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The study by Queen's University, Belfast, involves students wearing the temporary transfers for 24 hours after hearing a real story from a patient.
"We want to train our students to be competent but also compassionate with patients," said Dr Gerry Gormley, QUB.
The clinical academic said the effect on some students had been "profound".
Skin cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the UK, claiming more than 2,000 lives every year.
In Northern Ireland, an average of 332 people were diagnosed with malignant melanoma cancer annually between 2010 and 2014.
Dr Gormley acknowledged that while the simulation cannot truly replicate what it is like to receive a skin cancer diagnosis, it did influence how some students thought about the illness.
"At times it did feel quite real to them.
"They would forget about it but when it came back into their field of view again, they described a sense of concern and interestingly a sense of guilt, thinking 'maybe I shouldn't have had that time in the sun, been better with my sun protection' - so they were really wanting to do things differently."
Dr Michael Corr co-authored the study which is being published in the British Journal of Dermatology.
He said that while empathy could not be taught to medical students, experience was a great educator.
"People don't just want their doctors to have great medical knowledge and excellent clinical skills.
"They want compassionate doctors who are good communicators and while I don't think you can lecture someone on how to be empathetic, what we can do as doctors is reflect on our own experience and how we would like to be treated or our family to be treated.
"I think that pause, that moment of reflection, does promote empathy among doctors and health care professionals."
The medical students who took part said they were often surprised by their reactions.
Rachael Henderson is in the fourth year of her medical degree and said the experience would have a impact on how she deals with patients once she is qualified.
"I think it really made me think about treating the person as a whole rather than just treating a lesion on their arm.
"We talk about treating the patient rather than the condition and that's something I've learned from this - treating them holistically.
Fellow medical student Kate Corney also gained unexpected insight courtesy of the small transfer tattoo.
"The psychological impact of the 1 cm tattoo is unexpected. I was surprised how much I wanted to cover it up - when I was going to the shops I would put a cardigan on because I didn't want anybody to notice it," she said.
"It also made me think about waiting times. If you have a lesion and - unlike us you can't wash it away after 24 hours - what the impact is for a patient worrying about something for weeks before they can see a doctor."
Dr Gormley said the findings of the research mean they now hope to expand their study.
"Our aspiration would be to roll it out here at Queens but also other medical schools as well and maybe even beyond the health care profession."
This aim is echoed by Dr Corr who said the simplicity of the idea is key.
"It is relatively cheap, replicable, yet is a profound experience for students which will hopefully make them better, more person-centred physicians in the future." | Medical students have been asked to wear temporary tattoos designed to look like skin cancer to give them an insight into living with melanoma. | 40706814 |
Trina Hibberd, from Mission Beach in Queensland, woke on Monday to find the 5.2m scrub python named Monty stretched from her lounge room to her bedroom.
Monty managed to turn on a light and knock over a lamp before snake-catcher Dave Goodwin arrived.
Mr Goodwin induced the snake to wrap around his forearm before capturing it inside a plastic home-brewing jug.
He told the BBC the 40kg snake was "choking [his] arm to death" before he transferred it into the tub.
"When you go near them they have this real deep gurgle in their throat, which means in other words don't come near me," he said.
To encourage the snake to grab hold of his arm, Mr Goodwin first grabbed it near the head with a pair of tongs.
"The tongs won't hold it, it's too big, so I use the tongs to divert its attention and grab it by the scruff of the neck," he said.
"That ensures that the snake lets go of everything else, wraps himself around my arm."
Ms Hibberd said a friend staying at her house first noticed the gargantuan reptile's presence.
"I guess he came in to have a bit of a feed or say hello, or he's gone a bit senile. I've no idea," she told the BBC.
But she thinks he has been living in the roof of her house for many years.
Monty has now been transferred to a sewage pond within the Cassowary Coast Regional Council area, where it is hoped he will take care of a rat infestation.
"I guess Monty has gone to snake heaven and he's going to be this big fatso," Ms Hibberd said. | A huge snake that has lived in the roof of an Australian home for 10 years has tried to upgrade to the master bedroom. | 36573623 |
City deals exist to give financial support for councils to work more regionally on big projects - which will stimulate private investment and have a real transformational impact.
But what are Cardiff Capital Region and Swansea Bay City Region offering?
WHO IS INVOLVED?
CARDIFF CAPITAL: Ten councils are working together - chaired by Andrew Morgan, leader of Rhondda Cynon Taff, Bridgend, Vale of Glamorgan, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Newport and obviously Cardiff. Universities and business are also involved.
SWANSEA BAY: Four councils, serving 688,000 people, are linking up - Neath Port Talbot, Swansea, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire - along with Swansea and Trinity St David's universities, two health boards and businesses.
KEY AIMS?
CARDIFF CAPITAL: To tackle unemployment, encourage innovation and improve digital infrastructure and transport - including the South Wales Metro. In short, it wants to spread prosperity - from "Maesteg to Monmouth, Barry to Blaenavon".
SWANSEA BAY: Accelerating economic growth by addressing what its chairman Sir Terry Matthews calls "some of the most pressing universal themes and global challenges of our time" - energy, health and the transformational economic power of digital networks.
HOW WILL THEY DO IT?
CARDIFF CAPITAL: Transport is seen as key here. Cardiff is set to be one of the UK's fastest growing cities and with 80,000 commuting already into the city daily, improving the infrastructure is seen as vital to keep business moving across the whole region. The South Wales Metro aims to improve rail and bus transport in particular - including new stations and an element of light rail/trams. There is also a "pressing need" to improve productivity and skills levels.
SWANSEA BAY: The "internet coast" is the vision - and something distinctive. A transatlantic fibre optic cable into Oxwich Bay - called a "real game changer" - is a complementary project, not part of the deal. Another huge project lying outside the deal, like the tidal lagoon, could also prove just as important if it gets the go-ahead. The deal itself involves 11 different projects and aims to support "next generation industries", to apply internet technologies for the region's energy sector, to become a magnet for hi-tech and cloud data firms, while innovation would include life science firms working alongside local hospitals.
THE COST?
£5.23bn
total investment
£1.1bn UK and Welsh Government contribution
£4bn private investment
1.4m population
25,000 jobs
CARDIFF CAPITAL: Nearly £1.23bn - with £1.1bn committed from the UK and Welsh governments and £120m from local authorities - with nearly a quarter of that share coming from Cardiff council. It also anticipates £4bn coming from private investment over the lifetime of the deal.
£1.3bn
total value of investment
£241m UK and Welsh Government contribution
£673m private investment
680,000 population
33,000 jobs
SWANSEA BAY: More than £1.3bn over a 15 year period - £241m would come from the UK and Welsh governments, another £360m from the public sector and universities and another £673m in private investment.
WHAT WILL IT BE WORTH?
CARDIFF CAPITAL: It wants to create 25,000 jobs and the £734m Metro system and help lever £4bn in private sector investment.
SWANSEA BAY: The claim is investment could create £3.3bn output and £1.8bn gross value added (GVA) uplift and support up to 33,000 jobs - including more than 9,000 new, direct jobs. It wants productivity levels up again to 90% of the UK level (they are currently 77%).
SO, WHERE ARE WE UP TO SO FAR?
CARDIFF CAPITAL: A year on from the initial UK government go-ahead, the 10 councils have now signed off on their commitment and a regional cabinet will be created in March to develop projects and a business plan. Prof Greg Clark - with experience of other urban regeneration programmes - is leading an independent Growth and Competitiveness Commission to review the project.
The South Wales Metro is out to tender with four companies, who have been asked to come up with proposals as part of the package for the bid for the all-Wales rail franchise - held by Arriva Trains Wales until the end of 2018. Details will be kept under wraps until the winner emerges.
SWANSEA BAY: Those behind the bid - unveiled a year ago - have been lobbying ahead of a UK government decision and say the feedback from ministers is that the deal is seen as "very innovative" and chiming with wider industrial strategy; Swansea and Pembrokeshire were the final councils to meet to agree the deal in principle in mid-February. After the signing of the deal, each of the 11 projects will be asked to produce further detail, while a new joint committee will replace the current city region board.
But there is hope to draw-down funding to kick start projects as early as possible - including S4C's new headquarters and Llanelli's £225m wellness village. The latter is part of the £600m Arch proposals involving life science and the region's health boards - reliant on major funding from the city deal - which is due to go to Welsh Government soon.
HOW LONG WILL THEY TAKE?
CARDIFF BAY: The deal was signed in March 2016. The timetable for it operating, once the work is done setting it up, is between 2020 and 2030. It expects first services on the South Wales Metro, for instance, could be running by 2023 but the whole project could take 20 years.
SWANSEA BAY: The City Deal was signed off by the UK government with a visit by the Prime Minister Theresa May. It would last up to 2035.
ANYTHING PARTICULARLY EYE-CATCHING?
CARDIFF BAY: Supporting innovation includes developing the new cyber-security academy with the University of South Wales, which took its first students last autumn and looks to address shortage of cyber security skills.
SWANSEA BAY: Research is going on into solar energy and material science which could see "homes as power stations". The first homes would be built in Neath Port Talbot initially, housing which effectively powers itself and even supplies the National Grid. This project could be worth £517m.
WHAT OTHER CITIES AND REGIONS HAVE THEY BEEN LOOKING AT?
CARDIFF BAY: Bilbao, Malmo, Gothenburg, Portland.
SWANSEA BAY: Ontario - Sir Terry Matthews has strong links there - and Stockholm.
HOW IS ALL THIS DIFFERENT FROM THE "GREAT WESTERN CITIES" REGION?
This is a collaboration between Cardiff, Newport and Bristol looking at the benefits of "greater sharing, matching and learning", which emerged two years ago. Cardiff's council leader sees it as "complementary" to the city region.
WHAT ABOUT NORTH WALES?
There has been an ambition for north Wales to benefit from the "northern powerhouse" in the north west of England - where its economy is compared in value to that of the whole of Belgium - although there is no formal organisation.
However, the six councils have signed up to a vision for creating 120,000 jobs by 2035 with a value to the economy worth £20bn. This Growth Deal is being considered by the UK government. A £30m innovation and manufacturing research centre is being planned for Deeside.
There are also plans to improve bus and rail transport in urban north east Wales, packaged up as a North Wales Metro. | There are two multi-million pound programmes across south Wales aiming to stimulate the economy. | 38919983 |
The hosts made 133-7 in their innings in Abu Dhabi, with Boyd Rankin taking 3-17 and Max Sorensen 2-16.
An opening stand of 61 between William Porterfield (72) and Paul Stirling (28) put Ireland in control and they appeared on course for victory at 91-1.
Eight wickets fell for 37 runs as the UAE avenged Sunday's 34-run defeat.
SP Patil top-scored for the UAE with 31 off 37 balls, while Mohammad Shahzad smashed 22 runs off 16 and opener Rohan Mustafa contributed 20.
Porterfield and Stirling found the boundary regularly as they hit 61 off just 42 balls, before Stirling fell to Amjad Javed.
Poynter's dismissal for 10, with the score at 91, signalled the beginning of Ireland's demise as wickets fell at regular intervals thereafter.
For skipper Porterfield, it was his third half-century in T20 internationals, and his 72 off 60 balls included eight fours and a six.
However with 13 needed off 11 balls, he was run out by wicketkeeper Swapnil Patil.
Nine were needed off the last over, but Max Sorensen was run out off the first ball, and George Dockrell bowled from the second.
That left Rankin and Tim Murtagh at the crease, and the pair managed just a scrambled bye and a single as the hosts completed a superb comeback win.
Mohammad Naveed, Ahmed Raza and Mohammad Shahzad collected two wickets apiece.
The match was part of Ireland's preparation for their World Twenty20 campaign, which starts against Oman in the Indian city of Dharamsala on 9 March.
The squad will now have a week's break before travelling to Chandigarh for a training camp before a warm-up game against Hong Kong on 3 March. | A dramatic batting collapse contributed to Ireland's five-run loss to the United Arab Emirates in their second Twenty20 international. | 35588757 |
Stephen Archer, 50, of Openshaw in Manchester, is a suspect in the attack at his 49-year-old sister's home that left the victim with 70% burns.
Detectives say initial investigations suggest petrol was thrown over her before she was set alight.
Petrol station staff have been urged to contact police if they see Mr Archer.
Supt Arif Nawaz, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "We are appealing to those who work in petrol stations to be extra vigilant and call police if you think you see him.
"Stephen usually wears a baseball cap and carries a large rucksack. He is known to travel on a bicycle.
"We have reason to believe Stephen could be carrying several bottles of petrol in his backpack and a man was seen fitting his description cycling away from the scene.
"We have followed several leads and have received some very helpful information but unfortunately we have still not found him."
The victim remains in a serious condition and is fighting for her life in hospital.
A police spokesman said: "She is still critically ill and our specialist support officers are supporting the family through this extremely difficult time.
"We can assure the victim, the family and the wider public that we are doing everything we can to find the person responsible and bring them to justice."
A 19-year-old woman escaped uninjured from an upstairs window of the house, with help from neighbours. | Police hunting a man suspected of setting fire to his sister have asked petrol station workers to keep a look out for him. | 35720081 |
The Reality Check team answers five questions about local government funding.
In 2012, the government introduced a rule which means that any proposal to increase council tax by 2% or more in England must be put to a local referendum.
For the first three years, councils were given a further incentive to avoid council tax rises all together. The government gave "freeze grants" to councils that didn't impose any increase - worth the equivalent of a 1% tax rise each year. Those grants have now come to an end.
It is also important to realise that councils have faced significant cuts to the overall grants they receive from central government - with further cuts planned for the coming years.
However a higher figure of 5%, before a referendum is triggered, has become a factor this time round because of the introduction of the social care precept.
In 2015, former chancellor George Osborne announced several policies to provide additional funding for adult social care in response to complaints that the sector was facing a funding crisis.
One of the policies was the social care precept. Originally, it would have allowed councils to impose an additional 2% council tax increase each year from 2017 for three years, with the extra money being ring-fenced for adult social care.
In other words, it would have increased the threshold for a local referendum from 2% to 4%.
In December 2016, the Communities and Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid announced a change to the social care precept.
Instead of being able to impose an extra 2% increase for each of the next three years, councils will be able to impose an extra increase of up to 3% in each of the next two years. In other words, the referendum threshold for the next two years is 5%.
As before, councils can still only impose an additional 6% in total over the next three years, but the change allows them to front load the cash. It doesn't mean they can make bigger increases overall.
A further complicating factor is that the 3% precept doesn't apply to the whole of your council tax bill.
The structure of local government in England is complicated. In some places there's just one council that provides all the services. These include unitary authorities such as Hartlepool and Portsmouth, London boroughs among them Hillingdon and Southwark, and metropolitan districts like Liverpool and Wolverhampton. In other places there is a two-tier structure with a district council and a county council, for example, Broadland district makes up part of Norfolk. If you live there you have two councils.
Although households receive a single council tax bill, it's actually made up of several different bits. In places with separate county and district councils, each of them charges for the services they provide. Police and crime commissioners, fire and rescue authorities and the Greater London Authority also levy charges through council tax bills.
The social care precept only applies to councils that have responsibility for adult social care. That means county councils and unitaries, metropolitan districts and London boroughs. So it is only that part of the bill that can go up by more than 2% without a referendum. Overall, it means that the total increase is limited to a bit below 5% - the precise figure will vary from one place to another.
The rules say the basic threshold is "2% or more". So a rise of exactly 5%, including the social care precept, would trigger a referendum.
For that reason, quite a few councils are planning increases of 4.99%. For those that don't have responsibility for adult social care 1.99% is a common number.
Read more from Reality Check | The Local Government Information Unit has warned that lots of local authorities in England are planning to raise council tax next year. | 38936088 |
Although he often played the villain, his career as a noted character actor saw him appear in a variety of roles.
He originally planned to be an economist and did not take up acting seriously until his late 20s.
His biggest regret was turning down an opportunity to play one of the incarnations of The Doctor in Doctor Who.
He was born Ronald Moodnick in Tottenham, north London, on 8 January 1924, the son of Jewish immigrants,
When he was five his father followed the example of many other eastern European Jews and anglicised the family name,
The young Moody attended local schools where he showed himself to be adept in English and history.
"I loved to study and if I hadn't become an actor, I'd have liked to have become a teacher."
He took part in drama at Hornsey County School, once playing Shylock in a production of The Merchant of Venice.
When he left school he got a job in an accounts office before volunteering for the RAF.
After serving four years as a radar mechanic, he went to the London School of Economics where he studied sociology and psychology
There he took part in student revues and the acting bug finally took hold.
Moody took to writing and acting while writing his thesis. The enjoyment he derived from these activities inspired him to become a professional actor.
After many years mastering the art of a stand-up comic, Moody's big break came in the 1960s when he was given the chance to play Fagin in Oliver!, the musical version of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist.
"Fate destined me to play Fagin. It was the part of a lifetime," he said.
Already possessing something of a Dickensian manner, Moody made the character his own.
His unique interpretation of the "merry Jew" won him international acclaim. Although he did not follow the cast when the musical transferred to Broadway, he was the only original cast member to star in the film version which was released in 1968.
He recalled the days working on the film as "one of the happiest times of my life". He went on to receive an Oscar nomination for his role.
Despite his desire to make people laugh, Moody's co-stars often found him difficult to work with.
He tended to improvise on stage from night to night, irritating directors.
The tussle between the method actor and the comic that created great chemistry on stage also led to problems behind the scenes with co-stars such as Georgia Brown.
His choice to remain in England even though Broadway wanted him to reprise the role of Fagin there limited his options.
But he believed it was the right decision. "I didn't want to go. I was very patriotic."
Throughout the 1960s, he appeared in a number of films, including playing opposite Margaret Rutherford in The Mouse on the Moon and in the Cliff Richard musical, Summer Holiday.
In 1969 he was offered the role as the third incarnation of The Doctor in the BBC series Doctor Who, where he would have replaced Patrick Troughton.
Moody turned it down, a decision he later bitterly regretted, and the part went to Jon Pertwee.
He later became a well-known face and voice on children's television, notably in Into the Labyrinth and The Animals from Farthing's Wood.
He finally made it to Broadway in 1984, where he reprised his role of Fagin in a revival of Oliver! His performance won him a Tony nomination.
Despite his obvious talent, Ron Moody resented how after Oliver! his career did not develop with the same success. He became typecast with roles similar to those of Fagin.
"You find that most of the successful people in films now are virtually giving the same performance with different clothes," he once said.
Moody let his romantic life take a back seat during his career, and remained a bachelor for more than 60 years. But in 1985, he met and married yoga instructor Therese Blackbourn and they became parents of six children.
Ron Moody played more contemporary roles in his later career, including Edwin Caldecott, an old nemesis of Jim Branning in EastEnders, Captain Hook in Peter Pan, and the title role in Sherlock Holmes - the Musical.
With an extensive repertoire, Moody will be remembered as a great British character actor. However, it is his portrayal of Fagin that will remain his lasting claim to fame. | Ron Moody was best known for playing Fagin in Lionel Bart's musical Oliver! | 27491443 |
In a game dominated by the hosts, Graham nodded in Liam Feeney's cross to put Rovers ahead on 81 minutes
But, after several near misses, Wells got it right in the 94th minute.
From a right-foot free-kick just outside the box, he bent his sixth goal of the season into the top left corner.
Although denied a first win since 26 November, Owen Coyle's Rovers did at least end the run of four straight defeats they had suffered since drawing 1-1 with Huddersfield at Ewood Park on 3 December.
They remain 22nd, two points adrift of safety, while Huddersfield edge a place up above West Yorkshire rivals Leeds United back into fourth.
The Terriers' run of four straight victories since the first Blackburn game came to an end, but they had enough chances to have maintained their winning run.
In the first minute, Rovers keeper Jason Steele made a double save from Rajiv van La Parra's volley and Kasey Palmer's bicycle kick from the rebound.
Eight shots rained in on the Blackburn goal inside the first half hour, while Wells twice shot over, But, although it looked like a classic hit and run when Rovers went ahead, David Wagner's men held their nerve,
Huddersfield head coach David Wagner: "Nahki is a natural goalscorer and if he stays in the game and works hard then we stay in the game."
"If the opposite of disappointed is happy, then I am happy with the result.
"Few teams would have come back after playing as well as we did and then conceding a late goal. For that reason I am happy.
"The players still trusted and believed in themselves and they kept going right to the end."
Blackburn boss Owen Coyle: "You have to say it was a fantastic point for us against a team that's going well, who I expect to be in the top six at the end of the season.
"But we had given ourselves a great position to win the game and from that point of view it's hard to take.
"We were very disciplined and kept our shape. They had a couple of wonderful chances in the first half and Jason Steele made a couple of good saves, but they had little in the second half.
"We have proved we are capable of scoring goals but we must now start keeping clean sheets and when we are in a good position we must do what it takes to get over the line."
Match ends, Huddersfield Town 1, Blackburn Rovers 1.
Second Half ends, Huddersfield Town 1, Blackburn Rovers 1.
Mark Hudson (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Wes Brown (Blackburn Rovers).
Goal! Huddersfield Town 1, Blackburn Rovers 1. Nahki Wells (Huddersfield Town) from a free kick with a right footed shot to the top left corner.
Jack Payne (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Elliott Bennett (Blackburn Rovers).
Offside, Blackburn Rovers. Liam Feeney tries a through ball, but Sam Gallagher is caught offside.
Offside, Blackburn Rovers. Elliott Bennett tries a through ball, but Sam Gallagher is caught offside.
Foul by Chris Löwe (Huddersfield Town).
Sam Gallagher (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Substitution, Blackburn Rovers. Wes Brown replaces Danny Graham.
Attempt missed. Hope Akpan (Blackburn Rovers) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right following a set piece situation.
Foul by Mark Hudson (Huddersfield Town).
Gordon Greer (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Michael Hefele (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box misses to the right. Assisted by Aaron Mooy with a cross following a corner.
Substitution, Huddersfield Town. Mark Hudson replaces Dean Whitehead.
Corner, Huddersfield Town. Conceded by Ryan Nyambe.
Attempt blocked. Jack Payne (Huddersfield Town) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Chris Löwe (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Attempt missed. Tommy Smith (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left following a corner.
Corner, Huddersfield Town. Conceded by Jason Steele.
Attempt saved. Jack Payne (Huddersfield Town) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Chris Löwe.
Goal! Huddersfield Town 0, Blackburn Rovers 1. Danny Graham (Blackburn Rovers) header from very close range to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Liam Feeney with a cross following a set piece situation.
Foul by Elias Kachunga (Huddersfield Town).
Hope Akpan (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Christopher Schindler (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Sam Gallagher (Blackburn Rovers).
Jack Payne (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Hope Akpan (Blackburn Rovers).
Attempt blocked. Harry Bunn (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jack Payne.
Foul by Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town).
Ryan Nyambe (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, Blackburn Rovers. Gordon Greer tries a through ball, but Sam Gallagher is caught offside.
Substitution, Blackburn Rovers. Elliott Bennett replaces Corry Evans because of an injury.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Corry Evans (Blackburn Rovers) because of an injury.
Attempt missed. Tommy Smith (Huddersfield Town) left footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Nahki Wells.
Attempt blocked. Harry Bunn (Huddersfield Town) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Elias Kachunga.
Foul by Harry Bunn (Huddersfield Town). | Huddersfield Town striker Nahki Wells rescued his side with an injury-time equaliser as Championship strugglers Blackburn Rovers were denied the chance to climb out of the bottom three. | 38424273 |
Mae gwaith ymchwil gan Newyddion 9 yn dangos bod dros ddau draean o gynghorau wedi lleihau nifer y swyddogion yn y bum mlynedd diwethaf, a'r un nifer hefyd wedi lleihau eu cyllideb yn y ddwy flynedd ddiwethaf.
Ni wnaeth bob awdurdod lleol ddarparu gwybodaeth.
Mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn cydnabod bod y swyddogion safonau masnach yn wynebu pwysau ariannol ond eu bod yn parhau i wneud gwaith pwysig.
Un sydd wedi gofyn am gymorth swyddogion safonau masnach yw Mari Major o Ben-y-bont, oedd yn derbyn galwadau niwsans.
Dywedodd: "O ni ddim yn moyn derbyn galwadau ffôn.
"Odd rhai amser o ni'n gadael y ffôn i ganu a ddim derbyn galwadau achos o chi ddim yn gwybod pwy oedd yna... A o chi ddim moyn ateb."
Fe roddodd y swyddogion declyn yn ei thŷ i leihau'r galwadau, ac mae hi'n credu bod hynny wedi bod o fudd: "I ni wedi cael dau neu dri mis ac mae e wedi profi mae'r peth hyn yn gallu gwella... Chi ddim yn cael y galwadau yna."
Mae cadeirydd Sefydliad Safonau Masnach Siartiedig yng Nghymru, Dave Riley yn dweud fod y toriadau yn golygu bod yna "sialensiau i'r gwasanaethau" ond eu bod "ymroddedig i amddiffyn y cyhoedd a busnesau."
Yn ôl Ellis Roberts o adran safonau masnach Pen-y-bont, Caerdydd a Bro Morgannwg, roedd rhaid newid y ffordd o weithio yn sgil y toriadau: "Da ni wedi gorfod gweithio yn fwy agos gyda'n gilydd.
"O ni yn gweithio i safonau masnach Pen-y-bont, ond nawr 'da ni wedi dod 'efo'n gilydd 'efo Caerdydd a Bro Morgannwg a gweithio'n agos iawn ar draws yr ardal i neud yn siwr bod pawb yn ddiogel."
Ychwanegodd: "Mae rhan fwyaf o'r gwaith yn dod o intillegence... Mae'r ffaith bod na dri cyngor wedi dod at ei gilydd yn neud y gwaith yna yn haws mewn ffordd oherwydd bod ni'n gallu gweithio gyda'n gilydd ar draws ardal eitha mawr o Gymru i neud yn siwr fod pobl yn ddiogel.
"Mae hynny yn gweithio yn dda. Yn anffodus mae gynnon ni lai o bobl i neud y swyddi y dyddiau yma."
Wrth ymateb i'r gwaith ymchwil dywedodd Cyngor ar Bopeth Cymru bod cynnydd yn nifer y sgamiau yn golygu bod mwy o bobl yn cysylltu gyda nhw, a hynny wedyn rhoi mwy o bwysau ar swyddogion safonau masnach i ymchwilio i gwmnïau.
Mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn cydnabod bod safonau masnach yn wynebu pwysau ariannol.
Ond maent yn dweud eu bod yn parhau i wneud gwaith pwysig ac yn "amddiffyn y rhai mwyaf bregus yn ein cymunedau rhag twyll ag erledigaeth" a bod "busnesau sydd yn dibynnu arnynt i gael cyngor technegol cyfreithiol" dal i allu cael cefnogaeth. | Mae swyddogion safonau masnach yn dweud bod toriadau i gynghorau yn effeithio ar eu gallu i amddiffyn y cyhoedd. | 38589076 |
The collision happened on the A470, between Church Street in Rhayader and the Llangurig roundabout, shortly after 11:45 GMT on Friday.
Insp Brian Jones of Dyfed-Powys Police said two people in each car were killed.
One other person remains in hospital but the extent of their injuries is not known.
Family liaison officers are speaking with relatives of the people who died.
This crash happened just a few hours before a five-car smash on the A483 north of Welshpool.
An 83-year-old woman died at the scene of this crash. | Four people have died following a two-car crash in Powys. | 35907000 |
Paul Drinkwater, now 52, of Maidenhead, Berkshire, carried out a campaign of terror over three weeks in Berkhamsted in November and December 1984.
He was found guilty at St Albans Crown Court of seven charges he denied, including rape and possessing a knife.
New DNA evidence helped secure the conviction.
Judge Marie Catterson remanded him in custody for sentencing on 30 January.
Drinkwater was convicted of the rape and robbery of a 15-year-old girl in Durrants Lane on 25 November and possessing a knife.
He was found guilty of raping an 18-year-old woman and indecently assaulting another 18-year-old woman on 16 December in Bullbeggers Lane.
During the attacks, in which Drinkwater wore a woollen mask, he kept saying: "I hate slags, tarts and lesbians," the court heard.
Prosecutor Ann Evans said: "This is a case about every woman's worst nightmare.
"They are knife-point rapes where the perpetrator wore a balaclava and took young girls off the street late at night."
Mrs Evans said on 14 January this year a DNA profile from Drinkwater was provided to a forensic scientist.
A swab from the 15-year-old victim was matched as "seven million more times likely to come from Paul Drinkwater, rather than a person unrelated to him," she said.
Samples taken from the trousers worn by the 18-year-old rape victim matched Drinkwater.
"The likelihood of this sample coming from someone unrelated to the defendant was put at 1 in 43 million," she said.
Drinkwater lived with his girlfriend in Berkhamsted at the time and had been linked to the crimes since 1984.
"Through advances in DNA analysis, forensic scientists were able to match the DNA from these two crimes to this defendant," Mrs Evans said. | A man has been convicted of raping and sexually abusing three teenagers at knife-point in Hertfordshire 30 years ago. | 30552017 |
Olaseni Lewis, known as Seni, was an ambitious 23-year-old IT graduate with a degree from Kingston University and plans for postgraduate study.
In August 2010 he was physically well with no history of mental illness.
But within two days of uncharacteristically odd and agitated behaviour - and 18 hours after being brought to hospital - he was all but dead, having collapsed during prolonged restraint by police.
He never regained consciousness and died three days later.
Seni was restrained three times - first by hospital staff and then by police - for 45 minutes before his collapse.
The IPCC investigation was completed in the autumn of 2011.
The family's solicitor Raju Bhatt said: "The family is faced, 12 months on, with no progress.
"The IPCC appear to recognise that 'confusion' and 'oversight' served to undermine their investigation."
The death raises uncomfortable questions in light of the inquest into Sean Rigg's death.
Mr Rigg, 40, died at Brixton Police Station in 2008. An inquest found police used "unsuitable" force.
At the inquest into Mr Rigg's death the South London and Maudsley Trust (Slam) admitted deficiencies in protocols between themselves and the Metropolitan Police.
The Met suggested they regularly look at how police and mental health practitioners work together.
So two years after Sean Rigg's death, why did things continue to go wrong?
It is not known why Seni Lewis began acting oddly, although he might have smoked strong cannabis.
When he failed to settle his family took him to Mayday University Hospital, Croydon.
His subsequent distressed behaviour concerned Accident and Emergency staff.
His family agreed he should be taken to a place of safety - known as a section 136 suite - at Maudsley Hospital to protect himself and others.
All the time he was showing signs of growing distress.
His father and friend joined him at the Maudsley and he was given medication.
But it was clear Mr Lewis was scared and uncertain what would happen next.
During the afternoon, he managed to leave the hospital, going to Denmark Hill Station - followed by hospital staff, his father and friend.
Police were called and Mr Lewis was coaxed back.
Mr Lewis's parents agreed he should stay in hospital for treatment, rest and assessment.
Mother Ajibola Lewis said: "We knew he wasn't well and needed help - more than we could give."
Staff agreed to admit him as a voluntary patient.
But admitting him required another journey - NHS managers insisted his home address meant he must go to Bethlem Royal Hospital several miles away.
Having helped Mr Lewis settle there his family left giving contact details.
At about midnight Mr Lewis's friend called the hospital to check on his welfare and was told he had been taken back to Mayday Hospital.
Staff were trying to get in touch with his family - apparently unaware they already had contact details for his mother.
The friend provided the details again and Mr Lewis's mother was informed he was taken to Mayday A&E after a "collapse".
His family have since gathered an outline of what transpired after they left Bethlem Hospital.
Mr Lewis had become increasingly agitated at their absence - especially when told he could not leave.
He understood he was there voluntarily.
The family said eventually it appears he was sectioned, restrained and held face down on the floor while medication was administered by hospital staff.
Police were called after he allegedly damaged a door and were asked to to help take Mr Lewis to the seclusion room.
His family understand that despite being handcuffed and struggling he was never violent.
Once inside the seclusion room he was held forcefully face down on the bed and then on the floor by police.
The restraint lasted 45 minutes and involved 11 officers.
Further medication was forcibly injected and - no longer struggling - he was left on his own lying face down on the floor, the Lewis family understands.
He was then seen motionless. In reality he was all but dead.
Following attempts to resuscitate him he was taken by ambulance to Mayday Hospital and put on life support, dying shortly afterwards.
The IPCC then investigated.
Mr Bhatt told the BBC none of the restraining officers have ever been put on notice that their conduct was under investigation.
They have not been interviewed, under caution or otherwise. Their written accounts remain untested.
Mr Lewis's case will offer more food for thought to new IPCC chairwoman, Dame Anne Owers.
She has already expressed concern that failure to interview police under caution undermines the search for the truth.
The IPCC has said it awaits advice from the CPS before proceeding, while the Met said it was unable to comment.
Meanwhile Slam claims it has striven to improve policies and practice.
An inquest is due next spring. | Hot on the heels of the Independent Police Complaint Commission's announcement it will launch a review of its investigation into the death of Sean Rigg, a second London family have said the watchdog's probe into their son's death was deeply flawed. | 19353403 |
He spoke at a Catholic shrine dedicated to Christians martyred for their faith in the 19th Century, on the second stage of his three-country Africa tour.
The Mass marks the 50th anniversary of the martyrs' canonisation.
After the mass he addressed thousands of young people, encouraging them to turn to their faith when faced with difficulties.
There were huge cheers as the Pope began the open-air ceremony at Namugongo, near the capital Kampala.
It was where many of the 45 Anglican and Catholic martyrs were burned alive.
Their execution was ordered by a king worried about the spread of Christianity.
Thousands of pilgrims braved rain to spend the night holding a vigil near the martyrs' shrines and there were long lines of pilgrims still trying to access the shrine as Pope Francis addressed the crowds on Saturday morning.
The Pope's five big issues in Africa
After the mass more than 150,000 young Ugandans gathered on the outskirts of Kampala for the Pope's other public event of the day.
Pope Francis urged them to use their faith to confront life's difficulties and turn negative experiences into strength.
Uganda is a deeply religious country, with over 14.1 million Catholics - and even adherents of other faiths will be paying close attention to the Pope's words, say correspondents.
He arrives here during the third week of a presidential campaign being fought by the country's ruler for the past 29 years, President Yoweri Museveni.
The Pope's message against corruption, and the need to care for the poor, is being welcomed by ordinary people here, in a place where some say corruption does much to damage the economy, and little to help people out of poverty.
Uganda ranks 142nd out of 175 countries on Transparency International's corruption perception index.
Gay rights activists in Uganda have expressed their disappointment that the Vatican did not respond to their request for a meeting with the Pope.
Openly gay Ugandans face many difficulties in everyday life, with many churches here preaching against homosexuality and encouraging homophobia. A Ugandan law, originally passed when the country was a British colony, still allows the authorities to pass a sentence of life imprisonment for gay people caught having sex.
There have been some critical references to the Pope's visit on Twitter - with some wondering "how many people have HIV today because contraception isn't allowed?" while others accused him of ignoring extreme anti-gay attitudes in Uganda.
On Friday, the Pope addressed an audience of young people in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, urging them to unite and take a stand against the destructive effects of tribalism.
He will travel to the Central African Republic (CAR), which has been hit by serious violence between Christian and Muslim militias in recent years, on Sunday.
Religion in sub-Saharan Africa:
Profile: Pope Francis
Source: US-based Pew Research Center 2011 survey | Pope Francis has celebrated Mass in front of an audience of hundreds of thousands of Ugandan faithful. | 34952803 |
The thought that it will soon fall idle is shocking.
A place that has been around so long, employing so many people becomes part of the fabric of a town.
There is Michelin FC who play in the local Saturday morning league and there is the social club where thousands of people have attended functions over the years.
But, most importantly, there are the jobs.
When the Ballymena building firm, Patton, went into administration in 2012, I emphasised to colleagues that this was not a one-company town.
There were also the big manufacturing employers at JTI/ Gallahers, Michelin and Wrightbus.
JTI will be gone next year and Michelin by 2018, leaving locally-owned Wrightbus the last big manufacturer standing.
The departure of those two multinationals will mean at least 1600 jobs leaving a town of 30,000 people.
It is hard to quantify what the long-term impact will be on a town which has been prosperous by Northern Ireland standards.
Some people will find new work, new jobs will be created, but the prospect of attracting large numbers of new manufacturing jobs looks remote. | I grew up about 10 minutes from the Michelin factory and passed it every day on my way to school. | 34714440 |
Following a 1-0 defeat in the first leg in Germany, Atletico levelled the tie in the 27th minute when Mario Suarez's strike deflected in off Omer Toprak.
Raul Garcia went closest to a winner for Atletico in extra time but Leverkusen keeper Bernd Leno saved.
Hakan Calhanoglu, Toprak and Stefan Kiessling all missed for Leverkusen as Atletico won 3-2 in the shootout.
Substitute keeper Jan Oblak was an unlikely hero for Atletico, last year's beaten finalists, after replacing Miguel Angel Moya, who limped off with a hamstring injury midway through the first half.
Oblak has failed to become Atletico's first choice since his £12.6m move from Benfica as a replacement for Thibaut Courtois, who returned to Chelsea after three years on loan.
But the 22-year-old Slovenian saved Calhanoglu's penalty after Garcia had missed the hosts' first kick.
Atletico's Koke also had a spot-kick saved after Toprak missed before Kiessling blasted the 10th and final kick high over the bar, sending the Spaniards into Friday's quarter-final draw along with the already-qualified Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Porto and Monaco.
It was a cruel finish for Leverkusen, who were hoping to reach the last eight for the first time since since reaching the final in 2002.
They went in search of an early away goal with the lively Karim Bellarabi whipping a low shot wide while a Son Heung-min shot was calmly cleared away by Atletico striker Mario Mandzukic.
Atletico looked tentative at the back without experienced defender Diego Godin, who was suspended, while midfielder Tiago was also banned after being sent off in the first leg. And it seemed to get worse when Moya limped off.
But their fortune changed for the better in the 27th minute when Suarez's low strike flicked off Leverkusen defender Toprak and flashed past Leno, who was unable to react in time.
The Spanish champions almost doubled their lead minutes later with another deflection but Antoine Griezmann's effort clipped Lars Bender to curl wide.
Atletico boss Diego Simeone waved his arms furiously to rally the Vicente Calderon fans at start of the second half and they roared the Rojiblancos forward but they were restricted to half-chances for Arda Turan and Garcia.
Garcia almost won in it in extra time but his drilled shot was parried away by Leno to take the game to a penalty shootout.
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone:
"I loved it. As I watched the match ending I could see we were back again among the best eight teams in Europe with Atletico Madrid in a stadium that was erupting. It left me with goosepimples.
"The fans delight me. The supporters don't realise the strength they give the players."
Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres:
"I'm happy, delighted to see the stadium enjoying a match like this. I've often yearned to live nights like this in the Calderon, so it's a day to savour."
Bayer Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt:
"We are a young team with little experience and it is not easy to hang in there at a stadium like Atletico's.
"In the shootout we lacked concentration and calm. After fighting so hard we are very disappointed. But the players gave their all and so we leave feeling satisfied."
Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Simon Rolfes:
"After a penalty shootout it is difficult to analyse a game. We may not have shown enough courage, but a little luck is also necessary. It is bitter to exit on penalties. Atletico were the more active team and we were not confident enough." | Atletico Madrid reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League after beating Bayer Leverkusen on penalties. | 31911679 |
Matthew had presented Sounds of the 60s since April 1990. His last full show was broadcast in November 2016, but he returned in February for a final compilation programme.
He also presented on TV, fronting ITV show Thank Your Lucky Stars which featured bands including The Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
Matthew died on Saturday at the age of 88.
BBC director general Tony Hall said he was "an outstanding broadcaster who entertained and engaged millions over generations".
"He had a wonderful style of delivery and a real connection with his listeners," he said.
"Brian was a true broadcasting great. We will all miss him and of course, that voice."
Head of Radio 2 Lewis Carnie paid tribute, saying Matthew would be "sadly missed by us all".
He was a "much loved and valued presenter on Radio 2 - by both the audience and his colleagues", added Mr Carnie.
"He presented Sounds of the Sixties for 27 years and we had hoped to be able to carry on working with him in a new series where he could share his memories from his distinguished career with us," he said.
"Sadly it was not to be."
Former Radio 2 Controller Bob Shennan paid tribute to his "wit and warmth", adding: "Brian was a radio legend. For decades, his voice was the sound of Saturday mornings... He will be sorely missed."
Referring to his on-air sign-off, the station tweeted: "Farewell to your old mate and ours, Brian Matthew."
Matthew was born in Coventry to a singer mother and conductor father.
He began broadcasting at the British Forces Network and later worked at Radio Netherlands Worldwide.
He worked for the BBC from 1954 and was the voice of the explosion of pop music.
It was revealed earlier this week that Matthew was critically ill, after Radio 2 initially mistakenly announced his death.
His passing on Saturday morning was confirmed by Radio 2 and by Matthew's god-daughter. | BBC Radio 2 broadcaster Brian Matthew has died, his family has said. | 39541162 |
Irish setter Jagger died after the event in Birmingham earlier this month, having allegedly eaten beef laced with poison.
A post-mortem examination found two "fast-acting" poisons in the meat but Jagger showed no signs of illness until he was back in Belgium, the club said.
It said it was "inconceivable" the dog was poisoned at Crufts.
Jagger, who came second in his class at Birmingham's NEC on Thursday, is owned by Belgian Aleksandra Lauwers and Leicester-based breeder Dee Milligan-Bott and her husband, Jeremy Bott.
His Leicester-based co-owners declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.
They have previously said he must have been poisoned "while on his bench" at the show at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).
Three-year-old Jagger, whose pedigree name is Thendara Satisfaction, died on 7 March after returning to Belgium with fellow owner Aleksandra Lauwers.
A spokesman for the Kennel Club said: "There has been a lot of concern about whether the poisoning happened at Crufts and we are now able to reassure all dog lovers who came to Crufts that this could not have been possible.
The spokesman added it was "highly likely that the poisons, thought to be on a piece of beef, were eaten in Belgium, shortly before Jagger's death".
Severe symptoms from the two poisons - carbofuran and aldicarb, which are banned in the EU - would usually occur within 30 minutes to three hours, the club said.
The spokesman said that because Jagger showed the first clinical signs associated with the poisons shortly before his death in Belgium, "we must conclude that it is inconceivable that he could have been poisoned at Crufts on Thursday 5 March, some 28 to 36 hours earlier".
"Furthermore, the poison is thought to have been given on a piece of beef that was still largely undigested when the autopsy was performed on Saturday 7 March morning, and food is usually absorbed in dogs within six hours," he added.
Speaking at the time of Jagger's death, co-owner Jeremy Bott said he did not think the dog was specifically targeted, but the culprit may have been acting on "a grudge against dogs or the Crufts show".
Days after the dog's death, The Telegraph published claims from other exhibitors stating their dogs were sick after the event but Crufts said it could not look into the claims as it had "no direct information".
There were also claims another dog - a shih tzu - was fatally poisoned, but the club said it had not received any information about it and confirmed no shih tzus were seen by vets at the show.
The club said on Monday: "We have a lot of security measures in place to protect the dogs at our show and we continually review our procedures because the welfare and safety of the dogs is our first and main priority.
"Regardless of the fact that the poison was not ingested at Crufts a dog has very sadly died and we must now respect the owners' privacy and give them time to grieve." | A dog who died after competing at Crufts appears to have ingested poison in Belgium, the Kennel Club has said. | 31913792 |
24 February 2017 Last updated at 17:32 GMT
He led the team to Premier League victory last season but times haven't been easy at the King Power Stadium recently and the owners of the club decided enough was enough.
We caught up with some young Foxes fans to see what messages they wanted to send to Ranieri.
Check out the video. | Claudio Ranieri has been sacked as manager of Leicester City FC. | 39079512 |
Several homes were flooded, but The Environment Agency said "things could have been a lot worse".
A spokesman said water had come within a few inches of overtopping significant flood defences.
More high tides were set to affect the area on Friday evening and on Saturday morning and three severe flood warnings remain in force in the county.
Places affected included Minsterworth, Maisemore, Elmore and Newnham.
Dave Throup from the Environment Agency said it had been a "very close shave".
"The levels here do rise remarkably quickly. The locals haven't seen anything like this since 1999.
"It is an unusual set of circumstances with the surge as it was.
"[The water] was within a few inches of overtopping some significant defences."
Earlier police urged sightseers to stay away from the river.
A Gloucestershire Police spokesman warned motorists the situation could change rapidly.
River Severn expert Chris Witts said although the bore wave was "fairly small", it was to be expected because of the large amount of fresh water coming down the river.
"The tide had to push against that and had to overcome the bore - it's reversed the flow and is looking quite spectacular and that flow's fast," he added.
Rest centres in Tewkesbury and the Forest of Dean have opened while those in Stroud and Gloucester remain on standby.
The Severn Bore occurs when a large tidal surge pushes sea water up the Severn Estuary and into the River Severn.
It can travel as far upstream as Gloucester.
In Bristol, part of the A4, The Portway - which runs beneath the Clifton Suspension Bridge - was partially blocked by flooding.
A number of other roads flooded in the city, including Cattle Market Road and Cumberland Road, which caused delays to morning rush hour commuters.
A flood barrier was used for the first time protecting homes in Avon Crescent.
In Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon debris has been cleared from roads after earlier high tides.
In Somerset people called the BBC to report hailstones "bigger than the size of two pence pieces" falling over much of the county.
Several homes were flooded close to Porlock Weir but the Environment Agency said the county had escaped widespread flooding because winds had not been as strong as expected.
Bristol Rovers's football match against Crawley, due to be played on Saturday at Broadfield Stadium, has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch. | The River Severn in Gloucestershire burst its banks after a combination of high tides and the Severn Bore. | 25588120 |
B2Space and Snowdonia Aerospace Centre want to create 93 specialist jobs at Llanbedr airfield, Gwynedd.
The number is based on it launching 30 satellites a year by 2020 for purposes including tracking changes to the environment and coastlines.
The former military airfield is also one of eight shortlisted by the UK government to launch commercial space flights.
B2Space's Valentin Canales said about 3,000 micro satellites will need launching in the next five years as we "use space in a way that hasn't been considered before".
His firm and the aerospace centre have bid for grants totalling £10m to make the field, near Harlech, a key UK site for this.
Other possible uses for them include providing communications to remote areas or for natural disaster management.
"Wales is already a centre of excellence for aerospace manufacturing and has the physical and intellectual infrastructure to support the growing space market," said Mr Canales.
His firm will relocate from Bristol to Llanbedr if the project is successful in providing people, companies and organisations with access to small satellites.
A spokesman for the Snowdonia Aerospace Centre said the development of a low-cost satellite launch operation will be a catalyst for innovation and jobs.
"The project has the potential to attract technology, research, and investment from around the world," added John Idris Jones, chairman of Snowdonia Enterprise Zone.
"The development means lots of opportunities for the north Wales supply chain and will provide a real boost to the wider Wales space sector."
Llanbedr has also bid to become the UK's first commercial passenger spaceport and bids for £10m funding were submitted to the UK Space Agency in April. | Satellites could soon be launched into space from Snowdonia. | 40855358 |
It coincides with the first International Dylan Thomas Day in Swansea.
The old exercise book, lying in a drawer for decades, was bought by Swansea University for £104,500 last December.
An exhibition on Thursday will allow a maximum of 200 people to see the book.
Prof John Goodby, of Swansea University, described it as the "holy grail" for Thomas scholars and the most exciting discovery related to the poet since his death in 1953.
It is thought Thomas left it at the house of his mother-in-law in the 1930s but it was forgotten about.
It is one of five notebooks used by Thomas - the other four are in the State University of New York at Buffalo.
The notebook will be on display under protective glass but plasma screens will show the whole of its contents.
The poet's granddaughter Hannah Ellis said the crossings out and re-writings in the book showed the teenage Thomas's meticulous approach and experimentation with language.
"It was so important this notebook would be seen by scholars, fans and the general public," she told BBC Wales.
"The other notebooks had just been left in boxes and it was only during the centenary year they came to Wales and were seen by the public."
The exhibition takes place at the university's council chamber and the date coincides with the first performance of Under Milk Wood in New York in 1953. | A "lost" Dylan Thomas notebook has gone on public display for the first time in the late poet's home city. | 32721675 |
Fire tore through The Mill Hotel in Alveley on 18 May, causing most of the building's roof to collapse.
The hotel, formerly a popular wedding venue, closed unexpectedly last September following financial problems of its owner, Elysian Care.
It is being auctioned by Cottons auctioneers on behalf of the receivers.
The Birmingham auctioneers are holding the sale at Aston Villa Football Club, where the former hotel is Lot 49 and is expected to be auctioned later.
Cottons describes the sale as "a unique opportunity to purchase a former freehold hotel premises set within extensive grounds and extending to an area of approximately 7.9 acres and offering scope for redevelopment".
The building dates back to the 16th Century and was once a working flour mill. It was restored and turned into a 41-bedroom hotel. The auctioneers suggest the building may be suitable for similar commercial uses as the hotel or alternative residential uses.
People interested in buying the property, near Bridgnorth, were unable to visit all of the site because the fire left parts of the building unsafe and these were due to be demolished. | A former Shropshire hotel set in eight acres, which was severely damaged in an arson attack, is to be auctioned with a guide price of £250,000. | 33520084 |
The incident happened after Derry City lost 2-1 to Dundalk in an FAI Cup semi-final replay at Brandywell Stadium.
There are reports a Dundalk supporters' bus was vandalised during the trouble that happened outside the grounds.
Police have yet to confirm the incident. Derry City have yet to comment.
Derry councillors have condemned the attack.
Councillor Gary Donnelly said a group of Dundalk fans were cornered by a gang of youths outside a pub on the Lecky Road.
"When I arrived the crowd had dispersed and the Dundalk fans' mini-bus, which had been attacked, had been repaired and they were about to leave the area but they were visibly shaken," he said.
Mr Donnelly told BBC Radio Foyle that the supporters' mini-bus had its tyres slashed and graffiti sprayed on windows.
"Residents told me that after the game a number of Dundalk fans were making their way back to the bus when one of them was assaulted.
"A young boy of about 14-years-old was hit on the back of the head with a bottle before locals intervened and the four guys ran off."
Sinn Féin councillor Patricia Logue, who lives in the area, said extra security may now be needed during match nights.
"This is criminal behaviour by youths who are causing mayhem in our community," she said.
"The people of the Brandywell, the visiting fans, Derry City Football Club, do not want this happening in the area.
"The residents are distraught and extra security will be one of the topics I'll be talking about to the relevant agencies today." | A teenager suffered head injuries, not said to be serious, during trouble that followed a football match in Londonderry on Tuesday night. | 37560290 |
Some of the cash would be better spent on addressing the root causes of problems, argues the report by the charity Early Intervention Foundation.
Prevention would not only save money but could "transform children's lives", say the authors.
The government said it had taken action to improve all children's chances
The researchers analysed official statistics on the costs of addressing social problems including mental health issues, going into care, unemployment and youth crime.
Of the £17bn total, some £5bn is spent each year on children in care, £4bn on benefits for 18- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training and another £900m on helping young people with mental health issues or drug and alcohol problems, say the authors.
Local authorities bear the largest share of these costs at £6.5bn while welfare spending is £3.7bn.
The NHS, schools, police and the criminal justice system also share the bill.
The authors say making children and their families wait for help until their problems are acute is both expensive and ineffective. Late intervention "rarely turns lives around", they warn
"What these figures represent is merely the immediate impact on the taxpayer of thousands of lives blighted by thwarted potential and missed opportunities."
The focus should shift "from picking up the pieces to giving everyone the best start in life", they argue.
"Many of these children and young people might have had a different journey if they or their family had received the right help at an earlier time."
The report challenges the next government to redirect resources into prevention, with late intervention spending reduced by 10% or £1.7bn.
It says agencies should must co-ordinate services better, "to put those most in need at the centre", avoiding duplication and waste.
Early Intervention Foundation chief executive Carey Oppenheim said: "Our research lays bare how much the government spends each year tackling the social problems that early intervention is designed to prevent.
"Yet our public services remain increasingly geared towards picking up the pieces from the harmful and costly consequences of failure."
Sir Tony Hawkhead, chief executive of Action for Children, called the report an "impressive economic analysis".
"It serves as a stark reminder of the great human cost of social problems that are all too often preventable if we act earlier."
Local authorities said they recognised the benefits of early intervention but struggled to deliver it under the current funding system.
"All too often the savings from investment by one agency are recouped by another, resulting in disincentives to invest in early intervention," said councillor David Simmonds, chairman of the Local Government Association's children and young people board.
Mr Simmonds said it was essential money was "available flexibly to local communities where it can be most effectively put to use".
"We urgently need to reform how funding is allocated across local services to encourage joint working and savings to encourage investment in early intervention that shifts the balance from crisis spend towards prevention."
The government said it had increased early intervention funding, introduced free early education for disadvantaged two-year-olds, placed a fresh focus on improving young people's mental health, and driven up school standards.
"Our plan is working. The number of young people not in education or training is now at its lowest level since records began, youth unemployment has been falling dramatically, fewer young people are entering the criminal justice system, children in care are doing better at school and absences have decreased, foster children can now stay at home until 21, and this year a record number of children found places in stable, loving homes through adoption.
"We give councils the freedom to use their funding to meet the needs of young people in their area.
"We know the best councils take advantage of this to look for innovative ways to intervene and avoid problems later on.
"The earlier we can tackle issues the better, but this must be based on clear evidence. This is precisely why we set up the Early Intervention Foundation to advise on how best to respond to this challenge." | Dealing with acute social problems affecting children and young people in England and Wales costs £17bn a year of public money, suggests research. | 31417232 |
Jessica Wren, 46, from Camden, in London, found the hand-written letter on her doorstep earlier this week.
It is decorated with dolphin stickers and a cut-out image of kittens, addressed inside to Alex, Irene and Anya, signed by a child called Tabby.
Psychologist Mrs Wren said she is keen to get the letter to the right people.
"There's no surname for these people or for the girl who is writing these letters, but this time she has gone to the trouble of decorating the paper with finger painting too, so I really want it to reach the people it's meant for," Mrs Wren said.
Tabby writes: "To Alex, Irene and Anya, Happy New Year!
"Thank you very much for the lovely Frozen nightdress you gave me for Christmas - it's my first ever nightdress as I usually wear Pyjamas and I Love it!
"Lots of love from Tabby xxx"
Mrs Wren, who has lived in the same house in Mansfield Road for 10 years, has no idea who Alex, Irene or Anya might be and without a surname Google searches have turned nothing up.
She has resorted to posting a message on Facebook with the help of her children Eliza, 17 and Tash, 15.
Mrs Wren said: "It could be a godparent or maybe a relation and the sad thing is the receiver has no idea the child is writing to them, because they have the wrong address." | A woman who has received a mysterious thank you letter for the third year in a row is trying to unite it with the intended receivers. | 38535066 |
It accused security forces of regularly committing abuses and said rights and liberties in Egypt were being eroded.
Amnesty's report comes two days before the third anniversary of uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak to quit.
Meanwhile a pro-Morsi student has been killed in clashes with security forces in Alexandria, officials say.
The dead youth was among hundreds of Islamist students involved in street battles with police in the northern city.
The report by the human rights group said some 1,400 people have been killed in political violence since President Morsi was forced from office by the army in July, after weeks of mass protests.
Egypt's foreign ministry described the report as "tarnishing the facts'' and said the government respected human rights while it was "combating terrorism".
And while he did not mention the report, Egypt's military-backed interim President Adly Mansour gave a speech insisting that the Egypt's police state no longer existed.
In his remarks at Cairo's Police Academy, Mr Mansour said Egypt was starting a "new era'' where police "preserve the dignity of the Egyptian citizen'' and "draws a definitive end to the police state, never to return".
Supporters of Mohammed Morsi, who succeeded Mubarak but was himself ousted from power, are expected to use the anniversary to escalate their protests.
'Verdict on the army'
Struggle to motivate the 'sofa party'
Return to authoritarianism?
In the Amnesty report, its Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said: "Egypt has witnessed a series of damaging blows to human rights and state violence on an unprecedented scale over the last seven months.
"Three years on, the demands of the '25th January Revolution' for dignity and human rights seem further away than ever. Several of its architects are behind bars and repression and impunity are the order of the day."
There has been "no proper investigation" into the deaths of more than 500 Morsi supporters when the army forcibly dispersed their sit-in protest in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square last August, the report noted.
"Instead of reining in the security forces, the authorities have effectively handed them a mandate for repression," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
"Once again in Egypt, the rhetoric of 'countering terrorism' is being used to justify sweeping crackdowns that fail to distinguish between legitimate dissent and violent attacks."
The report calls for the security forces to be held accountable for human rights violations and urges the authorities to "loosen their stranglehold on civil society and allow peaceful protests and other avenues for lawful dissent".
Egypt's military-installed interim government insists it is committed to democracy; presidential and parliamentary elections are due to be held in the coming months.
But critics fear Egypt is on course for a return to authoritarian rule.
In recent months, liberal activists have been arrested and detained as well as thousands of supporters of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood. | Egypt has seen violence "on an unprecedented scale" since the army ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi last July, Amnesty International says. | 25858599 |
The Swedish furniture giant is spending £4m to improve junctions and access to a new outlet planned for Pincents Lane Retail Park in Reading.
The work includes widening Pincents Lane and replacing the existing roundabout on the A4 with a new traffic-light controlled junction.
The retailer is awaiting final agreement after plans were scaled down.
A £10m three-level store was approved in 2012 but the furniture company reduced its proposal to two storeys last year to reflect the "ever-changing retail environment".
There are not expected to be any issues over the approval of the new scheme, as a smaller store should mean fewer customers and cars travelling to the site.
Some residents and businesses had objected to the original plans because of traffic congestion fears. | Drivers are facing 40 weeks of delays as work starts ahead of the building of a new Ikea store in Berkshire. | 33590940 |
It's the first time in several years that Jamaat-ud Dawa head Hafiz Saeed or any other jihadi leader in Pakistan has made such remarks.
So why is he able to make such comments so openly?
Hafiz Saeed was addressing hundreds of Jamaat-ud Dawa activists at an "orientation session" on Wednesday in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The charity's activities include running schools and hospitals.
Hafiz Saeed said that four "mujahideen" attacked an Indian military camp in the Jammu region on Monday, and had "returned safely, having suffered not a scratch".
"They say they cleaned up 10 rooms and killed 30 soldiers, and destroyed the entire camp."
Indian media reported that three "labourers" had been killed in a night time attack at a camp for the General Reserve Engineer Force in the Akhnoor area, near the border with Pakistan.
"The heavily armed terrorists went on the rampage for almost an hour. Eyewitnesses said they opened fire indiscriminately," India's NDTV channel reported.
Hafiz Saeed told his audience that jihad (holy war) was the only way to liberate Kashmir from India, and that it was the religious duty of people in Kashmir and Pakistan to take part.
He described the attack as an example of the "character of the partisans of the Prophet".
"This is the surgical strike," he said - an apparent sideswipe at India's largely discredited claim of having carried out "surgical strikes" on militant camps on Pakistan's side of the border in late September.
He did not say whether the Akhnoor attackers were linked to his organisation, or which bases they "returned to safely".
Kashmir-focused jihadi groups have become increasingly visible since tensions between Pakistan and India rose after militants killed 19 Indian soldiers at Uri in Kashmir in September.
Pakistan denied any link to the attack.
Hafiz Saeed, who founded the Lashkar-e Taiba militant group, and other Jamaat-ud Dawa leaders have been holding anti-India rallies in Pakistan as well as Kashmir.
Jaish-e-Mohammad, another Pakistan-based militant group, has also been holding open recruitment sessions in mosques across Pakistan.
In December, Hafiz Saeed addressed a rally in Quetta, in which he accused India of inciting violence in Balochistan province.
Groups involved in militant attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir have kept a low profile since a ceasefire in 2003.
Their reappearance in the public domain coincides with a rise in protests in Indian-administered Kashmir and Pakistan's worsening relations with India and Afghanistan.
India and the US accuse him of masterminding the 2008 terror attacks on Mumbai.
The US has imposed sanctions on his organisation, saying the self-declared charity is a front for militant group Lashkar-e Taiba and has offered a $10m (£5.87m) reward for his arrest.
The Mumbai attack by Pakistani gunmen claimed 166 lives. Nine gunmen were also killed.
Pakistan also banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in 2002, following an attack on the Indian parliament. But observers say it re-emerged as Jamaat-ud Dawa which has continued to operate although it was put on a Pakistani terror watch list in 2015.
Hafiz Saeed has since founded another charity by the name of Falah-e-Insaniyat (Welfare of Humankind).
But many in Pakistan believe these charities are a front for LeT.
In Pakistan, Hafiz Saeed's remarks are being seen by observers as a veiled claim of involvement in attacks in Kashmir, and the aim appears to be "motivational", they believe.
Significantly, Pakistan's intelligence agencies have long been blamed for promoting a radical Islamist narrative and using militant groups as a bulwark to protect the military's financial and security interests.
Many fear an apparent crackdown on bloggers and human rights activists falls into this narrative and is meant to further radicalise elements in society.
In Pakistan militant groups often banned under international pressure are frequently allowed to re-emerge and operate freely under new names while their sympathisers troll secular social media activists with impunity. | The head of a Pakistani charity accused of masterminding terror attacks has indicated he has inside knowledge of a deadly raid on India's military in disputed Kashmir. | 38596301 |
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 303.31 points to close at 21,115.55 following US President Donald Trump's address to Congress last night.
The S&P 500 index gained 32.32 points, rising to 2,395.96, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was up 78.59 points at 5,904.03.
Shares have been climbing since Mr Trump's election victory after investor optimism about deregulation.
He has also promised to cut taxes and boost infrastructure spending.
Financial firms were the top gainers on the Dow, with JP Morgan Chase and American Express both up more than 2.3%.
Tom Stevenson from Fidelity International said the Dow Jones Index only cleared 20,000 points three weeks ago, making this the fastest rise between 1,000 milestones since 1999.
Sentiment was helped by comments suggesting that the US central bank may raise rates sooner rather than later.
A rate hike in March would make it more expensive to borrow money to buy stocks, but it would also signal the Fed's confidence in economic expansion after stagnation.
"It's not necessarily the rate increase that matters. It's that they're seeing things improving. If the Fed feels more confident, maybe we should too," said Warren West, principal at Greentree Brokerage Services in Philadelphia. | US shares have hit new highs on Wednesday. | 39126024 |
The 10-11 shot, second in the Derby at Epsom behind stablemate Golden Horn, scored by five lengths from Storm The Stars, with Giovanni Canaletto third.
Jack Hobbs is the first British-trained winner of the race since Commander In Chief, for Henry Cecil, in 1993.
Storm The Stars (10-1), who was third at Epsom, made the running but Jack Hobbs powered past for victory.
"It was genuine good to firm ground and it's nice to see the form from Epsom working out so solidly," said Newmarket trainer Gosden.
"He travelled really well and William just waited after he came at the head of the straight and I loved the way he finished off his race.
"The second horse has run a blinder and he was third at Epsom."
He said the horse would be rested before contesting the Prix Niel in September and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe the following month.
Bookmakers reacted by cutting Jack Hobbs' odds for the Arc to around 7-1 (from 14s) behind 3-1 favourite Treve and 4-1 chance Golden Horn.
Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin racing team bought a majority share in the colt after he was runner-up to Golden Horn in the Dante Stakes at York in May.
"I had a lot of belief in him before Epsom and he was even better today. He's a horse that's improving all the time," said Buick. | Favourite Jack Hobbs won the 150th Irish Derby at the Curragh under jockey William Buick for trainer John Gosden. | 33301081 |
Stories coded according to the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) initiative's guidelines appear in a dedicated carousel in the firm's search results.
It says this will help the public find pages that load "blazingly fast".
However, it is likely to disadvantage sites that opt not to take part.
Google's chief executive Sundar Pichai also told an audience in Paris that his firm would offer to defend news organisations against distributed denial of services attacks.
DDoS attacks involve a perpetrator flooding a site with traffic to knock it offline, and often involve hijacked PCs to bolster the assault's force.
The AMP project was first announced last October, at which point "dozens" of sites said they were taking part.
Google has revealed that the list has since expanded to more than 160 news providers across Europe.
In addition, it said, other news sites in the US, Brazil, Japan, Indonesia and Mexico were taking part, and there were plans to extend AMP further soon.
Blogging platform Wordpress has also enabled its users to have their pages automatically translated into AMP-enabled pages, which could swell numbers further.
AMP pages load on smartphones and tablets between four and 10 times faster than those made in traditional HTML.
Once a user has read an article, they can flick to the side to see another publication's take on the same topic.
Much of the Javascript code normally used with the webpages is absent, meaning loading the articles should also use less battery power.
Publishers can continue to use paywalls and tap into the same ad networks as before, but they will not be able to display some types of adverts including pop-ups and "sticky" images that move as users scroll down a page.
The effort acts as a disincentive to people who might otherwise have used ad-blockers to speed up loading times.
In addition, it helps Google deal with a threat from Facebook. The social network is promoting its own Instant Articles scheme, which makes third-party content appear more quickly by hosting it on Facebook's own servers.
The BBC is involved in both schemes.
"With over 65% of traffic to BBC News coming from mobiles or tablets, optimising this performance is crucial," said BBC executive Robin Pembrooke.
"Google AMP is another important step to help achieve this goal."
AMP is open source, meaning anyone can adopt the technology without having to seek Google's permission.
Because of the firm's dominance in search, organisations may feel compelled to join to avoid losing traffic.
Mr Pichai also invited independent news organisations to join Project Shield without charge.
This is a scheme originally launched in 2013 to offer select organisations the same DDoS protection used by Google itself.
It works by using a technology called a reverse proxy, which lets Google identify and stop "bad traffic" before it reaches the news organisations' computers.
To enable this, news organisations will have to let Google see the data flowing to their sites.
Google says it will use the information only to protect them and will delete raw traffic logs a fortnight after each is created.
DDoS attacks are an increasing threat to news sites. One attack briefly knocked the BBC's news site offline in December.
However, one expert suggested that bigger news organisations were likely to continue to manage their own security.
"Google's product doesn't offer the same level of customisation as commercial services, but its simplicity will be appreciated by smaller-scale organisations without specialist technical experts," said Dr Steven Murdoch from University College London.
"A potential side effect is that some countries might find it harder to censor the website without blocking all of Google's other services."
He added, however, that there was a risk that some legitimate users would be accidentally blocked. | Google has begun promoting web-based news articles that comply with its effort to make pages load more quickly on mobile devices. | 35652271 |
The incident happened at about 11:15 at the Grampian Microlight and Flying Club.
The aircraft came down in a nearby field.
The man's injuries are not thought to be life-threatening. | A man has been taken to hospital with potentially serious injuries after a microlight crash in Aberdeenshire. | 37085461 |
Daniel Pelka, from Coventry, died in March 2012, after being starved and abused by his mother and her boyfriend.
Speaking in the wake of a four-week Ofsted inspection of the service, Brian Walsh, of the city council, said he was "very concerned" about the results.
The Ofsted report is due out later this month.
In September, a serious case review found he was "invisible" at times to police, NHS and social care.
Since Daniel's death, the council said referrals have risen from 3,085 in March 2013 to 4,529 in March 2014.
Mr Walsh, who took over the department in September, said: "I am very concerned about what Ofsted are going to say.
"The increase in referrals has completely overwhelmed us in social care."
However, Mr Walsh added Coventry's child protection services were "very different" to those in Birmingham which were branded a "national disgrace" by Ofsted's chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw in October.
Ofsted has rated Birmingham's children's services inadequate since 2009 and the latest inspection was cancelled to allow a government review into the authority's plans to improve the department.
Mr Walsh said: "We are in a very different position to Birmingham. We are a much smaller authority and we are aware of the problems. We will welcome external support if that's what's required." | The head of the social care department that "missed chances" to save the life of a four-year-old boy said his team has been "overwhelmed" by cases. | 26578762 |
Thistle failed to register a victory in their first 10 matches this season but certainly did not look short of confidence against St Johnstone.
Steven MacLean pulled one back from close range after the break.
But the Jags held on despite seeing out the dying stages with 10 men after captain Abul Osman was sent off.
Thistle looked like they could not buy a goal for most of this season and now it looks like they cannot stop scoring them.
A 3-0 win over Dundee United last time out actually doubled their tally for the season and brought a first win in 11 attempts.
The confidence gained from that result and performance was evident as the Jags played some attractive football and looked the more dangerous side for long spells.
That in itself was quite an achievement against a St Johnstone side in a rich vein of form coming into the match with the boost of manager Tommy Wright committing his long-term future to the club.
They initially looked a pale shadow of the side that took Aberdeen apart last time out, but the credit for that has to go to Alan Archibald's players in general and Miller in particular.
The full-back was handed a chance to face his former club because Mustapha Dumbuya was laid low by illness and he certainly made the most of the opportunity.
His use of the ball was excellent going forward and never better than when he blasted his team into the lead in 28 minutes with a belter of a volley from 25 yards.
Saints probably feared as much when they saw his name on the team sheet, but it was still a stunning strike from someone who only scored once in three years at Perth.
Not that we had to wait for another marvellous goal as the lively Lawless lashed in a second from distance only six minutes later as reward for a fine first-half performance.
In response, the home side passed up a couple of half chances, while goalkeeper Tomas Cerny had to move sharply to push away a Dave MacKay curling free kick. That apart, Thistle defended diligently.
Until 49 minutes that is, when they allowed MacLean the freedom of the six-yard box to head in a Graham Cummins cross from the left for his ninth goal of the season.
Michael O'Halloran's introduction at the interval had certainly helped increase the home side's intensity and only a great Tomas Cerny save denied Liam Craig an equaliser.
Cummins then had a chance with a back-post header with nine minutes to go, but Cerny scurried across his goal to claw the ball away.
Miller then made a crucial tackle to deny MacLean a second goal after the striker had already rounded Cerny.
Osman was sent off for a second yellow card, having been cautioned for a foul in 66 minutes then walking after being booked for deliberate hand ball at the edge of the penalty area.
He now misses next week's visit from Hamilton Academical, when Archibald's side will look to continue their revival with a third straight league win. | Stunning first-half strikes from distance by Gary Miller and Steven Lawless made it two wins on the bounce for Partick Thistle. | 34493574 |
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has updated its calculations, based on the latest official forecasts.
Pro-Union campaigners have welcomed the analysis.
But those backing independence insisted Scotland's finances would be similar to or even stronger than the UK's.
The referendum on Scottish independence will be held on 18 September, when voters will be asked the yes/no question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?
The IFS has produced two new reports on the financial impact of leaving the UK.
The think tank has previously suggested Scotland would see a budget deficit larger than the rest of the UK and would face spending cuts and increased taxes.
In March, however, it said it had revised its more cautious fiscal forecast because the UK economy was growing more quickly than previously thought.
Based on the latest downgraded forecasts on North Sea oil revenues by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, the IFS has now predicted a slightly weaker position with a fiscal gap of £8.6bn in the first year of independence.
By 2019, when the rest of the UK is due to have a slight budget surplus, the think tank said Scotland would remain with a hole in its finances.
The IFS said: "If an independent Scotland wanted to achieve a sustainable medium and long-term fiscal position, further tax increases and/or spending cuts would likely be needed after independence."
The think tank's report on the fiscal context of the Scottish government's independence white paper added: "The spending cuts and tax rises outlined do not look to be enough to pay for all of the proposed giveaways.
"This does not mean such a package of reforms is infeasible. But, with a background of budget deficits, enacting these measures looks like it would require bigger cuts to other public services or benefits, or other tax rises, if the government of an independent Scotland were to ensure that its public finances were not adversely affected and remained sustainable."
The Scottish government pointed to the fact the IFS calculations were based on declining oil revenues. It said "record investment" in the oil and gas industry would boost future production.
A spokesman added: "Scotland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, more prosperous per head than France, Japan and the UK, but we need the powers of independence to enable that wealth to be shared and to build a fairer society.
"An independent Scotland's finances in 2016-17 will be similar to, or stronger than, both the UK and the G7 industrialised countries as a whole, and even on the IFS's projections, Scotland's public finance balance sheet in the first year of independence will be healthier than the UK's was in the most recent financial year.
"And as the IFS report notes, Scottish taxpayers paid £789 more per head than the UK in 2012-13, demonstrating the huge contribution that Scottish taxpayers make to the UK economy - with more tax per head paid by Scotland than the rest of the UK for every one of the last 33 years."
Unionist politicians welcomed the latest IFS analysis.
Chief Secretary to the UK Treasury Danny Alexander described it as "yet another independent report which leaves the Scottish government increasingly isolated".
He added: "In addition to the CPPR, Citigroup and others, it shows that an independent Scotland would have a larger deficit than the UK, meaning deeper cuts or tax rises than if Scotland stayed part of the UK.
"It highlights the long-term challenge of declining oil revenues, uncosted policies and an ageing population that I set out in our fiscal analysis last week.
"This analysis showed that every person in Scotland is £1,400 a year better off as part of the UK." | A think tank has suggested an independent Scotland would face bigger spending cuts and higher tax rises than previously predicted if it is to balance the books. | 27690028 |
He was detained in a shopping centre in Bogota on Friday in an joint operation carried out by the Colombian authorities and US anti-drug officials.
Pannunzi is alleged to be responsible for importing up to two tonnes of cocaine into Europe every month.
He is the alleged leader of the 'Ndrangheta crime network based in the southern Italian region of Calabria.
The Italian was detained on Friday with the help of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Colombian defence ministry said in a statement.
"When he was captured, Pannunzi identified himself with a fake Venezuelan identification card bearing the name Silvano Martino," Colombia's defence ministry said in a Twitter post.
Less than 24 hours later, he was put on a plane from Bogota.
Pannunzi was arrested by Italian police upon his arrival at Rome's Fiumicino airport on Saturday evening.
Roberto Pannunzi, 65, is said to have organised huge shipments of cocaine from South America to Europe.
He collected the money from different criminal organisations and smuggled large scale, profitable drug smuggling operations.
"He is not a mafioso, not a killer, he is a broker," Roberto Saviano, an Italian investigative journalist told the AFP news agency.
Roberto Pannunzi, 65, was first detained in Colombia in 1994 and extradited to Italy but was released when his detention order expired.
He was re-arrested in 2004 and later convicted. But he staged an dramatic escape from a private hospital in Rome in 2010, where he was being treated for heart disease.
Italian authorities have described the 'Ndrangheta as the country's most dangerous and wealthiest crime syndicate, overtaking the Sicilian Mafia.
"He is the biggest cocaine importer in the world," said Nicola Gratteri, deputy chief prosecutor in the Reggio Calabria province. | Italian police have arrested mafia boss Roberto Pannunzi after he was deported back to Italy from Colombia. | 23215095 |
BBC Sport has learned $3.7m (£2.9m) of travel grants owed by the Rio 2016 organising committee to national Paralympic bodies are two weeks late.
Several smaller countries took out loans to send teams to Brazil - which the IPC covered with emergency funds.
The IPC is now thought to be considering legal action against the Rio 2016 organising committee.
The Rio Paralympics went ahead in September, but only after budget cuts to venues, the workforce and transport caused by recession and extra spending on the Olympics.
An initial instalment of delayed grants covering the costs for athletes and officials was paid.
But the second payment is now overdue, risking another blow to the legacy of South America's first Games.
"We're hugely disappointed that the second instalment of the travel grants, just like the first set, have not been paid on time by Rio 2016 and are urgently seeking a resolution to this issue from all parties concerned," IPC spokesman Craig Spence said.
"The IPC has stepped in to keep these smaller NPCs [national Paralympic committees] afloat.
"The longer this situation goes on, the more likely it is that other NPCs come forward asking for financial support from the IPC."
Rio 2016 officials are understood to have told the IPC that they cannot pay because they themselves are owed money from the city authorities.
Furthermore, their accounts have been frozen by a court following a lawsuit filed by two suppliers who say they have not been paid.
The IPC has now sent a letter to Rio mayor Eduardo Paes asking for his help.
In August Paes secured an additional £36m of funding and £24m in sponsorship from state-run companies after an injunction was lifted that had blocked further state aid for the Paralympics
"Overnight we have sent a letter to Rio mayor Paes, who was hugely supportive of the Paralympic Games, asking him to step in and intervene" Spence said. | The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is facing a major new financial crisis linked to Rio 2016. | 38303061 |
It stopped after a sensor detected a "minor technical fault" and the ride performed "exactly as it is designed to do," the theme park said.
A spokesperson said in line with its "well-rehearsed procedures" people were helped from the ride and at no point was "guest safety compromised".
Footage of people apparently leaving a stranded carriage was put on Twitter by Alex Heasman-Bailey.
West Midlands Ambulance Service said it had not been called. | The white-knuckle ride Oblivion has stopped mid-air at Alton Towers. | 40718772 |
British number two Edmund, 22, beat world number 122 Fucsovics 6-2 6-1 in North Carolina.
Edmund, 45th in the rankings, will play world number 46 Steve Johnson in the next round.
Meanwhile, Britain's Laura Robson lost 6-2 6-4 to Russian Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round of US Open qualifying.
There was better news for fellow Britons Naomi Broady and Katie Boulter who are through to the second round and are two wins away from the main draw.
Broady beat Switzerland's Jil Teichmann 6-2 4-6 6-1 while Boulter beat American Danielle Collins 6-4 6-0. | Britain's Kyle Edmund is through to the quarter-finals of the Winston-Salem Open after a straight sets win over Hungary's Marton Fucsovics. | 41030768 |
Organisers of the East of England Show, expected to take place in Peterborough in July, said 10,000 people attended last year, 50% fewer than expected.
The show "became disconnected from its agricultural roots" organisers the East of England Agricultural Society said.
A spokesman said local people had "voted with their feet".
Chief executive of the society, Jeremy Staples, said: "It was a very difficult decision to make.
"The show had been losing money for a number of years but more importantly, attendance figures had dropped dramatically over the last 20 years."
At its height of popularity the show would have attracted about 100,000 people, he added.
"Last year's show took four months to put on and with fewer than 10,000 people, it clearly wasn't appealing to the local population," Mr Staples said.
The 2012 show was dogged by wet weather which may have been a contributing factor, he admitted.
"There has been a move away from traditional agricultural shows - demonstrating new materials and techniques - so farming people no longer come, and shows such as the East of England have slightly lost their way."
Participants were informed about the cancellation before Christmas, and there will be no job losses as a result of the decision, Mr Staples confirmed.
"We've decided now to go back to our roots, to educate people about farming and rural life. We have 4,000 children coming on 5 July and we have a really good kids' programme we're developing throughout the year," he said.
"We see this as a very positive step." | An agricultural and country show which last year made losses of "several hundred thousand pounds" has come to an end after 200 years. | 22654361 |
Mr Satyarthi told the BBC that his Nobel certificate was also missing after the burglary on Tuesday morning.
He said no-one was home at the time of the burglary.
Mr Satyarthi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for his work to combat child labour and child trafficking in India.
He shared the award with Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai for her work on female education.
Profile: Kailash Satyarthi
Kailash Satyarthi: 'I'm passionate about needy children'
Mr Satyarthi said the Delhi police were investigating the theft.
"The lock of my house was broken and my certificate and a replica medal were taken along with a few other things. We are still assessing what is missing," he said.
The 63-year-old founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan, or the Save the Childhood Movement, which campaigns for child rights and an end to human trafficking.
Mr Satyarthi has long campaigned against child labour and rescued children from servitude.
His efforts have seen tens of thousands of children rescued from hazardous industries and rehabilitated. | A replica of the Nobel medal awarded to Indian child rights campaigner Kailash Satyarthi has been stolen from his home in the capital, Delhi. | 38890620 |
Toyota said it sold 9.75 million vehicles in 2012, a jump of more than 22% from a year earlier.
General Motors, which was the biggest vehicle maker in 2011, sold 9.29 million vehicles in 2012.
Toyota's sales in 2011 were hit by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand which hurt production at its factories.
However, Toyota, and other Japanese carmakers that were affected, have seen a steady recovery since then and have been regaining share in key markets such as the US.
"The last two years have been very difficult for Toyota," Vivek Vaidya, an auto analyst with Frost & Sullivan, told the BBC.
"The regaining of the top slot would definitely be heartening for the firm and is good news for its investors and share holders," he added.
Toyota's rivals also reported record numbers in vehicle sales for 2012.
Nissan Motor said it sold 4.94 million vehicles globally, up almost 6% from the previous year, while Honda Motor said it saw a jump of 19% from a year earlier, selling 3.82 million vehicles.
Along with the natural disasters, Japanese carmakers have also been hit by a strong yen.
A strong currency not only makes Japanese goods more expensive to foreign buyers but also hits firms' profits when they repatriate their foreign earnings back home.
This especially hurts companies - such as Toyota - which rely heavily on overseas sales.
However, Japanese carmakers have received a boost in the past few weeks as the yen has fallen against the US dollar.
The Japanese currency has dropped nearly 15% against the US dollar since last November. It was trading close to 90.8 yen against US dollar in Asian trade on Monday.
Analysts said the fall was likely to have a positive impact on Toyota's growth.
"The decline in the yen is a welcome relief for Toyota," said Frost & Sullivan's Mr Vaidya.
"We are likely to see profit margins rise, giving it more cash in hand and the ability to invest in developing new technologies, which should help in its growth momentum going forward."
The Japanese carmaker raised its annual profit forecast in November.
It has predicted a net profit of 780bn yen ($8.6bn; £5.4bn) for the financial year to 31 March 2013, up from its earlier of forecast of 760bn yen.
However, the carmaker does face some potential hurdles, not least from the continuing territorial dispute between Japan and China.
China is the world's biggest car market and is seen as key to future growth of firms such as Toyota.
However, the dispute centred around a group of islands in the East China Sea, which flared up late last year, has hurt relations between the two countries and seen Japan's exports to China decline.
The dispute is still unresolved and some fear that it may blow up again in the coming months and further hurt trade relations between the two countries.
The fear is that any such move may see anti-Japan sentiment rise and hurt sales of Japanese brands in China.
Analysts said that any such decline was likely to have a negative impact on Toyota's growth. | Japanese carmaker Toyota has regained its slot as the world's biggest vehicle maker, capping a year of a dramatic turnaround in its fortunes. | 21226611 |
Far more solar panels can be seen on homes and businesses now than a year ago, as companies and individual investors were attracted by the rate paid for solar energy converted into electricity.
The feed-in tariff was established before the last general election, and the current UK coalition government continued it.
But now it is halving the rate paid for small scale solar energy from 43.3p per kWh, to 21p per kWh.
Larger scale solar parks - under and above 50kW - were paid a different, less favourable rate.
Companies attracted by the 25-year guarantee saw it as a better investment than simply banking spare cash, and also as a way to offset increasing energy bills by selling green energy to the national grid.
Many companies will be affected after the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced the tariff changes, which come into force on Monday - and BBC Wales has spoken to two of them.
Andrew Padmore, chief executive of Egnida, a Cwmbran-based green energy company, said: "The timing is very difficult and I think to take all the confidence away from the industry at this time and particularly from the small and medium sized enterprises, of which we have a large amount in Wales.
"Politically this is a difficult one because the industry has been crying for a reduction in subsidies for about six months, there's no disagreement there.
"But the way things are handled, and the timings, really do have the impact of making the industry struggle when it's a time when we should be trying to create jobs."
Filsol Solar Ltd specialises in solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and solar water heating.
The company has been based at Ponthenri Industrial Estate in Carmarthenshire for around 30 years, but now faces losing a sizeable chunk of its 22 staff.
"For our business, the biggest blow was the immediate loss of £2m of turnover," said managing director John Blower.
"The speed and depth of the cuts really kicks the legs away from businesses like ours and have left us with very little time to work this through.
"It's likely the changes in the size of the business will have to be fairly significant - perhaps 25% of the workforce we will have to look at losing."
Mr Padmore uses Egnida's website to criticise the UK government's handling of the consultation and says legal action is now in progress.
"It appears that most of the country has now joined in with sending a message to Cameron that the government's behaviour is completely unacceptable," the website says.
It adds that "strong representations have been made by companies .... as well as Friends of the Earth, the Town and Country Planning Association, The Federation of Small Businesses and a collection of Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat council leaders".
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat government has argued it inherited the feed-in tariff system from Labour.
It argues there are still incentives for individuals and companies to use solar panels - and be guaranteed a good return for 25 years.
The minister in charge of energy, Charles Hendry MP, said: "I think what we have done is to put right a bad system. This was based initially on a presumed right of return of 5%.
"Because the last of the technology has come down so much, people are getting a rate of return on the investment of over 10%, tax free for 25 years, put on everyone else's electricity bills.
"That's simply unaffordable."
Possibly, huge new solar farms - similar to Rhosygilwen in Pembrokeshire or the 5MW solar site at Llancayo near Usk - are less likely in future as both were opened before any changes to the commercial tariff last August.
But some companies are still interested in smaller sized solar parks of between 40 and a 100 solar panels, powering 30, 40 or 50kW of electricity.
And such has been the rush to complete deals before the deadline, several solar parks have been completed without planning consent.
These businesses will need to apply for retrospective approval.
Eifion Bowen, the Welsh Local Government Association consultant on planning, said: "There is a risk, if companies carried out development without planning permission.
"There is a provision for retrospective applications but it could be turned down, and each local authority will look at each case on its own merit... and balance the policies that support renewable energy against any impacts on sensitive landscapes."
Two weeks before Christmas, there is an all-out effort of companies such as Egnida and Filsol to supply and fit solar panels before the tariff changes.
They now have to plan for a less certain future.
Egnida says up to 50 apprentices will not be taken on, while Filsol says it will have to lose between five and 10 people and will no longer recruit 10 staff.
The Renewable Energy Association says the biggest impact of the change will be on employment, with an estimated 11,000 and 29,000 jobs either at risk or likely to be lost across Britain. | For the past 18 months it has been a renewable energy success story. | 16132726 |
Road racing is the toughest of sports and requires hard men. But many of these hard men were unashamedly in tears, heads bowed, saying their final goodbyes to the unlikeliest of sporting superstars.
As the funeral of Joey Dunlop got under way on 7 July 2000, people were still trying to come to terms with the fact that the seemingly indestructible road racer had been killed in a minor race in Estonia five days earlier at the age of 48.
Fifteen years on from that emotionally-charged day, some of those close to Joey having been reflecting on the legacy of this shy man who hated the limelight, but whose popularity was such that in a recent poll conducted by the Belfast Telegraph, he was voted Northern Ireland's greatest ever sports star, ahead of the legendary George Best.
Liam Beckett, a BBC pundit and Dunlop family friend, believes this accolade was fitting.
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"Joey was quite simply the greatest at what he did and he always did it with the absolute minimum of fuss."
For Liam Beckett, it is this combination of Joey's iconic stature alongside his shy, unassuming persona, which ensures his popularity endures.
"Joey was always uncomfortable when being showered with adulation. He was much more content when in the company of his family and close friends. In many ways it was these 'down to earth' qualities which endeared him to his legions of fans."
Throughout the Troubles in Northern Ireland Joey remained apolitical, attracting loyal support from Catholics and Protestants alike. Famously superstitious, he always wore a red t-shirt and a yellow crash helmet.
Joey's racing triumphs, including five consecutive Formula 1 World Championships, 26 Isle of Man TTs, 13 North West 200s and 24 Ulster GPs, were well documented, but throughout his life Joey's charity work was less publicised.
He would regularly load up his van with food and clothing and drive across Europe to deliver parcels to the orphans of Romania, Bosnia and Albania. Typically, this was done without any fanfare.
Siobhan Carter, who volunteered at one of the orphanages Joey visited in Romania, has been reflecting on the major impact he made there.
"Joey's visit raised morale greatly with the staff and children. For me, seeing someone from near my home town in Northern Ireland, arriving with supplies which he had personally struggled to deliver to his destination, without translators, and sleeping alone in minus conditions in his van, touched me greatly", she said.
"I do believe Joey received a calling to help others following his visit and that led him to make many future trips to help in orphanages."
Joey was awarded the OBE for his humanitarian work in 1996 and he described it as the proudest moment of his life.
Posthumously his charity work continues through the Joey Dunlop Foundation which receives donations from around the world.
The risk of serious injury or death is a constant companion of the road racer, such is the perilous nature of the sport. But given that Joey had survived for so long, it was still a huge shock when he was killed while leading a 125cc race in wet conditions in Tallinn, Estonia on 2 July 2000.
He had spent his last night on earth sleeping across the front seats of his van, eschewing the hotel suite that had been laid on for him.
Liam Beckett remembers the events of that day well.
"Joey's youngest son Richard had stayed overnight at our house, as he and my son William are best friends. We had just finished Sunday dinner when I saw Joey's daughter Donna come speeding in my driveway. She was in floods of tears and in seconds I could hear a commotion with my wife Gillian shouting 'no Donna, no'. That is how I received the dreadful news."
Motorcyclists came from as far afield as Australia, Japan and South Africa to attend Joey's funeral, riding in noisy formation. So many stood in the tiny country lanes around Dunlop's modest bungalow that it took the undertakers an hour to carry him through the crowds to complete the mile-long trip.
"A stunned silence and a sense of real disbelief had descended over the entire country, and beyond," said Liam Beckett.
"The people's hero was gone and the outpouring of grief was a spectacle which I feel won't be repeated in Northern Ireland."
Although Joey's brother Robert, another motorbike legend, was killed during practice at the 2008 North West 200, Robert's sons Michael and William are ensuring the Dunlop dynasty remains at the forefront of road racing.
William Dunlop, speaking last year shortly after breaking his leg at the Isle of Man TT, was typically matter-of-fact about the risks involved.
"I got away with it last time and as soon as I was well again I jumped straight back on a bike," he said.
It's a great life being on the edge all the time. I don't care - I guess that's what it is. Maybe if I had a kid that might change me. But I can't see it."
The story of the Dunlops has been told in a recent documentary, the highly acclaimed Road, in which Joey is the star.
Joey Dunlop is the man with the common touch who became a sporting icon and who in death has become a mythical figure.
Liam Beckett believes his legacy will live on: "Joey is still revered throughout the world as the quiet country lad who went on to become the greatest motorcycle pure road racer of all time. Quite simply there will never be another Joey."
For Siobhan McCarter, his charity work should not be forgotten.
"For me Joey's legacy is the definition of a humanitarian - a person who sought to promote human welfare."
"He appeared to live a life where all people he met, regardless of class or creed, were special to him as a human being."
As for the man himself, what would he want his legacy to be? Joey once said how he would like be remembered:
"I never really wanted to be a superstar. I just wanted to be myself. I hope people remember me that way." | More than 50,000 people gathered around the tiny Garryduff Presbyterian Church in Ballymoney, County Antrim, to bid farewell to a true sporting legend. | 33370923 |
The couple were married in Murray's home town of Dunblane last April and announced the pregnancy in the summer.
Confirming the news, the tennis star's agent said: "Andy and Kim had a daughter in the early hours of Sunday morning and the family are doing well."
Shirley Erskine, Andy Murray's grandmother said she was delighted at her great granddaughter's arrival.
Andy's mother Judy tweeted a photograph of Andy Murray's gold post box in Dunblane which has been adorned with pink ribbons, with the words "Dunblane baby love.......xxx".
The post box was painted gold when Andy won the gold medal at the London Olympics.
She later tweeted another picture of tennis balls and a dummy, with the caption "Tennis family #cute".
In the run-up to last month's Australian Open, Murray, said his family would be a "priority".
The world number two made it clear that he would have cut short his first grand slam of the year and flown home if the baby had arrived earlier than expected.
He said: "My child is more important to me, and my wife is more important to me, than a tennis match.
"It's a big change for me and my wife, but that's the current priority and I'll see after that.
"I have no idea how that will change things. I still love tennis."
Speaking from her home in Dunblane, Mrs Erskine said: "I am absolutely delighted, as you can imagine. It seems a long time that we've been waiting for this but all's well now as far as I know.
"I don't have any details I just know that I've got a great granddaugher so that is just lovely.
"All I could think of after Andy had finished playing his final [in the Australian Open] was 'Oh good, at least he'll get home now'.
"It's not easy getting home from Australia. He couldn't have been further away. Fortunately, he was home in plenty of time and all's well."
Mrs Erskine said the first she heard was a text saying "she's doing well" as she had missed the first multiple recipient text Andy had sent.
"I thought 'Oh something's happened'," she said. "So, I frantically texted him back, saying 'What's happened?, what's happened?'.
She said Andy then apologised as he realised she had not received the first message as she had an old phone.
"We didn't know what the baby's sex was going to be. Andy and Kim said from the outset that they didn't want to know."
Andy's other grandmother Ellen Murray, 82, said the tennis star phoned her on Monday to give her and husband Gordon the news.
Speaking from her home in Kilsyth, she said: "Andy phoned yesterday and said 'congratulations, you're a great granny'.
"He told me the baby was 8lb 10oz when she was born."
"It's wonderful news," she added. "We watched him in the Australian Open final and I think he just wanted to come home.
"I don't really know about her name yet but I hope we'll see them all soon. I'll be looking forward to a cuddle.
"Gordon is very happy too. They did a good job."
After being beaten in the final of the Australian Open, Murray tearfully told his wife he would be on "the next flight home".
Speaking to the crowd after the defeat, he gave a message to Kim, who was "watching back home".
He said: "You have been a legend the last two weeks, thank you so much for all of your support. I'll be on the next flight home."
Following news of the birth, sports personalities and politicians tweeted their congratulations, along with hundreds of members of the public.
Sports broadcaster Gabby Logan said: "Kim and Andy Murray have had a baby girl -huge congrats."
And in a note to Murray's mother Judy, the presenter added: "@judmoo - great news for Fed Cup team 2036..."
Presenter Annabel Croft, a former British number one tennis star, wrote: "Congratulations Kim & @andy-murray on the birth of their baby daughter. Fantastic news."
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: "Lovely news. Congratulations to @andy_murray and Kim on the birth of their daughter. Wishing every happiness."
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale tweeted: "It's a girl! Huge congratulations to Kim Sears and @andy_murray on their wonderful news."
The couple, both 28, met as teenagers in 2005 through tennis circles. They live in Surrey and married in Dunblane last April, cheered on by a large crowd of well-wishers.
Kim's pregnancy was confirmed publicly in August after they had told family and friends the news, following the 12-week scan.
Murray, the British number one and a double grand slam winner, has been crowned BBC Sports Personality Of The Year twice. | Tennis star Andy Murray's wife Kim Sears has given birth to an 8lb 10oz girl, who arrived on Sunday morning. | 35529960 |
Father Denis "Chrysostom" Alexander was one of several monks accused of abusing boys at the former Fort Augustus Abbey boarding school in the Highlands.
The BBC has learned he has been remanded in custody in Sydney pending his extradition back to Scotland to face trial.
The Crown Office here said it would not comment on legal matters elsewhere.
Father Alexander has always denied the allegations.
In 2013, he was confronted by BBC Scotland in Sydney as part of a documentary which prompted a major police investigation.
Now, three and a half years after that programme, that investigation has taken a significant turn with the former Benedictine monk's arrest.
He will face a further hearing on Wednesday at the local court in New South Wales, where it will emerge if he will oppose the extradition or not. He will also be entitled to apply for bail.
One of Father Alexander's accusers, Hugh Kennedy, has previously spoken of his frustration at the length of time it has taken the Scottish authorities to request the extradition of the former monk who is now 80.
One other former Fort Augustus monk is due to face trial in Scotland soon for a series assaults, whilst a further seven cases remain under consideration by the Crown Office in Scotland.
Fr Alexander was returned by the Catholic Church to Australia in 1979, after allegations of abuse were made by another Fort Augustus Abbey pupil, who the BBC has also spoken to.
No report to the police was made, and no warnings were provided about his alleged offending behaviour, to the Church in Australia where Fr Alexander continued as a priest for a further 20 years or more.
He was stripped of his priestly faculties in 2013 after the BBC programme. | A former Catholic monk accused of child abuse at a Scottish school has been arrested in Australia. | 38718554 |
The plant will be built on land on Airedale Road, Keighley and will be capable of producing 10 to 11 MW of electricity a year.
More than 3,000 people had signed an online petition against the proposals due to concerns about pollution, noise and the visual impact of the plant.
The developer, Endless Energy, has not yet commented on the decision.
Read more about this and other stories from across West Yorkshire
The National Trust, which runs nearby East Riddlesden Hall, also objected to the plans due to the prominence of the chimney stack.
"We consider this will have a substantially harmful effect on the setting of East Riddlesden Hall," it said.
Bradford council had been recommended to approve the plans as the development would divert waste from landfill.
Officers also said it was not likely to have a major visual impact and concerns over pollution fell under the Environment Agency's permitting process.
The proposals were originally given planning permission in 2014 but a revised application altering the scheme was refused by Bradford Council in 2015.
The new application includes a refuse derived fuel power plant which has a 196ft (60m) chimney stack and a waste plastics melting plant capable of producing 28.5 m litres of bio fuel a year.
It is expected to create about 79 full time jobs and 300 temporary construction jobs. | A £135m energy from waste incinerator has been approved by councillors in West Yorkshire. | 38919723 |
Hadrian's Wall of Sound will feature hundreds of musicians from the North East and Cumbria performing along its 73 mile (117km) length.
Here's a look at what people can expect.
The event will start at daybreak on 5 June in Bowness on Solway, West Cumbria, and finish about 14 hours later in Wallsend, North Tyneside.
A baton will be passed between performers, who will use various modes of transport, including horses, motorbikes, unicycles, and an open-top vintage bus.
There will be a diverse range of acts including a pianist performing on a white grand piano in a field, teenage rap artists, Morris Dancers, a Northumbrian piper, and a ukulele band.
Durham-born operatic bass Graeme Danby, who will be performing on top of Cawfield's Crag, said: "I am a lucky man - I get to sing opera in the world's best opera houses but occasionally I get to do something different.
"This year it is singing my own special translation to a favourite aria from Mozart's opera Magic Flute in one of the world's most beautiful spots whilst being filmed by a drone helicopter."
He will then pass the baton on the Royal Northern Sinfonia Wind Quintet.
BBC Music Day will feature programmes, events and concerts across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
More than ten UK towns and cities will host events, with a number of star names, such as Tom Jones, Lulu, producer Mark Ronson and Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor acting as BBC Music Day Ambassadors.
The aim is to bring people together through their love of music, and the public has been asked to nominate unsung heroes - people who have made a contribution to the local music scene.
For details and to follow all the action as it happens on the day, visit bbc.co.uk/musicday. You can also follow the action on Twitter with the #BBCMusicDay hashtag.
There are places along the wall where people can watch the relay go through, although not all locations are suitable.
The best places to see the relay are Carlisle, Housesteads, Brocolitia Temple and Newcastle Quayside.
BBC Breakfast TV, Radio 3, and local BBC stations in Newcastle and Cumbria will also cover the event.
BBC Look North will broadcast from Segedunum Roman Fort in Wallsend for the end of the relay, and there will be full online coverage on BBC Tyne and Wear, and BBC Cumbria. | The first ever BBC Music Day will kick off its nationwide celebration of music next Friday and includes a relay spanning Hadrian's Wall. | 32899710 |
The unidentified pair are accused of supporting Syria's Fateh al-Sham over several years, sending them medical and food supplies and collecting donations.
The property was searched on Wednesday morning in tandem with raids in western Germany.
Leicestershire Police did not say whether any arrests were made.
Federal prosecutors in Germany said the Leicester raid was meant to gain evidence against the two people.
It comes after German authorities carried out multiple raids on flats. businesses and mosques in raids on jihadist suspects on 1 Feb, arresting 16 people suspected of helping a foreign terrorist group or planning an attack.
They are accused of working for Jabhat Fateh al-Sham - or the Front for the Conquest of Syria - by organising aid convoys, sending ambulances, medical equipment and food.
The Syria-based jihadist group, which changed its name from al-Nusra Front last July, has claimed responsibility for a number of suicide bombings including attacks on civilian targets. | Police have raided a house in Leicester as part of a German investigation into two people suspected of providing supporting for a Syrian jihadist group. | 38914083 |
Royal Bournemouth and Poole hospitals are restricting visitor numbers in an effort to control the vomiting and diarrhoea bug.
Bournemouth's lead infection control nurse, Paul Bolton, told people to only visit "if absolutely necessary".
Different wards have been shut at different times so it is advised people call for more information.
At Bournemouth the wards currently closed are two, three, nine, 22 and some areas are closed in ward 21, while at Poole the Kimmeridge ward has been closed. | Wards have been shut at two Dorset hospitals after confirmed cases of norovirus. | 35372492 |
The left-wing MP received ovations from the crowd for his messages on protecting benefits, ending austerity, raising taxes on the wealthiest and abolishing university tuition fees.
The rally on Tuesday ended the second day of his campaign visit to Wales.
Mr Corbyn is competing for the leadership against Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall.
Earlier he addressed supporters in a gathering at the memorial stones to Welsh Labour hero and NHS creator Aneurin Bevan in Tredegar.
He praised the work of the Welsh Labour government in Cardiff Bay.
"I've been looking at their economic planning ideas, looking at the way they're trying to promote industrial development in Wales," he said.
"They need more powers in that area. They also need more resources, particularly in infrastructure improvements.
"If you want to have a growing economy, a better industrial economy, you have to improve the basic infrastructure, which is in main rail but in part road as well.
Mr Corbyn said he was keen to forge closer links between the Labour parties in Wales and Westminster, saying he knew the former First Minister Rhodri Morgan well.
He said he had admired Mr Morgan's attempts in office to create "clear red water" between the former UK Labour government's policies and a more traditionally socialist direction in Wales.
"Maybe we can narrow the red water and we can walk across it," he said.
Mr Corbyn said he was "absolutely" ready to meet First Minister Carwyn Jones, as the other three leadership contenders had done, when they were both available.
Ballot papers will be sent to Labour members and registered supporters on Friday with the result announced on 12 September. | About 1,000 people have attended a rally in Cardiff for Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn. | 33880482 |
All kicks-offs at 15:00 BST unless otherwise stated
Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool (12:30 BST)
Chelsea v Burnley
Crystal Palace v Bournemouth
Everton v Stoke City
Leicester City v Swansea City
Southampton v Sunderland
Watford v Arsenal
Hull City v Manchester United (17:30)
West Bromwich Albion v Middlesbrough (13:30)
Manchester City v West Ham United (16:00) | Catch up on all the team news and previews for this weekend's games, which starts with the early kick-off between Tottenham and Liverpool at White Hart Lane. | 37193358 |
The crash happened on the A90 Aberdeen to Peterhead road at Auchiries, Longhaven, near Peterhead.
The 46-year-old officer was in a critical condition while the 58-year-old male car driver was stable.
Police Scotland said two police dogs in the van survived. One was uninjured, the other was being assessed.
The accident happened at about 23:50 on Tuesday.
Both drivers were freed from their vehicles before being taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for treatment.
Relatives of the police officer have been informed.
Insp Jon Barron said: "Our inquiries into the circumstances of this crash are obviously still at an early stage.
"I would be very keen to speak with anyone who may have seen either vehicle shortly beforehand, or anyone who witnessed the collision and who hasn't yet been spoken to by police. Please contact us on 101."
The A90 was closed for several hours while collision investigators studied the scene and examined both vehicles.
The road has since re-opened. | A police dog handler has been left critically injured after his van was involved in a crash with a car on the A90 in Aberdeenshire. | 39125638 |
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The Spaniard was sent off following the clash with the Everton midfielder in the 84th minute at Goodison Park.
A Chelsea spokesman said: "Diego spoke to club officials and expressed regret over his reaction to the challenge from Barry that led to his red card.
"But Diego was also very clear that he did not bite him at any point during that altercation."
Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink claims Everton deliberately provoked Costa, who had a running battle with Barry throughout the tie.
In the incident that led to Costa's second yellow card, the 27-year-old confronted Barry, moving his head towards him and in the direction of his neck.
"He was chased a bit in the game by Everton. They went after him. They knew it. It is within the rules," said Hiddink.
"As a referee you have to protect the situation, but knowing and feeling this atmosphere."
Hiddink, who managed Chelsea to victory over Everton in the 2009 FA Cup final, said he had not seen the incident that led to Costa's dismissal.
"I try to be fair in my judgement and it is difficult for me to say yes or no so I don't want to give judgement on this," he said.
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Everton manager Roberto Martinez said midfielder Barry, 35, had not complained about the incident - and was more interested in a win that takes his side to a semi-final at Wembley rather than any incident involving Costa.
Martinez said: "My interpretation is I don't think it was a key moment. It was an emotional game and rightly so.
"Diego Costa has a fighting spirit and I would like to praise the referee. The sending off of Diego Costa was right as I thought it was a second yellow card and the sending off of Gareth Barry was right.
"After we have won a game like this and got to Wembley, which our fans deserve so much, the last thing I am going to do is see if an opposing player has bit my player. Gareth Barry has said it is nothing to worry about. He is just disappointed he got a second yellow card."
It was Costa's first sending off since he joined Chelsea in summer 2014, although he received a retrospective three-game ban in January 2015 for stamping on Liverpool's Emre Can in a League Cup semi-final at Stamford Bridge.
The 27-year-old was also punished retrospectively with a three-match suspension after he clashed with Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny in a Premier League game at Stamford Bridge in September 2015.
Hiddink was asked whether Chelsea had considered an anger management cause for the confrontational Spain striker and joked: "There are movies about that, aren't there? Wasn't Jack Nicholson in a film called Anger Management? Maybe we can go and watch it together."
Former Premier League referee Howard Webb told BBC Radio 5 live: "I've watched the incident back and I am pretty confident that [referee] Michael Oliver has shown Costa a second yellow card for adopting an aggressive attitude.
"There is no way Michael Oliver can see what happens then with the neck - if it is a bite or not. He couldn't see it anyway as he is looking at the other side of Gareth Barry.
"Two things I think will happen now. I think the FA will look at the footage so they can try and see if a bite has taken place.
"They will look for evidence, for Gareth Barry's reaction, for marks on the neck. They will then come to a judgement and that will go down as something unseen by Michael Oliver.
"Secondly, I'll be amazed if Costa is not punished for his reaction after the second yellow card. He fails to leave the field of play, he is aggressive again to Michael Oliver and referees are always told to report that situation. That can lead to another match ban.
"The only time you could be sent off for attempting to bite is if you make the action to bite and the other player pulls away.
"But it looks like he has thought about it but not gone through with it. From what I've seen of the footage, it is not sufficient to support a charge for violent conduct retrospectively."
Media playback is not supported on this device | Striker Diego Costa has denied biting Gareth Barry during Chelsea's 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Everton. | 35796309 |
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The German was 0.833 seconds clear of Sauber's Felipe Nasr. Lewis Hamilton was fourth despite a reliability issue.
The Mercedes driver missed the final three hours of running because of a water leak caused by a failed part.
Meanwhile, Jenson Button managed only six laps in the McLaren as problems continued to plague the team.
That was only 10% of the target set by racing director Eric Boullier on Sunday after Fernando Alonso completed six laps on day one.
Like Alonso, Button failed to set a time as the McLaren was stranded in the pits with what the team said were "ancillary problems".
McLaren were "quite positive" they had fixed the problem and hoped to run the car again before the end of the day.
Button did head back out with fewer than 20 minutes of the session remaining but completed only one slow lap on a track soaked by a heavy shower of rain before returning to the pits.
With two unsuccessful days with a modified 2014 car in Abu Dhabi in November, McLaren have managed just 17 laps over four days of testing with the new Honda engine, none of them close to racing speed.
It is an inauspicious start to the renewed relationship between McLaren and Honda, which is returning to the sport for the first time in six years.
The two hope eventually to repeat the domination they enjoyed in their previous partnership from 1988-92.
Button said: "It has not been the easiest start to the season but it is a very complicated power unit. We understand the issue and we have our heads around it - that's what the last run in the wet was about - so we are hoping for a much more productive day three and day four."
Vettel's pace-setting time, set in a flurry of quick laps early in the day, will be an encouraging start to his Ferrari career, but headline laps in testing are a notoriously unreliable gauge of true pace, as it is impossible to know the specification the cars are running in.
The four-time world champion is scheduled to hand over the car to team-mate Kimi Raikkonen for the final two days of the test.
Despite his reliability issue, world champion Hamilton still managed nearly 100 laps, comfortably the most mileage of any team, to add to the 157 achieved by Nico Rosberg on Sunday.
"It was a good day," said Hamilton. "Testing is not the exciting part for any racing driver, but it is where you lay the foundations.
"We are working to understand the car. We can't get too excited just yet because we don't know where everyone stands.
"The car feels very much the same, with more downforce. We've made a step but how big is difficult to say."
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: "It's just showing off really - to turn up and do 157 laps is taking the mickey.
"They had a good car last year and have evolved it. They are the benchmark, no doubt about it. We have made good progress and hopefully we can get closer to them."
Red Bull's day was ruined when new driver Daniil Kvyat ran off track early on and damaged the car's front-wing mounting pillars.
The team did not have a spare so the Russian was restricted to doing system-check laps without a front wing for the rest of the day.
With Valtteri Botta third-fastest in his Williams, the team's chief technical officer Pat Symonds was optimistic they had made progress from 2014, when they leapt from ninth to third in the constructors' championship.
"Valtteri's comments were very positive," said Symonds. "Initial comments do count for quite a lot and I was very encouraged by what Valtteri said."
The Lotus car ran for the first time after missing the first day of the test, with Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado setting the sixth-fastest time overall.
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:20.984
2 Felipe Nasr (Brz) Sauber-Ferrari 1:21.867
3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams-Mercedes 1:22.319
4 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes 1:22.490
5 Max Verstappen (Ned) Toro Rosso-Renault 1:24.167
6 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Lotus-Mercedes 1:25.802
7 Jenson Button (GB) McLaren-Honda 1:54.655
8 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Red Bull-Renault No time | Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel set the pace for the second day in succession at the first pre-season test in Jerez as McLaren-Honda continued to struggle. | 31098258 |
Teignbridge District Council said the 30ft (9.1m) fin whale on Red Rock Beach near Dawlish is being taken apart in small pieces by dumper trucks.
A local rendering plant will remove the oil from the carcass and cook the remaining body.
This will then be shipped to various sites around the country to be used for biofuel.
Councillor Humphrey Clemens said: "It will be taken to a rendering plant where the oil will be squeezed out of it and the carcass cooked down.
"The whole carcass will be used for bio fuels".
The site on Red Rock Beach near Dawlish has been cordoned off and a screen has been erected around the remains to keep the public away.
The whale washed up on the beach on Thursday. | The carcass of a dead whale which washed up on the Devon coastline is to be used for biofuel. | 37529769 |
Mohammed Miah, 37, of Poplar, was told he must serve at least 18 years for killing baby Rifat.
A post-mortem examination of Rifat's body found 38 rib fractures, eight leg fractures and a broken spine.
His wife Rebeka Nazmin, 32, was cleared of murder but found guilty of allowing the death of her baby and causing him suffering.
Nazmin, who was said to be in the "thrall" of her husband, was sentenced to six years in prison.
The trial heard how Rifat was also hit with the cord of a mobile phone charger and burned on a radiator.
Both Miah and Nazmin had tried to blame a young autistic child in the house, who had behavioural problems in the past, for the murder.
The jury heard Rifat was subjected to "systematic" abuse while in the care of his parents, culminating in fatal brain injuries in July last year.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Spencer told Miah only he could know why he abused his son - whether it was an "angry response" to being laid up all day with a bad back or "deliberate cruelty".
He told Nazmin: "But for your failure to protect Rifat from his father he might well still be alive." | A father who tried to blame an autistic boy for killing his 13-week-old son has been jailed for murder. | 39431883 |
According to official statistics, 700 fewer people were on the register in March.
The total number of jobless is about 57,000.
However, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 7.7%, which is above the UK average of 6.9%.
Other data published on Wednesday revealed that the Northern Ireland economy continued to grow in the final months of 2013.
There have now been three consecutive quarterly increases.
Stormont economy minister Arlene Foster said: "This is good news in relation to economic performance."
"The various business confidence surveys also continue to give us reasons to be to be positive about the prospects for further improvements in business and economic conditions," she added.
Mrs Foster said the continuing decrease in unemployment benefit claimants was "the most sustained fall since June 1995".
"The rate of unemployment in Northern Ireland (7.7%) is above that of the UK (6.9%) but compares favourably to the rates in the European Union (10.8%) and the Republic of Ireland (11.9%)," she said. | The number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Northern Ireland has fallen for a 14th month in a row. | 27046051 |
Krisztián Gyöngyi was tracking animals in the Akagera National Park when he was killed, African Parks added.
It did not give more details, but rhinos usually charge and kill people with their horn.
Eastern black rhinos became extinct in Rwanda about a decade ago, and were reintroduced in May.
African Parks brought 20 rhinos from South Africa to the Akagera National Park.
The death of Mr Gyöngyi, who was from Hungary, was "very tragic" and a "huge loss", African Parks CEO Peter Fearnhead said in a statement.
He was a rhino specialist with more than five years' experience, and was instrumental in supporting efforts to reintroduce the black rhino to Rwanda, Mr Fearnhead said.
In the 1970s, more than 50 black rhinos lived in the Akagera National Park, but their numbers fell as a result of wide-scale poaching.
The last confirmed sighting of the species was in 2007 until African Parks reintroduced them in May after taking steps to improve security at the reserve. | A conservationist who played a key role in reintroducing the eastern black rhino to Rwanda has been killed by one of the animals, a wildlife group says. | 40201730 |
And it is threatening legal action if either Vote Leave or Grassroots Out are chosen instead.
The party says neither group can speak for anti-austerity campaigners who want to leave the EU, due to their "pro-business" and "reactionary" views.
A decision will be made by the Electoral Commission on 14 April.
The Commission can select one designated lead campaign for both the "Leave" and "Remain" sides ahead of the referendum on EU membership on 23 June.
The watchdog will judge each applicant's merits on the basis of a range of criteria, such as level of cross-party support, campaign tactics and organisational capacity.
The chosen campaigns will get access to a grant of up to £600,000, an overall spending limit of £7m, campaign broadcasts, free mailshots and free access to meeting rooms.
On the Leave side, it had been expected to be a straight fight between two groups - Vote Leave, which is backed by London Mayor Boris Johnson, cabinet ministers including Michael Gove, UKIP MP Douglas Carswell - and Grassroots Out, which is supported by Tory MPs Peter Bone and Tom Pursglove, UKIP leader Nigel Farage and Labour MP Kate Hoey among others.
But in a surprise move the TUSC has joined the fray by applying to the Electoral Commission for selection as the official Leave campaign.
Only one group, Britain Stronger in Europe, has applied to be the lead Remain campaign.
The TUSC claims the other exit groups cannot meet the test set down by the 2000 Political Parties and Representation Act requiring referendum campaigners to "adequately represent" all those campaigning for a desired outcome.
"We want the Electoral Commission to recognise the reality that while we can't claim to represent the hedge funds which fund UKIP and the Tories, they can't claim to represent the anti-austerity millions who want their voices to be heard," said Clive Heemskerk, the TUSC's national agent.
Choosing either Vote Leave or Grassroots Out to carry the flag for the Leave campaign would be a "political decision", Mr Heemskerk said, which would exclude all those arguing for "an exit left" strategy and would give the Remain campaign a "five to ten point boost".
While admitting the TUSC's original intention was to call for neither group to be chosen, he said it had submitted a "serious application" after concluding its concerns would not be addressed.
The TUSC was only set up in 2010 - but Mr Heemskerk said its anti-EU stance was rooted in the left's historic opposition to the Union as a vehicle for corporate interests. He dismissed Labour supporters of Vote Leave and Grassroots Out as "pro-business Blarites".
The TUSC application is being fronted by ex-MP Dave Nellist, a former backbench ally of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Nellist was deselected as a Labour candidate in 1992 and later expelled from the party for his links to the Trotskyist group Militant.
Mr Heemskerk said Mr Corbyn's personal scepticism about the EU was well known but Labour's official policy of campaigning to remain in had been "dictated" by those on the centre and centre-right of the party.
"The socialist voice against the EU has been muzzled," he claimed. "It is a tragedy that Tony Benn and Bob Crow died two years ago. They would have been crystal clear."
The TUC, the main umbrella group for Britain's trade unions, backs staying in the EU although some unions are uneasy about Labour's role in the campaign so far and some have decided to remain neutral.
Rail union the RMT, which is not affiliated to Labour and which has funded its own anti-EU party in the past, is bankrolling the TUSC bid to for official designation.
Mr Heemskerk said other unions were considering their stance and Unison, on whose executive committee TUSC has strong representation, could support its call to not cooperate with the Leave campaign.
Asked whether TUSC had the organisational capacity to run a referendum campaign, he said it put up more than 130 candidates at last year's general election and joked that the RMT had shown itself able to "bring London to a standstill" in past Tube strike action.
He also warned the party would not rule anything out if "its arguments were not listened to".
"If we don't get a meeting with the Electoral Commission, then there is a strong case for a judicial review."
Vote Leave is backed by a number of Labour MPs, including Gisela Stuart and Labour-supporting businessman John Mills while Grassroots Out's supporters include Labour's Kate Hoey and former Respect MP George Galloway.
Grassroots Out welcomed TUSC's intervention and said it hoped it would play a role in the campaign, whoever won the designation.
"Trade Union and Socialist Coalition has terrific reach across the country and it's great to have workers' voices so well represented," said Brendan Chilton, general secretary of Labour Go.
"We look forward to working with them towards our common goal to free the UK from the shackles of the EU."
The Electoral Commission said it had the option to meet the representatives of the different groups to clarify points or seek further information.
"The Commission will make its decision on designation of lead campaigners, as soon as practicable within the period from 1 to 14 April," it said in a statement.
"The Commission will also publish on its website information about how the decision was reached, including the application forms submitted by campaigners," it said. | The Trade Union and Socialist Coalition has launched a bid to be designated as the official campaign to get Britain out of the European Union. | 35941945 |
England's next game is against Lithuania in a European Championship qualifier at Wembley on 27 March.
The players and manager Roy Hodgson will meet at the national football centre at St George's Park.
Hodgson told the FA website: "We've all agreed we're going to get together. Unfortunately, my time with them won't really begin again until March."
England have a 100% record in the six games they have played since the World Cup, with friendly wins over Norway and Scotland book-ending four Euro 2016 qualifying victories.
They are six points clear after four games in Euro 2016 qualification group E.
Qualifying for the finals in France would provide Hodgson with the opportunity to make up for the dismal World Cup experience in Brazil, when England failed to win a game and were eliminated at the group stage for the first time.
"I am looking forward to seeing the team qualify for France in 2016," said Hodgson, as he looked ahead to the New Year.
"Most importantly, I am looking for constant progression.
"I am looking for us to be a better team at the end of 2015 than we are at the start of it.
"Hopefully we will be a serious competitor when we get to France." | England's players will meet at the end of January to review their win over Scotland and look ahead to 2015. | 30616713 |
Network Rail's £50m Great Western Electrification Programme aims to cut journey times on the route between London Paddington to Swansea.
Rail passengers have been warned of a summer of disruption on the line.
To accommodate overhead power lines, 10km of track to the east of the city, and in the Box tunnel, will need to be lowered and some bridges altered.
It will involve the lowering of track through Dundas Aqueduct, Box tunnel, Middle Hill tunnel and Sydney Gardens, to avoid making changes to historic infrastructure there, Network Rail says.
Eleven new sets of points will also be installed. Replacement bus services will be in use during the work.
"The preparation work we are doing in Bath is essential to make the line ready for electrification," says Andy Haynes, Network Rail's project director for the west of England who also apologised to rail users.
"I know that many people want to travel to and from Bath over the summer and I would like to stress that Bath remains open for business during this time, albeit your journey may take longer than usual."
Between 18 and 31 July the line between Chippenham and Bath will be closed but services via Melksham will run.
And during August all lines to the east of Bath will be closed for a month.
This means there will be no trains running between Westbury, Freshford and Avoncliff to Bath Spa and journeys towards London from Bath Spa will be routed via Bristol Temple Meads and Parkway. | Work has started to prepare the main rail line through Bath for electrification works. | 33579646 |
Media playback is not supported on this device
Adams, 33, added the world title to her Olympic,Commonwealth and European crowns by beating Thailand's Peamwilai Laopeam on Friday.
The English fighter won the 51kg final in Astana by a split decision.
Adams, who has qualified for the Rio Olympics, had previously won silver three times at the World Championships.
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After a cagey opening round, Adams was consistently on the front foot and more aggressive than her Thai opponent.
She rocked Laopeam with a straight right in the second round and, despite being caught with a combination in the third, finished strongly in the fourth round.
"I've finally done it," she said. "And what better year to do it than in the year of the [Olympic] Games? I've cemented my place in history. The champ is here!"
One of the judges scored in favour of Laopeam throughout the fight, but Adams ascribed her hard-earned victory to high-quality preparation and greater desire.
"I stuck to the tactics, listened to the coaches, did all the training and left nothing to chance," she said.
"It was a touch-and-go fight. She's a really good opponent and deserved to be in the final, but I just gave a little bit more and wanted it that much more."
Media playback is not supported on this device | Great Britain's Nicola Adams completed her full set of international honours with a flyweight gold medal at the AIBA World Championships in Kazakhstan. | 36397136 |
Teacher quality has often been highlighted as the key to raising school standards and this research warns of a serious gap in funding.
David Weston, chief executive of the Teacher Development Trust, said the findings were "extremely concerning".
The Department for Education said such training was "vital for all teachers".
But it was up to head teachers to "make the right decisions for their staff".
The study says 600 schools have "wiped out" their budget for professional development.
Head teachers have warned about pressures on school funding and the education charity warns that training budgets can be among the first to suffer when there are cuts.
"It is shockingly short-sighted for schools to be slashing these budgets at a time when there is more pressure than ever on recruiting and keeping staff," said Mr Weston.
"We work with schools who have invested in this area and seen huge improvements in pupil results and teacher recruitment."
He said that investment in professional training should remain a priority and that pupils deserved to be taught by teachers with up-to-date skills.
The research found lower-achieving schools were likely to spend less on training than those which were more successful.
Secondary schools on average spent 0.37% of their budgets on staff training and 0.65% in primary schools.
Funding levels for training were "pitifully low", said Prof Robert Coe, director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring at Durham University.
"Research evidence is very clear that investing in high-quality support for teachers' professional learning is not just one of the most effective things schools can do to raise standards, but one of the best-value choices they can make.
"Cutting spending on CPD, even in a time of tight budgets, would be one of the most counterproductive, short-sighted and evidence-averse things a school could do."
The deputy head of Quintin Kynaston school in north London, Ross McGill, said it was wrong for schools to be "squeezed into a corner, forced to make a decision to cut, or have no continuous professional development budget available to their staff".
He said that the staff development budget was "always the first thing to be cut when unplanned financial circumstances arise throughout the academic year".
"With rapid reforms in curriculum, examinations and assessment, every school will need to invest a huge amount of time for all staff to be one step ahead of their students in class," he said.
A Department for Education spokesman said: "Continued professional development is vital for all teachers to help improve their knowledge and skills.
"Thanks to our investment in school funding, which at more than £40bn in 2016-17 is at its highest level on record, we are giving all schools access to the resources they need.
"We trust heads to make the right decisions for their staff and use those resources to invest in high quality training and development." | There are 20,000 teachers in schools in England without any budget to train them, according to research by the Teacher Development Trust. | 38827188 |
It means the previous two host confederations - Europe in 2018 and Asia in 2022 - are barred from bidding.
The 2026 tournament could involve 40 or 48 nations after world governing body Fifa agreed to study in greater detail the options to expand the tournament from its 32-team format.
The proposals will be made at Fifa's next meeting on 9 January 2017.
"The feeling amongst the council is rather positive towards expansion," said Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
Infantino took charge of Fifa in February and one of his election promises was to increase the number of teams at the World Cup finals to 40.
However, this month the 46-year-old Italian proposed increasing that to 48 countries, with 32 taking part in a preliminary knockout round in the host country and the winners joining 16 seeded teams in the group stages.
There are four options for the 2026 tournament:
Critics have expressed concerns over potentially weakening the quality of football at the finals.
Former England striker and Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker said Fifa presidents should "do the right things for the game rather than stuff to get re-elected".
He added on social media: "Come on Mr Infantino! You have a mandate to look after football's best interests, not your own. Do not destroy the World Cup! Please."
But speaking at a Fifa Council meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, Infantino said: "When a team qualifies for the tournament the whole country is in football euphoria.
"More youngsters want to play the game, companies want to get involved in sponsorship and the benefits to football as a whole are immense.
"In a 48-team format, the quality would be higher because the 32 teams would have a play-off. The quality would improve and not decrease in any way."
The 2018 World Cup will be held in Russia and the 2022 competition in Qatar.
Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura said she has "corrected" some "big surprises" since taking over in May.
Samoura, the first female to be appointed to the role, told BBC Sport: "The reason why I am here is because the management and the administration of funding was questioned.
"My first job was to looking into finance. Yes, there were some big surprises which were immediately corrected.
"In four days in changing hotels, we saved £99,500. The rooms are at the same level and it is still a five-star hotel for Council members.
"No more limousines are available - we are carpooling. The mood for that was positive and it tightens links.
"A month ago, I signed an agreement with the United Nations in New York on climate change and we were the first sporting institution to sign it." | European countries will not be able to host the 2026 World Cup because of Fifa's rotational policy. | 37656700 |
Rachel Reeves told BBC Radio 4's Any Questions she supported the changes announced in Wednesday's Budget.
But she said much more detail was needed about what the changes would mean "in practice".
The proposed reforms will allow people to spend their pension pots how they wish rather having to buy an annuity, which guarantees an annual income.
The new rules are due to come in from April 2015, subject to consultation, with some existing regulations to be relaxed from next Thursday.
Speaking on Any Questions, Ms Reeves said the annuities and pension market currently "does not work well for people who have saved all their lives".
She said: "I support reform and I support what has been announced this week, although we need to see a lot more detail about what that will mean in practice."
The party wants the consultation to consider whether the move helps lower and middle income taxpayers, whether people who want to buy an annuity under the current system can do so, and what provision is made for advice.
Ms Reeves said "wider reform", including a cap on pension providers' fees and charges, was needed.
Asked to give an undertaking that Labour would not seek to overturn the reform, she added: "I don't think the annuities market works for people at the moment, so I support reform and I support the changes that people have more flexibility about how to access their money. I can give that assurance."
She said she believes "the majority of people" would not choose to draw down their full pension.
Labour leader Ed Miliband earlier insisted he backs more flexible rules on pensions, but said his party wanted to look at the detail before they support the changes in Parliament.
"We're certainly not going to reject these proposals out of hand," said Mr Miliband. "That would be the wrong thing to do.
"These are complex proposals. We need to scrutinise the detail and we need to have some clear answers from the government on some of those questions."
Some in Mr Miliband's party, including former front bencher Tom Watson, had criticised the plans.
Writing on his blog, Mr Watson said the move was "a one-sided charter for tax avoidance" that was unfair on younger taxpayers.
It is expected that anyone over the age of 55 who belongs to a private pension scheme (as opposed to a final-salary scheme) will be able to take out their savings as a lump sum to spend or invest as they wish.
Chancellor George Osborne has dismissed fears newly-retired people could "blow" their money.
A Downing Street spokesman earlier said that under the rule changes, pensioners were guaranteed independent advice before making any decision about their pension provision.
Joanne Segars, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, told BBC Radio 4 this advice would be "absolutely critical", but said there was "very little detail" so far.
Baroness Sally Greengross OBE, head of the International Longevity Centre think tank, agreed that "advice, and the right sort of advice, is absolutely critical".
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Money Box, pensions minister Steve Webb said a "guidance guarantee" would be in place to help people and "warn them to be careful of some of the rogues who we know are out there".
Although pensioners who have already taken an annuity will not be able to cancel it following the rule change, the government will look at the cases of people who are still in their "cooling off period", he said. | Labour will support government plans to overhaul pensions, the shadow work and pensions secretary has said. | 26693266 |
The Home Affairs Committee said it was not seeing "the level of performance we would expect" from the NCA.
The organisation, which has a £500 million annual budget, started work in October 2013 and recovered assets worth £22.5 million in its first year.
The NCA has said generating revenue is not its key aim.
Committee chairman Keith Vaz said: "The NCA has been a success, and has proved to be more responsive and more active than its predecessor Soca (the Serious Organised Crime Agency), but it is not yet the FBI equivalent that it was hailed to be."
In a report on the "new architecture of policing", the committee reviewed the changes made by Home Secretary Theresa May - which she previously called the "most radical" in 50 years.
In October 2014, Mrs May said the NCA had made a "strong start".
But the committee said that, like Soca, the NCA was "not recovering assets in sufficient volume to justify a budget of half a billion".
"The NCA must improve drastically in this area so that the returns achieved equate to the resources that are made available to it," it added.
In comments on a range of issues, the report said:
In its conclusions, the report said all "major policing bodies have been overhauled and reformed" during the current Parliament.
"It is now time to allow these pieces of the policing puzzle to settle into the new landscape, so that they might achieve the aim of making policing more effective," it said.
The report said counter-terrorism had not found a "settled position" in the new structure, and a review should be carried out "early in the next Parliament" to address this.
It also said the policing code of ethics must be "in the DNA" of officers, so they should be required to acknowledge it by signing a copy and swearing an oath to the Queen.
The NCA's role is to lead the UK's "fight to cut serious and organised crime".
The organisation says it does not exist to raise funds, says BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw, but insists that the value of going after criminal assets comes from its disruptive effect - derailing conspiracies and preventing further crimes being funded. | The National Crime Agency must "drastically" increase the amount of criminal assets it recovers to "justify its budget", a committee of MPs says. | 31498168 |
Not just applause - that is standard. But multi-party approbation. Leaders and their colleagues all applauding each other, commending the comments of their rivals.
It was a display of solidarity, of unity, of determination to defy terror in the face of the tragic scenes from Westminster. A small thing, perhaps, the collective hubbub of colliding palms. But, in its way, significant.
It is an animal instinct, a social imperative, to huddle together when under attack. But this was also about a declaration of shared values; of democracy and freedom of expression.
Each of the leaders performed their role well, deftly choreographing their condemnation and commonality of purpose.
The first minister talked of the "heinous attack" witnessed at Westminster. Like other leaders, she praised the police, the security officers and others who had tendered assistance. Those who ran towards chaos, to help, rather than understandably fleeing the scene.
Terrorists, she said, seek to undermine, to divide. "They will not succeed", she declared. It was a conscious echo of statements made by others, including the prime minister. It was a deliberate act of consolidation.
Ruth Davidson spoke of a cowardly attack, Kezia Dugdale described Westminster as a beacon of democracy, Patrick Harvie urged a programme of education to ease division.
Willie Rennie told movingly of how he used to walk across Westminster Bridge on his way to work as an MP, no doubt quietly reciting Wordsworth's lines, "a sight so touching in its majesty". Many years earlier, I pursued the same route daily, from Waterloo.
Mr Rennie reflected that the splendour he had once witnessed was now associated with brutality and death. One can but hope that Wordsworth's majesty will return.
All the leaders, all the leaders, emphasised that terror must not be allowed to divide communities in Scotland. In particular, that there must be no backlash against Muslims.
Then it was over - and, in further questions, MSPs returned to discussing hospitals, care of the elderly and the like. There was even room for a little muted humour.
Mundane? Of course. Deliberately so. A conscious return to parliament's duty. | After the temporary silence of yesterday, there was an unaccustomed noise in the Holyrood chamber today. | 39367207 |
Green belt land also has huge potential to provide natural habitat and public access to the countryside, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said.
But the green belt around large towns and cities is being "nibbled" away month by month, the CPRE added.
Ministers say they plan to leave the environment better than they found it.
"Yesterday's car parks and sewage works can be tomorrow's wetland and woodland," Paul Miner, the CPRE's planning campaign manager, said.
Currently, building on green belt land - which surrounds the country's biggest towns and cities - is prohibited except under exceptional circumstances.
But the government's target to build a million new homes by 2020 has led to concerns that such land will be used for developments.
Mr Miner warned that the "pressure of development" could shrink the designated open space, which currently covers 12.5% of England.
"The green belt is successful and popular," he said. "Yet we are nibbling away at it month by month.
"Given its potential, we should be looking at how public funding can improve green belt."
A report by the CPRE highlighted areas such as Lee Valley Park in London, where old industrial sites and gravel pits have been converted to country parks, nature reserves, lakeside trails and sports facilities.
It also praised the Mersey Forest, a community forest around Liverpool, Warrington, Chester, Formby and Northwich, part of which was transformed from an industrial wasteland to wildlife-rich woodland with public access.
The organisation called on the government to prioritise investment in the green belt in its 25-year plan for the environment, expected to be published next year, and to also reaffirm its commitment in the forthcoming Housing White Paper.
Mr Miner said: "The green belt's future depends on the government's desire to protect it."
The government recently announced an extra £3.7bn for new housing projects in England.
Chancellor Philip Hammond said in his Autumn Statement that this sum would pay for nearly 100,000 new homes.
The Department for Communities and Local Government has also launched a consultation into planning laws which protect the green belt.
A government spokesperson said: "It is our ambition to be the first generation since the industrial revolution to leave our environment better than we found it.
"That's why we are committed to protecting and enhancing green belt land while boosting brown-field development.
The department is expected to publish its 25-year plan for the environment next year. | Derelict industrial sites could become nature reserves and woodlands as part of investment in the green belt, countryside campaigners have urged. | 38280910 |
Sixteen sides with Category One academies are involved in 2016-17 but League One and Two teams must play a certain number of first-team players.
"How can we have a development trophy for Premier League teams who can do what they want, yet we can't develop our own players in it?" said Robinson.
In response, the EFL said it will "continue to assess the format".
An EFL spokesman said: "The revised format of the Checkatrade Trophy, which is a one-year pilot, is part of the EFL's long-term commitment to help the nation produce more and better homegrown players.
"It has also been designed to help reinvigorate the competition for the benefit of League One and Two clubs as it was widely felt that it had lost some of its purpose in previous seasons."
Robinson's Dons face Peterborough in the group stage of the competition on Tuesday, and must have in their starting line-up the five highest appearance-makers in the team, five players who played the preceding fixture or five who play in the next league match.
Sides with Category One academies in the competition, such as Leicester and Chelsea, must start at least six players under the age of 21, but the rest of the squad can come from their first team if they choose.
Robinson told BBC Three Counties Radio: "I think the rules need to change drastically, or don't have the competition.
"I don't think it is conducive to development anymore. I think it's rubbish.
"If they made this an open competition where we could all play our under-21s, play players to get fit, close half the stands, and make it more of a competition for development.
"Don't make it just a development competition for Premier League teams when clubs like us work so hard to develop our own players." | The current format of the Checkatrade Trophy is "rubbish", according to MK Dons manager Karl Robinson. | 37540062 |
The driver made off and the birds escaped from the boot when Cleveland and Durham Police stopped a vehicle in Horden, Peterlee, on Monday night.
The man was arrested after officers gave chase. It is thought 12 chickens and tools found in the car could have been stolen from a farm.
It is unknown whether all of the fleeing birds were recovered.
The suspect remains in custody. | A dozen chickens were discovered in the back of a car after a police chase in County Durham. | 36080658 |
World number 11 Kim joined Webb, who carded a 70, on six under par after a birdie on the 18th completed a 69.
Webb, 42, is seeking an eighth major title, with her last coming in 2006, while Kim, 24, is aiming for a first.
Overnight leader Christie Kerr dropped to third place, two shots back, after a round of 73.
England's Georgia Hall is the best-placed Briton on level par, six shots adrift, with compatriot Bronte Law and Scot Carly Booth 10 shots behind on four over. Charley Hull plummeted to 12 over after a third-round 80.
Booth, one of three Scots who made the cut, carded a 75 to go with earlier rounds of 75 and 70, after a painful triple bogey on the 15th hole.
"The weather was pretty brutal to be honest," said the 2012 winner. "I played OK today apart from my four-putt from five feet.
"I had a triple on the 15th which was just stupid but apart from that it was good golf.
"I rushed the putt and my head went a little. It's just one of those; you have to forget about it now.
"I'll kick myself for a little bit, but tomorrow is a new day."
Catriona Matthew, looking for a third Scottish Open victory, posted a 76 to finish on eight over, while Sally Watson carded a 77 for 10 over. | Australian Karrie Webb and South Korean Kim Sei-young share the lead heading into the final round of the Ladies Scottish Open at Dundonald Links. | 40765050 |
Mr Abbott told parliament units in Sydney and Melbourne began operating last week.
They had already intercepted at least one person of interest, he said.
Meanwhile Australia's top spy says that 15 Australians are believed to have died fighting for Middle East-based extremist groups like Islamic State.
Mr Abbott did not give further details about how the person was intercepted or their intended destination.
He said the move would be extended to all Australia's international airports, with an additional 80 border force officers to monitor the movements of people on security watch lists.
Biometric screening would also be introduced to all international airports, according to Fairfax Media.
At least 60 Australians were known to be fighting with jihadist groups in Syria and northern Iraq, the prime minister said.
Separately, the director general of Australia's spy agency, David Irvine, told reporters that 15 Australians fighting with militant groups were believed to have been killed in the current conflicts in Iraq and Syria, including two young suicide bombers.
Dozens of Australian fighters had already returned home and "a good number of these" remained a concern to the authorities, he said.
Mr Irvine said 100 or more people in Australia were "actively supporting" militant groups by recruiting new fighters, grooming suicide-bombing candidates, and providing funds and equipment.
Australia and the United States signed an agreement on Wednesday to share information that would confirm identities of foreign travellers at airports.
Australia is also spending an extra A$630 million (£354m, $587m) over the next four years to tackle the threat of home-grown terrorism. This week the government announced that as part of that package, it would spend A$64 million to help prevent young people from becoming radicalised.
Mr Abbott had earlier announced Australia would restrict citizens from travelling to certain areas to join militant groups.
The moves follow a series of disturbing reports. An image of a young boy, reportedly the son of an Australian terror convict, holding a Syrian's severed head shocked Australia earlier this month.
In July, an 18-year-old suicide bomber from Melbourne killed several people in a market near a Baghdad mosque.
In the same month authorities in Canberra issued arrest warrants for two Australian Islamic State fighters, after one was pictured brandishing the severed heads of what appeared to be Syrian government soldiers. | New counter-terrorism units have been set up at two Australian airports, PM Tony Abbott says, amid concern over Australians fighting in Iraq and Syria. | 28948498 |
But Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook warned it "could take some time" as it remained to be seen whether Islamic State (IS) would "stand and fight".
The coalition of forces launched their push towards the city in the early hours of Monday.
IS seized Mosul, then Iraq's second-largest city, in June 2014.
The extremists' leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi then chose Mosul as the place to announce the forming of a caliphate, so retaking the city would be "symbolic", according to Mr Cook.
Mr Cook told reporters in Washington: "Early indications are that Iraqi forces have met their objectives so far, and that they are ahead of schedule for this first day. This is going according to the Iraqi plan - but again, it's early, and the enemy gets a vote here. We will see whether ISIL [IS] stands and fights.
"We are confident no matter what, however, that the Iraqis have the capabilities to get this job done, and we stand ready to support them, along with the rest of the coalition."
A coalition of 30,000 Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Sunni tribal fighters began their advance on lS's last major stronghold in the country after months of planning on Monday.
It is thought between 4,000 and 8,000 IS fighters remain in Mosul.
The Kurds seized several villages in the first few hours of the operation, and announced on Monday evening they had achieved all their key objectives, including recapturing 200 sq km and nine villages in under 24 hours.
They also secured an additional significant stretch of the Irbil-Mosul road.
One Kurdish general told the BBC's Orla Guerin: "We have a powerful enemy, They are not just fighting the Kurds or the Shia, they are fighting the whole world.
"We want to defeat them for everyone's sake."
But as the fighting gets closer to the city, concerns have been raised for the safety of civilians still trapped in the area, with British International Development Secretary Priti Patel said the protection of civilians must be a "paramount concern".
"Retaking Mosul will be an important step towards defeating Daesh [IS] in Iraq and ending its tyranny over the civilian population in the city," she said.
"However, with up to one-and-a-half million people still living in the city, it is clear that their protection and wellbeing must be a paramount concern."
Already, the Iraqi government has dropped thousands of leaflets on Mosul telling residents what to do during the offensive.
"My understanding is that there may be as many as seven million leaflets dropped in the next 48 hours or so to try and educate the population of Mosul as to the safest way to conduct themselves as this fighting plays out," Mr Cook said..
The BBC understands that British aircraft have also been involved in Monday's coalition air strikes on Mosul.
The RAF has been providing support to Iraqi troops in the build-up to the operation and will continue to play a "leading role" in the fight against IS, UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said.
About 30,000 pro-government troops are involved in the operation. The main assault is being led by Iraqi army troops.
About 4,000 Kurdish fighters are trying to clear villages to the east of Mosul, to allow the army to move in.
US Special Operations personnel are advising forces on the ground. Elite Iraqi counterterrorism forces are expected to join in the coming days.
An estimated 4,000-8,000 Islamic State fighters are defending the city.
Follow Orla Guerin, who is with Kurdish forces, on Twitter
Mosul, the oil-rich capital of Nineveh province, is Iraq's second-largest city. IS militants overran it in June 2014.
Its capture became a symbol of the group's rise as a major force and its ability to control territory. It was there that IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a "caliphate" in parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.
The city was one of Iraq's most diverse, comprising ethnic Sunni Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians and Turkmens, as well as a variety of religious minorities.
While members of those minorities largely fled the onslaught by IS, many local Sunni Arabs initially welcomed the militants, angered by the sectarian policies of the previous Shia Arab-led central government.
But after two years of brutal IS rule, opposition has reportedly grown inside Mosul.
One major concern for those still there is the involvement of Shia militiamen in the offensive, after they were accused of sectarian abuses in other cities that have been recaptured.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has sought to reassure them by saying only Iraqi security forces would be allowed to enter Mosul.
Even if IS is driven out of Mosul, the group will still control areas of northern and eastern Iraq.
Up to 100,000 Iraqi civilians may flee to Syria and Turkey to escape the military assault in Mosul, the UN says.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has issued an appeal for an additional $61m (£50m) to provide tents, camps, and winter items such as blankets for displaced people inside Iraq and the two neighbouring countries.
UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien said: "I am extremely concerned for the safety of up to 1.5 million people living in Mosul who may be impacted."
Many are expected to be caught in the fighting. There are fears that residents could be used as human shields by IS.
As many as a million people could be forced to flee their homes.
Most are expected to leave "with only the clothes on their backs," Becky Bakr Abdulla of the Norwegian Refugee Council told the AFP news agency. | Iraqi forces are "ahead of schedule", the Pentagon says, as they begin the second day of the battle to retake Mosul from so-called IS fighters. | 37685964 |
They are among 20 riders heading to the Worlds in Hong Kong from 12-16 April.
Ten riders will be making their championships debut, including Scot Neah Evans and Welshman Lewis Oliva.
"The team is made up of a good mix of experienced and developing riders," said Head coach Iain Dyer.
"I'm pleased to see non-programme riders Neah Evans and Lewis Oliva in Great Britain colours and their selection is testament not only to their hard work but to the support we receive from Scottish and Welsh Cycling respectively.
"It's also great to have some of our Olympians in the squad. This year's Worlds will allow them to race different events which were not possible in previous years due to the focus on the Olympic events."
Four-time Olympic gold medallist Laura Kenny, 24, will miss the World Championships after announcing in February that she and husband Jason Kenny are expecting their first child.
Great Britain Cycling Team:
Women's Endurance: Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker, Ellie Dickinson, Neah Evans, Emily Kay, Manon Lloyd, Emily Nelson.
Men's Endurance: Matt Bostock, Steven Burke, Kian Emadi, Chris Latham, Mark Stewart, Andy Tennant, Oliver Wood.
Sprint: Jack Carlin, Katy Marchant, Lewis Oliva, Ryan Owens, Callum Skinner, Joe Truman. | Olympic champions Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker, Steven Burke and Callum Skinner will represent Great Britain at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in April. | 39210532 |
The former Sunday school teacher was jailed for a minimum of 18 years in 2011 for murdering Mr Buchanan and her ex-lover's wife Lesley Howell.
Their bodies were found in Castlerock, County Londonderry, in 1991, and police thought they had killed themselves.
Stewart, 52, was jailed for plotting the murders with Colin Howell.
Howell, a former dentist, pleaded guilty to the murders in 2010 and is serving a minimum of 21 years in prison.
Stewart's appeal in 2013 against her conviction for the murder of Mrs Howell was dismissed.
At that stage, she dropped a challenge against her conviction for the murder of Mr Buchanan, her first husband.
But her lawyers sought permission to relaunch that appeal.
They said the abandonment should be annulled because she was allegedly not advised by previous legal representatives that it would amount to a dismissal.
But a judge in Belfast said the fresh grounds for appeal were "without foundation".
He said Stewart, who appeared via prison video-link, had fully accepted the advice of previous counsel that an appeal against the conviction for Mr Buchanan's murder was groundless.
"She knew that the quest was finished," he added.
The court also rejected claims that the trial judge failed to properly warn the jury to look for more than just accomplice evidence from Howell of Stewart's guilt.
The judge said her application had to be refused.
Stewart's lawyers are continuing with separate attempts to have the Criminal Cases Review Commission refer her conviction for killing Mrs Howell back to the Court of Appeal. | Double killer Hazel Stewart has lost an appeal against her conviction for the murder of her husband Trevor Buchanan. | 34578972 |
Arthur Roy Taylor, from Lancashire, went missing from his boat in Gwbert on Saturday, 15 April.
A man's body was discovered near Ynys Locthyn, Llangrannog, on Sunday at about 14:45 BST.
Dyfed-Powys Police said formal identification of the body has not taken place.
Mr Taylor left his accommodation to take his boat out from Gwbert boat club in Ceredigion. It was found the next day.
Mr Taylor lived in the Cardigan area before moving to Lancashire, but was a frequent visitor because of his association with the Teifi Boating Club. | The family of a missing 90-year-old sailor has been informed after a body was found off the coast in Ceredigion. | 39766743 |
Arthur Simpson-Kent, 48, appeared at an extradition hearing in Accra.
He said he voluntarily submitted and would have returned to the UK previously had he not been arrested.
He left the UK on 19 December following the deaths of his former partner Ms Blake, 43, and their two young sons, Zachary, eight, and four year-old Amon.
During the hearing he told the court he had not travelled to Ghana to run away and was not fleeing justice.
He was arrested at a Ghanaian beach resort on 9 January.
Ms Blake, who had motor neurone disease, and her sons died from neck and head injuries, post-mortem tests found.
She played Frankie Pierre in 56 episodes of EastEnders between 1996 and 1997.
The Metropolitan Police launched a murder investigation after Ms Blake, who was last seen in public on 13 December, was found buried in the garden of the family home in Erith, with the two children, on 5 January.
The Met has been criticised over delays in its investigation which the police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, is investigating. | The partner of an ex-EastEnders actress who was found dead with her two sons in a London garden, has told a Ghanaian court he will return to the UK. | 35412127 |
The 32-year-old did not play in last month's final Test against the Black Caps in Auckland because of the injury.
The England and Wales Cricket Board said Pietersen will have a scan next week to determine when he can resume training.
* England will play a minimum of three matches in the Champions Trophy, but this could increase to five if they reach the final.
Pietersen tweeted: "Injuries are a sportsman's worst nightmare! This one is hurting me the most."
The ECB said in a statement: "England and Surrey batsman Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the upcoming Investec Test series against New Zealand as he continues his recovery from significant bone bruising to his right knee."
The first Test against New Zealand begins on 16 May at Lord's.
England coach Andy Flower said recently that Pietersen needed "significant rest" in order to be fully fit for a busy 2013 schedule.
Following the two-Test series, England host the Champions Trophy tournament and then compete in a five-Test Ashes series against Australia, which gets under way on 10 July at Trent Bridge.
England then travel to Australia for another Ashes series, which runs from 21 November until 7 January 2014.
Pietersen first experienced knee pain while fielding in the warm-up match in Queenstown at the start of the month. The problem failed to go away and he spent time off the field during the drawn first Test in Dunedin.
He scored a duck and 12 in the first Test, but recovered with 73 in his only innings in the drawn second Test in Wellington.
He flew home before the third Test for further investigation into his injury as Jonny Bairstow came into the England side as his replacement.
Following a meeting with a specialist and undergoing a scan, Pietersen's knee was put in a brace on 27 March.
It is understood, he was to spend two weeks wearing the brace before a similar period of rest ahead of returning to training.
However, Pietersen will continue with the brace for at least an extra week after the batsman continued to experience significant pain from his knee.
He will undergo another scan at the end of next week when it is hoped a clearer picture of his absence will emerge.
Former England captain and Test Match Special summariser Michael Vaughan told BBC Radio 5 live: "England have managed it right - it gives an opportunity for someone like Jonny Bairstow. It gives other players opportunities, but it's so important that Kevin Pietersen is right for that Ashes series.
"He's still the player that I believe can change a game within a three-hour period, he's still the player that England miss the most, particularly in that batting line-up".
Pietersen endured an up-and-down 2012 in which he retired from one-day and Twenty20 internationals before hinting on 6 August that he was considering retiring from Test cricket.
Five days later he said he wanted to commit to all forms of cricket for England in a video posted on YouTube but was subsequently dropped for the third Test against South Africa for sending "provocative texts" about team-mates to opposition players.
Pietersen was then left out of the England squad for the World Twenty20 before being omitted from the England Test squad for the winter tour of India.
However, he signed a new four-month England contract in October, although was told to undergo a "reintegration" period before returning the team.
Later that month, Pietersen was included in the England squad for the tour of India and produced a man-of-the match performance in the second Test, making 186 runs. England won the series 2-1, with Pietersen finishing with 338 runs at an average of 48.28. | Batsman Kevin Pietersen will miss England's two-Test series against New Zealand in May with a knee injury. | 22166496 |
The judicial officer viewed the tackle, which occurred in the first half of a European Champions Cup match on 16 January, as a red card offence.
But Saracens argued that the 10-week penalty was too severe.
Ashton said he was "incredibly disappointed" at the outcome.
"I now plan to look ahead to the rest of the season and work as hard as I can during my ban," he added in a statement on the Saracens website.
"I vehemently maintain that I have never made an attempt to intentionally make contact with the eye area of any other player.
"To miss out on the chance to represent my country and Saracens during this period is extremely disappointing, but the judgement stands and it is one that I will respect and accept."
Former England team-mate Toby Flood also believes Ashton had been treated badly.
In a post on his Twitter feed, Flood called the original decision "horrible" and said Ashton had been the victim of "incompetence" in the subsequent appeal.
England open their Six Nations campaign against Scotland on Saturday.
Anthony Watson and Jack Nowell will start on the wings at Murrayfield as England look to get off to a winning start under coach Eddie Jones.
Ashton will be free to play again on 28 March. | England and Saracens winger Chris Ashton will miss the entire Six Nations after losing his appeal against a 10-week ban for making contact with the eyes of Ulster's Luke Marshall. | 35486219 |
The 23-year-old was forced off early in the province's Pro12 win over Edinburgh on Friday and was not included in a 34-man squad named by coach Joe Schmidt.
Uncapped Munster wing Andrew Conway is called up, along with lock Quinn Roux, while winger Tommy Bowe is recalled.
Johnny Sexton is set to train fully on Tuesday after overcoming a calf injury.
Stuart McCloskey, Joey Carbery and Ultan Dillane are not in the squad for the visit of the French.
McCloskey strained a calf in training with Ulster last week, although he may take some part in his side's Pro12 encounter with Zebre on Sunday.
Munster's Ian Keatley remains the preferred back-up for Johnny Sexton and Paddy Jackson in the fly-half position, despite Carbery scoring two tries for Leinster at the weekend.
Dillane played for an hour of Connacht's win over Newport Gwent Dragons on Saturday without any apparent injury problems but Roux is called in to compete for the lock berths with Iain Henderson, Devin Toner and Donnacha Ryan.
Henderson missed the 63-10 win over Italy with a low-end hamstring strain but is set to return, along with skipper Rory Best, whose run of 51 consecutive Six Nations involvements was halted because of a stomach issue.
Van der Flier came on as a replacement for Sean O'Brien during both of Ireland's first two Six Nations matches but his absence appears to leave the way open for Peter O'Mahony to occupy a place on the bench, although Dan Leavy may also have claims.
Schmidt is faced with the decision of whether to recall Jack McGrath at loosehead prop in place of his Leinster provincial team-mate Cian Healy, who was chosen for the victory in Rome.
Rob Kearney's bicep problem will continue to be assessed during the week, with Simon Zebo and Tiernan O'Halloran the possible candidates to replace him should he fail to prove his fitness.
Competition for the wing positions looks fierce with Bowe back in the mix after scoring a try in Ulster's triumph over Glasgow after being left out of the travelling party for the encounter with Italy.
Andrew Trimble's return to fitness should see him included in the 23-man match-day squad and he could secure a starting berth should Zebo be required to slot in in place of Kearney in the number 15 shirt.
Ireland squad (v France): Forwards: Best (Ulster), Furlong (Leinster), Healy (Leinster), Heaslip (Leinster), Henderson (Ulster), Leavy (Leinster), McGrath (Leinster), O'Brien (Leinster), O'Donnell (Munster), O'Mahony (Munster), Roux (Connacht), D Ryan (Munster), J Ryan (Munster), N Scannell (Munster), CJ Stander (Munster), Toner (Leinster), Tracy (Leinster).
Backs: Bowe (Ulster), Conway (Munster), Earls (Munster), Gilroy (Ulster), Henshaw (Leinster), Jackson (Ulster), Kearney (Leinster), Keatley (Munster), Marmion (Connacht), L Marshall (Ulster), McGrath (Leinster), Murray (Munster), O'Halloran (Connacht), Ringrose (Leinster), Sexton (Leinster), Trimble (Ulster), Zebo (Munster). | Leinster flanker Josh van der Flier has been ruled out of Ireland's Six Nations game with France in Dublin on Saturday after suffering a shoulder injury. | 39026568 |
Mr Corbyn told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show he was enjoying "every moment" of his time as leader.
He has found himself at odds with some of his MPs on issues including air strikes in Syria and Trident renewal.
Unite union chief Len McCluskey accused Mr Corbyn's critics of using the Syria debate to undermine his leadership.
The Labour leader's opposition to air strikes is not shared by most of his shadow cabinet - and his decision on Thursday to write to MPs setting out his opposition provoked an angry reaction and the threat of resignations if his front bench are ordered to vote with him next week.
Meanwhile his ally, shadow chancellor John McDonnell, was criticised by some in the party for his response to George Osborne's Spending Review - during which he quoted Chairman Mao in the House of Commons.
Mr Corbyn, the Islington North MP who won the Labour leader race with more than half of the votes earlier this year, said: "I feel there are some people who haven't quite got used to the idea that the party is in a different place. It's much bigger than it's been in all of my lifetime.
"We have a very open electoral system. The result was a very, very clear mandate for me to be leader of the party.
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm enjoying every moment of it."
Andrew Marr put it to Mr Corbyn that he had had a "terrible, terrible few weeks" including suggestions by Newport West MP Paul Flynn saying the leader may be forced to resign over his stance against air strikes in Syria as it was causing "terrible divisions" in the party.
But Mr Corbyn hit back and said: "It hasn't been terrible at all, party membership has gone up, we forced the government to retreat on tax credits, we forced the government to retreat on police cuts."
Mr Corbyn also said headlines about him being against a shoot-to-kill policy in the event of a terror attack had been "spun" in the media which was a "regret".
Seeking to clarify his position, he said: "Shooting to kill on the streets of Britain, purely based on suspicion, is illegal and dangerous.
"Involving a direct intervention by security forces, as happened in Paris, to stop someone setting off a bomb or shooting a gun directly at somebody is a reasonable form of response."
Mr McDonnell told BBC 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics that what looked liked "splits" within the party were actually democracy in action, and were "healthy" expressions of different views.
Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, meanwhile, compared Mr Corbyn to "Marmite" adding: "It's one of those where people love it or they don't."
Former shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna, himself briefly a Labour leadership contender earlier this year, told Sky News Mr Corbyn was a "good and decent man who has deeply-held beliefs", while former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott told BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend he was concerned about party unity.
He said: "You've got to cry, haven't you? Most of our people, when I go round the country people say to me 'John, what the hell is happening?'"
In a Huffington Post article, Mr McCluskey - who recently criticised the Labour leader - said Mr Corbyn had been "denounced" for expressing his views on Syria while shadow ministers were making their pro-air strikes views clear.
He denounced backbench MPs for calling on Mr Corbyn to "quit for having the temerity to maintain his values and principles".
Mr McCluskey said Unite - Labour's biggest financial backer - would "resist all the way" any attempt to force Mr Corbyn out through a "Westminster Palace coup". | Labour's Jeremy Corbyn has insisted he is "not going anywhere", despite reports of potential leadership challenges against him from his MPs. | 34957153 |
About 360kg (793lbs) of cocaine that has washed up on Hopton beach, near Great Yarmouth and a beach near Caister.
A member of the public contacted Norfolk Police having discovered a number of holdalls on Hopton Beach.
The seizure was referred to the National Crime Agency and officers continue to search the area.
More on this and other stories at BBC Local Live: Norfolk
Matthew Rivers, from the NCA's border investigation team, said: "We are now working with Border Force, the Coastguard Agency and Norfolk Police to try and establish how the bags ended up where they did, however it is extremely unlikely that this was their intended destination.
"This is obviously a substantial seizure of class A drugs and its loss will represent a major blow to the organised criminals involved."
Supt Dave Buckley, from Norfolk Constabulary, said: "Whilst we believe we have recovered all the packages, should any member of the public find one they are urged to contact Norfolk Constabulary immediately.
"We will have extra officers in the area to monitor the situation." | Cocaine valued at up to £50m has been washed up on beaches in Norfolk, the National Crime Agency says. | 38934738 |
Gyorgy Schopflin, a member of Hungary's ruling Fidesz party, made the remark after images emerged of vegetables carved into heads and placed along the country's southern frontier.
"Human images are haram... Pig's head would deter more effectively," he said.
Hungary has taken a hard-line stance on migration into the country.
Mr Schopflin made the comments responding to criticism from Andrew Stroehlein, European Media Director for the charity Human Rights Watch.
Mr Stroehlein hit back at Mr Schopflin, accusing him of "xenophobic filth" and calling him an "embarrassment to Hungary, to Europe and to humanity".
Other Twitter users called the MEP's comments "nasty" and accused him of racism.
He has refused to apologise, saying the remark was "hypothetical" and "a thought experiment".
Pork is considered impure by Muslims and its consumption forbidden.
Under conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Hungary has taken a tough approach to migrants and refugees entering the country.
A razor wire-topped fence now separates stretches of the country's southern border from is neighbours and is patrolled by troops.
In October the country will hold a referendum on whether it agrees on the EU's mandatory refugee resettlement policy. | A Hungarian member of the European Parliament has been criticised for suggesting pigs' heads could be put on border fences to deter refugees. | 37158330 |
The 32-year-old Chester-born former Rotherham captain is to become Wasps' backs coach for the 2015-16 season.
He replaces former Wales international fly-half Stephen Jones, who is returning to Scarlets.
He will be part of a four-man coaching team under Dai Young, the club's director of rugby.
Young, who also has the job title of head coach, also has defence coach Brad Davis and part-time assistant coach Andy Titterrell on his backroom team.
Blackett was the youngest coach in the Championship when he took up the role of head coach with Titans in 2013 at the age of 30, leading his side to fourth place.
"Lee is one of the brightest young coaches in Britain," said Young. "He has won admiration throughout the game for turning Rotherham into one of the strongest teams outside the Premiership.
"We always knew the time would come when Stephen would want to return to Wales with his young family. He's done a great job for us, after moving straight from a player to backs coach when Shane Howarth left."
Young continued: "There were two options. One was to recruit a vastly experienced backs coach who has been there and done it. Option two was to get the best up and coming coach out there.
"The vastly experienced option was a non-starter really, simply because there is no one of that level on the market at the moment, so we decided to look at the most promising young coaches coming through.
"Lee has impressed knowledgeable onlookers by his attention to detail, enthusiasm and professionalism and his proven ability to get the best out of the players he coaches." | Rotherham Titans head coach Lee Blackett is to leave the Championship club this summer to join the backroom staff at Premiership side Wasps. | 32066282 |
Video showed Michael Slager shooting Walter Scott, 50, as he fled from a traffic stop in North Charleston.
A grand jury returned a murder indictment on Monday morning, clearing the way for a formal trial.
Officer Slager now faces up to 30 years in prison. He has been held in jail since charges were announced in April.
The 33-year-old has said that he feared for his safety because Mr Scott had tried to grab his stun gun.
Video of the 4 April encounter was recorded by a bystander on his mobile phone, leading to charges of murder against Officer Slager.
Scott's brother, Rodney, spoke at a press conference on Monday to say the family is "very happy and pleased" with the indictment, but that it is only the first step.
In addition to the criminal trial, a civil lawsuit will be filed by Scott's family in the next few months.
Scarlett Wilson, solicitor for the North Charleston court, warned that despite the video evidence, the murder charge must still be proved in court.
"Just because you have video in this case, it doesn't mean it's the be-all and end-all," said Mrs Wilson at a press conference to announce the indictment.
"The issue is the people who were there who were involved, who saw or heard anything, who can demonstrate what they saw and heard."
The trial date has not yet been set. | A white police officer in South Carolina is to go on trial for the murder of an unarmed black man after shooting him in the back as he ran. | 33053409 |
The Canterbury Bulldogs stand-off was criticised in Australian media after touching Aidan Sezer as the Canberra Raiders half-back fed a scrum.
"We're good mates and it was just a bit of a joke. I hope no harm done," Reynolds said on social media.
Sezer confirmed they "go back a long way and we were just having a laugh".
The incident has been compared to one in 2001 involving John Hopoate, who was found guilty of inserting his finger into the bottoms of three opposition players and banned for 12 weeks. | Josh Reynolds has played down an incident in which he touched the bottom of an opposition player in a National Rugby League game in Australia. | 35966249 |
The vehicle struck the 4.2m (13ft) high bridge near Railway Street on Kingston Road, Taunton, at about 08:00 GMT.
The A3102 was partially blocked while the vehicle was being freed but has now been re-opened in both directions.
Network Rail said engineers had inspected the bridge and found "no damage" and trains were running normally. | Drivers faced delays after a lorry hit a railway bridge in Somerset and became stuck. | 35763259 |
Eleven others were reportedly wounded. Officials say two people also died in Indian shelling elsewhere in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
India had earlier vowed to avenge the killing of three soldiers, one of whose bodies it said had been mutilated.
Tensions have risen since militants killed 19 Indian troops in September.
Both countries accuse each other of violating a 2003 truce accord.
Kashmir - the region at the heart of dispute
The teenager blinded by pellets in Indian Kashmir
The passenger bus reportedly came under fire from India's side of the de facto border as it was travelling from Kel to Muzaffarabad in the Neelum valley region.
Pakistani officials accused India of deliberately targeting civilians. There was no immediate response from India.
On Tuesday the Indian army promised "heavy" retribution" after one of its patrols was ambushed in the Kupwara sector.
Pakistan says more than 30 civilians and 11 soldiers have been killed on its side in fighting since August. India says 12 civilians and 11 of its soldiers have died over a similar period.
Dozens more have been injured and thousands of people have left the area or are trapped in their homes.
Before the new deaths this week, the Pakistani military apparently suffered its biggest single loss of life in Kashmir since the 2003 truce, when seven soldiers were killed in shelling in a single day.
Firing from both sides has increased since the deadly militant attack on an Indian army base on 18 September. India hit back on 30 September with cross-border "surgical strikes" targeting militant groups blamed for killing the soldiers.
A BBC investigation found that Indian troops had crossed the de facto border (the "Line of Control") to hit border posts but then pulled back without going deep into Pakistani-administered territory.
Narendra Modi's BJP government swept to power in 2014 promising a tough line on Pakistan and was under tremendous pressure to hit back after its soldiers were killed in September.
Many observers say Mr Modi feels he has to placate an angry domestic constituency and send out a message that he is a strong leader.
Pakistan accuses India of taking military action to deflect attention from human rights abuses in the region.
At least 85 people, nearly all protesters, have died in months of violent unrest against Indian rule since a popular militant leader was killed in the summer. | Officials in Pakistan say at least nine people were killed when cross-border shelling from India hit a passenger bus in the disputed Kashmir region. | 38074202 |
Members of the BBC Radio 4's You and Yours team were among those who received the scam emails, claiming they owed hundreds of pounds to UK firms.
The firms involved have been inundated with phone calls from worried members of the public.
One security expert warned clicking on the link would install malware.
You and Yours reporter Shari Vahl was one of the first on the team to receive an email.
"The email has good spelling and grammar and my exact home address...when I say exact I mean, not the way my address is written by those autofill sections on web pages, but the way I write my address.
"My tummy did a bit of a somersault when I read that, because I wondered who on earth I could owe £800 to and what was about to land on my doormat."
She quickly realised it was a scam and did not click on the link.
"Then, a couple of minutes later, You and Yours producer Jon Douglas piped up as he'd received one and then another colleague said he'd received one too, but to his home email address," she added.
The You and Yours team decided to contact the companies that were listed in the emails as being owed money.
A spokesman for British Millerain Co Ltd, a waxed cotton fabric manufacturer, told the programme that the firm "had more than 150 calls from people who don't owe us money".
And a spokeswoman for Manchester shelving firm Greenoaks said: "My colleague took a call from an elderly gentleman and he was very distressed because his wife had had one of these emails."
Dr Steven Murdoch, principal research fellow at the department of computer science at University College London, told You and Yours: "Most likely it was a retailer or other internet site that had been hacked into and the database stolen, it then could have been sold or passed through several different people and then eventually it got to the person who sent out these emails."
He said that the email bore the hallmark of previous phishing attempts from gangs in Eastern Europe and Russia.
He said that clicking on the link would install malware such as Cryptolocker, which is a form of ransomware that will encrypt files on Windows-based computers and then demand a fee to unlock them.
Anyone receiving such an email is advised to delete it and report it to the national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre Action Fraud. | A new type of phishing email that includes the recipient's home address has been received by thousands of people, the BBC has learned. | 35977227 |
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) criticised both the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS board and Brighton's ageing hospital site.
The watchdog said hospital bosses had little insight into safety issues and "seemingly little appetite to resolve" them.
Trust chief Dr Gillian Fairfield said it was clear the trust had failed.
The report said problems went "right through" the trust, which had failed to meet national standards on waiting and treatment times.
Deputy chief inspector of hospitals Prof Edward Baker found there were high numbers of cancelled appointments and operations and delays in providing diagnostic results.
He said the executive team failed to provide resources or support to critical care clinical staff on multiple occasions.
Though the trust had ambitious redevelopment plans, the state and age of hospital buildings were a "major challenge" for cleanliness and care.
"It is of little comfort to patients who need attention or treatment today to be told that the new building will eventually put things right," he said.
"In the meantime, staff and patients remain at risk."
Dr Fairfield said: "It is clear from the CQC report that in many areas the trust has failed our patients and on behalf of the trust, I apologise unreservedly."
Other criticisms included overcrowding in older buildings, reports of bullying and harassment by ethnic minority groups and inaccessible fire exits.
"My dad rushed me to hospital and we sat in A&E for about four hours. My back was agony, and I couldn't get comfortable.
"None of the doctors came out and asked if I was ok. No-one was really working.
"About 01:00 in the morning I was seen by a doctor and he was the only doctor on the ward. There were loads of people complaining, there were some drunks there bashing into me so it really wasn't a pleasant experience.
"In the end I waited four hours to go in for a two minute check-up just to be told I had whiplash and to go home and rest. I felt as if they didn't want me there."
"After finding out that I had gone into pre-term labour with my twins at 27 weeks, and the Conquest Hospital was unable to help me, we were finally sent to Brighton in February 2014.
"I was in and out of hospital for the weeks leading up until their birth and had to regularly visit Brighton. Each time we were provided with the best care possible at a very scary time.
"It was absolutely perfect. We were given a proper structured plan.
"My twins were born at 36 weeks, and I honestly believe that without the doctors, nurses and midwifes, my twins would not be as strong and as healthy as they are today.
"I will forever be eternally grateful and would recommend the Royal Sussex Hospital."
Issues were also noted with low staffing levels, emergency patients staying in operating theatres' recovery area without appropriate facilities and patients being examined without privacy screens.
Dr Fairfield said the NHS started to making fire safety changes within 20 minutes of the CQC raising concerns.
She said the trust had already redesigned part of the emergency department, was better at managing emergencies and opened a 24/7 surgical assessment unit.
NHS Improvement said it was already supporting the trust. The Department of Health said there was "no excuse for services to fall short of those standards".
Analysis by Mark Norman, BBC South East's health correspondent
Staff and managers at the Royal Sussex have described the CQC report as a "wake up call".
The A&E department was busy and I was told the mood among staff was sombre.
Some patients were being held in a hallway, but they were being more honest calling it a corridor rather than a "cohort area".
Consultants pointed out there were new privacy screens and assessment areas.
The local patient group, Healthwatch, told me this was a "dark day for the trust" but also acknowledged the changes.
However, I was at this hospital a year ago, when the last CQC report asked the same questions about the same issues.
If anything, things appear to have got worse. The hospital can't afford not to improve over the next 12 months.
Maria Caulfield, Conservative MP for Lewes, said: "Although many will view this as a negative step, it will in fact mean that the trust receives increased funding and specialist help."
She said she welcomed the news that "the strain that staff work under and the poor experience for patients has been recognised".
Overall, the trust and the Royal Sussex were found to be inadequate. The Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath was found to require improvement.
Inspectors rated the children's services at the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton as outstanding. | A hospital trust has been placed in special measures after inspectors deemed it unsafe and poorly-led. | 37098033 |
The former deputy prime minister, who is now the party's EU spokesman, said the single market was a UK creation that was vital for jobs and prosperity.
The Tories, he said, were "up a Brexit creek without a paddle, a canoe or a map - they have absolutely no clue".
The government has insisted it will secure a "positive outcome" on trade.
The Lib Dems, who campaigned to stay in the EU, are pushing for a referendum on the terms of a final Brexit deal.
However, former Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable said the party "must accept" the referendum result and stop focusing on a second vote.
The UK voted to end its EU membership by 51.9% to 48.1% in a referendum on 23 June.
The timing of the process for exit has so far been clouded by uncertainty, with no clear signal from Mrs May's government on when it would begin - other than it will not start this year.
There is also confusion over the nature of the UK's future relationship with the EU, especially whether it intends to remain a member of the single market, which offers free movement of goods, finance and people around the EU without any tariffs, quotas or taxes.
In a speech to party members in Brighton, Mr Clegg said he feared that under pressure from "swivel-eyed" Conservative backbenchers and the Eurosceptic press, Prime Minister Theresa May would be forced into pursuing a so-called "hard Brexit" - leading to "gridlock" in negotiations with the rest of the EU.
Continued membership of the single market must be a red line in the UK's talks with the other 27 members, he said.
He said: "It is entirely possible to be in the single market but out of the EU, as Norway has shown. While it is undoubtedly an inferior option compared to full EU membership, it is the only option that would safeguard jobs and prosperity. "
The alternative, Mr Clegg added, is "many years of chaos" for key export industries such as cars, financial services and food and drink. We won't get a deal from outside the single market which comes anything close to the privileges we have as a member - that is the unavoidable truth that the Tories won't tell you."
To widespread applause from Lib Dem activists, Mr Clegg said the Conservatives would never again be able to claim the mantle of being the party of business or be regarded as a responsible party of government if they damaged the economy in the process.
Lib Dem party members endorsed a proposal for a referendum on the terms of the final Brexit deal negotiated by the government, with the option of remaining in the EU.
Leader Tim Farron has made calls for another referendum a key part of the Lib Dems' pitch, and a central theme of its conference, while insisting he respects the Brexit result.
But Mr Cable, who lost his seat at the 2015 general election, has said holding a second vote "raises a lot of fundamental problems".
Mr Cable, who voted against the motion, told a fringe meeting he understood the anger at the outcome of the Brexit vote but it was wrong to think it could be reversed.
"The public have voted and I do think it's seriously disrespectful and politically utterly counterproductive to say 'sorry guys, you've got it wrong, we're going to try again'.
"I don't think we can do that. That's a personal view, and a lot of people won't share that view."
Mr Cable said he was "not criticising" Mr Farron, but rather he wanted to "see more emphasis on what it is we want from these negotiations rather than arguing about the tactics and the means".
Mrs May has insisted "Brexit means Brexit" but she has refused to give a "running commentary" on the government's Brexit negotiating strategy, saying it would be an error to "reveal our hand prematurely".
She has said, however, that the government is determined to secure the "right deal" for Britain, that includes a "good deal" in trading goods and services, as well as controls on immigration.
Former education secretary Nicky Morgan, who was sacked in Mrs May's reshuffle, said on Sunday was time for the government to "flesh out" some of the details on its plans.
"You are seeing today that there are people in the Conservative parliamentary party now saying they are going to set up a sort of hard Brexit group.
"If you leave a vacuum other people will fill it and therefore I think the time is now to say - 'this is what we would like to get out of Brexit'," she told ITV's Peston on Sunday. | Leaving the EU's single market as part of any Brexit deal would do "untold damage" to the UK economy, Nick Clegg has told the Lib Dem conference. | 37402949 |
Chasing Notts' 244-8, spinner Samit Patel took three Glamorgan wickets in nine balls to inspire his side on the way to a comfortable YB40 final win.
Nottsl owed much to a 99-run fifth-wicket stand between captain Chris Read (53) and Aussie David Hussey (42).
Ajmal Shahzad and Stuart Broad then both chipped in with three wickets each as Glamorgan were bowled out for 157.
That kept up the Welsh club's unwanted record as the only first-class county never to have won a final at Lord's.
Of the original 17 first-class counties who began playing one-day cricket 50 years ago, this year's YB40 final was contested by the two with the fewest appearances at Lord's.
Nottinghamshire, runners-up in the 1985 NatWest Trophy came back to win the same competition two years later, in 1987. And, having been runners-up in their first-ever Lord's final in 1982, in the Benson & Hedges Cup, they won that trophy too seven years later in 1989 - on their fourth appearance at Lord's, 24 years ago.
Glamorgan have an even worse record in St John's Wood, having previously been to Lord's only twice before, as runners-up in the 1977 Gillette Cup final before suffering the same fate in the 2000 Benson & Hedges Cup final.
England all-rounder Broad, called in to play his first one-day game for Notts since 2010, finished the game off with a burst of three wickets for two runs in six balls to earn his country their first silverware since claiming the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1989.
And that made up for the taunting of this summer's Ashes central figure by Glamorgan supporters when he came in to bat earlier in the afternoon.
The defeat maintained the Welsh club's unwanted record as the only first-class county never to have won a final at Lord's.
Having won the toss and put Notts in, it soon looked ominous for Glamorgan when their opponents passed 50 in the ninth over.
After beginning with a massive wide, Australian fast bowler Michael Hogan's unsuccessful shout for lbw against Michael Lumb with the last ball of his first over was the only sign of early danger.
But, after Lumb in particular had tucked into Jim Allenby, a double bowling change after eight overs brought a double reward.
With the score on 52, Lumb returned a catch to young spinner Andrew Salter to depart for 28 before Alex Hales followed in the next over, carving a catch to the deep cover boundary.
On 80-2, Salter then struck again from the first ball of his fifth over when he removed Patel. And, again, the fall of one wicket triggered another.
When Simon Jones had James Taylor caught behind to leave Notts 90-4 in the 19th over, underdogs Glamorgan were suddenly looking a good bet.
It could have been worse for Notts if, in the next over, Gareth Rees had held onto a hard, low drive from Hussey to mid-off when he had made just three.
As it was, Read and Hussey put on 99 from 93 deliveries, a stand that ended just after the start of the Notts powerplay.
A ball after Read had reached a run-a-ball 50, with a lofted six over mid-on, he went for a short single on his own call to mid-off - and non-striker Hussey was run out by a sharp piece of work from Ben Wright.
Michael Hogan's last-ball yorker to remove Stuart Broad leaves him on 99 wickets in all competitions this season - 63 in the Championship, 28 in the YB40 (the top wicket taker in the competition) and eight in the Twenty20.
Read rapidly followed, hoisting Hogan to deep square cover.
But the loss of two quick wickets for the third time in the innings did not halt Notts, as Graeme Swann and Steven Mullaney helped complete a tally of 47 from the powerplay.
Graham Wagg bowled Mullaney for 21 with the last ball of the penultimate over but, with Swann scraping seven more off the final over to finish with 29 before Broad's golden duck off the final delivery, that left the Welshmen chasing 245 to win.
Glamorgan got off to a bad start when skipper Mark Wallace carved Harry Gurney's first ball of the second over to Taylor in the gully, Rees following for a quickfire 29.
From 42-2, Glamorgan's semi-final match-winner Allenby helped put on 66 for the third wicket before South African Chris Cooke was bowled for 46 in the 20th over by a big turner from Patel.
That proved to be the beginning of the end, the first of three wickets for Patel for just four runs in nine balls as he also bowled Allenby for 34, then had Murray Goodwin trapped lbw.
Shahzad joined in the fun when he removed Wright and Salter in the same over to finish with 3-33, before that perennial scene-stealer Broad rounded it all off.
Match scorecard | Nottinghamshire claimed their first Lord's one-day final win in 24 years as they beat Glamorgan by 87 runs. | 24187114 |
Shabir Ahmed, Adil Khan, Abdul Rauf and Abdul Aziz, all from Rochdale, challenged a government move that could pave the way for them to be deported to Pakistan.
Ringleader Ahmed, 63, previously claimed his convictions were a conspiracy to "scapegoat" Muslims.
Rochdale's MP called for the men to now be deported "as soon as possible".
Simon Danczuk said: "We welcome many people coming to the UK to contribute, but if they break the law they should lose their right to live here.
"Foreign-born criminals should not be able to hide behind human rights laws to avoid deportation."
The four were among nine men from Rochdale and Oldham who were jailed in 2012 for exploiting girls as young as 13.
Ahmed was convicted of two rapes, trafficking, conspiracy and sexual assault.
Described by a judge as a "violent, hypocritical bully", he led a group of men who plied girls with drink and drugs before "passing them around" for sex.
Ahmed's crimes included giving a 15-year-old girl he had raped on several occasions to a young man he referred to as his nephew, who also raped her.
He is currently serving a maximum imprisonment of 22 years.
Khan, Rauf and Aziz were found guilty of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child and trafficking for sexual exploitation.
They were given jail sentences of between six and nine years but have since been released on licence.
All the men are of Pakistani nationality who acquired British citizenship by naturalisation.
The case centred on a proposal by then Home Secretary Theresa May to deprive them of British citizenship on the grounds that it would be "conducive to the public good".
Immigration minister Robert Goodwill said: "This was an appalling case - which is why we took action to deprive these criminals of their UK citizenship.
"We welcome the court's finding and will now seek their deportation.
"Citizenship is a privilege, not a right, and it is right that the Home Secretary can deprive an individual of their citizenship where it is believed it is conducive to the public good to do so."
At an earlier hearing, Ahmed, who came to the UK in 1967 aged 14, said he had four children in the country and £83,000 in a bank account.
He said he was convicted by "11 white jurors" and said: "It's become fashionable to blame everything on Muslims these days."
Handing down the judgment on Thursday, Mr Justice McCloskey, described the men's crimes as "shocking, brutal and repulsive".
He dismissed five different grounds of appeal, including an argument by three of the men that the government had failed in a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of their children.
The ruling also dismissed a complaint of a "disproportionate interference" with the men's rights as EU citizens and rejected claims concerning human rights laws.
Despite the ruling, the legal battle to deport the men could continue as there are further steps the Home Office must complete.
The four men could also appeal on legal grounds, although permission to appeal is granted in fewer than 10% of cases.
Mr Justice McCloskey had previously criticised the men's lawyers for "frankly shameful" behaviour, saying they had failed to submit the necessary papers to the court and had repeatedly asked for adjournments.
Thursday's ruling said the tribunal had since received apologies and explanations. | Four members of a child sex grooming gang have lost a legal battle to maintain British citizenship. | 38909352 |
The Commonwealth had warned the Maldives of possible suspension if it failed to show progress on democracy.
It has faced questions over freedom of speech, the detention of opponents and the independence of the judiciary.
The Indian Ocean nation became a multiparty democracy in 2008 after decades of autocratic rule.
The Maldives foreign ministry said in a statement: "The decision to leave the Commonwealth was difficult, but inevitable.
"Regrettably, the Commonwealth has not recognised progress and achievements that the Maldives accomplished in cultivating a culture of democracy in the country and in building and strengthening democratic institutions."
It said that President Abdulla Yameen's government had introduced a raft of measures promoting human rights and strengthening the rule of law.
It said the Commonwealth had "sought to become an active participant in the domestic political discourse in the Maldives, which is contrary to the principles of the charters of the UN and the Commonwealth".
The Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Scotland said in a statement she was saddened by the Maldives' decision to leave.
She added: "We hope that this will be a temporary separation and that Maldives will feel able to return to the Commonwealth family and all that it represents in due course."
One of the key issues for the Commonwealth was the detention of a number of political leaders, including former President Mohamed Nasheed.
Anti-government protesters have expressed fears they could lose freedoms gained since the first multi-party elections in 2008.
August saw a strict defamation law come into force, with stiff punishments for comments or actions considered insulting to Islam or which "contradict general social norms", and tighter restrictions on demonstrations.
The death penalty is also being reintroduced, after a 60-year unofficial moratorium.
In the past the Commonwealth has suspended some members, including Pakistan, Fiji, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, over government oppression or violence toward citizens.
No country has formally been expelled but some have withdrawn, including Zimbabwe in 2003 and most recently The Gambia in 2013.
The Maldives is a largely Sunni Muslim nation made up of 1,192 individual islands. It is renowned as a holiday destination for its beaches and luxury resorts. | The Maldives has withdrawn from the Commonwealth, accusing it of interfering in domestic affairs and "unfair and unjust" treatment. | 37647310 |
The department said that 309,756 people used libraries last year, an increase of 3% from 2013/2014.
The figures came after a BBC study found that over 200 jobs were lost in local libraries since 2010.
The study showed that 7,900 library staff had lost their jobs across the UK, 25% of the total workforce.
DCAL said a strategic review in 2009 had led to the closure of 13 libraries, but there were no plans to close any more.
It said Culture Minister Carál Ní Chuilín had secured Northern Ireland Executive agreement for a proposal that reductions to the Libraries NI budget be capped at 7.5%, instead of the 11.2% cap enforced elsewhere across the department.
"These actions helped to ensure that there were no further library closures," the department said.
It also said £17m had been invested in library capital projects since 2010, including new facilities in Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, and Kilkeel and Moira in County Down. | The number of people using libraries in Northern Ireland has gone up, according to figures released by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL). | 35913130 |
"The cars are going to take them to their physical limits," said Rosberg, who retired after his world title win.
"We might even see drivers losing race wins because of just being physically knackered, and that is the direction the sport should be in."
He added: "These cars are absolute monsters. It is such an awesome hype."
F1 has introduced new rules this season aimed at making the cars faster, more demanding and more dramatic-looking.
In addition, supplier Pirelli has been charged with making tyres on which drivers can push flat out for many laps at a time, which has not been the case for the past six years.
Rosberg said he had no regrets about his decision to stop racing.
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On a visit to the first pre-season test at Spain's Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Rosberg said: "There was not one moment when I thought it should be me sitting in that car. It was interesting to realise that. And perfect."
Rosberg spent time chatting to his replacement at Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas, before the Finn set the fastest time of the test so far on the third morning of four days.
Asked whether it was realistic for Bottas, who joined Mercedes from Williams, to challenge Hamilton in his first season at the team, Rosberg said: "He is a good driver so you'd expect him to be challenging Lewis. It is difficult to predict exactly how they compare.
"We all know that Lewis is a massive benchmark, so it is not going to be easy. I'd assume that sure there is going to be a good battle." | Formula 1 drivers will be "gladiators" this year as a result of rule changes that have made the cars faster, says world champion Nico Rosberg. | 39129409 |
A 25-year-old man was attacked from behind in Lachlan Crescent in Linburn, Erskine at about 05:50 on Friday.
The attacker, a heavily-built man, then escaped in a car in the direction of Old Greenock Road.
The injured man was taken by ambulance to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley where he was treated for facial lacerations.
The getaway car is thought to have been a Nissan Qashqai or Nissan Juke.
The suspect has been described by police as about 5'10", of heavy build. He was wearing a dark hooded top with the hood up.
Det Con Derek Johnston said: "This appears to have been a targeted attack and enquiries are being carried out to establish a motive for this assault, and of course trace the man responsible." | Police investigating a serious assault in Erskine have said they believed it was a "targeted attack". | 38943353 |
Work to mend the A591 and investigate restoring Pooley Bridge and Eamont Bridge is due to begin in the new year.
Cumbria County Council leader Stewart Young welcomed the money but said total restoration would cost much more.
"Repairing all the infrastructure in Cumbria alone will run into hundreds of millions of pounds," he said.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the local transport system was "the lifeblood" of the region.
"We are determined to help families and businesses in Cumbria and Lancashire get back on their feet as soon as possible," he said.
Engineers said severe flooding and landslides caused by Storm Desmond had left parts of the A591 looking "like a bomb site". | A £40m funding package for repairs to flood-damaged roads and bridges in Cumbria and Lancashire has been announced by the government. | 35186601 |
Dean Shade, 32, of Turpington Lane, Bromley, was sentenced to life. He must serve at least 10 years before he can apply for parole.
James Russell, 24, of Leybourne Close, Crawley in West Sussex, was given an 11-year sentence.
The pair stole more than £415,000 worth of computer equipment in the robberies, between September 2010 and March 2011.
Russell had pleaded guilty and Shade was convicted of 12 counts of conspiracy to rob after a four-week trial at Brighton Crown Court.
They targeted a company in Sayers Common in West Sussex four times, a school and college, and five other businesses in Surrey, West Sussex and Kent.
The pair also robbed a private address in Charlwood in Surrey in January 2011.
In every case the robbers were masked and were armed with a variety of weapons including knives, baseball bats, chainsaws and angle grinders, the court heard.
The pair had threatened to cut victims' fingers off if they did not give Pin numbers to their cash cards, the jury was told.
Det Sgt Dennis Phelan of the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit, said after the trial: "The gang simply relied upon brute force and numbers to threaten and terrorise their victims, many of whom were tied up and marched round their premises before being left alone, restrained in the premises until the alarm was raised." | Two men who threatened to cut off their victims' fingers in robberies across the South East have been imprisoned. | 18371258 |