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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41718966 | Almost a million Rohingya people have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh, placing the country in an "untenable" position, Bangladesh's envoy to the UN says.
Violence against Rohingya in Rakhine, northern Myanmar (Burma), continues, Shameem Ahsan said. "Thousands still enter on a daily basis," he added.
About 600,000 have crossed the border since August, when militant attacks in Rakhine triggered an army offensive.
Mr Ahsan was speaking at a conference in Geneva to raise funds for victims.
About $340m (£260m) has been pledged so far. The UN is seeking $434m, which it says will help more than a million people for six months.
Aid agencies describe conditions in Bangladeshi camps as appalling. There is a lack of clean water, shelter and food, and many children are traumatised.
"This is an untenable situation," Mr Ahsan told the conference. He said aid was vital until Myanmar agreed to a "safe, dignified, voluntary return of its nationals back to their homes".
The Rohingya - most of whom are Muslims - have had a presence in Myanmar, mostly in Rakhine state, for generations.
The Myanmar government does not regard them as citizens, but as stateless immigrants from Bangladesh.
"This blatant denial of the ethnic identity of Rohingyas remains a stumbling block," Mr Ahsan said.
The UN has called the crisis a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".
The latest exodus began on 25 August after Rohingya militants attacked police posts, killing 12 members of the security forces.
Those attacks led to a crackdown by Myanmar troops. The military says it is fighting insurgents but those who have fled say troops and Buddhists are conducting a brutal campaign to drive them out.
Before the latest influx, Bangladesh was home to 300,000 Rohingya who had escaped earlier outbreaks of violence in Rakhine.
The head of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, said the two countries had begun talks on repatriation but the necessary conditions did not yet exist for the return of the Rohingya. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7912796.stm | The MoD has lifted the lid on its Defence Technology Plan, the latest gadgets and gizmos it hopes could help equip the troops in the future.
Cameras that can see through dust and unmanned ground vehicles were among the devices on show.
It is the first time the MoD has unveiled its long-term research needs and demonstrated new technology.
The products are still in their early stages, although it is hoped many will go into service in the next few years.
The MoD hopes to attract more future technology to address its combat needs.
Speaking at the launch, the Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies, said technology was key to staying one step ahead of the enemy.
"It is more vital than ever before that we exploit new and emerging technologies because the threats our troops face are always evolving," he said.
The products unveiled were the first in a number of submissions chosen by the MoD for further development.
This is a long chain silicon polymer that looks and feels like silly putty. The material can be shaped and squeezed, but a shock impact will cause it to lock together. The idea is to use the material as body armour to protect troops from shock impacts.
It will not stop bullets, but used in conjunction with projectile-protection systems, it can help disperse the energy from a bullet. It is being tested for use within helmets and might become a feature of Peaock, an MoD body armour currently in development.
Saturn - the sensing and automotive tactical urban reconnaissance network - is a combination of UAV and unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) that not only examines the battlefield but, say the developers, can actively spot threats.
The idea is that a platoon or company of soldiers would deploy both the ground and air vehicle to perform reconnaissance of a village or part of a town.
The UAV would fly over and spot vehicles or enemy troops moving in the open, while the UGV would roll up to a building, spot which windows are open, then look to see if anyone was behind them.
The developers say the system would then try and differentiate between civilians and possible enemy contacts by looking to see if they were holding an object, such as a rifle or a rocket-propelled grenade.
The developers are calling it a mobile lab in a suitcase, which is only slightly shorter than its full title of portable integrated battlespace biological detection unit.
The purpose of the device is simple - to analyse the air and sound a warning if there is any form of biological threat.
The device works by continuously sampling the air, then mixing it with a liquid and passing it across plates with embedded antibodies. Should the air contain a biological hazard, the antibodies become active, changing the electrical properties of the plate and triggering an alarm.
At present, most mobile detection units are the site of a large van so something that could be carried by a soldier would be a real advantage.
Another UGV, this is a robot scout designed to examine hostile areas from a safe distance. The device, not much larger than a skateboard, has the capability to cover almost all types of terrain and can even climb stairs. The developers hope the finished product would cost less than £5,000 and be small enough to be easily carried by a soldier.
One of the problems flying helicopters in Afghanistan and Iraq is dust. The down-draught from the rotor blades can kick up huge clouds, blinding the pilots and making landing very hazardous.
Teledyne is a device that uses microwaves to see through dust clouds, smoke and snow, making landings far easier. The developers plan to put Teledyne through full trials later this year. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17126987 | The latest official statistics show that 5.7 million families, with 9.2 million children between them, were receiving tax credits as of the end of 2011.
However the already very complicated system is going to change again in April 2012.
Overall this will usher in a second round of tax credits cuts, though not everyone will lose out.
Tax credits reflect individual circumstances, so the picture is very complex and it is difficult to categorise who will lose, and also who will gain despite the cuts.
By and large, those responsible for children should gain, or at least lose no more than a few hundred pounds at the upper end of the income range.
Those paying childcare costs might gain even at higher income levels.
The pinch is more likely to be felt by certain couples working part time, or some older workers returning to work after being on benefits - and by anyone whose income falls during the course of 2012-13.
The basic element of working tax credit (WTC) will remain at its 2011-12 levels. So will the extra sums given to people who work 30 or more hours a week, and to lone parents and couples.
The additional amount paid to claimants aged 50 and over who are returning to the job market after a period on certain benefits - the "50-plus element" - will be abolished, even for those who are already receiving it.
Perhaps the biggest change will be that couples with children will have to work 24 hours a week between them, not 16, in order to qualify for working tax credit.
One member of the couple will have to work at least 16 hours a week.
Note that this new rule will not affect lone parents.
Indeed, the government sees this change as reducing the disparity between couples and lone parents by ensuring that at least one member of a couple is required to work the same minimum number of hours per week as must a lone parent.
There are some important exceptions to the 24 hours rule.
one partner works at least 16 hours a week and the other partner is "incapacitated", an in-patient in hospital, or in prison.
A person is "incapacitated" if they are getting one of a list of sickness or disability benefits or pensions, or one of those benefits is being paid to their partner.
It is not yet clear just how HMRC will operate the new rule.
Its systems may not be able to identify couples who fall within one of the exceptions above, and those couples may have to come forward and tell HMRC.
The element of Child Tax Credit (CTC) which can be claimed for each individual child will increase from April 2012 by nearly 5.3%.
Similarly generous increases apply to the amounts for disabled and severely disabled children.
But the "first income threshold" at which the CTC begins to be withdrawn - by 41p for each £1 of income above the threshold - remains the same as in 2011-12, at an annual income of £15,860.
This detracts slightly from the generosity of the increase in the child elements.
In previous years, higher earners could continue receiving the full "family element" of CTC - £545 per annum - until their annual income reached the "second income threshold".
This was £50,000 until last year, then it dipped to £40,000.
For 2012-13 it will be removed altogether.
This means that as soon as income reaches the point at which all other elements of tax credits have been withdrawn by the 41p in the pound taper, the family element will also start to be withdrawn at the same rate.
Consequently, many households who were earning £40,000 or slightly more during 2011-12, and who still received at least some of the family element, will find themselves without tax credits in the coming year.
However, those with larger families, or who spend a lot on formal childcare, could still be entitled to some payment.
The key point is that the income cut-off for tax credits will be based on individual circumstances and therefore will be different for everyone.
So families with children and/or paying for childcare can still gain in 2012-13, even if they are on comparatively higher incomes.
Another controversial change will be the new "disregard" for falls in income.
This means that if your income drops by no more than £2,500 from one year to the next, the fall is disregarded and your award does not rise.
And if your income decreases by more than that amount, the first £2,500 of the fall is disregarded when assessing your new award.
Take as an example Annie, a lone parent, who is paid £12,000 a year but loses her job in January 2013.
She tells HMRC about her fall in income, and re-estimates her 2012-13 income at £9,000.
Her revised award will be calculated as though her estimated income were £11,500, because the first £2,500 of the fall in her income will be disregarded.
HMRC has always had the power to fix a disregard for falls in income, but this is the first time it will have used that power.
The disregard for increases in income - within which the tax credits award remains the same and is not reduced - remains at £10,000 for one more year, then falls to £5,000 in 2013-14.
Finally, when making an initial claim or notifying a change of circumstances that increases an award (such as the birth of a child or a material increase in childcare costs), from April 2012 claimants will only be able to backdate the increase in their entitlement by one month, not three months as hitherto.
The opinions expressed are those of the author and are not held by the BBC unless specifically stated. The material is for general information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal or other form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Links to external sites are for information only and do not constitute endorsement. Always obtain independent, professional advice for your own particular situation. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18244640 | Media captionTreasury minister David Gauke: "We have still delivered a budget that is good for the public finances"
The government is to reverse its plans to impose VAT on Cornish pasties, the BBC has learned.
Ministers have also reduced the intended 20% charge which was due to be levied on static caravans to 5%.
The U-turn from Chancellor George Osborne's Budget follows protests by bakers and caravanning enthusiasts.
The government has altered the definition of what is a "hot" pasty to allow the reversal of its plans. Labour said ministers were "incompetent".
After the amendment, food such as sausage rolls or pasties sold on shelves - that is, cooling down, rather than being kept hot in a special cabinet - will not be liable for VAT.
During a parliamentary debate last week, MPs from all three main parties criticised Mr Osborne's proposals, arguing they were unenforceable and would have an adverse impact on jobs and businesses.
Currently, VAT is not charged on most food and drink, or hot baked goods, but is payable on takeaway food sold to be eaten hot.
However, hot savouries including pasties and pies are exempt. The U-turn would effectively maintain this situation where they are left to return to "ambient temperatures" on shelves in bakeries and supermarkets.
Sheryll Murray, Conservative MP for South East Cornwall, said: "I told the government that I didn't want to see an army of thermometer-wielding tax inspectors poking our pasties and that I was really concerned about the vagaries of ambient temperature. They listened."
Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Gilbert, who represents Newquay, added: "The Cornish people have won and there will be dancing in streets from Land's End to the Tamar as people hear that the government has dropped its plans to clobber local people and local businesses with this tax."
Static caravans do not currently incur VAT. The new 5% rate will be delayed from October to April next year.
A Treasury said: "The Budget announced a consultation on a change to VAT on hot takeaway food, designed to remove inconsistency and ambiguity in the system and level the playing field across the takeaway food market.
"After extensive engagement we have improved the policy, addressing practical concerns, ensuring that the new regime could be as simple as possible to apply.
"We have addressed these in a way that allows us to remove the inconsistent VAT treatment, while not imposing any additional requirement on businesses to test the temperature of their products."
For Labour, shadow Treasury minister Chris Leslie said: "This government is proving time and time again they can't think through policies before it makes announcements.
"It really ought to have got some of these consultations done before the chancellor decided to put up the taxes."
He added: "To go along making policy reverses is an incompetent way to run the government." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-46044394 | "The windows, the bare walls. It was that every day. Every single day. They put me in a room on my own, I was in isolation," says Casey, 16.
More than 200 pupils spent at least five straight days in isolation booths in schools in England last year, a BBC News investigation has learned.
Casey's school disputes the length of time he spent on his own and said he was "regularly disruptive".
The teenager says he was placed on his own after he contracted fibromyalgia.
He takes the painkiller Tramadol for the chronic pain condition.
More than 5,000 children with special educational needs also attended isolation rooms at some stage.
Dozens of them had education, health and care plans (EHCPs) provided for children with complex needs.
The Children's Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, says school isolation can be "distressing and degrading" and she is concerned it is being used "as a gateway to excluding and off-rolling", where pupils are removed from a school's register.
The Department for Education says children should be in isolation no longer than is necessary and that the health, safety and welfare of pupils must always be put first.
Casey's father died when he was nine and he lives with his grandmother in Bristol.
"I was quite athletic, I was happy, then I fell ill. That's when it all went downhill."
He says he didn't learn during the isolation period and spent much of his time copying out of GCSE revision books, often without a teacher present.
"It made me feel there was no point to learning," he said.
Casey says the experience has had a lasting impact on him.
"I locked myself into my room every day after I came home and shut the blinds," he said.
"It felt like being isolated was normal. I wouldn't expect them to treat a dog like that. It was just vile."
Casey's school says the room he was in was not the school's actual isolation facility.
In a statement, it said that schools were increasingly encountering pupils "in crisis" who are being "failed by a combination of public services".
Isolation rooms, or internal inclusion units, are facilities pupils are sent to when it is thought they need to be removed from a classroom during the school day.
They vary in their nature significantly. Many include so-called isolation or consequence booths - partitioned desks in which children typically face the wall and work in silence.
Occasionally schools use "seclusion" units - rooms where children sometimes remain on their own - while others place pupils in more conventional classrooms to work in silence.
A recent government report on alternative provision said that schools with internal inclusion units saw them as a halfway point between excluding a pupil and keeping them in a mainstream classroom.
How are isolation rooms being used?
The BBC sent Freedom of Information requests to more than 1,000 secondary schools and academy chains across the UK asking how they use isolation and around 600 responded.
It learned that more than 200 schools in England used isolation booths, with 12 in Wales and six in Scotland but none in Northern Ireland.
While the majority had rules for children spending a maximum of one, two or three continuous days in isolation, 225 pupils in England and one in Wales spent a whole week in isolation booths as a single punishment last year.
two schools - which included a bathroom as part of the facility - do not allow pupils to leave the unit all day.
What rules are there for using them?
Government guidance in England says schools are free to decide how long pupils should be kept in isolation, but they should be there "no longer than is necessary".
The guidelines also say that in order for isolation to be lawful as a punishment it should be "reasonable" in all circumstances, and factors such as special educational needs should be taken into account.
Schools do not need to record use or report to parents that their child has been sent to isolation, although many do.
Paul Dix says he has probably visited more isolation facilities than anyone else in his work as a behavioural consultant in schools across England.
He says he has seen 50 children at one time in isolation in one school and children with Asperger's syndrome and ADHD in isolation rooms and met one child who said they had spent 36 days in isolation in one school year.
"That is not education, it is a custodial sentence," he said.
"Where's the regulation around it, where's the reporting, where is the accountability?"
He said he has heard of pupils being placed into isolation for not bringing a pen or wearing the right shoes.
Paul says disruptive pupils may need to be removed from classrooms but believes they should be returned after a short period and a discussion of their behaviour with an experienced teacher.
"That is the intelligent way. Isolation is desperation," he said.
Richard Sheriff is the executive head for eight schools - three of which have rooms with isolation booths - as well as president of the Association of School and College Leaders.
He says his schools would never place pupils in isolation booths for five consecutive days, but understands why some schools feel the need to find ways of tackling extreme behaviour.
"There is a gathering storm with regards to student behaviour," he says.
"We've seen cuts in services in local authorities, but also in the ability of schools to purchase well-run, good quality alternative provision."
He says a lot of society's problems are now being "laid at the door of schools".
The government's school behaviour expert, Tom Bennett, says isolation rooms can be effective in tackling disruption in classrooms.
"When you're a lone adult with a class of 25 pupils, it only take two people to really persistently wilfully misbehave for that lesson to be completely detonated," he said.
He believes removing students from classrooms should be seen as a positive solution.
"It can be a way of preventing fixed-term exclusions by keeping them in the school and being looked after," he said. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-norfolk-47966589/salon-opens-safe-space-for-breastfeeding-mums-in-dereham | Salon opens 'safe space' for breastfeeding Jump to media player The owner offers a place for mums to feed their babies as her sister felt "uncomfortable" doing it in public.
Mums on breastfeeding in public Jump to media player How to treat a mum breastfeeding in public.
Five benefits of breastfeeding Jump to media player Five reasons why breastfeeding is a healthy option for mother and child, from Kenyan nutritionist Jane Napais.
Breastfeeding brings thousands together Jump to media player Mothers across Colombia gathered to breastfeed in public as part of World Breastfeeding Week.
A beauty salon owner has invited mums to use her business as a place to breastfeed their babies, after her sister was made to feel "uncomfortable" doing it in public.
Kay Willmott, who runs Elle Belle's Beauty Studio in Dereham, Norfolk, said: "You've got no control over when your child needs to feed, and you shouldn't need to feel you're going to be objectified by doing that, so I think they need a safe space to come to."
She said women could walk in and use a sofa or private room to breastfeed, with no obligation to purchase any services.
It follows her sister's experience of breastfeeding in a public place. Rosie Harvey said: "I was feeding my daughter when I was watching my other daughter swim and I heard a man saying to his wife 'that's disgusting, that shouldn't be done around children', and I felt uncomfortable." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33326422 | Hospitals have long relied on the trusty pager to alert doctors to an emergency. But the technology now looks embarrassingly primitive in the age of the multimedia smartphone.
So some healthcare start-ups are looking at ways to improve how doctors and nurses communicate, care for patients and manage treatments.
Niall Rafferty, a radiographer and boss of a tech firm, Medxnote, says anecdotal evidence from doctors suggests that "we're wasting about 45 minutes to an hour each per day by using pagers".
The Irish start-up has developed a secure messaging app for hospital staff - like a version of group messaging platform WhatsApp, but one that's wearing a white coat and stethoscope.
Dublin's Blackrock Clinic piloted the app in one of its wards and is now interested in extending its use across the entire hospital, says the hospital's head of IT, John Hayes.
Blackrock's previous communications system wasn't secure and offered no way of acknowledging that people had received the message, he explains.
"We would like to roll it out to the rest of the hospital and make it the mandatory way of sending patient information," he says.
But it's the multimedia potential of smartphone apps that is interesting hospitals, not just their more responsive text communications features.
Many health professionals have already been using publicly available apps, like WhatsApp and Viber, to share photos of patient conditions and carry out online consultations, says Mr Rafferty.
"Unofficially people are taking photos of a wound or something and they might text it to a doctor to see what kind of antibiotic they want," he says. "It's widespread in hospitals."
The big problem is that this way of doing things doesn't comply with strict privacy and security rules governing patient data. So Medxnote is planning to add a secure photo-sharing feature to its app soon.
"We have all the functionality of a WhatsApp but all the images stay within Medxnote - they don't go up to the cloud or to your photo gallery. It's all encrypted; it's safe and secure," he says.
Blackrock Clinic is waiting until this important feature is added before rolling out the Medxnote app in its hospital. It also wants the firm to add support for Android phones - something that is in the pipeline, Mr Rafferty says.
Secure connectivity means clinicians can also get access to patient records and health data much more quickly.
"I think the reason that people are moving to applications like this is because there are other features available besides just reaching you with a text," says Ed Ricks, chief information officer at Beaufort Memorial Hospital in Beaufort, South Carolina.
His hospital has been using Imprivata's secure communications platform and trialling automatically sending electronic medical records to health professionals in real time.
UK-based Sensium Healthcare specialises in wearable health monitoring sensors that transmit data wirelessly.
It has teamed up with Medxnote to bid for a National Health Service pilot scheme testing how this real-time patient data can be sent to the relevant clinicians via the messaging app.
This way, doctors and nurses can respond more quickly to health alerts, the companies hope.
Hospitals are also catching up with the latest app technology in the operating room.
Surgeons are still using a lot of guesswork when trying to keep track of blood soaked up by sponges and swabs during operations.
Gauss Surgical in California decided there must be an app for that, too.
Its iPad app, Triton, which was recently cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration, takes a photo of the blood-soaked swab and uses its own unique algorithm to scan the pixels and give the surgeon a slightly more accurate view of how much haemoglobin and blood it contains.
"It uses what we call feature extraction technology - something we have trademarked - and it breaks it down to the very pixel level, and it's sort of like a photometer," says Gauss Surgical boss, Milton McColl.
"It looks at the colour and can actually calculate how much blood is on it."
Accurately monitoring a patient's blood loss during an operation is vital, as overestimation can lead to unnecessary blood transfusions, while underestimation may mean necessary steps to prevent haemorrhaging are not taken.
The Triton system is encrypted and compliant with US health data protection guidelines, the firm says, and carries no personally identifiable information about patients.
Hospitals have also looked at making it easier for patients and visitors to find their way around the buildings and grounds.
For example, Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Florida, has recently updated its app, integrating beacon location technology usually found in the retail sector.
"We had explored various options for the hospital in using GPS for finding your way around the hospital, but GPS doesn't recognise floors, so if you're on the first floor or the fifth floor it doesn't know that," says Charles Westcott, the hospital's webmaster who worked on the app.
Beacons - small transmitters that communicate wirelessly smartphones - were a means to fix that.
"No matter where the beacons are, you're connected with that specific beacon and they can be programmed to send notifications to the devices with the app," says Mr Westcott.
"It was all about making the experience of getting our visitors to where they need to go as quickly and easily as possible."
The app has had generally positive feedback, he says, and they have also added features, such as a 10% discount for patients and families at the gift shop.
Currently the beacons are only compatible with iPhones, but the hospital intends to offer support for Android phones over the next couple of months. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1144694.stm | Professor Panos Zavos: The world must "come to grips with cloning"
A private consortium of scientists plans to clone a human being within the next two years.
The group says it will use the technique only for helping infertile couples with no other opportunity to become parents.
It says the technology will resemble that used to clone animals, and will be made widely available.
One member said the group hoped to produce the world's first baby clone within 12 to 24 months.
It was founded by an Italian physician, Dr Severino Antinori, whose work includes trying to help post-menopausal women to become pregnant.
A spokesman for the group is Panos Zavos, professor of reproductive physiology at the University of Kentucky, US.
He said it would "develop guidelines with which the technology cannot be indiscriminately applied for anybody who wants to clone themselves".
As with animal cloning, he said, the technology would involve injecting genetic material from the father into the mother's egg, which would then be implanted in her womb.
"The effort will be to assist couples that have no other alternatives to reproduce and want to have their own biological child, not somebody else's eggs or sperm", Professor Zavos said.
He said he believed human cloning was achievable. It could at first cost $50,000 or more, but he hoped that could come down to around the cost of in vitro fertilisation, about $10,000 to $20,000.
Professor Zavos said he was well aware of the ethical dimensions of the project.
"The world has to come to grips [with the fact] that the cloning technology is almost here," he said. "The irony about it is that there are so many people that are attempting to do it, and they could be doing it even as we speak in their garages.
"It is time for us to develop the package in a responsible manner, and make the package available to the world. I think I have faith in the world that they will handle it properly."
But the plans of Professor Zavos and his colleagues received an unenthusiastic response in the UK.
Dr Harry Griffin is assistant director of the Roslin Institute, Scotland, which successfully cloned Dolly the sheep.
He told BBC News Online: "It would be wholly irresponsible to try to clone a human being, given the present state of the technology.
"The success rate with animal cloning is about one to two per cent in the published results, and I think lower than that on average. I don't know anyone working in this area who thinks the rate will easily be improved.
"There are many cases where the cloned animal dies late in pregnancy or soon after birth.
"The chances of success are so low it would be irresponsible to encourage people to think there's a real prospect. The risks are too great for the woman, and of course for the child.
"I remain opposed to the idea of cloning human beings. Even if it were possible and safe - which it's not - it wouldn't be in the interest of the child to be a copy of its parent."
Tom Horwood, of the Catholic Media Office in London, told BBC News Online: "A lot of our objections come down to questions of technique.
"But beyond that, cloning human beings is inconsistent with their dignity, and involves seeing them as a means, not an end.
"The scientists involved in the project are planning a conference in Rome to explain their plans.
"I don't think you'll start getting lots of papal pronouncements just because they're meeting in Rome.
"The reaction in the Vatican will be the same as everywhere else - that the project is morally abhorrent and ethically very dubious." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34832512 | French officials investigating the deadly Paris attacks on 13 November have identified most of the people they believe to have carried out the assaults, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
The attacks are suspected to have been masterminded by Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian national killed in a police raid in Saint-Denis, northern Paris, a few days later. Another key figure - Salah Abdeslam - was arrested on 18 March after going on the run.
Mohamed Abrini, another suspect believed to have links to the Paris attack, was arrested in Brussels on 8 April.
This is what we know about the suspects, and what the authorities have accused them of doing.
The 26-year-old French national, who was born in Brussels, was wounded and arrested during a police raid in the Molenbeek area of the city on 18 March.
Police had been hunting him since the 13 November attacks, warning members of the public not to approach him.
On 15 March, Abdeslam's fingerprints were found in a flat in the southern Brussels district of Forest. Belgian prosecutors told the BBC at the time that it was not clear when he had been there, because the fingerprints could not be dated.
On 10 December police found one of his fingerprints, traces of TATP (acetone peroxide) explosives and three handmade belts - apparently for explosives - in an apartment in the city's Schaerbeek district.
The apartment had been rented in a false name. It is thought that the Belgians among the suicide attackers picked up their belts there before going to Paris. Salah Abdeslam is thought to have returned immediately after the attacks.
He is believed to have rented a VW Polo car in Belgium, which was later found near the Bataclan concert hall where 89 people were killed. But he also rented a Renault Clio and reserved two hotel rooms outside Paris before the attacks.
His precise role in the attacks themselves is unclear, although his brother Brahim blew himself up.
Investigators believe Salah Abdeslam may have driven the three bombers who attacked the Stade de France to their destination and may have been given the job of an attack a short distance south, in the 18th district. That attack never happened.
Hours after the 13 November attacks, Salah Abdeslam was in a VW Golf with two other men near the Belgian border when they were stopped at least once by police.
They were allowed to drive on after checks. It is unclear whether French authorities had matched Abdeslam's name to the car found at the Bataclan by the time he was stopped.
As the search for Salah Abdeslam intensified in Belgium, Brussels went into lockdown and his brother, Mohamed, appealed for him to give himself up.
Salah Abdeslam's past is littered with convictions for petty crime. Belgian prosecutors said they had questioned him and his brother Brahim earlier in 2015.
Some reports have said he spent time in prison for robbery where he met suspected ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud. He had earlier been sacked as a technician on the Brussels tram system, for missing work.
Dutch police said they had detained Salah Abdeslam briefly in February, fining him €70 (£49) for possession of cannabis.
On 27 April 2016, he was extradited to France, where he faces charges in connection with the Paris attacks - participation in terrorist murder and the activities of a terrorist organisation.
He has also been charged in Belgium over a shoot-out in Brussels on 15 March 2016, in which four police were wounded.
Salah Abdeslam's brother died after he set off his explosives-laden suicide belt near a Paris cafe on Boulevard Voltaire, investigators say.
The 31-year-old had rented a Seat car which was found the day after the attacks at Montreuil, to the east of Paris.
He had earlier appeared in several Belgian police files alongside Abdelhamid Abaaoud. The documents relate to criminal cases in 2010 and 2011.
"Investigators see a link with Verviers," Belgium's De Standaard newspaper reported, referring to a Belgian town where police shot dead two militants in January and broke up a cell aiming to kill Belgian police officers, days after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.
Earlier in 2015, Brahim Abdeslam had travelled to Turkey, intending to go on to Syria, but Turkish authorities deported him back to Brussels, Belgian judicial officials told Le Soir newspaper. The report said he had been questioned on his return to Belgium and then released.
Both Brahim Abdeslam and Abaaoud lived in Molenbeek, a rundown district of Brussels with a substantial Muslim population, which is described by some Belgian officials as a "breeding ground for jihadists".
Friends and neighbours who spoke to the BBC's Newsnight team said that in October 2014, Brahim Abdeslam saved five children from a burning building.
"I'm grateful to Brahim for saving my children, but I can't understand what he did in Paris," the children's father said.
Brahim owned a bar in Molenbeek which some reports say was managed by his brother Salah. People who knew them there have said both men drank alcohol and smoked drugs.
"We're still in shock," said Youssef, a local man. "They were friends of ours, big smokers, big drinkers, but not radicals."
"On Fridays, they would stay smoking on the terrace. I never saw them at the mosque," said Karim, 27, who lives in a flat above the bar.
Another man, Jamal, said: "Their lives were the same as all young people: they liked football, going clubbing, coming back with girls."
A police report obtained by AFP suggests the bar was shut down in early November because police believed customers were smoking marijuana there.
Abaaoud, 28, is described as the suspected ringleader in the Paris attacks. He died in a long gun battle with police, who raided a flat in Saint-Denis on 18 November.
Investigators believe he was involved in the bar and restaurant killings. His fingerprints were found on a Kalashnikov left in the Seat car abandoned in Montreuil.
He grew up in the Brussels district of Molenbeek and was an associate of Salah Abdeslam.
Implicated in four out of six foiled attacks this year, he was believed to have joined militant group IS in 2013.
Belgian police believe he had been in Athens, directing a militant cell in Verviers in eastern Belgium when it was raided by security forces in mid-January 2015. Although Greek authorities were following him, he managed to evade a police raid, a BBC investigation has found.
He had also been in contact with Mehdi Nemmouche, accused of shooting dead four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May 2014.
Abaaoud's father had become aware in the past month of his son's links to terrorism and believed he had become a psychopath, according to lawyer Nathalie Gallant.
Chakib Akrouh blew himself up using a suicide vest during the police raid on the flat in Saint-Denis.
He is thought to have been the third man involved in the bar and restaurant attacks that left 39 people dead as his DNA was found in the Seat car in which the three killers were driven.
Akrouh, 25, was born and raised in Belgium, of Belgian-Moroccan descent. He travelled to Syria in 2013 and was given a five-year jail sentence in absentia while he was there.
He was killed in the Saint-Denis explosion and it took police eight weeks to identify his remains, by matching his mother's DNA.
The 29-year-old French national of Algerian descent blew himself up after the massacre at the Bataclan, eight days before his 30th birthday. He was identified from a fingertip, found in the concert hall where 89 people were killed.
Born in the poor Paris suburb of Courcouronnes, he was known to police as a petty criminal - getting eight convictions between 2004 and 2010 but spending no time in jail.
Between 2005 and 2012, he lived in Chartres, near Paris, where he reportedly worked as a baker and played football with fellow employees. He attended a mosque with his father.
A local Islamic association leader said he showed no signs of being an extremist. Other residents said the family was "very nice".
In 2010, however, he was identified by the French authorities as a suspected Islamic radical and his details were entered in a database.
Since then Omar Mostefai appears to have been able to travel to Syria; he may have also spent time in Algeria.
A senior Turkish official confirmed to the BBC that Omar Mostefai entered Turkey in 2013 and there was no record of him leaving the country.
The official - who spoke on the condition of anonymity - said that in October 2014 Turkey had received an information request regarding four terror suspects from the French authorities.
During the official investigation, he said, Turkish authorities identified a fifth individual - Mostefai - and notified their French counterparts twice, in December 2014 and June 2015.
"We have, however, not heard back from France on the matter," the official said. He added that it was only after the Paris attacks that the Turkish authorities received an information request about Omar Ismail Mostefai from France.
The 28-year-old was another of the suicide bombers who blew himself up at the Bataclan.
The Frenchman, who lived in the north-eastern Paris suburb of Drancy, had been known to French intelligence services.
He was charged with terror offences in 2012 over claims he had planned to go to Yemen. He was placed under judicial supervision but then dropped off the radar, prompting the authorities to issue an international arrest warrant.
In 2014, Le Monde newspaper published an account of the journey (in French) of a 67-year-old Parisian man to Syria, in the hope of persuading his son to leave IS and return to France. Pseudonyms were used in the article but it has since been updated to reveal that the son in question was Amimour.
His son refused to leave and the father returned home without him. French media have pointed out that evidently he was able to slip back into France prior to the attacks, despite the arrest warrant.
Three of Amimour's relatives were reportedly arrested after Friday's attacks.
It took more than three weeks for French authorities to identify the third Bataclan bomber. DNA from Foued Mohamed-Aggad's Moroccan-born mother in Strasbourg was used to confirm his role in the concert hall massacre.
The 23-year-old was initially lured to Syria by one of France's most infamous jihadist recruiters Mourad Fares, French media report. He went with his older brother Karim at the end of 2013 and eight other young men from the Meinau district of Strasbourg.
But seven of the group returned from Syria within months when two of them were killed. Only Foued Mohamed-Aggad remained, until he eventually came home to take part in the Paris attacks.
This man was the first of three to blow himself up at Stade de France stadium.
At the scene a Syrian passport was found which bore this name, suggesting the man was a 25-year-old from the Syrian city of Idlib, but authorities believe this passport was a fake.
A report in a Serbian newspaper, Blic, said a passport bearing the same name and data - but a different image - had been found on another migrant, suggesting both men bought fake documents from the same counterfeiter.
The Paris prosecutor's office said fingerprints from the dead attacker matched those of a person who came to Europe with migrants via the Greek island of Leros. The man may have been posing as a Syrian refugee.
Records from Leros suggested he arrived on 3 October and was fingerprinted and photographed. An official there remembers the man arriving, and told the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse that something did not feel right about him - he kept himself to himself. He said he would have highlighted his concerns to an intelligence officer, had one been there.
Leros authorities say they simply do not have the resources to screen all the migrants effectively - or even check whether passports are genuine.
The 20-year-old has been named as one of the attackers who died at Stade de France.
He had tried to get into the stadium while France were playing Germany but was denied entry and blew himself up in the nearby rue de la Cokerie.
The French national had been living at Neder-over-Hembeek in Belgium.
Belgian media say he was radicalised early in 2014.
Belgian prosecutors have said they were aware he had gone to fight with IS in Syria but did not know he had returned.
The picture of the third suicide bomber at the Stade de France has been issued by French police. He has been named by the BBC as M al-Mahmod. He blew himself up in front of one of the entrances to the stadium, in rue Rimet.
He entered the Greek island of Leros on 3 October, travelling with Ahmad al-Mohammed.
French police have not yet named him, but the BBC's Ed Thomas matched the image released by the authorities with a photo on arrival papers at Leros.
Our correspondent says the two men bought ferry tickets to leave Leros to continue their journey through Europe with Syrian refugees.
Hasna Aitboulahcen, a cousin of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, died with him in the gun battle at the Saint-Denis flat.
The daughter of Moroccan immigrants, Aitboulahcen was tracked by police who tapped her phone after 13 November, and she was seen leading Abaaoud into the flat hours before the police raid.
Read more: Who was Hasna Aitboulahcen?
She had become radicalised only in recent months and was thought to have had a brief conversation with police before she died. A policeman shouted out "Where is your boyfriend?" to which she responded, "He's not my boyfriend".
Initial reports indicated she had blown herself up, but police later said it was a man that had done so.
He has not been identified but there are some suggestions that he may have taken part in the attacks on bars and restaurants in the 10th and 11th districts of Paris with Abaaoud and Brahim Abdeslam.
Jawad Bendaoud, 29, was arrested during the Saint-Denis raid and is said to have rented the flat to Abaaoud and Hasna Aitboulahcen. He told French media before he was questioned by police that a friend had asked him to look after "two mates who were coming from Belgium". "I said there was no mattress but they told me it's not a big deal. They just wanted water and to pray," he said.
A girlfriend, Hayet, who was with Jawad Bendaoud on the night of the 13 November attacks told French TV that he suddenly realised he was in trouble.
What happened in the days before the raid is unclear but she believes her friend had seen the state of the flat and was "aware of what was going on". Mr Bendaoud has been in trouble with the police before and has served time in prison.
Mohammed Amri, 27, and Hamza Attouh, who is 21, were arrested in Belgium and admitted picking up Salah Abdeslam in France and driving him back to Brussels immediately after the attacks.
In the early hours of 14 November the pair received a phone call from Salah Abdeslam, who said his car had broken down. They insisted no mention was made of the attacks carried out in Paris a few hours earlier, although Hamza Attouh said he was wearing thick clothing and may have been preparing to blow himself up.
They gave conflicting versions of where in Brussels they had dropped him off.
Abraimi Lazez, 39, was arrested in the Belgian town of Laeken, in a car where two guns and traces of blood were found. He is also suspected of helping Salah Abdeslam flee France.
A French national, named by police as Ali O, has been accused by Belgian authorities of taking part in the actions of a terrorist group and a terrorist attack. Police believe he may also have driven Salah at one point.
Two days before the 13 November attacks took place, Salah was spotted in the Renault Clio used to drop off the Stade de France attackers with another suspect.
Belgian police arrested Mohamed Abrini, 29, after the 22 March 2016 Brussels attacks. Belgian prosecutors say he admitted being "the man in the hat" seen with the bombers who attacked the airport.
He was already wanted in connection with the Paris attacks after being spotted in a car with Salah Abdeslam when it stopped at a petrol station in Ressons, on the motorway to Paris.
Meanwhile Ahmad Dahmani, a 26-year-old Belgian, is being held in Turkey, after flying to the resort of Antalya. He is suspected of involvement in preparations for the Paris attacks.
Police in Morocco detained another Belgian in January. Gelel Attar is said to have lived in Molenbeek and had direct links with Abdelhamid Abaaoud and Chakib Akrouh. He was reported to have travelled to Syria with Akrouh in January 2013. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22963515 | Suspected Islamist militants in north-east Nigeria have killed at least nine school children, the second targeted attack on students in recent days.
Gunmen believed to be from the Boko Haram group opened fire on the pupils, who were in school uniform, at a school on the outskirts of Maiduguri.
Boko Haram said the attack was to punish youngsters for helping the army.
Some survivors said it was a response to the emergence of vigilante groups in the town.
North-eastern Nigeria is under a state of emergency as the government tries to defeat an Islamist insurgency.
Witness Ibrahim Mohammed said he was taking exams in a classroom at Ansarudeen School when gunmen stormed the building.
"I saw five students sitting the exams killed on the spot," he said.
"Four others were killed as they were entering the school premises."
Hospital workers confirmed that the bodies of nine children, still in their uniforms, had been taken to the mortuary in Maiduguri.
A spokesman for Boko Haram handed a message to local journalists saying that the attack was to punish youngsters for assisting the army.
The BBC's Will Ross in Lagos says vigilante groups have been springing up in Maiduguri with young men wielding metal pipes, clubs and machetes handing suspected militants over to the army.
A military spokesman said all those handed over would be given a fair hearing.
However, with hundreds of people being held in detention and few ever coming to court, there is a danger that the vigilante groups could be used to settle scores, our correspondent says.
On Sunday, a school in Damaturu was attacked by suspected Boko Haram gunmen and 13 people including students and teachers were killed.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan imposed a state of emergency on north-east Nigeria last month and thousands more troops were sent to fight the Islamist militants.
So far there is no evidence to suggest that large numbers of Boko Haram fighters have been killed, our correspondent adds. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/essex/4199120.stm | Fishermen of oysters from Essex are waiting to hear if a prized oyster variety is to be given special status.
The Colchester Native oyster is only found in creeks around the River Colne.
Local fishermen want the European Union to protect their delicacy from traders passing off inferior oysters under the same name.
If successful the oyster will be one of only 34 UK specialities on the list, joining Jersey Royals and Newcastle Brown Ale.
About 70 tonnes of the Colchester Native oyster are produced each year compared to 1,000 tonnes of the more common rock oyster.
Suppliers want it to be given Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) by European Union officials in Brussels.
It means the Colchester Native is recognised as a high-quality regional speciality that can only be produced in one area.
Richard Haward, whose family has been farming oysters at West Mersea for more than 200 years, said the taste of the oyster depended on which area of sea it came from.
"The Blackwater Estuary (of the River Colne) is supposed to be the second most salty river in the country so they are very salty oysters.
"But it is not only the taste - it's the texture of the flesh which is very fat and plump," he said.
The area has been renowned for its oysters ever since Roman times.
Colchester councillor Kevin Bentley said the town was very famous for the oyster and was very proud of the delicacy.
"It is one of the finest oysters in the world and in the some of the finest restaurants in the world you will find the Colchester Native."
Local oystermen should know before the end of the season whether their prized product will get its special status. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/b/berwick_rangers/7032702.stm | John Coughlin has resigned as manager of Berwick Rangers after just over two years at Shielfield Park.
General manager Jimmy Crease will take temporary charge until a new team boss is appointed, said a statement on Berwick's website.
"It is hoped to have someone in place for our next fixture versus Cowdenbeath," it added.
Coughlin's announcement came after a 3-0 home defeat by Alloa Athletic left Berwick at the foot of Division Two.
The Wee Rangers are equal on points with Brechin City but six points adrift of third bottom Cowdenbeath.
Coughlin, who previously managed St Mirren, had led Berwick to the Third Division title and promotion in his second season in charge.
But, following Saturday's defeat, he told the News of the World that he was poised to quit.
"I have been asked to sleep on it and, out of courtesy, I am prepared to do that," he said.
"But it will take a massive U-turn for me to change my mind.
"I have already told some players I think I can take them as far I can."
Coughlin, who has been linked with the vacancy at Third Division outfit Stenhousemuir, confirmed his decision on Sunday. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-47816384/a-pilot-explains-the-boeing-737-max-s-anti-stall-system | Boeing's MCAS anti-stall system explained Jump to media player What might have gone wrong to cause the two recent crashes?
Trump: Boeing 737 Max planes grounded Jump to media player US President Donald Trump announces the grounding of Boeing 737 Max planes after the Ethiopian Airlines disaster in Addis Ababa which killed 157 people.
Ethiopian Airlines CEO wants 737 Max grounded Jump to media player Tewolde Gebremariam says Boeing's 737 Max 8 aircraft shouldn't fly until their safety is established.
Mourning the Ethiopian Airlines crash victims Jump to media player Relatives of the people who died on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight have been speaking of their grief.
UN remembers plane crash victims Jump to media player The United Nations Environment Assembly holds a moment of silence for those who died on Ethiopian Airlines flight 302.
Lion Air 'black box' found in sea Jump to media player Indonesian divers have found a "black box" from the crashed Lion Air plane in the sea.
Captain Chris Brady has flown the Boeing 737 for 18 years. He told the BBC's Transport correspondent Tom Burridge about the anti-stall system used by the Max model.
Two 737 Max aircraft crashed five months apart. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-40582032/mother-s-plea-for-daughter-s-right-to-die | Mother's plea for daughter's right to die Jump to media player Juliet Flower's daughter Rose has a rare genetic condition that affects her quality of life.
'Animals are treated better than me' Jump to media player Omid - who suffers an incurable, but not terminal, condition - aims to take his case for the right to die to the High Court.
California passes right-to-die bill Jump to media player California is to be the fifth American state to allow terminally ill patients to end their lives, legally.
Family 'devastated' at right-to-die ruling Jump to media player The European Court of Human rights has rejected a case brought by Paul Lamb and the widow of Tony Nicklinson, over right-to-die. Lauren Nicklinson spoke to the BBC about the case.
Right-to-die campaigner's battle Jump to media player Right-to-die campaigner Debbie Purdy, who won a landmark case to clarify the law on assisted suicide, has died, her family has confirmed.
US right-to-die advocate ends life Jump to media player Brittany Maynard, the terminally ill cancer patient whose viral YouTube video reignited the debate on assisted-suicide in the US, ended her life on Saturday.
'Pride' for right-to-die mother Jump to media player The daughter of a right-to-die campaigner who starved herself to death says she is proud of her mother's decision.
How do you decide whether it's right to go on treating a very sick child?
It's the question at the centre of the Charlie Gard case. His parents are not the first to fight for every option to be explored.
Less common is to hear a parent questioning whether their child should continue to receive life sustaining treatment.
Juliet Flower contacted the BBC via social media to tell her story. She believes it would be better for her daughter Rose to be allowed to die. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-17924653 | Scientific models are failing to accurately predict the impact of global warming on plants, says a new report.
Researchers found in long-term studies that some are flowering up to eight times faster than models anticipate.
The authors say that poor study design and a lack of investment in experiments partly account for the difference.
They suggest that spring flowering and leafing will continue to advance at the rate of 5 to 6 days per year for every degree celsius of warming.
The results are published in the journal Nature .
For more than 20 years, scientists have been carrying out experiments to mimic the impacts of rising temperatures on the first leafing and flowering of plant species around the world.
Researchers had assumed that plants would respond in essentially the same way to experimental warming with lamps and open top chambers as they would to changes in temperatures in the real world.
Very little has been done to test the assumption until this study lead by Dr Elizabeth Wolkovich, who is now at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
With her colleagues she studied the timing of the flowering and leafing of plants in observational studies and warming experiments spanning four continents and 1,634 plant species.
According to Dr Wolkovich, the results were a surprise.
"What we found is that the experiments don't line up with the long term data, and in fact they greatly underestimate how much plants change their leafing and flowering with warming," she said.
"So for models based on experimental data, then we would expect that plants are leafing four times faster and flowering eight times faster in the long term historical record than what we're using in some of the models."
Observational data have been gathered by scientific bodies for many years. In the UK, the systematic recording of flowering times dates back to 1875, when the Royal Meteorological Society established a national network of observers.
Since then, data has also been recorded by full-time biologists and part-time enthusiasts, and in recent years there have been mass-participation projects such as BBC Springwatch.
This new research suggests that these observations of flowering and leafing carried out in many different parts of the world over the past thirty years are remarkably similar according to Dr Wolkovich.
"In terms of long term observations, the records are very coherent and very consistent and they suggest for every degree celsius of warming we get we are going to get a five- to six-day change in how plants leaf and flower."
She argues that the difficulties in mimicking the impacts of nature in an artificial setting are much greater than many scientists estimate. The team found that in some cases the use of warming chambers to artificially raise temperatures can sometimes have the opposite effect.
"In the real world, we don't just see changes in temperature - we see changes in precipitation and cloud patterns and other factors - so certainly when you think about replicating changes in clouds, we are very, very far away from being able to do that.
"I guess we will never get to perfectly match nature, but I am hopeful as scientists we can do much, much better, given funding resources."
The team found that the greater investment in the design and monitoring of experiments, the more accurate the result.
"We have a very consistent message from the long-term historical records about how plants are changing, but we need to think more critically about how we fund and invest in and really design experiments," said Dr Wolkovich.
"We do need them in the future, they are the best way going forward to project how species are changing but right now what we're doing isn't working as well as I think it could."
Other researchers were equally surprised by the results.
Dr This Rutishauser is at the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern in Switzerland. He says that in light of this work scientists will have to rethink the impacts of global warming.
"The bottom line is that the impacts might be bigger than we have believed until now. That's going to provoke a lot of work to probably revise modelling results for estimations of what's going to happen in the future for food production especially."
Dr Wolkovich agrees that if the models are so significantly underestimating the real world observations, there could be also be impacts on water the world over.
"If a whole plant community starts growing a week earlier than we expect according to these experiments, it's going to take up a lot more water over the growing season and if you add to that many years of the model projections, you are going to see big changes in the water supply."
She appeals to people to get involved in citizen science projects and help gather data on flowering and leafing, especially in remote areas.
The National Phenology Network in the US logged its millionth observation this week, and similar programmes are underway in the UK , Sweden , Switzerland , and the Netherlands , and a pan-European database is under development.
"We have very few monitoring networks. We need many, many people out there observing this because it is changing faster and across more habitats than we are currently measuring - we need more help!" |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-47349482 | One person has died after fire broke out at a house in Shetland.
Emergency services had been called to the house in Burns Lane, Lerwick, at 23:59 on Saturday.
Four fire engines attended - two from Lerwick, one from Sandwick and one from Bixter - and the crews successfully put out the blaze in the two-storey building.
No details of the person who died have been released.
Police have thanked "brave" members of the public who tried to save a person who died.
Ch Insp Lindsay Tulloch said: "I know that some members of the public tried their best at the scene to save the person involved and I would like to thank you for your brave efforts.
"Inquiries are ongoing in conjunction with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service into the cause.
"Our thoughts are with all those affected by this tragic incident." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/3552474.stm | Spain international Xabi Alonso is a player that epitomises the type of footballer Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez wants to have at Anfield.
Since taking over from Gerrard Houllier, Benitez has preached the gospel that future success is dependent on possession and passing.
Alonso is a player that can not only pick out a pass, he is also a player who will invariably find his man.
So much so that against Norway in a Euro 2004 play-off he made 98 passes.
Not that passing and his knack of bringing other players into the game are the only features of the Alonso repertoire - the Basque midfielder is also noted for his ball-winning ability.
Before Euro 2004, Alonso had looked set to join Real Madrid, before Florentino Perez opted to turn his attention towards Patrick Vieira.
Sociedad president Jose Luis Astiazaran had been in talks with Perez over the 22-year-old Alonso but the two presidents were unable to reach an agreement.
Real Madrid offered Sociedad £8m plus a player, while the Basque side wanted £13m with no part-exchange arrangements.
Born in the Basque town of Tolosa in Guipuzcoa, football is in the Alonso family genes.
His father Periko was part of the Sociedad side that won successive league titles in the early 1980s.
Periko also coached Sociedad for a brief period two seasons ago before he was replaced by John Toshack.
Alonso's elder brother Mikel, another midfielder, is also a member of the Sociedad first-team squad.
Alonso has said in the past the reason he joined Sociedad was that former manager Javier Clemente saw the midfielder playing football in the street at the age of 16 and immediately signed him for the Basque club.
Alonso first played for Sociedad in the 1999/00 season.
He then spent the first half of the next season on loan at SD Eibar before getting an extended run under Toshack.
Alonso's performance in January 2001 against Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao had Toshack eulogising about the young midfielder.
"I don't remember a former youth team player causing such an impact at the club," said Toshack at the time.
"Everyone seems to play better when he is on the pitch."
That season Alonso's midfield performances were key to Sociedad avoiding relegation.
Over the next years under the guidance of Sociedad's new French coach Raynald Denoueix, Alonso established a reputation as one of La Liga's most accomplished midfielders.
Other European clubs such as Manchester United and AC Milan also began to track his progress after Sociedad's 4-2 win over Real Madrid at Anoeta, when Zinedine Zidane was left trailing in Alonso's wake.
During the 2002/3 season Sociedad ran Real Madrid close for the Spanish title, though the Madrid club eventually finished as champions.
Sociedad finished second in an impressive campaign that saw Alonso score 12 goals.
Alonso's rapid development also saw him called up to the international side and he responded with an impressive debut in Spain's 4-0 victory over Ecuador in May.
Last season Sociedad found it difficult adjusting to playing in the Champions League as well as mounting a challenge on the domestic front.
Alonso also suffered in the adjustment and the midfielder managed just three goals, though that trio of strikes included a magnificent volley against Valencia.
Liverpool keen to reestablish its former tradition of passing, movement and possession under Benitez should be a fitting stage for the younger Basque midfielder. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-africa-32191444 | Play video What drives migrants to risk lives?What drives migrants to risk lives?
Play video What drives migrants to risk lives?
BBCAfrica.com for the latest news on the continent.
And we leave you with this picture of Nigerians protesting outside the South African consulate in Lagos. They were worried about the xenophobic violence and the possible impact on Nigerians in South Africa.
Tim Flack is the man trying to take Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini to court.
He told BBC's Focus On Africa radio programme that recent comments made by the king are responsible for inciting the xenophobia in South Africa which has led to violent attacks in Durban and elsewhere in the country.
"Foreign-owned shops were forced to bring down the shutters because of skirmishes earlier in the day. I met shop owner Sharif Danis, a Nigerian who has lived here for more than 15 years.
Mr Danis points out that the tavern next door, run by a South African businessman, is the only place open in the area. But he gets along with his neighbour and the South African insists that Sharif is his "brother from another mother" and should be operating and making money."
Emeka finds fault with the country's leaders, saying: "Every ANC leader with a Twitter account is posting #No2Xenophobia . Yet none of them is saying a word about King Goodwill's alleged incitement".
The Zulu king has said his remarks have been distorted.
Ahamdu in Nigeria, blames a "broken system" for the troubles, saying: "this is an economic struggle shrouded in xenophobia".
Nick in Tanzania addresses the attackers directly: "You forget everything our countries offered during your fight against apartheid, the blood of our soldiers, even political asylum for your leaders. We offered them with love, despite being poor."
Alongside author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on Time magazine's 100 most influential people is fellow Nigerian Obiageli Ezekwesili. She has been instrumental in the #BringBackOurGirlsCampaign which has highlighted the plight of the more than 200 girls kidnapped from Chibok by the militant group Boko Haram.
Ironically the magazine has also named the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in the top 100. Nigeria's President-elect Muhammadu Buhari is also on the list.
Other Africans named include Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi and the Liberian Dr Jerry Brown who has been at the forefront of fight against Ebola in his country.
first came to light last year when Uganda's Commonwealth Games gold medallist Moses Kipsiro relayed complaints made against Peter Wemali from female team-mates to the authorities.
Wemali is accused of having told the girls to get pregnant and then abort so that they could run better. The girls then told Kipsiro they had been advised if their private parts were widened "their legs would move more easily". Wemali denies the charges.
Italian police say they have arrested 15 African migrants for religiously-motivated murder, after 12 Christian passengers were reportedly thrown overboard during a Mediterranean boat crossing on Tuesday.
a statement from Italian police, witnesses said a small group of Christian migrants from Nigeria and Ghana were outnumbered and threatened because of their faith by a group of Muslim migrants from Senegal, Mali and Ivory Coast. Survivors told police that many of them only survived by forming a human chain.
latest blog she wonders who the development is for as she says she "noticed that many of the buildings are empty".
Time magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential people. Also included on the list of what the magazine calls "titans, pioneers, artists, leaders and icons" are the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and performer Kanye West.
Mozambique's President Jacinto Nyusi has been speaking about the recent outbreak of xenophobic violence in South Africa: "We note with great concern and anguish the suffering of our fellow citizens who are the victims of xenophobic acts in a brotherly country.
"I express my government's determination to do everything to mitigate the suffering of these brothers, giving them all the necessary assistance."
told the BBC how proud she felt to plant her country's flag in the snow at the end of the race.
Tuedon Morgan, 42, spoke about how she managed to keep going despite the brutal conditions, with the temperature as low as -41C.
"I was just singing and praying and when I got to the bend where I could see where other people had planted their flags, I kept saying to myself: 'I have to plant the Nigerian flag there; your country's flag has to be there.'"
The Mbum people in northern Cameroon have welcomed their relatives from abroad to celebrate the traditional festival of Mgbor Yanga, says the BBC's Muhammad Babalala.
The festival was first celebrated in 933 and gives Mbum people a chance to meet their relatives from Libya and Chad to discuss how to develop their ancestral lands.
"The Mbum people have problems as we live in different countries, that is why we use this opportunity every year to get solutions to our problems," says King Belaka Salihu Saw Mbum.
Boat carrying migrants sinks off Sicily, with more than 40 people drowned, Italian media report.
The BBC's Efrem Grebreab sent this picture from Sicily's eastern port of Augusta. As you can see it is all quiet at the moment, but he says nearly 600 migrants are expected to arrive later on, according to the Italian coast guard. A further 300 are expected at another port. They have been picked up while trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa.
More than 10,000 migrants have arrived in Italy in the last few days, according to the charity Save the Children.
South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has just finished addressing the National Assembly by making this call to his people: "Let us work together to provide support to all foreign nationals who have been affected by this violence.
"We reaffirm our responsibility to contribute to a better Africa and a better world. Let us work together to make our country a better place for all who live in it."
Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohammed has said that the government is keeping an eye on the xenophobic violence in South Africa. She told Kenyan radio that the government is "preparing an evacuation plan in case we need it" and she reassured Kenyans that "whoever wants to come back will be assisted".
She also said that some Kenyans in South Africa have voluntarily moved into a temporary shelter for their protection.
"No amount of frustration or anger can ever justify the attacks and looting on foreign nationals. We condemn them."
"Refugees and asylum seekers will be provided support in line with international law and protocols."
"There are perceptions that foreign nationals are involved in criminal activities. This is an inaccurate perception."
reports. International flights have not been affected.
Spokesman for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria Yakubu Dati said the grievances are being looked into and says the disagreement will be resolved soon.
The BBC's Ahmed Adan in Nairobi was sent these photos of a bus which was swept away in a flash flood as it travelled from Mandera to Kenya's capital. Here, rescuers are trying to help one of the passengers out of the fast-flowing water.
The Kenyan Red Cross says so far two people have been confirmed dead, 16 are missing and 42 have been rescued.
Sudan's presidential adviser Ibrahim Ghandour has made a spirited defence of the elections, which several Western countries and an internal African Union report have already criticised.
Mr Ghandour said the polls were a constitutional requirement. He dismissed widespread reports of low turnout, and criticised what he called a "distorted image" of Sudan on Western media like the BBC.
A deadline for Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea to become Ebola-free passes today. The World Health Organization says 37 people are still infected in Guinea and Sierra Leone, but there are no cases in Liberia.
At the end of 2014 more than a thousand new cases were being reported every week. A spokeswoman for the UN's Ebola response team told the BBC people still needed to be educated about protecting themselves and that unsafe burials were still being carried out.
US President Barak Obama met with leaders of the West African countries worst affected by Ebola at the White House on Wednesday.
tweets on the reaction in Mozambique to the xenophobic violence in South Africa: "Reports: #SouthAfrican workers at multinational Sasol in Mozambique abandon their posts in fear of retaliation for #xenophobicattacks in SA".
Russia says it is willing to supply arms to Libya's internationally recognised government if the United Nations arms embargo is lifted. Libya's prime minister is on a state visit to Russia lobbying for increased support. The past year has seen Libya torn apart by political and militia rivalry.
Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni criticised Western governments, accusing them of abandoning Libya, and described Russia and China as being key to helping them combat terrorism.
Thousands of people have joined a march in Durban calling for peace in the wake of recent xenophobic attacks. Earlier supporters gathered at the city's Curries Fountain stadium.
African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has said the attacks on foreigners in and around the South African city of Durban are "unacceptable".
She added that "whatever the challenges we may be facing, no circumstances justify attacks on people, whether foreigners or locals".
The BBC's Tulanana Bohela has been tracing the past of 21-year-old Rashid Mberesero, one of the suspects in the Garissa University College attack in Kenya in which 148 people died.
He is a Tanzanian citizen, but was found in the grounds of the college even though he was not studying or working there.
His step-father Salehe Amani told our reporter in the northern Tanzanian town of Gonja that he was surprised to hear the news of his arrest: "[He did] nothing beyond going to a religious school to pray. He was very close to God."
reports the Reuters news agency.
Several foreign companies have acquired licenses for gas drilling in Ethiopia in recent years. The East African region is expected to become a major source of Liquefied Natural Gas, Reuters reports.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says that it is investigating two complaints laid against the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini. One of the complaints is "alleging hate speech and the violation of the right to life", SAHRC spokesperson Isaac Mangena told me.
This latest round of xenophobic attacks in Durban is believed to be linked to alleged comments made by the Zulu King some weeks ago telling migrants to go home. The king says his comments were mistranslated.
over corruption allegations, Reuters news agency reports. The EU is part of a donor group that withheld nearly $500m (£337m) in budget support to Tanzania over the government's failure to investigate the allegations.
Zimbabwe's state-controlled newspaper The Herald has announced that the government has set up a cabinet committee to look into the xenophobic attacks in neighbouring South Africa. It says the government is ready to evacuate its citizens from the country.
Mayihlome Tshwete, the spokesperson for South Africa's home affairs ministry, is tweeting from the anti-xenophobia march in Durban: [These are] "the South Africans who should get as equal coverage as the criminals. The actions of a few don't represent us."
As people in the South African city of Durban gather for a peace rally to protest against the recent wave of xenophobic violence, the city's deputy mayor has told the BBC the authorities are trying to talk to the communities involved to work out the problem.
BBC's Newsday programme that the violence involved both "a criminal element and those who have a real hatred [of foreigners] that we don't understand. But we are doing the best we can to make sure that everybody lives in harmony."
African proverb: "A man who does not know about war is likely to be the one who will rush to it." Sent by Mohamed Basal in Mogadishu, Somalia, and Mohamud Hussein Caate in Juba, South Sudan.
Welcome to the BBC Africa Live page. We are following news stories across the continent and will bring you updates throughout the day. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4883672.stm | The UK elections watchdog has suspended its probe into loans to political parties pending the outcome of the Metropolitan Police investigation.
The Electoral Commission said the decision followed talks with police.
Scotland Yard said there were overlaps between its probe into "cash for peerages" claims and the commission's inquiry into millions in secret loans.
The commission wants party treasurers to confirm the loans they had received were agreed on commercial terms.
A commission spokeswoman said: "There's potential for the police investigation to overlap with areas we are looking at so it's better for the police to deal with it."
The suspension would last only until the police had completed their inquiries because the Electoral Commission was not yet satisfied that election funding laws had not been breached.
A Met Police statement said: "The investigation continues into allegations of awarding of honours in contravention of the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925.
"As the investigation has progressed it has become clear there are inevitable overlaps between the 1925 Act and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.
"As a result we are working closely with the Electoral Commission."
On Tuesday Tony Blair and Tory leader David Cameron met for talks - afterwards they said they had agreed the need to change party funding rules before the next election.
Mr Blair, Mr Cameron and the Lib Dems all say they will declare future loans.
Former Whitehall chief Sir Hayden Phillips has been appointed to liaise between parties with ideas for reform - which include possible state funding for political parties.
Before their meeting, Mr Cameron said he would be outlining his plans to the prime minister for a cap on donations, tax relief for small donations to encourage new membership and "modest" state funding.
At present anyone donating more than £5,000 has to be named - but people lending money on commercial terms do not have to be.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell pressed Mr Blair and Mr Cameron to say why they funded their election campaigns with "large scale concealed loans" and at what benefit to the lenders.
The UK Independence Party (UKIP) said it feared a "stitch-up" of smaller parties, particularly if Mr Blair and Mr Cameron extend the existing formula, which restricts state funding to parties with two or more MPs. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-12044200 | A horse had to be rescued by firefighters after it escaped from a field and fell into a swimming pool in Bucks Green near Horsham.
West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (WSFRS) used specialist equipment to lift the animal from the icy water.
The horse had wandered on to the pool's plastic covering, which was covered by snow, at about 0730 GMT.
A WSFRS spokesman said: "We are pleased to say that Ben is now safe and well and back in the hands of his owners." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7697354.stm | BBC director general Mark Thompson has suspended presenters Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand following the row over their prank phone calls to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs on Radio 2.
I would like to add my own personal and unreserved apology to Andrew Sachs, his family and to licence fee payers for the completely unacceptable broadcast on BBC Radio 2.
BBC audiences accept that, in comedy, performers attempt to push the line of taste. However, this is not a marginal case.
It is clear from the views expressed by the public that this broadcast has caused severe offence and I share that view.
Since Sunday, I have been in regular contact with the senior executives I tasked with handling this issue.
The investigation that I instructed Tim Davie [director of BBC audio and music] to conduct is nearing completion, and I am returning to London to review the findings and, in the coming days, announce what action we will take.
In the meantime, I have decided that it is not appropriate for either Russell Brand or Jonathan Ross to continue broadcasting on the BBC until I have seen the full report of the actions of all concerned.
This gross lapse of taste by the performers and the production team has angered licence payers.
I am determined that we satisfy them that any lessons will be learnt and appropriate action taken.
I have been asked to report to the Trust's Editorial Standards Committee before the end of this week and will discuss with the Trust the findings of the report and the actions I propose. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7215431.stm | Muslim police are being prevented from playing a part in fighting terrorism, a senior Muslim officer has pointed out.
Supt Dal Babu was speaking at the first annual conference of the National Association of Muslim Police Officers.
Only a few Muslim officers work in counter-terrorism, he told his audience, who included Home Office minister Tony McNulty.
Several chief constables also attended the conference at the Police Training College in Ryton, Warwickshire.
Supt Babu added: "The NAMP believes the current vetting system is putting obstacles in the way of recruiting and promotion of BME (black minority ethnic) officers.
"This may result in low morale and the feeling of obstacles to promotion; furthermore it's likely to impact on the operational ability of the police service and its capabilities within counter-terrorism operations."
About 300 delegates listened to Mr Babu, the association president, and other speakers including the Metropolitan commissioner Sir Ian Blair and the West Midlands chief constable Sir Paul Scott-Lee.
How can we play our part if we're stopped from joining important units?
The Police Minister Tony McNulty told the audience he agreed with the Superintendent's comments.
Afterwards, he told the BBC he promised to look at the vetting procedures.
"The overall process is slower that we would like. We will look at it but security is paramount and if there are ways in which we can reform the vetting process, without challenge to security then that's what needs to prevail."
The minister said it was important that more Muslim officers joined counter-terrorism units and he knew the police service was aware of this.
One delegate who did not want to be named said that Mr Babu's words go to the heart of the debate among Muslims in a post 7/7 world.
"How can we play our part if we're stopped from joining important units?"
Supt Babu said there are only a handful of Muslim officers in counter-terrorism.
He now wants more so that, by reaching out to Muslim communities, hearts and minds can be won to counteract the alienation being felt by them.
Can the police ever say 'not for me'? |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-47937093 | What does the world of everyday physics look like?
From tracking your every breath, to getting frizzy hair when it's hot - physics is everywhere.
But girls who take A-level physics only account for 21.5% of entries in Wales, according to Stats Wales.
A new Physics Mentoring Programme aims to increase the subject's take up at A-level, particularly among girls.
Students from five Welsh universities will be mentoring hundreds of pupils studying GCSE physics across Wales.
Aberystwyth University physicist Carys Huntly said she had come across misunderstandings about who studies physics and what it is about.
"It is interested in the smallest particle to the whole universe," she said.
Before becoming a PhD student, a science outreach associate or studying physics at A-level, Swansea-born Carys said she thought physics was just "trains and cars".
But after she studied it at A-level, she said learning the ins and outs of how everything works helped her creatively.
"There's a perception that you have to be a certain type of person to do this subject, but it doesn't matter," the 26-year-old said.
"Young people think science is miles away from what they do and enjoy everyday - but it's there at the gym, in your smart phone or clothes."
Black holes aside, Carys Huntley explains where can we find physics in everyday life.
Can we get lost anymore?
It depends what you're near, or if you've got traceable technology with you.
Wherever you are standing on Earth, you are in range of at least four satellites at a time - if you've got your mobile phone with you.
There are 24 GPS satellites that orbit 20,000km (12,427 miles) above the Earth's surface that your phone communicates with to locate you.
The signals give a very accurate picture of where you are and these co-ordinates can be sent to others.
Why aren't more women in science jobs?
Image caption Is it hot i(o)n here?
What makes my hair stand on end?
Have you ever noticed that your hair is far more prone to static electricity when on holiday in a hot, dry place?
In dry climates the humidity in the air is much lower, which means that there isn't enough water in the air to conduct electric charge away.
All things are made out of atoms. When there are an equal number of protons and electrons (the particles whizzing around the outside of an atom - its shell) the atom is neutral.
If this balance is thrown out by electrons being attracted elsewhere then your hair takes on a very slight positive charge.
This leaves the strands of your hair slightly charged and repelling each other similar to very small magnets.
Can we see physics in sport?
Getting your head around how every action has an opposite reaction is like the saying "what goes around comes around".
We can see this when ice-skaters push backwards to propel themselves forwards over the ice.
But in jumps they use their legs and arms to counterbalance the forces on their bodies - to stay in the air for longer.
This is Newton's third law in action. Physics? Completed it mate.
Lille Borresen, a physics student at Cardiff University who is one of the scheme mentors, said: "There's this preconception of what people think a scientist is, and it's nearly always a guy in a white lab coat with safety goggles - it's not the reality of it."
Lille added that there is a big focus not only on showing pupils that science is cool, but also on the world of opportunity physics can open for anyone who studies the subject.
And Dr Sarah Roberts, who coordinates the mentoring programme at Swansea University, said: "A lot of students and their parents don't actually see the benefits necessarily of a physics degree.
"But there's a wide variety of career options out there, so having someone coming in and talking about what they've been doing and what their peers are doing and what they've gone on to do after university can only be a good thing." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-47602474 | Messenger, a 7m (23ft) tall and 9m (30ft) wide woman in a crouching position, was driven through the city on a flatbed lorry.
The 10-tonne sculpture, designed by artist Joseph Hillier, was paraded into the city on a barge earlier.
Mr Hillier said he had been inspired by the movement of an actor rehearsing at the theatre.
The sculpture's name refers to the "pivotal" role of a performer to "breathe life into words", he added.
It is part of a £7.5m regeneration project.
The theatre said: "We wanted to do something bold that reflected the creativity that is at the heart of the Theatre Royal.
"It will create a unique landmark for the city and strengthen its cultural offering.
"In time, it may become one of those iconic statues that destinations become forever associated with."
When it is in place, visitors will be able to walk between Messenger's legs "into the theatre, like an archway".
The Theatre Royal said it was "by far" the UK's largest bronze sculpture by volume, at 25.6 cubic metres. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/1866484.stm | A teenager accused of creating a pornographic website remains excluded from a south Wales school after his family lost an appeal against the decision.
The 15-year-old boy - expelled in January from Glan Afan Comprehensive in Port Talbot - is believed to have designed the website at home then e-mailed it to computers at his school.
The imported site then flashed up on the school's internal website.
The initial decision was made at an internal inquiry at the school, and the appeal was heard at a Neath Port Talbot Council tribunal.
The family of the teenager - who claim his education has been interrupted at a "crucial stage" - said that they are considering further legal action.
Six more pupils who were implicated in the incident were also given fixed-term exclusions, with no right to appeal.
Head teacher Lynn Hunt conducted interviews with parents and 20 pupils before banning those involved in the incident.
At the end of February, Mr Hunt was given the full support of his governors for his decision to expel the boy.
The children involved had tried to explain the website as a "joke which went wrong."
Education chiefs said the pages did not feature any pornographic pictures.
They said that all the offensive material on the site, which contained the names of both boys and girls at the school, was in the "written word."
Neath Port Talbot Education Director Karl Napieralla said the internet was a "major learning resource" throughout schools in the county.
"All schools in Neath Port Talbot have received detailed guidance on appropriate Codes of Practice for staff and pupils in the use of the internet and appropriate training has been given to designated staff," he said.
"In the case in question, it is the understanding that a website was set up outside the school and was identified by the school as soon as one of the school computers was used by a pupil to access that website.
"It appears, therefore, that the internal arrangement in place in the school and the overall authority strategy did work appropriately in this case but the local education authority and its schools will continue to closely monitor the whole issue of internet security." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-guernsey-45823670 | Guernsey voters are set to elect politicians from an entire island constituency, rather than by the current district system.
More than half of voters backed the change in the island's first ever referendum, which saw a 45% turnout.
Option A - one island-wide district - won with 6,017 votes, representing 52% of the final count.
It means all 38 Guernsey deputies will be elected in a single vote on the same day, every four years, from June 2020.
More stories from Guernsey and the referendum latest.
Option A campaigner Deputy Carl Meerveld said he was "ecstatic and relieved."
"I think it changes everything," he said.
"It'll change the nature of the debate. It'll change the characteristics of the people who stand and who are successful.
"Instead of having a popularity contest at a parish or district level we'll end up with a policy debate at an island level."
Deputy Meerveld added he hoped the move would encourage party politics.
Five options ranged from the current district-based system to the formation of a single Guernsey-wide constituency.
Politicians backed the referendum in 2016, a move which required the creation of a referendum law.
Voters went to the polls on Wednesday 10 October, with the result announced about 18 hours after voting ended.
The alternative voting system meant least favoured options were knocked out, before two remained.
In the final count Option A beat Option C, a combination of district and island-wide voting.
The island's parliament had agreed to adopt the outcome of the referendum if 40% of people on the electoral roll cast their ballot, a threshold confirmed earlier today.
Chief counting officer Jurat David Robilliard said 14,370 votes had been cast, meaning a turnout of 45.1%.
Guernsey voting referendum: What are the options?
EU referendum: What do the Channel Islands think? |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29115865 | Estonia says it is trying to get in touch with an Estonian security official detained by Russia at the border and accused of spying.
So far Russia has refused to let the Estonian consul in Moscow meet Eston Kohver. "We don't know where they are keeping him behind bars," the Estonian Security Police (Kapo) told the BBC.
"As far as we know he wasn't injured," police spokesman Harrys Puusepp said.
There is a dispute about whether he was seized on Estonian or Russian soil.
"The consul should have been allowed to get into contact. The consul needs to meet him and get to the bottom of this situation," Mr Puusepp said.
"We had protection for him," Mr Puusepp said, but there were "explosions" during the incident which enabled the assailants to abduct Mr Kohver.
"We have proof he was definitely on Estonian ground. In that area the Estonian border is not fenced, it's bushes, high grass and forest. There's no line on the ground but everyone knows where it goes, it's recognised by both sides," he said.
The dispute comes amid heightened tension with Russia. Estonia, like neighbouring Baltic states Latvia and Lithuania, joined Nato and the EU in 2004.
The EU and Nato accuse Russia of directly helping separatists in eastern Ukraine with regular troops and heavy weapons. Russia denies doing so.
Estonia's foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador on Friday over what it called the abduction of Mr Kohver by "unidentified individuals from Russia" near Luhamaa border checkpoint.
The alleged kidnappers reportedly jammed Estonian radio communications and used at least one smoke grenade during the incident.
Russia's domestic security service, the FSB, said it had detained him as he was on a "spying operation" on Russian territory.
Mr Puusepp dismissed that allegation, saying Mr Kohver "isn't in counter-intelligence - he was working on organised crime, contraband and corruption".
He said the border incident was "very unusual - I can't remember anything like this since Estonia regained independence [in 1991]". He said Mr Kohver had been "abducted at gunpoint".
The FSB said Mr Kohver was caught carrying a pistol, 5,000 euros (£3,980; $6,539) in cash, an eavesdropping device and "other materials related to intelligence-gathering". |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/staffordshire/7948293.stm | A hospital's "appalling" emergency care resulted in patients dying needlessly, the NHS watchdog has said.
About 400 more people died at Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2008 than would be expected, the Healthcare Commission said.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson has apologised and launched an inquiry.
One of the worst examples of care cited in the watchdog's report was the use of receptionists to carry out initial checks on patients.
Despite the trust stating chief executive Martin Yeates had resigned earlier this month, it has now been revealed he is suspended on full pay while an independent inquiry takes place.
Chairman Toni Brisby resigned earlier this month and has not received further remuneration, the trust said.
Mr Johnson said a review of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, would be carried out, focusing on the years 2002 to 2007.
He said there would also be an independent review of the trust's emergency care and he had asked the National Quality Board to ensure the early warning systems for underperformance across the whole NHS were working properly.
Mr Johnson said: "On behalf of the government and the NHS I would like to apologise to the patients and families of patients who have suffered because of the poor standards of care at Stafford Hospital.
"There was a complete failure of management to address serious problems and monitor performance. This led to a totally unacceptable failure to treat emergency patients safely and with dignity.
"Local patients will want absolute certainty that Stafford Hospital has been transformed since this investigation began."
The commission said that, while it was impossible to blame all of the the 400 extra deaths on the hospital's care, some patients would have died as a result.
Julie Bailiey: "Our relatives didn't stand a chance"
The investigation into the hospital, in Stafford, began in April 2008 after complaints from residents were backed up by statistics showing a high death rate.
The trust's initial claim that its method of collecting data was to blame was rejected by the watchdog.
Its report cited low staffing levels, inadequate nursing, lack of equipment, lack of leadership, poor training and ineffective systems for identifying when things went wrong.
Eric Morton, interim chief executive, said lessons had been learned and that staffing levels had been increased.
Hospital boss Eric Morton: "I very much welcome the report"
The health secretary added: "The new leadership of the trust will respond to every request from relatives and carry out an independent review of their case notes. This will be an essential step to put relatives' minds at rest and to close this regrettable chapter in the hospital's past."
The commission's chairman Sir Ian Kennedy said: "This is a story of appalling standards of care and chaotic systems for looking after patients.
"There were inadequacies at almost every stage in the care of emergency patients.
"There is no doubt that patients will have suffered and some of them will have died as a result.
"Trusts must always put the safety of patients first. Targets or an application for foundation trust status do not lessen a board's responsibility to its patients' safety."
Sir Ian added that a surprise inspection of the hospital in recent weeks found the trust had improved but it would continue to be monitored.
Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "The public will be rightly shocked by the poor standards of care exposed at this hospital.
"It is unacceptable that the pursuit of targets - not the safety of patients - was repeatedly prioritised, alongside endless managerial change and a 'closed' culture, which failed to admit and deal with things going wrong."
Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb, called for a "cultural change so that every part of this trust has open and transparent systems in place to ensure patient safety".
A spokesperson for The Patients Association said: "How can any patient have trust in the managers and systems that have allowed this disaster to run and run?
"It is not enough for the chairman and chief executive to take the fall for this."
David Kidney, Labour MP for Stafford, said the report was "both definitive and damning".
He added: "It is galling for patients and patients' relatives and carers that their complaints were not believed or were fobbed off with excuses and promises that the report shows were worthless.
"The commission's report shows that their testimony is verified, their judgements of what was wrong vindicated."
Bill Cash, Conservative MP for Stone, said: "There have been systemic failures in the organisation and I have asked for resolute action to be taken." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-23328037 | The BBC's new director general Tony Hall has complained that actors aren't speaking clearly enough in TV drama. Is it time to cut the mumble, asks Ben Milne.
"I don't want to sound like a grumpy old man," Lord Hall tells the Radio Times, "but I think muttering is something we could look at."
His comments are likely to strike a clear chord with viewers. Recent dramas like Birdsong and Parade's End apparently drew complaints because of indistinct dialogue. It's a perennial gripe that the senior generation has always had about young people - that they don't speak clearly enough.
Andrew Billen, TV critic for the Times, gets more mail about not being able to hear dialogue than on any other subject. "TV is made by young people, but it's watched by old people," he notes.
Billen says that as people get older they find it more difficult to distinguish dialogue from background noise. TV makers don't take this into consideration, he suggests. And production techniques have made things worse.
"It's quite fun to lay on a great piece of music behind a drama but on most people's tinny screens the sounds can become indistinct."
Trends in acting haven't necessarily helped. Method acting tries to capture the "truth" of a character - even if that character can't be heard properly - rather than bowing to stodgy old considerations about being audible from the cheap seats.
Its foremost proponent was Marlon Brando - a man given the nickname "Mumbles" by his Guys and Dolls co-star Frank Sinatra. This was an actor who put cotton wool in his mouth, while playing Don Corleone in The Godfather, to make himself less intelligible.
Other actors who have been accused of mumbling include Kristen Stewart in the Twilight films, not to mention Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain and Jeff Bridges in True Grit - both of whom perfect an indistinct cowboy diction known to anyone who's seen Blazing Saddles as Authentic Frontier Gibberish.
But is it fair to blame the actors? Actor Ian Kelly starred in Pitman Painters at the National Theatre, and has also appeared in TV dramas including Downton Abbey. He says that most performers are just doing what's been asked of them by the producers and directors.
"Everything that is going on is to do with the sound department of the production, and their choices in an edit suite."
But perhaps the last word should belong to Sheb Wooley, who worked with a young Clint Eastwood. "He didn't speak his words very loud. The sound man was always saying, 'Kid, speak up!' But he mumbled his way to a fortune." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/scot_div_1/6599245.stm | James Grady scored in the final minute of the final game to hand Gretna an amazing victory that clinched promotion and consigned Ross County to the drop.
Michael Gardyne blasted County into the lead from the edge of the box.
Nicky Deverdics replied four minutes later from close range and Grady broke clear to fire Gretna ahead.
Deiarmuid O'Carroll bundled an equaliser, but Grady broke clear to fire Gretna ahead and deny St Johnstone promotion in a dramatic finish.
By that time, County had already gone down after Airdrie beat Queen of the South.
Gretna had been forced to win their final game after squandering a 12-point lead in Division One.
And Grady had been preferred to David Graham up front for Gretna with the team going into the final day leading the league by a point struggling to score goals in recent weeks.
David Nicholls also returned from suspension to replace the injured Steven Hogg in the Gretna midfield.
Mark McCulloch was back in the County defence following his ban, while the returning Martin Scott and Hugh Robertson had to make do with places on the bench.
It was County who broke the deadlock after 30 minutes, Gardyne hammering the ball into the top left-hand corner from 20 yards.
But Gretna drew level four minutes later when Grady's flick from a Nicholls free-kick was saved by Craig Samson and Deverdics scrambled the ball home.
And it looked like the title was heading to Gretna when Nicholls' flick-on sent Grady clear and the veteran striker slipped the ball through the advancing goalkeeper's legs.
However, it was level again four minutes into the second half when a Gardyne cross was headed on by Don Cowie and O'Carroll bundled in the equaliser.
The drama was not over yet and David Graham set up Grady to score and send Gretna to the SPL for the first time in their history with their third title in a row.
Ross County: Samson, McCulloch, Moore, Dowie, Keddie, Adams (Gunn 87), Gardyne, O'Carroll, Shields (Higgins 65), Cowie, Morgan (Scott 46).
Subs Not Used: Tomie, Robertson.
Goals: Gardyne 30, O'Carroll 49.
Gretna: Malkowski, Cowan, Skelton, Nicholls (Paarpalu 59), Canning, Grainger, McGill (Baldacchino 74), O'Neil, McMenamin (Graham 59), Grady, Deverdics.
Subs Not Used: Macfarlane, Fleming.
Goals: Deverdics 34, Grady 42, 90. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/5003814.stm | Aston Villa midfielder Mathieu Berson's move to Auxerre has been thrown into doubt - and that may affect a move by the Midlands club for James Milner.
Milner has been on loan at Villa from Newcastle and the club were believed to be keen to sign him permanently.
But Auxerre's sacking of boss Jacques Santini has complicated matters as Villa are believed to have to sell Berson to fund any Milner move.
Berson's agent Olivier Jouanneaux said: "We do not know what will happen now."
He added: "It depends on the new manager at Auxerre and what he wants to do because Mathieu is on a good salary.
"We know Aston Villa would like to sell him but we have had no news from them about that.
"For the moment we do not know what is happening. Nobody is telling us anything. It is not an easy situation. But if he has to go back to Aston Villa, then he will."
O'Leary is also believed to be keen to sign midfielder Eirik Bakke from Leeds but chairman Doug Ellis seems unlikely to make the funds available for such a move.
Ellis said: "He can't even get into the Leeds side on a regular basis. That's my answer to that." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29894104 | An article by British spy agency GCHQ's new director, which suggests leading tech firms have become "command-and-control networks of choice for terrorists" and that they need to do more to facilitate investigations, has sparked debate online.
While some have welcomed Robert Hannigan's call for a "public debate about privacy", there is suspicion from others that his article foreshadows the government extending his agency's surveillance powers whatever the outcome of the suggested discussions.
The message may prove a winner to many people who hear it, who share the view that further powers are needed to tackle the extremist threats faced by the UK at home and abroad. But to those who in the aftermath of the surveillance revelations of the past year hoped for serious engagement and debate, there seemed little to clutch to in this. Hannigan may be thumping the table harder than his predecessors, but the content of his message remains almost entirely the same.
The fact that Hannigan has spent his first day firing off a public-relations broadside on this issue shows quite how worried the security services are about the proliferation of communications they can't easily tap... While backdoors might keep the spies happy, sales of devices and cloud services would plummet should word get out that US tech giants were willing partners in mass surveillance.
Privacy is a right, Europe says, and there's no getting out of it... In the game of government to Silicon Valley cat-and-mouse, the mice are ahead of their predators. And while GCHQ's Hannigan has a right to debate, he doesn't have a right to complain.
It's great to hear that Hannigan wants GCHQ to "enter the public debate" on the issue. In public is precisely the place where these matters should be decided: not in the secrecy of the Cheltenham doughnut, nor the obscurity of Silicon Valley's boardrooms.
The same tools used by extremists are free to the rest of us too. That gives all of us both the opportunity and responsibility to defend what it is we believe... The battle for ideas online can't be won, or even fought, by governments. It's down to us.
There is still just public anger at the way that governments were monitoring web activity and there is still a significant lack of trust within the tech community - the response has been to lock down as much as possible. However, I am not convinced that Hannigan's piece is being received as it was intended - I don't see how a person asking for an open dialogue is asking for a fight.
It's one thing to be opposed to the likes of [Islamic State], it's quite another to be amenable to having one's entire communication snooped into. GCHQ's sudden decision to enter the privacy debate is interesting, but it's not clear that it will actually amount to anything.
Spy agencies are right to be frustrated by the lack of co-operation from Google, Facebook and others... It seems to me that this will require legislation to correct, since the companies concerned have proven themselves incapable of acting sensibly of their own volition, and of listening to their own customers, the majority of whom, if asked, would surely be appalled that their family photos and private messages are sharing a platform with people who want to destroy our way of life.
Image caption Mr Hannigan said that GCHQ needed greater support from the "largest US technology companies which dominate the web"
It should be down to judges, not GCHQ nor tech companies, to decide when our personal data is handed over to the intelligence services. If Hannigan wants a "mature debate" about privacy, he should start by addressing GCHQ's apparent habit of gathering the entire British population's data rather than targeting their activities towards criminals.
Mr Hannigan shouldn't grab the megaphone whilst wearing the headphones or use threats and smears that ignore due process and the rule of law. Rather than trashing our best traditions for convenience, the UK should lead the way on improving lawful access to data between states in the fight against terrorism.
It's disappointing to see GCHQ's new director refer to the internet - the greatest tool for innovation, access to education and communication humankind has ever known - as a command-and-control network for terrorists... Robert Hannigan is right, GCHQ does need to enter the public debate about privacy - but attacking the internet isn't the right way to do it. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22449886 | Why Nisha Katona quit being a barrister to build an "authentic" Indian restaurant chain.
How the UK's Mexican restaurant chain Wahaca won back confidence after a norovirus outbreak.
Annie Lennox for your birthday?
Full article Annie Lennox for your birthday?
Full article Luck of the Irish? |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27658817 | India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh has formally split in two, with its northern area carved out to create a new state called Telangana.
The move followed prolonged protests by residents of Telangana, who felt the region had long been neglected.
Telangana, which officially came into existence at midnight local time, becomes the country's 29th state.
With a population of 35 million, it comprises 10 former districts of Andhra Pradesh and the city of Hyderabad.
K Chandrasekhar Rao, of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi party (TRS), which for 14 years spearheaded the movement for separation and will form the new state's first government, has been sworn in as the chief minister for Telangana.
Hyderabad, which forms the joint capital of the two states for the next 10 years, was covered with pink balloons, banners and flags to mark Telangana's statehood, says BBC Hindi's Zubair Ahmed. Pink is the colour of the TRS.
"The sacrifice of our people and the youth who led the movement has culminated in the formation of a new state. It is a historic day for us," Krishank, a local student leader, said.
He said providing jobs to thousands of young people should be a top priority of the new government.
But there are also opponents of the division. One, A Ravi, said he was unhappy that his "beloved state had been torn apart".
"It's a sad day because we speak the same language and have no distinct identity. Politicians played a dirty role in dividing the state into two," Mr Ravi, an info-tech professional, told BBC Hindi.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana share the same language of Telugu.
Correspondents say the large state of Andhra Pradesh was deeply divided economically, with people in the less-developed Telangana region feeling largely neglected.
India's upper house approved a bill to carve out the new state in February, despite opposition from lawmakers in the Congress Party, which governed Andhra Pradesh.
The then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, Kiran Kumar Reddy, resigned after parliament approved the bill.
Opponents are unhappy that Hyderabad, which is home to many major information technology and pharmaceutical companies, would become a shared state capital.
After 10 years, Andhra Pradesh is expected to develop a new capital. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-29564429/type-1-diabetes-massive-step-towards-cure | The creation of human insulin-producing beta cells by the Harvard Stem Cell Institute is a "massive step" towards finding a cure for type 1 diabetes, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) has said.
Sarah Johnson, its director of policy and communications, told the Today programme that the scientists' work also has advantages in the short term, allowing the testing of drugs and interventions that will potentially halt the onset of the condition.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday 10 October. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-45856318 | Saudi Arabia rejects political and economic "threats" over missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a source quoted by state news agency SPA says.
The country would respond to any punitive action "with a bigger one", the unnamed senior source said.
Mr Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government, vanished on 2 October after visiting its consulate in Istanbul.
US President Donald Trump said he would "punish" Saudi Arabia if it were found responsible for killing him.
On Sunday a joint statement by the foreign ministers of the UK, France and Germany called for a credible investigation to ensure those responsible for Mr Khashoggi's disappearance were held to account.
"We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard, and expect the Saudi Government to provide a complete and detailed response," said Jeremy Hunt, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Heiko Maas.
Later Mr Hunt said that whatever happened now was "absolutely up to Saudi Arabia".
"If, as they say, this terrible murder didn't happen, then where is Jamal Khashoggi? That's what the world wants to know."
Britain and the US are considering boycotting a major international conference in Saudi Arabia this month.
The authorities in Istanbul believe Mr Khashoggi was murdered in the consulate by Saudi agents - claims Riyadh has dismissed as "lies".
What have the Saudis been saying?
The source quoted by SPA said: "The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats or attempts to undermine it whether through threats to impose economic sanctions or the use of political pressure.
"The kingdom also affirms that it will respond to any action with a bigger one. The Saudi economy has vital and influential roles for the global economy."
But on Sunday evening King Salman appeared more conciliatory, thanking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for setting up a joint team to investigate the disappearance.
No-one could undermine the strong relationship Saudi Arabia had with Turkey, he said.
The Saudis have come under considerable international pressure over the disappearance.
Diplomatic sources told the BBC's James Landale that both US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox might not attend next month's investment conference in Riyadh, which has been dubbed "Davos in the Desert".
However, later White House aide Larry Kudlow told ABC News that as things stood Mr Mnuchin was intending to go to Riyadh and would take a final decision "as new information surfaces".
The event is being hosted by the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman to promote his reform agenda. Several sponsors and media groups have decided to pull out.
A joint statement of condemnation, if it is confirmed that Mr Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents, is also being discussed by US and European diplomats.
The president has said the US will inflict "severe punishment" if Saudi Arabia is found to be responsible for the death of Mr Khashoggi.
He said he would be "very upset and angry if that were the case", but ruled out halting big military contracts.
"I think we'd be punishing ourselves if we did that," he said. "If they don't buy it from us, they're going to buy it from Russia or... China."
Where is the investigation now?
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevut Cavusoglu said Saudi Arabia had not so far co-operated with the investigation - despite a statement from Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz saying his nation wanted to uncover "the whole truth".
Mr Cavusoglu has urged the kingdom to allow Turkish officials to enter the consulate.
On Sunday, stocks on the Tadawul All-Shares Index plummeted 7% in early trading, wiping out all the gains made this year, before recovering slightly around noon.
In two sessions it lost $50bn (£38bn) of its $450bn capitalisation, AFP news agency reported.
Salah Shamma, of Franklin Templeton Emerging Markets Equity, told Reuters: "The market is reacting negatively to sentiment around the Khashoggi case."
What is alleged to have happened in Istanbul?
A Turkish security source has told the BBC that officials had audio and video evidence proving Mr Khashoggi, who wrote for the Washington Post, was murdered inside the consulate.
Reports suggest an assault and struggle took place in the consulate after Mr Khashoggi entered the building to get paperwork for a marriage.
Turkish sources allege he was killed by a 15-strong team of Saudi agents.
Turkish TV has broadcast CCTV footage of the moment Mr Khashoggi walked into the consulate.
Media captionSecretary General Antonio Guterres told the BBC's Kamal Ahmed "we need to know exactly what has happened" |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-39007611/how-female-explorers-face-challenges-of-south-pole-trek | A team of British soldiers are preparing to become the first large all-female group to walk across Antarctica.
They will have to endure temperatures of -40C and walk for up to nine hours a day carrying more than their own body weight in supplies.
Exercise Ice Maiden is currently training in Norway for the 80-day south pole challenge in September. Among the many challenges is coping with extreme cold when you need a loo break.
Maj Sandy Hennis, from Cannock, Staffordshire, said she hoped the expedition would inspire girls and women everywhere.
Correction 24 February 2017: This report initially said they would be the first female team to complete the challenge. In fact Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft achieved a similar feat in 2001. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37656189 | Britain must expand Heathrow, a "great airport" which connects the UK to global trade, George Osborne has said.
The economic case is "overwhelming" and the airport connects to the Northern Powerhouse, the former chancellor said.
Gatwick expansion could be considered, but it must not be at the expense of the west London airport, he tweeted.
A decision on which London airport should build a new runway is thought to be imminent, after years of argument and a delay because of the Brexit vote.
Three plans have been in contention - a third runway at Heathrow; a new runway at Gatwick; and an extension to one of Heathrow's existing runways - as part a review of extra capacity by 2030.
Mr Osborne, who is MP for Tatton in Cheshire, said he was clear which one had most merit.
"Time for a decision on airports & go for Heathrow. Economic case overwhelming; connects Northern Powerhouse; ensures Britain is open to world," he tweeted.
"If we want Britain to be outward-looking, free-trading & global, we must expand the great airport that connects us to that world & that trade.
"We can consider Gatwick expansion. But not at the expense of Heathrow - and not in parallel or else, in practice, nothing will get built."
He later told the BBC that the case for a new runway at Heathrow was overwhelming "in terms of jobs and growth for Britain".
"There are very strong economic reasons for expanding Heathrow," he said. "It connects up the rest of the country including the north and the Midlands, and it also opens Britain up to the world."
Mr Osborne rejected suggestions he had vacillated over the issue while in the Treasury, saying he had commissioned the Davies commission to examine all the options.
He said the work of the commission - which concluded in 2015 that all three options were credible but a new runway at Heathrow was the strongest proposal - meant the public would have "all the facts".
The former chancellor was replaced with Philip Hammond in July by incoming Prime Minister Theresa May in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the EU.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has said a decision over where to site a new runway in the south east of England will be taken "shortly".
Heathrow looked close to being expanded in July 2015 after an official commission recommended it.
But the decision was delayed in December for further environmental studies. It was again put back in June after the EU referendum vote. A decision is expected this month.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Justine Greening are among a number of prominent opponents of Heathrow expansion in the cabinet.
The Scottish government confirmed earlier this week that it was backing a new runway at Heathrow, saying it offered significant strategic and economic benefits for Scotland.
But the owner of Stansted airport has said it would consider legal action if, as well as giving the green light to Heathrow, ministers told Gatwick it could expand but over a longer timeframe.
The Manchester Airports Group told the Guardian the question of additional capacity after 2030 needed to be considered separately, with other airports allowed to stake their claims. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3691749.stm | Tiny pieces of plastic and man-made fibres are causing contamination of the world's oceans and beaches, the journal Science has reported.
Even remote and apparently pristine layers of sand and mud are now composed partly of this microscopic rubbish, broken down from discarded waste.
This is the first assessment of plastic fragments accumulating in sediments and in the water column itself.
It is not yet known what the long term effects of this pollution may be.
A team led by scientists at the universities of Plymouth and Southampton took samples from 17 beaches and estuaries around the UK, and analysed particles which did not appear to be natural.
The researchers found that most samples included evidence of a range of plastics or polymers including nylon, polyester and acrylic.
They also found that when creatures such as lugworms and barnacles fed on the sediments, the plastics turned up inside their bodies within a few days.
To test whether this contamination was getting worse, the scientists analysed plankton samples taken from survey ships between Scotland and Iceland since the 1960s - and found that the plastic content had increased significantly over time.
Because the team only sampled particles which looked different from natural sediments, it is believed that the true level of plastic contamination could be much higher.
The lead author of the study, Dr Richard Thompson, said: "Given the durability of plastics and the disposable nature of many plastic items, this type of contamination is likely to increase.
"Our team is now working to identify the possible environmental consequences of this new form of contamination."
One concern is that toxic chemicals could attach themselves to the particles which would then help to spread them up the food chain.
That research is for the future, but this study suggests that practically everything really is made of plastic these days - even the oceans.
"We've found this microscopic plastic material at all of the sites we've examined," Dr Thompson said.
"Interestingly, the abundance is reasonably consistent. So, it suggests to us that the problem is really quite ubiquitous."
"Environmentalists say today's research is worrying"
Why can't we recycle all this plastic? |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21074699 | Archaeologists hunting for World War II Spitfires in Burma believe there are no planes buried at the sites where they have been digging, the BBC understands.
The archaeologists have concluded that evidence does not support the original claim that as many as 124 Spitfires were buried at the end of the war, the BBC's Fergal Keane reports.
Wargaming.net, the firm financing the dig, has also said there are no planes.
But project leader David Cundall says they are looking in the wrong place.
He told the BBC that he feels very frustrated but is determined to keep up his campaign, and remains convinced Spitfires are buried in Burma.
The team of archaeologists working on the dig are specialists in the field of war excavations.
They have been digging at the site over the last week.
They have also examined the file of evidence supplied by David Cundall which includes eyewitness testimony from eight individuals.
However they believe that none of the testimony proves that Spitfires were buried at the airport or any of the other sites in Burma.
The team has also examined the existing war archives as well as photographs and drawings by official war artists from the period.
I understand they believe traces of metal alloy found in the ground could come from other sources. During the dig they uncovered pieces of the old metal runway.
One possibility they have studied is that witnesses may have seen crates of other aircraft - used for observation work - being shipped through the airport during the period.
However, Mr Cundall insists that his eyewitness testimony is correct. He says the archaeologists have dug in the wrong place.
The dig was delayed on Thursday by official concerns that work could interfere with electric cables and water pipes.
Asked if he would apologise if he was proved wrong, he replied: "Of course I will. But I've tried and I believe it's better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all."
An initial survey of the site began in early January, with excavations due to begin after that.
A scheduled press conference was cancelled on Friday morning by Wargaming Ltd, with a spokesman saying he hoped to give more details later.
When pressed, the spokesman said there are no Spitfires, our correspondent says.
British campaigner David Cundall has spent the last 17 years trying to discover the truth of claims that unused, unassembled Spitfires were packed into crates and buried by the RAF at sites in Burma on the orders of Lord Mountbatten at the end of the war in 1945.
He has collected eyewitness accounts from American and British service personnel as well as local people.
One of them, British veteran Stanley Coombe, had travelled to Burma to witness the excavation.
The dig got the go ahead after it secured funding from Belarusian video games firm Wargaming.net, and received permission from Burmese President Thein Sein during a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron last year.
Mr Cundall maintains that as many as 124 Spitfires are buried in sites around Burma.
Before the dig, scientists had discovered large concentrations of metal under the ground around Rangoon's airport, lending support to the theory that up to 36 planes are buried there.
Earlier this month, a crate was discovered in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina, but muddy water stopped an immediate identification of its contents.
The central city of Meiktila was another site identified as a possible burial ground for the Spitfires. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/6240120.stm | A specialist centre for space studies in Cornwall has been praised by a former NASA boss.
George Abbey, who was a director of the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, was a special guest speaker at the Callington Space Centre.
The centre sends students from across the county to work with astronauts and cosmonauts in the US and Russia.
Mr Abbey said Cornwall was setting a great example in teaching its students about technology.
He said working in Houston had always given him a sense of history and he challenged the centre's students to join the space race.
The aim of the specialist centre, which opened in 2004 as part of Callington Community College, is to promote interest in astronomy and space science throughout the community.
It was shortlisted for an Arthur Clarke Award in Education, acknowledging its unique approach.
The centre has a room for the public to watch space technology lessons and units to help hi-tech businesses get started.
Director Mike Grocott said about 100 people had attended the public meeting and many of the 40 students had been "stunned" as Mr Abbey outlined the work already being carried out in the space quest.
"George will be our main host when we go to Houston later this year, so it was great for the students to meet him and hear what he had to say," Mr Grocott told BBC News.
Up to three of the college's AS students will be selected for the trip to the US, spending one week at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and one week at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-23214500/san-francisco-asiana-airlines-crash-plane-was-out-of-control | Crash plane 'has good reputation' Jump to media player The model of plane which crashed landed in San Francisco has a good safety record, an aviation expert has said.
Mayor: 'We are deeply saddened' Jump to media player San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-Whites and City Mayor Ed Lee hold a news conference after a Boeing 777 aircraft crash-landed at San Francisco international airport.
Plane crash lands in San Francisco Jump to media player A Boeing 777 aircraft has crash landed at San Francisco international airport.
An Asiana Airlines plane which crash landed in San Francisco was "out of control," an eyewitness has said.
Asiana flight 214 had 292 passengers and 16 crew on board. There is no word so far on casualties. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47443885 | A Dublin court has ordered the extradition to Northern Ireland of former republican paramilitary Declan Duffy.
The 43-year-old is wanted in Northern Ireland to continue serving a life sentence for murdering a soldier.
Duffy had been serving the sentence for the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) murder of Army sergeant Michael Newman in Derby in 1992.
He was released on licence in March 2013.
However, Duffy was arrested by gardaí (Irish police) in December 2015 and was jailed for six years in January last year for falsely imprisoning a man in County Dublin.
On 6 June 2016, the under secretary of state for Northern Ireland revoked the republican's licence and recalled him to prison.
A European Arrest Warrant (EAW), was endorsed by the High Court in the Republic of Ireland in 2017.
Duffy is originally from Armagh, and joined the INLA in the 1980s.
At the hearing at Dublin High Court his address was given as Hanover Street West in Dublin.
His barrister had argued that since Duffy has been revoked of his licence, sending him back to serve his full tariff would be "double punishment" as he has already served "what was deemed by the Sentence Review Commissioner to be an appropriate sentence".
However, a lawyer for the minister for justice said: "The facts of the matter are simply, Mr Duffy pleaded guilty to the offence of murder, he acknowledged the conditions of the licence.
"Is there anything abusive or oppressive about seeking his surrender to serve the balance of the life sentence lawfully imposed?"
On Monday, Justice Aileen Donnelly ruled that Duffy can be extradited to Northern Ireland to continue his life sentence for murder.
However, the judge postponed the extradition until he completes the six-year sentence he is currently serving in the Republic. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-39139692 | Stargazers across Scotland photographed the Aurora Borealis on Wednesday night.
Scotland is one of the best places in the UK to observe the Northern Lights, which are related to activity on the sun.
On Wednesday night, the aurora was visible from the Isle of Skye, as well as Peterhead in Aberdeenshire and North Berwick in East Lothian.
Lancaster University's AuroraWatch UK said that 2017 had started quietly for aurora watchers, but overnight on Wednesday and Thursday the UK received "a whopping 13 total hours of elevated geomagnetic activity".
Five of those hours had activity strong enough to trigger amber-level alerts to the displays. Amber is AuroraWatch UK's second highest alert for chances of seeing the Northern Lights.
The rise in the activity was due to what is known as a negative polarity coronal hole high-speed stream.
BBC Radio Scotland's Brainwaves programme has looked at the science behind the Northern Lights, a phenomenon that some scientists believe could become harder to see from Scotland. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/2027335.stm | Belfast councillor Alex Maskey has become the city's first Sinn Fein's lord mayor.
A victory looked all the more likely this time around after the Alliance Party members of the council said they would back the former Belfast barman.
It was a battle to convince the Alliance councillors but Mr Maskey is well used to fighting.
His amateur boxing record speaks for itself - 75 fights, only four losses.
Winning boxing belts is one thing - winning chains of office is very different, and unionists are extremely reluctant to hand over Belfast's most prestigious post to a die-hard republican.
Back in 1983, Mr Maskey was the first Sinn Fein councillor to be elected to Belfast City Hall.
He said at the time: "The City Hall has for too long been a bastion of loyalism."
In more recent years, he has been at the forefront of Sinn Fein's campaign for access to the council's leading positions.
He also plays a key role at the Northern Ireland Assembly as the Sinn Fein chief whip.
It was thought that his job at the assembly might persuade him to withdraw from the council.
But he ran again in the local government election last year and was comfortably elected, even though he switched wards from Upper Falls to Laganbank.
In the early 1970s, at the start of the Troubles, he was twice interned.
He has survived a number of loyalist murder attempts, including one in 1987 when he was rushed into intensive-care after being shot in the stomach.
In a four-hour operation, he had parts of his kidneys removed.
On leaving hospital, three weeks later, he said: "I was shot by loyalists because I am prepared to stand up for the rights of nationalist people."
He went to the Channel Islands to recover from the shooting. On his journey back to Belfast, he was detained at London's Heathrow Airport under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
The police action forced Mr Maskey to miss a city council meeting the following night, and Sinn Fein claimed that it was part of a plot to try to unseat him from the council.
Now aged 50, he is married with two grown-up sons and a grandchild.
In the City Hall, he is regarded as the father-figure within the 14-strong Sinn Fein group.
He may be small in stature, but in republican eyes, Alex Maskey is regarded as a giant. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7654627.stm | Coldplay, Meat Loaf and Grace Jones are among the acts attending the Q magazine awards in London.
Chris Martin's band are up for four awards at the ceremony, including best album and best act in the world today.
Vampire Weekend and The Ting Tings have three nods each, while Kings of Leon, Nick Cave and The Last Shadow Puppets are up for two prizes each.
The ceremony, which is often a raucous affair, is being held in London's Grosvenor House hotel.
Meat Loaf turned up at the ceremony sporting a cut eye and looking unwell, telling reporters he would have to visit a doctor because he was suffering from vertigo.
Previous years have seen Elton John accuse Madonna of lip-synching and Liam Gallagher branding Chris Martin a "plant pot".
Both nominees and winners are selected by readers of the monthly music magazine.
Coldplay's other nominations come in the best track and best video category for their song Violet Hill.
The group's most recent album, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, has already sold in excess of 600,000 copies since its release in June.
Vampire Weekend are up for best new act, best video - for A-Punk - and best album for their eponymous debut.
The Ting Tings are also up for best new act as well as best track and best video for That's Not My Name.
In the best album category, Vampire Weekend and Coldplay are up against The Last Shadow Puppets' The Age of the Understatement and Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!! by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
The album list is completed by Seattle five piece Fleet Foxes with the harmonic folk of their self-titled debut.
Last year, indie rockers Arctic Monkeys were named the best act in the world and Amy Winehouse scooped the best album prize for Back to Black. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20492737 | Voters in the Spanish region of Catalonia have given their backing to nationalist parties but have punished the regional president who called an early election.
The governing centre-right CiU led by Catalan President Artur Mas - which pushed for independence - remains the largest party but lost seats. The left-wing separatist ERC party came second.
Here people in Catalonia share their views on the election results and their thoughts about the future of the region.
I support independence and voted for the separatist ERC. Have a look at Europe's history. Catalonia is one of its oldest nations. It's time for Catalonia to regain its independence.
If Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia and many others have a say in Europe and control their destiny, why not Catalonia?
The turnout was high - about 70% - which means people are interested and place value in the vote. If we add together the parties that support a referendum on independence, we have a majority for independence.
The governing CiU party may have lost seats, but this is a party that has not previously supported independence.
The results are positive. The move to a referendum would be easier if the pro-independence parties had a very large majority. But it is a good political outcome that there is not a single party calling for a referendum - but instead a number of parties who will have to talk to each other.
For me, a vote for independence is not about economics; it is about history, culture and tradition. I think about our constant struggle for independence over decades and decades. I owe it to my parents and grandparents to at least push for a vote on the issue.
Perhaps the terrible economic situation makes people more aware of our situation. We feel we are being treated with a certain disrespect by the Spanish government whilst they pick out pockets!
Some of my friends seem to be happy that Artur Mas has won the election, and others happy that he has lost seats.
I used to vote for CiU but this time I voted for the Socialist Party of Catalonia which does not support independence.
I am not sure whether this election outcome is good or bad, and we will see in the next few days how the parties will try to work together. I'm not sure politicians really know where we are going.
Talking about independence is the best way to forget the real problems in Catalonia, such as unemployment, homelessness and the privatisation of public health.
Maybe I would be interested in independence too - but only after we look for solutions to the real problems.
It is true that we Catalans have our own language and culture, but I'm not sure why we have to separate ourselves from the rest of Spain. I think we can be different inside Spain - like in the USA where there are different states within the union.
I'm disappointed with the election results as I want to see a big majority for the governing CiU.
It is true that first and second biggest parties are pro-independence, and that has never happened before. However, we were hoping for something more dramatic following the huge march for independence in September - a march I joined.
I hope the pro-independence parties will join forces so that there will be a vote for independence. But I think the Spanish government will have a problem with allowing us that vote.
Previously I did not support independence and I actually celebrated Spain's victory in the Euro Cup back in 2008 when I was living in the UK.
However, me and other Catalans now feel tired of our relationship with Spain.
Why do we feel like this now? Firstly we feel have been paying more in tax to Madrid than we get back. Secondly, we have seen no respect at all for our culture and the most important part of it is our language: Catalan.
We Catalans are different from people from Madrid or Seville. We have a different culture and a different way of doing things.
We really are tired of listening to continuous attacks on our people and culture. And really, really tired of having to pay our taxes to a country that will waste our money on useless projects and always try to ensure that Madrid is the richest city in the country.
I am delighted with the results!
I do not support independence. I am Catalan but also Spanish and European; I have different elements to my identity and I don't want to choose between them.
I used to vote for Artur Mas because he used to be a moderate, but he has changed completely. I don't like the way his CiU party changed their policy to back independence.
This time I voted for the Popular Party of Catalonia - a party I used to dislike.
President Mas wanted to give a false image of Catalonia being united behind independence - and the Catalan citizens have rejected this view in the polls.
Catalonia is far more heterogeneous than Mr Mas wants to portray.
It is a personal defeat for him, because he wanted to take advantage of the huge march for independence in September and he failed.
We should stop thinking about how to move to independence, instead we should think about how we can create more wealth for our country. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2375729.stm | FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST has seen its last dawn, market researchers have announced.
Full English - or Fry-up, as it was affectionately known to those who found calorific comfort in its fried bacon, sausage, mushroom, eggs and tomato - could not survive in the modern world.
According to Datamonitor, notoriously unhealthy Fry-up was killed by a flurry of activity. Britons are increasingly busy in the mornings and Full English was just too "time consuming to prepare".
Though cooking burns 100 more calories an hour than sitting down, people neglected Full English (admittedly 127 calories per sausage) in favour of convenience foods they could wolf down on the way to work or actually at their desks.
"Deskfast" fare such as cereal bars and, God forbid, fruit are preparing to dance on Full English's grave, says Datamonitor.
There are even rumours Full English's evil foreign enemies (Swiss muesli, French croissants and American muffins) had a hand in the death.
Full English may not even be survived by its old haunts. More than one in nine old-style "greasy spoon" cafes have shut down since 1997.
Fry-up's legacy may linger in the very heart of the information age blamed for its demise.
Full English was instrumental in the writing of the Monty Python spam sketch (Waitress: Well, there's egg and bacon; egg, sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg, bacon and spam..."), which gave annoying and unsolicited mass e-mails their nickname.
Full English is thought to be survived by an identical twin across the Irish sea, Ulster Fry.
There is also a relative north of the Border, Full Scottish. Almost identical to its Sassenach sibling (except for the addition of haggis), Full Scottish has weathered a recent assault by Gillian Kynoch, Scotland's "food czar".
What will the nation do for a good hangover cure now? R.I.P bacon and eggs, you will be missed.
Rumours of the death of the full English breakfast are greatly exaggerated. It has merely retired to hotels and guest houses around the country.
I am both shocked and upset at the death of full English fry ups. It is with out a doubt my favourite grub in the Universe. I have travelled all over the world and have never ever had a meal that comes close to my runny eggs, greasy limp bacon, bloated sausages, bowel-moving beans and thick black pudding.
No doubt a post mortem will reveal high blood pressure and cholesterol levels as the primary cause of death. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-40190597 | Is NHS rationing a possibility?
Money, money, money - it's a familiar background theme across the NHS in England, but the volume is increasing.
Campaign funding promises have been made but whoever forms the next government will find some challenging financial issues highlighted in their ministerial red boxes.
This week, reports of a tightening of the financial thumb screws have emerged. There is talk of rationing and, as one source told me, "unpalatable things" being contemplated by hospital managers and local health commissioners.
Under what's been billed as a "capped expenditure process", NHS England and the regulator NHS Improvement are telling some trusts to stick within spending limits even if that means tough decisions on the provision of non-urgent care.
The new pressure on hospitals and local health commissioning groups in England comes after some trusts overshot agreed spending targets during the last financial year.
Since the start of this year, from the beginning of April, it has become clear that the biggest over-spenders have been unable to agree their so-called "control totals". They have now been told to take firmer action to keep a grip on spending.
The Health Service Journal (HSJ) reported that NHS officials have contacted health managers in 14 areas of England with a series of proposals for controlling budgets. These include extending waiting times for routine procedures and treatments, downgrading certain services and limiting the number of operations carried out by the private sector for the NHS.
HSJ first revealed the tougher spending regime in April, quoting from a letter sent to those local health leaders who could not agree their budgets.
They were asked to decide "from which areas further expenditure reductions will be made", including reviewing the range of medicines prescribed.
Interestingly, the letter and subsequent dialogue has been with both commissioners, who can limit what they are prepared to pay for, and trusts who might save money by curbing the volume of non-urgent care provided to patients.
There was a clue to this tougher approach in the update to the NHS Five Year Forward View plan, published at the end of March. The finger is pointed at those organisations which had historically substantially overspent their "fair shares of NHS funding".
They are accused of "living off bail-outs" taken from other services. They are then told to confront "difficult choices" and if necessary "scale back spending on locally unaffordable services".
An NHS England spokesperson said no final decisions had been made and when final choices were made locally they would need to be approved nationally. But there was no denying the fact that in some areas hospital managers and commissioners were being told to go further than before to keep a lid on spending.
The background to this is that NHS England is receiving a much smaller budget increase this year than in 2016/17 which, though originally billed as a generous "frontloaded" settlement, appeared to only just cover what the service needed. Patient demand will continue to outstrip the money available with the financial pressure even more intense this year.
Those who see the NHS as a bottomless pit always requiring more money to be poured in will call for more efficiency savings before another bailout is contemplated. Those who argue that the NHS has been underfunded for some years, with the share of national income devoted to health lagging behind other leading economies, will say the only answer is higher levels of government funding.
It's a familiar debate and one which won't go away after polling day.
The three main health think tanks, The King'sFund, Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation, wrote a joint letter this week arguing that no political party was offering enough extra spending to cope with the demographic and demand pressures on the NHS.
They estimated that an extra £20 billion annually would be needed by 2022 over and above the most generous manifesto pledge.
The think tanks argue that failure to provide sufficient funding will result in longer waiting times for patients and a decline in levels of care.
Recent reports indicate NHS chiefs are already planning for that to happen. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/9302997.stm | India legend Sachin Tendulkar scored his landmark 50th Test match hundred as they battled to save the first Test against South Africa in Centurion.
The 37-year-old great reached the milestone as India fought back on day four, reaching stumps on 107 not out.
"It's just another number but it's nice," said Tendulkar. "Every innings, I want to go out and score runs."
Tendulkar, who also passed 14,500 Test runs during the innings, brought up his century with a single off Dale Steyn.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting has the next highest number of hundreds in Tests with 39.
Tendulkar added: "I'm very happy that it came at this moment. Saturday was my father's birthday and so I dedicate this hundred to him. That's the first thing I thought of, that I was doing it for him. And also to say thank you for all the fabulous support I have had over the years.
"I'm just really enjoying my batting at the moment and when you are striking the ball really well and moving well, you need to cash in as much as possible. It's extremely important to have that hunger, that's what keeps you going."
Tendulkar's century, which included 12 fours and a six, came in a gritty fourth-day fightback from India as they tried to avoid defeat against South Africa.
Having been bowled out for 136 on the first day - with Tendulkar top-scoring on 36 - and suffered in the field as South Africa racked up 620-4 declared, the Indians reached 454-8 at the close on day four, trailing the hosts by 30 runs.
Despite needing a miracle to avoid going 1-0 down in the series, Tendulkar believes India can leave Centurion with their heads held high after a stirring fightback.
"You need to think positively," he added. "The batsmen have produced a very good response and it was extremely important for us to come back strong, to send a strong message and we've done that. We need to keep that up, do that for the remainder of the series."
India coach Gary Kirsten, who has seen Tendulkar at close quarters for the past three years and came up against the right-hander during his Test career for South Africa, paid tribute to the man affectionately known as the 'Little Master'.
"For me, Sachin is the professor of batting," said Kirsten, who scored 7,289 Test runs. "He's the model professional cricketer, he works harder than anyone else at his game and it's a privilege to work with him.
"It's little wonder he's been so successful because he treats every single cricketing day with humility and respect. He doesn't take one ball for granted in practice and you never see him have a loose net."
Kirsten believes Tendulkar, who scored his first Test ton as a 17-year-old at Old Trafford against England in 1990, is enjoying his cricket more than ever before.
"He's a fantastic team man and he's so desperate to do well for India," added Kirsten. "He really gets emotional and passionate about the team doing well.
"This is an incredible individual milestone for Sachin, but he wants to make contributions to the team. He wants to make sure that the team is doing well while he's getting these milestones.
"He is enjoying his cricket as much now as he ever has done. The team doing well over the past couple of years has been good for him and in the last year he has been unbelievable. I've seen a real determination in the last year."
Tendulkar is the leading run-scorer in Test cricket in 2010 with 1,539 at an average of 85.50, including seven centuries and five fifties.
The world of cricket was quick to pay tribute to Tendulkar's latest stellar feat, with Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh proclaiming it the "greatest achievement by a batsman ever" on Twitter.
Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar also tweeted: "He has got it finally! And judging from his reaction... meant a lot to him... the 50th Test ton... this is one record that is there to stay." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7875299.stm | Two hundred years on from the birth of Charles Darwin, our science correspondent David Shukman travels to the Galapagos Islands where the great 19th Century figure made observations critical to his theory of evolution.
Imagine how the course of history might have changed if Darwin had come equipped with cameras.
Often my heart sinks while filming wildlife: if you do see an interesting creature, it usually fails to co-operate and turns to offer a view of its back end.
Here, it's more a question of us co-operating with the wildlife.
On a boat trip between islands, the rigours of a bumpy ride are instantly forgotten when a dozen bottle-nosed dolphins rise from waves and perform a series of breathtaking leaps.
For an interview about giant tortoises, we sensitively position ourselves at a discreet distance from one of the animals only to find it inching nearer, as if to improve its chances of a decent close-up.
A Galapagos flycatcher, perched on a branch, remains in place as Mark's lens is just inches away.
Darwin noted how the birds were so tame that people could knock them out of the trees with a stick.
Only the marine iguanas seem a little camera-shy. Rob and I spent a hot hour stumbling over algae-strewn rocks before we found one happy to hold steady and offer wistful gazes at the sea.
But sometimes we can end up a little too close.
Approaching Champion Island, the sea lions race past and under our small inflatable boat like torpedoes.
And crouched at the wrong end of a particularly large giant tortoise, I hear a low rumbling.
I'm told it is not what I think it is, but I catch in the evening breeze a distinctive smell of farmyard.
Other surreal moments? A puppet Darwin teaching local schoolchildren about evolution; in return, they sing Happy Birthday to him.
Being allowed close to the last surviving member of the Pinta species of giant tortoise, Lonesome George; his ancient eyes really do look sad.
And watching Darwin's war of nature unfold as fire ants swarm inside the clothes of insect specialist Henri Herrera. He is badly bitten but the rest of us suffer too.
These ants had not yet invaded the Galapagos when Darwin was here. But their attack on us is a tiny sub-plot of natural selection, the inextricable combination of survival and extinction.
I just wish it didn't hurt so much.
Did the sand feel special, the speckled pebbles more radiant? Not really. But the beach I leap on to is where Darwin's feet once trod: Post Office Bay on Floreana Island.
The man who came up with what's called the greatest idea in history picked his way up this same soft slope.
His landing must have been more elegant than mine. I launch myself off the bow just as a surge carries our boat forward, and I travel far higher than expected. Into the land of the flightless cormorant arrives a flighty correspondent.
Tourists love this place. It's named for the old barrel positioned just inland where seafarers left messages for passing ships heading home. I wonder how many letters actually made it.
Today we have a more modern communications problem. We need to contact a small team of scientists nearby but their satellite phone isn't working.
The scientists are researching the endangered Floreana mockingbird. These birds were among those collected by Darwin, and it was the differences between mockingbirds from different islands that led him to think about species adapting and evolving.
Now the mockingbirds are extinct on Floreana itself. This species only survives on two tiny islets nearby.
We approach one of the islets, Champion, and circle it, scanning the cliffs.
There's no one to be seen. We start shouting and whistling. And waving. This is the space age and this kind of thing should be easier than in Darwin's time. He had the barrel at least.
Eventually we spot the wide brim of a hat in the bushes. It's Lucas Keller, the leader of the team. The whistling and waving intensify until he sees us.
We are strictly forbidden from landing on Champion because its wildlife is so vulnerable. So we inch our boat through the swell and start a shouted conversation. It's utterly surreal.
As a surge brings us close, I stretch out and hand over a small video camera so Lucas can film the mockingbirds for us. Two hours later we brave the surf again to collect the camera.
He has done well. You can see his footage on our interactive Galapagos map.
Maybe we have progressed beyond a barrel.
I have to sing for my supper.
Not exactly on the scale of Darwin - his duties included providing his captain with intellectual company on their half-decade together at sea.
But while the Beagle could venture wherever Robert Fitzroy wanted to take his ship, we have to contend with storm-force bureaucracy regulating which boats can go where.
The rules are totally justified to prevent the place being overrun. But, when the boat we hire - with the correct papers - suffers the 21st-Century equivalent of entering the windless doldrums, we are left stranded.
Luckily our guide and translator Emma Ridley persuades a tourist ship to loan us a launch, equipped not only with a working engine but also the right licence. But there is a price: I have to give a talk about our assignment.
So along with producer Mark Georgiou, cameraman Rob Magee and radio producer Peter Emmerson, I board the Polaris and address a lounge full of eager, questioning Americans.
What angle are you looking at? Well, these islands are at a crossroads of choices about their future. How are the cameras coping with the heat and humidity? Not very well; today it hardly ever stops raining.
The experience unexpectedly brings back memories of far chillier circumstances: three of us had travelled aboard a strikingly similar vessel in the Arctic, sailing through the North West Passage.
There's a trigger for another polar memory, too. Flapping cutely on a rock are two birds better suited to Antarctica: penguins, the Galapagos variety, clinging on in the Tropics, increasingly endangered as the waters get warmer.
A giant frigate bird circles in the dusk sky. A lurid depiction of Charles Darwin adorns an arch outside our hotel. Once again, there's a sea lion snoozing beside our table. It's no longer a surprise. I must be evolving too.
My luggage is heavy: like many visitors clambering off the plane, I've brought a small Darwin library including The Voyage of the Beagle and On the Origin of Species.
One risk, just below the equator, is sunburn. Another is pretentiousness: I can't be the first to feel the constant temptation to compare the great man's observations with mine.
At first, everything is disappointingly normal: a small airport on flat scrubby land, not a creature to be seen, and the massed beeping of mobile phones successfully finding a signal.
Darwin was disappointed for rather different reasons - "nothing could be less inviting", he wrote about his first sight of "stunted, sunburnt brushwood".
It's the hot season, which means it's probably wise to avoid the hottest terrain, the black wastelands of the lava fields. I somehow find myself in amongst them at noon.
The sun scorches from above and the dark rocks blast heat from below. The word "sauna" leaps into my overheated mind.
Darwin's thermometer could record up to 137F (58C) but he was convinced the temperature was higher. Even in thick boots, he found the black sand was "disagreeable to walk over".
I cool down with an iced drink. I hear snoring from a wooden bench nearby: a sea lion is sprawled on it, twitching in its sleep, unfazed. A marine iguana casts a glance at me but does not leave.
You don't view wildlife here, you mingle with it.
And this has not changed since Darwin's time. He noted the "extreme tameness" of the birds, not yet "adapted to the stranger's craft or power".
As I put Origin of Species on my bedside table, I push aside the remote control for the air conditioning. I could never endure five years on a tiny sailing ship, but surely, in a brave spirit of solidarity, I can choose to sleep without chilled air?
Not for long. I wake up baking, reach for that remote and read how "endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved". Until the room cools down. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3739495.stm | Parents who drive their children to school in huge 4x4 vehicles have been branded "idiots" by London's mayor Ken Livingstone.
"When you see someone trying to manoeuvre it round the school gates, you have to think, you are a complete idiot," he said in a GMTV interview.
Such cars had no place in the city and were largely a status symbol for people with too much money, he added.
The Labour mayoral candidate described the vehicles as "totally unnecessary".
But Mr Livingstone did not suggest there was no place for such vehicles.
"When I see a farmer, going over rugged terrain in their four-wheel drive, I think that's a reasonable decision to have been made."
"These are not cars which people should be using in London," he added.
He suggested the money would be better spent on a holiday, in the interview broadcast on GMTV Sunday.
Mr Livingstone is not the first politician to vent his fury against the increasing popularity of Jeep-type vehicles and Sports Utility Vehicles.
Liberal Democrat MP Norman Bakers called for a raft of new laws to control the sale and use of 4x4s.
Like Mr Livingstone, he also wanted to see them banned from the school run.
Mr Baker also argued people owning such vehicles which produce more emissions should pay a higher rate of car tax.
Conservative MP Robert Walter meanwhile called for a ban of off-road vehicles on public footpaths in order to preserve the quietness of the countryside.
What do you think of Ken's comments about 4x4 drivers? Does he have a point or is it none of his business?
Of course he's right. They are a nuisance in car parks and the drivers feel so safe and secure in their armour plate, that they very quickly become aggressive and think every one else should give way to them.
I have a 4x4 and use it for a number of uses as well as taking my kids to school. I think Ken Livingstone should shut up and get on with the job he is being paid to do.
Well done Ken, I totally agree that unnecessarily large vehicles should carry a punitive level of taxation to reflect the damage they do to the environment in terms of pollution and congestion. Freedom of choice is fine for those with the money to excercise it, but as asthma rates continue to rise in children in London, the time has come to intervene.
I have to agree with Ken. Although it is everyone's right to spend their money on what they want to, there is something hugely ridiculous about a giant 4 x 4 hurtling along the roads of the cities and suburbs. But worse than that is the arrogance that seems to stem from a 'my car's bigger than your car' attitude.
I couldn't agree more - my road is crammed full of them. Ken will certainly get my vote now!
What a load of Big Brother-ish garbage! Just about everyone and his dog owns a 4 x 4 (SUV)here in the States, and a lot of our roads through towns are narrow, but there doesn't appear to be any problems. What difference is there in the size of the average 4 x 4 to the larger "family cars"?
Just for once (!) I totally agree with Ken. These huge vehicles take up more than their fair share of road-space, and one might just as well follow a furniture van from the viewing aspect. I have long held the belief that people who drive huge cars should pay more tax.
That's crazy! It's none of his business, in my opinion. I live in rural montana (half a world from you :) ) and I drive my 4wd Hyundai Santa Fe everywhere as it's my only car. There are lots of places I NEED it - deep snow on untravelled, unploughed roads in the winter, bumpy dirt roads with steep hills (such as the road to my uncle's house), etc. But when I want to drive my car in the city that's my right. And it's a Hyundai - hardly a status symbol.
More and more, Britain is governed at every level by control freaks. We used to say, with pride, its a free country. In a free country, I can choose my own car.
Absolutely right. Owners are apparently too arrogant to realise that these great hulks of metal obscure visibility for anyone next to them at junctions and also that they hide some obstacles - like small children, for example. Get them off the road - the 4x4s, obviously, not the children!
Judging by Ken Livingstone's arrogant remarks, he seems quite hellbent on making the individuals who can afford these vehicles types, look like they are commiting a type of crime. Perhaps the people who drive these vehicles want a safer ride for their children. If that seems so bad, why doesn't he lobby for a government subsidized transportation system for these children to get to school?
What absolute rubbish! 4x4s take no more road space or parking space than any other vehicle and owners of larger-engined cars already pay more tax via petrol consumption, road tax, company car scales etc. It is not up to Mr Livingstone or anyone else to tell others what they can and can't spend their money on.
The 4X4 sector has one of the highest percentage of LPG converted vehicles on UK roads, giving just about zero emissions and cheap fuel. Stick that in your congestion charge and smoke it, Ken!
To the Americans replying to this, we have a very different rurual and urban landscape here so there is little point in drawing comparisons.To those saying we should have the "freedom" to drive what we like, have you heard of something called "responsibility"?Well done Ken. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2291341.stm | A 40-room mansion in Northamptonshire, which was once home to a Gunpowder plotter, is up for sale.
Rushton Hall, a Grade I listed building, dates from the late 16th century.
It was built for Sir Thomas Tresham, a highly successful Catholic merchant whose son was later involved in the Gunpowder Plot.
The 1604 plot aimed to bring down the government by blowing up the Houses of Parliament, and is remembered in Britain each year on 5 November.
For the last 40 years the mansion has been used as a special school by the Royal National Institute of the Blind.
One of the more unusual features of the property is a priest hole which was built for Catholic clergy escaping persecution during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I.
Alan Burman, a local historian, said: "Jesuit priests... were sought after and imprisoned, so most of these houses had priest holes."
Other features include a relief of a scene of the Crucifixion which is still hanging in the chapel.
The estate agents refused to speculate on the cost of Rushton Hall. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15135544 | A French woman has been kidnapped by an armed gang on Kenya's northern resort island of Manda and taken to Somalia, Kenyan officials say.
The disabled woman, 66, was attacked at her bungalow at Ras Kitau. Kenya's government said it believed the abductors were al-Shabab militants.
A Kenyan statement said some abductors were injured in a shootout with two Kenyan ships trying to stop them.
Gunmen shot dead husband David Tebbutt and kidnapped his wife Judith in Kiwayu. She was taken across the border to Somalia.
The gunmen struck at Ras Kitau at 03:30 (00:30 GMT) on Saturday.
"An elderly, disabled French lady who has been living in Manda Island in her own house was abducted by 10 heavily armed Somali bandits suspected to be al-Shabab operatives from Ras Chiamboni in Somalia, near the Kenyan border," a Kenyan government statement said.
This was a far more audacious raid than the one against David and Judith Tebbutt at Kiwayu. Ras Kitau is just opposite Lamu Island's popular Shela beach so this attack goes right to the heart of Lamu's tourism industry.
This time the gunshots were heard in Shela village and will have scared tourists and hotel owners alike. On an island where almost all job opportunities are related to tourism this is very bad news.
One hotel owner told me Somali gangs in boats had been seen at least twice in the last 10 days close to Kiwayu. He has closed the resort.
Whatever the outcome of this latest kidnapping, there is now a desperate need for the Kenyan government to launch a major security operation and stop the gangs from getting anywhere near these resorts. It will not be easy but it has to be done in order to make the tourists feel safe, save jobs and keep the foreign exchange coming in.
Abu Chiaba, a local legislator, said the gang had come into Manda by boat in the middle of the night.
"The elderly French woman is well known in the area, she comes to Manda regularly," Mr Chiaba said.
Witnesses say they heard at least two gunshots before the woman was taken away by the attackers.
"We were all startled awake because there were gunshots," said Jeremiah Kiptoon, who works on Manda island.
"The dogs were barking and people were screaming... I ran to the place to see what was happening but by the time I got there, the lady was gone."
Two coastguard vessels and a police helicopter chased the abductors, and were involved in an exchange of fire, Internal Security Minister George Saitoti said in a statement.
He said several of the abductors were injured but they still managed to enter Somali territory in a motor boat.
The government said "every effort" was being made to rescue the woman.
Kenya's Tourism Minister Najib Balala called for international assistance to help them in their efforts to secure the border with Somalia.
Media captionKenyan tourism minister Najib Balala: "All the security officials in Lamu have moved to Kiunga where they are going to beef up the security on the border line"
"The core problem is Somalia and the core problem is criminal elements who manage to sneak into the country," he told the BBC.
"Whatever we're going to do, if we don't have the support of the international community to address the Somali issue then it is very challenging to manage to man the border in Somalia."
France has warned French visitors to avoid the area.
"It is advised against staying on the Lamu archipelago and its region near the Somali border," the French foreign ministry said on its website.
The attack happened just across a lagoon from Shela - an exclusive resort on Lamu island.
This attack has the potential to do severe damage to Kenya's tourism industry, the BBC's Will Ross in Nairobi says. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25747068 | Comedians have personality types linked with psychosis, like many other creative types, which might explain why they can entertain, researchers claim.
They score highly on characteristics that in extreme cases are associated with mental illness, a study by Oxford University researchers suggests.
Unusually, they have high levels of both introversion and extroversion.
The team says the creative elements needed for humour are similar to traits seen in people with psychosis.
The idea that creativity in art and science is connected with mental health problems has long captured the public imagination.
However, there has been little research on whether comedians have some of the traits - in a healthy form - associated with psychosis (delusions or hallucinations that can be present in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder).
Researchers from the University of Oxford and Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust studied 523 comedians (404 men and 119 women) from the UK, US and Australia.
The comedians were asked to complete an online questionnaire designed to measure psychotic traits in healthy people.
Impulsive non-conformity (tendency towards impulsive, antisocial behaviour).
The questionnaire was also completed by 364 actors - another profession used to performing - as a control group, and by a group of 831 people who worked in non-creative areas.
The researchers found that comedians scored significantly higher on all four types of psychotic personality traits than the general group, with particularly high scores for both extroverted and introverted personality traits.
The actors scored higher than the general group on three types - but not on the introverted personality aspect.
The researchers believe this unusual personality structure may help explain the ability of comedians to entertain.
Professor Gordon Claridge, of the University of Oxford's Department of Experimental Psychology, said: "The creative elements needed to produce humour are strikingly similar to those characterising the cognitive style of people with psychosis - both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder."
He said although schizophrenic psychosis itself could be detrimental to humour, in a lesser form it could increase people's ability to associate odd or unusual things or to think "outside the box".
Manic thinking, which is found in those with bipolar disorder, may help people combine ideas to form new, original and humorous connections, he added.
Prof Claridge told BBC News: "Comedians tend to be slightly withdrawn, introverted people who may not always want to socialise, and their comedy is almost an outlet for that. It's a kind of self-medication."
Dr James MacCabe, of the Institute of Psychiatry, at King's College, London, said: "Psychosis is not a problem with personality, it's a more severe disorder than that.
"People with psychosis and schizophrenia have a very impaired ability to appreciate humorous material.
"This study tells us some interesting things about the differences between comedians and actors but not about the link with psychosis."
Paul Jenkins, CEO of the charity Rethink Mental Illness said these were interesting findings, but we must guard against the "mad creative genius stereotype".
"Mental illnesses like schizophrenia can affect anyone, whether they are creative or not. Our knowledge and understanding of mental illness still lags far behind our understanding of physical illnesses, and what we really need is much more research in this area."
The research is published in The British Journal of Psychiatry. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6134926.stm | The cost of bringing up a child from birth to their 21st birthday has jumped to £180,137, a study suggests.
In the last year alone, the cost of raising offspring has risen by 9%, said research from financial services provider Liverpool Victoria.
It now estimates that a child costs its parents £23.50 per day.
Childcare and education are said to be the most expensive factors, costing parents an average £49,092 and £46,778 per child respectively.
Education costs are said to have risen 26% since last year, helping to put up the expense of raising a child by a rate outstripping inflation almost four times.
The report concludes that the high cost of starting a family has increased the cultural shift away from households having just one working parent.
If found that today both parents have to work to cover the cost of bringing up children in two-thirds of families.
A further 12% of working parents said they need to rely upon grandparents or other family members for regular financial support to help meet the costs of bringing up their children.
"Raising a family requires careful financial planning and regular saving, as well as a great deal of hard work," said Liverpool Victoria's communications director Nigel Snell. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4741503.stm | Oil prices have reached fresh highs as traders await the release of new US stockpile data.
US light, sweet crude climbed 58 cents to $62.47, while Brent crude rose 55 cents a barrel to $61.25, before both benchmark prices dropped back slightly.
US refinery shutdowns and the hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean are hitting reserves.
Gasoline supplies fell for this time of year on strong demand and slower refinery output, the government said.
Its update of oil and petrol stocks on Wednesday showed gasoline stocks fell by more than expected.
However commercial crude stocks showed a strong build up and rose by 200,000 barrels nationwide to 318 million barrels last week.
Oil imports neared 11 million barrels a day, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
Oil prices last broke records two days ago, after the death of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia - home to a quarter of the world's oil.
Concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions have also bolstered oil prices in recent days.
Iran, the second largest oil exporter within the Opec producers cartel, is at loggerheads with the US over plans to resume the processing of uranium.
Investors fear this could increase political tensions and affect oil supplies.
The US is opposed to Iran's plan to resume uranium processing, which Iran claims is necessary for its domestic energy needs.
Iran produces about four million barrels of oil a day, making the country a vital source of supply for major energy consuming nations. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19598997 | One of the most famous scenes in the Sherlock Holmes stories occurs in Switzerland, where Holmes fans still gather to re-enact the detective's tussle with his nemesis, Moriarty.
It is 125 years since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective was introduced to the world. The first Holmes and Watson mystery, A Study in Scarlet, was published in 1887.
Since then, the inhabitants of 221B Baker Street have remained hugely popular and recent film and television adaptations of the stories have introduced them to a new generation.
But there are some Sherlock Holmes fans for whom reading a book or watching a film is simply not enough to satisfy their enthusiasm. The Sherlock Holmes Society has a current membership of almost 1,200 people from all over the world, and many of them spend their free time re-enacting the key moments of their hero's life.
And so this week, more than 70 of them, many aged over 70 themselves, were on a pilgrimage to Meiringen in Switzerland, home of the Reichenbach Falls, and scene of the final struggle between Sherlock Holmes and his arch enemy, the evil Professor James Moriarty, often called "the Napoleon of crime".
Conan Doyle couldn't have chosen a more dramatic spot to stage the encounter. The falls plummet 250 metres down into the valley and such is the power of the water that it has created great holes and cavities in the rock.
And the spot where Holmes and Moriarty are supposed to have met - now handily marked with a little statue of the detective - is the most dramatic of all. The water plunges down a full 90 metres.
On their pilgrimage, members of the Sherlock Holmes Society are determined to add their own drama to the occasion. The society's president is Guy Marriott, a retired London lawyer, resplendent in the green dress uniform of the King of Bohemia.
"The King of Bohemia appears in an early short story called A Scandal in Bohemia. The king employs Sherlock Holmes to recover some compromising photographs of him with an opera singer."
We each choose the character we like to play, he says. "I like to dress up so a military uniform really is very suitable."
In fact, a love of dressing up is something all the Sherlock Holmes Society members clearly share, and since not everyone can be Holmes himself, or Watson, or Moriarty, even the most obscure characters are joining the pilgrimage.
Jonathan McCafferty, a former barrister, has chosen to be Cardinal Tosca. The Cardinal rates just one brief mention in just one Conan Doyle story, but Mr McCafferty sees this as an advantage.
"Since nothing whatsoever is known about me other than that I am a cardinal, every other possibility remains," he says. "Whether I was a good cardinal or given to extreme acts of wickedness and mischief is unknown. I favour mischief."
And his costume? "My outfit can best be described by the single word - red. My hat is red, my shoes are red, my socks are red."
Next to Cardinal Tosca is Queen Victoria, who is so immersed in her character that her real identity seems to have been long forgotten.
"I'm the Queen, and I'm Empress of India," she insists. "But today I'm travelling incognito."
Why, then, the crown? "When one is a queen, one has to have a crown. One's just rather hoping no-one will notice."
In fact, one of the things which makes these Sherlock Holmes fans truly endearing is that despite their enthusiasm, none of them takes themselves too seriously.
"I think they are marvellous, and slightly bonkers," says British journalist David Leask, who has come along on the pilgrimage. "These are serious people who are able to really let their hair down. Essentially, they are playing a game, they're being silly, they are having fun like children.
"Yet these are barristers, architects, business people, doing this in their spare time just for the sheer love of silliness. We could all learn something from that."
The highlight of this love of silliness is the re-enactment of the infamous moment when Sherlock Holmes meets his nemesis, Professor Moriarty, at the Reichenbach waterfalls. After a violent struggle, both men apparently disappear.
Conan Doyle's original intention was to write off his most lucrative character in his 1893 story The Final Problem, in order to concentrate on more highbrow literature.
But his other books never enjoyed the success of Sherlock Holmes, and in 1901 Doyle, needing to make a living from his writing, revived the great detective.
Over a century later, the struggle at the waterfalls remains one of the most famous scenes in literature and the falls today are a popular destination, not just for fans of Conan Doyle but for tourists from all over the world. A rack railway carries tens of thousands of people up to the spot each year. Today, passing tourists are in for an extra treat - the re-enactment.
Holmes (played by retired headmaster David Jones) and Moriarty (lawyer Peter Horrocks) grapple manfully with each other as the rest of the characters look on aghast.
And, as in the original story itself, the re-enactment is determined to leave open the question of who, if anyone, actually survives the apparent plunge down into the gorge.
"The conclusion of the struggle is that two bodies are seen tumbling down into the water," explains Guy Marriott.
"But it probably won't be the characters who have the struggle… we have dummies that we keep for this occasion."
And so, the final scene of The Final Problem finally re-enacted, the pilgrims treat themselves to some Swiss cheese and wine, enjoying the autumn sunshine and the stunning alpine scenery.
For Moriarty character Peter Horrocks, the chance to combine a holiday with his passion for Conan Doyle is irresistible.
"This holiday has everything," he says. "It has the beauty of the Swiss mountains, it has wonderful companionship with the other members of the society, and it has the background of the Sherlock Holmes stories."
Image caption The men fall but to their deaths?
But Queen Victoria, now revealed as Elaine McCafferty from London, admits she sometimes has a hard time telling her colleagues about her hobby.
"I shall be taking to work with me on Monday a series of photographs of Spanish beaches… I find it saves a lot of explanation."
But it's Cardinal Tosca, or John McCafferty, who comes closest to providing the real explanation of what makes playing at Sherlock Holmes so enticing.
"It gives you every opportunity for not being at all serious," he says.
"Certainly if you were to know me in day-to-day life, I would be so absolutely humdrum, but here I hope I have at least a scintilla of interest as a cardinal.
"It's a merciful release from the day-to-day troubles of the 21st Century to imagine oneself a character from a book of the late 19th Century." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-40274842 | Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts has been elected Plaid Cymru's leader at Westminster.
She succeeds Hywel Williams, the MP for Arfon, who had been in the post for almost two years.
Ms Saville Roberts became Plaid's first female MP at the 2015 general election, succeeding party colleague Elfyn Llwyd who stood down after 23 years.
Plaid Cymru now have four MPs, after Ben Lake won Ceredigion from the Lib Dems in last week's election. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36712560 | Actress Noel Neill, who was the first to play the character of Lois Lane on screen, has died at the age of 95.
She died on Sunday at her home in Tucson, Arizona, after a long illness, according to her manager and biographer Larry Ward.
Neill played the Daily Planet reporter in the 1948 and 1950 movie serials alongside Kirk Alyn as Superman.
She also played Lois Lane in the TV series Adventures of Superman alongside George Reeves between 1953 and 1958.
Neill also made appearances in the 1978 Christopher Reeve Superman film, in an uncredited role as Lois Lane's mother Ella, and in the 2006 Superman Returns film, starring Brandon Routh.
She also appeared in a 1992 episode of the TV series Superboy, based on Superman's younger years.
Born in Minnesota, she was the daughter of Minneapolis Star Tribune news editor David Neill and New York vaudeville performer LaVere Neill.
She started singing and dancing as a child and performed at county and state fairs throughout the midwest in the 1930s.
Neill moved to Hollywood at 18 and soon got her big break when she was hired by Bing Crosby to sing at his Turf Club at the race track in Del Mar, California.
In 1941 she was signed up to a contract by Paramount Pictures.
Noel made close to 100 films in her career and worked with directors including such Cecil B DeMille and Vincent Minnelli and actors Bob Hope, Crosby and Gene Kelly.
In the 1940s and 1950s she appeared in many Westerns and was awarded the 2004 Golden Boot Award - for her many Western films.
There is a statue of Lois Lane in her likeness in the town of Metropolis, Illinois.
Ward said she was still making personal appearances and attending book signings into her 90th year.
"Noel truly was Lois Lane, and for many of us, she was the first working woman seen on television. Few of her fans actually knew her real name, almost always simply calling her 'Lois' to which she would unfailing answer with a bright smile and a kind word.
"It was more than a role to her. 'Lois' was someone she believed in and a character she happily and warmly embraced," he said.
Star Wars actor Mark Hamill has also paid tribute - "They say your 1st is always your favourite. I LOVED Noel Neill as Lois. She was sweet warm & wonderful in person too!" he tweeted.
A public memorial to the actress will be held later this year.
The character of Lois Lane went on to be played by Margot Kidder in the four Christopher Reeve Superman movies in the 1970s and 80s and Kate Bosworth in 2006's Superman Returns.
The role has also been played by Amy Adams in the most recent Superman films Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Man of Steel and she is currently filming Justice League.
On TV Teri Hatcher in the ABC series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures in the 1990s and Erica Durance in Smallville between 2004 and 2011. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1151182.stm | There isn't a whole lot to Fort Loudon, Pennsylvania - stretched out along a length of highway, there's a supermarket, a garage and car wash and a lousy diner.
Next to the supermarket, a squat building covered with wooden boards has a pile of animal skins mouldering outside.
It may seem surprising, but this could be the site of a revolution in pet preservation.
Inside Mac's Taxidermy, Mike Mculloch labours under rack after of buck and deer antlers. As the hunting season reaches a climax, there is a steady flow of customers clutching heads to be gutted, boned and mounted as trophies.
In Pennsylvania, 1.8 million hunting licences are granted every year.
But over in the corner of the store there's something else going on.
Two freezers are joined in the middle by tubing and a vacuum pump. And inside the two freezers, what were once pets are now being slowly dried out. Mike Mculloch can hardly believe the line of business he has entered into.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen", he chuckles. "I never started this taxidermy business to do dogs and cats. I bought the freeze dryers because we do small animals in them, that are very difficult, that are hard to skin and do the conventional way.
"And then this all started out about five years ago with a friend of a friend who asked me if I could help him out with his dog," he said.
There's not much difference in the finished product between a stuffed animal and a freeze-dried one, Mike says.
But stuffing is labour intensive for small animals; for a moose or a buck you gut and bone the head and neck and then stretch the hide over a polyurethane frame.
But those frames aren't made for smaller animals - so the bone and muscle structure needs to be recreated - and that means the price goes to around $2,500.
Which is where the freezer comes in. Freeze-drying - dropping the temperature of the animal to the point where water turns to a gas and then drawing the gas off with a vacuum pump - costs around one fifth of the price of stuffing.
And customers are queuing up, with pets coming over from all over the States - so far he has taken in pets from Texas, California and Florida.
"I don't understand them," he says, adding, "but then I don't understand people paying $2,000 to bury them and put a headstone up as well. It's a big business in this country - they cremate their dogs and cats and they spend three or four thousand dollars for an urn to put them in."
Business is very good at Mac's Taxidermy; new freezers are on order and new investors want to set up a whole new pet freeze-drying company.
Along with the success have come odd requests. One man in Ohio has asked, in return for a sum which Mike Mculloch will only describe as "very substantial", that his entire body be frozen. Mike is still pondering that one.
Profit margins are up and so far there's little competition on the horizon; other taxidermists just aren't interested.
Mike says he'll probably make more money this year in all the other years he has been in business. Deputise that one thing has changed for the worse - the mood in Mike's shop. It's gone from triumph to tragedy.
"We're used to people coming in here," he says " and they're all excited - they've got a big buck, or a bear or a mountain lion, and they're all excited. It's completely different now - the people come in with their dogs and cats and they're crying. I understand it but it's a completely different things for us. It's just different." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_2/7099990.stm | Millwall came from behind to claim all three points against Yeovil in a 2-1 win at the Den.
James Walker gave the visitors the lead with a fine volley from a tight angle, but Millwall came back strongly with a Jamie O'Hara equaliser.
They took the lead when Ali Fuseini picked up the ball from the left, cut inside and fired past Steve Mildenhall.
Yeovil continued to press, but Millwall hung on to give Kenny Jackett a win in his first home match in charge. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-47409683 | Police are investigating a violent attack on a 15-year-old boy in West Yorkshire after a video apparently shot on a phone was shared online.
The teenager was kicked several times, as a group watched on, during the attack in City Park, Bradford, on Sunday.
A 16-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of assault and been released on bail, said West Yorkshire Police.
The victim has not reported it as a hate crime, the force said. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-44884477/cliff-richard-bbc-would-be-crazy-to-appeal-lord-patten | The former chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, has said the BBC would be "crazy" to appeal against the High Court's ruling in the Sir Cliff Richard privacy case.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Lord Patten said the broadcaster should "swallow hard, say they made a mistake, apologise as they have to Cliff Richard, move on and not to do it again".
BBC bosses said on Wednesday the corporation was considering an appeal. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-30872333 | Lawyers have advised the government not to disclose the names of republicans who received letters as part of the On the Runs scheme, Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers has said.
More than 200 letters were sent to paramilitary suspects who were informed they were no longer wanted by police.
Members of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee have repeatedly called for the names to be disclosed.
However, Ms Villiers told the committee that this was not likely to happen.
"The advice of lawyers is very clear, that disclosure of the names of the individuals who received OTR (On the Runs) letters could make future prosecution more difficult because of the public perception that anyone who received an OTR letter was a terrorist," she said.
"That of course, as this committee will appreciate, isn't the case."
County Donegal man John Downey is the only person known to have received a letter of assurance stating that he was not wanted for arrest or questioning by the police.
This is because he relied on it to avoid prosecution for the murders of four soldiers in the IRA's Hyde Park bombing in July 1982.
The attack killed Squadron Quartermaster Corporal Roy Bright, Lieutenant Anthony Daly, Trooper Simon Tipper and Lance Corporal Jeffrey Young.
The collapse of Mr Downey's trial in February 2014 brought the OTR scheme to public attention.
The committee held its last evidence-gathering session on Monday, and it hopes to publish its findings next month.
Ms Villiers said the scheme was not an amnesty, and if it was, her government would have closed it down immediately.
In her second appearance before the committee, she told MPs that she would have expected former Prime Minister Tony Blair to have known that letters were being sent to OTRs informing them of their legal status.
Last week, Mr Blair told the committee he was surprised to hear that such letters had been sent.
Ms Villiers added that she was not aware of MI5 having any role to play in the scheme.
Mr Blair told the committee that the Northern Ireland peace process would probably have collapsed without the scheme.
It began while Mr Blair was prime minister and was set up in 1999, following talks with Sinn Féin.
The committee has heard evidence from senior police officers and politicians, including Ms Villiers and a number of her predecessors. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6368073.stm | Islamic prayers at Jerusalem's holiest site ended peacefully on Friday, a week after clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police.
About 3,000 police were deployed around the Old City of East Jerusalem, and men under 50 were barred from entering the Temple Mount, or Haram al-Sharif.
Palestinians oppose Israeli excavations at the site, the holiest in Judaism and Islam's third holiest shrine.
Muslims say the work threatens holy remains, a charge Israel denies.
Israel says the work is needed to repair a walkway up to the compound. But Palestinian leaders see the work as a huge provocation.
The start of the work last week sparked angry protests and Muslim leaders around the world have demanded it be halted. Plans for construction work for the walkway have been put off, but preparatory excavations continue.
Jerusalem's Palestinian mufti and officials from Israel's Islamic movement had called for a mass protest ahead of this Friday's prayers.
But the leader of the Islamic movement, Sheikh Raed Salah, remains banned from the site after being arrested during earlier protests.
Israel imposed strict limits on who could enter the compound, with many left praying on the streets outside the Old City, says the BBC's Bethany Bell, in Jerusalem.
Police remained deployed after prayers came to an end as thousands of worshippers began streaming out of the compound, seen as a possible flashpoint.
On Thursday, Turkey agreed to send an observation team to assess Israel's approach to the excavation work, and Israel has installed web cameras to broadcast the dig online.
The Haram al-Sharif is believed to be where the Prophet Muhammad made an ascent to heaven into the presence of God.
Jews believe the Temple Mount is where Abraham offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God. It is also the site to the First and Second Temples. The Western Wall of the mount is the holiest site in Judaism.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 war. Since then, the compound has remained under Muslim jurisdiction in conjunction with neighbouring Jordan. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-38218308 | The Koh-i-Noor is one of the world's most controversial diamonds.
It has been the subject of conquest and intrigue for centuries, passing through the hands of Mughal princes, Iranian warriors, Afghan rulers and Punjabi Maharajas.
The 105-carat gemstone came into British hands in the mid-19th Century, and forms part of the Crown Jewels on display at the Tower of London.
Ownership of the gem is an emotional issue for many Indians, who believe it was stolen from them by the British.
After the Koh-i-Noor came into the hands of the Governor-General Lord Dalhousie in 1849, he prepared to have it sent, along with an official history of the stone, to Queen Victoria.
Dalhousie commissioned Theo Metcalfe, a junior assistant magistrate in Delhi with a taste for gambling and parties, to undertake some research on the gem.
But Metcalfe accumulated little more than colourful bazaar gossip that has since been repeated in article after article, book after book, and even sits unchallenged on Wikipedia today as the true history of the Koh-i-Noor.
Reality: The Koh-i-Noor, which weighed 190.3 metric carats when it arrived in Britain, had had at least two comparable sisters, the Darya-i-Noor, or Sea of Light, now in Tehran (today estimated at 175-195 metric carats), and the Great Mughal Diamond, believed by most modern gemologists to be the Orlov diamond (189.9 metric carats).
All three diamonds left India as part of Iranian ruler Nader Shah's loot after he invaded the country in 1739.
It was only in the early 19th Century, when the Koh-i-Noor reached the Punjab, that the diamond began to achieve its preeminent fame and celebrity.
Reality: The original uncut Koh-i-Noor was flawed at its very heart.
Yellow flecks ran through a plane at its centre, one of which was large and marred its ability to refract light.
That's why Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, was so keen that it be re-cut.
The Koh-i-Noor is also far from being the largest diamond in the world: it's only the 90th largest.
In fact, tourists who see it in the Tower of London are often surprised by how small it is, especially when compared to the two much larger Cullinan diamonds that are displayed near it.
Reality: It is impossible to know when the Koh-i-Noor was found, or where. That's what makes it such a mysterious stone.
Some even believe that the Koh-i-Noor is, in fact, the legendary Syamantaka gem from the Bhagavad Purana tales of Krishna, one of the most popular Gods in the Hindu pantheon.
Indeed, according to Theo Metcalfe's report, tradition had it that "this diamond was extracted during the lifetime of Krishna".
What we do know for sure is that it wasn't mined at all, but unearthed from a dry river bed, probably in south India. Indian diamonds were never mined but found in alluvial deposits of dry river beds.
Reality: While Hindus and Sikhs prized diamonds over other gems, Mughals and Persians preferred large, uncut, brightly-coloured stones.
Indeed in the Mughal treasury, the Koh-i-Noor seems to have only been one among a number of extraordinary highlights in the greatest gem collection ever assembled, the most treasured items of which were not diamonds, but the Mughals' beloved red spinels from Badakhshan and, later, rubies from Burma.
In fact, Mughal emperor Humayun even gave away Babur's diamond - widely thought to be the Koh-i-Noor - to Shah Tahmasp of Persia as a present when he was in exile.
Babur's diamond eventually wound its way back to the Deccan but it's unclear how or when it found its way back into the Mughal court thereafter.
The popular story is that Nader Shah connived to deprive the Mughal emperor of his diamond, which had been squirreled away in his turban.
But, it was far from being a loose, singular gem that Muhammad Shah could secrete within his turban, and which Nader Shah could craftily acquire by a turban swap.
According to the Persian historian Marvi's eyewitness account, the Emperor could not have hidden the gem in his turban, because it was at that point a centrepiece of the most magnificent and expensive piece of furniture ever made: Shah Jahan's Peacock Throne.
The Koh-i-Noor, he writes from personal observation, in the first named reference to the stone - until now untranslated into English - was placed on the roof of this extraordinary throne, set in the head of a peacock.
Myth 6: The Koh-i-Noor was cut rather clumsily by a Venetian cutter and polisher of stone, which reduced its size significantly.
Reality: According to French gem merchant and traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, who was given permission from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to see his private collection of jewels, the stone cutter, Hortensio Borgio, had indeed brutally cut a large diamond, resulting in a sad loss of size.
But he identified that diamond as the Great Mughal Diamond that had been gifted to Mughal king Shah Jahan by diamond merchant Mir Jumla.
Most modern scholars are now convinced that the Great Mughal Diamond is actually the Orlov, today part of Catherine the Great's imperial Russian sceptre in the Kremlin.
Since the other great Mughal diamonds have largely been forgotten, all mentions of extraordinary Indian diamonds in historical sources have retrospectively come to be assumed to be references to the Koh-i-Noor. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10366235 | Kenya has started to register all mobile phone numbers in a bid to cut crime.
Users will have to supply identity documents and proof of address before they get a number.
Any numbers still unregistered at the end of July will be disconnected, the government says.
The BBC's Odhiambo Joseph in Nairobi says many people there support the move, hoping it will make life more difficult for criminals.
Kidnapping gangs often use unregistered mobile numbers to text ransom demands, he says.
Police commissioner Mathew Iteere told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that mobile phones must be registered because they could now be used like computers.
"It has become a tool of banking, it can be used to steal data, [to] transmit unauthorised information and perpetrates huge frauds."
Information ministry official Bitange Ndemo last week said registering the numbers would help the authorities tackle terrorism, drugs-trafficking and money-laundering, as well as the sending of hate messages.
Neighbouring Tanzania has already started a similar exercise, so our reporter says it is not controversial.
He says the outlet he visited was packed with people registering their numbers.
Kenya has about 20 million mobile-phone users - about half the population - and has a well developed mobile-phone banking network.
Between 97-99% of mobile-phone users in Africa use pre-paid vouchers, reports the news agency Reuters.
It is easier to use pre-paid vouchers without registering an address.
However, some analysts say registering people in some African countries may be difficult if they do not live in a house with an official address.
What do you think about this plan to register all mobile phone numbers? Will it cut crime? |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47637166 | Everyone we come across here is begging us to come into their homes to show us what they have lost and how nature has stolen from them.
We are the first people they have seen since the cyclone hit on Thursday night.
"Please help us. Tell the world we are suffering. We don't know where we are going to sleep," says Pedro, a father of three children - all under the age of 10.
The residents here feel like they have been forgotten.
As the full picture of this crisis slowly becomes clear, there are questions about whether the government of Mozambique could have done more to prepare for the disaster.
The floods of the year 2000 claimed hundreds of lives and yet some here feel lessons have not been learned.
"Our city was destroyed so easily because our infrastructure is not taken care of. Every time there is a problem here we need foreign countries to save us. What is our government doing, what is our own plan?" our driver asks me.
Back at the airport, a helicopter has just landed and rescue workers rush out, carrying in their arms children whose eyes are wide with fear.
"Many villages have been washed away. We found women and children holding on to trees. We are doing what we can," said one of the rescuers.
Many of those trapped are trying to get to higher ground but persistent rainfall has been hampering rescue operations.
Those rescued are being taken to a network of 56 camps dotted across the region.
More rains are expected and those who made it to safety are the lucky ones. Mozambique President Felipe Nyusi has said more than 100,000 people are at risk - and there is growing concern that help may not get to them in time. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46471438 | An Ohio father who made his daughter walk five miles (8km) to school as punishment for bullying has provoked a debate on parenting.
After 10-year-old Kirsten was suspended for three days from the school bus for a second-time bullying offence, Matt Cox decided to teach her a life lesson.
He made her trudge to school on a cold day while he followed behind in a car.
The video of the father's punishment has garnered over 15m views on Facebook and thousands of comments.
In the viral clip, Mr Cox's daughter is seen walking alongside a road, carrying a backpack and school supplies, in 2C (36F) temperatures.
Mr Cox follows behind her in his car in the town of Swanton, offering commentary on entitlement and bullying.
"Bullying is unacceptable," he said. "This is my small way of trying to stop it in my household."
Mr Cox added that many children feel entitled to privileges like being taken to school in the morning by car or bus.
"I know a lot of you parents are not going to agree with this and that's alright," he says.
"I am doing what I feel is right to teach my daughter a lesson and to stop her from bullying."
Should we stop listening to these Christmas songs?
In a Facebook update shared on Wednesday, Mr Cox said his daughter had taken his words to heart.
According to WTVG News, Mr Cox broke up Kirsten's walk over her three-day school bus suspension this week.
The 10-year-old told WTVG she herself had been bullied and now knows to be kind.
Many of the 63,000 comments that have since popped up on his video have been positive, with parents of bullies and bullied alike thanking Mr Cox for his parenting.
"As the grandparent of an autistic boy who has been the victim of neighbourhood bullies, I applaud you! Too many parents do nothing," read one reply.
Read another: "Wish more parents took the time to hold their children accountable for unacceptable behaviour."
However, others pointed out that by shaming her with the punishment video, the girl was arguably being bullied by her father.
"Humiliate her by putting her on Facebook being punished. Irony," one user commented.
"Ok but wait, is she bullying other kids or did you stop to hear her explanation?" said another.
"Was she reacting to being bullied and just got caught? If public shaming is your idea of punishment no wonder she's acting out."
Prof Dorothy Espelage of the University of Florida, a psychology researcher and expert on youth bullying, told the BBC it is far more common for parents of bullies to not admit their child is in the wrong.
"So in some ways, this father is doing the right thing of admitting and accepting his daughter's behaviour," she said.
Prof Espelage says that children are less likely to act out if behaviours have consequences, but she would suggest a different approach than walking in the cold.
"I, like many of the folks who commented on the video, would like to know more about the bullying, the origins."
We asked BBC readers to tell us what they thought of Mr Cox's parenting strategy.
"There has to be ongoing conversations about bullying and the impact it has," Prof Espelage added.
"This type of punishment is short-term and will not address the culture in the school or on the bus that is lending itself to bullying."
Mr Cox told News 5 Cleveland that he had shown Kirsten and his two other children the video and people's comments on it.
They "seem to show a great deal of empathy towards some of the sad stories that I read with them," Mr Cox said.
He added that he hoped parents would "start holding their kids accountable". |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8208415.stm | Work on a new young offenders institution in the grounds of Belmarsh Prison, south London, was suspended after a bomb scare.
Police were called on Tuesday afternoon to what will be HMP Isis in Thamesmead.
Contractors clearing the site had discovered what they thought was a World War Two unexploded bomb.
It was found to be an empty shell casing. HMP Isis is being built on the site of the Woolwich Arsenal, which manufactured shells during the war.
Thomas McDonald, senior officer at HMP Belmarsh, said: "As they were clearing the site they found the bomb, which turned out to be an old shell with nothing in it.
"The police were called and sealed off the area - then they said it was just the body. They are digging up all sorts of old ordnance."
About 80 contractors were removed from the site.
Elsewhere, a suspected unexploded German bomb was discovered at Michael Faraday School in Walworth, south London.
The area was evacuated until bomb disposal experts confirmed it was no longer dangerous. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-25687261 | Small businesses have been urged to become "cyber streetwise," in order to avoid the risk of internet attack.
An estimated 11 million internet-enabled devices were received as gifts throughout the UK over Christmas.
Business security experts said this could put firms at risk if employees failed to take precautions.
The UK government has launched a campaign called "Cyber Streetwise" to change the way people view online safety.
It aims to provide the public and businesses with the skills and knowledge they need to take control of their cyber security.
It comes at a time when an increasing number of people use the web on laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Findings from the government's most recent National Cyber Security Consumer Tracker suggested many people did not take simple actions to protect themselves online.
Gary Fairley, cyber and digital lead at the Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC), said this could have a significant impact on the companies they worked for.
"There has been a shift in cyber criminals' attention towards SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in the last year or so and it's important that businesses take the threat seriously," he said.
"Getting the basics right is the most important step and will protect businesses against the majority of known threats."
Mr Fairley said one financial enterprise company in Edinburgh carried out an exercise with an "ethical hacker" in 2013 to discover the level of online risk it faced.
The hacker, using a spoof profile, was able to obtain a considerable amount of highly sensitive information about the company simply by targeting the social media accounts of employees - including some senior staff.
Mr Fairley urged companies: "Make sure security patches are up-to-date on your systems, ensure passwords are strong, unique and changed regularly and that staff know what their responsibilities are in protecting your business' information.
"It's not just an IT problem. Cyber risk is something that affects business from the boardroom down."
The Cyber Streetwise campaign, with initial funding from the government's National Cyber Security Programme, has been joined by a number of private sector partners who are providing support and investment.
UK Security Minister James Brokenshire said the aim was to offer help and advice to assist in the fight against online criminals.
"The internet has radically changed the way we work and socialise. It has created a wealth of opportunities, but with these opportunities there are also threats," he said.
"However, by taking a few simple steps while online the public can keep cyber criminals out and their information safe." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/6959068.stm | An up-and-coming actor from Hampshire is celebrating after making his debut on prime-time television.
Tommy Jessop, who is 22 and has Down's syndrome, appeared in Holby City on Tuesday night - a part he got after his brother filmed him reading scripts.
Mr Jessop hopes his screen performances will dispel popular misconceptions about people with the condition.
His next appearance will be in a new BBC film, Coming Down the Mountain, to be screened in September.
To highlight Mr Jessop's achievements, his brother Will has made a documentary about his exploits, which challenges commonly held assumptions about people with the condition.
Their mother, Jane, said she hoped it would help "to persuade people to believe in adults with Down's syndrome - it gives them a chance to follow their dreams".
The actor, who began his career at the Tower Arts Centre in Winchester, said he has a big ambition - to get a part on the BBC soap opera Eastenders. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cmj34zmwm1zt/climate-change | Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg tells UK politicians a generation's future has been "stolen".
How might ministers win over climate protesters?
A closer look at Extinction Rebellion's demands and how the government might try to achieve them.
Around 100 Extinction Rebellion protesters lay down in the Natural History Museum's main hall.
Extinction Rebellion protesters lay down underneath the blue whale skeleton in the Natural History Museum.
UK sees longest continuous period without generating electricity from coal as temperatures soar.
Green bloggers give their top tips to be more eco-friendly.
Teenage activist Greta Thunberg addresses thousands of Extinction Rebellion protesters in London.
The 16-year-old Swedish activist addresses the Extinction Rebellion protest in London.
Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish activist, addresses the Extinction Rebellion protest in London.
Parts of central London were brought to a standstill earlier this week as thousands of people blocked off roads in protest at the government's lack of action on climate change. The group, Extinction Rebellion, stopped traffic on one of London's busiest bridges and occupied Oxford Circus, the centre of London's busy shopping district.
Bill McKibben is an environmentalist who has been at the forefront of climate activism for much of the last 30 years. His new book, Falter, paints a rather bleak picture of the effects that humans have had on our natural environment. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/8537070.stm | A Devon theatre has been placed into administration.
The trustees of Exeter's Northcott Theatre took the decision after being presented with financial information which revealed it to be insolvent.
However, Administrator Ian Walker, of Begbies Traynor, said it was his intention to try to ensure Northcott's spring programme would continue.
He added that talks would also be held to try to ensure that a theatre could be maintained in the city.
The Northcott Theatre was built on the University of Exeter's Streatham Campus in 1967, but it is run as an entirely separate organisation from the university and has its own board of trustees.
Geoff Myers, chairman of the theatre's trustees, said: "We took this decision with a heavy heart but when presented with the latest financial information we had no choice but to place the theatre into administration.
"It is to be hoped that a way can be found to effect a rescue of the theatre.
"I have been greatly encouraged by the response of stakeholders who have agreed to do all they can to ensure the theatre continues in some way as a performance venue."
In the meantime, Mr Myers is urging people to continue to support the theatre as those who book their tickets while it is in administration will, in the event of any performances being cancelled, be issued with a full refund.
A spokesperson for Arts Council England said: "We are disappointed that the decision has been taken to place the Northcott Theatre into administration at this point.
'We have been working with the new management over the last two years to broaden the theatre's programming and increase its audiences.
"Despite this hard work, a legacy of financial problems has recently come to light.
"The Arts Council has been working with the Northcott's new management to understand the extent of these problems but this work is not yet complete.
"We will now work with the administrators to see what assistance we might be able to offer to the organisation going forward."
Exeter City Council and the University of Exeter have also pledged their support to help retain artistic events in the city.
Exit stage left for Exeter Northcott? |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8244600.stm | The world will suffer another financial crisis, former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan has told the BBC.
"The crisis will happen again but it will be different," he told BBC Two's The Love of Money series.
He added that he had predicted the crash would come as a reaction to a long period of prosperity.
But while it may take time and be a difficult process, the global economy would eventually "get through it", Mr Greenspan added.
"They [financial crises] are all different, but they have one fundamental source," he said.
The BBC reports on the first anniversary of the credit crunch across radio, TV, and online.
"That is the unquenchable capability of human beings when confronted with long periods of prosperity to presume that it will continue."
Speaking a year after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, which was followed by a worldwide financial crisis and global recession, Mr Greenspan described the behaviour as "human nature".
He said the current crisis was triggered by the trade in US sub-prime mortgages - home loans given to people with bad credit histories - but he added that any factor could have been the catalyst.
If it were not the problem of these toxic debts, "something sooner or later would have emerged", Mr Greenspan said.
Mr Greenspan, who when he ran the US central bank was hailed as a man who could move markets, also warned that the world's financial institutions should have seen the looming crisis.
"The bankers knew that they were involved in an under-pricing of risk and that at some point a correction would be made," he said.
"I fear too many of them thought they would be able to spot the actual trigger point of the crisis in time to get out."
He also warned that Britain, with its globally-focussed economy, would be harder hit than the US by the current recession and collapse in world trade.
"Obviously we've both suffered very considerably but ... Britain is more globally oriented as an economy and the dramatic decline in exports globally and trade generally following the collapse of Lehman Brothers had dramatic effects in the financial system of Britain," Mr Greenspan said.
"It's going to take a long while for you [Britain] to work your way through this."
In order to prevent the situation arising again, financiers and governments should look to clamp down on fraud and increase capital requirements for banks, the former central banker said.
Regulations targeting the latter would mean banks would be forced to hold enough money to cover their normal operations and honour withdrawals.
However despite his belief in a brighter future, the former Fed chief did warn that the path to recovery should steer clear of protectionism as applying strict regulations could hamper recent developments that have opened up global trade.
"The most recent endeavour to re-regulate is a reaction to the crisis. The extraordinary impact of these global markets is making a lot of financial people feeling they have lost control.
"The problem is you cannot have free global trade with highly restrictive, regulated domestic markets."
During the interview for BBC Two's The Love of Money series, the former Fed chief said the current economic crisis was a "once in a century type of event", and one that he did not expect to witness.
Blamed by some for not doing more to prevent the crisis, Mr Greenspan denied any responsibility for the problems gripping the global economy.
"It's human nature, unless somebody can find a way to change human nature, we will have more crises and none of them will look like this because no two crises have anything in common, except human nature."
Alan Greenspan was interviewed as part of BBC Two's Love of Money series to be broadcast at 2100 BST on 10, 17 and 24 September.
G20 map: Who has spent the most?
Mood Map: Has Your World Changed?
Expert opinion: Is the recession ending? |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cambridgeshire/7204151.stm | A dog that was at the centre of a cruelty case after it reached 11 stone (70kg) has shed half its body weight.
Rusty, a chocolate-coloured Labrador, is a shadow of his former self after losing nearly six stone (35kg) in less than two years, the RSPCA said.
The animal welfare charity intervened when Rusty was overfed by his owners.
Derek Benton, 62, and his brother David, 53, were found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to the dog after a trial in Ely, Cambs, in January 2007.
Magistrates gave each a conditional discharge and said Rusty could return to their care if he was properly fed and cared for.
The RSPCA said Rusty weighed 11 stone 7lb (73kg) when he was seized by inspectors in March 2006 and by January 2007, following a special diet by vets, he had lost nearly four stone (25kg).
Derek and David Benton had denied mistreating the dog and said they were "flabbergasted" when prosecuted. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20263978 | China has reported encouraging economic data, indicating that growth in the world's second-largest economy may be rebounding.
Industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment all rose more than expected in October, from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the inflation rate fell, giving room to policymakers to employ stimulus measures to support growth.
The numbers come as China's growth rate has hit a three-year low.
Factory output rose 9.6%, while retail sales jumped 14.5%, indicating that domestic demand was holding up.
The growth in domestic consumption is key for China's economy, as demand for its exports - one of the biggest drivers of its growth until 2008 - has taken a back seat amid a slowdown in its main markets of the US, Europe and Japan.
Prompted by a decline in foreign sales and continued slowdown in its economy, China's policymakers have taken various steps to boost its domestic consumption this year.
The government has cut interest rates twice since June and also lowered the amount of money that banks need to keep in reserve on three occasions in the last few months to boost lending.
In a further bid to raise domestic spending, Beijing has approved new infrastructure projects worth more than $150bn (£94bn).
Analysts said that while China was unlikely to announce a major stimulus programme, the low inflation rate meant that the government could continue to boost the existing measures without having to worry about their impact on consumer prices.
Consumer prices grew by 1.7% from a year earlier, the slowest pace since January 2010.
"Clearly the lower inflation rate gives them room to proceed with more stimulus measures and growth drivers," Fraser Howie, co-author of Red Capitalism, told the BBC.
Flanders: Must China be more like us?
Will China fall flat on its face just like Japan? |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6194136.stm | The fund set up to compensate people who lost savings in the collapse of the Farepak Christmas saving scheme closed at 1800GMT on Wednesday.
About 150,000 people are estimated to have lost a total of up to £50m when the firm went bust.
The government launched Farepak response fund raised some £6m from firms and individuals - over 10% of the money lost, but far below target.
Organisers aim to deliver the money, in the form of vouchers, before Christmas.
They will be sent to Farepak agents - who handled payments on behalf of savers - by December 18 although this date may be brought forward.
Those affected by the Farepak collapse should receive some 15 pence for every £1 they had saved, based on the response fund.
The number of vouchers issued will relate to the amount of cash individual members paid into the scheme.
Administrators who took over the running of the firm after its collapse expect to pay a further 4p or 5p for every £1, some time next year.
Before closing, the fund saw British businesses contribute a further £172,400 while £62,000 came from individuals on Wednesday.
Brewing firm Scottish & Newcastle and financial services firm Smith & Williamson both stumped up £50,000 at the last minute.
In total, donations from the public added up to £342,000 by closing, of which two gifts of £10,000 came from anonymous donors.
The biggest contributor to the fund with a £2m donation was HBOS - the bank that lent money to Farepak's parent company and which has been criticised by many MPs for its role in the collapse.
Before the fund closed, Dumfries Labour MSP Elaine Murray, who urged political colleagues to contribute to the response fund, said she was very disappointed by the overall response.
The fund's chairwoman, Shirley Young, admitted she was also disappointed.
She told the BBC: "We have to remember that for some families what would appear to other people to seem a very small amount, it could make a bit of difference to how their Christmas will go.
"So, we don't want to take away from that. But, obviously, yes, I am disappointed that we can't be giving more.
"The more we can give, the better."
In Wales, families who lost money will be able to apply for emergency loans, First Minister Rhodri Morgan has said.
The Assembly Government said it would underwrite the cost of loans from credit unions for those affected by Farepak's collapse.
A government spokeswoman said that people usually have to save with credit unions for six weeks before they can apply for loans.
Mr Morgan has pledged to fast-track the process by giving money to the Wales Co-operative Centre, although the amount has not been disclosed.
A Treasury Select Committee report on Tuesday urged government action to ensure such situations do not happen in future.
The collapse of the scheme highlighted a "serious lack" of consumer protection, MPs said.
They called for more powers for watchdogs such as the Financial Services Authority and Office of Fair Trading to safeguard people's money.
Committee chairman John McFall said money paid into schemes like Farepak should be as safe as that deposited into a bank.
My mum has lost just over £500 which was supposed to be given to us to be able to pay for Christmas for my four young children who are all under 5. We are now having to rely on other members of family to help us out, but when you have been handing over £50 a month now knowing you are not going to get it back is seriously upsetting.
My sister was an agent for Farepak. She paid in £6100.00, £700.00 was paid in to the bank 2 days before Farepak went bust. I personally lost £1176.00 and have had to take out a loan with the Provident which will cost me £27.00 a week for the next 2 years.
I should have received GBP 250 in vouchers from Farepak for Xmas presents for my children. Not only that but the tax credits dept have 'screwed up' my claim and I haven't received any money for 8 weeks. I'm at my wits end now and trying to negotiate to take out loans to cover my losses. I was hoping the fund would stay open longer but also that more MPs would have donated as this situation just should not have happened. I had no reason to think my money would not be safe.
Even as a Farepak customer, I didn't even know there was a response fund being set up, it wasn't very well advertised, it should be properly promoted and give another couple of weeks at least.
I am disgusted with the way they have handled the situation, in that they have known for ages that they were going bust but just kept collecting people's money. As far as I am concerned this should be classed as theft as there is no other word for it, as this company has stolen our money, you might as well been robbed in the street as that is how much it hurts. I will never trust another hamper company as long as I live in case the same thing happens to them.
What do you tell a 5 year old girl, when all your Christmas money is gone and Santa will not be coming this year all because of Farepak. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47432723 | Algeria's veteran President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has defied protesters by confirming he will run again - but says he will not serve a full term.
In a letter he said if he won April's vote he would oversee a national dialogue leading to fresh elections that he would not contest.
His decision to seek a fifth term in office sparked nationwide protests.
Mr Bouteflika, 82, has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.
Sunday saw new protests as a midnight deadline loomed for candidates to register. By nightfall young people were again marching in the capital Algiers despite the president's offer.
Algeria protests: The beginning of the end?
Mr Bouteflika's campaign manager submitted papers on behalf of the ailing president, who is undergoing medical treatment in Switzerland.
The electoral commission has said candidates need to submit them in person, but the Constitutional Council ruled that he did not have to be physically present.
How does the president's idea work?
The proposal came in the form of a letter to the Algerian people read out on state television.
Should he be re-elected. Mr Bouteflika said he would hold an "inclusive national conference" followed by a vote to determine the next president.
He said he would not run again and acknowledged the protests that have rocked Algeria.
"I listened and heard the heartfelt cry of protesters and in particular of the thousands of youth who asked me about the future of our country," the letter said, read by a presenter on ENTV.
"These youth express an understandable concern about the uncertainties they face. I have the duty and will to appease the hearts and spirits of my compatriots."
So far, six other candidates have formally registered, among them a retired general, Ali Ghediri, who has promised to bring "change" to Algeria.
Businessman Rachid Nekkaz, who has a sizeable Facebook following and is said to be popular among Algeria's young, announced plans to run, but was deemed ineligible.
Instead his cousin, a car mechanic who is also called Rachid Nekkaz has entered and the businessman says he will serve as his campaign manager.
Two opposition parties, the Labour Party, and the Islamist Movement of Society for Peace, have said they will boycott the election.
A key challenger in previous elections, Ali Benflis, also is not running.
Yes - public shows of dissent in Algeria are rare, and the protests have been the biggest since Mr Bouteflika came to power 20 years ago.
Demonstrations broke out about 10 days ago after Mr Bouteflika announced his plans to run for office again.
On Sunday, people again took to the streets of the capital Algiers and other major cities.
Police reportedly used water cannon to disperse students rallying in Algiers.
There have also been demonstrations in France, the former colonial power, which is home to a large Algerian community.
"We aren't opposed to the president, but he is unconscious, he doesn't exist anymore, his generals and those close to him are doing what they will behind his back," one demonstrator told the AFP news agency.
Mr Bouteflika came to power in 1999 and is credited with putting an end to a civil war that is estimated to have killed more than 100,000 people.
Protests against food prices and unemployment broke out in 2011 during the Arab Spring but he responded by lifting a nearly two-decades old state of emergency, meeting a key demand of protesters.
After his stroke he won re-election in a poll denounced by the opposition and dissolved the country's powerful spy agency, replacing it with a body loyal to him.
Critics say his ill health means that he is unable to perform his duties as president.
Despite the dissent, Mr Bouteflika is still widely tipped to win the election this year.
Algeria's opposition is divided and Mr Bouteflika won the last presidential elections in 2014 despite doing no personal campaigning. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7211208.stm | Two people have died in a helicopter crash at a golf resort near Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
Police, fire and ambulance services were called to attend the scene in woodland at Rudding Park - a luxury hotel and golf resort - at 1630 GMT.
The victims, a middle-aged man and a middle-aged woman, both from the West Yorkshire area, are thought to have died instantly, police said.
The helicopter had just taken off when it crashed.
The fire service said the area was searched for other casualties but no-one else was found.
An investigation has been launched by the police and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.
Weather forecasters said there had been high winds in the area earlier, which had subsided by the time of the crash but conditions were still gusty.
Police say the deceased, who were pronounced dead at the scene, were due to be formally identified on Monday.
Insp Tad Nowakowski, of North Yorkshire Police said their bodies would be removed from the wreckage of the helicopter on Sunday.
"The helicopter is in the middle of a small wood," he said.
"We understand they had just left Rudding Park Hotel. The two people are from the West Yorkshire area, the helicopter is a private helicopter.
"My thoughts and prayers are with their family and friends.
"It would appear to be a really tragic incident and our job now is to try and establish the cause, which will take some time."
A private function at the 2,000 acre hotel and resort, which was recently named the 12th most luxurious in the world, has still gone ahead.
Former guests have included former US presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush Senior, former Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, of South Africa.
The landlord of a nearby pub said flights over the hotel, which has an 18-hole Championship golf course, occurred daily. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32407934 | Media captionPrime Minister David Cameron: "We believe in helping families"
David Cameron says he will create 600,000 extra free childcare places if he is returned to power next month.
The prime minister said Labour had a "brass neck" to claim they were on the side of ordinary working families.
Under the £350m Conservative plans, the amount of state-subsidised childcare for three and four year-olds would be doubled to 30 hours a week.
Labour said it was "another unfunded announcement", accusing the Conservatives of "desperation".
The Liberal Democrats said the plans "ignore working families with the youngest children".
BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said Mr Cameron was attempting to switch the focus of the campaign to one of his party's key announcement after several days dominated by warnings about the SNP and a future Labour government.
The party is likely to face questions about how it would ensure sufficient childcare places are available, she added.
Currently, all three and four-year olds in England are entitled to 570 hours of free early education or childcare a year, which works out as 15 hours each week for 38 weeks of the year.
The Conservatives said the 30-hour offer from 2017, announced a week ago, would result in more than 600,000 extra 15-hour free childcare places every year.
They said the proposal would be funded by reducing tax relief on pension contributions.
Labour has pledged 25 hours of free childcare a week and the Liberal Democrats 20 hours, although both parties also plan to extend the offer to younger children.
Mr Cameron said his government inherited a "shocking" situation, "where couples were spending as much on childcare as one of them took home in earnings".
He added that "for many second earners, work didn't pay because the cost of childcare was so high".
A Conservative government would expand on the changes made in the last Parliament, Mr Cameron said.
"If you're a working parent with one child you can rest assured that by the time they're three they'll be able to go to nursery for 30 hours a week completely free," Mr Cameron said.
"And we have legislated also for tax free childcare for anything outside that - so if you spend ten thousand pounds on childcare you'll get two thousand pounds back for each child."
But Labour's shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt said: "Hard-working families will not be fooled by the £600m gap in funding for this policy, as announced last week."
He said Labour had a "better plan" including a "guarantee of access" to childcare between 08:00 and 18:00 for primary age children.
And Liberal Democrat equalities minister Jo Swinson said: "Tory plans for childcare ignore working families with the youngest children, which could leave some parents locked out of the labour market for years on end."
She said her party would extend early-years education to all two-year-olds and ensure free childcare support kicked in as soon as paid parental leave ended for working mums and dads.
"This will help with the cost of childcare and ensure working parents have a genuine choice about when to return to work," she added.
The UK Independence Party says it will continue to fund the current free 15-hour a week childcare scheme and in-coming tax-free childcare scheme - although they would de-regulate childcare provision "to address the shortage places and cut the cost to both parents and the state".
* Subscribe to the BBC Election 2015 newsletter to get a round-up of the day's campaign news sent to your inbox every weekday afternoon. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4462989.stm | Pope Benedict XVI (far left as a boy) was born in rural Germany in 1927 as Joseph Ratzinger.
In 1951, he and his brother Georg (left) were ordained as priests in the town of Freising, southern Germany.
Toward the end of WWII he deserted the German army and, in 1945, was briefly held as a prisoner of war by the Allies.
An intellectual and scholar, Joseph Ratzinger taught at the University of Tuebingen in the 1960s.
Joseph Ratzinger (far right) was made Cardinal of Munich in 1977 and became known for his conservative views on religious dogma.
He is pictured here returning to the town where he went to school, accompanied by his sister Maria (second from left) and the mayor.
He left for Rome in 1981 to head the Vatican's Congregation of Faith, becoming the guardian of doctrinal orthodoxy.
A close personal friend of the late Pope John Paul II, he read the homily at the papal funeral.
A tough theologian and philosopher, the new Pope is expected to defend the Church's traditional values. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_yorkshire/4284522.stm | A West Yorkshire hospital has banned visitors from cooing at new-born babies over fears their human rights are being breached and to reduce infection.
A statement from Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax said staff had held an advice session to highlight the need for respect and dignity for patients.
On one ward there is a doll featuring the message: "What makes you think I want to be looked at?"
But Labour MP Linda Riordan said the measures were "bureaucracy gone mad".
She told the Halifax Courier: "All mothers want people to admire their babies because all babies are beautiful.
"But in a case where a mother did not want to answer questions it should be up to that individual to say so."
Some new mothers have already said they are astonished by the rules which stop people asking questions about their babies or looking at them in maternity wards.
Debbie Lawson, neo-natal manager at the hospital's special care baby unit, said: "Cooing should be a thing of the past because these are little people with the same rights as you or me.
"We often get visitors wandering over to peer into cots but people sometimes touch or talk about the baby like they would if they were examining tins in a supermarket and that should not happen."
A spokeswoman for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust said the advice was as much to do with reducing infection as it was upholding "rights".
In a statement she said: "Staff were wishing to highlight issues of potential confidentiality, especially for young babies and their parents in what can be emotional times.
"Infection control was also a key part of the message as the unit deals with very small babies with very vulnerable immune systems." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/2780295.stm | News can happen anywhere at any time and we want you to be our eyes.
If you capture a news event on a camera or mobile phone, either as a photograph or video, then please send it to BBC News.
We have received thousands of images from around the world of both major news events and local issues.
It was you who captured some of the most powerful images from major events such as the attack on the London transport network in July 2005, the storms that swept the UK in January 2007 and the Asian tsunami of December 2004.
If you take a picture of any event you should not endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.
Remember, whilst we are after news images we're also interested in your visual interpretation of both local and global issues as well as just great pictures of your daily lives.
Each week our picture editor will select and publish the best of those each Friday - so do keep on sending them in.
You can submit video, single photographs or a series that tell a story for a photo essay.
Remember that we do need some text to accompany the pictures. A brief guide to shooting a photo essay can be found below.
Any photographs or video directly related to a current news event may be used immediately on any BBC News outlet.
So if you think you have a news photograph or video we may be interested in, send it to the BBC News website.
If you want to e-mail it to us, send it to [email protected].
If you want to send a picture message from your mobile phone then ideally use the email function and send it to the above address.
If you need to send it via MMS and you are within the UK you can send it to our short code number 61124.
If you are outside the UK then send it to +44 (0)7725 100 100 and include your contact number as text within the message.
Add the above e-mail address and MMS numbers to your mobile phone and address books now - you never know when you may capture that historic moment.
Don't forget to include your name and some background information as to what the image is about and why you took the picture as this will increase your chances of selection.
You should also include your telephone number so we can get back to you.
Ideally, you should aim to take a variety of photographs - it's a good idea to plan the story before you start. A good first photo would be one that introduces the subject to the readers.
Make sure you take some close-up photos as well as some wider pictures to show the subject's environment but remember to include something in the foreground to add impact.
When you take the picture, remember to look up or down to see what's around you. You might get a better shot if you kneel, or find a position to look down from.
The completed photo essay will have no more than 10 photographs, but you can send us more to choose from.
Make sure you have permission from anyone pictured before submitting the photographs.
Each picture will need a caption.
Who, what, why, where and when is a good place to start when gathering information for the caption, but where possible quotes from those pictured and a description of how you are feeling will help bring the essay to life.
We don't need many words - no more than 40 per picture.
It's important to note, however, that you still own the copyright to everything you contribute to BBC News and that if your image and/or video is accepted, we will endeavour to publish your name alongside it on the BBC News website. Please note that due to operational reasons this accreditation will probably not be possible with video. The BBC cannot guarantee that all pictures and/or video will be used and we reserve the right to edit your comments. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/3104256.stm | A man who climbed 120 feet (36 metres) to the top of a crane in Exeter has ended his protest on its third day.
Jolly Stanesby, a member of Fathers 4 Justice, staged his protest to draw attention to the issue of men who say they have been denied access to their children.
He climbed the crane at the site of the new Crown Court at about 0700 BST on Wednesday.
He was questioned by police and then released.
Mr Stanesby had said he would stay on the structure for a week and had enough provisions to stay longer.
He said he was carrying out his protest to highlight child-related access issues.
During his protest, he told reporters he was a registered child-minder with no criminal record but was not permitted sufficient access to his daughter.
He was taken to Exeter's Heavitree Road police station for questioning and then released without charge.
"Going to the top to make his point..." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/health-12051011/professor-simon-fishel-saviour-siblings-a-positive-medicine | Leading fertility doctor and managing director of the CARE Fertility Group, Professor Simon Fishel has welcomed the UK's first 'saviour sibling' treatment as "positive medicine".
Max Matthews was conceived through IVF to be a genetically selected match suitable to transplant bone marrow to his sister Megan, who suffers from fanconi anaemia.
Professor Fishel rejected criticism that the process was unethical and said that the technique would save childrens' lives. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/fa_cup/7858896.stm | Arsenal's FA Cup fourth-round replay with Cardiff City on Tuesday has been postponed because of the adverse weather conditions in London.
The Emirates pitch is playable because of the undersoil heating but there are safety and travel concerns for supporters because of heavy snow.
The tie has been rescheduled for Monday, 16 February at 1945 GMT to be screened live by Setanta Sports.
Cardiff's Championship game with QPR on 15 February will also be rearranged. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-47409859 | Members of the public have been warned not to approach a prisoner who has been on the run for three months.
Sean Gallacher, from East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, failed to return to Barlinnie prison in Glasgow on 19 November.
Police Scotland are appealing for anyone with information about where the 29-year-old could be to come forward.
He is described as white, 5ft 6in tall, of medium build, with short, dark brown hair shaved at the sides.
The prisoner also has tattoos on his right forearm as well as on both of his hands.
A police spokesman said: "We are currently working alongside our partners at the prison service to establish Sean Gallacher's current whereabouts and return him to prison." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7759908.stm | Outgoing US President George Bush has said his biggest regret is the failure of intelligence over Iraqi weapons.
In a wide-ranging TV interview, he declined to say whether he would have decided to invade Iraq if he had known it had no weapons of mass destruction.
Asked about what he regarded as his greatest achievement, Mr Bush said that his administration had fought a war against "ideological thugs".
Mr Bush will hand over to President-elect Barack Obama on 20 January.
The outgoing president told ABC television: "The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq."
He added: "I wish the intelligence had been different."
Asked what his greatest accomplishment was, Mr Bush replied: "I keep recognising we're in a war against ideological thugs and keeping America safe."
He also defended his actions over the recent economic crises.
"When the history of this period is written, people will realise a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so," he told ABC.
Mr Bush - whose approval ratings are at an historic low - said he was happy for history to be his judge.
"I will leave the presidency with my head held high," he said.
Will Bush Iraq plan affect US race? |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-42314870 | Image caption The Shannon-class lifeboat is described as the "most agile and manoeuvrable all-weather lifeboat yet"
Lifeboat volunteers in Peel are to receive a new lifeboat two years earlier than expected, the RNLI said.
The charity says the Peel lifeboat station will now take delivery of the £2.2m Shannon-class lifeboat in 2019.
It will replace the Mersey-class lifeboat and has the potential to halve the amount of time it takes to respond to emergencies at sea.
The Shannon-class is the first modern all-weather lifeboat to be propelled by water jets rather than propellers.
The station's current lifeboat has been in service for 25 years.
Peel RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager Allen Corlett said it is "great news".
The Shannon-class is described as the "most agile and manoeuvrable all-weather lifeboat yet".
Capable of reaching top speeds of 25 knots, is twice as fast as the Mersey-class. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1838034.stm | Tens of thousands of Buddhists have turned out in Taiwan to welcome what is purported to be a finger of Buddha on its arrival for a month-long stay on the island.
The relic, housed in a jewelled casket, was flown in to Taipei from China, where it is normally on display at a temple in the western city of Xian.
It was then driven amid tight security through chanting crowds to be displayed at a stadium in the Taiwanese capital.
Several senior Chinese Buddhists have also travelled to Taiwan to accompany the relic of Buddha, who died 2,000 years ago.
Several other relics believed to be parts of his body - including a number of teeth - are preserved in various monasteries in Asia.
The finger was housed behind a window in a miniature gold pagoda that Chinese temple guards brought out of a plane upon arriving at Taipei international airport.
A flower-decorated float carrying the finger later paraded Taipei streets in a procession led by women in traditional long dresses and monks in yellow robes chanting scriptures.
Buddhists waving yellow flags lined the streets to welcome the finger.
Later, thousands attended a ceremony at a Taipei stadium where the finger was placed on an orchid-decorated platform for worship.
"Looking at the bone is like seeing the Buddha himself," Chinese monk I Kong said.
"We hope Buddha's finger could inspire friendly love and peace across the Taiwan Strait," he said.
Taiwan and China separated amid civil war in 1949. In recent years, many Taiwanese have visited Chinese temples to worship and to view their rich collections of Buddhist scriptures and relics.
"A moment of great significance for Taiwanese Buddhists" |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-34383771/redcar-worker-we-re-all-devastated | Redcar worker: 'We're all devastated' Jump to media player A worker at the Redcar steel plant which is being mothballed with the loss of 1,700 jobs says everyone is "absolutely devastated" by the move.
Redcar steel plant 'pauses' production Jump to media player Teesside steel plant employing up to 2,000 people will "pause" production, the company has confirmed.
Redcar produces first steel slab Jump to media player The first steel slab has been produced by the Redcar SSI plant on Teesside.
Iron and steel making at the Redcar plant on Teesside is to be mothballed, with the loss of 1,700 jobs.
The plant is owned by the Thai company, SSI, and was mothballed by its previous owner Tata Steel in 2010.
Worker John Muirhead described the announcement as "heartbreaking". |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/4793255.stm | Thousands of people have watched the first night of explosive action at the 10th annual British Fireworks Championships at the Plymouth Sound.
Eight companies are vying to win the title during the competition in Devon on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Organisers expect more than 100,000 spectators to attend the two-day event.
People have been advised to leave their cars at home and use public transport. The city's three park-and-ride facilities are also being kept open.
Many organisations, including charities, have organised special boat trips in the Sound.
Daniel Millar from Plymouth described the display as "breathtaking".
He had driven to the car park at Jennycliffe more than five hours before the competition was due to begin, to ensure a prime vantage spot.
"It's been worth the wait - absolutely beautiful and spectacular", he said.
"Even the weather behaved, with some earlier rain and mist clearing up just before it started."
The Plymouth Chamber of Commerce said the event was expected to bring hundreds of thousands of pounds into the city's economy at hotels, pubs, restaurants and shops.
The displays start at 2130 BST on both evenings. An estimated 10 tonnes of explosives will be detonated and competitors have just 10 minutes each to put on their display and wow the judges and the crowds.
On Wednesday, there will also be a world record attempt to fire 55,000 rockets at once as University of Plymouth lecturer Roy Lowry attempts to blast the most rockets ever fired simultaneously.
He will use 15 specially constructed frames laced with pyrotechnic fuse which will be ignited electrically.
He hopes to beat the current tally of 39,210 rockets, which was set by Terry McDonald in the Channel Island of Jersey at the Battle of Flowers' Moonlight Parade in 1997.
"Simultaneously" is defined as within a five-second period starting from the first rocket to take off.
The city is to continue to host the annual British Fireworks Championships for the next five years.
Peter Smith of the city council said: "Plymouth's waterfront is the perfect venue for the fireworks championships, which are attracting more and more people every year." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28025678 | The LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live - both featuring rectangular screens - mark an attempt to standardise the way Android wearable devices function.
Analysts say the move to a unified approach could drive sales.
LG said the G Watch costs $229/£159 and would initially be made available to 12 countries including the US, UK, France, Germany and Japan. It is due to ship on 4 July.
Samsung said the Gear Live would cost $199/£169 and ship on 7 July.
Both will require the owner to have a phone running Android 4.3 or above.
Google dedicated an early part of its I/O developer conference presentation in San Francisco to its new wearable OS.
David Singleton, director of engineering in the firm's Android division, said one of its core aims was to be able to "quickly show you relevant information, and make sure you never miss an important message, while letting you stay engaged with the people that you are actually with".
To achieve this, when notifications are received by the user's smartphone they can be set to make the watch vibrate on the user's wrist.
If the owner then dismisses the alert and carries out a follow-up action on the watch, such as scheduling an appointment, the details are "immediately synched across" so that the smartphone also hides the notification and adds the meeting to its diary.
Users can also reject calls to their phone via the watch and select a pre-set text message to explain why, and bring up map navigation.
Much of Android Wear's user interface (UI) relies on the firm's Google Now card-based system. It allows owners to swipe up and down to different types of information, and left and right to find out more about a specific topic.
However, Mr Singleton's demonstrations at the event suggested that his firm expects consumers to carry out many of the watch controls by voice command.
Saying "OK Google" prepares the device to take an instruction - similar to the way its Glass eyewear functions.
Example tasks shown on stage included setting reminders, taking notes, setting an alarm and playing music.
Mr Singleton also highlighted that many of the OS's functions would be triggered by "context", without requiring a human action.
He showed how flight information could be flagged on the day of travel, a restaurant reservation close to the time of the booking, and local bus timetables when travelling abroad.
He added that this functionality was also being made available to third-party developers, giving the example of a place being highlighted when the owner approached if it had been "pinned" by a friend on the Pinterest social network.
Other examples of third-party software included an app that makes it possible to order fast food, and one that allows owners to hail a taxi - both designed to involve few button presses.
The watch does not have access to a special store to download such apps, but instead automatically gets them when the handset version is downloaded to a paired phone.
Android Wear presents an opportunity for Google to become the provider of the "go-to" platform for smartwatches, stealing a march on Apple.
Until now, smartwatches have not been terribly "smart", in part because of a lack of decent apps.
Making the mobile version of Android easily tweakable by developers to run on your wrist should deliver a huge variety, especially if they can bring a deep integration with your handset.
But much will depend on execution; and for many use-cases, the case has yet to be made for a 2in (5cm) screen to effectively replace the 5in one in your jeans pocket.
One industry watcher who has tested a prototype Android Wear device said he expected it to now become the de facto standard for wearable kit with screens.
"What Google is trying to achieve here is a glanceable UI and that's the key to wearables," said Ben Wood, from the CCS Insight tech consultancy.
"Android Wear is not a full operating system, it's merely a smartphone companion, and my view is that's the right starting point for Google at a time when everyone is feeling their way in the dark and trying to find a compelling case for what to do with it beyond the basic stuff.
"I think all the other proprietary efforts with [Samsung's use of] Tizen and other proprietary software will now be pushed to one side because of the public awareness Android Wear will generate, how it will become the focus for developers and the fact that people will have the guarantee that they can use one brand of Android Wear watch with another brand of phone."
He added, however, that the voice commands might prove problematic in crowded, noisy environments, noting that third-party developers including Minuum were already working on Android Wear keyboards to address the issue. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32807858 | Islamic State (IS) fighters in Syria are said to have seized part of the town next to Palmyra, one of the Middle East's greatest archaeological sites.
Pro-government forces have evacuated local residents and are confronting the militants, Syrian state TV reported.
Activists say IS holds much of north Tadmur after overcoming militias loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria's head of antiquities said the world had a responsibility to save Palmyra, a Unesco World Heritage site.
Hundreds of statues had been moved to safety, but large monuments could not be moved, Maamoun Abdul Karim warned.
IS militants have ransacked and demolished several ancient sites that pre-date Islam in Iraq, including Hatra and Nimrud, leading to fears that it might attempt to damage or destroy Palmyra.
On Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said a third of Tadmur had been taken by IS after battles with government soldiers and allied militiamen.
"People are very afraid of what will happen, because IS has the capability to get to the heart of Palmyra," an activist in the town told the AFP news agency.
Rising out of the desert, Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world, according to Unesco, the UN's cultural agency.
The site, most of which dates back to the 1st and 2nd Century when the region was under Roman rule, is dominated by a grand, colonnaded street.
Unesco's Director-General Irina Bokova said she was "deeply concerned" by the situation.
"The fighting is putting at risk one of the most significant sites in the Middle East, and its civilian population," she said in a statement.
Palmyra and Tadmur are situated in a strategically important area on the road between the capital, Damascus, and the contested eastern city of Deir al-Zour, and close to gas fields.
Taking control of the area would therefore be an important strategic gain for IS, says BBC Arab affairs analyst, Sebastian Usher.
But the world's focus is on the ruins and IS has taken pleasure in devastating and destroying similarly priceless, pre-Islamic archaeological treasures in Iraq, condemning them as idolatrous, he adds.
A US-led coalition has carried out air strikes on the jihadist group's positions since September 2014. However, it says it does not co-ordinate its actions with the Syrian government. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/i/ipswich_town/6291582.stm | Striker Pablo Counago has returned to Ipswich Town on a free transfer after two years at Spanish side Malaga.
Counago joins on a two-year deal with an extension to a third year if the club are promoted to the Premiership during the duration of his contract.
The 27-year-old forward hit 31 goals in 99 appearances during his previous four-year stint at the club.
Chairman David Sheepshanks told the club's website: "We are delighted to welcome Pablo back here." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30297497 | Eating after the sun has gone down might trigger weight gain, say researchers who have been studying the effect in mice.
Even when given the same amount of calories overall, mice that ate around the clock put on more fat.
Fasting for at least 12 hours appears to switch on important fat burning pathways in the body.
The US team told the journal Cell Metabolism they now plan human tests to see if the same is true in man.
During the study around 400 mice were fed diets high in sugar or fat or both, or normal diets and over different time periods.
Overall, mice that were only allowed to feed for nine or 12 hours gained less weight than mice that could eat the same amount food but at any time they wanted in a 24-hour period.
Even when the restricted feed time mice were allowed a blow out at weekends and could eat when they liked, they still gained less weight, suggesting that the diet can withstand some temporary interruptions, the researchers said.
And when obese mice who had been eating freely were moved to a restricted schedule they lost 5% of their body weight even though they were eating the same number of calories as before.
The researchers believe a key to controlling weight gain could be sticking to a consistent 12-hour fast every 24 hours.
In the experiments, fasting at night had beneficial effects on blood sugar and cholesterol and reversed the effects of diabetes in the mice.
Study leader Dr Satchidananda Panda, an associate professor at the Salk Institute in California, said that brown fat, which burns energy at a much higher rate is also activated by this approach.
Additional work in mice by another team showed that limiting eating to half the day also altered the balance of microbes in the gut, which experts say might be important.
Dr Perry Barrett, a senior research fellow at the University of Aberdeen who does research on regulation of appetite said: "The revelation that there is a circadian rhythm in gut microbes now adds another dimension to this very interesting area of research."
He said there had not been many human studies in this fairly new area of 'chrono-nutrition' but those that had been done had so far concentrated on sleep cycles. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7762646.stm | A system that could eventually control heating, home security cameras and draw curtains has been demonstrated by phone maker Nokia.
The Nokia Home Control Center is a wireless router which can interface with equipment around the home.
The Finnish firm has partnered with European energy company RWE to manage heating systems and is hoping other firms will sign up soon.
It has been showing off the gadget at Nokia World in Barcelona.
The system is expected to be on shelves towards the end of 2009.
The smart box is based on an open Linux-based platform and includes a raft of wireless technologies which allow users to connect remotely via a PC or smartphone.
It is envisaged that third parties will integrate their own services as Nokia vies for a slice of the "networked home" market.
It packs 6GB (gigabytes) of storage, necessary if it is to act as a store for video from security cameras.
It can also work out when conditions change, if such automatic functions are pre-set by users.
So the system might recognise a cold snap when the home-owner is on holiday and turn on the heating to avoid freezing pipes on their return.
"We believe that the mobile device is the ideal interface to control home intelligence, especially when the user is not at home," said Teppo Paavola, vice president of business development at Nokia.
"The rate at which gadgets, features and services are being incorporated into the mobile phone is astonishing," said mobile phone expert Thomas Newton from independent comparison website mobilephones.co.uk.
"Two or three years ago it would have seemed a bit Star Trek to imagine people playing with their heating on their mobile phone - now it's not only plausible, it's actually in the process of being developed."
The idea of a smart device controlling the technology in the home is not new but until now there has been little success in creating a single device that can operate a wide range of electronic systems.
Experts predict that more and more devices, such as freezers, ovens and even kettles will soon be able to speak directly to a mobile data network. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-47906760 | Image caption Bristol's deputy mayor said tackling street violence was "to be a priority"
A campaign has been launched to supply potentially lifesaving "stab packs" to all public venues in Bristol.
It follows an increase in the number of stabbings and knife attacks in the greater Bristol area.
The bleed control kits are designed to stem catastrophic bleeding in the crucial minutes between a knife attack and medics arriving on the scene.
Bristol City Council and the area's clinical commissioning group (CCG) have been urged to distribute the packs.
Health campaigner Andy Burkitt told Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire CCG governing body members the number of stabbings and knife attacks had "accelerated across Britain and the greater Bristol area".
He said: "It is a culture that harms young people in terms of their health, their stress levels, the worries of their parents and the ability of young people to progress in society through education."
He requested the kits, which include pressure dressings, gauze bandages and tourniquets, to be introduced, and asked whether the CCG will work with the city council to adopt the proposals.
CCG interim director of nursing and quality Janet Baptiste-Grant told a meeting that "serious crime and violence" was a part of its safeguarding strategy, and she thought stab packs were "a good idea".
Bristol's deputy mayor Asher Craig said tackling street violence was "to be a priority across the city".
He said: "We are not on the level of Manchester and London, but the reason we're getting on the front foot with this is because it's something that's bubbling under the surface."
Knife crime: Why are we talking about it? |