wrote the letter to his mother while travelling on the ill-fated ship with his wife, Mary.
The couple boarded the Titanic in Southampton and planned to travel back to their home in New York.
In his note, the writer seems in awe of his surroundings, telling his mother that "the boat is giant in size and fitted up like a palatial hotel".
Mr Holverson, who has an idiosyncratic style to his syntax, also writes about seeing "the richest person in the world at that time" - John Jacob Astor - on the ship, accompanied by his wife.
"He looks like any other human being even tho (sic) he has millions of money," he adds. "They sit out on deck with the rest of us."
The letter had a reserve price of between £60,000 and £80,000.
Speaking ahead of Saturday's sale, Mr Aldridge said that "even if the letter was virtually blank, it would still rank as amongst the most desirable, such is the nature of the paper, its markings and history".
Having been an auctioneer of Titanic memorabilia for 20 years, he said that its content takes it to another level, "because of its date, the fact it went into the Atlantic and the observations it contains".
One prophetic entry in Mr Holverson's letter never came true, when he wrote: "If all goes well we will arrive in New York Wednesday AM."
When the Titanic sank, Oscar Holverson, along with JJ Astor, died along with more than 1,500 people.
Her husband's body was recovered and, inside a pocket book, the letter was found.
It still bears the stains of the sea water and the water mark of the White Star shipping line.
The letter eventually made its way back to his mother.
Mr Aldridge said that makes it "possibly, the only onboard letter written by a victim that was delivered to its recipient without postage".
The letter still bears the stains of the sea and the water mark of the White star shipping line
Mr Holverson was buried in Woodlawn cemetery in New York, unaware that, 105 years later, his unposted letter would generate such interest.
Mr Aldridge, who has auctioned everything from a set of Titanic keys for £85,000, to a violin that was played as the ship sank, for £1.1m, said he was also excited to see the letter.
He said it was "one of the most iconic and important items from the Titanic ever offered at auction and shows that interest in the ship and its passengers remains incredibly strong".
Other items in Saturday's auction included a set of keys belonging to a steward in the Titanic's First Class, which fetched £76,000.
Two previously unpublished photos of the Titanic went for £24,000.
The previous world record for a Titanic letter sold at auction was £119,000, set in April 2014, for a letter written a few hours before the ship hit the iceberg.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-41696084
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Stop anonymous attacks on me, Wood tells Plaid politicians - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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It follows reports of disquiet among some Plaid AMs over whether she should lead the party in 2021.
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Wales politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Leanne Wood says she would prefer critics to "say it to my face" rather than brief in private
Leanne Wood has made a public appeal to Plaid Cymru AMs to stop making anonymous criticisms of her leadership to journalists.
Speaking on BBC Wales, she said: "I mean it's just ridiculous. We need to be adults about this."
"If anybody's got anything to say I'd really prefer it if they'd say it to my face," Ms Wood added.
It follows reports of disquiet among some Plaid AMs over whether she should lead the party for another four years.
Throughout the party's annual conference in Caernarfon, Ms Wood has insisted she will be Plaid's leader at the next assembly election, and that she has the backing of the membership.
The party's Mid and West Wales AM Simon Thomas told the BBC's live conference programme Plaid Cymru's rules would allow a leadership race in 2018.
"If anyone wants to challenge Leanne next year, then let them come forward and challenge her," he said, ruling himself out of such a challenge.
"If anyone thinks they can do a better job than Leanne Wood then they have to come forward next year and put themselves forward to do that, otherwise all talk about this must stop."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Rhun ap Iorwerth says he is loyal to Leanne Wood
On Saturday morning Ynys Mon AM Rhun ap Iorwerth said he was loyal to the leader, after he remarked in August he would "perhaps" one day wish to lead Plaid Cymru.
Asked if he supported Leanne Wood's announcement that she wished to lead Plaid into the 2021 assembly poll, he said: "After that interview in August... and I said 'who knows', I was then asked 'are you loyal to Leanne?'
"And I said that day and as I say today, yes I am."
Arfon Plaid MP Hywel Williams said it would be "eminently reasonable" for Ms Wood to be leader at the next assembly election.
In the conference hall on Saturday, Plaid Cymru economy spokesman Adam Price outlined plans for a "youth basic income" for 18 to 24-year-olds.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Adam Price said the youth basic income could help attract graduates back to Wales
It would comprise of four options, including a "guaranteed" job, a national citizen service, support for further and higher education and grants to help young people get businesses off the ground.
Mr Price said the party would offer the "most comprehensive package of support for young people across the entire world".
Youth unemployment in Wales was 13.1% for the year to the end of June 2017. The overall unemployment rate was 4% between June and August.
Detailed research on how to finance the proposal will be undertaken by Plaid's new think tank, Nova Cambria, which will be launched before the end of the year and will be tasked with coming up with "bold, original ideas".
One of those ideas would include calling for "an end to free cash for foreign owned companies", Mr Price told the conference floor.
Former Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones had promised to stop paying handouts to businesses in 2010 when he was deputy first minister and drew up the Welsh Government's last economic strategy.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. BBC Wales political correspondent Daniel Davies reflects on the mood at party conference
Earlier Ms Wood highlighted her plans for a "rail revolution" on a visit with Network Rail at Bangor railway station.
The opposition party wants to issue a rail bond to finance electrification to Swansea - a model it says could also be used to create a Metro public transport network for the Swansea Bay and Western Valleys region.
Ms Wood said: "We would re-establish a Carmarthen to Aberystwyth rail line and ensure that it links with the north, to Pwllheli and beyond. These links are key to revitalising our western coast, and creating an all-Wales rail line, running the length of the country."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/41699098
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Missing California hikers died in apparent murder-suicide - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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Police suspect the man killed his girlfriend at Joshua Tree National Park before killing himself.
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US & Canada
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The pair went missing in the arid desert park during extremely hot weather
A California couple who went missing in July in the Joshua Tree National Park are believed to have died in a murder-suicide pact, police have said.
Rachel Nguyen, 20 and Joseph Orbeso, 22, were first discovered on 15 October by a search and rescue party that included Mr Orbeso's father.
Police said evidence at the scene suggested that Mr Orbeso shot Ms Nguyen before turning the gun on himself.
It appeared they were low on food and without water, an official said.
San Bernardino sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman told the BBC the couple was found under a tree and appeared to be embracing each other.
She said Mr Orbeso and Ms Nguyen had positioned their clothing to cover their lower legs to protect themselves from the heat.
Investigators found a handgun registered to Mr Orbeso at the scene, she added.
"The circumstances are really like no other search operation that we've been involved in," Ms Bachman said.
"But there is no evidence that leads [investigators] to believe that he was intending to harm her."
Mr Orbeso and Ms Nguyen were reported missing on 28 July after they failed to check out of their Airbnb accommodation in the Morongo Basin area.
National Park Service rangers found their car near a trailhead, prompting search and rescue teams to spend more than 2,100 hours looking for the couple.
According to Joshua Tree Search and Rescue, they were found in a "a steep canyon" north of the Maze Loop trail. The bodies were recovered a day after the discovery.
The San Bernardino Sheriff's Department Morongo Basin station said in a statement on Friday that homicide detectives were called to help "due to suspicious circumstances and visible injuries" to their bodies. The investigation is ongoing, they added.
Rescuers have faced danger, as temperatures soar into triple digits fahrenheit
Mr Orbeso's father said in an email to the Southern California News Group that he wants his son "to be remembered as a kind, caring and thoughtful person".
"The way he was found beside Rachel holding her as they were seeking shade under the brush says everything you need to know about him as a man and as a human being," Mr Orbeso said.
The week-long search had been suspended back in August after more than 10 search personnel were injured due to severe heat.
The search was then "scaled back to smaller teams on the weekends", the sheriff said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41702369
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Trump says he will allow scheduled release of JFK files - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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Classified files relating to the assassination of John F Kennedy are due to be released in days.
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US & Canada
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President John F Kennedy was given a state funeral, after hundreds of thousands of people viewed his casket
Donald Trump has said he plans to allow the opening of a trove of long-classified files on the assassination of former president John F Kennedy.
The president tweeted to say he would allow the release "subject to receipt of further information".
The files are scheduled to be opened by the US National Archives on 26 October, but the president is entitled to extend their classified status.
Kennedy was shot dead by a sniper on 22 November 1963 in Dallas, Texas.
The National Archives has already released most documents related to the assassination but a final batch remains under lock and key.
"Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened," Trump said in a tweet.
Congress ruled in 1992 that all JFK documents should be released within 25 years, unless the president decided the release would harm national security.
The archive contains more than 3,000 previously unreleased documents, and more than 30,000 that have been released before but with redactions.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. JFK at 100: 'His life was not as glamorous as you think'
It is unclear whether Mr Trump intends to allow the release in full or with redactions.
Kennedy assassination experts do not think the last batch of papers contains any bombshells, according to a Washington Post report.
But the files may shed more light on Lee Harvey Oswald's activities in Mexico City just months before the assassination.
Oswald was arrested in Dallas on the day of the shooting and charged with the president's murder. He denied the charges, claiming he was a "just a patsy".
He was gunned down by nightclub owner Jack Ruby while in police custody two days later, and the plot to kill Kennedy became the most powerful conspiracy theory in American history.
"The American public deserves to know the facts, or at least they deserve to know what the government has kept hidden from them for all these years," Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and author of a book about Kennedy, told the Associated Press news agency.
"It's long past the time to be forthcoming with this information."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41708854
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Man arrested after knife attack in Munich - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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Police say no motive has been established for the attack, which lightly wounded four passers-by.
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Europe
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Police said no motive had been established
German police have arrested a man in Munich after four people were lightly injured by a knife attacker.
Police said the suspect lashed out at five men and one woman around Rosenheimer Platz in the east of the city, but missed two of his targets.
A police spokeswoman said the detained man strongly resembled descriptions given by witnesses at the scene.
The suspect is said to have started attacking passers-by shortly after 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT).
"We have arrested a person who very strongly resembles the description by witnesses, but we cannot confirm that he is the attacker," Munich police spokesman Marcus da Gloria Martins said.
Martins added that police had not been able to establish any motive for the attack. None of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries.
Witness accounts described the suspect as a man in his 40s, unshaven, with grey trousers and a green tracksuit top and carrying a backpack and sleeping mat.
Police said he fled the scene on a bicycle.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41705587
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Brexit: Talk of deadlock is exaggerated, says Donald Tusk - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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EU leaders say there is not enough progress to start trade talks yet, but they hope to begin in December.
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UK Politics
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Reports of deadlock over Brexit negotiations may have been exaggerated, European Council President Donald Tusk has said after a Brussels summit.
Progress was "not sufficient" to begin trade talks with the UK now but that "doesn't mean there is no progress at all", he said.
EU leaders will discuss the issue internally, paving the way for talks with the UK, possibly in December.
Theresa May said there was "some way to go" but she was "optimistic".
Speaking at the end of a two-day summit, Mr Tusk told reporters: "My impression is that the reports of the deadlock between the EU and the UK have been exaggerated."
The EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, described the talks as deadlocked earlier this month.
Mr Tusk said he was not at odds with Mr Barnier, but his own role was to be a "positive motivator for the next five or six weeks".
He said he felt there was "goodwill" on both sides "and this is why I, maybe, in my rhetoric, I'm, maybe, a little bit more optimistic than Michel Barnier, but we are also in a different role".
The so-called divorce bill remains a major sticking point in talks with the EU.
French President Emmanuel Macron said there was still much work to be done on the financial commitment before trade talks can begin, adding: "We are not halfway there."
Theresa May declined to say in a press conference after the summit what the UK would be prepared to pay, saying the "final settlement" would come as part of a "final agreement" with the EU.
The UK prime minister did not name any figures but refused to deny that she had told other EU leaders the UK could pay many more billions of pounds than the £20bn she had indicated in her Florence speech last month.
"I have said that ... we will honour the commitments that we have made during our membership," she said. But those commitments were being analysed "line by line" she said, adding: "British taxpayer wouldn't expect its government to do anything else."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Three key points about how the Brexit talks are going
There are whispers that Theresa May has privately reassured the other leaders that she is willing to put a lot more than the implicit 20 billion euros (£17.8bn) on the table as we leave.
Number 10 doesn't deny this, Mrs May didn't deny it when we asked her in the press conference today, nor did she reject the idea that the bill could be as high as 60 billion euros.
If she has actually given those private reassurances though, there's not much evidence the other EU leaders believe her or think it's enough.
But if she is to make that case more forcefully she has big political problems at home.
She said the two sides were within "touching distance" of a deal on other issues - particularly on citizens' rights.
"I am ambitious and positive for Britain's future and for these negotiations but I know we still have some way to go," she said.
The UK is due to leave the EU in March 2019, following last year's referendum result.
It had hoped to move onto phase two of negotiations - covering future trade arrangements - after this week's summit.
But EU leaders took just 90 seconds to officially conclude that not enough progress has been made on the issues of citizens' rights, the UK's financial obligation and the border in Northern Ireland, but "internal preparations" would begin for phase two.
The prime minister made a personal appeal to her 27 EU counterparts at a working dinner on Thursday night, telling them that "we must work together to get to an outcome that we can stand behind and defend to our people".
BBC Europe editor Katya Adler said all EU leaders knew Mrs May was in a politically difficult situation and did not want her to go home empty-handed, so had promised they would start talking about trade and transition deals among themselves, as early as Monday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there were "encouraging" signs of progress in Brexit negotiations and the process was progressing "step by step".
And European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he hoped it would be possible to reach a "fair deal" with Britain.
"Our working assumption is not the 'no-deal' scenario. I hate the 'no-deal' scenario. I don't know what that means," he said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41684111
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Tony Warren's script for Coronation Street forerunner found - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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Tony Warren tried writing a different northern soap opera before creating Corrie.
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Entertainment & Arts
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A script for Coronation Street creator Tony Warren's previously unknown first attempt at a soap opera has been found.
Before Warren changed the TV landscape with Coronation Street in 1960, he started writing Seven, Bessie Street.
His friend David Tucker said it centres on a terraced street but is otherwise very different from Coronation Street.
The script was found in his possessions after he died in 2016 and is now part of an exhibition dedicated to Warren at Salford Museum and Art Gallery.
Warren left his estate to Mr Tucker, a friend of 22 years, with an instruction to destroy all creative works that weren't already in the public domain.
Seven, Bessie Street was billed as "a new soap opera in half-hourly episodes"
But Mr Tucker decided to keep the Seven, Bessie Street - with the proviso that no one else could read it.
The script is in a frame in the Salford exhibition with just the cover page, billing it as "a new soap opera in half-hourly episodes", on show.
Mr Tucker has read it, however, and says it was "quite obviously planned as a soap opera".
"The only thing really that relates to Coronation Street is the setting of a terraced street and the fact that it jumps a little bit between peoples' lives," he told BBC News.
"But there are no characters that relate to Coronation Street at all, and no scenarios. It's very different."
Seven, Bessie Street revolves around a family - perhaps inspired by Warren's own - who all have theatrical connections.
"That's what Tony did know about in his youth," Mr Tucker said. "That's probably why it would never have worked as it was, because there was so much in the stories about theatre.
"He was writing from what he knew in that Bessie Street script, but it probably wasn't going to relate that well to everybody else.
"So he then shifted the focus to the more mundane aspects of terraced street life."
Although Warren cast the script aside, Bessie Street did make its way into Coronation Street. Weatherfield's local primary school is called Bessie Street School.
The exhibition also includes the typewriter Warren used in his early years.
After jettisoning Seven, Bessie Street, Warren pitched a drama titled Our Street to the BBC. But he didn't hear back, so he reworked it as Florizel Street for Granada.
Florizel Street was changed to Coronation Street because - as legend has it - a tea lady named Agnes remarked that Florizel sounded like the name of a disinfectant.
Coronation Street launched in December 1960 and soon became one of the most popular programmes on television.
The exhibition also traces Warren's early life and career, which included acting in the BBC's Northern Children's Hour and writing for police series Shadow Squad.
According to a 1958 receipt, he was paid £150 for the latter.
The exhibition also shows his past as a male model, appearing on the cover of a 1957 edition of Knitters Digest and on the packet for a pullover knitting pattern.
There are many mementos from the Corrie years too, including his MBE, various awards, his red This Is Your Life book and letters from former poet laureate John Betjeman describing it as his "favourite programme".
Betjeman and Laurence Olivier were such fans that they were chairman and president respectively of the British League for Hilda Ogden, established in 1979.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41699055
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Church of Scientology opens Birmingham HQ - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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The controversial group bought the Grade II listed Pitmaston House for £4.2m in 2007.
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Birmingham & Black Country
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The building was officially opened in an extravagant ceremony
The Church of Scientology has opened a £4.2m HQ in Birmingham.
Grade II listed Pitmaston House, in the Moseley suburb, was snapped up in 2007 by the group, which was founded by science fiction author L Ron Hubbard.
There was a heavy security presence around the building during an opening ceremony, at which senior church figures gave speeches.
A request for an interview about the new "Ideal Org", or headquarters, was turned down.
The church claims the building, which is the second of its kind in the UK, will house a training centre and a chapel.
A huge blue rosette and ribbons were draped across the front of the building ahead of the opening ceremony, while lighting and camera equipment could also be seen.
Speeches were played back on two large screens erected on either side of the main entrance.
Groups of protesters, including ex-church members, gathered outside during proceedings, according to the Birmingham Mail.
There was a heavy security presence outside the building
People take courses of dianetics counselling, known as auditing, in the hope of ridding themselves of destructive influences from their current or past lives.
Scientologists say it is a religion, but a string of defectors have accused it of being a dangerous cult. They allege physical and emotional abuse, brainwashing and unethical fundraising, which the church has always strongly denied.
It has a number of celebrity followers, including Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
A promotional video released by the church claimed the new HQ would provide "community programmes for the betterment of Birmingham".
It claims to have had a dedicated following in the area since the 1980s.
Plans to convert Pitmaston House met with some opposition when they were approved in 2013, although a local community group said its main worry was an increase in traffic.
Coaches and other vehicles obscured views of the proceedings
The church's promotional video says the centre will serve western and central England
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-41697303
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Strictly Come Dancing: Bruno Tonioli to miss weekend shows - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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This will be the first time the judge has missed the live shows in 13 years.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Bruno will be absent from the judging panel for the first time in 13 years
Bruno Tonioli is missing this weekend's Strictly Come Dancing shows due to "a very busy work schedule".
It will be the first time the judge has missed the shows in his 13 years on the panel.
A Strictly spokeswoman told the BBC: "As was always the plan, Bruno Tonioli is not on the judging panel this weekend".
He will return next weekend for the Halloween special and will be on the show for the rest of the series.
It has been confirmed that 61-year-old Tonioli will not be replaced with a guest judge.
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This means fellow judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell will have more sway when it comes to giving points to contestants.
As well as his role on Strictly Come Dancing, Tonioli is involved in its US counterpart Dancing with the Stars.
Tonioli explained on Twitter it was a clash with that show that led to him missing Strictly.
He replied to a fan, saying: "100% back next week just had a clash whilst in @DancingABC."
When asked if that meant the American show was "more important", he replied: "Far from it!".
Dancing with the Stars is currently in its 25th season, with contestants including singer Debbie Gibson and Malcolm in the Middle's Frankie Muniz.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41692243
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Czech election: Billionaire Babis wins by large margin - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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Andrej Babis' party has secured almost triple the vote share of its closest rivals
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Europe
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Mr Babis and his colleagues celebrated their poll-topping performance
Populist billionaire candidate Andrej Babis and his party have won the Czech Republic's general election.
Mr Babis, 63, is the country's second-richest man and campaigned on an anti-establishment and Eurosceptic platform.
With all votes counted, his centrist movement ANO (Yes) collected a share of almost 30% - nearly three times that of its closest rival.
The centre-right Civic Democrats and the Pirates Party came second and third with more than 10% each.
The Pirates will make their debut in parliament with 22 seats, the news agency AFP reported.
Mr Babis is now set to become prime minister after coalition negotiations. However, he told news agency Reuters that while he had "invited everyone for talks", he was not prepared to "cooperate" with either the far-right, anti-EU Freedom and Direct Democracy party or the Communist Party.
The 63-year-old made his estimated $4bn (£3bn) fortune in chemicals, food and media - but he has also faced numerous scandals including a fraud indictment and accusations he was a communist-era police agent.
He says he would not bring the Czech Republic in to the eurozone but he wants the country to stay in the EU, telling Reuters he would propose changes to the European Council on issues like food quality and a "solution to migration".
The ANO's current coalition partner, the ruling centre-left Social Democrats (CSSD), saw its share of the vote tumble to become the sixth-largest party, and has talked down the possibility of another coalition.
The Civic Democrats have also ruled themselves out of governing alongside Mr Babis.
Far-right and anti-establishment groups made gains in the election. The largest parties now include:
The BBC's correspondent in Prague, Rob Cameron, said the SPD's performance was particularly noteworthy, as the far-right party wants to ban Islam in the Czech Republic. Its leader has urged Czechs to walk pigs near mosques.
Andrej Babis has long decried what he says is a "campaign" against him by a self-serving political establishment.
He sees the hand of this shadowy deep state everywhere; the media, the Czech prosecutor's office, the Slovak Constitutional Court, even the EU's anti-fraud unit. A host of enemies ranged against him in a vast anti-Babis conspiracy.
Well, if there was such a conspiracy, it's failed.
His message to voters - that he alone could heal the ills of the Czech political and economic system, that he alone could decapitate the hydra of corruption, that he alone could defend Czech national interests - appears to have been heard. They have given him a convincing mandate. He has truly crushed his rivals.
He still needs friends - 78 seats is far from enough in a 200-seat lower house to do much of anything, let alone the sweeping constitutional changes he dreams of.
With eight other parties in parliament - from centre-left to far-right - he has a bewildering choice of coalition partners. It's a choice that will determine the future course of the country.
The country's outgoing leader, Social Democrat Bohuslav Sobotka, headed a coalition formed with Mr Babis's party after a 2013 snap election.
But in May, Mr Sobotka submitted his government's resignation because of a disagreement with Mr Babis, who was serving as finance minister at the time.
He was unhappy about alleged unexplained business dealings involving Mr Babis.
On seeing the rise of the SPD Mr Sobotka was shocked, saying; "How is it possible that in the Czech Republic, in a situation when the country is doing very well, when we are a stable, safe country, we have achieved many things in the social sphere in the past four years, people are increasingly in favour of extreme views?"
The Social Democrats' tally of 7.3% was their worst result since the Czech Republic split from Slovakia in 1993.
Outgoing leader Bohuslav Sobotka (R) has had a turbulent relationship with Andrej Babis (L)
After the vote, Mr Babis thanked his voters and said he had not expected the result after "lies" in a "massive, massive disinformation campaign against us".
"I`m glad you did not believe that, that you gave us the confidence to get a chance to form a government," he said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41708844
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Tenants 'unfairly miss out on credit' - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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Mortgage applicants are unable to rely on rent payment history as proof that they can afford a home loan.
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Business
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Tenants' regular rent payments should be recorded on their credit score and used as proof to lenders that mortgage demands can be met, MPs are to be told.
At present, mortgage applicants are unable to rely on rent payment history as proof that they would be safe to lend to when buying a home.
A debate is being held in Parliament on Monday following a petition which aimed to raise awareness of the issue.
The government has said that lenders should consider a range of factors.
The petition, signed by 147,307 people, argued that "paying rent on time [should] be recognised as evidence that mortgage repayments can be met".
Campaigners have argued that rent payment history should be included on a tenant's credit score, even though it is not strictly a form of credit.
Steve Burrows, managing director of LateRent which offers a service to landlords, said: "It is no secret that owning a property has become a distant prospect for many and the private rental sector continues to grow as a result.
"It is therefore oddly out of step that tenants are unable to utilise rental payments as part of their credit profile - particularly as the government increasingly seeks to promote homeownership across the UK."
Conservative MP Paul Scully, who will introduce and lead the debate on Monday, said that he was sympathetic to those who were paying more for credit, or being turned down, simply because they had been renting a home. This was particularly true when monthly rent was higher than typical monthly mortgage repayments.
"It is clear that in many cases if someone is renting, they can afford the equivalent mortgage," he said.
The petition was cut short owing to the general election being called earlier this year, but still garnered sufficient support for a debate to be called.
In its response to the petition, the government said regulators insisted that lots of financial information was needed to prove that an applicant could repay a mortgage, such as testing whether a borrower could cope were interest rates to rise.
"Lenders must consider a range of factors when assessing a mortgage application. Meeting rental payments is not sufficient in itself to demonstrate affordability over the lifetime of the loan," it said.
"It is important to be aware that home ownership brings a number of additional expenses that may not be incurred when renting, including maintenance costs and buildings insurance.
"Before extending a loan, lenders must satisfy themselves that a borrower will be able to meet these additional on-going costs when considering a mortgage application."
Where can you afford to live? Try our housing calculator to see where you could rent or buy This interactive content requires an internet connection and a modern browser. Do you want to buy or rent? Use the buttons to increase or decrease the number of bedrooms: minimum one, maximum four. Alternatively, enter a number into the text input How much is your deposit? Enter your deposit below or adjust the deposit amount using the slider Return to 'How much is your deposit?' This calculator assumes you need a deposit of at least 5% of the value of the property to get a mortgage. The average deposit for UK first-time buyers is . How much can you pay monthly? Enter your monthly payment below or adjust the payment amount using the slider Return to 'How much can you pay monthly?' Your monthly payments are what you can afford to pay each month. Think about your monthly income and take off bills, council tax and living expenses. The average rent figure is for England and Wales. Amount of the that has housing you can Explore the map in detail below Search the UK for more details about a local area What does affordable mean? You have a big enough deposit and your monthly payments are high enough. The prices are based on the local market. If there are 100 properties of the right size in an area and they are placed in price order with the cheapest first, the “low-end” of the market will be the 25th property, "mid-priced" is the 50th and "high-end” will be the 75th.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41696073
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Newspaper headlines: May's 'climbdown' and gambling sites curbed - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Theresa May's "climbdown" and a crackdown on British gambling companies are among the stories to lead the newspapers.
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The Papers
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Spain's decision to take control of Catalonia - and remove its separatist leaders - features in many of the papers
Spain's decision to take control of Catalonia - and remove its separatist leaders - makes the lead in the Observer.
It says Catalan separatists are preparing for a war of attrition against direct rule from Madrid, amid growing anger at the inability of either side to swallow their pride and take a step back.
The Sunday Times says the announcement prompted vows of resistance from independence supporters, who are planning a peaceful campaign of civil disobedience.
One activist is quoted as saying they would deploy "walls of people" against police to prevent them from occupying Catalonia's institutions.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, Theresa May is on the brink of a major climbdown over Universal Credit payments.
The paper detects a significant change of tone. It says ministers are believed to be looking at ways of cutting the six-week waiting time faced by many claimants, with backbenchers pushing for a one-month limit.
One of the MPs who has raised concerns is said to believe a resolution is very close.
The Sunday Times gives front-page coverage to the warning from Labour's Brexit Secretary, Sir Keir Starmer, that his party will unite with Tory rebels to force a binding Commons vote on a final deal with the EU.
The paper says the threat is a blow to the government, which is trying to quell a potential backbench rebellion on the EU Withdrawal Bill.
In its main story, the Mail on Sunday claims that Army recruits caught taking drugs are - for the first time - being allowed to remain in the military.
The paper says drug abuse among would-be soldiers is rife.
And throwing out recruits who failed a drugs test would mean cutting numbers when the Army was desperately short of troops.
The Army has responded by insisting there has been no relaxation of its zero-tolerance policy on drug misuse.
In its main story, the Sunday Times claims victory for the removal of online gambling games which attract children.
The paper says its investigation exposed the fact that the gambling industry was targeting children with cartoon characters and other images.
Though most of the games are free, the paper says they provide an introduction to casino games for young people and a route into gambling.
The Gambling Commission, it says, has acted with a commendable alacrity.
The Sunday Telegraph says trainee surgeons have complained that an endemic culture of bullying among senior colleagues is putting patients' lives at risk.
The paper says some surgeons have reported being assaulted during operations for raising safety concerns, and an atmosphere of fear is said to be leading to failures in concentration that directly harm patients.
The online newspaper the Independent says the prime minister's plan to cap energy bills has been thrown into doubt.
It says there is evidence that Whitehall officials are laying the ground for the scheme to be scrapped next year.
According to the paper, energy investors have already been told that PM Theresa May's draft proposal will be ditched, if the big power firms do enough to tackle high bills.
Plans to make the buying and selling of homes faster and cheaper in England and Wales get a general welcome.
The Sunday Express says buying a house is the biggest financial commitment most of us will ever make - and it is important to get it right.
"Dump the Gazump" is the headline in the Sunday Mirror.
The Sunday People says Britain is not building enough homes - but making the buying and selling process quicker and easier is a welcome start to tackling the housing crisis.
The Observer says Britain is enjoying a remarkable apple boom, as hundreds of new community orchards revive lost varieties and contribute to a thriving heritage market.
One expert believes there are possibly thousands of varieties that are not recorded but grown by farmers, smallholders and households.
The paper lists some of its favourites, including the Colwall Quoining, which has angular ridges, the Pig's Nose Pippin and the Ten Commandments, which has 10 red spots around its core.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-41711319
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Explosives experts called to Sellafield over chemical concerns - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A small number of canisters of solvents were disposed of by controlled explosion.
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Cumbria
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Sellafield reprocesses and stores nearly all of Britain's nuclear waste
Bomb disposal experts were called to the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant after a routine audit of chemicals stored in a laboratory.
Sellafield Ltd said it was "not a radiological event" but involved a small number of canisters of solvents which had been on the site since 1992.
However, there were concerns they could become hazardous if exposed to oxygen.
An area of the site was cordoned off for most of the day, and the canisters disposed of by controlled explosion.
Sellafield said in a statement: "These chemicals are used extensively in many industries and are well understood.
"Because this is happening on the Sellafield site we exercise extreme caution and leave nothing to chance."
It said a team from the army's Explosives Ordinance Disposal Team disposed of the chemicals by digging a trench, burying them using sandbags and detonating them in a controlled manner.
The disposal took place in two batches, with the first transferred from the laboratory to another location on the site and successfully and safely detonated at around 14:15 BST.
A second controlled explosion was then carried out at the same location shortly before 16:00 BST.
The statement added: "We have now removed the cordon from around the laboratory, and the site is working as it would be on any other Saturday."
Environment Agency earlier said it was aware of the situation and was working with partners to monitor it.
Sellafield reprocesses and stores nearly all of Britain's nuclear waste.
Last year, BBC's Panorama exposed safety concerns at the plant after a tip-off from a whistleblower, including allegations of inadequate staffing levels and poor maintenance.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41705402
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The place spacecraft go to die - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Why one of the Earth's most remote places is the preferred place to dump space junk.
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Science & Environment
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Artwork: Most of Tiangong-1 will not survive to the surface
China's Tiangong-1 space station is currently out of control and expected to fall back to Earth next year. But not in the remote place where many other spacecraft end their days.
Explorers and adventurers often look for new places to conquer now that the highest peaks have been climbed, the poles reached and vast oceans and deserts crossed.
Some of these new places are called the poles of inaccessibility. Two of them are particularly interesting.
One is called the continental pole of inaccessibility - it's the place on Earth furthest from the ocean. There is some debate as to its exact position but it's considered by many to be near the so-called Dzungarian Gate - a mountain pass between China and Central Asia.
The equivalent point in the ocean - the place furthest away from land - lies in the South Pacific some 2,700km (1,680 miles) south of the Pitcairn Islands - somewhere in the no-man's land, or rather no-man's-sea, between Australia, New Zealand and South America.
This oceanic pole of inaccessibility is not only of interest to explorers, satellite operators are interested in it as well. That's because most of the satellites placed in orbit around the Earth will eventually come down, but where?
Smaller satellites will burn up but pieces of the larger ones will survive to reach the Earth's surface. To avoid crashing on a populated area they are brought down near the point of oceanic inaccessibility.
Scattered over an area of approximately 1,500 sq km (580 sq miles) on the ocean floor of this region is a graveyard of satellites. At last count there were more than 260 of them, mostly Russian.
The wreckage of the Mir space station lies there. It was launched in 1986 and was visited by many teams of cosmonauts and international visitors.
With a mass of 120 tonnes it was never going to burn up in the atmosphere, so it was ditched in the region in 2001 and was seen by some fishermen as a fragmenting mass of glowing debris racing across the sky.
A computer-simulated image of Mir's descent and break-up as it entered the Earth's atmosphere in 2001
Many times a year the supply module that goes to the International Space Station burns up in this region incinerating the station's waste.
No one is in any danger because of this controlled re-entry into our atmosphere. The region is not fished because oceanic currents avoid the area and do not bring nutrients to it, making marine life scarce.
One future visitor to this desolate place will be the International Space Station.
Current plans are for it to be decommissioned in the next decade and it will have to be carefully brought down in the oceanic pole of inaccessibility. With a mass of 450 tonnes - four times that of the Mir space station - it will make a spectacular sight.
Sometimes however, it's not possible to bring a satellite or space station down in the South Pacific if ground controllers have lost contact with it.
The Earth is surrounded by thousands of pieces of space junk (dots not to scale)
Such a thing happened with the 36-tonne Salyut 7 space station in 1991 which came down in South America or the American Skylab that struck Australia in 1979. No one on the ground was injured, or indeed as far as we know, ever has been hit by a piece of falling spacecraft debris.
We will face that problem again next year.
Between January and April the Chinese Tiangong-1 will come back to Earth. It was launched in 2011 as China's first space station. The following year it was visited by China's first female astronaut, Liu Yang.
Tiangong-1's orbit is decaying as it heads towards re-entry. But Chinese engineers have lost control of it and cannot fire its thrusters to bring it down in the South Pacific.
Instead it will come down somewhere between 42.8 degrees north and south. That's between the latitude of northern Spain and southern Australia, and we won't be able to be more precise than that until just a few hours before it burns up.
Tiangong-1 is one space station that probably won't join its companions in the remote South Pacific.
Dr David Whitehouse was the BBC's science correspondent from 1988 until 2006, and is a former science editor at the BBC News website.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41683839
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Middlesbrough modified Kodi box trader gets suspended jail term - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Brian Thompson had planned to argue the law in connection with the boxes was a "grey area".
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Tees
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Brian Thompson had previously said he wanted to know whether he was doing anything illegal
A trader who sold TV boxes which allowed viewers to watch subscription films and football for free has been given a suspended jail term.
Brian Thompson had denied breaking the law by selling the Kodi boxes, setting up the prospect of a landmark trial.
But appearing at Teesside Crown Court he changed his plea to guilty.
The 55-year-old, who runs Cut Price Tomo's TV store in Middlesbrough, was given an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
Thompson, of Barnaby Avenue, Middlesbrough, admitted one count of selling and one count of advertising devices "designed, produced or adapted for the purpose of enabling or facilitating the circumvention of effective technological measures".
The court heard Thompson had been selling "fully loaded" Kodi boxes - ones that had been installed with third-party add-ons that can access pirated content.
He had previously claimed the law was a "grey area" and said he wanted to know whether he was "doing anything illegal".
Thompson had sold an estimated 400 boxes, earning him about £40,000, and losses to Sky were an estimated £200,000 in subscriptions, the court heard.
Judge Peter Armstrong said there could be no doubt now about the legality of the fully loaded boxes.
"Those who lawfully have to pay £50 a month or more on Sky or BT subscriptions, are done a disservice by people like you and those who buy these devices," he said.
He said he was suspending Thompson's jail sentence but others in the future may not be so fortunate.
Cameron Crowe, prosecuting, said streaming devices were not illegal if they were used to access free content.
But he added: "If they are designed, produced or adapted for gaining unauthorised access to copyright content or subscription services - such as Sky and BT Sports - they become illegal."
Some shops sell ready-to-use set-top boxes or television sticks preloaded with the Kodi software.
The developers behind Kodi say their software does not contain any content of its own and is designed to play legally owned media or content "freely available" on the internet.
However the software can be modified with third-party add-ons that provide access to illegal copies of films and TV series, or provide free access to subscription television channels.
Some traders sell Kodi boxes preloaded with third-party add-ons that can access pirated content. It is the sale of these "fully-loaded" boxes which was the subject of the case against Mr Thompson.
Trading Standards officers made a test purchase from Thompson's Dundas shopping centre outlet in 2015 and a raid was carried out.
He moved premises after the raid and advertised on Facebook claiming to have "every film and box set ever made, even ones at the cinema".
Paul Fleming, defending, said his client was a hard worker who had succeeded and failed in businesses over the years.
Kieron Sharp, the chief executive of Fact (formerly the Federation Against Copyright Theft), said one million illegal Kodi TV boxes had been sold in the UK in the past two years.
He said the perpetrators were not "Robin Hood characters", but criminals.
"Selling pre-configured streaming devices that allow access to content you normally would have to pay for is illegal," he added.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-41692804
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Ex-Lancashire Police officer Jayson Lobo jailed for voyeurism - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Jayson Lobo secretly recorded sexual encounters with seven women on his mobile phone.
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Lancashire
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Jayson Lobo was found guilty of 11 counts of voyeurism
An ex-police officer who secretly filmed sexual encounters with seven women on his mobile phone has been jailed for three years.
Jayson Lobo, 48, formerly of Lancashire Police, met most of his victims on a dating website between 2011 and 2015.
Sentencing him at Liverpool Crown Court, Judge Neil Flewitt QC said his deceit was "staggering".
The former Commonwealth Games runner was found guilty of 11 counts of voyeurism following a trial.
He denied all the charges and was cleared of seven counts of the same offence, including one count relating to an eighth woman.
Lobo was caught when one of his victims found out he had a long-term partner during their relationship.
She had earlier caught him filming her as they had sex but he had promised he would delete it.
Lobo, of Mellor, Blackburn, was arrested after the woman made a complaint to police and had his phones seized which revealed the full extent of his offending.
Judge Flewitt QC said he had used the women to satisfy his sexual appetite and it was "a calculated and selfish course of conduct, pursued without regard for the feelings of those women concerned".
The Preston-based response officer was suspended from the force after his arrest in December 2015.
Lobo was then sacked for gross misconduct relating to a separate matter in August last year, after a hearing found he had shared details and images from police incidents.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-41701538
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Motorway roadworks speed limit could be increased - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Tests suggested drivers were more relaxed at higher speeds as they could overtake slower vehicles.
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UK
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Speed limits for motorway roadworks could be raised in England under plans aimed at reducing congestion.
Currently the normal speed for such stretches of road is 50mph (80km/h).
But trials carried out by Highways England found drivers' heart rates were lower when they drove at 55mph (88km/h) and 60mph (96km/h) through roadworks.
The government-owned company said the new limits could come into effect in some areas this year, but unions warn it would put motorway workers at risk.
Highways England recruited 36 participants for two trials and provided them with dash cams, watches with heart rate monitors, and GPS trackers to monitor their reactions to driving through the quicker speed limits.
The tests took place at 60mph on the M5 between junction 4A (Bromsgrove) to junction 6 (Worcester), and at 55mph on the M3 in Surrey between junction 3 and 4A.
The study found 60% of those who drove in the 60mph trial zone had a decreased average heart rate, while it was lower for only 56% of those on the 55mph journey.
But trade union Unite, which represents road workers throughout the UK, said the proposed speed increases ignored the safety of those maintaining motorways, who "work in already very dangerous conditions".
A spokesman said: "Sadly, in recent years there have been several deaths of motorway workers and these changes will make their work even more dangerous.
"Already motorists frequently drive into coned-off areas. At increased speeds, it will make such potentially lethal accidents even more common."
The study suggested that motorists felt more relaxed travelling at higher speeds, partly because they had a greater ability to accelerate past heavy goods vehicles.
Edmund King, president of the AA, said that most trucks have a speed limiter set at 56mph: "And sometimes they're pretty reluctant to slow down so you get a lot of tail-gating of trucks driving very close to cars and then the cars are inclined to speed up."
While Mr King said increasing the speed limit could help reduce congestion, he said it had to be targeted at the longest stretches of road works where there were no workers.
He said: "When work is going on and it's in close proximity to the carriageways we should stick at lower speeds and sometimes it needs to be lower than 50mph, depending on the layout."
Jim O'Sullivan, chief executive of Highways England, told The Times that the 60mph limit was "something that we want to introduce to as many roadworks as possible".
But Mr O'Sullivan said that lower speeds were likely to be maintained in areas with narrow lanes, contraflows or where workers are close to the road, due to safety reasons.
Highways England has been testing different speed limits since September 2016 as part of a wider initiative to assess the benefits associated with increasing speed limits through roadworks.
Those trials on a section of the M1 near Rotherham and on the A1 between Leeming to Barton examined the safety implications of the scheme as well as the journey-time benefits for drivers travelling through roadworks.
• None Learners can drive on motorways from 2018
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41704392
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Rise in airport drop-off and pick-up charges 'eye-watering' - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Charges for picking up and dropping off passengers at some UK airports have risen by as much as 100%.
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UK
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The RAC advised drivers to check airport charges in advance "or be prepared for an unpleasant shock"
Charges for picking up and dropping off passengers at some of the UK's busiest airports have risen by as much as 100% over the past year, a new study claims.
RAC research found eight of the top 20 UK airports had increased pick-up fees, while five airports had raised charges for drivers dropping passengers off.
The RAC described tariffs as high as £3.50 for 10 minutes as "eye-watering".
But the Airport Operators Association said fees were "clearly flagged" and were channelled into site facilities.
Seven airports, including London's Heathrow and Gatwick, continue to offer free drop-off parking.
London Stansted is currently the most expensive airport in the UK to drop passengers at the terminal, the RAC said - with prices jumping by 50p to £3.50 for 10 minutes in the last year.
Liverpool's John Lennon airport, the second most expensive, raised drop-off fees by 50% - from £2 for 20 minutes to £3 for 20 minutes, while Birmingham doubled the cost, raising prices from £1 to £2 for 10 minutes.
Glasgow airport, where it was previously free to drop off passengers, introduced a charge of £2 for 10 minutes in April. Similarly, Southampton has introduced a £1 fee for 10 minutes.
RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: "The eye-watering drop-off and pick-up costs at some airports is likely to be viewed by drivers as another way of making money out of them - particularly in instances where public transport to and from the airport simply isn't a viable option."
"Drop-off charges are the biggest bone of contention, as for many they appear severe when they are simply pulling up for less than five minutes and often don't even get out of the car themselves."
Rising pick-up charges are also exposed by the research.
Motorists collecting family or friends from London Luton are charged the most in the UK at £7 for 40 minutes, according to the report - although there was no increase in charges for 2017.
London Stansted was again among the most expensive airports - this time for collection - raising charges by 50p to £5 for 30 minutes, £1.50 more expensive than London Gatwick for the same service, which increased changes by 30p.
London Heathrow, the UK's busiest passenger airport, does not charge to drop off passengers
London City airport raised fees by £1, to £3.50 for a 10-minute stop, while Southampton and Cardiff airports both introduced pick up charges of £1 for 10 minutes, having previously charged nothing for the first 10 or 20 minutes respectively.
Belfast City and Liverpool John Lennon continue to offer free short-stay parking for passenger collection.
Mr Williams said airport charges for short-stay parking had turned "a good deed [into] a costly experience".
But a spokesman for the Airport Operators Association defended the charges, saying the income earned was channelled into airport facilities and allowed airports "to keep charges to airlines low, benefiting travellers through lower air fares".
He cited congestion and environmental impact among the reasons for the range of charges across the regions.
The spokesman said charges were clearly flagged up and passengers had a "high level of awareness of the different ways they can choose to get to the airport, ranging from public transport to travelling by car".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41706992
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Modelling debut for boy, 11, with Down's syndrome - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Joseph Hale was selected as one of the faces of retailer River Island's latest ad campaign.
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Humberside
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Joseph Hale, from Cleethorpes, says he is "excited" by his modelling debut
An 11-year-old boy with Down's syndrome has landed his first modelling job in a high street store's new advertising campaign.
Joseph Hale, from Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, has become one of the faces of River Island's new children's clothing range.
His mum Karen Hale said she hoped it would encourage equal representation of disabilities in the media.
The young model said he was "excited" by the opportunity.
"It's really good. I had to pose, we had our hair and make-up done and I wore magic shiny shoes," he said.
Karen Hale says her son's disability "does not define him at all"
Mrs Hale, 49, said the family was "very proud" of their son and that Joseph took to modelling "like a duck to water".
"He gets excited when he sees his photo. He's shown it to his friends at school," she said.
"Everyone's been really supportive, it's absolutely brilliant."
She says Joseph's Down's syndrome "does not define him at all" and he has an "infectious personality, he's just one big ball of fun".
"We're hoping campaigns like this one by River Island will pave the way for more inclusion and acceptance for people with disabilities in the wider world.
"Advertising can have a massive impact and people need to see that these individuals still have emotions, thoughts, feelings, dreams, aspirations the same as anyone else... and they need to be seen as equals at all times."
Joseph said he hoped to do more modelling jobs in future
Joseph, who attends Cambridge Park Academy in Grimsby, says he enjoys dancing and spending time with his family.
He said he would like to continue doing "more modelling" but would like to pursue a career in hairdressing when he gets older.
The youngster's opportunity came by chance through his agency Zebedee Management, Mrs Hale said.
Josie Cartridge, customer director of River Island, said Joseph had a "star presence" and the company wanted to portray "a diverse group of children".
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-41706532
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Aberdeenshire man 'kidnapped' in Vietnam is found safe and well - BBC News
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2017-10-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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He was with a group of friends who got out of a taxi which apparently sped off before Mr Leslie could step out of the car.
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NE Scotland, Orkney & Shetland
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Connor Leslie was in Vietnam on holiday with a group of friends
A 23-year-old British man feared kidnapped in Vietnam has been found safe and well, relatives have said.
Connor Leslie, from Newtonhill in Aberdeenshire, was last seen at about 02:30 local time (21:30 BST on Friday) in Hanoi.
He was in the city with a group of friends who got out of a taxi which apparently sped off before Mr Leslie could step out of the car.
The Leslie family said he was fine and would continue his holiday.
It is understood he managed to make his own way back to his companions.
Friends and family could not contact him on his mobile after he went missing and his cousin said on Saturday afternoon that his messaging app had been offline for about 17 hours.
Members of Mr Leslie's family had shared information about his disappearance on Facebook after he was last seen at Tay Ho 395 on Lac Long Quan.
Mr Leslie's brother Ross told BBC Scotland his brother was fine other than having blisters on his feet.
Connor Leslie was last seen at Tay Ho 395 in northern Hanoi
His cousin Scott Leslie earlier said the whole family had been "absolutely terrified" waiting for news of Mr Leslie.
"He was in a taxi and his friends were getting out. Connor was the last to get out and the taxi driver just sped off before Connor could get out of the car," he told BBC Scotland.
It is understood that the group may have had an argument with the taxi driver about money.
Mr Leslie added: "It's fantastic news that he's been found."
Connor Leslie, who works in the oil and gas industry, was with a group of friends who were just starting their holiday in Vietnam.
His family said he would now continue with the holiday.
The group is expected to travel to Australia next.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-41707291
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Bradford toddler death: Woman arrested on suspicion of murder - BBC News
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2017-10-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A woman is arrested on suspicion of murder after an 18-month-old boy falls from a window in Bradford.
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Leeds & West Yorkshire
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A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murdering an 18-month-old boy who fell from a sixth-floor flat window.
It "quickly became apparent" the boy had died when police were called to Newcastle House in Barkerend Road, Bradford, at 17:10 BST on Saturday.
A 23-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of murder is receiving medical assessment in custody.
One woman told how she, her husband and a friend tried to save the child, who was naked when he fell.
Danuta Tomaszewicz, 59, said she had been on her phone, looking out of the window from a first-floor flat when she suddenly noticed the child on the ground below.
She thought the child was a doll at first, she said.
Her niece, Monika Tomaszewicz, said: "She screamed for help and her husband and his friend ran downstairs.
"The friend took his shirt off because the baby was naked."
She said the ambulance arrived after about 20 minutes.
Mrs Tomaszewicz's niece added: "She could not sleep at all last night.
"She doesn't know how she is going to live here as every time she looks out of the window she will see the baby.
"They tried their best for the baby."
Andrew White, 53, said he lived on the same landing as the flat where the baby fell.
He said a couple with two young children live there.
Mr White, a father-of-three with four grandchildren, said: "They are a nice young couple who keep themselves to themselves which is normal here."
West Yorkshire Police said it was an "extremely traumatic incident".
Det Supt Nick Wallen said: "Specially trained officers are working to support the child's family members and those who witnessed what took place.
"It is no exaggeration to say those who witnessed this incident will have been deeply traumatised by what they saw."
Police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the death.
Newcastle House, which is in the city centre, is a seven-storey block of flats with shops on the ground floor.
An unnamed resident, who lives on the same landing where the boy had fallen from, said: "There's quite a high turnover of people in these flats, you wouldn't necessarily know your neighbours. I just keep to myself."
He said there were people of different nationalities living in the block.
The resident said he saw police activity in the flats on Saturday night but only discovered what happened the next morning by watching the news.
"It's horrible," he said.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-41711757
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WHO chief 'rethinking' Robert Mugabe's appointment - BBC News
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2017-10-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Proposals to make Zimbabwe's leader a World Health Organisation goodwill envoy spark an outcry.
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Africa
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Robert Mugabe is frequently taken to task over human rights abuses
The new head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) is rethinking a plan to appoint Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador.
He had previously praised Zimbabwe for its commitment to public health.
But Mr Mugabe's critics say Zimbabwe's healthcare system has collapsed under his 30-year rule, with staff often going without pay while medicines are in short supply.
It led Zimbabwean human rights lawyer Doug Coltart to take to Twitter to question how the WHO felt about having "a Goodwill Ambassador who destroyed the health sector in his country".
Other social media users accused the president - who, at 93, has outlived his country's average life expectancy by more than three decades - of travelling abroad to receive his own medical treatment.
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 Alex T Magaisa 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.
Meanwhile, the UK government described his selection as "surprising and disappointing" given his country's human rights record, and warned it could overshadow the WHO's work.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he "thought it was a bad April Fool's joke", while the US state department said it "clearly contradicts the United Nations ideals of respect for human rights and human dignity".
Zimbabwe's leader has been frequently taken to task over human rights abuses by both the EU and the US.
Critics have long argued that Zimbabwe's health service is not meeting the needs of patients
Other groups who have criticised Mr Mugabe's appointment include the Wellcome Trust, the NCD Alliance, UN Watch, the World Heart Federation and Action Against Smoking.
Dr Tedros had said Zimbabwe was a country that "places universal health coverage and health promotion at the centre of its policies to provide health care to all".
However, the Ethiopian said on Saturday he was "rethinking his approach in light of WHO values".
Mr Mugabe was supposed to be goodwill ambassador "to help tackle non-communicable diseases", which includes things like heart attacks and asthma.
Dr Tedros is the first African to lead the WHO. He was elected in May with a mandate to tackle perceived politicisation in the organisation.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41711571
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WHO cancels Robert Mugabe goodwill ambassador role - BBC News
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2017-10-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The appointment of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe prompted a global outcry and wide-ranging condemnation.
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Africa
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The World Health Organization has revoked the appointment of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador following a widespread outcry.
"I have listened carefully to all who have expressed their concerns," WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
He had previously praised Zimbabwe for its commitment to public health.
But critics pointed out that Zimbabwe's healthcare system had collapsed in recent years.
During the first 20 years of his 37-year rule, Mr Mugabe widely expanded health care, but the system has badly been affected by the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy since 2000.
Staff often go without pay, medicines are in short supply, and Mr Mugabe, who has outlived the average life expectancy in his country by three decades, travels abroad for medical treatment.
Mr Tedros said he had consulted with the Zimbabwean government and decided that rescinding Mr Mugabe's position was "in the best interests of" the WHO.
He said he remained "firmly committed to working with all countries and their leaders" to build universal health care.
Mr Tedros, elected in May under the slogan "let's prove the impossible is possible" had said he hoped Mr Mugabe would use his goodwill ambassador role to "influence his peers in the region".
But the appointment was met by a wave of surprise and condemnation. The UK government, the Canadian prime minister, the Wellcome Trust, the NCD Alliance, UN Watch, the World Heart Federation, Action Against Smoking and Zimbabwean lawyers and social media users were among those who criticised the decision.
The BBC's Andrew Harding in Johannesburg reports that Mr Mugabe's supporters are likely to see this episode as Western meddling in Africa.
Following the storm of criticism from human rights groups and expressions of dismay from many member states, the WHO had little choice but to cancel its plan to make Robert Mugabe a goodwill ambassador.
The about-face will raise questions over the leadership of the WHO's new director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The decision to honour Mr Mugabe is likely to have been taken several weeks ago, and at no point did Mr Tedros seem aware that appointing as goodwill ambassador a man who has been accused of human rights abuses, and of neglecting to the point of collapse his own country's health service, might be controversial.
The WHO was supposed to be embarking on a new era of reform. Instead, it is mired in a public relations disaster.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41713919
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Actress Rosemary Leach dies after 'short illness' - BBC News
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2017-10-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The actress, best known for roles in films A Room With A View and That'll Be The Day, was 81.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Rosemary Leach played the Queen in Margaret, a BBC drama about Margaret Thatcher
Actress Rosemary Leach, best known for her roles in the films A Room With A View and That'll Be The Day, has died, her agent has said.
Leach, who also played Grace in episodes of the sitcom My Family, died in hospital after a "short illness", Caroline de Wolfe said in a statement.
The stage and screen actress, 81, won an Olivier Award in 1982 for her part in the play 84 Charing Cross Road.
She was also twice nominated for a Bafta award as best supporting actress.
Leach is survived by her actor husband, Colin Starkey.
Rosemary Leach appeared alongside Ronnie Corbett in Now Look Here, in the 1970s
She again starred alongside Corbett in the 1974 series The Prince of Denmark
Leach again played Queen Elizabeth II in the 2005 series Tea with Betty
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41714112
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Kyron Webb Moston stabbing: Teens charged with murder - BBC News
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2017-10-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Two boys, aged 16 and 17, are charged with the murder of "gifted and talented" Kyron Webb.
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Manchester
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Two teenagers have been charged with the murder of a 15-year-old boy in Manchester.
Kyron Webb was found unconscious on Worsley Avenue in Moston at 19:10 BST on Tuesday with serious stab wounds. He died in hospital on Friday.
Two boys, aged 16 and 17, have been charged with murder, Greater Manchester Police said.
Kyron's mother paid tribute to him, in a poem released through police, saying he had aspired to become an architect.
She said: "You were blessed with wisdom, on the gifted and talented register you were placed.
"You were artistic, a singing voice like an angel and yes you had my face.
"Your talents were endless, what you touched turned to gold.
"Your deepest ambition to become an architect you told."
She added that his death had left "a hole, a void, a pain".
Ch Supt Wasim Chaudhry from GMP said it was a "tragedy".
He added: "A boy's life has been taken away and his family deserve answers."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-41711753
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Partition 70 years on: When tribal warriors invaded Kashmir - BBC News
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2017-10-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Witnesses tell the BBC how men with sticks and axes started one of the world's longest conflicts.
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Asia
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A view of Muzaffarabad, where the Neelum River divides the main city from hillside settlements
Towering some 550 metres (1,800 ft) above the Pakistani town of Garhi Habibullah to the west, and the Kashmiri city of Muzaffarabad to the east, Dub Gali looks serene on a cool October morning.
Some two dozen shops sit quietly on both sides of a security barrier that marks the border between Kashmir and the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
There is nothing to suggest that hordes of militant Pathan tribal warriors who invaded Kashmir exactly 70 years ago to start one of the world's most enduring territorial conflicts actually broke into the region through this very point.
But a local villager, Mohammad Hasan Qureshi, 86, clearly remembers those stormy days.
"A week before the Pathans came, there were rumours that Kashmiri Sikhs [who had a significant population in this area] were planning to attack Muzaffarabad," he says.
"A couple of days later, we heard that Pathans were coming."
Mohammad Hasan Qureshi says he saw hundreds of Pathans with axes and swords
Such rumours were natural, coming as they did amid a series of upheavals that shook the princely state of Kashmir when the so-called 3 June Plan was announced.
Under the plan, British India, a Hindu-majority colony, was to be partitioned to create the Muslim state of Pakistan.
The fate of Kashmir, a princely state with a Muslim majority but a Hindu ruler, hung in the balance.
Muslims in the western districts of the state revolted against the ruling maharaja in June and there were anti-Muslim riots in southern Kashmir in September. There were also reports of a leaked Pakistani plan for raising a tribal column of 20,000 fighters to attack and annex Kashmir.
Mr Qureshi remembers the evening of 21 October, when he and some friends climbed a ridge to have a view of the western valley. They saw trucks carrying Pathans drive down the Batrasi hills into Garhi Habibullah.
"We stayed up all night, waiting. They came in the morning - just before daybreak. There were hundreds of them. Most of them carried axes and swords. Some had muskets, others just sticks. The Maharaja's guards at the barrier had vanished."
First clashes took place on their way down to Muzaffarabad, some 8km (5 miles) of steep descent.
This 1947 picture shows Pathan tribesmen waiting for trucks and more ammunition as they prepare to go into battle
Gohar Rahman, a World War Two veteran from Battagram, 80km north-west of Garhi Habibullah, was in the column that crossed from Dub Gali.
"We knew the area so we led one group through this shorter route, on foot," he says.
"The bulk of the Frontier tribesmen - Wazir, Mahsud, Turi, Afridi, Mohmand, the Malakand Yusufzais - went via the longer but easier Lohar Gali route in lorries and trucks."
Around 2,000 tribesmen stormed Muzaffarabad that morning and easily scattered the Kashmir state army deployed there. Military historians estimate it was just 500-strong at the time and had also suffered defections by Muslim soldiers.
Flushed with victory, the tribesmen got down to wanton looting and arson.
"They plundered the state armoury, set entire markets on fire and looted their goods," Mr Rahman says.
"They shot everyone who couldn't recite the kalima - the Arabic-language Muslim declaration of faith. Many non-Muslim women were enslaved, while many others jumped in the river to escape capture."
The streets were littered with signs of mayhem - broken buildings, broken shop furniture, the ashes of burnt goods and dead bodies, including those of tribal fighters, state soldiers and local men and women. There were also bodies floating in the river.
The raiders spent about three days in Muzaffarabad before sense prevailed and the leaders urged them to move on towards Srinagar, the state capital some 170km to the east.
From here, one column drove in trucks down the Jhelum river, breezing past Uri and reaching Baramulla where another round of looting and arson ensued.
Gohar Rahman says the tribesmen shot non-Muslims when they stormed Muzaffarabad
Mr Rahman was part of the column that headed north on foot to Teetwal from where they turned east and went past Kupwara to arrive at the outskirts of Srinagar, a journey of well over 200km.
They did not face any resistance. The maharaja's army had scattered, and Hindus and Sikhs had fled the villages. They only met Muslims on the way.
"Muslim women would sometimes offer us food but the Pathans were reluctant to accept, thinking it may be poisoned. They would instead capture those people's goats and sheep, slaughter them and roast the meat on fire."
One night the fires attracted aircraft that dropped bombs, killing scores of them. "Bodies were strewn over a large area in a forest."
Unbeknown to them, the maharaja had by then signed an instrument of accession with India. Between 26 and 30 October, the Indians flew in enough troops to Srinagar to tilt the balance against tribal fighters.
The tribesmen still had numerical superiority but they were more adept at guerrilla war than infantry-style battles.
At that point, Pakistan's attempt to launch a formal attack on Srinagar in aid of the tribesmen was frustrated due to opposition from the British joint command of the as-yet-undivided militaries of India and Pakistan.
By November's end, the tribesmen had mostly pulled back to Uri, where the Jhelum gorge becomes narrower and easy to defend. Soon the winter snows arrived and put an end to the Indian advance towards Muzaffarabad.
It was here that the line that divides Kashmir between the Indian and Pakistani parts stabilised. Pakistani forces formally arrived on the scene in the spring of 1948 to reinforce this border.
Hussain Gul, a resident of Shalozan village in the Kurram tribal region who was then a soldier of the paramilitary Kurram Militia, was part of that force.
"We were there to attack and recapture [the 2,800-metre] Pandu ridge which the Indians had occupied during autumn," he says.
"It was a good victory. We were able to occupy a considerable part of Kashmir but we still lost most of it. It made one feel sad, like when you lose a part of your house,"
His father, who went in with a band of friends to fight during the previous season, "came back defeated".
"They brought back war booty though; gold and some women," he chuckles.
Hussain Gul holds the rifle he used in the battle for Pandu ridge
In his mid-90s now, and with a fading memory, he is not sure what happened to the women. As for gold, "they were cheated out of it by Majoor", an ethnic Hazara businessman in Parachinar, the central town of Kurram.
Gohar Rahman returned to Garhi Habibullah when the first winter snows came. With him were many other tribesmen.
"They had returned with war booty," he says.
"Some had brought cattle, some horses. Most of them had brought arms, and many brought women. One Afridi tribesman walked back with two women in tow. They wept incessantly and just wouldn't stop. A local feudal lord took pity on them and forced the Afridi man to release them."
The invasion not only traumatised a previously well-settled and peaceful Kashmiri society, it also set a disastrous pattern for India-Pakistan relations.
Major-General Akbar Khan, an army officer who is widely believed to have played a pivotal role in starting the invasion, emerged as "the architect of (the) philosophy of armed insurrection by aiding non-state actors as state proxies", writes a military historian, Major (Retd) Agha Humayun Amin, in his book , The 1947-48 Kashmir War: The War of Lost Opportunities.
Pakistan repeated this strategy in Kashmir in 1965, during the Kashmir insurgency of 1988-2003, as well as in the Kargil War of 1999. It also used non-state actors in Afghanistan.
But instead of liberating Kashmir or taming Afghanistan, it has led to the weakening of political processes, and has militarised society not only in Kashmir and Afghanistan, but also in Pakistan.
3 June 1947: The June Plan, also called the Mountbatten Plan, is approved in a meeting. It culminates in the Independence of India Act 1947 which partitions British India into independent states of India and Pakistan. The Act receives royal assent in July.
15 June: Agitation in the form of a No-Tax campaign starts in Poonch, an internal principality of Kashmir state.
15 August: Killings are reported from Bagh in Poonch principality when pro-Pakistan groups try to hoist a Pakistani flag to mark independence and clash with the state police.
12 September: Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan holds a meeting with military and civilian officials where a go-ahead is reportedly given to two plans: raise a tribal force to attack Kashmir from the north and arm the rebels in Poonch.
4 October: Rebels clash with state forces at a place called Thorar, and go on to besiege state forces in Poonch.
22 October: Tribal bands attack Muzaffarabad, then move eastwards to capture Baramulla. Some of the fighters reach the outskirts of Srinagar.
24 October: Sardar Ibrahim, a pro-Pakistan landlord from Poonch principality, announces the founding of the government of Azad (free) Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) at a place called Palandri, and appoints himself as its head.
26 October: The Maharaja of Kashmir, earlier inclined to stay independent due to the demographic composition of his state, accedes to India, presumably under duress.
27 October: Indian air and ground troops start landing at Srinagar, tilting the balance against tribal invaders and leading to the partition of Kashmir along the line that more or less exists today
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41662588
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