article
stringlengths 0
2.3k
| summary
stringlengths 1
373
| fineweb-edu-classifier_score
float64 -0.59
4.45
| fineweb-edu-classifier_int_score
int64 0
4
|
|---|---|---|---|
Hamilton was 0.262 seconds quicker than Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in second, with Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas third.
Hamilton's title rival Sebastian Vettel - 14 points ahead in the title race - was fifth quickest, 0.482secs down.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen pipped Vettel by just 0.01secs to separate the German from the rest of the front-runners.
Hamilton was in strong form all day. Although he was second behind Raikkonen in the first session, the margin was only 0.053 seconds and Hamilton set his time on the slowest of the three types of tyre, the soft, while Raikkonen was on the ultra-soft.
Hamilton was also quickest earlier in the second session, when he was running the soft tyre again. He was 0.7secs quicker than anyone else, with Bottas in second on the super-soft.
However, the long runs later in the session told a different story.
On the so-called race-simulation runs, when teams fill up their tanks with fuel and practise the first part of the race, Vettel was 0.7secs on average quicker than Hamilton, with Bottas a further 0.1secs back.
But that was only a brief snapshot because rain started to fall with about 25 minutes left of the session and the drivers all returned to the pits.
With heavy rain falling, and wet weather forecast for the weekend, drivers went out to experience track conditions.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, sixth quickest in the dry after a difficult session, and McLaren's Fernando Alonso, 11th, both tried the intermediate tyres.
But Alonso said there was "too much rain" for the lightly treaded tyres and Ricciardo was warned to exercise "extreme caution" on his way back to the pits after just one lap.
Current weather forecasts expected rain to affect Saturday's qualifying session, but not the race on Sunday.
Behind the big six, Nico Hulkenberg continued Renault's improved form with seventh fastest time, his team-mate Jolyon Palmer also showing better pace after a difficult first half to the season in 10th place, 0.3secs behind the German.
The Renault drivers were split by the Force India of Esteban Ocon - four places ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez - and Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz.
Second practice results
Belgian Grand Prix coverage details | Lewis Hamilton started his Belgian Grand Prix weekend in perfect fashion as he set the pace in the second practice session. | 1.07394 | 1 |
The boy was outside Craigbank Primary School in Glengonnar Street, Larkhall, at about 20:45 on Sunday when he was approached by an older child.
The child threatened him with a weapon before taking his clothes.
Police said it was a "terrifying ordeal" for the eight-year-old boy and have appealed to witnesses to contact them.
Det Con David Timmons added: "Inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident.
"I would appeal to anyone who was in the surrounding area on Sunday evening, who may have witnessed what happened or may have captured the incident on their dashcam, to please get in touch." | An eight-year-old boy was robbed of his clothing in the grounds of a school in South Lanarkshire, police have said. | 0.48246 | 0 |
Now the Cardiff-born singer has re-recorded the hit 007 movie theme 50 years later as part of her new album.
"Everyone's going to be listening for those two wrong notes in the original," she said.
"For me they always sounded wrong and I could never get it right in my head."
She told BBC Radio Wales presenter Wynne Evans: "My musical directors through the years said there was nothing wrong with it.
"It was probably me. But now with my voice we've lowered the song, and I can't hear those wrong notes any more - and it sounds so right, I'm so glad we got to do it again."
Dame Shirley is marking 61 years in the business with the album Hello Like Before.
"All the songs I'd wanted to sing when I heard them - I was too young, I'm at the right age to do it," she said.
"I'm really happy because I chose all the songs. It's the first time I've chosen all the songs on an album.
"The recording companies always had ideas of the albums they wanted. I had a say but this is the first time I've got complete control."
HER THREE FAVOURITE SONGS
Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, a duet with Paloma Faith: "We met after her show in Monte Carlo we got on really well, like we'd known each other for years. It was wonderful doing it, she's so natural - I love her."
An Englishman in New York: "I liked it from the first time I heard Sting do it. Why I can't I sing that? Years ago they'd say 'you're a woman, you can't sing that' but now anything goes."
MacArthur Park: "I broke down rehearsing it - I got to a part and there was something there, something deep in the dark recesses of my mind that was there and came out. I got half way through and I blubbed. When I first heard Richard Harris doing it, it did something to me then."
Wynne Evans's Big Welsh Weekend, is on Friday 21 November at 13:00 GMT. | It is enough to leave James Bond - like his vodka Martini - shaken or a little stirred, but Dame Shirley Bassey has admitted there are two wrong notes in Goldfinger. | 0.964893 | 1 |
Members of Unite had voted in favour of a strike in October.
However that was postponed last month when the Caterers Offshore Trade Association (Cota) made the fresh offer.
A consultative ballot ran until noon on Friday, with a recommendation to accept. Unite members in Cota accepted the improved pay offer by 63% to 37%.
Unite regional officer John Boland said: "Although deeply frustrated at the length of time it has taken to get to this point we are pleased the Cota employers recognised our members' justifiable concerns and finally pursued a resolution through proper negotiations."
Cota chairman Peter Bruce said: "It is great news for employees and for the industry that union members have voted decisively to accept this offer.
"We believe it is a fair deal for employees, protecting their earnings while helping our businesses through this tough economic climate.
"Now that this dispute has been settled we can focus on working together to meet the issues our industry is facing in the year ahead." | Offshore catering workers have accepted a fresh pay offer, averting industrial action. | 0.584522 | 1 |
The Australian, who is managed by Ricky Hatton, was knocked down in the sixth round but floored Uzbekistan's Chagaev with a big right.
Browne, who improves his record to 24-0, followed up with a series of right hooks before the referee intervened.
Britain's Tyson Fury is considered the WBA's heavyweight 'super' champion as he also holds the WBO version.
In Birmingham, London's Bradley Skeete won a unanimous points decision to take the British & Commonwealth welterweight title from Sam Eggington. | Lucas Browne stopped defending champion Ruslan Chagaev in the 10th round to win the WBA heavyweight title in Russia. | 0.65935 | 1 |
The only road leading to Great Western beach in Newquay was closed in February 2015 but will finally reopen on Thursday in time for Easter.
During the work it became clear the sheer cliff face needed to be secured and abseilers were brought in.
Cornwall Council said the "extremely challenging" work cost between £600,000 and £700,000. | Abseiling engineers were brought in to stabilise a dangerous cliff at a popular beach hit by a landslide. | 0.91038 | 1 |
Emergency services were called at about 09:30 BST after the man fell from the portable structure at a chapel in Carno Street, Rhymney.
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said crews from Merthyr, Malpas and Barry attended.
The Welsh Ambulance Service treated him at the scene before he was taken to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.
His condition is unknown. | A man has been taken to hospital after falling about 20ft (6m) from a scaffolding tower in Caerphilly county. | 0.70043 | 1 |
There have been media allegations that doctors had given banned substances to runners at a high-altitude Rift Valley training base.
In June, distance runner Mathew Kisorio failed a drugs test at Kenya's national championships and said doping was rife.
Athletics Kenya head Isaiah Kiplagat said most athletes were "clean", but that he took the claims seriously.
"We are carrying out an investigation," he told the BBC. "We are working with other authorities to ensure that we uncover if this true, and then take action appropriately on the culprits."
Kisorio, who ran the fourth-fastest half-marathon time ever in 2011, was suspended after testing positive for an anabolic steroid in June.
He subsequently alleged that many of his fellow Kenyan athletes were doping. | Kenya's athletics authorities say they are investigating allegations of widespread doping in the country. | 1.684488 | 2 |
The folk rockers recorded 81,300 chart sales with Wilder Mind, their third studio album.
The singles chart saw reggae artist Omi stay at number one with Cheerleader.
Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's See You Again and Carly Rae Jepson's I Really Like You were also non-movers, at two and three respectively.
Bristol-based deep house duo Blonde scored this week's highest new entry with All Cried Out, featuring Alex Newell, at four.
This week's top five is completed by Lean On by Major Lazer featuring Mo and DJ Snake.
In the album chart, the top five sees Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran and Sia return with In the Lonely Hour, X and 1,000 Forms of Fear respectively.
The next highest new entry is found outside the top 10, with grime artist JME debuting at 12 with his third studio album Integrity.
See the UK Top 40 singles chart
See the UK Top 40 albums chart
BBC Radio 1's Official Chart Show | Mumford & Sons have topped the UK album chart with their latest release, knocking Blur's comeback album The Magic Whip down one place to two. | 0.717145 | 1 |
Taylor, 29, who can play left-wing or left-back, only joined the Stags last summer on a one-year contract following his release by Port Vale.
Molyneux joins after being released by Crewe where the 25-year-old made just six starts in 18 months.
The pair follow Steve Jennings and Rory Donnelly in January moves to Rovers.
Taylor, who started his career in non-league with Redditch United, first entered League football in 2008 when he signed for Vale from Nuneaton Town.
"Rob's a player I've worked with before and I'm delighted to bring him to Tranmere," said Adams.
"He's able to play anywhere down the left and up front and will strengthen our squad for the second half of the season."
Former Everton youth product Molyneux has also played for Port Vale and Plymouth and returned for a third spell at Accrington on loan in October. | Tranmere have signed Mansfield's Rob Taylor for an undisclosed fee and winger Lee Molyneux on deals until the end of the season. | 0.855889 | 1 |
The 31-year-old finished with a score of 639.30, 60 points more than Mexico's Jonathan Paredes, with fellow Briton Blake Aldridge fifth.
Hunt, from Southampton, was second at the inaugural World Cup in 2014 but failed to make the podium last year.
However, he beat Paredes to claim victory at the World Championships in Kazan, Russia, in August. | British world champion Gary Hunt won gold at the third High Diving World Cup in Abu Dhabi. | 0.484455 | 0 |
Barbara King and her husband Tommy, who died in 1992, committed multiple offences against both girls in the 1970s and 1980s.
Police said the victims, who were seven and 12 at the time, did not know each but both reported being sexually abused by the couple.
King, who denied all charges, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court.
She was found guilty of six counts of gross indecency of a child under 14 and three counts of indecent assault on a female.
Police arrested King in January last year after the first victim, now in her 40s, came forward.
The second victim, who is in her 50s, contacted police the following month when she heard about King's arrest.
In victim statements read out in court, they both spoke about the damaging effect of the abuse, said police.
One said, although she did not like what was going on, she thought at the time it was "normal".
"It was only when I got older, I realised the full extent of what they had done to me."
The second victim said the couple had "ruined my life from an early age" and resulted in her self-harming.
Det Con Trish Lacey said after sentencing: "The Kings took advantage of their victims' vulnerabilities by pretending to be offering a sanctuary in their home and gaining their trust through kindness.
"It was only years later that they were able to comprehend the crimes that had been committed against them and the damaging effect these terrible experiences had had on them." | A 71-year-old woman from Liverpool who sexually abused two young girls has been jailed for 12 years. | 0.921914 | 1 |
Media playback is not supported on this device
Eden Ben Basat gave Israel the lead but NI skipper Steven Davis equalised.
"A draw was the very least we deserved. On another day Martin Paterson's late chance goes into the net and you nick an away win," said O'Neill.
"This is a team that is slowly but surely going in the right direction and we have to believe in ourselves more."
O'Neill admitted that his side failed to create enough chances in the first half of the game but added that "the shape of the team was excellent".
"We could have been a bit more dynamic in possession and it was disappointing to lose a goal two minutes before half-time.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"We changed our shape after the break - Jamie (Ward) came in and gave us that little spark. The character we showed in the second half was really encouraging.
"Chris Baird slotted into defence and we played with three at the back. After that, we pretty much controlled the game, although Israel had a go in the last five minutes."
O'Neill praised the impact made by Baird and Sammy Clingan, who had been forced out of the international picture in recent months because of their failure to find clubs.
"Chris gives you versatility, while Sammy was excellent too," enthused the NI boss.
"I'm delighted that Steven got the goal too as he played every minute of every game and it hasn't been easy being captain when you consider some of the setbacks we have had. He's led by example throughout the campaign.
"The lads have applied themselves well, but they just have to be mentally tougher in some games.
"If we continue to work hard, we can try to achieve that third spot in the next Euro qualifiers which would give us a shot at qualification.
"We haven't been outplayed in any game - we just have to turn those draws into wins and defeats into draws. We have competition for places across the team, which is good too." | Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill says he is encouraged by his side's 1-1 World Cup qualifier draw with Israel in Tel Aviv. | 0.800302 | 1 |
World Rugby confirmed that the four unions submitted their applications before Thursday's deadline.
Ireland and Italy have never staged the World Cup, although games were played in Ireland in the 1991 tournament. South Africa and France were hosts in 1995 and 2007 respectively.
The winning bid will be announced in November 2017.
South Africa Rugby wants to host the competition despite a government ban on it staging international events because it failed to meet racial transformation targets.
The 2019 World Cup will take place in Japan, the first time it has been held in Asia. | Ireland have made a bid to host the 2023 World Cup, along with France, Italy and South Africa. | 1.629937 | 2 |
Scott Diver, 16, was last seen at about 14:45 on Saturday 17 September at his home in Second Avenue in Clydebank.
He was captured on CCTV walking through nearby Dalmuir Park at about 14:53 the same day.
Police said his family were extremely worried about him. His father has previously appealed for him to get in touch.
The teenager is 5ft 7in tall, with a slim build, dark hair and blue eyes and is said to need regular medication.
He was last seen wearing a navy Adidas tracksuit with light blue stripes down the arms and legs, a white T-shirt and navy Adidas trainers with grey stripes.
Inspector John Mullen said: "It has now been three weeks since Scott was reported missing and his family are extremely worried about him.
"I would continue to urge anyone who recognises Scott, or who has any information regarding his whereabouts, to contact officers as soon as possible.
"We know that Scott was captured on CCTV walking through Dalmuir Park, in the direction of the park entrance at Mountblow Road, around 2.53pm on the day he went missing. I would ask anyone who may have seen him that day to come forward as you may have information that could assist with our inquiry.
"I would also appeal directly to Scott to please get in touch with someone to let us know he is safe. You're not in any trouble, but there are a lot of people worried about you and we need to know that you are okay." | Police have made a fresh appeal for information to help trace a teenage boy missing for three weeks. | 0.764547 | 1 |
Waves from the surge in the Humber estuary on 5 December have washed away parts of the road and punched holes in the sea defences.
The damage is still being assessed by the land's owners, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
It has appealed for volunteers to help tidy up the area.
Terry Smithson, regional director for Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said: "I couldn't believe my eyes when I visited Spurn; a new landscape has emerged following the tidal surge in addition to all manner of litter and debris.
"We are asking everyone who loves Spurn to come and help us with what will be the largest litter picking challenge we have ever faced."
The 3.5 miles (6km) long spit of land, which is a nature reserve, has remained closed to the public since the tidal surge.
A RNLI lifeboat crew based at the tip has had to move some of its operations to the port of Grimsby on the opposite side of the estuary.
Lifeboat coxswain Dave Steenvoorden said he had not seen such a level of damage before.
"On the actual operational side of the boat, no affect at all. It's everything else. It's the living, the shopping, the rubbish, the fuel, the electricity the water."
He added:" I don't think we'll beat nature, but we might claw a little bit back." | Parts of the Spurn Point peninsula are still cut off at high tide after sections of the the land were swept away by last month's tidal surge. | 2.190432 | 2 |
Col Claude Pivi is charged with murder, rape and the destruction of property.
At least 157 people died in the Conakry stadium when troops attacked people protesting against military rule. Scores of women were raped.
Col Pivi, now in charge of presidential security, is the seventh military figure to be charged over the events. None has so far been tried.
Rights groups have criticised President Alpha Conde for not moving fast enough to bring those responsible to justice.
Col Pivi was a leading figure in the CNDD military junta led by Capt Moussa Dadis Camara at the time of the massacre on 28 September 2009.
Eyewitnesses said people were shot, stabbed, bludgeoned or trampled to death and women raped and tortured.
Human rights groups and victims' organisations have welcomed the latest charges but urged the government to speed up the process.
"Our concern is that this must not just be a situation whereby people are indicted and then are left to go about their business as normal. We want to see some further advancement on this issue," said Asmaou Diallo, who heads a victims' support group.
"We welcome this indictment as it should help us get to the truth. However, we call on this government to make sure that all those indicted persons still in the country should be removed from their posts until they face justice."
Moussa Dadis Camara seized power in 2008 when long-time leader Lansana Conte died. But not long after the stadium massacre, he went into exile following an assassination attempt.
His deputy oversaw the handover to civilian rule, with veteran opposition leader Alpha Conde winning elections in 2010. | A government minister in Guinea has been charged in connection with a massacre at a stadium in 2009. | 1.273909 | 1 |
They say the troops, using tanks and other military equipment supplied by a Saudi-led coalition, were attacking Zinjibar from the north and south.
The fall of the city would deal another blow to the Houthi rebels, who have suffered a number of recent defeats.
They were driven out of a key airbase this week, following the loss of Aden.
Heavy casualties were reported during the fighting for al-Anad airbase, north of Aden.
Separately, the United Arab Emirates' official WAM agency said on Saturday that three Emirati soldiers were killed while taking part in the Saudi-led campaign to defeat the rebels who still control much of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
The Houthis advanced south in March, forcing President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.
Yemen crisis: Who is fighting whom?
Why are Gulf states fighting in Yemen?
Sunni power Saudi Arabia regards the Houthis as proxies of Shia rival Iran. It alleges Iran has provided the Houthis with weapons, something Iran and the Houthis deny.
The rebels - backed by forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh - say they are fighting against corruption and marginalisation of their northern powerbase by Mr Hadi's government.
The conflict has killed almost 4,000 people, nearly half of them civilians, since it escalated with the Saudi-led campaign in March, according to the United Nations. | Pro-government forces in Yemen have launched an offensive on the rebel-held capital of southern Abyan province, military sources say. | 1.464314 | 1 |
The derelict Chaddock Hall in Worsley, Greater Manchester, was destroyed when the fire broke out on 4 December.
Once owned by Salford millionaire landowner Derrick Cunliffe, the Grade II-listed building had been earmarked for refurbishment.
The boys, aged between 11 and 15, were arrested on suspicion of arson and bailed until 30 January.
Derrick and Monika Cunliffe got married in 2001, six months after she answered an advert in The Lady magazine to become mistress of Chaddock Hall.
Disabled Mr Cunliffe died in 2002, and Mrs Cunliffe was later awarded £600,000 by a High Court judge.
Mrs Cunliffe, German by origin, was awarded the money after the judge ruled her husband had failed to make reasonable provision for her in his will. | Seven boys have been arrested after an historic 17th Century country house was gutted in a suspected arson attack. | 1.465455 | 1 |
The sirens are usually used to warn of extreme weather events such as tornadoes.
"All 156 sirens in the city were activated last night - it does appear at this time that it was a hack," a spokeswoman for the city told reporters.
The noise "woke up a lot of people", she added.
The sirens were activated at 23:42 local time (04:42 GMT) on Friday and lasted for about 90 minutes.
Some posted footage online in which the sirens can clearly be heard.
Technicians for the Office of Emergency Management were eventually able to shut the warning system down and find what they said was evidence that the siren system had been hacked.
"We do believe that the hack came from the Dallas area," a city statement said.
Last year, someone hacked into a number of traffic signs in Dallas and used them to publish jokes. There has been no suggestion that the same people were involved in the sirens incident. | A hacker has been blamed for setting off more than 150 warning sirens in the US city of Dallas over the weekend. | 1.749963 | 2 |
Mr Ichan says he thinks the shares are worth $240 (£153), almost double the $130 they are currently trading at.
Last October, Mr Icahn argued Apple's share price was artificially low and really worth $203 apiece.
The shares have gained more than 25% since then.
"It is our belief that large institutional investors, Wall Street analysts and the news media alike continue to misunderstand Apple," Icahn wrote in the letter.
Mr Icahn says Apple is poised to "dominate" two new markets, television and cars.
This is a factor which other investors appear to ignore, he says.
Mr Icahn assumes the company will post a profit of $12 per share in 2016 and thinks the company ought to be worth 18 times its earnings. He estimates each share can claim $24.44 in cash.
Mr Icahn owns about 53 million shares in Apple, or less than 1% of the firm.
He has lobbied Apple to return some of its cash to shareholders in the form of share buy-backs, where a company buys its own shares in the market, shrinking supply of the stock with a view to increasing the value of each remaining share.
Apple last month said it would ramp up its share-buying programme, returning $200bn to investors, up from $130bn.
The firm reported a $13.6bn profit for the first three months of 2015, a gain of 33%, with revenue up 27% to $58bn.
Sales in greater China leapt 71% to $16.8bn, outpacing those in the US for the first time, and helping to drive the sharp profit rise. | Billionaire investor and activist Carl Icahn has sent another open letter to Apple chief executive Tim Cook saying the shares are "still dramatically undervalued". | 1.419628 | 1 |
Media playback is not supported on this device
With his side already 3-0 up, 36-year-old Terry slid and brought down Posh striker Lee Angol - and referee Kevin Friend decided he was the last man.
"You have to respect the decision, but in this case maybe we will do an appeal for this situation," said Conte.
The Blues' 4-1 third-round win was Terry's first start since October.
The defender, in his 19th season at Stamford Bridge, has played just six minutes since that 2-1 defeat by West Ham in the EFL Cup.
Terry's foul brought a straight red card, but as it was not violent conduct and he has not been dismissed before this season, he faces a one-game ban.
Should any Chelsea appeal not be successful, he will be suspended for their Premier League trip to champions Leicester on 14 January.
Media playback is not supported on this device | Chelsea manager Antonio Conte says the club are considering an appeal against captain John Terry's red card in Sunday's FA Cup win over Peterborough. | 0.819876 | 1 |
The accident occurred at 11:30 (09:30 GMT) at Dittingen, near Basel.
Swiss media say one of the pilots managed to escape by parachute.
The Swiss accident comes a day after 11 people died and several were injured when a military jet participating in an airshow in the UK crashed onto a busy road in the south of the country. | At least one person has been killed after two small planes collided in mid-air during an airshow in northern Switzerland, police say. | 0.854086 | 1 |
Carál Ní Chuilín was speaking during a visit to the construction site at Glenfada Park in Londonderry's Bogside.
Building work began last summer and the new money is in addition to funds of £2.4m.
The museum deals directly with the Northern Ireland Troubles and is close to where the events of Bloody Sunday took place in the city.
On 30 January 1972, a civil rights march in Derry ended with the shooting dead of 13 people by the Army.
The Saville Report, published on 15 June 2010, was heavily critical of the Army and found that soldiers fired the first shot.
Speaking before Parliament, Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "deeply sorry" and that the findings of the report were "shocking".
The new building is due to be finished and ready by June 2016. | The Museum of Free Derry is to receive an extra £500,000 in funding, the culture minister has said. | 1.73284 | 2 |
The 26-year-old midfielder, who was out of contract in the summer, has switched Championship clubs after agreeing a four-and-a-half-year deal.
Forest rejected an offer from Midlands rivals Derby County earlier this month.
Lansbury, signed from Arsenal in 2012, has hit six goals in 19 games this term, including a late equaliser when Forest drew 2-2 at Villa in September.
But he has not played since suffering a hamstring injury before the 3-0 loss at Derby on 11 December.
A takeover of Forest fell through last week, after which the Reds sacked manager Philippe Montanier.
It followed a run which has seen them take just two points from a possible 21 to leave them only three points above the Championship relegation zone.
By contrast, Steve Bruce's Villa are seven places, and eight points, higher, in 13th.
Lansbury is Bruce's second January signing, following the arrival of goalkeeper Sam Johnstone on loan from Manchester United, while Rudy Gestede was sold to Middlesbrough and Aly Cissokho and Pierluigi Gollini have both gone out on loan.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page or visit our Premier League tracker here. | Aston Villa have signed Nottingham Forest captain Henri Lansbury for a fee believed to be in excess of £2.75m. | 0.932716 | 1 |
And now Tom Hiddleston is stepping up to the challenge.
The Thor and Night Manager star will lead the cast for a fundraiser for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada).
The London production will be directed by Rada president Sir Kenneth Branagh and will also star Born to Kill actress Lolita Chakrabarti as Gertrude.
Branagh directed Hiddleston in his breakthrough movie, Thor.
Hiddleston said the role offered "almost limitless possibilities for interpretation".
"I can't wait to explore them, with this great cast, at Rada. Kenneth Branagh and I have long talked about working on the play together, and now felt like the right time, at the right place," he said.
The production is a joint one between Branagh's theatre company and Rada. It will run from 1 to 23 September at Rada's Jerwood Vanbrugh theatre in London.
Tickets will be available through a ballot, which is open from 12:00 BST on Tuesday 1 August. The online ballot will close at 18:00 on Sunday 6 August, while people can enter by phone until 17:00 on Saturday 5 August.
All proceeds will go towards Rada's Attenborough campaign, which is aiming to raise £20m to upgrade one of its main London sites and to provide Rada with its first on-site student accommodation.
Hiddleston added: "The performing arts exist to bring people together, not to break or keep them apart.
"I hope the funds raised by the production will help Rada continue to provide a wider field of equal opportunity to train actors, stage managers and technical theatre artists, from every background, to a standard of excellence and professionalism. We need to keep the doors open for everyone."
Branagh pulled out of directing Jude Law in Hamlet several years ago, reportedly because he was tied up in preparation for directing Thor.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | We've had David Tennant, Benedict Cumberbatch, and most recently, Andrew Scott taking on the role of Hamlet on the London stage. | 0.836299 | 1 |
Derk Bolt and Eugenio Follender went missing at the weekend in Catatumbo, a region where several armed groups operate, including the left-wing ELN.
They were searching for the mother of a Colombian child adopted in the Netherlands a few years ago.
The Colombian authorities tweeted a demand "for the immediate release of the two men."
Last year the ELN rebel group kidnapped a Spanish journalist and several Colombians in the same area. All were later released.
The Colombian army says it has sent specialist forces to the region to search for the Dutchmen.
They work for the Dutch TV programme Spoorloos, which traces lost relatives. Derk Bolt is a presenter and Eugenio Follender a cameraman.
The two men were working in the municipality of El Tarra on the border with Venezuela - an area where rebel group the ELN (the National Liberation Army) is strong.
There are strong suspicions that the group was responsible.
Last year in the same area Spanish-Colombian journalist Salud Hernández Mora was kidnapped by the ELN, as were two Colombian journalists, Diego D'Pablos and Carlos Melo, who had gone to the area to cover the story.
When I asked the ELN's spokesperson about the kidnapping of the Dutch journalists he said: "There is nothing to say."
The ELN is the second largest left-wing guerrilla group in Colombia, behind the Farc.
The Farc signed a peace deal with the government last November and are already disarming and preparing to enter civilian life. The ELN only started peace talks in February this year.
The group has insisted on a bilateral ceasefire but the government says this would be conditional on the ELN ending kidnapping - something that has not yet happened.
During the negotiations there have been military operations against that insurgent group as well as attacks against security forces by the ELN. | Two Dutch journalists have been abducted in Colombia in an area near the Venezuelan border. | 1.491959 | 1 |
About 30 protesters refused to leave Pantycelyn at the end of term on Sunday and five climbed on the roof on Monday.
The campaigners said they would also go on hunger strike on 21 June, the day before a decision is due on whether the accommodation will close indefinitely.
The university recommended the halls close to make them "fit for purpose".
It said the building would still be used for Welsh language services.
But campaigners have accused the university of not placing enough value in the Welsh language.
Student Bethan Roberts said: "We are here occupying the building with students and people from all over Wales to ensure this stays as a Welsh halls of residence." | Students at Aberystwyth University have climbed on the roof of a Welsh language hall of residence to protest its proposed closure. | 0.863459 | 1 |
The 35-year-old sustained the injury in training earlier this week, adding to miserable run of fitness problems.
The Irish midfielder has been limited to three appearances as a substitute this term, having been dogged by various knee complaints.
Foran returned last July after a 21-month absence following a knee injury that required surgery.
Having been at the Highland club since 2009, he is out of contract at the end of the season and started coaching when his injury rehabilitation commenced in 2014. | Inverness Caley Thistle captain Richie Foran may not play again this season after tearing a calf muscle. | 0.52031 | 1 |
The dress, studded with 6,000 natural white pearls, was taken from the London Hotel in West Hollywood while Nyong'o was out of the room.
Nyong'o won best supporting actress in 2014 for 12 Years a Slave and was a presenter at Sunday's ceremony.
A statement from the hotel said they were "working with law enforcement".
Lieutenant William Nash, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, said officers were checking CCTV footage.
Conflicting reports suggested the dress was stolen either on Tuesday night or during the day on Wednesday.
"Ms Nyong'o was not in the room at the time of the theft," Deputy John Mitchell told Reuters.
'Homage'
The dress, designed by Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein, took 25 people 10 weeks to hand-sew the 6,000 Akoya pearls.
On the red carpet on Sunday, the actress told Associated Press she was "just wearing my diamonds and pearls. My homage to (musician) Prince".
Speaking about the dress's design, the 31-year-old said: "We talked about it being fluid and liquid. I wanted it to be an homage to the sea."
No arrests have been made.
Representatives for Calvin Klein declined to comment. | A $150,000 (£97,000) custom-made Calvin Klein dress, worn by actress Lupita Nyong'o at this year's Oscars, has been stolen in Hollywood. | 1.099285 | 1 |
The strikes by RMT, Aslef and Unite union members will start on the evenings of 26 January, 15 February and 17 February.
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said the plans to introduce a Night Tube were "bodged".
London Underground called the unions' position "absurd".
It has offered a four-year pay deal over the issue and said it would hire part-time drivers to staff an all-night service at weekends.
More on this and other London stories.
Aslef claimed earlier London Underground management had refused to meet to discuss conditions for working on the proposed Night Tube.
The union's London district organiser, Finn Brennan, said: "We genuinely regret the inconvenience that will be caused but the behaviour of London Underground's senior management team have left us with no other choice.
Steve Griffiths, LU's chief operating officer, responded: "The unions' position is absurd and detached from the real world."
He added: "The truth is that they expect our customers to pay for their excessive demands for even more money, fewer hours and a four-day week."
"No employer could allow this and strike action will change nothing. There is no more money."
The Night Tube, which was due to begin in September, will see 24-hour services on five lines on Fridays and Saturdays.
Tube drivers are also unhappy with pay and station rosters, according to BBC London transport correspondent Tom Edwards.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said the union supported the principle of a "properly worked-out night Tube service" but said an "abject failure to work through the detail has led to a comprehensive breakdown in the negotiations".
London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "If a strike goes ahead, it will hit many London Underground workers who do not necessarily support the action, and it will cost the strikers in lost pay."
But Labour mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan said Mr Johnson was to blame, arguing: "It proves once and for all that the Tory strategy of refusing to negotiate or even meet with the unions makes strikes more likely not less."
Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA, which represents office and ticket staff, said the union will be consulting members over the next week to decide its next move. | London Underground staff are to stage three 24-hour strikes and other industrial action over pay and night Tubes. | 1.332147 | 1 |
Terry McSpadden, 24, of Elm, was last seen early on 2 March 2007, having spent the previous evening in the Locomotive pub in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.
He has not contacted his friends and family since.
The man from the Wisbech area was arrested on Monday.
A property in Outwell Road, Elm, is also being searched by officers.
A cold case inquiry was opened into the case in February this year.
Det Ch Insp Neil Luckett said at the time: "He (McSpadden) was known as a reliable, hard worker by his employers. He had two young children and strong local ties." | A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the disappearance of a father-of-two from Norfolk in 2007. | 0.26158 | 0 |
Anthony Seward, 23, got his hand trapped at Heathcoat Fabrics in Tiverton, Devon, in August 2016.
Exeter magistrates heard that a broken barrier guard had not been replaced.
Heathcoat admitted a health and safety offence and was fined £300,000. The firm told the court the accident was "a complete tragedy".
Warning: This story contains graphic images that some readers may find upsetting.
It also said Mr Seward's injury was "deeply regretted by the company".
More on this story and other Devon news
Barrister Christian DuCann, representing Heathcote, said it was a "complete tragedy" for a young man early in his career.
"This was an avoidable accident," he added.
Surgeon James Henderson said Mr Seward's hand was sewn inside the skin of his abdomen for three weeks.
The procedure at Southmead Hospital and Spire Bristol, called a Pedicled Abdominal Flap, allowed the skin to heal and get a blood supply from the hand.
It was then separated from the abdomen and the skin was folded over to cover the entire hand.
Mr Seward has now had two operations to separate his fingers and is able to move them independently.
"It's now quite rare as we don't see that many injuries that require this treatment," said Mr Henderson.
The "very old-fashioned procedure" which was first described by surgeons in 1900, was used a lot during World War Two to treat injured servicemen.
It has also been used on soldiers coming back from Afghanistan.
Mr Henderson said Mr Seward's fingers could be improved with transplants from his toes "to give him a good fingertip for gripping fine objects".
"Normally there are more sophisticated ways of transplanting tissue but Anthony's injury was so severe it was decided to do it this way," he added.
Mr Seward lost his job as a retained fire fighter as a result of the accident.
Speaking after the case, Mr Seward said: "It's been a long, painful and difficult 12 months.
"I'd like to say thank you to the doctors and nurses paramedics that treated me at Bristol.
"They did a phenomenal job and I don't think they could have done any better."
Mr Seward said he is making a compensation claim against the firm. | Surgeons saved a worker's hand which had been crushed in an industrial mangle by sewing it inside a "pocket" in his abdomen for three weeks. | 1.59963 | 2 |
Rudd, who was arrested on Saturday, made no plea and will appear again at the New Zealand court in two weeks.
Earlier this month, Rudd, 61, was sentenced to eight months in house detention for drug possession and making threats to kill.
Rudd will not be taking part in AC/DC's current world tour.
After his latest arrest, Rudd must undergo drug and alcohol testing when required.
He stuck two fingers up at on looking media as he arrived in court, stuff.co.nz reported.
Rudd was sentenced to house detention just under two weeks ago for threatening to "take out" a former employee and possessing marijuana and methamphetamine.
Judge Thomas Ingram said home detention was the most appropriate punishment - but warned that he would be closely monitored and jail would be the next step if the drummer stepped out of line.
"I stone-cold guarantee that's where you'll end up," the judge said during sentencing.
"The temptations of the rock star lifestyle have caused your downfall here." | The former drummer with rock band AC/DC Phil Rudd has appeared in court accused of consuming alcohol in breach of a home detention sentence. | 0.862545 | 1 |
Steven Barry Ellis was arrested for public order offences on Friday.
He appeared before Wrexham magistrates on Saturday.
Supt Rob Kirman said: "The immediate sentencing of this man demonstrates that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated in north Wales."
Bomber Salman Abedi killed 22 people when he blew himself up as the victims left an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena on Monday.
A total of 11 people have been arrested in the UK, including Abedi's 24-year-old brother Ismail, but two were later released.
Meanwhile, US singer Grande has said she will return to the "incredibly brave city" for a benefit concert. | A 49-year-old man has been sentenced to 14 weeks in prison for shouting obscenities during a vigil in Wrexham for the victims of the Manchester bombing. | 0.618593 | 1 |
West Yorkshire Police attended the Omnibus pub off Sharp Lane, Middleton, at about 19:00 GMT on Friday.
The force said a male officer was driven at deliberately by a black Vauxhall Astra, which then left the scene driving "erratically".
The officer was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries and has since been discharged.
The driver of the car has not yet been traced.
The venue was open for the final time before being demolished, the Yorkshire Evening Post reported. | A police officer has been injured after what was said to be a hit-and-run incident outside a pub in south Leeds. | 0.499032 | 0 |
Firefighters were called to the Stables Market after the blaze broke out at about 20:00 BST. It was brought under control about two hours later.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) sent 10 fire engines and more than 70 firefighters to tackle the blaze.
The Stables Market is the largest of a number of markets in Camden, selling books, clothing, and jewellery.
A nearby supermarket was also evacuated.
Shortly after the fire broke out, LFB tweeted: "The fire at Stables Market on Chalk Farm Road can be seen from miles around."
It later tweeted: "Fire is in the roof voids of the shops at Stables Market in #Camden. We've stopped the fire from affecting the overhead passenger train line."
David Byard, who works in the Barfly pub opposite the market, said: "We noticed thick black smoke billowing from the market.
"The fire brigade were at the scene with a hydraulic platform."
He said that the fire appeared to have been put out by about 21:00 BST.
Ash Jones, who was in a pub close to the market, said: "An alarm went off and we were evacuated.
"Buses were abandoned as the roads were closed and 200 or 300 people were left standing in the street."
The Metropolitan Police confirmed Chalk Farm Road had been cordoned off at Camden High Street .
The market is located in the historic former Pickfords stables and Grade II-listed horse hospital which served the horses pulling Pickfords' distribution vans and barges along the canal.
Many of its stalls are set in large arches in railway viaducts. | About 600 people were evacuated after a fire broke out at a market in Camden, north London. | 1.433792 | 1 |
The Kasumigaseki Country Club risked being stripped of the event if it did not change its membership policy, after being warned by the International Olympic Committee earlier this month.
Women were previously not allowed to become full members or play on Sundays.
The Tokyo 2020 organising committee says the club's regulations have been changed following a unanimous decision by the executive board.
"On behalf of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, I'd like to extend my gratitude to the members of the club for their understanding and cooperation," said committee president Yoshiro Mori.
"I also would like to express my admiration for the club's endeavour to come to an agreement in such a short period of time."
Rio 2016 was the first time golf event had been part of the Olympic programme since 1904. South Korea's Inbee Park won the women's title, with Great Britain's Justin Rose securing the men's.
Muirfield golf club recently voted to admit women as members for the first time in its history and was reinstated as a venue for the Open Championship. | The Tokyo 2020 Olympic golf venue has voted to admit women as full members. | 1.416659 | 1 |
Hammon, 38, became the NBA's first female full-time assistant coach last year and then took charge of the Spurs for the Las Vegas tournament.
She said of her team: "They listened and they played really hard for me. They were tired but fought through."
Spurs won six straight games to win the off-season mini-league.
Hammon is a former professional basketball player who played in America, Spain and Russia and who played internationally for both the United States and Russia after gaining Russian citizenship.
Jonathan Simmons, 25, scored 23 points to take the Most Valuable Player Award.
He said: "She's a real cool coach. She's a player coach. That's something we all like."
The Las Vegas competition is one of three summer leagues run by the NBA with clubs often using young players and trialists to identify potential future talent. | Becky Hammon is the first female head coach in NBA summer league history to win a title after San Antonio Spurs beat Phoenix Suns 93-90 in the final. | 1.009525 | 1 |
Highs of 44 Celsius have been recorded in places such as Italy and Albania.
Many countries have issued health warnings advising people to stay indoors and drink plenty of water.
The baking heat in one of the worst affected countries, Italy, has led to forest fires and has left some regions experiencing drought.
Rome, for example had a high of 43C which is 10C higher than the average for this time of the year.
What does Celsius mean?
Celsius is a unit of measurement used to measure temperature in the UK, a bit like a centimetre is a unit used to measure size. Water freezes at 0C and boils at 100C
Many people have been taken to hospital with heat related illnesses from the extreme weather.
Even countries in Northern Europe like Poland have been feeling the heat.
Experts think the high temperatures will last at least until Monday. | Areas in Europe have been experiencing their most extreme temperatures in 10 years. | 3.335699 | 3 |
The RSPCA was alerted to the harbour seal on rocks at the bottom of a 60m (200ft) cliff at Ravenscar on Tuesday.
The team, helped by staff from Scarborough Sea Life Sanctuary, managed to pin the bull seal down and cut the plastic ring off his neck.
Lyndsey Crawford-Darwell, curator of the sanctuary, said it was "almost cheese-grated into his neck".
After making sure the wound was not infected, the animal was released back into the sea.
More stories from around Yorkshire
Ms Crawford-Darwell added: "We get calls every day about seals... but when we get a call from the RSPCA to go down a dangerous cliff top we know it will be a juicy rescue.
"We sent three people with the RSPCA animal care team - purely for muscle.
"When the guys got there it was about a 120kg seal which is pretty big. It took all three of them to pin him down."
She said the two to three-year-old bull must have got the bright yellow ring over its head when it was younger and it had wedged into its neck as it had grown.
She said it was quite "feisty and angry" but did not need recuperation at the sanctuary hospital.
"The area was cleaned up and we made sure it wasn't infected and we thought it would heal nicely on its own, so we let him go and he moved off straight away.
"To see the relief on his face was quite a moment."
Scarborough Sea Life Sanctuary runs a small seal hospital which treats about 30 seals a year. These are of two species - the harbour seal which is born in summer and the grey seal which is born in winter. | A seal spotted with a flying ring stuck around its neck has been rescued off the coast of North Yorkshire. | 1.83076 | 2 |
Assel Al-Essaie was shot in the chest in Daniel Hill, Walkley, on 18 February. He was taken to hospital but died soon after.
On Saturday night, police detained a 29-year-old Sheffield man on suspicion of murder.
Two other men, aged 25 and 35 and from Nottinghamshire, were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
All three remain in police custody for questioning.
It brings the total number of arrests in the case to 14, but no charges have been made.
South Yorkshire Police continues to appeal for anyone with information connected to the death to come forward. | A man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a 23-year-old who was shot dead in Sheffield. | 0.500835 | 1 |
The Via Partnership trading as Connexions went into administration in December.
It offered careers advice and training in a joint venture with Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen Council.
The company folded "after losing a major contract" but helped "hundreds of young people", said Blackpool Council leader Simon Blackburn.
It comes as Lancashire County Council has to make savings of £85m next year and £200m more over the next four years.
The authority said in a statement: "When issues with the company's cash flow became evident, the county council, along with the company's other shareholders, actively explored the options for a management buyout or sale to a third party.
"It only became clear in early December last year that there was no realistic prospect of a sale of the company at which point the decision was taken to place Via into administration."
Blackpool Council has already written off £300,000 and Blackburn with Darwen has been unavailable for comment on its investment.
Councillor Blackburn said after receiving interest payments on the loan for 18 months the company collapsed after the "loss of a major contract and there was no way to recover the outstanding debt".
He said when the loans were made the Via Partnership was turning over around £4m a year.
He added: "The Via partnership was successful for a number of years and the loan helped hundreds of young people get access to training and apprenticeships, as well as keeping local people in work to carry out that important job." | Lancashire County Council is writing off £500,000 invested in a business which folded with the loss of 70 jobs. | 1.175778 | 1 |
The new road would cross Lake Lothing between the two existing bridges, linking Peto Way and Tom Crisp Way.
Suffolk County Council had ruled out this option last year, saying a crossing closer to the Bascule Bridge would be the most "cost effective".
It said "public enthusiasm" and "additional studies" led to the change.
Work could begin on the crossing, that could cost up to £90m, within two years.
The council had previously backed an alternative bridge after potential crossings were researched in western, central and eastern locations by engineers WSP.
Former Waveney MP Bob Blizzard, Labour, had said residents were "furious" with the decision.
In September, following a visit by David Cameron, the options were reassessed, with a feasibility study commissioned.
The central option submitted to government in an outline business case will follow a north/south route from a new roundabout on Denmark Road.
Peter Aldous, Conservative MP for Waveney, said: "The preference for a central crossing reflects improved data, while also acknowledging public enthusiasm for this particular location."
Much of the cost of the new bridge would come from central government.
Mark Pendlington, chairman of the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, said the document was "a robust and compelling business case".
The council has also submitted plans for a new crossing at the waterfront in Ipswich, costing between £80-£90m.
It is considering two options, and currently favours one that includes the construction of three individual bridges - linking the east and west banks of the River Orwell. | Proposals for a third water crossing in Lowestoft that had previously been ruled out have been submitted to government. | 1.895504 | 2 |
The step is part of new guidance from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
It relates to how evidence should be collected immediately after a member of the public has died or been seriously injured during contact with the police.
But the Police Federation said the move was "without cause".
The guidance proposes that key policing witnesses should be separated as soon as it is "operationally safe" until after they have provided their personal initial account.
The IPCC said separating officers after an incident to prevent conferring was designed to ensure officers provide individual accounts of only what they saw, heard and did.
This avoids actual or perceived collusion or their accounts being unintentionally influenced by those of others, the watchdog said.
The issue of conferring among officers came under the spotlight following the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan in 2011. A jury later concluded he was lawfully killed by police.
IPCC deputy chair Sarah Green said: "The measures we have outlined do not treat police officers as suspects, but as witnesses whose early individual accounts will help ensure the integrity and smooth running of the critical early stages in any investigation."
Che Donald, firearms lead for the Police Federation of England and Wales, said officers were "under no illusion" of the scrutiny they face following a death or serious incident.
He added: "They are witnesses first and foremost and to separate them in the immediate aftermath of a highly traumatic incident is neither proportionate nor necessary and without cause."
If approved by the home secretary, all police forces in England and Wales would be obliged to make use of the new guidance in the event of fatalities or serious injuries resulting from firearms operations, incidents in custody or other police contact. | Police officers directly involved in fatal incidents should be separated as quickly as possible to prevent conferring, a watchdog has said. | 1.818248 | 2 |
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE | As 2015 draws to an end, we take a look back at some of the major stories of the year, along with others that proved popular with readers. | -0.127087 | 0 |
Iain Turner, Adam Mekki, Erico Sousa, Sam Ilesanmi, Darren Askew and Tolani Omotola are all leaving the club.
Cole Stockton, Jake Kirby, Mitch Duggan, Luke Pilling and Evan Gumbs have been offered contracts, while Steve McNulty has a new 12-month deal.
Tranmere lost 3-1 to Forest Green Rovers in the National League play-off final at Wembley on 14 May.
After extending 33-year-old defender McNulty's contract by a further year, Rovers, who were relegated out of the Football League at the end of the 2014-15 season, also plan to offer new terms to Lee Vaughan, Liam Ridehalgh, Michael Ihiekwe, Lois Maynard and Adam Buxton. | Tranmere have released six players after their failure to win promotion back to the Football League. | 0.556349 | 1 |
The authority's chief executive, Phil Halsall, was suspended in August on full pay pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation.
It followed an independent review of the tender process for a contract to run the council's fleet services.
Tim Kerr QC, a local government law specialist, is overseeing the probe.
He is examining council documents and interviewing members of staff and councillors.
Mr Halsall has denied any wrongdoing in the tendering process of the fleet contract.
The deal to run the council's fleet services was agreed in April by the former Conservative administration.
It was awarded to BT and One Connect Ltd, a partnership between BT and the council.
However, the decision to award the contract to BT in April was called in by county councillors and it was put on hold and the council's in-house provider continued to provide the services.
The contract was revoked on 15 August with immediate effect by the current leader of Lancashire County Council Jennifer Mein. | A senior lawyer has been appointed to carry out the investigation into a £5m tendering contract involving Lancashire County Council, it has emerged. | 0.847378 | 1 |
Sheri Scott was told she could not bring her pet onto the underground in a basket despite having done so in the past.
She is now petitioning Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) to make the underground more pet friendly.
SPT said small dogs were permitted if they were in a "secure container".
It added that assistance dogs, such as guide dogs, were always allowed on the subway.
Ms Scott wrote on the petition: "I would love the support of fellow Glaswegians and dog lovers to help bring Glasgow Subway up to date and allow dogs through their sliding doors.
"Rules are there for a reason, I get that, but in this day and dog-friendly age, it just seems unnecessary."
She says her pet, five-and-a half month old French Bulldog Olive, had been on the subway in a basket the past, but that she had recently been told by staff this did not count as a secure container.
In a Tweet to Ms Scott, SPT said she had to use an "animal carrier where the dog can't escape or urinate on the seats".
Speaking to BBC Scotland News, she said the restrictions were "out of date".
She said: "It's just a bit bonkers… who carries their dog in a cage?
"I understand there's some dogs that might not be suited on the subway - for example, if they are really excitable.
"It's about being realistic about what your pet will be able to cope with. If you have a calm, obedient dog then why shouldn't they be able to go on?
Ms Scott says she has "never had any problems" on other forms of public transport.
Ms Scott said it was ironic that Olive had travelled on the replacement bus service everyday with no problem when the subway was closed.
"She has been on the train, buses etcetera. She brings smiles to all the customers - she's so chilled."
Ms Scott argued that SPT's policy was outdated, and that many dog-friendly facilities now existed in Glasgow.
One restaurant, St Luke's, even offers a dog menu. It features pet favourites like chicken and rice, ice cream and fish with scrambled eggs.
She said the pair had found dog-friendly hair dressers and nail salons in the city centre to visit. | A petition calling for changes to the rules on bringing dogs onto the Glasgow Subway has gathered more than 1,000 signatures. | 1.562514 | 2 |
Relatives had been contacted as authorities sought "confirmation of their circumstances", he said.
"At this stage we are not able to say anything more," Mr Turnbull said.
Two additional Australians were injured. One, a woman, was recovering in hospital, while the other was a man already on his way back to Australia.
"There are around 130,000 Australians living in the UK at any given time, and many Australian visitors, and there were many Australians in the vicinity of the attack," Mr Turnbull told reporters.
The prime minister vowed his nation would stand in solidarity with Britain, describing the attackers as "cowardly criminals".
"We defy them and we reject the poisonous ideology that they peddle," he said.
The Australian recovering in hospital was Queensland woman Candice Hedge, according to her mother, Kim Del Toro.
Ms Hedge, who is in her 30s, had been stabbed in the throat.
"She was hiding at the time, and the guy got her, and stabbed her in the neck somewhere," Ms Del Toro told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
"She is ok. She has had surgery and she is quite OK."
Meanwhile, family and friends of a young woman from Brisbane have posted on social media that they have not been able to make contact with her.
They said Sara Zelenak was separated from her friends on London Bridge during the attack and hasn't been able to be reached since.
The 21-year old had been working in London as a nanny. | Australia has "very real concerns" for two citizens believed to have been caught up in the London terror attack, PM Malcolm Turnbull has said. | 1.218557 | 1 |
Only twice in the 15 years since the Championship was split into two divisions in 2000 has the title outcome proved a one-horse race.
"It's going to be close again," Chopra said, ahead of the Bears' opener at home to promoted Hampshire on Sunday.
"I think the standard in Division One will be even higher," he told BBC WM.
"It could be down to who starts well and can get on a roll. Fine margins can affect results. We started poorly last year. I personally was slow at the beginning of last season.
"Yorkshire were very strong last season, Sussex have recruited quite well, Durham can always be dangerous. And there's even the sides who have come up. Hampshire have got a strong batting line-up."
Chopra, now in his sixth season at Edgbaston, was part of the last Bears team to win the County Championship in 2012.
And, having taken over as skipper from the injured Jim Troughton midway through last season, initially in a temporary capacity, he is keen to add to the one trophy he has already lifted as Bears captain, the T20 Blast on home soil at Edgbaston last August.
"We're just looking to improve on what we did last year and be in contention again in all four formats," he added. "It's just about raising levels of intensity and out in the middle.
"We've got a pretty settled squad. It helps if you get good characters in the dressing room. We have a quiet confidence, but it means nothing now. It's where you are in September that counts. We've got a chance, but so have eight other sides."
Warwickshire are the only of the 18 counties who will not have had the benefit of a first-class fixture under their belts when the Championship season starts, this week's three-day meeting with the students of Durham MCCU having been deemed a non-first-class fixture.
But the Bears batsmen have used the time out in the middle well, opener Ian Westwood (unbeaten on 155), Sam Hain (85), Tim Ambrose (64), William Porterfield (59) and Laurie Evans 52 and Rikki Clarke (43) getting decent first-innings scores. | Warwickshire captain Varun Chopra believes that this season's County Championship title race could once again prove a close-run thing. | 0.954308 | 1 |
Tej Bahadur Yadav's videos were viewed over eight million times and had generated outrage among Indians.
He alleged that the quality of the food was so poor that many times soldiers opted to go without instead.
Mr Yadav has said he will appeal against the decision in a higher court.
Mr Yadav, who belonged to the Border Security Force (BSF), posted videos in January of burnt roti (flatbread) and lentils that he said had only turmeric and salt.
Soldier's video on 'bad food' goes viral
Army 'cracking down' on harassment
A BSF statement quoted by The Hindu newspaper said Mr Yadav had been dismissed for "making false allegations, posting photographs on social media and for carrying two mobile phones".
It said he carried two mobile phones while on operational duty against the standard operating procedures and also posted photographs in uniform on social media in contravention of instructions.
"The individual [Mr. Yadav] was found guilty of all the charges and awarded dismissal from service," the statement said.
The BSF had said earlier that the soldier had several complaints against him and had faced disciplinary action in 2010. | An Indian soldier who posted videos, claiming troops on the border with Pakistan got poor quality food, has been sacked "for making false allegations". | 1.484306 | 1 |
Wakass Haruf was accused of telling pupils at Birmingham's Golden Hillock Academy: "Islam is the true religion, not like those Christians and Jews".
A professional panel said while only part of the allegations against him had been proven, his comments had been delivered to large numbers of pupils.
The hearing has been adjourned.
The National College for Teaching and Leadership panel also heard Mr Haruf used words to the effect that adherence to other faiths showed ignorance.
More on this story and others on Birmingham and Black Country
The comments were said to have been made at a prayer meeting at the school in July 2013.
The hearing has been adjourned until February so Mr Haruf can prepare his mitigation.
Various panels have sat over the past few weeks looking at the conduct of some teachers at schools caught up in the Trojan Horse saga.
On Monday, Jahangir Akbar, former acting head teacher at Oldknow Academy in Birmingham, was banned from teaching indefinitely after the panel said his misconduct was of a serious nature.
He had been accused of trying to "eliminate" the celebration of Christmas in school and "undermining tolerance" of other beliefs.
The Trojan Horse affair was sparked when the contents of an anonymous letter, claiming hard-line Muslims were trying to get their own members on to governing bodies to try and oust head teachers at some schools in Birmingham, was made public.
As a result, five Birmingham schools including Golden Hillock were put into special measures by education watchdog Ofsted.
The school has since joined the Ark network of academies. | A maths teacher who taught at one of the schools caught up in the so-called Trojan Horse affair has been found guilty of professional misconduct. | 1.655544 | 2 |
One photograph posted on the internet showed the 88-year-old Republican politician in bed in hospital, where he was recently treated for bronchitis.
The stolen emails are reported to include addresses and personal details of several members of the Bush family.
A spokesman for Mr Bush confirmed that an investigation was under way.
"We do not comment on matters under criminal investigation," Jim McGrath told the Houston Chronicle.
The hacker broke into email accounts of several members of the Bush family, news website the Smoking Gun reported.
The hacked emails are reported to include messages expressing serious concern about the health of the former president, including a personal note sent by President Barack Obama through an aide.
Mr Bush was discharged from hospital on 14 January after a seven-week stay, during which he was treated for a bronchitis-related cough.
The purloined photos include pictures of his son, former President George W Bush.
One shows the younger Mr Bush posing beside a life-size cardboard cutout of himself with a moustache drawn on it; others are said to show paintings by him, including self-portraits.
The Smoking Gun said it had been in contact with the hacker, who goes by the alias Guccifer.
He said he had taken "a lot of stuff" including "interesting mails" about the former president's time in hospital, the website reported.
George H W Bush was the 41st US President, serving one term from 1989-93. He was defeated by Democrat Bill Clinton when he stood for re-election.
Before becoming president he was Ronald Reagan's vice-president from 1981-89. He also served as vice-president, CIA director, US ambassador to China and congressman from Texas.
His son George W Bush served as 43rd president from 2001-09. | A computer hacker has stolen personal emails and photographs belonging to former US President George H W Bush and his family, US media report. | 1.365799 | 1 |
The 10m (33ft) tall pyramid was found within two other structures that comprise the 30m pyramid at the Mayan archaeological complex known as Chichen Itza in Yucatan state.
The discovery suggests that the pyramid was built in three phases.
The Mayan civilisation occupied Central America and had its peak around the 6th Century AD.
The recently-discovered smallest pyramid was constructed between the years 550-800, researchers say.
The middle structure was discovered in the 1930s and is estimated to date back to the years 800-1000, while the largest one is believed to have been finished between 1050-1300.
"It's like a Russian nesting doll. Under the large one we get another and another," researcher Rene Chavez Seguro told a news conference.
Pyramids were built within each other for various reasons, including deterioration of the structure or the arrival of new leadership, experts say.
They say the smallest pyramid was discovered using 3D Electrical Tomography, a non-invasive technique that measures the electrical signal caused by small injected currents to form a representation of the pyramid's interior without causing damage.
The discovery could provide new insights into the original Mayan culture before it intermingled with populations from central Mexico.
Last year, archaeologists discovered that the Kukulkan pyramid was built on top of a cenote, or underground river, which are common in the region and revered by the Maya.
Today Chichen Itza is a Unesco World Heritage Site, and receives more than a million visitors a year. | A third structure has been found within the famous Kukulkan pyramid in eastern Mexico, experts say. | 4.070394 | 4 |
The 24-year-old has won every major Welsh honour during his time with the Saints and joins for a fee of £35,000 which could rise to £50,000.
Quigley scored eight goals last term as they won a sixth consecutive WPL title.
"I'm 24 and it's about time I made the step into the English system. I'm glad to have the opportunity," Quigley said.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | Blackpool have signed forward Scott Quigley from Welsh Premier League champions The New Saints on a two-year deal with the option of a further year. | 0.654092 | 1 |
Media playback is not supported on this device
He had been looking for investors for the last 12 months after previous majority shareholder Anton Zingarevich failed to complete a full takeover.
The Thai consortium have agreed to keep Madejski, who has been with the club since 1990, on the board.
Asked whether he felt the new owners had saved the club, he said: "In many ways, I'd say they have."
Speaking to BBC South Today, he continued: "There were other parties interested, but these are the ones I favoured because when you're choosing new owners of a treasured club like Reading you have to be incredibly careful.
"We've had some colourful suitors in the past, but these people are decent, straightforward people, and I'm grateful for that."
The amount of money involved in the takeover has not yet been disclosed.
But, under the agreement, businesswoman Khunying Sasima Srivikorn, now also co-chairman, and Khun Sumrith Thanakarnjanasuth have each taken 25% of the club, while the other 50% of the shareholding has been bought by Khun Narin Niruttinanon.
Their takeover ended months of speculation regarding potential investors into the Championship club.
"I've had lots of sleepless nights thinking about Reading Football Club over the years, but I think the last 12 months have been the most challenging," Madejski said.
"I'm just delighted that at long last we've reached a situation we can look positively to the future."
However, the 73-year-old has warned the consortium against making sweeping changes too soon after the completion of the deal.
"Like the old saying, if it ain't broke why fix it?," he added.
"They're obviously ambitious, they want to get Reading into the Premier League as soon as they can, so they will be making sure they make a positive input.
"We welcome that because change is always a good thing and a fresh pair of eyes can see things perhaps we've missed." | Reading co-chairman Sir John Madejski says the club's new Thai owners may have "effectively saved" the club. | 1.029659 | 1 |
Armed police were called to Highcliffe School in Christchurch shortly after midday.
The school was placed in emergency lockdown, but has since reopened.
A 26-year-old man from Christchurch was initially held on suspicion of firearm offences but was de-arrested at the scene. A number of air pellets were found.
Police said there was no risk to pupils or staff. No-one was injured.
A Dorset Police spokeswoman said: "Police officers have now left the scene and police community support officers remain in the area carrying out community reassurance patrols.
"The school is back to normal and police have completed a full and thorough search of the area.
"We have moved this matter from a response to an investigative phase.... inquires are continuing." | A school was placed in emergency lockdown after reports a gunman fired shots at school workmen, police said. | 0.725266 | 1 |
The 31-year-old, who beat defending champion Nicol David in the last eight, will face Nour el Tayeb in the final as she attempts to add to her 2011 title.
Massaro, who came into the match with a 10-3 negative head-to-head record against Kawy, won 12-10 11-7 11-9 in 34 minutes.
"I'm thrilled to be in a major final once again," said Massaro.
"I've watched Nour play this week and she's in great form.
"I'm really excited. There won't be any pressure on me so I'm just looking forward to it." | England's Laura Massaro has reached a third US Open final in five years with victory over Egypt's Omneya Abdel Kawy. | 0.401876 | 0 |
It said President Donald Trump would be held accountable for "every drop of blood flowing in Muslim countries" and ended "I love Islamic state".
The hacking was carried out by a group calling itself Team System DZ.
The Ohio governor's website was still down for maintenance at 17:30 local time (21:30 GMT).
The message in the hacking attack contained an Arabic symbol and was written mainly in the black and white used in the flag of so-called Islamic State.
The message on Mr Kasich's site also played an Islamic call to prayer.
The message read: "You will be held accountable Trump, you and all your people for every drop of blood flowing in Muslim countries."
A spokeswoman for Mr Kasich, Emmalee Kalmbach, said in a statement: "As soon as we were notified of the situation, we immediately began to correct it, and will continue to monitor until fully resolved."
A number of other sites were affected, including those of Ohio's First Lady Karen Kasich, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, the Ohio Office of Health Transformation, the Ohio Inspector General and the Ohio Department of Medicaid.
Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel posted a tweet telling "freedom-loving Americans" that radical Islam was "infiltrating the heartland".
The New York Post said the website of the New York state town of Brookhaven was also affected.
The group known as Team System DZ has carried out a number of hacking sprees in the past, many carrying anti-Israel messages.
The US is currently holding high-level inquiries into alleged cyber attacks by Russia aimed at influencing the result of last year's presidential election. | A number of government websites in the US state of Ohio, including that of Governor John Kasich, have been hacked to display a pro-IS message. | 1.505788 | 2 |
The event, which marked the 101st anniversary of the rebellion, was led by President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Enda Kenny.
Sinn Féin's Stormont leader, Michelle O'Neill, also attended.
It was held outside the General Post Office (GPO) on O'Connell Street, the building that served as the headquarters of the 1916 rebels.
The 1916 rebellion was an attempt to overthrow British rule in Ireland.
President Higgins laid a wreath at the GPO and members of the Irish Defence Forces personnel also took part.
The state ceremony began with the lowering of the Irish tricolour.
A prayer was read and a piper played a lament before the Proclamation of Independence was read by an officer from the Irish defence forces. | The Easter Rising has been commemorated with a military ceremony in Dublin. | 2.38085 | 2 |
The incident happened in Whatriggs Road, in the Bellfield area of Kilmarnock, at about 01:30 on Saturday.
The injured men were taken to the town's Crosshouse Hospital for treatment and were later released.
Police inquiries into the incident are continuing. | Four men have been stabbed during what police called a "large-scale disturbance" in East Ayrshire. | 0.047516 | 0 |
About 50,000 people are expected to attend the game at Ibrox, which is due to kick off at 12:15 on Saturday.
Large crowds are also expected in the city centre to see in the New Year.
Police advised people to plan their day ahead and drink responsibly and said more officers than usual would be on duty in public places around the city.
Ch Supt Brian McInulty said: "This is no doubt an exciting weekend for many people, whether it's to enjoy a day of shopping at the sales, attending a football match or gearing up to celebrate the New Year.
"It does mean that the city will be busier throughout the day and night. Together with our partners, we have robust policing plans in place to account for this with public safety being our priority."
Ch Supt McInulty said specific plans were in place to police the match at Ibrox and other games taking place in the west of Scotland.
He said alcohol would play a part throughout the day and urged "people to drink responsibly", plan their outings and keep in contact with friends and family.
"Expect to see more officers in and around stadiums, shopping centres, on approaches to Glasgow and in the city centre itself," he said.
The decision to play the Rangers v Celtic game on Hogmanay has been criticised by some politicians and publicans.
The Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) said it was "senseless" and warned there were "obvious concerns" about longer drinking time and pressure on the emergency services.
Ch Supt McInulty said anyone who was intent on causing trouble would be dealt with appropriately.
He added: "Much has been said about the Rangers v Celtic match taking place but I envisage that the majority of supporters will come and enjoy the game and leave safely.
"However, that small minority determined to cause disorder, anti-social or offensive behaviour will be met with the full force of the law." | Police Scotland has said that "robust" plans are in place to ensure public safety as Glasgow gears up for Hogmanay and a Rangers v Celtic derby match. | 1.149546 | 1 |
They have called up fellow keeper Jonny Bairstow, 25, as his replacement.
Lancashire's Buttler, 24, made four and nought as Australia won the first two ODIs.
"It has become clear in the last couple of days that Jos will benefit from a break from cricket ahead of the winter tours," said coach Trevor Bayliss.
"While we initially felt Jos would have enough left in the tank, rest is key and Jos has had a heavy workload throughout 2015."
The third ODI will take place at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
Bairstow made 34 off 40 balls on Sunday as Yorkshire lost to Gloucestershire in the One-Day Cup semi-final.
He will miss Yorkshire's trip to Lord's this week as they look to beat Middlesex and secure the County Championship title for the second successive season. | England will rest wicketkeeper Jos Buttler for the last three games of their five-match one-day series against Australia. | 0.955504 | 1 |
The 55-year-old's vehicle rolled over him in the access road to a property in the Navidale area near Helmsdale in Sutherland.
The accident happened on Friday 24 February.
Police Scotland said emergency services were alerted to the accident at about 16:00 that day. | A man has died after being struck by his own car. | 0.154715 | 0 |
The 23-year-old hit three consecutive birdies as he secured a two-shot lead over Japan's Hideki Matsuyama.
Americans William McGirt, Jimmy Walker and Ryan Moore are tied in third place with 14 under in Hawaii.
World number one Jason Day is in 13th place after a three-under 70, while Scotland's Russell Knox is seven shots off the lead with one round remaining.
"I left a lot our there. That is always a good thing because I can just go work on it and improve," Thomas said. | American Justin Thomas shot his third-straight 67 to take the lead on day three of the Tournament of Champions. | 0.567632 | 1 |
The battle in 1461 during the Wars of the Roses is reputed to have been the largest and bloodiest fought in England, said Historic England.
The Battle of Towton saw up to 28,000 soldiers killed on a single day.
A larger area around Towton and Saxton, in North Yorkshire, will now be in the Historic England registered battlefield.
Live updates and more stories from Yorkshire
Historic England's register identifies 46 important English battlefields to give protection through the planning system and a better understanding of their significance.
The battlefield lies broadly across a plateau defined by the lower ground of the River Wharfe valley to the east, thought to have been woodlands in the 15th Century, and the Cock Beck to the west.
In 1996 a mass grave of more than 40 bodies killed in the battle was discovered at Towton Hall, which is now within the new protected area.
The Battle of Towton, which was fought on 29 March 1461, saw the Lancastrian forces of Henry VI defeated by those of Edward of York who became King Edward IV.
He died in 1483 and his brother Richard III took the throne.
The site of the fighting, near Tadcaster and nine miles (14km) from York, was included on the Historic England Battlefields Register because:
The move for a larger area to be registered comes after campaigning by local history groups.
The Towton Battlefield Society said: "This is the cause for celebration after many years of campaigning, meetings, endless phone calls and hard work we have finally won a significant extension of the battlefield boundary." | The protected area recognised as the site on which the Battle of Towton was fought has been extended. | 3.445609 | 3 |
The Cubbington pear tree is believed to have been growing near the Warwickshire village for more than 250 years.
The Woodland Trust, which ran the Tree of the Year poll, has called for it to be preserved due to its age.
HS2 officials say the tree's hollow trunk means it will have to be felled, with seedlings planted nearby.
The proposed high-speed line will link London with Birmingham, but has attracted criticism due to its cost and planned route through areas of countryside.
Peter Delow, chairman of the Cubbington Stop HS2 Action Group, nominated the tree for the award, and said the win sent "a clear message" to politicians to conserve the country's natural heritage.
"Those who voted for our tree clearly care about the protection of our natural environment," he said.
"It would be perfectly possible to build HS2 without destroying our tree and many others."
Cubbington's pear tree was selected after attracting more than a third of 10,000 votes for the best tree in England, beating nine other finalists to the title.
Runners-up included the Tolpuddle Martyrs tree in Dorset, Glastonbury's Holy Thorn and the Boscobel Oak in Shropshire, a descendant of the tree where the future King Charles II hid after the final battle of the English Civil War.
The UK's Trees of the Year
Beccy Speight, chief executive of the Woodland Trust, said public affection for the Cubbington pear tree - one of 20 within the construction boundaries of HS2's first phase - showed the importance of the natural world to the country.
"Sadly many iconic trees do not have the levels of protection they deserve," she said.
Ben Ruse, a spokesman for HS2, said younger trees would be planted in the area surrounding Cubbington to offset the loss of the historic pear tree.
"We have always recognised the significance of the tree and will do all we can to ensure that wild pear trees continue to be a feature of the countryside around Cubbington," he said. | An ancient pear tree due to be chopped down to make way for the HS2 high-speed rail line has been voted the best tree in England. | 2.465066 | 2 |
Brian Crickitt, 63, killed Christine Crickitt, 61, with the fast-acting hormone at their home in Sydney.
He did an internet search for "intentional insulin overdose" two days before the murder, the New South Wales Supreme Court heard.
Prosecutors said Crickitt planned to claim her life insurance and continue a relationship with his mistress.
The court heard the GP injected his wife in the bottom sometime on either 31 December 2009 or 1 January 2010.
Crickitt obtained the insulin by using a prescription he had written for a diabetic patient earlier on 31 December.
After administering the lethal dose, he spent the rest of the night with his mistress, Linda Livermore.
Justice Clifton Hoeben, who heard the trial without a jury, found Crickitt guilty of murder on Thursday.
"An increasing dislike for the deceased and his infatuation with Ms Livermore provided a motive for the accused to murder the deceased," he said.
"The only rational explanation for the internet searches relating to insulin death was that the accused was seeking to obtain information to further his plan to murder his wife by an injection of insulin."
Crickitt will be sentenced next year. | An Australian doctor who gave his wife a fatal injection of insulin has been found guilty of murder. | 0.68167 | 1 |
Former party leader Nick Clegg called her comments "utter cheek".
"It is Theresa May's extreme version of Brexit which will cause real damage to the NHS," he added.
The prime minister gave a speech earlier on Tuesday in which she stressed that she was the best person to lead talks on leaving the EU.
She also told the audience in Wolverhampton: "If we don't make a success of Brexit, we won't have the financial means to fund the public services on which we all rely.
"Our National Health Service - the institution which is there for us at the most difficult times - needs us to make a success of Brexit to ensure we can afford to provide it with the resources it needs for the future."
Mr Clegg responded: "By insisting on dragging the UK out of the single market, she has chosen a UKIP-style version of Brexit which is already causing a squeeze on public services."
"It's time she came clean that the risks are all of her own making. It is her choice to take this country in a dangerous and damaging direction."
The Conservatives have promised increases in NHS spending in real terms reaching £8bn extra per year by 2022-23, while Labour has pledged £30bn in extra funding over the next parliament.
The Lib Dems have committed to adding 1p in the pound on income tax to raise £6bn for NHS and social care services.
They are also arguing for a referendum on the eventual Brexit deal, unlike Labour or the Conservatives. | The Liberal Democrats have reacted angrily to Theresa May's claim that a badly managed Brexit would mean fewer resources for public services. | 0.883634 | 1 |
From March 2015, information from parents' payment records in England, Scotland and Wales could be shared with credit reference agencies.
Financial organisations would then use this data to decide whether or not they want to offer someone credit.
Single parent charity Gingerbread said the announcement was "very welcome".
The new powers would affect a minority of cases where "liability orders" had been granted, because parents had fallen so far in arrears the courts had had to intervene to legally recognise the debt. But ministers hope the measures will have a deterrent effect.
Child maintenance minister Steve Webb said: "For too long, a minority of absent parents have got away with failing to pay maintenance, leaving families without that financial support.
"I would hope that we see this power used very little, because the deterrent effect of a possible negative mark on a person's credit rating will convince those who have previously failed to pay towards their children's upbringing to do the right thing."
The new powers, which will need to be approved in parliament, will also mean that parents with a good payment record can ask that this information is shared if they feel that it could boost their ability to get credit.
Fiona Weir, chief executive of Gingerbread, said children lost out when child maintenance stopped and said it was "vital" to collect what was unpaid.
She added: "More than £1bn is currently owed in unpaid child maintenance, and barely one in five of those who owe money for their children are paying it back."
The Child Maintenance Service was introduced in 2012 and it will eventually replace the Child Support Agency (CSA), which is gradually closing its cases over the next three years.
The CSA, set up in 1993, attracted thousands of complaints for delays and incompetence in processing child maintenance payments. | Parents who default on child maintenance payments face being turned down for mortgages and credit cards under new government plans. | 1.984406 | 2 |
The investigation covers the years 2015 to 2017 and relates to the scandal in the telecoms giant's Italian division.
The auditor responsible, PwC, was replaced in June with rival accounting firm KPMG.
In January, BT wrote down the value of its Italian unit by £530m after years of "inappropriate behaviour".
It has warned the scandal will affect its results for the next two years.
The FRC said that "following completion of initial inquiries", it would be carrying out an investigation under its Audit Enforcement Procedure into PwC's audits.
Allegations of "inappropriate behaviour" at BT's Italian operation first emerged last summer. The company began conducting its own internal investigation in October 2016.
Analysis: Katie Prescott, Today business presenter
The question the regulator will be weighing up is: where does the fault lie for this? With the company itself or the accountant responsible for checking its books?
BT is furious that it took a whistleblower to pick up on the scandal in Italy, rather than the company's own auditor PwC - the accountant that had been in place for over 30 years.
On the other side, PwC could argue that their auditors might have been misled and could point to BT filing a criminal complaint in Italy against former BT employees.
BT found evidence of improper accounting practices and "a complex set of improper sales, purchase, factoring and leasing transactions".
It said these activities had resulted in "the overstatement of earnings in our Italian business over a number of years".
The head of BT Europe, Corrado Sciolla, and BT Italy chief executive Gianluca Cimini are among senior managers who have lost their jobs over the scandal.
PwC said: "We will continue to co-operate fully with the FRC in its inquiries. The regulator has a duty to investigate where they believe there is a public interest, in order to give confidence to the financial markets.
"Audit quality is of paramount importance to the firm." | The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the UK's accountancy watchdog, says it has begun an investigation into the auditing of BT's financial statements. | 1.260208 | 1 |
Murray and Peers lost 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 16-14 after squandering five match points, including four from 9-5 up.
"We blew it," Murray told the BBC. "We should have won that match, no question about it. We had enough chances."
American top seeds and reigning champions Bob and Mike Bryan move into the semi-finals on Saturday.
Murray and Peers were playing together for the last time before teaming up with new partners for 2016.
The Scot, 29, will play with Brazil's Bruno Soares in 2016.
A superb season in which Murray and Peers reached Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open looked certain to extend into the final weekend when they moved 9-5 clear in the match tie-break.
The fourth seeds had let a 5-2 lead slip before edging the first set, and were hauled back from 5-3 up in the second set tie-break.
It appeared that those missed opportunities would not matter when they held four match points in a row in the decider, but nerves struck and a desperate Peers forehand with the open court begging at 9-8 was a hammer blow.
"I didn't quite get over the top of the ball unfortunately," said the Australian afterwards. "Then it sailed long.
"I probably should have put one back through him, but that's tennis, and unfortunately it happens."
A thrilling contest saw both sides battle nerves with victory in sight, but it was the four-time champions who clinched it at their fifth opportunity.
There will not be much time for Murray to recover from the disappointment of defeat in London, as he expects to be heading to Belgium on Sunday.
He is likely to play a key role alongside his brother, Andy, in the doubles when Britain attempt to win the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936 next week.
"I'm very motivated, it's an unbelievable opportunity for us," added Murray.
"It hasn't happened so often for Britain and we want to get out there and give it our best shot, and try and lift the trophy." | Britain's Jamie Murray and Australian John Peers suffered a dramatic defeat by the Bryan brothers to go out of the ATP World Tour Finals in London. | 1.013946 | 1 |
Tendring District Council said the matter was raised by a father after visiting the beach at Holland-on-Sea.
His children failed to find any Pokemon Go characters at the beach that attracts thousands of visitors.
A council spokesman said inquiries revealed there had been no slight to the Essex coast.
Source: BBC
Nigel Brown, spokesman for the council, said an officer carried out internet-based research into why Holland-on-Sea had no Pokemon Go characters.
"Our research found the locations of Pokemon Go characters is all down to Google traffic," he said.
"We did get the request as to why there were no Pokemon characters in Holland on Sea from a father who had been out with his children.
"Basically, the reason is that there's not enough people using Google along the beach and you cannot actually request characters."
The parent concerned has been informed of the council's findings.
Pokemon's PR firm was approached for comment but has not responded. | A parent whose children could not find any Pokemon Go characters during a day out at the seaside complained to the local council, it has emerged. | 1.246036 | 1 |
The German ran wide with nine laps to go, handing to Hamilton the victory he needed to secure a third championship.
"It was a gust of wind - a big one," Rosberg said, adding: "I'm serious!
Media playback is not supported on this device
"Everybody [experienced it] so you can't use it as an excuse, but I understand my mistake now and that's important, for me to understand it."
Rosberg was furious with himself after the race, throwing his cap for second place back at Hamilton after the Englishman had tossed it to him and refusing to take part in the traditional champagne-spraying ceremony on the podium.
The German added: "It was a very unusual scenario which happened only once in all those laps.
"I understand the mistake and that helps me a lot moving forward. I lost a lot of rear downforce as a result."
Rosberg was also angry after the race in America about the move Hamilton made to take the lead at the first corner, describing it as "extremely aggressive".
He said he did not want to "go into details" about the incident, any discussion he would have with Mercedes about it, or whether he would take a more aggressive approach to Hamilton on the track. | Nico Rosberg has blamed a gust of wind for the mistake that enabled Lewis Hamilton to seal the world title at the United States Grand Prix last weekend. | 0.913972 | 1 |
Hull City Council said it had asked the club to remove the pitch after it was laid at the Airco Arena, on Walton Street, on Tuesday without permission.
Clubs using the venue were told last month to vacate the building so the Tigers could use it for their academy.
Hull City have been approached for a comment.
The authority said it had written a letter to the Premier League side's stadium management committee notifying them it had breached its lease agreement with the council.
Hull City previously said installing the new pitch would allow it to apply for a new academy status.
Council leader Stephen Brady said: "The club have changed the use of the arena with scant regard for the impact on hundreds of people who use the facility day-in, day-out and the community sports clubs who are proud to call it their home.
"It's on their behalf that we take this action today."
Thousands of people signed a petition opposing Hull City's plans to install the pitch. | A council has threatened to take legal action against the owners of Hull City after a synthetic pitch was laid in a sports arena by the club. | 1.071221 | 1 |
Coleman, 46, who is from the city, was recently appointed an OBE after guiding Wales to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 - its first major tournament in 58 years.
He will receive the accolade at a congregation for the College of Human and Health Sciences on Wednesday.
His is one of six such degrees to be presented at the Bay Campus' Great Hall this week.
Swansea University's honorary degree awards are made annually to recognise those who have made outstanding contributions to the university, region and Wales.
It will present an honorary master of science (MSc) award to Ospreys rugby club chairman Roger Blyth on Monday, before a doctorate in science is handed to the vice-chancellor of the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu in Kuala Lumpur, Prof Dato Dr Nor Aieni Haji Mokhtar.
Former Labour AM Gwenda Thomas will receive a doctor of letters award on Tuesday, with former Plaid Cymru AM Helen Mary Jones getting the same honour.
On Wednesday, Peter Vaughan, chief constable of South Wales Police, will be given a doctor of science award before Mr Coleman receives his MSc.
Coleman, whose side was knocked out by ultimate Euro 2016 winners Portugal, was granted the freedom of Swansea in October. | Wales football manager Chris Coleman is to receive an honorary degree from Swansea University. | 1.454013 | 1 |
London Street in Norwich was pedestrianised on 17 July 1967.
The pedestrianisation of Norwich city centre is often referenced by fans of the fictional DJ, played by comedian Steve Coogan.
The Norwich Society said the city had "pioneered pedestrianisation in the UK".
Alan Partridge posed the question "what do you think about the pedestrianisation of Norwich city centre?" during an intimate scene.
In the episode from 1997, Partridge said: "I'll be honest, I'm dead against it. People forget that traders need access to Dixons.
"They do say it will help people in wheelchairs."
Norwich City Council approved plans to pedestrianise more parts of the city in 2015.
Paul Burall, vice chairman of the Norwich Society, said: "Norwich pioneered pedestrianisation in the UK and continues to extend the benefits, with another two streets being pedestrianised in the last two years.
"While a few local people agree with Alan Partridge and still want to be able to drive everywhere, the vast majority welcome the ability to walk around without the noise, pollution and potential danger from traffic, and the great majority of traders recognise the benefits as well."
Norwich is far from being the only town or city whose profile has been raised by its television connections.
During the pedestrianisation ceremony, the then Lord Mayor of Norwich CH Sutton tied - rather than cut - a ribbon across London Street to signify its closure to traffic.
Although other shopping areas - such as those in new towns like Stevenage - were made pedestrian-only long before London Street, the Norwich road was the first to be closed to motorised traffic and given over to pedestrians. | A city whose traffic plans were made famous by Alan Partridge is marking 50 years since one of its roads became the first to be pedestrianised in England. | 1.75795 | 2 |
The Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs said blood samples from about 35 fighters revealed traces of sulphur mustard.
It did not say if any of the peshmerga had died as a result of the attack, or how severely they had been wounded.
Mustard gas can burn skin and cause severe respiratory problems, and is banned under international law.
The exposure took place along the front lines near the northern Iraqi towns of Makhmour and Gwer, the ministry said in a statement.
Roughly 37 mortars were fired in the attack, the statement added, "releasing white smoke and a black liquid".
The ministry called on countries fighting IS to give peshmerga fighters equipment for protection against chemical attacks. Several countries including the United States are already giving military assistance to the Kurdish fighters.
This is not the first time IS has been accused of using chemical weapons. In March, Kurdish authorities in Iraq said they had evidence that IS had used chlorine gas.
That allegation, by the Kurdistan Region Security Council, followed similar claims that the group had used low-grade chemical weapons against Iraqi security forces.
The director of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons expressed "serious concern" in August over the possibility IS was using prohibited chemical weapons.
The UN recently adopted a resolution aimed at identifying those behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
IS already has a large arsenal of conventional weapons and military vehicles seized from the Iraqi army, much of it produced by the United States.
Iraq Kurds were the victim of a major chemical weapons attack by the Iraqi military under Saddam Hussein in 1988, which left thousands dead in the city of Halabja. | Islamic State (IS) militants fired mortar rounds containing mustard agent at Kurdish peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq, Kurdish officials say. | 2.518956 | 3 |
The world number seven, who won the 2013 Masters, had previously described Olympic golf as an "exhibition".
The sport returns for the Games in Rio after a 112-year absence.
"My decision has been taken as a result of an extremely busy playing schedule and other commitments, both personal and professional," the 35-year-old said in a statement.
Australia had hoped to pair Scott with world number one Jason Day.
Golf Australia chief executive Stephen Pitt said: "We're obviously disappointed Adam will not play because he's one of the best players in the world but we understand his position."
Fiji's Vijay Singh, a three-time major winner, announced last week that fears over the Zika virus would prevent him competing in Brazil.
Never want to miss the latest golf news? You can now add this sport and all the other sports and teams you follow to your personalised My Sport home. | Australia's Adam Scott has announced he will not compete at the 2016 Olympics, in order to focus on the PGA Tour. | 0.95903 | 1 |
Midfielder Mitch Rose, the brother of Tottenham and England defender Danny, has also been let go by the Exiles.
Defenders Jazzi Barnum-Bobb and Ben Tozer have both triggered one year contract extensions, however.
Tozer has not played since January 7 after falling out with previous boss Graham Westley, but seems set to stay.
Newport have already released Liam Angel, Marcus Beauchamp, Paul Bignot, Jack Compton, Tom Meechan, Kieran Parselle, Finlay Wood following the end of the season after confirming Mike Flynn as their permanent manager.
Darren Jones, who has had three spells with the club, also announced his retirement after a campaign when the Exiles survived relegation on the final day despite being 11 points adrift with 12 games remaining.
Elsewhere, midfielder Tom Owen-Evans remains at the club after signing a new two-year contract. | Newport County have released strikers Craig Reid and Ryan Bird and transfer listed ex-Arsenal midfielder Mark Randall. | 0.689916 | 1 |
The force made the decision after a survey found the "overwhelming majority" of staff wanted to do away with the helmets.
The "custodian" will still be worn on ceremonial occasions, like funerals and Remembrance Day parades.
West Yorkshire is the second force to make the change after Thames Valley did so five years ago.
Supt Keith Gilert said peaked caps had become "more appropriate" and "more in keeping" than traditional helmets.
First used by the Metropolitan Police in 1863, the "custodian" helmet was based on the spiked Pickelhaube worn by the Prussian army.
Nick Smart, chairman of the West Yorkshire Police Federation, welcomed the change in headwear.
"Helmets fall off heads, they're cumbersome and a lot of the time they weren't getting used," he said.
"Officers in cars would chuck them on the back seat and not put them on to deal with an incident." | West Yorkshire Police is getting rid of the traditional police helmet in favour of peaked caps. | 2.135923 | 2 |
NHS staff campaign group Just Health started proceedings after raising £100,000 in four days online.
The move follows separate legal action made by the British Medical Association last week seeking a judicial review.
A Department of Health spokesman said legal action was "expensive" for all parties and "totally unwarranted".
The news comes before Wednesday's planned 48-hour strike affecting routine and non-urgent care is due to start.
The strike will be the fourth time doctors have taken industrial action in the long-running dispute.
Just Health alleges government's decision to impose the contract, affecting about 45,000 medics, did not allow for adequate consultation.
The group raised the £100,000 through a crowdfunding website which remains open to donations.
Dr Marie-Estella McVeigh, from Just Health, said: "We feel this contract imposition has been rushed through without appropriate consideration and due process.
"There is no evidence that it will deliver a safer system or better quality care for our patients; it will instead exacerbate the staffing crisis we are already struggling with across the NHS."
The BMA, in its legal claim, alleges that the government failed to "pay due regard" to the equalities impact of the new contracts and is calling for a judicial review.
Talks between the government and BMA broke down in January, prompting the government to announce the following month that it would be imposing the contract in the summer.
Ministers have said the changes, which will see doctors paid less for working weekends, are needed to improve care at weekends and create a "seven-day service". This is disputed by the BMA.
Currently, junior doctors are paid more for working unsocial hours at night or at the weekend.
But under the imposed new contracts, the Saturday day shift will be paid at a normal rate in return for a rise in basic pay.
Last month, the Department of Health described the forthcoming strike action by doctors as "desperate and irresponsible". | A second legal challenge has been made over the government's decision to impose a new contract on junior doctors in England. | 1.316458 | 1 |
Last week, about 120 diners, who had consumed about 2,000 euros of food and drink, left a restaurant in northern Spain as dessert was due to be served.
It has now emerged a second restaurant only 10km (six miles) away was previously targeted in the same way.
The owners said they believed they were the victims of the same group.
In the first case, the group, purporting to be celebrating a baptism, paid a deposit of €900 ($950; £770) to eat at the El Carmen restaurant in Bembibre, in the north-western Castile and Leon region.
"It happened in the space of a minute," owner Antonio Rodriguez said. "It was something they had planned and they left in a stampede."
El Carmen's case felt more than a little familiar to Laura Arias, the owner of El Rincon de Pepin, a restaurant in nearby Ponferrada.
The group told her they were celebrating a wedding, she said, and ordered a fairly basic menu. They paid €1,000 as a deposit, but consumed €10,000 ($10,600; £8,600) worth of food and drink.
"There were 160 of them and they all disappeared. Suddenly. Within five minutes," Laura told the BBC. "That was the unusual thing.
"Usually people leave over time, and you expect someone to come to talk to you and say they will settle the bill the next morning or something. But they didn't say anything, they just disappeared."
The unusual crime has been reported to police, but Ms Arias is in no doubt who is responsible.
"It's the same people. We can tell from the photos." Reports in northern Spain quoted witnesses as saying the group was from eastern Europe.
On Monday, the Diario del Leon newspaper reported (in Spanish) that two ringleaders had been identified and that police were working to establish firm links between the two cases. | Police are investigating whether a gang who ate thousands of euros of food in a restaurant in Spain before fleeing had targeted another eatery. | 1.558236 | 2 |
The Farc rebel group relied on cocaine production to fund its insurgency, and controlled much of the industry.
But a joint programme between rebels and the government will offer farmers monthly payments if they voluntarily destroy their crops.
They will also be offered loans and guidance to plant alternatives such as fruit trees and cacao.
The crop substitution programme was agreed as part of Colombia's peace accord, which was finally ratified in December.
The Colombian official responsible for the programme, Rafael Pardo, said the government would invest $340m (£271m), which would benefit 50,000 families.
Last year, President Juan Manuel Santos decided to suspend US-backed aerial fumigation of illegal coca crops.
The government has set a goal of destroying 100,000 hectares of coca this year, and has yet to rule out other methods to bring coca levels down.
But the preferred strategy appears to be winning over the estimated 64,000 peasant families dependent on the coca trade.
"This is much more cost-efficient and furthermore ensures that territories are transformed and people's lives are changed," Mr Pardo said.
Each family would receive a monthly stipend of around $350 (£280) as well as loans, subsidies, and technical assistance.
The programme is supported by the Farc and will initially focus on 40 municipalities responsible for more than half of Colombia's coca production.
During the armed conflict, the Farc initially taxed farmers producing coca in areas under its control, but eventually dominated trafficking in those areas.
As the Farc leave these regions to comply with the peace accord, the concern is that other armed groups including paramilitary and other crime gangs will try to replace them and take over the trade. | Colombia has announced a plan to eradicate vast crops of coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine. | 2.293355 | 2 |
Bishop Pat Storey said the invitation to a "female, northern Protestant to speak at a Catholic, republican commemoration" was "courageous and generous".
Among those at the annual commemoration were Irish President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
Bishop Storey said the decade of historic commemorations, a year before the centenary of the Easter Rising, was an "opportunity for not only remembering the past but creating and shaping the future".
She told the Arbour Hill commemoration on Wednesday that while the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland was "not a part of my story," she wanted and needed to try to understand it.
"I need to walk in your shoes generously," she said.
"That means listening when I would rather speak; hearing your story when I would rather tell mine; relating to the commemorations of your community when I would rather remember wrongs done to mine."
The bishop, who grew up in Belfast and was a rector in Londonderry before she was elected, added: "Could we, together, commit to walking in each other's shoes for a time? Could we vow to be generous when we commemorate?
"It would take personal sacrifice, especially when you have endured personal loss, but perhaps this is the time to mend, and the time for generosity."
Bishop Storey, who was elected in 2013 by the Church of Ireland as Bishop of Meath and Kildare in the Republic of Ireland, said reflecting on history was a time for mending broken and wounded relationships.
"If Ireland is about anything, it is about relationships ... yet how often we have specialised in welcoming the tourist and the outsider, and deeply wounded one another," she said.
The 1916 Easter Rising saw Irish rebels attempt to seize the capital from British imperial forces.
British troops put down the rebellion and a number of its leaders were captured and executed. | A Church of Ireland bishop has praised the decision to invite her to a 1916 Easter Rising commemoration in Dublin. | 2.356252 | 2 |
The State Duma in Moscow unanimously approved the law at its third reading and it is expected to come into force within days.
It covers at least 20,000 prisoners, including minors, invalids, veterans, pregnant women, and mothers.
Charges against 30 people arrested on a Greenpeace ship may be dropped.
The 30 mostly foreign nationals were recently released from custody but not allowed to leave Russia.
By Pavel BandakovBBC Russian, Moscow
The amnesty has been approved as part of celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the adoption of Russian constitution. It will come into effect immediately after publication in the official Gazette, probably as early as Thursday.
The amnesty does not cover people convicted of paedophilia or terrorism.
It seems to cover the crew of the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, as well as the members of the Pussy Riot band. Also covered by the amnesty are the participants of mass demonstrations in Moscow accused of "hooliganism".
Policemen sentenced for the use of torture will be freed as well. All together about 25,000 people should be freed.
Amnesties are unusual in Russian legal practice, and consequently it is not clear when and how people will be freed.
Two members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, were jailed in 2012 for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after performing an anti-Kremlin protest song in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
They are due to be released three months from now in any case.
Others who may be freed include some, but not all, of the political protesters arrested during clashes with police after Vladimir Putin's inauguration as Russian president for a third term last year.
One prisoner who will not be affected by the amnesty is former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is due for release next August after serving a reduced sentence for theft.
It is also unlikely that opposition leader Alexei Navalny will have his recent five-year suspended sentence for theft quashed.
The amnesty marks the 20th anniversary of Russia's post-Soviet constitution. It will take effect once it is published but the releases are expected to take place over six months. | Russian MPs have backed an amnesty that may include some of the country's best-known prisoners including Pussy Riot and the Greenpeace Arctic protesters. | 1.523804 | 2 |
After a first half of few chances, Josh Gowling was adjudged to have brought down Simeon Akinola in the box and Iron captain Davis slotted in from the spot.
Mariners forward Padraig Amond was then denied from close range by both keeper Tom King and defender Matt Fry.
The Iron held on to take a lead into Sunday's second leg at Cressing Road.
Part-timers Braintree, who finished third in the table and have never been in the Football League before, withstood pressure from their hosts in the second half.
Danny Cowley's side survived a penalty shout against them when Amond collided with Mark Phillips in the area.
That incident came soon after Davis had sent James McKeown the wrong way from the spot at the other end, referee John Brooks having ruled that Akinola's fine run had been halted illegally just inside the area.
The closest Grimsby came to an equaliser was through Amond, whose turn and shot from a corner was kept out by a fine reflex save by King.
Fry then deflected an effort over the bar when Amond looked certain to score for the Mariners, who have been outside of the Football League since 2010.
But Braintree, managed by a PE teacher, stifled many of the home attacks to defeat Grimsby by the same scoreline as in April. | Kenny Davis' second-half penalty gave Braintree a slender advantage from their National League play-off semi-final first leg at Grimsby. | 0.957626 | 1 |
Car drivers currently pay £6.50 to use the M48 Severn Bridge and M4 Second Severn Crossing.
The chancellor George Osborne has said tolls for cars and vans will be cut to £5.40 in 2018, when they return to public ownership.
But Monmouth MP David Davies said there was scope for a bigger cut.
Fees are currently collected by a firm to pay for the construction and running costs due to be repaid by 2018.
Mr Davies, who also chairs the Welsh Affairs Committee at Westminster, said it was possible to maintain the bridges "on a fraction" of the cost when they revert to public ownership.
He has obtained figures from the Department for Transport (DfT) which he said showed a net revenue of £91.4m in 2014, of which £13.16m was operational expenditure, including maintenance, with £17m paid in Vat and which will be waived when they move into public ownership.
There is currently a problem with an interactive element on this page. Please try loading this page again in a little while.
"While we need to be careful in our interpretation of these figures, they conclusively demonstrate there is huge scope for a dramatic cut in the price of the tolls when the crossings revert to public ownership," said Mr Davies.
In a letter to Mr Davies, the DfT said a financial forecast showed a deficit of £63m would still be outstanding by 2018, revised down from £88m, and which "could be recovered through tolling".
The Welsh government has called for control of the bridges to be devolved. | Toll prices on the Severn Crossings could be cut dramatically and still cover running and maintenance costs, an MP claims. | 1.522088 | 2 |
It will be the first time that the tournament has been held in England since 1993, when the home side beat New Zealand in the final at Lord's.
The tournament, which starts on 26 June next year, consists of 31 matches, with Lord's hosting the final on 23 July.
It will feature eight teams and will be played in a round-robin format.
Steve Elworthy, the ECB's director of events, said the tournament will help "drive interest and participation in women's cricket at every level".
He added: "It's critical we use this event to reach out to young children in particular, so we've moved the tournament start date to earlier in the summer, a decision which will help our host venues encourage attendance by engaging with schools in the build-up to the event." | Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Lord's have been named as venues for the ICC Women's World Cup in 2017. | 1.013263 | 1 |
The governing body said it had allocated £22.5m to all levels of the sport, up from £22.1m in 2013, while paying off another £4.5m of bank debt.
Group chief executive Roger Lewis said reinvestment would support a successful Wales team as the "financial engine which drives our business".
Schools rugby will also be boosted by WRU-funded rugby officers, he added.
Welsh Rugby Union - Financial figures for 2014
Wales failed to retain the Six Nations title in 2014 but highlights of the year included the confirmation of Warren Gatland as head coach until 2019 and plans for a new hybrid natural/synthetic grass pitch at the Millennium Stadium.
The report, which covers a period predating August's £60m peace deal with the regions, notes the signing of Sam Warburton as the first centrally contracted player.
He now holds a dual contract with the WRU and Cardiff Blues following the end of a bitter two-year dispute between the union and the regions over their funding and the release of top players for international duty.
Other developments include a new manager to boost women's rugby, and a schools strategy - including WRU-funded rugby officers - aimed at inspiring children to take up the game and progress to grassroots clubs.
Mr Lewis said the reinvestment proved that Welsh rugby was "determined to maintain its status as the national sport of Wales".
"We have to reinvest in success at the professional and international level because a successful Wales team is the financial engine which drives our business, but we have to have a strong community game to ensure we bolster our talent pool and support for the game in general," he said. | The Welsh Rugby Union has hailed another year of record investment in the game in its annual report for 2014. | 1.086278 | 1 |
Memes depicting where she might be started trending across the UK hours before the broadcast, after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announced that he would take part in the programme.
They continued to prove popular online, despite attempts by conservative commentators to focus attention on the "chaotic" debate.
Labour supporters were quick to try and find her using the hashtags #WheresTheresa and #WheresMay.
The Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron responded early in the debate to the popularity of the hashtags.
"Where do you think Theresa May is?" he asked. "She might be outside your house sizing it up to pay for your social care."
Labour student Christopher Knott and his friend Christian Calgie, a Conservative supporter, decided to check that she wasn't on their doorstep.
The Twitter account for the Netflix TV show House of Cards tweeted some advice from their fictional President Underwood to the prime minister.
Green Party leader Caroline Lucas was also praised for offering her advice to Theresa May.
Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood told the audience in Cambridge that Theresa May wasn't turning up "because her campaign of sound bites was falling apart".
UKIP leader Paul Nuttall tweeted before the programme that he was "looking forward to Theresa May making a surprise appearance in Cambridge".
Some thought the prime minister might be hiding in the audience.
Theresa May was not the only leader who didn't participate in the debate. Some on Twitter asked why the Scottish National Party's leader Nicola Sturgeon wasn't involved.
Angus Robertson, the deputy leader of the party, took part in the programme because he is the leader of the SNP in Westminster.
The Conservative Party was quick to push back against suggestions that Theresa May was a weaker leader because she hadn't taken part in the debate.
On Twitter the party promoted clips from the debate which showed several party leaders shouting over each other, something also focused on by Tory ministers.
The tendency for the politicians to shout over each other also caused frustration on social media.
Compiled by the BBC's UGC and Social Media team. | Theresa May's decision to not take part in the BBC's seven-way TV debate did not stop Twitter searching for the missing prime minister. | 1.249053 | 1 |
Media playback is unsupported on your device
28 October 2014 Last updated at 14:21 GMT
The deaths of Jimmy and Kathleen Cuddihy, who were in their 70s, have traumatised their community in Carndonagh, the parish priest has said.
The couple's son, Julian, has been charged with their murder.
The County Donegal town came to a standstill for the funeral, as Keiron Tourish reports. | More than 1,000 mourners have attended the funeral of a retired couple murdered in their home in County Donegal. | 0.616033 | 1 |
Gary Sweet said talks have started with Luton Council, which bought the stadium in 1989.
Writing in the club's programme, he said: "We have a strong desire to put the ownership of Kenilworth Road back into the hands of the club."
He also said neither the future redevelopment of the ground or the club's relocation could be ruled out.
Mr Sweet revealed his plans for the club in Saturday's programme notes to update what he called the "faithful support".
Citing the club's "23 heroic supporters" whose delayed coach journey to Grimsby for last Tuesday night's fixture saw them arrive at the ground to find the Hatters already three goals down, he said the directors "thrived on such committed support" and it was this drove them on to achieve a stable club.
He said either option to achieve this "stability", would take a while to become a reality and due to "commercial delicacy" any plans would not yet be made public.
"Realistically, given current market conditions, any such plans would take a number of years to reach fruition," he said.
"These [plans] would also be dependent upon one location delivering a long term formula to support the club's sustainability."
Mr Sweet also stated he was aware short-term improvements to the ground would be needed.
"We are assessing plans to enable us to increase our capacity, and to modernise a part, or parts, of the stadium," he wrote.
Luton Borough Council said that as a landlord it was in discussions with the club about "a number of issues".
"Within those discussions, the club has identified as one of many options, the possibility that they may be interested in buying the freehold of the site at a point in the future," a statement read.
"Currently the site is not on the disposal list and does not have a purchase value attached to it."
Mark Chapman, from the supporters club, said buying back the ground would be "progress in the right direction" if the club had aspirations to get back to "at least" Championship football.
"It then gives them an asset that they can then use to raise finance if they are to move," he said.
"The existing facility, as much as we love it, is antiquated and I personally can't see that there is any way they could build it up to a capacity of 20,000 on the current site." | Luton Town FC have begun talks to buy back its ground, the managing director has confirmed. | 0.931154 | 1 |
15 October 2015 Last updated at 19:07 BST
Garda Anthony Golden, 36, was killed as he responded to a woman's complaint of domestic abuse in Omeath, County Louth, on Sunday.
Politicians and senior police officers from both sides of the Irish border attended the church ceremony in Blackrock, County Louth, where Garda Golden lived with his wife and three children.
Thousands of mourners who lined the streets heard his brother and the head of Irish police, Garda Commissioner NóirÃn O'Sullivan, pay tribute to his bravery.
BBC News NI's Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison reports. | An Irish policeman who was shot dead on duty in the Republic of Ireland has been hailed as a hero at his state funeral. | 1.178555 | 1 |
The 31-year-old versatile back will join Neil Jukes' side from South Sydney Rabbitohs on a two-year deal at the end of the current NRL season.
He has scored eight tries and 13 goals in 10 appearances for his country
"I am really looking forward to joining Leigh Centurions. The club is on the way up," said Goodwin, who began his career at Cronulla Sharks.
Sign up for rugby league news notifications on the BBC Sport app
Centurions coach Jukes said Goodwin's versatility was part of the reason for snapping him up.
"I have followed Bryson's career over past years and he has been one of the most consistent performers for his team. He can play full-back, centre or wing," he said.
"Those are areas where we need to add quality and when I spoke to Bryson over the phone I could immediately tell that he has the appetite to achieve things over here and he is a good fit for us, just as we are for him."
Leigh chairman Derek Beaumont decided to announce their new signing for the next campaign early because news of their deal broke out in Australia.
"We intended keeping next year's signings under wraps until the end of season out of respect to the clubs they currently represent," Beaumont explained.
"Unfortunately this one broke over there and has led to us confirming it early. I look forward to seeing Bryson in a Leigh shirt next year." | Leigh Centurions have signed New Zealand international Bryson Goodwin for the 2018 Super League campaign. | 0.811604 | 1 |
He told his party's conference in Bournemouth that leading UKIP had been like a "big dipper" full of amazing highs but also plenty of infighting.
He said UKIP had a future fighting to ensure Brexit happened and "harvesting" votes from Labour in the north.
MEP Diane James was elected as Mr Farage's successor on Friday.
She defeated four other candidates to succeed Mr Farage, who has led the party in two stints for more than a decade and become a household name in British politics.
Mr Farage said he would give Ms James his unwavering support and would not seek to "meddle or interfere" in how the party was run.
"My job will be if that leader wants any help and advice then, make no mistake about it, I am still four-square behind this party and its aims," he said.
Reflecting on his leadership of the party, he said he had put "absolutely all of me" into it.
"I literally couldn't have worked any harder, or couldn't have been more determined - it's been my life's work to get to this point. I think folks, I've done my bit."
UKIP, he said, had changed the face of the country by pushing for and then winning the referendum on the UK's EU membership. On Brexit, he warned that the party "had won the war but we must now win the peace".
Expressing concerns that Theresa May's language on immigration controls and other Brexit commitments was beginning to soften, he said the UK's exit from the EU would not be truly confirmed until the current passport was "thrown into the bin".
Mr Farage's speech comes amid uncertainty over the party's future direction and infighting, with his former head of media quitting to join the Conservatives. | Nigel Farage has bowed out as UKIP leader, saying he has put "all of me" into the party over the past two decades and he wants "his life back". | 0.947665 | 1 |
Ross Gibson, 19, of Aberdeen, was charged following the Parkhead clash between Celtic and Aberdeen on 1 March.
It had been claimed that comments about Jay Beatty, 11, were posted online.
Mr Gibson appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court charged with behaving in a threatening or abusive manner. He made no plea or declaration and his case was continued.
He was released on bail and is expected to appear in court again later this year.
Jay, from Lurgan, County Armagh, won the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) Goal of the Month for January after he scored at half-time during Celtic's victory over Hamilton Academical.
He was presented with the award at the 1 March game. | A teenager has appeared in court after a young Celtic fan with Down's syndrome was allegedly abused online. | 0.642554 | 1 |
Brick Train, designed by Scottish artist David Mach, stands next to the A66 on the outskirts of Darlington, and celebrates the town's railway heritage.
At the time of its unveiling in 1997 some questioned the project, and the cost, with one councillor saying Darlington "needed another model train like it needed a hole in the head".
However, it is now regarded as a "much loved, landmark".
The 23ft (7m) high and 130ft (29m) long structure commemorates the Stockton-Darlington Railway which opened in 1825 and was Britain's first permanent steam locomotive railway.
It consists of 185,000 bricks, and is modelled on locomotive Mallard, which broke the world speed record for steam in 1938.
Most of the £760,000 cost was from Heritage Lottery funding, but Darlington Borough Council, Northern Arts and supermarket chain Morrisons - which is responsible for the land on which it is set - also contributed.
Stephen Wiper, manager of Creative Darlington - a group which supports local arts - said that as a piece of art, there was a mixed reaction at first, but people now have "the real wow factor", when they see it.
"It's a really good symbol of our railway heritage", he said.
"There's something about a train that's fascinating, and I think that as it's next to the A66 it creates the impression that Darlington is a playful place, an imaginative place, a place that's on the move.
"It's a real good welcome for visitors, and shows Darlington is a place you can enjoy and find new things.
"And for locals, it's a much-loved site to visit and place to see." | A sculpture which divided opinion when it was installed is now 20 years old. | 2.198445 | 2 |
David Lowe, 33, of no fixed address, was given a 12 week suspended sentence after his case was heard at Bolton Magistrates' Court in his absence.
He faced five charges including failing to take the Lurcher to the vets and failing to address its weight loss.
Lowe's defence said he was suffering from depression.
The court heard he had been given 15-year-old Fly by his ex-partner along with £20 so he could take her to the vets to be put down.
Lowe had been looking after the dog for two weeks when she was discovered by the RSPCA following a tip-off in October last year.
The defence claimed he "didn't have it in him" to take her to the vets because "it was easier said than done" and he "hoped she'd die of natural causes".
A petition with more than 30,000 signatures was handed to the court by Justice For Fly campaigners in a bid for Lowe to be given the maximum sentence.
RSPCA Inspector Vicky McDonald said: "It was a good outcome... and also we've secured a lifetime ban and he can't appeal for 25 years."
Fly was put to sleep by vets. | A man has been banned from keeping animals after being convicted of a series of cruelty charges relating to a severely emaciated dog. | 0.824935 | 1 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.