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Lee was expecting to do a 5km run in Rochester in the US state of New York.
She turned up at the start line as the half marathon runners were setting off. So she joined them, thinking she'd arrived late for her shorter race.
"About the fourth mile, I asked a woman I was running with how long it was - and she said it was about 13 miles," Lee explained.
"That's when I realised I think I was in the wrong group."
Her family became worried about where she'd gone, but a police officer on a motorcycle managed to find her.
Lee decided she wanted to finish the half marathon - about four times longer than she had trained for.
She crossed the line in an impressive two hours, 43 minutes and 31 seconds! | A 12-year-old girl has accidentally completed a half marathon after joining the wrong race. | 36150655 |
According to the case filed by Ellen Newlin Chase and Margaret Chase Perry, the show used their mother Ellen's lyrics without buying the rights.
The show's characters have periodically sung a lullaby including the lyrics "soft kitty, warm kitty".
Mrs Newlin's daughters have also sued other media companies over the issue.
Calls to CBS and other companies named in the case were not immediately returned on Monday.
Mrs Newlin died in 2004, having worked as a nursery school teacher in Alstead, New Hampshire, for about 35 years. Her daughters still live in the small town.
The legal case claims that the "soft kitty" lyrics written by Mrs Newlin in the 1930s have been used in their entirety on at least eight episodes of the show since March 2008.
It says the lyrics have also been used in merchandising, including on T-shirts, mouse pads, mobile phone covers, wallets, air fresheners, fridge magnets, toys and other products.
"The Soft Kitty lyrics are among the best-known and most popular aspects of `The Big Bang Theory," the claim states.
"They have become a signature and emblematic feature of the show and a central part of the show's promotion."
According to the claim, Ellen Newlin Chase discovered The Big Bang Theory's use of the lyrics in August 2014, when she was researching her mother's history for an article she was writing and came across a blog post discussing the use of the lyrics on the show.
The lawsuit says that in 2007, Warner Bros. Entertainment and the show's other producers decided they wanted to use the lyrics and sought permission from Willis Music Co., a Kentucky-based company that had published them in a book called Songs for the Nursery School.
But according to the claim, Willis Music gave permission to use the lyrics without consulting Mrs Newlin's heirs even though the book makes clear that Mrs Newlin was the author of and owned the copyright to the lyrics. | The daughters of a teacher who wrote a poem about a "soft kitty" are suing CBS, the network behind The Big Bang Theory, for copyright violation. | 35194737 |
Police said the search had been extended as they investigate claims that an explosive device had been left in the area.
The alert began on Wednesday. Police said the scene would be held overnight with further search activity to start on Friday.
A security alert near Craigavon, County Armagh, has been declared a hoax. | A number of people have been moved from their homes due to a security alert in Drumsurn, outside Dungiven. | 34805022 |
The pop star claims former radio DJ David Mueller groped her while posing for a photo at one of her concerts in 2013 - a charge which he denies.
"Just like her expertly crafted lyrics, Taylor Swift was precise, self-assured and direct," said Billboard magazine.
Speaking in court, Swift refused to back down or give ground to the DJ's lawyer.
Asked if she was critical of her bodyguard, Swift replied: "I'm critical of your client sticking his hand under my skirt and grabbing my ass".
She testified that her security team had seen Mueller "lift my skirt" but only a person on the floor "looking up my skirt" could have seen the entire act "and we didn't have anyone positioned there".
Swift also rejected the accusation that she had misidentified Mueller, saying: "I'm not going to allow you or your client to say I am to blame."
"He had a handful of my ass. It happened to me. I know it was him."
Fans and critics have praised her performance on the stand.
"Taylor Swift did not sugarcoat her testimony," said Variety Magazine's Jem Aswad, singling out the moment Mueller's lawyer, Gabriel McFarland, asked why the front of her skirt did not appear to be ruffled in the photograph.
"Because," Swift replied, "my ass is located in the back of my body."
Billboard's Gil Kaufmann applauded the star for refusing to let Mr McFarland sway her interpretation of the incident.
"It happened to me. I have a 3-D rendition of what happened in my brain," he quoted her as saying. "I could have picked him out of a line of 1,000. I know exactly who did this. It is not alleged. It is a fact.
"You can ask me a million questions about it and I'm never going to say anything different."
Buzzfeed's Claudia Rosenbaum, who was in the courtroom, said Swift was at times "aggravated" and "pissed off" at "being forced to relive the details of this incident".
End of Twitter post by @CJRosenbaum
According to the reporter, the star bristled when she was asked why she hadn't called off the meet-and-greet following the alleged incident.
"Mueller's attorney said, 'You could have taken a break,' and Taylor Swift responded: 'And your client could have taken a normal photo with me.'"
Swift's testimony was "sharp, gutsy and satisfying," said Slate magazine's Christina Cauterucci.
"For young fans of Swift's, hearing a beloved artist speak candidly about the emotional damage of sexual assault and stand up to a courtroom of men trying to prove her wrong could be a formative moment for their developing ideas of gender, sex, and accountability."
Fox News reporter Michael Konopasek, meanwhile, noted that elements of Swift's testimony were "heartbreaking" but she "stayed strong throughout".
End of Twitter post by @MikeKonopasek
Fans spoke out in support of the star following her hour-long appearance on the stand.
"Proud and inspired by Taylor Swift today," wrote Alex Goldschmidt. "This is what strength looks like."
"I hope Taylor Swift wins this trial/ There's no excuse for any sexual abuse. She is taking a stand for ALL WOMEN," added Marcus Kawa.
"Taylor Swift has probably watched every single Law And Order episode," concluded one fan account. "She knows what she's doing. She came for blood."
Coincidentally, Swift had been asked in court whether she watched any police shows. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "I named my cat after Olivia Benson on Law and Order."
End of Twitter post 2 by @CJRosenbaum
Following Swift to the witness stand on Thursday was radio station boss Robert Call, who fired Mueller two days after the alleged incident, acting on a complaint from Swift's radio publicist.
Call said Mueller had initially denied touching Swift, but when shown the photo in question, he responded: "Well, if it did happen, it was accidental."
Call said he fired the DJ because of his shifting accounts of the incident, and because the photo showed that Mueller's hand was "not where it was supposed to be".
Mueller, 55, testified on Tuesday that he may have made innocent contact with Swift but denied any inappropriate behaviour.
Asked if he grabbed her backside, the broadcaster replied, "No, I did not."
The trial continues.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | Taylor Swift has been praised for her "sharp, gutsy and satisfying" testimony over allegations of sexual assault. | 40885437 |
That summed up the mood of Northern Ireland supporters as they filed out of Windsor Park in celebratory mood after Kyle Lafferty's dramatic last-gasp equaliser salvaged a draw against Hungary and kept their dream of qualifying for Euro 2016 very much alive.
Michael O'Neill's side's incremental progress towards next summer's finals now looks to have gathered unstoppable momentum and two points from their remaining two fixtures would be enough to secure their passage to France.
Prior to the game, those fortunate enough to have secured a ticket entered the ground in optimistic and expectant mood as they took their seats in the burgeoning new-look stadium, eager to usher in a new era on the field to match their new surroundings off it.
The 'Green and White Army' sang along to their usual repertoire of familiar favourites blasted out by the stadium tannoys and generated the customary intimidating atmosphere for those visiting the south Belfast ground.
There was an air of anticipation that success was finally on the horizon after decades spent inventing new fashions of self-deprecating humour during the long barren years, which saw campaigns invariably end in failure virtually before they had started.
There was a larger than usual media presence - similar to that which was in attendance exactly 10 years ago to the day on that that memorable night when David Healy's goal saw off a star-studded England outfit - betraying the fact that much more was at stake than has been the case for a long time on match nights at Windsor Park.
The home crowd was plunged into gloom however when Michael McGovern's howler gifted the visitors the opening goal and a night which promised much seemed to be descending into one of frustration and disappointment, until chief talisman Lafferty transformed the atmosphere with his seventh goal of the campaign, simultaneously ending a run of five consecutive clean sheets for the visitors.
The majority of the 10,000 fans inside the partially reconstructed stadium erupted and the small but vocal band of Hungarians housed in one corner of the ground finally fell silent.
"You've got to hand it to this Northern Ireland side. There was only one team in it in the second half but they stuck to their task and reaped the rewards," former Northern Ireland defender John O'Neill told BBC Radio Ulster listeners at the end of the game.
"It was a real rollercoaster tonight but this group of players have a never-say-die spirit which has served them well throughout this campaign and will hopefully continue to do so until the end. We never do things the easy way and this was another one where you couldn't have written the script."
One seasoned spectator, who has been attending international games for almost 55 years, remained confident throughout, even after a nervy second half which also saw midfielder Chris Baird controversially sent-off.
"I thought we were the better team and deserved at least a point. Kyle Lafferty rescued us again - he has been immense throughout this campaign," observed Bill Hopkins from Comber.
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"I've only missed four games at Windsor Park since 1961 and I'll go to Helsinki for the party if it ends up coming down to the final game," he added excitedly.
Holywood man Peter Johnson was only born when Northern Ireland graced the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico and relief was his primary emotion as the men in green edged closer to qualification.
"If we had lost, it could have dented the confidence in the squad, especially with three first-choice players missing for the next game through suspension.
"I've been supporting the team since I was 11 and I'm confident we can achieve that final push over the line against the Greeks. I was expecting the win tonight but we can wait," commented the 30-year-old.
So Michael O'Neill and his charges must wait for another few weeks to finish the job of etching their names into Northern Ireland footballing folklore by sealing a place at the European Championships at the 14th attempt.
Few would bet on next month's visit of the underperforming top seeds in Group F turning into a Greek tragedy, even in the absence of influential suspended trio Baird, Lafferty and Conor McLaughlin. | When you have been been patient for 30 years in the seemingly vain hope of qualifying for another major tournament, what is one month more to wait? | 34174215 |
The drilling rig is to be floated on to the deck of Offshore Heavy Transport's semi-submersible Hawk vessel.
The complex operation is dependent on favourable weather conditions.
The 17,000-tonne Transocean Winner rig ran aground at Dalmore, near Carloway, on the west side of the island during a storm over a month ago.
It was successfully refloated and taken to its current safe anchorage on the east side of the island.
Hawk was already in Scottish waters having taken another rig to an anchorage in the Cromarty Firth in the Highlands.
The ship designed to move rigs and other large marine structures over long distances.
The Transocean Winner has been fitted with air bags to increase its buoyancy. A number of small tugs will be involved in an operation to float it on to the Hawk.
On Tuesday, David Walls, of the rig's owner Transocean, said relatively calm weather was needed for the operation to be completed.
Transocean Winner was being towed from Norway to Malta, from where it was to be moved to Turkey to be scrapped, when it and the ship towing it were hit by a storm off the Western Isles.
The tow line broke and the rig ran aground on the beach at Dalmore. | The ship that will take the damaged oil rig Transocean Winner to Turkey for decommissioning has arrived off the coast of Lewis. | 37425709 |
Both players are on 12-under-par after scoring six-under 67s on Friday.
Day one leader Jimmy Walker and fellow American Patrick Reed are one behind on 11 under, while Scotland's Russell Knox is six shots off the lead on six under.
Moore birdied four of his last five holes and playing partner Thomas, seeking his second PGA Tour victory of the season, birdied his last two holes.
Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, who has won his last three tournaments worldwide, is in sixth on nine under.
World number one Jason Day is playing for the first time since September and his round of 69 left him on seven under, five shots behind Thomas and Moore.
The event only features 32 players and Thomas is enjoying the competition.
He said: "This is a great opportunity to win a golf tournament, it's your best chance. They're all great players, but I'll take my chances over 32 versus 144 every week."
Moore, who helped the United States win the 2016 Ryder Cup, added: "It's fun to be in contention going into the weekend. You need to make birdies and I'm looking forward to it."
Find out how to get into golf with our special guide. | Americans Justin Thomas and Ryan Moore share the lead after two days of the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. | 38541266 |
Chief Constable Paul Crowther says while violent incidents have dropped, there has been a rise in "casual, thuggish behaviour" by some fans.
Friday's conference will hear testimony from the public and rail staff.
There have been 630 football-related incidents reported to police during this season, which began in August.
These include violence, criminal damage and abusive behaviour.
Of this season's reported incidents, 162 were racially or religiously aggravated.
But British Transport Police say incidents are often under-reported because witnesses do not always come forward.
This weekend will see large numbers of fans on the move for the FA Cup semi-finals, being held at London's Wembley stadium.
Mr Crowther, who is hosting the summit, said people had been shocked by images from Paris earlier this year when Chelsea fans were seen pushing a black French man off a Metro train.
Scotland Yard is seeking a football banning order for five men accused of racist chanting before Chelsea's Champions League game in the city in February.
"What shocks me is that people are surprised this is going on, because frankly this kind of casual, thuggish behaviour is sadly taking place more or less on a weekly basis across our transport system," said Mr Crowther.
"There's a risk that, as a society, it's become something we almost tolerate. So how do we turn that around, what can we do to stop it and how can we bring all the people together that can help us to do that?"
Mr Crowther said organised, gang-related football violence is declining but anti-social behaviour - such as swearing and racial chanting - is on the rise.
"I ask myself, why am I deploying nearly 400 officers per day, over the next two days, for the FA Cup semi-finals simply to get people to and from a sporting event?" he added.
He also urged people to contact police if they witness any kind of criminal incident on the transport system. | A summit is being held by British Transport Police to tackle violence and anti-social behaviour by football fans on the transport network. | 32347214 |
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The Honest Men became the first team in the cup to use a fourth substitute in extra-time with Michael Rose replacing Nicky Devlin against Queen's Park.
Though defender Rose only came on in the 121st minute at Hampden, he played an important part in Ayr's win.
After a 2-2 draw, Rose scored from the spot in a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win.
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The Scottish FA announced in September that a fourth replacement could be used in extra-time in this season's competition.
England's FA Cup will allow a fourth substitute in extra-time from the quarter-finals onwards, starting this term.
It was an eventful match at the national stadium with League One Queen's Park twice leading their Championship opponents and then having a man sent off.
Paul Woods and Bryan Wharton netted for Gus MacPherson's Spiders but those goals were cancelled out by Craig Moore and Conrad Balatoni.
The hosts' Sean Burns was dismissed in the first half of extra-time after receiving a second booking.
A shoot-out ensued after Rose's introduction and though he was successful with his kick from 12 yards, team-mate Paul Cairney missed his at 2-2.
But Ayr goalkeeper Greg Fleming saved from Wharton and Gregor Fotheringham to give the visitors a 5-4 win on penalties.
They will host Clyde or Stirling Albion at Somerset Park on the weekend of 11 and 12 February. | Ayr United progressed to the fifth round of the Scottish Cup on Tuesday and made a little piece of history in the tournament in the process. | 38744412 |
The 70-year-old guided Blues to Championship safety at the weekend with a 1-0 victory at Bristol City.
Redknapp took over on 18 April after Gianfranco Zola's departure.
The ex-West Ham, Tottenham and QPR boss led Birmingham to two wins in the final three matches as they avoided relegation to League One by two points.
Redknapp's first game in charge of Birmingham was a 1-0 defeat by West Midlands rivals Aston Villa - a result which left his team just one place above the relegation zone.
But successive wins to end the season over Huddersfield - where they played for more than an hour with 10 men - and Bristol City on the final day ensured their survival.
Harry Redknapp's confirmed that he's agreed to manage Birmingham City on a one-year contract. He will review the situation with the club at the end of next season after signing the contract later this week.
Redknapp has been assured by the Chinese owners that sufficient funds will be available to strengthen a squad that nearly got Blues relegated.
Steve Cotterill and Paul Groves will continue assisting Redknapp. He's been locked in talks with the board since Sunday night.
Birmingham will be the furthest north that Redknapp's ever managed in his long career. Before that, it was Tottenham. | Harry Redknapp has agreed to stay as manager of Championship side Birmingham City and is expected to sign a one-year contract later this week. | 39878418 |
Tope Obadeyi scored with a looping shot which evaded the Hamilton goalkeeper Michael McGovern.
Dougie Imrie had earlier seen a close-range shot cleared off the line by Conrad Balatoni, while Josh Magennis had gone close for Kilmarnock.
The result will ease some of the pressure which has been building on the Kilmarnock manager Gary Locke.
Hamilton's poor run of form continues - they have only managed one win from their last 10 matches.
Right from the kick-off Hamilton opted to test the Kilmarnock defence, Ali Crawford with the attempt from the centre-circle. It was on target but Jamie MacDonald saved comfortably.
Obadeyi then loped forward for Kilmarnock, but his shot from the edge of the box was well off target.
The much-maligned Killie defence then held up fairly well to some sustained Hamilton pressure.
There was a soft claim from Lucas Tagliapietra for a penalty after a corner. The giant defender appeared to be manhandled in the box, but nothing was given.
There were signs of life from Kilmarnock in the attacking third as Magennis fired over the bar, and McHattie shot wide of the post.
Magennis then jinked into the box but his near-post shot was batted away by McGovern in the Accies goal. Obadeyi did similar shortly after.
At the other end Darian Mackinnon cut a dangerous ball across the penalty area, but unfortunately for Hamilton there were no takers.
Conrad Balatoni then made the clearance of the season off the goal-line. Dougie Imrie fired in a fierce shot from eight yards which had MacDonald beaten, but there was Balatoni on the line to repel the ball with a superb clearing header.
Five minutes into the second-half it looked like Magennis would give Kilmarnock the lead as his volley from McHattie's cross seemed destined to nestle in the top corner. Somehow McGovern managed to get a glove to it and tip the shot over the bar.
There then followed a lengthy delay as Tagliapietra was stretchered from the field after picking up an injury at a corner. He was replaced by Jamie Sendles-White.
There was a real sense that either side could win the match, and the game became increasingly stretched in the second-half.
And it was Kilmarnock who made the breakthrough. The ball found Obadeyi in the box and his shot into the turn looped up and over McGovern and into the net.
The freaky effort was scored right in front of the Kilmarnock fans and they celebrated with gusto.
Hamilton tried to respond with a free-kick into the box which found the head of Ziggy Gordon, but his effort was turned around the post by MacDonald.
Kilmarnock almost took a two goal advantage after neat play involving talented youngster Greg Kiltie on the edge of the box. Kiltie angled a shot towards the corner of the net but it was well saved by McGovern.
Match ends, Hamilton Academical 0, Kilmarnock 1.
Second Half ends, Hamilton Academical 0, Kilmarnock 1.
Substitution, Kilmarnock. Dale Carrick replaces Greg Kiltie.
Mark O'Hara (Kilmarnock) is shown the yellow card.
Carlton Morris (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Tope Obadeyi (Kilmarnock).
Substitution, Kilmarnock. Aaron Splaine replaces Adam Frizzell.
Attempt saved. Ziggy Gordon (Hamilton Academical) header from very close range is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Corner, Hamilton Academical. Conceded by Kevin McHattie.
Carlton Morris (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Tope Obadeyi (Kilmarnock).
Ali Crawford (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Kevin McHattie (Kilmarnock).
Attempt saved. Greg Kiltie (Kilmarnock) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Carlton Morris (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Steven Smith (Kilmarnock).
Attempt saved. Eamonn Brophy (Hamilton Academical) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Foul by Jamie Sendles-White (Hamilton Academical).
Josh Magennis (Kilmarnock) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Kilmarnock. Conceded by Michael McGovern.
Attempt saved. Greg Kiltie (Kilmarnock) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Attempt missed. Josh Magennis (Kilmarnock) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Dougie Imrie (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Steven Smith (Kilmarnock).
Substitution, Hamilton Academical. Daniel Redmond replaces Dougie Imrie.
Corner, Kilmarnock. Conceded by Jesus Garcia Tena.
Jesus Garcia Tena (Hamilton Academical) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Jesus Garcia Tena (Hamilton Academical).
Josh Magennis (Kilmarnock) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Eamonn Brophy (Hamilton Academical) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Corner, Hamilton Academical. Conceded by Jamie MacDonald.
Attempt saved. Ziggy Gordon (Hamilton Academical) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Steven Smith (Kilmarnock) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Ali Crawford (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Steven Smith (Kilmarnock).
Attempt missed. Josh Magennis (Kilmarnock) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Substitution, Hamilton Academical. Eamonn Brophy replaces Louis Longridge.
Carlton Morris (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Craig Slater (Kilmarnock).
Goal! Hamilton Academical 0, Kilmarnock 1. Tope Obadeyi (Kilmarnock) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Josh Magennis. | Kilmarnock recorded their first victory in over two months to edge out Hamilton Academical. | 35139783 |
During the campaign, he said that if he became president, he would hand control of his business empire to Ivanka and her brothers, Don and Eric.
But the plan came under fierce scrutiny from critics, who said it involved big conflicts of interest.
So what are the risks and why should he be allowed to carry out such arrangements?
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Well, first of all, there is absolutely no law that prevents him.
Previous presidents, from Lyndon B Johnson on, have avoided any hint of impropriety by placing their business interests into what is known as a blind trust. This means that the president gives up the right to manage his (or her) money personally, handing the task over to independent trustees.
In LBJ's case, he set one up in 1963, after assuming the presidency in the wake of John F Kennedy's assassination. He and his wife, Lady Bird, owned a TV station, KTBC, in Austin, Texas, and wanted to avoid regulatory problems without having to sell it.
In 1978, the Ethics in Government Act formalised the rules on blind trusts, but left them entirely voluntary as far as presidents are concerned.
Mr Trump has spoken about putting his holdings into a blind trust, but then said that his three oldest children would be in charge of the company, which would not pass the independence test.
"I don't know if it's a blind trust if Ivanka, Don and Eric run it," he said earlier this year. "If that's a blind trust, I don't know.
"But I would probably have my children run it with my executives and I wouldn't ever be involved."
In any case, even if Mr Trump no longer controls those assets directly, he could hardly be expected to forget what they were, so he would remain vulnerable to allegations that his political decisions were designed to favour his business interests.
And there is another big spanner in the works: the US constitution has a provision that could potentially make life difficult for Mr Trump.
The constitution's Emoluments Clause states: "No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state."
It's easy to see what the point of that was. Having created a republic and enshrined the ideal of equality, the Founding Fathers wanted to prevent the US acquiring an aristocracy or being beholden to foreign powers that might undermine those ideals.
But it also seems to say that no-one in senior public office should have any foreign income.
Does that apply to the Trump Organization, which has joint property ventures and licensing deals stretching from Panama City to Istanbul?
In theory, yes. In practice, it probably depends on that little phrase, "the consent of the Congress".
Any foreign deal or donation involving either of those bodies could easily spawn a Congressional investigation into a possible breach of the constitution. And once the juggernaut started to roll, it could lead all the way to impeachment.
In practice, a Republican-controlled Congress is unlikely to make life difficult for a president from its own party.
But unless his business activities are genuinely outside his control, Mr Trump cannot be sure of escaping unscathed. | Donald Trump's remarkable election victory gives him an immediate business headache: what to do about his sprawling financial empire. | 37937101 |
The work, dubbed the Love Plane, was painted in 2011 and showed a biplane leaving a heart-shaped trail behind it.
The plane has now been removed from the wall of the outdoor car park on Rumford Street - but the heart has remained.
The plane will be displayed alongside other Banksy works from Liverpool in an indoor gallery specialising in street art in the city's Baltic Triangle.
The Sincura Group, which is known for removing, exhibiting and selling Banksy works, said it had removed the biplane.
The building that Banksy decorated is due for redevelopment and the biplane is being restored before it goes on show in its new home, the company said.
Sam Fishwick, a graffiti artist from Liverpool, dismissed the idea of a street art gallery. "It's not street art any more if it's hung up in a museum," he told the BBC.
"It's raw, it's gritty, it's on the street, it's not meant to be there. When you go and see it in a gallery it loses its charm, it loses its character."
Other works in the new gallery, named simply The Gallery, will include Banksy's gun-toting rat, which adorned the White Horse pub on Berry Street.
It was painted for the 2004 Liverpool Biennial art festival and was removed and restored but failed to sell at auction in 2014. The gallery will also contain a smaller rat, drawn to look as if it had painted the slogan "Never liked the Beatles".
Sincura is working with developers North Property Global to open the new gallery, billed as the UK's first street art gallery, in late 2017 or early 2018.
North Property Global founder Peter McInnes told BBC News the gallery was "a great chance to reclaim" art that was in danger of being lost.
Those involved in the gallery currently own six Banksys from the streets of Liverpool, he said, and "we've got our eye on another two or three which are around the city or have been restored or reclaimed".
The biplane's full heart is too big to extract, he explained. "The plan for the museum is to put the plane in there and replicate the heart directly in the museum."
Asked about the irony of moving street art indoors, he said: "It stirs a lot of emotions but my answer to that would be - the gun-toting rat, which is one of the biggest Banksys ever painted, would have been lost for ever.
"It was badly damaged and if we hadn't restored it, you'd have seen it in magazines and that's it. In the museum it would be seen by everybody and enjoyed by everybody." | A Banksy artwork has been removed from a car park in Liverpool so it can be installed in a new street art gallery. | 37410164 |
Ms Kaur completed the race in one minute 14 seconds and was the only athlete to compete in her age category.
She has been dubbed the "miracle from Chandigarh" in New Zealand's media.
She was cleared to run after a medical examination.
She started her athletic career at the age of 93 with her son, Gurdev. | Man Kaur, a 101-year-old athlete from India, won the 100 metres sprint at the World Masters Games in Auckland on Monday, celebrating with a little dance. | 39692240 |
The oil giant said its profits had fallen by 51% to $5.9bn (£4.1bn), compared with $12.1bn in 2014 following a dramatic slide in oil prices.
BP was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100, falling 35.9p to 331p after announcing its biggest loss for more than two decades.
Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday, with Brent crude down 5.3% to $32.42.
BP's underlying fourth-quarter profits sank to $196m, compared with $2.2bn for the same period in 2014 and far worse than analysts had expected.
A further 3,000 job cuts were also announced by BP on Tuesday.
Last year, it said 4,000 jobs would go in its upstream division as part of a $2.5bn restructuring programme.
BP said its upstream business, which covers exploration and production, slumped to a $728m loss in the final quarter.
The latest reduction of up to 3,000 jobs by the end of 2017 affects staff and contractors in its downstream segment.
This refers to its refined oil products, such as fuel, lubricants and petrochemicals, that are used to make products such as paint and plastic bottles.
Bob Dudley, BP chief executive, said the company was making good progress in managing and lowering costs and capital spending.
"We are continuing to move rapidly to adapt and rebalance BP for the changing environment," he added.
Oil prices have been hit by the slowing global economy, the strong US dollar and oversupply.
BP's dividend will remain unchanged at 10 cents a share for the quarter.
Sanjiv Shah, chief investment officer at Sun Global Investments, said: "The short term looks difficult but shareholders should be encouraged by the fact that a pick-up in prices is expected soon and that BP management are committed to continue paying out current dividend levels."
Analysis: Kamal Ahmed, economics editor
In the final three months of 2014, the cost of a barrel of Brent crude was $77. In the final three months of 2015, it was $44.
Today it is $34. That is the background to today's results from BP.
Bob Dudley, BP's chief executive, told me two weeks ago that he expected the oil price to rise as high as$50-60 a barrel by the end of the year, as the oil majors desperately cut production and demand grows from China and the US.
Global supply and demand, at least from his company's point of view, will be in better balance, he argued.
It is clear from the strain the low oil price is putting on BP that another year of falling prices will mean yet more job losses in both the upstream (oil exploration and production, including the North Sea) and downstream (refining and sale of fuel) businesses.
Both of the main engines of the business are now spluttering and puffing out uncomfortable-looking black smoke.
That will put fresh pressure on BP's dividend, vital to our savings and pension funds. For the moment, BP says it is wholly committed to maintaining the payments.
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Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said BP faced hard choices: "With average oil prices still trading at multi-year lows so far this year, the question now needs to be asked, how long can BP sustain the dividend at current levels without an imminent pick-up in oil prices?
"How many more jobs will BP need to cut from its already reduced 80,000 workforce in the coming months in order to sustain its payout against a backdrop of a possible ratings downgrade, and lower energy prices for longer?"
BP's results are the latest in a round of weak fourth-quarter results in the sector.
Last week, Chevron announced its first quarterly loss in more than 13 years.
Shell, which reports its fourth-quarter and full-year results on Thursday, has warned in a trading statement that its underlying profits could be halved.
BP's shares ended trading 8.7% lower at 335.1p. | Shares in BP have ended the day almost 9% lower after it reported that annual profits had more than halved. | 35469380 |
There have been 498 gorse fires across the region since the start of May.
The Cuilcagh Mountain trail in County Fermanagh has been closed to the public due to one of the fires.
Those who started fires deliberately put firefighters, the public and property at risk, said the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.
The fire service was moving its engines around the country to keep the public safe and was appealing for their help, said NIFRS Group Commander Brian Stanfield.
He described the fire phenomenon as "complete madness, it's just reckless anti-social behaviour".
"We're appealing to the public. If you do know people who are fire setting, let the PSNI know so we can put them through the courts because this is absolutely ridiculous," he said.
Fire crews have been working since Sunday to bring a gorse fire near Fivemiletown, County Tyrone, under control.
The fire service said it covers an extensive area at Mullaghfad forest on the Tyrone and Fermanagh border.
"We had eight fire appliances at the incident in Fivemiletown and we're also working with the forestry both north and south of the border and the Southern fire service as well to bring that fire under control," he said.
"That fire started at 11:00 BST on Sunday and we still have two appliances up on that mountain in very difficult terrain, trying to bring that under control.
Dozens of personnel are involved.
Specialist equipment, including tanker lorries bringing water to the site, have been deployed.
It's the second day the fire service has been on site.
Much of the effort involves fire crews using beaters to put out the flames.
It's understood the fire may have been started in a number of different locations.
Mullaghfad is part of a large forest area which includes Crocknagrally, Jenkin and Fardross forests.
The forest is located within a Special Protection Area for hen harriers and is partly made up by the Slieve Beagh Area of special scientific interest.
"We also had six fire appliances at another incident in Cookstown at the same time."
Mr Stanfield said gorse fires were "resource intensive" and said crews were prepared to deal with any further incidents this week.
"There's a high risk, the countryside is like a tinder box and our resources will be stretched if people continue at this rate to light fires," he warned.
He said people were unaware of the personal risks when they committed such acts.
"When the ground is that dry and there's a change in wind direction, the fire will move faster than the person can run and it's only a matter of time until someone is seriously injured or killed at one of these fires," he added. | At least 80% of the 302 gorse fires in Northern Ireland over the weekend were started deliberately, fire officials say. | 39843595 |
The number of patients at Swansea's Morriston Hospital who have died while waiting for surgery was described as "deeply unsatisfactory".
An outside team was called in to look at "longstanding problems".
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg health board apologised and pledged to implement changes.
The independent review panel said some practices needed to be stopped at once and that problems such as low staff morale, intolerable working conditions and the lack of teamwork had an effect on patient care.
The expert group heard complaints from staff that they were bullied by surgeons, demoralised and at breaking point.
Some of the issues are likely to have led to patients waiting longer for lifesaving surgery, the review said.
A total of 34 recommendations have been made for improvements.
The report added: "Staff complained of bullying and abuse by surgeons, long and pressured working hours, inequitable payment arrangements and perceived lack of leadership which all contribute to this.
"High turnover, high sickness and low morale are the inevitable outcomes."
The review was presented to a health board meeting on Thursday along with a plan outlining action.
Health board chief executive Paul Roberts said: "The Cardiac Surgery Service at Morriston Hospital has provided excellent care for many patients since it opened in 1997, and continues to do so.
"However, we commissioned the external review because of some deep-rooted, long-term problems within the service which we want tackled once and for all. We are determined to do so.
"Our patients deserve the best possible cardiac surgery service, and I sincerely apologise that these long-term issues have not been resolved much earlier.
"I want to give assurances that changes are being put in place immediately to ensure the Cardiac Surgery Service provides patients with the best quality care it can."
The health board's action plan includes: | A rift involving staff at a hospital's cardiac unit has created "intolerable" working conditions and affected patients, says a hard-hitting report. | 24282360 |
Competitors need technique and stamina in abundance as they cross-country ski for up to 20km.
They must also be able to lower their heart rate enough to hold the gun steady as they aim at a tiny target - with the threat of extra distance to ski or time penalties if they miss.
Becoming a biathlete requires one of the most punishing training regimes, turning biathletes into some of the fittest competitors in winter sport.
The cross-country skiing element offers a low-impact full-body workout alongside an excellent test for the cardiovascular system. Shooting requires control and balance, particularly managing your heart rate and breathing to complete the shots in the time required.
The British Biathlon Union (BBU) is the sport's governing body in Britain. The BBU website offers a handy guide to getting started in biathlon (pdf).
There are currently four clubs offering biathlon facilities and training to those who want to start competing or participating. They are Cairngorm Biathlon & Nordic Ski Club (CBNSC), Wessex Biathlon & Nordic Ski Club (WBNSC), Budleigh Farm Target Shooting Club (BFTSC) and East Grange Biathlon Centre (EGBC).
Biathlon was originally used as an alternative form of training for the Norwegian military, and what could be considered the first biathlon club was formed in Norway in 1861: the Trysil Rifle and Ski Club was used as a means to promote the military and national defence.
Biathlon was present as an Olympic sport in the first Winter Games of 1924, but was initially called "military patrol" as a reference to those roots.
Biathlon regained its Olympic status in 1960 as a men-only event, while women's biathlon was introduced in 1992.
Are you inspired to try Biathlon? Or maybe you are an enthusiast already? Get in touch and tell us your experience of the game by tweeting us on @bbcgetinspired or email us on [email protected].
See our full list of activity guides for more inspiration. | Skiing through snow with a rifle across your back sounds more like a hunting expedition than a sport - and that's where the inspiration for biathlon lies, in terms of survival and the military. | 23268663 |
Officers were called to Donkey Hill in St Ann's at about 15:50 BST on Tuesday after reports of a dispute outside a takeaway and a loud bang.
Nottinghamshire Police want to speak to a man seen on CCTV who may have an injured foot and the occupants of a blue Ford Focus.
Thorneywood Mount was closed for more than 20 hours while forensics officers examined the scene.
Det Insp Mike Allen said: "Despite no-one being found injured at the scene, extensive CCTV inquiries indicate that someone was hurt - although the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening - and we are in the process of trying to trace the victim." | A shot was fired during a dispute on a Nottingham street, police have said. | 26953973 |
The Harry Potter novelist published the book - The Cuckoo's Calling - as Robert Galbraith.
The book had sold fewer than 500 copies before the secret emerged in the Sunday Times, according to Nielsen BookScan's figures.
Within hours, it rose more than 5,000 places to top Amazon's sales list.
The digital version is now also at number one in the iTunes book chart.
The book was published by Sphere, part of Little, Brown Book Group which published Rowling's first foray into writing novels for adults, The Casual Vacancy.
What's in a name? How to pick a pseudonym
Little, Brown's David Shelley confirmed to The Bookseller the publisher had ordered an "immediate reprint" with the number not yet confirmed.
Rowling said she had "hoped to keep this secret a little longer".
The author described "being Robert Galbraith" as "such a liberating experience".
A spokesman for bookseller Waterstones said: "This is the best act of literary deception since Stephen King was outed as Richard Bachman back in the 1980s."
One reviewer described The Cuckoo's Calling as a "scintillating debut", while another praised the male author's ability to describe women's clothes.
Crime writer Peter James told the Sunday Times: "I thought it was by a very mature writer, and not a first-timer."
Fellow crime author Mark Billingham, who reviewed the book ahead of its publication in April, said he was "gobsmacked" at the revelation.
The fictitious Galbraith was supposed to have been a former plain-clothes Royal Military Police investigator who had left the armed forces in 2003 to work in the civilian security industry.
However a clue that Rowling was behind the novel was that she and Galbraith shared an agent and editor.
In previous interviews, Rowling has said she would prefer to write novels after Harry Potter under a pseudonym.
Another Cormoran Strike book by Robert Galbraith is in the pipeline, to be published next year. | JK Rowling's "secret" crime novel has topped book charts after it was revealed she had written it under a pseudonym. | 23311708 |
The American Olympic champion took a huge seven hundredths of a second off the previous record of 12.87 set by Cuban Dayron Robles in Ostrava in 2008.
Jamaican star Usain Bolt clocked a modest - by his standards - 9.86secs to win the 100m despite a slow start.
"I knew from the way he got out of the blocks that he might break it. From hurdle two he was pulling away from a class field and he made it look so effortless. It is rare that anyone wins the Olympics and then goes on to break the world record in the same season. When you know what it takes in that event, it was great to see. It was sensational, just sheer magic and perfection."
Compatriot Yohan Blake ran the ninth fastest 200m ever, winning in 19.54.
"I came off the turn and I felt it [the world record] was there for me," said Blake, who ran 19.26 seconds - the second fastest 200m ever - at the same stadium last year.
"I wanted to push more but when I felt no-one was beside me, it wasn't really there. But I have finished the season getting better and better and I will come back stronger next year."
Merritt could say the same after becoming the first man to run eight sub-13 second races in the same season, smashing his own previous personal best of 12.92 in the sprint hurdles.
"I can't believe I ran that fast - I'm in shock," the 27-year-old told BBC Sport. "I was focused on running under 13 for one last time to cap off a really good season, and I obliterated it.
"When I crossed the line and saw the time I was still in shock. I think it was almost the perfect race. I had a good reaction out of the blocks and I just kept going.
"I'm so happy I'm finally living up to my potential after all this time with injuries and hamstring tears and so many people telling me I should throw in the towel and get a normal job."
Britain's Lawrence Clarke, who finished last in 13.71secs, was in the next lane to Merritt. "I was just watching him, he was 15m head of me. I completely forgot about my own race."
Bolt, who made history by defending his three Olympic titles in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in London, admitted he was "drained" at the end of a stunning season.
"I just went through the motions pretty much," he told BBC Sport. "It was an OK race, I didn't lose, that is the most important thing. I am just happy to get through the season injury-free.
"I came here for fun, for the fans, because an Olympic Games drains you physically and mentally."
Britain's Perri Shakes-Drayton produced another sub-54 second 400m hurdles and her third fastest time of the season - 53.89 - to finish second behind Diamond League winner Kaliese Spencer of Jamaica, who won in 53.69.
"I am very pleased, I wanted to end on a high and it is another progression for me," said Shakes-Drayton. "I didn't do as well as I wanted at the Olympics, so I am hungry, even more than before."
Chris Tomlinson finished fourth in the long jump with a best effort of 7.96m, while Martyn Rooney came fifth in the men's 400m behind Belgian Kevin Borlee, who pipped his brother Jonathan to win in 44.75.
Lawrence Okoye finished fifth in the discus with a best throw of 64.67m, Estonian Gerd Kanter taking victory with 66.84m.
The 20-year-old Briton will now contemplate whether to continue in athletics or take up a place reading law at Oxford University.
"I have got to sort my life out and chat to the pople at Oxford when I get back," he said.
"There is no doubt in my opinion that if I carry on in athletics, I will be the best. Another year under my belt and I can target gold at the World Championships in Moscow next year. I just have to weigh everything up." | Aries Merritt stole the limelight with a stunning new 110m hurdles world record of 12.80 seconds in the final Diamond League meeting in Brussels. | 19508071 |
Dr Fraser Inglis attacked his ex-wife Elizabeth at their former home in Dunblane in February 2010.
The 53-year-old, who is the founder of the Glasgow Memory Clinic, was found guilty in July after a trial held over eight separate days that took nearly a year to complete.
He was sentenced to 100 hours community service.
The court heard he trapped his wife's arm in a heavy wooden door and thumped it with the door, before pushing her to floor and repeatedly striking the side of her head with his foot.
She said she was left looking "like a battered wife" after the attack.
Sheriff William Wood told the father of three: "This is the sort of offence which in another context might well justify a custodial sentence."
He said he had considered and rejected calls from Inglis's lawyer to give him an absolute discharge.
Sheriff Wood continued: "Clearly you are a person for whom any sentence other than an absolute discharge will mean you may well suffer significant consequences professionally.
"It does seem to me sufficiently serious that there must be some punitive element."
Stirling Sheriff Court heard that Inglis "flipped" when Mrs Inglis questioned why their teenage daughter, who she thought should have been doing homework, was instead watching TV.
The daugther, Marianne, now a 21-year-old medical student, said it was "like my dad had pent-up anger and he just wanted to take it out of her".
Marrianne, who described her parents' relationship as "like an illness", told the court her mother had been drinking.
She said: "She was volatile. When she drank her mood started to change and I knew she was looking for a fight.
"She was saying horrible things to me, like 'you're evil, you're a nasty person, you have no friends'.
"I was livid because it was just another night of arguing and chaos from her drinking."
Marianne said her mother then tried to come into to the TV lounge, and her father had closed the "heavy, sharp-edged wooden double door" on her mother's arm, "thumping" it on the limb several times in "a blind rage".
Later she found her father standing over her mother who was lying on the floor.
Sheriff Wood said that he did not accept Mrs Inglis's evidence about the amount of force involved.
But he told Inglis: "Nevertheless, she was injured. It seems to me this was a sustained episode, whereby having trapped her arm in a door and pushed her to the floor you then followed that up by striking her on the head as described.
"I dare say that your initial motivation was to protect Marianne Inglis, and I have taken that into account.
"You appear before me a man of otherwise impeccable character."
Inglis, who carries out pioneering studies into Alzheimer's disease, stood in the dock with his head bowed while the sheriff spoke. | A top Scottish doctor has escaped jail for beating his former wife "in a blind rage". | 37287240 |
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O'Sullivan led 10-6 overnight and breaks of 111, 67 and 55 on Saturday put him through to the last eight at the Crucible for the 18th time.
A century and three 70-plus breaks in Friday's opening session had put him 6-2 up - a lead he did not relinquish.
O'Sullivan will next face Ding Junhui, who took the last two frames for a 13-12 win over fellow Chinese Liang Wenbo.
Last year's runner-up Ding had led 6-2 and 9-6, but English Open champion Liang composed himself superbly in the final session with breaks of 98 and 61 to go one frame from victory.
However, Ding's stunning 132 and 70 saw him progress.
Ding said: "It is quite hard because I played one of my best friends. I told him there are no winners or losers, we just play a good game."
Four-time champion John Higgins came from behind to beat Northern Irishman Mark Allen 13-9.
The Scot was 5-2 behind at one stage, with Allen compiling three centuries, but Higgins showed his experience and nous to punish his opponent's mistakes, and goes on to face Kyren Wilson in the last eight.
Defending champion Mark Selby leads China's Xiao Guodong 6-2 after the first session. The pair resume on Sunday at 14:30 BST.
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In an extraordinary news conference following his first-round win over Gary Wilson, O'Sullivan had accused snooker authorities of "bullying and intimidation".
An already tasty encounter had further intrigue added to it by fellow Englishman and world number five Murphy, who dismissed his opponent's claims.
It seemed to fire O'Sullivan up, who looked focused and determined to produce a delightful performance in the first session, from which 2005 champion Murphy was unable to recover.
"I have practised for this tournament - given it six to seven weeks - but it does not necessarily mean you are going to play well. I have put my work in and hope to get stronger each match," said O'Sullivan.
"I don't pay attention to what anybody says. I come here, get into my own cocoon, and do what I have to do. It is a long slog - hard mentally, especially for me - but you just have to try your best."
After defeat on Saturday, Murphy said: "Any match against Ronnie is a test of your skills and you have to play at your absolute best to win. I did not.
"Ronnie played really, really well in the whole match and if he plays with that level of focus he will go on to win the title.
"I don't subscribe to the 'not being bothered' stuff. He certainly looks like he is trying." | Five-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan eased past Shaun Murphy 13-7 to reach the World Championship quarter-finals. | 39677604 |
The 28-year-old Dutchman had been in talks with the Chinese Super League club for several weeks.
Chery scored 14 goals in 66 appearances for Rangers after joining from FC Groningen in the summer of 2015.
"Whilst it's disappointing to lose a player of Tjaronn's ability, I only want players at QPR who want to be here," R's boss Ian Holloway said.
"As a manager, when a player tells you he wants to leave with 18 months left to run on their contract, it's in the club's best interests to part ways and bring in players who want to play for the club."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page or visit our Premier League tracker here. | QPR have sold midfielder Tjaronn Chery to Chinese side Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng for an undisclosed fee. | 38736479 |
South Wales Police along with Mid and West Fire Service are trying to find out what caused the blaze in Dynevor Road.
Emergency services were called to the block of flats just after 20:40 BST on Tuesday.
The victim, who is in his 50s, died at the scene. | An investigation has been launched after a man died following a flat fire in Skewen. | 32616051 |
In particular he said that consumers were borrowing more on their credit cards and other unsecured debt.
Figures from the Bank this week showed that credit card lending is at a record level, up by £571m in the last month.
Overall unsecured debt - which includes overdrafts - is rising at its fastest pace for 11 years.
"We are going to remain vigilant around the issue, because we have seen this shift," he told a press conference at the Bank.
The Bank's Stability Report showed that the overall ratio of household debt to income was 133% in the second quarter of 2016.
The Bank said that was high by historical standards, although it was not as high as in the financial crisis.
"It's the early phase of re-leveraging, following a long period of improvement of the position," said Mr Carney.
For that reason he said the rules on risky mortgage lending would remain as they have been for the last two years.
In June 2014 lenders were told they could not lend any more than 15% of their loan book to people borrowing more than 4.5 times their annual income - so-called riskier mortgages.
Lenders also have to apply an affordability test to anyone wanting to take out a mortgage.
As part of that, lenders have to assess whether a home-owner could still afford the mortgage if interest rates rose by 3% at any time in the first five years of their loan.
"This will help ensure that underwriting standards don't slip from responsible to reckless as they have during past periods of consumption-led growth," said Mr Carney.
In its report, the Bank also noted that house prices are now, on average, 4.5 times those of average incomes, a ratio which is high by historical standards.
The outlook for the housing market was "highly uncertain", it said.
In general the outlook for UK financial stability after the Brexit vote "remains challenging", said the Bank's report.
It said stability was dependent on an orderly exit from the European Union, while it would take time to clarify the UK's new relationship with the EU.
Otherwise the greatest risks to UK financial stability are slowing growth in China and the eurozone, the report said.
UK banks are particularly exposed to events in Europe.
They provide more than half of debt and equity issuance by continental firms, and account for more than three quarters of foreign exchange and derivatives activity in the EU, it noted.
"If these UK-based firms have to adjust their activities in a short time frame, there could be a greater risk of disruption to services provided to the European real economy, some of which could spill back to the UK economy through trade and financial linkages," the Bank said.
However, Mr Carney concluded that overall the financial system had proved resilient.
"The UK financial system has stood up well, dampening rather than amplifying volatility in financial markets," he said.
"Households and businesses have, as a result, been able to focus on what they should: whether a new home is right for their families or whether a new investment would help them better serve their clients."
The Bank said it would also continue to monitor the buy-to-let market, an area it has previously been concerned about.
While buy-to-let transactions have slowed in recent months, it said there was no evidence of a widespread sell-off by investors. | The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has given a warning about the high level of debt in UK households. | 38155178 |
Accusing the US of pushing to start a war, it vowed to exercise its right to launch a pre-emptive nuclear attack against its aggressors.
The Security Council meets later today to approve fresh sanctions against Pyongyang over the 12 February test.
Earlier this week, North Korea also threatened to scrap the 60-year truce which ended the Korean War.
"As long as the United States is willing to spark nuclear war our forces will exercise their right to a pre-emptive nuclear strike," said North Korea's foreign ministry, in a statement carried by the KCNA news agency, without giving further details.
The BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul says most analysts believe Pyongyang is unlikely to start a war with the US, and may instead be trying to provoke a fresh stance from Washington ahead of the UN vote.
But the atmosphere on the Korean Peninsula is more tense than usual, our correspondent adds, after North Korea said that it would tear up the armistice agreement next week.
The two Koreas remain technically at war in the wake of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a formal peace treaty.
North Korea's military command said it would end that armistice on 11 March, threatening "surgical strikes" on its southern neighbour and the use of a "precision nuclear striking tool" in response to the sanctions and ongoing South Korea-US military drills.
South Korea warned earlier this week that it would respond to any provocation from its northern neighbour.
The agreement provided for:
The Korean War armistice
On Thursday, a spokesman for the South Korean Defence Ministry, Kim Min-seok, said Pyongyang had been observed carrying out "various drills involving the army, navy and air force," and that further exercises were being prepared, the Yonhap news agency reports.
He said South Korea was taking "great interest in these activities," giving the view that such training could be "extended into a provocation at any time".
Officials also told Yonhap the North had imposed no-fly and no-sail zones off its east and west coasts, an indication that it could be planning to test-fire missiles.
Seoul is itself conducting military drills at the moment, in its annual joint manoeuvres with the US army, involving some 13,000 troops from both sides. The North views the drills as a provocation and as preparation for war.
The UN Security Council, meanwhile, will vote on the sanctions resolutions on North Korea at 10:00 EST (15:00 GMT).
The resolution, which is expected to pass, was proposed by China and the US, and will target North Korea's diplomats, cash transfers and access to luxury goods.
It will also impose asset freezes and travel bans on three individuals and two corporations linked to North Korea's military.
The sanctions have been described by Washington's UN ambassador Susan Rice as "some of the toughest sanctions" the UN had ever imposed.
Meanwhile, Australia has put on hold plans to reopen a North Korea embassy in its capital, Canberra.
Patrick Low, a spokesman for the Australian foreign ministry, said there was still "some merit" in having a North Korean embassy in Australia, including enabling more direct communication on human rights issues.
But said the plans had been frozen "until further notice" while Australia worked with the UN Security Council on its response to North Korea's nuclear test.
North Korea first opened an embassy in Australia in 2002, but closed it in 2008 for financial reasons.
The nuclear test, North Korea's third, followed its apparently successful launch in December of a three-stage rocket - a move condemned by the UN as a banned test of missile technology.
Pyongyang claims its nuclear test involved a smaller and more powerful device - prompting concerns it could be moving closer to creating a warhead small enough to arm a missile. | North Korea has ramped up rhetoric ahead of a UN vote on sanctions in response to its nuclear test. | 21695887 |
The 35-year-old is a free agent after leaving Fleetwood Town and Notts player-manager Kevin Nolan has taken his ex-Newcastle team-mate on a trial basis at the League Two club.
Nolan last week revealed his interest in signing Carlton Cole.
But Magpies chairman Alan Hardy has said that the former England striker will not be moving to Meadow Lane.
Notts signed five players in the final 36 hours of the January transfer window, with Nolan also registering as a player.
Arsenal defender Marc Bola, Nottingham Forest's Jorge Grant, Hull defender Josh Clackstone and West Brom forward Tahvon Campbell all joined on loan on Tuesday.
Blackpool winger Mark Yeates signed a permanent deal the previous day. | Former Newcastle United striker Shola Ameobi is training with Notts County and could be offered a short-term deal. | 38830207 |
Their new version of vancomycin is designed to be ultra-tough and appears to be a thousand times more potent than the old drug, PNAS journal reports.
It fights bacteria in three different ways, making it much less likely that the bugs can dodge the attack.
It is yet to be tested in animals and people, however.
The Scripps Research Institute team hope the drug will be ready for use within five years if it passes more tests.
Experts have repeatedly warned that we are on the cusp of a "post-antibiotic era", where some infections could become untreatable.
One hard-to-treat infection that has been worrying doctors is vancomycin-resistant enterococci or VRE.
It has been found in hospitals, can cause dangerous wound and bloodstream infections and is considered by the WHO to be one of the drug-resistant bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health.
Some antibiotics still work against VRE, but the 60-year-old drug vancomycin is now powerless.
The Scripps team set out to see if they could revamp vancomycin to restore its killing ability.
They made some strategic modifications to the molecular structure of the old drug to make it better at attacking bacteria where it hurts - destroying cell walls.
Three changes in particular seem to be important, increasing the strength and durability of the drug.
Lead researcher Dr Dale Boger explained: "We made one change to the molecule vancomycin that overcomes what is the present resistance to vancomycin. And then we added to the molecule, two small changes that built into the molecule, two additional ways in which it can kill bacteria. So the antibiotic has three different, we call them 'mechanisms', by which it kills bacteria. And resistance to such an antibiotic would be very difficult to emerge. So it's a molecule designed specifically to address the emergence of resistance."
The modified drug was able to kill samples of VRE in the lab and retained nearly full potency after 50 rounds of exposure to the bacterium.
Dr Boger said: "Organisms just can't simultaneously work to find a way around three independent mechanisms of action. Even if they found a solution to one of those, the organisms would still be killed by the other two.
"Doctors could use this modified form of vancomycin without fear of resistance emerging."
Prof Nigel Brown of the Microbiology Society said: "This development could be hugely important.
"Vancomycin is an antibiotic of last resort against some serious infections. There has been great concern that resistance has been emerging." | US scientists have re-engineered a vital antibiotic in a bid to wipe out one of the world's most threatening superbugs. | 40091179 |
On the frozen ground, a little way off, was a yellow construction worker's hard hat that looked like it had been crushed in a vice.
And behind me were two very large polar bears.
Fortunately Arktos and Walker were watching from a securely locked area of their enclosure at the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig, near Aviemore.
They were also more interested in the treats their keepers had for them than my guided tour of their paddock, and their toys - hard hats being among their favourites.
The park has been home to Walker since 2010 after arriving from Rhenen Zoo in the Netherlands.
For a time he shared the enclosure with Mercedes, an aged female who had been relocated to the Highlands after 25 years at Edinburgh Zoo.
She grumpily ruled the roost over the then two-year-old boy bear.
Mercedes first arrived in Scotland after being captured rather than being shot in Canada in 1984.
During her years in Edinburgh, she reared two cubs, both sired by her partner Barney, who was born at Whipsnade Zoo.
After the death of Barney in 1996, Mercedes lived by herself and was moved to the Highland Wildlife Park's larger enclosure in 2009.
Shortly before Mercedes' arrival, the park saw visitor numbers soar following the public unveiling of three rare Amur tiger cubs.
In the space of six months in 2009, the site had a record-breaking 80,000 visits. In the whole of the previous year it had 65,000 visits.
Polar bear cubs will surely have a similar effect on entries.
In April 2011, at the age of 30, Mercedes died.
The following year Vienna Zoo's Arktos arrived at the park as a companion for Walker.
A year older than Walker, Arktos is seen by park staff as a potential mate for a female.
Following a process, a female has been selected. Victoria is an 18-year-old bear from Aalborg Zoo in Denmark.
She previously gave birth to cubs in 2008.
Victoria and her first cub, Milak, could be viewed online via a webcam set up in the maternity den.
Last December, Milak was transported to a zoo in Quebec as part of an exchange scheme designed to raise numbers of captive polar bears in Canada.
Now the Highland Wildlife Park is pushing ahead with its plans to raise its own cubs.
If successful, the park could have some much smaller, and less formidable, paw prints in the snow. | The paw print in the snow was bigger than my head. | 32033633 |
The 26-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer, has been among Newport's best players amid their fight for Football League survival.
County are two points clear of the League Two relegation with two games remaining.
"The main thing everyone's focusing on is making sure Newport County are in the league next year," Day said.
He continued: "Once we've secured our status I think maybe talks about next season can start."
The Exiles' 1-0 win over Accrington Stanley lifted County out of the relegation zone for the first time since November 2016.
Mike Flynn's side and can clinch survival on Saturday if they win at Carlisle United and rivals Hartlepool United lose. | Newport County goalkeeper Joe Day says any talks over a new deal are on hold until the end of the season. | 39738810 |
A spokeswoman said: "Vicki Kirby has been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation."
Ms Kirby was first suspended in 2014 for making anti-Semitic comments but later reinstated.
She was forced to stand down as an election candidate after tweets including one suggesting Hitler was a "Zionist God".
It emerged on Monday that since being reinstated Ms Kirby - whose Twitter account has been protected - is now vice-chair of the Labour constituency party in Woking, a development first reported by the Guido Fawkes website. It prompted an angry response from a number of Labour MPs on Twitter.
Following the fresh suspension, Labour MP Wes Streeting said it was "about time" Labour's ruling National Executive Committee had taken action.
He added: "I'm only sorry it has taken the intervention of scores of Labour MPs, party members ripping up membership cards and a police complaint to prompt it."
The BBC's political correspondent Ross Hawkins said that, although they would not confirm it, Labour's hand may have been forced by a complaint to Surrey Police by Kevin McKeever, who is a Labour candidate to be police and crime commissioner in Northamptonshire.
Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham told the BBC's Daily Politics: "From what I have seen, the comments are completely abhorrent."
Ex-minister Angela Smith told BBC Radio 4's The World at One there was "accumulating evidence" that there was a problem in the party and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn "could do more" to emphasise that there was "no place" for anti-Semitism and to "stamp it out".
She rejected suggestions that the issue was being used by critics of Mr Corbyn to undermine his leadership.
Ms Kirby's latest suspension comes in the wake of the recent expulsion of a far-left activist, Gerry Downing, following criticism of his views about 9/11 and so-called Islamic State. | The Labour Party has suspended for a second time a member who posted anti-Semitic tweets. | 35810636 |
They argue it violates the constitution that prohibits the recording of details about people living with HIV.
The president ordered the collection of the data in February, to help the provision of health services.
Children were required to list their names, schools, guardians and relatives possibly affected by their condition.
Activist groups Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network (Kelin), Children of God Relief Institute (Nyumbani) and two other parties jointly filed the petition.
The case began on Wednesday and its second hearing will be on 10 July.
African news updates
According to the UN, more than 1.6 million people are living with HIV in Kenya, including 190,000 children aged 14 and under.
The activists fear the process used in collecting the data could push back the fight against stigmatisation.
Kelin's executive director, Allan Maleche, said the case would have far-reaching ramifications for HIV patients in terms of their privacy and confidentiality.
"We are worried and strongly feel that the method that was used in the collection of the names will be problematic because it would directly link the person's name and their HIV status, which would be contrary to the law," Mr Maleche said.
Source: UNAids
Caring for Kenya's HIV orphans
The BBC's Anne Soy in the capital, Nairobi, says the activists raised concerns about the directive when it was first issued, so it is not clear how much data has been collected across Kenya's 47 counties.
The directive also requested that personal information be collected for pregnant women with HIV. | Human rights activists have gone to court to get Kenya's government to destroy data which lists children who are HIV positive. | 33162869 |
William Kerr, 53, absconded from a probation hostel in Hull following his release on 23 January.
He was handed a life sentence in 1998 for killing Maureen Comfort, whose body was found in a Leeds bedroom cupboard.
The charity Crimestoppers has offered up to £5,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Police have warned people not to approach Kerr, who they have described as "dangerous".
A spokesperson for Crimestoppers said it was "urgent that he is returned to prison".
"We understand that it might be someone that knows him personally who is aware of where he is, and for that reason, I would urge you to contact Crimestoppers, completely anonymously, safe in the knowledge nobody will ever know you spoke to us.
"Do the right thing and tell us where Kerr is," the spokesperson added.
North Yorkshire Police, who are leading the hunt for Kerr, believe he is now in the London area but said he also had links to Humber and West Yorkshire.
Ms Comfort, 43, was strangled at her flat in Cromwell Heights, Burmantofts, where she had lived alone, in 1996.
Her body was found in a cupboard in her bedroom by her family after they became concerned they had not heard from her.
Two years later Kerr was found guilty of her murder at Leeds Crown Court.
Senga Bailey, who found her aunt's body, said she was "frightened of what he's going to do next". | A reward has been offered for information to find a "dangerous" convicted murderer who breached his prison release licence. | 32204041 |
The Flintshire-based firm said sales were "very encouraging" after figures released on Tuesday showed revenue rose 20%.
A spokesman said they were confident it would be "another year of significant progress for Redrow".
Chairman Steve Morgan told the Good Morning Wales programme the business had seen "no effect" from Brexit.
He said demand for homes was "stronger than it's ever been".
However, he also reiterated comments he made last year that fewer houses may be built in Wales because of the increasing costs of regulations. | Wales' biggest house builder Redrow has reported a rise of 23% to £250m in its pre-tax profits. | 37283932 |
Lokko joined League Two club Stevenage from Maidstone for an undisclosed fee on 2 August.
The 21-year-old former Norwich, Colchester and Welling man played in 41 National League games last season, scoring four goals.
Dagenham start the new National League season at home to Barrow on Saturday. | National League side Dagenham & Redbridge have signed Stevenage defender Kevin Lokko on a season-long loan deal. | 40827245 |
And Wales' most-capped international player says he wants to carry on playing for his country.
Speaking on his 35th birthday, Jenkins said he does not want to "throw away" his work in reaching the World Cup.
"I'm out of contract at the end of the season, I've stated my desire to keep playing internationals, and I'm in talks with the Blues to hopefully extend [my contract]," he said.
"It's around this time clubs start looking for their players and their budgets for next season, so both sides are talking."
Jenkins has played 119 times for Wales, including three appearances in the 2015 Rugby World Cup where Warren Gatland's side reached the quarter-finals.
He said the thought of leaving the game at the international level was potentially a wrench.
"When you're still at the top of your game, it's quite hard to finish and to let that go the occasion of running out on an international weekend with that jersey on your back," added Jenkins.
"As long as I'm there fitness-wise and form-wise and feel that I can do the job that I have been doing, I'm going to keep doing that.
"I've let Warren [Gatland] know my feelings on that. The fact I went through so much training and hard work to get to that World Cup, there's no way I'm going to throw that away while I'm still playing at regional level."
Cardiff Blues head coach Danny Wilson backs Jenkins' case to stay on.
"He's proving now and he's proven in the past what a quality rugby player and leader he is," he said.
"He's definitely somebody we at the Cardiff Blues would like to see stay." | Prop Gethin Jenkins is in negotiations for a new contract with Cardiff Blues. | 34848240 |
Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea also claimed wins as they beat Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Southampton respectively.
Everton earned three points against West Ham, Middlesbrough beat Bournemouth, Watford overcame Hull but Manchester United were held by Burnley, while Tottenham drew with Leicester City.
Do you agree with Garth's picks? Or would you go for a different team? Why not pick your own Team of the Week from the shortlist selected by BBC Sport journalists and share it with your friends.
Pick your XI from our list and share with your friends.
The young trainee must have left Old Trafford devastated in his early days but returned with Burnley years later and finished the day a hero. The performance by Tom Heaton against his former club was nothing short of breathtaking. The save from Juan Mata was special but it was the point-blank block from Zlatan Ibrahimovic's strike that was sensational. In fact, I thought the power of the shot had broken Heaton's arm. However, for all of United's misfortune against Burnley, the missed chances, referee Mark Clattenburg's badly judged double yellow card of Ander Herrera and the unnecessary dismissal of Jose Mourinho to the stands, Heaton deserved this day in the theatre of dreams.
You can almost guarantee whenever Seamus Coleman is playing for Everton something exciting is likely to happen in the opposition penalty area. The Irishman just loves to bomb forward and get shots on goal at every opportunity. It was Coleman's powerful drive that was simply too hot for West Ham's Adrian to hold and led to Everton's opening goal. The problem for Everton boss Ronald Koeman is that if Coleman doesn't play then the Toffees lose an element of dynamism he cannot replace even with Yannick Bolasie and Kevin Mirallas in the team.
Eden Hazard and Diego Costa will get the headlines but their performance against a very good Southampton team doesn't tell the entire story of Chelsea's resurgence. The real deal is David Luiz at the centre of defence. I said after their clean sheet against Leicester City that here is a player who is taking defending his goal and goalkeeper very seriously. I've no doubt that the Italian 'catenaccio' (bolt the door) philosophy has been embedded into a transformed back five by Blues boss Antonio Conte, but Luiz stands defiant at the heart of that new regime.
Four Premier League wins and four clean sheets don't come by accident. The trio of Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Gary Cahill, with the assistance of Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso, are in danger of making that 'catenaccio' style very popular indeed in the Premier League. Other teams are playing with three central defenders at the back but no team is nearly as effective as Chelsea. I would argue that, of the three central defenders, the new regime seems to have suited new captain Gary Cahill the most. The three defenders appear to have taken keeping clean sheets personally.
He hasn't played many games this season, mainly because of injuries. However, when he does play, Arsenal always look far more adventurous down their left flank. There is no doubting Kieran Gibbs' technical ability, lovely poise and delightful left foot, but I do worry about his ability to stay the course of a full season. The quality of the cross for Olivier Giroud to score with his first touch of the ball was typical of the defender, and he did exactly the same moments later - only this time Mesut Ozil failed to put the ball into the back of the net when the Gunners were leading 2-1 and totally in control. This is a big season for Arsenal and it's time Gibbs came of age and made this position his own. Besides, England can always do with another good left-back.
He set up Sergio Aguero's first goal and scored two himself in a 4-0 romp at The Hawthorns. The German has settled brilliantly in the new Manchester City line-up and may have provided manager Pep Guardiola with the solution to the Yaya Toure problem. The question is, can Gundogan replace the goals Toure produced in their last Premier League title-winning season? If the answer is yes then Guardiola has cracked it because I am in no doubt that with Kevin de Bruyne's goalscoring contribution from midfield, City are on course for something special again this season.
A lot has been said about Ross Barkley and the player's ability to step up to the plate and fulfil his potential. In fact, Everton manager Ronald Koeman has insisted that the England international's future with the Goodison Park outfit depends on it. Well, Barkley's performance against West Ham made a huge statement in that regard. His general play and well taken goal, which he started and finished, was precisely what Koeman has been seeking from his midfield playmaker. Can the player keep it up?
So Liverpool go marching on - but not without the inspiration of Philippe Coutinho. What a performance by the little man. He might only be 5ft 7in but he stood head and shoulders above any other player at Selhurst Park on Saturday evening. The Brazilian was involved in almost every move Liverpool produced. As for the through ball he played for Sadio Mane, who pulled a fabulous save out of Steve Mandanda in the Palace goal, it was like watching chess legend Boris Spassky make a move that no-one saw coming. Wonderful stuff. I remember when England used to produce players like that - players like Alan Ball, Tony Currie, Gerry Francis, Glenn Hoddle, Paul Gascoigne and, alas no more for Liverpool, Steven Gerrard. What happened?
The goal by Gaston Ramirez against Bournemouth was fabulous. I'm not sure what I liked best, the goal or the commentary that went with it by BBC Radio 5 live's Connor McNamara. "Nought to sixty in four seconds", described the acceleration of Ramirez, which was with the ball at his feet by the way, but it didn't describe the quality of the finish after he had covered the ground in such an explosive manner. The player's fitness levels and composure are to be commended, along with Connor's wonderful line.
Is there a striker who works harder than this player? He simply ran the heart out of Sunderland, picked up his two goals as a reward for his efforts and went home. I've said it before and I will say it again, to turn Alexis Sanchez into the main striker in the Arsenal line-up in the absence of Olivier Giroud was a masterstroke by manager Arsene Wenger. Theo Walcott tried it and didn't even come close to convincing anyone that he could do that job, but Sanchez looks Luis Suarez-esque. What's more, Sanchez could have the same impact on Arsenal as Suarez had on Liverpool. The only problem is now Giroud is fit does Wenger move the Chilean wide again or leave him where he is? I know what I would do.
I've always wondered what actually determines whether a player is deemed world class. He must play for his country and be their star performer on a regular basis. Another benchmark in the debating party is that all must generally agree with the verdict. No-one would deny Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi are world class but an argument might ensue over Paul Pogba, for example. However, there is no argument over Sergio Aguero. | Manchester City stay top of the Premier League after a win over West Brom, but the chasing pack is hot on their heels. | 37817858 |
The 24-year-old central defender made 38 appearances in all competitions across the 2016-17 season, helping Kevin Nolan's side finish 16th.
Hollis came through the Magpies' academy to make his debut in January 2012 and has scored seven goals in 133 appearances for the club.
"Since the manager told me he wanted to offer me a new deal I've been desperate to sign it," he told the club website.
Hollis follows Elliott Hewitt in signing a new deal, while Shola Ameobi, Richard Duffy, Mike Edwards, Rob Milsom, Jon Stead, Curtis Thompson and Alan Smith are yet to commit to the club having been offered new deals. | Haydn Hollis has signed a new contract with League Two side Notts County. | 40013426 |
According to the New South Wales Police, the 29-year-old man died from a stab wound to the neck.
The man was treated by paramedics at a house on Watson Road, Padstow, but he died at the scene.
A 35-year-old man and a 25-year-old Irish woman woman have been arrested.
Police have been told three women and a man were at the home when a second man, known to the women, attended the property and an altercation broke out. | The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that it is providing consular assistance to the family of an Irishman who has died in Sydney. | 39009631 |
Mbappe, who is under contract until June 2019, has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid.
Manchester City have also been linked, but BBC Sport understands they are reluctant to pay the reported 180m euro (£160m) asking price.
Vasilyev said the Ligue 1 club Monaco have had several "serious" enquiries.
But he added: "We are in discussions over a contract extension with Kylian and we hope to reach an agreement."
Mbappe, who has won four caps for France, scored 26 goals in all competitions for Monaco last season.
Earlier in July, Monaco said "important European clubs" had made contact with the player without their permission.
Monaco may ask world governing body Fifa and the French league to consider disciplinary action, but Fifa said it has not received a complaint.
BBC Sport understands Manchester City are the only English club accused.
"We haven't reached an agreement with any club for Mbappe," Vasilyev said.
"We are negotiating to extend his contract but you mustn't push the player too hard. We must allow him to take his time, not rush things.
"There is too much media pressure. I remind you he's only 18."
Vasilyev also described Thomas Lemar, a key target for Arsenal, and Fabinho, who has been linked with Manchester United, as "essential" players who are "staying with us". | Monaco are in talks with 18-year-old France striker Kylian Mbappe over a contract extension, says vice-president Vadim Vasilyev. | 40731095 |
The 29-year-old Barca forward was suspended for directing "insulting words" at an assistant referee during Thursday's 1-0 win over Chile.
He remains free to play for his Spanish La Liga club.
In a statement, Barcelona expressed their "surprise and indignation" at the Fifa disciplinary ruling.
"The club considers the four-match suspension finally imposed on the Argentine player to be unfair and totally disproportionate," the club said.
"Finally, FC Barcelona wishes to reiterate its support for Leo Messi, an exemplary player in terms of conduct both on and off the pitch."
Messi's suspension was announced just five and a half hours before Argentina's 2-0 World Cup qualifier defeat by Bolivia on Tuesday.
The result saw them drop to fifth in the table, outside the top-four spots for automatic qualification for Russia 2018.
Messi is set to be banned for three of his country's four remaining qualifiers. | Barcelona have described Lionel Messi's four-match international ban with Argentina as "unfair and totally disproportionate". | 39430769 |
Remember that group hug? When SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood and Green Party leader Natalie Bennett got together at the end of one of the general election TV debates, leaving poor Ed Miliband flapping about on the sidelines.
That felt, to some, like a moment when things were changing for women in British politics.
The impressive performance of female politicians, such as Andrea Leadsom and Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson in the EU referendum TV debates, felt like another.
Now, with Mrs Leadsom and Theresa May battling it out for the Tory leadership we are on the verge of getting our second female prime minister, 26 years after Margaret Thatcher left Downing Street.
On the global stage, America could be about to get its first female president, in Hillary Clinton, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to dominate European politics.
Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster is the first woman to be First Minister in Northern Ireland and Ms Sturgeon continues to dominate things at Holyrood.
Labour might even get a female leader for the first time in its history, if Angela Eagle decides to launch a challenge against Jeremy Corbyn.
And if UKIP elects one of its high-profile spokeswomen, such as Diane James or Suzanne Evans, to replace Nigel Farage, and the Greens opt for another female leader we could be in a situation where the majority of Britain's political leaders are women, for the first time ever.
But have things really changed for women in British politics - or is it all just a historical accident?
Many Conservative MPs love the idea that they are going to get a second female leader. What pleases them more than anything is that Labour, for all its hand-wringing about gender equality, and its women-only shortlists, has never managed to have one.
The Conservatives, in their practical, common-sense way have simply got on with it, they say.
Tim Montgomerie, Times journalist and former Tory insider, argued on the BBC's Newsnight that the fact that the party does not have a quota system, and women have to compete on equal terms with men for seats and influence, has created better, tougher politicians.
Critics argue that party has arrived at an all-women shortlist to choose its next leader almost by accident, after the public schoolboy power games of the alpha males in the contest, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, ended in predictable disaster.
Which is a victory, of sorts, for female level-headedness and common sense.
In fact, there have been efforts going on behind the scenes for years in the Conservative Party, to mentor talented women and get them into winnable seats, through organisations like Conservative Women and Women2Win.
David Cameron - who has taken his share of stick for having a "problem" with putting women in top cabinet jobs - has overseen a huge increase in female Tory MPs, from an admittedly low base.
Ten years ago there were just 17 female Tory MPs, now there are 68.
Margaret Thatcher, who made history in 1979 by becoming Britain's first female prime minister, liked to surround herself with powerful, charismatic men.
Some have called it the Queen Bee syndrome - the tendency of women in positions of authority to be more critical of subordinates who are also women.
She was once asked why she did not have more women in her cabinet. Because they are all so useless, she is reported to have said.
But there is no doubt that a generation of Conservative women, from cabinet members right down to members of the tiniest parish council, have looked to Thatcher as a role model.
More importantly, the party itself, once the very bastion of male privilege and entitlement, is entirely comfortable with the idea of a woman at the helm.
Imagine the endless, tedious questions about whether the party and the country was "ready" for a female leader, that would have attended the run-off between Leadsom and May, had Thatcher not been there first.
She went through all of that in her leadership contest in 1975, so they don't have to.
Left-wing critics may claim she did little to advance the cause of gender equality in British society during her 11 years in power but Thatcher did break down barriers for women in politics, whether she had intended to or not.
It is a profound source of embarrassment to Labour that they have never had a female leader.
Harriet Harman and Margaret Beckett have both kept the seat warm between permanent male leaders, but there has never been a Labour Thatcher.
The macho culture of the old, industrial trade unions has been blamed by some for a lingering, subliminal sexism at the top of the party.
Others say the rise of "identity politics" - treating women as a special interest group rather than as individuals - has had the opposite effect to the one intended. Listening to Old Labour figures muttering about the "sisterhood" would lend weight to that argument.
Miranda Green, a former senior Lib Dem aide, told the BBC's Daily Politics that Labour women tended to dismiss Conservative women such as Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom because they "don't fit their idea of a feminist," when they should be celebrating them.
But, she added, Labour has at least put the structures in place to get more women into positions where they can challenge for ultimate power.
Tony Blair's controversial adoption of all-women shortlists, resulted in the biggest single influx of women MPs into Parliament in its history, permanently changing the character of the place.
And Labour can, at least, console itself, that Ms Green's party, the Liberal Democrats, probably have the worst record of female representation in Parliament of any of the major parties.
It is easy to see the recent rise of women in British politics as a watershed moment - but we should not get ahead of ourselves.
Women are still massively under-represented in politics, and the barriers preventing them from reaching the top, in public life and business as much as in politics, are arguably just as high as they have ever been. They are just in a different place.
Strong women are labelled shrill and pushy. The media focuses on their personal grooming and fashion sense in a way that would never happen to their male counterparts.
And despite all the warm words from male leaders the formal, and informal, party structures can still militate against women getting to the top.
But none of that need worry Theresa May or Andrea Leadsom, who have made it through the obstacle course - and can now dream of walking through the doors of Number 10 in early September on their own terms. | With Britain set to get its second woman prime minister, has the boys' club that has dominated British politics for centuries finally had its day? | 36745873 |
Paul Beattie made a brief appearance in private at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. No plea was made on his behalf and the case was continued for further inquiry.
It follows the death of James Gatti who was found with serious injuries at a house in Guardwell Glen just after 23:00 on Saturday.
He was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, but died a short time later.
Mr Beattie was remanded in custody. | A 45-year old man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a 34-year-old man in Edinburgh. | 40773228 |
The 24-year-old returned in October after a two-year shoulder layoff and won European gold earlier this month.
"My injury was potentially career-ending, so I didn't know what I was going to do in a few years," said Fox.
"I'm just taking it day by day and this injury has helped me for the future, so I say things are meant to be."
Fox, from Cornwall, is the world-record holder in the S7 classification but has since had his shoulder operated on.
He was given an MBE after his triumph at the London Paralympics and had his selection for the Rio Games confirmed on Monday.
"I'm expecting to do a lifetime best and hopefully a gold medal, but I'm not being complacent," he added to BBC Sport.
"I feel like I've been in the best shape I've ever been and all the rehab has just helped me have a better shoulder, so it'll help me progress.
"There are a lot of eyes on me at the moment, coming back from two years out, but I'm going to enjoy every minute of it, soak up all the atmosphere and train really hard." | Paralympic champion Jonathan Fox says he is aiming for a "lifetime best" at the Rio Games as he attempts to defend his 100m backstroke gold medal. | 36314427 |
The hosts were in trouble early on as Andrew Umeed and Will Porterfield fell to leave their side on 19-2.
But patient knocks from Jonathan Trott (49) and Lamb (51) helped them recover.
Clarke (83) and Keith Barker (40 not out) added 83 for the seventh wicket, before Clarke was trapped lbw by James Harris in the final over of the day.
Ryan Higgins was the pick of the bowlers with 2-38 from 19 overs, with Ollie Raynor, Tom Helm and Tim Murtagh also accounting for one dismissal apiece.
County champions Middlesex are looking for only their second win of the season, while the hosts are bottom of the table, having yet to earn a victory in their first seven County Championship games. | Half-centuries from Rikki Clarke and Matthew Lamb helped Warwickshire fight back on an evenly-fought first day against Middlesex at Edgbaston. | 40455717 |
Sophie Taylor, 22, died when her car hit a block of flats in Adamsdown, Cardiff, in August 2016.
A jury found Melissa Pesticcio, 23, of Llanrumney, responsible for the death and severely injuring passenger Joshua Deguara, after a 10 day trial at Cardiff Crown Court.
She was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on Friday.
The jury heard Ms Taylor's BMW crashed while being followed by Melissa Pesticcio, 23, and her ex-boyfriend Michael Wheeler, 22, in separate cars.
Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, said Pesticcio was the lead pursuing vehicle for most of the late-night chase and urged the jury to find her guilty.
He said: "In her rear view mirror, Sophie Taylor would have seen Melissa Pesticcio for 70% of the journey.
"Sophie Taylor died and Joshua Deguara suffered life-changing injuries as a result of that pursuit she started.
"She started it, she maintained it, I invite you to surely convict her."
Pesticcio previously told the court she was "hurt" after Wheeler, her former boyfriend of two years, left her for Miss Taylor in June last year, which led to "hostility" between the two women.
Christopher Rees, defending, said Pesticcio's white BMW was "not responsible" for the "deliberate ram" by Wheeler which killed Miss Taylor.
The court heard she died after Wheeler's Vauxhall Corsa barged into hers, causing her vehicle to crash into a brick wall on Meteor Street.
Wheeler, from Rumney, has already admitted similar charges.
Acting Det Chf Insp Rob Cronick said Pesticcio and Wheeler "acted together in their relentless pursuit" of the two.
He added: "Michael Wheeler's treatment of Sophie prior to her death involved coercion and control and was indicative of systematic domestic abuse.
"Melissa Pesticcio was driven by jealousy and rage as an ex-girlfriend of Wheeler. Their behaviour leading up to the tragic incident was nothing short of despicable."
The families of Ms Taylor and Mr Deguara said "two families were broken forever" on the day of the incident.
Ms Taylor was described as "our beautiful princess" with the statement adding: "This has now become an ongoing nightmare that both our families have to endure daily."
It also described how Mr Deguara has "devastating injuries that have changed his life forever", saying: "He was very independent with a great circle of friends so had a busy social life. He enjoyed playing football and was due to start a new job just before the crash.
"This is now not the case - he is housebound now and has lost all his independence."
South Wales Police referred its handling of the incident to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
An IPCC spokeswoman said its investigation is currently suspended until the end of the criminal proceedings. | A woman following a "love rival" in a car chase has been found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. | 39873813 |
A culture that was decades in the making will take years to unwind, the joint study by Cass Business School and think tank New City Agenda concludes.
It estimates that poor standards have cost the UK industry £38.5bn in fines and customer redress over 15 years.
The banking industry said it was "striving hard" to rebuild trust.
The report found that at least £27bn of the £38.5bn in fines was due to mis-selling of personal protection insurance (PPI).
In the six years between 2008 and 2014, banks received 21 million complaints, it said.
Over two decades "an aggressive sales culture took hold in retail banking," with staff in some branches receiving cash bonuses, iPods, or tickets to Wimbledon for hitting sales targets, it said.
Those that failed to hit targets "were humiliated by having cabbages and other vegetables placed on their desks," it added.
"A toxic culture which was decades in the making will take a generation to turn around," said Conservative MP and New City Agenda co-founder David Davis.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who sits on the New City Agenda advisory board, said: "It is clear that much more needs to be done by all stakeholders for trust to be restored in our financial institutions."
The archbishop said that "huge fines" levied on banks in November in connection with attempted foreign exchange rate manipulation "illustrate the length of the journey of culture change that still needs to be travelled".
Many banks have culture change programmes underway, the report added.
The report's main author, Professor Andre Spicer, of the Cass Business School, said that some progress had been made in changing "a toxic sales culture".
"Regulation has improved, and big banks have all implemented new programmes to improve their cultures," he said.
"Smaller banks and challenger banks are beginning to offer the customer real choice, and often have healthier cultures."
"Many culture-change initiatives are fragile, and their success is not ensured. It's clear to us that much work still needs to be done," he added.
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) said that banks had made some progress in rebuilding public trust.
"There has been some important headway, with a new regulatory system, important reforms to pay and measures to ensure the British taxpayer will not have to shore up struggling banks in the future," a BBA spokesman said.
"It's very important that public confidence in this vital part of our economy returns, but that takes time and there is still more to be done," the BBA added.
There have been numerous calls for a change in banking culture since the 2008 financial crisis exposed wrong-doing and misdemeanours.
Last month, Bank of England governor Mark Carney said that some top bank executives had "got away without sanction" and were "still at the best golf courses". | A "toxic" and "aggressive" culture inside British banks that led to scandals such as mis-selling will take a generation to change, a report says. | 30190753 |
Those from the poorest backgrounds, with more loans available to support them, will graduate with debts of over £57,000 says the think tank.
Interest charges are levied as soon as courses begin and the IFS says students on average will have accrued £5,800 in interest charges by the time they have graduated from university.
Report author Chris Belfield describes the interest as "very high", but the Department for Education declined to comment on the increase in charges.
Universities Minister Jo Johnson says that more disadvantaged students than ever are going to university.
The study from the IFS compares England's current student finance system introduced in 2012, where fees were raised to £9,000, with the previous system introduced in 2006, when fees were about £3,000.
Because the level at which graduates have to repay also increased, to £21,000, it meant that those with low incomes were initially better off, says the IFS.
But the repayment threshold has been frozen since 2012 - and the IFS report says that graduates on all income levels are now worse off than under the previous fee regime.
Students from disadvantaged backgrounds can borrow more in maintenance support - but because these are now loans rather than grants, it means that the poorest students will leave with the highest debts.
The increase in interest rates and tuition fees going up to £9,250 per year will push up the cost of loans for all graduates - and higher earners will pay interest of £40,000 on top of the amount borrowed.
Mr Belfield says the 6.1% being charged on loans is "very high compared with current market rates".
But if loans are not repaid after 30 years, they are written off - and the IFS forecasts that about three-quarters of students will not pay off all their debt, despite making payments from their earnings into their 50s.
The government also wants to sell off student loans to private investors - with some pre-2012 loans having already been put up for sale.
The report says there have been two main beneficiaries from the current fee system - universities and the government's finances.
Universities have increased per-student funding by 25% since fees rose to £9,000, says the IFS, after taking into account the money they no longer receive directly from the government.
Last week, Mr Johnson warned against university leaders being paid excessive salaries - with some vice-chancellors earning over £400,000.
Replacing grants with loans and freezing the earnings threshold for repayment has made the system less expensive for the government.
The IFS says that the lowest-earning third of graduates are paying 30% more than in 2012, when the £21,000 threshold was introduced.
The switch in costs to students will mean cutting government borrowing by £3bn in the long term.
Tuition fees became a high-profile issue during the general election - with Labour promising to scrap tuition fees.
The big swing to Labour in university seats was seen as suggesting that young people were concerned about tuition fees - and plans for them to begin rising each year.
Senior Conservative minister Damian Green, speaking last week, recognised that fees had become a big issue, particular for young voters, and that universities needed to show they were providing value for money.
The IFS analysis says scrapping tuition fees would cost £11bn per year. But it also warns that continuing on the current trajectory of "high debts, high interest rates and low repayment rates" would mean problems both for "graduates and the public finances".
The report says that the overall trend has been to increase university funding, reduce government spending on higher education, "while substantially increasing payments by graduates, especially high-earning graduates".
Labour's shadow education minister, Gordon Marsden, said: "This report shows that any argument that the current fee system is progressive is absolute nonsense.
"From scrapping the maintenance grant to freezing the repayment threshold, this government has increased the debt burden of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, who will graduate with debts in excess of £57,000."
"Under the Tories, student debt continues to rise with no end in sight, and students in the UK will now graduate with a shocking average of over £50,000 in debt."
Mr Johnson said: "The government consciously subsidises the studies of those who for a variety of reasons, including family responsibilities, may not repay their loans in full.
"This is a vital and deliberate investment in the skills base of this country, not a symptom of a broken student finance system.
"And the evidence bears this out: young people from poorer backgrounds are now going to university at a record rate - up 43% since 2009."
Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning | Students in England are going to graduate with average debts of £50,800, after interest rates are raised on student loans to 6.1%, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. | 40493658 |
The Kathimerini newspaper also said that authorities would impose a ban on cashing cheques, as the government prepares to announce capital controls on the banking sector.
The central bank said the report was only based on draft proposals.
Earlier on Wednesday, the boss of the Bank of Cyprus was sacked.
Cyprus is introducing capital controls as it seeks to raise 5.8bn euros ($7.4bn; £4.9bn) to qualify for a 10bn-euro bailout from the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the so-called troika.
Depositors in Cypriot banks with more than 100,000 euros could see 40% of their funds converted into bank shares, while those with less than 100,000 euros will not lose any funds - but face limits on what funds they can access.
The exact details of the capital controls are expected to be finalised later on Wednesday.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Cypriot Finance Minster Mr Sarris said that the controls would be reviewed after seven days, and that some banks could be exempted altogether.
According to the newspaper report Cypriots will be prohibited from taking more than 3,000 euros in cash abroad on each trip, and limited to spending 5,000 euros on their credit or debit card.
Concern about the ongoing situation in Cypriot has continued to weigh on the Athens stock market, with Greek shares ending down 4% on Wednesday.
Bank of Cyprus chief executive Yiannis Kypri confirmed he had been removed as head of the bank, which is the country's largest commercial lender.
Reuters reported that Mr Kypri had issued a statement about his removal, which said: "The reason I was given was that, based on the resolution decree recently passed by parliament and upon demands of the troika, an administrator had been appointed at the Bank.
"Until now I have not received a formal letter from the governor of the Central Bank on the matter."
A European Commission spokesman denied that the troika had demanded Mr Kypri's removal.
"These reports are not correct and decisions like this would any case be the responsibility of the Bank of Cyprus," a Commission spokesman said.
An administrator has been appointed to Bank of Cyprus to restructure the bank. It is being merged with the "good" parts of the failed Laiki Bank, which will be closed down.
Bank of Cyprus chairman Andreas Artemis handed in his resignation on Tuesday, along with four other directors, but the bank's board rejected the resignations.
Now Panicos Demetriades, the central bank governor, has sacked the entire board, according to the Cyprus News Agency.
Mr Demetriades was widely criticised on Tuesday for suggesting that Bank of Cyprus was going to be wound up in the same way as is planned for Laiki Bank.
His comments led to demonstrations, calls for his resignation from Bank of Cyprus staff, and a hastily-drafted denial from Finance Minister Michalis Sarris.
Mr Demetriades said "superhuman" efforts were being made to get the banks ready for reopening on Thursday.
"Indications are that banks will open tomorrow with some restrictions on capital," said central bank spokeswoman Aliki Sylianou, speaking to the country's state broadcaster on Wednesday.
The banks have been shut since 15 March while the controversial 10bn-euro bailout was being negotiated. | Cyprus may be set to impose a limit on the amount of money that can be taken out of the country, one of its main newspapers has reported. | 21953222 |
Australian couple Sean and Shelley Thomas found it in a sand dune at Rattray Head on the north-east coast.
The note inside is dated 15 January 1971 and was written by then 14-year-old Raymond Davidson from Carlisle at the start of the 1970s.
Mr and Mrs Thomas tracked down Mr Davidson and his wife Denise after a social media campaign to find him.
Mrs Thomas said Mr Davidson has given it to the couple to take back to Brisbane as a souvenir.
He said he was "overwhelmed" by the social media campaign and he has had more friend requests since it started than when he opened his account. | A man has been reunited with a message in a bottle he wrote 44 years ago after it was found washed up in Scotland. | 33183779 |
The 27-year-old off-break bowler has made five Test appearances for South Africa and is available to play in all formats for newly-promoted Essex.
Harmer has taken 290 first-class career wickets at an average of 32.57, as well as scoring 2,476 first-class runs.
"Simon is an exciting cricketer who has played at the top level of the game," said head coach Chris Silverwood.
Pretoria-born Harmer said he had always wanted to play in England.
"Playing county cricket has always been a boyhood dream of mine and to have the opportunity to fulfil that dream at Essex is very surreal," he added.
"I am really looking forward to adding as much value as I possibly can to the team and making sure our time in the County Championship Division One is a long one." | Essex have signed South Africa all-rounder Simon Harmer on a Kolpak deal for the 2017 season. | 37719936 |
The Danish defender admits "it was a bit of a strange feeling" when the players heard the news initially.
But having effectively retained the title by beating Hearts, given their goal difference, a point against Aberdeen on Sunday would confirm it.
"It hasn't been a problem at all," Sviatchenko said about Deila's exit.
"What the manager tells us is what we're doing on the pitch. We have good working relations and we're all professionals.
"We're all the same about getting towards the end with good results. We are all together now.
"It strikes your mind [who will replace Deila], but we all have good faith in the board to find a good replacement. Our job is to perform and play football. We're just waiting for when the announcement will be and we're professional about it.
"We have to remember as well, it is a massive achievement to win the title. We are very happy about that and of course we want to play well in the last games and do everything to get those nice displays."
Celtic's players are likely to only enjoy four weeks' break between the end of this campaign on 15 May and the start of pre-season training, due to the second qualifying round of the Champions League starting on 12/13 July.
Sviatchenko will return to Denmark with his family for part of the break, but he is relishing the prospect of Champions League football.
The 24-year-old would like to meet his international team-mate Kasper Schmeichel in the tournament by reaching the group stages and drawing Leicester City.
"Leicester has done great in the Premier League and done something that people wouldn't imagine they could do," Sviatchenko said.
"Kasper Schmeichel will be staying there now and playing the Champions League. I congratulated him, I texted him, and he's a happy guy.
"I want to play in the Champions League, that's why I came here. We have one goal, to get through and we will do everything we can to flourish."
Sviatchenko also welcomed the news that Celtic will open a safe standing area at Celtic Park next season, becoming the first major club in Britain to re-introduce terracing with rail seats.
"It's something that has been talked about for a long time and now it is coming here to Celtic Park," Sviatchenko said. "We are one of the first to do this and it's very good the fans feel more safe." | Erik Sviatchenko insists manager Ronny Deila's decision to leave Celtic this summer has not affected the team as they aim to seal the Premiership title. | 36215459 |
Founder Sherkhan Farnood and ex-CEO Khalilullah Ferozi were found guilty of theft at a special court.
Revelations of massive corruption led to a run on the bank in 2010.
Foreign donors bailed it out fearing its failure could lead to the collapse of Afghanistan's fragile economy.
The country's future aid contributions could have been jeopardised if no action had been taken against those responsible for the fraud, reports the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul.
By Quentin SommervilleBBC News, Kabul
It's hard to underestimate the threat that the Kabul Bank scandal posed to the country. When it broke there was a worry that it could bring down the entire Afghan economy and bring the international mission here to a standstill.
It ranks, at around 5% of the Afghan economy, as one of history's biggest ever banking scandals. Bringing those responsible to justice has been a slow process, but prosecutions were seen as essential.
It barely functioned as a bank, its prime purpose appeared to be funnelling money out of the country, into the hands of the richest, best connected, in Afghan society.
Even though Tuesday's sentences are relatively light, and there's much scepticism that they will be served in full, they will allow the international community, which bailed out the bank, to begin to draw a line under the scandal.
It was seen as a test of Afghanistan's commitment to addressing corruption and stabilising the economy.
In addition to the jail sentence, Farnood has been fined $288m (£190m) and Ferozi $530m (£350m) by the Kabul Bank Special Tribunal - the value of the assets they are deemed to have stolen from the bank. They have the right to appeal.
Twenty-one other employees were also sentenced by the court to between two and four years. Of those, five are considered to be missing or to have left the country.
One of those who fled was the former head of Afghanistan's central bank, Abdul Qadeer Fitrat, who arrived in the US in 2011 saying his life was in danger.
He was sentenced to two years in prison for misusing his authority and failing to inform the government of what was happening inside Kabul Bank.
At the time he fled he denied any wrongdoing and said he was under threat because he had named prominent figures in connection with the scandal.
There were also dramatic exchanges in court between the two main defendants Farnood and Ferozi, the Agence France-Press news agency reported.
Farnood insisted that he had already paid his debts, as his properties in Dubai and Kabul were confiscated. He also accused Ferozi of being the prime culprit.
"If this is not jungle law, let this count," he is quoted as saying from the dock.
Ferozi replied, saying: "This is not Bollywood where one can act like a hero. Everything is on paper."
The two men have the right to appeal.
The brothers of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Vice-President Mohammed Fahim were among the shareholders of the bank, but they have not been prosecuted and have consistently denied any wrongdoing.
These are the first convictions handed down by the tribunal since it began proceedings after it was set up by the Supreme Court last year to deal with the corruption revelations.
The bank handled most of the government payroll, including salaries for policemen and teachers.
But in fact this was a sham, reports our correspondent, as its main purpose appears to have been to ferry hundreds of millions of dollars out of Afghanistan.
A report by an independent auditor leaked in November 2012 showed that the vast majority of the bank's loans - almost $900m (£561m) - were made to just 19 people and companies.
An earlier finding by Afghanistan's anti-corruption office said that $467m (£290m) of outstanding loans had been made without appropriate collateral.
Our correspondent says that much of the stolen money is unlikely to be recovered. | Two former chiefs of Afghanistan's Kabul Bank have been sentenced to five years in jail for the multi-million dollar fraud that almost led to its collapse in 2010. | 21666689 |
Angus McNeil said the Northern Lighthouse Board (NBL) was open to the idea of working with the mobile phone service providers.
He said it was possible equipment needed to provide the phone services could be fitted to lighthouses.
The SNP MP for the Western Isles hopes to progress the idea further.
Mr MacNeil contacted NLB following a query from phone company EE on the use of lighthouse sites which could allow them to improve coverage.
He said: "NLB have said that they are committed to developing the Scottish economy and are therefore open to discussions with mobile providers on where opportunities might lie.
"I would like to thank NLB for their prompt, sensible response and their ability to see the bigger picture."
Mr MacNeil added: "I have already received confirmation from Vodafone that 4G will be delivered to the islands within the next two years but the sooner all companies have infrastructure in place to do this, the better for the economy of the islands.
"I look forward to further discussions with operators and NLB on how we can take this forward." | Lighthouses could help improve mobile phone coverage in the Western Isles and boost the introduction of new 4G services to the isles, an MP has said. | 35292999 |
The 37-year-old was Scotland's flag bearer for Glasgow 2014, retiring afterwards to focus on coaching.
"We are a recognised part of the performance landscape," Burton told BBC Scotland.
"But there is a huge amount judo can do for you whether you want to be a performance athlete or if you want to do it recreationally."
In a bid to raise the profile of judo in Scotland, it has become one of 12 sports to join the Team Scotland Series, a new initiative that aims to promote Commonwealth Games sports.
Speaking at the Scottish Open Judo Championships in Edinburgh, Jon Doig, chief executive of Commonwealth Games Scotland, said the scheme aims to "show where all our athletes potentially can come from and that everyone is part of the Team Scotland family".
Burton, a two-time world bronze medallist, is also taking on the role of Scotland's general team manager at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018 and maintains the initiative is a "good way for the Scottish public to get to know the athletes faces".
One familiar face returning to competition at the Scottish Open was Kimberley Renicks, who picked up a silver medal in the -52kg event after a long-term shoulder injury.
The event which lets established judoka compete against upcoming stars saw many of the athletes on the JudoScotland performance programme take to the mat, including Malin Wilson and Valentino Volante.
With judo excluded from the Gold Coast Games, JudoScotland is concentrating on developing young athletes, with Burton hoping they will benefit from having time to improve without chasing qualification.
"Scottish domestic championships are an important stepping stone towards the Commonwealth Games or potentially towards the Olympics Games but they are really performance events and you are judged whether you end up on the rostrum or don't. Anything between now and then is development," said Burton.
"Ultimately I'd like to see us raise the profile of judo in Scotland so that people can experience this fantastic sport". | Commonwealth Games gold medallist Euan Burton wants judo to become "an important sport to Scotland". | 38628401 |
Police said one car collided near Cottam power station, Nottinghamshire, at about 23:50 BST on Saturday.
The driver died at the scene and four passengers were taken to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield "with varying injuries", officers said.
Road closures had been in place but the force said Outgang Lane and Cottam Road reopened at about 14:00 BST on Sunday. | A man has died in a crash near a power station. | 39613496 |
In seven "Pioneer Areas" the Welsh government is to work with councils, community groups and arts organisations to bring culture to the disadvantaged.
But Mr Sheen told BBC Wales "you can't just bring people out of poverty by putting on plays".
Deputy Culture Minister Ken Skates said involvement in arts and culture "boosts self-esteem and confidence".
The Port Talbot-raised actor told Sunday Politics Wales: "You can certainly make people aware of the issues, you can make sure people have the ability to empathise with other people's situations and hopefully inspire people, but ultimately it's the policy makers that are going to have to make the difference".
Responding to a report by Baroness Kay Andrews, on how engaging with culture can reduce poverty, Mr Skates said Pioneer Areas would seek to "realise the core vision set out in the report".
The areas are likely to be Swansea, Cardiff, Newport, Merthyr Tydfil, Torfaen, Gwynedd and Wrexham.
Mr Skates said "physical access" problems or "psychological barriers" stopped people in the most deprived communities enjoying arts and cultural activities.
"We want to tear down those barriers and open the doors to every possibility in terms of arts and culture for those people who have thus far been excluded or felt excluded", he said.
But the Welsh Local Government Association wants a commission to make an "urgent re-evaluation of what local councils can realistically be expected to deliver in such a challenging economic climate".
"Local councils face an unprecedented level of pressure on their budgets, and many of Wales' discretionary but highly valued cultural services are having to pay the price," it warned.
Welsh ministers have been criticised for focussing on arts provision for the least well-off when cuts to services are making it harder for everyone to access culture.
Viv Buckley, artistic director of the West Glamorgan Youth Theatre Company, which has lost a significant amount of local government funding, said: "We as a group work to try and increase the skills sector that we have in Wales and if the funding and all of the work is going to be focussed on more underprivileged young people, what happens to your middle of the road young people?"
However Mr Skates said ministers made "no apology for concentrating our efforts on people who right now are suffering the most".
Sunday Politics Wales is broadcast on BBC One Wales at 11:00 GMT on Sunday 30th November | Hollywood star Michael Sheen has said plans to use culture to eradicate poverty in Wales do not go far enough. | 30244458 |
This is being seen as an improvement on his commitment in 2010 when funding was frozen and eroded by inflation.
But the additional cash is expected to be spent on projects to support overseas development aid.
Initial reaction from the scientific community suggested that this was "good" settlement - but not a "great one".
In announcing the settlement in his Spending Review on Wednesday, George Osborne said: "In the modern world, one of the best ways you can back business is by backing science.
"That's why, in the last Parliament, I protected the resource budget for science in cash terms. In this Parliament I'm protecting it in real terms so it rises to £4.7bn."
One senior researcher, who did not wish to be named, told BBC News that the details they had seen suggested there might be a number of strings attached.
"What has actually been announced is another four years of flat cash for the core activities of the research community," they said.
The previous flat cash settlement has seen an erosion of spending power for research, so the concern is that a similar situation would continue.
The chancellor's extra £1.5bn is from a fund for supporting overseas development projects. That would mean that by 2020 up to 10% of the science budget will be ring-fenced - to be spent only on projects that would benefit development aid.
Those responsible for allocating the money will hope that these additional funds can be used on projects that meet the development criteria. This would release funds for others that don't.
The Nobel Laureate and president of the Royal Society, Sir Paul Nurse, said: "The chancellor rightly declared the UK to be brilliant at science and by protecting the science budget in real terms he is giving British scientists an improved chance of maintaining our global leadership, improving lives and driving the economy.
"The last five years have seen cuts to the science budget of around £1bn, so protection from such cuts over the next five years is to be welcomed.
"This settlement does, however, still leave us well behind our competitors in terms of the percentage of our GDP we spend on research. There is also still detail to be looked at and we will be doing that over the coming hours and days."
Many had hoped for an increase in the science budget to stay competitive with other nations that are heavily investing in science. Among them was Prof Paul Hardaker, chief executive of the Institute of Physics.
"This will help UK science but we still need to be mindful of how this compares to higher investment by international competitors," he said.
Similar concerns were expressed by Dr Jenny Rohn, chair of Science is Vital.
"As it stands, this science budget appears to be smaller than in 2010 thanks to preceding inflation, and will continue to shrink both as a fraction of GDP and per capita," she explained.
Many others though, such as Sir John Tooke, president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, were relieved that science had been spared the cuts suffered in other areas of government spending.
"In a wider landscape of shrinking budgets, we're grateful that the chancellor has recognised the need to protect research for the long-term benefit of the UK," he said.
Naomi Weir, acting director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering (Case), said she was pleased to see that the chancellor was continuing to support a strategy for science and industry.
"Committing to invest in science and innovation is investing for the future: creating high-value jobs, driving productivity, and catalysing economic growth," she said.
"It will have far reaching benefits in education, security and resilience, and health. There are undoubtedly some details to unpick, but it is encouraging on many counts to see that the government has listened to the science community and made an evidence-informed decision to back science and engineering in today's Spending Review."
The chancellor also announced funding for the Royce Institute in Manchester, and new agricultural research centres in Shropshire, York, Bedfordshire and Edinburgh.
And Mr Osborne announced a £75m investment for the Cavendish Laboratories at Cambridge University.
He added that in order to get the most from government investment in science, he would implement the recommendations of a review of science spending carried out by the Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse.
Among his suggestions was that a committee of ministers, possibly chaired by Mr Osborne himself, should oversee research spending.
Follow Pallab on Twitter | The UK chancellor has said that the science budget will be protected in real terms - equating to an increase. | 34925495 |
The Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry is examining allegations of abuse at Rubane House, Kircubbin.
On Tuesday, the inquiry was told four boys raised the alarm about abuse at the Catholic home 56 years ago.
They told the De La Salle Order that the brother in charge abused them.
The abuser is now dead.
Following the allegations, a senior member of the order was sent to Rubane to investigate.
Afterwards, new rules were introduced, including an order to brothers to put less emphasis on sex education.
The inquiry heard that in a letter to the brother against whom the allegations were made, the senior cleric referred to one boy's accusations and assured him: "Don't think for a moment that I am accepting his word against yours."
He added: "I advise that no reference is to be made at any time or to anyone regarding the inquiry, it is best forgotten and I have told some brothers that no reference is to be made to it among themselves or the boys.
"The whole affair is best dropped."
The inquiry estimates that 200 of Rubane's 1,050 former residents have made allegations of serious sexual or physical abuse.
A total of 13 Northern Ireland institutions are being investigated.
The Kircubbin home was run by the De La Salle religious order, which has already accepted some children were abused.
A lawyer acting for the inquiry said more than 200 children had claimed they were abused at Rubane House, which was open from 1950 to 1985.
A total of 55 former residents have come forward to the inquiry to allege that they were physically or sexually abused.
Their public testimony will begin next week.
The HIA inquiry was set up in 2013 to investigate child abuse in residential institutions in Northern Ireland over a 73-year period, up to 1995.
The Rubane House allegations form the third module of its public hearings.
It had previously been examining what happened to children sent from Northern Ireland to institutions in Australia. | A senior member of a religious order who investigated claims of sex abuse at a children's home in County Down in 1958 said it was "best forgotten", an inquiry has heard. | 29430974 |
Four crew were on board the Sikorsky S92 when it crashed during a coastguard operation on 14 March.
The 45-year-old pilot, Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, was recovered from the sea but died in hospital later that day.
Search crews said they were "hopeful" the bodies of the three missing crew could be inside.
"That is the absolute hope," Chief Inspector with the Air Accident Investigation Unit, Jurgen Whyte, told the broadcaster, RTÉ.
"We have the wreckage, it's now just a matter of getting a weather window."
The families of Captain Mark Duffy, winch operator Paul Ormsby and winchman Ciaran Smith have been informed of the latest development.
The wreck has been located about 60m off Blackrock island, and is lying on the seabed at a depth of about 40m, the Irish Coast Guard said.
A remotely-operated vehicle (ROV), fitted with an underwater camera, was deployed in the search operation on Wednesday morning, eight days after the crash.
However, it was not yet able to confirm if any bodies are inside the wreckage.
The wreck was found close to where a signal from the helicopter's black box recorder was detected last week.
A recovery operation will now take place, but search teams will have to take account of weather conditions, which have already hampered the search.
Relatives of the crew are to visit the site later in an Irish naval ship.
The President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Enda Kenny joined hundreds of mourners at Capt Fitzpatrick's funeral on Saturday.
Her sister told the funeral Mass that "God owes us, he owes us to bring home Dara's three colleagues who are still missing". | The wreckage of Irish Coast Guard helicopter R116 has been found off the Mayo coast in the Republic of Ireland, officials have said. | 39354543 |
Media playback is unsupported on your device
28 May 2015 Last updated at 08:32 BST
Fire and lava started spewing out of Wolf volcano on Monday, with smoke rising six miles into the air.
Experts say the eruption poses no risk to people living on the island, but there are fears plants and animals could be harmed.
The island holds the world's only population of pink iguanas - but they are not in immediate danger, officials say.
Isabela Island is part of the Galapagos islands which are famous for their unique wildlife and are considered an area of natural beauty. | A volcano on Isabela Island in the Pacific Ocean has erupted for the first time in 33 years. | 32911530 |
It comes after Labour peer Lord Levy threatened to quit the party unless Mr Corbyn sent a "clear message" that it would not allow anti-Semitism.
Mr Corbyn said he had always condemned all forms of racism and any complaints of anti-Semitism in the party would be properly investigated.
Labour has been hit by several claims of anti-Semitism recently.
Last week, party member Vicki Kirby was suspended for a second time over anti-Semitic tweets. A Labour spokeswoman said Ms Kirby, vice chair of the Woking constituency party, was being investigated.
Allegations relating to Oxford University Labour Club are also being investigated.
Mr Corbyn told Sky News: "The idea that somehow or other there is a tolerance of any form of racism is wholly and totally fallacious."
He said he was "disappointed" at the comments made by Lord Levy, who on Sunday said "it is now up to the leadership to make sure that there is a clear and unequivocal message out there that anti-Semitism in any form will not be tolerated".
Lord Levy had said: "If they don't make that clear then I will start to question myself and actually question my being a Labour peer and a proud member of the Labour party."
But Mr Corbyn said the peer "clearly hasn't been listening to the seven times since I became leader I have absolutely condemned anti-Semitism, I have condemned Islamophobia, I have condemned any form of racism anywhere within our society".
"It is absolutely something I totally, passionately believe in," he added and said his views were understood throughout the party.
The Labour leader added: "We do take action in the very, very, very small number of cases where anything happens and if we hear any allegations they are properly and thoroughly investigated."
Ms Kirby was first suspended in 2014 for making anti-Semitic comments but later reinstated. She was forced to stand down as an election candidate after tweets including one suggesting Hitler was a "Zionist God".
The Parliamentary Labour Party is also carrying out an investigation into allegations of anti-Semitism in the Oxford University Labour Club after it voted to support Israel Apartheid Week.
Oxford University Labour Club has said previously in a statement: "We are horrified at and whole-heartedly condemn anti-Semitic behaviour in all its forms." | It is "totally fallacious" to suggest that Labour tolerates anti-Semitism, leader Jeremy Corbyn has said. | 35865500 |
The men kicked in the door of a flat in Skegness and savagely beat the occupants with baseball bats, an axe and a knuckle duster.
One of the victims almost bled to death from a severed artery and was cut across the face, scarring him for life.
At Lincoln Crown Court Judge John Pini QC told the men: "This was an extremely serious and grave matter."
The court was told the two victims, aged 19 and 23, were friends of a local man who was involved in a turf war with rival dealer Thomas Barraclough, who had recently moved to the resort.
Barraclough, joined by four men from his home city of Bradford, broke into the flat in South Parade on 7 March and carried out what police described as a "brutal attack".
Stephen Kemp, prosecuting, said the "extreme violence" used in the attack was an attempt to "destroy the local competition".
Passing sentence, Judge Pini said: "It is drugs that are entirely behind this dreadful episode.
"Extreme violence was brought to Skegness over drug dealing. This court will send out a message that it will not be tolerated." | Five men who used baseball bats and an axe in an attack on friends of a rival drug dealer have been jailed. | 34285598 |
Police said it followed an incident where a car was driven at a man between the Newpark and Wilderness roundabouts on Saturday.
It is understood a Renault Clio narrowly avoided hitting a 45-year-old.
The 18-year-old man has also been charged with a number of offences under the Road Traffic Act and is due to appear at Livingston Sheriff Court. | A teenager has been charged in connection with an attempted murder on the A71 in Livingston. | 33818216 |
France midfielder Moussa Sissoko, 26, was the only Magpies player selected for the tournament in his home country.
Benitez agreed a new three-year deal with United, despite failing to keep them in the Premier League after replacing Steve McClaren in March.
"Usually I have maybe 10 players or 15 players go, so I think it will be much better now with one player," he said.
"I think it will be really good for us, especially for the coaches, because we can start working with our ideas almost straight away."
The Spaniard confirmed he would like to keep Sissoko, who reportedly told a French website he wanted to leave Newcastle and expressed interest in joining Arsenal.
"He knows that he's an important player for us so I will try to keep him with us," Benitez told BBC Newcastle.
"These comments in the press, I think it's important to realise that they will not change things.
"We want to keep the squad as strong as possible and then we will analyse every single case, but we will try to do the best for the team." | Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez says having only one player at Euro 2016 helps his preparations for next season. | 36500348 |
Partick Thistle 1-2 Celtic
Aberdeen 2-1 Kilmarnock
Dundee 0-1 Heart of Midlothian
Inverness CT 0-1 Hamilton Academical
Alloa 1-1 Raith Rovers
St Mirren 2-1 Queen of the South
Dumbarton 1-1 Falkirk
Airdrieonians 0-2 Brechin City
Albion Rovers 0-1 Stranraer
Ayr United 0-2 Dunfermline
Forfar Athletic 1-1 Cowdenbeath
Stenhousemuir 1-4 Peterhead
Arbroath 3-0 East Stirlingshire
Berwick Rangers 1-0 Stirling Albion
Clyde 1-0 Elgin City
East Fife 4-2 Annan Athletic
Montrose 1-1 Queen's Park | Find all of the reports from Saturday's Scottish football matches, as the top three in Scotland all win. | 35796034 |
The companies have been fined a total of £51,000 and must also pay the employees the £177,000 they were underpaid.
H&M blamed it on time logging issues, while Welcome Break said they had an IT problem.
So, here's some guidance on what to do if you think your employer isn't paying enough...
Step One:
Firstly, find out if you are actually being underpaid. You can do this by contacting free services including the Pay and Work Rights Helpline or ACAS.
They will help you work it out. Then you need to decide if you want to have that conversation with your boss yourself.
"It can be nerve wracking to raise these issues internally" says Mike Cain who's an employment solicitor from Slater & Gordon.
"But if you're mistreated or sacked as a result of raising a minimum wage issue, there is legal protection for you. The law is on your side."
Step Two:
Next, decide if you want to make an official complaint.
If you do, you need to go to HM Revenue & Customs (again you can do this through the Pay and Work Rights Helpline.)
They will investigate your claim and, ultimately, enforce the law by fining your employers and forcing them to pay up.
HMRC will ask you to give them all the evidence you have to prove you're not being paid the minimum wage.
Step Three:
You will have to decide at this point whether you want to be named in the complaint or not.
"It's a bit easier to win if you are willing to be named" says Paul Sellers, a minimum wage expert for the TUC which campaigns for a fair deal at work.
If you're named then you can give the HMRC a personal statement and they can confront your employer with that. Otherwise they're going to have to collect evidence themselves."
What happens next?
If you win, the firm will be fined and you'll get the money owed to you.
"But if your employer still doesn't pay up" explains Paul Sellers.
"HMRC will take them to an employment tribunal. This won't be at your expense, they will be pursued by the government."
Or, you can pay for an employment solicitor and take a case yourself. This can be expensive though.
If you join a Trade Union at work - they might take your case on for you and try to negotiate with your boss.
One last thing:
Your employer isn't allowed to take money out of your wages for things such as uniform, food or travel.
"The general rule is if you don't have any choice over the issue about the food you eat at work or how you get there or what you wear, things like boots or overalls, this isn't allowed to be deducted," says Paul Sellers from the TUC.
If this happens to you go to your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau for free guidance.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube | H&M and Welcome Break are among 37 firms who've been failing to pay staff the minimum wage. | 30831606 |
Caroline Everest, 18, was last seen by friends at the Corporation nightclub in Milton Street, Sheffield, in the early hours of Sunday.
The Sheffield Hallam University student has not been heard from since and did not turn up for work or a family dinner later that day.
Officers described this behaviour as "extremely out of character".
She is described as 5ft 6in (1.6m) tall, of slim build and was wearing her long, dark hair in a ponytail.
She was wearing a black dress with a black cardigan and was carrying a black handbag with a cream strap.
Supt James Abdy said: "We are carrying out extensive inquiries to find Caroline, including reviewing CCTV, conducting searches and speaking to friends, family and associates.
"We are appealing for help from the public as we are extremely concerned for Caroline's welfare and would urge anyone with information about her whereabouts to get in touch." | Police searching for a missing university student have said they are "extremely concerned" for her welfare. | 34901154 |
Police were called to the scene on the A720, near the Dreghorn junction, just before 17:00 on Saturday.
The teenager was taken to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary with serious injuries.
The incident involved a blue Skoda Citigo travelling westbound. Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them.
The road was closed until about 03:00 while an investigation was carried out.
Sgt Andy Gibb, of Police Scotland, said: "We're currently working to establish the full circumstances surrounding this collision and are asking anyone who may have witnessed this, or who has any other information which can help with our inquiries, to come forward." | A 16-year-old boy is seriously ill in hospital after being hit by a car on the Edinburgh bypass. | 34957311 |
Integra had been criticised for voiding some policies after Storm Frank devastated parts of the Deeside town.
Several householders said their policies had been voided because of a dispute over how far their properties were from the River Dee.
Integra said it would contact every affected customer to offer assistance.
In a statement, the firm said the payments would be made on an ex-gratia basis - a goodwill payment rather than a legal requirement.
It added that the company was "acutely aware of the trauma and hardship resulting from the recent floods".
The statement continued: "A small number of our customers have been notified that their home insurance policy with Integra has been voided.
"It's very rare that we void policies as this only ever occurs in situations where the information provided by the customer at quotation stage and at renewal differs fundamentally to the facts.
"Had we been aware of these facts then no quotation or offer of cover would have been provided by Integra."
It is not clear how much money the firm will pay to the affected householders.
Last month, it emerged that the cost of the clear-up in Aberdeenshire in the aftermath of Storm Frank was expected to reach £7.6m.
A large proportion of the money is being spent on repairing and refurbishing 22 flood-damaged council houses in the Ballater area. | An insurance company involved in a row with homeowners affected by flooding has said it will make goodwill payments to households in Ballater. | 35876908 |
Champions Celtic will be presented with the Premiership trophy after their match against Motherwell - Ronny Deila's last match in charge of the Glasgow side.
Elsewhere, Ross County visit Aberdeen and Hearts host St Johnstone.
And, in the Championship play-off final second leg, Ayr United and Stranraer are tied at 1-1 going into their meeting at Somerset Park.
Click on the links below for team news and previews, times are BST.
SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP (all 12:30)
Aberdeen v Ross County
Celtic v Motherwell
Hearts v St Johnstone
SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF FINAL SECOND LEG
Ayr United v Stranraer (agg 1-1) (15:00)
SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 4-0 Dundee
Kilmarnock 2-4 Dundee United
Partick Thistle 2-2 Hamilton Academical
SCOTTISH LEAGUE ONE PLAY-OFF FINAL SECOND LEG
Queen's Park 0-1 Clyde (agg 3-2)
SCOTTISH LEAGUE TWO PLAY-OFF FINAL SECOND LEG
East Stirlingshire 0-1 Edinburgh City (agg 1-2) | After the bottom-half sides completed their campaign on Saturday, the Scottish Premiership's top six round the league season off with three fixtures on Sunday. | 36290435 |
He was speaking after Prime Minister Theresa May refused to be drawn on whether she believed in the "principle" of a fresh vote.
The focus on Scotland's constitution comes on the day the UK government formally began the Brexit process.
Mrs May has insisted "now is not the time" for an independence referendum.
However, when journalist Andrew Neil asked the prime minister during a half-hour BBC interview what time would be acceptable, she did not answer the question directly.
Instead, Mrs May said: "If I can just explain why I've said now is not the time because I think this is relevant to the wider question.
"I think now is not the time to focus on a second independence referendum or to be looking at that second referendum.
"Now is the time we need to pull together as a United Kingdom.
"We need to be talking about how we can work together to get the best possible deal for everybody across the whole United Kingdom. Focusing on an independence referendum isn't about that."
Responding to Mrs May's view, Holyrood's Brexit minister Mr Russell said it was "democratically unacceptable" that Scotland could not have a vote on its future.
Earlier this month, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon confirmed she would ask for permission to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence.
Her call was backed by MSPs at the Scottish Parliament this week.
Ms Sturgeon's SNP-led administration, supported by Scottish Green MSPs, argued a new vote was needed in light of last June's referendum when voters north of the border backed the UK retaining EU membership by 62% to 38%.
Voters in the whole of the UK chose to Leave by 52% to 48%.
Asked by BBC Scotland's Gordon Brewer what the Scottish government could do about holding a referendum without UK government support, Mr Russell said: "There has never been a moment in devolution in the last 18 years where the UK government has refused to have a conversation with a devolved administration - so that is a new low we are going to.
"And whatever happens in this there will have to, at the end of the day, be negotiation.
"So, what the first minister said, is first of all we will inform the UK government of the vote - the majority vote of the parliament, two parties voting together based on manifesto commitments - and then if there is no movement on that, the first minister will come back to the parliament - as rightly she should - and outline the options we have."
Mr Russell would not go into detail on the options and he said he would not "escalate it by speculation".
But he insisted "believe me there are options and they will be used" and there would be "proper negotiations".
The politician also confirmed that his counterpart at Westminster, UK Brexit minister David Davis, had rejected the Holyrood government's request for Scotland to be a member of trading organisations EEA and Efta.
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said: "What I would say is, however much and however damaging Brexit is going to be to Scotland's economy, it is not going to be anywhere near as a bad as what independence would mean.
"We know that the reality is Nicola Sturgeon has been looking for another excuse, another grievance, any opportunity possible, to pursue a second independence referendum, but what she can't tell us is really what she wants to do with regards to membership of the EU."
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: "We made a clear manifesto commitment that we would stand against independence and another independence referendum. If you look at the mandate that the SNP say they have got, it is based on a campaign where they are using the European Union to get the referendum.
"But they can't guarantee to get the European Union as a result of the referendum. The mandate is not substantial."
Scottish Green Party co-leader Patrick Harvie said: "We very clearly said our preferred means of discussing a future independence referendum was by that public participative measure [gathering a million signatures]. It was never supposed to be the only way that it could happen.
"To be honest, I would still prefer we were in that situation. What the UK government has done over the last year is not only hold a reckless referendum but take a narrow leave mandate as a mandate for had Brexit - that takes us way beyond what they said in their manifesto. Scotland is now stuck between a rock and a hard Brexit." | Scottish government minister Mike Russell has said a date for a second independence referendum "will have to be negotiated". | 39435541 |
Michael Scudamore triumphed in 1959 on Oxo, but his son and eight-time champion jockey Peter never won the big one at Aintree, his best finish a third aboard Corbiere in 1985.
Now Welsh trainer Michael Scudamore, following in the footsteps of his famous family - including his namesake and grandfather - says it would mean everything if his brother Tom could take the crown this weekend.
Tom will be in the saddle on one of the favourites, Vieux Lion Rouge, and after finishing seventh last year, his brother hopes to win the big one this time around over the world's most famous course.
One might assume that for a family closing in on 2,000 racing victories, success in the National would be nothing more than a bonus.
But Michael, who took over his grandfather's training yard in 2008 after gaining his licence following a season as an amateur jockey, says it would mean the world if Tom triumphs.
"Careers are built on having success in this race. There's obviously a lot of pressure involved especially going into the big race." Scudamore told BBC Wales Sport.
"It's been a very long time since any member of our family managed to win it. It would be lovely if he could do that at the weekend."
Scudamore's grandfather Michael Scudamore rode 16 consecutive Grand Nationals, winning in 1959.
Peter Scudamore, Michael's father was also an eight-time champion jockey who rode to a record 1,678 wins.
Scudamore says his grandfather was a big inspiration.
"It was always his favourite race and that passed down through the rest of the family," he explained.
"He rode in 16 consecutive Nationals which for a long time, until Mr McCoy [Sir Anthony McCoy] or Richard Johnson came along, I think they were the first to break that record.
"It's the race you really want to win above all others and hopefully one day one of our family can emulate what my grandfather did and pass that post first."
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While the rest of the Scudamore family were arguably born into the sport of racing, things could have been very different for Michael.
He is a former Wales Under-19 rugby international who featured in the 2003 Five Nations tournament and an age-grade World Cup, playing in the same squad as Wales, Bristol and British and Irish Lions lock Ian Evans.
He was also a regular for Ebbw Vale as part of the Newport Gwent Dragons set-up and Scudamore very nearly picked a lifetime of scrums and rucks over fences and saddles.
Scudamore draws comparisons between his life on the rugby pitch and training the country's best horses.
"There aren't any many hours spent running around or in the gym, but you're treating the horse as an athlete and trying to get the best out of them in a similar way that you were trying to get the best out of yourself," he said.
"Everything is geared towards trying to make them the very best they can be. In many ways it's a very similar discipline.
"I started off trying to play a bit of rugby, but I've always been around horses from a young age so racing's there and always something I'd wanted to do at some stage.
"I was always too heavy to ride so training was the next logical step.
"I was never the biggest [as a rugby player] so seeing the size of the players nowadays I'm happy I chose what I chose.
"I definitely have no regrets!" | They have one of the most famous family names in British horse racing, but it has been almost 60 years since a Scudamore won the Grand National. | 39504597 |
The former Rangers winger has been training at Rugby Park this week having worked under Clark at Birmingham City.
"It would be a fantastic way to finish the transfer window," Clark said.
"I think it's a very long shot, but you live in hope. You never know in this game and we'll see what we can do."
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Speaking after his side's 1-1 draw with Rangers, Clark said Burke's influence on the young players in his squad has been evident this week.
"I had him at Birmingham. I made him captain for a few games," the Killie boss told BBC Scotland.
"He's a terrific pro, fantastic to have around the place, a great example to the young players I have, to show what it takes to become a top player, which he is.
"It would be difficult (to sign him) but I would love it to happen."
Clark was pleased with his side's performance against Rangers, which saw them withstand a late onslaught with 10 men following Greg Taylor's red card for a wild lunge on Joey Barton shortly after James Tavernier had cancelled out Kris Boyd's opener.
"It feels like a very good performance. I thought we were excellent," Clark continued.
"When you go down to 10 men against a team like Rangers, who pass it and rotate around the pitch the way they do with the quality they have, for us to stay in the game, we have only been pegged back by a world-class free-kick.
"I thought we were real value for our lead at half-time and I just thought the performance was very, very good.
"I've said to them that that's the standard for our performance level. We have to be ready to repeat that once the games come back after the international break.
"Remember we've won a game. Some teams in the league haven't won a game. We have to knock the negativity around this football club on its head.
"It's not doom and gloom in our dressing room that seems to be circulating on the outside." | Kilmarnock manager Lee Clark says he would love to sign Chris Burke but admits it is "a long shot" that the club will be able to conclude a deal for the player. | 37198400 |
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Cala is waiting for EFL clearance to purchase Abdulrahman Al-Hashemi's stake in the club's owners, G50 Holdings.
Lemos bought a share in G50 in September, but 99% of that share was transferred to tax consultant Graham Burnard on 11 January.
Subsequently, Durham-based Burnard claims he is the club's owner.
Players and staff at the League Two club are yet to be paid. and Burnard says he is looking to oversee payments to staff and players within the next week.
Brazilian Lemos, who bought a controlling stake in the club in September, also claims he owns G50, and says the order means he has to be "engaged with" by the relevant parties before any shares are sold.
His spell at Morecambe, which began in September, has been criticised by the club who claimed he had not been present for 10 weeks and Companies House records show that his shares in G50 Holdings, which were used to purchase the club, had been transferred.
Uncertainty over who owns the club has added to the confusion relating to Lemos' court order, which Shrimps director Rod Taylor says they are yet to fully understand the implications of.
"What they're saying is there's no prospect of an immediate sale of the football club," Taylor told BBC Radio Lancashire.
"We're trying to make sense of this, and we're making representation to the other parties, and to the Football League most importantly, to try to understand what's going on."
Italian businessman Cala hopes to purchase the stake in G50, after the Qatari businessman Al-Hashemi returned to help the club earlier this week.
There are also concerns that Morecambe's next home game against Cambridge United might not go ahead.
However, Cala says he has resolved a problem with access to adjoining land, which was operated by a separate company - PMG Leisure - which is now in administration. The land includes the matchday control area. | Morecambe's takeover by businessman Joseph Cala has been delayed, after Diego Lemos obtained a court order preventing the sale. | 38855351 |
Newlywed Michaela McAreavey was murdered in her hotel room on the island of Mauritius.
John McAreavey, her husband of less than two weeks, said "my life ended as well" that day.
The McAreaveys were on honeymoon at the Legends Hotel when John found 27-year-old Michaela dead in the bathtub of their room.
Michaela, daughter of Mickey Harte, one of Ireland's leading sports figures had gone back to their room from a poolside restaurant to get biscuits.
When she did not return her husband went back to their room and found her body in the bath. She had been strangled.
The police and prosecution said she had been murdered after disturbing thieves in her room.
Five hotel workers would later be arrested over the murder before two - floor supervisor Sandip Moneea, 43, and cleaner Avinash Treebhoowoon, 32, were charged.
Both denied the murder.
The trial at the island's Supreme Court in the capital city of Port Louis was expected to last around two weeks. It would instead take more than six weeks.
Some of the most harrowing testimony came from Michaela's widower John.
He recalled finding their hotel room door open, then seeing his wife in the bath with the water still running.
"I ran to the bathroom, dropped my bag and grabbed Michaela," he said.
He said he did not know what was going on, but she was cold and he noticed marks on her neck.
He said he pulled Mrs McAreavey from the bathtub, and although he did not know CPR he attempted to resuscitate her.
"I was holding her in my arms, telling her to wake up - 'Michaela, Michaela, come on, wake up'," he told the jury.
Mr McAreavey said he then screamed for help.
The McAreavey and Harte families were often upset by some of the proceedings, which had to be adjourned on 15 June after heated exchanges between the defence and prosecution.
In the early days of the trial, the family were also clearly upset at occasional bursts of laughter from the public gallery.
They were prompted by the extrovert style of defence barrister Ravi Rutnah.
He later withdrew as defence counsel, claiming his professional integrity had been questioned by a prosecution witness.
In May, there were angry scenes over what the defence claimed was a sex guide found in the McAreaveys' room.
A family friend told the BBC the booklet was an insert from a women's magazine.
John McAreavey said on the day of the murder he had offered to go up to the room instead of Michaela.
"Obviously I wish I had gone," he told the court.
He said he and Michaela had never got the chance to spend one night in the house they planned to start married life in.
"It was very important to us that we would only ever live together when we were married," he said.
"We felt by waiting it would make the experience more new and magical and something to look forward to after we returned from honeymoon." | It should have been the dream holiday that launched a new life for a young couple but it turned into a nightmare of violence, tragedy and grief. | 18687596 |
Up to 200 people took refuge at a Porthmadog leisure centre on Sunday, after being stranded overnight.
Councillors have called for an inquiry into how authorities allowed the car park to be sited on a flood plain.
But Natural Resources Wales said organisers were aware of flood warnings.
A statement on the festival's website warned festival-goers to expect long delays after the car park reopened following an overnight closure on safety advice.
On Monday afternoon, they posted a message on their social media accounts stating 90% of cars had left after 18 tractors were used to clear the site.
Many of the remaining vehicles are expected to be collected later in the week after their owners had to return home.
Gwynedd council tweeted at about 22:00 BST on Monday to confirm the makeshift rest centre in Porthmadog leisure centre had closed.
However, a local hotel said it had accommodated two couples who were still waiting to collect their cars.
Gwynedd councillor Selwyn Griffiths praised the local response, saying: "The community really rallied round.
"I can't praise the local farmers enough for turning up with their tractors and working for 12 hours or more to get cars out of the mud." | About 150 vehicles remain at Gwynedd's Festival No.6 park-and-ride car park after hundreds became stuck following heavy rain. | 37284299 |
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Captain Morgan and Hales made themselves unavailable for October's trip because of security concerns.
No international side has toured Bangladesh since 20 people were killed in a siege at a cafe in Dhaka in July.
"We're a tight-knit bunch of guys and we will remain that way," wicketkeeper Buttler, 26, told BBC Sport.
"It is a side where a lot of guys have grown up together. There are a lot of close friendships."
Buttler said he had spoken to Morgan, 30, and insisted the Middlesex player was "very much still the captain of the England ODI side".
"I completely respect the decision that has been made," he added. "There are things that happen in the world that are much bigger than cricket."
Buttler will lead England in Morgan's absence in the three-match one-day series starting on 7 October, which will be followed by two Tests.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan described Morgan's decision as a "huge mistake", while Nasser Hussain, another ex-skipper, felt Morgan "should be with his team".
England all-rounder Ben Stokes tweeted his support for Morgan and Hales, 27, while former spinner Graeme Swann said he would not travel to Bangladesh if he was still playing.
Buttler, who led England in a Twenty20 against Pakistan last year, added: "I am sure Eoin was expecting a lot of people to disagree with his decision.
"He's a very strong-minded person. That's why he is such a fantastic leader."
Bangladesh's new bowling coach Courtney Walsh told BBC World Service's Stumped programme he was "surprised" by Morgan and Hales' decision, and that fans and players from both teams would be disappointed.
Walsh was in Dhaka last week and said he felt safe and comfortable and that security was at the highest level.
"If I'm going on tour with a team, West Indies or whatever, and not everyone is touring you're going to feel a little bit disappointed. But at the end of the day, individuals have to weigh up options and do what they think is right," he added.
The England one-day and Test squads will be announced on 16 September. | Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales remain "very much part of the group" despite not touring Bangladesh, says stand-in England one-day captain Jos Buttler. | 37341519 |
Prof David Stupples told the BBC that plans to replace ageing signal lights with new computers could leave the rail network exposed to cyber-attacks.
UK tests of the European Rail Traffic Management System are under way.
Network Rail, which is in charge of the upgrade, acknowledges the threat.
"We know that the risk [of a cyber-attack] will increase as we continue to roll out digital technology across the network," a spokesman told the BBC.
"We work closely with government, the security services, our partners and suppliers in the rail industry and external cybersecurity specialists to understand the threat to our systems and make sure we have the right controls in place."
Once the ERTMS is up and running, computers will dictate critical safety information including how fast the trains should go and how long they will take to stop.
It is scheduled to take command of trains on some of the UK's busy intercity routes by the 2020s.
The system is already used in other parts of the world and there are no reported cases of it being affected by cyber-attacks.
In fact, it is designed to make networks safer by reducing the risk of driver mistakes.
But Prof Stupples - an expert in networked electronic and radio systems at City University in London - said if someone hacked into the system they could cause a "nasty accident" or "major disruption".
"It's the clever malware [malicious software] that actually alters the way the train will respond," he explained.
"So, it will perhaps tell the system the train is slowing down, when it's speeding up."
"Governments aren't complacent", the professor added.
"Certain ministers know this is absolutely possible and they are worried about it. Safeguards are going in, in secret, but it's always possible to get around them."
He added that he had spoken up to raise awareness of the threat.
"We keep security arrangements under constant review to take account of the threat and any new challenges we face," responded a spokeswoman for the Department of Transport.
According to the professor, the system is well protected against outside attack, but he says danger could come from a rogue insider.
"The weakness is getting malware into the system by employees. Either because they are dissatisfied or being bribed or coerced," he explained.
He added that part of the reason that transport systems had not already been hacked as frequently as financial institutions and media organisations was that much of the technology involved was currently too old to be vulnerable.
All of that will change in the coming years, as aircraft, cars and trains become progressively more computerised and connected, he said.
Independent security expert Graham Cluley agreed that the sector could be vulnerable.
"Seeing as we have seen nuclear enrichment facilities targeted with state-sponsored malware attacks and 'massive damage' done to a German steelworks, you have to ask yourself whether it is likely that a train signal system would be any better defended?" he asked.
"The most obvious danger is going to be human.
"The risk is that staff will either be deliberately and clandestinely assisting attackers or - most likely - make poor decisions, such as plugging in a device that is malware-infected that could expose the system's security."
Prof Stupples said he was working with Cranfield University to develop a security system that would tell when a train or other mode of transport was acting oddly.
"It would take it back into a safe state," he explained. | A hi-tech signalling system that will eventually control all of Britain's trains could potentially be hacked to cause a serious crash, according to a scientist who advises the government. | 32402481 |
The inquiry will have statutory powers and a new panel, Home Secretary Theresa May told the House of Commons.
Mrs May said she was determined to "expose despicable crimes".
Since the original child abuse inquiry was set up last July, two chairwomen have resigned amid concerns over their links with the establishment.
Mrs May said Justice Goddard was "as removed as possible from the organisations and institutions that might become the focus of the inquiry".
Peter Saunders, chief executive of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, said Justice Goddard would "enhance the whole credibility of the inquiry".
Justice Goddard, who was appointed to the New Zealand High Court in 1995, said she was "committed to leading a robust and independent inquiry".
The Auckland-born judge has previously led an inquiry into police handling of child abuse cases in New Zealand.
By Clive Coleman, BBC legal correspondent
A statutory inquiry established under the Inquiries Act 2005 has considerably more powers than its predecessor.
Justice Goddard will be able to compel witnesses to attend and give evidence, and force them to provide documentary evidence.
Those powers mean that some witnesses and "core participants" - ie those who may have played a significant role in relation to the matters being examined, have a major interest in those matters, or face explicit criticism from the inquiry - are likely to "lawyer up".
That can make the process much longer.
The inquiry will be looking into serious criminality, so Justice Goddard will have to steer a careful course between a rigorous inquiry and ensuring that future criminal trials are not prejudiced.
The original inquiry was sparked by claims of paedophiles operating in Westminster in the 1980s.
The inquiry will investigate whether "public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse in England and Wales".
Mrs May said Justice Goddard was a "highly respected" member of the judiciary and an "outstanding candidate with experience in challenging authority in this field".
"We must leave no stone unturned if we are to take this once in a generation opportunity to get to the truth," she said.
Justice Goddard will face a "pre-appointment hearing" before the Home Affairs Committee of MPs on 11 February to ensure "further transparency", Mrs May said.
She also said there would be a "co-ordinated national policing response" to "follow up any lead the inquiry uncovers".
And she said the decision to select a new panel was "by no means a criticism of the current panel members".
Justice Goddard said she was "honoured" to lead the inquiry and was aware of the "scale of the undertaking".
"The many, many survivors of child sexual abuse, committed over decades, deserve a robust and thorough investigation of the appalling crimes perpetrated upon them," she said.
By Dominic Casciani, BBC home affairs correspondent
Last year's catastrophic double failure to launch the abuse inquiry posed serious questions for the home secretary and her team.
The new inquiry's chief is a world away - geographically and institutionally - from the characters and parts of the British state that victims insist must come under uncomfortable scrutiny.
Justice Goddard's appointment echoes the decision to use a Canadian judge to look into some of the most controversial allegations levelled at the state in Northern Ireland: in both of these cases the government has concluded it could only win the broad support of victims by asking a complete outsider to step in.
Theresa May's statement made clear she has personally learned some hard lessons about transparency and trust.
The attention now turns to Justice Goddard who will have to prove that she has the legal skills, stamina and empathy to expose historical abuse - but also the independence to stand her ground amid the clamour.
Justice Goddard said the inquiry would act without "fear or favour" and would "hold those responsible to account".
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw tweeted: "It's understood Theresa May personally interviewed Lowell Goddard by video-link before deciding to appoint her as #CSAinquiry chair."
Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who called for a statutory inquiry, welcomed the appointment of Justice Goddard and said work should now begin before the general election in May.
"It is clear that mistakes have been made with this inquiry in the past, but I think today shows that we are moving in the right direction and I hope we can all now focus on the future," he said.
Baroness Butler-Sloss, Mrs May's first choice as inquiry chairwoman, resigned a week after it was set up. She faced calls to quit because her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, was attorney general in the 1980s.
Her replacement, Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf, stood down on 31 October amid concerns over her links to former Home Secretary Lord Brittan.
1 July 2014 - MP Simon Danczuk calls on former Home Secretary Leon Brittan to say what he knew about paedophile allegations passed to him in the 1980s
7 July - Government announces independent inquiry into the way public bodies investigated and handled child sex abuse claims. Baroness Butler-Sloss chosen as head
9 July - Baroness Butler-Sloss faces calls to quit because her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, was attorney general in the 1980s
14 July - She stands down, saying she is "not the right person" for the job
5 September - Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf named the new head of the inquiry
11 October - Mrs Woolf discloses she had five dinners with Lord Brittan from 2008-12
22 October - Abuse victim launches legal challenge against Mrs Woolf leading the inquiry, amid growing calls for her resignation
31 October - Victims' groups tell government officials they are "unanimous" Mrs Woolf should quit. She steps down later that day
4 February 2015 - Justice Lowell Goddard, a serving judge of the High Court of New Zealand, announced as the new head of the inquiry | New Zealand High Court judge Lowell Goddard has been named as the head of a new inquiry into historical child sex abuse in England and Wales. | 31130805 |
Lesley Titcomb said: "We were not, as I'm aware, advised in advance. We learnt about the sale from the newspapers."
She was giving evidence to MPs about the collapse last month of BHS, whose pension fund had a £571m deficit.
The pensions watchdog was first in discussions with BHS in 2009 about its pension fund deficit.
As soon as the sale of BHS by Sir Philip Green to a consortium called Retail Acquisitions was announced, Ms Titcomb said the Regulator opened an anti-avoidance case to determine whether the previous owners should be pursued to make up the fund's shortfall.
Richard Fuller, one of the MPs attending the joint hearing of the Work and Pensions and Business select committees, said the pensions watchdog did "not sound like much of a regulator".
Ms Titcomb disagreed and said it would be inappropriate to put a greater burden on most employers who behave properly.
When pension funds had deficits she said the company it belonged to had to be given sufficient time to rectify that situation. It was difficult when people were "irresponsible", but that was not the case in the vast majority of situations, Ms Titcomb told MPs.
However, the head of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) earlier told MPs that rescue plans to erase deficits for pension schemes should have time limits.
Alan Rubenstein said that in 2012 BHS's pension fund trustees had submitted a 23-year plan to return the fund to a surplus.
He said the average length of a recovery plan was nine years: "We've learned that 23-year recovery plans are rather ambitious."
The PPF wanted recovery periods to be "as short as possible", but he acknowledged that the Pensions Regulator did not want to "push companies over the edge".
He told MPs that the cost to the PPF to rescue BHS's pension fund would be about £275m - a sum that he said would not affect the fund's finances.
The PPF, which protects pensioners in the event of a company failing with a pension fund that is in deficit, is funded by a levy on all UK pension funds.
Mr Rubenstein said that the Pensions Regulator should have more power to intervene in takeovers when it was concerned about a company's pension scheme deficit.
He told MPs that a subsidiary of the Arcadia Group called Davenbush withdrew a guarantee for the BHS pension scheme in 2012. Arcadia is the retail empire controlled by Sir Philip.
Sir Philip, the owner of Top Shop, has agreed next month to answer MPs' questions about the sale of BHS, which he owned for 15 years.
Tom McPhail, head of retirement policy at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the UK's pension system was "creaking at the seams".
"The revelations that the BHS scheme had a 23-year deficit reduction programme and that the Regulator didn't know about the sale of BHS until announced in the papers raises uncomfortable questions about the adequacy of the protection of pension scheme members generally," he said.
"Pension investors, whether in final salary schemes or money purchase arrangements, have a right to expect their retirement savings to be protected by professional managers operating to high regulatory standards."
Separately, the Work and Pensions Committee said it had invited the former and current Chair of Trustees and Trustees of the BHS pension fund to give evidence on 25 May. | The head of the Pensions Regulator learned about the sale of BHS for £1 last year through the media, MPs heard. | 36248568 |
Yet most Venezuelans live in poverty, many of them in shanty towns, some of which sprawl over the hillsides around the capital, Caracas.
Venezuela's economic fortunes are tied to world oil prices. A 1970s boom largely benefited the middle classes, but a subsequent price collapse condemned many of them to poverty while eroding the living standards of the already impoverished.
Unemployment is high and, according to official figures, around 60% of households are poor.
In 1998 Venezuelans broke with the party system to elect populist left-winger Hugo Chavez, a former army officer who proclaimed a "Bolivarian revolution", named after South America's independence hero. Mr Chavez died in 2013, but was succeeded by his vice-president, Nicolas Maduro, who pledged to continue his policies.
Socialist reform, political unrest and deep divisions characterised President Chavez's term in office. His supporters - known as "chavistas" - and his detractors both staged street protests.
Venezuela profile - home
Country profiles - home
Country profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring
Supporters said his economic reforms - including the nationalisation of much of the economy, especially the oil sector - and his expansion of social programmes helped the poor benefit from the country's oil export revenues. Critics say Chavista policies have harmed economic performance.
Government controls setting fixed rates for buying and selling US dollars, introduced in 2003, have created a booming black currency market, causing shortages and fuelling inflation, which rose to over 50% a year in 2014.
The authorities blame the rampant inflation on businesses undermining the system, and have responded with controls on prices and company profits. Critics believe this will only exacerbate distortions in the economy.
Venezuela under Mr Chavez sought to strengthen its regional influence through diplomatic and economic overtures towards other South American and Caribbean nations.
This has been seen, in part, as an effort to counter Washington's influence in the region, and has been a contributory factor to strained relations with US allies such as Colombia.
Mr Chavez also aligned himself with Russia and Iran, and frequently expressed support for anti-Western leaders in the Middle East and elsewhere.
A country of striking natural beauty, which ranges from the snow-capped Andean peaks in the west, through the Amazonian jungles in the south, to the beaches of the north, Venezuela is among the most highly urbanised countries in Latin America. | Venezuela has some of the world's largest proven oil deposits as well as huge quantities of coal, iron ore, bauxite and gold. | 19649649 |
The Guthrie Castle website has been taken down and replaced with a message asking anyone who has booked a wedding or event to get in touch with them.
It is not known what happened to the deposits paid for bookings.
The castle has not made any comment about the allegations, which appeared on social media. | Police are investigating allegations that events at a luxury wedding venue in Angus were deliberately double-booked by a former member of staff. | 39621579 |
John Brooker sent an email to employees at Storm Technologies in Watford on 8 June, the day of the general election.
It said: "Labour voters will be made redundant first if Labour do win and things slow down".
The GMB union said it was "unacceptable and morally wrong" but Mr Brooker insisted it was "totally made in jest".
Managing director Mr Brooker sent the email to more than 100 employees at the company's offices on Croxley Business Park.
It said he would have to "re-think a few things here at the company" if Labour won.
"So if you value your job and want to hold onto your hard earned money vote Conservative," it continued.
Warren Kenny from the GMB said: "A boss should not be harassing employees or interfering with their right to vote for who they wish - it's Dickensian, workhouse nonsense.
"Any staff working for John Brooker should have been able to vote for their candidate or party of choice without fear for their jobs and their livelihoods."
In a statement, Mr Brooker said: "The email was a 'tongue in cheek' note sent immediately after a large group of my staff and I were having a joke in the company canteen on the day of the election and was totally meant in jest.
"No offence was intended, nor was there any threat whatsoever levelled at staff. This was nothing more than 'internal banter' now completely taken out of context.
"Obviously in hindsight I regret any offence this has caused and have reiterated to all my staff the respect I have for their political views and opinions." | An IT boss who told staff they would be first in line for redundancy if they voted Labour has said the threat was just "banter". | 40257860 |
Attacks by the Boko Haram group that provoked the move included an assault on a military barracks, detonating a bomb at a bus station in the northern city of Kano and the kidnap of a French family, including four children, which grabbed the world's attention.
The declaration would bring "extraordinary measures" to bear against the insurgents in order to "restore normalcy" to the region, the president said.
"The troops have orders to carry out all necessary actions within the ambit of their rules of engagement to put an end to the impunity of insurgents and terrorists," President Jonathan said.
Now, after 12 months of state of emergency powers being in force, in the past few weeks Boko Haram has attacked several military bases, bombed a busy bus terminal in the capital, Abuja - twice - and launched an audacious kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok which has set the world on edge.
"When they declared it I thought it had to be tried," says Habeeb Pindiga, editor of Nigeria's Daily Trust newspaper, "but honestly it has not succeeded."
In the year leading up to the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe state, there were 741 civilian death reported, according to data collected by the University of Sussex in the UK.
In the 12 months since the figure of civilian causalities has more than tripled to 2,265.
Mr Pindiga says the military has not dealt with big problems it faces.
Because of the military's human rights record people do not trust them, plus they lack modern equipment, training and motivation.
A UK military officer who has worked closely with the Nigerians says they are stuck in a Catch-22 situation.
"The trouble with the Nigerian government is that they want a big red button, which you can press and it will fix everything," says James Hall, a retired colonel and former UK military attache to Nigeria.
"I was asked by a senior commander if we could sell them the machine that can tell if a car driving down the road contains a terrorist," he added.
"I tried to tell them that such a machine doesn't exist, but then they just thought we were hiding it from them."
The UK is very wary in giving training assistance, and sales of better equipment are also problematic, he says.
Who are Boko Haram?
Profile: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau
"We have reduced dramatically the types of training and equipment we're willing to provide."
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have both criticised the Nigerian military for their tactics.
Amnesty reported that some 600 people were killed by the military after an attack on Maiduguri's Giwa barracks in March.
The sale of lethal weapons to Nigeria is prohibited by UK law because of such concerns.
"Without the training, they won't be able to get the equipment, and we aren't giving them the training either," Mr Hall said.
Although Nigeria's military has enjoyed a good reputation internationally because of its involvement in several peacekeeping missions in Africa, it has not quite escaped the legacy of its past.
"What they say about former military regimes is true," Mr Hall said.
"They cripple their militaries so that there can't be further coups."
The Nigerian military rejects such criticism.
Speaking to the press on 7 May in Abuja, Brigadier-General Olajide Laleye told journalists that the military were doing what they could to stop the insurgency.
"Prosecuting large-scale counter-insurgency operations as well as numerous other operations in aid of civil authority in virtually every state of the federation has put pressure on the personnel and resources of the army," he said.
In a bid to improve morale, he was announcing soldiers' salaries would be paid to their families after their death for longer than currently allowed.
Payments usually stop a regulation three months after a soldier is killed, it was reported.
But observers say that there are other factors at work beyond just military capacity.
"There's a lack of trust all across the board, politically," says Ledum Mitee, a former activist from the oil-rich southern Niger Delta.
He has followed closely the career of President Jonathan, who is also from the Niger Delta.
At the moment, the political leadership of the three states in the north-east are aligned with the opposition All Progressive's Congress ( APC).
"People around the president, his closest allies, all tell him this Boko Haram is manufactured by the northerners to play politics," Mr Mitee says.
"This leads him to distance himself from the whole affair."
Military commanders on the ground also have to play politics, he said.
"If they give the impression it is a very bad situation, they risk being branded incompetent, so they give a less bad picture to their bosses."
Then when crisis erupts no-one is able to deal with it effectively because it is so confused, Mr Mitee said.
It is international pressure over the girls from Chibok that has forced the government to change.
The BBC's Muhammad Kabir Muhammad in Abuja will answer your questions live on @BBCAfrica between 12:00-13:00 BST (11:00-12:00 GMT ) on 14 May 2014 about why Nigeria has failed to contain the insurgency. Use the hashtag #NigeriaEmergency
@BBCAfrica
It has allowed advisers from China, France, Israel the UK and the US to help its forces.
But their presence is likely to be limited to assisting the search for the kidnapped girls, and will not include a general role in improving the Nigerian military's capacity.
Even if they could, the job would be too big, Mr Hall thinks.
"It would take years of total engagement, training group after group to have any effect," he says.
"And no-one is really prepared to commit to that." | Exactly a year after Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a "state of emergency" in north-eastern Nigeria, it seems to have had little effect in curbing the Islamist insurgency. | 27396702 |
The householder had reported seeing a spider "the size of her hand" hiding in a downstairs cupboard.
Inspector Nikki Denham was prepared with gloves and nets to trap the spider, but after shining a torch in the cupboard saw it was plastic.
The RSPCA said the woman was "obviously embarrassed".
Ms Denham said the householder in Alresford had closed all doors to prevent the spider's escape before she arrived.
"It was dark under the stairs, but I could see legs behind a vacuum cleaner that certainly were tarantula size.
"However, as I shone light in I could see that it was in fact a toy plastic tarantula," she said.
She said the toy was shown to the woman's young son who confirmed it was his - "with an angelic innocent face".
A RSPCA spokeswoman said the organisation was called on to rescue 275 genuine tarantulas in 2016. | An RSPCA inspector was called out to deal with a tarantula in a house in Hampshire, only to discover it was a child's toy. | 40716008 |
Moments after Lincoln's Matt Rhead headed against the post, Mitch Hancox's dipping shot put the Silkmen ahead.
But Hawkridge responded, pouncing on a loose ball after Scott Flinders failed to hold Lee Angol's initial shot.
Paul Farman made two crucial second-half saves before Hawkridge's second assured the National League title.
The winger's low curled finish into the far corner delivered Lincoln their first league crown since winning the same competition in 1988.
And it came with huge relief, after Imps goalkeeper Farman kept Chris Holroyd's acrobatic effort out before foiling Hancox from close range. Oliver Norburn may even have spoiled the party in stoppage time had he not guided a superb headed chance wide.
Promotion caps off a truly remarkable season for the Imps, juggling National League title ambitions with an FA Cup run which saw them become the first non-league side to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in 103 years.
While they were dumped out of the Cup by Premier League side Arsenal, and their exit from the FA Trophy followed seven days later in March, that disappointment failed to affect their promotion hopes.
Twelve games in six weeks have since followed the end of their FA Cup adventure, culminating with victory in front of a packed Sincil Bank crowd of 10,031 - of which just 97 were Macclesfield supporters - to confirm their status as an EFL club for 2017-18.
For five of their six seasons outside the Football League, Lincoln found themselves parked in mid-table mediocrity.
Last term they finished 13th - their previous best effort since dropping into the fifth tier in 2011 - under Chris Moyses, who split his managerial workload with running his own business.
Come May 2016, Danny Cowley arrived with brother and assistant Nicky, taking up his first full-time managerial job having led part-time Braintree to the play-offs while combining his work at the Iron with his career as a PE teacher.
Two wins at the beginning of the season were followed by two losses, leaving Lincoln 14th in the table.
That, however, was a momentary dip as five successive victories later and they were top, where they have remained for much of the campaign.
To the very end they fought to restore themselves to the fourth tier, completing their third comeback win in eight days to seal promotion.
Match ends, Lincoln City 2, Macclesfield Town 1.
Second Half ends, Lincoln City 2, Macclesfield Town 1.
Billy Knott (Lincoln City) is shown the yellow card.
Billy Knott (Lincoln City) is shown the yellow card.
Substitution, Macclesfield Town. Danny Whitehead replaces Ollie Norburn.
Substitution, Lincoln City. Sean Long replaces Matt Rhead.
David Fitzpatrick (Macclesfield Town) is shown the yellow card.
Substitution, Macclesfield Town. Danny Whitaker replaces Luke Summerfield.
Goal! Lincoln City 2, Macclesfield Town 1. Terry Hawkridge (Lincoln City).
Substitution, Macclesfield Town. Anthony Dudley replaces Mitch Hancox.
Substitution, Lincoln City. Josh Ginnelly replaces Nathan Arnold.
Substitution, Lincoln City. Billy Knott replaces Elliot Whitehouse.
Chris Holroyd (Macclesfield Town) is shown the yellow card.
Second Half begins Lincoln City 1, Macclesfield Town 1.
First Half ends, Lincoln City 1, Macclesfield Town 1.
Luke Summerfield (Macclesfield Town) is shown the yellow card.
Goal! Lincoln City 1, Macclesfield Town 1. Terry Hawkridge (Lincoln City).
Goal! Lincoln City 0, Macclesfield Town 1. Mitch Hancox (Macclesfield Town).
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up. | Lincoln City sealed their return to the English Football League after a six-year absence, thanks to Terry Hawkridge's brace against Macclesfield. | 39605164 |
Lawyers for singer Katy Perry contacted Fernando Sosa, who had sold the design via an online directory of blueprints.
Left Shark became a viral hit after appearing to forget its steps during a routine with the 30-year-old artist.
3D-printing is becoming an increasing headache for companies trying to protect their intellectual property.
Falling costs of 3D printers, coupled with a growing community of model designers, means many small products can be made to a relatively high quality.
In a letter, the lawyers said Perry had not consented to the use of the shark, which was being sold through Shapeways.com.
"Your unauthorised display and sale of this product infringes our client's exclusive rights," read the letter, posted on Instagram by Mr Sosa.
Mr Sosa was selling the design for $24.99 (£16). After the item was removed by Shapeways, Mr Sosa submitted the design to a different site, Thingiverse, and offered it free-of-charge.
On the site, Mr Sosa wrote: "Apparently sharks, palm trees and beach balls are all now copyrighted... anyways I'm making this available to everyone.
"Now you can 3D print your very own Left Shark. Just make sure you download this file ASAP since just in case it's taken down."
Intellectual property lawyer Dai Davis told the BBC he expects disputes like this to become more common, and that industry must adapt to facilitate demand.
"In the same way copyright is difficult to protect in music because of the way the internet has allowed piracy sites, in the same way you already have lots of sites popping up which will increasingly allow unlawful copies of design rights [for objects]."
He suggested that companies would perhaps be wiser to offer their own official 3D-printed designs, rather than putting effort into removing designs by others.
The man inside one the shark costumes, professional dancer Scott Myrick, said of the performance: "The visibility was terrible. I ran into a palm tree but the camera missed it."
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC | A website has been ordered to remove a design for a 3D-printed model of the "Left Shark" dancer from the Super Bowl half-time show. | 31164440 |
"It is time to stamp out these barbaric, feudal practices which are a slur on our nation," the court said.
According to one recent study, hundreds of people are killed each year in India for falling in love or marrying against their families' wishes.
Convictions for "honour" killings usually carry life sentences. The death penalty is awarded only very rarely.
When executions are authorised they can be delayed for years on appeal.
Two Supreme Court judges issued Tuesday's ruling. They were dismissing an appeal against a life sentence by a man who had been convicted of strangling his daughter.
"All persons who are planning to perpetrate 'honour' killings should know that the gallows await them," said Justices Markandeya Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra.
"He cannot take the law into his own hands by committing violence or giving threats of violence.
"In our opinion honour killings, for whatever reason, come within the category of rarest of rare cases deserving the death punishment."
Last month the Supreme Court warned states that they should "ruthlessly stamp out" so-called honour killings. It said senior officials who failed to act against offenders would be prosecuted.
Age-old notions of tradition and family honour are still deeply entrenched in many parts of Indian society.
Correspondents say there have been many recent cases in which people have been ostracised or killed for defying such notions.
Many victims anger their families by marrying outside their caste. Often "honour" crimes against them are endorsed, or even encouraged, by village-based caste councils. | India's Supreme Court says people convicted of so-called honour killings should face the death penalty. | 13348414 |
Jordan Turner marked the 250th appearance of his career with Saints' first try of the game.
Matty Fleming cancelled out Corey Thompson's score to give the home side a 10-6 lead at the interval.
Patrick Ah Van's acrobatic effort brought Widnes level at Langtree Park, but Percival's second successful kick sealed the game in Saints' favour.
Victory means Keiron Cunningham's side are two points behind fourth-placed Catalans Dragons and will be no lower than fifth at the beginning of the Super 8s.
Widnes, fresh from a win at champions Leeds in their previous outing, are still not guaranteed a top-eight finish but require only one point from their next two fixtures to avoid a spot in The Qualifiers.
St Helens coach Keiron Cunningham: "Both sides probably deserved something out of the game. Widnes took the second half but we hung in there to win it with that goal in the end.
"It was a character-building performance and it's about time we had a bit of luck.
"For large portions of the second half, we had to defend on the back foot. We had a lot of kids out there, which is very good for the future.
"Jonny Lomax is into week nine of his comeback and we always said it would take 10 weeks to hit the full straps. He wasn't quite clinical enough with the ball but his defence was outstanding."
Widnes head coach Denis Betts: "It was a full-blooded contest and a real tussle. We were on the end of a couple of tough calls but it was a really good rugby league game.
"They were desperate but we defended really well and are massively disappointed because I thought we did enough to win.
"We started poorly but our effort and energy was really high and we are showing we are a tough team to beat."
St Helens: Lomax; McDonnell, Fleming, Percival, Owens; Turner, Wilkin; Walmsley, Roby, Richards, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Greenwood, Thompson.
Replacements: Amor, Vea, Ashworth, Knowles.
Widnes Vikings: Hanbury; Thompson, Runciman, Marsh, Ah Van; Mellor, Brown; Cahill, White, Buchanan, Houston, Dean, Leuluai.
Replacements: Manuokafoa, Dudson, Whitley, Burke.
Referee: Gareth Hewer | Mark Percival's penalty nine minutes before full-time earned victory for St Helens over neighbours Widnes Vikings. | 36719657 |
Rather than rebuilding trust with the Jewish community, Mr Corbyn caused "greater concern", Ephraim Mirvis said.
During his speech, Mr Corbyn said Jews were "no more responsible" for Israel's actions than Muslims were for "those various self-styled Islamic states".
Mr Corbyn later denied he was comparing Israel and so-called Islamic State.
It comes as MP Angela Eagle, who resigned from the shadow cabinet earlier this week, indicated she may challenge Jeremy Corbyn to a leadership contest.
Mr Corbyn had been speaking at an event to report on an inquiry set up following the suspension of MP Naz Shah and ex-London mayor Ken Livingstone amid claims of anti-Semitism.
The party would not tolerate racism of any kind, he said.
However, former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks added his voice to the complaint that Mr Corbyn appeared to compare the state of Israel to so-called Islamic State (IS), calling it "demonisation of the highest order, an outrage and unacceptable".
The comments showed "how deep the sickness is in parts of the left of British politics today", he said in a statement.
He said IS was "a terrorist entity whose barbarities have been condemned by all those who value our common humanity. In the current political climate, when hate crimes are rising and political rhetoric is increasingly divisive, this is all the more shocking."
Mr Corbyn had said: "Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the Netanyahu government than our Muslim friends are for those various self-styled Islamic states or organisations."
When later asked if he was comparing Israel to a terrorist group, Mr Corbyn said: "No, no of course I'm not. The point in the report is that you shouldn't say to somebody just because they're Jewish, you must have an opinion on Israel. Any more than you say to anyone who is a Muslim you must have an opinion on any vile action that's been taken by misquoting the good name of Islam. I just ask people to be respectful and inclusive in their debate."
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry later phoned the Israeli Ambassador in London to apologise for any offence caused by Mr Corbyn's remarks. A source close to Ms Thornberry said Ambassador Mark Regev "had no issue with the speech".
But a spokesman for Mr Regev said he had "welcomed Emily Thornberry's unequivocal apology following Jeremy Corbyn's unacceptable remarks" and said reports that he had no problem with the speech were "erroneous".
Meanwhile, Labour MP Ruth Smeeth called for Mr Corbyn to "resign immediately", claiming he failed to intervene when "anti-Semitic slurs" were directed towards her in front of him at the event.
Ms Smeeth, who is Jewish, walked out of the press conference after comments by one of the leader's grassroots supporters which she said suggested she was in collusion with the right-wing media.
After the event, she released a statement saying his failure to intervene showed a "catastrophic failure of leadership", and added her voice to the chorus of Labour MPs calling for their leader to resign.
"It is beyond belief that someone could come to the launch of a report on anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and espouse such vile conspiracy theories about Jewish people, which were ironically highlighted as such in Ms Chakrabarti's report, while the leader of my own party stood by and did absolutely nothing," she said.
She said she had previously made no comment on his leadership, she but felt "a Labour Party under his stewardship cannot be a safe space for British Jews".
A Labour Party spokesman said: "All allegations of anti-semitism are taken very seriously by the Labour Party and that is why Jeremy asked Shami Chakrabarti to produce her report the conclusions of which we will consider carefully."
At the event, Ms Chakrabarti, the chairwoman of Labour's inquiry into anti-Semitism, had said the Labour Party was not overrun by anti-Semitism or other forms of racism but there was an "occasionally toxic atmosphere".
But she said there was "too much clear evidence... of ignorant attitudes".
Ms Chakrabarti's inquiry has made 20 recommendations but she said she does not approve of lifetime bans for party members.
Mr Corbyn said he put his weight behind the inquiry's "immediate implementation".
He called for an end to Hitler and Nazi metaphors and comparisons between different human rights atrocities.
"Diluting degrees of evil does no good," Mr Corbyn said.
"Racism is racism is racism. There is no hierarchy, no acceptable form of it," he said.
Recommendations made by the inquiry include:
Ms Shah, the MP for Bradford West, was suspended after social media posts emerged in which she suggested Israel should be moved to the United States.
Mr Livingstone was then suspended after claiming Hitler supported Zionism, as he tried to defend Ms Shah.
No update on these cases were given as Ms Chakrabarti said due process must be followed.
What's the difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism?
Q&A: Labour anti-Semitism row | Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been accused by the Chief Rabbi of making "offensive" comments at the launch of a Labour party probe into anti-Semitism. | 36676018 |
Surrey Police said a man assaulted a member of staff at the Waterloo Road restaurant in Epsom on Friday, before taking the 17-year-old victim outside.
A suspect was arrested a short time later at Court Recreation Ground off Pound Lane.
The girl suffered a stab wound to the abdomen and was taken to hospital.
Her condition is described as serious but not life threatening.
A 32-year-old man from Epsom has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, kidnap, rape and grievous bodily harm.
Det Insp Nick Chambers said the girl and the man knew each other.
"This appears to have been a violent and pre-planned attack which took place in a very public location," he said.
"Epsom on Friday night is a busy place so I'm sure passers-by and motorists must have seen this incident unfolding.
"I would like to hear from anyone who saw anything out of the ordinary in or around Pizza Hut or Court Recreation Ground."
The staff member, who tried to intervene when the man entered the restaurant, suffered injuries to his arm which are not believed to be serious. | A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a teenage girl was dragged out of a Pizza Hut and stabbed. | 36568131 |
The advice featured in a booklet titled "Tallinn guide for friendly forces", given to troops taking part in a Nato Steadfast Javelin training operation.
The operation took place in May 2015.
The MoD would not comment on the guide but said advice on "staying safe" was routinely given to troops while abroad.
The BBC requested copies of various documents concerning the operation, also known as Exercise Hedgehog.
In its response, the department provided the guide, which includes a section detailing three strip clubs in Tallinn.
Lasso Baar was said to be a "big strip bar with one of the prettiest dancers" and Soho was identified as the "biggest strip club in Estonia". X Club was billed as "the most professional strip club with various elements".
The guide also gave British troops further advice on what to expect at Estonian strip clubs.
Troops were informed that "all strip clubs offer private rooms for individual dances", and that "the average level of rolling tips to girls is 5 to 20 euros". They were also advised "to use cash in such places".
Asked if it was appropriate for the government to provide such material, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence said: "As you would expect, we routinely provide guidance to our people about staying safe while on deployment."
The department would not comment on who had produced the guide, how it had been distributed to troops, or whether it would be issued to troops serving in Estonia in future.
The guide included other nightlife tips, such as pubs Mad Murphy's and Hell Hunt, or visiting the city's historic Old Town for a dash of Baltic culture.
It also offered a warning on public drinking, saying that to avoid a police fine, "when you want to drink spirits in the street it is wise to cover the bottles".
And it includes gift ideas for British troops. It suggests a visit to a shop called Bonbon Lingerie as a good place to pick up something special for wives and girlfriends. In terms of a bottle of something to bring home, it suggests Vana Tallinn or Old Tallinn liquor, of which the guide says, "Finns just love it and some of them use it as a sleeping pill."
A spokesperson for the Estonian embassy in London said the Estonian government had not produced the guide.
"According to the information received from the Estonian Defence Forces this is not an official document produced by or for the Government of Estonia."
Operation Steadfast Javelin was a major Nato training exercise, in which 13,000 troops and reserves defended positions against a simulated attack by land and air. | The Ministry of Defence (MoD) provided British soldiers with a guide to strip clubs in the Estonian capital, a freedom of information request to the department has revealed. | 38972213 |
When PJ Harvey became the first woman to win the Mercury Prize on 11 September 2001, she gave an emotional acceptance speech over the telephone from Washington DC.
It's a moment she can barely remember.
"Ten years ago feels like such a surreal experience - I'm sure for everybody - that my only memory of the day really is being in the hotel room and watching television and seeing the Pentagon burning," Harvey said after accepting the prize for a second time at a ceremony in London.
Were it not for events in the US on that day 10 years ago, her winning album, Let England Shake, would be very different.
Her eighth solo record is a song cycle of visceral narratives about England in conflict, from World War I to fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Obviously this record that I've won tonight with is largely about the wars that we are involved in," said Harvey.
"Contemporary wars - but also, in a way, I wanted it to be timeless because we've always been involved in wars.
"But I think the greater urgency that I felt to write an album like this now is because of the result of what has happened in the last 10 years."
The power of Let England Shake lies in the marriage of often brutal lyrical imagery with folk melodies and driving rhythm.
"I was writing in a very different way to how I'd ever written before - working largely on the words for a long time in advance and trying to get them to work in a strong way for themselves to begin with before even thinking of music," she said.
The strength of those lyrics is felt nowhere more forcefully than in The Words That Maketh Murder - performed by Harvey earlier in the evening.
"I've seen and done things I want to forget, I've seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat," it began.
"Death lingering, stunk, flies swarming everyone," it continued as Harvey strummed along on her autoharp while her band provided a toe-tapping shuffle backing.
The singer, whose full name is Polly Jean Harvey, wore a white leather bodice and a headdress of feathers - designed, she said, to reflect the themes of her record.
Other performance highlights on the night included James Blake - described earlier on the red carpet by fellow nominee Tinie Tempah as the coolest man in pop - whose blissed-out song The Wilhelm Scream crescendoed into a climax that bathed the Grosvenor House Hotel ballroom in sonic bubbles.
Rapper Ghostpoet, meanwhile, energised a room full of music executives with a rocking rendition of single Cash And Carry Me Home that contrasted with the sparse minimalism of the recorded version of the song.
And it was inevitably left to Elbow's Guy Garvey to inject a large dose of sentimentality into proceedings as he pointed to the sky to implore "Let's build a rocket boys" on Lippy Kids, the track that gave the band's album its title.
Asked by host Jools Holland - as all the acts were - to speak to the audience after their performance, Garvey said the band had enjoyed "the best time we've had in the studio for 20 years on account of being honoured with the Mercury award in 2008" for The Seldom Seen Kid.
The only one of the acts who declined to say a few words was Anna Calvi - nominated for her eponymous debut album - who some have described as a younger version of 41-year-old Harvey.
Off stage, the 28-year-old is much quieter than Wednesday night's winner but, as proved by her performance of Desire, give Calvi a Fender Telecaster and a microphone and she exudes seductive strength.
It was a source of regret for all present that the single most powerful enigma in British pop music was unable to sing because of a chest infection that has led to a series of cancelled gigs.
Instead, Adele took to the stage to tell host Holland how "gutted" she was not to be performing from nominated album 21, swearing as she did so.
Speaking to the BBC News website earlier on the red carpet, PJ Harvey said Adele was her favourite to win.
But while Harvey is a big fan of her "very moving" voice, she is perhaps less likely to be as captivated by Adele's songwriting ethic.
The 23-year-old recently revealed she had not written a song since 21 was finished.
Harvey, in marked contrast, is "a writer that works all the time".
"I work every day and already my work's begun to develop into what will be the next project and I'd like to go even further into what I began with this record," she says.
"And I'd like to be back here again in another 10 years' time with another record." | Idiosyncratic performer PJ Harvey talks of the sense of "urgency" that prompted her to pen her second Mercury Prize-winning album. | 14815936 |
Fe fydd y gweithwyr yn pleidleisio ar y cynnig, sy'n cynnwys diogelu swyddi a'r safle cynhyrchu ym Mhort Talbot, yn ddiweddarach yn y mis.
Ar raglen Sunday Supplement BBC Radio Wales dywedodd Adam Price, llefarydd Plaid Cymru ar yr Economi, y dylai'r gweithwyr alw ar y cwmni i ailystyried.
Fe ddywedodd llefarydd ar ran Tata y byddai'n amhriodol iddyn nhw wneud sylw tra'i bod nhw mewn cyfnod o ymgynghori.
Yn y gorffennol maen nhw wedi disgrifio'r cynllun fel un "hanfodol."
Mae'r undebau wedi dweud na fyddant yn gwneud argymhelliad i weithwyr p'run ai i dderbyn y cynnig neu ei wrthod.
Dywedodd Mr Price, AC Dwyrain Caerfyrddin a Dinefwr: "Mae'r hinsawdd economaidd mae'r diwydiant dur yn ei wynebu yn 2017 wedi ei drawsnewid yn llwyr.
"Mae'r arolwg tymor-canol wedi gwella, ac mae safle Port Talbot yn gwneud elw," meddai.
"Yn y cyd-destun hwn, dyw hi ddim yn bendant y bydd gweithwyr dur Tata yn derbyn y cynnig pensiwn, pan fydd yna bleidlais yn cael ei chynnal gan yr undebau yn ddiweddarach y mis hwn."
Mae Mr Price yn honni fod y cwmni yn "defnyddio digwyddiadau dros y 12 mis diwethaf i roi pwysau ar y gweithwyr".
"Yn fy marn i, byddai'n beth doeth i weithwyr ofyn i'r cwmni ailfeddwl, ac i ddod yn ôl i'r bwrdd trafod gydag addewid pendant yn nhermau cyflogaeth a buddsoddiad," meddai.
"Mae e hefyd yn anodd credu y gallai cwmni mor fawr a phwerus gael yr hawl i gefnu ar ei gyfrifoldebau pensiwn presennol.
"Pe na bai Tata yn barod i wneud hyn, yna dylid gwladoli'r cwmni dros dro, gan ailagor trafodaethau gyda'r cwmnïau oedd wedi dangos diddordeb mewn prynu'r safleoedd."
Mae Tata yn cyflogi bron i 7,000 yng Nghymru, gan gynnwys dros 4,000 ym Mhot Talbot.
Dywed y cwmni fod angen newidiadau cyn y bydd yn ymrwymo i becyn buddsoddi newydd i Bort Talbot fyddai'n golygu buddsoddi £1bn dros 10 mlynedd.
Mae addewid hefyd i gadw dwy ffwrnes ar y safle am bum mlynedd, ac i geisio osgoi diswyddiadau gorfodol dros yr un cyfnod.
Dywedodd llefarydd ar ran y Pwyllgor Dur, pwyllgor sy'n cynrychioli'r holl undebau dur: "Tra'n parchu barn Mr Price, mae'n bwysig bod y gweithlu yn deall y cynigion y byddant yn ystyried ddiwedd y mis.
"Ar hyn o bryd mae Swyddfa Bensiynau yn cynnal nifer o weithdai pensiwn, ac yn mynd i'r gwahanol safleoedd er mwyn egluro i'r gweithwyr y sefyllfa bresennol o ran y cynllun pensiwn, a'r cynllun pensiwn newydd sy'n cael ei gynnig."
Ychwanegodd fod trafodaethau rhwng yr undebau a'r cwmni hefyd wedi canolbwyntio ar sicrhau parhad y gwaith cynhyrchu dur ym Mhort Talbot, a gweddill safleoedd Tata yn y DU,
Fis Mawrth y llynedd dywedodd Tata y byddai'n rhaid gwerthu eu safleoedd dur yn y DU oherwydd bod y cwmni yn gwneud colledion sylweddol
Ar y pryd dywedodd y cwmni mai un o'r pethau anodd wrth geisio gwerthu'r busnes oedd cost yr ymrwymiad i'r cynllun pensiwn. | Mae yna alwad wedi ei wneud ar i weithwyr dur Tata wrthod cynllun pensiwn sy'n cael ei gynnig gan y cwmni oherwydd ei fod yn "annerbyniol". | 38547179 |
While two men have been arrested in connection with her murder, many of Chicago's killings go unsolved.
The city has been beset by high numbers of shootings and homicides by gun violence, over many years.
Here is a look into what the numbers say about Chicago's violence.
While Chicago is on track to see as many as 600 murders this year, it does not have the highest murder rate per capita in the US.
But shootings have often been concentrated in gang-heavy neighbourhoods, making the risk of being caught in the crossfire a very real one for people who live there.
A large majority of homicides in Chicago are from gunfire, and occur within a half-mile of the victim's home, according to data collected by local online news source DNAInfo. | Chicago has experienced one of its deadliest August months in 20 years, with 11 people murdered last weekend, including Nykea Aldridge, cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade. | 37216025 |
Governor Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday set the execution dates for eight men.
On 21 October, two inmates are scheduled to die by the state's lethal three-drug cocktail, which includes the controversial drug midazolam.
Executions in the US have been delayed recently amid problems buying drugs as many firms have refused to sell them.
Twenty-seven people have been executed in Arkansas since 1976 when the US Supreme Court reintroduced the death penalty.
The dates were set following the request last week of Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.
She sent letters to the governor telling him that the condemned inmates had run out of appeals options and that state officials had acquired enough of the needed drugs to carry out the punishments.
The state still faces one lawsuit that challenges a new law that allows the state to conceal how it obtains the lethal drugs needed to perform the execution procedure.
However, the US Supreme Court and other federal courts have rejected similar challenges in other states.
Lawyer Jeff Rosenzweig represents the eight condemned inmates as well as a ninth individual whose case is still in the appeals process.
Mr Rosenzweig has said that he plans to file for the executions to be delayed.
On 1 July, the state's Department of Correction said it had enough of the lethal drugs it needed to perform the executions.
Its stockpiles include a sufficient supply of midazolam, which has been criticized since executions last year in Arizona, Ohio and Oklahoma did not go as planned.
In June, the US Supreme court approved the drug for continued use when it rejected a challenge from three Oklahoma death-row inmates. | The US state of Arkansas is set to resume executing death row inmates after a 10-year hiatus brought on by legal concerns and drug shortages. | 34205128 |
This week, a security report said the IRA's ruling army council still existed and has influence over Sinn Féin.
DUP ministers who resigned last month returned to the Northern Ireland Executive after the report's release.
Mr Nesbitt said the report's findings vindicated his party's decision to pull out of the executive in August.
He will address his party's annual conference at a hotel on the outskirts of Belfast later.
Speaking at the conference on Saturday, former UUP leader Sir Reg Empey said that after the report on paramilitary activity stated that PIRA members believe that the provisional army council exists and oversees both PIRA and Sinn Féin with an overarching strategy "[First Minister] Peter [Robinson] goes back to business as usual sending the clear signal to Sinn Féin that they can get away with it again. How awful".
He also said Sinn Féin's denials about the IRA were "sapping credibility out of politics and must be reversed if we are to create effective and acceptable devolution at Stormont".
Sir Reg added: "It is true that Stormont has taken some good decisions, but conference, the present administration is the worst so far and is failing on nearly all fronts. This cannot be as good as it gets."
The Ulster Unionists withdrew from government during the current political crisis at Stormont after allegations that IRA members had been involved in the murder of Kevin McGuigan Sr, one of its former members, in August.
Party leader Mr Nesbitt said he "never set out to be the avenger of David Trimble", his predecessor, who was the first person to hold the position of first minister in Northern Ireland.
But he added that if Mr Trimble had been avenged, "maybe that's no bad thing".
Mr Trimble faced criticism from the DUP over sharing power with republicans.
When the DUP agreed to the restoration of devolution in 2007, it insisted Sinn Féin should accept the police and the IRA should completely decommission its weapons.
But the findings of an assessment of paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland earlier this week indicated that the IRA still has access to weapons, although its focus is wholly political.
Mr Nesbitt said he had "set out to do the right thing" by removing the UUP from the executive, and the report had shown his decision was justified.
"I took a principled stand, I took an unambiguous stand that everybody understands, but having said all that, has David Trimble been avenged?
"People seem to think that he has and perhaps that is no bad by-product." | Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has said he is not seeking vengeance on the DUP for its previous criticism of his party's power-sharing with republicans. | 34614935 |
Mossburn Distillers want to build the facilities around the former Jedforest Hotel at Camptown.
The first phase of the development between 2017 and 2018 would see a small distillery built to educate visitors in the "craft of making spirit".
A larger-scale distillery, capable of producing millions of bottles per year, would be completed by 2021.
A kitchen and cafe as well as new office buildings are all part of the phase one development, along with bottling and storage facilities.
The second stage would be "significantly bigger and significantly more productive".
It would include cafe and restaurant areas capable of catering for more than 200 people.
Scottish Borders Council planning officials are recommending approval in principle, subject to more than 20 conditions.
It will also need approval from the Scottish government on flooding matters. | Councillors are being advised to give approval in principle to two whisky distilleries near Jedburgh. | 38145081 |
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