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Mayor Roberto Sanchez said the building was surrounded on Monday night by demonstrators who burned tyres.
Mr Sanchez says the demonstrators are angry because he has refused to honour the contracts of hundreds of workers hired by his predecessor.
Mayor Sanchez says his predecessor needlessly inflated the number of municipal workers.
He says almost 500 people were hired by the city authorities just days before the previous mayor's mandate ended.
Mr Sanchez of the Cambiemos party took office on 31 October, replacing Osvaldo Morelli of the Judicialist Party.
He said that he decided to keep on only those municipal workers who he thought were doing genuine work.
"[Many] work only one day and get paid for the whole month," he said of those whose contracts he refused to honour.
"This town works well with the 650 workers it already has and many of those hired by the previous administration have never worked for the town before," he said, accusing his predecessor of handing out jobs to his political allies.
Even before Mr Sanchez took office, unidentified assailants exploded a stun grenade outside his home in Concepcion.
Tension has been running high in Tucuman since August when the province saw a number of mass protests after demonstrators alleged there had been irregularities during the election for governor. | The mayor of Concepcion, an Argentine town in northern Tucuman province, says he is trapped in the town hall. | 34775502 |
The figure includes the £31.1m raised on Children in Need night last November as well as donations that came in after the televised charity event.
Last year's total is up from the £43.3m raised in 2012 and £46.1m in 2011.
Children in Need host Sir Terry Wogan said he was "amazed by the generosity" of the British public, especially as 2013 was "far from an easy year".
Sir Terry, who is also the charity's life president, added: "When we hosted the first televised appeal in 1980, we were delighted with the £1m raised.
"I don't think any of us could have dreamed how far it would come."
Children in Need, which is the BBC's UK corporate charity, has now raised more than £740m since it began.
The money raised from the 2013 campaign has helped 450,000 disadvantaged children and young people in the UK, the charity said.
This year's telethon will take place on 14 November. | Last year's BBC Children in Need appeal raised a record £49.6m in total, the corporation has announced. | 28129898 |
We will be updating this page with further questions:
Kenya does not have an election campaign funding law. An attempt by the electoral commission to introduce one last year was defeated by MPs.
The commission had proposed caps for different seats:
The absence of the law means candidates are currently free to spend as much as they want.
According to the privately owned Daily Nation, "most of the money is spent on logistics and advertisements but many candidates and parties also bribe voters".
It reports that in the 2013 election, then opposition coalition Cord spent in excess of $50m (£40m) while the governing Jubilee Party spent more than $100m to run its presidential campaign.
Politicians raise money from businessmen and some hold fundraisers. Opposition parties however accuse the ruling party of using state resources in its campaigns.
Ken Opalo, from Georgetown University in the US, says that while there is likely to be some trouble, it will not be on the scale seen 10 years ago, which left more than 1,000 people dead and about 600,000 displaced from their homes.
"I am not too worried about the national elections. The real action will likely be at the county level," he said.
"There will most certainly be violence. But again, that will be more a reflection of what is at stake, rather than some descent into complete chaos and state failure."
This is a view shared by Nic Cheeseman, professor of democracy at the UK's University of Birmingham and a commentator on Kenyan politics.
He says "disorderly party primaries are a reason to be concerned, but that they may not lead to greater conflict come election day".
What chaotic primaries tell us about election
Kenya has maintained steady economic growth rate in the past five years, averaging 5% per year.
However, rising prices of basic goods like milk, bread and maize flour have pushed inflation up to 12%, and many Kenyan families say they are now struggling to get by.
Kenyans have been using the hashtag #CostOfLivingKe to share the costs of basic items and how they are adjusting their lifestyles.
"Every election year, the economy also experiences a shrinkage and that's no different this year as investors wait out on the election period," Kwame Owino, CEO of the Institute of Economic Affairs told the BBC.
"Some companies are currently cutting down employment, but not in big numbers, and the informal sector remains the biggest employer," he added.
Kenya got $1bn in new investments in 2014 following some reforms like reducing the costs of doing business and bureaucracy, investment in infrastructure and lowering visa costs which has encouraged tourism.
The economy has however been strained by corruption, heightened political tension and state-controlled bank interest rates - a measure meant to reduce borrowing costs that has failed to deliver.
The UN's development agency (UNDP) says Kenya has the highest unemployment rate in the region, with four out of 10 Kenyans out of work.
Mr Owino says that dispassionate voters may be guided by who they think will best serve their economic interests.
In its 2016 report Transparency International ranked Kenya at position 145 out of 176 countries.
It blamed Kenya's low ranking on the incompetence and ineffectiveness of anti-corruption agencies, saying that the failure to punish individuals implicated in graft had been a major stumbling block.
Anti-corruption campaigner John Githongo has called President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration "the most corrupt in Kenya's history".
Mr Kenyatta has, however, said his anti-corruption efforts were being undermined by the courts, who were slowing prosecutions and the anti-corruption agency, who he said were "sluggish".
Mr Githongo cites several reported scandals involving alleged inflation of costs of projects and payments to phantom companies.
In 2015, Mr Kenyatta suspended and eventually removed five ministers and other high-ranking officials on corruption allegations. Another minister resigned after public pressure.
Opposition members have also been named in several scandals but some have accused the government of scapegoating.
Constitutional bodies set up to fight corruption have been accused of being partisan and lacking independence.
Kenyan political analyst Barrack Muluka blames ordinary Kenyans for the corruption problem, saying that they are blinded by their ethnicity: "A government can steal as much as it wants and Kenyans will be happy as long as it's 'our thieves'."
He points at the April party primaries where candidates of questionable integrity and those accused of being involved in corruption won their races.
Mr Githongo, calls it "normalisation of the absurdity".
He says that theft has become normal: "Those we used to call thieves are now hustlers," he says. | Ahead of Kenya's elections in August, we asked you what issues you want us to report on. | 39810869 |
Polling stations across the county closed at 22:00 BST for voting for a third of seats for Exeter City Council and Plymouth's unitary city council.
The counts are due to be held on Friday and results expected later in the day. Both cities are currently controlled by the Labour Party.
People across Devon also voted in the European elections, with results expected to be announced on Sunday. | Voting for the local elections has finished in Exeter and Plymouth. | 27508739 |
Barbara Wilding said there was an "emerging" picture of students turning to sex work, such as prostitution, erotic dancing and escort work.
A Swansea University project is trying to gauge the scale of the issue.
Ms Wilding said it was important to find out if students were forced into the work.
She added that support also needed to be put in place.
Swansea University is carrying out a three year study into concerns that students in Wales are turning to prostitution and other sex work.
It is feared some may have turned to it as a way of funding their studies.
However, there is only anecdotal evidence in Wales and the university believes an in-depth study into the issue is needed.
It has been given £489,143 of funding from the Big Lottery Fund to find out how big the issue is and to help provide support.
As part of its research it is launching the website - the Student Sex Work Project - on Friday, which researchers hope will prompt student sex workers to get in touch anonymously to share their views and experiences.
Ms Wilding, chair of the board of governors at Cardiff Metropolitan University, said there was much still unknown about the issue in Wales.
"This is an emerging area and this is the area we don't know very much about at all," she said.
"In fact what we don't know really is what the scale of it is in Wales."
She said research from the National Union of Students and sexual health agencies suggested that the problem was growing.
She pointed to studies in England, including one from the English Collective of Prostitutes which said calls to its helpline from students had doubled in 12 months.
"We need to know whether we have got the appropriate response to it and what's the motivation and can we do something about that as well, because it can be a very vulnerable area of activity for anyone to get involved in," she added.
Ms Wilding, who stood down as chief constable in 2009, said during her time as a police officer working on the streets in London in the 1970s she had often come into contact with women who were prostitutes and sex workers.
"This isn't a new game," she said.
"But they were mainly people who had drug addiction or had mental health problems or in really desperate desperate financial situations. They were often driven into it with no choice.
"Whereas with students we think we are dealing with a different set of circumstances.
"They are intelligent, starting their lives."
She admitted she was "surprised" when she was told about the evidence in her role as committee member at the Big Lottery Fund Wales.
She said she had asked staff at Cardiff Metropolitan University if they knew anything about the problem.
"Recently the chaplain there has become aware of men and women becoming involved in sex work," she added.
She added it was important to find out whether students were choosing to take part in sex work or whether they were being forced into it.
Dr Tracey Sagar, a lecturer at the university's Centre for Criminal Justice and Criminology who specialises in the regulation of sex work and is leading the project, said she hoped the research would "ensure that the right policies and services are in place for young people who engage in the sex markets in Wales".
Hannah Pudner, director of NUS Wales, said the research was "more important now than ever".
"We are coming across more and more stories of female students turning to the sex industry to fund their studies," she added.
Visitors to the website can also access comprehensive sexual health and personal safety advice. | The number of students in Wales working in the sex industry needs to be researched, the former chief constable of South Wales Police has said. | 19659887 |
Former Arsenal defender and MOTD2 pundit Martin Keown expands on his TV analysis of the Gunners' 5-0 win over Aston Villa and explains how manager Arsene Wenger adjusted his existing system in January, instead of bringing in new faces, to make his side more solid at the back.`
Arsene Wenger's side were seen as having a soft centre when they lost to Southampton on New Year's Day, and the lack of protection given to their defence has been frequently criticised this season.
But, since that defeat by Saints, Wenger has improved them massively at the back.
Sunday's 5-0 win over Aston Villa was Arsenal's third-straight Premier League victory, and their third-straight clean sheet.
He has done it by adjusting his midfield system to make it work with the players he has already got, rather than signing any more.
Wenger might still feel that he needs to buy a new defensive midfielder before the window shuts on Monday.
But, rather than filling a problem position, it would be as cover if Francis Coquelin gets injured, so he has someone else who can do his job.
Coquelin's impact since he came into the first team in December has been a huge bonus for Arsenal.
He has been at the club since 2008 but, before this season, he had made only nine Premier League starts in six years and spent the whole of the previous campaign on loan at German club Freiburg.
His recent progress shows you why some players are worth waiting for, because I think by the age of 23, a lot of managers would probably have given up on him before now.
Wenger, however, kept seeing something there.
When I spoke to him recently, Wenger explained to me that, earlier in the season, every time he saw Coquelin train he told him that he should be in the first team but felt he had to go out on loan first because he needed the experience.
Coquelin ended up being sent to Championship side Charlton in November to get some games under his belt.
Since returning, Wenger has pretty much put him straight in his team. Coquelin has taken his chance superbly, and he fully understands his job for the team.
At the start of the season, Wenger was playing with one deep-lying midfielder, usually Mathieu Flamini, with two men either side of him.
But Flamini was dropping so deep in front of the defence that he ended up out of the midfield itself.
People might think that Coquelin has just replaced Flamini as the deep-lying player but in fact he has been playing higher up the pitch.
Another thing that has changed is that Coquelin is not being asked to do the defensive job on his own either.
But he is the team's anchor in that he does the crucial job of dragging the other Arsenal midfielders back to wherever he goes.
He always takes up a good position, and that means Aaron Ramsey or Santi Cazorla know where they have to return to as well.
Cazorla has the ability to stitch himself into the play going forward when Arsenal attack and he is working hard defensively too, as we saw in Arsenal's impressive win over Manchester City.
But Ramsey is the player who Wenger primarily wants to see coming back to form a two-man shield in front of their defence.
Against City and Villa, the Wales international was far more team-aware of where he needed to be to fill any holes.
For me, that is a big reason why Arsenal are conceding possession at the moment - they had less of the ball than Villa did on Sunday, despite winning 5-0, and against City their possession rate of 35% was their lowest since Opta's records began in 2003.
Arsenal are quite happy for the other team to have the ball because, with Ramsey and Coquelin both back, they know the opposition cannot hurt them.
Ramsey can still gamble and go forward when Arsenal have good possession, but he is picking his moments far more carefully than before, and he does not join attacks as much as he did.
It was great to see that he had the same discipline against Villa as he did against City and, in both games, knowing when to go and when to sit gave Arsenal the right balance in defence and attack.
When they lost to Swansea in November, my MOTD2 analysis was all about how the Gunners got that balance wrong and sent too many players charging forward.
That is not the case now, and they are not conceding goals either. Nobody is talking about them having a soft centre any more.
Martin Keown was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan. | There were a lot of calls for Arsenal to sign a new defensive midfielder before this transfer window opened but, in the last few weeks, the Gunners have found a new way to win without needing new players to do it. | 31079429 |
His comments come as BBC News was told British Kurds have travelled from the UK to join Kurdish forces fighting IS.
The prime minister said said there was a "fundamental difference" between fighting for the Kurds and joining IS.
The Home Office said taking part in a conflict overseas could be an offence under both criminal and terror laws.
"However, UK law makes provisions to deal with different conflicts in different ways - fighting in a foreign war is not automatically an offence but will depend on the nature of the conflict and the individual's own activities," it added.
One Kurdish woman from West Yorkshire told BBC Radio Leeds she knew of 20 young men from West Yorkshire and Manchester who had travelled to Iraqi Kurdistan to fight IS.
She said the British Kurds had travelled there to protect their "homeland".
Mr Cameron said he was aware the crisis in the region was attracting supporters of both sides from the UK.
He has previously said about 500 Britons had travelled to fight in Syria or Iraq but there are no estimates for the number of Kurds who have gone to fight.
Mr Cameron, also speaking to BBC Radio Leeds, said there was a difference between joining the forces of the "recognised Kurdish authority" and Sunni extremist group IS.
Asked how a distinction between volunteers with the Kurdish authorities and IS fighters would be made if fighters returned to the UK, Mr Cameron said: "That's why we have such highly trained border staff, police and intelligence services to do exactly that work."
He said the Kurdish authorities had done "very good work" opposing the extremists.
However, he added: "We want to limit the number of people travelling from here to go to these dangerous parts of the world, whatever they are planning to do."
The latest Foreign Office advice warns against all travel to large sections of central and northern Iraq, including Irbil, the capital of semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as to Syria.
The UK government also advises against all but essential travel to the rest of Iraq.
Mr Cameron said some Britons who had initially travelled to the Middle East to help with aid convoys had become radicalised while they were there.
"We should focus on making sure humanitarian aid is getting in and you can do that from home," Mr Cameron added. | David Cameron has urged people not to travel to Iraq and Syria, amid claims that Britons have joined the fight against Islamic State (IS) militants. | 29038981 |
Interim Rovers boss Paul Carden handed home debuts to Mitchell Duggan and Elliot Osborne and the latter went close from long range midway through the first half.
Visiting goalkeeper Dan Hanford also kept out a dangerous effort from Jake Kirby and then denied Jay Harris, while Gateshead came close through Wesley York at the other end as the tide began to turn.
The away side took the lead six minutes after the break as Jones tapped home York's cross from close range for his side's first goal in almost seven hours.
Kirby came close to grabbing an equaliser just after the hour mark but his effort was blocked by midfielder Paddy McLaughlin as the Heed held on.
Report supplied by the Press Association
Match ends, Tranmere Rovers 0, Gateshead 1.
Second Half ends, Tranmere Rovers 0, Gateshead 1.
Russell Penn (Gateshead) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Substitution, Tranmere Rovers. Darren Stephenson replaces Jake Kirby.
Substitution, Gateshead. Reece Styche replaces Nyal Bell.
Substitution, Tranmere Rovers. Ben Tollitt replaces Louis Almond.
Goal! Tranmere Rovers 0, Gateshead 1. Sam Jones (Gateshead).
Second Half begins Tranmere Rovers 0, Gateshead 0.
First Half ends, Tranmere Rovers 0, Gateshead 0.
Substitution, Gateshead. Gus Mafuta replaces George Smith.
Wes York (Gateshead) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up. | Sam Jones' second-half effort proved enough as Gateshead edged out Tranmere at Prenton Park. | 37480323 |
In an interview with the Financial Times, the chancellor said he would reduce the rate to below 15% - five points lower than its current 20% rate.
That would give the UK the lowest corporation tax of any major economy.
But former World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy said Mr Osborne had to consider what the EU would think.
He told the BBC the chancellor's plan would be seen as in effect the start of Brexit negotiations, and starting with tax was not the right way to go about it.
"The UK is already activating one of the weapons in this negotiation, which is tax dumping, tax competition. I can understand why he [Mr Osborne] does that, because obviously investors are flowing out from the UK, and he wants to provide them with some sort of premium that would make them think twice before they leave the United Kingdom.
"He has to think about the impact of this on the continent. This will be seen on the continent as the start of the negotiation.
"And I'm quite convinced that at the end of the day, if you want a proper balanced win-win relationship in the future, starting with tax competition is not the right way psychologically to prepare this negotiation."
Mr Osborne said the cut was part of his plans to build a "super-competitive economy" with low tax rates.
A Treasury spokesperson confirmed the Financial Times's story was correct but said they did not know when the cut would happen.
In March, the chancellor said corporation tax would fall to 17% by 2020.
Mr Osborne told the FT it was important for "Britain to "get on with it" to prove to investors that the country was still "open for business".
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the proposal was "counter-productive". He told the BBC the tax cut would not create the business investment that the UK needed.
He said it was "not constructive" to be "offering up Britain as a tax haven" to Europe and warned this could hit taxpayers.
Mr McDonnell accused the chancellor of being "chaotic" by bringing in "panic tax cuts" and instead called for a "steady strategy". He also warned that it was not the right way to open negotiations to get the best deal in Europe.
"I don't think it sends the right message to those countries that wish to establish a co-operative relationship with us in the future, so that we get some of the benefits we had in the EU, even though we're outside of it," he said.
Before the referendum, George Osborne said that a vote to leave the EU would force him to introduce billions of pounds worth of tax increases and spending cuts in order to repair damage to the public finances.
It is now clear that his real strategy is very different.
The proposed cut to corporation tax, which would give the UK one of the lowest rates of any major economy, is designed to help the country attract new investment and court businesses which might otherwise have been put off by the uncertainty surrounding the country's relationship with the EU.
Mr Osborne's announcement comes amid reports that the Bank of England could this week lower the amount of capital banks have to keep aside as a safety net in case of unexpected risks.
On Tuesday, the Bank publishes the outcome of its bi-annual Financial Policy Committee meeting which looks at risks to the UK's financial stability.
Mr Carney said last week that the Bank would take "any further actions it deems appropriate to support financial stability".
One option could be to reduce the amount of capital banks are required to hold to help stimulate the economy.
Mr Osborne has already abandoned his long-held target to restore government finances to a surplus by 2020 amid fears the uncertainty caused by the Leave vote could hold back the economy.
The chancellor said the economy was showing "clear signs" of shock following the vote to leave the European Union.
"How we respond will determine the impact on jobs and growth," he said at the time.
Economists have also warned about the impact of the Leave vote.
"Having voted for Brexit last week, the economy is clearly going to go into a down swing, that might be a full-blown recession, that might just be very very low growth," Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said last week. | George Osborne has pledged to cut corporation tax to encourage businesses to continue investing in the UK following the EU referendum vote. | 36699642 |
Pienaar suffered a knee injury in the defeat by Leinster and may also miss Ulster's two upcoming European games.
Front-rowers Rob Herring and Rodney Ah You will be out for four to six weeks after suffering knee ligament damage in the Leinster game.
Forwards Wiehahn Herbst and Roger Wilson have also suffered injuries.
Prop Herbst will be out for at least a month after sustaining a calf injury in training last week, while Wilson will miss the Scarlets match after straining a knee in the game at the RDS.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Wing Craig Gilroy remains on the absentee list after suffering an ankle injury in training and prop Kyle McCall's absence for four to five months has been confirmed by Ulster following surgery on his torn hamstring before Christmas.
Marcell Coetzee (knee), Peter Nelson (foot), Ricky Lutton (toe), Alan O'Connor (concussion), Stuart Olding (calf), Jared Payne (kidney) and Matthew Rea (shoulder) remains out of contention for Friday's game, although Robbie Diack and Ross Kane will be available following injury absences.
Ulster will also hope to have Ireland stars Rory Best, Iain Henderson and Paddy Jackson available after they were ruled out of the Dublin game because of the IRFU's player management programme.
South African star Pienaar is being forced to leave Ulster at the end of this season following a controversial decision by the IRFU and will be disappointed to miss the upcoming games as his departure looms.
After leading the Pro12 table following five opening wins, Ulster have slipped to sixth spot having lost four of their past six games.
Ulster do have a game in hand on the top five sides following the postponement of their home match against Zebre but defeat in Wales would leave Les Kiss's side at least eight points off a play-off spot. | Struggling Ulster have suffered further injury blows including the loss of South African back Ruan Pienaar for Friday's Pro12 game against Scarlets. | 38509316 |
More than half of those who responded to the social attitudes survey said football was the main factor.
Overall, almost 90% said they believed sectarianism was a problem in Scotland.
But 69% said they believed it was only a problem in specific areas - mainly Glasgow and the west of Scotland.
And while 79% said they thought Orange Order marches contributed to sectarianism, just 13% believed that it was the main factor.
About half (54%) of the 1,500 people surveyed said they thought that Catholics experienced at least some prejudice, with 41% saying they thought the same about Protestants.
The survey also suggested people believe families, schools and football clubs were best placed to tackle sectarianism.
A separate study into the community impact of public processions, including Orange and Irish Republican marches, found that they were viewed negatively by people surveyed in the locations they were held.
But it said police data did not show evidence of "spikes" in antisocial or criminal behaviour around the marches.
However, the study said processions organised by the Scottish Defence League and emerging Loyalist organisations, often taking the form of "static" demonstrations, created problems and significant disruption for local authorities and Police Scotland, as well as upset to local communities.
Both research projects had been recommended by the independent Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland.
Community Safety minister Paul Wheelhouse said the studies were helping to build a comprehensive understanding of the nature and impact of sectarianism.
Mr Wheelhouse added: "This research also shows us that there is a gap between the perception of sectarianism and the reality of people's experiences, and this is something I know the advisory group will be considering in the coming weeks and months.
"Sectarianism has no place in Scotland in the 21st century and we are fully committed to help rid Scotland of the prejudices of the past and tackling this problem which has blighted many communities.
"Religiously aggravated offending is falling and is now at its lowest level in a decade, last year alone there was a 15% decrease, but we will always seek to do all we can to stamp out this problem.
"That's why the Scottish government has invested £9m over three years to tackle this issue, including supporting 44 community-based projects in their efforts to tackle sectarianism in Scotland."
Anti-sectarian group Nil By Mouth welcomed the research, but renewed its call for Scottish football to implement the recommendations of the sectarianism advisory group and introduce "strict liability" - the UEFA standard for tackling offensive behaviour at games which has already been adopted by the English FA. | Almost nine out of every ten Scots believe football is a cause of sectarianism in the country, according to a Scottish government survey. | 31552813 |
He made his appeal while celebrating Mass in three native languages after a new Vatican decree approved their use.
The Pope also used the open-air service in San Cristobal de las Casas to warn about threats to the environment.
Throughout his five-day trip he has condemned the evils of forced emigration and drugs.
He has urged Mexico's leaders to provide "true justice" to suffering citizens.
But on Monday he drew attention to the suffering of indigenous people in his address in Chiapas state.
"On many occasions, in a systematic and organised way, your people have been misunderstood and excluded from society," the 79-year-old pontiff said after citing Popol Vuh, an ancient Mayan text.
"Some have considered your values, culture and traditions to be inferior. Others, intoxicated by power, money and market trends, have stolen your lands or contaminated them. How sad this is," he said.
"How worthwhile it would be for each of us to examine our conscience and learn to say, 'Forgive me!'"
Correspondents say that while Chiapas is the country's least Roman Catholic state, tens of thousands of people attended an open-air Mass in a sports field in San Cristobal de las Casas.
Women wore colourfully embroidered dresses to deliver biblical readings and hymns in the Chol, Tzotzil and Tzeltal languages.
The pontiff highlighted the deep appreciation of indigenous people for nature and said their community had much to teach the rest of the world.
He also highlighted the need to care for the environment.
"We can no longer remain silent before one of the greatest environmental crises in world history," he said,
While Mexico is the world's second most populous Catholic nation after Brazil, only 58% are loyal to the Vatican in Chiapas in comparison to 82% in the rest of the country.
Mexicans hope papal visit brings change
On Tuesday, the Pope heads to the capital of the western state of Michoacan, a region scarred by drug violence.
The Pope concludes his five-day trip in Ciudad Juarez on the US border, a city which has also been blighted by drug-related murders. A Mass there will highlight the plight of migrants. | Pope Francis has asked Mexican indigenous people in Chiapas state for forgiveness over they way they have been excluded from society. | 35584031 |
The US company sent out an email to thousands of recipients with the subject line: "Re: Your Dad".
The header was intended to be an attention-grabbing way to promote its products as Father's Day gifts.
But it sparked criticism from dozens of recipients on social media, one of whom said it had induced a panic attack.
"It was so personal, and at first it was even hard to tell what that email was about, unless you looked further beyond the subject line or looked at the sender," Diana Sargsyan, a marketing student whose father died five years ago, told the BBC.
"I immediately thought: What about him? Who in the world would send me an email about my dad? I got a little scared even.
"Ever since my dad has passed, I've been dealing with a lot, which includes depression, anxiety, therapy, you name it. Only for the past couple of months I've been feeling better, and this email just crushed me."
Jawbone declined to comment and has not publicly replied to the criticism on Twitter.
But a charity suggested the ads should have been better thought out.
"We know how distressing this period can be for bereaved people and would welcome companies taking the time to think more about the headlines of their email marketing campaigns and the impact these have on bereaved people," said a spokeswoman for Cruse Bereavement Care.
Jawbone's ads risk causing it additional bad publicity at a time when questions have been asked about its future.
Reports suggest the San Francisco-based firm is trying to sell off its speaker business and its chief executive recently felt compelled to issue a statement denying rumours that it planned to stop making hardware altogether.
One advertising industry expert suggested the "backfired" emails had not helped.
"It's important that companies using email marketing campaigns respect the intimacy of people's inboxes," said Maisie McCabe, acting UK editor of Campaign.
"When planning any activity, brands need to consider the potential pitfalls.
"In this case, Jawbone should have considered how people whose fathers have died or are estranged from them might view such a subject line.
"The situation has then been compounded by their failure to respond to the criticism quickly and decisively."
Update: A spokeswoman for Jawbone has said it is contacting people who have complained on Twitter and sending them the following statement: "Like many other brands, we wanted to celebrate dads for Father's Day. We do understand the sensitivity around the subject line used in our email and will be cognisant of this moving forward." | The wearable tech firm Jawbone has been accused of being insensitive and distressing to people whose fathers have died. | 36487393 |
UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove indicated farmers will be paid for delivering benefits for nature and the countryside instead of receiving subsidies for the land they farm.
NFU Scotland said Mr Gove's suggestion "chimes with our thoughts".
But the SNP has claimed the change in approach represents "an unambiguous threat" to Scottish farmers' incomes.
NFU Scotland Director of Policy Jonnie Hall said: "While the headlines will be on 'Green Brexit', there was a significant amount of agricultural content in the Secretary of State's speech.
"The clear statement regarding a move away from the current area-based support system fully justifies our approach to have an open and frank discussion with our membership now and every member of NFUS has received a copy of our Change document in the past few days.
"The Secretary of State's statement that support 'must be earned' chimes with our thoughts."
Under the EU Common Agricultural Policy, famers in the UK receive about £3bn annually, mostly linked to the amount of land they farm.
The UK government has said it will maintain funding levels until 2022, but Mr Gove said ministers could only go on "generously supporting farmers" in the face of other demands on spending if the environmental benefits were clear.
Outlining his belief that there needs to be a change of approach, Mr Gove said: "The Common Agricultural Policy rewards size of land-holding ahead of good environmental practice, all too often puts resources in the hands of the already wealthy rather than into the common good of our shared natural environment, and encourages patterns of land use which are wasteful of natural resources."
Responding to Mr Gove's comments, Mr Hall said: "In the future, there is a justifiable case for Scottish agriculture to receive the same levels of funding as it currently receives, ring-fenced and spent in new and more effective ways to improve productivity, efficiency and resilience.
"That is a central plank of the discussions we will be having with politicians and their officials in the weeks and months ahead.
"While accepting of change, we will also be considering the case for a transitional shift from land to activity-based incentives. We would want to reward risk and recognise good stewardship, not inertia."
Scottish Land and Estates, which represents many of Scotland's landowners, also welcomed Mr Gove's comments but was cautious about the pace of change.
"Before we change the current rules too radically, there is a challenge for Scottish agriculture to improve its profitability and therefore resilience, which has to be our top priority in the next five to ten years," said David Johnstone, the chairman of the landowners' body.
"We were pleased to see Mr Gove acknowledge that many regions of the UK will still need greater levels of support where farming is more difficult.
"In Scotland, 85% of our land is classified as 'poor' - the opposite of what exists in England. We also have a much greater forestry industry so it is important that the Scottish government plays a significant role in developing the detail on this policy that works for Scotland's unique needs."
The SNP said it feared the new arrangements could leave farmers in Scotland worse off.
Stewart Stevenson, who is a member of the Scottish Parliament's rural economy committee, said: "This is an unambiguous Tory threat to continued agricultural support funding after 2022 - that is the stark post-Brexit reality which the UK Government is now proposing for our rural communities.
"Scottish farmers, like others across the UK, rely heavily on farming subsidies and their farm payments must be protected.
"Michael Gove's empty rhetoric and false promises during the Brexit campaign have long since been exposed, and now he is backtracking on all the assurances he has ever made to Scotland."
Mr Stevenson added: "Powers over agriculture and fisheries must be repatriated to Scotland to enable a localised approach to these sectors and to put them and the wider natural environment at the heart of what we do.
"And it is vital that UK funding follows the powers to enable delivery." | The body representing Scottish farmers has given a cautious welcome to plans for a new deal on support after Brexit. | 40686903 |
Their statements were read in court before the 84-year-old was sentenced for 12 indecent assaults on four girls, including one aged just seven or eight.
One victim said the abuse had destroyed her "childhood innocence", while another said the assaults made her feel "dirty, grubby and disgusting".
Others described how they had struggled to move on, with one saying the abuse had "haunted her".
Australian Tonya Lee - who has waived her right to anonymity - said Harris had taken her "ability to feel safe", adding that she remained in "a constant state of anxiety".
She was abused three times in one day by Harris while she was on a theatre group trip to the UK aged 15 in 1986.
"What Mr Harris took from me was my very essence," her statement said. "I believe that it was for Mr Harris a forgettable moment but it was something for me I will never move on from.
"I know the person I am today is not the person I should have been."
A statement from another victim - a childhood friend of Harris's daughter Bindi - said the continued abuse she suffered between the ages of 13 and 19 "had a detrimental effect on my life".
The victim, who was in court but spoke through her lawyer, said the assaults made her feel "dirty, grubby and disgusting", adding Harris had "used and abused me to such a degree that it made me feel worthless".
"As a young girl I had aspirations to have a career, settle down and have a family," she said.
"However, as a direct result of his actions, this has never materialised. The knowledge of what he had done to me haunted me."
She said the effects of the abuse have been with her for many years.
"I started drinking at the age of 14 to 15 years old. This was to block out the effects of what he was doing to me," she said.
She said that Harris had a hold over her that made her feel like "a quivering wreck" and "a sexual object".
Judge Justice Sweeney said he had no doubt that Harris had caused this victim "severe psychological harm" and that his crimes against her played a part in her becoming an alcoholic.
Speaking after sentencing, the victim described the jail term as "immaterial".
One victim, who was aged seven or eight when she was assaulted as she queued to get an autograph from the star, said she had "carried" what Harris did to her "for most of my life".
She was indecently assaulted at a community centre in Hampshire in 1968 or 1969 and said she later became "an angry child" who was "unable to trust men" as a result of the abuse.
Harris had taken away her "childhood innocence", she said.
Her statement said: "Something he did to me for fun that caused me physical and mental pain for his own pleasure and then probably forgot about as quickly as he did it has had a catastrophic effect on me."
Speaking outside court, a representative of this victim, said: "[She] had only eight years of her life without this incident going round in her head, and that was her first eight years.
"After these cameras have been dismantled and the media circus has rolled on to another town it will still be with her as it will be with the other girls."
A statement from the fourth victim, who had been working as a waitress at a charity event in Cambridge aged 13 or 14 when Harris abused her, said the experience had had a "huge impact on my life".
She said the star "treated me like a toy" he could play with for his own pleasure, and that he had "absolutely no regard for what he was inflicting".
She said she felt as though Harris acted "as if nothing had happened".
"That an adult man could do what he did to me made me feel so powerless," she added.
After sentencing, the woman told ITV News: "He was a celebrity. He was a family man. So you instantly trusted in him. He was a children's entertainer so by association you should be able to trust such a person.
"Everyone is laughing with him and adoring him, while you're having that done to you. It's an unbelievable feeling of a loss of trust and a loss of innocence."
Another woman, who said she was assaulted by Harris in Cambridge in 1977, has told the BBC he was a "fraud" who "hurt women".
Karen Gardner, who has waived her right to anonymity and who submitted written evidence to the trial, said the entertainer had put his arm round her and touched her breast.
"I was shocked, I was very surprised. This was the man who sang 'Two Little Boys' and painted lovely paintings," she said.
She told the BBC that Harris was not "the man he pretended to be".
Her claims did not form part of charges against Harris at his trial.
One woman told the BBC she met Harris when she was 18 and he was "very kind, very nice" - but then "sexually abused" her.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave evidence in the trial but the attack in Malta was not the subject of a prosecution because at the time of the incident the offence was outside the jurisdiction of a UK court.
She told BBC News: "In simple terms, he sexually abused me. It was quite intimate, it was forceful and it was scary.
"Actually at the time, I felt that I was going to be raped." | Rolf Harris's victims have described the "catastrophic" effect of his abuse, as the former entertainer was jailed for nearly six years. | 28140334 |
Nigeria coach Samson Siasia has also picked West Ham's Victor Moses, Watford's Odion Ighalo, Chelsea's John Mikel Obi and Arsenal's Alex Iwobi in a 20-man group of overseas-based players.
Siasia is in temporary charge following Sunday Oliseh's resignation.
The Super Eagles play Group G rivals Egypt on 25 March in Kaduna and in Alexandria on 29 March.
Nigeria are two points behind leaders Egypt after two rounds of matches with only group winners guaranteed automatic qualification to the tournament in Gabon.
Man City's Iheanacho, who made his debut against Swaziland, has been rewarded with a recall following his nine goals in 24 appearances for his English club this season.
West Ham winger Moses starred as Nigeria clinched the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, but his search for consistency on the international scene has been hampered by a series of niggling injuries.
His last Super Eagles appearance was in the 2-0 loss to France at the 2014 World Cup.
Former England youth international Iwobi is in line for his first competitive game and follow in the footsteps of his uncle and former Nigeria captain Austin Jay-Jay Okocha.
The 19-year-old has only made two substitute appearances against DR Congo and Cameroon in a friendly but he was on the bench for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Swaziland in November.
Lazio midfielder Ogenyi Onazi is suspended for the first game in Kaduna after he received a straight red card against Chad in June 2015.
Fanendo Adi, who plays for MLS champions Portland Timbers, has been handed his first call-up.
Defender Leon Balogun, who has been in excellent form for Mainz in the German Bundesliga, had been originally left out but was added to the squad on Friday.
Sasia has picked some of the local boys who he led to the U-23 championship title last year, including captain Azubuike Okechukwu, Usman Mohammed and Etebo Oghenekaro
Siasia will open camp with the locally based players in Abuja this weekend.
Nigeria squad:
Goalkeepers: Carl Ikeme (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England); Daniel Akpeyi (Chippa United, SA)
Defenders: Abdullahi Shehu (Uniao da Madeira, Portugal); Elderson Echiejile (AS Monaco, France); Kenneth Omeruo (Kasimpasa, Turkey); Godfrey Oboabona (Caykur Rizespor, Turkey); Efe Ambrose (Celtic FC, Scotland); Staneley Amuzie (Olhanense, Portugal); Leon Balogun (Mainz, Germany)
Midfielders: Ogenyi Onazi (SS Lazio, Italy); John Mikel Obi (Chelsea FC, England); Azubuike Okechukwu (Yeni Malatyaspor, Turkey), Victor Moses (West Ham United, England)
Forwards: Ahmed Musa and Aaron Samuel (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Moses Simon (KAA Gent, Belgium); Odion Ighalo (Watford FC, England); Alex Iwobi (Arsenal FC, England); Fanendo Adi (Portland Timbers, USA), Aminu Umar (Osmanlispor, Turkey), Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester. City, England)
Locally-based players:
Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Femi Thomas, Austin Oboroakpo, Kalu Orji, Chibuzor Okonkwo, Etim Matthew, Sincere Seth, Segun Oduduwa, Chima Akas, Chris Madaki, Oke Ogagatewho, Ifeanyi Matthew, Usman Mohammed, Etebo Oghenekaro, Stanley Dimgba, Yau Hassan, Ezeikel Bassey, Prince Aggreh, Bright Onyedikachi, Chisom Chikatara, Godwin Obaje, Emmanuel Daniel | Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho is one of five Premier League players named in Nigeria's squad to face Egypt in two Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers this month. | 35718675 |
The Canaries lost 2-1 to promotion rivals Huddersfield on Friday and are 15 points behind second-placed Brighton after the top two won at the weekend.
Norwich are currently four points outside the Championship's top six.
"The way things are going at the moment for us and the way they're going it looks highly unlikely we'll catch the top two," Neil told BBC Radio Norfolk.
"It looks as if the play-offs might be our best option."
Neil was speaking straight after Friday's defeat at Carrow Road, which came courtesy of two goals by Terriers winger Elias Kachunga, and said his side need to show real improvement to achieve an instant return to the Premier League following relegation last season.
The 35-year-old added: "It's going to be extremely difficult, it's a mammoth task and we're certainly going to have to raise our bar to be able to achieve it." | Norwich's best hope of promotion this season is likely to be through the play-offs, boss Alex Neil has admitted. | 38364857 |
Few details of the US-Russia agreement have been given but, at some point, after a week of an effective ceasefire, US and Russian military teams are to meet to begin to chart how they would establish a joint implementation cell to co-ordinate air strikes.
Such a concerted air campaign between the two Cold War rivals is unprecedented. Given the tensions between them over Ukraine, where US and other Western troops are helping to train the Ukrainian military, they are hardly allies.
The question is, do they have enough in common in Syria to make this arrangement work?
In reality it may never happen. The Obama administration is deeply divided over the US-Russia accord.
Secretary of State John Kerry has been determined to go the extra mile to try to bring some measure of respite to the millions caught up in the Syria crisis. Privately, it is said that even he is not optimistic about the deal.
But the Pentagon and US Defence Secretary Ash Carter are deeply sceptical. They have to analyse the practical implications of any concerted air campaign and they do not like what they see.
There are practical, strategic and legal problems to contend with. For a start any combined air campaign will require an exchange of intelligence information about targets. The Pentagon is especially concerned not to reveal any details of its intelligence-gathering capabilities.
The Russian and US air forces have displayed a totally different tactical approach in their parallel air wars over Syria. The US (and other Western air forces) tend to drop almost exclusively precision-guided munitions at point targets, reducing the risk of civilian casualties.
Russian warplanes, in contrast, tend to bomb from higher altitude using "dumb" (that is unguided) bombs. Up till now the US has frequently condemned Russian bombing tactics as indiscriminate. How is it now going to join in a combined air campaign with the self-same Russian air force?
This is especially problematic because as the battle shifts ever closer to an assault on Raqqa - de facto the IS capital - then much of the targeting will increasingly be urban in nature with a growing risk of civilian deaths.
Distinguishing the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front from other militias (some of which are US-backed) is another problem.
Nusra - it has now re-named itself Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and claims to have broken all ties with al-Qaeda - is one of the more capable militias on the ground and many other groups have formed shifting alliances with it.
They are now supposed to sever all ties and separate their forces. But is this likely to happen? And will the Russians make the same distinctions that US target planners might make?
Then there is the strategic goal of any air campaign. If it is to sweep IS out of Raqqa then who exactly is going to move in on the ground?
This raises all sorts of questions for both Moscow and Washington, with the latter having to worry not least about Turkish-Kurdish rivalries.
But there is a general problem that, as IS control over territory diminishes, many other fighting groups on the ground may be encouraged to take advantage of the new situation and this may place additional burdens on the fragile ceasefire.
Underpinning any joint operation is the question of trust - and there is little of that between the US and the Russians. They have been exchanging some information already so as to "deconflict", as the military term has it, their respective air operations over Syria.
In a nutshell this means that they should avoid coming into contact in the air and that the Russians should not strike any US-linked groups, especially those who have US special forces advisers operating alongside them. | It is very early days in the Syrian ceasefire but if the agreement holds, then it could usher in an extraordinary joint air campaign by US and Russian warplanes against so-called Islamic state (IS) and other radical groups linked to al-Qaeda. | 37360075 |
The flat-bottomed D-class dinghy will be moored on the River Mourne. It has been supplied by the local section of the community rescue service.
The dinghy is already being used in the search of local man Sean Diver who went missing over a month ago.
Mr Diver, 39, was last seen in the Townsend Street area on 27 January.
Mr Diver's brother, Mark, told BBC Radio Foyle that the addition of the boat means a lot to his family.
"It's a godsend because that boat is now in the water nearly every day carrying out searches.
"Unfortunately it's taken the tragedy of my brother going missing to get this in the area but we're still very thankful," he said.
"It is a lot of water to cover, people have been here everyday, they are 100% behind us and we want to thank them as well for their continued support to our family."
Sean McCarry from the community rescue service said they would need the support of the local area to keep the service going.
"We have had a ground rescue team based here for over two years and we now feel it's the time, in light of Sean Diver going missing, to have a permanent boat here.
"We'll be relying on the local community for volunteers and to help us to fund the boat." | A rescue boat is to be based in Strabane, County Tyrone, for the first time on a permanent basis. | 35718242 |
Israel deployed its Patriot missile defence system and media reported the target was a drone.
The earlier strike had damaged what Syrian rebels said was an arms depot run by Lebanon's Hezbollah movement.
Israel said the explosion was "consistent" with its policy.
But it stopped short of confirming it was responsible.
The Israeli military Twitter account then announced it had intercepted the later "target" over the Golan Heights on the border with Syria, without elaborating.
The military declined to confirm the target was a drone.
Israel regards Hezbollah, and its key backer Iran, as its biggest threat. It went to war with Hezbollah in 2006 and the group has grown considerably more powerful since then.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported that the powerful blast was heard across the capital at dawn on Thursday and that it was believed to have happened near the main road that leads to the airport.
Syrian state news agency Sana said several missiles had been fired at a military site south-west of the airport, causing explosions that resulted in some material losses.
Pro-government Al-Mayadeen TV cited sources as saying that missiles had been fired by Israeli jets flying inside the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Two senior rebel sources based in Damascus told Reuters news agency that the missiles had hit an ammunition depot in a closed military area that was used by Iran-backed militias operating alongside the Syrian army, led by Hezbollah.
Appearing to confirm Israeli involvement, Intelligence Minister Israel Katz told Israeli Army Radio: "I can confirm that the incident in Syria corresponds completely with Israel's policy to act to prevent Iran's smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah in Iran. Naturally, I don't want to elaborate on this."
"The prime minister has said that whenever we receive intelligence that indicated an intention to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah, we will act."
The Israeli military declined to comment on the reports, however Israel is thought to have bombed arms shipments intended for Hezbollah several times since the Syrian conflict began.
In a rare step last month, the Israeli military confirmed that its jets had struck several targets inside Syria in a raid that prompted the Syrian military to fire a number of ground-to-air missiles, one of which was intercepted over Israeli territory.
On Wednesday, a high-ranking Israeli military officer briefed reporters that approximately 100 missiles intended for Hezbollah had been destroyed in the raid.
23 April 2017: Alleged Israeli attack on a training camp used by militia in Syria's Golan Heights region, kills three members of the Syrian pro-government National Defence Forces, according to the group.
17 March 2017: The Israeli military says its aircraft attacked several targets in Syria and shot down a Syrian missile.
22 February 2017: Israeli aircraft reportedly bomb several Syrian air bases near Damascus, including a Hezbollah convoy travelling with the Syrian army.
12 January 2017: The Syrian government accuses Israel of firing several rockets on the Mezzeh air base from the Sea of Galilee.
30 November 2016: Israeli aircraft fire missiles on the Syrian town of Saboura, west of Damascus, according to Syrian military sources.
18 January 2015: Six Hezbollah fighters and several Iranian soldiers, including a general, die in suspected Israeli air strikes in Syria's Golan Heights region.
19 December 2015: Suspected Israeli missiles hit Jaramana district of Damascus, killing nine Hezbollah fighters, including leading figure Samir Qantar. | Israel shot down "a target" over the Golan Heights, hours after it was accused of a missile strike at a military site near Damascus international airport. | 39739787 |
Shares in Marks and Spencer closed 4p lower at 386.5p - a 12% fall from the 440p they stood at before the retailer said on Wednesday that profits would fall under a turnaround plan.
The FTSE 100 closed 5 points higher at 6,270.79 points.
The index posted its biggest weekly gain for six weeks.
Miner Antofagasta reversed its early gains to end down 2.5%, while Anglo American was the top faller, shedding 2.7%.
Royal Mail was the biggest riser on the blue-chip index, ending 2% higher at 532.5p.
Traders said the stock was helped by news that the Unite union had cancelled proposed strike action, as well as a report of a possible merger between Belgian and Dutch mail operators Bpost and PostNL.
Oil lost its gains made on Thursday with Brent crude trading at $49.21, down 0.8%.
On the currency markets, the pound was down slightly against the dollar at $1.4654, but was up a touch against the euro at €1.3121. | (Close): London shares ended Friday just 5 points higher, dragged down by the mining sector, as Marks and Spencer fell another 1%. | 36395692 |
US investment firm Cerberus bought the entire portfolio from Nama for more than £1bn last April.
The Irish News revealed that Verbatim Communications worked for Tughans, the legal firm involved in the Nama affair.
The company is run by Gareth Robinson.
It organised an event about Tughans' association with Queen's University's postgraduate and executive education centre in 2012.
But in a statement, Belfast-based Verbatim Communications said that "at no time" has the firm been employed by Nama, Pimco or Cerberus.
Verbatim said none of its "employees or representatives facilitated or were in any way involved in the sale of Nama assets to Cerberus".
"Neither the company nor anyone representing the company benefited from the Cerberus/Nama transaction nor did they ever expect to".
The statement added that the company "fully supports all investigations into the matter whether in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland".
It confirms that "on one occasion, three years ago, Verbatim Communications Ltd was engaged by Tughans to assist with a very successful event relating to third level education".
Verbatim Communications said it "acts in a professional and ethical manner at all times and any suggestion to the contrary will be vigorously challenged".
Gareth Robinson, a former DUP councillor in Castlereagh, is listed as the only director of Verbatim Communications.
In October, Justice Minister David Ford raised questions about whether Peter Robinson should have declared an interest when inquiring about the costs associated with policing a world title boxing match in Belfast involving Carl Frampton.
The Irish News had reported that Gareth Robinson played a role in promoting the fight.
However, the first minister rejected the suggestion that he should have declared an interest, and said a discussion at the Stormont executive had related to the general policy of police charging for events. | The public relations firm run by the son of First Minister Peter Robinson says it has not been involved in any way in the controversial sale of National Asset Management Agency's (Nama) Northern Ireland properties. | 33465262 |
Two customers found the metal in packets of the vegetables in Manchester and Glasgow stores.
The Food Standards Agency issued a warning for the affected products, which are the supermarket's 170g bags of the beans with display until dates of 22 April, 23 April and 24 April.
A spokeswoman for Morrisons said an investigation was under way.
Customers who have bought the product should return them to the Morrisons branch where they were purchased to receive a full refund, the supermarket said.
Morrisons said the police had been informed of the two incidents.
The supermarket added: "We have been made aware of two incidents involving metal being found in two packets of green beans.
"The health and safety of our customers is our top priority, so as a precaution, we are recalling the products and are continuing with our investigation.
"The relevant authorities have been informed and we are also talking to the two customers."
A spokesman for Police Scotland said: "We are aware of an incident in Glasgow and are working with other police within the UK to investigate the matter." | Morrisons is recalling its own-brand trimmed green beans after metal was found inside them. | 39670061 |
Nicola Brown, 43, from Portsmouth, was also found guilty of two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to her son, Jake.
His father, Jason Brown, 44, was found not guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child.
Winchester Crown Court was told Jake had previously suffered 17 broken ribs.
As the verdicts were delivered, Nicola Brown shouted: "I didn't do it. I didn't do it."
Jurors heard how Jake died on 19 December 2014 due to "an impact to the head requiring substantial force".
The court was played a 999 call made by Brown, in which she said he had stopped breathing while she was feeding him.
She told the operator he had fallen out of his Moses basket the day before.
The broken ribs had been caused by an adult squeezing him, the court was told.
Brown had not informed her doctor she was expecting Jake and social services were alerted to the "concealed pregnancy".
Nigel Lickley QC, prosecuting, said Jake had been born in "unusual circumstances" at the couple's former home in Agincourt Road.
He said: "He arrived into this world by falling into and being caught by the pyjamas or tracksuit bottoms of Nicola Brown."
He said Brown, later of Seymour Road, had a "short fuse" and her attack on Jake was motivated by "anger".
Det Supt Scott MacKechnie said: "The treatment of newborn Jake by his own mother is very upsetting and shocking.
"This has been a complex investigation piecing together evidence of what occurred during Jake's 19 days of life, to establish how he died and who was responsible."
Portsmouth Safeguarding Children's Board confirmed a serious case review would be held into Jake's death.
Sentencing was adjourned to a date to be fixed. | A mother has been found guilty of murdering her 19-day-old baby, who died after suffering a brain injury and a fractured skull. | 38368059 |
David Cameron has already said about 400 troops will be withdrawn, although the overall level will stay at 9,500.
But the BBC's Carole Walker has been told there will be a fresh assessment in July and it could result in greater numbers returning to the UK.
On Wednesday US President Barack Obama announced 10,000 US troops would be withdrawn in 2011.
That will be followed by a further 23,000 by the end of September 2012, with 68,000 to remain for now.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said France would begin to withdraw 4,000 soldiers.
The British military has the second largest number of troops in Afghanistan after the US - current force levels are 9,500.
The prime minister has said UK forces will withdraw from combat roles by the end of 2014 and that about 400 troops would be withdrawn in the year to February 2012.
Mr Cameron welcomed President Obama's announcement: "The surge by the US and international partners, supported by an increase in the number of Afghan army and police, has reversed the momentum of the insurgency and created the right conditions for security responsibility to begin to transfer to the Afghans from July.
"We will keep UK force levels in Afghanistan under constant review. I have already said there will be no UK troops in combat roles in Afghanistan by 2015 and, where conditions on the ground allow, it is right that we bring troops home sooner."
He added the UK would work with Afghanistan and others to achieve a "military and political solution" in Afghanistan.
Defence sources have suggested that, following President Obama's speech, the National Security Council will meet over the next few weeks to look at whether it is possible to bring home more troops than announced over the course of this year - although it is understood it would be unlikely to be large numbers.
Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is visiting Afghanistan, told BBC Radio 4 there had been in contact with the Taliban as part of efforts at "political reconciliation", and Britain was "connected to that and supportive of that".
He told the Today programme: "It is the case that efforts to arrive at a political reconciliation in Afghanistan must run alongside our military efforts and indeed the military efforts - the improvement of security on the ground - are part of keeping up the pressure for such a reconciliation to take place."
While there was more to do in security and reconciliation, as well as making economic progress and fighting corruption, he said he had seen "positive changes" in Lashkar Gah, which he visited during a joint trip with the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
Obama orders cut in Afghan forceMark Mardell: Troops see no end to warFrance follows US Afghan pullback
"Undoubtedly there will be difficulties ahead, but the confident Afghan security leadership I was able to witness is greatly encouraging, not only for Afghanistan's security but also for our own," he said.
In a BBC documentary the head of the British Army, General Sir Peter Wall, appeared to question the 2015 deadline for withdrawing British troops.
While he stressed that the Army was "committed to deliver against that deadline" he added: "Whether or not it turns out to be an absolute timeline or more conditions-based approach nearer the time, we shall find out".
But his predecessor, Lord Dannatt said his comments had been taken out of context. He told the BBC: "Undoubtedly conditions on the ground are really important to guide what the military does, but the government of the day has made it quite clear that by 2015 our combat operations will have ended.
"That's the government's decision. Peter Wall understands exactly what I am saying, that this situation is essentially one with a political outcome. Of course conditions on the ground determine the speed at which you can do things, but it's been made quite clear that we will have stopped our combat role by 2014-2015."
The Taliban has said more serious steps than those outlined by President Obama were needed "to stop this pointless bloodshed".
In a statement issued to the media, it said: "The solution for the Afghan crisis lies in the full withdrawal of all foreign troops immediately and (while) this does not happen, our armed struggle will increase from day to day."
The US currently has about 100,000 troops in Afghanistan overall.
Divisions remain within the Obama administration over the size and speed of the pullout. | More British troops than expected could be brought home from Afghanistan this year, Ministry of Defence sources say. | 13882270 |
The sum is more than twice the reported £1.1bn paid for Center Parcs by US private equity firm Blackstone in 2006.
The deal is expected to be completed in July.
Center Parcs, employs about 7,500 people and offers UK family breaks including activities such as swimming, climbing and sailing.
It has sites at Sherwood Forest, Notts; Elveden Forest, Suffolk; Longleat Forest, Wiltshire; Whinfell Forest, Cumbria; and Woburn Forest, Bedfordshire.
Brookfield recently completed the takeover of London's Canary Wharf estate with the Qatar Investment Authority.
Brookfield chief executive Ric Clark said the company saw "compelling opportunities" to grow the business.
Brookfield's other investments include interests in shopping centres in the United States and Brazil as well as the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. | Holiday park resorts firm Center Parcs UK has been sold to Canadian property firm Brookfield in a deal reported to be worth more than £2.4bn. | 32976212 |
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
If you want to receive Breaking News alerts via email, or on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App then details on how to do so are available on this help page. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts. | Iraqi forces and Shia militias reported to have begun counter-attack against Islamic State forces near Ramadi | 32857198 |
Zinedine Zidane's side were 4-0 up after 32 minutes, with Isco slotting in their first from Karim Benzema's pass.
Benzema converted after Guillermo Ochoa spilled a Luka Modric shot, before Cristiano Ronaldo headed a third.
Isco tapped in a Modric cross, and midfielder Casemiro touched home a fifth from James Rodriguez's free-kick.
Who will stop Real Madrid this season? Zidane's side have not lost a competitive fixture since Wolfsburg defeated them in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final last April.
Victory here was never in doubt, as a rapid start against relegation-threatened opponents took them six points clear at the top of La Liga.
They had a little bit of luck along the way. Benzema's goal, Real's second, should have been ruled out, as the France forward was clearly offside as he converted a loose ball pushed into his path.
But had it not been for Granada's Mexico international keeper Ochoa, who made fine second-half saves from Dani Carvajal and Marcelo, the margin of victory would have been even bigger.
Real Madrid's number seven had a year to remember in 2016 - scoring the winning penalty in the Champions League final, helping Portugal to victory at Euro 2016, picking up the Club World Cup and securing his fourth Ballon D'Or.
There was a mood of celebration at the Bernabeu before kick-off, as Ronaldo was greeted with a mosaic of golden cards from the stands, and by a host of Real Madrid legends on the pitch - including his namesake, the former Brazil striker Ronaldo, and Luis Figo.
It was fitting that he should get a goal to mark the occasion, although this was a day for Real's other forwards to shine.
Isco, in particular, might well have had a hat-trick - justifying his selection after he was surprisingly picked ahead of Rodriguez, who had to settle for being a substitute.
Sadly, the Real forward's day came to an early end. Having been caught by a wild thigh-high challenge from Granada's Barcelona loanee Sergi Samper shortly before the interval, Isco struggled on for a while, but had to come off five minutes into the second half.
Real Madrid's afternoon was made significantly easier by the fact that their opponents were utterly hopeless.
Granada coach Lucas Alcaraz has patched together a squad made up largely of loan signings - borrowing a host of Premier League fringe players such as defender Franck Tabanou from Swansea, as well as midfielders Uche Agbo from Watford, Andreas Pereira from Manchester United, and Jeremie Boga from Chelsea.
Alcaraz named nine loanees in his starting line-up and got a performance that could politely be described as disjointed.
Their defending, at times, was abysmal, with Ronaldo allowed a free header for his goal, and Agbo failing to track the run of Casemiro as he converted Rodriguez's free-kick.
Frustration boiled over for the visitors at times, notably when Samper clattered Isco in the first half, and Tabanou had two attempts at hacking down Carvajal in the second, also picking up a yellow card.
Unless they find a better way to channel that aggression, Granada may well be heading for the drop.
Match ends, Real Madrid 5, Granada CF 0.
Second Half ends, Real Madrid 5, Granada CF 0.
Corner, Granada CF. Conceded by Keylor Navas.
Attempt saved. Artem Kravets (Granada CF) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Sergi Samper with a through ball.
Offside, Real Madrid. James Rodríguez tries a through ball, but Karim Benzema is caught offside.
Corner, Real Madrid. Conceded by Tito.
Attempt blocked. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Marco Asensio with a cross.
Corner, Real Madrid. Conceded by Lombán.
Attempt saved. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by James Rodríguez.
Foul by Casemiro (Real Madrid).
Javi Márquez (Granada CF) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Real Madrid. Conceded by Lombán.
Attempt saved. James Rodríguez (Real Madrid) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Karim Benzema.
Luka Modric (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Javi Márquez (Granada CF).
Foul by James Rodríguez (Real Madrid).
Gabriel Silva (Granada CF) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Javi Márquez (Granada CF).
Substitution, Granada CF. Ezequiel Ponce replaces Franck Tabanou.
Foul by James Rodríguez (Real Madrid).
Javi Márquez (Granada CF) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, Granada CF. Javi Márquez tries a through ball, but Artem Kravets is caught offside.
Foul by Casemiro (Real Madrid).
Franck Tabanou (Granada CF) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Offside, Real Madrid. Nacho tries a through ball, but Casemiro is caught offside.
Franck Tabanou (Granada CF) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Franck Tabanou (Granada CF).
Casemiro (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Casemiro (Real Madrid).
Javi Márquez (Granada CF) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. James Rodríguez (Real Madrid) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left from a direct free kick.
Gabriel Silva (Granada CF) is shown the yellow card for hand ball.
Hand ball by Gabriel Silva (Granada CF).
Substitution, Real Madrid. Fábio Coentrão replaces Marcelo.
Foul by Nacho (Real Madrid).
Artem Kravets (Granada CF) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Substitution, Granada CF. Alberto Bueno replaces Jeremie Boga.
Offside, Real Madrid. Marcelo tries a through ball, but Karim Benzema is caught offside. | La Liga leaders Real Madrid equalled Barcelona's Spanish record of 39 consecutive matches unbeaten as they swatted aside a woeful Granada. | 38492811 |
First-half net profit fell 21% to 244.8m euros (£192.5m; $314m), the company said.
It said the strength of the euro had hurt sales as well as a "difficult economic" environment.
Ahead of the announcement, Prada shares fell 1.3% in Hong Kong, to their lowest level in more than two years.
Prada expects profits in the second half of the year to be broadly in line with the first half, however "margins will continue to be under pressure with some marginal improvements deriving from the costs-cutting actions," the company said in a statement.
"We remain confident that the luxury goods market - especially the high-end segment where the Prada Group operates with success - will continue to offer interesting growth prospects in the medium-term," said Prada's chief executive Patrizio Bertelli.
Revenues from sales of leather goods, a category with a high profit margin, decreased by 1.4% , mainly because of a decrease in tourist footfall in the main shopping destinations in Europe and Asia, Prada said.
Sales in shoes and ready-to-wear clothes rose, as did menswear, which saw sales rise 19% in the first half of the year as men become more fashion conscious.
Rahul Sharma, a retail analyst at Neev Capital said the company had become less exclusive as a brand, but more exclusive in price, and as a result was losing out to competitors.
"There used to be lots of reasons to shop there, with limited editions and so on. Now there is much less 'newness'. Not only that but the company has put prices up. A customer used to be able to go in and buy a leather bag for about £1,000. Now it's more like £1,500 - £2,000," he said.
However Alex Migliorini, luxury goods analyst at Mirabaud Securities said he thought re-positioning itself as a higher end brand was a good thing, because it helped to protect the brand.
There has been concern about the strength of demand in China throughout the luxury goods industry.
"There's no doubt that the Chinese market has slowed...but there has also been a change in purchasing patterns," said Mr Migliorini.
"Chinese consumers usually spend most of their money abroad, but that trend is gradually shifting. So far the spending at home has not made up for the spending abroad," he said.
The clampdown on corruption in China has also had an effect, he continued. "People need to feel like spending big is not a sin."
On a conference call the Italian firm also said it had had a supply chain issue with some of its newer and better selling leather collections. | The Italian fashion house Prada has reported a drop in profit, hit by a fall in leather goods sales and currency fluctuations. | 29280028 |
Both said the talks would focus on relations across the Taiwan Straits.
China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and views the island as a breakaway province which will one day be reunited with the mainland.
But ties have improved since President Ma took office in 2008.
The Chinese government threatens to use military force against Taiwan if it ever attempts to gain outright independence.
Taiwanese spokesman Chen Yi-hsin said President Ma's aim was "to promote peace cross the Taiwan Strait and maintain status quo".
Analysis: Cindy Sui, BBC News, Taipei
This meeting, less than three months before Taiwan's elections, is a sign of how concerned China is that the significantly improved ties of recent years could be jeopardised if the pro-independence opposition party's candidate becomes president. Opinion polls show Tsai Ing-wen is leading - a big worry for Beijing.
Ms Tsai has said she welcomes dialogue with Chinese leaders, but Beijing has refused to meet her, indicating it does not trust her.
She was a minister in charge of developing policy toward mainland China under the previous administration, which angered Beijing by trying to work towards formal independence.
Mr Xi may believe he can sway Taiwanese voters but this could backfire. While some voters who want to maintain stable relations may heed his words, they may offend Taiwanese voters who are already worried that Beijing will have increasing influence over Taiwan if the candidate from President Ma's party is elected.
And this could hurt, rather than help, the party favoured by Beijing.
The two leaders are expected to handle the meeting in a delicate manner. Mr Ma's office has emphasised no agreements will be signed and no joint statement will be issued.
Mr Ma will hold a news conference on Thursday to explain his decision to hold the talks. More details are also expected from Taiwan's mainland affairs council later on Wednesday.
China's official Xinhua news agency said the two sides would "exchange views on promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations".
The BBC's John Sudworth in Beijing says Saturday's meeting will mark a significant break with the long-established diplomatic stance.
Contact of any kind between the two sides has been extremely limited and China has resisted anything that might be seen to be giving Taiwan equal status, he says.
In a sign of how politically sensitive the meeting is, the leaders will address each other as Mr Xi and Mr Ma, rather than president, one Chinese government official has said.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the US welcomed any steps to reduce tensions and improve relations, but added: "We'll have to see what actually comes out of the meeting."
Taiwan profile
China profile
Ties with China have improved under President Ma, whose Kuomintang (KMT) party is seen as pro-Beijing.
In July 2009 the two leaders exchanged direct messages for the first time in more than 60 years, albeit in their respective party functions, and not as national leaders.
A year later, the two countries signed a historic trade pact.
However, correspondents say growing fears over China's influence has led to widespread dissatisfaction in Taiwan.
The KMT suffered a crushing defeat in local elections last year, a result that was widely seen as a rejection of President Ma's push for closer ties with China.
Mr Ma steps down next year having served two terms, and earlier this month the KMT dropped its candidate for January's presidential election following a series of poor ratings in opinion polls.
Analysts say China is likely to see a meeting between the two leaders as a final chance to press its case for improved ties, in case the KMT loses the election.
China has insisted that countries cannot have official relations with both China and Taiwan, with the result that Taiwan has formal diplomatic ties with only 21 UN member states.
Taiwan also has no seat at the UN, having lost it to China in 1971. Repeated attempts to regain representation at the UN have been blocked. | Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Singapore on Saturday - the first ever meeting between leaders of the two sides. | 34711923 |
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) also revealed that it has received almost £6m to cover administration costs of the course.
BBC News NI obtained the data through a freedom of information request.
The speed awareness course began in June 2010 and may be offered to drivers as an alternative to penalty points.
A total of 187,608 speed awareness courses have been completed since then.
The maximum speed of a participant on the course was recorded at 86mph in a 70mph zone.
Suneil Sharma completed it a few months ago in Belfast after he was caught driving at 38mph in a 30mph zone and said the course was "worthwhile but tedious".
"It was certainly worth doing the course rather than taking the penalty points," he said.
"They remind you of some of the basic things like leaving the house on time to avoid you driving quickly.
"I think I am a more careful driver now that I have been on it."
Mr Sharma said he was "completely gobsmacked" to hear how many people had taken part in the course.
The BBC has also obtained some figures about the speed awareness course and the Young Driver Scheme, which relates to the numbers of people who completed the course between 2011 and 2014.
More men than women have been caught speeding.
In 2012, almost 50% more men than women took part in the course, with 15,995 men taking part compared to 10,994 women.
During the same period, 1,463 people completed the course twice while three people completed it on three occasions.
People who are caught speeding while under the age of 25 will complete a different course known as the Young Driver Scheme.
About 2,000 young people have been completing it each year.
The figures also reveal that about 100 young people each year are completing the course while they still have their R plates.
The course costs £89 and lasts for four hours, during which drivers are taught about the dangers of speeding and the impact of speeding during an accident.
On average, drivers will only be given the opportunity to take part in the course if they are driving within 10mph of the speed limit.
The course is offered at eight locations in Northern Ireland and is delivered by contractor AADriveTech. | Almost 190,000 speed awareness courses have been taken across Northern Ireland since the scheme was introduced seven years ago. | 40940371 |
Jonathan Catchpole survived a gunshot wound to the chest but needed surgery following the attack in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, in August 2015.
Colin Deferia, 60, of Barking, Suffolk, who commissioned the "hit" due to a "grudge" against the victim, was jailed for 26 years.
Simon Webber, Frank Warren and Andrew Seaton were each jailed for 23 years and Paul Baker for 17 years.
All five had denied conspiracy to murder, but were found guilty at Ipswich Crown Court following an eight-week trial.
Webber, 32, of Bridgwater, Somerset; Warren, 52, of Dorchester, Dorset; and Seaton, 40, of Maiden Newton, Dorset; were also convicted of possessing a prohibited firearm.
Baker, 35, of Maiden Newton, had acted as a go-between between Deferia and the others, the court heard.
Police found Mr Catchpole with a "significant" gunshot wound to his chest at a flat in Forum Court, Bury St Edmunds, on 4 August 2015.
Shortly afterwards, a burnt-out car was discovered on the edge of the town. It contained a sawn-off shotgun found to have been used in the crime.
Deferia was identified as a suspect due to an ongoing dispute with Mr Catchpole and was arrested the next day.
Analysis of his mobile phone established he had been in contact with some of the other suspects. All four were arrested over the following days.
Mobile phone data, automatic number plate recognition and CCTV footage helped prove Webber, Warren and Seaton had travelled to the town from the south-west of England on the day of the attack.
Forensic evidence linked Webber to the shooting. Warren and Seaton assisted him in carrying out the attack, with Seaton driving the stolen getaway car.
The court heard since the attack, Mr Catchpole, who is in his 30s, needed life-saving surgery to remove multiple pellets.
A victim impact statement read to the court said he was now afraid to open the door and did not feel safe in his home.
Judge David Goodin said he had been shot at point-blank range and it was a "miracle" he had survived.
He described Deferia as a wealthy, successful, self-made businessman but behind his good nature was "vicious remorselessness".
Mark Milliken-Smith, for Deferia, said his client had been law-abiding until this crime, with no previous convictions, and suffered from a depressive disorder.
After the hearing, Ch Insp Caroline Millar, said: "This was a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to murder an innocent man, all because of a grudge held against him by Colin Deferia.
"Deferia hired the other four men to carry out this attack and between them they thought they had planned the perfect crime." | Five men have been jailed over a plot to kill a man with a sawn-off shotgun. | 37518921 |
David Lee gave evidence during his trial Aberdeen Sheriff Court after the jury heard allegations that he exposed himself to ambulance co-workers.
He denies 15 charges said to have taken place between 2013 and 2015, involving five alleged victims.
The married father-of-one told the jury that he had slept with two of his co-workers who gave evidence against him.
He said his relationship with one of the women developed into "play fights and tickling" but he denied propositioning her for sex.
Mr Lee, 31, who is currently suspended from duty, has lodged a special defence claiming all activity was consensual.
Earlier the jury heard from a female ambulance technician who was mentored by Mr Lee in summer 2015.
The 26-year-old witness told the court that his behaviour changed after a couple of shifts together and he became "a bit sleazier and flirtatious".
"He was like a puppy that always needed attention," she said.
"He got some gloves down my top and asked if he could help get them back.
"I was exhausted. He said to me 'this is what you do to me' and pointed down at his crotch.
"He had an erection in the ambulance while he was driving. He just kept asking if I would touch it - saying that if I did then he'd leave me alone."
She said he then exposed himself.
During the same call-out to a patient's house in Banchory, Aberdeenshire, the witness said Lee attacked her in the back of the ambulance while she went to get her kit bag.
During cross examination, defence advocate David Moggach accused the witness of engaging in "flirtatious behaviour" with Mr Lee.
He said the sexual elements of her story "simply didn't happen" and that was why she had not reported the claims to managers until someone else voiced similar allegations about Lee's behaviour.
The woman replied: "That's a complete lie. I felt too intimated to come forward."
Mr Lee is alleged to have acted in a culpable and reckless manner towards women when they were behind the wheel of an ambulance.
The trial, before Sheriff Graeme Napier, continues. | A paramedic accused of indecent behaviour towards colleagues has denied acting inappropriately. | 37555493 |
The seeds of May's catastrophic defeat may have been sown a way long back in the complacency of Labour's dominance in local government, its move away from its roots or its past political decisions.
But in 1997 Labour could not have been riding higher across Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Tony Blair's landslide victory led to a referendum on Scottish devolution and the setting up of the Scottish Parliament.
Could Scottish Labour's current problems be down to one of its greatest achievements north of the border?
After winning the 1997 referendum on devolution, the next task was choosing the members who would stand for election to populate Holyrood and steer the new devolved parliament.
Some claim the process was not impartial, with the party reaching for a top-down process, with Westminster, not Scottish Labour, taking a lead.
IAN DAVIDSON (Glasgow MP 1992 until 2015)
"Behind it all was Donald Dewar who was a tremendous intellectual and social snob.
"I mean Donald had a very clear view about what he wanted to have in the Scottish Parliament and he basically wanted Liberals and Labour, sort of like Glasgow University debaters and lawyers, as it were, running the whole establishment and he wanted people to come in there that were going to go along with that."
SUSAN DEACON (Labour MSP 1999 to 2007)
"It was supposed to be about the great and the good selecting the brightest and the best but what it actually did was deny the chance for a whole lot of very talented and accomplished people, including a number of sitting MPs, from actually even putting themselves forward for selection.
"That first Scottish parliamentary Labour group didn't have within it some real talents that could have been there. And I think we paid the price for that."
DAVID WHITTON (Special advisor to Donald Dewar and Labour MSP from 2007 to 2011)
"I think it was cataclysmic. The parliament had only been going for just over a year.
"The fact that Donald was not there to lead it through its first four years did untold damage to the parliament and did untold damage because the last thing we needed was a leadership vacuum at that point in time."
BRIAN WILSON (Cunninghame North MP 1987 to 2005)
"That there was no succession planning for leadership. It was a great tragedy that Donald died, but things just went from bad to worse thereafter."
HELEN LIDDELL (Labour MP 1994 to 2005)
"Frankly Scottish Labour could start a fight in an empty house. "
HENRY MCLEISH (who succeeded Donald Dewar as Scottish Labour leader and first minister in 2000)
"Personal care free at the point of need seems like a great step forward. But the worry at Westminster was the English may want it as well. How horrific.
"So you would have spats with the ministers, you would have some fairly hectic, intense and language exchanging sessions with them.
"People felt that, you know, it was a kind of second division parliament, and that got us off to a bad start.
"And to be honest with you, that hasn't wholly disappeared in the last 16 years."
JACK MCCONNELL (Scottish Labour leader and first minister from 2001 to 2007)
"In Scotland local government had been Labour's great powerbase through the opposition years and the creation of the Scottish Parliament, to some extent, eclipsed local government.
"And at the other end I think the Westminster MPs found it really hard to cope with the fact that suddenly there was this bunch of new MSPs who were getting more publicity in the local papers, who had more day-to-day responsibility than they had, and they found - they were defensive I think, over a long period of time."
IAN DAVIDSON (Labour MP)
"I think it's fair to say that Jack and Henry's periods were less than total successes, and I think I can understand why they would want to blame somebody else for that."
"They weren't forceful enough. They should have been doing far more for working people and their families. Simply to say a "bad boy at Westminster blocked them" all the time, isn't really good enough. I can understand why they say it, but it's not true."
SUSAN DEACON (Labour Scottish government minister)
"Week on week, discussions about policy and so on were driven, not by kind of long-term aims.
"I'm thinking here, within the parliamentary group for instance - but rather about how you'd win the vote that week, what the headline would be, how we'd be seen to be getting one over on the Nats, for example, that was typically the exchange.
"And I know that many of my erstwhile colleagues will despise me for saying that, but I'm sorry, that's what it felt like to me, and that's what I disliked, and I firmly believe it's what an awful lot of the Scottish public disliked too."
Of all the events said to have contributed to the fall of Labour in Scotland, and which caused damage to Labour nationally, one looms large.
Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision in 2003 to lead the UK to war in Iraq.
LORD FALCONER (close friend and confidant of Tony Blair)
"I think the Iraq war damaged Labour everywhere, and I think that the Iraq war is perceived to be a mistake.
"That damaged Labour right throughout Scotland and England, but I'm not sure that it necessarily damaged Labour more in Scotland than it did in England.
"In 2005 and 2010, after the Iraq war, there were elections in which Labour were returned, once with Tony Blair in 2005 and then in 2010 in Scotland, although Labour was not returned as a national government, as I said before, it did better.
"So, yes Iraq was damaging, the question was it more damaging in Scotland than it was elsewhere, I'm not sure that it was."
By 2007, Labour's grip on power was slipping and the SNP became the biggest party by one seat and formed a minority government.
Labour had been the incumbent party of government in Holyrood since 1999 and at Westminster since 1997.
But now it had been eclipsed as the main party of power in Scotland for the first time in decades.
For a party unused to defeat, the recriminations started.
JACK MCCONNELL (the defeated Scottish Labour leader in 2007)
"I think there was initially defensiveness that was then added to anger after the SNP won in 2007.
"And I have to say defensive anger is not a good starting point for a political party that's trying to rebuild its levels of support.
"But that was what was driving much of Labour decision-making and tone from 2007 onwards. That there was this anger that the voters had done the wrong thing, how dare they?"
IAIN GRAY (took over the Scottish Labour leadership from Wendy Alexander in 2008)
"I think if you do any kind of job like that the dangerous thing, but the thing which nobody can avoid, is you look back and think about things that you could've done differently.
"My view of the core of our problem, this is not the only problem but I think it's at the heart of it, is the inability of the party to really come to terms with the new political context created by devolution.
"I think I maybe half understood that when I was a leader. I understand that much better now."
IAIN GRAY (the defeated Scottish Labour leader in 2011)
"The difference between what happened to us in 2011 and what had happened four years before, was largely about a very successful SNP campaign.
"My point is not that that wasn't a bad result - it was a terrible result.
"My point is we should've seen it coming because the roots of it actually lay back in previous elections."
JOHANN LAMONT (became Scottish Labour leader in 2011)
"I think when I took over in 2011 what I wanted was for us again to be credible politically. We described it at the time as being intensive care. We'd gone through a really, really bad election. You know, this was not a job that anybody was rushing towards in order to get plaudits.
"I wanted people to look again at the Labour Party and say: 'This is an organisation that has a purpose'."
Was the referendum the cause of Scottish Labour's problems or did it just expose them?
The Better Together Campaign, which included Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems, was supposed to show a united, pro-unionist front against independence.
However, it meant Labour being yoked to a party that had very different notions of society and what Scottishness should be.
JOHANN LAMONT (Scottish Labour leader during the referendum campaign)
"I took a view that we should be part of Better Together but I also recognise that there were people in our own party who are less comfortable with that.
"And, of course, we were having this kind of argument put back to us by the SNP, while they themselves were making that common cause, that somehow that we were doing the wrong thing by working with people in Better Together."
HENRY MCLEISH
"I believe that the Better Together campaign was created in London, and was delivered to Scotland to be implemented by the Labour Party.
"Speaking to many, many Labour Party people, they were totally dismayed by the fact that we could have a platform with the Conservatives because we have no platform with the Conservatives on anything else.
"It gave the SNP a field day and in the referendum what we found was it was the SNP and their voice of Scotland against the rest."
JACK MCCONNELL
"The whole campaign design was wrong. There should have been an independent, non-party campaign for a No vote that the three political parties then each supported in their own way with their own supporters.
"This idea that you bring the grandees of the three Westminster parties together to come and tell Scotland what to do - it's a daft idea, it's always going to be problematic but nobody would listen, and organise the campaign in a different way.
"It is an example of what was wrong with the thinking - the idea that you can dictate to Scotland how it thinks instead of actually listening and engaging with people who are active in Scotland and have got some experience of the situation."
IAIN GRAY
"I said to a number of colleagues there that we have to think about the possibility that even if we win the referendum and Scotland remains part of the United Kingdom that what will follow from that will change the next election, and that next election will be 2015 - that election will be about something different, that it will be about Scottish identity and the constitution.
"And that for the first time in many Westminster elections the SNP will be able to find a strong relevance, and if that happens then you - Labour MPs - will find yourselves competing against the SNP in the way we had to do in 2011.
"And my colleagues said: "That can't happen." I could not convince them that the referendum would change the context. So what I'm saying to you is that that's not a tension. It was a failure to really understand how Scottish politics was changing."
BBC Scotland Investigates: The Fall of Labour is on BBC One Scotland at 21:00 on Monday 22 June. | Following Labour's heavy defeat in Scotland at the general election, BBC Scotland Investigates has been speaking to former leaders, politicians and activists to examine how the party that was born in Scotland and helped shape the country came to have only one MP north of the border. | 33198969 |
Make it local, is the answer from two neighbourhood networks, one British, one American, that are getting together.
America's Nextdoor will announce this week that it is buying Britain's Streetlife in a multimillion pound deal.
Both companies were founded around the same time and have been on a similar mission - to build social networks concentrated on neighbourhoods with the aim of helping people with practical tasks.
When I was told about the deal I had two questions - why is what you're doing any different from Facebook, and why is it always the American firm buying the British one and not vice-versa?
Streetlife's founder Matthew Boyes started his business when a relative in Battersea in South London had a break-in and couldn't work out an easy way to ask neighbours if they'd seen anything or warn them of the risk to their homes.
For Nextdoor's Nirav Tolia it began with a pothole in a San Francisco street and how to get it fixed.
Both of them felt that Facebook and other existing networks just did not do the trick. "Social networks are about enabling virtual connections," says Nirav Tolia.
"Nextdoor is about reducing the friction of physical world connections."
"We don't connect people based on what they are interested in but where they live", says Matthew Boyes.
That means you get people with all kinds of interests and different viewpoints.
You might think that was a recipe for conflict.
But he says the nature of the network has meant that Streetlife conversations - even though they sometimes revolve around local politics - do not quickly descend into rancour and abuse as can happen elsewhere.
"I can count on the fingers of one hand the times we've had an issue where we felt we had to step into a conversation."
What really marks these networks out is that people don't hide their identity. Nextdoor, which describes itself as a private social network, is more rigorous about this than Streetlife, insisting new members of any of its 150,000 communities give proof of their address.
"We tell people these are your neighbours - treat them with respect," says Nirav Tolia.
"Lack of anonymity creates an incentive to behave better."
Following the takeover, Streetlife will encourage its members to migrate to Nextdoor.
Which brings me to my second question - why is it obvious that when two businesses start at rightly the same time it's the American one that ends up taking over the world, not the British firm?
The obvious answer is that the sheer weight of capital available in Silicon Valley gives entrepreneurs there a huge advantage.
Nextdoor has raised $200m at a valuation of $1 billion from the same blue chip venture capital funds which backed the likes of Facebook and Snap.
Nirav Tolia told me that on the face of it his idea for thousands of communities that would grow slowly and separately with no real network effective had been the opposite of the kind of "rocketship" Silicon Valley liked to fund a few years back: "but they're not afraid to be counterintuitive."
But there is also a marked difference in the ambitions of the two entrepreneurs.
My conversation with the Nextdoor founder was full of very Californian talk of transforming a divided world with the power of community. Matthew Boyes, however seemed startled at the idea that he too could have raised vast sums and set off on a global mission.
"We never intended to take over the world - we cared about Battersea", he told me.
And to be fair, while Nirav Tolia is a serial entrepreneur, Streetlife was Boyes' first startup.
Even if he had wanted to expand rapidly, it is unlikely that he would have been able to raise substantial sums in London, and In building a successful and sustainable business he's done much better than most entrepreneurs.
Now we have to hope that he and others like him will go on to found more companies with even bigger ambitions. | How do you build an online community that isn't an echo chamber and doesn't descend into an ugly shouting match? | 38879239 |
It emerged in 1949 from the ashes of World War II and now includes all European countries apart from Belarus, where the council is concerned about the human rights situation, and Kosovo, the independence of which is not recognised by many Council of Europe members.
Profile compiled by BBC Monitoring
Members must respect the rights and freedoms laid out in the body's treaties, including its centrepiece, the European Convention on Human Rights. The council oversees and enforces rulings made by the European Court of Human Rights, which considers cases brought by individuals and groups against the signatories to the convention.
After 1989 the council gained a new political focus with the accession of Europe's post-communist democracies. Russia in particular promised to make significant reforms to allay concerns about human rights and its judicial system.
Lately, the council has become preoccupied with the problems of terrorism, organised crime, money laundering and human trafficking. Its broad remit also includes the fields of education, the environment, health and culture.
The treatment of terror suspects has in recent years received considerable attention from the council. In 2006, it published a report into allegations of secret CIA detention centres in Europe which concluded that Council of Europe member states had colluded in this system.
Funding comes from member states; their contributions are determined according to wealth and population. The council is a stand-alone body, and not a branch of the European Union.
A secretary-general has described the council's work as "low key and gentle; it does not make headlines".
Secretary-general: Has overall responsibility for the council's work and its budget and is elected to a five-year term by the Parliamentary Assembly. Thorbjoern Jagland, a former prime minister of Norway, took up the post in October 2009.
Commissioner for Human Rights: A post set up in 1999 to promote human rights and identify legal shortcomings to this. Elected by the Parliamentary Assembly.
Articles include:
Committee of Ministers: Decision-making body, consisting of the foreign ministers of member states.
Parliamentary Assembly: Comprising 630 MPs from member states, it meets four times a year to debate matters of current concern and to offer guidance to the Committee of Ministers. Representation is based on the population size of member countries. Political groupings, reflecting ideology rather than nationality, have emerged.
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities: A forum for local elected representatives, it has a key role in helping recently-joined member states.
There is concern inside and outside the Council of Europe that its work overlaps with that of other pan-European bodies, including the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The EU plans to enhance the role of its anti-racism body to monitor certain types of human rights abuses.
Critics accuse the council of being a talking shop with little power, other than mild diplomatic pressure, to halt rights abuses. | The Council of Europe, Europe's oldest political body, aims to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law across the continent. | 17741526 |
A man aged 20 and a 17-year-old boy are being held following the stabbing of James Brindley, 26, in Aldridge High Street, West Midlands, on 23 June.
Mr Brindley died despite attempts by four schoolboys who rushed over to him to give first aid.
The arrests were made on Wednesday evening.
Read more news for Birmingham and the Black Country
Det Ch Insp Chris Mallett, from the West Midlands Police homicide team, said: "Although we have made two arrests we are still asking people to come forward with any information they have, no matter how insignificant it may seem."
Mr Brindley, described by his parents as "a very straightforward and trusting person", was stabbed in the heart. | Two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was stabbed to death on his way home from an evening out with friends. | 40592200 |
McNamara, 45, has succeeded Laurent Frayssinous at the French club after being released from his contract as assistant coach with National Rugby League side New Zealand Warriors.
McNamara coached England between 2010 and 2015, and led them to the semi-finals of the 2013 World Cup.
Jerome Guisset and Michael Monaghan will stay as assistant coaches.
Former Bradford coach McNamara will arrive in Perpignan on Tuesday, in time to take charge of Saturday's Super League fixture with Warrington.
Guisset and Monaghan have been in caretaker charge since Frayssinous' departure in May, with the side ninth in the table following a 56-12 defeat by Huddersfield in their most recent match.
"My wish was to find an English coach, recognised and respected in his country and in this competition," Catalans chairman Bernard Guasch told the club website.
"The choice of Steve, the former England coach, was the best in my opinion.
"He expressed his desire to come to France to lead the Dragons and we were lucky that he was available immediately." | Former England coach Steve McNamara has joined Catalans Dragons as head coach on a two-and-a-half-year contract. | 40326354 |
Brown returned to the fold for the 3-0 defeat away to England in November, but has yet to confirm if he will still be available for the return in June.
Lennon believes Scotland can come out on top in the World Cup qualifier and would love to see Brown feature.
"The team needs him and the country needs him," Lennon told BBC Scotland.
Brown, who worked under Lennon when he was Celtic manager, skippered the Scotland side that secured a 1-0 win against Slovenia on Sunday night to reignite their World Cup 2018 qualifying campaign.
The June Group F qualifier against England would, however, deny Brown the rest time that played a part in his initial decision to retire from Scotland duty.
But the Hibs boss reckons there is a solution to suit Brown and his club.
"The other thing is that they (Celtic) could win the league this weekend and then they don't have what you would call a meaningful game until the (Scottish Cup) semi-final, so maybe Brendan (Rodgers, Celtic manager) could tell him to go and have a week or 10 days now," said Lennon, who described Brown as "outstanding" in the Slovenia match.
"Then he'd have had a holiday during the season but before the Scotland game, then maybe more time off after that. Listen, I'm not going to tell Brendan how to do his job but that may be a solution for Scott getting more rest.
"He's looked as fresh as I've seen him in a long time so whatever they're doing in training at Celtic, it's working."
Lennon was highly impressed with how the under-pressure Scots performed against Slovenia, and reckons that lays a solid foundation for England's visit.
"I think they can beat England at Hampden," he added. "I've not been overly-impressed with England, although they are an excellent side that have quality players, but Scotland at home, off the back of a great win, and having lost at Wembley - there's plenty of sub-plots in that one.
"If you look at the score-line against England it was 3-0, but for 65-70 minutes Scotland were, for me, the better team at Wembley. That result on Sunday will hopefully galvanise them, it puts them right back in the group and hopefully it will galvanise the support."
Lennon is, of course, close to leading Hibs to the Championship title with the Easter Road outfit enjoying a 10-point lead at the summit with seven games to play.
The first of those comes against Morton on Wednesday night and Lennon said: "It's going to be another tough game and Morton, off the back of a defeat, will be keen to rectify that.
"He (Morton manager Jim Duffy) has worked wonders, not only are they up there challenging for promotion but they made the semi-final of the League Cup as well. Jim has galvanised them and made them a real force in the league." | Neil Lennon hopes Scott Brown makes himself available for Scotland's match against England - a game the Hibernian boss is convinced the Scots can win. | 39417808 |
A medical witness for the defence said Mr Jutting also suffered from the effects of cocaine and alcohol abuse.
Mr Jutting has pleaded not guilty to murdering Sumarti Ningsih and Seneng Mujasih in 2014 on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
He did plead guilty to manslaughter, but the prosecution rejected that.
Defence witness Richard Latham, a consulting forensic psychiatrist in the UK's National Health Service, said Mr Jutting's disorders had progressed to the "most severe end of the spectrum" by the time of the killings.
His ability to control his behaviour was "substantially impaired", Mr Latham said.
Read more: Sumarti Ningsih's story
Mr Jutting's defence lawyer, Tim Owen QC, said that his client had had a troubled upbringing.
He was sexually abused during his boarding school days at the prestigious Winchester College in the UK, and his father attempted to kill himself while he was 16, he said.
Both the prosecution and the defence agree that Mr Jutting killed Sumarti Ningsih and Seneng Mujasih.
The crux of the argument is Mr Jutting's psychiatric state at the time - and hence, whether he had diminished responsibility or not.
The difference between murder and manslaughter has significant implications for the sentence - a murder conviction leads to a mandatory life sentence, and while the maximum sentence for manslaughter is also life, lower jail sentences are also possible.
The defence witness, Dr Richard Latham, would not say whether he believed Mr Jutting had mental responsibility for his actions or not - but did say that the four mental disorders he had diagnosed Mr Jutting with had substantially impaired his ability to control his behaviour.
Mr Jutting sat calmly in court as the witness gave evidence, surrounded by three police officers. He appeared to be observing proceedings carefully, reading through documents as the court referred to them.
The court has previously been shown videos showing Mr Jutting torturing Sumarti Ningsih, 23.
In other videos filmed on his iPhone, Mr Jutting also takes cocaine, consumes alcohol and explains why he tortures women.
The gruesome details of the murder case has captured international attention. It is the biggest murder trial in Hong Kong in years, as the city is considered one of the safest in the world. | A British banker accused of killing two women in Hong Kong had been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder and sexual sadism, the court has heard. | 37820093 |
David Newall, 36, from Bradford, and Rhys Barker, 18, from Castleford, West Yorkshire died at the site in Dunwoody Way on Wednesday.
A 45-year-old man from Glossop, who was working near the crane, is in a stable condition in hospital.
Post-mortem tests found the two men died from crush injuries. The Health and Safety Executive is investigating.
Latest on this and other stories from Staffordshire and Cheshire
Mr Barker's family said it was his first job.
His former school Airedale Academy paid tribute to him, saying he was a "lovely young man with his whole life ahead of him".
Principal Elizabeth Fairhurst said Mr Barker had studied business and left last year.
"He was a friendly young man, extremely well-mannered, who was popular with other students.
"His teachers remember him as hardworking, dedicated and quiet; he regularly took part in sporting events for the school," she said.
She said one of his friends was fundraising for money for a memorial bench in the school grounds and students had organised a balloon release in his memory.
A parent and child were taken to hospital as a precaution because the crane damaged a nearby home.
Police said the three men were "working on the crane" when the accident happened.
The man in hospital, believed to be the crane driver, has serious injuries but they are not thought to be life-threatening.
The building site - formerly part of the Bombardier Works complex - belongs to Seddon Homes. Its chief executive said he could not speculate about what had happened.
A man who lives nearby, who only gave his name as Jason, told BBC Radio Stoke the crane - being used to help build new homes - had been lifting tools before it fell.
"They finished the work, the crane positioned itself facing Bombardier.
"The guys finished their work and they were still up there when all of a sudden, it slowly just started to tilt, tilt tilt.
"Guys started shouting and it completely fell on the floor."
Steven Hogben, a Labour councillor on Cheshire East Council, said he drove past the site a few minutes before the accident.
He said he had thought the crane looked "amazingly high".
"It was a tall crane which only appeared a few days ago," he said.
"I'm not aware of any concerns having been raised about it." | Two building site workers killed when a crane collapsed in Crewe have been identified. | 40381885 |
Scores of people, many of them monks, were injured and burned when authorities moved in to violently end months of demonstrations in November.
Burmese lawyers and the US-based Justice Trust compiled the report.
It was based on eyewitness testimony, photos and forensic analysis of a used grenade cartridge.
The mine at Monywa is jointly owned by a Chinese company and the Burmese military. Local villagers had embarked on months of sit-in protests, claiming they had been unfairly forced to give up their land.
No one from the Burmese government was available to comment immediately on the report.
An official commission established in the immediate aftermath of the violent conclusion of the protests has yet to deliver its findings.
The 41-page report says that in the early morning of 29 November, Burmese police repeatedly fired white phosphorus grenades, both into the air and along the ground into camps of protesters.
It quotes witnesses saying they saw bright flares in the sky, and that a sticky, flaming substance was released which set the camps on fire and burned through clothes, skin and flesh.
White phosphorus has often been used on the battlefield, such as in the Iraqi city of Fallujah. It is highly controversial.
"It's unheard of for police to use incendiary military munitions against peaceful protesters during a law enforcement operation," Roger Normand, director of the Justice Trust, said at the report's launch in Rangoon.
The authors of the report obtained one of the grenade cartridges used in the dispersal and tested it at an independent laboratory.
They say that the results showed levels of residue consistent with it being from white phosphorus.
The findings are supported by photos and witness accounts that were published at the time. Many of those injured were monks with horrific burns on their bodies.
The report also examined the villagers' grievances against the copper mine which led them to start the protest.
It alleges that local officials lied and intimidated them in order to make them sign contracts to hand over their land.
Many see the mine dispute as an important test case of how the now reform-minded Burmese authorities handle issues dating back to decades of military dictatorship.
In the immediate aftermath of the protests, Burmese President Thein Sein established an Investigation Commission led by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Its initial brief was a far-reaching look at the copper mine, the protest and its violent dispersal.
Two days later, without explanation, the mandate was changed to exclude looking at the cause of the protests or why people had been injured. That report has yet to be made public. | Burmese police fired military-issue white phosphorus grenades to disperse protesters at a controversial copper mine, a new report says. | 21455087 |
The 25-year-old Quebec native scored 13 goals for the Devils last season and made 33 assists in 66 games, helping them clinch the Elite League title.
"Gleason was a major part of our success last season and we are very pleased to get him back for another year," said Devils coach Andrew Lord.
"He just controls the puck so well and he is one of the best skaters I have ever seen."
The former NHL third-round draft pick to the Detroit Red Wings played four years with the Rimouski Oceanic Hockey Club before turning pro in 2011.
Fournier had three seasons bouncing between the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League (Detroit's top affiliate team) and the Toledo Walleye of the East Coast Hockey League.
He eventually ended up playing for the Alaska Aces, but left halfway through the season to join the Devils in January 2016.
"I know for a fact he could have gone to a higher-level league, but being in the Champions Hockey League and the opportunity to have another great year were both a real draw for him to come back," Lord said.
"He scored some huge goals for us and he puts himself in situations to be an offensive threat while still being so good defensively." | Cardiff Devils defenceman Gleason Fournier has re-signed for next season. | 40221492 |
The Pope visited Gabriele in prison to personally inform him of the decision, the Vatican said in a statement.
In October the former butler was found guilty of stealing and copying the Pope's documents and leaking them to an Italian journalist.
Gabriele said he acted out of love for the Church.
"This morning the Holy Father Benedict XVI visited Paolo Gabriele in prison in order to confirm his forgiveness and to inform him personally of his acceptance of Mr Gabriele's request for pardon," the Vatican statement said.
Following Gabriele's conviction by a Vatican court, officials said he was likely to be pardoned by the pontiff.
In November the court convicted a computer expert, Claudio Sciarpelletti, of helping leak the papal documents.
Sciarpelletti was given a suspended sentence of two months.
Gabriele's trial heard that he had taken advantage of his access to the pontiff to photocopy thousands of confidential documents.
He later passed some to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, who this year released a best-selling book detailing scandals and infighting within the Vatican.
Gabriele confessed to taking the papers, but said he believed the Pope was being manipulated and hoped to reveal alleged corruption at the Holy See. | Pope Benedict XVI has pardoned his former butler, Paolo Gabriele, who is serving an 18-month jail sentence for stealing confidential papers. | 20824814 |
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Bartoli won the first set in 30 minutes as Lisicki failed to cope with the occasion of a first Grand Slam final.
The 23-year-old cut a fragile figure and was reduced to tears in the second set, helpless to prevent Bartoli from lifting the Venus Rosewater dish.
Bartoli ended with an ace, collapsing to the ground once victory was hers.
When the stunned 15th seed rose to her feet, she celebrated by climbing to the players' box to embrace family and friends.
Among those whom Bartoli hugged was her mentor and 2006 Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo, the last Frenchwoman to win at SW19, and her father and former coach Walter.
Bartoli had bossed her opponents throughout the tournament and another commanding victory over Lisicki means she is now only the sixth player in the Open era to win a Wimbledon title without dropping a set.
"Honestly I cannot believe it," said the world number 15, the 2007 runner-up and a Grand Slam winner at the 47th attempt.
"I really felt I was playing probably my best match of the Championships. I was doing everything well. I was moving well, I was returning well. I really played a wonderful match.
"Even in my perfect dream I couldn't have dreamed a perfect moment like that. That is beyond perfection."
It was a final few had predicted and inexperience on such a grand stage perhaps explained the edgy opening from both finalists.
The unconventional French number one surrendered the first game of the match with a double fault but her rival followed suit, double faulting to allow Bartoli to level at 1-1.
Thereafter Bartoli, five years her opponent's senior and seeded eight places higher than the German, settled the quicker, taking the second of two break points in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead.
She had returned brilliantly throughout the Championships - making 81% of her returns prior to the final - and her ploy of returning from inside the baseline proved key to success over a big-serving rival known as 'boom boom' in Germany.
Her main weapon neutralised, Lisicki double faulted again in the sixth game before directing a forehand long to gift Bartoli a 5-1 advantage.
With the match only 30 minutes old, Bartoli secured the opening set with Lisicki clearly ill at ease on the same court where she had shown such composure to knock out top seed Serena Williams in the fourth round.
The German had opportunities in the second game of the second set but Bartoli held firm and a third Lisicki double fault gifted Bartoli three break points in the third, the Frenchwoman finishing it with an overhead at the net to move 2-1 up.
And when another double fault presented her opponent with a break point in the fifth game, a clearly distressed Lisicki dissolved into tears.
The German recovered herself but could not prevent Bartoli breaking to lead 4-1, and when the Frenchwoman held for 5-1 a rout seemed imminent.
The seventh game duly brought two Championship points for Bartoli, but Lisicki not only held serve she then broke back, before another hold narrowed the gap to 5-4.
If Bartoli was now feeling the pressure, she showed no sign as she served it out emphatically at the second attempt, concluding an impressive performance with her second ace of the match.
"Just to finish on an ace to win Wimbledon, you saw the chalk come out of the line... I could have seen it in slow motion," added Bartoli.
"You can't describe that kind of feeling. You cannot put any words what I feel in this moment."
Media playback is not supported on this device | France's Marion Bartoli won her first Grand Slam title with a dominant 6-1 6-4 victory over German 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki in the Wimbledon final. | 23212453 |
Following the ill-fated Gallipoli landings in the Dardanelles, thousands of wounded Anzacs were evacuated to England. Weymouth was soon identified as an ideal site for their recuperation.
The influx of antipodean soldiers had an enduring impact on the resort which was affectionately dubbed "Wey-Aussie" by its wartime visitors.
The first hutted camp, complete with cook house, shower block, gymnasium and orthopaedic recovery unit was set up at Monte Video in Chickerell, near the site of the Granby Industrial estate today.
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Weymouth was chosen because of its existing army camp facilities, which were emptying as British soldiers completed their training and headed for the trenches in France.
But the seaside climate also lent itself to rest and recuperation - soldiers in their light blue uniforms, pushing others in wheelchairs became a common sight on the seafront.
A reporter from the Melbourne Argos visited the Chickerell camp, describing it as "an ideal place with warm sea breezes and slopes lined with purple heather that lay between the camp and the sea".
"And the markets of Weymouth supply plenty of honest butter, vegetables and fruit for the convalescent man," he added.
Phil Sherwood, of the Somerset and Dorset Family History Society, said: "You can imagine, in a town of 40,000 population, it had a big impact."
The Weymouth public welcomed the first influx of troops with a huge strawberry and cream tea. They and their successors would also enjoy whist drives, concerts and dances.
Australia in World War One
Battle for Gallipoli
The local church choir would also go into Chickerell camp to sing for those soldiers who could not get out.
There were fishing trips organised to Chesil beach while the Anzacs later formed their own band and performed at the Pavilion and Alexandra Gardens.
However, many did not get the chance to enjoy the resort's pleasures for long.
The priority was to get men fit enough to fight again and by October 1915, having survived the horrors of Gallipoli, hundreds of men were being transferred to Weymouth train station, to begin their journey to other European battle fronts.
Those who could not be restored to fighting fitness were sent back to Australia.
For those who did stay for longer there was a chance to get to know the Dorset population - 50 ended up marrying local women.
Fred Kelly, a member of the Goldfields Regiment had been brought to Weymouth after being wounded in action. He married a nurse and eventually they both moved to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
Mr Sherwood has set up a Facebook group to bring together family stories of the descendants of the Anzacs.
Eighty six soldiers did not make it back to their homelands and died while in Dorset. They are buried in Weymouth and Melcombe Regis cemeteries.
The town observes Anzac Day on 25 April, with a service at the special memorial erected on the esplanade.
Anne McCosker, a niece of Queenslander Lt Fred Martin, has researched her uncle's experiences convalescing at Westham Camp.
"You could hear the different accents - it was more relaxed and trying to pull the Pommeys' legs - it was just part of the relationship between the two people," she said.
"All the girls would be eyeing them, as they had the best overcoats and had more money.
"Every night apparently they used to have a punch up, up Boot Hill between the British soldiers and the Australians - it was never very serious.
"They would have loved the Fleet (lagoon behind Chesil Beach) as that reminded them of Queensland - with the lagoons and the more open skies, they felt very much at home here."
Although little evidence remains of the hutted camps, street names nearby bear names including Queensland Road and Canberra Road.
It was 1919 by the time the last Anzac soldiers left Weymouth. Their farewell was marked by writer Thomas Hardy in an interview with the Anzac newsletter.
"Now that the Australians are going back home and will soon be leaving us, would you please tell them I wish them a safe return and very good luck wherever they may go.
"We shall always be glad to see them, to welcome them and hold out the hand of not only friendship, but kinship and fraternal greeting," he said. | The Australia and New Zealand Army Corp (Anzac) suffered some of the worst losses of Allied forces during World War One, with tens of thousands of injured troops finding themselves billeted to the Dorset coast to recuperate. | 27324286 |
One user said that £200 was spent on burgers delivered to several addresses.
The firm said the hacks were carried out using passwords stolen in previous data breaches on other companies.
One expert warned that the firm must improve security.
Deliveroo was launched in 2013 as a takeaway app, offering to find all nearby locations for users wanting to order food. It rapidly expanded to dozens of towns and cities across the UK.
User Judith MacFadyen, from Reading, told Watchdog: "I noticed that I had a 'thank you' email from Deliveroo for a burger joint in Chiswick. I thought that was really odd so I went on to my account and had a look and there had been four orders that afternoon to a couple of addresses in London."
Margaret Warner, from Manchester, was charged £113.70 for chicken, waffles and chips that she did not order while Steve Tappin was charged £98 for a delivery from TGI Friday which was 86 miles away from his home.
All of them had their money refunded.
Deliveroo denied that any financial information had been stolen.
"Customer security is crucial to us and instances of fraud on our system are rare, but where customers have encountered a problem, we take it very seriously," it said in a statement.
It added: "We are aware of these cases raised by Watchdog - they involve stolen food, not credit card numbers. These issues occur when criminals use a password stolen from another service unrelated to our company in a major data breach."
It urged customers to use "strong and unique passwords for every service they use".
But technology expert David McClelland told Watchdog that Deliveroo could do more.
"When we buy things online, the more hoops we have to jump through to complete that purchase, the more likely we are to go away and do something else instead.
"Deliveroo realises that - so tries to remove as many of the hoops as possible. However, some of the hoops that Deliveroo are removing are there specifically for security purposes. So while it may be making it easier for us to place orders, it is also making it easier for us to be defrauded."
The programme will be shown at 20:00 on BBC One, on 23 November. | Customers of takeaway food app Deliveroo have had their accounts hacked and run up bills for food that they did not order, according to an investigation by the BBC's Watchdog programme. | 38070985 |
Goalkeeper Patrik Carlgren's save from William Carvalho proved decisive.
Portugal dominated possession for much of the game and Sergio Oliveira hit the bar, but the teams could not be separated after two hours of football.
Both sides had each missed a penalty in the shootout before Carlgren dived to his right to deny Carvalho.
Sweden were just minutes from elimination earlier in the tournament, before a late equaliser against Portugal saw them progress from a group in which England finished bottom.
A final victory had looked unlikely for most of the first 90 minutes, as Rui Jorge's Portugal team underlined their status as favourites.
But they failed to take their chances, despite dominating possession and creating the more clear-cut openings in a contest that took time to come to life.
Sweden struggled to cope with their opponents' pace and movement, as Ricardo hit the side netting with an early left-foot shot from the edge of the area.
Oliveira came even closer inside the opening 10 minutes, the midfielder striking the bar with a long-range free-kick after a foul on Carvalho by Abdullah Khalili.
Joao Mario saw a goal-bound effort blocked by Alexander Milosevic after the forward connected with a cross from Ricardo Esgaio, as the Swedes were forced back for long periods.
The best they could manage in reply was a tame header from Isaac Kiese Thelin, as the unmarked forward met Khalili's cross at the far post but failed to test keeper Jose Sa.
Sweden began to assert themselves more in the second half, Thelin providing a neat lay-off to John Guidetti, whose volley flew narrowly over from the edge of the box.
Carlgren remained the busier keeper, and was forced into a hurried save by Toze. Within seconds, Iuri Medeiros cut in from the right to send a low curling effort inches wide.
The Swedes finished the 90 minutes strongly, and Sa had to spread himself well to keep out a low close range shot from Guidetti after the forward found a way past two defenders with five minutes left.
Thelin's curled effort almost brought the game's first goal in the first period of extra-time, as the chances dried up and penalties loomed.
After the first five were converted, Carlgren saved from regular Portuguese spot kick taker Esgaio.
Khalili failed to press home the advantage when his effort was saved, but after Victor Lindelof restored Sweden's lead, Carlgren comfortably kept out Carvalho's tired penalty to settle the contest.
Match ends, Sweden U21 0(4), Portugal U21 0(3).
Penalty Shootout ends, Sweden U21 0(4), Portugal U21 0(3).
Penalty saved! William Carvalho (Portugal U21) fails to capitalise on this great opportunity, right footed shot saved in the bottom left corner.
Goal! Sweden U21 0(4), Portugal U21 0(3). Nilsson-Lindelöf (Sweden U21) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the high centre of the goal.
Goal! Sweden U21 0(3), Portugal U21 0(3). João Mário (Portugal U21) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the high centre of the goal.
Penalty saved! Abdul Khalili (Sweden U21) fails to capitalise on this great opportunity, right footed shot saved in the bottom right corner.
Penalty saved! Ricardo Esgaio (Portugal U21) fails to capitalise on this great opportunity, right footed shot saved in the bottom right corner.
Goal! Sweden U21 0(3), Portugal U21 0(2). Ludwig Augustinsson (Sweden U21) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the top right corner.
Goal! Sweden U21 0(2), Portugal U21 0(2). Tozé (Portugal U21) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top left corner.
Goal! Sweden U21 0(2), Portugal U21 0(1). Isaac Thelin (Sweden U21) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the high centre of the goal.
Goal! Sweden U21 0(1), Portugal U21 0(1). Gonçalo Paciência (Portugal U21) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
Goal! Sweden U21 0(1), Portugal U21 0. John Guidetti (Sweden U21) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top left corner.
Penalty Shootout begins Sweden U21 0, Portugal U21 0.
Second Half Extra Time ends, Sweden U21 0, Portugal U21 0.
Attempt saved. Tozé (Portugal U21) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Iuri Medeiros.
Attempt blocked. Gonçalo Paciência (Portugal U21) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Raphael Guerreiro with a cross.
Nilsson-Lindelöf (Sweden U21) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Gonçalo Paciência (Portugal U21) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Nilsson-Lindelöf (Sweden U21).
Joseph Baffo (Sweden U21) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Iuri Medeiros (Portugal U21) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Joseph Baffo (Sweden U21).
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Patrick Carlgren (Sweden U21) because of an injury.
Foul by Gonçalo Paciência (Portugal U21).
Patrick Carlgren (Sweden U21) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Tozé (Portugal U21) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Abdul Khalili (Sweden U21).
Second Half Extra Time begins Sweden U21 0, Portugal U21 0.
First Half Extra Time ends, Sweden U21 0, Portugal U21 0.
Attempt missed. Abdul Khalili (Sweden U21) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Robin Quaison.
Paulo Oliveira (Portugal U21) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by John Guidetti (Sweden U21).
Attempt missed. John Guidetti (Sweden U21) right footed shot from outside the box is too high from a direct free kick.
Foul by Tiago Ilori (Portugal U21).
John Guidetti (Sweden U21) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Isaac Thelin (Sweden U21) header from a difficult angle on the left misses to the left. Assisted by Oscar Hiljemark with a cross.
Attempt saved. Gonçalo Paciência (Portugal U21) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Raphael Guerreiro.
Attempt missed. Oscar Lewicki (Sweden U21) header from the left side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Oscar Hiljemark with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Sweden U21. Conceded by João Mário. | Sweden secured their first European Under-21 Championship title thanks to a penalty shootout victory over Portugal in the Czech Republic. | 33085928 |
13 October 2016 Last updated at 20:54 BST
District Judge Barney McElholm has told the BBC's The View that "if right law is enacted and the prosecution, police and courts are given the right tools, then we can more effectively combat domestic abuse". | A judge in Northern Ireland has said he would welcome domestic abuse law to be extended to NI to protect victims from psychological abuse. | 37649801 |
The 29-year-old scored 15 goals last season to help Europa FC to the Gibraltar Premier Division title.
Walker scored Gibraltar's first goal in a World Cup qualifying fixture when they lost 4-1 to Greece in September 2016 and has 22 caps.
He played in Portsmouth's 2012-13 campaign making 28 appearances.
The length of Walker's contract with County has not been disclosed.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | Notts County have signed Gibraltar international midfielder Liam Walker after he impressed in pre-season friendlies for the club. | 40715865 |
The Pontypridd couple are one of 90 gay or lesbian families to have adopted in Wales over the past 10 years.
The adoption of son Ollie, three, has been so successful, they have since fostered twice, and are now looking after a teenage boy with autism.
"From my early 20s, I knew I wanted to have a child and have a family," said Tyrone.
"Fostering and adoption made me realise it is achievable. It's been fantastic. It's made my dreams come true."
According to the Fostering Network, there is an urgent need for 500 foster families across Wales. And on the 10th anniversary of the law changing to allow same sex couples to adopt, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is being urged to fill the gap.
Last year, there were 30 adoptions by same-sex couples across Wales, a six-fold increase since 2011.
Campaigners, charities and councils welcome the figures. But, they say, there is still a long way to go to tackle misconceptions from both within society and the LGBT community.
According to a 2013 survey by equality charity Stonewall, 80% of LGBT people would expect to face barriers if they applied to become foster parents. Almost half would expect to be treated worse than heterosexual people if they wanted to adopt.
In fact, anyone over 21 who has a spare room can adopt or foster.
"A lot of same-sex couples grew up in a time when same-sex adoption and fostering wasn't common, or was outlawed. So you have generations of stigma. When I came out, I had to accept that I would never become a dad," said Andrew White, director of Stonewall Cymru.
Mr White and his husband adopted their son, now six, in 2012 - an experience he describes as "the biggest privilege, challenge and joy" of his life.
"It's extraordinary to be so ordinary," he said.
"If you have any questions about becoming a family and think it's possible, pick up a phone and learn as much as you can. There are so many children in need of forever families. And it's absolutely vital that every child gets the best chance."
But, he says, there is still a level of cultural prejudice.
"I've yet to meet one same-sex couple who, on approval, weren't asked about whether their child will be bullied. Yes, it may be a issue - but would they ask a mixed race or older couple?
"It's something new for LGBT people to get used to. And its comparatively new for adoption agencies too."
The charity New Family Social was formed in 2007 to support LGBT adopters and foster carers. It organises the LGBT adoption and fostering week, which holds advice and support events across Wales from 7 March every year.
"In an ideal world, there wouldn't be a need for an LGBT adoption and fostering week," admitted New Family Social spokesman James Lawrence.
He says that schools are better equipped than ever to protect children of LGBT parents from bullying and the greater visibility of LGBT families means society has become more accepting. But, he warns, there is work to be done.
"The research is quite a stark reminder that there is a huge expectation of discrimination. And although the adoption stats are encouraging, it doesn't mean we should be complacent."
For Tyrone, 29, and Graham, 35, potential stigma was a concern. But, they say, the adoption and fostering processes could not have been easier.
"The only time my sexuality was raised was when I first called and was asked for my wife's name," Graham, a South Wales Police officer, said. "We also talked to another same-sex couple at the information evening."
Ollie settled into his family with the help of a personalised photo story book and DVD, explaining his new family and how it worked, using teddy bears with his parents' names.
"We are from the valleys; you would think there would be old ways of thinking about traditional families," Tyrone, a former special needs teaching assistant, said. "We do get questions from people. But we haven't come across anything negative. We are not a traditional family. But we hope we become traditional."
For many same-sex couples, surrogacy is a popular route to parenthood. Steps singer Ian "H" Watkins, from Cwmparc, Rhondda Cynon Taff, and partner Craig Ryder recently became parents to twins born to a surrogate mother.
Tyrone and Graham instead decided to help children who already needed a family.
Carers like the Williams family are in huge demand across Rhondda Cynon Taff. The county wants to recruit 150 foster families and has a shortage of carers for children aged eight and over.
"If we could clone Graham and Tyrone, every child in Rhondda Cynon Taff would have a safe, supportive foster home for as long as they need it," a council fostering team spokesman said.
For many, LGBT foster and adoptive carers have exactly the kinds of qualities needed to take on the responsibility of a looked after child.
"As a community we have experience of being bullied or being made to feel different. In the journey of adoption, those are good experiences to enable you to empathise with your child," Mr White said.
A weekly allowance that pays for foster children's day-to-day needs, set at a minimum of £166 across Wales, has now enabled Tyrone to become a full-time father and carer.
It is the beginning of a journey he hopes will see his growing family give more children a loving home.
"I would encourage any family to go to training," he said.
"You can foster on weekends and there are so different ways of giving support to children who need care. There are no barriers." | Becoming fathers has made Tyrone and Graham Williams's lives complete. | 35746939 |
The New York Times published a piece on June 7 with a striking byline, the writers were apparently South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and First Vice-President Riek Machar - until recently bitter enemies, now working together in a national unity government.
The article argued that the country needed a truth and reconciliation commission, in which those who revealed the truth about abuses committed during the civil war would be exempt from prosecution.
It suggested Western countries, and in particular the US and the UK, should put aside their support for a hybrid international-local court which was mandated by a peace agreement to try those accused of committing the worst abuses.
"Disciplinary justice," the article argued, "would destabilise efforts to unite our nation by keeping alive anger and hatred among the people of South Sudan."
There was an immediate backlash in the country, many people felt powerful leaders whose troops were accused of mass atrocities were attempting to escape justice.
As David Deng of the South Sudan Law Society put it, if the hybrid court is bypassed "the governance culture that rewards those who wield violence to achieve their political [or personal] objectives while leaving the victims of those abuses to suffer in silence will continue unabated".
This is where the story gets more complicated and perhaps more revealing about the state of affairs in South Sudan.
Mr Machar's office denied that the first vice-president had co-written the article, and said he had no intention of dropping the court.
The New York Times reportedly said it had received the article from government officials, and it should have sought direct confirmation from both camps that the article was written by them.
Suddenly, the picture had changed quite dramatically.
Instead of a rare statement of common purpose by Mr Kiir and Mr Machar, the two old enemies, the article seems to reveal the ongoing distrust between the two men.
Mr Machar's refusal to endorse it is presumably linked to the strong desire of many of his supporters to see those accused of killing their family members face justice.
In the first few days of the war in December 2013, many people from the Nuer ethnic group were killed in Juba, based on their supposed support for Mr Machar, who is a Nuer.
Nuers all over the country went into rebellion in response to this.
Mr Machar's supporters want those responsible for the killings to face trial, and it would be politically difficult for Mr Machar to backtrack on his proclaimed support for the court - even if his own troops also carried out a number of massacres, often also on ethnic lines.
Mr Machar has also tried to position himself as a supporter of democracy and the rule of law - even if his enemies accuse him of unbridled ambition and responsibility for widespread atrocities.
So who actually wrote the article?
Juba-based journalist Jason Patinkin has been doing some digging.
His research seems to suggest it came from the office of the president's press secretary, with some help from foreign consultants.
Did Mr Machar sign off on the letter? His camp says no, but Mr Kiir's team insists he did.
Someone is lying - and it's painfully clear that Mr Machar's return to government does not mean he and the president are on the same page. | It's been called the article "that wasn't" and it offers an unexpected insight into the ongoing tensions in South Sudan. | 36503528 |
Barry Lynn, from Newcastle, absconded from Hatfield Prison near Doncaster on Wednesday.
The 41-year-old handed himself in on Sunday, Northumbria Police said. He is under arrest and being questioned.
Officers are still appealing for information on the whereabouts of Michael Forster, who is 41 and from Gateshead. | One of two men who went on the run from a South Yorkshire prison has handed himself in to police. | 34961460 |
A hacker known as "mr.grey" is named in court documents filed by the bureau last year, according to the Reuters news agency.
The hacker was linked to the stolen logins via a Russian email address.
Previously, "mr.grey" had advertised the credentials to Facebook and Twitter accounts for sale online.
It was the American cyber security firm Hold Security that initially reported the theft of the credentials and an additional 500 million email addresses last year.
The Russian crime ring responsible for stealing the data - dubbed CyberVor - had breached more than 420,000 websites, according to Hold Security.
In August, the firm said, "To the best of our knowledge, they mostly focused on stealing credentials, eventually ending up with the largest cache of stolen personal information, totalling over 1.2 billion unique sets of e-mails and passwords."
Hold Security then began marketing a "breach notification service" to users concerned that their details had been affected, for $120 (£71) per month.
Whatever the identity of the perpetrator behind the CyberVor breach, the method used was something of a departure from how botnets - large networks of computers linked together maliciously - are usually used, according to Dave Palmer, director of technology at security firm Darktrace.
"What's interesting about this is botnets are usually used to harness their massive scale to attack an individual target - like taking computer games consoles down last Christmas for example," he told the BBC.
"It's instead been used as a massive scanner scanning websites all around the world for weaknesses."
Mr Palmer added that the vulnerabilities which allowed computers to be drafted into such botnets as well as the flaws in websites which meant login details could be hacked were preventable.
"We're still getting caught out by these attacks," he said. | The FBI has linked a hacker to the theft of 1.2 billion internet credentials - the largest heist of its kind. | 34920557 |
About 300 people gathered over the weekend near the theatre in the south-western city to protest against the government's "chaotic" asylum policy.
But speakers were interrupted by the theatre staff singing "All people will be brothers" from the symphony.
Police say the right to free assembly is guaranteed by the constitution.
They argue that it is therefore a criminal offence to disrupt such events.
Saturday's rally was organised by the country's right-wing Alternative for Germany party.
A counter-demonstration was also staged in the city.
The number of people seeking asylum in Germany this year may be as high as 1.5 million, German media have reported.
The government in Berlin has not confirmed such estimates.
Many of those arriving are refugees fleeing the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, but there are also many economic migrants from the Balkans, Asia and Africa.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants. | German police are taking legal action against theatre staff in Mainz for disrupting an anti-migrant rally by singing Beethoven's Ode to Joy. | 34918232 |
The National Trust for Scotland, which owns the islands, is launching the Love Our Islands campaign to support historical conservation and environmental work on the archipelago.
The appeal marks the 30th anniversary of St Kilda's designation as a World Heritage Site.
The islands lie about 40 miles west of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides.
St Kilda is home to hundreds of thousands of seabirds which nest on the seven islands that make up the archipelago.
It was also the home of generations of people until the last were evacuated in 1930.
The last surviving former resident of St Kilda, Rachel Johnson, died earlier this year at the age of 93.
Caring for St Kilda costs the National Trust of Scotland £270,000 a year. It includes preserving the street the residents once lived on, the church, nearly 1,400 "cleits" - conical stone structures used for storage and drying of seabirds - and buildings which are thought to be prehistoric.
The trust also monitors wildlife on St Kilda, which is the largest seabird colony in the north-east Atlantic with 600,000 nesting birds each year.
The most recent major survey, conducted last year, revealed dramatic declines for seabirds including fulmars, kittiwakes, common guillemots and razorbills, amid rising temperatures and rising seas, the trust said.
St Kilda was designated as a natural World Heritage Site in 1986 after being one of the first sites put forward in the UK for the designation.
In 2005, it became the UK's first site to have mixed listings for both natural environment and cultural value.
National Trust for Scotland chairman Sir Moir Lockhead said: "Its remote location, outstanding natural beauty and the dramatic story of the people who once lived there have captivated people across the centuries and it still holds an allure for many people today.
"More importantly, anyone who cares about our seabirds and the wider health of our oceans will appreciate the work we carry out here year on year at St Kilda.
"Our seabird survey from St Kilda is providing us with vital information which appears to show major impacts of climate change on sea conditions and the species which depend on the marine environment." | A new fundraising appeal is being launched to look after the remote islands of St Kilda. | 36572332 |
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Use the tool below to send us your questions.
We could be in touch and your question could make the news. | Have you got a question about Birmingham and the Black Country? | 37341660 |
Last night the professional networking site LinkedIn posted a disappointing revenue forecast, sending its shares plunging 25% in after-hours trading. Earlier in the week, Twitter had also shocked the market by missing revenue forecasts.
Both companies have sky-high valuations in what is a pretty frothy technology market, with investors betting that they will grow very rapidly and deliver huge profits in a few years' time. Now, both Twitter and LinkedIn are still growing users and revenues - just not at the rate that the markets demand.
The other difficult question for Twitter in particular is whether it can ever convince enough advertisers that it is the place, rather than Facebook, to reach an online audience. When Facebook floated a couple of years ago, it warned that its ability to make money from mobile advertising was uncertain - and back then you might have thought Twitter was better positioned for the mobile era. But today mobile revenue accounts for 75% of Facebook's very substantial earnings.
Twitter's problem is twofold - it has a much smaller audience, and is far behind Mark Zuckerberg's company in developing its advertising proposition. For years, it seemed determined not even to talk about a business model, now it's desperately trying to convince companies that it offers all sorts of attractive ways to reach consumers.
But how do the two networks compare in terms of the value they offer an advertiser? We decided to try the world's least scientific experiment for today's edition of our weekly radio programme Tech Tent. We bought adverts on both Twitter and Facebook to promote the programme. (I can already hear complaints about a waste of money, but it's come out of my own pocket).
On Twitter we bought a promoted tweet, to run for 36 hours, designed to increase the followers to our @BBCTechTent Twitter account. Setting up the advert, we were encouraged to target it by location, but discovered there was a fairly limited range of options. We could target Indiana, for instance, but not India or Nigeria. In the end we aimed our tweet at the UK, the US, and South Africa.
When we came to buy an advert, designed to get people to like our Tech Tent Facebook page, far more targeting options were on offer in terms of location and interests. We ended up sending our advert to 18 to 65-year-olds interested in technology in the UK, US, India, Kenya, South Korea and Nigeria.
The results to date in what I repeat is deeply unscientific research seem to show that Facebook is more effective. So far, we have spent $9.38 to generate 296 "likes" for our page with an advert served to 2,580 people. By contrast, we spent £20 on our promoted tweet.
Twitter's ads analytics report tells me the tweet received 56,295 impressions and generated 81 "engagements" - which as far as I understand means anything from a retweet to a follow.
In any case, our Twitter followers have risen by just 643 since the ad went live, which doesn't seem a great result.
Now, it's worth remembering that Facebook "likes" are a notoriously dodgy currency. As I found when I ran my Virtual Bagel experiment a couple of years ago, you can easily get thousands of likes from people who are suspiciously promiscuous in their interests.
But the same may go for Twitter followers. Advertisers are looking at the ability Facebook offers to target either a global audience or a group of 18-24 year olds interested in motorcycling in Ruislip. And, for the moment, they are betting that it offers better value than Twitter.
Tech Tentis broadcast on BBC World Service on 1 May at 16:05 GMT - or listen on BBC iPlayer Radio | It's been a dismal week for social media companies that aren't Facebook. | 32553247 |
The "largest modernisation of the railways since Victorian times" was at the heart of the government's long term economic plan.
Well, today all bets are off as to how much of the ambitious plan will be delivered. And when.
The chief executive of Network Rail, Mark Carne, has told the BBC the challenges of delivering myriad improvement projects - such as the electrification of the Great Western line to South Wales, improved punctuality for millions of passengers and the renewal of hundreds of miles of track - whilst still running a railway seven days a week were simply overwhelming.
Some of the projects will be delayed. And costs will rise.
"Over the last year it has become obvious that the challenges of operating, maintaining and enhancing the railway are significant," Mr Carne told me.
"I think it's time to level with the public and say that some of these extraordinary projects that we absolutely need are going to take longer and are going to cost more than we originally thought.
"We are going to take the summer to re-evaluate the extension of the programme - we need to do that properly with the Department for Transport and, of course, looking at the impact on trains as well.
"On cost - until we know the exact pattern of the service we will be delivering, we cannot estimate the final cost."
As part of the announcement today, the chairman of Network Rail, Richard Parry-Jones, will leave after his three-year term.
Sir Peter Hendy, the head of Transport for London and the man who "delivered" the Olympic transport plan for the capital, will take his place.
It's all a long way from the words of Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, who said at the launch of the five-year plan: "A key part of this government's long term economic plan is investing in world class infrastructure.
"That is why we are putting record amounts of government funding into our railways over the next five years.
"That investment will generate growth, create jobs and boost business while delivering faster journeys, greater comfort and better punctuality for passengers across the UK."
To be clear, much of the investment will still happen. It will just be slower and more expensive.
And significant Whitehall sources have also told me that spending £38bn over five years is still the plan.
Which means that, according to those officials, the Conservative Party is not about to break its manifesto pledge to spend that amount.
What does appear to be the case - according to senior people in the rail industry - is that the Department for Transport was warned last spring that the five-year plan was at risk.
But the government has waited until after the election before announcing the change.
Mr McLoughlin said that electrification of the Great Western Line was a "top priority", but added that electrification work would be "paused" on the Midland mainline and on the Transpennine route.
Mr Carne, who became chief executive of Network Rail last February when the five-year plan had already been agreed, said that the difficulties of improving Britain's railways had been underestimated.
Much of Britain's railway network harks from the Victorian era, and on the Great Western Railway, for example, many of the bridges and tunnels that need to be upgraded to allow for electrification are listed.
Wholesale shutdowns of routes are not much welcomed by passengers and so engineers have to cram in the work overnight.
That can lead to over-runs. And when that happens, as it did at King's Cross at Christmas (and you can read about that shambles here), Network Rail gets it in the neck.
Quite rightly, say Network Rail's critics who point out that the organisation is already miles behind on delivering targets such as improving signalling and track renewal.
Mr Carne insists he wants a new approach, working with the regulator and the government to deliver a realistic plan.
"The railway as a whole is not meeting the demands that customers put on it," he said.
"I'm working relentlessly with my team to improve the infrastructure.
"It's important to note that the railway itself is the most reliable it has ever been but because we have so many more passengers using the railway we are at a choke point in some parts of the railway, which is affecting performance.
"There are going to be some projects that we will identify during the summer where there will be some delay - and that's partly because of cost and partly because of industry capacity
"It was a very ambitious plan.
"I think people went into it in the right frame of mind, but over the last year experience has shown that a lot of those targets aren't achievable.
"And rather than beating ourselves up over some rather arbitrary target I think we should level with people and reset expectations around what we can deliver
"Our railway is a great success story, passenger numbers have doubled in the last 20 years - but it's a huge challenge to transform the performance of our railway while still providing a great service to the four and half million people that use our railway every day." | It was launched with much fanfare in April last year - a £38bn plan to bring Britain's railways kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. | 33268484 |
An estimated 2.2m watched the three stages, taking in the east coast on Friday, Yorkshire's market towns on Saturday and eight climbs on Sunday.
The overall winner was Belgian Serge Pauwels, with Otley-born rider Lizzie Deignan taking the women's race.
Welcome to Yorkshire hopes a fourth day could be added as early as 2018.
Supporters lined huge stretches of the 304-mile (490km) route, with police estimates suggesting the event saw the highest number of spectators since the Tour de France Grand Depart came to Yorkshire in 2014.
In 2016, British Cycling said the race had "great potential" but still had "a bit to do" before a fourth day could be added.
Sir Gary Verity, Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive, said: "We want that fourth day.
"I think it's really important for the sustainability of the race going forward to have a fourth day and to enable us to do two days for the women's cycling as well."
He added: "We're talking to British Cycling about it, we will continue to have those conversations and there's no reason why that wouldn't happen."
Estimated 2017 TdY spectator figures
Bridlington to Scarborough on Friday - 400,000
Tadcaster to Harrogate on Saturday - 800,000 (220,000 for women's race, 580,000 for men's)
Bradford to Sheffield on Sunday - 1,000,000
Source: Tour de Yorkshire
Pauwels, the 33-year-old Team Dimension Data rider, described the support from those on the roadside as "incredible".
"I've cycled all around the world and my favourite three crowds are for the classics in Belgium, those in the Basque Country, and here in Yorkshire," he said. | Organisers of cycling's Tour de Yorkshire have renewed calls to extend the race to a fourth day after record spectator attendance figures. | 39778288 |
Tom Westley's century and an unbeaten 92 from Ravi Bopara set Essex on their way to 334-6 from their 50 overs.
Johann Myburgh (57) got Somerset's chase off to a rocketing start with 50 from just 26 balls and captain Jim Allenby (77) also looked well set.
But he fell on 202-5 and the tail collapsed as Somerset made just 262.
Top spot in the South Group secures automatic qualification to the semi-finals. If Essex avoid defeat against Kent in their final group game on Wednesday at Canterbury they will progress to a home tie in the last four.
Despite defeat, results elsewhere on Sunday mean Somerset will finish in the top three and qualify for at least the quarter-final play-offs.
Westley (100) and former England captain Alastair Cook (65) put on 135 for the second wicket in Essex's innings, with Bopara (92 not out off 81 balls) on hand to push the accelerator in the closing overs.
Somerset raced out of the blocks in reply as Myburgh struck six fours and four sixes at the top. But, as partnerships looked well set, Essex picked up wickets at key intervals.
Neil Wagner (3-55) returned from international duty with New Zealand to good effect and Simon Harmer (3-56) proved a partnership breaker with his off-breaks.
Somerset's final group match is against Middlesex at Lord's on Wednesday. | Essex have one foot in the One-Day Cup semi-finals after they leapfrogged South Group leaders Somerset to top spot with a 72-run win at Taunton. | 39885129 |
It said there is nowhere else for them to go because of a lack of specialist facilities.
The Scottish government said it wants people to be treated in their own homes or as close to home as possible.
Minister Jamie Hepburn said it plans to invest £250m a year to "protect and grow" social care services.
Romana was placed in a care home for the elderly at the age of just 23, after suffering a severe brain haemorrhage when she was four months pregnant with her second child.
She couldn't see her children apart from short visits.
"It felt very strange because everyone around me was so much older; I was a very young girl at the time, and I felt I had lost my family," she said.
After two years, the Sue Ryder charity heard of her case and offered her a place at their neurological centre in Aberdeen.
With specialised rehabilitation, Romana learned to walk and live independently.
She is now looking forward to having her own flat, and sleeping under the same roof as her children for the first time in seven years.
Sue Ryder asked every local authority and health board in Scotland how many people with neurological conditions are being cared for in old people's care homes.
Neurological conditions include Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Huntington's disease and brain injuries.
Only a third of local authorities provided figures. They said 63 people under the age of 65 were being cared for in such an environment.
If those figures were replicated across the remaining health boards it would mean about 250 people are in an inappropriate environment.
They said a further 182 people aged over 65 with neurological conditions were in a care home for older people.
The charity said this meant a total of nearly 1,000 people could be missing out on specialist treatment, support and rehabilitation.
Sue Ryder's assistant director Scotland, Pamela Mackenzie, said: "Romana was quite a different lady when she first came. She was withdrawn and depressed and she really had been written off.
"Older people's care homes do a great job for people in their 80s and 90s, but people like Romana need a different environment. Their conditions are quite different.
"It is clear from our research that the needs of people with neurological conditions have largely been overlooked in recent years.
"We urge the Scottish government to take immediate action to address these inequalities so people with neurological conditions get the chance of a better quality of life."
The minister for health improvement, Jamie Hepburn, said: "Our 2016/17 budget sets out plans to invest a further £250m per year through health and social care partnerships, to protect and grow social care services, and invest £11.6m to implement self-directed support.
"We also recognise the vital role specialist nurses play in patient care. This is why we committed £2.5m of recurring funding for specialist nursing and care, including up to £700,000 to specifically target MND care.
"The health boards involved are currently recruiting additional nurses, or increasing the hours of existing nurses in order to fulfil our pledge to double the number of MND nurses in Scotland.
"Some posts have already been filled and the remaining posts are expected to be filled by spring 2016." | Younger people with neurological conditions are being cared for in old people's homes, according to the charity Sue Ryder. | 35668629 |
The Saudi-backed Yemeni government is fighting against Shia rebels.
The UK government has faced repeated calls to ban weapons sales to Saudi Arabia amid concerns over international humanitarian law breaches in that war.
A government spokeswoman said it was satisfied the Saudi deals complied with the UK's "export licensing criteria".
Oxfam says the UK has switched from being an "enthusiastic backer" of the Arms Trade Treaty to "one of the most significant violators".
The treaty sets international standards for the trade in conventional arms and seeks to prevent illegal arms trading.
Governments who sign up to it - such as the UK - are expected to review arms export contracts to ensure the weapons do not violate existing arms embargoes, will not be used for war crimes, human rights abuses or organised crime and will not be diverted for illegal use.
Oxfam will use the second conference of states party to the treaty in Geneva on Tuesday to criticise the government's position on sales to Saudi Arabia.
Last year the British government approved more than £3bn worth of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The United States approved £4bn worth and France almost £14bn.
Worldwide, the weapons trade is believed to be worth worth £1.3tn annually.
Competing forces are fighting for control of Yemen, in a power struggle with serious implications not just for the region, but the security of the West.
The battles are between several different groups, with the main fighting between forces loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and those allied to Zaidi Shia rebels known as Houthis, who forced Mr Hadi to flee the capital Sanaa in February 2015.
But Yemen's security forces themselves have split loyalties, with some backing Mr Hadi, and others the Houthis and Mr Hadi's predecessor - the still-influential Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Meanwhile, both President Hadi and the Houthis are opposed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
And the emergence in late 2014 of a Yemen affiliate of the jihadist group Islamic State, which seeks to eclipse AQAP, has further complicated the deadly ongoing scenario.
Yemen crisis: Who is fighting whom?
Penny Lawrence, deputy chief executive of Oxfam GB, will say that UK arms and military support are fuelling a "brutal war in Yemen, harming the very people the Arms Trade Treaty is designed to protect".
She will add: "Schools, hospitals and homes have been bombed in contravention of the rules of war.
"The UK government is in denial and disarray over its arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition bombing campaign in Yemen.
"It has misled its own parliament about its oversight of arms sales and its international credibility is in jeopardy as it commits to action on paper but does the opposite in reality."
She will also ask how the government can insist that other nations abide by a treaty it helped set up "if it flagrantly ignores it?".
A British government spokeswoman said it took its arms export responsibilities "very seriously" and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world.
"The government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK's export licensing criteria.
"The key test for our continued arms exports to Saudi Arabia in relation to international humanitarian law (IHL) is whether there is a clear risk that those weapons might be used in a serious violation of IHL.
"The situation is kept under careful and continual review." | The aid agency Oxfam has accused UK ministers of "denial and disarray" over an agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, which could be used in Yemen. | 37161486 |
Darryl Hewitt, who is the Portadown district master, said the plans brought forward by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin six years ago should be re-examined.
His comments come just weeks before the marching season reaches its peak on 12 July.
Back in 2010, the DUP and Sinn Féin agreed series of plans on parading.
Those plans included the end of the Parades Commission, which rules on contentious parades, new mediation procedures and a code of conduct for residents and marchers.
However, the Orange Order rejected the deal and now Mr Hewitt said it is time to revisit the plan.
He told BBC Northern Ireland's The View programme: "It was the Orange institution that rejected it.
"I would view it as a bit of an own goal but we are where we are.
"We have to move on - we can't keep looking backwards, so we have to move forward."
If the Orange Order and other loyal orders are key to any solution then so too are residents groups.
Joe Marley, from the Crumlin and Ardoyne Residents Association in Belfast, said talking is paramount.
"The preferred option is always a local accommodation, but in the absence of that you will always need some kind of independent adjudicator," he said.
"I think there was work being done in the past number of years actually that needs to be taken forward."
Journalist Sam McBride, from the News Letter newspaper, who has written extensively on the subject in recent weeks, said parading will test how the DUP and Sinn Féin can work together.
"I think the DUP and Sinn Fein have got a three-year window now without an election," he said.
"If they don't [find a solution] to it now, I think you can really question are they ever going to do it."
However, both parties have said they cannot find a solution on their own.
DUP MLA Emma Little Pengelly said: "I think the critical thing here is that it is not about Sinn Féin and the DUP sitting down and agreeing a new beginning for parading.
"This is very much about getting the people involved, the key stakeholders, the people who parade, the Orange Order and the residents."
Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly said there is less tension around parading and he hopes progress can be made on the matter.
"There is a better atmosphere for dealing with these things," he said.
"I think there is a better atmosphere up there at the assembly as well.
"Let's hope we can move forward on that basis, but I don't have a magic wand."
An Orange Order spokesman said: "Whilst fully supportive of local solutions where possible, Grand Lodge remains committed to a process that will see the current corrupt parading legislation replaced with laws and regulations which are fair and equitable to all communities."
A spokesman for the Parades Commission said: "Parading remains a sensitive area, but greater co-operation within many communities has contributed to increased stability."
In Londonderry, dialogue around parading is seen as key.
This has resulted in an accommodation between residents, businesses and the Apprentice Boys.
Businessman Garvan O'Doherty is involved in discussions and said talking and giving respect are crucial.
"You have got to listen to what the other side is saying," he said.
"You have to hear what they are saying and try and understand what they are about.
"This is what we did in Derry and this is what is needed to be done in the north of Ireland and across the rest of the parading issues."
He said senior political leaders, including the first and deputy first ministers, must act quickly.
"Politically, I think there is a great opportunity for Arlene [Foster] and Martin [McGuinness].
"I would like them to grasp this issue, which mirrors the Derry model but has its little intricacies for local issues.
First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness have much unfinished business to deal with.
Striking a deal on parading that carries the support of residents and the loyal orders could enhance their claim that a fresh start really has been made. | A leading Orangeman has said the Orange Order's rejection of plans to reform parading in 2010 was "an own goal". | 36553347 |
Nathan Gill said claims he had failed to represent rank-and-file members were "nonsense".
He refused to quit in the run-up to May's election, with pollsters tipping UKIP to win its first Senedd seats.
Mr Gill also said he was determined to campaign in the EU referendum - "the whole reason why I joined UKIP".
"I can't give up at the last hurdle," he told BBC Wales Today.
Four UKIP general election candidates have said Mr Gill should stand down because of a row over the party's regional list candidates for May's election.
Some activists complained that former Tory MPs Neil Hamilton and Mark Reckless were set to be imposed as candidates by the party centrally.
UKIP's National Executive Committee (NEC) has said it will give party members the final say over the ranking of regional candidates.
The NEC had met three times in three weeks to agree the selection process "because I stood firm about what I knew we needed for Wales", Mr Gill said.
He added: "I know the quality of the people that we've got, the passionate membership, the capability that we have, and I've stood up for them.
"And maybe some of the members haven't seen that because it's happened behind closed doors, but I've stood up for Wales."
He refused to be drawn on whether he wanted Mr Hamilton to stand for UKIP, saying it was up to members to decide.
Mr Gill - a Euro-MP who wants to stand in the north Wales region for the assembly - was appointed as UKIP's Welsh leader by Nigel Farage in 2014.
He said: "There are people who obviously don't like me and there are people who do like me.
"But I think the people who back me by far outweigh those who don't."
Some of his critics had spoken out "for personal reasons" after changing their minds about whether they wanted to be candidates, he said. | UKIP's leader in Wales has insisted he has the backing of party members, despite calls for him to stand down in a row over assembly candidates. | 35532217 |
Lorna Moore, 33, said she hated her estranged husband Sajid Aslam.
Ms Moore, who lives in Walsall, told the Old Bailey she would have told the police if she had known her husband had gone to fight for IS.
She denies failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism.
Mr Aslam flew to Turkey in August 2014, and prosecutors say he is believed to be fighting there.
Prosecutors say Ms Moore, who is originally from Northern Ireland, was part of a network in Walsall from which a number of men went to Syria to fight.
"Islamic State are brutes," she said. "I would have told the police [if I had known he was going to fight]."
Ms Moore, who has three children with Mr Aslam, said he became abusive after they became parents, and would pull her hair and push her head into the toilet if it was not clean enough.
She asked Judge Charles Wide QC if she was allowed to swear in court, so she could list the derogatory terms Mr Aslam would use to belittle her.
The court heard that, in 2010, Ms Moore went to police to ask them to help evict him from the family house, but they could not help.
"I had got to the point where I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I had been pleading with him to leave voluntarily," she said.
She said she locked him out and he stayed with his mother for six months.
Ms Moore, a Muslim convert, said she then sought a divorce but was told by a Muslim cleric that this would lead to hell.
Instead, she said she and Mr Aslam began leading separate lives under the same roof.
In August 2014, she went on holiday to Butlins in Skegness with her parents and children.
While there, her husband contacted her saying he was going travelling - and sent her the number of another man, Ayman Shaukat, with whom he had left house keys and other items.
Ms Moore said she believed her husband was going travelling with his sister - but later realised something was "odd".
"When you came home from Skegness, were there obvious signs he was never coming back?" asked Rag Chand, defending.
"No," replied Ms Moore.
She added: "I hate him for what he has done to me and the kids [while] he is happily sitting somewhere else."
She told jurors she would never have taken her children to join Mr Aslam in Syria, saying they "mean the world to me".
Cross-examined by Julian Christopher QC, Ms Moore denied that she had planned with her husband what she would tell their children if he died in battle.
"I was brought up in Northern Ireland," she said.
"As a teenager you check under your car [for a bomb]. That is not the life I want for my children."
Mr Shaukat, also from Walsall, denies preparation of acts of terrorism by assisting Mr Aslam and another man to leave the UK for Syria. | A woman accused of failing to tell police her husband was part of a group heading to fight for so-called Islamic State in Syria has told her trial she was a victim of his domestic abuse. | 35597294 |
On 21 August he was named prime minister by the legislature, in a move that was widely expected.
Under Gen Prayuth, the military had hand-picked the legislature, populating it with mostly military and police figures. It also issued an interim constitution in July that gives the military sweeping powers.
Such moves have triggered concerns that the military is seeking to strengthen its hold on the country as it initiates political reform. But Gen Prayuth and junta officials have argued that military rule has brought stability to Thailand following months of violent protests between the pro- and anti-Thaksin camps.
Gen Prayuth began his military career in the prestigious Queen's Guard unit, which has nurtured other top army bosses, according to The Bangkok Post. The 21st of August happens to be Queen's Guard Day and is said to be an auspicious day for the general.
He climbed the ranks to become a commander in the King's Guard, before taking over as head of the army in October 2010.
He is seen as a staunch royalist, having favoured a tough stance against the "Red Shirt" protest movement supporting populist former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the government of his sister Yingluck.
After taking over the army, Gen Prayuth said that he wanted the army to remain neutral, but some of his actions prompted questions over whether he was intervening in politics.
The pressure group Human Rights Watch said he had been "interfering" into an investigation into deadly political protests in 2010.
In May 2011, a prominent opposition MP and Red Shirt leader, Jatuporn Promphan, was imprisoned after being charged with making comments deemed to be disrespectful of the monarchy - a very serious offence in Thailand.
The case against him was prompted by a complaint from Gen Prayuth. He insisted at the time that his motive was not political but rather to protect the monarchy.
However, questions were again raised when in June 2011 he appealed for voters to back "good people" in that year's elections, in what was widely interpreted as a swipe at Ms Yingluck and her Pheu Thai party.
It nevertheless swept to power, winning a majority in parliament.
Pheu Thai had worked hard to cultivate good relations with Gen Prayuth and the other top echelons of the Thai military, and when there were mass protests last autumn over a controversial amnesty law Pheu Thai had proposed, he stayed silent on the issue.
However, as the protests dragged on, he proposed a "people's council" of civilians from both sides of the political divide.
Months of political conflict appeared to have forced Gen Prayuth's hand. He said he initiated the coup as a reaction to "the violence in Bangkok and many parts of the country that resulted in loss of innocent lives and property, [which] was likely to escalate". | Thai army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha was due to be retiring in September, but since the dramatic coup on 22 May he has been in effective control of the country as head of the junta that has replaced the civilian government. | 27526495 |
GBR 1, driven by John Jackson, were fifth, 0.11 seconds off a medal, as Russian pilot Alexander Zubkov, 39, finished 0.09 secs clear of Latvia.
United States won bronze while Lamin Deen and the GBR 2 crew were 19th.
Great Britain finished the Sochi 2014 Games 19th in the medal table, with one gold, one silver and two bronzes.
It has been a great race and to only finish 0.11 seconds off the medals is amazing
That haul of four medals equals the total they won at the inaugural Games in 1924.
Britain surpassed their three-medal Sochi target, thanks to Lizzy Yarnold (skeleton gold), the men's curlers (silver) Jenny Jones (snowboard slopestyle bronze) and the bronze won by the women's curling team on Thursday.
Jackson's four-man team of Stuart Benson, Bruce Tasker and Joel Fearon won a historic World Cup silver medal in December and finished second at last month's European Championships.
However, they were ranked 12th in the world heading into the Olympics and lay in seventh position after the first two runs on Saturday.
They climbed to sixth in the penultimate run on Sunday before finishing in fifth.
An analysis of their times from each run showed that they were twice the second quickest sled and were third once - but their opening run, where they were tenth - cost them.
"It's hard to think we've come so close to a medal," Jackson told BBC Sport. "Hopefully this will be enough to secure backing [from UK Sport] so we can continue to progress."
The 36-year-old pilot, who is also a royal marine sergeant, ruptured his Achilles tendon in July and only reached the Olympics after undergoing pioneering surgery.
"For a split second I thought potentially I may not be here [when it happened] but the support I've had from my team-mates since day one has been amazing," said Jackson.
"I am ashamed to say that I cried at the end but he had a fantastic run and the amount of speed he had proves how well he was driving. There were just a few guys out there who were a bit better.
"I think it's amazing that John's come from where he has been this last year [with the Achilles injury] and to still achieve what he has with fifth in the Olympic Games. I'd be quite afraid of them next year when they're back on the track in the World Cup."
Benson added: "We've always had belief in him and he drove superbly. I hope he stays around for another four years because that will mean I'll be here again."
Jackson told BBC Sport he plans to continue for "another couple of seasons" but is unlikely to compete through to the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, Korea.
GBR 2 pilot Deen, 32, who has been non-committal on his future prior to the Games says he is now determined to carry on in the British programme.
"It's been an amazing experience and although all of the runs didn't go as we would have hoped the guys have been fantastic and I want to come back a better pilot in 2018," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
The British bobsleigh team will now face an anxious wait for UK Sport to announce the amount of funding they will receive for the next four-year period.
Their four-man target was a top-six finish, which they achieved, but the women were 12th when chasing top-eight. A decision is due to be announced in June. | Great Britain missed out on a medal in the four-man bobsleigh as host nation Russia won their 13th gold medal of the Winter Olympics. | 26069240 |
The education select committee has cast doubt on claims that they can help social mobility.
There is also scepticism about whether an entrance test for grammars can be made "tutor proof".
Neil Carmichael, the committee's chair, says the focus on expanding grammars has become an "unnecessary distraction" from improving the school system.
The Department for Education has argued that removing the ban on opening new grammars will be a way of making "more good school places available, to more parents, in more parts of the country".
The cross-party committee of MPs, responding to the evidence gathered about plans to increase selective education, said ministers still needed to demonstrate how this would improve social mobility and close the gap between rich and poor pupils.
MPs said there had been no convincing evidence that a test could be devised which would not favour those who could afford private coaching.
As such they argued that such tests should not be the only criteria for entry.
The MPs also raised concerns about how an expansion of grammars would affect other non-selective schools, in terms of funding and the supply of teachers.
The committee called on the government to carry out an assessment of the potential impact on the wider school system.
Head teachers wrote to MPs last week to express their "incredulity" that grammar schools were being offered extra funds to expand places, while they were facing job cuts because of deepening pressures on their budgets.
The cross-party committee also highlighted the vagueness of the plans so far - with no clear outline of how many grammar schools would be created or how local demand for such grammars would be measured.
There were also questions about whether this push for academic selection should be a priority when there had been so many concerns about vocational skills shortages.
"The focus on opening new grammar schools is, in my view, an unnecessary distraction from the need to ensure all our young people are equipped with the skills to compete in the modern workplace," said Mr Carmichael.
Since the prime minister last year announced the ambition to create new grammars, there have been few details of how this might be put into practice.
But last week the Grammar School Heads' Association published details of a private meeting with education ministers, where they discussed options for expanding selection.
This suggested that new grammar schools could open from 2020 - but in the meantime there would be £150m funding to expand existing grammars or to introduce grammar streams through academy trusts.
There was also a suggestion that these new grammars would be much more selective than traditional grammars, with places for the top 10% of the ability range.
Another idea was that there would be a single national entry test for grammars, rather than a range of local tests, with the aim of designing an exam that would be more resistant to coaching by private tutors.
A Department for Education spokeswoman said that grammar schools have a "track record of closing the attainment gap to almost zero between children on free school meals and their better off classmates".
The spokeswoman said that "99% of grammar schools are rated good or outstanding; and even when you take higher ability intakes into account pupils still perform better in selective schools than in non-selective schools".
Labour's shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, said: "When even the Conservative-dominated education select committee calls Theresa May's new grammar schools an 'unnecessary distraction', it's time that ministers finally sat up and took notice.
"There is a crisis in teacher recruitment, schools budgets are being cut for the first time in decades and hundreds of thousands of pupils are in super-sized classes. The Tories should be keeping their pledge to protect school funding rather than pressing ahead with this policy," she said.
John Pugh, the Liberal Democrats' education spokesman, said: "Instead of ploughing ahead with these divisive plans, Theresa May should address the £3bn funding black hole facing our schools over the next five years."
Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust, backed the calls for the government to show evidence that new grammars could close the attainment gap - when less than 3% of grammar school entrants are eligible for free school meals.
"Until existing grammar schools demonstrate they can be vehicles for social mobility, the number of grammar schools should not be increased," said Sir Peter. | The government has failed to make a convincing case for opening a new wave of grammar schools in England, say MPs. | 38956439 |
Polling stations opened their doors at 07:00 BST and will close at 22:00.
Voters are also going to the polls in Weymouth and Portland where a third of seats on the borough council are up for election.
Across England elections are taking place for more than 120 councils and the London Assembly, and to elect mayors in Bristol, Liverpool, London and Salford, and 36 PCCs. | Voting has begun in Dorset's police and crime commissioner (PCC) election. | 36204802 |
Planning officials had recommended that the south planning applications committee approved both applications.
The West Link has been proposed as a way of easing travel across Inverness. The new road is opposed by a local campaign.
Campaigners say the West Link will lead to the loss of green space.
The other project involves relocating Torvean Golf Course, creating a new sports hub and parkland at Torvean and extending Kilvean Cemetery. | Highland Council has been granted full planning permission for its Inverness West Link and permission in principle for associated projects. | 26942929 |
The Frenchman, 29, has been with Lotus for four years and has 10 podium finishes in 78 grands prix.
Haas, powered by Ferrari engines, will be the first USA-owned F1 team since 1986.
"What everyone at Haas F1 Team is building is impressive, and I'm very proud to be a part of it," Grosjean said.
"While I'm committed to giving my absolute best to my current team in these last five races, I am very excited for what the future holds at Haas."
Grosjean has made the switch despite the expected takeover of Lotus by Renault.
He had been widely tipped to join Haas and his move leaves a vacancy at Lotus/Renault alongside Pastor Maldonado, who recently signed a new deal.
The other Haas seat is expected to be taken by former Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez, who is Ferrari's reserve driver this year.
The newly-formed outfit was created by Gene Haas, co-owner of the Stewart-Haas NASCAR team, and while their base is in the USA they will also work out of Banbury in Oxfordshire. | Romain Grosjean will move from Lotus to drive for the new Haas Formula 1 team in 2016, it has been announced. | 34395540 |
The benchmark Nikkei 225 closed down 1.8% at 18,883.42.
The index fell 3% in earlier trade as the yen gained against the dollar.
A stronger yen makes Japan's exports more expensive to buy overseas and hurts exporters when they repatriate their earnings.
Meanwhile, a better-than-expected business sentiment survey from the Bank of Japan failed to boost investor sentiment.
The closely watched Tankan index showed sentiment at major companies was unchanged at +12 for the fourth quarter.
Capital Economics' Marcel Thieliant said the index had been expected to weaken.
"Business conditions for non-manufacturing firms were unchanged [and] remained the strongest they have been since the early 1990s," he said.
Elsewhere, Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 2% at 4,928.60 as energy-related stocks dragged on the market.
"The key factor affecting the market at the moment is the continuing oversupply of oil," said Gary Huxtable of Atlantic Pacific Securities. "It is dragging energy stocks down."
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down as much as 2.5% in early trade, but recovered some ground in the afternoon to close down 0.7% at 21,309.85.
Hong Kong-listed shares in Fosun International, the parent company of Shanghai-based Fosun Group, fell by nearly 10% on Monday. Trading in the firm's shares had been halted on Friday amid reports that its chairman, Guo Guangchang, was missing.
Reports later on Friday said Mr Guo, a high-profile Chinese tycoon, had been detained by police and was assisting authorities with an investigation. Mr Guo appeared at his company's annual meeting in Shanghai on Monday.
The Shanghai Composite was the one bright spot in the region, closing up 2.5% at 3,520.67 as investors cheered positive economic data out of Beijing over the weekend.
South Korea's Kospi index closed down 1.07% at 1,927.82. | Japan's stocks led losses across much of Asia as oil prices continued to slide and with investors remaining cautious ahead of a widely-expected US interest rate rise this week. | 35089318 |
The UK health service was praised for its safety, affordability and efficiency, but fared less well on outcomes such as preventing early death and cancer survival.
The research by the Commonwealth Fund, a US think tank, looked at countries across the world, including the US, Canada, Australia, France and Germany.
The US came bottom.
It is the second time in a row that the UK has finished top.
Three years ago, when the survey was last done, the UK was also number one.
It comes despite the NHS being in the grip of the tightest financial squeeze in its history with lengthening waiting times.
The NHS was praised for the safety of its care, the systems in place to prevent ill-health, such as vaccinations and screening, the speed at which people get help and that there was equitable access regardless of income.
Only in one of the five themes looked at did the NHS perform poorly compared with the other nations - health outcomes. This covers general health of the population, early deaths and cancer survival among other measures.
1 UK
2 Australia
3 Netherlands
4 = New Zealand
4 = Norway
6 = Sweden
6 = Switzerland
8 Germany
9 Canada
10 France
11 US
England's Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "These outstanding results are a testament to the dedication of NHS staff, who despite pressure on the front line are delivering safer, more compassionate care than ever.
‎"Ranked the best healthcare system of 11 wealthy countries, the NHS has again showed why it is the single thing that makes us most proud to be British."
But others pointed out that in terms of quality of care - as shown by the health outcomes - the findings were more damning.
Kate Andrews, of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said the NHS was "far from being the envy of the world".
"The UK has one of the highest rates of avoidable deaths in western Europe, and tens of thousands of lives could be saved each year if NHS patients with serious conditions such as cancer were treated by social health insurance systems in neighbouring countries, such as Belgium and Germany.
"It is not just low-income earners who receive poor care, the NHS's provision of care is equally poor for everybody, irrespective of income." | The NHS has been ranked the number one health system in a comparison of 11 countries. | 40608253 |
Detectives were granted a 48-hour extension on Friday evening by a judge.
Mr Adams, 65, denies allegations that he was involved in the abduction and murder of the mother-of-ten.
He has been held for questioning since voluntarily presenting himself at Antrim police station on Wednesday.
Mr Adams is the former MP for West Belfast and is currently an elected representative for County Louth in the Republic of Ireland.
An initial 48-hour deadline to either charge or release him was due to expire at 20:00 BST on Friday, but the police successfully applied for more time to question him.
Mr Adams appeared in court via video link, as his lawyers contested the police's application for an extension under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Detectives could have asked for five more days to question Mr Adams, but instead applied to hold him until Sunday evening.
Earlier on Friday, his party colleague Martin McGuinness told a news conference: "Yesterday, I said that the timing of the arrest of Gerry Adams was politically motivated.
"Today's decision by the PSNI to seek an extension confirms me in my view."
Mr McGuinness, who is Northern Ireland deputy first minister, said the detention of Mr Adams was "a very, very serious situation".
He said Sinn Féin supported the progressive elements within the PSNI.
However, he added: "There is a cabal within the PSNI who have a different agenda, a negative and destructive agenda to both the peace process and to Sinn Féin."
He said Sinn Féin had been told this by "very senior members of the PSNI" who had coined the phrase the 'dark side'.
"Am I angry? Yes I am, but it's a very controlled anger," he said.
In regards to Sinn Féin's support for policing in Northern Ireland, he said that would continue if the situation with Mr Adams is resolved in a satisfactory manner.
"If it doesn't, we will have to review that situation."
When pressed if this meant Sinn Féin would withdraw support for the police if Mr Adams was charged, he said: "We're not taking any decision at this time, about anything."
Mr McGuinness added: "I believe Gerry Adams will be totally and absolutely exonerated."
Northern Ireland Justice Minister David Ford of the Alliance Party said: "If there are dark forces within policing, I can see no sign of dark forces."
Mr Ford, who was first appointed minister when policing and justice powers were devolved to Stormont in 2010, said: "I see a police force with very high levels of confidence, higher than the Garda Síochána (Irish police) or many forces in Great Britain.
"I see a police force carrying out its duties properly and appropriately, following up evidential opportunities where they present themselves and operating in conjunction with the community across a range of issues."
Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt said: "It is one thing to scrutinise the police - it is totally unacceptable for their support for police to be conditional on getting political policing in relation to republicans, which Martin McGuinness seems to be suggesting."
Dolores Kelly of the nationalist SDLP said: "For Sinn Féin to threaten to withdraw support from the PSNI because an investigation is not going the way they want it completely unacceptable."
On Thursday, Northern Ireland First Minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson said: "I would suggest to you that it would be political policing if the PSNI had not questioned those that were deemed to have been involved in any way."
Mrs McConville, a 37-year-old widow and mother of 10, was abducted and shot by the IRA. Her body was recovered from a beach in County Louth in 2003.
She is one of Northern Ireland's Disappeared, those who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republicans during the Troubles.
She was kidnapped in front of her children after being wrongly accused of being an informer - a claim that was dismissed after an official investigation by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman.
The widow was held at one or more houses before being shot and buried in secret.
The IRA admitted in 1999 that it murdered and buried at secret locations nine of the Disappeared.
Sixteen people are listed as "disappeared" by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains, which was established in 1999 by a treaty between the British and Irish governments.
Despite extensive searches, the remains of seven of them have not been found.
Last month, Ivor Bell, 77, a leader in the Provisional IRA in the 1970s, was charged with aiding and abetting the murder.
There have also been a number of other arrests over the murder recently. | Police in Northern Ireland have been given more time to question Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams in connection with the 1972 murder of Jean McConville. | 27260040 |
At least five people have been arrested in recent days, including activists accused of running Facebook pages supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and calling for protests.
The offices of an independent news website were also raided and its managing editor was detained.
Officials have warned against protests marking the 25 January revolution.
Operations have intensified in recent weeks and several other people have been reportedly arrested.
Sites popular with activists have also been shut down to prevent anniversary gatherings.
Two of those detained were identified as a 26-year-old man responsible for 41 Facebook pages and a 22-year-old woman who managed six sites, interior ministry spokesman Abu Bakr Abdel Karim was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
Facebook and other social media sites have been used to organise protests and rallies, and several groups have called for demonstrations on the anniversary of the uprising that toppled President Mubarak in 2011.
"The administrators of these pages were arrested on charges of inciting against state institutions and spreading the ideas of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as calling for marches on the coming 25 January," Mr Abdel Karim said.
"The ministry will continue to stand against these terrorist pages that have long incited violence against state institutions and made fun of the major incidents experienced by the country recently."
Security forces also raided the offices of the independent news website Masr al-Arabiya. Its managing editor Ahmed Abdel Gawad was reportedly released after being arrested on Thursday.
Authorities have expressed concern over protests and Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has warned that another revolution could "ruin the country."
Religious leaders have also warned against protests.
As former armed forces chief, Mr Sisi led the army's overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi, an ex-Muslim Brotherhood official, in 2013 following mass protests.
Since then, more than 1,000 people have been killed and 40,000 are believed to have been jailed in a crackdown on dissent. Most of them have been supporters of the Brotherhood, which was banned in 2013.
But secular and liberal activists have also been prosecuted for breaking a 2013 anti-protest law that gives the interior ministry the power to ban gatherings of more than 10 people.
Last year, the government approved a anti-terrorism legislation which activists said further eroded basic rights and enshrined a permanent state of emergency. | Egypt's security forces have stepped up raids ahead of the fifth anniversary of the uprising against Hosni Mubarak. | 35322163 |
Local residents were outraged when Sheffield City Council contractors began removing eight trees in Rustlings Road at 05:00 GMT on 17 November.
People were woken up and asked to move their cars so work could begin. Three people were arrested.
The council has now said it will not work in the same way again.
It claims the trees were damaging pavements, something which would cost them £50,000 to repair.
More on this story on BBC Local Live: Sheffield
However an independent report found there was no "arboricultural reason" to remove seven of the trees.
Councillor Bryan Lodge, cabinet member for environment at Sheffield City Council, said future tree work will not start before 07:00 GMT.
He said: "We are sorry for the disruption and distress caused by the work starting at 5am and the decision not to publish the Tree Panel report in advance.
"There were reasons relating to public safety why the decision was taken to fell the trees at 5am and not to publish the report earlier, but we have heard the message loud and clear that this was not the acceptable course of action.
"We have reflected on this and will not do work in the same way. To be specific, we commit to publishing the Independent Tree Panel reports in a timely manner, with full and transparent information about how we have come to decisions.
"We can also give assurances that no work will begin before 7am."
He added: "We know we got it wrong last week with the way the work was started. We have listened and are sorry for the mistakes that we made." | A council has apologised for the dawn felling of trees on a Sheffield street, which had been at the centre of an 18-month campaign to protect them. | 38107922 |
McKibbin, 13, won the World Junior Championships in 2015, a tournament in which world number three McIlroy was victorious at the age of nine.
"Not only do I get a day off school, but I get to play alongside one of the best golfers in the world," said McKibbin, who takes part in the pro-am.
"I'm pretty excited. I've been practising as often as possible."
McKibbin, who comes from County Antrim, also won the Junior Honda Classic in Florida earlier this year.
Northern Ireland's McIlroy, whose foundation is hosting the Irish Open at the K Club in Dublin from 19-22 May, said: "I played a round with Tom in Florida recently and he is the real deal.
"At only 13 years of age, I think he has a remarkable golfing future ahead of him. Having seen him play a couple of times now, he impresses me more each time."
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. | Rory McIlroy has invited Northern Irish teenage prospect Tom McKibbin to play alongside him ahead of the Irish Open. | 36186392 |
From October, Lidl UK employees will earn a minimum of £8.20 an hour across England, Scotland and Wales, and £9.35 an hour in London. The rise will not apply to staff Northern Ireland.
On Twitter, the top trending topic in the UK has been #livingwage.
News of the impending pay rise has been welcomed, with many tweeting their support for the German discount supermarket.
Simon Bower tweeted his approval.
Katie Dalton tweets that she will shop at Lidl as a result of their pledge.
Proud customer Katherine Blaker shared her support on the move and tweeted:
Aidan tweets that other businesses should be able to follow suit.
Martin Snow says the announcement shows that chasing profit isn't the be all and end all in business and tweets
Lidl replied to the overwhelmingly positive response from customers and non-customers alike and tweeted
Produced by Alison Daye | Lidl has said it will become the first UK supermarket to introduce the national living wage. | 34290585 |
Five Catholics, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed in the attack on the Ormeau Road in 1992.
It was carried out by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). No-one has been convicted in relation to the killings.
Families said that the Police Ombudsman is due to publish a report into the murders at Easter.
Tommy Duffin, whose father Jack was one of those killed, said the report is the "only way we have to go" in terms of justice.
"We'll have to take into account what it says and where it leaves us as families, and then decide where we move from there.
"We're waiting with baited breath to a certain extent, to know exactly what it's going to say and what it's going to reveal to us."
The families have previously said they believe there was collusion between the killers and security forces.
In 2015, the PSNI's chief constable apologised after it was discovered that the weapon used in the killings was on display in the Imperial War Museum in London. | Hundreds of people have commemorated the 25th anniversary of the murder of five people by loyalist paramilitaries at a betting shop in Belfast. | 38875042 |
Jackson joined the Tykes on a two-year deal at the end of last season after he turned down a new contract at Wrexham.
The 22-year-old scored four goals in 36 National League appearances last season to help the Welsh side finish eighth in the table.
He started his career at Swindon, and spent one season with Tamworth before joining Wrexham in June 2015.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | League Two side Grimsby have signed Barnsley striker Kayden Jackson on a season-long loan. | 36870613 |
Both sides said nine Saudis were exchanged for 109 rebel fighters.
The latest swap comes ahead of a planned ceasefire and renewed peace talks set for next month.
The war passed its first anniversary on Saturday. More than 6,000 people, half of them civilians, have been killed, the UN says, since the start of the Saudi-led campaign.
The coalition launched its offensive with the aim of repelling the rebels and restoring exiled President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to power.
Yemeni media said the nine freed Saudis were soldiers, Reuters news agency reported.
The UN says both sides have agreed to a ceasefire starting 10 April, followed by negotiations a week later.
Previous unilateral ceasefires announced by the coalition have been short-lived, and on-off peace talks have failed to stop the fighting.
The war has had a catastrophic effect on the humanitarian situation in Yemen, which was already the poorest country in the Arab world, with four out of five people now needing aid to survive. | The Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen say they have swapped prisoners. | 35910852 |
Analysts had been expecting the firm to make a profit, but instead it lost 16bn reais ($4.8bn; £3.86bn).
Petrobras said low oil prices had forced it to cut the value of oil fields and other assets.
The firm is restructuring under new management after a corruption scandal battered the company's finances last year.
The shake-up has been welcomed by investors, with Petrobras shares almost trebling in value on the Brazilian stock market since January.
Last month, Petrobras' CEO Pedro Parente told me the company would be back to its best days in five years time. He is moving fast with his downsizing plan, cutting 10% of staff and a launching a major sale of Petrobras assets.
But Thursday's numbers suggest the path to recovery will be a long one.
Analysts had predicted around $400m in profits for the third quarter but instead it registered about ten times that value in losses.
And more difficulties are yet to come. The company still needs to settle more corruption-related cases in US courts and find buyers willing to pay good prices for its assets, all at a time when global oil players are not doing well.
Petrobras said that without having to cut the value of assets it could have made a profit.
"The message we want to convey is that these impairments are non-recurring, and that we don't expect them to happen, not at least in this magnitude, in the coming future," said chief financial officer Ivan Monteiro.
The company's performance was also hit by the cost of a voluntary redundancy scheme, as well as court disputes in the US.
Petrobras has been scaling down by selling off assets and pulling out of certain sectors.
Meanwhile Brazil's government is reforming the oil sector so that it does not have to depend too much on Petrobras.
Earlier this week, Brazil's Congress gave its final approval to a new bill that paves the way for foreign companies to explore lucrative new fields, without Petrobras having to hold a mandatory stake in them.
On Thursday, Shell announced plans to spend $10bn in Brazil over the course of five years.
"This was a good move by the government and it will open up opportunities for more players to invest in Brazil," Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said. | Brazil's state oil giant Petrobras has reported a massive loss for the third quarter of its financial year. | 37946400 |
The attack happened as two youths robbed and assaulted a 16-year-old boy and girl on a walkway under East Trinity Road just before 21:00.
A mobile phone and handbag containing a purse and other personal effects were stolen.
Detectives have appealed for witnesses. The suspects were in their late teens, about 5ft 8in tall with local accents.
One was of slim build, with short dark hair and was wearing a dark or black coloured hooded top.
The other had short blond or fair hair and was wearing a light coloured hooded top. | A teenager has been stabbed during a street robbery in Edinburgh on Friday evening. | 19305254 |
Rachael Hamilton - who stood down as a list MSP to fight the seat - took Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire with a majority of more than 9,000.
She held the constituency for her party from closest rival Gail Hendry of the SNP.
Labour's Sally Prentice was third with Lib Dem Catriona Bhatia fourth.
The by-election was called after John Lamont stood down to fight the Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk seat at Westminster which he also won.
"We had an all-female line-up and I was just pleased to be one of those," said Ms Hamilton.
"I am pleased to be going back to the Scottish Parliament - I am absolutely delighted.
"And I am also delighted for John in his Westminster seat as well. The number of seats that we are winning throughout Scotland for Westminster - I think that is really encouraging as well - I think the Conservatives are on the up."
She added that the push for another independence referendum had definitely helped her "on the doorsteps".
"We can stand up and oppose independence and I believe that is what voters in the Borders were really gunning for," she said. | The Conservatives have won a Scottish Parliament by-election in the Borders held on the same night as the general election. | 40216693 |
Media playback is unsupported on your device
15 September 2014 Last updated at 09:10 BST
Around 26,000 people cheered the acts, which included Ellie Goulding and the Kaiser Chiefs.
The grand finale saw the Games organiser Prince Harry asking the crowd to create a massive Mexican wave. | The Invictus Games for injured servicemen and women have been brought to a close in London with a sell-out concert at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. | 29203980 |
The diners tucked into their brisket, ribs and mac 'n' cheese while glued to the television.
It seemed like an appropriate place to watch the political face-off between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
"Pinche Gringo" could not be a more Mexican expression. The polite form would translate as "bloody American" in English. The more coarse version I will leave to your imagination. But it's a sentiment that is felt by many here in Mexico.
During the debate, there were cheers when words such as "Mexico", "immigrant" and "wall" were mentioned. The third debate didn't disappoint in this respect - immigration, crime and drugs were all topics that came up.
While the crowd had its fair share of American citizens, there were also many Mexicans who had come along to watch. Student Carlos Brown was one of them.
"There's too much at play to ignore it," the 28-year-old says.
Carlos was there because he's a politics student but also because there are big issues that worry him - not just the infamous wall but also trade deals that could have a big impact on Mexico.
His friend Paulina agrees. She doesn't think these elections stop at Donald Trump. A Hillary Clinton win would be "symbolically very important" she tells me.
In a world where men rule, especially in macho Mexico, seeing a woman represent one of the world's most powerful democracies would do a huge amount of good.
The interest in US politics among Mexicans is new - and a positive side-effect of this year's elections, according to Jorge Castaneda, Mexico's former foreign minister.
It is no longer just politicians, journalists and academics who are paying attention to politics north of the border.
"This time there has really been widespread interest reaching across all sectors of society and this is thanks to Trump," he says.
"In a sense it's a very positive development because practically no country in the world with the possible exception of Israel is as affected by what happens in the US as Mexico is."
But there are negatives that have emerged too.
"We thought the bigotry, the racism, the xenophobia, the nativism, all those horrible trends, were part of American society but only on the fringe - a minority," says renowned Mexican historian and writer Enrique Krauze.
"But that minority is a huge minority - 40%. I have no doubt that a lot of damage has been done and it will take many, many years - perhaps a generation [to repair]."
Among the Mexicans I met at Pinche Gringo, some recently studied in the US. They may have had a legal right to be there but they still felt discriminated against.
"Just imagine what undocumented migrants feel like," says Atenea Rosado, a 26-year-old who was, until January, studying human rights education at Columbia in New York.
The overwhelming hope here in Mexico is that Hillary Clinton will win. But even then, the country's relationship with the US may continue to be strained.
"There is going to be a great deal of anti-Mexican feeling in the US on the part of Trump supporters," says Jorge Castaneda.
"They are not going to be happy campers when they lose, especially if they lose overwhelmingly and especially if Trump convinces them that the election was rigged. They will take some of that out against Mexicans."
Beyond the wall, immigration reform and revision of trade accords like the North American Free Trade Agreement could still be up for discussion.
"You will have a Democratic majority in the Senate, maybe in the House. These people are clearly anti-Trans-Pacific Partnership and pro-Nafta revision, they are not big supporters of further integration and there will be some real issues there," says Mr Castaneda.
But he does see one positive.
"Obama has been soft on human rights in Mexico and I think Hillary will be tougher and I think that will be a very good thing," he says.
While many Mexicans see the elections as having damaged the relationship between the two countries, Prof Silvia Nunez Garcia, from the Centre for North American Research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, thinks otherwise.
"We are using a very negative approach to what is happening. I really think we need to look outside the box," she says.
"First of all, we Mexicans should not be interfering in domestic politics in the US - that used to be one of our most valuable principals in foreign policy. Now we do exactly the opposite.
"There will be consequences for these actions. But the situation in the US is giving us a huge opportunity to be self-critical."
She says: "Our relationship with America is a very contradictory one. We tend to say it's love-hate and this is because we do not know each other really."
The message is that these elections could prove an opportunity to get to know other countries and make new friends instead.
Who is ahead in the polls?
51%
Hillary Clinton
41%
Donald Trump
Last updated October 21, 2016 | During last week's third and final presidential debate, the wooden benches at the Pinche Gringo BBQ joint in Mexico City were packed. | 37726844 |
Addressing the crowd, Mr Obama said that Dr King was now among the founders of the American nation.
The 30 ft (9m) granite statue lies near the spot where Dr King delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech in 1963.
The ceremony had been due to take place in August but was postponed due to Hurricane Irene.
President Obama toured the monument with his wife, Michelle, and his two daughters.
Speaking to an audience of tens of thousands, he said Americans were right to celebrate Dr King's dream, and vision of unity.
"On this day, in which we celebrate a man and a movement that did so much for this country, let us draw strength from those earlier struggles," he told the crowd on the National Mall in the US capital.
"When met with hardship, when confronting disappointment, Dr. King refused to accept what he called the 'is-ness' of today. He kept pushing for the 'ought-ness' of tomorrow," Mr Obama said.
"In this place, he will stand for all time, among monuments to those who fathered this nation and those who defended it."
The statue is situated between the memorials for Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1929, Martin Luther King was a clergyman and leading figure in the US civil rights movement.
He was assassinated in 1968 during a visit to Memphis, Tennessee, aged 39. | US President Barack Obama has dedicated a new memorial to the assassinated civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, at a ceremony in Washington. | 15330290 |
The Commission, which drafts EU laws, says there is too much national fragmentation in Europe's air traffic control - and that costs the EU nearly 5bn euros (£4bn) annually.
It says the Single European Sky plan could triple air traffic and cut costs.
Currently flights are too long, creating extra pollution, it says.
The Commission estimates that Europe's air management inefficiencies add 42km (26 miles) to the average flight.
It adds that the US - a comparable aviation market - handles twice as many flights for the amount that Europe spends on flight management.
The EU Transport Commissioner, Siim Kallas, said that early next year he would present new draft legislation to accelerate implementation of the single airspace plan and to step up enforcement actions, including infringement procedures where necessary.
Member states which fail to implement EU laws on time can be taken to the European Court of Justice, which has the power to impose fines.
The single airspace plan sets performance targets aimed at boosting airspace capacity and cutting costs.
Under the plan, the many national air traffic control systems would be merged into nine Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs).
A European network manager would also have new centralised powers, including authority for route planning. | The European Commission says EU governments could face fines if they continue delaying measures to create a single European airspace. | 19921805 |
The bug, sometimes known as winter vomiting virus, is present all year but becomes more common over winter months.
Day surgeries - where the patient can be discharged on the same day - are still going ahead.
The trust said a number of wards in its hospitals have had to be closed to new admissions.
"Norovirus in the community and is now seriously impacting on our hospitals," said a trust spokesman.
"We are working hard to arrange new dates as quickly as possible for any of the patients affected.
"The situation will continue to be reviewed to assess if more cancellations are required in the days ahead."
He added that the trust has issued public appeals "asking people to stay away from our hospitals unless absolutely necessary due to the risk of spreading this infection to our patients and staff".
Armagh man Fred MacDonald was due to have had thyroid surgery on Wednesday, but was contacted on Tuesday to be told it had been cancelled.
He said he was told he might get the surgery, scheduled a number of months ago, before Christmas, but there were no guarantees.
"It is uncomfortable and I'm suffering a bit, if you can call it that, but I was looking forward to it, to get the thing sorted," he said.
"My biggest issue with it, apart from the cancellation, is [the hospital] always calling on number withheld numbers.
"If I hadn't, by chance, answered the phone I wouldn't have known it had been cancelled and I would have been in hospital this morning at 10 o'clock."
He added: "It's just wait and see, it feels like you're getting pushed to the back of the list."
The Public Health Agency (PHA) has said the norovirus is circulating in the community and "having an impact on nursing and residential homes, as well as some hospital services".
Dr Lorraine Doherty, assistant director of public health at the PHA, said: "It's not unusual to see an increase in the winter vomiting and diarrhoea virus at this time of year, so we are urging people to take extra care with hand hygiene and, if you have the illness, take simple steps to prevent the spread.
"The most common symptoms are nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, which can begin suddenly. This can also be accompanied by a raised temperature, headache and sore limbs.
"It is very important that people who have symptoms do not visit hospitals, their GP surgery, or nursing and residential homes.
"The illness can last as little as 12 hours or up to three days and the best treatment is to stay at home, rest, take plenty of fluids, and reduce contact with others, both in the home and at work." | The Southern Health Trust has cancelled all non-emergency inpatient surgeries at Craigavon Area Hospital due to the nororvirus. | 38160469 |
RMT members working for CalMac and Argyll Ferries are preparing to hold a second 24-hour strike on 10 July.
Three days of industrial action by CalMac staff last month culminated in a 24-hour strike.
The dispute has been triggered by the tendering of Clyde and Hebrides ferry services.
Unions have concerns that the new contract will not protect jobs and pensions.
Further talks are expected to be held on Tuesday afternoon.
Gordon Martin, of the RMT, described the meeting as "productive".
He told BBC Scotland: "We are pursuing every strategy and we await a response tomorrow from the company, hence the reason we are meeting them again.
"We are looking for guarantees going forward into the next contract. At the moment those guarantees have not been forthcoming."
In a statement, CalMac said it had agreed to another meeting but was also preparing for the planned strike.
It said: "Ferry customers can be assured that we will do what we can minimise any disruption caused by industrial action."
A second union, the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA), sent out strike ballot papers on Friday to about 100 of its members who work for CalMac.
Like CalMac, Argyll Ferries is owned by the state-owned David MacBrayne Group.
CalMac said earlier that it was "bemused" about why RMT members within Argyll Ferries had decided to join the planned strike.
It said the Argyll Ferries contract was not up for tender and no employee terms and conditions were under threat.
The RMT said Argyll Ferries relied on CalMac engineers and expertise, so would be affected by any changes to the Clyde and Hebrides contract. | A meeting between Caledonian MacBrayne and RMT on ferry workers' jobs and pensions have been described as "productive" by the union. | 33407386 |
Jayson Carmichael, who is full-time carer for his wife, said the changes - which critics have dubbed the "bedroom tax" - had left them "depressed".
Judges at the UK's highest court are examining if the removal of the government's spare room subsidy is discriminatory in some cases.
The changes started in April 2013.
Since then families claiming housing benefits who are deemed by their local authorities to have too much living space have received reduced benefits, with payments being cut by 14% if they have one spare bedroom.
The government argues the policy changes encourage people to move to smaller properties and save around £480m a year from the housing benefit bill.
Mr Carmichael, 53, from Southport, Merseyside, who shares a two-bedroom housing association flat with his wife Jacqueline, who has spina bifida, brought the challenge along with four others after suffering defeat at both the High Court and Court of Appeal.
Her condition means she has to sleep in a hospital bed in a fixed position. There is not enough space for a second bed so her husband sleeps in a separate bedroom.
"It has caused us a lot of stress and heartache," he said. "We are having to think about it all the time and being depressed about it. It is fight after fight, case after case."
The other cases set to be examined involve people who have all had their housing benefit reduced as a result of the government's changes, including:
In addition, the government will challenge an earlier ruling which found in favour of a domestic abuse victim and a disabled boy's family.
Last month the Court of Appeal ruled the policy had discriminated against Pembrokeshire couple Paul and Susan Rutherford and their 15-year-old grandson Warren and a woman identified as "A" who had a council house fitted with a panic room to protect her from a violent partner.
Judges ruled "A" and the Rutherford family suffered discrimination, contrary to Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Court of Appeal's ruling focused on the impact of the policy on disabled children needing overnight care and on women living in properties adapted because of risks to their lives.
The BBC's legal correspondent Clive Coleman said the ruling would affect people within these two specific groups.
There are believed to be about 300 such victims of domestic violence and thousands of severely disabled children in this situation.
Solicitor Ugo Hayter, who acts for Mrs Carmichael and Mr Rourke, said: "My clients are looking to the Supreme Court to recognise and bring to an end the awful hardship they, and many other disabled people nationally, have been subjected to since the introduction of the bedroom tax."
Karen Ashton from the charity Central England Law Centre, who represents Mr Daly, Mr Drage and "JD", said the case "is about fairness". | The husband of a disabled woman has told the Supreme Court of the "heartache" they have suffered following changes to housing benefits. | 35683939 |
Eunice Lloyd and Olive Rowlands, from Ammanford, have been friends since they attended Nantygroes Primary School.
A joint celebration for their 100th birthdays was held at the Deri Arms in Llanedi on Tuesday.
The pair said it was more difficult than it used to be to visit one another, but they speak on the phone and attend a social group for the visually impaired together.
"I don't think we have had an argument," Mrs Lloyd said.
Mrs Rowlands said keeping active was her secret to a long and healthy life. | Lifelong friends from Carmarthenshire have celebrated their 100th birthdays. | 33242392 |
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Muzammil Ansari, who was accused of planting explosives.
A special anti-terrorism court in Mumbai also found nine of the 13 accused guilty for their roles in the attack
The bomb blasts killed 12 people and seriously injured another 27.
Apart from Ansari, two of the others convicted of the blasts were sentenced to life in jail.
The others were sentenced to 10 years each, but will be released in two, since they have already been in jail for eight years, Indian media said. | A man found guilty of masterminding a series of bomb blasts in Mumbai (Bombay) between 2002 and 2003 has been sent to jail for life. | 35976124 |
Europe's top four domestic leagues are to be guaranteed four places each in the group stage from 2018-19.
The European Professional Football Leagues body is accusing Uefa of breaching the terms of the deal that governs European club competitions.
And Doncaster warned of a "harmful fragmentation of the game".
The current top four leagues in Uefa's rankings are Spain, Germany, England and Italy.
Uefa, which controls the Champions League, says the Europa League winners will also qualify for the Champions League group stage under the new system.
The champions route, which Celtic used to qualify for this season's group stage, will be reduced from five to four teams.
The EPFL say the reforms were "without the support and consensus" from domestic leagues.
Doncaster, who attended the EPFL meeting in Amsterdam said: "Notwithstanding the welcome retention of a route to the Champions League for the SPFL Premiership winners, we absolutely share the EPFL's disappointment about the regressive and protectionist direction of travel for the world's most prestigious club competition.
"There needs to be a far stronger balance between sporting merit and commercial pressures, otherwise we risk an inexorable slide towards an NFL-style closed-shop system.
"We know that many of our counterparts in other countries share our concerns about the nature of the decision-making process and the lack of consultation with European leagues.
"Uefa has a duty to act on behalf of the entire game, not just a few, select clubs and leagues and it must take that duty far more seriously if it is not to risk presiding over a harmful fragmentation of the game.
"We will continue to be robust and forthright when required in fighting to protect the best interests of Scottish football on this issue, with today a strong demonstration that the majority of other European leagues share our view."
The EPFL board earlier stated: "This decision will have a detrimental impact on domestic competitions and will lead to an exponential growth in the financial and sporting gap between the biggest clubs in Europe and all the others."
However, Uefa rejected that accusation, with general secretary Theodore Theodoridis responding: "The evolution of Uefa's club competitions is the result of a wide-ranging consultative process involving all European football's stakeholders, including the European Professional Leagues, and taking into account a wide range of expertise and perspectives.
"The amendments made will continue to ensure qualification based on sporting merit, and the right of all associations and their clubs to compete in Europe's elite club competitions." | Champions League changes are "regressive and protectionist", says Scottish Professional Football League chief executive Neil Doncaster. | 37313399 |
Short stretches of the A38 Turnpike Road near Lower Weare are due to shut for two nights from 3 March.
A diversion of one hour 20 minutes which takes drivers via Glastonbury and Wells has been criticised by residents who claim shorter routes are available.
But the county council said it has a legal obligation to divert traffic "on to the same class road as the closure".
Sections of the A38 between Cross Moor Drove and south west of Notting Hill Way are due to be closed on Thursday and Friday between 18:30 and 23:30 GMT, for road surface repair work.
Simon Lunn, who runs a petrol station on the affected stretch of road, said the planned diversion route was "utterly ridiculous"
"They're only repairing about 50m of the road - even on local roads it would take you about 10 miles to go around," he said.
"We're closing at 6 o'clock because we just won't have any trade that evening."
A spokesman for Somerset County Council said the "essential patching work" was being done in two phases and during off-peak times to "minimise disruption".
"We have a legal obligation to publish an official diversion route which is on the same class road as the closure and is suitable for all vehicles, including HGVs," he said.
"As with any road closure, drivers are free to use their own local knowledge and judgement to seek their own alternatives." | Plans to send motorists on a 42-mile (68km) detour to avoid 50m of roadworks have been described as "ridiculous". | 35696297 |
The museum, which includes product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design, is undergoing an £83m refurbishment.
It will have a free permanent display of its collection for the first time since it opened.
Founder Terence Conran said the move made his "dreams closer to reality".
On display will be the first laptop by UK designer Bill Moggridge, the AK47 assault rifle by Russian designer Mikhail Kalashnikov and British road signs by typographers Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert.
The move will allow the museum to increase in size threefold to 10,000 square metres. It will aim to attract 650,000 visitors each year.
British designer John Pawson is remodelling the interior of the Grade II listed former Commonwealth Institute building.
Mr Conran said the move would make his "lifetime in design absolutely worthwhile".
Property developer Chelsfield LLP and the Ilchester Estate donated the building and land.
The Heritage Lottery Fund supported the project with a grant of £4.9m and Arts Council England have supported the project with a capital grant of £3m. | The Design Museum will move from its Tower Bridge premises to a new location on Kensington High Street on 24 November this year. | 35835871 |
Last week Mr McKinnon's mother said the 46-year-old "had no choice" but to refuse a medical test to see if he was fit to be extradited.
Mr McKinnon, from north London, admits hacking US military computers but says he was looking for evidence of UFOs.
If he is convicted in the US, he could face up to 60 years in jail.
The latest hearing has mainly been about the timescale of the case, BBC correspondent Daniel Boetcher said.
This is partly due to the amount of evidence that has to be considered, but also because Home Secretary Theresa May now had an "increased and all-consuming involvement in the Olympic Games", according to the barrister for the Home Office.
The court also heard that Mrs May wanted to make her decision when Parliament was sitting.
At an earlier hearing, judges were told she was "close" to making a decision.
Mrs May said she was "personally concerned" Mr McKinnon had not been examined by a Home Office-appointed medical assessor, to decide whether there was a risk of suicide if he was extradited.
But his family said the Home Office expert, Professor Thomas Fahy, had no experience in uncovering suicidal tendencies in Asperger's syndrome patients.
Mr McKinnon, who hacked into the US computers in 2002, has been fighting extradition since 2006. | The home secretary will decide whether to order computer hacker Gary McKinnon's extradition to the US by mid-October, the High Court has heard. | 18968417 |
The Brazil forward, 25, told Barcelona he wanted to leave on Wednesday.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp criticised the proposed world-record deal in light of Uefa's Financial Fair Play rules.
"I thought Fair Play was made so that situations like that can't happen," said Klopp. "That's more of a suggestion than a real rule."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has also criticised the deal by the Qatar-backed PSG, saying: "Once a country owns a club everything is possible and it becomes difficult to respect Financial Fair Play.
"It's a consequence of the ownerships that have changed the landscape completely over the last 15 years. I always plead for football to live within its own resources. The inflation is accelerating. We crossed the £100m line and then a year a later we crossed the £200m.
"It's beyond calculations and rationality."
Neymar's transfer would top Paul Pogba's then world-record move from Juventus to Manchester United last summer by more than £100m.
Mourinho said: "Expensive are the ones who get into a certain level without a certain quality. For £200m, I don't think [Neymar] is expensive.
"I think he's expensive in the fact that now you are going to have more players at £100m, you are going have more players at £80m and more players at £60m. And I think that's the problem."
He added: "Neymar is one of the best players in the world, commercially he is very strong and for sure PSG thought about it.
"So I think the problem is not Neymar, I think the problem is the consequences of Neymar."
Neymar will earn 865,000 euros (£775,477) a week, which will equate to 45m euros (£40.3m) a year before tax.
PSG's total outlay across the initial five-year deal will come to £400m.
Financial Fair Play rules, first implemented during the 2011-12 season, stipulate that European clubs cannot spend more than they earn.
* 222m euros is worth £200m at the time of writing (3 August). With fluctuating exchange rates, it was worth £198m when the story first emerged this week | Neymar's 222m euro (£200m) transfer to Paris-St Germain is "not expensive" but the consequences will cause "problems", says Jose Mourinho. | 40811508 |
Allardyce, 61, left his role in September after 67 days in charge following a newspaper investigation claiming he offered advice on how to "get around" rules on player transfers.
Asked by MPs whether the FA looked into previous allegations against Allardyce made by a 2006 BBC Panorama programme, Clarke said no significant issues were found.
In response to Panorama, then Bolton manager Allardyce denied claims he had received illegal payments from agents.
An inquiry by Lord Stevens later suggested that he may have had a conflict of interest with his agent son Craig Allardyce, but it found no evidence of irregular payments.
Allardyce's stint as England manager lasted only one match following his appointment in July.
The former West Ham, Newcastle, Notts County and Blackburn boss was filmed in July 2016 telling undercover reporters it was "not a problem" to bypass rules on third-party player ownership and claimed he knew of agents who were "doing it all the time".
The Telegraph investigation also claimed that a £400,000 deal was struck for Allardyce to represent the Far East firm the reporters claimed to work for, and to be a speaker at events, although Allardyce said he would have to "run that by" the FA first.
Allardyce said he "made a significant error of judgement", but that "entrapment had won" following his departure from the England job.
He added: "Although it was made clear during the recorded conversations that any proposed arrangements would need the FA's full approval, I recognise I made some comments which have caused embarrassment."
Clarke said the FA is still waiting for the Telegraph and police to release the full information from their investigation.
Answering questions from MPs at a Commons select committee into football governance, Clarke said Allardyce was given a pay-off when he left England, but refused to disclose the sum.
On Friday, FA vice-chairman David Gill told BBC Sport that Allardyce's exit was a "complete disappointment" and that "no-one saw it coming". | Due diligence was carried out on Sam Allardyce before his appointment as England manager, says Football Association chairman Greg Clarke. | 37678081 |
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