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BBC to help students identify 'fake news' - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Kamal Ahmed and Tina Daheley are among BBC journalists who will take part in events targeted at pupils.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Kamal Ahmed and Tina Daheley will help mentor students
The BBC is launching a new scheme to help young people identify real news and filter out fake or false information.
The project is targeted at secondary schools and sixth forms across the UK.
From March, up to 1,000 schools will be offered mentoring in class and online to help them spot so-called fake news.
BBC journalists including Kamal Ahmed, Tina Daheley, Amol Rajan and Huw Edwards will also take part in events aimed at helping students.
James Harding, the director of BBC News, said: "This is an attempt to go into schools to speak to young people and give them the equipment they need to distinguish between what's true and what's false."
The move follows a year-long study, conducted by the University of Salford in conjunction with BBC Newsround, looking at how well children aged between nine and 14 can spot false information.
Although most of the children from across all age groups said they knew what fake news was, many of them could not always distinguish between fake and real stories when presented with them.
BBC Director of News James Harding: "Some information is downright lies."
The term "fake news" was popularised by Donald Trump during his presidential election campaign last year.
He used the term to denigrate the output of the traditional news media, although it is also used to describe news stories that achieve significant traction despite being palpably false.
Recent examples include a satirical story claiming that the Pope had endorsed Trump for president, which was widely circulated as an established fact.
The issue surfaced again this month when the President retweeted three inflammatory videos from a British far-right group whose authenticity was subsequently challenged.
In November, The Independent - now an online newspaper - streamed a video "live from space" that turned out to be footage recorded in 2015.
In July, meanwhile, a Facebook Live video purporting to show a storm was outed by social media users as a gif.
"I think that people are getting the news all over the place - there's more information than ever before," said Harding.
"But, as we know, some of it is old news, some of it is half truths. Some of it is just downright lies. And it's harder than ever when you look at those information feeds to discern what's true and what's not.
"But there are 'tells', there are ways that you can look at your news feed and identify a story that's true and a story that's not.
"And we think that's a skill that enables people to make good choices about the information they get and good choices in their lives."
Last month a survey by media watchdog Ofcom found almost three quarters of children aged between 12 and 15 were aware of so-called "fake news" and that half of them has read a story they suspected of being false.
The BBC has set up a mailing list for those interested in finding out more about the project.
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-42242630
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Criminal record check did not spot hammer attack carer threat - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A carer who attacked a 90-year-old with a knife and hammer had a previous assault conviction.
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London
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Pamela Batten suffered a fractured skull in the attack by her husband's former carer
The son of a 90-year-old woman who was stabbed in the neck by a carer with a previous assault conviction is calling for a change to criminal record checks.
Abosede Adeyinka hit Pamela Batten on the head with a hammer and stabbed her at her home in Hillingdon, west London.
Adeyinka was jailed for 21 years in November for attempted murder.
But Mrs Batten's son Sammy said the carer should never have been given a job because of her previous convictions.
Adeyinka, who had built a relationship with the victim after she cared for Mrs Batten's husband, let herself into the house in April before pushing the elderly grandmother to the floor.
The 52-year-old pulled a hammer from her handbag and fractured Mrs Batten's skull, then plunged a knife into her victim's neck, narrowly missing her spinal cord.
Mrs Batten has recovered well from most of her injuries, but her son said she is now very nervous and has lost the "happy-go-lucky" side of her personality.
Sammy Batten said Adeyinka should never have been allowed to work with vulnerable people
But Mr Batten is "angry" and "astonished" Adeyinka was allowed to look after vulnerable people when her employers knew about her previous convictions for fraud and shoplifting.
It was revealed during the trial Adeyinka also had convictions for actual bodily harm and burglary.
Mr Batten said: "Everyone's got to have a job, but you can't put a fox in charge of the hen house.
"What's the point of vetting someone if you then ignore the results?"
A spokesman for Adeyinka's employer Avant Healthcare said the firm undertook a "robust" interviewing process, including thorough referencing and criminal checks.
Avant said it was not aware of the actual bodily harm conviction.
The spokesman added: "If Avant Healthcare had been aware of an assault conviction, Abosede Adeyinka would not have been employed."
Abosede Adeyinka was jailed for 21 years, last month
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) said anyone employing people to work with vulnerable adults or children should request an enhanced DBS check.
It added convictions held by police will be revealed by the enhanced check, but that this is "subject to filtering arrangements".
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42225664
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Manchester Arena attack 'could have been stopped' - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Manchester Arena bomber had been a "subject of interest" of the security services, a review says.
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UK
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The Manchester Arena bomber had been a "subject of interest" and opportunities to stop him were missed, a review says.
Its author, David Anderson QC, said it was conceivable Salman Abedi's attack, which killed 22 people, could have been avoided had "cards fallen differently".
But he said it was "unknowable" whether reopening investigations into Abedi would have thwarted his plans, adding: "MI5 assesses that it would not."
Greater Manchester Police said its officers would "never stop learning".
After the Manchester bombing and three terror attacks in London this year, counter-terror police and MI5 conducted internal reviews. Mr Anderson carried out an independent assessments of their findings.
The reviews, which remain largely secret, are summarised in Mr Anderson's report, and show:
Salman Abedi was named by police as the suicide bomber shortly after the attack in Manchester
The reviews also showed the two other attackers who had been on MI5's radar were Khuram Butt, the leader of the London Bridge and Borough Market attack, and Khalid Masood who targeted Westminster Bridge in March.
Butt had been identified by MI5 and the police as someone who wanted to attack the UK two years earlier.
He was still a "live subject of interest" who was under investigation at the time of the attack, though more for his intention to travel to Syria and for radicalising others.
He was also the main target of "Operation Hawthorn" - but this was suspended twice because of a lack of resources after the Bataclan attack in Paris and the Westminster Bridge attack.
Operation Hawthorn had resumed and was running on the day Butt attacked.
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Mr Anderson, a former independent reviewer of terror legislation, said: "Despite elevated threat levels, the fundamentals are sound and the great majority of attacks continue to be thwarted.
"But the shock of these incidents has prompted intensive reflection and a commitment to significant change.
"In particular, MI5 and the police have identified the need to use data more effectively, to share knowledge more widely, to improve their own collaboration and to assess and investigate terrorist threats on a uniform basis, whatever the ideology that inspires them."
Could MI5 really have stopped the attacks?
It says not - but Mr Anderson believes there were opportunities. Given the scale of terrorism-related activity since 2013 - when the Syria crisis gave a boost to recruitment in the UK - there is no doubt that the security service has been juggling a huge numbers of cases.
The real question is whether the manpower is matched with the right data tools and relationships with other bodies to stop more of the threats before it is too late.
Data analysis will play an increasingly important role in trying to spot individuals who may pose a threat after years of being quiet.
Perhaps the most important change to come is that MI5 may be told to share some of what it knows with other agencies - such as local councils - in the hope that people on the ground can provide the missing piece of information they need to disrupt a threat.
This raises huge cultural challenges for an organisation that necessarily operates below the radar.
Some relatives of victims have given their views on the report.
Steve Goodman, whose step-granddaughter 15-year-old Olivia Campbell-Hardy was killed in the blast, said: "The police were doing their jobs as best they could.
"Unfortunately information is not always reliable."
Dan Hett lost his brother Martyn, 29, in the explosion.
In a series of tweets said he could not "fathom how complicated modern antiterrorism intelligence is".
He added that the positive aspects of the emergency services' response should also be highlighted.
The home secretary said nine terror attacks had been prevented in the UK since the Westminster attack in March.
In a statement to the Commons, Ms Rudd said MI5 and the police had made 126 recommendations.
These included issues such as data sharing and analysis and how so-called "closed subjects" should be managed, as well as a new approach to managing domestic extremism, particularly of right-wing groups.
"We will shortly be announcing the budgets for policing for 2017-18, and I am clear that we must ensure counter terrorism policing has the resources needed to deal with the threats that we face," she told MPs.
Mr Anderson's predecessor Lord Carlile said the 126 recommendations should be "put into effect as soon as possible".
The Met Police said the number of dangerous, radicalised individuals was "a major issue".
Commissioner Cressida Dick said her force needed "to make rapid progress in implementing the recommendations, many of which require new technology, better infrastructures and resources".
Following the publication of the report, the prime minister's spokesman said the government would pay £9.8m in special funding to Greater Manchester Police, in relation to its response to the Manchester Arena bombing.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said the report would be difficult reading for the people of his city.
"It is clear that things could, and perhaps should, have been done differently and that wrong judgements have been made," he said.
But, he said, it should reassure the public to know MI5 were closing in on Abedi.
It would be much more worrying if nothing had been known about the attack, he added.
Chris Phillips, a former head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, said: "When you look back, within terrorism, you will always find some way that we could have stopped something.
"I always equate it to spinning plates. They've got hundreds and thousands of plates spinning at any given time.
"Someone has to make some risk-assessed decisions as to who is at the top of the pile to be watched."
The current threat level for terrorism in the UK is severe, meaning an attack is highly likely,
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42241344
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Chicken nugget post had the most retweets in the UK in 2017 - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Because seemingly we can all relate to man who "needs his nuggs".
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Newsbeat
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Carter told Newsbeat he couldn't believe the response to his tweet
A tweet from a 16-year-old who wanted a year's free supply of chicken nuggets was the UK's most retweeted of 2017.
After fast food chain Wendy's set Carter Wilkerson a target of 18m retweets to get the food, he tweeted: "Help me please. A man needs his nuggs."
And the internet stepped up. It's been shared 3.6m times globally and is now the most retweeted post of all time.
Jeremy Clarkson and Jermain Defoe also appear on the UK's 2017 list.
In April, the teenager told Newsbeat it was "super fun" to see his tweet get so many retweets.
Wendy's went on to give Carter the free supply - despite him not receiving the set target.
Second on the list was Ariana Grande responding to the terror attack at her concert in Manchester in May, which was shared 1.1m times worldwide.
After the show she wrote: "Broken. From the bottom of my heart, I am so so sorry. I don't have words."
Jermain Defoe's tribute to his "best friend" Bradley Lowery completes the top three with 240,000 retweets.
After the six-year-old died, following a fight with a rare type of cancer in July, the footballer tweeted: "Sleep tight little one."
Fourth on the list was a tweet from former US President Barack Obama, who captioned a picture of children from different ethnic backgrounds with a message of equality.
Despite having a total of 1.1m retweets, fewer of those users were based in the UK than those who shared Jermain Defoe's tweet.
Former footballer Andy Johnson is fifth on the UK list after he supported Aaron Lennon as he battled with mental health issues.
He's closely followed by Jeremy Clarkson dabbing, a police officer who raised awareness for a suicide prevention line and Peter Crouch suggesting a picture of him with giraffes was spending "time with family" which all have more than 100,000 shares.
The top 10 is rounded off with a picture raising awareness of how to spot breast cancer and a tweet with a caption to a video of Jeremy Corbyn clapping his hands as he walks down some stairs.
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/42234082
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Stepfather pleads guilty over boy's water park drowning - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Charlie Dunn's stepfather Paul Smith had denied any wrongdoing when the five year old drowned in a pool.
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Leicester
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Charlie Dunn's stepfather Paul Smith had denied any wrong-doing in relation to his death
The stepfather of a five-year-old boy who drowned in a pool at a water park has pleaded guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence.
Charlie Dunn, who could not swim, was pulled from the water at Bosworth Water Park in Leicestershire on 23 July 2016.
Paul Smith, 36, had denied letting the boy wander off alone for more than two hours but changed his plea during the trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
Charlie's mother, Lynsey Dunn, 28, has had the same charge dropped.
Paul Smith and Lynsey Dunn will be sentenced later this month
She did admit a charge of neglect in connection with Charlie after an incident between July 2014 and July 2016, in which she failed to supervise him near a busy road.
Dunn also pleaded guilty to a second charge of neglect in relation to another youngster, who cannot be named, after an incident in the summer of 2015.
It can also now be reported that prior to the trial Smith admitted witness intimidation in connection with another incident relating to Charlie.
Both defendants, of Glascote Heath, Tamworth, Staffordshire, will be sentenced on 20 December.
Charlie was found in the Blue Lagoon children's pool at the park
Charlie was found submerged in a 1.4m-deep lagoon at the busy attraction, in Market Bosworth, and pulled from the water by other children.
A paramedic carried out CPR, before he was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The court had previously heard he had been allowed to play unsupervised in the park.
Opening the Crown's case on 30 November, prosecutor Mary Prior QC said: "This case is not about parents turning their back for a minute whilst a tragedy occurs.
"We don't prosecute parents for unavoidable tragedies nor do we expect perfection in parenting.
"This is a gross failure to supervise not for seconds, and not for a few minutes, but for protracted periods of time in circumstances where the child was exposed to danger."
The trial was told Smith was overheard shouting he did not know where Charlie was on the day he died
Acting Det Insp Nikki McLatchie, of Leicestershire Police, who worked on the case, said there were about a thousand people at the park on the day Charlie drowned.
"Witness testimony showed that Charlie was left alone on numerous occasions, despite him not being able to swim," she said.
"Smith was looking after Charlie at the park, and his failure as a parent came with the most tragic consequences and ultimately led to his death."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-42236617
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Child exploitation: Live streaming an 'urgent' threat - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Sex offenders learn how young people communicate online and use this to abuse them, police say.
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UK
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. 'He switched his webcam on and started groaning'
Sex offenders are increasingly using live online streaming platforms to exploit children, police have warned.
Children need to be educated on the risks associated with streaming sites, the National Crime Agency said.
It said offenders were learning how young people communicated online and "using this knowledge to abuse them".
In one week, authorities identified 345 vulnerable children and arrested 192 people, 30% involving streaming, blackmail and grooming.
Social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat all allow some form of live capability, while there are also many pure live streaming services, including Periscope, Omegle, Liveme and Lively.
Police say abusers thrive on the immediacy these live platforms offer - targeting children with tricks, dares and threats to manipulate them into nudity or sexual acts.
They called for help from parents and internet companies to help manage the evolving threat children face online.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Child Sexual Exploitation lead explains why parents need to be more intrusive online.
National Police Chiefs' Council Lead for Child Protection Chief Constable Simon Bailey said: "We need parents and carers to talk to their children about healthy relationships and staying safe online.
"We need internet companies to help us stop access to sexual abuse images and videos and prevent abuse happening on their platforms."
An NCA survey found that while 84% of the 927 people who responded said they were alert to the potential dangers their children faced online, more than 30% had not spoken to their children about online safety in the last month. Almost 58% were not sure if they had adequate online security.
For many parents the world of live streaming apps is a bewildering one. Every month new ones emerge, to become the latest "must do".
At their most basic they allow young people to broadcast live to the world from anywhere - classroom, playground or bedroom. Some only let a limited number of people see the broadcaster, others are open to anyone using the app - and that includes predators.
It's easy to see why children like the apps. It's immediate, it seems like fun and many idolise the vloggers and Youtubers doing the same thing. The more viewers or "likes" the greater the affirmation for the child.
And for tech companies? Video engages people for longer than anything else online and advertisers love that. The more video a platform can boast, the more advertisers it can attract.
The growth of live streaming apps poses a stark question for the tech industry, one underlined by the NCA campaign - when you create an app that allows children to broadcast live to the world and allows the world to talk back - is it really possible to keep them safe?
In a bid to raise awareness among children, a short animation - featuring a fictional abuser called Sam - is being launched by the NCA's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop).
Released alongside the hashtag #WhoIsSam, the clip will show children and young people how offenders attempt to build exploitative virtual relationships.
Zoe Hilton, from the NCA, said: "Offenders will take advantage of the fact that young peoples' inhibitions are lower online so we're also encouraging parents to talk to their children about what a healthy relationship looks like and how to spot when someone might not be who they say they are.
"As well as ensuring that privacy settings are in place on the sites and apps they use, it's so important that we have regular and open conversations with our children about being safe online and encouraging them to speak up if something is worrying them or doesn't feel right."
Updated guidelines have been added to Ceop's Thinkuknow website, providing parents and guardians, and children of all ages with the latest advice on keeping safe online.
Further guidelines have been issued in a report called Digital Childhood which looks at concerns and makes recommendations for specific age groups.
For example, it says parents should supervise their under-fives at all times online and suggests greater efforts should be made to stop 10 to 12-year-olds signing up to social media sites that are for those aged 13 and older.
UK police forces have also increased offline intervention activity, working with schools, universities and after school clubs to increase awareness.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42224148
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Brexit: DUP won't accept deal that 'separates' NI from UK - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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Arlene Foster has said the DUP will not allow a Brexit deal that allows 'regulatory divergence' from the UK.
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DUP leader Arlene Foster has said her party will not accept any Brexit deal that "separates" Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-42227521
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Leo Varadkar: 'We need firm guarantees on no hard border' - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Leo Varadkar says UK had agreed a form of words on border, and Ireland is disappointed at lack of deal.
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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.
Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he was "surprised and disappointed" that an anticipated deal on Brexit was not reached on Monday.
He said Ireland could not go into a second phase of Brexit talks without "firm guarantees that there will not be a hard border in Ireland".
Mr Varadkar said the UK had agreed a text that met Irish concerns.
However, he was then later told that the British government was not in a position to conclude "what was agreed".
The taoiseach told a press conference in Dublin that earlier on Monday, he had been in touch with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and EU Council President Donald Tusk and confirmed to both Ireland's agreement on the form of words about the Irish border.
But the deal did not go ahead.
The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg said the deal broke down after the DUP refused to accept UK concessions on the Irish border issue.
Irish ministers say the border is "more than a customs issue" and must be handled sensitively
Prime Minister Theresa May is understood to have broken off from talks with Mr Junker to speak to DUP leader Arlene Foster.
It happened after the DUP leader had held a press conference saying her party would "not accept any form of regulatory divergence" that separates Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
However, Downing Street sources insist it was not only the intervention by the DUP that meant a deal was not concluded.
The DUP insists NI must leave the EU on the same terms as the rest of the UK
It is understood that there are still differences of opinion over citizens' rights, the role of the European Courts after the implementation period and also over the technicalities of the Irish border.
The UK was reportedly prepared to accept that Northern Ireland may remain in the EU's customs union and single market in all but name.
At her press conference on Monday afternoon, Mrs Foster accused Dublin of trying to change the 1998 Belfast Agreement without unionists' consent.
"We will not stand for that," she said.
"The prime minister has told the House of Commons that there will be no border in the Irish Sea and the prime minister has been clear that the UK is leaving the EU as a whole and that the territorial and economic integrity of the UK will be protected," said the DUP leader.
This is the latest in a series of meetings between Theresa May and EU officials
The Irish prime minister told a news conference that it "would not be helpful" for him to attribute blame for the breakdown in agreement.
When asked about the DUP's influence with the UK government, Mr Varadkar said that although they are the largest party in Northern Ireland, and their views have to be taken into account, they "don't represent the majority of people in Northern Ireland".
He added that the majority of people in Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU during the Brexit referendum.
The Irish government had been seeking guarantees from the UK that there would be no customs checks on the border with Northern Ireland after Brexit and movements of goods and people would remain seamless.
John O'Dowd, Sinn Féin, accused the DUP leader, Mrs Foster, of putting party political needs ahead of border issues.
"It appears from the leaks of the paper that were presented today - and we will examine the paper in its totality - that there is certainly a significant section of the UK government who are prepared to treat us different because they either understand the unique circumstances of this island or they accept that these talks are going nowhere until this matter is dealt with," he said.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has been meeting key EU figures in an attempt to hammer out a deal ahead of a summit in 10 days time.
Mr Tusk represents the leaders of the other 27 EU members, who all need to agree for there to be a move to the next phase of talks.
The UK voted for Brexit last year and is due to leave in March 2019, but negotiations have been deadlocked over three so-called separation issues: the status of expat citizens, the "divorce" bill and the Northern Ireland border.
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement was reached on 10 April 1998 by the British and Irish governments and most of the political parties in Northern Ireland about how NI should be governed.
The agreement aimed to set up a nationalist and unionist power-sharing government in Northern Ireland.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42225755
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Facebook: Now for young children too - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The world's largest social network launches Messenger Kids, its first app aimed at children under 13.
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Technology
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Children can do video chats with friends and approved adults
How young is too young to be on social media?
Strictly speaking, only those aged 13 and over are allowed to use Facebook. But the prevention methods are trivial, meaning more than 20 million under-13-year-olds are thought to be using the network.
So on Monday, Facebook launched its first app tailored for young users. It's a ringfenced network that needs parental approval before use, and will not - the company has promised - be used to feed data for advertising.
Messenger Kids is a simplified, locked-down version of the messaging app Facebook today offers those over 13.
"Parents are increasingly allowing their children to use tablets and smartphones, but often have questions and concerns about how their kids use them and which apps are appropriate," said Loren Cheng, product manager for Messenger Kids.
"So when we heard about the need for better apps directly from parents during research and conversations with parents, we knew we needed to develop it alongside the people who were going to use it, as well as experts who could help guide our thinking."
If two children want to be friends on Messenger Kids, that friendship has to be approved by a parent for each child. Once confirmed to be safe, friends can do live video chat and send pictures and text to each other.
Parental controls are designed to ensure communications are safe and approved
There will also be "a library of kid-appropriate and specially chosen GIFs, frames, stickers, masks and drawing tools lets them decorate content and express their personalities".
Approved adults can also contact children through the app - although they will get their messages through the normal Facebook Messenger app.
Messenger Kids will of course collect data: the child's name, the content of the messages, and typical usage reports for how the app is used.
Facebook will share that information with third parties, which must have data protection policies that comply with Coppa, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act in the US.
Facebook has promised the data will not be used in any way to power the "grown up" Facebook.
Facebook has added an array of effects to make the video chat more enjoyable for children
That's important - the obvious commercial benefit to this new app might be to target ads to parents based on what their kids are talking about. Or use what was discussed in Messenger Kids to target ads at teens as they graduate into over-13 Facebook.
Neither of those things would happen, Facebook said. The app doesn't know specifically how old the children signing up are, so users will not be prompted to move onto Facebook when they are old enough.
If a child does decide to join full Facebook, it will be a brand new account with no data carried over from what was said on Messenger Kids.
Having youngsters graduate onto Facebook proper is of key strategic importance for the company as it seeks to make sure it is the social network of choice for the next generation of users.
If it can capture the attention of 6 to 12-year-olds before Snapchat (or some other competitor) can, then chances are those same kids will naturally progress into using Facebook as teenagers and young adults. It is this demographic causing them the most headaches right now.
But business sense aside, you have to ask: should children that young be using social media at all? Sean Parker, one of Facebook's early investors and its first president, recently opined on the negative impact of the service he helped create.
“God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains," he said, reflecting on the small "dopamine hit" we get when someone gives us a "like" on social media.
The "like" mechanism is a key part of Messenger Kids - and as a society we might wonder if we want to introduce children as young as six to the concept of online peer validation. Six-year-olds should be playing with worms, not getting FOMO.
Others want broader transparency on the various privacy issues that arise from the launch of this app. Facebook's blogpost on Monday was carefully crafted to alleviate various anticipated worries, and name-dropping experts and agencies that deal with protection of children is a key part of its marketing strategy here.
There is tentative support for what Facebook is doing. The prevailing mood is that since kids are using social networks, you might as do what you can to make sure that use is safe and monitored.
Common Sense Media, a US non-profit "dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families", has looked extensively at the proliferation of social media use among young children.
“A messenger app for kids under 13 that only parents can sign them up for sounds like a nice idea on its face," said James Steyer, the organisation's chief executive.
"But without clear policies about data collection, what happens to the content children post, and plans for the future, it is impossible to fully trust the platform.
"We appreciate that for now, the product is ad-free and appears designed to put parents in control. But why should parents simply trust that Facebook is acting in the best interest of kids?"
Facebook knows this move into looking after far more vulnerable users will be watched extremely closely. Any harmful content that makes its way onto Messenger Kids will be a major issue for the firm.
As YouTube found out when disturbing videos found their way onto YouTube Kids, trying to make a child-safe space is difficult - a minority of people will always be looking at ways to get around protections.
The app is only available in the US on Apple's iOS operating system initially.
You can reach Dave securely through encrypted messaging app Signal on: +1 (628) 400-7370
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42232475
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Nelson Mandela funeral: 'Millions misspent' - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Money earmarked for schools and hospitals was used for commemorative T-shirts, a report says.
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Africa
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Four years have passed since South African hero Nelson Mandela died
South Africa's corruption watchdog has found officials misused millions of dollars during Nelson Mandela's funeral four years ago.
According to the report, 300m rand ($22m; £16m) was redirected from a development fund to help with costs.
It had been earmarked for things like "sanitation, the replacement of mud schools and the refurbishment of hospitals," the report stated.
Instead, the authorities allegedly spent it on items like $24 T-shirts.
Allegations of misuse first emerged in 2014, months after Mr Mandela's funeral in Qunu, Eastern Cape, in December 2013, which was attended by heads of state from around the world.
Now, nearly four years after Mr Mandela's death at the age of 95, the country's public protector, Busi Mkhwebane, has asked President Jacob Zuma to pursue the allegations further using the special investigations unit.
The 300-page report describes how officials in the Eastern Cape pocketed funds, ignored basic rules, and inflated costs.
Mr Mandela spent 27 years in prison after being charged with trying to overthrow the apartheid government
Ms Mkhwebane described the failure to follow regulations on the spending of public money as "very scary" and "appalling", according to South Africa's Mail&Guardian newspaper.
"It is very concerning that we can use a funeral to do such things," she told a press conference. "How do you charge or escalate prices or even send an invoice for something you have not delivered?"
Ms Mkhwebane said disorganisation had a role to play in the misuse, but also hit out at how South Africa's ruling ANC party had apparently issued instructions to officials on how the money should be spent.
"There are invoices we are showing with letterheads from the ANC. And monies were paid but again services were not rendered," she was quoted as saying by South Africa's EyeWitness News.
She added: "We are hopeful whoever has committed these acts will be taken to task."
This is not the first scandal to surround official events commemorating the apartheid struggle hero's life.
The man tasked with providing a sign language interpretation at the memorial service was accused of making up gestures, while a fight for control over Mandela's legacy within his own family mired the last months of his life.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42224937
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Ex-police officer demands Damian Green retracts 'lie' claim - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A police officer who says he found pornography on a Westminster computer is threatening legal action.
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UK
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A former senior police officer has demanded cabinet minister Damian Green publicly retracts a claim that he lied about pornography being found on a computer in the MP's office in 2008.
Bob Quick said he would consider legal action against the first secretary of state if he did not do so.
In a tweet, Mr Green had described Mr Quick as "untrustworthy" and accused him of making "untrue" allegations.
Mr Green denies downloading or watching pornography on his work computers.
In a statement issued by his lawyers, Mr Quick said: "Damian Green called me a liar in the statement he tweeted on 4 November 2017. That is completely untrue.
"Everything I have said is accurate, in good faith, and in the firm belief that I have acted in the public interest."
He added: "I am in no way motivated politically and bear no malice whatsoever to Damian Green.
"This is despite unfortunate and deeply hurtful attempts to discredit me."
When he was assistant commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police Service, Mr Quick led an inquiry into Home Office leaks, which saw Mr Green's Commons office being searched in 2008.
Having resigned in 2009, Mr Quick made the allegations last month after the Cabinet Office launched an investigation into accusations of inappropriate behaviour by Mr Green towards journalist Kate Maltby, which the MP has described as "completely false".
Mr Green then tweeted his reaction, describing the pornography claims as "disreputable political smears" and accusing Mr Quick of acting in "flagrant breach" of his duty of confidentiality.
On Friday, retired Met detective Neil Lewis also alleged that "thousands" of thumbnail images of legal pornography had been found on Mr Green's parliamentary computer.
But he was condemned by the Met's Commissioner Cressida Dick, who said all officers had a duty to protect sensitive information they discovered.
Responding the Mr Quick's comments on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Tory MP said: "It would be inappropriate for Mr Green to comment while the Cabinet Office inquiry is ongoing and while the Metropolitan Police is investigating the conduct of former officers."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42241924
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Bamboozled by Brexit? - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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Get back to basics with the issues behind the talks - and the people they affect.
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As talks appear to have broken down, we get back to basics, and meet the people affected by the politics.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42228896
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6,500 people buy crumbling castle - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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Internet users join forces to buy Mothe-Chandeniers chateau in France, hoping to restore it.
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Thousands of internet users have joined forces to save Mothe-Chandeniers chateau in France.
By contributing at least €51 (£45; $61) each, they managed to raise €500,000 needed to buy the ruined 13th Century castle.
Each participant is now a co-owner of Mothe-Chandeniers, which the online community plans to restore.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42232308
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How does government get out of Brexit linguistic hole? - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Mark Devenport outlines negotiating alternatives to raiding a thesaurus for synonyms for "regulatory alignment".
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Northern Ireland
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DUP leader Arlene Foster last week declared that her party was "in constant contact" on Brexit issues with the government
"Rubbish" - the response from a senior DUP source when I put it to them that the party had been kept in the loop about Theresa May's Brexit deal, but got cold feet when the likes of Nicola Sturgeon, Carwyn Jones and Sadiq Khan started demanding the same special treatment for Scotland, Wales and London.
Last Thursday, DUP leader Arlene Foster declared that her party was "in constant contact on these issues with the government".
Was that via face-to-face meetings of the two parties' "co-ordination committee", or just via telephone conversations? If the latter, the line must have been very crackly.
But also last Thursday, the DUP loudly and publicly denounced a report in The Times which talked about the devolution of extra powers to Stormont and hinted at the possibility of customs convergence.
It wasn't exactly what the Eurocrats were working on in their draft texts.
However, the similarity of the proposals and the vehemence of the DUP reaction should surely have alerted the negotiators to sound out the DUP first, rather than bouncing them into accepting a fait accompli.
How to get out of this hole?
The diplomats could try raiding a thesaurus to find synonyms for "regulatory alignment", although the DUP will now be on their guard for any cosmetic change which does not alter the thrust of the draft UK-EU agreement.
Earlier, another DUP source told me unionists just wanted to be treated the same as the rest of the UK. If regulations on animal health or agriculture are good enough for Northern Ireland, went the argument, then why not for the UK as a whole?
Negotiations between the UK and UK broke up without a deal on Monday
The DUP's critics are quick to point out that the party has been prepared to contemplate different regimes for corporation tax, air passenger duty and water charges. Not to mention that it doesn't back a "one-size-fits-all" UK-wide policy on abortion or same-sex marriage.
Putting all that to one side for the purpose of this Brexit negotiation, one obvious way to resolve the current conundrum might be for the government to pledge that any "regulatory alignment" between Northern Ireland and the European Union will also apply across the UK.
Such a wider east-west deal would not offend the DUP's unionist sensibilities, although it might create tensions between Theresa May and some of her Conservative Brexit purists.
So you could widen out the deal. However, another approach might be to narrow down its terms.
The draft text referred to "regulatory alignment" in areas relevant to the Good Friday Agreement (the 1998 deal that brought to an end the 30 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland).
That is open to interpretation - some say the EU provided the entire context in which the 1998 Agreement was negotiated. By contrast the UK Supreme Court ruled that Brexit was not in breach of the Agreement.
We have had north-south "areas of cooperation" for the past 19 years.
Transport is one of them, but drivers still need to stick to speed limits in kilometres south of the border and in miles per hour on the north.
Tourism is another area of cooperation, but airport bosses in Northern Ireland will remind you that their passengers pay duty which the Irish Republic abolished some time ago.
Tourism is one key area of north-south cooperation
So simply saying the magic words "Good Friday Agreement" doesn't mean every rule and regulation has to be the same.
Two different forms of words are now doing the rounds.
Leaks from Brussels on Monday claimed a draft text said: "In the absence of agreed solutions, the UK will ensure that continued regulatory alignment with those rules of the internal market and the customs union which, now or in the future, support north-south cooperation and the protection of the Good Friday Agreement."
This would be open to the UK government to parse on the grounds of which rules are relevant to that agreement.
The Irish Times has reported another formula which has apparently been disputed by the British government.
It says: "The UK remains committed to protecting north-south co-operation and a guarantee to avoiding a hard border.
"The UK's intention is to achieve these objectives through the overall EU-UK relationship.
"Should this not be possible, the UK will propose specific solutions to address the unique circumstances of the island of Ireland.
"In the absence of agreed solutions, the UK will maintain full alignment with the internal market, customs union and protection of the Good Friday agreement."
This appears more a comprehensive text, less open to interpretation and potentially creating an internal customs barrier within a post-Brexit UK.
So does the government widen the playing field across the UK or try to narrow the terms of the text dealing with Ireland?
Either way it's quite a challenge to rescue this deal.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-42236349
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One in five patients regularly misses GP appointments - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Missed GP appointments cost the NHS time and money and a study reveals the extent of the problem.
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Health
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Up to one in five patients is regularly missing GP appointments in Scotland, new research reveals.
A study of more than 500,000 people in the country found poorer patients living in affluent areas were the most likely to miss an appointment.
"No-showers" tended to be aged 16 to 30, or older than 90, according to the researchers from Lancaster, Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities.
The study findings are published The Lancet Public Health journal.
There is no centrally collected data on total number of GP appointments or how many of them are missed.
The study found 19% of patients missed more than two appointments in a three-year period.
Those appointments that were booked two or three days in advance were more likely to be missed than those made two weeks in advance.
David Ellis, of the University of Lancaster, one of the lead authors of the study, says the research has identified where doctors' surgeries need to focus their efforts.
"Some of the solutions might include practices learning to better manage patients who are more likely to not attend.
"So for example that might mean giving more appointments on the day than say, two to three days in advance.
"And because we've already got a kind of profile of what those patients might look like who are more likely to not attend, that's where the more targeted interventions could be pushed."
But Stockport GP Ranjit Gill believes there has been a shift in how the health service is seen by a younger "I want it now" generation.
Dr Gill says missed appointments cost the NHS time and money
"The NHS is now, for our younger population, seen as a consumer service, a bit like John Lewis and so perhaps valued differently to the way our older population see the NHS.
"I can't think of the last time one of my older patients ever missed an appointment."
And Dr Gill points out that as well as the financial loss to the health service, a missed GP appointment also represents a loss of valuable time.
"We have to check for each missed appointment that there wasn't a worrying reason behind that missed appointment whether it be mental health, safeguarding issues or other welfare concerns about patients.
"That takes time and that's a lost opportunity again, for that patient and other patients as well."
Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, says it can be frustrating for doctors when patients don't turn up to their appointments.
"Whilst practices will always try to offer appointments that are timely and convenient for patients, the current resource and workforce pressures we are facing, with GPs conducting more consultations than ever before to meet increasing demand, is making this more and more difficult.
"GP practices across the country are already implementing some successful schemes to reduce missed appointments, from text messaging reminders to better patient education and awareness posters detailing the unintended consequences of a patient not attending.
"But ultimately, we need NHS England's GP Forward View - promising £2.4bn extra a year for general practice and 5,000 more GPs - to be delivered in full and as a matter of urgency.
"And we need equivalent promises made and delivered in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so that we can deliver the care our patients need, whatever their circumstances, and wherever in the country they live."
In 2014, NHS England estimated that more than 12 million GP visits are missed each year in the UK.
That could cost the health service in excess of £162m per year.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42227861
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Profumo affair model Christine Keeler dies aged 75 - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The model, who made headlines after her affair with a cabinet minister in the 1960s, dies aged 75.
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UK Politics
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Christine Keeler worked as a model in the 1960s
Christine Keeler, the model embroiled in the 1963 Profumo affair, has died aged 75, her son has said.
Seymour Platt said Ms Keeler had been ill for several months with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
He told the BBC: "She was always a fighter, but sadly lost the final fight against a terrible lung disease."
She became famous for her part in the scandal, which shook Harold Macmillan's government, but her son said that fame came "at a huge personal price".
At the height of the Cold War, the-then teenager claimed she had an affair with Conservative cabinet minister John Profumo.
She also claimed to be in a relationship with a Russian diplomat - Eugene Ivanov, an assistant naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy - at the same time.
Mr Profumo was forced to resign after lying about the affair to Parliament and the scandal is considered to have contributed to the fall of the Macmillan government.
Ms Keeler's family said she died on Monday at 23:30 GMT at the Princess Royal University Hospital in Orpington, south-east London.
Paying tribute to his mother, Mr Platt told the BBC: "She earned her place in British history but at a huge personal price."
"And regardless, we are all very proud of who she was to the end," he added.
Douglas Thompson, the journalist and author who worked with Ms Keeler on her memoir The Truth At Last, paid tribute to a "funny and bright" woman, whom he described as "one of the most honest people I have ever met".
"She believed absolutely everything she ever said about the Profumo affair," he said.
"She said what she thought," he continued. "I think that honesty is very surprising."
He described Ms Keeler as a "victim of the time", adding that she would probably have had her own TV show had the scandal happened today.
"The interesting thing about her is she tried to escape it," he said. "I don't think she ever got away from it - that was a tragedy."
"She could never stop being Christine Keeler," he added.
In 1963, Mr Profumo told the House of Commons he and Ms Keeler were "on friendly terms" and there was "no impropriety" in their relationship, after opposition MPs voiced concerns about national security implications.
Eventually he admitted lying to the house and resigned as Secretary of State for War and from the Commons.
Ms Keeler was briefly married twice, with both ending in divorce. She had two sons.
The Profumo affair will be the subject of a BBC One drama which begins filming next year.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42245839
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Peers debate education's role in society - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Archbishop of Canterbury leads a debate in the House of Lords on boosting education, with contributions from peers such as Lord Sacks and Lord Adonis.
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Parliaments
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The Archbishop of Canterbury rises at the end of the debate to thank members for taking part - "so thoughtfully and so widely".
"We need adaptability and imagination," he says, because needs vary, urging a reimagining of the education system.
And that's it for today in the Lords.
Join us again on Monday afternoon for education questions at 2.30pm in the Commons - and the second reading of the Finance Bill, which enacts measures announced by the chancellor in the Budget.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-parliaments-42226690
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Shashi Kapoor, Bollywood legend, dies at 79 - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The veteran actor starred in major Bollywood hits as well as several British and US films.
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India
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Shashi Kapoor acted in more than 150 films
Kapoor, who acted in huge hits like Deewar and Kabhie Kabhie, had been ill for some time and was in hospital.
He was a member of the Kapoor dynasty, which has dominated the Hindi film industry for decades.
He won several national film awards and was awarded the Padma Bhushan civilian honour by the Indian government in 2011. He also acted in a number of British and American films.
Kapoor died at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in the western city of Mumbai.
"Yes he has passed away. He had kidney problem since several years. He was on dialysis for several years," his nephew, actor Randhir Kapoor, told Press Trust of India. The funeral will be held on Tuesday morning, he said.
The actor was married to late English actress Jennifer Kendal, with whom he set up Mumbai's iconic Prithvi Theatre in 1978. His sister-in-law is British actress Felicity Kendal.
Kapoor began his career as a child actor and appeared in more than 150 films, including a dozen in English. He became known internationally for his roles in Merchant Ivory productions like "Shakespeare-wallah" and "Heat and Dust".
In 2015, he was given the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award, the highest honour in Indian cinema.
Kapoor was known for his charming smile and was often described by his fans as the "handsomest star ever". He had a huge fan following among women.
He was cast alongside superstar Amitabh Bachchan in some of the biggest Bollywood blockbusters of the 1970s and 1980s, and the two actors played brothers, best friends or rivals.
His comment in Deewar - "Mere paas maa hai" (But I have mother's support) - during a tense confrontation with screen-sibling Bachchan tops the list of best Bollywood lines for millions of fans around the globe.
Over the years, it has found its way on to merchandise like shoulder bags, coffee mugs and cushion covers.
As news of his death spread, fans took to social media to express their grief and pay tributes, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi:
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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 4 by Shashi Tharoor This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-42225524
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Mother of Briton killed in Syria speaks of 'hero' son - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The mother of a British man killed in Syria has spoken of her "hero" son, who she tried to persuade to come home.
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UK
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Jane Lyndon says she did not know her son was in Syria
The mother of a British man who was killed in Syria has spoken of her "hero" son, who she tried to persuade to come home.
Oliver Hall, 24 volunteered to fight with the YPG, the Kurdish-led armed group which has been battling against so-called Islamic State.
Mr Hall was killed during an operation to clear mines from Raqqa in November.
Jane Lyndon said "he was a fun loving, cheeky, mischievous boy, who grew up to be a courageous and handsome man."
Mr Hall went to Bay House School, in Gosport, Hampshire, and after leaving school attended Fareham College, where he trained to be a telecommunications engineer.
Ms Lyndon said her son went on to work for his stepfather "whilst still trying to find his vocation in life".
She had no idea he was planning to travel to Syria.
"The first I knew about it was when I received a message from him saying he was abroad doing charity work.
"Ollie asked me not to be disappointed or angry with him and, in his own words, said: 'I am away for a couple of months doing voluntary work, this is something I have to do. I have never known what to do with my life but after a lot of time thinking and planning I have decided to come and do some charity work'."
This message was sent in August. A couple of weeks later Ms Lyndon found out he was in northern Syria.
"This was the most devastating news I could ever receive," she said.
Jane Lyndon says her son was trying to find his vocation in life
It is estimated that hundreds of Westerners have travelled to Syria during the conflict to volunteer as fighters with the US-backed YPG, which has been fighting to recapture territory held by IS.
Dozens of British volunteer fighters have been amongst them.
Ms Lyndon said she, friends and family pleaded with her son to come home but he refused.
"He stated he was an adult and he had finally found his purpose in life and was making an impact on the world," she said.
"I would never want another family to go through this but at the same time Ollie is my hero, I am so proud of my son and miss him greatly."
"Please could I ask that my family and I are now left in peace to grieve for a wonderful son and brother."
Oliver Hall had travelled to Syria in August to fight against so-called Islamic State
Mr Hall's body will be repatriated to the UK, and the YPG has offered its support to his family.
A spokesman said he "will always be remembered by our people".
Mr Hall is the seventh British citizen to be killed with the YPG.
There will be a ceremony for him at the Smelka Border crossing in Syria, before his body is taken over the border into Iraq to begin the journey home.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to warn against all travel to Syria.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42239063
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'I beat type 2 diabetes with 200-calorie drinks' - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Isobel was one of 300 people on a trial that reversed type 2 in nearly half of patients.
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Health
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Isobel Murray no longer thinks of herself as diabetic
Nearly half of patients have reversed type 2 diabetes in a "watershed" trial, say doctors in Newcastle and Glasgow.
People spent up to five months on a low-calorie diet of soups and shakes to trigger massive weight loss.
Isobel Murray, 65, who had weighed 15 stone, lost over four stone (25kg) and no longer needs diabetes pills. She says: "I've got my life back."
The charity Diabetes UK says the trial is a landmark and has the potential to help millions of patients.
Isobel, from Largs in North Ayrshire, was one of 298 people on the trial.
Her blood sugar levels were too high, and every time she went to the doctors they increased her medication.
So, she went on to the all-liquid diet for 17 weeks - giving up cooking and shopping. She even ate apart from her husband, Jim.
Instead, she had four liquid meals a day.
It is hardly Masterchef - a sachet of powder is stirred in water to make a soup or shake. They contain about 200 calories, but also the right balance of nutrients.
Isobel told the BBC it was relatively easy as "you don't have to think about what you eat".
Once the weight has been lost, dieticians then help patients introduce healthy, solid meals.
"Eating normal food is the hardest bit," says Isobel.
The trial results, simultaneously published in the Lancet medical journal and presented at the International Diabetes Federation, showed:
Prof Roy Taylor, from Newcastle University, told the BBC: "It's a real watershed moment.
"Before we started this line of work, doctors and specialists regarded type 2 as irreversible.
"But if we grasp the nettle and get people out of their dangerous state, they can get remission of diabetes."
However, doctors are not calling this a cure. If the weight goes back on, then the diabetes will return.
"I will never go there again," says Isobel. So far, she has kept the weight off for two years.
Body fat building up around the pancreas causes stress to the beta cells in the organ that controls blood sugar levels.
They stop producing enough of the hormone insulin, and that causes blood sugar levels to rise out of control.
Dieting loses the fat, and then the pancreas works properly again.
The trial looked at only patients diagnosed in the past six years. It is thought having type 2 diabetes for very long periods of time may cause irreversible damage.
Prof Mike Lean, from Glasgow University, told the BBC: "It's hugely exciting."
"We now have clear evidence that weight loss of 10-15kg is enough to turn this disease around.
One in 11 adults worldwide has diabetes, and most of them have type 2.
Uncontrolled sugar levels cause damage throughout the body, leading to organ failure, blindness and limb amputations.
Treating the disease costs the UK's NHS about £10bn a year.
Dr Elizabeth Robertson, the director of research at Diabetes UK, said: "[The trial has] the potential to transform the lives of millions of people.
"The trial is ongoing, so that we can understand the long-term effects of an approach like this."
Isobel said: "I don't look at myself as a diabetic at all.
"You have to be fired up, you have to be prepared, but anybody can do it if you feel strongly enough."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42154666
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Army dogs faced with being destroyed reprieved - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Ministry of Defence planned to destroy the dogs because it said they were too aggressive to rehome.
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Leicester
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One of the dogs, Dazz, was featured in MoD publicity shots at the Defence Animal Centre
Two retired army dogs which faced being destroyed because they were too aggressive to rehome have been saved, the BBC understands.
Kevin and Dazz, both Belgian shepherds, were deployed in Afghanistan and were retired from frontline service in 2013.
The dogs are based at the Defence Animal Centre in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.
Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan wrote to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Friday to call for a reprieve.
The MoD has assured their dog handlers that they could be saved.
A third animal, a police dog named Driver, who was also at risk, could also be rehomed.
Sir Alan, the MP for Melton and Rutland and Minister of State for Europe and the Americas, said: "It is very good news, as long as they have a good home, which also guarantees safety for people.
"We are all happy for Kevin and Dazz and also good luck to Driver."
He said they were "hero dogs who have fought fearlessly alongside our soldiers" and any danger to people "must be proven".
The dogs have been trained to show aggression which makes rehoming difficult
Former soldier turned author Andy McNab launched an online petition, which has more than 370,000 signatures and will be delivered to the centre in Melton Mowbray.
"Service dogs have saved my life on numerous occasions," he said.
"Dogs like Kevin, Dazz, and Driver are an asset when they are serving but they are even more of an asset when they are retired."
The Belgian shepherds went on patrol with troops in Afghanistan and were used for their aggression.
The MoD had said: "Wherever possible, we endeavour to re-home them [dogs] at the end of their service life.
"Sadly, there are some occasions where this is not possible."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-42228449
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Police officer dies in motorbike crash with pensioner - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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PC James Dixon died after the motorcycle he was riding collided with a car near Hare Hatch.
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Berkshire
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Officers said the road will remain closed for the remainder of Tuesday
An on-duty police officer and a 91-year-old woman have died following a crash on the A4 in Berkshire.
PC James Dixon died after the motorcycle he was riding was in collision with a car on Bath Road near Hare Hatch at 13:50 GMT.
The pensioner, who was a passenger in the car, was killed while the driver, also a woman, was taken to hospital.
Officers said the road would remain closed for the remainder of Tuesday.
Thames Valley Police said the next of kin of both PC Dixon and the deceased woman have been informed.
A force spokesman said officers remained at the scene of the collision and had advised motorists to avoid the area.
The incident has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
IPCC Associate Commissioner Guido Liguori said: "My thoughts and sympathies are with their families and friends and the colleagues of the officer at this very difficult time.
"IPCC investigators are attending the scene as part of an independent investigation to determine the circumstances which lead to the collision."
PC Dixon was based at Loddon Valley police station, near Reading.
Police said the injuries of the driver involved are "not thought to be life threatening".
Tributes to PC Dixon have been posted in comments on Thames Valley Police's Facebook page.
Daniel Ruffle said: "Ride the sky and the clouds big man, it was a pleasure knowing you and working with you."
Bernadette Ellison said: "God bless you Dixie, you made me laugh with your wicked sense of humour."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-42245149
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Brigitte Macron names France's first baby panda - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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The French president's wife got a shock when she went to name the first panda born in her country.
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Brigitte Macron got a shock when she went to name the first panda born in France.
The wife of the French president is also the panda's "godmother".
In a speech, she later said France had been "proud and happy" to host the pandas from China and that the cub was a symbol of the countries' historic ties.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42230077
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North Korea crisis: UN political chief in rare visit to Pyongyang - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Jeffrey Feltman's visit to Pyongyang is the first by a United Nations senior official in six years.
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Asia
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Mr Feltman is not expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
The United Nations political affairs chief begins a rare four-day visit to Pyongyang on Tuesday.
The trip by Jeffrey Feltman is the first by a senior UN official in six years.
North Korea had extended an invitation to the UN in September to visit for a "policy dialogue".
It comes after last week's launch of what North Korea called its "most powerful" intercontinental ballistic missile, claiming it could hit the US.
Mr Feltman, a former US diplomat and the highest ranking American in the UN, will be in Pyongyang until Friday. His visit comes as South Korea and the US conduct their largest ever round of aerial drills.
A UN spokesman told reporters that Mr Feltman will be meeting senior North Korean officials including foreign minister Ri Yong-ho, and will have a wide-ranging policy discussion on "issues of mutual interest and concern".
He is not scheduled to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. North Korea said in November its latest missile was capable of reaching Washington DC
It wasn't until last week - the day after North Korea's latest missile test - that Pyongyang confirmed the invitation it issued in September.
The timing seems significant: Kim Jong-un had just announced his country's success in creating a nuclear force.
In the absence of any other meaningful diplomatic channels, the UN clearly believes it's important to pursue whatever opportunities exist for dialogue.
On his way to Pyongyang, Mr Feltman held talks in Beijing - no doubt interested to hear what, if anything, came out of China's latest talks with the North Korean regime.
China, a historic ally of North Korea and its main trading partner, had sent a top-ranking diplomat to Pyongyang last month for discussions with officials there.
The UN has said there are no plans at present for UN chief Antonio Guterres, who has offered to mediate in the North Korean crisis, to visit Pyongyang.
The last visit by a senior UN official was when Valerie Amos, then the UN's aid chief, travelled there in October 2011. Mr Feltman's predecessor Lynn Pascoe also visited in 2010.
The UN operates six agencies with 50 international staff in North Korea which provide food, agricultural and health aid. Malnutrition is a significant problem in the country.
The US has deployed F-22 fighter jets to take part in drills with South Korea
Mr Feltman's trip comes during a period of high tensions following North Korea's test launch of a missile which drew another round of international condemnation.
The US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley had said last week that if war broke out, the North Korean regime would be "utterly destroyed".
On Monday, South Korea and the US began a five-day air combat exercise, their largest ever involving more than 200 aeroplanes and thousands of troops.
North Korea, which routinely condemns such drills, has called it a "provocation".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42232852
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Sir Elton John 'in shock' after his mother dies aged 92 - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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"I only saw her last Monday," says the star, who was estranged from his mother for several years.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Elton John poses with his mother in 2002
Sir Elton John says he is "in shock" after the death of his mother, Sheila Farebrother, just months after their reconciliation.
"So sad to say that my mother passed away this morning," he said on his Facebook page, alongside a photo of them together.
"I only saw her last Monday and I am in shock. Travel safe, mum. Thank you for everything."
Sir Elton, who was born Reginald Dwight, was Ms Farebrother's only son.
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Although his father - a flight lieutenant in the RAF - was a trumpeter in his spare time, it was his mother who ignited his love of pop music.
An avid record collector, she brought home music by artists such as Elvis Presley and Bill Haley and supported Sir Elton throughout his career.
But they fell out over a "petty" argument in 2008, when Sir Elton asked her to sever ties with two old friends, Bob Halley and John Reid.
Mr Halley had worked for Sir Elton for three decades, first as a driver then later as a personal assistant, before he resigned as part of a series of changes Sir Elton was making to his team.
Mr Reid, who had been Sir Elton's manager and briefly his lover, helped the musician become one of the world's most famous - and richest - performers, but they too fell out.
Sir Elton and David Furnish, pictured here last month, have two children together
"I told him: 'I'm not about to do that and drop them,'" Ms Farebrother told the Daily Mail.
"Then to my utter amazement, he told me he hated me. And he then banged the phone down. Imagine! To me, his mother!"
Ms Farebrother told the newspaper at the time that she had never met her grandsons Zachary and Elijah, who Sir Elton and his partner David Furnish fathered through IVF with an American surrogate mother.
For her 90th birthday, Ms Farebrother hired an Elton John tribute act to perform.
Her son got in touch soon after, sending her white orchids to celebrate the milestone.
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But their relationship was still strained. Sir Elton told Rolling Stone that his mother had not called him to say thank you after the bouquet arrived.
"To be honest with you, I don't miss her," he said. "I look after her, but I don't want her in my life."
However, the pair appear to have fully reconciled this year, after Sir Elton recovered from a potentially fatal bacterial infection.
"Dear Mum, Happy Mother's Day!" he wrote on Instagram in February. "So happy we are back in touch. Love, Elton xo"
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-42220913
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Labour attacks 'embarrassing' Brexit talks - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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The PM has days to get Brexit talks back on track after the DUP objects to Irish border proposals.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Labour: May to blame for Brexit 'embarrassment'
Ministers say no part of the UK will be treated differently in the Brexit talks as Labour branded their approach an "embarrassment".
No agreement has been reached with the EU after a DUP backlash against proposals for the Irish border.
Brexit Secretary David Davis told MPs the government was close to concluding the first phase of talks.
DUP leader Arlene Foster said the text of the deal was a "big shock" and "it was not going to be acceptable."
She told the Republic of Ireland national broadcaster RTÉ that her party only saw the text on Monday morning, despite asking to see it for five weeks.
Theresa May, speaking as she welcomed Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to Downing Street, said talks with the EU had " made a lot of progress".
"There are still a couple of issues we need to work on. But we'll be reconvening in Brussels later this week as we look ahead to the December European Council," she said.
Mrs Foster was invited to hold talks with Mrs May in London on Tuesday, but the party's Westminster leader met the government's chief whip instead.
The meeting lasted for several hours, but sources suggested to the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg that there was not much sign of a breakthrough yet, with a DUP insider saying the deal needed "radical surgery", rather than a few word changes.
A phone call between Mrs May and Mrs Foster had then been expected this evening, but sources added that it would not go ahead, suggesting it had never been arranged.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Citizens' rights, the Irish border and money are the three big negotiation points
The UK is due to leave the EU in March 2019 and Mrs May is under pressure to reach agreement on the Northern Ireland border so negotiations can move forward.
The prime minister needs the support of the DUP - the Democratic Unionist Party - which is Northern Ireland's largest party and has 10 MPs at Westminster, because she does not have a majority to win votes in the House of Commons.
Responding to an urgent question from Labour in the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Davis defended the controversial proposal for "regulatory alignment" between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland - intended to avoid the need for border checks after Brexit - saying this would apply to the whole of the UK.
The DUP is unhappy about any agreement which treats Northern Ireland differently.
It would not mean "having exactly the same rules" as the EU, Mr Davis said, but would involve "sometimes having mutually recognised rules".
Backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg warned that having "regulatory divergence" from the EU after Brexit was a "red line".
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Labour's Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer said that when the DUP objected to the draft agreement, "fantasy met brutal reality", adding: "The DUP tail is wagging the Tory dog."
Mr Starmer also called for the government to drop its plan to enshrine the 29 March 2019 Brexit date in UK law.
Meanwhile, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith suggested the UK should walk away from the negotiations if the EU does not change its position.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Iain Duncan Smith: EU needs to 'back off' or 'move on'
But Tory MP and former cabinet minister, Nicky Morgan, said his comments were "madness" and walking away would "betrays the futures of millions of young people and those who never wanted to leave in the first place".
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The DUP has said "it is not a question of us budging" as the talks were between the UK and the EU
Dublin - which as an EU member is part of its single market and customs union - has been calling for written guarantees that a "hard border" involving customs checks on the island of Ireland will be avoided after Brexit
It is concerned this could undermine the 1998 peace treaty - the Good Friday Agreement that brought an end to 30 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland.
Mr Davis said that while the "integrity" of the single market and customs union must be respected after Brexit, it was "equally clear we must respect the integrity of the United Kingdom" and individual nations could not have separate arrangements.
Mrs May needs to show "sufficient progress" has been made so far on "divorce" issues before European leaders meet on 14 December to decide whether to allow talks on future trade relations to begin.
The three issues that need to be resolved are the Northern Ireland border, citizens' rights and the amount of money the UK will pay as it leaves.
Talks between Mrs May and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker broke up without agreement on Monday, after the DUP objected to a draft agreement on the future of the Irish border.
Key to the row is how closely aligned Northern Ireland's regulations will be with those of the Republic of Ireland, and the rest of the EU, in order to avoid a "hard" border.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Irish PM Leo Varadkar said he was "surprised and disappointed"
Ireland's deputy prime minister Simon Coveney said Dublin would not budge from its position on the border.
The EU is treating the row as a "domestic British political issue", BBC Brussels correspondent Adam Fleming said.
"The show is now in London," said a European Commission spokesman.
Downing Street has insisted the border was not the only outstanding problem and disagreement remains over the role of the European Court of Justice in overseeing EU citizens' rights in the UK after Brexit.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42231497
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Northern Ireland and England schools in global top 10 for reading - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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Both Northern Ireland and England have reached their highest point scores in reading tests taken in 50 countries.
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Family & Education
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Almost 320,000 pupils took the tests, with girls ahead in almost every country
Northern Ireland and England are in the top 10 of the world's best primary school readers in global rankings.
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study - known as PIRLS - shows Northern Ireland in joint sixth place, with England in joint eighth.
Both Northern Ireland and England have reached their highest point scores in reading tests taken in 50 countries.
Russia takes the top place in this international education league table, based on tests taken every five years.
The Republic of Ireland, in fourth, is second only to Russia among European countries.
Girls are ahead of boys in almost every country taking the tests.
Geoff Barton, leader of the ASCL head teachers' union, praised the work of schools in England and Northern Ireland and said the results reflected "the huge focus that schools have placed on the teaching of reading over the course of many years".
The tests taken by almost 320,000 10-year-olds around the world, show Northern Ireland's pupils as among the highest achievers, ranked joint sixth with Poland.
The result puts them only marginally behind long-standing high achievers such as Finland.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "I like reading because I get smarter and smarter" - here's what the kids make of it all
With the Northern Ireland assembly still suspended, there is no current education minister, but Northern Ireland's education department pointed to the success of a "Count, Read: Succeed" strategy introduced in 2011 with targets to improve literacy and numeracy.
There are no Sats tests for 11-year-olds in Northern Ireland, but pupils in the last year of primary can take transfer tests for grammar schools. It's also a system in which many places are allocated on the basis of religious faith.
The National Foundation for Educational Research, which administered the tests in Northern Ireland, says families and local communities seemed to put a "high value on academic success".
Senior research manager Juliet Sizmur said the international comparison suggested that reading was particularly valued in Northern Ireland.
England was ranked joint eighth, alongside Norway and Taiwan, and England's school standards minister Nick Gibb hailed the positive impact of the phonics system of learning to read.
"Our rise through the global rankings is even more commendable because it has been driven by an increase in the number of low-performing pupils reading well," said Mr Gibb.
This is a much higher ranking than in the international Pisa tests for secondary school pupils, run by the OECD, in which England is not in the top 20 for reading or maths.
Scotland and Wales did not take part in these latest PIRLS tests.
Comparisons with the last rankings from five years ago depend on which measures are used, says the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), which runs the PIRLS tests with Boston College in the US.
The Netherlands-based IEA says that this year England is 10th, but because "there is no statistical significant difference" with two countries above, they are effectively joint eighth.
Five years ago, the IEA says England was ranked 11th, but as there was no statistical significant difference with US, Denmark, Croatia, Chinese Taipei, and Ireland this "could be interpreted as a joint sixth ranking".
The IEA's executive director, Dirk Hastedt, says that Russia's success reflects a series of education reforms and a "lot of emphasis on academic excellence" and much more rigour over standards.
Dr Hastedt says such tests reveal international trends in education.
Girls are ahead of boys in almost every country taking the tests, says Dr Hastedt.
He says there are increasing numbers of children in pre-school education - and this seems to be linked to higher performance.
Pupils in Russia were the highest achieving in this global test
There are also signs that parents are more likely to get involved in helping their children's learning.
The national comparisons are based on representative samples of pupils, designed by researchers to reflect different regions and types of school.
In England, there were about 5,000 pupils taking the tests last year, drawn from 170 schools. In Russia, the sample was based on about 4,600 pupils in 206 schools.
Most of the pupils taking the tests were aged about 10 - but there were differences depending on the sample.
In Russia and Finland, the average of those taking the tests was 10.8 years, a year older than the average age of those taking the test in Italy and France.
Michael Martin, executive director of the TIMSS and PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College, says that this year's results showed the importance of early years education and parental interest.
"Children whose parents had engaged them in literacy activities - reading books or playing word games - from an early age are better equipped with basic reading skills when they begin primary schools and go on to have higher reading achievements," said Prof Martin.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-42222488
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Castleford woman, 98, plays donkey in care home nativity play - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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A 98-year-old woman is playing the donkey in her first nativity play in Castleford.
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A 98-year-old woman is playing the donkey in her first nativity play at a care home in Castleford.
Staff at Newfield Lodge Care Home have teamed up with the residents to put on their first production for the public.
The cast, which includes an 87-year-old shepherd, have a combined age of nearly 350 - not counting the staff!
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-42238613
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IUCN Red List: Wild crops listed as threatened - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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Wild relatives of modern crops deemed crucial for food security are threatened with extinction.
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Science & Environment
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Wild wheat can be bred with modern crops to boost resilience
Wild relatives of modern crops deemed crucial for food security are being pushed to the brink of extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
More than 20 rice, wheat and yam plants have been listed as threatened on the latest version of the IUCN's Red list.
The wild plants are being squeezed out by intensive farming, deforestation and urban sprawl, say scientists.
Modern crops can be crossbred with their wild cousins to safeguard foods.
''To lose them would be a disaster,'' said Dr Nigel Maxted of the University of Birmingham, who is co-chair of the IUCN's specialist group on crop wild relatives.
''It would be much more difficult to maintain food security without them.''
Commercial crops have lost genetic diversity. They are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which may bring drought, diseases and new pests.
Work is under way to breed new varieties of grains, cereals and vegetables by crossing them with tough, wild species that can grow in a range of habitats, such as mountains, deserts or salt marshes.
Researchers are collecting wild relatives of crops in Nepal
These efforts rely on protecting plants related to modern food crops at the sites where they grow in the wild as well as preserving their seeds in gene banks.
The first systematic assessment of wild wheat, rice and yam has led to the listing of three types of rice, two types of wheat (used to make bread) and 17 types of yam.
Marie Haga is Executive Director of The Crop Trust, an international organisation that is working to safeguard crop diversity.
She welcomed the inclusion of wild crops on the Red List.
''The IUCN has high legitimacy among decision makers and the general population, so it's extremely interesting that they are putting these wild relatives on their Red List,'' she told BBC News.
''I hope that will contribute to raising the awareness even further that we've got to take action, and we've got to take action now.''
Wild relatives of crops act as ''an insurance policy for the world'', she added.
Most of the wild rice crops that are threatened with extinction grow in South East Asia, while a few are found in Africa. The wild wheat plants that are of concern are found mainly in the Near and Middle East, including war-torn areas that are off-limits to conservationists.
Yams feed around 100 million people in Africa alone. Paul Wilkin of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, said conservation work is being undertaken to make sure that wild yam plants are available to provide food and medicines worldwide, now and in the future.
''They will also be sources of key traits to breed improved, future-proof crop varieties,'' he said.
''These assessments enable the most threatened species of yams and other crop wild relatives to be prioritised effectively for conservation actions.''
The economic value of crop wild relatives is put at US$115bn per year to the global economy.
In addition to wild crops, the IUCN highlighted other flora and fauna that have been added to the latest update of the Red List:
But there is a success story; kiwis in New Zealand are recovering thanks to conservation efforts.
An effort to wipe out predators such as stoats and ferrets, as well as raising chicks in captivity to release in the wild, has boosted the number of two species of New Zealand's native bird.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42204575
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Catalan arrest warrants withdrawn by Spain's Supreme Court - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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The Supreme Court says Carles Puigdemont and others have shown a willingness to return to Spain.
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Europe
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Campaigning for the vote officially began at midnight
A Spanish judge has withdrawn European arrest warrants for ousted Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and four other ex-ministers.
They fled to Belgium a month ago after declaring unilateral independence in a referendum ruled illegal by Spain.
Despite the move, the judge said they still faced possible charges for sedition and rebellion.
Rebellion is considered one of the most serious crimes in Spain, carrying a jail term of up to 30 years.
Spanish Supreme Court judge Pablo Llareno announced the warrant's withdrawal on Tuesday morning, citing the willingness the Catalan leaders had shown to return ahead of fresh regional elections being held on 21 December.
He said the European-wide warrant would complicate the Spanish legal probe, and its removal allows Spain to gain full control over the investigation.
The ministers turned themselves into Belgian authorities after the warrant was issued last month, but were freed after being questioned.
A Belgian judge was previously expected to rule whether to extradite the ministers on 14 December. The five were fighting the move, saying they may not receive a fair trial on their return.
Mr Puigdemont has previously said he would return if this was guaranteed.
On Monday six Catalan ex-ministers being held in a prison near Madrid were released from prison on bail. But two others, including former Catalan Vice President Orial Junqueras, were remanded in custody.
Campaigning has now officially started ahead of the new vote organised by Spanish authorities in an attempt to try and resolve the Catalonia crisis.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Why the colour yellow has become contentious in Catalonia
Mr Puigdemont labelled the election as a choice between "nation or submission" while speaking on a video link from Belgium to a rally in Barcelona on Monday night.
He said voters must chose "between Catalan institutions or dark characters in Madrid".
A seat reserved for the former leader at the event was marked with a yellow ribbon, an emblem that has become a symbol of support for the jailed politicians.
All but one of the 13 Catalan leaders sacked by the Spanish government after the independence referendum are standing for election again in the fresh vote.
A new opinion poll, conducted by the Spanish Centre for Sociological Research (CIS) in late November, suggests that pro-independence parties will fall narrowly short of an absolute majority in the December election.
Mr Puidgemont and Mr Junqueras' pro-separatist parties are campaigning separately in the new vote, after a divide emerged over the future of the region following the nulled referendum.
The parties ran together in the 2015 election when separatist parties won an overall majority in the Catalan parliament when they won 72 seats.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42237377
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Manslaughter charges over takeaway allergic reaction death - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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Megan Lee, 15, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, died after suffering an allergic reaction to takeaway food.
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Lancashire
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Megan Lee died two days after she was admitted to Royal Blackburn Hospital
Two men have been charged with manslaughter over the death of a 15-year-old girl who suffered an allergic reaction to takeaway food.
Megan Lee from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, died on 1 January, two days after she was admitted to hospital.
She had eaten food from the Royal Spice takeaway in Hyndburn.
Mohammed Kuddus, 39, of Blackburn and Harun Rashid, 38, of Haslingden are due to appear at Blackburn Magistrates' Court on 4 January.
A post-mortem examination showed Megan died from acute asthma due to a nut allergy, Lancashire Police said.
Royal Spice was temporarily closed by Hyndburn Council but is now trading under new ownership.
Mr Kuddus of Belper Street, Blackburn and Mr Rashid of Rudd Street, Haslingden are both charged with manslaughter, failing to discharge general health/safety duty to a person other than an employee and contravening or failing to comply with EU provision concerning food safety and hygiene.
The company that owned Royal Spice has been charged with one count of failing to discharge general health/safety duty to a person other than an employee.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-42241658
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Storm Caroline to hit Scotland followed by snow for wider UK - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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High winds have been forecast for Scotland and snow for other parts of the UK after the storm passes.
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Highlands & Islands
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An illustration of expected high winds on Thursday
The UK's next named storm has been forecast to hit Scotland on Thursday.
Storm Caroline is expected to see winds gusting to 80mph near north-facing coasts, and reaching speeds of 60 to 70mph more widely in northern and north east Scotland.
The Met Office warned that the conditions could disrupt travel.
Snow and freezing temperatures have been forecast for Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales on Friday and Saturday in the wake of Caroline.
The two previous named storms were Aileen in September and Brian in October.
A yellow "be aware" warning is in place for Scotland between 08:00 and 23:55 on Thursday.
Yellow warnings have also been issued by the Met Office for 00:05 Friday to 18:00 Saturday.
The forecast for Thursday includes winds reaching gusts of up 60mph across northern and north east Scotland
The Met Office said snow showers were expected to become increasingly frequent over northern Scotland late on Thursday.
Snow is expected to fall across many other parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and western England on Friday, with between 2cm and 5cm likely in some areas.
The Met Office said up to 20cm was possible over high ground, mainly in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
It added: "Icy surfaces are also likely to be an additional hazard, especially overnight.
"Strong northwest winds may cause drifting of the snow in places, with blizzard conditions possible at times across northern Scotland."
The Cairngorms, including its ski area, have already seen heavy snow falls in recent weeks
The wintry weather follows snow and cold temperatures experienced in parts of Scotland earlier this month.
Aberdeen and parts of Aberdeenshire along with Scotland's mountain ranges, including the Cairngorms and Glen Coe, have already seen heavy snow falls in recent weeks.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-42236258
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Germany train: Collision near Düsseldorf injures dozens - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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A passenger train crashed into a goods train near the city of Düsseldorf, emergency services say.
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Europe
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More than 40 people have been injured in a train crash near the German city of Düsseldorf, emergency services say.
A passenger train collided with a freight train near the town of Meerbusch, in North Rhine-Westphalia, on Tuesday night.
Of 173 people on board, seven people were badly injured and one suffered serious injuries, the Meerbusch fire department said.
Another 33 people had minor injuries and 132 were unhurt, it added.
The fire department's operation finished at around 02:20 (00:20 GMT).
All passengers had left the train in a rescue operation that at its peak involved 400 people, it said.
Casualty estimates escalated rapidly overnight from an early figure of about five people.
Rescue efforts were hindered by a broken cable which "posed a risk of electric shock to persons outside the train".
The accident occurred at about 19:30, according to a statement from Germany's state-owned railway group, Deutsche Bahn.
The train, operated by a subsidiary of Britain's National Express bus company, apparently collided with a stationary cargo train on the track.
A spokesman for the company told Germany's Bild newspaper that the driver had hit the emergency brake when he saw the other vehicle on the track.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42246087
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Nazi-salute man drove at curry shop owner in Harrow - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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The court heard Marek Zakrocki shouted "white power" during a drunken rampage in Harrow.
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London
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Marek Zakrocki shouted "white power" before using his van as a weapon
A supporter of the far-right group Britain First gave a Nazi salute and drove at a curry house owner during a drunken rampage in London.
The Old Bailey heard Marek Zakrocki shouted "white power" before using his van as a weapon outside Spicy Night in Harrow on 23 June.
The 48-year-old window fitter was heard to say "I'm going to kill a Muslim. I'm doing it for Britain".
He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and beating his wife.
Prosecutor Denis Barry said: "Mr Zakrocki had plainly, during the course of that afternoon, had far too much to drink.
"During the course of that evening he assaulted his wife, drove off in his work vehicle, insulted a series of passers-by and then drove his vehicle at the owner of a curry house, breaking the window of the curry house.
"It's plain that his conduct is very likely to have been motivated by his views about our diverse society."
The drunken rampage took place at the Spicy Night restaurant in Harrow
The attack happened on the anniversary of the Brexit vote.
The court heard he had also said at the time: "This is how I'm going to help the country. You people cannot do anything."
Following his arrest by armed officers, a Nazi coin was found in his pocket and copies of Britain First newspapers and flyers at his home in Harrow.
Mr Barry said Zakrocki had been "fixated" by Muslims and had made donations to Britain First in the past.
The court heard Zakrocki's van mounted the pavement twice before making contact with restaurant owner Kamal Ahmed.
The windows of the curry house were also smashed during the attack, some of which was caught on CCTV.
Jonathan Lennon, defending, said Zakrocki had "not intended to kill anybody".
Zakrocki will be sentenced later.
Further charges of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and having a knife in Northolt Road, Harrow, were ordered to lie on file.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42223156
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Ashes: Joe Root gives England hope of winning second Test in Adelaide - BBC Sport
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2017-12-05
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Joe Root's 67 not out gives England hope of winning a compelling second Ashes Test but Australia remain favourites.
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Last updated on .From the section Cricket
Second Ashes Test, Adelaide Oval (day four of five) England need 178 more runs to win
Captain Joe Root made an unbeaten 67 to keep England in with a slim chance of a remarkable win in the second Ashes Test against Australia in Adelaide.
Root, who overturned being given out lbw and was also dropped, took his side to 176-4 in their chase of 354.
In a thrilling and dramatic evening session, he received support from Dawid Malan, who was bowled by Pat Cummins 10 minutes before the close.
That England are still in the contest is not only down to their fourth-wicket pair, but also to some fine lower-order batting in their first innings and an outstanding bowling display in Australia's second innings that continued in Tuesday's first session.
Australia, reduced to 53-4 overnight, were bowled out for 138, with James Anderson claiming his first five-wicket haul in this country.
He was backed up by Chris Woakes' 4-36 and some excellent catching as no home batsman managed to pass 20.
The tourists' momentum continued to build as an opening stand of 53 between Mark Stoneman and Alastair Cook brought Australian frustration and English optimism.
But both men fell tamely and James Vince played an awful stroke, leaving Root and Malan to battle through an intense period under the lights.
Root's continued presence gives England a small chance of pulling off a historic victory on what could be a thrilling final day, which begins at 03:00 GMT on Wednesday.
Still, it is more likely that Australia will triumph on Wednesday, go 2-0 up and move to Perth knowing that the Ashes can be regained at the Waca.
• None Listen to TMS highlights on loop throughout the day
• None Bairstow receives pair of father's gloves held by fan for 39 years
• None England require their highest successful fourth-innings chase in Tests. Their previous best is 332-7 against Australia at Melbourne in 1928.
• None They also have to produce the highest successful chase at the Adelaide Oval, beating the current record of 315-6 by Australia against England in 1902.
• None If England are successful it will be the 10th highest successful fourth-innings chase in Test history.
• None Only South Africa captain Dudley Nourse against Australia in 1950 has previously lost a Test after failing to enforce the follow-on.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan: "My money is still with Australia just because of the history. What England have done is given themselves a sniff. They have given everyone hope.
"There is a real air of positivity because of the way they have come back. Australia captain Steve Smith has to be thinking about 24 hours ago when he didn't enforce the follow-on. If he had the game would have been done and dusted."
Former England spinner Phil Tufnell: "What an amazing Test. It was an amazing day - really good for England. They've somehow manufactured a chance. It's been enthralling, every ball. I've been down walking around the ground - everyone is on the edge of their seats lapping up the tension."
England ended their 10-wicket defeat in the first Test in Brisbane with the frustration of having competed strongly for three and a half days, only to ultimately be well beaten.
Here, they gave Australia a two-and-a-half-day head-start that made the incredible tension of the fourth evening so unlikely midway through Monday.
A poor first-day display with the ball after asking Australia to bat ultimately allowed the tourists to rack up 442-8 declared, before the tourists needed Craig Overton and Woakes to drag them from 142-7 to 227 all out.
Better batting and bowling in the first innings could have made their eventual target more manageable, rather than leave an attempt at their highest ever run chase and the 10th largest of all-time.
Still, that takes nothing away from their efforts on an entertaining, competitive fourth day, where the total crowd ticked over to 173,849, a record for this ground.
Whereas Monday evening's effort involved swinging the pink ball around under the lights, on Tuesday England mainly nipped it around off the pitch in warm sunshine.
A slip catch by Malan and, in particular, a fine diving hold in the deep by Overton were further examples of England's extra vigour in the second half of the game.
Stoneman's strokeplay got England off to a fast start and, after Australia chipped away, the night-time examination of Root and Malan by the home pacemen was gripping drama in front of some raucous travelling support.
As they increasingly found ways to score, they seemed set to make it to the close, only for Cummins to intervene.
Anderson, England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker, had never before managed more than four wickets in an innings in 14 previous matches in Australia.
He was culpable of bowling too short in Australia's first innings, but roared in on the third evening and followed it up when the fourth day began.
In all, Anderson bowled 22 of the 29 overs delivered from the Cathedral End, his fuller length on Tuesday ensuring the edge of the bat was always at risk when the ball moved.
Nightwatchman Nathan Lyon had been softened up by a Stuart Broad bouncer to the grille before he backed off and chipped Anderson to mid-off.
Peter Handscomb, footwork all at sea, was given a torrid time by Anderson until he poked to third slip, where Malan took a very smart catch diving to his right.
England were held up by Tim Paine and Shaun Marsh in the first innings, but Woakes got Paine to top-edge a pull and Overton, diving full stretch at long leg, clung on before the ball hit the turf.
Mitchell Starc chanced his arm to push the lead to 350, but after Marsh played across the line to a Woakes inswinger, Starc lobbed Anderson to mid-off to complete the Lancashire man's five-wicket haul.
Overton bowled only one over in the session, but had last man Josh Hazlewood caught at gully as England took six wickets before the first interval.
When England began their chase, Stoneman immediately took it to the Australia pacemen, sweetly clipping the ball through mid-wicket.
As he and Cook put on their biggest opening stand of the series, home captain Steve Smith was visibly frustrated, not helped when he opted against reviewing a Hazlewood lbw shout against Cook that would have sent the former skipper on his way for one.
But Cook played across a Lyon off-break to be leg before on review, Stoneman tamely patted Cummins to gully for 36 and Vince played an awful drive at Starc to be caught behind.
At 91-3, England were in danger of being all but beaten by the close.
Captain Root, though, was joined by the increasingly impressive Malan and, through a combination of luck, unsuccessful reviews, bravery and no little skill, they kept Australia at bay.
Root was given out lbw on 32 when he shouldered arms at Lyon, but the review system showed it to be too high.
In a torrid Cummins over, Root almost played on and survived when Smith wanted a second look at a caught behind decision, only to learn the ball flicked his opposite number's thigh pad.
Two balls later, Smith called for a failed lbw review against Malan off Hazlewood and the home captain's poor evening got worse when he dropped the left-hander on eight at slip when Lyon found the edge.
This came a day after he opted against enforcing the follow-on and saw his batsmen buckle in helpful bowling conditions.
Runs began to trickle, Root in particular pushing the score along square of the wicket, all while the Barmy Army sang and taunted the home side about their lost reviews.
England's evening got even better when a Root off Cummins drive burst through the hands of Cameron Bancroft to give the Yorkshireman another life on 52.
Cummins, though, had the final say, seaming one between Malan's bat and pad to take the top off stump and end the partnership at 78.
'We are in a fantastic position' - what they said
James Anderson on Test Match Special: "It is pretty even. We definitely would have taken this position after the first two or three days. We have fought really hard to get back in the game.
"We followed on from last night really well as a group and fought really hard with the bat. We spoke about not doing ourselves justice with the bat in the first innings but we have shown what can do.
"We are a good amount of runs short but are in a fantastic position. We have got batters in the shed to get us close."
Australia bowling coach David Saker: "We've got a hell of a game haven't we? It's turned quite quickly but we're still in the ascendancy. Joe's innings was special but if we go bang, bang in the morning, we're well on top.
"Malan was a huge wicket for the team. Pat Cummins really deserves it. He's been the best fast bowler in this game. A really good reward for us, but for him in particular. Tomorrow he'll be a really important player for us.
"Tomorrow will be very nervy from where I'm sitting. It's easier to be a player in those situations. It's set up for a fantastic game of cricket."
• None Get Ashes alerts sent to your phone
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/42236482
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How UK's birds are being affected by a changing climate - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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Migratory birds are arriving in the UK earlier each spring and leaving later each autumn, a study shows.
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Science & Environment
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Migratory birds are arriving in the UK earlier each spring and leaving later each autumn, a report has confirmed.
Some visitors are now appearing more than 20 days earlier than they did in the 1960s, according to the state of the UK's birds 2017 report.
The swallow, for instance, is arriving 15 days earlier than 50 years ago.
Ongoing monitoring is essential to track the future effects of a changing climate on birds, says a coalition of wildlife organisations.
The report is by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) , the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) and the UK's nature conservation bodies. It pulls together data from the latest bird surveys and monitoring studies.
The report warns that there will be winner and losers in a changing world, with opportunities for some bird species but higher extinction risks for others.
Some, such as the night heron, are breeding in the UK for the first time as their range expands north, while others, such as the snow bunting are in decline.
Dr Daniel Hayhow, lead author of the report, said familiar species such as swallows and sand martins are changing their migratory behaviour.
''We need to take that almost as a warning sign,'' he told BBC News.
''The report is aiming to show to people that these changes are happening and there is potential for such changes in timing to cause a mismatch between the time when the chicks need to be fed and the food that's available for them, meaning they may be less successful in their breeding.''
Migratory birds such as the swallow have long been symbols of the changing seasons. But, climate change appears to be having an impact on their delicate seasonal clocks.
The UK's Slavonian grebe population declined by 61% over 25 years
Arriving at the wrong time, even by a few days, may cause birds to miss out on food and nesting places, which in turn affects their chances of survival.
The report found that the distribution, numbers and behaviours of birds are changing:
Birds are being monitored for signs of decline
Dr Stuart Newson of the BTO said thousands of volunteers have submitted observations over many decades to show how birds like the cuckoo, swallow and house martin have responded to a changing climate.
''Ongoing monitoring is essential if we are to track the future effects of a changing climate on our birds,'' he said.
Collette Hall, monitoring officer at WWT, said it is vital to continue to monitor the bird population in the UK.
''We also need to think beyond the UK and make sure that the protected site network continues to cover the right places throughout Europe and that they're monitored elsewhere as thoroughly as they are in the UK,'' she said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42225917
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John Oliver tackles Dustin Hoffman over harassment allegations - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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John Oliver and Dustin Hoffman have a heated discussion about allegations made against the actor.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Dustin Hoffman has said he has "the utmost respect for women"
John Oliver has confronted Dustin Hoffman in a tense public discussion about allegations of sexual harassment that have been made against the actor.
Hoffman defended himself after Anna Graham Hunter alleged he groped her on a film set when she was 17, in 1985.
The actor questioned Ms Graham Hunter's claims, asking Oliver: "Do you believe this stuff that you're reading?"
Hoffman said the HBO talk show host was not keeping an "open mind" and was unquestionably believing the accusers.
"I believe what she wrote, yes," Oliver replied. "Because there's no point in her lying."
The actor countered: "Well, there's a point in her not bringing it up for 40 years."
Oliver was hosting a panel discussion in New York to mark the 20th anniversary of Hoffman's film Wag The Dog.
Oliver said he wasn't sure whether to broach the subject of the allegations but decided he'd end up "hating myself" if he didn't.
The tetchy exchange was reported by The Washington Post, which also posted a video of part of the conversation.
Ms Graham Hunter published her account of her encounters with Hoffman - including diary entries she said she had written at the time in which she accused him of being a "dirty old man" - in The Hollywood Reporter in November.
The veteran star responded at the time by putting out a statement saying: "I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation.
"I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am."
Oliver picked him up on that line at Monday's public question-and-answer session - saying he wasn't satisfied with it because "it is reflective of who you were".
He went on: "If it happened and you've given no evidence to show it didn't happen then there was a period of time for a while when you were a creeper around women.
"So it feels like a cop-out to say, 'It wasn't me.' Do you understand how that feels like a dismissal?"
Hoffman replied: "It's difficult to answer that question. You weren't there."
According to The Washington Post, Hoffman accused Oliver of making an "incredible assumption about me", adding sarcastically: "You've made the case better than anyone else can. I'm guilty."
Ms Graham Hunter worked as an intern on Hoffman's 1985 TV movie Death of A Salesman.
"I still don't know who this woman is," Hoffman said on Monday. "I never met her. If I met her it was in concert with other people."
The paper's video also showed Hoffman explaining that it was normal to talk about subjects like sex within the close-knit confines of the film crew, who he said were like "a family".
He said: "I said a stupid thing but I said it in the midst of the crew, and they said their stupid things. But they were sexual in terms of the humour of it. But that's 40 years ago."
Hoffman described touching his The Graduate co-star Katharine Ross on the bottom as "nothing"
Hoffman also told a story about touching his The Graduate co-star Katharine Ross on the bottom during rehearsals - an act he played down, describing it as "nothing".
She became angry, Hoffman explained but described that as "an overreaction", saying that she later apologised.
The discussion comes as Hollywood grapples with how to clean up its act amid allegations against a string of stars and executives, and was a rare example of one of those men being challenged in public.
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-42241602
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'Shame and anger' at plastic ocean pollution - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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Scientists working on the BBC's Blue Planet II series talk of their dismay at the spread of discarded plastic.
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Science & Environment
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Wandering albatrosses scour the oceans for food to bring back to their chicks
Scientists who advised the Blue Planet II documentary team say they feel "shame and anger" at the “plague of plastic” impacting the natural world.
Even in the remote waters of Antarctica, they have found evidence of plastic killing and harming seabirds.
Wandering albatrosses – which have the longest wingspan of any birds alive today – are thought to be especially vulnerable.
Nesting on the barren islands of South Georgia, they feed their young by scouring thousands of miles of ocean for squid and fish but often bring back plastic instead.
The final episode of what has become the most-watched TV programme of the year explores how the oceans are threatened by human activities including overfishing and pollution.
It will be broadcast on Sunday 10 December.
The final programme in the series will look at some of the threats facing the oceans
In a particularly moving scene, Dr Lucy Quinn, a zoologist, is seen checking albatross chicks on Bird Island where she was the British Antarctic Survey’s winter manager for more than two years.
One chick that Dr Quinn found dead and later dissected was killed because a plastic toothpick that it swallowed had pierced its stomach.
Others had regurgitated plastic items including cling film, food packaging, cutlery and parts of bottles.
Dr Quinn told me: “I feel real shame and anger that it’s humans who have caused this problem.
"It’s really sad because you get to know the birds and how long it takes the parents, away for ten days at a time, to collect food for their chicks and what they bring back is plastic.
"And what’s sad is that the plague of plastic is as far-reaching as these seemingly pristine environments."
Lucy Quinn seen checking albatrosses on Bird Island, part of South Georgia
It's not known how many albatross chicks in Antarctica die from plastic pollution every year – it's thought to be fewer than the losses suffered by Laysan albatrosses on Midway Atoll in the Pacific .
But on Bird Island, predators often eat dead chicks before the researchers can reach them – and the suspicion is that the effect of the plastic goes beyond the direct killing of seabirds.
According to Dr Quinn, the threat is more insidious, weakening birds as they waste energy trying to digest plastic, which has no nutritional value, and potentially poisoning them as chemicals are released when the plastic breaks down in their stomachs.
Research at the other end of the world into a smaller relative of the albatross – the fulmars of the North Sea – shows that while plastics may directly kill seabirds, it is the debilitating effects of the waste that could be more serious.
If a human had ingested the equivalent plastic volume as the average fulmar does (L), it would fill a lunchbox (R)
Studies of fulmars found dead on beaches or caught accidentally by fishermen – which Dr Quinn has also been involved in – show that from 2010-2014, UK fulmars were found to contain on average 39 particles of plastic weighing a total of 0.32 grams.
In an unsettling image, the volume of space taken up by that plastic in a fulmar’s belly is the equivalent in a human stomach of the contents of a typical lunchbox, and usually the plastic is made up of consumer items used just once and then thrown away.
Most shocking is the effect of party balloons, released in a moment of celebration, but then catching the eye of a fulmar searching for food.
Dr Quinn remembers one occasion when she dissected one of the birds.
"I couldn’t believe my eyes, seeing a balloon in the bird’s oesophagus, which would have killed it, along with cling film, toothbrushes and packaging – I feel extremely sad for the birds and impatient to do something," she said.
The plastic may be undermining the fulmars’ health, which could affect their ability to breed - with long-term implications for the population as a whole.
Cayman Trough: Plastic debris has descended to the deepest parts of the world's oceans
The threat from plastic waste is not limited to pieces that are visible – bottles, bags and other items break down into minute fragments, or "micro-plastics", which enter the food chain in every corner of the ocean.
Scientists from the University of Newcastle even identified tiny fibres in the smallest creatures living in the deepest part of the Pacific, the Mariana Trench.
Dr Jon Copley, of the University of Southampton, who joined the Blue Planet submarine filming in Antarctica, says that although he did not spot any plastic in the polar waters, he has been shocked by its presence elsewhere.
"When I've seen plastic in the deep ocean - such as a bin liner we found near deep-sea vents in the Cayman Trough - there's an initial shock and disappointment that our rubbish has got here before us as explorers.
"But then there's the realisation that our everyday lives are more connected to the deep ocean than we perhaps think.
"Every piece of plastic rubbish has a story, so it also makes me wonder about the chain of events that led to that particular item ending up in the deep ocean, and whether any of those events could have been prevented."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42221262
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The 'peace diamond' of Sierra Leone - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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Half of the proceeds from the sale of the 709 carat gem will be invested in the local community.
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The government of Sierra Leone has auctioned a 709 carat rough diamond, named the 'peace diamond', which will benefit its people.
Half of the proceeds from the sale of the diamond will go directly towards bringing clean water, electricity, schools, medical facilities, bridges and roads to the community where the stone was discovered.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42229105
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IOC prepares to decide whether to ban Russia from 2018 Winter Olympics - BBC Sport
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2017-12-05
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The eyes of the sporting world will be on the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday for its decision on whether Russia will be at the 2018 Winter Games.
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The eyes of the sporting world will be on the International Olympic Committee's headquarters in Lausanne later on Tuesday when President Thomas Bach announces whether he and his board have banned Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics.
For an Olympic powerhouse nation, the hosts of the next football World Cup no less, to be cast as an international sporting pariah, would be unprecedented.
But just 66 days before Pyeongchang 2018 starts on 9 February, the signs point to Bach doing precisely that.
The German and his board will have spent the afternoon poring over the findings and recommendations of a 16-month investigation headed up by the former president of Switzerland, Samuel Schmid.
His team have been looking into the allegations of government involvement in the cheating when Russia hosted the last Winter Games in Sochi in 2014, and deciding whether there is enough evidence to conclude that this is indeed what happened, despite repeated denials.
Certainly this is one of the biggest decisions the IOC has ever taken, and the most important moment yet in the doping saga that has cast a shadow over the Olympic movement. We are expecting to find out the outcome at around 18:30 GMT.
• None 'Russia must be banned from Winters'
We have been here before...
On the eve of the 2016 Rio Games, the IOC came under huge pressure to ban the Russian team from the Olympics after an independent report by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren concluded the country had engaged in a state-sponsored doping conspiracy that benefitted 1,000 athletes across 30 sports between 2012 and 2015.
Despite this, the IOC could not bring itself to do so, handing responsibility for sanctions to the various international sporting federations, meaning hundreds of athletes competed, and 56 medals were won.
So why should things be any different this time around?
Despite initial fears that Bach's close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin - and a lack of proof that would satisfy legal requirements - may mean the IOC could try to swerve a ban and resort to a hefty fine as an alternative means of punishing Russia, matters first started to look bleak for the country last month.
That was when the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) decided the country's anti-doping agency Rusada was still non-compliant with its rules.
This was accompanied by a breakthrough in evidence, with Wada obtaining what it said was a Russian laboratory database which it felt corroborated McLaren's conclusions.
Re-tests of Russian athletes' samples, meanwhile, resulted in a host of retrospective bans and stripping of medals, costing the country its position at the top of the Sochi 2014 medal table.
Twenty five Russians have now been banned in the last month.
And then, last week, another IOC commission, led by Swiss lawyer Denis Oswald, which has been looking into re-tests of samples from Sochi and the individual cases of alleged doping, crucially gave its full backing to evidence provided by Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, the key whistleblower in the scandal, describing him as a "truthful witness".
Having published its reasoned decision in the case of the cross-country skier Alexander Legkov, the commission also revealed a diary kept by Rodchenkov - the former head of the Wada-accredited anti-doping laboratories in Moscow and Sochi and a central figure in the conspiracy - was also described as "significant evidence".
The diary detailed alleged meetings Rodchenkov says he had with Russia's Deputy Prime Minister and former Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko to discuss the doping programme.
Mutko has always denied being involved, vehemently rejected the suggestion that the cheating was in any way state-sponsored, and has cast the saga as a Western conspiracy, unfairly singling out Russia.
What are the Russians saying?
Despite a denial on Monday from a Kremlin spokesman, some observers believe that if the IOC follows the example set by athletics' governing body the IAAF and the International Paralympic Committee, both of which only allowed Russian athletes who could prove they were clean to compete as neutrals at the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics, there could be a boycott.
With his country's presidential election looming next year, Putin may not tolerate the idea of an Olympics with no Russian flag or anthem, and order his athletes to stay at home, rather than compete under a white flag.
Bach, already under significant pressure from national anti-doping agencies to come down heavily on Russia, and aware of the need to be seen to act decisively and in the interests of the future of the Olympic movement following recent IOC corruption allegations, could now be ready to take that risk.
Plenty of Russians would be dismayed by such an outcome.
"It would be unfair," former Olympic speed-skating champion and politician Svetlana Zhurova told BBC Sport from her office in the Duma, the Russian parliament.
"I cannot advise the IOC, they know better than me, but I hope they will remember about the young and clean athletes for whom this will be their first Games.
"You feel so proud when you see your flag, it's very important for yourself and your country. It has to be individual responsibility, not collective.
"Our anti-doping programmes and legislation have improved. Things have changed a lot and everyone in Russia understands that doping is evil.
"For any sport, it's very important that all countries are there and if you win you know you are the best in the world. For the IOC it's a very hard decision and I hope they calculate and make the right decision for innocent clean, Russian athletes."
What is the alternative view?
Former Wada president Dick Pound told the BBC: "I think it's a real tipping point, you've got to walk the walk as well as to talk the talk. You can't say we're at zero tolerance for doping in Olympic sport … unless it's Russia.
"I mean your credibility is shot so they've got to say we're a principle organisation, here are the facts, the conduct was unacceptable and a country acting in that manner should not be allowed to participate in the next Games.
"I think we missed an opportunity in Rio... Certainly all the recent indications are there will be strong action… this stuff in Sochi was a direct attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and the IOC president has recently been starting to focus in on that and saying this is a direct attack on the integrity of the world's most important international competition, there will have to be strong measures.
"We'll see whether he follows through."
Last week in Moscow, as Russia tried desperately to focus on the prestige that comes with hosting the World Cup, and football's world governing body Fifa attempted to pretend none of this mattered to the credibility of their flagship event, I managed to ask Mutko directly if he expected Russia to be banned by the IOC, just four days after the draw.
He angrily suggested that the BBC and New York Times would know before him, and then suggested Russia was being unfairly criticised by the Western media, just like it was before the Sochi Games.
He spoke like a man who suspected that Russia may have run out of chances.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-olympics/42224731
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Google pledges 10,000 staff to tackle extremist content - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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YouTube's CEO says some users are exploiting the Google-owned website to "mislead or even harm".
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Technology
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Google will dedicate more than 10,000 staff to rooting out violent extremist content on YouTube in 2018, the video sharing website's chief has said.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Susan Wojcicki said some users were exploiting YouTube to "mislead, manipulate, harass or even harm".
She said the website, owned by Google, had used "computer-learning" technology that could find extremist videos.
More than 150,000 of these videos have been removed since June, she said.
In March, the UK government suspended its adverts from YouTube, following concerns they were appearing next to inappropriate content.
And in a speech at the United Nations general assembly in September, UK Prime Minister Theresa May challenged tech firms to take down terrorist material in two hours.
The prime minister has repeatedly called for an end to the "safe spaces" she says terrorists enjoy online.
Ms Wojcicki said that staff had reviewed nearly two million videos for violent extremist content since June.
This is helping to train the company's machine learning technology to identify similar videos, which is enabling staff to remove nearly five times as many videos as they were previously, she said.
She said the company was taking "aggressive action" on comments, using technology to help staff find and shut down hundreds of accounts and hundreds of thousands of comments.
And its teams "work closely with child safety organisations around the world to report predatory behaviour and accounts to the correct law enforcement agencies".
Meanwhile, police in the UK have warned that sex offenders are increasingly using live online streaming platforms to exploit children.
Earlier this year, Google announced it would give a total of £1m ($1.3m) to fund projects that help counter extremism in the UK.
And, in June, YouTube announced four new steps it was taking to combat extremist content:
Calum Chace, author of Surviving AI and The Economic Singularity, said that machine learning is developing fast.
"People are often unduly cynical about the prospects for AI because they judge it by what is possible today," he said.
"They forget that our machines are on an exponential growth curve: they get twice as powerful every 18 months or so. This means that we are just at the beginning of their story.
"Although YouTube's automated systems are probably among the best in the world since it is a subsidiary of Google, they need human support. For now."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42232482
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McDonald's hijab row: Teenager says apology 'not enough' - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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The 19-year-old Muslim student was told by a security guard that her hijab was a "security threat".
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London
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A woman has criticised McDonald's after she was told to remove her hijab because it posed a "security threat".
The 19-year-old Muslim student, who wants to remain anonymous, was approached by a security guard at a London branch of the fast food chain.
McDonald's says it has suspended the security guard and is investigating the matter. It added that the restaurant was managed and owned by a franchisee.
But the student told BBC Asian Network "it's not enough".
"They basically said that the security guard was employed by a third-party company and so what they're trying to say is, 'We don't condone his conduct but we can't be held responsible because we're not the people who hire them'.
"But if you're going to use a separate company you need to be aware of what kind of policies they have, especially in a city like London."
The student was with her friend Sabrina at the Holloway Road restaurant in north London on 30 November.
In video footage recorded on her mobile phone, a black security guard can be heard saying: "If you just don't mind taking it off," to which the 19-year-old responds: "It's not just a matter of taking it off, I wear it for religious reasons and I'm not ashamed of it.
"I live down the street," she adds. "This is a hate crime."
She told the BBC: "You would expect someone of colour to be more sympathetic to a minority that is persecuted.
"That just reflects how current this issue is - almost anyone could actually believe that I am a security threat."
Sabrina shared the video on Twitter, and had an overwhelming response.
"A white British national... stood up for her," said Sabrina.
"People on social media were praising the man who defended her.
"As a non-hijab wearing Muslim, I recognise my privilege in society.
"Discrimination that I might face isn't necessarily as overt.
But her friend said she would not be deterred from wearing the hijab.
"If you want to dress modestly, you should have the right to dress modestly and it shouldn't be politicised," said the 19-year-old.
"It's my choice. If I want to cover my hair, I should have the right to cover my hair."
McDonald's UK chief executive Paul Pomroy said in a statement: "I am deeply sorry that this happened, and am taking the matter very seriously.
"We welcome people of all faiths and do not have any policy which restricts or prevents anyone wearing a hijab, or any other religious attire, in our restaurants.
"The restaurant involved is managed and owned by Amir Atefi, a franchisee.
"Mr Atefi is proud of his diverse workforce, and was upset and concerned to hear how one of his valued customers has been treated."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42242272
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Posing as a schoolgirl to expose online groomers - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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How going undercover as a 14-year-old revealed the dangers children using streaming apps can face.
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A BBC investigation has found online streaming apps used by children to make live broadcasts are being infiltrated by men trying to groom them.
Internet safety campaigner Qudsiyah Shah posed as a 14-year-old girl to find out what kind of dangers children could be exposed to on such services.
It comes as the National Crime Agency says it arrested more than 190 men across the UK in a single week in connection with sexual offences against children.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42243733
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Thailand speedboat deaths 'could have been prevented' - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The husband of a woman who died when a speedboat capsized hopes "appropriate lessons can be learned".
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Manchester
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Survivors were pulled from the sea after the boat capsized
The deaths of two Britons in a Thai boat crash could "have been prevented", the husband of one has said.
Monica O'Connor, 28, and Jason Parnell, 46, drowned after the speedboat capsized in monsoon conditions near the island of Koh Samui in May 2016.
Delivering a narrative conclusion, coroner Alison Mutch said the captain's decision to ignore weather warnings contributed to their deaths.
After the hearing, Tim O'Connor said his wife's death was "tragic".
The couple, from Sale in Greater Manchester, had been on their honeymoon, while Mr Parnell, from Sileby in Leicestershire, was celebrating his first wedding anniversary.
Thirty-two people were on board when the crash - in which a German and a Chinese national also died - occurred off the coast of Thailand.
The inquest heard small boats were warned not to sail by Thailand's meteorological department.
The hearing was also told the boat's passengers had been given no safety advice, there was no individual allocation of life jackets and a decision was made to sail the boat too close to the shore.
Boat captain Sanan Sridakeow was jailed for a year, and operator Limited Partnership Angthong Discovery Tour was fined 15,000 Thai baht (£342) after admitting recklessness.
Tim and Monica O'Connor were on honeymoon in Koh Samui when the boat capsized
Recording a narrative conclusion, the senior coroner for South Manchester Alison Mutch said they "died as a result of drowning, contributed to by the decision to operate the tour when a known weather warning was in force".
She added that she was "truly sorry that what should have been memorable holidays in the most positive and happy ways ended in the ways they did".
Speaking after the hearing, Mr O'Connor said he hoped that "appropriate lessons can be learned from today's findings to ensure no one else has to suffer the heartache and pain of losing a loved one".
He added that the inquest process had been "incredibly difficult, particularly with the findings outlining just how Monica's death could and perhaps should have been prevented".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-42239448
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Second attempt at Pontiac Silverdome demolition succeeds - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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At first the demolition of the Pontiac Silverdome didn't go as planned.
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The demolition of the Pontiac Silverdome didn't go as planned after a partial implosion failed to bring down the stadium. The second attempt proved more successful.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42241780
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Jeremy Hunt hits out at Facebook kids' app - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The health secretary told the social network to "stay away from my kids" with its app for under-13s.
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UK Politics
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Jeremy Hunt has told Facebook to "stay away from my kids" after it launched a new messaging app aimed at children.
The social network announced on Tuesday it was testing Messenger Kids in the US for those under 13 who cannot sign up for its full service.
The health secretary took to Twitter to condemn the new tool, saying the firm had promised to prevent under-age use of its product.
"Instead they are actively targeting younger children," he wrote.
"Stay away from my kids please Facebook and act responsibly!"
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According to the BBC's North America technology reporter, Dave Lee, the prevention methods to stop under-age children using Facebook are "trivial", meaning more than 20 million under-13-year-olds are thought to be using the network.
Messenger Kids is a simplified version of Facebook's existing messaging app which needs parents to approve any contacts added by their children.
Once confirmed to be safe, friends can do live video chats, send pictures and text each other.
The firm said it offered a more appropriate app, which parents could allow their children to use on tablets and smartphones.
It has not responded directly to Mr Hunt's tweet, but in a blog post, Facebook's Loren Cheng said the company had spoken to thousands of parents and dozens of experts in child development and online safety.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42242389
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Ocean plastic a 'planetary crisis' - UN - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Life in the seas risks irreparable damage from the ever-increasing tide of plastic waste, the UN's head of oceans has warned.
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Science & Environment
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Plastic waste has a variety of detrimental effects on the environment
Life in the seas risks irreparable damage from a rising tide of plastic waste, the UN oceans chief has warned.
Lisa Svensson said governments, firms and individual people must act far more quickly to halt plastic pollution.
"This is a planetary crisis," she said. "In a few short decades since we discovered the convenience of plastics, we are ruining the ecosystem of the ocean."
She was speaking to BBC News ahead of a UN environment summit in Nairobi.
Delegates at the meeting want tougher action against plastic litter.
Ms Svensson had just been saddened by a Kenyan turtle hospital which treats animals that have ingested waste plastic.
She saw a juvenile turtle named Kai, brought in by fishermen a month ago because she was floating on the sea surface.
Plastic waste was immediately suspected, because if turtles have eaten too much plastic it bloats their bellies and they can't control their buoyancy.
Kai was given laxatives for two weeks to clear out her system, and Ms Svensson witnessed an emotional moment as Kai was carried back to the sea to complete her recovery.
"It's a very happy moment," she said. "But sadly we can't be sure that Kai won't be back again if she eats more plastic.
"It's heart-breaking, but it's reality. We just have to do much more to make sure the plastics don't get into the sea in the first place."
Caspar van de Geer runs the turtle hospital for the group Local Ocean Conservation at Watamu in eastern Kenya.
He had demonstrated earlier how uncannily a plastic film pulsating in the water column mimics the actions of the jellyfish some turtles love to eat.
"Turtles aren't stupid," he said. "It's really difficult to tell the difference between plastics and jellyfish, and it may be impossible for a turtle to learn."
On a pin board he's compiled a grid of sealed clear plastic bags like the ones used at airports for cosmetics.
Here they contain the plastic fragments removed from the stomachs of sick turtles. Half of the turtles brought here after eating plastics have died.
A huge table at the hospital is laden with an array of plastic waste collected off local beaches - from fishing nets and nylon ropes to unidentifiable fragments of plastic film.
Many seabirds, such as this albatross, accidentally eat plastic
There's waste from down the coast as far as Tanzania - but also from Madagascar, the Comoros Islands, Thailand, Indonesia and even a bottle from far-away Japan.
There's a score of mysterious white plastic rings which staff speculate are the rims of yoghurt pots, a plastic lighter. There are disintegrating woven plastic fertiliser bags, plastic straws - and much more.
Bite marks show some items like small suncream bottles have clearly been nibbled at by fish, because they look like potential food.
Local people scour the beach daily for plastic waste. They want clean beaches, and they're aware that local hotels want the same.
But along the high water line millions of the fragments of plastics are mixed in with dried sea grass, too small to be collected.
"The scale of the challenge is absolutely enormous," says Ms Svensson. She's backing a resolution by Norway this week for the world to completely eliminate plastic waste into the ocean.
If all nations agree to that long-term goal it'll be considered a UN success.
Certainly, it sounds more ambitious than the current commitment to substantially decrease waste inputs into the sea by 2025.
But some environmentalists argue that the absence of a timetable for preventing waste is a huge failing.
Tisha Brown from Greenpeace told BBC News: "We welcome that they are looking at a stronger statement, but with billions of tonnes of plastic waste entering the oceans we need much more urgent action.
"We need manufacturers to take responsibility for their products - and we need to look at our consumption patterns that are driving all this."
Indonesia - the world's second biggest plastics polluter after China - has pledged to reduce plastic waste into the ocean 75% by 2025, but some observers doubt legal rules are strong enough to make this happen.
Plastic waste is also on the agenda for this month's China Council - an influential high level dialogue in which world experts advise China's leaders on environmental issues.
Kenya itself has banned single-use plastic bags, along with Rwanda, Tanzania and - soon- Sri Lanka. Bangladesh has had controls for many years, especially to stop bags clogging up drains and causing floods.
But bags are just one part of the problem - there are so many other types of plastic flowing through waterways.
"The UN process is slow," Ms Svensson admitted. "It could take 10 years to get a UN treaty agreed on plastic litter and a further two years to get it implemented.
"We have to progress through the UN because this is a truly global problem - but we can't wait that long.
"We need to get much stronger actions from civil society, putting pressure on business to change - they can switch their supply chains very fast. And we need more individual governments to take urgent action too."
She praised the BBC's Blue Planet series and urged other parts of the media to highlight the issue.
Ms Svensson said the ocean was facing multiple assault from over-fishing; pollution from chemicals, sewage and agriculture; development in coastal areas; climate change; ocean acidification; and over-exploitation of coral reefs.
"This is a planetary emergency," she said. "I sense there is a momentum now about the need to act. We just have to be much faster."
As we left Watamu after Kai's joyous release, I turned back for one last glance at the Indian Ocean. A small boy tossed a plastic bottle over his shoulder into the sparkling water.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42225915
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Ventura fire: Thousands evacuated in southern California - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The fast-moving fire is bearing down on the cities of Ventura and Santa Paula.
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US & Canada
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Some 27,000 residents were forced to flee their homes in the middle of the night as a fast-moving wildfire ripped through southern California.
Several thousand homes are under mandatory evacuation in the cities of Ventura and Santa Paula, some 70 miles (115 km) north of Los Angeles.
Firefighters warned the fire was moving so fast they were unable to contain it.
Fanned by high winds, the fire swept through tens of thousands of acres in a matter of hours.
California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in Ventura County, promising to attack the fire "with all we've got".
It was earlier reported that one person died in a traffic accident while trying to flee the blaze, but Ventura County Fire Capt Steve Kaufmann has since told the Associated Press that no body was found in an overturned car.
Officials said one firefighter was injured. They also said 150 structures had been destroyed, and more than 260,000 people were without power.
Hundreds of firefighters worked through the night to tackle the blaze, named the Thomas Fire, but fire chiefs admitted they were fighting a losing battle.
"The prospects for containment are not good. Really, Mother Nature is going to decide," Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen earlier told reporters.
More than 1,000 firefighters are now battling the fires, which have burned 45,500 acres. Authorities have warned of widespread smoke and advised people with health conditions, the elderly and children to stay indoors in affected areas.
Forecasters say ferocious Santa Ana winds and low humidity will continue for a few days, making for extremely dangerous conditions.
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Residents of Santa Paula and Ventura received mandatory evacuation notices via their phones and from emergency workers going house to house.
"My son is a firefighter and I'm not going to wait around for someone to rescue me," June Byrum told CBS, saying her 91-year-old father, husband and dog had already left for a safe place.
Santa Paula has 30,000 residents, while Ventura's population is about 110,000. Both are in Ventura County.
Another fire broke out early on Tuesday local time closer to Los Angeles, in Sylmar. Homes have been damaged and more than 400 firefighters have been deployed there.
The Ventura County fire is believed to have broken out close to Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula at some time after 18:00 local time on Monday (02:00 GMT).
It was quickly fanned by gusts of up to 70mph (115 kph) that burned through dry brush.
California has been hit hard by wildfires in recent months. At least 40 people were killed when fires ripped through parts of northern California's wine region in October. Some 10,000 structures were destroyed.
At least 150 structures are believed to have been destroyed by the blaze
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42235052
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Russian doping: IOC bans Russia from 2018 Winter Olympics - BBC Sport
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2017-12-05
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The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
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Last updated on .From the section Winter Sports
Russia has been banned from competing at next year's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang by the International Olympic Committee.
But Russian athletes who can prove they are clean would be allowed to compete in South Korea under a neutral flag.
It follows an investigation into allegations of state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Games hosted by Russia in Sochi.
"This should draw a line under this damaging episode," the IOC said.
The decision has been widely condemned in Russia, with some politicians urging a boycott of the Games, though other officials have welcomed the chance for 'clean' athletes to take part.
IOC president Thomas Bach and his board - who made the announcement in Lausanne on Tuesday - came to the decision after reading through the findings and recommendations of a 17-month investigation headed up by the former president of Switzerland, Samuel Schmid.
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) has been suspended but the IOC said it will invite Russian clean athletes to compete in February under the name 'Olympic Athlete from Russia' (OAR).
Despite repeated Russian denials, the Schmid report has found evidence of "the systemic manipulation of the anti-doping rules and system" which back up previous allegations of government involvement in cheating in the run-up to and during the Winter Olympics almost four years ago.
Bach said: "This was an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport. This should draw a line under this damaging episode and serve as a catalyst for a more effective anti-doping system."
The Games in South Korea, which start on 9 February, will now be without one of the powerhouses of Olympic sport.
• None Who gets Russia's medals in Pyeongchang?
• None Russian doping - how we got here
This entire investigation was instigated by whistleblowing doctor Grigory Rodchenkov, who was director of Russia's anti-doping laboratory during Sochi 2014.
He alleged the country ran a systematic programme of doping and claimed he had created substances to enhance athletes' performances and switched urine samples to avoid detection.
The World Anti Doping Agency (Wada) enlisted the services of Canadian law professor and sports lawyer Dr Richard McLaren to look into the allegations.
The McLaren report concluded 1,000 athletes across 30 sports benefitted from the doping programme between 2012 and 2015.
Wada obtained what it said was a Russian laboratory database which it felt corroborated McLaren's conclusions, while re-testing of Russian athletes' samples resulted in a host of retrospective bans and stripping of medals.
Last week, another IOC commission, led by Swiss lawyer Denis Oswald, gave its full backing to evidence provided by Dr Rodchenkov.
What else has the IOC ruled?
As well as the Olympic Committee ban, the IOC has also decided to ban Russia's deputy Prime Minister and former Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko from all future Olympic Games. He is currently the lead organiser for the 2018 World Cup, which is being staged in Russia next summer.
In his report to the IOC executive board, Schmid says Mutko, as the then minister for sport, "had the ultimate administrative responsibility for the acts perpetrated at the time".
Responding to the report, Fifa said the IOC ruling had "no impact" on preparations for the World Cup.
Football's world governing body added that it "continues to take every measure at its competitions to ensure football remains free from doping" and every player will be tested next summer and "the analysis of all doping samples will be carried out at Wada laboratories outside Russia".
• None No accreditation for any official from the Russian ministry of sport for the Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018
• None Former Deputy sports minister, Yuri Nagornykh, is excluded from any participation in all future Olympic Games
• None Dmitry Chernyshenko, the former CEO of the organising committee Sochi 2014, is withdrawn from the Co-ordination Commission Beijing 2022
• None ROC President Alexander Zhukov is suspended as an IOC member, given that his membership is linked to his position as ROC president
• None The ROC is fined 15 million dollars (£11.2 million) to reimburse the costs of the investigations and to contribute to the establishment of the Independent Testing Authority (ITA)
• None If Russia "respects and implements" what the IOC has called for, the sanctions may be lifted in time for the closing ceremony.
How can clean Russian athletes get to Pyeongchang?
The IOC will allow athletes from Russia to compete individually or as part of a team in South Korea, providing they wear an OAR uniform. The Olympic Anthem will be played in any ceremony.
A specialist panel appointed by the IOC will decide whether an athlete can compete by following these rules:
• None Athletes must have qualified according to the qualification standards of their respective sport
• None Athletes must not have been disqualified or declared ineligible for any violation of anti-doping rules
• None Athletes must have undergone all the pre-Games targeted tests recommended by the Pre-Games Testing Task Force
• None Athletes must have undergone any other testing requirements specified by the panel to ensure a level playing field
Action taken so far
• None A total of 25 Russians have so far been banned from the Olympics for life on the recommendation of the IOC commission
• None The first part of the McLaren report was when Wada called on the IOC to ban Russia from the Rio Olympics
• None instead asking individual sporting federations to rule on their participation
Wada has not called again for the IOC to ban Russia, but recently declared that the country remains 'non-compliant' with its code.
• None Russia 'not to blame' for Sochi scandal
The IPC will make public its decision on the potential participation of Russian athletes at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in London on 22 December.
President of the ROC, Alexander Zhukov, said there was positive and negative news from the IOC's decision.
He welcomed the invitation for clean athletes to compete in South Korea but does not agree with the ruling that they must compete under a neutral flag.
"If, as proposed, the temporary restrictions are lifted on the last day, then on the last day Russian athletes will compete under their flag with all the athletes from the rest of the world," he told reporters in Lausanne.
He said a final decision on participation is still to be made.
Russian politicians and athletes were united in their condemnation of the IOC decision.
The deputy chairman of Russian parliament's defence committee, Frants Klintsevich, said Russian athletes should not take part in the Olympics in 2018 if they are not allowed to compete under the national flag.
"I don't know what Russia's decision will be in the end, but in my view, a great power can't go 'incognito' to the Olympics," state-owned RIA Novosti news agency reported him saying.
Igor Morozov, another politician said "hybrid war" had been declared on Russia by the IOC decision.
The head of Russia's speed-skating body Alexei Kravtsov said it should be down to the athletes themselves.
"My opinion is that every athlete should decide for themselves whether to take part under a neutral flag or not," R-Sport reported. "But there is an admittance procedure, and that in itself is humiliating."
Russian bobsleigh federation president Alexander Zubkov said on Tuesday he was "shocked" by the decision.
Zubkov was stripped last month of the two gold medals he won at the 2014 Sochi Games and banned from the Olympics for life over alleged doping violations.
Russian state broadcaster VGTRK has said it will not broadcast the winter Olympic games if the Russian team is not participating.
• None Life on the run for Russian whistleblower
John Jackson, who led Great Britain's men's bobsleigh team in Sochi in 2014, and could now be awarded a bronze medal because of Russian doping bans thanked the IOC for the ruling.
"I believe it is the correct decision to allow the clean athletes of Russia to compete under a neutral flag," he said.
British sports minister Tracey Crouch tweeted that she was "pleased" with the announcement.
"We believe that this decision goes a long way towards protecting the interests of clean athletes," said Wada vice-president Linda Hofstad Helleland.
Jim Walden, a lawyer representing whistleblower Rodchenkov, said the decision "sends a powerful message that the IOC will not tolerate state-sponsored cheating by any nation".
"Dr Rodchenkov personally agrees with the IOC's determination that innocent athletes should compete as neutrals," he added.
What could a Winter Olympics look like without Russia?
The Olympics ban for Russia, who had finished top of the Sochi 2014 medal table, could potentially leave opportunities for gold, silver and bronze open to several other nations.
It is not yet clear how many Russian athletes, if any, will seek to compete under a neutral flag.
Other athletes are considering appeals against their doping bans.
Russia were among the favourites for gold in men's ice hockey following the National Hockey League's decision to withdraw its players from Pyeongchang.
At the last six Winter Games, Russian figure skaters won 14 of the 26 gold medals available and occupied 26 of the 75 podium places.
'Some concessions, but still dark day for Russia' - analysis
The punishment is unprecedented in Olympic history. This is a proud sporting superpower that uses such events to promote its image to the world. Not this time.
The hosts of next year's World Cup have just become an international pariah, with the life ban given to deputy prime minister and head of Russia 2018 - Vitaly Mutko - hugely embarrassing for Fifa - an IOC member federation.
Many will say the IOC should have done this 18 months ago before the Rio Olympics, and that both they and WADA should have acted more decisively years ago when reports of Russian cheating first emerged. And could the IOC have been tougher, given the scale of the cheating and the damage done to clean athletes?
The fact that those athletes who meet the criteria and can take part will be called 'Olympic Athletes from Russia' seems a concession to the country. Why not just 'Neutral Athletes'? President Bach also suggested the Russian flag may be flown at the closing ceremony in South Korea.
Yet this is still a dark day for Russian sport and President Vladimir Putin is now understood to be considering whether to boycott Pyeongchang 2018 altogether and forbid any Russian athletes to compete.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/42242007
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Jon Venables: Bulger killer anonymity breach complaint - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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There is a worldwide ban on publishing anything revealing Jon Venables' current identity.
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Liverpool
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Jon Venables was 10 when he and Robert Thompson killed James Bulger
A potential breach of a court order which prevents the identification of one of James Bulger's killers is being investigated, the Attorney General's Office has confirmed.
Jon Venables, now 35, was convicted of killing two-year-old James in Merseyside in 1993, along with Robert Thompson.
The pair were released in 2001.
There is a worldwide ban on publishing anything revealing their current identities.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said: "We have received a complaint that the anonymity order has been breached and we are investigating."
A High Court injunction prohibits the publication of any images or information claiming to identify or locate the pair- even if it is not actually them.
The order also covers material published on the internet.
In 2013 two men who published photographs on Twitter and Facebook said to show the killers of James Bulger received suspended jail sentences for being in contempt of court.
Venables was recalled to prison last month after being suspected of having child abuse images on his computer.
It is the second time he has been sent back to jail for the same suspected offence.
He was first recalled in 2010, following his release in 2001 after serving eight years for the murder of James, aged two, in 1993.
James Bulger was two when he was abducted and killed in 1993
On 12 February 1993, James - just a few weeks before his third birthday - was reported missing by his mother from outside a butcher's shop in the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, Merseyside.
CCTV images revealed he had been lured away by Venables and Thompson, both then aged 10.
His body was found two days later on a railway line.
Thompson and Venables were arrested and charged within days. They were both convicted at Preston Crown Court of James's murder, in November 1993.
In 2001, the pair were released - with new identities - from secure children's homes on life licence, meaning they can be recalled at any time.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-42229448
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Reggie Yates leaves Top of the Pops after 'offensive' Jewish slur - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The presenter says he will not take part in this year's holiday specials after offensive remarks.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Reggie Yates was due to present the Christmas and New Year TOTP specials with Fearne Cotton
Reggie Yates will not host this year's Top of the Pops holiday specials after making "ill-considered remarks" in a podcast interview.
Yates apologised last month for using the phrase "fat Jewish guy" to refer to managers in the music industry.
He has now tweeted to say he has "taken the decision to step down" from hosting the music shows, which were due to air on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve.
The presenter added that he apologised "unreservedly to the Jewish community".
In the Halfcast Podcast, hosted by DJ Chuckie Lothian, he had used the phrase while praising artists who chose to remain independently managed, adding: "They're managed by their brethren."
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In his latest statement on Twitter, he said his words "reinforced offensive stereotypes" and that the comment was "no reflection on how I truly feel".
The host, who also presents The Insider series for BBC Three, was due to present this year's holiday specials of long-running show Top of the Pops with Fearne Cotton.
A BBC spokesperson said: "We take these issues very seriously and Reggie is in no doubt about the BBC's view of his comments."
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-42231416
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Bryan Singer: Director fired from Freddie Mercury film - BBC News
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2017-12-05
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Bryan Singer says the studio fired him after he fell ill while filming Bohemian Rhapsody.
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Entertainment & Arts
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The director of the new Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, has been fired due to "unreliable behaviour".
In a statement, Twentieth Century Fox said Bryan Singer was no longer the director of the film.
A source told the BBC the main reason for the firing was "a pattern of unreliable behaviour on the set".
But Singer said his firing came while he was ill and that the studio was "unwilling to accommodate" him during his illness.
The Hollywood Reporter reported on Monday that Singer had clashed with lead actor Rami Malek and failed to show up for filming on multiple occasions.
The studio had earlier said production had been suspended so Singer could deal with "a personal health matter".
In a statement issued through his lawyer to the BBC, Singer - the director of The Usual Suspects, four X-Men movies and Superman Returns - said he was disappointed not to be able to finish the film, "a passion project of mine".
Rami Malek has so far made no public comments on the latest developments
"With fewer than three weeks to shoot remaining, I asked Fox for some time off so I could return to the US to deal with pressing health matters concerning one of my parents," he said.
"This was a very taxing experience, which ultimately took a serious toll on my own health. Unfortunately, the studio was unwilling to accommodate me and terminated my services. This was not my decision and it was beyond my control."
He added that rumours of clashes with Malek, the star of the Mr Robot TV series, were not true.
"While, at times, we did have creative differences on set, Rami and I successfully put those differences behind us and continued to work on the film together until just prior to Thanksgiving," he said.
Filming has been taking place in the UK, with Ben Hardy, Joe Mazzello and Gwilym Lee starring as Queen's other members.
The movie is still expected to be released in December 2018 as planned.
As well as directing, Singer is listed as a co-producer, alongside Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor, among others.
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-42231387
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Jerusalem as capital is 'declaring war' - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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Palestinian general delegate to UK says Jerusalem as capital is 'declaring war'.
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The Palestinian general delegate to the UK has said that President Trump would be "declaring war" on the Middle East should he acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Manuel Hassassian told the Today programme the move would cast doubt over the peace process and he warned that Muslims and Christians would not be able to accept Israel's "hegemony" over Jerusalem's holy shrines.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-42250100
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Russia election: Putin to run again for president - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Victory in next year's election would mean that Mr Putin could lead the country until 2024.
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Europe
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Vladimir Putin had hinted that he might stand during a youth event earlier in the day
Russia's Vladimir Putin has said he will seek another term as president in next year's election.
He made the announcement in a speech to workers at a car factory in the Volga city of Nizhny Novgorod.
"I will put forward my candidacy for the post of president of the Russian federation," he said.
Mr Putin has been in power since 2000, either as president or prime minister. If he wins the March election he will be eligible to serve until 2024.
Russian TV journalist Ksenia Sobchak has already said she will stand in the election but opinion polls suggest Mr Putin will win easily.
Russia's main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, has been formally barred from standing because he was found guilty of embezzlement - a charge he claims was politically motivated.
Mr Putin is popular with many Russians, who see him as a strong leader who has restored Russia's global standing with a decisive military intervention in the Syrian civil war and Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
But his critics accuse him of facilitating corruption and illegally annexing Crimea, which has led to international condemnation.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Putin was given a puppy by Turkmenistan for his birthday
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42256140
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Disability sport: Prosthetic feet help amputees snowboard - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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Reporter Kat Hawkins tried out prosthetic feet designed for skiing and snowboarding.
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Technology advancements are allowing disabled athletes to compete in more and more sports previously inaccessible to them.
BBC Click reporter Kat Hawkins had her legs amputated 10 years ago. She went to try out some new feet that could help amputees carve up the slopes this winter.
See more at Click's website and @BBCClick.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42161385
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Malta blogger murder: Three charged with Caruana Galizia killing - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia died in an explosion in October.
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Europe
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Three men have been charged with the murder of Maltese investigative journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio, aged 55 and 53, and Vincent Muscat, 55, all pleaded not guilty.
They were also accused of possession of bomb-making material and weapons.
Caruana Galizia died in an explosion shortly after she left her home in Bidnija, near Mosta, on 16 October.
The 53-year-old was known for her blog accusing top politicians of corruption.
On Monday, police arrested 10 Maltese nationals in connection with the murder. Police operations took place in the town of Marsa, and the Bugibba and Zebbug areas.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who is not related to Vincent Muscat, said some of the 10 detainees were already known to the police while others had criminal records.
The Times of Malta reports that the three men who have been charged were among those arrested.
A close friend of Caruana Galizia told Reuters news agency that she did not think the journalist had ever investigated the men.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Andrew Borg Cardona: "My friend has been killed there"
The government had offered a €1m (£890,000; $1.2m) reward for information about Caruana Galizia's murder.
Her three sons refused to endorse the reward, and said they were "not interested in justice without change".
In her Running Commentary blog, Caruana Galizia had relentlessly reported on alleged corruption among politicians across party lines.
With a career spanning more than three decades, she was "one of Malta's most important, visible, fearless journalists", in the words of former Home Affairs Minister Louis Galea.
Her funeral was attended by hundreds of people but the tiny EU state's leaders were barred by her family.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a pillar of Malta's democracy, her friend says
International experts, including from the FBI, were called in to help in the investigation.
The editors of eight of the world's largest news organisations, including the BBC, called for the European Commission - the EU executive - to investigate the murder.
In response, Frans Timmermans, vice-president of the commission, urged the authorities to leave "no stone unturned" in the case.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42246695
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Storm Caroline upgraded to amber warning - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Met Office forecasts winds gusting up to 90mph over parts of northern Scotland on Thursday.
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Highlands & Islands
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The forecast for Thursday includes winds reaching gusts of up 90mph over parts of north and north east Scotland
The Met Office has updated its weather warnings for Storm Caroline on Thursday.
An amber "be prepared" warning, which includes winds gusting up to 90mph in some areas, has been issued for north and north east Scotland.
A yellow "be aware" warning has also now been put in place for central and parts of southern Scotland.
Snow and ice has been forecast for large parts of the UK in the wake of Caroline on Friday and Saturday.
Yellow warnings are in place for the weekend.
Orkney and Shetland, which are included in the amber warning for Thursday, are expected to continue to experience high winds on Friday and Saturday.
The Met Office has warned of the potential for damage to property and travel disruption on Thursday. Energy firm SSE has also said there was the potential of power cuts.
The Met Office has amber and yellow warnings in place for Thursday
Highland Council said Thursday's conditions could affect its Corran Ferry services in Lochaber.
In its amber warning, the Met Office said gusts of 70mph to 80mph were expected widely with gusts to 90mph possible in exposed areas.
It added: "Flying debris is likely and could lead to injuries or danger to life.
"Some damage to buildings is possible, such as tiles blowing off roofs.
"Longer journey times and cancellations are likely, as road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected."
The Met Office has also warned of large waves along the coast.
Dozens of workers have been taken off a North Sea platform amid fears of huge waves due to the approaching Storm Caroline.
CNR International said it was taking the precaution on Ninian Southern, 75 miles (120km) east of Shetland.
The firm has been carrying out checks on the platform's "jacket", the steel support frame of the structure.
A total of 159 people were working the Ninian South platform. CNR said 90 personnel remained on board.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-42250511
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Gang members trafficked 'vulnerable' teen to deal drugs - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Met Police says it is the first conviction of a so-called "county lines" crime.
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London
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Mahad Yusuf and Fesar Mahamud, of north London, have been convicted of trafficking a vulnerable teenager
Two north London gang members have been convicted of exploiting a vulnerable teenager in the first so-called "county lines" case of its kind.
Mahad Yusuf, 20, and Fesar Mahamud, 19 pleaded guilty to human trafficking offences on 5 December.
The 19-year-old victim was told she "belonged" to Yusuf as she was lured into a car and driven to Swansea.
Known as "county lines", gangs use other people to traffic drugs for them remotely via dedicated mobile phones.
Police say the teenager was held at an address in Swansea for five days and forced to store Class A drugs against her will.
Specialist officers found the woman when they executed a search warrant on 25 May.
Det Insp Rick Stewart said: "The victim in this case suffered a horrendous ordeal at the hands of these two men, who trafficked her for their own criminal gain.
"Unfortunately this case is by no means unique. Drug dealers are exploiting vulnerable people across the country via county lines."
Yusuf, of Cuckoo Hall Lane, Edmonton, and Mahamud, of Zambezie Drive, Edmonton also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin.
The pair will be sentenced at Swansea Crown Court on 4 January.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42253778
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Tory MP Heidi Allen in tears during universal credit debate - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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Conservative MP Heidi Allen was in tears after Labour's Frank Field's speech.
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Conservative MP Heidi Allen was left in tears after Labour's Frank Field described the "destitution" faced by his constituents during a Commons debate about universal credit.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42243073
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Brexit: PM urged not to let Eurosceptics 'dictate' talks - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Theresa May is urged not to allow Eurosceptic MPs in her party to "dictate the terms" of the talks.
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UK Politics
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Downing Street has insisted it is still confident of a first-phase Brexit deal before next week's summit
Theresa May has been urged not to allow Eurosceptic MPs in her party to "impose their own conditions" on negotiations amid signs of fresh Tory infighting.
Nineteen Tory MPs who back a "soft Brexit" have written to her saying it is "highly irresponsible" for anyone to dictate terms which may scupper a deal.
It follows some Tories backing the DUP's decision to oppose a draft deal on the future of the Irish border.
The PM has spoken to the DUP's Arlene Foster to try to break the deadlock.
The DUP says there is "more work to be done" if it is to agree to plans for the future of the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic after Brexit - a prerequisite for talks to move on to their next phase.
Irish PM Leo Varadkar, who also spoke to Mrs May on Wednesday, said he was willing to consider any new proposals, suggesting the UK might put something forward within the next 24 hours.
And the BBC understands the ambassadors of the 27 EU member states, who received an update from chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier on Wednesday, are "waiting for something from London" in the next 48 hours.
The BBC's Adam Fleming said Mr Barnier and the member states agreed there must be clarity within 48 hours for them to have enough time to consult with their capitals about draft guidelines for phase two of the talks.
At a summit next week, European leaders will decide whether enough progress has been made in the negotiations on Ireland, the UK's "divorce bill" and citizens' rights so far to open trade talks.
In their letter, the 19 MPs - who largely backed Remain in the 2016 referendum - say they support the PM's handling of the negotiations, in particular the "political and practical difficulties" relating to the Irish border.
But they hit out at what they say are attempts by some in their party to paint a no-deal scenario in which the UK failed to agree a trade agreement as "some status quo which the UK simply opts to adopt".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Citizens' rights, the Irish border and money are the three big negotiation points
"We wish to make it clear that we are disappointed yet again that some MPs and others seek to impose their own conditions on these negotiations," the MPs, including former cabinet ministers Stephen Crabb, Dominic Grieve, Anna Soubry and Nicky Morgan - write.
"In particular, it is highly irresponsible to seek to dictate terms which could lead to the UK walking away from these negotiations."
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It urges the PM to "take whatever time is necessary" to get the next stage of negotiations right.
On Tuesday, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith argued the time was fast approaching for the UK to consider walking away from the talks if the EU did not allow negotiators to proceed to the next phase - in which future trade and security relations will take centre stage.
The suggestion of "regulatory alignment" between Northern Ireland and the European Union and any continuing role for the European Court of Justice has also concerned some Eurosceptic Conservative MPs.
On Monday Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party - whose support the PM needs to win key votes at Westminster - objected to draft plans drawn up by the UK and the EU.
The DUP said the proposals, which aimed to avoid a "hard border" by aligning regulations on both sides of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, were not acceptable.
This has left the UK government racing to find an agreement suiting all sides in time for next week's summit.
The Irish PM said he was willing to consider any new proposals from the UK
The DUP's deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the Irish government, which has said it wants firm guarantees that a hard border can be avoided, was playing a "dangerous game" with its own economy.
At a press conference with his Dutch counterpart on Wednesday, Irish PM Leo Varadkar insisted he wanted the talks to move beyond consideration of divorce issues to the future.
"Having consulted with people in London, she (Theresa May) wants to come back to us with some text tonight or tomorrow," he said. "I expressed my willingness to consider that."
In a separate development, Chancellor Philip Hammond has suggested the UK could pay the so-called Brexit bill, regardless of whether or not there is a subsequent trade agreement with the EU.
He told MPs on the Treasury Committee he found it "inconceivable" that the UK would "walk away" from its financial obligations as "frankly it would not make us a credible partner for future international agreements".
On the issue of the divorce bill, a No 10 spokesman said the government's position remained that "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and that applies to the financial settlement".
Reports have suggested the UK has raised its financial offer to a figure of up to 50bn euros (£44bn).
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42260252
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BBC to help students identify 'fake news' - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Kamal Ahmed and Tina Daheley are among BBC journalists who will take part in events targeted at pupils.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Kamal Ahmed and Tina Daheley will help mentor students
The BBC is launching a new scheme to help young people identify real news and filter out fake or false information.
The project is targeted at secondary schools and sixth forms across the UK.
From March, up to 1,000 schools will be offered mentoring in class and online to help them spot so-called fake news.
BBC journalists including Kamal Ahmed, Tina Daheley, Amol Rajan and Huw Edwards will also take part in events aimed at helping students.
James Harding, the director of BBC News, said: "This is an attempt to go into schools to speak to young people and give them the equipment they need to distinguish between what's true and what's false."
The move follows a year-long study, conducted by the University of Salford in conjunction with BBC Newsround, looking at how well children aged between nine and 14 can spot false information.
Although most of the children from across all age groups said they knew what fake news was, many of them could not always distinguish between fake and real stories when presented with them.
BBC Director of News James Harding: "Some information is downright lies."
The term "fake news" was popularised by Donald Trump during his presidential election campaign last year.
He used the term to denigrate the output of the traditional news media, although it is also used to describe news stories that achieve significant traction despite being palpably false.
Recent examples include a satirical story claiming that the Pope had endorsed Trump for president, which was widely circulated as an established fact.
The issue surfaced again this month when the President retweeted three inflammatory videos from a British far-right group whose authenticity was subsequently challenged.
In November, The Independent - now an online newspaper - streamed a video "live from space" that turned out to be footage recorded in 2015.
In July, meanwhile, a Facebook Live video purporting to show a storm was outed by social media users as a gif.
"I think that people are getting the news all over the place - there's more information than ever before," said Harding.
"But, as we know, some of it is old news, some of it is half truths. Some of it is just downright lies. And it's harder than ever when you look at those information feeds to discern what's true and what's not.
"But there are 'tells', there are ways that you can look at your news feed and identify a story that's true and a story that's not.
"And we think that's a skill that enables people to make good choices about the information they get and good choices in their lives."
Last month a survey by media watchdog Ofcom found almost three quarters of children aged between 12 and 15 were aware of so-called "fake news" and that half of them has read a story they suspected of being false.
The BBC has set up a mailing list for those interested in finding out more about the project.
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-42242630
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Jerusalem's Temple Mount/ Haram al-Sharif explained - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell explains the significance of Jerusalem's flashpoint holy site
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The Temple Mount or Haram al-Sharif is the most contentious religious site in Jerusalem.
It is revered by Jews at the location of two biblical temples and is the holiest site in Judaism.
The compound also houses the Dome of the Rock, pictured here, and the al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34537296
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Stepfather pleads guilty over boy's water park drowning - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Charlie Dunn's stepfather Paul Smith had denied any wrongdoing when the five year old drowned in a pool.
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Leicester
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Charlie Dunn's stepfather Paul Smith had denied any wrong-doing in relation to his death
The stepfather of a five-year-old boy who drowned in a pool at a water park has pleaded guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence.
Charlie Dunn, who could not swim, was pulled from the water at Bosworth Water Park in Leicestershire on 23 July 2016.
Paul Smith, 36, had denied letting the boy wander off alone for more than two hours but changed his plea during the trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
Charlie's mother, Lynsey Dunn, 28, has had the same charge dropped.
Paul Smith and Lynsey Dunn will be sentenced later this month
She did admit a charge of neglect in connection with Charlie after an incident between July 2014 and July 2016, in which she failed to supervise him near a busy road.
Dunn also pleaded guilty to a second charge of neglect in relation to another youngster, who cannot be named, after an incident in the summer of 2015.
It can also now be reported that prior to the trial Smith admitted witness intimidation in connection with another incident relating to Charlie.
Both defendants, of Glascote Heath, Tamworth, Staffordshire, will be sentenced on 20 December.
Charlie was found in the Blue Lagoon children's pool at the park
Charlie was found submerged in a 1.4m-deep lagoon at the busy attraction, in Market Bosworth, and pulled from the water by other children.
A paramedic carried out CPR, before he was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The court had previously heard he had been allowed to play unsupervised in the park.
Opening the Crown's case on 30 November, prosecutor Mary Prior QC said: "This case is not about parents turning their back for a minute whilst a tragedy occurs.
"We don't prosecute parents for unavoidable tragedies nor do we expect perfection in parenting.
"This is a gross failure to supervise not for seconds, and not for a few minutes, but for protracted periods of time in circumstances where the child was exposed to danger."
The trial was told Smith was overheard shouting he did not know where Charlie was on the day he died
Acting Det Insp Nikki McLatchie, of Leicestershire Police, who worked on the case, said there were about a thousand people at the park on the day Charlie drowned.
"Witness testimony showed that Charlie was left alone on numerous occasions, despite him not being able to swim," she said.
"Smith was looking after Charlie at the park, and his failure as a parent came with the most tragic consequences and ultimately led to his death."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-42236617
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Trump moves to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Latest updates and reaction as President Trump speaks about the status of Jerusalem.
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Middle East
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That brings to an end our live coverage of the announcement by President Donald Trump that the US now recognises Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
To read our main news story and to watch Trump's briefing click here.
For more on the reaction to Trump's statement from around the world:
And for comprehensive reports and analysis from the BBC, please visit our Israel & the Palestinians coverage.
Many thanks for reading.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-42255592
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Why Jerusalem matters - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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The city's importance explained, as the controversial US embassy move to the city goes ahead.
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The controversial US embassy move to Jerusalem is going ahead amid celebration and protest. The BBC's Yolande Knell explains why the city is so important.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-42247428
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Person of the Year: Time honours abuse 'silence breakers' - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Women and men who broke silence on sexual harassment and abuse are named Time's Person of the Year.
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US & Canada
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Clockwise from top: Actor Ashley Judd, pop singer Taylor Swift, former Uber engineer Susan Fowler, corporate lobbyist Adama Iwu and Isabel Pascual, a strawberry-picker from Mexico (not her real name)
Time magazine has named "the Silence Breakers" - women and men who spoke out against sexual abuse and harassment - as its "Person of the Year".
The movement is most closely associated with the #MeToo hashtag which sprung up as allegations emerged against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
But Time says the hashtag is "part of the picture, but not all of it".
"This is the fastest-moving social change we've seen in decades," editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal said.
He told NBC's Today programme that it "began with individual acts of courage by hundreds of women - and some men, too - who came forward to tell their own stories".
Two celebrities are featured - Ashley Judd, one of the first to speak out against Mr Weinstein, and pop singer Taylor Swift, who won a civil case against an ex-DJ who she said had grabbed her bottom.
They are shown alongside Isabel Pascual, a 42-year-old strawberry picker from Mexico (not her real name); Adama Iwu, a 40-year-old corporate lobbyist in Sacramento; and Susan Fowler, 26, a former Uber engineer whose allegation brought down Uber's CEO.
But many more people are identified as part of the movement behind the cover shot.
This "moment", the magazine says, "doesn't have a leader, or a single, unifying tenet. The hashtag #MeToo (swiftly adapted into #BalanceTonPorc, #YoTambien, #Ana_kaman and many others), which to date has provided an umbrella of solidarity for millions of people to come forward with their stories, is part of the picture, but not all of it...
"The women and men who have broken their silence span all races, all income classes, all occupations and virtually all corners of the globe."
But, it says, collectively they have helped turn shame into outrage and fear into fury, put thousands of people on to the streets demanding change, and seen a slew of powerful men held accountable for their behaviour.
Those featured include Tarana Burke, the activist who created the #MeToo hashtag more than a decade ago, the actor Alyssa Milano who helped it explode on social media last October, actor Terry Crews, a group of hotel workers who have filed a lawsuit against their employer, State Senator Sara Gelser, an anonymous hospital worker who fears losing her job if she speaks openly, and Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News journalist whom Donald Trump accused of having "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever" after she moderated a debate during the presidential campaign.
Ironically, President Trump - whose election Ms Kelly said was a "setback for women" that helps explain the #MeToo movement - was named as runner-up for Person of the Year this year, having been given the title last year.
In 2006, the Person of the Year was simply "You", reflecting the importance of user-generated internet content.
The magazine's tradition - begun in 1927 as "Man of the Year" - recognises the person who "for better or for worse... has done the most to influence the events of the year".
The great majority of people selected have been individuals - but by no means all. In 2014, "Ebola fighters" were recognised while in 2011 "The Protester" acknowledged the significance of the so-called Arab Spring.
It was in 1950, the magazine explains, that the "mould was broken" and "The American fighting-man" was chosen, to be followed by Hungarians in 1956 and later on Scientists, Americans under 25 and Mr and Mrs Middle America.
In 2006, the Person of the Year was simply "You", with a mirror cover design, reflecting the importance of user-generated internet content.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42254219
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Man accused of sharing Prince George photo 'in terror guide' - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Husnain Rashid, 31, is accused of creating Telegram "channels" to assist terrorists by providing tips.
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Lancashire
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A man has appeared in court charged with terrorism offences including sharing the address of Prince George's school with potential attackers.
Husnain Rashid, 31, is accused of creating Telegram "channels" to assist terrorists by providing guides, tips, and suggested targets for attacks.
It is alleged Mr Rashid from Nelson, Lancashire, shared a picture of Prince George and details of his school.
He was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 20 December.
Husnain Rashid is accused of sharing Prince George's photograph in tips for would-be attackers
Mr Rashid is also alleged to have used the encrypted messaging application Telegram to send "channels" - or groups - a list of UK stadiums.
He is also accused of planning to travel to areas of Syria controlled by Islamic State to join the fighting.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court and spoke only to confirm his details.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-42249339
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Labour's Lord Bassam to quit as chief whip over expenses - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Lord Bassam is to stand down in New Year amid scrutiny of his travel claims.
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UK Politics
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Labour's chief whip in the House of Lords is to stand down in the New Year following criticism of his expenses.
Lord Bassam has referred himself to the standards watchdog and agreed to repay the cost of travel to and from his Brighton home since 2010.
The peer, who also had a £36,366 allowance for staying overnight in London, says he has not been told he has broken any rules.
But he said it would have been "more appropriate" not to claim the money.
Labour said Lord Bassam, who is a member of Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet, would make way once a successor had been elected in January or February.
A spokesman said the peer had already referred himself to the Lords standards commissioner to determine whether he had broken the peers' code of conduct.
After the Mail On Sunday reported Lord Bassam claimed the £6,400 annual cost of travelling to and from his home in Brighton, the former leader of Brighton Council said he would not submit such claims again.
According to the paper, Lord Bassam is one of a small number of front bench peers also entitled to the Lords office holders allowance. This is because of his role as chief whip and because his main home is not in London.
The payment is included in his salary and designed to cover "expenses in staying overnight away from their main or only residence".
In a statement, Lord Bassam said: "With my home outside of London, I have been in receipt of the relevant office holders allowance for the opposition chief whip in the Lords.
"At the same time, in accordance with rules laid down by the House, I have claimed costs for my regular travel to and from Parliament.
"While I have not been advised that any breach of the rules has taken place, waiving the right to such travel claims would perhaps have been a more appropriate response on my part.
"I will not be submitting any further claims in this way, and instead use the office holders allowance to cover those additional costs. I will also discuss with House officials the steps necessary to repay previous travel claims."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42260258
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Ex-priest Laurence Soper guilty of sexually abusing boys - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The attacks took place on boys at St Benedict's School in Ealing in the 1970s and 80s.
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London
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Laurence Soper was found guilty of 19 counts of sexual assault against boys at St Benedict's School in Ealing, where he taught
An ex-Roman Catholic priest has been found guilty of abusing boys at a London school during the 1970s and 80s.
Laurence Soper, 74, was extradited to face 19 charges of indecent and serious sexual assault against 10 former pupils at the independent St Benedict's School in Ealing, where he taught.
Soper fled to Kosovo with £182,000 from the Vatican bank in a bid to avoid prosecution for molesting boys.
An Old Bailey jury took 14 hours to find him guilty of all charges.
Prosecutor Gillian Etherton QC told how the victims were subjected to sadistic beatings by Soper for "fake reasons" and on many occasions "with what can only have been a sexual motive".
They included kicking a football "in the wrong direction", "failing to use double margins", and "using the (wrong) staircase", leading to a caning and a sexual assault, she said.
Laurence Soper was a senior priest at St Benedict's School in Ealing, west London
Ms Etherton said at least one of Soper's alleged victims suffered serious mental health problems, while another was too afraid to speak out because the abusers "were like saints to me".
The court heard Soper quit as an abbot in 2000 and moved to Rome. He then skipped bail and spent six years living in Kosovo, with a European Arrest Warrant issued for his extradition.
Soper denied using the cane as a ruse to abuse boys who were given the choice of six lashes with trousers on, or three with them off.
He told jurors he went on the run out of "stupidity and cowardice", fearing that his life's work would be wrecked.
Soper is the latest in a string of men to face allegations relating to their work at St Benedict's.
In 2010, Abbot Shipperlee announced an independent review of safeguarding arrangements, policies and procedures.
The following year, Lord Carlile produced a damning report calling for tougher rules to protect all faith pupils and stripped monks of control at the school.
In a statement issued by Lord Carlile QC, the school apologised for the "serious wrongs of the past".
He said: "The school regrets that Soper did not have the courage to plead guilty. The result has been that innocent victims, whom he abused when they were boys in the school, were compelled to give evidence.
"The tough lessons of the past have been learned, and the errors and crimes of the past are in the daily consciousness and conscience of the school management."
Soper was remanded in custody to be sentenced on 19 December.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42257548
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Google Amazon row leads to restricted YouTube access - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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Google plans to stop Amazon's Fire TV devices being able to use YouTube from the start of 2018.
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Technology
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Amazon's Fire TV devices are advertised as providing access to YouTube
Google plans to stop Amazon's Fire TV streaming devices being able to use YouTube from the start of 2018.
The search giant has also blocked a workaround that Amazon introduced to restore YouTube access to a screen-based version of its smart speaker.
Experts say the steps mark an escalation of a business row in which consumers have been caught up in the fallout.
Amazon had previously stopped selling several of Google's hardware products.
It removed the latest Nest-branded smart home kit - including a home security system and a new version of its thermostat - from its online stores last month.
And since 2015, Amazon has refused to sell Google's Chromecast video and audio-streaming dongles.
The latest development coincides with the release of Amazon's Prime Video app for the Apple TV.
Its absence had previously put Apple's set-top box at a disadvantage to Amazon's Fire TV line-up.
Fire TV owners have reported that trying to watch YouTube clips now prompts an alert warning them that they will lose the functionality on 1 January.
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"We've been trying to reach agreement with Amazon to give consumers access to each other's products and services," Google said in a statement.
"But Amazon doesn't carry Google products like Chromecast and Google Home, doesn't make Prime Video available for Google Cast users, and last month stopped selling some of Nest's latest products.
"Given this lack of reciprocity, we are no longer supporting YouTube on Echo Show and FireTV. We hope we can reach an agreement to resolve these issues soon."
Google had stopped Amazon's Echo Show speakers being able to play YouTube videos in September, on the basis that the retailer had altered the way the software worked.
The version Amazon presented had lacked next video recommendations, subscriptions and other features - but these were restored in November, when Amazon made the device present a more normal view of YouTube.
One of the Echo Show's most popular features was its ability to search for YouTube clips by voice
But, according to Techcrunch, the search firm believes its rights have still been violated because Amazon continues to overlay its own voice controls.
Amazon has responded, saying: "Echo Show and Fire TV now display a standard web view of YouTube.com and point customers directly to YouTube's existing website. Google is setting a disappointing precedent by selectively blocking customer access to an open website. We hope to resolve this with Google as soon as possible."
The dispute disadvantages consumers in two ways. Users will be unable to access a service that Amazon's devices had promised to deliver. And Amazon's refusal to even allow third-parties to sell certain Google products via its site makes it harder to find them at their lowest price.
"It's a surprising turn of events in both respects," commented Ben Wood from the CCS Insight tech consultancy.
"YouTube is all about maximising the number of people who see its content, and Amazon wants to be the so-called 'everything store'.
"It's all very unfortunate for consumers, who will have little understanding of the commercial tensions between the two companies.
"I wonder whether the next step might be the intervention of a regulator to investigate whether they are behaving anti-competitively."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42251531
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Profumo affair model Christine Keeler dies aged 75 - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The model, who made headlines after her affair with a cabinet minister in the 1960s, dies aged 75.
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UK Politics
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Christine Keeler worked as a model in the 1960s
Christine Keeler, the model embroiled in the 1963 Profumo affair, has died aged 75, her son has said.
Seymour Platt said Ms Keeler had been ill for several months with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
He told the BBC: "She was always a fighter, but sadly lost the final fight against a terrible lung disease."
She became famous for her part in the scandal, which shook Harold Macmillan's government, but her son said that fame came "at a huge personal price".
At the height of the Cold War, the-then teenager claimed she had an affair with Conservative cabinet minister John Profumo.
She also claimed to be in a relationship with a Russian diplomat - Eugene Ivanov, an assistant naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy - at the same time.
Mr Profumo was forced to resign after lying about the affair to Parliament and the scandal is considered to have contributed to the fall of the Macmillan government.
Ms Keeler's family said she died on Monday at 23:30 GMT at the Princess Royal University Hospital in Orpington, south-east London.
Paying tribute to his mother, Mr Platt told the BBC: "She earned her place in British history but at a huge personal price."
"And regardless, we are all very proud of who she was to the end," he added.
Douglas Thompson, the journalist and author who worked with Ms Keeler on her memoir The Truth At Last, paid tribute to a "funny and bright" woman, whom he described as "one of the most honest people I have ever met".
"She believed absolutely everything she ever said about the Profumo affair," he said.
"She said what she thought," he continued. "I think that honesty is very surprising."
He described Ms Keeler as a "victim of the time", adding that she would probably have had her own TV show had the scandal happened today.
"The interesting thing about her is she tried to escape it," he said. "I don't think she ever got away from it - that was a tragedy."
"She could never stop being Christine Keeler," he added.
In 1963, Mr Profumo told the House of Commons he and Ms Keeler were "on friendly terms" and there was "no impropriety" in their relationship, after opposition MPs voiced concerns about national security implications.
Eventually he admitted lying to the house and resigned as Secretary of State for War and from the Commons.
Ms Keeler was briefly married twice, with both ending in divorce. She had two sons.
The Profumo affair will be the subject of a BBC One drama which begins filming next year.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42245839
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Peers debate education's role in society - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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The Archbishop of Canterbury leads a debate in the House of Lords on boosting education, with contributions from peers such as Lord Sacks and Lord Adonis.
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Parliaments
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The Archbishop of Canterbury rises at the end of the debate to thank members for taking part - "so thoughtfully and so widely".
"We need adaptability and imagination," he says, because needs vary, urging a reimagining of the education system.
And that's it for today in the Lords.
Join us again on Monday afternoon for education questions at 2.30pm in the Commons - and the second reading of the Finance Bill, which enacts measures announced by the chancellor in the Budget.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-parliaments-42226690
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Dorothea Bate: Carmarthen scientist gets blue plaque - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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Dorothea Bate is believed to be the first woman scientist employed by the Natural History Museum.
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South West Wales
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Dorothea Bate was born at Napier House in Carmarthen
The woman believed to be the first to be employed as a scientist at London's Natural History Museum has had a blue plaque dedicated in her home town.
Dorothea Bate, born in 1878, had little formal education but a fascination with wildlife and nature prompted her to leave Carmarthenshire aged 19 and ask for a job at the museum.
She spent more than 50 years there and led expeditions around the world.
The plaque was unveiled at Napier House in Carmarthen where she was born.
Ms Bates became an expert in archaeozoology, the study of animal remains, and her largest discoveries included fossilised elephants and the bones of a giant tortoise in Bethlehem.
The plaque will be dedicated by paleobiologist Tori Herridge at a ceremony organised by Carmarthen Civic Society at 18:00 GMT on Wednesday.
Dr Herridge said: "She's pretty special - can you imagine in 1898 marching up to the museum and asking to see the curator of birds?
"I hope anybody who walks past Napier House and looks at that blue plaque, it makes them think 'that's interesting, who is she?'
"Little signs might open people's minds up to a world they weren't previously aware of."
Dorothea Bate (centre) with Sir Temi Zammit and Dr Joseph Baldacchino at the National Museum in Valletta, Malta, in April 1934
Ms Bate's first job at the museum was classifying bird skins, but the focus of what became her life's work was exploring how and why different species adapt and change.
She studied fossils and was fascinated by archaeology which led her to specialise in archaeozoology.
Dr Herridge said her work at the museum came from a passion for the natural world that her upbringing afforded "the money and freedom to explore".
"She was very self-confident, very clever and very determined and totally and deeply interested in the subject she wanted to study."
Ms Bate's expeditions took her as far afield as Cyprus, Malta, Crete, China and Palestine, from where her finds were taken back to the museum in Kensington.
Contrary to what people might expect, Dr Herridge said when Ms Bate was in Crete in 1904, she was one of three female scientists involved in excavations.
During World War Two, Ms Bate worked in the zoological branch of the museum in Tring, Hertfordshire, and became its officer in charge.
She was elected fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1940 and continued working until her death in 1951.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-42242084
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Turner Prize 2017 winner announced - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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Lubaina Himid says her victory will make a difference to people who have supported her over the years.
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The Turner Prize's oldest winner, Lubaina Himid, says her victory will make a difference to people who have supported her over the years.
The 63-year-old won the £25,000 award for work addressing racial politics and the legacy of slavery.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42246852
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Google's 'superhuman' DeepMind AI claims chess crown - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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An algorithm developed by the DeepMind team claims victory against a world-beating AI chess program.
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Technology
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Google says its AlphaGo Zero artificial intelligence program has triumphed at chess against world-leading specialist software within hours of teaching itself the game from scratch.
The firm's DeepMind division says that it played 100 games against Stockfish 8, and won or drew all of them.
The research has yet to be peer reviewed.
But experts already suggest the achievement will strengthen the firm's position in a competitive sector.
"From a scientific point of view, it's the latest in a series of dazzling results that DeepMind has produced," the University of Oxford's Prof Michael Wooldridge told the BBC.
"The general trajectory in DeepMind seems to be to solve a problem and then demonstrate it can really ramp up performance, and that's very impressive."
DeepMind has previously won a series of Go games against some of the world's top human players
DeepMind has previously defeated several of the world's top human players of the Chinese board game Go, as well as teaching itself how to play video games including Pong and Space Invaders.
The London-based team is currently trying to develop a system that can beat humans at the space strategy game Starcraft, which is seen as being an even more complex challenge.
Google is not commenting on the research until it is published in a journal.
However, details published on Cornell University's Arxiv site state that an algorithm dubbed AlphaZero was able to outperform Stockfish just four hours after being given the rules of chess and being told to learn by playing simulations against itself.
In the 100 games that followed, each program was given one minute's worth of thinking time per move.
AlphaZero won 25 games in which it played with white pieces, giving it the first move, and a further three in which it played with black pieces.
The two programs drew the remaining 72 games.
DeepMind described the level of performance achieved as being "superhuman".
Google highlighted that Stockfish 8 had previously won 2016's Top Chess Engine Championship. The software was first released in 2008 and has been built on by volunteers in the years since.
The open source project has been beaten by another program, Komodo, in two major computer chess challenges this year.
Even so, one human chess grandmaster was still hugely impressed by DeepMind's victory.
"I always wondered how it would be if a superior species landed on earth and showed us how they played chess," Peter Heine Nielsen told the BBC.
AlphaGo Zero's latest achievements do not rest on chess alone.
The paper says it was also triumphant in the Japanese board game Shogi versus a leading artificial intelligence program named Elmo, after two hours of self-training.
The AlphaZero algorithm won 90 games, drew two and lost eight.
Furthermore, after eight hours of self-training it was also able to beat the previous version of itself at Go - winning 60 games and losing 40.
Shogi is sometimes known as Japanese chess
Prof Wooldridge noted that all three games were fairly "closed" in the sense they had limited sets of rules to contend with.
"In the real world we don't know what is round the corner," he explained.
"Coping when you don't know what is coming is much more complicated, and things will get even more exciting when DeepMind moves on to more open problems."
The University of Bath's AI expert Prof Joanna Bryson added that people should be cautious about buying too deeply into the firm's hype.
But she added that its knack for good publicity had put it in a strong position against challengers.
"It's not only about hiring the best programmers," she said.
"It's also very political, as it helps makes Google as strong as possible when negotiating with governments and regulators looking at the AI sector."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42251535
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Nissan to trial robo-taxis in Japan - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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Self-drive taxis will be tested in Japan next spring and could be on the roads by early 2020s.
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Technology
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Nissan's Easy Ride could launch in Japan in early 2020s
Carmaker Nissan plans to test self-driving taxis on Japanese roads from March next year.
The company is partnering with Japanese software company DeNA, which operates online services for the gaming, healthcare and automotive industries.
It will adapt a Nissan Leaf electric car, which passengers will summon using an app.
The free trials will be held over a two-week period in March in Yokohama.
The Easy Ride system could be launched in Japan in the early 2020s.
"With 'more freedom of mobility' as its concept, Easy Ride is envisioned as a service for anyone who wants to travel freely to their destination of choice in a robo-vehicle," Nissan said in a statement.
"The goal is to allow customers to use a dedicated mobile app to complete the whole process, from setting destinations and summoning vehicles to paying the fare."
During tests, there will be a staff member in the driver's seat to comply with Japanese law.
Customers, who can apply from now until 15 January, can select local destinations and sightseeing routes.
Meanwhile, Japanese robotics maker ZMP is working with a Tokyo taxi operator to develop self-driving taxis for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Elsewhere, Uber is working on its own self-drive service and in November struck a deal with Volvo to buy up to 24,000 cars.
And Waymo, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, is planning to test autonomous cars with no human safety driver.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42238112
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Clara Amfo replaces Reggie Yates on Christmas Top of the Pops - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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The Radio 1 DJ replaces Reggie Yates, who's stepped down from hosting the festive specials.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Clara Amfo said she was "honoured" to be hosting the iconic music show
BBC Radio 1 DJ Clara Amfo is to replace Reggie Yates on BBC One's Top of the Pops Christmas and New Year specials.
Yates stepped down from the shows on Monday after making "ill-considered remarks" in a podcast.
He apologised last month for using the phrase "fat Jewish guy" to refer to managers in the music industry.
Yates has co-hosted the festive shows with Fearne Cotton since 2004, but his place will now be taken by Amfo, who hosts Radio 1's mid-morning programme.
"I'm so happy and honoured to be presenting Top of the Pops alongside Fearne," she said in a statement.
"It's an iconic show that I've grown up with and continue to enjoy watching, especially during the festive season. 2017 has been a rich year in pop and I can't wait to celebrate it with the artists, Fearne and everyone at home."
Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates have been a Christmas TOTP double act for 13 years
The Christmas Day edition will feature stars including Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, James Arthur, Clean Bandit, Rita Ora and The Script.
Craig David, Bastille and Paloma Faith will appear in the New Year special.
On Monday, Yates tweeted to say he had "taken the decision to step down" from his hosting duties and apologised "unreservedly to the Jewish community".
He said his words "reinforced offensive stereotypes" and that the comment was "no reflection on how I truly feel".
He used the offending phrase in the Halfcast Podcast, hosted by DJ Chuckie Lothian, while praising artists who chose to remain independently managed, adding: "They're managed by their brethren."
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-42243189
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UK electoral system faces 'perfect storm' of threats, says watchdog - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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Russian meddling and local council cuts are just two factors undermining credibility, the watchdog says.
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UK Politics
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The UK faces a "perfect storm" of threats that could put its entire electoral system at risk, the head of the elections watchdog has warned.
Russian meddling on social media and local council cuts were just two of the factors threatening the credibility of the system, Sir John Holmes said.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme Britain's electoral laws were a "mess" and needed to be updated.
He will set out the steps he says need to be taken in a speech later.
The Electoral Commission has launched an investigation into allegations of Russian interference in last year's Brexit referendum and the general election.
"It would be naive to assume that what we know happened in the US and France around their elections did not and could not happen here," Sir John told Today.
"And there has been evidence coming from the US inquiry that some of that activity was happening.
"What we have done is asked companies like Twitter, Google and Facebook to tell us what was happening here in the same way they did in the US."
Responding to Sir John's comments, a UK government spokesman said: "We have one of the most robust democratic processes in the world - one that is not vulnerable to international malicious influence.
However, this government is not complacent and we are already undertaking work to strengthen our electoral process and ensure it is fit for the future."
In the US, both the House and Senate intelligence committees are looking into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election - something the Kremlin strongly denies.
Congress has released images of social media posts alleged to be Russian propaganda.
Technology companies display alleged examples of Russian-backed posts to US senators
Sir John, a former diplomat who has served in Moscow, said it was "impossible" for the Electoral Commission to "regulate or prevent what Russia is doing".
But he wants new rules requiring political campaigners to identify themselves to give voters "transparency about who is trying to influence them, who is paying for it".
He also wants to see photo IDs introduced at polling booths, following allegations of voter fraud in Tower Hamlets, in east London, and other areas.
Critics say the plan discriminates against people on low incomes who don't have photo IDs.
But Sir John said they could be given free photo ID cards, as was already happening in Northern Ireland, where the new system is up and running.
He ruled out a move to online voting, because of concerns about hacking - but he wants it to be made easier to check online whether you are registered to vote.
He also wants bigger fines for political parties and campaign groups that try to get round spending limits.
Sir John Holmes is a former diplomat and UN official
The watchdog has repeatedly complained that it lacks the teeth to tackle abuses of the system, with Sir John warning some well resourced parties could see fines as "a cost of doing business" after the Conservatives were fined £70,000 for breaking the rules.
He has also warned that cuts to local authorities could undermine the proper running of elections in the UK.
June's general election had been generally well run, he said, but "returning officers and electoral administrators face reduced resources and a growing number of skilled professionals are leaving local authority elections teams".
Prime Minister Theresa May has accused Russia of "planting fake stories" to "sow discord in the West", although Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told MPs last month he had not seen any evidence of Russian interference in the Brexit vote or general election.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found more than 400 fake Twitter accounts attempting to influence UK politics out of 2,752 accounts suspended by Twitter in the US.
The accounts were believed to have been run from the Kremlin-linked Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA).
The Commons Culture Select Committee is carrying out a separate inquiry into "fake news", and Britain's intelligence and security watchdog is facing calls to investigate whether Russian "troll factories" interfered in UK politics.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42250010
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Police officer dies in motorbike crash with pensioner - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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PC James Dixon died after the motorcycle he was riding collided with a car near Hare Hatch.
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Berkshire
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Officers said the road will remain closed for the remainder of Tuesday
An on-duty police officer and a 91-year-old woman have died following a crash on the A4 in Berkshire.
PC James Dixon died after the motorcycle he was riding was in collision with a car on Bath Road near Hare Hatch at 13:50 GMT.
The pensioner, who was a passenger in the car, was killed while the driver, also a woman, was taken to hospital.
Officers said the road would remain closed for the remainder of Tuesday.
Thames Valley Police said the next of kin of both PC Dixon and the deceased woman have been informed.
A force spokesman said officers remained at the scene of the collision and had advised motorists to avoid the area.
The incident has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
IPCC Associate Commissioner Guido Liguori said: "My thoughts and sympathies are with their families and friends and the colleagues of the officer at this very difficult time.
"IPCC investigators are attending the scene as part of an independent investigation to determine the circumstances which lead to the collision."
PC Dixon was based at Loddon Valley police station, near Reading.
Police said the injuries of the driver involved are "not thought to be life threatening".
Tributes to PC Dixon have been posted in comments on Thames Valley Police's Facebook page.
Daniel Ruffle said: "Ride the sky and the clouds big man, it was a pleasure knowing you and working with you."
Bernadette Ellison said: "God bless you Dixie, you made me laugh with your wicked sense of humour."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-42245149
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Poppi Worthington inquest: Expert casts doubt on abuse theory - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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There was no clear evidence of sexual abuse, a pathologist tells the toddler's inquest.
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Cumbria
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Some important items were lost or never recovered, including Poppi's last nappy and her pyjama bottoms, the inquest heard
An expert witness has cast doubt on suggestions toddler Poppi Worthington was sexually abused in the hours before her death.
Dr Nat Cary, a consultant forensic pathologist, told the inquest there was no clear-cut evidence of trauma implying third-party involvement.
His evidence contradicted the findings of Dr Alison Armour, who was called as a witness earlier in the week.
Poppi died suddenly at a house in Barrow on 12 December 2012.
No-one has been prosecuted.
Although he did not carry out his own post-mortem examination, Dr Cary said he had formed his opinion after studying photographs and slides.
He told the hearing in Kendal he discounted Dr Armour's assertion that marks found near Poppi's fallopian tube were bruises from sexual penetration.
Dr Cary said they were "of no consequence" and would have occurred naturally in the five days between the youngster's death and her examination by Dr Armour.
Although he said he could not "absolutely exclude" penetration, Dr Cary said he would have "expected very obvious injury and there wasn't anything of the sort".
He said he could not be sure how the 13-month-old had died.
There could have been an "element of asphyxia" but there was no sign she had struggled against restraint, he said.
"Just because you don't find a natural cause it doesn't mean there isn't one," he said.
He told Leslie Thomas QC, representing Poppi's father Paul Worthington, there was no evidence of a criminal act directly or indirectly causing Poppi's death.
The presence of blood "needs to be explained" but there was only the "possibility that something happened", he said.
Dr Nat Cary (seen here at a crime scene in Ipswich in 2006) said Poppi's death was not necessarily criminal just because it was unexplained
In answer to further questions, he said it was not possible to say whether an injury to Poppi's leg was deliberate or accidental and, if the latter, whether it was not witnessed by a parent or seen but ignored.
The coroner David Roberts asked Dr Cary if Poppi's case affected the way he now carried out his work in other cases.
Would he, for example, look for marks like those seen in Poppi, he asked.
Dr Cary said: "Yes, I would have a better look than I used to."
The sheet from the double bed where Poppi was placed at the time of her collapse was not recovered, the inquest heard
The inquest was told earlier that vital evidence from Poppi's final hours was lost or never found by police.
Catherine Thundercloud, a retired Cumbria Police officer, said it would have been "imperative" to get statements from people in the house and Poppi's aunt, Tracy Worthington, as quickly as possible.
She had been asked to review the evidence as part of an Independent Police Commission Complaint (IPCC) investigation.
Sheets, equipment and gloves used by paramedics and hospital staff should have been retained, she said.
But a number of these items had not been kept, the inquest has heard.
Alison Hewitt, counsel for the coroner, asked Ms Thundercloud what officers should have known before they searched the house.
Ms Thundercloud said they should have had first accounts from the parents and details from hospital staff about what had happened.
The inquest has heard the first police search began before first accounts had been gathered from Mr Worthington.
Paul Worthington has always denied harming his daughter
Ms Thundercloud said: "Unless you've read what he said you can't do a proper strategy."
She said those failures may have resulted in "vital evidence being lost".
The account from Mr Worthington would have shown the pyjama bottoms, which have never been found, were needed, she said.
Mr Worthington's laptop and both parents' mobile phones should also have been seized, she said.
Ms Thundercloud said there had been "a lot of failings by police" and "missed opportunities" in the first two days of the investigation.
A proper log of the investigation was not kept so it was "very difficult" to see "the rationale of what was done and not done," she said.
In 2016, High Court family judge Mr Justice Peter Jackson ruled Poppi was probably sexually assaulted by her father shortly before she died.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-42252052
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What makes Jerusalem so holy? - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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As tensions increase between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem, the BBC's Erica Chernofsky explores what makes the city so holy.
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Middle East
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There are increasing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem, the fate of which is one of the most contentious issues in the Israel-Arab conflict.
The BBC's Erica Chernofsky takes a closer look at why this city is so important to Christianity, Islam and Judaism, the three religions which trace their shared origins back to the biblical figure of Abraham.
Jerusalem - its name resonates in the hearts of Christians, Jews and Muslims alike and echoes through centuries of shared and disputed history.
Known in Hebrew as Yerushalayim and in Arabic as al-Quds, it is one of the oldest cities in the world. It has been conquered, destroyed and rebuilt time and again, and every layer of its earth reveals a different piece of the past.
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While it has often been the focus of stories of division and conflict among people of different religions, they are united in their reverence for this holy ground.
At its core is the Old City, a maze of narrow alleyways and historic architecture that characterises its four quarters - Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Armenian. It is surrounded by a fortress-like stone wall and home to some of the holiest sites in the world.
Each quarter represents its own population. The Christians have two, because Armenians are also Christians, and their quarter, the smallest of the four, is one of the oldest Armenian centres in the world.
It is unique in that their community has preserved its own particular culture and civilisation inside the St James Church and monastery, which comprises most of their section.
Inside the Christian Quarter is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a significant focus for Christians all over the world. It is located on a site which is central to the story of Jesus, his death, crucifixion and resurrection.
According to most Christian traditions, Jesus was crucified there, on Golgotha, or the hill of Calvary, his tomb is located inside the sepulchre and this was also the site of his resurrection.
The church is managed jointly by representatives of different Christian denominations, mainly the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Franciscan friars from the Roman Catholic Church and the Armenian Patriarchate, but also by the Ethiopians, Coptics and Syrian Orthodox Church.
It is one of the main pilgrimage destinations for millions of Christians worldwide who visit the empty tomb of Jesus and seek solace and redemption in prayer at the site.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III explains why Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the holiest place in Christianity
The Muslim Quarter is the largest of the four and contains the shrine of the Dome of Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque on a plateau known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary.
The mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and is under the administration of an Islamic trust called the Waqf.
Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad travelled here from Mecca during his night journey and prayed with the souls of all the prophets. A few steps away, the shrine of the Dome of the Rock holds the foundation stone, where Muslims believe Muhammad then ascended to heaven.
Muslims visit the holy site all year round, but every Friday during the holy month of Ramadan, hundreds of thousands of Muslims come to pray at the mosque.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib al-Tamimi explains the importance of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque to Islam
The Jewish Quarter is home to the Kotel, or the Western Wall, a remnant of the retaining wall of the mount on which the Holy Temple once stood.
Inside the temple was the Holy of Holies, the most sacred site in Judaism.
Jews believe that this was the location of the foundation stone from which the world was created, and where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. Many Jews believe the Dome of the Rock is the site of the Holy of Holies.
Today, the Western Wall is the closest place Jews can pray to the Holy of Holies.
It is managed by the Rabbi of the Western Wall and every year hosts millions of visitors. Jewish people from all over the world visit this place to pray and connect to their heritage, especially during the High Holidays.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz explains why Jerusalem's Western Wall is so important to the Jewish faith
Video and production by Avi Halfon and Alon Farago
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26934435
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Impact assessments of Brexit on the UK 'don't exist' - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Labour calls it a "shambles" but David Davis says impact assessments would be of "near zero" use.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
The government has not carried out any impact assessments of leaving the EU on the UK economy, Brexit Secretary David Davis has told MPs.
Mr Davis said the usefulness of such assessments would be "near zero" because of the scale of change Brexit is likely to cause.
He said the government had produced a "sectoral analysis" of different industries but not a "forecast" of what would happen when the UK leaves the EU.
The Liberal Democrats said impact assessments were urgently needed while the SNP called it an "ongoing farce".
Mr Davis said a "very major contingency planning operation" was in place for Brexit.
Opposition MPs have been on the trail of the "Brexit impact assessments" for months. And when David Davis told them they didn't exist, they were quick to highlight some similar-sounding studies he had referred to in the past:
Downing Street told journalists: "We have been clear that the impact assessments don't exist. They're a specific thing in Whitehall terms. We think we have complied with the terms of the motion."
At Wednesday morning's Brexit committee hearing, chairman Hilary Benn asked whether impact assessments had been carried out into various parts of the economy, listing the automotive, aerospace and financial sectors.
"I think the answer's going to be no to all of them," Mr Davis responded.
When Mr Benn suggested this was "strange", the minister said formal assessments were not needed to know that "regulatory hurdles" would have an impact, describing Brexit as a "paradigm change" of similar impact to the financial crash, which could not be predicted.
"I am not a fan of economic models because they have all proven wrong," he said.
David Davis has probably not done the Brexit cause a huge bundle of good this morning. First, his frank admission that no impact assessments have been completed will inevitably be seized on by critics to argue Team May simply haven't done the basic spadework.
Second his suggestion that he doesn't have the resources for this, and anyway some of the work his officials have done wasn't much good, is hardly a ringing endorsement of his Brexit department.
Third, Mr Davis probably didn't help his own reputation by telling the committee he had been handed two chapters of the 850 pages of analysis but hadn't read them. At times Mr Davis even chided the committee over the time they were taking.
Fair enough the Brexit secretary had a cold - but at times he sounded thoroughly frazzled and cheesed off. Not a great look.
There has been a long-running row over the government's Brexit studies and their publication.
MPs have been pushing for the documents to be published, and on 1 November the Commons passed a motion to release "Brexit impact assessments" to the Brexit Committee of MPs.
In response, the government said this motion "misunderstood" what the documents actually were, but has since provided an edited set of reports to the committee.
David Davis said the impact of Brexit on different sectors had not been assessed
Mr Davis told the MPs this represented "getting as close as we can to meeting what we took to be the intent of Parliament".
A "quantitative economic forecast of outcome" does not exist, he said. "That is not there. We have not done that. What is there is the size of the industry, the employment and so on."
Mr Davis also said there was no "systematic impact assessment".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Jeremy Corbyn asks: "Do they exist, or don’t they?"
During PMQs, Prime Minister Theresa May repeated Mr Davis' line that "sectoral analysis", not "impact assessments" had been drawn up, adding that the government would not give a running commentary on the negotiations.
"This really is a shambles," Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said.
Later, Chancellor Philip Hammond was asked whether the Treasury had produced analysis of the potential economic impact of Brexit.
He said his department had "modelled and analysed a whole range of potential alternative structures between the EU and the UK, potential alternative arrangements and agreements that might be made".
Appearing before the Treasury Select Committee, he suggested these could be made public when a Brexit deal has been agreed, but said to do so at this stage would be "deeply unhelpful to the negotiation".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42249854
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Bitcoin breaks through the $16,000 mark - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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The digital currency has seen its value more than double in the last month in a volatile journey.
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Business
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At the start of the year Bitcoin was valued below $1,000
Bitcoin has breached the $16,000 mark, extending the digital currency's record-breaking surge.
The cryptocurrency began the year below $1,000 but continues to rise despite warnings of a dangerous bubble.
According to Coindesk.com, Bitcoin reached $16,663.18 (£12, 358.35), having soared over 50% in a week.
The new high comes days before the launch of Bitcoin futures on two exchanges, including the world's largest futures exchange, CME.
Spread betting firm CMC Markets said the rise had all the symptoms of a bubble market, warning "there is no way to know when the bubble will burst".
There are two key traits of Bitcoin: it is digital and it is seen as an alternative currency.
Unlike the notes or coins in your pocket, it largely exists online.
Secondly, Bitcoin is not printed by governments or traditional banks.
A small but growing number of businesses, including Expedia and Microsoft, accept bitcoins - which work like virtual tokens.
However, the vast majority of users now buy and sell them as a financial investment.
The digital currency's rapid ascent from around $1,000 at the start of the year has put it in the spotlight.
Critics have said Bitcoin is going through a bubble similar to the dotcom boom, whereas others say it is rising in price because it is crossing into the financial mainstream.
Financial regulators have taken a range of views on the status of digital currencies and their risks.
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority warned investors in September they could lose all their money if they buy digital currencies issued by firms, known as "initial coin offerings".
But last week a US regulator agreed to let two traditional exchanges, CME Group and CBOE Global Markets, begin trading in Bitcoin-related financial contracts.
The announcement from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that it will allow investors to buy and sell "future" contracts in bitcoins - an agreement to buy the crypto-currency, for example, in three months time at a certain price - was seen as a watershed moment for Bitcoin.
Cambridge Global Payments director of global product and market strategy Karl Schamotta said that move was behind the latest rally: "The perception in households around the world that the CME and the CBOE are providing legitimacy to Bitcoin is really what is driving the massive rally here."
But Leonhard Weese, president of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, said the rise in Bitcoin's value was "mostly motivated by fear of missing out and greed".
Bitcoins are created through a complex computer process known as mining, and then monitored by a network of computers across the world.
A steady stream of about 3,600 new bitcoins are created a day - with about 16.5 million now in circulation from a maximum limit of 21 million.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42260211
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Man remanded in custody over alleged plot to kill PM - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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Court hears of a plan to bomb Downing Street security gates before trying to kill Theresa May.
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UK
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Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman (left) and Mohammad Aqib Imran appeared at Westminster at Magistrates' Court
A man has been remanded in custody after appearing in court accused of a plot to bomb Downing Street's security gates and then kill Theresa May.
Westminster Magistrates' Court heard that Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman, 20, from north London, planned to detonate a homemade bomb and attack the PM with a suicide vest and a knife.
A second man also appeared in court charged with preparing terrorist acts.
Both men will appear at London's Old Bailey on 20 December.
Mr Rahman is charged with the preparation of terrorist acts and is also charged with assisting another man to prepare separate acts of terrorism.
The second charge relates to allegedly helping Mohammad Aqib Imran, 21, from Birmingham, who is accused is charged with preparing acts of terrorism.
He is alleged to have taken several steps in an attempt to travel to Libya.
That included saving money, trying to secure a false passport, and researching extremist ideologies and travel options.
The men were arrested by Metropolitan Police officers on 28 November within 90 minutes of one another.
The men arrived at court in a police van
During the seven minute hearing, the men - dressed in light grey sweatshirts and trousers - confirmed their names, addresses and dates of birth.
Mr Rahman gave his nationality as Bangladeshi-British, while Mr Imran gave his as Pakistani-British.
Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot remanded the men in custody ahead of the Old Bailey appearance.
The magistrates' court appearances comes a day after a security review said it was "conceivable" that the Manchester Arena bombing in May, in which 22 people were killed, could have been prevented.
But MI5 chief Andrew Parker told Mrs May and the Cabinet on Tuesday that about nine alleged Islamist terror plots have been foiled since March.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42242557
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Poundland owner Steinhoff sees its shares crash by 63% - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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The boss of Steinhoff, which owns Poundland and Harveys, quits amid probe into accounting irregularities.
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Business
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Hardware Warehouse is among the brands Steinhoff owns in South Africa
Poundland owner Steinhoff International has seen its shares fall by almost two thirds after it said it would launch a probe into accounting irregularities.
It came as chief executive Markus Jooste resigned and the South African group postponed its full-year results.
Steinhoff has asked accountancy giant PwC to conduct an independent investigation.
Shares in the company, listed in South Africa and Germany, ended the day 63% lower.
Steinhoff owns 40 local brands in more than 30 countries. As well as furniture and homeware, it also sells products including clothing, footwear and consumer goods.
Its brands include Bensons for Beds and Harveys in the UK, Conforama in Europe, Pep and Ackermans in South Africa and Snooze in Australia. Steinhoff derives about 60% of its earnings in Europe and 34% in Africa.
Last year the firm lost out in a battle with Sainsbury's to take over Argos owner Home Retail Group.
Earlier this year Poundland put UK discount chain 99p Stores - which it bought for £55m two years ago - into administration.
Mr Jooste had been in charge for close to two decades and oversaw Steinhoff's expansion from a furniture manufacturer in South Africa to one of the biggest global household goods retailers.
The company said late on Tuesday that he had resigned with immediate effect, after the discovery of new information prompted the firm to ask PwC to perform an "independent investigation".
"The supervisory board of Steinhoff wishes to advise shareholders that new information has come to light today which relates to accounting irregularities requiring further investigation," the group said in a statement.
Steinhoff's largest shareholder and chairman, billionaire Christo Wiese, will take over in an executive capacity on an interim basis.
The group has been under investigation for suspected accounting irregularities by the state prosecutor in Oldenburg in Germany since 2015.
It is not clear if these are the accounting irregularities the company was referring to in its statement.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42249163
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Labour attacks 'embarrassing' Brexit talks - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The PM has days to get Brexit talks back on track after the DUP objects to Irish border proposals.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Labour: May to blame for Brexit 'embarrassment'
Ministers say no part of the UK will be treated differently in the Brexit talks as Labour branded their approach an "embarrassment".
No agreement has been reached with the EU after a DUP backlash against proposals for the Irish border.
Brexit Secretary David Davis told MPs the government was close to concluding the first phase of talks.
DUP leader Arlene Foster said the text of the deal was a "big shock" and "it was not going to be acceptable."
She told the Republic of Ireland national broadcaster RTÉ that her party only saw the text on Monday morning, despite asking to see it for five weeks.
Theresa May, speaking as she welcomed Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to Downing Street, said talks with the EU had " made a lot of progress".
"There are still a couple of issues we need to work on. But we'll be reconvening in Brussels later this week as we look ahead to the December European Council," she said.
Mrs Foster was invited to hold talks with Mrs May in London on Tuesday, but the party's Westminster leader met the government's chief whip instead.
The meeting lasted for several hours, but sources suggested to the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg that there was not much sign of a breakthrough yet, with a DUP insider saying the deal needed "radical surgery", rather than a few word changes.
A phone call between Mrs May and Mrs Foster had then been expected this evening, but sources added that it would not go ahead, suggesting it had never been arranged.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Citizens' rights, the Irish border and money are the three big negotiation points
The UK is due to leave the EU in March 2019 and Mrs May is under pressure to reach agreement on the Northern Ireland border so negotiations can move forward.
The prime minister needs the support of the DUP - the Democratic Unionist Party - which is Northern Ireland's largest party and has 10 MPs at Westminster, because she does not have a majority to win votes in the House of Commons.
Responding to an urgent question from Labour in the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Davis defended the controversial proposal for "regulatory alignment" between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland - intended to avoid the need for border checks after Brexit - saying this would apply to the whole of the UK.
The DUP is unhappy about any agreement which treats Northern Ireland differently.
It would not mean "having exactly the same rules" as the EU, Mr Davis said, but would involve "sometimes having mutually recognised rules".
Backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg warned that having "regulatory divergence" from the EU after Brexit was a "red line".
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Labour's Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer said that when the DUP objected to the draft agreement, "fantasy met brutal reality", adding: "The DUP tail is wagging the Tory dog."
Mr Starmer also called for the government to drop its plan to enshrine the 29 March 2019 Brexit date in UK law.
Meanwhile, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith suggested the UK should walk away from the negotiations if the EU does not change its position.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Iain Duncan Smith: EU needs to 'back off' or 'move on'
But Tory MP and former cabinet minister, Nicky Morgan, said his comments were "madness" and walking away would "betrays the futures of millions of young people and those who never wanted to leave in the first place".
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The DUP has said "it is not a question of us budging" as the talks were between the UK and the EU
Dublin - which as an EU member is part of its single market and customs union - has been calling for written guarantees that a "hard border" involving customs checks on the island of Ireland will be avoided after Brexit
It is concerned this could undermine the 1998 peace treaty - the Good Friday Agreement that brought an end to 30 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland.
Mr Davis said that while the "integrity" of the single market and customs union must be respected after Brexit, it was "equally clear we must respect the integrity of the United Kingdom" and individual nations could not have separate arrangements.
Mrs May needs to show "sufficient progress" has been made so far on "divorce" issues before European leaders meet on 14 December to decide whether to allow talks on future trade relations to begin.
The three issues that need to be resolved are the Northern Ireland border, citizens' rights and the amount of money the UK will pay as it leaves.
Talks between Mrs May and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker broke up without agreement on Monday, after the DUP objected to a draft agreement on the future of the Irish border.
Key to the row is how closely aligned Northern Ireland's regulations will be with those of the Republic of Ireland, and the rest of the EU, in order to avoid a "hard" border.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Irish PM Leo Varadkar said he was "surprised and disappointed"
Ireland's deputy prime minister Simon Coveney said Dublin would not budge from its position on the border.
The EU is treating the row as a "domestic British political issue", BBC Brussels correspondent Adam Fleming said.
"The show is now in London," said a European Commission spokesman.
Downing Street has insisted the border was not the only outstanding problem and disagreement remains over the role of the European Court of Justice in overseeing EU citizens' rights in the UK after Brexit.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42231497
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Ashes: Australia beat England by 120 runs to take 2-0 lead in series - BBC Sport
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2017-12-06
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England's fightback in the second Test comes to nothing as Australia power to a 120-run win in Adelaide and a 2-0 Ashes lead.
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Last updated on .From the section Cricket
Second Ashes Test, Adelaide Oval (day five of five) Australia won by 120 runs; take lead 2-0 in series
England's fightback in the second Test ultimately came to nothing as Australia powered to a 120-run win in Adelaide and a 2-0 Ashes lead.
Beginning the final day on 176-4 in pursuit of 354, the tourists lost nightwatchman Chris Woakes to the second ball and Joe Root for 67 in the third over, both to Josh Hazlewood.
If Root's departure all but confirmed England's fate, Moeen Ali fell six overs later to make the rest little more than a formality.
Jonny Bairstow gamely resisted for 36, but Mitchell Starc ruthlessly wrapped it up with the second new ball to finish with 5-88.
England lost six wickets in the first session and were bowled out for 233.
The hosts will regain the Ashes if they win the third Test in Perth, which begins on 14 December.
England have not won at the Waca since 1978 and must reverse an awful run in Australia - they have now lost seven consecutive Tests down under - to have any chance of retaining the urn.
Root's men only need a draw to keep the Ashes, but England have never come from 2-0 down to draw or win a series against Australia.
• None We're still massively in this series - Root
• None Analysis: Jonathan Agnew on the challenges now facing England
• None How the final day unfolded in Adelaide
• None Listen to TMS highlights on loop throughout the day
England's fight too little, too late
It is deflating for England that they failed on the final day but the truth is they lost this match - the first day-night Test in Ashes history - in the first half.
After winning the toss and putting Australia in, poor bowling allowed the home side to rack up 442-8 declared.
The tourists were reduced to 142-7 before the fightback began.
Woakes and Craig Overton dragged them past 200 and, when Australia opted against enforcing the follow-on, England utilised the pink ball under lights to set the home side on the way to being 138 all out.
Faced with completing their highest successful run-chase and looking to win after conceding a first-innings deficit in excess of 200 for the first time since Ian Botham's heroics at Headingley in 1981, England gave themselves a chance with a battling batting display on the fourth evening.
With a potentially historic fifth day in the offing and the warmest conditions of the match to enjoy, plenty of spectators made the gold coin donation to enter the Adelaide Oval.
The Barmy Army were singing before play began but if Woakes' dismissal gave Australia an ideal start, Root's departure was a mortal blow.
With the result all but assured, Starc needed only 14 deliveries with the second new ball to take the final three wickets for 13 runs.
England can take heart from the punches they landed on Australia - at times home captain Steve Smith was rattled, their bowlers were magnificent in the second innings and some of their batsmen showed they can stand up to the hosts' attack.
Still, England's highest total in four attempts in this series is 302 and Australia have followed up a 10-wicket win in Brisbane with another resounding victory.
That the next destination is Perth, an Australian Ashes fortress, could well mean that England's time holding the urn is running out.
Before the final day, Australia had been on the back foot for the majority of the previous four sessions.
On Tuesday evening, frustration was visible, catches went down and the wasting of both reviews in the space of three deliveries led to loud taunting from the travelling fans.
Smith's men returned refreshed on Wednesday and pace bowler Hazlewood all but guaranteed the outcome of the match with his first 11 deliveries of the day.
First he found movement back in to Woakes, who reviewed being given out caught behind for five and shook his head when the third umpire detected the finest of edges.
Root, so brave the previous night, fell in similar fashion in Hazlewood's next over without adding to his overnight score. He knew a review could not save him and dragged himself from the field.
From there, it was little more than a formality.
Moeen was lbw sweeping Nathan Lyon - in all four innings in the series Lyon has dismissed fellow off-spinner Moeen.
Bairstow and Overton, dropped at a short third slip by Cameron Bancroft off Pat Cummins, resisted for nine overs, but Overton was pinned leg before from Starc's first delivery with the second new ball.
In Starc's next over, Stuart Broad edged to wicketkeeper Tim Paine before Bairstow played on to his stumps.
England captain Joe Root on BBC Test Match Special: "We came to the ground expecting. We were right in the game but losing early wickets hampered our chances.
"The way we went about it yesterday was exceptional and that has to be the benchmark going forward. That shows how we are still massively in this series."
On his decision to bowl first after winning the toss: "At the time I thought it was the right thing to do. It is easy to question now. I fully back our bowlers in those conditions to take 10 wickets."
Australia captain Smith, on BT Sport, on not enforcing the follow-on: "Would I do the same again? I'm not sure. It's played on my mind a bit over the last couple of days - have I made a mistake?
"My rationale was it's really long summer and I don't want to bowl my bowlers into the ground. England fought really hard with the ball and last night.
"I was a little bit nervous. On another day I might decide to go another way, but we've won the Test match, so it's irrelevant."
Australia pace bowler Josh Hazlewood on ABC: "We didn't expect England to collapse this morning. We expected them to dig in and fight hard for every run."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/42248120
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Giant box to save 'rotting' Mackintosh house - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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A plan to rescue Charles Rennie Mackintosh's masterpiece - The Hill House in Helensburgh - is unveiled.
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A plan to rescue Charles Rennie Mackintosh's masterpiece - The Hill House in Helensburgh - has been unveiled.
The building's survival is threatened by the effects of weather.
Now, the National Trust for Scotland is hoping to enclose it in a huge see-through structure while a longer term solution is found.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-42242372
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Shopping centres sold in £3.4bn deal - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Bullring shopping centre owner Hammerson is to acquire rival Intu, owner of Manchester's Trafford Centre.
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Business
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Shopping centre owner Hammerson, which owns Birmingham's famous Bullring, has agreed a £3.4bn takeover of rival Intu.
The deal will create the UK's biggest property company, worth £21bn.
Intu owns the Lakeside shopping centre, in Essex. and the Trafford Centre, in Manchester, while Hammerson owns Bicester Village designer outlet and London's Brent Cross shopping centre.
Shares in Intu jumped by nearly 19% on the news, while Hammerson's fell by 3%.
At market close, Intu shares were trading up 13.6% at 226p, while Hammerson's was down 6.2% to trade at 501.5p.
The combined group plans to target fast growing markets in Spain and Ireland.
John Strachan, chairman of Intu, said: "Intu offers high-quality retail and leisure destinations in the UK and Spain, which, when merged with Hammerson's own top-quality assets in the UK, in France and in Ireland, present a highly attractive proposition for retailers and shoppers in Europe's leading cities."
Hammerson chairman David Tyler said: "This transaction will deliver real value for shareholders. The financial strength of the enlarged group and its strong leadership team will make it well-placed to take advantage of higher growth opportunities on a pan-European scale."
Hammerson shareholders will own 55% of the combined firm and Intu investors the rest. Shareholders will vote on the deal next year.
The combined group would be led by Hammerson chief executive David Atkins and chaired by Mr Tyler.
Russ Mould, AJ Bell investment director, described Hammerson's takeover of Intu as "dramatic, given how terribly Intu's shares have gone down this year, amid fears over not just what Brexit may do to consumer confidence but also the fate of bricks-and-mortar retailers at the hands of Amazon and other online rivals".
The union of Hammerson and Intu - the company formerly known as Capital Shopping Centres - has been the Holy Grail of property investment for more than a decade.
The relative underperformance on Intu shares, which have at times traded at a discount to book value as high as 50%, has brought an opportunity for David Atkins, Hammerson's ambitious chief executive.
The other key factor was the willingness of John Whittaker, the secretive billionaire who was the big shareholder in Intu, to come to the table.
The end result is a shopping centre monster - £21bn worth of assets across Europe - that will quickly weed out underperforming properties once the deal is done.
GlobalData retail analyst Sofie Willmott said the deal would give the combined group a stake in 12 of the 20 UK super-malls - large shopping centres of more than 20 million sq ft that attract more than 20 million customers a year.
This "dominance" would "bolster the group's negotiating power with both retailers and leisure operators", she added, and help Hammerson to compete better with rival Westfield.
According to GlobalData forecasts, spending growth in supermalls is due to outstrip overall spending growth in bricks-and-mortar stores over the next five years.
Ms Willmott said she expected the enlarged group to "prioritise" supermall development.
"As clothing and footwear retailers focus on super-malls to create large-scale, experience-led stores, physical retail spend will move away from town centres towards destination shopping centres, ensuring supermalls space is hot property," she said.
"The proposed deal will net the group a stake in almost 60% of all UK supermalls space, making it a force in the retail landscape, well placed to benefit from retail spend shifting across locations."
• None Westfield to be 'catalyst' for Croydon
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42249040
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Man arrested after fight outside Parliamentary bar - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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A Commons employee was arrested on suspicion of GBH and another taken to hospital after the incident on Tuesday evening.
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UK Politics
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A member of House of Commons staff was arrested after a fight outside one of Parliament's busiest bars.
The Sports and Social Club has been closed and a 57-year-old man arrested on suspicion of GBH and affray.
Police later released the man, who remains under investigation.
A 64-year-old man, also a Commons employee, is reported to have been taken to hospital in an ambulance following the incident, which took place on Tuesday evening.
Scotland Yard said police were still investigating what happened but no-one else was thought to have been involved.
A House of Lords spokesperson said the Sports and Social Club bar would stay closed until the investigation was complete.
The venue, which is a popular haunt for MPs and their staff, is a large traditional pub in the bowels of the Parliamentary estate.
It was recently taken back under the direct control of the House of Lords authorities from an outside contractor and its future was already thought to be in doubt.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42254889
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California wildfire: News crew helps save trapped horses - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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A CBS News reporter and her crew were asked to help evacuate a ranch as flames spread in California.
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A CBS News reporter and her cameraman were asked to help evacuate a ranch as flames spread quickly.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42256567
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David Davis questioned over Brexit impact assessments - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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Brexit Secretary David Davis had previously said the government had done 57 studies on 85% of the UK economy about the impact of Brexit.
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The government has not carried out any impact assessments of leaving the EU on the UK economy, Brexit Secretary David Davis has told MPs.
Mr Davis had previously said the government had done 57 studies on 85% of the UK economy about the impact of Brexit.
BBC News had a look in its archives.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42260350
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Johnny Hallyday: France's 'Elvis Presley' dies at 74 - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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Nicknamed the French Elvis Presley, he sold 100 million records in a career that spanned six decades.
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Europe
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Hallyday broke from France's classic "chanson" tradition in the 1950s, starting singing rock and roll in French
France's biggest rock star Johnny Hallyday has died after a battle with lung cancer. He was 74.
The singer sold about 100 million records and starred in a number of films in a career that began in 1960.
He was made a Chevalier of the Legion D'Honneur by President Jacques Chirac in 1997.
The French simply called him "Our Johnny". However, outside the Francophone zone, Hallyday was virtually unknown.
In a statement, his wife Laeticia said: "Johnny Hallyday has left us. I write these words without believing them. But yet, it's true. My man is no longer with us.
"He left us tonight as he lived his whole life, with courage and dignity."
Hallyday, whose real name was Jean-Philippe Smet, decided he wanted to be a singer after seeing Elvis Presley on screen in 1957. Hallyday was nicknamed the "French Presley" by his numerous fans.
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His children, Laura and David, wrote a joint statement, saying: "Today we lost our father," and thanking fans for the outpouring of support.
"Our pain is immense," they said.
That sentiment was echoed by Laura's mother, Nathalie Baye, who posted an empty black square to Instagram with the single line caption: "My grief is immense."
Reacting to the news, French President Emmanuel Macron referenced the title of a recent tribute album by saying: "There is a little bit of Johnny in all of us."
He added: "Across generations, he carved himself into the lives of French people. He charmed them through the generosity you saw in his concerts: so epic, so intimate, in huge venues, in small spots."
Other French politicians followed suit, including former presidents François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, and former Prime Minister Alain Juppé.
Fans gathered outside the star's home in the town of Marnes-la-Coquette, west of Paris.
Speaking to the AFP news agency, one fan said: "My heart is in two, my heart is broken." He added that he had hoped to see 1,000 of Johnny's concerts.
Another, Michele, told reporters: "He was a great love of my youth... he always rocked me. I've always loved this man.
"It's an homage to show him, if he still sees us, that I still love him and I'll always love him."
Tributes also rolled in from his peers in the entertainment industry.
French film icon of the 1950s and 60s, Brigitte Bardot, wrote that she was "in shock".
"Johnny is a monument. He is France," she said in a social media post alongside a photo of her hugging the singer.
Among those outside of France to pay tribute was American guitarist Lenny Kravitz.
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In a French-language tweet, singer Celine Dion called him "a legend of showbusiness".
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Heavily influenced by Elvis, Hallyday broke from France's classic "chanson" tradition in the 1950s and began singing rock and roll in French.
"He introduced rock and roll to France. He's one of the few singers about whom people say that he's an animal on stage," journalist Philippe Le Corre once said.
"He's quite incredible. People of all ages like him," he added.
Despite his success at home, he failed to crack the lucrative American or any English-speaking market.
The USA Today newspaper once described him as "the greatest rock star you never heard of".
Hallyday was known for his hard work and almost non-stop touring.
But he was also famous for his wild rock star antics, both on and off stage.
Heavy drinking, drug-taking and five marriages all contributed a sometimes chaotic lifestyle.
• None Can we learn to love 'le pop'?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42247551
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Serena Williams has entered Australian Open, says tournament director - BBC Sport
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2017-12-06
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Serena Williams enters the 2018 Australian Open in January, according to the tournament's director.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Serena Williams has entered the Australian Open in January, tournament director Craig Tiley has said.
Tiley told the Herald Sun the 23-time Grand Slam winner is "very likely" to return to tennis in Melbourne.
"She's got her visa, she's entered, she's practising," he said. "There's no question she'll be ready in our view."
• None Bumps, boobs and bouncing back: An athlete's path through pregnancy
Williams, who has won the Australian Open seven times, has posted on social media that she has returned to training.
Australia's Margaret Court, with 24, is the only player still ahead of Serena in terms of Grand Slam singles titles.
"She wants to break a record that is Margaret Court's," added Tiley. "It would be a pretty significant accomplishment for her to be able to do that."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/42248708
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California wildfires surround LA freeway - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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Drivers filmed the flames on the 405 near Bel Air, as firefighters continue to battle the blaze.
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Homes are being consumed by large fires spreading across the southern California countryside.
Firefighters are tackling the blaze as residents flee the affected areas, but attempts at controlling the spread of the fire have been unsuccessful.
Drivers filmed the flames from their cars on the 405 near Bel Air.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42256916
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Payout after woman was kept alive against her will - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Brenda Grant tried to pull tubes out of her arm after being put in a nursing home, her family says.
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Coventry & Warwickshire
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Woman was kept alive despite her advance directive wishes
The family of an 81-year-old woman has received a £45,000 payout after she was kept alive against her will.
Brenda Grant made a living will stating she feared degradation and indignity more than death after seeing her mum lose independence through dementia.
But the George Eliot hospital, in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, misplaced the document and she was artificially fed for 22 months.
The trust has apologised for its failure.
Mrs Grant, from Nuneaton, had an advance directive drawn up to say if she were no longer of sound mind or had suffered from a list of medical ailments, she should not have treatment to prolong her life.
It also confirmed she should not be given food, but that distressing symptoms should be controlled by pain relief even though the treatment might shorten her life.
Mrs Grant's daughter said she wanted to prevent other people going through similar problems
In October 2012, Mrs Grant suffered a catastrophic stroke that left her unable to walk, talk or swallow.
After spending nearly three months in the George Eliot Hospital she was fitted with a stomach peg so she could be fed directly, then discharged into a nursing home.
The hospital had the advance directive but it was hidden in the middle of a thick pile of medical notes, Mrs Grant's daughter Tracy Barker said.
Once in the nursing home, Mrs Grant became agitated and tried to pull out the tubes in her arm, prompting staff to put mittens on her hands.
Mrs Barker said: "She had a fear of being kept alive because she had a fear of going into a nursing home.
"She never wanted to be a burden to anybody, so she wouldn't have wanted any of us to look after her."
Brenda Grant, pictured with her grandson, "never wanted to become a burden to anybody"
Mrs Grant did not tell her children about the living will.
It was her GP who alerted them to it shortly before Mrs Grant was re-admitted to hospital.
In a meeting with hospital medics, the GP then argued alongside Mrs Grant's family that her living will should be respected, Mrs Barker said.
Tubes were withdrawn and she died a few days later on 4 August 2014.
"I'm very, very angry with myself that I let my mum suffer for two years that she didn't need to suffer for," Mrs Barker said.
"I didn't want my mum to die, nobody wants their mum to die.
"But my mum died the day she had that stroke because she was never, ever capable of doing anything that she did before.
"I know she would not have wanted to live like she was."
Brenda Grant's advance directive was buried in the middle of a thick pile of medical notes, her daughter said
Mrs Barker said she had sought legal advice to highlight the case so the same thing did not happen to others.
Richard Stanford, from law firm BTTJ, said: "It was a really interesting case, we instructed a human rights barrister very early on because the case appeared to be unique."
The George Eliot Hospital Trust admitted liability and in an out-of-court settlement agreed to pay £45,000.
In a letter, it stated: "It is accepted that the trust failed to act in accordance with the deceased's advance directive and failed to store the advance directive in a way that it could easily be noted."
The trust said it had now begun recording the existence of an advanced directive on the front page of a patient's notes.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-42240148
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Banks should end unplanned overdraft charges, charity says - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Banks should do more to identify customers who struggle to repay debts, a charity says.
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Business
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Banks should end all unauthorised overdraft charges because they are trapping people in persistent debt, the financial charity StepChange has said.
The organisation also wants banks and regulators to do more to identify people caught up in a "vicious cycle of borrowing".
Even where customers have admitted they are in trouble, it said banks often fail to help.
However, High Street banks said they were committed to lending responsibly.
In 2016 some 2.1 million people used their overdraft every month of the year, according to industry figures.
The UK's biggest bank, Lloyds, has already abolished charges for unplanned overdrafts.
Customers of Barclays cannot get an unauthorised overdraft, but they can apply for "emergency lending".
However others, including Santander, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and NatWest still offer unplanned borrowing.
Santander charges up to £95 for each month a customer is overdrawn. RBS, NatWest and HSBC have a cap of £80 a month.
As part of its study into high cost credit the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it was considering a ban on charges for unplanned overdrafts - but it is not due to report until 2018.
Half of StepChange's clients have overdrafts and each owe an average of £1,722.
They often use their overdrafts to pay off household bills, so end up in a cycle of debt.
Callum Bell told the BBC he is spending more time worrying about debt
Callum Bell, a mental health nurse from north-eastern England, is reliant on borrowing to boost his income.
"Every month I'm dipping a little bit more into my overdraft," he told the BBC. "Over Christmas it's even more difficult.
"I spend more time worrying about my finances and I'm not alone in this. It's a problem across the country."
Banks also insist on giving customers large overdrafts, even though they may not be able to afford the repayments, the charity claims.
One of its clients was offered an overdraft of £2,250, even though they were working part-time and on benefits.
It says such banks are guilty of "unaffordable lending".
While it is still well nigh impossible to understand the charging structure for overdrafts, things are better than they used to be.
Back in 2014, for example, Oliver Foster-Burnell, from Taunton, won a case against Lloyds TSB, who charged him £743 after he went into his overdraft by just £2.67.
Subsequently banks began capping overdraft fees. Indeed, since September 2017 all banks have been obliged to publish a maximum monthly charge.
But while the average borrower benefits from a cap, some individuals end up paying more.
"Lenders and regulators must take action to need to ensure that overdraft lending is affordable, that borrowers in financial difficulty get the right support and that we break the cycle of persistent overdraft debt," said Peter Tatton, head of policy at StepChange.
However the banking industry said it was already doing its best to help customers in financial difficulty.
"Overdrafts can help customers smooth their household spending, but if circumstances change or they are struggling with their finances, they should contact their lender straightaway," said a spokesperson for UK Finance.
"Lenders will support customers and allow them a period of time to seek impartial and independent debt advice."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42242255
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Cambridge News: Paper apologises over headline gaffe - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The paper accidentally put instructions to writers on the cover instead of a story about a "sex lair".
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Cambridgeshire
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The paper blamed the error on "a technical problem"
A local newspaper accidentally published instructions to writers on the front page instead of a headline.
The Cambridge News left "100pt splash heading here" as the text in place of a headline about a "sex lair" school.
The newspaper's editor-in-chief David Bartlett apologised and said it was unclear how it had happened but blamed the gaffe on "a technical problem".
Readers were quick to poke fun at the paper on social media, with some suggesting a headline competition.
One person suggested "austerity ate our headline" as a possible entry.
Another commented: "The 100PT Splash heading... doesn't get as much coverage as it should."
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A further apology explained "the headline should have read '£2m for 'sex lair' school' in reference to a story printed on page 11 of today's newspaper".
Mr Bartlett added: "I want to apologise sincerely to our readers for this mistake, which happened due to a technical problem.
"We are still looking into how this happened and want our readers to know we take this seriously."
The Cambridge News is owned by Trinity Mirror plc.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-42250212
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Dolby estate gives Cambridge University Cavendish lab £85m - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The donation comes from the estate of famed sound pioneer and Cambridge PhD student Ray Dolby.
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Cambridgeshire
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Ray Dolby died in 2013 at the age of 80
The family of sound pioneer Ray Dolby has donated £85m from his estate to Cambridge University.
The US-born engineer was best known for his work in developing noise reduction and surround-sound technology. He died in 2013 aged 80.
The donation will go to the Department of Physics' Cavendish Laboratory where Dr Dolby worked on his PhD in 1961.
It is the second largest gift to the university in its 808-year history after Bill Gates donated $210m in 2000.
Dr Dolby came to Cambridge as a Marshall Scholar in 1957 and studied physics at Pembroke College which itself received £35m from his estate in 2015.
The bequest will complete the redevelopment of the Cavendish Laboratory, known as Cav III, with the Ray Dolby Centre set to open in 2021/22.
A research group and a professorship in physics will also be named in honour of the inventor.
Professor Andy Parker, head of the Cavendish, said: "In addition to serving as a home for physics research at Cambridge, it will be a top-class facility for the nation.
"This gift is the most significant investment in physics research in generations."
The money will go towards development of the new Cavendish Laboratory, which specialises in physics
Dr Dolby's widow, Dagmar, said the university played a pivotal role in his life "both professionally and personally".
Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen Toope also described the donation as "a fitting tribute to Ray Dolby's legacy".
"His research paved the way for an entire industry," he said.
"A century from now, we can only speculate on which discoveries will alter the way we live our lives and which new industries will have been born in the Cavendish Laboratory, in large part thanks to this extraordinarily generous gift."
The multimillion-pound donation also pushes Cambridge University's £2bn fundraising campaign - which was launched in 2015 - over the halfway mark.
The campaign will support students and university facilities, as well as boost its international reputation.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-42234034
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'My double life going to work from a homeless hostel' - BBC News
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2017-12-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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As the number of homeless children hits a 10-year-high, a mother and daughter tell of their double life.
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Family & Education
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Sarah sits at a windowsill to do her homework
Mary, and her nine-year-old daughter, Sarah, are homeless and have spent the past 13 months living in a single room in a hostel.
"Nobody knows how we are living," says Mary. "No-one knows we are in this situation."
"They know we are in temporary accommodation, but they don't know we are living in a hostel - that we've got no space."
And there certainly is a lack of space. It is just about possible to walk around one side of the double bed.
There is a small table, but not enough room for mother and daughter to sit and eat a meal together.
Their belongings are piled up precariously in laundry-bag towers against the wall, and there is not a free surface in the room. Their stuff is everywhere.
Sarah has to sit cross-legged on the bed and lean on the windowsill to do her homework.
She is one of the 128,000 children in Britain who will spend Christmas in temporary accommodation this year, according to official figures - the highest number for a decade.
Very few of these will be sleeping rough, but they will be saddled with the hardships of living in temporary accommodation.
Mary and Sarah (not their real names) found themselves homeless when their landlord wanted his property back and they could not afford another deposit and rent in advance.
The office worker struggles to eat let alone cook healthy meals in the room, where just one of the cooker rings works.
"I am leading a double life because I go to work in my suit all dressed up and I go to church all dressed up, but nobody knows what I am going through."
And despite her young years, Sarah seems to want to keep her living conditions secret from her school friends too.
"I have friends and I really want my friends to come to my house, but they can't come here.
"They have to come to a nice house. So if they ask me I say I'll have to ask my mum.
"It's stopping me from having friends and hanging out."
According to housing and homelessness charity Shelter, families living in temporary accommodation are often confined to one single room, which significantly disrupts the children's ability to play or follow a daily routine
Interviews by the charity with some families in such conditions, revealed children feeling anxious, afraid and ashamed.
Mary says the practicalities of living in such a small space are very challenging.
"It's the storing of our clothes, the washing of our clothes."
Like others in similar situations, Mary struggles to stay positive.
"It's very easy to not do anything and just come back from wherever and go to bed. I'm trying so hard to fight that."
Mary adds: "What keeps us going, for me and my daughter, is our faith.
"I think if I didn't have that I would have ended up in a mental hospital."
The government says it is working with Shelter and others to end homelessness.
It is providing £1bn until 2020 to tackle the issue and putting into practice the Homelessness Reduction Act, which aims to ensure people receive the support they need earlier.
A Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "Councils have a duty to provide safe, secure and suitable temporary accommodation.
"This means that people are getting help now and no family is without a roof over their head this Christmas."
Mary and her daughter have since been moved out of the hostel by their local council but only into another temporary setting.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-42223567
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