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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-39235878 | A couple who got married at the Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival have named their new-born daughter after the event.
Baby Bella's mum and dad, Catriona and Gareth McIntosh, from Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, tied the knot at the festival near Beauly in 2014.
Their wedding ceremony was held at the site's historic Belladrum Temple.
Teacher Mrs McIntosh has attended the Highlands' biggest music festival since she was 13 years old.
The couple said: "We have always loved the atmosphere of Belladrum and always spoke about how ace it would be to marry there.
"Obviously we spoke about calling the baby Bella if she was a girl and both decided that it was very fitting given our tie and how we feel about the festival."
Festival promoter Joe Gibbs: "Bella's whole raison d'etre is to be an all-ages event rooted deep in our community. Baby Bella is the most wonderful human embodiment of that ethos."
The McIntoshes are planning to attend this summer's festival, which is widely known as Bella and taking place this year from 3-5 August.
Glasgow rock band Franz Ferdinand have been confirmed as the Saturday night headliners, with Scots singer KT Tunstall as the band's support act.
Seventies disco legends Sister Sledge are to headline on the Thursday night. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-40747747 | Any "transitional deal" in the period after Brexit must end by June 2022, the time of the next general election, Philip Hammond has said.
But the chancellor said there must be "business as usual, life as normal" for Britons as the UK left the EU.
"Many things would look similar" the day after Brexit - on 29 March 2019 - as the UK moved gradually towards a new relationship with the EU, he said.
The EU has said it is too soon to discuss a transitional deal.
A European Commission spokesman said: "We are about to discuss the specifics of separation and once this is done to the satisfaction of everyone, we may move to the second step."
The UK is due to leave the EU at the end of March 2019 but there has been increasing talk of a "transitional" or "implementation" stage to smooth the process, before a new long-term relationship with the EU comes into force.
This could mean a period during which some EU rules would continue to apply to the UK after it has technically left the bloc. Newspaper reports have suggested these could include the free movement of people, something that was seen as a key issue in the vote to leave the EU.
Mr Hammond also appeared to acknowledge that it could mean new trade deals with non-EU countries could not be signed during that period.
The chancellor told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the length of any transitional deal would "be driven by technical considerations".
Beneath the surface, Chancellor Philip Hammond had been arguing for a transitional arrangement to avoid choppy waters in 2019. There is no longer any dissent in the ranks - that concept has been agreed by the Cabinet.
In return, the chancellor has acceded to demands by ministers who voted to leave the EU that any transitional phase must be completed by the scheduled date of the next general election - June 2022.
But have other disagreements so far escaped the political sonar?
On Thursday, immigration minister Brandon Lewis said it was a "simple matter of fact" that EU free movement rules would not apply after 2019.
Mr Hammond said this was correct because freedom of movement was an EU concept and the UK would leave the customs union and single market on 29 March 2019.
But he said the question that needed answering was what happened next, so that British people and businesses could "get on with their lives" without "massive disruption".
He said he hoped that, in the immediate aftermath, goods would "continue to flow across the border between the UK and the EU in much the same way as they do now".
On whether EU citizens would continue to be free to enter the UK, he said it would be "some time before we are able to introduce full migration controls between the UK and the European Union".
"That's not a matter of political choice, it's a matter of fact. We have to put in place quite a lot of new infrastructure, we will need a lot of new people, we will need new IT systems... This is going to take a while to deliver."
He said Britons wanted to know they would still be able to "go about their business" after March 2019, from buying European goods to going off on holiday, adding: "The government's job is to make sure that our economy can go on functioning normally, that people can go about their businesses as usual... that is our focus."
Some of Mr Hammond's colleagues who campaigned for a Leave vote have accepted that an "implementation period" after Brexit is likely.
The Conservative MP and Leave campaigner Nigel Evans said any transition period should end as soon as the UK had arrangements in place, saying: "This is not going to be seen as a ruse whereby some people who might have liked us to remain in the European Union can see this as an opportunity to keep us half in.
"That's not going to happen. We are, in all but one or two transitional arrangements, going to have left the European Union by March 2019."
Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said Labour had been calling for "appropriate transitional arrangements" which the chancellor "now appears to accept".
"However, in light of the clear divisions this week within the Cabinet, I hope the chancellor was not merely speaking in a personal capacity," he said.
"I also hope that this is the final burial of the flawed proposition that 'no deal' is a viable option."
Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable said a transition period was only "kicking the can down the road".
"All the problems associated with a hard Brexit, leaving the single market, leaving the customs union, they will simply be confronted two years later."
Meanwhile, Malta's PM Joseph Muscat has said he is "starting to believe that Brexit will not happen", according to the Guardian. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8599621.stm | The phasing out of cheques by 2018 will leave millions of pensioners stressed about how to manage their financial affairs, a pensioner group has warned.
The National Pensioners Convention (NPC) wants a paper alternative to cheques to help pensioners who cannot use the internet to transfer money.
Its call comes as a BBC survey reveals more than three-quarters of pensioners are against the phasing out of cheques.
The NPC wants older people to be guaranteed a paper-based alternative.
"If cheques are taken away from older people it will create an enormous stressful situation for them, because their bills are paid on time, with a cheque, in an envelope and put in the post," says NAC general secretary Dot Gibson.
"We have told the authorities that what is going to be required is a paper trail to replace the cheques."
The Wandsworth Older People's Forum in south London is one of the many groups of pensioners worried about the demise of the personal cheque.
"A lot of people who are housebound use cheques daily, and a lot of people who have no computer and therefore can't get onto the internet or do internet banking would be lost without it," said its chairman Tony Tuck.
Many pensioners say cheques still play a big part in their everyday lives.
"I use cheques for paying charities and donations like that," said the forum's honorary secretary Lilias Gillies.
"I use cheques to pay to the church and giving money to friends, if friends buy something for me I pass money over to them for that."
Personal cheque transactions peaked at 2.4 billion in 1990, but have now dropped to just 663 million.
Many experts believe internet banking or mobile phones, already used to transfer money in some other countries, could be used more here.
But charities argue that many older people are not comfortable using the technology.
"I don't because I am not set up for internet banking at all, I'm sorry to say," says 93-year-old Cyril Marshall, a founder member of the Wandsworth Older People's Forum. "I've never thought of it."
The Payments Council says it's considering viable alternatives to cheques.
"We need to look at how we can reduce cheques, we need to look at how we can reduce volumes," said spokeswoman Sandra Quinn.
"But in the last count we are going to be looking at alternatives that suit those people that need something ,and if that involves a paper voucher that may be what's required.
The consultation process is set to continue, but the plan is to abolish the system that processes cheques by October 31st 2018.
Could cash go out of fashion?
Can you live for a day without cash? |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/music/newsid_8753000/8753365.stm | Everything Everything have described producer David Kosten as being like a "fifth member" during the recording of their debut album.
The electro indie four piece are due to release Man Alive in late August.
It has been masterminded by Kosten, who has previously worked with Bat For Lashes and Joseph Arthur.
The album will feature all the band's releases so far, including latest single, Schoolin', which has received much praise from Radio 1 DJ, Zane Lowe.
Lowe was also a fan of a previous release, MY KZ UR BF, which the band recorded with Kosten.
Alongside working with some big names, the producer has also found success with his own work, under the moniker of Faultline.
Despite that, Everything Everything's Jeremy told BBC Radio Manchester's Sam Walker that the band weren't nervous about working with him.
"By the time we did the album, we knew him pretty well.
"We'd done a single already with him and we thought that was pretty amazing, what he managed to do with that, so we thought we'd go back to him.
"It feels to me that he understands the band really, really well and he was like the fifth member towards the end [of recording]."
The recording sessions took place at Salford's Blueprint Studios, which allowed the band to spend time at home, a fact that has been something of a luxury.
Since appearing on the BBC Introducing Stage at Leeds and Reading last summer, they have spent much of their time touring and playing live.
Jeremy said that while that does take its toll, they have really enjoyed the opportunities it has given them.
"We went abroad for the first time.
"We went to South By South West festival - I'd never been to America ever, so that was great.
"Before that, the first few shows we played outside this country, in Holland and Germany, were amazing.
"We did our own headline tour in Germany and we didn't expect people to turn up, because why would they?
"We're just an English band that they haven't heard of, but every single night was amazing."
The band have a summer of festivals ahead of them, as they are playing at Glastonbury, T In The Park, Latitude and Leeds/Reading in the UK, as well as jetting around the globe to play shows much further afield, including the Summersonic Festival in Japan and Pukkelpop in Belgium.
Jeremy said they are really looking forward to all of them, particularly Japan, though he admits that he "has no idea what that is going to be like."
Everything Everything's Man Alive is due to be released in late August on Geffen Records.
The single, Schoolin', is out now. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42263349 | Christmas is often seen as a time to spend with family - but what if you don't have one? Poet Lemn Sissay, who grew up in care, is striving to make sure those in the system don't spend Christmas Day alone.
The writer, from Greater Manchester, whose large outdoor works adorn the walls and pavements of the city, hopes his annual Christmas Dinner event helps create positive memories of the festive period for his guests.
He says it can be a difficult time for those who have spent time in the care system.
"I remember getting a clock radio when I was in the children's homes at Christmas and it wasn't working and it just broke me," he says.
"Not because it wasn't working, but because somebody didn't care enough. It just signified everything that was wrong with what had happened to me."
Sissay, who was in care as a baby and between the ages of 12 and 18, has seen his idea snowball from a single event in 2013 to 12 taking place across the country this year.
He said he had been inspired by a Christmas dinner he had seen in London run by the Tope Project, a volunteer-run scheme to combat loneliness for those who have been in care.
"I wanted this to be in Manchester," he explains.
"We began with nothing, except our imaginations and our belief in ourselves - and it happened."
This year, there will be dinners in Birmingham, Canterbury, East Sussex, Hackney, Islington, Leeds, Manchester, Oxford, Richmond, Sheffield, Stockport and the Wirral, serving roughly 500 people.
Each is organised by local volunteers who are given a guidebook produced by the poet to help them plan the day.
"Christmas Day can be a very difficult day for young care-leavers," Sissay says.
"For some of us, going home for Christmas is a pain and there's arguments and dysfunction.
"But there are young people who have nowhere to go and who feel on their own on that day and who feel a greater sense of loss.
"It's about giving them a smile and making them know that they matter on that day."
This year, the Lemn Sissay Foundation has been set up as a registered charity, which secures the future of the event.
The award-winning author describes it as his "own personal legacy" and says each dinner tries to make every individual feel special.
"It's all about the detail - the cards written to that person, the presents chosen for that person so they have that joy and surprise and the thing they'd always wanted, like a pair of football boots," he says.
"It's about spreading that joy."
Image caption Mike Morris first went to the Christmas Dinner last year and described it as "very touching"
Mike Morris, who was in care from the age of 13, attended the Manchester Christmas Dinner in 2016 after being introduced to it by the Greater Manchester Youth Network.
The 18-year-old said he had thought about being alone and "really depressed" at Christmas and although he had his doubts about attending the event, he enjoyed the day.
One of the most important things about the event is not feeling like a "charity case", he says.
"It doesn't feel like you're being given things, it feels like you belong there.
"If you go to a council or institutional thing, it'll be the cheapest things and the same chairs and tables. [But] you go in here and it's Christmas trees, decorations everywhere, everyone's having a good time.
"It made you feel like people actually care and you're not as on your own as you originally thought.
"If you can be with people you can relate to on Christmas Day, isn't that the whole thing about Christmas?"
Emma Lewis-Kalubowila and Louise Wallwein are members of the steering group which organises the Manchester event.
Emma, who works for the University of Manchester - where Sissay is chancellor - says one of her stand-out memories was of two sisters in separate care situations meeting unexpectedly at one of the events.
"They'd both been nominated by people who knew they'd been spending the day on their own but hadn't realised their sibling would be attending," she says.
"The year that they had Christmas Dinner with us was the first year in nine years that they'd had Christmas Day together."
Louise, a poet and playwright, has been involved in the event since the start and now works mainly on the fundraising side.
She says she uses her own experiences of being in care to help shape the events and there is a "rigorous examination" to ensure the day is the opposite of institutional.
"The first few years out of care were very difficult and Christmas is the most difficult time.
"It reminds you what you're not part of," she adds.
One key aspect of this is arranging for all guests to arrive in taxis, which Manchester City Council has agreed to fund this year for the event in the city.
"It isn't about feeling sorry for the people that are coming, it's about trying to give them a real pamper and a real treat," Emma says.
And what will this year's Manchester guests be feasting on?
"It's turkey on the menu, we're fairly traditional," she adds. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-45474782 | Behaviour analysts are being recruited at a Welsh prison to deal with some of the violence and self-harm problems.
Ten men accounted for more than half of self-harm incidents at Parc prison in Bridgend.
"The influx of psychoactive substances... has had a very negative effect on self-harm and violence," Janet Wallsgrove, G4S director at HMP Parc told MPs.
It had the highest rate in Wales last year, according to research.
Ms Wallsgrove, giving evidence to a Welsh Affairs Select Committee hearing on Welsh prisons, said improved staff training had been brought in, as well as a greater focus on the early days in custody when prisoners were particularly vulnerable.
She said that reasons for self-harm were many and varied.
"There are significant mental health issues, with a number waiting for placements to secure units; personality disorder; family issues; or drug and alcohol issues," she said.
"[The prisoners are] not under mental health services; they're falling through pathways, really."
Ms Wallsgrove said comparing levels of violence at prisons across England and Wales was difficult.
"At Parc one of the reasons levels of violence are so high is because we have young people - 15-18 year olds; we have quite a lot of young offenders - 18-21 year olds - and quite a large percentage of young adults. Evidence shows the younger the people in custody, the more likely they are to self-harm." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7815962.stm | The womenswear company Viyella, which was founded in 1784, has become the latest long-established British company to call in the administrators.
The company has annual sales of about £30m and operates 40 stores, 64 concessions and four clearance outlets.
Viyella, which employs about 450 people, said it believed there would be strong interest in buying the brand.
It also expressed the hope that the administrators would be able to sell the business quickly to protect jobs.
"The Viyella brand is trusted and respected both at home and abroad, and we expect that the prospect of a sale of the brand and the infrastructure will raise significant interest amongst other retailers. Indeed we have already been contacted by interested parties," said joint administrator Andrew Turpin.
Viyella's menswear and homeware businesses are unaffected.
The jobs at risk at Viyella are the latest news on what has been a bad day for UK jobs.
• Barclays Bank announced it was cutting more than 400 technology jobs.
In a statement, Viyella's directors said, "Following an assessment of the current economic situation and the prospects for the future, the directors have reluctantly decided that they have no alternative but to place the business into administration."
Viyella was originally registered in 1894 as the name of a cloth made from 55% wool and 45% cotton, which was the world's first branded cloth.
More recently, it was part of Coats Viyella and was a manufacturer and supplier of womenswear to retailers such as Marks and Spencer.
Since splitting from Coats Viyella, the company has had a number of different owners and built up the retail side of the business.
"The City fat cats and their hangers-on who brought us the credit crunch have now brought down another iconic brand," said Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union.
"The clothing jobs that were once a mainstream of manufacturing first migrated to China, while those within retail have gone as well now." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/05/vietnam_war/html/build_up.stm | In the late 1950s, a communist guerrilla force � the Vietcong � emerged in the south.
Supported and supplied from Hanoi via a network of tracks known as the Ho Chi Minh trail, its ranks were boosted by southerners frustrated with the corrupt and repressive government of their self-appointed president, Ngo Dinh Diem.
The US had been providing aid and military equipment and training to south Vietnam since 1954.
As the Vietcong grew this was increased, with US helicopters, armed personnel carriers and thousands of military advisers on the ground.
But by 1963, Diem's government was so discredited that the US did nothing to stop a coup by dissident generals.
A series of short-lived and unstable governments followed, proving no more effective against the insurgency.
The catalyst for deeper US involvement came in August 1964, when north Vietnamese torpedo boats shot at a US destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin.
US President Lyndon Johnson used a second, and highly disputed, second clash to justify air strikes on naval bases in the north.
By the end of 1964, there were 23,000 US military advisers in Vietnam � up from 800 in the 1950s - and the Vietcong was attacking US personnel and bases directly. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-29833538 | Ofsted is in urgent need of independent review in light of concerns about its objectivity and reliability, local government leaders have said.
A series of leaks and U-turns have thrown the independence of England's education watchdog into question, said the Local Government Association.
A review would "restore faith", Cllr David Simmonds, chairman of the LGA's Children and Young People Board, said.
Ofsted said doubts about its reliability were "simply incorrect".
But the LGA said cases such as Ofsted's re-inspection and downgrading of five of the "Trojan Horse" schools in Birmingham have undermined the watchdog's credibility.
It said these inspections, after the schools hit the headlines, downgraded them from "good" or "outstanding" to "inadequate", in some cases in less than a year.
"Which verdict is to be believed?" asked Cllr Simmonds.
The LGA also cast doubt on the downgrading of Haringey Council's children's services "from 'good' to 'inadequate' once the Baby P scandal broke in the media".
It said these cases "raise questions as to the validity of the inspectorate's judgements as it is quick to re-inspect and often downgrade schools which are embroiled in a scandal, even if it is an historic report".
Cllr Simmonds said Ofsted had been the subject of "too many controversies".
"Councils, communities and parents need to know Ofsted and the chief inspector are independent and free from political influence and we need an independent review to discover what has gone wrong and restore faith in what is fast becoming a media-driven organisation," he said.
"This is not a defence of underperformance; there is no place for it in our schools and children's services.
"Ofsted's knee-jerk response to a scandal seems to be to re-inspect school and declare it failing, but not every scandal will be true.
"We want to know that when Ofsted go into a school, they are being fair and impartial and are not playing to the court of public opinion."
The call for a review has drawn support from some teachers' unions.
NUT General Secretary Christine Blower said the inspectorate "no longer has the confidence of the teaching profession".
"In this regard we are prepared to support an independent review, but nothing short of Ofsted's abolition and replacement will be a sufficient outcome."
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, agreed the necessity of a "fundamental review".
"Too often, overworked and underskilled inspectors have time merely to confirm what the data already tells us, copy some narrative from a previous report and rush on to the next school."
An Ofsted spokeswoman responded that it was the watchdog's job "to hold every institution to account and to report without fear or favour.
"We make no apology for championing the interests of those who rely on the services we inspect nor for bringing our findings to wider public attention.
"Shining a spotlight on underperformance, however uncomfortable, helps bring about change.
"But it is simply incorrect to suggest our inspection judgements are influenced by anything other than the evidence we find.
"We know that previously high-performing institutions can deteriorate rapidly when they suffer staff turbulence or a sudden change in leadership."
The spokeswoman said recent figures suggested 93% of schools and 95% of colleges were satisfied with the way their inspection was carried out, and 85% believed the process had helped them improve.
Ofsted Chief Inspector Sir Michael Mr Wilshaw is due to address councillors and local authority professionals at the National Children and Adult Service Conference in Manchester on Friday morning. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19240997 | Half-buried in the fringes of a thick jungle along Nicaragua's southern Caribbean coast, the remains of a once promising British colonial outpost hide shyly from the rest of the world.
Greytown, as the British called this river-mouth trading post in the 18th and 19th Centuries, is now a quintessential ghost town.
There are far more graves than living souls here. A rusting iron fence marks out four cemeteries: British, Catholic, Masonic and Sabine, the last named after a US frigate that lost eight crew and officers here the mid-19th Century.
The last residents of this former British protectorate (1748 -1860) were relocated a few kilometres upriver in 1984, after a firefight between Sandinista soldiers and Contra rebels burned the town to the jungle floor.
Today, Old Greytown is mainly home to exotic migratory birds, tapirs that plod about and sleek wild cats that paw their way through the underbrush.
Occasionally, human life appears in the form of a tourist poking around the graves.
Peter Stevenson, a British citizen who works for the Inter-American Development Bank in Managua, had come in search of long-lost family ties.
Among the Masonic graves, Mr Stevenson found the headstone of Florence Edith Maud Schardschmidt, who was laid to rest in 1901 by her "heartbroken husband," Howard Schardschmidt.
Mrs Schardschmidt, who was only 23 when she died, was the sister of Mr Stevenson's great-grandmother. She happened to be from New Jersey, which is why she is buried in the Masonic graveyard and not in the neighbouring plot reserved for Britons.
The roots of Mr Stevenson's family tree, it turns out, are as twisted and far-reaching as the jungle vines besieging Old Greytown.
Although Greytown was technically a British protectorate, by the mid-1800s it was under the de facto economic control of US industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt, who sought to turn it into the starting point of the hemisphere's first trans-oceanic canal.
By 1849, Vanderbilt's Accessory Transit Company was shipping thousands of US adventurers, whose ultimate destination was gold-rush California, to Nicaragua.
Rather than brave the long overland journey from the east to the west coast of the US, these prospectors would travel along the San Juan River by ferry, trek across the remaining bit of land to the Pacific Ocean and continue their shipboard journey north to California.
In three short years, Vanderbilt's company moved more than 52,000 Americans along the San Juan River.
It was during that roughneck era that the US side of Mr Stevenson's family first came to Greytown.
"My ancestor came to Nicaragua in 1853 as a steamboat captain from New Jersey. He ran Vanderbilt's steamship company and smuggled guns up the San Juan River to (US mercenary) William Walker," Mr Stevenson says.
Greytown's heyday, brought about by the curious combination of US capitalists, British aristocrats, tenuous indigenous alliances and the occasional outlaw, was, as one might guess, short-lived.
By the middle of the 19th Century, its fate as a boomtown-gone-bust was sealed.
First the US Navy burned the city to the ground in 1854, which was not appreciated by the locals.
Second, the Treaty of Managua was signed in 1860, ceding the recently rebuilt Greytown to Nicaraguan governance and so ending several centuries of colonial management.
The third nail in the coffin came when Nicaragua lost its canal bid to Panama, effectively terminating all international interest in Greytown.
Now, as the current Sandinista government again dusts off Nicaragua's yellowing canal plans, there is suddenly renewed interest in saving this remote corner, now known as San Juan de Nicaragua.
In late May, the Nicaraguan government inaugurated a $16m (£10m) airport that is literally carved into the jungle alongside the colonial graveyards.
While tourism will benefit, many believe the new airport is linked to national defence, the drug war and Nicaragua's renewed canal plans.
The Sandinista government recently signed a $720,000 contract with Dutch companies Royal Haskoning-DHV and Ecorys to conduct feasibility studies on several proposed canal routes, one of which would go right through Greytown, as Vanderbilt envisioned 150 years ago.
Whatever the airport's main function may be, locals are hoping for a boost to the region's eco- and historical tourism.
The British embassy recently took a renewed interest in the area, backing programmes to support environmental education and prison reform in nearby Bluefields.
"Greytown has a very colourful history and Britain's connection with Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast spans over 300 years," says British ambassador Chris Campbell.
"The people who live on the coast value these historical ties very much and our embassy is pleased to be keeping these links strong."
Briton Peter Stevenson agrees. "This was once an important trading outpost for the British Empire, and when you see how it has become such a ghost town, it makes you nostalgic," he says.
"So for those who are interested in the history of the British Empire, this is a fantastic destination."
Nicaragua canal: just a pipe dream? |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-47629731 | The first new deep coal mine in the UK for decades has moved a step closer after councillors unanimously backed the plans.
The West Cumbria Mining Company wants to mine next to the site of the former colliery in Whitehaven that shut three decades ago.
The Woodhouse Colliery could create 500 jobs, but objectors have said mining will contribute to global warming. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-47286766 | Derek Hatton has been readmitted to the Labour Party, 34 years after he was expelled by then-leader Neil Kinnock.
The 71-year-old former deputy leader of Liverpool City Council was kicked out for belonging to Militant Tendency.
He revealed in September that he had applied to rejoin after being inspired by Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.
Mr Hatton told the BBC he had rejoined and "it's good to be back", insisting he had "stayed absolutely solid for the Labour Party" for 34 years.
His readmission to the party comes as seven MPs resigned in protest at Mr Corbyn's approach to Brexit and anti-Semitism.
The MPs include Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger, who said Labour had become institutionally anti-Semitic and she was "embarrassed and ashamed" to stay.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Hatton described them as "pathetic" and said that "there is an argument that Luciana Berger went before she was pushed".
However, he ruled himself out of standing as an MP in her place if there was a vacancy.
In the 1980s there was a national outcry after the Militant-led city council set an illegal budget and sent out redundancy notices by taxi to thousands of council workers.
Mr Hatton was expelled from the Labour Party in 1985.
A Labour Party spokesman said: "We don't comment on individual membership statuses."
Meanwhile Mr Corbyn said he was "disappointed" by the seven resignations and that the MPs had felt unable to continue working for the policies that "inspired millions" at the 2017 election. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29984395 | The Rolling Stones face a battle to win a $12.7m (£7.9m) insurance claim for the concerts they postponed when Mick Jagger's girlfriend died.
L'Wren Scott took her own life in March, prompting the Stones to postpone a tour of Australia and New Zealand.
The group had taken out a policy to be paid in the event shows were cancelled due to the death of family members or others, including Scott.
But underwriters say Scott's death may not be covered by the policy.
In denying the claim, they say Scott might have been suffering from a pre-existing mental illness which could invalidate the policy.
The 12 underwriters have now won permission to seek evidence in Utah - the state where Scott was born and raised - about the fashion designer's mental health.
A federal judge has allowed the underwriters to gather testimony and documents from Scott's brother, Randall Bambrough.
Bambrough told the AP news agency that he did not know about the court case naming him and had not been contacted to provide information about his sister.
According to documents filed in the court case, Jagger was "diagnosed as suffering from acute traumatic stress disorder" after Scott's death, and was advised by doctors not to perform for at least 30 days.
The Rolling Stones began a new tour of Australia and New Zealand at the end of last month.
But they had to cancel their Melbourne concert on Saturday after Jagger developed a throat infection.
The singer, 71, is under strict doctor's orders to rest his vocal cords, according to an official statement.
The veteran rock band is due to play in Sydney on 12 November.
All fans who purchased tickets through Ticketmaster will receive a refund for the Melbourne show, according to the organisers. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-47400879 | Weekend lie-ins do not make up for being sleep-deprived during the week, a study suggests.
Researchers took two groups of healthy people and limited their sleep to no more than five hours a night.
One group had their sleep restricted for the whole study, while the other was able to catch up at the weekend.
Both groups snacked more at night, gained weight, and showed signs of deteriorating metabolic health, compared to the start of the study.
"In the end, we didn't see any benefit in any metabolic outcome in the people who got to sleep in on the weekend," said lead author Chris Depner, an assistant research professor of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Should we all become early risers?
Research has shown that too little sleep can increase the risk of a range of health problems, including obesity and type-2 diabetes, in part by boosting the urge to snack at night and by decreasing insulin sensitivity, or the ability of the body to regulate blood sugar.
For this new study, researchers wanted to find out what happens when people cycle back and forth between a sleep-deprived work week and two days of catch-up.
They took 36 people, aged 18 to 39, and for two weeks kept them in a laboratory, where their food intake, light exposure and sleep were monitored.
Although the numbers may appear small, experts said this was quite a large number of participants for a sleep study of this kind.
Both sleep-restricted groups gained a small amount of weight over the course of the study (slightly more than 2.2lbs or 1kg) and became less sensitive to insulin, according to the study, published in the journal Current Biology.
While those in the recovery group saw mild improvements at the weekend (including reduced night-time snacking), those benefits went away when the sleep-restricted work week resumed.
On some health measures, the weekend recovery group had worse outcomes.
Insulin sensitivity declined by 13% in the sleep-restricted group, while in the weekend recovery group it worsened by between 9% and 27%.
One problem was that the people who were given the opportunity to catch up on sleep struggled to do so.
In the end, the recovery group achieved only 66 minutes more sleep on average at the weekend.
Experts not involved in the research said that although the effects on health shown in the study were small, it was possible that over months and years the impact could become large.
They said the findings reinforced existing advice that it is important to sleep enough during the week, and ideally keep a regular sleep schedule.
But if you are unable to keep to a regular sleep and wake time, it does not mean a lie-in is necessarily bad for you.
The study focused on how sleep restriction and catching up on rest at the weekend affects metabolic health, rather than, for example, mental health or cognitive ability.
Malcolm von Schantz, professor of chronobiology at the University of Surrey, added: "Whilst I think we should urge everybody to work towards a regular schedule if they can, I don't think we should tell people who don't have that luxury that they mustn't sleep in during the weekend."
Should we sleep and wake early to boost our health? |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/5343646.stm | Britain's "leakiest" water supplier Thames Water has announced plans to build a £1bn reservoir to meet increased water demand.
Thames said the site near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, would be the biggest built in the UK in 25 years, holding 150 billion litres of water.
The plan - which could force some people to move home - would mean customers paying more for their water.
Water watchdog Ofwat has described Thames as the UK's leakiest supplier.
Supply source: 83% surface, 17% ground.
The reservoir, planned for farmland near Abingdon, would supply an extra 350 million litres of water a day, the majority of which is needed in London.
Despite its size - it would hold about half the volume of water of Lake Windermere - the amount falls far short of the estimated 900 million litres a day being lost through leaky pipes under the streets of the capital.
The company said customer demand was also expected to rocket over the next three decades, on top of a predicted population increase of 800,000 for London in the next ten years, and forecasts of hotter and drier summers.
The plan meant customers would have to pay higher prices, or otherwise face an increased risk in hosepipe bans and water restrictions, it said.
People living between the villages of East Hanney and Steventon would be most affected by the reservoir, with the company warning of compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) on some homes.
Richard Aylard, environmental director of Thames Water, said: "I have huge sympathy for the people living there. No doubt some will not want to leave.
"We have spoken to the people in the area, saying if they are interested in selling, we want to buy."
But he said he hoped CPOs could be avoided.
A public consultation on the plans will last until November.
It marks the first of three stages of consultation, looking at future demand for water and the best location for a reservoir.
The second stage will concentrate on the design of the site, and the third its environmental impact.
"We want to know what local people think, we want to know what kind of a reservoir they want, and we want to explain exactly why more water is needed," Mr Aylard said.
"We've got to use less water, we've got to get leakage right down, but we are also going to need more water and the sensible time to store it is in the winter, when it would otherwise just run rapidly out to sea - store it in a reservoir so we can draw on it in the summer."
Nick Scone of the Campaign to Protect Rural England said: "We're not necessarily against it, but our local branch does feel that the case for this reservoir is not proven and at the national level we tend to agree with that view.
"There's going to be a lot of work needed by Thames Water to show that there is a case for this reservoir."
Mr Scone said there needed to be proof of "social, economic and environmental" benefits.
If the scheme is approved at a public inquiry, construction is likely to begin in 2011 and is due to last about eight years.
The Consumer Council for Water said it welcomed the plan, but warned it was not the sole solution to the region's water resource problems.
"Thames Water must continue to reduce leakage faster and further than it has in the past, and consumers must continue to use water sensibly," it said.
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Water profits flowing too freely? |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-47637346 | A factory worker who has scooped £71m in the EuroMillions lottery is quite happy to admit it "bloody well will" change his life.
Ade Goodchild, 58, was the only winner of the £71,057,439 prize on Friday.
He told a news conference he will retire after 24 years as a metal worker in Hereford, travel the world and buy a home with a swimming pool.
Being single, he denied he was suddenly more attractive overnight, saying: "Just my wallet is."
Mr Goodchild is the 15th biggest winner in UK lottery history.
He bought his ticket from the Co-op store in Ledbury Road, Hereford, and initially thought he must be just one of many to share the jackpot.
Despite hearing the winning "ping" sound from the app on his phone when he checked his numbers, he had to look more than once.
"I read the prize amount again and realised that it was actually £71m and just one winner - me," he said.
His dream holiday destinations include The Grand Canyon and the Pyramids.
"I'm not one of these winners who is going to say this win won't change me," he said.
"It bloody well will or at least I'll give it a damn good go! There'll be no more shift work for me."
Mr Goodchild also said he has his eye on a house that will have a Jacuzzi along with the swimming pool.
Customers and staff at the Co-op store spoke to BBC Hereford and Worcester about the win, with one saying it "couldn't have gone to someone any more deserving".
Mr Goodchild, originally from south Wales, celebrated by watching the Wales grand slam victory over Ireland in the Six Nations rugby championship, on Saturday.
"I am an only child and my parents have always been there for me. Like all parents, they worry about my mortgage, bills and how long I will have to work for," he said.
"I've told my parents they can stop saving now and spend my inheritance."
The winning numbers in Friday's draw were 03, 15, 24, 42 and 46 and Lucky Star numbers were 09 and 12.
EuroMillions is played in eight countries outside the UK including Austria, Belgium, France, the Irish Republic, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/d/doncaster/7754118.stm | Doncaster Rovers have signed Bristol City striker Steve Brooker on an initial one-month loan deal.
The 27-year-old has scored 37 goals in his four seasons at Ashton Gate and is set to make his debut in Saturday's Championship game at Watford.
Rovers assistant manager Richard O'Kelly told BBC Radio Sheffield: "He's an intelligent footballer who we believe can do a great job for us.
"He was at Cheltenham last season and played a big part in keeping them up."
Manager Sean O'Driscoll has been looking to bring in a striker on loan for a while - and earlier this week, lost another forward, James Hayter, for two months with medial knee ligament damage. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19674838 | The NHS in England is in the middle of the biggest reorganisation since its creation.
There has been intense political debate - but many patients are still unclear about what it will mean. Here we look at the main changes.
The NHS is a very large and complex organisation. Most parts will be affected in some way.
But the biggest changes are about who makes decisions and who spends the money.
New organisations are being created and others abolished.
And the legal responsibility for managing most of the NHS budget will be handed over in April 2013 to some of these new organisations locally and nationally.
Local councils are also being given a bigger role in influencing health services.
In the long term, the NHS may look very different - but for the moment patients going to see their GP or going into hospital may see little visible difference.
Who plans and buys treatment for patients?
At the moment, 152 bodies called primary care trusts (PCTs) control local spending on dentists, hospital operations and tests, and medicines - accounting for 80% of NHS spending. They are mostly made up of health managers.
Some care may be provided by private health companies, or charities.
The rest, controlled nationally, includes things like specialist care.
From April 2013 PCTs will be replaced by more than 200 GP-led organisations called Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).
They will be responsible for closer to 60% of the NHS budget. Every GP surgery has to belong to a CCG, although in reality only a small number of GPs will take responisbility for deciding what local services to fund.
Ministers believe GPs will be more responsive to the needs of patients as they have day-to-day contact with them. This, the theory goes, will make the NHS more efficient and improve the quality of care.
New organisations will be able to offer CCGs support on buying and planning health services.
CCGs will decide whether or not to pay for any hospital care a GP thinks they need - as PCTs do now.
The government says CCGs will be better placed to decide on local priorities because more doctors and nurses will be involved.
Some GPs are keen to get more involved in these decisions - but others fear factoring in costs will compromise the doctor-patient relationship.
Most care is provided by NHS organisations, but some routine operations are carried out by private companies - but paid for by the NHS.
Under the new system a regulator called Monitor will be given the job of making sure there is a level playing field for private companies and charities to compete with NHS organisations to provide care.
The government says Monitor will also have to ensure competition does not affect the service patients receive.
How is the NHS run?
The health secretary sets policies, such as waiting times, for the NHS.
Currently, the Department of Health then passes these down through 10 strategic health authorities and then to the PCTs who have to ensure they are implemented.
Under the new system the clinical commissioning board will take charge of overseeing the NHS from the Department of Health.
Instead priorities will be given to a new NHS Commissioning Board, based in Leeds but with four regional and 50 local offices around England.
It will control a significant part of the overall budget so that it can plan and buy specialist services and will also be charged with ensuring CCGs do not overspend their budgets.
Local councils are to have more of a role in tackling public health problems, such as obesity, in their area - and new health and wellbeing boards will help link this work with that of the CCGs.
A national body called Healthwatch, with local groups, is being set up to enable patients to have their say about the NHS. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/1631128.stm | London Zoo is to end a 170-year tradition and move its elephants out of the city.
The announcement comes after an elephant at the zoo crushed a worker to death.
The animal, and the zoo's two other female Asian elephants, will be moved to London Zoo's sister enclosure, Whipsnade Wild Animal Park in Bedfordshire, when facilities have been prepared for them.
Jim Robson, 44, died from multiple injuries when the elephant rolled on him on 20 October.
Mr Robson was in charge of the zoo's three elephants, Dilberta, Mya and Layang-Layang and had worked at the zoo for 26 years.
The three elephants will move to a more open enclosure and will join a breeding bull and two pregnant elephants at Whipsnade.
Michael Dixon, director general of the Zoological Society of London, said the move had been a long-term plan and was not connected to Mr Robson's death.
He said: "It has been a long-standing plan to assemble all our elephants at Whipsnade, a move that would significantly increase the potential of our conservation breeding programme.
"We have to be careful not to disturb the London or Whipsnade elephants by integrating them too quickly or in a way that prejudices their welfare.
"One of our elephant keepers from Whipsnade is currently helping to look after the elephants in London and will be an important part of the familiarisation programme when they reach Whipsnade.
"Even though the move cannot take place immediately, we feel it is right to make this announcement now because of the high level of current interest following the tragic death of our colleague, Jim Robson.
"We will be sorry to see the elephants go - there have been elephants in London Zoo since 1831."
The elephants at the zoo have long been a draw for thousands of the capital's children - when they arrived in the last century visitors were allowed to ride them.
Virginia McKenna, founder of the Born Free Foundation, which had fought to have the animals moved to Whipsnade, said she welcomed the move.
The foundation had said the animals' pens at London Zoo were cramped.
She said: "At last, a positive step towards the phasing out of elephants in city zoos.
"Also, the zoo's ambitious ideas for the breeding of elephants for conservation purposes, are, perhaps, a little unrealistic.
"It would appear that up to now, in the UK, only one or two babies have survived beyond five years." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/4467716.stm | A man who dropkicked a pet hamster as if it was a rugby ball has been sent to prison for 60 days.
John Ackland, 31, of Manor Road, Sherborne, Dorset, kicked the pet three metres through the air, Yeovil Magistrates Court heard.
The "horrific attack" happened at his former girlfriend's home in Wincanton, Somerset, on 3 May.
"This was a sadistic and sustained attack on a defenceless animal," Wendy Mellish, the magistrates' chair, said.
Ackland also used a chair leg to pot Bruno the albino hamster like a snooker ball, and hurled the pet from an upstairs window during the drunken attack.
He then posted the animal through a neighbour's letterbox. The creature was so badly injured during the attack that vets were forced to put it down.
Ackland, who served with the Royal Navy for seven-and-a-half years, had pleaded guilty to a charge of cruelty to an animal at a previous hearing. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/1858273.stm | A letter from JRR Tolkien to a fan explaining his difficulties in finishing the final book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy has sold at auction for �800, nearly twice its expected price.
An unnamed British buyer fought off bids from around the world during the sale in Swindon, Wiltshire.
The letter appears to show Tolkien's dissatisfaction with the end result - now the basis of a Bafta-winning film.
He reveals that a large body of text had to be scrapped to get the book finished.
The signed letter, written to a fan in September 1955, also revealed the setting of one of the kingdoms in the book.
Tolkien wrote: "I went for a brief holiday to Gondor (or in modern terms Venice) which only served to reveal my tiredness to the full and not to relieve it.
"Since my return I have let the days slip. Not to the detriment of Vol III!
"That was out of my hands some time ago... in the end much has had to be jettisoned, including the facsimiles of the Book Of Mazarbul and the index of names (with translation).
"Such as it is, another 300 pages of narrative and about 100 of additional matter should appear soon.
"I will not relieve your anxiety about the fate of the various characters, but I hope the ending will not seem unworthy.
The letter referred to a holiday "in Gondor"
"I have not myself any doubt that things went just so, but that does not say that my attempt to record them is successful.
"The problems of presentment with so many centres of sympathy and attention were considerable."
Richard Westwood-Brookes, of auctioneers Dominic Winter, said: "I advised the vendor that a sale around about now would be very good timing because of the film.
"But there is always great interest in Tolkien items because there is a whole generation of people, who have got a lot of money, who grew up grew up with Tolkien's books." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-latin-america-13773182/new-che-guevara-diaries-published | New Che Guevara diaries published Jump to media player Cuba has published the diaries that the revolutionary icon Ernesto Che Guevara kept during the guerrilla campaign that brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959.
Chavez 'recovering well' after surgery Jump to media player Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is recovering well after surgery in Cuba last week for a pelvic abscess.
Cuba has published the diaries that the revolutionary icon Ernesto Che Guevara kept during the guerrilla campaign that brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959.
His widow, Aleida March, said she had decided to publish the writings unedited.
Michael Voss reports from Havana. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-25196063/facebook-founder-mark-zuckerberg-s-sister-on-oversharing | Zuckerberg's sister on 'oversharing' Jump to media player The sister of Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, has warned of the impact of being too "attached to our mobile devices".
Silicon Valley a 'state of mind' Jump to media player Brent Hurley, co-founder of YouTube, discusses why Silicon Valley is so popular with businesses.
Facebook boss wants 'more heroes' Jump to media player Some of the world's richest internet entrepreneurs, including Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, have awarded 11 disease researchers $3m (£1.9m) each.
The sister of Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, has warned of the impact of being too "attached to our mobile devices".
Randi Zuckerberg, who spent six years working for Facebook, has written a book about the impact technology is having on family life and relationships.
She told BBC Newsnight that social media had given a "voice to the voiceless" but had also created "challenges". |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-34625487 | Lord Grabiner has become the second peer in recent days to resign the Labour whip in the Lords.
The barrister and master of Clare College Cambridge will remain a party member but will sit as a crossbencher.
He told the Times Jeremy Corbyn's proposals were "terribly damaging".
It comes five days after former junior health minister Lord Warner resigned the Labour whip, saying the party did not have a "hope in hell" of winning power under its new leader.
Lord Grabiner said Labour was now in "disarray" and that he could not "square [staying] with my conscience".
He added: "I have nothing in common whatever with Mr Corbyn and I don't believe we are ever going to win an election."
He also said he was particularly concerned about John McDonnell's appointment as shadow chancellor.
"I am concerned with the economic stuff. I am really concerned with the shadow chancellor," he declared.
Former Labour cabinet minister Lord Mandelson has also criticised Mr Corbyn. Speaking on the BBC's Week in Westminster programme, he said the Labour leader was not "growing into the job at all".
Mr Corbyn was not showing "any professionalism in his leadership of the Labour party", and had made poor choices in his appointment of senior staff in his team, he said.
A Labour spokesman said of the peer: "We welcome Tony's continued membership and support of the party.
"We know he has been increasingly busy and less able to attend the Lords to participate in House business and we of course understand his decision to relinquish the Labour whip".
The spokesman also said Lord Grabiner had not voted in the Lords since 2013. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17705238 | Parents of children in England who persistently truant should have their child benefit cut, according to a key government adviser on school behaviour.
Behaviour tsar Charlie Taylor says unpaid truancy fines should be recovered directly from child-benefit payments in a crackdown on absenteeism.
The current system of penalty notices is ineffective, he says, as non-payment rarely leads to prosecution.
He also urges primary schools to pick up on patterns of absenteeism earlier.
Mr Taylor was asked by Education Secretary Michael Gove to look at the issue of school attendance in the wake of England's riots last September.
Both Mr Gove and Prime Minister David Cameron have expressed support for tough sanctions for persistent truancy through the benefits system.
Publishing his review, Mr Taylor will say 54m days of school were missed last year even though some schools went to great lengths to tackle attendance issues.
The latest figures show 400,000 children were persistently absent from England's schools in the past year and missed about one month of school each.
Currently, penalty notices for truancy can be issued to parents who allow their children to miss too much school.
They can be issued by head teachers, council officers and the police, and lead to fines of £50 - doubling to £100 if parents fail to pay within 28 days. At this point the issuer has to prosecute or withdraw the penalty notice.
Mr Taylor's report highlights the fact that of the 127,000 penalty notices issued since their introduction in 2004, around half were unpaid or withdrawn.
Mr Taylor wants the fines increased to £60 in the first instance, doubling to £120 if they are unpaid after 28 days. At this point the money would then be automatically recovered from child benefit payments.
But county court action would follow for those parents not in receipt of child benefit.
Mr Taylor says: "Some parents simply allow their children to miss lessons and then refuse to pay the fine. It means the penalty has no effect, and children continue to lose vital days of education they can never recover.
"Recouping the fines through child benefit, along with other changes to the overall system, will strengthen and simplify the system. It would give head teachers the backing they need in getting parents to play their part."
General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders Brian Lightman said schools had made real progress in improving attendance but needed the full support of parents if they were to go further.
"Schools do not want to have to resort to fining parents, but sometimes it is the only option left. For these rare cases, the system needs streamlining so that fines are an effective deterrent rather than an idle threat. ASCL supports the report's recommendations in this area."
But National Union of Teachers general secretary Christine Blower said the effect of regular absenteeism from school on a pupil's confidence and ability to understand what is being taught in the classroom is greatly affected.
"However it is not an issue that will be solved by fining parents. Deducting money from child benefit will have huge financial repercussions for many families. Having less money for food and bills will simply create a whole new set of problems."
Labour's Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg said it was right to fine parents of persistent truants.
"However, it is even more important to ensure that truancy is prevented or tackled early. Schools need to be places children want to attend with engaging teaching and a relevant curriculum.
"The government is also cutting back on education welfare officers who can identify truancy early."
Alison Garnham, of the Child Poverty Action Group, agreed saying benefit cuts like this could place added pressure on some already stretched families.
She said: "Child benefit has been frozen. We know that it's spent on meeting the cost of children, that's what it's for, but families are also facing a lot of austerity cuts - £18bn of benefit cuts. The Institute for Fiscal studies says there will be 800,000 more children in poverty by 2020.
"So this problem is likely to get bigger because we know that there's a strong association between poverty and low income and truancy. Previous government reports have said this."
Helen Dent, chief executive of charity Family Action, said fining parents was not the best way to improve achievement and reduce truancy.
"Some children miss school for understandable reasons - they may be young carers or have disabilities which impact on their attendance.
"It is important that the right support is in place to get these children through the school gate and concentrating on their studies." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/446534.stm | Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam had admitted she had reservations about freeing former terrorist leader Johnny Adair, released from the Maze prison on Tuesday.
But Dr Mowlam, who had originally challenged his early release date, said she abided by the decision of the independent commission on early release.
"I understand how difficult it is for many people, but this is part of the on-going process," she said.
Adair is the only person to have been jailed in Northern Ireland for directing terrorism.
He is the former leader of the outlawed loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), in the Shankill area of west Belfast.
He was freed under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement having served five years of a 16-year jail term.
Adair faced a media scrum but made no comment as he left the prison.
John White of the Ulster Democratic Party, which has links with loyalist paramilitaries, was there to meet him and said Adair would be working on prisoner release schemes.
Around 20 people, some of them concealing their faces with scarves, escorted Adair to a waiting car.
Johnny Adair was described at his trial on charges of directing terrorism as being "dedicated to his cause which was nakedly sectarian".
Adair, who at the time was a member of the Ulster Defence Association's six-man ruling council, was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
In January last year, after they had withdrawn their support for the peace process, he was among a group of UFF prisoners who met Dr Mowlam.
Their decision to give their continued support for the peace process helped to cool tensions and created the atmosphere which led to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement weeks later.
Earlier this year, on pre-release leave from the Maze, Adair was shot at a concert in Botanic Gardens in Belfast.
He escaped with only a graze and quickly discharged himself from hospital after emergency treatment, blaming republicans for the attack.
It was the second time he had survived a direct gun attack. Shortly before he was jailed in 1995 he was shot at point blank range, but as he raised his hand to protect his face, the bullet bounced off one of his chunky rings.
He was the reputed target of the Shankill Road bombing in which nine people, including an IRA bomber, were killed in 1993. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17524458 | The decline in global music sales is "significantly slowing", according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
Figures show sales fell by 3% to $16.3bn (£10.2bn) in 2011, compared to a 8.9% fall in 2010.
While physical sales dropped by 8.7% to $10.2bn (£6.38bn), digital sales rose 8.0% to $5.2bn (£3.3bn).
Overall, digital sales made up 31% of all recorded music revenues, compared to 29% in 2010.
The US remained the market leader with revenues falling just 0.1% last year to $4.bn (£2.8bn) and digital sales accounting for a majority of turnover (51%) for the first time.
Japan remained in second place, with Germany third and the UK fourth.
In the UK, music revenue fell 3% in 2011 to £889m, an improvement on 2011 when total music sales fell 8.9%.
Physical sales dropped by 14.1% to £518.9m, although digital growth offset most of the decline with a 24.7% rise from £227.9m to £284.3m.
Meanwhile, digital subscription revenues grew 47.5% in the UK last year and 65% globally to 13.4m users.
"2011 was a significant year in the evolution of the digital music business," Edgar Berger of Sony Music Entertainment said in IFPA's annual Recording Industry in Numbers report.
"The rollout of legal services to new markets, the continued expansion of subscription services and the revolution in portability have all contributed to the accelerated growth of the digital music market. The outlook is bright," he added.
The report also listed the best-selling albums of 2011 worldwide which was topped by Adele's 21, shifting 18.1m copies.
Michael Buble's Christmas came in at two while Lady Gaga's Born This Way was the third best-selling.
Meanwhile, Bruno Mars scored the top two global best-selling digital songs of 2011 with Just The Way You Are and Grenade, selling 12.5m and 10.2m copies respectively.
LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem was the third most popular global digital song, selling 9.7m copies. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cumbria/4119961.stm | Police in Cumbria admit "lessons must be learnt" about how the aftermath of a fatal border road crash was handled.
Hundreds of drivers were forced to sleep in their vehicles after the three lorry pile-up on the A74 between Carlisle and Gretna on Wednesday.
Timothy Parker, 42, and his son Bryan, 12, from Eccles in Salford, Greater Manchester were killed.
The route linking England and Scotland was reopened on Thursday night after a clean-up operation.
Two police officers needed hospital treatment after coming into contact with a mystery red powder, which leaked from one of the crashed lorries.
Cumbria's Chief Constable Michael Baxter said the substance had been "the main problem".
Mr Baxter said: "We couldn't reopen the highway with this there.
"Another problem is that we simply do not know what a lot of these lorries are carrying on our county's roads.
"Barriers are something we need to look at. We will be having a thorough debrief with all the agencies involved, to see if our contingency plans worked well."
He said he would be looking at ways to remove central reservation barriers to enable traffic to leave accident scenes more quickly.
Mr Baxter also agreed with some motorists who claimed there were too few road signs informing drivers how to find alternative routes.
Penrith and the Border Tory MP David MacLean, whose constituency includes the stretch of the A74 where the accident happened, criticised the government over its roads policy.
He called on ministers to improve Cumbria's road network, especially the A74 and A66.
Mr MacLean said: "I'm fed up nagging about the Cumberland gap, the A66 and other roads in my constituency.
"I know the government consider railways to be a higher priority, but Cumbria cannot survive without decent roads."
People were left stranded in their cars as police officers walked up and down the miles of vehicles with soup and cups of tea.
Additional officers were drafted in from Northumbria Police to help divert motorists.
Cumbria Police earlier said the recovery operation was restricted because the A74 only has two lanes and no hard shoulder, so gaining access was difficult.
Police say it not thought to be dangerous to motorists as long as they remain in vehicles.
Were you trapped in your vehicle following the crash? Have your travel plans been affected? Send us your comments.
It is times like this I remind myself why I left Britain with it's traffic nightmares!
£400m-plus spent on the Scottish parliament and yet we still have a bumpy, poor standard highway linking two of the major countries in the UK. For crying out loud, how difficult is it to build a stretch of motorway in an area as flat as a pancake?
The police said it was "not thought to be dangerous to motorists as long as they remain in vehicles". Has the person who said this ever been stuck in a car in freezing temperatures for six or seven hours with a small baby or elderly person? What a complete idiot. The handling of this incident is a disgrace.
I've heard people asking if an accident would be allowed to leave the M1 or the M25 blocked for more than 24 hours. Yes it would. I got stuck in a big motorway jam in 2003 on the M25, got diverted off to South Mimms services. Both sides of the M25 where closed, one side got reopened, the other remained closed for more than 24hours.
Can someone please give us a transport secretary that isn't anti-car, actually has a drivers licence, drives daily and knows what the hell they are actually talking about?
The current situation at 8.35am 23/12/04, and the ongoing traffic management shambles of the last 24 hours do not support the official police statements as reported here. Obviously, the definition of "trouble free" is very different in the mind of Cumbria Constabulary's spokesperson to that of the people continuing to be caught up in this mess. Would an accident have allowed the M1 or the M25 to remain blocked for more than 24 hours, with no obvious sign of a full clearance ?
My wife was taking our children down to Manchester to visit their grandparents and take presents. She left home at 8:30 and only reached Gretna at 14:30 when she decided to give up and turn for home. During this time there was no information given about possible diversions.
Although we both feel that the Police would have had a difficult job to do in these circumstances we also feel that there was a total lack of information given out to those who were trapped on the road.
I live in Carlisle and work near Glasgow. I didn't even bother trying to go home yesterday, because of this fiasco. If this isn't a good reason to get on with the upgrade of the sub-standard Cumberland Gap to motorway standards I don't know what is.
Yet again, this project has been put back to at least 2006/7 in the Highways Agency Roads Programme.
Get on with it Tony. NOW. Stop putting it off.
I was amazed to hear the Chief Constable saying that it was only minor roads that they had not got round to signing yesterday morning following the accident on A74. There was nothing to warn me against joining the M6 northbound at junction 43 at 8.00 am yesterday. I would have thought that the slip road would have been coned off, saving me a 5 hour wait on the 3 mile stretch of motorway. I know they were busy, but I would have thought it would have been in there interest to restrict the flow of traffic onto the motorway, and they did have 4 hours to think about it.
Like the northbound traveller, there was no indication when travelling from Annan that there was any problem on the road at all. I spent four hours on the Gretna slip road trying to retrace my steps. Better signposting would certainly have helped, and more timely and detailed information given to the local radio stations might have prevented people from adding their vehicles to the chaos.
I cross from Scotland each day to work in Carlisle, this is the second time in a matter of months that the Cumberland gap has been closed in both directions. It requires upgrading ASAP, but in the meantime the local emergency services need a plan to stop more traffic joining the roads leading to the Cumberland gap three or four junctions prior to Junction 44. Given more information people working or shopping in Carlisle could have parked up, used the train to get home and recovered their car next day.
Without trying to sound churlish, maybe we should spare a thought for the father and his young son who were killed in the crash.
I use this piece of road regularly travelling to my partner's parent in Fife. It is a sub-standard piece of road infrastructure and the funnelling affect of high-speed traffic in both directions over the metal bridge section of road is an accident waiting to happen. My condolences go out to the parties involved.
Do stop whingeing on. Road travel is like that. As the long-suffering police point out there are only two lanes and no hard shoulder. There is also the option of the train or plane and despite the inaccurate garbage from the media criticising the railways, they offer a realistic, more relaxing, not to mention substantially safer alternative. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8268077.stm | China will increase efforts to improve energy efficiency and curb the rise in CO2 emissions, President Hu Jintao has told a UN climate summit in New York.
Mr Hu gave no details about the measures, which should mean emissions grow less quickly than the economy.
The US, the world's other major emitter, said China's proposals were helpful but figures were needed.
About 100 leaders are attending the talks, ahead of the Copenhagen summit which is due to approve a new treaty.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said failure to agree a treaty in December would be "morally inexcusable".
Negotiators for the Copenhagen summit are trying to agree on a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol to limit carbon emissions.
Mr Ban called the meeting an attempt to inject momentum into the deadlocked climate talks.
"Your decisions will have momentous consequences," he told the assembled leaders.
"The fate of future generations, and the hopes and livelihoods of billions today, rest, literally, with you," he added.
The Chinese president said his country would curb its carbon emissions per unit of Gross Domestic Product, a measure also known as carbon intensity, by a "notable margin" by 2020 from the 2005 level.
However, the proposal is unlikely to mean an overall reduction in emissions, as China's economy is expected to continue to grow rapidly.
A US official said that China's proposals were helpful but Beijing needed to provide figures.
"It depends on what the number is," US President Barack Obama's climate change envoy Todd Stern said, quoted by Reuters news agency.
But former US vice-president and environmental activist Al Gore praised China's "impressive leadership".
"We've had ... indications that in the event there is dramatic progress in this negotiation, that China will be prepared to do even more," he said.
Change from Beijing is partly a reaction to international criticism as China becomes the world's biggest polluter.
The country's rapid economic growth has created demand for more energy and fuel.
There is a growing need for Beijing to provide clear answers on what is being done to deal with the problem.
Image-conscious Chinese officials want to be seen as co-operative internationally and accept that China must become part of the solution to major global issues such as the financial crisis and climate change.
BBC environment reporter Matt McGrath says that much of the debate about tackling global warming revolves around the idea of absolute cuts in emissions of carbon dioxide - but developing countries like India and China feel that this emphasis is unfair.
Richer countries, meanwhile, have had the benefits of centuries of fossil fuel use, and are now demanding that growing nations stop using them with no obvious alternatives in place, he says.
Mr Hu also pledged to "vigorously develop" renewable and nuclear energy.
He restated China's position that developed nations needed to do more than developing nations to fight climate change because they were historically responsible for the problem.
"Developed countries should fulfill the task of emission reduction set in the Kyoto Protocol, continue to undertake substantial mid-term quantified emission reduction targets and support developing countries in countering climate change," he said.
According to the BBC's UN correspondent, Barbara Plett, discussions have stalled because rich nations are not pledging to cut enough carbon to take the world out of danger, while poorer countries are refusing to commit to binding caps, saying this would prevent them from developing their economies.
China's role is crucial, because it is both an emerging economy and a big polluter, our correspondent says.
Despite all its advances in green technology, China still gets 70% of its energy from coal - and as its economy increases, this means yet more growth in greenhouse gases, our correspondent says.
There is also concern about the US.
President Obama has recognised climate change as a pressing issue, unlike the previous administration, our UN correspondent says.
He has already announced a target of returning to 1990 levels of greenhouse emissions by 2020, but critics say Washington is moving too slowly on legislation which does not go far enough.
President Obama is currently dogged by domestic issues such as the economy and healthcare reforms, but his speech to the UN meeting will still be watched for signs he is willing to fulfil his pledge to take the lead in reaching a global carbon deal.
A demonstration of political will by both China and the US will be important in breaking the deadlock in negotiations, correspondents say.
China and the US each account for about 20% of the world's greenhouse gas pollution from coal, natural gas and oil.
The European Union is responsible for 14%, followed by Russia and India with 5% each. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/1930359.stm | Detectives investigating the murder of a five-year-old boy, whose severed torso was found in the River Thames, are meeting experts on ritualistic killings in South Africa.
They hope officers from the world's only Occult Crimes Unit will be able to help them identify the child and his killers.
Scotland Yard believes the killing could be Britain's first "muti" murder and a South African pathologist who carried out a post mortem said he found all the hallmarks of a ritualistic killing.
Commander Andy Baker and Detective Inspector Will O'Reilly will also brief Nelson Mandela about the murder, before the former South African leader makes a public appeal for information on Friday.
The torso of the boy, who has been named 'Adam' by officers, was discovered near Tower Bridge in September of last year.
During their trip the detectives will also meet academics, doctors and spiritualists in the hope of shedding new light on the investigation.
Although the crime is unknown in Britain, South African police deal with a number of ritualistic murders every year.
Scotland Yard also hopes ground-breaking forensic work will paint a biological picture of Adam, and reveal a specific country or region where he grew up.
It believes Mr Mandela's intervention in the case could lead to new information.
Commander Baker said: "Mr Mandela is a highly respected, valued and revered man by people across the world and in particular by the African community.
"Scotland Yard is deeply grateful he has agreed to help with this inquiry, and we hope that his valuable contribution will encourage those with information to come forward."
Since the boy's body was discovered officers have been unable to find out who he is, despite extensive inquiries and the offer of a �50,000 reward.
Adam, who is black, was found in just a pair of orange shorts.
No-one fitting the boy's description has been reported missing in the UK or Europe.
Police believe he was killed in London but that he originally came from Africa.
They say the possibility he was killed by paedophiles is looking increasingly remote. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-39640674 | Harland and Wolff has won a contract to supply parts of wind turbines for a project off Germany - supporting 80 jobs in Belfast.
It will make suction buckets used to anchor the turbines to the sea bed for a Polish company, ST3 Offshore.
UK Trade Minister Greg Hands said: "This multi-million pound contract is a boost for high-skilled manufacturing jobs in Northern Ireland."
It is the second major turbine-related order for Belfast in recent months.
Last November, it landed a £20m contract with wind farm developer Scottishpower Renewables.
The latest order relates to DONG Energy's Borkum Riffgrund 2 project, a windfarm being built off the German coast in 2018.
"Harland and Wolff is delighted to be involved," said Jonathan Guest, the company's director of business development.
"We are committed to the retention of manufacturing skills in Northern Ireland and projects such as this enable us to both develop our in-house capability and support the local supply chain."
Harland and Wolff built its last ship in 2003 and its more recent work has included refurbishing oil rigs, as well as work in the renewable energy sector. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-41683315 | A leading transplant surgeon says Northern Ireland is "not ready" for the opt-out organ donation system being used and proposed for other parts of the UK.
Dr Tim Brown, who has carried out more than 350 transplant operations in Northern Ireland, wants to maintain the "status quo".
He said he does not believe "there is any data to support an opt-out system".
Northern Ireland could soon be the only region of the UK without the system.
Does an opt-out system increase transplants?
It assumes that everyone is a potential donor unless they sign a register to say they do not want their organs donated.
The system is already in place in Wales while England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland are expected to follow suit.
Dr Brown told BBC News NI's The View programme that Northern Ireland has a "system that works at the minute".
"The numbers are going up every year so why would we potentially wreck a situation that is working and move into a situation that has no evidence to support it," he said.
He added that it was too early to say if the "experiment" in Wales had increased the rates of organ donation.
Dr Brown also said it was not as simple as changing laws.
"In the countries that have leading donor rates - Croatia, Spain and Portugal - they have a cultural attitude to organ donation where organ donation is the normal thing to do in the circumstances of an untimely tragedy.
"What we have to do as a society across the UK is change people's hearts and minds where they become culturally aware of organ donation."
But one of his most high-profile transplant patients takes a different view.
Shane Finnegan, who received a kidney from GAA star Joe Brolly, supports new opt-out legislation but only if families have the final say.
"This legislation does not need to be complicated, does not need to be difficult, it needs to be simple. Families are at the heart of this process," said Mr Finnegan, who received a second kidney transplant after the donation from Joe Brolly failed.
He also called for more investment in promotion to change the culture around organ donation.
Mr Brolly is also in favour of a change in the law to support a "soft opt-out" system, which is being considered in the Irish Republic.
"If you are going to have a bill, call it a family consent bill and make it easily understood.
"Because what people don't understand is that, whether you are on the organ donation register or not, your family must consent and those are the only circumstances in which doctors will ever retrieve organs.
"It's the only system that can work because organ donation in the end has to be a gift."
He also revealed that he is one of 78 living donors in Northern Ireland today compared to seven in 2011.
Both men had initially supported a bill brought by Ulster Unionist MLA Jo-Anne Dobson to change the laws here, but later withdrew their backing.
The bill was rejected by assembly members on the health committee.
Meanwhile, the BBC has learned that more than 500 families across the UK have blocked organ donation from a deceased relative, despite them being on the organ donor register.
The figures cover the past five years.
Legally, the deceased person's wishes should be respected but that does not always happen in practice.
The most common reason for not wanting a loved one's organs to be donated is how long the process takes.
You can see more on The View on BBC One Northern Ireland at 22:40 BST on Thursday.
Organ donation: Does an opt-out system increase transplants?
Why do England and NI have 'opt-in' organ donation? |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1552994.stm | The Afghan Northern Alliance is made up of an ethnically and religiously disparate group of rebel movements united only in their desire to topple the ruling Taleban.
Made up of mainly non-Pashtun ethnic groups, it relies on a core of some 15,000 Tajik and Uzbek troops defending the northeastern stronghold, Badakhshan, eastern Takhar province, the Panjshir Valley and part of the Shomali plain north of Kabul.
Until recently, the alliance's main backers were Iran, Russia and Tajikistan.
New leader: Can he keep the alliance together?
General Ahmed Shah Masood, leader of the alliance until his death earlier this month, made a series of alliances with former opponents, some of whom the Taleban had driven into exile.
This extended the area where the Taleban faced challenges into eastern, central, northern and northwestern parts of the country.
There are now three main elements in the alliance.
The ethnic Tajik Jamiat-I-Islami, led by Masood's successor General Mohammed Fahim Khan.
In the west central Ghor and Herat provinces, Ismael Khan, a member of Jamiat-I-Islami and former Herat governer is also key figure.
The second main grouping is the ethnic Uzbek Junbish-i-Milli-yi Islami, led by General Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former opponent of General Masood who joined the alliance earlier this year.
The third main element is the ethnic Hazara shia groupings of the Hizb-i Wahdat led by Karim Khalili and Mohaqiq.
In addition, some of the commanders formerly under the leadership of the Pashtun leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, are now fighting with the alliance.
As a strategic thinker, General Massoud excelled in the complex task of military and political co-ordination between this disparate patchwork of guerrilla zones.
But his success in forging alliances did not translate into significant military success on the ground.
In recent months that paid off in a series of guerrilla operations in central and western Afghanistan that diverted Taleban forces that might otherwise have been deployed against the alliance's northeastern base.
But the alliance has until recently lacked the manpower, training and equipment to do much more than hold its own against the Taleban.
The alliance controls under 5% of Afghanistan - the Panjshir valley, stronghold and birthplace of Gen Masood, and a small enclave in the mountainous north-east.
General Masood's death might well have meant the end of the alliance if the bombing of the World Trade Centre and Pentagon had not inspired possible US moves to take military action against Osama Bin Laden and his Taleban backers.
This has boosted the morale of the alliance.
The alliance's political leaders are confident now that their enemy will be eliminated and have stated that they are willing to fight alongside the Americans against the Taleban.
However, a leading figure in Afghanistan's anti-Taleban opposition, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, has cast some doubts on that, alleging that the Americans are wrong to blame Osama Bin Laden for the attacks in New York and Washington.
He said Americans had no right to attack Afghanistan and warned that if they did, his and other groups would fight against them.
BBC Afghan analyst Zahir Tanin says the alliance expects the Taleban to collapse and it is this hope that is likely to hold them together under General Fahim's leadership - at least in the immediate future.
The official head of the Northern Alliance is the ousted President Burhanuddin Rabbani.
An ethnic Tajik and former lecturer at the Islamic law at Kabul University, he is the most senior figure in the movement and the one who could still play an effective mediating role between the different groups.
Rabbani holds the country's United Nations seat and has embassies in 33 countries.
His seat of government in Faizabad is dependent on goods smuggled from Taleban-controlled areas.
The Northern Alliance follow a milder form of Islam than the Taleban.
In Faizabad, women can work and girls can gain higher education.
But during Rabbani's period in office, they were not noted for their respect for human rights.
Zahir Tanin believes that although people are tired of the Taleban, the Northern Alliance proved a disappointment and was unable to unite the country when it held power briefly after the expulsion of Soviet forces from the country.
People are looking for a third way, possibly by restoring the monarchy of King Zaher Shah, ousted in 1973. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4090612.stm | US tycoon Malcolm Glazer has announced that he now owns 97.3% of shares in Manchester United, but is still short of gaining complete control.
Mr Glazer has also extended the deadline for shareholders to sell remaining shares to him for £3 each.
He had said he would extend his offer if he did not get 97.6% of shares - the point at which he can forcibly buy the remaining stock - by Monday, 13 June.
Shareholders now have until 1500 BST on 27 June to decide whether to sell.
In London on Tuesday morning Manchester United shares were being traded at 309 pence. They have since fallen to 298 pence, the same price as at Monday's close.
Mr Glazer plans to eventually delist the club's shares from the London Stock Market.
Most of the remaining shares are believed to be in the hands of loyal Manchester United fans who have promised to fight the US tycoon to the end.
The Glazers need to get their hands on a total of 258,110,791 shares to force remaining shareholders to sell to them, and are currently short by 204,504 shares.
How are football shares faring?
Pressure group Shareholders United (SU) has been threatening to "make life difficult" for the Glazers.
"It is a very sad day for Manchester United supporters," SU's Sean Bones told BBC News on Tuesday.
"We are going to continue to work as hard as we can to accelerate the return of ownership from the Glazers."
Supporters are worried at the amount of borrowing involved in the deal.
Malcolm Glazer plans to increase Man United's revenues by lifting ticket prices by more than 50% over four years, fuelling further outrage from fans.
He has pledged to generate more cash from sponsorship deals and to cap player transfer spending at £25m a year.
The Glazers' first offer to buy out the remaining minority shareholders closed at 1500 BST on Monday.
In a statement to the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Mr Glazer said his bid vehicle Red Football now owned 257,906,287 of Man United's shares.
Red Football said shareholders who wish to accept the offer should return shares "as soon as possible and, in any event, by no later than 1500 on 27 June".
The US billionaire, who owns NFL franchise Tampa Bay Buccaneers, became majority shareholder of the club on 16 May in a £790m takeover.
Red Football hopes to take the club off the stock market by 22 June, after 14 years of the club being listed in London. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-wales-41050257/orange-is-the-new-black-stars-in-have-a-happy-pride-message | Stars of Netflix drama Orange is the New Black have wished visitors to Cardiff for the annual LGBT event "a happy Pride".
About 200,000 people are expected in the capital, with the parade taking over the city's streets on Saturday.
Stars of the comedy drama, set in a women's prison in Connecticut, described how revellers will bump into their exes on Churchill Way, dance on the sofas at nightclub Pulse, cry when they see miners from the film Pride in the parade, and end up on Chippy Lane.
The three-day event kicks off on Friday at Cardiff's Civic Centre. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/7172838.stm | Lee Hendrie's first goal for Sheffield United eased the pressure on boss Bryan Robson as the Blades sealed their first league win in five matches.
Patrick Agyemang marked his first start for Rangers with a fine strike on the stroke of half-time.
But Damion Stewart's own goal handed United a lifeline in the 64th minute.
And Hendrie pounced five minutes later thanks to Billy Sharp's persistence on the edge of the box, which allowed the ex-Aston villa midfielder to fire home.
"Everyone did a good job. The players showed a lot of character to come back in the second half.
"2007 was a bad year for the club but we turned a corner and we've got to take it from here. A top-six place is still the target.
"I've said before that the crowd has a big part to play and the supporters were magnificent."
"I've seen the video and it's fairly clear-cut. The ball was going into the top left-hand corner and Matthew Kilgallon turned it away with his hand.
"It was a classic game of two halves. We controlled the game in the first half.
"We feel disappointed to not be going away with a draw, which would have been a fair result."
Sheff Utd: Kenny, Bromby, Kilgallon, Armstrong, Geary (Gillespie 84), Carney, Hendrie (Stead 69), Speed, Tonge, Hulse, Sharp (Shelton 90).
Subs Not Used: Montgomery, Lucketti.
Goals: Stewart 64 og, Hendrie 69.
QPR: Camp, Barker (Blackstock 73), Connolly, Hall, Stewart, Mahon, Buzsaky, Rowlands, Lee, Agyemang, Vine.
Subs Not Used: Bolder, Ainsworth, Walton, Ephraim. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19510051 | A battery-powered car will attempt to beat the UK land-speed record for electric vehicles later this month.
Nemesis, a heavily-modified Lotus Exige body, will be driven by estate agent Nick Ponting, 21, from Gloucester.
Dale Vince said he had built the car to "smash the stereotype of electric cars as something Noddy would drive - slow, boring, not cool".
The record attempt is due to be made at Elvington Airfield, near York, on 27 September.
Nemesis was designed and built in under two years by a team of British motorsport engineers in Norfolk.
It can travel from 100-150 miles between charges, depending on driving style, and can be charged from empty in about 30 minutes using a rapid-charger.
The team believes theoretically the motors are capable of about 200mph but "real world" constraints like aerodynamic lift have to be addressed before the attempt.
Mr Vince, who runs the electricity company Ecotricity, said he was quietly confident the team would break the record.
The current record of 137mph (220km/h) was set by Don Wales, from Addlestone, Surrey, in 2000.
A separate attempt to beat the record last August was thwarted after the vehicle's suspension was damaged by a pothole.
The Bluebird Electric was being driven along Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire by Mr Wales's son Joe, who suffered mild whiplash as a result. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-47687171 | A Christchurch shootings-style attack could have happened in the UK, the imam of the Finsbury Park Mosque in north London has said.
Speaking from New Zealand, Mohammed Mahmoud said such an incident could have happened at home due to "a rise in Islamaphobia".
In June 2017 Mr Mahmoud stood guard over a man who drove a van into Muslims in Finsbury Park.
After the Christchurch attack, police have increased patrols at UK mosques.
Mr Mahmoud was invited to New Zealand to take part in the response to the attack at two mosques, which killed 50 people and left dozens more wounded.
"We're very aware an attack like this could have occurred in the UK, and we pray that it never does," he told BBC London.
"We must learn that [there is] the real threat from increasingly violent and murderous right-wing ideologies, and white-supremacist ideologies, and the impact of Islamophobia."
The UK could learn "how an entire nation can be united through good leadership" and through action rather than "rhetoric or soundbites", he added.
Mr Mahmoud said he "had to" travel to New Zealand to "stand shoulder-to-shoulder, to unite as Muslims, to unite as human beings, against this terror and such aggression".
"Given the scale of the attack it wouldn't have sufficed to send a letter or a video," he said.
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has vowed to ban all types of semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles.
A Home Office Spokesman said: ""Nobody should ever fear persecution of their faith, and we must unite against those who seek to spread hatred and divide us.
"The Home Secretary has increased funding for next year's Places of Worship Protective Security Fund to £1.6m and allocated £5m over three years for security training." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44810404 | It's known as the "honey shot" - when a conventionally attractive woman is picked out of the crowd by cameras at a sporting event.
The issue has come under scrutiny during this World Cup and Fifa has said broadcasters have got to stop zooming in on "hot women".
It happened to Natalia Betancourt at the 2014 World Cup game between Colombia and Brazil.
Those few seconds on screen would launch a career in modelling and on TV.
"I had no idea the cameras would zoom on me," she tells BBC 100 Women. "And of course, I had no idea how it would all grow from there."
Her image was noticed by the singer Rihanna, who shared a picture of Natalia in the crowd, captioning it "Colombian cutie".
"It was a fun moment, but I thought that was it - a few seconds of fame and a nice Twitter interaction with a pop star I admire."
When Natalia returned to Colombia from the tournament in Brazil, she wasn't prepared for what would happen next.
"That image opened the doors of the media for me," she explains.
"I had nothing to do with that world before, I owned a construction supplies company with my boyfriend."
Within months, she was on the front cover of men's magazines.
"I took part in the Colombian edition of the reality TV show Dancing with the Stars," says Natalia.
"That was a game changer; afterwards I became more comfortable and relaxed being in the media."
She's since worked with a number of Colombian brands and now models for an international hair care company.
"I still have the construction company with my boyfriend. Yes, the same guy that went with me to the 2014 World Cup - we have been together 13 years."
The high of being picked out of the crowd was followed by the low of the almost inevitable social media backlash.
"The nice comments were always more numerous, but I found it hard to ignore those that hurt," she says.
Just this week, Fifa's diversity boss has said broadcasters have been told to stop zooming in on "hot women" in the crowd at football matches.
"We've done it with individual broadcasters. We've done it with our host broadcast services," said Federico Addiechi.
During Russia 2018 photographic agency Getty Images published a photo gallery of "the hottest fans at the World Cup" featuring exclusively young women.
The gallery was later removed by Getty, who said that it was a "regrettable error in judgement".
The honey shot is not a new phenomenon.
US sports television director Andy Sidaris is usually credited with its invention, saying: "Once you've seen one huddle you've seen them all.
"So you either look at the popcorn, the guys, or the ladies. The choice is clear to me."
Anti-discrimination group Fare Network says sexism has been the biggest problem at Russia 2018.
Fifa said it has been working with the local organisers and Russian police to identify and punish abusive fans.
Meanwhile online community This Fan Girl has produced a collection of photographs that represent the "different kinds of women" who go to matches.
"I have always been a football fan," says Natalia.
"I love going to matches and I love the atmosphere of a World Cup. Brazil was my first World Cup but after that I promised I wouldn't miss one."
Other women have also made a career after featuring in a honey shot, most notably Pamela Anderson, who was picked out of the crowd by cameras at a football game in Canada.
"I did not know what a honey shot was," Natalia says.
"I don't think it's offensive or objectifying. I think in a way it's good that it shows that football is a sport for both women and men."
Natalia's honey shot story doesn't end there.
She travelled to Russia a few weeks ago, for her second World Cup tournament.
"I got zoomed in on during the Colombia vs England match, which I think was hilarious," she says.
"In Brazil I was all smiles and excitement, this time I looked worried and sad on camera - it was right after England had kicked us out of the World Cup." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7467857.stm | An ex-pat who decided to make a clean break after splitting with his wife has so far attracted 70 bids for his "entire life".
Ian Usher, from Darlington, who emigrated to Australia six years ago, is selling his house, friends and job on internet auction site eBay.
The 44-year-old said he hoped to earn about £185,000 for his Perth lifestyle.
About five hours after bidding opened on Sunday, the highest offer was just over £314,000.
Up for auction is his three-bedroom home in the western Australian city and everything inside it, including his car, motorcycle, jet ski and parachuting gear.
He is also selling an introduction to his friends and a trial run at his job.
Mr Usher said: "Everything that I have - the furniture in the house - all has memories attached to it. It's time to shed the old, and in with the new.
"On the day it's all sold and settled, I intend to walk out of my front door with my wallet in one pocket and my passport in the other, nothing else at all.
"My current thoughts are to then head to the airport and ask at the flight desk where the next flight with an available seat goes to, and to get on that and see where life takes me from there."
Joy Jones, who co-owns the rug store in Perth where Mr Usher worked as a shop assistant, said she supported the auction idea.
Her company is offering the successful bidder a two-week trial, which could be extended for three months and then become permanent.
She said: "When Ian came up with this idea, because we had seen him go through a break-up of marriage and pain and bits and pieces, I thought it was really exciting.
"We thought, why not give it a go?"
Mr Usher said his friends in Perth were willing to be introduced to the highest bidder, allowing him to advertise his auction as offering a complete lifestyle.
Bidding closes at 0500 BST on 29 June. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-14509763 | The prime minister has visited residents, police and firefighters in Salford, after the city was targeted by rioters on Tuesday.
David Cameron, with local Labour MP Hazel Blears, visited Salford Fire Station and a Lidl supermarket which was looted and torched.
He was told first hand about the trouble at Salford precinct.
Greater Manchester Police have arrested more than 175 people over the riots in Salford and Manchester city centre.
More than 100 premises were damaged.
Fire engines were pelted with bricks as crews tried to contain blazes started by looters torching cars in Salford.
Wayne Monroe, from Bargain Booze, one of the first shops looted on Salford precinct, told the prime minister: "You could feel it in the air. I knew they were coming.
"They were looking through the window, watching what they were going to take when they got in."
He said the looters ripped up the shutters and went in through side windows.
"It was adults, kids, crawling in and out of windows," he said.
Mr Monroe said it was local people copying the scenes they had seen in London. "Copycat. Simple as that," he said.
Aaron Kent, a Salford Foundation youth ambassador, told Mr Cameron: "A lot of people had a feeling it was going to take place at Salford Precinct.
"I saw 250 people, not only young people, teenagers, grown men, women with kids, just standing there with angry faces.
He told the prime minister: "There's nothing for the youth. What I do believe is young people taking part - these are the people mostly, because they have not got anything to lose."
Mr Cameron also met Greater Manchester's chief constable, Peter Fahy, and senior officers in Salford.
He was told local criminals were co-ordinating the rioting and attacks on officers, using the opportunity to "get one over" the police for clamping down on Salford crime gangs.
The prime minister praised local officers, calling them "the bravest of brave", but refused any suggestion of a U-turn on police cuts .
He said he did not think it would be impossible for the force to find savings of 8% while other organisations and families had to make savings.
Mr Cameron said that "swift justice" being handed out by the courts, including those in Manchester, was a "silver lining" to the problems. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8569483.stm | Thailand's red-shirt demonstrators have splashed blood under the gates of Government House in a protest against a leadership they say is illegitimate.
Earlier the protesters lined up to donate their blood, as the anti-government rallies entered a third day.
So far the protests have remained peaceful and both sides say they want to avoid violence.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday rejected a demand from protesters to quit and call elections.
The stand-off is the latest in a deep political schism in the country linked to the 2006 military coup which deposed former leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
This has been another show of strength. The protesters have not gone away, although there aren't as many of them on the streets as there were on Sunday. It is now mid-week and some people have had to go back to their jobs - but many people here have come great distances. So one of the big questions now is how long the red-shirt movement can keep this going.
But for three days they have managed to get a large crowd at specific spots at an appointed hour and carry out a symbolic protest. No-one is backing down, there has been no shifting in positions at all. The red-shirts say they are still demanding that the government dissolve parliament and call fresh elections; the government is saying it will not bow to that pressure. It really has become a test of wills now.
Tens of thousands of security forces remain on standby and army leaders say they plan to be flexible and gentle with the demonstrators as their protests continue.
In Bangkok, red-shirt leader Veera Musikapong was the first to donate blood for the protest.
"This blood is a sacrificial offering. To show our love for the nation, to show our sincerity," he said.
"If Abhisit is still stubborn, even though he does not have blood on his hands, his feet will be bloodied with our curses," another leader, Nattawut Saikur, said.
As night fell, protesters converged on Government House. Police allowed a group of them to approach the gates and splash the blood, a gesture shown on national television.
Not all of the blood has been used. Red-shirt leaders said more would be poured at other sites if their demands were not met.
Health officials, the Red Cross and even the protesters' figurehead, Mr Thaksin, expressed concern about how hygienic the mass blood donation was.
I met a group of nurses and doctors volunteering at one of the many first aid stations. They asked not to be identified since their hospitals told them not to help the Red Shirts. Nevertheless, they came anyways "to help the people, and because our hearts are Red."
But the protesters, including several monks, brushed off the concerns.
"We have three tents for blood donations. All people who conduct the blood drawing will be doctors, nurses or other qualified people who came here voluntarily," said senior red shirt leader, Dr Weng Tojilakarn, who normally runs his own medical practice.
Somsak Janprasert, a retired railway official from Bangkok, told AFP news agency that he was donating blood because he wanted a democracy.
"This is a very symbolic way to express that our blood, the people's blood, is power," he said.
For its part, the government remains quiet on the sidelines.
A cabinet meeting scheduled for Tuesday appears to have been cancelled, and calls from members of Mr Abhisit's coalition for a parliamentary hearing have been ignored.
Mr Abhisit, meanwhile, said the government was making every effort to avoid confrontation.
"I want to insist that there was an attempt to create conflict and the government has proved that it will not use violent means against the protesters," he said.
"The symbolic event they are talking about is bloodshed, but that is not correct. It is not as if the government is trying to use violence to create bloodshed, it's not the case at all."
The protest, led by red-shirted supporters of Mr Thaksin has been one of the largest in recent years, although the BBC's Rachel Harvey, at the scene, says the numbers appear to be dwindling.
The protesters say the present government was installed illegally after Mr Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006, and two subsequent allied governments were deposed by court action.
On Sunday they held a mass rally in central Bangkok.
Local newspapers have reported that protests were also being held in several northern provinces to coincide with the Bangkok actions.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2234576.stm | The Prince of Wales, Lord Attenborough, Tom Courtney and Maureen Lipman were among 800 guests to attend a memorial service for actor John Thaw in London on Wednesday.
They joined acting colleagues Kevin Whately and Richard Briers, Inspector Morse's creator Colin Dexter, and Cherie Booth, wife of the Prime Minister Tony Blair, in celebrating the life of the actor, who died of cancer in February this year.
Two hundred members of the congregation were fans of the Manchester-born star who had sent messages of condolence and support to his wife, the actress Sheila Hancock.
At the end of the celebration in St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, 60 balloons were released to mark each year of Thaw's life, each bearing the message: "Today we remembered John with love."
Lord Attenborough, who directed Cry Freedom - one of Thaw's few film appearances- called him an "exceptional" actor.
"John was known to millions, about 20 million people watched him - there was a very great affection for John," he said.
Many friends and colleagues remembered Thaw's irrepressible humour.
Sir Tom Courtney, who met him when Thaw was aged just 16, reminisced: "Another thing we were fond of doing was talking as if we didn't have any teeth - I don't know why we did this - we did it a lot."
The veteran actor added that he was proud to have introduced his friend to classical music, and during the service the Medici String Quartet played the Chorale from Bach's St Matthew Passion, one of Thaw's favourites.
But Thaw's sense of humour was evident too; the choir sang a choral arrangement of The Sun Has Got His Hat On, arranged by Inspector Morse composer Barrington Pheloung.
The actor's own voice was also heard at Wednesday's celebration, when a recording of his final acting performance, as Captain Hook in a musical version of Peter Pan, was heard.
The church was festooned with flowers and with a portrait of the star placed in front of the altar with a border of blooms.
Sheila Hancock organised the service with the couple's daughter Joanne and the children from their earlier marriages, Melanie-Jane and Abigail.
Thaw was one of the best-loved TV actors of his generation, and his death from cancer of the oesophagus prompted tributes from across the acting and TV profession.
A bursary at Rada - where Thaw trained - has now been launched in his name.
The actor is still held in affectionate regard for his performances as the opera-loving Oxford sleuth Inspector Morse.
The last episode of the ITV1 show in November 2000 was watched by 13 million people.
In the 1970s he shot to fame as Jack Regan in gritty police drama The Sweeney, and in the 1990s he played a crusty barrister in Kavanagh QC.
Hancock, herself a respected actress and comedienne, was Thaw's second wife, and they stayed together for 28 years despite a brief separation in the 1980s. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42320896 | It is only when you walk through the door of the hotel room that you even begin to understand what life has been like for so many of the survivors, six months on from the Grenfell fire.
Stacked along a short corridor, past the wardrobe and door to the bathroom, they've piled up cases and boxes. Clothes on top. It's tidy, but a squeeze.
This is the room that grandpa sleeps in.
Then through the door into the adjoining room. You can't open it fully because of the single camp bed on the other side. Push through, however, and you're in another room, the same size.
The single bed is for dad - Mohammed. A double is shared by mum, son and daughter. They are five and two years old respectively, and there's little space in which to play.
They say there's nowhere for Mohammed's wife Munira to cook, so most of the time they get take-away meals. The plastic boxes are stacked up neatly on the side, ready to be washed.
For the last six months this is how the Rasoul family has lived.
"It's a struggle," says the father, Mohammed Rasoul. "At first, immediately after the fire you think, 'Oh, OK, hotels, we'll be comfortable for a while.' But the novelty soon wears off when you realise it's the place you're going to be living in.
"It comes to the point where you feel like a prisoner living in here."
Mohammed's father had lived in the Grenfell tower for 37 years. Now 86, he has vascular dementia, and he's confused.
They have been offered a new home, but not close to where they used to live.
"All we want is to be rehoused in the same area. We want to be there back in the community, with our friends, my son's school," he says.
Take the underground from the stop close to Mohammed's hotel, change at Notting Hill, and in half an hour you can be at another hotel, which is currently home to Rashida Ali and her 10-year-old daughter Hayam.
"I don't feel safe when I'm by myself or like in a closed room and there's no escape next to me. I just feel I can't breathe."
Hayam and her mother are about to move into temporary accommodation. Rashida didn't want that initially, because she preferred not to have to uproot them twice. But she's decided to move, for her daughter's benefit.
"She needs to pack her stuff everyday, open suitcase, close suitcase, tidy up because this is not our home. We live in a hotel but it feels like we are homeless."
Like many she says she doesn't trust the council to deliver on their promise to move people into permanent homes when a suitable one comes up.
"The system keeps changing," she says. "I'm worried if I sign this (temporary accommodation contract) in a few months I'm not going to be allowed to move out."
Most of those made homeless by the fire are still in hotels - 28 of them are families with children.
The council wants to move people out into temporary flats. The Alves family has taken up the offer.
Miguel Alves says it allows them "to have a family life, to have meals together."
Image caption Miguel Alves: "Nobody answers my emails."
Miguel was one of the few leaseholders in the Grenfell Tower - he bought his flat in 2001 - and had 15 years of his mortgage left to pay. That adds another layer of complication.
Despite all he's gone through, he says he's having to fight to get the council to accept his demand that the new home he eventually moves into will be the same size with the same number of bedrooms as his Grenfell flat.
"I asked for a meeting, and they take one week, nobody answers my emails."
This lack of communication isn't a one off. At a recent council meeting one woman - Lidia, whose elderly mother lived on the top floor and who survived because she was away that night - said she had had 11 different housing officers assigned to her in the last six months.
Lidia's hands and legs were shaking uncontrollably with stress as she spoke. Many say the delays and uncertainty are taking a mental toll.
Any local authority would be stretched by the task that faces Kensington and Chelsea Council.
It needs to find homes for 208 households. It has set aside £235m to do that. It takes time to buy properties.
Lawyers representing the former residents are striving to ensure that the new tenancy agreements and leaseholds match exactly the terms and conditions people had in Grenfell.
The council's director of housing, Maxine Holdsworth, says she "gets a huge amount of positive feedback about our frontline housing officers and how supportive they've been".
What then about the charges that officers change, that communications are difficult?
"Every single household has their own dedicated housing officer," she replies. "I would be confident that if someone rang up today their call would be answered they would get to speak to their housing officer."
The deputy leader of the council admitted last week that he felt embarrassed about the speed of the rehousing process.
Back down the Tube line, in the Rasoul family's hotel room they are keeping their spirits up, somehow.
"I'm OK," says Mohammed. "I have my moments, but there's so much that needs to be dealt with, so many things going on.
"It's not just our housing issues, it's our personal issues, living here. No personal space, the kids have to go to sleep at certain times, lights out for the children. But we stay positive."
And when he thinks about the home that he has lost?
"All my childhood memories, moments of happiness, laughter, food being enjoyed, my children being born there. I dare not delve into it too much, I know that will just break me."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/7642679.stm | The West African Football Union (Wafu) says its regional tournament will make a return at the end of November.
Amos Adamu, president of Wafu, says twelve countries from the region will participate in a youth event scheduled for 30 November to 14 December.
There has been no Wafu Cup since 2004 because of political infighting.
But Adamu, who took over the leadership of Wafu in April, is confident the event will attract interest.
"This is the beginning of good things to come," Adamu, an executive member of Fifa and Caf, told BBC Sport.
"Youths from our region need a proper developmental stage to thrive and that is what we want to provide them.
"West African countries have dominated youth tournaments in Africa before and we want to continue with that trend.
"The next phase will be the senior sides of the region but first we want to use this youth tourney to restore the battered pride of the Wafu Cup."
The event will take place in Delta State in southern Nigeria.
The hosts will be joined by under-20 sides from Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Gambia, Benin Republic, Niger, Senegal, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
A protracted leadership battle between Adamu and the Ivorian Jacques Anouma has blighted the troubled body.
But the Confederation of African Football intervened and Adamu took over from Anouma as Wafu president earlier this year. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/technology-41399823 | Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has revealed he uses an Android-powered smartphone, rather than a Windows one.
"Recently, I actually did switch to an Android phone," he said, speaking on Fox News Sunday.
Microsoft's own Windows-powered phones have failed to make a significant impact on the smartphone market, which is dominated by devices running Google's Android operating system.
However, Mr Gates said he had installed lots of Microsoft apps on his phone.
When asked whether he also had an iPhone, perhaps as a secondary device, he replied: "No, no iPhone."
He did not reveal which particular smartphone he currently uses.
Microsoft struggled to make a success of its own mobile operating system, Windows Phone.
In 2014, the software giant paid $7.2bn (£5.5bn) for Nokia's handset business, but Windows-powered phones accounted for fewer than 1% of global smartphone sales in 2016.
Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 10, can power smartphones in addition to laptops, tablets and desktop computers. However, few Windows 10 smartphones have been released.
In April, Microsoft started selling a customised version of Samsung's Galaxy 8 smartphone in its US stores.
"Microsoft's strategy under its current chief executive Satya Nadella is to make Microsoft apps and services widely available on Android and iPhone," said Ian Fogg, an analyst at the tech consultancy IHS Markit.
"That's where their customers are these days."
The "Microsoft Edition" phone comes with the firm's apps such as Office, Outlook email and its voice assistant Cortana included.
"It used to be putting the Windows operating system on everyone's phone was a priority, but now it's about selling services such as Office and Outlook email," said Mr Fogg.
"To do that, you have to make those services available on every device." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14022296 | India has dismissed its Ukrainian track and field coach after eight athletes were suspended in the past week for failing dope tests.
Yuri Ogorodnik trained six of the eight athletes who tested positive.
"We are removing Ogorodnik immediately and are also considering removing other foreign coaches," Sports Minister Ajay Maken told reporters.
Mr Ogorodnik had been with the Indian team for more than two years. He has so far not commented on his sacking.
On Monday two female athletes tested positive for banned substances and were suspended. Six other athletes - five women and one man - were suspended after failing doping tests last week.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has been ordered to investigate how the banned substances reached a training camp in the northern city of Patiala.
"The athletes have disgraced the whole nation and it's very disturbing for us," Mr Maken said.
"Athletes will get their punishment in the form of suspensions, bans and losing their medals... but we can't let the coaches and any official involved in this episode get away scot-free."
The ministry took action after eight athletes failed drugs tests within the space of seven days, three of them from India's 2010 Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medal-winning women's 4x400m relay team.
Officials say that the athletes suspended on Monday - Ashwini Akkunji and Priyanka Panwar - tested positive for anabolic steroids.
Ms Akkunji was part of the women's 4x400m relay quartet in the Commonwealth Games.
"We have provisionally suspended them. They will now be called for 'B' sample tests and then the necessary procedure will be followed," Athletics Federation of India (AFI) Director ML Dogra said.
The two women have not so far commented on the allegations made against them.
The six athletes suspended on Friday included two other members of the 4X400m Commonwealth Games relay team, Sini Jose and Mandeep Kaur.
Ms Kaur argued that food supplements might have caused her to test positive - she argued that she would be "a mad person" if she took steroids to enhance performance. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-47844721 | The rollout of technology which allows the police to gather data from mobile phones or laptops without using a password should be delayed, MSPs have said.
Police Scotland spent more than £500,000 buying from an Israeli firm 41 laptop-sized machines which override encryption on devices.
But the rollout was halted amid concerns using the technology could be illegal.
Now MSPs want further safeguards.
Holyrood's justice sub-committee on policing has published a report recommending the scheme is not restarted until greater clarity on the legality for their use is provided.
The report is also critical of the oversight given to the scheme by watchdog the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and the actions of Police Scotland during trials in Edinburgh and Stirling.
The committee found that members of the public whose phones were seized and searched were not made aware their phones were to be searched using the so-called "cyber kiosks" as part of a trial.
Justice sub-committee convener John Finnie said: "Prior to the introduction of any new technology to be used for policing purposes, an assessment of both the benefits and the risks should have been carried out.
"It appears that, in relation to the introduction of cyber kiosks, only the benefits were presented by Police Scotland to the SPA, with the known risks not provided.
"The SPA, for its part, seems to have accepted the information provided with very little critical assessment.
"Even the most fundamental questions, such as the legal basis for using this technology, appear to have been totally overlooked.
He added: "This sub-standard process has resulted in over half a million pounds worth of equipment sitting gathering dust.
"Clearly, this is not an acceptable situation. The sub-committee wants to work with the Scottish government and the stakeholder groups belatedly assembled to consider the implications of introducing cyber-kiosks to find a solution which would provide the necessary safeguards for the use of this new technology."
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Johnson of Police Scotland said: "Like the justice sub-committee on policing, we have received written confirmation from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service about the clear legal basis, and robust statutory regime, for the use of this much-needed technology.
"The rigorous scrutiny of this process by the justice sub-committee has added significant value to the development of Police Scotland's assurance and governance processes for the use of this necessary equipment.
He added: "As the Chief Constable has already made clear, there is a policing imperative for deploying the equipment to protect vulnerable victims and bring offenders to justice.
"However, he has also stated that he must be satisfied that privacy and human rights considerations have been transparently and satisfactorily addressed.
"The value of cyber kiosks in helping protect the most vulnerable people in society while tackling the most highly-sophisticated criminality cannot be underestimated."
Susan Deacon, chairwoman of the SPA , said: "The committee's consideration of this issue has been informative and the SPA will consider the report carefully and respond in due course.
"The SPA has already strengthened our arrangements for the oversight of policing policy and practice and will continue to do so."
Should police be allowed to forensically search mobiles? |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32479334 | As emergency teams reach the areas around the epicentre of the Nepal earthquake, many are warning of scenes of complete devastation.
The 7.8-magnitude quake struck on Saturday in the hilly district of Gorkha, west of Kathmandu.
Aid groups say the damage could be far worse in rural areas than in the capital.
One aid worker spoke of "an entire village - all but gone" - and there are fears others have suffered the same fate.
The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it expected "high and significant damage" in the regions closest to the earthquake's epicentre, Gorkha and Lamjung.
Close to 300,000 people live in Gorkha, which is normally around four hours' travel from Kathmandu. The region's most senior official, Udav Prashad Timalsina, said: "There are people who are not getting food and shelter.
"I've had reports of villages where 70% of the houses have been destroyed."
Mr Timalsina said 223 people had been confirmed dead in the district but he said "the number would go up because there are thousands who are injured".
On Monday, an Indian journalist flew over the damage in Gorkha in an Indian army helicopter. The footage shows many low-lying houses, seemingly cut off in the middle of mountains and reduced to rubble.
The journalist, Jugal Purohit, said: "What we are witnessing here are villages completely devastated, destroyed and, in a sense, rubbed off the map of Nepal."
The aerial images are the first recorded pictures of the destruction near the epicentre. Very few images of damage there have emerged, even on social media.
Matt Darvas, of the charity World Vision, is in the town of Pokhara, further west from the epicentre. He told the BBC: "I spoke to one man. He had been [evacuated] in to the hospital where I was, in the very first helicopter.
"In his village of 1,100 homes, almost every home was decimated. He estimated 90%. That's a village of over 2,000 people.
"There could be many other villages in a similar case where the entire village is all but gone."
Mr Darvas said he expected the death toll in Gorkha to rise "significantly".
Pokhara itself - Nepal's second city and a popular trekking destination - appears to have been spared significant damage, though there are reports of people sleeping outside due to a fear of buildings collapsing.
Teams from many major charities have so far been unable to reach the more outlying areas of the country, but have plans to do so as soon as possible. Many are working with regional partners who are based in western Nepal.
But access to areas such as Gorkha and Lamjung, that are hilly, isolated and heavily forested, was difficult even before the earthquake, that caused landslides to block roads.
Mr Darvas said some parts of Gorkha could take up to five days to reach.
Chandra Kayastha is the programme unit manager for Plan International in Baglung, 270 kilometres west of Kathmandu. He told the BBC: "The main problem of this area is damage of their houses and school buildings.
"Some of the area is very remote, it takes more than three hours, four hours on a wagon, there's no road facilities even before the disaster because it lies in the western hills of Nepal."
The earthquake has led to the activation of the UN's International Charter on "Space and Major Disasters".
Many of the world's space agencies are signatories to the charter, and they will now task their satellites to gather images of the country every time they pass overhead.
The images will be used to assess the scale of the damage, and to find roads not blocked by landslides.
One added factor, says Rupa Joshi, a communications officer with Unicef Nepal, is the fact that many men from rural areas are absent, having gone to work for more money abroad.
She said: "In many of the villages in Nepal, many of the men are out of the country. So what you find in these villages are the elderly, women and children.
"They are now the ones who are having to deal with this massive thing - when their houses have come down, their homes wiped out - without men, who are usually the ones running around, setting things straight." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-39229163 | Will BT's Openreach deal mean faster broadband?
Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, said on Friday that BT had agreed to "legally separate" Openreach - the division that owns and operates the UK's broadband network.
But what will this mean for consumers - particularly those who are suffering from slow broadband - or none at all?
Rival telecoms companies have long argued that Openreach - the firm providing most of the UK's broadband infrastructure - should not be part of the same group as BT, which has a third of the country's broadband market.
The likes of Sky and TalkTalk say this structure has been bad for competition and consumers.
Ofcom agreed - as did the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. To avoid a protracted legal battle, BT has now fallen into line.
Are we set for faster, cheaper broadband?
The jury is still out. BT will still control Openreach's budget, even though the newly separated company will have its own boss and decide how to spend its cash.
Really fast broadband requires running fibre optic cable into every home, which is very expensive. As a result, most UK broadband connections still rely on the elderly copper wires used for telephone calls.
Andrew Ferguson, of the news website ThinkBroadband, said it is unclear whether separating BT and Openreach will deliver this faster option.
Most observers agree that the split alone will not solve the UK's broadband problems.
Will this mean the end for rural broadband notspots?
Slow and non-existent broadband is still an issue in some rural areas and Openreach has been criticised for its failure to address the issue. However, very few other operators appear willing to fix the problem, which is expensive and technically challenging.
You have a broadband fault but it is taking weeks to fix. Sound familiar?
Critics say Openreach just failed to provide adequate levels of customer service because complaints come through a customer's internet service provider, giving it no incentive to undertake repairs more quickly.
Gavin Patterson, BT chief executive, admitted on Friday that Openreach's service has "not been where it needed to be" and said the separation would improve the situation.
It remains to be seen how long that will take to deliver - and to remove the BT logo from thousands of BT white vans. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-46334316/juncker-those-who-reject-brexit-deal-will-be-disappointed | Juncker: 'There is no better deal' Jump to media player European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has reiterated that the Brexit deal approved is the only one on offer.
Could there be a second Brexit vote? Jump to media player Some people still want the UK to stay in the EU and others want a final say on the deal to leave.
Juncker: EU superstate claims 'nonsense' Jump to media player Jean-Claude Juncker says the EU is "richer" because of the diversity of its 28 members.
Juncker tells Eurosceptics: You'll regret Brexit Jump to media player The UK will come to "regret" the decision to leave the EU, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker warns.
Was Juncker mocking May's moves? Jump to media player The president of the European Commission gave a wiggle as he came on stage. Coincidental or intentional?
Brexit agreement in two minutes Jump to media player Adam Fleming has been up all night reading and digesting it - here's the Brexit agreement summarised in two minutes.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has reiterated that the Brexit deal approved is the only one on offer.
Go to next video: Could there be a second Brexit vote? |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3238961.stm | BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | What is happening to the Sun?
What is happening to the Sun?
The Sun's intense activity in the past week will go into the record books.
Scientists say they have been amazed by the ferocity of the gigantic flares exploding on the solar surface.
The past 24 hours have seen three major events erupt over our star, hurling billions of tonnes of superhot gas into space - some of it directed at Earth.
Researchers are once more predicting colourful displays of aurorae - polar lights - when the charged particles from the Sun crash into our atmosphere.
Powerful solar flares are given an "X" designation. There was an X8 and an X3 event on Sunday.
On Monday, there was an X3 flare followed by smaller ones.
Last week there were X7 and X10 events that took place back-to-back.
Flares with an X rating are unusual and, if the gas cloud from them reaches the Earth, are capable of causing a geomagnetic storm.
The Earth's changing magnetic field in such a storm can cause power grid and satellite problems. Japanese engineers believe that one of their satellites failed last week because of one such storm.
Last week's flares came from giant Sunspot 486, as did the first flare on Sunday.
Subsequent flares have emanated from Sunspot 488 which appears to be growing in activity.
Some experts are saying that the Sun is more active than it has been in living memory.
Dr Paal Brekke, deputy project scientist for the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (Soho) Sun-monitoring satellite, told BBC News Online: "It is quite amazing that the flaring regions continue releasing such strong flares.
"I think the last week will go into the history books as one of the most dramatic solar activity periods we have seen in modern times.
"As far as I know there has been nothing like this before."
Skywatchers will be looking out for spectacular lights in the night sky.
These Northern and Southern Lights are generated when fast-moving particles (electrons and protons) ejected from the Sun get trapped in the magnetic field around the Earth, and collide with the gases in the upper atmosphere. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6931450.stm | Actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman have completed a 15,000-mile motorcyle journey from Scotland to South Africa.
The pair arrived in Cape Town after a three-month trip which took them through 18 countries on two continents.
The Long Way Down journey, which started at John O'Groats in May, was filmed for a BBC2 television series.
They previously completed a 20,000-mile ride from London to New York, via Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Siberia.
The trip to South Africa took the actors through Europe and then on to countries like Libya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Rwanda.
Mr McGregor said: "The Long Way Down has been an amazing journey and it has been a real privilege to be able to experience these diverse and beautiful places.
"We've had the opportunity to see such different ways of life to ours and have travelled to remote places very few people have access to.
"The sense of freedom and exploration has been incredible."
Mr Boorman said: "There were times when it was unbelievably hard going but that has been countered by amazing riding and extraordinary people.
"Africa is a continent full of undiscovered wonder and we both feel incredibly lucky we've been able to experience this together and to have survived with some brilliant stories to tell." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3825393.stm | Smoking alters the genes of lung cells, US scientists have shown for the first time.
The Boston University team found smokers had different genetic patterns within their lung cells to those of non-smokers and former smokers.
They hope the patterns could be used to predict lung cancer risk as they also vary between smokers, and some carry a bigger threat than others.
The researchers believe it could help to explain why although cigarette smoking is responsible for 90% of all lung cancers, only 10% to 15% of people who smoke end up with the disease.
And it also suggests that smokers who give up the habit may remain at risk of lung cancer for decades because, although some of the genetic changes are eventually reversed, the process may take many years.
Dr Avrum Spira and colleagues took lung cell samples from 75 volunteers - 23 who had never smoked, 34 who were current smokers and 18 who had given up smoking.
They looked at the gene patterns within the lung cells and found changes in smokers that were not seen in non-smokers.
In the smokers, some genes that are thought to promote cancer were switched on and others thought to protect against cancer were switched off.
Gene patterns also varied among the smokers.
A subset of smokers expressed some genes differently from most other smokers.
One of these developed lung cancer within six months of the analysis.
The researchers believe it may be possible to predict a smoker's risk of lung cancer by looking at their lung cell gene patterns.
"Gene expression profiles of smokers with cancer may differ from those of smokers without lung cancer," they said.
Dr Spira's team says the gene changes also appear to be related to the duration of time for which a person had been smoking.
The gene patterns among former smokers began to resemble those of never smokers after two years of quitting smoking.
But several genes failed to change back.
This may explain why past smokers continue to have an increased risk of developing lung cancer years after they have stopped smoking, say the study authors.
Dr Spira said: "It's still safer to quit smoking. Quite apart from reducing the risks of other diseases caused by smoking, the risks of lung cancer also go down dramatically.
"Previously some had hoped that after 10 or 20 years after quitting the risk of lung cancer may have gone down to that of a non-smoker after the lungs had cleared themselves out.
"What our work is suggesting is that the risks may never go down to that of someone who never smoked."
Cancer Research UK scientist Dr Marcus Munafo said: "There may be a point in the future that we can do something more for people at higher risk, in the same way that people with a family history of breast cancer are offered higher levels of screening.
"But we are a long way off that becoming a reality."
Mr Ian Willmore, head of communications at Action on Smoking and Health, said: "It would be great if doctors are able to predict which people would get cancer.
"But even if they can this is not going to take away from the huge health damage done by smoking and the need for people to stop smoking," he said.
Dr Mark Britton, Chairman of the British Lung Foundation said: "Much further research and testing would need to be done to ascertain the reliability of this screening of gene expressions before it could be used in the UK." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15251319 | An oil spill from a stranded cargo ship off New Zealand is the country's worst environmental disaster in decades, the government says.
Officials say 350 tonnes of oil may have leaked from the 775ft (236m) Rena, which ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef off the port of Tauranga on Wednesday.
Bad weather has halted work to pump oil off the ship.
Environment Minister Nick Smith said the situation was going to get "significantly worse" in coming days.
"This event has come to a stage where it is New Zealand's most significant maritime environmental disaster," he told a news briefing in Tauranga.
Mr Smith said the rate at which oil was gushing out of the ship had increased "fivefold" since it ran aground.
"The government is determined to throw everything possible at minimising the environmental harm of what is now clear to be New Zealand's worst environmental disaster in many decades."
The Rena, which was heading to Tauranga port, is still intact but is now listing at 18 degrees.
Maritime New Zealand (MNZ), which is managing the emergency response, said an estimated 200 to 350 tonnes of oil had been released.
By comparison with an oil tanker, the amount of oil on board the Rena is small. Its total consignment is believed to be 1,700 tonnes, and operations to pump what remains out of the tanks are ongoing.
In contrast, the Prestige tanker wrecked on the Galician coast in 2002 leaked an estimated 76,000 tonnes. Nevertheless, even a small amount of oil can affect wildlife if it comes ashore in the wrong place.
The authorities are asking questions of the Rena's captain as to how he came to crash into a well-known reef. In time, they may raise familiar questions over the flags of convenience system that effectively allows international shipping to operate without a host government having to take responsibility.
Weather conditions are expected to deteriorate over the next 24-48 hours, increasing fears the ship might break up, leaking all 1,700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on board and shedding its cargo.
A navigational warning has been issued in case containers fall into the sea.
The salvage crew on board were evacuated on Tuesday as a precaution - one navy officer was injured in the operation.
A tanker which had been offloading the oil had to return to port on Monday for repairs but will resume work once the weather has calmed.
Clumps of heavy oil have washed up on the beaches of Mt Maunganui and the nearby community of Papamoa and are expected to reach Tauranga port and beaches south to Maketu.
Officials have closed affected beaches and warned people to stay away from the shore.
"Although it looks bad, the oil in its clumped state is at no risk of going anywhere, and people attempting to remove it without the proper training or equipment risk making the situation worse," said MNZ.
About 200 people are involved in the salvage operation, while 300 military personnel are on stand-by to clean up beaches.
"People are angry that this could have happened on our doorstep and it could really ruin one of the best beaches around," one local man, Jim Kohu, told Reuters.
A spokesman for the WWF, Bob Zuur, told the BBC that the oil represents "potentially a huge tragedy" for wildlife in the popular tourist area.
"There are thousands of gannets and petrels and shearwaters in the area and hundreds of blue penguins... And we've got dotterels and oyster catchers nesting on the sandy beaches."
The owners of the ship, Greece-based Costamare Inc, have not given an explanation for the grounding, but said they were "co-operating fully with local authorities" to minimise any damage. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/coventry_city/7658358.stm | Coventry City defender Marcus Hall has been awarded a testimonial after racking up 14 seasons with the club.
After completing a spell as a YTS trainee, Hall, 32, made his full debut against Manchester United in May 1995.
He left the Sky Blues for Nottingham Forest in 2002, before having spells at Southampton and Stoke City.
But he returned to Coventry in 2005 and has now made 276 appearances for the Sky Blues, scoring two league goals. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/euro2000/the_bbc_team/814570.stm | The Match of the Day team have selected Stefano Fiore's stunner against Belgium as the goal of the tournament.
Picking a winner from ten super strikes was no easy task but Alan Hansen and Martin O'Neill chose Fiore's goal ahead of Patrick Kluivert's opener against France in second and Zinedine Zidane's free-kick against Spain in third.
Fiore's goal came in Italy's 2-0 win over Belgium and capped a fine move involving striker Filippo Inzaghi.
Cutting in from the left, the midfielder played a perfect one-two with Inzaghi and proceeded to let fly with a curling thunderbolt that gave Belgian keeper Filip De Wilde absolutely no chance.
By emailing us with your predictions of what the MOTD team's nominated top three would be, you had the chance to win a VIP trip to Rotterdam for the Euro 2000 final itself.
See the associated link for details and pictures of the original top ten choices. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3214735.stm | Coalition forces in Iraq have lifted the curfew for the holy month of Ramadan.
A curfew has been in place since the end of the war, but coalition officials say the lifting of the curfew early on Sunday morning was possible because the security situation has improved.
Now Iraqis who will be fasting all day can go out to socialise in the evenings.
Ramadan is about to start across the Muslim world - in Egypt on Sunday and in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states on Monday.
Muslims believe Ramadan was the month when God began to reveal the Koran, the Islamic holy book, to the Prophet Muhammad 1,400 years ago.
The holy month is calculated according to the lunar calendar and begins on the first day after the sighting of the new moon.
Senior religious councils in the Gulf said the moon's crescent had not been sighted after nightfall on Saturday, meaning Ramadan would not start until Monday.
Ali Gomaa, Egypt's official Mufti, said as the new moon had been sighted Ramadan would begin on Sunday.
While Sunnis mark the start of the holy month by the crescent moon, the Shia calculate it according to astronomical configurations.
In Lebanon and Syria, the leaders of the Sunni and Shia Muslim communities said that Ramadan would start on Monday.
Fasting in Ramadan - avoiding all food, drink, smoking and sexual relations from dawn to sunset - is a religious requirement for all Muslims who are physically able and is one of the "five pillars" of Islam.
Business tends to slow down during the daytime in Ramadan, but shops and restaurants remain open until after midnight.
The month for many Muslims is a time for extravagant night time banquets, get-togethers with family and friends and staying up late to have one last meal before sunrise.
Coalition forces serving in Iraq has been told to refrain from eating drinking and smoking in public.
"We're making sure our forces clearly understand what the traditions are, and what the sensitivities are to make sure that we're being respectful of the Iraqi people," said Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of US and coalition troops.
Troops have been attending "cultural sensitivity" classes, where instructors, mostly chaplains, explain Islamic traditions and the meaning of the Islamic holy month.
On Saturday, coalition authorities reopened the 14th July bridge in Baghdad across the Tigris River on Saturday to ease traffic congestion - a gesture aimed at improving the Americans' image in Iraq.
But after Sunday's attack on the Rashid hotel - which is only about 200 metres away - access to the bridge was blocked again.
"The holy month of Ramadan has started in the most unholy way" |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35995972 | The end of the Spanish siesta?
Many Spaniards were glad to hear acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announce proposals recently to end the normal working day at 6pm, rather than 7pm or later. It spells the end of the two-hour afternoon siesta - but this has long tormented parents balancing work with the needs of their family, writes James Badcock in Madrid.
"In my house we would be totally in favour of changing the schedules. My kids virtually never see their father during the week," says Cristina Matarranz from Madrid, who is on her own with her three-year-old girl and seven-year-old boy after she finishes work in a bank at 3pm and picks them up from school.
The medical supplies company where her partner works insists on employees working from 9am in the morning to 7pm at night - the classic Spanish office timetable which includes a two-hour lunch break from 2pm to 4pm.
As it takes him an hour to travel between home and the office, he doesn't have time to enjoy the once-traditional home-cooked meal and a nap at lunchtime - and he only gets home at 8pm, Matarranz says.
"Very rarely do they let him work from home. People at school don't believe our children has a father - he has never picked them up or attended any events."
In a country where unemployment stands at 21%, it can be hard to ask for concessions from an employer, which is why campaigners such as Jose Luis Casero want incentives to be introduced to make companies change their hours.
"People want to work but they also want a life," says Casero, president of the National Commission for the Rationalisation of Spanish Schedules.
He thinks employers who introduce flexitime and home-working should be rewarded with tax breaks - and he wants the government to provide more nursery places, and to open schools earlier in the morning.
The reason Spain has a low birth rate of 1.32 children per woman, compared to 1.58 for the whole of the European Union, is partly to do with the state of the economy, he argues, but also "because people are tired even when it comes to human relationships".
Carolina Dobrzynki Kearney, a Madrid-based single mother who works in marketing says half her day is wasted because clients are unavailable for long periods.
"I could get my work done in six hours but I need people to take my calls," she says.
"Until 10 in the morning no-one will answer, and then again from about 1.30 or 2pm it's impossible. So I find myself setting up conversations with people between six and eight in the evening when I would much rather be in the park with my daughter."
It's a constant battle to defend her family space, she says.
"As individuals we have to try to make a point of saying no to work-related tasks during family time, but you get looked down on for doing that.
"People in Spain are fixed in their ways like cogs on a wheel. They complain about their schedules, but that's all. Someone is going to have to make this change happen."
One idea put forward by Rajoy is to turn Spanish clocks back one hour from Central European Time, and to align the country with Portugal, the UK and Ireland. This would in fact be a return to the status quo before 1942 when the country's dictator, Francisco Franco, moved the clocks forward as a gesture of allegiance to Hitler.
Jose Luis Casero blames the "abnormal" use of Central European Time for a late-hours culture in which prime-time TV runs from 10pm until midnight.
"Spain needs to use the time zone it is in," he says. "The Greenwich Meridian passes through Zaragoza."
But it's the end of evening work that would represent the biggest change for most families.
For many years Consuelo Torres's job with a multinational telecommunications firm kept her in the office until 7pm, obliging her to drive around during her unwanted two-hour lunch break to deposit her four children with carers for the evening.
Recently she took action to change this, knocking an hour off her daily schedule and cutting the lunch break altogether.
Now Torres works for seven straight hours from 9am to 4pm and goes home with her children after school.
"I don't even lose money due to the saving in petrol and the fact that I have dropped a tax bracket," she says. "A lot of people don't do it because they fear reprisals from the company. But there is a growing social clamour for change now."
Some Spanish residents, such as Penny Thompson, a British media professional and entrepreneur, fear the country could lose some of its charm, however, if it banishes the concept of the siesta period altogether.
"To have a bit of a break after lunch is reasonable given the hot weather you get here from this time of year to October," says Thompson, who has lived near Malaga for the past decade.
"Most families like to have a family meal in the evening. Because of the heat, they're not going to have it in the early evening.
"And at lunchtime too, there is a focus on proper cooking with fresh ingredients here. That food takes time. If you're going to do that for a family meal, you might like a little rest afterwards."
Modern life can ride roughshod over our internal clock. We want to believe we can do whatever we want at any hour of the day or night if we need to, be it having dinner at 11pm, or flying to New York at 4am, with no ill-effects. However, millions of years of evolution have given our bodies a finely-tuned internal clock.
Are you in tune with your body clock? |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-12983722 | Image caption The Fire and Rescue Service said it was a "severe fire"
A kitten and a hamster had to be rescued and homes evacuated after a chip pan fire at a home in St Saviour.
Jersey's Fire and Rescue service attended what they described as a "severe fire" in the kitchen of a semi-detached house at Grasett Park estate.
The Fire Service said they received "multiple calls" from concerned neighbours about the fire on Tuesday evening.
The kitten was given immediate care by the nearby Vets centre.
The Fire Service said a woman was at home alone when her smoke alarm alerted her to the fire in her kitchen and, after attempting to close the kitchen door, she made a sharp exit.
Two fire engines were sent to the house at 2020 BST, and fire crews were there for more than two hours clearing damaged belongings and ventilating smoke filled rooms.
They also made sure the fire had not spread to a neighbouring property which had been evacuated.
Watch Commander Larry Vibert said: "Once again occupants have been alerted to and escaped unharmed from a property involved in fire by the early warning of a working smoke alarm, which has enabled the Fire and rescue service to arrive quickly on scene and prevent unnecessary damage to the property."
"The Fire and Rescue service would like to remind the public the importance of fitting and regularly testing this life saving piece of equipment and that advice is always available." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35438049 | Rates of breastfeeding in the UK are the lowest in the world, an international study shows.
The data, published in the Lancet, shows that only one in 200 women - or 0.5% - is still doing any degree of breastfeeding after a year.
That compares with 23% in Germany, 56% in Brazil and 99% in Senegal.
The researchers said it was a "widespread misconception" that breastfeeding was beneficial only in poor countries.
In the UK, 81% of mothers had tried breastfeeding at some point, but only 34% were breastfeeding at six months and 0.5% at 12 months.
In the US, 79% started, 49% were still going after six months and 27% after a year.
It is the worst record in the world. Breastfeeding is far more common in developing countries, but the UK figures are behind even similar countries in Europe.
Women in the UK are advised to feed their baby exclusively on breast milk for the first six months and then a combination of breast milk and other foods, however, it does not give a recommend end-point.
Breastfeeding is good for the health of the baby and lowers the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
Prof Cesar Victora, report author from the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil, said: "There is a widespread misconception that the benefits of breastfeeding only relate to poor countries.
"Nothing could be further from the truth, our work clearly shows that breastfeeding saves lives and money in all countries, rich and poor alike."
The Lancet report said breastfeeding in developed countries reduced the risk of sudden infant deaths by more than a third.
And in poorer countries, half of cases of diarrhoea and a third of respiratory infections could be avoided by breastfeeding.
Overall, the report's authors said that near-universal breastfeeding could save over 800,000 children's lives a year.
A commentary, signed by Save the Children UK and the World Health Organization, was critical of formula milk being promoted at the expense of breastfeeding.
It said: "The active and aggressive promotion of breast milk substitutes by their manufacturers and distributors continues to be a substantial global barrier to breastfeeding.
"Promotion and marketing have turned infant formula, which should be seen as a specialised food that is vitally important for those babies who cannot be breastfed, into a normal food for any infant."
Commenting on the findings, Sarah Redshaw, from the BabyCentre website, said: "It is crucial to bear in mind the various barriers and challenges faced by mums when it comes to breastfeeding.
"Generally mums are aware that breastfeeding is best for their baby but often don't get the right support if they encounter problems in the early weeks - which many, many do.
"As a result, significant numbers give up on breastfeeding." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2867855.stm | The war in Iraq is testing the ability of many websites to cope with record numbers of visitors.
Net users eager for news of the conflict are turning to the web to keep up with the latest developments.
But the flood of visitors is proving too much for some the websites run by news organisations, government departments and branches of the military.
Firms that monitor the responsiveness of websites are already reporting that some are taking much longer than usual to appear.
Keynote Systems, which regularly tests the response times of busy websites, said the responsiveness of BBC News Online suffered during the busy lunchtime period with average download times rising from 0.47 seconds to 1.88 seconds.
ITV News went through a more serious slowdown with average download times ballooning from 5.66 seconds to 15.84 seconds.
As the conflict got under way, some sites such as that run by Arabic satellite TV broadcaster Al Jazeera were only intermittently available.
The website of Britain's The Sun newspaper was also taking a long time to finish loading.
Nic Newman, head of editorial development and technology at BBC News Online, said traffic to the site had already almost tripled and he expected it to grow further.
Similar leaps in visitor numbers have been seen at the Yahoo and MSNBC news sites.
According to Comscore Media Metrix, the top 15 news sites have seen traffic jump by more than 40%.
Mr Newman said many news websites failed to cope with the huge spike of interest on and after September 11 and many have plans in place to ensure they are not caught out again.
"Everyone fell over on September 11," he said.
Traffic to BBC News Online has grown steadily and the site now regularly copes with more traffic than it did on September 11.
The BBC's contingency plans will help it cope with 10 times the usual amount of traffic, said Mr Newman.
It was not just news sites that saw a jump in visitors - US military sites are also getting a lot of traffic.
Keynote said that during its busiest times the US Army site was taking more than 80 seconds to load. For almost 30% of visitors the site simply failed to appear. The website of the US Marine Corps had similar problems.
Sites telling people what to do in the event of a terrorist attack have also struggled to cope with the sudden rush of visitors.
According to Keynote the page the UK Home Office has prepared giving advice about what to do in the event of a terrorist attack has been taking almost a minute to download at the busiest times.
The main page of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website was taking about 90 seconds to load. Anyone visiting the website of No 10 Downing Street had to wait five times as long as usual for the pages to load.
"It was clear from the outset that people would be using the internet as one of their primary information resources throughout any possible conflict," said Andy Didcott, UK boss of Keynote Systems.
"Unfortunately," he added, "it seems that government website managers have failed to make adequate preparation for the well publicised surge in demand." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/gloucestershire/8265345.stm | Archaeologists are working at a ships' graveyard known as the Purton Hulks in Gloucestershire to expose and record the remains of a barge.
Laser scanning equipment is being used to capture 3D images of the Kennet-built Harriett.
Eighty ships and barges beached in the 1940s were used to shore up the Sharpness Canal against erosion from tidal flow of the River Severn.
Efforts to save the site for the nation was begun by the Friends of Purton.
Laurent Coleman, head of archaeology with The Friends of Purton, said exposing the surviving timbers of the vessel would enable them to study the vessel's construction and its current state of preservation.
"In addition, this excavation will address specific areas of interest including the dimensions of the keelson and construction of the mast step, and assess wear and tear of the remains of this immensely important and rare example of the country's only remaining Kennet-built barge," he said.
The Purton Hulks received national exposure on the BBC programme Coast in July and will be featured on the investigative reporting series Inside Out West.
The sunken boats are early-20th Century coasters, schooners, trows, and barges.
Harriett was lost 21 February 1944 at Stonebench Turn on the Sharpness to Gloucester Canal, following a collision with motor barge Severn Trader.
Mark Beattie-Edwards, Nautical Archaeology Society programme director, said: "The NAS is very excited to see just how much survives of the Harriett at Purton.
"We are looking forward to learning more about how this vessel was originally constructed and perhaps later modified by its owners - she really could give us a window into the past." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/305034.stm | Tony Blair: "Unpardonable weakness and dereliction"
The full text of Prime Minister Tony Blair's television address to the British public on the Nato air strikes against Yugoslavia.
"I want to explain why what is happening in Kosovo matters, to you, to me, to all of us.
"I want to explain why I may have to send our forces into action again and when I do, I want them to go with the whole country united behind them.
"There are people who say don't act, seek a political solution to Kosovo. Believe me, nobody has tried harder than us.
"We tried for six long months to keep Milosevic to the agreements he made.
"Those agreements were modest enough.
"To stop killing innocent people and driving them from their homes.
"Even now if he stopped, we could talk again.
"To those who say the aim of military strikes is not clear, I say it is crystal clear. It is to curb Milosevic's ability to wage war on an innocent civilian population.
"To those who say Nato is striking at a sovereign nation without justification, I say it is Milosevic who scrapped Kosovo's autonomy.
"90% of its people are not Serbs. Now they had no rights, no justice, no protection.
"250,000 of them homeless. 2,000 killed since last Spring.
"These are our fellow human beings.
"Husbands taken from wives. Fathers taken from children, never to see them again, never knowing if they are dead or alive as they walk, mile upon mile to a safety they may never find.
"Old women humiliated, young men massacred, just for being Albanian, just for being there when the Serb killing machine arrived.
"Do nothing and Milosevic will feel free, to do as he likes with the civilian population.
"They will be ground under his heel at the very moment when these poor defenceless people are begging us to show strength and determination; we would have shown unpardonable weakness and dereliction.
"That is not the tradition of Britain.
"Yes of course there are risks. All military action has its risks, but taking action is the only chance justice has got.
"And Kosovo is part of Europe, a short sea journey from Italy, a short drive from Greece.
"There in the Balkans the First World War began in Sarajevo.
"Five years ago, in Bosnia, we only just averted another war, again started by Milosevic.
"We stopped it then only by standing up to him.
"Fail to act now, and the conflict unleashed by Milosevic would not stop.
"We would have to deal with the consequences of spiralling conflict and hundreds of thousands of refugees.
"So I wanted to speak to you tonight and tell you very directly why I have authorised British forces to join our Nato allies in these attacks. It will be tough. But now that we have begun, I ask your support in seeing it through.
"We must act with total resolve to achieve our aims, for the sake of humanity and for the sake of the future safety of our region and the world.
"I have just been speaking by phone to some of the UK servicemen involved in this operation.
"I can tell you that the longest hours of any prime minister's life are those spent waiting to hear that the crews sent into battle are back safely.
"Far more agonising is the wait for their families.
"They are in our thoughts and prayers tonight.
"I would never expose our brave servicemen and women to those risks unless I believed that I had to.
"We are doing what is right, for Britain, for Europe, for a world that must know that barbarity cannot be allowed to defeat justice.
"That is simply the right thing to do." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-30932424 | A fake bank which was set up to look just like a real one has swindled Chinese savers out of 200m yuan ($32m; £21m), it's reported.
To customers in the eastern city of Nanjing the interior looked like any other state-owned bank, with uniformed clerks working behind the counters, the Southern Metropolis Daily website reports. Almost 200 people deposited their cash, including a businessman who handed over 12m yuan ($1.9m; £1.3m) in 2014. But he grew suspicious when he wasn't paid the promised interest on his money, and went to the police after the bank refused to return his savings. A police investigation found that it was actually a rural cooperative, which had none of the accreditations required to operate as a bank. It had been promising interest rates of 2% per week and high interest subsidies, police say.
The fact the "bank" was able to operate for so long has left some Chinese social media users incredulous. "More than a year, it looks like the authorities have gone blind," says one user on the Weibo social network. "Fake banks, and a fake local government," comments another user. Police have arrested five people over the scam, including a woman who reportedly high-tailed it to Macau, China's famous gambling centre, with the customers' money. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24426033 | US Secretary of State John Kerry has defended the capture of an alleged al-Qaeda leader, Anas al-Liby, calling him a "legal and appropriate target".
He is a suspected mastermind of the 1998 US embassy attacks in Africa.
His son, Abdullah al-Ruqai, said his father was seized by masked gunmen and that some of them were Libyans.
Mr Kerry's comments come after Libya called on the US to explain the raid on its territory, one of two by US commandos in Africa on Saturday.
Mr Kerry said Anas al-Liby, who has been on the FBI's most wanted list for more than a decade with a $5m (£3.1m) bounty on his head, would face justice in a court of law.
Back in September 2001, George W Bush spoke of the war on terror being fought "wherever terrorists hide, or run, or plan", a view that seems to underpin the recent US operations in both Libya and Somalia. The current US administration has no doubts - Abu Anas al-Liby is "lawfully detained under the law of war".
This phraseology suggests that he is seen as "an enemy combatant". But the willingness of US forces to swoop in and lift a wanted man in another country once again raises questions about the legality of Washington's self-declared war on terror. US legislation passed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks - the Authorisation for Use of Military Force - gives the president wide scope to hunt and target individuals the US regards as terrorist suspects.
While even Mr Obama accepts that the "war on terror" cannot go on forever, defining its boundaries, especially when suspects hide in lawless or poorly-governed territories remains no easy matter.
"With respect to Abu Anas al-Liby, he is a key al-Qaeda figure, and he is a legal and an appropriate target for the US military," Mr Kerry told reporters on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit in Indonesia.
Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan's office said he had asked for clarification on the raid and stressed Libya was "keen on prosecuting any Libyan citizen inside Libya".
"The Libyan government has been following the reports of the kidnap of one of the Libyan citizens wanted by the authorities in the United States," said a Libyan government statement issued on Sunday.
"As soon as it heard the reports, the Libyan government contacted the US authorities to demand an explanation."
Citing surveillance camera footage, Mr Liby's son, Abdullah al-Ruqai, said his father was seized in Tripoli early on Saturday by masked gunmen armed with pistols, as he was parking outside his house.
He said that those he could see taking his father looked Libyan and spoke a Libyan dialect.
He claims the Libyan government was implicated in his father's disappearance - a claim Tripoli denies.
Mr Liby's brother, Nabih, on Sunday told reporters his brother was innocent, describing the US operation as an "act of piracy".
Anas al-Liby - real name is Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai - is believed to have been one of the masterminds behind the 1998 US embassy attacks, which killed more than 220 people in Kenya and Tanzania.
The 49-year-old has been indicted in a New York court in connection with the attacks.
On Saturday, US commandos also carried out a raid in southern Somalia, but failed to capture their target.
Pentagon spokesman George Little confirmed on Monday that they were chasing Abdukadir Mohamed Abdukadir, a Kenyan al-Shabab commander also known as Ikrima.
He is alleged to have been involved in plotting a number of attacks in Kenya.
Al-Shabab has said it carried out last month's attack on the Westgate shopping centre in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
When asked on Sunday whether Somalia had been aware of the raid, Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid said: "Our co-operation with international partners on fighting against terrorism is not a secret."
Mr Kerry said the operations in Libya and Somalia showed that the US would never stop "in its effort to hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror". |
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37563100 | Scientists are a step closer to solving the mystery of one of the great animal migrations.
Each autumn, eels leave European rivers to travel across the Atlantic Ocean to breed for a single time, then die.
Tagging studies show that the fish swim more than 3,000 miles (4,800 km) to the Sargasso Sea.
But, rather than one mass spawning in the spring - an idea held for a century - their arrival is staggered, UK researchers say.
"Eel migration is a rather romantic tale," said lead researcher David Righton, head of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) in Lowestoft.
"Eels only spawn once in their lifetime and then they die, so they're making this final journey of their life, towards the Sargasso Sea, to meet their life's goals, if you like.
"And so the fact that we've got a little bit of insight into that - but we've also got some new questions about how eels tackle that really fundamental problem of meeting that life goal - is really, really fascinating."
The life cycle of the eel has long puzzled scientists.
Even the Greek philosopher Aristotle pondered the question of where eels came from, deciding that they sprang up spontaneously from the mud.
Almost 100 years ago, it was discovered that their destination was the Sargasso Sea, in the western Atlantic near the Bahamas.
This led to the assumption that all eels took the shortest and quickest route across the ocean from freshwater rivers and streams.
"What we've found is that [some] eels actually take a more convoluted route to the Sargasso Sea," said Dr Righton.
"We propose that eels probably have a strategy that enables some eels to arrive in a very short period of time but others to take a longer, more meandering journey and perhaps arrive up to a year later and spawn in the subsequent seasons."
Eels arrive around the European coast as tiny glass eels, having drifted across the Atlantic for two or three years from the Sargasso Sea.
In the autumn, the mature eels - growing up to one metre long - leave European rivers and fresh water and disappear into the ocean, never to be seen again.
Until now, it has been very difficult to study their migration across the ocean.
Now scientists have a "roadmap" of the migration of eels towards the Sargasso Sea, based on tracking hundreds of eels from five locations in Europe.
Data from the five-year study shows that most eels begin their migration between August and December.
Yet, the migratory timing and speeds of eels vary so that only the fastest arrive in time for peak spawning in the Sargasso Sea in the spring while others arrive much later, only to breed the following season.
The European eel is classed as critically endangered.
The fish face many threats on their migration, including damage from hydropower turbines, disease and parasites, exploitation and trade, habitat loss, pollutants, and predation.
A management plan is in place within Europe to try to boost eel numbers.
The new information about the rate of migration and their migratory strategy will help to improve that knowledge base, say the researchers.
The research is published in the journal Science Advances. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-20533659 | Colombia has announced it no longer recognises the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, in The Hague.
The decision comes nine days after the ICJ redrew Colombia's maritime border in the Caribbean in favour of Nicaragua.
The court's ruling ended a decades-long dispute over the San Andres islands.
President Juan Manuel Santos said individual countries, and not courts of law, should fix their borders.
The ICJ ruled that the islands and a group of islets near the Nicaraguan coast in the western Caribbean belonged to Colombia.
But it set up new maritime borders in the potentially oil-rich area, extending Nicaragua's territory by some 70,000 square km (19,000 square miles).
The judgment, which is binding, was welcomed by Nicaragua but greeted with anger by President Santos.
Mr Santos has now announced that Colombia is pulling out of the Bogota Treaty, signed in 1948, that recognises the court's rulings.
"The borders between nations cannot be in the hands of a court of law," he said. "They must be drawn by agreement between the countries involved."
Mr Santos reaffirmed he would only be using "peaceful means" to solve dispute.
The competing claims date from the early 19th Century, when the nations of Latin America were gaining their independence from Spain. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-47412680 | A police officer remains in a "critical condition" following a collision with a heavy goods vehicle (HGV).
The officer and a colleague were travelling on the A4 Bath Road in Hungerford on Wednesday night when the crash occurred.
One of the officers suffered serious injuries while the other sustained minor injuries, police said.
The HGV driver, a 33-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Supt Jim Weems, from West Berkshire police, said: "Our thoughts are with these two officers, their families and their colleagues." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-11880604 | A hygiene report into Northern Ireland's eight acute hospitals has found that "significant" improvements have been made.
In 2009 The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) made unannounced visits to hospitals and many failed to meet compliance levels.
A year on, the RQIA made follow up inspections and found notable improvements.
However, inspectors noted that old or broken equipment was still a problem.
Delivery suites at the Ulster, Craigavon, Royal Jubilee, Daisy Hill and Erne hospitals all received a follow up inspection, after failing to reach compliance levels in certain aspects of hygiene and infection control last year.
Within the year all had improved significantly with the Belfast's Royal Jubilee Maternity increasing its rating from 75% to 92%.
However, inspectors noted that old or broken equipment including commodes obstructed proper cleaning from taking place and in Craigavon there was no evidence of cleaning schedules.
Inspections of wards and departments in 18 of NI's main hospitals found notable improvements but highlighted that in the A&E departments at the Royal, City, Craigavon and Ward Four in Musgrave Park Hospital - effective leadership was still required.
In the follow up inspections to 10 psychiatric units, the RQIA noted that the old fabric of buildings impeded cleaning but that improvements in leadership could be achieved at little cost.
Glenn Houston, RQIA Chief Executive, said: "Good infection control and hygiene practices are key to reducing the risk of health care associated infection, and building public confidence in our health and social care services.
"In 2009, RQIA carried out inspections at hospitals across Northern Ireland, making recommendations for learning and improvement," he continued.
This year we followed up on these inspections, and RQIA has noted significant improvements across all services. In the areas inspected, of particular note are improvements in acute hospitals." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-41713221 | A 44-year-old man has died following a disturbance near a pub in the south-west of Edinburgh.
Police were called to a lane next to the Longstone Inn on Longstone Road at about 01:30.
The man had suffered serious injuries and was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where he later died.
The death is being treated as suspicious and the area has been cordoned off while inquiries are carried out.
Det Ch Insp Keith Hardie, from the major investigation team, said: "We believe a number of people were involved in the disturbance in the lane at the side of the Longstone Inn, and I am appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident or has information to get in touch immediately." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/5285920.stm | Fast food remains top of the menu at major tourist attractions across the country, a report has found.
A "secret mum", who visited 14 top attractions for the Soil Association, found most sites were failing to provide healthy food and drink choices.
The Eden Project and the Tower of London were the healthiest, serving fresh fruit and drinking water.
New MetroLand in Gateshead and Camelot Theme Park in Chorley, Lancs, were named as the two worst offenders.
The researcher found no fruit for sale and a "woeful lack" of healthy food and drink on the day she visited them, according to the organic campaign group's Taking Our Children for a Ride report.
It took the researcher at least an hour to find any fresh fruit at eight of the 14 venues she visited in England and Wales.
"In general, we found that hot dogs, burgers and chips still dominate the choice on offer," the report says.
"It is also difficult to find a portion of vegetables if you don't care for mushy peas."
A maximum of 25 points were awarded for the availability of fresh drinking water, healthy drinks in vending machines, healthy drinks excluding water, fresh fruit on site, children's meals, and food promotions.
Only the Eden Project in Cornwall and the Tower of London scored above half marks.
The Soil Association's policy director, Peter Melchett, said child-centred venues had a responsibility to offer alternatives to junk food.
"Not to provide kids with the option of free water on a day out is scandalous," he said.
"It is crazy not even bothering to offer fresh fruit or the choice of a healthy meal for children."
The report's findings are based on single visits to each attraction carried out in late June and early July.
The report was compiled in partnership with children's food company Organix. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12644166 | South Korea has accused the North of blocking the return of 27 North Koreans who strayed across the border.
The North has said Seoul is keeping hostage four North Koreans, from a boatload of 31 which drifted over the sea border in heavy fog on 5 February.
The refugee return row comes while South Korea is hosting large-scale military drills with the United States.
Both North and South have called for talks to ease tensions; the last effort ended without agreement last month.
South Korea's Unification Minister, Hyun In-taek, told parliament he was respecting the free will of the four people who had chosen to stay in the South.
When South Korean officials took the 27 others to the Panmunjom border village there were no North Koreans prepared to accept the group, Seoul said.
"We are still waiting for North Korea's response but we cannot wait forever," said a ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo.
Although tensions between the two countries, which are still technically at war, are not as high as at the end of last year, military talks early last month broke down on only the second day.
Many analysts predict that the North will initiate another confrontation this year. This may be to burnish the military credentials of Kim Jong-il's youngest son, who's widely thought to be in line to succeed his ailing father as leader.
It is also thought the North may want to ratchet up tensions to a point at which multilateral talks take place, so Pyongyang can extract economic and food aid in return for measures to calm relations.
The situation is complicated by South Korea's refusal to offer any concessions to the North until it demonstrates a change in behaviour, including on denuclearisation.
Previous governments in Seoul had been more willing give ground in disputes in order to reduce tensions.
"We will make a decision if North Korea keeps silent," she told AFP.
For its part, North Korea has accused the South of "despicable unethical acts".
"This cannot be interpreted otherwise than a grave provocation to the DPRK (North Korea)," said a statement attributed to a spokesman for the North's Red Cross.
This comes in the same week that North Korea threatened to turn the South's capital, Seoul, into a "sea of flames" because of large-scale military drills being carried out by US and South Korean forces.
The joint command says the drills involving more than 200,000 troops as defensive - the North says they are a rehearsal for invasion to topple its communist government.
Relations have been fraught since the North shelled a South Korean island in November, killing four people.
The attack came just months after 46 sailors were killed when a South Korean warship was sunk. An international investigation blamed a North Korean torpedo attack but Pyongyang denies any involvement. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/3583192.stm | BBC News Online reader Laura Franklin took this picture of a friend enjoying traditional Syrian ice cream - vanilla rolled in pistachio nuts - in a Damascus souk.
Tourists are dwarfed by huge statues at the ancient site of Persepolis in Iran in Michael Neill's picture.
... while in Egypt Karol Lesniak snapped an Alexandrian street trader smiling as he grilled husks of maize.
Ara Kantardjian spotted this traditionally dressed man outside a store selling modern fashions in Damascus, Syria.
In the United Arab Emirates, a livestock seller shows off his most prized possession - a mobile phone - in David Greco's image. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-24757284 | Three empty kayaks carried off on a tide from a Wester Ross loch have been found - one 75 miles (120km) away.
The family using the craft alerted the coastguard and police to the incident at Loch Torridon on 18 October.
One of the kayaks was found nearby on the same day.
A second drifted 70km across the Minch to Plocrapol on south Harris where it was found 10 days later, and the third was located four days later having travelled all the way past Cape Wrath.
Inverness-based consultant engineer Graham Doig and his family had hired two of the kayaks.
One was found less than a mile away and the other was spotted about 120km away north east of Cape Wrath in Sutherland by a cargo vessel.
Lochinver lifeboat crew managed to recover the craft.
The third kayak, which belonged to Mr Doig, was found on Harris 10 days after it was lost.
The family had left the three kayaks above the high water mark at Lower Diabeg on Loch Torridon while on holiday there.
However, on 18 October, a higher than expected tide carried the craft away.
The family made the police and coastguard aware in case a member of the public spotted the empty kayaks and mistakenly believed people were in difficulty.
Mr Doig said: "I was really concerned about my own boat as it was fibreglass and less robust than the plastic hire boat, it is very fast but also very light so would get blown easily by the wind, which was in the east.
"I did expect it to go in the direction of Skye but then was concerned it may pass the Western Isles and head out to the Atlantic."
Coastguard officer Murdo Macaulay said two of the kayaks had travelled "notable" distances.
He added: "Evidently the second kayak must have drifted out into the Minch and then been carried by wind and tide northwards missing the entire west coast mainland on its journey." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-28565239 | They called it the Greatest Factory on Earth.
Built to produce much-needed ammunition for Britain's out-gunned troops in the early years of World War One, HM Factory Gretna was a game-changer.
Its role in the war effort - and the remarkable social experiment it was part of - are told in a new custom-built museum which has just opened in the village of Eastriggs.
It's called "The Devil's Porridge" - after an explosive paste mixed there - and it has been completed just in time for the war's centenary.
The story began with what newspapers of the time called the "Shells Scandal" - the British army's chronic shortage of firepower on the Western Front.
The government's response was to order the building of a new munitions super-factory - HM Gretna - and all the social infrastructure needed to support its huge workforce.
In a field near Gretna, historian Gordon Routledge showed me some brick and concrete ruins which are pretty much all that remains of this once vast facility.
"During the First World War it was certainly the biggest munitions factory in the world," he said.
"It was designed on the earlier factories by Nobel - the original factory he built at Ardeer in Ayrshire and there were factories in South Africa.
"The Gretna factory was built on the same principle - but it was bigger."
It stretched nine miles from Dornock near Annan to Mossbank in Cumbria with 30 miles of road, 125 miles of rail track and 20,000 workers from all over Britain and its Empire.
Richard Brodie, of the Eastriggs and Gretna Heritage society, said the work was highly dangerous.
In the newly opened museum, he showed me a huge vat in which the mainly female workforce mixed cordite paste to make propellant for shells.
The particularly nasty brew was dubbed the Devil's Porridge by Sherlock Holmes' creator Arthur Conan Doyle who came here to write about the factory he code-named Moorside to protect its location.
"It was a very volatile mixture, the women were not allowed any rings or earrings in case they caused a spark and the whole thing would blow up," said Mr Brodie.
"You wouldn't work in those conditions nowadays, there would be acid fumes in the air.
"The acid would attack the girls' gums and if they were exposed to it too long, the gums would rot and their teeth would fall out."
The work was dangerous and unpleasant but thousands of the girls doing it had come from domestic service and found their new job worthwhile and rewarding.
Among their number were Annan man Jim Hawkins' three aunts - Jean, Betty and Margaret Irving.
He said it proved to be a big change for them.
"It was dangerous work with long-term hazards from chemicals but they earned a little money," he explained.
"They gained self-respect which they didn't have when they were working in domestic service."
Alongside the cordite factories, two new townships of Gretna and Eastriggs were constructed - from scratch in less than a year - to house the international workforce that flocked here and to provide their every living, social and leisure need.
Some 15,000 mainly Irish navvies were involved in the construction.
The streets were laid out garden city style and named after cities in the British Empire.
Mr Routledge said: "It was a self-contained factory community with everything at Gretna mirrored at the Eastriggs site.
"There were cinemas, churches, all these facilities were built - better than in the local area by far.
"Before the First World War there were only the marriage rooms and a few isolated farms and this township here evolved out of the war effort."
The total project was completed in record time at a cost of more than £9m - about - four times over budget - but in the way it bolstered the war effort, it may just have been priceless.
Not for nothing does Gretna still have a Victory Avenue.
"Before HM Factory Gretna was built, Britain was losing the war," said Mr Brodie.
"Lloyd George became the Minister of Munitions and this was his greatest project to provide soldiers with the ammunition they needed.
"So without HM Factory Gretna there could have been a completely different outcome to the war." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-30113268 | Image caption The note is now a collector's item, but no use for train travel.
An elderly man in China has tried to buy a train ticket using currency not in circulation since 1949, it's reported.
The 80-year-old man handed the 500-yuan note to a ticket seller at a train station in Yongkang, eastern Zhejiang Province, the Global Times website reports. The note is almost as old as its owner; it was printed in 1943 under the Republic of China and features the face of the country's founder and first president, Sun Yat-sen. It has been obsolete since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949. But the man, identified as Mr Ying, was reportedly adamant that the note should be accepted, asking: "It's a 500-yuan bill! Why did the seller refuse to take it?" Mr Ying was trying to pay for a train ticket costing 12.5 yuan ($2; £1.30). But rather than pocketing a heap of change, he was informed his note is no longer legal tender.
While the note wasn't much use at the station, it could still prove valuable to Mr Ying. Currency from the era is now considered a collector's item, and some 500-yuan notes are being sold on internet auction sites for more than $100 (£64). |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-45111652 | A father discovered he had been grieving for his daughter at the wrong grave for 30 years because of a misplaced headstone.
George Salt's daughter Victoria died less than two days after being born in July 1988 and was buried at Southern Cemetery in Manchester.
Mr Salt said he felt "let down" that he found out by being faced with an empty spot where the gravestone had been.
Manchester City Council apologised for the distress he has suffered.
Mr Salt, who has visited the grave twice a year for 30 years, said: "I looked down and was completely gobsmacked. I thought 'where's the stone gone?'."
He then found the headstone, which marks a public grave containing the remains of Victoria and 16 others, in a different spot.
The stone had been moved in error during the 1980s to a vacant plot, but the mistake was only discovered this year when cemetery workers checked records and moved it to the correct place.
"I just wasn't told. I feel so let down," Mr Salt said.
"When you go to a grave, you sit and talk and say what your troubles are but the annoying thing is you're talking to a piece of ground where she isn't there."
The council said they accepted something clearly went wrong in the 1980s and had offered "sincere apologies" to Mr Salt for the distress he has suffered.
The passing of time meant they were unable to say why it was moved to the wrong plot, the authority added. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11979614 | London's "booze bus" is back in action to treat people who drink too much over the Christmas period.
It aims to free up hospital beds for other patients, but government cuts mean this year's service has been scaled back.
Fears have now been raised over whether the bus, run by the London Ambulance Service, will return next year.
BBC London's Angie Walker spent an evening with the staff on one of their busiest nights of the year. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33281422 | Image caption Uber says it "seamlessly connects riders to drivers"
The taxi-hailing app Uber has expanded rapidly since its launch and gained popularity with users as fares are generally cheaper than with traditional taxis.
However, it has faced fierce and sometimes violent opposition in various parts of the world.
In some of the latest trouble in South Africa, Uber drivers have complained of intimidation and harassment by their rivals for business.
Here is what you need to know about the upstart transport firm.
Founded just six years ago, the San Francisco-based Uber "seamlessly connects riders to drivers", as the company puts it.
Users download an app which uses GPS technology to locate available drivers.
You tap the screen to hail a cab and pay automatically on arrival with a credit card. Fares are usually lower than with traditional firms.
It operates in 57 countries, but Uber's ambitions go beyond providing taxis - it has also trialled courier and fast food delivery services.
Uber takes a cut of each fare. Since it does not directly employ drivers, or own the vehicles, costs are kept low.
Growth has been fast - some forecasts put revenues this year at around $2bn (£1.2bn).
It has also attracted huge amounts of funding. A recent valuation estimates the company as worth over $50bn (£31.7bn).
At this level, should Uber go public, it would be the biggest start-up flotation since Facebook.
The service needs a large pool of drivers to provide a reliable service, and is keen to stress how easy it is to join.
You will need your own car for starters, and to cover the costs of fuel and servicing.
The company also conducts background checks on potential recruits.
For drivers, despite the lower fares, there are obvious perks, such as being able to choose your own hours.
Uber's growth has been matched by protests around the world. Canada, France, Hong Kong, India, South Africa, the US and UK have all seen demonstrations.
Such protests have brought gridlock to major capital cities. Occasionally, like in France, they turned violent.
The firm has had to provide security to protect its drivers in South Africa after threats from traditional drivers.
Broadly, taxi drivers accuse Uber of unfair competition, undercutting prices by allowing unlicensed drivers to escape regulation required for the professionals.
An Indian woman who says she was raped by an Uber driver in Delhi has filed a lawsuit against the firm, accusing it of failing to ensure her safety.
Uber said it was co-operating with the authorities. Its vetting process has also been put under the spotlight by allegations of sexual assaults by drivers in the US and Canada.
The company has been accused of aggressive business practices, including poaching drivers from rival Lyft.
And Uber executive Emil Michael said he was "plain wrong" for suggesting hiring researchers to dig up dirt on journalists who wrote negative reports on the company.
Uber's popularity makes it hard to see it disappearing soon. History has looked more kindly on disruptive technology than its critics, whether it be mechanised looms in the Industrial Revolution or audio downloads.
But the firm does face challenges. Local regulations could bite, raising fares - a court in California last month ruled in favour of an Uber driver who argued she was an employee, not a contractor, and so was owed expenses.
It has been banned in several countries. South Korea charged nearly 30 people linked to the company with running an illegal taxi firm.
Uber also faces competition from other cab-hailing services, such as China's Didi Kuaidi, which recently attracted $2bn (£1.2bn) in funding.
Whatever Uber's future may be, it is part of a wider network of apps using similar business models.
At its core, Uber links customers to something they want - in this case a taxi - stripping away the need to make a phone call or even a Google search.
This can easily be adapted. Want somewhere to stay? Try Airbnb. How about a takeaway? Use Just Eat.
And it is this "interface" between consumer and supplier, as French media executive Tom Goodwin puts it, where "all the value and profit is". |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39641695 | Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has said he does not believe being gay is a sin, having earlier been criticised for not clarifying his views on the issue.
When asked about his Christian beliefs on Channel 4 News after the election was announced, he would not say if he thought homosexuality was a sin.
And when Conservative MP Nigel Evans asked him about the matter, Mr Farron clarified his stance.
Mr Farron has stressed that he supports equal marriage and LGBT rights.
In the House of Commons, he was asked by Mr Evans: "A lot of his views will be asked about over the next seven weeks, and he was asked one question which he refused to give an answer to, and I'd be interested if he could today.
"Does he think that being gay is a sin?"
Mr Farron replied: "I do not. And I tell you what, I am very proud to have gone through the lobby behind him in the coalition government where the Liberal Democrats introduced gay marriage, equal marriage, and indeed did not go as far as it should have done in terms of recognising transgender rights.
"However, there is much more to be done, and if we campaign in this election, as we will, for an open, tolerant, united society, then we need to make sure that we do not in any way be complacent about LGBT rights, not just here, but in other parts of the world."
During the debate on holding an early general election, Mr Farron also said the Conservatives would be "taking candy from a baby" when it came to claiming seats from Labour - and repeatedly failed to rule out another Tory coalition.
Mr Farron had been asked about his religious beliefs three times on Channel 4 News, each time refusing to say if he agreed with the biblical view that homosexuality was a sin.
Instead, he said he was "passionate about equality, about equal marriage and about equal rights for LGBT people" and that he did not want to "make theological announcements".
His comments on the Tuesday evening show were criticised on Twitter however, with comedian David Walliams writing: "Mr @timfarron you are definitely a sinner for your continued intolerance & prejudice. Please try and join the rest of us in the year 2017."
Presenter Sue Perkins also said she thought his views were out of step with the modern world, and former Coronation Street star Charlie Condou said on Good Morning Britain: "I think he should absolutely say what he means. His voting record is very strong on LGBT rights, certainly stronger than Theresa May's, so his actions perhaps speak louder, but I think he should perhaps stop sitting on the fence."
Mr Farron, speaking in Richmond as he launched the Liberal Democrat election campaign, told the Press Association: "I have never judged anybody. I am massively in favour of people being absolutely free to have the right to love who they love, be who they are, marry who they marry.
"As a liberal I believe in human rights, in equality for every single person ... and LGBT rights are absolutely central to those human rights I am massively passionate about."
He said the electorate should judge him by his voting record, adding: "My belief for equality runs through me like a stick of rock and likewise through our party as well.
"I am a liberal to my fingertips and that especially applies to LGBT rights."
Mr Farron's party said more than 5,000 people joined them in the hours after Prime Minister Theresa May revealed she was seeking an 8 June election. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45619879 | Leaving the EU without a trade deal could kill off advanced manufacturing in Wales, the first minister claimed in a speech to the Labour conference.
Carwyn Jones announced £6m worth of grants for Ford, Toyota and Airbus to help the big employers deal with the effects of Brexit.
Mr Jones warned that a hard Brexit could bring a "new wave of industrial carnage".
He blamed the prospect on the Conservative UK government.
The announcement came as he revealed he may nominate Eluned Morgan to ensure the Welsh Labour leadership contest is not all male.
At the Labour conference - his last before standing down - Mr Jones said a hard Brexit would mean "a new wave of industrial carnage with a real risk to advanced manufacturing".
His speech in Liverpool said the prospect of a "catastrophic" no-deal Brexit is the fault of the "paralysis and incompetence of this Tory Government".
Theresa May's Chequers plan would have been a "viable starting position" two years ago, but "not with weeks of negotiating time left".
The money for the three manufacturers will come for an EU Transition Fund, set up by the Welsh Government earlier this year to help employers minimise the disruption of Brexit.
It is meant to pay for technical and commercial advice, and help companies continue to attract EU workers.
The conference has been dominated by discussion over whether Labour should back calls for another referendum on the final Brexit deal.
On Tuesday the conference will vote on whether to keep "all options on the table" on Brexit, including possibly campaigning for a new referendum.
Party members have called for another referendum and while leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he would prefer the issue to be resolved by a general election, he has said he will adhere to whatever the conference decides.
The first minister has previously said a referendum should only happen if parliament rejects the final deal and if Mrs May is forced into a general election.
Mr Jones is expected to hand the reins to a successor in December. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42110066 | A US politician has condemned the "predatory practices" seen in games that feature loot boxes or crates.
Games use them to give random rewards and they are acquired either through gameplay or by spending real cash.
Hawaiian state representative Chris Lee said games using boxes resembled casinos and called for laws to limit their use.
The condemnation comes as Belgian gambling regulators investigate the growing use of in-game rewards.
In a statement posted to YouTube, Mr Lee singled out the use of loot boxes in Electronic Arts' Star Wars Battlefront II game.
He called the game a "Star Wars-themed online casino designed to lure kids into spending money".
EA responded to Mr Lee's criticism via a statement released by the Entertainment Software Association.
It said the crates were not gambling and it was a gamer's decision about whether they took advantage of the "optional feature".
The Battlefront II game has been criticised widely since its release earlier this month because of the way its loot box system worked.
The furore led EA to turn off a way for people to pay to get more loot boxes. Many complained it meant gamers with deep pockets would have an advantage because they could buy useful boosts for their character's abilities or get at powerful heroes more quickly.
The row has led Belgian's Gaming Commission to start its own investigation. It said because players paid money and received a random reward, the games could fall under its jurisdiction.
US authorities recently decided that games using loot crates do not constitute gambling because players do get some kind of reward when they acquire the boxes.
In the UK, the Gambling Commission took a similar stance and said the boxes did not come under its control because rewards were usable only in the game.
Ed Barton, an entertainment analyst at consultancy Ovum, said loot box mechanics were becoming an increasing part of games for which people had paid a full price.
Some games, such as Blizzard's Overwatch, he said, gave out only "cosmetic" boosts that did not affect how the game was played.
But, he added, there were others that sought to totally monetise a game via loot boxes.
"There are a number of people who are uncomfortable that this mechanism is being put into games," said Mr Barton. Their unease stemmed from the psychological tricks gamemakers used to drive interest in getting and opening loot boxes.
The same tricks were used in gaming machines and casinos to keep people playing and paying, he said.
"Loot box opening, the sirens, the noises, the way it slowly opens - it's all designed to stimulate your senses.
"It's like pulling the handle on a one-armed bandit - you don't know whether you will win," said Mr Barton. "The impact this has on your brain is pretty well established."
Marc Etches, head of the Gamble Aware charity, said it was increasingly worried about in-game reward systems.
"It is becoming more and more difficult to distinguish between some increasingly common features in computer games and gambling," he told the BBC, adding that there was a danger that loot boxes were "normalising" gambling for many young people.
"Current legislation was not designed for this technology and loopholes need to be closed urgently," he said. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7575939.stm | The UN Security Council is deadlocked over the situation in Georgia with the US and Russia rejecting rival resolutions on the crisis.
Washington says it is prepared to veto a Russian resolution seeking to implement a six-point ceasefire plan.
Russia has reiterated its opposition to a rival French text reaffirming Georgia's territorial integrity.
Russian says its troops will leave Georgia on Friday but 500 will stay in a "buffer zone" around South Ossetia.
Local reports suggest Russian troops are still dug in at positions inside Georgia, but there has been some movement around the town of Gori, which Russia has promised to leave by 1600 GMT.
"They are going, but extremely slowly," Vova Djugali, police chief at the nearby village of Igoeti, told AFP news agency.
Meanwhile, a Nato spokeswoman says Russia's defence ministry has decided to halt all military co-operation with the bloc to protest at what Moscow calls the alliance's biased, pro-Georgian view of the conflict.
The move by Moscow followed a Nato statement that there would be no "business as usual" with Moscow unless its troops pulled out of Georgia.
A White House spokesman said President George W Bush expected Russia "to abide by its agreement to withdraw forces".
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has told the BBC the Russians are still consolidating their hold on parts of his country, and he again accused them of trying to paralyse the Georgian economy.
Russia fought a four-day war with Georgia after it tried to retake the Moscow-backed breakaway province of South Ossetia on 7 August, following days of clashes with separatists.
The counter-offensive by Russia, which has had peacekeeping troops in South Ossetia since the early 1990s, took its troops beyond the province into Georgia's heartland.
President Saakashvili told the BBC's Today programme Georgia would never accept what he called Russia's "annexation of its territory".
He renewed claims that Russia had been planning to invade Georgia long before Tbilisi's own assault on South Ossetia.
He also warned that Russia's involvement in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia were intended to send a strong message to the West.
"If Nato fails now to come up with a united response, nobody's safe, even if they are in Nato already," he said.
"It's all about reconsidering the role of Nato, the role of international law and borders in this part of the world. This is no longer about Georgia anymore.
"Russia decided to win war with Nato without firing a single shot at it."
There is no sign of agreement over the rival resolutions, one backed by Russia and the other by Western European countries and the US, the BBC's Laura Trevelyan reports from New York.
France circulated a draft resolution on Tuesday, calling for an immediate Russian withdrawal from Georgia and reaffirming Georgia's territorial integrity.
Russia rejected this because it said Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia wanted independence.
Moscow circulated its own draft calling on the Security Council to endorse the six-point peace plan brokered by France and agreed by Moscow and Tbilisi.
"Our draft resolution is a reconfirmation of the six-point agreement, and there's no territorial integrity in the six principles," said Russia's UN Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin.
Now Russia's ambassador says his resolution is going into its final form, so it can be voted on.
But the US and its allies insist Russia is not respecting the ceasefire plan because it is not withdrawing from Georgia quickly enough.
The US Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Alejandro Wolff, said under the circumstances he thought America would be prepared to oppose Russia's resolution.
Russia's land forces commander, Gen Vladimir Boldyrev, has said all Russian combat troops will move back from Georgia proper to South Ossetia by the weekend.
Most of the soldiers sent to the region as reinforcements will return from South Ossetia to Russia within 10 days, he added.
However, Moscow will retain 500 peacekeepers in a security zone stretching 7km (four miles) beyond the border of South Ossetia into Georgia proper - a move Tbilisi says is unacceptable. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-england-leeds-41053104 | Listen along to all our carnival coverage on Radio Leeds.
Thanks for being with us today, we hope you enjoyed out coverage of the 50th Leeds West Indian Carnival.
If you need more carnival fun, then why not check this out - a programme that looks back at the last 50 years of the event.
Thousands of people came along to the Leeds West Indian Carnival today to take in the sights and sounds of the event.
It was hot, loud, colourful and it smelled pretty good.
The Leeds West Indian Carnival was one not to be missed in it's 50th year.
The man holding the flag is Arthur France.
That's the same Arthur France who founded the Leeds West Indian Carnival 50 years ago.
Get yourself into the centre of the action at the carnival.
I'm taking part in the actual parade, and the atmosphere is electric.
Let's face it, the costumes on show at the carnival don't just happen by magic.
There's hours of work that goes into them not to mention the engineering.
Some of them have drinks bottles holders!
Hear hear, well done Leeds!
How sunny does this look?
Video caption: The "oldest carnival in Europe" is gearing up to celebrate its 50th anniversary.The "oldest carnival in Europe" is gearing up to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
I spoke to Susan Pitter who is one of the Leeds Carnival organisers.
She said that "If Leeds had a crown, this would be the jewel".
Organiser of the carnival Arthur France (second from right) is pictured here in full dress, getting ready to set off on the parade. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7707326.stm | Police officers were recorded saying they would wage a "dirty war" against an activist accused of fire-bombing Oxford University, a court has heard.
Mel Broughton, 48, from Northampton, is accused of targeting Queen's College in protest at the University's plans to build an animal research laboratory.
The Oxford Crown Court jury was shown a transcript with officers scheming to "get him", defence counsel said.
Mr Broughton denies conspiracy to commit arson over the attacks.
The sports pavilion at Queen's College was petrol-bombed in November 2006.
Mr Broughton's barrister, David Bentley, told the court that the police did not know they were being overheard when the recording was made.
The defendant said the officers' comments caused him "great concern".
He also told the court that he was constantly watched, filmed and followed by police and their actions made him completely "paranoid".
Mr Broughton, of Semilong Road, also denies an alternative charge of possessing articles with intent to destroy property and keeping an explosive substance with intent. |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13681343 | Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's founding president, took up his father's mantle to become head of state in April 2013, despite facing charges of crimes against humanity over election violence five years earlier.
A few days before his swearing in, the Supreme Court ruled that the March 4 polls were valid, and that Mr Kenyatta would become the country's fourth president.
Backed by Kikuyu loyalists, Deputy Prime Minister Kenyatta picked a running mate from the rival Kalenjin tribe, William Ruto, to form the Jubilee alliance. Both were indicted by the International Criminal Court to face charges of orchestrating violence after the 2007 vote, an accusation they denied. Charges against Mr Kenyatta were dropped in December 2014, although the case against Mr Ruto went ahead.
In the 2007 elections, the two men backed opposing presidential candidates and their two rival tribes were at the centre of the fierce blood-letting that drove 350,000 people from their homes.
Mr Kenyatta, ranked by Forbes as the richest man in Kenya, is heir to his late father's vast business empire that spans swathes of land, Kenya's biggest dairy company, five-star hotels, banks and exclusive schools.
He was born in 1961 shortly after the release of his father Jomo Kenyatta from nearly 10 years' imprisonment by British colonial forces, and two years before Kenya's independence.
Educated in the United States at the elite Amherst College, where he studied political science and economics, he is viewed as the top political leader of the Kikuyu people, Kenya's largest tribe making up some 17% of the population.
However, he also appeals to Kenyans from different ethnic backgrounds, able to mingle not only with the elite he was born into but also with the average Kenyan, cracking jokes using local street slang.
Correspondents say that with permanent heavy bags beneath his eyes and well dressed in pin-stripe business suits, Mr Kenyatta exudes an image of power and entitlement. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7025738.stm | A leading car manufacturer is to give drivers the chance to try out hydrogen-powered vehicles.
As part of "Project Driveway", General Motors (GM) will put more than 100 fuel-cell vehicles in the hands of customers before the end of the year.
The cars will be based on the Chevrolet Equinox SUV.
GM says they will initially go to celebrities, policymakers, the military and other "influentials", but the public can also sign up online.
"We're going to get feedback from customers to help us understand this market, and that's going to help set us up, hopefully early in the next decade, to really go to market for real with fuel-cell electric vehicles," said Larry Burns, vice president of research and development and strategic planning for GM.
The vehicles will be tested in the US, Germany, South Korea, China and Japan.
Those countries have been chosen because they have refuelling facilities in place.
People selected to take part in the trial will have to live within a reasonable distance of a hydrogen station.
The hydrogen is fed into a fuel cell onboard the vehicle to produce electricity, which powers an electric motor connected to the front wheels.
The exhaust is water vapour, which is vented through slots in the rear bumper rather than a conventional exhaust pipe.
Industry experts told the BBC's Discovery programme that hydrogen would be just one of the propulsion, or "drivetrain", technologies used to make cars greener in the future.
"The car of the future will have a modular approach to [its] drivetrain," said Derek Charters from the British motor industry consultants Mira.
"The car will be able to be fitted with a number of power units. At the stage of buying the car, you will define your requirements by your lifestyle.
"You'll go into a dealership and tell them what you want to do, and they will then recommend what type of drivetrain to put in."
That might mean that if you do mostly city driving you would have a large electric motor and a big battery pack fitted.
But if you do some urban work and some long-distance driving, you might opt for a hybrid, with a smaller electric motor coupled to a petrol engine.
Today's hybrid cars either generate electricity using the petrol engine or during braking by using the motor as a generator.
In the future we are likely to see cars with much higher capacity batteries, so they can be plugged in at home overnight.
"I think you're going see two or three companies introducing the plug-in hybrid by 2010," said Joseph Romm of the Center for American Progress and previously responsible for clean transportation programmes at the US Department of Energy.
"You take a hybrid, and you put on it a battery capable of taking an electric charge from the grid, and running for maybe 20 to 40 miles in all-electric mode before reverting to be a gasoline-powered vehicle - because most people don't travel more than 20 or 25 miles a day, and even less so in Europe than the United States.
"The opportunity is you could run most of the time on electricity, and only use gasoline on longer trips," he said.
"These cars, like all early model cars, will probably be on the expensive side, but I think there will be a great interest in them."
You can hear more about the car of the future in the Discovery programme broadcast on the BBC World Service on Wednesday 3 October. Details on the different ways of listening can be found on the programme's website. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7491981.stm | The finale to the latest series of Doctor Who was seen by an average audience of 9.4m people on BBC One.
The final 15 minutes of the drama pulled in 9.8m viewers, capturing close to 50% of the entire TV audience.
After the Time Lord was wounded by a Dalek at the end of last week's episode, speculation had mounted that the Doctor would regenerate.
In a closely-guarded storyline, this failed to happen, leaving the way clear for actor David Tennant's return.
A fifth series of the show is scheduled for 2010.
In Saturday's episode the Doctor was helped by a small army of his companions to once again defeat the Daleks and their evil creator Davros to save the universe.
In an episode packed with unexpected twists, the Doctor was cloned and current companion Catherine Tate's character Donna Noble absorbed some of his mind to become half-Time Lord.
At the end of the episode the Doctor left his cloned self - who was half-human and as such will age and die - to live with his former companion Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper, in another reality.
The Doctor also separated from Donna, who had to have her mind wiped of all memories of their time together, before departing on his own in the Tardis.
Tennant has been confirmed to star in the lead role for a number of BBC One specials next year.
The fifth series, with Bafta-winning writer Steven Moffat at the helm, is scheduled to be broadcast on BBC One early the following year.
Moffat is to take over from current writer and executive producer, Russell T Davies, from 2010. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/luton_town/7500435.stm | Luton will start next season on an unprecedented minus 30 points after a ruling by the Football League.
The Hatters had already been deducted 10 points by the Football Association after being found guilty of misconduct for paying agents via a third party.
And the company which will take over the club has now been told it must accept a further 20-point deduction in order to be allowed in the League.
The penalty came after Luton failed to satisfy the League's insolvency rules.
The combined 30-point deduction is the biggest in Football League history, giving Luton an extraordinarily difficult task in trying to avoid relegation for the third season in a row. Bookmakers have already made them 10-1 on favourites to drop down to the Blue Square Premier.
But the club is appealing against the FA's 10-point deduction for financial irregularities in regard to its dealings with agents, with the case set to be heard next week.
The 20-point additional penalty related to the club's inability to agree a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) to exit administration, with the Football League pointing out that this is the third time in 10 years that Luton have been in such a position.
The Football League board also imposed the condition that Luton Town 2020 (LT2020), the new holding company, must pay any unsecured creditors 16p in the pound and asked it to forego any right of appeal.
LT2020 director Stephen Browne said the club was still being punished for the mistakes of the previous regime in charge at Kenilworth Road.
"We have tried to do everything openly and honestly and we placed our faith in the footballing authorities," said Browne, whose consortium is still in talks with the administrator.
"Obviously the very clear message from both the FA and the Football League is that doing such a thing is a total waste of time.
"Once again the faithful supporters are left high and dry and once again a policy of honesty is not recognised at all by the footballing authorities who claim they want to clean up the game."
But Football League chairman Brian Mawhinney said the board had little option but to take a strong line with Luton.
"The board's primary responsibility is to protect the integrity of their competitions," said Mahwinney.
"This often means making difficult decisions which require balancing the interests of fans, the club's creditors and the other teams in the League.
"We will continue to take that responsibility very seriously."
Browne said that the consortium, fronted by BBC presenter Nick Owen, would not give up despite the points deduction representing a serious setback.
"We will continue the fight by sticking to our principles of openness and honesty," he said.
"People who should, in theory at least, be protecting supporters will not bring us down.
"It's not a laughing matter any more, but even so we will continue to ensure that Luton have a solid and sustainable future, despite what the Football League do to us." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/essex/3484851.stm | Radio programmes are to be broadcast from a ship in the North Sea 40 years after the first attempt to silence the pirate stations.
BBC Essex marks the 40th anniversary of offshore pirate radio at Easter by broadcasting from a ship off Harwich.
Some of the stars from the 60s will fill guest slots.
Pirate BBC Essex will broadcast on medium wave frequencies from LV Eighteen - a former lightship owned by the charity Pharos Trust.
DJs from the pirate radio glory days between 1964 and 1967 will recreate the sounds of those times.
They hope to raise money to turn the vessel into a visitor and educational attraction.
Among the presenters on the week-long radio output will be original pirate broadcaster Dave Cash who said: "It's just wonderful to see it all happen again.
"When we first went out on the ships there were three older guys Tony Windsor, Paul Casarin and Earl Richmond with me and Kenny Everett and Keith Skues.
"Now Keith and I are the older guys working with DJs from BBC Essex. It's come full circle." |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7916596.stm | Women should see the recession as an "opportunity" to show how valuable they can be in the workplace, Cherie Blair has told the BBC's The Politics Show.
The human rights barrister and wife of former prime minister Tony Blair said firms were more likely to "take a chance" on a woman during the downturn.
"This is an opportunity for women... to be part of the solution," she said.
Mrs Blair also said "well-funded, well-resourced childcare" was the key to gender equality in the workplace.
Speaking to BBC One's The Politics Show, Mrs Blair said companies that did employ women in key positions were often more successful.
She said "diverse people on the boards" tended to do better "than boards that are all full of, dare I say it, white males in suits".
Mrs Blair continued: "This is an opportunity for women to show how much they can contribute and be part of the solution and not the problem.
"You often find in times when things are going bad, that people are more prepared to take a chance and give a woman a chance.
"It's often when business is in a crisis and it's trying to recruit somebody new and then men maybe think 'Well, I don't know whether I want to touch that', and this can often be an opportunity for a woman to come in and make a difference."
She conceded that her decision to take only the minimal amount of maternity leave had not helped the cause of women's rights.
"I was so determined to prove that I could be a barrister and have my children," she said.
"At the time, I thought: 'I'm really striking a blow here for women's equality.' Looking back, I think actually all I was doing was reinforcing the system.
"The key to this, I'm convinced, is absolutely well-funded, well-resourced childcare." |
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34399729 | A migrant has been killed on the Eurotunnel tracks trying to make it to the UK.
The man is the 13th migrant to die trying to get to Britain since late June, and the fourth in 10 days.
The man's nationality is not confirmed, although the BBC has been told by people in the migrant camps in Calais he was Eritrean.
A spokesman for Eurotunnel said a man was found unconscious beside the tracks at 01:00 BST on the French side.
A train driver was receiving "psychological support", he added.
"This is another very regrettable incident and shows how dangerous it is to try and cross the tunnel illegally," he said.
On Tuesday it was reported that a 20-year-old Iraqi man had been found dead in a UK-bound lorry.
Last week, a teenager, thought to be from east Africa, was killed by a freight train near the Channel Tunnel entrance in Calais.
The situation in Calais is part of a wider migrant crisis across Europe, with huge numbers of people heading north from the Mediterranean. |
https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/ce1qrvlel50t/al-qaeda | The government has been under pressure after a massacre of herders in the centre of the country.
Hamza Bin Laden is believed to be emerging as a key leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda.
Although the IS caliphate may be over, tensions in Iraq and Syria mean the ideology remains alive.
BBC Arabic gains rare access to Athlan village, the site of a major US attack on al-Qaeda in Yemen.
With IS on its last legs in Syria, the BBC's Frank Gardner explores why violent jihad will endure.
He says a US strike in Yemen killed Jamal al-Badawi, an al-Qaeda militant behind the deadly 2000 attack.
The US military is trying to verify if one of those behind the 2000 ship bombing died in an air strike.
Two British extremists who have lived in the country for years, on why they won't lay down their weapons.
Unnamed officials quoted by US media say they believe the Saudi militant died in a US drone strike last year.
A UN report says a "reduced, covert version" of the group could remain, despite its military losses. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8693947.stm | People who carry a lot of weight around their middle are at increased risk of developing dementia, say researchers.
A US study of more than 700 adults showed that being overweight is associated with smaller brain volume, a factor linked with dementia.
The finding was particularly strong in those with high levels of visceral fat - fatty tissue which sits around the organs, Annals of Neurology reported.
More than 750,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia.
The researchers from Boston University School of Medicine looked at people with an average age of 60 years old, 70% of whom were women.
They measured body mass index, waist circumference and used scans to look at the amount of abdominal fat.
The results showed that as BMI increased, brain volume decreased - a finding that has been reported in other studies.
But the findings also showed a closer connection between abdominal fat and the risk of dementia.
The link between visceral fat around the central organs and smaller brain volume was independent of overall weight.
Study leader Dr Sudha Seshadri concluded: "Although these findings are preliminary, they could improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship of obesity with dementia, with potentially important implications for prevention strategies."
Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said: "We have all heard how a beer belly can be bad for our heart, but this study suggests carrying excess abdominal weight could also increase your risk of getting dementia.
"This is not really surprising as a large stomach is associated with high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes - all major risk factors for dementia."
She said more work was needed to properly understand the link between dementia and obesity.
Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "These findings add to the growing body of evidence showing that mid-life health influences dementia risk.
"It is never too late to adopt a healthy lifestyle and to keep weight in check. What's good for our bodies may be good for our brains." |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28736323 | Parts of England and Scotland are continuing to be affected by high winds and rain brought by the remnants of what was Hurricane Bertha.
The Met Office issued a "be prepared" amber warning for rain in Scotland - in Grampian, Highlands and Eilean Siar.
A wider yellow "be aware" warning is in place across eastern and northern Scotland, and north-east England.
And floods are expected in parts of Scotland, on the Somerset coast and in Warrington.
The Environment Agency has issued four flood warnings - meaning floods are "expected" - and more than 25 alerts for the affected parts of England.
The Scottish Environment Agency has more than 30 flood warnings in place, covering Aberdeenshire, Caithness and Sutherland, Findhorn and Nairn, Moray, Tayside and Speyside.
By early Monday morning, Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland had recorded almost a month's rainfall in 12 hours, while gusts of 50mph swept through Aberdeenshire.
Scottish motorists are warned to expect disruption with some roads in Moray and the Highlands badly affected.
Meanwhile, train services have been suspended between Aberdeen and Inverness due to the weather problems. Replacement road transport will run where road conditions allow.
BBC weather forecaster Carol Kirkwood said gusty winds and blustery showers would continue across the UK "for a time yet" - particularly in eastern parts of Scotland and north-east England.
She said it was still going to be "pretty wet" in parts throughout the afternoon.
"For tomorrow, the weather front producing all this rain is still very much with us, but saying that, it will start to fragment and we will start to see the rain amounts break down," she said.
The AA warned drivers to beware of localised surface flooding and strong winds, while Police Scotland warned of possible "flooding in low-lying land, roads and to rivers which could cause delays to early morning traffic" on Monday.
In Wales, strong winds in the south have led to restrictions on the M48 Severn Bridge but it is still open.
A flypast over the White Cliffs of Dover to commemorate 100 years since the first WW1 aerial deployment has been postponed because of the weather.
The Then and Now flypast of WW1 planes alongside RAF Tornado jets is now scheduled to take place on Tuesday.
A woman in her 60s was airlifted to hospital after being hit by a tree which blew down at Fleet Pond nature reserve in Hampshire. Her injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
Fire crews in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire pumped gallons of water out of swamped houses, while marooned drivers had to abandon their cars as they became stuck in flooded roads.
Flash flooding struck areas of Cardiff, amid heavy thunderstorms across southern England and Wales.
Hurricane Bertha hit Caribbean islands last Monday before dissipating over the central Atlantic.
The storm now crossing the UK is a low-pressure system which has picked up moisture and energy left over from Bertha.
Craig Woolhouse of the Environment Agency said that while these storms were not as bad as those from last winter, people should still stay clear of at-risk areas such as seaside promenades.
Do you live in a flood risk area? |
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-41692916 | A funeral plan sales scam has been targeting people in south west Scotland.
Police in Dumfries and Galloway said that hoax callers had claimed to represent the local council.
PC Clark Logie said that although the cover story might change, the intent was to get bank details or payment for a service which would not be delivered.
He advised the public not to deal with cold callers and to contact reputable firms if they required a product.
"Never give out personal or banking details to cold callers, irrespective of how they contact you, whether they attend at your door, contact you by telephone or by email," he added. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_yorkshire/6962573.stm | A man accused of possessing an al-Qaeda training manual has appeared in court.
Khalid Khaliq, 34, faces three counts of possessing a document or a record likely to be useful in terrorism.
A CD-Rom containing an al-Qaeda training manual was allegedly found in a raid on his home in Tempest Road, Beeston, Leeds.
Mr Khaliq, a father-of-three, appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday and was released on bail. The case was adjourned until 16 November.
Mr Khaliq is accused of possessing the manual on 17 July 2005.
Two other books, Zard-e-Mujahid (Essential Provision Of The Mujahid) and The Absent Obligation, were also said to have been found in May 2007.
The possession of such a document - containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism - carries a maximum 10-year jail sentence. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5355334.stm | French President Jacques Chirac has said referring Iran to the UN Security Council is not the best way to resolve a crisis over its nuclear programme.
"I don't believe in a solution without dialogue," Mr Chirac told Europe-1 radio, urging countries to remove the threat of sanctions against Iran.
The US is leading calls for sanctions to be imposed on Iran if it refuses to suspend uranium enrichment.
Iran denies US accusations that it is trying to build nuclear weapons.
Tehran maintains that its nuclear programme is solely for power generation.
The US is pressing for sanctions against Iran, but some European countries are hesitant to do so, preferring to offer Iran incentives to halt enrichment.
The BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Paris says that after the relative success of French international diplomacy during the recent crisis in Lebanon, Mr Chirac appears keen to continue to offer the world French leadership on Iran as well, another country with which France has long historical ties.
Mr Chirac said that he believed that there was still potential for fruitful dialogue between Iran and the six nations currently involved in the Iran nuclear issue - the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China.
"I am not pessimistic," he said. "I think that Iran is a great nation and that we can find solutions through dialogue."
Mr Chirac said he had never noticed that sanctions had been effective, although he said that he was not ruling out using them if necessary.
Instead he suggested that the way forward was for negotiations to begin without any preconditions and for each side to make concessions once they are under way.
"We must, on the one hand, together, Iran and the six countries, meet and set an agenda for negotiations then start negotiations," Mr Chirac said. "Then, during these negotiations I suggest that the six renounce seizing the UN Security Council and Iran renounces uranium enrichment."
This is the first time that a European leader has made clear that Iran's suspension of uranium enrichment is not a precondition for opening talks, but could come during the negotiations, our correspondent says.
Iran has ruled out accepting any preconditions for talks and dismissed calls to suspend uranium enrichment, ignoring a 31 August UN Security Council deadline to do so.
Meanwhile the head of the UN's nuclear agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has called for Iran and the six world powers to begin talks as soon as possible.
Speaking at the opening of the IAEA's annual conference in Vienna, Mohamed ElBaradei said talks could "address the international community's concerns about the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme, while on the other hand addressing Iran's economic, political and security concerns".
Mr ElBaradei said he remained hopeful that such talks would create the conditions to "engage in a long-overdue negotiation that aims to achieve a comprehensive settlement".
Meanwhile, Mr Chirac was preparing to go to New York, joining other world leaders for the UN General Assembly.
Iran's nuclear ambitions are expected to be a key topic of discussion at the meeting, along with the situation in the Middle East, especially Iraq.
US President George Bush is due to address the 192-nation assembly on Tuesday, where he is expected to further outline his vision for fostering democracy in the Middle East and the role the international community should play in the region. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/fa_cup/3385123.stm | A stunning strike by Tranmere's Iain Hume ensured FA Cup humiliation for a second-string Bolton team.
A messy Eugene Dadi goal looked to have given the Second Divison side victory.
But in stoppage time, debutant Ricky Shakes' deflected shot gave Premiership Bolton an undeserved reprieve.
Then Hume strode forward in the first minute of extra-time and curled an unstoppable shot past Kevin Poole to set up a fourth round tie at Luton.
Bolton manager Sam Allardyce had fielded a second-string side in the original tie and he stuck to his policy of concentrating on the Premiership and the Carling Cup by making 10 changes to the team that beat Blackburn on Saturday.
Allardyce's less than enthusiastic attitude to the FA Cup was mirrored by a somewhat subdued atmosphere in a sparsely attended Reebok Stadium.
Not that those supporters who had chosen to stay away missed very much in a low-key first-half.
So low-key, that the first real sign of goalmouth action did not arrive until stoppage time when Henrik Pedersen's shot came back off the post.
After the interval, the pace picked up and Poole made two saves in quick succession while Ryan Taylor should have done better after bursting into the box.
Throughout the game, Roberts had made a number of ambitious runs forward down the left and on 82 minutes he delivered a deep cross to Dadi.
The Frenchman failed with a header, but the ball bounced kindly for him and he scuffed his shot past Poole.
You got beat by lowly Tranmere that has to be shock of the round!
Dadi's goal shook Bolton from their slumber and the Premiership side surged forward to try and rescue the game.
And in stoppage time Shakes took the game into extra-time when his deflected shot left John Achterberg flat-footed.
Having got themselves back into the game, Bolton were soon searching for a second equaliser.
Tranmere should have been shellshocked by Shakes' late goal, but instead Hume picked up the ball and sent a wonderful left-footed shot past Poole.
Another deflected Shakes shot almost rescued Bolton for a second time, but Tranmere held on to add another Premiership scalp to their fine record in the FA Cup in recent years.
Bolton: Poole, Barness, Livesey, Comyn-Platt, Smith, Giannakopoulos (Shakes 86), Frandsen, Facey (Taylor 79), Pedersen, Jardel (Nolan 45), Vaz Te.
Subs Not Used: Ricketts, Talbot.
Tranmere: Achterberg, Sharps, Allen, Harrison, Taylor, Jones, Mellon, Beresford (Hay 97), Roberts, Dadi, Hume.
Subs Not Used: Connelly, Howarth, Navarro, Linwood.
"Tranmere fully deserved the win" |
Subsets and Splits
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