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UK petrol prices could jump after Hurricane Harvey, RAC says - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The price of unleaded petrol could surpass diesel in the coming days, the RAC says.
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Business
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The price of unleaded petrol could surpass that of diesel in the coming days as a result of the disruption caused by Hurricane Harvey in the US, the RAC has warned.
The drivers' association said the price of a litre of unleaded in the UK could rise by up to 4p, passing 121p.
That level has not been seen since December 2014.
Crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has fallen.
In response, US demand for petrol imports has jumped, driving up prices.
RAC spokesman Pete Williams said this was now affecting UK forecourts.
"The average price of a litre of unleaded petrol on Thursday 31 August was 117.29p and diesel was 118.14p," he said.
"But we could see unleaded rise in the coming days to around 121p a litre, with diesel likely to stay stable around 118.5p."
He added: "This will be the first time unleaded has been higher than diesel since June 2016 and we expect this to be the case for some time to come - or at least until the US oil industry is able to get refineries back into operation."
However, the AA said that any price rises needed to be seen in context.
"Petrol prices were already heading up because of the increase in the price of oil since mid August," Mr Bosdet said.
"But they still have a little way to go before reaching the 119p of April and 120p of February."
He added: "This is not Hurricane Katrina, which hit around the August bank holiday of 2005 and added 5p to a litre of pump petrol in a matter of days - before starting to fall back shortly afterwards.
"Katrina destroyed oil infrastructure, Harvey has just disrupted it."
Hurricane Harvey has killed more than 30 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
The costs of the storm in Texas and the Gulf of Mexico have continued to mount, with Texas authorities estimating it at $125bn (£97bn).
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41121594
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Man jailed for murdering niece who was also partner - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Christopher Wall was jailed for life after a jury heard evidence suggesting Hayley Wall had been hit by a TV.
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Dorset
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The court heard Christopher Wall, 58, was in a relationship with his niece Hayley, 25
A man has been jailed for life for murdering a woman who was his niece and also his partner.
Hayley Wall, 25, was found with head injuries in a street in Bournemouth on 13 December and died nine days later.
A jury heard evidence suggesting she had been struck by a television and possibly also a door ripped from its hinges.
Christopher Wall, 58, of Shelbourne Road, was convicted by a jury on Thursday following a two-week trial.
Hayley Wall was found with serious injuries outside Charminster Supermarket in Bournemouth
Jailing Wall for a minimum of 14 years, Judge Keith Cutler told him: "You felt you were in love. This all happened because your relationship was volatile, sometimes marked by violence and aggression."
The judge said neighbours had heard Wall shouting, "is this how you want to be treated?", followed by repeated thuds.
Passers-by found Hayley with serious injuries in Charminster Road before she was taken to hospital.
The court heard that before falling unconscious, she told a paramedic: "My partner smashed a TV over the top of my head."
Later on the same evening, police found Wall asleep in bed with stab wounds to his back.
He told detectives he had been attacked by Hayley with a pair of scissors and had used reasonable force to defend himself.
Police found a damaged flat screen television in the house, as well as blood in the bedroom and bathroom.
A blood-stained door on a landing had been knocked off its frame and had two long dark hairs embedded in a crack.
Wall's barrister, Nicholas Haggan QC, told the court: "He is desperately sorry that Hayley died as a result of events that night. All he can do is apologise."
In a statement, Hayley's relatives said they would have acted to get her away from Wall if they had known about their relationship.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-41109419
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Obituary: Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Former head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has died aged 85.
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UK
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Cormac Murphy-O'Connor served in holy orders for more than six decades.
The man who began his career as a priest in 1950s Hampshire went on to lead the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales and to don the red hat of a cardinal.
A traditionalist who opposed birth control and abortion, he preached that Christians must be more outspoken about their faith.
But he was heavily criticised when it emerged that he had failed to report a priest, who was later convicted of abusing children. It was a failing which he later bitterly regretted.
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor was born into a devout Catholic family in Reading, Berkshire on 24 August 1932.
His parents had emigrated from County Cork in Ireland before World War One.
He studied at the English College in Rome later returning as Rector
One of six children, two of his brothers, Brian and Patrick, would also become priests and his eldest brother, James, qualified as a General Practitioner and played international rugby union for Ireland.
The family would say the Rosary (a series of prayers) most evenings and always attended church together on Sundays.
The young Murphy-O'Connor attended the Catholic Presentation College in Reading where he gained a reputation as a useful rugby player and became an accomplished pianist.
By the time he went to Prior Park College in Bath he knew he was destined for the priesthood.
He studied at the Venerable English College in Rome, the seminary set up in the 16th Century to train priests for England and Wales, where he gained a degree in theology, and was ordained in October 1956.
He began his ministry in Hampshire, eventually being appointed secretary to the Bishop of Portsmouth, Derek Worlock.
Murphy-O'Connor in 1999 when he was the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton
In 1970 he was appointed as parish priest at the church of the Immaculate Conception in Portswood, a suburb of Southampton.
By then his theological acumen had brought him to the attention of senior clergy and he served as rector of the college in Rome where he had previously studied.
While there he hosted the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Donald Coggan, on his groundbreaking visit to Rome when, to the amazement of the Vatican, Coggan called for full intercommunion between the Anglican and Catholic churches.
Murphy-O'Connor was appointed as Bishop of Arundel and Brighton in 1977 where his theologically orthodox and pastorally engaged ministry was well received.
It was in Sussex that he also faced his greatest public challenge when a priest within the diocese, Michael Hill, was accused of child sexual abuse.
Murphy-O'Connor sought advice from a psychotherapist and a counsellor who suggested that Hill should be given a job that did not involve children. The bishop agreed and Hill was made a chaplain at Gatwick Airport. He went on to abuse more children and was subsequently jailed in 1997.
He became Archbishop of Westminster in 2000
He deeply regretted his failure to report the priest to the police, and said of his conduct: "I don't make any excuses. It was shameful. It's very hard for a bishop, who's told when he takes up that office, that a priest is your brother, you must help him, forgive him.
"What we didn't realise, as we should have done, was the grievous damage done to the victims," he added.
Murphy-O'Connor refused to resign but instead, upon becoming Archbishop of Westminster in 2000, established an independent committee led by Lord Nolan, to carry out a review on child protection practices in the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
The resulting report contained recommendations for key structures required at parish, diocesan and national level and in religious orders, the action needed to create as safe an environment as possible for children and those who work with them, and a strengthening of arrangements for responding to allegations of abuse.
Although he did not engage directly in politics, it was his careful nurturing that led Prime Minister Tony Blair to convert to Catholicism in 2007.
Blair later gave public testimony of his faith after the leadership of the Labour Party had passed to Gordon Brown.
He guided Tony Blair on his path to Catholicism
However, the two clashed over the issue of gay couples being allowed to adopt, with Murphy-O'Connor telling Blair that Catholic adoption agencies should be exempted from the measure, a proposal which the government rejected.
A year later Murphy-O'Connor published a book entitled Faith in the Nation in which he said that while Britain had become more diverse and pluralistic, the Christian values which had shaped its identity should not be abandoned.
Throughout his ministry he strove to improve relationships with the Church of England although that became something of a struggle for him when the Anglican Church began admitting women as priests, something which he opposed.
He was created a cardinal in 2001 and, a year later, read prayers at the funeral service of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
It was the first time since 1509 that a Catholic Cardinal had taken part in an English royal funeral service.
He sought accommodations with other religious leaders in a bid to find common ground
When he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75, Pope Benedict asked him to stay on and he finally retired two years later in 2009.
He was the first Archbishop of Westminster not to die in office.
In retirement Murphy-O'Connor continued to rail against what he saw as the continuing secularisation of British society and what he saw as the marginalisation of religious faith.
"Religious belief of any kind," he said, "tends to be treated more as a private eccentricity than as the central and formative element of British society that it is.
"In the name of tolerance, it seems to me that tolerance is being abolished," he said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41003717
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Sales of inefficient vacuum cleaners banned - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Those using more than 900 watts and emitting more than 80 decibels are now banned in Europe's shops.
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Business
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Sales of vacuum cleaners producing more noise and heat than suction are restricted under EU rules from today.
Vacuum cleaners using more than 900 watts and emitting more than 80 decibels will be banned when stocks run out.
Some anti-EU campaigners say homes won't be properly cleaned if people have to buy lower wattage machines.
But energy experts say the best low-power appliances clean just as well as high-wattage machines.
They say some manufacturers deliberately increased the amount of electricity their appliances use because shoppers equate high-wattage with high performance.
The European Environment Bureau (EEB) said: "Power doesn't always equal performance, though the misconception has become widespread.
"Some efficient models maintained high standards of dust pick-up while using significantly less energy - due to design innovation."
Vacuum cleaner salesman Howard Johnson, who works in Coventry, told BBC News: "People want a more powerful vacuum cleaner but they can't see that more power doesn't mean more suction.
"The lower power machines are perfectly adequate, and better for the planet".
Less power doesn't have to mean less suction, say experts
The EU's own website says: "With more efficient vacuum cleaners, Europe as a whole can save up to 20 TWh of electricity per year by 2020.
"This is equivalent to the annual household electricity consumption of Belgium.
"It also means over 6 million tonnes of CO2 will not be emitted - about the annual emissions of eight medium-sized power plants."
And the UK Climate Change Committee says that since 2008 electricity demand is down 17% (despite all our gadgets) and gas demand is 23% lower, thanks to tougher standards on energy efficiency in homes and appliances.
This, it says, has helped keep bills down.
But there's a question over what happens to EU energy standards after Brexit.
UKIP's Roger Helmer said: "By all means let's make pathetic under-powered vacuum cleaners for export to the EU.
"But we must retain the right to make and use sensible full-powered appliances in the UK. This shows why we must not agree to be bound by EU rules after Brexit."
The EEB replied: "Without EU energy efficiency rules, the UK market risks getting flooded with inefficient and cheap imports from China which waste more energy and break easily due to lower standards."
Efficiency standards are so effective at driving down bills and emissions that it's believed they will be kept after Brexit.
But the government's statement to BBC News on the issue was ambiguous.
A spokeswoman said: "Until we leave the EU, the UK government continues to implement European regulations.
"We support measures that will save households and businesses money on their energy bills."
Sir James Dyson has gone to court over the issue
Vacuum cleaner entrepreneur Sir James Dyson has been in a court battle with the EU because he says the vacuum standards test doesn't replicate real world conditions.
His spokesman told BBC News: "We agree with the principle of using standards to drive products that use less energy.
"But we think that technical innovation itself would be a better way of changing consumer behaviour.
"You can have a perfectly good vacuum cleaner running with lower energy."
The latest Dyson model does qualify under the new EU rules.
Next week the government will be presented with a major report from energy economists making the case for a big boost to the economy through energy efficiency in homes.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41119355
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Transfer deadline day with the UK's youngest football agent - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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For football fans today has all the tension of a cup final penalty shoot-out without a single ball being kicked.
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Newsbeat
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For football fans, today has all the tension of a cup final penalty shoot-out without a single ball being kicked.
Clubs in England and Wales have until 11pm to add to their squads. While in Scotland the deadline is midnight.
For football agent George Swan it's his busiest day of the year and, at 22, he's the youngest agent in the country.
"Even toilet breaks, we try and stay away from them because you don't want to miss a massive call," he tells Newsbeat.
Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham are expected to be among the big spenders today.
Deals are sometimes completed seconds before the transfer window closes leaving fans to spend the rest of the day speculating about new signings.
"So this morning, it was a case of waking up reading the tabloids and looking at the news on the telly seeing what's gone on overnight," George said.
"Then the agents I work with, we sit down and look at which of our players could be moving and assess the situation."
The 22-year-old is a former professional footballer who joined Manchester City's under-14 squad in 2009 for £450,000.
He went on to play for clubs including Sheffield Wednesday, York City and Wolverhampton Wanderers before injuries forced him to retire in 2014.
George says he won't be away from his phone or leave the office well after tonight's transfer window has closed.
"You can't afford to miss a call. Then you miss the chance of one of our lads moving to another club and someone else's player getting that call.
"As long as the player signs the contact the rest can be sorted after it all," he added.
George Swan thinks this year's summer transfer window could be as busy as it was in 2011 when UK clubs spent hundreds of millions on new players.
"Arsenal are maybe the big talking point, are they going to lose Alexis Sanchez? Who will they replace him with.
"When I was younger I used to love transfer day. Even as a player you sit and text other players and talk about what's going on."
Find us on Instagram at BBCNewsbeat and follow us on Snapchat, search for bbc_newsbeat
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/articles/41115609
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Joshua Clements jailed for Hyde Park water fight stabbings - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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Joshua Clements stabbed two men when thousands gathered in London's Hyde Park last year.
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London
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Joshua Clements stabbed two men when thousands gathered in London's Hyde park last year
A teenager who stabbed two men during a mass water fight in London's Hyde Park has been jailed for 14 years.
Joshua Clements, 19, attacked the men as violence broke out when thousands of people gathered on 19 July last year.
The Old Bailey heard he was masked and armed with a large hunting knife, and planned to rob people at the event.
He previously pleaded guilty to two charges of wounding and having an offensive weapon as well as two counts of handling stolen goods.
Clements, who had been released from Feltham Young Offenders Institution two months before the attack, also admitted possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent.
Police found a hunting knife with student Audean Thompson's DNA on it during a search of Joshua Clements' house
The court heard how Clements stabbed student Audean Thompson, 20, in the stomach and leg.
Mr Thompson, who used a walking stick due to a previous leg injury, was left with a 4cm (1.5 inch) stab wound to the chest and had £150 taken in the attack.
The attack was captured on mobile phone footage which was played in court.
Earlier that night, male model Duane Williams, 20, was stabbed in the stomach by Clements, leaving part of his bowel lining protruding. Clements did not attempt to rob Mr Williams.
A spontaneous water fight in Hyde Park led to violent clashes in which five officers were injured and one was stabbed
Mr Thompson wrote in a statement: "I worry people will recognise me. I have not been on a bus since."
Mr Williams said he was left fearful about going out and his scars stopped him working as a body model.
Judge Michael Topolski QC said: "These were vicious attacks on two unarmed entirely innocent victims."
The judge sentenced Clements to 14 years in a young offenders institution with an extended licence period of five years.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41124936
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TUC says flexible working requests can end in worse outcomes - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Two out of five low-paid young parents who request flexible working end up worse off, the TUC says.
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Business
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Two out of five low-paid young parents who ask for flexible work arrangements are "penalised" as a result, according to a TUC survey.
They are given fewer hours, worse shifts and some have lost their jobs, its survey of 1,000 parents suggested.
About half of low-paid young mums and dads are struggling to manage work and childcare, the trades union body said.
A government spokesperson said businesses must have a legitimate reason to refuse flexible working.
The TUC survey found that more than half of those working in low-paid sectors, such as retail, hospitality and social care, did not know their employment rights, with many unaware of unpaid parental leave arrangements.
All the young parents the TUC spoke to had at least one child aged between 1 and 16, were themselves aged between 20 and 35, had household earnings of less than £28,000, and none found it very easy to organise childcare with their working hours.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Too many workplaces expect mums and dads to forget all about their kids as soon as they walk through the door.
Every employee in the UK has the statutory right to request flexible working after 26 weeks of employment.
Requests should be in writing, stating the date of the request and whether any previous application has been made and the date of that application.
Requests and appeals must be considered and decided upon within three months of the receipt of the request.
Employers must have a sound business reason for rejecting any request.
Employees can only make one request in any 12-month period.
Ms O'Grady said: "It's a nightmare to plan childcare when your boss changes your shifts at the drop of a hat, and you never work the same weekly hours twice.
"Many parents fear losing shifts, taking unpaid leave or being viewed badly at work if they need time off to look after their kids."
She said it was "shocking" that some mums and dads were stopped from taking their children to hospital when they were sick.
She added that workers should be told their shift pattern at least one month in advance.
Ben Willmott, head of public policy at HR professional body the CIPD, told the BBC that employers can be more innovative about flexible working.
"Certainly employers can do more about communicating the rights that people do have for time off to care for dependents," he said.
"Flexible working can be quite exclusive - home working is often too restricted to managers and senior professionals. Employers should absolutely be looking at the practices that they have [to] make them more inclusive."
Ben Wilson, executive director at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, called for a radical overhaul of company cultures to make flexible working the norm.
"We have been calling for all jobs to be advertised as available for flexible working in order to remove the barriers people, particularly parents, face to increased pay and fulfilling careers."
A spokesperson for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said that more than 20 million people in the UK were eligible to request flexible working, and businesses must have a legitimate reason to refuse a request.
"We commissioned Matthew Taylor to review modern working practices to ensure our employment rules and rights keep up to date to reflect new ways of working.
"We are considering his report carefully and will respond in due course," the spokesperson added.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41113210
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Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor dies at 85 - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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He was the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales from 2000 to 2009.
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UK
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Martin Bashir looks back at the life of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
The former Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, has died at the age of 85, the Roman Catholic Church says.
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, who died on Friday at 15:35 BST, had cancer.
He had been seriously ill in hospital since his health took a "defining turn" in August.
Pope Francis paid tribute to the cardinal's "unwavering devotion" and "distinguished service to the Church in England and Wales".
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor became the 10th Archbishop of Westminster in March 2000 and therefore the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.
He retired from the role in 2009 and was the first archbishop to do so.
Born on 24 August 1932 in Reading, Berkshire, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor was one of six children. Two of his brothers became priests while another played rugby for Ireland.
He was ordained a priest in Rome in October 1956 and was made Cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.
The current Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, had led calls for prayers for the cardinal after he became ill last month.
In his last message, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor wrote to Cardinal Nichols, saying: "I am at peace and have no fear of what is to come.
"I have received many blessings in my life, especially from my family and friends."
Speaking to the BBC, Cardinal Nichols said his lasting memory of him would be his "laughter and of his joy in life, music and sport and in company and in having a good chat".
"I'm sure heaven will be ringing with his laughter."
On the BBC's Desert Island Discs programme Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor admitted that while training for the priesthood at the English College he learned how to make a good Martini cocktail.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, said in a statement that Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor's "humility, sense and holiness made him a church leader of immense impact".
"He was a great raconteur and story-teller, amusing, but always with a purpose. His words and his life drew people to God.
"His genial warmth, pastoral concern and genuine love for those in his care will be missed, but also celebrated with thanks. May he rest in peace and rise in glory."
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor's time with the church did not pass without its controversy.
While he was the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, it became known to him a priest in the diocese was abusing children.
After seeking advice, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor moved Michael Hill to be a chaplain at Gatwick Airport, but Hill abused more children there and was sent to prison in 1997.
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor later said the way he handled things was "shameful" and went on to set up a independent committee to review child protection practices in the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who converted to Catholicism in 2007 when he left office, paid his own tribute to the churchman credited with playing a role in his conversion.
He said the cardinal was a "wonderful advertisement" for Christianity and the Catholic Church.
"He led a life of commitment, dedication and compassion. But he also led a life of joy.
"He was a lovely person to be with and be around with a great sense of humour and the sharpest of wits. I found him always a source of wisdom and genuine friendship."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41129553
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Florence: Largest asteroid in century to safely fly by Earth - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Florence will pass by at a relatively close distance but scientists say there is nothing to worry about.
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Science & Environment
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The largest asteroid in more than a century is set to pass by Earth at a relatively close distance of 4.4 million miles (7 million km), Nasa says.
Florence measures 2.7 miles (4.4km) in diameter and will not pose a threat to Earth for centuries to come.
While other asteroids have passed closer to Earth, they were all estimated to be smaller.
Asteroids are the rubble left over from the formation of the Sun and planets.
At its closest point, Florence - which was discovered in 1981 - will be at about 18 times the average distance between the Earth and the Moon.
"Florence is the largest asteroid to pass by our planet this close since the [American space agency] Nasa program to detect and track near-Earth asteroids began," Paul Chodas, manager of Nasa's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, said in a statement.
The 2017 encounter is the closest by this asteroid since 1890 and the closest it will ever be until after 2500, the US space agency added.
Scientists plan to study the asteroid up close, using ground-based radar imaging in California and Puerto Rico.
Amateur astronomers will also be tracking it, says Sky and Telescope Magazine.
The rock is relatively easy to see with good observing equipment, not just because it is large but also because it reflects more than 20% of the sunlight that hits its surface. The Moon in contrast has an average reflectivity of just 12%.
An object of Florence's size would have global effects were it to hit the Earth. Scientists believe they have now identified more than 90% of such monster rocks moving through space near our planet.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41121245
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RAF's close combat unit opens to women for the first time - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The air force becomes the first branch of the British military to allow women to apply for any role.
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UK
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Women will now be able to join the RAF Regiment - its ground-fighting force
The Royal Air Force has become the first branch of the British military to open up every role to men and women.
From Friday it will accept applications from women to join the RAF Regiment - its ground-fighting force.
The Army and Navy will open also roles to all genders over the next 12-18 months.
The main role of the 2,000-strong RAF Regiment, which sustained casualties in Afghanistan, is to patrol and protect RAF bases and airfields.
Women make up 14% of the air force as a whole - compared to 10% for the whole military.
BBC Defence Correspondent Jonathan Beale says it is a significant moment because it means women can now apply for any RAF role, from fighter pilot to ground support.
The RAF's women will not be the first women allowed to serve in close combat roles, as some recently joined the Army's Royal Armoured Corps, but they are still excluded from several of the Army's regiments.
It will be another year before women can apply to enter infantry units, and the Navy's Royal Marines, where the physical demands can be tougher.
In July, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon announced that the RAF Regiment would be open to them from September - ahead of its original 2018 schedule.
He said at the time: "A diverse force is a more operationally effective force."
The former head of British forces in Afghanistan, Colonel Richard Kemp, told BBC Breakfast he "vehemently disagrees" that women should be serving in close combat roles - because of their physical capability.
He said: "Once you have got through selection, you are subjecting yourself to a minimum of four years of intensive physical training, day in and day out, in barracks and out of barracks, which puts enough of a strain on a man's body."
Quoting statistics that women sustain around twice as many serious injuries as men do during training, Colonel Kemp added: "I think the reality is we will find many more women than men suffer injuries… and we will then undoubtedly see very significant compensation payments being made out of the defence budget.
"And the nature of woman's bodies means that some of the injuries are going to be more significant in terms of being able to bear children and the like.
"I am not a doctor, but I have certainly read up on this and that is a problem."
However, a former major in the British Army, Judith Webb, said it had been proven that women were "well capable" of the roles.
Major Judith Webb has backed the decision for women to take on the roles
She told the programme: "My concern has always been to ensure that research is carried out so that women know exactly what they are in line for.
"Being aware of our physical differences is an important aspect, but that is where I feel research has now been carried out."
Major Webb added: "We want to promote diversity and get the best people, and if we have got women who want to do it, who are capable of doing it - then of course they should be able to do it."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41119863
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US orders Russia to close consulate and two annexes - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The US orders Russia to close its San Francisco consulate in response to "unwarranted" actions.
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US & Canada
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The closure of the San Francisco consulate leaves just three remaining in the US, a senior administration official says
Russia has been ordered to close its San Francisco consulate and two trade missions in response to "unwarranted" Russian action, the US has said.
The consulate, and annexes in New York and Washington, must close by Saturday.
The US state department's move follows Moscow's reduction of US diplomatic staff in Russia last month.
That in turn followed new US sanctions on Russia over Crimea and alleged election interference, which led to the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats.
President Barack Obama had ordered those expulsions, along with the closure of two compounds, last December.
Although Russian President Vladimir Putin did not respond initially to that move, with Mr Trump set to assume office, he then announced on 31 July a reduction of 755 US diplomatic staff in Russia, in retaliation for the US sanctions.
The US embassy in Moscow. US staff in Russia have been sizeably reduced
The US diplomats expelled have until this Friday to leave Russia - a day before the US closures of the Russian consulate and two annexes, which are trade missions, must be completed.
A senior administration official said on Thursday that the consulate and the residence attached to it as well as the two trade missions would close but no Russian staff would be required to leave the country.
Russia will be allowed to maintain the properties, but not use them, the official added.
The state department said the US actions were "in the spirit of parity". It blamed Moscow for what it called a downward spiral in bilateral ties, but suggested it wanted an end to the current spat.
"The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased co-operation on areas of mutual concern," state department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.
The move leaves each country with three consulates in place, Ms Nauert added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Thursday, expressing "regret at the escalation of tensions in bilateral relations".
He said Moscow would study the order and respond accordingly, according to a statement from the Russian foreign ministry.
Mr Lavrov and Mr Tillerson are due to meet in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Earlier this month, Mr Trump said US relations with Russia were at a "dangerous low" amid a row with Congress over the fresh sanctions against Moscow.
The president, who wanted warmer ties with Russia, had opposed the bill, which included a provision that limits his ability to lift sanctions and forces him to consult Congress first.
Mr Trump has been dogged by claims that Russia tried to sway the election in his favour and several investigations are under way to determine whether anyone from his campaign colluded with Moscow.
But the Kremlin has repeatedly denied interfering and Mr Trump has insisted that there was no collusion, calling the investigations a "witch hunt".
• None What are the sanctions on Russia?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41115352
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'It was quite a long way down' - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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George Rankine was 19 when he walked across the Forth Road Bridge before the road was built.
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Edinburgh, Fife & East Scotland
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George Rankine walked across the mesh walkways to both towers on the Forth Road Bridge
George Rankine was 19 when he walked across the Forth Road Bridge before the road was built.
The 74-year-old was a student in Edinburgh when his friend, who had a summer job at the bridge, asked his supervisor if they could walk over a mesh catwalk before it was removed.
His boss pointed across the walkway and said: "Off you go then".
It was 1962 and the pair were not wearing helmets, yellow vests or harnesses.
Mr Rankine, who lives in Crossford, Fife, was also one of the first people to drive across the Forth Road Bridge once the road had been built 53 years ago.
The bridge is now being replaced by the new Queensferry Crossing, and Mr Rankine managed to become one of the first to drive across that too at 03:00 on Wednesday.
He was also "delighted" to win tickets in the ballot to walk across it on Saturday.
George Rankine took pictures from walkways in between the middle of the towers
George Rankine said he was delighted to win tickets in the ballot to walk across the Queensferry Crossing
Speaking about his experience as a student, Mr Rankine told the BBC Scotland news website: "You wouldn't get to do something like that now without all the health and safety trimmings.
"It was a Saturday morning and my friend's boss just pointed over the mesh and said 'Off you go then' and off the three of us went."
They started on the Edinburgh side and walked up to the first tower, before going up to the north tower then along the walkways joining the towers.
George Rankine visited the Queensferry Crossing on the night it opened to traffic
"All you could see was the water when you looked down through the mesh, it was quite a long way down," Mr Rankine said.
"I wasn't scared though because we were used to climbing and it wasn't a windy day.
"We spent all morning walking across and back and taking pictures."
Speaking about being selected to walk across the bridge on Saturday, he said: "My wife and I were in Zimbabwe when the ballot opened and could only find wifi at Victoria Falls so we made the application there and were absolutely delighted that we got tickets to walk across.
"It's once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we will be taking lots of pictures."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-41124739
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Man stabbed in Stratford Westfield shopping centre 'mass brawl' - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A man is left with a stab injury after a "mass brawl" at the Westfield shopping centre in east London.
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London
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Photos shared on social media appear to show a man lying on the floor inside the shopping centre
A man was stabbed in what witnesses described as a "mass brawl" at a shopping centre in London.
Police were called to reports of a fight at Westfield shopping centre, east London, at about 18.15 BST.
One man was taken to hospital with stab wounds, police said, while a second man sustained head injuries.
A suspect was arrested nearby on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon, Scotland Yard said.
Photos shared on social media appear to show a man lying on the floor inside the shopping centre.
On Twitter, BBC reporter Justin Dealey, who was shopping at the time, said there had been a "mass brawl".
Hollie Rose tweeted: "Imagine getting locked in a store in Westfield only to come out to find blood all over the floor and police everywhere, brilliant."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41128411
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Birling Gap beach: Shipwreck 'could be to blame for mist' - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is investigating "a number of possibilities" for the toxic haze.
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Sussex
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People staying nearby had been told to keeps doors and windows closed
The chemical cloud that caused a Sussex beach to be evacuated on Sunday might have come from a shipwreck, the coastguard agency has suggested.
Part of the East Sussex coast was engulfed by the cloud and about 150 people were treated for breathing problems, stinging eyes and vomiting.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said emissions from the area's many shipwrecks might be the cause.
It is also investigating discharges from passing ships or lost cargo.
Birling Gap beach was evacuated after people began suffering unexplained symptoms from a "mist" that descended.
People had been enjoying the bank holiday weather at Birling Gap
In the past, chemicals have drifted across from European industrial units, but Sussex Police said weather models suggested the source was unlikely to have been in northern France.
The MCA said in a statement: "As part of our investigations we are considering a number of possibilities, such as discharges from a vessel, previously unreported lost cargo, and emissions from known shipwrecks.
"We have identified approximately 180 vessels that passed through the English Channel off the coast of Eastbourne on Sunday.
"We are working with all relevant environmental and public health regulators to conclude these investigations. We have no further information at this stage."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-41130937
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A-level places dispute pupils to return to their school - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A grammar school reverses its policy of refusing to let some students continue to the upper sixth.
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Education & Family
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Sixth formers excluded from a school because they did not get at least B grades at AS-level will be allowed to return, their lawyer has confirmed.
Pupils at St Olave's in Orpington, south-east London, were told they could not progress to take their A-levels.
Parents had begun legal action over the policy, but now the school has backed down, according to their lawyer.
St Olave's is one of England's top-performing grammar schools, with places decided on academic ability.
Dan Rosenberg, a lawyer for Simpson Millar solicitors who has been acting for the families, confirmed by email on Friday evening that the school had reversed its position.
He said he was "pleased the school has agreed to readmit the children and withdraw their policy".
"We would now expect all other schools with similar policies to do the same," he said.
In a statement issued by the Diocese of Rochester, the school said: "Following a review of the school's policy on entry to Year 13, the headmaster and governors of St Olave's grammar school have taken the decision to remove this requirement and we have today written to all parents of pupils affected to offer them the opportunity to return to the school and continue their studies.
"Our aim as a school has been and continues to be to nurture boys who flourish and achieve their full potential academically and in life generally.
"Our students can grow and flourish, making the very best of their talents to achieve success."
Ninety-six percent of pupils at St Olave's got grades A-B at A-level
St Olave's leadership and governing body had declined to comment publicly.
Parents contested whether pupils who had been admitted to the lower sixth should be stopped from continuing into the upper sixth and taking their A-levels.
They had claimed that preventing pupils from continuing into the upper sixth year was in effect an exclusion - and that it was unlawful for a school to exclude a pupil on the grounds of a lack of academic progress.
Parents had accused the school of behaving like "an exam factory", focusing on league table results at the expense of students' education and welfare.
This year's A-level results at St Olave's saw 75% of all grades being awarded at A* or A and 96% were at A* to B grades, far above the national average.
Jo Johnson, Conservative MP for Orpington and minister for universities and science, had previously said that it was hard to see how the exclusions were in students' interests and said he had raised the issue with school standards minister Nick Gibb.
After the decision to readmit students, Mr Johnson tweeted: "Sensible move by St Olave's - a great school."
In a statement, the Department for Education said: "All schools have a responsibility to provide a high quality education to every pupil and ensure there is no limit to their potential. Students enrolled in a sixth form cannot be removed because of academic ability.
"The law is clear on this and we expect all schools to follow it. We will be taking action to remind headteachers of their responsibility on this point."
Peter Read, a former headteacher in Kent who now runs an education advice service, said that the problem was not restricted to a few grammar schools.
He said: "The pressure on schools today is immense to deliver, deliver, deliver. League tables are forcing all sorts of things to go wrong in schools, this is just one example. But it's destroying young people's careers."
He said he had received an email from one parent, whose daughter was excluded last year under similar circumstances, that said "we don't know if she will ever believe in herself in the same way again."
"This is traumatic for young people who think they are going on to A-level [courses] and are then thrown out on the street," Mr Read said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-41132701
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Boots staff 'harassed' by morning-after pill campaigners - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Pharmacy claims charity BPAS encouraged "personal abuse" in a dispute over morning-after pill costs.
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UK
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Boots has accused a pregnancy charity of encouraging the "harassment" of its senior employees in a dispute over the cost of its morning-after pills.
Lawyers for Boots said the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) helped supporters to send a "torrent of personal abuse" to members of staff.
Members of the public contacted Boots using an online form provided by BPAS.
Boots has cut the cost of its emergency contraception following criticism from BPAS and some MPs.
The pharmacy said it would offer a £15.99 alternative to Levonelle, which costs £28.25, and a Boots-branded £26.75 pill, from next month.
It follows the launch of a "Just Say Non" BPAS campaign in July, which invited people to email senior executives at Boots via an online form.
In a letter from law firm Schillings, Boots accused BPAS of the "facilitation and tacit encouragement of personal abuse" in creating the form, which between 20 and 24 July contained the names of five Boots employees.
Four of the names have now been removed from the form.
Messages allegedly described one employee as a "vile, nasty, strange excuse of a half man", while another email read: "You will have to answer to God for what you have done", according to the lawyers.
BPAS said this "misrepresented" the messages, saying thousands were from women who needed to use emergency contraception as well as pharmacists, GPs, and other healthcare professionals.
In a statement, BPAS said Boots "failed to provide any evidence of abuse sent through the campaign".
The form BPAS used as part of its campaign for Boots to cut the cost of is morning-after pill
A Boots spokesperson said the letter was intended to "actively protect our colleagues from abuse and harassment".
They said: "We asked [BPAS] simply to remove personal email details from their campaign widget and to agree not to encourage personal abuse of our people."
In July, Boots initially refused to cut the cost of the morning-after pill, telling BPAS it wanted to avoid "incentivising inappropriate use" - for which the company later apologised.
The response led some Labour MPs to say Boots had taken an "unacceptable" moral position, while Clare Murphy of BPAS added: "Women struggle to access emergency contraception and the cost is a key barrier."
By comparison, the progestogen-based drug Levonelle costs £13.50 at Tesco, Morrisons, Asda and Superdrug.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41121338
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DUP wants an immediate return to Stormont - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Arlene Foster says her plan is a "common-sense solution" to the ongoing power-sharing deadlock.
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Northern Ireland
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The DUP leader, Arlene Foster, proposed an immediate restoration of the assembly in Northern Ireland along with a parallel, time-limited process to deal with culture and language.
Mrs Foster described it as a "common-sense solution" to the ongoing political deadlock.
Sinn Féin rejected the plan and said the DUP have not addressed the cause of the assembly's collapse.
In June, talks between parties failed to restore a power-sharing executive.
Arlene Foster was addressing party meeting in Belfast on Thursday night
At the DUP meeting in Belfast, Mrs Foster said if the parties fail to reach an agreement, then direct rule from London would be the only option.
Mrs Foster added that more talks would be a "waste of time unless there is some new thinking".
She said that the executive should be restored immediately so that ministers can deal with ongoing pressures in areas such as health and education.
At the same time, she said, parties should "agree to bring forward legislation to address culture and language issues in Northern Ireland within a time-limited period to be agreed".
Sinn Fein said they are committed to making the institutions work.
Mrs Foster warned that failure to do this "in a way that commands cross-community support" would lead to direct rule from London.
Mrs Foster acknowledged the need to deal with culture and language, but those matters "should not have a greater priority than health or education or the economy".
"We have nothing to fear from the Irish language nor is it any threat to the Union. However what we cannot and will not do is simply agree to one-sided demands," she said.
Mrs Foster also accused Sinn Féin of building "a barrier to the return of Stormont".
"I question whether Sinn Féin is serious about wanting to see an early return of Stormont. This is not an unreasonable question given some of the recent comments from Gerry Adams."
Mrs O'Neill said the DUP proposal showed they have not acknowledged the reasons behind the collapse of the assembly.
"Establishing an executive that may collapse after a matter of months on the same issues will only fail all our people," she said.
"The speed of Sinn Fein`s rejection makes it clear that Gerry Adams' intransigence is still in place" Robin Swann
Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann acknowledged the DUP's proposal to restore the executive, but said that in light of Sinn Féin's "intransigence other options should be explored".
"If Sinn Féin and the DUP can no longer work together then other alternatives should be explored to ensure that Northern Ireland is governed by Northern Ireland politicians," he said.
"Arlene Foster has missed an opportunity to show real leadership" Colum Eastwood.
The SDLP leader, Colum Eastwood, said the DUP proposition was a can-kicking exercise.
"Anything can be agreed in a time-limited parallel process can be agreed now. Time is not the issue, a critical lack of political generosity is."
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams says that without a stand-alone Irish Language Act, there will be no new assembly
Northern Ireland has been without a functioning devolved government since January, when the coalition led by the two biggest parties, the DUP and Sinn Féin, collapsed over a botched green energy scheme.
The late deputy first minister, Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness, stood down in protest against the DUP's handling of an investigation into the scandal, in a move that triggered a snap election in March.
One of the major sticking points in talks to restore devolved government has been Sinn Féin's demand for an Irish Language Act.
Earlier this week, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said there would be no Northern Ireland Assembly without an Irish Language Act.
Stephen Farry described the ongoing deadlock as a "complete and utter mess".
The deputy Alliance leader told BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme both main parties had work to do.
"The DUP need to show a much stronger sense of realism about the depth of reasons as to why we're in the current crisis.
"At the same time, Sinn Féin need to show a little bit more in terms of flexibility and the speed of their rejection was telling of their attitude towards the talks."
He also told the programme it seemed "inevitable" there would be some sort of intervention from the UK government.
"We are seeing ever growing crises in terms of health and education. We have to have our own voice though and something that does reflect our circumstances here in Northern Ireland".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-41100925
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'Out of control' pensioners fined for hotel rampage - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Staff and guests were forced to flee after the drunk man and his wife made threats in the foyer.
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Tayside and Central Scotland
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Ruth and Robert Fergus had both been drinking before the incident
Staff and guests were forced to flee after two "out of control" pensioners rampaged through a Highland Perthshire resort hotel, a court heard.
Robert Fergus, 72, ran naked with a pair of scissors in the public reception of the MacDonald Loch Rannoch Hotel and smashed a glass pane.
His wife Ruth, 69, threatened to shoot a staff member after "reacting badly" to the alcohol she consumed earlier.
The couple were fined £4,100 at Perth Sheriff Court.
Mr Fergus, from Troon, was also ordered to pay the hotel £800 compensation to cover the cost of the damage from the incident on 4 February.
He had admitted behaving in a threatening and abusive manner towards four staff members, wilfully destroying property, and drink driving.
Staff and guests were forced to flee the MacDonald Loch Rannoch Hotel
Mrs Fergus admitted causing fear or alarm at the hotel by threatening guests and staff with violence.
The court heard how Mr Fergus used the scissors to cut communications cables at the hotel reception and was eventually caught drunk at the wheel of his BMW.
Fiscal Depute Michael Sweeney said a guest was woken by banging on his door at 01:45 and saw Mrs Fergus, who became abusive, in the hallway.
After the guest informed reception, Mr Fergus appeared with no clothes on and began shouting abuse at the staff and guests in the foyer.
Mr Sweeney said: "Both accused were acting as if they were out of control.
"He was observed to have a pair of scissors.
"Mrs Fergus said: 'I'm going to get a gun and shoot you,' at (staff member) Miss Titkova."
"On seeing the scissors, Miss Titkova shouted at the other staff and guests to run.
"They saw Mr Fergus pick up a sign and smash a glass pane in the door with it."
Mr Fergus then ran through the foyer telling witnesses he would "slit" and "kill" them.
Staff and guests ran from the hotel towards the village of Kinloch Rannoch.
Solicitor Ewan Cameron, for Mr Fergus, said: "He consumed much more alcohol than was sensible.
"He retired to bed but was roused by his wife who said she had been on the receiving end of hostility from hotel staff.
"He reacted disproportionately by going to reception to confront them."
Solicitor Pauline Cullerton, for Mrs Fergus, said her client reacted badly to the alcohol she drank because she had eaten little during the day.
Sheriff Gillian Wade told Mr Fergus: "I don't think I need to tell you it's a very sorry state of affairs.
"I have no doubt you will regret it for the rest of your life."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-41122909
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Councils to be allowed to charge for road closures - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Companies in England would be charged for closing busy routes at peak times, under government plans.
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UK
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Councils in England would be allowed to charge utility companies by the hour for roadworks which cause significant disruption, if government proposals are approved.
The plan aims to halve the delays motorists endure due to utility works.
Roadworks cost the economy £4bn a year due to delayed deliveries and people being unable to get to work on time.
The proposals follow successful trials in London and Kent which saw severe congestion fall by more than 50%.
The charges aim to encourage utility companies to avoid busy routes and times, and to work together to avoid repeatedly digging up the same piece of road.
The London trial saw firms co-ordinate their roadworks more than 600 times.
Companies could avoid the charges, also known as lane rental schemes, by carrying out works in the evening or at weekends.
Councils currently issue permits for roadworks, but the government believes the new scheme would give them greater control and monitoring powers.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: "Delays caused by roadworks can be the bane of drivers' lives - especially when they take place at rush hour on busy routes.
"These proposals would give councils greater powers to ensure utility companies avoid carrying out works at the busiest times and on the most popular routes.
"This would not only improve journeys and cut congestion but also save businesses from the increased costs they incur as a result of traffic on our roads," Mr Grayling said.
The rollout is part of a government plan to give councils more ways to manage roadworks, with the aim to support the delivery of wider national infrastructure projects.
Bob Gallienne, chief executive of the National Joint Utilities Group (NJUG), criticised the proposals, saying: "Utilities companies are delivering the infrastructure that the UK needs to drive up productivity, create economic growth and deliver on government priorities such as broadband and new homes.
"Lane rental schemes make it harder for utilities companies to deliver vital infrastructure and value for money for consumers while minimising disruption."
The Local Government Association (LGA) said it was "delighted" that the government had answered its calls for such powers.
LGA transport spokesman Martin Tett said: "Councils are on the side of frustrated motorists who find themselves spending wasted hours held up in tailbacks.
"We're confident these new measures will help minimise delays from roadworks, and keep traffic moving on our local roads.
"It is crucial that councils are given these powers without lengthy national approval mechanisms, so they can ensure critical roadworks are carried out as quickly as possible.
"The sooner councils are allowed to get on top of this problem the better."
"We hope that collaboration and cooperative work plans between service providers will now be standard practice," he said.
"One issue that we hope is resolved with lane rental is making sure that whoever digs up the road returns it back in a good state.
"It wouldn't be acceptable for the road to be patched up quickly and poorly, just to try and keep within their rental period."
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Lord Callanan, parliamentary under-secretary of state for the Department for Transport, said that local authorities will inspect the work and "there's been no evidence of any shoddy workmanship" in the trials so far.
He said: "The idea is that hopefully at the end of the day we won't be raising much money through this, because they will do the work faster or at quiet times.
"But any money that is raised will have to go back to the local authorities and be spent on other measures to reduce congestion."
The consultation on the proposals will last for eight weeks and the changes would come into effect by 2019.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41127734
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Has voodoo been misjudged? - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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While many African traditions and cultures are under threat from modern life, one is holding its own - voodoo.
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Africa
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The Temple of Pythons in Benin is considered a sacred place by voodoo followers
While many African traditions and cultures are under threat from modern life, there is one which is holding its own - voodoo.
It has suffered from a bad press internationally but is an official religion in the West African country of Benin.
In the voodoo heartland of Ouidah, the sound of drums fills the air, while men and women dressed mainly in white take turns to dance around a bowl of millet, a freshly slaughtered chicken and alcohol.
These are the day's offering at the Temple of Pythons.
They have an audience of about 60 people who have gathered from nearby towns for an annual cleansing ceremony.
Inside the temple, where more than 50 snakes are slithering around a custom-made pit, local devotees make amends for sins of the past year.
In voodoo, the python is a symbol of strength - the devotees explain they are relying on Dagbe, the spirit whose temple this is, to give them the power to change.
And to make that change happen, blood must be spilled.
Animal sacrifices are an important part of voodoo ceremonies - an offering to appease the spirits
The first offering is a chicken - some of the blood is spread across the tiles of the temple and the rest is mixed into a communal bowl of millet - which the devotees eat as it is passed around.
Voodoo is rooted in the worship of nature and ancestors - and the belief that the living and the dead exist side by side - a dual world that can be accessed through various deities.
Its followers believe in striving to live in peace and to always do good - that bad intentions will not go unpunished, a similar concept to Christians striving for "righteousness" and not "sinning".
Voodoo believers communicate with their gods through prayers and meditation
Modest estimates put voodoo followers here at at least 40% of Benin's population. Some 27% classify themselves as Christians and 22% Muslims.
But expert on African religions and traditions Dodji Amouzouvi, a professor of sociology and anthropology, says many people practice "dual religion".
"There is a popular saying here: 'Christian during the day and voodoo at night'. It simply means that even those who follow other faiths always return to voodoo in some way," he tells me.
To illustrate the closeness of the two faiths, there is a Basilica opposite the Temple of Pythons in the town square.
"At the moment many people here in Benin feel let down by the establishment, there are no jobs," Mr Amouzouvi.
"People are turning to voodoo to pray for better times."
But how did voodoo get exported to places such as New Orleans and Haiti?
At the edge of the sea in Ouidah stands La Porte du Non-Retour "The Door of No Return" - a stone arch monument with carvings of men and women in chains walking in a procession towards a ship.
The Door of No Return is a reminder of Benin's painful slave history
It was from this point that many thousands of African slaves were packed into ships and taken to the Americas - the only thing they took with them was voodoo, which they clung to as a reminder of home.
They continued to practise it, at times being beaten if caught by the slave masters.
This made some even more determined to keep it alive, according to reports.
Some practices in voodoo can appear threatening to the outsider - the slaughtering of animals have in part earned the faith its unflattering image, some say.
But Mr Amouzouvi says voodoo is not all that different to other faiths.
"Many religions recognise blood as a source of power, a sign of life. In Christianity it's taught that there is power in the blood of Jesus," he says.
"Voodoo teaches that there is power in blood, it can appease gods, give thanks. Animals are seen as an important part of the voodoo practice."
Regine Romaine, an academic with a keen interest in voodoo, agrees.
"The African experience is open for all to see - people are invited to witness the ceremonies, the slaughtering and that same openness has been judged whereas it isn't in other systems like the Islamic and Jewish faiths," she tells me.
"Slaughtering animals is not unique to voodoo. If you go to the kosher deli or buy halaal meat, it's been killed and allowed to bleed out before being shared.
"Ultimately, the gaze on voodoo over the years has not been one of love - that's why it's been given a bad image."
Ms Romaine is of Haitian and US heritage.
She first learned about voodoo from her aunt in Haiti - she travelled on a pilgrimage to retrace the "slave route" and her last stop was here in Benin where she has been living for more than a year.
According to Ms Romaine, voodoo's bad image abroad has a lot to do with what people have seen in Hollywood films.
"The image of voodoo went wrong from the first encounter - from the first visitors to the continent, the anthropologists who didn't understand what they were seeing and from that came a lot of xenophobic writing," she says.
"It was also worsened by the US invasion of Haiti much later, which gave rise to Hollywood's fascination with the horror stories that all had voodoo."
Back at the ceremony, the processing of devotees has now moved to the town square for the final stage of the rituals.
There is more drumming, singing, dancing and after four animals are killed and cooked inside three large flaming pots of clay, the meat inside is shared by all those who have attended the day's proceedings.
The Regional High Priest of Voodoo Daagbo Hounon is presiding over the day's rituals.
He is dressed in ceremonial robes, with a striking top hat, and holding a staff made from cowry shells.
Regional High Priest of Voodoo Daagbo Hounon says voodoo has been unfairly judged by outsiders over the years
He is a big man with a booming voice and speaks passionately about their belief system - he tells me that their faith is misunderstood.
"Voodoo is not evil. It's not the devil," he says.
"If you believe and someone thinks badly of you and tries to harm to you, voodoo will protect you. Some say it is the devil, we don't believe in the devil and even if he exists, he's not here," he tells me.
He is keen to welcome international visitors.
The small town offers an "initiation" from people from all over the world to come and learn about the practice - from how to use herbal medication, how to pray and meditate, how to perform rituals for the gods.
High Priest Hounon says the programme is popular with tourists from the US, Cuba and parts of Europe.
For many West Africans in the diaspora, voodoo has become a symbolic coming home.
Ceremonies are a chance for young and old to come together and celebrate
Ms Romaine, who is also member of that diaspora, believes voodoo is successful because it provides a connection to a neglected identity.
She tells me that voodoo is gaining appeal in the US amongst young people.
"There is a shift especially in the Americas. The younger generation now want to proclaim their identity in a way that the previous generation was perhaps more intimidated to do and spiritual identity is a part of that. For some voodoo meets that need."
The government here in Benin is committed to upholding the practice.
In the mid 1990s it built a monument to voodoo in a place known as the sacred forest - an ancient place of worship on the edge of town.
Life-sized metal and wooden totems have pride of place amongst the towering trees - this place is meant to help teach young people here about their voodoo heritage.
With the government supporting it at home and the descendants of slaves embracing it abroad, the ancient voodoo tradition has found a place in the modern world, where other African belief systems are often struggling for relevance.
Read more from Pumza on Africa's disappearing cultures:
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41048840
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Wonder Woman Gal Gadot backs mocked Sri Lankan cosplayers - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Hollywood star Gal Gadot rallies behind two Sri Lankan cosplayers who faced a barrage of online abuse.
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Asia
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Hollywood actress Gal Gadot has thrown her support behind two young women in Sri Lanka after they were cyber-bullied for cosplaying as Wonder Woman.
The two had become the target of a wave of online memes, body-shaming and harassment.
Both Gadot, who played the character in the recent blockbuster movie, and its director Patty Jenkins tweeted support and encouragement.
When Amaya Suriyapperuma and fellow cosplayer Seshani Cooray decided to dress up as Wonder Woman at the Comic Con 2017 event in Colombo, they were not expecting it to send them on a rollercoaster ride of demeaning online memes.
After the first day, photographers at the event began sharing their pictures online and photos of the two women were picked up by Facebook groups mocking them for their appearance.
It was only the next day the two found out. It was Ms Suriyapperuma's birthday, and friends who had spotted the memes tried to keep them secret, but that was bound to fail.
Amaya Suriyapperuma says Facebook needs Sinhala-speaking moderators to monitor bullying
"First I was shocked," Ms Suriyapperuma told the BBC. I didn't really let it get to me although I was genuinely baffled at why these people would spend their valuable time hating someone they don't even know."
Her fellow cosplayer agrees. "I was offended and shocked at how the internet reacted," said Ms Cooray.
"Most of the memes and comments I received seemed to objectify me."
She was drawn to the character of Wonder Woman because she feels it empowers young women like herself to be independent and strong minded.
Seshani Cooray says Wonder Woman empowers young women like herself
Ms Suriyapperuma says she didn't reply to any of the comments or publicly retaliate because she thought they didn't deserve her energies.
"Instead, me and my friends and the whole Sri Lankan geek community would band together and silently report every single meme and post and page. Some even got unpublished on Facebook as a result."
The women's costumes were faithful representations of Gal Gadot's outfits in the film
What then happened was a remarkable reversal of the tide and an overwhelming wave of support started building up online.
"There was immense support on the Facebook page of Geek Club of Sri Lanka and people I didn't even know personally were messaging me asking me to stay strong," Ms Suriyapperuma recalls. "It was amazing."
One such tweet by a complete stranger pledging support went viral - and that's how the story found its way to Hollywood and reached Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot.
And once the two of them threw some serious Hollywood weight into the ring, the attention the two Sri Lankan women received went to a whole new level.
"It definitely feels amazing to be recognised and praised by Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot herself!" Ms Suriyapperuma said. "I'm a huge fan of Gal Gadot so this has been amazing."
Ms Cooray was equally stunned that their idols actually recognised them. "It felt amazing - my inner fangirl is never going to forget this!"
Their case sparked a wider online debate around the problems of bullying online.
"I think it's actually a good thing that this is a public story," Ms Suriyapperuma explains. "If we didn't get this much coverage this would've been just another case of cyber-bullying.
"But now everyone knows it and thus we have opened a very important conversation about bullying and body shaming."
Ms Suriyapperuma hopes her own case will have a positive impact
As just one example, an online petition has been started to put more pressure on Facebook to monitor content for hate or cyber-bullying and block such posts.
But the case goes beyond just the online world, Ms Suriyapperuma points out. It ties in with the broader goal of empowering women generally.
Looking at her own experiences growing up in Sri Lanka, she says the country's society needs to see examples of women who stand up to hate without running and hiding away or retaliating by going down to their level.
"If people start seeing women being strong as a normal thing - which is what the movie tried to do as well as what I want - then more and more women will stop tolerating harassment."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41120168
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'Monster' tuna hauled by Neyland boat is 'catch of lifetime' - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The endangered bluefin tuna was returned to the waters by the angler who caught it.
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South West Wales
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Andrew Alsop said he was exhausted and aching after the catch
A huge bluefin tuna weighing about 500lb has been caught in Welsh waters off Pembrokeshire.
Andrew Alsop, 49, spent two hours and 15 minutes to bring the 226kg "monster" in after it was accidently caught during a fishing trip from Neyland.
Mr Alsop described it as the "fish of a lifetime".
He returned the 7ft 7in (2.3m) tuna, which is an endangered species, to the water afterwards.
In a Facebook post, Mr Alsop, from Rhoose in Vale of Glamorgan, wrote: "Well what a day!!
"I caught a fish of a lifetime today after a 2hr 15min pain locker battle on my own...
"This bluefin tuna is now the biggest fish ever landed from Welsh waters."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Andrew Alsop says catching the 500lb tuna in Welsh waters was like 'a dream'
Speaking after the catch, Mr Alsop said that he was out shark fishing with five others and did not intend to catch any bluefin tuna.
"Out of the blue, one of the closest [fishing] lines went off like a rocket," he said.
"After two hours we finally got a glimpse of the fish and realised it was a giant tuna. We couldn't believe it.
"The boys were pouring water on me to cool me down, it was hard work.
"It's one of the hardest fighting fish in the sea. We were just praying the rod did not break."
Bluefin tuna are named on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of threatened species.
The UK government's Marine Management Organisation advises it should not be targeted and if caught accidentally, must be returned to the sea, alive and unharmed to the greatest extent possible.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-41125399
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Diana's embrace: The legacy she left her sons - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Did the Princess of Wales change the public's perception of the Royal Family forever?
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UK
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Lady Diana Spencer was immediately thrust into the media spotlight in 1980 after rumours she was dating Prince Charles
Twenty years after the death of Princess Diana in a car accident in Paris, her legacy seems most apparent in the open and candid nature of her sons - Princes William and Harry - and the media's relationship with the Royal Family.
Sun photographer Arthur Edwards was one of the first people to photograph the future Princess of Wales. He recalls his surprise at seeing how the 19-year-old reacted to the media attention generated by her courtship by Prince Charles.
"Other girlfriends were quite shy," he says. "She wasn't like a lot of celebrities... ducking and hiding. Mostly she was head-up smiling, taking it all on the chin and coping very well.
"A lot of the royal watchers, me included at the time, thought this was a sign that this girl was obviously quite keen to get the job of the Princess of Wales."
Arthur Edwards' picture of Lady Diana Spencer with two nursery children gave an early hint of her tactile nature
Edwards ended up taking the iconic picture of the princess-to-be at the nursery school where she was working in 1980.
She refused to do interviews but agreed to a picture with two of the nursery's children [above, centre], an early hint to the press of her tactile nature.
Few could have predicted then that this apparently benign trait would herald a change in our future expectations of the UK's most famous family.
The following year, Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles in front of a worldwide TV audience of 750 million. She established herself as a global figure, using royal visits around the world to establish her empathy with the ill and impoverished, and overturn the aloof image of the royals.
For Edwards, the contrast between the old and new guard of royals was epitomised by a visit Diana made to a leprosy hospital in Nigeria in 1990.
Princess Diana used the media to attract attention to charitable causes, like the Child Feeding Scheme at a school in Zimbabwe
"I always compare it to a trip I did with Princess Anne in Africa for Save the Children," he said.
"There were 5,000 mothers and children... being inoculated, and I never got one frame of Princess Anne with an African mother or an African child being inoculated.
"When we went to Africa with Diana, we couldn't stop her hugging them, feeding them, embracing them. She was embracing them... looking straight into their eyes and made them feel a million dollars."
To Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty magazine, the difference was just as stark: "She made the rest of them look completely old-fashioned really."
Princess Diana was a patron of more than 100 charities before her death in 1997. She is widely credited with helping to challenge the public's perception of HIV and Aids by shaking the hands of patients at the London Lighthouse, a centre that pioneered services for sufferers.
BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell believes Diana's different style was down to her "coming from outside the Royal Family".
"She was a person of her generation who found it rather implausible that one was expected to step back and not embrace people, quite literally."
But this familiarity with the press and natural candour translated into close scrutiny of her personal life and failing marriage.
After the publication of Andrew Morton's biography in 1992, which claimed infidelity in the royal marriage, the Prince and Princess of Wales separated.
In her Panorama interview with Martin Bashir, Princess Diana admitted to having bulimia during her marriage
The book, thought to have been aided by interviews with Diana, led to Prince Charles discussing his relationship with the-then Camilla Parker-Bowles in an interview with ITV's Jonathan Dimbleby.
The princess hit back, telling her side of the story in a 1995 TV interview with Martin Bashir on the BBC's Panorama.
As well as discussing her marriage with Prince Charles, Diana openly talked about her struggles with bulimia, depression and anxiety. It was unprecedented territory for a member of the Royal Family.
"It was my escape mechanism," she told the programme. "When you have bulimia you're very ashamed of yourself and you hate yourself. You don't discuss it with people."
It is this willingness to discuss personal issues that is closely echoed in the recent revelations by her sons, Princes William and Harry, about the deeply personal impact of their mother's premature death.
In April, Prince Harry opened up about his own struggles, by discussing how he needed counselling after his mother's death.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams says Diana's relationship with the public and the media clearly influenced her sons.
"I don't think anyone would've predicted William and Harry would be as candid as they were. And that is undoubtedly down to their absolute admiration of their mother and that they're clearly following in their footsteps in terms of her charity work."
In a recent BBC documentary, former Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "Today… we see Prince William and Prince Harry as people who [the public] feel a close connection with.
"It's really important to wind back 20 years and realise she was the first member of the Royal Family that people felt behaved and acted like a normal human being."
But historian Christopher Lee urges us not to overestimate her impact.
"What Diana did was focus on Diana. She became a celebrity," he said.
"These were celebrity moments and it's in fact quite remarkable, for a monarchy, that the British public still don't know their Royal Family.
"The Queen's behaviour as a result of Diana's death [did not change], nor did the Queen's attitude change."
Arthur Edwards, however, sees the princes' work as a continuation of their mother's hands-on approach to charitable work.
Remembering a visit to a children's hospital in Barbados with Prince Harry, he says: "He wouldn't leave until there were kids smiling. Same with William. I remember going on a boat on Lake Windermere with him. There were a lot of sick children there and he was twirling them round... really making them feel fantastic."
Prince Harry and Prince William have used their media status to promote good causes
Diana's relationship with the media came to a catastrophic end, after her chauffeured car crashed when the driver was trying to escape paparazzi on motorcycles.
But Mr Fitzwilliams says the power of the paparazzi has been diminished as a result.
And when photos of a topless Duchess of Cambridge were published, many in the mainstream media refused them out of a "global sense of common decency".
"There is still a paparazzi danger to the Royal Family, and there are periodic pleas by William and Kate, Harry and Meghan [Markle]."
It is surely no coincidence that today, when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expected to mark a family moment for the press, they don't shirk from the cameras. They understand the media's needs - but often now it is the duchess herself who is behind the lens.
Prince George and Princess Charlotte, photographed by the Duchess of Cambridge
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41018143
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North Korean ambassador summoned by the UK - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A foreign office minister met the country's ambassador to condemn its latest missile test.
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UK
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A government minister has held a face-to-face meeting with North Korea's ambassador to condemn the country's latest missile test.
Mark Field, Britain's minister for Asia and the Pacific, summoned the ambassador after North Korea fired a missile over Japan on Tuesday.
"I made clear how strongly the UK condemns the launch," Mr Field said.
The move came as Theresa May met the Japanese prime minister to discuss countering the threat from North Korea.
On Tuesday, the missile flew over the island of Hokkaido, landing in the sea.
Sirens sent people scattering for shelter. The Japanese government called the missile an "unprecedented threat".
Speaking after his meeting with the ambassador, Mr Field said: "Once again, North Korea's reckless actions violate multiple UN Security Council resolutions and threaten international security.
"The UK will work with our partners and allies to tackle this threat.
"I urge the regime to end its illegal pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missiles and return to dialogue with the international community."
Tensions around the North Korea's nuclear programme have been mounting since a war of words broke out between the Pyongyang government and Donald Trump.
In August, North Korea's military announced that it had sent a plan to attack the US island territory of Guam to the country's ruler, Kim Jong-un, for approval.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41113372
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Lewis Hamilton writes Princess Diana poem tribute - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The three-time world Formula 1 champion turns his hand to poetry with "England's Rose".
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Beds, Herts & Bucks
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British racing driver Lewis Hamilton has written a poem in tribute to Princess Diana to mark the 20th anniversary of her death.
The 32-year-old said she was a "shining star in the midnight sky" and his poem was accompanied by images of Diana and a Van Morrison song.
Hamilton is taking part in the Italian Grand Prix this weekend.
The driver, who was born in Stevenage, was 12 when Diana died in a Paris car crash.
Hamilton's poem was accompanied by the Van Morrison song "Into the Mystic"
Hamilton posted the poem on his Instagram account on Friday and within hours his video had been viewed nearly 200,000 times and received hundreds of comments.
One follower said: "Beautiful @lewishamilton. She's my biggest inspiration in every way, since I was a small child till today."
Another added: "What a touching tribute to the People's Princess. Still feels like yesterday, still feels so tragic."
Hamilton's poem referred to Diana as the "nation's rose" and said "the Earth stood still as we laid her to rest".
He went on to say "there will never be another like you, now a shining star in the midnight sky, I will always remember you, Princess Diana".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-41129178
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Coffee shop owner defends no children policy - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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"It's not like I launched a ballistic missile over Torbay," owner Bob Higginson says.
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Devon
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Bob Higginson said with many antiques on display he was "quite nervous" about small children being in the coffee shop
The owner of a cafe with a no children under 12 policy has hit back at critics calling for a boycott of his shop.
The Chart Room, in Brixham, Devon is an ocean-liner themed coffee lounge which also houses antiques and collectables.
Bob Higginson said it was designed for people to experience the "opulence and splendour of early steamship travel without distraction".
But resident Wendy Moore said she would be boycotting the cafe, and calling on others to do so.
"Can anyone tell me just what kind of town we're living in when dogs are allowed into an establishment and children are not?" she wrote.
"Who on earth does this Bob Higginson think he is? Would he ban disabled people from entering his premises? Or people of a particular race or colour or religion? I'll bet my bottom dollar he wouldn't; he'd be frightened to death to do so."
The Chart Room is an ocean-liner themed coffee shop
But Mr Higginson says the policy has been "blown out of proportion".
"I simply wanted to create a nice quiet zone where grown-ups could sit, relax and enjoy the quiet atmosphere," he said.
"There are plenty of other places for people with children to go.
"It's not like I've launched a ballistic missile over Torbay."
Mr Higginson said he has received "a hundred messages of support" since the "unfounded accusations" were posted online.
He said that with so many precious antiques on display, he was "quite nervous" about small children being in the coffee shop.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-41100226
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US hands out first contracts for border wall prototypes - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Four companies will be paid up to $500,000 each for a 30ft segment of concrete border wall.
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US & Canada
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Parts of the US border with Mexico are already sealed off
Four companies have been chosen to build prototypes for Donald Trump's planned border wall, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said.
The four concrete prototypes will be 30ft (9m) long and up to 30ft tall, and will be built in the coming months.
Officials will then spend up to two months testing the walls for tampering and penetration resistance using small hand tools, CBP said.
The four contracts are worth up to $500,000 (£387,000) each.
A continuous wall across the entire southern US border was a key promise in President Trump's election campaign.
The prototypes "will help us refine the design standards" of the eventual wall, acting CBP deputy commissioner Ronald Vitiello said.
"Testing will look at things like the aesthetics of it, how penetrable they are, how resistant they are to tampering, and scaling or anti-climb features."
But he said the officials would stick to small hand tools rather than testing "ballistic kind of things".
The walls will also need to feature cable conduits and other design features for sensors and cameras.
Once the order to start building is given in the next few weeks, the prototypes are expected to be finished within 30 days.
The four companies to which the contracts were awarded are:
Mr Vitiello said he did not know if any of the firms had had prior experience in border wall construction.
More than 200 companies are believed to have submitted designs for the proposed border wall.
Four more contracts for prototypes made from materials other than concrete will be announced next week.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41118992
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North Korea: What are the military options? - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A look at the various scenarios that could unfold in tackling Kim Jong-un's regime.
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Asia
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North Korea's official news agency distributed this photo, purportedly of the missile launch
US President Donald Trump said "we'll see" when asked if he was going to attack North Korea after the secretive state claimed to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. So what could military action against Kim Jong-un's regime actually look like?
Pyongyang has defied UN sanctions and international pressure to develop nuclear weapons and test missiles that could potentially reach the US.
South Korea, Japan, China and Russia are among those to voice strong criticism against the country's nuclear tests.
And when North Korea fired a missile over Japan's Hokkaido region, sending residents running for cover, President Trump said "all options are on the table".
But while the US has unrivalled military strength, the range of options it actually has against the hermit country are limited.
This is the least risky but arguably least effective option available since it would simply build on deployments that have long been in place and have had little success in deterring North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programme.
The US could move additional ground forces into South Korea, including ground-based missile defences, such as the controversial Thaad system, heavy artillery and armoured vehicles, to demonstrate its willingness to use force to back up its demands.
However, South Korea temporarily halted the current Thaad deployment and is strongly against any increases in US ground forces, because of concerns about provoking the North.
Indeed, North Korea would almost certainly interpret such moves as a prelude to a ground invasion, given its reactions to annual joint exercises between the US and South Korean militaries.
China and Russia would no doubt strenuously object too, and both have the power to make life difficult for the US in other areas such as Eastern Europe and the South and East China Seas.
The US Navy could increase its presence around Korea, sending more cruisers and destroyers able to shoot down ballistic missiles and, possibly, deploying a second carrier strike group.
Alongside the naval options, the US Air Force could bolster its forward-based airpower, with more attack fighter squadrons, support tankers, surveillance aircraft and heavy bombers at bases in Guam, South Korea and Japan.
However, the US Navy and US Air Force are both extremely heavily tasked around the world and are feeling the strain of well over a decade of continuous high-intensity deployments in support of operations, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
More importantly, perhaps, time is on North Korea's side, since an enhanced US military presence would not itself force a halt to its rapidly maturing nuclear weapons programme and ballistic missile testing.
And any statement of intent to shoot down North Korean ballistic missiles that travel outside the country's airspace would itself require a major increase in US Navy presence around the peninsula.
North Korea has a large ballistic missile arsenal, and US interceptor missiles are extremely expensive and available in limited quantities aboard each ship.
It would, therefore, be possible for the North to overwhelm and deplete the US Navy's stocks, leaving them vulnerable and forced to return to port.
Such a policy would therefore represent an extremely expensive and probably unsustainable challenge to North Korea, as well as a dangerous escalation towards direct military conflict.
The US Air Force and US Navy possess the most advanced surgical strike capabilities on Earth.
Using volleys of precision Tomahawk missiles fired from submarines off the North Korean coastline and attacks by B-2 stealth bombers against key North Korean nuclear sites and ballistic missile facilities may seem like an attractive proposition, at first glance.
It is undoubtedly the case that heavy damage could be inflicted on high-value targets, with deeply buried and hardened underground facilities vulnerable to the 30,000lb Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb.
The immediate danger to US aircraft would depend on many factors, including the amount of warning North Korea received, the number of strikes flown and the contribution of non-stealth aircraft within range of its defences.
However, the state of North Korea's air defence network is very hard to determine since it is a mix of Soviet/Russian, Chinese and home-grown surface-to-air missile and radar systems acquired over 50 years.
The defences are among the densest on Earth, but they have been modified and upgraded to an unknown degree and their readiness is difficult to assess.
If the US lost aircraft to enemy fire or accidents, it would then face the nightmare scenario of having to try to rescue its aircrew, or abandon them to a very public fate.
Far more significant, however, is the fact that even successful strikes on nuclear and missile sites, command centres and even the leadership itself, would not stop North Korea retaliating.
The People's Army would still have the ability to inflict almost inevitably devastating damage in immediate retaliation against South Korea - a key US ally.
It consists of more than a million regular soldiers and, by some estimates, more than six million reserves and paramilitary troops.
A huge number of conventional and rocket artillery pieces, mostly dug in near the demilitarised zone, include hundreds that are within range of parts of the South Korean capital city Seoul, which is home to around 10 million people.
Even the US military would take days to fully eliminate just these artillery batteries, which would be able to fire tens of thousands of shells and rockets during that time.
The catastrophic damage that these batteries would inflict on a crowded modern city, as well as the South Korean military forces, is why the South Korean government is opposed to any pre-emptive military action against North Korea.
Even without a usable nuclear weapon and without actively invading South Korea, the Kim regime could inflict devastating damage and probably end the US-South Korean alliance as we know it.
Given the sheer size of the People's Army, the power of its artillery, its dense air defences and South Korea's reluctance to support any US military action, this option is extremely far-fetched.
Any attempt to actually invade North Korea would require months of visible US military build-up, full-scale South Korean participation and a way to guarantee the neutralisation of North Korea's mysterious nuclear capabilities.
It would also cost hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides.
In addition to heavy artillery bombardments, the People's Army has long trained for large-scale commando infiltration into South Korea, using low, slow-flying biplanes which are hard to detect on radar, small boats and midget submarines.
These would add to the chaos and loss of life in the event of any large-scale conflict, and ensure that the comparatively fewer, albeit much higher-technology US and South Korean forces would be stretched painfully thin.
The last time the US and its allies advanced into North Korea, during the Korean War in 1950, China entered the war on the side of the North to prevent the establishment of a unified Western-aligned Korea on its land border.
Such a development is still something that China is not prepared to contemplate - the main reason it has propped up the Kim regime for so long.
Finally, even if somehow these huge problems could be overcome, a successful invasion of North Korea led by the US would leave it responsible for rebuilding a shattered country.
North Korea has existed in an unparalleled state of psychological manipulation, chronic economic hardship and isolation for over 60 years.
The monumental task of reintegrating East Germany after the Cold War pales in comparison.
The reality is that none of the military options available to the US for dealing with North Korea come without high costs and significant risks - considerations that it will have to weigh up against uncertain and problematic potential outcomes.
This analysis piece was commissioned by the BBC from an expert working for an outside organisation.
Justin Bronk is a Research Fellow specialising in combat airpower and technology at The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Follow him @Justin_Br0nk.
RUSI describes itself as an independent think tank engaged in defence and security research.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41095772
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Man arrested in Melbourne after 'abhorrent' kangaroo killing - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A viral video showed a man in Australia repeatedly cutting the throat of an injured kangaroo.
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Australia
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A man has been arrested in Melbourne after a video showing a man slashing at a wounded kangaroo's throat went viral.
The 43-year-old man was charged with destroying protected wildlife, said authorities in the state of Victoria. Officers also seized knives and firearms from his home, they said.
Environment officials described the incident as "particularly abhorrent".
If convicted under Victorian law, the man faces up to two years in jail and a fine of A$38,056 (£23,000; $30,000).
The short video clip, shared widely on Chinese messaging app WeChat, starts with a man approaching a wounded kangaroo lying on a hillside.
The kangaroo is seen kicking several times and making noises, so the man eventually approaches it from behind.
He then grabs its tail and steps on its back, before repeatedly cutting its throat with a large hunting knife until the kangaroo stops moving.
People can be heard laughing in the background.
"We take all alleged cases of animal cruelty very seriously," said Glenn Sharp, a spokesman for Victoria's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
"The wildlife offences captured in this video are particularly abhorrent."
He thanked members of the public for coming forward with information.
The man has been granted bail and will appear in court at a later date.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-41107628
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Newspaper headlines: 'Barbs fly at Brexit talks' - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A war of words between UK and EU negotiators in Brussels makes many of Friday's front pages.
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The Papers
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The end of the latest round of Brexit talks provides the lead for many papers.
The Guardian highlights the view of the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier that the UK's approach is nostalgic, unrealistic and undermined by a lack of trust.
"You can't bully us Mr Barnier," is its headline, saying his comments enraged the British side.
The Times emphasises an EU demand that the UK pays billions of pounds in foreign aid to Africa as part of its financial settlement with Brussels.
Business paper City AM sums up the problem as "money trouble", and says deadlock over the so-called divorce bill has triggered fresh alarm that trade talks could be shunted into next year.
The Financial Times and the Daily Mail have a photo of EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker greeting former PM Tony Blair with a kiss.
The Mail calls it a "nauseating love-in" that "reminds us why we were so right to get out".
The Guardian, which publishes an investigation into the gambling industry, claims online casinos are targeting people on low incomes and those who have stopped gambling.
In an editorial, the paper says the record fine levied on one company on Thursday is a sign that the UK has a gambling problem and that greater regulation is needed.
"Making the necessary changes will be painful," it acknowledges, "but the costs to public health cannot be ignored".
The Times says for an industry that relies on expert judgement in studying form and setting odds, betting operators have an uncanny knack of shooting themselves in the foot.
It says modest cuts in stakes and prizes might be enough to satisfy critics, but the industry's poor record on responsible gambling is shortening the odds of a drastic outcome.
The Daily Telegraph is among the papers to concentrate on the role of a sat-nav in the alleged terror attack outside Buckingham Palace a week ago.
Evidence taken from the car of Mohiussunath Chowdhury, who appeared in court on Thursday, suggests he programmed his sat-nav for Windsor Castle.
However, the in-car system is believed to have taken him to a central London pub of the same name rather than to the castle itself.
The Times and the Sun point out that the suspect was a driver for taxi firm Uber.
Trying to stop yourself yawning actually increases the urge, according to a study published in the i newspaper.
The Daily Express focuses on a different aspect of the research, which suggests that studying contagious yawning could hold the key to a future cure for dementia, as the tendency to catch a yawn is controlled by a particular part of the brain.
The Daily Mail says Italians have been left "fizzing with rage" at claims that too much Prosecco damages your teeth.
But the Daily Telegraph says they have misunderstood the British attitude to health - saying that even definitive proof that something is bad for you is no guarantee of a fall in sales.
The paper says Prosecco will remain popular as long as it remains a budget alternative to Champagne.
The Times considers whether criticising other countries' popular exports is a clever post-Brexit strategy.
"Those Leonardo and Michaelangelo guys are overrated, Roman Catholicism is a passing cult," the paper muses, before concluding that the idea may require further refinement.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-41118654
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Birmingham bin strike expected to resume - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Birmingham City Council reneged on a deal which had suspended seven weeks of industrial action.
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Birmingham & Black Country
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Rubbish piled up on the streets of Alum Rock in Birmingham during the dispute
Birmingham bin workers are expected to resume strike action after the city's council said it was issuing redundancy notices.
The seven-week strike action that saw mountains of waste pile up on streets was suspended on 16 August amid talks between Unite and the city council.
But the council reneged on a deal that saw the strike suspended and said a meeting due on Friday would not happen.
The Unite union described the move as a "deeply provocative act".
It said refuse workers were expected to resume industrial action and could walk out for three hours on a daily basis at 07:00, 10:30 and 13:00 BST.
The union warned industrial action "could extend until the new year".
Conciliation service Acas said on 16 August the council had accepted the workers' case and restored the jobs of grade three workers, who are responsible for safety at the back of refuse vehicles.
But a council report said the deal struck by Unite and the council was unaffordable.
The authority said on Thursday it was issuing redundancy notices to certain grade three workers "in order to protect its legal and financial position".
But alternative jobs at the same grade and salary elsewhere were available for those employees, it said.
Posters in support of the refuse workers have been spotted around Birmingham
Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett said: "This is a deeply provocative act that drives a coach and horses through the agreement Unite reached with the council in good faith at the conciliation service Acas.
"It does a great disservice to the people of Birmingham and the city's refuse workers who now face being made redundant and losing their livelihoods or pay cuts of thousands of pounds."
The union urged the council to "come to its senses" and withdraw the redundancy notices to avoid disruption to services.
The council said it wished to continue ongoing discussions "with trades unions through Acas in parallel with seeking alternative jobs for the Grade 3s affected by redundancy".
Lisa Trickett, cabinet member for clean streets, recycling and environment, added: "We hope that, in view of the ongoing discussions with Acas, Unite will not take their workforce back out on strike but continue in discussions with us and the other unions."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-41117732
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Serena Williams gives birth to baby girl - BBC News
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2017-09-01
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The 35-year-old tennis superstar has her first child with partner Alexis Ohanian.
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US & Canada
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Parents-to-be Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian in New York in May
Tennis star Serena Williams has given birth to a baby girl at a clinic in Florida.
Williams, 35, whose partner is Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, was admitted to the St Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach on Wednesday.
The 23-time Grand Slam winner said last month she was planning to return to tennis for the Australian Open in January.
Congratulations have been pouring in from sports stars and celebrities.
News of the birth came as her sister Venus prepared to go out on court at the US Open.
"Obviously I'm super-excited," Venus said. "Words can't describe it."
The couple are yet to confirm the birth themselves but Serena's coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, tweeted: "I am so happy for you and I feel your emotion."
He added: "Btw ... I wish you a speedy recovery... we have a lot of work ahead of us."
Serena admitted she had revealed her pregnancy to the world in April by accident, after mistakenly uploading a photograph on Snapchat.
She won the Australian Open title this January while newly pregnant, and in an article in Vogue last month she said she wanted to defend her title.
"It's the most outrageous plan," she said. "I just want to put that out there. That's, like, three months after I give birth."
In June she appeared in a nude cover photo for Vanity Fair, saying: "I don't know what to do with a baby."
The news has delighted the tennis world, with Rafa Nadal among the first to tweet his congratulations.
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At a news conference Garbine Muguruza joked; "a baby girl? Well, I hope she doesn't play tennis," Reuters reported.
Singer Beyonce posted a portrait of a pregnant Williams on Instagram, with the message: "Congratulations Serena!"
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Some on social media have, like Muguruza, been speculating about the baby's potential tennis ability.
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• None How did she compete while pregnant?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41130969
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Tackling the canine obesity crisis - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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Why, in the mission to improve the health of man's best friend, scientists say greedy Labradors are at the head of the pack.
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Science & Environment
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When it comes to man's best friend, science may finally have solved the mystery of their gluttony - some Labradors, it seems, are genetically predisposed to being hungry.
That's according to scientists who were discussing their ongoing mission to improve our favourite pets' health at the British Science Association Festival in Brighton.
Several research teams in the UK are on a mission to improve canine health.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have studied the appetite of Britain's favourite dog breed, and suggest Labradors are genetically at risk of becoming overweight.
Roughly a quarter of British households own a pet dog, and Labrador retrievers remain our most popular canine companion.
However, this stereotypically "greedy" breed often suffers size-related health problems.
"Obesity is a serious issue for our dog population," says Dr Eleanor Raffan from the Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science.
"It has the potential to have a massive impact on pet welfare."
In research supported by the Dogs Trust, Dr Raffan and her colleagues have analysed DNA from the saliva of Labradors across the UK. They found that particularly greedy individuals possess a gene mutation responsible for increasing their appetite.
"We found around a quarter of pet Labradors have at least one copy of this mutation in the gene," Dr Raffan explains. Their increased appetite manifests itself as a "food obsession", familiar to dog-owners as begging or scavenging for food.
In the past, the onus has been on owners to restrict the diet of their pets to prevent excessive weight gain.
But Dr Raffan's research suggests the propensity for large appetites, and hence potential obesity, is hardwired into some individuals.
"We hope to shift the paradigm away from owner-blaming" says Dr Raffan. "It's a bit more nuanced than just owners needing to be careful."
Dr Raffan cautions against any attempt to breed this "greedy mutation" out of Labrador lines. While it might predispose the dogs to obesity, a strong focus on food may also explain why Labradors are so easy to train and are such loyal human companions.
"If we try to get rid of the mutation, we might find we change the personality of the breed, and that would be a real shame," she explains.
Yet their results raise an ethical conundrum. Owners and veterinary surgeons are responsible for providing five core so-called freedoms to animals in their care, including freedom from pain and disease, and freedom from hunger.
Obesity is a disease, and negatively impacts upon canine quality of life. "But equally, being hungry is a welfare issue," says Dr Raffan. "And these dogs are genetically hungry."
Dr Raffan hopes future research will improve the satiety of their diets, allowing a feeling of "fullness" without the potential for excessive weight gain.
Being overweight undoubtedly reduces a dog's quality of life, and can also affect their ability to cope with arthritis and other underlying joint disorders.
At the University of Liverpool, scientists are using state-of-the-art imaging technology to study diseases affecting the knee joints of Labradors.
Damage to the canine cruciate ligament, similar to the injuries commonly suffered by professional human athletes, is the most common orthopaedic problem seen in veterinary practices. Injury to the knee ligaments is also more common in heavier dog breeds
"We're trying to understand how the shape of the Labrador body and the way they walk might contribute to knee problems," says Prof Eithne Comerford, a specialist in musculoskeletal biology.
Using high-speed x-ray cameras, the researchers film their canine patients walking through the lab, and watch their knee bones slide and twist in real-time.
The team hopes to understand how walking contributes to the risk of ligament injury and rupture in Labradors, with the ultimate goal of reducing lameness and suffering within the breed.
"This data will also help veterinary surgeons and engineers design better treatments for ligament damage in Labradors, like customised knee implants," explains biomechanist Dr Karl Bates from the University of Liverpool.
Both research groups rely heavily on the good will of Labrador owners, both for collecting samples and entering their pets into experimental trials.
In addition to tackling diagnosed health issues, researchers hope to change the public's perception of what "desirable" traits should characterise our favourite breeds.
"There is a real danger when we breed dogs to be cuddlier and cuter," warns Dr Raffan. "I think people have seen so many overweight Labradors, they start to assume it's normal".
Dr Charlotte Brassey is a BBSRC Future Leader Fellow at Manchester Metropolitan University, and British Science Association Media Fellow 2017. Twitter: @cbrassey
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41161424
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Last Night of the Proms ends with rallying cry for classical music - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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Conductor Sakari Oramo says the "demise of classical music" has been exaggerated, as the Proms close.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Flags of all varieties were seen at the Royal Albert Hall
The 2017 Proms season has ended with a rallying cry for the future of classical music.
"For many decades we have heard about the imminent demise of classical music," said conductor Sakari Oramo.
"But look," he said, surveying the Royal Albert Hall, "at this."
"Classical music is going to be around for a very long time," he added, praising Proms co-founder Sir Henry Wood, "whose vision of access to music for everyone continues to inspire us."
As is tradition, the audience set off party poppers, honked hooters, danced and wept melodramatically during Sir Henry's medley of British sea songs.
Prom-goers also waved the traditional Union flags - but that act has become politicised over the last two years.
Following 2016's referendum, anti-Brexit campaigners have distributed EU flags to the audience as they arrive.
A spokesman for EU Flags Proms Team told The Telegraph: "During the Age of Enlightenment, Mozart, Handel and Bach all lived and worked for part of their lives in London.
"Presumably under the Brexit dark ages, they would not be welcome."
Leave campaigners, including Nigel Farage, criticised the move and called for a counter-campaign.
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The EU emblem was certainly more prominent this year than last - with one Prommer wearing a blue suit decorated with yellow stars.
But there were dozens of nations represented, with flags from Finland, Bulgaria, Wales and St Kitts and Nevis all on display.
And the flag that received most reaction on social media was part of the BBC Symphony Chorus - where a Sikh tenor wore a red, white and blue turban.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The 2017 Proms in just four minutes
Sir Henry established the Proms in 1895, in conjunction with theatre impresario Robert Newman and Dr George Cathcart, a Harley Street throat specialist who put up the money for the first season in 1895.
Initially the sole conductor and musical director, he presided over more than 5,000 promenade concerts, and premiered works by Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and Mahler, amongst others.
In an interview from 1941, broadcast on Radio 3 during Saturday's Last Night celebrations, he echoed the sentiments expressed by Oramo.
"They said there wasn't the public for great music 47 years ago. The critics wagged their heads.
"But Robert Newman said we'd make a public and we did. It was a bold venture in 1895 [but] it worked."
Sir Henry Wood conducting one of his 5,000 Proms concerts
This year's Proms season - the 123rd - has seen 80 orchestras and ensembles performing more than 400 pieces of music, including 30 premieres, over eight weeks.
Saturday's Last Night wrapped up the season in traditional good spirits, with Swedish soprano Nina Stemme dressing up as a Valkyrie to deliver Rule Britannia.
The concert opened with a premiere of Flounce, a spritely new work by Finnish composer Lotta Wennakoski, whose staccato strings and sweeping crescendos resembled one of Bernard Hermann's soundtracks for Alfred Hitchcock.
Stemme later brought the audience to tears with a sublime performance of the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.
Across the UK, fans joined in the fun with Proms in the Park concerts in Enniskillen, Swansea, Glasgow and London's Hyde Park.
Mica Paris braved the Welsh rain to deliver an impassioned tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, while the London audience were treated to Bryn Terfel lugging around milk churns as he performed If I Were a Rich Man from Fiddler on the Roof.
In Northern Ireland, Dame Evelyn Glennie delivered an eye-wateringly brisk performance of Flight of the Bumblebee; while Hyde Park was headlined by Kinks legend Sir Ray Davies.
"I don't know anywhere else in the world where you have something like this," marvelled Nina Stemme ahead of her performance.
"I think we should do more concerts with this kind of participation, in various forms, from the audience."
The 2017 Proms welcomed nearly 300,000 concert-goers through the doors of the Royal Albert Hall, with one in five purchasing standing tickets which are sold on the day for £6.
More than 35,500 tickets were bought by people attending the Proms for the first time and 10,000 under-18s attended concerts across the season.
The BBC Proms will return on 13 July, 2018.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41216508
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New mummies discovered in tomb near Luxor, Egypt - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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The tomb, found by archaeologists near the city of Luxor, belonged to a goldsmith.
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Middle East
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Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered the tomb of a royal goldsmith containing the mummies of a woman and her two children, authorities said.
The tomb, dating back to the New Kingdom (16th to 11th Centuries BC), was found near the Nile city of Luxor, 400 miles (700km) south of Cairo.
Among the items discovered inside was a statue of the goldsmith Amenemhat, sitting beside his wife.
It is unclear whether the three mummies discovered are connected to Amenemhat.
The mummies were found down a burial shaft leading off the main chamber, Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities said.
The tomb was found in the Draa Abul Naga necropolis, which was used for officials
According to the archaeologists, the mother died aged about 50, with tests revealing she had a bacterial bone disease. Her two sons were in their 20s and 30s and their bodies said to have been preserved in good condition.
Authorities believe the tomb of Amenemhat, who was goldsmith for the god Amun, the period's most powerful deity, could lead them to further discoveries in the Draa Abul Naga necropolis, an area famed for its temples and burial grounds.
Minister of Antiquities Khaled al-Anani said: "We found many objects of the funerary equipment inside and outside the tomb. We found mummies, coffins, funerary combs, funerary masks, some jewellery, and statue.
"The work did not finish yet."
The bodies of the male mummies are said to be in good condition
Mr Anani said archaeologists had read four new names.
"What about those four new names? How about their tombs? Their tombs are not discovered yet. But I believe they are owners of the tomb," he said.
"I believe, inshallah, for the coming season, we are going to do our excavations. We are going to do our excavations in this area. So I believe we can find one, or two or maybe four if we are going to be very lucky, four of them in this area."
Amenemhat's son is depicted as sitting between him and his wife
The discovery is the second big find for archaeologists in the area this year
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-41213024
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Irma weakens but still wreaks chaos - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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Latest updates as the most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade hits the US mainland.
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US & Canada
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About 400 survivors of Hurricane Irma have arrived in France and the Netherlands aboard military planes, AFP reports.
Some 278 survivors landed in Paris, while another 100 flew into Eindhoven which is in the south of the Netherlands, the news agency says.
Earlier, French officials said six out of 10 homes on St Martin, an island shared between France and the Netherlands, were now uninhabitable.
They said nine people had died and seven were missing in the French territories, while four are known to have died in Dutch Sint Maarten.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-latin-america-41177350
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Organ donation: Does an opt-out system increase transplants? - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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Claims that opt-out systems result in more transplants are not fully supported by the evidence.
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Health
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The NHS has released figures revealing that 457 people died in England last year while waiting for an organ transplant.
Doctors' union the British Medical Association (BMA) and politicians alike have called for an opt-out system to be adopted in England, where people's consent to donate their organs after their death is presumed unless they have explicitly said otherwise.
This system is currently in force in Wales and in a number of other countries throughout Europe.
In a recent Parliamentary debate on organ donation, Labour MP Dan Jarvis said: "England must now move to an opt-out system. The evidence is clear - hundreds of people a year are paying a price of us not doing so."
But there is a lack of evidence to support this claim.
In Wales, where an opt-out system was introduced in December 2015, there has actually been a small dip in the number of deceased donors, from 64 in 2015-16 to 61 in 2016-17. This resulted in a drop in organ transplants from 214 to 187 respectively.
This is not to say the opt-out scheme is having a negative effect - some fluctuation is to be expected - but so far, despite the claims, we don't have any evidence that it is having a positive effect.
The BMA says it believes that over time such a scheme would lead to an increase in organ donation.
The Welsh government is in the process of evaluating the scheme and plans to publish a report by the end of this year.
Jemima Layzell died of a brain aneurysm in 2012 and her organ donations have helped eight people including five children
One concern raised by Dr Margaret McCartney, a GP, in a paper for the British Medical Journal is that the Wales model of organ donation creates a group of non-donors who did not exist before.
In the English system there are two groups of people: those who have opted in and registered their wish to be a donor, and those who have done nothing whose families will be asked to decide.
In Wales there are now effectively three groups of people: those who have opted in and so registered their wish to be a donor; those who have done nothing for whom it is assumed they are happy to donate their organs, but it is still ultimately for their family to decide; and a third group who have opted out and so expressly registered their wish not to be a donor.
As it currently stands, 6% of the Welsh population has opted out of organ donation. This is a group of people who in an opt-in system were still potential donors, depending on their families' wishes - they may not have ended up donating organs, but we just don't know.
There is correlation between countries having opt-out schemes and having a higher number of organ donors.
But the countries which have the most donors per head combined the introduction of their opt-out schemes with other changes, like better infrastructure, more funding for transplant programmes and more staff working to identify and build relationships with potential donors before their death.
Spain is often touted as an opt-out scheme success story.
So-called "presumed consent" legislation was passed in 1979 but donor rates only began to go up 10 years later when a new national transplant organisation was founded which co-ordinates the whole donation and transplantation process.
The legislation is also not strictly enforced since families are always consulted and have the final say.
However, opt-out schemes don't always translate to increased organ donor rates. In Sweden, for example, such a scheme has been in force since 1996 and it remains one of the lowest-ranked countries for organ donation in Europe. Luxembourg and Bulgaria also have opt-out systems and low rates of organ donation.
In France and Brazil, variations on a "presumed consent" system actually led to a decline in the rate of organ donation.
Another difficulty in assessing whether opt-in or opt-out schemes are driving different countries' donation rates is that these schemes take different forms across the globe.
In both Spain and Wales, families of potential organ donors are always given the chance to refuse. But this is not universal - Austria and Singapore both have "hard opt-out" systems where those who have not opted out are presumed to have consented to organ donation regardless of their families' wishes.
And there are other differences, for example in Israel a priority incentive scheme means those who have agreed to donate their own or a deceased family member's organs are given priority on transplant lists should they themselves need an organ in the future.
In "hard opt-out" systems there were increases in the organ donor rate of up to 25%.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41199918
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Chris Froome wins Vuelta: 'A friendly accountant off the bike, a cold-eyed winner on it' - BBC Sport
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2017-09-10
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Even for a remarkable rider like Chris Froome winning the Tour-Vuelta double is an exceptional achievement, writes Tom Fordyce.
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There was a time, as recently as the start of July, when many in cycling wondered whether Chris Froome might not be what he was: not a single win all year, fewer days racing going in to the Tour de France than ever before, his rivals, many younger and in punchier form, lining up on his wheel.
Three months on, having bagged his fourth Tour and become the first Briton in history to win the Vuelta a Espana, they have been proved right. Froome is not the rider he was. He is a superior one.
When sporting success comes as frequently and in such dominant fashion as this it can be easy to assume it also came easily. A yellow jersey one month, a red the next, towed up the road by a line of Sky team-mates in white or black.
• None Listen: An absolutely savage way to finish - Froome
Even for a remarkable rider like Froome this double is an exceptional achievement. Only two Frenchmen, Jacques Anquetil in 1963 and Bernard Hinault 15 years later, have pulled it off before.
He has done it in a style all of his own. Eddy Merckx, arguably the greatest cyclist of them all, was nicknamed The Cannibal for his insatiable hunger for wins, chewing up his rivals, ravenous whether the race was Grand Tour or little spin.
Froome, the serial winner - polite and friendly off his bike, as aggressive as an accountant - is transformed in the racing frenzy into a cold-eyed killer of others' ambitions, taking them out one by one, never with a single blow but the slow accumulation of pressure until they can take no more.
Anquetil loved the solo attack. Hinault stamped his mood and judgement all over the peloton. Merckx would take them anywhere he could - rampaging up mountains, tearing through time-trials, sprinting and always fighting, fighting.
Froome does it by stealth. A few seconds here, a few more there. A late push up a steep summit finish, squeezing out a little more on a solo ride against the clock.
It is not spectacular but it is brutal, a cruel constriction of his rivals, the inexorable application of a superior strength.
By the end of the Tour de France the other principal contenders for the general classification - Fabio Aru, Rigoberto Uran, Romain Bardet - were reduced to scrapping among each other for distant second. In this Vuelta it has been the same. His rivals start the race thinking what a nice chap Froome is and finish it having nightmares about him.
On Saturday, on arguably the most brutal climb in cycling, in conditions so grim that northern Spain in early September felt more like the north of Scotland in mid-November, he gave one final demonstration of all that has brought him so far.
Anquetil and Hinault never had to go up a mountain like this. The Alto de l'Angliru was a cattle track until the start of this century. Even now the tarmac hangs on to the mountain for dear life.
It is not the height. There are bigger climbs than its 1,573 metres. At 12.5km it is long but not endless. Its average gradient of 10% appears spiteful but not exceptional.
It is the ramps that break men - sections at 15% and 17%, the sort of thing a club cyclist struggles to keep moving on, then inhumane segments of almost 24%, less a route to the summit than a wet grey wall.
Riding up 15% makes your heart feel like it is jumping out of your chest; 24% makes you want to pick your bike up and throw it back down the cruel slopes.
To drive up it in Saturday's black cloud and thundering rain was nightmarish - a relentless steepness, brutal ramped hairpins, the smell of burning clutch acid in the nostrils.
Cycling up it appeared to make no sense. "What's the point of riding up a mountain that it would be quicker to go up by foot?" fumed the Italian Marzio Bruseghin after being pummelled by it nine years ago.
A vindictive mountain, so cold even watching that you wore all the clothes you had in your suitcase simultaneously, transformed by Froome into the peak of the British sporting summer.
It was Anquetil's burden that he was not loved as much as Raymond Poulidor, the eternal second place to his first. A greater tranche of the French public found it easier to empathise with Poulidor's obvious exertions and the limited reward they brought.
Froome too has struggled to win over his own sporting public in the same way as Bradley Wiggins, the first Briton to win the Tour. By rights, the past nine weeks should correct that curious imbalance.
Froome has been backed once again this summer by the dominant team in the peloton. Wout Poels, Mikel Nieve and Gianni Moscon have provided the same peerless support for him in August and September as Mikel Landa, Sergio Henao and Michal Kwiatkowski did in July.
He has also triumphed in a more competitive landscape. Anquetil had 12 other teams to contend with at the 1963 Tour and eight at the Vuelta. Hinault came up against 10 others in France and nine at the Vuelta. Froome has had to compete with 21 squads of nine riders at both the Tour and Vuelta.
Both Anquetil and Hinault won their own doubles when the Vuelta was held in April. Marshalling finite reserves of energy across spring and then mid-summer is arguably marginally easier than attempting to do the same from mid-summer to late summer. There were only 26 days between the Tour ending in Paris this year and the Vuelta beginning in Nimes.
It is not just the physical exertion, but also the mental. Across his two Grand Tours Froome has raced for more than 4,200 miles, across 42 stages, through six countries, in blazing heat and pouring rain, all of it with opponents waiting to pounce on the slightest lapse of concentration.
He was in the leader's jersey for most of that, with news conferences to do every day, meaning he often leaves a finish more than an hour after his team-mates, eating later, resting less, the expectation going ahead of him and the pressure waiting for him on every new morning's start line.
No blow-outs after Paris, no allowing himself a week of cold lager or chips or even steak after three weeks of Gallic torment.
Anquetil used to take a glass of red wine with his main course during races, let alone the dessert and post-prandial cigar outside his competition schedule. Froome has been on steamed fish and wilted greens and a rumbling tummy for day after sapping day.
After more than 160 hours of racing this summer his final combined margin of victory will be just over three minutes.
It sounds like a small divide between him and rest. Do not be fooled.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/41215172
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Rohingya crisis: Insurgents declare temporary ceasefire - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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They say they want to ease the rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
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Asia
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Myanmar's Rohingya have been described by the UN as "the most friendless people in the world, as Justin Rowlatt reports
Rohingya Muslim insurgents in Myanmar have declared a one-month unilateral ceasefire to ease the humanitarian crisis in northern Rakhine state.
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa) said the truce would start on Sunday, urging Mynamar's army to lay down weapons as well.
Arsa attacks on police on 25 August led to a ferocious military response.
About 290,000 Rohingya are said to have fled Rakhine and sought shelter over the border in Bangladesh since then.
The UN says that aid groups urgently need $77m (£58m) to help Rohingya who have fled Myanmar.
There is a desperate need for food, water and health services for new arrivals in Cox's Bazaar, the UN added.
Rohingya residents - a stateless, mostly Muslim minority in Buddhist-majority Myanmar - say the military and Rakhine Buddhists are waging a brutal campaign against them, burning their villages.
Myanmar rejects this, saying its military is fighting against Rohingya "terrorists".
Arsa announced its ceasefire in a statement on Saturday.
It also asked humanitarian organisations to resume their work.
Myanmar so far has made no public comments on the insurgents' initiative.
Rohingya accuse the military of burning their villages - but Myanmar says its soldiers are fighting against "terrorists"
Aid agencies in Cox's Bazaar say they are overwhelmed by the numbers fleeing, while reporters at the scene have described seeing thousands of Rohingya waiting at roadsides, begging and chasing food trucks.
An AP reporter saw one man collapsing from hunger while queuing at a food distribution point.
The UN Resident Co-ordinator in Bangladesh, Robert Watkins, said: "There is now an urgent need for 60,000 new shelters, as well as food, clean water and health services, including specialist mental health services and support for survivors of sexual violence."
Those who have fled Rakhine describe village burnings, beatings and killings at the hands of the security forces and Buddhist youths.
The Myanmar government says it is the Rohingya militants and the Muslim villagers themselves who are burning their own homes and attacking non-Muslims - many of whom have also fled the violence.
But a BBC reporter in Rakhine state on Thursday saw a Muslim village being burned, apparently by a group of Rakhine Buddhists, contradicting the official version of events.
Also on Saturday, rights group Amnesty International accused Myanmar's military of planting landmines at the border with Bangladesh.
Bangladeshi border guards and villagers have told the BBC that they witnessed more than 100 Myanmar soldiers walking by and apparently planting landmines at the border.
Bangladeshi officials have said they believe Myanmar government forces are planting the landmines to stop the Rohingya returning to their villages.
A Myanmar military source said no landmines had been planted recently, while a government spokesman told Reuters more information was needed.
The Rohingya plight is sparking concern and protests in many nations, and Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticised for failing to protect them.
Various world leaders have urged Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate who spent years under house arrest for her pro-democracy activism, to speak out on behalf of the Rohingya.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41216527
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RideLondon: Pedestrian dies from injuries after collision - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A 67-year-old woman dies following a collision with a competitor in July.
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London
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A pedestrian has died after she was struck by a cyclist during this year's RideLondon event.
The 67-year-old suffered serious head injuries when she was struck on New King's Road at the junction of Guion Road in Parsons Green.
Following the collision on 30 July, she was taken to a west London hospital. She died on Thursday.
A 60-year-old cyclist, who was also injured, was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
The Met has issued an appeal for anyone with information to contact them.
Riders completed either a 46 or 100-mile cycle route through Surrey and London
Det Sgt Alastair Middleton, from the Met's serious collision investigation unit, said: "In light of the sad news that the pedestrian in this collision has passed away, it is important that we understand more about the circumstances surrounding the collision from either members of the public or those working as part of the event.
"Please call into the incident room if you have information, footage or images that could benefit our investigation."
The pedestrian is the second person to have died following the event.
Maris Ozols, a 67-year-old father-of-four, died after he suffered a cardiac arrest about 13 miles into the event.
RideLondon saw 28,032 riders complete either a 46 or 100-mile cycle ride through Surrey and London on 30 July.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41212147
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Anti-Brexit marchers rally in Parliament Square - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Thousands of Remainers join a rally in central London to protest at the impact of the UK leaving the EU.
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UK Politics
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Thousands of protesters in favour of the UK staying in the European Union have marched in Westminster.
The People's March for Europe took a route through central London before a rally in Parliament Square.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said there were a growing number of people worried about Brexit's impact.
The march came ahead of MPs voting on Monday on a bill that will overturn the act that took the UK into the EU and end the supremacy of EU law in the UK.
Remainers - many dressed in blue and yellow outfits and draped in EU flags - amassed outside Parliament on Saturday afternoon.
Many carried "Exit from Brexit" placards or wore "Remoaner Till I Die" t-shirts.
Former Liberal Democrat cabinet minister Sir Ed Davey told marchers he had "gone from anger to distress, from fury to despair".
He added: "Since the Brexit negotiations begun there's a third emotion I've been feeling - embarrassment.
"Embarrassment at our country's leaders. Embarrassment for Great Britain."
Tory peer Baroness Patience Wheatcroft told demonstrators that Remainers needed to keep campaigning to stay in the EU.
She said: "We have to stop Brexit. Since we joined the EU we've had an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity. It must be right to try and maintain that.
"It's not undemocratic to try to persuade the electorate to think again about Brexit. That's democracy at work."
Organisers estimated there were between 10,000 and 15,000 people at the start of the march, adding that numbers rose to about 50,000 at its height as people joined along the way.
The police did not provide any estimates and the BBC is unable to verify these figures.
One marcher, wearing a blue beret emblazoned with yellow stars, told the BBC she had joined the rally because she felt "totally violated by the idea of Brexiting".
"I've lived, worked and loved in Europe for years. My whole existence has been a European existence," she said.
"My husband has a business in Europe. We worked for years to build this up. What's going to happen to that?"
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable was at the march
One man, holding a home-made placard, said. "I don't believe people really knew what they were voting for.
"We keep being told those who voted to Remain have largely changed their minds but I don't believe that at all."
Sir Vince told the BBC growing numbers of people wanted the UK to keep its links with the European Union and this was the beginning of a "loud and powerful" movement.
"They (the government) are not listening - they've got tin ear," he said.
"They're making a complete mess of these negotiations - totally disunited, dysfunctional, a lack of preparation.
"Even if you believe in Brexit you must be in despair at the way they're approaching these negotiations."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41212505
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Winds reach 62mph in parts of UK as new warnings issued - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Met Office issues a further two yellow weather warnings for wind and rain in some areas.
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UK
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Wind speeds reached up to 62mph after an area of low pressure caused strong gusts across the UK on Monday.
The Met Office had issued a yellow "be aware" weather warning for wind in parts of Wales and south-west England, which has since been lifted.
Fresh yellow warnings for rain and wind are now in place for some areas from Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning.
The Met Office said "longer journey times by road, rail and air are likely".
Heavy rain is expected on Tuesday across Northern Ireland and southern Scotland, which may cause flooding.
Strong winds with gusts of 55-65mph are also looking "increasingly likely" on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, said the Met Office.
They are expected to affect the north of England, the Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber as well as south-west Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
A yellow warning is described as a sign that people should "plan ahead" for severe weather and pay attention to Met Office statements.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41221900
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Strictly Come Dancing: Susan Calman 'offended' by dance partner row - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Openly gay comedian Susan Calman defends her decision to dance with a male professional dancer.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Calman said her wife would be at the Strictly studio to see her dance
Susan Calman has strongly defended her decision as an openly gay woman to dance with a male professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing.
The Scottish comedian and writer has faced criticism on social media for taking part in the show - because it does not have same-sex dancing couples.
Calman said the criticism had offended her, adding: "No one can say I haven't stood up for my community."
It is understood show bosses have not ruled out same-sex couples in future.
Calman is one of 15 celebrities taking to the dance floor on the BBC One contest.
The stars will find out who their professional partners are in the launch show, broadcast on Saturday night.
The 42-year-old said she was "absolutely not disappointed" that she would not be paired with a woman and that it was her decision to dance with a man.
She said: "I think politically, there's nothing more powerful than having an openly gay woman on the biggest show on television, whose wife's on the front row, doing what she wants to do."
Calman has also written a book about depression, called Cheer Up Love
She added: "For the gay community to criticise me and try to get me what they want to do is, I think, as difficult as suggesting the straight community are trying to.
"No one is holding me hostage in this room, making me wear a dress and dance with a man. I want to learn how to dance."
Calman suggested she was receiving more flack as a gay woman than gay male contestants had done on the dance show - including The Reverend Richard Coles, a fellow member of the "class of 2017".
"I have protested, I have picketed, I have fought, I have been spat on, I have been punched - and I want to dance," she said.
"There will be a time for same-sex dancing. I think what annoyed me slightly is that I seem to be getting it in the neck.
"Will Young didn't get it, Judge Rinder didn't get it, Richard Coles isn't getting it. It seems to me as a woman, he's not getting it the same way I am.
"And for me to be getting it is, I think, unfair. I seem to be getting the brunt of the LGBT community."
Richard Coles is the first vicar to take part in the show
Coles, meanwhile, said he would be more than happy to dance with a male partner.
He said: "We've had a discussion about it actually, and I don't know. I mean, it's in no sense that anyone resists the idea in principle, it's just a question of doing it.
"I think it's a good year to do it actually, with the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Decriminalisation Act."
Calman, who presents daytime quiz The Boss and children's programme Top Class, said the issue had become "a bigger deal than it should have".
"To put the weight of the LGBT community on me - and changing platforms and changing perceptions - is unfair, upsetting and is ignoring the impact I will have in the biggest show on television.
"A lot of people are very supportive of my decision, but it's making this about my sexuality instead of a woman wanting to learn how to dance.
"The idea that people are depressed by it or upset by it, I think offends me because I've done... a lot for that community."
The 15 contenders for the Strictly glitterball trophy
Calman, who regularly appears on TV and radio panel shows, has also spoken about the issue on social media.
She received support from fans with one saying, tongue in cheek: "You're not a straight man, so must ALWAYS represent your sex/sexual orientation/short stature!"
A Strictly Come Dancing spokeswoman said: "Strictly has chosen the traditional format of mixed-sex couples and at the moment we have no plans to introduce same-sex couples in the competition."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41195509
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Locked up for life for crimes they didn't commit - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Four exonerated prisoners tell the BBC how they were permanently changed by their experiences.
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Scotland
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They were convicted of crimes they did not commit and are permanently changed by spending years in prison.
They face a range of serious psychiatric problems and can never return to the lives they had before.
Four exonerated prisoners - Robert Brown, Paddy Hill, Sunny Jacobs and Peter Pringle - told the BBC documentary Fallout their false convictions continued to blight their lives many years later.
Robert Brown celebrates on his release from prison but he now says it was a hollow victory
At the age of 19, Glasgow-born Robert Brown was found guilty of a murder he didn't commit.
He was arrested in Manchester in 1977 and charged with killing 51-year-old Annie Walsh.
Brown had first travelled to the city to watch Manchester United. He had met a girl and ended up staying.
He says he was trying to build a new life for himself after growing up in a children's home in Renfrewshire.
"The police took that opportunity away from me to build a new life with my girlfriend, who I cared for and loved," he says.
"It affected her as well. She died of alcohol poisoning at 35 years of age."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Robert Brown hasn’t slept in a bed in six months as he needs cell-like conditions to sleep.
Brown's arrest came early one morning four months after the murder.
"I was beaten up in the police station for two days and I got blamed for the murder of Annie Walsh," he says.
Brown signed a confession but always claimed it was because he was bullied into it by the police.
A decade before his release he could have applied for parole but refused because it would have meant abandoning his claims of innocence.
He says: "My mother begged me to take parole. That was never going to happen. If I had taken parole I was a dead man.
"If I had took parole I would have been selling my soul to the devil. I would never have been free."
In 2002, the Court of Appeal heard of a "conspiracy of corruption" within Greater Manchester Police and that one of the police officers central to the case, former Detective Chief Inspector Jack Butler, was "deeply corrupt".
Brown's conviction was considered unsafe and he was released after 25 years behind bars.
He says: "To ram it down the back of their throats, the establishment, is an amazing feeling but it a hollow, empty victory - and then the real horror story begins."
He remembers raising his hands aloft outside the court on his release.
"I thought what am I doing this for because it was not a victory."
Brown says: "The amount of time that I served would, in all honesty, damage anybody.
"The deprivation, the degradation, that would damage anybody."
Fifteen years after his release he lives in a one room "prison cell" and struggles to sleep.
"At night time I just walk up and down, your adrenaline is off the Richter scale, your heartbeat is off the Richter scale, it is a constant kaleidoscope of thoughts about what they did to me.
"I go through that process until my head is that tired of thinking about it I just conk out for a couple of hours."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Paddy Hill’s reaction to being released from prison after 16 years.
On the day, Robert Brown was released from prison, there was another man standing beside him who had been through the same ordeal.
Paddy Hill was one of the Birmingham Six, sentenced to life for the IRA bombings in 1974 and released as an innocent man after 16 years.
His psychiatrist describes him as one of the most mentally scarred cases he has ever come across.
It was the organisation that Hill founded after his release - the Miscarriage of Justice Organisation or MOJO - whose campaign was instrumental in Brown winning his freedom.
Hill says: "People think that when we got out it was the old proverbial fairytale ending, we get plenty of money and head off into the sunset and live happily ever after. It's a load of nonsense."
The 72-year-old grew up in the Ardoyne area of Belfast but moved to Birmingham with his family in 1960, at the age of 16.
He says: "I met a girl there and fell in love and got married. Birmingham was like my second home."
Firemen survey the damage outside the Birmingham pub, 'Tavern in the Town', after an IRA bomb blast
On the night of bombings at the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town pubs in Birmingham, in which 21 people died, Hill was travelling back to Belfast with a group of friends.
"We were getting the boat back from Heysham back to Belfast," he says.
The wrecked interior of the Mulberry Bush public house after the explosion of a bomb planted by the IRA
Hill says he was having a pint on the boat when a "uniform cop with a big Alsatian came up to me and said port security wanted to talk to me".
At first the interrogation followed procedure but when police from the West Midlands arrived, Hill says, he was battered and tortured.
"It changed my whole life round," he says.
"I never thought I would go to jail."
Paddy Hill speaking after his release from prison in 1991
"If you had told me the day I got out that I would not be able to handle the outside world I would have laughed in your face," Hill says.
"I was a hell of a lot happier in prison than I was when I came out."
Hill says he "hit he wall" a few months after being released and began to burst into tears without warning.
It has been a quarter of a century since Hill was released but the effects of his wrongful conviction remain.
He says: "I have a bad sleeping pattern. I wake up and the sweat and the adrenaline is pumping through you at 100 mph and every one of your nerves is like they are being stretched."
He says his anger levels at his own situation have come down over the years but he now gets angry for other people when he hears their stories.
"There are more innocent people in prison today than there was in my day, a hell of a lot more," Hill says.
"The reason they don't help us is clear to me, it would be an admission of guilt."
Peter Pringle was one of the last men to be sentenced to death in Ireland, convicted of murdering two Gardai in 1980. He served 15 years.
He was born and raised on the south side of Dublin and left school early after "a bit of bother" with a Christian brother.
Peter, who is now 78, says he was "very angry" about the poverty in Dublin in the 1950s and joined Sinn Fein when he was 16.
He became known to police when he was involved with the IRA in his youth but after spending two years in an internment camp in his early 20s he moved to the west coast and became a fisherman.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. How Peter Pringle grieved for the life he should have had before it was stolen from him.
At the age of 41, with a serious drink problem, he was arrested in Galway and accused of armed robbery and the murder of a policeman acting in the course of duties.
"I had absolutely nothing to do with it," Pringle says.
The bank robbery was in Co Roscommon, 80km (50 miles) from where he was staying.
"I am an alcoholic and at that time had a serious drink problem and on that date I was on a 12-day session," he says.
"It was brought to my attention that the police were looking for me.
"I detoxed in the police station while being battered and interrogated. It was an horrendous time. I knew I had nothing to do with it. I was not even in the bloody county."
He was sentenced to death and put in a death cell.
Two weeks before his execution date in June 1981, he was told his sentence had been commuted to 40 years in jail.
He studied law and fought his case, eventually winning release in 1995.
Peter actually got help from a clinical psychiatrist on his release because it was organised by his human rights lawyer Greg O'Neill.
"He explained to me about grief and how I needed to grieve for the life I might have had if I had not of been sent to prison," Pringle says.
He says the dreadful experience of that grief has helped him cope with his life now.
"I had a terrible loss, a terrible blackness, just feeling totally lost," he says.
"That terrible time actually benefits me now."
Peter Pringle and Sunny Jacobs have been around the world campaigning against the death penalty
Along with his new partner, Sunny Jacobs (see below), Pringle now uses what happened to him to help other exonerated prisoners.
He says: "We provide a place where people who have experienced wrongful imprisonment can be with people who have experienced the same thing.
"We can listen, they know we are not judging. They know we understand."
Sunny Jacobs was sentenced to death, along with her then husband, for the murder of two police officers in Florida in 1976 and served 17 years on Death Row.
She says: "We have been told the experience of being convicted and locked up for 15/20 years is beyond post-traumatic stress disorder. It is something that does not even have a name."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. How would you celebrate your release after being wrongfully incarcerated for 17 years?
Jacobs was born in Queens, New York City, and describes herself as a "quiet kid who liked rescuing injured animals".
She had a son when she was 18 which ended her college career and she says she became isolated, concentrating on raising her child.
Ten years later, in 1976, she was married to Jesse Tafero and had a second child, who was just 10 months old.
Their car broke down in Florida and someone Jesse knew offered to give them a lift back to North Carolina.
Jacobs and her children were sleeping in the car in the rest area of an Interstate when the police came to check the IDs of drivers.
The next thing she knew there were shots being fired and the driver, Walter Rhodes, was ordering Sunny and the kids into the police car.
Rhodes drove them away but they were stopped at a road block.
Two police officers were killed in the gunfire and Jesse and Sunny were convicted on the testimony of Rhodes, who negotiated a plea bargain, claiming they had pulled the triggers.
At her trial Jacobs says there was one juror "who refused to bullied in going along with the rest of them because he did not feel right about the conviction".
She says: "As a result of not being unanimous they had to sentence me to life in prison but the judge overruled them and sentenced me to death anyway."
At the time she was the only woman in the US with a sentence of death.
Jacobs was put in solitary confinement for five years, awaiting execution, but eventually her sentence was commuted to life.
Her husband Jesse was executed in horrific circumstances.
Jacobs says: "The electric chair malfunctioned and instead of dying he caught fire.
"The people who were there on behalf of the media said that flames shot out of his head and smoke came out of his ears and he struggled against his restraints.
"It took 13 and a half minutes before he was finally pronounced dead.
"When our daughter, who was by then 15 years old, heard what happened to her father she tried to kill herself."
After Jesse's execution, Rhodes confessed he had fired the fatal shots and Jacobs was released 1992, at the age of 45.
She says the authorities were in such a hurry to get rid of her that there was no-one to collect at the prison.
"I was standing there with my little box of possessions," she says.
"I had not a penny in my pocket, I had no ID, it was like I had just landed from some strange planet through a portal."
She says she was afraid it was a trick and there might be a marksman on the roof ready to shoot her if she moved away from the prison.
For Jacobs, being released was a "big let down" because she felt estranged from all the people whom she thought of as her home base.
Jacobs, who practices yoga and meditation, says she had to stop focusing on the harm done to her and instead concentrate on what was left of her life and "what could I do?"
"That helped me a lot," she says.
"I was able to form a new healthy relationship with each of my children and then my grandchildren.
"All this time later it is still a daily process."
Sunny and Peter met in 1998 when Jacobs travelled to Ireland to speak at Amnesty International events.
They now live together in Ireland and run the Sunny Center, giving exonerated prisoners somewhere to go where they will be listened to and understood.
She says: "As a result of us coming together we are able to share with others in ways that we wouldn't be able to individually.
"So I really think that peace is the way and love is the answer."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-41108765
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GP probed for giving child, 12, gender-change hormones - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Monmouthshire GP Dr Helen Webberley's practice is restricted while medical authorities investigate.
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Wales
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Dr Helen Webberley said she listens to 'children's hearts' about when they want treatment
A Monmouthshire GP is being investigated over complaints about her giving gender-change hormones to children as young as 12.
Dr Helen Webberley has been restricted from treating transgender patients unsupervised while the General Medical Council (GMC) looks into the case.
The Abergavenny-based GP said there had been no adverse finding against her.
The GMC said it would only comment on investigations if and when they reached tribunal stage.
The investigation was launched after two GPs complained to the GMC about Dr Webberley's private clinic, which specialises in gender issues.
She told the BBC she had given cross-sex hormone treatment to one 12-year-old and three 15-year-olds, despite NHS guidelines that they be given at about 16 or over.
"There are many children under 16 who are desperate to start what they would consider their natural puberty earlier than that," Dr Webberley told BBC Wales.
"And, of course, when someone mentions a 12-year-old it is very emotive."
Dr Webberley said the NHS protocol on hormone treatment starting at about 16 was "not set on any medical evidence or research".
"It's not in line with the centres of excellence in other countries and the standards of transgender care moving forward," she added.
She pointed out there had been "no decisions or judgements" made on the claims against her and they were "simply aspects that need to be explored".
The restrictions imposed by the GMC on 7 May mean that all of Dr Webberley's work with transgender patients will have to be supervised until November 2018.
She is unable to practise until she finds an approved clinical supervisor, which Dr Webberley says she is currently putting in place.
Stephanie Davies-Arai, of campaign group Transgender Trends, which raises concerns about gender treatment among children, said she was "very concerned" by the move toward "earlier and earlier" treatment for "younger and younger" children.
"Teenagers [and children] are not really equipped to make long-term decisions and benefit and risk calculations. We should not be fixing their identity at that age with medication that is irreversible," she added.
She said cross-sex hormone treatment can effectively put patients on the path to sterilisation, alongside other changes, which is a "huge ethical issue".
"These are huge, life-changing effects on children's bodies, on children's lives, and we need to be very, very cautious before presenting this treatment pathway to minors," she said.
Ms Davies-Arai called for "much-tighter regulation" for private GPs in this area.
The news comes after the Welsh Government announced Wales would get its first transgender clinic last month.
The Tavistock clinic, in England, which is currently the only centre offering gender identity treatment to young people in England and Wales, has seen a sharp rise in cases in recent years.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-41213534
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Newspaper headlines: Tories 'plan to cut student loan interest' - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Theresa May aims to win back young voters - and Tony Blair gets "tough on migrants".
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The Papers
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The Sunday Telegraph reports that Theresa May will attempt to win back young voters lost to Jeremy Corbyn in the general election, by looking at cutting interest rates on student loans and "strong-arming" universities into lowering tuition fees.
It predicts that announcements could follow within weeks - at next month's Conservative party conference and in the autumn Budget.
According to the paper, the Treasury has grown infuriated that, in its view, some students are being "ripped off" by taking courses costing £9,000 a year which offer little in return.
However, some senior Tories are said to have told the Telegraph that the party must not "over-interpret the results of a disastrous campaign" by adopting "hardcore Corbynism".
The Sunday Times describes Tony Blair's call for tough new rules on immigration - in contrast to the open borders he presided over as prime minister - as an "explosive" intervention in the Brexit debate.
In an article for the paper's website, Mr Blair acknowledges that this is a radical departure from his policies in office. But he argues that "back then, the economy was strong, the workers needed" and "the times were different" and voters' concerns now "cannot be ignored".
In an editorial, the Sunday Times calls this a "deathbed repentance" on migration, and a "mea culpa" for the decision of the Labour government to open the door to people from the EU's new eastern European members.
Would Britain have voted for Brexit, it asks, or even held a referendum without the pressures this unleashed? Its conclusion: Tony Blair's conversion has come too late.
The Observer reports that survivors on Caribbean islands shattered by Hurricane Irma are begging the world for food, water, shelter and rescue as they face down armed looters and the prospect of a fresh onslaught from Hurricane Jose.
There is also no let up in the criticism of the UK government's response to Hurricane Irma.
The Sunday Telegraph condemns it as "appallingly slow" and a "dereliction of duty". As well as the Americans, it says, the French and the Dutch have been far more dynamic.
Writing in the Mail, the former attorney general in Anguilla, Rupert Jones, says the British overseas territory has been devastated - and what's been promised so far is a "drop in the ocean".
If Irma had hit the Falklands or Gibraltar, there would have been a national outcry, he complains.
A British Royal Logistics Corps Mexflote arrives in Anguilla to help with the relief effort
Writing in the Sun on Sunday, the International Development Secretary, Priti Patel, says the critics are "just wrong".
She says the £32 million already pledged will support the humanitarian needs of people left without food, water, shelter and power, while ministers are also looking at how to rebuild islands.
Ms Patel adds that a Royal Navy vessel loaded with aid and military support was deployed ahead of the disaster, and that UK forces are working around the clock in the British Virgin Islands.
The Sunday Express and the Daily Star Sunday both focus on what they call the "miraculous" escape of a British family trapped by Irma in their house of the Caribbean island of Tortola.
At one stage, parents Sasha and Brendan Joyce say they had to lay on top of their two boys, aged four and two, to prevent them being blown away. The bedroom they were in was the only room not destroyed.
The Sunday Times reports that ministers will signal an end to their seven year public sector pay freeze this week.
It says police officers are set to get the first rises - either an across-the-board increase of more than 1% or targeted bonuses for those on the front line.
After the return of Strictly Come Dancing, the Telegraph suggests that the BBC is set to court controversy with some viewers by considering introducing same-sex dancing partners.
It quotes the Church of England vicar, Richard Coles, as revealing that discussions have taken place - though the Corporation is said to have ruled it out for the current series.
The Telegraph speaks of a backlash by LGBT activists against the lesbian comic, Susan Calman, for agreeing to dance with a man.
She says she's "getting it in the neck" only because she's a woman.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-41216271
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Cambridge University advertises for sexual assault adviser - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The new position will sit within the university's counselling service.
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Cambridgeshire
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The new position has a salary of up to £37,183
Cambridge University has placed an advert seeking to appoint a sexual assault and harassment adviser.
The new position will sit within the university's counselling service and aims to "bolster the advice and support available to a student".
The National Union of Students has said one in five students across the UK experience some sort of sexual harassment in their first week of term.
The university told the BBC it aimed to tackle all types of harassment.
The post involves working with students and running workshops
According to the advert, the successful applicant will work with the police, the local sexual assault referral centre and Cambridge Rape Crisis.
It involves "individual work with students" and also "designing and running workshops for staff".
A University of Cambridge spokesman said: "The university is continuously and actively working to improve the prevention, response, support and investigation of all instances of harassment, hate crime and sexual misconduct.
"This new post has been created to supplement and bolster advice and support available to students through the college tutorial system, and in particular offer a source of specialist support to students."
The sexual consent course also covers legal aspects of consent and general sex education.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-41218333
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North Korea: Nato chief says global response needed - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Jens Stoltenberg tells the BBC that Nato and its allies want a peaceful solution to the nuclear threat.
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Asia
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Kim Jong-un attended a celebration for the country's nuclear scientists and engineers after its latest test
Nato's general secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, has said North Korea's nuclear programme "is a global threat and requires a global response".
"That of course also includes Nato," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.
But he refused to say whether an attack on the US overseas territory of Guam would trigger the military alliance's collective defence pact.
Article 5 of the Nato treaty says that an attack against one member is considered an attack against all.
Guam, an island territory of the US in the Pacific Ocean, is a key military outpost and has been the subject of heated rhetoric from Pyongyang.
"I will not speculate about whether Article 5 will be applied in such a situation," Mr Stoltenberg said.
"What I will say is that we are now totally focused on how can we contribute to a peaceful solution of the conflict and press North Korea to stop its nuclear missile programmes."
He called on North Korea to stop its development of nuclear weapons, saying it was a blatant violation of UN security resolutions and "a threat to international peace and stability".
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Nato has condemned Pyongyang's tests but, as a military alliance, is not directly involved in the related diplomacy.
The comments from Mr Stoltenberg come as members of the UN Security Council differ on how to deal with the crisis following North Korea's latest missile test over Japan.
The US has drafted a resolution to increase sanctions and cut off some of the last remaining sources of income for Pyongyang, as well as imports of oil.
Russia, however, has expressed scepticism about more sanctions, which have had little effect so far.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. How could war with North Korea unfold?
Appearing separately on the same programme as Mr Stoltenberg, British defence minister Michael Fallon said the US would have a right to ask other members of the United Nations to join any defence of its territory - but that should be avoided.
"What we have to avoid at all cost is the spilling over in to any kind of military conflict," he said.
"So we're working flat out at the United Nations to get a better resolution there, to enforce the existing sanctions. We are looking at sanctions across the European Union and of course we are trying to persuade China to keep its neighbour in check."
Analysts believe a military conflict with North Korea would be devastating for both Pyongyang and South Korea; and some say that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is seeking a nuclear deterrent rather than planning for open war.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41219767
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Tony Blair defends call for EU migration curbs - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Critics accuse the former prime minister of a belated "epiphany" on the need for controls.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Tony Blair: "If you think there is a different and better way... argue for it"
Tony Blair has defended his call for new controls on EU migration as a cabinet minister accused him of a belated "epiphany" on the issue.
The ex-PM said the UK could stay in the EU after all with new curbs in place.
He claimed this would address people's "grievances" without the "sledgehammer" of Brexit.
Critics have pointed to his Labour government's decision not to apply transitional controls to eastern European migrants in 2004.
Mr Blair's proposals are to "tighten" existing free movement rules, including on benefit entitlement, and seek to negotiate an "emergency brake" on EU migration in certain sectors.
Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, the former prime minister - one of the most prominent anti-Brexit campaigners - said he accepted last year's Leave vote but that there were ways of controlling EU immigration without leaving.
"Brexit is a distraction, not a solution, to the problems this country is facing," he said.
Mr Blair said he believed Brexit would go ahead "unless it starts to become obvious that the public is having second thoughts" - and that "hasn't become obvious yet".
"If we put this case to people, maybe they will listen. If they don't - I accept it goes forward," he said.
Critics said Tony Blair had been responsible for "open door" immigration
Unlike France and Germany, which did not give migrants from the 10 countries which joined the EU in May 2004 full access to their labour market until 2011, the then-Labour government did not insist on any transitional controls.
Mr Blair said: "The situation back then was different."
He told the Marr show the economy had been strong when he left office in 2007 before the financial crash, adding: "You've got to listen to what people are saying and react to it."
"It's a bit late now, this epiphany", responded Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon on the Marr show.
Sir Michael said "election after election" had shown the public wanted "proper controls" over immigration.
"I think it's a pity he didn't think of that when all these new countries were admitted to the European Union on his watch," he added.
Pro-EU Conservative Ken Clarke told Sky News it was "hopeless" to think the UK could stay in the EU, given the "mood of the country".
The government has said free movement will end with the UK's withdrawal from the EU, and a forthcoming immigration bill will set out its plans in detail.
Last week, leaked draft plans suggested firms would have to recruit locally unless they could prove an "economic need" to employ EU citizens and ending the right to settle in the UK for most European migrants.
The report by Mr Blair's Institute for Global Change suggests reforming free movement rules, without "excessive" restrictions which would jeopardise the UK's membership of the EU single market.
It says the "structure of free movement" could be kept "broadly intact" with rules on access to benefits tightened.
Under existing rules, citizens of other EU countries can be removed after six months if they have not found a job, have no realistic possibility of finding one, and require support from the welfare system.
Mr Blair's report says EU nationals should already have an offer of work when they arrive and says those who did not earn permission to stay would be banned from opening a bank account, renting a home or claiming benefits.
The report also proposes restricting free healthcare for unemployed migrants and letting universities charge EU nationals higher tuition fees than UK students.
It says an "emergency brake" could be negotiated with the EU, which would allow the UK to impose temporary restrictions in certain sectors when migrant numbers were high.
An "emergency brake" - which would have affected migrants' benefits - was key to the package of EU reforms ex-PM David Cameron tried to use to persuade voters to back staying in the EU last year.
The co-chairman of the campaign group Leave Means Leave, Richard Tice, said Tony Blair's attempt to deny democracy would be seen for what it was, and ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage, referring to immigration, said Mr Blair was "the reason we are in this mess".
Unite union leader Len McCluskey said Mr Blair was "as out of touch now as he was in 2004".
He told Radio 5 live's Pienaar's Politics that "greedy bosses", not migrant workers, were to blame for undercutting wages, saying that unionisation and regulation were the only way to prevent this from happening.
Opening the TUC's annual conference in Brighton, general secretary Frances O'Grady said the government had "no realistic negotiating strategy" and was taking the UK towards a "kamikaze Brexit".
• None What happens now that a deal's been done?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41216679
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Bake Off: Paul Hollywood in Nazi outfit apology - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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The celebrity baker said he went to a 2003 party in a WW2 German uniform as an 'Allo 'Allo character.
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UK
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Paul Hollywood said he was dressed as a character from BBC comedy 'Allo 'Allo
Great British Bake Off star Paul Hollywood has apologised after being pictured wearing a Nazi uniform.
The Sun on Sunday published pictures of the celebrity baker in a World War Two outfit, including a swastika armband.
The 51-year-old said the pictures dated from 2003, when he went to a New Year's Eve party as a character from the 1980s WW2-set BBC comedy series 'Allo 'Allo.
In a statement he said: "I am absolutely devastated if this caused offence to anyone."
One picture shows Hollywood smiling in a photo in a pub alongside a friend, who is also wearing a Nazi military uniform.
In another image, they are joined by friends wearing French-style berets.
As well as the red armband, Hollywood's outfit included an Iron Cross medal and a badge featuring a Nazi eagle.
During an episode of the BBC show Who Do You Think You Are? in 2015, Hollywood learned about the experiences of his grandfather Norman Harman during World War 2, when he served as an anti-aircraft gunner.
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In his statement, Hollywood said he had been on his way to a TV comedy-themed party 14 years ago when the pictures were taken.
He added: "Everyone who knows me knows I am incredibly proud of the efforts of those, including my own grandfather, who fought against the Nazis during the war."
Hollywood is currently on TV in the first Channel 4 series of Great British Bake Off, alongside new fellow judge Prue Leith and presenters Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41218525
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Great North Run 2017: Mo Farah wins race for fourth time - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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Nearly 60,000 runners joined Mo, who took his fourth consecutive elite men's win.
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Tyne & Wear
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Mo Farah won the elite men's race in just over an hour
Up to 57,000 people took to the streets in the Great North Run, won by Mo Farah for the fourth time in a row.
The four-times Olympic champion won the elite men's race in one hour and six seconds, with New Zealand's Jake Robertson six seconds behind.
Kenya's Mary Keitany won the elite women's with the third fastest time in its history.
Cumbrian Simon Lawson took the elite men's wheelchair race with a time of 44 minutes and 22 seconds.
Switzerland's Manuela Schar set a course record winning the elite women's wheelchair race in 48 minutes and 44 seconds.
The Red Arrows took their customary turn over the race
It was Keitany's third Great North Run, which this time she finished in one hour, five minutes and 59 seconds.
Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot came second and fellow countrywoman Caroline Kipkirui came third.
Mary Keitany made the third fastest women's time in the run's history
Simon Lawson took the men's elite wheelchair title with five seconds to spare
Speaking to BBC One, Mo Farah said the race had been "really tough".
"I'm sore everywhere," he said.
"I've never been this sore - I think it's down to a lack of training.
"With four miles to go, I was hanging on and gritting my teeth.
"I was thinking if I can just sit on him then, at the end, I can sprint."
While Farah was lying on the road recovering, Robertson proposed to his girlfriend Magdalyne Masai from Kenya - who had just finished fourth in the women's elite race.
The proposal on the finish line appeared to have been accepted
Celebrities running in this year's race included television presenter Davina McCall, newsreader Sophie Raworth and X Factor contestant Sam Lavery.
The 13.1-mile race from Newcastle to South Shields - now in its 37th year - originally had 12,000 runners take part.
Organisers said the 2016 event had participants from 178 countries.
Davina McCall completed the race in two hours, six minutes and 52 seconds
Julie Robinson from Jesmond in Newcastle, who was cheering on her stepdaughter, said the race was "wonderful, fantastic".
"I've probably been here coming to support for about 15 years," she said.
"I've ran it quite a few times myself.
"It's a great atmosphere and there's no excuse for me because I'm only across the Town Moor home."
For every runner in standard running kit, there's another dressed to the nines
This year's event was started by the run's founder Brendan Foster, who recently announced his retirement.
There was also a minute's applause for veteran television presenter Mike Neville, who died on Tuesday, and who started the first run in 1981.
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Minions tend to stand out from the crowd
Dozens of runners manage the race dressed in less streamlined clothing
Imagine being beaten to the finish line by a dinosaur
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-41203399
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Neo-Nazi soldier arrests: Two men released by police - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Police are given more time to question three other men over a plot linked to a far-right group.
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UK
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Two men arrested over a suspected neo-Nazi terror plot involving serving British army soldiers have been released without charge by police.
No further action will be taken against two men, both aged 24, from Northampton and Ipswich, West Midlands Police said.
They were among five men, four soldiers and a civilian, who were arrested on 5 September over a plot linked to banned far-right group National Action.
Detectives have been granted more time to question the other three.
They are a 22-year-old from Birmingham, a 32-year-old arrested in Powys, and a 24-year-old from Northampton.
The latter was arrested in Cyprus and the Ministry of Defence had previously confirmed he was held at the island's British Dhekelia base before being transferred to RAF Akrotiri for a flight back to the UK.
The men are being held on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000; namely on suspicion of being members of a proscribed organisation.
A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said: "Detectives have been granted extra time to question the men."
Three of the servicemen are believed to be from the Royal Anglian Regiment.
Being a member of - or inviting support for - a proscribed organisation is a criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
There are 71 such groups listed by the Home Office on its register.
They include a range of international and national groups, of which National Action was the first far-right group to be banned in December 2016.
Police previously said the arrests were "pre-planned and intelligence-led", adding "there was no threat to the public's safety".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41218006
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'Medical opinions ignored' by NHS payment assessor, workers say - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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Health workers tell the BBC the assessments left some patients being denied NHS care.
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England
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The NHS pays for long-term support and care for severely ill patients using national criteria
Medical opinions have been ignored in the assessment of NHS payments to patients receiving care, it is claimed.
Three health workers said an assessor organisation discounted medical views so some patients were denied NHS care.
Norman Lamb MP said England-wide data obtained by the BBC showed a "regional disparity" and was "an injustice".
However the assessor organisation, Arden and Greater East Midlands CSU, says it follows national guidelines to decide on payments.
Under national criteria, the NHS pays for long-term support and care if a patient's condition is severe enough.
However, BBC Inside Out East has found a wide difference among clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England in the percentage of patients rejected following assessment for continuing health care (CHC).
Between July 2016 and July 2017, Birmingham South and Central CCG rejected 75% of its new CHC assessments, Manchester CCG turned down only 17% of assessments, while Tameside and Glossop CCG only rejected 5% of those assessed.
All assessors - of which there about half a dozen covering England - should use the same criteria.
Three health workers told the BBC that one of the main assessor organisations, Arden and Greater East Midlands CSU (Commissioning Support Unit), sometimes ignored medical opinions in assessments so patients could not obtain NHS care.
One worker told the BBC: "There has been bullying at the meetings - attempts to ridicule people who are there who have a professional opinion.
"They ignored what professionals have said and changed what professionals have said. The concern is that this puts patients at risk."
North Norfolk MP Mr Lamb, whose Liberal Democrat constituency includes North Norfolk CCG where 73% of cases assessed were turned down, said the disparity and the allegations of medical opinions being ignored were "very disturbing".
"The regional disparity amounts to an injustice between individuals with the same conditions which can't begin to be justified," said the former health minister.
But Alfonzo Tramontano, chief nurse at Arden and Greater East Midlands CSU, said: "There are strict national guidelines for what constitutes continuing healthcare.
"Importantly, there is no reason why we would ever want to do anything other than assess an individual's needs correctly.
"We carry out each assessment using the national guidelines and make recommendations to an expert CCG panel, and we have never put pressure on our nurse assessors to do anything other than assess each individual's health care needs correctly."
An NHS England spokesman said taxpayers "rightly expect" care to be taken before public money is handed out.
"It's a fact that the majority of people put through a continuing healthcare assessment turn out not to need it," he said.
"While funding decisions on CHC cases are taken by local health bodies, there is now a far more consistent approach than ever before since the launch of the national eligibility framework."
John Gallagher, 78, had NHS funding for the care for his wife Diane withdrawn three times
Among those receiving NHS care was nursing home resident Diane Gallagher, 77, who had Alzheimer's disease.
Her husband, John Gallagher, 78, who lives in Northampton, said funding was withdrawn three times, but every time he argued with the authorities and got it back.
Talking about the most recent time NHS payment was rejected, Mr Gallagher said he was "totally gobsmacked", adding by that point his wife couldn't walk, stand, talk or feed herself.
In August Mrs Gallagher died, but her husband still faces having to pay the bill for her final weeks of care. He insists the NHS should pay.
BBC Inside Out East is broadcast at 19:30 BST on Monday.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41187615
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Star Wars actor Mark Hamill 'supports Wolves' - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Wolverhampton Wanderers said the actor confirmed he was a fan and the force was "strong" there.
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Birmingham & Black Country
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The Hollywood actor is now officially a fan, Wolves said
Star Wars legend Mark Hamill has become a fan of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club - albeit by accident.
After fans on Twitter suggested he could support Wolves, this got a 'like' from Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker.
@HamillHimself said on Twitter when asked if he liked the Wolves, he "thought they meant the animal" but added "everyone got so excited-I HAD to be a fan".
The club said he had confirmed he was a fan and the force was "strong" there.
Fans group Wolves Fancast tweeted that it took the fact he had liked a tweet as confirmation he was now a fan.
The club said it was made aware of the social media chat and added: "We sent a tweet to Mark, who replied to confirm that he has indeed now pledged his allegiance to Wolves - clearly he is a good judge!
"The force is certainly strong at Molineux at the moment with the team making an excellent start to the season, and it was perhaps fitting that yesterday's game against Millwall finished Obi Wan-Nil.
"There is always room in the Wolf Pack for The Last Jedi, and there is the open invitation for Mark to attend a fixture at Molineux should his Landspeeder ever be passing."
It all started with @HamillHimself liking a Tweet from a #Wolves fan, prompting the fans on Twitter to ask if he was a fan.
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The actor tweeted in reply that he was now as they had made him "feel like family".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-41219375
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US Open 2017: Sloane Stephens - from world number 957 to Grand Slam winner - BBC Sport
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2017-09-10
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Sloane Stephens on overcoming adversity and her incredible six-week journey from world number 957 to US Open champion - and a $3.7m cheque.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Sloane Stephens was planning to spend Saturday night in New York celebrating with Madison Keys, hours after beating her friend to a first Grand Slam title.
The 24-year-old American, ranked 83rd until Monday, thrashed 15th seed Keys 6-3 6-0 in just 61 minutes to complete a scarcely believable return from injury.
Asked if she would be buying the drinks, Stephens confirmed: "Yes, a lot of them apparently. We are having a little celebration and she is coming."
If you told someone this story, they'd be, like, 'That's insane'.
Just 69 days after returning from an 11-month injury lay-off, and six weeks since her ranking dropped to 957, Stephens became only the fifth unseeded woman to win a Grand Slam singles title in the Open era.
And she later revealed it was boredom as much as nerves that threatened to upset her equilibrium during the 48 hours between semi-final and final at Flushing Meadows.
"I was literally in my room twiddling my thumbs,' she said. "I was looking at car reviews last night on Auto Trader, like literally. That's how bored I was. I didn't have anything to do."
Stephens admitted that the nerves finally took hold as she stepped out onto Arthur Ashe Stadium - but a little over an hour later her eyes were bulging as a cheque for $3.7m (£2.8m) was handed to her and she was announced as a Grand Slam champion.
She said: "There are no words to describe how I got here, because if you told someone this story they'd be, like, 'that's insane'."
'There is no positive to not being able to walk'
It is four years since Stephens first grabbed worldwide headlines when she beat compatriot Serena Williams in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
The likes of NBA stars Shaquille O'Neal and Dirk Nowitzki, and singer John Legend, congratulated her on social media, and a star had seemingly been born.
In the event, progress was harder going until 2016 when she won three titles, cementing her place in the top 30 and apparently on the up.
A right foot stress fracture halted that momentum, forcing her to withdraw from the US Open last August, and she would not return until Wimbledon.
Surgery followed in January and for the next 16 weeks Stephens was on crutches and unable to put any pressure on her foot.
Just a month before Wimbledon, she was still wearing a protective boot.
"There is no positive to not being able to walk and being on one leg," said Stephens. "That's not fun for anyone."
Finally, Stephens stepped back on court in July - and first-round defeats at Wimbledon and in Washington were entirely predictable. Her ranking plummeted to 957.
What followed was, in her own words on Saturday night, "insane".
The victory over Keys was her 15th in 17 matches, the kind of form shown by someone vying to be number one rather than avoid slipping outside the top 1,000.
"When I had surgery, I was not thinking that I would be anywhere near a US Open title," she said.
"Nor did I think I was going to be anywhere near the top 100."
Sybil Smith made her tournament debut in the player box for the final as her daughter made history.
"It was nice that we got it right for the two weeks, and I came out with the title," said Stephens.
It is eight years since Stephens attended her father's funeral on the eve of the US Open, after he died in a car accident in Louisiana.
Estranged from the family, John Stephens had been a running back in the NFL for the New England Patriots, the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs.
But it was her mother, Sybil, an all-American swimmer, who brought up Stephens, and that included introducing the nine-year-old to tennis.
"Obviously my whole life my mum has been very supportive," said Stephens. "She's been in my corner the whole time.
"I have had a lot of ups and a lot of downs - and some really low downs - and throughout that, my mum has been there 100% with me."
Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide.
It was at a tennis academy in her native Florida that Stephens learned the game, and also where she met Laura Robson as an 11-year-old.
The British number four, 23, was clearly moved on Saturday night by seeing two of her friends and contemporaries on the US Open presentation stage, posting on social media: "Who's cutting onions?"
Robson might use both women as inspiration for her own struggle back up the rankings following injury.
Stephens has spent as much time in 2017 as a TV presenter on a US tennis channel - what Keys described as "her second job" - as she has on court, helping fill her time during the 11-month injury lay-off.
Describing herself as in "a sad place", the television work proved to be a boost to morale.
Paul Annacone, ex-coach of Pete Sampras, worked with Stephens for eight months in 2014, and again on her TV work this year. He believes the extended break from tennis had some benefit.
"I think it has helped Sloane become more focused and realise that the window is closing, ever so slightly," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
"That's allowed her to go on court with a much more relentless ability to compete and deal with adversity.
"I think historically she has got a little bit nervous in stages, and then when adversity has set in she's struggled a little bit to compete through it.
"This summer, Sloane's been amazing with adversity."
The semi-final victory over fellow American Venus Williams in New York took her record in three-set matches this summer to 8-0.
'He should have got a hat-trick'
Stephens will not be short of family and friends, including Keys, to celebrate with in New York.
Her coach, Kamau Murray, and team have exuded calm, happily posing with fans in the public plaza at Flushing Meadows earlier in the week.
It is unlikely Serena Williams joined the party eight days after giving birth to her first child, but the 23-time Grand Slam champion posted her support on social media before the final.
"There are NO words to describe how proud and how happy I am," Williams said on Twitter.
One person absent from the player box on Arthur Ashe Stadium was Stephens' boyfriend, Jozy Altidore, a former forward for Sunderland in the Premier League, now leading the line for Toronto FC.
Otherwise engaged in MLS action against San Jose, he revealed that he found out the result of the final from his mother in the stands at half-time.
Altidore then scored twice in the second half of a 4-0 win.
"That's really good," said Stephens, before adding: "He should have got a hat-trick. It would have been such a good day. Goodness."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/41216430
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China looks at plans to ban petrol and diesel cars - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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China has started "relevant research" but has not yet decided when the ban would come into force.
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Business
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China wants more electric cars on the road to fight pollution
China, the world's biggest car market, plans to ban the production and sale of diesel and petrol cars and vans.
The country's vice minister of industry said it had started "relevant research" but that it had not yet decided when the ban would come into force.
"Those measures will certainly bring profound changes for our car industry's development," Xin Guobin told Xinhua, China's official news agency
China made 28 million cars last year, almost a third of the global total.
Both the UK and France have already announced plans to ban new diesel and petrol vehicles by 2040, as part of efforts to reduce pollution and carbon emissions.
Chinese-owned carmaker Volvo said in July that all its new car models would have an electric motor from 2019.
Geely, Volvo's Chinese owner, aims to sell one million electric cars by 2025.
Volvo has announced plans to go electric across the board
Other global car firms including Renault-Nissan, Ford and General Motors are all working to develop electric cars in China.
Automakers are jostling for a slice of the growing Chinese market ahead of the introduction of new rules designed to fight pollution.
China wants electric battery cars and plug-in hybrids to account for at least one-fifth of its vehicle sales by 2025.
The proposals would require 8% of automakers' sales to be battery electric or plug-in hybrids by next year, rising to 12% in 2020.
Xin predicted the change would create "turbulent times" in the industry.
The shift will also have a knock-on effect on oil demand in China. The country is currently the world's second-largest oil consumer after the US.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41218243
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Birmingham church stabbing leaves three hurt - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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The 33-year-old knifing victim is described as being in a stable condition in hospital.
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Birmingham & Black Country
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The stabbings happened at a church on Rocky Lane in Aston
Three people have been injured in a stabbing inside a church in Birmingham.
A 33-year-old man is being treated in hospital after he was knifed at the New Jerusalem Apostolic Church, in Aston, at about 10:50 BST.
He is in a stable condition and his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening. A 46-year-old man is being held on suspicion of attempted murder.
The other two people suffered hand injuries as they tried to restrain the knifeman, West Midlands Police said.
Early indications suggested the offender and victim knew each other and it was a targeted attack, the force added.
In a statement on Facebook, the church said three members of its congregation were injured.
None of the injuries were life-threatening, it said.
The church said: "At this time we are restricting hospital visits to family only and we will keep you updated as regularly as possible.
"We would like to thank all of our members and friends that were with us this morning for your cooperation, bravery and support and thank everyone else for your prayers."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-41219373
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Seaham rapist Paul Leighton's extradition sought by US - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Leighton was jailed for rape after tricking victims online in four countries into abusing relatives.
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Tyne & Wear
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Leighton created dozens of fake Facebook accounts to trap his victim
The extradition of a paedophile jailed for 16 years for sex offences involving teenagers in four countries is being sought by the US.
Paul Leighton, 32, of County Durham, admitted rape, despite being in the UK when the offences took place in the US.
Leighton tricked victims on Facebook into sending him naked pictures and blackmailed them to abuse relatives.
US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) anticipated his extradition over victims in Pennsylvania, it said.
The Home Office spokesperson said it would "neither confirm nor deny that an extradition request has been made".
It is believed as many as 100 children in North America were abused by Leighton.
The defendant, of Malvern Crescent, Seaham, created dozens of fake Facebook profiles to befriend teenagers in the UK, Canada, the US and Australia, Newcastle Crown Court was told.
He threatened a 14-year-old boy from Florida into repeatedly raping his one-year-old niece.
Prosecutor Paul Reid said it had been a "campaign of rape".
Leighton pleaded guilty "to the rape of this baby 4,000 miles away as he was using [the uncle] as an accessory", he said.
He admitted other offences, including blackmail, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, making indecent photographs of a child and sexual assault.
The investigation that led to his arrest was led by HSI in a joint operation with Northumbria Police.
HSI London attaché James Mancuso said protecting children from exploitation took "the collaboration of law enforcement agencies around the world".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-41206372
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Hurricane Irma: Stranded couple on 'honeymoon from hell' - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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UK tourists in Cuba speak to the BBC about Hurricane Irma, and efforts to get them to safety.
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UK
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Thomas Cook customers in Cuba have been evacuated to the north resort town of Varadero
British tourists in Cuba have been speaking of the impact of Hurricane Irma, with one saying the storm had led to the "honeymoon from hell".
Irma has made landfall on the island, having claimed at least 20 lives as it churned across the Caribbean.
Thomas Cook has been criticised by some for not evacuating tourists, and continuing to bring holidaymakers to Cuba's resorts as late as Thursday.
A spokeswoman says the firm is working with Cuban authorities to get customers off the island.
Sam Lever, 50, from Bury in Greater Manchester, travelled to Cuba last week with his new wife Chelsea, 30, for their honeymoon.
The couple told the BBC how they, along with 2,500 other Thomas Cook passengers, had to travel eight hours by coach from the resort of Cayo Coco to the town of Varadero.
Mr Lever said: "This is becoming a honeymoon from hell.
"We were all put on 11 buses by the authorities and had to travel eight hours with no food to Varadero.
"There were people on those coaches who had arrived from Manchester the night before. I just find that scandalous behaviour."
Software developer Sam Lever, 50, is currently celebrating his honeymoon in Cuba with his wife Chelsea
Mr Lever said a contingent of Canadian tourists in the resort were flown home on Thursday.
He said he and his wife were "huddled into a games room" with other tourists.
"We just think Thomas Cook was playing a game of roulette, seeing if the storm would even hit Cayo Coco.
"It's scandalous that they flew people out on Wednesday, with staff who were going to deal with the evacuation.
One of those flown in on Wednesday was Steve Allen, who said there were "major flaws" in the evacuation process.
"They actually lost our passenger manifest at the hotel so we didn't know who was meant be going where at the time," he said.
"Well, we are now stuck in Varadero and praying we get through this nightmare in one piece."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Footage shows the central province of Villa Clara battered by wind and rain
A spokeswoman for Thomas Cook said the company had followed advice given to them by Cuban authorities, and that they were told to evacuate their customers to Varadero.
She added that three aircraft would be chartered to Varadero on Sunday to bring UK holidaymakers home.
Roy Pinches said his daughter, who works as cabin crew for Thomas Cook, had been sent to Cuba on Thursday and was now stranded on the island.
Mr Pinches said: "They have been told to stay in one room where 10 cabin crew have been told to barricade themselves in
"Their last option is to use the bathroom where they have been told to get under the table placed there.
"This hotel could not be in a worse position to handle this hurricane."
Thomas Cook's spokeswoman added that staff members and reps were all in lockdown, like customers, as advised by Cuban authorities.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41213417
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Hurricane Irma: Briton stuck on 'war zone' island rescued - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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Alex Woolfall live tweeted the "apocalyptic" events on the island of St Martin as the hurricane hit.
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UK
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A British tourist who live tweeted his terror as Hurricane Irma struck has been rescued by the US air force.
Alex Woolfall, from London, who was on holiday on the Caribbean island of St Martin, has been taken to Puerto Rico.
Four days ago, he was evacuated from his hotel room to a concrete stairwell to hide from the storm and described the "apocalyptic" noise as it hit.
Mr Woolfall told the BBC the island now looks "like a war zone after heavy bombardment".
The PR consultant posted updates for more than 20 hours while trapped in the stairwell of the Westin Hotel, describing the soaring temperature and "terrifying" sounds.
Mr Woolfall said the experience was "like a movie I never want to see".
His updates eventually stopped after power to the island was cut, and his Twitter account remained silent for several days until his rescue.
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Mr Woolfall said a military plane airlifted him to safety just as the next storm of the season - Hurricane Jose - was approaching.
Shortly after his rescue, he told the BBC about the devastation he left behind.
"Even the plants and trees looks like they have been scorched," he wrote.
"People made homeless overnight, sitting in the street with no power or water. It's heartbreaking and they need our help.
"At the same time, I have never in my life experienced such kindness. Local staff at the Westin who have lost everything and have no idea if family and friends are alive came in day after day to look after tourists.
"They were distressed but worked round the clock to provide drinking water and food and support.
"Even as we left, local people sat outside in the rubble waving and shouting, 'Good luck. Get home safely.'
"It was extremely moving but upsetting at the same time."
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Mr Woolfall said he hoped help would come for the island from the Dutch and French governments, especially with the threat from Hurricane Jose now looming.
Before being evacuated by hotel staff, he said guests had been advised to close blackout curtains, stay away from windows and stay inside the building.
Mr Woolfall said, in a series of tweets during the storm, the noise was "like standing behind a jet engine" - "apocalyptic" with "constant booms and bangs".
Later he asked for prayers saying he was "pretty terrified".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41171522
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Manchester Arena: Peter Kay delivers defiant message at reopening concert - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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The comedian captures the mood at the venue's reopening concert with a message of "love, not hate".
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Entertainment & Arts
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Kay said the last four months had been "horrendous" for Manchester
Comedian Peter Kay has delivered a message of defiance at Manchester Arena's reopening concert, declaring "we can't let terrorists win".
Kay appeared at the We Are Manchester show on Saturday alongside other local heroes including Noel Gallagher.
More than 14,000 fans were there, four months after a bomb killed 22 people.
"The victims will never ever be forgotten, but we've got to move forward with love and not hate, and that's how we win," Kay told the crowd.
Kay worked as a steward at the venue in the 1990s before going on to perform there more than 40 times.
"There's been a lot of joy in this room over the years, including the night of 22 May, right up until the terrorist attack," he said - and the crowd booed at the mention of the attack.
"These last four months have been incredibly painful," Kay continued.
"Horrendous is putting it mildly. But that's why you're here - because we can't let terrorists win.
"And I know the memories of that night will stay with us for a very long time but we've got to remember the good times and let them outweigh the bad."
Kay then introduced Gallagher, and the former Oasis star performed a string of favourites including Don't Look Back In Anger.
The song took on special significance in the wake of the bombing after a crowd started spontaneously singing it at a memorial.
"It's become some sort of anthem for defiance," Gallagher said. "And every time you sing, we win."
The atmosphere was joyful for most of the show
Armed police patrolled outside and inside the arena
As well as defiance, the mood at the event had a mixture of pride, catharsis, pure enjoyment - and, for some, trepidation.
Among the crowd were Paul Woodhouse and his son, from Edinburgh, who were at the Ariana Grande concert that was attacked on 22 May.
He said: "Some of us that were there first time were there [at the reopening] to face a fear.
"Not so much of going to a concert, but of going back to the same place. It's still a bit raw. In time, yes, I think it will have helped, coming back to the same place."
The atmosphere inside the concert was "quite positive", he added.
"We found everybody was quite cheerful with everybody. Quite uplifting. You knew everybody was standing together."
Courteeners got the crowd going
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was in the audience
Adrian Thorpe, who was in the arena foyer when the bomb went off, said returning with his daughter and partner was initially "nerve-wracking".
He said: "It was emotional returning but it's turned out a happy evening. Last time we were here it was a sad time but it's been a joyous evening.
"She's enjoyed it and that's all that matters now. The kids can put a smile back on their faces again."
The foyer area was also reopened on Saturday, but it now contains a row of airport-style body scanners and brightly-coloured temporary wall coverings with slogans such as "We are entertainment", "We are love" and "We are stronger".
Pixie Lott was the first singer to perform
Also in the crowd was Pep Guardiola, manager of Manchester City FC, whose wife and daughters were at the Ariana Grande gig.
He told BBC News: "It's good to come back to normality and see that life is going on and remember the families that suffered."
There was tight security at the venue, with backpacks banned and armed police patrolling both the exterior and the inside concourse.
The night started with a tribute to the bomb victims from Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who read the names of the 22 people who were killed by Salman Abedi.
The something-for-everyone bill included 1980s pop star Rick Astley - who was wearing a shirt bearing the Manchester bee emblem - plus Pixie Lott, ex-Girls Aloud member Nadine Coyle, grime MC Bugzy Malone and Stockport band Blossoms.
Poet Tony Walsh delivered his poem This is the Place
Manchester band Courteeners summed up how the sense of pride in the city has been renewed since the attack when singer Liam Fray declared during their first song: "Manchester, centre of the universe."
The concert was hosted by comedian Russell Kane. When a photographer came on stage to take a picture of the crowd, Kane told them: "Let's show the world what defiance, happiness, positivity and strength look like."
Proceeds from the concert will go to establishing a permanent memorial to the victims.
Stockport band Blossoms were among the local acts on the bill
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41216400
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Why more women are getting into shooting - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The number of women taking up shooting for pleasure is on the rise - why?
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England
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The Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club describes itself as the UK's largest ladies' shooting community
It has traditionally been seen as a man's game, enjoyed by country types wearing flat caps and tweed. But the number of women taking up shooting - particularly clay pigeon shooting - is on the rise. Why?
Growing up in Berkshire, Danielle Brown's only experience of the countryside was "seeing it on the television".
"I was a right town girl," she said. "Went to a comprehensive, mum on her own, didn't have much money, never thought about country pursuits."
Danielle Brown got into shooting after moving to the countryside
It was when she moved to Herefordshire with her husband that she was introduced to shooting by a neighbour. After a bit of investigating she came across the Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club - a group holding events specifically for women - and she was hooked.
"I just loved it, that feeling when you shoot a clay, a moving target in the sky. I wanted to do it again."
The club is one of a number of groups attracting an increasing number of women to shoot, and building a new image for the sport.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Shooting: Not just a sport for men
Gone are the days of shooting being just a pursuit for country folk; members are now as likely to be students and shop assistants as they are bankers and lawyers.
And numbers of female shooters are rising.
Figures show the number of women joining the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) each year has risen a third over the past four years.
The association welcomed 1,212 women in 2011, compared with 1,603 in 2015, and now has almost 10,000 female members.
Femmes Fatales aims to "challenge the misconception that shooting is a man's game". Participants are more likely to don sportswear than reflect the "Downton Abbey and farmers in tweed look", says founder Lydia Abdelaoui.
Rachel Carrie, left and Lydia Abdelaoui, right, who founded Femmes Fatales
Miss Abdelaoui, 33, works in the shooting industry for an ammunition manufacturer, but only took up the sport three years ago.
"It never really appealed to me that much until I went with a group of women," she said.
"I had been before, but it was just a bit dull, I find men are really competitive. We had such a laugh and got to talk about doing things to attract more women and that's where the idea of Femmes Fatales came about."
The group started out on social media and has built up a "community" of about 7,000 women.
"It's not farmers and the gentry, it's just normal people from all different backgrounds who are just serious about the sport," says Miss Abdelaoui.
"We try to get away from the misconception that people have about shooters and to make it a bit more feminine and up to date.
"I had a Twitter exchange with a guy and he called us 'privileged women' and he suggested that women that shoot are all 'ladies that lunch' that don't have jobs - nothing could be further from the truth. Everybody works hard and we shoot at weekends."
Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club members enjoy tea and cake after a day of shooting
At the Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club, women meet for shooting followed by tea and cake.
It was founded by Victoria Knowles-Lacks who, while learning to shoot with her uncle, saw there was a "major lack" of women shooting.
"I'd see wives and daughters being dragged round clay grounds press buttons on clay traps for their husbands and I just thought the shooting industry is missing a trick," said the 33-year-old from Shropshire.
When Mrs Knowles-Lacks took four female friends who "weren't overly keen" to a group shooting lesson, she baked a cake to "soften" the day.
And the winning combination of clays and cake was born.
"We shot in a small group under instruction, then we had tea and cake. The format has stayed the same since that very first day.
"I've made it my mission to make it really easy, affordable and to showcase how social and how much fun shooting is," she added.
Women enjoy shooting and the social side of the sport at the Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club
It is the social side of the club that Mrs Brown, 38, says has "transformed" her life.
"I don't have children so I didn't have any natural way of making my own friends, I didn't have any hobbies but all of a sudden I went to those clubs and met these lovely ladies."
The financial controller now practises once or twice a week and competes a couple of times a month.
While she admits her hobby is expensive, she says there are many routes into it, such as hen parties, and it's not just for the well off - she herself makes sacrifices to fund her passion.
"I don't go clothes shopping any more, I buy shotgun cartridges instead."
The profile of the sport is giving women shooters "visibility" for the first time, added Mrs Knowles-Lacks.
"When we started the club back in 2011 there was literally nothing for female shooters. You'd see a few ladies at clay shoots or in the kitchen on game shoots, but there weren't really any opportunities.
"It's definitely reaching people who wouldn't really have considered trying the sport before."
• None Breakfast's Holly has a go at shooting
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39480041
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Staying behind on Florida islands is 'almost like suicide' - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Hurricane Irma is on path to hit the shallow Florida Keys islands, home to 70,000 people.
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US & Canada
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Officials have warned that no areas of the low-lying Florida Keys will be safe
Concern is growing for residents in the most vulnerable areas of Florida who have not yet evacuated, as Hurricane Irma edges closer to making landfall.
Despite authorities begging residents of the Florida Keys to evacuate since Thursday, some have opted to remain.
The low-lying coral cay islands are scattered off Florida's southern coast, with a population of 70,000.
One official warned staying on the islands among storm surge warnings was "almost like suicide".
The tropical archipelago extends for more than 100 miles off the US mainland, north of Cuba.
The islands, which are mostly part of Monroe County, are linked to the Florida peninsula by a scenic highway that runs across into Miami.
In 2005 the islands avoided a direct hit from Hurricane Wilma, but the category three storm caused major ocean storm surges that left low-lying areas inundated with flood water.
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Much of the Keys have an elevation of just a few feet above sea level.
Key West, the largest island with a population of about 27,000, is extremely vulnerable to the large storm surges forecast by Hurricane Irma (though it has one of the highest points in the Keys at 18ft (5.5m) above sea level).
The area is frequently ordered to evacuate in Florida's tropical storm seasons.
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But some Florida Keys locals, known as "conches", have developed a tough attitude to riding storms out.
News on Friday that the county's first responders and emergency staff could be evacuated to the mainland prompted some to change their mind.
This photograph from Hurricane Michelle evacuations in 2001 show the area's vulnerability
Elizabeth Prieto told CBS news that she was evacuating the Keys for the first time in 51 years.
"I've been through George, I've been through Andrew, and I've been through Wilma. But I'm not staying for Irma. No, not happening," Ms Prieto said.
Even patients at local hospitals and 460 prisoners from a detention centre have been relocated.
Those opting to stay despite the mandatory evacuation order included the curator and 10 members of staff at Ernest Hemingway's famous home in Key West.
The museum is now famous for homing 54 cats, which the curator said would be too difficult to evacuate safely on the gridlocked roads.
Areas of Key West were flooded with feet of water after Hurricane Wilma in 2005
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With some still opting to remain despite the warnings, Monroe County was forced to announce the opening of four shelters of last resort in the area.
But officials stressed services and supplies would not be provided at the shelters.
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"Once a dangerous storm starts, don't dial 911 during it because nobody is going to answer," Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi said.
With Irma hours away it is unclear how many have opted to stay on the islands.
The hurricane is on course to reach the islands on Sunday morning.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41211955
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Last Night of the Proms: Stars prepare for spectacular finale - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Nina Stemme, Jason Manford and the BBC Concert Orchestra look forward to Saturday's Proms finale.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo will conduct the concert for the second year in a row
After two months and 74 concerts, the 2017 Proms season draws to a close on Saturday with the world-famous Last Night concert.
Led by Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo, the celebration will spill across the UK with events in Enniskillen, Glasgow, Swansea and London's Hyde Park.
At the Royal Albert Hall, anti-Brexit campaigners are planning to hand out thousands of EU flags to the audience.
They say the action is "in support of EU musicians" who play in the UK.
A similar attempt last year did not overwhelm the Last Night celebrations, as fans waved flags from all around the world - Germany, Australia, Denmark, Wales and Cornwall - alongside the more traditional Union flag.
Earlier this summer, the Royal Albert Hall was forced to deny it had "banned the EU flag" from concerts, following several press reports.
Performers at the Last Night include percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie (Northern Ireland), Kinks star Sir Ray Davies (Hyde Park) and Swedish soprano Nina Stemme (Royal Albert Hall).
"It's a dream I didn't dare dreaming when I was a young student," said Stemme, who will reprise her award-winning performance of Tristan and Isolde. "And now it's coming true. Who would ever have thought this?"
We spoke to the Swedish star and other stars of the Proms to find out what the spectacular evening has in store.
Composer Lotta Wennakoski gets to open the Last Night concert, with the world premiere of her latest work, Flounce.
What's the story behind the piece?
I was commissioned by the BBC - and then I was asked to give them a title before I had written anything! So I have a little place where I collect words and sentences I like - and there, I happened to have the title Flounce, which I like because it has two meanings. So I chose the title first and then I began to elaborate my material, according to those two meanings.
How do you approach writing for the Proms?
I knew it was the opening number, so I knew it shouldn't be too introverted. And I also knew it's a special concert that's characterised by lots of shorter pieces, so I thought 'OK, this is not the place for meditation', so it had to be festive and, on the other hand, careful.
Presumably once it's played, you can relax and enjoy the night.
Yes! That's the best thing! Because usually the composer cannot really listen to anything before their own piece.
Is there anything in the programme you're looking forward to?
I've printed out the words for Britain's National Anthem because I want to sing along as accurately as possible! In fact, I actually know some of it in Finnish - because when I was in school we had to sing all the anthems. I remember some of it still [she sings] "Jumala suojaa hallitsija"
I know the Soviet Union anthem in Finnish, too!
Best known as a TV presenter and stand-up comic, Jason Manford will be singing songs from the musicals at Glasgow's Proms in the Park. It's the first time he'll perform the music he's recorded for his debut album, A Different Stage.
I'm glad you chose something low-key to launch your singing career.
I know, it's crazy isn't it? When they asked me, I was like, "Er, are you sure?" But I know I can do it. Fundamentally, I wouldn't do it if I was blagging it.
So there won't be a Milli Vanilli moment?
The music stops and Alfie Boe comes out from behind a curtain? No, there'll be none of that.
I mean, I've heard of this auto-tune magic, but no-one's shown it me yet.
So what will you perform?
We're going to do Hushabye Mountain from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which I should know by now, having sung it 500 times [in the West End]. And we're doing Stars from Les Mis.
I have to say, you sing it better than Russell Crowe.
Well you know, that's not a compliment! I'm not the sort of person to complain, but he phoned that in, didn't he?
I remember I went to see the film on the night it was released because I'm a huge fan. It was like one minute past midnight, with all these Les Mis uber-fans - and they were cheering every song, until he sung that. It went so quiet in the cinema; and at the end, when Javert jumps off the bridge, the crowd cheered!
But I'm sure he's not bothered what I think.
Have you ever been to the Proms before?
No, not really. It's never really been in my social calendar. I've seen it on telly, like everyone else. I love that family vibe. I love that people bring picnics and deckchairs. I just think that's a terribly British way of doing things.
Have you checked the forecast for Glasgow?
I was going to mention that! Most of these events, you say to the organisers, "Oh, what's the dress code?" and they'll come back and say "lounge suit" or "black tie".
This time, they came back saying, "make sure you're dressed for the weather!"
Regularly described as "the greatest dramatic soprano in the world," Stemme will treat audiences to a reprise of her signature role in Tristan und Isolde.
You've played the Proms before but never the Last Night. How are you feeling?
For me, it's a dream I didn't dare dreaming when I was a young student. And now it's coming true. Who would ever have thought this? It's such an honour.
Tristan and Isolde has followed you around your whole career, ever since you performed it at Glyndebourne. What do you connect to in that character?
Everything - the psychological situations and the music. I can't wait to see what Sakari Omoro brings out of it. It changes from one performance to the next and that's the wonderful thing about music.
Did you see Juan Diego Florez's costume at last year's Last Night?
I had a little glimpse of it on YouTube. What an outfit!
Juan Diego Florez dressed as Manco Capac, governor and founder of the Inca civilization, at the 2016 Proms
Have you got something similar planned?
It's entirely up to us, so we'll see what I can come up with! A little bit of craziness, and a little bit of theatre history as well.
Ahead of the first night, pianist Igor Levit said the one thing he needed before playing was chocolate. Do you have any rituals or essentials?
At the beginning, when I sang my first Isolde, I had to have a bowl of pasta but apparently my metabolism has changed!
I tend to go into myself, save my voice. I try to look perfectly normal from the outside - but I think my friends and colleagues can see through me.
Last Night is unique and a little bit bizarre. Is there anything else that compares?
I don't think so! I haven't come across anything like it - but if someone can come up with something similar, please let me know because it's so wonderful. It's musical craziness and I love it.
I've got family coming from Sweden, and my brother-in-law is preparing them for everything. They have flags and song texts. I think it's wonderful.
For the sixth year in a row, Richard Balcombe will conduct the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Hyde Park leg of Proms In The Park; accompanying artists including Sir Bryn Terfel, Sir Ray Davies and pop group Steps.
You've done five of these now. How do you gear up for it?
It's one of the most exciting dates I do, because of the sheer size of it. When you look out and see 35,000 people looking back, it sort of stirs the soul.
How long do you get to rehearse with someone like Ray Davies?
We had two sessions with him on Wednesday, and a soundcheck in the Park on Friday - so altogether nine hours. [The orchestra will be conducted by David Temple, of the Crouch End Festival Chorus during Davies' performance].
That's not a lot of time…
Actually, in terms of what the orchestra does regularly, that's quite a decent time. For a regular Friday night performance, for example, we'll have two rehearsals before the concert goes out live on the radio. They're the finest, they read anything and just play it.
Do you ever wander out into the crowd at Hyde Park?
Yes, because my wife comes and we bring a whole group of people from our village, so during the pre-show entertainment, which starts about five, I go out and enjoy the atmosphere.
Of those five you've done before, what's been the highlight?
Getting the chance to work with artists like Sir Bryn Terfel, Joseph Calleja the tenor, Vittorio Grigolo - the absolute cream of the crop in terms of classical musicians - but also the chance to be on the stage with Kylie Minogue or Bryan Ferry or The Jacksons. It's an absolute privilege.
Is there any part of you that thinks, "I'd love to be in the Royal Albert Hall tonight?"
Haha! No, there's part of me that wishes I was there but I'm just so happy doing what I'm doing. We contribute a big part to the success of the whole evening, by linking up to the parks through the country, I'm just really happy to be doing my bit.
The Last Night of the Proms will be broadcast live on BBC One, Two and Radio 3 from 19:15 BST.
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Italy flooding kills six people in Livorno - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Four members of the same family died in the overnight flooding after heavy rainfalls.
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Europe
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Italian rescue services issued this photo of the flooded Livorno area
At least six people have been killed after heavy rainstorms and flooding in the Italian city of Livorno.
Four members of a family were killed when their basement apartment flooded. Italian newspaper Il Tirreno reports that two parents and their son died.
One girl was rescued by her grandfather, but he died when he returned to attempt for his other family members, the newspaper said.
Pictures from the city showed large areas underwater and extensive damage.
One resident, Piero Caturelli, said he had never seen such bad weather.
"It's incredible, incredible. It started around 10pm and continued until this morning. In my living memory, there's never been anything like this," he said.
The flooding caused extensive damage to property in Livorno
Mayor Filippo Nogarin told the AFP news agency that the extent of the flooding was completely unexpected, as only an orange alert was issued.
The city in Tuscany was the worst hit, but weather warnings have been issued for much of the country.
Precautions are being taken in the capital, Rome, where the highest level of alert is in place.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41219772
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Apple suffers 'major iPhone X leak' - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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The operating system of unreleased iPhones is leaked to two websites, revealing secret details.
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Technology
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Developers are still scouring the leaked code for fresh discoveries
Details of new iPhones and other forthcoming Apple devices have been revealed via an apparent leak.
Two news sites were given access to an as-yet-unreleased version of the iOS operating system.
The code refers to an iPhone X in addition to two new iPhone 8 handsets. It also details facial recognition tech that acts both as an ID system and maps users' expressions onto emojis.
One tech writer said it was the biggest leak of its kind to hit the firm.
Apple is holding a launch event at its new headquarters on Tuesday.
The California-based company takes great efforts to keep its technologies secret until its showcase events, and chief executive Tim Cook spoke in 2012 of the need to "double down" on concealment measures.
Some details about the new devices had, however, already been revealed in August, when Apple published some test code for its HomePod speakers.
But while that was thought to have been a mistake, it has been claimed that the latest leak was an intentional act of sabotage.
"As best I've been able to ascertain, these builds were available to download by anyone, but they were obscured by long, unguessable URLs [web addresses]," wrote John Gruber, a blogger known for his coverage of Apple.
"Someone within Apple leaked the list of URLs to 9to5Mac and MacRumors. I'm nearly certain this wasn't a mistake, but rather a deliberate malicious act by a rogue Apple employee."
Neither Mr Gruber nor the two Apple-related news sites have disclosed their sources.
However, the BBC has independently confirmed that an anonymous source provided the publications with links to iOS 11's golden master (GM) code that downloaded the software from Apple's own computer servers.
GM is a term commonly used by software firms to indicate that they believe a version of a product is ready for release.
"More surprises were spoiled by this leak than any leak in Apple history," Mr Gruber added.
Apple could not be reached for comment.
Apple chief Tim Cook has publicly discussed his desire to protect Apple's secrets
Several developers are still scouring the leak for new features, but discoveries so far include:
It marks the second time in three months that the company seems to have been deliberately caught out by a staff member.
In June, an hour-long recording of an internal meeting - ironically about stopping leakers - was passed onto the Outline news site.
It revealed that Apple had hired ex-workers from the US National Security Agency (NSA), FBI and Secret Service to help catch tattletales.
"I have faith deep in my soul that if we hire smart people they're gonna think about this, they're gonna understand this, and ultimately they're gonna do the right thing, and that's to keep their mouth shut," one senior Apple executive was heard to say.
Apple's mobile devices account for the bulk of its profits
One company watcher said that the scale of the leak meant Tuesday's launch had lost some of its power to surprise.
"There will be an unbelievable effort within Apple to determine how this happened and I don't envy the person that did it because there will be no forgiveness for it," commented Ben Wood from the tech consultancy CCS Insight.
But he added that it was unlikely to affect sales or interest in the new devices.
"For other companies this might have huge impact on the effectiveness of their grand official launches, but for Apple there is such insatiable demand for even the smallest details and such an obsessive fan-following of its products that even a very detailed leak will do little to dampen the enthusiasm of bloggers and others to report its news," he said.
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Hurricane Irma: Survivors on Tortola want more UK help - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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BBC correspondents report from the British Virgin Islands, which were ravaged by Hurricane Irma.
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UK
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Hurricane Irma left a path of destruction in the Virgin Islands
The BBC's Paul Blake and Laura Bicker report from the British Virgin Islands, where Hurricane Irma's force has destroyed communities, and left at least five people dead.
The flight into the island of Tortola should feature sweeping views of lush green hillsides and translucent-blue bays. Today it looks like the victim of a bomb blast.
On approach to the airport on Saturday, boats could be seen piled on top of one another like children's toys. Others laid lop-sided on dry ground or semi-submerged offshore.
A car ride to the governor's office gave a street-level view of the destruction. Many neighbourhoods have been flattened, their residents can be seen trying to cook and clean amidst the rubble.
Hill sides were strewn with debris and dotted by houses disembowelled by the storms powerful winds.
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Around them, the earth looked scorched - not by fire, but by wind and water that has ripped away vegetation.
Power lines snaked across roads while residents drove over them in vehicles with blown-out windows.
Residents recalled the storm with horror, with many believing that the hurricane had spun off tornadoes, which then cut through buildings like a jigsaw.
As they tried to assess the damage, many asked with trepidation about Hurricane Jose - a smaller storm loosely following Irma's path - and whether it was coming their way.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Hurricane Irma: 'My roof blew off - I lost everything'
We met one survivor who was still trying to comprehend what had happened to his home. Arron Glasgow says he and his brother were fighting to keep the wind out when the roof suddenly blew off.
Standing in what used to be the family's living room, he says "I've lost everything. What you see me have on - perhaps one other shirt - is what I have."
Flipped cars and boats in the street meant driving was slow and treacherous.
Downed trees and power poles were buttressed by flimsy boards so that cars passed underneath.
With stagnant water pooling in the streets and a decimated utility system, there is now a concern that disease and other public health threats could emerge.
There is a shortage of basic supplies such as gasoline, food and water
Some residents have criticised the UK government's response as "pathetic and slow". British troops have now arrived to help.
The Royal Engineers and Commandos co-ordinated by Joint Force Headquarters have retrofitted the arrivals lounge into something of a home base, where they are organising security and recovery operations.
Mid-afternoon on Saturday, those operations came into full swing with the arrival of a Royal Air Force A400M transport aircraft. As the massive prop plane came to a halt, its rear hatch cracked open.
Troops arrived on the island of Tortola on Saturday
British troops are using Tortola's airport arrivals lounge as a home base
Dozens of soldiers jogged out with gear that is being used to establish a sort of base of operations inside the arrivals lounge.
Over the coming days they'll be working to reinstate law and order on the island and help jump-start the recovery process.
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At the governor's mansion, British soldiers were working to establish satellite communications with the outside world, while Brigadier John Ridge was liaising with governor Gus Jaspert about what operations needed to be prioritised.
At a local police station - we are told - British Army commandos are working with officers to try and re-establish control after reports of looting. For his part, the governor has imposed an overnight curfew to keep criminality at bay.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41218817
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How big game hunting is dividing southern Africa - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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Why has Botswana banned hunting, unlike its neighbours which still embrace it?
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Africa
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Drifting down the Zambezi in Zimbabwe, I overheard two American men swapping hunting stories.
"First shot got him in the shoulder," a white man in his late sixties explained to his friend. "Second hit him right in the side of the head!" Pointing at his temple, he passed his phone with a picture. The animal in question was a dead crocodile.
Crocodiles are easy to find on this part of the Zambezi: lying in the sun on the banks of the river, boats can float just a few feet away. And given that they are motionless for most of the time, not hard to shoot, I imagine.
The second American showed his pal a picture of a Cape Buffalo he had killed, and planned to have shoulder mounted. He complained he couldn't afford the $19,000 (£14,500) Zimbabwe demands for the licence to kill an elephant. His buffalo cost him $8,000 (£6,100).
"Are they saying an elephant is worth more than two buffalo?" he lamented. "I saw hundreds of elephants today. Far too many. You have to see it here to realise. In California they are saying these animals are endangered!"
The first man's wife then talked of the thrill she gets at the kill, discussing how different calibres of bullet explode the vital organs of African wildlife. I left to look at the hippos watching from the river.
But, curiously, I have felt obliged to consider the ethics of big game hunting at home in London in the last few months.
I'm an Arsenal fan, and it recently emerged that my team's owner, American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke, had launched a TV channel in the UK featuring lion and elephant hunting.
The corporate values of family brand Arsenal do not sit easily with pay-to-view videos of hunters shooting animals for fun, and after a couple of days of hostile publicity, Kroenke ordered his channel to stop showing the killing of some big game.
But both sides in the hunting debate claim they are the true guardians of animal welfare.
Supporters of African trophy hunting, including some in very high places - two of President Trump's sons are avid big game hunters - argue that a ban on hunting would harm wildlife and local people.
It would stop much needed revenue reaching some of Africa's poorest communities, discourage conservation and cut funds for wildlife management that would make it easier for poachers to operate, they say.
Opponents counter that little of the profit from trophy hunting money ends up in the communities where it takes place. They say poachers use legal hunting as cover for their illegal activities, and argue that there are more efficient and humane ways to support the welfare of southern Africa's animals and people.
I was travelling in Zimbabwe and neighbouring Botswana last month - two countries with opposing policies towards big game hunters. Hunting is still big business in Zimbabwe, as the rich Americans on the Zambezi demonstrate, but since 2014 it has been completely banned in Botswana.
The difference in approach between Botswana and its neighbours - South Africa, Namibia and Zambia also allow trophy hunting - was brought dramatically home to me in the country's glorious Chobe National Park.
In the late afternoon, I watched a herd of around 600 Cape Buffalo snake its way down to the Chobe River that marks the boundary with Namibia. It was mesmerising to see these majestic animals following each other, nose to tail, across the water.
Cape Buffalo cross the Chobe River from Botswana into Namibia where hunters are waiting
Then my guide pointed out two vehicles on the horizon, across the river. "Hunters," he explained, simply. Through the binoculars we could see six men with rifles. Apparently oblivious to the risk, the buffalo continued to cross the border towards them. Later, shots would be heard.
In a move interpreted as a direct challenge to the wildlife policies of other southern African nations, Botswana's President Ian Khama is marching his country towards a new model of African tourism: "low impact/high value".
Botswana believes that by protecting its animals and minimising humankind's footprint on the natural world, it can turn the country into an exclusive tourist destination that brings in far more than it loses from the ban on hunting.
Botswana is home to more than a third of Africa's dwindling elephant population, and - since the hunting ban - these intelligent animals have increasingly sought refuge there.
The concentration of elephants is a huge draw for tourists but, as predicted by opponents of the ban, it is also a huge temptation for less scrupulous hunters and poachers.
Botswana's answer is to make the country a hostile environment for those who want to harm the wildlife.
Military bases have been moved to the borders of the national parks. Armed patrols on foot and in the air are ready, if necessary, to kill people coming to kill animals. Some poachers have been shot dead.
The hunting ban doesn't just apply to rich trophy hunters.
It also limits or outlaws the shooting of game by local people for food or to protect crops and livestock. The Botswana government believes if there is any legal shooting of animals, the big poaching syndicates and illegal hunting operations will use that as cover for their activities.
Farmer Chibeya Longwani shows me his bucket of tabasco chillies
In Mabele village, close to the Namibian border, I watched a man mixing an extraordinary cocktail: crushed tabasco chillies, elephant dung and engine oil. With a flourish he set the contents on fire and stood back to admire his handiwork.
"That is supposed to stop an elephant trampling my crops," Chibeya Longwani told me, pointing at the ash in the tin.
He spread it along the sides of his field, beside plastic chairs, broken electric fans and beer crates, as instructed by the Ministry of Agriculture.
"They said that bees stop elephants too," Mr Longwani said. "But they don't have the boxes at the moment." His frustration was obvious.
As well as advice on deterring elephants, farmers can claim compensation from the government if wild game does damage property. But if they kill the animals, they are likely to get nothing.
Plastic refuse is used to try and deter elephants from farmland
To police the new approach, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks has recruited an army of Special Wildlife Scouts, operating in rural villages. Their job, for example, includes ensuring families don't take more than the five guinea fowl they are allowed each day, and that farmers are honest in their compensation claims.
It is a nationwide exercise in social engineering - trying to change the ancient relationship between the rural population and the wild animals around them. The government believes the long-term rewards justify the rules. Many farmers remain unconvinced.
For those tourists coming to Botswana with cameras rather than guns though, the policies have created an utterly captivating wild landscape teeming with amazing African animals and birds. And "elite travellers" are prepared to pay big money for the privilege of seeing it.
During the high season, a single room in one of the most exclusive lodges on the Okovango Delta can cost more than $5,000 (£3,830) a night, equivalent to the price of a Namibian licence to shoot a single leopard.
Many tourist lodge operators work in partnership with local villages. I encountered one lodge where 10% of the business turnover will soon go to the community nearby. Villagers often have a direct say in development plans.
There was a huge backlash after the much-loved Zimbabwean lion Cecil was killed in 2015
International tourism is expected to bring in $210m (£160m) to Botswana this year, rising to $370m (£280) by 2021 - more than trophy hunters spend across the whole of southern Africa.
Many in Zimbabwe, by contrast, see hunting as an inextricable part of Africa's cultural heritage, believing that, if done sustainably and responsibly, it can be a valuable addition to the region's economy and wildlife management.
The walking guides who take tourists into the bush there aren't allowed to operate until they have passed a state exam that includes shooting an elephant and a buffalo. I asked one guide how he had felt about doing it. "It depends if you like hunting," was his enigmatic reply.
The Zimbabwean government argues that 75% of proceeds from trophy hunting goes towards wildlife preservation and anti-poaching initiatives.
The recent Great Elephant Census project suggests Zimbabwe's elephant population has fallen 11% in a decade, with poaching and illegal hunting threatening to wipe out whole herds in parts of the country.
The killing of Cecil the lion by an American trophy hunter just outside Zimbabwe's protected Hwange National Park area in 2015 made headline news around the world.
The furore prompted a number of airlines to ban the transport of "trophies" from Africa, another sign of how toxic hunting has become for international brands.
Three years after introducing its hunting ban, Botswana is so far holding firm, despite huge pressure from other southern African nations.
It is a critical time for the policy. Any stumble, and the hunters are waiting on the horizon.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-41163520
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Public sector pay cap to be lifted for police and prison officers - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Ministers are set to accept a pay review recommendation, paving the way for other public workers.
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UK Politics
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The government is to lift the 1% public sector pay cap for the first time for both police and prison officers, the BBC understands.
Ministers are expected to accept recommendations for higher pay rises this week and also to pave the way for similar increases in other sectors.
Unions, the opposition, and some Tories are calling for the cap to be lifted.
But there are warnings that police forces have budgeted for a 1% rise and without extra money, jobs are at risk.
The BBC's home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said that while forces were welcoming reports of a pay rise, there were widespread concerns that it would put a huge strain on them if extra resources were not found.
The West Midlands Police and Crime commissioner has warned that, in such a scenario, 80 jobs would be lost for every 1% rise above the current cap.
"If the government do not put aside money to fund the pay increase, PCCs will be left with large bills and have no other option other than to reduce officer and staff numbers," Labour's David Jamieson said.
"The government must act quickly to ensure that its pay cap lifting is not a hollow gesture."
Public sector pay was frozen for two years in 2010, except for those earning less than £21,000 a year, and since 2013, rises have been capped at 1% - below the rate of inflation.
The higher increases expected this week for police and prison officers are based on the recommendations of independent pay review bodies, with recruitment and retention problems being cited in the case of prison officers.
The BBC understands the Treasury will then issue guidance on next year's pay round, which is likely to see the cap eased in other areas where there are similar problems, such as teaching and nursing.
Nurses protested about the pay cap at Westminster last week
Most - though not all - pay review bodies this year identified recruitment and retention problems, but decided to take note of government policy on wage restraint so they didn't recommend rises above an average of 1%.
But the police and prison officers review bodies, in as yet unpublished reports, did call for increases above 1% this summer, and the government has been mulling over how to handle a controversial issue.
This week it will agree to the recommendations, though there may be some creativity over how the pay awards are implemented.
And the government would also say that some public sector workers have enjoyed rises above 1% through promotion or pay increments.
But now, more widely, the Treasury is expected to tell other pay bodies - covering teachers and NHS staff for example - that they can take recruitment and retention difficulties into account when recommending next year's increases.
So not lifting of the pay cap across the board - which Labour is calling for - but this could be, as the TUC put it, a crack in the ice of pay restraint.
It comes as MPs are set to vote on public sector pay on Wednesday.
Labour's health spokesman Jon Ashworth urged Conservative MPs who "sincerely" believe the public sector pay cap should go to vote with his party during its Opposition Day debate, which would not be binding on the government.
He told Sky News: "We keep getting briefings in newspapers and suggestions that the government is sympathetic and wants to do something, and 'oh, it's terrible and we accept that but let's see where we get to'."
But the TUC's Frances O'Grady said the government should not favour some public service workers over others - and speaking at the TUC conference in Brighton, she said nurses, paramedics and fire fighters "are very angry", adding that seven years was "a long time for anyone to manage" with pay restraint.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We're very clear that public service workers are a team. Pay shouldn't be a popularity contest. We know that front-line workers, so-called, depend on the whole team so we want a pay rise across the board."
The Public and Commercial Services union is to ballot its members on industrial action over the cap.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said raising pay in line with inflation for the next three or four years would cost £6bn to £7bn more than continuing with the current policy.
During last week's Prime Minister's Questions, Theresa May said public sector workers were doing a vital job in often harrowing circumstances.
She added that the government would wait for the publication of the police and prison officers' pay review bodies' reports before deciding its policy framework for 2018-2019.
• None Public sector pay: Will they or won't they?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41218283
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Jurassic Coast open-top bus tours axed over 'verbal abuse' - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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Tours of the Jurassic Coast are ending because of "hostility" from residents, a bus company says.
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England
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The service has been running since 2015
An open-top bus service has been axed because of "hostility and tirades" from residents, its operator says.
Drivers of the Jurassic Mule service, on the Devon and Dorset coast, have been verbally abused and a bus depot entrance was "deliberately blocked".
The Mendip Mule Motorbus service runs through Beer, Colyton and Seaton in Devon, and on to Lyme Regis and Charmouth in Dorset.
The operator said buses will be withdrawn from service later.
It has been running since 2015 and employs 25 part-time staff.
Issues over parking had arisen in Seaton and cars had been badly parked, intentionally, across Colyton bus depot's entrance, owner Derek Gawn said.
"I do realise that 99% of people do support us, but I can no longer cope with the 1%," said Mr Gawn.
He said the company used a bus park in Seaton, provided by East Devon District Council for use by buses and coaches on a pay-and-display basis.
"It isn't for the bus drivers to be shouted at by residents who don't welcome the facility," Mr Gawn continued.
"[And it's] not a particularly good welcome for the much-needed tourists bringing their spending to the town."
East Devon District Council said it was a matter for Seaton Town Council, which has not responded to a BBC request for comment.
"We have also experienced people deliberately parking their cars badly on the approach to our depot at Colyton Station in an attempt to make access difficult," Mr Gawn added.
Some people have taken to social media in support of the service.
On Facebook, Clare Dare said: "I think by moving next to a bus park there is a pretty good indication that there may possibly be a bus or 2 in there at some point!!!"
Becky Perry added: "Such a shame my little boys loved their adventure on the open top bus this summer!"
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41199363
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Alcohol-free: Stealth drinking helping people give up alcohol - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Amie drank 30 pints a weekend to "keep up with the boys" - but now she has had no alcohol for 16 months.
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Health
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Jennifer, Kirsty, Kate and Amie (from left) drink mocktails and an alcohol-free beer
Amie used to drink 30 pints in a weekend to "keep up with the boys".
"I could neck three bottles of wine and not think about it," said the 38-year-old from Derbyshire.
Her drinking was so extreme that she contemplated suicide: "I thought well, stuff's got to change."
For Jennifer, it caused her relationship with her partner to break down: "I was like a different person when I was drinking - I had blackouts," she said.
A report last year found women are now almost on a par with men when it comes to problematic drinking.
Both Amie and Jennifer had had enough of hangovers - and decided to give up alcohol.
They are doing it with the help of one programme designed to help people stop drinking called One Year No Beer, a scheme people pay to join which gives them strategies to help them to go alcohol-free.
One tactic is known as stealth drinking, where people pretend their non-alcoholic drink is alcohol, for example by getting a non-alcoholic beer in a pint glass topped up with lemonade.
One Year No Beer has seen a 10-fold increase in membership this year alone.
The alcohol-free drinks market is booming too.
In only five years, the amount of low or alcohol-free beer sold in the UK has risen by nearly 50%.
And the world's first alcohol-free spirit Seedlip launched 21 months ago. In 12 months, it experienced a 1,000% rise in sales.
There are now clubs for people who want to get together without alcohol and the UK's first alcohol-free drinking festival was held in London last month.
The alcohol-free drinks market is booming as increasing numbers choose to give up alcohol
The clubs and the festival want to cater for the increasing number of Britons choosing to give up drink.
A report by the Office for National Statistics in May found that just under 60% of those surveyed had had an alcoholic drink in the past week - the lowest rate since the survey began in 2005.
Another survey from 2015 found that one in four British people were thinking of cutting down their drinking or at least trying to reduce it.
Still, many who have made the change complain that there are few options in traditional pubs other than sugary soft drinks.
Prof Luc Bovens, an expert in public health at London School of Economics, has made a number of recommendations to British pubs aimed at "nudging" people away from alcohol.
"The road to hangovers is often paved with good intentions, but by tinkering with the British pub's choice architecture we may be able to help some people," he wrote.
He suggested that pubs provide a no-alcohol or low-alcohol beer on tap and added: "For many people, there is a distinct feeling of alienation in toasting proper pints with a sad little bottle."
A spokesman for the British Beer & Pub Association said: "No-alcohol beers are bottled because the sales volume typically wouldn't support a keg option.
"Our members have a good track record. Within the beer category, we've seen brewers remove 1.3 billion units from the market by the drinks industry as part of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, through producing low strength, or no strength options and reducing the strength of existing products."
Jennifer said one of the biggest challenges comes from friends: "It's actually seen as bad or weird not drinking. It's like you're a minority, people look at you like you're an absolute weirdo."
But after 90 days of not drinking, her relationship with her partner is back on track and her life has improved: "Getting up on a Monday is not a problem. I can bounce out of bed."
Meanwhile for Amie, who has been alcohol-free for 16 months, the benefits have been vast: "I lost four stone. I train six days a week. And everything I want to do, I can go and do."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41188917
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North Korea crisis: What will Russia do? - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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President Putin has criticised North Korea's missile tests, but shares the country's anti-US sentiments.
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Europe
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Russian television has broadcast a series of glowing reports on everyday life in North Korea
"It smells of freshness, and of our deep respect for our leader," the woman declared, smiling to the Russian TV camera.
A North Korean, she'd just sniffed a big red flower named after the country's former leader Kim Jong-il.
Part of a series of glowing reports on everyday life in the secretive state, covering topics from fashion to food, the moment was broadcast to millions of Russians watching state television over their breakfast.
The coverage suggested Russia was taking a rather different approach over North Korea's nuclear programme and its missile tests, two weeks after Donald Trump tweeted that the US military was "locked and loaded", primed to respond with what he called "military solutions".
Vladimir Putin has underlined those differences many times this week, warning against whipping up "military hysteria", and insisting that North Koreans would rather "eat grass" under more sanctions, than give up their weapons programme.
And while he has criticised recent missile tests as "provocative", he's also taken pains to explain them.
President Putin argues North Korea has developed its nuclear capability in self-defence
North Koreans remember the 2003 US invasion of Iraq over Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons programme, Mr Putin reasoned.
So the country sees becoming a nuclear state as its only sure-fire guarantee of self-defence.
"Russia believes that Pyongyang's aim is not to bomb anyone, that its [nuclear programme] is a deterrent against South Korea and the US," explains Alexander Gabuev of the Moscow Carnegie Centre.
"Russia understands that because it is just as paranoid about American 'democracy promotion' as North Korea is," he adds.
Putin - pictured with Kim Jong-il in 2002 - wrote off most of North Korea's Soviet-era debt
Personal experience is perhaps also partly why Russia - under US sanctions itself - opposes imposing further penalties on Pyongyang to halt its nuclear ambitions.
The US wants the international community to apply more economic pressure, including a full energy embargo and a ban on hiring North Korean labourers.
"What are we going to do? Stop all energy exports so people freeze and ambulances have no fuel to reach the sick?" asks Georgy Toloraya, a Russian diplomat who spent many years in North Korea.
He says Russia's position is motivated by a principle, rather than concern over lost trade.
President Putin himself described energy exports to its neighbour as "practically zero", though some 30,000 North Koreans are employed in logging and construction in Russia's Far East.
They are essentially hired out by the state which pockets most of their pay.
"It's not about whether Russia has any leverage. The question is why should we use that?" Mr Toloraya asks.
"Our whole concept does not allow for the isolation and strangulation of North Korea, and the weakening of the regime," he explains.
Like China, Russia shares a border with North Korea and sees it as a buffer against South Korea, a political and military ally of the US.
Moscow and Beijing have presented their own road map for resolving the conflict.
As a first step, it calls for a joint freeze of Pyongyang's missile tests - and US and South Korean military exercises. The next step would be bringing all sides together for talks.
Some suggest that strategy is more about posturing than peace: that Russia wants to insert itself into another global crisis.
"Russia knows that plan won't fly, but it makes the US look bad," Alexander Gabuev argues. "At least China and Russia have a peaceful programme, whereas the US president is just tweeting about fire and fury."
He believes Moscow's leverage with Pyongyang these days is minimal, despite years of Soviet support for the regime.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) in Vladivostok, which felt the tremors from Pyongyang's latest missile test
But this week, following a trip to China, President Putin hosted the leaders of South Korea and Japan at an economic forum in eastern Russia, also attended by a delegation from North Korea.
They were in Vladivostok, which felt the tremors from Pyongyang's latest missile test.
"It's in our interests to have a peaceful, stable neighbour," Georgy Toloraya argues.
"As for North Korea, Russia is the least hostile of all the great powers involved in resolving this crisis," he says, insisting that historic ties mean Russia still knows "many people" who matter there.
A guard at the Tumangan border crossing between Russia and North Korea
A few years back, President Putin wrote off most of North Korea's Soviet-era debt in a major goodwill gesture.
Recent efforts to improve ties have included a ferry service to the peninsula, and even a North Korean tourism agency in Moscow, presumably banking on a rush of visitors keen to sniff flowers named after its leaders.
The ferry has since been suspended due to lack of demand.
All this is unfolding as Russia's relations with Washington have plummeted amid allegations of interference in the US elections, sanctions and tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions.
The US wants to target the personal assets of North Korean President Kim Jong-un
That gives Moscow little incentive to back the US against Pyongyang. It knows the power to reward Russia by lifting sanctions now lies with a hostile US Congress.
Meanwhile, Russian ties with China have been increasing in importance.
So the two continue to push for talks as the best way to prevent an accidental escalation of the Korean crisis into actual conflict.
"The Americans need to make contact [with Pyongyang] and the sooner the better. We can pass information on, if they want," says Mr Toloraya.
"Talks can go on for 10 or 20 years if necessary. But for that time we would have stability, not this creep towards war."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41172488
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More landmarks to show you're nearly home - BBC News
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2017-09-10
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From twisty towers to tree-topped tors - the English landmarks that signify a journey's end.
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England
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Long journeys can seem even more tedious when they're accompanied by the kids in the back seat asking "are we nearly there yet?" every few miles. So it can be something of a relief when a familiar landmark comes into view, indicating the comforts of home are just around the corner.
From tree-topped tors to man-made monoliths, people shared with BBC News their particular sights - and sites - that means the trip is nearing its end.
Kirsten Reeve with her son Archie and their "coming home tree"
A solitary tree stands atop the natural knoll, which rises roughly 20m above the Severn Valley. Also known as the Crookbarrow Hill, the mound is a registered monument with Historic England as the site of a mediaeval fortification.
More importantly to some, though, the tree is a clear sign to those on the M5 that junction 7 - Worcester South - is drawing near.
Kirsten Reeves has nominated The Tump as her family's "coming home tree".
"It is very special to our family. I grew up in Worcester so seeing the tree as we travelled home from holidays on the M5 was always a very exciting moment and symbolised that just 10 minutes of the journey were left.
"After moving away for many years I decided to move 'home' when my husband and I started our family as he was in the navy and spent a long time away. Our two children now love seeing the coming home tree too and always spend the last part of our journeys trying to be the first one to spot it as it emerges.
"My husband has spent a lot of time at sea and after completing an 11-month deployment away from home said that the best thing ever was seeing that tree and knowing he was finally home."
For Nick Mitchell the Ouse Valley viaduct at Balcombe always marks his return from London to Sussex by train.
He tells the BBC: "I know we are back in the countryside as we cross the magnificent structure.
"As the train soars over the beautiful Ouse Valley, passengers often look up from their newspapers and electronic devices to gaze out over the woods and fields.
"When there's heavy mist or it's dark, it feels like we are flying as you can't see the ground at all."
The National Lift Tower is a research facility built to test - you've guessed it - lifts.
The 127m (418ft) tall structure houses six lift shafts of varying heights, one of which is a high-speed shaft with a (theoretical) maximum speed of 10m/s (22mph).
It rose to wider fame when Sir Terry Wogan lampooned it on his BBC Radio 2 programme, dubbing it the "Northampton lighthouse". He even joked the east coast was eroding so quickly that the government had commissioned the "lighthouse" ready for Northampton's new coastal location.
He's quoted as saying: "I don't think it was looked on in an architectural sense by my listeners - they're a bit too dim - we just took it for what it was: a lighthouse in the middle of nowhere."
According to Christopher Watts, for whom it is the landmark that shows he's nearly home, it is known as "Terry Wogan's lighthouse".
"I also have a personal interest as l worked on it for six months during the construction, installing a lot of the lift equipment," Mr Watts says.
Sarah Dev-Sherman and her children enjoy spotting the tower on their way to visit family
The Church Langley Water Tower is a conspicuous landmark perched high above and on the west side of the M11.
Sarah Dev-Sherman, originally from Essex but now living in Norfolk, says whenever she and her children visit family "there is always a race with the kids to see who can see the Church Langley water tower first.
"When we see it, it means we're nearly there after a long time in the car. It's such an iconic landmark you cannot fail to notice it."
Sue Simmons from Cambridge also lists it as her favourite sign that home is around the corner. "We always shout 'home cone!' when we see it. People think we're strange, but it is now a family tradition."
The Penshaw Monument was built in 1844 in memory of John George Lambton, the first Earl of Durham. He was a reforming Whig politician with the nickname "Radical Jack" who inherited vast wealth, created by the coalmining interests on his family's estates, when he was only five.
He then became known as "Jog Along Jack" after saying "a gentleman could jog along comfortably on £40,000 a year".
For local boy Richard Speding, who has lived in London for more than 30 years, the Penshaw (pronounced Pen-sher) Monument is the first thing he looks for when leaving the A1 and joining the A690.
"It's then I know I'm only minutes from the village I was brought up in. If I have the time I will visit and climb up to the top and survey my hometown."
Hidden inside one of the towers is a secret passage which goes to the top of the 20m (66ft) structure - the National Trust opens the winding staircase to the public between Good Friday and the end of September.
Its towering profile is one of the symbols on the badge of Sunderland Football Club.
Dream, a statue of the elongated head of a nine-year-old girl is located on the summit of the former Sutton Manor Colliery in St Helens, Merseyside, midway between Liverpool and Manchester.
It was created by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa after the group of former miners who made up the commissioning committee were unhappy with his first proposal - a statue of a mining lamp. They rejected the proposal and asked for something more "present day and progressive".
It's a homecoming landmark for Maeve and Maurice Harris, who remember the topping off ceremony in 2009 as it was on the same day as the birth of their first grandchild.
"For that reason, we always call her "Your Grace" after our granddaughter Gracie. She's a special reminder of a special time and always makes us smile on the way back to Warrington."
The Parish Church of St Mary and All Saints has a vision-bendingly twisty spire, which signifies "home" for John Merry. He says local lore has it that the devil or a witch caused the twist when being expelled from the area.
The spire is made of wood and clad in lead. It's thought the lean on the tower is accidental and arose from the use of unseasoned timber and inexperienced craftsmen, while the twist is a deliberate design.
The church survived underground activities of both coalmining and railway works, as well as two world wars, but nearly succumbed to fire in 1961.
This story was inspired by responses to How do you know when you're nearly home?
• None The landmarks that mean you're nearly home
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41124879
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Hoover Dam: Ruthin man fined for stag do swim - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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An "adrenaline junkie" from Wales says he has no regrets about the swim that cost him £250.
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North East Wales
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An "adrenalin junkie" from north Wales has been fined by police in America after swimming across the Colorado River at the Hoover Dam.
Arron Hughes, 28, was on a stag do when he took a dip at the dam on the Arizona-Nevada border near Las Vegas.
The forklift driver from Ruthin, Denbighshire, was arrested at the scene and fined $330 (£250).
"We got there and it was absolutely roasting. I thought to myself 'I'm going in for a dip'," he said.
Turbines close to where Mr Hughes was swimming were not on when he was in the water on 8 August.
"The plan was just to go for a little dip at the start and then I thought 'I can make this' so I swam across, I made it from Arizona to Nevada," he said.
"I don't have any regrets. I even have a tattoo saying 'no regrets', that's the type of person I am."
His ticket issued by Nevada police lists the offence as: "Jumping, diving, swimming from dam's spillways or other structures."
Mr Hughes said he did not realise swimming at the landmark was an offence as he did not see any signs.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-41227267
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Last Night of the Proms ends with rallying cry for classical music - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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Conductor Sakari Oramo says the "demise of classical music" has been exaggerated, as the Proms close.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Flags of all varieties were seen at the Royal Albert Hall
The 2017 Proms season has ended with a rallying cry for the future of classical music.
"For many decades we have heard about the imminent demise of classical music," said conductor Sakari Oramo.
"But look," he said, surveying the Royal Albert Hall, "at this."
"Classical music is going to be around for a very long time," he added, praising Proms co-founder Sir Henry Wood, "whose vision of access to music for everyone continues to inspire us."
As is tradition, the audience set off party poppers, honked hooters, danced and wept melodramatically during Sir Henry's medley of British sea songs.
Prom-goers also waved the traditional Union flags - but that act has become politicised over the last two years.
Following 2016's referendum, anti-Brexit campaigners have distributed EU flags to the audience as they arrive.
A spokesman for EU Flags Proms Team told The Telegraph: "During the Age of Enlightenment, Mozart, Handel and Bach all lived and worked for part of their lives in London.
"Presumably under the Brexit dark ages, they would not be welcome."
Leave campaigners, including Nigel Farage, criticised the move and called for a counter-campaign.
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The EU emblem was certainly more prominent this year than last - with one Prommer wearing a blue suit decorated with yellow stars.
But there were dozens of nations represented, with flags from Finland, Bulgaria, Wales and St Kitts and Nevis all on display.
And the flag that received most reaction on social media was part of the BBC Symphony Chorus - where a Sikh tenor wore a red, white and blue turban.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The 2017 Proms in just four minutes
Sir Henry established the Proms in 1895, in conjunction with theatre impresario Robert Newman and Dr George Cathcart, a Harley Street throat specialist who put up the money for the first season in 1895.
Initially the sole conductor and musical director, he presided over more than 5,000 promenade concerts, and premiered works by Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and Mahler, amongst others.
In an interview from 1941, broadcast on Radio 3 during Saturday's Last Night celebrations, he echoed the sentiments expressed by Oramo.
"They said there wasn't the public for great music 47 years ago. The critics wagged their heads.
"But Robert Newman said we'd make a public and we did. It was a bold venture in 1895 [but] it worked."
Sir Henry Wood conducting one of his 5,000 Proms concerts
This year's Proms season - the 123rd - has seen 80 orchestras and ensembles performing more than 400 pieces of music, including 30 premieres, over eight weeks.
Saturday's Last Night wrapped up the season in traditional good spirits, with Swedish soprano Nina Stemme dressing up as a Valkyrie to deliver Rule Britannia.
The concert opened with a premiere of Flounce, a spritely new work by Finnish composer Lotta Wennakoski, whose staccato strings and sweeping crescendos resembled one of Bernard Hermann's soundtracks for Alfred Hitchcock.
Stemme later brought the audience to tears with a sublime performance of the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.
Across the UK, fans joined in the fun with Proms in the Park concerts in Enniskillen, Swansea, Glasgow and London's Hyde Park.
Mica Paris braved the Welsh rain to deliver an impassioned tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, while the London audience were treated to Bryn Terfel lugging around milk churns as he performed If I Were a Rich Man from Fiddler on the Roof.
In Northern Ireland, Dame Evelyn Glennie delivered an eye-wateringly brisk performance of Flight of the Bumblebee; while Hyde Park was headlined by Kinks legend Sir Ray Davies.
"I don't know anywhere else in the world where you have something like this," marvelled Nina Stemme ahead of her performance.
"I think we should do more concerts with this kind of participation, in various forms, from the audience."
The 2017 Proms welcomed nearly 300,000 concert-goers through the doors of the Royal Albert Hall, with one in five purchasing standing tickets which are sold on the day for £6.
More than 35,500 tickets were bought by people attending the Proms for the first time and 10,000 under-18s attended concerts across the season.
The BBC Proms will return on 13 July, 2018.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41216508
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Brexit: EU repeal bill wins first Commons vote - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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The EU Withdrawal Bill passes its first parliamentary test but will face more attempts to change it.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The moment the government's attempt to take the UK out of EU law passed its first parliamentary test
The government's bid to extract the UK from EU law in time for Brexit has passed its first parliamentary test.
MPs backed the EU Withdrawal Bill by 326 votes to 290 despite critics warning that it represented a "power grab" by ministers.
The bill, which will end the supremacy of EU law in the UK, now moves onto its next parliamentary stage.
Ministers sought to reassure MPs by considering calls for safeguards over their use of new powers.
Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed the Commons vote in the early hours of Tuesday morning, saying the bill offered "certainty and clarity" - but Labour described it as an "affront to parliamentary democracy".
Seven Labour MPs defied Jeremy Corbyn's order to oppose the bill - Ronnie Campbell, Frank Field, Kate Hoey, Kelvin Hopkins, John Mann, Dennis Skinner and Graham Stringer. No Conservatives voted against it.
Having cleared the second reading stage, the bill will now face more attempts to change it with MPs, including several senior Conservative backbenchers, publishing a proposed 157 amendments, covering 59 pages.
Previously referred to as the Great Repeal Bill, the EU Withdrawal Bill overturns the 1972 European Communities Act which took the UK into the then European Economic Community.
It will also convert all existing EU laws into UK law, to ensure there are no gaps in legislation on Brexit day.
Critics' concerns centre on ministers giving themselves the power to make changes to laws during this process without consulting MPs.
The government says it needs to be able to make minor technical changes to ensure a smooth transition, but fears were raised that ministers were getting sweeping powers to avoid parliamentary scrutiny.
More than 100 MPs had their say during the two-day second reading debate.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "This isn't the end of this bill, just one very early stage"
Labour, which denounced the "vague offers" of concessions, mostly voted against the bill.
Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said the bill was a "naked power grab" by the government, adding that "this is a deeply disappointing result".
He said: "Labour will seek to amend and remove the worst aspects from the bill but the flaws are so fundamental it's hard to see how this could ever be made fit for purpose."
Lib Dem Brexit spokesman Tom Brake said MPs who backed the bill should feel "ashamed".
"This is a dark day for the mother of parliaments," he added.
Summing up the Commons debate, Justice Secretary David Lidington had said some criticism had been "exaggerated up to and beyond the point of hyperbole".
He said the bill would "enable us to have a coherent and functioning statute book" on the day the UK leaves the EU.
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said Conservative MPs concerned about the legislation had already tabled a number of amendments to "remove the excesses of the bill" and to "make considerable improvements".
These include limiting the use of delegated powers, giving Parliament the "final say" on the EU withdrawal agreement and restoring the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
One MP told the BBC: "We hope MPs from all parties who share our concerns and aims to make the bill fit for the purpose of delivering a smooth Brexit will add their names."
SNP MPs, who also voted against the bill, said powers over devolved issues would be seized by Westminster as they were returned from Brussels.
But Mr Lidington denied this, predicting it would result in a "significant increase" in the powers exercised by the devolved administrations.
The bill will now receive line-by-line scrutiny in its committee stage.
MPs voted in favour of the government's proposed timetable for debating legislation - by 318 votes to 301 - guaranteeing 64 hours of debate over eight days.
But Mr Lidington said the government was "willing to consider" extending the allocated time.
The Bill's committee stage will take place when MPs return to parliament after their party conferences.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41235522
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Holby City star John Michie's daughter dies at Bestival - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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A man is arrested on suspicion of murdering the 25-year-old daughter of actor John Michie.
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England
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Louella Michie's body was discovered in a wooded area on the edge of the Bestival site
A woman who was found dead at Bestival was the daughter of Holby City, Taggart and Coronation Street actor John Michie, his agent has confirmed.
The body of Louella Michie, 25, from London, was discovered in a wooded area at the Dorset festival site.
Police said they were called at about 01:00 BST amid concern for the welfare of a woman.
A 28-year-old man from London has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is being questioned by police.
A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out to establish the cause of death.
In a statement, Michie's agent said: "Sadly, I can confirm the tragic death of John Michie's daughter Louella at Bestival.
"John and his wife Carol ask that the privacy of their family be respected at this traumatic time."
John Michie currently stars as Guy Self in Holby City
Festival founder DJ Rob da Bank tweeted a link to the statement, which was posted on the festival's Facebook page.
In a statement, Bestival organisers said the team were "devastated to hear about this tragic news".
"We continue to support the police in their ongoing investigation and our thoughts and prayers are with all the woman's family and friends."
A cordon remains in place at the festival site while forensic examinations are carried out.
The festival was held at Lulworth Castle and estate
Det Ch Insp Sarah Derbyshire, of Dorset Police, said: "Following the discovery of the woman's body we have now launched an investigation into her death.
"We have specially trained officers supporting her family at this very difficult time."
She added the force was "working closely" with the festival organisers and urged anyone with information to get in touch.
Bestival was first held in 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight.
This was the first year the four-day annual event was held at Dorset's Lulworth Estate, where its sister festival Camp Bestival has been held since 2008.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41233845
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May phones Trump as Boeing dispute threatens Bombardier - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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There are fears a major aircraft project that supports hundreds of Belfast jobs could be jeopardised.
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Northern Ireland
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The history of Bombardier in Northern Ireland
Prime Minister Theresa May has phoned US President Donald Trump over a threat to jobs at Bombardier in Belfast from a trade dispute.
In 2016, Canadian firm Bombardier won an order to supply up to 125 C-Series passenger jets to US airline Delta.
The wings for the C-Series are made at Bombardier's Belfast plant.
However, rival aircraft firm Boeing has complained to the US authorities that the deal was unfairly subsidised by the Canadian state.
Boeing has also complained about a UK government loan made to the Bombardier plant in Belfast.
The US Department of Commerce is due to make a ruling later this month.
It could hit Bombardier with punitive tariffs.
Mrs May and her Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau, would discuss the dispute at a meeting in Ottawa on 18 September, Reuters reported.
The wings for the C-Series planes are made in Belfast
Tariffs could make it very difficult for Bombardier to find new C-Series customers in the US.
The C-Series project supports hundreds of jobs in Belfast.
The government was "working tirelessly to safeguard Bombardier's operations and its highly skilled workers in Belfast", said a spokesperson.
"Ministers across government have engaged swiftly and extensively with Boeing, Bombardier, the US and Canadian governments," added the spokesperon.
"Our priority is to encourage Boeing to drop its case and seek a negotiated settlement with Bombardier."
Mrs May raised the issue and her concern to protect jobs in Northern Ireland in a call with President Donald Trump last week, Downing Street confirmed.
Business Secretary Greg Clark had also travelled to Chicago to meet Boeing's chairman, president and chief executive officer, Dennis Muilenburg.
Bombardier managers in Belfast are also understood to have recently briefed trade unions about the importance of the case.
Boeing has alleged that Bombardier engaged in "price dumping" by agreeing to sell 75 of their planes for almost $14m (£10.6m) below their cost price.
The company said it had appealed to the International Trade Commission "to restore a level playing field in the US single-aisle airplane market".
"Boeing had to take action as subsidised competition has hurt us now and will continue to hurt us for years to come, and we could not stand by given this clear case of illegal dumping," it said in a statement.
"Global trade only works if everyone plays by the same rules of the road, and that's a principle that ultimately creates the greatest value for Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and our aerospace industry."
It also pointed out that the Delta deal came after the regional government in Quebec effectively bailed out the C-Series programme with a $1bn investment.
"Equity infusions from government coffers not only rescued the program but have given Bombardier the resources it needs to aggressively target the US market," it said.
Bombardier has described the allegations as "absurd" and said the government investments "comply with the laws and regulations in the jurisdictions where we do business".
Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable called on the UK government to "commit itself to standing very firmly behind Bombardier and its workers, and alongside the Canadian Government in resisting bullying from Boeing and its friend in the United States administration".
Minister for Climate Change and Industry Claire Perry said: "It is vitally important that we have this dispute settled and we create the environment for many manufacturers in this vital sector to thrive and grow."
Strangford DUP MP Jim Shannon raised concerns about the future of the C-Series with Research and Innovation Minister, Jo Johnson.
"He'll be aware of Boeing's attempts to stop the contract which will add $30m (£23m) to every plane (coming into) C-Series in Belfast," he said.
Mr Johnson replied: "I can assure him that we are engaging very closely with the companies involved and will be following up on his point."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-41233257
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Irma weakens but still wreaks chaos - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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Latest updates as the most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade hits the US mainland.
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US & Canada
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About 400 survivors of Hurricane Irma have arrived in France and the Netherlands aboard military planes, AFP reports.
Some 278 survivors landed in Paris, while another 100 flew into Eindhoven which is in the south of the Netherlands, the news agency says.
Earlier, French officials said six out of 10 homes on St Martin, an island shared between France and the Netherlands, were now uninhabitable.
They said nine people had died and seven were missing in the French territories, while four are known to have died in Dutch Sint Maarten.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-latin-america-41177350
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Rohingya crisis: Seeing through the official story in Myanmar - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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On a government-sponsored trip, journalists uncovered evidence they were not supposed to see.
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Asia
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Who is burning down Rohingya villages?
The 300,000 people who have fled Rakhine state to Bangladesh over the past two weeks all come from the northern districts of Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung, the last areas of Myanmar with sizeable Rohingya populations not confined to displacement camps.
These districts are hard to reach. Roads are poor, and the government requires permits to go there, which journalists rarely get.
So we grabbed the opportunity to join a government-organised visit to Maungdaw, for 18 local and foreign journalists.
It would mean seeing only places and people they wanted us to see. But sometimes, even under these restrictions, you can glean valuable insights.
Besides, the government has arguments that need to be heard. It is now facing an armed insurgency, albeit one some would argue has been self-inflicted. The communal conflict in Rakhine state has a long history, and would be difficult for any government to deal with.
A Muslim man sits in a marketplace in Maungdaw, which journalists were allowed to visit only under supervision
On arrival at Sittwe, the Rakhine state capital, we were given instructions. No-one was to leave the group and try to work independently. There was a curfew at 6pm, so no wandering after dark. We could request to go to places that interested us; in practice we found such requests were rejected on grounds of security. To be fair, I believe they were genuinely concerned for our safety.
Most of the travel in this low-lying region of Myanmar is along the maze of creeks and rivers on crowded boats. The journey from Sittwe to Buthidaung takes six hours. From there we travelled for an hour on a rough road over the Mayu Hills to Maungdaw. As we drove into the town we passed our first burned village, Myo Thu Gyi. Even the palm trees were scorched.
The government's purpose in bringing us was to balance the overwhelmingly negative narrative coming from the Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh, who have almost all spoken of a deliberate campaign of destruction by the Myanmar military and Rakhine mobs, and appalling human rights abuses.
But right away these efforts faltered.
We were first taken to a small school in Maungdaw, now crowded with displaced Hindu families. They all had the same story to tell of Muslims attacking, of fleeing in fear. Oddly, Hindus who have fled to Bangladesh all say they were attacked by local Rakhine Buddhists, because they resemble Rohingyas.
In the school we were accompanied by armed police and officials. Could they speak freely? One man started to tell me how soldiers had been firing at his village, and he was quickly corrected by a neighbour.
A woman in an orange, lacy blouse and distinctive grey and mauve longyi was especially animated about the abuses by Muslims.
A local monk said Muslims burned down their own homes
We were then taken to a Buddhist temple, where a monk described Muslims burning down their own homes, nearby. We were given photographs catching them in the act. They looked strange.
Men in white haji caps posed as they set light to the palm-thatch roof. Women wearing what appeared to be lacy tablecloths on their heads melodramatically waved swords and machetes. Later I found that one of the women was in fact the animated Hindu woman from the school, and I saw that one of the men had also been present in among the displaced Hindu.
They had faked the photos to make it look as though Muslims were doing the burning.
Journalists were provided with photos supposedly of Muslims "caught in the act"
But the BBC later identified the same woman in a Hindu village
We had an audience with Colonel Phone Tint, the local minister for border security. He described how Bengali terrorists, as they call the militants of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, had taken control of Rohingya villages, and forced them to offer one man per household as a fighter. Those who refused to comply have their houses burned, he said. He accused the militants of planting mines and destroying three bridges.
I asked whether he was saying that all of the dozens of burned villages had been destroyed by the militants. He confirmed that was the government's position. Responding to a question about military atrocities, he waved it away. "Where is the proof?" he asked. "Look at those women," he meant the Rohingya refugees, "who are making these claims - would anyone want to rape them?"
Colonel Phone Tint insists 100% of burned villages have been set on fire by Muslim militants
The few Muslims we were able to see in Maungdaw were mostly too scared to talk in front of a camera. Breaking away from our minders, we spoke to some who described the hardship of not being allowed to leave their neighbourhood by the security forces, of food shortages, and intense fear.
One young man said they had wanted to flee to Bangladesh, but their leaders had signed an agreement with the authorities to stay. In the now quiet Bengali market, I asked a man what he was frightened of. The government, he said.
Weeks after the violence, Alel Than Kyaw was somehow still smouldering
The main destination on our itinerary outside Maungdaw was the coastal town of Alel Than Kyaw. This was one of the places attacked by Arsa militants in the early hours of 25 August. As we approached, we passed village after village, all completely empty. We saw boats, apparently abandoned, along with goats and cattle. There were no people.
Alel Than Kyaw had been razed to the ground. Even the clinic, with a sign showing it had been run by the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, had been destroyed. To the north, in the distance we could see four columns of smoke rising, and heard bursts of automatic weapons fire. More villages being put to the torch, we guessed.
The MSF charity's clinic was just one of the levelled buildings
Police Lieutenant Aung Kyaw Moe described to us how he had been given advance warning of the attack. He had taken the non-Muslim population for protection into his barracks, and his men fought off the assailants - armed, he said, with guns, swords and home-made explosives, for three hours until they were driven off. Seventeen of the militants lay dead, and one immigration officer. The Muslim population fled shortly afterwards.
But he struggled to explain why parts of the town were still smouldering, two weeks after the attack, and in the rainy season. Perhaps a few Muslims stayed on, and then set their homes alight before leaving more recently, he suggested half-heartedly.
Then, on our way back from Alel Than Kyaw, something entirely unplanned happened.
The village of Gaw Du Thar Ya, seen burning by the group
We spotted black smoke billowing out of some trees, over the rice fields. It was another village going up, right by the road. And the fires had only just started. We all shouted at our police escort to stop the van. When they did, we just ran, leaving our bewildered government minder behind. The police came with us, but then declared it was unsafe to enter the village. So we went ahead of them.
The sound of burning and crackling was everywhere. Women's clothing, clearly Muslim, was strewn on the muddy path. And there were muscular young men, holding swords and machetes, standing on the path, baffled by the sight of 18 sweaty journalists rushing towards them. They tried to avoid being filmed, and two of them dashed further into the village, bringing out the last of their group and making a hasty exit.
The village was reduced to charred timber and ashes
They said they were Rakhine Buddhists. One of my colleagues managed a quick conversation with one of them, who admitted they had set the houses on fire, with the help of the police.
As we walked in, we could see the roof of the madrassa had just been set alight. School texts with Arabic script had been thrown outside. An empty plastic jug, reeking of petrol, had been left on the path.
The village was called Gawdu Thar Ya. It was a Muslim village. There was no sign of the inhabitants. The Rakhine men who had torched the village walked out, past our police escort, some carrying household items they had looted.
The burning took place close to a number of large police barracks. No-one did anything to stop it.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41222210
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The Indian women eating with their families for the first time - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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In many parts of India, men and children are fed first and only then can women eat.
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India
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The Damor family now eat all their meals together
Meals have a way of bringing families together. As food is laid out, everyone gathers round the table, conversation flows and families bond.
But traditionally, eating together has not been encouraged in India. Men and children are fed first and only then can women sit down to eat.
But in millions of poor homes, this practice has had an unintended consequence - malnutrition among women.
Now, however, campaigners are urging women to eat with their families instead of after them. And, they say, the results have been very encouraging.
No-one knows when or where or how the practice started, but like every other symbol of patriarchy, it is deeply entrenched in people's psyche.
As a child, in my home too, my mother, grandmother, aunts and cousin's wives would cook and serve, but they would always be the last to eat.
In the pecking order, gods came first - once food was prepared, a small portion of all the dishes would be offered to them.
In my Brahmin home, even the resident cow was fed before humans - when my grandfather sat down to eat, he would set aside bits of food from every dish onto a small thick round piece of bread that was placed on a leaf. He would eat only after one of us had fed that to the cow.
This staggered eating sometimes caused minor friction at home - if men delayed mealtimes, it just meant that the women's wait to eat got longer. It didn't matter how hungry they were, they just had to wait.
The locally grown leafy vegetable is high in nutrients
Our family was not an exception - this is how my neighbours ate, as did those living across the length and breadth of the country. In many families, a rather unhygienic practice involved women eating from the unwashed plates of their husbands.
Anyone who sought an explanation for why this happened was told that it was the norm, that it had happened for centuries, that it was the traditional way.
In cities though, it is becoming increasingly common for educated and employed women to eat as and when they want to, but the tradition of women eating last continues to be widely followed to this day, especially in rural areas.
In homes like ours, it has no serious impact because there is enough food to go around. But in poor rural homes, it often leaves women and children hungry.
"This tradition of prioritising men's needs means sometimes when women sit down to eat, there isn't enough left for them," says Vandana Mishra of Rajasthan Nutrition Project (RNP), executed by charities Freedom from Hunger India Trust and Grameen Foundation.
Karma, Manshu Damor's daughter-in-law, does most of the cooking at their home
Campaigners are trying to promote locally grown coarse grain which they say is healthier
A survey of 403 poor tribal women in the state's Banswara and Sirohi districts in March 2015 showed "food secure and food insecure people in the same household", Ms Mishra said.
"Men always said, 'I go to work first and children go to school, so we need to eat first'," Rohit Samariya, RNP project manager in Banswara, told the BBC.
"We created plates to demonstrate what a man's plate looked like and what a woman's plate looked like to drive the point home that women were literally scraping the bottom of the barrel," he says.
To break this pattern, the group came up with a very simple but unusual strategy - to encourage families to eat their meals together.
Their two-year project concluded recently and to gauge its impact on rural communities, I travelled last month to the tribal-dominated Ambapara village in Banswara.
As I arrive at Manshu Damor's house, I find him chopping a type of locally grown leafy vegetable while his wife and daughter-in-law cook in the kitchen behind him.
Ambapara is among India's poorest villages where 89% still defecate in the open, child marriages are rampant, literacy levels are low and women still cover their faces in the presence of men.
So when the RNP campaigners suggested that people eat their meals together as a family, it was nothing less than revolutionary.
Until then, Mr Damor tells me, he had never shared a meal with Barju, his wife of 35 years. The idea that his daughter-in-law Karma could sit alongside him was unthinkable.
"People said how could a woman eat in front of her father-in-law? It had always been against our tradition, so in the beginning I also resisted. I too found it a bit odd," he said.
Mr Samariya says by asking men to eat together with the women, "we were asking them to change their behaviour".
"In our patriarchal society, men are not brought up to care for their wives. So we have to sensitise them to gender issues."
Ramila Damor (front) said her family had their first meal together two years ago
It was not just men - women also believed in the same tradition. But after some persuasion, the villagers agreed to give it a try.
And, it's made a world of difference to women's well-being.
"I was the one always cooking, but by the time I would sit down to eat, there would be little food left. Men would finish all the vegetables, so I'd have to contend with bread and salt," says Karma, Mr Damor's daughter-in-law. "Now everyone gets equal food."
Her neighbour, Ramila Damor, said her family had their first meal together two years ago.
"When I heard about it for the first time, I went home and cooked and I told my husband that from now on, we'll all eat together. It felt really nice sharing a meal," she said.
In traditional Indian homes, men are fed first
All the other women I spoke to in the village said family meals had become the norm in their homes too.
A survey done at the end of the two-year campaign in May showed heartening results - food security among the surveyed women had more than doubled. As the wellbeing of children is often linked to that of mothers, their food security too showed a huge increase.
The impact of the campaign was not limited to improving nutrition levels, it brought on other positive changes too.
Mr Damor says his daughter-in-law no longer covers her face entirely and the veil has moved up.
"Also, now she calls me Ba (father) instead of Haahoo (dad-in-law) and my wife Aaee (mother) instead of Haaharozi (mum-in-law)."
Meals do have a way of bringing families together. Like they have done in the case of Damors.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-41148492
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Essex Police 'too busy' to solve Leigh-on-Sea theft - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Jack Whiteley, who runs a garden furniture firm, had supplied police with CCTV footage of the crime.
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Essex
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Jack Whiteley was "let down" by Essex Police, the force has admitted
A businessman was told police officers were too busy to investigate after £26,000 worth of garden furniture was stolen from his company.
Jack Whiteley, who runs Glencrest Seatex Ltd in Leigh-on-Sea, supplied Essex Police with CCTV footage of the theft on 26 August.
But he was told in an email officers were "unable to assist as they are at saturation point with their workload".
The force said it would make the case a priority - and has now made an arrest.
Assistant Chief Constable Andy Prophet said he had called for an "urgent review" of the crime and apologised to the business owner.
He said some of the force's "processes let Mr Whiteley down".
Furniture worth £26,000 was stolen from Mr Whiteley's warehouse on 26 August
Mr Whiteley supplied Essex Police with CCTV footage of the crime
"In this case, an eminently solvable case, an officer should have been allocated more efficiently than on this occasion," he told BBC 5 live.
"This is a priority and Essex Police will be taking it forward."
At about 15:10 BST on Monday, police said they had arrested a 32-year-old man from Laindon on suspicion of theft.
Speaking before the arrest, Mr Whiteley said the garden chairs were stolen from his warehouse.
He reported the crime on 28 August.
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A week later, in an email, Mr Whiteley was told by police that an officer had tried to call him while he was away in Germany and that the allocated officer was then on rest days and leave.
The email from the crime bureau went on to say the police team on duty could not assist as they were too busy with their own workload.
Mr Whiteley said: "My furniture has gone walkies now, the whole point of me sending this (the CCTV footage) to the police on the Tuesday following the bank holiday weekend was we had time to go and get these people and get my 20-odd thousand pounds worth of goods back.
"From my point of view, the police have cost me those goods."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-41228461
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Russian Zapad military exercise in Belarus raises tension - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Why is Russia launching a huge military exercise in Belarus? The BBC's Jonathan Marcus investigates.
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Europe
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It is being billed as a military exercise, but when Russian and Belarusian forces start Zapad-2017 this week, many neighbouring countries will be looking on nervously.
Zapad-2017 ("West-2017") is a joint strategic-level exercise involving Russian and Belarusian military forces, expected to begin on 14 September in Russia's western military district Kaliningrad, and across Belarus.
It is scheduled to last about a week, but may well go on for longer. The exercise is part of a four-year rolling cycle of manoeuvres that focus each year on one broad region or "front" ("West", "Eastern", "Central" or "Caucasus"). This year's Zapad exercise though is drawing much greater attention than did its predecessor in 2013.
The context has changed significantly. Russia has seized and annexed Crimea; it has supported a separatist war in eastern Ukraine with weaponry, training and, for periods, its own combat units. Russia is thus seen by several Nato countries as much more threatening.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has described Russia's build-up for the exercise as "preparations for an offensive war on a continental scale". Ukrainian border defences, he said, are being bolstered.
He also pointed to the fact that in his view, Russia has form here, using the pretext of an exercise to mobilise and position forces to conduct offensive operations. President Poroshenko said he could not rule out the possibility that the drill "may be used as a smokescreen to create new Russian army assault groups to invade Ukrainian territory".
Pantsir anti-aircraft missile: Russian and foreign troops competed in army games last month
Nato watchers and insiders do not necessarily share this concern about an all-out invasion of Ukraine.
Russia expert Keir Giles, a fellow at Chatham House think tank, acknowledges that "previous Russian exercises on this scale have prepositioned troops for undertaking military operations, against Georgia in 2008 and against Ukraine in 2014".
However, he says, "both of those moves were precipitated by an immediate political crisis - currently absent in Europe.
"And there have been plenty of other major Russian exercises in between," he says, "which did not end up with somebody getting invaded".
Nonetheless, the fear of a resurgent and more aggressive Russia is real enough. That is why, over the past year, Nato has sent small multi-national units to Poland and to each of the three Baltic republics to underline its deterrent message. And that is why this year's war games will be watched so closely.
Just how closely is a contentious issue. Russia, unlike Belarus, has been far more reluctant to invite Western observers in any number. This despite the fact that, as a member of the OSCE international security body, it is obliged to send out broad invitations if an exercise numbers more than 13,000 troops.
Mr Giles notes that, while Russia may be "content to see Europe alarmed at the prospect of Moscow throwing its military weight around", Belarus seeks instead to calm the situation. The siting of the exercise in ranges across the middle of the country - not near the Polish and Lithuanian borders - was a deliberate policy decision intended to reduce the chances of misinterpretation, or incidents when Russian troops and aircraft come close to Nato borders.
This Polish F-16 is part of a Nato air-policing mission over the Baltic states (Aug 2017 photo)
Belarus has been much more open towards international observers. Clearly satellites, airborne radars and other national intelligence collection measures will be used by Nato countries.
In addition, efforts are under way to mobilise concerned citizens in Belarus to observe military movements in their area and post them online for the benefit of non-government, open-source analysts and experts.
So just how big is this exercise and what will Western analysts and observers be watching for? Here assessments differ widely.
The Russians say some 12,700 troops will be involved in total, including a significant contingent from Belarus. (Notice this takes it below the 13,000 OSCE threshold.)
Western experts watching the preparations, especially the marshalling of railway flat-cars - the main way of moving heavy armoured formations to the exercise areas - say it will be considerably more.
Some estimates suggest that up to 80,000 troops could be involved, but since there are a range of drills, exercises and spot mobilisations it is hard to be precise about numbers.
Russia will be testing its capacity to contain and respond to some form of outside aggression and will be deploying units from different services: heavy armour; airborne troops; "spetsnaz" elite reconnaissance teams; and electronic warfare specialists.
The Baltic Fleet will be involved, as will units from the 14th Corps based in Kaliningrad. One point of interest may be the part played at the tactical and strategic levels of "information operations troops" - a relatively new formation in the Russian order of battle.
Indeed, while there may be much to learn about Russia's use of artillery, its capability in electronic warfare (already manifest in the fighting in Ukraine) and the growing importance of precision-guided munitions in Russia's thinking, it may be this information aspect that is most important. For beyond the troop movements, Zapad-2017 is part of a wider propaganda effort to influence and shape opinion in the West.
The US analyst Michael Kofman in a fascinating piece on the War on the Rocks website, describes Zapad as "a good window into the Russian mindset.
"For all the modernisation and transformation of the Russian armed forces," he writes, "in reality the Russian leadership is probably still afraid: afraid the United States will try to make a bid for Belarus, afraid of American technological and economic superiority, afraid the US seeks regime change in Moscow, and afraid Washington desires the complete fragmentation of Russian influence in its near abroad, or even worse, Russia itself."
"Zapad," he argues, "is the most coherent manifestation of these fears, and a threat from Moscow to the United States about what it might do if the worst should come to pass."
And what of those lingering fears in some quarters that this could be much more than just an exercise? Mr Giles remains unconvinced by much of the media hyperbole surrounding Zapad.
But he has this caution: "The time to watch troop deployments most closely," he says, "is likely to be after the exercise proper has ended."
The final day of Zapad is 20 September but, he notes, "Russian troops are only scheduled to leave Belarus by 30 September - after the observers have departed, and when the media interest will have died down. That will be the time to decide whether Zapad this year has in fact passed off peacefully."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41185915
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Chris Froome wins Vuelta: 'A friendly accountant off the bike, a cold-eyed winner on it' - BBC Sport
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2017-09-11
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Even for a remarkable rider like Chris Froome winning the Tour-Vuelta double is an exceptional achievement, writes Tom Fordyce.
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There was a time, as recently as the start of July, when many in cycling wondered whether Chris Froome might not be what he was: not a single win all year, fewer days racing going in to the Tour de France than ever before, his rivals, many younger and in punchier form, lining up on his wheel.
Three months on, having bagged his fourth Tour and become the first Briton in history to win the Vuelta a Espana, they have been proved right. Froome is not the rider he was. He is a superior one.
When sporting success comes as frequently and in such dominant fashion as this it can be easy to assume it also came easily. A yellow jersey one month, a red the next, towed up the road by a line of Sky team-mates in white or black.
• None Listen: An absolutely savage way to finish - Froome
Even for a remarkable rider like Froome this double is an exceptional achievement. Only two Frenchmen, Jacques Anquetil in 1963 and Bernard Hinault 15 years later, have pulled it off before.
He has done it in a style all of his own. Eddy Merckx, arguably the greatest cyclist of them all, was nicknamed The Cannibal for his insatiable hunger for wins, chewing up his rivals, ravenous whether the race was Grand Tour or little spin.
Froome, the serial winner - polite and friendly off his bike, as aggressive as an accountant - is transformed in the racing frenzy into a cold-eyed killer of others' ambitions, taking them out one by one, never with a single blow but the slow accumulation of pressure until they can take no more.
Anquetil loved the solo attack. Hinault stamped his mood and judgement all over the peloton. Merckx would take them anywhere he could - rampaging up mountains, tearing through time-trials, sprinting and always fighting, fighting.
Froome does it by stealth. A few seconds here, a few more there. A late push up a steep summit finish, squeezing out a little more on a solo ride against the clock.
It is not spectacular but it is brutal, a cruel constriction of his rivals, the inexorable application of a superior strength.
By the end of the Tour de France the other principal contenders for the general classification - Fabio Aru, Rigoberto Uran, Romain Bardet - were reduced to scrapping among each other for distant second. In this Vuelta it has been the same. His rivals start the race thinking what a nice chap Froome is and finish it having nightmares about him.
On Saturday, on arguably the most brutal climb in cycling, in conditions so grim that northern Spain in early September felt more like the north of Scotland in mid-November, he gave one final demonstration of all that has brought him so far.
Anquetil and Hinault never had to go up a mountain like this. The Alto de l'Angliru was a cattle track until the start of this century. Even now the tarmac hangs on to the mountain for dear life.
It is not the height. There are bigger climbs than its 1,573 metres. At 12.5km it is long but not endless. Its average gradient of 10% appears spiteful but not exceptional.
It is the ramps that break men - sections at 15% and 17%, the sort of thing a club cyclist struggles to keep moving on, then inhumane segments of almost 24%, less a route to the summit than a wet grey wall.
Riding up 15% makes your heart feel like it is jumping out of your chest; 24% makes you want to pick your bike up and throw it back down the cruel slopes.
To drive up it in Saturday's black cloud and thundering rain was nightmarish - a relentless steepness, brutal ramped hairpins, the smell of burning clutch acid in the nostrils.
Cycling up it appeared to make no sense. "What's the point of riding up a mountain that it would be quicker to go up by foot?" fumed the Italian Marzio Bruseghin after being pummelled by it nine years ago.
A vindictive mountain, so cold even watching that you wore all the clothes you had in your suitcase simultaneously, transformed by Froome into the peak of the British sporting summer.
It was Anquetil's burden that he was not loved as much as Raymond Poulidor, the eternal second place to his first. A greater tranche of the French public found it easier to empathise with Poulidor's obvious exertions and the limited reward they brought.
Froome too has struggled to win over his own sporting public in the same way as Bradley Wiggins, the first Briton to win the Tour. By rights, the past nine weeks should correct that curious imbalance.
Froome has been backed once again this summer by the dominant team in the peloton. Wout Poels, Mikel Nieve and Gianni Moscon have provided the same peerless support for him in August and September as Mikel Landa, Sergio Henao and Michal Kwiatkowski did in July.
He has also triumphed in a more competitive landscape. Anquetil had 12 other teams to contend with at the 1963 Tour and eight at the Vuelta. Hinault came up against 10 others in France and nine at the Vuelta. Froome has had to compete with 21 squads of nine riders at both the Tour and Vuelta.
Both Anquetil and Hinault won their own doubles when the Vuelta was held in April. Marshalling finite reserves of energy across spring and then mid-summer is arguably marginally easier than attempting to do the same from mid-summer to late summer. There were only 26 days between the Tour ending in Paris this year and the Vuelta beginning in Nimes.
It is not just the physical exertion, but also the mental. Across his two Grand Tours Froome has raced for more than 4,200 miles, across 42 stages, through six countries, in blazing heat and pouring rain, all of it with opponents waiting to pounce on the slightest lapse of concentration.
He was in the leader's jersey for most of that, with news conferences to do every day, meaning he often leaves a finish more than an hour after his team-mates, eating later, resting less, the expectation going ahead of him and the pressure waiting for him on every new morning's start line.
No blow-outs after Paris, no allowing himself a week of cold lager or chips or even steak after three weeks of Gallic torment.
Anquetil used to take a glass of red wine with his main course during races, let alone the dessert and post-prandial cigar outside his competition schedule. Froome has been on steamed fish and wilted greens and a rumbling tummy for day after sapping day.
After more than 160 hours of racing this summer his final combined margin of victory will be just over three minutes.
It sounds like a small divide between him and rest. Do not be fooled.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/41215172
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Photographer settles 'monkey selfie' legal fight - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A photographer settles a legal fight against an animal rights group over a "monkey selfie" photograph.
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South East Wales
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Mr Slater said that he had to earn the trust of the monkeys over several days before venturing close enough to get the selfie
A photographer has settled a two-year legal fight against an animal rights group over a "monkey selfie" picture.
Naruto the macaque monkey took the image in the Indonesian jungle in 2011 when it picked up a camera owned by David Slater from Monmouthshire.
US judges had said copyright protection could not be applied to the monkey but Peta said the animal should benefit.
Peta's appeal on the "monkey's behalf" was dismissed but Mr Slater has agreed to donate 25% of any future revenue.
In a joint statement from Peta and Mr Slater, it said the photographer will give a quarter of the funds he receives from selling the monkey selfies to registered charities "dedicated to protecting the welfare or habitat of Naruto".
"Peta's groundbreaking case sparked a massive international discussion about the need to extend fundamental rights to animals for their own sake, not in relation to how they can be exploited by humans," said Peta lawyer Jeff Kerr.
Mr Slater, of Chepstow, said he put in a lot of effort which was more than enough for him to claim copyright.
Peta claimed the monkey is a female called Naruto but Mr Slater claimed it was a different male macaque
He also said he was a conservationist and interest in the image had already helped animals in Indonesia.
The case was listed as "Naruto v David Slater" but the identity of the monkey had also been in dispute, with Peta claiming it is a female called Naruto and Mr Slater saying it is a different male macaque.
But appeal judges at a court in San Francisco ruled in Mr Slater's favour after a two-year legal fight.
In the joint-statement between Peta and Mr Slater, they say this case "raises important, cutting-edge issues about expanding legal rights for non-human animals".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-41235131
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Man 'choked to death on wedding anniversary steak' - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Michael Pitts was dining with his wife when the meat became lodged in his throat and he choked to death.
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Hampshire & Isle of Wight
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Michael Pitts had been dining with his wife at The Grapevine restaurant in Odiham when he choked on the steak
An 84-year-old man died after choking on a piece of ribeye steak while celebrating his 57th wedding anniversary, an inquest heard.
Michael Pitts was dining with wife, Joan, 78, at The Grapevine restaurant in Odiham, Hampshire, on 16 June, when the meat became lodged in his throat.
Restaurant staff and paramedics tried to resuscitate him but he later died in hospital.
He added a post-mortem examination showed the cause of death was asphyxia contributed to by heart disease and old age.
Mrs Pitts told the Basingstoke inquest her husband had complained the steak was a bit chewy but when asked by the waiter if he wanted it changed, he said that it was "probably just the cow".
"It was his sense of humour," she added.
She continued: "I just saw him coughing and I thought he had something which catches.
"I told him to have a glass of water, and with that his arms went down and he just fell backwards into his chair."
Staff at the restaurant attempted to resuscitate Mr Pitts and put him in the recovery position until paramedics arrived, the inquest heard.
After about 40 minutes the medical team found his airways were blocked and extracted a piece of steak from his throat. He later died in hospital.
Mrs Pitts said everyone "worked extremely hard" but added no-one initially realised food was stuck.
Restaurant manager Sumin Lohani described the death as "very sad", adding: "It should have been the best memory to celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary at my restaurant."
Mr Bradley said: "It was a celebration that went wrong, it could not go any more wrong than that."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-41229563
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Winds reach 62mph in parts of UK as new warnings issued - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Met Office issues a further two yellow weather warnings for wind and rain in some areas.
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UK
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Wind speeds reached up to 62mph after an area of low pressure caused strong gusts across the UK on Monday.
The Met Office had issued a yellow "be aware" weather warning for wind in parts of Wales and south-west England, which has since been lifted.
Fresh yellow warnings for rain and wind are now in place for some areas from Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning.
The Met Office said "longer journey times by road, rail and air are likely".
Heavy rain is expected on Tuesday across Northern Ireland and southern Scotland, which may cause flooding.
Strong winds with gusts of 55-65mph are also looking "increasingly likely" on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, said the Met Office.
They are expected to affect the north of England, the Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber as well as south-west Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
A yellow warning is described as a sign that people should "plan ahead" for severe weather and pay attention to Met Office statements.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41221900
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Patrick Bergin to play 'old-school villain' on EastEnders - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Sleeping with the Enemy star will play a former prison friend of Phil Mitchell in the BBC soap.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Sleeping with the Enemy star Patrick Bergin - the man who turned towel-straightening into a sign of malevolent intent - is joining EastEnders.
The Robin Hood actor will play Aidan Maguire, a prison friend of Phil Mitchell's who is described as a "charismatic old-school villain".
The 66-year-old will start filming this month and will appear on screen towards the end of the year.
Bergin said he was "delighted" to join a soap he had "watched and admired."
"It is an iconic show that has the ability to shape the way people think, whilst also telling big explosive stories that keep the audience gripped.
"I am really looking forward to seeing what they have in store for Aidan as it's bound to be dramatic."
Bergin's storyline will see Aidan turn up on Phil's doorstep after many years, reigniting their old bond of friendship and ability to get into trouble.
EastEnders' creative director John Yorke said it was a "huge honour to have him on board".
He said Bergin will be working closely with Phil (Steve McFadden) and Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) to "carry a truly explosive storyline" over Christmas and New Year.
"EastEnders deserves the very best, and in Patrick we are absolutely privileged to have a truly great actor join the show."
Born in Dublin in 1951, Bergin's recent credits include heist film We Still Steal the Old Way and Irish TV series Red Rock.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41232415
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Locked up for life for crimes they didn't commit - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Four exonerated prisoners tell the BBC how they were permanently changed by their experiences.
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Scotland
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They were convicted of crimes they did not commit and are permanently changed by spending years in prison.
They face a range of serious psychiatric problems and can never return to the lives they had before.
Four exonerated prisoners - Robert Brown, Paddy Hill, Sunny Jacobs and Peter Pringle - told the BBC documentary Fallout their false convictions continued to blight their lives many years later.
Robert Brown celebrates on his release from prison but he now says it was a hollow victory
At the age of 19, Glasgow-born Robert Brown was found guilty of a murder he didn't commit.
He was arrested in Manchester in 1977 and charged with killing 51-year-old Annie Walsh.
Brown had first travelled to the city to watch Manchester United. He had met a girl and ended up staying.
He says he was trying to build a new life for himself after growing up in a children's home in Renfrewshire.
"The police took that opportunity away from me to build a new life with my girlfriend, who I cared for and loved," he says.
"It affected her as well. She died of alcohol poisoning at 35 years of age."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Robert Brown hasn’t slept in a bed in six months as he needs cell-like conditions to sleep.
Brown's arrest came early one morning four months after the murder.
"I was beaten up in the police station for two days and I got blamed for the murder of Annie Walsh," he says.
Brown signed a confession but always claimed it was because he was bullied into it by the police.
A decade before his release he could have applied for parole but refused because it would have meant abandoning his claims of innocence.
He says: "My mother begged me to take parole. That was never going to happen. If I had taken parole I was a dead man.
"If I had took parole I would have been selling my soul to the devil. I would never have been free."
In 2002, the Court of Appeal heard of a "conspiracy of corruption" within Greater Manchester Police and that one of the police officers central to the case, former Detective Chief Inspector Jack Butler, was "deeply corrupt".
Brown's conviction was considered unsafe and he was released after 25 years behind bars.
He says: "To ram it down the back of their throats, the establishment, is an amazing feeling but it a hollow, empty victory - and then the real horror story begins."
He remembers raising his hands aloft outside the court on his release.
"I thought what am I doing this for because it was not a victory."
Brown says: "The amount of time that I served would, in all honesty, damage anybody.
"The deprivation, the degradation, that would damage anybody."
Fifteen years after his release he lives in a one room "prison cell" and struggles to sleep.
"At night time I just walk up and down, your adrenaline is off the Richter scale, your heartbeat is off the Richter scale, it is a constant kaleidoscope of thoughts about what they did to me.
"I go through that process until my head is that tired of thinking about it I just conk out for a couple of hours."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Paddy Hill’s reaction to being released from prison after 16 years.
On the day, Robert Brown was released from prison, there was another man standing beside him who had been through the same ordeal.
Paddy Hill was one of the Birmingham Six, sentenced to life for the IRA bombings in 1974 and released as an innocent man after 16 years.
His psychiatrist describes him as one of the most mentally scarred cases he has ever come across.
It was the organisation that Hill founded after his release - the Miscarriage of Justice Organisation or MOJO - whose campaign was instrumental in Brown winning his freedom.
Hill says: "People think that when we got out it was the old proverbial fairytale ending, we get plenty of money and head off into the sunset and live happily ever after. It's a load of nonsense."
The 72-year-old grew up in the Ardoyne area of Belfast but moved to Birmingham with his family in 1960, at the age of 16.
He says: "I met a girl there and fell in love and got married. Birmingham was like my second home."
Firemen survey the damage outside the Birmingham pub, 'Tavern in the Town', after an IRA bomb blast
On the night of bombings at the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town pubs in Birmingham, in which 21 people died, Hill was travelling back to Belfast with a group of friends.
"We were getting the boat back from Heysham back to Belfast," he says.
The wrecked interior of the Mulberry Bush public house after the explosion of a bomb planted by the IRA
Hill says he was having a pint on the boat when a "uniform cop with a big Alsatian came up to me and said port security wanted to talk to me".
At first the interrogation followed procedure but when police from the West Midlands arrived, Hill says, he was battered and tortured.
"It changed my whole life round," he says.
"I never thought I would go to jail."
Paddy Hill speaking after his release from prison in 1991
"If you had told me the day I got out that I would not be able to handle the outside world I would have laughed in your face," Hill says.
"I was a hell of a lot happier in prison than I was when I came out."
Hill says he "hit he wall" a few months after being released and began to burst into tears without warning.
It has been a quarter of a century since Hill was released but the effects of his wrongful conviction remain.
He says: "I have a bad sleeping pattern. I wake up and the sweat and the adrenaline is pumping through you at 100 mph and every one of your nerves is like they are being stretched."
He says his anger levels at his own situation have come down over the years but he now gets angry for other people when he hears their stories.
"There are more innocent people in prison today than there was in my day, a hell of a lot more," Hill says.
"The reason they don't help us is clear to me, it would be an admission of guilt."
Peter Pringle was one of the last men to be sentenced to death in Ireland, convicted of murdering two Gardai in 1980. He served 15 years.
He was born and raised on the south side of Dublin and left school early after "a bit of bother" with a Christian brother.
Peter, who is now 78, says he was "very angry" about the poverty in Dublin in the 1950s and joined Sinn Fein when he was 16.
He became known to police when he was involved with the IRA in his youth but after spending two years in an internment camp in his early 20s he moved to the west coast and became a fisherman.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. How Peter Pringle grieved for the life he should have had before it was stolen from him.
At the age of 41, with a serious drink problem, he was arrested in Galway and accused of armed robbery and the murder of a policeman acting in the course of duties.
"I had absolutely nothing to do with it," Pringle says.
The bank robbery was in Co Roscommon, 80km (50 miles) from where he was staying.
"I am an alcoholic and at that time had a serious drink problem and on that date I was on a 12-day session," he says.
"It was brought to my attention that the police were looking for me.
"I detoxed in the police station while being battered and interrogated. It was an horrendous time. I knew I had nothing to do with it. I was not even in the bloody county."
He was sentenced to death and put in a death cell.
Two weeks before his execution date in June 1981, he was told his sentence had been commuted to 40 years in jail.
He studied law and fought his case, eventually winning release in 1995.
Peter actually got help from a clinical psychiatrist on his release because it was organised by his human rights lawyer Greg O'Neill.
"He explained to me about grief and how I needed to grieve for the life I might have had if I had not of been sent to prison," Pringle says.
He says the dreadful experience of that grief has helped him cope with his life now.
"I had a terrible loss, a terrible blackness, just feeling totally lost," he says.
"That terrible time actually benefits me now."
Peter Pringle and Sunny Jacobs have been around the world campaigning against the death penalty
Along with his new partner, Sunny Jacobs (see below), Pringle now uses what happened to him to help other exonerated prisoners.
He says: "We provide a place where people who have experienced wrongful imprisonment can be with people who have experienced the same thing.
"We can listen, they know we are not judging. They know we understand."
Sunny Jacobs was sentenced to death, along with her then husband, for the murder of two police officers in Florida in 1976 and served 17 years on Death Row.
She says: "We have been told the experience of being convicted and locked up for 15/20 years is beyond post-traumatic stress disorder. It is something that does not even have a name."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. How would you celebrate your release after being wrongfully incarcerated for 17 years?
Jacobs was born in Queens, New York City, and describes herself as a "quiet kid who liked rescuing injured animals".
She had a son when she was 18 which ended her college career and she says she became isolated, concentrating on raising her child.
Ten years later, in 1976, she was married to Jesse Tafero and had a second child, who was just 10 months old.
Their car broke down in Florida and someone Jesse knew offered to give them a lift back to North Carolina.
Jacobs and her children were sleeping in the car in the rest area of an Interstate when the police came to check the IDs of drivers.
The next thing she knew there were shots being fired and the driver, Walter Rhodes, was ordering Sunny and the kids into the police car.
Rhodes drove them away but they were stopped at a road block.
Two police officers were killed in the gunfire and Jesse and Sunny were convicted on the testimony of Rhodes, who negotiated a plea bargain, claiming they had pulled the triggers.
At her trial Jacobs says there was one juror "who refused to bullied in going along with the rest of them because he did not feel right about the conviction".
She says: "As a result of not being unanimous they had to sentence me to life in prison but the judge overruled them and sentenced me to death anyway."
At the time she was the only woman in the US with a sentence of death.
Jacobs was put in solitary confinement for five years, awaiting execution, but eventually her sentence was commuted to life.
Her husband Jesse was executed in horrific circumstances.
Jacobs says: "The electric chair malfunctioned and instead of dying he caught fire.
"The people who were there on behalf of the media said that flames shot out of his head and smoke came out of his ears and he struggled against his restraints.
"It took 13 and a half minutes before he was finally pronounced dead.
"When our daughter, who was by then 15 years old, heard what happened to her father she tried to kill herself."
After Jesse's execution, Rhodes confessed he had fired the fatal shots and Jacobs was released 1992, at the age of 45.
She says the authorities were in such a hurry to get rid of her that there was no-one to collect at the prison.
"I was standing there with my little box of possessions," she says.
"I had not a penny in my pocket, I had no ID, it was like I had just landed from some strange planet through a portal."
She says she was afraid it was a trick and there might be a marksman on the roof ready to shoot her if she moved away from the prison.
For Jacobs, being released was a "big let down" because she felt estranged from all the people whom she thought of as her home base.
Jacobs, who practices yoga and meditation, says she had to stop focusing on the harm done to her and instead concentrate on what was left of her life and "what could I do?"
"That helped me a lot," she says.
"I was able to form a new healthy relationship with each of my children and then my grandchildren.
"All this time later it is still a daily process."
Sunny and Peter met in 1998 when Jacobs travelled to Ireland to speak at Amnesty International events.
They now live together in Ireland and run the Sunny Center, giving exonerated prisoners somewhere to go where they will be listened to and understood.
She says: "As a result of us coming together we are able to share with others in ways that we wouldn't be able to individually.
"So I really think that peace is the way and love is the answer."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-41108765
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North Korea slapped with UN sanctions after nuclear test - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The measures, which include a cap on oil imports, are less severe than the original US proposal.
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Asia
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North Korea says it has developed and tested a hydrogen bomb
The United Nations has imposed a fresh round of sanctions on North Korea after its sixth and largest nuclear test.
The measures restrict oil imports and ban textile exports - an attempt to starve the North of fuel and income for its weapons programmes.
The US had originally proposed harsher sanctions including a total ban on oil imports.
Pyongyang said it "categorically rejected" what it called an "illegal" resolution.
North Korea's ambassador to the UN, Han Tae Song, told a conference in Geneva: "The forthcoming measures by DPRK [the Democratic Republic of Korea] will make the US suffer the greatest pain it has ever experienced in its history."
Monday's vote was only passed unanimously after Pyongyang allies Russia and China agreed to the reduced measures.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Was your T-shirt made in North Korea?
The US call last week for a total ban on oil imports was seen as by some analysts as potentially destabilising for the regime.
The new sanctions agreed by the UN include:
A proposed asset freeze and a travel ban on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un were dropped.
The US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, told the Security Council after the vote: "We don't take pleasure in further strengthening sanctions today. We are not looking for war."
"The North Korean regime has not yet passed the point of no return," she added. "If North Korea continues its dangerous path, we will continue with further pressure. The choice is theirs."
But the North Korean envoy also said: "Instead of making [the] right choice with rational analysis... the Washington regime finally opted for political, economic and military confrontation, obsessed with the wild dream of reversing the DPRK's development of nuclear force - which has already reached the completion phase."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. How could war with North Korea unfold?
A South Korean presidential office spokesman said on Tuesday: "North Korea needs to realise that a reckless challenge against international peace will only bring about even stronger sanctions against them."
Monday's resolution was the ninth one unanimously adopted by the UN since 2006.
The UN Security Council, which includes the US, has repeatedly slapped sanctions on North Korea
China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday (link in Chinese) that North Korea had "ignored international opposition and once again conducted a nuclear test, severely violating UN Security Council resolutions".
It also repeated its call for a "peaceful resolution" instead of a military response, adding: "China will never allow the peninsula to descend into war and chaos."
The BBC's China editor Carrie Gracie says Beijing is treading a fine line and wants sanctions tough enough to signal its displeasure to Pyongyang and avoid American accusations of complicity, but not so tough as to threaten North Korea's survival.
Both Russia and China reiterated their proposal that the US and South Korea freeze all military drills - which anger North Korea - and asked for a halt in the deployment of the controversial anti-missile system Thaad, in exchange for Pyongyang's cessation of its weapons programmes.
Beijing believes Thaad, which employs a powerful radar, is a security threat to China and neighbouring countries.
Ms Haley last week dismissed this proposal as "insulting".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41235157
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GP probed for giving child, 12, gender-change hormones - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Monmouthshire GP Dr Helen Webberley's practice is restricted while medical authorities investigate.
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Wales
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Dr Helen Webberley said she listens to 'children's hearts' about when they want treatment
A Monmouthshire GP is being investigated over complaints about her giving gender-change hormones to children as young as 12.
Dr Helen Webberley has been restricted from treating transgender patients unsupervised while the General Medical Council (GMC) looks into the case.
The Abergavenny-based GP said there had been no adverse finding against her.
The GMC said it would only comment on investigations if and when they reached tribunal stage.
The investigation was launched after two GPs complained to the GMC about Dr Webberley's private clinic, which specialises in gender issues.
She told the BBC she had given cross-sex hormone treatment to one 12-year-old and three 15-year-olds, despite NHS guidelines that they be given at about 16 or over.
"There are many children under 16 who are desperate to start what they would consider their natural puberty earlier than that," Dr Webberley told BBC Wales.
"And, of course, when someone mentions a 12-year-old it is very emotive."
Dr Webberley said the NHS protocol on hormone treatment starting at about 16 was "not set on any medical evidence or research".
"It's not in line with the centres of excellence in other countries and the standards of transgender care moving forward," she added.
She pointed out there had been "no decisions or judgements" made on the claims against her and they were "simply aspects that need to be explored".
The restrictions imposed by the GMC on 7 May mean that all of Dr Webberley's work with transgender patients will have to be supervised until November 2018.
She is unable to practise until she finds an approved clinical supervisor, which Dr Webberley says she is currently putting in place.
Stephanie Davies-Arai, of campaign group Transgender Trends, which raises concerns about gender treatment among children, said she was "very concerned" by the move toward "earlier and earlier" treatment for "younger and younger" children.
"Teenagers [and children] are not really equipped to make long-term decisions and benefit and risk calculations. We should not be fixing their identity at that age with medication that is irreversible," she added.
She said cross-sex hormone treatment can effectively put patients on the path to sterilisation, alongside other changes, which is a "huge ethical issue".
"These are huge, life-changing effects on children's bodies, on children's lives, and we need to be very, very cautious before presenting this treatment pathway to minors," she said.
Ms Davies-Arai called for "much-tighter regulation" for private GPs in this area.
The news comes after the Welsh Government announced Wales would get its first transgender clinic last month.
The Tavistock clinic, in England, which is currently the only centre offering gender identity treatment to young people in England and Wales, has seen a sharp rise in cases in recent years.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-41213534
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The Beatles: What really inspired Eleanor Rigby? - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The deeds for Eleanor Rigby's grave are for sale, but what's the real story behind The Beatles' hit?
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Liverpool
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Eleanor Rigby is listed among the names on a headstone in the graveyard of St Peter's Church, Woolton
In a graveyard in Liverpool lies a headstone bearing the name Eleanor Rigby. Its deeds are being auctioned later as part of a sale of Beatles memorabilia, but what is the real story behind the Fab Four's famous hit?
It was at a church fete in 1957 that John Lennon and Paul McCartney first met. Just yards away lay the grave of scullery maid Eleanor Rigby, who had died, aged 44, in 1939.
Nine years later, McCartney would pen the lyrics for what became one of the band's most celebrated songs.
Often described as a lament for the lonely, or a commentary on life in post-war Britain, it tells the story of a woman who "died in the church and was buried along with her name".
It is tempting to picture the teenage Lennon and McCartney sombrely contemplating the headstone, imagining the life of Eleanor and later dreaming up the lyrics.
But the reality is few knew of the grave's existence until the early 1980s, and McCartney himself has denied it was the inspiration behind the song.
This hasn't stopped the deeds to the grave being listed for auction with a guide price of £4,000. They are part of a sale which also features other Beatles items and concludes on Thursday.
The deeds to Eleanor Rigby's grave were found by a relative
David Bedford, who has written several books about the band, said he thought it was "weird" there was such interest in a woman seemingly unconnected to the song.
"The score of the song you can understand but a grave, I find it really unusual," he said.
"I'm not quite sure who would want to buy the deeds to a grave, and I'll be interested to see who does buy them, and for how much money."
But Mr Bedford said he believed it would be "too much of a coincidence" if the grave had never figured in McCartney's mind, at least at some subliminal level.
"The mythology of the grave grows every year," he said.
The song seems to have gone through several stages of development.
McCartney said when he first sat down at the piano he had the name Daisy Hawkins in his mind. He later changed this to Eleanor, after the actress Eleanor Bron, who had starred with The Beatles in the film Help!
The character's surname at one stage was Bygraves, according to Spencer Leigh, author of The Beatles book Love Me Do to Love Me Don't.
But McCartney later changed this to Rigby, from the name of a store he had spotted in Bristol - Rigby & Evens Ltd, Wine & Spirit Shippers.
"I just liked the name," he said in 1984. "I was looking for a name that sounded natural. Eleanor Rigby sounded natural."
Paul McCartney has conceded the grave of Eleanor Rigby may have influenced him in a subconscious way
St Peter's Church in Woolton, where the grave of Eleanor Rigby lies
In 2008, a birth certificate for the woman buried in the graveyard of St Peter's Church, Woolton, was put up for auction.
"Eleanor Rigby is a totally fictitious character that I made up," McCartney said in response.
"If someone wants to spend money buying a document to prove a fictitious character exists, that's fine with me."
However, he has conceded in the past the headstone may have influenced him in a subconscious way.
Mr Leigh said it was easy to see how McCartney's childhood visits to the churchyard would have been very memorable for him.
"John Lennon had connections in that church and had even been in the choir there," he said.
"[Lennon's] uncle died in 1955 when he was quite young. His name was George Toogood Smith. John loved the name and quite often he would take his friends into the graveyard to show them.
"It's quite possible McCartney saw the Rigby grave and just stored it away in his head. It's just possible that he kept that in his mind. But we actually don't know, and I think McCartney himself doesn't know."
Eleanor Rigby was written primarily by Paul McCartney (far left) and produced by George Martin (second from right)
McCartney's score includes notes that there should be four violins, two violas and two cellos
Karen Fairweather, from Omega Auctions, conceded the connection between the real Eleanor Rigby and the song was a matter of "folklore", none of which was rooted in "concrete fact".
"There is of course the gravestone, and the Rigbys lived on the road that backed on to the road where John Lennon lived," she added.
Yet, whatever the origin of the name, Eleanor Rigby remains an integral part of the band's story and Liverpool's Beatles industry. The gravestone itself is regularly visited by guided tours and an Eleanor Rigby sculpture can be found in Stanley Street.
Mr Leigh describes the song as "perfect", both in its melodies and its representation of a typical Liverpudlian woman of the time.
An Eleanor Rigby sculpture sits on a bench in Liverpool's Stanley Street
"The real Eleanor Rigby worked as a sort of scullery maid," Mr Leigh said. "It just fits so perfectly."
He said the jazz singer George Melly put it best when he said: "Eleanor Rigby seemed to be written out of their experiences in Liverpool.
"Liverpool was always in their songs but this was about the kind of old woman that I remembered from my childhood and later: very respectable Liverpool women, living in two-up, two-down streets with the doorsteps meticulously holystoned (scoured) and the church the one solid thing in their lives.
"There's the loneliness of it and it struck me as a poem from the start.
"If you read Love Me Do without the music, it doesn't mean much but if you read Eleanor Rigby, it is a poem about someone, which [was] something unprecedented in popular song."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-41162284
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Hurricane Irma wrecks Sir Richard Branson's Necker Island home - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Sir Richard Branson says most of the buildings and vegetation on Necker island are damaged.
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Business
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Sir Richard is taking stock after last week's storm
Sir Richard Branson says most of the buildings and vegetation on Necker, his Caribbean island, have been destroyed or badly damaged by Hurricane Irma.
Necker is among the 50 British Virgin Islands (BVI). Sir Richard says he has visited the nearest ones to Necker and has seen "first-hand how ferocious and unforgiving this storm was".
The hurricane killed five people in the territory and the BVI's premier has asked the UK to give long-term support.
Sir Richard and his team are safe.
Necker's buildings were tossed around by last week's hurricane
Hurricane Irma passed through the British Virgin Islands in the middle of last week.
He said: "We felt the full force of the strongest hurricane ever in the Atlantic Ocean. But we are very fortunate to have a strong cellar built into Necker's Great House and were very lucky all of our teams who stayed on Island during the storm are safe and well."
Sir Richard says most of the vegetation on the island is damaged or destroyed
He said the "story is about the tens of thousands of people who have lost their homes and their livelihoods".
Communications are mostly still down in the British Virgin Islands and Sir Richard is currently in Puerto Rico, a few kilometres to the west of the islands.
Sir Richard says the "story is about the tens of thousands of people who have lost their homes and their livelihoods".
He said he was there "to further mobilise aid efforts and rebuilding plans for the British Virgin Islands and wider Caribbean".
Sir Richard said he would be talking to various governments and aid agencies as well as the media, and would be heading straight back to the British Virgin Islands to continue helping the recovery effort on the ground.
The British Virgin Islands is a self-governing British overseas territory with the Queen as its head of state.
The British Virgin Islands' premier, Orlando Smith, said they would need long-term help from the UK: "We are a resilient people but this has shaken us to our core.
"A comprehensive economic package for reconstruction backed by the UK Government will be needed over the long-term in order to return to normalcy,"
The UK has sent military planes, and on Sunday the Royal Navy said locals had helped a helicopter crew unload medical supplies, including vaccines.
Necker Island as it was before the storm
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41224243
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Bake Off: Paul Hollywood in Nazi outfit apology - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The celebrity baker said he went to a 2003 party in a WW2 German uniform as an 'Allo 'Allo character.
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UK
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Paul Hollywood said he was dressed as a character from BBC comedy 'Allo 'Allo
Great British Bake Off star Paul Hollywood has apologised after being pictured wearing a Nazi uniform.
The Sun on Sunday published pictures of the celebrity baker in a World War Two outfit, including a swastika armband.
The 51-year-old said the pictures dated from 2003, when he went to a New Year's Eve party as a character from the 1980s WW2-set BBC comedy series 'Allo 'Allo.
In a statement he said: "I am absolutely devastated if this caused offence to anyone."
One picture shows Hollywood smiling in a photo in a pub alongside a friend, who is also wearing a Nazi military uniform.
In another image, they are joined by friends wearing French-style berets.
As well as the red armband, Hollywood's outfit included an Iron Cross medal and a badge featuring a Nazi eagle.
During an episode of the BBC show Who Do You Think You Are? in 2015, Hollywood learned about the experiences of his grandfather Norman Harman during World War 2, when he served as an anti-aircraft gunner.
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In his statement, Hollywood said he had been on his way to a TV comedy-themed party 14 years ago when the pictures were taken.
He added: "Everyone who knows me knows I am incredibly proud of the efforts of those, including my own grandfather, who fought against the Nazis during the war."
Hollywood is currently on TV in the first Channel 4 series of Great British Bake Off, alongside new fellow judge Prue Leith and presenters Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41218525
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Bestival: Murder arrest after festival death - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The woman's body was found in a wooded area of the festival site in the early hours.
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Dorset
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The festival was held at Lulworth Castle
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was found dead at a festival in Dorset.
The body of the 25-year-old was discovered in a wooded area at the edge of the Bestival site in Dorset in the early hours.
Police said they were called shortly before 01:00 BST amid concern for welfare of the woman, from London.
A 28-year-old man from London has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is being questioned by police.
A cordon remains in place at the festival site while forensic examinations take place.
Dorset Police said the woman's family and the coroner had been informed.
A post-mortem examination is to be carried out to establish the cause of death.
Det Ch Insp Sarah Derbyshire said: "Following the discovery of the woman's body we have now launched an investigation into her death. We have specially trained officers supporting her family at this very difficult time.
"We are working closely with the festival organisers and I would appeal to anyone with any information about the incident to contact Dorset Police."
On Sunday the festival arenas were temporarily evacuated as high winds battered the site.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-41227732
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US Open 2017: Sloane Stephens - from world number 957 to Grand Slam winner - BBC Sport
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2017-09-11
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Sloane Stephens on overcoming adversity and her incredible six-week journey from world number 957 to US Open champion - and a $3.7m cheque.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Sloane Stephens was planning to spend Saturday night in New York celebrating with Madison Keys, hours after beating her friend to a first Grand Slam title.
The 24-year-old American, ranked 83rd until Monday, thrashed 15th seed Keys 6-3 6-0 in just 61 minutes to complete a scarcely believable return from injury.
Asked if she would be buying the drinks, Stephens confirmed: "Yes, a lot of them apparently. We are having a little celebration and she is coming."
If you told someone this story, they'd be, like, 'That's insane'.
Just 69 days after returning from an 11-month injury lay-off, and six weeks since her ranking dropped to 957, Stephens became only the fifth unseeded woman to win a Grand Slam singles title in the Open era.
And she later revealed it was boredom as much as nerves that threatened to upset her equilibrium during the 48 hours between semi-final and final at Flushing Meadows.
"I was literally in my room twiddling my thumbs,' she said. "I was looking at car reviews last night on Auto Trader, like literally. That's how bored I was. I didn't have anything to do."
Stephens admitted that the nerves finally took hold as she stepped out onto Arthur Ashe Stadium - but a little over an hour later her eyes were bulging as a cheque for $3.7m (£2.8m) was handed to her and she was announced as a Grand Slam champion.
She said: "There are no words to describe how I got here, because if you told someone this story they'd be, like, 'that's insane'."
'There is no positive to not being able to walk'
It is four years since Stephens first grabbed worldwide headlines when she beat compatriot Serena Williams in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
The likes of NBA stars Shaquille O'Neal and Dirk Nowitzki, and singer John Legend, congratulated her on social media, and a star had seemingly been born.
In the event, progress was harder going until 2016 when she won three titles, cementing her place in the top 30 and apparently on the up.
A right foot stress fracture halted that momentum, forcing her to withdraw from the US Open last August, and she would not return until Wimbledon.
Surgery followed in January and for the next 16 weeks Stephens was on crutches and unable to put any pressure on her foot.
Just a month before Wimbledon, she was still wearing a protective boot.
"There is no positive to not being able to walk and being on one leg," said Stephens. "That's not fun for anyone."
Finally, Stephens stepped back on court in July - and first-round defeats at Wimbledon and in Washington were entirely predictable. Her ranking plummeted to 957.
What followed was, in her own words on Saturday night, "insane".
The victory over Keys was her 15th in 17 matches, the kind of form shown by someone vying to be number one rather than avoid slipping outside the top 1,000.
"When I had surgery, I was not thinking that I would be anywhere near a US Open title," she said.
"Nor did I think I was going to be anywhere near the top 100."
Sybil Smith made her tournament debut in the player box for the final as her daughter made history.
"It was nice that we got it right for the two weeks, and I came out with the title," said Stephens.
It is eight years since Stephens attended her father's funeral on the eve of the US Open, after he died in a car accident in Louisiana.
Estranged from the family, John Stephens had been a running back in the NFL for the New England Patriots, the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs.
But it was her mother, Sybil, an all-American swimmer, who brought up Stephens, and that included introducing the nine-year-old to tennis.
"Obviously my whole life my mum has been very supportive," said Stephens. "She's been in my corner the whole time.
"I have had a lot of ups and a lot of downs - and some really low downs - and throughout that, my mum has been there 100% with me."
Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide.
It was at a tennis academy in her native Florida that Stephens learned the game, and also where she met Laura Robson as an 11-year-old.
The British number four, 23, was clearly moved on Saturday night by seeing two of her friends and contemporaries on the US Open presentation stage, posting on social media: "Who's cutting onions?"
Robson might use both women as inspiration for her own struggle back up the rankings following injury.
Stephens has spent as much time in 2017 as a TV presenter on a US tennis channel - what Keys described as "her second job" - as she has on court, helping fill her time during the 11-month injury lay-off.
Describing herself as in "a sad place", the television work proved to be a boost to morale.
Paul Annacone, ex-coach of Pete Sampras, worked with Stephens for eight months in 2014, and again on her TV work this year. He believes the extended break from tennis had some benefit.
"I think it has helped Sloane become more focused and realise that the window is closing, ever so slightly," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
"That's allowed her to go on court with a much more relentless ability to compete and deal with adversity.
"I think historically she has got a little bit nervous in stages, and then when adversity has set in she's struggled a little bit to compete through it.
"This summer, Sloane's been amazing with adversity."
The semi-final victory over fellow American Venus Williams in New York took her record in three-set matches this summer to 8-0.
'He should have got a hat-trick'
Stephens will not be short of family and friends, including Keys, to celebrate with in New York.
Her coach, Kamau Murray, and team have exuded calm, happily posing with fans in the public plaza at Flushing Meadows earlier in the week.
It is unlikely Serena Williams joined the party eight days after giving birth to her first child, but the 23-time Grand Slam champion posted her support on social media before the final.
"There are NO words to describe how proud and how happy I am," Williams said on Twitter.
One person absent from the player box on Arthur Ashe Stadium was Stephens' boyfriend, Jozy Altidore, a former forward for Sunderland in the Premier League, now leading the line for Toronto FC.
Otherwise engaged in MLS action against San Jose, he revealed that he found out the result of the final from his mother in the stands at half-time.
Altidore then scored twice in the second half of a 4-0 win.
"That's really good," said Stephens, before adding: "He should have got a hat-trick. It would have been such a good day. Goodness."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/41216430
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Strictly judge predicts same-sex couples on next year's show - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Craig Revel Horwood sees "no reason" why the BBC ratings success shouldn't allow them in the future.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Revel Horwood said the only issue was "who's going to go backwards"
Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has predicted there will "probably" be same-sex couples dancing on the show next year.
Prior to the launch show Susan Calman faced criticism for taking part in their absence, and the BBC issued a statement saying they had "no plans" to introduce them.
But Revel Horwood said he is hopeful.
"In the world of competition there are same-sex couples... so there's no reason why that can't happen."
He continued: "The Beeb have to decide whether they want to do that one year. I think it will probably happen next year."
Revel Horwood made the comments on ITV's Lorraine show on Monday.
"I think same-sex couples can exist," he continued. "You only have to decide who's going to go backwards really, that's the only difference.
"If you consider the tango was originally danced between two men anyway... It's powerful, explosive, and the same can happen between two women."
Susan Calman admitted to Tess Daly she was a Kevin Clifton superfan
Calman strongly defended her decision as an openly gay woman to dance with a male professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing.
The Scottish comedian was partnered up with Kevin Clifton on Saturday's launch show, becoming emotional as she revealed she had a poster of him in her kitchen.
The Reverend Richard Coles - who was paired with new professional dancer Dianne Buswell - has also said he would be more than happy to dance with a male partner.
Other pairings saw This Morning's Ruth Langsford team up with Anton Du Beke.
JLS singer Aston Merrygold said he was hoping to have a short partner, so was relieved when he was teamed up with Janette Manrara.
On the other end of the height scale, former Emmerdale actress Gemma Atkinson was happy to be teamed up with Aljaz Skorjanec.
The celebrities competed to see who could be the most excited about their dancing partner
Aston Merrygold was ecstatic to get Janette Manrara as his dance partner
The launch episode of Strictly Come Dancing was the ratings victor on Saturday, with an average of 8.8 million people tuning in to watch.
Over on ITV, 5.5 million saw The X Factor as it reached its second week.
Strictly's ratings were down on last year's launch show, which drew a record audience of 9.3 million.
The opening show, which had a tribute to former host Sir Bruce Forsyth, had a 44.7% share of the audience, while The X Factor had 27.3%.
The two shows clashed at 20:00 BST, when The X Factor ran against Strictly's last 40 minutes.
X Factor hopeful Deanna Mussington was voted through after her audition
The ITV show featured an audition from Deanna Mussington, who flew over from the Caribbean island of Anguilla to perform before the judges.
The 22-year-old has since returned to Anguilla, which has suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Irma.
Sunday night's X Factor programme recorded ratings of 6.39 million and a 29.8% share of the audience.
The X Factor returned last week with an average audience of six million viewers - the lowest launch show ratings since the show began in 2004.
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Parents remove son from school in pupil gender row - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The couple say their son became confused as to why a fellow pupil dressed as both a boy and a girl.
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Hampshire & Isle of Wight
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sally and Nigel Rowe say their child came home from school confused and unhappy
The parents of a six-year-old boy have removed him from his primary school in a row over whether another pupil should be allowed to wear a dress.
Nigel and Sally Rowe said their son was confused as to why the child at the Church of England School on the Isle of Wight dressed as both a boy and a girl.
The Diocese of Portsmouth, under which the school falls, said it was required to "respect diversity of all kinds".
The couple believe the school should have consulted all parents.
Mrs Rowe told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme that when they spoke with the school, which is not being identified, they were told "if a child wants to do that then we just have to accept it".
The couple said under the school's bullying policy their son faced being disciplined for misidentifying the gender of the six-year-old pupil.
Two years ago they removed their eldest son from the same school in a separate row about a different child with gender identity issues.
The Rowes say the suggestion that gender is fluid conflicts with their Christian beliefs and they are seeking a legal challenge against the school's actions.
The Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting Mr and Mrs Rowe, said the couple were being accused of "transphobic behaviour" because of their "refusal to acknowledge a transgender person's true gender".
Mr Rowe said: "I am shocked by the suggestion, especially from a church school, that just because we question the notion that a six-year-old boy can really become a girl, we are transphobic."
She added:: "We believe he [the older boy] was under stress by the confusion that was caused by having a boy in his class that decided that they were going to have a girl's name and dress as a girl."
There is no specific law dictating uniforms. Schools are free to set their own rules as long as they don't breach human rights and equality legislation; in other words, they cannot discriminate on the basis of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation or faith.
Under the Human Rights Act, schools must also make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education due to their uniform rules. It's more common for schools or employers to be challenged over dress codes when people are prevented from wearing something, for instance a hijab or a crucifix necklace, rather than because they have permitted something - in this case for a boy to wear the regulation girls' uniform.
This case is unusual because the parents taking legal action are protesting against a form of uniform being permitted rather than prohibited, and because their child is not the party being directly affected by the rules. This is likely to make their case harder to argue.
It will all come down to competing rights - for both children to freely access education and not to be discriminated against.
Jeff Williams, director of education for the Diocese of Portsmouth, said: "Church of England schools are inclusive environments where pupils learn to respect diversity of all kinds.
"Like any other state school, our schools comply with the legal requirements of the Equalities Act 2010.
"Among other things, this requires schools to accept the wishes of children and their families with regard to gender identity. It would be unlawful for any of our schools to do otherwise."
Mr and Mrs Rowe say the school's handling of the situation did not show proper regard for the possible long-term emotional and psychological effects for the two young children seeking to change gender, or for the confusion and concern caused to other people by the suggestion that boys are not always boys, and girls are not always girls.
LGBT campaigner Jane Fae, who is transgender, said Mr and Mrs Rowe had misjudged the issue, as children with gender issues needed sympathy to help prevent them being bullied.
She said: "I have a child who took a lot of bullying on my behalf and that bullying was exactly the same: it was parents saying 'we have a right to an opinion' and they told their children their opinion, and having told their children their opinion, their children thought it was open season on bullying my son."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-41224146
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EU Withdrawal Bill: A taste of things to come - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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There are clear reasons for nerves on all sides of the House of Commons about the EU Withdrawal Bill.
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UK Politics
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The government wants to incorporate EU law into the UK statute book in time for Brexit
What is all the fuss about?
Listen to ministers and all they are trying to do is tidy up the paperwork, cross the t's and dot the i's. Listen to Labour and Theresa May is trying her luck as a despot, grabbing power in great chunks, never again to give our elected representatives the chance to argue or even consider what's being done on our behalf.
Guess what? As ever in politics the truth is somewhere in between, whatever the two sides say. We are leaving the EU in less than two years (pretty much inevitably unless something really surprising happens).
But much of our law is based on EU law and EU institutions. So when we leave, in theory we lose lots of law overnight, and much of it simply won't make sense any more in thousands and thousands of areas.
Sounds strange, but hypothetically that's what could happen. Right now the EU rules that have over the years been incorporated into our statute books govern everything from chemicals to beaches to immigration to animal welfare to aviation. This list goes on and on, and it is safe to assume EU law shapes pretty much everything.
The idea behind the Withdrawal Bill is therefore to cut and paste the lot into British law, so that we don't wake up the morning after we leave the EU in 2019 with a free-for-all.
So far, so uncontroversial. Here's the problem. The amount of stuff, the sheer volume of the rules and regulations that need to be transferred is so massive, basically our entire statute book, that the government says there is just no way there will be time to debate it all, let alone vote on every bit.
Their solution is to use so-called 'Henry VIII powers', evoking the image of a medieval monarch, ruling by whim and decree. In practice this could mean that on thousands of rules, regulations, ministers can make changes, whether harmless tweaks or suspicious alterations, without having to consult other MPs, let alone give them a vote.
Pro-EU demonstrators waved flags outside Parliament as MPs prepared to debate the bill
Crucially, it would allow ministers to change things where they think it is "appropriate", in theory that makes their decisions even exempt to legal challenge. As it stands, the bill also gives ministers the power to choose the day of our actual exit from the EU, without asking Parliament, and it could also give them the power to designate different days for Brexit in different legal areas.
There are therefore clear reasons for there to be nerves on all sides of the House of Commons about the bill.
Ministers accept privately that they will probably have to budge in some areas. But tonight's midnight vote is not likely to be the big showdown.
Tory rebels will, in the main, vote for the bill in principle, and enter hand-to-hand combat in the more detailed stages in the next couple of months. And although the opposition will vote against the bill this evening, there are also anxious MPs on that side of the House of Commons who won't, worried about appearing to be blocking Brexit by "killing the bill".
But tonight will be the first real taste of the months to come, the House of Commons sitting until midnight, the government anxiously totting up the numbers, MPs being told to cancel any plans they have to be around for vital votes.
Tonight's likely approval of the bill won't wash away the real concerns, and once it makes it to the House of Lords the battles could be even more fraught.
PS: Potential Tory rebels might find a little relief in this nugget. Despite reports that the government chief whip, Gavin Williamson, had acquired a second tarantula for his office, the better to torment his charges (yes he does have one), he told me this morning that in fact that is not the case. His spider, Cronus, is still his only office pet.
• None Reality Check: Who are the low-skilled EU workers?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41224764
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Toronto Film Festival: George Clooney 'felt sick' shooting Suburbicon - BBC News
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2017-09-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The director of Suburbicon said some scenes involving racial abuse made the cast and crew feel sick.
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Entertainment & Arts
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George Clooney is the director of Suburbicon - currently showing at the Toronto Film Festival
George Clooney has said he "felt sick" while directing some scenes in his new movie Suburbicon.
The film's plot sees a black family move into a predominantly white suburban community in the 1950s.
"The trickiest part [of shooting] was, we were in a very racially diverse neighbourhood in Fullerton, California," Clooney said.
"And we had about 350 extras who were going to hurl a lot of racial slurs and say a lot of pretty terrible things."
Clooney added: "Everybody who was making the film, we all just felt sick while we were doing it."
Referring to the way the family is treated in the film, the director said: "These are things that happened - [neighbours] sang church hymns, they hung confederate flags over the fence, they built a fence around their house, these are things that really happened.
"But it was sickening to be part of it quite honestly, so that was one of the most difficult things to shoot."
The movie, which is currently showing as part of the Toronto Film Festival, was conceived during the run up to the US election of November 2016, which was won by Donald Trump.
Clooney said: "We'd seen some things on the campaign trail where they were talking about building fences, and scapegoating Mexicans and Muslims, and we're always reminded that these aren't new things and new moments in our history.
"So we thought it would be interesting to talk about it, but we wanted the film to be entertaining, not a documentary, we didn't want it to be an eat-your-spinach piece of filmmaking.
"So we merged it with [an existing Coen Brothers script] Suburbicon, because we thought it was a funnier idea to put it in the suburbs in the 1950s where we all thought everything was perfect - if you were a white straight male."
The actor and director said the real-life political climate the film was shot in ultimately altered the tone of the movie.
"While we were shooting, Trump was elected, and it changed the temperature of the film in a weird way," Clooney explained.
"The country got angrier, whichever side you were on. We had to cut some of Josh Brolin's scenes out, and one of the reasons is they were really slapstick funny, and it felt like the wrong tone suddenly."
The film stars Matt Damon, Julianne Moore and Karimah Westbrook - who drew parallels between her character (the mother of the African-American family) and her own experience of the entertainment industry.
"I think early on there was a lot of correlations as far as what I've experienced in Hollywood," she said.
Karimah Westbrook said diversity in Hollywood had improved more recently
"I wore my hair natural for a very long time, so when I first moved to Hollywood I had an afro, and my manager said 'You'll never work with your hair like that, you'll have to straighten it'.
"I struggled with that for years, my looks, my hair... but I feel like things have changed so much in the industry, we have so many African-American women starring in shows now, so I feel there's been progress, but there's still a lot of things we're facing on both sides."
Read more from the festival:
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