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UK plan to tackle plastic waste threat - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A four-point plan for tackling plastic waste has been outlined by the Environment Secretary Michael Gove.
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Science & Environment
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A four-point plan for tackling plastic waste has been outlined by the Environment Secretary Michael Gove.
He told BBC News that he wants to reduce the amount of plastic used in the UK, and to make it simpler for people to recycle.
Environmentalists fear Mr Gove will be reluctant to set tighter rules for firms which benefit from the current use of plastics.
The Environment Secretary outlined his thoughts during an informal meeting.
Recycling schemes often differ from one borough to the next, making it very confusing for households.
Mr Gove said he was considering introducing common standards throughout local authorities to make recycling simpler.
But Martin Tett, from the Local Government Association told BBC News that wouldn't work. He said: "Common standards for recycling wouldn't be effective, as there is no one-size-fits-all solution to this problem."
"A key component is reducing the amount of unrecyclable waste we produce in the first place, which is why it's essential that manufacturers and retailers work with us to achieve this.
"What we need is packaging that is easily recyclable - this would not only make waste disposal easier for our residents, but save considerable amounts of money and energy, whilst protecting our environment.
Mr Gove agreed the UK must expand its capacity to recycle, especially in the light of China's decision to refuse to recycle British waste in future.
In the short term, he said, the UK would look to other East Asian nations to recycle British waste. But he said in the longer term the nation must "stop offshoring our dirt."
He says he's been spurred to action by David Attenborough's Blue Planet series, which highlighted the harm to marine life from plastic litter.
Mr Gove says the rate of recycling needs to be improved
Mr Gove has already been consulting with drinks firms on a deposit scheme to cut the amount of plastic bottles finding their way into rivers and the sea.
Some environmentalists doubt that plastics manufacturers, retailers, drinks manufacturers and fast food outlets will volunteer to take the measures needed to reduce the use of plastics.
Dr Dominic Hogg, from the Eunomia consultancy, said the plastics issue was huge, complex and urgent.
He told BBC News the problem started with industry allowing pellets used to produce plastics to escape into the environment.
Then, he said there are big problems with current recycling.
"We have a variety of collection and sorting systems," he said. "Not all of which generate good quality plastics. The Chinese are about to close the border on us. We have a real problem.
"We're not recycling enough plastics. We're obsessed with convenience. Too much stuff is used to deliver a product which is soon discarded - often without any recycling.
"What we're throwing is increasingly being incinerated - and incinerators are not efficient generators of electrical energy."
Many nations are trying to tackle plastic litter. Kenya, for instance, is one of many African nations that have banned single use plastic bags. It is now about to clamp down on plastic bottles, too.
Plastic waste is just one of the big issues in Mr Gove's in-tray. The Environment Secretary told me he also intended to unveil the government's long-delayed 25-year Environment Plan in the New Year.
He acknowledged that recent Brexit negotiations had delayed his plans for an early reform of fishing and farm policy in the UK.
He confessed that the Brexit deal to keep current EU policies during the transition period would make early changes extremely difficult.
Mr Gove said he was working with the Department for International Development (DFID) to see how UK aid money could be used to help developing nations tackle the tide of plastic waste.
This would be on the agenda for the next Commonwealth heads of governments meeting, he said.
He said he also wanted to expand the UK's world-leading network of ocean protected zones round far-flung territories.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42397399
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Birmingham crash: Victim Imtiaz Mohammed 'was on last job' - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Imtiaz Mohammed, who had six children, had called his wife to say he was on his way home.
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Birmingham & Black Country
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Father-of-six Imtiaz Mohammed, described as a hard-working family man, was killed in the crash
A taxi driver killed in a "horrific" six-car crash in Birmingham was on his last job of the night, his brother has said.
Imtiaz Mohammed, 33, who had six children aged under 15, was one of six people killed in the accident in Edgbaston in the early hours of Sunday.
His two passengers were among those who died.
Two men in another car - Mohammed Fahsha, 30, and Tauqeer Hussain, 26 - died at the scene.
The men, from Small Heath, Birmingham, and a 25-year-old man, died when they were thrown from the Audi they were travelling in.
A 22-year-old man, who was also in the car, is in a serious condition at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Crash investigators are trying to piece together what caused the pile-up, on Belgrave Middleway.
Three men in the Audi, including Mohammed Fahsha, 30, pictured with his baby nephew, and Tauqeer Hussain, 26, known as Tox to his family, died at the scene.
The family of Mr Mohammed, who had five daughters and one son, said his death came the day before his daughter's fourth birthday.
His father, Ihktiar, said the "very close" family had been devastated by the loss and he had "woken up crying".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A mourning father says the family was worried over his son's taxi-driving job
He said his grandchildren had gone to school as usual, adding that the younger of the children have not yet been told of their father's death.
He said: "I am very sad, this is a tragedy for everyone - for my family and also for the other families as well.
"It is a sad day and a sad time."
Mr Mohammed added his son's work as a driver had "worried the family" and he had been hoping to get security work in the new year.
People have been leaving tributes near the scene of the crash, including flowers with a card saying: "To Mum, I love you loads. "Life isn't going to be the same without you."
Imtiaz Mohammed (left) had called his wife to say he was on his way home just before the crash
He said his "heart sank" when police knocked on his door at 05:00 GMT and he "knew there was something wrong".
"I thought to myself, 'which of my sons is hurt'," he said.
Three vehicles were directly involved in the accident on Belgrave Middleway in the early hours of Sunday
The scene of the accident was described as "harrowing"
The victim's younger brother, Noorshad Mohammed, said Imtiaz called his wife just before the crash, to tell her he was on his way home.
The 32-year-old said: "It was his last job of the night. That was the last time she spoke to him."
The taxi driver's employer, Castle Cars, said it was "shocked and devastated" to learn of Mr Mohammed's death.
"He was loved and respected by all who worked with him and he will be greatly missed.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and all the other families affected by this tragedy."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Officers were dealing with "a very harrowing scene", Supt Sean Phillips said
A 43-year-old female passenger in Mr Mohammed's taxi was confirmed dead at the scene of the crash, which happened on the underpass where Belgrave and Lee Bank Middleway meet.
Her male companion, 42, died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The first car in the crash sustained extensive damage but, "astonishingly", the man and woman inside managed to get out with relatively minor injuries, an ambulance service spokesman said.
Four men in the third car had all had been thrown from the vehicle
Three other cars were caught up in the crash and suffered minor damage trying to avoid it.
Michelle Brotherton, from the ambulance service, said crews had dealt with 13 patients.
As well as those who died and the man in a critical condition, four people were taken to Heartlands Hospital where their condition is believed to be non-life threatening.
A further two patients were "discharged on scene".
West Midlands Police said all victims were from the Birmingham area and specialist officers were supporting their families.
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Police said they were following various lines of investigation including the condition of the road when the crash happened.
At a press conference Supt Sean Phillips said it was "too early" to speculate on the cause of the accident.
"It will take some time to unpick and just understand exactly what's happened. It would be unfair for me to speculate at this time," he said.
He said the road had been gritted at 17:00 GMT on Saturday.
Sam Lad, who lives in a flat overlooking the crash site, said people regularly used the road for racing.
He said: "Lots of young people use that road as a competition, I see lots of people speeding."
An online fundraising page been set up for the families of those killed, through the Lord Mayor's Charity Appeal. It has raised more than £5,500.
Two people escaped with minor injuries from the crash
The stretch of road from Islington Row to Bristol Street was closed while officers investigate.
The road has two lanes either side and a 40mph speed limit.
Another resident who lives opposite said: "This road is really dangerous. Young kids like to challenge themselves and go really fast.
"I can't believe six people have died, and so close to Christmas and New Year."
The road had been gritted at 17:00 GMT on Saturday, police say
Area Commander Jason Campbell, of West Midlands Fire Service, said the crash site was "spread over some distance".
West Midlands Police described dealing with the aftermath of the crash as "very difficult and upsetting".
A senior officer criticised the "lack of humanity" of people who took photographs and filmed at the scene.
Chief Inspector Stuart Bill said it was "disappointing" that people chose to "disrupt" emergency services rather than help.
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Sergeant Alan Hands, from the force's Collision Investigation Unit, said: "We are still trying to establish exactly what happened and our thoughts remain with the families who have lost-loved ones.
"We aware of distressing images of the scene circulating on social media and we would ask the public to not share them and instead pass any footage to us to assist our investigation."
Any witnesses have been asked to contact West Midlands Police.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42387110
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The Apprentice: Lord Sugar surprises viewers with final result - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The latest series of The Apprentice came to an end on Sunday night - with a surprise result.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Who could choose between Sarah Lynn and James White?
The latest series of The Apprentice has reached a surprise climax.
Lord Sugar has chosen both finalists to be his business partners, for the first time in the BBC show's history.
The business mogul said he "genuinely couldn't decide" between sweet firm owner Sarah Lynn, 35, and James White, 26, who runs an IT recruitment company.
As a result, both candidates receive a £250,000 business investment and 50/50 partnership with Lord Sugar, who called them "fantastically skilled people".
"This particular year, I'm going to double my investment," Lord Sugar told them.
"I'm going to start a business with both of you."
Usually, Lord Sugar gives £250,000 to just one winner.
According to the BBC, this surprise double "hiring" does not constitute a format change.
But some fans were unhappy with the conclusion and reacted strongly on Twitter.
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Another felt the candidates in the final weren't up to scratch.
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But not everybody minded the twist.
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An audience of 6.5 million tuned into the final to see Lynn, from London, go up against White, from Birmingham.
Over the course of the 12-week series, the pair had seen off 16 other candidates to compete with each other for the privilege of becoming Lord Sugar's business partner.
The final episode saw Lynn and White pitch their business plans to Lord Sugar and his panel of experts.
"It is quite obvious that there are two fantastically skilled people there," said the 70-year-old magnate before reaching his decision.
"Deciding on a winner was the most difficult decision I have had to make in all 13 series of The Apprentice to date," said Lord Sugar in a statement.
Lord Sugar (centre) reached his decision after consulting Karren Brady and Claude Littner
"James and Sarah were extremely impressive and their proposed business plans were very different but equally strong.
"I genuinely couldn't decide between them, so after deliberating long and hard, I decided to stump up £500,000 and invest in them both."
Lynn said she felt "shocked and amazed" to be declared the joint victor alongside White, who said it was "very, very humbling" to be Lord Sugar's business partner.
The investment will allow the pair to build their respective confectionery and recruitment businesses.
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-42370165
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Student Liam Allan to sue after rape trial collapse - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Liam Allan's trial collapsed after police were ordered to hand over phone records.
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London
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Liam Allan said he was "disappointed" he had not yet received an apology from the Met Police
A man wrongly accused of rape says he will sue the Metropolitan Police over its failure to disclose vital evidence that led to the collapse of the trial.
Liam Allan was charged with 12 counts of rape and sexual assault but his trial collapsed after police were ordered to hand over phone records.
The 22-year-old student said he was "disappointed" he had not yet received an apology.
The Met Police said it was "urgently reviewing the investigation".
The case against Mr Allan at Croydon Crown Court was dropped after three days when the evidence on a computer disk containing 40,000 messages revealed the alleged victim pestered him for "casual sex".
Talking to the Victoria Derbyshire programme, Mr Allan said: "University is meant to be the best years of your life and the last two years have been spent worrying and not concentrating on anything.
"It has completely ripped apart my normal personal life."
The 22-year-old student had been charged with 12 counts of rape and sexual assault
He added he had not yet received any contact or an apology from the Met and found that "disappointing".
"I feel relief on one side, that the case is over, but now there's the stress of getting compensation and the process of suing - so it's not over completely", he said.
Mr Allan faced a possible jail term of 12 years and being put on the sex offenders register for life had he been found guilty.
He said he felt "pure fear" when he learned he had been accused of rape but would never be able to understand why the accusations were made.
It is understood police had looked at thousands of phone messages when reviewing evidence in the case, but had failed to disclose to the prosecution and defence teams messages between the complainant and her friends which cast doubt on the allegations against Mr Allan.
A Met spokesman said the force was "urgently reviewing this investigation and will be working with the Crown Prosecution Service to understand exactly what has happened in this case.
"The Met understands the concerns that have been raised as a result of this case being dismissed from court and the ongoing review will seek to address those," he said.
A spokesman for the CPS said: "In November 2017, the police provided more material in the case of Liam Allan. Upon a review of that material, it was decided that there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.
"We will now be conducting a management review together with the Metropolitan Police to examine the way in which this case was handled."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42399802
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First female Bishop of London appointed - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Right Reverend Sarah Mullally becomes the most senior female bishop appointed by the Church of England.
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London
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Right Reverend Sarah Mullally: "For some the appointment of a bishop who is a woman may be difficult"
The Right Reverend Sarah Mullally has been named as the first female Bishop of London, becoming the most senior woman bishop appointed by the Church of England.
She takes over the role from Dr Richard Chartres, who retired in February.
Legislation to allow women bishops was formally adopted by the Church in 2014.
The Church consecrated its first female bishop in 2015 when the Rt Revd Libby Lane was made Bishop of Stockport.
The latest appointment means the former NHS chief nurse, who is currently the Bishop of Crediton in Devon, will hold the third most senior position in the Church of England.
She became a priest in 2006, and has spent over 35 years in the NHS, including being chief nursing officer for England from 1999 to 2004.
Bishop Sarah, 55, - who was made a dame in 2005 for services to nursing - will be the third woman to run a diocese, and will take a seat in the House of Lords.
She said: "Having lived and worked in London for over 32 years, the thought of returning here is about returning home.
"I am often asked what it has been like to have had two careers, first in the NHS and now in the Church.
"I prefer to think that I have always had one vocation: to follow Jesus Christ, to know him and to make him known, always seeking to live with compassion in the service of others, whether as a nurse, a priest, or a bishop.
"To be given the opportunity to do that now in this vibrant world-city is a wonderful privilege."
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, described the appointment as "wonderful news" in a tweet.
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She will be installed as the 133rd Bishop of London at St Paul's Cathedral in the New Year.
The position was previously held by the Right Reverend Dr Richard Chartres
Acting Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Pete Broadbent, also welcomed the appointment.
"Bishop Sarah's work in the public square uniquely equips her for the important outward focus that is required in leading the diocese in this great world-city," he said.
"She also brings strong experience of parish and cathedral life, and sees her vocational experience as nurse, civil servant, priest and bishop as a totality."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42395378
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Brexit: Guidelines for the next stage of talks - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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What are the key phrases in the Brexit guidelines and what do they mean?
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UK Politics
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The European Council has said that Brexit talks can enter the second phase following last week's agreement.
As a result it has published its guidelines for the next stage of talks.
Here are some of the key phrases from that document.
Don't forget that there are plenty of crucial details that still need to be resolved before negotiations on a withdrawal agreement come to an end.
That means the financial settlement, citizens' rights and of course, the Irish border.
Sufficient progress is not the end of the story, but the text also makes it clear that there will be a concerted effort to lock in what has been agreed so far - and that if the EU detects any reluctance or backsliding from the UK then that will have a negative effect on discussions about the future.
Theresa May has already agreed that a transition of about two years will take place under existing EU rules and regulations, but the EU's text makes crystal clear what it believes that means.
The UK will have to accept all EU law (that's what the acquis means) including new laws passed during the transition itself.
But it will no longer have a seat at the table when those laws are made. To put it brutally - the UK will, for a while, become a rule-taker rather than a rule-maker.
Both sides talk of a strictly time-limited transition period, so there doesn't appear to be much appetite at the moment for extending it.
Quite what happens if a future trade deal isn't ready by the end of the transition, a scenario many experts think is quite possible, will have to be debated in the future.
During the transition, the UK will have to accept the full jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, and all four freedoms - including the freedom of movement of people.
The EU says the UK will remain in the single market and the customs union during a transition, while the UK insists that it will leave both on Brexit day.
This could become a semantic argument, because by accepting all rules and regulations - in other words, the status quo - the UK will remain in the single market and the customs union whether it likes it or not.
The British government has suggested that some things - like dispute resolution mechanisms - could change during the transition as agreement is made on future co-operation. But there's little appetite in the EU for that - in its view, you're either in or you're out.
The EU 27 stress that they want a close partnership with the UK in the future, but here they are setting out the limits of what they could mean.
The further away the UK wants to be from the rules and regulations of the single market the less access it will have - there is no such thing as partial membership.
This gets us back to the unresolved debate about what "full alignment" at the Irish border really means in practice.
The phrase "preserve a level playing field" is important too. The EU is anxious to ensure that the UK doesn't try to undercut the EU in any way by having looser regulations in certain key areas, and, if it does, then there will be consequences.
EU negotiators won't have the authority to start discussions with the UK on future relations (including trade and also things like security and foreign policy) until another set of guidelines is adopted in March 2018.
That gives the two sides not much more than six months to agree the text of a broad political declaration on the outlines of the future relationship.
The EU hopes to get that finalised by October 2018, but it emphasises that formal trade negotiations can only begin after the UK has left the EU.
Informal contacts on what the future might look like are probably taking place already, but the EU is still waiting for greater clarity from London about what exactly the UK government hopes to achieve in the long term.
The UK is trying to be as ambitious as possible about what can be done before Brexit actually happens. The EU, though, emphasises that trade talks will have to continue long after the UK has left.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42367532
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Rebecca Dykes: Family of embassy worker describe her as 'irreplaceable' - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The family of Rebecca Dykes, killed in Beirut, have spoken of their loss.
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UK
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The family of a British woman killed in Lebanon have described her as "irreplaceable".
The body of Rebecca Dykes, who worked at the British Embassy, was found near a motorway in Beirut on Saturday.
Ms Dykes had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
Police in Beirut have arrested an Uber driver in connection with her death. It has emerged that he had served several prison sentences.
The man is expected to be charged with rape and murder later this week, police sources said.
Her family said in a statement: "For Becky to have her life cruelly taken away in these circumstances is devastating to our family.
"Becky is simply irreplaceable and we will never fully recover from this loss."
Ms Dykes, 30, had been working in Beirut as the programme and policy manager for the Department for International Development since January 2017.
She had been helping Lebanon to cope with the influx of refugees from the war in neighbouring Syria.
It is thought she spent Friday evening at a going-away party for a colleague in the popular Gemmayzeh district of Beirut.
After leaving the bar at about midnight it appears she was abducted. Her body was found close to a motorway on the outskirts of the city.
The body of Rebecca Dykes was found near a main road outisde Beirut
The Foreign Office said it was in contact with the Lebanese authorities and confirmed an arrest had been made.
The suspect was arrested in the early hours of Monday morning after police reportedly traced his car on traffic management CCTV.
An official told the Reuters and AFP news agencies the preliminary investigation had showed Ms Dykes's killing "was not politically motivated".
The Gemmayzeh district of Beirut where Rebecca Dykes was last seen alive is well-known for having some of the city's best and most expensive bars and restaurants.
There is normally a relaxed atmosphere. It is a neighbourhood where foreign aid workers, diplomats and journalists mingle with wealthy Lebanese often into the early hours of the morning.
Despite the chaos seen elsewhere in the region, Beirut in recent years has been regarded as relatively safe. That is why this murder has left the international community so shocked.
After a late night out, many people would previously have thought nothing of catching one of the cabs that plough the streets, or calling for an Uber.
For a short while, anyway, that is likely to change. People will be more careful about how they get home. Beirut may be relatively safe but - as in any big city across the world - this murder is a reminder of the dangers.
Josie Ensor, the Daily Telegraph's correspondent in Beirut, says the case has left foreign residents in the city unsettled.
Speaking to the BBC, she said Beirut was a "very tight-knit community, so when something happens to one person, it feels quite close".
Ms Ensor, who was due to attend the same party on Friday evening, added Ms Dykes "had just landed on her feet in Beirut and was starting to make friends and getting to know the city".
Hugo Shorter, the British Ambassador to Lebanon, said the whole embassy was "deeply shocked" and "saddened" by the news.
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Tributes were paid to Ms Dykes in the House of Lords on Monday.
The International Development Minister Lord Bates added: "It's obviously a very distressing time, particularly for Becky's family, but also for the people who worked with her.
"It reminds us of the sacrifice which is made by over 1,200 Dfid personnel who work around the world, often in the most difficult and dangerous of environments."
Rebecca Dykes had been working in Beirut since January 2017
Prior to her posting in Beirut, Ms Dykes worked with the Foreign Office as a policy manager for its Libya team and as an Iraq research analyst.
She had reportedly been due to fly back to the UK for Christmas.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42401083
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Ryanair pilots in Ireland suspend strike plans - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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Ryanair pilots in Ireland join other unions in Europe and suspend strike planned for Wednesday
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Business
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Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary had always refused to recognise pilots' unions
The Impact union, which represents Irish-based pilots, has agreed to meet Ryanair's management on Tuesday ahead of the planned action on Wednesday.
It follows Ryanair's decision on Friday to recognise unions, in a bid to avert strikes across its European operations.
Unions in other countries had already halted action, but Impact said Irish pilots wanted more clarification.
In a statement on Sunday, the union said: "Impact has this evening suspended a planned one-day strike of Ryanair pilots next Wednesday after company management agreed to recognise the union as the representative of Irish-based pilots.
"The union has agreed to meet management on Tuesday evening, but says it is available to meet sooner.
"The union asked management to release its Ryanair pilot representatives to prepare for and attend the meeting.
"The union acknowledged the principled determination of Ryanair pilots."
The airline has offered to recognise trade unions for the first time after pilots in Ireland, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal threatened walkouts.
Ryanair said on Saturday that it would meet the German pilots' union for talks on Wednesday.
The airline's chief operations officer, Peter Bellew, confirmed the planned meetings in a social media post on Saturday, saying "let's keep talking".
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The Dublin-based airline announced on Friday that it would recognise the unions "as long as they establish committees of Ryanair pilots... as Ryanair will not engage with pilots who fly for competitor airlines".
It is the first time Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has extended such an invitation to union leaders in the 32 years the company has been flying.
Britain's Balpa union said on Saturday said it had accepted Ryanair's offer to represent British-based pilots, but only if the TUC federation of British trade unions was allowed to attend future talks.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Ryanair tells Today the airline is moving to recognise unions as it's "time for change"
Friday's announcement led to Italian pilots' union Anpac and Portuguese union Spac calling off strike action due to take place next week.
Pilots in Germany had voted to take industrial action some time during the Christmas period.
German union Vereinigung Cockpit said the onus was now on Ryanair to "prove that this announcement is serious".
In Spain, there are no strikes planned for pilots but ground staff unions have not ruled out action on 30 December.
In October, Mr O'Leary wrote to his airline's pilots to offer them better pay and conditions after Ryanair was forced to cancel thousands of flights.
The carrier admitted it had "messed up" the planning of its pilots' holidays.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42386891
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Wayne Rooney 'really enjoying' community service - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Everton striker said he was made to feel welcome at the garden centre where he is working.
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Liverpool
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Wayne Rooney says his drink-drive punishment of community service in a garden centre is "refreshing" and "relaxing".
Rooney was ordered to complete 100 hours' unpaid work in September after admitting being nearly three times over the legal limit when stopped by police.
The former England and Manchester United captain said he was made to feel welcome and was "really enjoying it".
The Everton striker was banned from driving for two years in September.
Rooney, who earns £150,000 a week, told Talksport: "I knew straight away I had made a stupid mistake and I have to move on."
Rooney, who said he was about halfway through the community service, added: "I've really enjoyed doing it."
He said he had been working with adults with learning difficulties in a garden centre and had been "helping them with different things they're making over Christmas".
He added: "Honestly, I'm really enjoying it, working with these people, and I think it's a place now where I'll certainly keep in touch with when obviously my hours are over."
The striker said the staff there were "doing a fantastic job" and made him "feel really welcome".
Asked if he got any "stick", Rooney said: "No, not at all.
"We actually don't even talk about football in there. It's a refreshing place to go and it's relaxing."
The 32-year-old pleaded guilty at Stockport Magistrates' Court to drink-driving following an incident in the early hours of 1 September.
Rooney had reportedly left a cocktail bar in Wilmslow, Cheshire, in a taxi with lettings agent Laura Simpson, 29, and later went on to take the wheel of her vehicle.
Police stopped Rooney in Altrincham Road at 02:10 BST - with Ms Simpson in the front passenger seat - after they noticed a rear light was not working.
After failing a roadside breath test the footballer was taken to a local police station where he produced a reading of 104 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit in England and Wales is 35 microgrammes.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-42397746
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Twitter's hate speech rules are expanded - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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There are more ways to be banned from Twitter as it expands what it considers hateful behaviour.
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Technology
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Twitter has not disclosed which accounts face closure as a consequence of its new rules
Twitter has widened what constitutes hateful and harmful behaviour on its platform, and says it will begin enforcing stricter rules concerning it.
Information contained in a person's profile, regardless of what they actually tweet, will now be considered.
Those who express an affiliation with groups that use or celebrate violence to achieve their aims will be permanently suspended, Twitter said.
Hateful imagery - such as the Nazi swastika - will now be hidden.
A "sensitive media" prompt will be shown to users before they can opt to view it.
But such content will no longer be allowed on a person's profile page, and users will be asked to remove it. Repeat violators will be banned.
The company said the move would "reduce the amount of abusive behaviour and hateful conduct" on the network. A spokeswoman confirmed profiles would be removed, but would not give an example of an account in violation of the rules.
"If an account’s profile information includes a violent threat or multiple slurs, epithets, racist or sexist tropes, incites fear, or reduces someone to less than human, it will be permanently suspended," she explained.
"We plan to develop internal tools to help us identify violating accounts to supplement user reports."
Twitter has promised a more robust system to appeal against decisions, but said that it was still in development.
The new rulings will also have an important exception.
"This policy does not apply to military or government entities and we will consider exceptions for groups that are currently engaging in (or have engaged in) peaceful resolution," the company said.
The changes had been made following consultations with Twitter's Trust and Safety Council, a group consisting of representatives from more than 40 organisations dealing with, among other things, anti-Semitism, homophobia, sexism and racism.
Twitter has defined hateful imagery as "logos, symbols, or images whose purpose is to promote hostility and malice against others based on their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin".
The announcement is Twitter's latest attempt, in a difficult year for the company, to clamp down on what many people consider its most pressing issue: disgusting behaviour from a significant number of users.
The challenge for the company has been to grapple with offensive content while not being seen to censor legitimate political views.
This was recently brought sharply into view when US President Donald Trump retweeted three tweets by Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of far-right group Britain First. Ms Fransen was previously convicted of religiously-aggravated harassment.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokesman said it was "wrong for the president to have done this".
A Twitter spokesperson would not say if Britain First would fall foul of the stricter rules, adding it would not comment on individual groups or accounts.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42376546
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BBC and Guardian sued over Paradise Papers leaks - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The law firm says the BBC breached confidentiality by misusing and publishing details within the documents.
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UK
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Law firm Appleby is taking legal action against the BBC and the Guardian over their reporting of leaked documents detailing offshore tax-avoidance schemes, known as the Paradise Papers.
It is suing for breach of confidence and wants the documents disclosed.
Appleby said confidential information had been taken in a "criminal act".
The BBC and the Guardian said they would "vigorously" defend the revelations, which were in the "highest public interest".
The leak of financial documents revealed how the powerful and ultra-wealthy secretly invest cash in offshore tax havens.
The papers contained details about investments made by the Queen's private estate and a tax avoidance scheme used by three stars of BBC sitcom Mrs Brown's Boys.
They also showed that Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton avoided tax on his £16.5m luxury jet.
About half of the 13.4m leaked documents were from Appleby, one of the world's largest providers of offshore legal services.
Panorama led research for the BBC as part of a global investigation involving nearly 100 other media organisations in 67 countries, after the records were passed to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.
The BBC does not know the identity of the source. Appleby says the data was taken by hackers.
Appleby is also seeking a permanent injunction stopping any further use of the information, and the return of all copies of the documents.
In a statement, it said its overwhelming responsibility was to its clients and colleagues.
The BBC said its "serious and responsible journalism" had revealed matters which would otherwise have remained secret and that authorities around the world were taking action as a consequence.
The Guardian said the legal action was an attempt to "undermine responsible public interest journalism".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42403700
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Bijan Ebrahimi murder: 'Institutional racism' by council and police - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A report finds evidence of "institutional racism" in the case of murdered refugee Bijan Ebrahimi.
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Bristol
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Bijan Ebrahimi was beaten to death and set alight in July 2013
A police force and council "repeatedly sided with the abusers" of a man murdered after being wrongly accused of being paedophile, a report has found.
The Safer Bristol Partnership (SBP) found a "collective failure" by Avon and Somerset Police and Bristol City Council in the case of Bijan Ebrahimi.
The disabled Iranian refugee was beaten to death and set alight on a Bristol estate in July 2013.
The SBP found there was "institutional racism" from both parties.
The council and police say they accept the report's findings.
Lee James, then 24, was jailed for life in November 2013 for killing Mr Ebrahimi three days after the Iranian national was arrested following complaints he had been taking pictures of children near James's home.
James repeatedly stamped on the 44-year-old's head during the attack in Brislington, shouting "have some of that".
While the SBP report said there was no evidence of any individual being intentionally racist towards Mr Ebrahimi, it did find he had been "repeatedly targeted for racist abuse and victimisation by some members of the public".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Mr Ebrahimi's sister Manisha Moores said the findings were "shocking"
It said this had been repeatedly reported to the police and the council but representatives of both organisations took the side of those who had been victimising him.
He said: "We accept all of the findings of the Safer Bristol-commissioned independent review, including 'evidence of both discriminatory behaviour and institutional racism on the part of Bristol City Council.
"We appreciate that no amount of lessons learned or changes in practice can possibly mitigate the impact this had on Bijan and his family."
Avon and Somerset Police, which was criticised for "conscious or unconscious racial bias" in the case in an IPCC report earlier this year, also said it accepted the findings.
"We failed him when he needed us the most and for that we're extremely sorry," a spokesman said.
"We continue to do everything in our power to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again."
The phrase "institutional racism" was notoriously used in the 1999 MacPherson report into the Metropolitan Police's handling of the Stephen Lawrence case.
Now, the Ebrahimi family say they are "disgusted" and "shocked" to see the same phrase used again - two decades later - in a report about the way Bijan was treated in Bristol.
Although they accept that changes have been made since Bijan was murdered, his sisters say they now want more extensive changes across the UK - to make sure institutional racism is a thing of the past.
The SBP report accuses council and police officers of being "prejudicial" in their dealings with Mr Ebrahimi.
It said they accepted allegations against him without investigating them objectively and had not appreciated his vulnerability as a refugee.
The report said: "As an Iranian man living in this environment, Mr Ebrahimi was disadvantaged by the inappropriate responses by Avon and Somerset Constabulary and Bristol City Council to his racist victimisation.
"Representatives of those organisations displayed a distinct lack of understanding of his plight and, accordingly, unwitting prejudice against him.
"There is therefore, based on the definition from the Macpherson report, evidence of both discriminatory behaviour and institutional racism on the part of Bristol City Council and Avon and Somerset Constabulary."
The SBP added that institutional racism was defined as "the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin".
The report makes 14 recommendations, including changes to the way crimes are recorded at Avon and Somerset Police and a staff awareness programme around institutional racism.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Racism "blighted" the life of Bijan Ebrahimi, says family lawyer Tony Murphy
Mr Ebrahimi's sisters, Mojgan Kahayatian and Manisha Moores, said: "No review can ever bring back our beloved Bijan but it is important that his voice has been heard.
"Bijan always said that racism must be challenged wherever it is found, including in town halls and police stations.
"Bristol City Council took nearly five years to accept that it failed Bijan and the need for change.
"This is far too long, although late is better than never.
"We will not rest until improved systems are put in place to protect other vulnerable people."
The family's solicitor, Tony Murphy of Bhatt Murphy, said: "Acknowledging the institutional nature of the racism at the core of this tragedy is an essential first step towards systemic change.
"There is no reason why the council could not have taken this step much sooner and its delay has been injurious, not just to Bijan's family, but to public confidence in the council's ability to combat racism. "
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-42393488
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Liverpool jail: The worst conditions ever seen, says report - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Some prisoners live in dirty and dangerous cells that should be condemned, a leaked report says.
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UK
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Inspectors at Liverpool jail found filthy, leaking toilets and some areas so hazardous they could not be cleaned
Inmates at Liverpool prison are being kept in the worst living conditions inspectors have ever seen, according to a report seen by BBC News.
Rats and cockroaches were rife, with one area of the jail so dirty, infested and hazardous it could not be cleaned.
Some prisoners live in cells that should be condemned, says the leaked document, with exposed electrical wiring and filthy, leaking lavatories.
The Ministry of Justice said it didn't comment on leaked documents.
Prison inspectors made what they called an unannounced visit to HMP Liverpool in September, having been made aware of concerns.
What they found, says the report, was an "abject failure… to offer a safe, decent and purposeful environment".
Cockroaches: There was no credible plan to tackle the most basic issues, says the report
The "highly experienced" inspection team said they "could not recall having seen worse living conditions than those at HMP Liverpool".
Highlighting one particular incident, the chief inspector, Peter Clarke, could not contain his exasperation.
"I found a prisoner who had complex mental health needs being held in a cell that had no furniture other than a bed," he said.
"The windows of both the cell and the toilet recess were broken, the light fitting in his toilet was broken with wires exposed, the lavatory was filthy and appeared to be blocked, his sink was leaking and the cell was dark and damp.
"Extraordinarily, this man had apparently been held in this condition for some weeks."
The inspectors found broken windows with jutting glass in cells
The chief cause of the problems, says the report, was a failure of leadership - at local, regional and national level.
Violence of all kinds had increased, fuelled by the prevalence of drugs, with most inmates telling inspectors it was "easy or very easy" to get drugs.
In addition however, inspectors found allegations of excessive use of force by prison officers were not properly investigated by managers.
Some officers are described as having a "dismissive" attitude to prisoners, with some staff applying "unacceptable" unofficial punishments, such as restricting showers.
There were more than 2,000 outstanding maintenance jobs, and only 22 of the 89 recommendations made following a poor inspection report in 2015 had been fully implemented.
"It is hard to understand how the leadership of the prison could have allowed the situation to deteriorate to this extent," writes the chief inspector, directly criticising the Ministry of Justice.
"We saw clear evidence that local prison managers had sought help from regional and national management to improve conditions they knew to be unacceptable long before our arrival, but had met with little response."
Most damningly of all perhaps, the report concludes: "We could see no credible plan to address these basic issues."
The report talks of a failure of leadership locally, regionally and nationally
"It's as bad a report as I've ever seen," said Lord Ramsbotham, a former chief inspector of prisons.
"But… how could anyone come up from headquarters, go into Liverpool and not feel ashamed about it?
"How on Earth did the head of the prison service allow the prison to get into that state?"
Asked if, in light of the report, Liverpool could be described as England's worst jail, Lord Ramsbotham replied: "I wouldn't dispute that."
One recently released prisoner told the BBC: "The cockroach problem was so bad, you can hear them gnawing at you at night."
Another said a leaking toilet in his cell had led to him "waking up with the pad swimming in urine".
Darren Harley, released last summer, said his time there was like living in a tip
And Darren Harley, released in the summer after 27 months inside for drugs offences, said the prison was "like living in a tip".
"If you put a dog in a place like this, people would come and take you away and lock you up for cruelty to animals.
"We're human beings. So we need to be treated right."
HMP Liverpool may now have the unwelcome attribute of being labelled England's worst jail, but prisons across England and Wales are under pressure.
Under the coalition government, the then Justice Secretary Chris Grayling dramatically cut prison budgets and staff.
Since the cuts, there has been a rapid rise in suicides, self-harm, violence and assaults within prisons.
Recognising its errors, the Ministry of Justice is in the process of hiring 2,500 new prison officers by next summer.
The governor of HMP Liverpool, Peter Francis, was removed within days of the inspection visit, and last week a former officer at the jail, Pia Sinha, was appointed as his replacement.
In a statement on the failings at Liverpool, a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "We do not comment on leaked reports."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42310501
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Cameron House fire: Two dead and three treated in hospital - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Three other people, including a child, were treated in hospital after the blaze at the Cameron House Hotel.
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Glasgow & West Scotland
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Footage of the fire at Cameron House
Two guests have died after fire broke out at the Cameron House Hotel beside Loch Lomond.
More than 200 guests were evacuated from the luxury resort after the alarm was raised at about 06:40.
Police said one person was pronounced dead at the scene while another died after being taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
A newly-married couple and their young son were taken to hospital for treatment and later discharged.
Police Scotland said the hotel, near Balloch, had been extensively damaged.
Police and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that two people had died
A number of guests were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
The three people taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow were members of the same family who were rescued by firefighters.
Speaking to the media gathered at the hotel's entrance, David McGown of the Scottish Fire and Rescue said: "Unfortunately, and tragically, this has resulted in two people losing their life as a result of the fire.
"The fire and rescue service's condolences go out to the people involved in this tragic incident and our thoughts are very much with the family and friends of the two people who lost their lives this morning.
"The fire has caused extensive damage to the central section of the hotel.
"Our crews have been working tirelessly since 07:00. We have 14 fire appliances at its height tackling this fire and more than 70 firefighters.
"As you can imagine, as well as being an absolutely tragic incident where people have lost their lives, it is an extremely complicated incident and fire to contain and will continue to do so.
"We will continue to work with partners to bring this incident to a conclusion."
Ch Insp Donald Leitch from Police Scotland said work was ongoing to establish the cause of the fire.
He said: "Police Scotland were called to Cameron House Hotel where 200 people were evacuated from the hotel which has been partly damaged.
"One person was pronounced dead at the scene. Four were taken to hospital where one person tragically died."
A report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.
Fourteen fire appliances were sent to the scene
Firefighters used jets to tackle the flames and smoke
Smoke rises over Loch Lomond from the fire, as seen from Balloch
A guest at the hotel told BBC Radio Scotland how she initially thought the fire alarm was a drill.
Ainsley Huxham said: "As soon as we left our room - I just thought it was a fire alarm, just like a practise go.
"But when we left - five stairs down from our room - we saw a whole room full of smoke and flames.
"So we had to run back down the hall, chapped on everyone's doors and shouted 'fire!'."
Emergency services working at the scene of the fire watched by guests
She added: "We got out within five minutes of the fire brigade getting called.
"And by the time we had got outside, the whole field was full of people."
Staff who turned up for their shifts at the hotel during the morning were being stopped at the entrance.
Much of the interior of the main central section of the hotel, thought to be the oldest part, was visibly blackened, with upper floor windows smashed to allow the firefighters' water jets access to the flames.
The Salvation Army were in attendance to provide the emergency services with food and drink.
One woman who works in the kitchen told the BBC news website she just heard about the fire as she was getting ready for work.
She said she didn't believe the news until she came down and saw the smoke.
"It's a really lovely hotel," she said.
"I'm so sorry to see this."
Stewart King, general manager of the neighbouring Duck Bay Marina, said he had been down to the hotel and was shocked by the extent of the damage.
"It was very bad," he said.
Guests were sheltered in Cameron House's Boathouse restaurant while the situation was ongoing.
Cameron House is one of Scotland's most luxurious hotels, with views across Loch Lomond.
The venue offers a romantic location for weddings, a championship standard course for golfers and five-star facilities for guests.
The chef Martin Wishart has a Michelin-starred restaurant at the hotel.
Cameron House is owned by US investment firm KSL Capital Partners, which was reported to have paid between £70m and £80m for the 132-room property in 2015.
A statement on the hotel's website read: "Due to an ongoing incident please be aware that Cameron House will remain closed to arriving guests for at least the next 72 hours.
"We would ask all guests and customers to remain patient as we work with the emergency services to establish the extent of the damage and ascertain when we will be able to re-open.
"More information will follow in due course."
Flags were being flown at half-mast at West Dunbartonshire Council buildings.
Provost William Hendrie said: "For something like this to happen so close to Christmas is just too painful to comprehend.
"I know the staff at Cameron House will also be devastated and our thoughts also go out to them."
Andy Roger, resort director at Cameron House, said the hotel was working closely with investigators to identify the cause of the fire.
"The safety and well-being of our guests, employees and neighbours is our first priority, and our deepest condolences are with the families of those affected.
"We are working closely with the authorities to determine the cause of the fire, and to provide support to our guests and the families of those affected."
Cameron House situated by Loch Lomond is one of Scotland's most prestigious hotels
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-42392459
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Lebanon country profile - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Provides an overview of Lebanon, including key dates and facts about this Middle Eastern country.
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Middle East
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With its high literacy rate and traditional mercantile culture, Lebanon has been an important commercial hub for the Middle East.
It has also often been at the centre of Middle Eastern conflicts, despite its small size, because of its borders with Syria and Israel and its uniquely complex communal make-up.
Shia Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Christians and Druze are the main population groups in a country that has been a refuge for the region's minorities for centuries.
The post is currently vacant. After Michel Aoun left the presidency in 2022, prime minister Najib Mikati said he would not be assuming the powers of the presidency, as they would be delegated to the council of ministers as a whole, as per Lebanon's constitution, which does not allow for an interim president.
Najib Mikati, Lebanon's richest man, returned to head the government in September 2021, having served as prime minister twice before.
His appointment ended months of political paralysis, as the country struggled with a collapsing economy and nearly two years of protests demanding wholesale political reform.
Lebanon had been without a government since Hassan Diab resigned after a massive blast destroyed Beirut port and the surrounding area in August 2020.
Lebanon's broadcasting scene is developed, lively and diverse, and reflects the country's pluralism and divisions.
It was the first Arab country to permit private radio and TV. These outlets dominate the broadcasting scene and air some of the most outspoken TV talk shows in the region.
Much of downtown Beirut has been rebuilt after being devastated during the civil war
1920 - The League of Nations grants the mandate for Lebanon and Syria to France, which creates the State of Greater Lebanon out of the provinces of Mount Lebanon, north Lebanon, south Lebanon and the Bekaa.
1926 - Lebanese Representative Council approves a constitution and the unified Lebanese Republic under the French mandate is declared.
1944 - France agrees to transfer power to the Lebanese government.
1958 - Faced with increasing opposition which develops into a civil war, President Camille Chamoune asks the US to send troops to preserve Lebanon's independence. The US sends marines.
1967 - Lebanon plays no active role in the Arab-Israeli war but is to be affected by its aftermath when Palestinians use Lebanon as a base for attacks on Israel.
1975 - Phalangist gunmen ambush a bus in Beirut's Ayn-al-Rummanah district, killing 27 mainly Palestinian passengers, claiming guerrillas had previously attacked a nearby church. These clashes start Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.
1976 - Syrian troops enter Lebanon to restore peace but also to curb the Palestinians, thousands of whom are killed in a siege of the Tel al-Zaatar camp by Syrian-allied Christian militias in Beirut.
1978 - In reprisal for a Palestinian attack, Israel launches a major invasion of southern Lebanon. It withdraws from all but a narrow border strip, which it hands over to its proxy South Lebanon Army mainly Christian militia.
1982 - Following an attempted assassination of Israel's UK ambassador by a Palestinian splinter group, Israel launches a full-scale invasion of Lebanon.
1982 - Pro-Israeli president-elect Bachir Gemayel is assassinated. Israel occupies West Beirut. Phalangist militia kills thousands of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila camps. US, French and Italian peacekeeping force arrives in Beirut.
1983 - Suicide attack on US embassy kills 63 people in April, and another in October on the headquarters of the peacekeepers kills 241 US and 58 French troops. US troops withdraw in 1984.
1985 - Most Israeli troops withdraw apart from a "security zone" in the south.
1988 - Outgoing President Amine Gemayel appoints an interim military government under Maronite commander Michel Aoun in East Beirut after inconclusive presidential elections. Prime Minister Selim el-Hoss forms a mainly Muslim rival administration in West Beirut.
1989 - Parliament meets in Taif, Saudi Arabia, to endorse a Charter of National Reconciliation transferring much of the authority of the president to the cabinet and boosting the number of Muslim MPs.
1990 - The Syrian air force attacks the Presidential Palace at Baabda and Aoun flees. This formally ends the civil war.
1991 - The National Assembly orders the dissolution of all militias, except for the powerful Shia group Hezbollah. The Lebanese army defeats the PLO and takes over the southern port of Sidon.
1992 - After the first elections since 1972, wealthy businessman Rafik Hariri becomes prime minister.
2005 - Former prime minister Rafik Hariri is killed by a car bomb in Beirut, sparking anti-Syrian rallies and a political crisis.
2006 - Israel attacks after Hezbollah kidnaps two Israeli soldiers. Civilian casualties are high and there is widespread damage in the 34-day war. UN peacekeeping force deploys along the southern border, followed by Lebanese army troops for first time in decades.
2008 - Lebanon establishes diplomatic relations with Syria for first time since both countries gained independence.
2012 - The Syrian civil war that began in March 2011 spills over into Lebanon in clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in Tripoli and Beirut.
2013 - European Union lists the military wing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.
2014 - UN says there are now more than one million Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
2020 - Government quits after months of protests over falls in the value of the currency, the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown, and rioting after a massive chemical explosion in Beirut's port.
Tourism and leisure are important to the Lebanese economy
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14647308
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Sports Personality of the Year 2017: Mo Farah wins top award - BBC Sport
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2017-12-18
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Watch as Sir Mo Farah wins the 2017 Sports Personality of the Year award.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/sports-personality/42387852
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Chile election: Conservative Piñera elected president - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Sebastián Piñera returns to serve as Chilean president for a second term, after a clear second-round win.
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Latin America & Caribbean
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Sebastián Piñera will serve as president for the second time
A conservative billionaire and former president, Sebastián Piñera, has won Chile's presidential election run-off.
Left-winger Alejandro Guillier conceded and congratulated his opponent on his win and his return to the presidency after a four-year gap.
With nearly all votes counted, Mr Piñera polled more than 54%.
It is a clear move to the right for the country, which is currently led by socialist President Michelle Bachelet. She had backed Mr Guillier.
About 14 million were eligible to vote in the ballot, including, for the first time, Chileans living abroad.
However, voter turnout was low, at 48.5%. It had been thought that a high turnout would favour Mr Guillier.
Mr Piñera called for unity after his victory:
"Chile needs agreements more than confrontations," he said. "The paths of the future unite us. Sometimes the stories of the past separate us."
Reaching out to his opponent, Mr Piñera added: "I want to talk to him about the points we agree about."
Mr Guillier recognised his "harsh defeat" in the election while congratulating his opponent
Billionaire businessman Mr Piñera won the first round of votes by a large margin, when the number of candidates reduced from eight to two for a final run-off.
He has already governed the country from 2010 to 2014, when he ended two decades of uninterrupted centre-left rule. But the former president and his Chile Vamos coalition had only a slim lead in the most recent opinion polls before Sunday's election vote.
He had the support of the business community, promising to lower taxes to get the economy growing again.
During his campaign, he promised to rein in the reforms brought in by President Bachelet, while his opponent Mr Guillier, on the other hand, campaigned on the back of her legacy.
While President Bachelet's progressive agenda has won plaudits abroad, her popularity plummeted during her second term, due in part to a 2015 corruption scandal involving her daughter-in-law.
This year, however, the president overcame conservative opposition to successfully ease Chile's strict anti-abortion laws.
Conservative critics say Ms Bachelet pushed her reforms too far. She was unable to seek re-election under the country's constitution.
As votes closed, projections indicated a victory for Mr Piñera, causing celebration among his supporters
Mr Guillier represents six parties in a left-wing coalition. He beat former president Ricardo Lagos for the Socialist Party nomination in April 2017, promising to continue Ms Bachulet's reforms.
A decade ago, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela were all governed by left-wing leaders.
But in recent years, conservatives have come to power in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, and Venezuela's "Bolivarian Revolution" has come under severe pressure with anti-government protesters taking to the streets for months. The win by Mr Piñera further consolidates that trend.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-42388019
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Bijan Ebrahimi's sister: 'Shocking institutional racism' - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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The sister of murdered Bijan Ebrahimi welcomes a report which found evidence of institutional racism.
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The family of Bijan Ebrahimi, who was murdered following failures by Avon and Somerset Police and Bristol City Council, has welcomed a report which found evidence of institutional racism in both organisations.
The council and police say they accept the report's findings.
Mr Ebrahimi's sister Manisha Moores said the findings were "shocking".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42400120
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Ikea's tax affairs to be investigated by the EU - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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The Commission says Ikea may have been given an unfair tax advantage in the Netherlands.
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Business
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The European Commission is to open an in-depth investigation into Ikea's corporate tax structure.
The Commission said Dutch-based Inter Ikea, one of the Swedish giant's two divisions, may have been given unfair tax advantages by the Netherlands.
European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said all firms "big or small, multinational or not, should pay their fair share of tax".
The EU will look at whether Ikea's tax affairs breach EU rules on state aid.
Under EU law, member states cannot give selective tax benefits to multinational groups that are not available to other firms.
"The Commission has concerns that two [Dutch] tax rulings may have given Inter Ikea Systems an unfair advantage compared to other companies," it said.
The move is the latest crackdown by the EU competition authority on tax deals between EU countries and multi-nationals.
A spokesman for Inter Ikea Group said the way it had been taxed "has in our view been in accordance with EU rules".
"It is good if the investigation can bring clarity and confirm that," he added.
The Commission's Ikea inquiry is focused on two tax agreements between the Netherlands and Inter Ikea which it alleges "have significantly reduced" the firm's taxable profits in the Netherlands.
Netherlands-based Inter Ikea operates the franchise business of Ikea. It collects royalties from other parts of Ikea and pays little tax on the proceeds.
The Commission says that in 2006, a Dutch tax ruling enabled Inter Ikea to pay a "significant" annual licence fee to another Ikea unit in Luxembourg, thereby shifting revenue to a jurisdiction where it remained untaxed.
Then in 2011, after the Luxembourg tax scheme was deemed illegal, Inter Ikea arranged a second tax ruling with the Netherlands.
This ruling focused on a loan deal with an Ikea unit in Liechtenstein, which enabled Inter Ikea to shift "a significant part of its franchise profits" to a low-tax jurisdiction.
A senior Dutch EU official said it would look at the details of the case.
"The Netherlands fully supports the Commission's work," they added.
Richard Murphy, professor of practice in international political economy at City University, said Ikea's tax arrangements were "unusually complicated" and as a result, an EU probe was "inevitable".
"Is their level of tax disproportionate to their overall activity in a country is undoubtedly what [the European Commission] are looking at here," he said.
The European Commission is not so much worried about different countries in the European Union having different tax policies, in fact considering it is supposed to be one, seamless market, there are a whole range of company tax rates and policies across the EU.
What it does not like are tax deals that are available for one type of company, huge multi-nationals, but not to everyone else.
Your local High Street furniture store has enough trouble competing with the likes of Ikea, with its massive stores, name recognition, buying power and marketing budget, without Ikea also having access to tax breaks that it could never use.
That is why Ikea is just the latest in a long line of giant companies that the European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has gone after.
She has already had Amazon, McDonalds and Apple in her sights, and this is big-game hunting; Apple alone was found to have benefited to the tune of £11.5bn in unfair tax breaks.
The EU's competition chief Margrethe Vestager is worried giant firms are gaining unfair advantages over smaller rivals
The Commission has recently ordered various member states to collect billons of euros' worth of back taxes from Apple, Starbucks, Amazon and Fiat.
The European Commission is worried that giant companies gain an unfair advantage over smaller rivals which have no chance of using similar tax schemes.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42396188
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Mobile phone and broadband services need 'radical improvement' - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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The head of the UK's Infrastructure Commission says mobile phone and broadband coverage is deplorable.
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Business
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The head of the National Infrastructure Commission has called for urgent action to tackle poor mobile phone coverage.
Lord Adonis has written to the telecoms regulator Ofcom urging it to take action to deal with the issue.
It follows a report that one million homes have poor broadband and large parts of the UK have no 4G coverage.
On Friday Ofcom said calls and text messages could not be sent on all four mobile phone networks in 30% of the entire UK landmass.
It is not the first time Lord Adonis has criticised the state of the UK's mobile and broadband services.
In October he launched a public consultation on the quality of the state of UK infrastructure generally, but singled out mobile services as an area needing urgent attention.
Now, in his letter, Lord Adonis says that Ofcom and the government need to "put all options on the table" to tackle coverage black spots. These should include possible legal and regulatory changes, he said.
The chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission said that it was a concern that four out of five rural homes did not have any 4G service indoors.
"In an age when access to a mobile signal is regarded as a must-have, it is deplorable that even in areas previously considered to have strong coverage, operators are still delivering such poor services that customers can struggle to make a quick phone call," he said.
"It demonstrates the need for urgent and radical action to tackle this issue immediately, ahead of new mobile spectrum being auctioned and 5G technology being rolled out," he said.
The former Labour transport secretary said significantly higher signal strengths were required to improve customer service and mobile phone companies should share masts where appropriate.
The government minister overseeing the sector agreed that industry must do more.
Matt Hancock, minister for digital, said there was a "clear need" for rapid improvements to mobile coverage.
"We've recently removed outdated restrictions, giving mobile operators more freedom to improve their networks including hard-to-reach rural areas," he said.
"But industry needs to play its part too through continued investment and improvement in their networks, making sure that customers are not paying for services they don't receive."
Ofcom said it agreed that mobile coverage should urgently improve and it was setting new rules for operators' licences.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42386899
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Uber driver arrested after Briton murdered in Lebanon - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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Rebecca Dykes, a British embassy worker in Beirut, was strangled and sexually assaulted, police say.
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UK
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Police in Lebanon have arrested an Uber driver in connection with the murder of a British woman in Beirut.
The body of Rebecca Dykes, who worked at the British Embassy in the city, was found by a motorway on Saturday.
The arrested man was 35 and has served several prison sentences, a senior Lebanese security source told the BBC.
Ms Dykes had been sexually assaulted and strangled, and the man is expected to be charged with rape and murder later this week, police sources said.
Her family said in a statement: "We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. We are doing all we can to understand what happened."
Ms Dykes, who is believed to have been 30, had been working in Beirut as the programme and policy manager for the Department for International Development since January 2017.
It is thought she spent Friday evening at a going-away party for a colleague in the popular Gemmayzeh district of Beirut.
After leaving the bar at about midnight it appears she was abducted. Her body was found close to a motorway on the outskirts of the city.
The body of Rebecca Dykes was found near a main road outisde Beirut
The Foreign Office said it was in contact with the Lebanese authorities and confirmed an arrest had been made.
The suspect was arrested in the early hours of Monday morning after police reportedly traced his car on traffic management CCTV.
An official told the Reuters and AFP news agencies the preliminary investigation had showed Ms Dykes's killing "was not politically motivated".
The Gemmayzeh district of Beirut where Rebecca Dykes was last seen alive is well-known for having some of the city's best and most expensive bars and restaurants.
There is normally a relaxed atmosphere. It is a neighbourhood where foreign aid workers, diplomats and journalists mingle with wealthy Lebanese often into the early hours of the morning.
Despite the chaos seen elsewhere in the region, Beirut in recent years has been regarded as relatively safe. That is why this murder has left the international community so shocked.
After a late night out, many people would previously have thought nothing of catching one of the cabs that ply the streets, or calling for an Uber.
For a short while, anyway, that is likely to change. People will be more careful about how they get home. Beirut may be relatively safe but - as in any big city across the world - this murder is a reminder of the dangers.
Josie Ensor, the Daily Telegraph's correspondent in Beirut, says the case has left foreign residents in the city unsettled.
Speaking to the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme, she said Beirut was a "very tight-knit community, so when something happens to one person, it feels quite close".
Ms Ensor, who was due to attend the same party on Friday evening, added Ms Dykes "had just landed on her feet in Beirut and was starting to make friends and getting to know the city".
Hugo Shorter, the British Ambassador to Lebanon, said the whole embassy was "deeply shocked" and "saddened" by the news.
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 Hugo Shorter 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.
Tributes were paid to Ms Dykes in the House of Lords on Monday.
Former Conservative MP Lady McIntosh said: "The loss of Rebecca Dykes in these circumstances is felt very deeply.
"And can we pay tribute to the work that she and the all Dfid team do, often in very dangerous circumstances, particularly at this time of year, for humanitarian purposes?"
The International Development Minister Lord Bates added: "It's obviously a very distressing time, particularly for Becky's family, but also for the people who worked with her.
"It reminds us of the sacrifice which is made by over 1,200 Dfid personnel who work around the world, often in the most difficult and dangerous of environments."
A Dfid spokesman said: "Our thoughts are with Becky's family and friends at this very upsetting time.
"There is now a police investigation and the Foreign Office is providing consular support to Becky's family and working with the local authorities."
Rebecca Dykes had been working in Beirut since January 2017
Prior to her posting in Beirut, Ms Dykes worked with the Foreign Office as a policy manager for its Libya team and as an Iraq research analyst.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she studied anthropology at the University of Manchester, and had a master's in International Security and Global Governance from Birkbeck, University of London.
She was a former pupil of Malvern Girls' College and Rugby School, and had also taught English at a Chinese international school.
Ms Dykes had reportedly been due to fly back to the UK for Christmas. She says on social media that she is from London.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42386721
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Advertising Standards considers inquiry into Amazon Prime - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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Advertising standards watchdog has had complaints about Amazon delivery promises and may investigate.
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Business
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Amazon's promise of next-day deliveries could be investigated amid customer complaints that it is failing to meet that pledge.
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is considering whether to launch a formal inquiry into Amazon.
The ASA said: "We have received a handful of complaints about Amazon parcel deliveries and we are at the initial assessment stage."
An Amazon spokesman told the BBC the ASA had confirmed to it there was no investigation at this time.
The ASA said there had been five complaints since the start of the month.
Amazon offers free delivery above a certain minimum spend, but express, unlimited delivery for Prime customers.
It also offers this coming Saturday, 23 December, as its final order date for Christmas orders, three days later than the Wednesday offered for non-Prime customers.
The BBC has been inundated with comments from Amazon Prime customers. Most reported problems with deliveries.
Gary from Farnham in Surrey, said: "Our Amazon Prime deliveries often miss their 'next day' target. We always make a point of complaining, and are generally given a 30-day extension to our annual subscription."
Craig from Carluke in South Lanarkshire, said his Prime orders were rarely delivered within a day: "They offer next-day delivery but it actually takes two days to come, which also isn't part of the agreement which I pay for. Not acceptable."
But other customers were happy. One pointed out that it was "unreasonable" to expect perfection every time. "It is a fantastic service and it is totally unreasonable to expect that things may rarely not work out," he said.
Amazon advises customers to contact customer services if they do not receive a parcel by the estimated delivery date.
The consumer rights group Which? points out that a company missing its delivery date is in breach of contract.
It says that consumers have the right to terminate the purchase and get a full refund in that instance.
It says the first step should be to contact the retailer directly to make a complaint that a parcel has not been delivered and request they take action to remedy the situation.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42394898
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Steroid abuse 'raising health risk for thousands' - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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British heart doctors are warning that thousands of people who misuse anabolic steroids are putting themselves at greater risk of heart attacks and strokes.
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Newsbeat
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Public health experts say the use of anabolic steroids is one the rise
Tens of thousands of people may be at increased risk of dying early from heart attacks and strokes by misusing anabolic steroids, according to doctors.
The British Cardiovascular Society gave the warning amid concern steroids are now being taken by hundreds of thousands of people.
Public health experts say men in their teens and 20s are behind the rise.
Steroids are legal to use but illegal to supply, unless you're a doctor.
As well as heart attacks and strokes, NHS guidelines show people who misuse anabolic steroids also risk health problems like infertility and mood swings.
Gareth Jenkins, 29, who lives just outside Cardiff says he's been using them for nearly five years.
"Everything that we do in life now carries the risk of heart attack, cancer whatever it is - so I'm going to get those risks anyway," he says.
Gareth says he doesn't smoke or drink - and that's why he feels it is ok to take steroids.
"It's still probably stupid from a medical point of view. But that's the way I choose to live my life."
Steroid user Gareth Jenkins underwent a series of tests to find out what damage, if any, he'd done to his heart
Gareth agreed to be put through a series of health checks to see what, if any damage, he'd done to his body.
The tests showed the wall of his heart had thickened and the results were "at the very edge of normal".
Hearing what had happened to his heart concerned Gareth.
"I class myself as a sensible person. I don't want to push things to a point that's irreversible."
While he doesn't plan to stop taking steroids immediately, he says he will aim to come off them "in the next one or two years".
One illegal supplier says many of his clients are young guys
Anabolic steroids cause an imbalance of hormones which can damage many different organs, but in particular the heart.
If you're found guilty of supplying them you can face a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
But that hasn't stopped one man, who spoke to us on condition of anonymity, from dealing them.
He told Newsbeat there's a "very broad spectrum of people that use steroids".
"It ranges from young guys at 18, 19 or 20 - and they're just starting training and they're looking to bulk out for a summer holiday or just to attract the girls."
He says that's different to even just a few years ago - when most steroid users were in it for the long term, not just for a quick, cosmetic fix.
"These are the guys who are less aware. So you do have to tell them about the risks," he says.
And that change has been recognised at professional level too.
"We're seeing now a different population of steroid users, predominantly young men who are using purely for cosmetic purposes," says Jim McVeigh, one of the UK's leading experts on anabolic steroid misuse.
He points to social media and advertising as being partly to blame.
"Whenever you see a man with his shirt off on TV, the chances are he'll have a quite a well defined physique," says Jim.
"This is something women have had to deal with for generations but this is quite a new thing for men."
If you've got any questions on this story check out the BBC Radio 1 Advice pages.
Find us on Instagram at BBCNewsbeat and follow us on Snapchat, search for bbc_newsbeat
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/articles/42391438
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Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport power cut strands thousands - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A handful of flights depart from the world's busiest airport after an overnight shutdown.
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US & Canada
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Passengers reacted with delight when the lights came back on
Passengers at the world's busiest airport faced a second day of disruption on Monday after a power cut led to hundreds of cancellations.
Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport lost power on Sunday, affecting tens of thousands of people.
Passengers were left in darkened terminals or on board planes.
Power was restored overnight and a handful of passenger flights resumed just after 06:00 local time (11:00 GMT) on Monday.
Hundreds of other flights, however, were cancelled.
The airport is the world's busiest, handling more than 250,000 passengers and almost 2,500 flights every day. But during its first hour of operation on Monday morning, fewer than a dozen commercial flights departed.
A number of cargo flights had operated during the partial shutdown.
Many hundreds of flights have been cancelled
Thousands remain stranded in the airport awaiting rescheduled flights. In a statement, the airport said it had distributed more than 5,000 meals to waiting passengers.
Security processing began at about 03:30 local time, it said, but those with tickets dated Sunday would need to reprint them to pass through checkpoints.
The airport advised passengers to check the status of their particular flight directly with their airline.
In a statement, the airport confirmed it had suffered a power cut shortly after 13:00 on Sunday.
Many flights scheduled to arrive from other airports were diverted elsewhere, or held at their departure airport.
Georgia Power, which supplies the airport's electricity, said it believed a fire at an underground electrical facility had caused the power cut. Officials said a piece of its switchgear could have failed and started the fire, causing cable damage.
Power was fully restored to the airport around midnight on Sunday.
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Atlanta's mayor confirmed the fire's cause was under investigation, and apologised to the thousands affected.
A number of major airlines, including United, Southwest and American Airlines, completely suspended their operations on Sunday. Each had at least some flights scheduled to depart Monday.
Images shared on social media showed passengers waiting in darkness. Some reported being stuck on board aircraft for six hours.
One passenger, Jannifer Lee, was travelling to Minnesota from Florida with her 10-year-old pet rescue cat Penny.
Her first flight was stuck for almost four hours at the gate.
Ms Lee and her cat spent four hours stuck at the gate on her connecting flight from Florida
"I was hoping to have a really smooth flight, especially with a cat," she told the BBC.
"I've only ever flown with her for two or three hours before, not a 12-hour journey! I guess animals can be a lot more resilient than people."
She and thousands of others were left stranded without information from airlines about onward travel.
"There was a lot of confusion on the flight, because the national news knew more about the situation than we did," Ms Lee said.
Another passenger, Naomi Harm, was stranded on the tarmac on a Delta flight from Sacramento, California.
She told the BBC that airline staff had kept the passengers in good spirits by communicating regularly and handing out any food and drinks they had available.
She said one passenger seated close to her had been escorted down to the aircraft's cargo area to give insulin to his diabetic pet dog in the hold by an air marshal.
After almost four hours she was guided out in darkness after portable steps were found for them to disembark.
"Inside the terminal there were thousands all over, children crying," she said. "The air conditioning wasn't working and it was very hot inside."
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 Naomi Harm 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.
The local police department confirmed it had sent extra officers to help the airport with the situation.
About 30,000 passengers were reportedly affected by the power cut.
Atlanta is located within a two-hour flight of 80% of the US population, making the city a major port of entry into the US and a common stopover for travel within the country.
• None Why do so many people hate US airports?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42387392
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Bijan Ebrahimi murder: PCs 'failed to act on victim's complaints' - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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Three police officers and a PCSO failed to act on complaints of a disabled man 48 hours before he was brutally murdered, a court hears.
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Bristol
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Mr Ebrahimi was murdered outside his flat in Brislington in July 2013
Three police officers and a PCSO failed to act on complaints of a disabled man just two days before he was brutally murdered by a neighbour, a court heard.
Bijan Ebrahimi, 44, was killed in a vigilante attack in 2013 after he was falsely accused of being a paedophile.
Bristol Crown Court was told PCs Kevin Duffy, 52, Leanne Winter, 38, Helen Harris, 40, and PCSO Andrew Passmore 55, saw Mr Ebrahimi as "a nuisance".
They each deny a charge of misconduct in public office.
The trial follows an investigation by the police watchdog into his death.
Opening the case for the prosecution, Crispin Aylett QC described the events leading up to the murder.
Mr Ebrahimi called the police on 11 July 2013 to report he had been attacked by his neighbour Lee James, 26, who suspected him of being a paedophile.
James, who later admitted murder, was described at the time by PC Winter to be "foaming at the mouth" and vowed he would "do time to protect his children", the court learned.
Mr Aylett said James was with a crowd who all took his side and "vigilantism was in the air".
Lee James (l) and Steven Morley were jailed in 2013
Following the episode, Mr Ebrahimi was arrested but James' threats were overlooked, the court heard.
Mr Ebrahimi was released by police the following day, 12 July, and after returning to his home on Capgrave Crescent, Brislington, Bristol, made 12 calls to the police in the hope PC Duffy, the local beat manager, would intervene.
The prosecution claimed the officer regarded Mr Ebrahimi as a "liar and a nuisance" and the defendants were "not interested" in his complaints.
The court heard PC Duffy asked PCSO Passmore to patrol the area and Mr Passmore claimed to have spent an hour in the area.
"The truth is that he can only have driven up and down the road," Mr Aylett said.
"Had something been done, Lee James would have at least known the police were keeping an eye.
"This was a toxic situation that required proactive policing," he added.
"Instead we allege that these individuals failed Mr Ebrahimi. It's not just incompetence - we suggest they disliked Mr Ebrahimi."
Two days later James attacked Mr Ebrahimi outside his flat then, with help, set fire to his body.
He pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence. Accomplice Steven Morley was sentenced to four years in prison for assisting an offender.
Earlier, PC Duffy told the court Mr Ebrahimi's complaints about various neighbours were always met with counter-allegations.
After Mr Ebrahimi's death, the police watchdog interviewed PC Duffy. He told them his "experience" of dealing with Mr Ebrahimi "taught" him to "evaluate all information" and "seek other accounts" before filing a report.
Prosecuting, Mr Aylett added that PC Duffy's "starting point" was to "disbelieve" Mr Ebrahimi unless it was corroborated.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-34789768
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Ashley Jensen 'devastated' after husband Terence Beesley's sudden death - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Actor Terence Beesley, 60, was found collapsed at his home in Somerset.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Jensen and Beesley attended the Emmy Awards in 2008
Ashley Jensen has been left "devastated" after the sudden death of her husband Terence Beesley.
The 60-year-old died late last month at their home in Somerset. The information was only made public on Sunday.
Beesley, who had starred in Victoria, married Jensen in 2007 after meeting on the set of a play. They have an eight-year-old son together.
Ugly Betty and Extras actress Jensen is currently starring in BBC drama Love, Lies and Records.
A spokesman for Jensen said: "Ashley is devastated and respectfully asks for privacy for her, her young child and the family at this extremely sad and difficult time."
Jensen is currently starring in BBC One's Love, Lies and Records
Beesley was perhaps best known for playing Buxton in ITV's Victoria and General Bennigsen in BBC One's War and Peace.
He had also been the first actor to star as Derek Branning in EastEnders and also appeared in film London Has Fallen in 2016.
His representative said: "It is with great sadness that I can confirm that Terence passed away at the end of November."
The couple met in 1999 when they appeared in a London theatre production of King Lear, marrying eight years later while Jensen was filming in America.
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-42394478
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Washington train crash: 'We could feel cars crumpling' - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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Passenger Chris Karnes describes the moment an Amtrak train derailed and crashed onto a highway below.
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Passenger Chris Karnes describes the moment an Amtrak train derailed and crashed onto a highway below in Washington state.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42360542
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BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017: Sir Mo Farah 'shocked' to win - BBC Sport
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2017-12-18
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Sir Mo Farah says he was shocked to be voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017 and "never thought I would win having come so close before".
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Last updated on .From the section Sports Personality
World 10,000m champion Sir Mo Farah said he was in shock and "can't stop staring at the trophy" after being voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
The 34-year-old had been considered third favourite by bookmakers, but topped the poll ahead of motorcyclist Jonathan Rea and Para-athlete Jonnie Peacock.
"To be honest, I'm kind of shocked. I didn't prepare any speech," Farah, 34, said via a video link after the show.
Boxer Anthony Joshua, rated favourite to win, was just 18 votes behind Peacock in fourth place.
Farah, the winner of 10 major global titles, has just moved back to England from the United States and was not in Liverpool for the awards show.
• None Relive how Farah won Sports Personality of the Year 2017
• None Sports Personality - the night in video, pictures and on social
In a chaotic interview from London during the programme, his stepdaughter Rhianna was alongside him, helping to take care of Farah's two-year-old son Hussein who was suffering from a sickness bug and wanting cuddles.
As the result was announced, millions of viewers saw Farah's initial delight at winning the award before the video link cut out.
After the show, the Somali-born Londoner told the media: "I can't stop staring at the trophy. I do owe it to the public, to the people who voted for me and supported me.
"It's incredible, amazing. To be honest with you, I never thought I would win having come so close before.
"What a night. It's been very entertaining. I've got my son pulling my mic and Rhianna shouting out. [Presenter] Gabby [Logan] was talking to me and I couldn't even hear what she was saying. I can't do two things at once - I can't."
Farah, one of 12 contenders for the award, has been shortlisted five times before and enjoyed his previous highest finish of third in 2011.
"Over the years, I've come third, fourth, or thereabouts, and I was like 'this thing, is hard to win'. But I guess you just got to do what you've got to do and over the past 10 years I've been very lucky with the career I've had and the support I've had," he said.
"The people who voted at home for me and have supported me on the track - without their support it's a long road and I wouldn't have done it without them, they keep me grafting.
"It's been an incredible night. I do wish I was there. It would have been nice to give back to the people. The most important thing in my life is my family.
"My son's ill, the twins have been sick. It's been a pretty hard transition moving back from the US to here. They've been struggling a bit.
"You saw my son and, in fact, he was throwing up everywhere in the other room."
Farah won with 83,524 votes, ahead of World Superbikes champion Rea (80,567) and Paralympic sprint champion Peacock (73,429).
Joshua was fourth despite beating Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley, and retaining his WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles with victory over Carlos Takam.
For Farah, a third successive World Championship 10,000m gold medal was the highlight of a year in which he also won a world 5,000m silver, missing out on a fifth major championships distance double in a row.
The four-time Olympic champion received a knighthood from the Queen at Buckingham Palace in November.
He bowed out from his track career with a 5,000m victory at the Diamond League event in Zurich in August and will now concentrate on road races.
"I'm looking forward to the marathon training. It's not easy, but it's exciting and you have to graft. My challenge is to compete fully in the marathon and go out as far as I can - and, who knows, get to the 2020 Olympics," he said.
Asked if an Olympic marathon victory would top his achievements so far, he said: "It would definitely top it. There's no athlete that's ever gone all the way up from the track straight to the marathon and been successful.
"I want to do the marathon and go all the way. If I'm in great shape and things are good, I will go for 2020."
Farah becomes the first long-distance runner to win the Sports Personality award since Paula Radcliffe in 2002.
Former Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, who received the Lifetime Achievement award, paid tribute.
"There was a bit of bit of drama at the end with the result, but I think Mo's had a fantastic year, a fantastic career," she said.
"It shows that he's definitely got the public behind him. He wouldn't have won otherwise. I think he will be very happy.
"He definitely deserves it and it's great to see athletics back on the top again."
It was a night of high emotion with the parents of Bradley Lowery given a standing ovation by the 11,000 crowd at the Echo Arena as they collected a posthumous honour.
Sunderland fan and club mascot Bradley, who died aged six from a rare form of cancer, was named the winner of the Helen Rollason Award.
The award, for achievement in the face of adversity, is in memory of the BBC presenter who died of cancer in 1999.
"I'm so proud to be here to collect this on Bradley's behalf," his mum Gemma said.
"It's amazing to know that even though he was my baby, the nation are still behind us. I can't believe he was even trending on Twitter this morning."
Bradley's positive attitude and cheery smile won him admirers across the world and he became "best mates" with Sunderland's former striker Jermain Defoe.
"He was only here for six years and it was a hard six years but he did so much in that short time," added Gemma.
• Phil Foden helped England win the Under-17 World Cup and took the Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player.
• Denise Larrad for her fundraising work. The 55-year-old has had one sole aim - to get the people of Hinckley in Leicestershire active.
• Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill won Olympic gold at London 2012 and a silver at the Rio Games four years later.
• Roger Federer won the award for a record fourth time after claiming his eighth Wimbledon title and 19th Grand Slam in 2017.
• England women's cricket team produced a stunning fightback to beat India and win the World Cup in July.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/sports-personality/42388258
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Gateshead man, 84, chases off knife-wielding burglar - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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The elderly occupant refused to hand over cash to the intruder, police say.
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Tyne & Wear
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An 84-year-old man chased a knife-wielding burglar from his house during a night-time break-in.
The elderly man, who suffered hand injuries, refused to hand over cash when the burglar entered his home in Gateshead on Sunday at 21:20 GMT.
The intruder, thought to be a young man, fled the address at Oakwood Gardens, Lobley Hill.
He was described as being about 5ft 9in (1.75m) tall, white, of medium build with black crew-cut hair and stubble.
He was wearing a black tracksuit with white stripes on the arms and a hood, Northumbria Police said.
A spokesman said: "A man entered the rear of the address and approached the occupant, an 84-year-old man, inside the house and made threats with a knife.
"The victim refused to hand over any money and chased the offender out of the house [from] where the offender made off down a back path leading under the A1.
"The victim demonstrated great bravery and courage in this incident, and thankfully he was not seriously injured.
"An investigation has already been launched and... officers are in the area carrying out house to house enquiries and viewing CCTV to help us identify the man responsible."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-42391408
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Princess Charlotte to start nursery school in January - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's daughter will attend the London school in the new year.
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UK
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Princess Charlotte will begin attending a London nursery school in January, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have announced.
The couple's daughter, aged two, will start at the Willcocks Nursery School, close to their Kensington Palace home.
Earlier this year Charlotte's brother Prince George, four, started at Thomas's Battersea, an £18,000-a-year prep school.
A spokesperson for Willcocks said it was "delighted" by the news.
Fees for Willcocks vary depending on age and whether a child goes to the morning or afternoon school.
The highest cost per term is £3,050 for the morning school.
Previously Prince George attended the £33-a-day Westacre Montessori School Nursery in Norfolk, near the Duke and Duchess's home in Norfolk, Anmer Hall.
When Prince William was an infant, he attended the Minors Nursery School, which was also close to Kensington Palace.
The Duke of Cambridge was one of the first members of the direct Royal Family to attend a nursery.
In 2016 he told a Vietnam talk show: "I would like George and Charlotte to grow up being a little bit more simple in their approach and their outlook."
The news of Princess Charlotte's nursery comes after the royals released the photo which will feature on their Christmas card, taken by Getty Images royal photographer Chris Jackson.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge released their Christmas card photo on the day they announced Princess Charlotte would be attending nursery
The photo features Prince George and Princess Charlotte both wearing light blue, standing directly in front of the Duke and Duchess.
The Duchess of Cambridge is currently expecting the couple's third child, which is due in the spring.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42397626
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Ofcom to investigate BBC climate change interview - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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It's the regulator's first investigation since taking over responsibility for BBC standards.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Interviews with former Chancellor Lord Lawson sparked complaints in 2014 and 2017
Media watchdog Ofcom has launched its first broadcasting standards investigation into the BBC since taking over as its regulator in April.
Ofcom will look into whether Radio 4's Today programme broke broadcasting rules during an interview with climate change sceptic Lord Lawson in August.
The BBC has admitted the item broke its guidelines and said Lord Lawson should have been challenged "more robustly".
It followed a 2014 interview with Lord Lawson that also breached BBC rules.
After that appearance, the BBC's editorial complaints unit upheld complaints from three listeners that Today had given undue weight to his views and had conveyed a misleading impression of the scientific evidence.
The flagship news programme invited the Conservative peer back in August 2017.
On that occasion, he said "official figures" showed average world temperatures had "slightly declined" - but he wasn't challenged on air and that view was shown to be false by the Met Office.
The BBC admitted it should have challenged him and that the interview had breached its "guidelines on accuracy and impartiality".
Although the BBC upheld the complaints again, one listener referred the matter to Ofcom, saying the BBC hadn't taken sufficient action.
That prompted the regulator - which took over responsibility for overseeing the BBC's editorial standards in April - to investigate whether the interview broke its broadcasting code.
Ofcom said: "We are investigating whether this interview, which followed a similar interview in 2014, breached our rules on due accuracy and due impartiality."
A BBC spokeswoman said: "We have already acknowledged that we should have challenged some of Lord Lawson's statements more robustly.
"We recognise the weight of scientific consensus on climate change and the Today programme has covered the subject on many separate occasions with a range of voices from scientific backgrounds."
In 2011, the BBC Trust drew up guidelines saying BBC coverage should reflect the "general agreement among climate scientists" that the evidence is in favour of global warming caused by human activity.
That doesn't mean scientific research shouldn't be properly scrutinised or that sceptical views should be excluded from BBC programmes, according to the guidelines.
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-42400653
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Manchester Airport: Heavy fog and runway 'defect' suspends flights - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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Heavy fog and repair work on a runway at Manchester Airport led to all flights being temporarily suspended.
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Manchester
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Runway Two was closed because of fog
All flights were temporarily suspended at Manchester Airport due to heavy fog and a "minor defect" on a runway.
"Essential repairs" were being made to Runway One while weather conditions meant flights were "unable to make use of Runway Two", a spokeswoman said.
It resulted in the cancellation of a number of flights and departure delays of more than five hours.
Runway One was reopened shortly after 17:00 GMT but there were still some delays due to the backlog.
The spokeswoman said passengers "should check the status of their flights with their airline" but added it hoped "to have passengers on their way with minimal delays".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-42398721
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Interstellar object may hold 'alien' water - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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The first known interstellar asteroid may hold water from another star system in its interior, according to a study.
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Science & Environment
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The first known interstellar asteroid may hold water from another star system in its interior, according to a study.
Discovered on 19 October, the object's speed and trajectory strongly suggested it originated beyond our Solar System.
The body showed no signs of "outgassing" as it approached the Sun, strengthening the idea that it held little if any water-ice.
But the latest findings suggest water might be trapped under a thick, carbon-rich coating on its surface.
The results come as a project to search for life in the cosmos has been using a radio telescope to check for radio signals coming from the strange, elongated object, named 'Oumuamua.
Astronomers from the Breakthrough Listen initiative have been looking across four different radio frequency bands for anything that might resemble a signal resulting from alien technology.
But their preliminary results have drawn a blank. The latest research - along with a previous academic paper - support a natural origin for the cosmic interloper.
Furthermore, they measured the way that 'Oumuamua reflects sunlight and found it similar to icy objects from our own Solar System that are covered with a dry crust.
"We've got high signal-to-noise spectra (the 'fingerprint' of light reflected or emitted by the asteroid) both at optical wavelengths and at infrared wavelengths. Putting those together is crucial," Prof Alan Fitzsimmons, from Queen's University Belfast (QUB), one of the authors of the new study in Nature Astronomy.
He added: "What we do know is that the spectra don't look like something artificial."
Their measurements suggest that millions of years of exposure to cosmic rays have created an insulating, carbon-rich layer on the outside that could have shielded an icy interior from its encounter with the Sun.
This process of irradiation has left it with a somewhat reddish hue, similar to objects encountered in the frozen outer reaches of our Solar System.
"When it was near the Sun, the surface would have been 300C (600 Kelvin), but half a metre or more beneath the surface, the ice could have remained," Prof Fitzsimmons told BBC News.
The Gemini North observatory was used to gather observations of 'Oumuamua
Previous measurements suggest the object is at least 10 times longer than it is wide. That ratio is more extreme than that of any asteroid or comet ever observed in our Solar System. Uncertainties remain as to its size, but it is thought to be at least 400m long.
"We don't know its mass and so it could still be fragile and have a relatively low density," said Prof Fitzsimmons.
"That would still be consistent with the rate at which it is spinning - which is about once every seven-and-a-half hours or so. Something with the strength of talcum powder would hold itself together at that speed."
He added: "It's entirely consistent with cometary bodies we've studied - with the Rosetta probe, for example - in our own Solar System."
Co-author Dr Michele Bannister, also from QUB, commented: "We've discovered that this is a planetesimal with a well-baked crust that looks a lot like the tiniest worlds in the outer regions of our Solar System, has a greyish/red surface and is highly elongated, probably about the size and shape of the Gherkin skyscraper in London.
"It's fascinating that the first interstellar object discovered looks so much like a tiny world from our own home system. This suggests that the way our planets and asteroids formed has a lot of kinship to the systems around other stars."
A number of ideas have been discussed to explain the unusual shape of 'Oumuamua. These include the possibility that it could be composed of separate objects that joined together, that a collision between two bodies with molten cores ejected rock that then froze in an elongated shape, and that it is a shard of a bigger object destroyed in a supernova.
Artwork: 'Oumuamua may have spent millions of years travelling the Milky Way (shown here) before its encounter with the Sun
In a paper recently published on the Arxiv pre-print server, Gábor Domokos, from the Budapest University of Technology in Hungary, and colleagues suggest that, over millions of years, collisions between 'Oumuamua and many speeding interstellar dust grains could produce the object's observed shape.
Prof Fitzsimmons said this idea was very interesting, and added: "I think what we're looking at here is the initial flurry of scientists running around saying: 'How did it get like this, where's it come from, what's it made of.' It's incredibly exciting.
"I think after a few months you will see people focus down on one or two possibilities for all these things. But this just shows you: it's a symptom of what an amazing, interesting object this is... we can't wait for the next one."
If planets form around other stars the same way they did in the Solar System, many objects the size of 'Oumuamua should get slung out into space. The interstellar visitor may provide the first evidence of that process.
"All the data we have at the moment turn out to be consistent with what we might expect from an object ejected by another star," he said.
But asked about Breakthrough Listen's initiative, he said: "If I had a radio telescope, I might give it a go."
• None Asteroid to be checked for alien tech
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42397398
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Live: The BBC's Brexitcast podcast - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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Live: The BBC's Brexitcast podcast
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42403152
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As it happened: Amtrak train plunges on to US highway - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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There are reports of fatalities after the train fell from a bridge on to the road in Washington state.
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US & Canada
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We're now closing our live page following the derailment of the passenger train on its inaugural run in Washington state.
A recovery operation is continuing, and officials are so far declining to provide any casualty numbers.
Here's a quick recap of what we know and also latest reports in the US media:
• more than 80 people were on board the southbound Train 501 from Seattle to Portland which was running on a new, shorter route
• the accident on a bridge over interstate motorway I-5 happened at 07:30 local time (15:30 GMT) some 45 minutes into the journey
• thirteen of the train's 14 carriages jumped the tracks, with some crashing onto the motorway below
• officials say there were multiple fatalities, with the Associated Press reporting that at least six people died
• reports say 77 people were taken to local hospitals
• the cause of the crash is being investigated, with some reports say the train may have hit something
• one passenger was quoted as saying that the train started to wobble a little before the crash
• Washington governor declared a state of emergency to mobilise all resources for the recovery operation and assistance to the injured
You can still follow all the latest updates on this story and other news on the BBC News website.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-42404293
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Birmingham Royal Blood gig phones theft man jailed - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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A total of 53 phones were recovered by police after the show at the Arena Birmingham.
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Birmingham & Black Country
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A man who stole more than 50 phones at a gig has been jailed for three years.
Alin Marin, 22, of no fixed address, took the phones at a Royal Blood gig in Birmingham on 19 November.
The construction worker admitted theft and was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court earlier.
A total of 53 phones were recovered by officers after the show at the Arena Birmingham, West Midlands Police previously said.
The phones were recovered after the Royal Blood gig at the Arena Birmingham on 19 November
The force said it received intelligence that suggested gig-goers had been targeted at previous performances by the band, which led to Marin's arrest in nearby Broad Street.
Royal Blood are singer/bassist Mike Kerr (right) and drummer Ben Thatcher
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42400152
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The 'completely childish' man hanged for murder - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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One of the last two men hanged in the UK was mentally unstable - but his lawyers didn't plead diminished responsibility. So was it a miscarriage of justice?
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Stories
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He was one of the last two men hanged in Britain. A habitual liar convicted of murdering a man who had been his friend, and perhaps his lover. But according to a leading criminal lawyer, who has viewed documents uncovered by the BBC, he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Medical reports released to the National Archives this summer show that Gwynne Owen Evans, who was hanged in 1964 at the age of 24, had serious psychological problems. But his defence team made no attempt to enter a plea of diminished responsibility - a plea that, if accepted would have saved his life.
Just after three o'clock in the morning, on Tuesday 7 April 1964, Mr and Mrs Fawcett, an elderly couple living in the village of Seaton, Cumbria, were awakened by a series of thuds, a shrill scream, and then more bumps coming from the adjoining house.
Mr Fawcett got up, and as he was getting dressed he saw the lights in the house being switched on, upstairs and down. Then he heard a car driving away towards the village centre. He looked out, but it was going too fast for him to make out the number plate or any other details.
He called a neighbour, Walter Lister, who walked over to the house and knocked on the door. When no-one answered, he called the police. By 03:25 a group of officers, led by Sgt Park, had entered the house
They found the occupant, John West, lying dead at the foot of the stairs, on his back and naked from the waist down. A single 53-year-old man who worked as a driver for a local laundry, West was in a pool of blood, his head covered with cuts. More blood was spattered on the walls, down the side of the stairs, and on the banister. On the floor near the body was a home-made cosh - a piece of rubber tube with a short piece of steel tube at one end, and putty at the other.
Searching upstairs, police found a lightweight raincoat folded on a chair in West's bedroom. In the pocket was a lifesaving medallion inscribed "G O Evans", and a piece of paper with the name Norma O'Brien written on it, next to an address in Liverpool.
That tied Gwynne Evans to the murder.
When police interviewed the 17-year-old O'Brien in Liverpool the next day, she remembered meeting Evans and seeing his medal while visiting her brother-in-law, a soldier at Fulwood Barracks in Preston, four months earlier. Evans had then been in the Army too, but had been discharged shortly afterwards.
Police learned that Evans was one of the dead man's friends. The year before he'd been seen chauffeuring him around the neighbourhood, which suggested they were close: West was very particular about his car and hardly anyone else was allowed to drive it.
They also quickly discovered that Evans was a local boy - his parents lived in Workington, just down the road from Seaton - and that until recently his name had been John Walby. He'd changed it in a third attempt to join the Army, having been kicked out twice under his original name.
From Evans's parents police had obtained his current address, a small terraced house in Preston, 100 miles (160km) away. He was living there with Peter Allen, 21, Allen's wife and two young children. At the house, though, police found and arrested only Allen. Evans was out with Allen's wife, Mary, in Manchester. When the police tracked them down, Evans had in his pocket a wristwatch that had belonged to West, and Mary had a bloodstained shirt in her basket. It belonged to her husband.
According to police records, Gwynne Evans quickly volunteered information about the murder - putting all the blame on Allen. He and Allen had stolen a car to drive up to Seaton to borrow money, he said, as West was an old friend who'd offered to help him in the past. Both Allen and Evans were hard up, with fines and bills to pay.
Allen's wife and children came along for the drive too, and waited, asleep, outside in the car. Evans went in first, by his account, and he told police he just had a chat with West, whom he called Jack.
"I had some tea and a cheese bun and as we were talking there was a knock at the door. I honestly didn't know who it was, anyway Jack went to the door and I heard some banging. I went into the hall and I saw Peter hitting Jack with something that looked like a pipe... There was a lot of blood and I shouted to Peter, 'For Christ's sake stop it!'"
Evans insisted he hadn't hit Jack himself. "Peter did the thumping," he said. Evans told police the two men had stolen bank books from West's home, and managed to withdraw £10 cash from his accounts. He said he knew the police had found his coat, with the medallion and keys in the pocket.
"If I wanted, I could have said that my coat had been stolen and my keys were in it and no judge in the country would convict me. But I am glad I have got it off my chest," he said.
An odd thing to say, but as further questioning would show, characteristic of Evans.
That evening, in Preston, Peter Allen was interviewed. Initially, he claimed ignorance of the murder.
"You can get a stack of Bibles in here and I'll stand on them and swear I know nothing about it," he told Det Supt Roberts, who was leading the investigation.
But just a few minutes later, according to the police notes, Allen struck the desk with his fist, buried his head in his arm and said, "All right. I'll tell you. I'd like to tell the whole flipping world about it."
He said it started out as an innocent robbery. Sandy, as he called Evans, was to go in first, and let Allen in. But as Evans opened the front door West came out of his bedroom, and saw him. So Allen hit the older man with his fists. Then, Allen claimed, Evans gave him "the bar" and he set upon West with that too. Later, he revised his statement to say that Evans had also beaten West.
That evening, at a quarter to midnight, the detective superintendent interviewed Gwynne Evans. First, he asked if that was his real name. The reply was surprising.
"No, I adopted it after I found out I was born in Innsbruck in 1940 and that both my parents were German," Evans said.
The post-mortem showed West hadn't only been hit around the head, with a cosh - he'd also been stabbed through the heart. Initially, neither man said anything about that, but according to the police report Evans - unprompted - said: "I don't know anything about a knife. I don't have to use a knife to kill a man. I'm an expert at judo and karate. I never hit Jack- it was Peter that did all the hitting."
Police found Allen's account more credible. It tallied with the crime scene. Allen said Evans had opened the door for him, and West had unexpectedly come out of his bedroom upstairs. Evans, by contrast, claimed both he and West had been downstairs.
Police thought it unlikely West would have answered the door without any trousers on, his false teeth were found on the landing at the top of the stairs, and there was blood on the wall by the staircase.
Just after midnight, police interviewed Allen's wife, Mary. She said Evans had gone in first, and had come out about two hours later to get Allen. Then the two men had run out. When she asked them what had happened they said West had punched Peter - who'd punched back. Evans, she said, had told her he'd joined in.
The two men appeared in the magistrates' court a few hours later, on Thursday 9 April.
Mary Allen then revised her evidence, telling police Evans had stopped the car on the drive back to Preston and she'd seen him throw something away. That afternoon, she showed officers the spot, on the road between Workington and Windermere. A police dog easily found a bloodstained knife.
And after reading a local newspaper report of the court hearing, Mary Allen remembered something else. She told police that when they'd all returned to Preston, early on Tuesday morning, Evans had said "he never expected it to go in below the alarm clock". She now realised, she said, that he was referring to the stab wound to the heart.
After his appearance in court, Gwynne Evans was remanded in custody at Durham prison, where he was seen by the senior medical officer, P J Waddington.
There was no evidence of medical disorder, he wrote. Evans was "correctly orientated". In other words, "He knew where he was and he was fully aware of the reasons for his arrest and his committal to prison."
Waddington described Evans as being "of spare physique", just over 5ft 9in tall, with no physical ailments except flat feet and some small cuts on his face, possibly from picking pimples.
In another report the following month, he noted that from a very young age Evans had experienced psychological problems. As a boy he'd been referred to a child guidance clinic (elsewhere identified as Dovenby mental hospital) because he was "untrustworthy, lacked moral sense, was untruthful, and inclined to steal".
Evans confused truth with fantasy. "Evans believes that he was born in Innsbruck and his reasons for doing so are quite absurd…" the doctor wrote.
He said he was married to a German girl, and had two children - which also seemed entirely invented.
Evans claimed too that he'd been employed by Securicor for a year, and there become an expert in judo. In fact he'd only worked there for a week; he left as soon as his references had been checked, presumably because they were unsatisfactory.
He lied constantly. The doctor said these were for the most part "prestige lies" to enhance his standing.
On four occasions he joined the services, only to be medically discharged.
Evans had enlisted at 17 in the Border Regiment, where his fabrications led to him being sent for a psychiatric assessment. "This soldier was sent to me by his training wing officer," wrote one doctor, "on account of his frequent telling of big lies which he apparently believed himself." His first expulsion followed four months later.
In less than a year, he signed up for another regiment, the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers - but here too, his lies brought about his downfall. Within three months he was before a medical board which recommended discharge on the grounds of "personality inadequacy".
His commanding officer remarked: "He is a failure. He cannot make friends because of feeling superior and telling complete fairy tales all the time."
The following year he joined the Royal Air Force, but was quickly discharged on the grounds of "nervous instability". In 1963, he signed up for the Army again, under the name of Evans, but was soon found out, and discharged for the final time.
Waddington, the medical officer at Durham Prison, acknowledged Evans's "abnormal personality" and thought most doctors would consider him an individual with a "psychopathic personality, using this term in the broadest sense".
But he didn't believe this amounted to an "abnormality of mind" that would substantially impair his "mental responsibility for his acts and omissions" - the legal definition of diminished responsibility under the 1957 Homicide Act.
Evans's own lawyers commissioned Dr G F Duggan Keen, an experienced consultant psychiatrist, to examine him. He noted that Evans had been employed in 32 jobs, by his own account, from the age of 15, excluding the spells in the Army and RAF. Many had just lasted a few weeks, due he thought, to Evans's problems forming relationships, and excessive drinking.
After four meetings with Evans, he said there was "absolutely no doubt in my mind that this man is a psychopathic personality". But he could not identify a condition or disease. He said Evans was not "subnormal", nor schizophrenic, nor epileptic. He too concluded that Evans's mental responsibility was not "substantially impaired".
Neither Waddington nor Duggan Keen explained why they came to that conclusion, and this surprises Dr Tim McInerney, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at the Bethlem Royal hospital in South London, who often gives expert assessments in murder cases.
"If, as an expert now, giving advice to the courts or to a jury as to why I don't support diminished [responsibility] I would have to explain very clearly why I reached that position," he says.
The psychiatric reports are cursory by modern standards, running to just a few pages. Though McInerny says that was the style at the time, John Cooper QC, an experienced defence barrister and professor of law, says their brevity strikes him as a cause for concern.
"For those reports to be relied upon without them being tested, without further questions being asked of them, without further experts being used, as far as I'm concerned, is quite startling. And I would say quite startling not just to the modern eye but also at the time."
But these psychiatric judgements would play an important role in the events that led to Gwynne Evans's conviction - and his hanging.
Evans and Allen went on trial at Manchester Crown Court on 29 June 1964. The prosecution expected Evans to plead diminished responsibility. They had lined up their own psychiatrist, Dr Begg, who had met Evans twice. Like the other doctors, he said Evans was a "grossly psychopathic personality", and that responsibility for his actions was impaired - but, again, not substantially.
However, the following day, without explanation, Evans's lawyers decided to drop the diminished responsibility plea. The note on the Director of Public Prosecutions file reads simply: "Def advise Dim Res not being raised. Dr Begg informed."
Each man blamed the other for the murder. The evidence against Allen was much stronger - he admitted beating West and his clothes had been soaked in blood. There was no blood on Evans.
There was, admittedly, evidence incriminating Evans from Allen's wife - but she would have had good reason to try to shift the blame.
Evans said he'd been friendly with West, who "was like a father to me", and that he would never have hurt him.
However, both agreed they'd been ready to rob West. And unsurprisingly, Evans lied in court - and was shown to be lying.
Allen's barrister undermined Evans further by suggesting he'd had sex with West just before the murder, something Evans vehemently denied, but which was supported by medical evidence. At the time homosexuality was illegal, and it's likely this would have lowered the jury's opinion of Evans even further.
The trial ran until 6 July. The prosecution argued that the men were acting "in concert" and it did not matter who delivered the fatal blow.
Without much deliberation the jury found both guilty of capital murder - that is, murder and robbery.
"Without diminished responsibility, on my reading of these papers, the verdict of guilty was all but inevitable," he says.
A successful plea of diminished responsibility, on the other hand, would have saved Evans's life.
Evans's mother, Hannah Walby, wrote to him in clumsy round handwriting on blue notepaper: "Please don't give up hope yet." The verdict had been a great shock to her, she continued, and to his brothers and sister. "All is being done possible, you may get a reprieve."
At his appeal, heard at the High Court in July, Evans's lawyers also made no attempt to argue that he was not fully responsible for his actions.
Instead his barrister, Guthrie Jones QC, sought to challenge Mary Allen's evidence, on the basis that she was Allen's wife. However, the judge had flagged this up to the jury at the trial, warning them that she was not an impartial witness - so the appeal was dismissed.
The only avenue left was a reprieve.
On 24 July Evans's solicitor, John Marsham of Midland Bank Chambers in Whitehaven, Cumbria, wrote to the Home Secretary, Henry Brooke.
He pointed out that three doctors agreed Evans suffered mental impairment. He referred to a statement - not presented in court - from the father of a girl Evans had been seeing, a Mr Hampton. He'd put an end to their relationship because he had been so concerned about Evans's immaturity. He was "completely childish in everything he did" wrote the lawyer, "he would make toys that a child would make and play with them for hours before pulling them to pieces."
Marsham added that Evans had been shown in court to be a liar, which made his conviction "inevitable". "Even in the witness box he could not refrain from telling stupid and unnecessary lies" - a story about being chased by a police car, for example.
The letter was dismissed by the Home Office. Officials did nonetheless commission a final medical assessment. Three psychiatrists, Dr Pickering, Dr Mather and Prof Anderson, visited him in prison, on 27 and 28 July.
"He was a pallid slightly built young man, clearly tense, tremulous, with knitted brows throughout the interview," they wrote. He admitted being a habitual liar, and even lying to the doctors themselves.
Prison staff also reported that he lied often, to boost his self-confidence. The governor thought him a "happy-go-lucky extrovert liking to stand high in people's favour". No staff thought him insane, as "no sign of fits or transient losses or changes of consciousness were observed".
The news that there would be no reprieve reached Evans's family. On 3 August, Mrs Walby sent a letter to the Home Secretary.
"I write to you on behalf of my son who is under sentence of Death at Manchester Prison," she wrote.
She said Evans had never been in serious trouble before he met "this Preston couple". He had been brought up in the church, a member of the choir and the Boy Scouts, she explained. She pointed out he had been friends with West for five years, often staying overnight at his house.
"My son is mentally impaired and I had him under a mental doctor at the age of 8 years but he is not a wicked boy," she pleaded.
"Please may God guide you to make a mercyful judgement. I remain, yours respectfully Mrs H Walby."
Three days later, on 6 August the Home Secretary wrote in red ink on the file: "I regret I can find no mitigating circumstances such as would justify a reprieve in either case. The law must take its course."
The two men were hanged, in different prisons, at the same time: 08:00 on 13 August.
I came across Evans's medical reports by chance, while checking newly released files at the National Archives earlier this year. I then showed them to John Cooper QC and Dr Tim McInerney.
Cooper has no hesitation in saying that Evans was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
"Evans was a vulnerable individual," he says. "And that vulnerable individual was sent into court, into trial without the proper defence put forward for the jury to consider."
The proper defence, in his view, would have been a plea of diminished responsibility. And this plea, he argues, would have had a far greater chance of success if there had been a more thorough psychiatric examination.
The 1957 Homicide Act led to a sharp drop in the number of hangings for two reasons. One was that murder became punishable by death only when combined with other offences. This did not help Evans and Allen, because they were charged with robbery as well as murder.
The other reason was the new defence of diminished responsibility. It allowed many to escape the noose, and might have saved Evans.
Tim McInerney has seen one case from 1963, a double murder, where the killer - with a similar psychiatric profile to Evans - escaped trial entirely, being sent instead to a special hospital.
Doctors operate on the principle of "do least harm", he says. So he wonders what went through the minds of the doctors who examined Evans - knowing that if they didn't support diminished responsibility, he'd be hanged.
John Cooper also points out that in the last years of the death penalty, "it was in essence a postcode lottery - depending on which prison you were in, as to whether you survived". This "adds to the macabre nature of the last few months of the death penalty", in his view.
In 1964, Allen and Evans were the only people hanged in the UK. There were only two hangings the year before, as well. And less than a year after the two young men were executed, capital punishment was suspended in Great Britain.
Parliament voted to make the suspension permanent in 1969.
Pictures courtesy of the National Archives. Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans images copyright Mirrorpix.
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RAF Mildenhall: Shots fired in security alert at US Suffolk airbase - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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US personnel respond as a man drives through a checkpoint near to an aircraft at RAF Mildenhall.
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Suffolk
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A man has been arrested after driving through a military checkpoint, getting close to an aircraft at a base in Suffolk used by the US Air Force.
Shots were fired by US personnel before the 44-year-old British man was overcome by staff at RAF Mildenhall.
The base was temporarily put into lockdown as Suffolk police responded to reports of what they called a "significant incident".
Police said the incident was being treated as trespass, not terrorism.
Supt Kim Warner, from Suffolk Police, said the man, who suffered cuts and bruises, was arrested after a "short pursuit" and his vehicle was stopped by US security services.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The base was temporarily put on lockdown
There was "no obvious motive at this stage", he said, adding there was no wider threat to the public or the base and police were not looking for anyone else.
The vehicle was brought to a halt close to a US plane, an Osprey, and it was not thought there was "any significant damage" to the vehicle or the aircraft, Supt Warner said.
Suffolk Police was notified about a breach of security at about 13:40 GMT.
"Shots were fired by US security, I don't know how many, but I do know that shots were fired," Supt Warner said.
"It would be fair to say some of the minor injuries were probably as a result of him being apprehended," he added.
The superintendent said there would now be an internal investigation by the US airbase into why guns were discharged.
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RAF Mildenhall is protected by Ministry of Defence police and US armed guards.
The US Air Force said in a statement it was continuing to work with local authorities.
The base is used as a transport hub by the US and is home to a fleet of refuelling aircraft and special operations forces.
It has about 3,200 military personnel, with 400 to 500 UK civilian staff employed there.
The base was one of 56 MoD sites earmarked for closure.
However, the US Air Force said in September it was delaying plans to relocate its operations to a base in Germany until 2024.
RAF Mildenhall has previously been a potential target for a terror attack against US military personnel.
In May 2016, Junead Khan was given a life sentence for preparing terrorist acts after a court heard how he used his job as a delivery driver to gather information about the base.
It's highly unusual for shots to be fired by US personnel. That said, in the past few years security has been stepped up at the US base, which now has a much tighter perimeter.
You can't just drive into the base, you have to go through what's called the '"shed" - your car is checked and you have to go through lots of tight security measures.
RAF Mildenhall is essentially a little piece of America, with more than 3,000 US personnel based here, and there's very close co-operation between the American military police and the British civilian police.
US bases here are governed by the Status of Forces Act so there are very clear rules of engagement here, with certain protocols in place when it come to the discharge of firearms.
US personnel are allowed to fire guns, but these rules of engagement are not made public because of security considerations.
There will undoubtedly be a conversation as a result of this incident between the Pentagon and the Ministry of Defence as to exactly what happened here and why guns were fired.
• None Welcome to England's 'Little America'
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42401585
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Jay-Z halts show for fan who survived cancer - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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Jay-Z halted a concert in California for a fan who has survived cancer twice.
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Jay-Z halted a concert in California for a fan who has survived cancer twice.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42395794
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'Nice' Australian was a 'loyal agent' for North Korea - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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Further details have emerged about the man accused of being an economic agent for North Korea.
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Australia
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Chan Han Choi was arrested at his Sydney unit on Saturday night
Further details have emerged about the Australian man accused of being an economic agent for North Korea.
Chan Han Choi, 59 was arrested in Sydney by Australian police and charged with brokering sales and discussing the supply of weapons of mass destruction.
Police allege he broke UN and domestic sanctions against the country in the first case of its kind in Australia.
They described him as a "loyal agent" who believed himself to be acting for "some higher patriotic purpose".
Mr Choi was born in South Korea but lived in Australia for more than 30 years and was a naturalised citizen, police said.
He is the first person to be charged under Australia's Weapons of Mass Destruction Act
According to The Australian newspaper, the 59-year-old was a hospital cleaner who lived by himself in a rental unit in the Sydney suburb of Eastwood and was known in the local Korean Christian community.
Some of his former church friends told the newspaper they had broken off their friendship with Mr Choi when he began to express support for North Korea.
He had allegedly "turned", and visited the rogue regime frequently, the newspaper said.
"I hated that my husband met with him and I don't like anything related to North Korea; many people are scared for their safety," the wife of a former friend told The Australian.
"All those trips to North Korea — he was very private and we thought it was very strange."
The pair said they were shocked to hear of Saturday's arrest, but weren't surprised. Mr Choi had told them that he sent his own money to North Korea, they said.
His neighbours described a man who was "softly spoken", "polite" and "nice", to local newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Choi is the first person to be charged under Australia's weapons of mass destruction act and faces six charges.
Police allege he discussed the sale of ballistic missile technology with foreign entities, and brokered the sale of commodities such as coal, in order to raise income for North Korea.
He could face up to 10 years in jail and was released on bail on Sunday.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-42388409
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Ban sale of mini mobile phones, justice secretary says - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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The tiny devices are designed to evade prison body scanners, the justice secretary says.
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UK
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This MoJ picture shows how small the phones - which are often smuggled internally - can be
Online retailers should ban the sale of miniature mobile phones designed to be smuggled into prisons, the justice secretary has said.
David Lidington said the devices were advertised as being able to go undetected by the body orifice security scanners used in England and Wales.
"Beat the BOSS" phones can be bought for £25, but are reportedly changing hands for up to £500 inside jails.
About 20,000 illicit phones and Sim cards were recovered by guards in 2016.
It is estimated that up to a third of mobiles found are "beat the BOSS" phones, the Ministry of Justice says.
Some as small as a lipstick, the mini mobiles are readily available from online marketplaces.
They are marketed as being virtually metal-free and therefore able to beat the detectors anyone entering a prison must pass through.
"It's pretty clear that these miniature phones are being advertised and sold with the purpose of being smuggled," Mr Lidington will say in a speech on Monday.
"I am calling on online retailers and trading websites to take down products that are advertised to evade detection measures in prisons."
Mobile phones, which are banned in prisons, can be used to facilitate more crime and intimidate victims from behind bars, the Ministry of Justice says.
It says it has invested £2m in detection equipment, including portable detection devices, which can be used to find mobiles in prisons.
It is has also acquired new powers to block specific phones from accessing communications networks.
Mini phones are listed for sale on websites including Amazon, Gumtree and eBay.
EBay said it had made the decision to stop selling them some months ago and would make sure the justice secretary was aware it was "already going above and beyond" ahead of his intervention.
The firm said it would continue to manually remove any items that slip through.
The BBC has also contacted Amazon and Gumtree for comment.
Just as those of us "on the outside" can't live without our phones, in prison they have become ubiquitous, prized possessions.
They are used to organise the lives of inmates intent on continuing illegal activity, be that the smuggling of contraband into prisons or ongoing criminal activities outside.
Prison staff can't listen to mobile phone calls as they do legitimate calls that prisoners make to their families.
Mini phones like those worrying the justice secretary were among the material seized from a gang recently jailed for smuggling £1m of prohibited items into jails.
And they're even harder for prisons to stamp out because they can be hidden inside people's bodies - hence the need for body orifice - or BOSS - scanners.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42383351
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Wendy Thomas jailed for people smuggling to UK - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Wendy Thomas hid three people in a car and tried to drive them into the UK via the Channel tunnel.
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South East Wales
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Wendy Thomas hid two women and a man in a car she tried to drive into the UK
A woman who hid three people in a car and tried to drive them into the UK has been jailed for people smuggling.
The Home Office said officers discovered the stowaways after stopping Wendy Thomas' car at the Eurotunnel terminal in France on 9 October 2016.
Two of them were unresponsive and were rushed to hospital.
Thomas, 50, of Cardiff, admitted assisting illegal immigration and was sentenced to 33 months at Blackfriars Crown Court.
The man was found under a duvet in the car's foot well
The two women were taken to hospital after being found unresponsive
Two women were found inside a large black holdall in the boot of Thomas' car and had been covered by pillows and a large soft toy.
The third passenger, a man who later claimed to be an Iranian national and was handed to the French authorities, was found hiding under cushions and a quilt in the rear foot wells.
Thomas' co-conspirators Adriano Bettoja-Allen, 37, and his wife Jeanette, 49, of Newport, were also sentenced for their parts in two separate "carefully planned" attempts to smuggle people into the UK.
The Home Office said investigations started following the arrest of Dawood Shahbeik at St Pancras International station, after he arrived on the Eurostar from Calais on 2 October 2016.
Text messages on his mobile phone referred to a person who had been taken to a house in Newport, while a search of his luggage revealed a damaged Iranian passport and a large amount of cash.
The pillows and large toy used to hide the three stowaways
Thomas was arrested a week after Shahbeik and text messages on both their phones showed they had been in regular contact with Adriano Bettoja-Allen.
Investigators found he and his wife had travelled through Calais on 2 October after meeting Shahbeik in Dunkirk.
They also found Thomas and Bettoja-Allen had travelled in separate vehicles from Folkestone, Kent, to Coquelles, France, on the same Eurotunnel train on 8 October.
Adriano Bettoja-Allen returned to the UK less than two hours after Thomas had been stopped by Border Force officers and financial checks also uncovered a large deposit into Thomas' bank account in September 2016.
Adriano Bettoja-Allen was jailed for five years for his part in the smuggling operation
Adriano Bettoja-Allen admitted assisting illegal immigration and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Jeanette Bettoja-Allen pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to 11 months, suspended for two years.
Shahbeik, who also admitted the same charge, was sentenced to 18 months in prison at an earlier hearing.
Speaking after the case concluded, David Fairclough, assistant director from Immigration Enforcement's Criminal and Financial Investigation team, said: "Adriano Bettoja-Allen was revealed by our investigations to be the common link between what initially appeared to be unconnected incidents.
"Our investigations showed that far from being opportunistic attempts to undermine the UK's border controls, the offences had been carefully planned.
"The fact that two women ended up in hospital demonstrates the dangerous lengths people smugglers will go to."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-42402386
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Russia meddled on Twitter after UK terror attacks, study says - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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A study accuses Russian-linked Twitter accounts of exploiting four terrorist attacks to divide the UK.
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Technology
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The study indicated that the Russian-linked accounts were most active after the Manchester Arena attack
Suspected Russia-linked Twitter accounts were used to "extend the impact and harm" of four 2017 terrorist attacks in the UK, a study says.
Cardiff University researchers have found hundreds of related messages in 47 accounts previously tied to Russia.
Some posts were anti-Muslim in nature, while others were critical of those who held such views, they report.
Moscow has not commented but has denied past claims it sought to meddle in Western democracies via social media.
Even so, one influential MP has condemned the activity.
"It is wrong that any organisation should spread disinformation following a terrorist attack, with the purpose of spreading hatred and making worse an already desperate and confusing situation," Damian Collins, chair of the digital, culture, media and sport select committee, told the BBC.
"At a time when victims are still lying on the ground and loved ones are in need of clear and accurate information about the situation, the deliberate spreading of disinformation is unforgivable.
"The methods of organisations such as the Russian-backed Internet Research Agency are becoming increasingly clear. Through our inquiry into fake news, I am determined that they should be exposed."
The BBC understands that the researchers did not share details of the accounts with Twitter.
The social network limited itself to a brief comment: "In each of the attacks, the tweets identified in this research represent less than 0.01% of the total tweets sent in the 24-hour period following the attack."
Cardiff University's Crime and Security Research Institute analysed millions of posts and comments gathered from various social media platforms, before honing in on 70 suspected "sock puppet" Twitter accounts.
Forty-seven of these had previously been tied to Russia by US Congressional investigators, the Russian magazine RBK and others. It was these on which the inquiry then focused.
Five people were killed and 50 injured in the Westminster attack on 22 March
The researchers then determined that after:
This tally of 475 messages were reposted more than 153,000 times in total by others, the researchers determined.
Examples included: "Another day, another Muslim terrorist attack. Retweet if you think that Islam needs to be banned!"
In one case, an account named @TEN_GOP - which presented itself as belonging to a Tennessee-based American - took issue with a photo of a woman in a hijab supposedly ignoring victims of the Westminster Bridge attack.
"She is being judged for her own actions & lack of sympathy. Would you just walk by? Or offer help?" said the tweet.
But another Russian-linked account, @Crystal1Johnson - which appeared to belong to a civil rights advocate - took an opposing stance.
"So this is how a world with glasses of hate look like [sic] - poor woman, being judged only by her clothes," it posted.
The researchers highlighted that the accounts sometimes tweeted the messages directly at celebrities, including the author JK Rowling, in an attempt to get their posts noticed by their followers.
One account asked JK Rowling why she had not expressed "outrage at the Muslim terror attack" in Manchester
In addition, they note that several messages were directed at the English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson and UKIP's ex-leader Nigel Farage.
"The evidence suggests a systematic strategic political communications campaign being directed at the UK designed to amplify the public harms of terrorist attacks," concluded the authors.
"The implication is that we... should focus upon rapidly establishing what counter-measures are effective in offsetting the impact of 'soft facts' propagated by overseas interests as they seek to do the work of terrorist organisations by amplifying the capacity and capability of violent acts."
The researchers acknowledged that it was difficult to prove the activity had indeed been backed by the Russian authorities, but they added that they believed there were likely additional accounts they had not spotted.
Another independent researcher who has also investigated suspected Russian social media posts said more work needed to be done.
"Using fragmented datasets we have observed unusual activities on Twitter - eg an increase in the number of fake accounts spreading biased information," commented Prof Sasha Talavera from Swansea University.
"But we cannot comment definitively about their scale and influence without a large-scale investigation."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42393540
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Depression: 'I kept my head down to survive the day at work' - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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People would rather talk to their colleagues about sex and money worries than mental health problems, says survey.
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Health
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Natalie says colleagues often don't know what to say
"I'd sit at my desk and not be able to stop the tears rolling down my face.
"A few people said, 'Are you all right, do you need to be here?' but no-one was really that interested."
For Natalie Hall, 36, the fear that she might lose her job or not be trusted in her day-to-day judgements was a barrier to talking openly to colleagues about her depression and anxiety disorder.
But this may not be uncommon as a survey suggests mental health problems remain a taboo in the workplace.
The poll of 2,025 UK workers by the charity Time to Change found they would rather talk to colleagues about sex or money worries than a mental health issue.
When asked to select from a list the issues they felt they could talk openly about at work, 36% said they would open up about a physical health matter, 26% about money problems and 18% about sex - while just 13% selected mental health illness.
However, 58% said they would encourage a colleague to open up to them, or someone else at work, if they noticed he or she was struggling with their mental health and 16% said they would raise the matter with a line manager.
For Natalie, an intelligence analyst for Northumbria Police, putting on a brave face about the state of her mental health seemed the logical thing to do.
"At work I tried to carry on because I didn't want to give up, I didn't want to be defeated and I was ashamed as well because it wasn't talked about.
"I was really worried that if I said, 'I've got depression and anxiety,' that would affect my career and my job prospects for the future.
"And, you know, would I lose my job? Would I be seen as incapable? That the judgements I make aren't rational any more, that my work wasn't trusted and that I'd be sidelined for things?"
Eventually Natalie's mental health deteriorated to such an extent that she sought medical help from a new doctor and was signed off sick.
Now back in the office, thanks in part to a phased return to work and a supportive line manager, Natalie says colleagues just didn't know what to say.
"Don't get me wrong, I did have support and there were some supportive colleagues, but nobody really knows what to say and how to help.
"At that point I hadn't told anybody because I was still too ashamed to say it, I felt a massive failure and so I just retreated, I was no longer really bubbly and involved in the office, I very much kept my head down, stayed hidden behind a computer screen to just survive the day at work."
But she says small gestures can go a long way to help a colleague who's suffering with a mental health issue.
"It's simple things - 'I'll make you a cup of tea', 'Shall we go and have a little walk?' 'Shall we get out of the office and go for a coffee?'
"And it's about someone giving up a bit of their time, not saying, 'I can make it better,' but just being there and that's what makes the difference.
"Definitely, when I was on the sick, it was those little thinking-of-you cards and the bunch of flowers that arrived in the post - those were the things that I hung on to and kept going for.
"It doesn't have to be a big project or anything, it's just taking the time to say, 'Are you all right?' and not just walk away - it's taking the time out to actually sit down and speak to people.
"In the workplace, we spend so much time at work, but do we really know what's going on in each other's lives?"
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42366021
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UK suicide rate shows largest drop for 20 years - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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Rates fell for both men and women, although men still account for three-quarters of cases.
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Health
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Suicide rates in the UK have seen the largest decrease in 20 years, official figures reveal.
There were 3.6% fewer suicides registered in 2016 than in 2015 - a decrease by 223 deaths from 6,188, Office for National Statistics data shows.
Rates fell for both men and women, although men still account for three-quarters of cases.
Experts believe the drop shows suicide-prevention initiatives are helping.
For deaths registered in 2016 in the UK:
Mental health problems are important influences, as well as alcohol and substance misuse.
Relationship breakdown can also be a factor - suicide risk is high among divorced men.
Bereavement and social loneliness can be contributors.
From 1981 to 1990, men aged 75 and over had the highest age-specific suicide rate. Between 1981 and 2016, the male rate of suicide for this age group more than halved.
The Samaritans says deprivation is another link. Men from the most disadvantaged backgrounds are 10 times more likely to die by suicide than those in more affluent areas.
A spokeswoman said: "There is still a lot of work to be done because suicide still kills three times more people than road traffic accidents.
"Samaritans is working hard with partners, including the NHS, other charities and local authorities, to bring these figures down further.
"Suicide is not inevitable, it's preventable and politicians, employers, health bodies and educators all have a role in identifying and supporting those most at risk."
Call the Samaritans on 116 123 (UK and Ireland), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of the nearest branch.
Vicki Nash, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Mind, the mental health charity, said: "It is encouraging to see that the number of suicides appears to be falling. Not all suicides are mental-health related but the majority are and we know from previous research that there has been particular progress when it comes to people in touch with mental health services.
"We need to ensure that these are the beginnings of much longer-term trends - we lose almost 6,000 lives a year to suicide and every one is a tragedy, so despite these positive findings it is clear that we still have a long way to go."
• None Zero suicide - is it achievable?
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42393071
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Ashes: Australia thrash England in Perth to regain urn - BBC Sport
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2017-12-18
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Australia regain the Ashes with an innings-and-41-run win over England in the third Test in Perth.
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Last updated on .From the section Cricket
Third Ashes Test, Waca (day five of five) Australia won by an innings and 41 runs
England surrendered the Ashes as Australia stormed to a massive win in the third Test in Perth and an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Needing 259 to make the home side bat again, the tourists lost their remaining six wickets in 34 overs to be bowled out for 218 on the fifth day.
Josh Hazlewood took 5-48 for Australia, who won by an innings and 41 runs despite play being delayed by three hours because of a wet patch on the pitch.
Water got under the covers during overnight rain and meant ground staff had to dry the surface with leaf blowers.
Hazlewood bowled Jonny Bairstow with his first delivery of the day and had Dawid Malan caught down the leg side for 54, before Pat Cummins wrapped it up by having Chris Woakes caught behind.
This is Australia's seventh win in eight Ashes series down under and a regaining of the urn after England's triumph on home soil in 2015.
Australia have also won eight consecutive home Tests against England, equalling a record that goes back to the 1920s.
They will now target a second successive 5-0 whitewash in Australia - and third in 11 years - with matches in Melbourne and Sydney still to come.
• None I'm still the right man to coach England - Bayliss
• None 'No hasty decisions after three games' - Root expects senior players to continue
England's defence of the urn was damaged before they even named their squad, when all-rounder and talisman Ben Stokes was arrested for his part in an altercation outside a Bristol nightclub in September.
Stokes did not make the trip down under, while the tourists also had to deal with the off-field distractions of Bairstow being accused of 'headbutting' Australia opener Cameron Bancroft and Lions batsman Ben Duckett pouring a drink over James Anderson.
On the field, they had opportunities. Australia were reduced to 76-4 and 209-7, yet still won the first Test by 10 wickets, while England were poor with ball and bat in the first innings of the second Test, with a recovery coming too late.
In Perth, they slipped from 368-4 to 403 all out, then saw Australia rack up 662-9 declared.
Their inexperienced players have performed admirably - Malan is their highest runscorer, Mark Stoneman and James Vince have each made two half-centuries and Craig Overton has impressed with the ball in his first two Tests.
But, Anderson aside, England's established players have disappointed. Captain Joe Root and Alastair Cook have managed only 259 runs between them and Stuart Broad's five wickets have cost 61.80 apiece.
Bar a transitional team being beaten by Andrew Strauss' brilliant England side in 2010-11, Australia have been dominant in Ashes matches down under for 30 years.
In the past 38 Tests against England on home soil, Australia have won 27 and lost only five.
The urn has so often been sealed at the Waca, a ground where Australia have not lost to England since 1978 and was staging its last Ashes Test - this is the fourth successive occasion that the home side have reclaimed the Ashes in Perth.
Here, as in the rest of the series, Australia were more ruthless with the bat and more potent with the ball.
Captain Steve Smith averages 142, pace trio Hazlewood, Cummins and Mitchell Starc have provided a constant, fearsome threat, while off-spinner Nathan Lyon has taken 14 wickets of his own.
When at least five members of the ground staff were trying to dry a spot at the Swan River End, on a length around a right-hander's off stump, there seemed to be a chance that no play would be possible on the final day.
As showers continued to roll in, both skippers had discussions with the umpires, who eventually decided on a resumption of 13:00 local time.
England, 132-4 overnight and with 70 overs to bat, saw their chances of an escape evaporate almost immediately when Bairstow, perhaps mindful of the surface, tentatively played inside the line to Hazlewood and was bowled.
In reality, the cracks running down the pitch were more hazardous than the wet patch - one delivery from the unerringly accurate Hazlewood moved so much from straight that it ended up at second slip.
Moeen Ali was lbw to Lyon before the resistance from the impressively assured Malan, who made his maiden century in the first innings, was ended with a gloved hook shot to wicketkeeper Tim Paine.
Hazlewood got his fifth wicket by having Overton caught at gully, Broad flapped at a short ball from Cummins, who then hit last man Anderson on the head.
Anderson had two sets of treatment and, as Woakes tried to protect him from the strike, an attempted uppercut at Cummins ended in Paine's gloves.
'I have to take responsibility' - reaction & analysis
England captain Joe Root: "It's bitterly disappointing. You take a lot of responsibility as captain. Fair play to Australia, they outplayed us in this game and won the key moments.
"I am proud of the way we battled, but we were outskilled. We have been in every game but not managed to drive it forwards.
"We haven't been completely outplayed we just haven't performed at that level for long periods of time.
"It's hard to take but it's part of cricket."
Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott: "Nothing we have in English cricket would have changed the result. I can't think of any player at home who could have made so much difference.
"Ben Stokes would have helped the batting and I would be surprised if he didn't score runs at some point over here because he's a good player but we've been outplayed.
"They have more pace than us, a better spinner than us and when their batsmen get in they make it count like Smith and the two Marsh's have."
Former Australia bowler Glenn McGrath: "The Ashes means so much to Australian players - and you could see the emotion after that last wicket fell. They have outplayed England in most departments. It will be a special time for the boys tonight."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/42391909
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Funicular railway: Switzerland launches world's steepest service - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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Special barrel-shaped carriages allow the floors to tilt as it climbs.
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The world's steepest funicular railway has opened in Switzerland.
Rotating carriages mean people stay upright while ascending the mountainside.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42384816
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Trump Putin call: CIA helped stop Russia terror attack - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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Vladimir Putin phoned Donald Trump to thank him for the information provided.
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Europe
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Information provided by the CIA helped Russian security services foil an attack on St Petersburg's Kazan cathedral, US and Russian leaders say.
President Vladimir Putin phoned Donald Trump to thank him for the information, the White House and Kremlin confirmed.
The attack was allegedly planned to take place on Saturday, Russia says.
A White House statement said "terrorists" were captured prior to an attack "that could have killed large numbers of people".
Russia's FSB security service said in a statement on Friday that it had detained seven members of a cell of Islamic State supporters and seized a significant amount of explosives, weapons and extremist literature.
The cell was planning to carry out a suicide attack at a religious institution and kill citizens on Saturday, the FSB statement said (in Russian).
The group was preparing explosions targeting the cathedral and other public places in Russia's second city, the Kremlin statement said on Sunday.
Mr Putin told Mr Trump that Russia's special services would hand over information on terror threats to their US counterparts, it added.
Mr Putin had asked the US president to pass on his thanks to the CIA director and the operatives involved, both countries said.
US intelligence agencies, including the CIA, believe that Russia tried to sway last year's US presidential election in favour of Mr Trump - claims rejected by the Republican.
A special counsel is investigating whether anyone from the Trump campaign colluded.
The two leaders most recently met at a summit in Vietnam last month
While Mr Trump categorically denies colluding with Russia, he has talked about the importance of working together "constructively".
Sunday's conversation between the two presidents marks the second time the two men have spoken in a week.
On Thursday they discussed North Korea and Mr Trump thanked Mr Putin "for acknowledging America's strong economic performance" in his annual press conference, according to the White House.
The White House said that the two leaders agreed in Sunday's phone call that the co-operation was "an example of the positive things that can occur when our countries work together".
An explosion on St Petersburg's metro system in April killed at least 13 people and is thought to be linked to jihadists.
Returning militants from Syria pose a real threat to Russia, the head of the FSB was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
Security services had already prevented 18 terrorist attacks in 2017, Alexander Bortnikov said in comments reported by Itar-Tass news agency.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42386258
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Amtrak Washington train crash: Aerial footage of the scene - BBC News
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2017-12-18
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Carriages plummeted off both sides of a highway bridge in Washington state after a train derailed.
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Carriages plummeted off both sides of a highway bridge over the I-5 highway in Washington state, after a high speed train derailed.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42401511
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Liberal Democrats 'broke EU referendum finance rules' - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Electoral Commission fines the Lib Dems £18,000 over the way spending was reported.
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UK Politics
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The Liberal Democrats campaigned for Remain in the EU referendum
The Liberal Democrats have been fined £18,000 for breaking spending rules in last year's EU referendum.
The Electoral Commission said the party had "failed to deliver a complete and accurate spending return".
Proper receipts and invoices were not provided for 80 payments worth more than £80,000, the watchdog said.
The Lib Dems said the breaches of the rules were down to "human error" and that the party was taking steps so they are not repeated.
The Electoral Commission is responsible for regulating election spending and political donations in the UK.
It has recently launched several investigations into spending in last year's referendum, which resulted in a vote to leave the European Union.
Announcing the Lib Dem fine, Bob Posner, the commission's director of political finance, said it was "disappointing" that the "clear" rules had been breached.
He added: "Where the rules are not followed, transparency is lost which is not in the public interest or as parliament intended."
The commission said the Lib Dems had not provided any invoices or receipts in some cases, while in others those provided were inadequate or incomplete.
The deadline for paying the fine is 3 January, 2018.
In response, a Lib Dem spokesman said: "The Liberal Democrats always endeavour to provide complete reports of national campaign expenses in good time and according to all of the applicable rules.
"The mistakes that have occurred in this case are a result of human error, and we are taking the necessary steps to ensure these mistakes are not repeated in future."
Meanwhile the official Remain campaign, now known as Open Britain, has been fined £1,250 for wrongly reporting its spending.
Most of this is because of payments that were added together rather than being reported individually.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42411144
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'Extra £450m funding' for police in England and Wales - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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More government cash pledged but portion of council tax for policing could rise.
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UK
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A potential £450m in extra funding for police in England and Wales in the next financial year has been announced by the Home Office.
Police and crime commissioners are to be given the power to raise the portion of council tax which goes towards policing by £12 per household annually.
That would raise £270m, while £130m for national priorities, such as firearms, would come from central government.
An extra £50m for counter terrorism has already been pledged.
The government also announced the overall grant for the 43 forces in England and Wales would remain the same in cash terms in 2018-19 at £12.6bn.
However, opposition MPs described the main settlement for next year as a "real-terms cut".
Although funding for police was protected in the 2015 spending review, police and crime commissioners have been expressing concern about increased demands on officers.
In a statement, the Home Office said next year's extra funding came after Policing Minister Nick Hurd spoke to every force about the issues they face.
"It is clear that with more victims of serious, hidden crimes such as domestic abuse, modern slavery and child sexual exploitation coming forward, this has placed greater demand on policing," it said.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Hurd said the money amounted to a "comprehensive settlement that makes sure police have the resources they need".
He said the government had responded positively to requests from the police and crime commissioners for "more flexibility" around the level of the police precept included in council tax.
Mr Hurd acknowledged that the £270m increase in funding would depend on every commissioner applying to raise their precept.
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott questioned whether the settlement would "really enable police forces to meet the challenge and the reality of modern policing".
She said: "Since 2010 the Tories have made huge cuts to the police, 20,000 police officers have been lost and an increasing number of overstretched forces say they cannot respond to certain crimes. Further cuts in police officer numbers are now inevitable."
In June, London's police force, the Met, said it needed to secure more funding after being left "stretched" by terror attacks and a rise in violent crime.
But responding to the new announcement, London's Labour mayor Sadiq Khan, said the government had "refused to give the Met the resources they need to do their job once again" and the policing element of council tax was likely to be increased by the maximum allowed.
Andy Burnham, Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, said people were noticing the loss of visible policing and accused the government of gambling with public safety amid the terror threat.
He said a rise in council tax would mean some of the most deprived communities in the country would bear the "burden of the government's failure to fairly fund policing".
On Tuesday, the Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announced that the largest local authorities in England would be allowed to raise council tax by up to 5.99% next year.
David Jamieson, the Labour police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands, said the settlement fell a "long way short" of the extra £22m his police needed.
In its statement, the Home Office said it had identified a further £100m of potential savings to be made through "smarter procurement of everything from cars to uniform".
It also said improving levels of productivity could see officers spend an extra hour a day on the frontline.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: "Taxpayers will invest more money in forces because the work our officers do to protect us is absolutely vital and we recognise demand is changing.
"However, my message to police forces is that this increased investment must mean we raise the pace of reform.
"For too long embracing digital and increasing productivity have been tomorrow's policing problems - now they are today's necessities. The government is committed to meeting this challenge and we want policing to do the same."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42414018
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Virginia woman mauled to death by her dogs, police say - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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Police release graphic details after rumours of a murderer on the loose swept through the rural town.
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US & Canada
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Tonka and Pacman have since been put down
Police in rural Virginia have released disturbing details about a woman who they say was killed by her two dogs while taking them for a walk last week.
Four days after Bethany Stephens, 22, was found, police held a second press conference to describe her death and refute rumours of foul play.
When deputies found the dogs on Friday they were guarding what police at first thought was an animal carcass.
But the body was Stephens's, and police say the pit bulls were eating her.
Warning: Some people may find the details below upsetting
"I observed, as well as four other deputy sheriffs observed," Goochland County Sheriff Jim Agnew said, "the dogs eating the rib cage on the body".
"The first traumatic injury to her was to her throat and face," he said.
"It appears she was taken to the ground, lost consciousness, and the dogs then mauled her to death," he added, pausing several times.
Sheriff Agnew said in Monday's press conference that he did not want to initially release the graphic detail, out of concern for the victim's family.
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But after rumours began to swirl in the small town 30 miles (48km) outside Richmond, Virginia - and the sheriff was inundated with calls from concerned citizens - he chose to release the information in order to assure the public that there was not a killer on the loose.
Friends had questioned what would have led the pit bulls to kill their owner who had raised them since they were puppies.
One friend told local media that the dogs were gentle. "They'd kill you with kisses," Barbara Norris told WWBT News.
The two dogs - who have since been put down with the family's permission - together weighed twice as much as Stephens, who authorities described as "petite" and weighing 100lbs (45kg).
The dogs, named Tonka and Pacman, were found by Stephens's father after he went looking for her in a wooded area on Friday, one day after she disappeared.
"Ms Stephens was terribly, terribly injured, but it was very apparent to us that she had been dead for quite some time," Sheriff Agnew told reporters, adding that her bloody clothes were scattered around her corpse.
He added that her body was so badly mauled, and her injuries were "so extensive that there was nothing left to compare bite marks to".
Authorities say the bite marks on her head match those of the dogs, and that they were not consistent with any other type of wild animal such as a bear.
The dogs' bodies have been preserved for a post-mortem examination.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42418090
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Cyril Ramaphosa is elected ANC leader - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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South Africa's deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa is the new leader of the ANC.
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Cyril Ramaphosa has been elected as the new leader of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC).
But who is he and what does the result mean for South Africa?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42366484
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Gender pay gap: Brexit and Transport departments have most work to do - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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The Brexit and transport departments have the most work to do to narrow the gap, a new report suggests.
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UK Politics
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Transport has the widest gender pay gap of any government department, with women earning 16.9% on average less than male colleagues, closely followed by the Brexit department.
Women are paid less than men across the civil service, new figures show, with a gap of 10% in seven other departments.
The lowest disparity is 3% - in the culture, media and sport department.
The UK's top civil servant, Sir Jeremy Heywood, said the data was a "matter for concern".
But he hailed a fall in the overall pay gap from 13.6% to 12.7%.
The pay gap does not necessarily mean women are paid less than men for doing the same job - the transport and Brexit departments suggest the figures are a result of more women in lower-paid roles and more men in the highest paid roles.
The figures show the following gender pay gaps between men and women in various departments:
The Department of Transport said its gender pay gap was mainly due to the "large numbers of female employees in administrative grades" among the 5,600 people employed at the DVLA, in Swansea, who do not get their salary topped up by London weighting.
But it has also traditionally been a "very male-dominated environment", officials said.
"There is a disproportionate representation of men due to the technical, engineering, construction and maritime skills required and lower proportions of female students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects leading into those careers," said permanent secretary Bernadette Kelly.
David Davis's department is dominated by men at the senior levels, figures show
The Department for Exiting the EU, which is not far behind the Transport department when it comes to the disparity between male and female wages, has nearly twice as many men in the most senior roles.
If senior roles are taken out of the figures, the mean gender pay gap drops to -0.39%, "a negative percentage means that women are paid more than men," according to the department.
But, like the transport department it says it is taking steps to close the gap and believed there was already "equal treatment for work of equal or similar value".
A DExEU spokesperson said: "Ninety per cent of our staff are on loan from other government departments and devolved administrations, who operate their own pay scales and grading systems. These people have their base pay set by their home department, which we have no control over.
"As many staff come from departments with higher pay scales, this could have had an impact on skewing our data in terms of the mean being above the median."
The civil service, which employs 419,000 staff, compares favourably with the public sector as a whole, where women are paid on average 19.4% less than men and the private sector where the figure is 23.7%.
All government departments are now required to publish an annual gender pay audit under regulations introduced by Theresa May earlier this year applying to all public bodies with 250 or more employees.
Sir Jeremy, the cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, said he was committed to improving the gender balance at all grades within the civil service.
"I am pleased to say that the overall civil service gender pay gap is narrowing although it is still a matter of concern," he said.
But the FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, said that it was wrong that women were still being "discriminated against and undervalued".
"While the civil service should be applauded for shining a light on its gender pay gap with this latest data, departments have a long way to go if they are serious about closing it," said its equality officer Zohra Francis.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42405703
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Anti-doping investigation begins into claims over Justin Gatlin's coach & athletics agent - BBC Sport
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2017-12-19
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Athletics anti-doping officials begin an investigation into allegations about world champion sprinter Justin Gatlin's coach and an agent.
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Athletics anti-doping officials have begun an investigation into what the president of the sport's governing body called "serious allegations" about world champion sprinter Justin Gatlin's coach and an agent.
The Daily Telegraph said an agent linked to Gatlin, Robert Wagner, offered to "illicitly supply performance-enhancing drugs" to undercover reporters.
And it said Gatlin's coach, former Olympic gold medallist Dennis Mitchell, told reporters that athletes are able to get away with doping because the drugs they use cannot be detected by tests.
The paper said the journalists had posed as representatives of a film company wanting to make a sports film who were looking for a coach to train their star to look like an athlete.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) - set up by the sport's world governing body the IAAF - and the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada), said they had opened an investigation into the claims.
"Investigations stemming from tips and whistleblowers play a critical role in anti-doping efforts," Usada said in a statement. "We are presently co-ordinating with the Athletics Integrity Unit in order to investigate these claims fully.
"As with all investigations, we encourage individuals with information to come forward as an important tool to help protect clean athletes. Importantly, individuals are innocent unless and until the established process determines otherwise. It's only fair to let due process occur before jumping to any conclusions."
IAAF president Lord Coe said: "These allegations are extremely serious and I know the independent Athletics Integrity Unit will investigate in accordance with its mandate."
American Gatlin, 35, who has served two doping bans, won 100m gold at August's World Championships in London, beating Usain Bolt in the Jamaican's final individual 100m race before retiring.
Gatlin's legal representatives said the sprinter had sacked Mitchell and said he had more than five years' worth of official drugs tests to show "he has never tested positive for any banned substance", the paper reported.
In a statement to the Daily Telegraph, Mitchell said: "I never suggested in any way that any of my current athletes used any banned substances or that I was familiar with training any of my current athletes with those substances."
Wagner told the paper: "I wasn't involved in doping. Obviously I played along because I knew what was going on. I had to get them hooked."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/42406063
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Matthew Petersen: Quiz-flunking Trump judge nominee withdraws - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Matthew Petersen was unable to answer basic legal questions when senators quizzed him.
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US & Canada
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US President Donald Trump's latest judiciary nominee has withdrawn his name after failing to answer basic legal questions at his Senate confirmation hearing.
"It has become clear to me over the last few days that my nomination has become a distraction," Mr Petersen wrote in a letter.
Mr Petersen was nominated as a federal judge in the District of Columbia.
Mr Trump had accepted his offer to withdraw, the White House said.
Mr Peterson, a Republican member of the Federal Election Commission, is the latest of Mr Trump's conservative judicial nominations to fail.
At the hearing, Mr Peterson stumbled over questions asked by Republican Senator John Kennedy.
Senator Kennedy starts by asking Mr Petersen and the four other nominees who appeared with him: "Have any of you not tried a case to verdict in a courtroom?"
Senator Kennedy: Have you tried a jury trial?
Senator Kennedy: Have you ever taken a deposition by yourself?
Senator Kennedy: Just for the record, do you know what a motion in limine is?
Matthew Petersen: I would probably not be able to give you a good definition right here at the table.
The Louisiana Senator and former law professor, who still fully supports Mr Trump, openly criticised his nominee in a later TV interview.
"Just because you've seen My Cousin Vinny doesn't qualify you to be a federal judge," Mr Kennedy told local station WWL-TV, referring to the 1992 comedy film about a novice lawyer.
Mr Kennedy told the station that Mr Trump called him after learning of the exchange and agreed that Mr Peterson was too inexperienced.
Mr Peterson, who became the third of Mr Trump's judicial picks to flounder in just a week, said: "I had hoped that my nearly two decades of public service might carry more weight than my two worst minutes on television."
Despite recent setbacks, Mr Trump has made progress filling other judicial vacancies with conservative judges and notably restored the Supreme Court's conservative majority with the appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42405942
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Twitter suspends Britain First leaders - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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The leader and deputy of a far-right British political group's Twitter accounts are frozen.
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Technology
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The Britain First Twitter account and that of its two leaders have been blocked
Twitter has suspended the accounts of two leaders of a British far-right group shortly after revising its rules on hate speech.
Paul Golding, Britain First's leader, and Jayda Fransen, his deputy, can no longer tweet and their past posts no longer appear.
The organisation's official Twitter page has suffered the same fate.
It appears that three of Ms Fransen's posts that President Trump retweeted have gone from his feed as a result.
The messages had featured anti-Muslim videos and proved highly controversial when the American leader shared them in November.
British Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said it had been "wrong for the president to have done this".
Ms Fransen and Mr Golding were arrested earlier this week over separate behaviour relating to Northern Ireland.
Twitter announced in October that it planned to take a tougher stance against hate symbols as well as those who posted messages that glorified or condoned violence.
It has now said that those who express an affiliation with groups that use or celebrate violence to achieve their aims will be permanently suspended.
Hateful imagery - such as the Nazi swastika - can still be posted, but will initially be hidden behind a "sensitive media" warning, that visitors must disable to proceed. However, such content will no longer be allowed on a person's profile page.
Those that featured examples will be asked to remove them. Repeat violators will be banned.
The company said the move would "reduce the amount of abusive behaviour and hateful conduct" on the network.
"If an account's profile information includes a violent threat or multiple slurs, epithets, racist or sexist tropes, incites fear, or reduces someone to less than human, it will be permanently suspended," it explained.
"We plan to develop internal tools to help us identify violating accounts to supplement user reports."
Twitter has promised a more robust system to appeal against decisions, but said that it was still in development.
The company is not commenting about the action it is taking against individual accounts citing "privacy and security reasons".
That has left it to others to play detective and report who else has been suspended. Many are using the hashtag #twitterpurge to do so.
US accounts that appear to have fallen foul of the new rules include:
Several other members of the so-called alt-right have tweeted that fans should sign up to Gab.ai - a social network that pitches itself as a free speech alternative to Twitter - if they too are suspended.
Generation Identity, a pan-European nationalist group that opened a British branch last month, has also had its UK and Ireland Twitter account suspended.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42402570
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Trump: Russia and China ‘rival powers’ in new security plan - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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He outlines "four pillars" of new plan, which no longer labels climate change a threat.
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US & Canada
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Analysis: Trump's plan to confront - and sometimes work with - US rivals
US President Donald Trump has outlined his new national security strategy, labelling China and Russia the primary threats to US economic dominance.
His speech - which was based on his platform of "America First" - attacked the "failures" of past foreign policy.
He criticised Pakistan and North Korea, and how previous administrations approached other world powers.
The US faces a new era of competition, the US president said at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington.
Russia and China are "rival powers", he said, but the US must attempt to build a "great partnership with them".
As an example of this new spirit of co-operation, Mr Trump referred to a phone call of thanks he received from Russian President Vladimir Putin for intelligence the CIA provided to the Kremlin about an alleged terror plot.
But there was harsher language for Russia and China in the new National Security Strategy document itself, published before the speech, which called them "revisionist powers".
Mr Trump described "four pillars" to his new plan but made no mention of human rights or climate change, his critics noted.
The four themes are protecting the homeland, promoting American prosperity, demonstrating peace through strength and advancing American influence.
The 68-page document, which White House officials began work on 11 months ago, suggests a return to Mr Trump's campaign promises.
It explicitly states that "the United States will no longer turn a blind eye to violations, cheating or economic aggression".
Mr Trump will renew his call for a wall on the southern border
Referring to his election victory during the speech, he said that in 2016 voters chose to "Make America Great Again".
Previous American leaders had "drifted" and "lost sight of America's destiny" he said, standing before a backdrop of American flags.
"Now less than one year later I am proud to report that the entire world has heard the news and has seen the signs," he said.
"America is coming back and America is coming back strong."
National security strategies are usually released without fanfare, but President Trump wanted to make an event out of this announcement, which builds on his America First campaign priorities.
So the document emphasises the economy and fair trade as security issues, as well as tough border controls and immigration policies.
Mr Trump's decision to call out Russia and China as global competitors reflected the wariness within his administration about these two "revisionist powers".
The president himself shifted quickly to talk about his recent phone calls with President Vladimir Putin, with whom he seeks a closer relationship. But the text of the document goes into quite biting detail about Russia's alleged interference in domestic politics, and about Chinese economic practices that anger the Americans.
That was part of an overall theme that emphasised competition more than co-operation in international relations.
It signalled engagement with the world rather than an isolationist retreat, but on more muscular terms than his predecessors.
He named the US withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal among his successes in office.
Mr Trump also said that wealthy countries must recognise that they need to "reimburse" the US for the costs of defending them.
He criticised North Korea for their repeated nuclear missile tests, and Pakistan for not doing enough to tackle Islamic extremism.
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He also outlined his campaign promise to build a wall on the southern border, as well as reform of the immigration visa system, which he said is necessary to defend the homeland.
The new policy stresses economic security but does not recognise climate change as a national security threat.
His predecessor Barack Obama in 2015 declared climate change an "urgent and growing threat to our national security".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42401170
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Cameron House Hotel fire investigations continue - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Two people died and a couple and their baby were rescued from the blaze at the hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond.
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Glasgow & West Scotland
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The Scottish Fire and Rescue service remained at the scene on Tuesday morning
Police and fire service investigations are continuing after two people died in a blaze at Cameron House Hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond.
One person was pronounced dead at the hotel, near Balloch, while another died after being taken to hospital.
A recently-married couple and their young son were rescued from an upper floor of the building by firefighters.
Andrew and Louise Logan, and their son Jimmy, from Worcestershire, were taken to hospital but were later discharged.
Firefighters and police remained at the scene on Tuesday morning, with the scale of the damage becoming more apparent.
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BBC Scotland's Andrew Black was allowed on site and said: "The damage to the building is pretty extensive, especially the upper floors. There's a smell of burning wood and we could hear a fire alarm from part of the building still going off."
Many of the 200 guests who were evacuated returned home while others were transferred to nearby lodges.
Police Scotland said the full circumstances surrounding the fire had yet to be established.
The BBC understands that a wedding due to take place at Cameron House hotel this weekend has been moved to another luxury hotel.
A young baby was rescued by firefighters from an upper floor of the hotel
It is believed to have started at about 06:40 on Monday, and at its height 14 fire appliances and more than 70 firefighters were tackling the blaze.
Cameron House resort director Andy Roger offered his condolences to the families of those who died.
He said: "Tragically, the authorities have confirmed two fatalities from the fire. In addition, three individuals were transported to the local hospital, but have since been discharged.
"The safety and well-being of our guests, employees and neighbours is our first priority, and our deepest condolences are with the families of those affected."
The guests were transferred to the Boathouse restaurant in the immediate aftermath of the fire.
Hotel guest Ainsley Huxham praised staff at the hotel for they way the looked after people.
"The staff were amazing. They got us to the Boathouse. They went to Tescos and bought us all the essentials we needed, and got the food on. They were great," she said.
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A Police Scotland spokeswoman said they were working with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to try to determine exactly how the fire broke out.
Cameron House Hotel also said it was working closely with investigators to identify the cause of the fire.
Speaking on BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme, John Gow from forensic investigations firm IFIC, said: "There will be a number of strands to this investigation, running in tandem.
"Obviously, sadly, there is the death investigation due to the fatalities that occurred.
"There is the origin and cause investigation which is establishing how the fire started and spread throughout the property.
"It is also likely there will be an investigation to establish if the fire precaution measures were adequate and operated as they should."
Cameron House, an 18th Century mansion, was converted into a luxury hotel and resort in 1986.
It is a popular wedding venue and houses the Michelin-starred Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond restaurant.
In a statement on its website, Cameron House said it would remain closed to arriving guests for at least the next 72 hours while it worked to assess the damage.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-42403362
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Arthur Collins jailed for Dalston club acid attack - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Arthur Collins threw the corrosive substance at revellers at the East London nightclub in April.
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London
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Arthur Collins had denied knowing the substance he threw was acid
A man who threw acid across a packed London nightclub injuring 22 people has been jailed for 20 years.
Arthur Collins, the ex-boyfriend of reality TV star Ferne McCann, threw the corrosive substance at revellers in Mangle E8 in Dalston on 17 April.
The 25-year-old admitted throwing the liquid but had claimed he believed it was a date rape drug.
He was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court to 20 years in prison with an extra five years on licence.
Last month he was found guilty of five counts of GBH with intent and nine counts of ABH.
Sentencing Collins, of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, Judge Noel Lucas QC described the crime as a "despicable act".
Judge Lucas said: "His defence from first to last was carefully researched and choreographed in order to explain away the evidence against him."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. CCTV of the acid attack in London club
Collins, he added, threw the acid "irrespective of the persons on whom it landed" and that "his motivations for such a vicious course of conduct was nothing more than a perceived personal slight".
Addressing Collins, he said: "You knew precisely what strong acid would do to human skin.
"Having thrown the acid over the club you slunk away and hid in the rear and pretended to be nothing to do with the mayhem you had caused.
"It was deliberate and calculated and you were intent on causing really serious harm to your victims."
The judge labelled him an "accomplished liar" and someone who has "not the slightest remorse for his actions."
Collins was in the dock wearing a suit and showed no reaction as his sentence was read out.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Club acid attack victim: "I'm not the Lauren who walked into Mangle"
A total of 22 people were injured as a result of the attack, 16 of whom suffered serious burns.
One man suffered third-degree chemical burns to the left side of the face and required a skin graft. Others had eye injuries.
One of his victims Sophie Hall, from Poole, Dorset, said she had hoped for a life sentence, but felt justice had been served.
She said after the sentencing: "Arthur showed no signs of remorse in court. I have to live with my scars for life."
Judge Lucas said that security at Mangle E8 was "poor", adding that had it been better, the injuries and offences "might not have happened".
The BBC has contacted the club for comment.
The attack happened in Mangle E8 in Dalston on 17 April
Collins had six previous convictions including using threatening words, possession of cocaine, drink-driving and assault, the court heard.
He was given a six-month sentence suspended for 12 months at Woolwich Crown Court for punching a man in a nightclub on 28 December 2015, and was still subject to the suspended sentence when he carried out the attack at Mangle E8.
The court also heard how he had made acid attack threats to the mother of an ex-girlfriend.
The father of Ms McCann's child referred to the attack as a "stupid little mistake" during Tuesday's hearing.
Victims who read impact statements to the court spoke of feeling "scared", "traumatised" and "suicidal" as a result of the attack.
Throughout the victims' statements, Collins showed little emotion.
Twenty two people were injured when acid was thrown in the Mangle E8 nightclub
Collins had claimed in court he had taken the bottle from a group of men with whom he had got into an argument.
He said he snatched it thinking it was a date rape drug.
"I wanted to show them the drug was gone; show them there was nothing left in the bottle."
CCTV from inside the club shows Collins throwing acid at the men.
Seemingly unaware of the mayhem caused, Collins returned to the dancefloor "drinking, dancing, Snapchatting and having a good time", the court heard.
At a preliminary hearing at magistrates court, the prosecutor said the incident bore "the hallmarks of both drug-related activity and gang-related activity".
However, Collins and his legal team have always denied any kind of gang-related activity, insisting that there was "not a shred of evidence" to support the theory.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42411108
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Justin Gatlin: Sprinter 'shocked' by allegations about coach & athletics agent - BBC Sport
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2017-12-19
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World champion sprinter Justin Gatlin is "shocked and surprised" at doping allegations made against his coach and an agent.
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Last updated on .From the section Athletics
World champion sprinter Justin Gatlin says he is "shocked and surprised" at doping allegations made against his coach and an agent.
Athletics anti-doping officials have begun an investigation into what the president of the sport's governing body called "serious allegations" about Dennis Mitchell and Robert Wagner.
The Daily Telegraph said Wagner - an agent linked to Gatlin - offered to "illicitly supply performance-enhancing drugs" to undercover reporters.
A video released by the Telegraph features a man the newspaper says is Wagner insinuating Gatlin is taking banned drugs, "just like every other sprinter in America".
The paper also said Gatlin's coach, former Olympic gold medallist Mitchell, told reporters that athletes are able to get away with doping because the drugs they use cannot be detected by tests.
Writing on Instagram on Tuesday, Gatlin said he "fired" Mitchell "as soon as I found out about this".
The 35-year-old American said he is "not using and have not used" performance-enhancing drugs.
He added: "All legal options are on the table as I will not allow others to lie about me like this."
The Telegraph said its journalists had posed as representatives of a film company wanting to make a sports film who were looking for a coach to train their star to look like an athlete.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) - set up by the sport's world governing body the IAAF - and the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) said they had opened an investigation into the claims.
"Investigations stemming from tips and whistleblowers play a critical role in anti-doping efforts," Usada said in a statement. "We are presently co-ordinating with the Athletics Integrity Unit in order to investigate these claims fully.
"As with all investigations, we encourage individuals with information to come forward as an important tool to help protect clean athletes. Importantly, individuals are innocent unless and until the established process determines otherwise. It's only fair to let due process occur before jumping to any conclusions."
IAAF president Lord Coe said: "These allegations are extremely serious and I know the independent Athletics Integrity Unit will investigate in accordance with its mandate."
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said it would monitor the AIU investigation and offer support.
"I hope that first of all that the journalists from the Telegraph will make their information available to the investigators. We will monitor and offer assistance where we can," said Wada president Sir Craig Reedie.
"I think the investigation will concentrate on the allegation that everybody is using performance enhancing drugs. It's an easy allegation to make but it needs to be tied down - I'm not sure the evidence exists to support it."
Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, won 100m gold at August's World Championships in London, beating Usain Bolt in the Jamaican's final individual 100m race before retiring.
Gatlin's legal representatives said the sprinter had more than five years' worth of official drugs tests to show "he has never tested positive for any banned substance", the paper reported.
In a statement to the Telegraph, Mitchell said: "I never suggested in any way that any of my current athletes used any banned substances or that I was familiar with training any of my current athletes with those substances."
Wagner told the paper: "I wasn't involved in doping. Obviously I played along because I knew what was going on. I had to get them hooked."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/42409433
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Surviving period poverty with 'socks and tissue' - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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A Scottish government pilot project is helping women who can't afford sanitary products.
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Thousands of women in the UK cannot afford to buy sanitary products.
Research by the charity Plan International suggests that one in 10 girls and women - aged between 14 and 21 - in the UK has been affected at some point.
A Scottish government pilot project is providing towels and tampons to those who need them through an Aberdeen food bank.
Two women tell the BBC's Scotland Editor Sarah Smith about their experiences.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42421029
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Uber a danger to public safety, warns union - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The GMB Union tells Westminster Magistrates' Court it has evidence Uber drivers work "excessive hours".
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Business
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Uber drivers work "excessive hours", making the taxi app service a danger to public safety, a union has warned.
The GMB Union told Westminster Magistrates' Court it had evidence that Uber "encourages and incentivises" its drivers to work long hours.
The hearing will determine whether the union can take part in the taxi app's battle to renew its London licence.
An Uber spokeperson said it would "shortly be introducing hours limits" for drivers in its app.
It said that on average, drivers spent 30 hours a week logged into its app.
"We take the issue of tired driving seriously, which is why we regularly remind drivers to take rest breaks," Uber added.
In September, Transport for London deemed Uber unfit to run a taxi service and refused to renew its licence.
Taxi drivers have been campaigning against Uber, such as engaging in this "go slow" protest in 2014
GMB representative Gerry Facenna told the court that it wanted Uber to introduce a maximum hours cap for drivers, as well as a limit on how many drivers can operate in one area at the same time.
"From a public safety point of view, being driven around London by a driver who has worked a 15-hour shift is no better than being driven around by a driver who has not had background checks," he added.
Around 2,000 of GMB Union's members are Uber drivers.
In February 2017, the Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee heard evidence from Uber drivers who said they were forced to work long hours to cover their costs, which included the purchase of their cars.
In response to the committee's request on driver hours, Uber said last month that over a quarter of its drivers used the app for more than 40 hours a week and more than 2,000 drivers used the app for more than 60 hours.
Transport for London cited "public safety and security" concerns - including Uber's approach to carrying out background checks on drivers and reporting serious criminal offences - for its decision to remove Uber's operating license.
Uber's licence expired in October but its drivers can continue to operate in the capital while it pursues an appeal.
The mayor of London Sadiq Khan has warned that the appeal process could "go on for a number of years".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42413744
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Student Liam Allan to sue after rape trial collapse - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Liam Allan's trial collapsed after police were ordered to hand over phone records.
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London
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Liam Allan said he was "disappointed" he had not yet received an apology from the Met Police
A man wrongly accused of rape says he will sue the Metropolitan Police over its failure to disclose vital evidence that led to the collapse of the trial.
Liam Allan was charged with 12 counts of rape and sexual assault but his trial collapsed after police were ordered to hand over phone records.
The 22-year-old student said he was "disappointed" he had not yet received an apology.
The Met Police said it was "urgently reviewing the investigation".
The case against Mr Allan at Croydon Crown Court was dropped after three days when the evidence on a computer disk containing 40,000 messages revealed the alleged victim pestered him for "casual sex".
Talking to the Victoria Derbyshire programme, Mr Allan said: "University is meant to be the best years of your life and the last two years have been spent worrying and not concentrating on anything.
"It has completely ripped apart my normal personal life."
The 22-year-old student had been charged with 12 counts of rape and sexual assault
He added he had not yet received any contact or an apology from the Met and found that "disappointing".
"I feel relief on one side, that the case is over, but now there's the stress of getting compensation and the process of suing - so it's not over completely", he said.
Mr Allan faced a possible jail term of 12 years and being put on the sex offenders register for life had he been found guilty.
He said he felt "pure fear" when he learned he had been accused of rape but would never be able to understand why the accusations were made.
It is understood police had looked at thousands of phone messages when reviewing evidence in the case, but had failed to disclose to the prosecution and defence teams messages between the complainant and her friends which cast doubt on the allegations against Mr Allan.
A Met spokesman said the force was "urgently reviewing this investigation and will be working with the Crown Prosecution Service to understand exactly what has happened in this case.
"The Met understands the concerns that have been raised as a result of this case being dismissed from court and the ongoing review will seek to address those," he said.
A spokesman for the CPS said: "In November 2017, the police provided more material in the case of Liam Allan. Upon a review of that material, it was decided that there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.
"We will now be conducting a management review together with the Metropolitan Police to examine the way in which this case was handled."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42399802
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Amtrak Washington train crash: Aerial footage of the scene - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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Carriages plummeted off both sides of a highway bridge in Washington state after a train derailed.
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Carriages plummeted off both sides of a highway bridge over the I-5 highway in Washington state, after a high speed train derailed.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42401511
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May and Trump discuss Brexit, Yemen and Israel in phone call - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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The phone call is their first since a spat over the US President's re-tweeting of anti-Muslim videos.
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UK Politics
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The two leaders wished each other a happy Christmas and said they would remain in "close touch"
Theresa May has discussed Brexit and events in the Middle East in a pre-Christmas phone call with Donald Trump.
It is the first time they have spoken since last month's diplomatic spat over the US president's re-tweeting of anti-Muslim videos by a UK far-right group.
No 10 said the two agreed on the importance of a "swift" transatlantic trade deal after the UK leaves the EU.
Mrs May also reiterated her opposition to Mr Trump's plan to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Mr Trump said last month that he intended to move the country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a shift in longstanding US policy which has been criticised by European allies and much of the Arab world.
The two leaders, who last met in September, had earlier clashed over Mr Trump's apparent endorsement of inflammatory tweets posted by a senior member of Britain First.
No 10 described his actions as wrong which prompted the US president, in return, to chastise Mrs May on Twitter and urge her to focus her attention on tackling Islamic extremism.
In a summary of Tuesday's phone call, Downing Street said the two leaders had covered a range of issues, including the humanitarian situation in Yemen amid the continuing conflict in the country.
No 10 said the two leaders agreed "on the vital importance of reopening humanitarian and commercial access to prevent famine and alleviate the suffering of innocent Yemenis".
On Israel, the leaders discussed their "different positions" on the US recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, agreeing "on the importance of the US bringing forward new proposals for peace and the international community supporting these efforts".
Israel regards Jerusalem as its "eternal and undivided" capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem - occupied by Israel in the 1967 war - as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
On the UK's future relations with Europe and the US, Downing Street said the two agreed "on the importance of a swift post-Brexit bilateral trade deal".
It added: "The prime minister updated the president on the recent good progress of the Brexit negotiations, and the president set out the progress he had made on his economic agenda."
Mr Trump has repeatedly said he wants to strike a quick trade agreement with the UK after it leaves in March 2019 but experts have said it will take years to negotiate.
Soon after he took office in January, Mr Trump was invited on a state visit to the UK but no date has been set for the trip amid criticism from MPs of the president's conduct and stance on key issues.
In its summary of the leaders' conversation, the White House made no direct reference to any discussion on Israel, focusing instead on the "next steps in forging peace" in the Middle East as well as on Yemen and Brexit.
"President Trump congratulated the prime minister on the decision by European Union leaders to move to the second phase of the Brexit negotiations," its statement concluded.
Labour said it had taken two weeks for the British prime minister to raise her concerns about what it said was the president's "dangerous" policy towards Israel.
"She seems to have failed to use the opportunity to call him out for retweeting abhorrent Islamophobic material," a spokesman for the opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn added.
"As prime minister, May has a responsibility to stand up against hate and for all communities in our country."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42418401
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HR McMaster weighs in on North Korea nuclear threat - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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Donald Trump's national security adviser says the US is committed to a resolution of the crisis.
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In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC's Yalda Hakim, US National Security Adviser HR McMaster said that the United States has "to be prepared, if necessary, to compel the denuclearisation of North Korea", with or without their cooperation.
Donald Trump's top security aide also gave his views on Russia's meddling in the 2016 US election and the challenge of working around Trump's tweets.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42403260
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Mexico bus crash: Tourists killed in Quintana Roo state - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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At least 12 died and 18 were injured when the bus overturned on a trip to an ancient Mayan ruin.
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Latin America & Caribbean
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The bus had been taking tourists to Mayan ruins at Chaccobén
A bus carrying tourists from a cruise ship has overturned in south-eastern Mexico, killing at least 12 people, officials say.
Another 18 people were injured in the crash between Mahahual and Cafetal in Quintana Roo state.
The bus was taking 31 people, who were on a Royal Caribbean cruise, to the ancient Mayan ruin at Chaccobén.
Eight Americans died, as well as two Swedes, one Canadian, and one Mexican, Mexican media report.
Among the victims was a 78-year-old grandmother from Miami, according to US media.
Anna Behar, her 11-year-old-son Daniel, and her mother Fanya Shamis, 78, all died in the crash.
The Quintana Roo state government confirmed the dead included at least one child.
A spokeswoman for the US Department of State confirmed the death of multiple US citizens, and sent "heartfelt condolences to those affected by this tragedy".
A local driver and tour guides were also said to be on the trip.
The injured were taken to four hospitals and five people were discharged, the Costa Maya bus company said.
Royal Caribbean said it had 27 guests on the bus and described the crash as "heartbreaking".
"Our hearts go out to all those involved. We are doing all we can to care for our guests, including assisting with medical care and transportation," it said on Twitter.
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Bus crashes are common in Mexico where people often travel along dangerous routes at night - but an accident involving the deaths of so many tourists in broad daylight is rare, the BBC Mexico correspondent Will Grant says.
It is not known what caused the crash. Photographs from the scene showed the vehicle on its side with dazed survivors sitting nearby.
The driver of the bus was taken into custody, and the cause of the crash is being investigated, local media report.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-42420149
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BBC and Guardian sued over Paradise Papers leaks - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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The law firm says the BBC breached confidentiality by misusing and publishing details within the documents.
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UK
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Law firm Appleby is taking legal action against the BBC and the Guardian over their reporting of leaked documents detailing offshore tax-avoidance schemes, known as the Paradise Papers.
It is suing for breach of confidence and wants the documents disclosed.
Appleby said confidential information had been taken in a "criminal act".
The BBC and the Guardian said they would "vigorously" defend the revelations, which were in the "highest public interest".
The leak of financial documents revealed how the powerful and ultra-wealthy secretly invest cash in offshore tax havens.
The papers contained details about investments made by the Queen's private estate and a tax avoidance scheme used by three stars of BBC sitcom Mrs Brown's Boys.
They also showed that Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton avoided tax on his £16.5m luxury jet.
About half of the 13.4m leaked documents were from Appleby, one of the world's largest providers of offshore legal services.
Panorama led research for the BBC as part of a global investigation involving nearly 100 other media organisations in 67 countries, after the records were passed to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.
The BBC does not know the identity of the source. Appleby says the data was taken by hackers.
Appleby is also seeking a permanent injunction stopping any further use of the information, and the return of all copies of the documents.
In a statement, it said its overwhelming responsibility was to its clients and colleagues.
The BBC said its "serious and responsible journalism" had revealed matters which would otherwise have remained secret and that authorities around the world were taking action as a consequence.
The Guardian said the legal action was an attempt to "undermine responsible public interest journalism".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42403700
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Liverpool jail: The worst conditions ever seen, says report - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Some prisoners live in dirty and dangerous cells that should be condemned, a leaked report says.
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UK
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Inspectors at Liverpool jail found filthy, leaking toilets and some areas so hazardous they could not be cleaned
Inmates at Liverpool prison are being kept in the worst living conditions inspectors have ever seen, according to a report seen by BBC News.
Rats and cockroaches were rife, with one area of the jail so dirty, infested and hazardous it could not be cleaned.
Some prisoners live in cells that should be condemned, says the leaked document, with exposed electrical wiring and filthy, leaking lavatories.
The Ministry of Justice said it didn't comment on leaked documents.
Prison inspectors made what they called an unannounced visit to HMP Liverpool in September, having been made aware of concerns.
What they found, says the report, was an "abject failure… to offer a safe, decent and purposeful environment".
Cockroaches: There was no credible plan to tackle the most basic issues, says the report
The "highly experienced" inspection team said they "could not recall having seen worse living conditions than those at HMP Liverpool".
Highlighting one particular incident, the chief inspector, Peter Clarke, could not contain his exasperation.
"I found a prisoner who had complex mental health needs being held in a cell that had no furniture other than a bed," he said.
"The windows of both the cell and the toilet recess were broken, the light fitting in his toilet was broken with wires exposed, the lavatory was filthy and appeared to be blocked, his sink was leaking and the cell was dark and damp.
"Extraordinarily, this man had apparently been held in this condition for some weeks."
The inspectors found broken windows with jutting glass in cells
The chief cause of the problems, says the report, was a failure of leadership - at local, regional and national level.
Violence of all kinds had increased, fuelled by the prevalence of drugs, with most inmates telling inspectors it was "easy or very easy" to get drugs.
In addition however, inspectors found allegations of excessive use of force by prison officers were not properly investigated by managers.
Some officers are described as having a "dismissive" attitude to prisoners, with some staff applying "unacceptable" unofficial punishments, such as restricting showers.
There were more than 2,000 outstanding maintenance jobs, and only 22 of the 89 recommendations made following a poor inspection report in 2015 had been fully implemented.
"It is hard to understand how the leadership of the prison could have allowed the situation to deteriorate to this extent," writes the chief inspector, directly criticising the Ministry of Justice.
"We saw clear evidence that local prison managers had sought help from regional and national management to improve conditions they knew to be unacceptable long before our arrival, but had met with little response."
Most damningly of all perhaps, the report concludes: "We could see no credible plan to address these basic issues."
The report talks of a failure of leadership locally, regionally and nationally
"It's as bad a report as I've ever seen," said Lord Ramsbotham, a former chief inspector of prisons.
"But… how could anyone come up from headquarters, go into Liverpool and not feel ashamed about it?
"How on Earth did the head of the prison service allow the prison to get into that state?"
Asked if, in light of the report, Liverpool could be described as England's worst jail, Lord Ramsbotham replied: "I wouldn't dispute that."
One recently released prisoner told the BBC: "The cockroach problem was so bad, you can hear them gnawing at you at night."
Another said a leaking toilet in his cell had led to him "waking up with the pad swimming in urine".
Darren Harley, released last summer, said his time there was like living in a tip
And Darren Harley, released in the summer after 27 months inside for drugs offences, said the prison was "like living in a tip".
"If you put a dog in a place like this, people would come and take you away and lock you up for cruelty to animals.
"We're human beings. So we need to be treated right."
HMP Liverpool may now have the unwelcome attribute of being labelled England's worst jail, but prisons across England and Wales are under pressure.
Under the coalition government, the then Justice Secretary Chris Grayling dramatically cut prison budgets and staff.
Since the cuts, there has been a rapid rise in suicides, self-harm, violence and assaults within prisons.
Recognising its errors, the Ministry of Justice is in the process of hiring 2,500 new prison officers by next summer.
The governor of HMP Liverpool, Peter Francis, was removed within days of the inspection visit, and last week a former officer at the jail, Pia Sinha, was appointed as his replacement.
In a statement on the failings at Liverpool, a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "We do not comment on leaked reports."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42310501
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Jonghyun: Note shows K-pop star's struggles with depression - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A friend of Jonghyun, the K-pop star who died on Monday, posts what she says was his final note.
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Asia
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"The life of fame was never meant for me," the note said
A note said to have been written by K-pop superstar Jonghyun has been posted on social media by his close friend, revealing a struggle with depression.
"The depression that was slowly devouring me at last consumed me," said the note, posted by fellow singer Nine.
Jonghyun, 27, was found dead on Monday in a suspected suicide.
He was the lead singer of one of South Korea's biggest pop groups SHINee. His death has triggered an outpouring of grief from fans around the world.
Groups of distraught and tearful fans gathered at the Seoul hospital
On Tuesday, Nine, a member of another pop group Dear Cloud, shared on Instagram the note she said Jonghyun had sent to her, with instructions to make it public if he "disappeared from the world".
Dear Cloud's management Mymusic Entertainment confirmed to news agency Yonhap the note was posted after consultation with Jonghyun's family.
It spoke about his struggle with living in the public eye, saying "I was broken from the inside" and "the life of fame was never meant for me".
"What else can I say more. Just tell me I've done well. That this is enough. That I've worked hard. Even if you can't smile don't fault me on my way."
However, no details were given as to when the note was written or sent to Nine.
On Twitter, his fans have interpreted the message as the singer's last request to them.
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Jonghyun, whose full name was Kim Jong-hyun, was found unconscious in a Seoul apartment. He was taken to hospital where he was declared dead.
According to news agency AFP, he had sent several text messages to his sister, including one saying "this is my last farewell".
Police said they would not be conducting a post-mortem examination, following a request from Jonghyun's family.
Officers said it "looks certain" that he had killed himself, but did not officially confirm his cause of death as they were still conducting investigations.
The singer was considered by many of his fans to be a very sensitive young man who did not embrace the hedonism that often comes with stardom.
As well as being a singer and dancer, he played a large part in songwriting and production for SHINee. He also launched a parallel successful solo career in 2015.
Fan Wang, a BBC Chinese journalist who worked as an interpreter for Jonghyun during a fan meeting in 2014, recalled that: "Apart from the time he performed, he didn't talk much most of the time... the thing he cared the most about was his singing and performance."
Another interpreter who worked with the band told the BBC that Jonghyun "didn't attract as much attention as other band members when he was offstage. Quiet and reticent, he was always walking behind the others.
"Yet during rehearsals, he came across as a lead singer. He took his singing and dancing rehearsals really seriously - you could tell he was a serious, grounded person."
"He was also very polite. Once, he'd just finished brushing his teeth when he saw me standing by the door - he hadn't even dried his mouth yet, but hurried to bow and greet me right away," the interpreter, who wanted to be identified only as Ms Shu, added.
The management of SHINee, SM Entertainment, released a statement saying he was "the best artist" and that they were "heartbroken" about his death.
The band also posted an emotional tribute to the pop idol on its official Twitter account, saying in Korean: "Jonghyun, who loved music more than anyone.... Forever, he will be remembered."
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Fans were paying their respects at a funeral hall at the hospital in Seoul throughout Tuesday.
SHINee's other members were there to receive mourners, who included K-pop stars such as singer BoA and members of girl group Girls Generation, reported newspaper The Korea Herald.
A private funeral will be held on Thursday.
An altar with Jonghyun's portrait was set up at the hospital
SHINee were founded in 2008 as a five member group under SM Entertainment, and quickly rose to become of the biggest K-pop boy groups.
Conceived in South Korea in the 1990s as a Western-Asian hybrid, K-pop is now a multi-million dollar industry.
It is at the forefront of the so-called Korean Wave - the spread of Korean music, drama and film across Asia and worldwide.
Over the past years, SHINee recorded several albums in Japanese and in 2017 sold out the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome and part of their Japan tour. Earlier this year, they also played their first North American tour.
If you are feeling emotionally distressed, here are details of organisations in the UK which offer advice and support.
Depression is more than just feeling a bit down for a few days. It is an illness which, at its most severe, can leave people feeling that life is no longer worth living. It can cause physical symptoms such as headaches, sleeplessness and constant tiredness which may last for months and months.
People with depression can also feel anxious, irritable and agitated on a daily basis, but it affects everyone differently.
If people admit their symptoms and talk to someone about their feelings, depression can usually be treated but the biggest barrier to getting help is often stigma and the fear of disclosing mental health problems.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42407766
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Cameron House fire: Two dead and three treated in hospital - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Three other people, including a child, were treated in hospital after the blaze at the Cameron House Hotel.
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Glasgow & West Scotland
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Footage of the fire at Cameron House
Two guests have died after fire broke out at the Cameron House Hotel beside Loch Lomond.
More than 200 guests were evacuated from the luxury resort after the alarm was raised at about 06:40.
Police said one person was pronounced dead at the scene while another died after being taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
A newly-married couple and their young son were taken to hospital for treatment and later discharged.
Police Scotland said the hotel, near Balloch, had been extensively damaged.
Police and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that two people had died
A number of guests were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
The three people taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow were members of the same family who were rescued by firefighters.
Speaking to the media gathered at the hotel's entrance, David McGown of the Scottish Fire and Rescue said: "Unfortunately, and tragically, this has resulted in two people losing their life as a result of the fire.
"The fire and rescue service's condolences go out to the people involved in this tragic incident and our thoughts are very much with the family and friends of the two people who lost their lives this morning.
"The fire has caused extensive damage to the central section of the hotel.
"Our crews have been working tirelessly since 07:00. We have 14 fire appliances at its height tackling this fire and more than 70 firefighters.
"As you can imagine, as well as being an absolutely tragic incident where people have lost their lives, it is an extremely complicated incident and fire to contain and will continue to do so.
"We will continue to work with partners to bring this incident to a conclusion."
Ch Insp Donald Leitch from Police Scotland said work was ongoing to establish the cause of the fire.
He said: "Police Scotland were called to Cameron House Hotel where 200 people were evacuated from the hotel which has been partly damaged.
"One person was pronounced dead at the scene. Four were taken to hospital where one person tragically died."
A report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.
Fourteen fire appliances were sent to the scene
Firefighters used jets to tackle the flames and smoke
Smoke rises over Loch Lomond from the fire, as seen from Balloch
A guest at the hotel told BBC Radio Scotland how she initially thought the fire alarm was a drill.
Ainsley Huxham said: "As soon as we left our room - I just thought it was a fire alarm, just like a practise go.
"But when we left - five stairs down from our room - we saw a whole room full of smoke and flames.
"So we had to run back down the hall, chapped on everyone's doors and shouted 'fire!'."
Emergency services working at the scene of the fire watched by guests
She added: "We got out within five minutes of the fire brigade getting called.
"And by the time we had got outside, the whole field was full of people."
Staff who turned up for their shifts at the hotel during the morning were being stopped at the entrance.
Much of the interior of the main central section of the hotel, thought to be the oldest part, was visibly blackened, with upper floor windows smashed to allow the firefighters' water jets access to the flames.
The Salvation Army were in attendance to provide the emergency services with food and drink.
One woman who works in the kitchen told the BBC news website she just heard about the fire as she was getting ready for work.
She said she didn't believe the news until she came down and saw the smoke.
"It's a really lovely hotel," she said.
"I'm so sorry to see this."
Stewart King, general manager of the neighbouring Duck Bay Marina, said he had been down to the hotel and was shocked by the extent of the damage.
"It was very bad," he said.
Guests were sheltered in Cameron House's Boathouse restaurant while the situation was ongoing.
Cameron House is one of Scotland's most luxurious hotels, with views across Loch Lomond.
The venue offers a romantic location for weddings, a championship standard course for golfers and five-star facilities for guests.
The chef Martin Wishart has a Michelin-starred restaurant at the hotel.
Cameron House is owned by US investment firm KSL Capital Partners, which was reported to have paid between £70m and £80m for the 132-room property in 2015.
A statement on the hotel's website read: "Due to an ongoing incident please be aware that Cameron House will remain closed to arriving guests for at least the next 72 hours.
"We would ask all guests and customers to remain patient as we work with the emergency services to establish the extent of the damage and ascertain when we will be able to re-open.
"More information will follow in due course."
Flags were being flown at half-mast at West Dunbartonshire Council buildings.
Provost William Hendrie said: "For something like this to happen so close to Christmas is just too painful to comprehend.
"I know the staff at Cameron House will also be devastated and our thoughts also go out to them."
Andy Roger, resort director at Cameron House, said the hotel was working closely with investigators to identify the cause of the fire.
"The safety and well-being of our guests, employees and neighbours is our first priority, and our deepest condolences are with the families of those affected.
"We are working closely with the authorities to determine the cause of the fire, and to provide support to our guests and the families of those affected."
Cameron House situated by Loch Lomond is one of Scotland's most prestigious hotels
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-42392459
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Grandparents plead for girl abducted by ill mother - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Elliana Shand's grandfather says her mother, who has schizophrenia, is a "very good mum, just not very well".
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UK
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Jessica Richards took her daughter after she was placed into care by the local authority
The grandparents of a girl abducted by her mother, who has schizophrenia, have pleaded for her return.
Elliana Shand, who is four on Tuesday, and her mother, Jessica Richards, 26, disappeared from London in May.
Her grandfather told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme Ms Richards was "a very good mum" but unwell.
The judge overseeing the case said Ms Richards could be in the grip of hallucinations and might pose a "very real risk" to Elliana.
The child was placed in the care of her paternal grandparents, Sean and Eileen Doyle, in May, after social services staff at Barking and Dagenham Council intervened.
Last month, in an unusual move, Mr Justice Hayden released Elliana's name and photograph in the hope that someone could help locate her.
The judge, who has been overseeing Elliana's case at the family division of the High Court, said evidence showed Elliana had travelled with her maternal grandmother, Sharon Shand, to Jamaica.
It is thought she also went to the USA, Sweden and Spain.
Mr Doyle said they had lost track of their granddaughter in Spain but thought she could be in London.
"We've got no idea where she is, which is frustrating in this day and age," he said.
Mr Justice Hayden said Ms Richards, who has schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder, "under stress, no longer taking her anti-psychotic mediation, perhaps in the grip of auditory hallucinations... poses a very real risk to her daughter's safety".
He also described the relationship between Ms Richards and her daughter as very warm and affectionate.
"Her mum's a very good mum, she's just not very well. We want to find them both, but we genuinely don't know where they are," Mr Doyle said.
"We're grandparents. Our job is to look after our grandkids, it's a good job to have, and we just want to look after her.
"We're not at any stage trying to take her child, our job is to look after her until she's better."
The couple have been distributing leaflets and missing posters in areas where they think she could be, including Godalming in Surrey, north-west London and west London.
Mr and Mrs Doyle have urged anyone with information of Elliana's location to call the police
Both they and the judge have asked people to contact the police immediately if they know where Elliana is.
Appealing directly to Ms Richards, Mrs Doyle said: "Please give us a ring, let us hear Elliana's voice, let us know you're both OK, let's talk, we're happy to have a meeting."
Mr Doyle added: "We know them, we know they're not bad people, we're just in a situation that's escalated out of control that has got to the highest court in the land, it's bizarre that we're even there."
Watch the BBC's 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-42410014
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Sarah Palin's son charged with domestic assault on father - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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The former vice-presidential nominee's son is charged over a confrontation involving a firearm.
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US & Canada
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Track Palin (left), an Iraq war veteran, appeared regularly with Mrs Palin at campaign events
The son of former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has been charged with assault and burglary after a confrontation with his father involving a firearm.
Police say Track Palin allegedly broke into his parents' Alaska home through a window on Saturday night.
Documents obtained by US media say the 28-year-old said he was on pain medication and had been drinking.
He was arrested in 2016 for allegedly punching his girlfriend.
After he eventually pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm while intoxicated, other charges were dismissed in that case.
Police documents, published by the LA Times newspaper, said Mrs Palin called the police at about 20:40 on Saturday night (06:40 GMT on Sunday) to say her son was on "some type of medication" and was allegedly "freaking out".
The affidavit by a responding officer said they found the former Alaskan governor "visibly upset" at the property.
Mrs Palin has said previously that her son has suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Police say that when they arrived they had a stand-off with Mr Palin in which he moved around the house and at one stage went out onto the garage roof. They say he demanded police put their weapons on the ground and allegedly called them "peasants".
Police say the struggle between the two men happened after Mr Palin said he was coming to the property to retrieve a vehicle, and threatened to beat his father.
Todd Palin, Mrs Palin's husband, told police he armed himself with a pistol when his son arrived, but was disarmed and was left bloodied.
Track Palin was charged by police with first-degree burglary, fourth-degree assault and criminal mischief, and remains in police custody.
A statement to US media from the family requested privacy, and said the Palins were unable to comment further on the case.
Earlier this year his ex-girlfriend Jordan Loewe applied for a protective order against Mr Palin, having previously requested full custody of their one-year-old son.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42406405
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Newhaven school fire: Two girls and a boy arrested over arson - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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Three 13-year-olds were questioned after a blaze at a former school in Newhaven, East Sussex.
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Sussex
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Two 13-year-old girls have been arrested following a fire
Two girls and a boy, all aged 13, have been arrested on suspicion of arson after a blaze at a former school.
Forty firefighters were sent to the former Grays School in Western Road, Newhaven, on Monday morning.
The fire ripped through the building and caused extensive damage. Thick black smoke was seen along the East Sussex coast.
Nobody was injured in the fire. The three teenagers have been released while inquiries continue.
The blaze could be seen along the Sussex coast
An East Sussex County Council spokesman said once the fire service and police had finished their investigations on site, it would be "working to secure the building".
The school closed in 2014 and later that year was declared surplus to requirements by East Sussex County Council.
The authority agreed to sell the site to a developer, which has now received planning permission from Lewes District Council to demolish the school and build housing.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-42409462
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Could drugs delay the diseases of ageing? - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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Scientists in the United States believe it may be possible to delay the diseases of ageing.
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Health
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Hilda Jaffe is still working at 95
Imagine having to ask a 95-year-old to slow down - well, I did. Hilda Jaffe was walking so fast there was a risk that the small group following her would be left behind.
We had just met in the lobby of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, where Hilda is a volunteer tour guide, and she was escorting us to the vast, elaborately decorated Rose Main Reading Room.
Hilda doesn't walk so much as stride. I know people 60 years her junior who are less nimble on their feet.
In common with other super-agers, Hilda has retained her zest for life and knowledge.
Hilda completes the New York Times crossword each day, belongs to two book clubs, goes to the opera, classical music concerts and the theatre.
She also goes everywhere by foot, describing New York as a "great city for older people".
Hilda on honeymoon with her late husband Gerry
I asked Hilda what was the secret of her long and healthy life?
She said: "Pick your parents; my father died at 88, my mother at 93, so it has to be genetic."
Samples of Hilda's DNA are stored in a freezer at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx.
She is among more than 600 people aged over 90 who are part of the Longevity Genes Project.
The Rose Main Reading Room of the New York Public Library, which opened in 1911 and where Hilda Jaffe is a tour guide
Dr Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging, said what was striking about the group was what unhealthy lives many had lived.
He told me: "Almost 50% of them were overweight. Many were heavy smokers, did not exercise and had unhealthy diets - they did not do what their doctors said they should."
His research found several genetic variants among the group that appeared to confer protection against the diseases of ageing.
He says only about one in 10,000 people is lucky enough to have these protective super-ager genes, but believes science could help the rest of us.
Some pharmaceutical companies are exploring whether these genetic traits could be used to create anti-ageing drugs.
For more than 60 years metformin has been used as a very cheap first-line treatment for diabetes.
Now, trials in a variety of animals have shown they live healthier, longer lives.
Exactly how metformin might delay the diseases of ageing is not well understood, but it appears to reduce oxidative damage and inflammation in cells.
In humans, studies have linked metformin to a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes and cognitive decline.
Dr Barzilai, who is also deputy scientific director of the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), is planning a randomised study of 3,000 adults aged 65-79 - half will take metformin tablets each day and half a placebo or dummy pill.
About half the $70m dollars needed has been raised; it is hoped the six-year trial will start in 2018, but this may depend on the support of one or more wealthy philanthropists.
At present, the US medicines regulator, the FDA, does not recognise ageing as a medical condition.
But Dr Barzilai says if the metformin trial was successful it would provide a proof of principle that ageing can be targeted
And he believes better drugs will come in the future.
Another promising area of ageing research is cellular senescence - the process by which cells stop dividing.
Most human cells can reproduce a limited number of times - this protects against cancer as the more cells divide, the greater the chance they will accumulate errors.
Cellular senescence helps keep humans predominantly free of cancer in the first half of life.
But as we age, the senescent cells accumulate, secreting inflammatory molecules that can damage neighbouring tissue and help trigger several diseases of ageing.
Senescent cells congregate in tissue affected by ageing, such as the joints and eyes - and are implicated in both osteoarthritis and age-related macular degeneration.
Unity Biotechnology, in California, is planning to begin human trials next year of a drug to clear senescent cells from the knee.
Dr Jamie Dananberg, chief medical officer, told me: "Osteoarthritis is a key reason why it hurts to get old. Our hope is that a single injection will alleviate pain, halt and perhaps even begin to repair the knee."
Even if the drug, which might need to be injected every few months, was partially successful, it could have huge implications for improving quality of life for those affected.
Unity is also targeting eye, lung and kidney disease.
These drugs are not designed to make us live longer, but to make old age less painful and more healthy - to put more life in our years.
If they work, then more of us could emulate Hilda Jaffe and become super-agers.
• None What are the secrets of the superagers?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42273362
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Sheffield arrests over 'alleged UK Christmas terror plot' - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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Four men were arrested during raids involving counter-terror police and an Army bomb disposal unit.
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England
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Police and the bomb disposal unit were seen outside a property in Chesterfield, Derbyshire
Action has been taken against an alleged Islamist terror plot in the UK that could have happened at Christmas, counter terrorism sources say.
Four men were arrested early on Tuesday in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire.
An Army bomb disposal team cordoned off a street in Chesterfield where a 31-year-old man was arrested. Nearby homes were evacuated.
Three other men aged 22, 36 and 41 were arrested in the Burngreave and Meersbrook areas of Sheffield.
All four suspects were detained on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
They have been taken to a police station in West Yorkshire for questioning. The cordon in Chesterfield was later lifted.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Elizabeth Fogarty lives on the street where a raid by police took place this morning
The cordon around one of the properties - the Fatima community centre on Brunswick Road in Burngreave - was extended on Tuesday afternoon and the bomb disposal unit attended.
A large number of police vehicles and officers were outside the two-storey building. The main door appeared to be broken on the ground.
Five raids at houses took place on Tuesday at:
Four men were arrested - all at their home addresses.
At 21:30 GMT, police said searches had been stood down for the evening but would resume at the scenes in Burngreave and Chesterfield in the morning.
A neighbour in Shirebrook Road, Sheffield, reported hearing "an enormous bang" as one of the raids took place at 05:30.
Carol Perry, who lives two doors from the scene, said: "I was asleep and then I was woken suddenly... and the house shook.
"My immediate thought was that it was an earthquake."
A large police presence could be seen outside the Fatima community centre in Sheffield
A spokeswoman from Counter Terrorism Policing North East said: "The public may have heard a loud bang at the time as police entered one of the properties, but it was not an explosion.
"[We] would like to reassure them that it was part of the method to gain entry to the property."
Retired Joan Miller, 63, who lives opposite the run-down house, said she looked out of her window to see many plain-clothed armed officers in the street.
Ms Miller said: "[There] was very loud bang. It shook the house.
"I pulled the curtains and saw lots of armed men in the street, so I kept watching because that was quite extraordinary."
Police and Army activity is continuing in Chesterfield
She said the officers shouted "very abruptly" for people to stay in their homes.
Elizabeth Fogarty, who lives across the road from the house in Meersbrook, said: "I've only recently moved up from London.
"One of the reasons we moved up north to Sheffield is because we felt quite nervous living in London with all the terrorist attacks taking place."
There are two types of terrorism raids in the UK. Many occur very quietly as detectives knock on the door and take the suspect into custody under normal police powers.
Then there are the full-on raids where doors or windows have to be knocked in, cordons set up and the bomb squad called.
Such operations are only ever mounted because secret intelligence - perhaps from an intercepted communication and often only fragmentary - suggests there is something at a property they need to get to the bottom of.
None of which is proof that any of those who have been arrested have committed an offence - but officers now have up to 14 days, subject to court oversight, to build a case.
One of their priorities is likely to be forensically examining phones. All recent major terrorism investigations have turned on not just what officers found during searches, but what they uncovered from online lives.
Supt Una Jennings of South Yorkshire Police said: "I understand our local communities will have concerns about this morning's police activity but I want to offer my reassurance that we will continue to serve and protect the public of South Yorkshire."
Derbyshire's Assistant Chief Constable Bill McWilliam said: "We of course understand that police activity of this nature can be unsettling.
"However, please be reassured, the arrest we wanted to make has been made.
"Our advice remains to be vigilant, which is not different to our day-to-day advice in the current climate, but continue to go about your business as usual."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-42410084
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Contaminated blood report 'full of lies' - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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Government officials have apologised for using a discredited report into the contaminated blood products scandal, the BBC can reveal.
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Health
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Carol Grayson's husband, Peter, died after contracting hepatitis C and HIV from infected blood products
Government officials have apologised for using a discredited report into the contaminated blood products scandal that left thousands of NHS patients infected with viruses including HIV.
Despite assurances that the "inadequate" document would be ditched, a health minister has referred to it this year, the BBC can reveal.
The government admits that the document was used for too long.
This week it will announce who will run its official inquiry into the scandal.
Critics say the whole process has taken far too long and have accused the government of a "whitewash".
Campaigners have always said that the 2006 report - originally billed by the government as an official account of how the scandal unfolded - was misleading and incomplete because original documents had been destroyed.
It has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.
At least 2,400 people died after they were given blood products that were infected with hepatitis C and HIV during the 70s and 80s.
Thousands of NHS patients with an inherited bleeding disorder called haemophilia were given the plasma products, which came from abroad, including the US.
Much of the plasma used to make the clotting treatment Factor VIII came from donors like prison inmates in the US, who sold their blood.
Carol Grayson's husband, Peter, was one of the victims who died.
She says campaigners have challenged the Department of Health over its investigations for more than a decade.
She told BBC News: "I had to give my career up to care for my husband for many years and I didn't have my own children because at the time I wanted to conceive, I was told I might infect the child and the advice at the time was, don't have children. So there are huge implications for families. It doesn't just impact on one person, it impacts on the whole family.
"I go from being absolutely furious and thinking everything I was brought up to believe in, you know about democracy, about justice is a lie."
In July, the prime minister ordered the Cabinet Office to oversee the independent investigation into how the scandal happened, after family members warned that the involvement of the Department of Health would mean it would be, in effect, investigating itself.
The BBC has now seen a series of letters from ministers and civil servants, accepting that the 2006 report (Self-Sufficiency in Blood Products in England and Wales) previously seen within Whitehall as a "definitive account", was inadequate.
Sir Chris Wormald, permanent secretary at the Department of Health, wrote to Liberal Democrat peer Lady Featherstone in August assuring her that the document "has not been used by officials in recent years… and it will not be used in the future".
But the BBC has also seen a letter written by health minister Lord O'Shaughnessy to another MP in January this year, which referenced the report and its conclusions.
When this was brought to Sir Chris's attention, he apologised, and said there were "some instances in recent years where the department had referred to the document" and reiterated the assurance that the document would be taken out of use.
Lady Featherstone told the BBC that civil servants promised to make clear online that the document had been discredited, but this was not yet apparent.
The peer, whose own nephew died from an infection from contaminated blood products, said: "That document is full of holes, and lies, and mistruths, and lines to take, and I went to the Department of Health to challenge the use of this document.
"I think the permanent secretary was quite genuine in his desire - he saw that the evidence proved that they couldn't use the document - and he wrote to me to assure me that this document was not being used any longer, had not been used in recent years and would never be used again in the future.
"It indicated to me that they knew it was wrong, that they must have acknowledged it was telling untruths."
A Department of Health spokesperson said: "The 2006 document, Self-Sufficiency in Blood Products in England and Wales: A Chronology from 1973 to 1991, remained in use by the department for too long. It is no longer used.
"The infected blood scandal of the 1970s and 80s is an appalling tragedy and the government has announced an independent statutory inquiry to ensure that victims and their families finally get the answers they have spent decades waiting for."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42410301
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Christmas attack: German government admits mistakes in aftermath - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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Victims' relatives say they were not given timely information and were billed for autopsies.
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Europe
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Angela Merkel visits the scene soon after the 2016 attack in Berlin
Germany has admitted that mistakes were made in the aftermath of last year's attack on a Christmas market in Berlin that left 12 dead.
"Everything humanly possible" was being done to help those affected and improve security, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on the first anniversary of the attack.
Mrs Merkel has come under fire for her government's response.
Families have said they were not given timely information and that they were sent bills for the costs of autopsies.
After a private ceremony for the bereaved and emergency workers, Mrs Merkel said it was time to work to "correct the things that went wrong".
"Not only to guarantee security, but to give those whose lives were destroyed or impacted, the chance to return to their lives as well as possible," she added.
The chancellor also attended an event that unveiled a memorial for the victims at Berlin's Breitscheidplatz, the site of the Christmas market.
Several family members had accused Mrs Merkel of "inaction", saying that she had failed to reach out to them. She met victims' relatives for the first time on Monday, and described the conversation as "brutally honest".
Last year's attack in Berlin also left dozens injured
Earlier, in an article in the Tagesspiegel newspaper (in German), Justice Minister Heiko Maas acknowledged the country was not "sufficiently prepared" for the consequences of such an attack, saying: "For this we can only apologise to the victims and surviving relatives".
He proposed the creation of a government co-ordination office to improve communication with victims of future attacks and called for a change in the law so that all victims could be treated and compensated equally, regardless of their nationalities or the circumstances of the attack.
Tributes are paid to the victims of the attack at the market in Berlin
A report commissioned by the government and released last week cited a number of failures in the response to the attack, including delays in confirming the identities of the victims to their relatives.
A separate report in October revealed "gross mistakes" by German police and security services.
Anis Amri, a Tunisian asylum seeker who drove a lorry into the crowded market, was shot and killed in Italy four days after the attack.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42410414
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Boeing and Bombardier set out defence in trade row - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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Boeing and Bombardier trade verbal blows over claims that the Canadian company gets state aid.
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Business
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Parts of the C-Series jet are produced by workers at Bombardier's Belfast plant
Boeing and Bombardier traded verbal blows on Monday over claims by the US planemaker that the Canadian company receives massive subsidies.
The two sides appeared before the US International Trade Commission (ITC) in the latest round of their bitter row.
Boeing accused Bombardier of harming sales of its 737 aircraft and urged the ITC to support tariffs on its rival.
But Bombardier, which makes wings in Belfast, said Boeing makes "money hand over fist" from the 737.
Boeing claims Bombardier's new C-Series aircraft is being sold in the US below cost because of Canadian subsidies.
The US company won the first round of the fight in October when the US Commerce Department ordered that tariffs of up to 300% should be imposed on the C-Series.
The ITC will decide if the tariffs should be made permanent, which could effectively shut off the US market to the C-Series.
In opening remarks to the ITC hearing, Bombardier representative Peter Lichtenbaum said: "Boeing is making money hand over fist. And with a backlog of 737 orders years into the future, there are no signs of difficulty on the horizon."
Boeing countered that it had already been "established beyond question that Bombardier has taken billions of dollars in illegal government subsidies to prop up its C-Series programme. The C-Series would not even exist at this point but for those subsidies".
Canada's ambassador to the US, David MacNaughton, warned that a ruling in favour of Boeing would not be the end of the dispute.
He told the ITC panel that backing Boeing risked a possible violation of World Trade Organization rules.
"Boeing's assertion that future imports from Canada threaten to cause material injury is necessarily based on just the type of speculation and conjecture that is prohibited under both US and international law," he said.
Canada earlier this month scrapped plans to buy 18 Boeing Super Hornet fighter jets, underlining Ottawa's anger over the trade challenge.
The dispute is also being closely watched by the UK government, which fears any impact on C-Series sales will threaten jobs.
The dispute stems from a 2016 sale of 75 C-Series jets to Delta Air Lines. Boeing claims Delta paid $20m per plane, well below an estimated cost of $33m and what Bombardier charges in Canada.
Earlier this year, European planemaker Airbus took a controlling stake in the C-Series programme, and will begin production in Alabama. This will increase the US content of the aircraft, and generate hundreds of jobs.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42406632
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Birmingham crash victim Kasar Jehangir jailed over police chase - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Kasar Jehangir was one of six people killed in the multi-car crash in Birmingham.
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Birmingham & Black Country
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One of the six victims of a multi-car crash in Birmingham had served a prison sentence over a 130mph police chase, the BBC understands.
Kasar Jehangir, 25, was jailed for three years for dangerous driving and possession of drugs with intent to supply in November last year.
He was one of two men who threw heroin from an Audi while being chased by police on the M6 in 2015.
Lucy Davis and Lee Jenkins have also been named as victims of the crash.
Mr Jehangir - released earlier in 2017 under probation service supervision - died on Sunday alongside Tauqeer Hussain, 26, and Mohammed Fahsha.
Another man, 22, was seriously injured when the Audi the four men were in crashed with a taxi on Lee Bank Middleway, near the city centre.
Mr Hussain's mother suffered a heart attack after learning of her son's death, a family member said.
"Beautiful and fun-loving" Lucy Davis was one of the taxi passengers killed in the crash
Taxi driver Imtiaz Mohammed and his passengers, 42-year-old Mr Jenkins, and his partner 43-year-old Ms Davis from Kingstanding in Birmingham, died after the vehicle was smashed on to its side.
Ms Davis, who had two children, worked as a sign language interpreter.
Her family said: "Lucy was a beautiful and fun-loving mother, daughter, sister, auntie and friend who brought happiness to the lives of all she met. Rest in Peace our Lady in Red."
Her relatives have taken to social media to express their "unbearable" pain.
Mr Jenkins' employer, University Hospitals Birmingham, said: "The trust extends its deepest condolences to the family of Lee Jenkins and also to his friends and colleagues at this very sad time."
Mr Mohammed, 33, has been described by relatives as a "happy, loving and friendly guy", was on his last job before heading home to his wife and family, according to his brother.
The family of Mr Mohammed, who had five daughters and one son, said his death came the day before his daughter's fourth birthday.
Father-of-six Imtiaz Mohammed, described as a hard-working family man, was killed in the crash
Three men in the Audi, including Mohammed Fahsha, 30, pictured with his baby nephew, and Tauqeer Hussain, 26, known as Tox to his family, died at the scene.
People have been leaving tributes near the scene of the crash, including flowers with a card saying: "To Mum, I love you loads. "Life isn't going to be the same without you."
Three vehicles were directly involved in the accident on Belgrave Middleway in the early hours of Sunday
The scene of the accident was described as "harrowing"
Tousif Hussain Kiani, whose younger brother Tauqeer died in the crash, revealed that their mother had a heart attack after hearing about her son's death.
Mr Hussain was abroad when his sister contacted him in the middle of the night to tell him his 26-year-old brother was among the men thrown from the Audi.
He said he managed to get the next flight back to the UK, only to return to the news that his mother, Jamil Ahktar, had been taken to hospital.
The death of Tauqeer is another tragedy for the family as Mr Hussain's older brother, Khrum Munir, was killed in a car accident almost 10 years ago when the 28-year-old was coming home from work.
He said his father was "holding it together because he is a strong man... but emotionally, I'm not sure what he is feeling."
Tousif Hussain Kiani said his brother Tauqeer was 'happy and carefree'
Mr Hussain described Tauqeer, known as Tox, as someone who was "friendly to everybody" and always outside the house on St Benedicts Road, Small Heath, with his friends "laughing and joking".
He was due to start a new job in January.
He said Mohammed Fahsha lived opposite and was a childhood friend to them both.
"We were always in each other's houses... always together. It doesn't seem real because they're not here," he said.
The brothers had known Kasar Jehangir for several years and the fourth person in the car who survived, an unnamed 22-year-old man, since he was about 15 years old.
He said the group were going to get food when the crash happened.
Mr Hussain said he was upset at Mr Jehangir's past drug convictions being referenced following his death.
"It's irrelevant to what has happened now... it's a matter in his own private life and not something his family want to be seeing.
"Everybody does bad and good in their life."
He said he was also angry at graphic images and footage of the aftermath of the crash scene being shared on social media.
"When I checked my social media [after learning of his brother's death] I saw people uploading pictures and videos.
"Fair enough you want to record the cars or whatever, but people were recording the bodies lying on the floor and that's not how I'd like to see any person lying on the floor while they are dead in that state, never mind if they're my brother and my best friends."
Police said investigations into the cause of the crash were ongoing.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42408477
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Harvey Weinstein: Ex-assistant criticises gagging orders - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Zelda Perkins wants UK law to change, 19 years after accusing the film mogul of trying to rape a colleague.
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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. Zelda Perkins: "Everyone sees [Harvey] as this repulsive monster... he was also an extremely exciting person to be around."
A former assistant to Harvey Weinstein, who accused him of attempting to rape a colleague 19 years ago, has called for a change to UK law on gagging orders.
Zelda Perkins worked for Weinstein's Miramax Films in the UK in the 1990s. She left after a co-worker said he'd tried to rape her, which he denied.
Ms Perkins told BBC Newsnight she tried to expose his behaviour, but was told by lawyers she "didn't have a chance".
She signed a non-disclosure agreement but said the process was "immoral".
Ms Perkins was 24 when she signed the confidentiality agreement in 1998, which prevented her from speaking to anyone about the alleged sexual assault.
She's now broken her 19 years of silence by speaking publicly about the movie mogul's mistreatment of women.
In her first broadcast interview, she told Newsnight's Emily Maitlis she wanted UK law on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) reformed to dismantle a legal system which she says enables the rich and powerful to cover up sexual assault and harassment.
"The last 19 years have been distressing, where I've not been allowed to speak, where I've not been allowed to be myself," she told the BBC Two programme.
"It's not just distressing for me, but for lots of women who have not been able to own their past, and for many of them, their trauma. Although the process I went through was legal, it was immoral."
She said she was "emotionally and psychologically" threatened by Weinstein during her three years working for him, but was never physically threatened.
When, on a trip abroad, a younger colleague came to her in a distressed state to say that Weinstein had attempted to rape her, Ms Perkins felt it was her duty to act.
"She was shaking, very distressed, and clearly in shock," she said. "She didn't want anybody to know and was absolutely terrified of the consequences. I spoke with her and tried to calm her down before confronting Harvey face to face."
Weinstein denied the attempted rape. The women were advised to take legal advice, but were shocked by what they were told.
"The lawyers made it very clear that we didn't have very many options," she said. "We had no physical evidence because we hadn't gone to the police when we were abroad, and ultimately, it would be two young women's words against Harvey Weinstein.
"In hindsight, my lawyers were giving me the advice they thought was best.
"However, they were saying, 'You will get dragged backwards, forwards and sideways through the courts. As will your family, as will your friends, as will anybody who knows anything about you. You haven't got a chance. You will be destroyed.'"
They were advised that their best option was to take legal action against Weinstein. What followed eventually led to the signing of an agreement so shrouded in secrecy that Ms Perkins herself is not permitted to own a copy of the document, but can look at it under supervision.
She fought to get terms included, including Weinstein's commitment to attend therapy. The document is so closely guarded because it's "a smoking gun", she said.
"If you have an agreement that somebody has signed, that says that he will go to therapy, that he will be dismissed from his own company if anybody else makes a claim in the ensuing period, that an HR policy for sexual harassment has to be brought into the company, it's pretty clear that something's wrong."
She received £125,000 as part of the settlement - which she now views as a payment for her silence. But she says she regrets that the agreement meant that money changed hands.
She said the experience left her "pretty broken and exhausted and so disillusioned" and she doesn't know whether the conditions regarding therapy were carried out.
She said: "I didn't have the energy to go on fighting. It was not my obligation to follow up on his obligation.
"What's extraordinary looking back is you'd imagine that Miramax Films would have been bending over backwards to make sure all of those obligations were fulfilled. But they weren't. I really couldn't stay in the industry at that point."
Now, Ms Perkins says her motives for breaking the terms of her agreement by speaking publicly are as much about shedding light on the gagging orders that can protect the rich and powerful as they are about exposing Harvey Weinstein's alleged abusive behaviour.
NDAs are widely used in the business world to share confidential information and keep trade secrets, but their usage in sexual harassment cases is more controversial.
The allegations against Harvey Weinstein have caused some law-makers in the US to readdress the use of NDAs in these instances. Senators in New York, New Jersey and California have drafted legislation aimed at banning them in such circumstances.
Ms Perkins now wants the UK Parliament to follow suit and debate the issue.
Geoffrey Roberston QC said NDAs could be very useful, especially in employment law, and a blanket ban was "not the way to go".
But he added: "There is, however, an entirely legitimate case for the UK Parliament to pass an amendment to the Criminal Justice Act, making it a crime to offer money to employees to silence them in relation to criminal offences that they know about.
"This is also a question of legal ethics - the Weinstein story has highlighted an area in the law that can cover up sexual crime."
Ms Perkins said: "I understand that non-disclosure agreements have a place in society, and for both sides. But it's really important that legislation is changed around how these agreements are regulated."
The BBC asked Mr Weinstein for a response to the allegations. His lawyers said Mr Weinstein categorically denied engaging in any non-consensual conduct or alleged threatening behaviour. Miramax had no comment.
The lawyers representing Zelda Perkins at the time that the NDA was signed said it was inappropriate for them to comment, given the terms of the NDA.
Watch the full interview on Newsnight on BBC Two at 22:30 GMT.
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-42417655
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Meryl Streep defends herself against Rose McGowan criticism - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Oscar winner says she "didn't know" about Harvey Weinstein's alleged abuse.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Streep said she's "truly sorry she [McGowan] sees me as an adversary"
Actress Meryl Streep has defended herself against criticism from Harvey Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan.
McGowan, who accused Weinstein of rape, tweeted her anger at plans for stars to wear black to the Golden Globes in a silent protest against sexual abuse.
"Actresses like Meryl Streep... YOUR SILENCE is THE problem," actress McGowan wrote in the now deleted tweet.
Streep responded by saying she "didn't know" about Weinstein's alleged behaviour when she worked with him.
The movie mogul has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.
Streep said Weinstein "needed me much more than I needed him"
McGowan's tweet in full said: "Actresses, like Meryl Streep, who happily worked for The Pig Monster, are wearing black @goldenglobes in a silent protest. YOUR SILENCE is THE problem. You'll accept a fake award breathlessly & affect no real change. I despise your hypocrisy. Maybe you should all wear Marchesa."
Marchesa is the fashion line that the film producer started with his wife Georgina Chapman, who left him in October when the allegations emerged.
In Streep's statement, given to the Huffington Post, the Oscar winner said she was "hurt" to be "attacked" by McGowan and said she "did not know" about Weinstein's alleged abuse.
She said: "I have never in my life been invited to his hotel room."
Matt Damon has faced a backlash for his comments on the scandal
Streep added: "He needed me much more than I needed him and he made sure I didn't know....
"Rose assumed and broadcast something untrue about me, and I wanted to let her know the truth," she wrote, adding that she had passed on her phone number to McGowan through friends after seeing the tweet.
"I sat by the phone all day," she wrote, adding: "I hoped that she would give me a hearing. She did not, but I hope she reads this.
"I am truly sorry she sees me as an adversary, because we are both, together with all the women in our business, standing in defiance of the same implacable foe."
Streep worked with Weinstein on such films as The Iron Lady and August: Osage County and jokingly referred to him as "God" in a 2012 acceptance speech.
It is not the first time Streep has spoken out about the allegations.
When they first surfaced, she said she wanted to make it clear that "not everybody" had known about the allegations, including herself.
Meanwhile, actor Matt Damon has spoken out again about the Hollywood scandal, telling Business Insider he thinks the men in Hollywood who aren't sexual predators should be talked about more.
"We're in this watershed moment, and it's great, but I think one thing that's not being talked about is there are a whole load of guys - the preponderance of men I've worked with - who don't do this kind of thing," he said.
His comments follow criticism from actresses including his former girlfriend Minnie Driver of an interview he gave to ABC.
Damon said: "I do believe that there's a spectrum of behaviour and we're going to have to figure, you know, there's a difference between patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation," he said.
"Both of those behaviours need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn't be conflated."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42409914
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New approach promises early warnings of soggy summers - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Researchers develop a new technique to give a more accurate advance forecast for summer weather.
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Science & Environment
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Forecasters may soon be able to give a longer term warning of wet UK summers
Researchers in the UK have developed a method of improving the long range accuracy of summer weather forecasts in the UK and Europe.
The scientists found a connection between sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic in March and April and the subsequent summer's rain or shine.
The researchers say the new method may benefit agriculture, tourism and construction.
The study has been published in the journal PNAS.
Scientific effort to improve longer term forecasts have been focussed on winter weather patterns, which can pose a sizeable threat to humans and the environment. Developing better seasonal forecasts for the summer has lagged significantly behind.
Now researchers at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) at the University of Reading have found that springtime temperature anomalies in the north Atlantic are connected to the circulation of the atmosphere and the position of the jet stream over Europe in the following July and August.
"We found a strong link between sea surface temperatures east of Newfoundland during the spring and the position of the jet stream and the weather in the UK," said lead author Dr Albert Osso from the University of Reading.
"We found that there is a predictability."
The researchers believe the temperature anomalies in the sea change what is termed the meridional gradient and the position of the jet stream is strongly influenced by this factor.
Predicting barbecue weather might still be beyond the scope of this approach
"The jet stream gives the direction of the storms that cross the Atlantic and affect Europe and the UK," said Dr Osso.
"What we have seen is that when temperatures are warmer than normal in this area of the ocean, the storms basically move far north and they miss the UK, not all of them, but on average most of the storms are going to miss."
The scientists say that their findings mean that there is considerable potential to improve the seasonal forecast - with important implications for many sectors.
"This is an exciting finding. It shows that some aspects of summer weather in the UK appear to be much more predictable, many months ahead, than was previously thought," said Professor Rowan Sutton, from the University of Reading, and a co-author of the research.
"Farmers could potentially make more informed decisions on planting and harvesting. Shops could have more information to plan their stocks of sun cream or wellies. Forecasters still won't be able to tell you in May if an August bank holiday barbecue is a good idea or not, but they may be able to say if the summer is likely to be wetter or drier than average, with much more accuracy."
In the study, the scientists found that the rainfall in Europe can be predicted several months ahead with a correlation skill of 0.56, where 0 would be pure chance and 1 would be perfect prediction every time. The researchers believe that their new process could be a big help to weather forecasters,
"I think it could become a standard procedure and I think it can help to improve the numerical forecast," said Dr Osso.
"Knowing that these connections exist in observations, the forecasters can improve their models to reproduce these links and then get a better numerical forecast, not just a statistical one. "
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42403000
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Washington train crash: 'We could feel cars crumpling' - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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Passenger Chris Karnes describes the moment an Amtrak train derailed and crashed onto a highway below.
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Passenger Chris Karnes describes the moment an Amtrak train derailed and crashed onto a highway below in Washington state.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42360542
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Impoverished healthcare at squalid Liverpool prison, report says - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Whistleblowers tell BBC News prisoners have died and others injured due to poor care.
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Liverpool
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The report says there is "a lack of support for people with mental health needs, and in-patients have an impoverished regime"
Major failings in the provision of healthcare at Liverpool prison have been uncovered by a BBC investigation.
Whistleblowers have told BBC News that prisoners have died and others have been injured due to poor care.
Most of the incidents have happened since inspectors said conditions at the jail were the worst they had seen.
Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust said it was sorry it had not managed to improve services as much as it had hoped.
For the past three months, healthcare staff at HMP Liverpool have been highlighting ongoing concerns about the treatment of some of the approximately 1,100 prisoners at the jail.
MP Rosie Cooper said there was a "systemic failure to provide decent healthcare" at the prison
Their decision to speak out, they say, was borne of a sense that senior management at the trust were not listening to concerns and hiding failings from regulators.
A draft copy of its report, obtained by the BBC, says while there have been some improvements, "there is a lack of support for people with mental health needs, and in-patients have an impoverished regime. There had been failures of leadership and management at all levels."
Just days after the inspectors left, the BBC was informed of the suicide of a patient.
The man, who the BBC is not naming, killed himself in the healthcare unit.
A fortnight later, staff told of the suicide of a second inmate.
"He did not have his secondary screening at the prison, a national requirement," wrote staff in an email to the BBC. "The prison at the moment is so risky."
A month later, a third death. On the day the man died, the BBC was told he had been waiting "nearly 17 hours" to see a prison GP.
Another inmate, we were told, was left with life-changing injuries after staff failed to notice for 12 hours that he had broken his neck despite a medic checking on him.
Darren Harley said he removed the roots of his tooth himself because he did not receive medication
Darren Harley was convicted of drugs offences and spent 27 months in Liverpool prison before being released in the summer.
During his time inside, he says, he developed toothache but the healthcare regime failed on four separate occasions to provide him with proper medication, forcing him to take drastic action.
"My tooth actually shattered and because of the agony I was in, I ended up having to remove the roots myself. I don't understand how it is taking so long for people to get important medication," he said.
On some occasions, potentially life-saving drugs, such as warfarin and insulin, were not available despite being prescribed to prisoners.
At other times, mistakes led to inmates getting double doses of certain drugs.
Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, which has provided healthcare services at the prison for two years, said it inherited some very significant challenges from the previous provider.
It said improvements had been made but the scale of the changes needed and the challenging environment within prisons has limited its ability to address everything.
Rosie Cooper, the Labour MP for West Lancashire, has been campaigning for improvements at the prison for years and is appalled by the continuing failures.
"We expect those prisoners to obey our rules outside of prison, yet inside prison the authorities abandon all rules and regulations and treat prisoners in this way and leave them suffering. I cannot accept that that's right."
As the BBC revealed on Monday, the inspectorate's findings on HMP Liverpool - a local category B/C prison, which also takes people on remand - are damning across the board.
Lawyer Leanne Devine said there was "a culture of denial"
It describes living conditions "as amongst the worst we have seen", with many prisoners living in "squalid" conditions.
"Many cells have broken windows with dangerous jagged glass, broken observation panels, damp, leaks and broken or blocked toilets," says the report.
"There is a significant problem with cockroaches and rats throughout the prison."
The problems are understood to have contributed to the removal of the governor last month and to some urgent repairs being carried out on one wing.
"There is a culture of denial," said Leanne Devine, a lawyer with Broudie Jackson Canter who regularly takes action against HMP Liverpool on behalf of inmates and their families.
"We've not seen any evidence of change.
"What is frustrating for the families is when they go away and they hope for change and then they see years later, coming through the press, the same cases, the same failings."
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "We do not comment on leaked reports."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-42155929
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Lottery millionaire to work at Slough care home on Christmas Day - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Patricia Aldridge says she won't be giving up her job at a care home for the elderly.
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Berkshire
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Lottery millionaire to work at Slough care home on Christmas Day
A care home worker who won £1 million on the lottery says she will still do her 12-hour Christmas Day shift.
Patricia Aldridge, 55, a care assistant from Wexham, near Slough, won the money after the Lotto draw on 9 December.
She was announced as a new millionaire on Tuesday, along with her husband Robert, 57, who described the winnings as "life-changing".
Mrs Aldridge said: "You hear people say 'if I won a lot of money I'd give up work', but I love what I do."
She discovered her new riches after checking an app on her phone.
"I rang Robert, and I said 'how many zeros are there in a million? I think I've won a million pounds,' said Mrs Aldridge.
She will continue to work at the elderly people's care home in Slough despite her millionaire raffle win, where she will do her 08:00 GMT to 20:00 GMT shift on 25 December.
Mr Aldridge, a site manager at a school, will also not be giving up work.
He said: "We'll still be the same people. I'm not giving up work, I'll still go out with my friends, I'll still do my crib night.
"It just makes us more secure knowing that we can help the children buy a house and that sort of thing."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-42410326
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Interstellar object may hold 'alien' water - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The first known interstellar asteroid may hold water from another star system in its interior, according to a study.
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Science & Environment
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The first known interstellar asteroid may hold water from another star system in its interior, according to a study.
Discovered on 19 October, the object's speed and trajectory strongly suggested it originated beyond our Solar System.
The body showed no signs of "outgassing" as it approached the Sun, strengthening the idea that it held little if any water-ice.
But the latest findings suggest water might be trapped under a thick, carbon-rich coating on its surface.
The results come as a project to search for life in the cosmos has been using a radio telescope to check for radio signals coming from the strange, elongated object, named 'Oumuamua.
Astronomers from the Breakthrough Listen initiative have been looking across four different radio frequency bands for anything that might resemble a signal resulting from alien technology.
But their preliminary results have drawn a blank. The latest research - along with a previous academic paper - support a natural origin for the cosmic interloper.
Furthermore, they measured the way that 'Oumuamua reflects sunlight and found it similar to icy objects from our own Solar System that are covered with a dry crust.
"We've got high signal-to-noise spectra (the 'fingerprint' of light reflected or emitted by the asteroid) both at optical wavelengths and at infrared wavelengths. Putting those together is crucial," Prof Alan Fitzsimmons, from Queen's University Belfast (QUB), one of the authors of the new study in Nature Astronomy.
He added: "What we do know is that the spectra don't look like something artificial."
Their measurements suggest that millions of years of exposure to cosmic rays have created an insulating, carbon-rich layer on the outside that could have shielded an icy interior from its encounter with the Sun.
This process of irradiation has left it with a somewhat reddish hue, similar to objects encountered in the frozen outer reaches of our Solar System.
"When it was near the Sun, the surface would have been 300C (600 Kelvin), but half a metre or more beneath the surface, the ice could have remained," Prof Fitzsimmons told BBC News.
The Gemini North observatory was used to gather observations of 'Oumuamua
Previous measurements suggest the object is at least 10 times longer than it is wide. That ratio is more extreme than that of any asteroid or comet ever observed in our Solar System. Uncertainties remain as to its size, but it is thought to be at least 400m long.
"We don't know its mass and so it could still be fragile and have a relatively low density," said Prof Fitzsimmons.
"That would still be consistent with the rate at which it is spinning - which is about once every seven-and-a-half hours or so. Something with the strength of talcum powder would hold itself together at that speed."
He added: "It's entirely consistent with cometary bodies we've studied - with the Rosetta probe, for example - in our own Solar System."
Co-author Dr Michele Bannister, also from QUB, commented: "We've discovered that this is a planetesimal with a well-baked crust that looks a lot like the tiniest worlds in the outer regions of our Solar System, has a greyish/red surface and is highly elongated, probably about the size and shape of the Gherkin skyscraper in London.
"It's fascinating that the first interstellar object discovered looks so much like a tiny world from our own home system. This suggests that the way our planets and asteroids formed has a lot of kinship to the systems around other stars."
A number of ideas have been discussed to explain the unusual shape of 'Oumuamua. These include the possibility that it could be composed of separate objects that joined together, that a collision between two bodies with molten cores ejected rock that then froze in an elongated shape, and that it is a shard of a bigger object destroyed in a supernova.
Artwork: 'Oumuamua may have spent millions of years travelling the Milky Way (shown here) before its encounter with the Sun
In a paper recently published on the Arxiv pre-print server, Gábor Domokos, from the Budapest University of Technology in Hungary, and colleagues suggest that, over millions of years, collisions between 'Oumuamua and many speeding interstellar dust grains could produce the object's observed shape.
Prof Fitzsimmons said this idea was very interesting, and added: "I think what we're looking at here is the initial flurry of scientists running around saying: 'How did it get like this, where's it come from, what's it made of.' It's incredibly exciting.
"I think after a few months you will see people focus down on one or two possibilities for all these things. But this just shows you: it's a symptom of what an amazing, interesting object this is... we can't wait for the next one."
If planets form around other stars the same way they did in the Solar System, many objects the size of 'Oumuamua should get slung out into space. The interstellar visitor may provide the first evidence of that process.
"All the data we have at the moment turn out to be consistent with what we might expect from an object ejected by another star," he said.
But asked about Breakthrough Listen's initiative, he said: "If I had a radio telescope, I might give it a go."
• None Asteroid to be checked for alien tech
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42397398
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RAF Mildenhall: Shots fired in security alert at US Suffolk airbase - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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US personnel respond as a man drives through a checkpoint near to an aircraft at RAF Mildenhall.
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Suffolk
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A man has been arrested after driving through a military checkpoint, getting close to an aircraft at a base in Suffolk used by the US Air Force.
Shots were fired by US personnel before the 44-year-old British man was overcome by staff at RAF Mildenhall.
The base was temporarily put into lockdown as Suffolk police responded to reports of what they called a "significant incident".
Police said the incident was being treated as trespass, not terrorism.
Supt Kim Warner, from Suffolk Police, said the man, who suffered cuts and bruises, was arrested after a "short pursuit" and his vehicle was stopped by US security services.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The base was temporarily put on lockdown
There was "no obvious motive at this stage", he said, adding there was no wider threat to the public or the base and police were not looking for anyone else.
The vehicle was brought to a halt close to a US plane, an Osprey, and it was not thought there was "any significant damage" to the vehicle or the aircraft, Supt Warner said.
Suffolk Police was notified about a breach of security at about 13:40 GMT.
"Shots were fired by US security, I don't know how many, but I do know that shots were fired," Supt Warner said.
"It would be fair to say some of the minor injuries were probably as a result of him being apprehended," he added.
The superintendent said there would now be an internal investigation by the US airbase into why guns were discharged.
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RAF Mildenhall is protected by Ministry of Defence police and US armed guards.
The US Air Force said in a statement it was continuing to work with local authorities.
The base is used as a transport hub by the US and is home to a fleet of refuelling aircraft and special operations forces.
It has about 3,200 military personnel, with 400 to 500 UK civilian staff employed there.
The base was one of 56 MoD sites earmarked for closure.
However, the US Air Force said in September it was delaying plans to relocate its operations to a base in Germany until 2024.
RAF Mildenhall has previously been a potential target for a terror attack against US military personnel.
In May 2016, Junead Khan was given a life sentence for preparing terrorist acts after a court heard how he used his job as a delivery driver to gather information about the base.
It's highly unusual for shots to be fired by US personnel. That said, in the past few years security has been stepped up at the US base, which now has a much tighter perimeter.
You can't just drive into the base, you have to go through what's called the '"shed" - your car is checked and you have to go through lots of tight security measures.
RAF Mildenhall is essentially a little piece of America, with more than 3,000 US personnel based here, and there's very close co-operation between the American military police and the British civilian police.
US bases here are governed by the Status of Forces Act so there are very clear rules of engagement here, with certain protocols in place when it come to the discharge of firearms.
US personnel are allowed to fire guns, but these rules of engagement are not made public because of security considerations.
There will undoubtedly be a conversation as a result of this incident between the Pentagon and the Ministry of Defence as to exactly what happened here and why guns were fired.
• None Welcome to England's 'Little America'
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42401585
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As it happened: Amtrak train plunges on to US highway - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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There are reports of fatalities after the train fell from a bridge on to the road in Washington state.
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US & Canada
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We're now closing our live page following the derailment of the passenger train on its inaugural run in Washington state.
A recovery operation is continuing, and officials are so far declining to provide any casualty numbers.
Here's a quick recap of what we know and also latest reports in the US media:
• more than 80 people were on board the southbound Train 501 from Seattle to Portland which was running on a new, shorter route
• the accident on a bridge over interstate motorway I-5 happened at 07:30 local time (15:30 GMT) some 45 minutes into the journey
• thirteen of the train's 14 carriages jumped the tracks, with some crashing onto the motorway below
• officials say there were multiple fatalities, with the Associated Press reporting that at least six people died
• reports say 77 people were taken to local hospitals
• the cause of the crash is being investigated, with some reports say the train may have hit something
• one passenger was quoted as saying that the train started to wobble a little before the crash
• Washington governor declared a state of emergency to mobilise all resources for the recovery operation and assistance to the injured
You can still follow all the latest updates on this story and other news on the BBC News website.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-42404293
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Raheem Sterling: Police charge man with racially aggravated common assault - BBC Sport
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2017-12-19
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Police charge a man with racially aggravated common assault in relation to an alleged attack on Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling.
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Last updated on .From the section Man City
Police have charged a man with racially aggravated common assault in relation to an alleged attack on Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling.
Karl Anderson, 29, of Manchester, was remanded in custody and will appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.
It was reported Sterling was racially abused and attacked on Saturday after arriving at City's training ground.
City are yet to comment on the allegation or arrest.
Sterling is City's top scorer so far this season, with 15 goals in all competitions.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42409860
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Wendy Thomas jailed for people smuggling to UK - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Wendy Thomas hid three people in a car and tried to drive them into the UK via the Channel tunnel.
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South East Wales
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Wendy Thomas hid two women and a man in a car she tried to drive into the UK
A woman who hid three people in a car and tried to drive them into the UK has been jailed for people smuggling.
The Home Office said officers discovered the stowaways after stopping Wendy Thomas' car at the Eurotunnel terminal in France on 9 October 2016.
Two of them were unresponsive and were rushed to hospital.
Thomas, 50, of Cardiff, admitted assisting illegal immigration and was sentenced to 33 months at Blackfriars Crown Court.
The man was found under a duvet in the car's foot well
The two women were taken to hospital after being found unresponsive
Two women were found inside a large black holdall in the boot of Thomas' car and had been covered by pillows and a large soft toy.
The third passenger, a man who later claimed to be an Iranian national and was handed to the French authorities, was found hiding under cushions and a quilt in the rear foot wells.
Thomas' co-conspirators Adriano Bettoja-Allen, 37, and his wife Jeanette, 49, of Newport, were also sentenced for their parts in two separate "carefully planned" attempts to smuggle people into the UK.
The Home Office said investigations started following the arrest of Dawood Shahbeik at St Pancras International station, after he arrived on the Eurostar from Calais on 2 October 2016.
Text messages on his mobile phone referred to a person who had been taken to a house in Newport, while a search of his luggage revealed a damaged Iranian passport and a large amount of cash.
The pillows and large toy used to hide the three stowaways
Thomas was arrested a week after Shahbeik and text messages on both their phones showed they had been in regular contact with Adriano Bettoja-Allen.
Investigators found he and his wife had travelled through Calais on 2 October after meeting Shahbeik in Dunkirk.
They also found Thomas and Bettoja-Allen had travelled in separate vehicles from Folkestone, Kent, to Coquelles, France, on the same Eurotunnel train on 8 October.
Adriano Bettoja-Allen returned to the UK less than two hours after Thomas had been stopped by Border Force officers and financial checks also uncovered a large deposit into Thomas' bank account in September 2016.
Adriano Bettoja-Allen was jailed for five years for his part in the smuggling operation
Adriano Bettoja-Allen admitted assisting illegal immigration and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Jeanette Bettoja-Allen pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to 11 months, suspended for two years.
Shahbeik, who also admitted the same charge, was sentenced to 18 months in prison at an earlier hearing.
Speaking after the case concluded, David Fairclough, assistant director from Immigration Enforcement's Criminal and Financial Investigation team, said: "Adriano Bettoja-Allen was revealed by our investigations to be the common link between what initially appeared to be unconnected incidents.
"Our investigations showed that far from being opportunistic attempts to undermine the UK's border controls, the offences had been carefully planned.
"The fact that two women ended up in hospital demonstrates the dangerous lengths people smugglers will go to."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-42402386
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Government says diversity target for judges is 'wrong way' - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The justice secretary rejects a recommendation to set targets to get more ethnically diverse judges.
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UK
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The government is committed to exposing injustice, says David Lidington
Setting targets to hire judges from ethnic minority backgrounds would be the "wrong way" to solve the issue of diversity, says the justice secretary.
David Lidington has outlined steps to tackle "race bias" in the legal system in England and Wales, following a damning report from MP David Lammy.
But the minister says the government needs to "look at the critical path" into the law - rather than targets.
Mr Lammy said he was "disappointed" with the government's response.
The Lammy Review, published in September, said that people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds make up 25% of the prison population and 41% of the youth justice system - but only 14% of the general population.
Ethnic minority groups make up only 11% of magistrates and 7% of judges.
As a result, Mr Lammy had called for a national target to achieve representation in the courts by 2025.
However, Mr Lidington said a target would be "the wrong way to attack this particular objective" and he was looking at alternatives.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "When you look at the judges, you have got a group of people who have been practising in law perhaps for 20 years... because we need people who are experienced, who are expert, to sit on the bench.
"In getting a more diverse judiciary... you need to look at the critical path of how do people get into the legal profession in the first place."
Mr Lammy disagreed and instead called for a "bold approach".
The Tottenham MP told the BBC: "It is not about the pipeline. BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) lawyers are applying to join the judiciary.
"If you set a target or a goal, then it concentrates the mind to achieve that. But the government has not affected that.
"The UK is behind the curve on diversity and it needs to catch up."
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Lawyer and diversity campaigner Funke Abimbola was also disappointed with the decision, telling Today: "It is an important element of [the recommendations] because bias in the judiciary has a direct impact on decision-making.
"This whole report was about there being proven bias against those minority ethnic backgrounds. [Targets are] a key part in driving diversity of thought, which impacts decisions in court."
The government's response to David Lammy's proposals suggests it's following them in spirit - but not to the letter.
Many of the recommendations relate to changes to data collection, which should be relatively straightforward to implement.
The harder task set by Mr Lammy involves increasing diversity, so those who work in the criminal justice system better reflect and understand the people who use it.
Although ministers have agreed challenging targets to raise ethnic minority representation among prison officers, they've balked at doing the same for judges and magistrates.
The experience of the police service, which failed to meet 10-year BME targets set in 1999 after the Macpherson report, may have influenced their decision.
Targets can help focus efforts in achieving a goal - but if they're too stretching, they may prove counter-productive.
The Lammy Review concluded that people from minority backgrounds still faced bias, "including overt discrimination", in parts of the justice system.
Mr Lidington pledged to implement a "key principle" of "change or explain" when racial discrimination is found in the system.
"Where we cannot explain differences in outcomes for different groups, we will reform," he said, pledging to work on each of Mr Lammy's 35 recommendations - even if not following them to the letter.
And he added this was the "very first step" in a change of attitude towards race disparity "that will touch on every part of the criminal justice system for years to come".
Within the government's response, it said it would:
Some of the changes would take longer to achieve than others, the Ministry of Justice said.
But it had already made progress on several recommendations, including publishing data on race bias in the system.
It said a new race and ethnicity board would drive through the reforms - but alternative approaches would be found where proposals could not be implemented in full.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42406302
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Mum carrying terminally-ill baby 'to be a donor' - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Hayley Martin's unborn daughter has no kidneys as a result of a fatal rare genetic disease.
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Humberside
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The couple will donate their unborn daughter's heart valves
A mother who has been told her unborn baby girl will not survive at birth is carrying her to full term so she can donate heart tissue to help others.
Hayley Martin was told at her 20-week scan that her child has a rare genetic disorder meaning she will die during labour or within minutes of being born.
Speaking on ITV's This Morning show, Mrs Martin, 30, said they would be able to donate her daughter's heart valves.
Explaining her decision, she added: "I wouldn't have it any other way."
Already a mother-of-three, Mrs Martin and her husband Scott, from Hull, discovered their baby had bilateral renal agenesis at the five-month scan.
Mrs Martin said she had a feeling early on in the pregnancy and that things were not right
The condition is fatal and means the baby has no kidneys and is not surrounded by enough amniotic fluid, causing malformed lungs.
After speaking to specialist doctors, the couple were given the weekend to consider terminating the pregnancy but Mrs Martin told This Morning her reaction was "automatically, I don't want to let her go just yet".
The couple said they had taken the decision to give birth to their daughter, who they have already named Ava-Joy, to help others in need of a transplant.
It is likely that their baby's heart valves will be used to help other seriously-ill children.
"With the heart valves they can store them up to ten years," Mrs Martin told the show.
"Anything is better than nothing. I know she can't donate proper organs but tissue is just as valuable."
Angie Scales, a NHS organ donation and transplantation nurse, said around 10 to 15 families a year ask about the possibility of donation in relation to their unborn child.
She said: "However, proceeding to actual donation in these cases is extremely rare due to the complexities of the processes that are required."
Three people a day, including children, die waiting for a transplant, she added.
The couple said their other children would grow up knowing about their younger sister
The couple said the support they had received through a specialist charity in Leeds had helped them bond with their unborn daughter.
The charity funded a blood test to enable them to find out the sex of the baby so they were able to give her a name and buy clothes to dress her once she is born.
The Martins said they were starting a charity project in Ava-Joy's memory to help other families who decided to carry to term, despite a fatal diagnosis.
"It was not an easy decision but it was the right decision and it has helped me cope with the heartbreak," said Mrs Martin.
"A part of her will live on, she won't be completely gone. She will be alive in somebody else."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-42409289
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HMS Queen Elizabeth: Royals attend aircraft carrier ceremony - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Captain Jerry Kyd said the commissioning of the flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth was "a proud day".
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Hampshire & Isle of Wight
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The Queen has officially welcomed the UK's new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, at a ceremony to commission it into the Royal Navy fleet.
The monarch boarded her namesake ship in Portsmouth to see the Royal Navy White Ensign raised on the vessel for the first time.
Princess Anne, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones also attended.
The ceremony took place on the giant hangar deck of the £3.1bn carrier.
HMS Queen Elizabeth and its sister ship HMS Prince of Wales are the most expensive in the Royal Navy's history.
HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed into Portsmouth in August following extensive preparations at the naval base.
The navy initially estimated both ships would cost £3.5bn to build but the total figure was revised to £6.2bn.
About 3,700 guests attended the event, which came more than three years after the vessel's official naming ceremony in Rosyth when the Queen broke a bottle of whisky on its hull.
During the ceremony, the commissioning warrant was read, and the Blue Ensign, which has been flying from the ship until it is formally handed over to the Royal Navy, was replaced with the White Ensign, raised by 20-year-old Able Seaman Ellie Smith from Hull.
Addressing the assembled guests and ship's company, The Queen described the ship as "the most powerful and capable ship ever to raise the White Ensign".
"At the forefront of these responsibilities will be the men and women of the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, supported by the Army, Royal Air Force and by coalition partners.
"As the daughter, wife and mother of naval officers, I recognise the unique demands our nation asks of you and I will always value my special link to HMS Queen Elizabeth, her ship's company and their families," she said.
The White Ensign was raised to symbolised the ship's commissioning into the fleet
Admiral Sir Philip Jones, said: "We have been on a long, complicated - but committed - journey to get to this point and commissioning the ship is a key milestone.
"The point of the big grey ship is it's enormously big, flexible, capable and adaptable."
As part of the ceremony, a 8ft-long (2.44m) cake replica of the ship was cut. As is traditional, it was carried out by the youngest member of the ship's company - Callum Hui, 17 - and the captain's wife Dr Karen Kyd.
Callum Hui and Dr Karen Kyd cut the cake at the commissioning of HMS Queen Elizabeth.
This is a big day for the Royal Navy. A chance to look to the future and, at least for a moment, forget about recent defence cuts and fears of even more.
After successfully completing her sea trials HMS Queen Elizabeth will be commissioned into service. For the first time she'll raise the White Ensign - officially becoming a Royal Navy Warship. But, this is still another milestone not the end of her journey.
Flight trials will begin next year and her first proper deployment with jets on board isn't planned until 2021. It's also still not clear how many of the new F35 jets she'll carry.
Certainly fewer than the 36 she was built for, with each jet costing around £100m. The Royal Navy believes the carrier - the first of two - will be a potent symbol of British military power. But it's already struggling with limited resources.
Capt Jerry Kyd called the ceremony the "culmination of a number of years of real excitement".
He said: "The first sailing from Rosyth was only nine months ago, we have come a long way.
"The first entry into Portsmouth was in the summer and here we are today accepting the ship into Her Majesty's fleet formally.
"So, it is right at the top, it is the latest milestone, many more to come, but hugely exciting and a very proud day."
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The 900ft-long (280m) carrier cannot currently deploy planes but F-35B Lightning fighter jets are due to make their first trial flights from the carrier's deck next year, with 120 air crew currently training in the US.
Preparations for the arrival of the flagship of the fleet and its 700-strong company led to more than 20,000 items, ranging from a human skull to sea mines, dredged up from Portsmouth Harbour.
The Ministry of Defence said specialist dredging vessels had removed 3.2 million cubic metres of sediment - equivalent to 1,280 Olympic swimming pools - during the dredging operation carried out to deepen the harbour mouth to enable the Queen Elizabeth to reach Portsmouth naval base.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-42256046
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Couple killed in Cameron House Hotel fire named - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The two men were guests at Cameron House Hotel on the shores of Loch Lomond when the blaze broke out.
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Glasgow & West Scotland
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Richard Dyson and Simon Midgley were thought to be on a winter break in Scotland
Two men who died when a fire tore through a luxury five-star hotel on the shores of Loch Lomond have been named.
Simon Midgley and Richard Dyson, believed to be from London, were staying at Cameron House Hotel when the blaze broke out on Monday morning.
Police have not confirmed the identity of those who died, but relatives have paid tribute on social media.
The hotel's director has praised the actions of the emergency services in preventing further tragedy.
Firefighters who brought a couple and their baby to safety from an upper floor have been hailed as "heroes".
A baby was rescued by firefighters from an upper floor of the hotel
Andrew and Louise Logan, and their son Jimmy, from Worcestershire, were taken to hospital after being brought to safety, but were later discharged.
More than 200 guests were evacuated from the building when the blaze broke out. A joint investigation into the cause of the fire is under way.
Social media posts suggested that Mr Midgley and Mr Dyson were on a winter break in Scotland.
A post on Mr Midgley's Instagram account on Saturday showed pictures of Cameron House Hotel and said: "Home for the weekend."
Relatives have been expressing their shock at news of the couple's deaths.
Mr Midgley's sister posted a picture of her brother and his partner on Facebook, while another relative wrote: "I'm beyond heartbroken."
Kate Baxter wrote on Twitter: "Such unbearably sad news.. RIP @SimonMidgleyPR, a shining star in our wonderfully close-knit industry."
According to his Facebook page, Mr Midgley was a freelance journalist at the London Evening Standard and ran his own PR company, while Mr Dyson is believed to be a TV producer.
Police and firefighters remained at the scene on Tuesday morning, with the scale of the damage becoming more apparent.
BBC Scotland's Andrew Black was allowed on site and said: "The damage to the building is pretty extensive, especially the upper floors. There's a smell of burning wood and we could hear a fire alarm from part of the building still going off."
The BBC understands that a wedding due to take place at Cameron House hotel this weekend has been moved to another luxury hotel.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Drone footage from above Loch Lomond shows the extent of the damage at Cameron House
In a new statement, Cameron House's director, Andy Roger, praised the "very swift actions of the emergency services".
He said: "Everyone associated with Cameron House Hotel is still coming to terms with the events of yesterday and we are all hugely conscious that two people tragically lost their lives in the fire.
"Their families and friends are foremost in our thoughts as we co-operate fully with the investigation teams to try to establish the circumstances surrounding this terrible incident.
"The emergency services were on the scene long into the night and I cannot praise their efforts highly enough. They are true heroes. The firemen bringing out a couple and their young child by ladder from a second-floor room was a heart-stopping moment for all those who witnessed it.
"We're also enormously grateful for the many, many offers of practical support and good wishes from the UK hospitality industry and also from the local community, which has rallied around to help. It's been a humbling experience, but we are a small, tight-knit community on Loch Lomond and a response like that is typical of our many friends and neighbours."
Mr Roger said the hotel had made arrangements for the vast majority of the guests to travel home or continue with their breaks and he thanked them for their patience and "good spirits".
He also paid tribute to the staff at Cameron House who he said had shown "an enormous degree of care and teamwork throughout the last two days".
Local people have been speaking of their shock and sadness at what happened at the hotel.
One woman told BBC Scotland: "We are just very sad for all the families involved and so sorry for the people who work there."
Another added: "It's absolutely horrific. I think the local community really feels it."
Reverend Ian Miller, a retired minister who lives locally and was called in to offer guests support in the aftermath of the fire, said those affected "fell into two groups".
"There were those in the side bedrooms which weren't really touched and they just realised they had escaped something terrible," he said.
"But for those in the main building then there were degrees of trauma. Some had escaped with virtually nothing.
"One man came out in his underwear. Another woman told me she just grabbed her baby, change bag and moved out."
The Scottish Fire and Rescue service remained at the scene on Tuesday morning
Speaking on BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme, John Gow, from forensic investigations firm IFIC, said: "There will be a number of strands to this investigation, running in tandem.
"Obviously, sadly, there is the death investigation due to the fatalities that occurred.
"There is the origin and cause investigation which is establishing how the fire started and spread throughout the property.
"It is also likely there will be an investigation to establish if the fire precaution measures were adequate and operated as they should."
Cameron House, an 18th Century mansion, was converted into a luxury hotel and resort in 1986.
It is a popular wedding venue and houses the Michelin-starred Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond restaurant.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-42411510
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Cyber-attack: US and UK blame North Korea for WannaCry - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The WannaCry malware hit hospitals, banks and businesses across the world last May.
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US & Canada
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Attackers encrypted user's devices, and typically demanded a ransom of $300-600 in Bitcoin
The US and UK governments have said North Korea was responsible for the WannaCry malware attack affecting hospitals, businesses and banks across the world earlier this year.
The attack is said to have hit more than 300,000 computers in 150 nations, causing billions of dollars of damage.
It is the first time the US and UK have officially blamed them for the worm.
Thomas Bossert, an aide to US President Donald Trump, first made the accusation in the Wall Street Journal newspaper.
Mr Bossert, who advises the president on homeland security, said the allegation was "based on evidence".
He did not produce any evidence in the article, but said US findings concurred with judgments from other governments and private companies.
He added that Australia, Canada, and New Zealand also share the US conclusion that North Korea was behind the attack.
Following the interview, the UK Foreign Office also blamed "North Korean actors using their cyber programme to circumvent sanctions".
The National Cyber Security Centre assessed that is "highly likely" that the North Korean Lazarus hacking group had committed the attacks, Minister for Cyber Lord Ahmad said in a statement.
In May, Windows computers hit by the cyber-attack had their contents locked, with users asked to a pay a ransom to have their data restored. EU police body Europol called the scale of the attack "unprecedented".
Britain's National Cyber Security Centre, part of the GCHQ signals intelligence agency, first attributed the May 2017 Wannacry attack to North Korea within weeks of the ransomware spreading.
The speed was because the UK led the international investigation after the National Health Service was hit hard.
The US intelligence community may have taken longer to concur with that assessment but there is still the question of why the White House is only going public now.
Governments used to be cautious about attribution in cyber attacks but it is becoming increasingly common - beginning with the claim North Korea was behind the attack on Sony in 2014 and more recently involving Russia's alleged hacking in the 2016 US election.
This latest claim is almost certainly an attempt to put more pressure on North Korea in the crisis over its nuclear programme with the attempt to rally international support behind the notion that the country is a real danger - whether from cyber weapons or nuclear weapons. And to make the case that further action, of some kind, needs to be contemplated.
Mr Bossert warned that "we will continue to hold accountable those who harm or threaten us"
In the Wall Street Journal piece, Mr Bossert said North Korea must be held "accountable" and that the US would continue to use a "maximum pressure strategy" to hinder the regime's ability to mount cyber-attacks.
He did not specify what action, if any, the US government planned to take in response to the findings.
North Korea is already facing major economic sanctions after being redesignated a state-sponsor of terrorism last month amid tension over its nuclear programme and missile tests.
"North Korea has acted especially badly, largely unchecked, for more than a decade, and its malicious behaviour is growing more egregious. WannaCry was indiscriminately reckless," Mr Bossert wrote.
"As we make the internet safer, we will continue to hold accountable those who harm or threaten us, whether they act alone or on behalf of criminal organisations or hostile nations," he went on.
"The tool kits of totalitarian regimes are too threatening to ignore."
He added that Microsoft and Facebook both acted to disable North Korean cyber-attacks "on their own initiative last week, without any direction or participation by the US".
Microsoft later issued a statement, saying that last week the company "working together with Facebook and others in the security community, took strong steps to protect our customers and the internet from ongoing attacks by an advanced persistent threat actor known to us as ZINC, also known as the Lazarus Group".
"Among other steps, last week we helped disrupt the malware this group relies on, cleaned customers' infected computers, disabled accounts being used to pursue cyber-attacks and strengthened Windows defences to prevent reinfection," the statement said.
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However, some social media users said that - while crediting Microsoft and Facebook - Mr Bossert did not mention a UK security researcher who had "accidentally" halted the spread of the malicious software.
The 22-year-old man, known by the pseudonym MalwareTech, managed to bring the spread to a halt when he found what appeared to be a "kill switch" in the rogue software's code.
In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) was hit particularly hard by the cyber-attack, with 48 affected health trusts forced to turn many patients away for appointments and even surgeries.
It spread across the world, with Russia reportedly being badly hit, causing problems to the country's postal service.
North Korea has not yet responded to the US allegation
In 2014, the US claimed North Korea were behind cyber-attacks on Sony Pictures, after it released a film featuring the fictional killing of its leader Kim Jong-un.
The entertainment company had its films leaked and details of corporate finances and private emails released online.
The North Koreans hit out at former president Barack Obama over the claim, but has not yet responded to the White House accusations about the WannaCry hack.
In October it said rumours from a UK government minister that they were behind the 2017 attack was "groundless speculation", and a "wicked attempt" to tighten international sanctions on the country.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42407488
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Metropolitan Police review of rape cases evidence - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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It follows the collapse of two rape cases in a week, after police failed to disclose vital evidence.
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UK
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About 30 rape cases due to go to trial and "scores" more investigations are to be reviewed after the collapse of two cases in a week.
On Tuesday, prosecutors dropped a case against a man charged with raping a child under 16 due to police providing "relevant" evidence in recent days.
Last week, student Liam Allan's trial collapsed because of the late disclosure of evidence.
The Met said the same officer worked on both cases and remains on full duty.
The force has not referred the officer involved to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), a Met spokesman said.
The IPCC told the BBC it was "monitoring the situation".
In the most recent case of Isaac Itiary, the Crown Prosecution Service said "new material" provided by Scotland Yard meant the case could not proceed.
Isaac Itiary was charged with raping a child in July but the case collapsed
The Met review is aimed at ensuring all digital evidence in other sex crime cases has been disclosed to the CPS.
Conservative MP Nigel Evans, who was cleared of rape and sexual assault charges in 2014, said there was a "systemic" problem, which could leave innocent people in jail.
Prime Minister Theresa May said the attorney general had already started a review into the disclosure of evidence, telling PMQs: "It is important that we look at this again so we make sure we are truly providing justice."
Liam Allan, 22, was charged with 12 counts of rape and sexual assault but his trial collapsed after police were ordered to hand over phone records crucial to the case.
A computer disk containing 40,000 messages revealed the alleged victim had pestered him for "casual sex".
Mr Allan, who spent almost two years on bail, has said he intends to sue the Met.
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Jerry Hayes, the barrister prosecuting the case against Mr Allan, agreed with Mr Evans' assertion that the problem was "systemic" within the police, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "You speak to any barrister they will tell you stories that this happens every single day and it has got to stop."
He said anyone about to go to trial should seek a letter from the police force to say all evidence has been disclosed, and for those convicted, "they will have to be looked at again".
The cases of Liam Allan and Isaac Itiary are very different.
As far as Mr Allan is concerned, the Met has accepted the case "clearly went wrong".
Crucial information was disclosed to defence barristers so late that the trial was already well under way.
In Mr Itiary's case, procedures appear to have been followed, though it's possible police could have acted more quickly.
What the cases have done is shine a light on the importance of following disclosure rules.
Undoubtedly the squeeze on resources, with cuts in the Crown Prosecution Service and policing and a national shortage of detectives, together with the increased caseload for sexual offences units, have played their part.
An inspection report this year also pinpointed inadequacies in training and supervision.
Some see the problems as a direct result of a misplaced culture of "believing" the victim, where police don't look for or withhold contradictory evidence - but that's an assertion for the attorney general's inquiry to examine.
Commander Richard Smith, who oversees the Met's rape investigations, said he understood the failure of the latest case would raise further concerns.
He added: "The Met is completely committed to understanding what went wrong in the case of Mr Allan and is carrying out a joint review with the CPS, the findings of which will be published."
But Nigel Evans said the late disclosure of evidence was "common" in investigations.
Mr Evans was cleared in 2014 of charges of raping a student
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, he said: "It seems to be in too many cases that police are cherry-picking the evidence that is there in order to get a prosecution. "
Mr Evans called for a "proper review" involving police forces across the country, not just the Met.
Dame Elish Angiolini led a review in 2015 into how the Met and the CPS deal with rape cases.
She said she was "concerned about the impact of excessive workloads on the effectiveness of both police and prosecutors".
In response to her review, the Met said it had carried out "significant work", with an extra 196 officers allocated to the relevant units and additional lawyers for the CPS.
Former Met detective chief inspector Peter Kirkham told the Victoria Derbyshire programme it was a resources issue.
"Since 2010, we have reduced the number of police officers around the country by about 20,000 - that's about 15%," he said.
He warned that officers were "stressed" and "haven't got time to do their jobs properly".
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The number of adults reporting rape in England and Wales has more than doubled from 10,160 in 2011-12 to 23,851 in 2015-16, according to figures from the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary's rape monitoring group.
A Home Office study suggests only 4% of cases of sexual violence reported to police are thought to be false.
And statistics from Rape Crisis indicate only 5.7% of reported rape cases end in a conviction.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42417553
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Toys R Us future in UK plunged into doubt over pension scheme - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Pension Protection Fund says it will vote against the retailer's restructuring plan.
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Business
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Toys R Us's future in the UK has been plunged into doubt after the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) said it would vote against the company's rescue plan.
The retailer was told to put £9m into its struggling pension fund by the PPF in order for it to support the toy retailer's restructuring plan.
Failure to agree a deal could put all its 3,200 staff at risk of redundancy.
The PPF's Malcolm Weir said it believed it was "reasonable" to seek guarantees on the pension scheme's future.
"Since the company lodged the CVA [company voluntary agreement] proposals we have spent significant time and effort, with the help of PwC, assessing the current and future financial position of the company to ensure the pension scheme would not be weakened by the CVA, leading to an even bigger claim on the PPF and its levy payers further down the line," said Mr Weir.
"Given the position of the company, we strongly believe seeking assurances for the pension scheme is reasonable given the deficit in the scheme and questions about the overall position of the company."
Mr Weir did give Toys R Us a glimmer of hope, adding: "We remain in dialogue with the company and their advisers and we are able to amend our vote if suitable assurances are provided."
Before the PPF announcement, Toys R Us reassured shoppers seeking last-minute presents by saying: "There will be no disruption for customers shopping through the Christmas and New Year period."
The deadline for the vote on the CVA, which allows the firm to restructure its finances, is on Thursday.
If the CVA does not go through, the company could fall into administration.
Retail consultant Richard Hyman told the Today programme it was a "real Catch 22 situation", as it left Toys R Us having to choose between the futures of its past or present employees.
Meanwhile, Frank Field, chairman of the Work and Pensions select committee, has written to Toys R Us managing director Stephen Knights, querying two consecutive years of big rises in executive pay.
Mr Field asked how the pay increase was "justified at a time of operating losses" and how the board decided to distribute resources between executive pay and employees' pension benefits.
It's workers versus pensioners; a choice between the present and the future.
The Pensions Protection Fund has become one of Toys R Us's biggest creditors as it takes over the voting rights of pension trustees in restructuring situations.
If the PPF backs the rescue without further financial assurances for the pension fund, pensioners could be affected in future, and its warnings would be seen as meaningless.
In many cases, it's a false choice; current employees are paying into the pension fund which they one day hope to live off. The PPF is said to be aware of its responsibility in this case, but its role is to protect members of the pension scheme and the other funds.
A "no" vote doesn't mean administration is certain for Toys R Us; it could propose a new restructuring plan, one the PPF can back. Talks are taking place so a solution can be found. The PPF is clearly trying to say that companies can't treat pension funds as an inconvenient afterthought.
Toy industry expert Peter Jenkinson did offer some hope to the company, if it can resolve its current difficulties.
"The toy industry was in rude health in the UK last year," he told BBC 5 live Breakfast.
"Toys R Us does suffer because it has some very big stores in prime locations and the rent has gone up.
"Its in-store activity has been found wanting a little bit compared with other toy retailers and it has fallen behind.
"However, if the restructuring goes through then some of its stores could thrive. There are stores I've been into over the last month that have really started to up their game.
"The UK toy industry is behind them and wants to see them survive in some format.
"Buying toys is as much as of an experience as playing with them and taking a trip out to the toy shop is starting to come back into fashion."
Toy's R Us's parent company in the US is in formal bankruptcy protection proceedings. Recent reports suggest it is considering closing between 100 and 200 stores in America.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42409254
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Jeremy Corbyn: We'll probably gain power next year - BBC News
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2017-12-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Labour leader tells Grazia magazine "I'm ready to be prime minister tomorrow".
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UK Politics
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Mr Corbyn insisted the adulation of his supporters will 'never' go to his head
Jeremy Corbyn believes there is likely to be another election in "the next 12 months" and Labour will "probably" win it with a majority.
"I'm ready to be prime minister tomorrow," the Labour leader told Grazia in what it billed as his first interview with a women's magazine.
It comes as Mr Corbyn's ally Diane Abbott predicted that Labour would take a "decisive" opinion poll lead in 2018.
Most recent polls put the party neck-and-neck with the Conservatives.
But Ms Abbott told BBC Newsnight she expected Labour to "move ahead of this government steadily and surely as next year unravels" and said there was likely to be another election.
Mr Corbyn said another election was "quite possible" in his Grazia interview.
Asked if the public were ready for another election, he said the Conservatives did not have "much confidence in being able to command a majority in parliament" so "I think the country would want an election in order to bring about some degree of stability".
He added: "I think we'd probably win it, with a majority... we're working very hard on that."
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He was also quizzed about Brexit and whether he backed his predecessor as Labour leader - and long time adversary - Tony Blair's call for a second EU referendum because of the way the Leave campaign had been conducted.
He said: "Some were extremely irresponsible in what they did and said, but we have to recognise it was the largest participation of people in an electoral process ever in Britain and they chose to leave."
Asked if he thought people had cast their votes on the basis of false promises, he said: "People still voted as they did. Yes, I thought there were some ridiculous and exaggerated claims made and I said so at the time."
But he ruled out campaigning for a second referendum, saying: "I think we should continue putting pressure on the government to allow a transition period to develop, because at the moment we're in danger of getting into a complete mess in March 2019 (the date Britain leaves the EU)."
Mr Corbyn also said he had not heard many "whispers" about sexual harassment at Westminster before the current scandal - and he had been "horrified and appalled by it all".
He told the magazine he was "utterly determined all Labour Party events should be a safe place for women to go to".
The Labour leader says Meghan Markle is clearly 'a decent person'
On Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, Mr Corbyn - a long-time republican - said "she's clearly a very decent person".
Asked about the cost of the wedding, he said: "Weddings come pretty pricey, I understand, but I think the cost should be borne by the family themselves."
He said his own wedding, to third wife Laura Alvarez, which took place in in a country hotel in Mexico in 2013, "didn't cost very much at all".
The Royal family will pay for Prince Harry's wedding, including the church service, the music, the flowers and the reception but the security costs will be picked up by taxpayers, the Palace has said.
The Labour leader was interviewed en route to Geneva, in Switzerland, where he was giving a speech to the United Nations and receiving an award from the International Peace Bureau for "his political work for disarmament and peace".
He insisted the adulation shown by his supporters at events like Glastonbury would "never" go to his head.
Asked if he ever sang "Oh Jeremy Corbyn" - the chant that followed him wherever he went over the summer - in the shower, he revealed an apparent fondness for a 50-year-old biker anthem by American rockers Steppenwolf.
"I'm more likely to sing Born To Be Wild," said the Labour leader.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42411689
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