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The Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2014 report said 179,022 tonnes of farmed Atlantic salmon were produced - 10% more than in 2013.
Rainbow trout, halibut and trout production also increased.
The survey also reported that the number of jobs in the fish farming industry rose from 1,625 in 2013 to 1,796 last year.
Environment minister Aileen McLeod welcomed the figures.
She said: "Salmon is a key part of our economy providing employment and investment, particularly in some of our most remote, coastal communities.
"Salmon is Scotland's number one food export and is highly valued across the world for its exceptional quality and provenance."
Ms McLeod added: "Aquaculture revenue in Scotland is now estimated to be worth £1.86bn annually to the economy, an increase of £110m year-on-year, and supports over 8,300 jobs.
"If industry's sustainable growth targets, supported by the Scottish government, are met this value will rise to well over £2bn a year and support 10,000 jobs across Scotland by 2020."
Animal conservation organisation WWF Scotland said the fish farming industry should commit to protecting the environment from harm as a result of its activities.
Director Lang Banks said: "Scotland's salmon farming industry must be about quality, not just quantity.
"It must be about protecting the environment, not putting it at risk.
"With the environmental impacts of salmon farming under close scrutiny once again, more of the industry needs to commit to independent labelling schemes - such as that run by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council - which will improve transparency and allow consumers to know that their salmon was produced to the very best environmental standards." | Production of Scottish farmed salmon rose to a record level last year, according to new statistics. | 34183968 |
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Klinsmann tweeted his support for the midfielder after he completed his move from DC United.
"My wife told me about that. It's great to have his support, and his acceptance makes me feel good about the move," Kitchen said.
"I think it's a huge move."
Klinsmann, who enjoyed two successful spells in British football with Tottenham Hotspur, tweeted regarding Kitchen's move to Hearts: "Congrats to Perry to his new adventure: @PerryKitchen23 @JamTarts."
Kitchen, capped three times by his country, believes experiencing football outside of the United States will be invaluable for his career progression.
"Getting into a European environment is huge," the midfielder told BBC Scotland.
"The ability to progress and continue bettering myself is very much a possibility here and I'm looking forward to that."
Hearts manager Robbie Neilson thinks the move will benefit both the player and the club.
"I think he's just desperate to get to Europe and he sees this as a great opportunity, so it's going to work well for both parties," Neilson said.
"We had been looking for somebody in the summer in that position. Perry became available because of the MLS season. It's important to get a player of that calibre in and to get him in at this point of the season is good for us."
Kitchen says he was aware of his new club before the opportunity arose to move to Hearts.
"When you think of Scottish football, Rangers and Celtic always come to mind but I always had heard of Hearts, the passion their fans have and obviously the great city of Edinburgh.
"It's a great city, everything you'd want in a city. The castle, the history, the shopping for my wife, so it's got everything you'd want.
"I just want to better the club and do what I can to help the team win games. Hopefully I'm capable of doing that.
"They've created a great environment from what I've seen with the guys in the dressing room, and I definitely think that talent is there as well." | New Hearts signing Perry Kitchen says it's a boost to have the backing of USA manager Jurgen Klinsmann on his decision to leave Major League Soccer for Tynecastle. | 35772350 |
The Killers and Nine Inch Nails, part of the Chicago festival's first line-up in 1991, will also perform, founder Perry Farrell has said.
Phoenix, Thievery Corporation, Tegan and Sara, Cat Power, Lana Del Rey and Vampire Weekend are also confirmed.
More than 130 acts have been booked to play the festival on 2-4 August.
"It is so exciting to have The Cure at Lollapalooza for the first time because I love The Cure and we've never had them," said Farrell, lead singer for Jane's Addiction.
"It's always frustrated me and made me feel incomplete and now I can feel complete and die."
Meanwhile, Mumford and Sons are returning as headliners just three years after their last performance at Lollapalooza in 2010, when they played during the day.
Mumford and Sons' latest album, Babel, has sold more than one million copies.
The line-up reflects a mix of genres - indie bands, singer-songwriters, country, hip-hop, rock and electronic acts.
The musicians will be travelling to the festival from all over the world.
"We don't look to stylise our line-up so much as we just stay away from pop garbage," Farrell said, adding that he considers himself a curator in his role arranging the festival line-up.
"Sometimes it's not what I'm going to do. It's what I'm not going to do that sets your trend."
The festival will take place at Chicago's Grant Park for the ninth year, and three-day passes for the festival have already sold out.
Some one-day passes are still available.
Previous headliners included Lady Gaga, Green Day, Eminem and Coldplay. | Modern rock legends The Cure are booked to headline the Lollapalooza music festival for the first time, alongside Mumford and Sons, organisers have said. | 21997245 |
BBC News NI examines the events that followed her disappearance in 1994.
14 August 1994: Fifteen year old Arlene Arkinson goes missing after attending a disco at Bundoran in Donegal.
The Castlederg teenager was last seen in a car driven by Irish native Robert Lesarian Howard.
21 April 2001: South London teenager Hannah Williams goes missing during a shopping trip.
15 March 2002: Williams's badly decomposed body is discovered in an industrial area of Northfleet, Kent, beside the Thames estuary.
23 March 2002: Howard, a convicted sex offender who had known Williams since 1999, is arrested.
October 2003: Howard is found guilty of raping and murdering the 14-year-old before dumping her body. He is sentenced to life imprisonment although the details of his conviction cannot be reported because he faces separate sex charges in Northern Ireland. He is jailed in County Durham, England.
27 June 2005: Howard, then 61, is found not guilty of murdering Arlene Arkinson. The prosecution had accused him of trying to conceal his movements on the night Arlene went missing and getting others to lie for him. The jury did not know that by then he was already serving life for raping and killing Hannah Williams.
20 September 2005: As reporting restrictions are lifted at Belfast Crown Court, it emerges that Howard's criminal record dates back 40 years.
20 September 2011: Howard wins permission to challenge the holding of an inquest into Arlene's death. His legal team claim the move involves an attempt to undermine the not guilty verdict returned against him.
6 February 2013: Senior Coroner John Leckey rules out holding a full inquest into the murder of Arlene Arkinson within the calendar year because of a strain on resources.
24 June 2015: The long-delayed inquest into Arlene's disappearance is again postponed until November 2015.
2 October 2015: Howard dies aged 71. He remains the only suspect in the murder of Arlene Arkinson. Former PSNI detective Alan McQuillan says chances were missed to save the lives of his victims. Despite 92 searches and a long-running missing persons investigation, Arlene's body has never been recovered. | Child killer Robert Howard, who was the only suspect in the murder of Castlederg teenager Arlene Arkinson, has died aged 71. | 34447833 |
At one point, the FTSE 100 touched its highest level since August last year, reaching 6,757.96, but closed slightly off that, 26 points higher at 6,750.43.
ITV shares jumped 8% to 199.26p after its latest results.
It said advertising revenue was set to fall 1% in the first nine months of the year, which was less than feared.
Shares in housebuilder Taylor Wimpey rose 6% to 153.84p after it said it had not been affected by last month's Brexit vote.
Pre-tax profits for the first half of the year rose 12% to £267m, and the company said "current trading remains in line with normal seasonal patterns".
"Customer interest continues to be high, with a good level of visitors both to our developments and to our website," said chief executive Pete Redfern.
Sentiment in the market was helped by the release of stronger-than-expected UK growth figures.
The UK economy grew by 0.6% in the second quarter of the year, according to official figures, faster than the rate of 0.4% in the previous quarter.
However, the data suggested growth was much stronger in April before easing off in May and June.
On the currency markets, the pound fell 0.27% against the dollar to $1.3095 and dropped 0.28% against the euro to €1.19230. | (Close): London's main share index rose on Wednesday, helped by better-than-expected results from ITV and strong UK growth data. | 36902116 |
The former aide to leader Nigel Farage said he was not "satisfied about the integrity of the process".
He added: "It is a decision I have not taken lightly, but following meetings this weekend I realised the path to victory is too narrow."
Mr Kassam urged his supporters to back Peter Whittle for party leader.
His withdrawal means there are four candidates left in the UKIP race, following the closure of nominations at midday on Monday.
They are:
Party chairman Paul Oakden said: "I'm pleased to confirm that there were no late or rejected applications.
"Further information pertaining to the ballot will follow at a later date but for now, I'd like to wish all four candidates the best of luck and will join with our party's members in looking forward to a positive contest."
In a statement announcing his withdrawal, Mr Kassam said those at the top of UKIP were treating the contest "like a coronation", adding he was "not satisfied about the integrity of the process".
He accused some Members of the European Parliament of using party databases to "effectively campaign against me - ostensibly against the rules".
Mr Kassam added that he had not raised enough money to run "more than a digital campaign from SW1" and said that not to "feature at events all around the country would have made me a hypocrite, given how much I criticise the establishment for ignoring the country".
He added: "I wish the UK Independence Party and whoever its new leader is all the best in ensuring Brexit happens, and in the upcoming electoral tests next year. I remain committed to the causes of the UK Independence Party, but sadly, at this campaign, it was a bridge too far for us."
Mr Kassam launched his official campaign last Friday, portraying himself as the "Farage-ist" candidate and pledging to increase UKIP's membership to more than 100,000.
After pulling out of the race, he said he would continue as editor-in-chief of the Breitbart London news website and would be travelling to the US to cover the conclusion of the presidential election campaign.
UKIP's only MP, Douglas Carswell, appeared to welcome the news that Mr Kassam had quit the race, tweeting an emoji depicting a smiley face wearing sunglasses shortly after the announcement.
Another candidate, London Assembly member David Kurten, withdrew on Sunday.
And Steven Woolfe quit the race and the party following an altercation with fellow MEP Mike Hookem in the European Parliament earlier this month which left him in hospital.
Mr Farage, for whom Mr Kassam worked as chief of staff, returned to the leader's role on an interim basis after his successor, Diane James, resigned only 18 days into the job.
The result of the leadership contest is to be announced on 28 November. | UK Independence Party leadership candidate Raheem Kassam has pulled out of the race just three days after the official launch of his campaign. | 37821383 |
"It's a very efficient way for a company to accept payment, since they receive 100% of the value of a transaction," he says. "Very different from dealing with credit cards, which take at least 2% to 3%."
His company, which offers a popular electronic wallet for storing Bitcoins, now has three million users - plus a London headquarters.
Britain's first Bitcoin cash machine has been installed in a Shoreditch coffee shop in London, where you can pay for your coffee from your digital wallet.
And argue some, with other successful UK start-ups including Coinfloor, a Bitcoin trading platform, and Elliptic, which aims to offer unhackable ways to store them in offline vaults- Bitcoin is becoming increasingly 'Britcoin'.
Britain's tech empire normally shrivels beside that of the United States. Last year London's 'Silicon roundabout' district received $1.4bn (£930m) in investments, compared to Silicon Valley's $22bn (£14.6bn).
But the financial crisis forced an outflow of talent from banking to start-ups.
And more global financial institutions make their home in wet Britain than sunny California.
So London became the world's new financial technology centre, employing more people (over 44,000) in the sector than either Silicon Valley or New York.
Payment looms large in financial technology, and start-ups working with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ripple, which are the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation, are prominent.
Collectively, they're luring big bits of investment.
When Elliptic raised £1.2m ($1.8m) in seed funding last summer, it was regarded as an important coming of age for cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrencies offer an advantage in countries where official currency exchange is tightly controlled, like China.
Cryptocurrencies could revolutionise how banks handle payments, too.
Large retail banks currently use central clearing - everything goes to one place, and then back out.
But with Bitcoin, this exchange happens in different places and instantaneously.
At the moment, the small amount of liquidity in any particular cryptocurrency limits broader use of this system.
However, this would grow exponentially if several banks began to convert cryptocurrencies to a traditional currency, and back again.
This has happened in Germany, where Fidor Bank adopted the Ripple cryptocurrency for payments.
Two American banks have done so as well.
The Ripple protocol offers advantages over Swift, the 40-year old system which most banks now use to send payment orders.
"Banks don't have to hold liquidity in all far flung corners of the world," says Conny Dorrestijn, one of the judges of the 2015 FinTech50, which looks to promote new types of financial services technology.
"At the moment, if you're a bank in Germany and have two clients who do payments with Chile, you have to hold liquidity in a corresponding bank in Chile.
"With the new protocols, you don't."
Elliptic calls itself a 'Bitcoin custodian', storing the private keys which they compare to digital gold, in an encrypted form and a secure location.
Says its co-founder, Dr Tom Robinson, "If you're storing it in an internet-connected device, there's always the possibility of web-based hacking. So we store it in a bank vault."
He is unsure we ever will be using Bitcoins as we do physical cash on the High Street, but says block chains - the data structures that record Bitcoin transactions - can be used with tokens representing any financial asset, including shares or bonds.
If a company represented its shares in this way, then the platform could transfer ownership of the shares in a highly transparent manner.
And dividend payments would be more efficient, since you would simply send Bitcoins to whichever wallet holds the token.
A Scottish company called MaidSafe issued 'cryptoequity' last year, with a crowd-sale of what it called MaidSafeCoins.
Worries by banks about the money laundering risk from cryptocurrencies has stunted use of block chain technology in the UK banking sector till now. But the money laundering risk from cryptocurrencies can be overstated, believes Dr Robinson.
"The risk is there, but there is a publicly available database, and everyone can look at it, and see every block chain transaction that's ever been made."
The absence of regulation also has been a problem.
Britain's tax authorities released a guidance brief on Bitcoin a year ago (and decided not to charge VAT on cryptocurrency mining or trading). Last month, the Bank of England publicly explored the idea of issuing a 'digital pound'.
But in general, the UK government has adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
In America, New York state has been one of the first governments at any level to propose regulations for the virtual currency industry. Initially, its reporting and capital requirements were viewed as quite onerous on smaller cryptocurrency start-ups, but they have been relaxed.
Dr Robinson says it could be time for some light-touch regulation in Britain, to lend cryptocurrencies credibility, and give banks confidence in dealing with them.
And the Bank of England concluded if it were ever to create a digital pound, research would be necessary to ensure the technology would not constrict the central bank's ability to control its currency and secure the banking system against attack.
Miss Dorrestijn cautions that too much investment may have gone into the front end of payment, and neglecting banks' ageing infrastructure, where the bulk of payments are still handled.
"'98% of the world still works with banks as we know them today," she says. "I see a very new interest in investing in new core technology, new protocols, and new formats."
"I think the world is oversaturated with wallets, and mobile channels, if they only are a shiny face on an old fashioned mechanism."
Michel Akkermans, founder of Clear2Pay, says retail banks are mostly hindered in payments by batch-based systems.
Transactions get processed once a day, instead of in real time.
And legacy payments software is "written in arcane programming languages no one knows any more".
He says after the 2008 banking crisis, banks have focussed again on their core business of enabling transactions rather than esoteric financial instruments and derivatives.
But they are at very different stages in modernising their existing payments infrastructure, he says.
One new body, the Emerging Payments Association, represents newer entrants in the payments space.
It pushes for non-bank payment firms to have more equal access to retail clearing banks, for such things as faster payments and dealing with consumers through the Post Office, says board advisor Richard Wagner, chief executive of Advanced Payment Solutions.
Bitcoins may not yet have met their killer app. But how we pay is undergoing more than small change.
And Bitcoin, Ripple, and other new alternative forms of payment are steadily gaining currency, bit by bit. | Two years ago, perhaps 4,000 or 5,000 merchants in the world accepted Bitcoin, says Nicolas Cary, co-founder of Blockchain, now there are more than 100,000. | 31856218 |
Councils in England stepped in to help 205,100 households facing homelessness in the year to March, suggests Shelter's analysis of government data.
In 2009-10, the figure was 140,900, indicating a rise of almost 46%, according to the charity.
The government said it had spent more than £1bn on homelessness since 2010.
But Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb called the research "truly devastating".
The charity says its own helpline took 450,000 calls over the past year, and a quarter were from people threatened with losing their homes within a month.
The figure for the previous year was 408,927. So there were 47,773 more calls this year - a rise of 12%, says the charity.
Mr Robb said too many cases involved families with children "teetering on the brink of homelessness".
He added the charity's own figures suggested 100,000 children would be "waking up homeless and in unstable temporary accommodation on Christmas morning".
"Sadly, the combination of our affordable housing shortage and cuts to welfare means that more and more parents are finding themselves struggling to keep a stable roof over their children's heads," said Mr Robb.
The charity says children in temporary accommodation can find it hard to cope at school.
One mother, Francesca, said her daughter became very tired because living in one room in a hostel meant she was disturbed by younger siblings at night.
"It was an incredibly difficult time for us," she said.
"My daughter's grades suffered because the baby would keep her up all night.
"It was also hard for her to keep her friendships going, because she couldn't bring any of them over to play."
The Department for Communities and Local Government said the government was spending more to combat homelessness.
"One person without a home is one too many, which is why we've recently announced in the Spending Review an increase to £139m over the next four years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping," said a spokesman.
"Since 2010, the government has provided more than £1bn to tackle homelessness and support vulnerable households, and statutory homelessness is now less than half the 2003-04 peak."
The Local Government Association said councils' efforts to find appropriate housing for everyone who needed it were made harder by "a chronic shortage of affordable homes, funding pressures and the growing demand for help highlighted in this report".
"It is important that councils have the funding and flexibilities to help those who find themselves homeless or at risk of homelessness. Local authorities also need the power to invest in building more homes that local communities can genuinely afford," said a spokesman. | The number of people on the brink of homelessness who have been helped by local councils has risen sharply over five years, says the charity Shelter. | 35092027 |
Alt News website reported on Wednesday that the ministry used the picture in its annual report to show that it had installed floodlights in border areas.
But the website said the picture was taken in 2006 by Spanish photographer Javier Moyano of the Ceuta enclave.
The ministry has reportedly ordered an inquiry into the "embarrassing gaffe".
Edited Modi flood photo sparks mockery
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has faced similar online mockery in the past for using wrong or photo-shopped pictures in official press releases and reports.
India's state-run Press Information Bureau in 2015 tweeted an obviously edited image of Mr Modi surveying deadly Chennai floods.
In the latest gaffe, the home ministry included the picture in its report which was published on its website.
After Alt News reported the error, many Indians took to Twitter to mock the ministry.
The NDTV website reported that Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi had demanded an explanation from officials.
"If it's a mistake by the ministry, we will apologise," he said.
The ministry has been installing floodlights in border areas to check smuggling and infiltration.
In its annual report, the ministry said it had floodlit 647km (402 miles) of India's border with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Officials said it was unclear how a wrong picture made its way into the annual report. | Twitter users are ridiculing India's home ministry for using a picture from Morocco's border with a Spanish territory to highlight its work. | 40284480 |
Resuming with a 242-run lead on 142-7, Kent made 308 as Darren Stevens hit 90 and Adam Rouse made an unbeaten 95.
Needing 409 to win, Derbyshire lost their first five wickets for just 78.
With Stevens (3-63) and James Harris (4-56) in form, and only Wayne Madsen (32) and Wilson managing more than 17 for Derbyshire, Kent made victory safe.
Wilson did his best to take the match to a fourth day before falling to Harris lbw just three runs short of a century.
Earlier on day three, Kent wicketkeeper Rouse went close to his first-ever senior ton, but ran out of partners as Will Davis (3-48) bowled well for the visitors. | Kent earned a third straight Division Two win as they finished off Derbyshire with a day to spare at Canterbury, despite Gary Wilson's valiant 97. | 39682072 |
England, who lost their opening game of the SheBelieves Cup against USA, take on the European champions in Tennessee.
"I don't think anyone would ever think they would achieve something like this," Williams, 32, told BBC Sport.
"It's a proud moment if it comes, for both me and my family. It's going to be massive."
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Arsenal midfielder Williams, who is England's most capped player, says she wants to prolong her international future for as long as possible, but predicts her record will be broken in the future.
"I'll keep working hard, keep myself fit, keep competitive and if I do that then I know I can always give something," said Williams, who made her debut as a 17-year-old against Portugal in 2001.
"Every game that I play, I feel really lucky to represent England. I never come here thinking I'm going to play and that keeps me motivated.
"I definitely think a women's player will reach my record in a few years, maybe after I've retired they'll be up there.
"Jill Scott has got a lot of years left in her, Karen Carney's got a lot of caps behind her and I thought Alex Scott would have stayed near but she's now got Lucy Bronze playing well too."
Striker Eniola Aluko could also make her 100th appearance for England in Sunday's match against Germany.
Other current England players with more than 100 caps are:
England's victory against Germany at last summer's World Cup, which sealed a bronze medal, was their only victory over them in 31 years.
Williams says that result, as well as a goalless draw against Germany in November, has given the Lionesses plenty of confidence ahead of Sunday's clash.
"I definitely think we'll get a result and it's going to be a win," Williams said.
"Once we lost that America match, we regrouped because there were lots of positives to take from the game. You'll see another energised performance against Germany.
"That decision making in the final third, that cutting edge is what will change the game for us."
England's final group game is against France in Boca Raton on 9 March.
Media playback is not supported on this device | Fara Williams says it will be a proud moment if she becomes the first player to reach 150 England caps against Germany on Sunday. | 35738275 |
The men, aged 21, 22 and 33 were arrested along with a 45-year-old woman on Thursday after police seized a large quantity of diazepam tablets in north Belfast.
The men face a number of drug offences.
They are due to appear at Belfast Magistrates' Court on Saturday.
The 21-year-old is also charged with possessing a firearm in suspicious circumstances.
The 22-year-old man is also charged with money laundering.
On Friday, a 45-year-old woman appeared in court charged with conspiracy to supply class C drugs.
Kelly Clarke, of Ardoyne Road in Belfast, also faced a charge of being concerned in the supply of diazepam between 1 August last year and 16 April this year.
She was granted bail. | Three men have been charged in connection with a police investigation into the supply of prescription drugs into Northern Ireland. | 32357140 |
The teenager from Surrey was a passenger in the convertible Mercedes which crashed in Hordle, in the New Forest, on Tuesday evening.
Two other children, aged eight and 10, were taken to Southampton Hospital.
The driver, a 34-year-old man from Hordle, is charged with causing death by careless driving while over the drink-drive limit. | A man has been charged with causing the death of a 15-year-old girl when a car struck a tree in Hampshire. | 35607430 |
The Princess Royal will officially open the new stand on the first day of the Open race meeting on 13 November.
The final part of a £45m redevelopment at the course will house restaurants, bars and a new Royal Box.
The ground floor of the stand will house a new bar named after Lord Vestey, who was chairman of Cheltenham for 21 years until 2011.
A champagne bar on the first floor will be named after the horse Big Buck's, who won four World Hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival and a record 18 consecutive races.
Other projects, including a refurbished weighing room and a new first aid room, have been completed at the course over the past 19 months.
Ian Renton, from the Jockey Club, said: "Since we started the project in earnest immediately after The Festival in 2014, all of those involved in this new development have worked tirelessly to deliver such a fantastic new grandstand in readiness for this season.
"The feedback on those parts of the redevelopment that we have opened to date has been incredibly positive, and I am sure that those who experience all that the new stand has to offer over the coming months will agree that this is a stand of which Cheltenham and its racegoers can be really proud."
The new 6,500-capacity grandstand replaces an old building that was built in the 1920s. | A new grandstand at Cheltenham Racecourse will be opened next month, it has been announced. | 34455869 |
Eighth-place Warriors are nine points adrift of the top four and a play-off place, but have a game in hand.
Townsend told BBC Scotland: "Nine games to go and there are a few tough ones.
"We play Dragons next. We've got to do a professional job, play well down there and keep the momentum going."
Bryce, who scored Glasgow's decisive fourth try in the 27-24 bonus-point win at Kilmarnock's Rugby Park in foul second-half conditions, said: "It's all about momentum in this league.
"We managed to show the Warrior spirit in the end and get the win. The boys are ecstatic. Hopefully we can kick on."
Munster recovered from two early tries by Glasgow prop Sila Puafisi to score two tries through a prop of their own, Dave Kilcoyne.
Glasgow's Duncan Weir and Mike Sherry for the visitors - while they were down to 14 men - traded tries, but it was Munster who led by two points before Bryce darted over in the corner to end a four-game winless run.
Townsend added: "I was concerned at half-time. We had started the game well but then Munster were outstanding.
"We played well when we had ball in hand. I thought we showed ambition and real pace in our game.
"Dragons next Thursday is a challenge for us because we won't see a number of our players at any training session because they will be with Scotland."
Glasgow number eight Josh Strauss was man of the match and may have shown enough to force his way into Vern Cotter's Scotland squad for the Six Nations match in Rome next Saturday.
"Josh was in really determined mood this week," said Townsend.
"By his own admission he had not got back to his best form coming off the bench in the last two games. He had been missing for the last four or five weeks.
"We thought he played really well before his concussion in the second Edinburgh game.
"He wanted to be captain this week. He had set a goal of a number of ball carries in the first half so you could tell he was up for it. When he plays like that he gives us real go-forward." | Glasgow Warriors coach Gregor Townsend and Glenn Bryce, the winning try-scorer in their Pro12 game against Munster, stressed the importance of building a head of steam to reach the play-offs. | 35618306 |
Campaign posters reading "Oui, on peut" - a translation of the former US president's popular 2008 campaign slogan, "Yes, we can" - have appeared around Paris.
Mr Obama is not a French citizen and is thus ineligible to run.
But those behind the prank say the point is to highlight the lack of inspirational candidates.
Their message to the candidates, one of the organisers told the BBC, is: "Hey guys, you really don't make us dream."
French voters go to the polls on 23 April, and, unless one polls more than 50% in the first round, they will return on 7 May to decide between the two frontrunners.
A dominant figure in the campaign has been far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has benefited from claims of financial wrongdoing which have swirled around the campaign of her centre-right rival Francois Fillon since late January, culminating last week in the announcement that a magistrate was launching a formal inquiry into the claims.
Current opinion polls give her a lead of several percentage points over Mr Fillon and centrist Emmanuel Macron - though both of her rivals are predicted to beat her in a two-way runoff.
What makes Marine Le Pen far right?
Ms Le Pen may be backed by a greater number of French voters than ever, but her enduring toxicity for many of the rest means the campaign has been dominated by a negative message, say commentators: How can we keep her out?
It is this, in part, that the organisers of the Obama2017 campaign - Parisians in their 30s - are reacting to.
"It's still possible to vote for a president and not against a candidate," their website reasons.
"We think we can do something else than the extreme," said one of the organisers, who refuse to reveal their names, saying they want the focus to remain on the campaign and not on them as individuals.
"We are anti-political, we are not against any candidate in particular, but we are not a big fan of any of them. [This campaign is] a way to say 'Guys, eh wake up - you are uncool, and this campaign is uncool - we'd rather have Obama'."
The viral take-off of the campaign caught them by surprise - but the French media, said the organiser, has failed to get the joke.
"They are very annoyed, people take it all too seriously," he said, adding that even the left-leaning newspaper Liberation ended a short piece on the campaign on a sniffy note: "If that's what amuses them..."
"We want this to stay on the joke level," he says. | An online petition urging Barack Obama to stand in the French election has attracted more than 42,000 supporters. | 39116133 |
The man's bike was struck by an Asda articulated lorry on the A82 at Dunochter at about 11.00 on Sunday.
The incident happened on the west bound carriageway between the Kilbowie roundabout and the Erskine Bridge. The cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.
The west bound carriageway was closed with diversions in place. Police have appealed for witnesses.
Sgt Archie McGuire of Police Scotland said: "Inquiries are at an early stage to establish the exact circumstances of this incident and it is essential that any witnesses come forward as soon as possible.
"I would like to speak to anyone who was on the A82 around 1100 hours this morning, particularly those travelling on the east bound carriageway, who may have seen what happened.
"I would also like to see any footage of the incident which may have been captured on a dash cam or by any local businesses or properties with CCTV." | A cyclist has died after being hit by a lorry in West Dunbartonshire. | 37270921 |
Clifford Stott, 69, of Rise Road, Skirlaugh, is accused of abusing two boys during the 1970s at Paull Primary School and Sproatley Endowed School.
One alleged victim told Hull Crown Court he was indecently assaulted as he sat on Mr Stott's lap while reading.
Mr Stott, who denies eight sexual offences, is also said to have got into bed with the boy during a school trip.
One of the two alleged victims told the court how Mr Stott would take individual children to a reading corner and sit them on his lap.
He said that during these sessions the teacher indecently assaulted him on more than one occasion.
The witness also said he was made to share a twin bedroom with Mr Stott while away on a school trip.
Asked by prosecutor Patrick Palmer what he thought of the alleged demand, he replied: "I just did what I was told."
Another witness, not an alleged victim but giving evidence to the court, said he too had been made to share a bed with Mr Stott during a school trip, while Mr Stott was head teacher at Sproatley Endowed School.
He said that after he fell ill on the trip he went to ask for help and Mr Stott had taken him back to his bedroom and got in to bed with him.
"I didn't think that at nine years old it was appropriate," he said.
Asked by defence barrister Bernard Gateshill whether he could have been mistaken, the witness said: "No, I told my mother that it had happened."
Mr Stott denies five charges of indecent assault against one child, two charges of indecent assault against a second child and one charge of indecency.
The trial continues. | A former East Yorkshire primary school head teacher abused a boy during reading lessons, a court has heard. | 36035598 |
The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and accountants KPMG found total sales in December increased year-on-year by 0.7%.
It was the strongest rise since January 2014.
Grocery sales were 2.5% up on December 2015, which the SRC said was the best performance in more than three years.
In non-food, there was a slight decline in store sales, but online purchases lifted the category into growth.
There were good sales of mid-priced items, with fragrance and mobile phone gifts performing well.
Online sales of home accessories, beauty products and toys were also strong.
Ewan MacDonald-Russell, SRC's head of policy and external affairs, said food sales had been driven by a late surge in customers stocking up for Christmas.
He said: "It's encouraging to see another good month's performance, which builds on a good November and continues the autumn trend of a small but now sustained recovery in retail sales."
Although Christmas provided a boost for Scottish retailers, analysts warned that economic indicators suggested inflation was affecting costs for businesses.
They also said inflation was beginning to feed through to the high street, and both customers and retailers were likely to feel the squeeze over the early months of 2017.
Craig Cavin, head of retail in Scotland at KPMG, said there was a significant increase in both online and high street sales in December, but uncertainty over Brexit could result in rises in food prices.
He said: "With price increases likely over the coming year, consumers were happy to make the most of the festive discounts." | Strong food sales gave Scottish retailers a boost over the vital Christmas period, according to a report. | 38654722 |
Sanctions are being applied "at a scale unknown since the Second World War" and the fate of at least a third of those hit "is anybody's guess", he said.
He says a government survey is needed to track the whereabouts of those dropping off the roll.
But the Department of Work and Pensions says the claims have "no basis".
About 1.5 million people leave the welfare system each year, but it is unclear how many are left without work or benefit payments, according to Mr Field, who chairs the influential Commons Work and Pensions select committee.
Some may be in jail or have moved abroad, while others are people on benefits who have been hit by sanctions and dropped out of the system, a report co-authored by Mr Field and Andrew Forsey, head of the MP's parliamentary office, found.
Sanctions are imposed when claimants fail to comply with welfare conditions imposed by the government.
The report, to be published on Monday by think tank Civitas, calls for ministers to carry out an urgent survey to find out what happens to claimants expelled from the welfare rolls who appear not to find work.
It welcomes plans to trial a "yellow card" early warning system for claimants facing sanction because they are deemed not to have done enough to find work - and calls for Jobcentre Plus staff to be given powers to issue non-financial sanctions.
It also recommends the Department for Work and Pensions trials a "grace period" for vulnerable claimants that eases the rules at times when they are facing transition or acute difficulty.
Mr Field and Mr Forsey said: "The number of sanctions was halved in the year leading up to the 2015 election, but it still remained at half a million.
"Sanctions are therefore being applied at a scale unknown since the Second World War, and the operation of sanctions on this scale makes for a most significant change in the social security system as it has existed in the post-war period.
"A number of people - we know not how large a number - are being totally disconnected from both work and welfare, and risk being exposed to destitution.
"Justice calls for a major survey of what happens to the hundreds of thousands of people thrown off the welfare rolls each year through the sanctioning process.
"It is unacceptable, not only for this government, but for its predecessor and those who will follow, to take away benefit from a mass of people each year and not trouble themselves with how this army of people survive.
"For that is what is happening under the government's sanctions policy. The ability to track the well-being of the whole population is now a part of being a grown up government, let alone a 'One Nation' government."
But a Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: "There is no basis to these claims.
"People leave the benefits system for many reasons, including when they go to work - which is good news.
"It's extremely unlikely anyone would leave the benefit system because of a sanction. The truth is we have record employment and we spend £80bn supporting millions of people who are unemployed or on low incomes."
In 1997, Prime Minister Tony Blair gave Mr Field the task of "thinking the unthinkable" as a welfare reform minister, but he later resigned from government.
Following the 2010 general election, he led an independent review into UK poverty for the coalition government.
Last year Mr Field co-chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Hunger in the UK. | More than a million benefits claimants may be facing destitution after disappearing from the welfare system, Labour ex-minister Frank Field claims. | 35321767 |
The claim: The government's increase in National Insurance contributions is a breach of its 2015 manifesto.
Reality Check verdict: The government did promise in its manifesto not to raise National Insurance contributions, and this is an increase, so it has broken that pledge. It has not broken the law that enshrined its pledge as this applies to employees only, not the self-employed.
But in the Conservative Party's manifesto for the 2015 general election, it promised: "We will not raise VAT, National Insurance contributions or income tax".
Currently, self-employed people pay two types of National Insurance: Class 2 and Class 4.
George Osborne announced in 2016 that Class 2 contributions would be abolished from April 2018.
Philip Hammond has now announced that at that point, Class 4 contributions will increase from 9% to 10%, going up to 11% the following year.
Above profits of £43,000 a year, Class 4 contributions will still stand at 2%.
The overall effect of abolishing Class 2 and raising Class 4 will be to raise an extra £145m per year by 2021-22, so it clearly is a tax rise.
The government did pass an act of Parliament in 2015, called the National Insurance (Rate Ceilings) Act, which prevented it from raising National Insurance rates, although that will not be breached because it referred to Class 1 National Insurance only, which is paid by employees, not by the self-employed.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies argued before the Budget that the fact more tax was paid on the earnings of employees than those of the self-employed was not justified.
And the chancellor argued that the "dramatically different treatment of two people earning essentially the same undermines the fairness of our tax system".
Read more from Reality Check | Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced increases in the rate of National Insurance paid by self-employed workers. | 39208859 |
In November 2013 Wales became the first UK nation to require food outlets to display their inspection ratings.
In the two years since, the share of firms getting the top five-star rating has risen from 45% to just under 61%.
Vaughan Gething said the measure had resulted in clear benefits for food providers and their customers.
Nearly 26,000 food businesses are covered by the ratings, up from just over 22,000 when the mandatory system was launched.
The ratio of firms rated satisfactory or better (scores 3 to 5) rose from 86.9% to 94.4%, while the number of outlets with a zero rating halved from 134 to 61, around one in 500.
Mr Gething said: "The introduction of a statutory food hygiene rating scheme has been a big success story for Wales, helping to drive up standards in restaurants, pubs, cafes and other food business right across the country."
Nina Purcell, director of the Food Standards Agency in Wales, added that the scheme had gone "from strength to strength". | Mandatory "scores on doors" hygiene ratings for restaurants and takeaways have driven up standards, the deputy health minister has said. | 34943449 |
The show's executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins announced the change at Student Pride in London.
He says it's important to tell the story properly, and to get the casting right.
So he wants to find a trans actor to play the part.
It won't happen anytime soon though.
He admits that the writing process hasn't even started yet - that he needs to find the right actor and the right character first.
He said "We try and do our research and get it all in our heads - the way we want to go because we want to tell it properly.
"Also I would want to cast a trans actor as well. You have to - you have to cast a trans actor, but you also don't want to mess up the story because EastEnders reaches so many people and a lot of our audience are quite traditional.
He added "The power of EastEnders is we can change the world a little. You can change it gently and influence people who would be maybe quite bigoted."
Coronation Street was the first British soap to bring in a a transgender character. Hayley Cropper first came to the cobbles in 1998.
Hollyoaks' Blessing Chambers is trans too.
Recently, E4's Banana had another TV first, with a transgender actor playing a transgender character.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube | EastEnders is going to introduce its first transgender character. | 31686408 |
Although they frequently talk about politics online, these so-called 'millennials' are traditionally less likely to vote than older people.
Developers have created a host of new apps targeting this age group.
But are they enough to encourage the smartphone generation to become more politically engaged?
Apps like Voter build on existing formats to introduce users to political candidates who align with their own beliefs.
Created by 26-year-old web developer Hunter Scarborough, Voter allows users to swipe left and right through a number of political candidates until they find the ideal match.
You could describe it as a political form of Tinder.
Scarborough says he created the app after becoming frustrated by the lack of political news sources he felt he could trust.
"I didn't want to vote on a sound bite from a news anchor, or a sound bite from a family member," he says.
"I looked at the wealth of raw political data becoming available, and realized there could be a much faster and more accurate way to become informed."
Scarborough is convinced apps like his can have a positive impact on turnout.
"If someone has a horse in the race, they're much more likely to participate," he says.
"So if you use the app and you have a strong degree of confidence in who you match for, you are much more likely to be at the polls when election day comes, " he adds.
Unlike Voter, the Brigade app - which builds on a Facebook-style model to encourage public political discussion online - does not allow users to choose whether to share their political information with others.
The social networking app works by asking a series of questions about political issues, allowing users to mark 'agree', 'disagree' or 'unsure'.
They can then see how they compare to their friends, followers and the wider population of users.
Brigade stresses the "huge potential" of apps to help younger voters get involved in politics, but recognises the difficulty in ensuring they remain interested.
"The hard part is getting to a scale that ensures people's voices and votes have real influence," says its spokesman Andrew Noyes.
"Those of us operating at the intersection of tech and politics must lead with issues millennials care about and find ways to keep them engaged by taking action with friends and neighbours."
Other apps target specific social groups who are less likely to vote - such as Hispanic millennials.
According to the Pew Research Centre, roughly 11.9 million will be eligible to vote in 2016.
People in this age bracket make up a larger share of Hispanic eligible voters than they do among white eligible voters - 44% versus 27%.
The Unidos app aims to mobilise young Latino voters.
It was launched by Feet in 2 Worlds (Fi2W), a media project at The New School, New York City.
It provides users with a newsfeed with links to relevant articles, voting guides, emojis and links to other social media platforms.
"People who are less politically engaged need encouragement to register and vote," says John Rudolph, Executive Producer of Fi2W.
"We all understand that by working together and using a variety of approaches we have a better chance of breaking the historic trend of Latino under-voting."
But experts say although apps have the potential to encourage an interest in politics, they can only go so far in motivating 18-35 year olds.
One expert warns that political apps mainly appeal to young people "already highly engaged", looking for ways to connect with others online.
"They leave behind young people who are just not interested in politics, let alone doing something concrete in relation to the candidates and/or campaigns," explained Dr Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, director of the Centre for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tisch College.
She points to the the "stalemate" in US Congress as a demotivating factor for young people and also to a lack of confidence amongst this group in political figures in general.
But she is keen to stress that millennials' lack of engagement in traditional politics should not be interpreted as an unwillingness to participate.
Hunter Scarborough agrees. "Millennials actually have the highest volunteering and community service rates than any other generation that came before them," he says.
"What that says to me is that there's a strong desire to have impact, but they haven't really seen the value in doing so through traditional methods."
Hunter Scarborough spoke to Deirdre Finnerty on World Update on the BBC World Service - listen to the interview here
But apps alone won't make the difference.
For Dr Kawashima-Ginsberg, a number of strategies are needed to increase engagement, boost registration and turnout.
She says there is still no real replacement for face-to-face contact.
"Candidates need to engage with them in person, and listen to what they have to say, instead of relying on the convenience of the apps to let young people find out about them," she says. | Young people between the ages of 18 and 35 make up about 31% of the eligible voting population in the US, and they will soon be the largest group in the electorate. | 36977279 |
Earlier, the personal banking site was not allowing customers to log on, while business accounts were running slowly.
"I'm pleased to say that we have seen a steady return of service to internet banking in the past few hours for our personal and business customers," HSBC's John Hackett said at 18:00 GMT.
The problems were blamed on "a complex technical issue within our systems".
When asked by BBC News whether some people might still have difficulty using its services, an HSBC spokesman replied: "there is a chance that might happen".
But Mr Hackett added: "It is encouraging that more and more customers have been able to log on this afternoon, and all customers should feel free to try."
"I'd like to apologise once more for any inconvenience that this technical issue has caused. We will be waiving any fees incurred as a result of this incident; and we will be happy to help all our customers with any issues that have arisen."
HSBC said earlier that the problems had not been caused by a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack and were not caused by anything external.
HSBC is the UK's biggest bank, with 17 million UK account-holders.
Customers of HSBC's subsidiary, First Direct, have not been affected.
Earlier, angry customers took to Twitter to complain. One described the situation as "shocking disgraceful customer service".
Others said they had been charged a £5 daily overdraft fee, but were unable to put money into their accounts.
Sam Middleton-Bray, from Hampshire, said she had had difficulty getting information about what was happening.
"It's incredibly frustrating and we're not getting a lot of information from HSBC other than their brief messages on Twitter. Their website says to call the 0345 number, but I called it yesterday three times and got an engaged tone," she told the BBC.
HSBC was hit by a previous IT glitch in August 2015, which prevented 275,000 payments going through just ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend.
One senior MP called on the boss of the bank to make sure such failures were not repeated.
"The frequency of these failures across the financial services sector suggests a systemic weakness in IT infrastructure. This is concerning." said Andrew Tyrie, the head of the Treasury Select Committee.
"I will be asking the chief executive of HSBC, and the regulators, for an explanation of these failures and action taken to sort them out. They just keep coming."
HSBC customers still affected by the problem are being advised to use the automated telephone banking service, on 03457 404 404. Business customers should call 03457 60 60 60.
Those with business accounts are usually restricted to transferring a maximum of £10,000 via telephone banking, but this limit has been raised to £100,000.
Otherwise, customers should go to their local branch, HSBC said. | HSBC says its online banking services are steadily returning, after failing for the second day running. | 35238420 |
1915 - Lithuania occupied by German troops during World War I.
1918 - Lithuania declares independence.
1920 - Soviet Russia recognises Lithuania's independence under Treaty of Moscow.
1926 - Nationalist Party leader Antanas Smetona seizes power in military coup after left wing wins elections.
1939 - The Soviet Union compels Lithuania to accept Soviet military bases.
1940 - Soviet army invades. Smetona flees. Lithuania incorporated into USSR.
1941 - Thousands of Lithuanians deported to Siberia. Nazis invade USSR and occupy Lithuania.
1944 - Red army returns, presaging further deportations and repression of resistance.
1988 - Group of writers and intellectuals sets up Lithuanian Movement for Reconstruction (Sajudis). Its leaders declare at a mass rally in the capital, Vilnius, that the USSR occupied Lithuania illegally.
Ringaudas Songaila dismissed as Lithuanian Communist Party chief. Replaced by Algirdas Brazauskas.
1989 - Parliament approves declaration of Lithuanian sovereignty, stating that Lithuanian laws take precedence over Soviet ones.
Lithuanian Communist Party breaks away from Soviet Communist Party and declares support for independence.
1990 - Sajudis wins majority of seats in parliamentary elections. Its leader, Vytautas Landsbergis, is elected chairman of parliament which declares restoration of independence.
USSR imposes embargo, halting fuel supplies and causing severe economic difficulties. Lithuania agrees to suspend independence, pending talks.
1991 January - As no headway is made in talks with Moscow and the economy faces turmoil, Landsbergis ends suspension of declaration of independence.
Soviet troops fire on civilians outside television tower in Vilnius, killing 13 and injuring several hundred.
1991 February - Referendum sees overwhelming vote in favour of independence.
1991 September - Following failed coup in Moscow the previous month, USSR recognises Lithuania's independence. Lithuania joins OSCE and UN.
1992 - New constitution introduces presidency. The former Communist Party, renamed Lithuanian Democratic Labour Party, wins more seats than Sajudis in general election. Coalition government formed.
1993 - Brazauskas elected president. Lithuania joins Council of Europe. New national currency, the litas, introduced. Soviet troops complete withdrawal.
1994 - Lithuania joins Nato Partnership for Peace programme. Treaty of friendship signed with Poland.
1995 - Lithuania's two largest commercial banks collapse. Political scandal ensues.
1996 - Prime Minister Slezevicius dismissed in the aftermath of banking crisis. General elections bring in centre-right coalition government.
1997 - President Brazauskas visits Russia. Border treaty, cooperation agreement signed.
1998 - Valdas Adamkus, a US citizen who spent nearly 50 years in exile, elected president.
1999 - Controversial contract signed selling a controlling share in Lithuanian state oil company to the American energy group, Williams International. Conservative PM Rolandas Paksas resigns. Andrius Kubilius becomes prime minister.
Independence figurehead Vytautas Landsbergis challenged Soviet power
Lithuania hero demands justice
2000 - General election returns another centre-right coalition government. Paksas reappointed prime minister, this time as a member of the Liberal Union.
2001 July - Brazauskas becomes prime minister following collapse of coalition in squabble over privatisation and other economic reforms. He pledges to work to speed up EU and Nato membership.
2002 November - Nato summit in Prague includes Lithuania on list of countries formally invited to join the alliance.
2002 December - EU summit in Copenhagen formally invites Lithuania to join in 2004.
2003 January - Rolandas Paksas elected president.
2003 May - Lithuanian referendum results in vote in favour of joining EU.
2003 November - Demonstrators demand resignation of President Paksas following allegations of links between his office and Russian organised crime.
2003 December - Impeachment proceedings begin against President Paksas after parliamentary inquiry concludes that alleged links between his office and Russian organised crime constitute threat to national security.
2004 March - Lithuania joins Nato.
2004 April - Parliament impeaches and dismisses Rolandas Paksas.
2004 May - Lithuania is one of 10 new states to join the EU.
2004 June - Valdas Adamkus re-elected president.
Algirdas Brazauskas oversaw Nato, EU entry
Brazauskas returns as Lithuanian PM
2004 October - Algirdas Brazauskas carries on as prime minister in new coalition following general elections.
2004 November - Lithuania becomes first EU member state to ratify new EU constitution.
2004 December - Reactor one at Ignalina nuclear power station shuts down in line with EU entry requirements. Under the same agreement, the second reactor is to close by 2009.
2005 January - Foreign Minister Valionis admits that he was once an officer in the Soviet KGB reserves. A parliamentary inquiry is launched into his past and into similar allegations against two other senior officials.
2005 March - President Adamkus declines invitation to attend ceremony in Moscow in May marking end of World War II.
2005 June - Labour Party leader Viktor Uspaskich resigns as economics minister over allegations that his business dealings had breached ethics rules. His party carries on as part of ruling coalition.
2005 September-October - Russian fighter jet crashes on Lithuanian territory, raising diplomatic tension with Moscow. Situation defused when investigation finds technical and human error to blame.
2006 May-July - Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas resigns after the Labour Party pulls out of the ruling coalition. Parliament approves the president's second nominee for the post, Gediminas Kirkilas.
2008 May - Parliament ratifies EU Lisbon Treaty.
The EU Commission turns down Lithuania's application to join the euro zone on 1 January 2007, citing the country's inflation rate.
2008 April-May - Lithuania threatens to derail EU-Russia partnership talks over energy concerns but drops veto under pressure from other member states.
2008 June - Parliament bans display of Soviet and Nazi symbols. The restrictions are the toughest of any former Soviet republic.
2008 October - The conservative Homeland Union party becomes largest party after parliamentary elections, pushing Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas's Social Democrats into second place.
2008 November - Homeland Union leader Andrius Kubilius appointed prime minister at the head of a centre-right coalition government.
2009 April - National statistics office publishes figures showing that Lithuania's GDP plunged 12.6% in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the same period last year.
2009 May - EU budget commissioner Dalia Grybauskaite, standing as an independent, wins presidential election with more than 68% of the vote.
2009 December - The second reactor at the Ignalina nuclear power station is shut down, in line with Lithuania's EU entry requirements.
2011 July - Lithuania protests to Austria over the release of Mikhail Golovatov, a former Soviet officer wanted in Lithuania over the 1991 Soviet special forces attack on the Vilnius TV tower. Austria says the evidence provided was too vague to justify Golovatov's detention.
2012 December - Social Democrat leader Algirdas Butkevicius becomes prime minister after his party wins parliamentary elections in October. He forms a coalition with the Labour Party and two smaller parties.
2013 July - Lithuania assumes rotating six-month European Union presidency for first time since joining the EU, the first of the Baltic states to do so.
Tensions with Russia
2013 October - Russia halts all dairy imports from Lithuania, amid a row over the Lithuanian EU presidency's efforts to draw Ukraine closer to the EU.
2014 April - Nato steps up military presence in the Baltic states in response to tensions with Russia over the Ukraine crisis.
Lithuania suspends a Russian state TV channel's broadcasts on its territory, accusing it of propaganda.
2014 May - Incumbent Dalia Grybauskaite wins presidential election run-off, the first time in the country's history a president has been elected to two consecutive terms.
2015 January - Lithuania joins the euro zone.
2015 February - Government says it plans to restart military conscription, which ended in 2008, amid growing concerns about Russian assertiveness in the Baltic region.
2015 March - NATO reinforces its presence in the Baltic states and its forces conduct major military drills in the region.
2016 November - Saulius Skvernelis becomes prime minister after his Peasant and Green Union inflicts a surprise defeat on Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius's Social Democrats in parliamentary elections. | A chronology of key events | 17540745 |
After jumping 2.5% on Thursday, the FTSE 100 index closed up 83.2 points, or 1.4%, at 6,096.01.
Mining shares bolstered the index as commodity prices rallied. Anglo American rose 7% and Glencore was 7.5% higher.
But shares in Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 7% to 226p after the bank reported yet another annual loss.
RBS reported a loss of £1.98bn for 2015, partly as a result of putting aside £3.6bn for litigation costs.
Stripping out one-off costs, RBS recorded a £4.4bn underlying profit, although this was down from £6bn a year earlier.
Sports Direct shares also fell, down 0.5%, after the retailer said its borrowing costs were set to increase.
The company said it would stop using a loan facility supplied by founder Mike Ashley, which charges lower rates.
Shares in British Airways owner IAG fell 3% despite the airline group reporting a big increase in annual profits.
On the currency markets, the pound fell 0.65% against the dollar to $1.3871, but rose slightly against the euro to €1.2685. | (Close): The London market continued to rally, but shares in RBS sank 8% after it reported another annual loss. | 35666961 |
The law broadly defines national security as covering everything from finance and cyber security to religion.
State media said it would "protect people's fundamental interests".
It is part of a raft of policies by President Xi Jinping that have drawn criticism from foreign governments, businesses and rights groups.
The vaguely worded legislation authorises the government to take "all necessary" steps to protect China's sovereignty.
Included in the law, passed by the standing committee of the rubberstamp National People's Congress, is a move to make key network infrastructure and information systems "secure and controllable".
The BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing says critics argue the law is excessive.
Many foreign technology firms operating in China are concerned, he adds. They fear that under the new law they'll be forced to hand over sensitive information to the authorities.
A senior party official, Zheng Shuna, said China's national security situation had "become increasingly severe", the Xinhua news agency reports.
Speaking at a news briefing in Beijing, she said China had to defend its sovereignty and interests while also maintaining its political and social stability.
"We will continue to follow the path of peaceful development but we absolutely will not give up our legitimate rights and absolutely will not sacrifice the country's core interests," she said.
The tightening of security laws comes amid tensions with its neighbours over competing territorial claims in the South China and East China Seas.
President Xi, who is head of the recently formed National Security Commission, has previously said China's security covers a wide range of areas including culture, politics, military, the economy, technology and the environment. | China's legislature has passed a wide-ranging and controversial national security law which tightens government control over many areas of life. | 33340322 |
BBC Scotland understands that the Ibrox club will offer Warburton an improved package to fend off the advances of the Championship side.
Fulham are the latest in a list of five clubs to target the Rangers manager.
The Englishman is stressing he is going nowhere and money is not a motivation for him.
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Warburton tweeted on Wednesday that he was "going nowhere and no club has approached me".
Fulham have identified Warburton as a candidate to succeed Kit Symons.
On Tuesday, Warburton said after his side's 4-0 Scottish Championship victory over Dumbarton: "We're into a long-term project at Rangers and we're in a good place right now.
"I respectfully always answer questions.
"I'm manager of Rangers and it's disrespectful to Rangers and to a club like Fulham, who conduct their business in the right manner.
"I'm sure they'll be disappointed in these rumours."
And, on Twitter on Wednesday evening, the manager said he was "bemused and frustrated by shockingly incorrect stories from certain media outlets".
Fulham missed out on Reading manager Steve Clarke and Birmingham City boss Gary Rowett.
Warburton, who is from London and has members of his family living in the city, has spoken to Rangers chairman Dave King about the possibility of adding to the club's squad in the January transfer window.
The former Brentford boss arrived at Ibrox in the summer and has led Rangers to the top of the Scottish Championship.
Fulham are 13th in the Championship south of the border, with former Celtic midfielder Peter Grant in caretaker charge of the first team. The Scot wants to retain his role with the development squad.
The search for a new manager is being conducted by chief football officer Mike Rigg, who was previously technical director at Queens Park Rangers and Manchester City. | Rangers have been made aware of interest in manager Mark Warburton from Fulham and are concerned the Englishman may be tempted to London. | 34980312 |
Chester outmuscled Rangers debutant Rio Ferdinand at the back post to head in from a corner early in the second half.
The home side had a superb chance to salvage a point after Chester was harshly adjudged to have handled a cross from substitute Junior Hoilett.
But Allan McGregor rescued City by saving Charlie Austin's penalty.
On the balance of play, QPR deserved a point, having created by far the greater number of chances over the course of the game.
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Prior to the goal, Rangers' Alejandro Faurlin dragged a shot on the turn wide from inside the box, Joey Barton struck the side-netting with a curling free-kick from 20 yards and summer-signing Steven Caulker saw a header cleared off the line by Hull's off-season recruit Andy Robertson.
But for most top-flight sides, football is all about taking your often limited chances and in this regard, Hull have given the new-comers a valuable refresher lesson.
Chester's header was the away side's first effort on target and one of only a handful throughout the game, yet it gives them the three points and that all-important opening-day platform.
The Tigers may have lacked a distinctly Shane Long-sized physical attacking presence - emphasized by the absence of Yannick Sagbo through suspension - but they were well-drilled, disciplined and hard-working throughout.
Even an injury to summer-signing Robert Snodgrass - who had shown signs of a promising partnership down the left with fellow Scot Robertson - did not affect their solidity.
And had another of their summer recruits, Tom Ince, slotted home a chance on the break with 15 minutes remaining they could even have avoided the late drama to come.
QPR know only too well how costly a poor start can be after a 16-game winless run at the beginning of their last top-flight campaign in 2012-13 led to their relegation to the Championship.
That season, they suffered an opening-day humiliation as Swansea exposed all of their naivety and defensive deficiencies to claim a 5-0 victory at Loftus Road.
This was a much better display, but it again led to another opening-day defeat for the hosts.
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Former England captain Ferdinand is a high-profile addition, designed to provide maturity and authority at the back and for the most part did just that, with his every touch in the first half greeted with grateful applause from the home support.
However, the 35-year-old's most significant act was in allowing Chester to get the better off him at the back post and steer the game's only goal into the bottom corner of the net.
Rangers' subsequent failure to conjure an equaliser will evoke unwelcome memories of their last top-flight campaign when they scored just 30 goals - a league low.
Substitute Bobby Zamora had a superb chance when he was through on goal but allowed Ahmed Elmohamady to tackle him.
Loic Remy - who did enough to suggest that talk of a failed medical with Liverpool this summer were wide of the mark - saw the last of a trio of shots saved by McGregor in the closing stages.
Most galling of all for Rangers will be the penalty miss.
Chester was adjudged to have handled Hoilett's cross in the box when the ball appeared to strike his chest, but McGregor ensured any controversy was academic as he dived to his right to push away Austin's tame effort.
QPR boss Harry Redknapp: "Some days it just doesn't go your way.
"You get a penalty late on and I think if we'd scored the penalty we had time to win the game, the momentum was with us. Some days you get the breaks and some days you don't.
"I thought in the first half we played well - we had good control, a good shape to the team, we passed it well and created some good chances so it was encouraging."
Hull boss Steve Bruce: "The referees have got to get together and realise they're making a mockery of it (the rule regarding handball) - it's supposed to be deliberate.
"Chester has got his hand by his side, the ball is a yard away and probably travelling at 50 miles per hour - what's he supposed to do?
"We need to stop all this nonsense and have a bit of common sense."
Check out the best photos from today's Premier League action on the BBC Sport Facebook page. | QPR made a losing start to life back in the Premier League as James Chester's header gave Hull an opening-day victory at Loftus Road. | 28718789 |
The Home Office flight was cancelled on Tuesday night after lawyers for some of the men successfully argued the country was no longer safe.
The men would be at risk of "serious harm" if forcibly deported, they said.
Toufique Hossain, a lawyer in the case, said Home Office deportation policies for Afghanistan were now "untenable".
The BBC understands some of the men had planned to board the flight voluntarily - but the flight still had to be cancelled because there were too few men willing to return.
In another hearing - held at the upper chamber of the Immigration and Asylum Court - lawyers for the men argued that they could not be "reasonably or safely" reintegrated back into Afghan society.
The security situation in parts of Afghanistan - even in the capital Kabul - had deteriorated to such an extent it would be unlawful to return the men against their will, they said.
Many provinces - including Helmand and Kandahar - had seen "dramatic increases in levels of violence", lawyers added.
The lawyers cited one case where a 22-year-old man who had lived in the UK since he was 14 was due to deported despite his poor mental health and being a known suicide risk.
The Home Office said it was unable to comment on the ruling due to election campaign rules.
The case was adjourned until 8 May. | A chartered flight to return 59 asylum seekers to Afghanistan had to be aborted after a last-minute Court of Appeal order blocked their deportation. | 32411757 |
The Grade II-listed South Parade Pier in Southsea, Hampshire, was shut in 2012 when Portsmouth City Council deemed it at risk of collapse.
Owners South Parade Pier Ltd said work to make the structure safe was completed at the end of last year.
An amusement arcade is expected to open at the front of the pier on Good Friday, the company confirmed.
South Parade Pier Ltd, which bought the structure in 2014, said it had also agreed terms to open a fish and chip shop in May and a 275-seat restaurant in August, creating 50 new jobs.
The amusement arcade is expected to employ 22 new staff.
It is also hoped a cafe will open in the summer, with further plans for an ice cream parlour, shop, rides, a "showbar", zip wire and chartered boat trips.
South Parade Trust, which previously raised concerns over delays in reopening the pier, welcomed the news.
"Everyone in Portsmouth will be delighted to walk out over the sea again," chairman Leon Reis said.
Pier owners Tommy Ware said it would bring "much-needed employment opportunities".
A dangerous structure order was served on the previous owners.
A council spokeswoman said this had now been lifted on the section with buildings on it, as well as 15m (49ft) beyond. The remainder is still considered unsafe.
South Parade Pier opened in 1879, but was destroyed by fire in 1904 and rebuilt in 1908.
In 1974 it was again wrecked by fire during the filming of the Ken Russell movie Tommy and part of the superstructure was rebuilt. | A Victorian pier shut after being deemed a public danger is to partially reopen next week after a £5m revamp. | 39505661 |
Mr Khan was greeted by his Parisian counterpart Anne Hidalgo at Gare du Nord for talks about post-Brexit business opportunities.
"We have much to gain from working even closer together," he said.
Ms Hidalgo said the two capitals enjoy a "win-win partnership that has to be made even stronger".
Addressing French business leaders, Mr Khan said London was "open to trade, open for new business ventures and collaborations, open to new ideas, new talent and people".
He and Ms Hidalgo also held discussions about cutting air pollution during a visit to the Paris Plage, a traffic-free city beach along the Seine.
Paris recently introduced car-free days on the first Sunday of each month and has closed roads in the capital to cut traffic emissions.
London's mayor previously announced plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street by 2020 as part of his plans to cut pollution.
He also took part in a wreath-laying ceremony as part of the commemoration of the liberation of Paris in World War Two.
This whistle stop tour of Paris was more about solidarity and friendship than detail, but both Mayors clearly have a friendship and lots of common ground.
Today we heard that both had mothers who were seamstresses and both were from immigrant families.
But they also have common goals.
The Mayor of London said post-Brexit London should be close to Paris and they should work together.
He wants to learn from the extensive pedestrianisation that Paris has done by the Seine.
But what is really significant is Sadiq Khan chose Paris as his first foreign trip. He clearly sees Anne Hidalgo as an ally and friend. | Sadiq Khan called for greater ties between London and Paris as he visited the French capital for his first official foreign trip as mayor. | 37182769 |
More than 140 pieces will be sold, some large enough for garden ornaments and smaller pieces that can go in a home.
Heather Newton, head of conservation, said successful bidders would own of a piece of history - the cathedral is mother church of the Anglican Communion and part of a World Heritage Site.
The proceeds will go to the future conservation of the cathedral.
Many of the pieces date back to when the Great South Window was built and show the carvings and markings of stonemasons who have worked on the window over the centuries.
David Parker, from Canterbury Auction Galleries which is running the sale for the cathedral for no fee, said: "We're very conscious about there being something for everybody's pocket from £100 for a pair of bookends to a classical piece of Gothic architecture."
Much of the Gothic-style window - which is 52ft (16m) high and 23ft (7m) wide - had to be rebuilt after crumbling stonework revealed serious structural problems.
Ms Newton said: "A stone fell on to the south path which is one of the main access routes in and out of the cathedral.
"Fortunately, it didn't hit anybody, but immediately we had to barrier off the area and realise that we had some serious problems to deal with."
Viewing will take place on 17 and 18 September and on 24 September, the day of the sale. | Stone removed from Canterbury Cathedral during restoration of a 15th Century window is to be sold at auction. | 36964503 |
The 48-year-old, who has held the same job at Burton and QPR, has agreed a two-year deal with the League One side.
The former Posh player will work with Grant McCann, who has also brought in Mark Tyler as goalkeeping coach.
"What he achieved with Burton alongside Jimmy was superb. It's a great addition for the football club," McCann said.
"David is very demanding and thorough. He says it how it is. His training sessions were intense and structured and that is what I am all about too."
Tyler, 40, has made 494 appearances for the club and is yet to retire, so could still feature as goalkeeper for Posh. | David Oldfield has been appointed assistant manager at Peterborough United after spending a month in the role on a trial basis. | 39979246 |
Being a World Golf Championships event there is no cut, so the 27-year-old Northern Irishman will have a guaranteed four rounds to ease his way back into the competitive fold.
McIlroy has been battling a stress fracture in his ribs, which has limited him to only one competition so far this year. But the four-time major champion showed his recovery was on track with 18 holes in the company of President Donald Trump just over a week ago.
Given the current political climate, the round prompted plenty of discussion as has the wider decision of golf's authorities to move this week's WGC event to Mexico.
For many it is a delicious irony that the tournament which was staged at the President's Doral resort near Miami is being relocated to the country that dominated so much of his campaign rhetoric.
Indeed, with golf often shown to be discomforted by his core messages, it would be easy to interpret the move to this new location as being a significant statement against the president.
But do not be fooled into thinking that the sport has acquired a new social conscience or desire to have a say in the currently febrile American political scene.
A decision to move the tournament to Mexico was taken last year, before Trump became president and professional golf is doing what it always does; it is following the money.
Once Cadillac signalled they would not be renewing their contract backing the WGC Championship at Doral, a move away from the Florida resort - bought by Trump in 2012 - became highly likely.
This is despite the billionaire's company investing $250m (£200m) in the redevelopment of the Florida venue and its Blue Monster course.
The problem with staying at Doral for prospective replacement sponsors was that they would end up sharing attention with its owner, a personality who would inevitably distract coverage from their investment.
Coughing up the sort of money needed to sustain a WGC deserves maximum exposure and so we have witnessed a departure from a venue that has had a 54-year association with the PGA Tour.
Few would have anticipated that the next home for this tournament would be in Mexico, but a seven-year deal was struck with Grupo Salinas - a conglomerate of companies overseen by another billionaire Ricardo Salinas.
Although it is only a relatively short leap over the border, the move weakens the American grip on the four WGC tournaments because now only two - the Matchplay in Austin and the Bridgestone in Akron - are staged in the United States. The other is played in Shanghai in October.
McIlroy has been vocal about the need for these tournaments to do what they say on the tin and embrace the "World" part of their title. He would like to see them taken to the likes of Australia and South Africa.
But that will only happen if backers are found to make it financially worthwhile. This week's prize fund is $9.75m (£7.8m) and that is an awful lot of Rand, Aussie dollars or, for that matter, Sterling.
WGC tournaments attract the world's best players but often struggle to resonate with a wider audience. The fact that so many of them have been played in the US makes them more difficult for fans to distinguish from standard PGA Tour events.
So perhaps the move to Mexico will help in this regard. Certainly the year's first gathering of all the world's top players - apart from Jason Day, who has an ear infection - will be played before a new audience.
And the long-term nature of the deal gives the Mexico Championship a chance to grow and carve a proper niche in the golfing calendar.
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For McIlroy, though, the priority is not this wider picture but taking the chance to prove he has fully recovered from an injury that wrecked his original tournament-heavy pre-Masters plan.
Golfing with the president is one thing, setting yourself up to win the one major to have so far eluded the world number three is quite another.
It is now back to the day job and one that doesn't require McIlroy to jump on social media to defend his participation.
Incidentally, a recent New York Times poll of PGA Tour professionals found 50 out of 56 saying they'd be willing to play with Trump.
McIlroy's Twitter explanation that his round with the president was no political endorsement should signal the end of the conversational phase of his golfing year.
Now it is time for McIlroy's clubs to do the talking. Especially as there are only a handful of events to be played before the biggest date in his golfing calendar, the first full week of April, and the Masters. | Rory McIlroy returns to tournament golf as the sport leaps Donald Trump's intended wall to settle in Mexico City this week. | 39106418 |
So there is little wonder that the queues were enormous when a pilot project for the MenAfriVac vaccine got underway in the three West African countries in recent weeks.
Unlike most of the alternatives, this vaccine was created specifically for Africa.
This is unusual, as vaccines tend to be created for and marketed in far larger, more lucrative regions, although they may be sold in Africa too.
Moreover, this vaccine was not created by by one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies.
Instead, it was created by a consortium of scientists and academics, all linked to a non-governmental organization called Path, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO).
MenAfriVac was created by combining processes from different players in the industry, the entire plan was masterminded from a French town called Ferney-Voltaire.
One process came from a Dutch biotech company, Synco Bio Partners, another from US government research laboratories, called the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
Trials were carried out at clinical trial sites from Ghana to Senegal, and an Indian vaccine maker, called Serum Institute, is manufacturing MenAfriVac.
In short, it has been a bit like assembling pieces of a puzzle, according to Dr Marc LaForce, who has been in charge of the consortium, called the Meningitis Vaccine Project, since 2001.
The vaccine has now passed the WHO's stringent global vaccine quality checks and is at the final safety-check stage in West Africa.
It has been welcomed by non-governmental organisations such as Medecins Sans Frontieres, which plans to buy several million doses for the region.
There has been a huge demand for meningitis vaccines to combat outbreaks all over the world, from the US to Europe.
That is why the market is so lucrative.
Sanofi Pasteur made around €445m ($620m; £391m) last year from just one meningitis vaccine.
But nowhere is the problem as serious as it is in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Here, huge epidemics have swept across a band of countries from West to East Africa, now called the meningitis belt.
Last year, more than 88,000 people contracted it in the region last year. Most of them are less than 30 years old, with the majority younger than 15 years of age.
Dr Samba Sow, who is working on Mali's pilot meningitis vaccine campaign for the ministry of health, hopes a solution may have been found.
"We expect a lot from this vaccine," he says.
"The expected impact is that the big epidemics will hopefully be stopped in this part of Sub-Saharan Africa."
The main reason for the rather unusual approach to vaccine development is that existing effective vaccines are too expensive, at well over $50 a dose, according to some estimates.
The meningitis belt is made up of some of the world's poorest countries and many cannot afford more than a tenth of that - 50 cents - per dose, even with a subsidy from charities, according to the Meningitis Vaccine Project.
Take Niger. It is one of the worst-hit epidemic countries, yet each year the country spends just $9 per citizen on health services.
It was this need to keep costs low that resulted in the vaccine being built using this novel modular approach.
This, and Dr LaForce's discovering research that suggested vaccines could be created much more cheaply, at total costs of less than 20c per dose.
Dr LaForce initially contacted large, established pharmaceutical companies to get them to help create such a vaccine, but failed to win them over.
"There wasn't very much interest in talking about the amounts we were talking about," he says.
"So we started to consider another approach"
So the Meningitis Vaccine Project embarked on a search for companies specialising in the individual technological processes required to make the vaccine.
It negotiated intellectual property deals to make use of the processes and found a developing world manufacturer that was already creating less expensive vaccines, and would thus be able to absorb the know-how and meet global manufacturing standards.
In the end, the Meningitis Vaccine Project came up with a vaccine that costs just over 40 cents to produce.
The modular approach was considered highly controversial to begin with, according to Dr Suresh Jadhav, executive director of Serum Institute
"There were many people who were sceptical about this project," he says.
"That technologies [could come from different] places and manufacturing happen at another place; this was something unheard of."
Now that it has been proven to work, similar methods could be used to create other vaccines, such as one against typhoid, according to the Meningitis Vaccine Project.
Indeed, there is a huge global push to use different mechanisms to develop a wide variety of vaccines that are better aimed at developing countries.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which funded the Meningitis Vaccine Project at launch, earlier this year pledged $10bn over a decade to do just that.
But one pharmaceutical manufacturer says the continent could have had an effective meningitis vaccine much sooner.
In the past, companies have shied away from paying to develop such a vaccine because the market has not been deemed sufficiently attractive, acknowledges Dr Rino Rappuoli, head of research for Novartis Vaccines.
These days, large pharmaceutical firms are combining meningitis strains into a single vaccine that will work in different parts of the world.
But in the past, Dr Rappuoli saw a vaccine he had helped develop, aimed at preventing the spread of a strain of meningitis that exists in Africa, being shelved.
In spite of this, Dr Rappuoli is not convinced the Meningitis Vaccine Project's decision to use a modular approach is the right one.
"Yes, maybe you will have a less expensive vaccine," he says.
"Don't get me wrong, I am very happy the vaccine is available.
"But you are not considering the real cost; all the people who die during the years while you developed it."
A better solution would have been for the global health community to have taken on well established, slightly more expensive technology to develop a vaccine for Africa, he believes.
Now, with the vaccine on the market, such concerns are purely academic for the people who live in the 21 African countries that form the "meningitis belt".
To them, the biggest obstacle remains a shortage of funds, which means only three countries will see nationwide immunisation campaigns take place in the near future.
At this stage, the Medecins Sans Frontieres insists, what is required to stop epidemics is sustainable funding. | For the people in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, a new meningitis vaccine offers hope of an escape from one of the world's deadliest, most disabling and infectious diseases. | 11534311 |
It follows calls from Cardiff Central MP Jo Stevens in response to the sexual assaults near the city centre.
The city's taxi association has rejected claims some drivers have previously refused short-distance fares.
A 40-year-old man remains in police custody and a man, 22, has been bailed.
In a joint statement, South Wales Police, Cardiff University, University of South Wales and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama said additional safety measures had been put in place following the attacks.
They said two additional buses staffed by police officers and police student volunteers had been provided as well as three buses which will will run into the night to provide students with safe transport back to their accommodation.
South Wales Police said it was continuing its high visibility patrols throughout the city centre and surrounding areas.
Meanwhile, Cardiff University and the college's students' union have been actively promoting their 'Safe Taxi Scheme' following the first of the three attacks carried out in the early hours of Sunday morning against a 20-year-old, close to the university's main building in the civic centre.
Another 20-year-old was attacked in Cathays Terrace on Tuesday and at about 04:30 BST on Thursday, a 19-year-old was targeted in Gorsedd Gardens.
"Our security team has been visiting student residences to discuss personal safety, while the Students' Union safe taxi scheme is now being extended to staff as well as students," explained the university's pro vice-chancellor, Prof Patricia Price.
"The scheme allows you to be safely picked up by Dragon Taxis anywhere in Cardiff and taken home even if you don't have cash at the time, provided you have your student or staff card."
Students who use the scheme can then reimburse the taxi fare through the students' union over the following days.
But Cardiff Central MP, Ms Stevens said she had written to local taxi firms after concerns were raised.
"A number of constituents have advised me that this is an issue for women travelling home from the city centre," she said.
Mathab Khan, the chair of the Cardiff Hackney Cabs Association, rejected the claim.
"That's not true at all," he insisted.
"Our advice to our drivers is to be as helpful as you possibly can, especially when it comes to lone female students, we say 'Please take them, they are vulnerable'."
Mr Khan said the only time a cab driver would refuse a fare was if the passenger was unfit to travel, due to excessive drink.
"99.9% of the taxi drivers in Cardiff are very helpful," he said.
A march is being held on Friday evening by Reclaim the Night, a group which campaigns against rape and all forms of male violence against women.
Students in Cardiff have been urged to stay in pairs on nights out, stay in well-lit areas, ensure someone knows where they are going, and to "be sensible".
Cardiff city council, which is responsible for licensing taxi drivers, said it was ready to act if fares are turned down.
A spokesperson for the council told BBC Wales: "What you need to do if you are overcharged or refused to be carried is to note the time, date, the driver's number and taxi number - all information that is on public display on the taxi - and then we can take action.
"It is a condition of their licence that they cannot refuse a fare." | Cab drivers have assured students in Cardiff they will not be turned away for short-distance taxi trips, after three sex attacks in five days. | 34360500 |
Urban areas appear to be the worst affected, including St Helier in Jersey where the 4G signal was switched on this week.
Mobile phone and TV signals having similar frequencies.
Operators JT Global, Sure and Airtel-Vodafone say the issue affects Freeview or digital terrestrial television.
It does not affect people with satellite television.
The mobile operators will be issuing a leaflet giving advice on what to do to determine if the Freeview service is experiencing interference from 4G.
A spokesman for the operators said: "We suggest that consumers switch off electrical devices as a starting point to try and pinpoint if interference is coming from one of these devices." | 4G mobile phone signals newly installed by telecom companies in the Channel Islands are causing some people to lose their television reception. | 32659867 |
Scott Chalkley, from Chaddesden, Derby, and Sue Davey, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, were among 38 killed by a gunman near Sousse on Friday.
The pair worked for Severn Trent Water, which said they were "much loved".
Ms Davey's daughter is the partner of Leicester City player Marc Albrighton and the club offered its condolences.
Her son Conor Fulford, said: "I want as many people as possible to know my mum.
"I'm trying my best to let people know we have lost a very special person to us."
He said his lasting memory of his mother is of her "grinning" just before she went on holiday to Tunisia.
"I'm happy because I've never seen her so happy," he said.
He said the family felt "abandoned" by the authorities following the attack and were travelling to Tunisia on Tuesday to bring her body back home.
The 43-year-old's daughter, Chloe Fulford, from Sutton Coldfield, tweeted Prime Minister David Cameron: "Our family are completely heartbroken as you can imagine.
"I just need one question answering... what are we doing to prevent this happening again?
"This needs action it's gone on to [sic] long and I pray no other family go through what my family have gone through in these last few days, and for the rest of our lives."
Mr Chalkley's son Ross Naylor said on Twitter that he and his brother Brad had "lost our Dad". He called the attacks "sickening".
Neighbours in Chaddesden said Mr Chalkley, 42, was a "lovely man" and "very cheerful".
His former partner Wendie Naylor told the Derby Telegraph her sons had been left devastated.
"Scott was a fantastic dad who loved his two boys. Words really can't describe what has happened, it's so shocking," she said.
Mr Cameron has paid tribute to the victims in Parliament.
Responding to Derby North MP Amanda Solloway, who raised Mr Chalkley's death in the Commons, he expressed his sympathies to his family.
"There are going to be many tragic stories about what happened on that beach and hotel and people will be coming to terms with it for many years to come," he said.
Severn Trent said the couple "had a passion to help others however they could and cared enormously for their co-workers".
Leicester City FC offered "its sincerest condolences" to Marc Albrighton, his partner Chloe and their family, after learning of Ms Davey's death.
"They are all in our thoughts and prayers," the club said. | A couple confirmed dead by their families following the Tunisia attack have been described as much loved and caring. | 33308757 |
The new devices will have plastic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels, the company said at a Galaxy Note 3 launch event in Seoul.
"We plan to introduce a smartphone with a curved display in South Korea in October," said DJ Lee, Samsung's head of strategic marketing for mobile.
But he revealed no further details.
Digital display technology is progressing towards curved, bendy and foldable screens.
In January, Samsung exhibited prototype products with bendy and extendable screens, but doubts remain as to how such technology can be mass-produced cheaply and reliably.
"A curved screen isn't going to radically change the user's experience of a smartphone, but it does help Samsung differentiate itself in a crowded market where most phones are homogenous, flat-screen rectangles," Ben Wood, analyst at research company CCS Insight, told the BBC.
"My understanding is that these new phones will form part of Samsung's Active range, so the curved screen is probably to do with making the phone more flexible and rugged," he added.
Curved displays already feature in large-screen TVs, such as those produced by Samsung and its Korean rival, LG Electronics.
On Wednesday, LG launched a 55in (140cm) curved OLED TV in the UK.
Samsung has also been moving into wearable technology, such as its Galaxy Gear wristwatch phone.
Smartphones are now the dominant type of phone, with CCS Insight expecting one billion to be sold in 2013 out of a total of 1.7 billion mobile phones. | Samsung Electronics, the world's best-selling smartphone maker, is planning to launch handsets with curved displays. | 24238653 |
The midfielder made sure there was nothing the officials could misinterpret as he celebrated his sixth goal of the season at Stark's Park.
This was his first game back following a controversial dismissal after hitting the target against Morton last month.
In truth Rangers' seventh win in row should have been more comfortable.
Raith, who remain on fourth place on goal difference, have now failed to score in their last five matches.
An indication of the squad strength Gers manager Mark Warburton has assembled to ensure Rangers return to the Premiership this season saw £500,000 signing Michael O'Halloran start on the bench.
He was joined there by Nicky Law and Dean Shiels as the manager made two changes to the side that beat Falkirk at Ibrox, with Gedion Zelalem and Halliday both returning.
The early signs were far from promising for Rovers - who had Leicester City's on-loan striker Harry Panayiotou on the bench - as Rangers pulled them apart with superior pace, movement and almost total control of the ball.
Martyn Waghorn might have had a first-half hat-trick with a bit more composure in front of goal, while Barrie McKay forced Kevin Cuthbert into a sharp save.
Halliday's free-kick from the edge of the area after 28 minutes deflected off the defensive wall and bounced clear of a post.
But the home side's luck finally ran out just before the interval when they failed to cope with a great overlap down the right by James Tavernier.
The full-back burst his way to the bye-line before pulling back a cross that Halliday drilled into the net from six yards, scant reward for the visitors' dominance.
Raith pressed a higher line after the break with Panayiotou adding a more physical presence up front in the final half-hour.
The St Kitts and Nevis international even had the ball in the net with 20 minutes left, but Lewis Toshney - back from injury - was penalised for a barging into an opponent when setting up the chance with a powerful header.
Rangers created far fewer chances in a surprisingly flat second-half display, the away fans saving their loudest cheer for the introduction of O'Halloran.
The high-profile signing from St Johnstone arrived for his debut on the hour and showed characteristic pace with one run and cross that found no takers. | Andy Halliday's goal a minute from half-time was enough to keep Rangers eight points clear of Hibernian at the top of the Scottish Championship. | 34952083 |
Some 179 British soldiers, who were part of the coalition, died in Iraq.
Mr Corbyn, who is tipped to be the next Labour leader, attended the event on behalf of the Stop the War Coalition.
Mr Corbyn's team said the conference, in Cairo, had not been organised by Stop the War.
But Panorama has discovered the conference communiqué was posted on Stop the War's website and remained on it for many years.
The Cairo Conference was organised by an Egyptian anti-war organisation.
Its 2003 conclusions committed the conference to support "resistance against the occupation forces with all legitimate means, including military struggle".
At the time, Mr Corbyn was on Stop the War's steering committee.
Panorama asked Mr Corbyn whether he had supported the right of Iraqis to attack British soldiers - in line with the conference statement.
A spokesman for the Labour leadership candidate said: "Jeremy was opposed to the Iraq war and to the loss of 179 British soldiers. No lives should have been lost.
"His opposition to war was precisely because he did not wish to put British troops in harm's way, and voted inside Parliament against the war and worked with Stop The War (StWC) outside to stop it happening.
"As for the the Cairo conference, it was a separate organisation from StWC. Publication of its statement does not mean StWC endorsement of it.
"Still less did it mean that all the diverse membership of StWC steering committee agreed with it or were asked to endorse it."
Since he entered Labour's leadership race, Mr Corbyn's foreign policy views and activism have come under intense scrutiny.
Last month, he insisted remarks made in 2009 about Hezbollah and Hamas being his "friends" had been taken out of context. | Jeremy Corbyn attended a conference after the Iraq war that called on Iraqis to engage in "military struggle" against coalition forces, the BBC's Panorama programme has learned. | 34179201 |
Police spokesman Tyler Gamble said officers were on their way to break up a big crowd at the city's Bunny Friend Park when shots were fired.
Ambulances took 10 people to hospital, Mr Gamble said, and others were taken by private vehicles.
It is yet not known what started the shooting or how severe the injuries are.
According to Mr Gamble, there were two groups at the park - one had walked there as part of a neighbourhood parade, while others were watching or participating in a video being made in the park.
Witnesses told local TV station WWL that there were about 500 people at the park and that two gunmen opened fire in the crowd. | At least 16 people have been wounded in an apparent shooting at a park in New Orleans, police say. | 34897310 |
Gabriel Rasmus, 30, of Birmingham, who had previously admitted preparing for terrorist acts, was sentenced to four years and three months.
Somalia-born Anas Abdalla, 27, who was found guilty of the same offence on 13 October, was sentenced to five years.
They were brought to justice after being befriended by an undercover police officer named "Muhamed".
A third man, Mahamuud Diini, 27, was cleared after a trial earlier this year.
The court heard all three men were arrested when they were found hiding in a truck at the Kent port on April 3 last year.
See more news from Birmingham and the Black Country
Prosecutor Karen Robinson told the Old Bailey that Rasmus and Abdalla had planned to "join forces with Islamic State to offer their services, together with their lives if need be".
Ms Robinson told the court Rasmus, who comes from a Christian family and converted to Islam in 2008, said if he had to "stay in this country he would commit some terrorist attack here".
According to Ms Robinson, he also said: "I don't want to do something here until I keep trying to go there first."
Rasmus, of Chain Walk, Lozells, moved to the UK from South Africa in 1999 and has four children with three different women.
Judge Richard Marks QC said he did not accept his claims that he planned trips to Istanbul for a holiday and for work.
Ms Robinson also told the court Somalia-born Abdalla, of Fox Hollies Road, Acocks Green, was heard complaining about his work and "having to work with non-Muslims".
Jurors were told how former asylum seeker said: "September 11 was so good."
The men were brought to justice after "Muhamed" secretly recorded their conversations.
Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale, from West Midlands Police, said: "Today's sentences send a clear message to hopefully deter anyone planning to travel to Syria to join Daesh."
Diini, of Coventry Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, was cleared after a trial earlier this year. | Two men stopped at Dover trying to travel to Syria to join so-called Islamic State have been jailed. | 37897107 |
They were hit by the falling cables at Abergavenny after the lines were disrupted by an Arriva Trains Wales service travelling from Holyhead at about 18:00 BST.
The three were taken to hospital but have since been discharged with minor bruising, Network Rail said.
Arriva Trains Wales said services had been severely disrupted as a result.
A statement on Arriva's website said: "Due to a fault with line side equipment at Abergavenny, services along this route are severely disrupted.
"Long distance customers (i.e. Cardiff to/from Manchester) intending to use this line are advised to use alternative routes via Birmingham.
"Customers wishing to travel to destinations on this line in the local area (i.e. Hereford) are advised to seek alternative transport as rail replacement buses will be very limited.
"Arriva Trains Wales regrets the inconvenience caused and assures customers that everything is being done to resolve the situation as rapidly as possible."
Network Rail said the line towards Hereford had reopened and it hoped the station would reopen on Saturday morning. | Three people have been injured after a train hit overhead power lines at a Monmouthshire station. | 40758508 |
The visitors went ahead when the Rams failed to deal with Marc Roberts' long throw and on-loan midfielder Matty James headed home.
The lead lasted only two minutes as Tom Ince fired into the net after Barnsley's defence failed to clear.
Ince then hit the post before David Nugent struck with the help of a deflection - his first goal for Derby.
The three points lifted Steve McClaren's Rams, who had lost three of the previous four games, above their opponents into 10th place in the Championship table - but 10 points adrift of Sheffield Wednesday in sixth.
It took the hosts half an hour to muster a shot on goal as Paul Heckingbottom's Tykes made a lively start with striker Adam Armstrong, in particular, threatening an early breakthrough.
The home team put their sluggish opening behind them as Johnny Russell and Julien de Sart tested goalkeeper Adam Davies, but they paid the price for poor marking when James nodded into the corner after the break. It was his first goal since scoring for parent club Leicester in a 2-2 draw with Watford more than three years ago.
Ince pounced for the equaliser as Barnsley's defence failed to deal with a ball into the box, but although Davies tipped over from Russell's curler, he could do nothing with Nugent's effort which wrongfooted him after hitting defender Angus MacDonald.
Derby boss Steve McClaren: "It's a big win for us and I have to say it was fantastic character from 1-0 down from a long throw and everyone could have gone down.
"It was important to react quickly which we did and then it was quite an open game, but we got the goal and then hung on at the end.
"It's one game at a time, I hate losing and I've been angry in the last couple of weeks. It's not a pleasant taste and we talked about finding a way to win today.
"Two defeats put us back in terms of confidence and we're now just trying to build confidence."
Barnsley head coach Paul Heckingbottom: "The players are an honest bunch and they are disappointed with the two goals we have conceded.
"I'm disappointed with a few performances in that we weren't positive enough and didn't have a big enough effect on the game to make us win it.
"If you think you are conceding sloppy goals and some of your players aren't at their best, the fact we've lost 2-1 and could have got something out of the game shows how far we've come.
"I'm generally not bad at getting the result in perspective, good or bad, but I feel a bit thrown today from the feedback I'm getting from other people and how I feel about the game."
Match ends, Derby County 2, Barnsley 1.
Second Half ends, Derby County 2, Barnsley 1.
Jacob Butterfield (Derby County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ryan Kent (Barnsley).
Attempt saved. Ryan Kent (Barnsley) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Angus MacDonald.
David Nugent (Derby County) is shown the yellow card.
Foul by Alex Pearce (Derby County).
Marley Watkins (Barnsley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt saved. Will Hughes (Derby County) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jacob Butterfield.
Alex Pearce (Derby County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Marley Watkins (Barnsley).
Attempt missed. Bradley Johnson (Derby County) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Tom Ince following a corner.
Attempt blocked. Tom Ince (Derby County) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Cyrus Christie.
Corner, Derby County. Conceded by Marc Roberts.
Markus Olsson (Derby County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ryan Kent (Barnsley).
Dangerous play by Bradley Johnson (Derby County).
Andy Yiadom (Barnsley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Barnsley. Elliot Lee replaces Josh Scowen.
Corner, Derby County. Conceded by Angus MacDonald.
Attempt blocked. Tom Ince (Derby County) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by David Nugent.
Substitution, Derby County. Ikechi Anya replaces Matej Vydra.
Attempt missed. Ryan Kent (Barnsley) right footed shot from the left side of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Marc Roberts.
Foul by Cyrus Christie (Derby County).
Ryan Kent (Barnsley) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Attempt blocked. Cyrus Christie (Derby County) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Tom Ince with a cross.
Corner, Derby County. Conceded by Andy Yiadom.
Substitution, Derby County. Will Hughes replaces Johnny Russell.
Goal! Derby County 2, Barnsley 1. David Nugent (Derby County) right footed shot from the left side of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Matej Vydra.
Substitution, Barnsley. Ryan Kent replaces Tom Bradshaw.
Substitution, Barnsley. Alex Mowatt replaces Adam Armstrong.
David Nugent (Derby County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Marc Roberts (Barnsley).
Foul by Johnny Russell (Derby County).
Josh Scowen (Barnsley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt saved. Tom Ince (Derby County) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Johnny Russell.
Attempt blocked. David Nugent (Derby County) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Johnny Russell with a cross.
Corner, Derby County. Conceded by Adam Davies.
Attempt saved. Johnny Russell (Derby County) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by David Nugent with a headed pass.
Foul by Bradley Johnson (Derby County). | Derby revived their play-off hopes by fighting back to beat Barnsley for their first win in seven games. | 39086230 |
The Markit/CIPS services purchasing managers' index (PMI) registered 57.7, down from May's reading of 58.6 but still well above the measure of 50 which indicates expansion.
The survey also said employment in the sector grew at a record pace.
The services sector accounts for about three quarters of UK economic growth.
The PMI survey also indicated that business volumes in the service sector rose at the fastest pace for six months.
Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said the services sector index taken together with strong construction and manufacturing data published earlier this week suggested economic momentum was holding.
"Alongside an ongoing surge in construction and the largest quarterly rise in manufacturing output for 20 years, the services PMI confirms that the economy is firing on all cylinders," Mr Williamson said.
He said the data pointed to UK growth of 0.8% in the second quarter, building on economic growth of 0.8% in the first three months of the year.
Mr Williamson said that this made it more likely than not that an interest rate rise would occur later this year rather than in 2015.
"The persistent strength of the PMI surveys raises the likelihood of policymakers deciding that a pre-emptive rise in interest rates later this year is warranted, especially given the speed at which the labour market is improving," he said.
Bank of England officials have given mixed signals on the timing of a potential interest rate rise.
Last week, MPs accused Bank of England governor Mark Carney of being an "unreliable boyfriend" after he suggested interest rates could rise by the end of this year and then appeared to row back on idea the following week.
Mr Carney said there may be more "spare capacity" in the economy than the Bank originally estimated in its February Inflation Report, adding policymakers think more slack may need to be used up before that happens. The Bank is particularly concerned by the slow rate of increase in average wages.
He told the BBC that markets were too focused on when interest rates would rise, rather than the point they would ultimately settle at, adding interest rates could rise to a "new normal" of 2.5% by the end of the first quarter of 2017.
David Tinsley, UK economist at BNP Paribas, said if the survey's employment figure was reflected in the official data, "then it appears we are set to see even larger falls in unemployment ahead".
"The knock-on impact of more payrolls should support consumer spending over coming quarters," he added.
Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, pointed out the Markit survey noted reports of rising wages as the service sector labour market tightened.
"This fuels the belief that earnings growth will trend up over the coming months despite the relapse in April reported by the Office for National Statistics," he said.
"This would be good news for consumers' purchasing power and would boost growth prospects." | The UK service sector continued to grow at a steady pace in June, pointing to a further strengthening of the economy in the first half of 2014. | 28140512 |
The GDL union announced that the strike would end at 6pm on Saturday.
Earlier in the day a state court rejected rail operator Deutsche Bahn's attempt to gain an injunction to halt the strike.
The strike threatened to stop millions of people from travelling to Berlin.
"The employers have completely failed in their attempt to curb our constitutional rights," said union leader Claus Weselsky.
He added that curtailing the strike, which was due to end early on Monday, was a "gesture of conciliation".
GDL is calling for a 5% pay rise and a working week cut to 37 hours. But it has been widely criticised for rejecting mediation. | The German train drivers' union is cutting short its four-day strike which looked set to disrupt celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. | 29960622 |
Mother-of-three "Ms A" lost her home in March 2014 when her housing benefit payment was cut and she could no longer afford the rent, The High Court heard.
Westminster City Council temporarily moved her to north London and tried to ban her from re-applying for a home in the central borough for 12 months.
A judge ruled the ban was unlawful.
The council, which has a long waiting list for social housing, offered her temporary accommodation in Enfield and said for 12 months it would register her with a private landlord instead.
However the family's lawyers argued the suspension on applying for social housing breached the 1996 Housing Act which requires councils to give homeless families "reasonable preference" for social housing.
Jayesh Kunwardia, from Hodge Jones & Allen solicitors, said: "This landmark ruling makes it abundantly clear that homeless people have the right to bid for social housing from the time they secure a full housing duty from a local authority rather than being suspended for one year."
Judge Peter Blair QC, sitting in London, said even without the ban the family, who had been living in Westminster for five years, may have a long wait to be allocated a permanent council home in Westminster because of the "high demand and very short supply."
He said "The waiting lists are so vast that on average people have a seven to 10-year wait before they reach a point high enough up on the register to have any realistic prospect of being successful in a bid." | A family in central London made homeless by the housing benefit cap was unlawfully prevented from registering for social housing, a court has ruled. | 33227338 |
6 October 2015 Last updated at 09:14 BST
Jenny went along to meet one family in the north of England who've had quite a few eight-legged visitors.
They're even keeping one as their pet.
Vanessa from Bugslife, a conservation charity, went along too, to talk about what you should do if you spot a spider, and why they are so important. | It's usual to spot spiders inside the house around autumn time, but are there more around this year, and are they bigger than usual? | 34445522 |
Media playback is not supported on this device
Woakes bowled two overs in the eight-wicket one-day-international win over Bangladesh before leaving the field.
Morgan said: "He'll have a scan tonight [Thursday] and we'll see what it comes up with. It doesn't feel right."
The captain added on TMS that man of the match Joe Root "showed his class, even [though he picked] up a niggle".
Root compiled a career-best ODI score of 133 not out at better than a run a ball, despite sustaining a calf strain.
Morgan, who scored an unbeaten 75 to help see his side home, described Root as "the glue in our side".
"He has scored a lot of runs in the last couple of years and continues to do it," the captain continued.
"He is not slow. He is batting at pace. He has been working on his power hitting and today it worked."
If Woakes was to be ruled out, England can still call up a replacement, with Middlesex pair Steven Finn or Toby Roland-Jones likely replacements.
Ben Stokes, who is recovering from a knee injury, bowled seven overs on Thursday and Morgan says the all-rounder came through it well.
"It was a stretch for him but he hasn't felt his knee all day," said Morgan.
Opener Jason Roy, under pressure coming into this tournament, received a vote of confidence from his skipper despite falling for just one.
Roy averages 35 at over a run a ball in one-day internationals, but since the start of May he has reached double figures just once in six innings and was dismissed flicking a delivery to backward square leg against Bangladesh.
"I thought Jason Roy was terribly unlucky today. Those things happen when you can't seem to score runs but we back him - he's been brilliant for us," Morgan said.
Media playback is not supported on this device | England's Chris Woakes has been sent for a scan on a side strain and is a "worry" for the rest of the Champions Trophy, says captain Eoin Morgan. | 40120890 |
16 September 2016 Last updated at 19:02 BST | What’s Up Africa’s Ikenna Azuike is inspired by the crisis in South Sudan to imagine what it would be like to have warring neighbours in an upmarket Nairobi suburb in his 90-second satirical round-up of African news. | 37391009 |
Under current laws, codeine can be obtained in compound form in over-the-counter painkillers and cough medicines.
But Australia's drug regulator believes the risk of addiction is too great.
The decision brings Australia into line with most developed countries in requiring a prescription for the opioid-based medication.
The US, most of Europe, Hong Kong and Japan have stopped the sale of over-the-counter codeine products.
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Australia's Therapeutic Drugs Administration (TGA) said consumers often became addicted to the drug.
"Misuse of over-the-counter codeine products contributes to severe health outcomes including liver damage, stomach ulceration, respiratory depression and death," it said in a statement.
The new rules will begin on 1 February 2018.
The TGA recommended patients discuss new treatment plans with their doctors, including whether to use painkilling alternatives such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. | Painkillers containing codeine will require a prescription in Australia from 2018 amid concerns over misuse. | 38362305 |
Cook resigned as England captain in February, with Root taking over for this summer's home series against South Africa and the West Indies.
"It is a big role, but an exciting one. Joe will find his feet," 32-year-old Cook told BBC Look East on Wednesday.
"He will find his way, it will probably take him a while to get used to it."
Essex batsman Cook led his country to Ashes victories in 2013 and 2015 during a record 59 matches in charge.
He is England's highest run-scorer in Test cricket with 11,057, while his 140 Test appearances and 30 centuries are also England records.
"I am looking forward to working with Joe in a different way.
"I think a couple of moments will be slightly strange in that first test match week but it won't be any different in the long run.
"Hopefully I can help him, and the most important thing is England winning.
"I don't think anything can prepare you for the England captaincy but he will find his feet. He is a very good player, has a very good cricket brain and has got the respect of the dressing room."
Cook has been ruled out of Essex's opening County Championship game against Lancashire on Friday with a hip injury.
But he still holds ambitions of playing under Root during the next Ashes series at the end of the year.
"I have still got a few games left in me. I'm 32 years old but hopefully I can carry on scoring runs for England.
"It is a different phase of my career after being captain but I love playing for England. I hope to score enough runs to get on that plane for the Ashes tour."
And last month Root confirmed that having Alastair Cook in the side was integral to both his and the team's future success.
He told BBC Sport: "If I feel I need help he'll be more than willing, but he'll also let me do it my own way."
Media playback is not supported on this device | Joe Root will take time to get used to the England captaincy because "nothing can prepare you" for the role, says his predecessor Alastair Cook. | 39509613 |
Mr Davies said the first minister could not handle the "biggest constitutional challenge of our time" alone.
He said the Welsh Government should be reconfigured to give "strong and constructive representation" to UK ministers on EU negotiations.
The Welsh Government said Carwyn Jones was "best placed to lead on Brexit".
Mr Davies pointed to an assembly committee report criticising the Welsh Government for a lack of contact with Irish ministers to discuss the likely impact of Brexit on ports.
"More than 400 days after Wales voted to leave the EU, Wales remains without a Brexit ministry, unlike its counterparts in Scotland and Westminster," he said.
"In order to ensure that Wales' national interests stay at the centre of Brexit negotiations, we need a department led by an experienced minister solely dedicated to this process.
"It's a job too big for one man alone and there's a real danger that in trying to juggle domestic issues with the biggest constitutional challenge of our time, the first minister will allow one or both of these responsibilities to flounder.
"A Welsh minister for Brexit could deliver strong and constructive representation to the UK government and facilitate better working with the devolved nations - not barrack idly from the sidelines as the first minister has so far contented himself to do."
A Welsh Government spokesman said Mr Jones had been "fighting vigorously for Wales' interests ever since the referendum result was known".
He said the first minister had met and discussed Brexit issues with Prime Minister Theresa May, Brexit minister David Davis, the EU's negotiator Michel Barnier and his counterparts in Scotland and Northern Ireland, among others.
Mr Jones was "ably supported" by Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford, he added, who represents the Welsh Government in the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) on Europe, and by a European transition team of civil servants.
He claimed the "main barrier" to effective joint working was the "unwillingness" of the UK government to call any meetings of the JMC since February or "consult properly with us on key issues".
The spokesman urged Mr Davies to stop "barracking at the Welsh Government from the sidelines" and put pressure on his Conservative colleagues in Westminster to "live up to their undertaking to agree their approach to the Brexit negotiations with the devolved administrations". | A Brexit minister should be appointed to put Wales' interests "at the centre" of negotiations, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies has said. | 40923270 |
South Wales Police said it had worked with Bishop Vaughan School on a "sensitive safeguarding issue involving two pupils" on Wednesday.
The pupils were not at the school at the time of the arrests.
A statement on the school website said the school would not open on Thursday due to the disruption. It will reopen as normal after the Easter break.
A joint police and Swansea council statement said: "Given the confidential nature of the pupil issue, it wouldn't be appropriate for us to comment further at this time." | A Swansea school has been closed following "unusual circumstances" and the arrest of two pupils. | 35890088 |
The 34-year-old midfielder has been absent from the club since a training-ground row in the wake of September's 5-1 loss at Celtic Park.
He arrived at Ibrox at 15:00 BST on Thursday with agent Eddy Jennings, before leaving by a side exit some two hours later and offering no comment.
Barton is also facing Scottish FA charges for breaching betting rules.
He was charged with placing 44 bets on games between 1 July and 15 September.
Barton, who has stated repeatedly that he wants to return and fight for his place, has played only eight games for Rangers since his summer switch from Burnley.
The former Manchester City, Newcastle United and QPR player left Turf Moor under freedom of contract at the end of last season, signing a two-year deal at Ibrox. | Joey Barton remains suspended by Rangers following a meeting with Ibrox officials on Thursday. | 37788528 |
Three former PP treasurers are among the defendants in Spain's biggest corruption trial for years.
Businessman Francisco Correa is alleged to have been the ringleader who handed out bribes in exchange for contracts.
The suspects were heckled as they arrived at the national court.
Francisco Correa, who faces up to 125 years if found guilty, has already spent three years in custody and his arrival was greeted with cries of "corre, corre" (run, run). He went by the nickname "Don Vito", after the main character in the film The Godfather.
The so-called Gurtel case has electrified Spain for years, since it was exposed by a civil servant in a Madrid suburb and the case taken on by renowned investigating judge Baltasar Garzon.
Ex-civil servant Ana Garrido played a key role in exposing the alleged corruption network linked to Spain's ruling Popular Party (PP). And her life has been ruined by doing so.
Almost a decade ago she found that under the area's Popular Party mayor, a network of firms was being favoured without due process. Then she realised the dimensions of a scandal that spread far wider than her leafy area of Madrid.
Ms Garrido's evidence ended up in the hands of investigating judge Baltasar Garzon. But her treatment at work led to clinical depression and, eventually, giving up her civil service career.
"There is nothing like a whistle-blowers' charter in Spain. Not only are we not protected, but we can be persecuted and harassed by those we accuse of abusing power."
Read more from James: A life ruined fighting corruption
Judge Garzon was later taken off the case but not before allegations emerged of a network of companies linked to Mr Correa being handed contracts in return for payments.
Other defendants include long-standing ex-PP treasurer Luis Barcenas, who has also admitted running a slush fund from Switzerland and channelling cash donations to party officials.
Health minister Ana Mato resigned from her job when her husband was linked to the network. Although her husband is among the defendants, she escaped criminal charges.
Although the case has for years been of great embarrassment for caretaker Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, he has not himself come under investigation.
As the Gurtel trial got under way in Madrid's national court, another political corruption case was playing out in the next-door courtroom.
Ex-IMF head Rodrigo Rato, who went on trial with 64 other bankers late last month, was a leading figure in Mr Rajoy's PP.
He denied doing anything wrong, in the face of allegations that luxury purchases were racked up with "unofficial" credit cards, in the years before the bank had to be bailed out with public money. | Thirty-seven people, including leading members of Spain's ruling Popular Party, have gone on trial in Madrid accused of involvement in a massive corruption network. | 37551765 |
Interviewed by Yahoo Music, the star said: "Music is changing so quickly, and the landscape of the music industry itself is changing so quickly, that everything new, like Spotify, all feels to me a bit like a grand experiment.
"And I'm not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I don't feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music."
But she added that she is still "open-minded about things".
She explained: "It didn't feel right to me. I felt like I was saying to my fans, if you create music someday, if you create a painting someday, someone can just walk into a museum, take it off the wall, rip off a corner off it, and it's theirs now and they don't have to pay for it."
Spotify released a statement last week saying the company hopes she changes her mind.
In July, Taylor wrote an article suggesting "music should not be free" and said she still believes there's a future for the album.
She was kind of proved right because her latest album, 1989, has topped the charts in America, selling over a million copies in just the first week.
We've contacted Swift's record label Universal Music to ask if she will ever get back together with Spotify. No response yet.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube. | Taylor Swift speaks for the first time about why she chose to remove all her music from music-streaming website Spotify. | 29949644 |
Justices reversed a judge's order barring the use of vecuronium bromide, one of the three drugs used in the state's death penalty.
The ruling clears the path for the execution of Ledell Lee on Thursday evening, the state's first in 12 years.
Instead of a last meal, he asked to receive communion, said an official.
The state had planned to carry out eight executions in 11 days, before its supply of the lethal injection drug, midazolam, expired on 30 April.
The first three executions were cancelled due to various court rulings.
Lee will be executed at the Cummins Unit in south-east Arkansas, after his third request to stay the execution was denied.
He told the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in a recent interview that he was innocent of the murder of Debra Reese, and death row was like a "living nightmare".
The other inmate due to die on Thursday has been given a stay to make time for advanced DNA testing that his lawyers say could prove his innocence.
Stacey Johnson was convicted of the murder of Carol Heath, who was beaten and had her throat slit in her flat in 1993.
The ruling on Thursday paves the way for the series of executions the state had planned this month.
Like many US states, Arkansas has struggled to find the drugs it needs to carry out executions. Its last was in 2005.
The frenetic filing of lawsuits and appeals in Arkansas has a profound impact on those awaiting execution, on their families and on the relatives of their victims.
The widower of one victim told me that if he had been told from the beginning that his wife's killer would be in prison for life without parole, he might have been able to move on.
But, he said, to have the prospect of the man's execution arise and disappear over the years means reliving the hurt of the murder itself, and that every stay of execution now feels like an insult to his wife.
What this highlights is how hard it has become for states to kill by lethal injection, with botched executions and drug companies saying they do not want their products associated with the practice.
Bruce Ward - Strangled teenage shop clerk Rebecca Doss
Don Davis - Condemned for the execution-style killing of Jane Daniel as he burgled her home
Stacey Johnson - Murdered Carol Heath, who was beaten, strangled and had her throat slit
Ledell Lee - Bludgeoned Debra Reese to death with a tyre iron her husband had given her for protection
Jack Jones - Condemned for the rape and murder of accounts clerk Mary Phillips, and the nearly fatal beating of her 11-year-old daughter
Marcel Williams - Raped and murdered Stacey Erickson, after kidnapping her from a convenience store
Kenneth Williams - Murdered farmer Cecil Boren during an escape from prison where Williams had been incarcerated for murdering cheerleader Dominique Hurd | Arkansas will move forward with a series of executions after the state Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling blocking the lethal injection. | 39662139 |
Former Derry City striker Kevin McHugh's season looks to be over after a freak accident almost completely sliced off his finger.
He got his wedding ring caught in a fence and he severed his finger. But he drove himself to hospital and was due to have surgery on Thursday to re-connect his finger.
He also tweeted a graphic picture of his bloodied hand.
It was traumatic for him and for everyone else who saw it on Twitter.
But since we are on the subject of wedding rings, here are a few cautionary tales.
Consider it a list of what not to do - apart from the blindingly obvious - if you want to hold on to that ring...
Swedish woman Lena Paahlsson had given up all hope of finding her ring which went missing in the kitchen when she took it off (big mistake).
She was baking with her daughters when it disappeared - they even took the floor up in the hope of finding it.
Sixteen years later, she was pulling up carrots in her garden when she noticed a gold band on a large orange root vegetable.
It was, you might say, a "gold carat" moment.
Spanish couple Agustin Aliaga and his wife Juani Sanchez lost a wedding ring in 1979, just five months after they were married, while swimming near the Spanish resort of Benidorm.
Roll on 37 years and Jessica Nisos found it while diving. It was the ring engraved with the date of their wedding.
The happy couple - still together - were ecstatic.
They may have celebrate with a snorkel dive, but I doubt it.
BBC News NI journalist Fiona Murray's father built the family home in County Down more than 40 years ago, shortly after her parents married.
It was, you might say, a labour of true love.
"My dad lost his ring in the foundations of the house," she said.
"They searched but never found it. My parents still live in that house and there is something lovely in thinking that my dad's gold wedding ring is buried deep in the foundations of their home."
A close friend of a friend was playing golf shortly after his wedding and he took a long swing with the club.
Perhaps the ring was a little loose. Perhaps his style was not quite Rory McIlroy enough.
Whatever, it was a big swing and the ring flew from his finger and landed somewhere out in the long, long grass. It lies there still. He never found it.
Small children, like magpies, love shiny sparkly things. Unfortunately they are not equipped to know the difference between the Koh-i-noor and the dud in the party bag.
A source close to here removed his ring whilst playing with his small son.
It was to be 10 days and an endless number of games of "Hunt the wedding ring" later before the small child confessed that he had hidden it.
Phew!
Brenda Caunter did that when she was a new bride. It was back in the 1970s and she and her husband searched the four-acre field where she lost it, time and time again.
But a local metal detector enthusiast found it after a few hours. After nearly half a century they got the ring back - it was the second happiest day of their lives.
The salutary story of the woman who lost her ring while feeding her horse is worth remembering.
She eventually recovered the item after a suitable time frame for equine digestion and excretion.
A little professional cleaning was needed too.
The lesson is never to go near animals wearing your ring.
Sun cream and rings do not mix. Sun cream, rings and miles of sandy beach are a recipe for true disaster. Remember this.
Bill Owens lost his father's ring at the beach in Bournemouth in 2013 when a big wave washed over him and the ring was gone. But all was not lost. Watch Bill's heartrending reaction.
And finally - in the extensive research needed to bring your this article, it became apparent that the sex most likely to lose a wedding ring was male.
I wonder why... | What is it about wedding rings? | 37576263 |
Eighteen years ago - in 1999 - Mr Blair first advocated active military interventionism to overturn dictators and protect civilians.
Now, Mrs May has repudiated much of what he said then.
She talked of "the failed policies of the past", before making her crucial declaration of new foreign policy doctrine: "The days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over."
Of course, by saying that she was also overturning the approach of her predecessor, David Cameron. The current prime minister has also dismissed her predecessor's armed intervention in Libya.
Its aftermath - a failed state, far from recovery - haunts Britain still.
This declaration of an apparently radical shift in policy by the prime minister should be read in conjunction with what appears to be an extraordinary British U-turn over Syria, which was set out in colourful terms by her foreign secretary only a few hours earlier.
Boris Johnson conceded the most bitter and recent failure of British foreign policy when he openly acknowledged what amounts to a fundamental defeat over Syria.
He called Britain's stance "catastrophic", shifting from the pledge of support over many years to the non-jihadist opponents of President Assad, to a position where Britain - together with the United States - retreated from the field and left it open to Russian military dominance.
Mr Johnson told a committee in the House of Lords that President Assad should now be permitted to run for election as part of a "democratic resolution" of the civil war - although he did also make clear there could be no sustainable peace in Syria as long as he remains.
He admitted the downsides of doing "such a complete flip-flop", but said the UK had been unable at any stage to fulfil its mantra that the Syrian president should go.
Mr Johnson was accepting Russia's victory - and at the same time swallowing the bitter pill of defeat for London and for Washington.
He said that had flowed from the refusal of the House of Commons, in August 2013, to back punitive British military action against President Assad for his use of chemical weapons - something the Syrian leader still denies.
Within days, President Obama had followed Britain in retreat.
Public appetite in both countries for almost any military intervention overseas had drained away after the years of intervention in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and in Libya.
It is very difficult to see circumstances in which Britain or the US will send forces against a sovereign government in the future.
Extremists - non-state actors - are almost the only acceptable target now.
The Foreign Office does not believe their political master was as explicit as I suggest, and believe that the essentials of British policy on Syria have not fundamentally changed.
Certainly, the prime minister did leave herself some wriggle room.
She argued against the sort of increased isolationism which President Donald Trump has championed, and urged the maintenance of the "special relationship" as a way to provide joint leadership in the world.
She said the two nations should not "stand idly by when the threat is real".
Nevertheless, the political presentation of British foreign policy by the prime minister and foreign secretary has deployed a distinctly new and sometimes startling language.
The direction being set in response to past failures and disappointments is different.
It may be largely a public recognition of some brutal realities, which have been emerging over several years, but it is new and important. | Theresa May's Philadelphia speech is hugely significant - arguably the biggest by a British prime minister in the US since Tony Blair's in Chicago. | 38776377 |
Millions of members had their personal details stolen when the site, which encouraged people to cheat on their partners, was breached.
Ruby Life has put forward $11.2m (£8.5m) to settle a number of class actions.
Some of the fund will be used to compensate those with a "valid claim".
Ashley Madison was a dating website for people who already had a partner but were looking to have an affair.
In July 2015, its systems were compromised and details of 33 million accounts were posted online.
The data included names, address, birth dates and sexual interests.
Ruby Life, the company behind the site, faces legal action from people who say the data breach led to financial loss and identity theft.
Ruby Life was known as Avid Dating Life at the time of the Ashley Madison data breach.
The rebranded company describes itself as an "industry leader in open-minded dating services" and still advertises Ashley Madison on its website.
"The parties have agreed to the proposed settlement in order to avoid the uncertainty, expense, and inconvenience associated with continued litigation," said Ruby Life in a statement. | The owner of the Ashley Madison infidelity website, which was hacked in July 2015, has offered a settlement to the people suing the company. | 40629952 |
Villa's seven-game unbeaten run since Bruce took charge in October has lifted them to 11th in the Championship, just four points from the play-off zone.
"There'll be a few looking over their shoulders, which is good," said Bruce.
"But there is a big expectation. You have to be a big player and a good player to handle that expectation."
Following the win against Cardiff City, their third in a row at home, Bruce told BBC Sport: "We've done very little yet. There's a long way to go. But, quietly, with a few results, we're doing ok.
"This club's had a hammering over the last 18 months, but it's vitally important to see that bit of confidence coming through.
"We're still a 'work in progress' but there's been a huge improvement in seven weeks and we're now finding a way to win.
"With players like Albert Adomah, Jonathan Kodjia, Rudy Gestede and Jordan Ayew, we're showing a little bit of quality at the top end."
Bruce has told his players that if they keep producing the goods, there may be no need for him to strengthen in January, even though he has the green light to do so,
"If there's somebody out there who can make a difference I'm in a position where I can act," he added. "But I've told the players 'You're in the box seat'."
Bruce's men face another stern examination of their credentials over the next month as Villa face three of their next four games away from home.
After Saturday's visit to fifth-placed Leeds United, they then host Bruce's old club Wigan Athletic before two away trips in four days to another of his former clubs, Norwich City, then QPR.
Former Villa striker Chris Sutton has backed Bruce to get the club promoted this season.
"They've got momentum," the former Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic and England striker, briefly one of Bruce's players at Birmingham City in 2006, prior to then joining Villa, told BBC Five Live's Monday night show.
"I think they will go up. He was a brilliant appointment. He's a brilliant manager. He's been around and proved himself. In fact, he should have been given a job at the top end of the end of the Premier League." | Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce says his players must deal with the growing expectation of becoming Championship promotion contenders. | 38144717 |
The pair helped Hull gain promotion to the English Premier League with a 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the play-off final at Wembley.
The attacking full-back has won rave reviews at the KC Stadium since his move from Dundee United two years ago.
"I hope he stays with us but it'll be very hard to keep a hold of him," he told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound.
Robertson missed a great chance to put Hull ahead when he blasted over with just the goalkeeper to beat, but Snodgrass praised his performance.
"We had a laugh and a joke about it, but the young kid, he's in those positions and that's the most important thing for me," Snodgrass said of the 22-year-old.
"I said to him 'don't lose that' because that is what's got you here in the first place, that drive and ambition to be in that sort of area."
It was Snodgrass' lay-off to Mohamed Diame which led to the wonder strike that settled a nervy Wembley final and ensured Hull returned to the top flight at the first time of asking.
It was a fine end to the season for the 28-year-old former Livingston, Leeds United and Norwich midfielder, who had to battle back from a dislocated kneecap which kept him out of the side for 15 months, only returning in November.
"Everyone says that going up through the play-offs is the best way. After yesterday you realise they're not wrong," he said.
"From start to finish it was probably one of the best days of my career.
"You do think at the start of rehab 'Am I going to come back from this?' and little doubts start to creep in. But as a man of character you need to puff your chest out and do the long hours of rehab. Sometimes you're not leaving the swimming pool until 6pm.
"When I came back I thought 'I've got a job to do here, I'm not just here to make up the numbers, I'm here to get in, help my team-mates and get promotion'.
"I've played the last 25 games and I've not looked back."
Snodgrass has also backed Steve Bruce to remain in charge, with the manager's position unclear after he said he will take time to consider his future.
"You've got to look at his record for Hull City alone, never mind his playing record and the experience he brings. I just think as a man he fits the bill," he added.
"I don't think you can look by Steve Bruce. He knows the division, he knows the players." | Robert Snodgrass says Hull City will have a hard task holding onto Scotland team-mate Andrew Robertson. | 36409392 |
The £110m South Devon Link Road project will link Torbay and Newton Abbot, bypassing Kingskerswell.
A flyover at the Penn Inn Roundabout is currently being finished and is one of the last stages of the project, which began in July 2012.
Project manager Paul Couttie said: "We're confident of hitting December for the completion of the works."
Mr Couttie said: "The general shape is here now. We had a huge, mammoth task in erecting the steel beams that support this road as it comes over the roundabout.
"But we're at a state now where we've got the concrete decking and this road will catapult you to into the Torbay area."
The A380 between Penn Inn, Newton Abbot and Kerswell Gardens, Torquay is one of the most choked up and heavily used roads in the region, carrying over 35,000 vehicles a day. | A major new bypass in Devon will be open by Christmas, according to the county council. | 32866028 |
Legal proceedings were brought by Triumph Furniture after it challenged a contract awarded to a rival.
Top civil servant Sir Derek Jones said "formal management action'" had begun in relation to staff members involved.
The contract was for furniture, fittings, planning and interior design for three public bodies.
They were the Welsh Government, the National Assembly and the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.
Sir Derek, the Welsh Government's permanent secretary, made his comments in a letter to the assembly's Public Accounts Committee.
In the letter, he said the failings "centre around poor information management and a lack of oversight which, ultimately, weakened the position of the Welsh Government not only in terms of public perception of the robustness and transparency of the procurement process, but at the point where the Welsh Government was required to defend itself in subsequent litigation proceedings".
He added that "there is no evidence that anyone received personal gain from the procurement process".
The Welsh Government was alleged by the bidder to have breached EU rules.
Sir Derek previously told AMs that compensation was paid following an arbitration process. | A "number of collective and individual failings" were found by the Welsh Government after it paid out £1.25m compensation after a contract dispute. | 38920205 |
Speaking outside No 10, the prime minister said he would not recommend a Remain vote if he didn't feel it would make the UK safer and more prosperous.
He said: "Britain does not quit, we get involved, take a lead, make a difference and get things done."
Vote Leave says the vote is a chance to take control of the UK's destiny.
There are less than 48 hours to go before voters head to the polls to decide whether the UK remains in the EU or leaves. Both sides are making fresh appeals to undecided voters ahead of the last TV referendum debate of the campaign, to be broadcast by the BBC later.
In a hastily arranged ten minute statement outside Downing Street, Mr Cameron strove to emphasise the momentous nature of the decision facing the British people, warning if the UK chose to leave it would be "irreversible" and Britain would be "out of Europe for good".
Warning that family finances and jobs would be put at risk by a vote to leave, he said the UK's economic security was "paramount".
Pointing out that his first duty as prime minister was to keep the country safe, he said EU membership - and the access that it gave him to intelligence material and security co-operation - made his job of fighting terrorism and organised crime easier.
Conscious of the "honour and responsibility" that he felt to have served as prime minister for six years, he said he would not recommend a Remain vote if he felt it would make the UK weaker or diminish its standing in the world.
"I believe very deeply from my years of experience that we will be stronger, we will be safer, we will be better off inside Europe."
Focusing directly on older voters, who polls suggest are more inclined to back Brexit, the PM said that while the EU was far from perfect, it was a force for good and future generations would not be able to reverse the decision.
"As you take this decision whether to remain or leave do think about the hopes and dreams of your children and grandchildren."
"They know their chances to work, to travel, to build the sort of open and successful society they want to live in rests on this outcome.
"And remember they can't undo the decision we take. If we vote out, that's it. It is irreversible. We will leave Europe for good, and the next generation will have to live with the consequences far longer than the rest of us."
Mr Cameron's former adviser Steve Hilton, who backs leaving the EU, called it a "weird statement" and a "rather amazing thing to hear".
"What you just saw from the prime minister was an admission that they've lost the economic argument, they've lost the argument on immigration, so he's being wheeled out by rather panicky spin doctors to try to change the subject," Mr Hilton told the BBC.
Speaking earlier, justice secretary Michael Gove said that the UK would only be able to control immigration from outside the EU and said it was in the economic interest of countries such as Germany and France to continue to trade with the UK on the current terms. | David Cameron has urged people to think of the "hopes and dreams" of future generations in a direct appeal to them to vote to stay in the European Union. | 36587819 |
Mr Ford, who battled drug and alcohol addiction, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2014.
He gained international notoriety after admitting smoking crack cocaine in 2013, but he was loved by supporters.
"A dedicated man of the people, Councillor Ford spent his life serving the citizens of Toronto," his family said in a statement.
He could not run for re-election as mayor in 2014 due to his cancer diagnosis, but won a city council seat in a landslide result.
His image contrasted sharply with Canada's usual calm, buttoned-up politics.
Profile: Former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
Toronto ex-mayor: Everyone makes mistakes
Why Rob Ford was a typical Canadian
Reacting to his death, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted: "Rob Ford fought cancer with courage and determination. My condolences and best wishes to the Ford family today."
The current mayor of Toronto, John Tory, said in a statement that "the city is reeling with this news".
"He was a man who spoke his mind and who ran for office because of the deeply felt convictions that he had.
"I know there are many who were affected by his gregarious nature and approach to public service.''
While serving as Toronto mayor, Mr Ford was videotaped and photographed intoxicated in public areas.
"Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine," Mr Ford told reporters. "But... do I? Am I addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably approximately about a year ago."
Despite the crack-smoking scandal, his popularity remained high with fans lining up to take photo with him.
He appealed to conservative, working-class people with his populist message. Many of his supporters in the 2010 Toronto mayoral election came from the outer suburbs of the city.
One of his key campaign promises was to "stop the gravy train" of government spending and he pledged to end "the war on the car".
During Canada's national election last year, Mr Ford threw his support behind former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who lost to Justin Trudeau, a liberal.
Mr Harper tweeted on Tuesday: "Rob was a fighter throughout life & dedicated public servant who will be remembered for his courage, love for Toronto & his family."
New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair tweeted also his condolences to Mr Ford's family, saying "46 is far too young to lose a loved one".
Mr Ford grew up in Etobicoke, a suburb of Toronto, dropping out of university after one year to work in his family business.
He is survived by his wife Renata and his two children, Stephanie and Doug. | Former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has died at the age of 46 after fighting cancer, his family has said. | 35872594 |
A woman was injured when six cars collided before 09:00 near the road's Munlochy junction, north of Inverness.
Two cars were involved in the second incident near the scene of the first accident. One of the cars caught fire but no-one was hurt.
The accidents shut the southbound carriageway for several hours.
Fire crews from Dingwall, Beauly and Inverness, along with ambulance crews and police, were sent to the scenes of the accidents.
Two women trapped in the wreckage of two cars were freed by firefighters.
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: "Thankfully no-one involved in the incidents was seriously injured."
Earlier, at about 07:20, firefighters from Inverness and Nairn were called to a collision between a car and a van on the A96 at Delnies, near Nairn.
A man was hurt in the crash. The road was closed after the incident, but has now reopened. | Eights cars were caught up in two crashes that happened within minutes of each other on the same stretch of the A9 in the Highlands. | 35521262 |
The job cuts will cost between $10m (£6.5m) and $20m in severance pay, while the restructuring will cost between $5m and $15m, the company said.
Shares in Twitter rose 2% in pre-market trading following the announcement.
The move comes just days after co-founder Jack Dorsey was confirmed as Twitter's permanent chief executive.
He had served as the interim boss of the company for three months after Dick Costolo stepped down on 1 July.
Mr Costolo, who was chief executive from 2010 to this year, had been under pressure from investors unhappy with the firm's user growth.
In a letter to Twitter employees, Mr Dorsey wrote: "We have made an extremely tough decision - we plan to part ways with up to 336 people from across the company.
"We are doing this with the utmost respect for each and every person.
"Twitter will go to great lengths to take care of each individual in providing generous exit packages and help finding a new job."
Mr Dorsey told employees: "Emails like this are usually riddled with corporate speak so I'm going to give it to you straight."
He went on to outline how the Twitter had been "working around the clock to produce streamlined roadmap for Twitter, Vine and Periscope" and described the company's latest innovation as "a bold peek into the future of how people will see what's going on in the world". | Twitter has said it is cutting 336 jobs, roughly 8% of its global workforce, as part of a restructuring of the business. | 34516650 |
Bernard Arnault is the boss of LVMH, which runs Louis Vuitton and Moet champagne, and is also the main shareholder in Christian Dior.
Under the complex deal, the Arnault family will offer to buy the rest of Dior that it does not already own.
LVMH will also buy Dior's high-end fashion line for 6.5bn euros (£5.5bn).
That will unite Christian Dior Couture, the 70 year old fashion label which has been worn by film stars from Elizabeth Taylor to Jennifer Lawrence, with the Christian Dior perfume and beauty business already owned by LVMH.
The move was welcomed by investors, who have called for Mr Arnault to simplify the structures of LVMH and Dior.
Shares in Christian Dior jumped about 11% and LVMH shares rose 5.4% on Tuesday.
Mr Arnault said the move would be an "important milestone" and underlined the confidence of his family group in LVMH.
"The corresponding transactions will allow the simplification of the structures, long requested by the market, and the strengthening of LVMH's Fashion and Leather Goods division thanks to the acquisition of Christian Dior Couture, one of the most iconic brands worldwide," he said.
Christian Dior Couture, which almost exclusively sells its goods through its 198 high-end stores, had revenues of more than 2bn euros last year and profits of 270m euros.
Mr Arnault has a fortune of nearly $51bn (£40bn), according to Forbes.
As well as LVMH and Dior, he also owns stakes in French luxury goods rival Hermes and supermarket chain Carrefour.
LVMH, which was created through the merger of Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy, owns more than 70 brands worldwide. They include: | France's richest man has made a £10bn move to combine the Christian Dior fashion house and luxury goods firm LVMH under the same ownership. | 39702216 |
Some of the products contained enough harmful chemicals to cause organ damage, officials said.
The businesses were fined £168,579 for selling unsafe cosmetics, the majority of them skin lightening products.
They contained dangerous and prohibited levels of hydroquinone, mercury or corticosteroids.
London Trading Standards said officers found and seized "hundreds of thousands" of the products in a coordinated campaign.
They said prolonged use of the products could have resulted in health problems ranging from skin thinning and discoloration, to organ damage and cancer in the long term.
One of the products, called Grace Duo, contained 18% of the bleaching agent hydroquinone, which Trading Standards said was thought to be the highest amount ever found.
Another soap product called Faiza Beauty Cream contained 0.54% of toxic mercury.
Five London boroughs have prosecuted 17 company directors and their 15 companies, with an average fine of £11,239.
Trading Standards said it had identified at least 15 online sellers using eBay to offer prohibited skin lightening products, with efforts currently under way to locate them.
Officers in Waltham Forest recently seized more than 3,000 products from one such seller.
Company bosses who sell banned cosmetic products can be fined up to £20,000 per offence and sent to prison for up to one year. | Fifteen London businesses selling unsafe cosmetics products have been fined in a crackdown by Trading Standards. | 38584901 |
Checks are currently being carried out to ensure that the type of aluminium composite material has been fitted in accordance with building regulations.
No Scottish local authority-owned school buildings above 18 metres have ACM cladding.
The findings emerged during a meeting of a Ministerial Working Group.
It was convened to examine building and fire safety regulatory frameworks following the Grenfell Tower fire in London last month in which at least 80 people are believed to have died. The group met for the third time on Thursday.
Under Scottish building regulations, the type of ACM reported to have been used on Grenfell should not be used in cladding on high-rise domestic properties, but can be used "appropriately" on other buildings.
In each case, the cladding systems must meet the relevant technical requirements.
The meeting heard that no high-rise domestic buildings owned by councils or housing associations in Scotland have used ACM cladding.
Thirty of Scotland's 32 local authorities have reported that ACM cladding has not been used on any privately owned high-rise domestic buildings.
Edinburgh and Glasgow are completing their investigations and it was acknowledged this will take time due to the numbers involved.
Aberdeen City Council confirmed that aluminium cladding with a polyethylene core had been used on extensions at two schools in the city - Woodlands School and Aberdeen Grammar.
But it said the material was not the same as that used in Grenfell, and the work was "in full accordance with building regulations when they were constructed".
A spokesman said: As stated by the Scottish government, the materials have been used appropriately and following consultation with the relevant government departments and Scottish Fire and Rescue service we are satisfied at this time there is no risk posed by the materials used."
All Scottish health boards have confirmed that none of their buildings use the cladding type reported to have been used on Grenfell Tower.
However, additional checks have shown that eight sites on the NHS estate - including Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUN) in Glasgow - have used solid aluminium with A1 non-combustible fire rating material and mineral wool insulation.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has, however, been assured by Multiplex, the main contractor for the hospital construction, that the insulation material used in QEUH - Kingspan Kooltherm K15 Insulation Boards - were properly installed to meet building and fire safety regulations.
The meeting was chaired by Communities Secretary Angela Constance with Housing Minister Kevin Stewart and they were joined by Scottish government officials and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
Ms Constance said: "The group met today to continue our thorough review of our regulations and take any action needed - both immediate and longer-term - to ensure the highest standards of building and fire safety is in place across Scotland.
"While we continue to be confident that we have stringent building and fire safety regulations, we cannot afford to be in any way complacent. That is why our work programme is evidence-led and our focus is prioritised.
"Checks continue across Scotland by both local authorities and the fire brigade to assess buildings and reassure people that adequate fire protection measures are in place."
The Scottish government reiterated that building standards systems and regulations for high-rise domestic properties in Scotland means the type of product used on Grenfell Tower should not be used in their cladding systems.
However, in some controlled circumstances specified by Scottish building regulations, ACM can be used as part of the cladding systems of other buildings.
Scotland's building regulations specify that those cladding systems must meet the relevant technical requirements applicable in each case.
The group will meet again early next month when it will review evidence on automatic fire suppression systems including sprinklers. | A type of cladding said to have been used on Grenfell Tower has been found on a small number of low-rise schools in 14 Scottish council areas. | 40604422 |
It said CIA officers acted reasonably in searching computers after concerns they contained classified material.
The finding contradicts allegations from lawmakers and an admission from the agency's own inspector general.
The allegations came during the intelligence committee's investigation into claims of torture by the CIA.
An internal board launched an inquiry after the CIA appealed against findings by David Buckley, the agency's inspector general, that employees had "improperly" gained access to computers used by Senate staff.
It concluded that although there had been some "inappropriate access" to a secured network being used by Senate workers, there had been no wrongdoing and no law violated.
Dianne Feinstein, the chair of the Senate intelligence committee, who has clashed with the CIA over the issue, rejected the board's findings.
"I'm disappointed that no-one at the CIA will be held accountable," she said in a statement.
"The decision was made to search committee computers, and someone should be found responsible for those actions," she added.
The board's conclusion comes a week after Mr Buckley said he was stepping down from his post, but officials said his resignation was unrelated to anything he had investigated.
The Senate staff had been using computers at a CIA facility to examine documents related to the agency's interrogation practices following the 9/11 attacks on the US.
Those documents formed the basis of a damning report, released in December 2014, which found the CIA had carried out "brutal" interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects. | A CIA internal watchdog has cleared agency officers of improperly accessing the computers of members of the US Senate intelligence committee. | 30829055 |
Sian Berry said she would "break the grip" of big developers on London's housing market.
Zac Goldsmith has promised to build houses at the rate of 50,000 a year by 2020, while Labour candidate Sadiq Khan has pledged 80,000 new homes a year.
Launching her manifesto, Ms Berry also said she would support tenants with a London Renters Union.
The Green Camden councillor has laid out plans to halt the demolition of London estates, and ensure half the 200,000 homes would be built "affordably", by councils, smaller developers, communities and housing associations.
Ms Berry also promised:
Ms Berry said "fairness" was at the heart of the Green's policies, which meant "building more homes with co-operative and smaller companies... funding experts to help communities defend their estates and helping private tenants with rent controls and a renters' union so they can organise and stand together."
Sadiq Khan also emphasised housing affordability and fairness in his manifesto, which set a target of half of new homes built across London to be affordable, with Londoners getting "first dibs" on properties.
Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith has pledged to ensure "a significant proportion" of all new homes are for rent, and says he will give Londoners the first chance to buy new homes in the capital.
A recent poll indicated housing was the most important issue for Londoners in the upcoming mayoral elections. | The Green Party mayoral candidate for London has vowed to bring in rent controls and build 200,000 new homes. | 35954609 |
At present, the government "strongly discourages" the practice and anyone doing it could be in breach of the law.
But Foreign Office Minister Henry Bellingham said companies should be free to decide on their own security.
He said ideally Royal Marines would be posted on all UK ships, but currently resources did not allow that.
Piracy in the Indian Ocean, particularly off the coast of Somalia, has become a growing problem in recent year. Many companies have been forced to pay large ransoms to secure the release of hostages and cargo.
During World War I and II, British merchant vessels were routinely armed, but since then the legal position has been unclear, and any shipowners who employ armed guards could be in breach of the law - as could the guards themselves.
But giving evidence to the foreign affairs committee, Mr Bellingham said the government wanted to clarify the situation.
He said there had not been a single recorded hijack of a vessel with private security and a lot of shipping lines had been "pressing very hard" for a change in the Department for Transport's guidelines.
"We want them to change those guidelines to at the very least neutral," he said.
"The government recognises that armed private security companies are a fact of life.
"We take the view that the UK government shouldn't encourage this, but should not discourage it, so it would be a decision for the shipping industry on a case by case basis."
Mr Bellingham said a review was currently taking place and he had written to Home Secretary Theresa May to discuss the changes that would be needed to firearms legislation.
He said he believed the changes could be brought about by secondary legislation, with the home secretary issuing permits to any companies wishing to carry weapons.
The British government is thought to be one of the first to promise statutory changes on the issue, but the minister said it would be important to work with other countries because a lot of UK companies use vessels registered elsewhere.
The committee asked whether it would be possible for the Ministry of Defence to follow the example of France and Spain and provide so-called military vessel protection detachments (VPDs) to protect individual ships.
Mr Bellingham said that would be "a very welcome step forward" but the current pressure on resources made it impractical.
"At the moment our armed forces are very heavily committed. If a stage was reached when our armed forces were less committed I'm sure the MoD would look at a request for providing VPDs."
Capt David Reindorp, head of the MoD's defence crisis management centre, estimated the UK would need about 500 Royal Marines at any one time to protect all of its vessels.
"That doesn't take into account the 500 that would be preparing to take over from them and the 500 that would be recovering from having been there," he said.
"That's a considerable burden. If you wish them to do that they would have to stop doing something else."
Britain's Chamber of Shipping has said it supports the government's actions to clarify the law, but said armed guards should only be used as a resort and relying on them demonstrates a failure by naval forces to protect merchant shipping.
The committee also demanded to know why nine out of 10 suspected pirates captured off Somalia by the Royal Navy were released without charge.
They said that last month alone, three ships carrying pirates and their hostages were intercepted by the Navy, but all of the alleged criminals were released without charge.
Capt Reindorp said his personnel found it "very frustrating" and said there were a number of factors which made it very difficult to detain and prosecute pirates unless they were caught actually in the act.
He said witnesses and hostages often refused to testify, and it could be hard to tell pirates from hostages and ordinary fishermen.
Mr Bellingham said the UK was trying to build local capacity to bring prosecutions by channelling aid money into court and prison facilities. | The UK is preparing to give formal legal backing to the use of private armed guards on British merchant vessels to protect against piracy. | 14060044 |
Fanning, 34, broke down in an interview after competing in the third and fourth rounds of the Pipeline event in Hawaii.
"I've just got some personal stuff going on at home right now," the Australian said, before being comforted by a World Surf League (WSL) announcer.
Earlier this year, Fanning escaped a shark attack in South Africa.
Fanning later spoke about his brother on social media.
"I am so grateful for the incredible love and well wishes that have come my way since learning of my eldest brother's passing this morning," Fanning said on Instagram.
"Like all my big brothers, Peter will always be a hero to me.
"Today was one of the most challenging days of my life but I knew I could find the strength to take part in the final event of the season because that's what Pete would want."
It has not been made public how or where Peter Fanning died.
In July, his mother said she was overwhelmed by the live televised footage of his close encounter with the shark.
"I just saw my boy going down. That was absolutely terrifying because I have lost a son before," Liz Osborne told Australian media.
Fanning's other brother, Sean, died in a car accident in 1998.
Fanning returned to the water in his native Australia six days after the attack. | Current number one surfer Mick Fanning has edged closer to his fourth world title despite the death of his brother hours before the winning heat. | 35117889 |
The 14-year-old disappeared four weeks ago, walking along the Grand Union Canal in west London.
Police are also looking for a Latvian man, Arnis Zalkalns.
Alice disappeared on 28 August but Newsbeat understands there are at least four other teenagers missing in the UK in the same time period.
It sounds like a big number but figures show 140,000 under-18s are reported missing in the UK each year.
Of course, most are found within days.
Here are some of the cases on the charity website Missing People.
Police are concerned for Demi Collins who is 16 and was last seen in Woolwich, south-east London on the 8 September and in a separate missing persons case, Jo McFarlane-Hills, aged 13, was last seen in Lancing in West Sussex on 22 September.
On the Missing People website there are 37 under-18s currently classed as missing children, including Alice.
She was last seen in Hanwell, Ealing, west London.
But there is also another girl who disappeared from London this month, Chelsea Abraham, 15, who was last seen on 8 September.
Also known to have gone missing is Shane Crawt, 15, who disappeared in Slinford, Sussex on 17 September.
The Missing People charity hopes posters, which can be printed off, from its website and police appeals will help to find these missing teenagers.
A spokesperson said the idea is that people are more likely to come home or turn themselves into a charity rather than the police.
The website carries the following message: "We are here for you whenever you are ready; we can listen, talk you through what help you need, pass a message for you and help you to be safe. Call. Text. Anytime. Free. Confidential. 116000."
Out of all these teenagers who have not been seen, Alice Gross is the only case to have prompted a widespread police investigation.
The hunt for the 14-year-old is now being described as the largest police search operation since the 7/7 bombings (2005) and it is hoped this latest staged reconstruction by police will help answer the many questions about what happened and her whereabouts.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube | Police searching for missing schoolgirl Alice Gross have staged a reconstruction of her last known movements. | 29360351 |
Marcus Maddison and Paul Taylor both struck early blows as the hosts raced into a 2-0 lead inside seven minutes.
Gwion Edwards added another goal before the break and then hit Posh's fourth seven minutes after the restart. Tom Nichols made it five in the 67th minute before Steve Morison pulled one back.
Neil Harris' Millwall side - who were losing finalists in the League One play-offs last season - looked completely out-of-sorts from start to finish.
Maddison's sixth-minute opener had an element of fortune as his cross from the right touchline evaded the Lions defenders and sailed into the net.
Yet Taylor's finish, just 90 seconds later, was more emphatic as he drilled a low shot past Jordan Archer after good work from strike partner Nichols.
Millwall midfielder Jimmy Abdou fired over the hosts' bar after Aiden O'Brien had teased Ben Alnwick out of his goal.
Yet Nichols' deft chip allowed Edwards to head past Archer on 20 minutes.
The same pair combined to put the game to bed on 52 minutes, as Edwards tucked away Nichols' cross from close range.
Former-Exeter striker Nichols got his reward for three assists when he slotted in the rebound after Archer failed to hold Jermaine Anderson's shot.
Morison grabbed a late goal for the visitors, yet it was hardly any consolation.
Report supplied by Press Association.
Match ends, Peterborough United 5, Millwall 1.
Second Half ends, Peterborough United 5, Millwall 1.
Corner, Peterborough United. Conceded by Jordan Archer.
Attempt saved. Marcus Maddison (Peterborough United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Corner, Millwall. Conceded by Michael Bostwick.
Attempt blocked. Ben Thompson (Millwall) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Substitution, Peterborough United. Joe Gormley replaces Tom Nichols.
Foul by Tom Nichols (Peterborough United).
Fred Onyedinma (Millwall) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Delay in match (Millwall).
Goal! Peterborough United 5, Millwall 1. Steve Morison (Millwall) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal following a corner.
Corner, Millwall. Conceded by Chris Forrester.
Corner, Millwall. Conceded by Chris Forrester.
Substitution, Millwall. Shaun Hutchinson replaces Shane Ferguson.
Corner, Millwall. Conceded by Michael Smith.
Substitution, Peterborough United. Adil Nabi replaces Gwion Edwards.
Substitution, Peterborough United. Shaquile Coulthirst replaces Paul Taylor.
Goal! Peterborough United 5, Millwall 0. Tom Nichols (Peterborough United) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal.
Attempt saved. Jermaine Anderson (Peterborough United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Attempt missed. Marcus Maddison (Peterborough United) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left.
Substitution, Millwall. Fred Onyedinma replaces Aiden O'Brien.
Corner, Peterborough United. Conceded by Byron Webster.
Nadjim Abdou (Millwall) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Paul Taylor (Peterborough United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Nadjim Abdou (Millwall).
Jermaine Anderson (Peterborough United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Jermaine Anderson (Peterborough United).
Lee Gregory (Millwall) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Goal! Peterborough United 4, Millwall 0. Gwion Edwards (Peterborough United) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Tom Nichols.
Corner, Millwall. Conceded by Michael Bostwick.
Paul Taylor (Peterborough United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Aiden O'Brien (Millwall).
Foul by Jermaine Anderson (Peterborough United).
Aiden O'Brien (Millwall) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Second Half begins Peterborough United 3, Millwall 0.
Substitution, Millwall. Gregg Wylde replaces Joe Martin.
First Half ends, Peterborough United 3, Millwall 0.
Gwion Edwards (Peterborough United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Joe Martin (Millwall).
Attempt blocked. Ben Thompson (Millwall) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. | Peterborough ended Millwall's unbeaten start to the season in emphatic style with a thumping 5-1 victory. | 37018052 |
The government has outlined proposals to unfreeze assets worth 1,200bn krona ($9bn), subject to a 39% tax.
Capital controls, such as those to restrict money flowing in and out of the country, were imposed in 2008 after the country's biggest banks collapsed.
The government thinks the economy has recovered sufficiently to end controls.
"These proposals contemplate addressing these risks through a combination of the payment of a voluntary stability contribution together with other measures designed to attenuate the release of crowns that have been trapped behind the capital controls and augment the foreign currency reserves of the Central Bank of Iceland," it said in a statement.
The government imposed the controls in 2008 after the collapse of the country's three biggest banks - Glitnir, Landsbanki and Kaupthing - saw Iceland's national currency, the krona, plunge in value.
Foreign currency for holidays abroad is still tightly controlled. | Iceland is considering ways to end capital controls after a vote in parliament to tighten financial regulations. | 33044798 |
Fortunately the apocalypse is not yet upon us.
A solar eclipse is when the moon moves directly between the Sun and the Earth. It's unusual because the Earth, Sun and the Moon all have to align.
It also rare because of the elliptical (oval) shape of the Moon's path, or orbit, around the Earth, meaning the Moon is sometimes further away from us.
Additionally the Moon's orbit is on a tilt, making it even more rare when the Sun, Moon and Earth align.
We haven't had a full solar eclipse since 1999 and the one happening this March is only a partial eclipse.
If you miss this one, it will be 2026 before you can catch the next partial eclipse.
It will be 2090 until the next total solar eclipse is seen in the UK.
As it's such an unusual occurrence, it's probably worth having a party.
It's going to be a breakfast affair as the eclipse begins in the UK at 8.45am.
The maximum eclipse, when the Moon is nearest the middle of the Sun, will be at 9.31am.
It will all wind down at 10.41am.
The further north you go, the greater the shadow over the Sun and the fuller the eclipse.
Up to 94% of the Sun's light will be blocked by the Moon in Scotland.
In places further south like London, the Sun will probably only be 85% obscured by the Moon.
According to Dr Edward Bloomer, an astronomer with the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Faroe Islands is the best place to see it.
But if you can't make it that far north, you'll still get a "very good view indeed" in the UK.
All you need is a "nice clear horizon and view of the sky".
It's about not having tall buildings or trees blocking the view.
Eclipse glasses: Looking at the Sun directly damages your eyes.
These special specs are specially made to filter out harmful radiation and ultra violet light so you can gaze at the star without hurting your vision.
They are relatively cheap and you can buy them online.
Alternatively Dr Bloomer says you can make your own eclipse viewer at home with a "pinhole projection".
He told Newsbeat: "Get yourself a piece of card and cut a hole in it.
"Cover that with a piece of tinfoil, pierce a very small hole in it.
"If you point that towards the Sun and project the light coming through the pinhole onto a piece of white cardboard or paper then you can view the Sun and view the Sun's projection there, so you aren't looking directly at the Sun."
It's not just the fact that you get to see the "celestial mechanics at work" which makes eclipses interesting, according to Dr Bloomer.
You can see the atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona (yup, like the beer) during the eclipse.
This corona is super-hot, 100 times hotter than the already impressive 5,538C temperature of the sun itself.
Eclipses reveal aspects of the corona, such as streamers, (long bright pointy bits packed full of electrons) plumes (thin streaks from the Sun's north and south pole), and loops (shimmering active magnetic fields, often found above darker sun spots.)
If you're staring at the sky but feeling underwhelmed, indulge your fellow party-goers with some of these eclipse-related facts to get the party started.
1. Academics have tried to uncover the exact date for the crucifixion of Christ using astronomical calculations.
They take as their starting point the theory that the darkness that clouded the sky on Good Friday, when Jesus was on the cross, was actually a partial eclipse.
2. Those glasses are important.
You don't want to end up like 19th century psychologist Gustav Fechner, who partially blinded himself while doing experiments which involved staring at the Sun through a coloured lens.
3. In Romanian folklore Vârcolacs are wolf-demons that eat the moon and the sun during eclipses. They are often classed as vampire-hybrids.
Greek mythology borrows this notion for their 'vrykolakas'. However, these undead creatures drink blood and swell up like drums.
Korean folklore also links dogs with eclipses, saying that solar eclipses occur because mythical dogs are trying to steal the sun.
3. Muslims conduct special prayers during the eclipse. In them they thank Allah for his control over the Sun and the Moon.
4. There's a recurring myth that pregnant women can't go outside during an eclipse. Astronomers from the Griffith Observatory in LA say they get dozens of calls about it when an eclipse happens, even though it seems irrational. But if one of your friends is pregnant, don't worry, you can invite them along to your party. This myth has no basis in fact.
5. The word eclipse comes from the Ancient Greek word ékleipsis, which means abandonment.
6. The speed of the Moon as it moves across the Sun is approximately 2,250 km (1,398 miles) per hour.
Happy viewing!
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube | Next Friday we'll witness a solar eclipse, an event people once thought heralded the end of the world. | 31746958 |
Muhammadu Buhari said he was prepared to swap militants who are in custody for the girls.
The more than 200 girls were seized during a raid on a school in the north-eastern town of Chibok in 2014.
Previous efforts by neighbouring Chad to broker a deal with Boko Haram to secure the girls' release failed.
Speaking on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly meeting in New York, Mr Buhari said that splits within the ranks of Boko Haram, which is affiliated to the Islamic State (IS) group, made it difficult to hold talks with them.
"Government had reached out, ready to negotiate, but it became difficult to identify credible leaders. We will welcome intermediaries such as UN outfits, to step in," Mr Buhari said.
The UN has not yet commented on his request.
In August, IS said that Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau had been replaced by the younger Abu Musab al-Barnawi.
Mr Shekau denied this, insisting he was still the leader.
The abduction of the schoolgirls led to the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, that was supported by US First Lady Michelle Obama and Pakistani Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai.
So far only one schoolgirl, Amina Ali Nkeki, has been found.
An army-backed vigilante group stumbled across her in May in the huge Sambisa Forest, close to the border with Cameroon, as she was looking for wood to make a fire.
She was with a baby, and a suspected militant who identified himself as her husband.
Boko Haram had previously said that some of the girls had been enslaved or "married off" to fighters.
Foreign governments, including those from the US and China, had promised to help Nigeria search for the girls when they were abducted while preparing for the school exams in Chibok in April 2014.
Boko Haram has been fighting since 2009 to create an Islamic state, but it has lost most of the territory under its control in the last 19 months following an offensive by a multi-national force. | Nigeria's president has called for the UN to mediate with militant Islamist group Boko Haram to secure the release of schoolgirls it is holding captive. | 37441722 |
Fernando Forestieri converted Adam Reach's cross to put the Owls in front, before Lee Tomlin equalised from the spot after he was fouled in the area.
Ross Wallace curled play-off hopefuls Wednesday back ahead after half-time.
But Abraham deflected Joe Bryan's shot in to level for City, who paraded new signing Matty Taylor during the break.
Striker Taylor joined the Robins from local rivals Bristol Rovers earlier on transfer deadline day - but it was Chelsea loanee Abraham who stole the show, again finding the net during an impressive debut season in senior football.
The 19-year-old had already twice been denied by Keiren Westwood before Bryan's shot from the edge of the area cannoned off his midriff to wrong-foot the Owls goalkeeper.
Wednesday looked the more likely to snatch victory in the closing stages, with Tom Lees heading their best opportunity over the crossbar.
But Carlos Carvalhal's side drop to seventh in the table, without a win in their last two matches, while Bristol City move up a place to 20th, three points clear of the relegation places.
Bristol City manager Lee Johnson: "We've shown great character to come from behind twice. The players obviously wanted to get a win, but given the circumstances, it's not a bad point.
"The fans stuck with us and they were brilliant, roaring us on. We had some great chances at 1-1.
"We stood strong though, and earned a point in the end, but the draw means nothing if we don't get a win on Saturday."
Sheffield Wednesday manager Carlos Carvalhal: "We have taken a point, but I cannot say that we achieved it because it should have been more.
"Bristol's second goal was rude. There is no place for it on the training ground and how can you defend against it?
"We wanted three points, but we take one and move on. They didn't create much, but nor did we. It was a game of few chances."
Match ends, Bristol City 2, Sheffield Wednesday 2.
Second Half ends, Bristol City 2, Sheffield Wednesday 2.
Bailey Wright (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Atdhe Nuhiu (Sheffield Wednesday).
Attempt missed. Tom Lees (Sheffield Wednesday) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Adam Reach with a cross.
Attempt saved. Ross Wallace (Sheffield Wednesday) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Barry Bannan.
Attempt missed. Tom Lees (Sheffield Wednesday) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Ross Wallace with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Sheffield Wednesday. Conceded by Scott Golbourne.
Foul by Milan Djuric (Bristol City).
Adam Reach (Sheffield Wednesday) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Aden Flint (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Atdhe Nuhiu (Sheffield Wednesday).
Attempt saved. Milan Djuric (Bristol City) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Mark Little.
Attempt missed. Fernando Forestieri (Sheffield Wednesday) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Ross Wallace.
Joe Bryan (Bristol City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Tom Lees (Sheffield Wednesday).
Substitution, Sheffield Wednesday. Callum McManaman replaces Morgan Fox.
Substitution, Bristol City. Gary O'Neil replaces Lee Tomlin.
Foul by Milan Djuric (Bristol City).
Glenn Loovens (Sheffield Wednesday) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Bailey Wright (Bristol City).
Atdhe Nuhiu (Sheffield Wednesday) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt missed. Barry Bannan (Sheffield Wednesday) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ross Wallace.
Adam Reach (Sheffield Wednesday) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Offside, Bristol City. Josh Brownhill tries a through ball, but Milan Djuric is caught offside.
Offside, Bristol City. Lee Tomlin tries a through ball, but Tammy Abraham is caught offside.
Attempt missed. Fernando Forestieri (Sheffield Wednesday) header from very close range misses to the left. Assisted by Ross Wallace with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Sheffield Wednesday. Conceded by Bailey Wright.
Attempt blocked. Ross Wallace (Sheffield Wednesday) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Fernando Forestieri.
Goal! Bristol City 2, Sheffield Wednesday 2. Tammy Abraham (Bristol City) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Joe Bryan following a corner.
Attempt blocked. Joe Bryan (Bristol City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jens Hegeler.
Attempt missed. Aden Flint (Bristol City) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Josh Brownhill with a cross following a corner.
Substitution, Bristol City. Milan Djuric replaces Callum O'Dowda.
Corner, Bristol City. Conceded by Liam Palmer.
Foul by Callum O'Dowda (Bristol City).
Adam Reach (Sheffield Wednesday) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Aden Flint (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Atdhe Nuhiu (Sheffield Wednesday).
Attempt missed. Tammy Abraham (Bristol City) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Callum O'Dowda.
Corner, Bristol City. Conceded by Adam Reach. | Tammy Abraham scored his 19th goal this season to end Bristol City's eight-game losing run in the Championship with a draw against Sheffield Wednesday. | 38727179 |
The victims' bodies were found in a grave outside the city after family members organised large street protests.
Prosecutors said the crime was a reprisal for the murder of a drug trafficker a few days before.
Three other men received similar sentences earlier this year.
The young men and women ranging between 16 and 34 years of age were reported missing in the days after the group went to a bar called Heaven in May 2013.
Surveillance footage showed some of them being led to cars outside the after-hours bar.
Their bodies were discovered in a grave covered with lime, cement and asbestos on the outskirts of Mexico City.
All of them came from the poor Tepito neighbourhood of Mexico City.
The case shocked people in Mexico City, which at the time had appeared to be less exposed to the overt drug violence affecting other areas of the country. | A judge in Mexico City has sentenced two men to 520 years in prison for the kidnap and murder of 13 young people at a bar in the city two years ago. | 35089492 |
A date has been set for next Monday, 28 November at 10:00 local time in the Apostolic Palace.
Mr Kenny will personally welcome Pope Francis' decision to hold the World Meeting of Families in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland in August 2018.
It comes ahead of speculation that the Pope will visit Ireland at that time. | Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Enda Kenny is to meet Pope Francis in the Vatican. | 38080153 |
The International Ski Federation [FIS] imposed the punishment after ruling she helped to "manipulate" results to ensure her place at the Sochi Olympics.
Mae, who represented Thailand, and five officials were punished after an investigation into four Slovenian races which took place before the January qualification deadline for the Games.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport will now consider the appeal.
The Singapore-born British violinist competed for her father's nation at the Sochi Winter Olympics and under his surname 'Vanakorn'.
She finished 67th and last in the Giant Slalom - more than 50 seconds slower than Slovenian race winner Tina Maze - and 11 seconds behind the 66th competitor.
A CAS statement said: "The Court of Arbitration for Sport has received two appeals from Ms Vanessa Vanakorn, filed against the decisions taken by the Hearing Panel of the International Ski, in relation to her qualification for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games."
Last month Mae told BBC Sport that her ban was "nonsensical". | Violinist Vanessa-Mae has appealed against a four-year skiing ban. | 30333147 |
An inquiry into Emstrey Crematorium in Shrewsbury is due to publish its findings next month.
In March, its chairman David Jenkins said at least 60 families were believed to be affected.
Furnace Construction Co Ltd has said its equipment was capable of recovering ashes from infant cremations.
In a statement, the company said operators would have had to manually override some settings.
Mr Jenkins has previously said he had been told by crematorium staff the equipment could not recover a child's ashes.
Shropshire Council said it would be inappropriate to comment while the inquiry was ongoing.
The independent inquiry was set up in December to investigate claims babies' ashes were not returned to grieving parents prior to 2012, when new equipment was installed by Co-operative Funeralcare, which took over the running of the site in 2011.
In an update, inquiry chairman Mr Jenkins said he had spoken to families and had been "struck by their very real and acute sense of anguish that they do not have the ashes of their lost child as a tangible focus for their grieving, and, in some cases, anger at officialdom for, as they see it, depriving them of their child's remains".
However, he said he was still seeking detailed information on the maintenance and technical capabilities of the equipment formerly used in Shrewsbury.
He has also had contact with the Scottish government, which was at the centre of a similar inquiry regarding failures at the Mortonhall crematorium.
Mr Jenkins said he had also asked for an update on progress implementing the recommendations of its commission led by Lord Bonomy. | The manufacturer of equipment used at a crematorium criticised for failing to return babies' ashes, has denied its products were to blame. | 32206579 |
The United Voices rally was staged by Hollywood's United Talent Agency instead of its usual pre-Oscars party.
Foster, a double Oscar winner, said she rarely spoke out in public but that it was now "time to show up".
Back to the Future star Fox told the crowd "we are the lucky ones" and that he wanted to "share a bit of that luck" with refugees who want to enter the US.
"I believe that when so much good has been done unto you it's natural to feel a sense of civic or even global responsibility," he told the Beverly Hills rally.
"I consider myself an optimist and that can be a tall order at times for me personally, and more as I see a growing intolerance and lack of compassion and empathy in the world around us.
"But one's dignity may be assaulted, it may be vandalised, it may be cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it's surrendered."
The Canadian-born star, who became a US citizen two decades ago, showed only relatively small signs of the Parkinson's Disease he has lived with since 1991.
He added that he believed "in the power of the arts to change not just our hearts but the world".
Foster, meanwhile, who has won Oscars for The Silence of the Lambs and The Accused, said the rally was "exactly the way to celebrate our industry, to celebrate all of you, to celebrate artistic expression and our commitment to humanities on screen and off".
She did not air her views in public often, she told the crowd during her impassioned speech. "I'm not somebody who's very comfortable using my public face for activism.
"And so in my life I've found the small ways, much like most of you, to serve and to show up and to give somebody a lift at the bottom of the hill when they're going to the top.
"But this year is a very different year and it's time to show up. It's a singular time in history. It's time to engage."
She added: "When we get to celebrate excellence in film like we're doing today, like we're doing this week, we can't forget that this industry is in the business of humanism.
"It's that compassion that makes us strong. It's doing the right thing that makes us just."
The rally comes ahead of an Academy Awards ceremony that is likely to be highly politically charged.
Mr Trump has previously been dismissive of celebrity protests and of stars who have criticised him, such as Meryl Streep.
The rally was also shown a video message from Oscar-nominated Iranian film director Asghar Farhadi, who has said he is staying away from Sunday's ceremony following Mr Trump's attempt to ban travel from Iran and six other mainly Muslim countries.
Also on Friday, all the nominees for best foreign language film - including Farhadi - issued a joint statement denouncing the current "climate of fanaticism and nationalism".
They said: "Regardless of who wins the Academy Award for best foreign language film on Sunday, we refuse to think in terms of borders.
"We believe there is no best country, best gender, best religion or best colour. We want this award to stand as a symbol of the unity between nations and the freedom of the arts."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk. | Jodie Foster and Michael J Fox have led an anti-Donald Trump protest two days before the Oscars in Los Angeles. | 39088450 |
Kenman Holdings, which has a number of properties in the Lewis town, claimed the privately-run apartments were being developed using public money.
Western Isles Council - Comhairle nan Eilean Siar - is leading the redevelopment of Lews Castle.
Kenman has failed to secure a judicial review of the apartments contract.
Judge Lord Tyre at the Court of Session in Edinburgh found in favour of the local authority, ruling that the legal challenge had been delayed "for an unreasonably long time".
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has been leading a project to redevelop 19th Century Lews Castle, which has been closed for 25 years.
Council leader Angus Campbell said: "The comhairle was always confident that its processes in the awarding of the contract were proper and competent.
"The restoration and development of Lews Castle is hugely popular and will provide a major economic boost for the islands when the museum and the luxury hospitality development opens next year." | A hotel operator has been unsuccessful in its legal challenge to plans for part of Lews Castle in Stornoway to become self-catering apartments. | 35114275 |
The defending champion, quickest ahead of championship leader and team-mate Nico Rosberg in both Friday practice sessions, said: "My sole focus until Sunday is getting that pole."
He added: "Right now, I don't have to think about the race. Positioning is what I want this weekend."
To take the title, he needs to win and hope Rosberg is lower than third.
Briton Hamilton trails Rosberg by 12 points heading into the race and, given Mercedes' dominance this season, realistically has to hope his German rival hits trouble of one kind or another so other teams manage to get their cars between them.
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Hamilton was 0.374 seconds faster than Rosberg in the first practice session and 0.079secs quicker in the second session.
He said starting first was so crucial because overtaking was difficult around Yas Marina.
"Pole position helps a lot here," Hamilton said. "You need a 1.1-1.2secs advantage over the car in front to have a chance to overtake him. You don't have that between myself and Nico or the Red Bulls, so position is everything, so I need that pole. "
Hamilton said he had been pleased with the session and the balance of the car, both in qualifying and race trim.
"It's a good feeling," he said. "I have come here to be quickest. I know I am quicker so it is about going and actually doing it.
"For sure it feels good, but it doesn't really matter if he's second, so he's probably more relaxed, whereas I am fighting and chasing. It is all to play for on Saturday."
Hamilton has been beaten to pole position by Rosberg at the past two races in Abu Dhabi, but he felt last year's performance was affected by the fact he had already won the title.
"I wasn't pushing so much last year, hence why the other dude won the last few races," Hamilton said. "But it was not important at the time. But I will be pushing this weekend to the max. A lot of fans have come to support and hoping I get the win so I will try to get the best."
Rosberg said: "He was a bit faster but I didn't nail my lap properly so I have a bit in reserve. But it is always going be close and it will be a big battle for pole.
"For sure I am going for pole position because it is going to help to get the race win on Sunday.
"I'm generally feeling OK. It was a good start to the weekend. The car is feeling OK, it is well balanced. There was a lot of [tyre] graining - when the surface starts to break up - on the long run which is a bit of an issue we need to get a hang of.
"Lewis is driving great and I am going to dig deep and try to find those extra hundredths in the computer or whatever, try to nail the set-up and then let's see how it goes."
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | Lewis Hamilton says he is desperate to take pole position for Sunday's title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. | 38109417 |
All of that came as she juggled the needs of a one-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son - much to the acclaim of people everywhere as they celebrated the Exeter-based runner a "supermum".
Two years on, with her little family getting bigger, she is preparing for her fifth Olympic Games - a record for any British track athlete.
It is a training regime which is balanced around her son Jacob, who is almost seven, and little Emily who is approaching her third birthday. On the evening I meet her at the Exeter Arena, she and her husband Gavin, who is also her coach, were up against the clock as the children had been left with their grandparents.
But Pavey says making training a family affair has reinvigorated her - how many 42-year-olds will be donning their spikes in Rio?
"As a mum it's made me enjoy my running more," she said before one of her last training sessions on British soil before jumping on a plane to Brazil.
"It's made me feel happy in my personal life, I feel like I've got that balance and it does make me enjoy running.
"The needs of the kids change and the way we can train as a family changes.
"It used to be my husband with a little boy on the back of a bike, but now my little girl goes on the back of the bike and my little boy's like a training partner now - he just whizzes ahead of me on his bike and I can't keep up with him.
"It's really kept my motivation going at this old age that I am now."
The age question has become something of a running joke for Pavey now - she knows she is getting older, but as yet there is no British woman who can match her over 10,000m.
But time will eventually catch up with Pavey, who is realistic about whether Rio will be her final Olympics.
Find out about how to get into running with our special guide.
"I would have thought realistically that it is, but I'm definitely not retiring yet," she said.
"I'm definitely not saying that I wouldn't give it a go in four years' time, but I would have never thought I'd still be thinking of an Olympics at this stage.
"When London was awarded the 2012 Olympics it was way back in 2005 and I remember thinking: 'What a shame, I would have loved to have tried to compete in a home games'. So I'd never have thought I'd be thinking about competing in the one after that.
"I've got no plans for retirement, but I just take each stage at a time."
Pavey has never won an Olympic medal - her best chance came in Athens in 2004 when she was fifth in the 5,000m.
Pavey finished seventh in the 10,000m at London 2012, putting her as the highest-placed athlete born in a country other than Kenya and Ethiopia, and those powerhouses of distance running will again be favourites in Rio.
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"It's going to be extremely tough, but when you stand on that start line you always know that anything can happen," Pavey said of her chances.
"I'm definitely not going to put any barriers to my performance, the same as any athlete. You just give it absolutely everything and anything can happen, but it will be tough."
Whatever happens, cheering Pavey on at home will be Gavin, Jacob and Emily - no doubt all keen to be chasing her on their bikes when she returns to Devon after a record-breaking fifth Olympic appearance. | Jo Pavey's greatest year as a distance runner was arguably 2014 - gold at the European Championships came just 10 days after a famously gritty bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games. | 36924554 |
Suriyan Sucharitpolwong, also known as Mor Yong, died of septicaemia late on Saturday, the justice ministry said.
He was among three men arrested last month on lese majeste charges, and the second in the group to have died.
The deaths have raised questions over the military government's high-profile crackdown on lese majeste cases.
Authorities said Mr Sucharitpolwong, 53, appeared to have health difficulties in the days leading up to his death. He was found unconscious in his Bangkok cell and taken to hospital on Saturday, where he later died, a justice ministry statement said on Monday.
A post mortem examination later found he had a blood infection, said Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya.
The fortune teller was last seen in public in court on 21 October along with his assistant and a police officer, where all three were accused of royal defamation and of exploiting ties with the royal family.
The police officer, Prakrom Warunprapa, was found dead two days later while in military custody. Authorities said he hanged himself.
Since its coup last year, the military government has arrested a string of suspects, accusing them of claiming or using connections to the monarchy for personal benefit.
Critics have said the broadly-worded lese majeste laws are being used to silence dissent and opponents. | A celebrity fortune-teller detained in Thailand for allegedly insulting the royal family has died in military custody, the authorities say. | 34764619 |
Daniel Thorpe, 27, from Buxton in Derbyshire, remains in hospital where he is receiving treatment for a collapsed lung and lower-leg injuries.
University Hospital Coventry said he was "recovering well".
Five people were seriously hurt in the crash last week, including a teenager who later had her leg amputated.
Two carriages collided on the Smiler ride at Alton Towers in Staffordshire.
"I would like to thank everyone for their support which has been a great comfort to me at this time," said Mr Thorpe.
"In particular the emergency services, doctors, nurses and the rest of the team who have been looking after me and my family during this time have been fantastic.
"I'm now looking forward to getting better, getting home and getting back to normal."
Mr Thorpe, 18-year-old Joe Pugh from Barnsley, Vicky Balch, 20, from Leyland in Lancashire and 17-year-old Leah Washington were on the front row of a carriage which smashed into an empty car ahead of them.
All four sustained serious leg injuries with Miss Washington having to have an above-the-knee amputation.
A fifth person, Chanda Chauhan, 49, from Wednesbury in the Black Country, who was sitting in the second row of the Smiler, was treated at Walsall Manor Hospital for internal injuries.
A Health and Safety Executive investigation into the crash is continuing.
Alton Towers has reopened although the Smiler ride itself remains closed.
Merlin Entertainments Group, which owns the theme park, said it was the first accident in the company's history and said anyone injured would be compensated. | One of the victims of a rollercoaster crash at Alton Towers has thanked medics and said the support he has received "has been a great comfort". | 33075862 |
Five vehicles with armed officers went to Long Lane in Borough at 21:15 BST on Friday night in response to the call.
The "gunshots" were being fired by actors at Colab Theatre's "Hunted" interactive show. The theatre described the production as a "spy adventure".
Officers tweeted that the bangs sounded like real gunfire.
On its website, the theatre said participants in the immersive show were asked if they were "skilled enough to evade evil agents" of a security force.
The theatre said an actor was about to lead the audience outside when he was approached by armed police officers.
The audience stayed inside the foyer as the actor explained what was going on.
He then showed four officers the props which were being used in the show, which the officers said were safe to use.
What is immersive theatre?
It is when the audience is a part of the production.
Past immersive theatre shows in the city have seen audiences eat and drink with actors; get chased; help to commit or solve a crime and wonder through Neverland.
Secret Cinema events - which offer a mix of film screening, live performance and audience interaction - has spearheaded this cultural attraction.
The Met said residents had been informed about the Hunted show.
The person who rang had not read the letter and local officers were not aware of the production.
The theatre said officers had told them to reconfirm the dates of the show to them.
In a statement, the theatre said: "At Colab, we are always pushing the boundaries further and further away from immersive and into the very lives of the audience.
"It's a big show with massive intensity so we haven't held back on making it feel real.
"Audiences' safety is our highest priority - even though we have done everything in our power to make all the correct authorities and neighbours aware of what the show involves, the police were called.
"We are glad that in an age where we're plugged into our phone, at least these things get responded to - another accolade to the solid community of Borough in a quickly developing London." | Armed police were called to a theatre show in London after "screams and gunshots" were reported by a resident. | 37668061 |
Captain Beaky, who also struggled to eat, went under the knife to have his broken bottom jaw fixed.
The operation means the cockerel from Lancaster can now easily feed himself but he is yet to give the famous call.
He had to travel to Northern Ireland for the operation as it was hard to find a vet to do the job in England.
However, the rooster then went on to have a foul accident while recuperating at the animal hospital when he bashed his new beak into a wall and needed a second operation.
The procedures have cost owners Tina and Martin Wilkinson a total of £500, along with travel expenses.
The rooster was adopted by the couple after he had been found abandoned in a woodland near their house.
The family have 80 chickens, 10 ducks, two turkeys, four cats and two dogs.
They decided to raise money for Captain Beaky's operation because they wanted to "make his life easier".
Mrs Wilkinson, who set up Hedwig's House for Chickens in Hestbank, Lancaster, in 2014, said: "He was struggling but we saw his will to live."
She added she had been shocked to hear about the accident after the first operation.
"He is fine but I feel guilty because he had a major operation. I worry about him," she said.
"He doesn't realise he can eat because he has always struggled."
The couple said Captain Beaky was still trying to learn how to use his new beak. | An operation to fix a mute rooster's beak has been hailed as a success and raised hopes he will cock-a-doodle-doo for the first time. | 34900127 |
The planning committee approved Phase One of the Rochdale Riverside scheme for a complex of new shops and a cinema in the east of the town centre.
The development features new Marks and Spencer and Next stores with Reel Cinemas operating the cinema.
Developer Genr8 said it would be the "final element" of the town's regeneration.
The scheme will have about 24 shops and restaurants.
Council leader Richard Farnell (Labour) said: "This is yet more progress for this important development, which will bring High Street names that are not currently represented in Rochdale, as well as thriving restaurants and a cinema, which will create a fantastic destination for our residents and visitors.
"It will also boost our local economy by more than £17m and create around 1,000 jobs."
Gary Davies, of the Rochdale Development Agency, said the approval showed Rochdale was bucking the national trend of town centre decline.
"This decision is part of a wider regeneration which also includes the way the council has encouraged new retail outlets with discounted business rates - at present 17 out of 20 retail units are occupied in the town centre," he said.
Mike Smith, Partner at Genr8 Developments, said: "We recognise that this scheme will play a significant role in the regeneration of Rochdale and it is therefore imperative that we attract the right mix of occupiers to boost the local economy and establish Rochdale as a key leisure and retail destination."
Councillors also approved outline plans for the scheme's second phase, which will see a further investment into the town centre, with potential for new offices, a hotel, apartments and commercial uses.
The communities secretary will give the final decision.
Work could start on the site in Smith Street in the autumn. | A plan for a £60m retail development in Rochdale town centre has been backed by councillors. | 39555562 |
It scarcely seems believable that a man of his passion, intensity, ambition and sheer force of personality could have tolerated such an absence from the game.
"There are many reasons for staying out as long," Davies says, and he is too forthright to succumb to vagueness. He has earned well during his managerial career, so there is no financial imperative. His sons have been growing up, and both are now at university, while he has felt it important to spend time with his parents at this stage in their lives.
All of that, though, is enabled by Davies' success in management. He can reel off the stats and achievements, but they are worth dwelling on. Whenever he has managed a side in the English Championship for a full season, Davies has never failed to at least steer them into the play-offs.
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In the same league, he has never failed to reach the 79-point mark, and nobody has won more manager of the month awards in the Championship. He broke long-standing club records at Nottingham Forest, Derby and Preston, the three sides he has managed in England.
Yet it has been two years. There was also a 13-month spell out of the game after leaving Derby, despite having led the club to promotion to the Premiership in the first year of a three-year plan.
Davies has an answer. He believes that a "whispering campaign" has been conducted against him, resulting in the portrayal of him as a difficult man to manage, one constantly at odds with directors and the media, as a manager who ignores young players.
"This is a results-driven industry," Davies says. "All I want people to do is look at the success of each club we've been at, look at the results, focus on player relationship, on staff relationship, on economics from when we took over to when we left.
"If he is such a difficult man to please and such a hard man to get on with, why does he get this success, why does he have such good relationships with players, why do his teams win, why is his record so good?"
By his own admission, spending two spells at Nottingham Forest and one at Derby - two clubs 14 miles apart and caught up in a fierce rivalry - has impacted on his career.
"The first time that I spoke to Nigel Doughty [the previous Forest owner], it was clear that Mr X preferred another option [as manager]," Davies says.
"When I joined Nottingham Forest, Mr X advised me that he will be using certain individuals in the Midlands area to put out information, in the media.
"Very interestingly, it's the same individuals today who still say the same thing."
When Davies first arrived at Forest, the club was in the midst of a relegation battle. He steered them to safety and then to the play-offs the following season.
Davies is fiercely competitive, blunt, unabashed, but just as capable of wit and empathy.
Players talk of his attention to detail, his range of coaching sessions, his tactical awareness. He is demanding, of himself as much as those around him. Ambition compels Davies, he wants to work at the highest level and feels frustrated that he has yet to achieve that on his own terms.
When he won the Premiership play-off with Derby, he knew that the board would sell the club once in the top-flight and had been told that another manager had already been sounded out. In hindsight, Davies would have preferred to have been let go that summer, rather than work for a spell in the Premier League but without the resources he felt were required to stay up.
"The chairman, Peter Gatsby, made it clear to us that was the intent, to get promotion and then sell the club," Davies says. "Peter said to me that I would get what I was due, we are selling, the club is moving in a different direction with different people.
"My disappointment was that I felt the Derby board should have done that in the summer. Looking back, how could they remove me in the summer?
"We'd just got promotion and they had to wait for public perception. I put forward a list of players, you give them four or five names at different levels, and I never handled the negotiations. So they decided to go for a certain level and cost of player."
Davies acknowledges that football managers need to "manage up" with the board and "manage down" with the players. He insists that he had "a great relationship" with Derek Shaw at Preston North End, Gatsby at Derby, Doughty at Forest and in his second spell at the City Ground, Fawaz Al Hasawi, who Davies remains in contact with.
He has spoken to clubs in England and Scotland about recent managerial vacancies. He wants back in to the game, at a club that shares his ambition, and he wants to right some perceived wrongs.
"I am a much better manager than I was," Davies says. "None of us are perfect. But don't you dare believe that I've got no desire to get back into the game. I'm ready to achieve greater, to achieve better, with more desire and more ambition. I can't wait to get back in." | It is almost two years since Billy Davies lost his job at Nottingham Forest and became a former manager. | 35780942 |
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30 July 2015 Last updated at 19:06 BST
The robotic version uses the same forces to jump as the water strider, pushing off without breaking the surface.
It takes off with a downward force that never exceeds the surface tension of water - the force that "glues" surface water molecules together.
The South Korea and US team's advance is reported in the journal Science.
All footage courtesy of Seoul National University | Scientists have developed a tiny robot, based on the water strider insect, that can jump on water. | 33719523 |
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