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Paradise Papers: Tycoon made $41m from 'people's fund' - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A fund set up to help a struggling African state has paid tens of millions in fees to a businessman.
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Africa
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An entrepreneur charged with managing the oil wealth of the struggling African state of Angola was paid more than $41m in just 20 months, leaked documents reveal.
The payments were made via a complex web of companies set up in the offshore jurisdiction of Mauritius.
Jean-Claude Bastos also used his position to help set up large investment deals he stands to further profit from, the Paradise Papers show.
Like many oil rich countries, Angola set up a sovereign wealth fund to invest the proceeds of its natural resource wealth. Similar schemes have been used by other countries to help ensure a steady income for future generations.
Angola is wracked by corruption, suffers extreme poverty and has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world.
The fund, Fundo Soberano De Angola (FSDEA), which began with $5bn (£3.75bn) in 2011, was mired in controversy from the start, after the then Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos' son, 39-year-old Jose Filomeno, was appointed to head it up.
Jean-Claude Bastos, sometimes also known as Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais, a Swiss-Angolan and close friend of the then president's son, was chosen as the fund's asset manager.
Typically, a fund of this size would spread the risk of investment among several asset managers, along with the fees it pays, said one expert.
However, Mr Bastos was given responsibility for investing almost all of the fund's money, and was paid accordingly. Today, his company Quantum Global Investments Africa Management, manages about 85% of it.
One expert described the situation as "unusual". Andrew Bauer, an authority on sovereign wealth funds, told the BBC: "Funds want to hedge the risk. You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket."
In a statement, the FSDEA told the BBC the appointment of Mr Bastos' company to manage the fund followed "an objective process". The firm was selected, it said, because of its "exemplary performance on previous mandates with the Angolan authorities".
The fund also said giving near total control of investments to one asset manager was part of its policy for the first 18 months only.
Documents seen by the BBC as part of the Paradise Papers investigation show the fund paid management fees of more than $90m (£67.5m) to Mr Bastos' Mauritius-based QG Investments Africa Management. This occurred over a 20-month period between May 2014 and the end of 2015.
The leak offers an unprecedented view into what happened to the management fees after being paid into Mr Bastos' company.
This money was split into two main chunks - with $41m declared as dividends, or pure profit, and deposited in a company in the British Virgin Islands, itself owned by a series of secretive offshore companies ultimately owned by Mr Bastos. A further $34m was paid in advisory fees to a Swiss firm majority owned by Mr Bastos. The rest, after minor expenses, was retained in the management company run by Mr Bastos.
The BBC asked Mr Bastos whether secrecy was the reason for the series of companies registered offshore. He said it was entirely his personal choice how he receives dividends from his companies. He also said the dividends he receives "pale in comparison to the long term positive impact my projects will have in Angola".
Both the fund and Mr Bastos said the management fees paid to Quantum Global Investments Africa Management are in line with global industry standards.
Mr Bastos added that the level of work provided by the group is considerable to ensure projects are built for future success.
Within months of receiving the money, a company in which Mr Bastos is a director purchased a 14-seater jet that had been priced at $31.75m. Mr Bastos told the BBC his is one of "many businesses that own an aircraft to more efficiently manage their travel requirements" and that travelling on commercial flights is "unproductive".
The leaked documents also show Mr Bastos holds a personal stake in investments the fund made on his recommendation.
In one, tens of millions were committed to a deal with another of Mr Bastos' companies, Afrique Imo Corporation, to build a hotel, office and a retail complex in the Angolan capital, Luanda.
The deal represents a "very strong conflict of interest" according to Mr Bauer. "This absolutely should not be happening."
At the time, it sounded alarm bells in the compliance department of Appleby - the law firm that handled the investment, according to internal emails seen by the BBC. In one, sent from a regional compliance manager, a team member charged with making sure the deal was above board noted: "this poses issues of conflict of interest between the Manager, Fund and the Investee Company".
However, an email from Appleby's director back to the compliance team notes Mr Bastos had "disclosed his interest" and, in a board meeting convened to agree the hotel deal, had "abstained from voting". Crucially, though, the director notes Mr Bastos "was still present in the meeting", before adding: "For the purpose of managing the conflict, Mr Bastos should refrain from attending any meeting."
On seeing the confidential emails of the exchange, Tom Keatinge, a specialist in financial crime, told the BBC he was "sure they are going to come to a conclusion that this is not a transaction that they should be approving".
Appleby "provide[d] the client with the answer that he wanted", said Mr Keatinge. "It's hard to believe that just because he abstained from the voting, his views were not well understood by the meeting. So it's a scurrilous approach in my view."
As well as the Luanda complex, two other investments made for the fund in that period carried similar apparent conflicts of interest for Mr Bastos, according to the Appleby documents.
Mr Bastos told the BBC that where he holds a stake in investments, he views these investments as "having aligned interests" and not being "conflicted".
The FSDEA said its investment policy for the first 18 months encourages "close interrelation and synergies... to increase the speed of portfolio development and boost institutional reach".
There are also questions about whether the hotel project represented a good investment for the fund. A former employee of Quantum Global with a direct knowledge of the Luanda deal said in 2016 the project was assessed as "economically unviable" because it would not bring good enough returns for the fund. The investment advisers' recommendation was to drop it.
Mr Bastos insisted the investment was viable and said that "by developing what will become Angola's tallest building his group are demonstrating their belief in the long term potential of the Angolan economy".
In Luanda in 2016, rubbish went uncollected after the refuse company was not paid
The web of companies run by Mr Bastos would appear to be designed to "to enrich a particular individual or... group of people", said Mr Keatinge.
"Whoever has oversight of this structure... the political elite within Angola, there is either massive incompetence or there is complicity here."
Appleby, which is the focus of much of the Paradise Papers investigation, didn't respond to specific questions about Mr Bastos - citing client confidentiality. The firm which denies any wrongdoing says it "advises clients on legitimate and lawful ways to conduct their business".
Another document seen by the BBC raises questions for the authorities in Mauritius, after an internal report by another offshore regulator criticised Mr Bastos. The regulator in Jersey notified Mr Bastos that his application to run the asset management business was likely to be refused because it doubted his independence. It highlighted Mr Bastos' "close association" with the fund's chairman, Jose Filomeno Dos Santos, and a conviction in Switzerland for "qualified cases of misappropriation".
Mr Bastos told the BBC he withdrew the application before any formal decision was made by the Jersey regulator.
A little more than a month later Mr Bastos applied successfully in Mauritius. He told the BBC he informed the Mauritian authorities about his conviction which in any case had expired and that his "criminal record is completely clean".
The BBC asked the Financial Services Commission in Mauritius how it satisfied itself Mr Bastos was a fit and proper person to be licensed.
It declined to comment on the case but said where there were "adverse" issues disclosed in an application, the handling law firm - in this case Appleby - would be responsible for checking.
Again, Appleby declined to comment on individual cases.
Listen to more on this story on File on 4, on Tuesday 7th November at 20:00 GMT on BBC Radio 4. Watch more on this story on Newsnight, BBC Two at 22:30 GMT
Your browser does not support this Lookup Your guide to financial jargon
The papers are a huge batch of leaked documents mostly from offshore law firm Appleby, along with corporate registries in 19 tax jurisdictions, which reveal the financial dealings of politicians, celebrities, corporate giants and business leaders.
The 13.4 million records were passed to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Panorama has led research for the BBC as part of a global investigation involving nearly 100 other media organisations, including the Guardian, in 67 countries. The BBC does not know the identity of the source.
Paradise Papers: Full coverage; follow reaction on Twitter using #ParadisePapers; in the BBC News app, follow the tag "Paradise Papers"
Watch Panorama on the BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only)
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41906123
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Brexit: Ministers publish post-EU trade legislation - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Trade Bill is aimed at helping UK continue to access EU agreements and seek remedies in disputes.
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UK Politics
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Details of the government's post-Brexit trade policy have been published.
Ministers say the Trade Bill includes provisions for the UK to implement existing EU trade agreements and help ensure firms can still access foreign government contracts worth £1.3tn.
It will also create a new trade remedies body to defend UK businesses against injurious trade practices.
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said firms needed "as much stability as possible" on the day the UK leaves.
But Labour questioned why the bill was being published on the day Parliament rises for a week-long recess, suggesting ministers wanted to "minimise scrutiny".
And unions said workers' rights must not be sacrificed on the altar of doing "dodgy deals" with countries with insufficient employment protections.
The UK cannot sign or negotiate trade deals before its scheduled departure from the EU in March 2019. However, ministers say they can "scope" out future deals with key trade partners, such as the US, Australia and New Zealand.
Despite its publication, the Trade Bill, one of nine pieces of new legislation in the pipeline to prepare the ground for Brexit, will not be debated by MPs until a later date.
Mr Fox said the point of the bill was to "provide as much stability as possible" for businesses on the day Britain leaves the EU and to prevent market instability.
But looking beyond that, the UK wanted to negotiate "more liberal" trade agreements to "provide even better market access than we have through our EU membership".
"One of our worries is that global trade is not opening up," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, and the UK wanted to "use its influence to get a more liberal global trading system" once it had left the EU.
But TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said the "ramshackle bill" offered no protection for workers' rights and for public services like the NHS from foreign contractors.
"The Trade Bill must guarantee that the price of entry to a trade deal involving Britain is signing up to the strongest protections for workers and public services," she said.
On the eve of the bill's publication, one of Donald Trump's leading allies said he was optimistic that the UK and US will sign a free trade deal after Brexit.
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told the BBC there had already been a "joint scoping exercise" in Washington in July on a free trade agreement and another similar meeting will be held in London next week.
"We're huge trading partners with each other and our economies are in many ways more similar to each other than either of us is to most of Europe," he said.
"So there's all the logic in the world for the US and the UK to be not only good trading partners, but FTA partners," he said.
Mr Ross, who met Theresa May and other senior ministers during a two-day visit, identified continued "passporting" of financial services, compliance with EU food standards on GM crops and chlorine-washed chicken and future trade tariffs as areas that could pose problems in negotiations between the nations.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41895387
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Sacked Labour minister Carl Sargeant found dead - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Carl Sargeant, who faced a party investigation into his conduct, is understood to have taken his own life.
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Wales politics
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An ex-Welsh Labour minister who faced a party investigation into allegations about his personal conduct has taken his own life, it is understood.
Carl Sargeant, 49, lost his job as cabinet secretary for communities and children last Friday.
He was suspended from Labour after the first minister learned of a number of alleged incidents involving women.
A family statement said they were "devastated beyond words" at the loss of "the glue that bound us together".
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the death was "deeply shocking news".
Mr Sargeant, who was married and had two children, was found dead at his home in Connah's Quay, Flintshire, on Tuesday morning.
He was sacked from his Welsh Government job after allegations about his behaviour were passed to First Minister Carwyn Jones' office.
Mr Jones had said on Monday he felt he had no choice but to refer the matter to the party. Mr Sargeant had vowed to clear his name.
The Welsh Assembly's business for Tuesday was cancelled as a mark of respect following his death, and meetings on Wednesday and Thursday will also not take place.
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In a statement Mr Sargeant's family said: "Carl was a much loved husband, father and friend.
"He wasn't simply a part of our family. He was the glue that bound us together.
"He was the most kind and caring husband, father, son and friend. We are devastated beyond words, and we know our grief will be shared by all those who knew and loved him."
Police were called to an address in Connah's Quay on Tuesday
The Senedd, in the wake of the death of former Welsh Government minister Carl Sargeant, is a place in shock.
I do not remember an atmosphere anything like this.
There is, among some senior Labour figures, a growing sense of concern and anger at the process where the government or the Labour Party appear not to have exercised their duty of care over Mr Sargeant after he faced accusations about his behaviour.
There are people who spoke to Mr Sargeant on Tuesday morning who were told that he still did not know what the allegations were.
Carwyn Jones's future could be on the line here. This is a trauma that could become a political crisis unless he comes up with the answers that Labour AMs in particular want to hear.
Paying tribute, the first minister said: "Carl was a friend as well as a colleague and I am shocked and deeply saddened by his death.
"He made a big contribution to Welsh public life and fought tirelessly for those he represented both as a minister and as a local assembly member."
The prime minister's spokesman said in relation to the "sad news" about the death of Carl Sargeant, that Theresa May's "heart goes out to Carl Sargeant's friends and family".
Mr Corbyn said the AM was "somebody who represented our party" and "worked hard to represent his communities".
The Labour leader said that all allegations must be examined and pursued but added: "There must also be great pastoral care and support given to everybody involved in these accusations, and also that we deal with them, all parties, as quickly as possible."
Speaking through tears, former local government minister Leighton Andrews told BBC Radio Wales: "Carl Sargeant was loved. He was loved across the political divide. He was loved by the people in his own community.
"Carl was a unique politician. He arrived in the assembly from the factory floor. He grew up and still lived in the council estate that helped shape his roots in Connah's Quay - he was still very much part of that community.
"My understanding is that Carl was still not aware of the detail of the allegations against him even though, I'm told, this morning."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Ex-Plaid AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas: "Carl clearly felt he'd been found guilty"
Former Plaid Cymru AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas said Mr Sargeant "clearly felt he had been found guilty before he had a chance to defend himself.
"So I think we need to develop a system which is fair to everybody, which defends everybody, but doesn't place people in a position where they feel they have no opportunity whatsoever to fight their cause."
Tributes were paid across the political divide on Tuesday.
Conservative Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said he was "shocked and saddened" by the news, adding: "My heart goes out to his family, friends and colleagues."
Elin Jones, assembly presiding officer, said Mr Sargeant "served the people of Alyn and Deeside with pride and determination" and that he had made an "enormous contribution to the development of this democratic institution".
Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said: "Our Parliament has lost a stalwart and many of us have lost a friend."
Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said: "Carl Sargeant made a significant contribution to Welsh politics, both as an assembly member and a government minister."
UKIP Wales leader Neil Hamilton described him as a "gentle giant" who would be "missed across the party divide".
Liberal Democrat Kirsty Williams, who was a colleague of Mr Sargeant's in the Welsh Government, said: "Not only was Carl a dedicated local AM, but he was an effective government minister who had a significant impact across political life at a national and community level."
FC Nomads, the Connah's Quay football team that Mr Sargeant was president of, cancelled all games this weekend in a mark of respect.
North Wales Police Supt Mark Pierce said police were called at about 11:30 GMT on Tuesday to a report that a man's body had been found at an address in Connah's Quay.
"The man has been formally identified as local AM Carl Sargeant. His next of kin have been informed and police are supporting the family," he said.
"North Wales Police are not treating his death as suspicious and the matter has been referred to HM Coroner."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-41904161
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Sydney car hits classroom killing two boys - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Australian police say they do not believe the crash, which injured others, was intentional.
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Australia
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Police investigate the crash in the Sydney suburb of Greenacre
Two eight-year-old boys have died after a car crashed into a primary school classroom in Sydney, police have said.
The incident at Banksia Road Public School also left three girls in hospital with injuries.
Most of the other 19 children in the classroom were assessed at the scene by paramedics, authorities said.
The driver of the car, a 52-year-old woman, was taken to a police station. Authorities say they do not believe the crash was intentional.
The incident happened at about 09:45 local time on Tuesday (22:45 GMT Monday) in the suburb of Greenacre.
Paramedics described the scene as "pandemonium".
"Obviously it was a scene of carnage," said Supt Stephanie Radnidge, from New South Wales (NSW) Ambulance.
"There were a number of distressed and overwhelmed children and teachers at the scene of a horrible accident."
The two boys were taken to a nearby hospital, where they died from their injuries. A girl, nine, remains in a serious condition, while the two others, both eight, were stable, authorities said.
Police said "a number" of other children received minor injuries and were treated at the scene.
Authorities described the scene as deeply distressing
"It is very, very hard because we are parents ourselves, we are human beings," said Supt Radnidge.
"But we are highly trained and the best care was delivered this morning to those injured at this site."
Police said the driver was undergoing mandatory blood and urine tests, and they were investigating how the crash happened.
"We do not believe this was an intentional act," said NSW Police Commander Stuart Smith.
It is not yet known if the woman had any connection with the school, authorities said.
One man at the scene, Khaled Arnaout, said he saw a "big hole" in the wall of the portable classroom after being drawn to it by screams.
"Teachers and everyone were just running around," he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"There was blood and kids on the floor, just lying down and screaming."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-41896105
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NHS staff 'working on edge of safety' - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Demand for services is outstripping the rise in the number of people employed by the health service in England.
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Health
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NHS staff in England are working on the "edge of safety" as rising demand is outstripping the increasing numbers being employed, health bosses say.
There are now 6% more staff than there were three years ago, but demand for services has risen by three times as much in some areas.
NHS Providers, which represents health chiefs, said staff shortages was now the number one concern in the NHS.
But ministers insisted there were plans in place to tackle the problem.
Over the past year, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced rises in the number of training places for both doctors and nurses.
The Department of Health said this represented the "biggest ever expansion of training places" and would help ensure the NHS had the staff it needed.
Can't find your health trust? Browse the full list Rather search by typing? Back to search
If you can't see the NHS Tracker, click or tap here.
But Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, said there was no guarantee this would work as there was no over-arching "coherent or credible" strategy.
She said her members were really worried about the shortages on the front line, which was leaving staff with "undoable" jobs.
"They are now working on the edge of safe services. We are seeing so much pressure on the front line."
She added the prospect of Brexit was just making things worse, with EU staff facing "much uncertainty" about their jobs and future careers in the NHS.
Just last week, figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council showed the number of EU nurses and midwives registered to work in the UK had fallen by 2,700 in the past year, to just over 36,000.
The report by NHS Providers found the total number of staff working in the NHS had risen by 6%, to 1 million, between 2013-14 and 2016-17.
Bu the same period had also seen the following rises in demand for services:
Labour shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: "This is a damning report. The staffing crisis facing our NHS reflects a fundamental failure at national level on workforce strategy.
"In the upcoming Budget, the government must fully fund the scrapping of the pay cap for NHS staff and bring forward wider funding to put our NHS on a sustainable footing."
Royal College of Nursing general secretary Janet Davies said: "Ministers can no longer dismiss warnings of this kind."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41892336
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Delhi residents panic as 'deadly smog' returns - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Pollution levels in India's capital reach 30 times the recommended safe limit in some areas.
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India
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Twitter user 'MaanviNarcisa' took this picture in Noida - a suburb of Delhi
Panic has gripped the Indian capital, Delhi, as residents woke up to a blanket of thick grey smog on Tuesday.
Visibility is poor as pollution levels reached 30 times the World Health Organization's recommended limit in some areas.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) declared "a state of medical emergency" and urged the government to "make every possible effort to curb this menace".
People have been posting dramatic pictures on social media showing the extent of the problem.
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The levels of tiny particulate matter (known as PM 2.5) that enter deep into the lungs reached as high as 700 micrograms per cubic metre in some areas on Tuesday, data from the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research website shows.
The IMA has also recommended that the city's half marathon, due to be held on 19 November, should be cancelled.
Most social media users have complained of breathing difficulties.
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The chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, has asked his education minister to consider shutting down schools for a few days.
Delhi sees pollution levels soar in winter due to farmers in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana states burning stubble to clear their fields.
Activists say very little has been done to stop the practice despite Delhi facing severe pollution for a number of years.
Low wind speeds, dust from construction sites, rubbish burning in the capital and firecrackers used in festivals also contribute to increasing pollution levels.
The government enacted a plan in October to combat some of these problems.
The plan includes traffic restrictions and the shutdown of a major power plant. Last year car rationing was trialled in an attempt to curb pollution.
But none of the measures seem to have had much impact.
Some Twitter users believe that the problem needs a long-term solution instead of a "piecemeal approach".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-41896676
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Higher food and clothing prices drives retail sales growth - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Survey finds shoppers are spending more on essentials and avoiding more expensive items.
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Business
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Higher prices for food and clothing prices driven up by the weak pound fuelled retail sales growth last month.
British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG figures showed that like-for-like retail sales rose 1.9% in September
That was far higher than the 0.4% increase for the same month last year. Total sales climbed 2.3%.
Much of this growth was due to price rises filtering through, particularly in food and clothing, said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.
"Retailers have worked hard to keep a lid on price rises following the depreciation of the pound, but with a potent mix of more expensive imports and increasing business costs from various government policies, something had to give at some point," she said.
"Spending is still being focused towards essential purchases; with consumers buying their winter coats and back to school items, but shying away from big ticket items such as furniture and delaying the renewal of key household electrical goods."
The survey showed that food sales rose by 2.5% on a like-for-like basis over the three months to September and 3.5% in total, while non-food sales rose by just 0.5%, or by 0.9% on a total basis.
Non-food sales in stores slumped 2% last month, and slid by 1.5% in total in the three months to September.
Yet online sales for non-food surged 10.7% in September - well above the three-month average of 10% - as shoppers responded well to online discounts.
Paul Martin, KPMG UK's head of retail, said: "With potential interest rate rises on the horizon, shaky consumer confidence and ever-increasing levels of household debt, uncertainty remains.
"We're now moving into the final quarter, which will ultimately define whether 2017 has been a good or bad year for retailers."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41559764
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Woman seeks private rape prosecution - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Emily Hunt is seeking what is thought to be the UK's first crowdfunded private rape prosecution.
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England
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Emily Hunt said she "had a lightbulb moment" that she was drugged
A woman seeking what is thought to be the UK's first crowdfunded private rape prosecution says she hopes to lead the way for those "let down" by the courts.
Emily Hunt from London, claims she was drugged and raped in 2015.
Police investigated, but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) felt there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a case.
Ms Hunt has hired a barrister who believes there are grounds for a criminal prosecution.
Ms Hunt - who has waived her right to anonymity - told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme on the day of the alleged rape she woke up "completely naked" at 22:00 in a hotel room next to a man she had "never seen".
Her last memory of that day was between 16:00 and 17:00, she said, when she had been having a meal with her father.
When she "finally came to", she added, she had a "light-bulb moment" that she had been drugged.
"I'd never felt like that before. I'd lost five hours of my life and wound up somewhere where I didn't know how I got there."
She said she hid in the bathroom and phoned a friend, who rang the police.
With no memory of the encounter Ms Hunt was not aware they had had sex until police informed her they had found used condoms in the hotel room.
The man told police they had had sex but insisted it was consensual.
Ms Hunt believes it was rape as she would not have been in a state to consent.
Police told her the man had also "filmed her naked and unconscious on the bed" and carried out a sex act over her body.
The police referred her case to the CPS, who upon reviewing CCTV footage and toxicology tests decided there was not enough evidence to proceed.
CCTV footage of Ms Hunt and the man showed them kissing and holding hands as they walked to the hotel after leaving a bar.
Toxicology tests, taken almost nine hours after her last memory, showed Ms Hunt was at least two times over the drink drive limit, but came back negative for any signs of the date rape drug GHB.
Ms Hunt believes the toxicology report was "flawed", and that CCTV footage - which she said showed her unable to stand without support - demonstrated how she could not have been in a position to give consent.
She estimated the cost of a potential private rape prosecution to be £50,000 - a sum she is hoping to crowdfund.
"It is an amazing thing that we as individuals can bring a criminal charge in a case where the system has let us down, that can result in a rapist going to jail," she said.
The Metropolitan Police said it "carried out a thorough investigation following [Ms Hunt's] allegations" and "will always provide support to anyone who reports a serious sexual offence".
Ms Hunt's complaints over its investigation were "independently reviewed by the IPCC and not upheld", it continued.
The CPS said "having looked carefully at all the available evidence, a specialist prosecutor decided there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction in this case".
A further review - conducted at the request of Ms Hunt - "upheld the original decision", it added.
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-england-41885897
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Woman fired for showing Trump motorcade the middle finger - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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Juli Briskman, 50, showed the president's motorcade the middle finger while cycling in Virginia.
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US & Canada
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Despite losing her job, the 50-year-old says she does not regret "flipping off" the motorcade
A woman pictured raising her middle finger toward US President Donald Trump's motorcade has reportedly been fired from her job over the photograph.
The image went viral after it was taken on 28 October in Virginia, close to a Trump golf resort.
Juli Briskman, who was identified as the cyclist in the image, alleges she was fired by employers Akima LLC after she posted it to her online profiles.
The company did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.
Ms Briskman told US media the firm had called her into a meeting a day after she informed their HR department she was the subject of the widely circulated image.
She told the Huffington Post news website that executives had told her they classified the image as "lewd" or "obscene", and therefore deemed that it violated their social media policies after she had posted it to her Twitter and Facebook accounts.
However Ms Briskman said she had emphasised to management that she had not been in working hours when the photograph was taken and had not mentioned her employers on the social media pages.
Ms Briskman also alleges that a male colleague was allowed to keep his job after deleting a post deemed as offensive in a separate incident.
She therefore questions why she was immediately dismissed from her role.
The 50-year-old mother-of-two had reportedly been at the government contractor firm for six months working in communications.
Motorcade protests are not uncommon: this was taken by press photographer Brendan Smialowski on the same day
Despite losing her job, Ms Briskman said she did not regret making the gesture.
"In some ways, I'm doing better than ever," she told The Huffington Post
"I'm angry about where our country is right now. I am appalled. This was an opportunity for me to say something."
The press photographer, Brendan Smialowski, told the AFP website that it was common to see people protesting or making obscene gestures at presidents as they drove by.
He said that he had been struck by the "tenacity" of Ms Briskman after she made the gesture several times and made attempts to catch up with the motorcade.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41892544
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Paradise Papers documents raise questions over African mining deal - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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A man previously accused of corruption was asked to negotiate a mining deal in Africa, the Paradise Papers reveal.
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US & Canada
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One of the world's largest firms loaned a businessman previously accused of corruption $45m and asked him to negotiate mining rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Paradise Papers reveal.
Anglo-Swiss company Glencore made the loan available to Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler, a notorious middle man with a close relationship with senior figures in the DR Congo government, in 2009.
Mr Gertler was asked to negotiate a new deal for a mining company in which Glencore had a significant stake, which campaigners say cost DR Congo hundreds of millions of dollars.
He and Glencore deny any wrongdoing.
Glencore agreed to pay Dan Gertler $534m (£407m) to buy him out of their shared mining interests in DR Congo in February this year.
The new details came to light in the Paradise Papers, a leak of more than 13.4 million documents, many from within Appleby, one of the world's leading offshore law firms.
DR Congo has been mired in violence and corruption for decades, leaving more than half of its population living below the poverty line.
But the country's vast mineral resources are worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year for those that can access them.
By some measures it is the 16th largest company on the planet.
For many years Glencore has been involved in mining in DR Congo, in particular the production of copper.
The company says it has invested $50bn there. Ten years ago it had an 8.52% stake in a company called Katanga which had the rights to mine copper in the south of the country.
In June 2008 Katanga's board, which contained a senior Glencore figure, received some bad news.
The DRC government under President Joseph Kabila wanted to renegotiate the terms of its mining licences. Glencore had already invested $150m in Katanga but this could have been wasted if it was unable to mine.
The state-owned mining company Gécamines wanted $585m (£409m) in an "access premium" to allow the exploitation of copper and cobalt at the mine.
The previous agreement had been for $135m (£94.5m).
Documents contained within the Paradise Papers show Katanga's board felt the demands of the DRC authorities were "quite unacceptable". For the first time, it is possible to see that the directors decided to call for the help of an Israeli businessman called Dan Gertler.
"Dan Gertler, who had a substantial indirect interest in the company, should be given a mandate from the board to negotiate with the DRC authorities," Katanga's board minutes from June 2008 show.
"The board... should approach Mr Gertler to see whether he was prepared to act in this way."
Mr Gertler was asked to negotiate an agreement on Katanga's behalf.
At around the same time, Glencore agreed to lend a company in the British Virgin Islands called Lora Enterprise $45m (£31.5m).
Glencore then loaned Katanga $265m (£185m). This was later converted into shares in the company, allowing Glencore to become its biggest shareholder. The loan to Lora Enterprises allowed Dan Gertler to maintain his stake in the mine. Although Mr Gertler says he did not benefit in any way from the loan.
Katanga announced the larger of the loans to the Toronto Stock Exchange in February 2009, but the details around it were sparse until now.
The terms of the loan to Mr Gertler's company show that if he failed to deliver a new agreement for the rights within three months, Glencore would have been entitled to demand immediate repayment of the loan.
The Paradise Papers documents suggest Mr Gertler was quickly successful. Gécamines reduced the access premiums it was asking for from $585m to $140m, which was close to the original agreement, saving Katanga $445m.
Pete Jones from anti-corruption campaigners Global Witness said deals similar to the one Glencore was able to strike have had serious consequences for DR Congo.
"For a country that dependent on it natural resource wealth, deals like this which just suck money out of the economy have hugely negative consequences for DR Congo."
Mr Gertler disputes that it was a poor deal for the DRC and says "Gécamines benefitted significantly from the new JVA including Katanga's release of copper and cobalt reserves to Gécamines worth $825m."
Glencore told the BBC the $45m loan to Lora Enterprises was made "on commercial terms and was negotiated at arm's length".
It also said it was repaid in full by 2010. Lawyers for Mr Gertler said it's not unusual for a lender in a mining deal to demand repayment of a loan if a joint venture fails. They went on to say that "neither Lora Enterprises nor Mr Gertler nor any company or person related to them received the loan funds directly".
Mr Gertler's notoriety in DR Congo goes back almost two decades. In 2001 the UN produced a report that accused him of exchanging weapons and military training in part of a deal to secure a monopoly on diamond mining rights.
In 2013, a report by the Africa Progress Panel, led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, suggested Dan Gertler's companies had won mining rights in DR Congo at well below their true value. Lawyers for the Israeli businessman deny the allegations made in the 2001 and 2013 reports.
Last year, hedge fund Och-Ziff agreed to pay $412m to settle a case brought by US authorities accusing it of paying bribes in several African countries. Prosecutors described, but did not name, an Israeli businessman who they claimed paid "together with others, more than $100m in bribes to obtain special access to, and preferential prices for, opportunities in Congo's mining sector".
Dan Gertler denies that he did this. Perhaps most significantly, Mr Gertler was also known to be a close friend of a man called Katumba Mwanke, a key advisor to President Kabila before dying in 2012.
Daniel Balint-Kurti from the NGO Global Witness, which has been investigating the relationship between Dan Gertler and Glencore for several years, says the company should have been wary of working with the businessman.
"By hiring someone close to the Congolese president and pumping him with cash and mandating him as their man in negotiations they were running an extremely high risk," he said.
Dan Gertler's lawyers told the BBC that "[He] is a respectable businessman who contributes the vast majority of his wealth and time to the needy."
Find out more about the words and phrases found in the Paradise Papers.
Your browser does not support this Lookup Your guide to financial jargon
The papers are a huge batch of leaked documents mostly from offshore law firm Appleby, along with corporate registries in 19 tax jurisdictions, which reveal the financial dealings of politicians, celebrities, corporate giants and business leaders.
The 13.4 million records were passed to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Panorama has led research for the BBC as part of a global investigation involving nearly 100 other media organisations, including the Guardian, in 67 countries. The BBC does not know the identity of the source.
Paradise Papers: Full coverage; follow reaction on Twitter using #ParadisePapers; in the BBC News app, follow the tag "Paradise Papers"
Watch Panorama on the BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only)
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41892624
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Endangered apes saved from pet trade - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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Rescued pet apes in Indonesia are being returned to the wild, but traders are still "flouting the law".
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Science & Environment
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The arrival of the new baby gibbon provides hope for the future of this endangered species
Conservationists are celebrating the arrival of a baby Javan gibbon - the first of this species to be born in the wild to parents that were rescued from the pet trade.
Conservation International says the birth is a boost for the future of the apes on the Indonesian island of Java.
But illegal trade is still a threat, and is increasingly moving online.
A UK-based investigation this year revealed that the law protecting these ape species was being openly "flouted".
Researchers who carried out the investigation, who are based at Oxford Brookes University, also showed BBC News videos of protected species being advertised by pet traders on social media platforms.
The birth of the wild-born Javan gibbon - in a protected forest in West Java - is a breakthrough for a project that has now released 17 of the apes into the area.
Conservation International (CI) and the Javan Gibbon Foundation have rehabilitated the animals, and rangers now patrol the site at Mount Malabar daily, monitoring the animals and checking for any poaching activity.
It has taken almost 10 years to bring the two adults back to the forest.
"It's a long, long process," explained Anton Ario from CI. "Because the poachers that take gibbons for the trade target the babies - because they're cute and easy to sell - when we find them, they're often living in a cage and cannot move around at all. They need to learn to live in the trees."
To ensure their rereleased animals are able to survive, they introduce them to potential mates while they are still in captivity - ultimately releasing pairs or family groups of the animals.
The new birth represents hope for a primate that is rapidly losing its habitat in Java, which has less than 5% of pristine forest left in its steep, tropical mountains.
But while programmes like this can get a few animals back to the wild every year, many more are being bought and sold as pets.
Young orangutans are targeted by the illegal pet trade
A search on social media channels will reveal pet shops and sellers - many based in South East Asia - openly advertising pet baby gibbons for sale.
"They are flouting the law," says Prof Vincent Nijman, from Oxford Brookes University, who has carried out investigations of the illegal trade in endangered apes.
Researchers monitoring the trade showed us pictures and videos of gibbons being advertised for sale on social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram
"No-one is being punished.
"So if people [entering the forest] come across a baby gibbon and have the option to capture it, they are motivated to do it. It represents money and doesn't represent any risk."
The trade is not confined to gibbons. Critically endangered orangutans and slow lorises are also being "plucked" from the wild.
Prof Nijman's recently published investigation revealed that, while more than 400 illegal pet orangutans had been seized by law enforcement in Indonesia in the last two decades, those confiscations had led to only seven prosecutions.
Rescued apes have to be rehabilitated by conservationists, who help them learn to return to the trees after life in a cage
BBC News reported a post to Facebook that advertised a baby gibbon for sale. In response, the company said it had removed the post and was "investigating the page where it was posted".
"We're committed to helping tackle the illegal online trade of protected wildlife and will remove any content that violates our community standards when it is reported to us," Facebook said in a statement.
Instagram has also responded after the BBC alerted it to the sale of gibbons on the site. In a statement sent to BBC News, the company said that the accounts in question had been removed, adding that the illegal trade or sale of animals was "prohibited on Instagram".
Prof Nijman pointed out that the numerous threats to endangered apes in Indonesia were not all problems that people had the power to tackle.
"Orangutans in particular face threats left, right and centre," he said, "But curbing the pet trade is within our control.
"It's in human hands to fix this."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41767347
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How fear puts girls off PE - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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Girls are half as likely as boys to be physically active - and lack of confidence is to blame.
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Family & Education
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Gracie says learning to love PE has transformed her life
Gracie Rowe used to be terrified of PE.
"I was on the tubby side.
"My personal self-consciousness was like a devil on my shoulder telling me I couldn't do it.
"It was the fact that I had to move, be active and sweat.
"I would just stand and watch and mope."
Gracie says she had zero self-confidence when she started secondary school.
She was so nervous that she tried to persuade her mum she was sick most days and twice-weekly PE lessons were a particular source of stress.
"I was worried that people judged me. It was because I wasn't happy with myself."
The school's PE uniform didn't help: "It was a 'skort' - sort of shorts and skirt in one - and it was quite tight and short.
"All my friends hated PE just as much as I did."
Hayley Wood-Thompson, Gracie's PE teacher at The John Warner School in Hertfordshire, says about half of the girls feel the same.
The school shares its site with a sports centre, so has the use of excellent facilities.
"We offer quite a broad spectrum of activities. There is a dance studio and swimming pool. But lots of the girls are still turned off by it."
Hayley Wood-Thompson is a PE teacher at The John Warner School
The UK's chief medical officer recommends school-age children do at least an hour of exercise each day.
But new research with 25,000 secondary students in England and Northern Ireland suggests that, at secondary level, only 8% of girls and 16% of boys manage this.
Of the teenagers, surveyed by Youth Sport Trust and Women in Sport, more than 80% understood the importance of being active but almost half of boys and nearly two-thirds of girls were less than keen on taking part themselves.
The research suggests lack of confidence is key.
Among girls over 14, more than a third said they felt insecure, hated other people watching them and were self-conscious about their bodies.
Almost two-thirds said they disliked competitive PE lessons.
Gracie's mum and her teachers realised they had to boost her confidence to ensure she attended school.
Her mum brought her in for meetings with the head of year - and the school enrolled her on to a healthy living project to improve her self-esteem.
At the same time, big reforms to the school's PE programme were under way, designed to encourage girls to engage with the subject.
First off, skorts were out, replaced by black sports leggings.
"It's the sort of thing you might wear to the gym on a Saturday morning. It feels a bit more adult," says Ms Wood-Thompson.
The school also now divides its PE programme into pathways, allowing girls and boys to choose how much competitive and outdoors sport to do.
"The girls-only pathway is tailored to boosting levels of confidence.
"There will be a bit more aerobics, dance, being inside in the winter. So they're not turned off by being outside in the rain and cold.
"More sporty girls are offered a mixed programme with the less athletic boys - this might involve dodgeball, football and more competitive games.
Gracie's activities include field days and camps with the Combined Cadet Force
Gracie Rowe chose the girls-only pathway and liked it.
"It was just the fact that we didn't need to show off to anyone or act like someone we're not."
Gradually her confidence improved. She not only started to join in PE, but began to enjoy it and made friends.
"It helped me forget what other people thought of me and have confidence in myself."
Now 14, she is no longer tubby, plays in the football team for her school year, takes dance classes and is in the gym "all the time".
She also joined the Combined Cadet Force run at a nearby private school, knows how a rifle works and takes part in field days and camps.
Last year the school nominated her as a leader on the Youth Sport Trust's Girls' Active programme, which aims to tackle girls' negative body images, improve attitudes to physical activity and to make sport more relevant to them.
Girls Active encourages girls who have overcome their fear of PE to help their classmates
"She has made the biggest improvement I have ever seen," says her PE teacher.
"I know that not every girl is going to have a fully positive experience in every PE lesson every day but I hope I can enthuse them enough to encourage them to take part. It's all about relationships."
She hopes the young leaders on the programme will help other girls overcome barriers to physical activity.
"They are very keen to improve the mental health and self-esteem of their peers.
"They really care about trying to remove the stigma of being active and getting sweaty and to foster a happy, supportive and relaxed environment for PE."
Gracie says a myriad of factors can stop girls being active "but you realise you don't have to be like that or think like that".
"I feel empowered now to influence other girls who were like me by showing them that there is no limit to what you can do.
"It doesn't matter on your size, age or ability level, start with what you are comfortable with and push those boundaries. Don't let anyone hold you back."
• None Our Vision and Mission - Women In Sport The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-41893475
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Live: Paradise Papers: Tax haven secrets of the super-rich exposed - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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A massive leak exposes how the powerful and wealthy secretly invest vast amounts of cash offshore.
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World
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We are going to finish our coverage at the end of day three of the Paradise Papers revelations.
The huge trove of leaked documents has made headlines around the world on the offshore financial affairs of hundreds of politicians, multinationals, celebrities and high-net-worth individuals.
Here are today's top stories so far:
• Prince Charles campaigned to alter climate-change agreements without disclosing his private estate had an offshore financial interest in what he was promoting
• An entrepreneur charged with managing the oil wealth of the struggling African state of Angola was paid more than $41m in just 20 months
• The Isle of Man has rejected claims it is a tax haven, saying it doesn't welcome those "seeking to evade or aggressively avoid taxes"
They came after a wave of stories on Monday, including:
• Apple has protected its low-tax regime by using the Channel Island of Jersey
• Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton avoided tax on his £16.5m luxury jet, the papers suggest
• A Lithuanian shopping mall partly owned by U2 star Bono is under investigation for potential tax evasion
• How three stars of the hit BBC sitcom, Mrs Brown's Boys, diverted more than £2m into an offshore tax-avoidance scheme
And the stories on day one revealed:
• The Queen's private estate invested about £10m offshore including a small amount in the company behind BrightHouse, a chain accused of irresponsible lending
• One of President Donald Trump's top administration officials kept a financial stake in a firm whose major partners include a Russian company part-owned by President Vladimir Putin's son-in-law
• Lord Ashcroft, a former Conservative party deputy chairman, has denied allegations he ignored the rules around how his offshore investments were managed.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-41879690
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Fears for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe after Boris Johnson remark - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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Foreign secretary's comments could double Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's Iran jail term, says charity.
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UK
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A charity fears a British-Iranian woman held in Iran could have her prison sentence doubled following remarks made by the foreign secretary.
Boris Johnson told a Commons committee that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was arrested at Tehran Airport in 2016, was "teaching people journalism".
The Thomson Reuters Foundation said she was seeing family and urged Mr Johnson to correct his "serious mistake".
The Foreign Office said the remarks could not justify new charges.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is currently serving a five-year sentence after Iran tried her on charges of trying to overthrow the government. She denies all the allegations against her.
She lost her final appeal in April 2017 but has since faced two more charges relating to an accusation of plotting to topple the regime in Tehran.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation and BBC Media Action (the corporation's international development charity), but insisted the 2016 visit was for her daughter to meet her grandparents.
Mr Johnson was appearing before MPs on the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee on 1 November, and criticised Iran over the case before saying: "When I look at what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing, she was simply teaching people journalism as I understand it.
"[Neither] Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe nor her family has been informed about what crime she has actually committed. And that I find extraordinary, incredible."
Four days later, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was summoned to court where the foreign secretary's comments were cited as evidence against her.
At this hearing she was accused of engaging in "propaganda against the regime".
The Iranian judiciary's High Council for Human Rights said Mr Johnson's comments "shed new light" on the charity worker and proved Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe "had visited the country for anything but a holiday".
Monique Villa, chief executive of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, called on Mr Johnson to "immediately correct the serious mistake he made".
Thomson Reuters Foundation says the comments "can only worsen her sentence"
Ms Villa said there was a "direct correlation" between Mr Johnson's comments and the unscheduled court appearance.
"This accusation from Judge Salavati can only worsen her sentence. She is obviously a bargaining chip between the UK government and Iran and this injustice must stop as soon as possible.
"Whatever is at stake should be paid attention to by the UK government."
Labour's Tulip Siddiq, the MP for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's constituency, said she is "furious" with Mr Johnson and called on him to "urgently retract" his remarks.
A Foreign Office spokesman said the remarks "provide no justifiable basis" to bring further charges against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
"While criticising the Iranian case against Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the Foreign Secretary sought to explain that even the most extreme set of unproven Iranian allegations against her were insufficient reason for her detention and treatment.
"The UK will continue to do all it can to secure her release on humanitarian grounds and the foreign secretary will be calling the Iranian foreign minister to raise again his serious concerns about the case and ensure his remarks are not misrepresented."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41890885
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Boris Johnson sorry if Zaghari-Ratcliffe remarks 'caused anxiety' - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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The foreign secretary says remarks about a British-Iranian woman held in Iran "could have been clearer".
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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. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband said "she was just a mum on holiday"
Boris Johnson has said he is sorry if his remarks about a British-Iranian mother caused anxiety to her family.
The foreign secretary had been criticised for saying Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been jailed in Iran, had been training journalists there.
A charity said the remarks could worsen her sentence. She had been in Iran on holiday when she was arrested, it said.
Mr Johnson told MPs he was sorry if his words were "so taken out of context" as "to cause any kind of anxiety".
The UK government had "no doubt" she was on holiday when she was arrested, he said.
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Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained at Tehran Airport in April 2016 and is serving a five-year sentence for allegedly plotting to topple the government in Tehran, although the official charges have never been made public.
She has worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation and BBC Media Action (the corporation's international development charity), but has always said the 2016 visit was so her daughter Gabriella, who is three, could meet her grandparents.
She was summoned back to court on 4 November, where Mr Johnson's comment was cited as new evidence as to what she was doing in Iran.
Mr Johnson had told the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee on 1 November: "When I look at what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing, she was simply teaching people journalism, as I understand it.
"[Neither] Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe nor her family has been informed about what crime she has actually committed. And that I find extraordinary, incredible."
Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said Mr Johnson had done a "good thing" in clarifying his comments, and asked him to try to visit his wife in Iran.
"It's important that the judiciary understands that the British government thinks she is innocent," he said.
He said he hoped his wife and daughter, a British citizen - who is with her grandparents in Iran - can return home before Christmas.
Monique Villa, chief executive of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, said she saw a "direct correlation" between Mr Johnson's original remarks and Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's treatment in Iran.
She said Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had "never trained journalists" at the charity.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Boris Johnson is asked if he will apologise to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family
Mr Johnson told MPs his previous remarks to the foreign affairs committee "could have been clearer".
He said: "My point was that I disagreed with the Iranian view that training journalists was a crime - not that I wanted to lend any credence to Iranian allegations that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been engaged in such activity.
"I accept that my remarks could have been clearer in that respect, and I'm glad to provide this clarification."
Later, when MP Layla Moran asked him if he would apologise to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family, he said: "Of course I am sorry if any words of mine have been so taken out of context and so misconstrued as to cause any kind of anxiety for the family."
He said he did not believe his comments had "had any impact on the judicial process" in Iran.
Boris Johnson is in hot water again. It will not, however, result in his dismissal from the cabinet.
In an effort to hose the situation down and minimise any damage to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case, the foreign secretary told his Iranian counterpart that he accepted his remarks at the committee "could have been clearer".
He said he was seeking to condemn "the Iranian view that training journalists was a crime."
But that is not what he said to the Commons committee last week - and Labour MPs are furious at this latest diplomatic fumble by the Foreign Secretary.
The foreign secretary said his comments had no impact on the case in Iran, a view echoed by his Iranian counterpart.
That certainly helps Mr Johnson weather this latest storm.
But more fundamentally, Theresa May does not have the political strength to dismiss one of the Cabinet's big Brexit-supporting beasts.
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Mr Johnson had earlier called the Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif, to say his remarks provided "no justifiable basis" for further legal action and that he intended to visit Iran before the end of the year to discuss the case.
Mr Zarif told the foreign secretary the developments in the case over the weekend were "unrelated" to Mr Johnson's remarks, a Foreign Office statement added.
The Iranian judiciary's High Council for Human Rights said Mr Johnson's comments "shed new light" on the charity worker and proved Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe "had visited the country for anything but a holiday".
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe denies all the allegations against her, but lost her final appeal in April.
She has since faced two more charges relating to an accusation of plotting to topple the government in Tehran.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been eligible for parole under the early release scheme from 23 November.
Mr Ratcliffe told the Press Association that his wife could now face a fresh trial before that date to block her chance of freedom.
"I think the one thing the foreign secretary could do to make amends would be if he went to visit her in the next few weeks before her trial," he said.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says she was in Iran so her daughter could meet her grandparents
The case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is first and foremost a story of terrible personal suffering for a young woman, her husband and their baby girl.
Eighteen months into a five-year sentence, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe faces the prospect of up to 16 years in an Iranian jail.
It is also, however, a story of an internal power struggle in Iran, as well as of the nation's deeply difficult relationship with the UK.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41902883
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In the shadow of Red October - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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In a building next to the Church on the Blood, I attend a children’s choir rehearsal. Looking down from the wall is Nicholas II. His portrait provides inspiration to the young choristers. “The tsar and his family set us a moral example that we try to follow,” Alexandra explains. “They believed in God so much, they suffered for it.” “I always think of him as the captain of a big ship called Russia,” says Anastasiya. “He was on this ship till the very end, till the country ended. He was so brave and I admire him.”
Anastasiya: “[Tsar Nicholas] was so brave and I admire him.”
It is an idealised and somewhat distorted image of Russia’s last tsar. For, if Nicholas II was the captain, does he not bear some responsibility for the sinking of imperial Russia? It was the tsar’s soldiers who fired on peaceful protesters outside the Winter Palace in 1905. It was Nicholas who brought the mystic and faith-healer Grigory Rasputin into the royal court. As a private adviser to the Romanovs, the renegade monk interfered in matters of state and further damaged the prestige of the monarchy.
Illustration portraying Bloody Sunday, January 1905, when tsarist soldiers fired upon unarmed marchers in St Petersburg
Nicholas’s decision to take personal command of the tsarist army in World War One proved disastrous. And ever the inflexible autocrat, the tsar was incapable of steering Russia clear of revolution. The Provisional Government that took over from him made mistakes, too. But ultimately, the Bolsheviks seized power in a country that had been weakened by years of imperial mismanagement. In post-communist Russia, it is not only the tsar who is enjoying a revival. So is the Church. In 1989, Russia had 6,000 Orthodox churches. Today there are more than 36,000.
Formerly a pillar of tsarist autocracy, Orthodoxy once again enjoys a close connection to the state. As the Kremlin strives to shape a new national ideology around patriotism and ultra-conservative values, the Church is playing a key role. In a school playground on the edge of Yekaterinburg, I watch children practising traditional Cossack sword-spinning. The school, which has built its own church, is one of several in the area where education is centred on piety, patriotism and a glorious past.
“We are rediscovering our culture of a century ago, not just with swords, but with songs and dances,” 14-year-old Nikolai tells me. “But for me, faith is the most important thing in life - it is the reason we are here.” I talk to the school director, Alexei Solovyov. He recalls that in Soviet times, when atheism was an official state doctrine, only one church was open in Yekaterinburg, or Sverdlovsk, as it was known under communism. It is a city of more than a million people. “Outside the church there were always police in civilian clothes,” recalls Alexei. “They didn’t harass the old people. But any young people that went up to the door were taken aside for a conversation.” Yet communism failed to replace God in Russians’ hearts.
“My great-grandmother was a communist,” Alexei recalls. “She worked as a cook. She even cooked for Tsar Nikolai’s killers in the Ipatiev House. But in the 1930s she was a victim of Stalin’s purges. She spent five years in the gulag for being a ‘Trotskyite’. When she came out, she ditched all that revolutionary hype and turned to religion.” But if Russians are looking to the past to shape their future, might they decide to restore the monarchy? That is unlikely. “Monarchy is a good way of governing,” schoolteacher Olga tells me. “But times have changed. Anyway, our president is a man who kind of governs the way the tsar tried to govern. He is a real ruler, a real patriot. He doesn’t allow other countries to humiliate our citizens.”
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http://bbc.in/2zay2J0
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Trump urges N Korea to 'come to table' over nuclear issue - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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US President Trump strikes a less strident tone in urging N Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
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Asia
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Mr Trump said he "hoped to God" he would not have to use the US' full military capabilities against Pyongyang
US President Donald Trump has urged North Korea to "come to the table" and discuss giving up its nuclear weapons.
Striking a different tone from previous fiery rhetoric, he said he "hoped to God" he did not have to use the US military against Pyongyang.
Mr Trump was speaking at a press conference with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in in Seoul, as part of his tour of Asia.
The US leader has previously threatened "fire and fury" against Pyongyang.
He is on a five-nation tour of Asia, where North Korea's nuclear ambitions have been high on his agenda.
At a press conference, Mr Trump and Mr Moon reiterated their call for the North to denuclearise, with Mr Trump saying it "makes sense for North Korea to come to the table", and to "do the right thing, not only for North Korea but for humanity all over the world".
Though the US had deployed a significant military presence in the region, he said he "hoped to God" he would not have to use it against North Korea.
The two leaders also called on China and Russia to put pressure on Pyongyang, and said they were lifting the limit on South Korean missile payloads, which they had agreed to do in September.
Mr Trump and Mr Moon held talks on Tuesday on trade and North Korea's nuclear programme
Mr Trump also said that South Korea would be ordering "billions of dollars" in military equipment from the US, which he said would reduce their trade deficit.
It was unclear if a deal was already struck, but Mr Moon said they had agreed to "begin consultations on acquisitions" that would enhance South Korea's defence capabilities.
Japan's leader Shinzo Abe said earlier that he was considering it.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. How could war with North Korea unfold?
Though the US president will only spend about 24 hours in South Korea, it is perhaps the most symbolic stop in his Asian tour, says the BBC's Robin Brant in Seoul.
The trip is designed to bolster the military alliance that has long protected South Korea, and strength in unity is the message they want to send to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un just across the border, says our correspondent.
But the two leaders also have their differences. Mr Trump has previously accused Mr Moon's government of trying to appease the North.
He has also previously criticised the free trade agreement between the US and South Korea, and has made clear he wants to re-negotiate its terms.
Mr Trump, during the press conference, said the deal had been "quite unsuccessful" for the US, and that the two countries were going to "pursue a much better deal".
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Protests against Mr Trump, as well as counter-rallies welcoming him, have been held in Seoul and elsewhere.
Many in South Korea are hoping that Mr Trump will not repeat his strong rhetoric against North Korea, which many here regard as unnecessary and incendiary, says our correspondent.
Mr Trump will be going to China, Vietnam and the Philippines in the coming week.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41896635
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SSE and Npower in energy merger talks - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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A merger would bring together two of the UK's "big six" gas and electricity suppliers.
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Business
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Energy supplier SSE says it has been in talks with the owner of rival Npower with a view to forming a new UK energy company.
SSE said had been in discussions with Germany's Innogy about merging their UK gas and electricity supply businesses into an independent company.
Such a merger would bring together two of the UK's "big six" gas and electricity suppliers.
SSE, the UK's second-largest supplier, said the talks were "well-advanced".
SSE, formerly known as Scottish and Southern Energy, supplies energy to 7.77 million households while Npower serves 4.8 million.
Any merger - if allowed - would see the new company nipping at the heels of the market leader British Gas, which currently has 27% of the gas and electricity supply market, according to energy consultancy Cornwall Insight.
It's well known that Npower has been struggling to make money.
And that its German parent, Innogy, is looking for a way to offload the business.
Like all the major suppliers, Npower and SSE face growing competition, with hundreds of thousands of people switching suppliers each month.
Plus they now have the prospect of the government capping their most important prices, their standard variable tariffs.
Combining the two would mean they could cut costs, so there's a danger of job losses.
However it's highly likely that the competition watchdog, the CMA, would want to check the deal before letting it through.
Together they would have 22% of gas and electricity customers.
Add in British Gas and the two biggest suppliers would have nearly half the market.
Even so shares in SSE rose by nearly 3%.
A combined SSE-Npower company would have a market share of 22.5%, with Germany's E.On trailing on 12%.
The other members of the "big six" UK suppliers are Scottish Power - which is owned by Spain's Iberdrola - and France's EDF.
The merger talks take place against an intensifying debate about how well the big six companies are serving UK customers.
Despite years of competition, many households do not switch supplier freely, leaving a large chunk on the most expensive Standard Variable Tariffs (SVTs).
About 12 million households are on some form of default tariff, which can cost hundreds of pounds a year more than the cheapest deals.
Last month, the government published draft legislation that would give energy regulator Ofgem the power to cap SVTs.
Business Secretary Greg Clark has said Ofgem should use its powers to impose a wider cap on energy bills more quickly.
But the watchdog has warned it could be sued by gas and electricity firms if it capped SVTs without the backing of new legislation.
Set against this, the established providers are losing market share to a growing band of small suppliers, with even local councils starting to sell their own energy packages.
Neil Wilson, analyst at ETX Capital, said: "The problem - and arguably the rationale - is that the big six are losing customers at a record pace to smaller suppliers. Smaller suppliers now account for more than 8% of market share, up from 1% just three years ago, according to Ofgem data."
Any merger deal between SSE and Innogy's Npower would need approval from competition authorities and shareholders.
In a statement, SSE said: "In discussions, SSE is mindful of the requirements of customers and the concerns of employees. It will disclose the outcome of the discussions as soon as they are concluded."
Innogy confirmed the two were in "advanced exclusive discussions".
SSE shares were 3% higher on news of the talks.
Energy regulator Ofgem said it would "advise relevant authorities if we were concerned that a merger would not be in consumers' interests."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41901335
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Growth up: Now get set for the Budget - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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Philip Hammond is in a more positive mood after better-than-expected economic data. He tells the BBC now is not the time to borrow more.
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Business
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They are not exactly hanging out the bunting at the Treasury, but today's better-than-expected economic growth figures have put a bit of a spring in the step of the chancellor.
And that is not just for economic reasons.
Philip Hammond is under increasing political pressure from cabinet colleagues to loosen the purse strings in his Budget on 22 November.
Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, has gone public, suggesting that the government should borrow more for housebuilding.
And another senior cabinet minister I spoke to, with excellent knowledge of the prime minister's thinking, also suggested to me that some fiscal largesse might be just what the country needs.
Philip Hammond is not of that view - and the better economic data will give him a little more headroom in the public finances without having to borrow more.
His hand has been strengthened.
In his interview with me, Mr Hammond made it clear that he remains a fiscal conservative, focused on "balancing the books" and bringing the deficit down to zero by the middle of the next decade.
I asked him whether he saw any merit in delay.
"Well, we've already moved the target for balancing the books out from 2020 to 2025, but continuing to drive down the deficit in a measured and sensible way over a period of years, so that we are living within our means, and reducing the debt we are passing on to our children, has to be the right way to go," Mr Hammond told me.
There is certainly a robust argument going on in government.
There are those who believe that Mrs May's administration needs some eye-catching initiatives.
And given that tax rises are difficult to push through Parliament (just remember what happened to those March plans to increase National Insurance contributions for the self-employed), borrowing more seems the easiest route to paying for popular policies.
Should we borrow to build?
Many economists believe that the present deficit of 2.6% is low enough to satisfy the markets that the government is fiscally competent and has public debts under a modicum of control.
And Mr Javid said that "taking advantage of record low interest rates can be the right thing if done sensibly".
That does not appear to be the view of Mr Hammond.
"The government's borrowing costs are not at record low levels, they've risen over the last six or eight months," he said.
That's because higher inflation has increased the cost of servicing the government's debt.
"But the most important point here is that we still have a very large deficit and we have a debt which is 90% of our national income. That leaves us very exposed to any future shocks to the economy.
"So we want to continue to get the deficit down in a measured and sensible way over the medium term, giving ourselves room to support the economy, support our public services, invest in Britain's future through productivity-stimulating investment, but still moving over time to get that deficit down and starting to see our debt shrinking as a share of our GDP, so we don't simply pass on an unsupportable debt to the next generation."
The government's approach to borrowing will be a vital to the tone and feel of the Budget.
As far as Mr Hammond is concerned, "living within our means" is still the key message he wants to emanate from the Treasury.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41754354
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Paradise Papers: Blackstone avoided UK taxes on St Enoch Centre - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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Documents show Blackstone avoided millions of pounds in taxes on property deals in Glasgow and London.
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Scotland
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The St Enoch Centre is a large mall in the centre of Glasgow
Private equity firm Blackstone avoided tens of millions of pounds in UK taxes on property deals in Glasgow and London, the Paradise Papers show.
The documents reveal it used offshore companies to purchase and operate the St Enoch Shopping Centre in Glasgow and Chiswick Business Park in London.
The papers show how accountancy firms mapped out strategies to minimise or avoid every significant tax.
Blackstone said its investments were "wholly compliant with UK tax laws".
Blackstone is one of the world's biggest private equity groups and its founder and chief executive Stephen Schwarzman is a close confidant of President Trump.
Leaked documents from the offshore law firm Appleby, seen by BBC Scotland, show for the first time how the group structured two major UK property deals.
Top accountancy firms issued long documents to Blackstone outlining how it could use trusts in the tax haven of Jersey and a complex structure of companies in Luxembourg for the purchase of both Chiswick Park and the St Enoch Centre.
There is no suggestion that the plans were illegal but campaigners the Tax Justice Network described the structures Blackstone used as an "economic fiction".
They told the BBC it was clear from the data in the papers that the principal purpose of the structures, which are virtually identical, was to avoid tax.
The leaked documents show the tax structure was designed to "minimise" taxes
US tax expert Reuven Avi-Yonah, from the University of Michigan law school, said the documents gave a "rare" insight into company structures that even tax authorities did not often see.
"If HMRC becomes aware of the fact that this is a common type of structuring then they are more likely to challenge it because they will be aware they are losing a lot of revenue," he said.
Chiswick Business Park in west London is host to dozens of companies
Blackstone purchased Chiswick Park, a 33-acre office development in west London, in 2011 for £480m.
The majority of the site, which hosts the UK headquarters of companies such as Pokemon, Avon and shopping channel QVC, was sold to the Chinese government for £780m in 2014.
The data suggests Blackstone's tax structures allowed it to avoid about £19m in stamp duty on the purchase.
The tax structure also meant it could avoid tax of up to £30m annual rental income and capital gains tax on the sale of the business park, which could have been tens of millions of pounds.
In 2013, the private equity giant also bought the St Enoch Centre in Glasgow, a large city centre shopping complex housing almost 100 stores, for about £190m.
Documents show it would have avoided stamp duty of £7.6m and corporate tax on up to £10m annual rental income.
The documents show the Jersey trusts allowed no Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) to be paid on St Enoch
Both the St Enoch Centre, which Blackstone still owns, and Chiswick Park were already held in property trusts known as JPUTs, in the tax haven of Jersey, when it bought them.
This allowed the firm to purchase the properties without paying millions of pounds in UK stamp duty.
George Turner, from the Tax Justice Network, told the BBC: "What they are doing is buying into the trust so when the original owners sold the property to Blackstone, then they weren't selling the property itself.
"They were selling an interest in the trust that owns the property and because that trust is owned offshore, they can avoid stamp duty."
Under the tax structure revealed in the leaked documents, the Jersey trusts were owned and funded by a series of companies that Blackstone registered in Luxembourg.
Money for the purchase of the properties was filtered through the Luxembourg companies from central Blackstone funds in the form of inter-company loans.
The interest payments on these loans, which were effectively passed from one Blackstone company to another, could be written off against the profits of the rental income, meaning that minimal tax was paid in Luxembourg.
In the case of Chiswick Park, a 33-page document was provided by accountancy firm PwC outlining the structure to be used.
Another of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, Deloitte, issued a 67-page document for a similar tax structure for the St Enoch Centre.
The job of law firm Appleby, who held the documents seen by the BBC, was to implement the structures outlined by the accountants.
The central purpose of which was to avoid:
George Turner, from the Tax Justice Network, said: "The language really is quite shocking in places because it's so clear and blatant what the intention is.
"What you have here is a whole myriad of companies being set up, mostly in Luxembourg but also you have this trust structure in Jersey, and it seems to be to all intents and purposes an economic fiction."
Profit from rental income at the St Enoch Centre had normally been about £10m a year.
The structure advised by Deloitte allowed Blackstone to turn that into tax free income, by writing it off against interest charges generated from the loans its companies had made to each other.
In some years, just a few thousand pounds appears to have been paid by the Blackstone Luxembourg companies owning St Enoch and Chiswick.
Mr Turner said: "What appears to be happening is that the rental income which is coming in, the companies receiving that are then borrowing huge amounts of money from other companies which are part of the Blackstone Group.
"Now when they borrow that money, they need to pay interest on it and those interest payments destroy any profitability in those companies.
"They're borrowing money from themselves and they can claim a tax deduction on that."
Blackstone said: "Blackstone's investments are wholly compliant with UK and international tax laws and regulations.
"The property investment structures in question were acquired from institutional investors and are of a type commonly used for decades for investments in UK real estates, including by listed companies and a variety of institutional investors, and were adopted after appropriate advice was taken from leading tax and legal advisors."
Deloitte, which advised on the St Enoch purchase, declined to comment.
PwC, who advised on Chiswick Park, said "The advice we provide is given in accordance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, including proper disclosure to tax authorities."
Your browser does not support this Lookup Your guide to financial jargon
The papers are a huge batch of leaked documents mostly from offshore law firm Appleby, along with corporate registries in 19 tax jurisdictions, which reveal the financial dealings of politicians, celebrities, corporate giants and business leaders.
The 13.4 million records were passed to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Panorama has led research for the BBC as part of a global investigation involving nearly 100 other media organisations, including the Guardian, in 67 countries. The BBC does not know the identity of the source.
Paradise Papers: Full coverage; follow reaction on Twitter using #ParadisePapers; in the BBC News app, follow the tag "Paradise Papers"
Watch Panorama on the BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only)
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-41899034
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Man jailed for 'I've got acid' attack in Solihull - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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Max Kelly squirted a bottle of cleaning solution at two men following a row near a pub.
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Birmingham & Black Country
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Max Kelly, 23, has been jailed for a total of six months
A man has been jailed for a roadside "acid" attack when he squirted a bottle of cleaning solution at two others.
Max Kelly was a passenger in a BMW being driven by his friend when a row broke out near a pub in Solihull.
The 23-year-old, now of Evesham, Worcestershire, got out of the car and shouted "I've got acid", before spraying the liquid at the men.
He was sentenced to a total of six months in jail and ordered to pay his victims £500 compensation.
The confrontation was sparked on 18 July after one of the men drinking outside the pub, Robert Robinson, told the driver of the BMW to slow down after he saw the vehicle being driven erratically.
At an earlier hearing, Benjamin Prentice admitted a public order offence in connection with the confrontation
Kelly, a father-of-one expecting his second child, then asked him: "What did you say?" before leaving the car and carrying out the attack.
Mr Robinson stripped off in the street after being hit by the liquid, such was his fear of injury after a spate of well-publicised attacks across the UK.
The other victim, David Hobson, an off-duty firefighter, described the liquid as smelling like "ammonia" and desperately tried to clean it off after he was hit.
Jailing Kelly at Birmingham Magistrates' Court, chairman of magistrates Ann Brown told him he had shown little remorse and added his actions "could not be taken for granted".
Kelly, who had been found guilty of two counts of common assault at an earlier trial, replied: "I understand."
The car's driver, Benjamin Prentice, of Hexton Close, Solihull, was fined £140 at an earlier hearing after admitting a public order offence in connection with the incident.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-41887065
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Grenfell Tower: 131 families are in hotels, MPs hear - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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Kensington and Chelsea Council admitted it had "huge" amounts of work to do to rehouse victims.
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UK
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More than 130 families left homeless by the Grenfell Tower fire are living in emergency housing, MPs have heard.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said Kensington and Chelsea Council's response in the aftermath of the fire had been "sluggish and chaotic".
It comes as the Grenfell taskforce produced a report into the fire, which said the council "failed its community" on 14 June.
Council leader Elizabeth Campbell said it had "huge" amounts of work to do.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Javid said residents had been "failed by a system that allowed the fire to happen" and then failed again in the aftermath.
He said efforts to rehouse victims had been "painfully slow" - with just 26 out of 204 Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk families given permanent accommodation so far.
He said 122 households had accepted an offer of temporary or permanent accommodation, and 73 had moved in to new homes.
The taskforce said residents were "hesitating to accept rehousing offers" because they did not want to lose benefits.
Currently, former residents of Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk have their rent, utility bills and council tax suspended for the first 12 months of moving into temporary or permanent accommodation.
The council said this created a "financial cliff edge, which the tenants can avoid by remaining in their emergency accommodation".
Some residents see the rent-free period as wasted on temporary homes, it said.
It voted to extend the rent-free period until summer 2019 in a bid to remove "unintended disincentives".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Marcio and Andreia Gomes tell the story of how they managed to escape the fire
The Grenfell taskforce, set up in the aftermath of the fire, has spent nine weeks looking at the recovery process run by the council.
"The report pulls no punches about the fact that there is still significant room for improvement," Mr Javid said.
It said 320 families altogether - including not only former residents but also those living in Grenfell's vicinity - were still living in hotels.
The report, written by housing and local government experts appointed by the government, said the council needed to work more quickly, and cited accounts of "poor treatment" towards victims.
It said many staff did their best to help but there was a leadership vacuum and a distant council that did not know its residents.
The report's authors met survivors, concluding that many victims felt no-one was listening to their concerns.
It nevertheless praised Kensington and Chelsea for "working hard to develop effective support and services to victims and survivors".
Since the fire, many of those at the top of the council have quit, including leader Nick Paget-Brown and chief executive Nicholas Holgate.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea said it "entirely" accepted all the taskforce's recommendations and would offer new homes to "all those who want to leave" emergency accommodation by December.
Mrs Campbell said the local authority had "huge amounts of work to do" and understood the need to change.
But the report criticised its lack of urgency, saying: "As the council tries to do everything at once, it is doing everything too slowly."
It accused council members of lacking a "firm grasp" of the true scale of the recovery operation - saying some believed that "in a few months' time everything shall return to the way it used to be".
It said it was "disappointing" that the tower, which is currently a crime scene, had not yet been covered, urging scaffold work to be completed with "greater haste".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Why did it take so long to get an aerial platform to the tower block? BBC Newsnight investigates
It said visible remains of the burnt-out tower "cast a shadow" over the entire area.
"Any extended delays will further add to the ongoing trauma that the community is living with," the report said.
Mr Javid suggested a number of ways the council could improve - including increasing the pace of their work and the need for "greater empathy and emotional intelligence" towards victims.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41894673
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Weinstein accuser says spy allegations are 'terrifying' - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Asia Argento reacts to allegations Harvey Weinstein used investigators to try to hide abuse claims.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Asia Argento alleges she was raped by Weinstein 20 years ago
Actress Asia Argento has described a report that Harvey Weinstein used ex-Israeli agents to spy on his accusers as "terrifying".
The New Yorker reporter Ronan Farrow has published a story claiming Weinstein used private investigators to try to cover up sexual abuse claims.
The Italian actress and director has accused Weinstein of rape.
Weinstein's spokesperson denied that "any individuals were targeted or suppressed at any time".
Left-right: Annabella Sciorra, Rose McGowan and Rosanna Arquette were all allegedly on the radar of private investigators
In his New Yorker story, Ronan Farrow alleged that the film producer employed two intelligence companies, Kroll and Black Cube, to try to collect information on several women and on journalists trying to expose the allegations.
Black Cube advertises itself as "a select group of veterans from the Israeli elite intelligence units". The New Yorker said they included former members of Israeli spy agency Mossad.
After the story was published, Argento tweeted: "Why didn't I, @rosemcgowan, @RoArquette @AnnabellSciorra speak up earlier? We were followed by ex-Mossad agents. Isn't that terrifying? Very."
Italian-American actress Annabella Sciorra, who starred in US TV series The Sopranos, and US actress Rose McGowan, have also accused Weinstein of rape. He has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.
Farrow's report alleges that two private investigators from Black Cube, using false identities, met McGowan to "extract information" from her in an effort to stop the publication of abuse allegations. One of the investigators is reported to have posed as a women's rights advocate.
McGowan praised Farrow for his investigation, writing on Twitter that "your words will line the halls of justice".
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In a statement, Black Cube told the BBC it was its policy "never to discuss its clients with any third party, and to never confirm or deny any speculation made with regard to the company's work".
But the company said it "does not get involved in family disputes or sexual harassment cases" and "applies high moral standards to its work, and operates in full compliance with the law of any jurisdiction in which it operates".
It added: "Black Cube supports the work of many leading law firms around the world, especially in the US, gathering evidence for complex legal processes, involving commercial disputes, among them uncovering negative campaigns."
Sciorra told the New Yorker that the alleged use of private investigators by Weinstein had scared her "because I knew what it meant to be threatened by Harvey", adding: "I was in fear of him finding me."
The New Yorker also reported that one intelligence firm held a profile of actress Rosanna Arquette, who has also accused Weinstein of sexual harassment.
Weinstein's spokeswoman Sallie Hofmeister dismissed the report, saying: "It is a fiction to suggest that any individuals were targeted or suppressed at any time."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
• None How the Harvey Weinstein scandal has unfolded
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41901684
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Paradise Papers: F1 champion Lewis Hamilton 'dodged' VAT on £16.5m private jet - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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F1 champion received a £3.3m refund after importing the red Challenger 605 into the Isle of Man.
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UK
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Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton avoided tax on his £16.5m luxury jet, according to Paradise Papers documents.
They show a £3.3m VAT refund was given after the Bombardier Challenger 605 was imported into the Isle of Man in 2013.
It appears a leasing deal set up by advisers was artificial and did not comply with an EU and UK ban on refunds for private use - although he may have been entitled to one for business.
Hamilton's lawyers say a tax barrister review found the structure was lawful.
They added it was not correct to say no VAT had been paid on any of the arrangements.
A statement later issued by the racing driver's representative said: "As a global sportsman who pays tax in a large number of countries, Lewis relies upon a team of professional advisers who manage his affairs.
"Those advisers have assured Lewis that everything is above board and the matter is now in the hands of his lawyers."
At 06:15 on 21 January 2013, Hamilton touched down at Ronaldsway airport on the Isle of Man in his new jet with his then-pop star girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger to finalise the paperwork with customs.
While Hamilton's planned use of the jet was predominantly for business purposes, the BBC's Panorama programme has seen documents which suggest the 32-year-old F1 Mercedes driver intended to make private flights about a third of the time.
Hamilton's social media accounts provide evidence he has used the candy apple red Challenger for holidays and on other personal trips around the world.
He has posted a number of photographs of himself on the plane on Instagram - including one showing his bulldogs Roscoe and Coco on board.
This Instagram post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Instagram The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip instagram post by lewishamilton This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Instagram 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.
"If private usage of the jet is being disguised as business usage of the jet, then what you essentially have is a tax avoidance scheme," says Rita De La Feria, professor of tax law at Leeds University.
"You're using it for your own private interests, you're going on holidays, meeting friends. You're supposed to pay the tax on private consumption."
Private jets purchased outside the EU are subject to 20% VAT on importation in order to qualify for free circulation within the bloc.
While the Isle of Man is not part of the EU, it is a British Crown Dependency and forms a common area with the UK for VAT purposes. Because of this link, an aircraft imported via the island is granted full access to the EU.
To try and get round EU and UK rules banning VAT refunds on aircraft used by private individuals, Hamilton's advisers formed a VAT-registered leasing business on the Isle of Man, the leaked documents held by offshore law firm Appleby suggest.
The new company, Stealth (IOM) Limited, leased the jet from Hamilton's British Virgin Islands company, Stealth Aviation Limited, and imported it into the Isle of Man.
It was then leased on to a UK jet management company that provided Hamilton with a crew and other services - and which leased it back to Hamilton and his Guernsey company, BRV Limited.
Hamilton is described in the documents as the jet's "ultimate client".
They also suggest he was being kept up to date.
In one email sent ahead of the final signing of the charter agreements and the jet's importation into the Isle of Man, an adviser states: "I would like to email Lewis his agreement this evening and try to reach him on the phone to talk him through it."
Other documents show the hourly rate of the plane's lease was increased from £2,000 to £5,500 overnight at one stage, so the Isle of Man company turned a profit as a "commercial" aircraft leasing business.
On the basis of the transactions, Hamilton's advisers were able to claim a 100% VAT refund on the £3.3m he was obliged to pay at the point of importation.
But the leasing agreements suggest Hamilton was going to be using the plane 80 hours per month, with his company using it for 160 hours.
If this estimate had been used for the basis of the VAT refund, under UK and EU VAT rules, only two thirds could have been considered for a refund in relation to business use. The artificiality of the structure raises questions about whether Hamilton should have received a refund at all.
Hamilton secured his fourth F1 title at last month's Mexico Grand Prix
Lawyers acting for Hamilton said the driver has a "set of professionals in place who run most aspects of his business operations and that no subterfuge or improper levels of secrecy had been put in place".
In a statement, they said Stealth (IOM) Limited was formed to run a leasing business and hire the aircraft on a long-term basis at a commercial rate.
They added that the company made all necessary disclosures to Isle of Man officials, who approved the approach.
The lawyers said that reducing taxes was not the motive, but even if it had been, it is lawful to lease rather than buy in order to reduce VAT.
There are 50 schemes like Hamilton's in the Paradise Papers.
The documents show that Appleby on the Isle of Man has imported luxury jets worth £1.25bn.
In total, the island has handed out more than £790m in VAT refunds to jet leasing companies, involving more than 230 planes.
In light of the Paradise Papers revelations, the Isle of Man government has invited the UK Treasury to conduct an assessment of the practice of importing aircraft into the EU through the island.
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The Isle of Man says since 2011 more than 30 assessments for under-declared or over-claimed VAT against businesses in the aircraft leasing sector, with a value of about £4.7m, have been raised.
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn last week called on the Prime Minister Theresa May to launch an investigation into VAT avoidance allegations linked with business jets in the Isle of Man.
In a statement on the Paradise Papers leak, Appleby said it was a law firm which "advises clients on legitimate and lawful ways to conduct their business. We operate in jurisdictions which are regulated to the highest international standards".
December 2012: Lewis Hamilton's company in the British Virgin Islands Stealth Aviation Limited pays $26.8m (£16.5m) to buy the Bombardier Challenger 605 and luxury additions
24 December 2012: Hamilton flies his family and Nicole Sherzinger to Hawaii for Christmas in the jet
15 January 2013: The new company is VAT registered by Isle of Man customs as a company engaged in "renting and leasing of passenger air transport equipment"
17 January 2013: Hamilton's BVI company leases the plane to Stealth (IOM) Limited. Stealth (IOM) Limited leases it to a UK jet management company, which agrees to charter it to the driver and his Guernsey company BRV Limited
21 January 2013: Hamilton and Nicole Scherzinger arrive at the Isle of Man's Ronaldsway airport. The £3.3m VAT bill is paid on his behalf by his an Isle of Man accountancy firm. A customs officer attends out of hours and stamps a VAT paid form to be kept on board the jet. The couple fly-off again at 08:10
Lewis Hamilton has amassed an estimated £131m fortune, according to the Sunday Times Rich List. Forbes reports his earnings and endorsements in 2016 were more than £30m.
One of Hamilton's first trips on the jet was for a Christmas 2012 holiday in Oahu, Hawaii, accompanied by members of his and then girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger's family.
In May 2015, just after competing in Monaco, he flew to Los Angeles. The Daily Mirror newspaper reported that he was "having a break" following the Grand Prix.
On 11 July 2017, he posted a photo of himself sitting with friends on its steps.
"To my loving fans, I can't wait to see you in Silverstone. Until then, I'm away on a two day break."
Speaking to US talk show Jimmy Kimmel in December 2015, Hamilton talked about the plane and how he decided to "pimp it out" in the red colour scheme.
"We travel a lot - I love cars and I love planes," he said. "Every time I'm at the airport you see these really sad white planes old planes with the saddest stripe down the side."
Find out more about the words and phrases found in the Paradise Papers.
Your browser does not support this Lookup Your guide to financial jargon
The papers are a huge batch of leaked documents mostly from offshore law firm Appleby, along with corporate registries in 19 tax jurisdictions, which reveal the financial dealings of politicians, celebrities, corporate giants and business leaders.
The 13.4 million records were passed to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Panorama has led research for the BBC as part of a global investigation involving nearly 100 other media organisations, including the Guardian, in 67 countries. The BBC does not know the identity of the source.
Paradise Papers: Full coverage; follow reaction on Twitter using #ParadisePapers; in the BBC News app, follow the tag "Paradise Papers"
Watch Panorama on the BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only)
• None Paradise Papers: All you need to know
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41886607
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Backlash over council's 'Get a Grip' attendance campaign - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Get a Grip campaign tells parents to "be more organised" by preparing for school the night before.
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Sussex
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The controversial campaign has been labelled "disgusting" and "offensive"
A campaign telling parents to send children to school if they have colds has prompted more than 6,500 signatures to a petition against its "aggressive, condescending and insulting" message.
Leaflets were sent in East Sussex County Council's Get a Grip drive to parents whose children missed at least three days of the current school year.
They also give advice on "being more organised" the night before school.
The council said it "won't flinch from this extremely serious issue".
The campaign features the slogan "good reasons for missing school - there are none".
The petition, set up by Ella Lewis of Seaford, calls for the council to withdraw the campaign and apologise for the "disgusting and offensive" alienation of parents, particularly those "struggling with serious illnesses, traumas and ongoing disabilities and conditions".
Mrs Lewis, 37, who has two children, received the leaflet after her six-year-old daughter had three days off for a chest infection and stomach bug. This equated to 91% attendance over the short autumn half term - below the council's 95% expectation.
Ella Lewis said the campaign was offensive rather than productive
She said: "These are unattainable standards. The council says it expects a doctor's note, but even if you could get a GP appointment, people are told not to go to the doctor's with a sickness bug.
"Schools also tell you not to allow your child back to school until you're 48 hours clear of a vomiting bug. In taking that direction, you fall into the 'persistence absence' threshold and are potentially reported to the council by the school. It's nonsensical.
"As parents we need to be able to validate our own child's health and suitability to be in school."
Mrs Lewis, who works in a school, said: "The council could have been more polite, engaging or creative.
"But they've just offended people who are trying to do their best every day for their children."
The council says headaches, coughs and colds are "not reasons" for school absence
The leaflet sent out to parents also warns them about fines for unauthorised absences, including holidays during term time, and says children should attend school if they have a cold, headache or minor illness.
A council spokesman said the campaign was not aimed at parents of children who had genuine medical reasons for being absent, but for those who regularly have odd days off or holiday in term time.
He said: "We appreciate this campaign has been controversial.
"Missing even one day of school has an impact not just on a child's education but on the rest of the class, as it means the teacher has to spend time helping them catch up - to the detriment of other pupils. Missing days of school reduces children's chances of achieving success."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-41883622
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Parachute trial: Accused claims wife was 'targeted by stranger' - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Accused Emile Cilliers tells court "I didn't have anything to do with it but someone must have".
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Wiltshire
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Emile Cilliers told the jury "someone must have" tampered with the kit, but denied any involvement
An Army sergeant accused of trying to kill his wife by tampering with her parachute told a court she may have been targeted by a stranger.
Emile Cilliers, 37, said the idea a "random killer" had sabotaged the device was a "possibility" as he "didn't have anything to do with it".
He told jurors: "I'm not trying to point the finger at anybody, I just want to get to the bottom of this."
Ms Cilliers suffered multiple injuries when her hired parachute malfunctioned and the reserve failed as she plummeted 4,000ft to the ground at Netheravon Airfield, Wiltshire.
Michael Bowes QC, prosecuting, told Winchester Crown Court the notion of a "complete stranger" trying to sabotage a parachute with the "sudden urge to kill someone" without knowing their victim was "ridiculous".
When Mr Cilliers replied it was a "possibility", to which Mr Bowes responded: "It's a possibility a number of asteroids will strike the earth, isn't it?"
The defendant denies tampering with his wife's hire kit in a toilet cubicle at the Army Parachute Association at the airfield camp, allegedly twisting the lines on the main chute and removing parts from the reserve.
Elizabeth Marsh QC, defending, asked the Army fitness instructor about how he came to take the parachute to the toilet with him.
"Why didn't you put it on a rack?" she said, to which he said he had not paid much attention to the kit as it was "not something that really bothered me".
The court was told Mr Cilliers accompanied his wife to hospital while she was in a full body brace after the fall, and visited her the next day.
The jury earlier heard he had searched the internet for the term "wet nurses" - women who breastfeed babies when their mothers are unable.
His wife had given birth two months before the fall, the trial heard previously.
Asked why he had done so, he could not recall. "Maybe it was something to do with Princess Charlotte," the jury was told.
"It was just a subject of interest. We would often see something on TV and research it."
In response to his defence's questions, he said the jury should not read anything suspicious into the search.
The father of six also denies a second attempted murder charge relating to a gas leak at the family home in Amesbury, Wiltshire, and a third charge of damaging a gas valve, recklessly endangering life.
He told the court he had investigated the source of the leak with a tool.
When asked by Ms Marsh how his blood came to be on a pipe next to the leak, he said: "I might have cut my hand, I don't remember.
"I can't say exactly how it got there. It could have been from cooking, I could have brushed against it. These are all possibilities."
He denied tampering with the gas valve and rejected the notion he would want to harm his wife or their children.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-41886573
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Elsie Scully-Hicks: Dad jailed for life for murder - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The birth family of 18-month-old Elsie say they are 'numb with pain' as her killer is locked up.
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South East Wales
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A man who murdered his 18-month-old daughter just two weeks after formally adopting her has been handed a life sentence.
Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, of Delabole, Cornwall, was told he must serve at least 18 years in jail before being considered for release.
The killer inflicted a catalogue of injuries on Elsie at their Cardiff home in the eight months he had care of her.
Elsie's birth family said they had hoped one day to be reunited with her.
In a victim impact statement, they said they were "numb with pain" and that her birth grandmother had hoped to become her legal guardian before she was put up for adoption.
Baby Elsie died four days after being violently shaken in May 2016.
Scully-Hicks had denied murder but was found guilty at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday.
Sentencing him, Judge Nicola Davies described the murder as a gross abuse of trust.
She said there had been a failure to identify an earlier injury by medical staff in November 2015, which meant child protection measures were not triggered.
"Tragically, it was an opportunity missed," said the judge.
A child practice review is now expected to take place which will investigate the role of agencies in the case and look at whether lessons can be learned to prevent future tragedies.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Matthew Scully-Hicks made a 999 call two months before Elsie died claiming she fell down stairs
Judge Davies told Scully-Hicks that his actions were aggravated by his daughter's vulnerability, age and the position of trust.
"You had, and were aware that you had, a predisposition to injure your adoptive daughter," she said.
"You took no steps to prevent a recurrence of the earlier incidents when Elsie suffered injuries as a result of your actions.
"No remorse has been shown.
Scully-Hicks said he did not know how Elsie sustained her fatal injuries
Judge Davies, when sentencing Scully-Hicks, took into account a victim impact statement - which was not read in court - provided by Elsie's birth family.
In the statement, which can now be reported, they said they were "numb with pain".
Elsie was named Shayla O'Brien by her birth family when she was born in November 2014.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Elsie's birth grandmother Sian O'Brien said: "I accept that at the time of giving birth my daughter was living a chaotic lifestyle and was not in a position to care for Shayla and she was removed from the hospital five days after birth by social services.
"As a family, we continued to have contact with Shayla whilst she was in the care of the foster family."
Ms O'Brien said all of Elsie's family were "extremely attached to her and loved her very much".
She said: "In January 2015, I started proceedings in the family court to become the legal guardian for Shayla.
"I wanted to bring her up in a happy, healthy and warm family environment, that was all taken away from me when social services and the family court decided I would not be able to cope."
A decision was made that Elsie, who was renamed by her future adoptive parents, would be put up for adoption in May 2015.
Ms O'Brien said the family had been devastated but hoped that one day the little girl would be reunited with them.
However they were visited by social services in January 2017 and were told Elsie had died in May the previous year.
"In itself this was devastating news but to then be informed that one of the parents who had adopted her had been charged with murder and was allegedly responsible for her death was completely incomprehensible," Ms O'Brien added.
"A person who had been deemed by the authorities to be a fit and proper person to bring up my granddaughter was responsible for her death, and they took her from me telling me I would be unable to cope."
She added: "We are numb with pain and hurt deep in the knowledge that Shayla was loved unconditionally by us all as a family and knowing that had she not been taken away from us, she would still be alive today."
During his trial, Scully-Hicks claimed he never harmed Elsie and said she must have suffered her fatal injuries after he changed her for bed at home on May 25 last year.
She died at Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales on 29 May 2016 after doctors determined she could not be saved and her ventilator was switched off.
A pathologist said her injuries were "very typical" of a shaken baby.
A CT scan showed she had bleeding on the brain and a post-mortem examination revealed she had also suffered broken ribs, a fractured left femur and a fractured skull.
There was also haemorrhaging within both of Elsie's retinas - associated with inflicted trauma or injury.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-41892994
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Texas church shooting victims: Children among the dead - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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Those killed in the Texas church shooting include an unborn baby and a 77-year-old.
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US & Canada
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Pastor Frank Pomeroy and his wife Sherri who have lost a daughter
Half of the 26 victims of the worst mass shooting in Texas history are children, officials say, as a portrait of a small town Texas church emerges.
A pregnant woman's unborn baby was named as the shooting's youngest victim. Another child killed was just one year old.
The oldest victim of the attack was a 77-year-old woman.
Twenty more were wounded, 10 were in a critical condition. Authorities fear the death toll could rise.
Local law enforcement have not released the victim's identities, but the names of some of those gunned down are emerging.
According to US media, the gunman's ex-wife's grandmother was among the dead.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. 'Belle died with her church family,' her mother said
The first victim to be named was the 14-year-old daughter of First Baptist Church of Sutherland Spring's pastor, Frank Pomeroy.
Pastor Pomeroy, who was away in Oklahoma at the time, told ABC News she was "one very beautiful, special child".
"We lost more than Belle yesterday, and one thing that gives me a sliver of encouragement is the fact that Belle was surrounded yesterday by her church family that she loved fiercely," her mother Sherri said on Monday.
Eight members of the Holcombe family were among the dead. Bryan Holcombe was serving as the guest pastor in Pastor Pomeroy's absence.
An associate pastor at the church who also conducted prison ministry, he was about to lead the congregation in worship when he was shot dead, his parents Joe and Claryce told the Washington Post.
Bryan's wife of 25 years, Karla, died too. Their son Marc Daniel Holcombe, 36, died alongside his one-year-old daughter Noah.
Another son of Bryan and Karla, John, survived but his eight-month pregnant wife, Crystal Holcombe, was killed. They were expecting their first child together. The unborn child has been included in the death count.
The gunman killed three of Crystal's five children by a previous marriage - Emily, Megan and Greg. The two others are said to be in the hospital with their stepfather, according to CNN.
"She doesn't even drink, smoke or nothing," her brother Nick Uhlig told the Houston Chronicle.
"She just takes care of kids; she raises goats and makes homemade cheese... They don't go out dancing or anything like that. They're real old-fashioned, down-to-earth."
The Holcombe's close family friend was killed with her two children, who were wounded.
She reportedly lived with Bryan and Karla and called them Mom and Dad, according to local reports.
"This is a huge loss. Tara was very kind-hearted person, great employee," wrote Kevin Koenen, the owner of the Aumont Saloon where Ms McNulty worked.
A 13-year-old girl was shot dead, the San Antonio Express-News reports. Amanda Mosel, 34, said the victim was her goddaughter.
Family members confirmed that Lula White, the gunman's ex-wife's grandmother, was also among the dead.
White frequently volunteered at the church, according to her Facebook page.
Brooke Ward, five, and Emily Garza, seven, were killed, along with their mother Joann Ward.
Her son Ryland, also aged five, was seriously injured - but is expected to survive.
Ms Ward's friend, Vonda Greek Smith, paid tribute to the mother-of-four on Facebook, saying that she died "shielding" her children.
"Little Rihanna (9) was there at the shooting but mommy pushed her down when she saw the shooter open fire, so in her words, 'I didn't get shot because I was hiding, and momma covered Emily, Ryland & Brooke.'"
Haley Krueger, 16, was also killed, her mother Charlene Marie Uhl told US media.
"She was a vibrant 16-year-old that loved life," Mrs Uhl said, adding that she had hopes to become a nurse.
"She loved babies and always wanted to help."
Haley had arrived at church early on Sunday to prepare breakfast, her mother told People magazine.
Richard Rodriguez and his wife of 11 years, Therese Rodriguez, were killed.
Richard's daughter told US media that her father and stepmother were active in the church community. She said they often took their grandchildren to church, but did not on the day of the shooting.
Robert was a retired high-ranking member of the US air force and had served for 30 years. Their two children are also reportedly on active service.
"This is a huge tragedy, not only for the family, for this small town," said Renee Haley, director of Veterans Services for Clare County, Michigan.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41891876
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'Exocet' firework wrecks Derby couple's home - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Firefighters say Wendy and Ted Bagshaw were lucky to get out early as the damage was extensive.
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Derby
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The firework hit the roof of the house in Haven Baulk Avenue in Littleover
A woman has described how she "lost everything" when a stray firework set fire to her home and destroyed it.
Wendy Bagshaw said the firework sounded like "an Exocet missile" hitting the roof. The stress of the fire caused her husband to have an angina attack.
Mrs Bagshaw, from Littleover, Derby, said she had already gone through the "worst year of her life" and the pair are now temporarily homeless.
She expressed frustration at people who recklessly set off fireworks.
"I just can't believe what's happened to my house. It's all gone. I've got nothing," she said.
"I've lost everything that I've worked for 40 years for, and it's just so stupid that people don't realise what they're doing.
"If you don't understand what you're doing with fireworks, then don't use them."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Speaking to BBC Radio Derby, Wendy Bagshaw said the firework sounded 'like an Exocet missile'
Mrs Bagshaw was watching Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday when she heard a bang.
"I can only describe it as an Exocet missile, just came at the house," she said.
"It shook the foundations of the house, I felt it shake. My little dogs jumped off my knee and ran outside."
Wendy Bagshaw expressed frustration at people who recklessly set off fireworks
She and her husband Ted, who had been in the conservatory with their third dog, went outside to see what had happened.
A man driving past shouted to say the roof was on fire, and the couple tried in vain to extinguish it using a hose.
The fire damaged the interior of the house, which will be uninhabitable for about six months
The fire service put out the fire but the house was severely damaged and many of the couple's possessions were destroyed.
The couple are staying at a nearby hotel until they can move into more permanent accommodation.
"The insurance assessors have given us somewhere to stay, but they have told us to find a house as it will be at least six months before ours will be habitable again," she said.
Mrs Bagshaw lost all her photos of her mother, who died earlier this year. Two aunts and two friends also died this year, she said.
Both her husband, who has a heart condition, and her father, who has prostate cancer, are ill.
"It's been the worst year of my life, and now this," she said.
Derbyshire Fire Service said the occupants were lucky to get out early as the damage was extensive.
Michael Haslam from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "Our advice is that if you want to see fireworks, go to an organised display."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-41876308
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Party leaders agree new complaints procedure, says Theresa May - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Westminster's party leaders are to introduce a new grievance procedure, says Theresa May.
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UK Politics
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Westminster party leaders have agreed to introduce a new grievance procedure for staff to deal with misconduct allegations, Theresa May has said.
The prime minister said the measures, which will also include face-to-face human resources support, were an "important step forward".
They were backed by Labour's Jeremy Corbyn following cross-party talks.
It comes as several Conservative and Labour MPs are investigated over allegations of sexual misconduct.
The new grievance procedure should be in place next year, said Mrs May, with the new face-to-face support service, an upgrade of an existing complaints hotline, to be introduced by the end of the month.
Speaking after the meeting in her parliamentary office, Mrs May said: "I think if this hasn't happened to you it's difficult to appreciate the impact that being a victim of this sort of behaviour can have, it simply has a lasting impact on people.
"We need to do more to stop these abuses of power and I'm pleased that having convened this meeting of party leaders today we have agreed a way forward," she added.
Mr Corbyn has called for training for MPs in managing their offices and a new independent body to support staff who suffer mistreatment.
In a letter to the prime minister ahead of the meeting, Mr Corbyn said MPs should undergo training after each general election in employment standards.
He said a new body should be set up to provide an "independent route" to counselling, reporting and representation through complaints procedures, and have powers to recommend reporting of criminal allegations to the police.
He said political parties should encourage all staff to join a trade union, as they can provide a "vital mechanism" for strengthening effective action and protection from sexual and other harassment and abuse at work.
Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas, who last week called for MPs to be educated on consent, said any new training programme should come into force immediately, rather than after an election.
The SNP Ian Blackford said that although the proposal for a working group came from the prime minister there was "cross-party consensus" on the plan.
"This is about a working group that can work on a consensual basis, on a cross-party basis, to make sure we can have standards - first class standards, gold plated standards - that we can be proud of", he said.
But Labour MPs who have led the campaign to crackdown on sexual abuse and harassment said the reforms did not go far enough.
Jess Phillips, the MP for Birmingham Yardley, said: "Find this utterly disappointing. Great a grievance procedure, the victims will be thrilled. What if they don't work in Parliament?
"What about sanctions, what about specialist support from actual professionals who know what they are talking about on sexual violence/harassment."
And Stella Creasy, the MP for Walthamstow, added: "Still much work to do making parliament safe if this only comes into place in a year and only covers MP staff."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41892271
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Elton John makes surprise performance - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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He sang the Circle of Life at the end of a performance of The Lion King in New York, to mark 20 years of the musical on Broadway.
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He sang the Circle of Life at the end of a performance of The Lion King in New York, to mark 20 years of the musical on Broadway.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41895148
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Drop the puerile slogans, Sir John Major tells party leaders - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Voters want more honesty and fewer meaningless phrases, former PM Sir John Major says.
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UK Politics
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Sir John Major has hit out at the use of "puerile" political slogans as he called for more honesty in government about the challenges facing the UK.
The ex-prime minister said political leaders should avoid "deceitful" sound bites and be more candid about the limitations of what government can do.
In a speech in London, he recounted how his use of the phrase "back to basics" in 1993 had ended up "perverting a thoroughly worthwhile social policy".
Sir John was PM between 1990 and 1997.
Addressing an audience in Westminster Abbey, Sir John also warned about factionalism in his party and the British political system as a whole and of the risk that "partisan" voices "appealing to the extremes" posed to democracy.
"The anti-European right wish to control the Conservative Party," he said. "The neo-Marxist left wish to dominate Labour. Both are making headway in a battle for the soul of their respective parties."
In a strong attack on what he suggested was the debasing of modern politics, he called for special advisers to be reined in, saying they were being used as "attack dogs", leaking material and usurping civil servants.
He suggested the language of politics was being corrupted by the tendency of politicians to fall back on pre-prepared and meaningless sound bites.
Sir John, who has called Brexit a historic blunder, cited the Leave campaign's promise during the EU referendum to "take back control" as a "memorable example of pitch-perfect absurdity".
Such slogans, he argued, "convey nothing, explain nothing and are worth nothing".
"As voters hear our elected representatives uttering puerile slogans instead of explaining policy, it is no wonder if respect for them melts away. Slogans and sound bites are a deceit.
"Electors deserve the truth in plain English, not in fairy tales."
Sir John conceded his own use of the phrase "back to basics" in his 1993 Tory conference speech - in which he called for more emphasis on personal responsibility, respect for law and order and a return to "the old values of neighbourliness, decency and courtesy" - was counter-productive.
Because it was followed by a string of sex and financial scandals involving ministers, the speech came to be associated with personal morality and probity.
"They [slogans] can mislead," he added. "I once used the phrase back to basics and it was taken up to pervert a thoroughly worthwhile social policy."
Theresa May was criticised for her frequent use of the phrase "strong and stable" during the election campaign while Jeremy Corbyn relied heavily on his claim to be "for the many not the few".
In his speech, Sir John warned that the massive task of extricating the UK from the EU was "crowding" out other vital issues and said his party needed to talk more about levels of income disparity and regional imbalances which "surely cannot be permitted to continue as they are".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41895386
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Paradise Papers: Isle of Man law 'sanctioned' tax dodge - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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Scheme for Swiss bank clients was being proposed in 2005 to get around EU tax evasion clampdown.
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Europe
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The law change was passed by the Isle of Man's Parliament in Douglas in May 2005
The Isle of Man passed a law that would help tax evaders, documents in the Paradise Papers show.
Lawyers promoting a scheme allowing Swiss bank clients to hide their cash offered to help the authorities amend rules in November 2004.
The law was changed seven months later, amid an EU clampdown on tax dodging.
BBC Panorama has spoken to the man behind the scheme who claims an Isle of Man regulator was aware the new law would help tax evaders.
Mark Morris, a tax adviser and leading expert on tax loopholes, told the programme regulators in offshore territories used to regularly help financial institutions in this way.
"I think in those times, it was wrong, and there were regulators helping financial institutions," he said.
"But today, this would never be allowed."
Mr Morris devised the scheme to help wealthy clients avoid the European Union Savings Directive (EUSD).
The EUSD was introduced in 2005 to stop people from within one part of Europe putting assets in an account in another country without declaring it. Most of the people targeted by EUSD were therefore already evading tax.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Swiss-based adviser Mark Morris on how Isle of Man ‘tax dodge law’ came about
The idea was that EU-based banks and those in other nations including Switzerland would make automatic deductions for tax from interest payments.
Mr Morris's scheme was designed to be exempt from the reach of the EUSD. It involved Swiss bank deposits being moved into a redeemable insurance product sold by a new Isle of Man company, Minerva Assurance Ltd.
The draft of an agreement with an unnamed bank says of the proposals: "Policy applications and surrenders are transacted expeditiously.... Confidentiality is maintained, as the individual client is not directly involved."
A slide presentation illustrated how EUSD would be avoided at each stage of the investment
The leaked documents outline events in late 2004 when lawyers acting for Mr Morris held talks with the IoM insurance and pensions regulator, David Vick.
After it became clear that the new insurance company would not be authorised to operate under existing laws, they appear to have offered to help Mr Vick draft new regulations.
A letter they wrote to Mr Vick in November 2004 after their discussions asks him to get in touch "if you believe it would be helpful for us to provide you with ideas as to how to improve the regulations to more readily accord with our client's proposal".
Mr Vick then emailed them in March 2005 to say a consultation was to take place about proposed changes to the 1986 Insurance Act. He tells the lawyers he would "be particularly interested in any comments that you… have in this regard".
On 17 May 2005, amendments were approved by the IoM parliament, known as the Tynwald, and they took effect on 1 June 2005 - exactly a month before the EUSD began.
Mr Vick retired from the IoM's Insurance and Pension Authority in 2015. Approached about the events, he declined to answer any questions and referred the BBC to the Isle of Man authorities.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. David Vick refuses to comment on his role in law change that would have helped tax dodgers
The Isle of Man's Chief Minister, Howard Quayle, says the island is a "responsible jurisdiction" and complies with international regulations on tax transparency.
He said the events surrounding the insurance scheme would be investigated but he did not believe the regulator at the time would have knowingly helped to create a law to facilitate tax evasion.
Mr Quayle told Panorama: "If it had happened I would be incredibly disappointed. Give me the opportunity to look at the evidence first and then we'll take action if it is proven."
Mark Morris said he had acted within the law and described the financial structure he devised as one of "many loopholes" available at the time. He said that "nine times out of 10" the investors would have been intending to evade tax.
In the end, the tax dodge was never used because Mark Morris was unable to recruit enough clients.
He said: "Nobody utilised this plan because there were so many other solutions."
Mr Morris later gave evidence to the German parliament on EUSD and helped the European Commission with reform of the rules.
The papers are a huge batch of leaked documents mostly from offshore law firm Appleby, along with corporate registries in 19 tax jurisdictions, which reveal the financial dealings of politicians, celebrities, corporate giants and business leaders.
The 13.4 million records were passed to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Panorama has led research for the BBC as part of a global investigation involving nearly 100 other media organisations, including the Guardian, in 67 countries. The BBC does not know the identity of the source.
Paradise Papers: Full coverage; follow reaction on Twitter using #ParadisePapers; in the BBC News app, follow the tag "Paradise Papers"
Watch Panorama on the BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only)
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41888613
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Firework fire in Birmingham home: Man dies five days after attack - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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A commercial firework containing 200 tubes of explosives was let off in Anthony Nicholls' home.
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Birmingham & Black Country
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The house in Tile Cross was gutted in the fire
A man has died five days after a 200-shot commercial firework was let off inside his Birmingham home.
Anthony Nicholls, 56, had been in an induced coma since the attack at 23:00 GMT on Thursday, police said.
His 50-year-old wife suffered lower leg fractures when she jumped from a first-floor window of their Tile Cross home. She remains in hospital.
Detectives said Mr Nicholls' death "means that we are now treating this as a murder inquiry".
Police said a large "commercial-sized firework" was placed in the house on Birchtrees Drive and set alight.
It is thought to have contained 200 tubes of explosives and would have taken about two minutes to fully discharge.
Police said a large "commercial-sized firework" was placed in the property and set alight
Det Insp Paul Joyce said: "The impact would have been terrifying for the occupants and I would urge anyone who sold or is missing a firework of this size to get in touch.
"This would have been a large heavy firework that would have been difficult to carry some distance, so I would ask anyone who saw someone carrying a large box in the area last Thursday night to contact us."
Officers are also checking CCTV pictures and have asked people in the area who have home cameras to make their footage available.
Mr Nicholls' wife suffered leg fractures jumping from a first-floor window of the house
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-41906231
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'UK wellbeing rises after Brexit vote' - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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There have been small but significant improvements in people's happiness in the last year, say UK officials.
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Health
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In the year after the UK narrowly voted to exit the European Union, there was a small but significant increase in the population's feeling of wellbeing, official statistics show.
The improvements in areas such as life satisfaction and happiness were seen only in England, however. Elsewhere, the rates flatlined.
People in Northern Ireland continued to report the highest levels of wellbeing.
Rates of anxiety increased slightly, but not significantly.
To obtain the Office for National Statistics data, more than 100,000 adult UK residents were asked to answer the following questions, on a scale of nought to 10, with nought being "not at all" and 10 being "completely":
A higher proportion of people reported very high levels of life satisfaction, happiness and feelings that life was worthwhile in the year ending June 2017 compared with the previous year.
The average ratings at the end of June 2017 were:
The ONS statistical bulletin suggests possible social and economic factors that might help explain the results.
"Employment and job satisfaction, our health, the quality of our relationships and our financial situation are just some of the aspects of our lives shown to have an effect," it says.
For example, the employment rate is at its highest level since comparable records began in 1971 and the unemployment rate is at its joint lowest since 1975.
There have also been improvements is gross domestic product per head and net national disposable income per head. But the ONS points out that real household disposable income per head has fallen for the fourth quarter in a row.
Over the year the data covers there have been "various situations of uncertainty", says the ONS - a new prime minister, a vote to leave the EU and several terror attacks.
"Considering this, it may be surprising that levels of personal wellbeing are increasing. However, it is important to note these figures are only reported at a country and national level, and are presented over the year. It is therefore possible that any sudden or individual change in personal wellbeing may not be seen in the data," it says.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41893598
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British Vogue unveils 'diverse' December issue - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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The British edition of the magazine launches its first issue under new editor Edward Enninful.
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Entertainment & Arts
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The December 2017 edition features Adwoa Aboah on the front cover
British Vogue has unveiled its December 2017 edition - the first since Edward Enninful took the title's helm.
Model Adwoa Aboah is pictured on the fashion magazine's cover - styled by the new editor-in-chief - with the headline "Great Britain".
Speaking to the BBC, Enninful said he wanted to create a more diverse magazine that was "open and friendly".
Supermodel Naomi Campbell had backed his appointment after criticising previous editor Alexandra Shulman.
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"My Vogue is about being inclusive," said Enninful.
"It is about diversity - showing different women, different body shapes, different races, different classes [and] tackling gender."
Before getting the job, he said, women had told him they did not feel represented by the magazine, and this was something he wanted to change.
"I wanted to create a magazine that was open and friendly; a bit like a shop you are not scared to walk into.
Edward Enninful started his new job as editor in August and hired Naomi Campbell as a contributor
"You are going to see all different colours, shapes, ages, genders, religions.
"That I am very excited about."
He also said that readers would see "less models that don't look so healthy".
Naomi Campbell, who had criticised former editor Shulman for a lack of diversity within her staff, and was hired by Enninful as contributing editor, tweeted her praise for the December cover.
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Actor Jay Perry also tweeted that the cover was "stunning" and "an instant classic".
Columnist and LGBT activist Paris Lees said the issue was "everything a Vogue cover should be".
"I'm so excited it's gonna be more diverse now," she tweeted.
The December edition, which goes on sale Friday, will feature a 14-page shoot with its cover star and include an interview with Enninful and Aboah, talking about diversity in fashion and how they define being black and British in 2017.
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-41909159
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Retract Iran remark, husband tells Boris Johnson - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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The foreign secretary says "he could have been clearer" with his remarks about a British-Iranian woman.
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UK Politics
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The husband of a British-Iranian woman, in prison in Iran, has urged Boris Johnson to retract his remark that she had been training journalists in Iran.
Richard Ratcliffe said Iranian officials were using the foreign secretary's statement to justify extending his wife Nazanin's jail term.
Mr Johnson has called his Iranian counterpart to clarify the situation.
Liam Fox said his cabinet colleague's comment was a "slip of the tongue" but Labour said it was "unacceptable".
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is serving a five-year sentence for allegedly plotting to topple the government in Tehran, although the official charges were never made public.
Mr Ratcliffe maintains his wife's innocence, saying she was in Iran visiting family when she was arrested in 2016.
She was summoned to court on Saturday where Mr Johnson's comment was cited as new evidence as to what she was doing in Iran.
The Foreign Office said Mr Johnson now accepted he "could have been clearer" with his comments to the Foreign Affairs Committee.
In a phone call to Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, Mr Johnson said that his remarks provided "no justifiable basis" for further legal action and he intended to visit Iran before the end of the year to discuss the case.
Mr Zarif told the foreign secretary that the developments in the case over the weekend "were unrelated" to Mr Johnson's remarks, a Foreign Office statement added.
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We all make slips of the tongue", adding on Sky News that it wasn't "a serious gaffe".
But Labour's Tulip Siddiq, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's MP, said it was "unacceptable" for Mr Johnson to "lack a basic grasp on this important situation".
"A slip of the tongue in my books is swearing in front of your child by mistake - it's not condemning a British citizen to an extra five years in prison," she said.
Mr Ratcliffe told the BBC's Today programme that Mr Johnson should make a statement in the Commons, retracting what he said.
He added the "worst thing" Mr Johnson could do now was "suddenly go quiet and to create this problem without making any clarifications".
He said he still hoped his wife and young daughter would be back home in the UK for Christmas.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Liam Fox tells BBC's Today that Boris Johnson's comment about Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was a "slip of the tongue"
Former Conservative foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind told the BBC Mr Johnson needed "to concentrate more" and "get the detail right".
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to jail following a court hearing into whether she was attempting to overthrow the government.
She denies all the allegations against her, but lost her final appeal in April.
She has since faced two more charges relating to an accusation of plotting to topple the regime in Tehran.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation and the BBC, but insisted the 2016 visit was for her daughter to meet her grandparents.
However, appearing before MPs on the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee last week, Mr Johnson appeared to contradict that.
He criticised Iran over the case before saying: "When I look at what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing, she was simply teaching people journalism, as I understand it.
"[Neither] Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe nor her family has been informed about what crime she has actually committed. And that I find extraordinary, incredible."
Four days later, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was summoned to court where the foreign secretary's comments were cited as fresh evidence against her.
At the hearing, she was accused of engaging in "propaganda against the regime".
The Iranian judiciary's High Council for Human Rights said Mr Johnson's comments "shed new light" on the charity worker and proved Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe "had visited the country for anything but a holiday".
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been eligible for parole under the early release scheme from 23 November.
However, Mr Ratcliffe told the Press Association that she could now face a fresh trial before that date to block her chance of freedom.
"I think the one thing the foreign secretary could do to make amends would be if he went to visit her in the next few weeks before her trial," he said.
"Careless talk has a cost and there's been a lot of careless talk."
Monique Villa, chief executive of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, called on Mr Johnson to "immediately correct the serious mistake he made".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41896225
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Texas shooting: The Holcombe family's neighbour speaks - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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Eight members of one family are feared dead in the Texas church shooting. The Holcombes' neighbour, Pauline Garza, tells the BBC she doesn't know what to tell her children.
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Eight members of one family are feared dead in the Texas church shooting. The Holcombes' neighbour, Pauline Garza, tells the BBC she doesn't know what to tell her children.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41895351
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Fossil of 'our earliest ancestors' found in Dorset - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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Teeth of the oldest mammals related to humans have been discovered on the Jurassic coast of Dorset.
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Science & Environment
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The mammals ventured out at night to hunt insects
Fossils of the oldest-known ancestors of most living mammals, including human beings, have been unearthed in southern England.
Teeth belonging to the extinct shrew-like creatures, which scampered at the feet of dinosaurs, were discovered in cliffs on the Dorset coast.
Scientists who identified the specimens say they are the earliest undisputed fossils of mammals belonging to the line that led to humans.
''Here we have discovered from the Jurassic coast a couple of shrew-like things that are to date unequivocally our earliest ancestors,'' said Dr Steve Sweetman of Portsmouth University, who examined the ancient teeth.
The mammals were tiny, furry creatures that probably emerged under the cover of night.
One, a possible burrower, dined on insects, while the larger may have eaten plants as well.
Their teeth were highly advanced, of a type that can pierce, cut and crush food.
''They are also very worn which suggests the animals to which they belonged lived to a good age for their species,'' said Dr Sweetman.
''No mean feat when you're sharing your habitat with predatory dinosaurs."
The fossils were discovered by Grant Smith, then an undergraduate student. He was sifting through rock samples collected at Durlston Bay near Swanage for his dissertation when he found teeth of a type never before seen in rocks of this age.
Researchers from the University of Portsmouth made the discovery
''The Jurassic Coast is always unveiling fresh secrets and I'd like to think that similar discoveries will continue to be made right on our doorstep," said Prof Dave Martill of Portsmouth University, who supervised the project.
One of the new species has been named Durlstotherium newmani after Charlie Newman, who is the landlord of a pub close to where the fossils were discovered, and is also a keen fossil collector.
The second has been named Dulstodon ensomi, after Paul Ensom, a local palaeontologist.
The findings, published in the Journal, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, add new evidence to a hotly-debated field.
Recent fossil discoveries from China pushed back the date of the earliest mammals to 160 million years ago.
However, this has been disputed, based on data from molecular studies.
A separate study revealed this week suggests that the earliest mammals were night creatures that only switched to daytime living after the demise of the dinosaurs.
The research, published in the journal, Nature Ecology and Evolution, could explain why many mammals living today are nocturnal.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41889633
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Paradise Papers: Lord Ashcroft 'does not control' offshore trust - BBC News
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2017-11-07
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Conservative Party donor faces accusations of ignoring trustees despite rules on independence.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch Lord Ashcroft try to avoid Richard Bilton’s questions about his offshore trust
Lord Ashcroft has denied allegations that he ignored rules around the management of his offshore investments.
According to leaked documents, the Tory donor gave assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the Punta Gorda Trust in Bermuda in 2000.
The leaked Paradise Papers provoked questions as to whether he sometimes made decisions without consulting trust officials. Such action could see the trust challenged by HMRC.
In a statement, he said that he has never known the identity of any of the trustees or had any dealings with them.
"At no point has it been suggested directly to me, or through others, that I have taken any inappropriate action.
"No professional trustee has ever resigned because of anything I may have done," he added.
Panorama approached Lord Ashcroft during last month's Conservative Party conference in Manchester but he declined to answer any questions about the trust.
He has described two previous Panorama investigations into his affairs as "unashamedly one-sided" and said he had informed BBC director general Tony Hall that he is "simply not prepared to deal with" the programme.
The 71-year-old former Conservative deputy chairman has given millions of pounds to the party.
He fell out with David Cameron in 2010 and later co-authored a controversial unauthorised biography of the then-prime minister but remains involved in UK politics through his polling and publishing interests.
Journalist Peter Oborne said Lord Ashcroft has been a "hugely significant figure" in the Conservative Party over the last 20 years.
He said: "Lord Ashcroft has been one of the most significant donors to the... party. But it's not just... that he's been a giver of money, he's also been very important organisationally. He's involved himself in the internal politics."
Other documents in the Paradise Papers show Lord Ashcroft has secretly remained non-domiciled in the UK for tax purposes.
Addressing this allegation, he said in his statement: "My position was made public in a statement which I made in March 2010 and to which a link is provided here.
"Following the change in the law later that year, a change which my statement anticipated, for each of the remaining five years during which I sat in the House of Lords, I was deemed tax resident and domiciled.
"This is all publicly available information and nothing was produced yesterday by the BBC which suggests different."
The structure of a trust involves one entity legally entrusting a second to look after assets for a third, essentially removing ownership for tax purposes.
Wealthy people can legally avoid paying tax on assets that they have given to a trust because they can tell the authorities they no longer own or control the assets in them.
But for a trust to work as a tax break, decisions about its assets have to be taken independently by the trustees.
Despite the warning, Lord Ashcroft appears to have continued to make decisions about the trust's assets.
In October 2000, one of the trustees said: "I would like to emphasize at this point that it is imperative at all times that the trustees are aware of any and all transactions to be entered into prior to transactions occurring.
"To do otherwise, will only serve to undermine the integrity of the trust as the trustees are being advised of actions taken in connection with trust assets, which should be under their control, after the event."
A review of the trust in 2009, discovered that significant payments out had been made that had not been properly recorded.
In an internal email, a lawyer representing the trust says: "There have been very large sums of money involved and I am very concerned that there has been inadequate supervision of both transactions and distributions... to put it bluntly we seem to be told nothing whereas we carry the responsibility of acting as trustee."
Paperwork then appears to have been put in place retrospectively "to ensure that we have all the relevant trustee and company authorities in place for the transactions which have occured [sic]".
Trust experts say anybody who puts their money into a trust could face a challenge by tax authorities if it was felt rules had been abused.
This could include a challenge from HM Revenue and Customs if it was to take the view an overseas trust had been controlled from the UK.
Nicholas Shaxson, the author of Treasure Islands, an expose of the workings of tax havens, told Panorama: "On the evidence I have seen, it looks like something that is abusive behaviour and an abusive structure. If the trustees are worried, the trustees are expressing alarm about that, that's a clear red flag."
Prof Brooke Harrington, the author of Capital Without Borders, said: "It's important that trustees be independent because the whole concept of a trust is that a settlor gives over legal ownership of an asset to the trustee.
"That's why you get these tax benefits and other legal benefits from the trust structure."
Lord Ashcroft's spokesman, Alan Kilkenny, is quoted in the Guardian as saying the peer had never engaged in tax evasion, abusive tax avoidance or tax avoidance using artificial structures.
The papers are a huge batch of leaked documents mostly from offshore law firm Appleby, along with corporate registries in 19 tax jurisdictions, which reveal the financial dealings of politicians, celebrities, corporate giants and business leaders.
The 13.4 million records were passed to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Panorama has led research for the BBC as part of a global investigation involving nearly 100 other media organisations, including the Guardian, in 67 countries. The BBC does not know the identity of the source.
Paradise Papers: Full coverage; follow reaction on Twitter using #ParadisePapers; in the BBC News app, follow the tag "Paradise Papers"
Watch Panorama on the BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only)
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41892757
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Labour: Priti Patel must face probe or quit over Israeli trip - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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Priti Patel faces more questions about unofficial Israeli meetings - but No 10 says matter is closed.
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UK Politics
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Priti Patel must be investigated for holding unofficial meetings during a holiday in Israel or "do the decent thing and resign", Labour has said.
The international development secretary apologised on Tuesday for holding 12 meetings, including one with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, on a private trip.
In the Commons, Labour's Kate Osamor said it was a "black and white case" of the ministerial code being broken.
But minister Alistair Burt said policy did not change as a result of the trip.
Ms Patel was not in the Commons to face an urgent question about her actions because she is on a pre-arranged visit to Africa, a situation which Labour said was "simply not acceptable".
The BBC understands Ms Patel suggested some of Britain's aid budget go to the Israeli army, after the visit in August.
She asked her officials to see if Britain could support humanitarian operations conducted by the Israeli army in the occupied Golan Heights area.
The BBC understands the Foreign Office advised that because Britain did not officially recognise Israel's annexation of the area, it would be hard for the Department for International Development to work there.
Speaking in the Commons, Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt defended Ms Patel's "perfectly legitimate" right to raise the matter - saying it was within the context of providing medical help for Syrian refugees who could not get assistance in their own country.
But he said the idea had been rejected because ministers did not think it would be "appropriate".
He told MPs that the Foreign Office learned of her visit on 24 August, while she was still in Israel, but after a number of key meetings had already taken place.
He said Ms Patel had been "absolutely contrite" for "getting the sequencing wrong" in terms of informing officials but Mrs May accepted her apology and now regarded the matter "as closed".
But Labour's Kate Osamor said Ms Patel's actions were covered by the existing code and demanded a probe into what she did during the trip and what action she sought upon her return.
The opposition says there are "strong grounds" to believe Ms Patel is responsible for "multiple breaches" include failing to act in an open and transparent manner, not abiding by the principle of collective responsibility and not being honest about the nature and number of meetings she attended.
"It is hard to think of a more black and white case of breaking the ministerial code," Ms Osamor said.
"It is time the secretary of state either faces a Cabinet Office investigation or does the decent thing and just resigns".
The BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Landale said local UK diplomats in Israel probably first became aware of her visit on 24 August because that was when the opposition leader she met, Yair Lapid, first tweeted about their meeting.
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The BBC revealed on Friday that Ms Patel held a number of undisclosed meetings with business and political figures, including Mr Lapid, the leader of Israel's centrist Yesh Atid party.
No diplomats were present at the meetings, at which the minister was accompanied by an influential pro-Israeli Conservative peer and campaigner, Lord Polak.
Ms Patel has admitted how the meetings were set up "did not accord with the usual procedures".
Former Conservative foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that it was "extremely unwise" for Ms Patel to have held secret meetings with Israeli officials.
Ms Patel discussed Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the UK, which took place last week
"Not only did she not tell the Foreign Office directly, so far as I'm aware the British Embassy in Israel wasn't aware that this was happening. Now that just shouldn't be done... it's not just a question of courtesy," he said.
Lord Ricketts, former head of the diplomatic service, told BBC Radio 4's World Tonight that he couldn't think of a precedent "where a senior minister visits a country, has an extensive programme like this without the Foreign Office, the foreign secretary or even the ambassador in the country knowing about it".
However International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that it was not "in any way forbidden" to speak to the prime minister of another country without telling the foreign secretary.
He added: "I find it utterly unsurprising that the international aid secretary would want to talk to charities while she's on holiday in a particular area about whether or not we can use the British aid budget to diminish the humanitarian problems there."
Ms Patel, who is a long-standing supporter of Israel and a former vice-chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel, has admitted a "lack of precision" for suggesting last week that Boris Johnson knew about the trip, and that only two meetings had taken place when she attended 12.
Downing Street, which has called for the ministerial code to be clarified in this area, said Ms Patel had acknowledged she had behaved in an "improper way" and would not do so again.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41896756
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Hair-raising drive through Delhi smog - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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A BBC reporter films his drive to work as pollution levels soar in India's capital.
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A BBC reporter films his drive to work as pollution levels soar in India's capital.
All schools in Delhi have been closed for the rest of the week.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-41917369
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Twitter to expand 280-character tweets - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Longer tweets to be rolled out more widely as Twitter attempts to attract new users.
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Technology
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Twitter plans to increase the number of characters in tweets from 140 to 280 for the majority of users.
The new limit will not apply to tweets written in Japanese, Chinese and Korean which can convey more information in a single character.
The move follows a trial among a small group of users which started in September in response to criticism that it was not easy enough to tweet.
The change is part of Twitter's plan to attract new users and increase growth.
During the test, only 5% of tweets sent were longer than 140 characters and only 2% more than 190, the social media site said in a blog post.
But those who did use the longer tweets, got more followers, more engagement and spent more time on the site, it added.
"During the first few days of the test, many people tweeted the full 280 limit because it was new and novel, but soon after behaviour normalised," wrote Aliza Rosen, Twitter's product manager.
"We saw when people needed to use more than 140 characters, they tweeted more easily and more often. But importantly, people tweeted below 140 most of the time and the brevity of Twitter remained."
According to Twitter, 9% of tweets in English hit the character limits.
"This reflects the challenge of fitting a thought into a tweet, often resulting in lots of time spent editing and even at times abandoning tweets before sending," Ms Rosen said.
Increasing the character limit should not affect people's experience on the site, she added.
"We - and many of you - were concerned that timelines may fill up with 280-character tweets, and people with the new limit would always use up the whole space. But that didn't happen."
When the change was announced, many criticised it, pointing out changes they would rather see, such as a crackdown on hate crime and bots, and the introduction of a chronological timeline and edit function.
The site currently has 330 million active users. This compares with 800 million for Instagram and more than 2 billion users for Facebook.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41900880
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Boris Johnson: Priti Patel was 'first class' development secretary - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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The foreign secretary reacts to Priti Patel's resignation after controversy over her meetings with Israeli officials.
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The foreign secretary reacts to Priti Patel's resignation as international development secretary, following controversy over her meetings with Israeli officials.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41922503
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Toy sellers bet on Christmas as sales dip - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Families normally spend £121 on toys for each child, but the income squeeze is hitting spending.
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Business
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UK toy retailers are holding out for a busy Christmas after sales fell by 2% in the first nine months of the year.
Analysts and retailers expect a flat full year at best for the industry following two consecutive years of rapid growth.
Spending on toys totals £121 per child up to the age of 11, according to analysts NPD, with lower-income families cutting their spending.
The industry has unveiled its list of "must-have" toys.
Cheaper collectables feature prominently on the list, alongside more traditional games and film and TV tie-ups.
Frederique Tutt, global industry analyst for the NPD Group's toy division, said that sales had been "sluggish" in the year so far, whereas activity had risen in the other major toy markets in Europe, the US and Russia.
She pointed to a correction following two years of 7% growth in the UK, which had outstripped other markets and had been driven in part by the success of the Star Wars franchise.
Frederique Tutt with one of the Toy Retailers' Association's top toys
Seven of the 10 best-selling toys of the year so far have had a price tag of less than £10, she said.
Alan Simpson, chairman of the Toy Retailers' Association, which compiles the Dream Toys list, said the weakness of the pound had pushed up prices in the UK as most toys were imported.
The toy market was suffering from the income squeeze of customers as much as other sectors, he added.
"However, the rule book gets thrown away at Christmas, no matter how tough things are [for parents]," he said.
A drone is one toy mirroring the advance of technology
Ms Tutt said that this year's list of top toys was relatively low-tech, with traditional games playing a more "dynamic" part in the market.
"Parents are saying that too much screen time is not good," she said.
Only 1% of toys were "connected" via the internet, yet the influence of the web - and particularly social media - was clear from the design of new toys.
One of the expected best-sellers at Christmas is the L.O.L. Surprise - a heavily wrapped toy inspired by "unboxing" videos on YouTube and other social media channels.
Marketing for other toys had been launched on social media rather than TV adverts, she said. and manufacturers were counting on shared videos of youngsters playing with their new toys as another form of advertising.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41919610
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Baby girl for Sir Andy Murray and wife Kim - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Sir Andy Murray's wife Kim has given birth to a baby girl. The couple already have a daughter, Sophia, who was born in 2016.
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Scotland
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Sir Andy Murray's wife Kim has given birth to a baby girl.
The couple, who married in 2015, already have a daughter, Sophia, who was born in 2016.
The news emerged less than 24 hours after Andy Murray attended a charity tennis event at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow.
The match against Roger Federer was the first time Murray had played in public since suffering a hip injury at Wimbledon.
The couple's second girl is understood to have been born in England a "couple of weeks ago".
Both Kim and the new baby are believed to be doing well.
Sir Andy's grandmother, Shirley Erskine, told the BBC that she was "delighted" and was "looking forward to a cuddle".
Speaking ahead of a trip to London to meet her new great-granddaughter, she said: "All's well, which is the main thing.
"She's a little playmate for Sophia, who I'm sure will be equally thrilled."
Mrs Erskine of Dunblane remained tight-lipped on the question of a name for the newest addition to the Murray household.
She said: "I'm sure they've got that all worked out.
"We'll find out this weekend. I don't really know much at the moment because we haven't seen her. But we're looking forward to having a little cuddle and a little play with Sophia, who is running about all over the place and chattering."
When asked if her great-granddaughters would be future Wimbledon partners, Mrs Erskine laughed and said: "Not in our lifetime unfortunately - but we'd like to think so."
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The news was also welcomed by Scotland's first minister.
Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: "Congratulations to Kim and Andy (and to granny @JudyMurray too)."
The couple announced in July that Kim was expecting a second child.
At the time Murray spoke about how his family were the most important thing in his life and how becoming a husband and father had helped his tennis.
About 11,000 fans packed into the Hydro in Glasgow for the Andy Murray Live exhibition match on Tuesday night, which the Scot lost to Federer - the current world number two - 6-3 3-6 10-6.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-41912592
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I got separated from my siblings, care girl tells MPs - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Education Committee speaks to children in care as part of its inquiry into fostering.
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Family & Education
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Rachel is the eldest of four children
"I got separated from my siblings... I was told I was moved away from them because I was overprotective with them," 17-year-old Rachel told a committee of MPs on Tuesday.
She had come to Westminster to share her experiences of being in foster care, as part of the Education Committee's inquiry into fostering.
The MPs heard youngsters in care wanted more support to keep in touch with siblings and former friends, as well as more information about the foster families with whom they are placed.
Rachel told MPs it was very important to keep siblings together and when she looked back on her situation, she wondered if it could have been dealt with differently.
"I was told I was moved away from them because I was overprotective with them, which in my eyes, as a sister, and you're moving away from home, I feel like it's an instinct straightaway to be protective, because you're moving in with a stranger that you don't know and you have to protect your siblings.
"But then I feel that instead of separating me from them, they could have done some work with me to say, 'The foster carer can look after your siblings,' or like tell me I don't need to do everything for them and I don't have to put a barrier up - they could have given me time to settle in so then they didn't have to separate us.
"But they separated us and then I wasn't allowed to see them for a long period of time because they said that I was giving my little sister a lot of bad memories and bad thoughts, and I was thinking, 'Have you actually sat down to question her whether she's crying because she misses me or whether she's crying because of this or this?'"
Rachel told the MPs that while she now had contact with her siblings, it was only once a month.
"We have a bond, but it's not as strong as I'd like it to be and that's quite hurtful towards me, because to lose a bond with your own siblings is sad, because you're by yourself in the world and your siblings are practically your best friends and now you're losing them - you've lost your parents and then your siblings, and it's like your whole world has crashed down really quite quickly."
Connor, 14, told the committee of MPs that when he had been moved from one placement to another, he had been given no background information about his new home and had found this very stressful.
"I didn't get much info about about the carers I was going to be with, about what the household's like - is it comfortable, is it warm? and stuff," he said.
Asked if he had had any choice in the matter, he said no.
Connor, 14, travelled to Westminster to tell his story
"I just got told the carer's name, didn't get told what they like doing, I didn't get a booklet, a prepared booklet, from anyone.
"They said that it was 'on emergency'; the carer that I was with said to me she didn't get much info on me either - the only thing she got told by the local authority was 'Can you have a 12-year-old boy on emergency?'
"They said it would be for a couple of weeks until they could find a suitable placement, but I was there for nearly a year with nothing to nudge me on that I was going to be there for a long time.
"So it was very stressful, very upsetting for me, but I've learnt to expand beyond that now and cope with it and cope with the stress - it's been a bit of a rollercoaster for me."
Connor said things could be improved if local authorities gave both child and foster carer more information about each other.
"So that I can feel more comfortable in a home with someone that I don't know, but have got info on, so I can know what they like doing, how they are, what they're like and stuff," he said, "that's how I'd improve it."
Rachel added that her second placement had been a little easier, because she had met the foster carer in advance.
"I got to go out with her, go to lunch with her, go shopping with her, meet the house, meet other people in the house, so I liked the way they did that with me because they were setting up a full-time placement with me, so they let me settle in with her before I moved straight in, which I feel they should do with most individuals or young people before they just send them off.
"On that first day when I moved in with the new foster carer, it was quite unnerving because you don't know who they are, you don't know what to expect, you don't know what it's going to like, you don't know what they're like or anything like that."
Speaking to the BBC after the committee hearing, Connor and Rachel - who are both ambassadors for the charity Action for Children - said they felt sharing their stories with MPs at Westminster had made a real difference.
"I feel we've made a massive difference. I think we've put them on the back foot and made them realise foster care in England isn't going as planned," said Connor.
"This is the biggest experience of our lives, to put our points across to the people who can do something about it."
Rachel said the whole experience was "amazing" and had inspired her to think about a career in politics.
"I want to become an MP now and get there in my own steps. I could go into that - I've set my goal high."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-41904410
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Teen guilty of bid to import explosives from dark web - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Gurtej Singh Randhawa tried to buy a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device "with the potential to kill".
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Birmingham & Black Country
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Randhawa was arrested after the NCA replaced his intended package with a dummy device
A teenager has been convicted of trying to import explosives from the dark web with intent to endanger life.
Gurtej Singh Randhawa, from Wolverhampton, attempted to buy a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, which would be sent to him.
The 19-year old was arrested in May 2017 after the National Crime Agency (NCA) replaced the package with a dummy device before it was delivered.
He was found guilty on Tuesday after a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
Randhawa, of Grove Lane, Tettenhall, who had previously pleaded guilty to attempting to import explosives, was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced on 12 January.
He was convicted of maliciously possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Technology explained: What is the dark web?
Two women, aged 45 and 18, were also arrested at the same time but were released without charge.
Tim Gregory, from the NCA's armed operations unit, said: "The explosive device Randhawa sought to purchase online had the potential to cause serious damage and kill many people if he had been successful in using it.
"He was not involved in an organised crime group or linked to terrorism, but is clearly an individual who poses a significant risk to the community."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-41914945
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Paradise Papers: Prince Charles’s offshore investments revealed - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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Prince Charles’s private estate secretly invested in an offshore company which lobbied to change climate agreements.
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Prince Charles’s private estate, the Duchy of Cornwall, secretly invested in an offshore company which lobbied to change climate agreements, documents from the Paradise Papers have revealed.
Sustainable Forestry Ltd lobbied politicians to amend global agreements to allow ‘carbon credits’ from rainforests to be traded.
The Prince made speeches in support of this – and his estate, the Duchy of Cornwall, tripled its investment in Sustainable Forestry in the space of a year. It is not clear why this was.
The Duchy says the prince has no direct involvement in investment decisions.
Prince Charles denies ever speaking on a topic simply because of a company the Duchy may have invested in.
Find out more about the Paradise Papers.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41908774
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Facebook 'remembers' nude images to combat revenge porn - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Facebook will take digital fingerprints of intimate photos to prevent copies being uploaded.
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Technology
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Revenge porn has affected up to one in five Australian women, according to one study
Facebook is testing a system that allows users to message themselves their nude photos in an effort to combat so-called revenge porn.
It will store a "fingerprint" of images to prevent any copies of them being shared by disgruntled ex-lovers.
The trial is in Australia, where studies suggest one in five women aged 18-45 may have had image-based abuse.
But one expert says there will still be problems outside Facebook and related sites such as WhatsApp and Instagram.
Facebook said it looked forward "to getting feedback and learning" from the trial.
Revenge porn is a growing issue in Australia, according to e-safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who is working with Facebook on the trial.
"We see many scenarios where maybe photos or videos were taken consensually at one point, but there was not any sort of consent to send the images or videos more broadly," she told ABC News.
She sought to reassure potential victims who might be concerned about proactively sending themselves intimate photos.
"It would be like sending yourself your image in email, but obviously this is a much safer, secure end-to-end way of sending the image without sending it through the ether," she said.
"They're not storing the image, they're storing the link and using artificial intelligence and other photo-matching technologies."
Users wanting to take part in the trial must first file a report with the commissioner, who will in turn share it with Facebook.
Prof Clare McGlynn, an expert from Durham Law School, described it as "an innovative experiment".
"I welcome Facebook taking steps to tackle this issue, as it has often been very slow to act in the past. However, this approach is only ever going to work for a few people and when we think of the vast number of nudes taken and shared each day, this clearly isn't a solution," she told the BBC.
Graham Cluley, a security consultant, said that security would be the priority.
"Facebook knows that there will be many people concerned about how it handles such sensitive content, and I imagine they have put a good deal of thought into minimising the chances that anything goes wrong."
In March, Facebook was embroiled in a scandal when it emerged that a 30,000-strong private members group, Marine United, was routinely sharing images of nude women.
The group - made up of US marines - shared photographs of naked and semi-naked female colleagues.
In response to the revelations, Facebook introduced a feature that tagged pictures reported to it as revenge porn using photo-matching technology. It used this to prevent the image spreading and closed down the majority of accounts reported to it as hosting such images.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41913740
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Texas shooting: Gunman 'escaped mental hospital in 2012' - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Devin Kelley was "attempting to carry out death threats" against "his military chain of command".
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US & Canada
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The gunman who killed 26 churchgoers in Texas fled from a mental health clinic in 2012, according to a police report.
El Paso officers who detained Devin Kelley five years ago were told he was "a danger to himself and others".
Kelley had been sent to the hospital after he was court-martialled for assaulting his ex-wife and stepson during a stint in the US Air Force.
He was "attempting to carry out death threats" against "his military chain of command", the report states.
Officials say the assault charge should have legally barred him from owning guns.
El Paso police arrested Kelley at a bus terminal in downtown El Paso in June 2012, according to a police report first reported by KPRC in Houston.
Officers wrote that Kelley had fled Peak Behavioral Health Services in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, about 100 miles (160km) away.
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The person who reported him missing from the facility told police Kelley "suffered from mental disorders".
Kelley "had already been caught sneaking firearms onto Holloman Air Force Base", the report adds.
Later that year, Kelley pleaded guilty in a military court to repeatedly assaulting his wife and toddler stepson.
He was sentenced to one year in a US Navy prison.
FBI investigators said on Tuesday they have been trying to unlock Kelley's mobile phone, to better understand what led him to carry out the mass shooting.
According to the Houston Chronicle newspaper, the 26-year-old killer had shown up at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs with his children for an annual fall festival five days before the shooting.
A friend of Kelley's former mother-in-law Michelle Shields, who officials believe he was targeting on Sunday, said she was glad to see him at last week's event with her grandchildren following past family troubles.
"They thought, 'oh this is good. This is progress,'" said the woman.
Photos of the event on the church's Facebook page show children dressed in Halloween costumes and playing games.
Several of the victims are also shown in the images.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Johnnie Langendorff: "I'm just a guy who wanted to do the right thing"
Survivors have been describing how Kelley went pew to pew in the church shooting crying children.
In an interview with San Antonio television station KSAT, Rosanne Solis described the terror among congregants.
Armed with an assault rifle and 450 rounds of ammunition, the gunman began shooting into the small wooden building from outside.
Ms Solis, who was sitting near the entrance, said he stormed through the front of the church, shouting: "Everybody die!"
"Everybody was saying, 'Be quiet! it's him, it's him!'" said Ms Solis.
She added: "Everybody got down, crawling under wherever they could hide. He was shooting hard."
Witnesses said the gunman walked up and down the aisles looking for survivors to shoot.
Ms Solis' husband, Joaquin Ramirez, told how he made eye contact with Annabelle Pomeroy - the 14-year-old daughter of the church's pastor.
She was crying for help, Mr Ramirez told KSAT.
He said he motioned with his finger for her to stay quiet. Annabelle was killed.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. 'Our kids play together,' says a resident whose neighbours are feared dead
Mr Ramirez said the gunman also killed young children who were crying, shooting them at point-blank range.
He and his wife survived by playing dead, though she was shot in the arm and he was hit by shrapnel.
Another survivor, Farida Brown, 73, had a narrow escape, her son David Brown told KENS-TV.
"The shooter was making his rounds, and he ended up there and started shooting this lady multiple times," Mr Brown told the station.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. After the Las Vegas attack in October 2017 the BBC looked at how US mass shootings are getting worse
"And the lady looked at my mom the whole time, and my mom was looking at her and telling her, 'It's OK, you're going to go to heaven. You're going to go to heaven.'
"And then she knew it was her turn to be shot, and so she just started praying that God would take her soul to heaven."
But at that moment a neighbour, Stephen Willeford, entered the church and began shooting at Kelley.
As Kelley fled in his car, Mr Willeford flagged down a passing motorist, Johnnie Langendorff.
The two gave chase in Mr Langendorff's pickup truck until Kelley's vehicle crashed in a ditch.
The gunman was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, say police.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41907943
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Enniskillen Poppy Day bomb memorial unveiled - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A memorial is unveiled to mark the 30th anniversary of the bomb that killed 12 people and injured 60.
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Northern Ireland
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Twelve people were killed and dozens more injured in the 1987 bomb attack
A memorial to 12 people killed in an IRA bomb in Enniskillen has been unveiled in an event marking 30 years since the attack.
The bomb exploded at the town's cenotaph on 8 November 1987 during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony,
Eleven people were killed in the bombing. A twelfth victim, Ronnie Hill, slipped into a coma two days afterwards and died 13 years later.
The Queen sent a message to those gathered at the anniversary ceremony.
She said the memorial was a poignant reminder of a terrible event.
The Enniskillen Poppy Day Bomb memorial was unveiled during the ceremony
DUP leader Arlene Foster, PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton and NI Secretary James Brokenshire were among those who attended Wednesday's ceremony at the cenotaph, along with families and relatives of those killed and injured.
The head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, George Hamilton, said it was "a huge regret to me that no one has ever been brought to justice" for the Enniskillen bombing.
He added: "My heart goes out to the families today".
After a two-minute silence, the names of the dead were read and 12 bells tolled.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Who were the victims of the Enniskillen bombing?
Family members and dignitaries laid wreaths at the new memorial.
The Ballyreagh Silver Band, who played at the 1987 Remembrance Sunday ceremony, provided music for the ceremony.
The service was led by the Reverend David Cupples and the main address was delivered by the Reverend Michael Davidson, whose father was killed in an IRA attack in Belfast in 1979.
"I believe we need more than justice," Mr Davidson told those gathered at the memorial service.
"I believe that even if we were to receive the justice we deserve in a legal sense tomorrow, while it might bring some satisfaction, I do not believe it would bring peace or closure.
"We need more than justice - we need healing."
The former first minister Arlene Foster described the atmosphere at Wednesday's service as "very eerie".
"There was a lot of silence and people were being very reflective, and, I think, people are being very reflective of the horrific nature of what happened on that day," she said.
There is controversy over where the memorial will be eventually be placed. In the meantime, it has gone into storage.
Remembrance Sunday 1987 was a day that the people of Enniskillen would never forget.
The bomb blew out walls, showering the area with debris and burying some people in several feet of rubble.
Fast forward 30 years and on Wednesday, families will gather at the new Presbyterian Church hall to remember the horror that brought them together and to reflect on how times have changed for Northern Ireland.
Shortly after 10:00 GMT, they made their way just a few yards up the road to the area around the war memorial, remembering those who made that fateful journey in 1987.
People were buried in several feet of rubble
One of those who set the tone after the bombing was Gordon Wilson, whose daughter Marie was killed and who was himself injured in the attack.
He repeated his 20-year-old daughter's final words to him as they both lay in the rubble of the bombing.
"Daddy, I love you very much," she said.
Mr Wilson said: "I bear no ill will. Dirty sort of talk is not going to bring her back to life. She was a great wee lassie."
A group called Enniskillen Together was set up to further the cause of reconciliation in the area.
The IRA lost support worldwide after the bombing.
On Remembrance Day 1997, the leader of the IRA's political wing, Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams, formally apologised for the bombing.
The bomb exploded at 10:45 GMT on 8 November 1987. There was no warning given.
Those who died in the attack were all Protestant and included three married couples, a reserve police officer and several pensioners.
DUP leader Arlene Foster and NI Secretary James Brokenshire were among those who gathered for Wednesday's ceremony
Following the attack, the Queen sent her "heartfelt sympathy" to the people of Enniskillen and the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, called it "utterly barbaric" and "a blot on mankind".
There were 10 arrests in connection with the bombing, but no-one has ever been convicted of the attack.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-41899718
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Priti Patel leaves Downing Street back entrance - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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The former UK international development secretary is filmed after meeting Prime Minister Theresa May.
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The former UK international development secretary is filmed leaving 10 Downing Street's back entrance after meeting Prime Minister Theresa May.
Ms Patel has resigned following controversy over her meetings with Israeli officials.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41922501
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'Butterfly boy' gets life changing surgery - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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A child has been given a new genetically modified skin that covers 80% of his body, in a series of lifesaving operations.
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A child has been given a new genetically modified skin that covers 80% of his body, in a series of lifesaving operations.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41922286
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England and Germany to wear black armbands bearing poppies at Wembley - BBC Sport
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2017-11-08
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England and Germany players will wear black armbands bearing poppies for Friday's international match at Wembley.
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Last updated on .From the section England
England and Germany players will wear black armbands bearing poppies for Friday's friendly at Wembley.
The tribute is in remembrance of members of the armed forces, said the Football Association (FA) and German Football Association (DFB).
FA chief executive Martin Glenn called it "a show of solidarity and unity".
It comes after rules were changed last month, allowing the home nations to wear a poppy if opposing teams and the competition organiser agree to it.
Wales will also wear black armbands bearing poppies for Friday's friendly football international against France in Paris.
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were all fined for displaying poppies during games in November 2016 as Fifa deemed it to be a political symbol.
But all four teams said they would request permission to wear poppies during November's international matches after the rules were revised.
DFB president Reinhard Grindel said poppy armbands were not "political propaganda".
"They're about remembering the kind of values that were kicked to the ground in two World Wars but are cherished by football: respect, tolerance, and humanity," he said.
A replica of 'The Truce' statue, which depicts the historic World War I ceasefire where peace and games of football broke out between British and German troops on Christmas Day in 1914, will be on temporary display beside the Bobby Moore statue at Wembley Stadium.
The FA and DFB also plan to commemorate Armistice Day on 11 November in a number of other ways:
• None RAF, Army and Navy representatives will lay wreaths before kick-off.
• None A period of silence will be held before kick-off and after the national anthems.
• None During the silence, the Wembley Stadium arch will be lit in red and 'Football Remembers' will be displayed on the stadium screen.
• None A banner parade, involving representatives from the military, will take place inside the stadium before kick-off.
• None There will be poppy and St George's flag T-shirt layouts for fans in the east and west stands.
• None Poppy sellers will be at Wembley Stadium in the fanzone, concourses and on Olympic Way.
Northern Ireland host Switzerland in the first leg of their play-off for the 2018 World Cup while Scotland face the Netherlands at Pittodrie in a friendly on Thursday.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41914544
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My family's deadly escape from Raqqa - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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Ahmed's family got caught in the military offensive to drive out IS fighters from the Syrian city of Raqqa.
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Ahmed is just one of nearly 250,000 people who fled Raqqa during the military offensive to drive out the Islamic State group from the city.
Produced by Nader Ibrahim, BBC Arabic and Coda Studio; Animation by Alessandra Cugno; Illustrations by Sofiya Voznaya
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-41851129
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Democrats score key poll victories in Virginia and New Jersey - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Governor races in Virginia and New Jersey are the first statewide polls since Trump came to power.
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US & Canada
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Democrats have scored two significant victories in the US - in the first statewide elections since President Donald Trump came to power in January.
In Virginia, Ralph Northam defeated Republican Ed Gillespie in a governorship race marked by tussles on immigration and Confederate statues.
Phil Murphy, who beat Kim Guadagno, will be New Jersey governor.
The results could give an early indication of how next year's midterm congressional elections will turn out.
New York City's Democrat mayor was also comfortably re-elected.
Meanwhile, Virginia voters also made history by electing their first openly transgender state legislator.
Democrats have been craving something to celebrate after defeat in four congressional special elections this year, despite a groundswell of grassroots opposition to President Trump.
With nearly all the votes countered in Virginia, Mr Northam had 53.9% against 44.9% for Mr Gillespie.
Mr Northam, the lieutenant governor of Virginia, will now replace popular Governor Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat.
Mr Northam won despite a series of flip-flops during the campaign.
Progressive supporters were outraged after Mr Northam reversed stance to say he would oppose any attempt by a Virginia city to provide sanctuary to illegal immigrants.
The Democrat offered to work with President Trump after previously calling him "a narcissistic maniac".
Mr Northam also vowed to lead efforts to remove Confederate statues, only to say later that he would leave the decision to local authorities.
And his camp was further embarrassed by a racially charged advert, released by a group supporting his candidacy.
Mr Gillespie, a Washington lobbyist and former Republican party chairman, had accused Mr Northam of failing to curb gang violence and seeking to tear down statues honouring Civil War, pro-slavery secessionists.
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Mr Gillespie's style was combative - but he distanced himself from President Trump.
Responding to the election result, Mr Trump tweeted that Mr Gillespie "did not embrace me or what I stand for".
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Meanwhile, Virginia voters elected their first openly transgender state legislator in Danica Roem.
The 32-year-old journalist and stepmother ousted a long-time, pro-Trump, incumbent Republican in a race that focused on traffic issues.
Her rival, Bob Marshall, described himself earlier this year as Virginia's "chief homophobe".
Virginia voters also made history by electing their first transgender candidate
In New Jersey, Mr Murphy was comfortably leading the race with 55.5%. His Republican rival Ms Guadagno has 42.6%, with about 90% of the votes counted.
Mr Murphy will replace Republican Chris Christie, who was in office for eight years.
Democrats finally have a victory of the non-moral kind. After coming up short in a handful of special elections across the US, they went to the polls in a battleground state and posted a huge win.
How the Democrats, from governor candidate Ralph Northam on down, swept through election night in Virginia should be particularly concerning to Republicans across the US.
Turnout from Democratic supporters surged. They ran up huge margins with college-educated voters and residents in the wealthy Northern Virginia suburbs. The legions of rural voters who turned out for Donald Trump in 2016 were a non-factor.
Democrats won legislative races that were considered to be in play only in the rosiest of Democratic wave scenarios. Exit polls show a plurality of Virginians went to the polls to send a message to Mr Trump. Their top issue was healthcare. At least in Virginia, the president's dismal approval ratings translated into ballot-box poison.
The stage is now set for the midterm elections in 2018. Republicans will have a year to brace for what could be an anti-Trump tsunami forming on the horizon. What they - and Mr Trump - do next could decide their fate.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. They gambled on Trump - did it pay off?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41910189
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M&S slows its food store expansion plan - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The retailer says "hard-pressed" consumers are being "careful about premium choices".
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Business
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Marks and Spencer will open fewer Simply Food shops than expected after same store food sales fell in the first six months of its financial year.
Chief executive Steve Rowe said last year the retailer would open 200 Simply Food shops over the next five years.
However, M&S said it would "reposition our food business including slowing our Simply Food store opening plan".
Like-for-like food sales, which exclude new store trade, fell 0.1% with Marks saying it faced "stronger headwinds".
However, total food sales for the period rose 4.4% driven by new shop openings.
M&S said that "hard-pressed" consumers were more aware of value and were being "careful about premium choices". It added that "headwinds facing our food business have intensified as competitors have encroached on some of our space with the rapid growth of convenience".
It also said that its profit margins on food had been hit because of rising producer costs, as well as its policy of not passing on price increases to its customers.
M&S had planned for 90 new Simply Food shops this year, half of which M&S would open itself, while the rest would be operated by franchisees.
It will now open 80 stores, split equally between M&S and its franchise partners. It also expected to open a further 90 Simply Food stores in 2018, but this will also now be reduced.
Shares in M&S fell by 1.8% to 321.9p.
Commenting on M&S's performance in food, Patrick O'Brien, UK research director at GlobalData Retail, said: "When you compare that to the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons, whose recent like-for-likes have been around 2% plus, that's a pretty bad performance."
He said that food had been "a banker" for M&S in the past. "For it to be losing ground at a time of inflation is really quite damaging," he said.
For the group, overall total sales rose by 2.6% to £5.1bn, but pre-tax profit fell by 5.3% to £219.1m.
Like-for-like sales in clothing and homeware fell 0.7%, while total same-store sales declined 0.3%.
These figures aren't as bad as some had expected. An increase in full-price clothing and home sales is an encouraging sign.
But there are also now challenges in its upmarket food business, which in recent years has been a huge success story for M&S.
It had been planning to open around 200 new Simply Food stores by 2019. This is now being scaled back, which seems a sensible move.
Marks is now focusing on speeding up its existing store restructuring plans, which involve 105 "legacy stores".
Six stores, out of 30 earmarked for closure, have already ceased trading and a further two have been relocated this year. Marks says the transfer of customers to alternative stores has been much higher than expected, giving them the confidence to accelerate their plans.
Chief executive Steve Rowe wouldn't be drawn on whether this was now just the start of a much bigger store reduction plan.
A lot of retail experts think he needs to go much further than today's update, given the huge structural challenges facing the business.
The company will also speed up plans to close or reposition 105 of its stores. Mr Rowe said it would accelerate the closure of 30 M&S shops, convert 40 to Simply Food shops and relocate the remaining sites.
Mr Rowe said: "We have made good progress in remedying the immediate and burning issues at M&S I outlined last year.
"In clothing and home, early results are encouraging, and in International we now have a profitable and robust business.
"We recognise now that we face stronger headwinds in food, which will be addressed in the year ahead."
M&S also announced that its chief financial officer, Helen Weir, will step down. She will stay on until a successor is found.
The retailer declined to comment on current trading, but Ms Weir said the wider market view that trading in October had been difficult was "valid".
Mr Rowe said that warmer weather had affected demand for coats and jumpers, but he added: "We will trade Christmas as we always do and we're looking forward to giving our customers a treat."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41911960
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Manchester attack: 'Communication breakdown' delayed fire crews - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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Fire service did not deploy crews to Manchester Arena until nearly two hours after terror attack.
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Manchester
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Two women wrapped in thermal blankets stand near the Manchester Arena after the attack
A breakdown in communication led to a near two-hour delay in sending fire crews to the scene of the Manchester Arena attack, the BBC understands.
They were deployed to the Ariana Grande gig on 22 May one hour 47 minutes after Salman Abedi killed 22 and injured 512.
A report leaked to the Manchester Evening News claims the fire service waited until it knew there was no further terror threat.
Greater Manchester fire service said it will not be commenting on the leak.
The leaked report is an internal investigation by the Fire Brigades Union and Greater Manchester fire service for Lord Kerslake's inquiry examining how the emergency services responded to the attack.
Only three paramedics ever entered the cordoned-off foyer area at the centre of the blast, the BBC has been told
A firefighter who was on duty on the night has told the BBC they wanted to help but senior management from the fire service did not send them to the scene.
"I don't want people - the public - to think that we didn't want to go or we were scared to go. We were held back by the senior management," the firefighter, who wants to remain anonymous, said.
The fire service said it would not comment on the findings until Lord Kerslake had delivered his official inquiry.
It earlier said it had conducted a "debrief" of its response, but it would be inappropriate to comment further given the fact it was co-operating with an ongoing review by Lord Kerslake into the Manchester attack, commissioned by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Emergency services outside the Manchester Arena after this year's bomb attack.
Eight days after the bombing, Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said the fire and ambulance services initially went to a rendezvous point as per standard practice.
He said his force had been on the scene "within seconds" and had contacted North West Ambulance Service within three minutes of the incident being declared.
Many of the most seriously injured victims did not get expert medical help for more than an hour, witnesses have said.
Only three paramedics ever entered the cordoned-off foyer area at the centre of the blast, the BBC has been told.
There was also a delay with the response during a counter-terrorism training exercise at the Trafford Centre 12 months before the Arena bomb, according to a retired former senior member of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.
Kirk Cornwall, who was an official assessor at the exercise, said: "I ran an exercise at the Trafford Centre.
"I was there as one of the observers/assessors, and a similar thing occurred there where the pre-organised exercise started at midnight and it was around about 02:00 to 02:30 before emergency services personnel laid hands on a casualty purely through a breakdown in communication.
"In relation to debriefs for the majority of incidents - not just by the fire service but the emergency services - one term that keeps coming up every time is communication."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-41903310
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Priti Patel held undisclosed meetings in Israel - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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International Development Secretary held meetings without telling the Foreign Office, the BBC has learned.
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UK Politics
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The International Development Secretary held undisclosed meetings in Israel without telling the Foreign Office while accompanied by an influential pro-Israeli Conservative campaigner, the BBC has learned.
Priti Patel met the leader of one of Israel's main political parties and made visits to several organisations where official departmental business was reportedly discussed.
According to one source, at least one of the meetings was held at the suggestion of the Israeli ambassador to London.
In contrast, British diplomats in Israel were not informed about Ms Patel's plans.
Ministers are by convention supposed to tell the Foreign Office when they are conducting official business overseas.
Downing Street said Ms Patel was on a private holiday she had paid for herself, during which she took the opportunity to meet people.
Ms Patel told the Guardian: "Boris [Johnson] knew about the visit. The point is that the Foreign Office did know about this, Boris knew about [the trip]. It is not on, it is not on at all.
"I went out there, I paid for it. And there is nothing else to this. It is quite extraordinary. It is for the Foreign Office to go away and explain themselves."
But Labour have called for an investigation to examine whether Ms Patel breached the ministerial code and rules on lobbying.
The meetings took place over two days in August while Ms Patel was on holiday in Israel.
No civil servants were present but Ms Patel was accompanied by Lord Polak, honorary president of Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), an influential lobbying organisation that has access to wealthy party donors.
Some ministers and MPs accused Ms Patel of trying to win favour with wealthy pro-Israeli Conservative donors who could fund a potential future leadership campaign.
Others accused her of conducting her own "freelance foreign policy" on Israel. Ms Patel is a long-standing supporter of Israel and a former vice-chairman of CFI.
Ministers also said there was a potential risk that the meetings could have broken the ministerial code of conduct which states that "ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise".
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has been in London this week
One minister said: "This is outrageous. She is a Cabinet minister. She just cannot do this. This is about donors and influence."
One former minister said: "What does it say to the rest of the Middle East if a senior Cabinet minister in charge of Britain's huge aid budget disappears for 48 hours from a family holiday in Israel and is under the wing of a pro-Israeli lobbyist?"
The revelations risk embarrassing the government while the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is in London to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration, when Britain first gave its support for a national home for the Jewish people.
A senior Downing Street source denied Ms Patel had done anything wrong. And a source at the Department for International Development said it was a private holiday paid for by the Secretary of State herself.
Foreign Office sources in London - and diplomatic sources in the region - confirmed that Ms Patel had not given them any warning of her visit.
One minister said: "Yes, we did not know about the trip. We were unsighted on it." Another source said the British consulate in Jerusalem was "blindsided" and felt "slightly bruised".
A third Foreign Office source said: "We didn't know and would have expected to know, given the meetings she had."
Ms Patel took time out from her family holiday on 24 August to meet Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel's centrist Yesh Atid party, a former finance minister in Mr Netanyahu's coalition government.
Mr Lapid tweeted a picture of the meeting, saying it was "great to meet Priti Patel" whom he described as "a true friend of Israel." Mr Lapid's spokesman confirmed that he had met Ms Patel but refused to say what they discussed.
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Ms Patel was accompanied by the Tory peer, Lord Polak. He is now honorary president of Conservative Friends of Israel but for more than 25 years, he was the director of the lobby group. And in that role he had a huge influence on Conservative thinking on the Middle East, including writing speeches for Tory party leaders.
Lord Polak told the BBC that he just happened to be on holiday at the same time as Ms Patel. "We met up for one or two things," he said. "It was the summer holidays. I just joined her for a couple of days, some drinks, some dinner, that kind of thing."
That included the meeting with Mr Lapid: "He is just an old friend of mine, a personal friend. He is more a journalist than a politician. We just had coffee with him. It wasn't anything formal. It is all very innocent."
Conservative Friends of Israel regularly pays for MPs and peers to visit Israel. But Lord Polak said that Ms Patel paid for the holiday herself and the trip had nothing to do with CFI.
The peer said he organised for Ms Patel to visit Israeli firms and charities creating technologies that could be interesting to a Secretary of State for Development.
Ms Patel visited Beit Issie Shapiro (BIS), a leading Israeli disability charity and campaign group, where she reportedly discussed the possibility of her department forming a long-term partnership with the organisation.
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Jean Judes, executive director of BIS, published a picture on Facebook of Ms Patel visiting her organisation.
Mrs Judes wrote: "As the director of the DFID - UK Department for International Development, Ms Patel expressed interest in a long-term relationship with Beit Issie Shapiro, harnessing Israeli innovation to advance assistive technology for the benefit of people with disabilities in underdeveloped countries.
"We look forward to a strong, fruitful partnership with the DFID to enhance the quality of life of people with disabilities worldwide."
Mrs Judes told the BBC that the Israeli embassy in London had been involved in setting up the visit: "We reached out.
"We met with the Israeli ambassador in London and he said this is something we should bring to the attention of Priti Patel." The Israeli embassy in London declined to respond to questions.
Lord Polak said Ms Patel also visited Innovation: Africa, an Israeli not-for-profit organisation developing new solar and water technologies for remote African communities.
The fear among some Tory MPs is that Ms Patel also used the trip to discuss reducing her department's support for Palestinian groups.
The UK currently sends about £68m a year to support the Palestinian territories, most of it from DFID's budget. Some of the money is given directly to the Palestinian Authority, the rest through the local UN agency or individual groups.
Critics claim that instead of just supporting Palestinian refugees and institutions, the money has also been used to pay salaries to Palestinians jailed for terrorism-related offences.
Ms Patel has long been a critic of this funding. She tightened up the guidelines on Palestinian spending last year, focusing more on health and education, but one Foreign Office source said that she had recently tried to go further, presenting a paper to the prime minister and the foreign secretary for yet more restrictions on the funding.
"But they were not particularly impressed by her arguments," said one Foreign Office source. Another said: "She has been trying this for some time. She has been pushing to get her hands on the PA aid budget and we have been pushing back."
Others suggested Ms Patel was getting close to CFI in preparation for a future leadership contest. One Whitehall source said: "I have always understood it to be part of her leadership ambitions, if she has got people from CFI who are prepared to put money into her."
The BBC sent Ms Patel's office a list of questions concerning the visit to Israel which it declined to answer.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41853561
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Louvre Abu Dhabi: UAE museum unveiled by Emmanuel Macron - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The new museum in Abu Dhabi will hold 600 permanent artworks and 300 loaned from France.
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Europe
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The new Louvre, built over the past 10 years, holds 600 artworks permanently and 300 loaned from France.
Praised by critics, the building boasts a latticed dome designed to allow the desert sun to filter through.
It holds art and items related to history and religion from around the world and Mr Macron called it a "bridge between civilisations".
He said: "Those who seek to say Islam is the destruction of other religions are liars."
The project, agreed between France and Abu Dhabi in 2007, was initially intended to open in 2012 but was delayed by the global financial crisis and plummeting oil prices, sending the final cost soaring over its original $654m (then £340m) budget.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi is the first project to open in a series which the United Arab Emirates hope will put the city on the cultural map
In addition, the museum is paying France hundreds of millions of dollars for the use of the Louvre name and for loans of artworks and managerial advice.
The museum has attracted its share of controversy over concerns about the welfare of the workers constructing the building.
But critics have declared the finished building - the first to open in a series of projects conceived by UAE authorities at creating a cultural oasis on the Abu Dhabi island of Saadiyat - a "mesmerising" success, if with a "touch of bling".
The Paris Louvre is a landmark in the French capital and the world's largest art museum, with millions of visitors a year.
The Abu Dhabi building, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, brings to mind an Arab medina (an ancient quarter of a city).
None of its 55 rooms, including 23 permanent galleries, is alike.
The latticed dome protects visitors from the scalding heat, while allowing the rooms to glow with natural light.
On show are works from around the world - from established European masters including Van Gogh, Gaugin and Picasso, to Americans such as James Abbott McNeill Whistler (his painting Whistler's Mother, above) and the modern Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
The museum has also joined force with Arab institutions who have loaned 28 prized works.
Among the priceless artefacts on show are a statue of a sphinx dating back to the 6th Century BC and a frieze depicting figures from the Koran.
The museum's doors open to the public on Saturday - with all entrance tickets, priced 60 dirhams ($16.80), sold out.
Emirati officials will hope the magnificence of the building will put concerns about the wellbeing of its workers and controversy about delays and overrunning costs in the shade.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41919905
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'Zombie' star survived going supernova - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Astronomers discover the astronomical equivalent of a horror film villain: a star that wouldn't stay dead.
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Science & Environment
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Artwork: The "zombie" star kept erupting for nearly two years
It's the astronomical equivalent of a horror film adversary: a star that just wouldn't stay dead.
When most stars go supernova, they die in a single blast, but astronomers have found a star that survived not one, but five separate explosions.
The "zombie" star kept erupting for nearly two years - six times longer than the duration of a typical supernova.
An international team details their results in the academic journal Nature.
"This supernova breaks everything we thought we knew about how they work. It's the biggest puzzle I've encountered in almost a decade of studying stellar explosions," said co-author Iair Arcavi, a postdoctoral fellow at Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) who is based in California.
The mysterious object, iPTF14hls, was picked up in September 2014 by a wide-field camera astronomy survey.
Astronomers identified it as an exploding star in January 2015; everything about the discovery seemed normal at first.
In common types of supernova, a blast at the centre of the star ejects material at high speed into surrounding space. The expansion of this material releases energy, causing the object to shine brightly for up to 100 days (about four months) before it finally fades.
It soon became clear this exploding star wasn't conforming to expectations. For one thing, it didn't fade, but shone brightly for 600 days - nearly two years.
What's more, the astronomers found that its brightness varied by as much as 50% on an irregular timescale, as if it was exploding over and over again.
And, rather than cooling down as expected, the object maintained a near-constant temperature of about 5,700C.
Intriguingly, by combing through archived data, scientists discovered an explosion that occurred in 1954 in exactly the same location. This could suggest that the star somehow survived that explosion, only to detonate again in 2014.
The object may be the first known example of a Pulsational Pair Instability Supernova.
"According to this theory, it is possible that this was the result of a star so massive and hot that it generated antimatter in its core," said co-author Daniel Kasen, from the University of California, Berkeley.
"That would cause the star to go violently unstable, and undergo repeated bright eruptions over periods of years."
That process could even repeat itself over decades before the star's final explosion and collapse to a black hole.
The discovery was made by the Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) wide-field camera survey
Kate Maguire, from Queen's University Belfast, who was not involved with the study, told BBC News: "It's a theoretical idea that people have put forward, but this is the first time that an object has been identified that matches this quite well.
Writing in a news and views article published in Nature, Prof Stan Woosley, from the University of California, Santa Cruz, said that in the Pulsational Pair Instability theory, a massive star may lose about half its mass before the series of violent pulses begins.
Not everything we know about the "zombie" matches this theory, Prof Woosley added, and many uncertainties remain.
"As of now, no detailed model has been published that can explain the observed emission and constant temperature of iPTF14hls, let alone the possible eruption 60 years ago," he wrote.
"For now, the supernova offers astronomers their greatest thrill: something they do not understand."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41916738
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Kevin Spacey: New allegations emerge - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Men and women allege the Hollywood actor groped or made advances towards them.
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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. 'To Kevin Spacey: Shame on you for what you did to my son'
New allegations of sexual harassment and predatory behaviour towards men and women by Kevin Spacey have emerged.
The claims, spanning from the mid-1980s to 2016, raise further questions about the US actor's conduct in the decades he worked in Hollywood and as artistic director at London's Old Vic theatre.
The BBC has contacted Mr Spacey for comment.
On Wednesday, the journalist whose October tweet triggered a series of accusations about Mr Spacey spoke out.
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Former television news anchor Heather Unruh told a press conference in Boston that her son had been sexually assaulted by Mr Spacey, at the age of 18 in a bar in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July 2016.
She said Mr Spacey had bought her son alcohol - the drinking age in Massachusetts is 21. After getting him drunk, Mr Spacey had "stuck his hand inside my son's pants and grabbed his genitals", she said.
She said Mr Spacey had invited her son to a party, but he had run away from the bar when Mr Spacey had gone to the lavatory.
A criminal investigation was now under way, Mrs Unruh said.
"Shame on you for what you did to my son. Your actions are criminal," Mrs Unruh said through her tears.
Since the first allegation of sexual advances were made by actor Anthony Rapp on 30 October, US network Netflix axed further production of Mr Spacey's House of Cards drama, the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced it will no longer give the actor a special Emmy award, and his agent and publicist dropped him as a client.
In response to Mr Rapp's claims, Mr Spacey said he has no memory of the incident and offered an apology.
Mr Spacey said he was seeking treatment after facing the allegations but did not give information about the type.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Former London barman Kris Nixon says he was groped by Kevin Spacey
Since then more men have come forward.
Barman Kris Nixon, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, said he had been working near the Old Vic in 2007 when Mr Spacey groped him at a party.
"Kevin Spacey sat down next to me on a sofa, then reached over and grabbed my penis," he said.
The actor had then suggested he perform a sexual act on Mr Nixon, according to the barman, who then left the party.
Two weeks later, Mr Nixon was in the basement of the bar he had been working in, when, he said, he realised Spacey was two feet (60cm) behind him.
The actor grabbed Mr Nixon's waistband and offered to "make it up" to him, he said.
"I didn't want to make a scene about it - he was a customer. I didn't want to get fired.
"Until Anthony Rapp spoke out, I never felt able to tell anyone."
Spacey was dropped from his House of Cards series after new allegations
Meanwhile, an American film-maker has told the BBC that he was groped and sexually harassed by Mr Spacey as a 22-year-old junior crew member.
The man, now 44, who does not want to be identified, said the "powerful" director had made advances towards him on the shoot of Albino Alligator in 1995.
"He was very affable and nice to everybody. We shook hands and he took an interest in me. He offered to watch one of my student films, which I was very flattered by," he said.
But, he said, Mr Spacey had quickly become "creepy" and one day insisted he sit in his director's chair.
"He started massaging my neck and my shoulders, and I felt incredibly uncomfortable."
The film-maker, from California, said he had been singled out as a target because of his youth and inexperience.
"On one of the last days of shooting… he sat down next to me and put his thigh against mine and put his hand on my thigh and moved it towards my inner thigh," he said.
He told the BBC he had decided to come forward after hearing the allegations by actor Anthony Rapp but felt nervous about revealing his identity because of the influential position Mr Spacey continued to hold in the industry.
At the time, Mr Spacey's powerful position had made him feel conflicted about his encounters with the director, he said.
"I was getting the attention of the most powerful person on the movie set, and I wanted to work in Hollywood," he said.
"But it was an interest that made me feel totally uneasy, uncomfortable, confused. I didn't know what to do, I felt trapped. I felt harassed, sexually harassed."
The film-maker said he hoped coming forward would encourage others.
"I hope it makes those people who come forward feel less alone if they are feeling alone and confused, like I was when I was 22."
One woman told the BBC that she suffered depression after an encounter with Mr Spacey.
Kate Edwards, now a performing arts teacher in London, claims Mr Spacey made advances towards her when she had been a production assistant on Broadway show Long Day's Journey Into Night in 1986.
Ms Edwards, who was 17 at the time, said she had been alone in a lift with the 27-year-old Mr Spacey when he had invited her to a "James Dean birthday party" in his flat.
Kate Edwards (second left, back row) with the cast and crew of Long Day's Journey Into Night, starring Kevin Spacey, in 1986
When she had arrived, she said, there had been no-one else there.
Ms Edwards said she had consensually kissed Mr Spacey, but then had started to feel uncomfortable and asked when others would arrive..
"I said I want to go home and change. I felt pressured, and it became quite clear that his intention was to have sex with me.
"He became cold and said, 'Find your own way.'
She said the actor had "cut her dead" after the encounter, she had become depressed, had gained weight, and had eventually been unable to continue working on the show.
Ms Edwards said her message to Mr Spacey today would be: "I would like you to know that what you did hurt me, it affected me for years afterwards.
"What you did to me and what you did to other young people was unacceptable."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41918966
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One in 25 people homeless in England's worst hit areas - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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More than 268,000 people are homeless in England, as many lose their private tenancies, Shelter says.
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UK Politics
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Around 4,500 people are rough sleeping in the UK, according to the new survey
As many as one in 25 people are classed as homeless in the worst-affected areas of England, a new study has shown.
Homeless charity Shelter said more than 268,000 people across England are homeless, although the number is a "conservative estimate", with many more expected to be going unrecorded.
It said the leading cause was the loss of a private tenancy, with three in 10 cases coming as a result.
The government said it was "determined to tackle all forms of homelessness".
Shelter has launched an urgent appeal to raise money for front-line services.
The definition of homelessness under law includes rough sleepers, single people in hostels and those in temporary accommodation.
Under these criteria, say Shelter, at least one in 206 people in England is classed as being homeless.
Broken down, this results in around 4,100 people sleeping on the streets and at least 242,000 in temporary accommodation.
A further 21,000 are either in hostels or being housed temporarily by social services.
London has the highest proportion of homelessness in the country, accounting for 31 of the worst hotspots - with the borough of Newham recording one in 25 people as homeless.
But other pressure points have also been identified:
The number of temporary accommodation households has risen from 48,330 in 2011 to 78,810 at the start of 2017. Shelter believes at least 35% of those households will still be in unreliable homes in a year's time, showing little end in sight for many.
This is partly down to the number of people losing private tenancies, which the charity says has soared since cuts to housing benefits started in 2011.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, is calling for an "ambitious new direction" from the government to tackle the issue, saying: "On a daily basis, we speak to hundreds of people and families who are desperately trying to escape the devastating trap of homelessness.
"[It is] a trap that is tightening thanks to decades of failure to build enough affordable homes and the impact of welfare cuts."
Victoria says she just wants "a safe place to call home"
At 72 years old, Victoria is homeless after her landlord decided to sell her privately-rented flat and she could not find anywhere to live.
The pensioner from London - whose surname we have not used - said that, despite always paying her rent on time, landlords did not want to rent to someone on housing benefit, and many properties in the capital were too expensive for her.
"Presenting myself as homeless was in itself humiliating and scary," she said. "You're left sitting around for hours, waiting to find out if you'll have a place to stay that night."
Victoria is now living in temporary accommodation, but is desperate to find somewhere permanent and "a safe place to call home".
"The whole thing makes me feel like there is something wrong with me," she said. "I've moved around a lot, and yet for the first time in my life I feel like I have no control over my situation.
"I'm not easily scared, but the fear is terrible - you just don't know where you are going to end up. I'm in a constant state of anxiety and stress."
Dan Wilson Craw, director of campaign group Generation Rent, said it was "incredibly easy" for private tenants to find themselves homeless, as landlords do not need a reason to evict, and called for more restrictions to be put in place.
The Local Government Association said homelessness was causing a "huge challenge" for councils, with its housing spokesman, Martin Tett, calling for more resources from the government to tackle the issue.
But the Department for Communities and Local Government said it was investing £950m into supporting efforts to tackle homelessness by 2020, and it had already given more powers to local authorities.
A spokesman said: "We are determined to tackle all forms of homelessness, which includes making sure people in temporary accommodation are getting support to keep a roof over their heads."
Homelessness has been rising rapidly since 2010, but it's difficult to know exactly how many people don't have anywhere to live.
Estimates of rough sleepers are calculated by counting people on a single night, and potentially millions of "sofa surfers" go under the radar.
The charity, Shelter, has pieced together various data sources to arrive at its figure.
It used official data on how many households were living in temporary accommodation to calculate how many individual people that equated to.
It looked at hostel bed occupancy to include people who turn up without being referred by the council, often paying a fee to stay, who don't appear in official figures.
And it asked councils how many homeless families they were accommodating, giving a much higher figure than the 78,180 homeless households usually quoted.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41889923
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Mark van Dongen murder trial: Acid attack 'calculated' - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Jurors see video interviews with acid attack victim Mark van Dongen, whose ex is accused of his murder.
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Bristol
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Mark van Dongen died 15 months after being attacked in Bristol
An acid attack victim has told jurors, in testimony recorded before his death, how the "jealous" ex accused of his murder laughed as she doused him in a corrosive liquid.
In video evidence, Mark van Dongen, 29, said Berlinah Wallace, 48, shouted "if I can't have you, no-one else can" as she threw sulphuric acid at him.
Bristol Crown Court heard he ended his life in a euthanasia clinic due to unbearable pain from his injuries.
The court heard Dutch national Mr van Dongen was left paralysed from the neck down and lost his left leg, the sight in his left eye and most of the sight in his right eye, after the September 2015 attack in Bristol.
He was later told he would require a "lifetime of constant and dedicated care".
In January this year, he travelled to Belgium where he ended his life in a euthanasia clinic.
A picture of Mark van Dongen taken before the attack
Jurors were shown the video interview with Mr van Dongen, filmed in hospital in July 2016, where he gave his account of the attack,
Trial judge Mrs Justice May warned them they may find the footage, which showed the extent of the scarring to the victim's body, "shocking and disturbing".
In the video, Mr van Dongen struggles to speak as he describes Ms Wallace waking him up and laughing as she threw acid over him, saying "if I can't have you, no one else can".
When the interviewer asks if he knew why she had attacked him, he says it was because she was jealous.
In a second video shown to the court, Mr van Dongen tells police Ms Wallace threw boiling water over him after an argument in 2014.
He also says Ms Wallace hit herself in the face, and told him she would tell police he had caused her injuries if he left her.
At the time of the attack, prosecutor Adam Vaitilingam QC told jurors, Mr van Dongen had begun seeing another woman and moved into a hotel.
The victim visited the defendant at her flat in Ladysmith Road, Bristol, because he was concerned that she was "in a bad way and self-harming", the court was told.
He fell asleep, jurors heard, and Ms Wallace laughed as she threw a glass of sulphuric acid over him.
The court heard Mr van Dongen ran into the street "screaming for help", where neighbours tried to help him, and he was taken to a specialist burns unit at Southmead Hospital.
Mr Vaitilingam said: "The physical and mental suffering that he sustained from that calculated acid attack were what drove him to euthanasia.
"Put simply, he could not bear to live in that condition.
"If that is right, we say, then she is guilty of murder."
Ms Wallace wept in the dock as the jury were told Mr van Dongen was "genuinely frightened" of her, and the couple's relationship had become "volatile".
The jury heard computer records showed Ms Wallace had bought the acid online on 2 September.
She also carried out internet searches, including "can I die drinking sulphuric acid?", and browsed news stories on acid attack victims.
Ms Wallace admits throwing a substance over Mr van Dongen but denies any intent to cause him harm.
She claims she believed that she was throwing a glass of water over him.
Richard Smith QC, defending, told the jury "to keep an open mind".
"Yes, she threw the glass over him, but defence claims Mr van Dongen put the acid in the cup without her knowledge, and encouraged her to drink it resulting in a mirror image of what we now have."
He said the couple had a "turbulent and complicated relationship" and Ms Wallace was going to blackmail Mr van Dongen with personal information, which was why he put the acid in the glass and encouraged her to drink it.
Ms Wallace wiped away tears as jurors heard details of the couple's "volatile" relationship
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-41914798
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Priti Patel's cabinet future in doubt over Israel trip row - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Priti Patel is summoned back from Africa by No 10 amid controversy over her Israeli meetings.
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UK Politics
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Priti Patel has left No 10 via the back door after talks with the PM to find out if she will be sacked amid controversy over meetings with Israeli ministers.
The international development secretary was ordered by the PM to cut short an African trip to fly back to the UK.
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said a source told her that Ms Patel would rather resign than be sacked.
Ms Patel apologised about meetings with Israeli politicians in August.
But there are now questions about further meetings held in September.
Ms Patel arrived via the back door of Number 10 for her meeting with the prime minister after flying back to London Heathrow from Uganda.
The BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Landale said that by holding the secret meetings with Israeli officials, Ms Patel had broken "one of the cardinal principles of government, namely collective responsibility, the idea that government speaks and acts as one once a policy has been agreed".
He said this was about practicalities - so part of Whitehall knows what the other part is doing - and it also ensures ministers remain accountable.
Priti Patel, top right, got into a ministerial car after arriving at Heathrow
Ms Patel was formally reprimanded in Downing Street on Monday, where she was asked to give details about a dozen meetings she had with Israeli officials while on holiday, which were not sanctioned by the Foreign Office.
It has also now emerged that Ms Patel conducted two further meetings in September without government officials present.
It is thought Lord Polak, honorary president of the Conservative Friends of Israel, was present at both meetings.
He later tweeted about their meeting.
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On 18 September she met foreign ministry official Yuval Rotem in New York.
It is not yet clear whether Ms Patel had informed the prime minister about these meetings or of her plans to look into giving tax-payers' money to the Israeli military to treat wounded Syrian refugees in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights region - a request that was turned down as "inappropriate" by officials.
In a further development on Wednesday the Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported that during August she visited an Israeli military field hospital in the Golan Heights - the UK, like other members of the international community, has never recognised Israeli control of the area seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.
There was no immediate comment from the Department for International Development on the report.
Ms Patel was forced to correct the record earlier this week about the number of meetings that she had attended and when the Foreign Office had been notified about them.
The MP said she had been wrong to suggest to the Guardian that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson knew of the trip in advance when he had only learnt about it while it was under way.
Ms Patel, who has been an MP since 2010, is a long-standing supporter of Israel and a former vice-chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel.
Former Labour lord chancellor Lord Falconer told BBC Radio 4's Today: "She should not be colluding with a foreign government - it doesn't matter if it's an ally or not... to do it in that secretive way makes her look like she's much more the emissary of the Israeli government than a member of the British government."
Former Conservative international development minister Sir Desmond Swayne said that even if Ms Patel was forced to quit, just a week after Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon resigned for inappropriate behaviour, it would not be a "catastrophe".
"There are 22 Cabinet ministers and there are plenty of people who are talented to step into their shoes," he told BBC's Victoria Derbyshire. "It will not be a huge destabilisation."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Conservative Crispin Blunt tells Today it would have been alright if Patel had told Foreign Office about meetings
In a letter to Mrs May, Labour's shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett called on the prime minister to either call in her independent adviser on ministerial standards to investigate, or "state publicly and explain your full reasons for why Priti Patel retains your confidence".
However, Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi - a member of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee - told BBC Two's Newsnight that he believed some of the criticism facing Ms Patel was down to the fact she was a pro-Brexit campaigner during the EU referendum.
He said Ms Patel was not having "clandestine" meetings with "an enemy state" and that the Foreign Office was made aware of the meetings while she was in Israel.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41904459
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Priti Patel resigns: What went wrong - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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The BBC's Diplomatic Correspondent James Landale explains the controversy that led to her resignation.
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Priti Patel has resigned as international development secretary following controversy over her meetings with Israeli officials.
The BBC's Diplomatic Correspondent, James Landale, explains how a family holiday went terribly wrong for her.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41923554
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Snapchat loses $40m on flop Spectacles - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Video-recording sunglasses by the company behind Snapchat failed to become a must-have gadget.
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Technology
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The company behind Snapchat has taken a $40m (£30m) hit to its finances after its video-recording sunglasses failed to sell as well as hoped.
Snap launched Spectacles in September 2016, originally selling them only through pop-up vending machines.
Pressing a button on the glasses records a short video that can be shared on the Snapchat messaging app.
But on Tuesday the company revealed costs of $40m (£30m) due to "excess inventory" and cancelled orders.
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Chief executive Evan Spiegel has previously said 150,000 units have been sold.
The company's latest earnings report pinned the cost on "excess inventory reserves and inventory purchase commitment cancellation charges".
Critics said the $129 glasses were too expensive and the picture quality of recorded videos was poor.
Snap Spectacles were sold in vending machines and online
"They were a fun gimmick for some people, but not compelling enough for a lot of people to get involved," said Stuart Miles from technology news website Pocket-lint.
"Snap is a social-media company that is experimenting with merchandise and hardware. They're new to manufacturing, and they must have got their projections wrong.
"It never caught on in the way they were hoping."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41915068
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Rolf Harris challenges indecent assault convictions - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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His lawyers say there is overwhelming evidence against one of the alleged indecent assaults.
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UK
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Former entertainer Rolf Harris has renewed his application to have his convictions for indecent assault quashed at the Court of Appeal.
His lawyers said there was overwhelming evidence to show he wasn't in an area where one of the alleged indecent assaults took place.
The 87-year-old is hoping to overturn the 12 indecent assault convictions he was jailed for in 2014.
His two-day appeal hearing was heard by three judges at the High Court.
The Australian-born TV presenter was sentenced to nearly six years in prison in 2014. He was released in May.
He was convicted of 12 indecent assaults against four girls, including one aged eight, which took place between 1968 and 1986.
His defence team have put forward new evidence which they claim shows he wasn't at Leigh Park community centre in Hampshire where one girl said she was assaulted in the 1960s.
The court heard from two former police officers and the father of one of the victims - who all said Harris was not in that part of Hampshire at the time of the alleged assault.
Stephen Vullo QC, representing Harris, said: "We only need to show one count was unsafe in order to have a retrial."
The prosecution argued that despite these new claims, the force of evidence against him is still there.
The three judges will now reach their conclusion which is expected to take two weeks.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41912363
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Irish PM wears 'shamrock poppy' in parliament - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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Leo Varadkar appears with an Irish-themed red poppy to remember Irish soldiers in World War One.
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Europe
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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar appeared with the "Shamrock Poppy" in parliament
The prime minister of the Republic of Ireland has worn an Irish-themed red poppy badge to remember Irish soldiers who fought in World War One.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar appeared with the "shamrock poppy" in the Dáil - the parliament in the capital, Dublin.
He is the first leader of the Fine Gael political party to do this.
The move has triggered debate about how more than 200,000 Irish soldiers who served in the British Army are remembered.
Between 1914 and 1918, some 35,000 of them died.
"The Shamrock Poppy recognises Irish soldiers who fought in World War One," a spokesman for Mr Varadkar said.
"It was commissioned to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Great War by the Irish branch of the Royal British Legion.
"Proceeds from the Shamrock Poppy go to Irish veterans and their families, and towards the upkeep to memorials to Irish soldiers in Ireland. All money stays in Ireland," the spokesman said.
The Shamrock Poppy worn by the Irish PM
A green shamrock is traditionally used as a symbol of the Irish people.
A red poppy - known as the remembrance poppy - has been used in the UK and several other countries to commemorate servicemen and women killed in all conflicts.
In April 1916, Irish republicans led an armed insurrection to end British rule.
The Anglo-Irish war in 1919-21 led to the partition of Ireland and the creation of the Irish Free State. The Republic of Ireland was declared in 1949.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41910166
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SSE confirms merger with Npower - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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Energy company also announces big fall in pre-tax profits up to September 2017.
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Business
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SSE has confirmed it is merging its British domestic business with Npower to form a new energy company.
SSE, the UK's second-largest energy supplier, which also reported a big fall in its adjusted pre-tax profits of 13.9% in the six months to September, revealed the merger talks on Tuesday.
The deal knocks the country's "Big Six" energy firms down to five.
"We are very proud of what we've delivered over many years," said chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies.
He said the merger would allow both to "focus more acutely on pursuing their own dedicated strategies".
The new firm is expected to be roughly the size of market leader British Gas and to serve about 11.5 million customers.
The news comes less than a month after the government published draft legislation to lower the cost of energy bills.
However, SSE retail's chief operating officer, Tony Keeling, denied that was the reason for the merger.
"We've been looking for well over a year about what we should do," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "We've listened to government regulators and customers and understand that the market needs to transform and we're absolutely committed to doing that.
"By merging SSE's retail business with Npower's retail business to form a new organisation, we think we can be more efficient, more agile and more innovative for customers."
The deal could fall under the jurisdiction of the Competition and Markets Authority if it progresses beyond its current stage, but Mr Keeling added: "We think it is very good for competition and customers. There are over 60 people competing in the market and if you look back to 2011, there were only eight."
Innogy's chief executive officer, Peter Terium, agreed the price cap was not the reason for the merger but did concede it may "have pushed it a bit quicker".
He added that while "great progress" had been made in restructuring Npower over the past two years, "it is clear that Npower would be better placed to offer value to our customers and our shareholders as part of a new company".
SSE's shareholders will hold 65.6% of the new company, with Innogy, which owns Npower, holding the rest.
Innogy will also receive a break fee of £60m if SSE's shareholders fail to approve the deal by 31 July 2018.
In a statement, SSE said the new firm was expected "to deliver enhanced value" and that savings in costs and combined IT platforms would "ultimately enable the company to be an efficient competitor in its markets".
It added that no final decision on the implications for employees would be taken without talks with their representative bodies.
Mr Keeling added: "We're proud of our track record in customer service and have plenty to build on.
"But there is a huge amount of competition and we need to do more than ever to compete by providing value for money and excellent experiences for customers.
"We have an exciting opportunity to create a major new independent supplier with a single-minded focus on customers."
Meanwhile, regulator Ofgem has welcomed SSE's announcement that its electricity networks division will make a voluntary contribution of £65.1m to consumers.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41912570
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Pope Francis: Mass is for prayers not mobile phones - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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The pontiff chastises bishops, priests and pilgrims for taking pictures during services.
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Europe
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Many pilgrims try to get pictures of the Pope at his audiences
Pope Francis has chided the Catholic faithful for using their mobile phones during Mass.
He said it made him sad when many phones were held up, and even priests and bishops were taking photos.
The pontiff is not known to have used a mobile phone in public since his election and once asked young people to carry Bibles instead of phones.
However, he is an avid user of social media and regularly allows himself to be snapped with pilgrims for selfies.
He has millions of followers on Twitter.
Speaking at his weekly audience in St Peter's Square in Rome, Pope Francis said that Mass was a time for prayer and not a show.
"At a certain point the priest leading the ceremony says 'lift up our hearts'. He doesn't say 'lift up our mobile phones to take photographs' - it's a very ugly thing," he said.
"It's so sad when I'm celebrating mass here or inside the basilica and I see lots of phones held up - not just by the faithful, but also by priests and bishops! Please!"
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41918906
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Andy Murray "hopes" to return from injury in January but only if 100% fit - BBC Sport
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2017-11-08
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Britain's Andy Murray says he "hopes" to return from a hip injury in Australia in January but will only do so if fully fit.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Britain's Andy Murray hopes to make his competitive return in Brisbane in January following a hip injury - but only if he is 100% fit.
The Scot lost 6-3 3-6 10-6 to world number two Roger Federer as part of a charity event in Glasgow on Tuesday.
It was the first time Murray, 30, had played in public since he lost to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon in July.
"I am in a significantly better place than at the end of Wimbledon and in the build-up to the US Open," said Murray.
"Walking was a big problem for me [at that time]," he told BBC Sport.
• None Federer dons kilt against Murray as tennis goes tartan for charity
Murray, who slipped to 16th in the latest world rankings, said he was confident of getting back to full fitness, but admitted that it could take time for him to find his best form.
He will travel to Miami later in the year for his regular off-season training block and "hopes" to return to competition at the Brisbane International in January.
The tournament is held two weeks before the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of 2018, which gets under way on 15 January.
"When I get back on the court again my best form might not come immediately but there's nothing that's making me think I can't find it," Murray added.
"I'll come back when I'm ready and 100% fit. I believe I will get back to that."
Murray also played a doubles match with brother Jamie against Tim Henman and Mansour Bahrami during Tuesday's 'Andy Murray Live' event in Glasgow.
Eight weeks before his hoped for return in Brisbane, Murray put down an encouraging marker as he was beaten 10-6 in a deciding tie-break in Glasgow.
There was time for Federer to hold serve in a kilt early in the second set (he was told to 'Get yer kilt back on' when he lost the first few points after dispensing with it), but there were also plenty of competitive rallies.
We are getting used to seeing Murray walk with a slight limp but for the most part he ran and moved well. He covered a lot of ground in rallies which frequently switched direction, and struck the ball soundly.
His serve is not yet back up to full speed, but that is only to be expected of someone rehabbing a serious hip problem.
Next to Miami, where two weeks of pre-season training will give him a clearer picture of whether he will be celebrating the New Year in Australia.
Murray endured a frustrating 2017 season in terms of both form and fitness. He was knocked out of the Australian Open in the fourth round and went on to miss a month with an elbow injury.
He fared better at the French Open, reaching the semi-finals, but lost in the first round at Queen's Club before visibly struggling with the hip as his Wimbledon title defence was ended by Querrey in the quarter-finals.
Still ranked number one, Murray travelled to New York for the US Open but pulled out two days before the tournament began having failed to recover sufficiently.
"I made, probably, a bit of a mistake trying to get ready for the US Open but it was the last major of the year," said Murray.
"I've been training for a few weeks now. Some days I've felt great, some days I've felt not so good, but I'm getting there."
Federer, who missed the latter half of the 2016 season with a knee injury before winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, said it was "wise and worthwhile" to take time to recover.
"When you come back, you want to be at 100%. Otherwise you feel like you can't beat the best and can't win the major tournaments," said the 36-year-old Swiss.
"I'm sure Andy has a lot of years left. You need to have goals but sometimes they need to be postponed."
Murray said his "goals have changed" after the second lengthy injury break of his career, following back surgery in 2013 that kept him out for several months.
"I just want to play tennis again. It's my life and my job, and that's my goal just now," he said.
Murray became world number one for the first time at the end of 2016 but having not played since July, he has now dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since October 2014.
"Last year, I played a lot of tennis, especially at the end of the year. My goals have changed now," he said.
"When you're fit and healthy, you want to win every tournament and get to number one in the world. When you're not playing, it's like, I miss playing tennis.
"I just love to be back on a match court and competing again."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/41907123
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Jeremy Corbyn aide David Prescott suspended from job - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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John Prescott's son David is suspended as Jeremy Corbyn's aide and is being investigated.
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England
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David Prescott joined Jeremy Corbyn's office as an aide over a year ago
A key aide to Jeremy Corbyn, and the son of former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, has been suspended from his job.
David Prescott is being investigated by the Labour leader's office after he was suspended a few days ago, the BBC understands.
It comes amid widespread allegations of misconduct at Westminster.
No formal complaint has been made to the Labour Party, which declined to give a reason for the suspension.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: "We do not comment on staffing matters."
The BBC has been told his suspension relates to his "employment" after an allegation was received by Mr Corbyn's office.
The nature of the claim has not been disclosed.
A former BBC TV senior producer, Mr Prescott joined the Labour leader's office over a year ago, initially as a speechwriter before becoming a communications manager to the shadow cabinet.
He stood as Labour's candidate in Gainsborough in the 2015 election, but lost to Conservative's Sir Edward Leigh.
Earlier this year, Mr Prescott failed to become an MP for Hull West and Hessle after former home secretary Alan Johnson announced he was standing down in June's election.
Mr Prescott has been approached by the BBC for a comment.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41912847
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British Vogue unveils 'diverse' December issue - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The British edition of the magazine launches its first issue under new editor Edward Enninful.
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Entertainment & Arts
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The December 2017 edition features Adwoa Aboah on the front cover
British Vogue has unveiled its December 2017 edition - the first since Edward Enninful took the title's helm.
Model Adwoa Aboah is pictured on the fashion magazine's cover - styled by the new editor-in-chief - with the headline "Great Britain".
Speaking to the BBC, Enninful said he wanted to create a more diverse magazine that was "open and friendly".
Supermodel Naomi Campbell had backed his appointment after criticising previous editor Alexandra Shulman.
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"My Vogue is about being inclusive," said Enninful.
"It is about diversity - showing different women, different body shapes, different races, different classes [and] tackling gender."
Before getting the job, he said, women had told him they did not feel represented by the magazine, and this was something he wanted to change.
"I wanted to create a magazine that was open and friendly; a bit like a shop you are not scared to walk into.
Edward Enninful started his new job as editor in August and hired Naomi Campbell as a contributor
"You are going to see all different colours, shapes, ages, genders, religions.
"That I am very excited about."
He also said that readers would see "less models that don't look so healthy".
Naomi Campbell, who had criticised former editor Shulman for a lack of diversity within her staff, and was hired by Enninful as contributing editor, tweeted her praise for the December cover.
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Actor Jay Perry also tweeted that the cover was "stunning" and "an instant classic".
Columnist and LGBT activist Paris Lees said the issue was "everything a Vogue cover should be".
"I'm so excited it's gonna be more diverse now," she tweeted.
The December edition, which goes on sale Friday, will feature a 14-page shoot with its cover star and include an interview with Enninful and Aboah, talking about diversity in fashion and how they define being black and British in 2017.
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-41909159
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Thousands living with advanced cancer, says Macmillan - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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New research shows thousands of people with stage 4 cancer in England are living for two years or more.
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Health
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Emma Young lives in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire and has three children
Thousands of people in England who have the most advanced cancers are surviving for several years after diagnosis, according to new research.
Macmillan Cancer Support said it was down to new treatments but warned that living longer with advanced cancer can bring its own difficulties.
Emma Young, 39, was diagnosed with breast and bone cancer at 35.
"The not-knowing is the hardest, from scan to scan you don't know how it will be," she says.
"From the time you have the scan until you get the results is really hard - 'scanziety' is what we call it."
Her diagnosis in May 2014 was delayed after doctors misdiagnosed her symptoms. Days after being told she had breast cancer she was told it had spread to her bones.
Stage 4 cancer is where the disease has already spread to at least one other part of the body - which in many cases cannot be cured.
Previously, stage 4 cancer patients often had limited options but Macmillan Cancer Support said the new data showed that new and improved treatments mean it can be "more 'treatable' and manageable, like other chronic illnesses".
But living longer with stage 4 cancer can bring other issues for patients, says Adrienne Betteley, the charity's specialist adviser for end-of-life care.
"This is really positive news, but living with advanced cancer can be a difficult situation to be in.
"As well as dealing with the physical symptoms of cancer, having multiple hospital appointments, scans and treatment options to contend with, there's also the emotional and psychological impact of having an uncertain future."
Can't find your health trust? Browse the full list Rather search by typing? Back to search
If you can't see the NHS Tracker, click or tap here.
The way Emma chose to cope was by refusing to let doctors give her a prognosis.
"I said I didn't want to know. If you're given one, you count down to that day and what happens when you get to zero?
"I thought I'd carry on regardless without that hanging over me."
Living longer with stage 4 cancer often means juggling hospital appointments and treatments
Emma acknowledges such an approach won't suit everyone but for her, not being given a timescale for her illness meant she could "carry on as usual" for her three children.
"My youngest is 10 and I want to live as long as possible - I want to keep life normal for them.
"Our life is completely normal - I still do everything with them regardless of my diagnosis. Even though there are times when I could easily sleep in and it's a struggle to get out of bed every day."
Emma's cancer is monitored by scans, and bone-strengthening and hormone treatment.
She suffers from fatigue and bone pain, struggles to stand for long, and has had to leave her job as a teaching assistant. She receives personal independence payments (PIPs) which were arranged by a nurse at her hospice when she was first diagnosed although they ran out in the summer.
"I had an absolute nightmare with the PIP forms - they took my car away from me - so I had to walk a half-hour walk to school four times a day."
It took four months to sort out and they have now been awarded indefinitely - something Emma believes should be the case for everyone with stage 4 cancer.
She has help from cognitive behavioural therapy sessions at her local hospice "which has been invaluable" and she credits really good friends for their constant support.
"You can never get away from the fact you've got cancer but you have to shove it to the back of your mind. It's like a demon that will pop up sometimes - you learn to deal with it and put it back in the box.
"You have to ride the waves of emotion - if you want to have a cry you do that."
• None Cancer diagnosis- 'Looking for needle in a haystack' - BBC News
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41899203
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Wimbledon house death girl identified as Sophia Peters - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Judges lifted an order preventing the identification of Sophia Peters who died on Saturday.
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London
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Police were called to Blenheim Road in Wimbledon on Friday morning
A seven-year-old girl who died in hospital after an attack can now be identified as the daughter of the man charged over it.
Sophia Peters was found with serious injuries in a property in Wimbledon on Friday morning, but died on Saturday.
Her father, Robert Peters, 55, of Blenheim Road, Raynes Park, is charged with her attempted murder.
A court order put in place preventing the victim from being identified was overturned on Wednesday.
The order was put in place while the girl was fighting for her life in hospital.
It was later overturned at the Old Bailey by Judge Mark Lucraft QC.
It is believed Mr Peters runs an antiques firm with his brother in Kensington, west London, specialising in oriental ceramics and artworks.
Mr Peters is due to appear at the Old Bailey on Friday.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41911978
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Priti Patel quits cabinet over Israel meetings row - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Priti Patel resigns as UK international development secretary after the row about meeting Israeli politicians.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Priti Patel is filmed leaving the back entrance of 10 Downing Street
Priti Patel has resigned as UK international development secretary amid controversy over her unauthorised meetings with Israeli officials.
She was ordered back from an official trip in Africa by the PM and summoned to Downing Street over the row.
In her resignation letter, Ms Patel said her actions "fell below the standards of transparency and openness that I have promoted and advocated".
The PM said her decision was "right" as "further details have come to light".
Ms Patel had apologised to Theresa May on Monday after unauthorised meetings in August with Israeli politicians - including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu - came to light.
But it later emerged she had two further meetings without government officials present in September.
Ms Patel arrived at 10 Downing Street via the back door - after earlier flying back to the UK from Africa for her meeting with Mrs May - and she left some 45 minutes later.
She was accused of breaching the ministerial code, which sets out the standards of conduct expected of government ministers.
Her resignation from the cabinet is the second in seven days, after Sir Michael Fallon quit as defence secretary on Wednesday last week amid allegations about his behaviour.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What went wrong for Priti Patel? The BBC's James Landale explains
In her letter to the PM, Ms Patel said: "While my actions were meant with the best of intentions, my actions also fell below the standards of transparency and openness that I have promoted and advocated.
"I offer a fulsome apology to you and to the government for what has happened and offer my resignation."
In her reply, Mrs May said: "Now that further details have come to light, it is right that you have decided to resign and adhere to the high standards of transparency and openness that you have advocated."
She added that Ms Patel should "take pride" in what had been achieved during her time as secretary of state.
The BBC's chief political correspondent Vicki Young said Theresa May "decided to give her colleague the dignity of resigning".
But she said the response from Mrs May was "interesting", saying: "It was clear from Theresa May that if she hadn't resigned, she would have been sacked."
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Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told the BBC: "Priti Patel has been a very good colleague and friend for a long time and a first class secretary of state for international development.
"It's been a real pleasure working with her and I'm sure she has a great future ahead of her."
Meanwhile, Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson has written to Mrs May over claims passed to him that Ms Patel met Foreign Office officials in Jerusalem, which he says makes it "impossible to sustain the claim that the FCO was not aware of Ms Patel's presence in Israel".
Mr Watson said he was "pleased" that Ms Patel had resigned as her undisclosed meetings were "a clear breach of the ministerial code, and of diplomatic protocol".
It was precisely a week ago that I was summoned to the Ministry of Defence to ask Sir Michael Fallon why he was resigning.
Seven days on, for an unconnected reason, Theresa May has just lost another one of her ministers.
That time the resignation was rather differently handled - some private speculation through the day, then a discreet summoning to a quiet room in the department until one of the minister's team came to say: "Be ready, the secretary of state is resigning, we are finalising the letters between us and Number 10 right now."
This time, the process has been more like a pantomime, with speculation rife for nearly 24 hours that she was on her way out, no-one in government moving to quash it, leaving journalists, on the first day of parliament's recess, free to track Priti Patel's plane online then her journey back to Westminster.
Goodness knows what Ms Patel's Ugandan hosts, who were expecting her to visit today, make of it all.
Beyond today's palaver, though, her exit throws up problems for Mrs May.
It is never as simple as one out, one in.
Ms Patel was formally reprimanded in Downing Street on Monday, where she was asked to give details about a dozen meetings she had with Israeli officials while on holiday, which were not sanctioned by the Foreign Office.
She was then forced to correct the record earlier this week about the number of meetings that she had attended and when the Foreign Office had been notified about them.
The MP admitted she had been wrong to suggest to the Guardian that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson knew of the trip in advance when he had only learnt about it while it was under way.
Then, details of two other meetings emerged. Ms Patel met Israeli public security minister Gilad Erdan in Westminster on 7 September.
And on 18 September she met foreign ministry official Yuval Rotem in New York.
It is thought Lord Polak, honorary president of the Conservative Friends of Israel, was present at both meetings.
It is not yet clear whether or when Ms Patel had informed the prime minister about these meetings or of her plans to look into giving tax-payers' money to the Israeli military to treat wounded Syrian refugees in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights region - a request that was turned down as "inappropriate" by officials.
In a further development on Wednesday the Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported that during August she visited an Israeli military field hospital in the Golan Heights - the UK, like other members of the international community, has never recognised Israeli control of the area seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.
In her letter to Ms Patel, the prime minister wrote: ''As you know the UK and Israel are close allies, and it is right that we should work closely together. But that must be done formally, and through official channels.
''That is why, when we met on Monday I was glad to accept your apology and welcomed your clarification about your trip to Israel over the summer. Now that further details have come to light it is right you have decided to resign.''
• None Patel's exit will pose problems for May
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41923007
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Profile: Priti Patel - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The prominent Brexiteer rose swiftly to the cabinet after being elected as an MP in 2010, and was appointed as home secretary in July last year.
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UK Politics
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A high-profile figure in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's cabinet, Priti Patel was appointed home secretary in July last year.
A Eurosceptic, she was a leading figure in the Vote Leave campaign during the EU referendum.
Shortly after taking up the post of home secretary, she said she wanted criminals to "literally feel terror" at the thought of breaking the law.
A Cabinet Office inquiry into her conduct found that Ms Patel had "unintentionally" breached the ministerial code in her behaviour towards civil servants.
Her "approach on occasions has amounted to behaviour that can be described as bullying," the government's independent advisor on standards said.
Mr Johnson decided Ms Patel had not broken the ministerial code and could remain in her post as home secretary. Ms Patel said "I am direct and have at times got frustrated", but added: "It has never been my intention to cause upset to anyone."
The inquiry was launched in March 2020 after the resignation of the top civil servant at the Home Office, Sir Philip Rutnam. Sir Philip - who is suing for constructive dismissal - alleged staff felt that Ms Patel had "created fear".
As home secretary she has had to deal with several crises, including the London Bridge and Streatham stabbing attacks - later deemed by police to be terrorist incidents - and the deaths of 39 migrants in the back of a lorry in Essex.
She has also played a key role in drawing up a new points-based immigration system for after the UK's Brexit transition period, saying she wants firms to invest more in British workers "rather than simply relying on labour from abroad".
During the summer and autumn of 2020, she also took a leading role in negotiations with France over preventing a rising number of migrants crossing the English Channel.
Priti Patel has asked French authorities to intercept and return migrant boats trying to cross the Channel.
Ms Patel, who is 48, also served in Theresa May's cabinet as secretary of state for international development.
Her appointment was greeted with concern by some in the aid community, who recalled that she had previously suggested that the department should be abolished and subsumed into a new trade department.
In post, she said she wanted the UK's aid budget to provide greater value for money. The aid department has since been merged with the Foreign Office.
She resigned from the role in 2017 after it emerged she had held undisclosed meetings with Israeli officials while on holiday. She acknowledged that her actions "fell below the high standards" expected.
Born in London to Gujarati parents who left Uganda in the 1960s, she was educated at Watford Grammar School for Girls.
She went on to study at Keele and Essex universities before getting a job at Conservative Central Office, which she left to head up the press office for the Referendum Party, founded by Eurosceptic billionaire Sir James Goldsmith, from 1995 to 1997.
After William Hague became Conservative leader, she returned to the party to be his deputy press secretary, from 1997 to 2000.
She went on to spend a number of years working with the Weber Shandwick public affairs consultancy - reportedly advising Ikea, the Meat & Livestock Commission and British American Tobacco, among others.
She also had a spell as international public policy adviser for drinks giant Diageo.
Ms Patel sought to get elected to Parliament in 2005 but lost out in Nottingham North. A year later, she was one of those selected for new leader David Cameron's A-list of candidates and went on to become MP for Witham, Essex, in 2010.
Ms Patel achieved ministerial rank four years later as exchequer secretary to the Treasury, before promotion to employment minister following David Cameron's 2015 general election victory.
She is positioned on the right of the party - she voted against gay marriage, campaigned against the smoking ban, and previously advocated bringing back the death penalty, before later saying she did not support it.
Ms Patel, whose father stood as a UKIP councillor in 2013, names Margaret Thatcher as her political hero.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41913203
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Paradise Papers: Blackstone avoided UK taxes on St Enoch Centre - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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Documents show Blackstone avoided millions of pounds in taxes on property deals in Glasgow and London.
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Scotland
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The St Enoch Centre is a large mall in the centre of Glasgow
Private equity firm Blackstone avoided tens of millions of pounds in UK taxes on property deals in Glasgow and London, the Paradise Papers show.
The documents reveal it used offshore companies to purchase and operate the St Enoch Shopping Centre in Glasgow and Chiswick Business Park in London.
The papers show how accountancy firms mapped out strategies to minimise or avoid every significant tax.
Blackstone said its investments were "wholly compliant with UK tax laws".
Blackstone is one of the world's biggest private equity groups and its founder and chief executive Stephen Schwarzman is a close confidant of President Trump.
Leaked documents from the offshore law firm Appleby, seen by BBC Scotland, show for the first time how the group structured two major UK property deals.
Top accountancy firms issued long documents to Blackstone outlining how it could use trusts in the tax haven of Jersey and a complex structure of companies in Luxembourg for the purchase of both Chiswick Park and the St Enoch Centre.
There is no suggestion that the plans were illegal but campaigners the Tax Justice Network described the structures Blackstone used as an "economic fiction".
They told the BBC it was clear from the data in the papers that the principal purpose of the structures, which are virtually identical, was to avoid tax.
The leaked documents show the tax structure was designed to "minimise" taxes
US tax expert Reuven Avi-Yonah, from the University of Michigan law school, said the documents gave a "rare" insight into company structures that even tax authorities did not often see.
"If HMRC becomes aware of the fact that this is a common type of structuring then they are more likely to challenge it because they will be aware they are losing a lot of revenue," he said.
Chiswick Business Park in west London is host to dozens of companies
Blackstone purchased Chiswick Park, a 33-acre office development in west London, in 2011 for £480m.
The majority of the site, which hosts the UK headquarters of companies such as Pokemon, Avon and shopping channel QVC, was sold to the Chinese government for £780m in 2014.
The data suggests Blackstone's tax structures allowed it to avoid about £19m in stamp duty on the purchase.
The tax structure also meant it could avoid tax of up to £30m annual rental income and capital gains tax on the sale of the business park, which could have been tens of millions of pounds.
In 2013, the private equity giant also bought the St Enoch Centre in Glasgow, a large city centre shopping complex housing almost 100 stores, for about £190m.
Documents show it would have avoided stamp duty of £7.6m and corporate tax on up to £10m annual rental income.
The documents show the Jersey trusts allowed no Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) to be paid on St Enoch
Both the St Enoch Centre, which Blackstone still owns, and Chiswick Park were already held in property trusts known as JPUTs, in the tax haven of Jersey, when it bought them.
This allowed the firm to purchase the properties without paying millions of pounds in UK stamp duty.
George Turner, from the Tax Justice Network, told the BBC: "What they are doing is buying into the trust so when the original owners sold the property to Blackstone, then they weren't selling the property itself.
"They were selling an interest in the trust that owns the property and because that trust is owned offshore, they can avoid stamp duty."
Under the tax structure revealed in the leaked documents, the Jersey trusts were owned and funded by a series of companies that Blackstone registered in Luxembourg.
Money for the purchase of the properties was filtered through the Luxembourg companies from central Blackstone funds in the form of inter-company loans.
The interest payments on these loans, which were effectively passed from one Blackstone company to another, could be written off against the profits of the rental income, meaning that minimal tax was paid in Luxembourg.
In the case of Chiswick Park, a 33-page document was provided by accountancy firm PwC outlining the structure to be used.
Another of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, Deloitte, issued a 67-page document for a similar tax structure for the St Enoch Centre.
The job of law firm Appleby, who held the documents seen by the BBC, was to implement the structures outlined by the accountants.
The central purpose of which was to avoid:
George Turner, from the Tax Justice Network, said: "The language really is quite shocking in places because it's so clear and blatant what the intention is.
"What you have here is a whole myriad of companies being set up, mostly in Luxembourg but also you have this trust structure in Jersey, and it seems to be to all intents and purposes an economic fiction."
Profit from rental income at the St Enoch Centre had normally been about £10m a year.
The structure advised by Deloitte allowed Blackstone to turn that into tax free income, by writing it off against interest charges generated from the loans its companies had made to each other.
In some years, just a few thousand pounds appears to have been paid by the Blackstone Luxembourg companies owning St Enoch and Chiswick.
Mr Turner said: "What appears to be happening is that the rental income which is coming in, the companies receiving that are then borrowing huge amounts of money from other companies which are part of the Blackstone Group.
"Now when they borrow that money, they need to pay interest on it and those interest payments destroy any profitability in those companies.
"They're borrowing money from themselves and they can claim a tax deduction on that."
Blackstone said: "Blackstone's investments are wholly compliant with UK and international tax laws and regulations.
"The property investment structures in question were acquired from institutional investors and are of a type commonly used for decades for investments in UK real estates, including by listed companies and a variety of institutional investors, and were adopted after appropriate advice was taken from leading tax and legal advisors."
Deloitte, which advised on the St Enoch purchase, declined to comment.
PwC, who advised on Chiswick Park, said "The advice we provide is given in accordance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, including proper disclosure to tax authorities."
Your browser does not support this Lookup Your guide to financial jargon
The papers are a huge batch of leaked documents mostly from offshore law firm Appleby, along with corporate registries in 19 tax jurisdictions, which reveal the financial dealings of politicians, celebrities, corporate giants and business leaders.
The 13.4 million records were passed to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Panorama has led research for the BBC as part of a global investigation involving nearly 100 other media organisations, including the Guardian, in 67 countries. The BBC does not know the identity of the source.
Paradise Papers: Full coverage; follow reaction on Twitter using #ParadisePapers; in the BBC News app, follow the tag "Paradise Papers"
Watch Panorama on the BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only)
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-41899034
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Paradise Papers: Tycoon made $41m from 'people's fund' - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A fund set up to help a struggling African state has paid tens of millions in fees to a businessman.
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Africa
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An entrepreneur charged with managing the oil wealth of the struggling African state of Angola was paid more than $41m in just 20 months, leaked documents reveal.
The payments were made via a complex web of companies set up in the offshore jurisdiction of Mauritius.
Jean-Claude Bastos also used his position to help set up large investment deals he stands to further profit from, the Paradise Papers show.
Like many oil rich countries, Angola set up a sovereign wealth fund to invest the proceeds of its natural resource wealth. Similar schemes have been used by other countries to help ensure a steady income for future generations.
Angola is wracked by corruption, suffers extreme poverty and has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world.
The fund, Fundo Soberano De Angola (FSDEA), which began with $5bn (£3.75bn) in 2011, was mired in controversy from the start, after the then Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos' son, 39-year-old Jose Filomeno, was appointed to head it up.
Jean-Claude Bastos, sometimes also known as Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais, a Swiss-Angolan and close friend of the then president's son, was chosen as the fund's asset manager.
Typically, a fund of this size would spread the risk of investment among several asset managers, along with the fees it pays, said one expert.
However, Mr Bastos was given responsibility for investing almost all of the fund's money, and was paid accordingly. Today, his company Quantum Global Investments Africa Management, manages about 85% of it.
One expert described the situation as "unusual". Andrew Bauer, an authority on sovereign wealth funds, told the BBC: "Funds want to hedge the risk. You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket."
In a statement, the FSDEA told the BBC the appointment of Mr Bastos' company to manage the fund followed "an objective process". The firm was selected, it said, because of its "exemplary performance on previous mandates with the Angolan authorities".
The fund also said giving near total control of investments to one asset manager was part of its policy for the first 18 months only.
Documents seen by the BBC as part of the Paradise Papers investigation show the fund paid management fees of more than $90m (£67.5m) to Mr Bastos' Mauritius-based QG Investments Africa Management. This occurred over a 20-month period between May 2014 and the end of 2015.
The leak offers an unprecedented view into what happened to the management fees after being paid into Mr Bastos' company.
This money was split into two main chunks - with $41m declared as dividends, or pure profit, and deposited in a company in the British Virgin Islands, itself owned by a series of secretive offshore companies ultimately owned by Mr Bastos. A further $34m was paid in advisory fees to a Swiss firm majority owned by Mr Bastos. The rest, after minor expenses, was retained in the management company run by Mr Bastos.
The BBC asked Mr Bastos whether secrecy was the reason for the series of companies registered offshore. He said it was entirely his personal choice how he receives dividends from his companies. He also said the dividends he receives "pale in comparison to the long term positive impact my projects will have in Angola".
Both the fund and Mr Bastos said the management fees paid to Quantum Global Investments Africa Management are in line with global industry standards.
Mr Bastos added that the level of work provided by the group is considerable to ensure projects are built for future success.
Within months of receiving the money, a company in which Mr Bastos is a director purchased a 14-seater jet that had been priced at $31.75m. Mr Bastos told the BBC his is one of "many businesses that own an aircraft to more efficiently manage their travel requirements" and that travelling on commercial flights is "unproductive".
The leaked documents also show Mr Bastos holds a personal stake in investments the fund made on his recommendation.
In one, tens of millions were committed to a deal with another of Mr Bastos' companies, Afrique Imo Corporation, to build a hotel, office and a retail complex in the Angolan capital, Luanda.
The deal represents a "very strong conflict of interest" according to Mr Bauer. "This absolutely should not be happening."
At the time, it sounded alarm bells in the compliance department of Appleby - the law firm that handled the investment, according to internal emails seen by the BBC. In one, sent from a regional compliance manager, a team member charged with making sure the deal was above board noted: "this poses issues of conflict of interest between the Manager, Fund and the Investee Company".
However, an email from Appleby's director back to the compliance team notes Mr Bastos had "disclosed his interest" and, in a board meeting convened to agree the hotel deal, had "abstained from voting". Crucially, though, the director notes Mr Bastos "was still present in the meeting", before adding: "For the purpose of managing the conflict, Mr Bastos should refrain from attending any meeting."
On seeing the confidential emails of the exchange, Tom Keatinge, a specialist in financial crime, told the BBC he was "sure they are going to come to a conclusion that this is not a transaction that they should be approving".
Appleby "provide[d] the client with the answer that he wanted", said Mr Keatinge. "It's hard to believe that just because he abstained from the voting, his views were not well understood by the meeting. So it's a scurrilous approach in my view."
As well as the Luanda complex, two other investments made for the fund in that period carried similar apparent conflicts of interest for Mr Bastos, according to the Appleby documents.
Mr Bastos told the BBC that where he holds a stake in investments, he views these investments as "having aligned interests" and not being "conflicted".
The FSDEA said its investment policy for the first 18 months encourages "close interrelation and synergies... to increase the speed of portfolio development and boost institutional reach".
There are also questions about whether the hotel project represented a good investment for the fund. A former employee of Quantum Global with a direct knowledge of the Luanda deal said in 2016 the project was assessed as "economically unviable" because it would not bring good enough returns for the fund. The investment advisers' recommendation was to drop it.
Mr Bastos insisted the investment was viable and said that "by developing what will become Angola's tallest building his group are demonstrating their belief in the long term potential of the Angolan economy".
In Luanda in 2016, rubbish went uncollected after the refuse company was not paid
The web of companies run by Mr Bastos would appear to be designed to "to enrich a particular individual or... group of people", said Mr Keatinge.
"Whoever has oversight of this structure... the political elite within Angola, there is either massive incompetence or there is complicity here."
Appleby, which is the focus of much of the Paradise Papers investigation, didn't respond to specific questions about Mr Bastos - citing client confidentiality. The firm which denies any wrongdoing says it "advises clients on legitimate and lawful ways to conduct their business".
Another document seen by the BBC raises questions for the authorities in Mauritius, after an internal report by another offshore regulator criticised Mr Bastos. The regulator in Jersey notified Mr Bastos that his application to run the asset management business was likely to be refused because it doubted his independence. It highlighted Mr Bastos' "close association" with the fund's chairman, Jose Filomeno Dos Santos, and a conviction in Switzerland for "qualified cases of misappropriation".
Mr Bastos told the BBC he withdrew the application before any formal decision was made by the Jersey regulator.
A little more than a month later Mr Bastos applied successfully in Mauritius. He told the BBC he informed the Mauritian authorities about his conviction which in any case had expired and that his "criminal record is completely clean".
The BBC asked the Financial Services Commission in Mauritius how it satisfied itself Mr Bastos was a fit and proper person to be licensed.
It declined to comment on the case but said where there were "adverse" issues disclosed in an application, the handling law firm - in this case Appleby - would be responsible for checking.
Again, Appleby declined to comment on individual cases.
Listen to more on this story on File on 4, on Tuesday 7th November at 20:00 GMT on BBC Radio 4. Watch more on this story on Newsnight, BBC Two at 22:30 GMT
Your browser does not support this Lookup Your guide to financial jargon
The papers are a huge batch of leaked documents mostly from offshore law firm Appleby, along with corporate registries in 19 tax jurisdictions, which reveal the financial dealings of politicians, celebrities, corporate giants and business leaders.
The 13.4 million records were passed to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Panorama has led research for the BBC as part of a global investigation involving nearly 100 other media organisations, including the Guardian, in 67 countries. The BBC does not know the identity of the source.
Paradise Papers: Full coverage; follow reaction on Twitter using #ParadisePapers; in the BBC News app, follow the tag "Paradise Papers"
Watch Panorama on the BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only)
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41906123
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Rail strikes: Five rail operators hit by RMT walkout - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Rail passengers deal with delays and reduced services across five firms due to a RMT strike.
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England
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Passengers queue to get on to a Greater Anglia service train
Five rail operators have experienced disruption due to strike action by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union.
Workers on Southern, Greater Anglia and South Western Railway are striking for 48 hours, while staff on Merseyrail and Northern walked out for 24 hours.
The union is in dispute over driver-only operated (DOO) trains, also known as driver-controlled operated (DCO).
Aslef, which has also been in dispute with Southern, announced on Wednesday that train drivers had accepted a deal.
It means there will be a second safety-trained person on every DOO train, except in exceptional circumstances, gives drivers a five-year pay deal worth 28.5%, and confirms the terms and conditions under which members are employed.
The executive committee of the train drivers' union had recommended its members accept the deal, which has no impact on the RMT's continuing industrial action.
The RMT described Aslef's deal with Southern as "shoddy".
Commuters ride a crowded South Western Railway train on the Portsmouth to London line
Members of the RMT union, who are mostly conductors, have held a series of strikes on Southern since April 2016 amid concerns over safety and job losses.
Changes were introduced on Southern in January making conductors "on-board supervisors" and passing responsibility for closing doors to drivers.
Industrial action by RMT members has only recently spread to other routes across England.
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Southern had said services on most of its routes would operate normally during the 48-hour strike although there would be some alterations.
However, signalling problems exacerbated changes and led to delays and cancellations during people's commute on Wednesday morning.
There were also delays due to trespassers on the line between East Croyden and Clapham and lines between Worthing and Bright were blocked during the evening after a person was hit by a train.
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Greater Anglia had said it would run a full service during the industrial action, using other trained staff in place of conductors.
Its plan was approved on Tuesday by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), which criticised the company's contingency arrangements during a strike last month following an incident in which the doors on the wrong side of a train were opened at Ipswich station.
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A spokeswoman said only "a handful" of services had been disrupted due to the strike.
South Western Railway (SWR), which only took over the franchise from South West Trains in August, cancelled about 40% of its services. It published a contingency timetable including replacement buses on some routes.
However, the RMT has voiced its concerns about the various plans.
General Secretary Mick Cash said: "The only way that Greater Anglia can be running these services is through taking serious risks with public safety just as they did during the last phase of strike action.
"Rail companies are training up rail staff who have previously had no rail operational experience to stand in as highly trained guards.
"In some cases staff are being bussed in by other train companies not involved in the dispute, paid a bounty and put up overnight in hotels."
The RMT union is in dispute over driver-only operated trains, also known as driver-controlled operated trains
But Richard Dean, Greater Anglia's train service delivery director, stressed that the ORR was satisfied with its arrangements, and that an independent rail safety expert had concluded that its stand-in conductor training was "industry best practice".
"We will never compromise the safety of our customers," Mr Dean added.
Merseyrail ran a reduced train service across its network during the 24-hour strike, while Northern ran its lessened service, mostly between 07:00 and 19:00 GMT.
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: "This dispute is not about jobs or safety - employees have been guaranteed jobs and salaries. In fact at Southern Rail, where these changes have already been introduced, there are now more staff on trains.
"The independent rail regulator has said driver-controlled trains, which have been used in this country for more than 30 years, are safe."
Has your journey been affected by the dispute? Let us know about your experiences. Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your stories.
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-england-41903887
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Boris Johnson sorry if Zaghari-Ratcliffe remarks 'caused anxiety' - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The foreign secretary says remarks about a British-Iranian woman held in Iran "could have been clearer".
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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. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband said "she was just a mum on holiday"
Boris Johnson has said he is sorry if his remarks about a British-Iranian mother caused anxiety to her family.
The foreign secretary had been criticised for saying Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been jailed in Iran, had been training journalists there.
A charity said the remarks could worsen her sentence. She had been in Iran on holiday when she was arrested, it said.
Mr Johnson told MPs he was sorry if his words were "so taken out of context" as "to cause any kind of anxiety".
The UK government had "no doubt" she was on holiday when she was arrested, he said.
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Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained at Tehran Airport in April 2016 and is serving a five-year sentence for allegedly plotting to topple the government in Tehran, although the official charges have never been made public.
She has worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation and BBC Media Action (the corporation's international development charity), but has always said the 2016 visit was so her daughter Gabriella, who is three, could meet her grandparents.
She was summoned back to court on 4 November, where Mr Johnson's comment was cited as new evidence as to what she was doing in Iran.
Mr Johnson had told the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee on 1 November: "When I look at what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing, she was simply teaching people journalism, as I understand it.
"[Neither] Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe nor her family has been informed about what crime she has actually committed. And that I find extraordinary, incredible."
Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said Mr Johnson had done a "good thing" in clarifying his comments, and asked him to try to visit his wife in Iran.
"It's important that the judiciary understands that the British government thinks she is innocent," he said.
He said he hoped his wife and daughter, a British citizen - who is with her grandparents in Iran - can return home before Christmas.
Monique Villa, chief executive of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, said she saw a "direct correlation" between Mr Johnson's original remarks and Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's treatment in Iran.
She said Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had "never trained journalists" at the charity.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Boris Johnson is asked if he will apologise to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family
Mr Johnson told MPs his previous remarks to the foreign affairs committee "could have been clearer".
He said: "My point was that I disagreed with the Iranian view that training journalists was a crime - not that I wanted to lend any credence to Iranian allegations that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been engaged in such activity.
"I accept that my remarks could have been clearer in that respect, and I'm glad to provide this clarification."
Later, when MP Layla Moran asked him if he would apologise to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family, he said: "Of course I am sorry if any words of mine have been so taken out of context and so misconstrued as to cause any kind of anxiety for the family."
He said he did not believe his comments had "had any impact on the judicial process" in Iran.
Boris Johnson is in hot water again. It will not, however, result in his dismissal from the cabinet.
In an effort to hose the situation down and minimise any damage to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case, the foreign secretary told his Iranian counterpart that he accepted his remarks at the committee "could have been clearer".
He said he was seeking to condemn "the Iranian view that training journalists was a crime."
But that is not what he said to the Commons committee last week - and Labour MPs are furious at this latest diplomatic fumble by the Foreign Secretary.
The foreign secretary said his comments had no impact on the case in Iran, a view echoed by his Iranian counterpart.
That certainly helps Mr Johnson weather this latest storm.
But more fundamentally, Theresa May does not have the political strength to dismiss one of the Cabinet's big Brexit-supporting beasts.
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Mr Johnson had earlier called the Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif, to say his remarks provided "no justifiable basis" for further legal action and that he intended to visit Iran before the end of the year to discuss the case.
Mr Zarif told the foreign secretary the developments in the case over the weekend were "unrelated" to Mr Johnson's remarks, a Foreign Office statement added.
The Iranian judiciary's High Council for Human Rights said Mr Johnson's comments "shed new light" on the charity worker and proved Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe "had visited the country for anything but a holiday".
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe denies all the allegations against her, but lost her final appeal in April.
She has since faced two more charges relating to an accusation of plotting to topple the government in Tehran.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been eligible for parole under the early release scheme from 23 November.
Mr Ratcliffe told the Press Association that his wife could now face a fresh trial before that date to block her chance of freedom.
"I think the one thing the foreign secretary could do to make amends would be if he went to visit her in the next few weeks before her trial," he said.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says she was in Iran so her daughter could meet her grandparents
The case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is first and foremost a story of terrible personal suffering for a young woman, her husband and their baby girl.
Eighteen months into a five-year sentence, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe faces the prospect of up to 16 years in an Iranian jail.
It is also, however, a story of an internal power struggle in Iran, as well as of the nation's deeply difficult relationship with the UK.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41902883
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Snapchat owner plunges as losses continue - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The firm says it is looking to redesign its app to make it easier to use.
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Business
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Snapchat owner Snap says it is working to overhaul its signature messaging app, as it struggles to attract users and turn a profit.
Shares in the firm plunged after hours on Tuesday, after the firm reported losses of more than $400m (£337m) in the quarter.
It also had lower-than-expected revenue and user growth.
Snapchat said the changes would make the app easier to use and more compatible with Android phones.
However, it warned the transition could be rocky.
"We're willing to take that risk for what we believe are substantial long-term benefits to our business," said 27-year-old chief executive Evan Spiegel.
Snapchat pioneered the craze for disappearing messages among teens.
When you have to put out a statement denying rumours you're shutting down within a year… that's when you know things aren't going particularly well.
As well as denying it was going bust, in the past few months Snap has had to admit supplies of its Spectacles product, once the talk of the town, are piled high in warehouses.
Revenues have been harder to come by than investors had hoped as the company struggles to turn around intense advertisers' interest - these are teenagers, after all - into a system that runs seamlessly and reliable ways to measure success.
And just this week the network suffered a widespread outage.
Some of Snap's problems are self-inflicted, others are inflicted by Facebook - a company that once tried to buy Snapchat, and which now relentlessly copies its best features.
But it faces fierce competition from larger rival Facebook and Facebook's image-sharing network Instagram, which have introduced similar features.
Snap said it had 178 million daily active users on average over the quarter, up 3% over the previous three months.
Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel, pictured left with his wife, model Miranda Kerr, became the youngest billionaire in the world two years ago
The firm told investors it made almost $208m in revenue in the quarter, up 62% year-on-year.
That represents about $1.17 in revenue per user, compared to Facebook's more than $5 in revenue per user.
But Snapchat's ad prices have fallen. The firm also reported a nearly $40m loss stemming from excess inventory of its Spectacles product, sunglasses with recording capabilities, which proved less popular than hoped.
"We're learning from it and plan on avoiding a similar mistake in the future," Mr Spiegel said.
Snapchat shares plunged more than 17% in after-hours trade, falling below $13.
That extended the losses that started soon after Snapchat became a publicly traded company in March, when shares debuted at $17.
The earnings report came less than a day after an outage on the service. Snapchat also had to address rumours it was shutting down.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41905681
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Roy Halladay: Former Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher dies in plane crash - BBC Sport
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2017-11-08
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Former Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay dies after a plane he was flying crashes in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Last updated on .From the section Baseball
Former Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay has died after his plane crashed in the Gulf of Mexico.
The 40-year-old, who retired in 2013, was the only person on board when the plane went down.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner spent 12 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays and four with the Phillies.
"We are numb over the very tragic news about Roy Halladay's untimely death," the Phillies said on Tuesday.
"There are no words to describe the sadness that the entire Phillies family is feeling over the loss of one of the most respected human beings to ever play the game."
The Pasco County Sheriff's Department said its marine unit found Halladay's body, but no survivors.
"Halladay was flying his two-person plane when it went down into the water about a quarter-mile west of Ben Pilot Point in New Port Richey," the office said.
"No may day calls were made to Tampa air traffic control. The 911 came in about 12:06 (local time)."
Halladay was selected on the All-Star team on eight occasions but never won a World Series. He threw a perfect game during the 2010 season and a no-hitter in the post-season.
Last month he tweeted pictures of himself standing next to his Icon A5 plane. "I have dreamed about owning a A5 since I retired," he said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/baseball/41910117
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Paradise Papers: Why offshore business is turned down - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Dodgy shells and the politically exposed. The Paradise Papers show how clients are rejected.
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World
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Appleby decided against a shelf company to be owned by Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of Angola's ex-president
Appleby is the main source of the leaked Paradise Papers documents and, like all providers of offshore financial services, has to check certain things with its prospective clients in order to prevent money laundering, corruption and other illegal activity.
Different countries have different requirements, but most expect the service provider to know who its client is, where the client's money has come from and the purpose of the company it is setting up.
Among the applications, there are often some questionable individuals and companies trying to set up shell companies. Then there are the PEPs, or politically exposed persons. They may or may not have genuine applications but the risk they would bring has to be fully vetted.
The examples below reflect decisions made at the time; it is unclear whether further requests were made. Some are shown in their original document format:
15 Feb 2012: Proposed shareholders/directors of funds, both principals produced passport copies issued by the "World Government of World citizens". This was deemed to be outside of ACSL's (Appleby Corporate Services Limited) risk parameters and these potential clients were therefore declined.
23 Apr 2012: Potential client wishes to acquire a "shelf" company in Mauritius or BVI (British Virgin Islands). The shelf company would be owned by Isabel José dos Santos, who is the daughter of the then Angolan President, José Eduardo dos Santos. The company was to be used for investment purposes. ACSL does not provide shelf companies to clients. Furthermore World-Check searches indicate both Isabel and José are PEPS. Other internet searches revealed adverse findings for both Isabel José dos Santos and José Eduardo dos Santos.
29 May 2013: Potential client wishes to set up BVI company. Details of the proposed transaction regarding citizenship and residence and activities of company is risky. Client may want to use precision guided bombs to communicate.
20 Jun 2013: Proposed engagement presented as very high risk. The High Risk Committee declined to take on the business due in part to the clients' ties to the Rwandan military thus would be PEPs and Rwanda may be on various sanctions lists, and bribery and corruption are of concern. The company proposed business will be conducted in a non-recognized jurisdiction.
20 Jan 2014: Proposed engagement presented as high risk as the proposed business dealings are concentrated in the Middle East and Iran. Iran remains the subject of several sanctions and we could not mitigate against bribery and corruption risks and the payments to escrow could be illicit.
10 Mar 2014: Potential engagement requested our service to incorporate a company which will be a holding company providing instant exchange between Bitcoin* and Kenyan Shillings for their investors. (virtual currency related business).
*NOTE: The reasons for this decline are not known, but other documents show internal discussions within Appleby about the risk of Bitcoin being used to fund terrorism or the drug trade.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Pro-Russian fighters have been searching the site for useable ammunition, as David Stern reports
16 Jun 2014 Business for President of Ukraine: Potential engagement for companies controlled by President of Ukraine who is obviously a PEP. Without any details presented, the latest news involving Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko regarding retaliation after pro-Russia separatists shot down a military plane in the East, killing 49, this presents an inherent reputational risk of becoming involved.
Find out more about the words and phrases found in the Paradise Papers.
Your browser does not support this Lookup Your guide to financial jargon
The papers are a huge batch of leaked documents mostly from offshore law firm Appleby, along with corporate registries in 19 tax jurisdictions, which reveal the financial dealings of politicians, celebrities, corporate giants and business leaders.
The 13.4 million records were passed to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Panorama has led research for the BBC as part of a global investigation involving nearly 100 other media organisations, including the Guardian, in 67 countries. The BBC does not know the identity of the source.
Paradise Papers: Full coverage; follow reaction on Twitter using #ParadisePapers; in the BBC News app, follow the tag "Paradise Papers"
Watch Panorama on the BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only)
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-41904102
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Antonio Carluccio: 'Godfather of Italian cooking' dies - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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He was known for the Italian restaurant chain that carries his name and for his TV appearances.
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UK
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Celebrity chef and restaurateur Antonio Carluccio has died at the age of 80, his agent has said.
He was known for the Italian restaurant chain that carries his surname and for appearing on TV programmes, including the BBC Two hit Two Greedy Italians, alongside chef Gennaro Contaldo.
He wrote more than a dozen best-selling books and in 2012 launched his memoirs.
The restaurant chain has called him the "Godfather of Italian cooking" and said he will be "greatly missed".
"It isn't just Antonio's name above our doors, but his heart and soul lives and breathes throughout our restaurants," a statement from the Carluccio's restaurant chain said.
Jamie Oliver paid tribute to his "first London boss", working with the Italian at Carluccio's Neal Street Restaurant in Covent Garden 25 years ago.
"He was such a charismatic charming don of all things Italian," Oliver wrote on Instagram.
"Always hanging out the front door of the restaurant with a big fat cigar, a glass of something splendid and his amazing fuzzy white hair.
"Viva Antonio Carluccio... Cook a feast up there mate," he added.
Friend and colleague, Russell Grant, said he was "just the kindest and loveliest man to be with."
"He was so passionate about his cookery and where he came from," he told the BBC.
"Every mouthful would bring another story."
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The former Great British Bake Off winner, Candice Brown, said Carluccio was "a true gent and honest man".
TV chef James Martin called him "one of the true greats of TV chefs".
"His passion and commitment to both the restaurant business and to television was lifelong," he said in a statement.
"He was a giant in the food world and he helped bring Italian food to the masses around the world."
Celebrity chef Gino D'Acampo also paid tribute to his "good friend", while Nigella Lawson wrote: "Riposi in pace".
From the north-west Italian region of Piedmont, Carluccio worked as a journalist in Turin before moving to Vienna and Germany, and finally London.
In 2007, he received an OBE from the Queen for his services to the catering industry and in 2012, he was awarded the AA hospitality lifetime achievement award.
He received the Commendatore, the equivalent of a British knighthood, from the Italian government in 1998 for services to Italy.
Carluccio's television career began with his first appearance on BBC2 in 1983. He later appeared on MasterChef in 1991, before a three-year stint on Saturday Kitchen from 2006 and Two Greedy Italians in 2011.
His kitchen motto was simple - "minimum of fuss, maximum of flavour".
He also created more than 20 books, which included titles dedicated to pasta, vegetables and mushrooms.
In the months before his death, he had worked on a children's book, centred on two mushrooms.
In 2016, Carluccio told the Press Association about his secret to a happy life.
"My philosophy is to be happy and to make people happy," he said.
"And by result, if you make people happy they make you happy. I like to have money, because money is good. But it's not too good, you know?"
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41920229
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Sky threatens to shut down Sky News to aid Fox takeover - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The news channel could be shut if it hampers 21st Century Fox's acquisition of the broadcaster.
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Business
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Sky has threatened to shut down Sky News if the news channel proves to be an obstacle in Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox bid.
Regulators are investigating the deal amid concerns that Mr Murdoch's media empire could become too powerful.
Sky told the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that the regulator should not assume "the continued provision" of Sky News.
BBC media editor Amol Rajan said it was a "credible threat".
Fox owns 39% of Sky but wants full control of the satellite broadcaster.
In a submission made to the CMA last month, but published by the regulator on Tuesday, Sky said it "would likely be prompted to review" its position if "the continued provision of Sky News in its current form unduly impeded merger and/or other corporate opportunities available in relation to Sky's broader business".
This would particularly be the case if shareholders objected to the merger not happening, Sky said.
Closing Sky News would only be an option of last resort, and the broadcaster would try to find a buyer for the media company before that eventuality, the BBC understands.
"The messaging coming through is alarming for supporters of Sky News but it runs completely counter to all the investment that there has been in the channel in all the recent months and years," said Joey Jones, a political correspondent at Sky News for 16 years and now head of public affairs at PR firm Weber Shandwick.
But he said the threat was a risky move by Sky: "Inevitably this will be perceived by those who are already hostile to the proposed takeover, particularly in the political arena, as sabre rattling and as a perceived threat by the company".
Media editor Mr Rajan said that Sky News lost "an awful lot of money".
"It loses tens of millions of pounds, and I think the independent directors of Sky are sending a very clear message... that if they had to choose, maybe they'd prefer for commercial reasons to do the deal with 21st Century Fox rather than continue to fund the losses at Sky News."
The submission comes a day after reports that Fox has discussed selling "most" of its business, including its Sky stake, to Disney.
Fox has faced a number of hurdles in its bid to buy Sky, including the CMA investigation and opposition from some politicians.
Some fear the deal would give Rupert Murdoch's family too much control over the UK media.
The Murdoch family owns controlling stakes in both News Corporation, which owns UK newspapers such as the Sun and the Times, as well as Fox, which operates in film and TV.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41909321
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Paradise Papers: Prince Charles lobbied on climate policy after shares purchase - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Private estate had secret interest in offshore firm that would benefit from rule change, leaked documents show.
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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.
Prince Charles campaigned to alter climate-change agreements without disclosing his private estate had an offshore financial interest in what he was promoting, BBC Panorama has found.
The Paradise Papers show the Duchy of Cornwall in 2007 secretly bought shares worth $113,500 in a Bermuda company that would benefit from a rule change.
The prince was a friend of a director of Sustainable Forestry Management Ltd.
The Duchy of Cornwall says he has no direct involvement in its investments.
A Clarence House spokesman said the Prince of Wales had "certainly never chosen to speak out on a topic simply because of a company that it [the Duchy of Cornwall] may have invested in".
He added: "In the case of climate change his views are well-known, indeed he has been warning of the threat of global warming to our environment for over 30 years.
"Carbon markets are just one example that the prince has championed since the 1990s and which he continues to promote today."
He added Prince Charles was "free to offer thoughts and suggestions on a wide range of topics" and "cares deeply" about the issue of climate change but "it is for others to decide whether to take the advice".
Sir Alistair Graham, former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said Prince Charles's actions amounted to a serious conflict of interest.
He said: "There's a conflict of interest between his own investments of the Duchy of Cornwall and what he's trying to achieve publicly.
"And I think it's unfortunate that somebody of his importance, of his influence, becomes involved in such a serious conflict."
The leaked documents held by law firm Appleby show the Duchy of Cornwall also made offshore investments totalling $3.9m in four funds in the Cayman Islands in 2007. This is legal and there is no suggestion of tax avoidance.
A Duchy of Cornwall spokesman said Prince Charles voluntarily pays income tax on any revenue from his estate.
He added the estate's investments "do not derive any tax advantage whatsoever based on their location or any other aspect of their structure and there is no loss of revenue to HMRC as a result".
The prince began campaigning for changes to two important environmental agreements weeks after Sustainable Forestry Management (SFM) sent his office lobbying documents.
Prince Charles's estate almost tripled its money in just over a year although it is not clear what caused the rise in the share value. Despite his high profile campaign, the environmental agreements were not changed.
The documents reveal the Duchy of Cornwall, an £896m private estate that provides Prince Charles with an income and which he is said to be "actively involved" in running, bought the shares in February 2007. At the time $113,500 was worth about £58,000.
One of SFM's directors was the late Hugh van Cutsem, a millionaire banker and conservationist who has been described as the one of the Prince's closest friends.
The minutes of a company board meeting that approved the Duchy's shareholding say: "The Chairman thanked Mr van Cutsem for his introduction of the Duchy of Cornwall and the Board unanimously agreed that the subscription by the Duchy of Cornwall be kept confidential except in respect of any disclosure required by law."
SFM traded in carbon credits, a market created by international treaties to tackle global warming.
It wanted to trade in credits from "tropical and subtropical forests" but was hampered by two important climate change agreements, the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and the Kyoto Protocol, which largely excluded carbon credits from rainforests.
When the Duchy bought its shares, SFM was lobbying for a "change in policy" on carbon credits, the documents show.
It had hired the US former lead negotiator on the Kyoto Protocol, Stuart Eizenstat "to lobby for inclusion of forest carbon credits" in new US and EU laws and regulations.
Board minutes from February 2007 show SFM was also taking "steps to influence events to support forest credits" ahead of Kyoto Protocol meetings at the end of the year.
On 6 June 2007, four months after the Duchy bought its shares, Mr van Cutsem asked SFM's chairman to send lobbying documents to the office of the prince.
Under the heading "public policy and advocacy", minutes of a board meeting held in Paris say "the chairman referred the committee to the bundle of materials which had been prepared by the company for various policymakers... Mr van Cutsem... asked that a set of documents be prepared for the Prince of Wales office. The chairman undertook to do so".
Four weeks later, on 2 July, Prince Charles, made a speech that criticised the EU ETS and Kyoto Protocol for excluding carbon credits from rainforests, and called for change.
Speaking at the Business in the Community Awards Dinner, the prince said: "As the Kyoto protocol now stands tropical rainforest nations have no way of earning credits from their standing forests other than by cutting them down and planting new ones," he said.
"The European Carbon Trading Scheme excludes carbon credits for forests from developing nations. This has got be wrong and we must urge the international community to work together to redress these failings urgently."
The campaigning was taking place ahead of meetings about the Kyoto Protocol
In October 2007, he launched the Prince's Rainforests Project, which aimed to "increase global recognition of the contribution of tropical deforestation to climate change and to find ways to make the rainforests worth more alive than dead."
In a speech to mark the launch, he said: "The Kyoto Protocol does not have a mechanism to protect standing rainforests.
"Credits are available for afforestation and reforestation projects, but not for maintaining an old growth forest. And the European Trading Scheme excludes carbon credits for forestry in developing nations altogether… surely we have to accept that the pressing urgency of climate change requires a response that embraces rather than excludes primary tropical forests?"
Panorama has been unable to find evidence of any speeches the prince made before 2008 about changing Kyoto and EU ETS to include carbon credits for rainforests. The programme asked the prince's office for any such speeches but they did not respond.
Over the next six months, the future king made further speeches and videos about rainforests.
In a video released in January 2008, the prince said: "The immediate priority, I believe, is the need to develop a new credit market which will give a true value to carbon and the ecosystem services the rainforests provide the rest of the world."
In February 2008, he reportedly discussed rainforests at a private meeting with the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Days later, he met with the then President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, and the EU's environment, energy, trade and agriculture commissioners.
In a speech to 150 MEPs, he said: "I have great hopes that the next version of the European Emissions Trading scheme might extend the helping and very visible hand of a market approach to assist in keeping the rainforests standing… the lives of billions of people depend on your response and none of us will be forgiven by our children and grandchildren if we falter and fail."
On 18 June 2008, as the global financial crash was beginning, the Duchy sold its stake in SFM.
The documents show it was paid $325,000 for the 50 shares.
SFM is no longer in existence.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sir Alistair Graham says Prince Charles should be accountable to public scrutiny
The Duchy was established in 1337 and uses the income to fund the public, private and charitable activities of the Prince of Wales and his children. Its accounts are independently audited and put before Parliament.
A Duchy of Cornwall spokesman said the estate followed a "responsible investment policy which governs the sectors that it may invest in".
The Paradise Papers documents also showed about £10m of the Queen's private money was invested offshore in 2004-2005 in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.
Your browser does not support this Lookup Your guide to financial jargon
The papers are a huge batch of leaked documents mostly from offshore law firm Appleby, along with corporate registries in 19 tax jurisdictions, which reveal the financial dealings of politicians, celebrities, corporate giants and business leaders.
The 13.4 million records were passed to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Panorama has led research for the BBC as part of a global investigation involving nearly 100 other media organisations, including the Guardian, in 67 countries. The BBC does not know the identity of the source.
Paradise Papers: Full coverage; follow reaction on Twitter using #ParadisePapers; in the BBC News app, follow the tag "Paradise Papers"
Watch Panorama on the BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only)
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41901175
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We want our Brexit cash boost - NHS boss - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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NHS England's Simon Stevens says the service needs the money that was promised in the referendum.
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Health
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NHS England's boss said trust in politics would be damaged if the NHS did not get more
The health service should get the cash boost it was promised during the EU referendum, NHS England's boss says.
Simon Stevens used controversial claims used by Vote Leave - that the NHS could benefit by £350m a week - to put the case for more money in a major speech.
With waiting times worsening, he said trust in politics would be damaged if the NHS did not get more.
He said the budget had grown modestly in recent years, but those rises would "nose-dive" in the next few years.
He said if action was not taken the NHS would really start to struggle, predicting hospital waiting lists could grow by a quarter to five million by 2021.
The speech by Mr Stevens at the NHS Providers' annual conference of health managers is highly political, coming just a fortnight before the Budget.
Can't find your health trust? Browse the full list Rather search by typing? Back to search
If you can't see the NHS Tracker, click or tap here.
During the referendum it was claimed £350m a week was sent to the EU and that would be better spent on the NHS.
The claim was widely contested at the time and ever since - it did not take into account the rebate the UK had nor the fact the UK benefited from investment from the EU.
Some argued it proved highly influential in the referendum result.
Mr Stevens refused to be drawn on just how much money he was after - sources close to him said he was not specifically asking for an extra £350m a week, which would work out at an extra £18bn a year.
Instead, they said it just needed to be significantly more than had been promised to date if waiting times were not to worsen.
It comes as three highly influential health think-tanks - the King's Fund, the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation - published a joint report calling for an extra £4bn to be given to health next year.
That amounts to eight times more than health spending is due to rise by.
He told delegates in Birmingham: "The NHS wasn't on the ballot paper, but it was on the ballot bus, 'Vote Leave for a better funded health service, £350m a week.'
"Rather than our criticising these clear Brexit funding commitments to NHS patients - promises entered into by cabinet ministers and by MPs - the public want to see them honoured.
"Trust in democratic politics will not be strengthened if anyone now tries to argue, 'You voted Brexit, partly for a better funded health service. But precisely because of Brexit, you now can't have one.'"
He said the "modest" rises seen in recent years were set to "nose-drive" in the next two, with the budget growing by 0.4% next year and by less than 1% the year after once inflation was taken into account.
Mr Stevens said if that continued "choking" of investment happened the NHS would have to "turn back a decade of progress".
He warned a hospital waiting list of five million by 2021 was likely - meaning a 10th of the population would be waiting for treatment.
Currently, just under four million people are.
NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson has also given his backing to extra money.
He pointed out key targets for A&E, routine operations and cancer care were already being widely missed.
"The Budget is an important opportunity, at the beginning of this Parliament, to protect care quality for patients and service users and help the NHS break out of the downward spiral in which it is currently trapped.
"There isn't enough funding to cope."
The government has promised the NHS front-line budget will be £8bn a year higher by 2022 - once inflation is taken into account - than it is now.
But that does not take into account the whole health budget - which also includes spending on things such as training and healthy lifestyle services, like stop smoking services.
Once that is factored in, the current average annual increase are running at less than 1%, but that dips in the coming years.
Historically, the service has enjoyed annual rises of about 4% to cover the cost of the ageing population and new drugs.
A Department of Health spokesman said: "Research shows spending on the NHS is in line with most other European countries, and the public can be reassured that the government is committed to continued investment in the health service."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41908302
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Sacked Labour minister Carl Sargeant found dead - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Carl Sargeant, who faced a party investigation into his conduct, is understood to have taken his own life.
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Wales politics
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An ex-Welsh Labour minister who faced a party investigation into allegations about his personal conduct has taken his own life, it is understood.
Carl Sargeant, 49, lost his job as cabinet secretary for communities and children last Friday.
He was suspended from Labour after the first minister learned of a number of alleged incidents involving women.
A family statement said they were "devastated beyond words" at the loss of "the glue that bound us together".
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the death was "deeply shocking news".
Mr Sargeant, who was married and had two children, was found dead at his home in Connah's Quay, Flintshire, on Tuesday morning.
He was sacked from his Welsh Government job after allegations about his behaviour were passed to First Minister Carwyn Jones' office.
Mr Jones had said on Monday he felt he had no choice but to refer the matter to the party. Mr Sargeant had vowed to clear his name.
The Welsh Assembly's business for Tuesday was cancelled as a mark of respect following his death, and meetings on Wednesday and Thursday will also not take place.
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In a statement Mr Sargeant's family said: "Carl was a much loved husband, father and friend.
"He wasn't simply a part of our family. He was the glue that bound us together.
"He was the most kind and caring husband, father, son and friend. We are devastated beyond words, and we know our grief will be shared by all those who knew and loved him."
Police were called to an address in Connah's Quay on Tuesday
The Senedd, in the wake of the death of former Welsh Government minister Carl Sargeant, is a place in shock.
I do not remember an atmosphere anything like this.
There is, among some senior Labour figures, a growing sense of concern and anger at the process where the government or the Labour Party appear not to have exercised their duty of care over Mr Sargeant after he faced accusations about his behaviour.
There are people who spoke to Mr Sargeant on Tuesday morning who were told that he still did not know what the allegations were.
Carwyn Jones's future could be on the line here. This is a trauma that could become a political crisis unless he comes up with the answers that Labour AMs in particular want to hear.
Paying tribute, the first minister said: "Carl was a friend as well as a colleague and I am shocked and deeply saddened by his death.
"He made a big contribution to Welsh public life and fought tirelessly for those he represented both as a minister and as a local assembly member."
The prime minister's spokesman said in relation to the "sad news" about the death of Carl Sargeant, that Theresa May's "heart goes out to Carl Sargeant's friends and family".
Mr Corbyn said the AM was "somebody who represented our party" and "worked hard to represent his communities".
The Labour leader said that all allegations must be examined and pursued but added: "There must also be great pastoral care and support given to everybody involved in these accusations, and also that we deal with them, all parties, as quickly as possible."
Speaking through tears, former local government minister Leighton Andrews told BBC Radio Wales: "Carl Sargeant was loved. He was loved across the political divide. He was loved by the people in his own community.
"Carl was a unique politician. He arrived in the assembly from the factory floor. He grew up and still lived in the council estate that helped shape his roots in Connah's Quay - he was still very much part of that community.
"My understanding is that Carl was still not aware of the detail of the allegations against him even though, I'm told, this morning."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Ex-Plaid AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas: "Carl clearly felt he'd been found guilty"
Former Plaid Cymru AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas said Mr Sargeant "clearly felt he had been found guilty before he had a chance to defend himself.
"So I think we need to develop a system which is fair to everybody, which defends everybody, but doesn't place people in a position where they feel they have no opportunity whatsoever to fight their cause."
Tributes were paid across the political divide on Tuesday.
Conservative Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said he was "shocked and saddened" by the news, adding: "My heart goes out to his family, friends and colleagues."
Elin Jones, assembly presiding officer, said Mr Sargeant "served the people of Alyn and Deeside with pride and determination" and that he had made an "enormous contribution to the development of this democratic institution".
Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said: "Our Parliament has lost a stalwart and many of us have lost a friend."
Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said: "Carl Sargeant made a significant contribution to Welsh politics, both as an assembly member and a government minister."
UKIP Wales leader Neil Hamilton described him as a "gentle giant" who would be "missed across the party divide".
Liberal Democrat Kirsty Williams, who was a colleague of Mr Sargeant's in the Welsh Government, said: "Not only was Carl a dedicated local AM, but he was an effective government minister who had a significant impact across political life at a national and community level."
FC Nomads, the Connah's Quay football team that Mr Sargeant was president of, cancelled all games this weekend in a mark of respect.
North Wales Police Supt Mark Pierce said police were called at about 11:30 GMT on Tuesday to a report that a man's body had been found at an address in Connah's Quay.
"The man has been formally identified as local AM Carl Sargeant. His next of kin have been informed and police are supporting the family," he said.
"North Wales Police are not treating his death as suspicious and the matter has been referred to HM Coroner."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-41904161
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Transport for London 'to cut 1,400 jobs' - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Unions say Transport for London plans job cuts in engineering and London Underground by 2021.
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London
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The cuts would affect engineering and parts of London Underground
Transport for London (TfL) is cutting 1,400 jobs as part of plans to save £5.5bn by 2021, according to unions.
The cuts will affect engineering and parts of London Underground (LU), said the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union.
It said the figure emerged at a meeting on Tuesday, but TfL said it did not recognise the RMT's number.
The RMT criticised the move on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the King's Cross fire in which 31 people died.
TfL said: "Over the next few months we will be consulting on further plans in a number of other managerial, support and other non front-line areas across TfL and London Underground (LU).
"None of this will compromise safety, which will always remain our top priority."
A meeting between union leaders and TfL revealed plans to cut spending by 2021
During Mayor Sadiq Khan's election campaign he called Transport for London "flabby".
He said it could cope with a fares freeze that in effect reduced its income and engineering functions could be merged to save money.
Those policies are now coming home to roost and TfL is now having to make efficiencies.
The unions say TfL is trying to save £5.5bn by 2021. TfL has previously said the figure is £4bn.
Either way, that is partly the fares freeze, which costs £640m, and partly the Government £591m operational grant being phased out.
Insiders say there has already been considerable belt tightening and trawls for redundancies. Forty-nine managers have left and there have been savings in duplication and agency staff.
The big question is will more redundancies affect front-line staff and how Transport for London operates. And how will the Unions react?
These policies come with a cost - now we will see if the Mayor was right.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "As part of the Mayor's efforts to slash spending by £5.5bn by 2021 we are now being told that the company plans to cut up to 1,400 jobs in engineering in TfL and in some areas of LU.
"RMT demands that no cuts take place, so close to the King's Cross fire anniversary.
"It would be appalling if there was any hacking back on safety.
"The Mayor needs to stand up for TfL and demand restoration of the full capital grant and proper central government funding for the Tube."
TfL said it was "undertaking the largest ever overhaul of our organisation to provide the most efficient and cost effective transport service for Londoners".
"We have already reduced management layers and bureaucracy and merged functions in other areas to eliminate duplication and reliance on expensive agency staff", it said.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41903419
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Carl Sargeant not given natural justice, family says - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Family of sacked minister says Labour did not give him enough detail of allegations against him.
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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. Carl Sargeant "wasn't dealt with fairly", says Labour AM Jenny Rathbone
The family of sacked Welsh Labour minister Carl Sargeant has said he was deprived of "natural justice".
He was found dead on Tuesday after being sacked from the cabinet and suspended from Labour.
He faced allegations of "unwanted attention, inappropriate touching or groping".
Leighton Andrews, a former key ally of Carwyn Jones, said he is "angry" the first minister did TV interviews commenting on allegations.
The former AM and cabinet minister said Mr Jones had not followed "due process" by speaking to the media on Monday.
On Thursday Labour AMs will meet for the first time since Mr Sargeant died.
First Minister Carwyn Jones's spokesman said: "Like everyone in the Welsh Labour family Carwyn is deeply upset by the death of his friend.
"Tomorrow Welsh Labour AMs will meet in the assembly to remember Carl and discuss the tragic events of the past week. Carwyn will make a further statement following the meeting."
On Monday Mr Jones told the BBC and ITV there were "a number" of allegations made by women against Mr Sargeant.
But Mr Andrews told BBC One's Wales Live programme that he felt the first minister should not have made any public comments after the matter was referred to the Labour Party on Friday.
"Having passed this over on Friday to the Labour party, on Monday the first minister is doing interviews with the BBC and I think with ITV as well in which he is elaborating on the story and commenting on the story," he said.
"Well, that is not due process.
"I'm very angry at those interviews on Monday and the anger within the Labour Party across Wales and beyond the Labour Party in Carl's local community, people in other political parties, people in no political party.
"People do not think Carl Sargeant has been treated fairly."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Leighton Andrews said the allegations should have been dealt with "behind closed doors"
His comments came after Mr Sargeant's family released correspondence between his solicitor and Labour to highlight their concern over his treatment.
It shows Mr Sargeant pushed for more specific details on the claims, and that his mental well-being was being affected.
Relatives said he was distressed at being unable to defend himself.
The Labour Party said that, in line with agreed procedure, the nature of the allegations was outlined to Mr Sargeant.
The Alyn and Deeside AM had vowed to clear his name after being sacked as communities secretary by Mr Jones on Friday, but said he did not know the details of the allegations.
It is understood he took his own life.
A family spokesman said on Wednesday they were publishing the correspondence "in light of the continued unwillingness" of the Labour Party "to clarify the nature of the allegations made against Carl".
"Up to the point of his tragic death on Tuesday morning Carl was not informed of any of the detail of the allegations against him, despite requests and warnings regarding his mental welfare," the spokesman said.
"The correspondence also discloses the solicitor's concern that media appearances by the first minister on Monday were prejudicing the inquiry.
"The family wish to disclose the fact that Carl maintained his innocence and he categorically denied any wrongdoing.
"The distress of not being able to defend himself properly against these unspecified allegations meant he was not afforded common courtesy, decency or natural justice."
In a statement through solicitors later, the family added that they hope "there will be a full investigation and scrutiny of the way that the relevant parties concerned dealt with the allegations, Mr Sargeant personally and the statements that have been made in the press and media".
"Those that owed a clear duty of care to Carl and to his family will, no doubt in due course, need to provide clarity on their respective positions in this tragedy," they added.
"No support was offered to Mr Sargeant other than that personally offered by close friends and family," the family added.
Carl Sargeant's family have released two emails and a letter sent between his solicitor and Welsh Labour. It includes:
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. MP Mark Tami says if procedures were followed in the run-up to Carl Sargeant's death something had gone "badly wrong"
Mr Sargeant's Westminster constituency colleague, Labour MP Mark Tami, said Mr Sargeant's family were "angry" because "they obviously have questions about the process and how it has ended up with this".
"I think they need some space to try as best they can to come to terms with what has happened to Carl," he said.
"If the procedure's been followed then we need to look at the procedure because something's gone badly wrong."
The first minister is facing questions from within his own party about how the situation was handled, after finding out about the allegations early last week.
Staff from his office, but not civil servants, spoke to the women involved and referred their complaints to Welsh Labour, which was investigating, and suspended Mr Sargeant.
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 Chris Bryant 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.
Jenny Rathbone, Labour AM for Cardiff Central, said she felt Mr Sargeant "wasn't dealt with fairly".
"If allegations are made against you, you must know what they are so that you can respond to them," she said on BBC Radio Wales' Good Morning Wales programme.
UKIP Wales leader Neil Hamilton called on Mr Jones to resign, saying he "failed to fulfil his duty of care" to Mr Sargeant.
Brecon and Radnorshire Conservative MP Chris Davies also called on the first minister to resign, saying the way he had handled the matter was "terrible".
What did Carwyn Jones know about allegations of misconduct against Carl Sargeant - and when?
In a television interview two days ago, the day before the death of the ex-cabinet secretary, Carwyn Jones insisted that the first time he heard of the allegations was last week.
But multiple sources from more than one party have told me that Carwyn Jones had discussed allegations of misconduct with Carl Sargeant once before, and had received an explanation of the incident.
Are the sources right? The simple answer is I do not know.
But Carwyn Jones knows the truth and he should answer the question as soon as possible.
A book of condolence for Mr Sargeant was opened in the assembly on Wednesday
A Labour Party spokesman said: "Following allegations brought to the attention of Welsh Labour by Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones, an investigation was launched by the UK party.
"The Labour Party Governance and Legal Unit spoke with Carl Sargeant and, in line with agreed procedure, outlined the nature of the allegations that had been received and how the complaints process works."
A book of condolence for Mr Sargeant was opened in the assembly on Wednesday.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-41908424
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Recap: How Priti Patel’s resignation unfolded - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Rolling updates as International Development Secretary Priti Patel resigns from her job.
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UK Politics
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Kate Osamor MP, Labour's shadow international development secretary, said Priti Patel appeared to have breached the Ministerial Code and "gone behind the government's back and misled the British public."
She continued: "After initially denying the allegations, then repeatedly changing her story and failing to disclose all of her meetings, it is right that she has now resigned.
"But we still need to know what was discussed in these meetings and what Number 10 and the Foreign Office knew and when."
She said Theresa May needed to "get control of her chaotic cabinet".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-41920238
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Edward Enninful wants to protect young models - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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Edward Enninful says the magazine will show women of different ethnicities and with different shapes.
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The new editor of Vogue, Edward Enninful, tells the BBC why the magazine will be more diverse.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41908222
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Apology for saying child sex abuse victim 'consented' - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The man, abused from the age of 13, originally had his compensation application rejected.
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UK
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A child sexual abuse victim has been given an apology from the government's victim compensation agency after it previously ruled he had consented.
Twenty-one men were convicted of abusing the man from the age of 13.
The man has now been told he is eligible for compensation after his application had originally been rejected by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (Cica).
The Ministry of Justice says similar cases are now being reviewed.
The man - known as HND - had applied to Cica for compensation but Human rights charity Liberty said that was rejected in November 2015, after it was ruled he had consented to the sexual assaults.
This case was highlighted in a special edition of File on 4 in July.
HND's appeal against that decision was due to be heard later this month but Cica chief executive Carole Oatway has now written to him to apologise for the way his case was handled.
In the letter, she said: "I am firmly of the view that you are eligible for compensation.
"It is clear that advantage was taken of your age and vulnerability for the purpose of sexual abuse."
HND's father welcomed the decision but said "it should never have come to this".
He added: "Having spent years coming to terms with what happened to him and that it was not his fault, my son was told by a state body that it was".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The boy's story is told by an actor in this short film
The decision comes after Cica issued new guidelines to its staff on grooming cases.
Debaleena Dasgupta, Liberty's lawyer who represented HND, said her client: "Should be extremely proud of having triggered changes that will hopefully stop other children and young people going through this.
"None of this would have been possible without his tenacity and strength."
In July, the government promised an urgent review of cases where Cica had rejected claims as victims were deemed to have consented.
A coalition of charities, including Barnardos, Victim Support and Liberty, said a Freedom of Information request had revealed that since the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme was launched in November 2012, nearly 700 child victims of sexual abuse had been refused payments.
Sammy Woodhouse was among those child sex abuse victims initially denied compensation
The Ministry of Justice estimates around 30 cases per year have been refused compensation on consent grounds.
Cica said Ms Woodhouse, who was 14 when the grooming started, said she "consented". But it later overturned its decision.
It is illegal to have sexual activity with anyone under 16 but the authority does not automatically make payments to all victims.
Cica said its new guidance was developed to ensure young sexual abuse survivors get the support they are entitled to "even where sexual activity appears consensual".
The charities said the new guidelines will help to protect victims' rights but they can "only interpret a broken scheme" and want the whole system to be reviewed.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41912360
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Disney backs down after US media boycott - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The company has faced a backlash for revoking a newspaper's screening access because of an article.
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US & Canada
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The company took offence to a piece the newspaper wrote about its park in Anaheim, California
The Walt Disney company has ended its ban of the Los Angeles Times newspaper after a backlash from US media.
Last week it emerged Disney had stopped inviting the newspaper to press screenings because it disagreed with an article published in September.
The New York Times and Washington Post vowed to boycott Disney screenings in solidarity with the banned newspaper.
The LA Times went public about its ban in a "note to readers" on Friday, saying it could only review Disney's Christmas movies after they had been released publicly because the company "declined to offer The Times advance screenings".
Disney responded with a statement explaining its decision. It alleged the LA-based newspaper had "showed a complete disregard for basic journalistic standards" in a two-part piece it wrote about the company's California park and its relationship with the town of Anaheim, where it is based.
But a backlash against Disney's decision built over the weekend and on Tuesday a band of critics associations voted to disqualify Disney movies from award consideration until the ban was "publicly rescinded".
The New York Times had also issued a statement saying: "A powerful company punishing a news organization for a story they do not like is meant to have a chilling effect.
"This is a dangerous precedent and not at all in the public interest."
But by Tuesday afternoon Disney had confirmed it had changed its mind and revoked the restrictions after "productive discussions with the newly installed leadership at The Los Angeles Times regarding our specific concerns".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41909986
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Priti Patel's exit will pose problems for May - BBC News
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2017-11-08
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Theresa May needs to restore a sense of calm after a chaotic week.
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UK Politics
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It was precisely a week ago that I was summoned to the Ministry of Defence to ask Sir Michael Fallon why he was resigning.
Seven days on, for an unconnected reason, Theresa May has just lost another one of her ministers.
That time the resignation was rather differently handled - some private speculation through the day, then a discreet summoning to a quiet room in the department until one of the minister's team came to say: "Be ready, the secretary of state is resigning, we are finalising the letters between us and Number 10 right now."
This time, the process has been more like a pantomime, with speculation rife for nearly 24 hours that she was on her way out, no-one in government moving to quash it, leaving journalists, on the first day of parliament's recess, free to track Priti Patel's plane online then her journey back to Westminster.
Goodness knows what Ms Patel's Ugandan hosts, who were expecting her to visit today, make of it all.
Beyond today's palaver, though, her exit throws up problems for Mrs May.
It is never as simple as one out, one in.
Mrs May, who hoped to earn her authority back through competence, and orderly government, needs to restore a sense of calm after a chaotic week.
To convey even a limp grip on power, misbehaving ministers need to be brought in line, and a restive Tory party needs to be able to believe Number 10 has some capability left.
But with Ms Patel's departure, the prime minister must try most importantly to preserve the delicate balance around the cabinet table.
Ministers' make up is finely tuned between those who desire a loose arrangement with the European Union after Brexit and those who want to stay tightly bound.
With the balance more or less equal between those factions, it's as if the prime minister has the casting vote.
For as long as that formula is preserved, both sides will preserve her.
Upset that equilibrium with the wrong choices in a reshuffle, even of one, and the way through the most challenging decisions the government faces becomes more complicated, and the prime minister's own position more precarious still.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41922823
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Hair-raising drive through Delhi smog - BBC News
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2017-11-09
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A BBC reporter films his drive to work as pollution levels soar in India's capital.
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A BBC reporter films his drive to work as pollution levels soar in India's capital.
All schools in Delhi have been closed for the rest of the week.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-41917369
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Boris Johnson: Priti Patel was 'first class' development secretary - BBC News
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2017-11-09
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The foreign secretary reacts to Priti Patel's resignation after controversy over her meetings with Israeli officials.
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The foreign secretary reacts to Priti Patel's resignation as international development secretary, following controversy over her meetings with Israeli officials.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41922503
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