id
stringlengths 7
11
| dialogue
stringlengths 15
174k
⌀ | summary
stringlengths 1
399
|
|---|---|---|
39938771 | The former sheet metal worker from Stoke-on-Trent has won everything the sport has to offer multiple times - setting records which may never be broken.
The 16-time world champion announced in January that 2017 would be his final year on the circuit after three decades of darting dominance.
On Thursday, the 56-year-old will take part in his last Premier League play-offs against the top-three ranked players in the world.
Taylor is ninth in the PDC Order of Merit after scaling back his tournament appearances over the past couple of years.
He will be competing against world champion Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Peter Wright at London's O2 Arena - arguably the best four throwers on the planet, despite Taylor's position in the rankings.
Six-time champion Taylor is heading into the event, with a £250,000 prize for the winner, in a relaxed mood.
"It's a marathon. The world championship you can win over 10 days. This one is near on five months," he told BBC Radio Stoke.
"I'm not going to put myself under pressure, I've just got to go out there and enjoy it now.
"I've been doing it for 30 years so it doesn't matter anymore. I'll be out there trying my best and I'll be gutted if I get beaten, but I'm not going to sulk about it. I'm not going to chuck myself in the Thames."
First up for Taylor in search of his seventh crown is world number three Wright.
The colourful Scot has been in superb form in 2017, winning his first major ranking event - the UK Open - in March, and recording the second-highest televised average of 119.50 in the Premier League in Exeter.
"Peter Wright has done well," Taylor added. "Psychedelic Sid I call him. He's dedicated, he does everything right, he's a tough cookie. He's learnt his trade, he's done his apprenticeship. When he first came over he was getting beaten 6-0, but he's learned."
Taylor may be retiring at the start of 2018, but the Englishman said he would still be closely involved in darts.
"I feel brilliant, I'm looking forward to it, I can't wait," he said.
"When I say retire, I'm going to be doing other things, working probably 100-odd nights next year, so I won't be retiring from work, I'll be out there touring.
"When I come back from Dubai [Darts Masters on 24-25 May] I'm not doing the world pairs so I've got three weeks off. I've not had three weeks off in 10 years."
Wright is appearing at his first play-offs and said it was "immense" to be competing against three legends of the game.
"I've seen these great guys win it in recent years and I want to be one of those great guys too," the 47-year-old said.
"You have to believe in your own ability and that what you do on the practice board, you can do on the stage against him and anyone else in the world."
The other semi-final sees group winner and world number one Michael van Gerwen take on world number two Gary Anderson in a repeat of January's World Championship final.
Reigning Premier League champion Van Gerwen is favourite to lift his third title.
"It's time for business now," the 28-year-old said. "They know what they have to do to beat me if they want to win the tournament, but I need to make sure I hold them off by playing some good darts and putting them under pressure.
"It's four good players and you can't let them have a sniff of the trophy, because if you give them a finger they will take your hand. I want to win the trophy again and it would be really special if I can."
Anderson, Premier League champion in 2011 and 2015, will be looking for revenge over Van Gerwen after the Dutchman beat him in front of his home crowd in Aberdeen in the final week of group fixtures.
"It would be nice to win it again and if I play well I've got a good chance," the Scot said.
"You've got to beat everyone that's in front of you and whoever turns up on the night is going to walk away with the trophy.
"It's always going to be hard anyway but it's going to be interesting because it's Phil's last, it's Peter's first time here and both me and Michael have won it twice, so it's all to play for." | When Phil Taylor puts away his darts for the final time after the 2018 PDC World Championship, an era of sporting greatness like few others will come to a close. |
38255718 | Media playback is not supported on this device
Chisora threw a table at Whyte in Wednesday's news conference.
He has received a two-year ban from boxing, which comes in if he commits another offence, been fined £25,000 and told to pay another £5,000 in costs.
The British Boxing Board of Control withdrew their sanction for the fight being for the title, which Whyte keeps.
He has not been punished.
It remains a WBC world heavyweight title eliminator fight, but the pair will weigh in at different times and not face-off.
There will also be a hearing at a later date to discuss any action towards the other people at the melee.
During Wednesday's news conference, promoters and coaches sat between the pair but Chisora, 32, picked up the table and threw it at his rival, with security stepping in.
That came after Whyte, 28, told Chisora he would attack him after the fight if he saw him. Chisora, who has six defeats from 32 fights, said he was reacting to a threat on his life.
The fight was due to be the first British title defence for Whyte, whose only defeat in 20 professional fights was by IBF world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Joshua headlines the Manchester Arena bill on Saturday, when he defends his world title against Eric Molina. | Dereck Chisora's fight against British heavyweight champion Dillian Whyte on Saturday in Manchester will go ahead - but will no longer be for the title. |
38656814 | It could be by accident. It could be part of a plan to establish his independent credentials. Or it could simply be an early attempt at framing Republican policies in terms palatable to his working-class supporters.
Whatever the reason, Mr Trump has staked out positions that are not exactly in harmony with Republican orthodoxy or the policy direction in which the Republican-led Congress seems to be heading.
Over the weekend Mr Trump told the Washington Post that the goal of his healthcare reform plan, following repeal of the Affordable Care Act, is "insurance for everybody".
"There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can't pay for it, you don't get it," the president-elect said. "That's not going to happen with us."
Universal coverage is an objective President Barack Obama's healthcare reform sought, but never actually achieved. According to the federal government, even with full implementation of Obamacare and its insurance-coverage mandate, the US uninsured rate was 8.6% in 2016 - albeit a 50-year low.
"Insurance for everybody," outside a single-payer government-provided healthcare plan, is virtually unachievable.
This is why, when Republican congressional leaders describe their healthcare reform proposals, they generally use the term "universal access" not "universal coverage".
"Our goal here is to make sure that everybody can buy coverage or find coverage if they choose to," a Republican House of Representatives aide told reporters in December.
The yet-to-be announced plan congressional Republicans are currently formulating is more likely to be a blend of the measures floated by various conservatives in the past.
For instance Congressman Tom Price, Mr Trump's nominee to be health and human services secretary, suggested a system that leaned heavily on tax credits and an expansion of existing health-savings accounts, where individuals could put aside untaxed money to pay for future medical needs.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has proposed the creation of federally funded high-risk insurance pools that would enrol individuals who couldn't get insurances elsewhere because of pre-existing medical conditions or other complicating factors.
None of these would come close to approaching universal coverage or even Mr Obama's uninsured mark over the past few years, however.
As if that weren't enough, Mr Trump also advocated using the buying power of the federal Medicare prescription-drug programme for the elderly to drive down the cost of pharmaceuticals.
While this has long been a goal of Democrats, conservatives have opposed the idea for more than a decade. It's enough to make rank-and-file Republicans reach for their antacids.
Looming over this entire discussion is a Congressional Budget Office report released on Tuesday that predicts a straight-up repeal of Obamacare without any kind of a replacement would result in a doubling of premiums in the individual insurance market by 2026, at which point a total of 32 million Americans would have lost their coverage.
Mr Trump, in his comments this weekend, has essentially laid down a marker that repeal will be quickly followed by a replacement that will do a better job advancing Democratic goals of lower drug prices and more universal coverage than the Democrats' own best attempt.
It is, to put it bluntly, a high bar to reach.
If reshaping the US healthcare system turns out to be a challenge, at least tax reform was considered a low-hanging fruit for Mr Trump and his party. Even here, however, the president-elect has made comments that undermine Republican efforts to achieve legislative consensus.
A key part of the nascent congressional tax plan involved something called "border adjustments", which would tax corporations based on their final point of sale and not on where they are based. This would allow the US to give preference to businesses based in the US - one of Mr Trump's key goals during the campaign. It would also raise enough revenue to allow the overall US tax rate to be lowered from its current 35% mark.
Mr Trump, however, said the idea was "too complicated".
"Anytime I hear border adjustment, I don't love it," he said. "Because usually it means we're going to get adjusted into a bad deal."
Mr Trump appears to support a more direct border tariff, not the more complicated congressional work-around. On Monday he threatened European automakers with a 35% tax on foreign-made vehicles sold in the US.
The problem this presents for both the president-elect and congressional leaders is it runs directly against his party's long-standing free-trade positions - principles many in Congress have campaigned, and won, on for years. They might be able to dance around the issue with border adjustments and corporate tax reform, but Mr Trump seems more like a bull than a ballerina.
It's possible to imagine that Mr Trump's recent comments were just, to put it delicately, rhetorical missteps and that he, in fact, is actually on the same wavelength as his Republican colleagues in Congress.
Then again, when pressed by the Washington Post on how he could get his healthcare priorities advanced despite an apparent conflict with current Republican plans, Mr Trump dug in his heels.
"The Congress can't get cold feet because the people will not let that happen," Mr Trump said.
"I think we will get approval. I won't tell you how, but we will get approval. You see what's happened in the House in recent weeks."
That was an apparent reference to Mr Trump's Twitter-based effort to force House Republicans to back away from a plan to weaken an independent congressional ethics investigation office several weeks ago.
Whether he was directly responsible for causing the legislators to change course or simply reflecting popular outcry is open to debate, but the president-elect seems to be feeling his oats.
And if it's this way on tax law and healthcare reform - areas where Republicans and Mr Trump have a fair amount of ideological common ground - imagine what might happen when the president tries to advance his more controversial ideas on immigration or trade. Or pushes his childcare proposal, which met with significant opposition from his party "allies" pretty much from the moment he proposed them last October.
And what's in store if Mr Ryan goes through with his long-sought dream of entitlement reform - despite Mr Trump's campaign pledges not to touch Medicare or Social Security benefits?
Candidate Trump was a political wild-card, willing to buck conventional wisdom and his own party seemingly on whim.
Early indications are President Trump could do more of the same. As Republicans celebrate this weekend, storm clouds may be forming on the horizon. | With just days to go before inauguration, Donald Trump is making life rather difficult for his party's leadership in Congress. |
37373414 | Campaign group Public Eye says retailers are exploiting weak regulatory standards.
Vitol, Trafigura, Addax & Oryx and Lynx Energy have been named because they are shareholders of the fuel retailers.
Trafigura and Vitol say the report is misconceived and retailers work within legal limits enforced in the countries.
Three of the distribution companies mentioned in the report have responded by saying that they meet the regulatory requirements of the market and have no vested interest in keeping sulphur levels higher than they need to be.
Although this is within the limits set by national governments, the sulphur contained in the fumes from the diesel fuel could increase respiratory illnesses like asthma and bronchitis in affected countries, health experts say.
The picture is changing but there are still several African countries which allow diesel to have a sulphur content of more than 2,000 parts per million (ppm), with some allowing more than 5,000ppm, whereas the European standard is less than 10ppm.
Rob de Jong from the UN Environment Programme (Unep) told the BBC that there was a lack of awareness among some policy makers about the significance of the sulphur content.
For a long time countries relied on colonial-era standards, which have only been revised in recent years.
Another issue is that in the countries where there are refineries, these are unable, for technical reasons, to reduce the sulphur levels to the standard acceptable in Europe. This means that the regulatory standard is kept at the level that the refineries can operate at.
Some governments are also worried that cleaner diesel would be more expensive, therefore pushing up the price of transport.
But Mr De Jong argued that the difference was minimal and oil price fluctuations were much more significant in determining the diesel price.
The sulphur particles emitted by a diesel engine are considered to be a major contributor to air pollution, which the World Health Organization (WHO) ranks as one of the top global health risks.
It is associated with heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory problems.
The WHO says that pollution is particularly bad in low and middle income countries.
Reducing the sulphur content in diesel would go some way to reducing the risk that air pollution poses.
Unep is at the forefront of trying to persuade governments to tighten up the sulphur content regulations and is gradually making progress.
In 2015, the East African Community introduced new regulations for Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Diesel cannot now have more than 50ppm in those countries.
It is clear that the situation has improved since 2005.
Unep's Jane Akumu is currently working with the West African regional grouping Ecowas and its Southern African counterpart Sadc to try and change the regulations there.
She told the BBC that she was optimistic that governments would bring down the legal sulphur limits as the arguments in favour are compelling. | Swiss firms have been criticised in a report for their links to the African trade in diesel with toxin levels that are illegal in Europe. |
38569010 | Flight TOM6248, which was bound for Tenerife, struck a seagull shortly after taking off at 08:21 GMT.
Passengers described a loud thud from the left engine and the plane vibrating.
A Thomson Airways spokeswoman said: "We would like to reassure customers that issues of this nature are very rare."
The passengers were taken off the plane and put on a replacement flight to Tenerife which departed shortly before 13:00.
Passenger Eric Jackson said: "There was a loud thud and noticeable vibrations. They decided there would be more engineers and help available at Gatwick so we diverted.
"Everybody was pretty calm. People were more worried when we landed at Gatwick because it was a full-on emergency landing - they chased us down the runway with 12 fire engines so that was a little bit nerve-wracking.
"The pilot came on with the remnants of the bird and showed it to us. There wasn't an awful lot left of it. It had shattered three of the blades so the engine was irreparable." | A plane made an emergency landing at Gatwick Airport after a bird damaged an engine when it took off from Bournemouth. |
32928088 | Patricia Swiggs described the "absolutely terrible" moment when the girl's mother brought her into her home in Whitecross after she was hurt.
The girl, 4, is stable in hospital with "serious internal injuries".
Police have not commented on details, but a man, believed to be the girl's father, died at the scene on Thursday.
Mrs Swiggs said she was inside her house at the hamlet near Polruan when she heard cries for help and went outside to find the girls' mother with the child in her arms.
"She said 'Please help me, help me'. She said 'Her father has stabbed her and I don't know what he's done to himself, he's in lying on the floor'," Mrs Swiggs explained.
She said she called an ambulance before attending to the girl in the kitchen.
"I had to get a tea towel, which was the quickest thing," she said.
"She was absolutely looking terrible."
"The ambulance came first, then two air ambulances came and loads and loads of police.
"They were everywhere. We had to move our kitchen table out on the patio to make room" she said.
Mrs Swiggs' husband Edgar added they "hadn't slept for the night" afterwards.
Devon and Cornwall Police would not comment on how the girl was injured, but a spokesman confirmed they were not looking for anyone else following the incident, which is under investigation.
"The girl was airlifted to Derriford Hospital with serious internal injuries," he said.
"She's been operated on overnight so her condition is stable, we believe. The man was treated at the scene and unfortunately he died at the scene". | A girl who was seriously hurt in an incident that left a man dead in Cornwall was reportedly stabbed by her father, a neighbour said. |
34220544 | But the research, led by Strathclyde University, said 60% did not report it.
The Scottish government said it was giving £3m to organisations promoting racial and religious equality.
More than 500 people across Scotland were questioned in the survey, which is claimed to be the first focused exclusively on BME experiences.
About a fifth (21%) thought the problem was getting worse while 22% thought things were improving.
But Dr Nasar Meer of Strathclyde's School of Social Work and Social Policy, who led the research, said nearly 35% said discrimination was a 'widespread problem' in Scotland.
He said: "There is clearly a perception of both low-level and more obvious experiences of racial discrimination in Scotland, but also of under-reporting, and much more research is needed to show how and in what ways this may be occurring.
"We certainly know from other fieldwork that racial discrimination occurs across the UK - for example, that BME applicants are less likely to be successful in applying for a job even discounting differences such as age and education.
"As this survey shows, we cannot assume this is not an issue in Scotland too."
Sixty per cent of respondents who had experienced discrimination in the last five years did not report it to any kind of authority.
This was despite 82% of the entire sample insisting they would encourage a friend or family member to make a formal complaint if they thought they had experienced discrimination.
The study, carried out by the polling company Survation, found variations in the experiences of different groups.
Nearly 45% of respondents with a black African Caribbean heritage respondents, agreed with the statement that they had 'experienced discrimination in Scotland in the last five years'.
The figure for respondents of Asian heritage was 29% and was 23% for those of mixed heritage
Discrimination was more likely (82%) to be as a result of ethnicity than perceived religion (42%).
But when they were asked if they felt incidents of racial discrimination were increasing or decreasing, 21% stated they have become 'more frequent', 22% 'less frequent', and 43% that they had 'stayed the same' over the last five years.
More than half (54%) agreed with the statement 'the Scottish government is doing enough to tackle discrimination in Scotland'.
Dr Meer said: "There is both good and bad news in this survey."
"BME groups in Scotland have firmly established themselves in Scottish society; feel a strong attachment to it, and like all groups hold diverse sets of views on what they think Scottish society should be like.
"Clearly, however, the issue of discrimination is one that cuts across BME experiences and tackling this should be of central importance to policy makers."
A Scottish government spokesperson said: "It is completely unacceptable that anyone should face discrimination as a result of their race or religion.
"While this research shows that we still have some way to go to eradicate racism and religious prejudice in our society, we are committed to tackling it.
"That is why we are providing over £3m to a range of organisations this year to promote race and religious equality and are currently working in partnership with stakeholders to develop a new race equality framework to tackle racism and promote equality, which will be in place in 2016." | A third of black and minority ethnic (BME) Scots have experienced discrimination in the last five years, a study has suggested. |
33725812 | O'Donovan Rossa was a renowned leader of the Fenian movement in the 19th Century seeking independence from Britain.
His burial in Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery on 1 August, 1915, was one of the largest political funerals in Irish history.
1916 Easter Rising leader Padraig Pearse delivered the funeral oration.
The event is seen as a pivotal moment in Irish history, as several of those who attended went on to take part in the Rising.
O'Donovan Rossa 's remains had been brought to Ireland by the American liner St Paul from New York to Liverpool.
They were then transferred to the steamer Carlow, which carried them to Dublin.
In the 1850s, O'Donovan Rossa was sworn into the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) known colloquially as the Fenians, a reference to Na Fianna a band of warriors who defended Ireland from invaders in Irish mythology.
The IRB was a small, secret, revolutionary body committed to the use of force to establish an independent Irish republic.
O'Donovan Rossa was imprisoned in various jails in England for his activities and later moved to New York following his release, continuing his efforts to oppose British rule in Ireland.
The funeral cortege on Saturday is expected to feature marching bands, uniformed Irish Volunteer cavalry and a horse drawn hearse as well as a 40-strong uniformed guard of honour.
Some mourners are expected to attend in period dress. | A re-enactment of the funeral of the Irish republican leader Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa is due to take place in Dublin on Saturday. |
34023204 | A court in Dakar heard police caught the men having sex during a raid.
The mother of one of the accused told the authorities her son was gay, but she failed to show up as a prosecution witness at the trial.
Homosexuality is banned in the west African country. It is punishable by up to five years in prison and fines of up to $2,500 (£1,500).
Defence lawyer, Abdoul Daff, said the mother's failure to appear in court should have caused the case to collapse.
"There was neither material evidence nor testimony in order to corroborate the claims," he added.
"So, we take note of this and we will see what to do next."
Where is it illegal to be gay?
Senegal's population is more than 95% Muslim, and people in same-sex relationships are often forced to hide their sexuality.
Gay rights activist Djamil Bangoura from the group Prudence said he was disappointed by the verdict.
"It is such a pity to see these Senegalese men condemned in front of everyone just because they are gay," he added.
During a recent trip to Kenya, US President Barack Obama called on African nations to ensure gay men and women are treated equally.
Homosexuality is illegal in 38 countries on the continent and is punishable by death in Sudan, Mauritania, Somalia and northern Nigeria. | Seven men have been jailed for six months in Senegal, after they were found guilty of homosexuality. |
34540619 | The court had heard that a Surrey police officer was paid £10,000 for tips between 2002 and 2011.
The jury was not told during the trial that the officer, Simon Quinn, of Horsham, West Sussex, had pleaded guilty to the offence.
He was jailed for 18 months earlier this year.
Mr Pharo, 46, from London, and Mr Pyatt, 52, of Windsor, Berkshire, went on trial following an investigation as part of Operation Elveden, Scotland Yard's inquiry into corrupt payments to public officials.
Their retrial was the final trial of journalists relating to Operation Elveden at the Old Bailey, following a string of cases.
Both had denied actively encouraging the police officer to breach his professional duty.
Mr Pyatt, who was a district reporter for the paper, said the information he received was all in the "public interest" and there was "nothing in there so confidential and secret the public don't have a right to read it".
And Mr Pharo, the Sun's head of news and Mr Pyatt's boss, told the court his involvement was assessing some of Mr Pyatt's stories and passing the reporter's cash payment requests, for his Surrey police source, up the editorial chain for authorisation.
Outside court, the two defendants described the four-year case as a "nightmare".
Mr Pharo told reporters the case had "extended way beyond just us".
"It's damaged our families, our friends and the true human cost to everybody caught up in Operation Elveden is incalculable.
"I want to ask one simple question. How could anyone imagine spending more than £30m over four years prosecuting journalists for doing their job was remotely in the public interest?"
Mr Pyatt said: "It's four years of my life taken away.
"The head has finally been chopped off the Elveden dragon. It's gone. It should never have been there in the first place. It's disgraceful."
Defence counsel Nigel Rumfitt QC had told the court there had been a "monumental error of judgment in pursuing the case".
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said the case had been put before a jury "after careful consideration".
"The case was allowed by the judge to progress to a full trial and we respect the verdict of the jury today.
"This case in particular involved allegations of multiple payments to a corrupt public official in areas where the public should generally expect confidentiality."
Operation Elveden, the £20m Metropolitan Police investigation into newspapers' activities, has seen 29 cases against journalists brought to court.
Of those, only Sun crime reporter Anthony France has been successfully convicted by a jury. Another journalist, Dan Evans, received a suspended sentence after entering a guilty plea. | Sun journalists Chris Pharo and Jamie Pyatt have been cleared of aiding and abetting a police officer to commit misconduct in a public office. |
35524515 | The Offshore Co-ordinating Group (OCG) comprises Unite, the RMT, GMB, Balpa and Nautilus.
Speaking at the launch, STUC general secretary Grahame Smith said it was in response to the "scale of the challenges" being faced.
He said the OCG would co-ordinate campaigns and policies as there was a "future worth fighting for".
Mr Smith said: "It is essential that government, employers, regulators and agencies listen to the united voice of the offshore workforce." | Unions have joined forces to try and protect workers in the offshore oil and gas industry. |
21519856 | The patch fixes issues surrounding Java, a popular programming language that had a major security hole allowing malicious code to infect machines.
Apple was among several companies targeted in recent weeks by hackers exploiting the Java weakness.
One expert criticised Apple, saying it "could have been quicker" to act.
Both Facebook and Twitter have made recent admissions of being hacked - with Twitter having to email thousands of users with instructions on how to reset their passwords.
In Tuesday's statement, Apple made a rare admission of a breach.
"We identified a small number of systems within Apple that were infected and isolated them from our network," the company said.
"There is no evidence that any data left Apple. We are working closely with law enforcement to find the source of the malware."
The iPhone-maker went on to say it would be releasing a security patch - which it has now done. Users will be automatically informed about the update.
But Graham Cluley, from security firm Sophos, has accused Apple of being slow to react.
He said Java developer Oracle had released its own fix at the beginning of the month after having discovered exploits that were "in the wild" - a term given to vulnerabilities being used by hackers.
"Whether they were the same exploits as the ones that hit Apple is a little bit unclear," Mr Cluley told the BBC.
"But it does look like they could have been quicker on this. There has been a history of Apple being a little laid back on patches."
The patch means users will have the most up-to-date version of the Java platform. Additional measures, which had already been in place for most Mac users, included automatically disabling Java if it is not used for 35 days.
Java should not be confused with a different programming language, Javascript, which is also used extensively across the web but is not implicated in these latest security issues.
A major report released on Tuesday accused a unit working for the Chinese People's Liberation Army of being behind many of the world's attacks.
On Wednesday, a different security firm, speaking to Bloomberg, speculated that the attacks on Facebook, Apple and Twitter may have actually originated from Eastern Europe.
Mr Cluley told the BBC it is difficult to pinpoint the source of attacks: "It is very hard to prove where a hack really has originated from.
"Even if it comes from a Chinese computer - it could have been a hijacked Chinese computer.
He suggested that it was likely most developed countries in the world were engaging in some cyber-activity - including the UK.
"In the past [Foreign Secretary] William Hague has said he would take pre-emptive strikes against foreign hackers if necessary.
"We've well and truly entered this new era of cybercrime. It's now very much about stealing information, spying and of course intelligence services care a lot about that." | Less than 24 hours after admitting some of its employees computers had been hacked, Apple has pushed out a security update to users of its Mac computers. |
37641879 | Movies Beavan has worked on include Gosford Park and Mad Max: Fury Road.
Fury Road's Glasgow-born producer Iain Smith and head of visual effects Andrew Jackson were guests at 2015's festival.
Faber's book The Crimson Petal and the White was adapted for a BBC TV drama, while Under the Skin was made into a film starring Scarlett Johansson.
Glaswegian MacDonald's films include Black Sea starring Jude Law and The Last King of Scotland starring Forrest Whittaker and Scots actor James McAvoy.
Macdonald shot scenes for his 2012 historical adventure, The Eagle, around Achiltibuie and Old Dornie, near Ullapool. Locals also had roles as extras.
Other guests announced for the film festival in Cromarty from 2-4 December include broadcasters Jon Snow, Kirsty Wark and Scottish novelists Ali Smith and Ian Rankin. | Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan, novelist Michel Faber and film-maker Kevin MacDonald will be guests at December's Cromarty Film Festival. |
36421541 | The UK's longest-reigning monarch appears in a photograph taken by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.
The image was taken when the Queen posed for three official pictures at Easter to mark her 90th birthday.
The Duke of Edinburgh also posed with the Queen, and their picture will appear in the magazine, out on Friday, as well as the three official images.
Sitting on a rug in the grounds of Windsor Castle, the Queen was photographed with her corgis, Willow and Holly, and dorgis, Candy and Vulcan.
Leibovitz told the fashion and popular culture magazine: "The most moving, important thing about this shoot is that these were all her ideas."
The Queen, who celebrates two birthdays each year, turned 90 on 21 April.
Her official birthday is celebrated with the Trooping the Colour at Horse Guards Parade on a Saturday in June - this year on 11 June.
Leibovitz added: "I was told how relaxed she was at Windsor, and it was really true.
"You get the sense of how at peace she was with herself, and very much enthralled with her family." | The Queen is to appear on the front page of the latest edition of Vanity Fair magazine with her pet dogs. |
40233008 | Full-back Niamh Briggs is the captain of the Ireland rugby union team. This year Ireland will host the World Cup and in this special column - written for Women's Sport Week 2017 - Niamh explains the challenges of preparing for the tournament as an amateur team, striking the right balance between work and sport and the importance of victory to the growth of the game.
I can think back to many proud moments during my career - winning my first Ireland cap, the Grand Slam in 2013, beating New Zealand, my 50th cap, and beating Scotland on the final day of the Six Nations in 2015 to lift the trophy - but winning the World Cup would top it all.
With Ireland hosting the tournament, we want to show what we are made of - and we won't be settling for the semi-finals again, like we did in 2014.
I balance rugby with my full-time job for An Garda Síochána (the police force in Ireland).
Being a Garda was always something I wanted to do. I did not want to sit in an office all day; I wanted a job where I would be active and meet people.
In many ways, the qualities that attracted me to the Gardaí are similar to the things I appreciate most about playing sports.
And the job marries with sport very well - both rugby and the Gardaí have been great for me and I'm fortunate to have incredibly supportive and understanding bosses.
I'm able to train in the mornings for a few hours before work - and as someone who often over-thinks things, I find work helps distract from rugby. Likewise sport and training take my mind off work.
Finding the balance between training, games, and work can be tough and to manage you have to be willing to accept that you'll have little time for anything else.
I make personal sacrifices but I do it because I love it. Knowing that it cannot last forever is the hugely motivating factor.
As an amateur side, the Ireland team is made up of players with a diverse range of jobs.
We have students, teachers and lecturers. Some work for the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), while Claire Molloy is a doctor. This can make training tough.
We have week-long training camps a couple of times over the summer but outside of that train in regional centres.
I'm based in Limerick, so train at the University of Limerick (UL), where the Munster lads train, with a couple of other girls from the team, but we have regional centres in Cork, Galway, Belfast and Dublin. The majority of players can make it to one of those.
Unfortunately, a couple of the girls have to train on their own. Molloy, for example, lives and trains alone in Wales.
Finding the strength to train alone like that is phenomenal. It's extremely difficult to get the best out of yourself in sessions and sometimes, after work when you are tired, you are reliant on the ability of the people around you to push you through.
I have always been incredibly sporty. I was quite a shy child growing up, and lacked in self-esteem, but sport gave me the opportunity to have another, more confident, persona.
My dad's job meant we moved around a bit. When I started a new school or was thrust into in a new area, sport was the way I settled in. It was a common language.
I'm now 32 but I didn't actually start playing rugby until I was 21. I was playing Gaelic football at a fairly high level when I was asked to take part in a tag tournament at my local rugby club. I won the player of the tournament prize.
In my small town - Dungarvan, in Waterford - women's sports teams would struggle for numbers. So when asked to join, I said: "I'll come and play rugby if you come and play Gaelic football." That's what teams had to do to survive at that stage.
Women's rugby itself in Ireland is still in its infancy. Professionalism isn't yet an option. There is still a lot of work to do building the domestic game's foundations before a professional women's league is sustainable.
The women's game only came under the umbrella of the IRFU in 2008 - and there are still big barriers that we have to overcome.
Some clubs still don't have girls' teams. We need to make every club accessible - that's really important. Once they're in, it's all about trying to keep them.
Often we only have a couple of teams that are, say, under-15 or under-18 in close proximity to each other so they might not be able to play that many competitive games.
It's vital that we keep working to generate those pathways into the game for girls.
There's an onus on us all as women rugby players. We speak about it as a national team. You go out, you play, and you leave the jersey in a better place for the next person who puts it on - and that filters down to club and provincial level.
I don't like to use the term the term 'role model' but that's what we get called, and is how we have to act.
England and France provide excellent models for where women's rugby can go. They have huge numbers participating and that needs to be our ultimate aim.
A big part of growing the game comes as a consequence of our success as a team. We have reaped big benefits from our success in the Six Nations in recent years and reaching the semi-finals of the last World Cup.
Our 2014 victory over the All Blacks - who had not lost in the World Cup since 1991 - felt incredible. And if we can put in a good shift at this summer's World Cup on home soil and get the country behind the sport in the same way our New Zealand win did, that can only be good for the game. We have to take the opportunity to build a strong legacy.
The prospect of captaining Ireland at a World Cup on home soil is very exciting. It would be a hugely proud moment for me and my family - but I have to get picked first!
I have been very fortunate to have a good bunch of senior girls in the team who are able to take on leadership roles when needed and we very much work together at it.
I learned a lot from Fiona Coghlan, and watched Brian Driscoll and Paul O'Connell, but ultimately it's about being comfortable in the role.
I've missed a lot of rugby this year. That takes its toll mentally. You will always worry about your place in a World Cup year but the support from staff and the team has been great. I have just been concentrating on getting myself back in, getting fit again, showing what I can do in training, and putting my hand up for selection.
I wouldn't like to be coach Tom Tierney having to select a squad of 28 for this World Cup. There are 48 training in the extended squad working really hard.
This breeds a lot of competition and that's what you want. If we are to do well, we need really good players who can stand up to the test of international competitions.
To be involved in a cross-border tournament in Ireland is a proud achievement for us.
Sport is powerful enough to make political divisions fade into the background, to the extent that being part of an all-Ireland team doesn't even figure in our consciousnesses as players.
We all want to play in games where the stakes are high and we want to play with the best.
The World Cup won't be a walk in the park. We have a tough group with France, Australia and Japan.
France beat us to third place last time round, Australia have some very strong sevens players coming back into their team, and Japan are putting huge resources into the sport before hosting the next men's World Cup.
In Ireland, there's been a huge shift towards women's sport generally and particularly women's rugby. The more our games are televised - and the more that people can see we're good athletes and good rugby players - the bigger that shift will be.
We want to win the World Cup and we're preparing to win it.
Niamh Briggs was speaking to Suzanne Wrack for BBC Sport. | The 2017 Women's Rugby Union World Cup takes place in August and it is a huge opportunity for the game in Ireland. |
22364616 | Mark Bridger, 47, from Ceinws, Powys, denies abducting and murdering April, who disappeared near her home in Machynlleth on 1 October 2012.
Blood was found in his living room, bathroom and hallway, the jury heard.
Prosecutors said there was a one-in-a-billion chance it was not April's.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Elwen Evans QC also told the jury:
As the prosecution continued its opening, Ms Evans said bloodstains on a carpet, sofa and near a fireplace at Mr Bridger's house matched April's DNA.
1 OCTOBER
2 OCTOBER
She said that when the prosecution referred to a one-in-a-billion match "that is, in fact, April's blood".
The prosecution has said Mr Bridger used the fire to dispose of evidence and used detergent as part of an "extensive clean-up".
Further details were given to the court of where blood was found, including the inside of the bathroom door and on the glass of the washing machine.
Tests showed blood in tile grouting in the hallway which experts say indicates a clean-up, the court heard.
Three DNA profiles were also found on the shower curtain, the jury was told - of Mr Bridger, April and a third individual.
The prosecution said examination of bone fragments at Mr Bridger's house "strongly support" the fact they came from a human skull.
"What happened to April as she lay bleeding in front of the fire in the defendant's living room?" Ms Evans said.
"One person, we say, knows and he's not prepared to say.
"He did say a very great deal in the very lengthy interviews that took place, but not what he'd done to April."
The court was told the defence does not dispute it was April's blood that was found.
The jury was shown pictures of clothing Mr Bridger was wearing on arrest which, the prosecution claimed, featured evidence of April's DNA.
The court heard DNA which might have come from April was found inside Mr Bridger's trousers.
The prosecution has also outlined Mr Bridger's explanation to police about what happened.
Mr Bridger said he had hit April with his car. He attempted first aid but said he realised she had suffered serious injuries.
He told police that he then drove around and suddenly realised April was not in the car with him.
In interviews, he told police he was drinking vodka while driving.
He then said that he woke up in the early hours at his home and the first thing he did was get up and check the car.
The court was earlier told that Mr Bridger had said to police he wished he knew what he had done with April.
The jury heard that when arrested on the day after April went missing, Mr Bridger said: "I know what it's all about."
He later told police he had been looking for April all night on foot because his car was in the garage.
"I didn't abduct her. I did my best to revive her," he said.
He went on: "I panicked", saying he got more drunk as he drove through the night.
"I just wish I knew what I'd done with her. I need to say sorry to her family," he told police.
"I wouldn't have dumped her. She's a human being."
The prosecution told the jury police had shown and questioned Mr Bridger about indecent images of children found on his computer, and about images of young murder victims including Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman from Soham.
He also said to officers during one interview: "I don't believe April's ever been in my house. I don't believe I took her to the house, because I can't ever recall seeing her in the car."
Mr Bridger had become a suspect the day after April went missing and police arrived at his home at 15:00 BST to arrest him.
Officers said his home was "uncomfortably hot" and smelled of detergent.
The jury has already heard how bone fragments consistent with those of a juvenile human skull and a concentration of blood was found near his wood burner, as well as evidence of an extensive clean up.
The court was also shown pictures of three knives found around Mr Bridger's fireplace. One, found on top of the wood burner, was burnt.
Earlier on Wednesday, the court was told that Mr Bridger had approached two girls aged eight and 10 on the day when April went missing.
One was friendly with his daughter and he invited her for a sleepover.
The approach was made shortly after he had attended a parents' evening at the same school where April was a pupil.
Prosecutor Ms Evans said: "Bridger left the school parents' evening at around 5.45pm and shortly after he approached a couple of girls who were playing in the area.
"They were a 10-year-old and an eight-year-old who were riding their bikes.
"He invited the older girl to go for a sleepover with his daughter."
After the girl refused, Mr Bridger drove off.
The court was also told about Mr Bridger's movements around Machynlleth that evening.
The prosecution said Mr Bridger's vehicle was parked close to garages on the Bryn-y-Gog estate where April lived at about 19:10 BST.
Evidence suggests "the abduction happened quickly", the court heard.
The jury was told a man saw Mr Bridger drive back in the direction of Ceinws at about 19:20 BST.
He said Mr Bridger seemed to be travelling fast.
Prosecutor Ms Evans said: "Where did he go? Where did he take April? He says he doesn't know."
Mr Bridger was next seen shortly before 09:00 BST the following day, 2 October, said Ms Evans.
One person who had joined the search for April and travelled through Ceinws told police she saw Mr Bridger near a lay-by carrying what looked like a black bin liner in his hand.
"What was Mark Bridger doing at that location? What was in that black bin bag?" said Ms Evans.
"In fact, 90 police officers were involved in clearing and excavating that lay-by and that bank, and they found nothing."
The court also heard how a postman had called at Mr Bridger's home and had spoken about April going missing.
The postman said Mr Bridger had appeared affected and shocked during their conversation and asked what vehicle police were looking for.
The defendant later drove his vehicle to Dyfi Autos in Machynlleth.
He spoke to mechanics and said the news was terrible and said he was going to see if he could help.
"Lies and tears appear to come easily," said Ms Evans.
There was no evidence of blood stains in the vehicle or any large scale clean up, the jury was told.
The court heard how a police helicopter searching for April had filmed Mr Bridger, before he was a suspect, walking his dog. His appearance was different from the previous day.
Smoke was also seen coming from the chimney of his home shortly after 10:30 BST.
In a text message to a friend after being asked if he had seen anything from the Bryn-Y-Gog estate, the jury heard Mr Bridger's reply was: "Saw nothing strange, trying to rattle my brain."
Earlier, the court heard how on the morning before April went missing, Mr Bridger had propositioned three women via Facebook asking two of them to meet up "with no strings attached".
He sent the messages after breaking up with a girlfriend.
The jury has also been shown CCTV images of April's movements in the hours before she disappeared - the last known pictures of her.
She had been to school, went home and eaten.
April then went for a swimming lesson at the local leisure centre with a friend, shortly after 16:30 BST.
Her parents, Coral and Paul, went to a parents' evening at the school "where the defendant was later to go".
The public gallery at the court was earlier cleared to allow the jury to continue viewing images from Mr Bridger's computer.
They were shown images viewed by him on 30 September.
Mr Bridger, wearing a short-sleeved blue shirt, tie and grey trousers, wore headphones to hear everything said in court.
April's parents were in court.
April, who had mild cerebral palsy, disappeared while playing near her home in Machynlleth and has never been found.
Mr Bridger also denies intending to pervert the course of justice.
On Tuesday, the prosecution told the jury that Mr Bridger had gone to enormous lengths to conceal what he had done.
An extensive clean-up had been carried out by the defendant at his home, she said, but bone fragments consistent with those of a juvenile human skull and a concentration of blood was found near his wood burner.
The trial continues. | Blood found at the home of the man accused of murdering missing April Jones in a sexually motivated attack matched that of the five-year-old, Mold Crown Court heard. |
28753571 | Police said an initial post-mortem examination had been completed on 34-year-old Matthew Symonds and a file was being prepared for the coroner.
The case has also been referred to the Health and Safety Executive.
The family of Mr Symonds, who came from Swindon, said they remained "distressed" about the circumstances in which he died.
Mr Symonds' remains were found at a Biffa depot in Avonmouth on 1 August.
It has been established that his body was transported with commercial recycling waste from a site in the centre of Swindon.
In a statement, his grandmother, Susan Symonds, and aunt, Rachel Symonds, said: "The whole family are shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Matthew in such circumstances.
"We remain distressed about the way it happened - it is a tragedy and appears to have been a terrible accident. He will never be forgotten.
"Despite his hard life and upbringing, he was a good lad who was kind and polite.
"He loved to talk and would continue until in the end you had to tell him to be quiet.
"The loss of his mum had a massive impact on him. As an only child he was devoted to his mum Madeline who sadly died in September last year.
"Due to the post-mortem and police investigation, it has not been possible to make any funeral arrangements yet."
Wiltshire Police said further tests would be carried out on Mr Symonds' remains but it was no longer a criminal investigation. An inquest would be held at a later date. | The death of a man whose remains were found at a Bristol recycling plant is not being treated as suspicious. |
33109755 | The Belfast-born star was recognised for services to music, and tourism in Northern Ireland, the inspiration for many of his hits.
There were only eight new dames in the list, compared with more than three times as many knights.
But overall, more than half (51%) of recipients were women, outnumbering men for only the second time in honours history.
The dames include Frances Ashcroft, professor of physiology at the University of Oxford, known for her groundbreaking research into type two diabetes; Prof Anne Glover, former chief scientific advisor to the European Commission, and businesswoman Zarine Kharas, founder of the JustGiving.com charity website.
There are also damehoods for the deputy governor of the Bank of England Nemat Shafik and forensic scientist Angela Gallop.
Spacey, who is soon to step down after 10 years as artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London, said he felt like "an adopted son" after his honorary award for services to British theatre and international culture was announced.
While Morrison said: "Throughout my career I have always preferred to let my music speak for me, and it is a huge honour to now have that body of work recognised in this way.
Former Welsh rugby captain Gareth Edwards is knighted, and there are OBEs for ex-England footballer Frank Lampard, and England's record-breaking cricketer James Anderson.
Long distance runner Jo Pavey and Ebola nurse Will Pooley are among the MBEs. Journalist Caroline Criado-Perez, who successfully campaigned to keep a woman on a British banknote, is made an OBE.
The same honour goes to Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne and entertainer Michael Ball, and Twelve Years A Slave actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and Paddington Bear creator Michael Bond become CBEs.
Ball, who described himself as "a proper royalist", said he was "chuffed to bits" and his 80-year-old father burst into tears on hearing the news.
There are 1,163 people on the list. Recipients range in age from 17-year-old Natasha Lambert, from the Isle of Wight, who was born with athetoid cerebral palsy and is recognised for her charitable fundraising, to 103-year-old allergy research pioneer Dr William Frankland.
1,163
people honoured
70%
for community work
103 age of oldest recipient, Dr William Frankland
17 age of youngest, Natasha Lambert
51% of recipients are women
Conductor Sir Neville Marriner and former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Woolf - who chaired the inquiry into the 1990 Strangeways prison riot - have been appointed members of the elite Companions of Honour.
Gareth Edwards's knighthood is for sporting and charitable work, while former Wales fly-half Jonathan Davies said he was "extremely humbled" to be given an OBE in recognition of his fundraising for Cardiff's Velindre Cancer Centre.
Cricketer James Anderson, who became England's record highest Test wicket-taker in April, said: "I'm very proud of my recent achievements, and this just caps it off."
Lampard, who is Chelsea's all-time leading goalscorer but spent last season at Manchester City ahead of a move to the US, described his OBE as "an extremely proud moment for myself and my family".
Meanwhile, England women's former football captain Casey Stoney, currently competing in the World Cup in Canada, was named an MBE, along with boxing super middleweight champion Carl Froch.
Stoney told the BBC: "My first reaction was compete and utter shock. Then I was completely overwhelmed and then obviously very, very proud."
And Froch told BBC Radio Nottingham: "It's fantastic for me, my sport, my city and my family. It was a massive honour and a big surprise."
Rugby Union star Jonny Wilkinson, whose name was wrongly reported to be in the last set of honours, becomes a CBE for his dedication to the game.
Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, said the gender divide at the top of the list was reflective of wider society but she was encouraged to see so many women make the overall list.
The feminist writer, whose online project project to catalogue women's experiences of sexual harassment in the UK became a worldwide movement, was herself awarded a British Empire Medal.
Speaking of the lack of new dames, Miss Bates said: "This is a massive problem across society, but obviously I would like to see the [Honours List] balance redressed at the top, it's important."
Sir Jonathan Stephens, chairman of the Honours Committee, said there was "still a way to go", adding the committee works hard to ensure a wide pool of nominations.
Commonly awarded ranks:
Guide to the honours
The names of some high-profile winners were leaked, with newspapers reporting comedian Lenny Henry's knighthood and Sherlock Holmes actor Benedict Cumberbatch's CBE days ahead of the official announcement.
Sir Lenny, a long-time supporter of the BBC's Comic Relief, said the knighthood was "like being filled with lemonade", but also paid tribute to the thousands of people who have raised more than £1bn for the charity.
Broadcaster and chef Loyd Grossman is made a CBE for services to heritage. He is chairman of both the Heritage Alliance and the Churches Conservation Trust.
There are OBEs for BBC Radio 5 live presenter Nicky Campbell for his role as patron of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, and Doc Martin and Men Behaving Badly actor Martin Clunes for services to drama, charity and the community in Dorset.
Steven Moffat, television writer and producer of Doctor Who and Sherlock, and actress Lesley Manville are both named OBEs for services to drama.
TV producer Nigel Lythgoe - dubbed "Nasty Nigel" on ITV talent show Popstars before going on to help create Pop Idol - is made an OBE for services to the performing arts, education and charity.
Will Pooley, 30, the first British person to contract Ebola, was named an MBE for his services in tackling the outbreak in Africa. The Suffolk nurse, who is now back in England, sparked an outpouring of support when he flew back to continue to help sufferers.
Also honoured for his major role in the Ebola crisis is Dr Oliver Johnson, who is made an OBE his overseas service in Sierra Leone. He paid tribute to "the efforts of extraordinary local health workers and international volunteers" while the Foreign Office said his swift actions in response to the initial outbreak saved many lives.
Among politicians on the list are Simon Burns, Conservative MP for Chelmsford for nearly 30 years, and former Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes, who lost his seat in May. They were both given knighthoods for public and political service.
Also recognised with a knighthood is Michael Davis, chairman of the Prime Minister's Holocaust Commission, and Duwayne Brooks, who was with murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence when he was killed in a racist attack in 1993 and is now a now a Liberal Democrat councillor, was made an OBE for public and political service.
GMB leader Paul Kenny said he saw his knighthood for his service to trade unions as a recognition of efforts to stand up against exploitation and bullying.
However, he went on to add that he would "swap it tomorrow for the introduction of the Living Wage", in an interview with the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
The list acknowledges the work of a number of campaigners.
Gordon Aikman, a 30-year-old campaigner from Edinburgh, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, also receives the BEM. His campaign inspired Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling, opposing politicians during the Scottish referendum campaign, to undertake the ice bucket charity challenge.
In broadcasting, former director of the BBC World Service Peter Horrocks becomes a CBE. Veteran cameraman Peter Cooper, who spent 46 years working in BBC News Northern Ireland, including capturing many famous images of the Troubles and the Peace Process, was made an MBE.
A knighthood for Andreas Whittam Smith, former editor of the Independent newspaper, recognises his public service, particularly his work for the Church of England.
There were also MBEs for Philippa Langley and Louis Ashdown-Hill, two historians instrumental in the discovery of Richard III's remains in a Leicester council car park, and the campaign which resulted in his reburial in Leicester Cathedral earlier this year.
In education, Nicholas Weller, executive principal at Dixons Academies in Bradford, received a knighthood for his dedication to teaching. The announcement came in a difficult week for the chain of schools, following the stabbing of a teacher during a science class at Dixons Kings Academy on Thursday. And restaurateurs Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent have been made MBEs for their work in improving school lunches.
Nearly three-quarters of the list is made up of people who have dedicated themselves to outstanding work in their communities.
Katie Cutler, from Gateshead, who set up a fundraising webpage to raise £500 for visually impaired mugging victim Alan Barnes, and went on to take in £300,000, was given the British Empire Medal.
Retired lollipop lady Hazel Joan, who worked at Maes-Y-Coed School in Cardiff, was given a British Empire Medal for services to children and road safety.
Vera Selby, Britain's first ever female professional billiards and snooker referee, was made an MBE for services to snooker and billiards. The 84-year-old from Newcastle is nine times British Women's Billiards Champion and five times British Women's Snooker Champion.
An MBE also goes to Jimmy Jukes, Pearly King of Camberwell and Bermondsey in south-east London, for his charity work with homeless ex-servicemen and women. | Singer-songwriter Van Morrison and US actor Kevin Spacey have been given knighthoods in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. |
38885621 | The Pharaohs were beaten 2-1 by Cameroon on Sunday.
"He will stay as head coach, we like what he is doing with the team," said EFA president Hany Abo Rida.
"We are in a good place in World Cup qualification and we dream we can reach the tournament in Russia in 2018. We all support him."
Egypt are top of Group E after two games and Cuper has already instilled in his team what is required to reach a major tournament.
By taking the Pharaohs to the Nations Cup in Gabon he ended a six-year absence from the finals.
There is no room for talking about ending Cuper's contract
That he failed to win a record-extending eighth African championship has hurt the Argentine, who has suffered defeat in five finals during his career.
As Valencia coach he was beaten in two Champions League finals, while at Mallorca he lost the King's Cup to Barcelona and the Cup Winners' Cup to Lazio.
During a stint with Aris Thessalonika, he also lost to Panathinaikos in the Greek Cup final.
After the latest defeat on Sunday he said: "I don't want to say I'm used to losing another final, it's one more for me, but the point is that I wanted to win this one.
"The sadness I have isn't because I lost another final, it's because there was so much hope, especially among Egyptians.
"I'm sorry that we couldn't give happiness to Egyptians because I imagine that there was a lot of expectation among them.
"I'm sorry for the players, who put in so much effort. We have finished this competition with a defeat but they did well."
The 61-year-old has, however, restored pride in Egyptian football after some very difficult years in which the sport in the country has been blighted by fans' violence, supporter bans and the effects of political tension in the country.
Cuper took the job in March 2015, replacing Shawki Gharib, and the EFA is pleased with his results.
"He has done his best since he took charge and he has helped us build a new team," added Rida. "There is no room for talking about ending Cuper's contract." | Egypt coach Hector Cuper has been assured he has the full support of the Egyptian Football Association after losing the Africa Cup of Nations final. |
38774446 | Mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn gobeithio darparu gwell gwasanaeth rhyngrwyd i 96% o gartrefi Cymru erbyn diwedd y flwyddyn.
Ond dywed BT fod yna broblemau wedi bod wrth geisio cael mynediad i dir, neu hawl i gloddio mewn rhai ardaloedd.
Mae disgwyl i'r cynllun gostio dros £400m.
Cafodd cynllun Cyflymu Cymru, sy'n defnyddio arian llywodraethau Cymru, y DU a'r Undeb Ewropeaidd, ei sefydlu oherwydd bod cwmnïau masnachol dim ond wedi llwyddo i gyrraedd 49% o gartref a busnesau o safbwynt band eang cyflym iawn.
Fe wnaeth Cyflymu Cymru roi'r gwaith o ledaenu'r gwasanaeth i gwmni BT.
Maen nhw'n dweud eu bod yn rhwystredig oherwydd bod targedau wedi eu methu a bod addewidion "wedi eu torri".
Dywedodd Glyn Jones, o gwmni dŵr Princes Gate, fod ei gwmni wedi bod yn aros 18 mis a'u bod nhw'n colli amynedd.
"Rydym wedi cael cyfarfodydd gyda BT. Maen nhw fel eu bod nhw'n llawn o addewidion ynglŷn â phryd y byddwn yn derbyn band eang," meddai wrth raglen Eye on Wales ar BBC Radio Wales.
"Fel cwmni rydym wedi rhoi'r gorau i aros ac rydym wedi cael llinellau cyflym iawn ein hunain ar gytundeb les.
"Fe fydd hynny yn costio £1,000 y mis."
Dywedodd Alwen Williams, cyfarwyddwr BT Cymru, fod maint yr her yn "anhygoel o fawr".
Dywedodd fod yn her eithriadol wrth geisio cael mynediad i lefydd ac i dir er mwyn gosod ceblau ffibr.
"Ar hyn o bryd mae tua 40,000 o fusnesau a chartrefi yn aros oherwydd trafodaethau cymhleth gyda gwahanol bobl neu ddiddordebau, ynglŷn â sut i gael mynediad i dir neu hawl i gloddio, a chau hewlydd," meddai.
Dywedodd Julie James, y Gweinidog dros Sgiliau a Gwyddoniaeth, fod Llywodraeth Cymru yn teimlo rhwystredigaeth o ganlyniad i'r wybodaeth sy'n cael ei roi gan BT.
"Rwy'n cwrdd â BT bob chwarter i drafod y cynllun a'r hyn sy'n digwydd, ac rydym wedi cael sgyrsiau hir a thrwyadl ynglŷn â pha wybodaeth yn union dylid ei roi ar y wefan.
"Mewn gwirionedd, fe wnaeth y llywodraeth gymryd cyfrifoldeb am safle'r we'r haf diwethaf, ac o ganlyniad rydym wedi gwella'r safle fel ei bod nawr yn fwy cywir o ran a fyddwch chi'n cael band eang cyflym iawn, a phryd fyddwch yn ei gael e?"
Eye on Wales,BBC Radio Wales 12:30 ddydd Sul. | Dywed cwmni BT fod y gwaith o geisio sicrhau band eang cyflym iawn i 40,000 o gartrefi a busnesau yng Nghymru yn wynebu oedi oherwydd yr her o osod ceblau ffibr optig. |
36668904 | Murray is one of four Britons in singles action with Johanna Konta, Heather Watson and Dan Evans also hoping to progress. Here is what you should not miss on the fourth day of Wimbledon.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Former champion Murray will play Chinese Tapei's Yen-Hsun Lu, a man who beat three-time finalist Andy Roddick in 2010 to reach the quarter-finals at SW19. He also knocked out Murray at the 2008 Olympics.
The 29-year-old expects a tough match against the world number 78 - who is on an 11-match winning streak - but the Scot has won three of their four encounters.
"It's a very tough match. He's played the three grass-court Challengers in the build-up. He's won two of them and lost in the final of one," said Murray, who is scheduled second on Centre Court, with the match expected to start at about 15:00 BST.
Andrew Castle, former British number one and BBC Sport commentator, said: "Lu is a regular and genuine top-100 player. This will be a demanding match - but Andy is hitting the ball as well as I have ever seen him hit it.
"I don't see him getting into too much trouble. I still suspect we will be seeing him in the final."
Media playback is not supported on this device
British number one Konta experienced her first victory at Wimbledon on Wednesday after four previous first-round losses and is back in action on day four.
The 25-year-old is one of many players who will have to make a quick turnaround this week to clear the backlog caused by the rain delays on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The 19th seed is facing Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, a player who has failed to find form since reaching the Wimbledon final in 2014 and is now ranked 48th in the world.
The pair, who have never faced each other before, are due on Centre Court after Murray's match, possibly at about 17:00 BST.
British number two Heather Watson will hope she can finally complete her first-round match on the third day of trying.
The world number 55 let the second set slip against Annika Beck on court 12 so will contest a decider on Thursday, with Beck having broken early in the third for a 1-0 lead before rain stopped play.
The pair will resume on the same court at 11:00 BST.
Dan Evans was competitive against Ukrainian 30th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov in their second-round match, taking the first set to 6-6 before rain prevented a tie-break.
The British number four and Dolgopolov are first on court two with play set to start at 11:00 BST.
It is also the start of the doubles and there will be a conflict of interest for British fans as Jamie Murray and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares take on Briton Colin Fleming and Jonathan Erlich of Israel in the final match on court 18.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | Andy Murray will attempt to reach the third round on Thursday as Wimbledon starts play earlier than usual after two rain-disrupted days. |
35709692 | Clive Efford, Labour MP for Eltham, said he had been bombarded with angry messages and complaints from constituents about the service.
One said the trains which link south London, Kent and parts of East Sussex were the worst they had been in 40 years, Mr Efford added.
MPs across the political divide spoke during the Westminster Hall debate.
Mr Efford said that for too long people had been crammed on overcrowded trains, particularly at peak times, adding that it was not acceptable to run trains of just six carriages.
"When you do get stuck, you hear the people on their mobile phones, you can hear the life stories just going into meltdown around you," he said.
"Since Christmas the situation has deteriorated quite significantly."
Conservative MP for Tonbridge and Malling, Tom Tugendhat, said Southeastern's performance was "woeful" despite the rail company meeting its franchise targets.
"It cannot be right that one in five trains is coming in late, one in five trains is leaving workers late for a meeting and one in five trains is forcing people to change their plans and still somehow this is an acceptable target," he said.
Southeastern and Network Rail said they were were working to improve performance on one of the most congested parts of the UK railway network.
"Network Rail is investing millions in improving its infrastructure - including completely rebuilding London Bridge station," they said in a joint statement.
"Southeastern is working hard to improve the performance of its trains including bringing in a rigorous maintenance regime that now sees more trains in service at any one time than ever before.
"We realise that performance has not always been as good as our passengers would like and we are working hard to change this." | Commuters using Southeastern trains are facing "meltdown" from constantly delayed services, MPs have been told. |
33086279 | The aim of the redundancy scheme is to cut around 3,000 civil service jobs.
The first 1,200 civil servants are due to leave on 30 September.
But that is now uncertain due to the Stormont Executive's continuing disagreement on welfare reform and the budget.
Dr Malcolm McKibben told a Stormont committee on Wednesday that "we can't go past the end of August in terms of confirming if they're leaving or not.
"People clearly have plans made if they are allowed to exit," he said.
The voluntary redundancy scheme was part of the Stormont House Agreement. It was struck between the Executive parties and the British and Irish governments in December.
The scheme allowed the Executive to borrow up to £700m to fund 20,000 redundancies across the wider public sector.
But with the welfare reform part of the agreement collapsing it is doubtful if the redundancy scheme can proceed as planned.
More than 7,000 civil servants expressed interest in the scheme and 1,200 of those have been told they can leave, depending on funding.
If the Executive is not allowed to borrow the money it would have to pay for the scheme by making cuts to day-to-day departmental spending.
Dr McKibben raised the prospect that there could be negotiations with the Treasury to allow the scheme to proceed as planned, even if the rest of the Stormont House Agreement is not implemented.
"If the welfare reform issue isn't sorted out in the near future clearly we're going to have to engage with the Treasury to see if access to this money can be maintained.
"Whether or not they will allow that to be pulled out of the Stormont House Agreement I don't know." | The head of the Northern Ireland civil service has set an August deadline for deciding whether the first tranche of voluntary redundancies will go ahead. |
39268550 | The 34-year-old has signed a one-year deal with the option of an extension.
Essien told the club's website: "Thank you for bringing me here. I'm excited and want to give my best."
Teddy Tjahyono, part of the Persib Bandung management, said: "The reason to bring Michael Essien is in order to increase the value of competition in Indonesia."
He added: "Opening the door to the other world players to strengthen the team in Indonesia.
"The process to bring in players to this part of the world is quite difficult. It took months to negotiate."
Essien, who has also played for Real Madrid and AC Milan, is the highest profile signing for Indonesian football since Cameroon World Cup hero Roger Milla and Argentine World Cup winner Mario Kempes played in the country in the 1990s.
The midfielder has been a free agent since leaving Greek club Panathinaikos at the end of last season.
He won the Champions League, two Premier League titles and four FA Cups during nine seasons at Chelsea.
Essien also played at two World Cups for Ghana, who he represented 58 times, before retiring in the wake of the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
Based in Bandung in West Java, Persib are one of the best supported clubs in Indonesia and finished third in the recently completed President's Cup.
The start date for the new league season in Indonesia has yet to be announced. | Former Chelsea and Ghana midfielder Michael Essien has joined Indonesian side Persib Bandung. |
27622130 | Magnay, Colin Larkin, Jack Lester and Liam Hatch depart despite playing in the play-off final defeat by Cambridge.
In addition Ryan Noble, Josh Walker, Luke O'Brien and Jordan Holt will leave on the expiry of their current deals.
Three players who ended the season out on loan - Adam Boyes, Joe Tait and Richard Brodie - also exit.
Gateshead-born Magnay, 25, joined the Tynesiders in January 2012 following his release by Premier League side Chelsea and went on to make 67 league appearances.
He was a regular under both Anth Smith and then Gary Mills last term, scoring two goals in 34 games.
"Would loved to have stayed," Magnay posted on Twitter.
He added: "I didn't negotiate or try getting a few extra quid. Just not in the plans. Look forward to a challenge.
"It's been a pleasure Gateshead. All the best to the club and the fans."
However, Gateshead have offered new deals to the remaining members of the squad - all of whom are out of contract this summer. | Defender Carl Magnay is one of 11 players to leave Gateshead this summer after not being offered a new contract by the Conference Premier club. |
36539810 | The Ulster Unionist says he acknowledges there are dangers either way, and hasn't been impressed by either the Leave or Remain campaigns which he regards as too negative.
In March, the Ulster Unionist executive said it believed Northern Ireland would be better remaining in a reformed European Union.
However, the executive added that it respected the fact that individual Ulster Unionists might vote for withdrawal on 23 June. | The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP Tom Elliott says that he will probably vote to leave the European Union in next week's referendum. |
36014614 | The estimated eight-metre-long (26ft) snake was spotted Thursday under a fallen tree on the island of Penang.
It died on Sunday after laying eggs, Herme Herisyam, operations chief for Penang's Civil Defence Department's southwest district told the BBC.
The current record for longest snake ever caught is 7.67m (25ft), Guinness World Records says.
Medusa, a reticulated python weighing 158kg (24st 12lb), is kept at a haunted house in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Malaysian snake, also thought to be a reticulated python, has not been officially measured by record keepers.
Mr Herisyan said it weighed 250kg (39st 5lb) and took 30 minutes to rescue.
Another civil defence official said that the snake's capture and the attention it received likely compounded the stress of laying eggs.
Muhammad Aizat said the snake laid one egg, before going "quiet".
It was due to be transferred to the government's Department of Wildlife before it died. | A giant python found on a Malaysian building site, that may be the longest ever caught, has died, officials say. |
28756825 | The leg-spinner was banned in June 2012 after being found guilty of corruption while playing for Essex during a one-day match in 2009.
Kaneria, 33, denies wrongdoing but the Court of Appeal said his application was "totally without merit".
"It means Kaneria has exhausted all the legal options available to him," the England and Wales Cricket Board said.
ECB chairman Giles Clarke welcomed the decision, adding: "Kaneria acted as a recruiter of potential 'spot-fixers' and used his seniority and international experience to target and corrupt a young and vulnerable player.
"It is high time that Mr Kaneria came clean about his involvement in these corrupt activities and stopped misleading the Pakistan cricket fans and wider public with his empty protestations of innocence.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"We once again urge him to apologise publicly for his past actions and to start the process of redeeming himself."
Kaneria's Essex team-mate Mervyn Westfield was jailed for four months after admitting a corruption charge relating to a 40-over game against Durham.
During Westfield's trial, Judge Anthony Morris said the scam had been orchestrated by Kaneria, who spent six seasons at Essex from 2004.
But Kaneria, who played 61 Tests and 18 one-day internationals for Pakistan between 2000 and 2010, was never charged by the police, on the grounds of insufficient evidence. | Former Pakistan bowler Danish Kaneria's application to appeal against a life ban for spot-fixing has been refused. |
40869227 | Lewandowski scored a deflected free-kick, with Kingsley Coman firing home a second before a Lewandowski tap-in.
Franck Ribery scored a free-kick, with Mats Hummels adding a late finish.
Elsewhere, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a hat-trick as holders Borussia Dortmund beat Rielasingen-Arlen of the sixth division 4-0.
Marc Bartra scored their opener before Aubameyang's treble, but Ousmane Dembele - who is a target for Barcelona - did not play. | Robert Lewandowski scored twice as Bayern Munich thrashed third-tier Chemnitzer to reach the second round of the German Cup. |
24742871 | Media playback is not supported on this device
The England all-rounder was the best player in the 2005 home Ashes victory over Australia having produced match-winning moments throughout.
Flintoff scored 141 runs in total in the second Test, a crucial century in the fourth Test and took 23 wickets throughout the series to help England regain the Ashes.
He became the first cricketer since Sir Ian Botham, in 1981, to win the coveted BBC award.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015 is broadcast live from Belfast on Sunday, 20 December from 19:00 GMT on BBC One. Further coverage on BBC Sport's online platforms and Radio 5 live. | In 2005, cricketer Andrew Flintoff was named Sports Personality of the Year. |
27777923 | The most recent inspections across 22 homes found 42% of key "themes" were failing to reach "good" standards.
They were judged to be unsatisfactory (1%), weak (13%) or adequate (28%).
Scottish Borders Council has set up an improvement team led by Tweeddale councillor Catriona Bhatia to look at ways to address any failings.
At the time of a study carried out by the local authority there were 22 care homes for older people in the region - 17 independently owned and five council run.
They can accommodate 662 people - and in January 2014 a total of 509 places (77%) were taken.
The most recent Care Inspectorate gradings at the homes did show an improvement on previous checks.
However, a report to councillors said that the design of some buildings and the remoteness of some of their locations presented particular challenges.
The number of adult protection investigations has also shown an increase with the figure almost doubling between 2012 and 2013.
The council said it was confident it responded to all adult protection issues in a "robust manner". | A task force has been established in the Scottish Borders to drive up the quality of service being provided in care homes across the region. |
40543101 | Former Barnsley player McCourt, 22, joins the Spireites on a two-year deal.
He made 32 appearances in all competitions last season after joining Northampton on a free from Barnsley.
"He's technically a good player as well as being very aggressive and a tough tackler," Chesterfield manager Gary Caldwell said. "Jak gives us something we don't have in midfield."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | Midfielder Jak McCourt has joined League Two Chesterfield following his release by Northampton Town. |
33487577 | Dylann Roof should have been stopped from purchasing a weapon due to a felony charge, FBI chief James Comey told reporters on Friday.
But he said the charge was either incorrectly entered into a background check system or mishandled by analysts.
Roof is facing nine counts of murder over the 17 June attack in Charleston.
Speaking to reporters at FBI headquarters in Washington DC, Mr Comey outlined a series of missed opportunities and incomplete paperwork that allowed Mr Roof to buy a firearm.
Mr Roof, 21, was charged with possessing drugs just weeks before the attack on the Emanuel AME Church, and police said he admitted to the offence.
That admission should have been enough to stop him from buying a weapon, Mr Comey said, but the offence was incorrectly added to Mr Roof's record.
This meant the FBI analyst doing the mandatory background check on Mr Roof did not see it. "If she had seen that police report," Mr Comey said, "that purchase would have been denied."
He said he learned about the problem on Thursday night and FBI officials were meeting with relatives of the nine victims on Friday.
An internal review into how the agency uses criminal background checks in gun transactions has been launched. The FBI runs background checks for gun dealers in about 30 states, including South Carolina.
"We are all sick that this happened. We wish we could turn back time," he added.
Mr Comey's comments came on the same day that South Carolina removed the Confederate flag from the capitol grounds in a ceremony attended by some relatives of the church shooting victims.
The flag was the battle emblem of southern states in the US Civil War and was raised over South Carolina's statehouse in 1961 to mark the 100th anniversary of the conflict.
Critics have long called it a symbol of slavery and the backlash against it grew when pictures of Mr Roof posing with the banner were discovered online.
Mr Roof was arrested the day after the shooting more than 200 miles away in North Carolina and then flown back to Charleston.
He appeared in court via a video link for a bail hearing last month and is next expected in court in October.
Source: FBI fact sheet | The man accused of killing nine black churchgoers in South Carolina last month was able to buy a gun due to a background check failure, the FBI says. |
40448010 | The teenager was walking in the Moorgate Street area of Rotherham on 22 June when he was attacked shortly after midnight.
South Yorkshire Police has released a CCTV image of a man it thinks "may hold important information about what happened".
He is described as white, tall and of stocky build, aged between 25 and 30.
He has short brown hair, which was shaved at the back and longer on top, and a short cropped beard.
PC Dawn Murray said the victim had been walking along Church Street and High Street before the attack.
She said officers had been reviewing CCTV footage to track the victim's movements and appealed for anyone who saw "anything suspicious late on Wednesday evening and into the early hours of Thursday morning" to contact the force.
"If you are the man pictured, of if you recognise him, please get in touch with us," she added. | An 18-year-old man has been raped in a street attack. |
35741758 | According to their own records, Sunday's 2-1 win at Selhurst Park was the first time in the Reds' 124-year history they have come back from a goal down to win with 10 men.
That is a great achievement, but Klopp's hand was forced because his side were a goal and a man down with half an hour left, and he had to gamble.
It looks good because it came off but, if Palace keeper Alex McCarthy had not slipped to gift them an equaliser, I did not see Liverpool scoring at all.
Until then, they had been very ordinary. They did not even manage a shot on target until the 65th minute and, after they had been so good against Manchester City on Wednesday, it was a performance that summed up their inconsistent season.
Sometimes in football you just get a break, and that slip was Liverpool's.
At that point, Palace panicked. They made another costly mistake with the stoppage-time penalty that saw Liverpool score their winner but it was their poor game management that contributed to their own downfall as much as Klopp's tactics.
Klopp had made an attacking substitution on 61 minutes, bringing on Philippe Coutinho for full-back Jon Flanagan, with the intention of switching James Milner to full-back.
Seconds later, Milner was shown a second yellow card.
Klopp switched from a 4-2-3-1 formation to a 3-4-2 shape, with Dejan Lovren being asked to play on the right of their defence, and the whole team pressed Palace high up the pitch.
They were taking a big chance because their three-man defence did not have much cover, but the thinking was 'we might as well get beaten 2-0 by trying to get something out of the match'.
Klopp said afterwards his side helped to force McCarthy's mistake because they were pressing so high up the pitch - but I did not see that.
A keeper probably has to deal with about a dozen back-passes like that in every game and, even under pressure, a slip and a mis-kick is very rare.
The worst thing about it was the way Palace reacted. They suddenly looked very nervous and that just encouraged Liverpool.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Alan Pardew's side also tried to chase the game, which was understandable because of their poor recent form - they have not won in the Premier League since before Christmas and playing at home against 10 men will have seemed like a great chance to end that run.
At that stage, Palace would have been better off protecting the point they still had. They should have done the same thing when they were ahead.
They could have tightened things up by bringing back Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha and playing with just one up front.
The way the game was decided, Palace will see themselves as unlucky to lose but they were in complete control and managed to throw it away.
Media playback is not supported on this device
It was not a soft penalty that Palace conceded in the 94th minute, it was a daft one.
Damien Delaney did not have to tackle Christian Benteke, because he was only going one way and he was running towards the bye-line, not the goal.
All Delaney has to do is hold him up, but instead he goes to make the tackle.
It doesn't matter that he tried to pull out because if a striker feels anyone touch him at all inside the area, then he is going over.
I was watching it in the Match of the Day 2 production office and at first we all shouted that it was never a penalty but the linesman made the call and it turned out he got it right.
There are suggestions video assistance could be brought in to help officials soon and in this case it would have confirmed it was a penalty, because replays from a certain angle helped show there was contact between Delaney's knee and Benteke's foot.
There is a minimum amount of contact and only Benteke knows whether it was enough to bring him down but, once you have got contact, in a situation like this one where the forward is running in the area, then it is a penalty.
I understand why Pardew was upset to lose it like that so late, but it was the correct decision so it does not make any difference that it happened in the last seconds of the game.
Pardew says he does not think Palace would have got a penalty in similar circumstances at the other end, but he definitely would have wanted one.
Seeing Manchester United lose at West Brom under similar circumstances, after going down to 10 men, will be another boost for Liverpool.
The Reds are now only one place and three points behind United, and have got the greater impetus going into two big games against them in the Europa League.
The top four is still a big ask for the Reds while they remain so inconsistent but winning the way they did against Palace, after playing poorly, will be such a good feeling.
Mark Lawrenson was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan | Some people will see Liverpool's fightback to beat Crystal Palace as further evidence of the 'Jurgen Klopp effect', but on this occasion I think it had as much to do with them getting a bit lucky. |
38889065 | Newcastle had led after just 23 seconds thanks to Ayoze Perez's placed effort.
Jacob Murphy's far-post finish made it 1-1 before goalkeeper Karl Darlow gifted Norwich the lead as he scuffed a clearance and Cameron Jerome tucked in.
Matt Ritchie hit the bar for Newcastle before they deservedly levelled through Jamaal Lascelles' sweet finish, keeping them top after Brighton also drew.
The draw saw seventh-placed Norwich slip further behind sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday, who won to move themselves four points clear of Alex Neil's side with a game in hand.
The hosts were stunned when Perez had time and space to tuck in a right-footed shot in the opening minute, and a lively Newcastle could have doubled their lead but John Ruddy saved well from Aleksandar Mitrovic.
A fine throw from keeper Ruddy then led to Norwich levelling from an exquisite team move, with Murphy applying the close-range finish at the far post after Jerome had shown good strength to get to the byeline and square the ball.
The former Birmingham and Stoke forward then capitalised on Darlow's howler to score the simplest of his 10 league goals so far this season and the Canaries were on course for what would have been a fifth win in six games.
But the visitors began to dominate after half-time and Ritchie's shot struck the underside of the crossbar as they controlled possession and created the greater number of chances.
Lascelles' crisp, left-footed effort from the far post after a neat team move was enough to earn the Magpies a point, though they could have won it late on when Jonjo Shelvey scuffed a shot wide and Perez was denied by Ruddy.
Norwich manager Alex Neil:
"To be honest, there are mixed emotions after that. Obviously, you are not expecting to concede a goal in the first minute and we were really nervy in the first five minutes.
"But once we got our goal and then got ahead, I thought we were excellent - the response from the players was top class.
"In the second half, we started okay and then we started to drop deeper and deeper to protect what we had and the frustrating thing from our point of view is that we didn't see it out."
Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez:
"I thought we responded brilliantly to going behind - the character of the players, and their reaction to the setbacks, was the most positive thing for me tonight.
"We had a lot of supporters in the corner and I am sure they will have enjoyed the effort the players put in.
"It was a very open game - good for the fans but perhaps not for the managers. Norwich might think differently but I think we had enough chances to have won it - but you can't always take three points and if we can take four points every two games we will go up."
Match ends, Norwich City 2, Newcastle United 2.
Second Half ends, Norwich City 2, Newcastle United 2.
Attempt saved. Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle United) right footed shot from long range on the left is saved in the centre of the goal.
Jonny Howson (Norwich City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Dwight Gayle (Newcastle United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Steven Whittaker (Norwich City).
Corner, Norwich City. Conceded by Christian Atsu.
Attempt saved. Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Christian Atsu with a through ball.
Foul by DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United).
Jacob Murphy (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle United) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ayoze Pérez.
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Timm Klose.
Substitution, Norwich City. Josh Murphy replaces Wes Hoolahan.
Offside, Newcastle United. Jamaal Lascelles tries a through ball, but Christian Atsu is caught offside.
Dwight Gayle (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Alexander Tettey (Norwich City).
Foul by Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United).
Alexander Tettey (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Mitchell Dijks (Norwich City) is shown the yellow card.
Goal! Norwich City 2, Newcastle United 2. Jamaal Lascelles (Newcastle United) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ayoze Pérez with a cross following a set piece situation.
Mohamed Diamé (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Alex Pritchard (Norwich City).
Substitution, Norwich City. Kyle Lafferty replaces Cameron Jerome.
Substitution, Newcastle United. Dwight Gayle replaces Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Attempt missed. Jacob Murphy (Norwich City) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Mitchell Dijks.
Attempt saved. Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Jonjo Shelvey with a cross.
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Mitchell Dijks.
Mohamed Diamé (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Cameron Jerome (Norwich City).
Substitution, Newcastle United. Christian Atsu replaces Matt Ritchie.
Attempt missed. Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by DeAndre Yedlin with a cross.
Attempt blocked. Matt Ritchie (Newcastle United) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Mohamed Diamé.
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Jonny Howson.
Hand ball by Wes Hoolahan (Norwich City).
Attempt saved. Jacob Murphy (Norwich City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Mitchell Dijks with a headed pass.
Foul by Yoan Gouffran (Newcastle United).
Wes Hoolahan (Norwich City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt blocked. Jacob Murphy (Norwich City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Cameron Jerome.
Substitution, Norwich City. Alex Pritchard replaces Yanic Wildschut.
Attempt missed. Cameron Jerome (Norwich City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Jonny Howson. | Norwich City and Newcastle United had to settle for a draw after a frantic Championship game at Carrow Road. |
19626471 | Mark Simpson denied murdering his then-girlfriend's daughter Alexis Matheson by assaulting her in 2007.
A jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict at the High Court in Aberdeen in 2010 and Simpson was jailed for a minimum of 20 years.
The review was ordered in February last year, and the report is due on Friday.
The review has been headed up by Howard Llewellyn, the chief officer of Tayside community justice authority.
He has been reporting to the north east of Scotland child protection committee, having been asked to establish the facts about individual and agency contacts with the child to learn any lessons and make recommendations.
Simpson was found guilty in November 2010 of the murder of baby Alexis by shaking her to death, having denied murder by assaulting her between 18 November and 9 December 2007.
He had lived in Aberdeen with the baby's mother Ilona Sheach.
The Crown had urged the jury to convict Simpson for his "wicked recklessness".
However, the defence argued there was no sufficient corroborating evidence to say he even assaulted the baby.
Judge Lord Uist had told Simpson: "The pain and agony which baby Alexis must have suffered as a result of the injuries which you inflicted upon her are unthinkable."
He called for a fatal accident inquiry. | The results of a review into the death of a six-week-old baby murdered in Aberdeen are due to be published later this week, BBC Scotland has learned. |
35412813 | The 24-hour strike - which would have been the second held this year - was due to take place on 1 February as part of a row over conditions.
Aslef said it was suspending the strike and lifting the overtime ban in force.
Arriva said it was a "positive step towards resolving this industrial dispute".
The matter will be considered by the union's executive committee when it meets early next month.
It comes after members of the RMT and Aslef unions walked out on 4 January this year, the day many returned to work after the Christmas break. | Strike action by Arriva Trains Wales drivers has been called off after "lengthy negotiations", the Aslef union has said. |
38500893 | In November, Friends of the Earth lost a case over how the issue was enforced.
It said the former Department of the Environment should have issued a stop notice which would have led to an immediate cessation.
But a judge ruled that the then DoE minister Mark H Durkan had not been "turning a blind eye".
Instead of a stop notice, Mr Durkan issued an enforcement notice. It is open to appeal.
One was lodged by the sand companies and dredging is continuing pending the outcome of that appeal.
About 1.5m tonnes of sand is sucked out of the bottom of the lough by barges every year. The extraction does not have planning permission.
The sand is used extensively in the construction industry.
However, Lough Neagh is an important bird sanctuary with EU protections.
Friends of the Earth said that placed a legal requirement on the department to protect it.
Meanwhile, a report prepared as part of the legal battle said the impact of dredging on Lough Neagh and its birds was "negligible".
The survey was done by experts on behalf of the Environment Agency last summer.
It said "no significant negative impacts" were identified.
But it also said that the desktop survey had identified "important gaps" in knowledge about the impact of dredging.
About 150 jobs depend directly on the industry.
The report, by a company called APEM, was released in response to a BBC Freedom of Information request.
It looked at the impact of dredging on the bed of the lough; on plant and invertebrate life and on birds.
The report said while there may be some impact at "the very local scale of the dredging activity in the context of the wider lough they are probably insignificant" in most circumstances.
The experts said dredging normally takes places place when barges are stationary, leaving a circular crater of about 15m in diameter.
They have calculated that it affects 70-80 hectares of the lough bed a year or about 2% per year of the targeted sand resource.
Modern extraction has been going on since the 1950s and stepped up in 2005 with the introduction of up-to-date barges.
The experts said the sand plumes they generate in the lough during extraction are localised and the water returns to normal within 20 minutes.
They said the sand companies do not dredge in shallow water where plant life grows and sustains some birds.
And while another food source, invertebrates like molluscs and worm, may be affected, there are plenty of them in the wider lough.
The area where dredging is concentrated covers 50 sq km of the lough - the lough has a total area of 383 sq km.
The report says on the basis of available evidence, important species like some swans and ducks will not be significantly impacted by the dredging.
One of the few areas of concern for the authors was the proximity of dredging sites to pollan spawning grounds.
Pollan is a kind of fresh water herring. It is a leftover from the Ice Age when it was trapped in the lough by receding waters. | An environmental group is appealing against a court decision over unregulated sand extraction from Lough Neagh. |
39745935 | The Giro, one of three three-week Grand Tours that include the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana, begins on 5 May in Sardinia and ends in Milan on 28 May.
Welshman Thomas goes into the race in fine form after becoming the first Briton to win the Tour of the Alps.
"My preparation has gone well and to win the Tour of the Alps was obviously a boost to my morale," said Thomas, 30.
Landa claimed third place at the 2015 Giro but was forced to retire early last year due to illness.
"As always, it is a race for the climbers and I think that will suit me," he added.
"We have a strong team and I'm really looking forward to returning to the Giro with Team Sky."
Sky Team principal Sir Dave Brailsford has picked a team of climbers as Team Sky "focus on competing in the general classification".
"The last week of this Giro will be particularly demanding and the severity of those stages will be determining factors, so making sure we have climbing support in the high mountains has been a key consideration," he said.
Team Sky's Three-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome will not contest the Giro as he focuses on defending title in France and winning a fourth Tour in five years.
Team Sky line-up for Giro d'Italia:
Philip Deignan, Kenny Elissonde, Michal Golas, Sebastian Henao, Vasil Kiryienka, Mikel Landa, Salvatore Puccio, Diego Rosa, Geraint Thomas.
The BBC Sport website will carry daily reports on the Giro d'Italia. | Britain's Geraint Thomas and Spain's Mikel Landa will lead Team Sky in the 100th edition of the Giro d'Italia. |
17112027 | Listeners to Mike Vitti's show on Saturday heard about five minutes of groaning in the background as music and adverts played.
A statement from Vitti was posted on the station's website on Monday.
"Please accept our profound and sincere apologies for any offence we may have caused," it read.
"Unfortunately we had an unauthorised access to the live feed on Jazz FM on Saturday 18 February at 7:15pm which resulted in a highly regrettable incident.
"Rest assured we have taken steps to ensure that there will be no repeat."
On his Twitter feed on Tuesday, Vitti - who is also head of programming - wrote: "I'm truly sorry but we have had a major hack into the feed.
"Engineers looking into it now, once again, profound apologies."
Vitti added that he would apologise on air on his next show.
He went on to tweet that he "was going to London after last week's fiasco. Not been in a good mood these last few days. Can't understand why someone would do that."
The station has an average weekly audience of about 500,000 and covers many jazz genres, including funky, Latin and big band.
Vitti's Funky Sensations show features such artists as Rick James, Teddy Pendergrass, George Duke, Booker T and Roy Ayers. | Digital station Jazz FM has apologised after what appeared to be part of a pornographic film soundtrack was broadcast during one of its shows. |
38277440 | Even better news for the Moray side was that the leading Loons were beaten 1-0 at home by Arbroath.
The Red Lichties are third after Clyde lost 2-1 away to Montrose, who move off the bottom above Stirling Albion.
Albion lost 2-0 to Edinburgh City, now unbeaten in six league games, while Annan Athletic beat Cowdenbeath 2-0.
At Borough Briggs, Elgin did the damage in the first quarter, with Sutherland notching his first before Brian Cameron took on the striker's pass to power past Kevin Walker.
Sutherland made it 3-0 after the break from the penalty spot and Brian Cameron added to Elgin's tally with a smart finish.
Dan Moore was set up by Sutherland for the fifth before the striker went three clear at the top of the scoring charts by completing his hat-trick shortly after - his 11th goal of the season.
At Station Park, Ryan McCord was Arbroath's late hero, breaking a deadlock that had lasted 85 minutes.
The striker headed in Josh Skelly's centre to further dent the league leaders' imperious start to the season.
Montrose managed a rousing win over Clyde, with Gary Fraser breaking the deadlock for the Gable Endies from the penalty spot after Martin McNiff tripped Callum MacDonald.
The felled player committed a handball in his own area after the break and Peter MacDonald levelled with another penalty.
However, Graham Webster grabbed the close-range winner for Montrose from Cammy Ballantyne's pass.
Edinburgh cruised to victory over Stirling in the capital to move above Cowdenbeath into seventh place.
City led on the half-hour when Ouzy See profited from Mark McConnell's delightful through pass to prod home.
Dougie Gair made the game safe late on with a neat dispatch from 20 yards.
Annan saw off visitors Cowdenbeath to move above Berwick into fifth spot.
Darren Ramsay scored the first then turned provider on the hour, crossing for Steven Swinglehurst to double the Galabank side's advantage.
Gallery
Riddle
Gallery
Ranked
Who would you select in your Test XV for the Lions?
Social | Shane Sutherland scored a hat-trick as Elgin City moved to within two points of Scottish League Two leaders Forfar by routing Berwick Rangers 6-0. |
39221999 | The newspaper said it has drawn on a range of factors, including community spirit, exam results, broadband speed and the availability of local shops.
Abersoch in Gwynedd was the only place to be listed in north Wales.
It is the fifth year the guide has been produced.
Llandaff in Cardiff has been named among its "Top 20 perennials" for places to have appeared in almost every annual guide.
Sunday Times home editor Helen Davies said: "Numbers on a spreadsheet can only tell us so much, so we carefully balance statistics with our writers' decades of knowledge and expertise to create the definitive list of the best places to live in the UK."
Cowbridge is regarded as an affluent market town with a traditional high street full of independent shops and a popular secondary school.
Other Welsh towns in the guide are: Abergavenny, Bishopston and Gower, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Hay-on-Wye, Llandeilo, Llanidloes, Monmouth, Narberth and Penarth.
"Best places" to live in the north and north east, Midlands, Northern Ireland and south east will also be highlighted in the first part of the guide at the weekend. | Cowbridge in Vale of Glamorgan has been named as the "best place to live in Wales" in an annual guide by the Sunday Times. |
40350006 | Many people expressed alarm on social media when the "Breaking News" logo flashed up 11 times during the show.
BBC News at Six and Ten editor Paul Royall said a "technical systems crash" caused the four-minute delay.
Edwards later tweeted a photo of a can of beer, saying he was "going to enjoy this little beauty" after the bulletin.
Some viewers used the #bbcnewsten Twitter hashtag to make light of the glitch.
Royall explained that the delay was due to a technical systems crash that happened seconds before the News at Ten was due to air, adding that "hats off" were due to Edwards.
"Director had to switch to back-up system ASAP", he said.
Viewers on BBC One were played saxophone music for part of the delay, while on iPlayer an announcer apologised for the glitch.
The BBC News Channel continued to broadcast Edwards live in the TV studio.
At 22:04 BST, Edwards wished viewers a good evening and said: "A few technical problems tonight for which we apologise". | A technical fault temporarily halted the BBC News at Ten, leaving presenter Huw Edwards sitting in silence in the studio. |
40665450 | The Iceland international has been linked with a possible move to Everton and has not travelled with the Swans for their pre-season tour of America.
The club's owners have put a £50m price tag on the player.
"I don't see it as impossible [Sigurdsson will stay]," said Clement after Swansea's 2-1 win against Richmond Kickers.
"And I think from all sides we want to see a resolution to this situation."
Swansea have already fended off a £40m bid from Leicester for Sigurdsson, who scored nine goals and made 13 assists to help save the Welsh club from Premier League relegation last season.
But while the team are in north America, Sigurdsson is in south Wales training alone and taking part in sessions with the club's under-23 team.
"I spoke to Gylfi two days ago," added Clement.
"I have a really good relationship with Gylfi and the chairman and the owners know very much my feeling on the situation and we're talking daily about how things are moving.
"The best thing will be a resolution to the situation in the near future."
Clement would not be drawn on Swansea's own transfer targets, but admitted he wanted any business concluded as quickly as possible.
In addition to Everton's link with Sigurdsson, Chelsea are still reported to be interested in striker Fernando Llorente.
The ex-Spain international was Swansea's top scorer last season with 15 goals from 33 games.
The Swans are being linked with Las Palmas midfielder Jonathan Viera and Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony as potential replacements.
Clement admitted Viera is on the club's radar.
"He is a player that we're aware of," said Clement.
"He's a talent, but there are other players that we're looking at as well."
Bony scored 35 goals in a 17 month spell with Swansea before moving to Manchester City for £28m in January 2015.
He has failed to reproduce that form with City, and spent the 2016-17 season on loan at Stoke City.
Clement said: "[Bony] is a striker that we know well, the club knows well from his time here previously, and Wilfried hasn't played so much since he left the club where he had done so well in his last spell.
"I won't say that we are [interested] and I won't say that we're not at this stage, but we'll have to see what happens with some of our other players that play in those forward positions." | Swansea City head coach Paul Clement says it is possible Gyfi Sigurdsson could stay at the club. |
21766849 | In a leaked letter, the Department for Education told Kent County Council the site on Seal Hollow Road was "ideally suited" for the Trinity School.
The council wants to build an extension to two existing grammar schools.
The site is currently occupied by the Knole Academy, which moves out in 2015.
In the letter to the council, John Nash, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Schools, wrote: "I am minded to exercise the Secretary of State's powers... to transfer a freehold interest in the site to Trinity School in time for September 2015."
Lord Nash said under the Academies Act 2010 it was "immaterial if there is an intention of the local authority to use the site... for a different school".
He added: "I am persuaded that Trinity School is being driven by parental demand and has the support of the community.
"I believe it will benefit both the parents and pupils of Sevenoaks by improving choice and driving up the quality of education in the area."
The new "satellite schools" are expected to take in 120 pupils and would be linked to grammar schools in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells.
Trinity School, a free school in Riverhead, has expressed an interest in moving to the council-owned Wildernesse site when Knole Academy's lease runs out in 2015.
Paul Carter, leader of the county council, said: "I would describe the letter as far from helpful.
"We strongly believe there is no need for an additional free school in Sevenoaks. There is a significant demand for grammar school places in West Kent."
He added that the council needed to meet the government "to find a resolution to this conundrum".
Sarah Shilling, of the Sevenoaks Grammar School Campaign, said: "I don't think they [the government] really understand the legal situation.
"All the while that site is in educational use, as it will be, the way I understand the law, the government can't touch it."
Mr Carter added: "The law is unclear and we believe that Academies Act only applies to surplus school sites where there is no other provision being considered."
The Academies Act 2010 said it was "immaterial if there is an intention of the local authority to use the site... for a different school".
Matthew Tate, the head teacher of Trinity School, said: "We believe that the site is big enough to share with the grammar school and that would be the best way forward for the children of Sevenoaks."
Following the publication of the letter, the Department for Education said in a statement: "The Trinity Free School is due to open on a temporary site in Sevenoaks this September.
"We are proposing using part of the Wildernesse site as the free school's permanent home.
"However, we are clear that this site is large and there would be plenty of space for both the Free School and another school to operate there." | A planned "satellite" grammar school in Sevenoaks could be in doubt after the government said it intended to use the council-owned site for a free school. |
19049421 | The 51-year-old was released on bail having been arrested at a London police station by appointment on Monday.
Mr Parker was also arrested in February by police investigating allegations of corrupt payments to public officials.
He remains on police bail for that alleged offence.
Mr Parker was arrested on Monday by Met Police officers from Operation Tuleta, which is probing allegations of computer hacking.
Scotland Yard later said he had been bailed to return to a central Lodnon police station in late September.
It is the eighth arrest in Operation Tuleta and comes less than a fortnight after a Sun journalist was arrested in the same investigation.
The investigation is running alongside Operation Weeting, into phone hacking, and Operation Elveden, which is looking at corrupt payments by journalists to public officials.
It is thought as many as 16 current or former Sun journalists have been arrested as part of Scotland Yard's investigations into corruption and computer misuse. | A journalist held by police investigating a suspected conspiracy to gather data from stolen mobile phones is Sun chief foreign correspondent Nick Parker, the BBC understands. |
38869473 | The 34-year-old had back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 to move to 14 under but squandered opportunities to pick up shots at the next three holes.
But an eight-footer at the last wrapped up a six-under 65 for 15 under overall.
Korea's An Byeong-Hun leads on 16 under after also shooting a 65 on Saturday.
An, who is chasing his first PGA Tour win, picked up five shots over his first 10 holes.
The 25-year-old's progress slowed thereafter but he was never headed, recovering superbly to pick up a shot at the 17th after he had been disturbed off the tee by the boisterous crowds.
Laird's chance of closing the gap appeared to have gone as he struggled somewhat with his putting, but he rallied at the 18th to leave himself well in contention. | Scotland's Martin Laird missed three late birdie putts before producing a superb one at the 18th to lie one shot off the lead going into the final round of the Phoenix Open. |
34346557 | The incident happened on Monday at a property in John Street, Penicuik.
The 22-year-old is due to appear at Jedburgh Sheriff Court. | A 22-year-old man has been charged with the abduction and attempted murder of two men in Midlothian. |
35585447 | Amy Wadge, from Church Village, Rhondda Cynon Taff, collected the award with Sheeran for song of the year for their number one hit.
The pair attended the ceremony in Los Angeles together, receiving their award from Stevie Wonder.
Afterwards, Wadge tweeted: "Oh my god I am so so happy right now."
She added she was "damn proud of @edsheeran we won song of the year woo !!!"
Sheeran, who also won a Grammy for best pop solo performance, thanked Wadge on stage "for writing the song with me".
"We wrote it on a couch in my house after having dinner - quite odd," he added. | A songwriter has said she is "so happy" and "proud" after winning a Grammy for co-writing Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud. |
38017277 | The athletes, nine of whom come from former Soviet Union nations, all tested positive for various steroids.
No gold medallists were among the 10, but there were three silver medallists from weightlifting and wrestling.
Greek triple jumper Chrysopigi Devetzi and Ukrainian pole vaulter Denys Yurchenko have lost their bronzes.
Six more athletes who did not win medals in 2008 were also disqualified, including Russia's Elena Slesarenko, who won gold in the women's high jump in Athens in 2004 but was only fourth in Beijing.
The IOC has been retesting samples from both the Beijing and London Games and it brings the total of banned athletes from 2008 to 76.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | The International Olympic Committee has stripped 10 athletes of medals from the 2008 Olympics after banned substances were found during retests of samples. |
39119184 | Following a second-minute penalty try, Francois Hougaard, Will Spencer and Bryce Heem all crossed to earn the Warriors a bonus point by half-time.
Gavin Henson kicked a penalty, also converting Jason Woodward's try.
After winger Heem added his second try, Bristol crossed twice through Max Crumpton and Tom Varndell, but Wynand Olivier's late effort sealed victory.
After Woodward had converted Crumpton's 68th-minute try and Jack Wallace had drop-kicked the conversion to Varndell's breakaway try six minutes later to make it 36-24, one more try could have earned Bristol two bonus points and cut Worcester's five-point advantage from this game.
But, as it was, Olivier latched onto Mills' kick-through to claim the final score and put Worcester seven points clear of Bristol in the table.
Relive Sunday's Premiership rugby
Roared on by a sell-out 11,499 crowd for this battle of the bottom two, Warriors were awarded a penalty try inside 66 seconds - thought to be the fastest awarded in Premiership history - as well as an added bonus of Bristol lock Dan Tuohy being put in the sin bin for entering the ruck from the side.
After Mills converted from in front of the posts, he then added three more points with a 45-yard penalty for a 10-0 lead inside six minutes.
Heem's own yellow card, for his 14th minute tip tackle on Ryan Bevington, allowed Bristol a platform to reduce the arrears with a Henson penalty. But, a minute later, Hougaard broke brilliantly down the right straight from a Bristol line-out, Mills converting for 17-3.
Bristol full-back Woodward then stole on to a loose ball to collect and dive over to the left of the posts, Henson converting for 17-10. But two more converted tries in the space of five minutes, again down the right, gave Warriors a 31-10 interval lead.
There was then a try-less period until Heem went in at the right corner in the 63rd minute, before the two scores from Crumpton and Varndell made it interesting.
Varndell's interception of Mills' pass increased the Premiership record scorer's try total to 92 - his fourth against Worcester this season after his hat-trick at Ashton Gate. But the hosts had the final word, when Olivier crossed for the last of the game's nine tries.
Warriors director of rugby Gary Gold told BBC Hereford & Worcester:
"A pleasing day. There's some real quality in this side. Maybe all these guys needed was a bit of belief.
"A fourth try for them and getting within seven points of us would have been bad for us, but we saw it out.
"In a game like this, you don't want it determined by poor discipline but, by and large, it was very good.
"What Bristol do now is out of our control. But I was quite impressed with them. I don't think they're going to roll over, especially not at Ashton Gate."
Interim Bristol head coach Mark Tainton told BBC Radio Bristol:
"They kicked off, we made a mistake, then they get a penalty try and we get a yellow card. Then we gifted them another try.
"They didn't have to work too hard for their points in the first half.
"I don't think we've had five tries scored down the right against us all season.
"But Worcester played well, at a good tempo, they put dents in our midfield and, on occasions, they could have gone left or right."
Bristol captain Jordan Crane told BBC Radio Bristol:
"Worcester were outstanding. They outmuscled us. It's bitterly disappointing, but sometimes things happen that way.
'We'll keep going. It's by no means done. There's still points to play for and we'll keep scrapping. We've got two weeks now to concentrate on the Gloucester game."
Worcester: Pennell; Heem, Olivier, Willison, Adams; Mills, Hougaard; Ruskin, Taufete'e, Schonert, O'Callaghan (capt), Spencer, Vui, Lewis, Mama.
Replacements: Williams, Bower, Alo, Cavubati, Potgieter, Baldwin, Lamb, Humphreys.
Sin-bin: Heem (10)
Bristol: Woodward; Lemi, Hurrell, Piutau, Varndell; Henson, Mathewson; Bevington, Jones, Cortes, Evans, Tuohy, Eadie, Lam, Crane (capt).
Replacements: Crumpton, O'Connell, Ford-Robinson, Jeffries, Fenton-Wells, Williams, Pisi, Wallace.
Sin-bin: Tuohy (1)
Referee: Wayne Barnes.
Attendance: 11,499.
For the latest rugby union news, follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter. | Worcester took a big stride to ensuring Premiership survival as they ran six tries past bottom club Bristol. |
34017553 | The offences are alleged to have taken place between October 2013 and February 2014 in the Crawley area.
The group are denying 14 charges in total, including rape and sexual assault against two girls, aged 13 and 15 at the time.
The six will now stand trial on 11 January 2016.
The defendants are: | Three men and three boys have pleaded not guilty to charges relating to child sexual exploitation in Sussex. |
37565367 | The cyber attack on its website took place in October last year.
The Information Commissioner's Office, which imposed the fine, said security was so poor that the attack succeeded "with ease".
TalkTalk said the fine was "disappointing" as it had "co-operated fully" with the investigation.
"The TalkTalk attack was notable for our decision to be open and honest with our customers from the outset. This gave them the best chance of protecting themselves."
The fine is the largest yet imposed by the ICO, which under its powers could have imposed a maximum fine of £500,000.
The Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, said: "TalkTalk's failure to implement the most basic cyber security measures allowed hackers to penetrate TalkTalk's systems with ease."
"Yes hacking is wrong, but that is not an excuse for companies to abdicate their security obligations.
"TalkTalk should and could have done more to safeguard its customer information. It did not and we have taken action," she added.
In nearly 16,000 cases, the attacker was able to steal bank account details.
The ICO explained that TalkTalk had been very lax in enforcing proper security on its own website.
Database software, which held details of customers inherited from the 2009 takeover of a rival firm, Tiscali, was out of date.
As a result, the attacker got hold of the customers' details by attacking three vulnerable web pages, using a well known hacking technique called SQL injection.
A bug, which could have been fixed, allowed the attacker to by-pass restrictions, but the company was simply unaware of the problem or that it could be solved easily.
That was despite two previous, similar cyber attacks earlier in 2015 that should have alerted the firm to the problems with its software and data storage.
"In spite of its expertise and resources, when it came to the basic principles of cyber-security, TalkTalk was found wanting," said Ms Denham.
"Today's record fine acts as a warning to others that cyber security is not an IT issue, it is a boardroom issue.
"Companies must be diligent and vigilant. They must do this not only because they have a duty under law, but because they have a duty to their customers."
A police investigation of the data theft is still going on.
In May, TalkTalk revealed that the attack had cost it £42m and that 101,000 subscribers had left in the aftermath of the attack.
The firm said at the time of the attack that it appeared to be an attempt to extort money.
Six people, all under 21 years old, have been arrested as part of the police investigation. | TalkTalk has been fined a record £400,000 for poor website security which led to the theft of the personal data of nearly 157,000 customers. |
35220560 | Sign up for our BBC Sport news notifications via the app and you will get a message to let you know of a breaking news story, major live sport or to share a great piece of content.
The alerts are available in the iOS and Android versions of the free, award-winning BBC Sport app - add them by heading to the menu, selecting 'My Alerts' then 'Add Alerts' followed by 'Sport News'.
The service will supplement the current alerts offering for data around football, rugby union, cricket and rugby league matches as well as Formula 1 grands prix.
What are the alerts?
The notifications are small notifications which appear on the homescreen of your device. To give recent examples an alert might say 'Jose Mourinho sacked as Chelsea manager' or 'England and Wales drawn in same group for Euro 2016'.
What will the alerts tell me?
The notifications will cover three main areas.
1) Breaking sports news. Something important has just happened - a top manager has been sacked, a title has been won, a football team has spent £50m on a new player.
2) To inform you that there is live sport to enjoy on the BBC - an Andy Murray match at Wimbledon is now two sets all, watch live FA Cup football on BBC One at 19:55 GMT.
3) We want to let you know something - this might be the Match of the Day running order, or that voting for Sports Personality is now open, or that there is an article or piece of video on the site we think you'll enjoy.
They will complement the sports data notifications that are currently already available via the BBC Sport App for cricket, football, F1, rugby league and rugby union.
How many alerts will I receive?
Not too many! We cannot give an exact number as nobody can predict when major sport news will occur. There will also be variation - some days are packed full of major sporting events, others are relatively quiet.
On some days there won't be any notifications, others there might be three or four. What we promise though is that we won't spam you, we will only send alerts we believe to be of genuine interest to the majority of subscribers.
We will use the data from these alerts to help inform the development of our topic specific notifications in the future, as part of our commitment to offering our users a more personalised BBC Sport.
How do I add the alerts?
If you have the iOS or Android version of the BBC Sport app, select the menu and then 'My Notifications', select 'Add Notifications' and from there, turn on 'Sport News'.
Don't have the app yet? You can download it via these links for:
Can I personalise the alerts?
Not currently. On selecting the notifications you will receive all the Sport News notifications we send, although that is something that we are exploring for the future along with the ability to set reminders for specific events of interest.
The notifications will cover a wide range of sports and topics - however they will only be sent if we are happy that they will be of interest to the majority of subscribers.
Please leave any feedback in the app or app store as we will review comments to help inform future developments.
What if I already get breaking news alerts from the BBC News App?
BBC News will continue to send very select breaking news notifications relating to major sporting events, while the BBC Sport App will offer a wider range of sport notifications targeted at the more dedicated sports fan.
Also in the app...
In the app you can also:
- Select alerts for your football, rugby or cricket team. Never miss a goal, try or wicket. F1 alerts are available too
- Personalise. In the new My Sport section you can create a page with just the sports and topics that interest you
- See all the same content as on the website - including live video and on-demand highlights
- Cast to your TV. Send the video to the biggest screen in the house. | Want to know about the biggest sport stories the moment they happen? |
35742210 | He is widely regarded as the inventor of email, and is credited with putting the now iconic "@" sign in the addresses of the revolutionary system.
He could never have imagined the multitude of ways email would come to be used, abused and confused.
Just think - right now, someone, somewhere is writing an email she should probably reconsider. Count to 10, my friend. Sleep on it.
Another is sending an email containing brutal, heartbreaking words that, really, should be said in person… if only he had the nerve.
And of course, a Nigerian prince is considering how best to ask for my help in spending his fortune.
Email does curious things to us. We worry about getting emails, we worry about not getting emails.
Before joining the BBC, I'd live by the popular freelancer's mantra that a watched inbox never fills, so I'd go for a walk in the hope of returning to offers of work.
Now I'm desperate for "inbox zero".
Email became part of everyday life so quickly we didn't have enough time to learn how to properly use it - until there was no turning back, and bad habits were set in stone.
To make things worse, the Blackberry brought email away from our computers and into our palms - and therefore our bedrooms, our commutes and our toilet breaks.
In doing so, we willingly let email seep into our lives, instigating an anxiety we'd not yet encountered. One study in 2014 took email away from 13 US government workers. The result? Their average heart-rates decreased.
And that's because for anyone with any kind of office job, the temptation - or perhaps pressure - to be on top of your emails can be overwhelming.
In France, there have even been calls to enforce some kind of "digital work hour" restriction, because checking your email after work is, after all, free labour.
Below is an extract from Ray Tomlinson's account of how he created email:
I am frequently asked why I chose the at sign, but the at sign just makes sense.
The purpose of the at sign (in English) was to indicate a unit price (for example, 10 items @ $1.95). I used the at sign to indicate that the user was "at" some other host rather than being local.
The first message was sent between two machines that were literally side by side. The only physical connection they had (aside from the floor they sat on) was through the Arpanet.
I sent a number of test messages to myself from one machine to the other. The test messages were entirely forgettable and I have, therefore, forgotten them.
Most likely the first message was QWERTYUIOP or something similar. When I was satisfied that the program seemed to work, I sent a message to the rest of my group explaining how to send messages over the network.
The first use of network email announced its own existence.
Yet, for all its faults, we've still not found anything better.
Which is why, as the technology world mourns the loss of Ray Tomlinson, it's only right to spend a moment to appreciate what a remarkable contribution he made to the business of communication.
He's credited as sending the first email as we know it today - and commandeering the @ symbol as a way to simplify how it works.
The first messages were sent between computers that were a mere 10 feet apart, but the feat was enormous.
For something so groundbreaking, it was adorably anti-climactic. Just read how he described it during an interview in 2009.
"Every time you test you have to generate some sort of message.
"You might drag your fingers across the keyboard or just type the opening phrase from Lincoln's Gettysburg address or something else - so technically the first email is completely forgettable and therefore forgotten."
In the following decades, the @ sign has gone from being a barely-used character to one we use multiple times a day. As NPR put it, Mr Tomlinson changed @ from a symbol into an icon.
Yes there's spam. Yes there's phishing attacks. Yes there's work mailing lists that ding constantly, or "reply all" fiascos.
But email itself has never been the problem, just the people that use it.
That said, one hopes email is replaced one day. It's widely accepted that it's not an efficient communication method, and disrupts the focus of anyone trying to get things done.
But what could possibly come next?
In the past year we've seen companies like Slack try and reinvent workplace communication, but while such tools are great for chatting internally, it does little to improve talking to those who work outside of your company.
In its quest for world domination, Facebook has long wanted us to ditch using email and instead shift over to using the Facebook inbox.
But I don't know about you, my Facebook inbox is one of the few safe spaces I have on the internet: an area where work does not overflow into my personal life. I'd like to keep it that way.
Soon, we're expecting Facebook will expand its Facebook At Work service, offering it to all businesses around the world. It's being trialled by a selection of firms, including the likes of RBS and Heineken. The idea is that communication tools we're all familiar with when talking to our friends can surely help us chat at work. Minus the cat videos.
If Facebook provides a way to separate work life from personal life, then great. Like Slack, it seems to work best when talking to people you already work with. If the rest of it just becomes a place to send and receive messages in chronological order... that's just an email inbox in disguise.
And we're back to where Ray Tomlinson started in 1971. 1971! This is an industry that moves quicker than any other, where start-ups come and go in a matter of weeks.
And yet Mr Tomlinson's innovation has endured for 45 years - and shows no sign of going anywhere yet.
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook | The internet pioneer Ray Tomlinson has died, aged 74. |
38884801 | Media playback is not supported on this device
It found more than a third (35%) of amateur sports people say they personally know someone who has doped, and 8% said they had taken steroids.
Half believe performance enhancing substance use is "widespread" among those who play sport competitively.
Ukad chief Nicole Sapstead described the figures as "incredibly alarming".
A BBC State of Sport investigation into doping in UK amateur sport also found that 49% thought performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) were "easily available" among people who play sports regularly.
According to figures from UK Anti-Doping (Ukad), the national body responsible for protecting clean sport, there are currently 52 athletes and coaches serving bans.
Of these, only 12% are professional sports men or women; 62% are amateurs, 21% are semi-professional, and 5% are coaches.
Of the 186 sanctions handed out across 22 separate sports by Ukad since it formed in 2009, 46% have been rugby union or league players - mainly at amateur and semi-professional levels.
Reacting to the ComRes poll for BBC Sport of more than 1,000 men and women who are members of sports clubs and teams, Sapstead said: "Certainly the figures as regards the prevalence of performance-enhancing substances at an amateur level are incredibly alarming.
"That said, it does confirm what UK Anti-Doping has long suspected and also seen through some of our intelligence-led testing.
"I don't think any sport can say that they don't have a problem at an amateur level.
"I think now is the time for everybody to sit up and acknowledge that this is a reality in every single sport and that you can't just be washing your hands of it or hoping that someone else will address it."
Sapstead also told BBC Sport:
Media playback is not supported on this device
Of the 79 people interviewed who had specifically taken anabolic steroids, 41% said improving performance was the main reason for taking them, followed by pain relief (40%) and improving how they look (34%).
However, when this is widened out to include those who admitted taking other performance-enhancing substances, boosting results was no longer the primary reason.
Only 25% of users overall claim they have taken substances with the intention of improving performance.
Over half say they were primarily used for pain relief, while 17% say they were used to improve looks.
"I think there are clearly a group of individuals seeking to enhance their performance by taking prohibited substances," said Sapstead, "and then there are others who were taking these substances because they have a body image problem, or actually because they think it's the done thing."
Younger people are the main users of anabolic steroids in amateur sport, according to the poll for BBC Sport.
Among sports club members aged 18-34, 13% say they have taken steroids to support performance or recovery while playing. Not one interviewee aged 55 or over said they had used anabolic steroids.
However, users aged between 35 and 54 are significantly more likely than those aged 18-34 to say pain relief is among the main reasons they have used steroids or other sports supplements.
But there is hardly any difference in gender, with 9% of men admitted taking steroids, compared with 8% of women.
And 71% of all those polled said they would not know where to get hold of anabolic steroids.
Using steroids for image reasons is a "worrying" problem among young people in Wales, according to the nation's social services and public health minister Rebecca Evans, who said in January: "It's not just a problem in sport - it is a wider societal issue."
According to the poll, a wide range of substances - both legal and illegal - are taken by amateur sports men and women to support their performance or recovery.
Performance-enhancing substances can also include recreational drugs and prescribed medications:
We also asked people about other substances they consumed while playing sport, including: energy drinks (68% had), pain-relief gels (60%), over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicines (59%) and protein shakes (46%).
Media playback is not supported on this device
Former amateur cyclist Dan Stevens was banned after refusing a test in 2014. He turned whistleblower but labelled Ukad's handling of his information "a catastrophic failure".
Responding to the BBC Sport poll, Stevens, 41, said: "I think it is widespread in all ranks. I think it is widespread in celebrity, I think it is widespread in the beauty industry; I think it is certainly widespread in the sports industry.
"I also think it is just a way of modern day life - we are living in a pharmacised world."
Stevens said he took thyroxine and testosterone on prescription, and EPO out of "curiosity".
"I'd always been a clean athlete and this situation happened to me when I was 39 years old. That was enough to see a huge, huge gain.
"But the real thing for me wasn't really about racing - I didn't do a lot of racing on these substances. The main thing was curiosity.
"I don't think in the amateur ranks it is about winning. You've got a situation where someone is overweight, a little bit fat, need to lean down, get in shape. And they get in shape.
"They then get railroaded into doing a marathon or a long bike ride or some kind of competitive event and they improve their fitness levels again and they become a healthier individual and become more body conscious and more health-orientated."
More than a third of people (36%) who report consuming recreational drugs to support their performance while playing amateur sport have also taken steroids.
Dr Lambros Lazuras, an assistant professor of social psychology at Sheffield Hallam University who studies doping behaviour, told BBC Sport that there is a "pill-taking culture" in amateur sport and general society, which can act as a "gateway" to stronger substances.
"There are people who engage in stacking practices, using as many as 10 substances at the same time," he explained. "For these people, it's not what they use anymore, it's what they want to achieve."
Media playback is not supported on this device
"The use of steroids, for example, has been associated with problems like heart disease, kidney failure and even sudden death," said Dr Lazuras. "You're not just cheating, you're putting your life at risk.
"This is an emerging public health issue," claimed Dr Lazuras. "You're using substances that are meant to treat diseases, and you're actually misusing them without any prescription.
"We push people into exercise because we want to promote the health benefits. We forget that people in most exercise settings might consider using substances.
"This is actually the dark side of exercise. You don't care about your health anymore. You care about your performance and how you look to other people - or yourself."
A British weightlifter who has served a doping ban told BBC Sport steroid abuse is rife at all levels in his sport and that the culture starts at amateur level.
"It begins in the gym," the weightlifter, who wishes to remain anonymous, said. "In weightlifting it gets to the point where you're not growing anymore. You can train, train, train and not get anywhere.
"Every weightlifter will take steroids. Some of them are taking light stuff and some of them are really heavily using steroids - it all depends how much money you have.
"Is it easy to buy bread in the shop? That's how easy it is to get steroids in the UK.
"If you're not taking steroids, basically you're nowhere in the competition, you're not going to get anywhere really.
"I'm really proud of how they fight steroids in England. But the problem is, why are England losing? England won't cheat.
"I've been caught because I didn't think that somebody would come to my house. I left taking steroids one month before competition and I never ever thought somebody would come to my house and test."
"I can't do something that I really love. Only because I've been cheating with steroids, come on. It's like I killed somebody. I'm not even an Olympic sportsman."
Lewis Conlin, 32, a publisher from Buckinghamshire, used a supplement containing the banned substance DMAA when he started weight-training in his early 20s.
DMAA is an amphetamine-derived substance banned from sale in the UK and named on Wada's prohibited list.
It has been linked with high blood pressure, tightening of the chest, stroke, heart attacks and even death, according to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
"In terms of the energy and focus that I got, it was the best pre-workout supplement I'd ever had," Conlin, who was weight-training four or five days per week with friends, told BBC Sport.
"You felt invincible, you felt you could do anything, you were just completely zoned out. You'd stare at a weight and go and lift it. That was great. Afterwards wasn't so great.
"About three hours later you would have a crash and you'd have a real comedown. I'd be depressed and I'd be ratty, happy just to keep myself in isolation and then later on that day I was getting chest pains.
"I would have trouble sleeping and would have heart palpitations - but that didn't actually stop me from taking it the next day. The training I was doing was so high and so intense I just wanted to have that every day.
"Had I known at the time exactly what DMAA did to your blood pressure and your heart rate then there is no way I would have carried on taking it."
More drug testing among amateur sports people is a "waste of time", according to one amateur cyclist who received a two-year ban for missing a post-race drugs test.
It would cost too much money and detract from focusing on drug use in the professional ranks, he added.
"I don't see the point at all," said the Briton, who asked to remain anonymous.
"What effect is it going to have on anything, unless it is something like a national championship where people can move on in the professional ranks and actually earn a living from it? It is a problem then because you're actually affecting people's lives.
In my opinion more testing would be just a waste of time at low level sport
"How far do you go - do you want to test people for doing a fun run? It's up to them if they want to do whatever they want to do, in my opinion," he said.
"If you want to catch someone then catch the right people - like the people that win the Tour de France and get away with it.
"But then that's too much politics and money involved. They would rather get someone that doesn't mean anything because it is easy."
Ukad has an annual budget of around £7m, mainly state funding. A single drug test costs around £350.
Ukad directs the vast majority of its testing to elite sport, with Sapstead saying: "I would love to able to address the issues that we see at an amateur level, but the reality is we just don't have the resources to do that.
"I strongly believe a further investment needs to be paid from sport, whether that's from a levy on ticket sales - some contribution into a greater integrity pot of money, that's distributed not just to anti-doping, but anti-corruption bodies.
"Someone somewhere needs to put their hand in their pocket and their money where their mouth is, and start to help pay for us to do this job, and do it as effectively and efficiently as possible.
"Cheating impacts against the people you are competing against. So it doesn't matter if you're an Olympian, or a Paralympian, and it doesn't matter if you don your trainers at a weekend for a fun run.
"Actually, you're competing, and therefore it absolutely matters that everyone is toeing the line and playing a fair game."
BBC Sport - using ComRes to conduct the poll - interviewed 1,025 British adults, who are members of sports clubs, teams or gyms, online, between 27 and 31 January 2017. The data was drawn from a nationally representative sample of British adults aged 18 or over and the full tables are available here.
All sports played by those interviewed are regulated by UK Anti-Doping, apart from gyms.
Have you ever taken a performance enhancing substance? Does your sport have a problem with doping? Get in touch using this link. | Drug use at every level of sport is "fast becoming a crisis" according to UK Anti-Doping - responding to a BBC poll into doping in amateur sport. |
39939611 | Inside their apartment, south of Gaza City, the children of the Abu Shaban family are studying for their end-of-year exams by candlelight.
"We have no electricity when we teach our children," says Suniya, their mother. "This problem will affect their grades a lot."
"The children are worried about the candles," she adds. "We know they're dangerous but we can't afford batteries for lights or back-up power."
"The refrigerator and most of our electrical appliances have burnt out because the power comes and goes so much. We're constantly chasing after electricity."
Gaza has long struggled with an energy shortage, but recently the situation has got much worse. Mains electricity is switched off for 16 to 20 hours a day.
Behind the crisis is an escalating political power struggle between the Islamist group, Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority (PA), dominated by the rival Fatah movement.
Hamas seized control of Gaza almost a decade ago - a year after it won legislative elections - ousting forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas.
So far, all attempts at reconciliation have failed.
Now, Mr Abbas's West Bank-based government appears to be piling on financial pressure as it tries to reassert its authority over the Strip.
It has cut the salaries of more than 60,000 civil servants in the impoverished territory by a third, a step it blames on decreasing foreign aid.
Gaza's only power plant, which runs on diesel, was shut down last month after the PA scrapped a tax exemption, more than doubling the price of the fuel.
The plant had been producing about 60MW of power a day, about 30% of the energy normally available.
Now, the PA says it will no longer honour any invoices for an additional 125MW of electricity supplied by Israel.
Its latest moves come amid fresh efforts by the United States to revive the moribund Middle East peace process. President Donald Trump is expected to visit Israel and the West Bank next week.
The US, European Union and Israel, among others, consider Hamas a terrorist group. Israel and Egypt tightened a blockade of Gaza after the Hamas takeover in 2007.
"The Americans and mainly the Israelis have been accusing President Abbas of being weak, [saying] he has no control over the Gaza Strip and is therefore no partner for peace," says Mkhaimar Abusada, a political science professor at al-Azhar University - Gaza.
"He wants to restore his power over Gaza, to be taken more seriously."
The lack of energy is forcing hospitals here to cancel non-emergency surgeries.
The United Nations has donated some fuel for generators.
It is also helping desalination plants to continue running, but at just 15% of their capacity. The reductions mean water supplies are reduced.
Wastewater in Gaza is not being treated properly and pumped out to sea. That means some raw sewage is being discharged just off the coast.
"The UN can only alleviate some of the humanitarian suffering of those who are most vulnerable," says the UN Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nikolay Mladenov. "We cannot foot the bill for the electricity in Gaza."
Mr Mladenov warns the "very grave" situation could become "catastrophic" if power from Israel is stopped.
A spokesperson for Cogat, Israel's military co-ordinator for civilian activities in the Palestinian Territories, says: "In the absence of the PA, payments for electricity in Gaza can be made through the international community or private entities."
The payments amounts to $11.1m (£8.6m) a month.
The Strip gets some power from Egypt but supplies are often disrupted because of unrest in the Sinai peninsula.
Previously, Qatar and Turkey, both major donors to Gaza, have given diesel.
Mr Mladenov says he is working hard to pass on the message to "all sides" that a political settlement is needed.
"The only reasonable political solution is in fact, to work on returning Gaza to the legitimate Palestinian Authority, the government," he adds.
President Abbas wants Hamas to dissolve a committee it recently set up to manage affairs in Gaza.
He is pushing for the PA to take control of border crossings and government offices and help set up a unity administration that can prepare for new elections.
Meanwhile, Hamas rejects Mr Abbas's efforts to take greater control of Gaza.
Damaging rivalry between the main Palestinian factions looks set to remain a potential stumbling block for peace efforts.
Many of Gaza's almost two million residents are hoping for a short-term solution.
They point out that the holy month of Ramadan is approaching, when observant Muslims fast from dawn until sunset. Seasonal temperatures are also rising.
But for now they are being left in the dark over what happens next. | By night, much of the Gaza Strip is plunged into darkness with streets lit only by the headlights of passing cars. |
36842851 | The teenager was attacked as he walked home in the early hours of Saturday, in the Falls Park area.
Gerard Scannell, 39, of Ballymurphy Road was charged with three counts of rape and one of sexual assault.
There was no application for bail, but Mr Scannell's barrister said there were consistent denials of the allegations during police interviews.
The prosecution said any future bail application would be objected to strongly. The accused was remanded in custody. | A Belfast man has appeared in court charged with raping a 16-year-old boy in the west of the city. |
33299369 | Istomin, 28, is ranked 92nd in the world, 48 places below the American 12th seed, and had lost four of the pair's last five meetings.
He led 5-2 in the second set, but dropped two breaks before recovering on the tie-break to seal victory two days before the start of Wimbledon.
Querrey, 27, had been looking for a first title since 2012 in Nottingham.
Earlier on Centre Court, Chris Guccione and Andre Sa beat Pablo Cuevas and David Marrero 6-2 7-5 in the doubles final. | Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (8-6) to win his first ATP title at the Aegon Open. |
33632605 | It follows a YouGov poll for the Times putting left-winger Mr Corbyn ahead in the race and Ms Kendall fourth.
Senior Labour figures, including ex-PM Tony Blair and Lord Mandelson, have warned against a victory for Mr Corbyn.
But Ms Kendall aides said suggestions she should back Andy Burnham or Yvette Cooper were "not going to happen."
Norman Smith, BBC assistant political editor, said "pressure has been mounting" on Ms Kendall to withdraw from the race.
But our correspondent said aides to the Leicester West MP dismissed the calls, accusing Mr Burnham's and Ms Cooper's camps of "fuelling" the idea.
One source said: "Both Andy and Yvette have seen their numbers fall this week following the flip flop over welfare and that's what is making these campaigns try and make Liz somehow the problem to distract from their own issues."
The source said that under the preference voting system it would not make any difference, even if Ms Kendall pulled out.
The Labour leadership race has been the subject of widespread debate after a YouGov poll this week suggested that in the final round of voting Mr Corbyn could finish six points ahead of bookmakers' favourite Mr Burnham.
The poll suggested Mr Corbyn could receive 43% of first preference votes, ahead of Mr Burnham on 26%, Ms Cooper on 20% and Ms Kendall on 11%.
Taking second preferences into account, the poll - of 1,054 people eligible to vote in the contest and carried out between Friday and Tuesday - pointed to a 6% victory for Mr Corbyn.
Speaking to the Times, Lord Mandelson warned the Labour Party's existence as "an electoral force" was at stake.
"Those of us who stayed and fought to save the Labour party in the 1980s will be experiencing a growing sense of deja vu," he told the Times.
"The last five years have left us with a terrible legacy to overcome with the existence of the Labour Party as an effective electoral force now at stake."
On Tuesday, former prime minister Mr Blair warned Labour would not win again from a "traditional leftist platform".
Mr Blair said Labour the leadership contest was being presented as a choice "between heart and head", but added that people who said their heart was with Mr Corbyn should "get a transplant".
And former adviser to Mr Blair, John McTernan, told BBC Newsnight two of the candidates should withdraw in favour of an "anyone but Corbyn" candidate.
Labour is due to announce its new leader at a special conference on 12 September. | Labour leadership contender Liz Kendall has dismissed calls for her to pull out of the contest and back another candidate to defeat Jeremy Corbyn. |
37173669 | Government spokesman Scott Bardsley said the move was to reflect the diversity in Canada's communities and to attract more female Muslim officers.
The iconic uniform, famed for its wide-brimmed hat, has barely changed since it was introduced two centuries ago.
Recent figures show women make up about a fifth of the RCMP but it is not clear how many this measure will affect.
Three types of hijabs were tested before one was selected as suitable for police work, local media reported.
According to the Montreal newspaper La Presse, an internal memo said the hijab could be removed quickly and easily if needed, and did not encumber officers.
The policy was introduced quietly earlier this year, though it was not prompted by any requests from officers, according to the AFP agency.
Some 30 officers had asked for a relaxing of the rules for religious or cultural reasons over the past two years, La Presse reported.
In most cases, the requests were from male officers wanting to grow beards.
Sikh officers have been allowed to wear turbans since 1990.
The uniform, with its red serge tunic, leather riding boots and felt campaign hat, dates back to the 1800s - when mounted police were sent west to police American whisky traders.
Inspired by British military uniforms of the period, it has since only undergone minor changes.
The RCMP has become the third police force in Canada to add the hijab option after Toronto and Edmonton.
Police in Sweden and Norway, and some US states, have adopted similar policies, Mr Bardsley said.
The Metropolitan Police in London approved a uniform hijab more than 10 years ago. | The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, known as the Mounties, is to allow women in uniform to wear hijabs. |
21162960 | Some 594 (23.4%) of the 2,540 schools teaching A-levels had no pupils with the two As and a B in the subjects recommended for top degree courses.
The data also shows some 215 schools missed the new government target of 40% of pupils obtaining five A*-C GCSEs.
The BBC is publishing its league tables for secondary schools in England.
The tables are drawn up from the latest official government data on pupils' academic achievement.
Overall they cover achievement in more than 4,000 mainstream state and independent schools, based mainly on the results of last summer's exams for 16- and 18-year-olds. In total, 2,540 schools and colleges in England run A-level courses.
Much has been made of the inability of leading universities to recruit more bright students from a wider set of backgrounds. But this data shows that many schools are not producing students of a high enough calibre to automatically get places at such universities.
It also shows that in only two schools did more than 70% of pupils obtain two As and a B in what is known as the "facilitating" subjects favoured by the 24 Russell Group of some of the leading universities. And in only 16 schools did 50% or more pupils achieve these grades.
The figures for how many pupils in a school achieve the grades most sought after by the leading universities are stark but not surprising.
Just two schools managed to get 70% or more of their pupils over this very demanding academic hurdle and 16 schools pushed 50% or more over it.
The figures demonstrate the degree to which England's education system remains polarised.
Fee-paying, selective independent schools and grammars dominate the top of the list, and community schools, sponsored academies and sixth-form colleges, some in very deprived areas, sit at the bottom.
It is the first time this interesting nugget on school performance has been published by the Department for Education.
And it is just one of the 400 pieces of data it publishes in the statistical blizzard of information on which school league tables are based.
It says the motivation for this is to "shine a light on those schools and colleges whose pupils achieve great results in key subjects that lead to the top universities".
But those working with less able students say the stat is a "blunt descriptor" that reflects poorly on schools and colleges.
A better focus, they argue, would be to recognise and tackle the root of under-achievement that lies earlier in the student's education.
In 208 schools (8%) of the total a quarter of pupils or more reached the grades in these subjects.
The Russell Group of top universities introduced this list to identify the very best students and inform schools which sorts of subjects they expect pupils to sit if they wish to obtain a place on one of their degree courses. Many courses will require two high grades in such subjects, and some will require three. But admissions tutors they also look at a pupil's background before deciding whether to give them a place.
Its director general Dr Wendy Piatt said: "The Russell Group has published a guide called Informed Choices which lists 'facilitating subjects' which are those most commonly required for entry to our leading universities.
"However, it's important that students make decisions based on their individual circumstances. We encourage all prospective students to check the entry requirements for their chosen course before applying to a particular university."
Joy Mercer, director of policy at the Association of Colleges, said the achievement of three A-levels was a "blunt descriptor" and that would give a poor reflection of colleges and sixth form colleges where students were encouraged to combine vocational qualifications and A-levels within a very demanding programme.
"Institutions like this account for one-third of all A-levels taken in this country."
Schools minister Liz Truss said the measure had been introduced to enable parents to be able to identify those schools and colleges where A-level pupils achieve great results in the key academic subjects that most often lead to the top universities.
"We are also reforming the post-16 tables so that in future schools and colleges focus on the very best vocational qualifications that are most valued by employers and lead to good jobs."
At GCSE level nationally, 59.4% of pupils in both maintained and independent schools reached the government's benchmark of five GCSEs (or equivalent qualifications) graded A* to C, including English and maths - up from 58.2% in 2011.
The schools with the lowest GCSE results was the selective Pate's Grammar school in Cheltenham, where 0% of pupils reached this benchmark.
However, this result was because pupils sat new English exams which the Department for Education does not recognise for the purpose of performance data.
Excluding Pate's Grammar, the school with the lowest GCSE results was the Rushden Community College in Northamptonshire, where 6% of pupils got five A*-C GCSEs, including maths and English.
Head teacher Mark Lester said the college had entered pupils for English language and English exams but not English literature, which he said is the one counted by the DfE.
If pupils' English exams had been counted, their pass rate including English and maths would have been 46%, he said.
Academy schools
The Department for Education hailed the success of its academy schools in the performance data.
It said sponsored academies were improving results at a record rate - more than five times as quickly than in all state-funded schools - with an increase of 3.1 percentage points. This compares to a 0.6 percentage point improvement across all state-funded schools.
But many of these would have been performing at a higher level, as sponsored academies tend to be struggling schools which are converted to academies because of their difficulties.
A spokesman said: "This shows we are right to continue to support the sponsored academy programme. These brilliant sponsors have a track record of arresting decline - and then reversing it."
General Secretary of the Nasuwt teaching union, Chris Keates, said: "Everyone recognises that there is more to be done to ensure that the best is being achieved for every child, but the government's approach of manufacturing deficiencies to seek to justify its flawed education policies, rather than celebrating success is counter productive and divisive." | Almost a quarter of England's sixth forms and colleges have failed to produce any pupils with the top A-level grades sought by leading universities. |
36014033 | Salah Eddin Helal was also fined $110,000 (£80,000), while his chief-of-staff Muhyidin Said's fine was $55,000.
Helal resigned in September, when he was accused of taking bribes to sell state land a heavily discounted price.
Prosecutors said the bribes included a luxury home, membership of an exclusive sports club, and high-end clothing.
The businessman who paid the bribe and another who facilitated it were spared jail because they confessed, a judicial official told the AFP news agency.
The corruption scandal prompted the resignation of Ibrahim Mehleb's government, and Mr Mehleb's subsequent replacement by Ismail Sharif.
Egypt was ranked 88th out of 168 countries on Transparency International's 2015 corruption perceptions index.
The country's 2011 uprising was partially driven by widespread anger at corruption under long-time President Hosni Mubarak.
In May 2015, Mubarak and his two sons were found guilty at a retrial of embezzlement and sentenced to three and four years in prison respectively.
Two months later, a former prime minister under Mubarak, Ahmed Nazif, was sentenced to five years after being convicted of corruption charges at a retrial.
President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, who led the military's overthrow of Mubarak's democratically-elected successor Mohammed Morsi in 2013, has promised to make the fight against corruption a focus of his administration. | A court in Egypt has sentenced a former agriculture minister and his office manager to 10 years in prison after finding them guilty of corruption. |
34600551 | Their report claims jade valued at a staggering almost $31bn (£20bn) was extracted from Burmese mines last year.
It estimates that the figure for the last decade could be more than $120bn.
Presented with the data by the BBC, the government did not question the quantity or valuation of the jade.
But it said most of the gemstones from the last year had been stockpiled, with only a small fraction sold so far.
Hpakant, in Kachin state, is the site of the world's biggest jade mine. We were stopped from travelling there by the chief minister, but footage obtained from the site shows huge articulated vehicles turning mountains into moonscapes.
With an election on the horizon and considerable political uncertainty the companies involved are clearly in a hurry.
To operate a mine in Hpakant you need military connections. The main companies listed in the Global Witness report are either directly owned by the army, or operated by those with close ties.
A few are run by those connected to ethnic armies, in return for them maintaining a ceasefire.
"If a military family does not have a jade company they are something of a black sheep," Mike Davis from Global Witness said. "These families are making extraordinary sums of money, often in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars."
Prominent among those allegedly profiting from the trade are jade companies owned by the family of retired senior general Than Shwe. As the military ruler of Myanmar, also known as Burma, between 1992 and 2011, he presided over a period in which demonstrations were brutally repressed and opponents imprisoned. Despite having retired many still think he's influential behind the scenes.
The Global Witness report - Jade: Myanmar's 'Big State Secret' - claims that companies connected to Than Shwe's family made more than $220m in jade sales in 2013 and 2014.
Several of the other companies are linked to recent ministers but most named were at their most prominent before Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government came to power in 2011. None were immediately available for comment.
More than a year in the making, this report digs deep into previously unseen Burmese government figures.
To reach the headline number of nearly $31bn extracted in 2014 they took the officially recorded figure for jade production (16,684 tonnes) and then estimated, based on previous studies, the proportion that's likely to have been mined of each quality or "grade".
Using the prices for each grade from publically recorded sales they then calculated the likely total value of jade production. That came to a jaw-dropping $30.859bn.
To double-check this number, Global Witness then obtained customs data for jade imports into China. Last year precious and semi-precious stone imports from Myanmar were valued at $12.3bn on a weight of 5,402 tonnes. The researchers' analysis of the data shows that almost all of that was jade.
Using the officially declared production figure for 2014, and keeping all things equal (to the average value of declared imports into China) then the estimated value for the jade mined in 2014 is $37.98bn.
Clearly in both methods estimates are being used, but the ballpark figure remains similar and huge. The real total could even be much higher with many insiders saying that the best quality jade never goes through the books and is smuggled directly to Chinese buyers.
This contents of the report challenges the Burmese army narrative of recent history. The military has long said that it keeps a tight control of Burmese political life to maintain stability and, in the face of numerous ethnic wars, to prevent the country disintegrating.
It was, the people were told, a selfless act to maintain the unity of a troubled country.
This report makes it clearer than ever before that the top brass used their privileged positions to award themselves choice concessions and contracts and become extremely rich.
Ye Htay, a director from the Ministry of Mining, confirmed that the valuation of the jade mined in 2014 at $31bn was plausible, but said that most of it had been stockpiled and not sold.
Sales through the Nay Pyi Taw emporium last year were close to $1bn, he said, with about $90m paid in taxes.
He was much less forthcoming when pressed on how the concessions were awarded and the dominance of military companies.
He said Myanmar was "in a stage of democratic transition" and that such moves "haven't happened during the last five years".
There is an element of truth in that. The most egregious abuses do seem to date back to before 2010, and all agree that there have been moves towards greater transparency.
This report underscores just how difficult it will be to prise the Burmese army away from political power.
It also helps explain why the conflict in Kachin State, where the mines are, has proved so difficult to resolve.
Last week, rebels from the Kachin Independence Army refused to sign a nationwide agreement with the government - aimed at ending decades of civil conflict - and clashes with the Burmese army continue.
"Jade is a key source of financing for both sides," Mike Davis told me.
"There is an incentive there for the hardliners on the government side to keep the conflict going until such time as they can be confident that when the dust settles, their assets will still be there."
Most proposals for a lasting federal settlement to Myanmar's long running ethnic conflicts involve greater transparency and the sharing of wealth from natural resources in the states where they are extracted.
It's easy to see why peace and democratic transformation aren't attractive options for those making hundreds of millions from exploiting the jade mines. | Jade mining companies connected to the army in Myanmar may have carried out "the biggest natural resources heist in modern history", say transparency campaigners Global Witness. |
39357122 | The licences all focus on previously under-explored regions including Rockall and East Shetland.
It is a significant fall on the last licensing round in 2014/15 in which 175 licences were issued.
But, with a major fall in oil prices, the OGA says the companies' commitment will help stimulate further activity.
The 29th licensing round is the first in 20 years which has focused solely on so-called "frontier" areas.
In previous rounds, oil firms were able to bid for the exclusive rights to explore for oil in small sections of seabed, called blocks, in any part of UK waters.
To stimulate interest in exploration after the downturn, the regulator spent £20m commissioning seismic surveys of two keys areas, including the "Mid-North Sea High" region.
The results have been studied by geologists at the University of Aberdeen who revealed earlier this month that there may be reserves around Rockall which had previously been dismissed as devoid of oil.
The awards issued today are for 25 licences in 111 blocks to 17 companies.
Commitments have been made to drill three exploration wells in the near-medium term.
OGA chief executive Andy Samuel said: "The £20m investment in new seismic for the Rockall and Mid-North Sea High areas, subsequent release of 40,000 kilometres of new and reprocessed data... and a stable and competitive fiscal regime has resulted in a number of quality applications in this frontier Licensing Round.
"We are particularly pleased to see firm well commitments, the targeting of new and under-explored plays, and first-time entrants to the basin, alongside a number of established companies, which will help stimulate further activity and value creation.
"While exploration activity has undoubtedly suffered as a result of the difficult market conditions, we are now seeing highly encouraging success rates and finding costs on the UKCS.
"This is testament to the value of a robust and focused exploration strategy with commitment from industry, government and the OGA."
The most recent Business Outlook from the industry body Oil and Gas UK said exploration activity "remained depressed" with just 22 wells drilled in 2016.
But it said optimism is beginning to return to the sector as costs are driven down. | The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) says it is "highly encouraging" that 25 licences have been awarded to explore for oil in waters around the UK. |
39254661 | The victims, both aged 23, were walking between Hopetoun Street and Hopetoun Lane in Bathgate at about 03:00 on Sunday when they were assaulted.
One of the women also had a number of items of make-up stolen, along with her black high-heeled shoes.
It is thought all four women may have met earlier in the Envi nightclub.
The attackers were last seen near a car park in Hopetoun Lane.
One of the victims was released from hospital after treatment, while the other remains at St John's Hospital in Livingston.
The first suspect is described as a white woman in her mid 30s. She has a medium build, is about 5ft 3in tall and has dark shoulder-length hair with blonde highlights.
She speaks with a local accent and was wearing a black off-the-shoulder top with a floral print and black skinny jeans.
The second suspect is also a white woman in her mid 30s. She is about 5ft 3in tall with a large build and dark hair. She was wearing a pink bomber jacket.
Officers were also keen to speak to a man and two women who helped the victims shortly after the attack.
Det Con David Bryce said: "This was a brutal and unprovoked attack, which has left the victims badly shaken and with serious injuries.
"We are eager to trace the women responsible and wish to speak to anyone who saw the suspects in Envi nightclub.
"Hopetoun Street was busy on the morning of Sunday, March 12, and we believe there may be witnesses who were in the area and who may have information.
"We are also keen to speak to the man and two women that assisted the victims shortly after the attack." | Two women suffered serious head and facial injuries after being attacked and robbed by two other women in a West Lothian street. |
29354562 | A strike on Tuesday has also been suspended, but strike action is still planned for 3 October. The GMB union said a work-to-rule would remain.
Refuse and recycling truck drivers walked out earlier this month over pay, staff grading and responsibility.
The city council said it was pleased strike action had been suspended.
The union is claiming people at the council are doing equivalent jobs to its members, but being paid more.
It also said the authority had failed to "consult meaningfully" over new working practices and long-standing issues over round allocation and distribution.
GMB representative Mark Turner said the union was planning to hold more talks with the council next Tuesday.
In a statement, Brighton and Hove City Council said it was looking at a "full service redesign to ensure we meet the needs of the city and to resolve work-to-rule".
It added: "We cannot favour one group of workers over another and increasing allowances for one group of staff would require us to increase it for many others at great cost to the council's overall pay bill.
"The agreement we reached with our trade unions and staff last year was to better ensure we were equal pay compliant."
A series of strikes last summer led to waste piling up in the streets. | A strike by refuse workers in Brighton and Hove on Thursday has been called off to allow further talks between union leaders and the city council. |
25403304 | Doctors said they were "worried" by the high degree of weight fixation found in 13-year-old girls, years before eating disorders typically start.
Researchers say it might be possible to stop full eating disorders developing.
Their findings, in the Journal of Adolescent Health, came from interviews with the parents of 7,082 13-year-olds.
Eating disorders, such as anorexia, tend to start in the mid-teenage years, although they can begin before then.
The study, by University College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, looked at the years before those disorders tend to start.
Interviews with the parents of 7,082 13-year-old schoolchildren showed:
One of the researchers, Dr Nadia Micali, told the BBC she was surprised children were so concerned about weight at such a young age.
"For me the results were particularly worrying, I wouldn't have thought they'd be so common at this age.
"Part of me thinks it's a shame we didn't ask earlier, we don't know when this behaviour starts.
"Quite a large proportion will develop full-blown eating disorders, maybe more than half."
However, she said there might be an opportunity to help children before they develop an eating disorder if a reliable set of warning signs could be developed for parents and teachers.
In a statement the eating disorder charity Beat said it was an interesting and important study.
"This is the first time a study like this has been carried out so we have nothing to compare it to and therefore don't know if the problem is increasing or getting worse.
"However it is striking and worrying how many young people had concerns about their weight from such a young age.
"It does not mean that they will all go on to develop eating disorders, but they could be tempted by unhealthy ways to control their weight and shape."
The findings came through data collected from the Children of the 90s study.
A separate analysis of those children, by a team at the University of Warwick, suggested bullying was linked to an increased risk of psychotic experiences, such as hearing voices, and paranoia.
Lead researcher Prof Dieter Wolke said: "We want to eradicate the myth that bullying at a young age could be viewed as a harmless rite of passage that everyone goes through - it casts a long shadow over a person's life and can have serious consequences for mental health.
"It strengthens on the evidence base that reducing bullying in childhood could substantially reduce mental health problems.
"The benefit to society would be huge, but of course, the greatest benefit would be to the individual." | About 10% of 13-year-old girls are "terrified" about putting on weight, the first UK study looking for warning signs of eating disorders suggests. |
15621653 | Chelsea pair Fernando Torres and Juan Mata, Manchester City's David Silva and Jose Reina of Liverpool could all line up against club-mates at Wembley.
Former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas makes a return to London as part of an experienced 23-man squad named by coach Vicente del Bosque.
Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta has been recalled after a hamstring injury.
Del Bosque has selected the majority of players who helped the world and European champions to their two major titles.
Iniesta, who scored the winner when Spain last visited England in 2007, missed last month's Euro 2012 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Scotland.
Sevilla winger Jesus Navas has been recalled to the squad, with Malaga full-back Nacho Monreal also included.
Del Bosque said: "Before submitting the squad list for the Euros we have only three (more) games.
"There will be some games to come after the squad get together, but we have to make the most of these matches.
"England are a great team, and we will be playing in an extraordinary stadium.
"We tailor these games to be the best they can be for the team and for the federation."
After facing England, Spain travel to Costa Rica on November 15 for another friendly.
Spain squad to face England: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Jose Reina (Liverpool), Victor Valdes (Barcelona); Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Jordi Alba (Valencia), Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Nacho Monreal (Malaga); Xavi (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Santi Cazorla (Malaga), Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao), Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona); David Villa (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City), Fernando Torres (Chelsea), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Juan Mata (Chelsea), Jesus Navas (Sevilla). | Four Premier League players have been named in a strong Spain squad for Saturday's friendly against England. |
36782555 | Provenzano, dubbed "The Tractor" for his ruthless trait of mowing people down, was arrested and jailed in 2006 after spending 43 years on the run.
He took over command of the Sicilian Mafia in 1993 after the arrest of ex-boss Salvatore "Toto" Riina.
Provenzano was serving a life term for several murders, including the 1992 killings of top anti-Mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.
He was suffering from bladder cancer and serious cognitive impairment and had spent the last two years in a prison hospital ward, Italian media report.
His illnesses had forced the suspension of ongoing negotiations with the state over unresolved crimes. However, even before his health declined, he had resisted any co-operation with the justice system.
Bernardo Provenzano was born on 31 January 1933 in Corleone, a Sicilian town synonymous with Mafia activity which gave its name to the fictional family in the Godfather films.
He was said to have joined the mafia in his late teens, after World War Two.
He rose in the Mafia ranks and along with his friend, Toto Riina, worked for mafioso Luciano Liggio, who reportedly once said Provenzano had "the brains of a chicken but shoots like an angel".
When in 1974 Liggio was jailed, Riina was left in charge with Provenzano his right-hand man.
Once at the helm following Riina's capture, Provenzano reportedly tried to arbitrate between rival Mafia factions competing for business. He was said to have steered away from attacks on high-profile figures that had hardened public opinion against the Mafia and provoked police to respond.
In his later years, painstakingly cautious about revealing his whereabouts, Provenzano shunned the phone for hand-delivered "pizzini" notes and moved between farmhouses every two or three nights.
But in April 2006, he was arrested at a farmhouse near Corleone, his birthplace and where his wife and children lived.
Bernardo Provenzano earned the nickname The Tractor because, as an informant put it, "he mows people down".
He reportedly committed his first murder in 1958 aged 25, when Provenzano is alleged to have been one of the gunmen who helped rising mafioso Luciano Liggio murder Corleone clan head Michele Navarra, leaving Liggio as head of the family.
In 1963 Provenzano went on the run after an arrest warrant was issued against him for the murder of one of Navarra's men.
Gangland wars and murders of top judges became bloody hallmarks of Italian life in the 1980s, when Provenzano was second-in-command to "Toto" Riina.
However, Provenzano had another side to his character.
He was a careful operator, who took few overt risks, mastered the crime empire's finances, and under whose leadership the Mafia became a less bloodthirsty, more efficient machine, commentators say.
For these reasons, he was also dubbed The Accountant. | Italian mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano has died in a prison hospital, aged 83. |
40716124 | Reports suggest the Rugby Football League (RFL) is considering moving the event from the national stadium to a stadium further north.
The final was first held at Wembley in 1929 and the RFL is in the middle of a 20-year deal to hold the final there.
"It's part of our tradition and we need to stick with that," Wane told BBC Radio Manchester.
"That drive to the stadium and seeing all your fans, and seeing your family in the bar afterwards when you've won, are memories that stay with you forever and it wouldn't be the same anywhere else.
"Wigan fans know everything about travelling down to London - they've done it that many times."
Wane's side are a game away from a first Challenge Cup final since their 2013 win against Hull FC, but must beat Salford Red Devils in Sunday's semi-final. They were also in the first final to be held at Wembley in 1929.
"I can't put into words how much it matters, to us as players, supporters, the town of Wigan," Wane added.
"We've been there many times, the history is fantastic with this trophy and is something that is addictive.
"We'll expect Salford to be at their best. They've gone out and bought an unbelievable winger in Manu Vatuvei from the Warriors so that shows how much this means to them.
"My players need to be prepared for a massive start but what they need to realise is that we've been there and we've done it, and we want to do it again."
Speaking to the Guardian, Super League chief executive Roger Draper said: "There's always the argument to bring it back to the heartlands in places like Elland Road, Manchester and Liverpool.
"We've got good relationships with Wembley and the London Stadium but, with Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea too, there's a wide range of areas we could look to take the event to. It'll be a difficult decision." | Wigan Warriors head coach Shaun Wane wants to see the Challenge Cup final stay at its traditional Wembley venue. |
37925723 | Roy Galvin, 69, from Alverstoke, died three days after the dispute on Bury Road, Gosport, on 25 September.
Duncan Snellgrove, 28, of Mandarin Way, Howe Road in Gosport, pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Winchester Crown Court. He was initially charged with causing grievous bodily harm.
He has been remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced in December.
Mr Galvin, a former Royal Navy serviceman, hit his head on the road after he was pushed to the ground and suffered a serious head injury, police said. | A cyclist has admitted killing a pedestrian who died following a dispute on a one-way system in Hampshire. |
22291280 | Luminaries past and present from across the UK's computing industry had gathered to mark the 75th anniversary of the Cambridge University computer laboratory.
But there was also one nagging question. Why does a city and a country which have played such a huge part in the history of the computer, still produce so few world-class technology companies?
A strange question to ask, perhaps, in a lecture theatre packed with successful alumni of the lab, some from companies like ARM and CSR which have thrived in Cambridge. After all, this is a city where academia and business have combined very fruitfully in the past two decades.
But in a lecture on what he's learned about innovation, Mike Lynch - who's the founder of another Cambridge technology success story, Autonomy - bemoaned the fact that all the brilliant work done by the university's scientists had failed to translate into many big hitters in the FTSE-100.
Just one UK computer business had made it into the FTSE, he told us, and that was Sage, the Newcastle-based accountancy software firm. "Our universities are second to none," he said. "But they're failing to translate the gold coming out of them into economic growth."
(It now strikes me that Dr Lynch is ignoring the fact that the chip designer ARM is in the top third of the FTSE-100 - but maybe he doesn't count it as a computing company?)
He suggested that many companies with excellent technology got to a certain stage and then they or their backers lost confidence, selling up to American firms. We were, he suggested, producing great R&D labs for overseas firms to exploit rather than going on to turn high quality research into products for global markets.
Dr Lynch, of course, eventually sold Autonomy to America's Hewlett Packard and is now embroiled in a row over just what his company was really worth. But his point was that more firms needed to stay independent long enough to create a lasting infrastructure in Britain, even if they ended up in foreign ownership.
Others in the audience then joined a discussion about the way forward. Lord Broers, a distinguished engineer and former vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, was worried by how little we spent on research and development as a country compared to rivals - 1.7% of GDP in the UK, as compared to 2.8% in Germany and 2.9% in the United States. "We're underspending by billions, mainly in industry," he said.
There were the usual worries about a gap in capital for technology companies - plenty at the start, then very little when they wanted to make the leap into the big league. And there were calls for government to to think more about using its own procurement budgets to help UK firms in the way the US did - for the different tech clusters, from Cambridge to Bristol to London's TechCity, to collaborate better; even for The Sun newspaper to start celebrating computer scientists on page three.
Mike Lynch's main concern, however, was about the teaching of STEM subjects - science, technology, engineering and maths - in secondary schools where he felt we were falling behind. He cited as an example the scarcity of girls taking A-Level physics.
We had brilliant graduates coming out of places like the Cambridge computing laboratory, he said, but that supply could dry up, and we needed a wider hinterland of skilled people. Those worries about a skills gap opening up are now commonplace amongst many in Britain's hi-tech industries.
But Cambridge, the birthplace of computers from the Edsac to the BBC Micro, has at least produced an attempt to address that problem with the Raspberry Pi, which aims to inspire a new generation of computer scientists.
That continuing spirit of innovation should provide some cause for optimism that we can find ways of turning world-class science into world-beating businesses. | It was a birthday party and the mood was celebratory. |
33182157 | Council workers Charles Owenson, 62, and James Costello, 44, helped award contracts to Edinburgh Action Building Contracts Ltd (ABC Ltd).
In return, ABC directors Kevin Balmer, 52, and Brendan Cantwell, 44, gave them tens of thousands of pounds, trips to lap dancing clubs and football tickets.
The charges related to the maintenance of council buildings from 2006 to 2010.
Owenson was sentenced to more than four years in prison, Costello received more than three years and Cantwell and Balmer were both jailed for more than two years.
Cantwell and Balmer were also disqualified from serving as company directors for five years. | Four men who admitted corruption charges over Edinburgh council building repairs have been jailed. |
35796861 | He said the cuts would be "equivalent to 50p in every £100" of public spending by 2020, which was "not a huge amount in the scheme of things".
He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that the world was "more uncertain" than at any time since the financial crisis.
He said the UK needed to live within its means to withstand economic shocks.
Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell called for more long-term investment to enable the UK economy to "withstand the global headwinds".
Mr Osborne warned of cuts to come in his upcoming Budget on 16 March in a BBC interview last month.
Speaking on the Marr Show, Mr Osborne said the world was now "a more difficult and dangerous place" and warned about the state of the global economy.
While Britain was better placed to cope with economic shocks compared with 2008, it was "not immune to what's going on", he said.
"My message in this Budget is that the world is a more uncertain place than at any time since the financial crisis and we need to act now so we don't pay later," he said.
"That is why I need to find additional savings equivalent to 50p in every £100 the government spends by the end of the decade, because we've got to live within our means to stay secure.
"That's the way we make Britain fit for the future."
The chancellor - whose Budget on Wednesday will be his eighth - said he thought the savings were achievable, but he would not be drawn on where the axe would fall.
He said the government's plan had enabled it to invest in "the public's priorities", such as the NHS, science and education, infrastructure and defence, "while at the same time not spending more than the country can afford".
Mr Osborne added that he wanted to boost productivity, improve Britain's schools and infrastructure and make taxes "more competitive".
The chancellor declined to be drawn on whether fuel duty would be increased - something Tory backbenchers are urging him against.
But he added: "On fuel duty, we had a manifesto commitment there and we have pencilled in fuel duty plans going forward but what I would say is, every time we can have our economy more competitive, we do."
Mr Osborne also rejected claims that the most vulnerable people would be hit in the Budget through cuts to disability benefits known as Personal Independence Payments (PIP).
He said the government was "increasing spending on disabled people", but added that it was right to make sure the system was being "properly managed".
Also on Marr, Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell called for more long-term investment in the UK economy, specifically in skills, infrastructure and new technology.
He said the chancellor had reduced investment to 1.4% of GDP which was "unacceptable", saying the OECD has said the figure should be at least 3%.
"What I want to do is to make sure we invest in the long term and then we can withstand the global headwinds," he added.
He said prosperity needed to be "shared by all", saying the government's economic policies had created an "unequal" society.
The chancellor has promised to get the books into surplus by 2020.
In his November Autumn Statement, he watered down planned £4.4bn cuts to tax credits and eased back on planned spending cuts to the Home Office and other departments. He was able to do this owing to a combination of better tax receipts and lower interest payments on debt.
BBC political correspondent Eleanor Garnier said: "Only four months ago, when he made the Autumn Statement, Mr Osborne had sounded upbeat about the country's finances.
"But now, with the size of the British economy much smaller than had been expected, it seems the chancellor has not left himself much wriggle room."
In his Marr interview, Mr Osborne also warned against the UK leaving the EU, saying it "would create an economic shock" that would "cost jobs" and "damage living standards".
Leave campaigners say the UK could strike favourable trade deals with the EU after exit, arguing that Britain's future if better off outside.
Meanwhile, Mr McDonnell said he and the Labour shadow cabinet would be "on the stump" campaigning for a remain vote amid criticism Labour has been quiet in the campaign. | Chancellor George Osborne has warned the UK has to "act now rather than pay later" ahead of next week's Budget, with further spending cuts planned. |
32913653 | Commons Speaker John Bercow granted an urgent question on Thursday, with the debate expected to begin at 10:15 BST.
Seven top Fifa officials were arrested in Zurich on Wednesday following a long-running FBI investigation.
Swiss authorities have simultaneously launched an inquiry into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has told the BBC there is "something deeply wrong at the heart of Fifa" and it needs to "clean up its act".
The arrests have sparked concerns among some of Fifa's sponsors, who say they may review their ties over the corruption allegations. | MPs are to debate allegations of corruption at world football's governing body Fifa, after the arrest of several senior officials. |
36408774 | A section of sandstone surrounding a stained glass window high in the south transept fell off overnight.
The cathedral is scheduled to be the venue for Battle of Jutland commemorations on Tuesday, with many dignitaries due to attend.
It is thought that a section of the stonework fell about 70ft to the ground between Saturday and Sunday.
Those attending the Battle of Jutland event on Tuesday will include the Duke of Edinburgh and Prime Minister David Cameron. | Stone masons have been called in to inspect part of St Magnus Cathedral in Orkney. |
37602586 | The Bank of Scotland recorded the fastest rate of expansion for 14 months, while firms also saw higher levels of new business and employment.
Its latest purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 51.2 in September, up from 49.1 in August. Any figure above 50 represents growth.
The increase came despite a rise in business costs, the report found.
The PMI measures month-on-month changes in combined manufacturing and services output.
In its report, the bank said the upturn in September was driven by the sharpest increase in new business intakes since August 2015.
Moreover, the rise in total output was broad-based as both manufacturers and service providers reported higher levels of business activity during the month.
Jobs growth continued in Scotland's private sector for the second consecutive month, but the rate of increase was only marginal. A number of panellists linked the rise in headcounts with efforts to support the expansion in output.
Nick Laird, from Bank of Scotland, said: "The improvement in the economy was equally shared between service providers and manufacturers, who both registered modest increases in output during the month.
"Demand for Scottish goods and services also rose, highlighted by a rise in new business.
"On another note, firms faced the fastest increase in input costs for 33 months, putting pressures on firms' margins as we approach the end of the year." | Output from Scotland's private sector has increased for the first time in three months, according to a report. |
38671144 | John Robinson's father-in-law receives payment from the energy scheme for two boilers.
In a statement obtained by the News Letter, the DUP said Mr Robinson had no role in his father-in-law's business.
It added he was stepping aside to avoid the "accusation or perception of a conflict of interest".
John Robinson is a key member of the DUP's backroom team - formally as the party's director of communications and now as special adviser to the economy Minister Simon Hamilton.
He was accused in the assembly by the former DUP Minister Jonathan Bell of interfering in the RHI scheme - an accusation he denied insisting he had no link to the scheme.
Mr Bell made the allegation on Monday, speaking under parliamentary privilege.
The DUP said the claims were "outrageous".
On Monday, Mr Robinson, who now advises the economy minister, denied any family links to the Renewable Heat Incentive.
But on Tuesday, Mr Robinson told the Press Association his father-in-law applied to the scheme in August 2015, before he was married in October.
The DUP has now confirmed that Mr Robinson did not inform the department of his father in law's involvement in the scheme as he felt there was no conflict of interest.
It said Mr Robinson regrets that this has allowed a situation to develop where there is a "perception of conflict".
"John has fully supported the minister's position for maximum legal transparency around the scheme," the statement added.
"Minister Hamilton and his special adviser have been fully focused on investigating alleged fraud and abuse of the RHI scheme, investigating why warning signs were not heeded and introducing cost control measures."
The DUP added that Mr Robinson "fully supports the establishment of a thorough inquiry into all aspects of the RHI Scheme" and said that when such a probe is established he will "co-operate fully with it and he is confident that his integrity will be upheld in any such investigation."
In an earlier statement on Tuesday, Mr Robinson said: "I have never had any personal financial interest in the RHI Scheme".
"At no point have I ever advised anyone to join the Sse or sought to benefit in any way from it.
"Neither my wife nor I have ever had any role in the business nor have we received any benefit, financial or otherwise, from the business.
"I was appointed as an adviser in the Department for the Economy in June 2016. I was not involved in any aspect of the RHI Scheme prior to taking up the post."
The RHI scheme was set up by former first minister Arlene Foster in 2012 when she was enterprise minister.
Its aim was to increase consumption of heat from renewable sources.
However, businesses received more in subsidies than they paid for fuel, and the scheme became heavily oversubscribed.
It could lead to an overspend of £490m over the next 20 years. | The economy minister's special adviser is stepping aside from any future involvement in the flawed RHI scheme after failing to declare a family link. |
39029445 | Swansea council built the £27m stadium where Swansea City FC and the Ospreys RFC have played since 2005.
Swansea City's new American owners have held unofficial talks with the council since they bought the club last summer.
The authority's cabinet approved the start of formal talks on a new Liberty Stadium lease on Thursday.
The Swans and the Ospreys currently pay a peppercorn rent to the Swansea Stadium Management Company (SSMC) - a body running the stadium which is a partnership between the council and the two clubs.
But council leader Rob Stewart said last week the SSMC structure was "not fit for purpose anymore" following the success and growth of both clubs.
Swansea City have gone from a fourth-tier Football League club to play in the Premier League while the Ospreys are Wales' most successful club since the start of regional rugby.
The Swans owners want to lease the ground and explore more commercial opportunities out of it including stadium naming rights and possible expansion.
"The council's ambition is to secure the best value for the people of Swansea from any future arrangements," said Mr Stewart.
"The current arrangements are not viable long term and do nothing to give the clubs the freedom they need to grow and succeed commercially or give the taxpayers a return on the investment made when the stadium was built - that's the balance the negotiations will try to achieve."
It is understood many of the aspects of a potential deal have already been discussed which would help to speed up the process. | Councillors hope a deal over the running of Swansea's Liberty Stadium could be struck before May's council elections, BBC Wales understands. |
31988721 | The findings catch evolution in the act of making this adjustment - as none of the critters have eyes, but some of them still have stumpy eye-stalks.
Three different species were studied, each representing a different subgroup within the same class of crustaceans.
The research is published in the journal BMC Neuroscience.
The class of "malocostracans" also includes much better-known animals like lobsters, shrimps and wood lice, but this study focussed on three tiny and obscure examples that were only discovered in the 20th Century. It is the first investigation of these mysterious animals' brains.
"We studied three species. All of them live in caves, and all of them are very rare or hardly accessible," said lead author Dr Martin Stegner, from the University of Rostock in Germany.
Specifically, his colleagues retrieved the specimens from the coast of Bermuda, from Table Mountain in South Africa, and from Monte Argentario in Italy.
The animals were preserved rather than living, so the team could not observe their tiny brains in action. But by looking at the physical shape of the brain, and making comparisons with what we know about how the brain works in their evolutionary relatives, the researchers were able to assign jobs to the various lobes, lumps and spindly structures they could see under the microscope.
They were also able to infer what the brain of the creatures' most recent shared ancestor might have looked like.
"What I've done is looked at the structure, and interpreted it in an evolutionary context," Dr Stegner told the BBC.
Interestingly, while the areas devoted to touch and to smell had remained the same or even expanded in the 200 million years or so since the animals' ancestry diverged, the bits of the brain devoted to seeing had shrunk.
It is perhaps not a huge surprise that animals living in total darkness might start to shed, over many generations, the parts of their brain devoted to seeing. But this vanishing act had never been confirmed for these species - and the rate of the change was startling, Dr Stegner said.
"The reduction is much more dramatic than for other crustaceans of this group," he explained.
"It's a nice example of life conditions changing the neuroanatomy."
Furthermore, it is a particularly striking glimpse of nature whittling away unnecessary components, because it has been caught half-way.
Each of these three species comes from its own subgroup, and all the known members of those subgroups are completely blind. But tell-tale signs of their ancestors' ability to see are still hanging around.
"None of them have eyes, but some of them have rudiments of these eye-stalks," Dr Stegner said.
In the time it has taken for evolution to get this far in streamlining the crustaceans' brains, the vast supercontinent Gondwana broke up into today's land masses. That is one of the reasons Dr Stegner's three species are distributed the way they are.
By the time those eye-stalk remnants have also disappeared, what our planet will look like is anyone's guess.
Follow Jonathan on Twitter | A study of blind crustaceans living in deep, dark caves has revealed that evolution is rapidly withering the visual parts of their brain. |
36184221 | Resuming on 275-8, Derbyshire lost Luke Fletcher to the fifth ball of the morning to Azharullah (4-95),
Shiv Thakor (83 not out) Andy Carter (17) then put on 48 for the 10th wicket to take the visitors to 324 all out.
Duckett and on-loan Notts opener Jake Libby (28 not out) saw the home side to 66-0 at close, 258 behind. | Ben Duckett's unbeaten 36 helped give Northants a solid start to their reply against Derbyshire before rain curtailed day two at Wantage Road. |
35301688 | The ex-England footballer, 55, and Danielle Bux, 36, have decided to end their six-year marriage and a decree nisi will be issued.
The ex-model and mother-of-one, from Ely, wed the presenter in Italy in 2009.
Lineker confirmed the news on Twitter on Wednesday.
He said: "Thank you all for your kind words. @DanielleBux and I had many wonderful years together.
"We remain very close and the greatest of friends."
Ms Bux tweeted she will "cherish" the years the pair had together and they remained "best" friends.
A spokesman for the couple also confirmed to The Sun: "Gary and Danielle have decided to end their marriage."
He added: "They remain the greatest of friends and wish each other every happiness."
The paper quoted a source as saying the break-up was "friendly" and the pair filled out forms on a UK government website together.
The online site costs around £400, meaning the couple saved tens of thousands of pounds in legal fees.
When the couple married in Ravello they had been dating for two years.
Lineker had previously been married to Michelle, mother of his four sons, for 20 years.
They divorced in 2006. | Match of the Day host Gary Lineker and his Cardiff-born wife have filed for divorce. |
29314986 | The US have not won on European soil for 21 years, while the home team count in their ranks the world's top-ranked player in Rory McIlroy and three of this year's four major champions.
But Watson, returning to the country where he won four of his five Open championships, believes his unheralded team can bring down both McIlroy and Europe's great inspiration two years ago, Ian Poulter.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Watson, 65, said: "When you beat the stud on the other side, it gives a boost to your team.
"The bottom line is that if each of your players wins more than they lose, we win as a team. That is what I have told our team.
"Poulter, he's an 80% victor over the matches he has played in. We would like to reduce that."
Watson, the oldest captain in the contest's 87-year history, wants revenge for the shock defeat at Medinah in 2012, when they led 10-6 going into the final day's singles only to lose eight and draw one of the 12 matches as a Poulter-led Europe pulled off one of the great Ryder Cup comebacks.
Only seven of that American dozen have made it to Gleneagles, but Watson - captain when the US won at the Belfry in 1993 - said: "I have made it very clear to them that this trip is a redemption trip.
"Those players that played on that team… it's time to make amends and try to redeem yourselves from what happened in 2012. I think it's a motivation rather than a negative.
In addition to McIlroy, winner of both the Open and US PGA this summer, Europe's team contains three more of the world's top six ranked players and US Open champion Martin Kaymer.
Only once since 2002 - at Valhalla six years ago - have they lost the Ryder Cup.
"I think we're slight favourites," said captain Paul McGinley. "We're not overwhelming favourites.
"But we have been favourites before in Ryder Cups. I think our players have deserved it, and I think it's a situation to embrace."
McGinley, 47, said his side should not be "afraid" or "ashamed" of being favourites - and warned they face a "very tough contest".
He added: "The guys have worked very hard to be in the position they are.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"Having said that, I did a bit of calculation myself when the two teams were formulated, and Tom's team's average ranking position was 16 and ours was 18. So this is not a weak American team.
"We might be slight favourites with the bookies, but the two teams are very well balanced and very close together."
Both teams arrived in Perthshire on Monday, with McIlroy one of the first on the driving range set up alongside the substantially redesigned Centenary course.
McGinley insisted there were no problems between the 25-year-old and his fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell.
McDowell, 35, admitted in his BBC Sport column that the lawsuit McIlroy has filed against his management company had put a strain on their relationship, but stressed he would love to be paired with his compatriot again.
Yet McGinley may have other plans ahead of Friday morning's fourballs.
He said: "Both of them have assured me all along that there's no issues, and that's the way I've always seen it. Whether they come together or not is another story.
"Three or four months ago, I had a very strong view that they would have been, but the more I look at their statistics and the more I look at the different value I have with them, I'm thinking there may be a value in not doing it.
"But if I don't decide to play them, it would be for tactical reasons. It won't be for any other reasons.
"They have played six Ryder Cup matches and they have only won two together. It's not like these guys are written in stone." | US Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson says his team will be targeting Europe's best player and talisman as they seek to overturn golfing logic and recent history this week. |
39848688 | The stand-out feel-good men of the three-Test summer tour - Italy in Singapore, Australia in Sydney and Fiji in Suva - are the three uncapped players - D'Arcy Rae, the Glasgow tight-head, George Turner, the Edinburgh hooker and Nick Grigg, the Glasgow centre.
Grigg, a Kiwi with an Ayrshire grandfather, came on the Scottish radar by way of a tip-off from the great All Black forward Andy Leslie. He's had a fine season with Glasgow.
Rae is something of a surprise, but Turner is the real bolter. The 24-year-old was once the coming man of Edinburgh rugby but he has started just one game for them in five years. Townsend has a lot of faith in Turner.
The biggest casualty is just as obvious. Having been included in the match-day 23 for every one of Scotland's Six Nations matches this season - coming off the bench in four of them - Duncan Weir has bitten the dust.
Townsend has picked two fly-halves, but Finn Russell's understudy is now Glasgow's Peter Horne. Ruaridh Jackson, of Harlequins, has also been selected, a third 10 who is included in the back-three category. With Russell, Horne and Jackson in the travelling party, Weir has gone from second-choice to fourth.
He's not alone among 2017 Six Nations players who are going to be left at home this summer. Simon Berghan, the Edinburgh tight-head, played three games off the bench in the championship but he's lost his place to Rae, who Townsend talked up as a consistent player who deserves his chance. WP Nel, blighted by injury since his last Test in Japan last June, is included and has started to take contact in training, a blessing for the new coach.
Cornell du Preez, the Edinburgh back-row who made two substitute appearances in the Six Nations, has been replaced. Magnus Bradbury is in after being dropped following his one Scotland appearance against Argentina last autumn. Josh Strauss returns following injury as does Saracens' Duncan Taylor, a key addition to the squad. Rob Harley is back in the frame having falling out of contention under Vern Cotter.
Though he started in Scotland's, and Cotter's, last Test against Italy in the spring, Grant Gilchrist has missed out to his Edinburgh team-mate Ben Toolis. Others are absent through Lions selection - Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour and Greig Laidlaw - and injury - Huw Jones, Mark Bennett, Alasdair Dickinson, Rory Sutherland and Stuart McInally.
Townsend has chosen 17 Glasgow players and another 17 from Edinburgh (10) and the exiles (seven). John Barclay carries on as captain in Laidlaw's absence with Sean Maitland favourite to take over from Hogg at full-back in the Tests and Lee Jones in the box-seat to fill in for Seymour on the wing.
For the coach, there is an upside to having only three players away with the Lions and no Scottish team in contention in the Pro12 play-offs. He'll have to sweat on Barclay, Taylor and Maitland as they enter league knockouts with their clubs, but he'll have three weeks to work with the vast bulk of his squad before they depart for Singapore and another three weeks after that on tour.
The ball is now rolling on the Townsend era. Three Saturdays in June will give us the first idea what direction that era is heading in. | A squad of 34 players was always going to have a story or two - some winners and some losers in Gregor Townsend's first selection as Scotland coach. |
33722408 | Edward James, 68, hired out his land to cannabis growers but was caught with 395 plants.
When police raided the farm in Devon, James told officers he began growing drugs because it made more money than chickens, Exeter Crown Court heard.
James, of View Farm, Bratton Fleming, Barnstaple, admitted producing cannabis and was jailed for 15 months.
The court heard the farmer was paid rent by two men who set up growing rooms in a lorry container and a barn and turned an electricity sub station into a drying room.
Sentencing, Recorder Timothy Grice said James knew he was housing "a substantial commercial operation for the production of drugs".
He said: "I am perfectly certain if you did not know immediately, you did very shortly afterwards and you did it for profit."
Nigel Wraith, for the prosecution, said the operation had the potential to produce 10kg (22lb) of cannabis worth between £68,000 and £109,000.
Gareth Evans, for the defence, said the men who set up the operation wrecked James's car following the police raid by way of retribution for losing the potential yield.
He said James's wife would suffer most from the prison sentence and would probably have to sell the farm. | A chicken farmer who turned to growing illegal drugs to increase his profits has been jailed. |
29841990 | Turrialba volcano, some 50km (30 miles) east of San Jose, began rumbling and producing seismic activity on Wednesday night.
The authorities said they were evacuating nearby residents to temporary shelters as a precaution.
Eyewitnesses reported fiery explosions and ash falling like snow over parts of central Costa Rica.
This is Turrialba's largest eruption in more than a century.
The National Emergency Commission said volcanologists and other specialists were on site to assess the situation.
Costa Rica is home to dozens of volcanoes, but most of them are dormant. | Costa Rica has issued an emergency alert after ash from an erupting volcano reached the capital and beyond. |
40579211 | Andrew Scott, 27, was last seen leaving his home in Winterborne Whitechurch to go fishing at Ringstead Bay on Monday.
In a statement his family said: "We are desperate to have Andrew home safe and well with us."
A coastguard-led search was stood down on Tuesday evening. Police said efforts to find Mr Scott continue.
Lifeboats, coastguard teams and the coastguard helicopter were initially dispatched to look for Mr Scott at about 21:00 BST on Monday.
The search continued throughout Tuesday.
The family statement said: "We would appeal to anyone with any information to contact police, no matter how small or insignificant it seems, as it could potentially help to find Andrew."
When he went missing police said Mr Scott was possibly wearing a full black wetsuit, blue flippers and a snorkel.
Rescue teams found his bright-orange dry bag containing his car keys, mobile phone and clothing at the White Nothe headland, while his car was discovered parked at nearby Ringstead Bay. | The family of a Dorset man who failed to return home from the Jurassic Coast after going spear fishing have appealed for information. |
35094706 | Daniel Jones, 60, has admitted his role in the £14m burglary in April.
His friend Carl Wood, 58, told Woolwich Crown Court that Jones was obsessed with crime and would sleep in his mother's dressing gown and a fez hat.
Mr Wood is one of three men who deny conspiracy to commit burglary in relation to the raid.
A fourth denies conspiracy to conceal or transfer criminal property.
Mr Wood told the court his friend was also obsessed with the Army - often going to bed in a sleeping bag on his bedroom floor.
He told jurors he first met Jones in a pub about 30 years ago, and the two became friends over their mutual interest in keeping fit.
Mr Wood told the court that Jones was "eccentric to extremes", and would speak to his white-haired terrier dog, Rocket, as if it were human.
The defendant said of his friend: "He would read palms, tell people he could read their fortunes - bit of a Walter Mitty.
"Danny was studying crime all the time in his room, reading books about it, watch films and go on the internet."
He said Jones was having arguments with his "agoraphobic wife" at home and that she was "keeping on at him" while he was "doing something important that involved a lot of money".
The court heard the two men would often speak on the phone, but Wood explained this as "general chit chat".
The prosecution alleges that the series of phone calls involved plotting the Hatton Garden raid.
Referring to a call made in early January, Nick Corsellis, defending, asked: "Were you discussing the planning of the largest burglary in English history?"
Mr Wood replied: "No I was not."
Asked why he did not use his phone - a "cheap Tesco" mobile - again after the burglary, Mr Wood said he thought it had been stolen.
He is accused of being one of the men who broke into Hatton Garden Safe Deposit in central London on the night of 2 April.
Mr Wood is alleged to have also returned two nights later, but walked away from the job after finding the fire escape door closed.
The prosecution alleges that a suspect identified as "Man F" in CCTV footage of the burglary is Mr Wood, a claim he denies.
He told the court he was not part of the burglary team on either night as he was at home.
Jones, of Park Avenue, Enfield; John Collins, 75, of Bletsoe Walk, Islington; Terry Perkins, 67, of Heene Road, Enfield and Brian Reader, 76, of Dartford Road, Dartford, have all previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary.
The trial continues.
Defendants and charges | One of the Hatton Garden raid ringleaders was "eccentric to extremes" and a "bit of a Walter Mitty", a court has been told. |
37148717 | The West Bromwich Albion player will be in Michael O'Neill's squad for the opening Group C qualifying match away to the Czech Republic on 4 September.
The full squad for the match in Prague will be announced on Wednesday.
When Northern Ireland bowed out of Euro 2016, some wondered if 36-year-old McAuley had played his last NI match.
But boss O'Neill said the 63-times capped stalwart had opted to play on for the World Cup campaign.
"He has started the season in fine form for West Brom and I am delighted he made the decision he did," said O'Neill, whose team reached the last 16 at the summer's European Championship finals in France.
"He had a great championship for us. I have never left him out of the team in my four and a half years in charge and I do not envisage doing it in the next two either."
While McAuley is certain to be in the squad to face the Czech Republic, O'Neill has hinted another long-serving defender, Aaron Hughes, may be left out.
The 36-year-old former Newcastle United and Aston Villa man has signed for Indian Super League team Kerala Blasters after leaving Melbourne City.
"The Indian season does not start until the end of December and Aaron has been training on his own in Australia," O'Neill said.
"He has not done pre-season work of any description and it is a conversation me and Aaron have been having over the last few weeks.
"I have to decide if it is worth taking him."
Northern Ireland's other opponents in qualifying Group C are Germany, Norway, Azerbaijan and San Marino.
Their first home match is against San Marino on 8 October. | Northern Ireland's World Cup prospects have been boosted after defender Gareth McAuley decided to extend his international career. |
40919852 | Simone Inzaghi's side led 2-0 thanks to Ciro Immobile's double, the first from a penalty and the second a fine header after the break.
Paulo Dybala scored twice in the last five minutes for Juve, with a free-kick and a penalty, to level the score.
But Alessandro Murgia converted Jordan Lukaku's cross in injury time as Lazio won without needing extra time. | Lazio beat Juventus 3-2 in the Italian Super Cup following a thrilling finale at the Stadio Olimpico. |
28755033 | In fact, the epidemic killed five times more than all other known Ebola outbreaks combined.
More than 21 months on from the first confirmed case recorded on 23 March 2014, 11,315 people have been reported as having died from the disease in six countries; Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the US and Mali.
The total number of reported cases is about 28,637.
But on 13 January, 2016, the World Health Organisation declared the last of the countries affected, Liberia, to be Ebola-free.
11,315
Deaths - probable, confirmed and suspected
(Includes one in the US and six in Mali)
4,809 Liberia
3,955 Sierra Leone
2,536 Guinea
8 Nigeria
The World Health Organization (WHO) admits the figures are underestimates, given the difficulty collecting the data.
There needs to be 42 days without any new cases for a country to be declared Ebola-free.
The outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal were declared officially over by the WHO in October 2014. Sierra Leone and Guinea both had much larger outbreaks and it took a little longer. Sierra Leone was declared Ebola-free on 7 November 2015, Guinea followed in December.
Liberia has been the worst-hit, with more than 4,800 dead and 10,672 becoming infected. The WHO said that at the peak of transmission, during August and September 2014, Liberia was reporting between 300 and 400 new cases every week.
The epidemic seemed to abate and the outbreak in Liberia was declared over on 9 May 2015 - only to re-emerge seven weeks later when a 17-year-old man died from the disease and more cases were reported. The same happened in September, which is why the latest declaration of Liberia being Ebola-free, while welcome, should be treated with caution, say correspondents.
The WHO has warned that West Africa may see flare-ups of the virus.
Researchers from the New England Journal of Medicine traced the outbreak to a two-year-old toddler, who died in December 2013 in Meliandou, a small village in south-eastern Guinea.
In March, hospital staff alerted Guinea's Ministry of Health and then medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). They reported a mysterious disease in the south-eastern regions of Gueckedou, Macenta, Nzerekore, and Kissidougou.
It caused fever, diarrhoea and vomiting. It also had a high death rate. Of the first 86 cases, 59 people died.
The WHO later confirmed the disease as Ebola.
"Biggest health challenge since Aids"
How not to catch Ebola
Why is Ebola so dangerous?
Ebola diary
Tracing the outbreak
Full special report
The Gueckedou prefecture in Guinea, where the outbreak started, is a major regional trading centre and, by the end of March, Ebola had crossed the border into Liberia. It was confirmed in Sierra Leone in May.
In June, MSF described the Ebola outbreak as out of control.
Nigeria had its first case of the disease in July and, in the same month, two leading doctors died from Ebola in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
In August, the United Nations health agency declared an "international public health emergency", saying that a co-ordinated response was essential to halt the spread of the virus.
Senegal reported its first case of Ebola on 29 August. A young man from Guinea had travelled to Senegal despite having been infected with the virus, officials said.
By September, WHO director general Margaret Chan said the number of patients was "moving far faster than the capacity to manage them".
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US, Thomas Frieden, said in October that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was unlike anything since the emergence of HIV/Aids. But Senegal managed to halt transmissions by mid October.
Authorities in Mali confirmed the death of the country's first Ebola patient, a two-year-old girl, on 25 October. The girl had travelled hundreds of kilometres by bus from Guinea through Mali showing symptoms of the disease, the WHO said.
An infected Islamic preacher from Guinea, who was initially diagnosed with a kidney problem, was treated at a clinic in Bamako. The preacher died a few days after entering the country.
Two health workers who cared for the preacher also died after contracting the virus. In total, Mali recorded six deaths from Ebola. By January 2015 however, the country was declared ebola-free.
*In all but three cases the patient was infected with Ebola while in West Africa. Infection outside Africa has been restricted to health workers in Madrid and in Dallas. DR Congo also reported a separate outbreak of an unrelated strain of Ebola.
The first case of the deadly virus diagnosed on US soil was announced on 1 October. Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, who contracted the virus in Liberia before travelling to the US, died on 8 October.
He had not displayed symptoms of the disease until 24 September, five days after his arrival. Other people with whom he came into contact are being monitored for symptoms.
Two medical workers in Dallas, Texas, who treated Duncan tested positive for Ebola since his death but have both recovered. The second death on US soil was surgeon Martin Salia, from Sierra Leone. He was flown back to the United States in November and treated for Ebola at a hospital in Nebraska. But Dr Salia, who had US residency and was married to an American, died a short time later.
Spanish nurse Teresa Romero was the first person to contract the virus outside West Africa. She was part of a team of about 30 staff at the Carlos II hospital in Madrid looking after two missionaries who returned from Liberia and Sierra Leone after becoming infected.
Germany, Norway, France, Italy, Switzerland and the UK have all treated patients who contracted the virus in West Africa.
Ebola was first identified in 1976 and occurs in regions of sub-Saharan Africa. There are normally fewer than 500 cases reported each year, and no cases were reported at all between 1979 and 1994.
In August 2014, the WHO confirmed a separate outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. By the beginning of October there had been 70 cases reported and 43 deaths.
However, the outbreak in DR Congo was a different strain of the virus and unrelated to the epidemic in West Africa, which now dwarfs all previous outbreaks. | The Ebola outbreak in West Africa was first reported in March 2014, and rapidly became the deadliest occurrence of the disease since its discovery in 1976. |
36468154 | Nigerians spent $1bn (£690m) on foreign medical trips in 2013, most of which was unnecessary, said Dr Osahon Enabulele.
Nigerian politicians were mostly treated by Nigerian doctors in the UK, he added.
Mr Buhari flew to London on Monday to be treated for an ear infection.
It is unclear where the 73-year-old would be treated for what his office described as a "persistent" infection.
Dr Enabulele, vice-president of the Commonwealth Medical Association, said it was a "national shame" that Mr Buhari went to the UK for treatment when Nigeria had more than 250 ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists, as well as a National Ear Centre.
Mr Buhari should lead by example by using Nigerian doctors and facilities, and ensure government officials do not go abroad on "frivolous" medical trips, he added.
The UK had more than 3,000 Nigerian-trained doctors, and the US more than 5,000, Dr Enabule said, accusing the government of failing to address the brain drain by improving working conditions and health centres.
Mr Buhari, in a speech delivered on his behalf to the Nigeria Medical Association in April, said the government's hard-earned cash would not be spent on treating officials overseas, especially when Nigeria had the expertise.
Nigeria is one of Africa's biggest oil producers but most of its citizens live in poverty.
Mr Buhari took office last year on a promise to tackle corruption and waste. | A leading Nigerian doctor has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of reneging on a promise to end "medical tourism" by seeking treatment in the UK. |
35775454 | The answer is London's newest railway system, Crossrail or the Elizabeth Line as it will be known.
The 200 metre (650 ft) long trains will each carry up to 1,500 passengers on an east-west route taking in more than 60 miles (96 km) of track.
But why should anyone in Wales care about more investment in London transport?
That is a question I put to the project chairman Terry Morgan, originally from Cwmbran, and Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb as I joined them on a tour of the new Paddington station. | What is 35 metres underground, will be used by 200 million passengers a year and costs almost £15bn? |
40485319 | The victims, mainly women, were often exposed to asbestos while washing their spouse's clothing.
They fall outside a compensation scheme which only covers those who contracted the disease directly at their work.
Exposure to asbestos can cause mesothelioma - a type of cancer that mainly affects the lining of the lungs.
Victims can attempt to identify the insurance policy for the company they worked for and then pursue a civil claim.
If that is not possible then the UK government diffuse mesothelioma payments scheme, introduced in 2014, can provide compensation.
However, neither of these options are open to the family members of employees who, for instance, brought home clothing covered with asbestos.
Euan Love, from Digby Brown solicitors who are representing some of the victims, said the government should consider extending the scheme to this group.
"The negligent act is identical for the man working in the premises and the man bringing home the overalls to his wife and her being exposed in that way," he said.
"There is a potential argument that it is discriminatory against women as they are disproportionately affected by their inability to seek compensation either through the insurance policy or through the diffuse mesothelioma payments.
"They are left to rely on state benefits funded by the taxpayer."
A DWP spokeswoman said the scheme was designed for people who contracted the disease because they were exposed to asbestos at work.
She added: "But we know there will be people who develop the disease after coming into contact with asbestos in other ways, which is why we have a separate scheme to provide people with the financial support they need."
Trish Doig is one of the women who are thought to have become ill because of exposure to asbestos brought home on the clothing of a family member.
"I think I came into contact with asbestos when I stayed with my aunt and uncle in the 60s," she said. "My uncle worked for a Dundee boiler company and they worked with asbestos all the time.
"I think the fibres came home on his clothes, he would give me a lift to work in his little van which was full of asbestos and I think that is where my contact came from in the 60s.
"I think the fibres were all around his van and anyone inside his van was exposed to these little tiny fibres that you couldn't even see."
Doctors initially assumed she must have worked with asbestos when they gave her diagnosis.
She said: "I was shocked. I'd never heard of this mesothelioma. Quite horrifying."
She's always breathless.
"I don't do very much now. I still try to do housework and I still cook but as far as doing anything energetic, I find that quite difficult.
"I find I don't have the energy for that. And when I do try to do too much then I just get breathless and I have to sit down."
Her husband Ally Doig insists their fight is "not about the money".
"My feeling about it is the sheer injustice of it, that the government recognised in 2014 that there were lots of people who were left unable to claim because companies had ceased to exist or their insurance companies couldn't be traced."
He agrees that the government deserves credits for at least introducing a compensation scheme.
"Unfortunately the eligibility criteria for it is limited to people who have acquired the disease directly through their own employment," he said.
"So anyone who has acquired it - for example women washing their husband's clothes - they're excluded, they're just not eligible for the scheme at all.
"I just think that really in this day and age that's just not right. I think all citizens should be entitled to expect the same treatment under the law."
Trish Doig said she cannot understand why people in her position receive so little.
"I think it's wrong that they do what they do, because the way I look at it is that I didn't ask to get this disease but I have it," she said.
"And if there is a way of some compensation, whether it's a lot of money or a little money, then it would be quite nice to think at least someone's listening out there." | People who developed a fatal lung disease after coming into contact with asbestos through family members have begun a campaign for compensation. |
35252643 | Water levels at the lough are at a 30-year-high after recent heavy rain, which caused damage to numerous businesses on its shores.
Brothers Steven and Glen Allen farm beef cattle on a 50 acre farm near Portadown. Thirty of those acres are now under water.
The pair said long-term action needs to be taken to address the problem.
They have hired pumps and are using sandbags to keep the water from the lough out of their cattle sheds.
They claimed a build up of silt, where the River Bann flows into Lough Neagh, is causing the river to back up and flood.
Elsewhere in County Armagh, the Rivers Agency is working to protect a Grade 2 listed thatched cottage outside Portadown.
Water started coming into Dan and Kate McQuillan's home around New Year's Eve. The couple said they will need help to save it.
Mr McQuillan said the house is suffering from multiple problems associated with the flood water.
"The electric keeps tripping, the septic tank's two feet under water, we can't use the toilet or the shower, wash dishes or clothes," he said.
"Kate keeps watch during the night to make sure the pump doesn't go off, because the minute it goes off, the place fills up with water.
"I make sure everything's okay during the day - checking the drainage and the wee trenches the boys have dug are clear."
He said he now fears the listed building could collapse.
A short distance away, a man, whose son returned from Australia at Christmas to marry and move in to a newly renovated cottage, says their home has been destroyed.
Adrian McKernan spent several years renovating the cottage, which has been badly affected by the flooding from Lough Neagh.
The Rivers Agency is pumping water away from the house and have built a sandbag barrier in an attempt to protect it.
Mr McKernan said the young couple's "dreams have been ruined".
An "urgent" ministerial meeting has been held to discuss the response to flooding across Northern Ireland.
The agriculture, regional development and environment ministers attended.
It comes after a range of flood-hit businesses on the shores of Lough Neagh questioned if enough was done to prevent rising waters brought on by winter storms.
The agriculture minister said the meeting would be a chance to "hold [government] agencies to account" over their actions in dealing with floods. | Two County Armagh farmers have been fighting to keep the rising waters of Lough Neagh from swamping their farm. |
33326604 | Eileen Swannack, 70, and partner John Welch, 74, both from Wiltshire, have not made contact since the shootings at the resort near Sousse on Friday.
Police said relatives of Ms Swannack and Mr Welch, of Corsham, were getting family liaison officer support.
It is feared up to 30 UK citizens were killed, but only 18 are confirmed dead.
Speaking to the BBC on Saturday, Mr Welch's grandson Daniel Welch said: "You know that we're going to get some sort of news at some point, whether it be today, tomorrow or the next day, and you know it's probably not going to be great, because they haven't been able to make contact themselves by now."
Tunisian authorities have arrested several people on suspicion of helping the gunman, who had links to the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). | A British couple who are still officially classed as missing following the Tunisian beach attack are among the dead, the BBC understands. |
39018882 | The deployment comes days after China's foreign ministry warned Washington against challenging Beijing's sovereignty in the region.
China claims several contested shoals, islets and reefs in the area.
It has been constructing artificial islands with airstrips in the South China Sea for a number of years.
The aircraft carrier was last in the South China Sea two years ago, for exercises with Malaysia's navy and air force and has made 16 voyages to the region in its 35 years of US navy service.
US Defence Secretary James Mattis said during a recent trip to Japan that the Trump administration saw no need for "dramatic military moves" at the stage.
The statement appeared to repudiate comments on the subject from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who told senators during his confirmation hearings that China should be prevented from reaching the disputed islands.
On Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said: "We urge the US not to take any actions that challenge China's sovereignty and security." | US aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson has started what it calls "routine operations" in the South China Sea, with a fleet of supporting warships. |
40780831 | Media playback is not supported on this device
Pressure is mounting on head coach Ian Cathro after the Edinburgh side were knocked out of the League Cup.
And, with work continuing on the main stand at Tynecastle, Hearts' first four Premiership games are away to Celtic, Kilmarnock, Rangers and Motherwell.
"These games make you or break you and hopefully they're going to be the making of us," Berra said.
The 32-year-old reckons that, following a tough week in the League Cup. there is "no better game to bounce back" in than away to champions Celtic on Saturday.
A 2-1 defeat at Peterhead was followed by a 2-2 home draw with Dunfermline Athletic, with the Pars winning the penalty shootout and the bonus point that came with it.
The Gorgie fans vented their anger towards Cathro at the end of Saturday's match and Berra revealed that the players had a frank exchange in the dressing-room at full time.
"It's not the result we wanted and we had a few harsh words afterwards for 10-15 minutes between the players, which was needed," the summer signing from Ipswich Town revealed.
"Sometimes, if you let it lie, you come back into training and everything is rosy again, nothing is said.
"So sometimes you're better saying things in the heat of the moment in the changing-room after games. I said a few things, a few other boys and the manager did too."
Berra, who was also at Hearts from 2003-09, says the players are backing head coach Cathro and the Scotland international reckons the 31-year-old is the man to take the club forward.
But he knows the pressure is on the man who took over in December last year and guided Hearts to a fifth-place finish in the Premiership.
"At the end of the game, the fans weren't happy, first and foremost, and the players can sense that," Berra said.
"It's not just on the manager, it's the players as well, we're not getting results. We're the ones who cross that white line.
"We're the ones on the pitch, not taking chances or making mistakes that lose the game. So, in the end, the responsibility lies on the players and we need to do better as well.
"I wasn't here when he was revealed as manager, but a lot of press has been on his back, but he won't be the only one or the last one - that's football and I'm sure the manager is big enough to take that on the chin and move on."
Cathro is in his first job as team boss, with the former Dundee United youth coach having been assistant Rio Ave, Valencia and Newcastle United.
"It's a lot of pressure," added Berra. "If you're a footballer or a manager, if things are not going well, you're going to get stick. That's the way it is.
"Scotland is a small country, but there is a lot of media and that's the way it is - it's the nature of the beast.
"The only way we're going to win the fans over is by winning games, starting the season well and doing the best we can." | Club captain Christophe Berra says the first four league games of the season are "make or break" for Hearts. |
Subsets and Splits
No saved queries yet
Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.