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Bouna Traore, 15, and Zyed Benna, 17, were electrocuted in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois in October 2005.
Police had chased the boys as they made their way home from a football match.
Almost 10 years later, the court in Rennes cleared Sebastien Gaillemin and Stephanie Klein of charges of failing to assist someone in danger.
Adel Benna, Zyed's brother, said he was sickened by Monday's ruling.
"Police officers are untouchable. It's not just in this case, they are never convicted," he told reporters.
The officers had been accused of doing nothing to help, despite knowing the boys were in danger when they were seen approaching the EDF power facility. They insisted they were not to blame.
Bouna and Zyed were electrocuted while a third youth, Muhittin Altun, escaped with burns.
The deaths ignited three weeks of clashes with security forces in run-down city suburbs across France.
Vehicles and public buildings were burned and thousands of people arrested in rioting that led to the first state of emergency in the country for more than 20 years.
For years the case dragged through the courts, until in 2012 France's highest court overturned a ruling that dropped a "failure to help" charge against the officers.
But Monday's closely-watched decision, which comes after a five-day trial in March, is final and cannot be appealed.
The trial focused on a phrase that Mr Gaillemin, 41, radioed to colleagues, saying: "If they enter the site there's not much hope they'll make it alive."
The call was received by Ms Klein, a police intern at the time, who was accused of not reacting.
But president judge Nicolas Leger ruled that neither officer had a "clear awareness of an imminent and serious danger", which would be required under French law for a conviction.
The officers' lawyer, Daniel Merchat, said his clients were "relieved".
"For nine years, my clients have been completely convinced that they committed neither a mistake, nor a crime. This nine-year case has left them suffering... for them this is now a page that has turned," AFP news agency quoted him as saying.
If found guilty, the two officers would have faced up to five years in prison. However, both the defence and prosecution had called for an acquittal.
The two dead teenagers' relatives have launched a civil case, seeking a total of €1.6m (£1.2m; $1.8m) in compensation and damages.
The hashtag #ZyedEtBouna was trending in France on Monday, with many users expressing their dismay at the verdict.
But far-right National Front MP Marion Marechal Le Pen, a granddaughter of party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, provoked an angry response when she used the word "rabble" to describe young delinquents, echoing what former Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy had said two days before the two boys died.
She suggested the ruling showed that the riots had been unleashed "for pleasure and not because of a police blunder".
Clichy is one of France's most notorious immigrant "banlieues" (suburbs).
In January, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said France should no longer tolerate "ghettoisation" in the suburbs, following the Paris attacks that left 17 people dead.
Social alienation was seen as a factor in the attacks, carried out by jihadist gunmen. | A court in France has acquitted two police officers accused of failing to help two boys, whose deaths at a power substation led to weeks of riots. | 32778505 |
Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman has been taken to the Election Court by local voters who want his 2014 election to be declared void and re-run.
Lawyers said Mr Rahman lied in court and "over the years".
The mayor said such allegations were "not true" as his "future is right here in this courtroom".
"Why would I lie?" he asked.
Mr Rahman has been accused of lying about his involvement in several events leading up to his 2014 election.
He was questioned about his involvement in distributing propaganda containing lots of "abusive phrases" about his predecessor John Biggs.
But the mayor said he had "never seen" the leaflet, which also linked Mr Biggs to the British National Party and National Front.
Francis Hoar, who represents the voters bringing the case against the mayor, outlined a £35,000 overpayment to media advisers.
One adviser was also a star correspondent for local TV station Channel S, the court heard, which Election Commissioner Richard Mawrey, sitting as judge, said was like a political editor at the BBC being paid by the prime minister.
Mr Rahman also came under fire for TV adverts in Bangladeshi media that promoted himself and Tower Hamlets, the subject of multiple complaints to Ofcom.
The mayor hit back, saying the appointment of a correspondent as an advisor was "apolitical" and the council "has no control" over the adverts.
Earlier in the day, claimants accused Mr Rahman of dominating the local paper East End Life, claiming 97% of its quotes came from him or members of his cabinet.
But, the independent mayor said the paper was "not a propaganda machine", adding opposition members also featured in the paper.
Four voters have mounted a legal challenge under the provisions of the Representation Of The People Act.
Lawyers for the group have made a series of allegations, including "personation" in postal voting and at polling stations, and ballot paper tampering.
The hearing continues. | The mayor of an east London borough who is accused of electoral fraud was told in High Court he "would not know the truth" if it slapped him. | 31603811 |
The lawsuit claims she was fired after refusing his sexual advances.
Ms Carlson worked for the conservative-leaning US network for 11 years before her contract expired in June.
Mr Ailes denies the allegations and alleges Ms Carlson filed the suit in retaliation for not having her contract renewed.
Ms Carlson first co-presented the morning programme Fox & Friends before moving to her own show, The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson, in 2013.
The lawsuit, obtained by Politico, claims that when she moved to her own show, Mr Ailes "reduced her compensation and withheld network support and promotion" for her show.
"I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better," Mr Ailes allegedly said.
Ms Carlson, who won the Miss America contest in 1989, alleges that Ailes said he had "slept with three former Miss Americas, but not with her".
The complaint also alleges that Mr Ailes instructed her to turn around in his office so he could look at her backside and that fellow anchor Steve Doocy "regularly [treated] her in a sexist and condescending way" and regarded her as a "blond female prop".
Mr Ailes also allegedly called her a "man hater", "killer" and that she needed to "get along with the boys".
It is not her first time dealing with the matter - in her book, Getting Real, she writes about the experience of a television executive who "threw himself on top of [her] and stuck his tongue down [her throat]".
"Notwithstanding her strong performance and tireless work ethic," the lawsuit reads, "Ailes denied Ms Carlson fair compensation, desirable assignments and other career-enhancing opportunities in retaliation for her complaints of harassment and discrimination because she rejected his sexual advances."
But Mr Ailes said Ms Carlson had "conveniently" decided to pursue the case when she realised her contract would not be renewed.
"This defamatory lawsuit is not only offensive, it is wholly without merit and will be defended vigorously," he said.
Fox parent company 21st Century Fox said it had full confidence in Mr Ailes but would conduct an internal investigation. | Former Fox News presenter Gretchen Carlson has sued network boss, Roger Ailes, for sexual harassment and wrongful termination. | 36727967 |
It says a PIRC (Pensions & Investment Research Consultants) report wrongly states the firm has a chief executive-to-average-employee pay ratio of 400:1.
The retailer says the PIRC figures include a bonus that was never paid, and a "true ratio" would be about 9:1.
PIRC denied these claims, saying its analysis of the period from 1 August 1 2015 to 31 July 31 2016 was correct.
It added in a statement: "At the time of collation, PIRC's analysis of the ratio for the period under review was correct. Changes to the company remuneration scheme in subsequent periods will be updated in our 2017 annual review.
"Far from being 'fake news', PIRC's analysis was correct and the company had an opportunity to question our analysis at that time. The [Sports Direct] remuneration policies that led to PIRC's analysis were only subsequently amended."
A chief executive-to-average-employee pay ratio of 400:1 would be the second highest in the FTSE 350.
Sports Direct had said that the data sets used in the PIRC study were "incorrect", and included a bonus entitlement which was accrued by former chief executive Dave Forsey, but was never collected.
"This is fake news that appears to have been either deliberately or recklessly circulated by an irresponsible organisation that is making headlines at the expense of Sports Direct," a spokesman for Sports Direct said.
"We have contacted PIRC to request a copy of the report and we will be writing to them to express our disappointment. It is incorrect to state that Sports Direct has the second-highest ratio of chief executive-to-average-employee pay."
The PIRC wages data was originally published in City AM, a free newspaper for workers in the City of London.
Over the past year Sports Direct has faced a barrage of criticism over its financial performance, corporate governance and conditions for workers at its warehouse in Shirebrook, Derbyshire.
A report by the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills committee said employees of the company were "not treated as humans".
Since then, the company has promised an independent inquiry and to undertake significant reforms, including offering compensation to workers who had been underpaid.
Several senior employees have left the company. Mr Forsey stepped down as chief executive and was replaced by Mr Ashley. Veteran banker David Brayshaw was recruited as an independent director. | Sports Direct has accused a shareholder lobby group of "fake news" over claims regarding its executive pay ratios. | 39277699 |
A No 10 spokeswoman said: "We believe [it] was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks."
Dozens of civilians, including children died in the attack on Tuesday.
The Pentagon said 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired overnight.
The No 10 spokeswoman said: "Overnight, the US has taken military action against the Syrian regime, targeting the airfield in Shayrut which was used to launch the chemical weapons attack earlier this week."
US President Donald Trump explained in a televised address that the base had been the launch point for the chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province.
He called on "all civilised nations" to help end the conflict in Syria.
The UK government has made renewed calls this week for diplomatic action in response to the chemical attack.
The US, UK and France had brought a resolution before the United Nations Security Council, demanding an investigation.
But on Wednesday, Downing Street had played down the prospect of military action, insisting "nobody is talking" about an armed response to the atrocity. | The UK government says it "fully supports" the US missile strike against an air base in Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack. | 39524685 |
"I paid the government more than one in three dollars that I earned in my career. Astounding," Mr Bush writes. "The total effective rate was 36%. I think I speak for everyone, no matter your tax rate: we need to get more money back in your pocket and less in the federal kitty."
The former Florida governor's lamentation accompanied the release on his website of 33 years of tax returns on Tuesday - and reporters have been picking over various nuggets.
Like many high-profile politicians, Mr Bush's net worth skyrocketed after he left public life, from $1.3m (£830,000) to around $20m.
He gave more than $300,000 to charity in 2014.
He made hundreds of thousands of dollars investing in a company that profited from President Barack Obama's healthcare reform legislation.
He earns between $40,000 and $50,000 per domestic speaking engagement - which he noted during a news conference was less than the $65,000 that fellow presidential offspring Chelsea Clinton brings in.
Perhaps most interesting, however, is the bite the feds have taken out of Mr Bush's earnings - and his apparent unhappiness over it.
A 36% effective rate - which doesn't include money paid in state or local income taxes (Florida is one of a handful of US states that doesn't have either) or sales taxes - puts Mr Bush on the higher end of his fellow presidential aspirants, past and present.
Hillary Clinton paid 30% (not including her relatively high New York state taxes) in 2014. In 2012 Republican candidate Mitt Romney grudgingly released his tax returns. He generated a spate of negative headlines when they revealed he paid a 14% effective rate, thanks in large part to his earnings coming from capital gains that are taxed at a lower rate.
According to a 2012 survey by the Washington Post's Brad Plumer, Mr Obama paid 27.9% in 2006. In 1998 George W Bush came in at 20.55%. Back in 1990, then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton paid an effective rate of 18.9%.
Joe Thorndike, director of the Tax History Project at the University of Virginia, tells Politico that Mr Bush's unusually high rate - 40.1% in 2013 - may be a result of his presidential ambitions. The media pay attention to the numbers and the public is sensitive to the perception that the elite play by different rules.
"I'm not sure why someone with his business interests doesn't have more from capital gains," he says. "I suspect there was some very shrewd political calculation going into this - he knew he was running for president and he knew he was planning to for some time."
Then again, when compared with the tax rates in other nations, Mr Bush is getting off easy. In the US the current top marginal income tax rate is 39.6%. In many European countries, it's much higher.
In the UK and Germany, for instance, the 2015 rate tops out at 45%. In the Netherlands, it's 52%. And Sweden? In exchange for cradle-to-grave government services, the top tax bracket hits 57%.
Although Mr Bush objects to the rate he's paid over the years, he hasn't yet proposed what he sees as an appropriate level of federal taxation - just that it be "flatter" and "fairer". Perhaps he recalls that his father, George HW Bush, raised the ire of fellow conservatives when as president he broke a "no new taxes" pledge made during the 1988 Republican National Convention.
Some of the former Florida governor's presidential rivals, on the other hand, haven't been so reluctant.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio has put forward a 35% top bracket. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul suggests a 14.5% flat tax on all income over $50,000.
That would put the US in the company of flat-tax countries like Bolivia (13%), Hungary (16%), Russia (13%) and Estonia (20%).
In fact, Mr Bush singles out the Baltic state for praise in his comments accompanying his tax release.
"I just came back from Estonia where it takes residents less than five minutes to file their taxes," Mr Bush writes. "The tax release process sure would've been a lot easier if we were following the Estonia model."
Embracing the "Estonia model" definitely sounds a lot better for a Republican presidential hopeful than saying he wants to be just like Russia.
Then again, perhaps Mr Bush is best served sticking with simply calling the US rate "astounding".
Republican candidates in - and out - of the 2016 presidential race | Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is none too happy about the amount of money he's had to hand over in federal taxes. | 33339108 |
Sadie Hartley, 60, was discovered with multiple stab wounds at her house in Helmshore, Rossendale, on Friday night.
Katrina Walsh, 55, and Sarah Williams, 34, both from Chester, appeared at Preston Crown Court via video link and were remanded in custody until 4 May.
A trial, which is expected to last three weeks, has been set for 4 July
Ms Walsh, of Hare Lane, and Ms Williams, of Treborth Road, Blacon, will next appear for a plea and case management hearing.
Ms Hartley, who was the director of her own medical communications business Hartley Taylor, based in Knutsford, Cheshire, was last seen alive on 14 January at a conference in Manchester. | Two women have appeared in court charged with murdering a businesswoman found stabbed at her Lancashire home. | 35380436 |
Defender Daniel Ayala (ankle) is still out, while Adam Clayton or Gaston Ramirez could start in midfield.
Wolves midfielder James Henry (hamstring) could come back into contention, while manager Kenny Jackett may recall winger Rajiv van La Parra.
Mike Williamson (hamstring) and forward Michal Zyro (broken foot) are close to returns but are not likely to feature. | Middlesbrough midfielder Grant Leadbitter (hamstring) is a doubt for the visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers. | 35666052 |
Austria international Djuricin, 22, has played twice for his country since making his debut in March against Liechtenstein and will spend the rest of the season with the Bees.
Canos, 18, has yet to feature for the Reds and has joined the Championship side until 3 January.
Both players could feature against Leeds on 12 September.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | Brentford have signed Red Bull Salzburg striker Marco Djuricin and Liverpool forward Sergi Canos on loan. | 34107067 |
Broos, who led the team to the trophy in Gabon in February, said he is "seriously considering whether I should continue or not".
He also said his players and staff have to work in "poor conditions" while Cameron Football Federation officials "sit in their chairs doing nothing".
"I cannot accept this," he added.
Broos made his comments in a news conference after a 2-1 defeat by Guinea in a friendly in Belgium on Tuesday, revealing the extent of the problems he has faced since his appointment in February 2016.
Today I am saying that this is the last straw
"One year ago when I started working with Cameroon I met many problems. Despite all this we worked hard and reached a new level. But the working conditions are not professional," he said.
"For example, when we had to go to South Africa last year we were forced to wait for more than two hours on a plane because some officials wanted to put more people than necessary on the plane. It is not fair to pay for other people's mistakes.
"Also when we went to Nantes the doctor had to pay for some drugs and bandages with his own money for the first two days. He has yet to be refunded.
"We travelled without training kit and equipment because it was too expensive to put it on the plane.
"At mid-day before the match against Guinea, the players didn't have lunch because the hotel had not been paid. The bad performance against Guinea was a consequence of the poor preparations we had.
"No food? Hotel not been paid? This is the national team. We want better conditions.
"Today I am saying that this is the last straw."
Cameroon's Football Federation (Fecafoot) said on its Twitter page that it would launch an inquiry into what led to the comments from Broos. | Cameroon's Africa Cup of Nations-winning coach Hugo Broos has threatened to quit over management and funding problems in the national team set-up. | 39433851 |
Nadir was convicted in 2012 of the theft of nearly £29m from the major UK conglomerate in the late 1980s.
He was jailed for 10 years after an Old Bailey trial, and ordered to pay £5m in compensation.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said he had now paid £2m in legal aid and the compensation, and could be transferred.
An MoJ spokesman said: "It is right that foreign criminals are properly punished but not at the expense of British taxpayers.
"This government is committed to removing foreign criminals to their own countries. Since Asil Nadir has now repaid the £2m he owed the Legal Aid Agency, plus £5m in compensation he paid earlier, arrangements were made with the Turkish government for his removal as part of our Prisoner Transfer Agreement."
After Polly Peck collapsed amid a Serious Fraud Office investigation, Nadir fled the UK in 1993 while awaiting trial and went to northern Cyprus. He returned to the UK in ill health in 2010.
Polly Peck International began as a small fashion company but expanded into the food, leisure and electronics industries under Nadir's ownership, growing into a business empire with more than 200 subsidiaries worldwide. | Tycoon Asil Nadir, who was jailed in the UK for stealing millions of pounds from his Polly Peck empire, has been transferred to a prison in Turkey. | 36107048 |
Jurors will decide if the supporters were unlawfully killed in the 1989 disaster.
The seven women and three men will also consider if fans' behaviour added to a dangerous situation outside the stadium in Sheffield.
The hearings are the longest running inquests in British legal history.
Liverpool had been due to play Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-final on 15 April 1989.
But police asked for the match to be stopped six minutes in after noticing a crush on the terraces occupied by Liverpool fans.
Four hundred people needed hospital treatment after Britain's worst sports stadium disaster.
The jury will respond to a 14-section questionnaire on how the supporters died.
Four sections of it asks whether police "errors or omissions" caused or contributed to the dangerous situation at the match and the crush on the terraces.
Two other questions ask whether the police and ambulance service responses to the crushing "contributed to the loss of lives".
Question six asks if the 96 were unlawfully killed.
To answer yes to that question, jurors must be "sure" that Ch Supt David Duckenfield, who was in overall command of the police operation, was "responsible for the manslaughter by gross negligence" of the 96 who died.
Coroner Sir John Goldring has told them to put their "feelings" about the disaster "to one side" and to "assess the evidence dispassionately and without emotion".
The jury "should not make critical findings unless they are justified by the facts" but they "should not shrink from making such judgments if they are", he added.
He began his summing up on 25 January and had been speaking to the jury for 26 days in total.
Since the inquests began on 31 March 2014, it has heard from more than 500 witnesses, been shown more than 4,000 documents and watched footage from the day of the disaster.
The jury has heard how a dangerous crush built up before the match as Liverpool fans tried to enter the stadium.
Mr Duckenfield told the inquests he gave an order to open exit gates and allow the fans inside to relieve the pressure.
Around 2,000 supporters went into the ground through exit gate C. Many of them went down a sloping tunnel that led into fenced enclosures on the Leppings Lane terraces, which already had hundreds of fans inside.
The coroner has laid out four steps jurors must go through when answering question six in the questionnaire.
Only if they answer yes to each can they conclude the 96 were unlawfully killed.
For the final point to be proved, the jury has to be sure the match commander's breach in his duty of care was so bad that it amounted to a criminal act or omission, and that a "reasonably competent and careful" match commander in his position would have foreseen a "serious and obvious risk of death" to the supporters.
Read profiles of all those who died in the disaster
During his summing up, Sir John reminded the jury that Mr Duckenfield admitted several "mistakes", including that he did not think about where fans would go after opening gate C.
Sir John also referred to Mr Duckenfield's evidence that he believed many people contributed to the disaster, including the fans, with those who arrived late overwhelming police resources and the turnstiles.
The coroner has told the jury to consider his evidence "with great care".
He added: "You should make your judgments on his conduct by asking whether he could and should have acted differently in the situation he was facing.
"You should take into account the conditions he was facing when deciding what he should have done and what consequences he should have foreseen."
Sir John said there were "significant conflicts" in the evidence about what happened at the disaster.
One "highly controversial" area concerned what caused the crush among Liverpool fans before kick off, the coroner added.
He said some of the police officers who had given evidence were "critical of the behaviour of the supporters" in Leppings Lane.
But he said "many of the supporters gave evidence to a very different effect", saying the fans behaved "normally, sensibly" and "did not contribute to the dangerous situation in any significant way".
Sir John said: "This is a highly controversial part of the evidence of the day, and you will have to make your own assessment of that evidence and your own decisions as to what you accept and what you reject.
"You will have to resolve the conflict. No doubt, in doing so, you will consider all the witness evidence and the evidence of the [video] footage and photographs."
The jury will also answer questions about whether there were any defects in the stadium and if there was any "error or omission" in the licensing and local authority oversight of the ground.
There are questions about the conduct of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, both before the disaster and on the day, and of the club's engineers, Eastwood & Partners.
Legal teams for the families claimed that "coordinated efforts were being made to manipulate the evidence and present a false narrative of the disaster", Sir John said.
But he added the police involved in the process had "denied they had done anything improper" and were following the "guidance of experienced lawyers".
The coroner told the jury: "It is entirely a matter for you what view you take about the way in which statements were gathered and then amended. You will take your own view about the motivations of those involved." | The jury at the Hillsborough inquests into the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans has been sent out after hearing more than two years of evidence. | 35979802 |
Peter Beaver, who has dementia, was sentenced to three years in prison on 10 December at Winchester Crown Court.
He had pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
His wife Annie Beaver, 82, was found at their home in Havant on 23 November 2013. She died from stab wounds to the chest.
Beaver, who was his wife's carer, appeared via videolink in front of Lord Justice Gross and two other judges.
They quashed the jail term and replaced it with a suspended sentence of 24 months.
Lord Justice Gross, who described it as a "tragic case", said the original sentence was neither wrong in principle or manifestly excessive.
The court allowed the appeal on the grounds of mercy "in the light of the deterioration in the appellant's condition post-dating the sentence".
At the time of the killing Beaver was suffering from "an abnormality of the mind", as well as sleep deprivation and exhaustion.
The judges imposed a residence order for 12 months and a requirement that Beaver receives mental health care. | An 81-year-old man jailed for stabbing his wife of more than 60 years to death has been freed by the Court of Appeal. | 32036338 |
Rudolf Hess was Adolf Hitler's deputy and, for a while, one of the most powerful figures in Nazi Germany. He is mainly remembered for flying to Britain in 1941 in a bizarre and unsuccessful solo peace mission, which resulted in his arrest and imprisonment for the rest of World War Two.
After the war Hess was sentenced to life imprisonment and spent the rest of his days in Berlin's Spandau Prison. For much of his time he was its only inmate.
But Foreign Office files released on Thursday show that the British supported Hess's release more than three decades before his suicide in 1987.
Hess was sentenced at the Nuremberg trials in 1946 by the so-called Four Powers - the UK, the US, France and Russia - and support for his release was needed by all of them before any change could be made. By 1966, the six other prisoners held in Spandau - including Hitler's architect, Albert Speer - had been freed or had died.
Hess, by this time 72, was to remain Spandau's solitary prisoner for the rest of his life. While healthy for his age, Hess was inevitably frail. His son organised a campaign for his release, receiving considerable press coverage in West Germany. There was also growing support for this in the UK.
The files show the British government stepped up its efforts to have him freed. In 1979, just after becoming Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington wrote a particularly strong note to his Soviet counterpart Andrei Gromyko. "It would be both inhumane and pointless," he said, "to insist that this old man should die in prison."
In all, the British made 11 unilateral appeals for Hess to be freed. The Americans and French supported them in a further nine. The Soviets always refused to consider the case.
Nearly 40 years after the end of the war, Soviet politicians and diplomats argued that the release of such a leading figure in the Nazi regime would not be understood by the Soviet people, or by others who had suffered. One diplomat said he was not convinced by the so-called humanitarian argument - "The suffering which he and other Nazis had inflicted was not human," he said.
Tony Le Tissier was the last British governor of Spandau, holding the post in the decade leading up to Hess's death. There were also French, American and Russian governors - they took turns to run the prison, for a month at a time.
The rules of Spandau, drawn up after the Nuremberg trials, were harsh. Prisoners were only to be addressed by their number, never their name. Punishments were strict. When in 1955 Hess failed to greet a Soviet warder, he lost all his reading materials for 10 days.
Prisoners could be put on bread and water, or placed in punishment cells. But Le Tissier says that by the time he arrived, the regime was far more relaxed. Although Hess was supposed to be called Number Seven, not everyone stuck to that - some officers did address him by name. He was not supposed to watch the television news - but that wasn't rigidly enforced either.
He could go into the garden when he chose, and he had two cooks to prepare any meal he wanted. "He ate an awful lot!" says Le Tissier. "Quite a surprising amount."
Le Tissier did chat to Hess but he says the prisoner never talked about his past: "It was a closed circle - never came into it." Neither did they ever talk about the news or politics.
While Le Tissier tried to make Hess's stay as comfortable as possible, organising new chairs for his room for instance and a new bed, he did not personally agree with the argument that he should have been freed. Le Tissier thinks Hess deserved to die in prison, for all that he had done.
"He got his just deserts," he says. "He was a fanatical Nazi - an enemy. I did feel very strongly that he was there till he finished."
In August 1987 Hess killed himself, wrapping a lamp cord round his neck. Some suggested he was helped but Le Tissier is convinced that Hess acted unaided. Security was extremely tight in Spandau, he says. There was only one key to the gate, and only the chief warder had it.
Le Tissier recalls his reaction: "It was a fait accompli - it was over." He thinks it was a good thing. "It was such a waste of time and money, involving so many people." | Files from the National Archives reveal that the British government supported the release of the Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess as early as 1956. | 40647291 |
Lord Hardie said he wanted to hear from anyone affected by the failure to complete the project on time and on budget.
His team is already sifting through five million official documents.
Lord Hardie said: "The Edinburgh Tram Inquiry must base its findings on direct evidence from those affected by the planning and construction phase."
He added: "Whether a local resident, business, developer or other interested party, this is the public's opportunity to offer views on the direction of the inquiry and to provide evidence for consideration."
Trams started running last year on the 8.7-mile (14km) route between Edinburgh's New Town and Edinburgh Airport, which cost £776m to build.
An inquiry into the project was commissioned by Scottish ministers in June 2014. Its terms of reference are to:
In November last year, the Scottish government announced Lord Hardie's investigation was to become a statutory inquiry.
This gave him the power to compel individuals and organisations to co-operate.
In a BBC interview, Lord Hardie said the move was necessary because some people had refused to co-operate, or had failed to respond to his requests.
The deadline for submitting written evidence to the inquiry is 4 August. | The man in charge of the Edinburgh tram inquiry has called for help from the public. | 32708526 |
The defender, 28, completed 90 minutes for the first time since September in the 2-0 defeat by Everton on Saturday.
"It's a disappointing result," he told BBC Radio Solent. "But we've said in the dressing room that we've got to give it our all for the league now."
Bournemouth, four points above the Premier League relegation zone, travel to Watford on Saturday.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"There's some real key fixtures coming up," he added. "Some players put in some performances tonight (against Everton) that put themselves in the manager's head.
"The silver lining from this game is that we can now give it everything in the league. There's players in the squad who are now fit again and that are in a good place, ready to all push in the same direction."
Elphick missed four months of this season following an operation on his ankle, and returned to action in the FA Cup fourth-round tie at Portsmouth. | Bournemouth captain Tommy Elphick says their FA Cup exit will allow them to focus on Premier League survival. | 35630351 |
The retailer said full-price sales fell by 0.4% in the 54 days to 24 December, with annual profits now set to be at the low end of expectations.
The firm forecast full-year profits would be £792m, compared with previous guidance of £785m-£825m.
Next said sales in 2017 could be hit as rising inflation erodes earnings growth and squeezes consumer spending.
Next shares were down £5.72, or nearly 12%, at £41.98 by early afternoon in London.
"The year ahead looks set to be another challenging year; therefore we are preparing the company for tougher times," the company said.
It said the price of clothing could rise "by no more than 5%" following the fall in the value of the pound last year. It added that this would "depress sales revenue by around 0.5%".
Earlier on Wednesday, a report from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) had also pointed to rising price pressures in the sector.
The BRC said the price of clothing and footwear increased in December compared with November, the first month-on-month rise in prices for nearly two years.
Next said that it was budgeting for full-price sales growth in the year to January 2018 within the range of a fall of 4.5% and a rise of 1.5%.
If it came in at the mid-point of a fall of 1.5%, that would be "marginally worse" than the current year's performance, it added.
Next is already predicting a fall in profits for next year, saying it expects to make between £680m and £780m.
However, the retailer said it was "well placed to weather a downturn in consumer demand".
Next's figures for the 54 days to Christmas Eve revealed sales in stores fell by 3.5%, while Next Directory sales rose by 5.1%.
In its statement, the company said despite a "difficult season" it went into its end of season sale with 3% less stock than last year, but it sold 7% fewer products than 12 months ago.
"Next took a gamble on keeping their sales full price in the run-up to Christmas, it's what they usually do, and they usually use the sales to try and get people into the shops afterwards," said Kirsty McGregor of Drapers magazine.
However, she said, that strategy did not seem to have paid off this year.
"I think what we're seeing there is an underlying move away from spending so much money on clothing and footwear. People seem to be spending more money on going out and on technology, things like that."
Next's trading statement acknowledged the "exceptional levels of uncertainty in the clothing sector".
The company, whose chief executive is the pro-Brexit Lord Wolfson, also said there was "little visibility of the approach the UK government will be taking to Brexit".
However, the fall in spending on clothing and footwear and the squeeze on consumer incomes are not the only problems facing Next according to Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital.
"The simple problem is that Next is underperforming the market," he said.
"UK retail sales have held up in the months following the Brexit vote but Next has suffered. It's been suffering for a while and needs a turnaround plan.
"The brand is struggling for relevancy and risks going the way of Marks and Spencer on the clothing front, appealing to an ever-narrower customer base."
Next's gloomy outlook for 2017 hit shares in other retailers, with Marks and Spencer, Debenhams and Primark owner Associated British Foods all trading lower.
However, there was better news from discount retailer B&M, which saw its shares jump 7% after it reported a big rise in sales in the run-up to Christmas.
B&M said UK like-for-like sales rose 7.2% in the three months to 24 December, while revenue across the group rose by more than a fifth to £789.1m. | Shares in Next have fallen 12% after the retailer reported falling sales and warned 2017 would be "challenging". | 38497998 |
St Albans City and District Council revealed the £8.1m city centre hotel was used to help deal with a rise in the number of people needing temporary places to stay.
A council officer said the Premier Inn, which opened last year, was only used when cheaper hotels were not available.
The council said it amounted to 52 nights.
The amount spent by the Conservative-run local authority on temporary bed and breakfast accommodation is £120,000 so far this financial year, compared to £10,419 in 2012-13 and £34,000 in 2013-14.
The figure was revealed during a full council meeting.
Labour councillor Dreda Gordon said "putting people in hotels isn't the answer".
"When Premier Inn was going through planning, people weren't talking about it being used by the council for temporary accommodation," she said
"It isn't good enough. We should be providing more housing."
Liberal Democrat councillor Chris White said: "We have to find a way to eliminate that cost. We shouldn't have to use Premier Inn."
The council said it used a range of accommodation, including bed and breakfasts, usually costing £45-£90 a night.
Karen Dragovic, the council's head of housing, said the Premier Inn was at the "higher end of the [price] spectrum" and it was used "when other alternatives have been exhausted".
"The number of households in temporary housing rose from 97 in January 2014 to 120 in December," she said.
"We have a duty to house people who meet the homeless criteria.
"With limited housing stock available, there is a very long waiting list for homes."
A Premier Inn spokeswoman said she could not comment as "we have no record of homeless people staying here". | About £3,600 has been spent on Premier Inn hotel rooms by a council to provide accommodation for homeless people. | 31756845 |
Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Homebase and B&Q were among stores hit on Saturday.
Sainsbury's said its 872 stores had been affected for about 20 minutes. B&Q and Waitrose said most payments were completed using back-up facilities.
Barclaycard, one of the firms operating payment terminals, apologised and said it had had a "technical issue".
"For about an hour this afternoon we experienced a technical issue that meant card payments could not be made in some large retailers," the company said in a statement.
"We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by this issue and we are conducting a thorough investigation into the cause of this issue."
B&Q said it had manual card payment equipment at its 330 stores and had been able to deal with the transactions that way.
Waitrose said its problems began in petrol stations before spreading to supermarket branches. It was able to deal with 95% of payments via the back-up system.
Home Retail Group, which owns Homebase and Argos, said its stores had experienced problems for an hour.
"We are talking to service providers to understand the cause," it added.
Twitter messages
A number of different financial companies run card payment IT systems for stores in the UK. It is understood not all systems were affected.
Barclaycard told the BBC it had had problems between 1412 and 1430 on Saturday, which resulted in some cards being declined.
It would not divulge which of its customers were affected but Waitrose has confirmed it does use the company to process payments.
Visa Europe said it had experienced no problems with its systems.
Industry group UK Payments says about £11-12bn is spent on credit cards per month in the UK, and £24bn is spent on debit cards.
On Twitter, the micro-blogging social network site, dozens of users reported the problem.
"Saturday afternoon in Sainsbury's. All card payments down. Chaos!" tweeted one user.
Another reported: "Sainsbury's on a Saturday - bedlam!"
BBC website readers have also been sharing their experiences.
Shirley from Rochford, Essex, said of the difficulties at her local branch of Homebase: "Most people realised it was out of the shop's control but a few customers were less than polite over the matter."
Meanwhile, Greg, from Bangor, County Down, said: "Argos stores are the same - no card payments. Saturday afternoon hell."
Tesco said that, despite rumours, it had had no reports of problems with its payments system. | Thousands of afternoon shoppers in the UK were unable to pay by credit or debit cards when a computer problem affected processing systems. | 11458962 |
Albion would have regained a four-point lead over second-placed Wigan Athletic with a victory but, despite a bright start, they trailed when Aiden O'Brien crashed the ball into the top corner.
Lee Gregory made it 2-0 when he scored after rounding keeper Jon McLaughlin.
Clear chances were scarce after the break and the Lions held on.
Burton Albion manager Nigel Clough told BBC Radio Derby: "I thought we started brilliantly in the first 10 minutes or so.
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"We had two or three situations and a great chance to score, and then we just got caught out with two balls over the top.
"It's because we were attacking. If you're attacking it's very difficult for the back four to be on the edge of our own penalty area." | Play-off hopefuls Millwall scored two goals in six first-half minutes to beat League One leaders Burton Albion and go fifth in the table. | 35858790 |
The business secretary said Nats had been "penny wise and pound foolish".
He said it was running "ancient computer systems, which then crash". "We have to maintain a high level of capital investment," he added.
Nats said it would be spending £575m over the next five years on systems.
Mr Cable told BBC's The Andrew Marr Show that Nats, under financial pressure, had decided to "forego capital investment" for many years.
He said: "We have to maintain a high level of capital investment."
His comments follow Friday's disruption to UK flights caused by a computer malfunction at Nats's Swanwick centre, which typically handles about 5,000 flights every 24 hours.
The problems caused dozens of arrivals and departure flights at airports across southern England, and as far north as Aberdeen and Edinburgh, to be delayed or cancelled, and almost 40 were cancelled at Heathrow.
The disruption affected thousands of passengers.
The problem was caused by a single faulty line of code in one computer system, Nats chief executive Richard Deakin confirmed.
He told the BBC that the software problem was "buried" among millions of lines of computer code.
"The challenge is that we have around 50 different systems at Swanwick and around four million lines of code. This particular glitch was buried in one of those four million lines of code.
"We haven't seen that particular issue before," he added.
Labour MP Paul Flynn has called for Mr Deakin to be docked bonuses in his salary because of the disruption.
Mr Flynn, who sits on the public administration committee, told the Sunday Times: "I hope after the chaos, which was dreadful, though a rare event, he will have his bonus stripped from him."
It has emerged that Mr Deakin had his pay package increase by more than 45% this year, to more than £1m, due to the maturing of an incentive scheme.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin is likely to face questions from MPs on the issue when he appears before the Transport Select Committee on Monday.
On Friday, he said the situation was "unacceptable" and asked for a full explanation from Nats about what had gone wrong and what it would do to prevent such an incident happening again.
Labour has called for ministers to "get a grip" and the chairwoman of the transport select committee, Louise Ellman, said it was "vital that we establish what happened".
It has also emerged that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had previously criticised Nats in a report into a telephone failure which grounded flights in December 2013.
The CAA's warning came after Nats completed a report into the problem, again at the Swanwick control room, which resulted in 300 cancelled flights.
The CAA responded that the service's "themes on avoiding a recurrence" were a "good first step but lack detail and clarity".
A spokesman for Nats said it subsequently provided a further more extensive and detailed report, which satisfied the CAA there were no safety issues. | The UK's national air traffic service (Nats) has been accused by Vince Cable of "skimping on large scale investment" after an IT glitch led to widespread disruption across UK airports. | 30467692 |
The report to Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation's Trust's board said there was a "risk" in having outstanding recommendations.
Former Norfolk coroner William Armstrong said the trust's failure to act was a "serious concern".
The trust said staff were receiving additional training.
Serious incident reviews take place after there are unexpected or avoidable deaths or severe harm to a patients, or allegations of abuse.
Last week the trust became the first of its kind in England to be put in special measures.
The report to its board said recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) reports on the trust said "learning at all levels of the organisation is not taking place".
Mr Armstrong, who is also chairman of watchdog Healthwatch Norfolk, said as Norfolk coroner he had seen a number of cases of deaths of mental health patients where serious incident inquiries had been conducted by the trust.
"It would be a serious concern if recommendations in a report make a commitment to learn lessons to reduce risks... and they are not implemented," he said.
Some of the recommendations from the reviews date back to 2012.
Vicki Nash, head of policy and campaigns at Mind, said: "Serious incident reviews are an essential part of the process of understanding how incidents including deaths, severe harm and abuse have occurred and what, if anything, could have been done to prevent them.
"Any recommendations that come out of them have to be taken seriously and implemented swiftly to ensure that healthcare providers learn from past mistakes."
Emma Corlett, who represents Unison members at the trust, said: "It is a surprise to see that level of recommendations still to be implemented. Our staff will be really concerned about that."
A spokesman for the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk said: "It is deeply shocking and insulting to patients and their families that the trust has failed to implement 258 recommendations, despite repeatedly promising 'lessons will be learnt'."
Jane Sayer, director of nursing at the trust, said that while some recommendations could be put in place immediately, "others will take a while to roll out".
She said: "Four hundred and fifty improvement actions, resulting from serious incident reviews recommendations, have been carried out in the past year alone.
"We are not complacent about this issue... and we now offer additional training and support to frontline staff to encourage them to not only implement the actions but to fully report back." | A mental health trust failed to act on 258 recommendations from 98 reviews into serious incidents, such as patient deaths, a report has revealed. | 31586041 |
Chelsea dominated the majority of the 90 minutes, though their goal was fortuitous, with Lee Cattermole poking the ball into his own goal.
The Blues seemed to be heading to the last four until a late Fabio Borini equaliser took the match to extra time.
From then on the Premier League strugglers were the better side with Ki Sung-Yueng's thumping winner deserved.
Extra time was a scenario Jose Mourinho would have dreaded as the Chelsea manager had already been lamenting his team's packed schedule, pointing out that league leaders Arsenal had a few days extra to prepare for Monday's Premier League fixture between the two sides.
But Chelsea, who wasted a number of opportunities in a match they dominated for long periods, only had themselves to blame for prolonging what had been a tedious match up until Borini's dramatic strike.
The tireless Black Cats frustrated a Chelsea side which was much changed from the one which beat Crystal Palace in the league on Saturday. But whatever personnel the Portuguese chooses, it continues to be the same story for a team which has too often been toothless this season.
Despite an array of attacking talents in the Chelsea squad, it seems Mourinho has no-one at his disposal with the ruthlessness to kill off a game, with the former Real Madrid man particularly critical of his strikers of late.
Mourinho began with Willian, Samuel Eto'o and Andre Schurrle leading the attack and when those three failed he brought on Demba Ba and Eden Hazard towards the end of the second half, but neither made an impression.
Sunderland will be bottom of the Premier League on Christmas Day regardless of their achievements in the League Cup.
But manager Gus Poyet regarded this quarter-final as an opportunity to galvanize his players for the club's fight for top-flight survival, and the Uruguayan will surely be heartened by his players' character and courage during what was a demanding 120 minutes.
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Willian, who had the freedom to float around the pitch, was the away team's most potent player and had the best chance of the first half when he dragged his effort wide of the far post.
Mark Schwarzer was underemployed in the Chelsea goal. A penalty appeal for a Cesar Azpilicueta handball was all the sparse 20,000 crowd had to shout about until Borini rewrote the script.
Chelsea had far more zip in the second half, with Cattermole's own goal giving the visitors the boost they needed.
Goal decision system technology was used before deciding whether to allow the goal, and replays also showed that Cattermole, rather than Frank Lampard, had the final touch as both players slid goalwards in chase of Azpilicueta's fine cross.
The own goal was Sunderland's sixth of the season - an ever-increasing number which has already left manager Poyet cursing his players' positioning rather than bad luck.
It was all Chelsea as Eto'o, Schurrle and Ba went close to doubling the visitors lead, but the Londoners were not clinical enough and paid the price as Borini squeezed the ball home to force the match into extra time.
From then on the momentum was with Sunderland. The Italian scuffed a further two chances, while a brilliant one-handed save from Schwarzer prevented Ki's diving header from finding the net.
But the veteran Australian could do little to prevent the midfielder from securing a memorable victory. | Sunderland progressed to the semi-final of the Capital One Cup with a thrilling extra-time victory over Chelsea. | 25312545 |
The group suggests women start yearly breast scans at age 45 instead of 40 and for healthy women to have scans every other year at ages 55-74.
Historically there has been much disagreement over the right time and frequency for mammograms.
New suggestions are more aligned with those of a US government panel.
Announced on Tuesday, the advice is aimed toward women at "average" risk for breast cancer, and doctors suggest more screening for women at higher risk.
Higher risk factors include certain genetic mutations and family history of cancer.
"The most important message of all is that a mammogram is the most effective thing that a woman can do to reduce her chance of dying from breast cancer," said Dr Richard Wender of the American Cancer Society.
Breast cancer is uncommon for women under 40 and starting mammograms too early may result in "false alarms", he said.
The group also advises doctors to stop doing routine physical breast exams, due to a lack of evidence of them being effective at saving lives.
The Susan G Komen foundation, a major US breast cancer research and advocacy organisation, disagrees with the guidelines and has said in a statement that women and their doctors should decide on the right time for screening based on individual risk.
"Ultimately, women must have better and more accurate information about their individual risk for breast cancer so that they and their providers can make informed decisions about the screening schedule that is right for them. Knowledge is power," said Dr Judy Salerno, president of the organisation.
About 40,000 women in the US die from breast cancer each year, with 200,000 being diagnosed per year.
The guidelines were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. | The American Cancer Society has revised its guidelines for when and how often women should receive screenings for breast cancer. | 34587281 |
Bottom-of-the-table Vikings are looking for a third straight win in front of their own fans that would move them above 11th-placed Leigh.
The Centurions have included Nick Rawsthorne after he joined on a one-month loan from Hull FC.
Ben Crooks, James Green and Atelea Vea come back in for Leigh.
Widnes Vikings (from): Bridge, Buchanan, Burke, Cahill, Chase, Craven, Dudson, Gerrard, Heremaia, Houston, Johnstone, Marsh, Mellor, O'Carroll, Olbison, Runciman, Thompson, White, Whitley.
Leigh Centurions (from): Brown, Burr, Crooks, Dawson, Drinkwater, Green, Hampshire, Hansen, Hood, Hopkins, Maria, Paterson, Pelissier, Rawsthorne, Reynolds, Stewart, Tickle, Vea, Weston. | Widnes have players back with Chris Bridge, Greg Burke, Joe Mellor, Lloyd White all returning to the squad for Denis Betts' side. | 40346969 |
The law, which allows some private businesses and religious groups to refuse service to gay people, was passed last week.
The singer issued a statement saying he could not "in good conscience" perform in the state.
He added he found it "incomprehensible that LGBT citizens are being discriminated against".
He was due to play the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi on Thursday.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed HB1523 into law on 5 April amid opposition from equal rights groups and businesses.
The law offers protection for Christians who adhere to traditional views of marriage and gender roles, which Governor Bryant said "protects sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions".
The new law will take effect from 1 July.
Adams said he was using his voice to "stand in solidarity with all my LGBT friends to repeal this extremely discriminatory bill".
"Hopefully Mississippi will right itself and I can come back and perform for all of my many fans. I look forward to that day."
Adams's cancellation comes after Bruce Springsteen cancelled a show in North Carolina last week because of a new law in that state.
Springsteen joined business groups in condemning the law which rolls back local anti-discrimination measures that protected gay and transgender people. | Bryan Adams has cancelled a concert in Mississippi over the US state's new controversial religious liberty law. | 36013468 |
The NYSE has yet to give full details of the problem, but emphasised that it was not the result of a cyber hack.
Other exchanges, including Nasdaq, reported no problems and were trading normally.
Earlier, United Airlines and the Wall Street Journal's website reported major technical problems.
However, US Homeland Security said the issues appeared unrelated and were not the result of "nefarious" activity.
Shares were generally lower before the suspension, and continued to fall once full trading resumed.
The Dow Jones closed 1.5% lower, or 261 points, to 17,515, while the S&P 500 shed 1.7%, or 34 points, at 2,046. The tech-rich Nasdaq, 1.8% lower, or 87 points, ended at 4,909.
Trading was halted just after 1130am ET, prompting a NYSE statement: "We're currently experiencing a technical issue that we're working to resolve as quickly as possible.
"We will be providing further updates as soon as we can, and are doing our utmost to produce a swift resolution, communicate thoroughly and transparently, and ensure a timely and orderly market re-open."
The NYSE tweeted later that it was an internal technical issue, not a cyber attack.
The White House said that President Barack Obama was briefed, and the Securities and Exchange Commission said it was "closely monitoring the situation".
The problem followed technical glitches at WSJ.com, the Wall Street Journal's website, and at United Airlines.
United Airlines said that a computer error had forced it to ground its flights in the US for the second time in recent weeks. The carrier blamed a "network connectivity issue" for the latest fault.
More than 800 United flights were delayed and about 60 were cancelled, but services were now returning to normal.
WSJ.com is now operating normally.
US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the issues reported by United and the NYSE were apparently not related to "nefarious" activity.
"I have spoken to the CEO of United, Jeff Smisek, myself. It appears from what we know at this stage that the malfunctions at United and the stock exchange were not the result of any nefarious actor," Mr Johnson said.
He was less clear about the problems at WSJ.com, but noted that the site "is in fact up again". | Trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has restarted after being suspended for more than three hours due to a technical fault. | 33454460 |
Children as young as eight can have a criminal record in Scotland, albeit via the decisions of children's hearings rather than the courts.
The government held a consultation earlier in the year after an advisory panel backed raising the limit to 12.
Early Years Minister Mark McDonald told MSPs the case for change was "clear and compelling".
He said it had been backed by the United Nations, police, prosecutors, victims' groups and young people, adding: "This is emphatically the right time and the right approach to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility."
The current age of criminal responsibility, when a child is considered capable of committing a crime and old enough to stand trial and be convicted of an offence, is currently set at 10 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In Scotland, while children cannot formally be prosecuted in a court until they are 12, from the age of eight they can go before a children's hearing and have these judgements added to their criminal record.
In 2015, Lib Dem MSP Alison McInnes put forward amendments aimed at making the same change to a criminal justice bill in the previous Holyrood session, but saw them voted down at committee level.
Mr McDonald said he wanted to put on the record his thanks to Ms McInnes for pressing the issue.
The Scottish government set up an advisory group on the subject that same year, which came back with a report recommending the age of responsibility be raised to 12.
A consultation was subsequently held between March and June 2016, with the Scottish government saying it would "inform a decision by ministers".
Leading QC Derek Ogg told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that it was important to take into account the background of a child when considering prosecution.
He said: "The thing that we've got to remember in all of this is that a child who offends is himself a victim.
"That's a child that we're talking about who's been let down. It may be parenting, it may be mental health services, it may be social services.
"The vast majority of children - and I'm talking about children until 16 - the vast majority of children who come into contact with criminal authorities and criminal courts are from profoundly abusive backgrounds, whether it's sexual abuse, criminal abuse or poverty.
"So we have to bear in mind that we are dealing with very vulnerable children when they come into contact with the criminal justice system."
Tory MSP Douglas Ross said the change was backed by "the vast majority of experts", although he questioned how the Scottish government would build and sustain public confidence in the change. Mr McDonald replied that there would be engagement through the course of stand-alone legislation being passed.
Scottish Labour backed the change, with Claire Baker saying a "strong and persuasive argument" had been made by a range of groups.
The Scottish Greens also supported the move, with John Finnie saying bringing Scottish policy into line with the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child was "very welcome".
And Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur called it a "national embarrassment" that eight-year-olds are currently treated as criminals rather than children.
The Scottish Youth Parliament said the change was an "important step" that would "help ensure that Scotland is a fair place for children, and shift focus to supporting children instead of criminalising them". | The Scottish government is to introduce a bill to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12. | 38160549 |
Cyclone Winston brought winds of over 320 kph (200 mph), torrential rain and waves of up to 12m (40ft).
Flights have been cancelled, evacuation centres activated and a nationwide curfew put in place.
The category five storm - the highest level - is expected to move westwards over the main island overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning.
Before it landed, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama warned that Fiji was facing "an ordeal of the most grievous kind".
"We must stick together as a people and look after each other. Be alert and be prepared," he said.
Cyclone Winston has already brushed some of Fiji's smaller islands, but the extent of the damage is unclear.
Assessment teams are being sent to the affected areas, the Fiji Times reported.
The Fijian capital Suva is likely to be spared the full forces of the storm but tourist resorts are close to the cyclone's centre.
About 900,000 people live on Fiji. | The most powerful storm to hit Fiji has made landfall on the Pacific nation's main island, Viti Levu. | 35620649 |
Right to Dream retained the Junior Section crown thanks to a 3-0 victory over Co Londonderry.
Emmanuel Bam converted a penalty before doubling the lead and Kelvin Ofori added the third in added time.
David Salazar's second-half double gave O'Higgins a 2-0 win over Scottish team Hibernian in the Premier decider.
Salazar controlled before smashing in the opener and the striker volleyed home his second goal.
O'Higgins captain Tomas Alarcon also twice struck the woodwork as the Chileans secured a deserved victory. | Ghanaian side Right to Dream and O'Higgins of Chile triumphed in Friday night's SuperCupNI finals at the Ballymena Showgrounds. | 36925664 |
Lidiane Leite, 25, lived a life of luxury in the capital of Maranhao state, prosecutors said.
They say her only contact with her town, Bom Jardim, was through daily WhatsApp messages to her cabinet.
An arrest warrant has been issued against her and her boyfriend, who served as her main adviser.
Ms Leite's lawyer said she was not aware of any wrongdoing.
She was in her early 20s when Beto Rocha, her boyfriend, was banned from running for mayor in 2012 for alleged corruption.
Ms Leite stepped in and was elected. She appointed Mr Rocha as her main adviser and went to live in the state capital, Sao Luis, 275km (170 miles) away.
"She was too young and and inexperienced when she took office," said her lawyer, Carlos Barros. "She lacked confidence and delegated many tasks to Mr Rocha."
Brazilian media say the couple ended their relationship earlier this year and Mr Rocha resigned shortly after.
Ms Leite went on the run after her name was mentioned in a federal investigation on the misuse of state education funds.
Operation Eden uncovered evidence that some $4m (£2.6m) in funds for Bom Jardim's schools went missing.
The town's already precarious education system has now collapsed. Teachers are not being paid.
An arrest warrant was issued on Thursday and a new mayor - Ms Leite's former deputy - was sworn in on Saturday promising to carry out a full investigation.
A state judge said he would seek an international arrest warrant if she does not hand herself in by Tuesday.
Maranhao, in north-eastern Brazil, is one of the country's poorest states. | A mayor in Brazil is on the run after she was accused of siphoning off funds from the school system and running the town remotely through WhatsApp. | 34104124 |
The assault in the north-western city of Valencia was carried out by 20 people, he said. Two were killed, one was injured and seven were arrested.
Earlier, a video posted on social media showed uniformed men saying they were rising against a "murderous tyranny".
Despite the incident, the situation appears to be calm in the country.
On state television, Mr Maduro congratulated the army for its "immediate reaction" in putting down the attack in the early hours of Sunday, saying they had earned his "admiration."
He called the incident a "terrorist attack" carried out by "mercenaries", and said the security forces were actively searching for those who had escaped. "We'll get them," he vowed.
Military vehicles were patrolling the streets in and around Valencia and at least one helicopter was being used in the operation.
The government said that those arrested included a first lieutenant who had deserted. It said the others were civilians wearing uniforms.
Katy Watson, BBC South America correspondent
Throughout these past four months of often violent protests in Venezuela, the country's army has, several times, reaffirmed its "unconditional loyalty" to President Maduro.
The opposition has tried to test that loyalty. When they organised an unofficial referendum last month to let Venezuelans have their say on the Constituent Assembly, one of the questions asked was whether people wanted the armed forces to defend the existing constitution.
So far, the army has remained by Mr Maduro's side but the video that surfaced on Sunday claiming to be from the 41st Brigade in Valencia and calling for military and civilian action to restore order to the country is an interesting development. One of course denied by the Maduro administration who said that most of the men in the videos were civilians, led by a deserter.
But with an economy being pushed to the brink, how long he can enjoy military backing? After all, soldiers have families and nobody can escape the food shortages and spiralling inflation faced by millions every day. And with criticism being heaped upon him for what opponents call a creeping dictatorship, you have to wonder when, not if, the tipping point will come.
Mr Maduro said they had been backed by anti-government leaders based in the US and Colombia.
There were some demonstrations of support to the uprising in Valencia but they were dispersed with tear gas, witnesses said. Elsewhere in the country, the situation remained calm.
In Sunday's video, a rebel leader who identified himself as Juan Caguaripano, said that his group - which he called the 41st Brigade - was taking a stand against the "murderous tyranny of President Nicolás Maduro".
"This is not a coup but a civil and military action to re-establish constitutional order."
Violent demonstrations since April have left more than 100 people dead in the country which, despite being oil-rich, is experiencing severe shortages of food and medicines, as well as inflation in excess of 700%.
The incident in Valencia came the day after the first session of the newly inaugurated Constituent Assembly, seen by the opposition is a way for the left-wing president to cling to power.
But Mr Maduro has repeatedly said that the new body would bring peace to the country.
The Constituent Assembly has the ability to rewrite the constitution and could override the opposition-controlled parliament, the National Assembly.
On Saturday, it immediately voted to dismiss Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega, a former ally of President Maduro turned major critic. | A search is under way in Venezuela for 10 men who escaped with weapons after an attack on a military base, President Nicolás Maduro says. | 40846311 |
Johnson was not on the sidelines for the Robins' past two games and was taken to hospital at the weekend.
The 61-year-old has been Cheltenham boss since April 2015, leading them to the National League title last season.
"We look forward to welcoming Gary back once he has been cleared to return to work but, realistically, this may take some time," chairman Paul Baker said.
"The board will give Gary their full support in his recovery process."
Assistant manager Russell Milton took charge for the defeats by Doncaster and Exeter, and will continue to lead the team until Johnson returns.
Cheltenham are 22nd in the League Two table, seven points above the relegation zone. | Cheltenham Town manager Gary Johnson will miss a "few weeks" of work to have "straightforward" heart surgery. | 39291458 |
"Choices have consequences" - that warning to Kenyans, issued by US Assistant Secretary of State Jonnie Carson almost a month before the presidential election won by Uhuru Kenyatta, played on the minds of many voters as they cast their ballots on 4 March.
When in early February, during a briefing to journalists, Mr Carson was pushed to explain America's position regarding the candidacy of two politicians who are charged with crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, he had a simple answer:
"We live in an interconnected world," Mr Carson said, "and people should be thoughtful about the impact that their choices have on their nation, on the region, on the economy, on the society and on the world in which they live. Choices have consequences."
Alone in the polling booth, more than six million Kenyans said to themselves: "I'm an African and a Kenyan, I don't need anyone out there telling me who or what to vote for."
As a consequence - they now have President-elect Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, who will divide their time between running Kenya and fighting their cases at The Hague.
Some are calling it government by Skype.
Kenyans also have a new form of decentralised government, the product of a progressive constitution they approved in 2010, that seeks to redistribute power and wealth from Nairobi and the presidency, to 47 counties, each led by a governor and local assembly.
That same constitution also introduces 47 new seats for women in parliament in an attempt create better gender equality.
A bigger voice for women will certainly change the tone of debate in parliament, which in the past tended to echo the contents of the MPs honourable wallets, as they awarded themselves hefty pay increases.
Despite these major changes in governance, any Kenyan who went to sleep soon after independence 50 years ago, and woke up last weekend will be forgiven for quickly telling themselves: "I haven't missed much - Kenyatta is still fighting Odinga!"
Profile: Uhuru Kenyatta
Kenyatta and the ICC
Multiple challenges for Kenyatta
Just like the early 1960s when President Jomo Kenyatta's main rival was Oginga Odinga; his son Uhuru Kenyatta's main challenger for power was Mr Oginga's son, Raila Odinga.
Indeed, the more things change in Kenya, the more they remain the same.
Former President Daniel arap Moi's shadow is also back in parliament and the new upper chamber, the Senate, in the form of his two sons, Alexander and Raymond Moi.
Like father like son, like brother like brother, like brother like sister.
The new Kenyan leadership is certainly a family affair, with another four sets of siblings elected into office.
But this was also an election with a difference.
A presidential debate was held for the first time ever - not once but three times.
With more than 80% of registered voters heading to the polling stations, it was the highest turnout in Kenya's history.
And although the final results took six days to be released, not a machete was lifted in anger - this was Kenyans at their most patient.
By turning up in such large numbers, Kenyans were re-establishing their faith in the democratic process.
And with Mr Odinga pledging to accept the ruling of the Supreme Court which will hear his case alleging that Mr Kenyatta's victory was rigged, he and the rest of Kenya was expressing confidence in the judiciary.
This too was an election about dreams and possibilities.
That an unknown high school teacher from a minority community could run for presidency and beat seasoned politicians was unheard of.
Never mind that Mohamed Abduba Dida, was the source of comic relief in the presidential election campaign with such profound utterances like "you should only eat when you're hungry".
It was also an election fought and followed on social media.
Twitter was ablaze with running commentary on the campaign, the polling, the results and the waiting.
It featured the serious and light-hearted.
One presidential candidate who won the lowest number of votes was advised by tweeters not to bother taking up public space to concede defeat, but just spend a few minutes ringing each of the handful of people who voted for him and thank them personally.
The Kenyan media itself was a big winner in the election.
Compared to 2007 when the media was accused of fanning the post-election violence, this time round every single media house went all out with robust and consistent messages of peace.
So what awaits the new president when he finally takes the keys to State House once the Supreme Court has made its ruling on the pending petition?
Most people voted not for "policies that speak to me" but for "personalities that speak like me". Deep and genuine social healing and building of bridges will be a top priority.
President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta acknowledged the urgency of the matter in his victory speech when he paid tribute to several police officers killed on the eve of the election.
Without security, meaningful development will be difficult. The president's tenure is unlikely to be secure if Kenyans remain insecure.
Kenyans will watch keenly how his government will address historical injustices regarding land that have left thousands displaced and forced Kenyans to jump on each other's throats disrupting lives and livelihoods.
Throughout the campaign, the Jubilee coalition led by Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto sold itself as a digital or modern, youthful party, compared to their rivals who were said to be stuck in the old analogue era.
By choosing to position themselves as "digital" leaders, the two will have now have to live with the consequences of the meaning of "digital".
As a broadcaster, I understand digital to mean bigger capacity, greater variety and flexibility; and also better quality - in this case of leadership and service delivery.
Kenyans are looking up to the new leadership with great hopes for better healthcare, jobs, improved agriculture and a faster pace of economic development.
The people are waiting to see what choice will preoccupy the president and his deputy - Kenya's development or the ICC process.
With the ICC prosecutors now saying they have new evidence against Mr Kenyatta and that his prosecution should continue, choices, indeed, might have consequences.
If you would like to comment on Joseph Warungu's column, please do so below. | US intervention in Kenya's presidential election strengthened the resolve of voters to propel Uhuru Kenyatta into the presidency, writes Nairobi-based Joseph Warungu in our series of letters from African journalists. | 21745501 |
It said the data included departure times and routes for buses, ferries, trains and trams in England, Scotland and Wales.
It is not the first app to do so. Rome2Rio's UK Transport Search app already provided similar coverage.
But the body supplying the data said that the huge popularity of Google's service meant its move was significant.
"It's an amazing shop window for our operators' services," said Julie Williams, chief executive of Traveline - a partnership of Great Britain's transport operators and local authorities.
"The presentation and way Google has pulled together the data looks exceptional - we've not seen anything like that before."
The search giant will also make the information available via its desktop Maps service.
Of the other big-brand services:
"Google is the all-dominant leader in mapping, but it has to keep innovating because that's what stops its competitors nibbling into its market share," said Chris Green, principal technology analyst at the Davies Murphy Group consultancy.
"If it doesn't keep making changes it would leave the door open for somebody else."
While Google had previously provided transit data for parts of Great Britain, it had lacked coverage in much of Wales, the Midlands and northern England.
A search for transport between Llandysul and Cenarth, for example, brought up no results despite it taking less than an hour to travel between the two Welsh destinations by bus.
Gaps such as this have now been plugged, with the firm using Traveline's data to create graphics that compare how the various available options differ.
In total, schedules from nearly 1,500 different transport operators have been integrated, including more than 17,000 different routes and more than 330,000 pick-up points
"It's a frightening amount of data," Google's public transport product manager David Tattersall told the BBC.
"It's every single train, bus, tram and ferry right down to the small request stops as well as the major National Express coaches."
Traveline was created in 2000, and has allowed the public to search its timetables via the state-funded but basic-looking Transport Direct website or by calling its call centres
It also began offering others access to its raw data three years ago.
"I was surprised initially that we didn't get more people taking it," said Ms Williams.
"Open data users said they wanted to do stuff with it, but after we produced it they said: 'Well, that's quite complicated.'
"One of the things that Google is able to do because of its size is put money into processing that data and bring it into its own system."
While Rome2Rio's app sometimes has to redirect users to the Transport Direct site, Google avoids this by converting all Traveline's data into the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) file format its systems recognise.
This means it can also make the information available to other app creators via its Maps application programming interface. This is provided free of charge to services with relatively low traffic but at a cost to others.
"Third-party developers will be able to take advantage of this and basically mash up [their services] with the API," Mr Tattersall said.
He added that Google would also use the data to enhance its own anticipatory search service, which suggests information before a user asks for it.
"If you're in Sheffield but live somewhere else, around home time Google Now will use this transit data to suggest some ways back," he gave as an example.
For the moment, such results are based on preset timetables rather than live transport information, with the exception of London where real-time data is used.
But Mr Tattersall said that his team was keen to make the wider transit service more reactive in the future. | Google has added coast-to-coast public transport information for the whole of Great Britain to its Maps app. | 27394691 |
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.5% lower at 18,168.45.
Meanwhile, the more tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.2% to 5,289.66 and the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.5% to 2,150.49.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May earlier said the country's divorce from the EU would not be "plain sailing".
"Clearly there has been some reverberation from across the pond in terms of the prospect for a slightly more disorderly UK separation from the EU," said Bill Northey, chief investment officer for the private client group at US Bank.
The prospect of an interest rate hike before the end of the year also caused renewed fears among investors after Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker said he would have voted for an increase at the latest policy meeting had he been able to do so.
Traders now predict a 63% chance of a hike in December, according to CME Group. | (Close): US stocks lost ground for a second consecutive trading day with fears over the impact of Brexit and an interest rate hike both worrying investors. | 37542919 |
Italian striker Osvaldo, 28, arrived at Southampton in August 2013 for £15m, but was sent out on loan in January after a training-ground fight.
The former Roma forward failed to arrive back for pre-season training and has since been given leave of absence.
The board knows we need new players. There is no need to hurry. We have a good squad but we would like better players to be competitive
"It was a difficult situation for him to come back to," Saints manager Ronald Koeman told BBC Radio Solent.
Osvaldo scored three times in 13 games for Saints but had a tumultuous time in English football.
In January, he was suspended for three matches and fined £40,000 after being found guilty of violent conduct during an incident at Newcastle.
Later that month he was involved in an altercation with Saints defender Jose Fonte, which resulted in him being sent to Juventus on loan. He eventually missed out on Italy's World Cup squad.
His failure to arrive back for pre-season resulted in the Southampton board deciding to look to sell the forward.
"He was too late," added Koeman. "The decision of the board was to allow him not to come back. We have to look for opportunities for him to play in a different team."
Meanwhile, Koeman says no bids have yet been accepted for defender Dejan Lovren, who is wanted by Liverpool.
However, the former Feyenoord boss has confirmed the Croatian centre-back has asked to leave Southampton.
"There are a lot of rumours," said Koeman. "He said he would like to go, we will wait for the bid, but if there is no bid we will continue. I know the situation."
Koeman has also asked fans to be patient as the club look to sign new players, after seeing defender Luke Shaw, midfielder Adam Lallana and striker Rickie Lambert all leave the club.
"We are working on it," he said. "Our job is to be prepared if someone leaves the club.
"The board knows we need new players. There is no need to hurry. We have a good squad but we would like better players to be competitive." | Southampton manager Ronald Koeman says the club are now looking to sell record signing Dani Osvaldo. | 28419258 |
It blamed tougher economic conditions and "fierce competition in the domestic smartphone market" for its troubles.
The news is a fresh blow to its biggest shareholder LeEco, which had recently increased its stake in the business.
Earlier this month, one of LeEco's co-founders warned of its own financial problems following a push into the US.
Coolpad's stock dropped to a four-year low after it announced that sales had fallen by 43% over the first 10 months of 2016. It now expects to post a £3bn Hong Kong dollar ($386.8m; £313.2m) loss for its financial year as a whole.
LeEco became the firm's biggest shareholder in June, when it raised its stake in the company to 28.9%.
The two companies subsequently teamed up to release the metal-cased Cool1 Dual smartphone in August.
But the device struggled against rival handsets from other Chinese tech firms including Huawei, Oppo and Vivo.
"Chinese manufacturers used to be able to rely on their home market to give them unprecedented scale," commented Ben Wood from the tech consultancy CCS Insight.
"However, this year the Chinese market has plateaued and we are starting to see some of the casualties as a result."
The latest development casts a further cloud over LeEco after a period in which it pursued rapid growth.
In June, the privately-owned company bought 49 acres (19.8 hectares) of land from Yahoo in Santa Clara, California for a reported $250m.
In July, it revealed it was buying the US TV-maker Vizio for $2bn.
Then last month, the Beijing-based company held a high-profile launch event in San Francisco, where it announced it was to start selling a wide range of own-brand products in the US.
These include a range of 4K TVs, two smartphones, a virtual reality headset, a set-top box with its own streaming TV platform and an Android-enabled smart bicycle. It also planned for its concept car to drive itself on to the stage, but the vehicle was damaged en route to the event.
"LeEco has outsize ambitions," noted the Recode tech news site at the time.
"The company literally describes itself as Apple, Netflix, Amazon and Tesla all rolled into one."
But on 7 November, Bloomberg revealed that LeEco's co-founder Jia Yueting had written to its 10,000-plus workers warning that its finances had come under pressure.
"We blindly sped ahead and our cash demand ballooned," the internal memo said.
"We got over-extended in our global strategy. At the same time, our capital and resources were in fact limited."
Mr Yueting added that he was reducing his salary to 1 yuan ($0.14; 11p) and would now pursue a slower growth plan.
Eleven days later, Faraday Future confirmed that it had halted work on a huge factory in Las Vegas due to build a second vehicle bankrolled by LeEco.
"We are acknowledging that there has been a temporary work stop at the site," a spokesman told the Las Vegas Review Journal.
"Part of the re-evaluation and refocusing of our efforts on producing the car were a result of the restructuring and re-evaluation of finances from Jia.
"Faraday Future and LeEco operate as strategic partners, but the finances of the two companies are completely separate."
Faraday Future had caused a stir earlier in the year when it unveiled a futuristic concept electric car at the CES tech show and claimed it would bring a separate design to market by 2018.
It had promised to show off the production vehicle at this January's CES.
It is unclear whether this is still planned.
"It would appear to be the case that LeEco has overstretched itself in multiple areas," said Mr Wood.
"Our bet is that it will now have to retrench and perhaps one of those investments will have to be sacrificed." | The Chinese smartphone-maker Coolpad has unexpectedly warned of a sales slump, causing its shares to fall by nearly 10%. | 38050091 |
The former Watford Grammar School boy is seen as the man who revitalised the group's UK business.
And McDonald's needs a turnaround specialist as it struggles with its image, assailed by meat scandals in Asia, low-wage protests, legal cases over racism and tough fast food competition and falling profits.
Easterbrook confronted the UK operation's somewhat battered reputation head-on back in 2006, even launching a petition to change the dictionary definition of the term McJob as a dead-end job.
The definition has not changed, even though a McDonald's survey claimed most people now feel it is unfair.
He took on Eric Schlosser, author of the bestselling Fast Food Nation, in a fierce debate on the BBC's Newsnight, and then set up a website to answer questions ranging from working conditions to animal welfare, as well as more curious enquiries such as "is there any pork in your gherkins?"
At the time he told journalists: "We wanted to send a signal of a step change in the way that we were going to be seen as a business. We were a faceless business, we were seen as being difficult to get to, and introspective."
He took a canny approach to the criticism over the firm's environmental conduct, by campaigning for the Prince's Rainforest Project.
McDonald's was also one of the companies involved in the Amazon Soy Moratorium, banning soy grown on cleared forestland in the Brazilian Amazon.
Within 10 months of taking over the UK business he was made president of McDonald's Northern Europe.
Then in 2011, to everyone's surprise, he left the group and went for a brief spell as chief executive of Pizza Express and then to the Japanese-inspired restaurant chain Wagamama, before coming back to McDonald's as its chief brand and strategy officer in 2013.
He is married with three children and lives in Illinois in the US, and on his Twitter profile describes himself as a Brit, a father and a fan of Watford Football Club.
Apart from those 18 months away, he's a fully paid-up member of what is sometimes called the "McFamily".
He joined the UK finance department of McDonald's back in 1993, after reading natural sciences at Durham University and training as an accountant at PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC).
He has worked at the sharp end (running restaurants), done the education (18 months at the company's own Hamburger University near Chicago) and worked his way through senior management.
So he has credibility within the "McFamily".
But while he has an accountancy training, his talent lies in branding and marketing. That is why he's been chosen for the top job at a company whose image is under fire more than ever. | Steve Easterbrook comes to the helm of McDonald's as its first British-born boss - but also with a reputation for doing things differently. | 31034874 |
The group has long refused to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai or his government, branding them puppets of the US.
This office is the first step for expected peace talks which many hope will take place despite the many obstacles, as the BBC World Service's Dawood Azami explains.
Who is involved and where?
The main parties are the Afghan government and its High Peace Council, the US and the Taliban. There have been meetings between Taliban representatives and US officials over the past two years.
The Taliban have also sent their representatives to conferences on Afghanistan in Germany, Japan, and France but if talks proceed this would be the first time the group has met Afghan government representatives for direct talks.
From now on, the Taliban will have a known address and authorised representatives who can openly talk, meet and travel. The Qatar office means the Taliban are no longer only a fighting group, but have a political arm too.
Why do the Taliban need a Qatar office?
Taliban representatives have been in Qatar for more than a year and are said to number more than 20.
For years, the Afghan government and its Western backers were trying to contact the Taliban who didn't have a known address.
Meetings aimed at resolving the Afghan conflict peacefully took in hotels or similar venues in various countries. But as a confidence-building measure, and as a way of providing security for Taliban leaders to participate in talks, finding them a permanent address became a priority.
Allowing the Taliban to open an office in Turkey, Qatar, UAE or Saudi Arabia were possible measures. The Taliban's preferred venue was Qatar because they considered it to be neutral. The US was also happy with the Qatar option.
What are the main obstacles?
Within hours of the Taliban office opening Mr Karzai raised his concerns about the peace process not being Afghan-led. He suspended plans for Afghan officials to meet the Taliban in Qatar, underlining how fraught the process will be.
His concerns were so great that US Secretary of State John Kerry had to promise that the Taliban flag and their sign reading The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan would be removed. The flag remains, albeit on a shorter flagpole.
There are other obstacles.
The first is that the Taliban insist on the complete withdrawal of foreign forces as a pre-condition to becoming part of a political settlement.
Nato's combat troops are due to leave the country by the end of 2014, but the US plans to station forces after that as part of a bilateral security agreement. Details are still to be agreed by Kabul and Washington.
The shape of the future Afghan government is another issue over which the parties disagree.
Another possible obstacle comes from civil groups and women's rights activists who fear a political settlement resulting in the Taliban's inclusion in the Afghan government would mean limitations on their freedoms.
The official opening of the Taliban's office was delayed because President Karzai was concerned it could be used for recruitment, fundraising and making contacts with other countries. He was looking for guarantees the office would only be used for peace talks.
Mr Karzai visited Qatar twice this year and on his latest trip Qatar reportedly accepted his demands for guarantees. These included that:
What are the main aims of the three parties?
The White House set two conditions: that the Taliban make a statement supporting a peace process and they also want to prohibit the use of Afghan soil to threaten other countries.
Taliban leaders, most of whom have been subject to UN sanctions, see this as an opportunity to come in from the cold and present their case to the world.
Apart from the withdrawal of foreign forces, the Taliban also want the release of at least some prisoners from Guantanamo and Afghan jails, as well as the removal of the remaining leaders on the sanction list.
The Afghan government hopes it will be able to meet the Taliban directly without the involvement of a third party, such as Pakistan.
US and Afghan leaders want the Taliban to join the Afghan government as a result of the peace process, without losing the achievements of the past decade.
The peace talks will succeed, the Americans say, when the Taliban finally sever all ties with al-Qaeda, end violence and accept the Afghan constitution, including its protections for women and minorities.
Have there been previous attempts at negotiation?
President Karzai has long called on the Taliban to join the peace process. In late 2008 he even offered to provide security for the Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Omar, if he agreed to peace talks - this was not incentive enough.
But while the government's efforts were focused on re-integrating Taliban fighters, they did not have a reconciliation strategy.
The High Peace Council was established in 2010 and tasked with contacting the Taliban and convincing them to join the peace process.
Sporadic contacts were made with a number of Taliban leaders but it did not have the desired outcome of provoking large-scale desertions.
In turn, the Taliban did not trust the Afghan government and considered it a "puppet" of the US.
The idea of engaging with the Taliban was initially controversial in the West but the idea of seriously engaging with the militants was explored at a 2011 peace conference.
Are the Taliban now happy to talk to Afghan leaders?
The Taliban have for years refused to speak to the Afghan government or members of the High Peace Council. They insisted that they wanted to talk to the US - which they called "the main party in the conflict".
But the Taliban's statement as they opened their office says one of the main aims of the Doha office is "to meet Afghans".
Although there was no recognition of President Karzai or his government and just a vague promise to talk to Afghans, "if necessary", that is still being read as an important shift.
Does Pakistan have a role?
Pakistan was one of the Taliban's main supporters from when it was launched in Kandahar in 1994 until the fall of the regime in 2001. Most of the Taliban's leaders reportedly then fled to Pakistan.
Taliban representatives reportedly went to Qatar from Pakistan and the group is still considered to be heavily dependent on the support of certain elements in the country - although this has its limits.
Pakistan's co-operation will probably prove critical to convince or pressurise the Taliban to reach a political settlement.
So, talks are as much between Afghanistan and Pakistan as they are between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
President Karzai has reached out to Islamabad and Pakistan has been involved in background talks over the office in Qatar.
Pakistani officials generally say Islamabad wants a "friendly, peaceful and sovereign" Afghanistan. But they are adamant that Pakistan's "legitimate interests" in Afghanistan must be recognised after the withdrawal of Nato troops. | The Taliban have opened their first official overseas office in the Qatari capital, Doha, saying that one of their main aims was to "meet Afghans". | 22957827 |
The 28-year-old missed out on selection for the 2015 World Cup and will not be available for the Six Nations.
He joined Bath from Gloucester for the 2011-12 campaign, and has played seven times this season.
Attwood has suffered with neck problems this season and the surgery will repair a bulging disc. | Bath and England forward Dave Attwood is likely to be out for 10-12 weeks after undergoing neck surgery, reports BBC Points West. | 35235726 |
Researchers in the US have found grains of cooked plant material in the teeth of the remains.
The study is the first to confirm that the Neanderthal diet was not confined to meat and was more sophisticated than previously thought.
The research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The popular image of Neanderthals as great meat eaters is one that has up until now been backed by some circumstantial evidence. Chemical analysis of their bones suggested they ate little or no vegetables.
This perceived reliance on meat had been put forward by some as one of the reasons these humans become extinct as large animals such as mammoths declined.
But a new analysis of Neanderthal remains from across the world has found direct evidence that contradicts the chemical studies. Researchers found fossilised grains of vegetable material in their teeth and some of it was cooked.
Although pollen grains have been found before on Neanderthal sites and some in hearths, it is only now there is clear evidence that plant food was actually eaten by these people.
Professor Alison Brooks, from George Washington University, told BBC News: "We have found pollen grains in Neanderthal sites before but you never know whether they were eating the plant or sleeping on them or what.
"But here we have a case where a little bit of the plant is in the mouth so we know that the Neanderthals were consuming the food."
More like us
One question raised by the study is why the chemical studies on Neanderthal bones have been wide of the mark. According to Professor Brooks, the tests were measuring proteins levels, which the researchers assumed came from meat.
"We've tended to assume that if you have a very high value for protein in the diet that must come from meat. But... it's possible that some of the protein in their diet was coming from plants," she said.
This study is the latest to suggest that, far from being brutish savages, Neanderthals were more like us than we previously thought. | Neanderthals cooked and ate plants and vegetables, a new study of Neanderthal remains reveals. | 12071424 |
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The 31-year-old is hopeful that he may recover in time to take part in next year's Six Nations despite initially being ruled out for six months.
"I'll hopefully get myself back onto the pitch sometime soon in the new year," Bowe told Irish broadcaster RTE.
"Thankfully it wasn't as bad as it could've been," added the Ulster back.
The winger suffered the injury during Ireland's World Cup quarter-final defeat to Argentina and it was announced last month that he would miss his side's defence of their Six Nations title.
Ireland begin their 2016 Six Nations campaign against Wales in Dublin on 7 February.
"I'm on the road to recovery at the minute. The operation was done over four weeks ago and I just have to recuperate for a couple of months.
"I had a chat with Joe. He's aware of my situation and he's aware that I'm going to do my best to get myself back into reasonable shape for whatever competitions are available - whether that's the Six Nations or the summer tour, who knows? "
Bowe said that despite requiring surgery the injury wasn't as bad as he had initially feared.
"I came off after 12 minutes of the game against Argentina and we were already 14-0 down," he said. "To have to go off on a stretcher and watch the rest of the game in the medical room was pretty difficult.
"At the time I thought it was quite serious. It could have been a lot worse. I'm very positive, it's feeling good and strong.
"I'll have a brace on it until January. It's a pain in the neck. But if things are looking good then there might be a chance to come out of it then.
"It is awkward. I've been on crutches since the operation. It's not ideal but the brace is there to make me better so it's doing the job.
"It drives me mad, I hate it. You want to be out there, you want to be a part of it. Through the good wins you want to be in the changing room to celebrate and with the bad losses you think you could have made a difference. That's always difficult." | Ireland winger Tommy Bowe could be set to return to action sooner than expected after undergoing surgery on a cruciate knee ligament injury. | 34963105 |
Now don’t worry - it’s not shrieked amidst some kind of panicked, cold sweat. I’m not having nightmares about search engines, or even the prolonged suffering of Google+ (though someone surely should be).
For the past month, saying “Google” is the way I’ve been turning off my alarm, ever since being sent a review unit of Google Home, the new smart assistant.
That’s how you wake it up. With “Okay Google”.
Okay Google.
Not content with controlling much of our online - and offline - lives, Google now wants us to shout out its name in our own homes.
The first morning I did it I felt ridiculous, but figured I should give it time. After a month, it’s time up, and it doesn’t feel any better. I’ll now attempt to explain why this may pose a problem.
Piece of metal
I often tease my predecessor in this job, Richard Taylor, for being the only person I know who uses Apple’s personal assistant Siri to its fullest.
You’ll be standing there, minding your own business, and Richard will pull out his phone and start dictating a text message. Right there. In front of strangers. I find it awkward, he finds it convenient.
I can see the appeal - he uses it often enough so the voice recognition is pretty much spot on. But what I don’t think I’ll ever understand is his lack of self-consciousness when it comes to talking to a piece of metal in his hand when there are people around.
You’d have to snap all my fingers off before I’d consider such a thing in public - but one place I thought I might just get over myself is in my own home.
And so, in the corner of my kitchen, I have an Amazon Echo, the stylish little black cylinder that glows blue when it’s listening to me.
And in the corner of my bedroom, the equally-stylish Google Home, with its little whizzy-blob lights that spin to attention.
Both devices are very neat - the voice recognition is accurate, the speaker quality is terrific, and the computing power behind them both is smart enough to mostly decipher even my cryptic commands.
I talk to them in a voice that’s only barely audible so as not to alert the neighbours to the super-nerd next door.
Out the door
But here’s the difference. To access Amazon’s assistant, you ask for it by name.
“Hey Alexa, tell me the news.”
It’s the same for the other players in the digital assistant game like Apple’s Siri or Microsoft’s Cortana. You don’t necessarily have to say the name to get started, but you feel you’re interacting with a character nonetheless.
There’s a reason why all our favourite sci-fi artificial intelligence have that human factor. Knightrider’s Kitt. Holly in Red Dwarf. Samantha in Her.
Even the heuristically-programmed Algorithmic computer was humanised as HAL. It makes us feel warmth towards them. One famous exception might be C3PO, but then, he was a humanoid.
Behind the scenes, I realise it makes no difference whether I’m saying “Okay Google” or “Hey Alexa”. There’s no added privacy implication, nor practical benefit, to either approach. Both devices are doing precisely the same thing - using my data to help me out (and later sell me something or other).
But I’m talking about the awkwardness factor which I feel can’t be understated. When I use the Amazon Echo, I’m talking to Alexa. When I use Google Home, I’m forced to address a corporation. Or as Buzzfeed’s Mat Honan put it: “I actively hate saying ‘Okay Google’ because it makes me so aware I am interacting with a brand.”
Achilles heel
Back in October, when Google held glitzy events around the world to launch Google Home, I managed to get in a brief chat about all this with Michael Sundermeyer. He leads the product design team for the device.
Giving it a friendly name was considered, he told me, but said the reason they dropped the idea was pretty straight-forward: they wanted to constantly give the impression you were accessing Google directly. Not an assistant, but all-powerful, all-knowledgeable Google.
“What this does, this Google assistant… this is Google,” Sundermeyer said.
“This is what Google’s been working on for 18 years.”
He paused briefly when his mention of “Google” brought the nearby Google Home to life, before adding: “Where other companies, the voice assistant may be a part of what they do, for Google it is Google.”
Friendly face
The grand pitch for why we should all want one of these personal home assistants is that it will blend into family life and become indispensable.
Being able to talk to the device as if it were a real person helps greatly to achieve that aim.
Talk to anyone who owns an Amazon Echo and they’ll soon tell you about how they find themselves having an odd fondness for Alexa - I can’t be the only one who often adds “please” and “thank you” to my commands.
But as long as Google forces you to bark “Okay Google”, Google Home will surely fail to become a personal assistant. It will be an assistant, sure, and a very good one at that. But it won’t be personal.
Given Google Home has the full might of the Google ecosystem behind it, it stands the best chance of providing a smarter service than Alexa, Siri or Cortana. And so it seems silly to me to let something like this get in the way.
And so I’m going to attempt to use whatever moderate influence this blog has to change Google’s fate and come up with an alternative.
A friend pointed out that all the mainstream assistants (with the exception of Siri) so far have female-sounding names, arguably gently reinforcing the idea that being an assistant is still somehow solely a woman’s job.
So let’s take it in a different direction: make Google Home’s wake-phrase an homage to one the company’s founders, Larry Page. I could definitely get on board with “LARRY! Turn up the volume!”
It means I’d be starting each morning in bed saying hello to “Larry”, but whatever. The neighbours are confused enough anyway.
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook | The first thing I say when I wake up every morning is “Okay Google”. | 38193676 |
Alexander Perepilichnyy, 44, collapsed and died in the road in Weybridge, Surrey on 10 November 2012.
A pre-inquest hearing last week was told he may have been poisoned.
Hedge fund boss Bill Browder said it was possible a "murderer may be running around". Surrey Police said it would co-operate with the coroner.
The hearing into Mr Perepilichnyy's death was told new toxicology information showed a potential marker for a rare poison called Gelsemium elegans in his body.
A full inquest is due to take place in Woking on 21 September.
Mr Browder, CEO of London-based Hermitage Capital Management, said Mr Perepilichnyy gave information to his organisation about the Sergei Magnitsky affair.
Magnitsky, a lawyer for Hermitage, died on remand in a Moscow prison in 2009 after uncovering an alleged $230m (£150m) tax fraud involving Russian government officials.
Surrey Police said in 2013 Mr Perepilichnyy's death was not suspicious and he was believed to have been running before he collapsed.
"He was co-operating against dangerous people," said Mr Browder.
"He thought there was a contract out on his life and now they have found poison in his stomach.
"They absolutely should reopen the investigation and if they don't it seems to me you have a murderer running around having got away with murder."
Surrey Police said the case was handed over to HM Coroner in June 2013.
"Following the hearing, the coroner asked for some additional work to be carried out to seek clarification on some areas.
"Surrey Police will continue to co-operate fully with the coroner.
"The Surrey Police investigation is not on-going at this stage. We would only act further if directed to do so." | A former associate of a Russian businessman who died suddenly near his home is calling for police to reopen the investigation into his death. | 32912779 |
Ibrox is the third station to be upgraded as part of a £288m programme to modernise the city's ageing subway system.
Hillhead and Partick have already been modernised by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT).
The newly-refurbished Ibrox station was launched by Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Ibrox, which is the first station south of the city to be modernised, has been fitted with "smart" gates and ticket machines and an improved CCTV system.
Its ticket office has also been rebuilt and located.
SPT chairman Jim Coleman said: "The subway is part of the fabric of Glasgow life.
"We are committed to ensuring we deliver the best service possible for the way people live their lives now and in the future.
"Ibrox station not only looks great, it also shows we are well on track to deliver a fully revamped and technologically advanced network.
"Through introducing smart technology we are at the forefront of developments in fully-flexible ticketing solutions in Scotland - almost 20,000 smart customers are already benefiting from more convenience, faster journeys and increased security."
The modernisation work was carried out by Graham Construction.
SPT expects to complete the majority of work on the subway system by 2020.
Work on St Enoch station is due to start next month and detailed designs for Govan and Buchanan Street stations are also under way.
About 13 million passenger journeys a year are made on the Glasgow subway system. | The completion of a £1.7m revamp of Ibrox subway station in Glasgow has been marked at an official launch. | 25882861 |
The 28-year-old joined from Reading last August and scored three goals in 29 league games last season.
"It was a strong season and I want to build on the good work and contribute to a more successful future," he said.
Albion, who finished 10th in the Premier League in 2016-17, begin the new season at home to Bournemouth.
Manager Tony Pulis has signed striker Jay Rodriguez from Southampton this summer and Robson-Kanu believes the new addition provides "vital competition".
He added: "We want to be as competitive as possible and everyone will be pushing each other over the course of the season." | West Bromwich Albion striker Hal Robson-Kanu has signed a three-year contract extension to keep him at the Premier League club until 2020. | 40529038 |
Combined, the two firms have more than 5,500 hotels with 1.1 million rooms and $2.7bn in revenue.
The two boards have "unanimously agreed" to the deal, under which Marriott will buy Starwood.
The tie-up will see them overtake the UK's Intercontinental Hotels, which has just under 5,000 hotels.
J.W. Marriott, Jr, chairman of the Maryland-based company, said: "We have competed with Starwood for decades and we have also admired them."
Marriott chief executive Arne Sorenson, who will head the new group, said the two firms hoped to become "the world's favourite travel company".
Starwood shares closed 3.6% lower at $72.27 after the deal was announced, while Marriott shares rose 1.4% to $73.72.
The deal will combine Marriott's 19 brands, including Ritz-Carlton and Fairfield Inn, with Starwood's Westin, W and St. Regis chains.
Marriott will pay $11.9bn in stock and the rest in cash, and hopes to have the acquisition completed by mid-2016.
Starwood, which opened a review into its strategy in April, had also been linked to deals with Intercontinental and Hyatt Hotels. | US hoteliers Marriott International and Starwood Hotels have agreed a $12.2bn (£8bn) deal to create the world's biggest hotel company. | 34830274 |
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has told BBC Sport that no decision has yet been made on whether to cancel the Group C match.
The Fifa Congress gave its Council the power to readmit Benin.
The suspension can be lifted when a new Benin Football Federation (FBF) Executive Committee has been installed.
Fifa suspended the FBF from global football after a court ruling in the country blocked upcoming elections.
Benin's minister of sport Oswald Homeky said: "We are still in discussions with the protagonists of the crisis in the football federation. We remain hopeful."
A Squirrels squad is in Cotonou training for the match while the already eliminated Equatorial Guinea cancelled a friendly against Uzbekistan in Tashkent on Thursday, because of the qualifier.
The Equatorial Guinea Football Federation say they are hopeful that they can re-organise the friendly against Uzbekistan as soon as possible.
If there is no word from Fifa then Benin will be disqualified from the Nations Cup campaign.
"If by the date of their game they are still banned they will be logically eliminated," Caf explained.
Fifa say they are following the situation in Benin.
"We are monitoring the situation. While there seems to be some progress, we can't anticipate any outcome," world football's governing body told BBC Sport.
Benin are currently the best second-placed side in the competition with eight points.
They are two points behind Mali who play South Sudan on Saturday in the other match in the group. | Benin have been preparing to host Equatorial Guinea in an 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Sunday despite being banned from global football. | 36443919 |
The defender, 28, is charged with using abusive language about an opponent's race, ethnicity or nationality in the Championship match on 10 December.
It is alleged the incident took place in or around the 94th minute.
Burton have released a statement saying Turner "strongly denies" the charge and will contest it.
He has until 22 February to respond to the charge.
Turner was one of four players booked in the same injury-time incident in the game at Griffin Park, which also involved his own team-mate Jon McLaughlin and Brentford pair Romaine Sawyers and Nico Yennaris.
In May 2013, the FA introduced new guidelines stating that any player found guilty of racially abusing an opponent or discriminating on religion, sexuality or disability, would be banned for at least five games.
Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey received such a ban in December and was fined £100,000 for using racially abusive language against Wolves' Morocco international midfielder Romain Saiss.
Chelsea's John Terry was handed a four-match ban and a £220,000 fine for racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand, while Liverpool's Luis Suarez received an eight-match suspension and a £40,000 fine for his abuse of Manchester United's Patrice Evra - both in 2011. | Burton's Ben Turner is facing a five-game ban after being charged by the Football Association for alleged abuse, in racial terms, of a Brentford player. | 38984488 |
The NAHT is the biggest union to join "for some time", says the TUC, and the first dedicated to school leaders.
TUC general-secretary Frances O'Grady said it was "good to see NAHT joining the TUC's family of education unions".
NAHT general-secretary Russell Hobby said he was delighted as "the interests of students, teachers and school leaders are inextricably linked".
Other education unions already in the TUC include the NUT, NASUWT, the ATL and the Scottish and Welsh education unions EIS and UCAC.
"There is a great deal we can do together to create great places to learn and great places to work," said Mr Hobby.
The NAHT has members throughout the UK, including head teachers, deputies, assistant heads, bursars and school business managers.
The union says it represents 85% of primary school leaders, 40% of secondary school leaders and "virtually all" the heads in special schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Welcoming the move Ms O'Grady added: "Education matters, to pupils, to parents, to communities and to the UK economy."
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), which represents most secondary school heads, remains independent of the TUC. | The National Association of Head Teachers, representing 28,500 heads, has joined the Trades Union Congress. | 29757260 |
Now, we've had the Corbyn way of doing the set-piece political interview.
And it is very, very different.
Most spin doctors would probably have been holding their head in their hands at Mr Corbyn's rather diffident, unorthodox style during his round of set piece interviews with the main broadcasters on Wednesday evening.
Normally the set-piece interview with political leaders can be a rather fraught process.
There will be lengthy discussions about the backdrop; the chair; the cushions; the surrounding furniture; whether to cross legs or un-cross legs and so on.
Then there will be anxious queries about the line of questioning - the order of the subjects and the duration of the interview.
And of course the politician will have remorselessly rehearsed and prepared his answers.
His or her clothes, tie and hair will all have been carefully thought about.
As little will have been left to chance as possible.
Last night, Mr Corbyn seemed to chuck all that conventional interview wisdom out of the window.
Far from having a pre-prepared set of stock answers, he seemed to be almost musing aloud.
Asked about whether he might kneel before the Queen - he pondered and pleaded for more time to think about it.
And when asked a hypothetical question, he noted it was a hypothetical question and then answered it.
Normally politicians won't touch a hypothetical question with a barge pole.
As for his performance? Low-key would be a charitable way to describe it. Mr Corbyn seemed remarkably un-fussed by the whole pantomime of the traditional political interview.
You can argue such a style can be seen as shambolic; confused and weak.
It invites criticism for a lack of clarity and leadership.
But Mr Corbyn's team clearly believe the conventional approach to the political interview is as out-dated as the conventional approach to Prime Ministers' Questions; that people are tired of the formulaic, sound-bite driven set-piece interview.
And who knows - perhaps they are right.
In which case we might all have to get used to doing things rather differently.
Politicians. And broadcasters. | First we had the Jeremy Corbyn way of doing Prime Minister's Questions. | 34276963 |
The Championship side went ahead through Fabio, who headed in Adama Traore's cross for his first Boro goal.
England under-21 midfielder Baker - on loan from Chelsea - netted his maiden effort for the club from Grant Leadbitter's ball into the box.
Fletcher added the Teessiders' third to settle it in the second half.
League One side Scunthorpe arrived at the Riverside unbeaten this season but had failed to go beyond the second round of the competition in the past six seasons, and that record seldom looked likely to improve.
Their hopes were swiftly dashed by a strong Boro side named by Garry Monk, featuring £6.5m summer signing Fletcher, Baker and former Barcelona winger Traore.
Marcus Tavernier enjoyed a bright debut - laying on Fletcher's goal after a fine one-two - as one of two academy graduates to make their senior bow alongside Connor Roberts.
Boro dominated for much of the game, particularly once Fabio had opened the scoring and Scunthorpe's best effort fell to Devonte Redmond whose header was saved by goalkeeper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos.
Match ends, Middlesbrough 3, Scunthorpe United 0.
Second Half ends, Middlesbrough 3, Scunthorpe United 0.
Foul by Lewis Wing (Middlesbrough).
Sam Mantom (Scunthorpe United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Josh Morris (Scunthorpe United) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high.
Attempt missed. Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Foul by Lewis Wing (Middlesbrough).
Levi Sutton (Scunthorpe United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Middlesbrough. Conceded by Murray Wallace.
Attempt blocked. Rudy Gestede (Middlesbrough) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Substitution, Middlesbrough. Rudy Gestede replaces Ashley Fletcher.
Substitution, Middlesbrough. Lewis Wing replaces Grant Leadbitter.
Attempt saved. Lewis Baker (Middlesbrough) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Attempt saved. Rory McArdle (Scunthorpe United) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Foul by Dael Fry (Middlesbrough).
Sam Mantom (Scunthorpe United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Scunthorpe United. Conceded by Dael Fry.
Attempt missed. Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough) right footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Attempt missed. Connor Roberts (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses the top left corner.
Substitution, Scunthorpe United. Devonte Redmond replaces Neal Bishop.
Foul by Ashley Fletcher (Middlesbrough).
Duane Holmes (Scunthorpe United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Dael Fry (Middlesbrough).
Tom Hopper (Scunthorpe United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Middlesbrough. Stewart Downing replaces Marcus Tavernier.
Attempt missed. Fabio (Middlesbrough) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high.
Attempt missed. Rory McArdle (Scunthorpe United) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is just a bit too high.
Corner, Scunthorpe United. Conceded by Dael Fry.
Substitution, Scunthorpe United. Tom Hopper replaces Paddy Madden.
Levi Sutton (Scunthorpe United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Fabio (Middlesbrough).
Foul by Dael Fry (Middlesbrough).
Conor Townsend (Scunthorpe United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Lewis Baker (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Neal Bishop (Scunthorpe United).
Goal! Middlesbrough 3, Scunthorpe United 0. Ashley Fletcher (Middlesbrough) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Marcus Tavernier.
Attempt saved. Ashley Fletcher (Middlesbrough) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Foul by Fabio (Middlesbrough).
Levi Sutton (Scunthorpe United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Hand ball by Paddy Madden (Scunthorpe United). | Middlesbrough cruised into round three of the EFL Cup as new signings Lewis Baker and Ashley Fletcher scored in a 3-0 win over Scunthorpe United. | 40932283 |
Robert Willis made the claim on the day a coroner ruled Black died from an accidental traumatic head injury during a fall at her home in Spain.
Thames Valley Police said they were investigating after a professionally-cut hole appeared in a fence at a property in Denham, Buckinghamshire.
"I cannot believe someone would stoop so low," Mr Willis said.
"It's inconceivable. Thankfully it was discovered in time."
Just days before her funeral, police confirmed they were investigating a case of criminal damage at the property.
The 72-year-old entertainer was found dead at her villa in Estepona on the Costa del Sol on 1 August.
Mr Willis spoke out after a 15-minute hearing at Liverpool Coroner's Court, where coroner Andre Rebello recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Addressing the hearing, attended by Mr Willis and brothers Ben and Jack, Mr Rebello referred to the star by her real name Priscilla Maria Veronica Willis.
"She was a daughter of Liverpool and was celebrated and loved by all in Liverpool," he said.
He told sons, Ben, Robert and Jack: "She was your mum and her death is a private personal matter and we have all got one mum.
"It is right that you grieve and remember her."
The entertainer's funeral will take place next Thursday at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Liverpool celebrated by the Rt Rev Thomas Williams, Auxiliary Bishop of Liverpool.
Following her funeral, the singer will be laid to rest at Allerton Cemetery, where her parents are buried.
Born Priscilla Maria Veronica White, she first found fame as a singer in the 1960s, with a string of top 10 hits including chart-toppers Anyone Who Had a Heart and You're My World.
She later married Bobby Willis at London's Marylebone Register Office in 1969. He died 30 years later.
The former cloakroom attendant at the famed Cavern Club in Liverpool then went on to become the host of TV shows such as Surprise, Surprise and Blind Date.
About 3,195 people signed a book of condolence, which has now closed, at Liverpool Town Hall.
On the day of her funeral the building's flag will fly at half-mast, a Liverpool City Council spokesperson said. | A suspected plot to burgle the home of late singer Cilla Black has been foiled, her eldest son has revealed. | 33938087 |
The attack happened in Gardner Road, in the Kincorth area, at about 07:45 on Saturday morning.
A man in his 30s was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary with serious injuries.
Two boys aged 15 and 16 from Aberdeen and Edinburgh - who cannot be named for legal reasons - were charged at Aberdeen Sheriff Court with assault and attempted murder.
They made no plea and were released on bail. | Two teenagers have appeared in court charged with attempted murder in connection with an assault in Aberdeen. | 35628555 |
The bodies of Bonheur Musungay, 14, and Stella Kambi, 17, were recovered from water at Thorpe Marshes nature reserve near Norwich on Wednesday evening.
Post-mortem examinations have confirmed the cause of the teenagers' deaths was drowning. An inquest has been opened.
Stella's parents Engele and Daniel Aketo said she had rescued a boy from the same spot a year ago.
"We will miss her so much and hope our faith will get us through," said Mr Aketo. "But we are very proud of her."
Family friend Esperance Kuanzabi said Stella had saved her son in the previous incident.
"It looks very safe there, but people underestimate the dangers," she said. "She was a very brave girl."
Mr and Mrs Aketo said Stella and sister Claudine, 16, were not swimming, but were sunbathing on the beach next to the broad.
When Bonheur got into trouble both the girls, who were strong swimmers, dived in to save him. Claudine survived but Stella was dragged under.
Mr Aketo said: "She was the oldest of our six children and looked after everyone - she was very caring.
"She was studying nursing at college and wanted to be a paediatrician.
"She was a good Christian who had worked hard to do well at school. She was kind, funny and just made people happy."
The family arrived in the UK as refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2008.
Miss Kambi attended City College Norwich after leaving Thorpe St Andrew High School.
A spokesman for Bonheur's family said: "I cannot believe he has gone. He was like a brother to me.
"When you were having a bad day, he would make you laugh and cheer you up. We are all very devastated."
Emergency services launched a major search and rescue operation to find the pair but were unable to save them.
Police and firefighters are now investigating what happened. | A teenage girl who drowned while trying to save her friend had previously rescued another boy at the same place. | 33930053 |
The 41-year-old DJ, who joined the network in 2003, is moving to the US to work at Apple.
Zane, whose last show will air on 5 March, said he had "loved every minute" of being at Radio 1.
Annie Mac, 36, will take over Zane's current weekday evening new music show, starting on 9 March and said she was "excited and humbled" at the opportunity.
Zane said: "I want to thank everyone at Radio 1 for their support and friendship. "The station has allowed me to share incredible music with the country's best music fans."
During his time on the station, the New Zealand-born DJ has become well known for championing emerging talent and many acts have made their breakthrough after having one of their tracks named as "hottest record in the world" on Zane's show.
Zane has always mixed his 7pm-9pm show's focus on new music with exclusive interviews and live sessions with some of the biggest names in the industry. The recent Zane Lowe meets... series included interviews with Kanye West, Eminem, Jay Z, Chris Martin and Rick Rubin.
His show has also been home to the popular Masterpieces feature, which sees him playing classic albums in full, and leading an in-depth discussion on their merits.
Zane also curated last October's Radio 1 Rescores project - in which artists including The 1975, Foals, Bastille and Laura Mvula wrote a new soundtrack for the 2011 movie Drive, with their new music broadcast alongside a special screening of the film on BBC Three.
Since starting at the station Zane has picked up the gold Radio Academy Award for best music broadcaster in 2010, 2011 and 2014.
His show was also named best radio show at the NME Awards on four occasions.
Zane features on writing and production credits for artists including Example, Tinie Tempah and Chase and Status.
He also worked on Sam Smith's Grammy nominated album In the Lonely Hour.
Annie said taking over from Lowe is a "huge honour" and she "can't wait" to start the show.
Annie will continue to host her Friday night show on the network, but will step down from her slot hosting Radio 1's 'Musical Hot Water Bottle' on Sunday evenings (10pm-1am).
"I am so excited and humbled to be asked to do this show. The thing I love about music radio is those private epiphanies it provides.
"Having 11 hours of airtime a week to share those moments with music that has no boundaries is beyond a job, it's a privilege.
"And to be following in the footsteps of Zane Lowe, a broadcaster that I respect and admire enormously, is a huge honour. I can't wait to get started."
Annie began her career at Radio 1 as a broadcast assistant on Zane's show.
Ben Cooper, controller of BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra, said: "Annie has proven she is a great ambassador for new music, and I'm delighted that she's bringing her passion and knowledge to young audiences across the week.
"I'd like to thank Zane for 12 wonderful years at Radio 1, and wish him and his family all the very best."
Phil Taggart will be taking over the Musical Hot Water Bottle from 1 March but will continue to host his Thursday evening future music show.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube | Zane Lowe is leaving Radio 1 after more than a decade at the station. | 31470124 |
The 35-year-old was attacked at Magowan Park at about 04:00 BST on 28 August, a court heard.
Appearing at Londonderry Magistrates' Court on Monday, a 36-year-old man was denied bail in connection with the incident.
Martin Neeson, from Magowan Park, is charged with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH).
He is also charged with possessing a knife with intent to cause GBH.
The alleged victim was still in a critical condition and on a life support machine in hospital, a police officer told the court.
The officer said police were called to the defendant's home in the early hours of 28 August following a 999 call from a distressed woman.
They found the victim lying on the floor with blood coming from his ears, nose and mouth and his breathing described as "gurgling", added the officer.
Bail was refused and the Mr Neeson was remanded in custody until 29 September. | A man remains in hospital with life-threatening head injuries after an alleged assault in Londonderry. | 37273618 |
9 January 2016 Last updated at 11:49 GMT
Though the strong winds which have been fanning the flames have eased, the blaze remains unpredictable. Extra firefighters have been flown in to help.
Three people are missing and witnesses described multiple fireballs in the historic town, located south of Perth.
Australia is experiencing another extreme bushfire season. More than 100 homes were destroyed during an outbreak on Christmas Day in the southern state of Victoria.
Chris Gable a volunteer firefighter in Western Australia told the BBC that there are a number of places still in the fires path. | A bushfire in Western Australia has destroyed about 95 homes in the small town of Yarloop and continues to burn out of control. | 35271924 |
Comic founder and writer Pat Mills and artist Kevin O'Neill have co-written Serial Killer, the first in a planned series of books.
Mills started his career with Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson in the 70s.
He said Scots he met during his time there and later while working in London inspired the novel's character, Joy.
While at DC Thomson, Mills worked on the publisher's girls' titles Romeo and Jackie.
After he left the Dundee publisher, he created the girls' mystery comic Misty and co-created the war stories comic Battle and science-fiction/fantasy comic 2000AD, which is 40 years old this year.
With O'Neill, who illustrated 2000AD's Nemesis the Warlock stories and Alan Moore's famous graphic novel The Extraordinary League of Gentlemen, Mills has written Serial Killer, the first in a series of novels entitled Read Em and Weep.
Mills said: "The novels are set in the eccentric 'Life on Mars' world that was the 1970s and features classic 1970s comics, including fictional versions of Battle, Action and 2000AD.
"It's a story of revenge for a lost childhood, of flawed and eccentric characters, strange passions and arrested development."
Joy, a journalist, is one of the book's main characters.
Mills said: "She's inspired by a number of female journalists I worked with at DC Thomson as well as Scottish women I know in London.
"One chapter in the novel comes to mind. It was inspired by a time when I worked on Romeo.
"The female journalists on Romeo and Jackie were quite outraged by the awful female hygiene products that were being aimed at teenage girls. This would have been in the early 70s.
"I'm pretty certain they won and the adverts were withdrawn which is admirable. The products quoted in the chapter of the novel, though fictional, are close to reality.
"What was difficult on teenage magazines was how to handle real teenage girl problems and I recall the editor of the Romeo problem page telling me that she wasn't allowed to deal with serious issues and she found that very frustrating. Once again, Joy mirrors this subject."
Mills also recalls how working at DC Thomson gave him a "love of popular culture which has stayed with me my entire life".
Describing Scotland as having a "supportive atmosphere" for comics, he said he found DC Thomson's comic strips "so much funnier" than other mainstream British comic publishers.
Among those who made the comics funny was the late Manchester-born artist Ken Reid, the inspiration for another character in Serial Killer.
Mills said: "DC Thomson's fun comics were so much funnier than others and Kevin and I tackle that subject with gusto in another chapter.
"We mention Ken Reid - referred to as Ken Royce - who was a protégé of DC Thomson and was behind comic characters Jonah and Rodger the Dodger.
"Both Kevin and I are huge admirers of his wonderfully subversive material which I do think has a Scottish satirical, almost dour, element." | Women working in Scotland's publishing industry influenced the writing of a character in a new novel by two legends of British comic books. | 38748513 |
She was speaking as parliament reopened on Tuesday for its last session before November's national elections.
Last week Shwe Mann was dramatically removed from his position.
His dismissal was seen as an emphatic move by President Thein Sein to tighten his political grip ahead of the vote.
Speaking while MPs gathered in the capital Nay Pyi Taw for a final round of parliamentary meetings before the 8 November vote, Ms Suu Kyi said that Shwe Mann's dismissal by the president on Wednesday made it clear "who is the enemy and who is the ally".
She said that her National League for Democracy (NLD) party would work with the "ally".
The Nobel laureate joined the US and Britain in expressing concern over the removal of Shwe Mann before the elections, which are the first since democratic reforms began in 2011.
"This is not what you expect in a working democracy," she said in relation to the circumstances of Shwe Mann's removal, adding that divisions within the USDP were likely to result in increased electoral support for the NLD.
Correspondents say that the alliance between Mss Suu Kyi and Shwe Mann is significant because he has retained his influential role as parliamentary speaker, and has been widely seen as a possible compromise presidential candidate.
Ms Suu Kyi herself cannot run for the post under the terms of the constitution drafted by the military government.
She has not detailed how her alliance with Shwe Mann will work, but one likely area of collaboration might be amendment of the constitution to allow her to run for the presidency.
The government for its part on Tuesday has tried to downplay Shwe Mann's removal, which it described as "part of a normal course of business" for a political party. | Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has announced that she will form an alliance with Shwe Mann, the ousted chairman of the governing Union Solidarity and Development Party. | 33974550 |
The Cookstown-based team said they would be at the Isle of Man TT Races in June and various Irish road events.
BE boss John Burrows said they had consulted with Malachi's father, Kevin Thomas, and the team's sponsors.
"We hope fans and the public respect our decision which was a hard one," said team boss John Burrows.
"It is bad timing that the TT is so close to the death of Mal, who was much more than a rider to the team and the Burrows family."
"We have come to the decision to carry on at the 2016 TT Races, and support Derek Sheils for the remainder of the year at Irish national road races.
"Derek will be competing in the Superbike and Supersport, and Peter Hickman in the Supertwin classes at the TT."
Mitchell-Thomas died during the Suptertwin race at the North West 200 races on Saturday.
His father, Kevin Thomas, said he would be scattering the ashes of the 20-year-old, from Chorley, in Lancashire, at the Isle of Man TT races in June.
"That is what he wanted me to do - he lived for racing," said Thomas. | Burrows Engineering Racing say they will carry on competing at road races, after the death of Malachi Mitchell-Thomas at the North West 200. | 36347646 |
Marian Shkirko, 33, was detained in a joint operation between UK and Belgian police on suspicion of having a lead role in smuggling people via Belgium.
He is suspected of using complicit drivers and false documentation.
Belgian police also want to question him about the murder of a lorry driver found dead in Belgium last year.
The Lithuanian man's body was discovered in Waasmunster in May.
Mr Shkirko was arrested on Friday as part of the joint operation between the UK's Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce and the Belgian Federal Police.
A number of people were also arrested in Belgium as part of the same operation.
Mr Shkirko will appear on Saturday at Westminster Magistrates' Court, where extradition proceedings will begin. | A Ukrainian man suspected of murder and people smuggling into the UK has been arrested in Battersea, south-west London. | 35446586 |
It comes as officers prepare to revisit the scene of the attack on a 32-year-old woman in Armadale one week on.
The woman was punched in the face and knocked to the ground before being sexually assaulted at about 21:00 on Tuesday 25 April.
Detectives will return to the scene between 20:00 and 22:00.
Vehicles and pedestrians on the Bathgate Road (A89) will be stopped at the junction with Armadale racetrack.
Police will also be stopping cars and people at Lower Bathville Road near its junction with Mallace Avenue and in the wooded area to the east of Armadale racetrack.
The rapist a white man, about 40 years old, with large ears and dark or black wavy hair.
He was wearing a black woollen jacket, black jeans and royal blue navy trainers. He is believed to speak with a Scottish accent.
Det Supt Pat Campbell, of Police Scotland, said: "One week on from this horrific sexual assault, we will be in the area to capture any information members of the public can provide with a view to identifying the individual responsible.
"The area is popular with dog walkers and joggers and so we are hopeful that someone may have information relevant to our investigation." | Police have released an E-fit image of a man they want to speak to in connection with a rape near a speedway racetrack in West Lothian. | 39780420 |
The ex-Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur defender said he could "bring something new to the table" as the Conservative nomination.
He said he wanted to "change London for everybody" but acknowledged he would not be a "frontrunner".
Campbell, 40, will take part in a hustings event with other candidates for the Tory nomination on 4 July.
Boris Johnson is planning to stand down as London Mayor in 2016.
Campbell, who also played for Portsmouth and Newcastle, told the Sun: "I'm going in with my eyes wide open. I know I'm not going to be a frontrunner.
"But I look at people who have been in politics for five, 10, 15 years, and muck up, you see them muck up and think, 'You guys are supposed to be pro!'
"People [who] have gone to Oxbridge, had thousands spent on their education, and I mean they are royally mucking up," he said.
Asked whether he could count on the votes of Spurs fans still bitter over his 2001 move to north London rivals Arsenal, Campbell said: "If we keep thinking about football, we're not going to do anything.
"We are dealing with people's lives here. I want to change London for everybody."
The Conservative Way Forward group confirmed that Campbell had signed up to take part in its mayoral hustings next month.
"We are delighted that candidates like Sol Campbell are throwing their hat in the ring and coming to debate the future of London at our hustings on 4 July," a spokesman said.
Also in the running for the Tory candidacy are entrepreneur Ivan Massow, current deputy mayor Stephen Greenhalgh and London Assembly member Andrew Boff, while MP Zac Goldsmith has also been tipped as a potential challenger. | Former England footballer Sol Campbell has confirmed his intention to become the next Mayor of London. | 33047030 |
We'll follow British children as they trace their family history and learn how their families were affected by partition.
We're looking for kids aged 6-13 who are keen to trace their family story, and could travel with Newsround to film in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh.
For more information, or if you would be interested in taking part, get a parent or guardian to email [email protected] or call 0161 836 0648. | This summer Newsround is marking the 70th anniversary of the partition of India, which led to the births of the separate nations of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. | 39529224 |
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The 14-year-old, who formed one half of the sport's most successful partnerships with Dujardin, 31, performed a special routine at Olympia.
"He's just the best," said Dujardin after reprising her London 2012 test.
Dujardin is weighing up several possible successors, including Mount St John Freestyle, for Tokyo 2020.
Although he is retiring from competition, Valegro will continue to give celebrity appearances and demonstrations.
"I want to retire him at the top of his game because he owes me absolutely nothing," said Dujardin.
"Now we can take the pressure off and go around and really enjoy ourselves. He deserves that."
Meanwhile Carl Hester, who is Dujardin's Great Britain team-mate, mentor, trainer and co-owner of Valegro, added freestyle victory to Tuesday's dressage success aboard Nip Tuck with a score of 84.669%.
Media playback is not supported on this device | Valegro, who won three Olympic golds with Britain's Charlotte Dujardin, has been retired from competition after a farewell ceremony in London. | 38323362 |
Lisnagarvey had gone into the weekend level on points with Bann but were beaten 3-1 at Three Rock Rovers who move above them and into second place.
Bottom club Instonians recorded their first win of the season, 3-1 over UCD, to close the gap to the university side to only four points.
In the women's IHL, leaders UCD hammered bottom side Ulster Elks 8-1.
Belfast Harlequins continue to pull away from the relegation zone with their second win in a row over Pembroke Wanderers.
Banbridge's convincing win over Monkstown was an ideal warm-up for Sunday's Irish Senior Cup semi-final against Corinthian.
Bann's international contingent led the scoring with Eugene Magee netting twice and the others coming from Matthew Bell, Johnny McKee and Dane Ward.
Their lead at the top of the table is two points over Three Rock Rovers who beat Lisnagarvey 3-1.
The County Down side sit in third place, one point ahead of Cork C of I who lost 4-1 at home to Railway Union.
Instonians' first win as an IHL club, 3-1 over UCD, has reignited their hopes of survival. The gap between the two teams is four points and Inst have two games in hand.
William Robinson converted a first quarter penalty corner and, after UCD had equalised, two late goals from Mark Irwin and Stephen Kelso sealed three important points.
UCD continue to set the pace in the women's IHL with internationals Katie Mullan, Lena Tice and Deidre Duke among their scorers in an 8-1 win over the Elks at Jordanstown.
Anna O'Flanagan was on target twice for Hermes-Monkstown as they defeated Loreto 4-2 to stay a point behind in second place but with a game in hand.
The Elks remain bottom, a point adrift of Pembroke Wanderers but Belfast Harlequins have moved closer to safety by edging Pembroke 2-1 in a tightly-fought contest.
Laura Johnston scored both Harlequins goals after they now have a five-point cushion as they look to maintain their top flight status.
Pegasus hopes of reaching the play-offs suffered another blow as they lost 2-1 at home to Cork Harlequins.
Olivia Roycroft tapped in the opener for Cork and then she turned provider for Karen Bateman to make it 2-0. Michelle Harvey scored for the Belfast side just before the end. | Banbridge moved clear at the top of the men's Irish Hockey League by beating Monkstown 5-1 on Saturday. | 39016745 |
Several policemen were injured in a clash with the supporters of the controversial guru on Tuesday.
The 63-year-old self-styled guru, known as Rampal, is on bail after being accused in a 2006 murder case.
But authorities ordered his arrest on contempt charges after he failed to appear in court several times.
The clashes occurred when the police went to arrest Rampal in his ashram. Police say armed supporters are holding people hostage and using women and children as human shields.
"The bid by the cops to nab him exposed several flaws in their strategy and operational preparedness… Despite keeping close watch on the premises and armed with the prior knowledge of weapons in the ashram, the police appeared completely unprepared and they were the worst hit during the action," The Times of India says.
Many journalists who were covering the clashes were also injured, reports said.
The Asian Age says the police "used batons against several media people covering the clash between sect followers and the security forces".
The police have promised to look into the allegations, the India Today website reports.
"The moment this operation is over, we will get it looked into... There was no intentional or operational compulsion to target the media," the website quotes top police official SN Vashisht as saying.
Meanwhile, papers feel Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Australia has "scripted a new chapter" in India's ties with the country.
Mr Modi met Prime Minister Tony Abbott in Canberra on Tuesday and also addressed Australian lawmakers.
The leaders pledged to boost bilateral trade and agreed to speed up talks on a crucial nuclear agreement.
"Bilateral trade between the two countries has lagged considerably behind the potential. The actual trade languishes at just $15bn, against a $40bn target by 2015," says The Hindu in an editorial.
The two countries have now agreed to sign a free trade agreement by 2016 to boost bilateral trade.
Papers say the personal camaraderie between the two leaders is likely to help Delhi and Canberra work closely on global issues like security, terrorism and economy.
"Mr Modi's vigorous approach to Asia is matched by his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott's enthusiasm for partnership with India," says The Indian Express editorial.
Apart from trade, the paper sees the two countries coming together to form a regional bloc in the Asia Pacific region.
"Given the bilateral enthusiasm for expanding the circle of engagement, Delhi and Canberra must initiate a joint dialogue with Indonesia and also pull Japan in to bulwark the region against the vicissitudes of China-US relations," it adds.
The Hindustan Times praises Mr Modi's outreach to Australian lawmakers and his initiatives to start several track II diplomatic channels.
"In a well-received address to the Australian parliament, Mr Modi memorably underlined that Australia will not be at the periphery of India's vision 'but at the centre of our thought'," it says.
The paper adds that "the India-Australia relationship will now be one to look out for in the fast evolving Asia Pacific region".
In some domestic news, fresh data shows that more than 90% of the rape cases in Delhi this year were committed by those known to the victims.
The Delhi police told a court on Tuesday that in many cases the suspects were fathers, uncles, neighbours, friends and even grandfather, The Hindu reports.
"A total of 1,704 cases were registered till 15 October this year, and the accused were strangers only in 72 cases," according to the data submitted by the Delhi police.
And finally, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has raised concerns over the condition of India's world heritage sites like the Western Ghats, Kaziranga National Park and the Sundarbans, The Hindu reports.
"Assessing the threats faced by the sites, the IUCN experts observed that there was 'extraordinary' pressure on biodiversity remains in the Western Ghats, given the 'tremendous population pressure both within and surrounding the property," the report adds.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. . You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook. | Papers are criticising police for failing to arrest a Hindu guru in the northern Indian state of Haryana. | 30110332 |
Munro, 27, made 332 runs at an average of 27.67, finishing the county's second-highest scorer, as the Rapids reached the quarter-finals last summer.
He also took seven wickets at an economy rate of 9.27 runs per over.
Worcestershire have already revealed that they are keen to bring Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal back to New Road.
Ajmal is now available once more, having had his remodelled action approved by the International Cricket Council.
"To be the second overseas player, as the T20 player, it takes a special breed," said Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes.
"You don't play a lot of cricket and you can end up having quite a bit of time on the sidelines for a T20 hit once a week.
"You need the right type of cricketer for that - one that has an understanding of the club and dressing room and Colin has got that.
"He was very helpful towards our Second XI players and played in the second team to make sure he kept in nick.
"He is a very dangerous and devastating player in T20 cricket. He's a powerful hitter. He can disrupt a spinner, and therefore disrupt the pattern and game-plan of the opposition."
Munro added: "I said when I left last summer that I'd love to come back and play for Worcestershire again. It was an awesome experience.
"To beat Notts at Trent Bridge was a huge scalp and to beat Northants - the then holders - twice and Warwickshire at home were also great nights."
Worcestershire have never been beyond the last eight in 12 years of domestic Twenty20 cricket, but two quarter-final appearances in three years does hint at an upturn in fortunes, especially if they can keep Ajmal for the entire tournament. | Worcestershire have made their first overseas signing of 2015 by re-signing New Zealand all-rounder Colin Munro for this summer's T20 Blast. | 31488076 |
Oskar Pycroft, eight, never misses a home match and his bedroom is festooned in club merchandise and memorabilia.
Last year fans of the club and rivals Bristol Rovers helped raise £57,000 for an operation to enable him to walk.
In January, Oskar took his first steps at Ashton Gate at the Championship tie between City and Preston North End.
"I'm very excited - this club has meant so much to me, they've helped me a lot and thank you so much to the whole club and Bristol City fans," said Oskar about his nomination.
The Football League said Oskar was "an inspiration to his fellow fans and anyone fighting against a severe illness or disease".
"Not only has he become a totemic figure at Ashton Gate, his passion as a fan has resonated with others to the extent he even inspired fans of rivals Bristol Rovers to back his cause," a spokesperson said.
Oskar's mum Lizzie Pycroft said: "To me he's always my little boy, but to others he's an inspiration, and for him to be recognised is awesome.
"He's such a character and this shows what his character is like that he has brought so many people together, both City and Rovers."
Oskar is one of three people on the shortlist for the honour. The winner will be announced on 17 April at the Football League Awards. | A young Bristol City football fan with cerebral palsy has been shortlisted for the Football League's supporter of the year award. | 36009354 |
The 35-year-old victim was woken up by repeated knocking at her front door in Heald Green, Stockport on 20 December, and attacked after opening it.
Police said it was a "terrifying attack" and the woman's children could hear her screaming.
The suspect is described as about 20 years old, 6ft (1.8m) tall, of a slim build and Asian, wearing a hooded top.
Det Insp Julia Bowden said: "Incidents of this nature are horrifying but rare and we are doing everything in our power to find the man responsible.
"I would urge anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area at the time to please contact us immediately." | Police have issued an e-fit of a man suspected of sexually assaulting a woman in her own home. | 38457924 |
The Parades Commission had applied more stringent restrictions to the march than in previous years.
Earlier, a lawyer for the Orange Order told the court the conditions imposed were "excessive and irrational".
A planned residents' protest the parade has been called off, Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly has confirmed.
The judge rejected claims that the Parades Commission had not followed proper procedures in its Tour of the North determination.
Instead, he upheld the restrictions placed on Friday night's parade.
Afterwards, the Orange Order said it was disappointed but would abide by the ruling.
The parade will go ahead as planned, starting at 19.30 BST.
Bands taking part in the parade have been banned from playing music on a stretch of road outside St Patrick's Catholic church on Donegall Street in the north of the city.
They are only permitted to march past the church to the sound of a single drum beat.
The restriction has been extended by 43 metres from last year's parade.
The Orange Order said this was unfair as they abided by the restriction last year and there was no trouble. | The Orange Order has lost its legal challenge against restrictions placed on members taking part in Friday's Tour of the North parade in Belfast. | 33202634 |
The incident happened shortly before 17:00 BST on Saturday when two cars travelling in opposite directions collided on Thurgoland Bank.
The driver of one of the cars, a 37-year-old man from Stockbridge, died of his injuries, police said.
A 36-year-old driver was taken to hospital with serious injuries. He was held on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
Officers appealed for any witnesses to come forward. | A man was arrested after another man died in a car crash near Sheffield. | 34500220 |
Michele Campagnaro and Thomas Waldrom both crossed twice for the hosts who retain a very slim mathematical chance of making the competition's last eight.
Exeter were also awarded a late penalty try as they picked up a bonus point.
Sean Reidy's try gave Ulster an early lead while the impressive Charles Piutau touched down in each half.
Ulster-born Exeter fly-half Gareth Steenson kicked three conversions, with Paddy Jackson adding the extra points to two of his side's tries.
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Exeter went into the game in fine form, having lost just one of their last eight Premiership matches after an indifferent start to the campaign which had seen them win just two of their first six.
Last year's Champions Cup quarter-finalists saw their hopes of progressing again this season disintegrate with three straight defeats to Clermont Auvergne, Ulster and Bordeaux-Begles, but their upturn in fortunes saw them see off Bordeaux in their fourth fixture in December.
Exeter coach Rob Baxter made seven changes from the team that drew at home to Saracens last week and his side were out to restore some pride in Europe by recording a first home win of the tournament.
In contrast, Ulster had suffered seven losses in their last 11 outings in all competitions, but that last-gasp victory over Exeter in October and another thrilling home triumph over Clermont in December kept alive their hopes of making the knockout stages.
Les Kiss' side may now be the only Irish province not to make the quarter-finals as Leinster and Munster have already assured their passage and Connacht are well placed to join them.
Ulster got off to a flying start when Stuart McCloskey burst through the hosts' defence and offloaded to flanker Reidy who dived over for a third-minute try.
The home side responded and Italian centre Campagnaro produced a clinical finish on the left wing to end a flowing, pacey move by his side midway through the half.
Number eight Thomas Waldrom then rumbled over for his eighth try in eight Champions Cup games on the half-hour mark to nudge the Chiefs in front.
Piutau helped restore parity with an inspired moment of genius, showing a clean pair of heels to the home side's defence and dancing through several attempted tackles to score his first try.
Exeter dominated territory and possession after the break but Ulster defended stoutly as their opponents laid siege on their line until Waldrom went over in the 50th minute.
Campagnaro touched down in the corner after an exquisite move involving Phil Dollman and Jack Nowell to put 12 points between the sides but Piutau ran behind the posts to score on the hour after collecting Jackson's well-executed cross-kick.
Ulster scrum-half Dave Shanahan, making his first senior appearance, then just failed to get on the end of a clever Jackson kick into space as the visitors pressed for a fourth try,
The outcome was sealed when Jackson was yellow-carded in the closing minutes for a deliberate knock-on with three Exeter players waiting to score outside him, and referee Romain Poite awarded a penalty try.
Ulster, who have now failed to make the quarter-finals for three seasons in a row, host Bordeaux in their final pool match next weekend, while Exeter travel to face Clermont, who have already qualified as group winners.
Ulster Director of Rugby Les Kiss on BT Sport: "We're disappointed in the dressing-room at the moment. It's not good enough to keep saying 'we'll learn and get out and do the job next time'.
"We've got to have players who are going to put their hands up and make a difference in terms of their play on a weekly basis and be more consistent.
"I've been in the dressing-room and the boys were quite frank with each other about the disappointment of not being able to do the deal."
Exeter: Dollman; Nowell, Campagnaro, Whitten, Woodburn; Steenson (capt), Lewis; Moon, Cowan-Dickie, Holmes, Lees, Hill, Johnson, Armand, Waldrom
Replacements: Yeandle, Low, Williams, Dennis, Horstmann, Townsend, Simmonds, Devoto
Ulster: Ludik; Piutau, L Marshall, McCloskey, Trimble (capt), Jackson, Shanahan; Black, Best, Kane; Treadwell, Browne; Henderson, Henry, Reidy.
Replacements: Andrew, Warwick, Simpson, van der Merwe, Ross, P Marshall, Herron, Stockdale.
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter. | Exeter ran in five tries to extinguish Ulster's hopes of Champions Cup quarter-final qualification by winning 31-19 in the Pool 5 game at Sandy Park. | 38577207 |
Researchers at the House of Commons have produced a handbook for its 650 members - whose average age is 50 - full of statistics about what they call the "generation much talked about and arguably misunderstood".
Like the baby boomers and Generation X before them, this group have acquired their own tag, although there is debate about the exact parameters of the group.
So who is a millennial? According to this guide, it defines the generation as those now aged 25 to 34.
That means they would have experienced at least some, if not all, of their teenage years and early adulthood in the 21st Century.
And now the House of Commons Library, which describes itself as a "bespoke enquiry service to MPs and their staff", has assessed this millennial generation in 50 pages of statistics and research.
Here are some of its key findings:
The millennials are "more urban and diverse" than older people.
Employment rates among millennials are at a "near record high", the report says.
But it's not all good news - their wages have suffered more than other age groups since the recession in 2008, when many were just entering the world of work.
The report points to research showing that millennials do not follow the usual pattern of having higher average pay than the generation before them.
They are most likely to work in the wholesale and retail sector, followed by health and social work.
And unsurprisingly, millennials are less wealthy than older generations, having had less time to accumulate savings.
To illustrate the point, half of households led by a millennial have net wealth of £700 or less.
However in the 65 to 74 age group, half have accumulated £22,700 or more, the report says.
They will also have to wait longer to receive their state pension than previous generations.
It will not be news to many millennials, but they are much less likely to own their own home than previous generations.
The report says 59% of households led by a millennial are renting, with 38% owning their own home.
It has not always been this way - 20 years ago, the report says, young people were more likely to own than rent.
But now millennials are less likely to own their own home - and more likely to rent in the private sector - than any other age group.
In the past 20 years there has also been a slight increase in the proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds living with their parents, the report says, citing Office for National Statistics figures.
This is the case for 14% of millennials.
Millennials were most likely to have voted Labour in the 2015 election, according to a post-election survey - which put Labour on 32.4% to the Tories' 28.7%.
But they were also some of the least likely people to turn out to vote.
Millennial turnout was higher in last year's EU referendum, and they were "far more likely" to vote Remain, the Commons research says.
As for their view on the world, the report adds: "Recent significant world events such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the 2008 financial crises are seen as having a major impact on millennials' socio-political outlook.
"For example... it is argued that millennials have experienced long term 'scarring' in the labour market by having the misfortune to enter the workforce at the height of the financial crises." | Lots of people have been having their say about so-called millennials recently - and now MPs are getting their own guide. | 39593587 |
The showing of T2 Trainspotting will be held on Sunday 22 January at the Cineworld in Fountain Park.
The film reunites McGregor with director Danny Boyle and original cast members Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Ewen Bremner.
They are all expected to attend the premiere.
T2 Trainspotting comes 21 years after the original film, which followed a group of heroin addicts and explored urban poverty in Edinburgh. It was based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh.
The sequel is based on Welsh's book Porno.
The trailer for the sequel was released in November and opened with McGregor's character Mark Renton returning to Edinburgh to see his friends again.
Over the strains of Underworld's hit Born Slippy, which featured prominently in the 1996 film, Renton revives his bitter "choose life" motto but with modern references: "Choose Facebook, choose Twitter, choose Instagram and hope that someone, somewhere, cares."
He also refers to choosing reality TV, "slut-shaming", revenge porn and zero-hour contracts before saying: "Choose to smother the pain with an unknown dose of an unknown drug."
Renton's narration ends with: "You're an addict, so be addicted, just be addicted to something else. Choose the ones you love, choose your future, choose life."
The cast and crew from the new movie were seen filming at various locations across Edinburgh and elsewhere in Scotland last year.
In July, McGregor and Bremner were seen sprinting out of a shop on Princes Street, with Oscar-winner Boyle directing the pair as they recreated the famous opening sequence from the first movie.
T2 Trainspotting will be released in UK cinemas on 27 January. | Ewan McGregor is to return to Edinburgh for the world premiere of the Trainspotting sequel, 21 years after the original film made him a star. | 38509093 |
Work to strengthen Pontypridd's 148-year-old Victoria Bridge over the River Taff starts on Saturday and will take 27 weeks.
Vehicles travelling from the A470 across the bridge into the town centre will be unaffected.
All other routes will be diverted and some bus routes will be affected.
Victoria Bridge carries the A4223 over the river and is one of the main routes linking Pontypridd and the Rhondda Valleys to the A470.
The work will involve demolishing the structures that support the bridge footway and installing a new bridge deck.
Pedestrian access will be unaffected but some overnight and weekend closures will be carried out and will be advertised in advance. | A temporary one-way system will be introduced on a busy road bridge in Rhondda Cynon Taf as £1m repair works are completed. | 27349592 |
Theresa Villiers said that path could damage public services and undermine devolution.
She was speaking ahead of crisis talks at Stormont on Tuesday.
Northern Ireland's executive parties and the British and Irish governments are due to meet later.
It follows the defeat of the Welfare Reform Bill last week.
Under review will be the Stormont House Agreement that was struck in December between the parties and the two governments.
However, it is facing collapse over a failure to find agreement on welfare reforms.
Writing in the Irish News, Ms Villiers said the real threat to schools and hospitals were those who believe they can go on spending money without regard to the consequences.
She does not name Sinn Féin, but the party appears to be her target.
She said she wanted to correct "highly misleading caricatures" of the government's welfare reforms.
To those who reject the idea of being subject to any national spending settlement, she said the alternative would be complete fiscal autonomy, asking which taxes would rise and by how much to cover the transfer of money each year from the UK Treasury.
Ms Villiers rounded on those whom she called the "deficit deniers" and those who think they can go on spending money without any regard to the consequences.
They are the real threat to services, jobs and prosperity, she said.
As the British and Irish governments prepare to meet the parties on Tuesday, she concluded that there was a clear choice between what was agreed at Stormont House and a path that threatened to wreak havoc with public services and undermine devolution.
Meanwhile, two senior US politicians have urged the talks leaders to come to a "creative compromise" so that the agreement does not "founder".
Bruce Morrison was part of a US delegation that visited Belfast just before the 1994 IRA ceasefire and Jim Walsh chaired the Friends of Ireland Committee in the US Congress.
Their letter was addressed to Ms Villiers, Irish minister Charles Flanagan and to the NI first and deputy first ministers.
They said: "We believe the basis of a compromise exists if agreement can be reached to accept the current cuts envisioned by the Stormont Agreement, coupled with an agreement by her Majesty's government to accept a three year moratorium on future welfare cuts."
Northern Ireland should be in a much better place economically and socially by that time, the letter said.
Last week, the nationalist Sinn Féin and SDLP made a petition of concern, a blocking mechanism that meant the Welfare Reform Bill did not get the required cross-community support.
The DUP now wants the government to take back welfare powers, but Sinn Féin said such a move would be unacceptable.
First Minister Peter Robinson, who suffered a suspected heart attack last week, said he would take part out of respect for the secretary of state but would not be renegotiating the agreement.
On Sunday, Sinn Féin MLA Alex Maskey said he did not want the Northern Ireland Assembly to collapse and believed a deal on welfare was still possible.
However, Mr Maskey said Sinn Féin "cannot and will not stand over" proposed cuts to the welfare system.
In March, Sinn Féin dramatically withdrew its support for the Stormont House Agreement.
The agreement provided mitigation measures that would have protected benefit recipients in Northern Ireland who stood to lose out as a result of welfare reform.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) minister who tried unsuccessfully to pass the Welfare Reform Bill in the assembly last week told the Sunday Politics that those protective measures have been "lost" and "put in the bin" because of the parties' failure to agree.
Social Development Minister Mervyn Storey accused Sinn Féin of being led by its "southern command" in the Republic of Ireland over welfare policy. | The Northern Ireland Secretary has warned political leaders to choose between the Stormont House Agreement or a path that "threatens to wreak havoc". | 32966685 |
A zip wire, abseiling and "walking of the bridge's cables" are being considered, in addition to a visitor centre and glass lift.
Last November, East Riding of Yorkshire Council rejected proposals which included a hotel, restaurant and an office block.
Bosses said they wanted to turn the bridge into a tourist destination.
Kevin Moore, chief executive of the Humber Bridge Board, said the office block plans had been shelved but they were still considering whether to include the hotel and restaurant.
"We want to bring in adrenaline experiences, so safely walking the cables, possibly abseiling, a zip wire. These are all things some people may want to do here.
"Obviously we've got to look at the health and safety implications. But we really want to interpret the bridge in as wide a way as we possibly can."
The initial proposals would have allowed visitors to travel under the bridge at Hessle in a glass gondola before changing to the lift which would have ascended 510ft (155m) to the top of the north tower. These plans are now being reviewed.
Mr Moore said they would have a "revised concept" formed by December, which would then be submitted to the authority.
The council's planning committee voted against the original scheme because of concerns over the 60,000 sq ft office block. | Experiences for "adrenaline junkies" are among revised plans being drawn up to transform the Humber Bridge. | 40324721 |
Theresa May told MPs the information was uncovered in the Ellison Report into the police investigation of the murder of Stephen Lawrence.
Daniel Morgan, 37, from Llanfrechfa, Torfaen, was found with an axe in his head in a London pub car park in 1987.
His murder remains unsolved.
An independent judge-led panel of experts is reviewing the police handling of Mr Morgan's murder.
It is examining claims police corruption prevented a conviction, despite five investigations.
Mr Morgan's family believe he was on the verge of exposing police corruption when he was murdered.
They have campaigned for whoever killed him to be brought to justice.
Mr Morgan's case came up in the House of Commons as Mrs May announced a judge-led public inquiry into the work of undercover policy prompted by a review of the case of Stephen Lawrence.
The 18-year-old was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack by a gang of white youths in south-east London in April 1993.
A review by Mark Ellison QC found that a Metropolitan Police "spy" worked within the "Lawrence camp" while a previous inquiry into matters arising from his death was under way.
Mrs May described the findings as "deeply troubling".
She told the Commons: "Ellison also refers to possible links between an allegedly corrupt officer involved in the Stephen Lawrence case - DS Davidson - and the investigation into the murder of Daniel Morgan.
"Ellison finds that the Daniel Morgan Panel may therefore uncover material relevant to the question of corruption.
"And so it is key that the Daniel Morgan Panel continues its important work."
Mr Morgan's mother Isobel Hulsmann, from Hay-on-Wye in Powys, met Mrs May at the end of 2011 to pursue her campaign for justice.
Mrs May has previously said that the Metropolitan Police had already "admitted that police corruption was a 'debilitating factor' in the original investigation".
A trial of four men charged with Mr Morgan's murder in 2008 collapsed in 2011, following alleged failures by the police and prosecutors. | Possible links between an allegedly corrupt police officer and the investigation into the murder of a Welsh private investigator have been highlighted by the home secretary. | 26472252 |
The 14-year-old boy and another protester were shot dead in the western city of Barquisimeto on Tuesday night.
The local governor blamed armed government supporters. Two students were killed during protests last week.
Nicolas Maduro's presidency has come under increasing pressure as the economy suffers and opponents accuse him of creating a dictatorship.
Mr Maduro was pelted with objects by angry protesters as he left a military event in the south-eastern state of Bolivar earlier on Tuesday.
The latest anti-government demonstrations were sparked by a decision on Friday to bar opposition leader Henrique Capriles from holding public office for 15 years.
The dead teenager was identified as Brayan Principal by opposition MP Alfonso Marquina, who said he had been shot in the abdomen.
A 36-year-old man was also killed in Barquisimeto in a separate incident, the state prosecution service said.
Opposition leaders are calling for a date to be set for postponed regional elections.
Mr Maduro has resisted efforts by the opposition to hold a referendum on removing him and has vowed to continue the "socialist revolution" launched by his predecessor Hugo Chavez.
He says the economic crisis and efforts to get rid of him are a capitalist conspiracy. | A teenage demonstrator has been killed during growing unrest in Venezuela, as political and economic crisis deepens. | 39585293 |
The eight-stage event, won last year by Britain's Steve Cummings, will conclude with a 180km stage finishing in the Welsh capital on 10 September.
It will be only the fourth time since the race was revived in 2004 that it has finished outside London.
Welsh government economy secretary Ken Skates has called it "a real coup".
"I am sure people in Cardiff will come out in their droves to support the race," he added.
Wales has hosted a stage of the Tour of Britain annually since 2010, including the opening stage from Anglesey in 2015. | Cardiff will host the 2017 Tour of Britain final stage for the first time, with the race to open in Edinburgh on Sunday, 3 September. | 39710111 |
Next week sees the 10th anniversary of her disappearance, aged three, from an apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal.
The couple, from Rothley in Leicestershire, said "real progress" had been made by the Metropolitan Police over the past five years.
"There is still hope that we can find Madeleine," Kate McCann said.
She has described the impending anniversary of her daughter's disappearance as a "horrible marker of time, stolen time", but said she was no less hopeful of finding Madeleine than she had been in 2007.
Madeleine's father Gerry McCann said he and his wife "tried everything in our power to not have a long, protracted, missing person case like this".
"It's devastating and we really threw ourselves into trying to do everything we could to help find her," he said in an interview with Fiona Bruce.
"It looks like that hasn't worked yet. But you know we are still looking forward... we still hope.
"Since the Metropolitan Police actually started their investigation, it has taken a huge pressure off us, individually and as a family.
"The key thing was - and I suppose the injustice of it - was that after the initial Portuguese investigation closed, essentially, no-one else was actually doing anything pro-actively to try and find Madeleine.
"And I think every parent could understand that what you want - and what we have aspired to - is to have all the reasonable lines of enquiry followed to a logical conclusion."
Mrs McCann said the Met Police had "managed to pull so much together and sift through so much information, so now we do seem to be on just several lines of enquiry rather than tens, hundreds".
Four detectives are working on the case in the UK, scaled back from 30 in 2011, with more than £11m spent so far.
In March, police were granted £85,000 to extend the search for a further six months, from April to September.
Mr McCann said criticism of the amount of money being spent on the search was "really quite unfair" and that even though it was a single missing child, there were other crimes that came to light following Madeleine's abduction, that involved British tourists, "so I think prosecuting it to a reasonable end is what you would expect".
He added that this type of "stranger abduction" was "exceptionally rare", which was partly why Madeleine's case had attracted so much attention.
The McCanns also said they intended to continue a legal battle against Portuguese former detective Goncalo Amaral, who wrote a book about their daughter's disappearance, in which he suggested the couple had faked her abduction.
Although the book was banned by a Portuguese court, that decision was overturned by the country's highest court.
Mr McCann said they would be appealing, "because the last judgment, I think, is terrible".
He pointed out that Met Police chief leading the investigation, Mark Rowley, had recently said that there was no evidence that Madeleine was dead, "and the prosecutor has said there's no evidence that we were involved in any crime".
"Saying anything opposite isn't justice, it's not justice for Madeleine."
Mrs McCann said Mr Amaral's claims had caused "a lot of frustration and anger", but "we just need to channel that and... hope that in the long run that justice will prevail".
The McCanns have faced a barrage of negative comments on social media, and Mrs McCann said it was an area they both now avoided.
"We don't go there, to be honest. We are aware of things that get said because people alert us to them. I guess our worry is for our children."
She said she had found some of the online criticism shocking and an "aspect of human nature that I hadn't really encountered before".
"It's been striking and quite hard really to get your head round. Because why would somebody write that? Why would somebody add to someone's upset - why would someone in a position of ignorance do something like that?"
However, the McCanns said the main thing they had experienced "is the goodness of people and the support that we have had over 10 years, which hasn't wavered in all that time".
Mr McCann said they had "seen the worst and the best of human nature. And our personal experience, rather than on the internet, has been overwhelmingly seeing the better side of human nature."
Mr McCann said that, before Madeleine was taken, they felt they had managed to achieve a "little perfect nuclear family of five" - the couple also have twins.
"Unfortunately for us, a new normality is a family of four. But we have adapted and that's important.
"The last five years, in particular, has allowed us to really properly devote time to looking after the twins and ourselves and of course carrying on with our work.
"At some point you've got to realise that time is not frozen, and I think both of us realise that we owed it to the twins to make sure that their life is as fulfilling as they deserve."
Mrs McCann said she still buys birthday and Christmas presents for Madeleine.
"I obviously have to think about what age she is and something that, whenever we find her, will still be appropriate. so there's a lot of thought goes into it.
"But I couldn't not, you know; she's still our daughter, she'll always be our daughter."
A former GP, said she had now returned to work but in a different area to general practice.
"I think we don't dwell too much on things unnecessarily, so I think that's probably a self-protective thing there as well. We do have a very full life and as normal as we can make it.
"I think every kind of event that we do, whether it be a birthday or a family occasion or even an achievement or something - that is kind of when you really feel her absence.
"It's slightly different to how it was in the early days, when everything we were doing was to find Madeleine, whereas now we are having to get on and live a life as well, but it's not like any day she's not there, if you know what I mean."
Mrs McCann said she once felt embarrassment when people discussed the amount of money being spent on the search for her child, but then realised that other big cases also cost a huge amount of money.
She said one positive was that it made people more aware of the issue of missing children, and other families of missing people "have had more support from each other" as a result.
Mrs McCann said she also wanted to reassure supporters that progress was being made.
"It might not be as quick as we want, but there's real progress being made and I think we need to take heart from that, and we just have to go with the process and follow it through - whatever it takes, for as long as it takes.
"But that there is still hope that we can find Madeleine."
There will be a BBC Panorama programme Madeleine McCann: 10 Years On on Wednesday at 21:00 BST | Madeleine McCann's parents have told the BBC they will do "whatever it takes, for as long as it takes" to find their missing daughter. | 39757287 |
The country is in the middle of a civil war that has been going on for over five years.
It is being fought between soldiers who support the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, and a group of fighters known as rebels, who don't want him to be in power anymore.
You can find out more about why the war in Syria started and how it has developed with Newsround's guide.
But why has the Syrian city of Aleppo in particular been so important?
Aleppo used to be Syria's largest city, with about 2.3 million people living there.
It was also the country's main place for industry and finance, so it was important to the economy.
The old city in Aleppo is actually a Unesco World Heritage site.
This means that the area is officially recognised as being extremely important to the world's history and culture, and should be protected.
The conflict in Syria started in a city in the south of the country called Deraa, in March 2011.
However, by July 2012, the fighting reached Aleppo and the city became one of the main battlegrounds for the civil war.
As the government forces and the rebels starting fighting in Aleppo, the city became roughly divided in half.
Those against the Syrian government (the rebels) mainly had control of the east of the city, while the government soldiers had control of the west.
The city was divided in two like this for much of the last four years.
However, towards the end of 2016, government troops launched attacks against the rebels to try to win control of the whole city.
The government forces defeated the rebels in Aleppo and announced on 22 December 2016 that they had taken back control of the city.
It was a significant moment in the Syrian civil war as it gave them control over Syria's four largest cities.
After Aleppo was taken by the government, people who were living in the last areas held by the rebels started to be evacuated from the city.
Russia, which supports the Syrian government, said that civilians, rebel fighters and the rebels' families were being taken away from Aleppo to a nearby city called Idlib.
Not long after the evacuation began, though, it was halted because the Syrian government said the rebels weren't following rules they'd agreed about how it should happen.
Even when the evacuation started up again, there were reports of attacks and more fighting, which made it difficult.
On the 22 December, it was announced that the evacuation was complete.
The fight between the Syrian government and the rebels in Aleppo had a devastating impact on the lives of many ordinary people in the city.
There wasn't enough food and fuel, and buildings were bombed, including hospitals and schools.
Many fled from their homes to escape the fighting.
People who aren't fighting in the war - known as civilians - are not supposed to be killed by soldiers who are fighting each other, but this has not been the case in Aleppo, with many ordinary people losing their lives.
Organisations like the United Nations and Red Cross, who work to protect people living in places which are at war, called for more to be done to protect civilians in Aleppo, as this part of the conflict came to its conclusion.
Even though the government has taken over the city of Aleppo from the rebels, the civil war in Syria is far from over.
Rebels still control other areas of the country, as do other groups involved in the conflict, so it remains to be seen what will happen next.
If you're upset by this story, or anything in the news, click here for advice. | Aleppo is a city in the country of Syria, in the Middle East. | 38303230 |
A spokeswoman for Herefordshire Council said its officers had taken possession "achieved through peaceful re-entry for breach of three leases".
The winding-up petition was brought by HM Customs and Revenue, after a series of tax bills went unpaid.
The club had also failed to pay players, staff and other creditors.
A last-ditch attempt to save the 90-year-old club fell through on Friday when owner Andy Lonsdale, who promised he would invest £1m of his own money, was late to court claiming he had been stuck in traffic.
The council, which owns the land, said on Friday: "[We] will consider the appropriate process for procuring a new tenant to ensure the continuation of football."
Chris Williams, chairman of Hereford United Supporters' Trust, said a "phoenix club" could be established by August, in time for the start of the next football season. | Hereford United's Edgar Street ground has been repossessed after the football club was wound up at the High Court on Friday. | 30577116 |
The number of non-EU migrants who come to the UK to study but remain five years later could be about half that ministers claim, say researchers.
The "current self-destructive policy is deterring genuine international students", says the Institute for Public Policy Research.
Ministers say it is crucial to crack down on immigration abuse.
Ministers say official statistics suggest that each year about 91,000 non-EU students do not leave the UK at the end of their studies.
This figure is an extrapolation of data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) carried out annually by the Home Office on a sample of travellers at UK ports, says the IPPR.
Arrivals who plan to stay more than a year are asked their main reason for coming to the UK - and people who leave after more than a year are asked what they were doing while they were in the UK.
For students, the difference between the two figures is about 90,000 - so reducing this figure would help the government in its objective of cutting overall net migration.
But this approach is based on "dubious evidence", says the report.
Other ways of counting international students put the figure at less than half that suggested by the passenger survey, say the researchers:
"The large discrepancy between the other sources' figures and that of the IPS suggest that the latter's 90,000 figure is not reliable enough to be used as a guide for policy," says the report.
"While it is certainly right to root out abuse and tackle bogus colleges where there is robust evidence of wrongdoing, these rules have adversely affected genuine students and institutions, and have undermined the UK's reputation as a desirable destination for international students," it adds.
"Our research suggests that many of the students they are targeting may be phantom students who are no longer in the country," said report author Marley Morris.
The report urges the government to:
Seamus Nevin, head of employment and skills policy at the Institute of Directors, agreed it was time for the government to re-evaluate its approach to international students.
"Restrictive student and post-study visa rules undermine the UK's claim to be an open, outward facing, trading nation," he said.
"Most students who come to the UK to study are not permanent migrants."
And the umbrella group Universities UK urged the government to view international students as "valuable temporary visitors".
A Home Office spokesman said: "We continue to welcome the brightest and best to our world-class institutions. We are also committed to bringing net migration down to sustainable levels as soon as possible and are looking at all visa routes as part of that work." | The government might be targeting "phantom students" in its efforts to control migration, a study suggests. | 37279130 |
Prosecutors claimed two men made a 140-mile road trip to leave explosives concealed in a fire extinguisher among undergrowth close to the venue.
The alleged plan was to later move the device to the Waterfoot Hotel.
Details emerged as bail was refused to one of two men accused of bringing the bomb parts across the Irish border.
Darren Poleon, 41, of Drumbaragh in Kells, County Meath, is charged with preparing an act of terrorism.
He is also charged with conspiracy to cause an explosion, and possessing an improvised explosive device with intent to endanger life or cause damage to property.
Co-accused Brian Walsh, 34, of Dunshaughlin in County Meath, is charged with the same offences.
A prosecution lawyer said the pair were in a car stopped by police in Omagh three days before the bomb was discovered.
They claimed to be in Northern Ireland to buy an engine, the court heard.
Officers found a rucksack, bolt cutters, walkie-talkies, binoculars, a head torch, toy gun, latex gloves, wigs and a fake beard inside the vehicle.
At that stage the two men were arrested on suspicion of going equipped for theft, but later released on bail.
However, this changed after the explosives were found on 9 October, the prosecution barrister said.
"The police view is the device was at a transit location - it was to be moved closer or within the hotel prior to the PSNI recruitment event to take place the following day," she said.
Examination of the satellite navigation system in the car the two men were in revealed it travelled from County Meath to the "destination" at a roundabout near the Waterfoot Hotel, the court heard.
It also contained an address for Belfast Metropolitan College, where a similar police meeting was to be held, the prosecutor said.
The barrister said a reservation at the hotel for the night before the police event was made using Mr Poleon's name, but no one turned up for the booking.
A defence lawyer said the case against his client was "replete with speculation", with no DNA or fingerprint evidence linking him to the scene of the bomb find.
He also disputed allegations about the sat nav and hotel reservation.
Arguing that that the device could have been left in the undergrowth a month previously, he added: "It's a very weak circumstantial case."
Items found in Mr Poleon's car were only Halloween garments, a plastic cowboy gun and a child's walkie-talkie belonging to his son, he said.
However, the judge refused bail, saying there was prima facie evidence of involvement in a "very sophisticated and clearly terrorist-type operation.
"The circumstances and nature of the alleged offence raises real risks there will be further offending." | A bomb discovered near a Londonderry hotel was to be smuggled inside before a police recruitment event, the High Court in Belfast has heard. | 35104938 |
Chargers were used 26,119 times during August, up from 12,939 in August 2015 and nine times the usage in August 2014, ChargePlace Scotland said.
Electric vehicle drivers appeared to favour rapid charge points, with many standard charge points not used at all.
Recent figures showed there were 3,575 electric vehicles licensed in Scotland, up from 2,050 the previous year.
There are 870 public and commercial charging points in the ChargePlace Scotland network with a total of 1,772 connectors or sockets between them, up from 694 charge points and 1,373 sockets a year earlier.
According to ChargePlace Scotland, the majority of public charge points will fully charge most electric vehicles in between four and eight hours.
Rapid chargers - which make up 18% of the charging total - can charge cars up to 80% in half-an-hour.
Despite the overall increase in usage, a quarter of charging points around the country were not used at all during August.
Of 76 charge points in Glasgow, 68 were used in August, while of 68 in Edinburgh only 46 were used at least once during the month.
The lowest usage was in Dumfries and Galloway where just eight of 20 charging points were used.
The figures were revealed as part of RAC Foundation analysis of data collected from the ChargePlace Scotland network. The data does not include domestic charge points.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: "They say that when it comes to buying a house, location, location, location is everything.
"So it goes with electric charge points. Facilities need to be in places where people will use them.
"But there's something more. The evidence suggests that it is rapid chargers that are getting a disproportionate amount of use, which bears out the view that improving the convenience and speed of 'filling' up with electricity is mission critical to the wider take-up of these vehicles." | The use of electric car charging points across Scotland has more than doubled in the last year. | 37930907 |
Waseem Raja Azram, 29, admitted violent disorder following the death of Zakir Nawaz, 22, who was found injured in Washwood Heath on 10 September.
Azram, of Ward End Close, Ward End, was jailed for two years. The prosecution at Birmingham Crown Court offered no evidence on a murder charge.
West Midlands Police said they were still looking for Mr Nawaz's killer. | A man has been jailed after a fatal stabbing in a Birmingham street following a traffic accident. | 39290941 |
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is calling on Mr Trump to "act strongly to squelch harassment".
They also urge Mr Trump to "reach out to the communities he's injured".
Last week Mr Trump repudiated the fringe "alt-right" group whose members celebrated his election win with Nazi salutes.
The SPLC has released two reports into the aftermath of the businessman's win.
Along with representatives of teachers' unions and other civil rights groups, the SPLC outlines how they say Mr Trump's rhetoric and actions have affected US society.
The SPLC has been monitoring social media and news reports, and an online form that they have created for Americans to self-report hateful incidents.
"Mr Trump should take responsibility for what's occurring, forcefully reject hate and bigotry," the organisation said.
In their report, Ten Days After, they report finding hundreds of cases of attacks against minorities - including instances of violence and intimidation - some of which they directly link to the surprise Trump victory on 8 November.
"An awful lot of these crimes are directly linked to the Trump campaign in the sense that graffiti was left or words were shouted that directly invoked Trump," Senior SPLC fellow Mark Potok told the BBC.
Multiple instances have been recorded of black people being told to move to the back of the bus, a seating arrangement which was required under Jim Crow-era segregation laws.
The words "Whites Only" and "Trump Nation" were painted on to a church with a large immigrant population and a gay man was pulled from his car and attacked by an assailant who used a slur to say "the president says we can kill all you", the report finds.
In their second report, titled After the Election, The Trump Effect they surveyed 10,000 educators, finding that 90% have seen their school's climate negatively impacted by what they call the "Trump effect".
"It's time for our president-elect to use his voice to effectively and unequivocally denounce these hateful acts that are done in his name," said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
The report also finds that more than a quarter of the teachers observed incidents of bigotry and harassment "that can be directly traced to election rhetoric", including swastika graffiti, physical fights and threats of violence.
The SPLC has been very critical of Mr Trump's decision to appoint a right-wing media executive to the role of chief White House strategist.
The group accused Stephen Bannon of being "the main driver behind Breitbart [News] becoming a white ethno-nationalist propaganda mill". | A prominent US civil rights group says it has identified almost 900 incidents of harassment following Donald Trump's win in the US presidential election. | 38149406 |
Carmarthenshire and Flintshire councils are not opposed to the Welsh Language Commissioner's proposals but there is a feeling they are not practical.
It is among a host of standards they need to deliver in Welsh from 2016.
Nine councils are still considering the rules, six are happy but Pembrokeshire said it would cost them £500,000. | Plans for members of the public to be allowed to speak to council officials in Welsh without translation look set to be challenged. | 34677343 |
The House of Commons backed a motion by 274 votes to 12, although the decision will not decide government policy.
But Israel's government said the vote could undermine the chances of peace by letting Palestinian leaders think they could evade the "tough choices" needed.
However, the Labour MP bringing the motion said recognising statehood could be a "bridge" to negotiations.
Current UK government policy is that it "reserves the right to recognise a Palestinian state bilaterally at the moment of our choosing and when it can best help bring about peace".
But Labour MP Grahame Morris's Commons motion, backed by his party's leadership, stated: "That this House believes that the government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution."
The Commons backed the move "as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution" - although less than half of MPs took part in the vote.
Conservative and Liberal Democrat ministers abstained, which is convention on motions proposed by backbench MPs. This is despite recognition of Palestinian statehood being a policy held by the Lib Dems.
Middle East Minister Tobias Ellwood said the UK reserved the right to recognise Palestine when it was "appropriate for the peace process".
In a statement following the vote, Israel's government said: "The route to Palestinian statehood runs through the negotiation room. Premature international recognition sends a troubling message to the Palestinian leadership that they can evade the tough choices that both sides have to make, and actually undermines the chances to reach a real peace.
"Recognition of a Palestinian state should be the result of a successful conclusion of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority."
But Palestinian officials say they have been forced to pursue measures including seeking greater recognition internationally because a succession of peace talks has failed.
In a speech on Tuesday morning, former International Development Minister Alan Duncan said the expansion of Israeli settlements was an "ever-deepening stain on the face of the globe".
Mr Duncan, who left the government in last summer's reshuffle, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One: "Having illegal settlements all the time is simply not acceptable and anyone who supports them, I consider to be an extremist."
He said "the starting point in principle is that these settlements are illegal", adding that the UK government "must be prepared to state this principle more strongly".
About 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
Daniel Taub, the Israeli ambassador to the UK, said there was "a lot of frustration" there had not been more progress in the peace process.
But he said settlements had never been the barrier to reaching agreement.
"We have a population where there is natural growth," he said, adding: "Why is it out of the question that in a future Palestinian state, that Jews should not be able to live there side-by-side with their Palestinian neighbours?"
In 2012 the UN General Assembly voted to upgrade the Palestinians' status to that of "non-member observer state". Some 41 nations - including the UK - abstained.
The parliamentary vote came amid moves elsewhere in Europe to recognise Palestinian statehood officially, more than 100 countries having done so.
The full list of how MPs voted can be read on Hansard's Official Record of the debate. | Israel has warned against sending a "troubling message", after UK MPs voted to recognise Palestinian statehood. | 29611875 |
Dwright Boone-Doty, 22, was arrested on Monday night in connection with the death of Tyshawn Lee in November.
He is the second suspect to be charged over the killing, which caused an outcry in Chicago.
Corey Morgan, 27 - said to be one of two men who lured Lee from a playground - was arrested in November.
On Tuesday a prosecutor said the murder was symptomatic of an "unprecedented crisis" of gang violence in the city.
More than 450 people were killed in Chicago in 2015. The city police department faced intense criticism and a murder charge for one of its officers over the shooting of a 17-year-old black teenager Laquan McDonald.
Police says Boone-Doty was being held on unrelated gun charges when investigators linked him to the child's death.
Then-Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy described the shooting as the "most abhorrent, cowardly, unfathomable crime" he had ever seen.
Police officials and prosecutors echoed that language on Tuesday.
"In my nearly 30 years of policing, I have never witnessed such a hateful act of treachery," said Police Superintendent John Escalante.
State's Attorney Anita Alverez said Boone-Doty had been looking for family members to kill - including Tyshawn's grandmother - as part of escalating gang retribution.
He allegedly lured Lee to the alley where he was killed by promising to buy him something.
Boone-Doty's original plan, Alverez said, was to torture the young boy by cutting off his fingers. | A man has been charged with murder over the fatal shooting of a nine-year-old boy in Chicago, apparently because of his father's gang ties. | 35748771 |
Watermark sells products including food, drink and artwork in shops around the Calder Valley with a percentage of the profits going into the fund.
The money is doubled by Community Foundation for Calderdale and can then be distributed in the area if a flood hits.
More than 3,000 properties were flooded in the region on Boxing Day 2015 with damage estimated to be £150m.
The initiative is one of several led by Community Foundation for Calderdale which has raised more than £3m since the December floods.
Chris Sands from Watermark hoped similar schemes could be started in other areas around the UK at risk from flooding.
He said: "Anyone can contribute, even if they have no chance of being flooded.
"Lots of people are doing that because they want the place where they live to be sustainable."
Euan Noble, producer of Watermark Gin, said: "The objective is to grow our business and to give money back into the watermark fund - it's a win for everybody."
Earlier in December, a council report setting out plans to invest more than £92m in flood prevention said the threat of loss of life from flooding was "ever present" in the area.
Calderdale Council said the total cost to the authority was not yet clear but it was estimated that it could exceed £50m.
Work was "well under way" on multi-million pound flood alleviation schemes for Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge, the council added. | A scheme set up to help future flood victims has raised £300,000. | 38414326 |
Danny Newton opened the scoring in the 37th minute with a clever chip, while Jonathan Smith made it two on the stroke of half-time.
After the break, substitute Ben Kennedy curled a sublime third into the top corner, with virtually his first kick after coming off the bench.
Danny Collins nodded home a late consolation for Grimsby, who had former Gateshead man Sam Jones sent off for an off-the-ball incident in the 58th minute.
It was Grimsby's third red card in as many games this season, following the dismissals of Zak Mills and James Berrett earlier in the campaign.
Early on, a free-kick from Grimsby midfielder Luke Summerfield was clawed back from the line. However, there were plenty in blue who thought it had gone in.
It proved to be a rare moment of excitement for the visitors, though, who fell to their second successive defeat.
Match report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Stevenage 3, Grimsby Town 1.
Second Half ends, Stevenage 3, Grimsby Town 1.
Mark McKee (Stevenage) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Mark McKee (Stevenage).
Nathan Clarke (Grimsby Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Paul Dixon (Grimsby Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Ben Kennedy (Stevenage) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Paul Dixon (Grimsby Town).
Corner, Grimsby Town. Conceded by Tom Conlon.
Attempt blocked. Harry Cardwell (Grimsby Town) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Dale Gorman (Stevenage) right footed shot from more than 35 yards is blocked.
Substitution, Grimsby Town. Diallang Jaiyesimi replaces Siriki Dembele.
Goal! Stevenage 3, Grimsby Town 1. Danny Collins (Grimsby Town) header from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Luke Summerfield following a set piece situation.
Dale Gorman (Stevenage) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Dale Gorman (Stevenage).
Mitch Rose (Grimsby Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Stevenage. Tom Conlon replaces Jonathan Smith.
Substitution, Stevenage. Mark McKee replaces Matt Godden.
Attempt saved. Tom Pett (Stevenage) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Attempt missed. Harry Cardwell (Grimsby Town) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Corner, Grimsby Town. Conceded by Joe Martin.
Goal! Stevenage 3, Grimsby Town 0. Ben Kennedy (Stevenage) left footed shot from outside the box to the top left corner.
Foul by Tom Pett (Stevenage).
Tom Bolarinwa (Grimsby Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Danny Newton (Stevenage).
Luke Summerfield (Grimsby Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Danny Newton (Stevenage) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Jonathan Smith (Stevenage) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Corner, Stevenage. Conceded by Nathan Clarke.
Attempt saved. Matt Godden (Stevenage) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is saved in the centre of the goal.
Substitution, Stevenage. Ben Kennedy replaces Alex Samuel.
Alex Samuel (Stevenage) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Siriki Dembele (Grimsby Town).
Sam Jones (Grimsby Town) is shown the red card for violent conduct.
Attempt blocked. Nathan Clarke (Grimsby Town) header from the centre of the box is blocked.
Corner, Grimsby Town. Conceded by Joe Martin.
Attempt saved. Tom Bolarinwa (Grimsby Town) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Attempt missed. Siriki Dembele (Grimsby Town) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left misses to the right.
Corner, Grimsby Town. Conceded by Luke Wilkinson.
Foul by Jonathan Smith (Stevenage). | Stevenage earned their first win of the League Two season with a convincing victory against 10-man Grimsby at the Lamex Stadium. | 40908177 |
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The Mercedes driver is "energised and excited" before the new season, which he starts as favourite after two consecutive world titles in 2014 and '15.
"Now it is just to see where I can go, into the unknown," the Briton said.
"I don't know how far I can go, how long I will go on in F1."
The 31-year-old added: "I am going into a new chapter in my life and I will see where it takes me."
The first race of the season is in Australia on 20 March.
Hamilton said that he was motivated by "my love for the sport and cars; my love for wanting to be able to take the car to the edge, to the unknown, to an area most people can't".
He added: "Those who said I would not succeed, and not amount to anything, I am going to continue to prove them wrong and smile in their face as I do so."
It is nearly five months since Hamilton clinched the 2015 title at the US Grand Prix last October but he said he still found it hard to come to terms with the fact that he had equalled the title tally of his hero Ayrton Senna.
"I still pinch myself every day to think I used to go home from school and put the video in and watch Ayrton and now I have matched him in a similar amount of races in terms of results," Hamilton said.
"But he still has more poles than me so I still have more targets in that sense."
However, Hamilton, who first won the drivers' championship in 2008, said he was not motivated by trying to match the achievements of specific drivers who have won more titles than him.
"People have said: 'Do you want to match Sebastian Vettel or Michael Schumacher?' he said. "That was never a goal for me.
"I don't know how long I will be as good as I have been. But that's the exciting thing about life; you don't know what's around the corner so I will give it everything I have got."
Hamilton's team-mate Nico Rosberg, who has been beaten into second place in the past two years, said: "There's a cool battle with Lewis coming up again.
"It is a challenge I really look forward to, to try to beat him more often than not, somehow.
"Realistically, it is going to be tough because he has been better the last couple of years. He is the favourite but it will be a great battle and that's what I enjoy."
The German, who said his confidence had been boosted by a strong run of form at the end of last season, expects a tougher challenge from Ferrari this season.
"At the moment Ferrari look like the biggest threat and it is a serious threat because they are very, very close," Rosberg said.
"I hope we are still in front. For sure, we will be challenging for wins at least but let's wait and see."
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff says the team had "reduced" the number of rules they impose on their drivers in defining the acceptable limits of their battle.
This is partly because they have no choice following the introduction of severe restrictions on what teams can tell their drivers over the radio, and partly because they feel they can be trusted to fight on track without too much interference.
"We entered the season with a little more confidence without losing the plot," Wolff said.
"The current narrative is about the rivalry between Nico and Lewis. We understand it can get a little controversial because they are fighting for the drivers' title.
"They equally understand the spirit in the team. I have no doubts it is going to be OK this season, with a few hiccups now and then."
Rosberg's contract with Mercedes runs out at the end of 2016, while Hamilton is starting a new three-year deal.
"Nico is part of the family and we have not started any discussions elsewhere," Wolff said.
"We owe it to our driver to open up these discussions with him before talking to anyone else and understand where he sees his future. We have kept it as little away from him now so he can concentrate on the championship."
Asked whether he was interested in rising star Max Verstappen of Toro Rosso, Wolff said: "In F1 nothing is out of the question. I rate Max and I like (his father) Jos but they are contracted to Red Bull for quite some time and I like the two boys in Red Bull Racing as well (Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat).
"You need to be realistic about potential candidates but Nico is my number one priority at the moment. I am going to find out what he wants and then look elsewhere." | Lewis Hamilton says he is still hungry for success in Formula 1 despite achieving his childhood ambition of winning his third title last year. | 35790354 |
About £7m will be spent on new transmission facilities to be shared at the BBC's new base in central Cardiff.
The rest will help fund S4C's move to new headquarters in Carmarthen, projected to create more than 800 jobs.
Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said the UK government was "committed to securing the future of Welsh language broadcasting".
S4C will also be given £350,000 to upgrade its technical and IT equipment.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) also announced it would launch an independent review of S4C's remit, governance and funding.
It said the money announced on Monday would "ensure financial stability" during the review process.
"We are making Britain a country that works for all, and are committed to securing the future of Welsh language broadcasting," Ms Bradley said.
"This money will not only ensure S4C continues to prosper, but also that the channel is equipped to compete globally."
The broadcaster is expected to repay the loan by selling its current base in Llanishen, Cardiff, for about £3m, and from money saved as a result of the relocation.
S4C chairman Huw Jones said the channel "welcomes the government's commitment to securing S4C's future".
The DCMS praised S4C for contributing £114m to the Welsh economy in 2015/16 and attracting its highest audiences for nine years, an average of 629,000 viewers a week.
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns added: "This investment puts S4C on a secure footing for years to come, guaranteeing TV viewers can continue to enjoy a high quality range of Welsh language TV programmes.
"The UK Government is absolutely committed to supporting and promoting the Welsh language, and today's investment is solid proof of that." | S4C has welcomed a £10m loan by the UK government which says it will secure the broadcaster's future. | 39331465 |
The firm said it added a record 5.59 million customers in the three months to December, bringing total member numbers to 74.76 million.
However, it said it missed its forecast for US subscriber growth.
Earlier this month, the firm said it had expanded to 130 more countries.
Netflix said it was upbeat about the number of subscribers it expected to grow in the current quarter - forecasting growth of 6.10 million, up from 4.88 million the year earlier.
Netflix said its global expansion plans would start by "primarily targeting outward†| Video-streaming company Netflix said its customer numbers surged more than expected last quarter, sending its US-listed shares up as much as 8% in after hours trading. | 35358821 |
Akinfenwa - nicknamed 'The Beast' - asked managers to "hit me up on WhatsApp" in his post-match interview.
The 34-year-old scored a 101st-minute injury-time penalty in the 2-0 win over Plymouth Argyle.
Embracing manager Neal Ardley, Akinfenwa shouted: "He's releasing me!"
AFC Wimbledon will play in English football's third tier for the first time in their history next season after sealing their sixth promotion since the club's formation in 2002 by fans of the old Wimbledon FC, following their relocation to Milton Keynes.
Cult hero Akinfenwa, who is known for his bulky physique and strength, told BBC Radio 5 live: "Come on now, there ain't no better way to send off. To see this team get promoted, to score with the last kick of the game, I couldn't even write that.
"I said let's complete this fairytale, and that's what we've done.
"I'm going to miss this team, I'm going to miss this place but there ain't no better way to leave it. It's about progression, and AFC Wimbledon are getting stronger and stronger.
"It's what dreams are made of, it's beautiful."
He told Sky Sports: "I think I'm technically unemployed, so any managers hit me up on the WhatsApp and get me a job."
AFC Wimbledon top scorer Lyle Taylor's goal looked to have settled the match and after Adebayo Azeez was fouled in the Plymouth penalty area 11 minutes into injury time, Callum Kennedy picked up the ball to take the spot kick.
But Akinfenwa grabbed it off him as the two players argued about who should take it, before Akinfenwa scored confidently to seal victory.
"I did promise Cal K (Kennedy) that I would let him take the pen, but it was just set up too beautifully and I'm bigger than Cal so Cal's unlucky. Sorry Cal K, I love you though, that's all it was.
"All them who said I was too big to play football, come on now, ha ha!"
The lower league journeyman later revealed to BBC Radio 5 live: "I'm going to be honest, I would have usually said I had it covered, that I knew I was going to score. But I was nervous. When it hit the back of the net it was elation."
Manager Ardley told a news conference after the game that the decision to release Akinfenwa was made during "reviews" in the week before Monday's final.
"Me and Bayo [Akinfenwa] had a very long, heartfelt chat," said Ardley. "It was left a little bit in the open, but I think it may end being being the best for both parties, him included, if he doesn't think he's going to play regularly because you can't tell me that that guy hasn't got two years of starting games still left in him.
"He's got his mojo back and it maybe that it goes that way, but we'll find out probably during the week."
Media playback is not supported on this device | Iconic AFC Wimbledon striker Adebayo Akinfenwa revealed he has been released by the club - seconds after helping them win the League Two play-off final at Wembley. | 36413941 |
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