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Kai Webb, 18, downed a bottle of vodka before attacking David Reynolds as he ran along Teignmouth seafront in Devon.
Webb, of Ashleigh Park, Teignmouth, admitted wounding, theft and two common assaults and was jailed at Exeter Crown Court for 12 months.
Mr Reynolds and his partner Eve Hazelton raised almost £30,000 for the breast cancer charity Coppafeel.
The couple were part way through running 10km a day for 100 days on 11 April when they were intercepted by a group of youths, including Webb, at about 19:00.
Webb walked up behind Mr Reynolds and smashed the bottle over the back of his head, causing a gash to the scalp and ear which required eight stitches.
A large group of supporters turned out to support film director Mr Reynolds the next day, when he overcame his injuries and ran dressed as a giant beer bottle.
Recorder Martin Meeke QC told Webb: "This was mindless unprovoked violence in a town centre and the sort of conduct which persuades many members of the public to avoid town centres at night."
Gordon Richings, prosecuting, said the bottle attack happened after Webb had already stolen beer and thrown a tray at an assistant in a sandwich shop.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Reynolds said: "My injury is very evident to other people as I have no hair."
Barry White, defending, said Webb was only 17 when the attacks took place and his family are at a loss to explain why he behaved as he did. | A man has been jailed for smashing a beer bottle over the head of a runner raising money for a cancer charity. | 34520657 |
Last week, talks between unions and management from NI Water failed to reach agreement.
Members of Nipsa, Unite and the GMB voted for a work-to-rule and withdrawal of on-call services and overtime, from Monday.
Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy has warned this could cause "abject misery" to households.
The Labour Relations Agency has been called in to try to broker an 11th-hour resolution to the row.
Joanne McWilliams, from Unite, said all three unions were prepared to continue with further talks.
"All three unions are willing to continue with negotiations in order to attempt to find a solution and avoid disruption to communities," she said.
"We have set out our position to both the minister and NI Water, but unless the pension proposals are taken off the table, our members have no alternative but to commence action."
NI Water's chief executive Sara Venning warned customers they may experience interruptions to supply over Christmas because of the industrial action. | More than 1,000 NI Water workers have begun industrial action in response to a pensions dispute. | 30568085 |
The motion, brought by the centre-right party Les Republicans, garnered 246 votes, shy of the 288 needed to defeat the reforms and topple the government.
Thousands of people marched through Paris as the vote took place, to protest against the proposals.
They will now be debated in France's Senate.
The controversial proposals, backed by Prime Minister Manuel Valls and President Francois Hollande, sparked ongoing and sometimes violent street protests across France, and fresh protests are now planned for next week.
Unions and student groups have so far blocked roads and barricaded schools in the western cities of Nantes and Rennes.
The opposition was expected ahead of the vote to be around 40 votes short of the required total.
Some lawmakers within President Hollande's own Socialist Party were expected to vote with the motion, in protest as what they see as legislation that is too pro-business.
Busting the myth of France's 35-hour working week
The changes make it easier for employers to hire and fire, but opponents fear they will also enable employers to bypass workers' rights on pay, overtime and breaks.
The government argues that it needs to make the labour market more flexible in order to create jobs.
Mr Hollande chose to push through the legislation without parliamentary approval, using special executive powers, after months of resistance.
The law can only be defeated if a no-confidence vote is held and lost by the government - in which case the cabinet is forced to resign.
The tactic has only been used once before during his presidency, again to pass disputed economic reforms.
Demonstrators outside the National Assembly on Wednesday called for President Hollande to resign and protests continued into the night.
Police used tear gas against protesters in Grenoble and Montpellier, reports from social media say. There were also demonstrations in Lille, Tours and Marseille.
In Toulouse two young protesters were injured in clashes with police, according to Le Parisien (in French). | France's government has survived vote of no confidence put forward by the opposition in protest over controversial labour reforms. | 36279257 |
Scotrail said damage to overhead electric wires led to a series of delays and cancellations on the services to Edinburgh.
Passengers hoping to watch Scotland take on Wales in the Six Nations reported overcrowded trains and queues at Queen Street station in Glasgow.
The rail firm said disruption was expected until around 15:00.
It affected services between Helensburgh and Edinburgh, and between Milngavie and the capital, via Airdrie.
They urged travellers to use their website to check on individual journeys and they said tickets could be used on some bus and tram services.
A spokesman for the ScotRail Alliance said trains were running again but the earlier disruption had a knock-on effect on services.
He said: "Due to a fault with the overhead wires in the Haymarket area services were disrupted this morning. We tried to keep customers moving by sourcing replacement buses and arranging for valid train tickets to be used on First and Lothian Buses.
"Our engineers worked as fast as possible to fix the fault and return services to normal.
"We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this disruption and remind customers delayed more than 30 minutes, they are entitled to compensation under our Delay Repay guarantee provided they keep hold of their tickets."
They issued the following advice to passengers. | Rugby fans relying on trains to get to Murrayfield faced severe disruption to their journeys. | 39089623 |
The 31-year-old right-armer joined from Hampshire ahead of the 2014 campaign, but missed most of the 2015 season with triceps and back injuries.
Griffiths was Kent's leading wicket-taker in the T20 Blast this season, with 13 at an average of 33.61.
He also played three times in the One-Day Cup, but did not feature in the County Championship.
Griffiths took career-best innings figures of 6-63 against Gloucestershire in September 2014.
"The time has come for me to now leave Kent to seek a new opportunity," he said. | Fast bowler David Griffiths has left Kent at the end of his contract at the St Lawrence Ground. | 37474525 |
Then came warm words between the two prime ministers on social media and in old-fashioned letters.
Is "mother's love" fostering a new relationship between the two rival neighbours, asked one Indian newspaper.?
Even before India's new prime minister took office, some said his staunchly nationalist Hindu support base would make it easier for him to deliver a deal with Pakistan.
But a month since Mr Sharif accepted Mr Modi's invitation to Delhi for his inauguration, the mothers still have a lot of work to do.
Both sides say their diplomats are talking, but they have yet to take the simple next step agreed by the two prime ministers of getting their foreign secretaries together.
The impending start of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, almost certainly means a further delay.
And an upbeat Pakistani newspaper report that "back-channel talks" between Islamabad and Delhi were being "revived" was knocked down by both sides.
Of course, it doesn't rule out the possibility that secret talks are under way somewhere.
Whatever the official positions, there's no doubting an appetite for better ties on both sides.
Pakistanis are fascinated by the neighbour most will never be able to visit, asking foreign visitors dangerous questions like: "Whose mangoes taste better - Pakistan's or India's?"
When Delhi's Press Club organised an evening of Pakistani food and music, flying in chefs from Islamabad, the racks of richly-spiced meat on the grill quickly ran out as hundreds of Indian journalists brought their families, equipped with "tiffin" boxes to take away extra supplies.
Good eating probably helped informal discussions last week between Pakistani and Indian officials who met in Thailand.
But their closing statement hardly suggested a breakthrough.
And the view in Delhi is that there's no need for new talks, secret or not, because, said a spokesman, "there is already a road map we agreed two years ago" focused on the seemingly easier task of boosting economic ties.
It's up to Pakistan to make the next move, the official said, by allowing more goods traffic through the border crossing at Wagah which, he said, would then trigger a reciprocal Indian response.
In Islamabad, views are divided but the Pakistani foreign ministry is trying to put an optimistic gloss on things.
"We're working on Wagah," was how one senior official put it, but described the road map only as "a key part of the discussion" once the foreign secretaries meet.
Pakistan's powerful military establishment - widely reported to have been against Mr Sharif's Delhi visit - is still cautious about the new Modi government next door.
"So far it has not been negative," smiled one security source.
But "we need reciprocal acts from India", he added, tellingly mirroring Indian language, and then emphasised "there can be no compromise on Kashmir" - the chief source of friction between them since independence from Britain.
And new US measures against a Pakistan-based militant group blamed for a recent attack on an Indian mission in Afghanistan are a reminder of another persistent running sore over terrorism.
The close overlaps in culture and even between the Urdu and Hindi languages are a constant reminder that India and Pakistan are siblings. But friendship still looks a long way off. | It started with a handshake, followed by gifts for their mothers - a shawl from Narendra Modi and a sari in return from Nawaz Sharif. | 28031085 |
The NSPCC said its existing support line could now advise parents worried about extremists grooming a child.
It said counsellors had been trained to spot warning signs such as children isolating themselves or "talking as if from a scripted speech".
Recent terror attacks "highlighted the growing problem of individuals being influenced by extremism", it added.
The charity said it had already started getting calls from people worried about the problem.
One caller said: "I'm concerned that someone is trying to force a young boy into having extreme beliefs. He has started acting differently recently and has become more withdrawn."
The training for NSPCC counsellors explained how extremist recruiters "befriend vulnerable targets, feed them ideologies and - in the worst-case scenario - persuade them to commit terrorist attacks".
The charity said potential targets often had low self-esteem, were members of gangs, or were victims of bullying or discrimination.
Radicals tell them they can be "part of something special, and brainwash them into cutting themselves off from their friends and family", it added.
Signs which may "hint at a child being radicalised" include increased anger, becoming disrespectful and asking "inappropriate questions", the charity said.
"I'm worried about a child I know," one caller told counsellors.
"I fear that they may start holding extremist beliefs because I've heard her saying some worrying things.
"She's also showing changes in behaviour and appears to be more aggressive towards her parents.
"I'm not sure how to approach this as I know the family well... I don't think staying silent is an option in the current climate."
NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said: "The fact that a young person might hold extreme or radical views is not a safeguarding issue in itself.
"But when young people are groomed for extremist purposes and encouraged to commit acts that could hurt themselves or others, then it becomes abuse.
"That's why we've trained our counsellors to cope with this fresh danger to young people."
The charity's counsellors can also advise parents on how to talk to children who are anxious about terrorism or upset by recent attacks, such as those in France and Germany. | A charity has trained its counsellors to help parents who fear their children are being radicalised. | 36897596 |
The multi-million pound scheme at the Garroch roundabout will replace the current building on Bankend Road.
Work began in March last year, with about 400 staff now on site every day.
Main contractor Laing O'Rourke is on schedule to hand over the completed building to NHS Dumfries and Galloway in a year's time.
Health board chief executive Jeff Ace said it was a significant milestone.
"I'm quite emotional, to be honest, it's been the longest project I've ever been involved with in my career," he said.
"We started back in 2008 on this project.
"The amount of work that so many people have delivered successfully to get us here is overwhelming."
Dumfriesshire MSP Oliver Mundell said he was very impressed by how far forward the building works had come and it should be ready for late next year.
"From the remarks we have heard today we can be fairly confident that it is going to be handed over by at least round about the 9 September deadline that's been set," he said.
Mr Mundell said there were some "unanswered questions" about transport to the site but nonetheless he was "very positive" about the project.
"The hospital does have a different feel to the existing site, it is significantly smaller," he said.
"But it does look like they have packed a lot in to the new site." | A "topping out" ceremony to mark the building reaching its highest point in construction has been held at a hospital project in Dumfries. | 37366723 |
Jackett replaced Alan Stubbs as boss of the Championship's bottom side on 21 October, but stepped down on Monday.
BBC Radio Sheffield's Rob Staton reported that future budget issues were a factor in Jackett's decision.
"From my point of the view the project with Kenny was always a three-year plan," Stewart said.
"I was very focused on building for the future, but right out of the blue I received a call after the Leeds game [a 2-1 home defeat] from Kenny to say that he wanted to resign.
"We have parted on good terms, and whilst I am very disappointed, we won't dwell and the search for his replacement is now ongoing."
The Millers have taken just seven points from their 18 league games this season and are 11 points adrift of safety.
Paul Warne is in charge of the first team on an interim basis and Stewart confirmed the board would not hurry to appoint Jackett's replacement.
"I think we have to think long and hard. When you look at the successful managers we have had in the past, they had the combination of enthusiasm and passion, coupled with the skill to get the best out of the playing staff.
"Those are the characteristics we are looking for," he added. | Rotherham chairman Tony Stewart says manager Kenny Jackett's resignation after just five games in charge of the club came "out of the blue". | 38150904 |
Yet it's a separate wing of the company, offering something altogether more intangible, that could prove more important to both its long-term future and yours.
Amazon Web Services has a lower public profile than the firm's online stores, but it already touches many lives.
From young tech titans, including Spotify, Dropbox, Netflix, Pinterest and Airbnb, to more established brands, such as General Electric, Samsung, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and the BBC itself, a long list of organisations are turning to the US firm to provide some or all of their net-based services.
It's proving popular too with governments seeking to cut their IT bills. Even the CIA recently became a customer.
AWS's products range all the way from storage and data crunching tools to providing the code and computing power needed to offer "cloud-run" products.
Many of the functions you might think as belonging to your smartphone apps - including the abilities to stream video, synchronise data between devices and get notification alerts - are frequently carried out by AWS's data centres.
If centralising all this work with one company sounds a radical step, Amazon suggests there is precedent.
"About 150 years ago lots of companies had their own electricity grids on premises, and that didn't seem like such a strange thing to do," Andy Jassy, chief of the AWS division, tells the BBC.
"But then with the advent of the [national] grid, the economies were such that it didn't really make any sense.
"The same is happening for computing, where traditionally most companies have had their own data centres.
"We believe in the fullness of time, just like what happened with the electricity grid, relatively few companies will own their own data centres. All that computing is going to move to the cloud."
Many outsiders agree that the pitch is compelling.
"Any new class of application that is built to efficiently use resources only when it needs them is going to move - the economics are just too compelling," says James Staten, an analyst at the Forrester tech consultancy.
"It's also incredibly empowering to a developer that so many of the services they want are just sitting there. You don't have to write them, you can simply connect to them and your application is finished."
Source: Amazon, unless otherwise stated
Amazon pioneered the idea of offering cloud computing as a service after discovering its own staff kept "reinventing the wheel" as they worked on different internal projects. It then figured out it could both use the tools to both streamline its own work and make money by charging others to access them.
"There were a lot of pundits and people from larger companies that said, 'Well, nobody will ever use these services for anything real,'" says Mr Jassy.
While it's true that many of AWS's first customers initially signed up only to test products behind the scenes, the success of various start-ups that dared employ it to provide public-facing services meant it didn't take long to gain mainstream appeal.
"There is a very real chance that in the fullness of time that AWS will be the largest business in Amazon," says Mr Jassy.
"It will take time, but it's a pretty significant statement if you think about our retail business being roughly a $70bn [sales a year] business."
But the division faces headwinds.
AWS no longer has the market to itself. Microsoft, IBM, and Google's rival crowd-computing platforms are smaller but reported to be growing at faster rates.
Investors may become impatient. Amazon as a whole posted a $563m (£358m) loss for the last half of the year. That was in part because of all the resources poured into AWS and the fact that the unit keeps cutting its prices. Mr Jassy says the intention is for AWS to be a "high volume, low margin" member of the Amazon family, but several experts advocate its spin-off.
Data sovereignty has also become a hot topic - the idea that people's information should be kept in the same country they live in to make sure the companies involved are subject to local privacy laws. AWS is somewhat protected, however, by the fact it has data centres in Germany, Brazil, China and Australia - four of the countries making the most noise about the issue.
In fact, the greatest drag on AWS's growth may be lingering doubts about its tech's maturity, particularly for critical services.
Amazon and other leading cloud-computing providers suggest that because they operate many data centres, even if there's a problem at one, customers should not experience disruption.
But that didn't stop services run on Microsoft's Azure platform dropping offline across the world last month after an update to its software proved problematic. And previously, AWS has faced failures of its own.
"At this scale, small errors in operational procedures can have outsized impacts," says Mr Staten.
"But each time that happens, the firms learn from those activities and the next time something happens, the likelihood of there being as broad an outage diminishes.
"As a customer you have to expect that some of the services will go down periodically, but that also happens in corporate data centres today."
And Mr Jassy indicates such worries could, in fact, play to Amazon's advantage.
"There's no compression algorithm for experience," he says.
"You can't learn the lessons that we've learned until you get to various levels of scale running cloud computing platforms, and none of the other providers have gotten to those levels of scale yet."
Being entrusted with others' corporate secrets involves a high level of trust.
Amazon stresses that the use of encryption means it can't peer into the files saved to its computers. But it doesn't stop there.
No member of staff - not even Mr Jassy - is allowed access to both a physical data centre and the software used to operate it. Moreover, the exact location of the data centres themselves are kept secret and only provided on a need-to-know basis.
And special machines are kept on site so that when hard disks fall out of use they can be de-magnetised and ground up to avoid the risk of anyone else retrieving information from the storage when it's disposed of off-site. | The seemingly endless - yet still ever growing - range of products you can lay your hands on via Amazon has seen the internet company dubbed the "everything store". | 30276427 |
A pioneer of house - the sparse, electronic dance music that emerged from Chicago in the 1980s - Knuckles was just 59.
He was known for remixing tracks by Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, as well as his own songs, such as Your Love and The Whistle Song.
His death was confirmed by fellow DJ David Morales on Twitter.
"I am devastated to write that my dear friend Frankie Knuckles has passed away today," he wrote. "Can't write anymore than this at the moment. I'm sorry."
Knuckles' longtime business partner, Frederick Dunson, told The Chicago Tribune he had "died unexpectedly this afternoon at home".
That was confirmed by the Cook County medical examiner who said Knuckles died on Monday in Chicago. The medical examiner said a cause of death was not available.
Several music websites have reported Knuckles had died of complications from Type 2 diabetes.
In the mid 2000's, the DJ had developed the bone infection osteomyelitis after breaking bones in his foot while snowboarding. In 2008, he had the foot amputated after refusing to let up on his punishing work schedule.
'Art form'
Born in the Bronx, Frankie Warren Knuckles Jr learned his craft in New York City, where he was mentored by club DJ Larry Levan.
"We would spend entire afternoons working up ideas on how to present a record so that people would hear it in a new way and fall in love with it," Knuckles later recalled. "To us it was an art form."
He moved to Chicago in the 1970s, just as disco was dying out, and pioneered a style of extending soul and R&B records by adding drum machine loops.
"I would program different break beats and use them as segues between songs and additional beats," he said in 2011. "I had my own little piece of heaven right there."
He made his name at The Warehouse, a club in northern Chicago, predominantly patronised by gay men from the black and Latin-American communities.
"The people that used to hang out at The Warehouse coined the phrase 'House Music'," Knuckles said.
"At the time I was the only DJ in the city playing a sound that they heard nowhere else.
"So, when dance parties and regional DJs began popping up on the South Side of the city, to attract the same kind of audience that I had at The Warehouse.... they would advertise that they played 'House Music'."
By 1982, Knuckles had opened the his own venue for house music, called the Power Plant, where he premiered several tracks by local artist Jamie Principle, recorded on reel-to-reel tape.
The DJ helped secure a commercial release for several of those tracks - including Your Love and Baby Wants to Ride - which are recognised as the some of the earliest house classics.
Your Love is possibly better known in the UK as the backing track for The Source's hit remix of Candi Staton's You Got The Love.
Knuckles also produced the house anthem Tears with Robert Owens, and began his remixing career with a version of First Choice's Let No Man Put Asunder.
He later signed to Virgin Records, where he remixed or produced such artists as Mary J Blige, Janet Jackson, Pet Shop Boys, Diana Ross, Luther Vandross and Toni Braxton, and won a Grammy for best remixer of the year in 1997.
Inducted to the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2005, Knuckles also had a Chicago street named after him in 2004, on the former site of the Warehouse club.
BBC Radio 1's Pete Tong was among those paying tribute to the star on Twitter, writing: "RIP gentleman genius, groundbreaker, inspiration. Blessed to have worked with you."
"I can't begin to count the ways he influenced me but I will never forget," added house DJ Roger Sanchez.
"Frankie Knuckles was so under-appreciated," added Questlove, leader of hip-hop group The Roots. "He was the DJ that DJs aspired to be."
The star had been as busy as ever in the run-up to his death, playing London's Ministry of Sound on Saturday night.
His Facebook page listed several upcoming dates over the next few months. | Musician Frankie Knuckles, known as the Godfather of House music, has died unexpectedly, it has been announced. | 26832310 |
It was agreed on Saturday morning that the match would go ahead after Friday's deadly attacks in Paris.
England's Owen Farrell starred for the Premiership champions, landing six kicks in a dominant first half.
Mako Vunipola crossed first as Chris Wyles added two for Sarries, while Toulouse earned a second-half consolation from Christopher Tolofua.
France captain Thierry Dusautoir led out Toulouse at Allianz Park and his players were visibly moved by the minute's silence and rendition of the French national anthem before the game.
England back Farrell, who has scored 35 points in three league games this season, quickly kicked two penalties to give the hosts a 6-0 lead.
Last season's semi-finalists Sarries led by 13 points after Vunipola muscled his way over the line and the television match official awarded the try, which Farrell converted.
The fly-half added three more penalties, as Toulouse prop Census Johnston was yellow carded, and Wyles then crossed in the corner after some precise build-up play from England trio Alex Goode, Farrell and Brad Barritt.
Saracens went in 27-0 ahead at the break and they pounced again after the restart as Wyles stretched backwards to touch down, although Farrell looked to get the final hand.
Toulouse, fourth in the Top 14, eventually scored after 49 minutes thanks to hooker Tolofua, and Sebastien Bezy was able to convert.
That was the final score of the game, as the French side pegged back Sarries to deny them the bonus point.
Saracens head coach Mark McCall: "We have got to be delighted with how we played in that first half. I thought it was outstanding.
"Sometimes, the frustration of the last 25 or 30 minutes can make you disregard some of the really good things you did.
"Our energy was brilliant, our defence was brilliant and our attack was really good."
Saracens: Goode; Ashton, D. Taylor, Barritt, Wyles; Farrell, Wigglesworth; M. Vunipola, George, Du Plessis; Kruis, Itoje; Rhodes, Fraser, B. Vunipola
Replacements: Bosch for D. Taylor (65), Hodgson for Farrell (60), de Kock for Wigglesworth (53), Gill for M. Vunipola (44), Brits for George (51), Figallo for du Plessis (51), Hargreaves for Rhodes (67), Wray for Fraser (70).
Toulouse: Medard; Clerc, Fickou, Flood, Matanavou; McAlister, Bezy; Steenkamp, Marchand, Johnston; Maestri, Tekori; Camara, Dusautoir, Picamoles
Replacements: Gray for Medard (71), David for Flood (41), Doussain for Bezy (64), Kakovin for Steenkamp (41), Tolofua for Marchand (41), Aldegheri for Johnston (53), Millo-Chluski for Maestri (63), Harinordoquy for Camara (45).
Sin Bin: Johnston (28)
Att: 10,000
Ref: George Clancy (Ireland) | Saracens thrashed four-time champions Toulouse in their opening European Champions Cup game. | 34790698 |
The 20-year-old nephew of former Arsenal and Ipswich striker Chris Kiwomya has yet to break into the first-team picture at Stamford Bridge.
His professional debut came in January 2015 while on loan at Barnsley and he had a spell with Fleetwood last season.
Kiwomya is Alex boss Steve Davis's fourth summer signing after Ryan Lowe, Chris Dagnall and Liam Smith.
Davis, who flagged up Kiwomya's arrival two days ago, is hoping his team can mount a promotion challenge after last season's relegation from League One.
And the coffers at Gresty Road may receive a boost with the pending transfer of their former academy defender Grant Hanley from Blackburn to Newcastle because of a sell-on clause when he left the club.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | Chelsea winger Alex Kiwomya has joined League Two club Crewe Alexandra on loan until 9 January 2017. | 36847445 |
Two of the alleged cases happened in 1979. Details of the others are not clear yet.
People who say they suffered abuse have come forward since a health service report in abuse at Lissue House and Forster Green was leaked to the Irish News in October.
The Stinson Report contained allegations of abuse at the hospitals in the 1980s and 1990s.
The report was completed in 2009 but was never published.
It dealt with allegations that children suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
The review was instigated by the Belfast Trust and the Eastern Health Board after one former patient made a complaint to police.
The Belfast Health Trust said it reported allegations to the Eastern Board and to the Department of Health.
In October, Health Minister Edwin Poots told the assembly that there had been no cover-up into allegations of abuse at the two hospitals.
Mr Poots said that the Stinson report indicated that the regime was harsh and and a small number of staff may have committed acts of abuse.
He also said he was "extremely annoyed" that he was not given an interim briefing on the allegations at the hospitals.
In relation to the two allegations of abuse in 1979, Belfast Trust said it was unable to comment on staff issues from that period as it did not manage Lissue Hospital at that time. | Police are believed to be investigating five cases of alleged abuse at two hospitals, the BBC has learned. | 16253251 |
Psychologists at Cardiff University are working on a number of projects looking at the health benefits of "sleep engineering".
The team is considering ways of "decoupling" emotions from troubling memories during rest.
Sleep expert Prof Penny Lewis said the research area was new and "really exciting".
Post-traumatic stress disorder is believed to affect one-in-three people who suffer a traumatic event, with thousands of sufferers in the UK, including many armed forces veterans.
Prof Lewis, who is based as the university's CUBRIC neuroscience institute, believes the brain's processing of emotions during sleep could hold one of the keys to treating the debilitating disorder.
"Sometimes things happen to you in your life that you don't want to remember in graphic detail, like if you've been mugged or had an accident for instance," she said.
"And it's important over time those memories become less upsetting. So, what you want probably is to remember what happened but not to get upset every time you remember it."
Sleep scientists believe these kinds of anxiety could be treated by triggering the troubling memories while a person slumbers.
This triggering of memory reactivation can be done by presenting stimuli that are linked to the target memories during sleep.
Prof Lewis said: "So if we trigger emotional memories to reactivate during REM sleep, then we find that [people] rate the upsetting memories as much-less upsetting than they did before sleeping.
"It's early days on this but we're pretty excited about it," said Prof Lewis.
The university is currently conducting experiments using sleep labs at CUBRIC. | Scientists believe sleep manipulation could help to tackle anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. | 37332407 |
It follows the Volkswagen emissions scandal in which some diesel cars had software fitted designed to cheat emissions tests.
Parliament's Transport Committee said it would look into whether arrangements for testing noise, performance and emissions met EU standards.
The Vehicle Certification Authority oversees approval of UK vehicles.
Louise Ellman, chairwoman of the Transport Committee, said: "The Volkswagen scandal has raised serious concerns about whether vehicle type approval testing is fit for purpose.
"We heard evidence in October that the gap between emissions detected in test conditions and those detected in the real world significant. The testing procedure is clearly inadequate."
Investigations by several authorities across the world have been started since it was revealed in the US that VW used software to cheat tests for nitrogen oxide, a pollutant that can cause health problems.
Environmental campaigners have long complained that the performance of vehicles in "real world" driving bears little resemblance to the results achieved in laboratory tests.
Ms Ellman said: "It is essential to examine these allegations and to ensure that the government and EU take action to restore public confidence." | MPs are to investigate if the way the UK approves the road worthiness of cars is "fit for purpose". | 34830475 |
Mother-of-nine Katherine Cox, 33, and boyfriend Danny Shepherd, 25, deny causing or allowing Eli Cox's death.
Sam Holmes told Maidstone Crown Court that when he arrived at their Minster home "lots of adults were running around not knowing what to do".
The jury also heard how the couple had delayed the departure of the ambulance.
Mr Holmes said he had to repeatedly ask them to get into the ambulance with the baby.
"It took a while. They were running around asking for keys. I had to repeat it three times," he added.
More on this story and other news from Kent
Paramedic David Goodale told the jury that he also had to "ask several times for the family to get into the ambulance".
When asked by prosecutor Jennifer Knight what else he remembered of that day, he said that Ms Cox was on her phone "throughout the journey" to the hospital.
"I feel when we were asking her questions about the background of Eli she wasn't quite giving them. Danny gave us his history."
Mr Goodale said he was told by Mr Shepherd that "Eli had been unwell, he had vomited, he vomited again and went blue".
"He said he tried to blow into his mouth," he told the jury.
When asked if he remembered "seeing or smelling vomit on Eli's clothes", Mr Goodale replied: "No. There were no signs of vomit."
The court heard that paramedics spotted small red marks on the baby's cheeks, which Mr Shepherd told them were caused by Eli scratching himself with his finger nails.
Ms Cox's son Eli died in hospital on 27 April 2016, two weeks after the incident in Kent.
A neighbour of the couple, Mary Anne Davies, who is also trained in first aid, told the court that she had to "chase" Ms Cox into the ambulance.
"Any mother would have gone, just gone," she recalled.
She added that she also remembered hearing Mr Shepherd say: "Watch me get the blame for this."
Post-mortem examinations showed Eli's death was caused by a head injury of a "shaking or shaking impact type".
He also had oxygen deprivation to his brain, a brain injury, bruises at the back of his head and fractures dating back weeks before his death.
The court heard a hair sample showed he had been "regularly exposed to amphetamine and occasionally exposed to cocaine".
The trial continues. | An ambulance technician has told the trial of a couple accused of causing the death of a five-month-old boy how he was met with "complete panic". | 40523017 |
At least 50 professors of the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science said the plan would curb internet freedom in India.
Facebook wants to provide Indians with free access to a limited number of internet services.
But critics of the Free Basics service say it runs contrary to net neutrality.
India's telecoms regulator recently asked the Indian mobile network that partnered with Facebook to put their Free Basics offer on hold.
Those campaigning to protect net neutrality in India suggest data providers should not favour some online services over others by offering cheaper or faster access.
Supporting the campaign, the academics said in a statement that the Free Basics plan was "a lethal combination which will lead to total lack of freedom on how Indians can use their own public utility, the Internet".
The professors say there are three key problems with Facebook's plans:
But Facebook said that it would continue to lobby for its scheme.
"We are committed to Free Basics and to working with [Indian telecom firm] Reliance and the relevant authorities to help people in India get connected," a spokeswoman said.
The firm has been publishing full-page advertisements in leading Indian newspapers where Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is seen forcefully defending the service.
"In the 21st century, everyone also deserves access to the tools and information that can help them to achieve all those other public services, and all their fundamental social and economic rights. That's why everyone also deserves access to free basic internet services," he said in an appeal published in the Times of India.
Facebook launched Internet.org as a partnership with several mobile operators in emerging economies in 2013 as a means to "introduce people to the benefits of the internet".
The associated app, which provides access to selected services, was renamed as Free Basics earlier this year.
Content includes pages from selected local news and weather forecast providers, the BBC, Wikipedia and various health services.
It is offered in 36 countries and Facebook says it believes more than 15 million people have been brought online who would otherwise not be using the net.
In India, Reliance began offering the scheme in February and then extended it to all its subscribers in November, but it has faced criticism.
Local start-ups complained they risked being disadvantaged because they were not included, and in April several larger groups that had initially signed up to the scheme - including the media conglomerate Times Group and the travel booking site Cleartrip - pulled their services, citing concerns about it failing to provide a "fair, level playing field".
Facebook said it would allow more services to join, but Mr Zuckerberg warned it was "not sustainable to offer the whole internet for free".
The regulator is set to hold a hearing into net neutrality in January. | A group of leading Indian academics have criticised Facebook's controversial Free Basics internet plan, saying it has "deep flaws". | 35197062 |
The remains were excavated from graves in Paju, near the North Korean border, last year.
It is the third repatriation since a 2014 agreement between the two countries, as relations improve.
The war drew in China and the Soviet Union on the North's side, and UN forces, led by the US, on the South's.
A ceremony attended by South Korean and Chinese defence officials was held at Seoul's Incheon airport before the remains were flown to the north-eastern Chinese city of Shenyang, where China has a cemetery for its war dead.
The remains of Chinese and North Korean soldiers have continued to be discovered over the last six decades, where they were killed, often in remote woods in bleak by-now-overgrown dug-outs, the BBC's Stephen Evans in Seoul says.
Scientists work to identify them by analysing uniforms or ammunition, but often fail to put a name to the fallen soldier, our correspondent adds.
The 505 sets of remains flown back since the 2014 deal, have all been sent ahead of the annual Chinese Qingming, or tomb-sweeping, festival, which this year falls on 4 April.
Up to 1.5 million communist forces are thought to have died in the 1950-1953 Korean War.
About 30,000 US, 400,000 South Korean, and 1,000 UK troops, among others, also died, as well as at least two million civilian.
Tens of thousands more are listed as missing and both Koreas still conduct searches for soldiers' remains, periodically returning the foreign soldier's remains.
The remains of nearly 800 North Korean soldiers, however, have not been returned, such is the animosity between Seoul and Pyongyang, our correspondent says.
The Korean War ended with an armistice agreement. A formal peace treaty has never been signed and the two Koreas remain technically at war. | More than 60 years after the end of the Korean war, the remains of 36 Chinese soldiers who died fighting against South Korea are being returned home. | 35931768 |
Rebeca Schaefer and Peter Schmidt are accused of kidnapping, manslaughter and membership of an illicit organisation.
They handed themselves in after a judge ordered their arrest on Monday along with five others.
The judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Hartmut Hopp, the deputy leader of Colonia Dignidad who is thought to have fled to Germany.
Ms Schaefer is the adopted daughter of the former cult leader and Nazi sympathiser, Paul Schaefer, who died in prison in April 2010.
He was serving a 20-year term for sexually abusing children at Colonia Dignidad.
The Baptist preacher founded the commune in 1961 in a remote area about 390km (245 miles) south of the capital Santiago.
Ms Schaefer and her husband Peter Schmidt were detained after travelling to a police station together.
The justice ministry told the BBC that Chile had filed an international warrant via Interpol for the arrest of Hartmut Hopp.
Hopp, 66, disappeared last Friday while on bail awaiting trial.
"We are aware of press reports that he may have fled to his native Germany," justice ministry spokesman, Hector Cruzac, said.
The Chilean authorities are currently investigating how the German national managed to flee from house arrest.
Hopp, who is a medical doctor by profession, was convicted by a court last year of child sex abuse.
However, the authorities had not yet jailed him as they wanted to put him on trial on additional charges, including membership of a banned organisation.
The fugitive's daughter-in-law, Baerbel Schreiber, told a Chilean investigative website that he had arrived in Germany several days ago and was still there.
Colonia Dignidad served as a torture centre during the military rule of Gen Augusto Pinochet.
The colony was taken over by the Chilean government in 2005.
A subsequent investigation showed how it operated as a state within a state, with children forced to live separately from their parents. | Police in Chile have arrested two suspected members of the secretive sect, Colonia Dignidad. | 13535187 |
The trial programme in Melbourne is designed to "reduce unconscious bias", said to the lobby group behind them.
But the 10 signals in the city centre have drawn a mixed response, with critics saying they are unnecessary.
Organisers hope the city's pedestrian crossings will ultimately depict men and women in equal numbers.
"Unconscious bias reinforces stereotypes and influences daily decisions and attitudes," said Martine Letts, CEO of lobby group Committee For Melbourne.
The signals would "draw our attention to these issues in a practical and positive way", she said.
But not all people approved of the change, which is a 12-month trial backed by the local roads authority.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle told the Herald Sun: "I'm all for doing anything we can for gender equity, but really?"
"Unfortunately, I think this sort of costly exercise is more likely to bring derision."
Criticism was also expressed on social media.
Others pointed out possible issues with how genders are represented.
Victorian Minister for Women Fiona Richardson said there were "many small - but symbolically significant - ways that women are excluded from public space".
"This is a wonderful way to make public space more inclusive for women," she said in a statement.
The trial signals were installed on Tuesday ahead of International Women's Day.
Organisers said the cost of future rollouts could be minimised by coinciding them with scheduled replacements of old signals.
It comes a year after a Melbourne council depicted the city's first female councillor in a pedestrian signal. | Traffic signals depicting pedestrians in dresses have been unveiled in Australia as part of a gender equality campaign. | 39188096 |
The Welshman's singles victory over Keegan Bradley clinched the Ryder Cup for Europe in 2014.
This year's event in the United States just over two months away and the 40-year-old is likely to miss out having missed the cut in his last four events
"It's been frustrating so far," he said.
"But this week is The Open and anything can happen and it's a good week to turn the fortunes.
"It's not far off, I like links golf so there's no reason I can't get a great week this week."
With ranking events fast running out ahead of the 41st Ryder Cup at Hazeltine in Minnesota, Donaldson is set to miss out on one of the nine automatic places.
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And his chances of securing one of Europe captain Darren Clarke's three wildcard picks seems slim.
The world number 79 admits dividing his time between the PGA and European Tours this year in an effort to pick up Ryder Cup ranking points has left him feeling fatigued.
"The form has not been as I'd have liked due to probably playing too much golf here there and everywhere," Donaldson added.
"I've not had much to play with this year. I've been playing America with nine or 10 events out there, played decent but no great results.
"The game wasn't there last week and the last few weeks I've just not been at the races due just to tiredness
Donaldson will tee off alongside former Open champions Louis Oosthuizen and Padraig Harrington in the first round at 08:25 BST on Thursday and says its vital he starts well.
"You've got to make your score on the front nine on this golf course and see if you can hang on the back nine," Donaldson said.
"It's just a case of going out there and keeping the ball in the short stuff and making a score from there." | Jamie Donaldson says a return to form at this week's Open Championship at Royal Troon would give his dwindling Ryder Cup chances a huge boost. | 36779769 |
The Institute of Public Policy Research suggests if excluded students with undiagnosed problems were included, the rate would be much higher.
This figure compares with one in 50 pupils in the wider population who have a mental health condition.
The government said it would be publishing plans to improve mental health services later in the year.
The research comes as the number of fixed term and permanent exclusions is rising.
Figures just published show that last year, some 6,685 pupils were excluded permanently from state primary, secondary and special schools.
Some 35 pupils were excluded every day in 2015-16 - five more daily than in the previous year.
Eight out of 10 permanent exclusions happen in secondary schools.
Here, the rate of permanent exclusions has increased from 0.15% in 2014-15 to 0.17% in 2015-16 - equivalent to 17 pupils per 10,000.
Overall, there were 346,000 permanent and fixed-term exclusions handed out to pupils at state-funded schools in 2014-15 - the highest number since 2009.
IPPR associate fellow Kiran Gill, founder of The Difference campaign on the issue, said: "Theresa May says she is committed to improving mental health of young people.
"Addressing the most vulnerable children being thrown out of England's schools is a good place to start.
"Because unequal treatment of mental health may be an injustice, but the discrimination of school exclusions is a crime."
Her campaign aims to break the link between school exclusion and social exclusion in "a burningly unjust system", and ensure vulnerable young people get the good quality schooling they need to change their lives.
"If the government is serious about real action on mental health, there needs to be dedicated funding and thought-through solutions rather than sticking plasters in the symptoms of the problem," Ms Gill added.
Official figures showed 99% of pupils permanently excluded from mainstream schools do not get the five good GCSEs required by many employers.
According to the IPPR report, nearly two-thirds of the prison population was excluded from school at some point.
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "Any decision to exclude must be lawful, reasonable and fair and we are clear permanent exclusion should only be used as a last resort, in response to a serious breach or persistent breaches of the school's behaviour policy.
"This government is committed to working with local authorities and schools to ensure children in alternative provision receive a high-quality education.
"We are strengthening the links between schools and NHS mental health staff and have announced plans for every secondary school to be offered mental health first aid training."
But Kevin Courtney, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the rise in exclusions was a "concerning trend" and the DfE should consider what was driving the exclusions.
"NUT members tell us that as the curriculum gets narrower and children's experience of school is ever more focused on preparation for tests and exams, more students are becoming disengaged from school which in turn leads to problems with behaviour and mental health problems." | Half of pupils expelled from England's schools have a mental health issue, according to analysis of official data. | 40667089 |
The technology will only be enabled by default on 10 sites, including YouTube and Facebook. On all others, users will have to choose to activate it.
Flash, which is used for multimedia content, has become very popular with cyberthieves who exploit bugs to compromise web users.
Google follows other browser-makers who have ended support for Flash.
Some of the other sites on which Flash will still be active are Twitch, Amazon and many Russian sites such as Vk.com, Yandex and Mail.ru.
In a message posted on a Chromium-dev discussion forum, Anthony Laforge, Google's technical lead on Chrome, said internal metrics revealed the 10 chosen sites were the most popular Flash-using sites that users visited.
Mr Laforge said the changes would mean that on other sites Chrome would seek to use alternative technologies, such as HTML5, to play video. Where only Flash is available, browser users will be asked if they want to allow the software to run.
Chrome will remember which sites have permission to run Flash so users are not endlessly bothered with pop-ups.
Google said it was also working on ways to ensure that Flash still ran unimpeded when companies used it on internal networks.
Many other tech firms, including Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla, have taken steps to stop Flash running. In 2015, Facebook's security chief Alex Stamos called for it to be killed off once and for all.
However, it still lives on because many sites still make heavy use of it and many games employ it in ways that are hard to replicate with other web technologies.
Shortly before Google announced its plans, security firm Fireeye revealed the latest reported vulnerability in Flash was being actively exploited by cyberthieves. The malicious campaign began only days after the bug was first discovered.
In a blogpost, Fireeye researcher Genwei Jiang said attack code was being included in Flash files embedded in Microsoft Office documents.
Adobe has published patches that stop Flash being used as an attack route via this flaw.
Writing on the Sophos security blog, Paul Ducklin said this was the third time in three months that Adobe had needed to produce patches for vulnerabilities that, if exploited, would let attackers compromise a victim's computer.
He recommended that Flash be uninstalled where possible.
"We need it so occasionally, that we download it every time we need it, install it, use it, then uninstall it altogether and delete it," he said. | Google is planning to phase out full support for Adobe's Flash software on its Chrome browser by the end of 2016. | 36301904 |
It's one of the most interesting wildlife sites in Worcester, probably the whole country, and all thanks to what is going on deep under the ground.
Because deep under your feet in this part of the Midlands, there's plenty of salt and lots of water which means the shallow pools are fed with brine and end up as salty as the sea.
That changes completely the type of wildlife you find here. Around the edges of the shallow, salty pools you get salt marsh covered with coastal plants like sea spurrey.
In the middle, you find the reserve's crowing glory, the salt water-loving avocet.
It's the only site inland where you have a chance to see these feisty little birds - familiar to many as the bird used in the RSPB logo.
But there's a huge problem on the site. In the last few years the amount of salt marsh has been disappearing.
Since the 1970's perhaps as much as 90% of the marsh has been lost and soon there could be none left.
Rather than a shallow, salty pool, the site is turning into a deep lake. If that happens then the reserve will lose its unique habitat and the wildlife that loves it here, including the avocets.
So what's gone wrong? Well it's a combination of factors.
Deep under the ground the water forcing its way through the salt deposits is causing erosion and subsidence. So the bottom of the pool is dropping making the water itself deeper.
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust who manage the site have also perhaps kept the water levels higher than was good for the salt marsh although, with the laudable aim of keeping the local population of wading birds happy.
It's not something we talk about enough, but managing a wildlife site is a huge balancing act with all sorts of competing demands on any reserve.
Perhaps the biggest problem with tackling what's gone wrong here is that those in charge actually know remarkably little about how the site actually works.
So to understand more about the hydrology of the pools, springs and ground water, the trust has been slowly dropping the water level.
Autumn is really the only time to do this safely, the avocets have migrated and the rest of the birds have long finished nesting.
The University of Worcester has been helping out with an aerial survey using a kite, and on the ground volunteers are mapping what the lower water levels reveal.
Meanwhile, for the first time digital depth gauges and monitors to measure just how salty the pools are have been positioned in the water.
All of this work will allow the teams to map and track exactly how the site behaves and come up with an "ideal" water level for the reserve, with the aim of hopefully increasing the amount of salt marsh and the wildlife that loves it.
This entire site was created by subsidence after brine extraction stopped in the area.
Until the 1940s it was just farmland, indeed you can still see the fence posts from the field boundaries sticking up out of the water.
The amazing salty landscape that was produced has created a unique wildlife reserve but if it isn't managed properly it could just as quickly disappear. | Just off junction 5 of the M5 is a collection of lakes and pools known as the Christopher Cadbury Wetland Reserve. | 34702422 |
James Newman started work on the "Megaprocessor", which is 33ft (10m) wide and 6ft (2m) high, in 2012.
It does the job of a chip-sized microprocessor and Mr Newman has spent £40,000 ($53,000) creating it.
It contains 40,000 transistors, 10,000 LED lights and it weighs around half a tonne (500kg). So far, he has used it to play the classic video game Tetris.
In a video demonstration he admits the game isn't easy to play.
Mr Newman, a digital electronics engineer, started the project because he was learning about transistors and wanted to visualise how a microprocessor worked. The components all light up as the huge device carries out a task.
"The machine on your desk may be a million times better than what I have built - but mine is much prettier," he told the BBC.
"Mine has 10,000 times more LEDs."
Mr Newman hopes the Megaprocessor will be used as an educational tool and is planning a series of open days at his home over the summer.
"I doubt I'll be able to sell it," he said.
"My dream is that it goes to a museum or educational institute so that people can learn from it." | A man has finished building an enormous computer in the sitting room of his bungalow in Cambridge. | 36711989 |
The Wales game was good fun. We were down at half-time but the second half we played a lot better, began to relax and really express ourselves. It was a really enjoyable game to play in.
The first half we knew we could have been better. We looked at a few things at half-time, adapted well and that was pleasing for us. We converted our chances really well. Any time we were in their 22 we were scoring points or tries so that was really positive.
I feel like I'm playing all right just now. It helps me if the rest of the team are all doing their jobs well. The forwards were excellent against Wales and the backs were so clinical that it was easy for me to play the way I wanted to play. It definitely helps my performance when so many guys round about me are bringing their A-game.
Italy's tactics against England in round three certainly generated a lot of debate. I thought it was smart rugby
It was a relief to kick well after taking over from Greig Laidlaw. He has been kicking so well for us over the last few years. It gives you confidence when you're kicking well but I think it boosts the whole team to see the kicks going over, keeping the scoreboard ticking over.
I was pleased with my kicking against Wales but I don't think Alex Dunbar can say the same. His attempted cross-field kick was hilarious. We've all been getting stuck into him at training this week about it. He knew we had penalty advantage so there was no harm done. It was really funny. In all seriousness, Alex was outstanding against Wales as he has been throughout the tournament. He's been making turnovers and creating the space for the likes of Huw Jones and Stuart Hogg to do damage.
We feel we're in good form but we know how big a challenge we face next up at Twickenham. England are three from three and are on a 17-match winning run and looking to equal the world record for consecutive Test victories.
People have said they've not properly hit their stride in the Six Nations so far but they are still winning games. At international level that's all that really matters. Even when they've not been at their best they are still managing to win games.
We've seen how composed they were even when they were trailing late in the games against France and Wales to come back and win. They are very good when it comes to those pressure moments. We'll need to counter that.
Italy's tactics against England in round three certainly generated a lot of debate. I thought it was smart rugby. It was a good game plan that caught England by surprise.
The first half they were rattled but they came back out after half-time and adapted to the circumstances and ultimately won the game with a bit to spare. Now that Italy have used those tactics I think any team would know how to counteract that so I'd imagine it will be a more traditional battle at the breakdown this weekend.
George Ford and Owen Farrell have a brilliant partnership at 10 and 12. They've been playing together for quite a while now. With Farrell playing at fly-half for Saracens he seems to take a bit of pressure off Ford. He'll know what Ford wants outside him and he takes the kicking responsibilities to touch and at goal. That allows Ford to just concentrate on his game.
Ford has great skills. His kicking is outstanding. He's good at putting those high balls up and pressuring the opposition with kicks. I'm looking forward to going up against him but it will be tough.
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England are chasing that record but we've got plenty of motivation ourselves to win this game. The record is of no interest to us. We just know a win will put us in a fantastic position in the championship and that's all the motivation we need.
Scotland are never the favourites when we take on England but it will be good to go down to Twickenham and have a crack at them. We've not won there in 34 years but the history doesn't bother us.
This is a different team. We are in a good place, playing well and looking forward to going down there and getting stuck in.
Finn Russell was speaking to BBC Scotland's Andy Burke. | Having started the tournament with two wins from three matches we are feeling pretty good about how we're playing and how we are going in the Six Nations. | 39223301 |
Friday played just 21 league games for City in 1976-77, but his notoriety off the pitch and his ability on it made him one of the game's great characters.
The biopic, which begins filming in September, is to be directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Henry Alex Rubin.
It is based on a book by Paolo Hewitt and ex-Oasis bass player Paul McGuigan.
Friday, who also played for Reading, died at just 38 in 1990 after years of drug and alcohol abuse.
After Friday's brief spell at Cardiff he prematurely retired from the game, but he is still revered and frequently compared to George Best for his flamboyant lifestyle and playing style.
He is especially remembered for famously flicking a V-sign at Luton goalkeeper Milija Aleksic after scoring for the Bluebirds.
Welsh band Super Furry Animals used a photograph of the incident on the sleeve of one of their songs.
Describing one of Friday's wonder goals in a game he was officiating, former referee Clive Thomas said: "Even up against the likes of Pele and Cruyff, that rates as the best goal I have ever seen."
But it was also the way Friday lived his life off the field that captured the imagination.
Among several stories of his outrageous behaviour is the tale of him turning up to training drunk while carrying a swan.
When he travelled to Cardiff to join his new team by train he was arrested for not having a ticket and had to be bailed by Bluebirds manager Jimmy Andrews before even signing for the club.
The new as-yet-untitled film is backed by Fortitude International - a production company based in Los Angeles.
Former NME journalist and author Paolo Hewitt, who co-wrote The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw: The Robin Friday Story, said: "It's incredible to think Robin played only 21 league games for Cardiff and was still voted their cult player of all time.
"He's up there with the greats; a pure maverick and a man who lived every minute of his life to the full." | Cardiff City cult hero Robin Friday is to be portrayed in a new film of his life by Pirates of the Caribbean and Hunger Games star Sam Claflin. | 32720391 |
The Port Talbot-based Specific innovation centre is working on the concept of "buildings as power stations".
The project involves Tata Steel, Swansea and Cardiff universities, and firms including BASF and Pilkington.
More than half the funding is from the European Union.
The technology being developed aims to enable homes, offices, shops and factories to generate, store and use their own solar energy.
It involves creating innovative coatings for roofs, walls, steel and glass on buildings which can generate electricity.
Scientists are also developing solar air collectors or steel "skins" which create cavities between the heated metal and the building to harness and store solar heat. They hope to create buildings which will not need a gas supply.
One industrial unit in Port Talbot has already been generating all its own heat through solar power for the last three years.
Kevin Bygate, chief executive of Specific said the potential was to deliver a "game changer" on energy: not only for buildings to become self-sufficient but for surplus energy to be stored and to supply the grid.
They were close to reaching a target too when the technology could be incorporated into the design of new housing at no extra cost above the market price.
"At scale, it could deliver a significant reduction in gas heating, a reduction in the stress on the electrical grid at peak times, and a cheap, renewable source of energy for building owners and occupiers."
Altogether 50 partners from across industry and academia are involved in the five-year programme.
More than 130 scientists and product developers are working at the centre, which as well as labs has its own £6m pilot production plant.
Other research includes heated floor tiles and coatings which can help water treatment.
The funding announcement - which includes £15m from the EU - was made by Finance Minister Jane Hutt, who hopes it will help drive forward the energy industry.
The rest of the money comes from the Engineering and Physical Research Council, Innovate UK, industry and the two universities. It is aimed at turning the innovation into a commercial proposition. | The drive to develop smart technology so homes and businesses can generate their own solar energy has been given £26m funding. | 35696513 |
But the chairman, European Council President Donald Tusk, will keep the two discussions separate - despite concern that some jihadists are slipping into the EU posing as migrants and exploiting the freedom of movement provided by the Schengen zone.
At least two of the killers involved in the Paris attacks got in among the crowds of migrants arriving daily on the Greek islands near Turkey.
But EU leaders are anxious to avoid sounding like the nationalists who argue that the removal of border controls in the EU left Europeans more at risk from terrorists. That is the rallying cry of the French National Front (FN) and some other populist parties.
Migration and terrorism are also treated as separate issues because - as pointed out by EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker - many asylum-seekers are themselves fleeing from the terror inflicted by Islamic State (IS), the Taliban and other extremist groups.
The dilemma for the EU is that Schengen - the passport-free area embracing 26 countries - greatly eases the flow of people and goods across the EU, but also requires more information-sharing, to prevent cross-border criminality.
About 1.7 million EU citizens cross borders daily in the Schengen zone to go to work, the Bruegel think-tank reports.
And opinion polls indicate that many Europeans value Schengen more than any other change brought about by the EU.
But temporary border controls have been reimposed - by France, Germany, Austria and Hungary.
So the stakes are high at this summit.
"Our goal is clear: we must regain control over our external borders to stem migratory flows and to preserve Schengen," said Mr Tusk in his summit invitation letter.
Mr Juncker said Europeans now have "one border" and "a shared responsibility to protect it".
"We want to defend everything Schengen represents, and let me tell you that Schengen is here to stay," he told the European Parliament.
Saving Schengen means beefing up the surveillance of all people entering or leaving the Schengen area.
So in future EU citizens, as well as those from outside the bloc, will have their passports checked against police databases.
There is much work to do, however, to link up and improve those databases.
More than a million refugees and other migrants have surged into the EU this year, most of them desperate to reach Germany or other northern countries where job prospects are better, or where relatives can help them settle.
The Syrian war has pushed irregular migration to the EU to a record high.
There are fears that the international campaign to smash IS, and the Russian bombing in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, will drive even more Syrians to flee abroad.
So the 28 leaders in Brussels will look again at the EU's help for Greece and Turkey. The migrant registration process is still slow and patchy.
Turkey, struggling with more than two million Syrian refugees, now has much bargaining power. Critics say the EU risks compromising its human rights standards as it leans on Turkey to curb the migrant flow.
Greek coastguards and the EU's Frontex border agency only manage to intercept 20% of the migrants who reach Greek islands after life-threatening voyages, according to Frontex.
This week the Commission unveiled an ambitious plan for a new EU Border and Coast Guard to tackle problems on the EU's external borders.
The force - stronger than Frontex - would have 1,000 permanent staff and 1,500 reserves, who could be deployed rapidly to a trouble spot, within three days.
That could happen even without the host country requesting it - if the rest of the EU decides to take action.
Such force majeure might be the exception - but Poland has already raised objections on sovereignty grounds.
Once again, the migrant crisis is threatening to divide, more than unite, Europe. | Two pressing issues - migration and the fight against terrorism - are set to dominate the EU summit, as leaders gather in Brussels. | 35116452 |
Hamilton, who must beat Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday to close a 33-point deficit, was comfortably fastest.
The world champion ended up 0.315 seconds quicker than Rosberg after being fastest throughout the session.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third fastest but two seconds off the pace.
The Dutchman, however, set his fastest time on the medium tyre while Mercedes used the soft, which is in the region of a second a lap faster.
The second session starts at 20:00 BST.
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Hamilton started the weekend as if he means business, after a shaky series of races that have seen Rosberg take a stranglehold on the championship.
Had Hamilton not had an engine failure while leading in Malaysia, he would be pretty much neck-and-neck with his team-mate.
But that problem, coupled with below-par races in Singapore and Japan, have left him without control of the championship.
With a maximum of 100 points available over the remaining four races, Rosberg can afford to finish second to Hamilton at all of them and still become champion.
But Hamilton says he will "give it everything I've got and still believe everything is possible" and he came out in first practice as if he meant it.
On the Mercedes drivers' first runs, done on super-soft tyres, Hamilton was a second faster than Rosberg on their first laps, half a second quicker on their second runs and 0.3secs quicker on their third laps.
He then maintained his superiority on their second runs on the soft tyres in a session held in beautiful Texan autumn sunshine but a strong wind.
Verstappen's third fastest time was an impressive lap on the medium tyre, while Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in fourth was 0.028secs adrift on the soft tyre.
Trailing them by 0.3secs and separated by a similarly tight margin were the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg, who it was announced earlier this week would be joining Renault next season, and Valtteri Bottas' Williams.
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Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was seventh and a chunky 0.6secs slower than Verstappen. Some, but not all, of that margin was accounted for by a difference in engine performance.
Englishman Jordan King made his grand prix weekend debut for the Manor team and was 19th fastest on the soft tyre.
That put him 1.8secs quicker than team-mate and regular race driver Esteban Ocon, who ran only on the medium tyre.
Jenson Button was 18th for McLaren, with team-mate Fernando Alonso 13th.
US Grand Prix First practice results
US Grand Prix coverage details | Lewis Hamilton started his United States Grand Prix weekend in the best possible way with an impressive performance in first practice. | 37733499 |
Gunfire was heard on Friday morning at the wall - one of Judaism's holiest sites where hundreds of worshippers were attending prayers at the time.
Police say the guard shot the man after hearing him shout "Allahu Akbar".
The area, which is patrolled by armed guards, closed to visitors for about an hour but has now reopened.
The incident took place at about 07:40 local time (04:40 GMT) as the man emerged from a public toilet at the wall compound.
Jerusalem's holiest sites
A police spokesman said the guard drew his weapon and fired a number of shots at the man after hearing him shout "Allahu Akbar" (God is great, in Arabic).
The man had his hands in his pockets at the time he was approached by the guard, the spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said.
The Western Wall is part of the Temple Mount (known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif). It is venerated by Jews as a remnant from the complex which housed the Jewish temple until 70AD.
Jews go to the Western Wall to pray and leave prayers on pieces of paper between its ancient stones.
The site and the area around it has in the past been a flashpoint for violence between Israelis and Palestinians. | An Israeli Jew has been shot dead near Jerusalem's Western Wall after a guard mistook him for a Palestinian militant, police say. | 22998915 |
The vessel, named Tobrach N, was detained in Douglas after being caught fishing without a licence eight miles south east of Chicken Rock lighthouse.
Chris Thomson, from Kirkcudbright, Scotland, was also ordered to forfeit the catch, valued at £4,596.
Environment minister Geoffrey Boot said the case sounded "a powerful warning".
"Anyone flouting the law in Manx waters will be apprehended and prosecuted," he added.
Thomson admitted fishing without a licence after appearing at Douglas Courthouse.
He told the court he was new to the vessel, having only taken command two days previously, the Isle of Man government said.
He accepted that as captain, it was his responsibility to ensure he adhered to the law, but said the vessel's owners had informed him there was a valid licence.
A government spokesman said a licence to fish in Manx waters issued to the previous owners had expired on the sale of the vessel.
Minister Boot said: "Fishing is a multimillion-pound industry for the island and the long-term sustainability of stocks is vital to our economy, hence we licence activity."
Manx territorial waters extend 12 miles around the island's coastline and contain a number of restricted fishing zones. | The captain of UK-registered trawler caught fishing unlawfully for queen scallops in Manx waters has been fined £12,000. | 37787444 |
Hazlehead crematorium was removed from the list of council properties being opened to the public after complaints from families affected by the scandal.
The council was heavily criticised in a report by Dame Elish Angiolini for cremating babies with unrelated adults.
The former lord advocate described the routine practice as "abhorrent".
A council spokesman confirmed Hazlehead would not be part of the annual Open Doors Day event on 10 September.
He said: "Due to the timing of the event, and as a mark of respect to families affected by historical practices at Hazlehead Crematorium, we have taken the decision to remove the crematorium from this year's Doors Open Day schedule."
BBC Scotland revealed in 2013 that no ashes had been offered to the families of infants cremated in Aberdeen over a five-year period.
Baby and adult ashes were mixed together and given back to relatives of the adult, while the parents of infants were told there were no ashes.
The Aberdeen crematorium was among those investigated after it emerged staff at the Mortonhall crematorium in Edinburgh had been burying baby ashes in secret for decades. | The Aberdeen crematorium at the centre of the baby ashes scandal will not be included in this year's Open Doors Day event, the city council has confirmed. | 37261756 |
"I love watching it so much I almost didn't want to spoil the pleasure by being on it," she told Radio Times.
The 48-year-old said it was tricky for a woman her age to be on the show.
"You're not the comedy old bag yet, which would be the joy of going on Strictly," she said.
"If I did it, I'd want to be Ann Widdecombe. I'd want to be out there getting the laughs, being dragged around."
The presenter may not have strutted her stuff in a ball gown, but she can still be seen on a prime time Saturday night show - fronting BBC One's talent search Let It Shine.
The gig comes after Giedroyc stepped down as co-host of the Great British Bake Off, along with Sue Perkins, when it was announced the hit show was moving to Channel 4.
Giedroyc said the furore surrounding the move was "a pretty weird time".
"The press were camped out on my doorstep. My eldest daughter actually saw a few of them off, which I was very, very proud of," she said.
"I'm not the kind of person who would court that sort of attention. I have a very private existence and I had to slightly clench my buttocks during that."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | Former Great British Bake Off host Mel Giedroyc has revealed she was once offered the chance to appear as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing - but turned it down. | 38718281 |
He tweeted: "Man utd ... LOL" shortly after Leicester scored their fifth goal in a 5-3 win over Manchester United.
The Liverpool striker's message has been retweeted more than 185,000 times and received around 100,000 favourites.
Merseyside police say there has been no formal complaint from Liverpool or the player but they are "making enquiries".
It's not the first time the Italian, who was adopted after being born to Ghanaian immigrant parents, has found himself the subject centre of racial abuse, particularly in Italy.
Last year, the former AC Milan striker said he would walk off the pitch if he received further racial abuse. That was after the referee temporarily halted play because of racist chanting in the AC Milan v Roma match.
The vice-president of AC Milan was also accused of using racist language to describe Balotelli a week after he'd signed for the club.
In an interview with GQ magazine earlier this year, the 24-year-old talked about the abuse he suffered whilst playing in Italy.
He also said: "There are racists in England but I think they hide it more.
"People are fighting this thing, and it's important. But in the media every time I have talked about this subject people talk about it for three or four days but then everything goes back to normal.
"So, either there is something really strong for all of us to do, some real movement or real action, and in that case I will be the first guy to participate, but if it's just talk, I'd rather not.
"We can talk about it as much as we want but things don't change that way."
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube | Police have opened an investigation after Mario Balotelli was subjected to racist online abuse for sending a tweet on Sunday afternoon. | 29308519 |
Media playback is unsupported on your device
8 December 2014 Last updated at 16:52 GMT
The council said although a final decision has not been made, £420,000 could be saved if children are given training in how to use ordinary buses.
The measure would be part of £15m cutbacks by the authority after the money it received from central government was cut by 37% over the past five years.
As BBC Midlands Today's Kevin Reide reports, parents have said they are "horrified" at the suggestions. | Planned cuts by Coventry City Council could force disabled children who use special bus services to travel by public transport instead. | 30384351 |
Billionaire Mike Ashley had been ordered to appear in Westminster to give evidence about working practices.
Mr Ashley told MPs on Thursday he would not be at the hearing because his legal representative is unavailable.
The committee will decide its next steps at the hearing on Tuesday.
Updates on this story and more from Derbyshire
Mr Ashley informed the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Committee of his non-attendance by letter, explaining that he would not attend because the lawyer he wants with him is not available.
He had previously said he would meet MPs if they travelled to his firm's base in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, and offered to transport them in his own aircraft.
BIS chair Iain Wright MP said it was "entirely reasonable" for the committee to ask Mr Ashley to respond to allegations over working practices at Sports Direct and comment on how a review of those practices is progressing.
"We are very disappointed by this eleventh-hour notification, having given him [Mr Ashley] a notice period of three months to make the necessary arrangements," Mr Wright said.
"Business leaders regularly come before the committee and answer our questions. Sir Philip Green, for example, has agreed to attend as part of our joint inquiry into BHS.
"Does Mr Ashley, owning and operating a business in a parliamentary democracy, see himself as being beyond such public scrutiny? What has he got to be frightened of?"
The committee will question representatives from the Unite union and hear from employment agencies who provide workers to Sports Direct at their warehouse.
Mr Ashley, who also owns Newcastle United Football Club, has turned down invitations to meet with MPs in the past and at one stage said the MPs involved were "a joke".
He has been warned he could be in contempt of Parliament if he continued to refuse to appear before the committee.
Mr Ashley was asked to attend on the back of a BBC investigation into working practices at Sports Direct's headquarters. | An MP has questioned whether the boss of Sports Direct is "frightened" and thinks he is "beyond public scrutiny" after he said he will not be attending a Commons committee. | 36445919 |
The chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Margaret Hodge, said whistleblowers had told her that Google had sold advertising within the UK and invoiced customers in the UK.
Google had earlier said that UK customers paid Google in Ireland.
"No one in the UK can execute transactions," said Google's head of sales in Northern Europe, Matt Brittin.
"No money changes hands," he said, despite the fact that he employed sales staff in Britain.
But Ms Hodge said: "It was quite clear from all that documentation that the entire trading process and sales process took place in the UK."
She read from the official guide to parliamentary procedure, Erskine May: "A person prevaricating or giving false evidence can be considered to be in contempt of the House."
And she said: "We will continue to have whistleblowers until we get to the bottom of the truth about all this."
Google's sales in the UK are worth £3.2bn, but most are routed through Dublin. In 2011 it paid £6m in UK corporation tax.
Google is one of several multinational companies that have been strongly criticised in recent months for organising their tax affairs in ways that minimise the amounts they pay in the UK.
Amongst them is online retailer Amazon, whose UK subsidiary paid £2.4m in corporate taxes last year, despite making sales of £4.3bn, and Starbucks, which has also gone to great lengths to minimise its tax bills, though it has been pressured to agree to pay more than it used to.
All three, as well as others, have previously appeared before the Public Accounts Committee, and they have attracted much criticism in spite of their insistence that they are operating within the law.
Prime Minister David Cameron has described such "aggressive" tax avoidance as "immoral", while the leader of the Labour party, Ed Miliband, sees it as "evidence of a culture of corporate irresponsibility among certain firms which is totally unacceptable".
Mr Brittin maintained that any advertiser in Europe would deal directly with Google in Dublin, which employs some 3,000 staff.
"When we came to Europe, we set up Dublin as our European headquarters," said Mr Brittin
"We wanted to be able to contract with customers across the whole of Europe, not just the UK.
"Any customer that spends with us, they have to buy from Ireland, because that's where the intellectual property sits."
HMRC's director general for business tax, Jim Harra, would like to see the system changed.
"Corporate tax affairs are operated by an international framework that the UK and other countries are subject to," he said.
"That international framework has not kept up with changes in the economy, particularly in the digital economy. That affects companies like Google and Amazon.
"This, he said, had enabled companies to place their various activities in jurisdictions with favourable taxation systems, and thus they are able to reduce their tax burdens.
"Those international rules need to be looked at," he said. | The internet giant Google has been challenged by MPs over the way it reports its income for tax. | 22551401 |
Toys from China, copper from Chile, T-shirts from Bangladesh, wine from New Zealand, coffee from Ethiopia, and tomatoes from Spain.
Like it or not, globalisation is a fundamental feature of the modern economy.
In the early 1960s, world trade in merchandise was less than 20% of world economic output, or gross domestic product (GDP).
Now, it is around 50% but not everyone is happy about it.
There is probably no other issue where the anxieties of ordinary people are so in conflict with the near-unanimous approval of economists.
Arguments over trade tend to frame globalisation as a policy - maybe even an ideology - fuelled by acronymic trade deals like TRIPS and TTIP.
But perhaps the biggest enabler of globalisation has not been a free trade agreement, but a simple invention: the shipping container.
It is just a corrugated steel box, 8ft (2.4m) wide, 8ft 6in (2.6m) high, and 40ft (12m) long but its impact has been huge.
BBC World Service's 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy programme highlights the inventions, ideas and innovations that helped create the global economy.
You can find more information about its sources and listen online or download the programme podcast.
Consider how a typical trade journey looked before its invention.
In 1954, an unremarkable cargo ship, the SS Warrior, carried merchandise from New York to Bremerhaven in Germany.
It held just over 5,000 tonnes of cargo - including food, household goods, letters and vehicles - which were carried as 194,582 separate items in 1,156 different shipments.
Just keeping track of the consignments as they moved around the dockside warehouses was a nightmare.
But the real challenge was physically loading such ships.
Longshoremen would pile the cargo onto a wooden pallet on the dock.
The pallet would be hoisted in a sling and deposited in the hold.
More longshoremen carted each item into a snug corner of the ship, poking the merchandise with steel hooks until it settled into place against the curves and bulkheads of the hold, skilfully packed so that it would not shift on the high seas.
There were cranes and forklifts but much of the merchandise, from bags of sugar heavier than a man to metal bars the weight of a small car, was shifted with muscle power.
This was dangerous work.
In a large port, someone would be killed every few weeks.
In 1950, New York averaged half a dozen serious incidents every day, and its port was safer than many.
Researchers studying the SS Warrior's trip to Bremerhaven concluded the ship had taken ten days to load and unload, as much time as it had spent crossing the Atlantic.
In today's money, the cargo cost around $420 (£335) a tonne to move.
Given typical delays in sorting and distributing the cargo by land, the whole journey might take three months.
Sixty years ago, then, shipping goods internationally was costly, chancy, and immensely time-consuming.
Surely there had to be a better way?
Indeed there was: put all the cargo into big standard boxes, and move those.
But inventing the box was the easy bit - the shipping container had already been tried in various forms for decades.
The real challenge was overcoming the social obstacles.
To begin with, the trucking companies, shipping companies, and ports could not agree on a standard size.
Some wanted large containers while others wanted smaller versions; perhaps because they specialised in heavy goods or trucked on narrow mountain roads.
Then there were the powerful dockworkers' unions, who resisted the idea.
Yes the containers would make the job of loading ships safer but it would also mean fewer jobs.
US regulators also preferred the status quo.
The sector was tightly bound with red tape, with separate sets of regulations determining how much that shipping and trucking companies could charge.
Why not simply let companies charge whatever the market would bear - or even allow shipping and trucking companies to merge, and put together an integrated service?
Perhaps the bureaucrats too were simply keen to preserve their jobs.
Such bold ideas would have left them with less to do.
The man who navigated this maze of hazards, and who can fairly be described as the inventor of the modern shipping container system, was called Malcom McLean.
McLean did not know anything about shipping but he was a trucking entrepreneur.
He knew plenty about trucks, plenty about playing the system, and all there was to know about saving money.
As Marc Levinson explains in his book, The Box, McLean not only saw the potential of a shipping container that would fit neatly onto a flat bed truck, he also had the skills and the risk-taking attitude needed to make it happen.
First, McLean cheekily exploited a legal loophole to gain control of both a shipping company and a trucking company.
Then, when dockers went on strike, he used the idle time to refit old ships to new container specifications.
He repeatedly plunged into debt.
He took on "fat cat" incumbents in Puerto Rico, revitalising the island's economy by slashing shipping rates to the United States.
He cannily encouraged New York's Port Authority to make the New Jersey side of the harbour a centre for container shipping.
But probably the most striking coup took place in the late 1960s, when Malcom McLean sold the idea of container shipping to perhaps the world's most powerful customer: the US Military.
Faced with an unholy logistical nightmare in trying to ship equipment to Vietnam, the military turned to McLean's container ships.
Containers work much better when they are part of an integrated logistical system, and the US military was perfectly placed to implement that.
Even better, McLean realised that on the way back from Vietnam, his empty container ships could collect payloads from the world's fastest growing economy, Japan.
And so trans-Pacific trading began in earnest.
A modern shipping port would be unrecognisable to a hardworking longshoreman of the 1950s.
Even a modest container ship might carry 20 times as much cargo as the SS Warrior did, yet disgorge its cargo in hours rather than days.
Gigantic cranes weighing 1,000 tonnes apiece lock onto containers which themselves weigh upwards of 30 tonnes, and swing them up and over on to a waiting transporter.
The colossal ballet of engineering is choreographed by computers, which track every container as it moves through a global logistical system.
The refrigerated containers are put in a hull section with power and temperature monitors.
The heavier containers are placed at the bottom to keep the ship's centre of gravity low.
The entire process is scheduled to keep the ship balanced.
And after the crane has released one container onto a waiting transporter, it will grasp another before swinging back over the ship, which is being simultaneously emptied and refilled.
Not everywhere enjoys the benefits of the containerisation revolution.
Many ports in poorer countries still look like New York in the 1950s.
Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, remains largely cut off from the world economy because of poor infrastructure.
But for an ever-growing number of destinations, goods can now be shipped reliably, swiftly and cheaply.
Rather than the $420 (£335) that a customer would have paid to get the SS Warrior to ship a tonne of goods across the Atlantic in 1954, you might now pay less than $50 (£39).
Indeed, economists who study international trade often assume that transport costs are zero.
It keeps the mathematics simpler, they say, and thanks to the shipping container, it is nearly true.
Tim Harford writes the Financial Times's Undercover Economist column. The 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy programme was broadcast on the BBC World Service. You can find more information about its sources and listen online or download the programme podcast. | Perhaps the defining feature of the global economy is precisely that it is global. | 38305512 |
The former Juventus and Italy boss has been tasked with reviving Chelsea, who won the Premier League in 2014-15 but finished 10th last season.
Conte, 47, was signed by local club Lecce as a 13-year-old.
"Lecce bought me and one of my team-mates, Sandro Morello, for eight footballs and three of them were flat," Conte told the Mail on Sunday.
"My first team was called Juventina. My father was the owner, the coach, the kit man and everything else.
"He was my first master. In that period, my father was very tough - and especially with me."
Conte also revealed that he is close with former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who won the Premier League and FA Cup with the club in 2010.
"Carlo told me about the club. We spoke about people who work there," said Conte, who was managed by Ancelotti at Juventus.
Conte added that club captain John Terry will continue to be a crucial part of his plans, despite the defender considering leaving the club last season.
"In every team there are some players with great experience, and this experience counts, if you play but also if you don't play," said Conte.
"John is a god example during the training sessions. He has the right attitude and the right behaviour."
Chelsea open their Premier League campaign at home to West Ham on Monday, 15 August.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has revealed that his first transfer fee was eight footballs and £100. | 37001743 |
With polls in France showing a tight contest ahead of Sunday's voting, "nobody wants to take any new position," said Karl Haeling, of LBBW.
The Dow Jones fell 0.2% to 20,547.55, while the S&P 500 shed 0.3% to 2,348.7. The Nasdaq lost 0.1% at 5,910.52.
General Electric fell 2.4% despite posting higher profits.
Honeywell International jumped 2.7% as first-quarter earnings came in above analyst expectations.
But Mattel slumped 13.6% after reporting a $113.2m loss in the first quarter, saying sales were damaged by a glut of toys after the holiday period.
A steady stream of strong earnings through the week had helped to buoy market sentiment.
Of the 95 companies in the S&P 500 that reported earnings, about 75% topped expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data. That was above the 71% average for the past four quarters.
Overall, profits of S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 11.2% in the quarter, the most since 2011. | Wall Street's main markets fell on mixed earnings and cautious investor sentiment ahead of the French presidential election this weekend. | 39665509 |
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said Dawnfresh had used azamethiphos excessively at one of its sites in Loch Etive.
Azamethiphos is an organophosphorus pesticide which is used to control parasites such as sea lice.
Dawnfresh confirmed there had been a "very small number of errors".
The company, which is one of the UK's largest trout producers, added that it was working with Sepa to ensure the farm had "the lowest possible impact on the environment in the future".
The regulator was alerted to the breach of rules by the conservation charity Friends of Loch Etive.
Dawnfresh produced about 3,000 tonnes of rainbow trout at Loch Etive last year.
A Sepa spokesman said: "Sepa is in contact with Dawnfresh regarding occasions where consecutive bath treatments with azamethiphos were carried out at Etive 6 (site) less than 24 hours after the first treatment.
"These treatments are not in compliance with the site's CAR (Controlled Activities Regulations) licence.
"We will be undertaking further investigations into this matter with the company."
Fish farms in Scotland and elsewhere use a variety of methods, including chemicals, in an effort to control sea lice, which can weaken the health of fish and its growth.
Dawnfresh Farming director Stewart Hawthorn said that last year the company recorded a "historically low number of sea lice" in Loch Etive after it took a "more proactive approach to the problem".
He said: "Unfortunately, there were six instances on one of our sites where we did not meet our usual high standards in the technical implementation of a treatment.
"This is particularly frustrating for us because Sepa has confirmed that without these very small number of errors, the site would have been rated as 'excellent' in environmental compliance.
"We will be working with Sepa and our own team to ensure we have the lowest possible impact on the environment in the future."
Mr Hawthorn added: "Overall we are proud of our record of environmental compliance.
"The other three operating sites on Loch Etive achieved ratings of excellent (two sites) and good (one site).
"Two further sites will not be operated again precisely because we do not feel we can do so whilst meeting the highest standards of environmental protection.
"Going forward into 2017 we remain committed to effectively controlling sea lice and are already in the process of putting in place new treatment methods which will further reduce our reliance on chemicals." | Environmental regulators are investigating a west Highlands trout farm for breaching rules on the use of a pesticide to control parasites. | 39793639 |
Right-back Azpilicueta, 22, started his career with Osasuna and has represented Spain at various youth levels and played at the Olympics this summer.
He missed Marseille's Europa League qualifier against FC Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday as he travelled to London to complete the deal.
Chelsea have not revealed the length of the contract for Azpilicueta.
Eden Hazard, Lille, £32m
Marko Marin, Werder Bremen, £6m
Oscar, Internacional, £25m
Cesar Azpilicueta, Marseille, £6.5m
A statement on Chelsea's website read: "Chelsea is delighted to announce the signing of Cesar Azpilicueta.
"The 22-year-old right-back, who recently represented Spain at the London Olympics, arrives at Stamford Bridge following a two-year spell in France's Ligue 1 with Marseille."
Azpilicueta made the last of his 69 appearances for Marseille in last weekend's 2-0 victory over Sochaux.
He joined the French club in 2010 from Osasuna, and although he suffered a serious knee injury in his first season there, he went on to establish himself as the club's first-choice right-back.
Azpilicueta is the fourth Spaniard at Stamford Bridge, linking up with compatriots Juan Mata, Oriol Romeu and Fernando Torres.
His arrival comes after Wigan Athletic accepted a £9m bid from Chelsea for forward Victor Moses. | Chelsea have completed the signing of Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta from Marseille for an initial fee of £6.5m. | 19366944 |
New figures were released on the anniversary of its introduction.
The charge for single-use carriers has also raised about £6.7m for good causes in the past 12 months.
Scotland's Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead hailed the 5p charge a "major success", and thanked Scotland for "embracing the policy".
650m -
Fewer carrier bags in 2014/15
80% - Drop in bags handed out by Morrisons, the Co-operative, Waitrose and Boots
90% - Drop in bags handed out by Asda
100% - Drop in bags handed out by Sainsbury's
He added: "Previously, statistics showed that people in Scotland used more than 800 million new single-use carrier bags every single year - more per head than anywhere else in the UK.
"It's now becoming second nature to shoppers to reuse their carrier bags and hopefully to think more about our impact on the environment."
Morrisons, the Co-operative, Waitrose and Boots have all reported an estimated 80% reduction in carrier bag use, with Asda witnessing a drop of 90% and Sainsbury's 100% as it no longer offers them to shoppers.
In 2011, Wales was the first nation in the UK to introduce a bag charge. Northern Ireland followed in April 2013.
The policy came into being in Scotland on 20 October last year and England introduced charging at the beginning of this month.
Scottish government research concludes that a reduction of 650 million bags north of the border means a net saving of more than 4,000 tonnes of plastic and other materials each year.
That is the equivalent of more than 500 million single-use carrier bags once it is offset by estimated increases in other forms of plastic bag, such as bags for life.
The net carbon saving is more than 2,500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually.
All retailers are being urged to sign up to Scotland's carrier bag commitment, an agreement to disclose information on the charge and donations made to good causes.
Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland, said it was really great to see how successful the initiative had been.
He added: "Before the charge Scotland consumed a staggering 800 million carrier bags every year, many of which ended up polluting our environment and threatening wildlife.
"As an additional benefit, less resource use also means fewer carbon emissions." | The number of plastic bags handed out in stores was slashed by 80% - the equivalent of 650 million carriers - in the first year of Scotland's 5p charge. | 34575364 |
Anna Francolini, who appeared in Damon Albarn's musical wonder.land, will play Captain Hook and Mrs Darling.
"The NT is delighted that Anna was available to step into the role, and wishes Sophie a speedy recovery," a theatre spokesperson said.
The show begins previews on 16 November.
The production, directed by Sally Cookson, was first seen at Bristol Old Vic.
Peter Pan was first staged at the National Theatre in 1997, with Sir Ian McKellen as Captain Hook, Daniel Evans as Peter Pan and Jenny Agutter as Mrs Darling.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or if you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | Sophie Thompson has withdrawn from the cast of Peter Pan, the National Theatre's Christmas show, after breaking her wrist. | 37728803 |
A mound of waste, reaching 42ft high (13m) at its peak, has dominated the skyline around Moor Street, Brierley Hill for several years.
Robert McNaughton, director of Refuse Derived Fuel, was jailed for six months in December 2013 for failing to clear the site.
On Monday Dudley Council approved outline planning permission for up to 94 flats to be built on the site.
Developers are expected to meet the costs of removing the waste from the 0.83-hectare site, if detailed plans are approved at a later date.
"The clients will be dealing with taking the rubbish off the site and working with the Environment Agency to make sure everything is box-ticked," Ashley Clarke from MRC Architects, which is responsible for the new plans, said.
Local resident Geoff Clarke described it as a very "positive" step and said people in the area had suffered the sight and smell of the tip for many years.
"The waste site has been in its current state for about four years," he said.
"It's been there that long that it's started to sprout trees."
The legal action against RDF was brought by the Environment Agency. | Homes could be built on the site of a huge rubbish pile in the Black Country. | 33060190 |
Kingsley Omiogate, 40, of Newton Abbot, had sex with the girl twice in 2014 after arranging to meet her via text messages.
He had denied two counts of sexual activity with a child but was found guilty at Exeter Crown Court in June.
A judge said Omiogate had groomed the girl, who can not be named, in a "systematic and planned way".
Click here for more on the sentence and other stories
Sentencing, Ignatius Hughes QC said: "You took advantage of a child and the electronic traffic shows there were requests for pictures of her private parts, although she did not fully comply".
"There was pressure brought by you for her not to tell her family. It did not amount to blackmail but was plainly a feature of this case. There is a degree of targeting a vulnerable child", Mr Hughes said.
Exeter Crown Court heard Omiogate had groomed the girl via text messages and on Facebook and told her to keep their relationship secret.
He denied any contact had taken place but the girl's mother found the texts and online conversations.
Mary Miles, defending, said Omiogate was a devoted and dutiful father of a young daughter who he had continued to support despite being banned from seeing her since his arrest. | A man who had sex with a teenage girl after grooming her via texts and Facebook has been jailed for six years. | 37085607 |
The painting, part of an exhibition at the National Assembly, was torn down by supporters of Ms Park on Tuesday.
Inspired by Edouard Manet's Olympia, "Dirty Sleep", also shows Ms Park's close friend Choi Soon-sil as a servant bringing her flowers.
The two women both deny accusations of colluding in corruption.
Ms Park was impeached by politicians for her role in the scandal last year and stripped of her officials duties. The constitutional court has until June to either approve the decision or reinstate her.
Ms Choi is accused of using her relationship with the president to extract donations from corporations to foundations she runs. She has been charged with attempted coercion, abuse of authority and attempted fraud.
The painting at the centre of the row shows Ms Park sleeping while the Sewol ferry, which sank three years ago killing nearly 400 people, most of them students, goes down outside the window.
Ms Park has long been criticised for her handling of the disaster.
On Wednesday, the floor leader of the main opposition party condemned the lawmaker who organised the exhibit saying parliament "would have not remained silent if someone had drawn a nude painting of former President Roh Moo-hyun when he was impeached", Yonhap news agency reported.
Also on Wednesday there were dramatic scenes at the special prosecutors office, where Ms Choi had been made to attend questioning. She has refused to attend for a month, citing ill health.
On arrival, she shouted to reporters that she had been pressured to admit guilt.
"I am being forced to confess committing crimes jointly with the president," she said, according to local media, while being escorted.
A spokesman for the special prosecutor said the allegation of coercion was "completely groundless". | A nude painting of South Korean President Park Geun-hye has caused anger, as a political scandal continues to grip the country. | 38741599 |
Ashers Baking Company, based in County Antrim, was taken to court by a gay rights activist, assisted by Northern Ireland's Equality Commission.
There was a wide range of reaction to the judge's ruling.
First Minister Peter Robinson
"I'm not terribly surprised. In many ways, that's why we were preparing a legislating alternative.
"I think the term 'reasonable accommodation' is now what we would like to frame some legislation around, recognising that there are rights on both sides."
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, on Twitter
"Ashers bakery judgement a good result for equality. Gay people have for far too long been discriminated against. We and the law on their side."
David McIlveen DUP, on Twitter
"Utterly sickened that a Christian-owned business has been hauled over the coals for refusing to promote something that is not legal in Northern Ireland."
SDLP MLA Colum Eastwood, on Twitter
"Today's judgment is a welcome and refortifying of our hard-won equality laws."
Sinn Féin MLA Catriona Ruane
"It is a good day for equality and a good day for everyone in our society."
John O'Doherty, The Rainbow Project
"The judge clearly articulated that this is direct discrimination for which there can be no justification."
The Green Party NI, on Twitter
"Let us now move forward to rebuild relationships with the LGBQT community."
DUP MLA Paul Givan
"What we cannot have is a hierarchy of rights, and today there's a clear hierarchy being established that gay rights are more important than the rights of people to hold religious beliefs."
Jim Allister TUV
"It is a dark day for justice and religious freedom in Northern Ireland."
Peter Lynas, director of Evangelical Alliance
"This judgment will cause great concern for all those in business. It turns out the customer is always right and businesses have no discretion in deciding which goods and services to produce. The law rightly protects people from discrimination, but it has now extended that protection to ideas." | A judge has ruled that a Christian-run bakery discriminated against a gay customer by refusing to make a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan. | 32799360 |
Wales skills coach Jenkins and Harlequins forwards coach Rowntree, both 45, will link up with Steve Borthwick, Andy Farrell and Rob Howley.
Jenkins was kicking coach and Rowntree forwards coach when the Lions beat Australia 2-1 in 2013.
"They understand what it will take to win in New Zealand," said Gatland.
The Lions will play Test matches against world champions New Zealand on 24 June, 1 July and 8 July, with Gatland due to name his squad on 19 April.
Both former Wales fly-half Jenkins and ex-England prop Rowntree will be on their fifth Lions tour, a third on the coaching staff following two as players.
"I have experienced two series wins, most recently in 2013, and I'm looking forward to getting out on the training pitch and preparing for the challenge this summer," said Jenkins.
Rowntree said: "This year will be the ultimate challenge considering the form that New Zealand have been in across the last decade.
"But looking at the talent and potential in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, it is a hugely exciting opportunity for us to do something incredible."
3 June - Provincial union team (Toll Stadium, Whangarei)
7 June - Blues (Eden Park, Auckland)
10 June - Crusaders (AMI Stadium, Christchurch)
13 June - Highlanders (Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin)
17 June - Maori (International Stadium, Rotorua)
20 June - Chiefs (Waikato Stadium, Hamilton)
24 June - New Zealand (First Test, Eden Park, Auckland)
27 June - Hurricanes (Westpac Stadium, Wellington)
1 July - New Zealand (Second Test, Westpac Stadium, Wellington)
8 July - New Zealand (Third Test, Eden Park, Auckland) | Neil Jenkins and Graham Rowntree have been named on Warren Gatland's British and Irish Lions coaching staff for this summer's tour of New Zealand. | 39295831 |
The 21-year-old American musician was killed in a car crash in Chippenham in April 1960, following a gig in Bristol.
The singer was returning to London at the end of a UK tour when the taxi he was in span into a lamp post. The spot is marked with a memorial plaque.
Campaigners are now hoping to raise £10,000 to repair the memorial plaque and to create a "significant statue".
Gareth Inker, who set up the fundraising campaign, said the town's memorial plaque had been there a long time and was in a "bit of a state".
"It's visited by thousands every year - people come from all over the world to pay tribute," he said.
"But it's been damaged by grass cutting machines and the concrete base is crumbling and falling apart.
"So we're basically trying to raise money to repair the plaque and protect it and to also buy a statue - of the great man - for people to actually come and pay their respects to."
Described as "James Dean with a guitar", Eddie Cochran's two biggest songs were Summertime Blues and C'mon Everybody. | A campaign has been launched to erect a statue of rock 'n' roller Eddie Cochran in the Wiltshire town where he died. | 37195774 |
It follows a major increase in cases of the tick-borne infection Lyme Disease, which has tripled over the past decade
Public Health England estimates there are up to 3,000 new cases in England and Wales each year.
Dr Jolyon Medlock, head of medical entomology at Porton Down, said: "It's important to know what ticks look like and make sure you check for ticks."
The blood-sucking parasite is common in woodland, heathland and areas where deer graze.
Dr Medlock said "ticks questing for animals" climb up vegetation and "wave their legs around" to sense "breath and movement".
"Ideally walk in the centre of paths and wear long trousers and make sure you check for ticks when you get back," he said.
"It's also important to know what a tick looks like. Often people say they look like a coffee bean but that's a tick that's been feeding for seven to eight days - unfed ticks look like spiders."
According to Public Health England, Lyme Disease is the most significant tick-borne infection in the UK - which if left untreated can cause chronic pain and severe fatigue.
"You often get a slowly expanding circular reddish rash, flu-like feeling, fatigue, muscle and joint pain," said Dr Medlock.
"It's important, if you've had a tick bite and you feel unwell, to tell a GP so they are aware that it might be Lyme Disease." | People are being warned by Wiltshire health experts to take extra precautions against ticks. | 33062352 |
Sources close to the family said Michael Sandford, 21, of Surrey, landed at Heathrow Airport earlier, nearly five months into a year-long sentence.
He was arrested at an event in Las Vegas in the run-up to the US election.
Sandford, from Dorking, who has autism, admitted last year to being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.
He also admitted disrupting an official function.
He suffers from a number of mental health problems and was diagnosed as having had a psychotic episode at the time of the incident, in June.
Sandford was released less than half-way through the sentence, despite fears Mr Trump might seek to intervene and keep him in jail for longer, or block his return to the UK.
His mother said he had been frequently put on suicide watch in prison and claimed Trump-supporting guards and inmates had been making his life a misery. | A man jailed for trying to grab a policeman's gun at a Donald Trump rally in an apparent assassination bid has returned to the UK. | 39810288 |
SP Energy Networks wants to build a new line from South Ayrshire to Cumbria - most of it in Dumfries and Galloway.
It has now published its report on public feedback on the plans.
It said a further round of consultation would be required later this year but said changes in the industry could affect the "scope of the project".
More than 1,600 pieces of feedback were provided during the first round of consultation - the majority from Dumfries and Galloway where most of the proposed power line route would run.
A number of points about the scheme were raised, including:
The company said that since the consultation was launched, there had been a "number of significant developments in the wider energy sector" which could affect the project.
However, it said it remained the case that investment was required to replace "ageing infrastructure in the Dumfries and Galloway region".
There will now be "further analysis" to determine the extent to which changes to "subsidy arrangements for onshore wind farms and the future mix of power generation in Scotland" would alter their plans.
SP Energy Networks transmission director Pearse Murray said: "In our initial documentation published last year, we indicated our intention to undertake a second round of consultation in 2016 on the preferred routes and substation sites.
"Given the further analysis work we are doing with National Grid, we believe it is necessary to take more time to consider the issues in order to ensure that the most appropriate proposal is taken forward to the next stage of the process.
"Once we have the results of the studies that are under way, we will be in a position to set out any implications on the scope of the project and our plans for the next round of consultation.
"We expect that this will be in the summer of this year."
Alan Jones, of campaign group Dumgal Against Pylons, said it welcomed the recognition that "external factors" had changed since the consultation was launched.
"While we have always recognised the need to replace the existing system because of its age, and add some future-proofing, this 'pause for thought' aligns with our thinking," he said.
"It will give Scottish Power the time they need to take into consideration not only the extensive feedback but also to reflect on how best to meet the changing external environmental circumstances."
He added that a stakeholder liaison group for the project should now be expanded and also called for independent research on the potential impact of the scheme. | Significant changes in the energy industry could alter the scale and nature of plans for a major power line upgrade in southern Scotland. | 35667636 |
They will review a state ruling which found that officials engaged in "an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander".
A federal court ruled in Wisconsin that Republican lawmakers had violated the US Constitution's equal protection under the law and free speech clauses.
The case will set a legal precedent on the long-time political practice.
In May, the Supreme Court invalidated state electoral maps in North Carolina, after finding that Republicans legislators re-drew them to diminish the political clout of African-American voters.
But the court has never ruled on electoral maps that have been re-drawn simply to give a political advantage to one party over another.
In states controlled by Republicans, Democrats have long complained that voting districts are designed to disadvantage them. And the reverse applies in Democratic states, although they are fewer in number.
In 2010, when districts were last redrawn, Republicans controlled the process in a majority of states, which helped lock in their electoral advantage.
The last time the Supreme Court looked at a challenge to partisan redistricting, the justices tied themselves in knots trying to resolve the case, ending with a muddled decision that didn't answer the basic question. Can politicians take politics into account when picking who their voters will be?
The cleanest answer for the nine justices would be to reverse the lower court decision striking down Wisconsin's legislative districts as too partisan. That would preserve the status quo and leave the battle over the perceived ills of partisan gerrymandering to politicians and voters.
A decision to uphold the ruling, on the other hand, would send courts across the US head-first into a legal thicket, where they would be asked to glean legislative intent in district-drawing and pore over electoral maps and data to discern evidence of imbalance.
It's a practice federal courts are already familiar with when it comes to allegations of racial bias in redistricting, resulting in protracted legal battles that have often stretched on for years.
This Supreme Court, with its conservative majority, may shy away from such an outcome. All we know right now, however, is that they have decided take a closer look.
Up to one-third of electoral maps in the US could be affected by the justices' ruling, which is expected in the autumn.
Maps are re-drawn by lawmakers periodically, in order to assign congressional representatives in proportion to US census data.
The practice of gerrymandering has grown and become more specific since the invention of modern computing technology, which allows politicians to more easily identify their supporters.
The term is named after 18th Century vice-president and Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry, who approved a politically carved-up voting district that was likened in shape to a salamander. | The Supreme Court will soon determine if gerrymandering, where voting districts are re-drawn in order to favour political parties, is legal. | 40332019 |
Not really. The India Human Development report has been saying this for a while. The situation is worse in the villages, where two-thirds of the homes don't have toilets. Open defecation is rife, and remains a major impediment in achieving millennium development goals which include reducing by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015.
Is the lack of toilets and preference for open defecation a cultural issue in a society where the habit actually perpetuates social oppression, as proved by the reduced but continued existence of low caste human scavengers and sweepers?
It would seem so.
Mahatma Gandhi, India's greatest leader, had, in the words of a biographer, a "Tolstoyian preoccupation with sanitation and cleaning of toilets". Once he inspected toilets in the city of Rajkot in Gujarat. He reported that they were "dark and stinking and reeking with filth and worms" in the homes of the wealthy and in a Hindu temple. The homes of the untouchables simply had no toilets. "Latrines are for you big people," an untouchable told Gandhi.
Many years later when Gandhi began encouraging his disciples to work as sanitation officers and scavengers in villages, his diligent secretary and diarist Madhav Desai noted the attitudes of villagers. "They don't have any feeling at all," he wrote. "It will not be surprising if within a few days they start believing that we are their scavengers."
India's enduring shame is clearly rooted in cultural attitudes. More than half a century after Independence, many Indians continue to relieve themselves in the open and litter unhesitatingly, but keep their homes spotlessly clean. Yes, the state has failed to extend sanitation facilities, but people must also take the blame.
In the upstart suburb of Gurgaon, where I live, my educated, upwardly mobile, rich neighbours sent their pet dogs outside with their servants to defecate and refuse to clean up the mess. As long as their condominium is clean, it is all right. These are the same people who believe that the government is at the root of all evil.
Things are getting better in the villages, however slowly. Only 40% had access to sanitation facilities in 2002. This increased to 51% in 2008-009. More than 60% of homes in Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand states were still without toilets. There are other interesting behavioural and cultural pointers: Sikh and Christian households had the highest - over 70% - access to improved sanitation. Hindus - at 45% - had the least access.
India provides subsidies to construct toilets and runs sanitation and hygiene campaigns. Federal spending on sanitation was increased nearly three-fold in 2005. In 2003, the government kicked off a scheme to award village councils which are able to eliminate open defecation. Kerala has been the best performer with 87% of its village councils picking up the award. Only 2% of councils in dirt-poor Bihar won in a dismal commentary on the state of its sanitation.
India could take the lead from the tiny states of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. Both have used and empowered local people to tackle open defecation, build toilets and adopt good waste management. Haryana provides subsidies to poor households to build toilets, and enlists women to run campaigns in what is a largely patriarchal and less progressive state. Volunteers visit homes, encouraging people to built toilets. All homes in Himachal Pradesh have a toilet today, say government surveys. The plan is to get rid of open defecation by the end of this year.
But until the time its people get rid of curious - and skewed - cultural attitudes to community sanitation and hygiene, India will never have enough toilets. | Is anybody really surprised that nearly half of India's 1.2 billion people have no toilet at home? | 17377895 |
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18 April 2015 Last updated at 13:40 BST
He said a Labour government would set up a task force to target firms that encouraged low skilled migration and undermined the minimum wage.
The Conservatives said Labour was "in denial" and "nothing" being proposed would help to control immigration. | Labour leader Ed Miliband has pledged to end an "epidemic" of worker exploitation during a major speech on immigration. | 32363886 |
A report this month by government official Louise Casey concluded the council was not "fit for purpose".
The way many in the authority denied a 2014 finding children were exploited between 1997 and 2013 was criticised.
The council says it is investigating researcher Adele Gladman's claims.
At the time of the claims, Ms Gladman was undertaking research for a Home Office pilot. But she found her findings about the scale of sexual exploitation in Rotherham were also met with denial.
Previously, she has only spoken anonymously.
"What I didn't realise was just how many whistle-blowers there had been over the years and how many opportunities to change poor practice," she said.
"That has cost young people their health, their happiness and in some cases their lives. That is unforgiveable."
Ms Gladman was based at Rotherham Council when she carried out the work for the Home Office.
She describes being subjected to bullying and intimidation after her research found a small number of men, mainly of Pakistani heritage, were sexually exploiting a significant number of young people.
She says the council sent her on race awareness training and effectively suppressed her report.
"I had every aspect of my professionalism questioned," she said.
"I had every aspect of my work questioned. I had data removed over a weekend so that I couldn't substantiate my findings. Fortunately I had made copies."
She says the bullying she faced went beyond the local authority and remembers a police officer approaching her outside her office.
"He and a colleague said words along the lines of 'Wouldn't it be a shame if these perpetrators found out where you and your family lived'.
"And I took that as a direct threat to my personal safety. The message was very clear."
South Yorkshire Police say they can not comment on that particular claim.
But in a statement they said: "We are still assessing the findings of the Louise Casey report and are absolutely committed to supporting the victims of child sexual exploitation, but recognise that more needs to be done.
"We will adopt the good practice and recommendations identified by the commissioners, victims and survivors panel to build on the progress made to date. We want to reassure the public that prosecuting offenders remains a top priority for the force."
Government commissioners are lined up to intervene after the report by Louise Casey, the director-general for troubled families at the Communities Department.
Rotherham Council says it accepts the findings of the report in full and it is waiting to hear when the commissioners will begin work at the authority. | A former Home Office researcher says a bullying culture at Rotherham Council led to her warnings of child sexual exploitation being suppressed in 2002, years before action was finally taken. | 31327781 |
The route, which links Barking, Canary Wharf and Tower Hill to Westminster, will open less than a week before his term is set to end.
Mr Johnson told drivers the "end was in sight" for construction work. He said the first route, at Vauxhall, led to a 73% increase in cycling in the area.
The Green Party warned funding for cycling would halve in the next term.
London taxi drivers lost a court appeal in January to disrupt the plan.
The increase in the number of cyclists using the superhighway at Vauxhall was compared to before the route opened in November, the mayor said.
In total, the new route will span about 12 miles on traffic-free segregated tracks or streets with low levels of traffic, said City Hall.
Links to Southwark, Elephant and Castle and Blackfriars and Whitechapel, Bow, Stepney and Stratford should open at around the same time, it said.
Mr Johnson said a "noisy minority fought hard to stop it [the route] happening" but opinion polls and consultations had shown "ordinary Londoners" wanted the route.
On the impact for motorists, Mr Johnson added: "I am immensely encouraged by the evidence from Vauxhall showing that now the scheme there is finished, the flow of traffic in the area is returning to normal."
Darren Johnson, Green Party member of the London Assembly, said it was "fantastic" so many people felt safe cycling in Vauxhall since the route's introduction.
He added: "It is therefore incredibly concerning [that] London's cycling budget is set to fall by over half over the next Mayoral term, meaning there just won't be enough money to pay for more cycle superhighways."
The Green Party member said he had questioned the mayor about what would happen to the capital's cycling budget after 2017.
He said Mr Johnson told him between 2016 and 2017, Transport for London would spend £166m on cycling - which would drop to £68m between 2020 and 2021.
In November, The London Cycling Campaign welcomed the new route but acknowledged some cyclists had been "frustrated" with the pace of progress. | London's new superhighway linking east and west London will open on 30 April, says the capital's mayor Boris Johnson. | 35745404 |
Ronnie Howard, 31, died following a disturbance at the Prince Edward in South Shields, on 1 May.
At Newcastle Crown Court Michael Wilson, 35, of of Hylton Avenue, South Shields, appeared by video link from Durham Prison to deny the charge.
A trial date was set for 4 October and Mr Wilson was remanded in custody. Four other men have denied offences including assault and affray. | A man has denied murdering a pub-goer in a brawl on South Tyneside. | 36466769 |
The road was shut for about three hours after the accident involving two lorries and a car at Cuckoo Bridge at about 08:00.
Police said a 37-year-old man was taken to hospital as a result of the crash. His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
Traffic in the area was diverted via the town centre for a time. | A lorry driver is in hospital following a three-vehicle crash on the A75 Dumfries bypass. | 39254474 |
Scott started Scotland's opening-weekend defeat by England, but Duncan Taylor took his place against Wales and Italy after a thigh injury in training.
Scott's latest set-back came in Edinburgh's 28-23 Pro12 defeat by Connacht on Friday.
The 25-year-old will have a further examination this week to determine whether he will need surgery.
Scott, who has won 34 caps, was forced off just 23 minutes into Edinburgh's defeat.
Scotland coach Vern Cotter will now decide whether to continue with Saracens' Taylor in midfield alongside Mark Bennett or bring in either Glasgow's Peter Horne or Alex Dunbar.
Scotland, fourth in the Six Nations table, play France at Murrayfield on Sunday. | Scotland centre Matt Scott has been ruled out of the remainder of the Six Nations after damaging elbow ligaments. | 35763183 |
Sam Smith has described her as "one of the best singers in the world", and she has found high profile fans in Ed Sheeran, Pharrell, and Ariana Grande.
But while Kelly may seem like the new kid on the block, she's actually an industry veteran. She won America's Most Talented Kids age 11, recorded an album at 13 and reached the latter rounds of American Idol a few years later.
With over a million subscribers, it was Kelly's YouTube channel that caught the attention of mega-manager Scooter Braun (of Justin Bieber fame), allowing Kelly to finally realise the album she had been wanting to make since her early teens.
Oh, very instrumental. YouTube was a huge launching pad. It put me so close together with my fans. There wasn't any middle man. I'd get instant feedback and they'd get content right away.
Having that as my foundation was so beneficial to me in the long run because now I still have that connection with my fans. It feels very real and very genuine.
I posted popular covers but in between I always made sure that I would post an original song as well. I never really expected those to get a lot of views, but slowly over time it was so fulfilling to see my original songs get even more buzz than the covers.
For me, that transition was really cool because I had always wanted to be known as a songwriter first.
I grew up listening to a lot of gospel. That was the first music I was introduced to as a kid. You can hear the passion behind it and the soulfulness in my songs.
I also grew up listening to a lot of R&B. Maxwell was a big influence, along with Jill Scott and India Arie. When I picked up the guitar I really got into singer-songwriters like Jeff Buckley and John Mayer. I was always really interested in what made a good hook and chorus for a pop song.
So if you mush all of that together, the challenge with my first album was, how do we get all of these things into one song or one sound?
The album is called Unbreakable Smile, but it's not just a happy, go for your dreams type of album concept.
There's definitely positivity in it and the outcome is positive, but I think the whole point of the title is to highlight that all of the doubts that I had in my journey I took to be something for good. I made it into something positive.
Oh for sure, yeah. I would get so frustrated. Almost every night I would get so confused as why I was getting so close.
I had a whole album recorded when I was 13 and then doing all the TV shows and trying to get discovered on YouTube, I'm just so happy now that none of those things panned out because I wouldn't be able to talk about the things I'm saying on my album.
That line is jam-packed with a lot of things. I always think of myself as a young girl being in these different label meetings where there were music videos on the screen of different female artists who were wearing… a little bit less clothing than usual.
As a 13-year-old I was confused. Do they want me to be like this? Is this the way you're supposed to be if you want to make it?
I remember walking out of the meeting with my parents and we all kind of looked at each other and just knew that that wasn't the right place for me to be. That's really where that line stems from because now I am able to do these shows, and I have an album - I'm doing pretty well - and I get to prove the point that I don't have to compromise myself to do what I love to do.
I've been able to learn so much and really even put my foot down on a lot of things. Every time I perform that song I believe what I'm saying more and more.
I was super excited. Going into the studio he was super cool, very easy to work with and he makes you forget that he's playing to these huge stadiums every night because he puts everybody on the same level playing field. I really respect him for that.
When they told me at first I didn't believe them. I felt so overwhelmed that it was even out. You could have told me that it was number 100 on the charts and I'd still have been freaking out.
Unbreakable Smile is released in the UK on 16 October. | Californian pop-soul star Tori Kelly is one of 2015's breakout artists, with her debut full-length album Unbreakable Smile charting at number two in the US. | 34531041 |
The £800m overhaul at London Waterloo has closed half of the platforms and diverted many of the 270,000 journeys made back and forth each day.
The work, expected to last three-and-a-half weeks, is to expand the station to take 30% more passengers at peak times.
Here are answers to some of the questions online readers asked us.
South West Trains (SWT) said it did not offer compensation ahead of the work because it had put measures in place to reduce the likelihood of major delays.
During the engineering works all passengers are entitled to compensation as they are any other day of the year.
But claims for delays will be judged against the published temporary timetable for August, not the standard timetable that season ticket holders may be used to travelling by.
If disruption is particularly severe, SWT can declare a 'void day' when refunds are available for day tickets and season ticket holders will be compensated on renewal.
The passenger's charter has all the details of how to make a compensation claim.
Each platform will be extended by around 40 metres so that the number of carriages that can stop there can increase from eight to 10.
These longer trains will run from the end of this year on platforms one to four.
The whole project will put 30 new trains into service providing 150 extra carriages.
They are. Work started at 01:00 on Saturday, 5 August and about 1,000 people are working 24 hours a day to get it finished in the early hours of Tuesday, 29 August.
Transport for London said other buses and trains were "busy but not significantly" busier than expected during the school holidays.
The answer is no, according to Owen Johns at Network rail.
"The country's railway network has been built over the last couple of centuries with different height platforms and it is not feasible to retro-fit the thousands of stations around the country," he said.
It was not a simple case of just running trains into the platforms - the International Terminal has been completely redeveloped, said Mr Johns.
Much of the work has now been completed and trains are able to run this August, but work will continue until December 2018, he said.
Eurostar trains are 18 carriages long, but nothing that long runs on domestic services, and only six Eurostar trains were able to run to and from the International Terminal every hour, he said.
"So, we have already shortened the platforms and installed new sections of track which means we can now run 18 trains per hour into the International Terminal, which is much more suited to a high frequency metro-style service that runs between Waterloo and Windsor/Reading," he said.
What questions do you have about the engineering works at Waterloo railway station? Use the form below and we could be in touch. | The UK's busiest railway station is in the midst of a huge engineering project - but what does this mean for passengers? | 40861997 |
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His penalty will be announced on 24 September, with snooker's governing body expected to push for a life ban.
Lee, 38, denied the allegations, which concerned seven games in 2008 and 2009, including a World Championship match.
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association said more than £40,000 was paid to his wife's account.
Lee, the winner of five ranking titles, has been suspended since October 2012, when he was ranked eighth in the world.
The verdict followed an independent tribunal held in Bristol last week.
World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) chairman Jason Ferguson said in a statement: "His future participation in the sport is now in real doubt as he will face a significant sanction."
The tribunal concluded that former world number five Lee deliberately lost matches against Ken Doherty and Marco Fu at the 2008 Malta Cup and agreed to lose the first frame against both Stephen Hendry and Mark King at the 2008 UK Championship.
In addition, Lee lost matches by a pre-determined score to Neil Robertson at the 2008 Malta Cup and to Mark Selby at the 2009 China Open.
2008 Malta Cup: Conspired to lose to Ken Doherty and Marco Fu, as well as losing to Neil Robertson by a pre-determined score, with the match ending 5-1 to Robertson.
2008 UK Championship: Agreed to lose the first frame in matches against Stephen Hendry and Mark King.
2009 China Open: To lose to Mark Selby by a set score, Selby winning 5-1.
2009 World Championship: That Ryan Day would win by a pre-arranged score, Day winning 10-4.
Lee similarly conspired to lose his 2009 World Championship first round match to Ryan Day, going on to be defeated 10-4.
There is no suggestion that any other player was aware of Lee's involvement.
"This is the worst case of snooker corruption that we've seen," WPBSA disciplinary chairman Nigel Mawer told BBC Radio 5 live.
"Stephen Lee was working with three different groups who were betting on multiple platforms and the exact score and frame outcomes for matches he played in those tournaments.
"The worst case is the World Championship because that is an iconic event. To think that someone could play in that and to arrange the outcome is more than shocking."
In a full ruling, Sport Resolutions, an independent body specialising in sports arbitration, said the bets placed on the seven matches were "substantially successful".
One group associated to Lee earned towards £60,000 and another £35,000 on internet gambling alone, although these figures are likely to be higher as a result of bets placed with high-street bookmakers.
According to the WPBSA, payments of £40,000 were paid into Lee's wife's bank account between January 2008 and April 2009, while other deposits of £600, £1,000 and £2,000 are also known. Potential cash payments have not been identified.
Joe Jogia: Suspended for two years in 2012 after a probe into suspicious betting patterns
John Higgins: Found guilty of 'giving the impression' he would breach betting rules, and of failing to report the approach in 2010. Banned for six months.
Quinten Hann: Banned for eight years in 2006 after being found guilty of breaking rules by agreeing to lose a match in exchange for money.
Peter Francisco: Found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute in 1995 and given a five-year suspension.
World number three Judd Trump, speaking before the Lee verdict was announced, said that any player found guilty of match-fixing should be banned for life.
"If anybody is found guilty, they should be chucked out of the game," he told BBC Points West. "There's no time for it in any sport. It is ruining the game.
"It's going to push away sponsors and money coming into the game. People are going to look at it differently so anybody found guilty should be punished with a lifetime ban."
Lee's fellow professional Joe Jogia was given a two-year ban in July 2012 for "lower-end" offences after an investigation into suspicious betting patterns on a match in which he played.
Australian Quinten Hann was banned for eight years in 2006 for match-fixing offences after a newspaper sting in which he accepted a proposal to lose a China Open match.
While Hann remains suspended, South African Peter Francisco has returned to the game at a low level after serving a five-year match-fixing ban handed down in 1995, following his 10-2 loss to Jimmy White at the World Championship.
Read the full ruling of the Stephen Lee tribunal here. | Stephen Lee has been found guilty of match-fixing charges in what officials have called "the worst case of snooker corruption we've seen". | 24114861 |
Firefighters were called to Bembridge Airport on the east of the island at about 11:30 GMT after reports of an aircraft in distress.
Witnesses reported seeing the single-engine aircraft upside down on the airfield but said the occupants appeared to have got out unhurt.
Stephen Davis said he was passing the airport and noticed the plane on its back close to the runway.
He said: "I stopped to have a look in the car park and there were police, ambulance and fire engines just arriving as we parked up.
"There doesn't appear to be anybody hurt. It looks like there could have been two passengers on board and they walked away from the aircraft."
He said two people could be seen talking to emergency crews.
Isle of Wight NHS said one ambulance attended but, although the occupants were in shock, they did not require hospital treatment.
Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue said there were three casualties but described them as "walking wounded".
A spokeswoman said there was no fuel spillage. Crews made the aircraft safe and left it in the hands of the airport.
Bembridge Airport is an unlicensed airfield managed by the Vectis Gliding Club, meaning it is not open to commercial or training flights and visiting pilots require prior permission to land there. | A light aircraft has crashed on the Isle of Wight. | 35586216 |
The actor, who was 71 at the time, was injured in June 2014 by a metal door at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire as he reprised his role as Han Solo.
Foodles Production (UK) Ltd, owned by Disney, pleaded guilty earlier this year to two charges brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Sentencing is due to take place at Aylesbury Crown Court.
For more on this story and other news from Beds, Bucks and Herts | A production company behind the latest Star Wars movie will be sentenced after Harrison Ford broke his leg on set. | 37630861 |
Merseyside Police said the owners of the dogs, all banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act, had not adhered to conditions imposed by the courts when given permission to keep them.
Police raided addresses in St Helens, Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley and Liverpool.
Ch Insp Chris Gibson said he was not "demonising all dogs" and those targeted were a risk to the public.
He said the force had "prioritised" 42 dogs posing a danger to the public and people who live with them and whose owners have breached conditions of ownership.
He said of 247 dog owners in Merseyside who are exempted under Dangerous Dogs legislation, 130 were in breach of their conditions.
"Invariably, the people who keep these dogs keep them as a status symbol and are not responsible dog owners," the Ch Insp said.
"These dogs are fighting dogs, they are not designed to be family pets."
Ch Insp Gibson said the dogs had been "humanely destroyed".
Since January 2007, two children in Merseyside have been killed in attacks by dogs banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.
Five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson died in January 2007 and four-year-old John Paul Massey in November 2009.
They were both killed by pit bull terrier-type dogs.
Clifford Clarke, 79, was killed in May by a bull mastiff crossed with "either a Presa Canario or a Bandog" dog, which is not classified as a dangerous dog under the 1991 legislation.
Tougher laws are to be introduced in England and Wales raising the maximum jail sentence for the owner of a dog that kills someone from two to 14 years.
The maximum sentence for a dog attack resulting in someone's death would be the same as that for death caused by dangerous driving, under the proposals. | Twenty two dogs have been seized in a crackdown on dangerous dogs by police in Merseyside. | 26771369 |
Dante Michael Soiu, 67, from Ohio, was acquitted of felony stalking and attempted stalking by a jury at Los Angeles Superior Court.
The actress had given evidence in the case, tearfully telling the jury she had feared for her family's safety after receiving multiple letters.
In 2000, Soiu had been sent to a psychiatric facility after a previous stalking case involving the actress.
After being found not guilty in the latest case his lawyer Lynda Westlund said Soiu "just needed the right medication. He is completely lucid."
"He's unique. He's special. But ... he's very cogent," she said.
Paltrow gave evidence for three hours last week in which she claimed she was sent around 70 messages between 2009 and 2015 by Soiu.
She said the letters ranged from "religious to pornographic to threatening", and some of which some talked of her death.
She also read aloud from some of the letters, in which some expressed Mr Soiu's wish to marry her.
She said he had also sent her a cookbook, jewellery and items of clothing.
But Mr Soiu told the court he only wanted to show love and friendship and how he was not bitter about her testifying against him in the previous stalking case.
Paltrow said she had been scared by the messages "because the communications completely defy logic".
"I've been dealing for 17 years with the communications from this man," she said.
"I felt very upset by it... this has been a very long and very traumatic experience already."
In defence, Ms Westlund said her client was harmless.
She said the actress had misinterpreted his letters, many of which were biblical in nature and were therefore intended to give her a religious, not threatening message. | A man charged with stalking Gwyneth Paltrow has been found not guilty. | 35602464 |
The 24-year-old utility back player, who prefers to play at centre, has scored 14 tries in 15 games so far this campaign.
"We're really excited to have captured his signature," Red Devils head coach Ian Watson said.
"He's got a great try-scoring record and deserves the chance to have a crack in Super League." | Derrell Olpherts will join Salford Red Devils from League One side Newcastle Thunder for the 2018 season. | 40484357 |
Substitution, Newcastle United. DeAndre Yedlin replaces Matt Ritchie.
Matt Ritchie (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Charlie Taylor (Leeds United).
Substitution, Newcastle United. Jack Colback replaces Isaac Hayden.
Substitution, Leeds United. Charlie Taylor replaces Gaetano Berardi.
Attempt missed. Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Matt Ritchie with a cross.
Attempt missed. Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle United) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top left corner from a direct free kick.
Substitution, Leeds United. Souleymane Doukara replaces Liam Bridcutt.
Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United).
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Robert Green.
Attempt saved. Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United) right footed shot from very close range is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jonjo Shelvey with a cross.
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Pontus Jansson.
Foul by Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United).
Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Goal! Newcastle United 1, Leeds United 0. Jamaal Lascelles (Newcastle United) header from very close range to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Aleksandar Mitrovic with a headed pass following a corner.
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Kalvin Phillips.
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Pontus Jansson.
Substitution, Leeds United. Hadi Sacko replaces Alfonso.
Hand ball by Chris Wood (Leeds United).
Attempt missed. Jamaal Lascelles (Newcastle United) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Matt Ritchie with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Luke Ayling.
Kyle Bartley (Leeds United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Kyle Bartley (Leeds United).
Attempt missed. Jamaal Lascelles (Newcastle United) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Matt Ritchie following a set piece situation.
Pontus Jansson (Leeds United) is shown the yellow card for hand ball.
Hand ball by Pontus Jansson (Leeds United).
Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United).
Chancel Mbemba (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Chris Wood (Leeds United).
Attempt missed. Jamaal Lascelles (Newcastle United) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Matt Ritchie with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Robert Green.
Attempt saved. Matt Ritchie (Newcastle United) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Isaac Hayden (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United).
Attempt blocked. Jamaal Lascelles (Newcastle United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jonjo Shelvey with a cross.
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Kyle Bartley.
Defender Ciaran Clark will also be absent as he is yet to return to training with a knee problem.
Leeds midfielder Liam Bridcutt (Achilles) could return after missing the win over Preston.
Defender Liam Cooper is still serving his six-match ban and goalkeeper Marco Silvestri (knee) is out. | Newcastle United striker Dwight Gayle will not face Leeds because of a hamstring injury, which manager Rafael Benitez says is not as bad as feared. | 39523069 |
The man posed as a prosecutor and demanded 250,000 rand ($16,400; £11,300) in order to "make the case disappear", local media say.
He has now been charged with corruption, according to South Africa police spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi.
Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013.
The News24 website says that the conman contacted the former Olympic athlete on Thursday night. He was then arrested following a police sting operation.
In a statement, Mr Mulaudzi said: "A 33-year-old man was arrested on Friday afternoon in Pretoria soon after he received a deposit of 40,000 rand for his services which included... [having] Oscar Pistorius' murder case destroyed."
Pistorius was found guilty of murdering Ms Steenkamp after a South African appeals court overturned his initial manslaughter verdict in December.
He is due to be sentenced in April. | A man who allegedly targeted Oscar Pistorius in a scam offering to repeal his murder conviction has been arrested. | 35846714 |
The councils with seats up for grabs are Adur District, Worthing Borough, Hastings Borough and Crawley Borough.
For a list of candidates standing in those areas please click on the links below:
Adur District
Worthing Borough
Hastings Borough
Crawley Borough | Parts of Sussex will head to the polls on Thursday 5 May for local elections. | 36162008 |
The Staffordshire bull terrier was found in remote woodland near Wansford, Peterborough on Wednesday morning. It is thought he was left roaming with the bolt stuck in his head for a few days.
The 50cm weapon had gone through one side of his head and out the other.
An RSPCA spokesman said: "Whoever did this took a very intentional shot at very close range."
The dog, called Ziggy, is now recovering from surgery.
The vet who removed the bolt said the weapon had "deflected off the skull and missed Ziggy's organs by mere millimetres".
He said it was too early to speculate on the recovery from his ordeal and operation and his progress was being closely monitored.
RSPCA inspector Justin Stubbs said: "I think they must have been aiming at the back of the head and Ziggy must have moved at just the right distance right at the last minute."
He said it was likely the dog had been "roaming about in the middle of nowhere for a couple of days with this bolt stuck in his head, terrified and in complete agony" before being spotted by two walkers.
"It really broke my heart this one," Mr Stubbs said.
"What really got me was the way Ziggy sat there, with that bolt through his head, wagging his tail at me in such a good-natured way asking for a bit of a fuss."
The RSPCA has appealed for information about the attack. | A dog was shot through the skull with a bolt from a crossbow which "narrowly" missed his brain and eyes. | 29741929 |
The 36-year-old will play his first game against Essex at The Oval on 19 July and then will be available for the rest of the tournament.
Pietersen first joined Surrey in 2010 and made his last appearance in England in June 2015, when he did not bat in a rain-affected game against Sussex.
He recently helped Quetta Gladiators reach the Pakistan Super League final.
Pietersen has played mostly T20 cricket since appearing in the last of his 104 Tests in 2014.
He is England's third-highest run scorer in international T20 cricket behind Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales, and was part of the England team that won the World Twenty20 title in 2010.
South Africa-born Pietersen revealed the news via video on his Facebook page while playing golf at Wentworth.
"I am so, so happy to be back with Surrey and back playing in England," he said.
"I love playing in England, I love playing at The Oval and I've always loved the dressing room at The Oval."
Surrey won the inaugural county T20 competition in 2003 and have been losing finalists on two occasions since then, most recently to Northants in 2013.
Pietersen will miss the first four group games of the 2017 competition, but will be available for the other 10 matches and the knockout stage, should Surrey get that far.
"Re-signing KP is a massive boost to the club and the T20 Blast competition," Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart told the club website.
"To have a player of his undoubted calibre available to us will add strength and experience to our squad and I'm sure all our fans will enjoy seeing him back playing in England again.
"His work ethic and appetite for success are infectious and our squad have always enjoyed having him around the dressing room and performing out in the middle."
Pietersen began the winter in South Africa playing for Dolphins in the CSA T20 Challenge and scored 198 runs in five innings, including 81 off 46 balls against Warriors in December.
From there, he travelled to Australia for the Big Bash tournament, contributing 268 runs in eight innings to help Melbourne Stars reach the semi-finals.
In February's Pakistan Super League, he had two ducks in his first three innings, but bounced back with two half-centuries, including a match-winning 88 not out off 42 balls against Lahore Qalandars, in which he hit eight sixes.
But he, along with England's Tymal Mills and Sussex all-rounder Luke Wright, opted not to take part in the final because of security concerns about playing in Lahore. | Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has re-signed for Surrey to play in this summer's T20 Blast competition. | 39195035 |
The 24-year-old will sign a three-year deal at Carrow Road with the option of a further 12 months.
He had completed his Carrow Road medical earlier in the week, as reported by BBC Radio Norfolk.
Lafferty scored 11 times last season for the Serie B champions and had a spell at Swiss club Sion in 2012.
He started his career at Burnley, where he netted 10 goals in 83 league games, before a £3m move to Rangers in 2008.
The Enniskillen-born forward was on target nine times in 37 appearances for Northern Ireland and played 137 times during four years at Rangers, scoring 38 goals.
"Norwich is a team that wants to get promoted back to the Premier League at the first opportunity, so I'm excited to come here and start playing football for a team like this," he told the club website.
"I've played in the Championship before and I've played against Norwich, and the things I noticed about the club were the fans and the football they played.
"Speaking to the gaffer, everything he said and everything he wants me to do, it's good to have someone like that believing in me. I can't wait to get started."
Lafferty becomes Norwich boss Neil Adams's second signing since suffering relegation from the Premier League last season, with striker Lewis Grabban having joined from Bournemouth. | Norwich City will complete the signing of Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty from Palermo for an undisclosed fee on 1 July. | 28062950 |
Richard Stroud, 46, from Guildford, was attacked outside Guildford City Social Club on Joseph's Road at about 22:00 GMT on Saturday, Surrey Police said.
He was taken to St George's Hospital in Tooting, south-west London, with serious head injuries and died later.
A 32-year-old man was arrested near the scene a short time after the attack and remains in custody.
A man in his 50s and another man in his 20s also suffered facial injuries during the assault.
Any witnesses have been asked to contact police. | A man has died after an assault outside a Surrey social club following a private function. | 30671910 |
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Hamilton brought himself on as a sub after Joshua McIlwaine had headed his third goal in two games to give Ballinamallard a 75th-minute lead.
The Mallards, 10th in the table, wasted a couple of chances to secure a fourth win in six league matches.
Glenavon equalised when Hamilton's deflected shot beat Richard Brush.
The visitors remain sixth in the table, and are six points behind the team in fifth, Coleraine.
Ballinamallard manager Gavin Dykes: "When you go 1-0 up in a game you look to try to hold on to that.
"We missed a couple of chances and their keeper made a couple of great saves, but we were hanging on towards the end and our keeper made a couple of saves as well.
"It is another point on the board, we keep our wee run going and we are happy with that.
"Young Niall showed his quality, getting past a man and putting over a wonderful ball for the goal and he was unlucky he didn't score himself.
"He is a great kid and is a star in the making."
Glenavon player-manager Gay Hamilton: "At one stage it looked like we were not going to get back. For all the possession we had, we did not do enough in terms of end product.
"Ballinamallard scored a good goal and could have had another but for a great save by Jonny Tuffey.
"We went three at the back to try to get something and in the end the game could have gone either way and a draw was fair." | Glenavon player-manager Gary Hamilton came off the bench to rescue a point for his side in Tuesday's Irish Premiership match at Ferney Park. | 38636473 |
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said millions of pounds of investment had reduced pollution and restored habitats.
The work has also put an end to the Clyde's "stench", Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said.
Water quality has gone from "bad" to "moderate" - and "excellent" in places.
About 100km (62 miles) of waterways has also been opened up to migratory fish.
Sepa, which monitors the water quality of Scotland's lochs and rivers, reported that the River Clyde was in "significantly better health than expected".
Between 2010 and 2021, Scottish Water will have invested more than £600m in wastewater treatment works and sewerage systems in the area.
And the Scottish government's Water Environment Fund has helped restore habitats by removing fish barriers and concrete channels.
This has allowed salmon to access the upper reaches of the Clyde catchment.
The fund has spent £3.1m on river restoration projects near Hamilton and Shotts, with more investment planned this year.
Scottish Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: "The Clyde flows through the very heart of Glasgow and for centuries the river has provided our largest city with a gateway to the world and a source of prosperity.
"However, since industrialisation in the early 1800s, we've abused this river, tipping our waste into it without a second thought for the impact it has on the communities living along the banks, water quality or the wider environment.
"That's why I am delighted to see further evidence that we have secured a lasting change in the Clyde's fortunes."
Ms Cunningham added: "That hard work and investment has seen water quality improve, aquatic species return to the waters, and an end to the stench which once made residents' lives a misery."
The 176km (109 mile)-long Clyde is the eighth longest river in the UK and the second longest in Scotland.
Its source is in the Lowther Hills in South Lanarkshire, with its catchment area stretching as far north as Crianlarich in Stirling.
The river's mouth is the Firth of Clyde.
Bob Downes, Sepa chairman, said: "The work we have completed so far with our many partners has made a significant difference to the Clyde, not only through improvements to water quality, but also by opening up stretches of rivers that migratory fish have been unable to access for decades.
"Having a healthier River Clyde system is a real benefit to people living in Glasgow. We need to ensure that our rivers are in as good a condition as they can be, providing a healthy environment and contributing to everyone's well-being.
"There's still a lot of work to be done, but seeing the results of the hard work that has already happened is very rewarding and encouraging." | Salmon are able to access parts of the River Clyde for the first time in decades following work to improve water quality and remove barriers. | 40043491 |
The Height of the Reeds is an installation created by Opera North for Hull's City of Culture celebrations.
Hull-born actors Maureen Lipman and Barrie Rutter read a commentary over the top along with narration by seven-year-old Hull schoolgirl Katie Smith.
Norwegians Arve Henriksen, Jan Bang and Eivind Aarset composed the music.
Sounds from the bridge were recorded by Hull-based sound artist Jez Riley French.
They include the sound of the railings being "played" and vibrations captured from within the structure.
He used microphones so sensitive they could pick up sounds the human ear usually cannot hear.
He climbed into the vaults of the suspension bridge to record the noise of the traffic overhead.
Jan Bang said the challenge was "how could we blend the sound of different instruments into that?".
He said he then built melodies on top, with chords and sounds.
"The music just felt like it was a natural blood running through your veins," he said.
Opera North's project manager Jo Nockels said listening to the music as you walk across the bridge was a magical experience.
"What's particularly amazing about it is that it makes you look at everything completely differently when you're listening as well," she said.
"You look at everything much more carefully - it's really great."
As people walk across the bridge wearing the special headsets, they will pass certain trigger points which will play music and narration.
The narration comes from schoolgirl Katie Smith, who was chosen from many who auditioned at Bude Park Primary School in Bransholme, Hull.
The Height of the Reeds opens on 1 April and runs until the end of the month. Tickets have already sold out.
You can see more of the BBC's exclusive access to the project on BBC Inside Out Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on BBC One on Friday 31 March at 19:30 BST, or later on the iPlayer. | Sounds made by the Humber Bridge have been worked into a piece of music which visitors can listen to as they walk its 1.4-mile (2.2km) length | 39383826 |
The A344 next to the stone circle was shut in 2013 as part of a £27m scheme to restore the monument's "dignity".
But residents in nearby villages claim lanes have become "rat runs" for drivers avoiding jams on the A303 and want it upgraded to a dual carriageway.
The petition was presented by Salisbury MP John Glen on Wednesday.
The A303 stretches 92 miles (148km) from Hampshire to Devon. Its single carriageway sections, including those around Stonehenge, suffer from traffic bottlenecks.
According to the Shrewton Traffic Action Group, the closure of the A344 has made matters worse and the group is petitioning to make the A303 a dual carriageway west of Stonehenge.
On Wednesday night, its petition was presented to the House of Commons by Mr Glen, who requested that MPs urge the government to upgrade the road "at the earliest possible opportunity". | A 2,000-signature petition calling for an urgent upgrade of the A303 at Stonehenge has been presented to the House of Commons. | 28241163 |
Neither scored, but Williams looked sharp after a lengthy injury lay-off while Wales international Morgan impressed at full-back.
"Both players for their first outing in a Blues shirt showed what they are capable of," said Wilson.
Morgan has joined from Bristol while Williams was recruited from Ulster.
Former Junior All Black Williams signed in December 2015 but underwent surgery on a shoulder injury.
Morgan helped Bristol gain promotion to the English Premiership last season before switching to the Arms Park.
"Matthew showed great footwork and acceleration and Nick - the competitiveness in the man - a huge man with a huge collision and defensively the ability to turn the ball over," added Wilson.
"I'm sure there's plenty to come from both of them."
Morgan was happy with his first run out for the Blues, and says he is looking forward to fighting for the number 15 jersey with Blues regular Dan Fish.
The former Ospreys back also plays fly-half, but with current Wales player Gareth Anscombe and new recruit Steven Shingler at the region he expects his chances to come in the back three.
"I spoke to Danny Wilson in my first week here and he says he sees me more as a 15, so I'll just train there," said Morgan.
"Obviously Dan Fish is a 15 as well and he's a good quality player so it will be good to push each other."
The match against Bristol was the Blues' last friendly before they kick off their Pro12 campaign at home against Edinburgh on 3 September. | Cardiff Blues head coach Danny Wilson was happy with new recruits Nick Williams and Matthew Morgan after their debuts in the 25-24 win over Bristol. | 37148827 |
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Woodward has overseen deals that have brought in Matteo Darmian, Memphis Depay, Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger this summer.
But United missed out on transfer target Pedro, with Barcelona's Spain winger, 28, opting to join Premier League rivals Chelsea.
"Every day I am updated by him and I trust him," said Van Gaal.
"I have the idea you want to separate Ed Woodward with me. Never. Never."
Van Gaal was speaking at a news conference ahead of United's home game with Newcastle on Saturday.
He added: "I don't think [the critics] have to doubt Ed Woodward because he has proven already for many, many years he is the right person on the right spot."
And the 64-year-old is confident when United want a player, Woodward will bring him to Old Trafford.
"When Manchester United want a player, he shall come," he said.
"You can see my selection and you can see for every position we have a double. We don't have to [buy] but if we can do it to improve we will."
However Van Gaal said he did not want to "interfere" regarding the club's interest in Southampton's 23-year-old midfielder Sadio Mane.
He added: "I cannot answer that question either because I cannot interfere. I don't want to interfere. It's for Ed Woodward doing the things and he does it very well, I think."
The Dutchman did suggest Schweinsteiger, 31, may be in line for his first Premier League start.
The Germany international replaced Michael Carrick at half-time during United's 3-1 win against Club Brugge on Tuesday.
"Maybe it shall happen tomorrow," Van Gaal told MUTV.
"We have seen a solution in rotating our [second] captain, Michael Carrick, with Schweinsteiger.
"I think it's a very good solution because we can spare them both for the big moments."
One man who will not feature is goalkeeper David De Gea, 24, who is linked with a move to Real Madrid.
"We shall evaluate [whether he can play] after 1 September," said Van Gaal. | Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal says he trusts executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward with club transfers. | 34015714 |
England led by two points going into the final two minutes only for Nicolas Claussels to score, with France captain Cyril Torres converting.
France then withstood near constant England pressure in added time to retain their title.
This was a repeat of the 2013 final, in which France also beat England, who had won the inaugural event.
Wales, who had threatened to leave the pitch in their final match after one of their players suffered seizures due to flash photography, finished fifth overall after a 66-45 victory over Spain on Thursday. | A late converted try gave France a 38-34 win over England in the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup final. | 40759709 |
The pair had to be cut free from the wreckage.
The crash happened near Midmar just before midday. | A man and a woman have been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a crash in Aberdeenshire. | 40239879 |
Alex Boyd's pictures of the forests around Bergen-Belsen camp are being shown at the Scottish Parliament.
Boyd was born in the nearby town of Celle, to a German mother and Scottish father, but his connection runs even deeper, as his grandfather Robert was part of the Wiltshire Regiment (Duke of Edinburgh's), which administered the camp after liberation.
More recently, Alex's brother Benjamin also worked at the camp, in the German army, clearing fallen trees and protecting the memorial from damage.
"Forests have often fascinated and terrified me," says Boyd. "They are an integral part of the German imagination - from the battles of the Teutoburg Forest, the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, to the many Goethe's Oaks which can be found across the country, where the poet is said to have walked or composed."
Boyd says the pictures of the bodies piled high from the time of liberation by the British Army in 1945 will never lose the ability to shock the viewer.
"It is something which is hard to reconcile with the sight of the camp today, which due to the burning down of the barracks to stop the spread of typhus in 1945 retains a somewhat rural feel, with large empty fields ringed in by the mass graves of thousands," Boyd says.
"The site of so much suffering is ringed in by a forest of birch and pine, silently observing the scene. I often thought of the prisoners looking out from within the camp to the forest beyond, and what they were thinking.
"No matter how many times I walk the landscapes of Bergen-Belsen, or Auschwitz I will never be able to understand what happened in those places."
Boyd's pictures were taken over a ten year period with a camera that once belonged to German-born British photographer Fay Godwin and printed on gampi, a fragile hand-made paper from Japan.
"I print on gampi for several reasons, key among these is the fragile nature of the material. It has a unique texture, a softness and tactility, and gives the images an ephemeral feel," says Boyd.
"The prints as a result have a slightly unreal quality to them, something which one definitely feels when visiting Belsen. It is a quiet place, many visitors remarking that birds do not sing there."
This process was learnt from the Japanese photographer and master printer Takeshi Shikama when Boyd worked with him at Sabhal Mor Ostaig on the Isle of Skye in 2012.
Boyd says: "Takeshi did not speak much English, but we did share something greater, a love and fascination of the Scottish landscape. Together we worked, often in silence, climbing into the hills of the Cuillin, or the Trotternish ridge in the north of the Island.
"Often images would not be taken, but the scene quietly observed. I think that is an important lesson to learn as a photographer.
"Often working late into the night, we would print using platinum, reflect, and often start again, aiming not always for perfection in the prints, but for a clarity of vision.
"Printing images on to gampi, a fragile hand-made paper from Japan, proved very difficult and often frustrating, however I am slowly learning to be more patient."
You can see more of Alex Boyd's work on his website. | It may be more than 70 years since the end of World War Two and the liberation of the concentration camps, but photographers are still drawn to explore the physical remains of the sites where the Holocaust took place. | 34898899 |
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The Reds have been heavily linked with the 18-year-old midfielder, who has hugely impressed Rodgers.
"I read we had put in a bid or something had been agreed but there has been nothing," said the Liverpool boss.
"I think he is a wonderful young talent who just needs to play football and for me he is probably at the best place he could be."
He added: "I don't normally comment on speculation but [I will] because I have the interest of the player at heart."
Hughes, who came through the ranks at Derby, scored in England U21's 9-0 win over San Marino in midweek.
"This is a very talented young player that either a person or a group of people aren't doing him any favours whatsoever by constantly linking him with coming to Liverpool," said Rodgers.
"This is a young kid learning the game - he is at an outstanding club at Derby, he has a great manager there and we sent one of our young players [Andre Wisdom] there to develop and learn."
Hughes, who joined the Rams from local rivals Nottingham Forest at the age of 12, made his first team debut in November 2011 as a 16-year-old.
So far this season he has made 18 appearances for the Championship side, scoring four goals. | Manager Brendan Rodgers has quashed speculation linking Derby midfielder Will Hughes with a move to Liverpool. | 25041572 |
Stones were hurled at security forces as hundreds of protesters tried to reach the National Stadium – where the golden tournament cup is on display.
A group of indigenous people who were demanding land rights at Congress eventually joined the protest.
This is the latest in a series of demonstrations in Brazil against the cost of staging the tournament.
Authorities say around 1,500 people were taking part in Tuesday's demonstration, which blocked one of the main roads of the city.
As the crowd tried to walk towards the National Stadium, host to several tournament matches, mounted police blocked their way.
With tensions running high, police fired tear gas several times to break up the demonstration.
The crowd was joined by a group of indigenous people who had climbed onto the roof of the Brazilian Congress building to demand changes in how their land is demarcated.
A policeman was reportedly injured in the leg by an arrow shot during the scuffles.
The demonstrations gridlocked the traffic in Brasilia for hours.
Last year, up to a million people joined demonstrations across the country to demand better public services and highlight corruption and the high cost of staging the World Cup.
Since then several other anti-World Cup protests have been staged in Brazil, with many descending into violence. | Police in Brazil have fired tear gas at anti-World Cup and indigenous demonstrators in the capital, Brasilia. | 27598932 |
The 36-year-old is taking on both roles as twins Ronnie and Reggie in Legend, which follows the rise and fall of the brothers in the 1950s and 1960s.
British stars Christopher Eccleston and David Thewlis, Australian actress Emily Browning and A Bronx Tale's Chazz Palminteri are also confirmed to star.
It is expected to be released in 2015.
In April, when Hardy was confirmed in the roles, he said: "I've got to work out how to play both twins, which will be fun.
"It's another experiment and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself, I just want to have some fun and see what's out there and explore with the work."
Based on John Pearson's book The Profession of Violence, Legend is written by Brian Helgeland - who won an Oscar for writing 1997's LA Confidential - an adaptation of the novel by James Ellroy.
Ronnie and Reggie Kray were infamous for their involvement running organised crime rackets in London's East End and were both jailed for life in 1969 for the murders of fellow gangsters George Cornell and Jack 'The Hat' McVitie.
Ronnie died of a heart attack in prison in 1995, while Reggie died of cancer in 2000, eight weeks after he was granted release on compassionate grounds because of his illness.
The twins were previously depicted in a 1990 biopic starring Spandau Ballet's Gary and Martin Kemp. | The first image of actor Tom Hardy as the infamous Krays has been released as filming gets under way on a new movie about the notorious London gangsters. | 27830233 |
The committee was told that virtual currencies were a "legitimate financial service" with the same benefits and risks as other online payment systems.
The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is exploring the "promises and risks" of Bitcoin for "government and society at large".
The currency has more than trebled in value since October.
The US Senate hearing was prompted by the closure of the Silk Road website in October. The site, which sold drugs and other illegal goods, was shut down by the FBI.
Users of the site were required to pay for their transactions using bitcoins.
Representatives from the Department of Justice and financial regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission have been asked to provide their views about virtual currencies to the committee and submissions have been received from the FBI and the US Federal Reserve.
"Virtual currencies, perhaps most notably Bitcoin, have captured the imagination of some, struck fear among others, and confused the heck out of the rest of us," the chair of the committee, Senator Thomas Carper, said in opening remarks.
The FBI, in a letter to the committee released on Sunday, said that it recognised virtual currencies offered "legitimate financial services" but they could be "exploited by malicious actors".
Mythili Raman, the head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, told the committee: "We have seen increasing use of such currencies by drug dealers, traffickers of child pornography, and perpetrators of large-scale fraud schemes."
Jerry Brito, senior research fellow at George Mason University told Bloomberg: ''Two years ago it was alarm when Silk Road first came on the scene.
''Since then, Congress has been educating itself and understands that there are great potential benefits, and like any new technology there are going to be some challenges. But they see there is a balance to be struck here and they are generally positive on the technology," he said.
Bitcoin is often referred to as a new kind of currency.
But it may be best to think of its units being virtual tokens rather than physical coins or notes.
However, like all currencies its value is determined by how much people are willing to exchange it for.
To process Bitcoin transactions, a procedure called "mining" must take place, which involves a computer solving a difficult mathematical problem with a 64-digit solution.
For each problem solved, one block of bitcoins is processed. In addition the miner is rewarded with new bitcoins.
This provides an incentive for people to provide computer processing power to solve the problems.
To compensate for the growing power of computer chips, the difficulty of the puzzles is adjusted to ensure a steady stream of about 3,600 new bitcoins a day.
There are currently about 11 million bitcoins in existence.
To receive a bitcoin a user must have a Bitcoin address - a string of 27-34 letters and numbers - which acts as a kind of virtual postbox to and from which the bitcoins are sent.
Since there is no registry of these addresses, people can use them to protect their anonymity when making a transaction.
These addresses are in turn stored in Bitcoin wallets which are used to manage savings.
They operate like privately run bank accounts - with the proviso that if the data is lost, so are the bitcoins owned.
Trade in Bitcoin is small compared with that in countries' official currencies. But since its creation in 2008, Bitcoin has become a popular way to pay for things online. There are currently more than 12 million bitcoins in existence according to Bitcoincharts, a website that provides financial information about the currency.
On one exchange site, Mt. Gox, the value of the currency rose to $900 (£559) on Monday before falling back to $727 (£452). This compares with a price of $200 (£124) in late October.
The closing down of Silk Road and hearings in front of US government committees have led some to believe that prices are increasing as investors think Bitcoin will gain more mainstream acceptance.
"Lots of factors are driving the price action in Bitcoin, including pure speculation," said Garrick Hileman, an economic historian at the London School of Economics.
"Regulatory interest in Bitcoin also traditionally has a positive effect on the price of Bitcoin," he added.
Jan Lambregts, head of financial market research at Rabobank, which does not trade in Bitcoin, said regulators were right to get involved.
"Looking at it from a distance, it very much looks like it could be a speculative bubble. It's a small market, with a lot of interest in it, which is inflating and distorting the price," he said.
"But you can see the concerns for governments - this is a currency outside their normal domain and which is not influenced by central banks.
"It may all be relatively small-scale now, but decisions taken now could have wider repercussions were such virtual currency experiments to be expanded in the future," he added.
Some have questioned whether trading in Bitcoin is insufficiently transparent and therefore easier to use for illegitimate means. Patrick Murck, from the Bitcoin Foundation, which promotes the use of the currency, told the BBC that the network was very open and everybody could see every transaction that happened.
"I would challenge that it's for illegitimate use or bad actions. What we're finding is not that it's a haven for illegitimate activities but that there are many legitimate uses," he said.
Whatever people are using Bitcoin for, Mr Brito thinks it's here to stay.
"These hearings mean Bitcoin is finally coming into its own," he said.
"It's a real thing and it's not going anywhere and these hearings highlight that." | The value of virtual currency Bitcoin has soared to over $900 (£559), after a US Senate committee hearing. | 24986264 |
Dr Simon Poole was testifying in the retrial of Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, who denies supplying an illegal gun to Mr Duggan the day he was shot.
Post-mortem test showed Mr Duggan was shot in the chest and upper right arm.
He was shot dead by police on 4 August 2011 in Tottenham, north London.
His death sparked riots that swept across the capital and the country.
The Old Bailey heard the fatal shot was to the chest, entering the front right hand side and exiting the back of Mr Duggan on the left hand side.
The other bullet entered the right upper arm and tracked down a few centimetres under the skin, before exiting the arm and grazing the skin of the chest.
The doctor said he was unable to say the order in which the bullets were fired.
Stuart Denney QC, barrister for Mr Hutchinson-Foster, asked the pathologist to imagine a scene in which Mr Duggan had got out of a minicab and was heading towards a wall beside the road while a police officer had got out of a car behind the taxi and was standing on the pavement.
The jury has already heard evidence from a police officer known as V53 who described a similar situation leading up to the shooting.
Mr Denney suggested that if the police officer then fired the shot that struck Mr Duggan in the chest, the track of the bullet would have to pass from the left to the right.
He asked the pathologist: "But in fact the chest wound is right to left?"
"Yes, that's right," answered Dr Poole.
Mr Denney said: "So the scenario can't be right? The officer fires to his left and the bullet hits Mr Duggan in the chest and it should go from left to right - but it went right to left. Therefore the scenario can't be right?"
"I agree," Dr Poole replied.
Under re-examination Dr Poole agreed with the prosecution that if Mr Duggan turned to face the person who fired the shot, that would change the position of his body in relation to the person who fired the shot.
The trial continues. | Mark Duggan's injuries appeared to be inconsistent with the scenario described by the police officer who shot him, it was suggested to a pathologist at the Old Bailey. | 21060194 |
The survey found just two-fifths (41%) agreed that people had equal chances to get ahead, compared with more than half (53%) who said the same in 2008.
Almost half (46%) of those polled said today's youth would have a worse life than their parents' generation.
The government said it was committed to making the country "work for everyone".
The survey asked 2,001 adults across Britain aged 16 to 64 what they thought was needed to help someone get on in life and found:
The survey also found that almost half (47%) thought high-quality education in comprehensive schools would most help those from disadvantaged backgrounds to get on in life, while 23% thought that lower university tuition fees would help.
The findings come as research commissioned by the Sutton Trust finds that improving social mobility could boost the UK's GDP by almost £600 per person per year.
Research by economic consultancy Oxera for the Trust assessed levels of social mobility in different European countries, looking at issues such as individual income, parents' education and how well a person's job matched their skills.
It concluded that bringing social mobility in the UK up to the average for western Europe would lead to an annual increase in GDP of £590 per person.
Sutton Trust chairman Sir Peter Lampl said Britain had very low social mobility compared with other countries.
"Our research shows that if social mobility were brought up to the western European average, GDP would increase by 2.1%, equivalent to a monetary value of £39bn.
"There is also a low and declining percent of the public (from 43% in 2003 to 29% in 2017) who believe today's youth will have a better quality of life than their parents.
"The government should make improving social mobility a top priority.
"Alongside other initiatives there needs to be a concerted effort to improve early years provision, provide fairer access to schools and universities and address the numerous social barriers which exist."
A Department for Education spokesman said the government was committed to making sure Britain was a country that worked for everyone.
"We want to make sure everyone can get a world-class education at every stage of their life, and go as far as their talents will take them, whatever their background.
"There are 1.8 million more pupils in good or outstanding schools than in 2010, more disadvantaged students than ever before attending university and we are investing an additional £500m a year into high quality technical education.
"We will also be building on the progress of our £72m opportunity areas programme, which is bringing together local businesses, schools and councils in 12 social mobility 'coldspots' to create better opportunities for young people." | The British public is increasingly sceptical that everyone has the same opportunity to do well in life, a poll for the Sutton Trust suggests. | 40567225 |
The fans hated him. In every game he was on the end of some rough treatment from the terraces.
Then, one afternoon, the Flamengo supporters started calling for him to be included in the Brazil squad. Had they suddenly had a massive collective change of mind? They soon reminded everyone of the date - it was 1 April.
I recall being at the Maracana stadium for one match where the fans unfurled a giant banner, on which was written 'Fora Maurinho' - Maurinho out.
Then he scored with an excellent volley. And so the fans quickly covered up the part of the banner which contained the word 'fora,' and danced in front of his name as if the goal had been the result of their encouragement.
These memories came flooding back a couple of weeks ago when I was at the Maracana for another Flamengo match. 'Jaime, we are with you,' proclaimed a banner behind one of the goals - a reference to the club's new coach.
Steeped in Flamengo, Jaime de Almeida is the son of a former club great, as a player and also as a coach, in the 1940s and 50s.
The son also played for Flamengo as a centre-back in the 70s, and has been on the coaching staff for the last few years, stepping up to the top job last month following the sudden resignation of former Brazil boss Mano Menezes.
It is only natural, then, that the supporters feel a certain affinity with him.
But with six minutes to go, the score tied at 1-1, and visitors Bahia dominating, Jaime de Almeida decided to take off Elias, the club's star player.
Replacing him was Val, a workmanlike midfielder who has yet to find a place in the fans' affections.
The stadium erupted. The Maracana became one giant boo as the crowd gave voice to their displeasure. Instinctively I looked over to the banner. A group of fans had started to take it down. They were with Jaime no longer.
Within a minute, however, Flamengo launched a break and scored the winning goal. Another glance at the area behind the other goal revealed that the operation to remove the banner had been aborted. Now they were striving to put it back up again.
The fans were back with Jaime.
Nearly two weeks later they are with him all the more - though, of course, that may only last until the next controversial substitution.
He is edging the club towards safety in the home straight of a league campaign where half the clubs still have cause to worry about relegation.
And he has qualified the team for the semi-finals of the Brazilian Cup - in emphatic manner, against one of the club's local rivals.
In last week's second leg of the quarter-final, with scores level after the first game, Flamengo crushed Botafogo 4-0.
One of the abiding memories of the game comes not from the pitch but from the stands. Come the final whistle the Botafogo end was all but empty, their fans slipping away early into the night in a bid to escape the humiliation. Flamengo supporters loved it, whipping out their mobile phones to take photos of the deserted seats.
So Botafogo are out of the cup. But they still have plenty to play for in the league.
This could be a historic year for the club; they are on course to qualify for the Copa Libertadores, South America's equivalent of the Champions League, for the first time in almost 20 years.
The players were reminded of this during Saturday's home game against Atletico Mineiro. There was a banner in the stands - 'qualifying for the Libertadores is an obligation.' Turning up to help them do it clearly was not. The crowd was just 6,472.
Admittedly, this is near the end of the month, when money can be tight, and ticket prices are probably too expensive. But even so this was a dismal attendance - though sadly predictable.
Although this was an important game against attractive opponents (current champions of the continent, no less), the short-term mentality rules.
Objectively, this looks like being a wonderful moment to be a Botafogo supporter; the presence of Clarence Seedorf has had a galvanising effect, and after some barren years the club is starting to develop some interesting young talent.
Teenage left-footed centre-back Doria looks on his way to great things, and midfielder Gabriel is also one to watch. But over the last month the team has shown signs of running out of gas, and the thrashing by Flamengo was a humiliation too far for many of the fans.
When the team most needed their support, they stayed away.
These little anecdotes of Rio football may be extreme examples. But they serve to highlight a central point, worth stressing as the game in its organised form celebrates its 150th birthday.
Football is a universal language which is spoken with different accents. And your approach to the game reveals much about your identity. This applies not just to how you play, to how much emphasis is placed on strength, or on skill. It also applies to how you support your team.
Brazil, for example, is a country of low self-esteem. Perhaps this will be transformed by economic progress, but it will not happen overnight. Football brings this trait to the surface.
In order to avoid humiliation (a powerful concept in Brazilian society) fans give themselves a get out - if the team is losing, they say, it is not my representative. It might be my club, but it is not my team.
Some of these issues will be played out in front of the global gaze during next year's World Cup. The host's games will be played in an extraordinary atmosphere, and the crowd will be 100% behind the team - as long as they keep winning.
Send your questions on South American football to [email protected] and I'll pick out a couple for next week.
From last week's postbag;
How would the top teams in South America do in the Champions League?
This is clearly a subjective opinion, but for what it's worth, my humble view is that currently they would not do well at all. I think they would have huge problems against the dynamism and individual ability of the top European clubs, with their squads drawn from the best players all over the world.
The World Club Cup is an unreliable guide, but in the last few years the only time the match between the Europeans and the South Americans was an even fight was last year, when Corinthians beat Chelsea, hardly the most outstanding winner of the Champions League.
Even then, Corinthians' success was built on defensive solidity - in their two games they totalled two attempts on target, Paolo Guerrero's goals in their 1-0 wins. I worry for Atletico Mineiro if they try to meet Bayern Munich in an open fight this year.
However, if the South American clubs had access to the kind of money generated by the Champions League then it might well be a different story. If they could hold on to their best players and buy in stars from elsewhere, as the Europeans do, then they would have a much better chance. | Around the turn of the century Rio giants Flamengo had a player called Maurinho, a central midfielder who they were attempting to convert into a right back. | 24709049 |
Video of Louis Head shows him yelling "Burn this [place] down!" before last week's riots over perceived racial injustice in the Missouri town.
He spoke as a grand jury announced no charges for a white police officer who shot and killed the unarmed teenager.
The incident sparked a nationwide dialogue about race relations.
St Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman told US media on Tuesday authorities want to talk to Mr Head about his comments amid a larger investigation into arson and looting during the Ferguson protests.
Twelve commercial buildings were destroyed by fire that night, after the jury's decision was announced.
Family attorney Benjamin Crump has called Mr Head's recorded comments "raw emotion".
The officer who shot Brown in Ferguson, Darren Wilson, resigned from the force over the weekend.
The policeman said he had feared for his life, but Brown's supporters said the teenager was attempting to surrender when he was shot.
Some witnesses said the 18-year-old, who was unarmed, had his hands up.
The investigation into Mr Head comes one day after President Barack Obama requested $263m (£167m) to improve police training, pay for body cameras and restore trust in policing.
"This is not a problem just of Ferguson, Missouri. This is a national problem, Mr Obama said. "But it's a solvable problem." | US police are investigating the stepfather of black shooting victim Michael Brown for inciting illegal activity during protests in Ferguson. | 30302729 |
Merlin shares dropped 4% after it said the disruption caused by the crash would hit profits by up to £47m.
The FTSE 100 index was down 13.42 points at 6,566.39.
Shares in Pearson were down 3.5% after it confirmed it was in talks to sell its 50% stake in the Economist.
Reckitt Benckiser topped the risers list, with its shares up 2.8% after the consumer goods firm raised its full-year revenue targets.
The firm, whose products include Durex condoms and Nurofen painkillers, said it was now aiming for like-for-like net revenue growth of 4-5%.
This came after it reported first-quarter like-for-like sales growth of 5%.
Mining shares were also having a better day after the gold price - which saw sharp falls last week - edged higher. Shares in Randgold Resources rose 1.8%.
On the currency markets, the pound was flat against the dollar at $1.5509 but fell 0.8% against the euro to €1.4016.
The euro had been bolstered by an upbeat German business confidence survey, with the Ifo institute's business climate index rising to 108.0 from June's revised figure of 107.5.
The figure was better than expected and followed two months of declines. | (Noon): Merlin Entertainments was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 after the firm warned profits would be hit by the effects of the rollercoaster crash at its Alton Towers theme park. | 33672315 |
Zeman, who led Pescara to promotion to Serie A in 2012 before joining Roma, returned to the club this week following the sacking of Massimo Oddo.
His impact was immediate as Serie A's bottom club raced into a 3-0 lead before half time and added the gloss to a handsome win in the second.
Roma retook second spot with a 4-1 win over Torino, who had Joe Hart in goal.
Former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko and ex-Chelsea midfielder Mohamed Salah both scored past the on-loan Manchester City keeper.
Napoli had briefly moved into second with a 3-1 win at Chievo, earlier on Sunday.
After Lorenzo Insigne had given them the lead, Marek Hamsik scored to move within three goals of equalling Diego Maradona's record tally of 115 for the club.
Piotr Zielinski made it 3-0 before Riccardo Meggiorini scored a consolation for the home side.
Roma are seven points behind leaders Juventus, and have two more than Napoli.
The story of the day, though, belonged to Pescara and their returning coach.
Czech Zeman, 69, claimed this week that he "owed" the club something having left them for the second of his two spells at Roma four and a half years ago.
Genoa's Lucas Orban deflected an Alberto Cerri shot in to his own net to give Pescara the lead before Gianluca Caprari and Ahmad Benali put the home side in complete control.
Caprari got his second in the 81st minute before Cerri sealed the rout in the closing stages.
It was only Pescara's second win of the season and their first since a 3-0 success at Sassuolo.
They remain rooted to the bottom on 12 points, 10 adrift of fourth-from-bottom Empoli.
Elsewhere, Gabriel Barbosa's 81st-minute goal gave Inter Milan a 1-0 win at Bologna, Gregoire Defrel scored twice as Sassuolo came from behind to win at Udinese, while Fabio Quagliarella cancelled out Mauricio Isla's opener as Sampdoria drew 1-1 with Cagliari. | New coach Zdenek Zeman led Pescara to their first win since August - a stunning 5-0 victory over Genoa. | 39021735 |
Laura Matthews-James, 35, from Pen-y-groes, Carmarthenshire, was seven months pregnant when her Fiat 500 collided with Robert Hitchcock's car on 26 February 2016.
Swansea Crown Court heard she had no memory of the crash on the B4300 and denied taking a risk by overtaking.
She had denied causing death by driving without due care and attention.
Ms Matthews-James, a biomedical scientist, had been on her way to work when she crashed into 54-year-old Mr Hitchcock.
He was killed instantly and she was airlifted to hospital where doctors discovered her baby had died and she had an emergency Caesarean section.
The week-long trial heard Ms Matthews-James crashed after overtaking two other vehicles as she headed to work at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen.
"In doing so she lost control of her vehicle and collided, head on, with an oncoming car which was being driven by Mr Hitchcock," said prosecutor Jim Davies.
"Her injuries includes fractured ankles and haemorrhages in the brain.
"A Caesarean operation was also performed by surgeons and returned a stillborn baby."
She told the jury she had no memory of the crash but denied taking risks with her driving.
She said: "I wouldn't take any risks because I was pregnant."
During the trial the jury heard that the defendant had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder following the combination of the crash and losing her unborn son.
Defence barrister Ignatius Hughes QC read out a statement from a psychologist who said Ms Matthew-James had been left in a "fragile and stressed" emotional state.
The statement said: "She has said she doesn't want to bring a child into the world because in her words 'I've killed my baby'." | A driver who lost her unborn baby after a head-on crash which killed a man has been cleared of causing the crash. | 40553290 |
Spain international Llorente, 31, joined from Sevilla on a two-year deal.
He made his debut in the 1-0 win at Burnley and after his late header was saved by Tom Heaton, Leroy Fer struck to score Swansea's winner.
"Fernando has that physical presence that can help us in difficult times," Fabianski said.
"For me personally it's a bit easier. When we're under pressure and I have to kick a longer ball. I know he can do the job for us."
Media playback is not supported on this device
Llorente and fellow Spanish striker Borja have bolstered Swansea's forward options following the departures of Andre Ayew, Alberto Paloschi, Eder and Bafetimbi Gomis.
Fabianksi, who played in four of Poland's five games at Euro 2016, was pleased with the win and a clean sheet in their Premier League opener at Turf Moor.
He also hailed the performance of central defenders Federico Fernandez and Jordi Amat, coming only days after Ashley Williams' departure to Everton.
"It's a confidence boost for the centre-backs," Fabianski added.
"I think they've done a really good job, especially playing against very physical opponents.
"We stood up to them physically and we can be happy with that.
"It's always great to start with a win, especially playing away from home.
"It always gives you that confidence for the next game and tells you the work you did in pre-season was good work and it paid off." | Striker Fernando Llorente will offer Swansea City a different forward option this season, says goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianksi. | 37070439 |
Speaking to BBC News, he said academies improved standards and power should be in the hands of headteachers and teachers, "not bureaucrats".
It was announced in June that up to 1,000 schools in England, including failing ones, would become academies.
Academies are independent and funded directly by central government.
By June of this year, there were 4,676 of them open in England - the number has grown dramatically from 203 in May 2010.
More than half of all secondary schools in England are now academies.
However, academies have been opposed by teaching unions, who say they undermine the state school system and are a form of privatisation.
The National Union of Teachers (NUT), the largest teachers' union, also claims there is no evidence they raise standards.
They are independent, state-funded schools that operate outside of local authority control.
They get money directly from the government, rather than from local councils.
Although the day-to-day running of academies remains the responsibility of head teachers or principals, they are overseen by individual charitable bodies called academy trusts and may be part of an academy chain.
They can have sponsors, such as businesses, universities, other schools, faith groups or voluntary groups.
Academies do not have to follow the national curriculum, and can set their own term times, but do still have to follow the same rules on admissions, special educational needs and exclusions as state schools. They are subject to inspection by Ofsted.
Academies - old and new explained
Cameron's '100 days' under scrutiny
Mr Cameron accused local authorities of not taking action on failing schools in the past and said his government would be "utterly intolerant of failure".
Regional schools commissioners and Ofsted would intervene "very, very quickly" when things went wrong at academies or free schools, Mr Cameron said.
Analysis: Sean Coughlan, BBC News education correspondent
David Cameron is marking the symbolic 100 days in office with a piece of political symbolism about England's schools.
There might be no new plans for more compulsion in turning more schools into academies.
But there is a clear political dig against Labour in taking on the mantle of public service reform.
Academies, introduced under Tony Blair, are now Mr Cameron's flagship education policy.
Innovation in schools policy is "something Labour used to understand", said the prime minister.
If he hasn't stolen their clothes, he has certainly put on their school uniform.
Mr Cameron wants a further acceleration of the academy policy.
But he also touched upon a practical challenge - saying he would make it a priority to find more academy sponsors and headteachers for academy chains.
The PM said the move to academies had seen "a million more children in good or outstanding schools".
"Those schools that are sponsored by academies, you can see the improvement in their results since they were taken over and given that extra independence and that extra assistance."
He said he wanted "the power to be in the hands of the headteacher and the teachers rather than the bureaucrats".
"My vision for our schooling system should be that every school should aspire to have that independence, for the head to be captain of the ship, to be able to make greater determination about the future of that school."
And in a Daily Telegraph article marking 100 days since the Conservatives' election victory, the PM said: "We will make it a priority to recruit more academy sponsors and support more great headteachers in coming together in academy chains." | Every school in England should become an academy, PM David Cameron has said, as he set out his "vision for our schooling system". | 33944203 |
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