title
stringlengths 13
112
| published_date
stringlengths 10
10
| authors
stringclasses 3
values | description
stringlengths 0
382
⌀ | section
stringlengths 2
31
⌀ | content
stringlengths 0
81.9k
| link
stringlengths 21
189
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manchester United and City to wear bee emblem - BBC News
|
2017-07-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The bee is now a symbol of solidarity among those affected by the Arena bombing.
|
Manchester
|
City chief executive officer Ferran Soriano said players would wear bees with "immense pride"
Manchester United and City players are to honour victims of the Manchester Arena blast by wearing bee emblems on their football shirts in a derby match.
The shirts will be auctioned off after the game and proceeds will go to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.
The charity has raised more than £12m for the victims of the explosion on 22 May, which killed 22.
City's Ferran Soriano said players would wear bees with "immense pride" at the game on 20 July in Houston, US.
The fixture will be the first Manchester derby to take place outside of the UK and the first meeting between the two clubs since the attack at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.
The bee has become the symbol of solidarity among those affected by the bomb with hundreds of people getting bee tattoos.
City chief executive Mr Soriano said: "The worker bee symbolises everything that makes Manchester such a special city and our players will wear it on their shirts with immense pride, as a demonstration of solidarity with the Manchester community."
Ed Woodward, executive chairman of United, said the city of Manchester has shown "great strength and unity" since the attack and shown the world "how special this city really is".
He added: "Having the worker bee on our shirts... shows the community spirit of our city and football club."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-40602465
|
John Bernecker: Walking Dead stuntman dies in fall - BBC News
|
2017-07-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
John Bernecker died of injuries sustained while filming the zombie TV series in Georgia.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
Bernecker reportedly suffered serious injuries after falling onto concrete
Stuntman John Bernecker has died after suffering a fall on the set of The Walking Dead.
AMC Networks said production on the eighth season of the hit zombie TV series was "temporarily" shut down after Wednesday's "tragic" accident.
A coroner in Georgia confirmed Bernecker died of blunt force trauma in hospital in Atlanta.
The stuntman's other credits include Black Panther, Logan and the 2015 version of Fantastic Four.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Negan in The Walking Dead, paid tribute on Twitter. "Deep sorrow today, and for every tomorrow," he wrote.
"Love, respect, and condolences to johns family, and friends. He will be forever missed."
British actor Andrew Lincoln is among the stars of The Walking Dead
Kellan Lutz, a star of the Twilight film series, remembered Bernecker as "one of the best, most talented stuntmen I have ever been blessed to work with."
A statement posted by the LifeLink Foundation, an organ donor network, said: "The family of John Bernecker is heartbroken to confirm that John has passed away from injuries sustained earlier this week.
"Although devastated by their loss, John's loved ones have ensured his legacy will live on, not only through the personal and professional contributions he made during his life, but also by their generous decision to allow John to save lives as an organ donor."
The Walking Dead showrunner Scott M Gimple said: "Our production is heartbroken by the tragic loss of John Bernecker.
"John's work on The Walking Dead and dozens of other movies and shows will continue to entertain and excite audiences for generations. We are grateful for his contributions, and all of us send our condolences, love, and prayers to John's family and friends."
AMC said Bernecker's family had decided that he would be removed from life support following organ donation.
"We are deeply saddened by this loss and our hearts and prayers are with John's family, friends and colleagues during this extremely difficult time," the network said in a statement.
The actors' union SAG-AFTRA described Bernecker's death as "heartbreaking".
It added: "The safety of our members is paramount. We will work with the authorities and closely monitor their investigations into this tragic incident."
The programme stars Andrew Lincoln, Danai Gurira, Norman Reedus and Cohan as the survivors of an epidemic that has wiped out much of humanity after a zombie apocalypse.
Based on the comic books by Robert Kirkman, the show is due to return to screens in October.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40606244
|
Two men killed in plane crash in Wiltshire - BBC News
|
2017-07-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch is examining events leading up to the crash near Marlborough.
|
Wiltshire
|
The crash happened at about 18:30 BST on Thursday in Brimslade near Marlborough
Two men were killed when a light aircraft crashed in a field in Wiltshire, police have confirmed.
The crash happened at about 18:30 BST on Thursday at Brimslade Farm, south of Marlborough.
The men, who have not yet been formally identified, died at the scene, a spokesman for Wiltshire Police said.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it has launched an investigation into the incident.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-40605797
|
Dad delivers daughter on Birmingham dual carriageway - BBC News
|
2017-07-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Squeamish Steven Sandford had no option when his partner Joanne's waters broke in the car.
|
Birmingham & Black Country
|
Chloe was born on Collector Road in Birmingham
A dad delivered his baby daughter in the car after his partner's waters broke on a Birmingham dual carriageway.
Steven Sandford, who says he is squeamish, had no option when it became clear they would not reach the hospital in time.
Daughter Chloe was safely delivered five minutes before paramedics arrived at Collector Road, with an operator giving instructions over the phone.
The couple's other daughter was also in the car during the birth.
The couple thought they had plenty of time when Ms Winters' contractions started
Mr Sandford, 45, and his partner Joanne Winters, 39, were driving from their Chelmsley Wood home on 27 June when they had to pull over.
He said: "It was six in the morning and my partner Joanne was having pains every 10 minutes so I thought I'd take my time.
"Next thing you know it's every four minutes then three minutes. The nurse on the phone said 'You need to get to Good Hope Hospital straight away'.
"Her waters broke in the car so I was panicking; I put my foot down a bit."
"I don't know how I delivered a baby," Mr Sandford said
Mr Sandford added: "The nurse said you need to pull over, because Jo was screaming at this point in the car.
"I pulled over and then the woman said you need to check if you can see the baby's head. I could see some hair so I started to panic and sweat.
"I said 'give it one big push Jo' and she pushed and the baby came out in my hands.
"I had tears in my eyes, I couldn't speak."
The couple's other daughter Charlotte was in the back seat when Ms Winters gave birth
The couple's other daughter, 16-month-old Charlotte, was in the back seat throughout the dramatic birth.
Mr Sandford said: "She sat in the back of the car- we were going to take her to my mom's but the plan went out the window. It all happened within minutes."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-40608792
|
London acid attacks: Two teenagers arrested - BBC News
|
2017-07-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Two boys aged 15 and 16 are arrested on suspicion of robbery and causing grievous bodily harm.
|
London
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "My helmet saved me," says London acid attack victim Jabed Hussain
Two teenagers have been arrested after acid was thrown in people's faces in five attacks over one night in London.
Two moped riders attacked people in a 90-minute spree in Islington, Stoke Newington and Hackney on Thursday, stealing mopeds in two of the attacks.
An eyewitness said he heard a victim, who he believed was a delivery driver, "screaming in pain". One victim suffered "life-changing injuries".
Police are looking at whether moped theft was the motive for the attacks.
Officers said they were linking the attacks and boys aged 15 and 16 have been arrested on suspicion of robbery and causing grievous bodily harm.
Delivery services Deliveroo and UberEATS have confirmed two of the victims were couriers working for the firms.
The attacks happened amid rising concern about the number of assaults involving corrosive substances in London.
Since 2010, there have been more than 1,800 reports of attacks involving corrosive fluids in the capital. Last year, it was used in 458 crimes, compared to 261 in 2015, according to Met Police figures.
Hackney resident Jon Moody said he was watching TV when he heard screaming and ran to the window.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Footage posted by Turon Miah shows an acid attack victim being doused with water
"I heard a high-pitched scream but thought it was the boys playing football... I heard more shouting and ran to my window," he said.
"I could see a man in serious distress, he was screaming in pain.
"There were only two police officers with the victim, they took out two large water canisters and poured it over him."
He said he believed the victim was a delivery driver and about 20 fellow delivery drivers turned up at the scene.
Emergency services and delivery drivers came to the aid of an acid attack victim in Queensbridge Road, Hackney
The Hackney Gazette last week reported many delivery drivers are refusing to work in some areas after 21:30 BST because of robbery fears.
Takeaway delivery firm Deliveroo emailed drivers saying it was working with the Met Police and urged its staff to report any information about the attacks.
The email said the firm was "truly shocked" about what had happened.
The assaults happened amid increasing concern about the sharp rise in acid attacks in London.
Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said the growing trend of victims being doused with corrosive liquids was concerning.
"The acid can cause horrendous injuries," she said.
"The ones last night involved a series of robberies we believe are linked - I am glad to see we have arrested somebody."
A Met spokesman said one line of inquiry detectives would be pursuing was whether the attackers were targeting moped riders to steal their bikes.
The 16-year-old boy was arrested in Kingsbury Road, north-west London, early on Friday, while the 15-year-old was arrested in Stoke Newington several hours later.
The attacks began at 22:25 BST on Thursday in Hackney Road.
This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Sadiq Khan 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.
A 32-year-old man on a moped was left with facial injuries after another moped, with two male riders, pulled up alongside him and threw a corrosive substance in his face.
One of the men stole his moped and the other drove away on the vehicle they arrived on.
The Met said it was awaiting an update on the extent of the victim's injuries. Inquiries are ongoing.
Assaults involving corrosive substances have more than doubled in England since 2012, with the number of acid attacks in the capital showing the most dramatic rise in recent years.
The Met's own figures show there were 261 acid attacks in 2015, rising to 458 last year.
So far this year - excluding Thursday night - the Met has recorded 119 such attacks.
A man appeared in court earlier this week in connection with a separate attack on cousins Resham Khan and Jameel Muhktar, who had acid thrown at them through a car window in Beckton, east London.
Shadow Home Secretary and Stoke Newington MP Dianne Abbott responded to news of the attacks, tweeting: "More terrible acid attacks, Why would you scar someone for life just to steal a moped."
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 2 by Diane Abbott 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.
Labour MP for East Ham Stephen Timms has tabled an adjournment debate for Monday in the House of Commons on the rise in the number of acid attacks.
About a third of last year's acid attacks in the capital took place in the London borough of Newham, which is in his constituency.
Mr Timms told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was "most concerned about sulphuric acid" and that carrying a bottle without justification should be treated as an offence, like carrying a knife.
"We could certainly come up with arrangements that would allow people to use sulphuric acid in the normal way, perhaps with the benefit of a licence.
"But simply walking around the street with a bottle of sulphuric acid, that should be an offence," he said.
A Downing Street spokesman said the prime minister viewed acid attacks as "horrific".
"We are working with the police to see what more we could do. The prime minister's view is that the use of acid in this way is horrific."
Home Office minister Sarah Newton told BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast the government was considering tighter controls on some chemicals in response to the acid attacks in East London and elsewhere.
But she said regulation would be difficult, as "these chemicals are under everyone's kitchen sinks".
She said it was clear acid was being used "as a weapon" and work had been commissioned "to understand the motivation" of people who use it to injure others.
She also said the government was examining sentencing for those who use acid to injure people.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What should you do in case of a chemical burn?
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40604002
|
Liu Xiaobo: The Chinese dissident memorialised in social art - BBC News
|
2017-07-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Political artists remember Liu Xiaobo, who inspired a generation of Chinese pro-democracy activists.
|
China
|
Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo was an inspiring figure for a new generation of Chinese pro-democracy activists and his death is being remembered by political artists.
Many activists saw him as a godfather for their cause, and have paid tribute to a man who was branded a criminal by Chinese authorities for his activism and jailed several times for "subversion".
One source of inspiration was the well-documented love between Liu Xiaobo and his wife, Liu Xia, who has also been placed under house arrest.
This image of them, which was circulated recently by their activist friends, particularly resounded with many.
It has prompted several artworks paying tribute to their love, such as this one by political artist Badiucao, entitled The Patient of China.
The Australia-based artist also put up a version of the work on a wall on Hosier Lane in Melbourne on Wednesday, calling for Mr Liu's release.
Prominent political cartoonist Rebel Pepper drew and tweeted an alternative take on the photo.
Chinese cartoonist Xiaoguai also drew inspiration from the same picture and tweeted this image of two candles symbolising the couple.
In 2010, Mr Liu was not allowed to travel to Sweden to receive his Nobel Peace Prize.
An image of his empty chair has been inspiration for artists - such as in this work by Badiucao.
Rebel Pepper meanwhile drew a tribute to the chair with Liu Xiaobo's striped pyjamas.
In Hong Kong, where activists had been calling for Mr Liu's release, 17-year-old student Anson Hui told AFP news agency earlier this week that he feared what Mr Liu's death would mean.
"I feel scared. If we lose Liu Xiaobo, nobody could replace him... If there's no Liu Xiaobo we can't unite the whole world to speak out.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-40591147
|
Once suspicious, Trump now embraces France - BBC News
|
2017-07-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Donald Trump was once a harsh critic of France, but this view appears to be changing.
|
US & Canada
|
The Trumps will watch the Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Élysées
Not long ago Donald Trump said that Paris was a terrible place. Now he's embraced the city and the nation, strengthening US-France relations.
On Thursday morning Mr Trump wore a crisp white shirt, cufflinks and a gold-coloured belt buckle that gleamed. He and the First Lady were arriving in Paris for Bastille Day. On the tarmac at Orly, he kissed his wife on both cheeks, and they headed for separate cars. It was all very French.
"A fun trip," one of his aides told me on Air Force One while we flew across the Atlantic. It was a journey that had once seemed unimaginable - and showed how the president's views about the city have changed since the presidential campaign.
More importantly, his trip was ushering in a new age of US-France relations, a transatlantic partnership that has roots in the history of both countries.
During his two days in Paris, Mr Trump will spend time with Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and dine in a restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. He will watch the Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Élysées.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of US forces entering World War One, and for this occasion US and French troops will be marching together in the parade.
During the trip the US president will also have a chance to escape the controversies over Russia and other issues that have dominated the news cycle in Washington.
The American first couple arrived in Paris early on Thursday
It is easy to understand why he would want to get away from Washington. Still the decision to visit Paris and not another city was unexpected - for just about everybody.
Mr Macron invited him several weeks ago, and Mr Trump "was very excited to respond and to accept the invitation," said a senior administration official. It was a surprising development - particularly since the US president had just pulled out of the 2015 Paris climate accord.
Until recently he had a negative view of the city. "Paris is no longer the safe city it was," he said on MSNBC in 2015. "They have sections in Paris that are radicalised, where the police refuse to go there. They're petrified."
During the presidential campaign, he said that a friend, Jim, had visited France and told him not to go there. "France is no longer France," said Mr Trump, quoting "Jim".
He had little evidence for these remarks. Now he seems to have forgotten about them. This morning at the airport he seemed to be having fun.
White House officials said that during the visit Mr Macron was likely to bring up the issue of the environment, and that the two world leaders would discuss the matter. They will also talk about Syria as well as about their shared military history.
The relationship has had its ups and downs.
Under President George W Bush, US-France relations hit a rocky period. Many people in the US criticised the French because they did not support the Iraq war, and some US restaurants stopped serving French fries as a protest against the French nation. "Freedom fries" were offered, and breakfast on Air Force One featured "'freedom toast" instead of French toast.
President Trump angered many in France when he called Paris "unsafe" two years ago
Over time, though, the two nations and their militaries drew close again. Presidents Trump and Macron will build on this relationship, one that allowed the US and France to work together in the campaign against the Islamic State group.
"There were kinks that needed to be worked out in terms of intelligence sharing," said Charles Kupchan, who served as the national security council's senior director for European affairs during the Obama administration. "But the relationship between the US and the French military is extremely close."
Now the relationship is entering a new phase - one in which the French language and culture are celebrated, however briefly. One of President Trump's aides tried gamely to say a few words in French while we flew on Air Force One. Freedom toast is a thing of the past. Spinach quiche, decorated with fresh blackberries, were served for breakfast.
In the end, it is hard to explain the shift in Donald Trump's views of France, and why he has warmed up to Paris. He sometimes acts impulsively and does not fully explain why he has done something. Still he and his aides all seemed happy to leave Washington for a bit - and what better place to go than Paris.
Freedom fries are now a thing of the past
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40593515
|
Is my tower block safe? - BBC News
|
2017-07-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
After the Grenfell disaster, ex-firefighter Phil Murphy checked his tower block's safety - and was horrified at what he found.
|
Magazine
|
Phil Murphy watched the Grenfell disaster unfold on television from his flat on the eighth floor of a Manchester tower block. The former firefighter immediately decided to check out his own building's safety - and was horrified at what he discovered.
On the morning of 14 June, as he switched on the news, Murphy knew straight away how serious the situation in North Kensington was.
Murphy had joined the fire service at the age of 28. Going into a fire, he remembers, was "absolutely frightening".
Phil Murphy is second from the left, front row, after completing his 12 weeks basic firefighter training
But he had found the job, which he did for six years, extremely rewarding. He moved up through the ranks and became a fire safety officer.
The worst kind of call out? "Anything to do with children."
Now, he lived in a tower that, like Grenfell, stood 23 storeys above ground, with a single staircase. And he wanted reassurance that the same thing couldn't happen in his building.
For the past eight years, Murphy has occupied a flat in Stretford House, a 50-year-old block that sits between Manchester's inner ring road and Stretford Mall shopping centre on one of the main routes into the city.
"I love living here," he says. "We work hard to make it a community that we all enjoy." Quite a few of his neighbours are elderly or disabled, and the residents' committee, chaired by Murphy, works hard to stop them feeling isolated. There are plans to grow fruit and vegetables on the roof, as well as to start a recycling club in the shed.
He left the fire service a decade ago. But once you've been a fireman "it never leaves you", he says. "You always read the fire safety in a building when you walk in."
Murphy wasted no time - the day after the Grenfell fire he requested a meeting with Stretford House's landlords, Trafford Housing Trust. He persuaded his local MP, Kate Green, to come with him.
"They were quite firm in reassuring us that everything was fine and they gave me a copy of the 2016 fire risk assessment for the building to take with me," Murphy says.
If this was meant to reassure him, it failed.
"I was horrified, frightened and astonished at the contents of that document," Murphy says.
He found there was a lack of documentation to show that fire alarms, emergency lights and dry risers - pipes which allow water to travel up a building in case of fire - were working or had been looked after.
There was also evidence that compartmentation - the barriers that prevent fire spreading from one part of the building to another - had been breached six years ago when new kitchens, new bathrooms and a communal energy system had been fitted. As a result, says Murphy, "the building was, in fact, full of opportunities for fire to spread".
The housing trust "appeared not to understand what [the 2016 fire] risk assessment was screaming at them, and I mean screaming at them," he adds.
So he began a forensic, line-by-line analysis of the risk assessment and, over four days, compiled a 14-page report. "I went into a bubble. I wasn't sleeping very much at all. And I was completely obsessed with completing it," he says.
He sent the report to the trust, deciding not to raise his concerns with fellow residents immediately.
"Surrounded by people that have been coming to me and crying and telling me all about their fears and why they were scared and why they weren't sleeping, after seeing those horrific scenes from Grenfell - I just thought it might push them over the edge if I showed them that document, frankly," he says.
The report was highly detailed and technical, but in the accompanying email Murphy was very clear about the levels of anxiety felt by the people living in his block.
The housing trust responded to Murphy's email at 04:00 the morning after he sent it. By mid-morning there was a representative from the trust in the foyer "taking on board the concerns" of residents.
Eventually Murphy had a chance to fully voice his worries at a meeting with the trust and the local fire service. A more detailed inspection was carried out by the fire service and Murphy's concerns about the compartmentation were confirmed.
When we meet Murphy at the entrance to his building, 13 maintenance vans are parked nearby. Inside, the sound of builder's radios echoes round the corridors as workmen busily undertake fire safety repairs.
"On Thursday, as soon as the fire officer had been in, and confirmed that my report was correct, the building was full of people, putting fire stopping [insulation] round because it's fatal. The place is a death trap without that fire stopping in place", Murphy says.
We go to the flat of one of his neighbours, Pat. Her flat has just been inspected. Four areas in need of fire safety work had been identified - by her front door, in her kitchen, in her living room and in her boiler room.
Pat enjoys the view from her tower block window
"I call it my cubby hole," Pat says.
The room is linked to a dry riser which runs the full length of the tower block.
Because it hasn't been fireproofed, Murphy says, "if there is any smoke or fire in that riser, it will penetrate right through the building".
"I'm frightened about smoke," says Pat, 70, who has breathing problems. "That would kill me straight away."
To her relief, workmen are now scheduled to fix the problems.
"Maybe I'm the one who has lost more sleep," says Murphy. "Because I've seen instances like this turn into real catastrophes."
"And that's why everyone is grateful for what you've done," says Pat, holding back tears. "I mean it, Phil."
Trafford Housing Trust, which owns and manages Stretford House, says it has reviewed its risk assessments, is undertaking urgent works on the blocks it owns and has fire wardens patrolling 24 hours a day.
Back on the ground floor, in the caretaker's office, we meet Mike Corfield, Trafford Housing Trust's assistant director for customers. He says the work being done in the block is not solely down to Murphy's report.
"Within days of the fire at Grenfell we decided we would commission something called a level four risk assessment, the highest level fire risk assessment you can take," he says.
He admits the 2016 fire risk assessment which worried Phil did highlight some issues with the compartmentation, but "didn't flag them as a serious risk" and says it was written by a "trained and professional expert".
Outside, looking at the rows of maintenance vehicles, we ask Murphy if he's pleased the problems are now being fixed.
"There's still some very, very serious things for them lot to do," he says. "It's certainly warranted this level of reaction."
He's not giving up, though, until he feels all his concerns have been addressed. There is one thing he keeps telling the landlords: "If you lived here, it would be different."
And he is not just thinking about his own block of flats. He wants to develop an app to allow residents to run their own safety checks.
"I want to do something to empower residents of high-rise blocks all around the country to look after their own fire safety," he says. "Because at the moment we're all feeling very disempowered and frightened."
Photographs by Luke Jones unless otherwise stated
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-40507260
|
7 days quiz: Which Muppet has a new voice? - BBC News
|
2017-07-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
7 days quiz: Which Muppet has a new voice?
|
Magazine
|
It's the weekly news quiz - have you been paying attention to what's been going on in the world over the past seven days?
If you missed last week's quiz, try it here
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-40596669
|
Man left with severe injuries gets first-class degree - BBC News
|
2017-07-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Rob Camm is graduating in politics and philosophy at the university of Bristol.
|
England
|
Mr Camm will graduate in politics and philosophy at the University of Bristol on Friday
A man with tetraplegia who is graduating with a first class degree says his time at university has given him a purpose.
Rob Camm, 23, from Breadstone, Gloucestershire was paralysed from the neck down in a car crash in 2013.
He used voice recognition software to write essays and used head movements to control his mouse pointer.
Mr Camm will graduate in politics and philosophy at the University of Bristol on Friday afternoon.
"Before the accident, I had always been the type of person who wanted to be the best they can be," he said.
"Getting a first has made me feel that way again."
He said he "could not believe it" when he saw his result.
Mr Camm used voice recognition software to write essays and used head movements to control his mouse pointer
"I had to keep refreshing the student information page to be sure. Not many people get a first so I'm very proud of managing to do that.
"It's been good to get out of the house and have a purpose. Meeting people and socialising has been hard, but many things are possible with some planning."
Mr Camm will now study for a law conversion course at the University of Law in Bristol, and has recently moved to the city from his family home near Berkeley in Gloucestershire.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40605793
|
Reality Check: Can Scotland and Wales block the repeal bill? - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
First Ministers say it is a "naked power-grab" undermining devolution
|
UK Politics
|
The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, known as the repeal bill, will convert EU laws into UK laws. Some of these will be in areas such as the environment and agriculture, which are normally the responsibility of the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The First Ministers of Scotland and Wales, Nicola Sturgeon and Carwyn Jones, have described the bill as a "naked power-grab" that undermines devolution. But do they have the power to block it?
The UK government says it will negotiate with the devolved governments and attempt to seek consensus. Ultimately, though, the bill could pass even without the agreement of Scotland and Wales, but not without the potential for severe political consequences.
Devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland transfers the power to make laws in some policy areas from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly.
But there are times when the UK Parliament still legislates in these areas. The Sewel Convention states that when it does so, it should normally seek the consent of the devolved legislature.
And the convention is just that, a political convention, not a legally enforceable rule.
It is named after Lord Sewel, who first set it out when the Scottish Parliament was established.
A system was established whereby the UK government seeks a "legislative consent motion" from the devolved legislatures when it passes laws on devolved matters.
The convention was written into a memorandum of understanding between the UK and devolved governments in 2001.
It states: "The UK government will proceed in accordance with the convention that the UK Parliament would not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters, except with the agreement of the devolved legislature."
The memorandum was intended as a political agreement not a legally binding code. And the word "normally" implies it is not absolutely essential for Westminster to seek consent.
The convention as it applies to Scotland and Wales has recently been written into law.
The Scotland Act 1998 said the power of the Scottish Parliament to make laws "does not affect the power of the United Kingdom to make laws for Scotland". However, the Scotland Act 2016 inserted an extra clause saying that Westminster: "will not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters without the consent of the Scottish Parliament".
A similar clause for Wales was included in the Wales Act 2017.
There has been no such Act of Parliament for Northern Ireland, but the convention still applies there.
Despite the new statutory basis, the Sewel Convention does not give the Scottish Parliament or Welsh Assembly an absolute veto.
That was determined by the Supreme Court in its judgement in the case brought by Gina Miller about the triggering of Article 50, which started the Brexit process.
The Supreme Court found that the new clauses do not mean that the Sewel Convention has been converted into a legally enforceable rule. It remains a political convention - albeit one which is recognised as a permanent feature of devolution.
The devolved legislatures in Scotland and Wales do not have the legal power to block the repeal bill. But if the UK government were to bulldoze it through without their consent, it could be politically explosive.
It may just be a convention but it is regarded by many as a key aspect of the devolution settlement and an important part of the UK's constitution.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40608598
|
Turkey coup anniversary: Erdogan hails 'defenders of nation' - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Turkey's president thanks those who "defended the nation" against the coup attempt a year ago.
|
Europe
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has given emotional speeches to tens of thousands of people a year after a coup attempt was faced down in the streets.
Mr Erdogan praised those people, including MPs, who had defended democracy and his government.
He backed the death penalty for coup plotters and said they should wear Guantanamo Bay-style uniforms.
Nearly 250 people died and 2,196 were wounded fighting the coup attempt by an army faction on 15 July last year.
The government has since led a crackdown on alleged coup supporters, with the dismissal of more than 150,000 state employees and the arrest of some 50,000 people.
The coup failed for several reasons, including a lack of support in higher echelons of the armed forces and a lack of political or public backing.
Plotters tried to detain Mr Erdogan as he holidayed in an Aegean resort, but he had left and the coup was thwarted by civilians and soldiers loyal to the president. It is on these people that the president has focused in commemorations.
"People that night did not have guns, they had a flag and more importantly, they had their faith," he told thousands of supporters.
However, the national unity that was initially felt against the coup has faded, and divisions have widened, correspondents say.
Opponents of Mr Erdogan boycotted the day and night of speeches and pageantry. They say his government's actions over the past year amount to an attempt to purge dissent.
Such purges continued right up to last Friday, when more than 7,000 state employees were dismissed.
Mr Erdogan addressed Turks who had rallied to the bridge over the Bosphorus where civilians had confronted pro-coup soldiers last year.
He said: "I am grateful to all members of my nation who defended their country."
Mr Erdogan said that 250 people had lost their lives but the country had won its future.
"Putschists who closed off the bridge on that night wanted to show the world that they were in control," he said, but were countered by "millions who took to the streets that night to defend the honour of their nation".
He said he would "break the heads of the traitors" who plotted the coup.
Mr Erdogan also said he had spoken to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim about the coup plotters, saying: "When they appear in court, let's make them appear in uniform suits like in Guantanamo."
The president then unveiled a "martyrs' memorial" at the bridge, which has been renamed the Bridge of the Martyrs of July 15.
Tens of thousands went to the bridge in Istanbul that has become a landmark of the failed coup
Moving on to Ankara, the capital, he spoke in parliament a year to the hour after it was bombed by warplanes.
He said that on the night of the coup, "our nation showed the whole world what a nation we are".
One supporter in the crowd, who gave his name only as Murat, said: ""If it happened again, I would stay out again. That night, it was like a war. We take ownership of this country and this people."
The date of 15 July has been declared an annual holiday called Democracy and National Unity Day.
Earlier Mr Yildirim told a special session of parliament that 15 July 2016 was a "second War of Independence", following the conflict that led to the creation of the modern state in the 1920s.
"It has been exactly one year since Turkey's darkest and longest night was transformed into a bright day, since an enemy occupation turned into the people's legend," the prime minister said.
But Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the main opposition Republican People's Party, said: "This parliament, which withstood bombs, has been rendered obsolete and its authority removed.
"In the past year, justice has been destroyed. Instead of rapid normalisation, a permanent state of emergency has been implemented."
The Turkish authorities accused a movement loyal to the Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, of organising the plot.
Mr Gulen, who remains in the United States, denies any involvement, and Washington has so far resisted calls from the Turkish authorities to extradite him.
President Erdogan inspected the honour guard ahead of special session of parliament in Ankara
The BBC's Turkey correspondent, Mark Lowen, says that for half of the country, he says, 15 July 2016 was its rebirth; for the other half, its aftermath is killing off what was left of Turkish democracy.
Civilians, as those here on the Bosphorus bridge, helped defy the coup last year
Billboards like this one paying tribute to the "Legend of 15 July" have been erected
Critics say Mr Erdogan is using the purges to stifle political dissent, and last week hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Istanbul at the end of a 450km (280-mile) "justice" march against the government.
The president accused the marchers of supporting terrorism.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40616488
|
Saturday Kitchen: When live TV goes wrong - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A presenter chops his finger, and who knows what the cameraman was thinking?
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Host Nadiya Hussain was charming, celebrity guest Julian Clary provided the jokes, and presenter Donal Skehan was preparing food for the live BBC cookery show Saturday Kitchen.
Donal sliced his finger open and blood starting pouring onto the chopping board.
Viewers at home watched with sympathy and amusement at the unfolding scene.
"Wow! Donal Skehan is so professional! Cut finger on live TV and he cracks on!" said viewer Tania O'Donell on Twitter.
The presenter carried on cooking and chatting valiantly, until he seemed to realise quite how bad the cut was.
"Nothing like a bit of blood on a Saturday morning just to get you alive and kicking. I'm glad Julian is here to keep us going," he said, though some viewers remarked he had gone slightly pale.
Many sent their best wishes to Donal.
But just when everyone had recovered, things took another turn.
A cameraman strode confidently in front of the camera as guests gathered around a table behind him.
When alerted to his presence, he meekly put his hand to his mouth in surprise before sharply exiting the set.
"Loving the show today. Give the cameraman some of the food," one watcher said on Twitter.
The show was compared to domestic chaos in another BBC show.
"Reminds me of an episode of Fawlty Towers," said one viewer.
"My sides! My sides! Hope you're OK #Keepcalmandcarryon," another said.
The team at Saturday Kitchen took the whole thing well though.
"Thanks all our #saturdaykitchen viewers for their comments. This morning's show certainly proved we are LIVE!!" they tweeted.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40618162
|
Billie Eilish: Is she pop's best new hope? - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The 15-year-old writes darkly comic songs about death and revenge - plus she's a real-life pirate.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
Billie Eilish: "Lyrics are so important. I don't think people realise how important they are".
Billie Eilish may only be 15 years old, but she's already a formidable talent (and a real-life pirate, but more on that later).
A member of the Los Angeles Children's Chorus, she wrote her first song - about falling into a black hole - when she was four.
But it was her dance instructor who unlocked her talent for smart, dark pop songs when he asked her to submit a song for class.
Along with her older brother Finneas, Billie came up with Ocean Eyes - an astonishingly assured ballad which compared falling in love to falling off a cliff under "napalm skies".
She posted it on Soundcloud so her teacher could hear it, went to bed, and woke up to a flurry of emails about her burgeoning music career.
Ocean Eyes has racked up nine million plays since Eilish uploaded it to Soundcloud last summer
Since then, she's been on a steep upswing, signed by Interscope Records and releasing one head-turning track after another. The highlight (so far) is Bellyache, in which she sings from the point of view of a conflicted psychopath.
"Where's my mind?" she trills as an acoustic guitar trades blows with a gut-punch drum loop. "Maybe it's in the gutter, where I left my lover."
It's the pop equivalent of a Tarantino movie - finding comic absurdity in the midst of eye-popping gore. The lyrics might keep it off the radio, but Billie isn't too worried.
"I don't need many people to care," says the singer. "Even if other people don't like it, I like it."
As she gears up to release her first EP, Eilish sat down for a frank chat with the BBC about her lyrical fantasies, getting to grips with the music industry and her very unusual middle name.
Hello Billie Eilish… Have I pronounced that right?
Yes! It's eye-lish, like eyelash with a lish.
Your family name is O'Connell, though, so is that a stage name?
It is my middle name. So I'm Bille Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell.
Pirate! That's an amazing name.
Pretty weird, right? Pirate was going to be my middle name but then my uncle had a problem with it because pirates are bad. Then Baird is my mother's name.
The singer co-writes most of her material with her brother, Finneas, who you may recognise as Alistair from the TV show Glee
It's been a year since Ocean Eyes went onto Soundcloud. It was written for a dance class, right?
Oh yeah! My dance teacher knew that I sing, so he asked us to make a song and I thought that was the coolest thing ever.
My brother had written Ocean Eyes and we recorded it, basing all of the production around contemporary and lyrical dance. I think of most songs that way - if you can't dance to a song, it's not a song.
Anyway, we put it on Soundcloud, literally to send the link to my teacher and then it just grew from there.
It's been played more than nine million times now. When did you notice it was taking off?
It was really confusing. I didn't understand what was going on. I literally thought it was like my popular friend had reposted it. 'Wow, it's getting so many listens!'
"I don't like it when people know my age," says the singer.
What are those meetings like? Do you go in super-confident, like, "I've got the goods, what are you going to offer me?" or is it totally nerve-wracking?
I was 13 when this started, so I didn't know anything about anything. I'd go into meetings and they'd say, "So Billie, what do you think?" and I'd just be like, "Am I supposed to know? Because I don't,".
But eventually I got the hang of it. And now the meetings I have are a bit more like, "OK, Billie, what exactly do you want?' and then I explain every single detail of every single thing that I'm thinking; and people do it!
It's insane. You have stuff floating around in your mind and you tell somebody and they go, "Oh yeah, we can make that happen". It's like, "What? WHY?".
So it's like Spider-Man. With great power comes great responsibility.
I am exactly like Spider-Man. I promise.
I get the impression from your lyrics, especially, that you have a very clear idea of the things you want to talk about. How do you approach writing?
Lyrics are so important but they're really underrated. So many lyrics right now are just the same thing - "Oh, I love you but I'm sad because you don't love me and... blah". You can say that in a more interesting way.
Me and my brother write a lot of fiction. Like in Bellyache, obviously. I don't kill people.
Right? But you can put yourself in a character or a situation you would not normally be in. You don't have to be in love to write a love song. You don't have to kill somebody to write a song about killing somebody. It's like jumping into another world.
The singer says she's been approached to write songs for other people after her own music got noticed
So do you consider it like acting? Or do you really want to murder someone, but haven't got round to it yet?
But both of my parents are actors, and I was in plays when I was younger. Then I went to an audition and I came back going, "I hate this. I'm not doing this ever again."
What happened at that audition?
But it's just fun to get to tell a story [in a song]. If you just write about things you've been through, you might get to a point where you go, "I don't feel like this any more, so it's not worth pursuing".
No. No. It's especially worth it.
Well, I wrote Bellyache with my brother, and he wrote Ocean Eyes, and we have a ton of other songs on the EP that I'm really excited about.
Do you find you write better with him than anyone else?
We've had sessions with artists and writers and producers and not that those sessions were bad, but when we write, just us together, it's so much more raw, I guess. And straight from the heart.
Tell me how Bellyache came to be...
I wasn't like, "Let's write a song about killing someone!". We were sitting in my garage rehearsing for a show with my brother's friends. Finneas started riffing on the guitar, and one of them started playing on the piano, and I sang the first line - "Sitting all alone, with a mouthful of gum in the driveway".
Then my brother sang, "My friends aren't far, in the back of the car" and I was like "Lay their bodies," like I had killed them. And he just said, "Woah, that's so cool!".
The video for Bellyache sees Billie on the run after her crime spree, pulling a trolley full of cash
It just grew from there. He came into my room a couple of days later and he was like, 'dude, I wrote the chorus for this'. And he sang it all, and the last line was, "And now I got a bellyache" and I was like, "That is genius".
It's such a childish line. No grown up says, "I have a bellyache, I gotta go". But it's kind of part of the song, because it's about someone whose really young and knows they're a psychopath. They're like, "Maybe I shouldn't steal this money and kill these people... but I'm going to anyway".
It's a very cinematic lyric. You can see the film opening on you in the car, then the camera cuts to the bodies in the boot.
Some people don't really realise what I'm saying until they've listened to it a couple of times. My friends would be like, "Dude I was listening to Bellyache the other day, actually listening to it, and what the hell were you writing about?".
And then you say, "I'm glad you've heard it. Now never cross me again".
Your new song is called Copycat. What's that about?
You'll understand when you hear it, but it's about people who feel justified in copying everything you do. It's not about someone particular, I just wrote it.
I had two sisters growing up - and that sort of thing seemed to happen quite frequently in their peer groups. Is it a girl thing?
It probably is, and it's tortuous. Especially if it's somebody close to you. It's like, "Be your own self - don't try to be me!".
The singer, who turned 15 in December, is accompanied on the road by her mother
You've just played your first headline show in the UK. Do you get nervous?
Not really. I don't get nerves, I just get excited.
Does your dance training help with confidence and stage presence?
Yeah. I mean, I was really a dancer. Then I got injured, so I haven't really danced since Ocean Eyes came out.
I strained my growth plate. My bone separated from my muscle in my hip. It was really bad.
It's so weird, because it can't happen to you if you're over 16 - but I was in a class with a bunch of seniors, because I was at that level. We were doing hip-hop and it just popped. So I haven't really danced since then, which was like a year-and-a-half ago, which has been horrible.
There is a dance video for Ocean Eyes, though, so are you on the mend?
I was injured for the dance video, actually. I had sprained my ankle in December,and I had also strained my groin and I have shoulder problems.
That's a sign to concentrate on the music.
I guess it is, but I'm trying to get back into dance slowly.
I love movement. I love moshing. I always heads right for the front and dig in there and mosh really hard with all the guys. None of the girls want to mosh, so I'm like the only girl getting punched in the face.
Billie Eilish releases her new song, Copycat, today. Her previous singles, Ocean Eyes, Bored, Bellyache and Watch are all available now.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40580489
|
London acid attacks: It felt like fire, says victim - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
"My helmet saved me," says Jabed Hussain - one of five people attacked in one night.
|
London
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "My helmet saved me," says London acid attack victim Jabed Hussain
The victim of an acid attack has said it felt like fire had been thrown at him when two moped riders pulled up alongside him and threw a corrosive substance in his face.
Jabed Hussain, 32, was one of five people attacked during a 90-minute period in London on Thursday night.
The delivery driver, whose own moped was stolen, said "my helmet saved me".
Two teenage boys have been arrested. The government said it was considering more controls on corrosive substances.
"I took off my helmet and I was just screaming for help because it's getting dry and as much as it's getting dry it's burning. So I was just screaming for water," Mr Hussain said, adding that he was now too scared to go back to work.
The attacks - five in total - took place across Islington, Stoke Newington and Hackney on Thursday, with one victim suffering "life-changing injuries".
Ch Insp Ben Clark, from the Met's Hackney Borough, said all of the victims were riding mopeds.
Police have said they are linking the attacks and the boys - aged 15 and 16 - had been arrested on suspicion of robbery and causing grievous bodily harm.
Food delivery services Deliveroo and UberEATS confirmed two of the victims were couriers working for the firms. Deliveroo called the attack "truly shocking" while UberEats said it was "horrific and senseless".
The attacks happened amid rising concern about the number of assaults involving corrosive substances in London.
Since 2010, there have been more than 1,800 reports of attacks involving corrosive fluids in the capital.
So far this year - excluding Thursday night - the Met has recorded 119 such attacks. And in 2016, it was used in 458 crimes, compared with 261 in 2015, according to Met Police figures.
On Friday, a moped rider in his 20s was possibly hit with acid following an attempted robbery at 17:00 BST in Dagenham, east London.
The Met said the victim was approached by two males on a moped who squirted what was described as a "noxious substance" at him as they tried to steal his moped.
He was taken to hospital but has now been discharged.
Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said the growing trend of victims being doused with corrosive liquids was concerning.
Labour MP for East Ham Stephen Timms has tabled an adjournment debate for Monday in the House of Commons on the rise.
Jaf Shah, from the Acid Survivors Trust, has called for a licensing system and said under 18s should be prohibited from purchasing sulphuric or any form of concentrated acid.
A Downing Street spokesman said the prime minister viewed acid attacks as "horrific".
"We are working with the police to see what more we could do."
Home Office minister Sarah Newton said the government was considering tighter controls, but said regulation would be difficult, as "these chemicals are under everyone's kitchen sinks".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Footage posted by Turon Miah shows an acid attack victim being doused with water
A Met spokesman said officers were looking at whether the attackers were targeting moped riders to steal their bikes.
The 16-year-old boy was arrested in Kingsbury Road, north-west London, early on Friday, while the 15-year-old was arrested in Stoke Newington several hours later.
Hackney resident Jon Moody said he was watching TV on Thursday when he heard screaming and ran to the window.
"I heard a high-pitched scream but thought it was the boys playing football... I heard more shouting and ran to my window," he said.
"I could see a man in serious distress, he was screaming in pain.
"There were only two police officers with the victim, they took out two large water canisters and poured it over him."
He said he believed the victim was a delivery driver and about 20 fellow delivery drivers turned up at the scene.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What should you do in case of a chemical burn?
Did you witness the attacks? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your stories.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40617058
|
When your body becomes eligible for an upgrade - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
At MIT’s Biomechatronics Lab work is being done to replace limbs - and maybe one day upgrade them.
|
Technology
|
Professor Hugh Herr believes we're entering a new era of human-machine interoperability
We all like to joke about what might happen if robots, powered by artificial intelligence, decide they want to overthrow humans.
That scenario is, at best, decades away. But this week I’ve been pondering something much more immediate, and in my view, more likely. What will happen when humans decide to become robots?
"We’re at a key transition in human history,” says Prof Hugh Herr, who heads the Biomechatronics Group at the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
He says the group’s aim is to establish the scientific and technological conditions that will eventually eliminate disability, whether through paralysis or amputation.
But when that incredible goal has been achieved, then what?
"We’re fusing the nervous system with the built world,” he says.
"We’re transitioning from a relationship where we use technology that is separate from our nervous system, to a new epoch of integration, of human physiology."
Prof Herr is a double amputee. In 2012, I saw him move a room in London to tears when he revealed his incredibly sophisticated bionic legs that allowed him to move with natural poise and grace.
In 2014, Prof Herr’s technology meant Adrianne Haslet-Davis returned to the dancefloor, less than a year after losing a limb in the Boston marathon bombings. Her first performance after the incident brought a TED talk audience instantly to its feet.
I visited Prof Herr’s lab last week to learn more about the work his team is doing, and where it may lead. Right now, much of the research is focused on doing things the human body can do instinctively, but which are extremely complex to engineer.
This foot is able to detect when it is in mid-air, and react accordingly
Roman Stolyarov, a researcher at the lab, demonstrated how they are using sensors similar to those found on self-driving cars to give prosthetic legs an awareness of what is around them.
This is important to make the leg behave differently when, for example, walking down stairs. The human brain, whether the person realises it or not, is able to instinctively prepare the leg to land on a step. Teaching a prosthesis to do the same is the difference between having a bionic leg and, to put it crassly, a peg leg.
“The motor is able to work in such a way that simulates a real biological ankle joint,” Mr Stolyarov told me.
“The [leg] uses on-board sensors to infer whether the leg is in the air or on the ground, and perform actions that to the person feel much more like real walking than they would get from a passive prosthesis.”
The end result is that walking is considerably less tiring for amputees like Ryan Cannon, who lost his leg following complications after he broke it.
“I can move in a more rhythmic, symmetrical way,” he told me.
"Being able to move in that manner allows me to walk at a faster pace for a longer distance and to do more activities during the day.”
But not all the work carried out here is about replacing limbs. It’s also looking at improving them.
One exoskeleton project reduces the physical exertion when walking by 25%, explained researcher Tyler Clites.
“What that means is, if you were to walk 100 miles, it would only feel like you walked 75.
"We’re able to do that today. Those are devices I would expect to see rolling out commercially in the next several years.”
Beyond MIT, others are working on similar initiatives. US retail chain Lowes is piloting exoskeltons for staff, developed at Virginia Tech, that assist them with lifting at work.
“I definitely think that we are entering an age in which the line between biological systems and synthetic systems is going to be very much blurred,” Mr Clites said.
Staff at US chain Lowes are trying out new exoskeleton technology
He said this future brings a concern that the rich and fortunate of the world may become physically superior, too.
“Then what you do is create a new baseline for physical ability, and perhaps mental ability, that’s only achievable by people who are already in a position of privilege.”
That said, Prof Herr said he was confident that as the cost of prosthetics became lower, it wouldn’t leave poorer people behind.
"The cost of robotics is going to plummet,” he said.
"It’s hard to predict whether there’ll be large separations in society."
Before that day, work will be mostly focused on improving the lives of amputees. But in that endeavour, one of the obstacles hindering Prof Herr’s work is one of compatibility.
Much like an old computer peripheral that can't plug into a new laptop, nor can most amputees “plug in” to the latest technologies being developed in this lab.
To solve this, the team is urgently trying to change the way limbs are amputated.
"The method that is used today to amputate limbs has fundamentally not changed since the US Civil War,” Prof Herr said.
"So while you’ve seen tremendous progress in mechatronics and robotics, you’ve not seen progress in how surgeries are performed to amputate limbs. That is now changing.
"We’re redesigning how limbs are amputated to create the right mechanical and electrical interfacing environment.”
He said this interfacing would join the brain directly to the limb, creating a sense among amputees that they are making their bodies whole again.
"What we’re experiencing clinically is that when we attach these limbs to people and we listen to their testimonials, they use language such as 'I have my limb back, I’m healed, it’s part of me’.”
Once that breakthrough is fully achieved - and there’s evidence of progress literally walking around Prof Herr’s lab - he said humans will surely begin to consider themselves eligible for an upgrade.
"We’ll be more open to using all kinds of materials to make up our bodies,” he said.
You can reach Dave securely through encrypted messaging app Signal on: +1 (628) 400-7370
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40616561
|
Girl, 15, dies in Newton Abbot after 'legal high reaction' - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The girl was found unconscious in the early hours in a park in Newton Abbot, Devon, and later died.
|
Devon
|
Two other girls found in the park were also taken to hospital as a precaution
A 15-year-old girl has died after suffering an adverse reaction from a suspected "legal high," police said.
The girl was found unconscious at about 04:50 BST at Bakers Park in Newton Abbot, Devon, and died at Torbay Hospital. She was not from the area.
Two other girls were also taken to hospital as a precaution.
Police said they were "confident" local people would know who supplied the drugs to the girl and appealed for them to come forward.
Investigations are continuing and a cordon is in place at the scene
Det Supt Ken Lamont said: "With NPS (New Psychoactive Substances) no-one knows what's in them and that's why they are so dangerous.
"Time and time again we hear of people paying the ultimate price for this.
"It's not worth experimenting with your life."
The girl's next of kin have been informed but police have not yet named her.
Investigations are continuing and a cordon is in place at the scene.
Last year Totnes teenager Nathan Wood died after after taking the psychoactive drug N-Bomb.
Police called on parents to "speak to your children about the dangers of drugs and (formerly known as) legal highs".
"They can cause death even if taken just once."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40618371
|
One of these places will be the UK City of Culture in 2021 - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Coventry, Paisley, Sunderland, Swansea and Stoke-on-Trent will compete for the title.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
Coventry, Paisley, Sunderland, Swansea and Stoke-on-Trent will compete to host a year-long celebration of art and performance as UK City of Culture 2021.
The five locations are on a shortlist for the title, but six other bidding towns and cities missed out.
The five left in the race will hope to emulate the success of Hull, which is UK City of Culture this year.
The title is awarded every four years and the winner for 2021 will be the third UK City of Culture.
It's the birthplace of Philip Larkin, one of England's finest poets, and the home of the 2 Tone ska movement through bands like The Specials and The Selecter.
Venues would include Warwick Arts Centre, the Belgrade Theatre and the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. It's not just about the existing culture - it is, as the bid organisers say, "about changing the reputation of a city".
This Renfrewshire town, population 76,000, is perhaps most famous for the Paisley print - the intricate, colourful designs that were inspired by Kashmiri patterns in the 18th Century and popularised in the psychedelic 1960s.
It was also home to Gerry Rafferty, known for his hit Baker Street. Former Doctor Who star David Tennant grew up in the city, while Paolo Nutini's dad runs a fish and chip cafe there. There are plans for Paisley Museum to have a £42m revamp - though it's not due to reopen until 2022.
Stoke is most famous as the capital of the English ceramics industry, which it is trying to revive, with designers like Emma Bridgewater there and Keith Brymer Jones from the BBC's Great Pottery Throwdown about to move into the old Spode factory.
It can also claim Robbie Williams, the Staffordshire Hoard - a treasure trove of Anglo-Saxon gold - and, in nearby Newcastle-under-Lyme, the pioneering New Vic theatre.
Sunderland's claims to fame range from Middle Ages chronicler Venerable Bede and England's first ever stained glass window to a fertile indie music scene that spawned bands like Frankie and the Heartstrings and The Futureheads.
It also has The National Glass Centre, the Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art and Sunderland Empire. And a new £10m cultural quarter is in development, including a music and arts hub in the old fire station.
Swansea Bay was on the shortlist last time and the city has now come back again.
It is the home of poet Dylan Thomas - as well as a permanent exhibition that opened on his 100th birthday in 2014 - not to mention Catherine Zeta Jones and TV writer Russell T Davies.
Its Glynn Vivian Art Gallery reopened last year after a £6m facelift, and the council says being City of Culture would kick-start its longer-term plans for "culture-led regeneration".
The places that didn't make the shortlist include Perth, which had been the bookmakers' favourite.
All the bidding cities are particularly keen to win the title after seeing the example of what's been achieved in Hull.
Recent research suggests nine out of 10 local residents experienced a City of Culture event in the first three months of the year, while being City of Culture has boosted the local economy by an estimated £60m.
Hull's year as City of Culture has been seen as a success so far
Arts minister John Glen said: "The strength of the competition showed us how valuable our cultural assets are to our towns, boosting tourism and jobs in local communities.
"I have seen first hand how Hull has embraced its status as City of Culture 2017, and how beneficial it has been for the area. I am looking forward to seeing what will come in 2021."
The UK City of Culture scheme is separate from the European Capital of Culture, a title shared this year by Aarhus in Denmark and Paphos in Cyprus.
A British city is expected to be European Capital of Culture in 2023 - despite Brexit - with Leeds, Dundee and Milton Keynes among those interested.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40611161
|
From angel to monster: 'My son was groomed to sell drugs' - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Middle-class children are in danger of being groomed by criminal gangs to sell drugs, a report says.
|
UK
|
Children from middle-class backgrounds are in danger of being groomed by criminal gangs to sell drugs, a new report has found. One mother says her son turned from "an angel into a monster".
"I was going out there looking for him myself," Claire - not her real name - explains to the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme. "I was a nervous wreck."
In 2012, her son was exploited by a criminal gang to sell Class A drugs in his early teens, which led to him going missing for long periods of time - in one instance for three months.
"There was one occasion when he came home, and I heard a rustling at my door.
"To my horror, he was actually dealing from my home.
"He was getting calls on his mobile phone and asking whoever it was who was willing to purchase to come to my gate.
"Then it progressed to him being out on the streets most of the time - nowhere to be heard, nowhere to be seen."
Claire describes her son as being a high achiever at school, who "never had any problems with his behaviour".
"He was actually featured in the local newspaper for very good work," she adds.
Her story comes as a report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Runaway and Missing Children and Adults warns that children and young people from "stable and economically better-off backgrounds" are being drawn in, coerced and exploited by criminal gangs.
"Any child can be groomed for criminal exploitation," according to the report
Labour MP Ann Coffey, who chairs the group, told the programme: "People think it's children from a particular group that are vulnerable to this and of course they are vulnerable, but we also forget that it is all children and we have a duty to protect all children, including children from better-off backgrounds who we may not think are vulnerable to this kind of exploitation and may go unnoticed."
The report says children are being used in so-called "county lines" operations - supplying Class A drugs from urban areas to county towns.
It says such grooming of missing children is "very similar" to sexual exploitation, but that those drawn in are effectively being blamed for their own participation in criminal activity, rather than being considered a victim.
Exploited children can be perceived as having "made a choice" and be seen as criminals rather than victims of the gangs controlling them.
The report calls for the risks of grooming and exploitation to be taught in both primary and secondary schools.
"Any child can be groomed for criminal exploitation. It affects boys and girls," it adds.
The National Crime Agency says the issue has spread out from London gangs to the rest of the country, including Liverpool and Greater Manchester.
Claire believes her son was coerced into selling drugs.
"It could be that one of his peers, who had family members who were into criminal activity, asked their brother or sister to recruit within their mates," she says.
"There's the other side, where [he could have been] approached outside the school.
"I think personally he has gone through all of those stages."
Claire says she "screamed and shouted" for support
Asked if she received any help from social services, she says: "Unfortunately with every service I was always told my son would have to have worse problems to have the support that I needed.
"I have screamed, I have shouted, I have done everything possible to try and prevent my son from getting deeper.
"Every way I turned I was backed up in a corner."
Referring to Claire's case, Ann Coffey says: "Her son's missing episodes were perhaps not seen in the way that they should have been because maybe the agencies didn't connect the risk to him in the way they might have done to another child from another different kind of background."
The cross-party report also called for a new national database for missing people, noting a lack of information-sharing that Claire also experienced.
"There has to be a response team that's working together, because I had to be dealing with so many services just for one child," she says.
"There was never anybody who could see what the other person was doing."
The government made tackling county lines one of its priorities in 2016 for ending gang violence and exploitation, saying: "It is essential that police forces and their partners develop an understanding of what this means locally."
A Home Office spokeswoman said: "There is more that all partners can do, which is why we are tackling county lines through a national action plan and reviewing our cross-government strategy on missing children and adults and developing a clear implementation plan for delivery."
Claire says she just feels "fortunate" that her son is still alive.
"He nearly passed away after being stabbed," she explains.
"He's alive and he's in a hospital bed, but when I saw him I broke down.
"His words to me were: 'I'm all right, Mum, I'm OK - it could have been worse.'"
Asked for her advice for any parents in similar situations, she says: "Reach out - reach out for any help you can get."
Watch the Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40605413
|
Trump and Macron: An unlikely friendship is born - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
US President Donald Trump forms a close alliance with President Emmanuel Macron during his Paris trip.
|
US & Canada
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Toned-down Trump: What happened to the tough talk on Paris?
President Trump has made a new friend - Emmanuel Macron, the French president. The alliance, say analysts, is good for both Europe and the US.
Trump and Macron sat next to each other and watched a Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Elysees.
Trump put his hand on Macron's shoulder. A moment later Macron placed his hand on the other man's back, a sign of their new friendship.
French and US troops both marched in the parade, honouring the fact that the Americans helped France survive two world wars. More recently French and US militaries have worked together to combat al-Qaeda in West Africa and the Islamic State group in Syria.
Afterwards Trump headed back to the US, and one of his advisors, Thomas Bossert, who was travelling with him, talked about the importance of the friendship between the two leaders.
While the president was in a private cabin on Air Force One, Bossert told me and other reporters on the aeroplane that Trump and Macron would now be able work together more closely on issues such as counterterrorism and defence.
"The relationship that the two presidents has forged will increase the trust that's required" for intelligence sharing and other delicate matters, Bossert explained.
Their friendship came about in a surprising way.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The US president and his French counterpart shared a handshake that seemed like it would never end
When they met in Brussels in May, Macron gave Trump a manly hand shake, showing he was a force to be reckoned with. Trump also made something clear during his first trip to Europe as president: he expected a lot from his friends.
Trump said that members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) should increase their defence spending. A European official who's close to Macron told me that Trump also shared an idea with them about the contributions to Nato that members make.
The European official said that Trump wanted to present Macron with an invoice on camera as a way of showing that the French should pay more money for their defence.
The Europeans said they did not like the idea of a mini-drama about Nato spending, while a White House official told me the president never suggested it.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The US president told Brigitte Macron she was "in good shape"
The discrepancy in these two accounts hints at a bigger problem: Trump hasn't gotten along with Europeans. He made disparaging remarks about Nato and pulled the US out of the 2015 Paris climate accord.
Afterwards Macron called Trump, asking him to come to Paris for Bastille Day.
"Macron's invitation to Trump was a bold stroke," said Charles Kupchan, who served as the national security council's senior director during the Obama administration.
Macron's invitation was a subtle form of flattery, a national pastime in France, but in this case there was more than a kernel of sincerity too.
"If Macron is seen to be trying to ingratiate himself, that is in itself flattering," said Richard Stengel, who served as an under secretary of state for the Obama administration and is the author of a book called You're Too Kind: A Brief History of Flattery.
Macron did not agree with much of what Trump has said and done since taking office, but still Macron wanted to get along. France's relationship with the US - for military and other reasons - is considered to be a top priority for Macron and his deputies.
The official visit saw a few protesters
"They need to make sure they don't screw it up," said Jeremy Shapiro, former US state department official.
The charm strategy worked - in part because Macron had a willing victim. Trump likes to single people out in hostile-ish groups and turn them into allies. In Europe, an area filled with leaders who resent Trump, Macron offered hope.
Besides that, as the German Marshall Fund's Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, said: "Trump has a lot of respect for Macron."
Trump arrived in Paris on Thursday. That evening he and Macron sat at a table in Jules Verne, a restaurant on top of the Eiffel Tower with a spectacular view of the city, and they talked about food.
Watching the Bastille Day parade, Trump spoke to Macron in an animated way, throwing his arms around. The troops wore white gloves and feathered hats, and they carried swords and marched in lockstep. They looked like tin solders come to life, and Trump clapped exuberantly.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Trump has said lots of bad things about Europe, but Macron managed to turn things around.
He gave a speech that afternoon with Trump standing next to him. At the end of his remarks, Macron said: "Vive la France."
It was a European sentiment that Trump - at least for the moment - embraced.
• None What is the Paris climate agreement?
• None What has Trump said about your country?
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40613719
|
Raul Castro denounces Donald Trump's Cuba policy - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Cuba's president said attempts to destroy the revolution would fail, in his first public comment on changes.
|
Latin America & Caribbean
|
Mr Castro said he rejected Mr Trump's "manipulation of the topic of human rights"
The president of Cuba has spoken publicly for the first time against US President Donald Trump's rollback of a thaw between the two countries a month ago.
President Raul Castro said "attempts to destroy the revolution" would fail.
Mr Trump has tightened restrictions on US travel to and business with the communist island.
But the US embassy in Havana, re-opened by former President Barack Obama, is still operating.
Mr Castro was speaking in front of Cuba's national assembly. It was his first public comment on the policy changes Mr Trump announced a month ago.
State-run Cuban media quoted Mr Castro as saying that Mr Trump was using "old and hostile rhetoric" and had returned to "confrontation that roundly failed over 55 years".
He said: "We reject the manipulation of the topic of human rights against Cuba, which can be proud of much in this area and does not need to receive lessons from the United States nor anyone."
Mr Trump anchored his policy rollback in human rights concerns raised by political opponents of Cuba's communist government, many of whom have fled to Miami where Mr Trump announced the changes on 16 June.
Mr Castro continued: "Cuba and the United States can cooperate and live side by side, respecting their differences. But no one should expect that for this, one should have to make concessions inherent to one's sovereignty and independence."
Mr Castro will step down as president in seven months, but will remain the head of the country's Communist Party.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-40615948
|
Scarborough Athletic FC plays first match at home ground in decade - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Scarborough Athletic FC has played home fixtures in Bridlington since the club was founded in 2007.
|
York & North Yorkshire
|
A crowd of 2,000 people turned out to watch Scarborough Athletic FC play their first home match in 10 years
A football team has played its first home game in more than 10 years after moving into a new stadium.
Scarborough Athletic FC played in its home town for the first time since the club was founded in 2007.
The team, formed after the collapse of Scarborough FC, has been playing home fixtures nearly 20 miles away in Bridlington.
The Sea Dogs lost 4-1 against a Sheffield United XI in front of a sell-out crowd at Flamingo Land Stadium.
Chairman Trevor Bull said: "Today is not only a great day for our club, it is also a massive day for our town."
Scarborough Athletic FC faced a Sheffield United XI in their first match at the Flamingo Land Stadium
The stadium forms part of a £50m development built on a former park and ride site
The club was formed after Scarborough FC went out of business with debts of £2.5m. It is jointly owned by about 350 supporters.
Fan and club communications officer Will Baines said: "A lot of people have put a lot of work in to the club while we've been in exile, but now we're coming home."
Mr Baines said the move back to Scarborough was key to the future success of the side.
"We're fan-owned which means we've got our destiny in our own hands," he said.
"We've not got a big investor backing us, so that's why it's important that we're back in town as it's the money that we get through the turnstiles every week that will pay for the club."
Scarborough FC played at the McCain Stadium until the club went out of business in 2007
The homecoming fixture generated such interest the council and club warned people not to congregate on the hill overlooking the ground as it has no public right of way.
The stadium forms part of a £50m development built on the town's former Weaponness Park and Ride site, which includes a swimming pool, new University Technical College and Coventry University's Scarborough campus.
Scarborough FC's former ground - the McCain Stadium - was demolished in 2011.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-40606364
|
Vogue sorry for Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik 'gender fluid' claim - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Some weren't happy that the magazine said Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid were "gender fluid".
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid in the US Vogue photoshoot
US Vogue has apologised for "missing the mark" by saying Zayn Malik and his girlfriend Gigi Hadid were "embracing gender fluidity".
In an interview, the former One Directioner and the US model talked about borrowing each other's clothes.
They were photographed in colourful, fairly androgynous clothes.
But readers mocked the magazine for its definition of the phrase, pointing out that what you wear does not make you "gender fluid".
Many on social media pointed out that the term refers to people with a particular transgender identity, who do not conform to societal expectations of male or female or identify as either.
For instance Jacob Tobia wrote in Cosmopolitan: "If you're going to talk about a marginalised community, talk to that community.
"Unlike how this new Vogue cover shoot presents it, the lived experience of being gender-nonconforming is rarely that fun and glamorous."
Vogue describes a conversation between the pair, with Hadid telling Malik: "I shop in your closet all the time, don't I?".
The 24-year-old singer then replies that he borrowed an Anna Sui T-shirt from her, adding: "I like that shirt. And if it's tight on me, so what? It doesn't matter if it was made for a girl."
Hadid, 22, agrees, saying: "Totally. It's not about gender. It's about, like, shapes. And what feels good on you that day.
"And anyway, it's fun to experiment."
Vogue writer Maya Singer comments in the piece, in US Vogue's August issue, that for many young people "gender is a more or less arbitrary distraction" and that there is "a terrific opportunity for play".
She says "this new blase attitude toward gender codes marks a radical break", adding: "For these millennials, at least, descriptives like boy or girl rank pretty low on the list of important qualities - and the way they dress reflects that."
But poet Tyler Ford, who's quoted in the accompanying article exploring gender norms, tweeted (with an eyeroll emoji): "The only mention of the word 'trans' is by me via interview."
Journalist and author Hannah Orenstein said she would have preferred Tyler to have been profiled instead of Hadid and Malik, tweeting: "Zayn and Gigi are profiled in this piece on gender fluidity because... they borrow each other's clothes sometimes?"
Another reader noted on Twitter: "Y'all notice Zayn isn't out here wearing dresses."
And Colette Fahy wrote: "All Z & G say is that they borrow each other's clothes. Such a big jump for the mag to declare gender fluidity."
In a statement issued on Friday, a Vogue spokeswoman said: "The story was intended to highlight the impact the gender-fluid, non-binary communities have had on fashion and culture.
"We are very sorry the story did not correctly reflect that spirit - we missed the mark.
"We do look forward to continuing the conversation with greater sensitivity."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40608053
|
Turkey dismisses thousands a year after coup attempt - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
It comes on the eve of the first anniversary of a coup attempt that led to more than 250 deaths.
|
Europe
|
Turkey has seen mass arrests and dismissals in the public sector since the 2016 coup attempt
Turkey has dismissed more than 7,000 police, ministry staff and academics, ahead of the first anniversary of an attempted coup.
It comes as part of a major purge of state institutions, including the judiciary, police and education, in response to last year's unrest.
On Saturday, Turkey marks one year since rogue soldiers bombed buildings and opened fire on civilians.
More than 250 people were killed in the violence.
The Turkish authorities accuse a movement loyal to the Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, of organising the July 2016 plot to bring down President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Mr Gulen, who remains in the United States, denies any involvement. Washington has so far resisted calls from the Turkish authorities to extradite the cleric.
The latest dismissals came in a decree from 5 June but only published by the official government Gazette on Friday.
It says the employees are people "who it's been determined have been acting against the security of the state or are members of a terrorist organisation".
Among those listed were 2,303 police officers and 302 university academics. Another 342 retired officers and soldiers were stripped of their ranks and grades, Reuters reports.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. BBC speaks to man run over by tanks during the attempted coup
Turkey has already dismissed more than 150,000 officials since the coup attempt, and arrested another 50,000 from the military, police and other sectors.
The government says the measures are necessary given the security threats it faces but critics say Mr Erdogan is using the purges to stifle political dissent.
Istanbul is awash with giant anniversary billboards and posters showing people confronting pro-coup soldiers.
Huge rallies are due to take place, with President Erdogan, who avoided capture last year, addressing parliament at the exact time that it was bombed.
He and his supporters see the defeat of the coup as Turkey's rebirth, but for others it's less triumphant, says the BBC's Mark Lowen.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40612056
|
World's large carnivores being pushed off the map - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Six of the world's large carnivores have lost more than 90% of their historic range, new analysis says.
|
Science & Environment
|
The Ethiopian wolf has lost 99% of its range
Six of the world's large carnivores have lost more than 90% of their historic range, according to a study.
The Ethiopian wolf, red wolf, tiger, lion, African wild dog and cheetah have all been squeezed out as land is lost to human settlements and farming.
Reintroduction of carnivores into areas where they once roamed is vital in conservation, say scientists.
This relies on human willingness to share the landscape with the likes of the wolf.
The research, published in Royal Society Open Science, was carried out by Christopher Wolf and William Ripple of Oregon State University.
They mapped the current range of 25 large carnivores using International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List data. This was compared with historic maps from 500 years ago.
The work shows that large carnivore range contractions are a global issue, said Christopher Wolf.
"Of the 25 large carnivores that we studied, 60% (15 species) have lost more than half of their historic ranges,'' he explained.
"This means that scientifically sound reintroductions of large carnivores into areas where they have been lost is vital both to conserve the large carnivores and to promote their important ecological effects.
"This is very dependent on increasing human tolerance of large carnivores - a key predictor of reintroduction success."
The tiger has lost 95% of its range
The researchers say re-wilding programmes will be most successful in regions with low human population density, little livestock, and limited agriculture.
Additionally, regions with large networks of protected areas and favourable human attitudes toward carnivores are better suited for such schemes.
"Increasing human tolerance of large carnivores may be the best way to save these species from extinction," said co-researcher William Ripple.
"Also, more large protected areas are urgently needed for large carnivore conservation."
When policy is favourable, carnivores may naturally return to parts of their historic ranges.
This has begun to happen in parts of Europe with brown bears, lynx, and grey wolves.
The Eurasian lynx and grey wolf are among the carnivores that have the smallest range contractions.
The dingo and several types of hyena are also doing relatively well, compared with the lion and tiger.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-40596729
|
Home Office fined £366,900 for breaking pay cap for abuse inquiry chief - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Home Office fined £366,900 for failing to get approval for pay cap-busting salary for Alexis Jay.
|
UK Politics
|
Professor Jay was a panel member before being named chair
The Home Office has been fined £366,900 for breaching the government's senior salary pay cap when it appointed the head of a child sex abuse inquiry.
It was penalised by the Treasury for failing to get clearance in advance before agreeing to pay Professor Alexis Jay £185,000 a year.
Since 2010, all jobs with salaries of more than £142,500 agreed by ministers have had to be signed off in advance.
The Home Office said it had reviewed procedures to avoid future breaches.
Prof Jay became the fourth chair of the troubled inquiry after replacing Lowell Goddard in August 2016.
The fine also relates to the pay of the inquiry's three panel members one of whom, Drusilla Sharpling, received a basic salary of £152,424 in 2015-6.
On becoming chancellor in 2010, George Osborne ruled that public servants directly appointed by ministers should not be paid more than then Prime Minister David Cameron - who was earning £142,500 at the time - unless they were approved by the Treasury.
It was part of an austerity drive which saw the pay of ministers cut by 5% and then frozen for five years.
Prof Jay was named as chair by Home Secretary Amber Rudd at short notice in August 2016. Her predecessor, a leading New Zealand judge, resigned suddenly following criticism of her conduct of the troubled inquiry.
The inquiry is investigating historical allegations of sex abuse against local authorities, religious organisations, the armed forces and public and private institutions - as well as people in the public eye - spanning decades.
The leading academic and child protection expert was already a panel member, working in that capacity alongside Ms Sharpling, barrister Ivor Frank and academic Professor Malcolm Evans.
Details of the "exemplary fine" emerged in the Home Office's accounts for the past financial year.
A Home Office spokesman said the department had been punished for having to secure "retrospective approval" for Prof Jay's salary when she became chair as well as the remuneration of other panel members agreed when the inquiry was set up in 2015.
"The Treasury has the power to consider fines for departments who breach agreed spending control processes, including those relating to senior salary approval," it said.
"The Home Office have since reviewed appointment procedures to prevent further such breaches."
The fine does not relate to Dame Lowell Goddard's remuneration
The Home Office said Prof Jay had been appointed swiftly in order to minimise disruption to the inquiry and this meant getting sign-off for her salary "in parallel" with her appointment - which was subsequently approved.
According to the inquiry's accounts, Prof Jay was paid £118,360 for the period from 18 August 2016 to 31 March 2017. She also received an £27,478 accommodation allowance and expenses of £2,281.
She also received £34,465 for her work as a panel member during the first four months of the financial year before becoming its chair.
The accounts show Ms Sharpling was paid £152,285 in 2015-6, rising to £154,423 in 2016-7. The inquiry has agreed to subsidise 80% of what she was earning in her previous capacity as Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary.
Over the same period, Prof Evans was paid £65,540 while Mr Frank received £96,332,50. In the past financial year, these salaries - which are set at a fixed rate of £565 a day - rose to £76,840 and £138,990 retrospectively.
The Home Office stressed the fine did not relate to Dame Lowell Goddard's remuneration arrangements, which were heavily criticised during her 16 months in the post, but for which officials said "all the necessary approvals" had been granted.
In 2015-6, she was paid £355,000 and received an accommodation and utilities allowance worth £119,207. She also received £29,156 in relocation costs and £75,246 in travel costs including the cost of air fares between the UK and New Zealand.
She was paid £123,871 for the period between 1 April and her resignation on 4 August 2016 while her allowances and expenses for the period totalled more than £80,000.
The inquiry has been beset by problems since its inception with its first two chairs, Lady Butler-Sloss and Dame Fiona Woolf, stepping down before beginning their work. The inquiry's chief lawyer, Ben Emmerson, resigned last year but Prof Jay has insisted it is continuing with its work.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40610167
|
Senegal Demba Diop: Football stadium collapse kills eight - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A wall gave way during clashes following a League Cup final at the venue in the capital Dakar.
|
Africa
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A survivor describes how a wall fell directly onto the crowd
A wall collapsed at a football stadium in Senegal on Saturday, killing eight people and injuring almost 90.
It fell in after fighting began between rival fans and police responded with tear gas, with a stampede ensuing.
Stade de Mbour were playing Union Sportive Ouakam at the Demba Diop stadium in the capital Dakar.
The country has suspended all sporting and cultural events for the rest of the month.
During the clashes, home fans threw projectiles including stones at others. Pictures circulating online appear to show people scrambling over a low wall amid clouds of gas.
Passions were high at the game, the League Cup final.
With the score 1-1 after 90 minutes, Mbour took a goal in the first period of extra time to win 2-1, and violence broke out at the final whistle.
Cheikh Maba Diop, whose friend died in the incident and who helped move people out of the stadium, told AFP news agency: "All of a sudden when the wall fell... we knew exactly that some of our own had lost their lives because the wall fell directly on to people."
A spokesman for President Macky Sall said campaigning for upcoming elections would be suspended on Sunday as a mark of respect, and that there should be "punishments serving as a warning".
There are also suggestions that the stadium itself was in a poor state of repair, BBC Africa reporter James Copnall says.
An enquiry announced by the government will no doubt examine all this, he adds.
• None 'The wall fell directly onto people' Video, 00:00:38'The wall fell directly onto people'
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40621982
|
Right to bare arms: US Congresswomen protest against dress code - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Women wore sleeveless outfits to work to stand against "outdated" rules.
|
US & Canada
|
Women gathered on the steps of Congress for their "sleeveless Friday" protest
US Congresswomen have protested for the right to bare arms in parts of Washington DC's Capitol building.
The National Rifle Association may be disappointed to learn that this is not a typo. They are not campaigning to bear weapons, but to stand against the Congressional dress code.
The long-standing code bans sleeveless tops, among other things.
The protest comes after a number of women have recently reported being told their outfits violated the rules.
Female reporters have said they had been prevented from entering the lobby area, where the press meets to ask questions of US politicians.
On Friday, Representative Jackie Speier tweeted to encourage colleagues to dress in clothes that showed their arms, calling the protest "Sleeveless Friday".
A group of around 25 women gathered on the steps of Congress, wearing sleeveless shirts and dresses.
"It's 2017 and women vote, hold office, and choose their own style. Time to update House Rules to reflect the times!" tweeted Congress member Chellie Pingree.
Women gathered on the steps of the US Capitol building on Friday morning
Although the rules are long-standing, they are rarely enforced, and so those affected recently expressed surprise.
News network CBS said one reporter tried to fashion makeshift sleeves out of her notebook so she would be able to work.
The sleeves rule also applies to men, who are required to wear suit jackets and ties to enter the same areas.
Open-toed shoes are also not allowed.
Policing of the rules is left to the chamber's security team, under the guidance of the house speaker.
Jan Schakowsky, a representative for Illinois, also joined in
After a backlash, House Speaker Paul Ryan emphasised that the code had not been devised under his term, and agreed it needs to be modernised.
"It came to my attention that there was an issue about dress code," he said in a press conference on Thursday morning, with a laugh.
Speaker Ryan said, earlier in June, that members should wear "appropriate business attire".
In the UK, a similar debate recently erupted when House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said he was happy to relax the rules.
In June, he accepted a question from a member of parliament who was not wearing a tie.
He also said members should wear "businesslike attire".
Yet what this constitutes in 2017 - especially with the rise of more casual media and tech companies - is not always clear.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
• None What not to wear in Parliament
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40618356
|
Kezia Dugdale in relationship with SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The Scottish Labour leader has been dating Mid Fife and Glenrothes MSP Jenny Gilruth for about four months.
|
Scotland politics
|
Ms Gilruth and Ms Dugdale thanked their friends, family and colleagues for their love and support
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale is in a relationship with an SNP MSP.
Ms Dugdale has been dating Mid Fife and Glenrothes MSP Jenny Gilruth for about four months.
At the beginning of the year the Labour leader split up with her former partner of nine years, Louise Riddell.
In a joint statement, Ms Dugdale and Ms Gilruth asked for their privacy to be respected and said they did not consider their new relationship to be "news".
Ms Gilruth was elected to Holyrood last May and is a parliamentary liaison officer to Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
The statement said: "We don't consider this to be 'news' - but we appreciate others might and we want to go about our daily lives normally.
"We would like to thank our friends, family and colleagues for their kindness over the past few months and for their love and support.
"We'd politely ask that our privacy is respected because while we are both politicians, we are also human beings - in a new relationship, which we cherish."
A close friend of the couple said: "Kez and Jenny are so happy together and make a great couple. They share much in common, but like so many couples they differ over their politics - which is something they will always agree to disagree on."
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted her congratulations to the couple.
She said: "So love really does conquer all! Wishing every happiness to @JennyGilruth & @kezdugdale."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-40618823
|
Doctor Who: New lead to be revealed after Wimbledon - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Widespread speculation suggests the 13th Doctor will - for the first time - be a woman.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. It’s almost time to meet the Thirteenth Doctor
The wait is nearly over for Doctor Who fans, as the identity of the 13th Doctor is due to be revealed later.
There is speculation the Time Lord could be a woman for the first time.
A trailer featuring the number 13 in different locations aired on Friday, finishing with the words: "Meet the 13th Doctor after the Wimbledon men's final, Sunday 16th July."
The actor will succeed Peter Capaldi, who took the role in 2013 and leaves in the 2017 Christmas special.
Capaldi announced he was leaving during an interview with BBC Radio 2 presenter Jo Whiley in January.
Peter Capaldi will bow out in this year's Christmas special, featuring David Bradley as the First Doctor
The Glasgow-born star said: "I feel it's time to move on. I feel sad, I love Doctor Who, it is a fantastic programme to work on."
The announcement about the 13th Doctor will come directly after the final - between Roger Federer and Marin Cilic - comes to an end.
David Tennant, the 10th Doctor, is among the audience watching at Centre Court.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge has denied involvement in the sci-fi show
Phoebe Waller-Bridge - the star of hit comedy Fleabag - is among the favourites tipped to become the first female Doctor.
Former companion Billie Piper told the BBC it would "feel like a snub" if the role went to another man - but would Phoebe be able to squeeze the Tardis in around adventures on the Millennium Falcon? The 32-year-old actress recently started filming the new Star Wars Han Solo movie.
The bookies seem confident the role will go to one of the stars of ITV's Broadchurch - even if it isn't Phoebe, who starred in the show's second series as barrister Abby Thompson.
Both Jodie Whittaker and Olivia Colman have been the subject of much speculation, especially as incoming show boss Chris Chibnall was the creator of Broadchurch.
David Tennant - otherwise known as the 10th Doctor and Colman's Broadchurch co-star - told the BBC he thought Colman would be "great" in the role, but added: "Whether that's in her sights at the moment, I suspect probably not."
Olivia Colman won a golden globe for her role in The Night Manager
Former Death in Paradise actor Kris Marshall, Sherlock's Andrew Scott and Ben Whishaw - who plays Q in the James Bond films - also make the list of contenders, should bosses go for a more traditional casting.
Pearl Mackie, who plays current companion Bill Potts, posted a picture of herself with a pink Tardis at Lovebox festival on Sunday, with the message: "Wonder who is inside..?!".
Some of those whose names have been linked to the role posted tongue-in-cheek tweets as speculation mounted over the identity of the Doctor.
The locations in the latest trailer included 10 Downing Street, Beachy Head cliffs and the Statue of Liberty.
The popular sci-fi series features a Time Lord, known only as the Doctor, who travels through time and space in the Tardis, which resembles a 1960s police telephone box.
The main character has the ability to regenerate, a quirk that has allowed a number of actors to have played the role over the years.
The series was first broadcast in 1963. It underwent a relaunch in 2005, with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor.
Sophie Aldred, who played Doctor Who's companion Ace in the 1980s, said: "I've been lucky enough to meet most of the Doctors and they've all been amazing people. Slightly eccentric in some way... very talented actors.
"They just have to be a person who (has) really got something different about them."
Capaldi, who replaced Matt Smith as the Doctor, was previously best known for his role as foul-mouthed spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker in the BBC series The Thick of It.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40608669
|
Newspaper headlines: Acid attacks and Charlie Gard dominate - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The Times reports that new laws to restrict the sale of corrosive substances will be proposed, while other front pages focus on the case of Charlie Gard.
|
The Papers
|
Five people were attacked with acid within 90-minutes on Thursday in London
The front page of the Times reports that new laws to restrict the sale and possession of corrosive substances will be proposed "within days", because of the rise in acid attacks.
The plans are predicted to feature tougher sentencing guidelines and a ban on the sale of the chemicals to under-18s.
They will be released in the next 48 hours, the newspaper says.
In an editorial, the paper notes that Britain has one of the highest rates of recorded acid attacks in the world and calls on MPs to make the "liquid weapons" harder to obtain.
It also urges regulators to make readily available products less dangerous.
Two front pages lead on the arrival in Britain next week of the US specialist who will examine the seriously ill baby Charlie Gard to see if an untested therapy can save his life.
Doctors tell the I newspaper that it is a "sensible, ethical solution".
While the Daily Mirror says the intervention has given new hope to Charlie's parents.
Many of the papers carry reports on President Trump's visit to Paris to mark Bastille Day.
The Guardian says Mr Trump revelled in the pomp and ceremony and was beaming from ear to ear as he prepared to fly home.
The Daily Mail calls the parade on the Champs-Élysées - held to mark the centenary of America's entry into World War One - "extraordinary".
But it says from the prominence of the French and American military hardware on display, one might have thought that the two countries had won the conflict without any help.
The Sun says Chancellor Phillip Hammond sparked "sexist fury" when he remarked - in front of the entire cabinet - that driving a modern train is so easy, "even a women could do it".
Mr Hammond then tried to dig himself out of trouble, according to the Sun, earning him this rebuke from Theresa May: "Mr chancellor, I am going take your shovel away from you."
Sources close to Mr Hammond insist to the Sun that he made no such comment and some suggest another minister had unfairly caricatured the chancellor's position.
The governing body of women's tennis, the WTA, is criticised in the Times.
The organisation invited readers of its Facebook page to vote on which female competitor dressed the best at SW19.
In the poll, a dress worn by Heather Watson is praised for creating "a harmony between contemporary sporty elements and feminine flair of the English rose pattern and pleats".
A dress worn by Heather Watson was featured in the poll
Those who commented on the post were more direct. One accused the WTA of asking a "stupid question", which set tennis back 50 years.
The organisation defended its conduct to the Times, saying "there's nothing wrong with promoting athleticism while promoting Wimbledon's wonderful dress code".
The Express features a surreptitious snap taken by a passenger on board an Emirates flight, appearing to show a flight attendant pouring a glass of champagne back into its bottle.
The paper quotes a former flight attendant, who describes the recycling of liquid refreshments which have been exposed to cabin air as "unsanitary and disgusting".
The airline says it has begun an investigation into an apparent breach of its standards.
The Daily Mail warns British tourists about what it calls "the summer car hire rip-off".
The paper quotes a study showing that firms have hiked the insurance excess charges they can impose in the event of an accident.
The average figure is £1,000, even when the driver isn't to blame, with the highest rising to £2,200.
Experts tell the Mail the "astonishingly high figures" are being used to persuade travellers to pay for costly extra cover before they set off.
The Guardian profiles a creature that's likely to be the last organism standing, if an apocalyptic catastrophe threatens life on earth.
The tardigrade, just one millimetre long, is extraordinarily hardy - shrugging off the vacuum of space, absolute-zero temperatures and extreme doses of radiation as if it was nothing.
The Guardian styles them as the "ultimate hope for terrestrial life as we know it", as researchers say they could survive virtually any disaster.
Until the sun eventually enlarges and boils away the oceans, that is.
The Daily Telegraph reports on efforts by the British Museum to boost interest in its forthcoming exhibition about the Scythians - a fierce, horse-back tribe of nomads who roamed central Asia.
On the museum's website, they're likened to the Dothraki - a fictional people from the book and television series Game of Thrones.
In an editorial, the Telegraph laments the need for TV fantasy comparisons.
And while the paper acknowledges some similarities - bloodthirstiness, master bowmanship - it suggests the Scythians, unlike their fantasy counterparts, may have worn a few more clothes.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-40615880
|
London fire: Most services would have sent high ladder to Grenfell - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Most fire services would have sent a high ladder to Grenfell Tower, BBC Newsnight has revealed.
|
UK
|
Most UK fire services would have automatically sent a high ladder to Grenfell Tower had the fire happened in their area, BBC Newsnight can reveal.
A Newsnight investigation last week revealed the London Fire Brigade failed to dispatch a high "aerial" ladder immediately to the west London blaze.
But 31 of the 44 UK fire services with high-rise blocks would have sent a high ladder, the programme has learned.
The Home Office said it was up to each fire authority to manage its resources.
Last week's investigation found that a high ladder had not been included in the London Fire Brigade's "predetermined attendance" plan and it took more than 30 minutes for such an appliance to arrive at the 24-storey west London tower.
The London Fire Brigade is one of several services which has changed its procedures since Grenfell and will now automatically send high ladders to tower block fires as an interim measure.
Newsnight's latest findings came after the programme requested the predetermined attendance plans - or PDAs - for high rise fires from every fire service in the country.
The PDAs detail what each service will do automatically in the moments after a fire is reported.
They show that 70% of the fire services in the UK which have high-rise blocks in their regions would automatically have dispatched a high ladder to a tower blaze before the Grenfell disaster.
Since then, four services, including London, have altered their plans.
Sorry, your browser cannot display this map
However, Newsnight's research reveals that nine brigades still would not immediately send an aerial ladder to a tower blaze.
The investigation also shows significant variations in the number of response vehicles dispatched by services across the country.
In Kent, three fire engines would be sent to a reported fire in a tower block, with no high ladder. Fire services in Hampshire and Surrey - for the same fire in the same tower - would send six fire engines and a high ladder as first response.
A fire engine is expected to carry five firefighters.
Manchester, Humberside, London and Warwickshire have all increased their PDA with fires in tall buildings to include a high ladder since Grenfell.
But Leicestershire, Lancashire, Tyne and Wear, the West Midlands, Kent and Essex fire services will still not automatically send a tall ladder to a fire in a high-rise building unless specifically requested.
The figures have led to calls for the government to implement mandatory minimum requirements for fire services attending high-rise fires.
Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack told Newsnight: "It was absolutely indefensible before Grenfell Tower to have such a postcode lottery of how we respond to fires in residential blocks of flats. After Grenfell Tower it's completely outrageous."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Why did it take so long to get an aerial platform to the tower block? BBC Newsnight investigates
Referring to the Grenfell Tower disaster, he added: "An aerial appliance applying large quantities of water to the outside of the building could have made a big difference. It clearly did make a difference when it arrived."
A Home Office spokesperson said: "It is the responsibility of each fire and rescue authority to manage their resources across prevention, protection and operational response to meet local risk."
"Local areas consider risk through their Integrated Risk Management Plan and over the past 10 years there has been a 52% decrease in the total number of fires attended by fire and rescue services."
Newsnight requested PDAs for tower block fires from all 52 fire services in the UK.
Every service responded and all bar one sent details to the BBC. Seven brigades have no high rise tower blocks in their area.
Last week, a London Fire Brigade spokesman told Newsnight: "It is important to understand that fires in high-rise buildings are nearly always dealt with internally, not usually needing an aerial appliance.
"The fundamental issue of high rise safety remains that buildings are maintained to stop fires spreading."
The spokesman said: "An 'interim' change to pre-determined attendance for high rise buildings was introduced in direct response to the government's action to address concerns of cladding on buildings.
"The brigade's pre-determined attendance to high-rise buildings had already been increased in June 2015 from three fire engines to four as part of our ongoing review of high rise firefighting."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40614220
|
Young families 'hit by income slowdown' - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The Resolution Foundation says those aged 25-34 are worst hit compared with other age groups.
|
UK
|
Young families were particularly hard hit by an "abrupt" slowdown in living standards in the year before the general election, a think tank says.
The Resolution Foundation found that average income growth halved to 0.7% during that period compared with the previous year.
Those aged 25-34 were worst hit, it said, with their average incomes no higher than they were in 2002-03.
The Treasury said it was taking "concrete steps" to help families.
The Resolution Foundation analyses living standards, and says its goal is to improve outcomes for people on low and modest incomes.
It said young families were the only group whose incomes have failed to return to pre-financial crisis levels.
Pensioner incomes grew by 30% over that 15-year period, the think tank said.
"The typical 25 to 34-year-old appears no better off today than in 2002-03," the report said.
"In comparison, typical incomes for all other age groups are now above, or very near, their pre-recession peaks."
The fall in average income growth followed a "mini-boom" between 2013 and 2015, the foundation said, when living standards improved.
Families in rented accommodation have experienced little or no income growth, while home-owners had a 1.7% growth, the report found.
A Treasury spokesperson said the government was taking action to increase people's incomes and help families "keep more of what they earn".
The Treasury said: "We have cut taxes so a basic rate taxpayer pays £1,000 less income tax compared to 2010 and introduced the National Living Wage which means £1,400 a year extra for a worker."
The spokesperson said the government was investing in affordable homes and government-backed loans to help first-time buyers.
The think tank's senior economic analyst, Adam Corlett, said: "For millions of young and lower-income families the slowdown over the last year has come off the back of a tough decade for living standards, providing a bleak economic backdrop to the shock election result.
"Over the last 15 years and four prime ministers, Britain has failed to deliver decent living standards growth for young families and those on low incomes.
"Rising housing costs have added further financial pressures."
Over the year, incomes among low to middle-income families grew by 0.4%, compared with 1% for those in the top half of the income distribution.
Two out of five of this group said they were not able to save £10 per month, while 42% cannot afford a holiday at least one week per year.
"Despite the welcome political focus on such 'just managing families', we estimate that income growth for this group in 2016-17, ahead of the election, was lower than for higher income groups," the report said.
The top 1% of households had a "rapid recovery" in incomes, the report said, and now have an 8.7% share of the nation's income.
The think tank said the fortunes of the top 1% had been the driving force of rising inequality since the mid-1990s.
Inequality among the remaining 99% of the population fell over the same period.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40616645
|
Tony Blair says EU could compromise on freedom of movement - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Ex-PM says Britain could still stay in a reformed EU - but Labour says the referendum result "must be respected".
|
UK Politics
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Tony Blair: "One option... would be Britain staying within a reformed European Union"
Some EU leaders may be prepared to compromise on the free movement of people to help Britain stay in the single market, Tony Blair has said.
He told the Today programme one option was for Britain "staying within a reformed EU".
The ex-PM said he would not disclose conversations he had had in Europe - but insisted he was not speaking "on a whim".
The government insists Brexit will give the UK greater control of its borders.
Labour's shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said Mr Blair "hadn't really listened to the nature of the debate going on in the pubs, the clubs and school gates".
"We have to respect the referendum result," Mr McDonnell said, adding that Labour could "negotiate access to the single market".
Mr Blair spoke to the BBC after he argued in an article for his own institute that there was room for compromise on free movement of people.
He told Today the situation in Europe was different to when Britain voted to leave the EU - a move Mr Blair described as "the most serious it's taken since the Second World War".
He said France's new president, Emmanuel Macron - whose political party was formed last year - was proposing "far-reaching reforms" for the EU.
"Europe itself is now looking at its own reform programme," Mr Blair said.
"They will have an inner circle in the EU that will be part of the eurozone and an outer circle."
When pressed on what evidence there was to suggest European nations would compromise, Mr Blair said: "I'm not going to disclose conversations I've had within Europe, but I'm not saying this literally on the basis of a whim.
"They will make reforms that I think will make it much more comfortable for Britain to fit itself in that outer circle."
He said "majorities" of people in France, Germany and the UK supported changes around benefits and with regards to those who come to Europe without a job.
"I'm not saying these could be negotiated," Mr Blair said.
"I'm simply saying if we were looking at this from the point of view of the interests of the country, one option within this negotiation would be Britain staying within a reformed European Union."
He said the majority of EU migrants in the UK are "people we want in this country".
EU leaders have previously said the UK must accept free movement of people if it wants to stay inside the single market.
But in his article for the Institute for Global Change, Mr Blair said senior figures had told him they were willing to consider changes to one of the key principles of the single market.
"The French and Germans share some of the British worries, notably around immigration, and would compromise on freedom of movement," he wrote.
But last week the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said the freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital - the key principles of the single market - were "indivisible".
Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to control EU migration and has reiterated her commitment to reducing net migration to the tens of thousands.
She has said that outside the single market, and without rules on freedom of movement, the UK will be able to make its own decisions on immigration.
Mr Blair also said more was known now about the effects of the Brexit process on the UK.
"We know our currency is down significantly, that's a prediction by the international markets as to our future prosperity. We know businesses are already moving jobs out of the country.
"We know last year we were the fastest-growing economy in the G7. We're now the slowest."
Mr Blair accepted Labour was behind its leader Jeremy Corbyn "for now".
But he warned if Brexit was combined with leaving the single market, and "the largest spending programme Labour had ever proposed" the country "would be in a very serious situation."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Jeremy Corbyn: "I hope he (Tony Blair) has looked very carefully at our manifesto"
Mr Blair said leaving the single market was a "damaging position" shared by Labour and he urged the party's leadership to champion a "radically distinct" position on Europe.
But Jeremy Corbyn said Labour's position on free movement was "very clear", adding: "We would protect EU nationals' rights to remain here, including the rights of family reunion."
Responding to Mr Blair's comments, the party leader said: "I think our economy will do very well under a Labour government.
"It will be an investment-led economy that works for all - so we won't have zero-hour contracts, insecure employment.
"We won't have communities being left behind."
Mr Blair has previously said Brexit was an issue he felt so strongly about, that it tempted him to return to politics.
But Labour MP Frank Field, who backed Brexit, said he did not think Mr Blair was "a person to influence public opinion now".
"We're now set on the course of leaving [the EU]. We actually need a safe harbour to continue those negotiations when we're out.
"And I wouldn't actually be believing those people who are set on destroying our attempts to leave, who are now appearing as wolves in sheep's clothing."
Richard Tice, of pro-Brexit group Leave Means Leave, said Mr Blair's comments "demonstrate how out of touch he is with British voters".
"The former prime minister believes that freedom of movement is the only issue with the EU, when in reality the British people also voted to leave in order to take back control of our laws and money and no longer be dictated to by the European Court of Justice," he added.
Conservative MEP David Campbell Bannerman said Mr Blair's assertion that Britain could find a way to remain within a reformed EU was a "dodgy claim, as opposed to a dodgy dossier".
"We've heard this all before. David Cameron was given such assurances and in the end the EU did nothing for him.
"If they do nothing for Cameron, they're not going to do anything for Blair, I'm afraid."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40615119
|
Maryam Mirzakhani, first woman to win maths' Fields Medal, dies - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Acclaimed Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani dies of breast cancer aged 40.
|
Science & Environment
|
Prof Mirzakhani is seen as an inspiration for young female mathematicians
Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to receive the prestigious Fields Medal for mathematics, has died in the US.
The 40-year-old Iranian, a professor at Stanford University, had breast cancer which had spread to her bones.
Nicknamed the "Nobel Prize for Mathematics", the Fields Medal is only awarded every four years to between two and four mathematicians under 40.
It was given to Prof Mirzakhani in 2014 for her work on complex geometry and dynamical systems.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said her death was a cause for grief for all Iranians.
"A light was turned off today. It breaks my heart... gone far too soon," US-Iranian scientist Firouz Naderi posted on Instagram.
He added in a subsequent post: "A genius? Yes. But also a daughter, a mother and a wife."
Prof Mirzakhani and her husband, Czech scientist Jan Vondrak, had one daughter.
Some social media users criticised Iranian officials for not using recent images of Prof Mirzakhani which showed her uncovered hair. Iranian women must cover their hair in line with a strict interpretation of Islamic law on modesty.
Iranian official media and politicians used older pictures in their social media tributes, which show her hair covered.
Iranian Speaker Ali Larijani - using an older image of Prof Mirzakhani - said on Instagram that her loss "caused great regret"
Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne described Prof Mirzakhani as "a brilliant mathematical theorist and also a humble person who accepted honours only with the hope that it might encourage others to follow her path".
"Maryam is gone far too soon but her impact will live on for the thousands of women she inspired to pursue math and science," he said.
"Her contributions as both a scholar and a role model are significant and enduring and she will be dearly missed here at Stanford and around the world."
Born in 1977, Prof Mirzakhani was brought up in post-revolutionary Iran and won two gold medals in the International Mathematical Olympiad as a teenager.
She earned a PhD at Harvard University in 2004, and later worked at Princeton before securing a professorship at Stanford in 2008.
Her receipt of the Fields Medal three years ago ended a long wait for women in the mathematics community for the prize, first established in 1936.
Prof Mirzakhani was also the first Iranian to receive it.
The citation said she had made "striking and highly original contributions to geometry and dynamical systems" and that her most recent work constituted "a major advance".
Prof Dame Frances Kirwan, a member of the medal selection committee from the University of Oxford, said at the time: "I hope that this award will inspire lots more girls and young women, in this country and around the world, to believe in their own abilities and aim to be the Fields Medallists of the future."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-40617094
|
Newspaper headlines: 'Brexit chaos' warning and cabinet rows - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The Observer features a warning from former civil servants to Theresa May over Brexit, while the Sunday Times says the cabinet is "at war".
|
The Papers
|
If the Observer is right, the mood in Brussels - a day before the next round of Brexit talks - is "cautiously optimistic."
But the message doesn't seem to have reached the cartoonists.
In keeping with the start of the holiday season, the Sunday Express offers an image of Theresa May at the wheel of the Brexit car - the back seat is crammed with people, all shouting advice: "Speed up!" "Slow down!" "Turn back!"
The drawing in the Sunday Times shows Mrs May and her cabinet colleagues entangled in a never-ending bill.
"What do you mean?" she complains. "This is just for starters!"
Of course both cartoons are about the seemingly inescapable politics of the subject.
According to the Observer, the kind of exit from the EU that Mrs May is pursuing has revealed "a picture of incapacity, incompetence, self-deception, dishonesty, partisanship, and harmful confusion".
The paper sees "the Tory hard Brexiteers" as "the lords of misrule."
The Sunday Telegraph asks what the term "hard Brexit" means and answers "really just Brexit with some negative branding".
If supporters of withdrawal want to cheer themselves up, the Sun on Sunday says they should just consider Tony Blair's latest intervention.
"As ever," the paper says, he ignored the will of the British people, providing "a classic example of the kind of arch-deviousness that became his stock-in-trade as prime minister".
The Sunday Mirror reports that a quarter of teachers who have qualified since 2011 have already left the profession, according to figures obtained by Labour.
It suggests their motives for quitting were low pay and harsh conditions.
Laura Jackson writes in the Sunday Express that she left after two years because the job was eroding her mental health.
She describes the miseries she experienced: the horrifying behaviour of the pupils towards each other and her, the open hostility of parents, the power cuts in her classroom and the crushing workload.
The Sunday Times thinks TV viewers may be shocked when the BBC reveals how much its better paid presenters earn.
The former newsreader Peter Sissons tells the newspaper things might get ugly when "some of the biggest egos" find out what their colleagues are getting.
The Sunday Telegraph says the corporation is also "braced" for embarrassment and rows on the grounds that "women are not being paid as much as men in the same jobs".
But the paper also notes that the salaries of "many stars" won't be revealed because they are paid through production companies or through the BBC's commercial arm.
The Observer expects more viewers to be excited by the return of Game of Thrones.
It says the drama "casts a shadow over the television landscape at least as large as that of one of its fire-breathing dragons".
But even more coverage is given to ITV2's Love Island, a show described by the Sunday Express as "racy."
Former Blazin' Squad singer Marcel Somerville is a contestant on Love Island
The Sunday People says there's been a "sudden rise" in its popularity.
The Sun on Sunday asks its readers whether they have "never seen the hottest show on TV?" and offers an introduction to the contestants, the rules and the "lingo" they use.
Rosie Millard, in the Sunday Times, says her three eldest children "think and talk about nothing else" and she calls it "a mother's idea of hell".
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-40621905
|
Canada: Workers find live British shell in Quebec - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The 90kg projectile failed to explode when it was fired during the siege of Quebec City in 1759.
|
US & Canada
|
Builders in the old part of the Canadian city of Quebec have unearthed a live shell fired by the British during a siege in 1759.
They posed for photos with the large, 90kg (200lb) projectile, unaware that it was still potentially explosive.
Army bomb disposal experts later collected the device, saying there was still a danger, CBC reports.
The British besieged Quebec while fighting the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.
Quebec City archaeologist Serge Rouleau, who examined the munition before the army and noticed that it still contained a charge, described it as an incendiary bomb, Le Soleil news site (in French) reports.
He had taken it home after the builders' firm, Lafontaine Inc, contacted the municipal authorities.
"The ball would break and the powder would ignite, setting fire to the building," Master Warrant Officer Sylvain Trudel, a senior munitions technician, was quoted by CBC as saying.
"With time, humidity got into its interior and reduced its potential for exploding, but there's still a danger," he added.
"Old munitions like this are hard to predict. You never know to what point the chemicals inside have degraded."
The shell is now at a safe site and will either be disarmed or destroyed if necessary, CBC says.
It is believed it was fired at Quebec City from Levis, across the St Lawrence River, the broadcaster adds.
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, part of the Seven Years' War, ended in victory for the British, and was a major milestone towards the end of French rule in what is now Canada.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40618547
|
Ajax fans rally for stricken player Abdelhak Nouri - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Dutch footballer Abdelhak Nouri suffered brain damage after collapsing during a match in Austria.
|
Europe
|
Fans made a huge show of support for Abdelhak Nouri and his family
Hundreds of fans of the Dutch football team Ajax have staged an emotional rally outside the family home of a player who suffered brain damage after collapsing in a friendly match.
Tributes have been pouring in for 20-year-old Abdelhak Nouri who collapsed in a game in Austria a week ago.
The club says the midfielder suffered "serious and permanent brain damage".
Nouri, known as Appie, has been transferred to an Amsterdam hospital for further treatment.
In an emotional display of support for the player, Ajax fans gathered outside his parents' home in the Geuzenveld district of Amsterdam, applauding, lighting flares and chanting "Appie, Appie".
Nouri suffered cardiac arrhythmias - heart rhythm problems - during the game against German team Werder Bremen, Ajax said in a statement,
He received emergency treatment on the pitch and was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Innsbruck.
The club has said there is no chance of him recovering from the damage.
"The diagnosis was made that a lot of [his] brain is not functioning. All this probably occurred due to a lack of oxygen supply," the statement said.
The promising young player, known as Appie, is now being treated in an Amsterdam hospital
The player's family responded to the crowd
Shock at the news has been reflected in Dutch media.
"News that the Ajax super-talent Abdelhak Nouri has suffered severe brain damage burst like a bombshell," the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper said.
"It doesn't get more bitter than this," commented De Telegraaf, adding that the "friendly, soft-spoken but roguish Appie who once put a smile on everybody's face has now become the centre of dismay and sadness".
Nouri made his debut for Ajax last September and played 15 league and cup games, scoring a goal in a cup tie.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40620072
|
Reality Check: Why don't Charlie Gard's parents have the final say? - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Charlie Gard's parents don't have the final decision on what happens to him so where do parental rights end?
|
UK
|
Parents, it is generally agreed, are allowed to choose what happens to their children.
Of course, parents may make good or bad choices, but they have the right to make those decisions, whether that is about their child's diet and physical activity, their name, what school they go to, what religion they are raised in or what medical treatment they receive.
Professor of medical ethics at the University of Oxford, Dominic Wilkinson, says: "The principle is that if parents' decisions risk significant harm to their child then they should not be allowed to make those decisions. But the state doesn't intervene every time parents don't make the best decision."
The concept of parental responsibility is set out in law. The Children Act 1989 describes it as "all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which, by law, a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property."
If a public body disagrees with those choices, they must go to court in order to override this parental responsibility.
In the case of terminally ill baby Charlie Gard, medical professionals disagree with his parents over what is in his best interests. They want to stop his parents taking him to the US for experimental medical treatment, something they say is futile. And they want to stop providing his life support and allow him to die.
His parents say they believe that Charlie is "not in pain and suffering" as doctors have claimed, and there is nothing to be lost in trying the experimental therapy.
The team at Great Ormond Street has said Charlie is suffering and that that outweighs the "tiny theoretical chance there may be of effective treatment".
Charlie is unable to move his legs and arms, breathe unaided or hold his eyelids open. He is also deaf, has severe epilepsy and his heart, liver and kidneys are affected.
Undoubtedly, both doctors and parents want the best for Charlie. But in the final analysis, it will be for a judge to decide. This is because in the UK, in the absence of a parent's consent, a hospital needs a court order if stopping treatment would bring about death.
So far, the courts have ruled that Charlie should not be given treatment and that Great Ormond Street Hospital should be allowed to withdraw Charlie's life support.
Chris Fairhurst, children's law expert from Slater and Gordon, explains that in these situations, parents' wishes can only be overridden by going to court because a hospital has no legal right or responsibility to make such a decision without either the parents' or the courts' permission. It takes a judge ruling in favour of the hospital in order for the legal status of the parent's responsibility to be overridden.
The hospital has given evidence that it does not believe keeping Charlie on life support is in his best interests.
Connie Yates and Chris Gard have fought a long legal battle to take their baby to the US for treatment
When it comes to cases involving the medical treatment of children, views range from thinking that the doctor always knows best to the idea that parents should have complete freedom to make all decisions over their children's health. The law in the UK falls somewhere in-between.
In 2006, the parents of a disabled baby boy called Mahdi Bacheikh won their fight against the hospital's request to turn off the ventilator that kept him alive. The 19-month-old had spinal muscular atrophy, was almost totally paralysed and could not breathe unaided, but did not have any sign of brain damage. He died later, aged two.
In 2009, the parents of a baby known only as OT who, like Charlie suffered from a form of mitochondrial disease, lost their right to keep him on life support. The judge heard he had suffered brain damage and was in discomfort and pain. He died the next day.
In the US, though, where Charlie's parents are suggesting he could be treated, the law falls much more heavily on the side of the parents even if this goes against the recommendations of medical professionals.
Charlie is thought to be the 16th baby ever to be diagnosed with his condition
In the UK, while parents have the right to make decisions about their children's medical treatment, their wishes will be overruled if they refuse a reasonable life-saving treatment which has a very high chance of working.
The classic example of this is parents who are Jehovah's Witnesses and refuse blood transfusions due to their faith. There have been many cases where the courts have sided with the doctors against the wishes of the parents.
There is a difference, of course, between parents refusing recommended treatment and parents, as in Charlie's case, asking for treatment against advice.
It is far simpler to prove that a treatment that almost certainly will keep a child alive is in their best interests than it is to argue that keeping a child alive is not in their best interests.
When it comes to disputes between parents and the state, the vast majority involve a local authority going to court to remove a child from the care of their parents. In these cases, the authority must prove that a child is at risk of significant harm.
But because cases like Charlie's are relatively rare, unlike in care cases there is no statutory test for how judges should treat them. This means it varies case by case as to whether a judge decides what is in a child's best interests or uses the more onerous test of whether they are likely to come to significant harm.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40600932
|
Rio Ferdinand pays tribute to late mother - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The footballer calls Janice St Fort "a little fighter" after she died aged 58 from cancer.
|
UK
|
Former England captain Rio Ferdinand has paid tribute to his mother, Janice St Fort, calling her "a little fighter" after the 58-year-old died on Thursday from cancer.
The footballer posted a message to "Mummy" on Instagram with a picture of them together.
Thanking his "huge hearted" mother, Ferdinand said all he had wanted to do "was to make you proud".
In May 2015, Ferdinand's wife Rebecca, 34, died of breast cancer.
The ex-Manchester United defender referred to the support Mrs St Fort had given him and her three grandchildren following his wife's death.
He said: "At my most difficult time, you were my shining light and made it your mission to be there for me and my kids... trust me that will never be forgotten."
Earlier this year, Ferdinand appeared in a BBC documentary, Being Mum & Dad, where he spoke about his difficulties in dealing with grief and finding the best way to talk to their children about the loss of their mother.
In an emotional eulogy to his mother, Ferdinand said: "You were fiery, you were protective, you were soft and hard faced when need be... you loved hard, you disciplined me, you were a grafter & you were my everything."
Ferdinand's brother and former Premier League footballer Anton also paid tribute to their "loving, caring and forever selfless mum" on Instagram.
"Mum for 32 years of my life you've done nothing but put me first!" he said.
"Always cared and worried about others before yourself, an inspiration to me, my brothers, sister and husband Peter and anyone she had in her life."
Friends and former colleagues tweeted messages of support to the brothers.
To Rio, Gary Lineker tweeted: "Thoughts are with @rioferdy5 and family. They've suffered way too much lately."
Sol Campbell tweeted: "So sad to hear my England team mate and friend's mother Janice passing away. My heart goes out to you and your family Rio @rioferdy5. RIP."
Former West Ham and Aston Villa footballer Marlon Harewood tweeted to Anton: "So sorry for your loss bro."
Mrs St Fort died at Guy's Cancer Unit in London Bridge Hospital on Thursday with her husband Peter and her four children at her bedside.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40619619
|
What the Nureyev story tells us about today's Russia - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
What does the postponement of a ballet about Rudolf Nureyev reveal about Russia?
|
Europe
|
For some, Rudolf Nureyev's relationships with men as well as women have tarnished his reputation in Russia
The Bolshoi hasn't pulled a premiere so late in the day since Soviet times. So when it called off Nureyev: The Ballet, rumours immediately began to fly.
The theatre boss insisted the work was so complex it just wasn't ready.
But another theory has persisted - that Rudolf Nureyev, who mesmerised audiences and defined an era in dance, was just too gay for today's Russia.
The theatre denied that. After all, they knew Nureyev's story when they commissioned the ballet: his love affairs and his death after developing Aids.
So why are so many so quick to disbelieve them?
Homophobia is pretty rife in Russia. Talk of gay rights often brings snorts about "Western values" that no-one wants imposed.
Russia has a different culture, different values, say people from politicians and religious figures down. Tolerance doesn't always seem like one of them.
Attempts to stage Gay Pride events have ended in punch-ups and arrests: anti-gay vigilantes have set up dates, only to attack the men on arrival and film it. And in Chechnya, it's not long since reports emerged of dozens of gay men being rounded up by police and tortured.
The events in Chechnya are exceptional. But it seems that a rise in homophobia has matched a rise in anti-Western feeling more generally here, all of it part of a broader backlash against the chaos - others call it freedom - of the 1990s.
That decade is now painted as a time when the West was running the show here, supposedly "forcing" its alien ways and values on Russia, weak after the collapse of the USSR. Now back on its own two feet, this country's busy shaking off that "domination".
It's all led by the ultimate macho man, Vladimir Putin.
To his supporters, Putin is the judo black belt, teetotal athlete who's taking on a degenerate, weak - even effeminate - West. He's the president who strips naked to the waist and rides horses; he descends in submarines and soars through the skies in fighter jets.
Images of all of those adrenalin-pumped moments and more are plastered over souvenir mugs for sale in Moscow underpasses, so enthusiasts can enjoy their very own Putin pin-up with their coffee.
It's under Putin that Russia's been flexing its military muscle again too. Whether it's flying fighter jets or launching cruise missiles in Syria or rolling tanks on parade across Red Square, this country wants to be seen as powerful again.
So it's no surprise that Vladimir Vladimirovich is a big fan of manspreading.
From news conferences to receiving foreign presidents, sitting with his legs wide apart is Putin's favourite macho pose. At the G20 summit in Hamburg, he and Donald Trump seemed to be competing to see who could spread furthest.
The Bolshoi says that Nureyev will open in May 2018
All of this, of course, is painting with broad brushstrokes. Russia is not totally testosterone-fuelled but a place of nuance and variety.
If not, the head of Russia's most celebrated theatre would never have chosen a ballet about Nureyev in the first place. The director would never have included love scenes, or men in drag and there would have been no vast, full-frontal nude portrait of the Soviet star.
One dancer I met called Nureyev the most important ballet he's ever worked on - precisely because of the themes it tackles. But he fears the production may prove too radical for the Bolshoi, more like an antiques shop, in his view, full of old, admired classics.
The Bolshoi has promised that Nureyev will open - uncensored - early next May. If it does, then maybe President Putin could go. He could sit in the front row, minus the manspread, and show that he sees Rudolf Nureyev as a great Russian to celebrate - whatever his sexuality.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40596929
|
China mall introduces 'husband storage' pods for shopping wives - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A Chinese mall creates "husband storage” pods for wives to leave their partners.
|
News from Elsewhere
|
Husbands can play old-school games such as Tekken 3 in the pods
A Chinese mall has introduced "husband storage" facilities for wives to leave their spouse while they shop, it's reported.
According to The Paper, the Global Harbour mall in Shanghai has erected a number of glass pods for wives to leave any disgruntled husbands that don't want to be dragged around the shops.
Inside each individual pod is a chair, monitor, computer and gamepad, and men can sit and play retro 1990s games. Currently, the service is free, but staff told the newspaper that in future months, users will be able to scan a QR code and pay a small sum for the service using their mobile phones.
A few men that tried out the pods told The Paper that they thought they were a novel idea.
Mr Yang said he thinks the pods are "Really great. I've just played Tekken 3 and felt like I was back at school!"
Another man, Mr Wu, agreed, but said that that he thought there were areas for improvement. "There's no ventilation or air conditioning, I sat playing for five minutes and was drenched in sweat."
The pods have been the source of much humour on Chinese social media, and have sparked debate about whether they could be rolled out even wider.
One user approves the decision, saying that the pods "give these men an incentive to go shopping, and to pick up the bill" for their wives shopping.
But others disagree. "If my husband just wants to go out and play games, what's the point of bringing him out?"
Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-40609115
|
John Bernecker: Walking Dead stuntman dies in fall - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
John Bernecker died of injuries sustained while filming the zombie TV series in Georgia.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
Bernecker reportedly suffered serious injuries after falling onto concrete
Stuntman John Bernecker has died after suffering a fall on the set of The Walking Dead.
AMC Networks said production on the eighth season of the hit zombie TV series was "temporarily" shut down after Wednesday's "tragic" accident.
A coroner in Georgia confirmed Bernecker died of blunt force trauma in hospital in Atlanta.
The stuntman's other credits include Black Panther, Logan and the 2015 version of Fantastic Four.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Negan in The Walking Dead, paid tribute on Twitter. "Deep sorrow today, and for every tomorrow," he wrote.
"Love, respect, and condolences to johns family, and friends. He will be forever missed."
British actor Andrew Lincoln is among the stars of The Walking Dead
Kellan Lutz, a star of the Twilight film series, remembered Bernecker as "one of the best, most talented stuntmen I have ever been blessed to work with."
A statement posted by the LifeLink Foundation, an organ donor network, said: "The family of John Bernecker is heartbroken to confirm that John has passed away from injuries sustained earlier this week.
"Although devastated by their loss, John's loved ones have ensured his legacy will live on, not only through the personal and professional contributions he made during his life, but also by their generous decision to allow John to save lives as an organ donor."
The Walking Dead showrunner Scott M Gimple said: "Our production is heartbroken by the tragic loss of John Bernecker.
"John's work on The Walking Dead and dozens of other movies and shows will continue to entertain and excite audiences for generations. We are grateful for his contributions, and all of us send our condolences, love, and prayers to John's family and friends."
AMC said Bernecker's family had decided that he would be removed from life support following organ donation.
"We are deeply saddened by this loss and our hearts and prayers are with John's family, friends and colleagues during this extremely difficult time," the network said in a statement.
The actors' union SAG-AFTRA described Bernecker's death as "heartbreaking".
It added: "The safety of our members is paramount. We will work with the authorities and closely monitor their investigations into this tragic incident."
The programme stars Andrew Lincoln, Danai Gurira, Norman Reedus and Cohan as the survivors of an epidemic that has wiped out much of humanity after a zombie apocalypse.
Based on the comic books by Robert Kirkman, the show is due to return to screens in October.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40606244
|
Dad delivers daughter on Birmingham dual carriageway - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Squeamish Steven Sandford had no option when his partner Joanne's waters broke in the car.
|
Birmingham & Black Country
|
Chloe was born on Collector Road in Birmingham
A dad delivered his baby daughter in the car after his partner's waters broke on a Birmingham dual carriageway.
Steven Sandford, who says he is squeamish, had no option when it became clear they would not reach the hospital in time.
Daughter Chloe was safely delivered five minutes before paramedics arrived at Collector Road, with an operator giving instructions over the phone.
The couple's other daughter was also in the car during the birth.
The couple thought they had plenty of time when Ms Winters' contractions started
Mr Sandford, 45, and his partner Joanne Winters, 39, were driving from their Chelmsley Wood home on 27 June when they had to pull over.
He said: "It was six in the morning and my partner Joanne was having pains every 10 minutes so I thought I'd take my time.
"Next thing you know it's every four minutes then three minutes. The nurse on the phone said 'You need to get to Good Hope Hospital straight away'.
"Her waters broke in the car so I was panicking; I put my foot down a bit."
"I don't know how I delivered a baby," Mr Sandford said
Mr Sandford added: "The nurse said you need to pull over, because Jo was screaming at this point in the car.
"I pulled over and then the woman said you need to check if you can see the baby's head. I could see some hair so I started to panic and sweat.
"I said 'give it one big push Jo' and she pushed and the baby came out in my hands.
"I had tears in my eyes, I couldn't speak."
The couple's other daughter Charlotte was in the back seat when Ms Winters gave birth
The couple's other daughter, 16-month-old Charlotte, was in the back seat throughout the dramatic birth.
Mr Sandford said: "She sat in the back of the car- we were going to take her to my mom's but the plan went out the window. It all happened within minutes."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-40608792
|
London acid attacks: Two teenagers arrested - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Two boys aged 15 and 16 are arrested on suspicion of robbery and causing grievous bodily harm.
|
London
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "My helmet saved me," says London acid attack victim Jabed Hussain
Two teenagers have been arrested after acid was thrown in people's faces in five attacks over one night in London.
Two moped riders attacked people in a 90-minute spree in Islington, Stoke Newington and Hackney on Thursday, stealing mopeds in two of the attacks.
An eyewitness said he heard a victim, who he believed was a delivery driver, "screaming in pain". One victim suffered "life-changing injuries".
Police are looking at whether moped theft was the motive for the attacks.
Officers said they were linking the attacks and boys aged 15 and 16 have been arrested on suspicion of robbery and causing grievous bodily harm.
Delivery services Deliveroo and UberEATS have confirmed two of the victims were couriers working for the firms.
The attacks happened amid rising concern about the number of assaults involving corrosive substances in London.
Since 2010, there have been more than 1,800 reports of attacks involving corrosive fluids in the capital. Last year, it was used in 458 crimes, compared to 261 in 2015, according to Met Police figures.
Hackney resident Jon Moody said he was watching TV when he heard screaming and ran to the window.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Footage posted by Turon Miah shows an acid attack victim being doused with water
"I heard a high-pitched scream but thought it was the boys playing football... I heard more shouting and ran to my window," he said.
"I could see a man in serious distress, he was screaming in pain.
"There were only two police officers with the victim, they took out two large water canisters and poured it over him."
He said he believed the victim was a delivery driver and about 20 fellow delivery drivers turned up at the scene.
Emergency services and delivery drivers came to the aid of an acid attack victim in Queensbridge Road, Hackney
The Hackney Gazette last week reported many delivery drivers are refusing to work in some areas after 21:30 BST because of robbery fears.
Takeaway delivery firm Deliveroo emailed drivers saying it was working with the Met Police and urged its staff to report any information about the attacks.
The email said the firm was "truly shocked" about what had happened.
The assaults happened amid increasing concern about the sharp rise in acid attacks in London.
Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said the growing trend of victims being doused with corrosive liquids was concerning.
"The acid can cause horrendous injuries," she said.
"The ones last night involved a series of robberies we believe are linked - I am glad to see we have arrested somebody."
A Met spokesman said one line of inquiry detectives would be pursuing was whether the attackers were targeting moped riders to steal their bikes.
The 16-year-old boy was arrested in Kingsbury Road, north-west London, early on Friday, while the 15-year-old was arrested in Stoke Newington several hours later.
The attacks began at 22:25 BST on Thursday in Hackney Road.
This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Sadiq Khan 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.
A 32-year-old man on a moped was left with facial injuries after another moped, with two male riders, pulled up alongside him and threw a corrosive substance in his face.
One of the men stole his moped and the other drove away on the vehicle they arrived on.
The Met said it was awaiting an update on the extent of the victim's injuries. Inquiries are ongoing.
Assaults involving corrosive substances have more than doubled in England since 2012, with the number of acid attacks in the capital showing the most dramatic rise in recent years.
The Met's own figures show there were 261 acid attacks in 2015, rising to 458 last year.
So far this year - excluding Thursday night - the Met has recorded 119 such attacks.
A man appeared in court earlier this week in connection with a separate attack on cousins Resham Khan and Jameel Muhktar, who had acid thrown at them through a car window in Beckton, east London.
Shadow Home Secretary and Stoke Newington MP Dianne Abbott responded to news of the attacks, tweeting: "More terrible acid attacks, Why would you scar someone for life just to steal a moped."
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 2 by Diane Abbott 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.
Labour MP for East Ham Stephen Timms has tabled an adjournment debate for Monday in the House of Commons on the rise in the number of acid attacks.
About a third of last year's acid attacks in the capital took place in the London borough of Newham, which is in his constituency.
Mr Timms told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was "most concerned about sulphuric acid" and that carrying a bottle without justification should be treated as an offence, like carrying a knife.
"We could certainly come up with arrangements that would allow people to use sulphuric acid in the normal way, perhaps with the benefit of a licence.
"But simply walking around the street with a bottle of sulphuric acid, that should be an offence," he said.
A Downing Street spokesman said the prime minister viewed acid attacks as "horrific".
"We are working with the police to see what more we could do. The prime minister's view is that the use of acid in this way is horrific."
Home Office minister Sarah Newton told BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast the government was considering tighter controls on some chemicals in response to the acid attacks in East London and elsewhere.
But she said regulation would be difficult, as "these chemicals are under everyone's kitchen sinks".
She said it was clear acid was being used "as a weapon" and work had been commissioned "to understand the motivation" of people who use it to injure others.
She also said the government was examining sentencing for those who use acid to injure people.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What should you do in case of a chemical burn?
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40604002
|
Teenager charged over London acid attacks - BBC News
|
2017-07-15
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A 16-year-old boy arrested over five acid attacks in London on Thursday is charged with 15 offences.
|
London
|
A 16-year-old boy who was arrested in connection with five acid attacks in London on Thursday has been charged with 15 offences, police have said.
The charges include robbery, grievous bodily harm and possession of an item to discharge a noxious substance.
The five attacks took place in 90 minutes across north and east London.
The 16-year-old has been remanded in custody to appear at Stratford Youth Court on Monday. A 15-year-old boy also arrested has been released on bail.
The 16-year-old has been charged with:
Police said the investigation into the five separate attacks "remains ongoing".
Speaking before the boy was charged Ch Insp Ben Clark, from the Met's Hackney Borough, said all of the victims had been riding mopeds.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "My helmet saved me," says London acid attack victim Jabed Hussain
Jabed Hussain, 32, was one of the five people attacked on Thursday and said his helmet saved him from worse injury.
"I took off my helmet and I was just screaming for help because it's getting dry and as much as it's getting dry it's burning. So I was just screaming for water," Mr Hussain said.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40621915
|
Newspaper headlines: Brexit rows and the first female Doctor - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Brexit and the reported infighting in Theresa May's cabinet over differing approaches dominates the front pages, which also feature the announcement of the 13th Doctor.
|
The Papers
|
Chancellor Philip Hammond is working to "frustrate" Brexit, a cabinet minister has told the Daily Telegraph.
The unnamed source goes on to accuse Mr Hammond of treating pro-Leave ministers like "pirates who have taken him prisoner".
The Telegraph says "all-out war" appears to have broken out in the government.
Its source says that Brexit is facing a critical moment and will "fall apart" if Theresa May is forced out.
The Sun reports that allies of Mr Hammond blame new Environment Secretary Michael Gove for the briefings against him.
The newspaper says "pals" of the chancellor think he's the victim of a smear campaign because of his support for a so-called soft Brexit.
The Financial Times says Mr Hammond is championing a transition deal with the EU lasting "a couple of years" to cushion the effect on business.
The newspaper reports concern is being voiced in Brussels that the cabinet is still arguing over what form Britain's departure should take.
The chancellor is also under fire from the Daily Mirror for reportedly describing public sector workers as "overpaid".
Its front page headline calls him "Hammond the hypocrite".
The Mirror says he's a multi-millionaire living rent-free in two plush homes, while renting out his own house for £10,000 a month.
The Guardian cartoon has Mr Hammond sipping champagne in a chauffeur-driven car and spotting a nurse returning from the food bank. "Bah" - he sneers - "another public sector fat cat!"
The papers are all talking about regeneration - as the first woman takes on the role of the Doctor.
Jodie Whittaker appears on the front of the Guardian under the headline: "Time, gentlemen, please - meet the new Doctor".
The Sun says that "traditionalists may moan" but she is "an inspired choice".
The paper hasn't turned into Spare Rib just yet though: its coverage features Ms Whittaker in previous nude scenes and the headline "Dalektable".
Not everyone is comfortable with the choice.
The Mail devotes a page to the question: "Why ARE all the male heroes disappearing from the box?"
And the Express asks: "Are they too PC at the BBC?"
The Times leads with its own investigation into what it says are the hidden costs of the new fighter jets Britain is buying from the US.
Officially, the F-35 Lightning aircraft will cost up to £100m each, but analysis by the Times suggests the real figure will be more than £150m.
It says the extra costs for items such as software upgrades and spare parts have been buried in US defence contracts.
In response, the Ministry of Defence says the programme is on time, within costs and offers the best capability for the Armed Forces.
According to the main story in the Daily Mail, patients who dial 999 are being assessed over Skype or FaceTime instead of being sent an ambulance.
Trials, it says, are under way across England to see if video consultations via smartphone apps could be used for thousands of "lower priority" calls involving conditions such as back pain, abdominal pain, falls or heavy bleeding.
The details come from a former emergency call handler whom the Mail calls a whistleblower.
The paper says her account is "chilling" and asks: "Is there any doubt that health bosses are playing with lives?"
Roger Federer appears on the front and the back pages of the Times, celebrating his record eighth Wimbledon singles title.
The paper hails him as "the eighth wonder of the world".
The Guardian says the champion "cemented his reputation as the greatest player to ever grace his sport".
The Mail's front page photographs both Federer and his opponent, Marin Cilic, in tears.
The paper says it was "the weepiest Wimbledon final ever".
Finally, it appears that Winnie the Pooh has fallen foul of censors in China.
Posts relating to Disney images of the character have been removed from social media in the country, the Financial Times reports.
There's been no official explanation, but the FT thinks it may have something to do with unflattering comparisons of China's President Xi to the portly bear.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-40627313
|
Election intimidation at 'tipping point', warns watchdog - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Standards watchdog says it is a "dangerous moment" for UK politics and urges leaders to take action.
|
UK Politics
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
British politics is at a "dangerous moment" with the level of personal abuse aimed at election candidates having reached a "tipping point", the head of the standards watchdog says.
Lord Bew warned the level of vitriol was now such that it could deter people from running for office.
Labour MP Diane Abbott said this week she had endured a torrent of "mindless" racist and sexist abuse.
MPs have blamed hard-left and far-right groups and the rise of social media.
During a parliamentary debate on Wednesday, MPs from all parties spoke about the harassment they and their staff had received both in person and online, including death threats, rape threats and anti-Semitic abuse.
Conservative MP Simon Hart said he had heard of candidates having swastikas painted on their offices, and that the "hashtag Tory scum had become a regular feature of our lives" on social media.
First-time candidate Emily Owen, who stood for Labour in Aberconwy in this year's general election, has also spoken out about the sexually explicit messages she received online.
"I started having messages come through and they quickly became very explicit, with people explaining what they wanted to do to me - with or without my consent - asking lots of questions, what I would do to get votes," the 22-year-old told BBC Breakfast.
Using strong and graphic language, Ms Abbott gave the debate examples of the offensive messages she and her staff had to endure every day, not just at election time, including people tweeting she should be hung.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Theresa May has asked Lord Bew, who chairs the Committee on Standards in Public Life, to look into what went on during the election campaign and whether existing laws need to be strengthened to protect candidates in future.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour, Lord Bew said there was a problem in public life that had not been seen before.
"We are in a bad moment and we have to respond to it," he said. "We cannot afford to lose people of quality in our public life and we may be approaching a tipping point."
Lord Bew says his committee will not rule anything out but it can only make recommendations
Conservative MPs say Jeremy Corbyn has been too slow to condemn the actions of left-wing activists, including members of the Momentum pressure group, who they claim have been targeting them as well some Labour MPs. Momentum has denied any involvement whatsoever.
Lord Bew said it was "absolutely clear" that the Labour leadership believed there was no place for threats or fear in politics but that political leaders, as a whole, needed to be more outspoken on the issue.
"Above all, we do need leadership from Parliament itself on this point. We have reached a point where this is not a sermon. This has got to be said with some sharpness."
The committee, he added, was "in listening mode" and would not rule out anything at this stage.
"It's perfectly obvious that the ways in which the culture of civility in this country has been eroded has come from a number of different sources.
"And we need to see if we can find ways of getting a tone in our public debate which is still vigorous but avoids that tinge of nastiness and hatred which has definitely entered into things in more recent times."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40610171
|
Turkey coup anniversary: Erdogan hails 'defenders of nation' - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Turkey's president thanks those who "defended the nation" against the coup attempt a year ago.
|
Europe
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has given emotional speeches to tens of thousands of people a year after a coup attempt was faced down in the streets.
Mr Erdogan praised those people, including MPs, who had defended democracy and his government.
He backed the death penalty for coup plotters and said they should wear Guantanamo Bay-style uniforms.
Nearly 250 people died and 2,196 were wounded fighting the coup attempt by an army faction on 15 July last year.
The government has since led a crackdown on alleged coup supporters, with the dismissal of more than 150,000 state employees and the arrest of some 50,000 people.
The coup failed for several reasons, including a lack of support in higher echelons of the armed forces and a lack of political or public backing.
Plotters tried to detain Mr Erdogan as he holidayed in an Aegean resort, but he had left and the coup was thwarted by civilians and soldiers loyal to the president. It is on these people that the president has focused in commemorations.
"People that night did not have guns, they had a flag and more importantly, they had their faith," he told thousands of supporters.
However, the national unity that was initially felt against the coup has faded, and divisions have widened, correspondents say.
Opponents of Mr Erdogan boycotted the day and night of speeches and pageantry. They say his government's actions over the past year amount to an attempt to purge dissent.
Such purges continued right up to last Friday, when more than 7,000 state employees were dismissed.
Mr Erdogan addressed Turks who had rallied to the bridge over the Bosphorus where civilians had confronted pro-coup soldiers last year.
He said: "I am grateful to all members of my nation who defended their country."
Mr Erdogan said that 250 people had lost their lives but the country had won its future.
"Putschists who closed off the bridge on that night wanted to show the world that they were in control," he said, but were countered by "millions who took to the streets that night to defend the honour of their nation".
He said he would "break the heads of the traitors" who plotted the coup.
Mr Erdogan also said he had spoken to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim about the coup plotters, saying: "When they appear in court, let's make them appear in uniform suits like in Guantanamo."
The president then unveiled a "martyrs' memorial" at the bridge, which has been renamed the Bridge of the Martyrs of July 15.
Tens of thousands went to the bridge in Istanbul that has become a landmark of the failed coup
Moving on to Ankara, the capital, he spoke in parliament a year to the hour after it was bombed by warplanes.
He said that on the night of the coup, "our nation showed the whole world what a nation we are".
One supporter in the crowd, who gave his name only as Murat, said: ""If it happened again, I would stay out again. That night, it was like a war. We take ownership of this country and this people."
The date of 15 July has been declared an annual holiday called Democracy and National Unity Day.
Earlier Mr Yildirim told a special session of parliament that 15 July 2016 was a "second War of Independence", following the conflict that led to the creation of the modern state in the 1920s.
"It has been exactly one year since Turkey's darkest and longest night was transformed into a bright day, since an enemy occupation turned into the people's legend," the prime minister said.
But Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the main opposition Republican People's Party, said: "This parliament, which withstood bombs, has been rendered obsolete and its authority removed.
"In the past year, justice has been destroyed. Instead of rapid normalisation, a permanent state of emergency has been implemented."
The Turkish authorities accused a movement loyal to the Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, of organising the plot.
Mr Gulen, who remains in the United States, denies any involvement, and Washington has so far resisted calls from the Turkish authorities to extradite him.
President Erdogan inspected the honour guard ahead of special session of parliament in Ankara
The BBC's Turkey correspondent, Mark Lowen, says that for half of the country, he says, 15 July 2016 was its rebirth; for the other half, its aftermath is killing off what was left of Turkish democracy.
Civilians, as those here on the Bosphorus bridge, helped defy the coup last year
Billboards like this one paying tribute to the "Legend of 15 July" have been erected
Critics say Mr Erdogan is using the purges to stifle political dissent, and last week hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Istanbul at the end of a 450km (280-mile) "justice" march against the government.
The president accused the marchers of supporting terrorism.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40616488
|
Living Dead director George A Romero dies at 77 - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The genre-defining zombie movie filmmaker George A Romero dies in his sleep at 77, his manager says.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
George A Romero promoting 2005's Land of the Dead in Cannes
The American-born filmmaker George A Romero, who created the Living Dead movie franchise, has died at the age of 77, his manager has said.
Romero died in his sleep on Sunday with his wife and daughter at his side, after a "brief but aggressive battle" with lung cancer, Chris Roe said.
Romero co-wrote and directed the film that started the zombie series Night of the Living Dead in 1968.
It led to a number of sequels - and a host of imitators.
Roe said Romero died listening to the score of The Quiet Man, "one of his all-time favourite films".
At the time of its release, Night of the Living Dead was criticised for being gory but it went on to be a cult classic and shape horror and zombie films for decades.
While it did not use the word zombies, it was the first film to depict cannibalistic reanimated corpses.
The Living Dead franchise began in 1968, with the most recent made in 2009
Previous films had shown zombies as being living people who had been bewitched through voodoo.
Despite having a budget of just $114,000, the film made $30m at the box office and was followed by five sequels and two remakes.
Mr Romero had a non-starring and uncredited role in the film as a news reporter.
He went on to direct other films including the 1971 romantic comedy There's Always Vanilla, the 1978 vampire film Martin, and the 1982 Stephen King adaptation Creepshow.
His only work to top the box office success enjoyed by Night of the Living Dead was Dawn of the Dead, released in 1978, which earned more than $40m.
Fellow film directors including Max Landis and Jordan Peele paid tribute to Romero on Twitter.
Director and producer Eli Roth wrote: "Just heard the news about George Romero. Hard to quantify how much he inspired me & what he did for cinema. Condolences to his family."
He continued in a thread of tweets: "Romero used genre to confront racism 50 years ago. He always had diverse casts, with Duane Jones as the heroic star of NOTLD."
Roth said that "very few others in cinema were taking such risks" and that Romero "as "both ahead of his time and exactly what cinema needed at that time".
Baby Driver director Edgar Wright wrote that "he couldn't into one tweet" how he felt, so he wrote a blog post in memory of Romero.
He said: "It's fair to say that without George A. Romero, I would not have the career that I have now. A lot of people owe George a huge debt of gratitude for the inspiration. I am just one of many."
Ed Harris on Romero: "He was a great friend. I miss him."
Ed Harris said on Radio 4's Today programme: "I really loved George. He was big, beautiful, gregarious bear of a guy."
Romero worked with Harris on the 1981 drama film, Knightriders. Harris continued to explain how it was his first lead role in a film and that George A. Romero was "a joy work with and treated everyone with respect."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
• None BBC Culture - Where do zombies come from?
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40627029
|
Saturday Kitchen: When live TV goes wrong - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A presenter chops his finger, and who knows what the cameraman was thinking?
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Host Nadiya Hussain was charming, celebrity guest Julian Clary provided the jokes, and presenter Donal Skehan was preparing food for the live BBC cookery show Saturday Kitchen.
Donal sliced his finger open and blood starting pouring onto the chopping board.
Viewers at home watched with sympathy and amusement at the unfolding scene.
"Wow! Donal Skehan is so professional! Cut finger on live TV and he cracks on!" said viewer Tania O'Donell on Twitter.
The presenter carried on cooking and chatting valiantly, until he seemed to realise quite how bad the cut was.
"Nothing like a bit of blood on a Saturday morning just to get you alive and kicking. I'm glad Julian is here to keep us going," he said, though some viewers remarked he had gone slightly pale.
Many sent their best wishes to Donal.
But just when everyone had recovered, things took another turn.
A cameraman strode confidently in front of the camera as guests gathered around a table behind him.
When alerted to his presence, he meekly put his hand to his mouth in surprise before sharply exiting the set.
"Loving the show today. Give the cameraman some of the food," one watcher said on Twitter.
The show was compared to domestic chaos in another BBC show.
"Reminds me of an episode of Fawlty Towers," said one viewer.
"My sides! My sides! Hope you're OK #Keepcalmandcarryon," another said.
The team at Saturday Kitchen took the whole thing well though.
"Thanks all our #saturdaykitchen viewers for their comments. This morning's show certainly proved we are LIVE!!" they tweeted.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40618162
|
Jane Austen's worldwide fan club - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The devotees from around the world for whom Jane Austen plays a big part in their lives.
|
England
|
The BBC 1995 adaption of Pride and Prejudice spawned a new generation of Austen fans
Almost 200 years after Jane Austen's death, the English writer is still adored around the world. BBC News spoke to some of the fans for whom a love of Austen's work has evolved into a way of life.
Australia may still have been a penal colony when Jane Austen was writing her novels, but two centuries on, Austen fans Down Under get together each year to recreate Regency England in Canberra.
Aylwen Gardiner-Garden and her husband John have run the annual Jane Austen Festival for 10 years.
The event grew out of their love of Regency dancing and now more than 300 people come from all over Australia and New Zealand for promenades, grand balls, talks and dance workshops.
"Jane Austen is very popular in Australia - especially after the BBC series aired here in the 1990s - Colin Firth just did it for everyone. And it's generational - there was another whole new set of fans after the Keira Knightley film," she explained.
"I don't think it's harking back to the old country - it's more the sense of romance and escaping from reality. It's not the seedy side of England, like Dickens.
"At the festival, the women can dress up, feel feminine and elegant, and the guys are gentlemen. Teenagers grow up overnight on the dance floor - their manners are fantastic.
"It's people coming together to learn about the costumes, the books, the dancing. It's become part of people's lives, so I keep doing it for the love of it."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
In Chicago, Deborah Miller performs her own one-woman show based on the books and letters of Austen.
She still remembers 10 September 2009 - the day she first read Austen's biography and instantly "fell in love". Within a year she had read all her novels and written the stage show she has been performing ever since.
"Her work is so well written - every time I read it I find something new - her concise use of language and its elegance is so beautiful," she said.
In researching her show, Ms Miller visited the Smithsonian Institution to find the earliest audio recording of a Hampshire accent and listened over and over again to find the correct stage voice.
"I do have to slow it down a bit - they are not used to a Hampshire accent on the south side of Chicago."
With more than 5,000 members of Jane Austen societies in the US and Canada, there is an eager audience for her shows.
"People have read the novels, but not the letters. People at the shows cry and say that I am Jane Austen.
"It's the ease and geniality of the time, the romance and the reassurance - in the current political climate, a Jane Austen novel has integrity and truth."
Adge Secker is a full-time police officer in Bath who is also a tour guide for ECT Travel's Strictly Jane Austen tours - one of the companies chasing the bonnet bucks - tapping into the market of Austen enthusiasts keen to learn more about their heroine.
He described his clients as "just mad crazy" about Austen with Americans in particular "absolutely nuts for her".
"We take them to where she lived, where she danced, the places that inspired the stories and just immerse them in the history. I get people enthused and at the end tell them what they've done is walk in her footsteps.
"It's just good fun to do - they love to soak up the history and the culture."
Tour-goers get to visit places in the city where Jane Austen lived for five years from 1801. Locations include the Gravel Walk - where Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth were engaged in Persuasion - or visitors can have Regency experiences like tasting the spa water or attending a grand ball.
"Many Jane Austen experts come on the tours to see the places in her life. I'm like a sponge - always learning new stories. But you have to get your facts right, otherwise Jane Austen fans will find you out."
Austen's work was first published in Italy in the 1930s, while films and dubbed BBC dramas have boosted her popularity in recent decades.
Venetian Mara Barbuni first saw Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility in 1995 and immediately borrowed the book from her local library.
Since then she has written extensively on the author - her most recent research project is into how houses and homes are represented in Austen's novels.
In the course of her research, she has travelled to many of the "Austenland" sites - including Winchester, Bath and Lyme Regis.
Austen's work is "really popular and much loved" in Italy, she explains.
"Many Italian readers of Jane Austen declare they love her settings, the old-fashioned but fashionable flair of her novels, and the love stories of her characters."
More than 300 academics and devotees are in the Jane Austen Society of Italy which was founded in Bologna in 2013. It is holding a "Grand Tour" of conferences around Italian cities this year, based on each of Austen's novels.
Nicole Kang and Margy Supramaniam are members of Singapore's Jane Austen Circle, enthusiasts who regularly meet for balls, tea and dramatised readings in costume.
UK-born Mrs Supramaniam, who moved to Singapore in the 1980s, said: "I'm no seamstress but I do enjoy dressing bonnets to look authentic and finding Indian trimming to make dresses look Regency.
"I have also used saris for dresses, the muslin ones with borders are the best. In the late 18th and early 19th Century cloth was imported in large quantities from India as it was in great demand in England for clothes, so some of it works really well in achieving a period look.
"Many older Singaporeans, who had a fairly British-style colonial education, were brought up with Jane Austen but the younger generation are less familiar, and often their first introduction may have been watching a film adaptation. It is exciting to see Jane Austen's popularity spread.
"The largest group of followers that we have are millennial Chinese Singaporeans who can somehow relate to Jane Austen across culture and centuries."
One of those younger members, Nicole Kang (pictured above left, in the dress), gives Regency dance lessons in Singaporean schools.
"I first read Northanger Abbey when I was 15 years old as I had more or less finished reading most of the 'teen' books in my school library and I think I had fancied a bit of a challenge in my reading.
"I love Austen's work because she writes about familiar subjects - not just about love - but she had such a keen insight into human nature that I believe that her characters still exist in real life today."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40093010
|
Charles and Camilla photo marks duchess's 70th birthday - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Photographer Mario Testino said Camilla, who turns 70 on Monday, has a "wonderful sense of humour".
|
UK
|
An official portrait of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall has been unveiled, ahead of Camilla's 70th birthday on Monday.
The photograph, taken in May, shows Charles and Camilla in the morning room of their London home, Clarence House.
Photographer Mario Testino described the duchess as a "beautiful person".
The duchess celebrated her birthday over the weekend with a private party at the couple's family home, Highgrove House, in Gloucestershire.
Testino, known for his glamorous shots of the rich and famous, first captured Charles and Camilla in 2006 for their first wedding anniversary, on an assignment for Vogue.
The Peruvian photographer said that when he first met Camilla, more than a decade ago, he "discovered a kind and beautiful person with a wonderful sense of humour".
He added: "I'm honoured to document their royal highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall on this very important date."
Testino is something of a family favourite. He took Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge's official engagement photos in 2010, and has also taken official photographs of both Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
A series of relaxed portraits of the late Diana, Princess of Wales - taken just months before she died in 1997 - became some of his best-known portraits.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40625683
|
Chinese gay video ban sparks online backlash - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
China's crackdown on what it calls "abnormal" sexual activity has triggered a backlash online.
|
BBC Trending
|
A man holds a rainbow flag after taking part in the Pride Run in Shanghai in June. Homosexuality is legal in China, but authorities have implemented new rules which censor online videos featuring same sex relationships
A crackdown on a wide range of internet videos by Chinese censors has caused a backlash on the country's popular micro-blogging site Sina Weibo, with many users objecting to a decision to ban content which features same-sex relationships.
On Chinese social media, many were left angry, baffled, and upset:
"Aren't people born equal? ... What right do you have to discriminate against others?" said one. Another commented: "Aren't homosexuals normal? Why do you push them to a corner?"
The outcry was prompted a decision by Beijing regulators to censor the portrayal of homosexual activity in online videos. The regulations, which came into force at the beginning of July, classify homosexuality as "abnormal" sexual behaviour and cover not only explicit sexual content but any portrayal of same-sex relationships, positive or negative - for instance in popular online dramas.
On Weibo, the hashtag "Online Content Review Discriminating [Against] Gays" was viewed by millions and generated thousands of comments. And while the decision sparked the biggest backlash from Chinese social media users, the censorship extends further.
There are 84 categories of material that were banned from online video programmes by Chinese censors, including prostitution, drug addiction, extra-marital affairs and what authorities deem to be "unhealthy" views of the family, relationships and money. A ban on the portrayal of "erotic behaviour" includes kisses which last for a long time.
The guidance stipulates that all online content should help "realize the China dream of a great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."
A screenshot from Addicted, an online series that was censored after the new rules came into force
One prominent voice who has criticised Chinese government censorship is Li Yinhe, China's first female sexologist and a well-known commentator on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) issues.
"To [the government], homosexuality is regarded as obscene," she says, adding that the LGBT community is "very angry."
Li Yinhe tells BBC Trending radio that when she recently wrote a piece calling on the government to end the censorship mechanism entirely, the article was taken down by Weibo censors just a few hours after publication.
"Well, this is the reality in China," she says.
Under the latest guidelines, which were issued by the China Netcasting Services Association, at least two to three "auditors" will have to check all online content to make sure it adheres to the "advanced culture of socialism."
The latest regulations are part of a wide campaign by the authorities to control discourse online through the censorship of a wide range of content including live streaming, news and social media.
Just over a year ago Beijing issued a set of regulations which banned the portrayal of homosexuality on television as part of what they described as being a cultural crackdown on "vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content."
A number of Chinese gay dating apps have also been shut down in the country - the most recent example being the lesbian dating app Rela which had more than five million users and was shut down at the end of May this year.
Homosexuality is not illegal in China, and was removed from an official list of mental disorders in 2001.
Tim Hildebrandt, an assistant professor of social policy and development at the London School of Economics, says the recent censorship around homosexuality is surprising.
"Social acceptance of homosexuality had really gone up in China over the last five to 15 years," he says. "Unlike a lot of places with institutionalised religion, it's not a place that has ever viewed homosexuality as inherently sinful. It's been viewed over time as an oddity, but not an inherent threat to society. The only threat it served was as one of non-conformity to a perfect model of the family."
Hildebrandt adds that the latest guidelines issued around homosexual content online are "particularly worrisome."
"Some might assume this is just about pornography," he says. "This is not really the case. It's any portrayal of homosexuality in online videos. As to what that means for gay people in China, essentially the internet is one of the few safe spaces to meet others within the community. This is how people are meeting each other both in a platonic and romantic setting."
Wenxiong, a gay Chinese man who is currently studying in the US, says that the homosexuality ban online feels "like the Cultural Revolution again."
"We are seeing a group of people as a target of antagonism and people can say bad things about them, or insult them," he says.
"The government, aside from the regulations on LGBT content, is also issuing a lot of other cultural tightening regulations," he says. "It's like Big Brother is watching you now. The government is telling you that you cannot have a gay life."
You can find BBC Trending on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @BBCtrending. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-40610679
|
Girl, 15, dies in Newton Abbot after 'legal high reaction' - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The girl was found unconscious in the early hours in a park in Newton Abbot, Devon, and later died.
|
Devon
|
Two other girls found in the park were also taken to hospital as a precaution
A 15-year-old girl has died after suffering an adverse reaction from a suspected "legal high," police said.
The girl was found unconscious at about 04:50 BST at Bakers Park in Newton Abbot, Devon, and died at Torbay Hospital. She was not from the area.
Two other girls were also taken to hospital as a precaution.
Police said they were "confident" local people would know who supplied the drugs to the girl and appealed for them to come forward.
Investigations are continuing and a cordon is in place at the scene
Det Supt Ken Lamont said: "With NPS (New Psychoactive Substances) no-one knows what's in them and that's why they are so dangerous.
"Time and time again we hear of people paying the ultimate price for this.
"It's not worth experimenting with your life."
The girl's next of kin have been informed but police have not yet named her.
Investigations are continuing and a cordon is in place at the scene.
Last year Totnes teenager Nathan Wood died after after taking the psychoactive drug N-Bomb.
Police called on parents to "speak to your children about the dangers of drugs and (formerly known as) legal highs".
"They can cause death even if taken just once."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40618371
|
Baby Justin Trudeau meets Canada's prime minister - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The son of Syrian refugees was named after the politician as a thank you to their adopted country.
|
US & Canada
|
The prime minister briefly held the baby at an annual gathering in Calgary
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has met baby Justin Trudeau - the son of Syrian refugees named after the politician as a thank you to their adopted country.
The two-month-old boy, whose full name is Justin Trudeau Adam Bilan, was snoozing happily as the prime minister briefly held him at a Calgary Stampede breakfast on Saturday.
The boy was born in May in Calgary - several months after his parents and their two children fled Syria's war.
They hail from the capital Damascus.
When they landed in Montreal in February last year, Mr Trudeau was not there to greet them at the airport, as he did with other Syrian refugees.
But the couple, Muhammad and Afraa Bilan, felt they had to give their thanks to him in some way - so have named their newborn son after him.
Muhammad Bilan with baby Justin Trudeau in May
Between November 2015, when Mr Trudeau became prime minister, and January this year, more than 40,000 Syrian refugees have been resettled in Canada. About 1,000 of them moved to Calgary.
In late January, after US President Donald Trump's ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, Mr Trudeau took to social media to confirm his government's commitment to helping "those fleeing persecution, terror & war".
In Ontario in February, another Syrian couple named their newborn Justin in tribute to the prime minister.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40622707
|
Robin Hood overwhelmed by Maid Marian charity fund - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Nottingham's Robin Hood says money will go to charities that helped his wife, who died of cancer.
|
Nottingham
|
Maid Marian Sally Pollard was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015
Nottingham's official Robin Hood said he had been overwhelmed by donations for Maid Marian - his wife who died of breast cancer.
Sally Pollard, 39, who had played the role for more than 12 years, died at their home on 16 June.
Tim Pollard, 53, said his wife was "absolutely brilliant".
About £6,000 has been raised which will go to the charities that helped her stay at home in her final months, he said.
Sally Pollard was Nottingham's official Maid Marian for more than 12 years
Dr Pollard was a genetics scientist and lecturer at the University of Nottingham.
Mr Pollard has played Robin Hood for more than two decades.
The couple fell in love while playing the famous duo and married last September. They have a daughter, Scarlett, aged three.
Mr Pollard, who is employed by the city council to appear as Robin Hood at special events, said: "Sally was absolutely brilliant, not just as a Maid Marian, which she loved doing, being part of the Robin Hood legend and representing the city, but she was a great scientist, teacher, working at the university and helping others.
"Some of her research is ongoing and that's a great legacy for her."
Following his wife's death he decided to raise some money for the charities that had helped her.
He said: "We thought we might get a couple of hundred pounds, but the goodwill Sally has engendered means we've raised well over £6,000."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-40607573
|
Wimbledon 2017: Why Cilic has a chance against Federer - Henman - BBC Sport
|
2017-07-16
| null |
Roger Federer is the favourite but do not discount Marin Cilic in Sunday's Wimbledon final, says four-time semi-finalist Tim Henman.
| null |
Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and app.
Roger Federer will try to win the Wimbledon men's title for a record eighth time when he plays Marin Cilic in Sunday's final.
Federer, 35, will become the oldest champion at SW19 since the Open era began in 1968 if he overcomes 28-year-old Croat Cilic on Centre Court.
The Swiss superstar is looking to secure a 19th Grand Slam title against a man who has just one - the 2014 US Open - to his name.
But will it be as straightforward as many expect? Four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist and former British number one Tim Henman tells BBC Sport why Cilic could spring a surprise.
'Cilic should have beaten him here last year'
Cilic led Federer by two sets to love and had three match points in the fourth set of their Wimbledon quarter-final last year, before Federer triumphed in five sets. Federer has won six of their seven meetings since 2008.
Henman: Federer is the favourite but Cilic definitely has a chance. To put it into context, I would say if they played 10 times I think Cilic could win twice - well, maybe two and a half times.
He came very close to beating Federer here last year - and he should have won that match.
Cilic did beat him at the US Open, on his way to winning that title in 2014, and I think it is also in his favour that he has been in a Grand Slam final before.
If it was his first Slam final I think that would be an even bigger occasion for him to deal with mentally.
Yes, it is his first final at Wimbledon, and Roger has been there 10 times before, but Cilic has plenty of experience. He will know the crowd will be behind Federer but that won't worry him, and he is a very dangerous player.
Federer is fresh... but will fatigue be a factor for Cilic?
Henman: I don't think fatigue will make a difference here. When you take into account that it is the final and the adrenalin rush that Cilic will get from being in such a huge match, I don't see him being tired.
I think who wins is going to boil down more to who is going really dominate with their serve and attacking baseline play.
If Cilic is going to have a chance, I think that is where he really needs to be super-aggressive from the back of the court and try to take Federer's time away to stop him dictating points.
Federer serve will be hard to break down
Henman: Serve is such an important factor in Federer's game.
He has only been broken four times in 79 service games at the tournament so far and, when you are holding serve so comfortably, that is such a great platform to free you up to be more aggressive in your return games.
Cilic has done well returning serve on his way to the final - has won more break points than any other man at Wimbledon this year - 26.
The challenge for him on Sunday is to find a way of adding to that total against someone as good as Federer.
We have not seen Federer's serve under pressure very often at this tournament, but he showed in his semi-final against Tomas Berdych how he can respond when it does happen.
He faced break points at 15-40 at 3-3 in the third set but responded with a series of aces that saw him hold. Less than 15 minutes later, he was through.
Cilic has to attack whenever he can
Henman: Cilic is a tall guy with long arms and a very big reach so he is able to get a lot of serves back in play, and be aggressive about it too - particularly against second serves.
He has to do that against Federer, every time he gets a look at a second serve.
It will be harder for him to do that on Sunday than in any of his six matches here so far, because Federer has got a great second serve too, but Cilic has to attack him whenever he gets the chance.
Henman: Cilic's serve is one of his main weapons and following it into the net sometimes would give Federer something different to deal with.
Federer is very good at blocking the ball back but, if you are serving big, then you know a lot of the time that is all he is going to do.
I was amazed at one of the statistics I saw about Berdych after he had been beaten by Federer - the Czech had served 394 first serves at the tournament and had only come to the net 11 times after it.
That is staggering when you have got as much power as he does, and I definitely think that if Cilic can serve and volley once a game just to keep Federer guessing, it could be an important tactic.
'I've given up being surprised by what Federer does'
Federer is playing in his 11th Wimbledon final, 14 years after his first. He was last at this stage in 2015, when he lost to Novak Djokovic. Before winning the 2017 Australian Open in January, he had not won a Grand Slam since his last Wimbledon triumph in 2012.
If Federer does win Wimbledon for an eighth time, it is a massive achievement in the same realms as Rafael Nadal winning his 10th French Open title last month.
When you think that, when Federer turned 35 last August, he was injured and did not play again for the rest of the year, it did not look like he would be adding to his 17 Slams.
Oldest man to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open era (since 1968)
He came back to win the Australian Open and if he was to win Wimbledon on Sunday then he will have won both the Slams he has played this year. I don't think anyone saw that coming.
But I don't get surprised by what Roger does anymore - I've said that enough times down the years, that I've given up being surprised by him. I am just amazed.
What he and Nadal have done this year has turned the clock back five years in the men's game, and they continue to be incredible to watch.
Oldest man to win a Grand Slam final in the Open era (since 1968)
• None Take on the legends in our interactive game
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/40611385
|
Garbine Muguruza: Wimbledon champion says it is 'amazing' to beat 'role model' - BBC Sport
|
2017-07-16
| null |
Garbine Muguruza says it was "amazing" to beat "role model" Venus Williams to win her first Wimbledon final.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Garbine Muguruza said it was "amazing" to beat "role model" Venus Williams to win her first Wimbledon final.
The 23-year-old Spaniard, who had failed to reach a final in the 23 tournaments since she won the French Open last year, defeated five-time champion Williams 7-5 6-0.
Muguruza was beaten by the American's sister Serena in the 2015 final.
"I didn't want to lose this time because I know the difference. I'm so happy," she said.
"I'm happy that once again I see myself winning a Grand Slam, something that is so hard to do.
Speaking on court after the match, Muguruza said of Williams: "She's such an incredible player. I grew up watching her play."
As the crowd laughed, she turned to the 37-year-old American and added: "Sorry!"
Later, she said: "I was so excited to go there and win especially over someone like a role model."
The first set of Saturday's final was a tight affair and would have gone the way of Williams had she converted one of her two break points at 5-4.
Muguruza said: "When I had those set points against me, I'm like: 'Hey, it's normal. I'm playing Venus here.'
"So I just keep fighting. And I knew that if I was playing like I was playing during the two weeks, I was going to have eventually an opportunity. So I was calm.
"If I lose the first set, I still have two more. Let's not make a drama, you know."
• None Take on the legends in our interactive game
Williams capitulated in the second set, losing her form altogether and all of her service games.
When asked about winning the second set 6-0, Muguruza said: "I wanted to go my way the fastest as possible, just not get too complicated. But I know it's hard.
"I played very well since the first game and I kept the level, which is very hard because you're nervous. You see you're winning. I was just very composed."
Muguruza also praised former champion Conchita Martinez, who replaced her regular coach Sam Sumyk for the tournament.
She added: "Obviously I'd like Conchita to be in my team because I have a great relationship with her."
'Muguruza dug in there and played better'
Williams said she had not "fully processed" what happened in the final, having gone from being close to winning the first set to losing the final in only 37 minutes.
She was asked whether Sjogren's syndrome, which she has, or fatigue had affected her during the match. However, the 10-time Grand Slam singles champion did not answer those questions directly.
When asked about her two break-point chances in the opening set, she said: "I definitely would have loved to have converted some of those points.
"But she competed really well. So credit to her. She just dug in there and managed to play better.
"There's always something to learn from matches that you win and the ones that you don't win. So there's definitely something for me to learn from this. But at the same time looking back, it's always about looking forward, too."
Regarding her performance at this year's Wimbledon, where she reached her first final since 2009, she said: "Every tournament's different. This is most certainly a very different tournament.
"It took a lot of effort to get right here. So this is where I want to be in every single major."
4 - Williams dropped serve four times, while Muguruza held throughout the match. Muguruza did not drop serve in her quarter-final or semi-final wins either. 5 - Muguruza will climb from 15th to fifth in the new WTA world rankings on Monday. 9 - From 5-4 behind in the first set, Muguruza won nine straight games to taken the title. 19 - Muguruza won a vital 19-point rally at 5-5 and at 15-40 on her serve in the opening set. 26 - The second set sped by in just 26 minutes, and Williams won a mere 12 points. In all, the match lasted an hour and 17 minutes. 77 - Williams might have had the fastest serve at 114mph, but Muguruza's 77% win rate on her first serve was huge. Venus was down at 61% by theend of the contest.
Muguruza - did you know?
1. Muguruza is only the second Spanish woman to win the Wimbledon singles title and the first since her coach Martinez triumphed in 1994.
2. She is only the second player to face both Williams sisters in the final of the same Grand Slam after Martina Hingis beat Venus to win the US Open in 1997 then lost to Serena at the same tournament in 1999.
3. Muguruza's mother Scarlet Blanco is from Venezuela and her father Jose Antonio is from Spain. She was born in Venezuela but moved to Spain when she was six and retains dual nationality but her current residency is listed by the women's tour as Geneva in Switzerland. In 2014, she decided to play for Spain. Her favourite players growing up were Serena Williams and Pete Sampras.
4. No player in either singles draw at Wimbledon had a better percentage of saving break points than Muguruza. She showed her composure in the crucial moments by saving 21 out of the 25 break points she faced, 84% during the tournament.
5. Muguruza joins Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Petra Kvitova among the active female players on two Grand Slam singles titles. Only Serena Williams and Venus Williams, with 23 and seven respectively, and Maria Sharapova on five, have more.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/40620632
|
Judge me on four things, said Trump. So we did - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The president wants the media to focus on jobs, the economy, IS and the border. So we did.
|
US & Canada
|
President Trump claims the news media isn't paying attention to real policy issues, like jobs, the economy, so-called Islamic State and the border.
"At some point the Fake News will be forced to discuss our great jobs numbers, strong economy, success with ISIS, the border & so much else!" he tweeted.
Six months into his presidency, how is he faring in these areas? And how much is he tweeting about these policy priorities?
During the campaign, Mr Trump vowed to create 25 million jobs over 10 years and become "the greatest jobs president... ever".
In the past he discredited US jobless figures, claiming the actual unemployment rate was over forty per cent. Now he's America's CEO, he's embracing the same figures he once described as "phony".
So, are the jobs numbers "great", as his tweet suggests?
Yes - the jobs market is looking healthy, with the overall trend showing that unemployment is falling.
The president is also right when he says there are more jobs around - in June 222,000 jobs were created.
But this steady economic performance isn't a drastic change from what we saw under President Barack Obama, when job growth increased at a steady pace.
One area where that growth isn't being matched is in wages, and there have been calls for President Trump to address this issue.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Where did Trump the Outsourcing Slayer go?
Then there's his promise to bring more jobs back to the US from overseas - a pledge which energised much of his base.
Shortly after his election victory he spoke of how he had saved 1,100 jobs with the Indiana based air conditioner firm, Carrier. Months later, 600 of those jobs are still moving to Mexico.
Other companies like Ford are expanding production overseas, rather than in the US.
Despite the president's assurances he would reverse what he described as "job theft" overseas, it's proving difficult.
The latest growth figures, released since President Trump took office, showed a decline in the GDP rate (1.4%) in the first three months of this year, compared with the three months preceding (2.1%).
It was one of the worst readings for nearly a year, but not necessarily bad news for President Trump, as economists say the first quarter of the year usually posts a lower rate.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Overall, the president is correct when he characterises the US economy as "strong". Upward growth is part of a trend, in which the US economy has picked up since the financial crisis in 2008.
The White House has set a growth target of 3%, but this does look like a challenge, as growth has only averaged less than 2% a year since 2001. The Congressional Budget Office currently estimates growth at about 1.9%.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Trump : 'I just don't want a poor person' running the US economy
President Trump often boasts about how the stock market has risen since he took office. He can take credit for this in part.
Some of the improvement in the markets can be attributed to anticipation that the president and the Republican pledge to reduce taxes and cut regulations will be implemented.
But he's still not managed to pass tax reform laws.
During the campaign Donald Trump didn't mince his words when it came to so-called Islamic State (IS), famously using an expletive to describe how much bombing he would carry out.
He added: "I'd just bomb those suckers. I'd blow up the pipes, I'd blow up the refineries, I'd blow up every single inch - there would be nothing left."
Back then Mr Trump was wary to reveal details but promised he had a "secret plan". Since entering office, he has ordered a review of US policy on IS.
Despite criticising his predecessor's handling of the militant group ("he's the founder of ISIS"), the Trump administration's strategy is strikingly similar. It includes continuing strikes and targeted raids, more support to local forces, and freezing the assets of IS operatives.
The goals are the same too - to take control of IS strongholds like Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq - and coalition forces have already seen success in the latter.
But there are some key differences in tactics. One is the decision to arm Syrian Kurds to help take Raqqa, despite objections from the Turkish government.
The second is a tougher stance on "annihilating" IS fighters, which has led to a rise in the number of civilian casualties caught up in attacks.
The third is that the Trump administration is authorising a far greater number of air strikes as it makes its push, and has ramped up operations against IS in Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia.
In Afghanistan his administration dropped the "Mother of All Bombs" to kill IS militants. And, when President Trump authorised a strike against a chemical weapons factory in Syria earlier this year, he showed he's not afraid to use military force when he feels it is necessary.
It shows another key difference between him and his predecessor Barack Obama, who promised such action, but didn't deliver.
Securing America's borders was the centrepiece of Donald Trump's election pitch. At campaign rallies he promised to crack down on illegal immigrants in the US, with his focus on criminals.
He often raised the case of Kate Steinle, a young woman from Seattle who was killed by an illegal immigrant who had been deported five times.
At the end of June he introduced "Kate's law" which would increase penalties for immigrants who re-enter the US after they've been deported. It was passed by the House of Representatives, and will now come before the Senate.
In the president's first 100 days, more than 41,000 people were arrested on the suspicion they were in the US illegally, an increase on the previous year. About 10,800 had no criminal conviction, compared with 4,200 the previous year.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. US immigration raids leave many 'afraid to open the door'
But despite his tough talk on the issue, President Trump actually deported fewer people in his first 100 days than Barack Obama.
In Trump's first 100 days 54,564 people were deported, compared with 62,062 for the same time period in the previous year under his predecessor.
And let's not forget Donald Trump's plans to tighten the border even further - his flagship plan to "build a wall" is moving along. Companies have until September to pitch their prototypes. At a recent rally in Iowa, the president said it could be a "solar wall" which would pay for itself.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. How will President Trump deliver on border wall promise?
For months the president's travel ban was blocked by the courts and failed to become law.
After a decision by the US Supreme Court in June, it's partially in effect, but it's not as drastic. Visitors from the six designated countries can still enter, if they have a bona fide connection to the US.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40524386
|
All the Doctors, from William Hartnell to Jodie Whittaker - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
As the new Time Lord prepares to enter the Tardis, we look back at her many predecessors.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
A promotional image for 2013's 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor
Doctor Who's Peter Capaldi has passed on his sonic screwdriver to Jodie Whittaker who becomes the 13th doctor and first woman to take on the role of television's famous Time Lord.
She follows a distinguished line-up of thespian (male) talent that stretches all the way back to the sci-fi favourite's first episode in 1963.
William Hartnell was the first actor to play the Doctor on television, appearing in the BBC show from 1963 to 1966.
Hartnell, who died in 1975, had previously appeared in TV's The Army Game and Carry On Sergeant, the first Carry On film, in 1958.
While Hartnell was playing the Doctor on television, Peter Cushing could be found playing him on film in Dr Who and the Daleks, in which Roy Castle co-starred.
That 1965 film and its 1966 follow-up, Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., depicted the Doctor as a human scientist rather than a time-travelling Gallifreyan and are not considered part of the Doctor Who timeline.
When ill health forced Hartnell to relinquish the role, the Doctor regenerated - for the first time - into Patrick Troughton.
Memorably scruffy and eccentric, Troughton spent three years travelling time and space before stepping down in 1969.
When the raffish Jon Pertwee became the third Doctor, he also became the first to be seen on television in colour.
His tenure, which ran from 1970 to 1974, saw the Time Lord exiled to Earth and working with Unit, aka the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce.
Pertwee's time with the show also saw the first of the popular ensemble stories in which previous Doctors appear alongside the current one.
Broadcast over December 1972 and January 1973, The Three Doctors saw him joined by Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell in what would be the latter's final acting engagement.
When Pertwee moved on in 1974, Tom Baker moved in - and would become the longest-serving Doctor to date.
Deep-voiced, curly-haired and eternally long of scarf, his seven years in the Tardis earned him legions of fans who were delighted anew in 2013 when he popped up at the end of a 50th anniversary special.
When Baker finally stepped down from the role in 1981, his shoes were filled by the fresh-faced Peter Davison.
The boyish actor spent three years as the Fifth Doctor before taking his leave at the end of the show's 21st series.
Davison's tenure coincided with Doctor Who's 20th anniversary, celebrated by a feature-length special that saw him joined by Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton.
The First Doctor also made an appearance, with Richard Hurndall filling in for the late William Hartnell.
Tom Baker opted not to return for The Five Doctors, which covered over his absence by incorporating material from one of the actor's unbroadcast adventures.
Similar subterfuge was required for this 1983 photo shoot, which saw Hurndall, Davison, Pertwee and Troughton joined by an unconvincing Baker mannequin.
Davison's departure opened the door for another Baker to take controls of the Doctor's time-travelling police box in 1984.
Colin Baker (no relation of Tom's) spent less than three years in the role, with his appearances limited further by an 18-month hiatus in production.
Though Baker had limited time to enjoy the Tardis, he did get the chance to meet one of his predecessors when Patrick Troughton returned - for the third time - in 1985.
The Two Doctors marked Troughton's final reprise of his signature role. Some years later, his sons David and Michael would both make Doctor Who appearances.
Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy took over from Colin Baker in 1987 and played the Doctor until the show's axing in 1989.
Michael Grade - the controller of BBC One at the time - was no fan of the programme, which was looking increasingly threadbare and cheap-looking in the face of glossier cinema fare.
Some feel, though, that this period in the show's evolution has been harshly judged.
An attempt was made to revive Doctor Who in 1996 with a TV film that saw McCoy regenerate into Paul McGann on American soil.
It was hoped the special would spawn a TV series but it never materialised, making McGann's tenure the shortest of all the Doctors.
In 2005 Doctor Who regenerated into the ambitious, well-financed property it is today. It also introduced a new Doctor in the form of Christopher Eccleston.
To the disappointment of many, the Salford-born actor chose to make only one series of the rebooted show. His departure was confirmed only days after his debut episode was broadcast.
Eccleston's exit saw David Tennant join the show, with his first full episode - The Christmas Invasion - shown on BBC One on Christmas Day 2005.
Tennant's amiable style and enthusiasm made him a popular choice for the role, which he finally relinquished on the first day of 2010.
The spate of junior Doctors continued with the casting of Matt Smith, who was just 27 when he made his debut as the Time Lord's 11th incarnation.
His four years in the role, which coincided with Doctor Who's 50th anniversary, saw the programme both maintain and bolster its renewed popularity.
Doctor Who's 50th anniversary in 2013 was marked by The Day of the Doctor, a feature-length special in which Matt Smith's Time Lord was joined by David Tennant's version of the character.
The Day of the Doctor also introduced a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor, known as The War Doctor and played by Sir John Hurt.
The character rejected referring to himself as 'The Doctor' and is not considered to have the same status as his fellow TV Time Lords.
Peter Capaldi was no stranger to the Doctor Who universe when he was cast as the Doctor in 2013. A lifelong fan of the show, he appeared in an episode of the programme in 2008 and also had a role in its spin-off Torchwood.
His hawkish features brought a new intensity, and maturity, to the Tardis from the moment his first full episode was broadcast in August 2014.
Capaldi's most recent adventure saw him briefly joined by the "original" Doctor, played on this occasion by David Bradley.
Bradley will return in this year's Doctor Who Christmas special.
Bradley's appearance was a pleasing one for Whovians after his role as William Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time, a 2013 dramatisation of the show's early years.
Jodie Whittaker has been named as the 13th Doctor and will be the first woman to play the role - if one discounts Joanna Lumley, who briefly played the Doctor in a 1999 Comic Relief sketch.
Whittaker will make her debut on the sci-fi show this Christmas when Peter Capaldi regenerates.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
• None Was Doctor Who rubbish in the 1980s?
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40585673
|
Boy, 16, critical after moped and police car collide - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A moped being ridden by three teenagers is in collision with a police car in London.
|
London
|
A moped ridden by three teenagers was in collision with a police car at the junction of South Park Road and Trinity Road in Wimbledon
A 16-year-old boy is in a critical condition after a collision between a police car and a moped being ridden by three teenagers in south-west London.
The crash happened at 02:15 BST on Sunday in South Park Road, Wimbledon.
All three boys were taken to a south London hospital for treatment.
The moped was believed to have been involved in an attempted robbery and was being monitored by the National Police Air Service helicopter, said the Metropolitan Police.
A second 16-year-old suffered a serious injury to his leg and a 15-year-old sustained minor injuries.
All three were arrested at the scene and two large knives were recovered.
The moped had been reported to police as lost or stolen, on 12 July.
The Met said the Directorate of Professionals Standards has been informed and the incident had been referred to the police watchdog.
In a statement, the Met said the moped was not being "pursued by police vehicles on the ground" at the time of the collision but "was monitored by police helicopter".
"The moped was in collision with the rear offside of a marked police car, which was being driven to a position ahead of the moped," it said.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40624453
|
A mission to the Pacific plastic patch - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A "raft" of plastic debris spanning more than 965,000 square miles is floating in the South Pacific.
|
Science & Environment
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Mission to the plastic patch: On board with Capt Charles Moore and his team
A mariner who has spent years travelling "hundreds of thousands of nautical miles" to measure the impact of plastic waste in the ocean has estimated that a "raft" of plastic debris spanning more than 965,000 square miles (2.5m sq km) is concentrated in a region of the South Pacific.
Capt Charles Moore has just returned from a sampling expedition around Easter Island and Robinson Crusoe Island.
He was part of the team which discovered the first ocean "garbage patch" in the North Pacific gyre in 1997 and has now turned his attention to the South Pacific.
Although plastic is known to occur in the Southern Hemisphere gyres, very few scientists have visited the region to collect samples.
Oceanographer Dr Erik van Sebille, from Utrecht University, says the work of Capt Moore and his colleagues will help fill "a massive knowledge gap" in our understanding of ocean plastics.
"Any data we can get our hands on is good data at this point," he told BBC News.
Capt Moore explained that the space occupied by sub-tropical gyres - areas of the ocean surrounded by circulating ocean currents - is approximately the same size as the entire land mass of the Earth, but they are now being "populated by our trash".
The phenomenon of oceanic garbage patches was originally documented in the North Pacific, but plastic has now been found in the South Pacific, Arctic and Mediterranean.
"It's hard not to find plastic in the ocean any more," Dr van Sebille said. "That's quite shocking".
Capt Charles Moore has been searching the ocean for plastic since 1997
Capt Moore is the founder of Algalita Marine Research, a non-profit organisation aiming to combat the "plastic plague" of garbage floating in the world's oceans.
For more than 30 years, he has transported scientists to the centre of remote debris patches aboard his research ship, Alguita.
Dragging nets behind the vessel, the crew sieves particles of plastic from the ocean, which are then counted and fed into estimates of global microplastic distribution.
Although scientists agree that plastic pollution is a widespread problem, the exact distribution of these rafts of ocean garbage is still unclear.
"If we don't understand where the plastic is, then we don't really understand what harm it does and we can't really work on solving the problem," said Dr van Sebille.
Capt Moore and his crew hope to address this lack of data through their research trips.
On this latest voyage, Capt Moore and his colleagues are also investigating how plastic in the South Pacific Ocean may be threatening the survival of fish.
Lanternfish, that live in the deep ocean, are an important part of the diet of whales, squid and king penguins and the Algalita team says that plastic ingestion by lanternfish could have a domino effect on the rest of the food chain.
Christiana Boerger, a marine biologist in the US Navy, who has worked with the organisation, told BBC News that the problem of plastic consumption in fish can be "out of sight, out of mind".
Most of the plastic is made up of tiny pieces floating at the surface
She explained that "scientists need to actually travel to these accumulation zones" in order to bring the issue to the world's attention.
Ms Boerger has seen the impact of oceanic garbage patches first hand, aboard the Alugita and she says that some fish species "have more man-made plastic in their stomach than their natural food".
Globally, most of the plastic that ends up in the oceans comes from the land.
Litter is typically transported offshore by currents, which then form large revolving bodies of water, or gyres.
But Capt Moore says the South Pacific garbage patch is different from those in the Northern Hemisphere, because most of the litter appears to have come from the fishing industry.
Elsewhere, scientists are shifting their attention away from remote mid-ocean garbage patches to locations closer to home.
"If you think about plastic in terms of its impact, where does it harm marine life?" Dr van Sebille posed.
"Near coastlines is where biology suffers. It's also where the economy suffers the most."
Dr van Sebille also says that future research efforts need to focus on ecologically sensitive regions along the continental shelf. Even though the garbage patches cover a very large area "they are not that ecologically important", he said.
Our plastic rubbish has floated to islands that are thousands of miles from the nearest human population
His team has previously studied the risk of plastics to marine animals, including turtles and sea birds. "Every time, we found that the risk is mostly outside of the garbage patches," he warned.
In the future, Dr van Sebille hopes to understand more about how plastic ends up on the coastline and is then subsequently transported to the oceans by storms. Interrupting this process might be an important mechanism for halting the growth of ocean garbage patches.
"A beach clean-up might turn out to be a very efficient way of cleaning up the ocean," he suggests.
In the meantime, humanity's love affair with plastic is unlikely to end soon. Plastic "will never be the enemy", concedes Capt Moore, "It has too many uses".
He explained that plastic pollution travels across national borders, so dealing with it required international collaboration.
• None Are your clothes polluting the ocean?
• None Plastic oceans: What do we know?
• None South Pacific Expedition - en route to the Galapagos by Charles James Moore The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-40584629
|
Senegal Demba Diop: Football stadium collapse kills eight - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A wall gave way during clashes following a League Cup final at the venue in the capital Dakar.
|
Africa
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A survivor describes how a wall fell directly onto the crowd
A wall collapsed at a football stadium in Senegal on Saturday, killing eight people and injuring almost 90.
It fell in after fighting began between rival fans and police responded with tear gas, with a stampede ensuing.
Stade de Mbour were playing Union Sportive Ouakam at the Demba Diop stadium in the capital Dakar.
The country has suspended all sporting and cultural events for the rest of the month.
During the clashes, home fans threw projectiles including stones at others. Pictures circulating online appear to show people scrambling over a low wall amid clouds of gas.
Passions were high at the game, the League Cup final.
With the score 1-1 after 90 minutes, Mbour took a goal in the first period of extra time to win 2-1, and violence broke out at the final whistle.
Cheikh Maba Diop, whose friend died in the incident and who helped move people out of the stadium, told AFP news agency: "All of a sudden when the wall fell... we knew exactly that some of our own had lost their lives because the wall fell directly on to people."
A spokesman for President Macky Sall said campaigning for upcoming elections would be suspended on Sunday as a mark of respect, and that there should be "punishments serving as a warning".
There are also suggestions that the stadium itself was in a poor state of repair, BBC Africa reporter James Copnall says.
An enquiry announced by the government will no doubt examine all this, he adds.
• None 'The wall fell directly onto people' Video, 00:00:38'The wall fell directly onto people'
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40621982
|
Jodie Whittaker: Doctor Who's 13th Time Lord to be a woman - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Broadchurch star Jodie Whittaker is named as the 13th Doctor - the first woman to take the role.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. See how Jodie Whittaker was revealed as the next Time Lord
Jodie Whittaker has been announced as Doctor Who's 13th Time Lord - the first woman to be given the role.
The new Doctor's identity was revealed in a trailer broadcast at the end of the Wimbledon men's singles final.
The Broadchurch star succeeds Peter Capaldi, who took over the role in 2013 and leaves in the forthcoming Christmas special.
Whittaker, 35, said it was "overwhelming, as a feminist" to become the next Doctor.
She will make her debut on the sci-fi show when the Doctor regenerates in the Christmas special.
The Huddersfield-born star, who was a late favourite to become the Doctor, will find a familiar face for her on set - Doctor Who's new showrunner is Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall.
Whittaker said: "I'm beyond excited to begin this epic journey - with Chris and with every Whovian on this planet.
"It's more than an honour to play the Doctor. It means remembering everyone I used to be, while stepping forward to embrace everything the Doctor stands for: hope. I can't wait."
The actress also shares another Broadchurch link with Doctor Who - co-star David Tennant was the 10th Doctor.
It was always unlikely that the Doctor would continue to be white and male, especially as the BBC has committed itself to greater diversity on its programmes.
Casting the first female Doctor is something many viewers have been calling for. And strong female-led stories have been successful on the big and small screen in recent years, in films ranging from The Hunger Games and Star Wars to Wonder Woman, and in TV series like Game of Thrones.
The BBC will be hoping today's announcement will not just excite viewers, but will also demonstrate that the time travel show has firmly moved into the 21st century.
Whittaker said it felt "incredible" to take on the role, saying: "It feels completely overwhelming, as a feminist, as a woman, as an actor, as a human, as someone who wants to continually push themselves and challenge themselves, and not be boxed in by what you're told you can and can't be."
And she told fans not to be "scared" by her gender.
"Because this is a really exciting time, and Doctor Who represents everything that's exciting about change," she said, adding: "The fans have lived through so many changes, and this is only a new, different one, not a fearful one."
Whittaker said she had used the codename "Clooney" when discussing the part with her husband and agent - as actor George is "an iconic guy".
Peter Capaldi will bow out in this year's Christmas special, featuring David Bradley as the First Doctor
Chibnall said the 13th Doctor was always going to be a woman.
He said: "I always knew I wanted the 13th Doctor to be a woman and we're thrilled to have secured our number one choice.
"Her audition for the Doctor simply blew us all away. Jodie is an in-demand, funny, inspiring, super-smart force of nature and will bring loads of wit, strength and warmth to the role. The 13th Doctor is on her way."
Chibnall is taking over from Steven Moffat, who leaves the series at the same time as Capaldi.
Capaldi, who had said he wanted to see a woman replace him, said: "Anyone who has seen Jodie Whittaker's work will know that she is a wonderful actress of great individuality and charm.
"She has above all the huge heart to play this most special part. She's going to be a fantastic Doctor."
Former companions Billie Piper and Karen Gillan had called for a female Time Lord, while Doctor Who and Sherlock writer Mark Gatiss said it was the perfect time for a woman to take the lead role.
After the announcement, Piper tweeted the word: "YES" with a red rose emoji, while fellow former companion Freema Agyeman tweeted: "Change isn't a dirty word!!!!"
Dedicated Whovians were quick to react to the news of Jodie Whittaker taking over the Tardis.
On social media, some said it would encourage them to watch the show for the first time - but others said the casting meant they would be switching off, and that the Doctor should be played by a man.
Carla Joanna tweeted to say that she would be tuning in and that the trailer "made me choke up a little". Another tweeter, Ayad, said: "I don't even watch Doctor Who but a woman doctor is so cool."
But Samantha Melton said: "I am a woman and a feminist but I don't want a female Doctor. To me it's trying too hard to tick the boxes."
Doctor Who writer Jenny Colgan, who has written for the series' books and audio dramas, said: "I am of course incredibly excited the new Doctor is a woman; Steven Moffat has been paving the way for this for ages and it is absolutely about time.
"I can't imagine what it's like for Jodie: she must be so scared and excited all at once, but I couldn't be happier, and 100% can't wait to write for her."
Will Howells, who writes for the Doctor Who magazine and has been a fan for 25 years, said: "In 2017, there shouldn't be anything major about a TV series changing from a male lead to a female one. We'll also maybe see a solo male companion as a regular feature for the first time.
"I don't think it's a risky choice at all - but if a show that can go anywhere and do anything can't take risks, what can?"
Science fiction and fantasy author Paul Cornell said: "It's always been time for a woman Doctor and it's great we got there.
"Well done to Steven Moffat for laying the groundwork. She's going to be amazing. And that first episode of hers is going to get a lot of new people watching."
Actress Olivia Colman, who starred in a Doctor Who episode and was one of the possible candidates for the role, said it was a "classy decision".
"The creatives made the right decision that the part should be a woman and it's about time," she told BBC News. She added that those unhappy about Whittaker being the new Time Lord should "leave her alone and let her do her job brilliantly".
Whittaker starred as Beth Latimer in the three series of the ITV crime drama Broadchurch, as the mother of a murdered boy.
As well as TV work, Whittaker has appeared on the big screen, in One Day, Attack the Block and St Trinian's. She made her film debut in 2006's Venus, opposite Peter O'Toole.
Traditionally, each Doctor has their own distinctive look, raising questions about the cloak Whittaker wears in the trailer. However, she has said it is not part of her official Doctor Who outfit, and that she does not yet know what she will wear.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40624288
|
Kezia Dugdale in relationship with SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The Scottish Labour leader has been dating Mid Fife and Glenrothes MSP Jenny Gilruth for about four months.
|
Scotland politics
|
Ms Gilruth and Ms Dugdale thanked their friends, family and colleagues for their love and support
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale is in a relationship with an SNP MSP.
Ms Dugdale has been dating Mid Fife and Glenrothes MSP Jenny Gilruth for about four months.
At the beginning of the year the Labour leader split up with her former partner of nine years, Louise Riddell.
In a joint statement, Ms Dugdale and Ms Gilruth asked for their privacy to be respected and said they did not consider their new relationship to be "news".
Ms Gilruth was elected to Holyrood last May and is a parliamentary liaison officer to Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
The statement said: "We don't consider this to be 'news' - but we appreciate others might and we want to go about our daily lives normally.
"We would like to thank our friends, family and colleagues for their kindness over the past few months and for their love and support.
"We'd politely ask that our privacy is respected because while we are both politicians, we are also human beings - in a new relationship, which we cherish."
A close friend of the couple said: "Kez and Jenny are so happy together and make a great couple. They share much in common, but like so many couples they differ over their politics - which is something they will always agree to disagree on."
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted her congratulations to the couple.
She said: "So love really does conquer all! Wishing every happiness to @JennyGilruth & @kezdugdale."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-40618823
|
Doctor Who: New lead to be revealed after Wimbledon - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Widespread speculation suggests the 13th Doctor will - for the first time - be a woman.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. It’s almost time to meet the Thirteenth Doctor
The wait is nearly over for Doctor Who fans, as the identity of the 13th Doctor is due to be revealed later.
There is speculation the Time Lord could be a woman for the first time.
A trailer featuring the number 13 in different locations aired on Friday, finishing with the words: "Meet the 13th Doctor after the Wimbledon men's final, Sunday 16th July."
The actor will succeed Peter Capaldi, who took the role in 2013 and leaves in the 2017 Christmas special.
Capaldi announced he was leaving during an interview with BBC Radio 2 presenter Jo Whiley in January.
Peter Capaldi will bow out in this year's Christmas special, featuring David Bradley as the First Doctor
The Glasgow-born star said: "I feel it's time to move on. I feel sad, I love Doctor Who, it is a fantastic programme to work on."
The announcement about the 13th Doctor will come directly after the final - between Roger Federer and Marin Cilic - comes to an end.
David Tennant, the 10th Doctor, is among the audience watching at Centre Court.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge has denied involvement in the sci-fi show
Phoebe Waller-Bridge - the star of hit comedy Fleabag - is among the favourites tipped to become the first female Doctor.
Former companion Billie Piper told the BBC it would "feel like a snub" if the role went to another man - but would Phoebe be able to squeeze the Tardis in around adventures on the Millennium Falcon? The 32-year-old actress recently started filming the new Star Wars Han Solo movie.
The bookies seem confident the role will go to one of the stars of ITV's Broadchurch - even if it isn't Phoebe, who starred in the show's second series as barrister Abby Thompson.
Both Jodie Whittaker and Olivia Colman have been the subject of much speculation, especially as incoming show boss Chris Chibnall was the creator of Broadchurch.
David Tennant - otherwise known as the 10th Doctor and Colman's Broadchurch co-star - told the BBC he thought Colman would be "great" in the role, but added: "Whether that's in her sights at the moment, I suspect probably not."
Olivia Colman won a golden globe for her role in The Night Manager
Former Death in Paradise actor Kris Marshall, Sherlock's Andrew Scott and Ben Whishaw - who plays Q in the James Bond films - also make the list of contenders, should bosses go for a more traditional casting.
Pearl Mackie, who plays current companion Bill Potts, posted a picture of herself with a pink Tardis at Lovebox festival on Sunday, with the message: "Wonder who is inside..?!".
Some of those whose names have been linked to the role posted tongue-in-cheek tweets as speculation mounted over the identity of the Doctor.
The locations in the latest trailer included 10 Downing Street, Beachy Head cliffs and the Statue of Liberty.
The popular sci-fi series features a Time Lord, known only as the Doctor, who travels through time and space in the Tardis, which resembles a 1960s police telephone box.
The main character has the ability to regenerate, a quirk that has allowed a number of actors to have played the role over the years.
The series was first broadcast in 1963. It underwent a relaunch in 2005, with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor.
Sophie Aldred, who played Doctor Who's companion Ace in the 1980s, said: "I've been lucky enough to meet most of the Doctors and they've all been amazing people. Slightly eccentric in some way... very talented actors.
"They just have to be a person who (has) really got something different about them."
Capaldi, who replaced Matt Smith as the Doctor, was previously best known for his role as foul-mouthed spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker in the BBC series The Thick of It.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40608669
|
Fermanagh footballers swept out to sea in Bundoran - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The Fermanagh team had been training in Bundoran and had entered the water to cool down.
|
Europe
|
Rip currents can catch out even experienced swimmers
A group of youth footballers were rescued from the water near Bundoran, County Donegal, on Saturday after being swept out to sea and into rocks by a rip current.
The Fermanagh Super Cup team had been training on Tullan Strand on Saturday morning and had entered the water to cool down after their session.
An inshore lifeboat and a Sligo based rescue helicopter attended the scene.
The lifeboat crew gave first aid to eight of the players, some whom were bruised and had swallowed sea water, before ambulances arrived.
A number of the casualties were taken to Sligo University Hospital as a precaution.
The chairperson of County Fermanagh Super Cup NI Dessie Kerr has confirmed that their premier team were on a "team building exercise" in the area.
He said: "We are pleased to say that all the boys are alright.
"Our attention at this minute is making sure that the boys are looked after and in time we will look at exactly what happened."
"We are glad and relieved that all involved have now returned home safely and we will be supporting all affected, in any way that we can, over the coming days," he added.
Following the incident, Bundoran RNLI helm James Cassidy warned potential visitors to the area about the dangers of rip currents.
"We would remind locals and visitors alike that Tullan Strand and particularly the area along the cliffs is notorious for rip currents and under currents and is really not suitable for swimming," he said.
"Rips are strong currents running out to sea which can catch even the most experienced beachgoers out.
"Should you get caught in a rip, the best advice is to stay calm and don't panic. If you can stand, wade. Don't try to swim.
"If you have an inflatable or board, keep hold of it to help you float. Raise your hand and shout for help loudly. Don't swim directly against the rip or you will get exhausted."
He added that people should "swim parallel to the beach until free of the rip, then make for shore".
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40619493
|
Finland naked swimmers bid for biggest skinny dip record - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Organisers say 789 people took part, beating the previous record set in Australia by three people.
|
Europe
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Hundreds of naked swimmers have taken to the water in Finland in a bid to break the world record for the biggest naked swim.
Some 789 people at a music festival in eastern Finland went skinny dipping on Saturday, organisers said, beating the previous record set in Australia by just three, reports said.
Organisers were waiting for Guinness World Records to confirm the record.
It is the third Finnish attempt at the record, Yle news website said.
Previous attempts in Helsinki in 2015 and 2016 each attracted about 300 participants.
Organisers at the Ilosaari Rock music festival in Joensuu had hoped to entice 1,000 people into the chilly water.
As in previous attempts, only a few hundred volunteers appeared to be willing to participate, but shortly before the event was due to begin the sun came out and this boosted the numbers, Yle reported.
The record they were hoping to break was achieved in 2015 in Perth by 786 people at an attempt to celebrate positive body image.
Outdoor swimming is a tradition in Finland, where "avantouinti" - ice-hole swimming - is promoted by the country's tourist board as an energy-boosting experience.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40624317
|
Teenager charged over London acid attacks - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A 16-year-old boy arrested over five acid attacks in London on Thursday is charged with 15 offences.
|
London
|
A 16-year-old boy who was arrested in connection with five acid attacks in London on Thursday has been charged with 15 offences, police have said.
The charges include robbery, grievous bodily harm and possession of an item to discharge a noxious substance.
The five attacks took place in 90 minutes across north and east London.
The 16-year-old has been remanded in custody to appear at Stratford Youth Court on Monday. A 15-year-old boy also arrested has been released on bail.
The 16-year-old has been charged with:
Police said the investigation into the five separate attacks "remains ongoing".
Speaking before the boy was charged Ch Insp Ben Clark, from the Met's Hackney Borough, said all of the victims had been riding mopeds.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "My helmet saved me," says London acid attack victim Jabed Hussain
Jabed Hussain, 32, was one of the five people attacked on Thursday and said his helmet saved him from worse injury.
"I took off my helmet and I was just screaming for help because it's getting dry and as much as it's getting dry it's burning. So I was just screaming for water," Mr Hussain said.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40621915
|
Grenfell fire: McDonnell murder claim 'disgraceful' - Hammond - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The chancellor criticised John McDonnell for saying victims were "murdered by political decisions".
|
UK Politics
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Chancellor Phillip Hammond has called comments made by Labour's John McDonnell about the Grenfell fire tragedy "disgraceful".
The shadow chancellor told the BBC's Andrew Marr he stood by his claim that victims of the disaster in west London were "murdered by political decisions".
He said "social murder" had occurred and "people should be accountable".
But Mr Hammond told the programme there was "not a shred of evidence to support that" accusation.
At least 80 people are believed to have been killed in the tower block fire in north Kensington on 14 June.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Asked if the politicians who sanctioned cuts were murderers, Mr McDonnell said he did not "resile" from that view.
He cited cuts to local government, to the fire service and the housing crisis.
"There's a long history in this country of the concept of social murder, where decisions are made with no regard to consequences of that, and as a result of that, people have suffered," he told Andrew Marr.
"That's what's happened here, and I'm angry."
He previously blamed the decision to "view housing as only for financial speculation".
John McDonnell's turn of phrase is one that was actually coined more than 170 years ago.
It was in the 19th Century that philosopher Friedrich Engels sought to prove that society commits "social murder" in his book Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844.
"When society places hundreds of proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and an unnatural death... When it deprives thousands of the necessaries of life... forces them, through the strong arm of the law, to remain in such conditions until that death ensues... its deed is murder," he wrote of Victorian England.
Engels went on to found Marxist theory with fellow German philosopher, Karl Marx. Mr McDonnell recently said there was much to learn from reading Marx's study of capitalism, Das Kapital.
Speaking ahead of June's general election, he said he was going to be the "first socialist in the tradition of the Labour Party".
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40623653
|
Chancellor Philip Hammond hits back over public pay leaks - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Public servants do get a "premium", Philip Hammond says, amid reports he described them as "overpaid".
|
UK Politics
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Chancellor Philip Hammond tells Andrew Marr: "Cabinet meetings are supposed to be a private space"
Public sector workers get a 10% "premium" over their private sector counterparts, Philip Hammond said as he warned ministers against leaking cabinet talks on the pay cap.
The chancellor refused to comment on reports he had said at a meeting that public servants were "overpaid".
And he suggested some colleagues who do not agree with his approach on Brexit were trying to undermine him.
Minister Liam Fox said he "deplored" the briefing by some of his colleagues.
The international trade secretary told the BBC's Sunday Politics they should "be very quiet" and "stick to their own departmental duties", adding: "Our backbenchers are furious and the only people smiling at this will be in Berlin and Paris."
Since the general election, cabinet splits have surfaced over the issue of the 1% cap on public sector pay rises, with some ministers pressing for it to be lifted.
Labour is promising £4bn which it says would offer a pay rise to workers.
On the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Hammond defended his stance, saying public sector pay had "raced ahead" of the private sector after the economic crash in 2008.
While in terms of salary alone, that gap had now closed, he continued, when "very generous" pension contributions were taken into account, the 10% disparity between public and private salaries was a "simple fact".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Asked about a Sunday Times report claiming he had said the former were "overpaid", the chancellor insisted he was not going to discuss what was and wasn't said in a cabinet meeting.
"I do think on many fronts it would be helpful if my colleagues - all of us - focused on the job at hand," he said.
He added: "If you want my opinion, some of the noise is generated by people who are not happy with the agenda that I have, over the last few weeks, tried to advance, of ensuring that we achieve a Brexit which is focused on protecting our economy, protecting our jobs and making sure that we can have continued rising living standards in the future."
Mr Fox, one of the leading Brexit campaigners in the cabinet, rejected press reports he had clashed with Mr Hammond over the EU, saying the two had a "very good working relationship".
"I don't know where the briefing is coming from, but I do know it's got to stop," he said.
He added: "I think there's too much self-indulgence, and I think people need to have less prosecco and have a longer summer holiday."
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith criticised those briefing against Prime Minister Theresa May, saying: "Just for once shut up, for God's sake, and let everybody else get on with the business of governing."
Pay rises for most public sector workers are set by independent pay review bodies, but have effectively been capped at 1% each year since 2013.
Before that, there was a two-year freeze on pay for all but the lowest-paid workers.
The government has come under pressure over the policy since the general election, with some Conservative ministers speaking out in favour of lifting the cap.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said Labour would spend £4bn on ending the cap, insisting this would be enough to give a real-terms increase for public sector workers.
Pay review bodies would be asked to come up with an "honest judgement" and a Labour government would follow their advice, he said.
On Pienaar's Politics on BBC Radio 5 live, First Secretary of State Damian Green was asked whether Mr Hammond said public sector workers were "overpaid".
"I'm not going to report from inside cabinet because cabinet ministers should not do that," he said.
"But the chancellor does not think that public sector workers are overpaid - the government obviously respects the millions of people who do really important jobs."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40623343
|
Tony Blair says EU could compromise on freedom of movement - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Ex-PM says Britain could still stay in a reformed EU - but Labour says the referendum result "must be respected".
|
UK Politics
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Tony Blair: "One option... would be Britain staying within a reformed European Union"
Some EU leaders may be prepared to compromise on the free movement of people to help Britain stay in the single market, Tony Blair has said.
He told the Today programme one option was for Britain "staying within a reformed EU".
The ex-PM said he would not disclose conversations he had had in Europe - but insisted he was not speaking "on a whim".
The government insists Brexit will give the UK greater control of its borders.
Labour's shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said Mr Blair "hadn't really listened to the nature of the debate going on in the pubs, the clubs and school gates".
"We have to respect the referendum result," Mr McDonnell said, adding that Labour could "negotiate access to the single market".
Mr Blair spoke to the BBC after he argued in an article for his own institute that there was room for compromise on free movement of people.
He told Today the situation in Europe was different to when Britain voted to leave the EU - a move Mr Blair described as "the most serious it's taken since the Second World War".
He said France's new president, Emmanuel Macron - whose political party was formed last year - was proposing "far-reaching reforms" for the EU.
"Europe itself is now looking at its own reform programme," Mr Blair said.
"They will have an inner circle in the EU that will be part of the eurozone and an outer circle."
When pressed on what evidence there was to suggest European nations would compromise, Mr Blair said: "I'm not going to disclose conversations I've had within Europe, but I'm not saying this literally on the basis of a whim.
"They will make reforms that I think will make it much more comfortable for Britain to fit itself in that outer circle."
He said "majorities" of people in France, Germany and the UK supported changes around benefits and with regards to those who come to Europe without a job.
"I'm not saying these could be negotiated," Mr Blair said.
"I'm simply saying if we were looking at this from the point of view of the interests of the country, one option within this negotiation would be Britain staying within a reformed European Union."
He said the majority of EU migrants in the UK are "people we want in this country".
EU leaders have previously said the UK must accept free movement of people if it wants to stay inside the single market.
But in his article for the Institute for Global Change, Mr Blair said senior figures had told him they were willing to consider changes to one of the key principles of the single market.
"The French and Germans share some of the British worries, notably around immigration, and would compromise on freedom of movement," he wrote.
But last week the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said the freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital - the key principles of the single market - were "indivisible".
Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to control EU migration and has reiterated her commitment to reducing net migration to the tens of thousands.
She has said that outside the single market, and without rules on freedom of movement, the UK will be able to make its own decisions on immigration.
Mr Blair also said more was known now about the effects of the Brexit process on the UK.
"We know our currency is down significantly, that's a prediction by the international markets as to our future prosperity. We know businesses are already moving jobs out of the country.
"We know last year we were the fastest-growing economy in the G7. We're now the slowest."
Mr Blair accepted Labour was behind its leader Jeremy Corbyn "for now".
But he warned if Brexit was combined with leaving the single market, and "the largest spending programme Labour had ever proposed" the country "would be in a very serious situation."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Jeremy Corbyn: "I hope he (Tony Blair) has looked very carefully at our manifesto"
Mr Blair said leaving the single market was a "damaging position" shared by Labour and he urged the party's leadership to champion a "radically distinct" position on Europe.
But Jeremy Corbyn said Labour's position on free movement was "very clear", adding: "We would protect EU nationals' rights to remain here, including the rights of family reunion."
Responding to Mr Blair's comments, the party leader said: "I think our economy will do very well under a Labour government.
"It will be an investment-led economy that works for all - so we won't have zero-hour contracts, insecure employment.
"We won't have communities being left behind."
Mr Blair has previously said Brexit was an issue he felt so strongly about, that it tempted him to return to politics.
But Labour MP Frank Field, who backed Brexit, said he did not think Mr Blair was "a person to influence public opinion now".
"We're now set on the course of leaving [the EU]. We actually need a safe harbour to continue those negotiations when we're out.
"And I wouldn't actually be believing those people who are set on destroying our attempts to leave, who are now appearing as wolves in sheep's clothing."
Richard Tice, of pro-Brexit group Leave Means Leave, said Mr Blair's comments "demonstrate how out of touch he is with British voters".
"The former prime minister believes that freedom of movement is the only issue with the EU, when in reality the British people also voted to leave in order to take back control of our laws and money and no longer be dictated to by the European Court of Justice," he added.
Conservative MEP David Campbell Bannerman said Mr Blair's assertion that Britain could find a way to remain within a reformed EU was a "dodgy claim, as opposed to a dodgy dossier".
"We've heard this all before. David Cameron was given such assurances and in the end the EU did nothing for him.
"If they do nothing for Cameron, they're not going to do anything for Blair, I'm afraid."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40615119
|
Reality Check: Is public sector pay higher than private sector? - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Public sector pay has been falling relative to the private sector and is expected to continue falling.
|
UK Politics
|
The claim: Average public sector pay is higher than private sector, even adjusted for qualifications
Reality Check verdict: It is a difficult comparison to make, but IFS calculations suggest that Lord Lamont is probably right. However, in recent years private sector pay has been growing faster than public sector pay and the gap between public and private pay is expected to continue to narrow in the coming years if current government policies are implemented.
Former chancellor Lord Lamont was on Radio 4 on Monday morning championing the case for continued pay restraint.
He pointed out that public sector pay in Great Britain is above private sector even taking into account qualifications.
The point about qualifications is important, because jobs in the public sector tend to require higher qualifications. Also, there has been a tendency for public sector bodies to outsource lower-paid functions such as cleaning and catering to contractors, which moves them from the public to the private sector. Doing so on a large scale would increase average earnings in the public sector.
There tends to be a wider range of pay in the private sector - there are more low earners and more high earners.
If you look at seasonally adjusted average weekly earnings for regular pay in the public sector, it was £506 a week in April, compared with £464 in the private sector.
But Lord Lamont was talking about earnings adjusted for qualifications. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) made this comparison in May, when it found that average public sector pay was about 3% above the private sector, although it warned that it could only adjust for whether somebody had a degree, for example, and not what the degree was in, or how good a degree it was.
Another thing that makes this comparison tricky is that staff in the public sector tend to have better pension provision, with earnings-related schemes still common in the public sector but unusual in the private. This is not reflected in the average earnings figures.
Bonus payments are more common in the private sector and they are also not included in these average earnings figures.
The gap between public and private sector earnings has been narrowing as a result of two years of frozen public sector pay starting in 2011 followed by 1% caps.
In recent years private sector pay has been growing faster than public sector pay.
Part of this effect has been to catch up with the period around 2009, when, as a result of the financial crisis, private sector average earnings fell substantially, while public sector earnings were much more resilient. During that period the gap between public and private sector earnings grew.
But inflation has been growing faster than both public and private sector pay, meaning that workers have seen their pay fall in real terms.
The IFS has warned that if the government's current plans are implemented, the gap between public and private sector pay will return to levels last seen in the 2000s, when there were considerable difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff.
Public-sector pay growing more slowly than inflation is reflected in a report commissioned by the Office of Manpower Economics published on Monday.
It looked at what had happened to real (adjusted for inflation) median wages for 10 occupations covered by pay review bodies, between 2005 and 2015.
The median wage is the one earned by the person compared with whom half of workers are paid more, and half paid less.
Average hourly pay for doctors has fallen from £38 an hour in 2005 to £30 in 2015, while the average pay of nurses is unchanged at £16 an hour.
Police officers have seen their pay fall from £20 an hour to £18, and teachers' pay is down from £25 to £22.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40480766
|
Tony Blair: I think Corbyn could be PM - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Tony Blair stands by his criticism of Jeremy Corbyn, despite changing his mind on his chances of being PM.
|
UK Politics
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Tony Blair told Newsnight's Ian Katz it was "possible" that Jeremy Corbyn could become prime minister
Tony Blair says he now accepts Jeremy Corbyn could become prime minister.
The ex-PM told BBC Newsnight that a year ago he would have said it was impossible for the left-wing Labour leader to win.
But he added: "There's been so many political upsets, it's possible Jeremy Corbyn could become prime minister and Labour could win on that programme."
Mr Blair, a consistent critic of Mr Corbyn, said he had not changed his mind on the "wisdom" of electing him.
Having defied predictions of a heavy defeat at last month's general election - and stripped the Conservatives of their majority - Mr Corbyn now describes his party as a "government-in-waiting".
Many of his critics have since admitted they underestimated him.
Speaking to Newsnight, Mr Blair said he still believed "it's a surer route to power to fight from the centre" and that it would be damaging for the country if Mr Corbyn became prime minister and imposed "an unreconstructed far Left programme".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Jeremy Corbyn: "I hope he (Tony Blair) has looked very carefully at our manifesto"
But on Mr Corbyn's chances of reaching Downing Street, he said nothing could be ruled out.
"For most of my political life I've been saying: 'I think this is the right way to go, and what's more it's the only way to win an election'.
"I have to qualify that now. I have to say 'no - I think it's possible you end up with Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister.'"
The Labour leadership has dismissed Mr Blair's recent interventions - which included claiming Brexit followed by a Corbyn government would leave Britain "flat on its back".
"To be frank, Mr Blair hasn't really listened to the nature of the debate that is going on in the pubs, the clubs and school gates etc," shadow chancellor John McDonnell said on Saturday.
The interview will be shown on Newsnight, on BBC Two, at 22:30 BST on 17 July.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40624245
|
Maryam Mirzakhani, first woman to win maths' Fields Medal, dies - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Acclaimed Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani dies of breast cancer aged 40.
|
Science & Environment
|
Prof Mirzakhani is seen as an inspiration for young female mathematicians
Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to receive the prestigious Fields Medal for mathematics, has died in the US.
The 40-year-old Iranian, a professor at Stanford University, had breast cancer which had spread to her bones.
Nicknamed the "Nobel Prize for Mathematics", the Fields Medal is only awarded every four years to between two and four mathematicians under 40.
It was given to Prof Mirzakhani in 2014 for her work on complex geometry and dynamical systems.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said her death was a cause for grief for all Iranians.
"A light was turned off today. It breaks my heart... gone far too soon," US-Iranian scientist Firouz Naderi posted on Instagram.
He added in a subsequent post: "A genius? Yes. But also a daughter, a mother and a wife."
Prof Mirzakhani and her husband, Czech scientist Jan Vondrak, had one daughter.
Some social media users criticised Iranian officials for not using recent images of Prof Mirzakhani which showed her uncovered hair. Iranian women must cover their hair in line with a strict interpretation of Islamic law on modesty.
Iranian official media and politicians used older pictures in their social media tributes, which show her hair covered.
Iranian Speaker Ali Larijani - using an older image of Prof Mirzakhani - said on Instagram that her loss "caused great regret"
Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne described Prof Mirzakhani as "a brilliant mathematical theorist and also a humble person who accepted honours only with the hope that it might encourage others to follow her path".
"Maryam is gone far too soon but her impact will live on for the thousands of women she inspired to pursue math and science," he said.
"Her contributions as both a scholar and a role model are significant and enduring and she will be dearly missed here at Stanford and around the world."
Born in 1977, Prof Mirzakhani was brought up in post-revolutionary Iran and won two gold medals in the International Mathematical Olympiad as a teenager.
She earned a PhD at Harvard University in 2004, and later worked at Princeton before securing a professorship at Stanford in 2008.
Her receipt of the Fields Medal three years ago ended a long wait for women in the mathematics community for the prize, first established in 1936.
Prof Mirzakhani was also the first Iranian to receive it.
The citation said she had made "striking and highly original contributions to geometry and dynamical systems" and that her most recent work constituted "a major advance".
Prof Dame Frances Kirwan, a member of the medal selection committee from the University of Oxford, said at the time: "I hope that this award will inspire lots more girls and young women, in this country and around the world, to believe in their own abilities and aim to be the Fields Medallists of the future."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-40617094
|
Newspaper headlines: 'Brexit chaos' warning and cabinet rows - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The Observer features a warning from former civil servants to Theresa May over Brexit, while the Sunday Times says the cabinet is "at war".
|
The Papers
|
If the Observer is right, the mood in Brussels - a day before the next round of Brexit talks - is "cautiously optimistic."
But the message doesn't seem to have reached the cartoonists.
In keeping with the start of the holiday season, the Sunday Express offers an image of Theresa May at the wheel of the Brexit car - the back seat is crammed with people, all shouting advice: "Speed up!" "Slow down!" "Turn back!"
The drawing in the Sunday Times shows Mrs May and her cabinet colleagues entangled in a never-ending bill.
"What do you mean?" she complains. "This is just for starters!"
Of course both cartoons are about the seemingly inescapable politics of the subject.
According to the Observer, the kind of exit from the EU that Mrs May is pursuing has revealed "a picture of incapacity, incompetence, self-deception, dishonesty, partisanship, and harmful confusion".
The paper sees "the Tory hard Brexiteers" as "the lords of misrule."
The Sunday Telegraph asks what the term "hard Brexit" means and answers "really just Brexit with some negative branding".
If supporters of withdrawal want to cheer themselves up, the Sun on Sunday says they should just consider Tony Blair's latest intervention.
"As ever," the paper says, he ignored the will of the British people, providing "a classic example of the kind of arch-deviousness that became his stock-in-trade as prime minister".
The Sunday Mirror reports that a quarter of teachers who have qualified since 2011 have already left the profession, according to figures obtained by Labour.
It suggests their motives for quitting were low pay and harsh conditions.
Laura Jackson writes in the Sunday Express that she left after two years because the job was eroding her mental health.
She describes the miseries she experienced: the horrifying behaviour of the pupils towards each other and her, the open hostility of parents, the power cuts in her classroom and the crushing workload.
The Sunday Times thinks TV viewers may be shocked when the BBC reveals how much its better paid presenters earn.
The former newsreader Peter Sissons tells the newspaper things might get ugly when "some of the biggest egos" find out what their colleagues are getting.
The Sunday Telegraph says the corporation is also "braced" for embarrassment and rows on the grounds that "women are not being paid as much as men in the same jobs".
But the paper also notes that the salaries of "many stars" won't be revealed because they are paid through production companies or through the BBC's commercial arm.
The Observer expects more viewers to be excited by the return of Game of Thrones.
It says the drama "casts a shadow over the television landscape at least as large as that of one of its fire-breathing dragons".
But even more coverage is given to ITV2's Love Island, a show described by the Sunday Express as "racy."
Former Blazin' Squad singer Marcel Somerville is a contestant on Love Island
The Sunday People says there's been a "sudden rise" in its popularity.
The Sun on Sunday asks its readers whether they have "never seen the hottest show on TV?" and offers an introduction to the contestants, the rules and the "lingo" they use.
Rosie Millard, in the Sunday Times, says her three eldest children "think and talk about nothing else" and she calls it "a mother's idea of hell".
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-40621905
|
Canada: Workers find live British shell in Quebec - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The 90kg projectile failed to explode when it was fired during the siege of Quebec City in 1759.
|
US & Canada
|
Builders in the old part of the Canadian city of Quebec have unearthed a live shell fired by the British during a siege in 1759.
They posed for photos with the large, 90kg (200lb) projectile, unaware that it was still potentially explosive.
Army bomb disposal experts later collected the device, saying there was still a danger, CBC reports.
The British besieged Quebec while fighting the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.
Quebec City archaeologist Serge Rouleau, who examined the munition before the army and noticed that it still contained a charge, described it as an incendiary bomb, Le Soleil news site (in French) reports.
He had taken it home after the builders' firm, Lafontaine Inc, contacted the municipal authorities.
"The ball would break and the powder would ignite, setting fire to the building," Master Warrant Officer Sylvain Trudel, a senior munitions technician, was quoted by CBC as saying.
"With time, humidity got into its interior and reduced its potential for exploding, but there's still a danger," he added.
"Old munitions like this are hard to predict. You never know to what point the chemicals inside have degraded."
The shell is now at a safe site and will either be disarmed or destroyed if necessary, CBC says.
It is believed it was fired at Quebec City from Levis, across the St Lawrence River, the broadcaster adds.
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, part of the Seven Years' War, ended in victory for the British, and was a major milestone towards the end of French rule in what is now Canada.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40618547
|
Bootle car crash: Skye Olivia Mitchell's family pays tribute - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Skye Olivia Mitchell and another 18-year-old, Caitlin Lydia Huddleston, died in the crash near Bootle.
|
Cumbria
|
Skye Olivia Mitchell's family said she loved animals, especially dogs
The family of a teenager who died in a crash in Cumbria have paid tribute to a "kind, caring girl" who "made the world a better place".
Skye Olivia Mitchell was driving a Toyota Yaris when it was in a crash with a Ford Transit van on the A595 near Bootle at 19:55 BST on Friday.
She and front seat passenger Caitlin Lydia Huddleston, both 18 and from Millom, died at the scene.
A third 18-year-old woman is in a critical condition in hospital.
She was travelling in the back seat and was flown by air ambulance to Royal Preston Hospital.
The 51-year-old man driving the van was also flown to hospital, where he is in a serious but stable condition.
In a tribute, Ms Mitchell's family said: "Skye was a popular, kind, caring girl who raised money for various charities. She made the most of her 18 years, embracing every opportunity that came her way.
"Skye made the world a better place and Skye's world was a wonderful world to be in."
They said she had excelled at school and loved animals, especially dogs.
The crash happened on the A595 near Bootle on Friday
The teenager had recently completed her A-levels and was due to study broadcast journalism at the University of Salford later this year.
Ms Mitchell had won a number of competitions, including Millom Carnival Queen in 2012 and Junior Miss South Lakes.
She came third in the Junior Miss Great Britain contest before winning the Junior Miss North West title in 2014.
A year later she launched an anti-bullying campaign, which her family said she was passionate about and had featured in national media.
Cumbria Police, which is appealing for witnesses to the collision, said specially trained officers were supporting both families.
Following the crash, the road was closed for six hours while the vehicles were examined and then removed.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-40622155
|
Rio Ferdinand pays tribute to late mother - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The footballer calls Janice St Fort "a little fighter" after she died aged 58 from cancer.
|
UK
|
Former England captain Rio Ferdinand has paid tribute to his mother, Janice St Fort, calling her "a little fighter" after the 58-year-old died on Thursday from cancer.
The footballer posted a message to "Mummy" on Instagram with a picture of them together.
Thanking his "huge hearted" mother, Ferdinand said all he had wanted to do "was to make you proud".
In May 2015, Ferdinand's wife Rebecca, 34, died of breast cancer.
The ex-Manchester United defender referred to the support Mrs St Fort had given him and her three grandchildren following his wife's death.
He said: "At my most difficult time, you were my shining light and made it your mission to be there for me and my kids... trust me that will never be forgotten."
Earlier this year, Ferdinand appeared in a BBC documentary, Being Mum & Dad, where he spoke about his difficulties in dealing with grief and finding the best way to talk to their children about the loss of their mother.
In an emotional eulogy to his mother, Ferdinand said: "You were fiery, you were protective, you were soft and hard faced when need be... you loved hard, you disciplined me, you were a grafter & you were my everything."
Ferdinand's brother and former Premier League footballer Anton also paid tribute to their "loving, caring and forever selfless mum" on Instagram.
"Mum for 32 years of my life you've done nothing but put me first!" he said.
"Always cared and worried about others before yourself, an inspiration to me, my brothers, sister and husband Peter and anyone she had in her life."
Friends and former colleagues tweeted messages of support to the brothers.
To Rio, Gary Lineker tweeted: "Thoughts are with @rioferdy5 and family. They've suffered way too much lately."
Sol Campbell tweeted: "So sad to hear my England team mate and friend's mother Janice passing away. My heart goes out to you and your family Rio @rioferdy5. RIP."
Former West Ham and Aston Villa footballer Marlon Harewood tweeted to Anton: "So sorry for your loss bro."
Mrs St Fort died at Guy's Cancer Unit in London Bridge Hospital on Thursday with her husband Peter and her four children at her bedside.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40619619
|
Brazil protesters pelt politician with eggs at her wedding - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Maria Victoria Barros is forced to leave church protected by riot police.
|
Latin America & Caribbean
|
A Brazilian politician has accused left-wing protesters of physically and verbally abusing her wedding guests over her family's support for President Michel Temer.
Maria Victoria Barros, 25, is a member of the state assembly in Parana and daughter of Mr Temer's health minister.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the church where the ceremony was taking place on Friday evening.
Pelted with eggs, she had to leave the church protected by riot police.
The lavish ceremony attracted the state's political elite, including her father, Ricardo Barros, and her mother, Cida Borghetti, Parana's deputy governor.
At least 30 members of the Brazilian Congress were invited to travel from the capital Brasilia for the wedding in the Parana state capital, Curitiba.
Demonstrators carried anti-government signs and shouted slogans at Ms Barros, accusing her of being a "coup plotter".
Footage posted on YouTube shows security guards opening umbrellas to try to protect the bride and groom as they left the Church of the Rosary.
The bride's father, Ricardo Barros (right), has been in Mr Temer's cabinet since May 2016
A detachment of riot police was eventually called in to protect the newly-weds and their guests.
Ms Barros said the protest was linked to her mother's recent decision to run for state governor and had been "financed by left-wing parties and unions".
She regretted the attacks against some of the guests but added: "This is the price of democracy".
The incident is another illustration of how split and bitter Brazilian politics has become since the impeachment last year of Mr Temer's predecessor, Dilma Rousseff.
During the impeachment trial, Ms Rousseff described the move as a right-wing coup, supported by her vice-president at the time, Mr Temer.
Supporters of her Workers' Party were further angered by the conviction of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday to nine years and six months in jail for corruption.
Lula has rejected claims that he received an apartment as a bribe in a corruption scandal linked to state oil company Petrobras.
He has appealed against the verdict, saying the trial was politically-motivated, aimed at preventing him from running for office again next year.
Lula served eight years as president until 2011.
Federal Judge Sergio Moro, from Parana state, ruled that he could remain free pending an appeal.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-40622273
|
Cruise tourists overwhelm Europe's ancient resorts - BBC News
|
2017-07-16
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
There are resorts where the surge of global tourism is starting to feel like a tidal wave.
|
Europe
|
Venetians have long complained of the big ships, and they are not alone
There are places where the surge of global tourism is starting to feel like a tidal wave.
Ancient cities around the shores of the Mediterranean and Adriatic are on the front line, their stone streets squeezed full of summer visitors as budget airlines and giant cruise ships unload ever-growing armies of tourists.
Take the Croatian city of Dubrovnik: a perfectly preserved historical miniature, carved from honey-coloured stone set in a sea of postcard blue.
Around 1,500 people live within the walls of its Old City, custodians of cultural treasures left by everyone from the Romans and the Ostrogoths to the Venetians and the Habsburgs.
On a busy day three modern cruise ships, each one the size of a floating apartment building, can disgorge five or six times that number of people into the city.
Dubrovnik's allure for tourists has been amplified by Game of Thrones
They join the throngs of tourists staying in local hotels and in rooms rented over the internet, in streets where almost every elegant stone house has been converted into a B&B.
The overall effect is Disneylandish - a sense that you meet no-one but other tourists or ice-cream sellers, tour guides, waiters, reception clerks and buskers who are there to keep the tourist wheels turning.
Mark Thomas, who edits The Dubrovnik Times, explains the phenomenon like this. "When I first got here, I'd stand back if I saw that people were taking photographs of each other. Now there are so many people that I know if I did that, I'd never get anywhere here."
Dubrovnik has a particular problem because its ancient appeal has now been bolstered by that most modern of phenomena - the HBO mini-series. The city, unchanged for centuries, provides the main locations for Game of Thrones.
Fans come on pilgrimages to visit the settings. One souvenir shop owner, who told me he doesn't watch the series himself, admitted he had Googled a couple of catchphrases to help attract customers.
"It does seem crazy," he admitted, "to stand here when it's 35 degrees, shouting that 'Winter is Coming'."
The idyllic Italian island of Capri is buckling under the thousands of daily tourists
Dubrovnik is not alone in struggling to balance its need for tourists' money with the need to ensure that those tourists don't end up destroying the beauty they've come to see.
The tiny Italian island of Capri has warned that it could "explode" under the pressure of the trade that sees as many as 15,000 visitors a day travelling by boat from the mainland, to visit its once-idyllic streets and squares.
One local official told The Daily Telegraph: "You can't fit a litre-and-a-half into a litre pot."
Florence, Barcelona and some Greek islands like Santorini have suffered too, and it was perhaps Venice which experienced the problem first. Its population has been falling since the 1950s, effectively forced out by the hordes of cruise-ship visitors.
Tourism, of course, remains essentially a good thing and in the developed world we nearly all do it.
It means trade and cultural exchange and it's both a symbol of rising prosperity and a generator of future wealth.
Not everyone in Barcelona is happy with the summer 'invasion' of tourists
Part of the "problem" is that travellers from traditional sources like the UK, Germany and the USA are increasingly being joined by the new middle classes of countries like Russia, China and India.
Add to that the issue of security, which means that many tourists feel safer in Europe than they do in alternative destinations like Tunisia, Turkey or Egypt, and it's hard to see the numbers falling any time soon.
It will fall to local governments in places like Dubrovnik and Capri and Venice to find a way of reducing those growing pressures.
For now, ideas like installing turnstiles on ancient squares and pedestrian traffic lights on crowded streets may sound rather fanciful.
But if that tourist tide keeps rising they might start to seem a little more tempting.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40592247
|
Surgeons remove 27 contact lenses from woman's eye - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
"A bluish foreign body" turned out to be a "hard mass" of 17 lenses stuck together with mucus.
|
Health
|
"A bluish foreign body" turned out to be a "hard mass" of 17 lenses stuck together with mucus
Surgeons have removed 27 contact lenses from the eye of a 67-year-old woman who had come to Solihull Hospital for routine cataract surgery.
"A bluish foreign body" turned out to be a "hard mass" of 17 lenses stuck together with mucus, and 10 more were then found under further examination.
A report in the BMJ said she had worn disposable lenses for 35 years, and had not complained of any irritation.
But after they were removed, she said her eyes felt a lot more comfortable.
Specialist trainee in ophthalmology Rupal Morjaria told Optometry Today: "None of us have ever seen this before.
"It was such a large mass. All the 17 contact lenses were stuck together.
"We were really surprised that the patient didn't notice it because it would cause quite a lot of irritation while it was sitting there.
"She was quite shocked. She thought her previous discomfort was just part of old age and dry eye."
The case report said the patient had poorer vision in her right eye and deep-set eyes, which may have been a factor in the lenses becoming lost.
Association of Optometrists spokeswoman Ceri Smith-Jaynes said losing contact lenses in the eye was a common problem but they usually worked their way out.
"They are normally hiding, folded up under the top lid of the eye," she said.
"They can't go any further up than that because there is a pocket.
"It's the same under the bottom lid - the lens can only be in one of those places."
She said it was important to see an optometrist or optician regularly to avoid any issues when using contact lenses.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-40630852
|
Newspaper headlines: Brexit rows and the first female Doctor - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Brexit and the reported infighting in Theresa May's cabinet over differing approaches dominates the front pages, which also feature the announcement of the 13th Doctor.
|
The Papers
|
Chancellor Philip Hammond is working to "frustrate" Brexit, a cabinet minister has told the Daily Telegraph.
The unnamed source goes on to accuse Mr Hammond of treating pro-Leave ministers like "pirates who have taken him prisoner".
The Telegraph says "all-out war" appears to have broken out in the government.
Its source says that Brexit is facing a critical moment and will "fall apart" if Theresa May is forced out.
The Sun reports that allies of Mr Hammond blame new Environment Secretary Michael Gove for the briefings against him.
The newspaper says "pals" of the chancellor think he's the victim of a smear campaign because of his support for a so-called soft Brexit.
The Financial Times says Mr Hammond is championing a transition deal with the EU lasting "a couple of years" to cushion the effect on business.
The newspaper reports concern is being voiced in Brussels that the cabinet is still arguing over what form Britain's departure should take.
The chancellor is also under fire from the Daily Mirror for reportedly describing public sector workers as "overpaid".
Its front page headline calls him "Hammond the hypocrite".
The Mirror says he's a multi-millionaire living rent-free in two plush homes, while renting out his own house for £10,000 a month.
The Guardian cartoon has Mr Hammond sipping champagne in a chauffeur-driven car and spotting a nurse returning from the food bank. "Bah" - he sneers - "another public sector fat cat!"
The papers are all talking about regeneration - as the first woman takes on the role of the Doctor.
Jodie Whittaker appears on the front of the Guardian under the headline: "Time, gentlemen, please - meet the new Doctor".
The Sun says that "traditionalists may moan" but she is "an inspired choice".
The paper hasn't turned into Spare Rib just yet though: its coverage features Ms Whittaker in previous nude scenes and the headline "Dalektable".
Not everyone is comfortable with the choice.
The Mail devotes a page to the question: "Why ARE all the male heroes disappearing from the box?"
And the Express asks: "Are they too PC at the BBC?"
The Times leads with its own investigation into what it says are the hidden costs of the new fighter jets Britain is buying from the US.
Officially, the F-35 Lightning aircraft will cost up to £100m each, but analysis by the Times suggests the real figure will be more than £150m.
It says the extra costs for items such as software upgrades and spare parts have been buried in US defence contracts.
In response, the Ministry of Defence says the programme is on time, within costs and offers the best capability for the Armed Forces.
According to the main story in the Daily Mail, patients who dial 999 are being assessed over Skype or FaceTime instead of being sent an ambulance.
Trials, it says, are under way across England to see if video consultations via smartphone apps could be used for thousands of "lower priority" calls involving conditions such as back pain, abdominal pain, falls or heavy bleeding.
The details come from a former emergency call handler whom the Mail calls a whistleblower.
The paper says her account is "chilling" and asks: "Is there any doubt that health bosses are playing with lives?"
Roger Federer appears on the front and the back pages of the Times, celebrating his record eighth Wimbledon singles title.
The paper hails him as "the eighth wonder of the world".
The Guardian says the champion "cemented his reputation as the greatest player to ever grace his sport".
The Mail's front page photographs both Federer and his opponent, Marin Cilic, in tears.
The paper says it was "the weepiest Wimbledon final ever".
Finally, it appears that Winnie the Pooh has fallen foul of censors in China.
Posts relating to Disney images of the character have been removed from social media in the country, the Financial Times reports.
There's been no official explanation, but the FT thinks it may have something to do with unflattering comparisons of China's President Xi to the portly bear.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-40627313
|
Porn ID checks set to start in April 2018 - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The government sets a nine-month countdown to porn ID checks, but is told this seems "unrealistic".
|
Technology
|
The age-check requirement is supposed to make it harder for children to see pornography
A nine-month countdown to the introduction of compulsory age checks on online pornography seen from the UK has begun.
The April 2018 goal to protect under-18s was revealed as digital minister Matt Hancock signed the commencement order for the Digital Economy Act, which introduces the requirement.
But details as to how the scheme will work have yet to be finalised.
Experts who advised ministers said the targeted date seemed "unrealistic".
The act also sets out other new laws including punishing the use of bots to snatch up scores of concert tickets, and mandating the provision of subtitles on catch-up TV.
The age-check requirement applies to any website or other online platform that provides pornography "on a commercial basis" to people in the UK.
It allows a regulator to fine any business that refuses to comply and to ask third-party payment services to withdraw support.
The watchdog will also be able to force internet providers to block access to non-compliant services.
Ministers have suggested one of several ways this might work would be for pornographic sites to demand credit card details before providing any access, since in the UK consumers typically have to be over 18 to have a card of their own.
But the specifics are being left to the as-yet unappointed regulator to determine.
While it has been proposed that the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) will assume this role, a spokesman for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport said the appointment would not be formalised until the autumn.
"We are already working closely with DCMS to ensure the effective implementation of the act," a spokeswoman for the BBFC told the BBC, but added that it was too early to say more about what guidance it might issue.
The measure has been welcomed by child protection charities including Childnet.
"Protecting children from exposure, including accidental exposure, to adult content is incredibly important, given the effect it can have on young people," said its chief executive Will Gardner.
"Steps like this help restrict access."
Mindgeek, which operates several of the world's most popular porn sites, has also previously indicated support.
But two experts who advised the government on its plans have expressed reservations about both how quickly the scheme is being rolled out and its wider implications.
"It seems to me to be a very premature date," commented Dr Victoria Nash, lead author of a report commissioned in the run-up to the law being drafted.
"The idea you can get a regulatory body up and running in that timeframe seems extraordinary to me.
"And while I don't have a problem with asking these companies to act responsibly, I don't see it as a solution to stopping minors seeing pornography."
This, she explained, was because the act does not tackle the fact that services including Twitter and Tumblr contain hardcore pornography but will not be required to introduce age-checks. Nor, she added, would teens be prevented from sharing copied photos and clips among themselves.
"It may make it harder for children to stumble across pornography, especially in the younger age range, but it will do nothing to stop determined teenagers," Dr Nash concluded.
One cyber-security expert on the same advisory panel was more critical.
"The timeline is unrealistic - but beyond that, this is one of the worst proposals I have seen on digital strategy," said Dr Joss Wright from the Oxford Internet Institute.
"There are hundreds of thousands of websites where this material can be accessed and you are not going to catch all of those.
"There's privacy issues - you're requiring people to effectively announce the fact they are looking at this material to the credit card authorities.
"And there's serious security issues from requiring people to enter their credit card details into untrusted sites.
"They may well say there will be other magical ways to do the age check, but I very much doubt they will be non-discriminatory [against adults without credit cards], transparent, privacy-preserving and secure for end-users."
Other topics covered by the act on which work can now formally begin include:
Some provisions set out by the act have already come into force, including the introduction of a "broadband universal service obligation" to give households the right to request download speeds of at least 10 megabits per second, and increased fines for firms behind nuisance calls.
"The Digital Economy Act is about building a strong, safe and connected economy," said Mr Hancock.
"It will secure better support for consumers, better protection for children on the internet, and underpin a radical transformation of government services."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40630582
|
Charlie Gard: US doctor meets Great Ormond Street medics - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Dr Michio Hirano has been given an honorary contract by Great Ormond Street Hospital.
|
London
|
The US doctor who has offered to treat terminally ill Charlie Gard has attended a meeting at Great Ormond Street Hospital to decide whether he should travel to America for therapy.
Dr Michio Hirano will discuss Charlie's condition with doctors treating him and independent specialists.
Great Ormond Street has given Dr Hirano an honorary contract giving him the same status as its own physicians.
It means he can examine Charlie and has full access to his medical records.
The visit has been arranged as part of the latest stage of a court fight, brought by Charlie's parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard, from Bedfont, south west London, over whether he should be given experimental treatment in America.
Judges have heard that Charlie, who was born on 4 August 2016, has a form of mitochondrial disease, a condition that causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage.
Dr Hirano, a professor of neurology at the Columbia University Medical Centre in New York, has offered an experimental therapy called nucleoside.
Last week, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) released a copy of its latest submission to the High Court.
In a statement published on its website, the hospital said: "At the heart of Charlie's parlous and terrible condition is the question, how can it be in his best interests for his life-sustaining treatment to be withdrawn?
"Charlie has been treated on GOSH's neonatal intensive care unit for many months now and very sadly, the question that arises for him arises for other patients and families at the hospital too."
Connie Yates and Chris Gard want Charlie to receive an experimental therapy called nucleoside
The hospital added it had treated more than 1,000 patients with mitochondrial disease and offered pioneering treatment, including nucleoside treatment, where appropriate.
"Despite all the advances in medical science made by GOSH and the other hospitals around the world, there remain some conditions that we cannot cure and we cannot ameliorate."
The hospital said it remained the unanimous view of its doctors that withdrawal of ventilation and palliative care were all the hospital could offer Charlie.
It said his treatment team and all those from who the hospital obtained second opinions were of the view Charlie had "no quality of life and no real prospect of any quality of life".
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40630462
|
Cardiff NHS hospital staff lose parking tickets case - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A court rules 75 hospital workers must pay outstanding tickets for parking in the wrong bays at work.
|
South East Wales
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Nurse Felicity Richards said finding a parking space could add up to an hour to her working day
Seventy-five members of staff at a Cardiff hospital have been left "broken" by a court ruling that means they owe thousands of pounds in parking tickets, a campaigner has said.
On Friday, a judge at Cardiff Civil Justice Centre ruled private company Indigo could collect the charges from University Hospital of Wales staff.
This means 75 people with outstanding tickets must pay the debt.
Sophie Round, a healthcare support worker, said she was "gutted".
"It's not really the outcome that we wanted and what we earn doesn't really cover the fines," she added.
Campaigner Sue Prior said: "It's horrendous. Some of them [staff] are broken. They're scared stiff, petrified, they feel sick. This affects everyone from cleaners to doctors."
She said staff had permits which allowed them to park in designated areas for £1.05 a day, but a lack of spaces meant staff had been forced to park in unauthorised areas.
It had been claimed that one nurse owed £150,000 but it has since been said this is not the case.
Indigo said as a "gesture of goodwill" in April 2016 it cancelled all parking charge notices up to the end of March 2016 and reduced the charge to £10 if paid within 14 days.
Healthcare support worker Sophie Round (centre) said she was 'gutted' by the judgement
A spokesman said Friday's court hearing related to three "persistent offenders" who had accumulated in excess of 100 tickets between them since April 2016.
He added: "As the company responsible for managing parking and ensuring the free flow of traffic at Cardiff UHW, we have an obligation to ensure enforcement of parking restrictions... the court's ruling has justified our decision to take this action."
Staff nurse Felicity Richards said: "I have to allow 45 minutes to an hour extra to park my car every morning.
"By the time I get into work there are usually no parking spaces and I have to park off site and quite often I have to park a 20 to 25 minute walk away."
But Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said more than 98% of staff complied with parking regulations and it was "disappointing" some had "chosen to refuse to co-operate".
Len Richards, the board's chief executive, said: "People have known what the potential outcome could be and I don't think there's anything we can do, as an organisation, to defend them from that."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The health board's chief executive Len Richards said parking controls were brought in "for health and safety"
He said the parking controls were brought in for health and safety reasons, and the board had been "working very hard" to increase parking and create sustainable travel plans.
"The park and ride started in May this year... we also changed the flow of traffic through the site to make it more controlled and safer and, in doing that, we increased the amount of parking that was available by about 50 car parking spaces.
"We are working with the council around creating a public service hub for vehicles and buses to transport people and make that easier for staff, and we are working on a cycle hub to encourage people to cycle to work."
In 2015, it urged staff to pay any parking fines, saying they had been correctly issued and it did not intend to dispute them.
Indigo has had a contract to manage and maintain the hospital's car parks for several years and has 1,250 spaces there.
Tina Donnelly, the director of Royal College of Nursing Wales, said it was hoped car parking charges at the hospital would be scrapped from June 2018.
But, in the meantime, she said: "Due to the current cap on pay, nurses are contacting us with hardship issues, and car parking charges only add to their financial problems. A solution to this issue needs to be found."
Ms Prior said she had been campaigning on behalf of staff because two of her children were born blind at the hospital, but after medical intervention now have some sight.
"I had to help. Without those people and the NHS my children would be blind," she said.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-40628560
|
Delta hits back against conservative author Ann Coulter - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
"Unnecessary and unacceptable" said Delta after the conservative author had railed against them all weekend.
|
US & Canada
|
Delta Air Lines has responded to the "derogatory" tirade that conservative author Ann Coulter directed at them throughout the weekend.
The right-wing pundit's ire began after she was moved from her pre-booked seat on a flight from New York to Florida.
After landing on Saturday she began to rant to her 1.6m Twitter followers, eventually comparing Delta to fascists.
"Delta expects mutual civility throughout the entire travel experience," the airline hit back.
"We are sorry that the customer did not receive the seat she reserved and paid for," Delta said in a statement posted to its website.
"More importantly, we are disappointed that the customer has chosen to publicly attack our employees and other customers by posting derogatory and slanderous comments and photos in social media."
"Her actions are unnecessary and unacceptable", continued the statement which was posted on Sunday - more than 24 hours after Ms Coulter's onslaught began.
Ms Coulter's more than 30 tweets include insults to the passengers, flight crew, Wifi, and corporate employees.
"So glad I took time investigate the aircraft & PRE-BOOK a specific seat on @Delta, so some woman could waltz at the last min & take my seat," she wrote, returning to Twitter the next morning to mockingly say the company's motto is "How can we make your flight more uncomfortable?".
The pundit also posted photos of the flight attendant and the woman seated in her original seat, whom she referred to as "dachshund-legged".
Delta said that the incident happened during boarding, when staff "inadvertently" moved the author - whose works include In Trump We Trust and Adios America! - to a window seat from an aisle.
The company statement added that they tried to contact Ms Coulter in order to apologise and refund her the $30 (£23) cost that she paid to pre-book the seat, but did not hear back from her until Sunday night.
They add that after some initial confusion sparked by passengers asking to change seats, Ms Coulter was eventually able to take her place at the seat listed on her ticket.
But Ms Coulter insisted on Monday that the money was never the issue, saying "30!. It cost me $10,000 of my time to pre-select the seat I wanted, investigate type of plane & go back periodically to review seat options".
Many liberal-leaning Twitter users took pleasure in Ms Coulter's incident.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40635993
|
Living Dead director George A Romero dies at 77 - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The genre-defining zombie movie filmmaker George A Romero dies in his sleep at 77, his manager says.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
George A Romero promoting 2005's Land of the Dead in Cannes
The American-born filmmaker George A Romero, who created the Living Dead movie franchise, has died at the age of 77, his manager has said.
Romero died in his sleep on Sunday with his wife and daughter at his side, after a "brief but aggressive battle" with lung cancer, Chris Roe said.
Romero co-wrote and directed the film that started the zombie series Night of the Living Dead in 1968.
It led to a number of sequels - and a host of imitators.
Roe said Romero died listening to the score of The Quiet Man, "one of his all-time favourite films".
At the time of its release, Night of the Living Dead was criticised for being gory but it went on to be a cult classic and shape horror and zombie films for decades.
While it did not use the word zombies, it was the first film to depict cannibalistic reanimated corpses.
The Living Dead franchise began in 1968, with the most recent made in 2009
Previous films had shown zombies as being living people who had been bewitched through voodoo.
Despite having a budget of just $114,000, the film made $30m at the box office and was followed by five sequels and two remakes.
Mr Romero had a non-starring and uncredited role in the film as a news reporter.
He went on to direct other films including the 1971 romantic comedy There's Always Vanilla, the 1978 vampire film Martin, and the 1982 Stephen King adaptation Creepshow.
His only work to top the box office success enjoyed by Night of the Living Dead was Dawn of the Dead, released in 1978, which earned more than $40m.
Fellow film directors including Max Landis and Jordan Peele paid tribute to Romero on Twitter.
Director and producer Eli Roth wrote: "Just heard the news about George Romero. Hard to quantify how much he inspired me & what he did for cinema. Condolences to his family."
He continued in a thread of tweets: "Romero used genre to confront racism 50 years ago. He always had diverse casts, with Duane Jones as the heroic star of NOTLD."
Roth said that "very few others in cinema were taking such risks" and that Romero "as "both ahead of his time and exactly what cinema needed at that time".
Baby Driver director Edgar Wright wrote that "he couldn't into one tweet" how he felt, so he wrote a blog post in memory of Romero.
He said: "It's fair to say that without George A. Romero, I would not have the career that I have now. A lot of people owe George a huge debt of gratitude for the inspiration. I am just one of many."
Ed Harris on Romero: "He was a great friend. I miss him."
Ed Harris said on Radio 4's Today programme: "I really loved George. He was big, beautiful, gregarious bear of a guy."
Romero worked with Harris on the 1981 drama film, Knightriders. Harris continued to explain how it was his first lead role in a film and that George A. Romero was "a joy work with and treated everyone with respect."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
• None BBC Culture - Where do zombies come from?
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40627029
|
Jane Austen's worldwide fan club - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The devotees from around the world for whom Jane Austen plays a big part in their lives.
|
England
|
The BBC 1995 adaption of Pride and Prejudice spawned a new generation of Austen fans
Almost 200 years after Jane Austen's death, the English writer is still adored around the world. BBC News spoke to some of the fans for whom a love of Austen's work has evolved into a way of life.
Australia may still have been a penal colony when Jane Austen was writing her novels, but two centuries on, Austen fans Down Under get together each year to recreate Regency England in Canberra.
Aylwen Gardiner-Garden and her husband John have run the annual Jane Austen Festival for 10 years.
The event grew out of their love of Regency dancing and now more than 300 people come from all over Australia and New Zealand for promenades, grand balls, talks and dance workshops.
"Jane Austen is very popular in Australia - especially after the BBC series aired here in the 1990s - Colin Firth just did it for everyone. And it's generational - there was another whole new set of fans after the Keira Knightley film," she explained.
"I don't think it's harking back to the old country - it's more the sense of romance and escaping from reality. It's not the seedy side of England, like Dickens.
"At the festival, the women can dress up, feel feminine and elegant, and the guys are gentlemen. Teenagers grow up overnight on the dance floor - their manners are fantastic.
"It's people coming together to learn about the costumes, the books, the dancing. It's become part of people's lives, so I keep doing it for the love of it."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
In Chicago, Deborah Miller performs her own one-woman show based on the books and letters of Austen.
She still remembers 10 September 2009 - the day she first read Austen's biography and instantly "fell in love". Within a year she had read all her novels and written the stage show she has been performing ever since.
"Her work is so well written - every time I read it I find something new - her concise use of language and its elegance is so beautiful," she said.
In researching her show, Ms Miller visited the Smithsonian Institution to find the earliest audio recording of a Hampshire accent and listened over and over again to find the correct stage voice.
"I do have to slow it down a bit - they are not used to a Hampshire accent on the south side of Chicago."
With more than 5,000 members of Jane Austen societies in the US and Canada, there is an eager audience for her shows.
"People have read the novels, but not the letters. People at the shows cry and say that I am Jane Austen.
"It's the ease and geniality of the time, the romance and the reassurance - in the current political climate, a Jane Austen novel has integrity and truth."
Adge Secker is a full-time police officer in Bath who is also a tour guide for ECT Travel's Strictly Jane Austen tours - one of the companies chasing the bonnet bucks - tapping into the market of Austen enthusiasts keen to learn more about their heroine.
He described his clients as "just mad crazy" about Austen with Americans in particular "absolutely nuts for her".
"We take them to where she lived, where she danced, the places that inspired the stories and just immerse them in the history. I get people enthused and at the end tell them what they've done is walk in her footsteps.
"It's just good fun to do - they love to soak up the history and the culture."
Tour-goers get to visit places in the city where Jane Austen lived for five years from 1801. Locations include the Gravel Walk - where Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth were engaged in Persuasion - or visitors can have Regency experiences like tasting the spa water or attending a grand ball.
"Many Jane Austen experts come on the tours to see the places in her life. I'm like a sponge - always learning new stories. But you have to get your facts right, otherwise Jane Austen fans will find you out."
Austen's work was first published in Italy in the 1930s, while films and dubbed BBC dramas have boosted her popularity in recent decades.
Venetian Mara Barbuni first saw Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility in 1995 and immediately borrowed the book from her local library.
Since then she has written extensively on the author - her most recent research project is into how houses and homes are represented in Austen's novels.
In the course of her research, she has travelled to many of the "Austenland" sites - including Winchester, Bath and Lyme Regis.
Austen's work is "really popular and much loved" in Italy, she explains.
"Many Italian readers of Jane Austen declare they love her settings, the old-fashioned but fashionable flair of her novels, and the love stories of her characters."
More than 300 academics and devotees are in the Jane Austen Society of Italy which was founded in Bologna in 2013. It is holding a "Grand Tour" of conferences around Italian cities this year, based on each of Austen's novels.
Nicole Kang and Margy Supramaniam are members of Singapore's Jane Austen Circle, enthusiasts who regularly meet for balls, tea and dramatised readings in costume.
UK-born Mrs Supramaniam, who moved to Singapore in the 1980s, said: "I'm no seamstress but I do enjoy dressing bonnets to look authentic and finding Indian trimming to make dresses look Regency.
"I have also used saris for dresses, the muslin ones with borders are the best. In the late 18th and early 19th Century cloth was imported in large quantities from India as it was in great demand in England for clothes, so some of it works really well in achieving a period look.
"Many older Singaporeans, who had a fairly British-style colonial education, were brought up with Jane Austen but the younger generation are less familiar, and often their first introduction may have been watching a film adaptation. It is exciting to see Jane Austen's popularity spread.
"The largest group of followers that we have are millennial Chinese Singaporeans who can somehow relate to Jane Austen across culture and centuries."
One of those younger members, Nicole Kang (pictured above left, in the dress), gives Regency dance lessons in Singaporean schools.
"I first read Northanger Abbey when I was 15 years old as I had more or less finished reading most of the 'teen' books in my school library and I think I had fancied a bit of a challenge in my reading.
"I love Austen's work because she writes about familiar subjects - not just about love - but she had such a keen insight into human nature that I believe that her characters still exist in real life today."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40093010
|
Charles and Camilla photo marks duchess's 70th birthday - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Photographer Mario Testino said Camilla, who turns 70 on Monday, has a "wonderful sense of humour".
|
UK
|
An official portrait of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall has been unveiled, ahead of Camilla's 70th birthday on Monday.
The photograph, taken in May, shows Charles and Camilla in the morning room of their London home, Clarence House.
Photographer Mario Testino described the duchess as a "beautiful person".
The duchess celebrated her birthday over the weekend with a private party at the couple's family home, Highgrove House, in Gloucestershire.
Testino, known for his glamorous shots of the rich and famous, first captured Charles and Camilla in 2006 for their first wedding anniversary, on an assignment for Vogue.
The Peruvian photographer said that when he first met Camilla, more than a decade ago, he "discovered a kind and beautiful person with a wonderful sense of humour".
He added: "I'm honoured to document their royal highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall on this very important date."
Testino is something of a family favourite. He took Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge's official engagement photos in 2010, and has also taken official photographs of both Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
A series of relaxed portraits of the late Diana, Princess of Wales - taken just months before she died in 1997 - became some of his best-known portraits.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40625683
|
Brexit talks resume: Get down to business, David Davis urges - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The second round of talks between the UK and EU negotiating teams is under way.
|
UK Politics
|
The Lib Dems picked up on a lack of papers on one side of the table in this photograph
Brexit Secretary David Davis has called on both sides in the negotiations on the UK's departure from the European Union to "get down to business".
Mr Davis was in Brussels to launch the second round of formal talks.
He said his priority was to "lift the uncertainty" for EU citizens living in the UK and Britons living in the EU.
The EU says there must be substantial progress on this - and on a financial settlement and the issue of the Irish border - before trade talks can begin.
Appearing alongside EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, Mr Davis said there had been a good start to the process and it was time to get to the "substance of the matter".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Mr Barnier said the negotiators would "now delve into the heart of the matter".
Talks will cover citizens' rights, finance, Northern Ireland and Euratom, with separate negotiating teams set up for each issue.
A UK government source told the BBC that 98 British officials were in Brussels for the negotiations.
Mr Davis spent two to three hours in the EU quarter, meeting Mr Barnier for between 45 minutes and a hour before returning to London.
The two men are expected to give an update on progress made at a press conference on Thursday.
Earlier this month, Theresa May's offer to give the three million EU citizens in the UK "settled status" after Brexit was immediately dismissed by European Council President Donald Tusk as "below our expectations".
And Mr Barnier has said there were still major differences between the EU and UK on the subject.
Speaking at a separate European Council meeting in Brussels, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson insisted the UK had made a "very fair, serious offer".
The call to "get down to business" from David Davis is meant to signal that the Brexit talks are entering a serious phase after an opening session of pleasantries and procedural discussions.
That might raise eyebrows on the European side where there's a perception that Britain dithered for months after the Brexit referendum before getting down to talks.
The UK says it's prioritising the issue of mutual citizens rights after its opening proposals received a lukewarm response in Brussels.
The atmosphere around this second round of talks may have been improved a little by a government acknowledgement that the UK has obligations to the EU which will survive withdrawal and which need to be resolved.
Mr Johnson has said that Brussels can "go whistle" if it expected the UK to pay an "extortionate" bill as part of the separation.
The government's official position, confirmed in a Parliamentary statement last week, is that it will "work with the EU to determine a fair settlement of the UK's rights and obligations as a departing member state, in accordance with the law and in the spirit of our continuing partnership".
The EU has insisted that citizen rights - along with the "divorce payment" and border issues - must be dealt with before future UK-EU trade can be discussed.
Sir Keir Starmer, Labour's shadow Brexit secretary, criticised Mr Davis for spending "only a few minutes in Brussels before heading back to Whitehall".
"There is no agreed cabinet position on vital Brexit issues, the negotiating team is not prepared and the Prime Minister has lost her authority," he said, calling for engagement "with the substance of talks".
The Liberal Democrats' Brexit spokesperson, Tom Brake, said Mr Davis' brief visit to Brussels - and a lack of briefing papers on the UK side of the table in when the negotiators posed for a photograph - was proof that government preparation for the negotiations was lacking.
"He didn't have any position papers with him because this government has no agreed Brexit position," he said.
Lord O'Donnell, the UK's former top civil servant, suggested the chances of a smooth Brexit were at risk.
"It appears that cabinet members haven't yet finished negotiating with each other, never mind the EU," he was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40627328
|
The cabinet - Report, summer 2017 - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The story of why Mrs May is so cross with her cabinet.
|
UK Politics
|
With rumour swirling, gossip in the air about the cabinet, it is hard to work out what is really going on. Since Mrs May didn't really win the prize she was expecting, ministers have become an unruly lot. Tomorrow, they're all going to get a telling off (with apologies to the truth).
David wants her job, although he says that he doesn't and isn't thinking about it, it's only his friends getting excited.
Boris wants the job too, although he says he doesn't want it yet, and guess what, it's only his friends getting a bit excited.
This excitement sometimes involves those friends saying rude things about the other one.
Neither of them, nor any of their friends, want Philip to get the job.
Some of Philip's friends want him to get the job, but maybe he's not so sure. What he really wants is to stay in charge of the money, whoever has the big job.
Boris wants Theresa's job but not yet (he says)
Philip doesn't trust or like Michael very much.
Neither, really, does Theresa like Michael very much. But lots of people think he is clever and he likes Brexit.
So does Boris, who used to like Michael a lot.
Then Michael was really mean to Boris and it hurt his feelings a lot. They'll probably never go to each other's houses again for dinner but they may not quite feel like poisoning the other's dinner.
Then there's Liam, who also likes Brexit a lot.
He likes running for the big job. He says he doesn't want that opportunity to come up, but if it does, he might well have another go because he likes doing it so much.
There's also Andrea, who smiles a lot and likes Brexit, a lot. She didn't really enjoy going for the big job last time, but if it happens again, the chance to run again might make her smile, a lot.
Then there's the newer gang, like Priti, who also likes Brexit and might like to try for the big job one day.
So might Sajid, who doesn't really like Brexit that much, but might want to join in the big race too.
And don't forget Amber, who Philip and David are apparently trying to get into their gang - but it's tricky because she doesn't like Brexit and could also fancy having a go at the top post too one day, although she'd probably need to make a few more friends in her home town.
And there's Patrick, who didn't like Brexit either. No one really wants to be friends with him at the moment. He was meant to be in charge of trying to win the big prize but that didn't quite go according to plan.
Then there are Greg, Karen, Justine, Michael number two, David number two, Jeremy,David number three, Alun and yes, David number four.
None of them really like Brexit very much.
Most of them (apart from David number three) would also like Philip (remember him?) to write some bigger cheques for their departments.
But he isn't really in the mood to do that, remember. He wants to stay in charge of the money, whoever has the big job.
Then there is James, who also didn't like the idea of Brexit but has an almost even harder project in Belfast.
There are also Liz and Brandon. She used to have to worry about cheese, he now has to worry about immigration.
Neither of them really liked Brexit either but are, you guessed it "getting on with the job".
And Chris, who really loves the idea of Brexit and is in charge of trains. He says he doesn't want Philip or Boris or David (number one) to be making trouble.
There's also Natalie, who has to explain to another lot who get to wear red velvet cloaks (honest) what all of the above are trying to achieve. (That's a good question)
Then there is Damien, who really didn't like the idea of Brexit but who is really important because Theresa isn't cross with him.
In fact, she trusts him and my goodness, that doesn't happen very often.
Last of course there is Theresa who, while being cross with this lot, is probably still cross with herself, and most likely peeved with Nick and Fi, but that's another story.
The public might well think they all must try much harder.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40634152
|
Chinese gay video ban sparks online backlash - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
China's crackdown on what it calls "abnormal" sexual activity has triggered a backlash online.
|
BBC Trending
|
A man holds a rainbow flag after taking part in the Pride Run in Shanghai in June. Homosexuality is legal in China, but authorities have implemented new rules which censor online videos featuring same sex relationships
A crackdown on a wide range of internet videos by Chinese censors has caused a backlash on the country's popular micro-blogging site Sina Weibo, with many users objecting to a decision to ban content which features same-sex relationships.
On Chinese social media, many were left angry, baffled, and upset:
"Aren't people born equal? ... What right do you have to discriminate against others?" said one. Another commented: "Aren't homosexuals normal? Why do you push them to a corner?"
The outcry was prompted a decision by Beijing regulators to censor the portrayal of homosexual activity in online videos. The regulations, which came into force at the beginning of July, classify homosexuality as "abnormal" sexual behaviour and cover not only explicit sexual content but any portrayal of same-sex relationships, positive or negative - for instance in popular online dramas.
On Weibo, the hashtag "Online Content Review Discriminating [Against] Gays" was viewed by millions and generated thousands of comments. And while the decision sparked the biggest backlash from Chinese social media users, the censorship extends further.
There are 84 categories of material that were banned from online video programmes by Chinese censors, including prostitution, drug addiction, extra-marital affairs and what authorities deem to be "unhealthy" views of the family, relationships and money. A ban on the portrayal of "erotic behaviour" includes kisses which last for a long time.
The guidance stipulates that all online content should help "realize the China dream of a great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."
A screenshot from Addicted, an online series that was censored after the new rules came into force
One prominent voice who has criticised Chinese government censorship is Li Yinhe, China's first female sexologist and a well-known commentator on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) issues.
"To [the government], homosexuality is regarded as obscene," she says, adding that the LGBT community is "very angry."
Li Yinhe tells BBC Trending radio that when she recently wrote a piece calling on the government to end the censorship mechanism entirely, the article was taken down by Weibo censors just a few hours after publication.
"Well, this is the reality in China," she says.
Under the latest guidelines, which were issued by the China Netcasting Services Association, at least two to three "auditors" will have to check all online content to make sure it adheres to the "advanced culture of socialism."
The latest regulations are part of a wide campaign by the authorities to control discourse online through the censorship of a wide range of content including live streaming, news and social media.
Just over a year ago Beijing issued a set of regulations which banned the portrayal of homosexuality on television as part of what they described as being a cultural crackdown on "vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content."
A number of Chinese gay dating apps have also been shut down in the country - the most recent example being the lesbian dating app Rela which had more than five million users and was shut down at the end of May this year.
Homosexuality is not illegal in China, and was removed from an official list of mental disorders in 2001.
Tim Hildebrandt, an assistant professor of social policy and development at the London School of Economics, says the recent censorship around homosexuality is surprising.
"Social acceptance of homosexuality had really gone up in China over the last five to 15 years," he says. "Unlike a lot of places with institutionalised religion, it's not a place that has ever viewed homosexuality as inherently sinful. It's been viewed over time as an oddity, but not an inherent threat to society. The only threat it served was as one of non-conformity to a perfect model of the family."
Hildebrandt adds that the latest guidelines issued around homosexual content online are "particularly worrisome."
"Some might assume this is just about pornography," he says. "This is not really the case. It's any portrayal of homosexuality in online videos. As to what that means for gay people in China, essentially the internet is one of the few safe spaces to meet others within the community. This is how people are meeting each other both in a platonic and romantic setting."
Wenxiong, a gay Chinese man who is currently studying in the US, says that the homosexuality ban online feels "like the Cultural Revolution again."
"We are seeing a group of people as a target of antagonism and people can say bad things about them, or insult them," he says.
"The government, aside from the regulations on LGBT content, is also issuing a lot of other cultural tightening regulations," he says. "It's like Big Brother is watching you now. The government is telling you that you cannot have a gay life."
You can find BBC Trending on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @BBCtrending. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-40610679
|
Extra cash in school budgets in funding shake-up - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
£1.3bn to protect core school budgets, with cuts to be made on free school spending.
|
Education & Family
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Justine Greening said every school in England would benefit
Schools in England are being promised an extra £1.3bn over two years, as the government responded to pressure from campaigns over funding shortages.
But the cash for schools will be taken from elsewhere in the education budget, such as spending on free schools.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies says it represents a real-terms freeze on school budgets for the next two years.
Education Secretary Justine Greening told MPs she recognised there was public concern over school funding.
Ms Greening told the House of Commons this "significant investment" would help to "raise standards, promote social mobility and to give every child the best possible education".
But Labour's shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, said: "This is all being funded without a penny of new money from the Treasury.
"They are not committing any new money and have not been clear about exactly what programmes they will be cutting to plug the funding back hole."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Angela Rayner: "They've taken with one hand and put it in with the other"
But Jules White, a West Sussex head teacher who co-ordinated a campaign over funding shortages, said: "The government finally appears to be listening."
But he cautioned that any increase would need to keep up with "rising pupil numbers and inflationary costs".
Geoff Barton, leader of the ASCL head teachers' union, said this was a "step in the right direction and an acknowledgment of the huge level of concern around the country on this issue".
But he said schools would still have to see the implications of the money being "saved from elsewhere in the education budget".
Chris Keates leader of the NASUWT teachers' union called Ms Greening's statement "a recycled announcement of recycled money".
Jo Yurky, who headed a parents' campaign over funding, said this was "positive news" and an "amazing turn-around" in attitude from ministers, but pressure needed to be kept up on protecting funding.
A joint statement from the NUT and ATL teachers' unions accused the government of "smoke and mirrors".
"Whilst any extra money is welcome this isn't enough to stop the huge cuts that schools are making," said the teachers' unions.
School funding became a major issue during the general election, with school leaders and teachers' unions warning that budget shortages would mean cuts to staffing and subjects.
A protest over school funding cuts was held in London at the weekend
They pointed to evidence from the National Audit Office and the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which warned of £3bn funding gap and schools facing an 8% real-terms budget cut.
During the election, the Conservatives had promised an extra £1bn per year, which on top of planned increases, would have meant the core schools budget rising by about £4bn in 2021-22.
Most of this extra funding was going to come from scrapping free meals for all infants, a policy which was subsequently ditched.
Under the plans announced by Ms Greening on Monday, the overall core schools budget will rise by £2.6bn between 2017-18 and 2019-20.
All schools will receive at least an increase of 0.5% in cash terms.
The Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Layla Moran said: "This is a desperate attempt to pull the wool over people's eyes.
"Schools are still facing cuts to their budgets once inflation and increasing class sizes are taken into account."
As well as concerns about the overall amount of money available, there has been controversy over how it is divided between individual schools.
A new National Funding Formula was announced by education secretary Justine Greening before Christmas.
Ms Greening said the new formula would go ahead and would address unfair and inconsistent levels of funding.
Under the new arrangements, from 2018-19, the minimum funding per secondary pupil would be set at £4,800 per year.
For many years there have been complaints that schools in different parts of the country were receiving different levels of per pupil funding.
Details of an updated version of the formula, with budgets for individual schools, are being promised for the autumn.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-40634472
|
Should you dress twins in identical clothes? - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Parents share their views after Roger Federer's two sets of twins wore matching outfits at Wimbledon.
|
UK
|
Roger Federer's two sets of twins stood out in the crowd as they watched their dad make Wimbledon history on Sunday - for wearing matching outfits.
Girls Myla Rose and Charlene Riva, seven, were dressed in identical flowery dresses.
Boys Leo and Lenny, three, both wore a pale blue jacket, white trousers and the same dark shoes.
Dressing twins in identical outfits is not uncommon among parents, but some experts warn it may not be a good idea.
Keith Reed, chief executive of the Twins and Multiple Births Association (Tamba), says it is important for parents to help multiple birth children develop their own identities.
This can be done by dressing them differently and using their individual names rather than calling them "the twins" or "the triplets".
He adds: "If they are used to always being together or always wearing the same clothes, then the older they get the more distressed they may become if you try to make changes.
"However this does not mean denying their special relationship as one of a multiple.
"Rather it allows them to see themselves as individuals who have the bonus of being part of a multiple unit."
Twins Farrah, left, and Rae are sometimes dressed in the same outfits
Carla Hallmark, 38, from south-east London, is mum to one-year-old non-identical girls Farrah and Rae.
She says she sometimes dresses her daughters in the same outfits out of convenience.
"We don't really think about it. It's literally go into the shop and buy two of those, two of those and two of those.
"If the girls were identical I think my view would be very different. Our two look so different, so for me it wasn't really a problem and I decided it for ease.
"It's simply about getting up in the morning and going to their wardrobe and grabbing two of those and two of those. It's not a conscious decision to dress them the same every day.
"Yes it's quite cute and I don't dislike the way it looks but it really it is about ease. I don't think it really matters until they get to an age where they tell you what they are not going to wear.
"For now, while we are trying to get them out of the door in 15 minutes in the morning, it's certainly for ease."
The parents of identical twins Heidi, left, and Izzy ensure they wear different outfits
But for some parents of twins, they have made a conscious decision not to dress their children in matching or identical outfits.
PR director Marc Cohen, 37, from north London, is a dad to seven-year-old identical twins Izzy and Heidi.
He says: "Everyone is different but for us it's hard to get our heads around why anyone would want to have kids dressed the same, particularly if they are identical.
"They have their own personalities and they're their own people and from such an early age to have them dressed the same removes quite a lot of their personality.
"It does present challenges. I can understand if you've got a lot of kids it might be easier to be dressing them the same way.
"But as they get older it's really hard to encourage their individuality with identical twins, so I think it's worth working that bit harder to give them their own personalities."
Twins Jasper and Phoebe Tomkins on their first day at school
Lauren Apfel, editor of online parenting magazine Motherwell and mum of twins Phoebe and Jasper, six, is against dressing twins the same and says parents tend to do it because it is considered "cute".
"People are fascinated by twins, and they love seeing them as an adorable diptych. But this is more about appearances than what is actually best for the kids themselves," she adds.
"Twins will always have a special bond. Dressing them differently doesn't do damage to that possibility.
"Rather it is an important step towards allowing them to thrive as individuals within their sibling relationship, as opposed to their identities being dominated by it."
Clinical psychologist Linda Blair, who has written a book exploring sibling relationships, says there is a fascination with multiple births and parents often try and "enhance the attraction" by making their children look alike.
But she warns it can have a negative impact on the children themselves and their relationship with their sibling.
"Children want more than anything to be seen as special in their parents' eyes, as different from everyone else.
"When you duplicate them, you're not going to harm them in some kind of long-term way, but what you're doing is putting the warmth of their relationship at risk.
"The person they are going to want to compete with and push away is the person who is most like them.
"So it isn't good for the sibling relationship to dress them alike and put them in one box.
"The best way to raise confident kids is to continually praise and be proud of their differences and uniqueness."
Do you dress your twins in identical outfits? Share your views and experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40632365
|
Carolyn McCall: From airline to airwaves - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The EasyJet chief's career has taken her through some of the best-known companies in the UK.
|
Business
|
When Carolyn McCall announced that she was moving from the Guardian Media Group to become chief executive of EasyJet, rival Ryanair's Michael O'Leary dismissed her as a media luvvie.
With her new post at ITV, which she will take up early next year, Mr O'Leary can happily call her a media luvvie again, although her track record shows her capabilities spread far more widely.
Her first six months in the job in 2010 were enough to make anyone match fit.
Those saw three of the aviation industry's biggest headaches: volcanic ash clouds, a spike in the oil price and an air traffic controllers strike.
But there's little in her early years that would suggest her as an establishment candidate whose career would read like a perfectly mapped flight path through some of the UK's best-known boardrooms, including Lloyds TSB, Tesco, Burberry and New Look.
She once described herself as a "coaster" at school, and rather middling as a school student, and claims she never had a plan for her career.
Born in Bangalore, in Southern India in 1961, she completed much of her schooling there before moving to the UK, attending school in Matlock in Derbyshire before going on to university at Canterbury in Kent.
After that she almost became a teacher, doing her training at Holland Park Comprehensive in London, one of the most notorious of its time for its mixed demographic and free-thinking ethos. That experience seemed to have served to make her own appetite for education stronger and she went for a master's degree in politics from the University of London.
Her first job was at builders Costain, but she was strongly drawn towards the media.
To her delight she applied for and became a research planner at the Guardian in 1986, where her boss, a woman, shocked her by saying she could become the group's chief executive.
By 2000, she had risen through the commercial ranks to become chief executive of the newspaper business, Guardian News & Media, and in 2006 she took the helm of the parent company.
Management Today magazine called her: "One of the toughest operators to have risen through the Guardian Media Group's ranks."
One of her landmark achievements there in 2005 was to take the paper from a Daily Telegraph-sized broadsheet to the pioneering, smaller Berliner format at an expense that raised eyebrows. But she also was involved at the start of the digital version of the Guardian.
During her time at EasyJet, passenger numbers have almost doubled.
She has also doubled the number of female applicants to become pilots under the Amy Johnson initiative.
On a more prosaic level, she is known for mucking in with the flight crew when flying, helping to clear up the rubbish while getting to know the staff and their concerns.
Her interest in supporting the progress of women is underlined by her naming one of her three children after political activist Emmeline Pankhurst, who helped women win the right to vote.
She is one of just a handful of female chief executives in the top 100 companies.
She was named Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year in April 2008, was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to women in business, was awarded a damehood in the New Year Honours list for services to the aviation industry and on top of that has been given France's highest merit, the Legion d'Honneur.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40628873
|
Man charged with drugs offences after Newton Abbot death - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Leah Kerry was found unconscious in the early hours in a park in Newton Abbot, Devon, and later died.
|
Devon
|
Leah died in Torbay Hospital after apparently suffering from an adverse reaction to the substance she had taken
A man has been charged following the death of 15-year-old girl suspected of taking drugs.
Leah Kerry was found unconscious at about 04:50 BST on Saturday at Bakers Park in Newton Abbot, Devon.
Jacob Khanlarian from Newton Abbot, was charged with two counts of intent to supply a class A drug and one of intent to supply a class B substance.
The 20-year-old entered no plea and was remanded in custody by Plymouth magistrates.
He will appear before Exeter Crown Court on 10 August.
It is believed Leah, who was not from the area, suffered an adverse reaction from the substance. She died in Torbay Hospital.
Two other girls believed to have taken the same substance were also taken to hospital over the weekend as a precaution, but have since been released.
Det Supt Ken Lamont said: "With NPS (New Psychoactive Substances) no-one knows what's in them and that's why they are so dangerous.
"Time and time again we hear of people paying the ultimate price for this.
"It's not worth experimenting with your life."
Last year Totnes teenager Nathan Wood died after after taking the psychoactive drug N-Bomb.
Police called on parents to "speak to your children about the dangers of drugs and legal highs".
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-40630162
|
Woman on Rome metro dragged along platform by train - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The driver on the Rome metro was unaware that the woman's bag had got trapped in the train door.
|
Europe
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Passengers watch as woman dragged along platform by Rome metro
Footage of a woman being dragged along a platform by a train, after her bag got trapped in the door, has raised safety questions about Rome's metro.
Natalya Garkovich, 43, was left in intensive care after sensors failed to register the strap and emergency brakes did not stop the train's advance.
The footage also shows train driver Gianluca Tonelli eating before driving away.
The incident is being investigated, but Mr Tonelli says he followed protocol.
"I know that I was wrong and I am devastated by what happened to that woman," Mr Tonelli told Italian daily Corriere della Sera [in Italian]. "But in the video it can also be seen that I looked twice in the mirror, I was not reckless."
Ms Garkovich, who local media report is a Belarusian national, was initially in intensive care, but her condition has since improved. Reports suggest she has broken bones from the accident.
The CCTV footage obtained by Corriere shows Ms Garkovich boarding the train at Termini station, before changing her mind at the last minute.
As she backs out of the train, her bag appears to become stuck - and despite the efforts of people on the platform, she cannot be freed.
Local news outlets report that passengers on board the train pulled a number of emergency levers, but were unsuccessful. It is believed Ms Garkovich was not pulled into the tunnel.
The first Mr Tonelli knew of the accident was when he pulled into the next station, according to reports.
CCTV footage showed the woman being pulled along the platform
The CCTV footage shows that Mr Tonelli was eating while the train was in the platform.
But Carlo Rienzi, president of consumer rights group Codacons, said the failure of both the door and emergency levers meant Mr Tonelli could not be fully to blame.
"The emergency systems on board must function properly," he said in a statement, "Therefore we consider it outrageous and offensive to say the train driver is entirely responsible, when you should thoroughly investigate the Rome subway security systems and their proper operation."
Meanwhile, Stefano Bottoni, national secretary of trade union Sul, said extra measures were needed to avoid a repeat of the accident.
"If the trains were equipped with cameras in the cockpit it might have been different," he told news agency Ansa (in Italian).
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40629089
|
Primark recalls men's flip-flops over chemical content - BBC News
|
2017-07-17
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The discount retailer offers refunds after discovering the footwear may contain high chemical levels.
|
Business
|
Primark has recalled thousands of men's flip-flops over fears they may contain dangerous levels of a cancer-causing chemical.
The discount fashion chain said it had come to its attention that the footwear "does not meet the Primark usual high standards for chemical compliance".
The products in question are men's flip-flops in blue, black and khaki.
The company said customers will be offered a full refund and do not have to produce proof of purchase.
Primark, which is owned by Associated British Foods, said the footwear was sold in stores between 4 January and 2 June this year as part of its Cedar Wood State range.
"We have found levels of a restricted substance in the product in excess of the 1.0 mg/kg requirement," it said on the website.
A Primark spokesperson confirmed that the chemical in question was chrysene, used in dark coloured dyes, but said it was present at levels that would pose a minimal health and safety risk to customers.
The fault was discovered by Primark following up an inquiry by a third party, the company said.
"We take the safety of our customers, and the quality of our products very seriously," the spokesperson said.
The company has suspended all new orders from the factory that manufactures the flip-flops while the matter is investigated.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40632891
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.