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22556182 | Sark Estate Managements, which runs most of the island's big hotels, said it could cut staffing from 110, or 50 in the low season, to about 25.
Manager Kevin Delaney said the decision was due to a lack of growth in the island's tourism industry.
He said with no moves from government to encourage a growth in tourism the business had to cut it costs.
Mr Delaney said he was disappointed in the lack of progress in plans to create a customs area in Sark to allow direct travel to the island from France.
Currently, anyone visiting the island has to clear customs in Guernsey.
Mr Delaney said it would "transform Sark's tourist industry" by opening up a "market of eight million people in Brittany and Normandy alone".
He said: "In the absence of that arriving we will see very substantial redundancies as soon as this season comes to an end, probably mid September."
In 2012, the company cut 100 jobs blaming it on a decline in the tourist industry and closed all its businesses for two weeks in December 2008 after the island elected its first fully democratic government.
The island has a population of about 600.
Mr Delaney said the business would be reduced to "a caretaker organisation" with the exception of the vineyards, which would be unaffected.
He said: "We'll probably keep one hotel open - we'll probably keep the Aval [Du Creux] open, for the minimal number of people who come to the island.
"(With) the rest of the hotels, it would be immoral to keep them open to just pay staff to stand around all day waiting for visitors which quite simply aren't going to come."
He added: "It's a horse and cart situation - the hotels can't stay open because the visitors won't come and the visitors won't come because the hotels aren't open.
"That's why there needs to be an overall well thought through economic policy for this island. That's the only way we'll achieve full employment on the back of the island's principle industry, which is tourism." | Sark's largest employer has warned it may make most of its workforce redundant in September. |
39336850 | Roedd y gwleidydd Sinn Féin wedi bod yn dioddef o gyflwr prin ar y galon.
Aeth Mr McGuinness o fod yn arweinydd ar yr IRA i gymodi, a chwaraeodd ran flaenllaw yn llywodraeth ddatganoledig Gogledd Iwerddon yn dilyn Cytundeb Gwener y Groglith 1998.
Yn ei deyrnged iddo, dywedodd Prif Weinidog Cymru, Carwyn Jones: "Chwaraeodd Martin ran hanfodol mewn dod â heddwch i Ogledd Iwerddon.
"Gweithiais yn agos ag ef am sawl blwyddyn ar Gynghorau Prydain ac Iwerddon, Cynghorau Cydweinidogol a thu hwnt.
"Pan siaradai, roedd pobl yn gwrando. Mae'r presenoldeb hwnnw'n esbonio llawer am sut llwyddodd i godi pontydd dros wahaniaethau gwleidyddol. Mae fy meddyliau gyda'i deulu a'i ffrindiau heddiw."
Fe wnaeth arweinydd y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig, Andrew RT Davies, gydnabod cyfraniad Mr McGuinness i'r broses heddwch, ond ychwanegodd y bod yn rhaid cofio am y rhai fu farw yn ystod y trais yng Ngogledd Iwerddon.
"Chwaraeodd Martin McGuinness ran allweddol i ddod â'r Troubles i ben, ond i nifer llawer rhy niferus o deuluoedd yng Ngogledd Iwerddon, ac ar draws y Deyrnas Unedig, bydd yr holl glodfori'r bore 'ma yn ormod," meddai.
Daeth Mr McGuinness yn ddirprwy brif weinidog ar Ogledd Iwerddon yn 2007, gan gydweithio gydag arweinwyr plaid unoliaethol y DUP, Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson ac Arlene Foster.
Dirprwy brif weinidog Cymru ar yr un cyfnod oedd Ieuan Wyn Jones, a dywedodd wrth raglen Post Cyntaf Radio Cymru ei fod wedi cwrdd â Mr McGuinness am y tro cyntaf yn 2007.
"Dyna lle o'n i'n cael fy nghyfarch yn Stormont gan Martin McGuinness ac Ian Paisley, oedd yn brofiad eithaf diddorol ar y pryd," meddai.
"Roedd llywodraeth ddatganoledig Gogledd Iwerddon newydd ddod yn ôl yn 2007 felly roedd o'n brofiad eithaf newydd iddyn nhw ac i mi.
"Ges i brofiad o fynd i gael sgwrs gyda Martin McGuinness sawl tro wedyn yn ystod y pedair blynedd o'n i yn y swydd.
"Roedd o'n gymeriad hawddgar iawn. Roedd ganddo fo'r cefndir o fod yn gefnogol i'r IRA, ond doeddech chi ddim yn ymwybodol o hynny o'i ymarweddiad.
"Roedd o'n hynod o hoffus, yn hawdd iawn i siarad ag o."
Dywedodd Mr Wyn Jones bod Mr McGuinness wastad wedi dangos diddordeb yn yr iaith Gymraeg, a hynny am ei fod yn gobeithio gweld datblygiad Gaeleg yng Ngogledd Iwerddon.
"Oherwydd bod y ddau ohonom yn ddirprwy brif weinidogion, oedden ni'n tueddu i eistedd wrth ein gilydd mewn ciniawau a chynadleddau ac yn y blaen, felly ges i gyfle i gael sawl sgwrs hynod o ddifyr efo fo ynglŷn â gwleidyddiaeth," meddai Mr Wyn Jones.
"Un maes oedd ganddo fo ddiddordeb mawr ynddi oedd y Gymraeg a Gaeleg, a sefyllfa'r ddwy o ran y gyfraith.
"Roedd o'n ein holi ni'n aml ynglŷn â pha fath o fesurau deddfwriaethol y bydden ni'n bwriadu eu gwneud i gryfhau'r Gymraeg, ac wrth gwrs, roedden nhw'n ei chael yn llawer iawn anoddach yng Ngogledd Iwerddon oherwydd bod yr unoliaethwyr yn gwrthod cyflwyno unrhyw fesur fyddai'n cryfhau'r iaith Aeleg yno." | Mae ffigyrau gwleidyddol Cymru wedi rhoi teyrngedau i gyn-ddirprwy brif weinidog Gogledd Iwerddon, Martin McGuinness, wedi iddo farw yn 66 oed. |
28546368 | Five bronze medals are guaranteed in the boxing with Lauren Price the first Welsh female boxer to medal.
Sean McGoldrick, Ashley Williams, Joe Cordina and Nathan Thorley are also guaranteed bronze.
Gold medal hope Robert Weale lost in his attempt to defend his singles lawn bowls title.
The 51-year-old has won six medals at previous Games, including singles gold at Delhi 2010, but lost 21-11 to Australia's Aron Sherriff.
Another Welsh defending champion lost in a preliminary round, as Dai Greene failed to reach the 400m hurdles final.
Reigning Commonwealth boxing champion McGoldrick won his bantamweight quarter-final.
He claimed a split points decision over South Africa's Ayabonga Sonjica to proceed to the semi-finals and guarantee at least a bronze medal.
Fellow boxers Williams, Cordina, Thorley and Price also secured bronze after winning their quarter-final bouts.
But Charlene Jones lost a split decision against India's Laishram Devi in the lightweight division.
Delhi gold medallist Greene trailed in fifth in his race after a build-up wrecked by injury.
Greene recently won on his return to competition after three hernia operations last year.
"I knew I was playing catch-up from a few months ago and to be honest I didn't expect to be here four months ago," said Greene.
Bowler Weale had got his campaign back on course with a 21-18 win over Dalton Tagelagi, but he failed to overcome Sherriff.
Wales women's pairs are through to the lawn bowls quarter-finals after beating the Cook Islands 14-13 and drawing with England 15-15.
The triples team narrowly lost to South Africa 14-13 but followed that up with a 14-13 win against New Zealand to qualify for the semi-finals.
In the athletics stadium, Brett Morse has qualified for the discus final. His throw of 59.85 metres was well below his personal best, but it was enough to get him through.
And Joe Thomas lines up in the semi-finals of the 800m.
Clinton Purnell finished seventh in the artistic gymnastics men's individual all-around final.
Wales' bronze-medal winning artistic gymnasts Georgina Hockenhull and Lizzie Beddoe finished sixth and eighth in the women's individual final. | Wales have reached their target of 27 medals and are guaranteed to win at least 32 after day seven of the Commonwealth Games. |
37845164 | The Electoral Commission received "almost 200 calls" from voters worried about using a pencil on 23 June.
Lib Dem Lord Rennard has asked the government if it would provide "special ballot pens" instead of pencils.
And the Electoral Commission says it is looking at "alternatives to providing pencils for voters in polling stations which could improve confidence".
The issue of using pencils to vote became an issue on social media for people voting in June's referendum who feared ballot papers filled out in pencil could be rubbed out and changed, leading the hashtag #usepens to gain traction on Twitter.
Lord Rennard asked the government for its assessment of voter concerns about using pencils instead of pens to mark ballot papers. He also asked whether the government was planning to provide polling stations with "special ballot pens or pencils with indelible ink".
Cabinet Office spokeswoman in the Lords, Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen, responded saying "voters were able to use the pencil provided, or mark their ballot paper with a pen if they preferred - we are not aware of any cases of ballot papers being changed at the referendum".
She added that the government had "noted the Electoral Commission's comments on this issue in its report on the EU referendum".
That Electoral Commission report into the EU referendum says that voters are able to use either a pen or pencil to mark their ballot paper, and that "there is nothing in law which states whether a pen or a pencil should be used to mark a ballot paper."
The report also says that the Commission would be working with returning officers and national governments to see "whether there could be alternatives to providing pencils for voters in polling stations which could improve confidence."
An Electoral Commission spokesman said that historically pencils were used for practical reasons, as pens carry the risk that "they may dry out or spill".
Wet ink might also smudge on to the other side of a folded ballot paper, leading to the risk that votes could be rejected if it looks like more than one box has been marked, he added. | People could get the choice of a pen as well as a pencil when they go to vote, after fraud fears at the EU referendum. |
31113639 | "It's a horrible thing to admit, but I can't do it," he told the Sunday Times.
"When the script's in front of me it takes me forever to learn it," the 74-year-old continued. "It's frightening."
Sir Michael can currently be seen in Fortitude on Sky Atlantic and appears in BBC One's upcoming dramatisation of JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy.
His agent was unable to comment further on the Sunday Times interview.
"You've got to go to work, haven't you?" he told the newspaper's Matt Rudd, dismissing suggestions he might give up acting altogether.
Fellow actor Dame Judi Dench told BBC Radio 4's PM programme she has been taking a health supplement as a "preventative" to memory loss, but not as a cure, as suggested by some newspaper reports.
"It sounds like I started to take these when I started to not remember the lines, and that's not true. I was told about this in 2002 and I started to take them then because I was learning The Breath of Life by David Hare with Dame Maggie [Smith].
"She and I both took them. I've put everybody on them since, they're absolutely wonderful, they've done the job. So mine, I hope is a preventative," said Dame Judi.
When asked by presenter Eddie Mair if they worked she said: "Well, I'm touching wood, you can't believe what wood I'm touching, but so far so good. I think in 59 or 60 years I've been on the stage there is an occasional moment where you completely forget a line, but so far I'm able to retain them."
Dame Judi said as well as taking two tablets each morning, she tried to learn something new every day to keep her brain active.
"I try and learn just one fact every day. I'm a games player and I love things that involve words. I could do the whole of A Midsummer Night's Dream for you now or Twelfth Night... I can't put you through that!"
According to the Sunday Times, Gambon - best known for playing Professor Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films - suffered panic attacks in 2009 after forgetting lines during play rehearsals at the National Theatre.
It also reported that Gambon was due to appear in a play with Tom Hollander last year but withdrew from the production shortly after rehearsals began.
"There was a girl in the wings and I had a plug in my ear so she could read me the lines," the actor confirmed.
"After about an hour I thought: 'This can't work. You can't be in theatre, free on the stage, shouting and screaming and running around, with someone reading you your lines.'"
A member of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre acting company, Sir Michael went on to win three Olivier awards for performances in National Theatre productions.
The four-time Bafta winner - known as "The Great Gambon" in acting circles - last appeared on stage in 2012 in a London production of Samuel Beckett's play All That Fall. | Veteran Harry Potter actor Sir Michael Gambon has revealed he is no longer able to play roles on stage due to problems remembering lines. |
36963994 | The labourers from India, Pakistan and the Philippines among others are relying on food handouts organised by embassies and charities.
Many have also lost legal status, as residence permits are handled by their employers.
Low oil prices have hit the Saudi construction industry hard.
The full extent of the crisis has emerged over the past few days with moves by various governments to start helping their stranded citizens.
India has sent a junior foreign minister, Vijay Kumar Singh to try to arrange flights home for several thousand migrants lacking money to travel.
Authorities say around 7,700 Indian workers are affected by the layoffs and are housed in 20 camps.
Indian officials have been using the hashtag "#NoIndianLeftBehind" to highlight their efforts.
Apart from arranging repatriation, officials are trying to address workers' complaints about unpaid wages and end-of-service benefits.
Pakistan, too, has promised action.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's office said Pakistan's embassy in Riyadh has set up a centre to provide food and medical help as well as dealing with claims for outstanding payments.
"We stand by our hardworking workers who are away from their homeland to earn a living for their families," the statement said. "They are our strength and pride."
Officials say over 8,000 Pakistani workers are affected.
More than 10,000 Filipino migrant workers are affected, the Department of Labour in Manila estimates.
Labour officials say they are assisting families left without essential remittance payments.
"While awaiting their separation pay and other money claims, some of the children of these Overseas Filipino Workers had to stop their schooling," Labour and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello said.
Data from other countries is also beginning to emerge.
Sri Lanka's Foreign Employment Bureau says at least 100 of its citizens are affected.
The Nepalese embassy in Jeddah says it is increasingly receiving complaints from its nationals about salary payments being delayed for several months, but the numbers are low.
Saudi media say the authorities have promised urgent action to help the stranded workers by easing restrictions on residency and on leaving the country.
India's consul general in Jeddah, Noor Rahman Sheikh said the Saudi government was offering to help with provisions and repatriation too.
"They have made arrangements to take care of the food of these workers," he told the BBC. "They've conveyed that they're willing to even carry those Indians on Saudi Arabian airlines back to India."
Millions of workers from Asian countries have found employment in Saudi Arabia and other gulf states, sending vital remittances home to their families. | Saudi Arabia has promised to help thousands of Asian migrant workers stuck without pay after losing their jobs in the construction industry. |
37364189 | The Republican retired four-star general's comments were revealed in a hack on his personal emails.
The emails were posted on DCLeaks.com, which has reportedly been tied to other recent high-profile hacks.
Mr Powell, who has been quiet during the election, said he had "no further comment" but was "not denying it".
A Powell spokesman also confirmed to CBS News that Mr Powell's personal account was hacked, and that they have "no idea who did it and no further comment at this time".
The remarks were part of an email sent on 17 June to Emily Miller, a journalist and Mr Powell's former aide.
The former secretary of state, who served during George W. Bush's administration, also called Mr Trump an "international pariah" who "is in the process of destroying himself".
"No need for Dems to attack him," the email said, according to BuzzFeed News.
"Paul Ryan is calibrating his position again," Mr Powell reportedly said, referring to the Republican Speaker of the House.
In a separate email sent on 21 August, Mr Powell also criticised Mr Trump for promoting the birther movement, which questioned whether President Barack Obama was born in the US.
"Yup, the whole birther movement was racist," the email read. "That's what the 99% believe. When Trump couldn't keep that up he said he also wanted to see if the certificate noted that he was a Muslim."
But the leaked emails also revealed Mr Powell's frustrations with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her handling of her use of private email while at the State Department.
"Sad thing... HRC could have killed this two years ago by merely telling everyone honestly what she had done and not tie me into it," the email read, referring to Mrs Clinton.
"I told her staff three times not to try that gambit. I had to throw a mini tantrum at a Hampton's party to get their attention."
Mrs Clinton has pointed to Mr Powell's use of his personal AOL account at the state department as an example of why her email use was common practice.
"Everything HRC touches she kind of screws up with hubris," he said in an email last year to his business partner Jeffrey Leeds. | Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has reportedly called Republican nominee Donald Trump a "national disgrace," according to leaked emails. |
39849488 | It was the first time digital accounted for more than half its total revenues, which rose 11% to $825m.
Steve Cooper, Warner Music chief executive, said streaming revenue was now double that of physical sales and triple that of downloads.
Warner was also boosted by the success of Ed Sheeran's latest album, released in March.
Mr Cooper said Warner, which also has artists including Bruno Mars and Kylie Minogue on its roster, would remain focused on growth.
"We've only had two full years of industry growth after 15 years of contraction," he said. "We can't afford to take growth for granted."
Is streaming technology saving the music industry?
8 predictions for music in 2017
New York-based WMG reported a 67% rise in net profit to $20m (£15.5m) for the three months to 31 March compared with the same period last year.
The rise of paid subscription services from the likes of Spotify and Apple Music have been behind the rise in digital revenues.
More than 100 million people globally now pay for music streaming services, which boosted streaming revenues by more than 60% last year, according to the industry group IFPI.
That has injected new life into an industry where profit has plunged following the rise of illegal file sharing and free listening from platforms such as YouTube.
Warner's streaming revenue increased by about a third in the US and more than 55% in the UK.
WMG also recently renewed a licensing deal with YouTube, which has had a difficult relationship with the music business.
Mr Cooper did not reveal any specifics about the agreement, saying it was "the best possible deal for our artists and songwriters given the current environment".
He made clear he wanted tougher rules for websites that make money from user-generated uploads, like YouTube, which is owned by Google.
They are shielded from responsibility for user uploads by so-called "safe harbour" laws.
YouTube's $1bn royalties are not enough, says music industry
Music and YouTube - an uneasy marriage
Mr Cooper said those protections "skew competition", adding: "We strongly believe in the need for legislation."
As well as its recorded music business, Warner also has a substantial music publishing division. | Warner Music Group said streaming helped digital revenues jump by more than fifth in the first quarter. |
34765572 | The 45-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene in central London.
It comes after the troubled company, which is currently in administration, announced 450 job cuts, with the future of another 1,200 uncertain.
The Metropolitan Police said the death was being treated as "non-suspicious", although inquiries were continuing.
The man's next of kin has been informed, said the police, although he has not yet been formally identified.
On Twitter, the Indian entrepreneur Suhel Seth said: "Deeply saddened to learn of the suicide of Angad Paul in London. He was young and bright. Deepest condolences to Lord Swraj Paul and family."
Mr Paul is the son of Lord Paul, who founded the company in 1968 with a £5,000 loan.
As well as obtaining an economics degree from MIT, he was an executive producer on Guy Ritchie's films Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.
He also financed the Caparo T1, which was the fastest supercar in the world when it launched in 2006.
Mr Paul married his wife, the media lawyer Michelle Bonn, in 2004.
Caparo went into administration last month after it was hit by collapsing steel prices and the strong pound.
The industry as a whole has suffered. SSI in Redcar, Cleveland recently collapsed, while Tata Steel has also announced cutbacks. In all, about 4,000 jobs were lost in the sector in October alone. | The boss of the troubled steel company Caparo, Angad Paul, has died after falling from his penthouse flat on Sunday morning. |
38825921 | 1 February 2017 Last updated at 08:47 GMT
The president says it's needed to protect the US and it's a popular idea for many American's too.
But ever since it was brought in people from all over the world have been protesting against it.
So we spoke to some American kids to find out how they felt about the president's decision. | US President Trump has put in place a temporary US travel ban on people from seven mainly Muslim countries. |
36916825 | The work, led by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, claims the plans are too "narrowly focused" on connecting six major northern cities and Manchester Airport.
It said "too little attention" had been paid to the needs of other cities.
Transport for the North (TfN) previously said a recommended route was due in 2017.
It is currently carrying out a feasibility study into the government's plans for HS3 - also dubbed Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Plans for a high-speed rail link between Manchester and Leeds were first announced in 2014.
The combined authority's report said there have been concerns TfN's remit concentrated mainly on serving Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle, Hull, Manchester and the airport.
Stops in Bradford and York would boost the economy and regeneration, it said.
Andy Caton, from the West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, supported its recommendations.
He said: "[A stop in Bradford] would not just improve connectivity and commuting times but Bradford would benefit enormously from regeneration impacts, more people, more footfall, more business coming in to the area.
"In establishing better transport through Leeds to Manchester it's logical that you also have a station in York because that then opens up not just York but all of the north of Yorkshire." | A "strong case" exists for HS3 stations to be built in Bradford and York, according to a new study. |
15778446 | "It is the British press that made the 'legend' that you see before you, so perhaps I should ask you who I am."
So said an ailing 82-year-old Ronnie Biggs in a rare public appearance as he turned the tables on the journalists who have spent much of the past 48 years following and scrutinising him.
Biggs's part in the 1963 Great Train Robbery - in which a gang held up a mail train, making off with £2.6m - and his later escape from prison that sparked a global chase gave him a notoriety that has enthralled the press for nearly half a century.
His life as a criminal on the run filled many newspaper column inches over the decades, as did his return to Britain in 2001 to face justice, his return to prison and then the controversial decision to release him on health grounds in 2009.
At that time, his family argued he was severely ill with pneumonia and unlikely to recover. "Ronnie Biggs is about to close this last chapter. He will now be retreating fully from public life," his son Michael said at the time.
Yet, two years on, he was the focus of media attention again as he launched an updated version of his autobiography at a private members' club in Shoreditch, east London.
After all this time, how does he think the British public sees him?
Speaking with the help of his son Michael, because several strokes dictate that he can no longer speak, he denied that their view was of him as a criminal.
"I'm a loveable rogue," said Biggs by pointing to letters on a specially made poster.
Earlier, journalists awaited Biggs's arrival in a bright, upstairs room at Shoreditch House, to a soundtrack of Elvis's Jailhouse Rock and Thin Lizzy's Jailbreak, and the babble of Cockney accents.
When Biggs finally came in - nearly an hour late - his entrance was something akin to that of a rock star.
Wearing black sunglasses and skull and crossbones braces with a sharp black suit and blue tie, Biggs lapped up the attention as photographers closed in on his wheelchair.
"Ronnie, this way, Ronnie," they shouted. "In the middle Ronnie - gis' a wave Ron, thumbs up Ron."
As a frail Biggs responded to the requests, a smile creeping across his face, his son joked: "He'll be up tap dancing next."
Opening with a statement read by his son, Biggs gave a tongue-in-cheek thank you to those attending from "far and wide", including Australia and Brazil, where he spent 13,068 days on the run.
He added: "I can't believe this is my first press conference in Britain, but it is, and I apologise for not holding one after I went over the wall from Wandsworth (referring to his escape from Wandsworth prison in a furniture van after just 15 months behind bars)."
He explained how he would have liked to have had his own voice for the event, but added: "Despite my appearances my marbles are all there - or as many as I should have at my age and given my health."
He was quizzed on the actions that led to his notoriety and asked whether he wished he could go back and do things differently.
Did he regret the events of 8 August 1963? He answered "Yes" on his pad. If you could go back in time would you do it all again? A firm shake of the head. "No."
Did he feel uncomfortable in any way that the book was ultimately profiting from crime?
Biggs's son responded: "This is not profiting from crime this is profiting from his life. Yes he committed the crime but there's much more to my dad's life than the Great Train Robbery."
However, his son acknowledged that without the robbery Biggs would never have had the sometimes glamorous and exciting life he had. Instead he would likely have continued as a builder in Redhill.
Michael went on: "I don't look up to my dad as the Great Train Robber or as a criminal, I look up to him as the family man he became."
He said it was "never my father's intention to become Ronnie Biggs". Biggs had no way to support himself in Brazil so the press became his way to survive, he said.
"My dad was probably the Jordan of the 80s," quipped Michael, whose birth prevented his father's extradition from Brazil back to the UK.
One name that cropped up time and time again was that of Jack Mills.
He was the train driver caught up in the robbery. He was badly beaten by some of the gang and never recovered. He died in 1970 of leukaemia.
Asked if any of the proceeds from the book could go to his family, Biggs's son responded: "We haven't discussed that yet but it could be a possibility."
His family said the book - named Odd Man Out: The Last Straw - was a chance for Biggs to answer the "many misconceptions" about the robbery.
He has been working on the book since his release from jail in 2009.
Michael Biggs believes his father has been wrongly blamed for the violent actions of others. In fact, the man who Biggs claims coshed Mr Mills has never been caught. The convicted gang members still refuse to give him up, and he remains one of three robbers never caught.
Michael added: "My father wants to set the record straight (with the book). This is his last press appearance. He's retiring from public life 100%."
His son described the state of his father's health and how he developed chest infections every three or four weeks.
He also has no control over his mouth and throat, he said.
He said Biggs, who is originally from Lambeth, south London, had a final wish that his ashes be spread between Brazil and London.
But why is it that the Great Train Robber still holds such fascination now, nearly half a century on from his crime?
Daily Mail journalist David Jones, who has followed the former fugitive's story for years and met him in Rio in 2000, thinks he has the answer.
"He's the one who cocked a snook and pulled the wool over the authorities' eyes. Everybody likes to think they could do the same," he grins.
"They see him as a loveable rogue - and they're three-quarters right." | Ronnie Biggs, who has died aged 84, made a rare public appearance in 2011 and said he thought the public saw him as a "loveable rogue", not a criminal. |
32681824 | Black GIs based in Bristol during World War Two were housed in segregated units but many experienced a new-found freedom in the city while off duty.
They were able to mix with white women and socialise, which would have led to lynch mob violence in some US states.
Ms Greer said her father, Ben, and other young GIs "had seen another world" and had taken a thirst for similar freedoms back home with them.
It had given them a "kind of humanity and brief equality".
She said the city had become a "seedbed" for the civil rights movement in the US and is now calling for a better acknowledgement of this in school curriculums in the UK and the US.
The tolerance generally shown in the UK inspired many of the African Americans to fight oppression on their return to the US.
Ms Greer, filming for a BBC West documentary which explores the issue, said the contrast had a significant impact.
"For the first time in their lives, they could be just young soldiers, out on the town, doing their own thing," she said.
"And they could do the one thing they would have been killed for back home - hanging out with white women."
Neil Wynn, Emeritus Professor of 20th Century American History at the University of Gloucestershire, said: "It was a surprise for many African Americans to be treated as equals.
"That for many of them was an amazing experience and one which was going to remain with them for the rest of their lives."
Ms Greer said what happened in Bristol should be highlighted alongside other more publicised aspects of the city's past.
"The slave trade played a huge role in Bristol's history but I think that the experience of the GIs in the war was also important and the story should be told.
"Both sides of Bristol should be taught," she said.
"That's education - that's how knowledge and intelligence grows."
Her Chicago-born late father, Ben Greer, was based in England as a GI before taking part in the D-Day landings.
He described his time in the UK to her as the "first decent experience of white people I'd ever had".
The American authorities met local resistance to their attempts to introduce segregation beyond their military units, camps and social clubs.
The Colston Arms in Bristol, for example, refused to accept that black and white soldiers should not be served together.
Ms Greer said: "There should be a blue plaque outside the pub - it was remarkable what happened there."
The African American GIs livened up the city's wartime nightlife introducing exciting new dances such as the jitterbug and jazz music.
But their popularity with the local girls led to tension and clashes with the white American GIs in Bristol - culminating in a riot in the Park Street area in 1944.
Details of the confrontation between hundreds of soldiers and military police were downplayed in the press under WW2 censorship.
At the end of the war, many white GI brides emigrated to America but black soldiers returning to the US had to leave their sweethearts and children behind as interracial relationships and marriage were illegal in many states.
VE Day: The First Days of Peace: Race Relations will be broadcast on BBC One in the West on Monday 11 May at 19:30 BST and on the BBC iPlayer. | The American-British writer Bonnie Greer is calling for greater recognition of Bristol's little-known role in the US civil rights movement. |
39585759 | The sites had until Wednesday to remove ads promising high returns and even good feng shui, state media said.
Beijing's surging home prices have made it unaffordable for many, and led to high debt levels.
Authorities have issued new restrictions this year, calling the property market an economic risk.
This includes raising the minimum down payment on a second home and suspending individual mortgage loans of more than 25 years. Third property purchases and any form of financing advice are also banned.
The crackdown now extends to sales tactics used by online real estate portals, some of which tout "limitless potential for price gains," according to Xinhua.
The Chinese state news agency said 15 property portals, including popular sites Lianjia and I Love My Home, were told to take out posting and claims that broke regulations on property advertisements.
It listed several of these rules, including a ban on "fengshui and other superstitious content", and a ban on "promises of appreciation on investment returns".
Feng shui, which means 'wind' and 'water' in Mandarin, is often consulted when deciding property value.
Xinhua said authorities will begin checking the sites on Thursday.
The world's second-largest economy is widely expected to show slowing growth as the impact of earlier stimulus measures wear off.
The property market contributes to around 20% of China's gross domestic product and there are fears a crash would severely damage the economy.
China releases its first-quarter growth figures next week. | Online property portals in Beijing have been forced to remove "illegal information" in an attempt to curb rising prices in the capital. |
38019392 | On a smaller scale in day-to-day medicine, freezing is an extremely useful technique for storing living cells, such as blood cells, bone marrow, sperm and embryos, at ultra-low temperatures.
But scientists agree that preserving and reawakening the complete human body is a remote possibility which would take massive breakthroughs in technology.
Prof John Armitage, director of tissue banking at the University of Bristol, believes you can never say never in science but there was little chance of it happening based on current knowledge.
He said taking tissues from healthy people to be stored for future use was one thing but taking a diseased body, freezing it safely - including the complex structure of the brain - and reactivating it was a far, far more difficult task.
"What are the chances there wouldn't be some damage?" Prof Armitage says.
"We are not even at the stage of cryopreserving organs yet, so doing it with a whole body would be a huge challenge."
Organs themselves are very complicated, containing different types of cells, blood vessels and an inter-cellular structure - which would all need to be preserved.
Barry Fuller, professor in surgical science and low temperature medicine at University College London, said the first step was to demonstrate that human organs could be cryopreserved for transplantation.
But at the moment the equipment to make that happen is not available, he said.
"This is why we have to say that at the moment we have no objective evidence that a whole human body can survive cryopreservation with cells which will function after rearming," he said.
After death, patients have to be acted on quickly.
In the UK, a group of volunteers trained in cryonics takes care of the body, starts the process of freezing and arranges for it to be shipped to the country where it is to be stored.
At this stage, dry ice is used to keep the body at a low temperature.
Once at the storage facility, patients are infused with cryoprotectants (like antifreeze) to prevent ice crystal formation - which would kill cells - before the temperature is slowly lowered and they are preserved in liquid nitrogen at extremely low temperatures of below -130C.
The low temperatures are needed to allow the cells to survive dehydration after death - but uncontrolled dehydration and freezing is also lethal to living cells, so it has to be done carefully.
The eventual aim is that one day they will be rewarmed and revived, but there is no evidence or guarantee that they can be.
Several hundred people have already paid to have their bodies cryogenically preserved in three existing facilities in the US and Russia, and there are as many as 1,250 on waiting lists.
Cryonics UK, a non-profit organisation which provides assistance to people in the UK who want their body to be frozen on death, said it has helped 10 people so far. | Cryonics is one extreme of cryopreservation where the whole body is frozen in the hope that one day it will be possible to revive it. |
35038280 | Grant Murray, 20, was convicted of attempted murder following the attack on 38-year-old James Martin in Newarthill on 1 February.
His brother, Graham Murray, 30, was convicted of assault for punching Mr Martin and causing him to fall.
Grant Murray was jailed for eight years and his brother for 11 months.
Jailing them at the High Court in Glasgow, judge Johanna Johnston QC told Grant Murray: "Mr Martin was on the ground defenceless and motionless. You did not care if the blows caused fatal injuries or not.
"Even when your brother tried to pull you away you continued the attack.
"This brutal attack left Mr Martin with shocking injuries. He could have died. Your behaviour was brutal and vicious."
Judge Johnston told his brother Graham Murray: "You were convicted of assaulting Mr Martin by punching him repeatedly and rending him unconscious. He had done you no harm."
During the trial, the victim's 18-year-old son, Jordan Martin, told the court that he had gone to collect his father from a pub and buy items from a local shop.
As they walked down a lane, Grant Murray approached them and asked Mr Martin snr for a cigarette.
When he handed one over Graham Murray came over said "don't touch him" and punched Mr Martin to the ground.
His brother Grant then stamped on and kicked Mr Martin as he lay unresponsive on the ground.
The court was told that Mr Martin's jaw was split in two by the force of the blows and he suffered life-threatening injuries.
Jordan Martin said that after the attack he called 999 and flagged down a passing car which was driven by his aunt, Pamela Hughes, who gave first aid until an ambulance arrived.
As Ms Hughes tended her brother, Grant Murray shouted at her: "It was me, it was me. What are you going to do."
The brothers claimed that the assaults were sparked by Jordan Martin hitting them with a shopping bag, but he denied this.
Both were convicted following a trial last month. | Two brothers have been jailed for carrying out a brutal street attack in North Lanarkshire which left their victim fighting for his life. |
35091644 | The fishermen have been involved in a legal wrangle with the landowner over access since last year.
Over the weekend, the large boulders were placed across the entrance to the pier, preventing access for vehicles.
The fishermen have been warned they face legal action over their boats and equipment being on the beach.
More than 5,000 people have signed a petition to save the harbour.
Landowner Pralhad Kolhe has not responded to a request for comment. | Fishermen who use a small Aberdeen harbour have had their access restricted by boulders after a long-running dispute took another twist. |
34963397 | Jayne Ludlow's side fell behind to Lee Sima Falkon's goal after 25 minutes in Ramat Gan before Manchester City striker Natasha Harding scored two second-half goals to put Wales ahead.
But they were denied their second win of the campaign by Shelina's late goal.
Third-placed Wales are now five points behind Group eight leaders Austria.
Wales, playing their 150th competitive match, had 12 efforts on goal during the game.
They had earned their first win of the campaign on Thursday, beating Kazakhstan 4-0 to move above Israel in the group.
Ludlow's side, who next face Kazakhstan away on 12 April, remain two points above fourth-placed Israel, who have a game in hand.
Only the eventual group winners are guaranteed automatic qualification to the tournament in the Netherlands.
Israel: Shamir, Ravitz, Bar Oz, Sofer, Shelina, Tvill (Sendel 66), Falkon, Fridman, Sade (c) (David 47), Barqui, Shahaf (Nakav 86).
Subs not used: Kadori, Efraim, Avital, Metkalov.
Wales: Evans, Ingle (c), Roberts (Estcourt 83), James, Fletcher, Harding, Fishlock, Rowe, Walkley (Bleazard 46), Ritchie (Jones 46), Ward.
Subs not used: Price, Green, Lawrence, Hinchcliffe.
Referee: Marta Fria Acedo (ESP) | Wales women were denied victory as Rachel Shelina's goal seven minutes from time secured a Euro 2017 qualifying point for Israel. |
40367939 | Media playback is not supported on this device
The decision follows a three-month review into the governing body's relationship with gambling firms.
The FA says it will continue to share important information with companies to identify suspect betting patterns.
Chief executive Martin Glenn thanked Ladbrokes for its "professionalism and understanding" on the change of policy.
The betting company's chief executive, Jim Mullen, added: "We understand the FA's decision regarding their commercial partnerships on gambling."
Mullen said Ladbrokes would continue to work with the FA "to ensure the integrity and trust of the sport is maintained".
Football's relationship with gambling has come under recent scrutiny, with midfielder Joey Barton criticising the FA's "dependence on betting companies".
Barton, who said he is addicted to gambling, was banned from football for 18 months after admitting an FA charge in relation to betting.
Reacting to Barton's ban in April, former Stoke winger Matthew Etherington, who lost £1.5m at the height of his gambling addiction, told BBC Radio 5 live the industry should be better "regulated".
"It's very hard and complex, but everyone needs to take a little bit more responsibility - the PFA [Professional Footballers' Association], the players, the FA and the gambling organisations themselves," the 35-year-old said. | The Football Association has ended all of its sponsorships with betting companies, including mutually terminating a long-term Ladbrokes deal. |
39635070 | Manchester's returning officer is seeking clarification following Theresa May's announcement.
The poll was due 4 May - the day after parliament is set to be dissolved.
This would potentially create the anomaly of a newly-elected MP without a parliament to sit in.
Returning Officer for Manchester Joanne Roney OBE said: "We are seeking advice in discussion with the Government and Electoral Commission and will confirm arrangements for the Manchester Gorton constituency as soon as possible."
The Electoral Commission said the general election decision would not affect the metro mayor elections in Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester on 4 May as these dates were "set in law".
But the BBC understands the snap poll means the Gorton by-election is unlikely to take place.
Cabinet member David Davis, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, said on Sky News the by-election would be cancelled, while the Leader of the House David Lidington told the Commons the decision on whether to hold the poll is one for the returning officer in Manchester.
Mr Lidington said parliament was likely to be dissolved on 2 or 3 May.
The House of Commons votes on Wednesday whether to approve the election.
The by-election was caused by the death of long-serving Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman in February. | Doubts have been cast over whether the Manchester Gorton by-election can go ahead following the prime minister's decision to call a general election. |
35749787 | The precarious situation comes as the company tries to slash its rent bill with landlords to survive.
BHS is trying to secure what is known as a Company Voluntary Arrangement, a form of compromise with its creditors.
Its pension scheme deficit stands at £207m, but it is understood the current working deficit is much higher.
The 147-page document, filed last week, is a sobering read.
According to the documents, the scheme's buy-out valuation has now ballooned to £571m. In other words, this would be the cost if an insurance company were to take over the pension liabilities. This, however, is an unlikely move.
BHS is already in discussions with the Pension Protection Fund, the government-supported rescue agency as well as the Pensions Regulator and the BHS pension trustees on addressing the deficit.
The PPF pays compensation to members of pension schemes when a company goes under and does not have enough assets to pay out to savers.
BHS insists that it continues to meet its pension payment obligations.
But in the submission, BHS's directors are clearly hoping that the two pension schemes will be transferred into the PPF and that the company would have no further liability to fund it.
The chairman of the BHS Pension Trustees, Chris Martin, told BBC Radio 5 Live's Wake up to Money programme he did not think there was a future for the schemes outside the PPF, even if the business was successfully restructured.
He also valued the combined pension scheme deficits at around £500m.
In the CVA documents, there is also a stark warning what will happen, should the CVA not get approved.
"It is very likely that BHS Limited will no longer be able to trade as a going concern, which would result in the appointment of administrators," the company said.
The documents reveal that BHS has been loss-making for seven consecutive years.
It was sold for a £1 a year ago by Sir Philip Green to Retail Acquisitions. He wrote off £215m of debts in the process. It has been reported that Sir Philip has been asked to make a multi-million pound voluntary contribution to the cost of restructuring the pension scheme.
The new owners, Retail Acquisitions, are a little-known group of financiers. This has prompted lots of questions about the long-term survival of BHS and the future of its staff when the sale was announced.
A turnaround plan has been under way, but the document reveals the scale of the challenge.
Last year, some major suppliers had their credit insurance cover cut. As a result, BHS had to put aside £25m to secure delivery of goods, which had a "substantial negative" impact on the company's available cash.
Also, it says, Christmas trading was poorer than anticipated, placing additional pressure on BHS's ability to continue to trade.
"Without a reduction in BHS's lease obligations as planned under the CVA proposal, the business does not have the working capital capability to meet its debt and working capital requirements beyond the next rent quarter date," says the court document.
Creditors have to agree that by 23 March, just before the next big rent bill is due.
BHS says it has been paying over the odds on too many of its leases and that reductions are needed to reset the business and put the chain on a more secure financial footing.
The company spells out the alternative for its landlords: "Unsecured creditors (including landlords) will receive a greater return on the amount owed to them in the CVA proposal than they would do if BHS Limited were to be subject to an administration."
The amount owed to unsecured creditors is huge. The documents state that if BHS was liquidated, they would stand to lose up to £1.3bn. But this figure does include the elevated buy-out figure for the pension deficit.
Nevertheless, the potential fall-out is very great indeed.
"It's a complete mess," one veteran property told me. | Department store chain BHS's pension scheme liabilities may be bigger than previously thought, court documents have revealed. |
34323976 | He failed a test that was taken after he played for his club USM Alger in a Champions League tie on 7 August.
Belaili waived his right to have his B sample analyzed when he met with the federation's medical commission.
The Confederation of African Football has banned him for two years from national and international football.
The first match that the 23-year-old will miss is the first leg of the semi-final in the Champions League against Sudan's Al Hilal on 27 September.
The 23-year-old played for Algeria in friendly matches against Qatar and Oman earlier this year and was also part of the squad that played at the first ever Africa Under-23 Cup of Nations in 2011. | Algeria international Youcef Belaili has been handed a two-year ban for doping, according to the country's football federation. |
29869909 | Ghoncheh Ghavami, 25, was found guilty of spreading anti-regime propaganda, lawyer Alizadeh Tabatabaie said.
Iran banned women from volleyball games in 2012, extending a long-standing ban on football matches.
The Iranian authorities have argued that women need protection from the lewd behaviour of male fans.
Britain's Foreign Office said it was concerned about the sentence.
"We have concerns about the grounds for this prosecution, due process during the trial, and Miss Ghavami's treatment whilst in custody," it said in a statement.
Amnesty International has described Ms Ghavami, who is from Shepherd's Bush in west London, as a prisoner of conscience, and called for her immediate release. More than 700,000 people have signed an online petition urging the authorities to free her.
The graduate of the University of London's School of African and Oriental Studies was part of a group of women who tried to watch Iran play Italy in a match on 20 June.
The women were arrested and allegedly beaten before being freed.
Ms Ghavami was rearrested later and subsequently put on trial. She launched a hunger strike in October after being held in isolation cells. | A British-Iranian woman detained at a men's volleyball match in Iran has been sentenced to a year in prison, her lawyer says. |
33022087 | Jersey have picked their side for the global qualifying tournament and start against Hong Kong on 11 July.
They became an international cricketing nation in 2005 and this will be the highest level they have played at.
Jersey made it through by winning the European Division One Twenty20 event.
"It's a big achievement already for the players to win European Division One and qualify," coach Neil MacRae told BBC Sport.
"Our next aim is to continue to improve from the performances we had in European Division One."
Jersey will be seen as the outsiders of the group - they have just four teams in their main cricket league, a population of under 100,000 and play in Division Four of the World Cricket League alongside the likes of Malaysia, Bermuda and Italy.
They face joint hosts Ireland, who beat the West Indies at the 50-over World Cup earlier this year and narrowly missed out on the latter stages of the tournament.
In the group stages, from 9-19 July, Jersey are also up against Nepal, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Namibia and the USA in Group A of the event, all with vastly bigger populations than the 45-square mile island off the coast of France.
The winners of the group will qualify automatically, along with the winners of the other qualifying group.
The sides finishing second and third in Group A will play their counterparts in Group B with the winners securing places in India and the losers playing the two fourth-placed sides to complete the 16-team line-up for the finals, which take place from 11 March to 3 April.
"We're a young side which is improving rapidly and we aim to play our top level of cricket in each game and qualify for the second week of the tournament," MacRae added.
"We think we've got a group of excellent young cricketers who've gained experience of playing this format.
"With the amount of T20 cricket we've played this season we have great momentum to take into this tournament."
Jersey squad: Peter Gough (capt), Nat Watkins, Edward Farley, Ben Stevens, Anthony Hawkins-Kay, Tom Minty, Charles Perchard, Jonty Jenner, Corey Bisson, Rhys Palmer, Ben Kynman, Callum Rabet, Paul Connolly, Dominic Blampied and Corne Bodenstein. | Jersey, with its population of 99,000, will begin a bid to qualify for the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India, but they will need to beat countries up to 3,000 times bigger to do it. |
39555241 | Parnell will be eligible to play in the County Championship and One-Day Cup until he is recalled by the Proteas.
The 27-year-old, also a capable lower-order batsman, took 26 wickets in all formats in two spells with Kent in the 2009 season.
South Africa's next fixture is against England on 24 May at Headingley in the first of three one-day internationals.
"I really enjoyed my time at Kent in 2009 when we won Division Two and reached the T20 Finals Day," Parnell told the club's official website.
"I learned a lot from the experience and I hope to help the side continue their strong start in the County Championship and get off to a flyer in the One-Day Cup."
Kent thrashed Gloucestershire by 334 runs in their opening Championship match of the season and are next in four-day action against Sussex at Hove, starting on 14 April. | Kent have re-signed South Africa left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell as an overseas player on a short-term deal. |
21471847 | The three-times 3,000m steeplechase world champion and coach alleges many athletes use performance-enhancing drugs as a shortcut to wealth.
"The information shows that there are a good number of athletes out there who are using drugs," said Kiptanui.
Kiptanui is regarded as the greatest steeplechaser in history after his success in the 1990s. He was the first man to break the eight-minute barrier for the 3,000m steeplechase
But David Okeyo, secretary-general of Athletics Kenya, said Kiptanui should provide evidence to back up his claims.
Okeyo also called on the 1991, 1993 and 1995 world champion to name names.
In a BBC interview, Kiptanui, 42, said: "They want to get money by all means. Either by a genuine way or another way.
"We have put rules in place. If we don't use these rules then athletes will still use these drugs."
Kiptanui also alleges widespread corruption around the world.
"If you can bribe somebody today or tomorrow, then it [a test result] is gone," he added. "All over the world there is corruption in sport.
"It is not only a matter in Kenya."
Last September, Kenya's athletics authorities revealed they were investigating allegations of widespread doping.
The investigation was launched after media allegations that doctors had given banned substances to runners at a high-altitude training facility.
More than 40 leading Kenyan athletes were subjected to out-of-competition blood tests after a team of overseas drug-testers paid an unannounced visit to the Rift Valley base.
It followed reports in November that the World Anti-Doping Agency expressed frustration at a lack of communication from sporting authorities.
In June, distance runner Mathew Kisorio failed a drugs test at Kenya's national championships and claimed doping was commonplace.
Athletics Kenya head Isaiah Kiplagat said at the time that most athletes were "clean", but that he took the claims seriously.
"We are carrying out an investigation," he said. "We are working with other authorities to ensure that... if this true, [we can] then take action appropriately on the culprits." | Moses Kiptanui, one of most successful runners in Kenyan history, claims doping is rife among athletes there. |
29607736 | It says some senior officers have "poor" levels of knowledge of undercover policing and are failing to adapt to threats posed by online crime.
The report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) reveals that there are 1,229 undercover officers working in England and Wales.
The review was set up after controversy about ex-covert officer Mark Kennedy.
It discloses that 3,466 undercover operations were authorised between October 2009 and September 2013.
By Danny Shaw, BBC home affairs correspondent
The 206-page inspection report is a ground-breaking piece of work, partially lifting the lid on the "closed culture" of undercover policing.
The report reveals how many officers are deployed undercover and the number of operations - as well as exposing the many flaws in the system.
What emerges is that brave and courageous officers on the ground are being let down by patchy systems of psychological support and governance, while their bosses resist outside scrutiny and improvement: arguably the biggest gap is in the capability of forces to deploy covert officers to deal with online threats, such as child sexual exploitation and cyber-crime.
What inspectors hope is that this review will transform undercover policing, in the same way as the Macpherson Inquiry changed the police's approach to murder investigations.
The covert officers themselves are described in the report as "knowledgeable, professional and courageous".
Inspector Stephen Otter, who led the review, said: "It was disappointing to find inconsistencies and shortcomings in the way undercover officers were supported by policies, systems and training across the country.
"We were concerned by a generally poor level of knowledge and lack of expertise of those senior leaders who authorise the use of undercover officers."
Mr Otter also said that some police forces had been "slow to adapt" to online undercover tactics, and five forces were without any covert online capability.
Elsewhere, the report criticises the lack of psychological support in some forces, and calls for a combined 10-year cap on length of tenure for undercover officers, after it found that one officer had worked on undercover operations for more than 20 years.
Jack Dromey, the shadow minister for policing, said: "It is clear that systems governing such policing must be kept under strict control, which is why it is so worrying that HMIC has identified such a large variation between forces."
The report came about after the high profile case of former undercover officer Mark Kennedy, who spent a decade undercover, infiltrating groups involved in climate change protests.
He lived a double life as Mark Kennedy of the Metropolitan Police and as Mark Stone, green activist, based in Nottingham.
In January 2011, the trial of six green campaigners collapsed after he offered to give evidence on their behalf.
A further 20 activists had their convictions quashed on appeal following the officer's unmasking.
Mr Kennedy admitted in a newspaper interview to having two sexual relationships with female activists and said it was "a wrong thing to do".
He said in 2011: "The circumstances I was involved in led to that to happen and I can assure you that I am not the only person who has been involved in sexual relationships as an undercover officer." | Shortcomings in how undercover police officers are deployed and monitored have been criticised by a review. |
29251618 | Bears skipper Varun Chopra made 64 as the Bears, having lost the toss and been put in, were dismissed cheaply in bowler-friendly conditions for 165.
Opener Mark Stoneman's 52 rescued Durham from 12-2 before spinner Jeetan Patel took 4-25 to give the Bears hope.
Media playback is not supported on this device
But Ben Stokes (38) and Gareth Breese (15) restored calm to get home on 166-7 with more than nine overs in hand.
Breese, one of only three survivors from Durham's only previous one-day final appearance (their Friends Provident Trophy win over Hampshire in 2007), struck the winning runs in what was likely to be his final appearance for the county.
He had also contributed wonderfully with the ball earlier in the day, taking 3-30 from seven overs.
But man of the match Stokes was even more influential. After returning figures of 2-25 with the ball, despite two dropped catches, he kept a cool head with the bat in a nail-biting finale that was in marked contrast to his heroic semi-final innings, when he blasted 164 off 113 balls to see off Notts.
Having lost the toss on an hugely overcast day, when the Lord's lights were on from the outset, the Bears had already avoided a couple of early scares when Will Porterfield edged the first ball of the fifth over to Durham wicketkeeper Phil Mustard, who took a good low catch.
Jonathan Trott laboured for 15 balls before being trapped leg before in Paul Collingwood's first over to make it 29-2.
Collingwood then dropped Tim Ambrose at slip off Stokes on three before making amends without too much damage done when he himself had the Bears wicketkeeper caught at slip - a similar sharp chance to his right snapped up by Breese.
The 50 came up in the 17th over when Chopra guided only the third boundary of the innings through extra cover, but Ambrose's dismissal led to three wickets going down for just five runs in 18 deliveries.
Laurie Evans gloved a lifter from Stokes to the safe hands of Breese at second slip and, although he then had Rikki Clarke dropped one-handed by Mustard in his next over, Stokes soon rearranged the Warwickshire all-rounder's stumps to make it 68-5.
Chopra and Woakes helped to make a game of it with a sixth-wicket stand of 47, but a brilliant one-handed catch running back by Scotsman Calum MacLeod - who spent two seasons on Warwickshire's books in 2008 and 2009 - accounted for Woakes.
Shortly after, Rushworth returned to remove Chopra's leg stump, and Patel perished at short third man after hitting Breese for six off the previous ball.
Breese collected his third wicket when Ollie Hannon-Dolby spooned to mid-on before the innings ended with three overs unused when Boyd Rankin was run out going for a second.
Warwickshire needed early wickets to stand a chance and Clarke quickly struck twice, hitting Mustard's middle stump before having MacLeod caught at first slip.
Skipper Stoneman responded by bludgeoning 10 boundaries before becoming one of three lbw decisions for Patel as Durham were sent sliding from 60-2 to 86-5.
Durham skipper Collingwood and Stokes appeared to have restored calm with a stand of 31.
But, with 49 needed, Collingwood steered Hannon-Dolby to point, and then Gordon Muchall became Patel's fourth lbw victim (all from fast balls from the Pavilion End which kept low) to make it 130-7.
However, Stokes stood firm and when his fortuitous attempted reverse sweep narrowly missed the stumps to run away for four in Patel's final over, Durham finally sensed that they had it won.
It was left to 38-year-old Jamaican Breese to carve the winning runs to third man and make it two victories out of two for Durham in Lord's finals.
BBC Radio Newcastle's Martin Emmerson:
"If you had told me a month ago that Durham would be safe from relegation in Division One and winning a cup at Lord's I would have told you you were mad.
"Things were grim. They'd just lost a crucial relegation clash to Lancashire and the One-Day Cup looked to be fizzling out.
"But, in the last three seasons, Durham have come into their own with a stunning run of late season form.
"Two years ago they won five out of six to stay up. Last year it was five in a row to win the title and this year three in a row to achieve safety in the four-day game and six in a row to win the cup.
"And the backbone of the team has been produced via the academy. Those who had the vision to go first-class in 1992 deserve praise. The players don't seem to know when they're beaten and have such determination.
"Fitting too that it should be Gareth Breese who scored the winning runs in his last one day appearance."
BBC WM's Clive Eakin:
"Warwickshire will take some credit for making a contest of a match which had looked decided at the halfway stage.
"Jeetan Patel was outstanding with the ball and may even have merited a Man of the Match award despite being on the losing side.
"In the end, the Bears will reflect that even 30 more runs might have been enough to win but Durham, whose bowlers were unerringly accurate, deserved to win." | Durham kept their heads in a tense finish as they beat Warwickshire by three wickets to win the One-Day Cup. |
40223940 | Whitehouse took charge of 21 internationals before taking up this current WRU position in July 2013.
The Union said that the 55-year-old will officially leave the organisation on 20 June.
Head of rugby performance Geraint John will take overall charge of Whitehouse's previous department.
A WRU statement said: "National match officials manager Nigel Whitehouse has resigned from his post at the Welsh Rugby Union and will officially leave the organisation on 20 June.
"Nigel has been a WRU employee in referee administration for seven years, having had a long career in Welsh rugby previously as an international referee in 21 Test matches. We wish Nigel well for the future.
"Nigel's duties will be absorbed by existing members of staff for the time being, with WRU head of rugby performance Geraint John having overall control of the department." | The Welsh Rugby Union says that former international referee Nigel Whitehouse has resigned from his role as national match officials manager. |
38184881 | Linda Eshun scored the winner on 49 minutes when she headed the ball home from close range following a corner.
In the first half South Africa had the best chances but Refiloe Jane headed over and another header was well saved by Ghana keeper Patricia Mantey.
Banyana Banayana also failed to equalise when Andisiwe Mcgoyi put a simple chance over the bar.
Unlike in 2014, this match did not offer the prize of a Women's World Cup place.
And in the end South Africa had to settle for fourth place - just as they did two years ago - while Ghana claimed a first bronze medal since 2004. | Ghana edged out South Africa 1-0 to win the third-place play-off at the women's Africa Cup of Nations. |
23614135 | At the end of June last year the population stood at 5,313,600 - up 18,200 since the last census on 27 March 2011.
Although there were more births than deaths, the rise was mainly due to people moving into Scotland.
Women continue to outnumber men in Scotland, with nearly 160,000 more females.
The figures also revealed that, since the 2001 census, Scotland's population had become older.
There were rises of 14% in those aged 75 and over, 16% in the 60 to 74 age group, and 14% among those aged 45 to 59.
Among younger people, there were falls of 6% in the under-16 age group, and 9% in those aged 30 to 44.
Overall there were 159,320 more women in Scotland than men last year, widening the gender gap which had been evident in previous census data.
The report said: "Among older people, particularly those aged over 75, the higher number of females reflects the longer expectation of life for women, partly as a result of higher rates of male mortality during the Second World War.
"The two baby booms of 1947 and the 1960s can also be seen, with a sharp peak at age 65 and another peak between the ages of around 40 and 50.
"These baby boomers, along with relatively low fertility rates since the 1960s, are the main reasons why Scotland's population is likely to age in the future."
Scottish government minister Fiona Hyslop accepted there was an ageing population and said it was "excellent" to see the under-fives population had increased by 3,050 since the 2011 census.
She added: "The net in-flow of 14,300 more people coming to Scotland from overseas than leaving is proof that Scotland is an attractive and dynamic nation and one where people want to make a life for themselves.
"The Scottish government welcomes the contribution these new Scots can make to our economy and society, and we are working hard to attract the best international talent to our universities and our workforce."
After publication of the figures, the Scottish Conservative Party expressed concern that the population was now growing at a much slower rate.
Finance spokesman Gavin Brown said: "A country like ours needs people, particularly young people, to come in to work and increase the tax base - that is absolutely essential for the economy.
"It could just be a one-year blip, but the minister in charge at the Scottish government needs to find out why this is and what can be done, and explain as quickly as possible what the solution will be." | The number of people living in Scotland has reached a new high, according to the latest official figures. |
31901533 | Mr Shapps admitted he had "over firmly" denied continuing his work as a web marketing expert under the name Michael Green, after being elected in 2005.
Labour wants an inquiry into whether his outside interests, which were fully declared at the time, breached rules.
Downing Street said the prime minister had "full confidence" in Mr Shapps.
And David Cameron defended his party chairman in an online interview with Buzzfeed on Monday evening, saying Mr Shapps had made a mistake and it was time to "move on".
In an interview with LBC Radio three weeks ago, Mr Shapps said it was "absolutely clear" he was not doing business as Michael Green while he was an MP, saying "I did not have a second job while being an MP; end of story".
However, Mr Shapps has now acknowledged that he was mistaken over the dates" of his outside employment during the interview.
This came after the Guardian issued what it says is a recording of a sales pitch made in the summer of 2006 in which Mr Shapps, using his Michael Green pen name, says he will be running his "mentoring programme" to hire staff and produce software to create websites, claiming his products could make listeners a "ton of cash by Christmas".
There are no rules banning MPs from having other sources of employment, but they do have to declare any paid employment outside Parliament.
Key dates:
2000: Grant Shapps and his wife Belinda launch How to Corp Ltd
March 2005: The business is incorporated
May 2005: Grant Shapps is elected MP for Welwyn Hatfield
November 2005: Grant Shapps declares his interest in How to Corp Ltd in the Commons Register of Members' Interests
2008: Grant Shapps transfers his shareholding in How to Corp Ltd to his wife. Interest in How to Corp no longer registered in Commons Register
May 2010: Grant Shapps becomes a housing minister
2012: Police decide not to launch investigation into software sales by How to Corp following a Labour complaint
September 2012: Grant Shapps becomes Conservative Party chairman
2013: How to Corp Ltd reportedly dissolved
Mr Shapps' directorship and shareholding in the firm How to Corp Ltd - which featured him under the name Michael Green - was declared in the Parliamentary register of members interest. for 2005 to 2008.
And Conservative sources said Mr Shapps did not regard his interest in his firm as "a second job" - as the company was in the process of being wound up at the time - and more of "a hobby on the side".
They said he had earned minimal income from the job and likened his earnings to those made by other MPs who have written books.
A party spokesman said: "Like many authors and journalists, Grant wrote with a pen name. This was completely transparent: his full name and biographical details were permanently published on the company's main website."
In his first entry in the register after being elected in November 2005, Mr Shapps declared paid directorships and shareholdings in Printhouse Corporation and marketing firm How to Corp. He continued to declare the paid directorship with How to Corp for several years afterwards, the last entry coming in June 2008.
The source said: "It turns on the semantics of what constitutes a second job."
Defending Mr Shapps, Mr Cameron said: "Grant did have another job when he first became an MP and he declared that in the Register of Members' Interests which is what you are meant to do.
"But he obviously made a mistake by saying in some interviews that the work had stopped earlier than it had. He's put that right so I think we can put that behind him. He's doing a good job."
Conservative colleagues have also voiced their support for Mr Shapps, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt suggesting the criticism of him was "incredible".
He tweeted: "His sin not to use pseudonym but to write books about how to create wealth - shock horror."
Conservative MP Nadine Dorries said Mr Shapps had "stumbled" in an interview over the exact dates but that the wider accusations were "re-hashed nonsense".
However, Labour MP John Mann suggested Mr Shapps should consider his position as Minister without Portfolio in the government. | Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps has said he "screwed up" in a recent interview when he suggested he never had a second job while an MP. |
35504566 | The new .22-calibre revolver is named Nidar, it weighs a mere 250g (8.8 ounces) - that's half of .32-calibre Nirbheek's 500g (1.1lb); and it costs 35,000 rupees ($513; £357) - Nirbheek came with a steep price tag of 122,360 rupees ($1,990; £1,213).
Manufacturers say Nidar is made with an aluminium alloy which makes it very light, but has "strength similar to steel", it has a 40-mm barrel and is just 140mm in length which makes it "small enough to fit into a palm".
Both Nirbheek and Nidar are synonyms of Nirbhaya - the nickname given by the Indian press to Jyoti Singh, the 23-year-old victim of December 2012 fatal gang rape on a bus in in Delhi. All three words mean fearless in Hindi.
They are produced by government-owned factories, and their manufacturers say carrying them will make people more confident and "fearless".
An official at the state-run Rifle Factory Ishapore, near the eastern city of Kolkata (Calcutta), said Nidar was aimed at "professional Indian men and women".
"I believe our customers would be people who travel a lot, who have security risks. They will buy this gun for their personal safety," factory in-charge PK Agarwal told the BBC.
He said he expected the gun to be more popular with women.
"I think it will be ideal for women. If a woman takes a taxi at night, the driver will think 10 times before trying anything with her because he knows she has a gun in her purse," he added.
But can carrying a gun make people safer?
Not really.
Most places in India do not allow guns - even the licensed ones - and there are metal detectors at many offices, malls, cinemas, markets and other public places to enforce this.
So even if "professional Indian men and women" were to get a gun, it will be of little use to them because they will not be able to carry it around with them.
Anti-gun campaigners also say that arming citizens is never a good idea - and that the way to tackle women's safety and reduce crimes is by better policing and changing attitudes.
The manufacturers of Nidar, however, are confident that their product will succeed - Mr Agarwal told the BBC that he expected to sell 10,000 units of the gun this year. | Two years after India launched Nirbheek, a handgun pitched as the country's "first gun for women", a state-run arms factory has launched a similar gun which it says is India's lightest gun. |
37413710 | No injuries have been reported, and some migrants have now been allowed to return to the camp.
Police still investigate whether the fire was deliberate, but an aid worker says it started after a food dispute.
There are some 5,600 refugees currently in Lesbos, according to the UN, but the island only has capacity for 3,600.
The fire destroyed 30% of the camp, according to Aris Vlashopoulos, an aid worker with the Swiss charity SAO.
"People are returning to the camp now as I can see. But the biggest number of the refugees are already on the streets, sleeping outside," he added.
According to Greek state news agency ANA, a brawl started on Monday after a rumour that refugees would be deported to Turkey en masse.
Many on the island are afraid of being returned to Turkey or their home countries, correspondents say.
The situation on Lesbos is exacerbated as many refugees land there and are held on the island until their asylum claim is fully processed.
Those granted asylum are permitted to journey to the Greek mainland, while others are turned back.
The procedure is part of the EU-Turkey deal brokered in March, in which the EU pledged to work towards visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to Europe's Schengen zone in exchange for Ankara's assistance in curbing migrants crossing to the Greek islands. | Up to 4,000 migrants were evacuated from the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos after a large fire destroyed tents and prefabricated homes. |
35959865 | NHS staff campaign group Just Health started proceedings after raising £100,000 in four days online.
The move follows separate legal action made by the British Medical Association last week seeking a judicial review.
A Department of Health spokesman said legal action was "expensive" for all parties and "totally unwarranted".
The news comes before Wednesday's planned 48-hour strike affecting routine and non-urgent care is due to start.
The strike will be the fourth time doctors have taken industrial action in the long-running dispute.
Just Health alleges government's decision to impose the contract, affecting about 45,000 medics, did not allow for adequate consultation.
The group raised the £100,000 through a crowdfunding website which remains open to donations.
Dr Marie-Estella McVeigh, from Just Health, said: "We feel this contract imposition has been rushed through without appropriate consideration and due process.
"There is no evidence that it will deliver a safer system or better quality care for our patients; it will instead exacerbate the staffing crisis we are already struggling with across the NHS."
The BMA, in its legal claim, alleges that the government failed to "pay due regard" to the equalities impact of the new contracts and is calling for a judicial review.
Talks between the government and BMA broke down in January, prompting the government to announce the following month that it would be imposing the contract in the summer.
Ministers have said the changes, which will see doctors paid less for working weekends, are needed to improve care at weekends and create a "seven-day service". This is disputed by the BMA.
Currently, junior doctors are paid more for working unsocial hours at night or at the weekend.
But under the imposed new contracts, the Saturday day shift will be paid at a normal rate in return for a rise in basic pay.
Last month, the Department of Health described the forthcoming strike action by doctors as "desperate and irresponsible". | A second legal challenge has been made over the government's decision to impose a new contract on junior doctors in England. |
38142233 | Police officers found the woman with serious neck injuries after a 999 call just before 23:30 GMT on Monday.
The injured woman was taken to hospital from an address in Middle Hill, which is two miles north of the town centre, but later died.
Greater Manchester Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information to get in touch. | A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was stabbed to death in Rochdale. |
26367100 | Speaking to BBC 6 Music at Wednesday night's NME Awards, Eavis said the singer had confirmed the "amazing news" earlier that day.
"We're really, really excited because it's been something we've been wanting to happen for a long time. And she finally said yes," said Eavis.
Parton later told her three million followers the news via Twitter.
"I'm incredibly excited to FINALLY announce that the #BlueSmokeWorldTour is coming to @GlastoFest on June 29th! ;) Stay tuned for more info…" she wrote.
Parton will perform in Sunday afternoon's renowned "legend slot" on the Pyramid Stage, which last year featured fellow country star Kenny Rogers.
Festival-goers enjoyed a mass singalong of Islands in the Stream - his hit duet recorded with Parton.
"It's one of those rare things where someone like [Dolly] is in the country at the same time as Glastonbury, and we're really, really excited about this. Hopefully Kenny put in a good word," said Eavis.
In an interview with Radio 4's Front Row programme, Eavis added that she had made it her "life's mission" to get Parton to agree to perform at Glastonbury, after being told years ago that she did not do festivals.
"She stands totally alone, she's such a brilliant star and I think one of the greatest female stars of our generation," said Eavis, adding "And she doesn't tour very often."
She also appeared to rule out rumoured headline acts Prince, Stone Roses and Fleetwood Mac, telling BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz it was "unlikely" they would feature on the bill.
"I very much doubt any of them will be on this year," said Eavis.
However, she did admit timings were still a work in progress.
"At the moment we've got a napkin on our fridge and it's got a sort of rough sketch of who's going where," she revealed.
"And then every few days we'll be like 'maybe actually it would be better for him to go on the Friday, and then we'll move her down to third on the Sunday', or something. We're moving it around a lot because its all about balance," she said.
Arcade Fire have already confirmed they are 2014's Friday night headliners for the event.
The Canadian seven-piece revealed the news in December, tweeting a photo bearing the words "June 27 - Glastonbury".
Lily Allen is among the other acts who have already let slip they will be performing, but Eavis said the remaining headline acts would stay a closely guarded secret for now, and would "be with you in the spring."
Eavis was at Wednesday night's NME Awards to pick up the prize for best festival, which she said "means a lot to us".
"It's an important one, because it's the people that actually come to the festival that decide and make that decision that you're the best," she said. | Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis has confirmed that country star Dolly Parton will play this year's festival. |
35753716 | McGuigan has been chairman of the Shrimps for 16 years, and oversaw the club's relocation from Christie Stadium to the Globe Arena in 2010.
Morecambe are 18th in League Two, 11 points clear of the relegation zone.
"I feel the time is right for a new owner to take the club forward and build on a strong platform that exists today," McGuigan said in a statement.
"At present we are looking for expressions of interests from individuals who have the financial ability to take this club further."
Morecambe, who McGuigan confirmed were "virtually debt-free", have been in League Two ever since they beat Exeter City at Wembley nine years ago to win promotion to the Football League. | Morecambe chairman and majority shareholder Peter McGuigan has put the League Two club up for sale. |
32146043 | The keys for Barry Island Pleasure Park were handed to new owner Henry Danter on Monday, leaving just five days to get the site ready for visitors.
Mr Danter's daughter Kimberley, who is managing the construction, said that Monday's high winds, problems with diggers and a delay in receiving the keys had put them behind schedule.
On Wednesday 30 men were on site.
Ms Danter said that they would complete "three days' work in one day" in order to "put on a show for Barry" on Friday.
A new ride, the Star Flyer, has been delivered to the site alongside fairground staples like the dodgems, the Miami trip and the waltzer.
A child-size caterpillar roller-coaster and hot dog stand has also been planned for the opening.
The Vale of Glamorgan fair has been an attraction since 1920 and had 400,000 visitors over a bank holiday at its peak in 1934.
In recent years it found new fame with the TV comedy Gavin and Stacey after featuring in the BBC show. | The new owners of one of south Wales' most famous fairgrounds have said they will open on Friday despite setbacks. |
40726806 | Islanders on Fair Isle, off Shetland, have lived without power from 23:00 to 07:00 when there is not enough wind.
The island has used a combination of wind and diesel for power generation since the 1980s.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) said a £2.6m funding package for wind turbines, a solar array and battery storage was now complete.
It is hoped the plan could boost the island's population - 24 miles south of the Shetland mainland - which currently standing at 55.
HIE has awarded the final £250,000 required.
Fiona Stirling, development manager at HIE's Shetland area team, said: "This is a key project in the development plan for Fair Isle and we are delighted to support it.
"Improving the island's local energy system supply is one of the highest priorities identified in the recent community development plan.
"It's a key factor in attracting new people to the island as well as helping businesses to develop. The new energy system will also be cleaner and greener and will reduce reliance on expensive diesel, hence making living costs more sustainable."
Fair Isle Electricity Company director, Robert Mitchell, said: "Having a constant electricity source may help to attract more people to live in Fair Isle as well as benefit the residents.
"It will also bring new employment opportunities and sustain existing employment.
"The directors of the community-owned company, as well as the whole community itself, are delighted with the support that the small rural community received from all the funding bodies involved.
"This ambitious project is the first step in ensuring that the community of Fair Isle continues to thrive." | Plans to offer 24-hours-a-day electricity to one of Scotland's most remote communities have moved forward. |
37895581 | UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is at the Mont Pelerin resort for the talks. He hopes to broker a deal before he steps down at the end of the year.
A previous UN peace plan for Cyprus was rejected by Greek Cypriots in 2004.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades will discuss tough security and territorial issues with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci over five days.
Reports say this round of talks - one of many over the past 42 years of frozen conflict - will focus on possible land transfers, to address the claims of Cypriots who fled their homes in 1974.
As he opened the talks on Monday, Ban Ki-moon said the two leaders had reached a critical moment, adding that "the prospect of a solution in Cyprus is within their reach".
Cyprus has been split since Turkish troops invaded in 1974, following an Athens-inspired coup by Greek Cypriots seeking union with Greece.
Since then the island has been cut in two, with the northern third controlled by Turkish Cypriots and the southern two-thirds by Greek Cypriots.
UN troops patrol the Green Line - a buffer zone cutting across the island, where damaged buildings are a reminder of the 1974 inter-communal fighting.
Cyprus aims to heal its great divide
Cyprus country profile
Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, but EU law does not extend to the Turkish-controlled north. The self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey.
Cyprus adopted the euro as its currency in 2008, yet the north uses the Turkish lira.
EU diplomats are involved in the reunification talks. A deal would be a great relief for the EU after so many years of Cyprus stalemate, and at a time of inter-ethnic conflict in the nearby Middle East.
A deal would remove a major obstacle in Turkey's bid to join the EU, though many other serious obstacles remain. | The leaders of Cyprus are holding UN-mediated talks in Switzerland aimed at reuniting their divided island. |
37022535 | Media playback is not supported on this device
"I started riding while I was about 10 and it was a bit intimidating and scary but I was hooked from then on," he said.
"It probably made me hungrier that it wasn't handed to me on a plate - I had to work jolly hard for it."
If you want to find out more about getting into equestrian sports, read our special guide. | Four-time Olympic silver medallist Ian Stark reflects on his career in eventing - from humble beginnings to world success. |
37048528 | The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also warned the firms paying them and forced the intermediary, Social Chain, to undertake to stop.
But the CMA insisted on keeping the names of the public figures and the companies secret.
Transparency campaigners said the names should be released
A CMA investigation found that Social Chain arranged for "widely followed social media personalities" to promote films, games, takeaway and dating apps, without declaring that the content was paid-for advertising. They posted the adverts on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, the government body said.
It added that Social Chain organised 19 marketing campaigns featuring undisclosed advertising in a four-month period last year.
The posts appeared on social media accounts with a "combined reach of around four million followers" and some of the campaigns "trended on Twitter, which may have increased their readership further".
Social Chain also used its own social media accounts.
The CMA wrote to 43 celebrities and 15 businesses to "warn them that arranging or publishing advertising that is not clearly labelled may result in them breaching consumer protection law".
On Thursday, it refused to name any of them, saying that it preferred to concentrate on the marketing company.
"It is important that when companies are caught breaking the rules, either in letter or in spirit, that the names of those companies, and any others involved in the offence, are made public," Peter Van Veen of Transparency International UK said.
He told the BBC: "Only through disclosing such information will any sanctions act as a future deterrent for those companies and others."
According to Daniel Knapp, an advertising researcher at the analyst firm IHS, social media advertising has become more important in recent years as consumers tire of traditional advertising methods.
They are "bombarded" by advertising and see as many as 1,000 ads per day and many people no longer trust "interruptive advertising", such as television ad slots, he said.
"So, they are looking for other ways. Social media is where young and highly influenceable people congregate and the stars have bigger followings than some brands. They are also very close to the consumers."
But Mr Knapp added that undeclared advertising was bad for the marketing industry in the long term because it risked eroding trust.
"Social media personalities can have an important influence on people's views, especially young people. It is therefore crucial that when people decide what to buy, they should not be misled by adverts on social media that read like independent opinions," said Nisha Arora, of the CMA.
The CMA also announced that it had received an undertaking from the clothing retailers Wool Overs, which it said had "cherry-picked" more favourable customer reviews for publication on its website.
The firm agreed to publish "all genuine, relevant and lawful customer reviews on its website" in future and not to "suppress unfavourable reviews", the CMA said.
Wool Overs said it had undergone a change of ownership and had begun working on a change in its practices when the CMA investigation was opened.
Social Chain did not respond to a request for comment. | Dozens of celebrities have been warned about endorsing products on social media without declaring they had been paid to do so, the government has said. |
28754899 | More than 1,000 people have died in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria since the outbreak was first reported in February.
Miguel Pajares, 75, was airlifted back to Spain from Liberia last week with a nun who tested negative for the virus.
For the past few days he had been treated with an untested, experimental drug, Zmapp.
A World Health Organization (WHO) panel in Geneva has meanwhile approved the ethics of using ZMapp.
According to the Reuters news agency, the panel said it was ethical to combat the Ebola outbreak by offering drugs or vaccines whose side-effects and efficacy had yet to be proven.
The priest was part of a Catholic order at St Joseph's hospital in the Liberian capital, Monrovia.
The hospital has now been closed because of the outbreak.
A Congolese nun died there on Saturday, days after its director, Patrick Nshamdze, also died. | A Spanish missionary who contracted the Ebola virus while working in West Africa has died in hospital in Madrid. |
40053489 | Celtic's 2-1 win over Internazionale 50 years ago established the team as "pioneers of doing the impossible," Ferguson insisted.
"They set the pattern for a period, particularly when Manchester United the next year did it," the Scot said.
"From '65 to '67, if someone had written a book about it they would call it fiction. It was amazing."
Ferguson was speaking at an event at Glasgow's SSE Hydro to celebrate the achievement of Jock Stein's Celtic side on 25 May 1967.
The former Manchester United manager said the European Cup win paved the way for other British sides to follow.
"They were [pioneers] for British football, there's no doubt about that," Ferguson said.
"Sir Matt [Busby] at Manchester United was rebuilding the team after the Munich air disaster, but they got to a semi-final, which was a great achievement for a very young side.
"For Celtic to do it with 11 players from within 25 miles of each other is astonishing. This [event] will recognise the achievement, but [also] applaud the players and management staff who achieved it. It will never be done again."
Ferguson arrived in Glasgow after watching Manchester United's 2-0 win over Ajax in Stockholm to win the Europa League. He said the victory "gave the city a lift" after the bomb blast at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena last Monday night that killed 22 people and injured 116 more.
"Manchester is a city like Glasgow, it's working class, they've got fantastic people there and they'll get together," Ferguson added.
"They've been through some difficult times in the past, the bombing in the Arndale Centre in 1996, they recovered from that, and they will get together because they have the working class ethic about them and there's a great unity now in the city.
"We're all proud of the [United side], it was a great achievement."
Former Celtic captain Roy Aitken also attended the event at the Hydro, and he talked of the Lisbon Lions setting the standards that others had to follow at the club.
"They've been the benchmark for all the teams since 1967," Aitken said.
"It's never going to be achieved again, it's iconic considering the group of players who were there at that time. Celtic demand success and these guys showed what it took to be winners, they were top quality and top guys. Everything that you need in a footballer, they had.
"When I came into the team at 16, 17, I was from Ardrossan, Bobby [Lennox] was from Saltcoats, he was my mentor throughout my early years. He showed what it took to be a Celtic player and gave me the guidelines and tools required.
"I owe a lot to him and it's great to be here tonight to celebrate with the fans and the team. They were the ones we all looked up to." | Sir Alex Ferguson has described the Lisbon Lions' 1967 European Cup win as "the greatest feat in football". |
37244416 | She was speaking as she launched her party's "alternative programme for government".
It sets out proposals for a series of bills which Ms Dugdale wants the Scottish government to introduce over the next five years.
The SNP said Labour's proposals had already been rejected by voters in May.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is due to reveal her legislative plans for the coming year when MSPs return on Holyrood next week.
Scottish Labour is currently the third largest party at Holyrood behind the SNP and Conservatives.
Launching her alternative programme - much of which was also included in her party's manifesto for the Scottish Parliament election in May - Ms Dugdale said the Scottish government should focus on reforming public services rather that the constitution.
Ms Dugdale also said the results of the independence referendum in 2014 and June's Brexit vote had both been "definitive" and there was no need for a referendum in either case.
It follows Owen Smith, who Ms Dugdale is backing to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, saying on Wednesday that "of course" he would not oppose a second referendum on independence if the SNP attempted to hold one.
But Mr Smith - who has called for a second referendum on the UK's EU membership - also said it would be down to Scottish Labour to decide the party's position on another independence referendum.
Ms Dugdale's alternative programme includes an Education Bill aimed at closing the attainment gap between Scotland's wealthiest and most deprived pupils by establishing a Fair Start Fund to help youngsters in deprived areas, paid for by increasing income tax on the highest earners.
It would also establish a breakfast club for youngsters in every primary school, and abolish charges for exam appeals.
Scottish Labour's other proposals include:
Ms Dugdale said Labour would offer "strong progressive opposition" over the next five years, adding: "We are the only party that wants what the Scottish people want - a strong Scotland inside the UK and maintaining our relationship with Europe."
She also branded the Conservatives as "Scotland's Brexit party" as she launched an attack on leader Ruth Davidson.
She said: "After years of constitutional debate, it is time for the first minister and all Scottish government ministers to focus on the job of reforming and investing in our public services and getting people back to work.
"As I said repeatedly during the election campaign, education is Labour's priority. Investing in the next generation so that they are prepared for the jobs that will drive the Scottish economy in the future."
Responding to her speech, an SNP spokesman said: "Labour have already presented their alternative programme for government in May's Holyrood election - where it was roundly rejected by voters and they slumped to a humiliating third place in Scottish politics.
"Meanwhile the SNP is getting on with governing for a historic third term, prioritising investment in education, record funding for our NHS, £100m in additional capital spending to grow our economy and a determination to protect Scotland's place in the EU." | Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has called for Scotland to focus on improving its public services rather than the constitutional debate. |
33905145 | The Galloway Mountain Rescue team received the emergency call at about 22:00 on Wednesday.
The group from the Doncaster area, who got into difficulties while descending the summit of the popular Buchan Hill, was airlifted to safety at midnight.
One of the group, a 56-year-old man, suffered an asthma attack. | A group of six holidaymakers has been rescued from Buchan Hill in Galloway by an RAF search and rescue helicopter. |
35358925 | Asylum seekers in Middlesbrough told The Times eggs and stones had been thrown at their houses because the doors made them easy to identify.
The immigration minister said he was "deeply concerned" about the issue.
G4S said there was no policy to house asylum seekers behind red doors but its subcontractor would be repainting them.
The Times visited 168 houses in Middlesbrough owned by Jomast, a sub contractor for the global security firm G4S, and found 155 had red doors.
Is Middlesbrough the UK's Germany?
BBC correspondent Andy Moore said it was thought the door colour may have been a convenient way for the company to identify its properties.
Former local councillor Suzanne Fletcher told the BBC's Today programme she had raised the issue with G4S as far back as 2012 but was told the company would not ask Jomast to repaint the doors.
She went on to submit evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, Public Accounts Committee and National Audit Office.
She said: "Over four years ago when I was working with groups of asylum seekers, they were worried it marked them out and were worried about attacks."
The charity Refugee Council said it "has long held concerns about the quality and security of asylum accommodation".
It added: "The government must not tolerate its contractors taking a lax attitude towards housing these vulnerable people. Such an approach is clearly jeopardising their safety."
G4S said Jomast had no policy to house asylum seekers behind red doors but accepted the majority of doors, both for private and asylum accommodation, were painted red.
Immigration minister James Brokenshire said he had commissioned an urgent Home Office audit of asylum seeker housing in the North East.
He said: "I expect the highest standards from our contractors. If we find any evidence of discrimination against asylum seekers it will be dealt with immediately as any such behaviour will not be tolerated."
G4S said in a statement: "Although we have received no complaints or requests on this issue from asylum seekers we house, in light of the concerns raised Jomast has agreed to address the issue by repainting front doors in the area so that there is no predominant colour.
"Our asylum accommodation is inspected frequently by the Home Office and has been found to meet the required standards." | The front doors of houses used by asylum seekers are to be repainted, after claims they were targeted because nearly all of the doors were red. |
34034840 | Off-duty US airman Spencer Stone said he had just woken from a deep sleep when he saw the gunman and moved to restrain him on Friday.
He overpowered the gunman with Alek Skarlatos, a member of the US National Guard, US student Anthony Sadler and Briton Chris Norman.
They are to receive the Legion d'Honneur from the French president.
Francois Hollande will present the award - France's highest honour - in recognition of their bravery, early on Monday.
A French passenger, who wants to remain anonymous, and a French-American man who was shot during the attack will receive the award at a later date.
Meanwhile, French authorities say the suspect being questioned, Moroccan national Ayoub El-Khazzani, 25, has links to radical Islamism.
He was flagged up to French authorities by their Spanish counterparts in February 2014.
He is reported to have lived in France, Spain, and Belgium and to have travelled to Syria.
The French are enthralled by the three Americans who acted so swiftly to stop the Thalys gunman. In their news conference Sunday afternoon at the US embassy in Paris, they came over as archetypes of American masculine virtue: handsome, strong, modest.
Deep in the French gene, there is something that responds positively to this. It is the same spirit that is so grateful - 70 years on - for the American sacrifice in the Normandy landings: a recognition of the American capacity to join moral clarity with swift, decisive action.
Recognition, but also not a little envy. The press has made much of the fact that while the three Americans - and their ally the British businessman Chris Norman - have been feted with news conferences and all the rigmarole of instant fame, the Frenchman who also played a heroic part has preferred to remain anonymous.
It is a source of national pride - and a relief - that it was not just les Anglo-Saxons who "had a go".
Viewpoint: New anti-terror approach needed
Profile: Ayoub El-Khazzani
What we know
Mr Stone, Mr Skarlatos and Mr Sadler, have been hailed as heroes for their actions on Friday, and gave a press conference at the US embassy in Paris on Sunday.
It was the first appearance before the cameras for Mr Stone, who has been treated in hospital and was wearing a sling because of injuries to his thumb.
Asked what led him to react, he replied "survival".
"I turned around and I saw he had what looked to be an AK-47 and it looked like it was jammed or wasn't working and he was trying to charge the weapon.
"Alek just hit me on the shoulder and said 'let's go' and ran down, tackled him. We hit the ground."
Friday's incident began when a French passenger tried to enter a toilet, encountered the gunman and tried to overpower him. It is thought this passenger may have since requested anonymity.
A gun was fired and the French-American passenger was injured by the bullet. Mr Stone said he saw blood squirting out of his neck.
"I just stuck two of my fingers in the hole, found what I thought to be the artery, pushed down and the bleeding stopped," he said. "I just said 'thank God' and held that position until the paramedics got there."
Mr Skarlatos also said his initial reaction was "mostly just gut instinct", and that military training had only played a role in providing medical help and making sure there were no accomplices.
Mr Skarlatos disputed a statement the gunman made through a lawyer, that he just wanted to rob passengers because he was hungry.
He said he had a lot of ammunition and "his intentions were pretty clear", but that he appeared untrained.
"He clearly had no firearms training whatsoever."
"If he knew what he was doing, or even just got lucky... we would have all been in trouble and probably wouldn't be here today - along with a lot of other people."
Mr Stone said Friday's events had still not sunk in. "It feels very unreal. It feels like a dream."
Security aboard the high-speed Thalys service on which the incident took place is being stepped up. The trains link major cities in the Netherlands and Belgium to Paris.
Patrols and security checks will also be boosted at international train stations, and more baggage checks will be carried out.
France's security services have placed been on high alert since January when Islamist militants killed 17 people in and around Paris - including the attacks at the offices of satirical paper Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket. | A US passenger who tackled a gunman on a train from Amsterdam to Paris said survival instinct led him to react. |
22888851 | The court order follows complaints from four music labels that the site was helping spread copyrighted content.
The ISPs have been given until mid-July to implement the ban. It is Ireland's first such move.
It follows similar restrictions placed on the site in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark and Belgium.
The High Court order applies to Vodafone, Digiweb, UPC, Imagine, Telefonica O2 and Hutchison 3G.
A seventh ISP in the country, Eircom, has voluntarily banned The Pirate Bay since 2009.
EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner Music had alleged that as many as 200,000 people in Ireland made use of the site, causing them to lose about 20m euros (£17m) a year.
"The Irish Recorded Music Association is very pleased at the decision of the High Court, which blocks access by all ISPs to the notorious Pirate Bay website," the organisation's director general, Dick Doyle, told the BBC.
"It is estimated that 8% of all internet users in Ireland accessed the website on a monthly basis.
"The template from this decision will now be used to seek further orders blocking access to other websites and cyber-lockers predominately involved in making available infringing copyrights."
Ireland signed into law last year an EU regulation designed to make it easier for copyright owners to seek injunctions against ISPs and other intermediaries providing access to pirated materials.
When the UK imposed a similar ban in 2012, several proxy sites - which act as a middle man to retrieve blocked content - were created, allowing users to circumvent the restriction.
Music industry organisation the BPI was subsequently given the right to add the proxies to the list of sites the ISPs had to block, but it effectively set up a situation where as soon as one was taken down another was set up to take its place.
"I expect that the music labels have learned from the past experiences in other countries where the blockades are massively circumvented through proxy sites, and that they have requested these to be blocked in Ireland as well," said Torrentfreak's editor Ernesto Van Der Sar.
"But even when that's the case then there will always be workarounds. People can use a VPN [virtual private network] service for example, and there are still hundreds of proxy sites that are not covered.
"That said, it does become harder to access The Pirate Bay and that is the music label's ultimate goal." | Six internet service providers (ISPs) in the Republic of Ireland have been told to block access to The Pirate Bay's file-sharing website. |
40765195 | Only a late goal from Isma Goncalves saved Hearts from defeat within the 90 minutes, but the Championship visitors won 3-1 on penalties.
Even a win in the shoot-out would not have been enough for Hearts, who needed all three points to progress.
"Of course things need to improve," Cathro, 31, told BBC Scotland.
"It's important that today we just talk about today's game. It doesn't need to be anything that's more grand than that."
Don Cowie's opener for Hearts was cancelled out by Joe Cardle's stylish finish.
Declan McManus fired the Pars in front before Goncalves' scrambled equaliser.
The result means Hearts finish third in Group B behind the Pars and Peterhead, who beat Cathro's side in midweek.
That adds to the growing pressure on the former Rio Ave, Valencia and Newcastle coach, who was appointed as Robbie Neilson's replacement in December when the Edinburgh club were third in the Scottish Premiership.
They missed out on a place in the Europa League with a fifth-placed finish last season, while a Scottish Cup defeat by city rivals Hibernian also did not endear him to supporters.
Cathro has lost half of his 30 games in charge and won just eight of them.
When asked if he had a message for the fans who made their feelings known as Cathro headed down the tunnel following the Dunfermline defeat, he said he will "not waste my time making comments or asking for anything".
He added: "I don't say anything, I will quietly continue to do my job professionally, believing in the work that we do.
"If we had the urgency and intensity that we did when we felt that we needed to push at the end for the entirety of the 90 minutes then we'd be discussing a different situation.
"Earlier in the game we were playing reasonably well, we scored a good goal. Dunfermline did well and it's a good individual goal.
"After that we started to be below the levels that we needed to be at. John Souttar is involved in an error for the goal but I take responsibility for that. I think John should have come off at half-time." | Hearts head coach Ian Cathro brushed aside questions over his future following the 2-2 draw with Dunfermline that saw his side exit the League Cup. |
40263702 | Operator Caledonian MacBrayne said the MV Isle of Arran would be out of action for at least another seven days.
Problems with the vessel's engine mean that only about half of the scheduled services are running.
The breakdown also means that there are no sailings to Campbeltown.
Calmac said the 33-year-old ferry's engine had suffered significant damage and it was unlikely that she would be able to return to service until next Wednesday.
The vessel also suffered a serious breakdown last year but under went a refit over the winter months.
The MV Isle of Arran has been used to provide an enhanced service between Ardrossan and Brodick over the summer months in recent years.
It also covers a weekend route to Campbeltown which became permanent last year after a three-year experiment.
A new ferry, which is still being built and will be named the Glen Sannox, is to be introduced on the Arran route next year. It is not yet known if it will cover the Campbeltown service too.
The breakdown means only about half of the timetabled services between Ardrossan and Brodick are currently running.
Calmac said anyone who could not get their car onto their preferred sailing could still travel as a foot passenger with no advanced booking required.
The firm said some people who want to take their car to Arran may want to consider the three-hour road journey to Kintyre, then sailing from Claonaig to Lochranza.
Campbeltown can still be reached by plane or by bus. | Ferry services to Arran will be disrupted for at least another week because of a serious breakdown on one of the two ferries which cover the route. |
34518226 | The 55-year-old father of five, once dubbed "Salford's Mr Big", had a conviction for stabbing a man and had been under investigation from the regional organised crime squad over allegations of money laundering.
On 27 July, the day after the murder, Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, Tony Lloyd, warned against any other shootings: "Clearly no-one wants to see any further retaliation.
"The right answer for this is for people to come forward and help the police to arrest those who are responsible - because that's what will put a stop to guns in Salford," he told the Manchester Evening News.
Mr Massey, who worked as a security boss, stood for mayor of Salford in 2012 vowing to rid the city's streets of drugs.
He had told a BBC documentary which was filmed in 1998 but never broadcast: "The only reason that's kept me alive today is because the person who fires that shot knows that they've got to fly the flag and handle the pressure after it... and they won't be able to handle the pressure."
GMP were so concerned about possible reprisals at Mr Massey's funeral in August they had armed response units on standby.
Supt Mark Kenny even made a direct appeal to criminal gangs in the area "not take action into their own hands" on the day.
In the months since Mr Massey's killing, GMP have now linked two shootings with his death and believe they may be connected to a feud between two rival gangs in the Swinton and central Salford areas.
On 12 August, just over two weeks after Mr Massey's killing, a 33-year-old man was shot in the hip in the Weaste district of the city.
There have been several shootings in Salford since, but the only one formally connected to Mr Massey's death is the doorstep shooting of a 29-year-old mother and her seven-year-old son in Eccles on Monday.
Hours earlier, police had confirmed three shootings, in Salford and Bolton on Saturday, were part of a separate feud in an "escalating" gang rivalry between two "serious and organised crime groups" in the Little Hulton area dating back a year.
Police said they do not know what is at the root of that particular feud, which has prompted at least six shootings.
Det Ch Supt Russ Jackson said there was nothing to link the Little Hulton feud with the Massey shootings "at the moment".
GMP also believe both feuds may have spawned a series of "low-level shootings" which have not been reported to police. | When Paul Massey was gunned down outside his home by a masked man on a Sunday night in July, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) were aware reprisals may follow. |
39943820 | It's probably fitting, then, that the responses to the death of the man who founded conservative media behemoth Fox News have been sharply divided along partisan lines.
He was a "monster" who poisoned American society and made people "dumber and angrier". Or he was a "great American patriot" and a "media genius". One man, two decidedly different pictures in one country with two decidedly different outlooks on the world.
Much has been written recently about the fracturing of US culture; of how Americans are withdrawing to their own bubbles, where they are fed news and entertainment that caters to their political and social predispositions.
Over the course of the past two decades, Ailes built Fox News into one of the biggest bubbles of all.
In 1996, when Ailes was hired by Fox head Rupert Murdoch to start his new network, CNN dominated the cable news world. Its style was not too unlike the network evening news formats that had become a way of life in America since the dawn of television, from Walter Cronkite to Tom Brokaw. Authoritative, purportedly unbiased television presenters read the news and introduced stories, day and night, week after week.
A few talks shows dotted the schedule. Crossfire and Capital Gang had politicians and pundits who exchanged barbs, and Larry King offered a safe space for major public figures to get their message out. CNN, however, styled itself as a neutral forum.
Ailes took cable news and gave it a partisan edge. The long-time Republican operative, who worked for Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, fashioned the television news format into an ideological tool - a megaphone or a cudgel, depending on one's perspective.
His network's nightly line-ups dispensed with the appearance of even-handedness and offered conservative red meat - which the audiences devoured in record numbers.
Ailes successfully concluded that much of the American public didn't want information from their television news, they wanted confirmation.
It's impossible to separate Ailes, who for decades was perhaps the most powerful man in US media, from his precipitous downfall, of course. He was accused of being a serial sexual harasser who abused his position of influence to demean and degrade the women around him. More than 25 women came forward to accuse him of a range of predatory behaviour, and Fox Corporation had to pay millions of dollars in legal settlements.
If Ailes built a news empire unlike any before it, like all empires there is a peak followed by eventual decline. His network has been beset by a wave of crises. Many of its top talents have departed - including Megyn Kelly, who wrote a book that included details of Ailes's misdeeds. Bill O'Reilly, the highest-rated Fox News personality, was recently deposed in his own sexual harassment scandal.
Beyond the accusations that it has become a toxic environment for some of its employees, Fox News has found itself adrift in the Donald Trump era. The sunny picture it paints of the Republican president has often seemed woefully out of step with the daily drumbeat of crises wracking the White House. If the Trump presidency turns into a sinking ship, Fox News is poised to be the orchestra that plays Nearer My God to Thee until the bitter end.
This week, when James Comey's memo-writing habits and the details of Mr Trump's conversations with Russians in the Oval Office were sending shockwaves through Washington, Fox evening hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity were focusing on Hillary Clinton's email server and a bogus conspiracy theory about a Democratic staffer who was murdered last year.
Even viewership ratings, which Fox News once dominated, have lately shown signs of weakness, as left-leaning MSNBC has frequently posted better numbers during the evening hours over the last few weeks.
With Ailes gone, Fox News' future is far from certain. Murdoch recently toured the networks New York headquarters and unveiled plans for a massive structural renovation. A similar programming overhaul could eventual reshape much of what Ailes built.
His legacy, however - both the good and the bad - is secure. | Roger Ailes revolutionised cable news in the US, creating the hyper-partisan, opinion-based environment that currently dominates the American media landscape. |
40527784 | The battery will protect South Australia from the kind of energy crisis which famously blacked out the state, Premier Jay Weatherill said.
Tesla boss Elon Musk confirmed a much-publicised promise to build it within 100 days, or do it for free.
The 100-megawatt (129 megawatt hour) battery should be ready this year.
"There is certainly some risk, because this will be largest battery installation in the world by a significant margin," Mr Musk said in Adelaide on Friday.
He added that "the next biggest battery in the world is 30 megawatts".
The Tesla-built battery, paired with a Neoen wind farm, will operate around the clock and be capable of providing additional power during emergencies, the government said.
"It will completely transform the way in which renewable energy is stored, and also stabilise the South Australian network as well as putting downward pressure on prices," Mr Weatherill said.
Mr Musk's 100-day pledge will begin once an electricity grid interconnection agreement has been signed.
Tesla has been expanding its battery business alongside its car production.
South Australia has suffered from blackouts since September last year, leading to a political spat over energy policy.
The row culminated in a bizarre confrontation between Mr Weatherill and a federal government minister at a press conference in March. | An Australian state will install the world's largest lithium ion battery in a "historic" deal with electric car firm Tesla and energy company Neoen. |
10550840 | Four people died when a roadside bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad, while a car bomb in southern Baghdad killed at least one more person.
The attacks come one day after bombings across Baghdad killed at least 40 pilgrims and injured more than 100.
One million pilgrims are expected to gather at the Moussa al-Kadhim shrine on the final day of the festival.
The attacks come despite a vast security operation. Thousands of extra police and military officers have been drafted onto the streets of Baghdad and vehicle traffic has been restricted.
By Gabriel GatehouseBBC News, Baghdad
The nature of the conflict has changed since mid-2007, when sectarian violence in Iraq was at its height.
Today we have an insurgency which, while reduced in size and capability, still carries out attacks on a daily basis.
Their targets fall generally into three categories: members of the Iraqi or American armed forces; government buildings or institutions; and large religious events.
By targeting Shia pilgrims, it seems clear that the bombers are intent on reigniting that sectarian violence which nearly tore the country apart.
However, this spark does not appear to be catching fire. Despite the horror of these bombings, Iraqis in general are not turning against their fellow countrymen of the opposite sect.
At least four people died in Bab al-Muazam neighbourhood when a roadside bomb exploded as pilgrims were walking home from the mosque in Kadhimiya, officials said.
Meanwhile, a car bomb in southern Mashtal area killed at least one other person. About 80 people were injured in the two blasts, the AFP news agency reported.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but similar attacks in the past have been blamed on extremist Sunni groups.
Just a day earlier, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest as he walked among pilgrims in Baghdad's predominantly Sunni Adhamiya district, killing at least 30 people.
It was the deadliest in a series of explosions targeting the worshippers that killed more than 40 people and wounded 100 more.
Despite the bombs the worshippers continued to stream into the city to mark the anniversary of the death of Imam Kadhim, the seventh of 12 holy figures who defined the Shia faith.
"There was a blast [on Wednesday] carried out by base-minded people, killing the elderly, women and children," pilgrim Abdul Zahra told the BBC. "We will not be deterred by blasts and we will continue observing our rituals."
The annual event is frequently hit by tragedy.
Last year, two female suicide bombers blew themselves near the shrine, killing 65 people, including 20 Iranian pilgrims.
And in 2005, nearly 1,000 pilgrims were killed in a stampede on the Imams Bridge, which crosses the River Tigris between Kadhimiya and Adhamiya, after rumours spread that a suicide bomber was walking among them.
The attacks come one year after Iraqi forces took over control of security in Iraq's towns and cities from the US military.
Confidence in their ability to protect the population, especially at large religious events such as this one is still fragile, says the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Baghdad.
The US is speeding up the pace of its withdrawal, aiming to reduce its presence to 50,000 non-combat troops by the end of next month, in preparation for a full military departure by 2012. | At least five people have been killed by bombs targeting Shia pilgrims in Baghdad, Iraqi officials say. |
36138283 | Supporters of the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr marched towards the Green Zone, where the government is based.
He wants Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to press ahead with a plan to replace ministers appointed on the basis of political affiliation with technocrats.
Powerful parties in parliament have so far refused to approve the reshuffle.
Systemic political patronage has aided corruption in Iraq, depleting the government's resources as it struggles to cope with declining oil revenue and the cost of the war against the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).
The BBC's Ahmed Maher in Baghdad says this is one of the country's worst political crises since the US-led invasion and downfall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
For the past three weeks, MPs have been unable to agree on a new line-up of non-partisan ministers proposed by the embattled prime minister as a key element of his programme to tackle corruption.
More than 100 MPs have been staging a sit-in in parliament since mid-April to express their frustration at others who have blocked votes on the reshuffle.
They even voted to sack the speaker of parliament, Salim al-Jabouri.
On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of Mr Sadr's supporters heeded his call to "frighten" MPs from the main political parties, which rely on control of ministries for patronage and funds, and "compel" them to agree to the prime minister's reforms.
"Our participation in the demonstration aims to reject this government for being sectarian," protester Abu Ali al-Zaidi told AFP news agency.
The government "did not bring the country and Iraqis anything but poverty and killing", the taxi driver from the southern province of Maysan added.
Waving Iraqi flags and chanting that politicians "are all thieves", the protesters marched from Tahrir Square towards the Green Zone, where parliament had been expected to convene to hold a vote on Mr Abadi's proposed cabinet line-up.
However, more than a dozen MPs disrupted proceedings, clapping, slamming their hands on desks and chanting slogans like "invalid" and "treachery" for almost half an hour before the session was adjourned, according to Reuters news agency.
A second session was then held in another room in the parliament building, but the protesting MPs were reportedly barred from attending.
Those present approved Mr Abadi's nominees for the ministers of health, labour and water resources, but rejected his candidates for justice and education.
Parliamentary sources told the BBC that Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari also submitted his resignation, but that the prime minister had refused to accept it.
An MP and former national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, acknowledged that the political system was "not working" and that "radical change" was necessary. But he told the BBC that Tuesday's protest was "not terribly helpful". | Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Iraq's capital, Baghdad, in protest at a months-long political crisis and lack of reform. |
39229848 | The film from 2012 has Dame Judi Dench's M and Daniel Craig's 007 standing side by side looking out over the landscape of Glen Etive.
Social media campaign, Glen Etive the Dirty Truth, blames visitors to the same spot for causing erosion.
National Trust for Scotland said it was aware of the problem and has asked people to respect the environment.
The trust (NTS), which manages land in the area involved, said the damage was being done to a roadside verge, but it did not believe the wider landscape had been harmed.
The popularity of Glen Etive, and the wider Glen Coe area, with tourists has increased because scenes were shot there for Skyfall, the 23rd film in the Bond movie franchise.
The campaign, Glen Etive the Dirty Truth, flags up problems with wild camping and littering in the area.
It has highlighted an issue with visitors' cars causing damage to ground in the glen.
A spokesperson for NTS said: "We are aware that an impromptu layby has developed where people are stopping to see the Skyfall spot.
"This is on the roadside verge and is a limited area, which, is not impacting on the wider landscape.
"It's great that so many people want to visit the area and experience this wonderful place for themselves.
"As a conservation charity, we would always encourage visitors to think about their impact on the places they visit and what they leave behind, whether that's litter or tyre tracks."
NTS said that the arrival of spring would likely see a rise in visitors to the area.
The spokesperson said: "It's a good time to remind visitors of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code - take your litter home, if you're camping, remove all traces of your pitch and don't pollute.
"Unfortunately, some people just don't follow this advice.
"The trust takes responsibility for tidying up our land - every year we remove hundreds of bags of rubbish."
The spokesperson added: "In the next few weeks, we're running a roadside tidy up to help get Glen Coe ready for springtime. We're really grateful to our dedicated volunteers and partners who help us in this work." | Tourists recreating a scene from Bond movie Skyfall have been accused of causing damage in a Highlands glen. |
38705014 | But the inauguration of President Donald Trump was also a global event.
Images from Washington DC were relayed on numerous news channels to a worldwide audience wondering what a Trump presidency will mean for future.
Overall, the tone was pessimistic.
While many broadcasters opted for straight live feeds, Russia's state-run Rossiya 1 hosted a live studio discussion where guests bickered and joked beneath a giant screen in a high-tech studio. Perhaps notably, the channel chose not to carry a live translation of the inaugural address.
Poland's Politiyka website said the ceremony was "so sweet and normal, one could almost forget that it crowns a campaign full of filth".
But most commentators disagreed, saying Trump abandoned the traditional niceties that usually accompany such events.
Under the headline "One president, two Americas", France's Liberation says Mr Trump delivered "the least unifying" inaugural address in US history, with a tone that was "entirely in line with his campaign statements, but with added presidential posturing".
But Le Monde saw only "moderate enthusiasm" from those who had gathered, in an atmosphere that "seemed a far cry from the fervour of the campaign."
In South America there is fear for what Mr Trump's apparently isolationist leanings will herald. Brazil's Estado de S Paulo newspaper called the inaugural address "aggressive", while left-wing Argentine newspaper Pagina 12 focussed on the new president's government, which it called a "cabinet of racists, financiers, fundamentalists, warriors and anti-workers".
Significantly, China seemed to downplay the event, with most media offering only basic reporting - perhaps emblematic of Mr Trump's already fraught relationship with the world's second-largest economy.
Russia's independent Gazeta.ru website said that "Trump is closing America".
Anti-Trump demonstrations around Washington DC did not go unnoticed, particularly in countries with an historically fraught relationship with Washington.
Cuba's Prensa Latina news agency offered only cursory coverage of the ceremony, with emphasis on the "numerous protests" taking place around Washington.
Similarly, Iran's hardline daily Javan newspaper led its coverage with reports on protests, which it used to predict a "volatile" term in office.
Rossiya TV remarked that "not everybody welcomed the new father of the nation", but that the protests "did not affect the festive ceremony".
On the website of Israel's conservative daily Yisrael Hayom, Boaz Bismuth called the ceremony "a celebration of US democracy" which "symbolises the success of the US constitution".
Mrs Trump captured attention in eastern Europe, where few could resist comparisons to former first ladies. Rossiya 1 said her "exquisite image reminded many of Jacqueline Kennedy".
In her native Slovenia, the Svet24 newspaper said Melania "completely overshadowed" Michelle Obama with her outfit. And her choice of a Ralph Lauren was also "a little poke at Hillary Clinton" who also favours the designer.
Media in Ukraine and Belarus sought to find ancestral connections to the new First Family. In Belarus, Salidarnist website noted that Ralph Lauren had Belarussian ancestry and that President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has family in the country.
Ukrayina TV said Mr Kushner's great-grandfather was a Jew from Ternopil Region. A local council head was shown saying that he would be happy to build contacts with Mr Kushner.
Commentators struggle to offer any certainty as to what the next four years will mean for America and the world.
In Germany's Die Zeit, commentator Carsten Luther says President Trump's declaration that he and his supporters will set the course of the US and the world for many years to come "sounds like a threat".
Alexei Veselovsky said on Russia's NTV news that "They had brought the billionaire to the White House and Trump clearly expects that his vision of America will help him in future too."
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook. | It was a ceremony saturated in stars and stripes, with a speech that sung a paean to American exceptionalism. |
34852857 | The outage affected 1,300 properties in Fyfield, near Burford, 700 in Witney, and 220 in Chipping Norton.
Extra engineers had been standing by ahead of the storm, a Scottish and Southern Electric Power Distribution spokesman said.
By 22:00 GMT work continued to restore power to 488 homes in Fyfield, 400 in Witney and 50 in Chipping Norton.
The power firm spokesman apologised to customers for the problems and said they would be dealt with as soon as possible.
In Middle Way, Oxford, firefighters were also called out after strong winds blew loose part of a house's roof.
Storm Barney, the UK's second named storm, affected parts of Wales and southern England with gusts in excess of 80mph. | About 2,220 homes were left without power in Oxfordshire after Storm Barney hit the county. |
28673375 | The Spain Under-20 international is Liverpool's seventh summer signing after Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Emre Can, Lazar Markovic, Dejan Lovren and Divock Origi.
"I'm very happy to have signed for Liverpool," said Manquillo, 20.
"I think it's one of the biggest clubs in Europe. Any footballer would want to come and play here."
Manquillo began his career with Real Madrid before joining their cross-city rivals at the age of 13.
He made his senior debut at 17 and played six times last season before suffering a vertebrae injury following an aerial challenge with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo in the Copa del Rey semi-final in February. | Liverpool have signed right-back Javier Manquillo on a two-season loan from La Liga champions Atletico Madrid. |
35865376 | Kathryn Smith said Matthew Rigby joined her in the kitchen of a family flat in Burton "a couple of moments" after she left him and Ayeeshia Jane Smith alone.
They then heard the child "gasp" and found her unresponsive in her cot.
Ms Smith - who denies murder along with Mr Rigby - claimed child benefit after the death, jurors heard.
More updates on this and other stories in Birmingham and the Black Country
The 23-year-old, from Sandfield Road in Nottingham, failed to alert authorities about her daughter's death in May 2014 and continued to claim for six months, Birmingham Crown Court was told.
Describing the day Ayeeshia - known as AJ - died, Ms Smith said she and Mr Rigby, who have now separated, had been potty training her after a "perfect" visit with the child's grandparents.
She went to get her some juice before 22-year-old Mr Rigby, of Sloan Drive in Nottingham, joined her in the kitchen.
She said she then heard the child "gasp".
"Me and Matt were in the kitchen and we looked at each other, so I knew he'd heard it," she said.
They found Ayeeshia on her side in her cot.
Ms Smith said her daughter was "staring out the window and she looked all pale and her lips were blue and her mouth was bubbling".
The couple attempted to resuscitate her and Ms Smith called paramedics, but despite medical help the child later died.
Ayeeshia's heart had been torn by a forceful stamp, the court has heard.
Ms Smith was also asked about an incident where she called police in April 2014 and urged officers to take Mr Rigby away, saying she was "scared" of him and did not want him near her daughter because he couldn't control his temper.
She told the court she later retracted that statement because she "might have overreacted".
Jurors heard her admit that she smoked cannabis two or three times a week, but not in the house.
She also said she knew it was wrong to keep the drug in a Tommee Tippee cup, but it was broken and was never used to feed Ayeeshia.
When asked about a neighbour hearing a child shout "Stop mummy, stop daddy", Ms Smith said Ayeeshia did not have the necessary speech to say that and knew Mr Rigby as "Matt-Matt".
In addition to the murder charger, the pair also deny causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty.
The trial continues. | A stepfather jointly accused of stamping a 21-month-old girl to death was the last person to see her, the child's mother told a court. |
27444664 | London-based telecommunications company Inmarsat was due to use the vehicle to launch the second and third satellites in its $1.6bn Global Xpress network.
The latest Proton suffered an engine failure nine minutes after lifting off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.
Inmarsat concedes the failure review process will impact its timelines.
The company told investors that the prospect of getting another of its I-5 Ka-band satellites in orbit by the autumn was now unrealistic.
"The cause of the failure will be assessed by a process known as the Failure Review Oversight Board ("FROB") and a report of its findings is expected to be completed in the next two months," a statement read. "While the conclusions of the FROB will be important in determining the impact on our launch schedule, we believe a delay in the planned launch of both the Inmarsat-5 F2 and F3 is now likely, which would delay the launch of GX services on a global basis."
Inmarsat said regional services delivered by the first I-5 launched in December would not be affected.
Protons have experienced an alarming deterioration in reliability in recent years.
There have now been five outright failures since the turn of the decade, with most of the problems linked to the upper-stages.
The July 2013 mishap saw a vehicle veer violently out of control just after leaving the pad and then explode as it impacted the ground a short distance away.
Manufacturer Khrunichev has had to instigate a whole-scale review of its production processes to try to identify the root causes of the poor track record.
Lost on Thursday's failed flight was the six-tonne Express-AM4R satellite, which was to be used to deliver broadband internet across Russia.
Federal space officials have suspended all future missions while the FROB conducts its investigation.
Inmarsat was expecting to loft its I-5 F2 on a Proton in the third quarter of this year. The F3 model would have followed not long after to complete the Global Xpress network.
The I-5s are high-throughput satellites that will provide telecommunications "on the go" in remote locations.
Inmarsat's principal customer base is the shipping sector, but the company also caters for any groups that need connectivity away from a fixed line.
These include oil and gas installations, the aviation sector, armed forces, aid agencies and NGOs in disaster areas, and TV news crews reporting from trouble zones.
Customers can use Inmarsat services to make phone calls, to transfer audio-visual material or simple data.
Traditionally, the company has served these customers using the L-band part of the radio spectrum. However, the new GX constellation will operate in the higher-frequency Ka-band, enabling much higher bandwidth connections - up to 50Mbps download, and 5Mbps upload.
[email protected] and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos | Thursday's failure of yet another Russian Proton rocket is going to delay the roll-out of Britain's biggest single commercial space project. |
21468172 | It comprises thousands of images acquired by the spacecraft during its first year in orbit.
This is not how we would see Mercury, which would look like a dull, brownish-grey globe to our eyes.
Rather, the map represents an exaggerated view of the planet that is intended to highlight variations in the composition of its rock.
"Messenger's camera has filters that go from the blue to the near-infrared of the spectrum, and we are able to use computer processing to enhance the very subtle but real colour differences that are present on Mercury's surface," explained Dr David Blewett from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.
"The areas that you see that are orange - those are volcanic plains. There are some areas that are deep blue that are richer in an opaque mineral which is somewhat mysterious - we don't really know what that is yet.
"And then you see beautiful light-blue streaks across Mercury's surface. Those are crater rays formed in impacts when fresh, ground-up rock is strewn across the surface of the planet," the mission scientist told BBC News.
Dr Blewett displayed the map here in Boston at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
He was giving a sneak preview of the data that is about to be deposited in Nasa's planetary archive.
This will include a black-and-white, or monochrome, map of the entire surface of Mercury at a resolution of 200m per pixel (the colour map has a resolution of 1km per pixel and is just short of 100% coverage).
The mission so far has been a triumph, which ought to make the current request to Nasa management for an operational extension a very easy case to make.
Messenger's observations have thrown up many surprises and challenged a lot of assumptions.
The probe has revealed Mercury's rich volcanic history. It has confirmed the existence of great lava plains, but also uncovered evidence for explosive volcanism.
We know now, too, that the planet has ice in shadowed craters. "It's got polar ice caps. Who'd have thought that?" said Dr Blewett.
In addition, the probe's instruments have detected relatively high abundances of sulphur and potassium in surface materials.
These are volatile elements that should not really be present on such a scale on a planet that orbits so close to the Sun with its searing heat.
But these elements may help explain many puzzles, like the nature of those opaque terrains. These could get their dark hue from the presence of sulphides.
The compounds could also lie behind the intriguing "hollows" that pockmark great swathes of Mercury's surface.
Shallow with irregular shapes, the depressions often have bright halos and bright interiors. When scientists look around the Solar System for similar phenomena, the best comparison would appear to be the depressions that form in the carbon dioxide ice at the poles of Mars.
Those features are thought to arise when the CO2 ice sublimates away - that is, when it transforms directly from a solid state to a gaseous state.
"Well, Mercury's surface isn't made of ice - it's scorching hot next to the Sun. But it seems that there is some sort of sublimation-like loss in the solid, silicate rocks that is causing these hollows to initiate and enlarge.
"It may be that a combination of high temperatures and what's called severe space weathering destroys sulphide minerals in the rocks, causing them to crumble and open up a depression."
Messenger is in great shape should Nasa management agree to a mission extension. The probe is thought to have enough fuel to operate until 2015.
And by then, new spacecraft will be on their way to Mercury. Under a joint venture known as BepiColombo, Europe and Japan are sending two satellites that should arrive at the innermost world in 2022.
[email protected] and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos | Scientists working on Nasa's Messenger probe to Mercury have shown off a stunning new colour map of the planet. |
40712231 | Marcilene Soares Gama, 49, had been accused by clients of using industrial silicone for buttock enlargement.
At the time of her death she faced court action over charges she pretended to be a doctor.
Police in Rio de Janeiro are looking for a man caught on a surveillance camera entering her flat on Saturday.
Her body was found hours later on a nearby road.
The man tied her hands behind her back, made her get in his car and shot her in the face before disposing of the body.
The killing has the hallmarks of a revenge attack, police said.
"Forensic experts concluded that she was shot in the face at close range, which is usually a sign of anger and hatred," chief investigator Fabio Cardoso told O Globo newspaper.
At least ten women have come forward saying their bodies were ruined in botched implant procedures carried out by Ms Gama.
She was arrested twice for pretending to be a doctor in Rio and in Sao Paulo, but was released and continued to practise despite facing a court case .
Her family denied the charges and said she always warned clients of the risks associated with silicone implant procedures.
"She never said she was a surgeon. People knew the risks but they went ahead anyway," said her brother-in-law, Daniel Mofacto.
"But I do believe that she was murdered by a vengeful client", he told O Dia newspaper.
Ms Gama had two children, aged 31 and 25, and was about to become a grandmother.
Buttock enhancement is one of several cosmetic procedures popular in Brazil, which has developed one of the world's largest plastic surgery industries. | A Brazilian woman accused of carrying out illegal silicon implant procedures has been killed in a suspected revenge attack. |
40193293 | BMC rider Porte won the 23.5km time trial from La Tour-du-Pin to Bourgoin-Jallieuin in 28 minutes seven seconds, 12 seconds ahead of German Tony Martin.
Team Sky's Froome, the defending champion, was eighth, 37 seconds behind former team-mate Porte.
Belgian Thomas de Gendt, a further five seconds behind in ninth, leads Porte by 27 seconds in the overall standings.
Froome is aiming to win the Tour de France for a fourth time this summer, with each of his previous victories in 2013, 2015 and 2016 preceded by winning the Dauphine.
However, he admitted the time trial results "change the dynamic" of the race.
He said on the Team Sky website. "If I'd gained time then I could have ridden more defensively on the climbs. Now that I've got time to make up it means I can be more offensive.
"We've got three big days of climbing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That will be another big test to see exactly where everyone is at."
Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, riding for Movistar, was third on the stage to move up to third overall, 51 seconds behind De Gendt.
Spain's Alberto Contador was seventh, two seconds ahead of Froome, who trails De Gendt by 64 seconds in the general classification.
Frenchman Romain Bardet, runner-up to Froome in last year's Tour, lost almost two minutes.
Thursday's fifth stage features six categorised climbs, five of them coming in the opening 80km of the 175km race, but they are not expected to be tough enough to cause any huge changes in the overall standings.
1. Richie Porte (Aus/BMC Racing) 28mins 07secs
2. Tony Martin (Ger/Katusha) +12secs
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +24secs
4. Stef Clement (Ned/LottoNL) +28secs
5. Chad Haga (US/Sunweb) +32secs
6. Jasha Suetterlin (Ger/Movistar) same time
7. Alberto Contador (Spa/Trek) +35secs
8. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +37secs
9. Thomas de Gendt (Bel/Lotto) +42secs
10. Brent Bookwalter (US/BMC Racing) +45secs
1. Thomas de Gendt (Bel/Lotto) 13hrs 05mins 53secs
2. Richie Porte (Aus/BMC Racing) +27secs
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +51secs
4. Stef Clement (Ned/LottoNL) +55secs
5. Alberto Contador (Spa/Trek) +1min 02secs
6. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +1min 04secs
7. Brent Bookwalter (US/BMC Racing) +1min 12secs
8. Jesus Herrada (Spa/Movistar) +1min 15secs
9. Sam Oomen (Ned/Sunweb) +1min 17secs
10. Diego Ulissi (Ita/UAE Team Emirates) +1min 22secs | Australian Richie Porte won stage four of the Criterium du Dauphine as Briton Chris Froome lost time on his rivals. |
36577871 | Ollie disappeared in July 2013 while his owners were abroad on holiday.
The Bailey family started searching for their pet but were beginning to lose hope as the months passed.
However, a cat found in St Fergus - about five miles from where he went missing - has been confirmed as Ollie thanks to a microchip.
Owner Adele Bailey, 37, said they lived in Peterhead at the time Ollie went missing.
Now reunited at their new home in Turriff, she told the BBC Scotland news website: "It is all a bit surreal - it's just unbelievable.
"We did posters and did searches for about a year. We were getting possible sightings.
"However I was starting to think on the dark side and that we had lost him."
Mrs Bailey explained: "We got a call from the St Fergus area about a cat that was coming round.
"With the help of Cats Protection he was scanned and it was his chip.
"We jumped straight in the car.
"He was straight up on my knee purring.
"He's come back fatter - he's not gone without a feed. I cannot believe how well he is looking. And he's back playing with his favourite catnip mouse toy.
"He'll be staying in the house for a few weeks now."
She added: "We would not have been reunited if Ollie had not had that chip." | A pet cat feared dead after escaping from kennels in Aberdeenshire almost three years ago has been reunited with his owners. |
34972702 | The regulator is very familiar to the businesses which compete in the UK's communications markets, less so to consumers. But its new boss would like to change that.
Sharon White, who is soon to make a momentous decision about competition in broadband, believes Ofcom needs to do more to show consumers that is on their side as they battle through the complexity of choosing services which are now vital to their working and social lives.
Today's launch of a home wifi checker app is one way the regulator wants to show that it is helping consumers - though whether being told to turn their router on and off again or move it away from the fairy-lights will really impress them is open to question.
Far more serious for our broadband future is Ofcom's decision on whether BT's Openreach division should be split off from the rest of the company. Rival suppliers and some consumer groups argue that is the only way of getting the UK's broadband strategy back on track, while BT insists it would harm, not help, its investment programme.
Ms White, a high-flying Treasury civil servant before she arrived at Ofcom, is used to making these kind of decisions, though not under quite the same spotlight. When I interviewed her she told me that Ofcom was still examining all options - but suggested that she was minded to act rather than let things carry on as before:
" I think there will be change," she tells me. "We're looking at a number of options, but I think it is very unlikely we will conclude that the status quo which has worked over the last 10 years is where we are likely to be over the next decade."
It is also evident that she has been listening to some of the criticism of BT - she talks about issues of access and availability of broadband and quality of service: "It's taking a bit too long for repairs to be made, for connections to be linked in after people have requested those."
She promises that Ofcom will press BT and its rivals on behalf of consumers on issues such as broadband advertising and the ability to switch providers.
Overall, the regulator thinks the UK is doing pretty well in rolling out superfast broadband compared with other European countries. But it points to two groups that are losing out - rural homes and small businesses. The most startling figure in its Connected Nations report is that half of all small firms in areas like business parks cannot even get speeds of 10Mbps, the bare minimum recently promised to everyone by the government by 2020.
In the rush to wire up residential streets, it seems the business parks have been bypassed. Small firms ask what incentive there is for BT to link them up en masse, when it is far more lucrative to get individual businesses to sign up for a leased line.
Now, it is still far from certain that Ofcom's Sharon White will recommend that Openreach is split off - and the digital minister Ed Vaizey has already indicated that the government is sceptical about such radical action. But BT knows that it is now under the microscope of a regulator determined to prove that it is the consumer's friend. | It's a very powerful force in determining the future shape of communications in the UK, but how many people know anything about Ofcom? |
39728686 | The accused had allegedly beaten the boy, 11-year-old Mohamed Thaqif Amin Mohd Gaddafi, with a water hose.
The boy later contracted serious infections and doctors amputated his legs. He died on Wednesday from complications.
The incident has prompted calls for greater scrutiny of religious schools.
In late January the boy enrolled in a privately-run Islamic school in the town of Kota Tinggi, in Johor state.
Police say that he was among a group of 15 boys beaten by the assistant warden on 24 March for making too much noise in the school's assembly building.
His mother pulled him out of the school when she visited several days later and found him looking weak, according to reports.
He was taken to the hospital three weeks later when his legs swelled up, apparently from blood clots. Doctors found he had contracted serious infections and had to amputate his legs.
They were about to amputate his right arm as well on Wednesday when the boy died.
Excerpts from the boy's diary, published in Malaysian media, appear to describe systematic abuse at the school, and that if one student made an error the whole group would be punished.
Police initially arrested the assistant warden - who has not been named - for child abuse, but said they were re-classifying the case as murder after Mohamed Thaqif died.
They also disclosed that the accused was a former convict previously jailed for theft.
The school has declined to comment, citing the ongoing police investigation. A separate investigation by Johor's religious authority has cleared the school of any wrongdoing.
But the head of the country's umbrella group for religious schools said CCTV footage showed the student was "only hit on one of the legs", and there was "probably a high chance that other factors" led to the boy's condition.
"There is no need to point fingers on anybody just yet... It is not right to label all religious schools to be abusive towards their students," Mohd Zahid Mahmood was quoted as saying.
A deputy minister told reporters on Wednesday night that it was "unfair for us to prematurely pin the blame on anybody" before the investigation was complete.
Prime Minister Najib Razak meanwhile has called for a speedy investigation.
Islamic authorities have said they are reassessing staff hiring guidelines for religious schools.
The case has caused an outcry, with Malaysians asking why the school hired a former convict to take care of children, and how the abuse could have gone undetected.
But at the heart of the issue is the regulation of Islamic schools - many say there is insufficient oversight.
Hundreds have mushroomed over the decades, and this week Mr Najib gave 80 million Malaysian ringgit (£14.3m, $18.4m) to registered schools.
But many unregistered schools have popped up, mostly in rural communities, and authorities have struggled to keep track and regulate them.
The issue is sensitive in Muslim-majority Malaysia, leading to what one writer has called the "culture of silence, keeping face and sweeping things under the rug".
Writing in The Malay Mail newspaper, Aziff Azuddin noted past cases of alleged abuse in religious schools and the lack of transparency in school authorities' responses.
With some interpreting criticism of religious schools as "an attack on religion", "is it any wonder then that we can never really address the true issue: abuse taking place in an educational institution?" he asked. | Malaysian police are investigating a religious school's assistant warden for murder, after a schoolboy died in a case that has sparked outrage. |
37003088 | The 41-year-old died at a property on Doreen Avenue in Kingsbury just before 03:00 BST on Sunday.
Police said his next of kin have been told, but formal identification has not yet taken place. A post-mortem examination has not yet been held.
A 38-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and was taken to a north London police station where he remains in custody. | A man has been stabbed to death in north-west London. |
11399934 | Dame Maggie Smith, David Walliams and Tom Hollander were in the first night audience at his solo performance of Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett.
Sir Michael will perform the 52-minute play twice a night during its run.
Last year the 69-year-old pulled out of Alan Bennett's The Habit of Art after doctors advised him to rest.
His role was subsequently taken by Richard Griffiths in the National Theatre production.
Sir Michael is no stranger to Beckett's enigmatic work, having performed it at the Gate Theatre in Dublin earlier this year.
First staged in London in 1958, the play revolves around an old man listening to his younger self via taped recordings.
"I'm so used to being in the West End that I find it quite usual," said Sir Michael after Wednesday night's performance at the Duchess Theatre.
"First night is a bit frightening but you deal with it."
Reviews so far have been positive, with the Guardian's critic praising Michael Colgan's "artfully pitched" production.
The Telegraph, meanwhile, praised "the great Michael Gambon" and his "extraordinarily eloquent" voice. | Actor Sir Michael Gambon has returned to London's West End, one year on from his withdrawal from another stage play due to ill health. |
40374013 | Michael Gibbons, 27, of Yateley, Hampshire abused seven children, some aged as young as four, a court heard.
He pleaded guilty in April to nine sexual assaults, including two at Farnborough Leisure Centre where he was employed as a play worker.
The offences happened in Hampshire and Berkshire between 2009 and 2016.
Gibbons also admitted one count of rape and six other sexual offences.
They included four counts of inciting children to engage in sexual activity and two attempted sexual assaults.
Gibbons, of Dickens Way, was arrested in December after he confessed his crimes to the mental health charity Mind.
In police interviews he admitted sexually touching two children at the play centre holiday club, even though the crimes were never reported to the police.
One young victim told the police how her "body felt sad" after Gibbons assaulted her, while other children reported having nightmares, the prosecution said.
Sentencing him at Winchester Crown Court judge Jane Miller QC said Gibbons had shown "some remorse" for the lasting harm he had caused his victims and their families.
A spokesman for the NSPCC children's charity said: "With a clear and dangerous interest in children, Gibbons used his young victims for his own sexual gratification.
"His actions will have had a devastating impact on his victims and it's thanks to their bravery that Gibbons has been brought to justice." | A former employee who sexually abused young children at a summer holiday playscheme and in other locations has been jailed for 11 years. |
18952176 | It was another remarkable performance from Alonso. I've said many times that if you give him a chance he will take it, and that is what happened at Hockenheim.
Ferrari have a car for all seasons. Alonso put it on pole in the wet, for the second consecutive race, but unlike Silverstone two weeks ago this time he won the race in the dry as well.
He got a good start and controlled the race. He didn't have the quickest car by any means but he managed it well.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Where he needed to be quick - through the last couple of corners, and the first part of the lap before the DRS overtaking zone - he put the car on the limit a bit more to ensure he could not be passed, and everywhere else he looked after the car and tyres.
He did his fastest lap on the penultimate lap, so he clearly had something in reserve if he had really needed to buckle down to it.
He - and the car - also looked after their tyres better than Jenson Button in the McLaren, who ran out of grip towards the end of the race.
Button caught Alonso quite quickly after he had passed Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull at the second pit stops, but Button probably should have taken a bit more time over closing the gap to ensure he had some grip left in the closing laps.
It was another very clever race by Alonso, and the whole Ferrari group deserve a pat on the back because in half a season they have come from having a car that was a second and a half off pole position at the start of the season in Australia to one that won from pole in Germany.
Alonso is the only driver to have won three grands prix this year. In fact, only he and Red Bull's Mark Webber have won more than one. So Ferrari are clearly going in the right direction.
Alonso has a substantial advantage in the championship now - 34 points - but it is a long way from won.
If all three top teams got their cars working to their ultimate potential on a dry weekend, he could go from being on pole to fifth on the grid - or even somewhere in the bottom of the top 10 if Lotus and Mercedes did the same.
"It was the 30th victory of Alonso's career, and he is now only one behind Nigel Mansell in the all-time winners' list.
The way he is driving, he will surely move ahead of the Englishman into fourth place behind Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna before the end of the year."
Andrew Benson's blog
Ferrari need to keep making steps with the car if Alonso is to hold on to his championship lead.
But where Ferrari are succeeding over their rivals is in getting their car working consistently in all conditions and at all races.
That might be related to their poor start to the season - you learn a lot more from a bad car than a good one, and they have had to do some serious work to bring it to where it is now.
Vettel was Alonso's biggest threat for the first two thirds of the race.
After losing second place to Button at the final pit stops, Vettel got the position back again on the penultimate lap, only to be demoted to fifth following a 20-second penalty for overtaking by going off the track.
There is a rule forbidding that. Vettel knew he had gone off the track, and he had the opportunity to give the place back to Button and challenge him again on the last lap. Given the tyre troubles the McLaren was having at that point, he would probably have passed him again.
Red Bull also could have told him to give the place back. But neither of them did it.
The asphalt run-off area is there to allow the cars to go off the track and not go out of the race. It's not there to be used as part of the race track.
The rules are clear and it was a deserved penalty.
McLaren had an encouraging weekend. They introduced a major upgrade package on the car, with a lot of aerodynamic changes, and it showed much better form than in the last two races.
They have clearly made the car better, but there were still worrying signs for them.
In the wet on Saturday, the McLaren still showed the same tendency to fall out of the tyres' operating window, as it has on occasions throughout the season.
So while they have improved the performance of the car, that suggests the wider problem creating that phenomenon still remains.
A car should not behave like that and if you fully understand your car it won't. A competitive car - which the McLaren is - should be quick in all conditions, like the Ferrari and Red Bull.
McLaren are obviously doing something wrong that puts them at risk.
If it happens in the wet and you do not know why, it can happen with the dry tyres, too - as it has on occasion already, with Button particularly.
Of the other teams, Sauber deserve a pat on the back for their performance.
Sergio Perez came from 17th on the grid to take sixth after Vettel's penalty. That's a really good drive and, to put the icing on the cake, team-mate Kamui Kobayashi was fourth after starting 12th.
The Sauber has looked like a good car all season, and they have closed the gap on Mercedes in the battle for fifth place in the constructors' championship quite a lot with that result.
However, if the Sauber car is capable of doing that in the race, the drivers really should be able to qualify it in the top 10 and they are not doing that often enough.
Gary Anderson, the former technical director of the Jordan, Stewart and Jaguar teams, is the BBC F1 technical analyst. He was talking to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson | Fernando Alonso's Ferrari was probably the third fastest car in the German Grand Prix yet he won the race from pole position. |
40659611 | From a gathering of less than 300 people in 1970, the event has morphed into an annual, multi-day media bonanza that draws major corporate sponsors, movie studios and more than 150,000 people.
The event made more than $17m in revenue in 2015, according to the most recent tax filing available online, and it has spawned similar festivals in cities around the world.
"San Diego's growth has been mind-boggling," says author John Jackson Miller, who also owns Comichron, which tracks sales of comic books.
Mr Miller went to San Diego for the first time in the early 1990s, when it still drew less than 40,000 people.
Now thousands of people flock to San Diego for the event even without tickets and the skyrocketing demand has led some to call for San Diego to expand its convention centre.
Eventbrite, a ticketing website, estimated that fandom conventions in North America grossed $600m in 2013. It said the wider economic impact could be as high as $5bn.
The San Diego convention centre estimates the annual July event generates some $140m in economic impact for the region.
Experts say the growth has been fuelled in part by a Hollywood that has mined comic books and science fiction for blockbusters, broadening the fan base.
Advances in special effects since 2000, when X-Men was released, have increased the success of movie adaptations, says Mr Miller. (Warner Bros. and Disney own the two major comic publishing outfits.)
The popularity of the events also coincides with a rise in spending on live entertainment, particularly among younger customers.
Some of the shift reflects a wealthier society with money to burn beyond basic needs, says Stephanie Tully, a marketing professor at University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, who has researched consumer spending.
But she says there's an additional factor at play: Fear Of Missing Out - a phenomenon popularly dubbed FOMO - which has been exacerbated by social media.
"It's really difficult to substitute this year's comic con with next year's comic con," says Eesha Sharma, a professor at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business who worked with Ms Tully on a new study that shows people are more likely to go into debt to pay for experiences than material goods.
Companies have taken note of the phenomenon.
Disney is investing heavily in its theme parks and big investors such as TPG Capital, a private equity giant, have plunged money into troupes such as Cirque du Soleil.
"What I hear and what I see is that companies ... have a huge interest in live entertainment at the moment," says John Maatta, a former television executive who is now chief at Wizard World, which ran comic conventions in more than a dozen US cities last year.
Mr Maatta says he thinks people put more value on real-world interaction as more of our lives play out online.
"There's no substitute for human connection," he says.
The growing circus at the San Diego festival, which unlike many others is run by a not-for-profit operation, has turned off some industry stalwarts.
Earlier this month, Mile High Comics, a major comics retailer, said it would not attend for the first time in more than 40 years. Other long time participants have started their own events.
David Glanzer, a spokesman for Comic-Con International: San Diego, did not respond to questions about its approach.
The group in 2014 filed a lawsuit against a smaller Salt Lake City event, alleging that the group had violated its trademark.
But for the most part, organizers have appeared content to let the fandom multiply.
ReedPOP, part of a London-based company, started the New York Comic Con in 2006 - it's expected to draw some 200,000 people this year - and now runs about 30 events globally in cities that include Shanghai, Mumbai and Sydney.
Event director Mike Armstrong says there's some room to grow in the US, and even more opportunity overseas.
"I'm very much of the mindset that rising waters will lift all ships," says Mr Armstrong. "I view smaller shows as feeder opportunities to get people excited and interested so they might one day want to attend New York Comic Con."
Earlier this year, Wizard World, which has scaled back the number of shows since 2015, warned investors it may not be able to continue in business. But Mr Maatta said the problem was temporary and didn't reflect the bigger market.
The firm has righted itself with new financing and announcements of additional conventions are coming, he says.
"The plan is just to intensify what we're doing," he says.
Are there clouds on the horizon?
Robert Salkowitz, the author of Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture, has followed the comic industry's rise since the 1990s.
"I always have my eye on how it could fall apart," he says.
Sales at comic book shops were flat in 2016 and have slipped this year, according to Comichron.
But Mr Marshall said that compares to banner performance in prior years. Comic sales at general audience book stores continue to grow and movies, such as Wonder Woman, still rake in millions at the box office.
A few flops might scare off the industry, but for now Mr Salkowitz says he thinks the market is healthy.
"Fandom has grown big enough," he says.
Mr Maatta agrees: "I don't think it's a fad," he says. "I'd almost say it's a lifestyle." | San Diego's Comic-Con International, happening this weekend, is an annual fiesta of costumes, comic books and celebrities that sits at the centre of a multi-billion dollar industry. |
38571932 | The 25-year-old Sunderland winger was carried off on a stretcher in Cairo during his team's defeat by Egypt.
"It's not serious, it's a benign ankle sprain," the federation said in a statement on its website. "He will be able to play in Gabon."
Tunisia will play Senegal on Sunday.
They will also face Algeria and Zimbabwe in Group B at the finals, which run from 14 January to 5 February.
Khazri is one of Tunisia's key players, even though he has had a lack of game time for his Premier League club over the last few months. | Tunisia's Wahbi Khazri will be fit to play at the Africa Cup of Nations despite suffering an ankle injury in a friendly on Sunday, the Tunisian Football Federation said on Tuesday. |
40580530 | Police are investigating Jean-Michel Lambert's death but no signs of a struggle have been reported.
He was in his first job when given the task of investigating the 1984 murder of four-year-old Grégory Villemin.
Mr Lambert had admitted making mistakes and the case was reopened last month when new evidence came to light.
The judge was 32 when he was given the role of investigating a case that was to be a cause celebre for decades to come.
Grégory Villemin's body was found with his hands and feet bound in the Vologne river in the north-east of France on 16 October 1984.
Three held in French child murder mystery
His murder became a tale of family rivalries, poison-pen letters and false leads, and his killer has never been found.
A cousin of the boy's father, Bernard Laroche, was soon arrested when his sister-in-law, Muriel Bolle, testified against him. Laroche was released the next year when she retracted her statement, but he was shot dead by the boy's father weeks later.
The father went to jail for Laroche's murder and within months Judge Lambert had turned the inquiry towards the boy's mother, Christine Villemin. She was accused of carrying out his murder in 1985 but eventually cleared in 1993.
By 1987 Judge Lambert had been replaced by another judge, Maurice Simon, whose devastating criticism of his predecessor's work emerged on Wednesday.
According to French news channel BFMTV, Judge Simon wrote at the time in his personal notebooks of Mr Lambert's "intellectual disorder".
"I am in the midst of a miscarriage of justice in all its horror," he wrote of the accusations made against Grégory Villemin's mother.
Mr Lambert had himself admitted he was unprepared for the enormous interest in the case at the time, and had complained of the poor judicial support he had been given.
"I didn't devote the full attention I should have given to the case from the outset," he conceded.
Since the collapse of the case, police have been able to take advantage of advances in DNA technology to shed further light on the murder.
Last month, three members of the murdered boy's father's family were held by police on suspicion of being accomplices. The boy's great-uncle Marcel Jacob and his wife Jacqueline were placed under formal investigation for kidnapping resulting in death. They were later released from custody.
Then came the arrest of Muriel Bolle amid similar allegations. Fifteen at the time of the murder, it was her testimony that led to the arrest of her brother-in-law Bernard Laroche in 1984. She retracted the evidence but prosecutors believe she was forced to do so by relatives.
Declaring her innocence she went on hunger strike and ended it on Tuesday, the same day the former judge was found dead. | A former judge who played a leading part in one of France's biggest murder inquiries has been found dead at home with a plastic bag over his head. |
33317951 | He said he would scrap the lower rate for young adult workers, currently paid £1.37 less than older colleagues, as an "hour's work deserves an hour's pay".
But he rejected calls for the main rate to rise to £10 an hour by 2020.
Liz Kendall and Yvette Cooper said the Low Pay Commission should be left to decide on differential rates.
And Jeremy Corbyn said the lower rate was "very strange".
The four candidates vying to succeed Ed Miliband have been questioned by union members at an event hosted by the Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation, one of series of hustings taking place over the summer before September's election.
The event was preceded by sniping between the rival candidates' camps with MP John Woodcock, a key ally of Ms Kendall's, claiming he had been briefed against after warning of the dangers of Labour electing a "continuity Miliband" candidate.
Ms Kendall said Labour faced a huge task getting back into power and would only do so when it regained the trust of people on the economy and was able to offer a vision of a "better life", saying these were not exclusively "Tory values".
Liz Kendall had two objectives in mind in her speech this morning - further differentiating herself from her Labour rivals by putting a strong and positive emphasis on the need for fiscal responsibility and, secondly, trying to burnish her credentials as the candidate the Conservatives fear most.
As one of her supporters said, she is attempting to avoid being the opposition George Osborne would want Labour to be. So there was a straightforward admission that a lot of taxpayers money is spent - in tax credits - to subsidise low pay.
But there's a feeling, even amongst some Blairites, that Liz Kendall is still a work in progress.
One Labour-supporting audience member said: "She is saying all the right things about the scale of the defeat, but I am still not convinced she is the right person to be saying it. I admire her courage, but I am not sure she has the authority to be leader."
She didn't seize the opportunity to put more distance between herself and Ed Miliband on some issues. Nonetheless, she was calm and assured under sustained questioning and delivered her core message with confidence. She may have to show more confidence, though, in departing from her script.
But her supporters are convinced she is making the political weather and are portraying her opponents as more of the same.
"People need to think about who is the leadership candidate that isn't just going to argue for a little bit of change, who is going to face up to the scale of the challenge, who is going to be the candidate that the Tories really fear because they are facing head on people's concerns about their money, about welfare and have a properly broad pitch."
Despite the party's heavy defeat last month, Mr Burnham said Labour must "build on" the manifesto that it stood upon rather than disown it completely.
"It had more to say to my constituents than any other manifesto I had stood on," he said. "But the point is it didn't have enough to say to the whole country. So we don't rip it up, we build on it."
Urging changes to minimum wage rates, the shadow health secretary said it was unfair to pay 18-20 year olds less than the full minimum wage, currently £6.50 an hour.
He said he would scrap the lower rate, currently £5.13, if he was prime minister, while keeping existing rates for under-18s and apprentices. He said he would also stick with a manifesto commitment to raise the main adult rate to £8 an hour by the end of the Parliament in the face of union calls for a higher £10 rate.
"It is hard enough for young people to get on in life, what are we making it harder? Why are we pulling the rug from under them."
Ms Cooper said the party must choose a leader who could "look like a prime minister from the start" not just an opposition leader. "We have to make sure that is about being a Labour prime minister and being proud of Labour values," she said.
And Mr Corbyn said Labour must oppose all spending and welfare cuts announced in next week's Budget.
"Austerity is a code word for greater inequality," he said. "The 100 richest people in this country own the equivalent of 30% of the wealth of the rest of the population. That is grotesque inequality and it is getting worse."
In a speech in the City of London before the hustings, Ms Kendall called for major changes to the government's programme to help the long-term unemployed find work and said the Low Pay Commission should encourage more employers to pay a living wage.
Mr Burnham, meanwhile, also announced plans for a review of charges for workers seeking to take their employers to a tribunal. | Andy Burnham has called for 18-20 year olds to be paid the same minimum wage as older workers as he and other Labour candidates addressed a union hustings. |
36292974 | Steam enthusiasts turned out in force to watch the engine cross the distinctive red bridge that has carried trains over the Forth since 1890.
The locomotive, which has undergone a 10-year restoration, travelled from Edinburgh to the Borders and back along the reopened Borders Railway.
Large scale events were also held in Galashiels and Tweedbank.
It followed an eleventh-hour U-turn by Network Rail which had said on Friday that the engine could not travel on the route.
The body has now apologised for delays in checking whether lines were suitable for the steam train.
The Flying Scotsman's arrival at Edinburgh Waverley Station on Saturday evening was its first trip to Scotland since its restoration was competed earlier this year.
Built in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, in 1923, the Flying Scotsman pulled the first train to officially break the 100mph barrier in 1934.
The National Railway Museum in York bought the locomotive for £2.3m in 2004 before work got under way on its decade-long restoration two years later.
Around 800 people watched as the train left Edinburgh shortly before 11:00 BST on Sunday and hundreds more lined the route to get a closer look at the engine.
After a return to Waverley, the Flying Scotsman headed to Fife with a new group of passengers on board.
The Flying Scotsman's visit was arranged by excursion operator Steam Dreams, which said it had been working with Network Rail for months to ensure it went ahead smoothly.
Late on Friday afternoon, however, Network Rail informed the company it did not have the right data to "gauge" the Flying Scotsman - a process which involves checking if it fits within structures such as platforms and bridges.
The cancellation led to an outcry, with Scottish Transport Minister Derek Mackay accusing Network Rail of incompetence and warning it would damage Scottish tourism.
Network Rail reversed the decision under 24 hours later. The body's chief executive Mark Carne has apologised and promised a full investigation.
In February Network Rail was forced to pay out almost £60,000 in compensation when dozens of train services were delayed by people encroaching on to the track during the refurbished train's inaugural run from London to York. | The Flying Scotsman has crossed the Forth Bridge on a journey marking its return to Scotland. |
31111835 | Professor Robert Langer of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has won the £1m award for his development of drug-release systems, tissue building and microchip implants.
The Queen Elizabeth Prize, designed to become a "Nobel" for engineering, was set up with cross-party backing and industry support to celebrate innovators with global impact.
Prof Langer's work has been cited 170,000 times - making him the most cited engineer in history - and he has more than 1,000 patents granted or pending for his inventions.
It is estimated that as many as two billion people have in some way been touched by technologies devised and developed by him and his teams.
The previous winners of the prize - set up to inspire young people to become engineers - were the five pioneers of the Internet and World Wide Web including Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
Prof Langer told the BBC: "I've always wanted to see what I can do to help people have happier, healthier lives. I worked in a hospital for a number of years - I've seen different medical problems and I've thought: What can we do to make things better for people?"
He said he was delighted to win the award because he supported "the idea of inspiring young people - nothing is more important than that".
In the 1970s, in the face of widespread opposition from the medical and scientific establishment, Prof Langer pioneered the use of materials known as polymers which could gradually release sophisticated medications.
It had been thought that the large molecules involved in treatments for diseases such as cancer and diabetes could not pass through polymers, but Prof Langer found ways to achieve this, allowing the development of devices to release controlled amounts of drugs.
Working with surgeons at Boston Children's Hospital, he developed the first substances that could block the spread of blood vessels in tumours - a process called angiogenesis.
His aim was to target anti-cancer drugs where they were most needed, to avoid harm to the whole body. Among his first inventions were "wafers" containing medication that could be inserted at the right locations, including brain tumours.
Prof Langer is known for bringing together researchers from many different disciplines ranging from chemical engineering - his original field - to patient care.
His design for cardiovascular stents which are coated in drugs has gone on to benefit about 10 million heart patients.
Combining materials science and medicine enabled him to make significant advances in tissue engineering - using synthetic polymers to guide cells into forming a wide range of tissues.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved this technique for making artificial skin for use on burn victims and people with diabetic skin ulcers. Trials of the growth of new cartilage and spinal cord repair are under way.
More recently Prof Langer has developed implants designed to release specific doses of drugs over a period of years - with the potential for the releases to be controlled remotely by wireless signals.
The first uses of these devices are planned to be for diabetes medication, female contraception and osteoporosis while the provision of malaria drugs and essential minerals are on the horizon too.
On the opposition faced by many of his inventions, Prof Langer said: "Conventional wisdom is not always right and to really invent things, to come up with ideas, you to have examine carefully the basis for that conventional wisdom, and a lot of inventions have come because people say, 'What I've read, isn't right' - and that's part of what we did.
"When I started doing a lot of this work in the 1970s, it probably was considered science fiction, in fact a lot of the people who reviewed our grants said we shouldn't get the funds because it was like fiction.
"But you keep pushing, you keep believing in your ideas and eventually they do become reality."
When asked how he would spend the prize money, Prof Langer said he would leave it to his wife to decide.
He will receive the award from the Queen later this year.
Follow David on Twitter | A pioneer of medical technologies that have benefited millions of people has become the latest winner of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. |
38248187 | But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard Burdge Jr did not rule out sealing specific documents, including those related to the couple's children.
Pitt and Jolie were not at the hearing at which Pitt's motion was rejected.
Jolie cited irreconcilable differences when she filed to end her marriage to the fellow actor in September.
Pitt and Jolie were together since 2005 and married for two years before their sudden split.
Pitt has filed for joint custody of the couple's six children, who are aged between eight to 15.
The judge said the court "recognises privacy rights of minor children and would be guided by what's in the minor children's best interest."
Last month an investigation into whether Pitt was abusive towards his son Maddox in September ended with no finding of wrongdoing.
The FBI subsequently confirmed Pitt would not be charged with any crime relating to an alleged incident on board a private flight from France to Los Angeles.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | A request by Brad Pitt to seal court documents in his custody and divorce proceedings involving Angelina Jolie has been rejected by a judge. |
34739606 | Media playback is not supported on this device
England took an early 2-0 lead in front of 44,393 in London, but failed to add to that tally as the world's top ranked team edged what was for large periods an attritional, defence-dominated match.
The match was tied 2-2 at the break, but Shaun Kenny-Dowall touched down in the corner shortly after the restart.
And after the video referee had ruled out a try for both teams, Jordan Kahu slotted up a decisive late drop-goal to seal victory for his team.
BBC pundit Jon Wilkin said the teams were "toothless in attack" during an opening 40 minutes that showcased some great defence but arguably a lack of attacking guile. Fellow pundit Brian Noble said it was gorilla v gorilla.
Gareth Widdop kicked an early penalty for England and Isaac Luke did likewise for his team in what were the only points of the opening 40 minutes.
England had certainly improved in defence from last week's terrible start in Hull that saw them fall 10-0 down and they defended their line with skill, structure and determination.
But they were assisted by some poor Kiwi kicking from inexperienced half-back pairing of Peta Hiku and Kodi Nikorima, who wasted several promising positions.
In wet conditions, it was largely one-out football and an opening half was almost a throwback to an earlier era rather than a reflection of the fast and athletic modern game.
When the hooter sounded at the break it was to appreciative applause by a crowd waiting for more.
The visiting side had 55% of the territory in the opening half and continued to dominate after the break, with Kenny-Dowall touching down in the right corner after his team finally started to stretch the England line.
The Kiwis forced numerous repeat sets - 14 in total in the match - while their opponents seemed unable to build any pressure.
Steve McNamara's men often came up with a pressure-reliving error and lacked the incisive cutting edge that saw them score 26 points last week.
However, there was one highly-debated moment late in the second half.
England thought they had scored a vital try under the sticks through James Graham after he touched down Josh Hodgson's grubber kick.
The players had all set up for the conversion, which would have levelled the scores at 8-8, as video referees Phil Bentham and James Child reviewed the action several times.
Eventually they ruled out the try, evidently ruling that the Canterbury Bulldogs prop had not grounded the ball properly. There were boos all around the stadium but BBC pundit Jonathan Davies said it was the right call.
The Kiwis also had a score ruled out when the increasingly impressive Nikorima - who was brought into the side as a late change from coach Stephen Kearney's original selection, replacing Tuimoala Lolohea - lost control of the ball short of the line.
But when Tahu's drop-goal sealed the win it was nothing less than his team deserved.
It was the first rugby league match at the Olympic Stadium and there was a strange atmosphere inside it, almost as though many here were new to the game and waiting for something to happen.
There were plenty of union shirts around the ground and Saturday was a chance to win over some converts, but it was hardly the sort of England performance to inspire a new generation.
That said, the Rugby Football League worked really hard to promote this fixture, with coach Steve McNamara and prop Tom Burgess repeatedly discussing how excited they were about playing there during numerous interviews in the week.
They talked about the "iconic value" and the "hallowed turf" where legends were made during the 2012 Olympics.
The weather undoubtedly had an impact on the nearby Fan Park, where there was live entertainment, face painters, games to play, the Super League trophy and numerous players - but also a slightly underwhelming feeling until the rain finally relented an hour before kick-off.
Nonetheless, after waiting two years for the return of international rugby league in England after the 2013 World Cup, it does seem as though the RFL is trying to build on what legacy remains from back then and ride on the back of the recent union tournament.
The final fixture of this three-match series is a sell out at Wigan. The RFL must be hoping that the weather is kinder next Saturday - and that England offer a lot more entertainment.
The third and final Test at Wigan next Saturday (kick-off 13:00 GMT). Victory for England will clinch their first series win since 2007.
You can watch the match live on BBC One from 12:45, listen on BBC Radio 5 live and follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website.
England: Hardaker, J Burgess, Bateman, Watkins, Hall, Widdop, Williams, Graham, Hodgson, Hill, Whitehead, Farrell, O'Loughlin.
Replacements: Roby, T. Burgess, Cooper, Ferres.
New Zealand: Tuivasa-Sheck, Nightingale, Kahu, Whare, S. Kenny-Dowall, Hiku, Nikorima, Bromwich, Luke, Moa, Proctor, Harris, Blair.
Replacements: Brown, Taupau, Matulino, Glenn.
Referee: Gerard Sutton (Australia)
Attendance: 44,393 | New Zealand deservedly defeated an under-par England at the Olympic Stadium to level the three-Test series and set up a thrilling decider at Wigan next Saturday. |
36057571 | Elizabeth Album took the pictures of director Billy Wilder and members of the cast in June 1969 while she was working for BBC show, Film 69.
The Loch Ness Monster made for The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, sank while being towed by a boat.
A new survey has found the prop 180m (590ft) down in the loch.
Mrs Album said: "I was working for Film 69 and we went up to Inverness to film the filming.
"The monster was still there. It was out on the water buzzing around behind a small motor boat.
"It was June and I remember it was boiling hot. It was very exciting at the time."
The 30ft (9m) model of the legendary monster has been seen for the first time in images captured by an underwater robot, called Munin and operated by Kongsberg Maritime.
Loch Ness expert Adrian Shine said the shape, measurements and location of what was shown in the sonar images pointed to the object being the lost prop.
Released in 1970, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was made in the US and UK, where filming was done at Loch Ness and also in a studio.
The film tells of the detective investigating the disappearance of an engineer. The case takes him to Loch Ness and an encounter with a monster.
Sir Robert Stephens played Holmes, Colin Blakely was Dr Watson and Sir Christopher Lee was the sleuth's brother, Mycroft Holmes.
Talented special effects artist Wally Veevers, whose other work included 2001: A Space Odyssey, Superman and Local Hero, led the building of the monster model.
Wilder is said to have comforted Veevers after watching his creation disappear into the loch.
The director had a new monster made - but just its head and neck - and moved the filming to a large water tank in a film studio. | Photographs have emerged of a Hollywood film's cast relaxing on the shores of Loch Ness before the production lost its four-tonne Nessie special effect. |
34803620 | 13 November 2015 Last updated at 08:44 GMT
The fires are bad news for the people and animals who live near the forests.
Wildlife experts are worried that up to a third of the world's orangutans could be at risk because of the fires.
Watch Ricky's report to find out how people are trying to put the fires out. | Huge forest fires have spread through Indonesia in Southeast Asia. |
36688097 | World champion Brennan, 31, beat the USA's Genevra Stone by half a length in a time of seven minutes 21.54 seconds with China's Duan Jingli claiming bronze.
Find out how to get into rowing with our special guide.
Brennan, bronze medallist at London 2012, has dominated the event leading up to the Olympic Games.
It was Australia's sixth gold of the Games and third rowing medal.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | Australian Kimberley Brennan comfortably won Olympic gold in the women's single sculls final in Rio. |
35791667 | In a goalless first half, Barnet goalkeeper Jamie Stephens was made to work hard to keep Oxford at bay.
But O'Dowda broke through in the second half, slotting in after a defensive error before running through from the half-way line to double the lead.
Barnet's Andy Yiadom had a shot saved by Oxford's Benjamin Buchel before Danny Hylton smashed in the third.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Barnet manager Martin Allen told BBC Radio London: "I thought we were excellent in the first half. We had a couple of good chances and their keeper made a couple of good saves.
"It was just disappointing to concede that goal so soon after half-time, and of course the game opened up a little bit and we all know how dangerous some of their players are.
"We still tried to attack, still tried to get one back. I always fancy if we do get one back we can come back and get another one, but it wasn't to be today." | Callum O'Dowda's brace at Barnet strengthened Oxford United's promotion hopes in League Two. |
39372585 | A health committee found that Jason Garnham told a call handler to "stop panicking" when they asked if they should keep calling the man back.
Alan Hamilton, 65, phoned the St John Ambulance on Guernsey at 18:13 on 9 July 2014, but the call was cut off.
There was no suggestion the failings contributed to the man's death.
Mr Hamilton was found dead in the groundsman's hut at King George V playing fields at 07:40 the following day.
An inquest found he died from ischemic heart disease, cardiac arrest and complications with diabetes, according to the Guernsey Press.
Matthew Kewley, representing the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), said that ambulance control assistant Ms Crocker took the short call and attempted to call Mr Hamilton - referred to only as "patient A" during the hearing held in Southampton, Hampshire - back twice but was unsuccessful.
He said: "Ms Crocker's evidence is that she asked the registrant [Mr Garnham] whether she should carry on trying patient A's number but was told by the registrant to 'stop panicking'.
"There is a significant factual dispute between Ms Crocker and the registrant. The thrust of the registrant's case is that he categorically stated to Ms Crocker that she needed to document the call in the relevant documentation."
A HCPC spokeswoman said: "Jason Garnham has been suspended from the HCPC register for a period of one year on the grounds of misconduct. All allegations were found to be proved."
The HCPC register is published to provide a list of health care professionals that meet the organisation's standards. | A paramedic has been suspended for 12 months for failing to follow up an aborted 999 call from a man who was later found dead. |
37251199 | The deficit has been partly caused by the Swans' increased wage bill, which has since been reduced this summer.
But the losses are not thought to have directly affected the club's transfer activity, with funds available to head coach Francesco Guidolin.
"I am happy with the squad I have available," Guidolin said.
"There is plenty of quality there and the club has done well to allow me to do my job in the right way.
"I am confident we can and will have a good season."
An American consortium, led by Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan, bought a controlling stake of 68% in the club in July.
The 2015-16 losses contributed to the eagerness of Swansea's existing directors to attract additional investment.
Some of Swansea's highest earners have left this summer, with Ashley Williams joining Everton, Andre Ayew moving to West Ham and Bafetimbi Gomis signing for Marseille on loan.
The Swans have signed strikers Borja Baston - for a club-record £15m fee - and Fernando Llorente, as well as midfielder Leroy Fer, defenders Mike van der Hoorn and Alfie Mawson and goalkeeper Mark Birighitti.
Swansea failed to make any further additions on transfer deadline day, though chairman Jenkins defended the club's business.
"The team has been in transition over the last year or two, with a number of players who have been the bedrock of our success in first achieving and then maintaining our Premier League status moving on for different reasons," he said.
"That transition, which happens to all clubs and proved the downfall of many, has to be managed.
"The recent majority shareholder takeover will help us secure that future, which is one of the reasons they came on board.
"Our accounts are due out next month and it will highlight a significant loss for last season.
"That's why we always have to strike a balance to work financially within the budgets we have." | Swansea City chairman Huw Jenkins says the club's next accounts, due to be released in October, will show "a significant loss for last season". |
26444132 | Bale, who has scored five times in his last seven Real Madrid games, was "raring to go", Coleman said.
"If he starts, we are looking to play him for 90 minutes. We will go into it with the right mentality and will try to win the game and start with our strongest team," he added.
Wales midfielder Joe Ledley is out, but skipper Ashley Williams is fit.
In September, soon after Bale's world-record move from Tottenham, Coleman defended his decision to rest the player as their 2014 World Cup qualifiers drew to a close.
But the 24-year-old's enthusiasm to be involved for a friendly at Cardiff City Stadium, following what Coleman described as a "brutal" derby against Atletico Madrid, is a boost for Wales.
He's a special talent, he's an incredible athlete and he has surprised me how quickly he has come up to the level that's needed to play at that level
"I was never worried about him," said Coleman.
"He has been here before when he's known he is not going to play and has made the trip anyway to be with us.
"It is great to have him. He was involved in a tough game at the weekend - the Madrid derby was brutal at times.
"My heart was in my mouth on one or two occasions, but he has come through that. He is here and raring to go."
A thigh problem and other niggling injuries affected Bale's initial progress in the Spanish capital, but Coleman believes the Cardiff-bred player has answered any critics.
"Not so long back I was reading that he hasn't really settled and he was getting a little bit of criticism from the Spanish media," he said.
"But if you look at his stats, I think he has 14 goals and about a dozen assists, which is not bad for his first year, considering he never had a pre-season.
"Every game I have seen, especially in the last month, he has looked his normal self.
"He's a special talent, an incredible athlete and he has surprised me how quickly he has come up to the level that's needed to play at that level."
The game against Iceland is the start of the build-up for Wales' Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
Wales have been drawn against Belgium, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Israel, Cyprus and Andorra in Group B.
Coleman's side also have a friendly confirmed against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on 4 June, and begin the Euro 2016 campaign at home to Andorra on 9 September.
Hennessey (Crystal Palace), Myhill (West Brom), Fon Williams (Tranmere); Collins (West Ham), B Davies (Swansea), Gabbidon (Crystal Palace), Gunter (Reading), Matthews (Celtic), Richards (Swansea), Ricketts (Wolves), Taylor (Swansea), A Williams (Swansea); Allen (Liverpool), Collison (West Ham), Huws (Birmingham), King (Leicester), Ledley (Crystal Palace), J Williams (Crystal Palace), Bale (Real Madrid), Church (Charlton), Easter (Millwall), Robson-Kanu (Reading), Vokes (Burnley).
Standby: Cornell (Swansea), J Wilson (Oldham), John (Cardiff), Henley (Blackburn), Nyatanga (Barnsley), Wiggins (Charlton), H Wilson (Liverpool), MacDonald (Bournemouth), Isgrove (Southampton), Lawrence (Yeovil), Morison (Millwall), C Davies (Preston). | Wales manager Chris Coleman says Gareth Bale could play the whole of the home friendly with Iceland on Wednesday. |
21759257 | Mr Fisker told BBC News he blamed "several major disagreements with the executive management on the business strategy".
The news follows a tricky year for the company, which currently only sells one model, the Karma petrol-electric plug-in hybrid.
In 2012, several fires and battery problems sparked recalls.
The company has also been embroiled in legal battles:
During last year's election campaign, Fisker was described as a "failure" by Republican candidate Mitt Romney, who was critical of the Energy Department's decision to extend a $529m (£355m) loan to Fisker in 2011.
Most of the loan was frozen last year after Fisker failed to meet production deadlines set out in the initial loans agreement.
So far, Fisker has sold a little more than 2,000 cars, but production was halted last year amid widespread concerns about the company's financial health.
Two years ago, Mr Fisker told BBC News he was initially gunning for annual sales of 15,000, though over time, this should rise to hundreds of thousands of cars.
Rumours abound that Fisker could soon be sold, possibly to the Chinese carmaker Dongfeng Motor or to Zhejiang Geely, which owns Sweden's Volvo Cars.
A sale could secure the funds Fisker would need to build its planned Atlantic model, which at about $55,000 should cost about half the price of a Karma.
Mr Fisker made his name in the motor industry as a designer, working for Aston Martin, BMW and Ford.
"Mr Fisker's departure is not expected to impact the company's pursuit of strategic partnerships and financing to support Fisker Automotive's continued progress as a pioneer of low-emission hybrid electric powertrain technology," the company said in a statement.
"The company recognises and thanks Mr Fisker for his service and many contributions as Fisker Automotive has progressed from start-up to a fully-fledged global automotive company." | Henrik Fisker, the founder of the Californian carmaker Fisker Automotive, has left the company. |
34369166 | A highly anticipated vote on the motion had been expected to take place on Wednesday.
But it failed to get the support it needed from activists in a ballot selecting the issues to be discussed.
Mr Corbyn will still have to convince his MPs and ministers to back nuclear disarmament when Parliament votes.
Some trade unions are against scrapping Trident because it will cost jobs but Mr Corbyn says Britain should ditch its "weapons of mass destruction".
Labour MPs are "likely" to get a free vote on renewing Trident when Parliament votes on the issue next year.
Mr Corbyn said Labour was an "open and democratic party and the members at conference have decided to discuss the issues that they want to debate this week.
"These are important issues like the NHS, the refugee crisis, mental health and housing."
Labour MP John Woodcock, who represents Barrow-in-Furness, where the Trident submarines are built, said it was a "sign many Labour supporters want to focus on public not re-run old battles that will split the party".
The eight issues selected for debate by Labour delegates are: Austerity and public services, employment rights, Europe, housing, the BBC licence fee, mental health, the NHS and the refugee crisis.
Analysis: Ross Hawkins, BBC political correspondent, in Brighton
Labour's big row about Trident has been delayed, not resolved.
A reckoning will come, probably when the House of Commons votes next year. Then, Jeremy Corbyn may well have to vote against some of his own frontbenchers, and perhaps see his view rejected by a majority of his MPs.
Would that amount to a new kind of politics, or a bitter blow to a new leader's authority? One shadow minister shrugs, baffled when the question is put.
For now, there is bad blood. Mr Corbyn is opposed not only by two huge unions but some senior colleagues. One describes a day that saw a vote on Trident talked up then axed by conference as an utter shambles. Some even thought they might have to resign over the issue here in Brighton.
So they are perplexed not to have heard more directly from their leader. There is talk of frontbenchers learning where he stands on this party-defining issue via Twitter.
As Mr Corbyn reaches out to new voters, some of his colleagues wish he would spend a bit more time talking to them, whether they are persuaded by his arguments or not.
Trident is the UK's sea-based nuclear weapons system - made up of submarines, missiles and warheads - and while the current generation will not begin to end their working lives until some time in the late 2020s, work on a replacement cannot be delayed because of the time it will take to complete.
Mr Corbyn, who is a longstanding anti-nuclear campaigner, said he hoped to do his "persuasive best" to get his deputy Tom Watson and other shadow cabinet members, such as shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn and shadow justice secretary Lord Falconer, to back him on Trident, but it would not be a "disaster" if there was a difference of opinion.
He said: "We are going to come to an accommodation of some sort."
Mr Watson, a former defence minister, told BBC Radio 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics: "Jeremy says he seeks to persuade us - I seek to persuade him too."
He added that in "modern politics... you simply cannot have homogeneous positions where 200 people follow a line on everything".
But former Labour leadership contender Chuka Umunna, who ruled out serving in the shadow cabinet because of differences with Mr Corbyn over issues including Trident, said it was "not plausible for us as an opposition not to have a position on the defence of the realm".
"I'm all for debate but, ultimately, we are going to have to have settled positions on things if people are to know what it is they are voting for," he told a fringe meeting.
In other conference developments: | Labour will not debate the case for scrapping Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system at its conference in Brighton this week. |
40374266 | The Indomitable Lions took the lead at the end of the first half when Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa scored his first international goal.
Australia's captain Mark Milligan equalised from the penalty spot in the 60th minute after Alex Gersbach was brought down inside the box.
The draw makes it very unlikely that the African champions will progress to the next round.
They face Germany in their final group game in Sochi on Sunday while Australia play Chile at the same time in Moscow.
The Cameroonians have to beat the reigning world champions and hope other results go their way. | Cameroon's hopes of progressing to the next stage of the Confederations Cup in Russia were dented by a 1-1 draw with Australia on Thursday. |
32589905 | The 44-year-old has been in a coaching role at Everton since leaving Conference side Southport, who he guided to the third round of this season's FA Cup, in January.
Brabin has previously managed Cambridge and Luton Town, guiding both clubs to the Conference play-off places.
Tranmere, without a manager since Micky Adams departed in mid-April, lost their League status with one game to go.
Alan Rogers and academy boss Shaun Garnett were put in caretaker charge following Adams' departure, but were unable to prevent the club being relegated out of the Football League with a 3-2 defeat at Plymouth on 25 April.
"I have had approaches from other clubs and declined them, but the Tranmere job is special," said Brabin.
"The chance to lead one of the three famous old Merseyside clubs back to where it belongs in the Football League is a fantastic challenge that is hard to resist."
Rovers chairman Mark Palios stated that Brabin was their "main target" to take over, but has not disclosed the length of his contract. | Relegated Tranmere Rovers have named Gary Brabin as their new manager. |
39734179 | Airdrie Savings Bank announced in January it was preparing to end all business activities.
The bank was founded in 1835 and ran out of a church and then two Airdrie shops until its first branch was opened in 1883.
But the bank said changes since the 2008 financial crisis had made it too difficult for it to survive.
At its peak, there were eight branches of the bank across North Lanarkshire, but five had closed even before January's announcement.
The Bellshill and Coatbridge branches will close on Friday and the bank will stop operating its current accounts.
The Airdrie HQ will be staffed until September to advise savers who have not already moved their money.
Rod Ashley, who has been the bank's chief executive for four years, told BBC Scotland: "The changes to banking that had happened as a result of the financial crisis back in 2008 have meant that the landscape's completely changed.
"The interest rate environment being particularly low means that savings banks find it very difficult to make the margin in order to survive.
"You really need to be bigger and have a bit of scale in order to generate sufficient revenue in order to survive now and, to an extent, that was a critical challenge that we faced at the bank."
Mr Ashley said the bank had worked through a "number of plans", but now had no option but to close.
Banking historian Prof Charles Munn said the closure of the UK's last independent savings bank represented the "end of an era".
"For people of my generation it was a very clear part of their Scottish culture," he said. "As soon as you were born your father opened an account for you in a Scottish savings bank."
Prof Munn, who has written a book about the bank, said Airdrie managed to resist the temptation to merge with other small banks in the 1970s and remain independent.
"Some fairly courageous decisions were made in the 1970s and 80s to stay away from that," he said.
"At that time... that looked to be the right decision to make because it had kept the bank independent.
"Gradually the few other banks disappeared either through merger or otherwise leaving Airdie really to be the only independent savings bank in the UK."
It it thought that 70 jobs are likely to be lost because of the closures.
Mr Ashley added: "This has been a particularly difficult time for the customers and the staff at the bank.
"It's been sad and that's the overwhelming emotion that's come through - that it's a sadness that the institution is in the case of winding down but understanding of the reasons why we've had to come to that decision." | The last two branches of Britain's only independent savings bank are due to close their doors for the last time. |
36832762 | Chris Correa, who illegally accessed Houston Astros' scouting reports and email system, must also pay $279,000 (£212,000) restitution.
The 35-year-old was sacked by the Cardinals last year after his arrest.
Correa pleaded guilty in January to five charges of unauthorised access of a protected computer.
The data breach was first reported in June 2014 when Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, who used to work for the Cardinals, raised the issue.
Correa, reading a letter in court before he was sentenced, said he was "overwhelmed with remorse and regret for my actions".
"I violated my values and it was wrong," he said.
"I behaved shamefully. The whole episode represents the worst thing I've done in my life by far."
Correa admitted that from March 2013 until at least March 2014 he hacked into the Astros scouting database and staff email accounts to access confidential information.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Justice Department officials said the Astros lost about $1.7m (£1.29m) because of the hacking.
Major League Baseball (MLB) will wait to receive the case details from federal authorities before deciding on any action against the Cardinals. | A former St Louis Cardinals scouting director has been jailed for 46 months for hacking into a rival team's computer system. |
25918348 | Lawyers for patients of Rob Jones have agreed with Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) that anyone maltreated by him over a 20-year period can claim.
Foot Anstey Solicitors, which is representing more than 100 women, said it was a "great stride forward".
The RCHT said it would do all it could to process claims "swiftly".
A statement said the trust was pleased the protocol had now been finalised.
Foot Anstey said about 1,000 women may have been harmed.
Mr Jones was suspended in May 2012 after a report from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists found a number of serious concerns about his practices.
They included patients having more than five times the number of surgical complications during key hole hysterectomy operations than would "usually be expected".
Mr Jones, who delivered Prime Minister David Cameron's youngest child Florence in 2010, voluntarily removed himself from the medical register in October 2012.
The following month, the RCHT announced a clinical review of 2,300 patients who had been seen by the surgeon in the previous two and a half years - many of whom received further treatment as a result.
As part of the agreed protocol, an independent assessment will now be open to any woman who was treated by him from 1992 to 2012.
A maximum amount of compensation has been set at £250,000.
Mike Bird of Foot Anstey said "about 1,000 women may have suffered harm" from their treatment.
One patient who is contemplating legal action, Claire Hill, had an operation done in 2010.
It went wrong and she had to return to him for a hysterectomy which left her with a "devastating injury" when a hole was torn in her urinary tract.
She said: "I think there's still a long way to go but the protocol is good news."
The Medical Defence Union said Mr Jones did not wish to comment. | A three-year time limit for medical negligence claims from women who suspect they were injured by a Cornwall gynaecologist has been lifted. |
34671094 | Collin Lieberg, 34, was spotted by guests and caught on CCTV angling his mobile phone under women's hemlines, the Old Bailey was told.
He blamed his behaviour on a nervous tic which made his arms, legs and sometimes whole body twitch.
He was found guilty of outraging public decency and will be sentenced at a later date.
Judge Christine Henson QC indicated he would receive a community order.
She adjourned sentencing for a report into whether Lieberg would benefit from a sex offenders' rehabilitation programme.
She said: "This is clearly a serious matter. It is a huge violation of privacy of those individuals. A community order is no detraction from the serious matter."
University of Warwick student Lieberg was at a wedding reception at the Oyster Shed pub near London Bridge on 26 July last year.
Describing himself and his wife as "socially awkward", Lieberg, of Hills Lane, Shrewsbury, said he had drunk up to nine glasses of wine during the evening, making him progressively more drunk.
When the best man, Leo Steele, confronted him, Lieberg said he was shocked at the allegation and found him "very confrontational", the court heard.
Mr Steele, a Canterbury Tales theatre producer, previously told the court that when asked directly if he had taken photos up women's skirts, Lieberg, a University of Warwick student, had told him "possibly".
Before handing over his phone for inspection, he had done more than unlock it, Mr Steele had said.
Jurors heard that no pictures from the wedding have been recovered from Lieberg's mobile handset. | A PhD student has been found guilty of taking lewd pictures up women's skirts at a wedding reception. |
36406076 | The regulator, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), said there had been public complaints that they prompted curiosity in "innocent children".
Pakistan is a socially conservative country and such commercials were already rare.
Last year a specific advert for Josh condoms was banned as "immoral".
Pakistan, the world's sixth most populous nation, has a lower rate of access to birth control than the average for the region, according to the World Health Organization. | Pakistani authorities have banned all broadcast advertisements for contraceptives. |
35861399 | The Championship's bottom club stated they had cleared the £2.2m debt on Friday and that has now been confirmed.
Funds are available after Dean Holdsworth's Sports Shield consortium and Ken Anderson's Inner Circle bought the club from Eddie Davies.
Bolton are 12 points from safety after the 6-0 loss to Bristol City.
"I can only apologise to all the fans that came down from Bolton," interim boss Jimmy Phillips told BBC Radio Manchester after the defeat.
"It was an embarrassing performance and all the players, who we spoke to after the game, said they were embarrassed as well. All of us know that is no way near good enough.
"There's 24 points left but it's certainly been made far harder by today's performance - not only the points difference but the spirit and damaging effect it's done on the morale and support." | Bolton Wanderers' winding-up petition from Revenue & Customs has been closed at the High Court after they paid their tax bill. |
20998397 | Paul Broadbent, previously an assistant chief constable at Nottinghamshire Police, is now chief executive of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA).
The GLA aims to protect workers in the agricultural industries, including Lincolnshire where there is a concentration of migrant workers.
Mr Broadbent said some are exploited.
"We are trying to protect people from serious and organised criminals," he said.
"They are very entrepreneurial, and they will bring people across from other parts of Eastern Europe, maybe, on the promise of good work, good pay, good wages, and none of that comes to fruition."
The GLA has previously described Spalding and Boston, both in Lincolnshire, as "hotspots" and based its first community enforcement officers there in 2010.
The association also protects workers in the horticultural, shellfish gathering and associated processing and packing industries.
It was set up in the wake of the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster, in which at least 21 Chinese cockle pickers drowned in rising tides.
Mr Broadbent said he was attracted to the GLA role because of the similarities with his previous experience.
He started his new role on 7 January and is based at the GLA offices in Nottingham, where a third of the GLA's staff are based. | The new head of a body which licenses gangmasters hopes his experience as a police officer will help him to protect migrant workers. |
35681614 | On Tuesday afternoon a large part of the building collapsed ahead of a planned demolition.
The Revd Hannah Reynolds of St Peter's Church, Didcot, said: "It's weighing very heavily on the community. It's a feeling of agony of not knowing."
A search operation is still under way at the site as rescuers try to locate the missing workers.
The exact cause of the collapse which claimed the life of Michael Collings, 53, from East Cleveland, area is still unknown.
Revd Hannah Reynolds, who also led prayers for the rescue workers at a service earlier, said: "It's been very shocking.
"We've had a number of things happen in Didcot in recent years and it's another tragedy that we're facing so there's almost an unbelief about it."
A book of condolence has also been opened at the town's Civic Hall.
The operation to recover the missing workers has involved sniffer dogs, listening devices and a thermal imaging drone. | Prayers have been said for three missing workers and another who died in the Didcot power station collapse. |
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