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About 50 people are due to arrive from refugee camps before Christmas - the first of about 1,000 coming to Wales over the next five years.
The UK government will meet the cost of housing and supporting the refugees.
The refugees will be housed in private rented accommodation and not in council properties in many areas.
The majority of asylum seekers and refugees who come to Wales settle in urban areas with existing minority populations - Cardiff, Newport, Swansea and Wrexham.
But all Welsh local authorities have agreed to help with the current national resettlement scheme after David Cameron said the UK will house up to 20,000 refugees over the next five years.
Torfaen council, which is among the first Welsh councils ready to take in refugees, said it was welcoming two families with a number of young children before Christmas, with another four families due in the new year.
A spokesman said all were identified as having been victims of torture and have been granted five years of full humanitarian protection.
The families are not economic migrants or asylum seekers and they will be able to live and work freely in the UK.
Councillor David Daniels added: "They are families having fled the chaos and trauma of war.
"Torfaen has a strong tradition of welcoming families and I am sure the Torfaen community understands their urgent plight."
Two families will also be given private rented homes in Caerphilly county, with two more likely in the new year and possibly more after that.
In Neath Port Talbot, five families will be given accommodation after arriving in December, half of the total number of families the council will take.
Between 10 and 12 people will also be settled in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion before Christmas.
Ellen ap Gwynn, who is chairman of the council's task and finish group, added: "These people are ordinary people from ordinary backgrounds, who have witnessed events that no-one should have to experience."
Around Wales, some councils have given details about how many refugees it will take, while others are still waiting for more information from the UK government.
Speaking last month, Communities Minister Lesley Griffiths confirmed about 50 Syrian refugees would be welcomed to Wales before Christmas in four local authority areas.
She said all 22 councils were keen to welcome refugees although 18 were still preparing services for their arrival.
Ms Griffiths added the UK government had vowed that all refugees would be "thoroughly vetted" before arrival to ensure they were no security risk. | The first Syrian refugees to arrive in Wales this month will settle in Torfaen, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot and Caerphilly, councils say. | 34935514 |
Arthur Mellar, 47, was seriously injured at Burghley House near Stamford on 12 July, and later died in hospital.
His partner, Gerwin Castillo, told journalists that the "kind and generous" butler was crushed by a lift.
The circumstances are being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive and Cambridgeshire Police.
A spokesman for the force said: "We were called to reports that a man in his 40s had suffered serious injuries at Burghley House on Saturday 12 July.
"He was taken to hospital but later died. A joint investigation is being carried out by police and the Health and Safety Executive."
David Pennell, Burghley estate director, said the house would cooperate fully with the investigation.
"It is with the deepest sadness that we confirm the tragic death of Arthur Mellar, a highly-valued member of the household team at Burghley, following an accident on Saturday 12 July," he said.
The mansion has been used for locations in the films Pride and Prejudice and The Da Vinci Code.
A BBC television adaptation of Middlemarch was also filmed there. | Police are investigating the death of a butler who was injured while working at a Tudor mansion on the Lincolnshire-Cambridgeshire border. | 28493831 |
David Doig, of skills, standards and workforce body Opito, was from St Andrews and was based in Dubai.
He suffered a heart attack in December and died in hospital on Saturday.
Opito chairman John Taylor said: "David was a respected industry leader, firm advocate of social responsibility, and trusted colleague and friend to many."
He added: "His straight-talking approach, determination and passionate belief that all oil and gas workers regardless of their job role, their employer or their nationality should be able to travel to work and return home safely at the end of the day, helped drive positive change in countless countries around the world and inspired great loyalty among those who knew him.
"His loss is sorely felt by us all. Our thoughts are with David's wife, Gillian, and his family at this difficult time."
Mr Doig had an early background in engineering and worked on major offshore projects in the North Sea for more than 25 years before moving onshore in 1994.
He joined Opito in 1999 and was appointed chief executive in 2005. | Tribute has been paid to the chief executive of an oil and gas industry development organisation after his death at the age of 57. | 38650696 |
The overall proportion of entries achieving A* to C has declined from 69% to 66.9%. Top A* grades have slipped from 6.6% to 6.5%.
This has been blamed in part on more pupils in England being required to resit English and maths.
Schools Minister Nick Gibb said 17-year-olds who had successfully retaken these GCSEs now had "better prospects".
The results of more than five million GCSE entries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been published.
This year's combined figures show a sharp decline in the proportion of grades A* to C and smaller falls in top A* and A grades.
Prof Alan Smithers, director of the University of Buckingham's Centre for Education and Employment Research, said the 2.1 percentage points decline was the biggest drop in A*-C grades since GCSEs were introduced in the late 1980s.
This has been driven by a fall in grades in England - as Northern Ireland's results improved and results in Wales remained stable.
The fall in England has been attributed to a policy in England requiring resits in maths and English for 17-year-olds who did not make a C grade last year.
Even without these older pupils resitting exams, there has been a fall in the results of 16 year olds, with the proportion getting A* to C declining by 1.3% points.
This year's results were down for maths, English, history and geography.
And there were further falls in the numbers of pupils taking modern languages, with the British Council warning that entries for French had more than halved in the past two decades.
The National Union of Teachers said the decline in modern languages was exacerbated by the "difficulty many schools have in recruiting qualified language teachers".
The gender gap has widened further - with 71.3% of entries by girls getting a C grade or above compared with 62.4% of boys.
There has been a continuing reduction in the number of pupils taking GCSEs a year early, down by about a quarter compared with last year.
League tables now only count the first time a pupil sits an exam, discouraging entries by younger pupils.
This will be the last year before the start of a major change in how GCSEs are graded in England and how school performance is measured.
A revised set of GCSE exams are going to be graded by numbers - from 9 down to 1 - rather than the current letter-based system in a process that will be phased in from next year.
There will also be a new way of assessing schools in England, to be introduced later this year, called Progress 8, which will measure how much progress pupils make in secondary schools, rather than their raw results.
Russell Hobby, leader of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "GCSE results day is a nervous time for all, as much depends on these grades.
"2016 is worse than ever in this regard as the results are so unpredictable following wave after wave of over hasty changes. Such overwhelming change introduces mistakes and makes it hard to sustain a calm focus on teaching," said Mr Hobby.
Labour's shadow education secretary Angela Rayner blamed "this sharp and unprecedented fall" on the government's "constant chopping and changing to assessment and the curriculum".
England's School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said he was "pleased to see that there are more GCSEs being taken in the core academic subjects, those that give students a wider range of opportunities.
"And for those 17-year-olds who have struggled to achieve good grades in maths, we are seeing 4,000 more successful re-takes of those exams; delivering better prospects for every one of those young people.‎"
Kirsty Williams, Education Secretary in Wales, said: "This year's GCSEs show another strong performance with two thirds of our learners achieving at least A*-C and an increase in the top grades." | This year's GCSE results have shown the biggest ever year-on-year decline - down to the lowest level since 2008. | 37175848 |
Both were hacked to death earlier this year. Police say British-Bangladeshi Touhidur Rahman planned the killings.
Mr Rahman, an IT expert, is said to have links with a banned militant outfit, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).
Police say his arrest will provide evidence about a total of four killings of secular bloggers this year.
The Bangladesh Daily Star reported that Touhidur Rahman was also the alleged financier of ABT.
He and two others were detained last night in the Dhanmondi and Nilkhet areas of Dhaka.
Bangladesh is officially secular but critics say the government has not done enough to stop the attacks.
Last week police arrested two other suspected members of ABT over the killing of atheist blogger Niloy Neel.
Mr Neel was hacked to death by a gang armed with machetes at his home in the capital Dhaka.
In March, another blogger, Washiqur Rahman, was hacked to death in Dhaka.
Avijit Roy | Police in Bangladesh have arrested three people, including a UK citizen, over the murders of secularist bloggers Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das. | 33971810 |
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The Team Sky rider clocked 16 minutes four seconds to take the yellow jersey, with team-mate and defending champion Chris Froome 12 seconds back in sixth.
Swiss Stefan Kung (BMC Racing) was second with Belarusian Vasil Kiryienka (Team Sky) third in wet conditions.
Movistar's Alejandro Valverde is out of the race after crashing into a barrier.
Thomas, the first Welshman to win a stage on the Tour, told BBC Sport: "I just wanted to give it everything, get out there, try and pace it well and go as fast as I could and it couldn't have gone any better.
"I knew I could do a decent time trial on the day if I paced it well and I think I nailed that," added the 31-year-old.
"I didn't expect this when I woke up - I grew up watching the Tour and to be on the other side of that camera, putting on the yellow jersey, is amazing."
Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) was faster than Thomas at the checkpoint but the German, who was the favourite to win the stage, faded to finish eight seconds behind in fourth.
Thomas is the eighth British rider to wear the yellow jersey and the first Welshman.
Sunday's 203.5km second stage goes from Dusseldorf to Liege, Belgium.
Despite a solid reputation in time trials, Thomas was not considered among the pre-stage favourites, with his form also in doubt after a crash forced him to abandon the Giro d'Italia in May.
His ride was not picked up by the television feed, which focused instead on French general classification hopeful Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), who went out a minute before Thomas but had barely crossed the line as the Welshman took first.
Thomas had been three seconds off the pace of then leader and team-mate Kiryienka at the 8.1km checkpoint but finished seven seconds in front.
He faced a nervous wait, with reigning world time trial champion Martin and Swiss time trial champion Kung among those still out on the course.
But Kung could not maintain his slender advantage at the checkpoint and Martin misjudged his pace in the second half of the stage to concede a total of 12 seconds to Thomas in just under 6km and miss out on a yellow jersey at the first Grand Depart held in Germany since 1987.
Thomas also claims the green points jersey, while Kung takes the white best young rider jersey.
After Martin and Kung failed to better Thomas' mark, the only rider left who could conceivably have taken yellow was Froome, who was the last man out.
However, the 32-year-old instead looked to balance his ride between gaining time on his rivals for the overall title and not taking unnecessary risks.
His decision paid off. A sixth-placed finish gives him an advantage of more than 30 seconds over all of his main rivals - Bardet, Australia's Richie Porte (BMC Racing), Colombia's Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Spain's Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) and Italy's Fabio Aru (Astana).
Of perhaps equal concern for Froome's challengers, Team Sky were in impressive form, with Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski finishing eighth to give the British team four riders in the top 10.
Elsewhere, 24-year-old Briton Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) produced an impressive ride to finish 37 seconds behind Thomas and in front of many of his fellow climbers.
A fast course soaked by rain all day resulted in several crashes, with Valverde the most notable casualty as the Spaniard was forced to abandon the race.
The 37-year-old misjudged a slick corner and was thrown forward as his bike fell from under him, colliding with the crash barriers and failing to get to his feet. His team later confirmed he broke a kneecap in the crash.
Valverde, who finished third in the 2015 Tour, was an outside contender for the overall title and was expected to be a key team-mate for Quintana, as the two-time Tour runner-up seeks to finally beat Froome.
Britain's Scott Thwaites (Dimension Data) was able to continue after a heavy crash but Jon Izaguirre (Bahrain-Merida) abandoned after crashing on the same corner as compatriot Valverde.
Stage one result and general classification
1. Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky) 16mins 4secs
2. Stefan Kung (Swi/BMC) +5secs
3. Vasil Kiryienka (Blr/Team Sky) +7secs
4. Tony Martin (Ger/Katusha) +8secs
5. Matteo Trentin (Ita/Quick-Step) +10secs
6. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +12secs
7. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol/Team Sky) +15secs
8. Jos van Emden (Ned/LottoNL-Jumbo) +15secs
9. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Dimension Data) +16secs
10. Marcel Kittel (Ger/Quick-Step) +16secs
Selected others
29. Simon Yates (GB/Orica-Scott) +37secs
49. Richie Porte (Aus/BMC) +47secs
53. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) +48secs
63. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R) +51secs
66. Fabio Aru (Ita/Astana) +52secs
68. Alberto Contador (Spa/Trek-Segafredo) +54secs | Britain's Geraint Thomas won his first Grand Tour stage with victory in the opening 14km time trial of the 2017 Tour de France in Dusseldorf, Germany. | 40469745 |
Ross Forbes opened the scoring when his cross-cum-shot from the right bounced untouched into the Rovers net.
Aberdeen loanee Lawrence Shankland doubled the lead after half-time, heading home Mark Russell's cross.
The win moves Jim Duffy's men within five points of Dundee United - who sit second - with a game in hand.
Raith Rovers were the last side to beat Morton in Greenock in March last year, but there was never any danger of that result being repeated on this occasion.
It was a game of few real chances in the first half and while the visitors did most of the pressing, it was the home side who took the lead on 27 minutes with a somewhat fortunate seventh goal of the season for Forbes.
Always dangerous cutting in from the right with his left foot, the winger's cross-cum-shot missed its intended target of Shankland, deceived Raith goalkeeper Kevin Cuthbert and nestled in the corner of the net.
Bobby Barr had the visitors best chance of the half, but his angled shot was well saved by Morton keeper Derek Gaston right on the interval.
Raith started the second half on the front foot and Morton's Russell had to clear off the line before keeper Gaston produced two decent saves to stop good efforts from Ross Callachan and Ryan Hardie.
But it was the home side who stretched their lead on 67 minutes when Russell's deep cross from the left was met by Shankland to head a debut goal for Duffy's side following his move from St Mirren earlier in the week.
Morton manager Jim Duffy: "We played well today; it was a tough match as they all are in this division. But it's only January and at this point the players are enjoying their football and we are winning matches, but we are looking up the way rather than down.
"Shankland is a terrific move for us and his goal today has added to our game. Overall I thought all the players did well. This is a club which works hard and even last season we had a terrific season and we are just carrying that on.
"The target is to get as many points as you can and if we are still in the mix later in the season let's see what happens and where we can go."
Raith Rovers manager Gary Locke: "I am obviously disappointed with the result, but though we had dominated for large spells of the game, but just did not take our chances.
"We have obviously been on a poor run, but again it just shows you how tight the league is."
Match ends, Morton 2, Raith Rovers 0.
Second Half ends, Morton 2, Raith Rovers 0.
Substitution, Morton. Ricki Lamie replaces Lawrence Shankland.
Attempt missed. Ross Forbes (Morton) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left.
Jamie Lindsay (Morton) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Substitution, Morton. Michael Tidser replaces Aidan Nesbitt.
Scott Roberts (Raith Rovers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Mark Russell (Morton) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Scott Roberts (Raith Rovers).
Attempt missed. Jordan Thompson (Raith Rovers) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left.
Ross Forbes (Morton) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Ross Callachan (Raith Rovers).
Corner, Raith Rovers. Conceded by Jamie Lindsay.
Attempt blocked. Ross Callachan (Raith Rovers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt saved. Jean-Yves Mvoto (Raith Rovers) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner.
Corner, Raith Rovers. Conceded by Derek Gaston.
Attempt saved. Mark Stewart (Raith Rovers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner.
Foul by Lee Kilday (Morton).
Kyle Benedictus (Raith Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Iain Davidson (Raith Rovers) is shown the yellow card.
Corner, Morton. Conceded by Jean-Yves Mvoto.
Foul by Lawrence Shankland (Morton).
Kevin McHattie (Raith Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt blocked. Scott Roberts (Raith Rovers) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Bobby Barr (Raith Rovers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Substitution, Raith Rovers. Scott Roberts replaces Ryan Stevenson.
Substitution, Raith Rovers. Declan McManus replaces Ryan Hardie.
Michael Doyle (Morton) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Kevin McHattie (Raith Rovers).
Foul by Aidan Nesbitt (Morton).
Ryan Stevenson (Raith Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Gary Oliver (Morton).
Kevin McHattie (Raith Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Gary Oliver (Morton) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high.
Foul by Jamie Lindsay (Morton).
Ryan Stevenson (Raith Rovers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Gary Oliver (Morton).
Iain Davidson (Raith Rovers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Goal! Morton 2, Raith Rovers 0. Lawrence Shankland (Morton) header from very close range to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Mark Russell.
Substitution, Raith Rovers. Mark Stewart replaces Chris Johnston. | Greenock Morton climbed within five points of second place in the Scottish Championship with victory over Raith Rovers. | 38539505 |
Surrey's Police and Crime Commissioner, Kevin Hurley, posted on his Facebook page he was angry the "criminal has destroyed the confidence of a family".
He said the knifeman was about to be released from prison just months after stabbing his neighbour in Tandridge.
"I felt the pain of that family and I wanted to protect them. Of course I can't do that, it's against the law."
Mr Hurley, who is standing for re-election as an independent in this year's elections for Police and Crime Commissioners, said he was expressing his "sense of frustration and powerlessness" at the way in which "the criminal justice system is failing people".
"I'm here to speak out for the Surrey public and I will do so," he told BBC Surrey.
His Conservative rival David Munro condemned the comments as vile, and accused Mr Hurley of encouraging people to break the law.
"As a senior law and order officer in the county, why say it? I think it's grossly irresponsible.
"We've got a justice system, it's a good justice system, with all its flaws, in this country and we should obey it," Mr Munro said.
He added that Mr Hurley's Facebook post was "deliberate, childish, and irresponsible".
Mr Hurley said he had no regrets, and the post had attracted "thousands of likes, [and] hundreds of people are commenting online about how at last someone is speaking out for victims". | A police chief who wanted to "batter and break the legs" of a man convicted of a stabbing has defended his remarks. | 35793654 |
Here is a full list of candidates running, in seven District Electoral Areas (DEAs), for 41 seats on Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon. | Elections for Northern Ireland's 11 new councils will be held on 22 May 2014. | 27350994 |
"They know where my office is," he told BBC Shropshire. "But, even if they've been really good, nobody has done enough yet to warrant another deal.
"If I give answers they want, great. If I can't, they must keep working hard.
"We can at least have a chat. But it's about the group, not individuals."
Since coming in on 24 October, Hurst has already offloaded Antoni Sarcevic, and opted not to extend the loans of George Waring, Ivan Toney and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.
Having led his team out of the bottom four for the first time in three months, the former Grimsby Town boss knows the importance of staying together as a squad if they are to avoid the drop.
He has already made three signings, in defender Aristote Nsiala, winger Alex Rodman and striker Freddie Ladapo. But, while he continues to chase new faces, he has told his players, especially the ones whose contracts expire in June, that they have to prove to him why they should be kept on.
Goalkeeper Mark Halstead, defender Mat Sadler and midfielders Abu Ogogo, Shaun Whalley and Ian Black are all out of contract at the end of the season.
And, although Ogogo and Sadler are still regulars, Halstead is currently second-choice, while Whalley was relegated to the bench for the 1-1 draw at Swindon last weekend and Black did not figure. | Shrewsbury Town manager Paul Hurst has warned his players there could be as many departures as additions as he rebuilds his relegation-battling League One squad during the January window. | 38614551 |
The brilliant seven-year-old, trained by Nicky Henderson, cruised around the two-mile contest and left talented runner-up Sizing Europe trailing.
"Sprinter Sacre's win was unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it. The British people love a champion - and he's a champion."
Former Grand National-winning jockey Bob Champion
"It does make you speechless. Sprinter Sacre is scary. He has that aura about him and is totally and utterly unique."
Winning trainer Nicky Henderson on BBC Radio 5 live
"It was like Barry Geraghty pressed the accelerator on a sports car. It was one of the most wonderful things I have seen in sport."
BBC Radio 5 live pundit Kevin Day
"Kauto Star, Desert Orchid, Red Rum and Arkle all gained household-name status but specialised in longer distances, your 'sexier' Gold Cups, King Georges and Grand Nationals. Everyone, not just close-up fans and purists, needs to know news of such flamboyant brilliance: let's shout it from the proverbial rooftops."
BBC horse racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght
Sent off the 1-4 favourite, the handsome gelding - nicknamed The Black Aeroplane - was the shortest-priced Festival winner since Arkle won his third Gold Cup at odds of 1-10 in 1966.
A crowd of more than 50,000 was left smiling and shaking their heads by the dominant manner of his victory.
The magnitude of this triumph can be judged by the distance to Sizing Europe, twice a Festival winner - in the 2010 Arkle Chase and the Champion Chase a year later.
Winning jockey Barry Geraghty told BBC Radio 5 live: "He is an unbelievable horse. To beat Sizing Europe the way he did was a remarkable performance.
"He was keen early on but settled down. He's a class act. I think the 'Frankel of jump racing' is a fair way to describe him."
Henderson added: "That was probably the worst five minutes of my life. Hopefully Barry had fun, but I'm glad it's over.
"It does make you speechless. Sprinter Sacre is scary. He has that aura about him and is totally and utterly unique.
"He finds it ridiculously easy - he just loves doing it."
Sprinter Sacre skipped over the first fence as though it was a hurdle and happily negotiated the remaining obstacles with little fuss.
Sizing Europe, second to Finian's Rainbow in the race 12 months ago, went into the lead four fences from home but Geraghty was stalking him with quiet confidence.
At one stage it looked as though 2012 Arkle winner Sprinter Sacre might have a duel up the straight with his opponent, but he soon cruised into front and stretched his lead.
At last year's Festival, the crowd warmly applauded another chasing great when dual winner and five-time King George VI Chase victor Kauto Star was pulled up in what proved to be his final race.
The candle of illuminating jump racing has passed to Sprinter Sacre and he was given an appreciative ovation from punters at the Gloucestershire track.
Bookmakers rate him only an even-money chance to win the Champion Chase again in 2014 and 2015.
Sizing Europe's trainer Henry de Bromhead accepted his horse had been beaten by a "special one".
He said: "We have been beaten by a phenomenon. We had a go, but came off second best."
Meanwhile, Lord Windermere was quoted as a 25-1 chance for the 2014 Gold Cup as he scored a fine success in the RSA Chase, which is known as the Gold Cup for novice chasers.
Irish trainer Jim Culloty, who famously rode Best Mate to three successive Gold Cup wins from 2002 to 2004, choked back tears as another Cheltenham Festival victory sank in.
The day began much as it had panned out on Tuesday's opening day with champion Irish trainer Willie Mullins masterminding yet another victory, in the John Oaksey National Hunt Steeplechase for amateur riders.
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This time his son Patrick was in the saddle, as he brought favourite Back In Focus past leader Nina Carberry on Tofino Bay. It was a fourth victory at the 2013 Festival for the trainer.
Mullins also won the day's final race when Ruby Walsh rode Briar Hill (25-1) to victory in the Champion Bumper.
It was Mullins' fifth winner of the meeting and the fourth for Walsh at the halfway stage of the Festival.
And a jockey who looks set to have a future at the top teamed up with a potential 2014 Champion Hurdle contender in The New One to claim the Neptune Hurdle.
Sam Twiston-Davies was given a rousing reception in the winners' enclosure by fans who were cheered by a win for his father Nigel, who trains just 12 miles from the course at Naunton.
However, the trainer nearly missed his son's big moment. "My guts rebelled and I was in the loo for most of the race. Luckily I extricated myself for the final hurdle. I am a very proud dad - he would not have been happy had I missed the whole race!" said Nigel.
Flaxen Flare, ridden by Davy Condon, was a big-priced winner at 25-1 for Irish trainer Gordon Elliott in the Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, while trainer Alan King had a one-two with Medinas (33-1) and Meister Eckhart in the Coral Cup.
1. Sprinter Sacre; B J Geraghty 1-4 Fav
2. Sizing Europe; A E Lynch 6-1
3. Wishfull Thinking; R Johnson 25-1
4. Sanctuaire; R Walsh 20-1 | Steeplechasing star Sprinter Sacre thrilled the Cheltenham Festival with a sensational 19-length win in the Queen Mother Champion Chase. | 21764696 |
Fehily, 40, was unseated from the Nick Mitchell-trained Hinxworth in the handicap hurdle at 16:10 BST.
Racing was delayed by more than 30 minutes as medics attended to Fehily, who was taken to Derriford Hospital for precautionary X-rays on his back.
"He was talking, moving his arms and legs but they just want to be on the safe side," said Mitchell.
Irishman Fehily rode 122 winners last season.
His big-race victories include the 2012 Champion Hurdle with Rock on Ruby, and two King George VI Chase wins on Silviniaco Conti. | Jockey Noel Fehily was airlifted to hospital in Plymouth after a fall at Newton Abbot on Wednesday. | 36208918 |
Since the Mosul offensive started, hundreds of families from areas around the city have managed to flee. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says the camp has been receiving around 50 people daily, on average, with that number likely to rise.
The entrance of one of the main gates of Dibaga looks like an open market; people selling vegetables and fruit and a small bakery for fresh Iraqi bread.
A little further into the camp, is the aid distribution centre. Long, spiralling queues of men and women - some carrying their infants - have formed as people wait for hours to get aid.
"Newcomers," I'm told by one of the men lining up to collect mattresses, pillows and blankets for the tents that are now these people's homes.
The blankets will be crucial for the coming winter months.
Everyone is on edge. The aid is there but distribution is unorganised and it is not getting to people fast enough. The camp feels crammed.
One of the residents, Assad Hassan, tells me he fled his village near the city of Nimrud, south of Mosul, a day before the Iraqi government-led offensive against IS started.
He says he was too frightened to stay to see what the so-called Islamic State fighters might do when the Iraqi forces came in. Instead he decided to make the dangerous journey out of the city.
"It was a risk I had to take," he says.
"The road out of my village was mined. There were two cars ahead of ours and they were both blown up. I was extremely scared. I felt that I could be killed at any moment.
"I left with the women and children," he adds. "My sons left the next day. They had to swim across a river under heavy gunfire."
Asked where he sleeps now, he points to the carpet we're sitting on in the courtyard of the mosque in the camp.
The UN says about 5,000 people have been displaced so far by the fighting around Mosul and are in need of humanitarian assistance.
That is a fraction of the estimated one million people the UN is expecting to flee Mosul itself once the battle starts there.
It is a humanitarian crisis Iraq is not ready for, aid agencies have warned.
"Dibaga is already very crowded and we need to expand," Bruno Geddo, UNHCR chief for Iraq, says.
"We have the tents. We now need the land to put them on and provide people with the basics - a roof over their heads."
Dibaga is surrounded by plains, but Mr Geddo says the process of acquiring land to expand the camp had been extremely slow.
In a separate area of the camp, there's an unusual sound of celebration. People from Sabaweya village have just heard that it's been cleared of IS fighters and have broken into traditional song and dance, with one woman throwing sweets at the crowd.
Despite the good news, it'll be a while before any of these displaced people are able to go back to their hometowns.
IS fighters have been putting up fierce resistance, using different tactics to slow down, and on occasions, stop the Iraqi forces' advance towards Mosul.
"They killed men from the army in our village," 10-year-old Zaman says.
She comes from a village near Mosul, and has been in the camp for three months with her mother and sister.
"I saw them kill a man. I was very scared," she says.
"My dad is with the army and they threatened to kill him too. They said: 'You either join us or we'll kill you or take you to prison'.
"They took him. It's been three months now and I haven't seen him - my baby sister was born and he hasn't seen her."
In another camp in Irbil's mainly Christian Ankawa area, a makeshift bell tower with a cross on the top has been placed at the entrance.
Most of the residents there are from the town of Qaraqosh, which was recently stormed by the Iraqi forces.
It is the country's biggest Christian town and when IS attacked in 2014, all of its 50,000 residents fled.
Fadya Yousef says she and her family have been glued to the TV since the Mosul offensive started.
"We were very happy when we heard that the [Iraqi] fighters went into our town," she says.
"I just want to go back to my hometown... Even if I live in a tent there, I'll be happy."
Qaraqosh has been contested for days, but the latest reports suggest that the Iraqi forces are in control at the moment.
Fadiya's son, Youssef, is fighting on the front line with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
"Of course, I think about him," she says.
"But there are so many mothers like me with one or even two sons on the front line. I pray for their safety." | The Dibaga camp, an hour's drive south of Irbil, is home to nearly 30,000 people who have been displaced by so-called Islamic State fighting in northern Iraq. | 37747148 |
The burglary took place some time overnight on 28 November at Grange Avenue in Stockton.
Stolen presents included a Samsung Galaxy S4 tablet, children's tracksuits, three Jasper Conran dresses, electronic toys and a Makita still saw.
Cleveland Police believe some of the goods may already have been sold.
Homeowner Claire Hunter said she was devastated after discovering the theft.
She told BBC Tees: "I went downstairs and saw the paper opened, the mess.
"It was hurtful, stealing is one thing but from children at Christmas is another." | Burglars have broken into an outhouse, unwrapped Christmas presents and then stolen the most expensive gifts. | 34967216 |
The document, photographed in Downing Street, proposes expanding current grammars before opening new schools.
It then raises doubts whether plans for more selective school places would pass through the House of Lords.
A government spokeswoman said it would be "inappropriate to comment on internal government documents".
"The cat is out of the bag," said Labour's shadow education secretary Angela Rayner.
Liberal Democrat education spokesman John Pugh said: "It looks like a desperate plan to avoid parliamentary scrutiny and their inevitable defeat."
The document, being carried into 10, Downing Street, seems to have been written by Jonathan Slater, permanent secretary at the Department for Education.
It refers to Conservative plans to "open new grammars", although with the provision that they would have to "follow various conditions".
Analysis: Education correspondent Sean Coughlan
What does this document tell us? And does it suggest that as well as more grammars, there could be a new style of grammar, admitting pupils on more than test results.
There have been concerns that grammars have a disproportionately affluent intake - and these "conditions" might suggest that new grammars might have obligations to admit more poorer pupils.
There are also hints at a difference in emphasis within Conservative ranks - with the education secretary wanting to expand the current grammars before opening any new schools.
A long-running dispute in Kent was resolved this year when an existing grammar school was allowed to open another branch in another town, on the basis that this was the expansion of an existing school, rather than opening an entirely new school.
Education Secretary Justine Greening is described as wanting new grammars to be presented in the consultation document "as an option" and "only to be pursued once we have worked with existing grammars to show how they can be expanded and reformed".
But the note says: "I simply don't know what the PM [prime minister] thinks of this."
And it says: "I simply can't see any way of persuading the Lords to vote for selection on any other basis."
Before opening any more grammars, the government would have to change the law, which at present outlaws the creation of new grammar schools in England.
If the government thought that this would face too difficult a path through Parliament, existing grammar schools could open such "satellite" campuses on other sites.
There have been suggestions that new grammars could be opened as part of the free school programme, which could be adapted to allow selection by ability.
The prospect of a return to grammar schools has had some strong support among Conservative backbenchers.
They have argued that admission by ability is more likely to promote social mobility, providing an opportunity for bright, poor pupils who do not live in the catchment areas of good schools.
But Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw said this week that the idea that poor children would benefit from a return of grammar schools was "tosh" and "nonsense"
Sir Michael said a return to selection at 11 years old would be a "profoundly retrograde step".
Labour's Angela Rayner said: "Behind closed doors the Tories are planning a return to the bad old days of grammars, ignoring all the evidence which has told us time and again that they do not aid social mobility."
John Pugh, of the Liberal Democrats, said: "This lays bare the desperate lengths the Conservative party are willing to go to deliver grammar schools through the cloak of expansion.
"The government should be ashamed of themselves. If they think this is the right thing to do, they should bring it to Parliament and win the argument."
But Graham Brady, a leading Conservative backbencher and prominent supporter of grammar schools said: "Grammar schools are popular wherever they remain and opinion polls suggest that 75% of people in Britain want more of them.
"It must be good news that the government is looking at repealing a statutory ban new grammar schools.
"Why ban something that is proven to work and popular?"
Mr Brady said grammar schools should be available as "part of the mix where parents and communities want them".
Kevin Courtney, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "Theresa May said on the steps of Downing Street that she wanted 'a country that works for everyone'.
"Yet now we hear of proposals to take education back to the 1950s, when children were segregated at age 11 and their life chances determined by the type of school they attended.
"Opening new grammar schools would not only be a backward step but is also a complete distraction from the real problems facing schools and education. For every grammar school there are three or four 'secondary modern' schools."
A government spokeswoman said: "The prime minister has been clear that we need to build a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.
"We are looking at a range of options to allow more children to access a school that lets them rise as far as their talents will take them.
"Policies on education will be set out in due course, and it would be inappropriate to comment further on internal government documents." | Plans to open new grammar schools in England appear to have been accidentally caught by a photographer. | 37286475 |
The move follows tens of thousands of complaints about cold calling.
Currently, firms can only be punished if the Information Commissioner can prove a call caused "substantial damage or substantial distress".
But from 6 April, that legal requirement is to be removed.
More than 175,000 complaints were made to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) last year about nuisance calls and text messages.
The government says the number of complaints has risen in the past decade and the issue is particularly acute for the elderly and housebound as such calls can cause distress and anxiety.
In a speech earlier this month, Information Commissioner Christopher Graham described the current law as "a licence for spammers and scammers" and appealed for more powers.
Source: BBC Skillswise
The ICO can take action against companies who flout rules on direct marketing, and says it has issued penalties totalling £815,000 to nine firms since January 2012.
But it has been powerless to target other firms behind a large number of unsolicited calls or texts.
It had tried to argue that companies which make a large number of calls could breach the regulations because of the "cumulative effect" of their actions.
But a tribunal upheld an appeal against a £300,000 fine imposed on Manchester-based Tetrus Telecoms after ruling its high volume of text messages about PPI and accident claims did not meet the legal threshold of causing "substantial damage or substantial distress".
Following a six-week public consultation, that threshold is to be removed, according to digital economy minister Ed Vaizey.
He told BBC Breakfast: "At the moment if the Information Commissioner goes after a company, he's got to show the company has caused you - the consumer at home - serious distress, serious harm.
"It's a very high test to pass which is why there have only been nine prosecutions, which is why we want to lower that test."
He said it was "important to recognise" the UK has a "legitimate direct marketing industry... where businesses calling consumers can sometimes bring some benefit" and the ICO "wants after the cowboys".
It will now be up to the ICO to assess when a serious contravention has taken place.
Martin Shelley, a retired civil servant, said he started receiving cold calls when he moved to his home in the Scottish town of Tillicoultry in 2006.
But it was after he registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) – a list of people who have indicated they do not wish to receive sales and marketing calls – that the number of unwanted calls increased.
Mr Shelley, 63, said: "I'm of a generation that when the phone rang it was an important matter. That's something I have baked into my DNA and it's very hard not to have that kind of reaction.
"These calls are a complete intrusion."
But he said he felt compelled to answer because he had numerous friends and family he often receives calls from.
He gets between three and four cold calls each day, including on weekends.
"I'm in contact with people all the time. The phone is basically a friend but now, most of the time, it's not a friend but someone intruding in my life for no reason.
"I've already stated my preference. I would never in a million years buy something over the phone.
"If these companies make an excessive number of unsolicited calls they should be fined."
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said it was "committed" to dealing with the problem of nuisance calls, and it was looking to introduce mandatory caller line identification so that all marketing callers would have to display their telephone numbers.
It also confirmed that it will look at introducing measures to hold board level executives responsible for nuisance calls and texts.
This follows a report last December from a task force looking at the problem, which called for a review of the rules in order to act as a stronger deterrent to rogue companies.
Shadow minister Chris Bryant said Labour had been calling on the government to act for "years" and welcomed its "belated acceptance of our calls for stronger powers to tackle cold-calling".
The executive director of the consumer organisation Which?, Richard Lloyd, who chaired the task force, welcomed the announcement, saying the calls were "an everyday menace blighting the lives of millions".
But he told BBC's Radio 4 Today programme that telecoms companies also need to "do more to cut off these calls at source".
Organisations make automated calls to generate "leads", which they then sell on to firms who offer the service provided in the message.
In the case of personal injury claims, the leads would essentially be a list of people interested in claiming compensation for a personal injury.
This list is then sold on to a firm which manages personal injury claims. It will contact the people on the list and offer them its services in dealing with possible claims.
Companies or organisations making automated marketing calls are legally meant to have the permission of the person they are calling before they call.
Source: Ofcom
Mr Lloyd said: "Eight out of 10 people have told us they have had an unwanted call or text over the last month, a third of people have said they have been caused distress and they have been feeling intimidated by these calls, so this is a massive problem and we have to get a grip on it.
"If we get the regulators, the government and the telecoms companies working together on this we think we could start seeing a rapid decline in calls but that's going to take a while."
But the Fair Telecoms Campaign, which contributed to the consultation, said the announcement was only a "tiny step in the right direction".
David Hickson, from the campaign, said "using the limited capacities of the ICO and Ofcom can never succeed now that the problem has been allowed to grow to its present scale". | Imposing fines of up to £500,000 on the companies behind cold calls and nuisance text messages is to become easier under changes to the law being made by the government. | 31616523 |
The four pictures show the princess being cradled by her elder sibling as they sit on a cream couch at Anmer Hall in Norfolk, their family home with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The pictures were taken by Catherine just weeks after Princess Charlotte was born on 2 May.
In an earlier tweet, Kensington Palace said the images were "very special".
In each of the pictures, Charlotte is lying on her brother's lap, wearing white. The prince is wearing a white shirt, blue shorts and blue socks.
In one, he appears to be kissing his sister on the forehead.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children have been at Anmer Hall since leaving London shortly after the birth of the princess.
Prince William and Catherine are expected to be based there for the next few years as they raise Princess Charlotte and Prince George, who is almost two, with the help of a full-time nanny.
Photography is listed as one of the duchess's hobbies in her biography on the royal website. The pictures were taken on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera.
The first official images of Prince George, released in 2013, were taken by the duchess's father, Michael Middleton, in the garden of their home in Bucklebury, Berkshire.
Commentary: BBC Royal Correspondent Peter Hunt
The photographs provide a rare glimpse of, as things stand, the future of the British monarchy.
Such glimpses will remain reasonably rare as these royal children grow up.
They'll next be captured together when Princess Charlotte is christened in July.
In all of these four images the baby princess - just a few weeks old at the time the photos were taken by her mother - is in the arms of her brother, Prince George.
As the toddler destined to be king continues to adjust to having a new addition to his family, his parents will hope the 22-month-old and the one-month-old will forge a bond as strong as the one enjoyed by Princes William and Harry.
Harry has spoken of how they understand each other and give each other support.
His older brother told someone recently that George was very lively and Charlotte had given her parents a "few sleepless nights".
Read more from Peter on his correspondent page
On Friday, it was announced Princess Charlotte will be christened on 5 July.
The christening will take place at St Mary Magdalene Church at the Queen's Sandringham estate.
Princess Charlotte was born on 2 May at London's St Mary's Hospital, weighing 8lbs 3oz (3.7kg).
The fourth in line to the throne, her full name has been registered as Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge. | A series of photos of Prince George and his sister Princess Charlotte have been released by Kensington Palace. | 33035006 |
Eight seasons later, Leicester are Premier League champions, Bolton have been relegated to League One and Portsmouth are are in the League Two play-offs after three relegations in five years.
As for Burton, they have been promoted to the second tier for the first time in their history.
Moving up to the Championship completes "a fantastic journey for a little club", according to chairman Ben Robinson, who first appointed manager Nigel Clough as Brewers boss 17 years ago.
BBC Sport looks at just how dramatically the football landscape has changed since Burton were fighting to gain Football League status in 2008.
BBC Radio Derby's Owen Bradley: "Burton Albion announced themselves to the football world with their FA Cup third-round exploits against Manchester United in January 2006.
"The following season, the Brewers were still revving their engine ahead of the remarkable run up the Football League ladder. Trips to glamorous venues including Droylsden, Farsley Celtic and Ebbsfleet's Stonebridge Road remained the norm until promotion in 2009.
"Stuttering over the line to the Conference title betrayed little about what was to come. Paul Peschisolido consolidated - and shocked Middlesbrough in the FA Cup - before Gary Rowett took the reins and Burton's star started to shine.
"His first season in charge led to defeat in the play-off semi-finals; his second, a heartbreaking loss to Fleetwood at Wembley.
"The Brewers haven't looked back since that day. Rowett laid further foundations for promotion before Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink finished the job. In turn, the former Chelsea striker set things up for Nigel Clough - the man who started it all - to return and guide Burton to the Championship for the first time.
"From Histon to Hillsborough, from Northwich Victoria to Villa Park. It has been quite a journey."
Media playback is not supported on this device
Clough said the supporters who spilled onto the pitch in Doncaster on Sunday to celebrate promotion exemplified Burton's journey from non-league minnows to a club preparing to join a league that includes two former European champions - Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.
"Too see the sea of yellow and black is incredible - we used to get 400 or 500 in the Southern League, now there are thousands out there celebrating - it's absolutely remarkable," Clough continued.
"To come from where we have come from in that time is incredible in football terms."
Their rise up the football ladder has been as remarkable as Leicester City's astonishing transformation from a side relegated to the third tier eight years ago, to champions of England for the first time in their 132-year history.
The glamorous European ties the Foxes now get to look forward to are just a thing of the past for Bolton, a club that eight seasons ago beat Atletico Madrid in the Uefa Cup.
As the Trotters prepare for life in League One, Atletico are preparing for the second all-Madrid Champions League final against Real.
While Bolton's drop down the leagues has been overshadowed somewhat by their financial troubles off the field, culminating with the sale of the club two months ago, their struggles pale in comparison to Portsmouth - FA Cup winners in 2008 who have twice been in administration since then. | Leicester City were relegated to League One, Bolton Wanderers shone in Europe and Portsmouth won the FA Cup - the season was 2007-08 and Burton Albion were just a footnote in English football as losing Conference play-off semi-finalists. | 36194852 |
Damour put the Bluebirds ahead with a powerful 20-yard drive, before Ben Watson's penalty brought the hosts level at the break.
Cardiff reclaimed the lead with Damour's second and Kenneth Zohore headed in the Bluebirds' third.
Neil Warnock's side face Plymouth at Home Park on Friday. | New signing Loic Damour scored two goals for Cardiff City in their 3-1 pre-season friendly win at non-league Bodmin Town in Cornwall. | 40660413 |
As the Dons released their annual accounts, it was revealed their net debt of £14.49m will be cleared if the restructuring plans are approved.
Willie Donald and his wife Elaine, who own the Stonehaven-based engineering company WM Donald, will become shareholders in the club.
The Pittodrie outfit hope to see the plans given the go-ahead at next month's AGM.
Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne told BBC Scotland earlier this year that he remained optimistic that the club could soon be in a "debt-free position," as they target new training facilities and a new stadium.
In the annual club accounts, Aberdeen revealed turnover rose from £7.85m to £11.158m last season with wages increasing from £5.256m to £6.084m. The club say the wages increase is a result of higher bonus payments.
Milne told the club website: "The period covered in this report has seen a significant change in the fortunes at Aberdeen given the team's success in lifting the League Cup."
It was also confirmed that if restructuring plans are approved, Aberdeen FC Community Trust will also receive a "sizeable shareholding".
On the restructuring plans, Milne said: "The negotiations have been ongoing for a number of months now and these arrangements will, I believe, be transformational for the club.
"The club are indebted to Willie and Elaine for the role they have played in this. If the final steps are approved at the AGM we will have a strong balance sheet and the debt servicing burden will be removed, allowing us to drive forward on training facilities and the plans for the new stadium with much greater confidence in our ability to raise the additional investment needed."
Willie Donald said: "Our family recognises that we have been fortunate to have grown our business in a city and region that has benefitted from the impact of the energy sector over the last 37 years.
"We decided some time ago that we wished to give something back to the community, we see the football club as a vital and central part of the community, and indeed the whole North East of Scotland and see this investment as an excellent opportunity to deliver our objective."
As part of the restructuring plan, the net debt of the club will reduce by £14.49m and its share capital and reserves will rise by the same amount. Debt of £4.42m owed to the Stewart Milne Group will be converted to equity. SMG shareholding in the club will rise to around 43% but only up to 29.9% of this would be voting rights.
Aberdeen Asset Management will convert their remaining debt to equity and Willie and Elaine Donald will end up with a shareholding of around 20%. | Aberdeen have agreed an investment deal that will wipe out the club's debts. | 30016970 |
Selma star Oyelowo said: "This institution doesn't reflect its president," referring to African-American Cheryl Boone Isaacs.
"I am an Academy member and it doesn't reflect me. It doesn't reflect this nation."
Cheadle joked about being allowed to park cars at the Oscars on Twitter.
Rock, who is hosting this year's Oscars, took to Twitter last week to joking call the event "the White BET (Black Entertainment Television) Awards".
No black or minority actors have been nominated in the four acting categories for this year's Academy Awards.
Academy president Boone Isaacs has announced she is taking action to "alter the make-up" of their membership, after director Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith's refusal to attend because of the mostly white nominees.
Boone Isaacs praised the "wonderful work" of the nominees but said she was "heartbroken" at the lack of diversity.
Lee said on Instagram he "cannot support" the "lily white" awards show.
Jada Pinkett Smith said in a video message on Facebook that she would not be attending the awards ceremony.
Oyelowo also made the point that two of the top films at the North American box office this week are led by black actors.
"We have a situation whereby currently the biggest movie in the world and of all time (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) is led by a black man. That film was knocked off the top spot this weekend by a film led by two black men, Ride Along 2. The biggest TV show on the planet is led by black people, Empire."
Others who have commented include Will Packer, producer of Straight Outta Compton, who posted a long message on Facebook.
He wrote: "To my Academy colleagues, WE HAVE TO DO BETTER. Period. The reason the rest of the world looks at us like we have no clue is because in 2016 it's a complete embarrassment to say that the heights of cinematic achievement have only been reached by white people. I repeat - it's embarrassing. It's unfair to the performers of colour who sacrificed so much, laid it all on the line AND DELIVERED with their projects this year."
At the weekend, Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr told Variety: "You want it (the Oscars) to be diverse. You want the work to show. I wanted Straight Outta Compton to get something. But, you know, it's this conversation that makes people think harder when the nominations come around for next year."
But John Singleton, who became the first African-American nominated for the best director Academy Award for Boyz n the Hood in 1992, said he wasn't disappointed.
Singleton told Variety: "It's like every year people complain. People even complain even when we have a lot of nominations. It is what it is. I've been in the game for 25 years. You never know - it's the luck of the draw for you. To me, I'm not surprised. I'm not disappointed either, as much as other people are disappointed."
Boone Isaacs added that "dramatic steps" were being taken, saying: "In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond."
The 6,300 members, made up of people from the film industry, vote on who is nominated for the Oscars each year.
"This is a difficult but important conversation, and it's time for big changes," she said.
"As many of you know, we have implemented changes to diversify our membership in the last four years. but the change is not coming as fast as we would like. We need to do more, and better and more quickly."
She said such a move was not "unprecedented" for the Academy, and that in the 60s and 70s younger members were recruited and that today's mandate was about inclusion: "gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation".
However, this is the second year in a row there have been boycott calls, sparked by a list of nominees that is mostly white.
The profile of Oscar voters
In 2012, the LA Times conducted a study to find out how diverse the Academy membership is.
Reporters spoke to thousands of Academy members and their representatives to confirm the identities of more than 5,100 voters - more than 89% of the voting members.
They found that:
Read more.
Among those overlooked for this year's Oscar nominations were British actor Idris Elba for Beast of No Nation, the NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton for best picture and Pinkett Smith's husband Will Smith, for best actor in NFL film Concussion.
Pinkett Smith said: "Begging for acknowledgement, or even asking, diminishes dignity and diminishes power. And we are a dignified people and we are powerful."
She and Lee made their announcement on Martin Luther King Jr Day, a national holiday in the US to remember the civil rights leader.
"Forty white actors in two years and no flava at all," said Lee. "We can't act?!"
Hollywood trade paper The Wrap spoke anonymously to some Academy members, many of whom applauded Isaacs' comments.
"They're not embarrassed today," one Academy member and former governor said.
"They're disgusted."
Another member said: "The problem is not the nominations. It's the make-up of the Academy, and more than that, the make-up of Hollywood."
Another said: "The irony is, if Hollywood is not open to diversity, then we're in real trouble as a country, because Hollywood is supposed to be liberal and open."
But others were sceptical: "Any way you slice it, it's a knee-jerk reaction," one member told The Wrap.
Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme on Tuesday, Doctor Who actor Colin McFarlane, said of Lee's decision to not attend the Oscars: "You've got to be at the party to change the conversation but I completely understand the frustration - black actors are being written out of history.
"The game is changing and I think it needs to change on both sides of the Atlantic - the Baftas and the Oscars - and there should be more women.
"(Black) kids need to see themselves on TV and in the movies." | David Oyelowo and Don Cheadle have joined the growing number of stars who have spoken out against the Oscars for its lack of diversity. | 35352218 |
The 29-year-old Serb beat Austrian Thiem 6-1 6-0 in 59 minutes.
Djokovic will meet Alexander Zverev, 20, in Sunday's final after the German beat John Isner 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-1.
Meanwhile, French Open champion Garbine Muguruza retired from her semi-final against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina with a neck injury.
Svitolina will face Simona Halep in the women's final on Sunday after the Romanian beat Kiki Bertens.
It was a second appearance of the day for Djokovic, having earlier beaten Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 6-1 6-4 in a rain-affected match carried over from Friday.
There was little sign of fatigue as the men's French Open champion looked back to his best, serving well and hitting ruthless ground strokes as he raced away with the first set against 23-year-old Thiem.
Thiem, who knocked out Rafael Nadal on Friday, struggled to find any rhythm in the second set as Djokovic broke his opponent's serve three more times to see out a convincing win.
Zverev, currently ranked 17 in the world, dominated the first set against Isner, 32, winning it in just under half an hour.
Isner levelled the match after a second-set tie-break, but Zverev resumed control, comfortably winning the deciding set.
He guarantees himself a world ranking of 14 but, should he upset Djokovic in the final, he will move into the world's top 10.
At 20 years and one month, Zverev becomes the youngest Masters finalist since Djokovic himself won the 2007 Miami Open.
Halep, 25, booked her place in the final with a 7-5 6-1 win over 25-year-old Dutchwoman Bertens.
After a hard-fought first set, Halep won the second more convincingly to complete the victory in one hour and 17 minutes.
Svitolina, 22, advanced after Muguruza called the trainer 22 minutes into the match.
Muguruza, who upset Serena Williams to win the French Open last year, will be hoping to recover in time to defend her title at Roland Garros with the second Grand Slam of the year beginning on 28 May. | World number two Novak Djokovic is through to the Italian Open final after losing just one game against Dominic Thiem in Rome. | 39986705 |
When a care home resident needs to go into a hospital, a red bag is packed for them.
It contains their details, vital information about their health conditions, supplies of medicine, and a change of clothes for when they are ready to be discharged.
"You would not believe how many people face delays simply because clothes can't be found for them," says Mary Hopper, a senior NHS manager in Sutton. "You have staff going to lost property trying to find them something to fit."
The initiative also sees a member of the care home staff visiting the patient in hospital within 48 hours of admission.
And this all helps doctors and nurses treat them more effectively.
The result is older people are spending less time in hospital - eight days, which is four fewer than before the scheme was set up.
That is good for the individual and good for the health service.
But the red bag scheme is just one of the ways the NHS and care homes are working together.
GPs have also been employed to carry out regular visits of care homes, with each resident now receiving six-monthly check-ups.
A pharmacist is on hand to visit homes to carry out medicine reviews.
And district nurses have been used to train care home staff in dementia, falls and diabetes.
It certainly seems to be working.
Since the project started a year ago, there has been a 10% drop in visits to A&E.
Those running care homes are, unsurprisingly, full of praise.
Patricia Fyfe, the manager of St Jude's care home, says it has been really "eye-opening" to see what can be achieved through collaboration.
Sutton is not the only area where the NHS is forging closer links with care homes.
It is one of six "vanguard" areas in England given funding to explore new ways of working.
This has been done in recognition of the fact that the NHS has - in the words of Ms Hopper - turned its back on the care sector.
She says the closure of many long-stay hospitals 20 years ago means the responsibility for caring for sick older people has increasingly fallen on the care sector - with little input from the NHS.
The sentiment is one the care sector wholeheartedly shares.
Prof Martin Green, of Care England, which represents providers, says there is no reason why residents in care homes should get an "inferior" service to the one someone in their own home would get.
But all the evidence suggests they do.
The Care Quality Commission looked at the issue a few years ago and found most of the 81 care homes it asked did not receive regular visits from GPs.
The result has been that care home managers have had to pay GPs retainers to ensure they visit - with reports that some are as high as £20,000 a year.
So what is the solution?
If the experience of Sutton - and the other places doing good work in this area - is anything to go by, it is forging a shared approach.
Ever since the separate systems of social care and health care were created after World War Two, they have been treated as distinct services - one run by councils at a local level, the other organised centrally by government.
But, increasingly, as the population ages, that is looking out of date.
The government has set up a shared pot - called the Better Care Fund - to encourage local government and the NHS to work together.
The fund is worth just over £5bn this year - but that is less than 5% of the combined health and care budgets, which is why some people want the government to go even further and merge the two sectors completely.
Such a radical move is probably some way off yet, if it is to happen at all, but what is certain is that the futures of the two sectors are inextricably linked.
Read more from Nick
Follow Nick on Twitter | Like many good ideas, the way the NHS and care sectors in the London borough of Sutton are working together more closely is a relatively simple concept. | 36533946 |
Pool ladders may not be an option for everybody - perhaps because of a disability, medical condition or injury.
Make Your Move has spoken to a number of people who use other methods for accessing the pool.
Margaret Findlay, 78, said she prefers to use steps or a gradual slope into the water.
"I'd be afraid of using pool ladders because I can't swim," she said.
She takes part in an aqua-aerobics class at the Port Glasgow Swimming Pool with her friend Betty McKelvie.
"I like the atmosphere and it keeps me active," Margaret added.
"At one point I wouldn't leave the side of the pool."
Betty, who grew up near the River Clyde, added: "She's getting more adventurous now - it makes you push forward.
"My mother used to say don't go near the water so I never learnt to swim, but I made sure my three boys could swim.
"I just come into the water to have some fun and to meet people," added the 84 year old.
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Kellyanne Deveaney, 35, uses a hoist to access the pool during her swim sessions with a carer from the social care charity, Quarriers.
"It's not as easy as you think," she said, "but I've got used to it.
"My swimming is really important.
"It feels dead weird getting out of your chair - you're in a different position."
Goz Ugochuckwu said the thought of having to use a hoist sometimes put her off going swimming.
"It's just really embarrassing and I just don't like it," she said.
"I can't get from the floor to the wheelchair, so I have to use a hoist to get out the pool.
"It can take a long time to find someone to operate it, and everyone is looking at you."
However, despite the "rigmarole" of getting into the pool she said it was worth it.
"I do really enjoy swimming - it's the freedom that you get.
"Being in a wheelchair, it just gives you that utter feeling that you can move every part of your body.
"It's one of the easiest forms of exercise and doesn't involve anyone else - apart from getting into the pool!"
"It's been a wonderful thing," according to Evelyn Eunson, "The first time you use it you feel a bit embarrassed but now I don't even think about it."
The 'Poolpod' was the result of a design competition led by the Olympic Delivery Authority ahead of the London 2012 Games to improve disabled pool access.
About 55 pools across the UK now have this type of submersible lift, with about another 30 due for installation this year.
Evelyn, 61, said: "It has made ever such a difference because I wouldn't have been able to go up and down the steps with my sciatica.
"Both legs were troubling me - I probably wouldn't be able to go to the 'wellness sessions'.
"This means I can continue going."
Evelyn chooses to stand on the lift to enter the water, but it can also be used with the accompanying submersible wheelchair.
"My daughter used it with the wheelchair after she damaged her Achilles," she said.
"She came in on her crutches, then went on the wheelchair to get to the poolside and get lowered into the water.
"The Poolpod is very accessible. It's there all the time, and it doesn't have to be taken out for you.
"When the pool attendants see me coming they get it ready - I don't even have to ask now, it's lovely."
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Make Your Move is hosting a live Facebook Q&A with Rebecca Adlington, Mark Foster and Dr Victoria King to discuss anything and everything to do with getting started at the pool.
You can join the conversation now and send in your questions using #MakeYourMove on Twitter. You can also email makeyourmove@bbc.co.uk.
Watch and take part in the Q&A at 11:30 GMT on Thursday, 19 May on the BBC Get Inspired Facebook page. | Would you like to go swimming but have concerns about getting in and out of the pool? | 36128604 |
A three-month operation led to the arrests in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong province. Police said triad gangs were increasingly expanding into mainland China.
The crimes involved include drug dealing, gambling and prostitution.
Triads are transnational crime groups, often based in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, but operating globally.
"The message we want to send out to the public is that police have zero tolerance for organised crimes and any other illegal activities," Au Chin-chau, chief superintendent of Hong Kong police's Organised Crime and Triad Bureau told journalists.
Illegal loans were also found to be a new source of income for the gangs, he said.
Reports said 4,343 people, 1,177 of them from mainland China, were arrested by police in Hong Kong, where more than 7,500 properties were searched.
In Hong Kong, police seized $102m Hong Kong dollars ($13m; £8.5m) in cash, along with drugs, pirated DVDs, weapons and contraband cigarettes worth HK$67m.
In neighbouring Guangdong province, more than 11,000 suspects were arrested. And in Macau, almost 4,000 people were picked up by police.
The crime-sweep, part of a regular operation codenamed Thunderbolt 15, was reportedly the longest joint operation of its kind, and a model for increasing cross-border police cooperation in the future, state media said. | Nineteen thousand suspects have been arrested in a drive against organised-crime in China, state media said. | 34344595 |
Tim Sexton, from the Attenborough Nature Reserve, has recorded 203 species since January, 33 of which have never been found at the site before.
The park, established in 1966 from gravel extraction pits, has attracted rare birds including the bittern.
Mr Sexton said the challenge means looking for the least "sexy" organisms.
About 2,650 species have been recorded at the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust reserve over the past 50 years, including many waterfowl, invertebrates, mammals like badgers, bats, and foxes.
However, these surveys were performed by hundreds of experts which makes the challenge for one person, in just one year, all the more difficult.
"It felt like a good idea at the time," Mr Sexton said.
"[But] ultimately, I'm hoping to record far beyond that total [of 1,000].
"One thing that has always fascinated me is that on a site as well studied as Attenborough, you can still make new discoveries."
The wildlife expert said he has spent a lot of time surveying invertebrates under log piles and has found 11 new species of millipede and centipede for the reserve.
"They are not as sexy as butterflies and dragonflies but they have historically been overlooked," he said.
However, with creatures so small it has been a challenge to identify them.
"You need to look a little closer and you can only be 100% of the identification by looking at the genitalia, not much bigger than a speck of dust."
Mr Sexton said only one person has attempted the challenge solely before, recording 755 organisms, in 2011.
He is hoping to go much further than that number by the end of 2015. | A wildlife expert is attempting to identify more than 1,000 organisms at a nature reserve in Nottinghamshire over the course of a year. | 31415137 |
Ex-Det Con Michael McMillan, 32, contacted women "who looked to him for support" at Merseyside Police's Family Crime Investigation Unit.
Appearing at Liverpool Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to seven counts of misconduct in public office.
McMillan, from Crosby, was dismissed from the force in February.
He sent hundreds of texts to domestic abuse victims and convinced two of them to have sex with him, the Liverpool Echo reported.
The newspaper said he was caught when his phone was examined and a vast amount of sexual texts and images were found from between June 2011 and June 2014.
Ch Supt Karen Cummings said: "He manipulated women who looked to him for professional support, for his own sexual gratification and his behaviour is despicable and unforgivable.
"Sadly, the actions of Michael McMillan have the propensity to seriously undermine the good work of the majority."
An investigation was carried out by Merseyside Police and managed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. | A former detective who "manipulated" domestic abuse victims for "his own sexual gratification" has been jailed for four years. | 36014973 |
Aneurin Donald and Andrew Salter are the Welsh players left, after injuries to David Lloyd and Kiran Carlson.
"Our long-term ambition is that we want to get as many local players in the team as we possibly can," said Morris.
"But they have got to be good enough to warrant a place in the side."
Owen Morgan and Connor Brown have been included in match-day squads in the T20 Blast, without making the final 11.
Six South African-born players, including new signing David Miller, two born in Australia and one Englishman featured in the win over Gloucestershire in Bristol, which took Glamorgan to the top of the Southern Group ahead of Surrey on run-rate.
Chris Cooke and Craig Meschede, born in Johannesburg, are now qualified for England.
"It's got to be a balance. We're in a professional sport and we have to be competitive," said Morris ahead of Glamorgan's home game against Surrey on Friday, 28 July.
"You look at some of the opponents, and the make-up of their side is not too different to ours.
"We're excited by some of the talent we have, in red-ball (Championship) cricket particularly, Kiran Carlson, David Lloyd, Aneurin Donald, Owen Morgan, Andrew Salter and Lukas Carey this season have played for us as young men.. and in two or three years time, given their experience, we're going to have a strong nucleus of Welshmen."
Glamorgan have suffered from having three home games rained off in succession at their Cardiff headquarters.
"Top of the table, we can't do much better than that and that's despite having three games rained off and that's been incredibly frustrating for all of us," Morris told BBC Wales Sport.
But despite another poor weather forecast for the Surrey match, the former ECB chief executive hopes that 2017 will still turn a profit thanks to five international matches at the SSE Swalec Stadium.
"We were really pleased with our international programme," Morris added.
"We set some ambitious budget targets and we're very close to those targets which is a great credit to the staff."
All-rounder Graham Wagg, 34, is in talks with Glamorgan over a new contract after getting to the milestone of 100 wickets in the T20 Blast, a figure reached by former team-mate Dean Cosker in 2016.
"It's a nice achievement, I didn't actually know but my father texted me, so unfortunately I'm going to have to buy a round," joked Wagg.
"[Cosker] messaged me to say congratulations on the way home from Gloucestershire. He got 100 just for Glamorgan but hopefully there's plenty more in the tank for me.
"Watching [Durham's] Paul Collingwood and [Kent's] Darren Stevens playing at 41, I've only just turned 34 so I think there's a lot left for me and I feel I'm still in my prime." | Glamorgan chief executive Hugh Morris says the county is still aiming to increase the number of Welsh players in the side - despite being down to two in the current successful T20 Blast side. | 40742098 |
Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful found 6% of sites surveyed had a problem last year, compared to 12% the previous year.
The worst-affected area was the council area of Mid and East Antrim, while Fermanagh had the lowest incidence.
Across Northern Ireland, 15% of streets failed to meet the accepted standard for litter - up 3% from previous year.
Belfast City Council has the worst litter record, while Mid Ulster, Newry and Mourne and Antrim & Newtownabbey also had relatively high levels.
And while Mid and East Antrim has a problem with dog fouling, it has one of the best records for litter.
In its survey, which first began in 2008, the charity found that 2016-17 had seen a record £43m spent on cleaning the streets.
The past year also brought the highest percentage of spaces - 5% - with no litter, not even a single cigarette butt.
Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful chief executive, Dr Ian Humphreys, said: "With over a third of the public admitting to littering we still have some way to go and so if we want a better place to live we all have to do our bit and get involved."
He said the statistics showed that having a bin in sight in an area made no difference to how much litter ended up on the ground.
"This suggests that for many people bins are either deemed irrelevant or invisible," he added.
"We need to change people's mind-set so that they look for and use a bin, or take their rubbish home." | Dog fouling is at its lowest rate since records began almost a decade ago, an environmental charity report has found. | 39571945 |
A woman was beaten up - this is the price Angolans pay for dissent.
Mr Marques might pay a far higher price for criticising seven army generals, whom he has accused of complicity in killings, torture and corruption in Angola's diamond fields.
They, in turn, have accused him of criminal defamation and are suing him for $1.2m (£800,000).
If found guilty, Mr Marques could go to prison for nine years.
For the generals, $1.2m is peanuts. They are part of Angola's tiny elite, which revolves around the 72-year-old president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, and which has become rich on the country's oil and diamond wealth.
Since four decades of conflict ended in 2002, Angola's economy has skyrocketed, albeit from a low base.
According to the auditors Ernst and Young, it was the world's fastest growing economy from 2000-10.
But wealth and power have stayed largely in the hands of a very few families, who come closer that anything else I have seen on the continent to an African nobility.
The book that has landed Mr Marques in so much trouble, Blood Diamonds: Corruption and Torture in Angola, alleges the army and private security companies have been involved in burying miners alive, executing them en masse, and forcing them to leap to their deaths from speeding vehicles.
Mr Marques says the miners were made to jump off at intervals "so as to scatter the evidence of their deaths".
The generals deny these allegations.
Blood Diamonds shows how blurred the lines are between business, politics and violence.
It alleges members of the president's inner circle occupy several positions at once, serving simultaneously as top officials in the military, shareholders in diamond mining companies, and co-owners of the private security firms hired by the mining companies to secure the diamond fields.
The Angolan elite lives in a world almost entirely disconnected from the rest of the country's population of 20 million.
Its playground is the Ilha, a stretch of sand that curves out from Luanda, dotted with luxury villas, beachside restaurants and glitzy nightclubs.
The rich and the beautiful sip $60 cocktails, as gleaming Porsches purr past, the wrists of their drivers heavy with Rolex watches.
Prices are astronomical. It is as if they have been set deliberately high to enable people to show off just how wealthy they are.
Why else would supermarkets charge up to $100 for a watermelon, $200 for a chicken?
Looking out at Luanda from the Ilha, it is hard to believe this is the capital of a country that a little more than 10 years ago was fighting a vicious civil war.
Shiny white super-yachts luxuriate in the blue of the sea.
A swarm of new skyscrapers lines the horizon. One of the multi-million-dollar penthouse apartments has a helicopter landing pad.
It is here one starts to hear whispers of the name "Isabel": "This nightclub belongs to Isabel," "This is Isabel's restaurant," "That business is Isabel's, so is that one, that one, and that one."
Isabel is the eldest daughter of President Dos Santos.
Worth an estimated $3.4bn, she has been described by Forbes magazine as Africa's richest woman.
Meanwhile, an estimated 70% of Angola's population survives on less than $2 a day - 90% of Luanda's population lives in slums.
A great deal of energy is spent trying to remove the poor from the sight of Angola's hyper-rich. Their shacks are bulldozed regularly.
The Chinese have built for them a new satellite city called Zango, dozens of kilometres from Luanda.
Its multicoloured tower blocks rise up from the scrubland, as if it had been dropped from outer space.
It is the urban poor that most worries the Angolan elite.
The security forces have moved swiftly to crush a growing number of small anti-government protests.
I met slum-dweller Mbanza Hamza, who has chosen to stand up to the authorities.
He has a large dent in his skull to show for it.
"Men came in the night and beat me with clubs," he says. "They wore plain clothes but I know who sent them."
Money is the most effective tool for dealing with resistance. The government makes sure local beer stays cheap - it costs less than $1 a bottle.
It sponsors football clubs and pop concerts, and encourages churches; anything to distract the poor.
Free drinks and T-shirts were enough to make sure that, on the eve of an opposition protest, a huge "pro-government" march was held.
Third largest economy in Africa, with a GDP of $121bn in 2013.
China's principal trading partner in Africa, and the USA's second.
Classed as a "Low Human Development" country, coming 149/187 in the UN's Human Development Index for 2014.
Child and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world - about one child in five doesn't surviving to the age of five, maternal mortality is 610 per 100,000 live births (UNICEF).
Luanda: Most Expensive City in the World for Expatriates (Mercer Cost of Living Survey, 2014).
$32 billion went missing from Angola's oil accounts between 2007 and 2010 (IMF).
98% of bridges (more than 300), 80% of factories and schools, 60% of hospitals and most of roads destroyed in civil war (Economist Intelligence Unit).
63.7% of Angola's population is under 25 years old (Unicef).
Is Angola a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode?
The government can no longer use the war as an excuse not to do more about health, education and the redistribution of wealth.
It has brought in the Chinese to build roads and railways, but the population is starting to expect more than infrastructure and peace.
It is unlikely cases such as that of Mr Marques will lead to significant international pressure on Angola to do more about human rights and corruption.
During his 35 years in power, President Dos Santos has developed remarkable cunning in playing off one foreign power against the other, just like he does in domestic politics.
But the president is not immortal.
The question is whether his, as yet unappointed, successor will have the skills to keep money and power "in the family", while using fear and temptation to defuse the frustrations of the poor. | When a small group of supporters gathered outside the court where this week the Angolan journalist and human rights activist Rafael Marques went on trial, they were arrested. | 32067602 |
Polling stations opened at 07:00 and will remain open until 22:00 on Thursday. Counting will begin when polls close.
More than four million people are registered to vote in Scotland, almost 94% of the adult population.
The first results from the 59 Scottish constituencies will be declared during the early hours of Friday morning.
Strict rules mean the BBC - in common with other broadcasters - is not allowed to report details of campaigning until after the polls close.
There are more than 5,000 polling places in Scotland with schools, village halls and community centres transformed for the day to allow people to cast their votes.
Figures from the National Records of Scotland showed that by 2 March a total of 4.04 million people in Scotland had registered to vote.
Fine weather is forecast across the country, although voting experts say there is no evidence to suggest this will boost turnout.
The Electoral Commission in Scotland has urged people not to panic if they cannot find their polling cards, as they will still be able to vote if they are registered.
A spokeswoman said anyone who does not know the location of their polling station should contact their local electoral registration office.
BBC Scotland will be delivering extensive coverage of the election results across online, TV and radio.
It will report live from Scotland's 32 counting centres after polls close.
There will then be analysis, background, reaction and debate as we find out the results from each of Scotland's constituencies.
Headlines from a UK-wide exit poll will be projected onto the exterior of BBC Scotland's studios at Pacific Quay.
And the results of the ballot will also appear on the side of the building, which sits on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow. | Voting has begun in the UK general election, with 59 Scottish seats up for grabs. | 32612332 |
The coastguard in Benbecula said it was discovered at Baleshare on North Uist earlier on Thursday.
The coastguard said it was a Mirach 100/5. This type of drone is used by armed forces worldwide to train on weapons systems.
It was cordoned off before later being removed. The find comes just days after the finish of Nato's Exercise Joint Warrior.
Staged in April and October in and around Scotland, the UK-led training involves North American and European armies, navies and air forces.
The latest exercise also involves 30 warships, 60 aircraft and about 6,300 personnel from 12 nations.
This April's exercise was the largest in the event's history.
Military hardware does occasionally wash up on shorelines up and down the Western Isles. Some of the items are linked to activity at a rocket range in South Uist. | A military target drone has been found washed up on an island beach. | 34609354 |
The 27-year-old heptathlete was honoured at a ceremony on Wednesday hosted by Lord Mayor John Campbell.
She was watched by family, friends and civic dignitaries as she signed the scroll granting her the honour.
Ennis said: "To become a freeman of Sheffield is the biggest civic honour anyone can get and I'm so proud to receive it."
She joins other sporting heroes including fellow athlete Lord Coe and cricketer Michael Vaughan as Sheffield freemen.
Ennis said: "Winning the Olympics in Britain has exceeded everything I could have ever wished for and the reception I have received from my home city has been unbelievable.
"I have to say a big thank you to the people of Sheffield who have believed in me and backed me over the years."
Mr Campbell said: "Becoming a freeman of Sheffield is the highest civic honour we can display and Jessica truly deserves it.
"Jessica is an amazing sportswoman, with incredible success and worldwide appeal.
"For this alone she is worthy of receiving the freedom of the city, but let's not forget the other things she does in Sheffield.
"A patron of two charities that mean so much to the people of Sheffield - the Children's Hospital and Weston Park charities. Her support helps them raise so much for their causes."
Ennis, who was born in Sheffield, went to school and university in the city and continues to live and train there.
Earlier this month, the city council decided the Don Valley Stadium, where Ennis trained, was to be demolished as part of cost-saving measures. | Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis has been officially granted the freedom of her home city of Sheffield. | 21965769 |
Scarlets face Connacht in Galway on 30 January, with Wales' trip to follow on Sunday, 7 February
Williams sustained a foot injury during the Rugby World Cup in October and has not played since.
"He trained during the week with us and trained very well," said Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac.
"He's passed all the tests so far, so it's all looking good for him to get some game time next week."
Williams is expected to spend two days in the Wales training camp early this week before returning to Scarlets ahead of the Pro12 trip to Galway.
Pivac does not expect to have any other Wales squad players available to him as his team bids to stay top of the table.
The west Wales region finished without a win in the European Champions Cup for the third time after their 22-10 home defeat by Northampton.
Wales and former Scarlets wing George North scored the Saints' bonus point try.
But Pivac says they switched focus after the first couple of rounds.
"You could see early on in that competition that our focus was the Pro12, it was just unfortunate with what happened in the Rugby World Cup [injuries to Liam and Scott Williams] and then injuries we picked up ourselves.
"When you get to Europe, the depths of the squads vary and we don't quite have the depth that some of these sides have.
"The results speak for themselves really."
The Scarlets had 14 senior players on the injury list for the Northampton defeat, with every position apart from half-back affected.
They will now lose scrum-halves Gareth and Aled Davies, as well as front-rowers Ken Owens and Samson Lee, to Wales training duties.
Flanker John Barclay will also be absent on Scotland duty when the Six Nations kicks off. | Liam Williams is on track for a Scarlets comeback against Connacht eight days before Wales' Six Nations campaign starts against Ireland. | 35393889 |
The four men plotted their route on an app before using it track their journey around Perth. When uploaded, it displayed as a picture.
Cyclist Ben Jones said the group settled on a goat because it was "an easy animal to draw".
He said the ride lasted more than six hours, with the men stopping only for food, "nature breaks" and flat tyres.
"Apart from riding 200km, it's relatively simple," Mr Jones told the BBC. "You basically drop little dots on the road and it plans directions out."
GPS art has also been attempted by runners and other cyclists.
Mr Jones said his group wanted to shake up their regular weekend ride.
"We all ride 10,000km to 15,000km a year," he said.
"Mostly we just ride together as mates and have a good time - that's what this was about."
The group received much attention after posting their map to social media this week.
One person was amused the goat's beard was in a "hipster" suburb, Leederville. Others enjoyed a description of Mr Jones as "goat guy" in an interview on Australian television.
For their next piece of GPS art, the group plans to draw a local animal such as the quokka.
"There'll definitely be something coming, I'm sure of that," Mr Jones said. | Australian cyclists have used "GPS art" to turn a 202km (125-mile) ride into the outline of a goat. | 39287266 |
Forest Enterprise Scotland (FES) said the picea omorika trees had no commercial value, but were a "priceless component" of a conservation project.
Genetic material from the trees was being used in an international programme to conserve conifers.
The thieves took the trees from Kinnoull Woodland Park last week. Police Scotland are investigating.
FES said the trees were part of Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust's work with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to help conserve conifer species at risk of extinction in their native habitat.
The trust's Tom Christian said: "The climate and landscape of Perthshire are ideal for growing conifers and the area provides a very important safe haven for rare and endangered species from around the world.
"Each Conifer Conservation Programme tree is grown from seed that has been specially collected from its native habitat.
"Each tree represents years of work organising expeditions, processing the collected seeds, growing them on and then planting them in Perthshire."
Mr Christian said the trees were "irreplaceable" as there was no way to recover the missing genetic material.
Robin Lofthouse, the FES forester who looks after Kinnoull Hill, said: "At a time when biodiversity around the world is increasingly under pressure, projects such as this play an invaluable part in conserving genetic material.
"This pointless theft is extremely frustrating not just because of the loss but because the trees are likely to have been killed. The thief had tried to dig them up but left most of the roots in the ground."
Mr Lofthouse said the FES were now considering the installation of wildlife cameras to protect other trees in the woods.
Anyone with information about the theft is urged to contact Police Scotland or a local FES office. | Thieves have stolen five "extremely rare" Serbian trees from woodland near Perth. | 38237246 |
The operator said the "vast majority" of train services across Scotland would be hit.
Signallers, maintenance staff and station workers are set to walk out at 17:00 on Bank Holiday Monday in the first UK-wide rail strike for 21 years.
The RMT union is in dispute with track operator Network Rail over pay.
The union said its latest proposals were an "attack" on workers' living standards and that workers also had concerns about safety issues.
The potential action also involves members of the TSSA union and Unite.
Talks at the arbitration service Acas are ongoing in a bid to avoid the strike, which could involve 25,000 staff across the UK.
Virgin Trains said there would be no services running on the West Coast Mainline on either Monday or Tuesday as a result of a strike.
On the east coast, Virgin said it would only be able to run a "very limited" service.
It said services should operate to and from Edinburgh as normal until the early afternoon on Monday but there would be no services to and from Aberdeen, Glasgow and Inverness.
ScotRail, which operates all Scotland's domestic train services, said final details of amended timetables would not be confirmed until later this week but it anticipated running very few services on 25 and 26 May.
The services listed below are likely to run on a reduced basis and will operate largely between 07:15 and 17:45 on the days listed.
MONDAY 25 MAY ONLY
MONDAY 25 & TUESDAY 26 MAY
All other services will be cancelled all day Monday and Tuesday.
ScotRail has launched a dedicated web page where it will be posting timetables for the routes that will be running during the strike.
Phil Verster, managing director of the ScotRail Alliance, said: "I am disappointed that our customers have to experience this level of disruption. We are doing everything we can to safely run as many services as is possible under the circumstances." | A strike by rail workers will mean that most trains in Scotland will be cancelled on Monday and Tuesday next week, ScotRail has confirmed. | 32811054 |
The actress, who played Hermione in the film series, went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child earlier this week.
Writing on Facebook on Thursday, Watson said: "I came in with no idea what to expect and it was amazing.
"Having seen it, I felt more connected to Hermione and the stories than I have since Deathly Hallows came out, which was such a gift."
She added: "Some things about the play were, I think, possibly even more beautiful than the films."
Watson met with the cast and crew after the performances of the two-part play - including Noma Dumezweni, the actress who plays Hermione in the show.
The 26-year-old said she felt like she was "meeting her older self" as she embraced Dumezweni.
"The cast and crew welcomed me like I was family and Noma was everything I could ever hope she would be. She's wonderful," Watson wrote.
Watson signed off her post with the hashtag #KeepTheSecrets - a reference to author JK Rowling's plea to fans not to post spoilers from the play's plot on social media.
The play is currently in the previews stage and officially opens on 30 July.
Watson is taking a year off from acting, but will soon be seen in Disney's live action version of Beauty And The Beast, which is due for release next year.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk. | Emma Watson has praised the new Harry Potter play, which has just opened in London's West End. | 36745362 |
The Italian-born business analyst, who was 30, lived in Norwich with her fiance Fiaz Bhatti.
She commuted to London every day to her job at Pearson Publishing in The Strand, taking a train to Liverpool Street and then a Circle Line Tube.
She suffered devastating injuries when the bomb detonated and the inquest was told that nothing could have been done to save her.
Ms Ciaccia was originally from Rome and the eldest of three sisters. She moved to the UK in 1995, and initially worked as an au pair for a family in Gravesend, Kent.
Jonathan Clay, whose children, Bridie and Megan, she cared for, described her as "a funny, lovely, elegant and very intelligent young woman".
"Our children could count in Italian before they could count in English. Megan has been an accomplished pasta cook since the age of three," he said.
Ms Ciaccia later worked in bars and restaurants, before moving into publishing at the Financial Times and eventually at Pearson Publishing and DK Publishing.
She had been studying for a foundation degree in computer studies at Birkbeck College, and was awaiting the result of her final exam when she was killed.
Her father Roberto told the inquest that she was "a beautiful, sweet, Italian girl who greatly loved life".
"All she wished for was to have a family of her own with many children, which she dearly loved," he said.
"This dream was about to come true. On 11 September 2005, she would have got married."
When Ms Ciaccia went missing on 7 July, it was the beginning of an agonising week for her fiance, who walked the streets of London with a home-made missing person poster.
Hopes his wife-to-be was still alive evaporated and her death was finally confirmed on 16 July.
Mr Bhatti said at the time "She was strong and independent and she loved to travel and socialise. We hadn't had a chance to travel together and the honeymoon was to be our first trip.
"We planned to go to Sardinia and Corsica. It was going to be the start of a wonderful married life together."
Ms Ciaccia's body was flown to Italy for her funeral and she was buried in Rome in her wedding dress.
For the occasion the council put posters around the city, saying: "Benedetta, Rome hugs you".
To commemorate her life, Birkbeck College and Pearson Publishing established a fund to provide financial support to students in need.
Her father also exhibited three poems at the inquest that had been written in her memory, one of which was entitled, "Benedetta, an angel in heaven". | Benedetta Ciaccia was two months away from her wedding when she was killed in the Aldgate bombing on 7 July 2005. | 11741875 |
The HMRC has ruled carers sleeping overnight to provide safety and reassurance should be be paid the national minimum wage for all hours.
Mencap says the total bill for back pay - due by September, and in some cases dating back six years - could be £400m.
The government says carers should be paid fairly.
The national minimum wage for those aged 25 and over is £7.50 an hour, which will increase to £9 by 2020.
While on night shifts, most employees providing care in people's own homes are allowed to sleep, providing they can be woken to deal with any incidents.
According to minimum wage legislation, employers must take into account shifts where staff are allowed to sleep as long as they are "at work and under certain work-related responsibilities".
Until recently, many overnight carers were paid a flat rate allowance for the 'sleep-in', with additional wages paid for work carried out.
Smaller care charities were on the brink of disaster as a result of the changes, said Derek Lewis, Chairman of Mencap.
The charity lost an appeal in April this year, against a ruling that it was wrong to have paid a support worker £29.05 for a nine-hour sleep-in shift.
Mr Lewis said: "The carer is only there 'just in case' to provide safety and reassurance and is rarely disturbed.
"There will be a major impact on the 5,500 people we support and some may even end up losing that support all together.
"For many smaller care providers across the country the financial impact will be devastating."
Mencap employ around 5,500 carers on an overnight basis, and says it plans to appeal further next year.
A government spokesperson said: "We recognise the vital role social care providers play in supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our society and workers in that sector should be paid fairly for the important job they do.
"As the Prime Minister has said, the government is considering this issue extremely carefully and we will continue to work with the industry to ensure any action taken to protect workers is fair and proportionate."
Unison, which represents a number of overnight carers, said: "It's the government's failure to fund social care properly that risks devastating the care sector, not the workers asking for a legal wage .
"Charities and care companies have known for a long time they must pay sleep-in staff at least the minimum wage. But it's only now HM Revenue & Customs is in pursuit that many are pleading poverty and asking for an exemption from the law." | Vulnerable people with learning difficulties could lose overnight supervision, disability charity Mencap warns. | 40648952 |
In 2014-15, 2,868 fixed penalty notices were issued in England and Wales - down from 3,521 in the previous 12 months.
According to the figures there were 73,824 complaints about dog mess in 2014-15 - but 103 councils did not issue any fixed penalties.
The government said it was working with councils to find "local solutions".
Fixed penalty notices can be issued by people, including council officers, to anyone who fails to clean up dog mess on certain land where the public have access.
The cost of the penalty varies in different local authorities but it is usually about £75.
The BBC asked the 348 local authorities in England and Wales which deal with dog fouling about fixed penalty notices. The figures come from the 302 authorities which responded.
Of those, 103 did not issue any fixed penalty notices in 2014-15, and 48 had not issued any in the last five years.
These included Bexley, Swindon, Bournemouth, East Hertfordshire and Merton councils, which between them received almost 8,000 public complaints about fouling from 2010-15.
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council issued the most fixed penalties last year - 187 - and Liverpool City Council issued the most over five years - 972.
Sheffield City Council, which did not issue any fixed penalties for dog fouling in 2014-15 and only handed out seven in the previous four years, said: "We do appreciate that dog mess is an issue in Sheffield, as it is in every city.
"However, we need evidence if we are going to issue fines.
"In these times of austerity we simply do not have staff available to patrol Sheffield's parks around the clock, waiting for an offence to be committed.
"If a person is alleged to have allowed their dog to foul and not cleaned up, we will contact that person and give advice."
The council said it was running a "social experiment" on how to reduce dog fouling, and successful schemes were being implemented across the city.
In Daventry, Northamptonshire, the council is consulting residents on a new system under which any dog walker found without a bag to collect waste could be fined £100.
The Department for Communities and Local Government said environmental crime, including dog fouling, "blights communities and poses a risk to human health".
"That's why in the last government we organised the huge Community Clear Up Day across the country, and why this government will continue to work with councils and partner organisations to help find local solutions to littering," it said.
Refusal to pay a fixed penalty notice for dog fouling in England and Wales can lead to an appearance at a magistrates' court and a fine of up to £1,000.
The BBC Radio 5 live figures only cover England and Wales, but similar rules on dog fouling exist in Scotland and Northern Ireland. | The number of people fined for failing to pick up their dog's poo fell by almost 20% last year, according to figures obtained by BBC Radio 5 live. | 33064119 |
Among 10 to 15-year-old girls, the charity's report says 14% are unhappy with their lives as a whole, and 34% with their appearance.
Researchers were told of girls feeling ugly or worthless.
The figures for England, Wales and Scotland for 2013-14 represent a sharp rise in unhappiness on five years before.
By contrast the study found that boys' sense of happiness remained stable.
The charity's annual Good Childhood Report, now in its 11th year, draws its findings on teenagers' happiness from the Understanding Society Survey which gathers data on 40,000 households across the UK.
Children's Society and University of York researchers examined responses on the wellbeing of 10 to 15-year-olds.
They found that between 2009-10 and 2013-14 on average 11% of both boys and girls said they were unhappy.
But the latest available figures, for 2013-14, showed the proportion of girls saying they were unhappy had risen to 14%.
It follows research recently published by the Department for Education which showed the mental well-being of teenage girls in England has worsened, compared with their counterparts in 2005.
The study highlighted the growing pressure of social media and suggested that a tough economic climate had created a more "serious" generation of young people.
Lucy Capron from the Children's Society told BBC Radio 5 Live: "This isn't something which can be explained away by hormones or just the natural course of growing up, actually this is something that we need to take seriously and we need to address."
The proportion of girls reporting being worried about their looks rose from 30% for the period as a whole, to 34% in the year 2013-14 - while the proportion of boys unhappy with their appearance remained unchanged at 20%.
Three girls tell BBC Radio 5 Live how they feel.
Megan, 12, said: "The only time that I'm not happy is if people are judging me or being mean and things like that. With people at school, they post things [on social media] and they try and make everyone think that they are perfect.
"Sometimes it makes me feel - not annoyed - but I don't want to look at it any more because they just do it all the time and it gets on your nerves."
Natalia, 15, said: "Everywhere you look it's like, celebrities: thin, blonde or - perfect teeth, perfect hair, perfect eyes, perfect eyebrows. And it's just crazy and I just feel like I should look like that - even though I know it's all like fake, or a lot of it is anyway.
"I have these days when I'm like, I don't care what people think but then somebody will say something and it will just hit me again and I'll feel worse but I don't know, it's hard to explain why it bothers me so much sometimes."
Caitlyn, 12, said: "I am happy most of the time, but then when it comes to my friends going: 'Ah I look really beautiful in this outfit' and everything, I just feel like, no, I can't do that - I can't pull it off.
"When I'm obviously looking through my Facebook and looking at some of the posts, all you can see is pictures of celebrities and my friends looking beautiful in selfies and everything, and then there's just me, like, I can't get away from any of it."
How do you help young girls feel happier?
While teenage angst is nothing new, Ms Capron said: "What's new and what the Children's Society have unveiled is the scale of the problem - particularly the fact that the gap between boys and girls is getting wider and that's something that we should be worried about."
The reasons for the deteriorating picture for girls are not clear says the charity - but the report finds that emotional bullying, such as name-calling, is twice as common as physical bullying among boys.
The report also suggests that girls are more likely to spend extended periods on social media which has been linked to a higher risk of mental ill health.
Ms Capron said relationships, and the way they are played out on social media, are big drivers in a young person's life.
"Some other research has shown that girls are spending a lot more time on social media - up to three hours a night in some cases - and we need to make sure that's done in a safe way," she said.
In another study, childcare professionals have published evidence that children could be worrying about being fat or ugly at a younger age, with girls particularly affected.
The Professional Association of Childcare and Early Years says staff have noticed children as young as three being worried about their appearance.
Overall, nursery staff, childminders and nannies looking after under-10s in England, reported hearing children:
The risk is that these views could prompt eating disturbances and depression later in life, according to Middlesex University child development lecturer, Dr Jacqueline Harding.
She suggested that media images and adults chatting about diets could lead to negative body images in children.
Parents can help boost body confidence, for example by praising children for acts of kindness rather than for their looks, she advised.
The association is calling for more support and government guidance on these issues. | Girls in Britain are becoming more miserable, suggests the Children's Society's annual report. | 37223063 |
He added that such people had "sworn personal allegiance" to Islamic State (IS) and therefore could potentially have committed the offence.
The last UK prosecution for treason was in 1946, when William Joyce was hanged for Nazi propaganda broadcasts.
Committing the offence involves being disloyal to the Crown.
Mr Hammond revealed that UK jihadists could be tried for treason when he was asked a question in the House of Commons by Conservative backbencher Philip Hollobone.
Mr Hollobone said: "Their [UK jihadists'] actions are treachery against Her Majesty, and aiding and abetting enemies of Her Majesty is one of the greatest offences a British citizen can commit."
Mr Hammond replied that there were "a number of offences under English law with which returning foreign fighters can be charged".
He added: "We have had a discussion about the allegiance question. We have seen people declaring that they have sworn personal allegiance to the so-called Islamic State.
"That does raise questions about their loyalty and allegiance to this country and about whether, as my honourable friend rightly says, the offence of treason could have been committed.
"I will certainly draw his remarks to the attention of the home secretary, who ultimately will be the person who needs to look at this."
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard's head of counter-terrorism Mark Rowley said that "dozens" of UK families have contacted the police in a bid to stop their relatives travelling to fight in Syria.
He also said "many" Britons, known to have travelled to Syria, had now returned to the UK and that police were in the process of attempting to arrest and prosecute them. | UK jihadists who travel to Iraq or Syria to fight could be tried for treason, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said. | 29655099 |
It comes as consumer rights group Which said backless booster seats will only be approved for use for children taller than 125cm and weighing more than 22kg under new rules set to be introduced.
But the government said talks are ongoing and there was no date as yet.
Existing rules say that children must use a child car seat until they are 12 years old or 135cm (4ft 5ins) tall.
If approved, any changes will apply to newly sold products, not child restraint systems which are already in use and adhere to existing safety standards.
Parents who use old booster seats that comply with the existing regulations will not be breaking the law if they continue to use them after any rule change, the Department for Transport spokesman said.
They will not be required to buy new booster seats to meet any rule change, he said.
The technical specifications for child car seats are set internationally by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
Height-based car seats, known as 'i-Size' seats, must be rear-facing until the child is over 15 months old.
A child can use a forward-facing car seat when they are over 15 months old.
Weight-based car seats must be rear-facing until the child weighs more than 9kg and after that the seat the child can use depends on their weight.
The Department for Transport works with representatives from other governments, the child restraint and vehicle manufacturing industries, and groups representing consumers on the specifications.
What is the law?
There are exceptions. For example, children can travel without a child car seat in a taxi or minicab if there is a fixed partition between the front and rear seats. | New regulations for child car seats are in the pipeline, but no decisions have been made, the government has said. | 36153451 |
23 February 2017 Last updated at 08:55 GMT
Perry was performing her new song Chained To The Rhythm and was surrounded by dancers dressed as houses.
As the song got near the end, one of the dancers missed their footing and fell off the stage.
Luckily the dancer wasn't hurt during the fall.
Video courtesy of ITV/ BRIT Awards Limited. | One of Katy Perry's dancers had an unfortunate fall at the Brit Awards on Wednesday evening. | 39062583 |
US Senator Jeanne Shaheen wants to know whether the Rio Games could accelerate the spread of the mosquito-borne virus.
"The Olympics draw people from all over the globe," she said. "It's important we understand the health implications."
On Wednesday, Northern Ireland golfer Rory McIlroy said his concerns about the virus had eased.
However, fellow golfers Vijay Singh and Marc Leishman have already announced they will not be going to the Olympics because of the virus, which is linked to brain defects in newborn babies.
American cyclist Tejay van Garderen, whose wife is pregnant, says he will not compete in Rio because of concerns about Zika.
WHO said it planned to hold another emergency committee meeting in June, when it would discuss the Olympics, and added it would make its report public.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | The World Health Organization is to examine the risks of holding the Olympics in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro because of the Zika virus. | 36448236 |
Gulls are also regulars, with the island an important breeding ground, while hundreds of visitors take a boat trip from Cardiff Bay to explore the wildlife haven every year.
But new inhabitants could soon be mooring on the island of Flat Holm after Cardiff council unveiled plans to sell it as part of wide-ranging cuts to save ??110m.
Scrapping services like leisure centres and libraries has now, sadly, become a common way to save money for cash-strapped local authorities.
But selling an island - complete with a working lighthouse - is perhaps one of the more unusual ways to balance the books.
So who is most likely to be forking out for the small, wind-swept island - Wales' most southerly point - which is nestled in the Bristol Channel with neighbouring English-owned isle Steep Holm?
Land agent Chris Hyde, who sold the much smaller Sully Island off the Vale of Glamorgan coast about two years ago, said he expects interest from all over the world.
"With Sully Island we had interest from New Zealand, China - a lot of interest from China - Russia, South America, Europe, from all corners of the globe," he said.
"Owning an island for many wealthy people is exciting and ostentatious.
"It eventually sold to a wealthy English businessman for well over the guide price of ??90,000."
Mr Hyde, of agents Cooke and Arkwright, said he believes Flat Holm would be "an even better prospect for selling" as Sully Island was "merely 15 acres (6 ha) of heath land and there's nothing you can do with it".
"Flat Holm is bigger and has buildings - there's something you can do with it. You could derive an income from it," he said.
"I don't think it's the place for someone wanting to build a big hotel as it has protections.
"But it could be run in the same way it is now and a private buyer could run boats from the English side as well as the Welsh side."
Matthew Lipton, who has been living on Flat Holm as its warden for four years, said he hopes it would be sold to someone who would respect the "uniqueness" of the island.
"It's a cultural and historical site of importance, as well as for wildlife," he said.
"It has a wide and varied history and we've done a lot of work to restore many parts of it.
"I just hope it doesn't all go to rack and ruin, and I hope a wildlife organisation might buy it."
"Uniqueness" would certainly be a selling point for the island, which covers about 86 acres (35 ha).
Flat Holm was first inhabited in the Bronze Age - as shown by artefacts found on the island - but the first recorded occupier was St Cadoc in the 6th Century AD who used the island as a retreat for quiet meditation.
Vikings and Saxons, monks and silver miners have all occupied Flat Holm at some point, while brandy and tea smugglers used its rocky coves to store contraband.
In later years, Victorian soldiers were based there and a series of gun emplacements were built to fortify the island after Queen Victoria became concerned about the strength of the French Navy.
Four of the battery sites and a gun pit remain on the island.
In the 1880s, the Marquis of Bute - who then owned the island - leased some of his land to the Cardiff Corporation for a hospital to deal with an outbreak of cholera among sailors arriving in south Wales.
It is understood the last patient to be cremated on the island was at the end of the 19th Century.
Following these dark times came the pioneering work of Italian inventor Marconi, who famously used the island to send the first wireless message across the water in 1897.
A memorial to him can be seen on Flat Holm.
However, it wasn't long before the military returned to the island when World War II broke out.
More than 300 soldiers were based there as it became a base for anti-aircraft defences and a radar station.
Nature is Flat Holm's main importance now - surrounding the historical remains are maritime grassland and rare plants such as rock sea-lavender and wild leek, which have led to the island being designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area.
The island also has significant breeding colonies of lesser black-backed gull, herring gull and great black-backed gull.
Ross Clifford, the island's education officer who helps school children visit the island, said it was an important place as it taught children about history, nature, science and climate change.
"It's really important that the right person buys it - someone that has the right aims for the island and are not trying to make it into a commercial venture," he added.
Mr Lipton added: "It holds a special place in a lot of people's hearts." | It has been a home to monks, Vikings, and Victorian and World War II soldiers, along with cholera sufferers and a few smugglers. | 21289956 |
She was attacked outside a women's hostel in Lucknow while getting water from a hand pump, police said.
The woman, 35, had been receiving round-the-clock police protection because of the previous attacks, which were linked to a property dispute.
Anger is growing at the authorities' inability to protect her.
She was allegedly gang-raped and first attacked with acid by two men in 2008, over a property dispute, the details of which are not clear.
The same two men are then accused of throwing acid at her twice more - in 2012 and 2013 - to try and get her to drop the criminal charges against them.
In March, she was attacked again while travelling on a train with her daughter. This time she was forced to drink acid.
Two men are facing trial for all of the attacks but were released on bail in April, the AFP agency reports.
According to government figures, there are hundreds of such attacks involving acid each year in India, although campaigners say the real figures are much higher.
The victims, who have to live with terrible disfigurements, are mainly women and are often targeted by jealous partners, campaigners say.
Despite a Supreme Court ruling in 2013 to regulate the sale of acid, critics say it is still widely and easily available. | A woman in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh who survived an alleged gang-rape and four separate acid attacks has been targeted again by an acid-thrower. | 40474360 |
The first procedure at Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales was watched by specialists from a theatre gallery and over a video link.
A specially designed metal brace is inserted through two small incisions in the side of the chest to reshape it.
The operation helps people with pectus carinatum, known as pigeon chest.
The condition affects the breastbone and ribs which appear pushed out.
Prof Mustafa Yuksel, a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon from Istanbul in Turkey, designed the brace and has carried out over 150 similar operations in his home country.
He was invited by the UHW and Cardiff University's Welsh Institute for Minimal Access Therapy (WIMAT) to bring his expertise to Wales and he now also teaches at the university.
"The bar I designed is easier, safer and better to use," Prof Yuksel said.
"The other type of operation is very invasive. You cut the ribs, take them out, correct them and put them in again.
He said the traditional method was a "very big procedure that can take sometimes six or eight hours".
"This takes only half an hour and the patient is able to leave hospital two days later," he added.
After the metal brace is inserted, the surgeon pushes down on the chest until it has a more normal appearance.
The brace is removed under general anaesthetic after around two years by which time the chest should be permanently reshaped.
The condition affects around one in every 1,500 children and is more common in boys than girls.
It can become more obvious as children grow and cause serious psychological effects including depression, negative body image and low self-esteem.
In some cases it can also affect lung function.
A similar procedure to the one performed at UHW is already available to treat pectus excavatum, where the chest appears sunken.
One man in his early twenties with the condition, who did not wish to be named, spoke to the gathering of specialists visiting UHW.
"It really affected me mentally, especially when I started getting involved with girls," he said.
"I was always a bit reserved but then I managed to meet a girl I actually liked. When she saw my chest though it put her right off. And that hit me really hard.
"Since I've had the operation I've managed to get my confidence back." | A Welsh hospital has become the first in the UK to offer a pioneering new treatment for patients with chest deformities. | 33445782 |
Thomas Wengierow admitted a charge under the Data Protection Act committed when he worked at the company's Baird Avenue centre in Dundee.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard he knowingly or recklessly obtained or disclosed personal data from a Tesco database.
Wengierow then copied the details into an email and sent it to himself.
Th 47-year-old Lithuanian, who returned to Scotland from his home country for the hearing, pleaded guilty to the charge.
David Duncan, defending, said the court would require social work background reports before sentence could be passed.
Sheriff Lorna Drummond deferred sentence until May. | A Tesco call centre worker who emailed himself copies of customer details from the supermarket giant's database will be sentenced next month. | 36110378 |
The High Mill at Verdant Works was awarded the Historic Environment Scotland special category award for conservation and climate change.
The prize was presented at the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) awards dinner in Glasgow.
The High Mill dates from 1833 and was an unused part of Verdant Works.
Verdant Works, which is run by Dundee Heritage Trust, is a surviving Dundee mill complex incorporating Scotland's award-winning Jute Museum.
David Mitchell, acting chief executive for Historic Environment Scotland, said: "Before the project started, the High Mill and the adjacent glazed-roofed preparing room had deteriorated so badly they were facing collapse or demolition.
"We have been impressed by the Trust's vision in saving this listed building, and the project itself which has been achieved for less than the cost of an equivalent new-build museum.
"The innovative approach has concentrated on the reuse of original components and salvaged materials maximising embodied energy, with new design following the building's industrial aesthetic."
Gill Poulter, heritage director for Dundee Heritage Trust said: "In this Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design we are especially proud to receive this award as recognition of what our charity has accomplished in saving a stunning building and transforming it into a dramatic gallery space that is now full of life and activity.''
The project's architect, Doug Reid, said: 'We are thrilled to win the RIAS award for this project as we believe we have achieved something very special at Verdant Works.
"Our innovative architectural scheme to remove the rotten wooden floors has revealed the skeleton of the building and created a full height cathedral-like space." | A historic Dundee jute mill threatened with demolition before being saved by a £2.9m restoration has won a national conservation award. | 36558569 |
Mark Hayes, 36, was also charged with attempted arson with intent to endanger life and the attempted murder of a man in Essex on Friday.
The body of Phyllis Hayes was found in her home in Idmiston Road, Stratford, on Thursday, with suspected stab wounds.
Mr Hayes is due to appear at Basildon Magistrates' Court on Monday. | A man has been charged with murdering his 65-year-old mother at her east London home. | 33126025 |
Thirty five firefighters attended the BMW Mercedes garage in Woodham Road, Barry at 17:15 BST on Wednesday.
A wall and roof of the building collapsed and the five vehicles inside were all damaged.
A spokeswoman for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: "The fire has been extinguished now, but it is expected to smoulder overnight."
The cause of the fire is believed to be accidental at this stage. | Firefighters have been tackling a commercial garage fire in Vale of Glamorgan. | 36485828 |
But Nikki Haley also said the Trump administration was "thinking outside the box as well", suggesting it was open to other possible solutions.
For many years, the US has advocated the establishment of a Palestinian state next to Israel.
But Mr Trump indicated on Wednesday he would not insist on that.
Viewpoint - 'A subtle but vital shift in US policy'
The last round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in 2014.
"We absolutely support the two-state solution but we are thinking out of the box as well," Ms Haley said on Thursday, "which is - what does it take to bring these two sides to the table? what do we need to have them agree on?"
She spoke out after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned President Trump there was "no alternative" to a two-state solution.
Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day earlier, Mr Trump promised to deliver a "great" peace deal for the Middle East.
But he said both sides must compromise and that it was ultimately up to them to decide how to settle the conflict.
"So I'm looking at two states and one state," he said. "And I like the one that both parties like."
A "two-state solution" to the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is the declared goal of their leaders and the international community.
It is the shorthand for a final settlement that would see the creation of an independent state of Palestine within pre-1967 ceasefire lines in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, living peacefully alongside Israel.
The UN, the Arab League, the European Union, Russia and, until now, the US routinely restate their commitment to the concept.
When he was asked about a two-state solution on Wednesday, Mr Netanyahu said he wanted to focus on "substance" and not "labels".
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, said he remained committed to the goal of statehood.
He also seized on President Trump's comments urging Mr Netanyahu to "hold back on settlements for a little bit".
Since Mr Trump took office last month, Israel has approved thousands of new homes in West Bank and East Jerusalem, land claimed by the Palestinians for a future state.
The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
Reconsidering the two-state solution
The Israeli government is hoping for better relations with the White House after eight years of friction with the former Obama administration.
But France, which in January organised a multi-national conference which reaffirmed support for a two-state solution alone, seemed unimpressed with the apparent change in direction.
Its ambassador to the UN, Francois Delattre, told reporters "our commitment to the two-state solution is stronger than ever", according to AFP news agency.
In pro-Netanyahu Israeli daily Yisrael Hayom, Boaz Bismuth welcomes a "more refreshing era" in Washington, saying Mr Trump's comments show he is "good for the Jews."
But Barack Ravid - in left-of-centre Ha'aretz - accuses Mr Trump of acting "recklessly" in apparently conflating the one-state and two-state plans.
Shimon Schiffer - in centrist Yedioth Aharonoth - makes a similar point, saying Trump adopted the "tone of someone for whom it is not really important whether he orders a portion or half a portion of falafel."
For the pro-Fatah Palestinian newspaper al-Quds, Mr Trump has shown he is close to Israel's position, and that the two-state solution has "withered".
In Gaza's Hamas-run Filastin daily, Fayez Abu-Shammala says it is "wonderful" that the White House has shown its "real position" rather than acting as "an enemy pretending to be a friend". He adds that the "time for resistance has come".
Meanwhile, Mr Trump's choice for America's next ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, faced repeated heckling at his confirmation hearing before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday.
He apologised for having likened left-wing American Jews to Jewish prisoners who worked for the Nazis during the Holocaust and pledged that in an official capacity he would tone down his language.
The right-winger is a strong critic of the two-state solution, supports Jewish settlement building and moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Five former US ambassadors to Israel have written a letter to committee members declaring him unqualified because of his "extreme, radical positions", AP says.
Asked on Wednesday about his campaign promise of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, Mr Trump said: "We'll see what happens."
The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their promised future state - but Israel claims the entire city as its undivided capital. | The US ambassador to the UN has said her country "absolutely" supports the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. | 38989906 |
24 June 2016 Last updated at 17:15 BST
These kids in Salford have mixed views. Some are sad because they feel like the UK has lost a friendship, but others think it will mean more money for public services.
More than 30 million adults voted in Thursday's EU referendum - with 52% choosing to leave the club of 28 European countries. | Children have been telling Newsround what they think about the UK voting to leave the European Union. | 36623529 |
But with fridges bursting and a never-ending supply of leftovers to use up, how do you avoid the unwelcome guest of food poisoning making an appearance?
It's party time; you've got friends coming round; the booze is flowing faster than the tears on Strictly and you've laid out a buffet that would put Nigella or Jamie to shame.
Kevin Hargin, director of food-borne disease control at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) says: "The spread is out on the table all evening getting nice and warm - the bugs are having a great time in the salad dressings, the quiches and so on.
"The best idea is to only put out the food when you need, don't leave it out all the time."
Plus you don't want to be remembered for hosting the party that ruined Christmas #mortified.
Campylobacter - This is the most common cause. The bacteria are usually found in raw or undercooked meat (particularly poultry), unpasteurised milk and untreated water.
Salmonella - Raw eggs, milk and other dairy products - plus undercooked meat again - can play host to the salmonella bacteria.
Listeria - This can live in chilled ready-to-eat foods, like pre-packed sandwiches, cooked sliced meats and pate, plus soft cheeses like Brie and Camembert. All should be eaten by their sell-by-dates to be on the safe side, and pregnant women need to be especially careful, since a listeria infection can cause pregnancy and birth complications - and even miscarriage.
E. coli - Most cases of E. coli poisoning happen after eating undercooked beef (particularly mince, burgers and meatballs, or drinking unpasteurised milk.
It's the star of the show on the day - but it's probably the only turkey (or duck, or goose) that you cook all year.
"People are not used to cooking turkey or anything of that size," says Kevin.
Defrosting a 6-7kg bird can take three days if you do it in the fridge so give it plenty of time.
And if your bird has an icy core then it might not cook properly in the oven, running the risk of having a bit of Salmonella or Campylobacter making it onto the plate.
You'll also want the juices to run hot, steamy and clear to know the bird is cooked.
Christmas is time for something to step out of the shadows and become the hero it was born to be.
I am of course talking about your freezer - Hollywood is calling already.
Kevin again: "People tend to order and prepare far more than they're ever going to eat, so there's a lot of leftovers and people think you can't freeze that.
"But that's one of the big myths. It's safe to freeze the leftover turkey so you could bring it out again at New Year."
But when you do defrost, gobble [ahem] it up within 24 hours.
Follow James on Twitter. | Turkey, roast potatoes and yes - even Brussel sprouts are about to take centre-stage on the nation's dining tables. | 38304077 |
Since 2013, payouts have been made for a range of incidents, including where police vehicles hit a pedestrian, cyclists, parked cars, and walls.
Motor liability claims accounted for more than half of the total £633,035.
Police Scotland said its police vehicles did 70 million miles each year in often dangerous conditions.
As well as motoring offences, payouts were also made for unlawful strip-searches and detentions.
3,500 - Police vehicles in Scotland
70m - Miles driven by police vehicles
£350,000 - Payout for road accidents since 2013
The data was obtained through a BBC Scotland freedom of information request - made seven months ago - to Police Scotland.
The force collates motor, public and employer's liability claims into individual annual spreadsheets for each of the force's three command areas.
The release of the data comes in the wake of reports that cash-strapped Police Scotland is facing a "six figure" compensation bid over last year's M9 car crash which left two dead after a 101 call was mishandled.
The FOI data set showed that Police Scotland paid out £358,159 - or 57% of all the 217 successful compensation payments - on motor-related claims.
The three command areas showed varying claims:
The compensation data reveals payments were made when a police vehicle hit a cyclist (£35,612), a pedestrian (£5,582), a wall (£930), and a parked car (£1,119).
Payouts were also made where one police vehicle ran a red light causing a collision (£1,609), and another rolled into a third party vehicle (£5,237).
One member of the public was compensated £221 when a police horse damaged their car wing mirror.
Patrick McGuire, a partner with Thompson Solicitors Scotland, said revelations that 57% of the compensation payouts were motor-related, was "shocking, but not surprising".
He said: "We expect our police officers to be highly trained in driving, and we hold them to, and expect, a very high standard of care from them.
"But in my professional experience I have seen many claims over the years involving collisions."
A Police Scotland spokesman said: "We have more than 3,500 vehicles which cover more than 70 million miles a year in all conditions and many of these are in high risk circumstances as our officers do their job in keeping people safe.
"All drivers have to pass a police driving test in addition to holding a full driving licence before being allowed to drive a police vehicle and all new vehicles coming on to our fleet have the highest safety ratings which includes being fitted with reversing sensors, anti-skid and electronic stability control systems."
But Mr McGuire said, despite their frequency, successfully pursuing such motor claims against Police Scotland was another matter entirely.
The police's own data reveals that only 40% of all 549 closed claims since 2013 resulted in a payout.
In Bo'ness, Leona Ryce's vehicle was hit at a junction by a speeding police car responding to a call - but which allegedly had not yet turned on its lights or siren.
That was four years ago, and Ms Ryce has yet to receive any compensation for the incident.
She said: "I had internal bleeding in my knee, I had cracked ribs, and I suffered from a few panic attacks after the crash."
Ms Ryce was charged with driving without consideration but successfully challenged the charge in court.
She added: "I thought right from the start they [Police Scotland] would have accepted liability, to be honest.
"I'm disgusted about the way they have been about the whole thing."
Police Scotland said it would not comment on an ongoing legal case.
Mr McGuire, who is now overseeing Ms Ryce's case, said this was indicative of how Police Scotland dealt with motor-related claims.
He said: "The evidence we have from non-police eyewitnesses is very strong and they [Police Scotland] are relying entirely on the police officers and believing their statements entirely.
"They [Police Scotland] are overly-blinkered and dangerously protective of the serving officers to the extent that they seem unwilling to look to the other possibilities and to recognise fairly compelling evidence that the officer got it wrong, and therefore to do the right and appropriate thing and ensure the victim is fairly compensated.
"They should hold their officers to the highest standard, and when they get it wrong they have to know that they won't get away with that.
"Certain officers, despite their degree of training, think that they are above the law, that certain rules don't apply to them."
A Police Scotland spokesman denied claims of favouring officer testimony, stating that "all claims are assessed in line with an agreed process".
While the majority of payouts were motor-related, the remainder were largely public liability claims. Here are details on a small number of these claims that resulted in a Police Scotland payout:
The £633,035 paid out by Police Scotland is dwarfed by similar payments made by the London Metropolitan Police, which in 2010-11, paid out £1.8m for 205 claims.
It was reported last year that Police Scotland had 'ring-fenced' £1.4m for employer liability claims - but the police force refused to acknowledge what portion of their £1bn budget was set aside for motor and public liability claims.
However, Police Scotland's 2014/15 budget reported an actuarial valuation of £5,3m.
All compensation payouts rose by 270% between 2013 and 2014 to £420,167, before falling to £99,271 in 2015.
But in Scotland actions for personal injury claims can be submitted up to three years after gaining knowledge of the injury - meaning claims for 2015 incidents can be submitted up until 2018. | Police Scotland handed out £350,000 over three years as compensation for road accidents involving officers, a BBC investigation has found. | 35431060 |
It comes as net migration estimates show it remains near record levels, at 327,000 for the year to March.
The figures - for the period before Britain voted to leave the EU - are down slightly on the previous year.
Net migration is the difference between the number of people coming to the UK for at least a year and those leaving.
There were an estimated 831,000 Polish-born residents in 2015 - a jump of almost 750,000 compared with the number in 2004, the year the country joined the EU. India and the Republic of Ireland have traditionally been the sources of the UK's largest foreign-born groups.
The latest net migration figures show a slowdown in the numbers settling in the UK from Poland and seven other former Eastern bloc countries - but that was offset by an increase in net migration from Bulgaria and Romania, which hit record levels of 60,000.
Nicola White, ONS Head of International Migration Statistics, said: "Net migration remains at record levels although the recent trend is broadly flat.
"The influx of Romanians and Bulgarians has also reached a new high, although that's off-set by falls in non-EU immigration and from other central and eastern European countries.
"Work remains the main reason for migration, followed by study which has seen a significant fall in the number of people coming to the UK for education.
"It's important to remember that these figures only go up to the end of March and do not cover the period following the UK's vote to leave the European Union."
She said the UK's population continued to increase between 2014 and 2015, driven by "significant increases in both the non-UK born and non-British national population of the UK".
ONS estimates show 13.3% of the usually resident population of the UK were born abroad, compared with 8.9% in 2004.
The region with the highest proportion of non-UK born residents, at 37%, is London.
More than 25% of births in England and Wales in 2015 were to women born outside the UK, the highest level on record, according to separate figures.
ONS statistician Elizabeth McLaren said: "The rising percentage of births to women born outside the UK is largely due to foreign born women making up an increasing share of the female population of childbearing age in England and Wales.
"Part of the reason for this is that migrants are more likely to be working-age adults rather than children or older people. Alongside their increasing share of the population, higher fertility among women born outside the UK has also had an impact."
The immigration statistics contain few surprises, with net migration still a long, long way from the government's target.
There are a few signs - from more recent data on national insurance number registrations - that EU immigration may have reached its peak, but it won't be for another six months at least before we're able to gauge the effect, if any, of the referendum.
The figures came as Sir David Metcalf, the government's chief adviser on immigration controls, suggested Prime Minister Theresa May was considering introducing work permits for low skilled migrants from the EU.
Sir David, head of the Migration Advisory Committee, told the Telegraph the scheme would be "pretty straightforward" to run and could be based on a previous work permit system for seasonal agricultural workers.
Mrs May came under fire when she was home secretary for failing to meet the government's target of getting annual net migration below 100,000.
She has said that reducing net migration will be her "absolute priority" in Brexit negotiations.
A report by think tank British Future, released ahead of the latest figures, said the vote to leave the EU was a chance to fix the UK's "broken" immigration system and restore trust in controlled migration.
Lord Green, of the Migration Watch pressure group said: "The Brexit negotiations must achieve a significant reduction of EU migration and very firm action is needed against overstaying students from outside the EU."
Labour's Shadow Home Office minister Carolyn Harris, said: "These figures are a reminder of Theresa May's failings as home secretary.
"Once again, the Tory promise on immigration lies in tatters and net migration remains more than three times their target."
But she said Mrs May "must not sell the country down the river during Brexit negotiations on the movement of people just to cut these numbers" and urged her to tackle skills gaps and protect wages. | Poland has overtaken India as the most common non-UK country of birth for people living in the UK, Office for National Statistics figures show. | 37183733 |
Singer Angel Flukes, 28, from Saltash, won Supertalent 2016 and 100,000 euros (£85,200).
She sang Think Twice by Celine Dion in front of an estimated 5m television viewers in Germany.
Ms Flukes said she did not expect to win and would be spending some of her winnings on a wedding next year.
The singer, who went to Plymouth's City College, lives with her fiancée Lee, 33, and her three dogs in Calvia on Mallorca.
She moved there when she was 21 to work for a summer season in Magaluf but was talent-spotted while singing in a German bar.
She is the first female winner of the Supertalent show, which has run for 10 years.
Judge Dieter Bohlen told her: "You're not just an angel, you look like you're an angel... world class".
Fellow judge Victoria Swarovski found her "breathtaking".
Ms Flukes said: "I really did not expect to win. I am very happy."
"It's hard to believe but this time last year I was getting up at seven o'clock to flip eggs in a bar," she said.
"But I have always wanted this, it's been my dream since I was a little girl."
"My dream has come true and it's unbelievable," she added. | A former bar worker from Cornwall has won Germany's version of Britain's Got Talent. | 38420950 |
Vergara told ABC's Good Morning America that her ex was taking advantage of her.
"I don't think it's fair," she said.
Meanwhile on NBC's Today Show, Loeb spoke of "moral, legal, ethical concepts" concerning lives "that we've already created".
Loeb has taken legal action to gain control over two embryos he and Vergara created in 2013 through in vitro fertilisation, before they split up.
He wants a surrogate to carry and give birth to them, and to raise the children himself.
However, a contract the couple signed states the embryos can be brought to term only with both parties' consent.
"I really want to make this like the last time I talk about it," the 42-year-old actress said.
She blamed the media for bringing attention to Loeb, saying that it allowed "somebody to invent things and create press for himself."
She added, "he's not an actor. He's not a celebrity."
She added: "It shouldn't be out there for people to give their opinion when there's nothing to talk about. There's papers signed."
Loeb retorted that "two lives have already been created."
"I wouldn't just toss them aside no different than a child that had been born,'' he said.
Loeb also wrote an op-ed column about the issue in the NY Times.
"When we create embryos for the purpose of life, should we not define them as life, rather than as property?" the businessman wrote.
He said he had offered to pay all expenses and take full responsibility for raising the children.
"A woman is entitled to bring a pregnancy to term even if the man objects," he said.
Vergara, who is currently promoting her new film Hot Pursuit, is the highest paid TV actress in the US.
She has earned Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award nominations for her role as the fiesty Gloria in the sitcom. | Modern Family actress Sofia Vergara and former fiance Nick Loeb have spoken out about their frozen embryo battle on duelling morning TV show appearances. | 32629266 |
The player from second division women's side Torrelodones went to police after noticing that someone tried to sneak a mobile phone through a window.
Torrelodones had just played against Atletico at the team's Ciudad Deportiva complex outside Madrid.
Atletico Madrid describe it as a "very serious" incident.
They have opened an internal investigation and say that the club made themselves available to help the player the moment she raised her concerns.
Torrelodones released a statement supporting the player and condemned the incident, saying that it was prepared to take all necessary actions "to defend the dignity of our player" if any images became public.
The club has also demanded a public apology from Atletico. | Atletico Madrid are helping police after a player claimed someone tried to film her in the shower at the club's grounds on Sunday. | 37989659 |
Kevin Sloane was jailed for eight years over the raid at the Martin McColls branch in Newton Mearns in 2011.
He was caught after leaving his photo ID driving licence, a rental agreement, and a mask which had his DNA and the shotgun residue, in the getaway van.
The Scottish Prison Service said the 31-year-old was found dead at Castle Huntly open jail in Perth and Kinross.
A spokesman said: "Next of kin have been informed and a Fatal Accident Inquiry may be held in due course."
Sloane was jailed at the High Court in Edinburgh in July 2012 over the robbery.
The court heard that he and another man were both wearing masks when they targeted the store at 09:00 on 2 November 2011.
The Post Office section was behind a secure glass screen and a locked door.
The lock was blasted off and while Sloan held the gun, the other man grabbed the money from drawers.
Sloane admitted threatening to shoot two people and discharging a shotgun before escaping with £5,705 in cash.
The court was told that Sloane, who was from Paisley, Renfrewshire, had agreed to carry out the robbery to clear a drugs debt. | A man who admitted firing a shotgun during a post office robbery in East Renfrewshire has died in prison. | 35697993 |
Daniel Sanzone inflicted "catastrophic and irreversible" brain injuries on Joshua Millinson at his home in Wolverhampton in October last year.
The 23-year-old was convicted of murder on Wednesday at Birmingham Crown Court.
The court heard he has since received death threats and his prison cell had been ransacked. Mr Justice Robert Jay said Sanzone was "immature".
Joshua was in intensive care at Birmingham Children's Hospital for nearly a month after the incident before a High Court order was issued to switch off his life support machine.
More updates on this and other stories in Birmingham and the Black Country
The assaults must have caused the baby "considerable distress" and Joshua must have "cried out in pain", Mr Justice Jay said.
Sanzone was unable to accept that his partner, Joshua's mother Zoe Howell, was "no longer able to focus all her attention on you", the judge told him.
Ms Howell was cleared of child cruelty and causing or allowing Joshua's death.
The couple had split up in the days before the shaking incident on 24 October last year.
Speaking after the sentencing, Ms Howell said the sentence was not long enough.
She said: "I've lost my son and I've had to go through all this. People have been slating me for something I didn't do.
"My son was my whole world.
"I can't explain it. I just keep saying to myself I should have done more, but what could I have done?"
The court was told paramedics were called to Whitburn Close in Pendeford where they found Joshua not breathing and "floppy".
Sanzone told Joshua's mother that the "thud" she said she heard from another room was him dropping a remote control.
During the trial, jurors were told Joshua's injuries were some of the most extreme medical experts had seen.
The experts found evidence of previous injuries including a "forcible twisting of bones" from about a week prior to the shaking and rib and leg fractures that may have pre-dated previous hospital visits.
Sanzone will serve a minimum of 15 years in prison. | A father who shook his two-week-old son so violently the baby went blind and deaf has been jailed for life. | 37863786 |
The idea is for the bus lanes on Kingsway to be opened up to all traffic while the other carriageway would become large grassed areas with cycle paths.
Chris Holley, leader of the opposition at Swansea council, said the idea was "fraught with problems".
But businesses in the area have given the plans their backing.
"The plan is something different and there's nothing wrong with that, but I don't think there's been enough thought about it," Mr Holley said.
"I have serious concerns about it given the amount of traffic which is coming into the city centre.
"The idea of having a single carriageway on that road is something which is fraught with problems.
"It's not going to be some form of Central Park. The time has come for businesses in the city centre to say what they want."
The last time Kingsway was revamped was in 2009 when the controversial bendy bus was launched in the city, a move, businesses claimed, caused a drop in trade.
The changes led to one-way traffic in one direction and two-way in the other direction.
That system was scrapped in 2015 following two deaths and a number of injuries, while the bendy bus was also replaced with smaller, more economical buses.
Julie Williamson, chairwoman of Swansea's Federation of Small Businesses, said the new plans were "looking outside of the box" and she was happy people are being consulted.
She added: "It's better than it is at the moment which is disastrous. Going back 10 years, nothing could have prepared us for the awful situation then.
"In speaking to other business people, I think the majority of the plans for the city that are being suggested now really make sense.
"As long as enough thought has gone into the plans and it's safe, it will be accepted happily."
And Russell Greenslade, chief executive of Swansea Business District, welcomed any move to bring more people into the city adding: "The sooner we can get cranes into the air, the better."
Council leader Rob Stewart is spearheading the plans.
He said: "The bendy bus works left a complicated, frustrating traffic system in Swansea which damaged businesses and deterred investment. We are changing that this year.
"As part of the redevelopment of our city we will be simplifying the road network, opening up routes to shorten journey times and making it easier for people to get to where they need to go."
A consultation on the Kingsway plans runs until 10 March. | A row has broken out over £10m plans to turn half of a key Swansea city centre street into an urban park. | 39076601 |
The former international defender watched Slovakia lose in Slovenia on Saturday, providing a report for Scotland boss Gordon Strachan.
"If you allow them to get a rhythm, they can be a very effective team," Pressley told BBC Scotland.
"Slovenia were aggressive out of possession, they pressurised them and didn't allow them to settle."
Slovakia, the second seeds in World Cup qualifying Group F, also lost their opener at home to England, while Scotland have four points after the weekend draw at home to Lithuania.
"They are a team that likes to dominate the ball and Slovenia caused them problems with their intensity," said 42-year-old Pressley.
"They played at a high tempo and Slovakia didn't deal with it."
Having dropping points at Hampden, Strachan's men, like Tuesday's hosts, are under pressure early in the campaign, with England out in front after two wins.
"I wouldn't say it was must-win because of other results," said former Falkirk, Coventry City and Fleetwood Town manager Pressley. "But it's certainly a game we can't lose.
"From speaking to Gordon and his staff, the mentality is to go there and win. The mentality is to go there and impose Scotland on the game.
"A win would certainly be a great platform for the remaining fixtures in the group."
Following the draw with Lithuania, Strachan said he would "shake it up a bit" with regards his team selection.
Strachan's post-match praise for lone striker Chris Martin has attracted some flak, but Pressley, capped 32 times between 2000-06, insisted there was "no real depth" to criticism of the Fulham forward.
"Managers just don't pick a team and hope for the best, there's a lot of thought gone into it," he said.
"There are always reasons why certain players are selected - and it will be the same on Tuesday."
Pressley was part of the Scotland coaching team under George Burley and laughed off any suggestion of Strachan's position being under threat.
"He's absolutely not under pressure," he added.
"He has proved his ability over many years, so that shouldn't even be talked about.
"He is shaping a new generation of Scotland players and, in years to come, we'll see the benefit of that." | Scotland can get a positive result in Slovakia if they employ a high-tempo strategy, says Steven Pressley. | 37608443 |
Howard Skempton's Five Rings Triples will premiere at the All Saints Church in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, as part of the New Music 20x12 project.
Twenty new works - each 12 minutes in length - have been created which aim to capture the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The works feature a mixture of genres including opera, jazz and beatbox.
A number of composers from the world of of contemporary classical music including Skempton, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Sally Beamish were commissioned as part of New Music 20x12.
Premieres will take place across the UK at concert halls, arts centres, festivals and public spaces.
Trafalgar Square will host XX/XY, an "East meets West fusion of new music", composed by Liz Liew and Andy Leung as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations, on 29 January.
London 2012: Latest Olympic news, sport, features and programmes from the BBC
Composer David Bruce's commission, Fire, which will be performed in the grounds of Salisbury Cathedral on 25 May, will feature a fire artist, an ensemble of horns and "a massed community chorus".
The Warwick Arts Centre will premiere Ping! - a collaboration between composer Joe Cutler, the Coull String Quartet and the Fusion table tennis club which explores the sounds and rhythms created by the sports men and women - on 3 March.
The project will culminate with the performance of all 20 pieces over the weekend of 13-15 July at London's Southbank Centre.
All the works, which will be performed at least three times each in 2012, will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and released digitally. | A new church bell-ringing composition will bring in the new year as part of the Cultural Olympiad. | 15238082 |
Thousands of people across the country voted for 12 weeks as part of National Trust Wales' search to find the nation's most treasured place.
The Edwardian gardens scooped more than a third of the final votes and was nominated for its breathtaking landscaped gardens.
The Special Places award was won by Penarth Pier last year.
Dyffryn Gardens beat competition from Rhossili, Gower; Snowdonia; Dolaucothi Gold Mines, Carmarthenshire and Gladstone's Library, near Hawarden, Flintshire to be named the most special place. | Dyffryn Gardens in the Vale of Glamorgan has been voted as the most special place in Wales. | 33815349 |
Denbighshire-born Michael Crowley-Milling helped invent the world's first computer touch screen and died in 2012.
The 95-year-old's will left his wealth "within the UK" to The Royal Society - but almost half the cash was in Jersey and Isle of Man accounts.
The High Court ruled he had confused the British Isles and the UK.
The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, whilst part of the British Isles, are not part of the United Kingdom.
Mr Crowley-Milling's family laid claim to his offshore £1m, when the mistake in the will was discovered.
They argued that such a brilliant man must have known what he was doing when he had the will drafted and had clearly wanted the cash to go to them.
It was said he made that move because he had "fallen out" with The Royal Society in his Autumn years, over the charity's stance on climate change.
Lawyers for The Royal Society insisted that he must have wanted it to have to have the £1m and had made a simple geographical error.
"Lawyers may understand perfectly well the technical meaning of the term 'UK'," Mr Justice Nugee said.
"But there is no evidence that laymen - even highly intelligent laymen - would have grasped the difference between the UK, Great Britain and the British Isles."
He added: "I am entirely satisfied that Mr Crowley-Milling did intend to include the offshore accounts in his will."
Mr Crowley-Milling played key roles in developing particle acceleration and the touch screen technology that paved the way for smart phones and tablets.
Born in St Asaph, he later divided his time between homes in Yorkshire and Switzerland.
But his fortune was mostly made up of the £2m he made from selling his vintage Alfa Romeo sports car. | An error in geography by a scientist has ended with a charity winning a legal battle for half his £2m fortune. | 34942390 |
Pressure had been mounting on Inacio after the Cairo club missed out on the semi-finals of this season's African Champions League.
Their draw with Al Ahly Tripoli signalled their fate in Africa's premier club competition.
Zamalek also lost to Lebanon's Al-Ahed in the Arab Championship this week.
Zamalek need to be more stable, the coaches must have enough time
That defeat placed more pressure on 62-year-old Inacio with Zamalek's president, Mortada Mansour, summoning the Portuguese coach to a meeting.
There were subsequent claims that the coach had been detained at the club and was prevented from leaving, claims which Zamalek vehemently denied.
Another meeting followed, after which Zamalek announced that a financial agreement had been reached to terminate Inacio's contract.
On leaving Mansour's office, Inacio confirmed to reporters that he was departing the club.
"I have ended my contract with Zamalek. Now I become one of the team's fans," Inacio said.
"I wanted my time with the club to be better but that did not happen.
"Zamalek need to be more stable, the coaches must have enough time. The players must be more professional and do their best," Inacio added. | Portuguese coach Augusto Inacio has been sacked by Egyptian giants Zamalek after less than four months in charge of the side. | 40747566 |
The governing VMRO-DPMNE party secured 51 out of 120 seats in parliament in Sunday's election, according to preliminary results.
The opposition social democrats (SDSM) took 49 seats, the state election commission said on Monday.
The result was expected to be close, with both parties earlier claiming victory.
With just two more seats than the SDSM, the result provides the VMRO-DPMNE party with a very fragile parliamentary majority.
Of the 123 seats in Macedonia's assembly, 120 are elected from six 20-seat constituencies in Macedonia through proportional representation. The remaining three are single-member constituencies representing Macedonians living abroad - these are elected by a first-past-the-post system.
A coalition with smaller parties will need to be formed to create a governing coalition.
The polls passed without incident, but the political uncertainty in Macedonia was highlighted when rival parties earlier declared victory.
Supporters of both parties took to the streets in celebration prior to Monday's announcement of the final distribution of parliamentary seats.
Vlatko Gjorcev, a senior official in Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's party, told supporters at the group's headquarters: "We won once again. Tonight, today on December 11, the 10th victory in a row."
Meanwhile SDSM leader Zoran Zaev, quoted by AFP news agency, told a cheering crowd. "We are the winners!"
The result was expected to be close, with Monday's papers from both sides predicting a win.
"Tightest difference ever," read the pro-government Dnevnik newspaper headline, adding: "VMRO-DPMNE's 10th victory."
But a headline from the pro-opposition Sloboden Pecat read: "The government in Skopje has fallen."
There were no exit polls for Sunday's election, which was called two years early as part of a Western-brokered agreement to end a paralysing political crisis. | Macedonia's governing conservatives have won the country's closely-fought parliamentary elections, officials say. | 38288433 |
20 February 2017 Last updated at 07:38 GMT
A total of 400,000 windmills have been used to make shapes of hearts, flowers and circles.
Tens of thousands of roses have also been planted alongside the windmills.
Lots of visitors have been enjoying the colourful display in Chengdu City. | Thousands of plastic windmills have been laid out to make an amazing display in China. | 39025667 |
Judges in the court's Grand Chamber said they would hear arguments that the failed bombers had an unfair trial.
The men, each jailed for life for the botched 21 July 2005 attacks, say their convictions are unfair because police interviewed them without a lawyer.
Judges will also re-examine England's law on life sentences without parole.
In the separate case, Arthur Hutchison, who was convicted of burglary, rape and three counts of murder, is challenging a decision to jail him for life without the possibility of parole.
The failed bombers had targeted three London Underground trains and a bus - in an attempted repeat of the 7/7 attacks of two weeks earlier - but their devices failed to explode.
Because the bombs did not explode, police were able to recover forensic material from the scenes, while CCTV images of the bombers were also available.
Ramzi Mohammed, Muktar Said Ibrahim and Yassin Omar were each found guilty of conspiracy to murder and sentenced to minimum terms of 40 years' imprisonment.
However, the three failed bombers say their human rights were breached because statements they made to police without lawyers present were used as evidence.
Police have the power to carry out so-called "safety interviews" of terrorism suspects where there is an urgent need to establish if there is any danger to the public, such as from an unexploded bomb.
The bombers were later convicted following a trial, which included their own admissions that they built the bombs.
In a statement, the European Court of Human Rights said that the Grand Chamber would consider whether the men's initial interviews led to a breach of a right to a fair trial - even though a lower chamber of the court had already dismissed such a claim.
The decisions by the Grand Chamber to review these two very controversial cases gets to the heart of the tension between London and Strasbourg - a relationship that is as political as it is legal and constitutional.
Ministers and judges have been at loggerheads for years over the lawfulness of whole-life orders in England.
So if Strasbourg rules in Hutchinson's favour, it will inevitably embolden those who are lobbying the prime minister not only to create a British bill of rights, but also to withdraw from the European Convention at the same time.
The 21/7 case looked - on paper at least - to have no chance of a hearing, but the bombers will get another chance in court, although the process could take many months.
Even if the European Court does rule in their favour - and that is a very big if - it cannot quash their convictions.
Hartlepool-born Hutchinson was jailed for stabbing Basil and Avril Laitner to death after breaking into their Sheffield home on the night of their daughter's wedding in 1983. He also killed one of their sons.
The judge in his 1984 trial at Sheffield Crown Court said he should serve 18 years but Home Secretary Leon Brittan later ruled he should face a whole-life tariff.
Hutchison argues that the "whole-life order" sentence amounts to inhuman or degrading treatment and breaches the European Convention on Human Rights.
His challenge was rejected by the Court of Appeal in London seven years ago.
The Grand Chamber's decision to review the case comes after three years of tension between the government and Strasbourg over whole-life orders.
In 2013, the European judges said in a separate but related case that the sentence breached human rights because prisoners could not seek a review, even after decades inside.
But earlier this year, they reversed that decision in Hutchinson's case, declaring that British judges had now clarified that prisoners could indeed ask to be released in exceptional circumstances.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman defended the sentences, saying people who commit "the most heinous crimes" should face the prospect of spending the rest of their lives behind bars. | Senior judges at the European Court of Human Rights are to examine the case of three men jailed over the 21/7 plot to bomb the London transport network. | 32997694 |
First rule: don't get involved. Second rule: if you must get involved, pick a side. Third rule: make sure your side wins.
US President Barack Obama ran foul of the rules when he supported David Cameron in the UK's EU Referendum in June. Mr Cameron lost.
The president is now taking his second bet of the year on a European ally. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has called a constitutional referendum on 4 December.
"As you fight for this cause of reform, know that we stand with you," said Mr Obama during the Italian leader's visit to the White House on Tuesday.
Mr Renzi said: "If we win the December referendum it will be easier for Italy to carry on the battle to change the EU."
The two men's affection for one another was clear. Each is a centre-left politician, facing opposition from rising populist movements.
But the prime minister's opponents in Italy concluded that the president's support was a jinx.
Katya Adler: Renzi's Brexit blues and risky referendum
Italy's constitutional conundrum
Beppe Grillo, leader of the populist opposition Five Star Movement, said: "Our country is dying and those responsible for governing go to the other side of the world to film a pro-Yes spot for the referendum.
"Every day that passes without the Five Star Movement in power is one more day of agony for Italians."
Italy's referendum is about power and who gets to wield it. Mr Renzi wants more of it for the elected government, as a way of reforming a political system he considers to be outdated and overcomplicated.
Mr Renzi proposes two specific changes: to simplify law-making by stripping Italy's upper house, the Senate, of most of its powers; and to give the elected government in Rome decision-making powers currently held by regions. He's threatened to resign if he loses (a threat that he's slowly begun to retract).
His opponents say the referendum is a simple power-grab. Prominent Italian politicians, including the two most recent prime ministers, Mario Monti and Silvio Berlusconi, have announced their decision to vote No.
Now Mr Obama has weighed in with his endorsement.
"How do you interpret the [Obama] endorsement?" wrote Paolo Pombeni, a journalist for Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper.
"It is the symbol of an American judgement of Italy's fragility. The US government thinks that political stability - and hence also economic and social cohesion - is at risk."
Current opinion polls show a race that is too close to call. Every vote will count. Well, apart from any cast from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. | There are three rules when it comes to getting involved in other countries' civil wars, and they apply to elections too. | 37702921 |
It was one of the bloodiest events of World War One - with 4,000 Welsh soldiers killed or injured on the first day, 31 July 1917.
Among them was Welsh poet Hedd Wyn.
The 38th (Welsh) Division played a central role in the battle, capturing key positions on the ridge at Pilckem.
By the end of the battle - also known as the Third Battle of Ypres - half a million men had died from both sides, with Allied forces having advanced just five miles (8km) in three months.
Events in and around what became known as the Ypres Salient started at dawn on Monday, as a memorial ceremony marking "Zero hour" was held at the Welsh memorial in Langemark.
It was where men from the 38th Division - which was made up entirely of Welsh soldiers - went over the top, with orders to capture Pilckem Ridge, the high ground held by heavily reinforced German troops.
During that assault, three Welsh Victoria Crosses were won.
But by 11:00, Hedd Wyn had died at a dressing station at Hagebos, without knowing he had won the highest prize at that year's National Eisteddfod - the chair.
A ceremony to remember him, and the Irish poet Francis Ledwidge, who was killed on the same day, was held at Artillery Wood Cemetery in Langemark on Monday morning.
It was followed by a UK ceremony at the Tyne Cot Cemetery near Passchendaele itself, the largest Commonwealth war grave in the world.
Prince Charles, Prince William and Prime Minister Theresa May were among those at that ceremony to pay tribute to those who died.
Prince Charles later joined the service to remember the Welsh fallen, giving a reading in English and Welsh, before laying a wreath.
Wales football manager Chris Coleman also addressed the congregation.
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns, and the leaders of all the Welsh political parties, as well as descendants of those who were killed, also attended the service.
The speeches and readings were delivered in front of the 9ft (2.7m) dragon sculpture, which honours the Welsh men who fought in the conflict.
Mr Jones said: “It is a great privilege to be back in Langemark for this important occasion.
“It has been three years since the memorial was unveiled and it offers us a fitting place to pay tribute and reflect on the sacrifices of all those who took part in the Third Battle of Ypres 100 years ago.
“In this peaceful spot today, it is hard to imagine the horrors of war faced by our soldiers and the agonising wait of families back home who might not know the fate of loved ones for many months.”
A new memorial to the fallen Welsh soldiers was blessed at the end of the service. Seven stones show the cap badges of five Welsh Regiments and two Welsh Divisions involved in the battle.
The day ended with performances from the choir, Cor Rygbi Gogledd Cymru, and Welsh singer Rhys Meirion at the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres.
The gate records the names of another 54,395 missing and dead in the conflict who were never found.
It comes after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended a service on Sunday evening, accompanied by the band of the Welsh Guards.
“When you see these 54,000 names that are carved into the wall, you realise that they couldn’t find them. It’s amazing,” said Welsh tenor Meirion.
“It is a stadium full when you think about it. It puts things in perspective and it is very difficult.” | The Prince of Wales and First Minister Carwyn Jones have joined up to 1,000 people in Flanders, Belgium, for the Welsh centenary memorial of the Battle of Passchendaele. | 40756468 |
Mae papur briffio gafodd ei yrru gan Brifysgol Cymru Y Drindod Dewi Sant i'r llywodraeth ym mis Medi yn dweud: "Mae angen buddsoddiad cyhoeddus yng nghynllun Yr Egin y brifysgol er mwyn cael gwared â'r bwlch ariannol."
Ym mis Hydref, dywedodd Ysgrifennydd yr Economi, Ken Skates wrth ACau ei fod yn "siomedig" bod bwlch ariannol wedi ymddangos.
Mae'r brifysgol wedi gwadu na dyna oedd yr achos, gan ddweud nad oes bwlch ariannol wedi ymddangos yn y cynllun busnes.
Fe wnaeth y brifysgol ofyn am arian cyhoeddus bythefnos ar ôl i S4C gael gwybod bod y cynllun yn datblygu yn ôl y disgwyl.
Daeth ar ôl i'r brifysgol ddweud bod y cynllun yn cael ei "reoli'n effeithiol".
Fe wnaeth prif weithredwr S4C, Ian Jones, ysgrifennu at Is-ganghellor y brifysgol yn croesawu "sicrwydd bod costau'r cynllun yn parhau i gael eu rheoli'n effeithiol".
Roedd y brifysgol hefyd wedi dweud wrth Lywodraeth Cymru bod tua 65 o staff S4C a'r BBC yn symud i'r Egin.
Dywedodd BBC Cymru nad oedd unrhyw gytundeb o'r fath wedi ei gadarnhau a bod trafodaethau yn parhau.
Dywedodd llefarydd ar ran S4C mai'r brifysgol oedd yn gyfrifol am adeiladu ac ariannu Yr Egin.
Dywedodd llefarydd ar ran Prifysgol Cymru Y Drindod Dewi Sant: "Nid oes bwlch ariannol wedi ymddangos yng nghynllun busnes Yr Egin ers i S4C ei dderbyn."
Ychwanegodd bod yr Awdurdod yn "llwyr ymwybodol o'r ffaith y byddai'r brifysgol yn gwneud cais drwy sianelau allanol am arian tuag at ddatblygu clwstwr creadigol yng Nghaerfyrddin".
Dywedodd y llefarydd hefyd y "byddai'n anodd iawn deall pam y byddai cynllun trawsnewidiol allweddol fel hwn yng Ngorllewin Cymru, a fyddai'n gwireddu amcanion strategol clir yn Symud Cymru Ymlaen, yn cael ei wrthod, yn enwedig o gofio bod yr argymhellion yn rhoi sylw teilwng i'r holl risgiau ariannol terfynol". | Fe wnaeth y brifysgol y tu ôl i bencadlys newydd S4C, Yr Egin, ddweud wrth Lywodraeth Cymru y byddai angen arian cyhoeddus, fis yn unig cyn gwadu bod bwlch ariannol. | 38924652 |
The Northern Ireland international, 26, joined North End in June 2014 following his release by Rangers but has been restricted to eight starts.
Little has yet to make an appearance for the Lilywhites this season after their promotion to the Championship.
"I've had a frustrating season so far, being fit and champing at the bit," he told the club website.
He joins a Tangerines side that sit in the final relegation place in League One and is available for their game at Southend on Saturday.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | League One side Blackpool have signed Preston striker Andy Little on loan until 2 January. | 34846949 |
Just over half of the protected area will be closed to fishing.
The fishery in the other half will be policed under a grant of £300,000 from the Louis Bacon Foundation, a charitable body.
It is the latest marine reserve to be declared around remote islands, which will increase marine conservation zones to about 2% of the ocean.
That remains a far cry from the 30% recommended by scientists to preserve species and expand fish stocks, but is much more than just a few years ago.
Governments have designated marine parks at Palau in the North Pacific, Easter Island and Pitcairn in the South Pacific, and New Zealand's Kermadec islands, in what has become a landmark year for ocean conservation.
The latest reserve at Ascension Island is said to hold some of the largest marlin in the world, one of the largest populations of green turtles, big colonies of tropical seabirds and the island's own unique frigate bird.
The reserve totals 234,291 sq km, slightly less than the size of the United Kingdom. It could be ready for formal designation as soon as 2017, once further data has been collected and analysed.
Dr Judith Brown, director of fisheries and marine conservation for Ascension Island government, said: "The economic benefit from the fishery has provided much-needed income for the island.
"This donation will help fund the enforcement to protect the closed area from illegal fishing."
The Great British Oceans Coalition, which includes the Blue Marine Foundation and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, has been campaigning since 2014 for the designation of all or part of Ascension's waters.
Charles Clover, Blue Marine Foundation chairman, said: "Ascension has been at the frontiers of science since Charles Darwin went there in the 19th Century, so it is entirely appropriate that it is now at the centre of a great scientific effort to design the Atlantic's largest marine reserve."
An accident of colonial history has left the UK and France with huge potential to safeguard marine life around remote oceanic islands.
The Conservative party promised in its 2015 manifesto to create a "blue belt" of protected ocean round the UK's Overseas Territories.
The commitment was described by Tory MP Zac Goldsmith as "the biggest conservation commitment by any government ever, pledging to protect an area of ocean three-and-a-half times the size of Britain".
Follow Roger on Twitter @rharrabin | The government is to create a marine reserve almost as big as the UK in the Atlantic waters of Ascension Island. | 35216313 |
Justin Trudeau's communications chief, Kate Purchase, said Fox was "spreading misinformation" with the tweet, which was based on early reports.
Six Muslim worshippers were shot dead as they prayed and 19 others wounded.
French-Canadian student Alexandre Bissonette was subsequently charged. Fox News has apologised for the tweet.
"FoxNews.com initially corrected the misreported information with a tweet and an update to the story on Monday," managing director Refet Kaplan told the BBC.
"The earlier tweets have now been deleted. We regret the error."
"Suspect in Quebec mosque terror attack was of Moroccan origin, reports show," the offending tweet had said.
Some early reports had in fact said that one of two men arrested was of Moroccan origin but the man was later deemed to be a witness and released without charge.
Fox's story was updated to reflect this but the news organisation did not, at first, remove its tweet. The Fox News Twitter account has 13m followers.
Kate Purchase tweeted Fox asking it to "either retract or update the tweet to reflect the suspect's actual identity".
"We need to remain focused on keeping our communities safe and united instead of trying to build walls and scapegoat communities," she added.
After the tweet was removed, she responded on Twitter: "Thank you @FoxNews for deleting the tweet. We appreciate it." | Fox News has removed a tweet saying a suspect in the Quebec mosque attack was of Moroccan origin, after a request by the Canadian prime minister's office. | 38821804 |
The Hang Seng index closed up 2.7% at 26,944.39, its highest closing level since January 2008.
The surge in interest was triggered by Beijing's move last month to let mutual funds invest in Hong Kong through the connect plan.
The Shanghai Composite ended down 0.9%.
The mainland index closed at 3,957.53 as investors rushed to buy relatively cheaper Hong Kong shares.
Chinese investors had used the entire 10.5bn yuan ($1.69bn) daily investment quota for buying Hong Kong stocks under the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect scheme for a second day.
Shares in the rest of Asia were mixed despite a rise in US markets on Wednesday.
Investor sentiment remained cautious following the latest committee minutes from the Federal Reserve, which showed the central bank was split over when to raise interest rates.
Japan's Nikkei 225 closed up 0.75% at 19,937.72, edging closer to the key threshold of 20,000 which was last seen in 2000.
Analysts said the psychologically important level was likely to be hit soon.
Shares in Asia's biggest clothing retailer, Japan's Fast Retailing, closed up nearly 2% after it raised its annual profit forecast by 20% on Thursday.
The owner of Uniqlo, which has been expanding aggressively overseas, said its net income would be 120bn yen ($998m) for the year ending in August, up from its previous forecast of 100bn yen.
The company's profits were boosted by sales outside Japan.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 0.48% at 5,932.20 as a result of falling oil prices, which analysts said would affect the energy sector.
US-based oil and gas giant, Apache, said it was selling its Australian operations for $2.1bn (£1.4bn) as it shifts its focus back to North America.
"Following the sale of our Australian assets, about 70% of Apache's production will come from North America onshore," said the firm's chief executive, John Christmann.
South Korea's benchmark Kospi index closed down 0.02% at 2,058.87.
After a surprise cut in March, South Korea's central bank said on Thursday it would hold its interest rates steady.
The decision was not unanimous, however, and analysts suggested that the bank's easing cycle was not over. | Hong Kong shares surged to seven-year highs on Thursday as mainland Chinese investors poured money into the market via the new stock connect trading link. | 32229222 |
An official with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said the spread of the disease across the country made it very difficult to control.
The West African state is facing a battle to contain the outbreak after cases were reported in areas that are hundreds of kilometres apart.
Ebola is spread by close contact and kills between 25% and 90% of victims.
"We are facing an epidemic of a magnitude never before seen in terms of the distribution of cases," Mariano Lugli, a co-ordinator in Guinea for the aid group said.
"This geographical spread is worrisome because it will greatly complicate the tasks of the organisations working to control the epidemic," Mr Lugli added.
The outbreak of Ebola had centred around Guinea's remote south-eastern region of Nzerekore but it took the authorities six weeks to identify the disease.
It has now spread to neighbouring Liberia, as well as Guinea's capital, Conakry, which has a population of two million people.
Senegalese singer Youssou Ndour cancelled a concert in Conakry on Saturday because of the outbreak.
Although he had already travelled to the city, he told the BBC it would not be a good idea to bring hundreds or thousands of people together in an enclosed area.
Figures released overnight by Guinea's health ministry showed that there had been 78 deaths from 122 cases of suspected Ebola since January, up from 70.
Of these, there were 22 laboratory confirmed cases of Ebola, the ministry said.
Liberia has recorded a total of seven suspected and confirmed cases, including four deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
Liberia's Health Minister Walter Gwenigale on Monday warned people to stop having sex because the virus was spread via bodily fluids.
This was in addition to existing advice to stop shaking hands and kissing.
The BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, says residents are increasingly concerned and many supermarket workers are wearing gloves as a precaution.
The first two Liberians confirmed as dying from Ebola were sisters, one of whom had recently returned from Guinea.
Sierra Leone has also reported five suspected cases, none of which have been confirmed yet, while Senegal, another neighbour of Guinea's, has closed its land border.
Outbreaks of Ebola occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests, WHO says. | The Ebola outbreak that has killed 78 people in Guinea is "unprecedented", a medical charity has said. | 26825869 |
Angela Wrightson was subjected to a brutal assault in her Hartlepool home by the girls, then aged 13 and 14.
Speaking to ITV Tyne Tees, her niece Rachel Tresidder said the family wanted to bring in "Angie's Law".
The law would give more power to police and social services to intervene if a vulnerable person was being exploited.
Ms Wrightson, who was an alcoholic, sometimes invited young people into her home to drink and smoke.
Neighbours reported her sometimes becoming distressed if she felt they were trying to take advantage of her.
Angie's Law would work in a similar way to non-molestation orders currently issued in domestic violence cases to prevent contact between abusers and victims, Ms Wrighton's family said.
They have called for police and social services to be able to issue them on the spot when they see a vulnerable adult being harassed in their own home.
Ms Wrightson's two attackers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, subjected her to a brutal and degrading attack over a period of hours.
They were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 15 years.
Ms Tresidder described her aunt as "lovely" and "funny" and said the family had difficulty coming to terms with the nature of her death.
In a separate interview, the mother of one of the girls told with ITV Tyne Tees on Thursday that she had "begged for help" with her daughter. | The family of a woman who was tortured to death by two teenage girls has called for a new law to protect vulnerable people. | 36465152 |
The charges against her have been upgraded to "joint perpetrator of murder", according to Interfax.
She will be tried in a border town in southern Russia, her lawyer tweeted.
The pilot was captured during fighting with Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine and has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance to Russia.
She was previously charged with being an accessory to murder, in relation to the deaths of two Russian TV journalists in a mortar attack in the rebel-held Luhansk area of Ukraine.
However, Russian Investigations Committee official spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax that her actions had been "reassessed".
"She will now be tried not as an accessory but as a joint perpetrator of the murder of two or more persons by means (of) posing danger to the public, motivated by hatred towards a social group and carried out by a group of persons acting in collusion," he said.
The alleged crime carries a maximum life sentence, but Russia does not give life sentences to women, so Ms Savchenko faces a 25-year jail term.
The pilot, who was previously on hunger strike for 83 days in protest at her detention, has denied the charges. The EU and Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly called for her release.
The Ukrainian government says Ms Savchenko was abducted by pro-Russian separatists and handed over to the Russian authorities.
But Russia says she crossed the border herself, posing as a refugee.
Ukraine pilot in middle of media war | A Ukrainian military pilot, Nadia Savchenko, who has been held in Russia since June 2014, faces a 25-year prison term, according to reports. | 33512866 |
The council is due to elect its new leader next Thursday.
Jamie Adams, former leader and member of the Independent Plus Political Group (IPPG), has removed his name from the contest.
The IPPG has led the council since 1996 but lost 20 councillors in the local elections earlier this month.
Mr Simpson stepped down from Pembrokeshire's cabinet and left the IPPG in 2014 over disagreements about the way the group was being run by Mr Adams.
He said at the time it was the efforts of Rob Lewis to derail the investigatory committee into former chief executive Bryn Parry Jones which led to his resignation.
Mr Simpson has already won the backing of the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative members in his leadership bid. | Unaffiliated councillor David Simpson is on course to become the new leader of Pembrokeshire county council, after his only opponent withdrew. | 39965036 |
Thousands of caterpillars have covered a bush with the giant nest beside the city's Wickes store.
Visitors from as far away as Motherwell have travelled to see the unusual sight.
The creatures feed on cherry trees, hawthorn and blackthorn and build the webs to ward off predators.
One onlooker said he "hadn't seen anything like it in 50 years", with another calling it "creepy, scary and amazing",
The store has now cordoned off the web to protect it, with a company spokeswoman saying it was "in the process of finding out more." | A 30ft-long caterpillar web beside a Stirling DIY store has been cordoned off after becoming a tourist attraction. | 36399909 |
The Dumfries and Galloway authority said this week it was no closer to agreement over the items' future.
A spokeswoman for NMS said it believed it had put forward a "mutually beneficial and positive proposal".
The Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel (SAFAP) is to meet to discuss the hoard's future on 23 March.
The treasure was discovered by a metal detectorist in Galloway in 2014.
Dumfries and Galloway Council wants to house it in a new art gallery being built in Kirkcudbright.
NMS is also bidding for the artefacts and a spokeswoman said it had been in talks with the local authority since last summer.
"We have proposed a collaborative approach which guarantees the long-term display of a significant and representative portion, and, for specific periods of time, all of the Galloway hoard in Kirkcudbright Art Gallery," she said.
"It is disappointing that the council has not accepted what we believe is a mutually-beneficial and positive proposal."
She said the hoard was of "considerable national and international significance" and they had applied to acquire it "on behalf of the nation".
"As part of our proposals, NMS would take on the significant obligations of ensuring it is conserved, fully researched and appropriately cared for in the long term," she said.
"The hoard would also be shared widely with the public through display in Dumfries and Galloway, across Scotland and the rest of the UK and internationally."
South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has urged the Scottish government to intervene to allow the hoard to be housed in Kirkcudbright.
"The council are right to be sceptical over any offer from NMS," he said.
"When they closed the Museum of Costume at Shambellie House we were promised all sorts from them in terms of local exhibitions and that hasn't really materialised."
He said it was up to the government to show that NMS was interested in "more than the central belt".
"Having a display of such international importance permanently on display in the region will allow us to market the exhibition properly, which you won't be able to do if it is left up to NMS to decide if and when any part of the hoard is displayed locally," he said.
"Displaying the hoard in Kirkcudbright would also be a huge boost to the local economy by attracting more visitors which you simply wouldn't get if the hoard is on display in Edinburgh, lost among the many other displays". | National Museums Scotland has voiced disappointment at a council's stance over their bids to house a Viking treasure hoard. | 39205524 |
The two-year-old was being rushed from Warwick Hospital to Horton Hospital in Banbury with suspected meningitis and was not strapped in, her family said.
The vehicle left the road at high speed near Banbury, Oxfordshire, resting at the bottom of a steep bank, they said.
West Midlands Ambulance Service is carrying out an internal investigation.
The child's grandfather, Bill Robison, from Radford Semele in Warwickshire, said she was now in intensive care at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
Updates on this story and more from Coventry and Warwickshire
The girl was "gravely ill" at the time and Mr Robison said on Friday he did not wish to criticise the ambulance service for what happened.
The mother and daughter suffered bruising in the crash, which happened at about 03:30 GMT on Thursday.
Mr Robison said he believed the two medics were also injured, with one suffering a head injury.
"We don't really know exactly what happened as my daughter is concentrating on her daughter right now but, they were travelling fast, but I'm sure within the limit, on the motorway, just before junction 11, and suddenly heard 'a clonk'," he said.
"It left the road, went down the embankment and rolled several times.
An ambulance spokesman said a response crew was sent to the scene and arrived within ten minutes. The injured crew were taken to Warwick Hospital as a precaution.
The driver was unhurt while the ambulance attendant, who was travelling in the back with the patient, had minor abrasions.
The spokesman added that it was not known if blue lights were being used on the ambulance at the time because the roads would have been quiet.
"The use of lights and sirens will form part of the investigation," he said.
The service would not comment as to whether the girl was strapped in. | An ambulance carrying a critically ill toddler and her mother crashed on the M40, rolling down an embankment before being found by a passing motorist. | 35612012 |
His family said in statement that he died peacefully while being treated for Parkinson's disease.
Mr Khashoggi became one of the world's richest men in the 1970s and '80s by brokering international arms deals.
His parties were legendary, often lasting for days, but there was also controversy about his business.
A statement from the family on Tuesday said: "He lived his last days surrounded by his devoted family, children and grandchildren, with the same elegance, strength and dignity that characterised his remarkable life. He is survived by his wife Lamia.
"AK was a pioneer who achieved global recognition in a golden age through his extraordinary business achievements and renowned generosity. Our father understood the art of bringing people together better than anyone.
"He combined commercial acumen with an over-riding loyalty to his country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. His work always furthered the interests of his country."
He most famously brokered arms deals between US firms and Saudi Arabia in the 1960s and '70s, when he worked closely with the Lockheed Corporation, now Lockheed Martin.
Later, Mr Khashoggi represented France in its race against the UK to secure the initial $20bn al-Yamamah weapons-for-oil deal with the Saudis - a contract that still runs today.
The nature of his business meant that there was always controversy, and in 1987 he appeared on the front cover of Time magazine under the headline: "Those Shadowy Arms Traders: Adnan Khashoggi's High Life and Flashy Deals".
He spent time in a Swiss prison in the 1980s - where he reportedly dined on gourmet food from the Schweizerhof Hotel - fighting extradition to the US after being accused of helping to conceal funds on behalf of former Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos and his shoe-loving wife, Imelda.
The charges were reduced, and he and Mrs Marcos were eventually acquitted.
Mr Khashoggi once owned one of the world's largest yachts, the 86-metre Nabila, which appeared in the James Bond film Never Say Never Again.
When his business empire ran into financial difficulty, he handed the yacht to the Sultan of Brunei who sold it on to Donald Trump, now president of the US, for a reported $29m in the 1980s.
In 1997, a Paris court ordered him to pay a $1.6m fine for smuggling 37 paintings into France in 1986, bought in from the US on his private jet.
And in 1998, the casino at London's Ritz Hotel settled out of court its lawsuit against Mr Khashoggi for £8m of gambling debts.
The businessman, whose late sister Samira was married to former Harrods chief Mohamed Al Fayed, was an uncle of Princess Diana's final love, Dodi Fayed.
Adnan Khashoggi was the embodiment of the extraordinary riches that the petrodollar brought to his homeland, Saudi Arabia - although his fortune was made in arms deals rather than oil.
Khashoggi was born in Mecca. His father's position as personal doctor to King Ibn Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, brought him into early proximity to the royal court.
Through his vast reserve of contacts and a series of massive international arms deals in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, he ended up rivalling the Saudi royal family for glittering wealth and extravagance.
His parties were legendary, featuring a cast of celebrities, glamorous women and fellow tycoons. But a series of scandals - political and financial - not only tarnished his reputation but greatly diminished his fortune.
He ended his days as a distant shadow of the flamboyant showman and inveterate dealmaker he once was. | Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, a billionaire businessman known for his lavish lifestyle, has died in London at the age of 82. | 40180931 |
Two men, one of whom was armed with a gun, the other with a crowbar, threatened the van driver in the Riverside Retail Park on Saturday afternoon.
They made off with a cash box.
The man has been charged with robbery and possession of a firearm with intent. He is due to appear at Coleraine Magistrates Court later. | A 25-year-old man has been charged following an armed robbery of a cash-in-transit van in Coleraine. | 33585078 |
Now, some of these figures will be plucked out of the air, but some of them will be based on serious economic modelling - carried out by folk with brains the size of planets, most likely swimming around in think tanks.
Should you believe all of them, some of them or none of them and how do you know which to treasure and which to discard?
No, they're a bit more realistic than that. But not much.
A lot of people trying to decide whether to vote to leave the European Union or stay in want to know what would happen if the UK left.
And the trouble is that we don't know.
Honestly we don't. And anyone who tells you they do is lying.
Among the key questions to which we don't know the answers are what sort of trade deals the UK would manage to do after leaving, how long they would take to negotiate, how much of the UK's contribution to the EU Budget would be saved, what that saved money would be spent on, whether the regulations that the UK government devised to replace the EU ones were better than the EU ones and what effect all that had on the economy.
There are also more subtle effects on the economy that are even harder to measure such as whether a Brexit would create some sort of feelgood factor in the UK economy, or the opposite.
Yes it is. Remember the Budget? The Office for Budget Responsibility, which does the forecasts that the government bases its decisions on, made really big changes to the predictions it had made for the economy only about four months before. And that was without a really major event such as leaving the EU to cloud its predictions.
Also, that was looking at what will happen in four or five years, while the EU questions has ramifications for decades, during which the global economy could change beyond recognition.
The PwC report commissioned by the CBI concluded that the cost of Brexit could be as much as 5% of GDP and 950,000 jobs by 2020, figures heartily disputed by the Leave side. How would they have worked that out?
The way it works is that you build a model to predict the future based largely on how particular things happening in the past have affected the economy.
For example, your model will be programmed for what effect the pound being weaker or stronger against the euro would have on the economy, or what effect an increase in tariffs on particular exports or imports would have.
If you plug in all the right numbers to start with then it might do, but this is where the problems start.
Because in order to work the model you have to make some assumptions in order to have the figures to put in.
You need to take a view of what trade deals would be done and when, what difference it would make to trade, whether the pound would fall and a whole host of other variables.
And the numbers you come out with at the end are enormously sensitive to these assumptions. The margin of error on such forecasts would generally completely dwarf the effects they were trying to identify, if people bothered to try to quantify it.
George Box, one of the greatest statisticians of the 20th Century, said: "All models are wrong, but some are useful."
While the numbers may be of little value, the direction the models predict and some of the assumptions they make are quite interesting.
Friday's report from the Centre for Economic Performance said that leaving would be bad for the economy, predicting falling trade because of rising non-tariff barriers to British goods.
How big a hit the economy would take, whether it's the equivalent of £850 per household in its "optimistic" scenario, £1,700 in its pessimistic one, or between £4,200 and £6,400 per household in the long term is less important.
That's the tricky question.
Look at how well-respected the people conducting the research are. Look at who has commissioned it and who is paying for it.
If it's been commissioned by organisations campaigning for one side or the other then you could reasonably be a bit suspicious of its findings.
But that's not necessarily a firm rule. A well-funded, independent group can be just as wrong as a biased one.
"People are not necessarily wrong because they're biased any more than they're necessarily right because they're rich," says Will Moy, director of the fact-checking organisation Full Fact.
Also, be a bit careful with the question of EU funding. Lots of research organisations bid to do some work for the EU and many universities receive some funding from the EU. Almost none can say they have never received any European money, but it doesn't necessarily mean they are in favour of staying in the union.
Then have a look at the assumptions they are making, what they are predicting will happen and whether it seems too pessimistic or optimistic.
In particular, make sure the organisation is clarifying what assumptions it has made and how the model works. If not, don't believe it.
And remember there's also the option to decide that you don't care what even the finest economists predict, or even that you don't think the economic impact is the most important thing about EU membership.
READ MORE: The facts behind claims in the EU debate | As the EU referendum campaign continues you will be seeing lots of headlines about how much Brexit would cost or benefit the UK economy, or indeed how much staying in will cost the economy. | 35862618 |
A review - led by former NHS anti-fraud boss Jim Gee - highlighted fraud by pharmacists, dentists, GPs and patients.
Among the areas it found to be affected were procurement, prescriptions, registration of patients and payroll.
The government said the report was "highly speculative" and "full of inconsistencies".
To work out how much fraud is being committed, the review had to rely on estimates as well as detected fraud.
It said the level of fraud was likely to be between £3.7bn and £5.7bn a year, out of a budget of more than £110bn.
Among the scams highlighted were dentists claiming money for NHS care they did not carry out and GPs falsifying records for extra payments.
To illustrate the scale of some of these cases, it highlighted the jailing of a Birmingham dentist in 2012 after she stole £1.4m from the NHS.
Patient fraud identified included wrongful claims for free prescriptions, dental and optician care.
But the biggest area of fraud was estimated to be payroll, at between £555m and £1.49bn - although the report said this mainly consisted of lots of small-scale cases.
The report warned fraud was not being given the attention it deserved and it was now one of the "great unreduced healthcare costs".
Mr Gee, who carried out his work for PFK Littlejohn accountants, said: "There is a vast, honest majority who find fraud against the NHS to be completely unacceptable. However, there is also a dishonest minority who can cause significant financial damage.
"The best way of stopping this is not to wait for fraud to happen and then act after losses have been incurred, but to proactively deter and prevent them. Fraud is a cost to be measured, managed and minimised like any other."
By Hugh Pym, health editor
There is nothing new about fraud in the NHS. The scams are all too familiar - whether it's health service managers purchasing hospital supplies and taking backhanders or corrupt GPs claiming they have patients who don't actually exist.
But the report's authors argue that, even though the NHS's fraud problem is no worse than in other healthcare systems, the need for a crackdown is as urgent as ever because of the intense financial pressure on the NHS and the need to make efficiency savings.
They accuse the government of failing to carry out a detailed audit of the extent of health service fraud. The Department of Health said it didn't recognise the figures, but there has been no official denial that there is a problem that needs fixing.
Fraud officers work in each local area while at a national level, fraud work is co-ordinated by NHS Protect.
A Department of Health spokesperson said: "We do not recognise the figures in this highly speculative report which is full of inconsistencies.
"We are determined to stamp out fraud in the NHS through better information sharing to prevent and deter fraud and we are working with NHS Protect on crime risks and trends to do even more in the future." | The NHS in England could be losing up to £5.7bn a year to fraud from its £100bn budget, a report suggests. | 34326934 |
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said 80% of Scottish beaches passed the standard as "excellent", "good" or "sufficient".
However, 17 beaches are now rated as "poor" under the new system.
Sepa measured the quality of water at 84 "officially designated bathing waters" across Scotland.
Many beaches likely to have good water quality - for instance in the Western Isles - are not officially designated and so the pollutants are not monitored there.
The new EU classification system includes four years' of monitoring data which Sepa said provided a "more consistent picture" of water quality.
Rated "excellent"
Rated "poor"
Thirty-eight beaches are also rated as "good" and 12 as "sufficient". Read the full profiles for each beach. Source: Sepa
The new classifications will be displayed at the beaches from May until mid-September.
This summer, Sepa said it would also be extending its network of electronic signs - which provide daily real-time water quality information - to six new beaches.
The agency is also preparing improvement plans to help poorly-rated beaches with the aim they would meet at least the "sufficient" standard by 2020.
Calum McPhail, Sepa's environmental quality manager, said: "We understand that some local communities will be disappointed, as we are, that 17 bathing waters have been rated as having a 'poor' EU classification, and many will be concerned when the new classifications are displayed on these beaches for the first time this month.
"It is important to remember that a 'poor' classification does not necessarily mean that water quality is continually poor, and in many cases this is due to historic episodes of reduced water quality following heavy rainfall. These are still fantastic beaches to visit."
Mr McPhail added that Scottish bathing waters had been increasing in number and quality since monitoring began in 1988.
VisitScotland said marine recreation and tourism expenditure was worth an estimated £3.7bn a year to Scotland.
A spokesman added: "We are pleased that the vast majority of bathing waters are classified as sufficient or above, while 65% have an excellent or good classification.
"It is very disappointing, however, to hear that the water quality at some beaches have not met Sepa bathing water standards and we will be discussing the potential impact this could have on tourism with the organisations involved." | Water quality at 17 Scottish beaches have been classed as "excellent" against new, much stricter European standards. | 36330742 |
Among key investors were the Ambani brothers, Tata group chief Cyrus Mistry and Wipro head Azim Premji.
Companies also pledged to manufacture in India, estimated to add 18,0000 jobs to the economy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched "India Digital Week" on Wednesday, to reinvigorate an $18bn campaign to strengthen digital infrastructure.
"Why can't we make quality electronic goods that are globally competitive?" Mr Modi said, highlighting his goal of ending net technology and electronics imports by 2020.
India's richest man Mukesh Ambani pledged the biggest investment, saying he planned to invest 2.5tn rupees ($39bn) through his Reliance Industries.
Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, announced $7bn to fund network rollouts and other projects, the AFP news agency reported.
The venture is aimed at bridging India's digital divide, bringing in large investments in technology manufacturing.
However, India will have to overcome a number of challenges before it can achieve its ambitions. | India's corporates have pledged 4,500 trillion rupees ($70bn; £44bn) to the "digital India" initiative. | 33359195 |
It leaves only five candidates left for the election which is likely to dominate Caf's Extraordinary General Assembly in Cairo on Thursday.
No reasons were given for Patel's withdrawal, which Caf has confirmed.
South Sudan Football Association president Chabur Goc Alei pulled out of the election last week.
It leaves Caf's second vice-president Almamy Kabele Camara of Guinea as the most senior figure in the race and among the favourites along with fellow executive committee member Kwesi Nyantakyi, the Ghana Football Association president.
The other three candidates are Ahmad from Madagascar, who uses just a single name, Hamidou Djibrilla of Niger and Senegal Football Association chef Augustin Senghor.
Africa has two more places on the expanded Fifa Council which is much the same as their old tarnished executive committee but instead of 24 members now has 36 and has been renamed.
The two new African members will hold their seats only until 17 March, when they face re-election at the next Caf Congress, which is being held in Addis Ababa.
But election success in Cairo on Thursday will likely give the incumbent a head start in their bid for re-election next year and a four-year term.
The gathering of Caf's 54-member associations has been called to vote in the two new members before the new Fifa Council has its first meeting on 13-14 October.
Caf presidency
It is also expected to pass changes to the statues to put the organisation in line with the recently adopted Fifa reforms.
The most significant change will be ending the rule, introduced just four years ago, that restricted potential candidates for the Caf presidency to members of its 15-man executive committee only.
It had originally been seen as an attempt by long-serving president Issa Hayatou to hand pick his successor.
But a proposal from the Djibouti football federation now reads that anyone can stand for election as Caf president as long as they are "supported by at least five member associations".
The potential candidate must also have played an active role in football as an official of a member association, during four of the last five years preceding the submission of the candidacy, and they must pass an eligibility check.
It is expected to be passed without much fuss. | Confederation of African Football vice-president Suketu Patel has withdrawn from the race for the two extra African places on the Fifa Council. | 37496065 |
He could more accurately have described us as a nation of shoppers.
Consumer spending is the driver of the UK's economic growth, accounting for about 60% of all our economic activity.
The quickest route to a downturn in that growth figure is consumers who rein in spending.
Today's sharp rise in prices (inflation is now at its highest rate for four years) increases the pressure on the just-about-managing classes.
And savers, once again, are feeling the strain in an era of ultra-low interest rates.
The fall in the value of sterling since the Brexit referendum is the main inflation driver (but not the only one) as it increases the prices of the 40% of food and fuel we import.
And all the basics businesses buy abroad to make the things we purchase or provide us with services.
Of course, it is not all one way traffic.
Sterling's decline is good for exporters and for those global corporations based in the UK which earn a substantial proportion of their revenues in dollars and pay increased dividends to shareholders that include our pension funds.
Some inflation can also be good for an economy as businesses tend to invest more if they assume that prices - and revenues - will rise in the future.
But the clear and present danger from this inflation spike is for consumers.
Which is, pretty much, all of us.
Inflation is now at 2.9%, already above where the Bank of England believed it would peak by the end of this year.
Income growth is at 2.1%.
The incomes squeeze which returned last month has just become tighter.
There is some evidence it is having an effect, although consumers have so far been remarkably resilient in the face of rising prices.
The latest Visa data on credit and debit card activity earlier this week suggested the first fall in consumer spending in four years.
The retail sales figures published on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics will be closely watched.
Last month's saw the biggest quarterly fall in seven years, although the figures can be volatile.
Behind all this data are the real stories of people who are worse off.
Average wage growth masks wide variations, of course.
Those in the public sector have seen their pay either frozen - or rises capped at 1% - since 2010.
And those people who receive in-work benefits to top up their income have not seen those payments rise.
It is into this toxic mix that the question of austerity is thrown - public sector pay and benefits freezes are controlled by the government.
Yes, Theresa May can argue that government debts are still rising and that those debts will have to be paid off by future generations.
The need for "sound money" still holds sway among many.
But, if people feel worse off they tend to look to politicians for solutions.
And if there aren't any, they tend to punish incumbents.
Since the Second World War there have only been three elections where real incomes have been falling - 1945, 2010 and 2017.
None of them ended well for the governing party going into the election - even if they had just won a world war.
Nick Timothy, Theresa May's former chief of staff who resigned at the weekend, said voters "were tired of austerity".
Today's inflation figure will only make that exhaustion - and pressure on the government to change tack - more acute. | It was Napoleon Bonaparte who once dismissed Britain as a nation of shop keepers. | 40262751 |
GLAdys - named after the airport's international code - will entertain passengers in the departure area with songs, dancing and stories.
She is said to be the first robot to be used by a UK airport.
GLAdys is part of a trial that could eventually see more robots used to interact and help direct passengers around the airport.
The 4ft humanoid has been dressed in a Santa outfit and programmed to sing and dance to Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Rocking around the Christmas Tree and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, as the airport prepares for Christmas.
It is the latest development in the airport's digital passenger experience project, designed to explore how customer engagement can be enhanced through digital technology. | Glasgow Airport has unveiled its newest member of staff - a singing and dancing humanoid robot. | 38317692 |
The idea would use bone conduction technology, a technique that transmits sound to the inner ear by passing vibrations through the skull.
The concept has been developed by ad agency BBDO Germany on behalf of broadcaster Sky Deutschland.
It is already proving controversial.
Comments posted under a video showing off the concept include "This is a violation to a person's right to rest" and "I think I'd take a sledgehammer to the window."
The Talking Window campaign idea was shown off at the International Festival of Creativity in Cannes last month.
The video shows passengers on a German train being surprised to hear ads urging them to download the Sky Go app on to their smartphones to watch streamed video.
The audio is created by a special Sky-branded transmitter made by Audiva attached to the windows.
"Tired commuters often rest their heads against windows," says the ad.
"Suddenly a voice inside their head is talking to them. No-one else can hear this message."
Details posted online note that bone conduction technology has previously been used in hearing aids, headphones for swimmers and runners, and devices used by magicians to make someone think they have had a message planted in their head.
Google also plans to use the tech in its forthcoming Glass headset.
BBDO Germany said it had had a positive response to tests using prototype transmitters placed in public transport in Munich and Aachen.
"If our customer Sky Deutschland agrees, we will start with the new medium as quickly as possible," spokesman Ulf Brychcy told the BBC.
"At present, this is limited to the German market. If we look into the future: everything is possible.
"Some people don´t like advertising in general. But this is really a new technology. [It might] not only be used for advertising, but also for music, entertainment, mass transport information, weather reports and so on."
A spokeswoman for Sky Deutschland said it had yet to make a decision on whether to run the campaign.
Although the firm shares the same logo as the UK's BSkyB's satellite TV service, the two are separate companies, albeit both part-owned by News Corp.
BSkyB said it had not been aware of the campaign before the BBC brought it to its attention, and was not planning to launch anything similar. | A German firm is proposing to transmit adverts via train windows so that the sound appears to "come from inside the user's head" when passengers lean against them. | 23167112 |
Kent paceman Matt Coles ripped through the hosts' batting line-up at the Ageas Bowl with 6-56 as Hampshire were bowled out for 229 - Adam Wheater hitting 63.
Bell-Drummond shared an opening stand of 203 with Denly before he was caught by Tom Alsop off Brad Wheal (4-38).
Denly (105) went four balls later as Kent reached 231-5 in 43.3 overs.
Kent looked all but home with 27 needed and 10 wickets standing, but Wheal sparked a dramatic collapse in which the visitors lost five quick wickets - the teenage fast bowler taking four of them.
However, there was to be no remarkable turnaround as Alex Blake and Will Gidman knocked off the remaining 14 runs required.
Before the chaotic ending, England Lions batsman Bell-Drummond had once again looked at ease at the crease, a day after scoring an unbeaten 171 for his country against Sri Lanka A.
The 22-year-old continued his prolific summer, hitting 10 boundaries as he brought up his third half-century of the competition.
Denly was equally impressive in making his second hundred in this season's One-Day Cup off 120 balls, before he was caught by Sean Ervine off Wheal.
Kent move up to fourth in the South Group, while Hampshire are two points behind in eighth. | Joe Denly hit a fine century and Daniel Bell-Drummond made 91 as Kent chased down 230 to beat Hampshire by five wickets in the One-Day Cup. | 36880124 |
The collision, involving a black Triumph motorbike and a beige Hyundai, happened on the B9113 Forfar to Montrose road at about 16:30 on Sunday.
The 56-year rider was treated by ambulance service personnel but died at the scene.
Three occupants of the car were taken to hospital with minor injuries but later released. The road was closed for several hours.
Police are asking anyone who was travelling on the road near the time of the accident to contact them. | A motorcyclist has died in a crash with a car in Angus. | 39551311 |
The 18-year-old studied source gated transistors, an energy-efficient alternative to traditional transistors.
Their usability has been questioned due to some self-heating effects.
The new research, presented at the British Science Festival and published in Scientific Reports, shows that these effects are actually minimal.
Source gated transistors (SGTs) are more energy efficient and more electrically robust than traditional transistors - the fundamental building blocks of electronic devices. They allow the control of colour and brightness in the pixels on a screen, among a raft of other variables.
But it had been thought that SGTs self-heating would lead to device failures.
Thomas Burridge, a sixth-form student, co-authored the paper during a placement with the University of Surrey last summer, through the educational charity Satro.
He wrote computer code to simulate SGTs self-heating and processed the results, then checked them against data from real experiments.
Simple design changes to the geometry of the SGT, he found, all but eliminated self-heating and its damaging effects.
This year, Mr Burridge is going on to study engineering at the University of Cambridge.
"When you set the students a task, you never tell them that this is something that no-one has ever tackled before. They're not aware that this is at the edge of our knowledge, yet they deliver great work," said Dr Radu Sporea, Mr Burridge's supervisor and a research fellow at the University of Surrey.
Clothing, sensors and displays could benefit from this development, making wearable technology and flexible screens a reality.
But untapped potential remains, as Dr Sporea explained.
"I don't think we've found the true killer application of this, but the potential is immense because SGTs could be economic, robust, lightweight, and we can manufacture vast amounts of them in a similar way to newspapers being printed in a paper press."
As for Thomas Burridge - he found it all very rewarding: "I wanted to do this because I wanted to experience what it was like to do research. I did all this in four weeks; it's really surprising how much you can learn in a short amount of time. At the start I didn't think I would be able to do it, but it got easier as I went along." | A Surrey school student has co-authored a paper investigating components that could be important for the future of flexible electronics. | 34225913 |
President Mugabe said his compatriots should protect their natural resources from what he called foreign "vandals".
In a speech for National Heroes Day he said: "Even Cecil the lion - he is yours. He's dead!"
The lion - a favourite at Hwange National Park - died after he was shot by Walter Palmer using a bow and arrow.
The dentist from Minnesota has said he believed the hunt was legal.
It is thought he paid about $50,000 (£32,000) to hunt 13-year-old Cecil, who wore a GPS collar and was being studied by Oxford University for conservation purposes.
Mr Mugabe used a speech in Harare to make his first public comments about the lion, whose death sparked international condemnation.
He said: "He was yours to protect and you failed to protect him.
"There are vandals who come from all over of course... some may be just ordinary visitors, but (there are) others who want to vandalise, to irregularly and illegally acquire part of our resources."
Prosecutors have said the lion was shot with an arrow after being lured out of its protected zone, and died from a bullet wound inflicted 40 hours later after it had suffered major blood loss.
Zimbabwe is battling to curb illegal hunting and poaching which threatens to make some of its wildlife extinct.
The country is seeking Mr Palmer's extradition.
Some commentators have criticised the attention that the death of an animal has received when the nation has endemic poverty and unemployment, and political strife and repression are commonplace.
Much of Mr Mugabe's speech was spent remembering those killed in the struggle for independence.
The BBC's Brian Hungwe reports he made startling allegations that skulls of liberation war heroes of the late 1890s were being kept as "war trophies" in a museum in the UK, which he described as the "British History Museum", an apparent reference to the British Museum.
The British Museum told the BBC that it did not have any human skulls from Zimbabwe in its collection. | President Robert Mugabe has said Zimbabweans failed in their responsibility to protect Cecil, a lion shot by an American hunter. | 33854374 |
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