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35324034 | Passenger Warren Becker told local media that jewellery and $1,800 (£1,300) in cash was stolen from his bag while he slept on a flight from Johannesburg to Hong Kong last month.
SAA says there is a suspicion that a crime syndicate is targeting the route.
Three such thefts occurred over as many weeks in December, a spokesman added.
In 2014, there were thefts of $2.6m on flights to Hong Kong, according to official police figures.
The name and nationality of the blacklisted passenger have not been revealed.
He was not charged.
A fellow passenger alerted Mr Becker after seeing the alleged thieves remove his luggage from the overhead compartment and rifle through it, Traveller24 website reports.
Police boarded the plane and carried out searches on several suspects on landing in Hong Kong, but could not find any of the money, the site added.
The witness, who did not wish to be named, said she suspected that the money had been handed over to another accomplice on board, who had managed to give the waiting authorities the slip.
In another of the reported thefts, money was recovered, but the victims were not willing to hand it over to police for evidence to build a case, according to SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali.
A pilot for SAA quoted in the local Times newspaper, said that if the thefts continued, the airline "might have to start installing additional security measures on board such as CCTV cameras." | South African Airways (SAA) has blacklisted a passenger amid reports that gangs of thieves are operating 30,000 feet in the air on its flights. |
40105708 | The 27-year-old made 101 appearances for the U's over two seasons after joining from Exeter City.
However, he was left out for Oxford's final five matches of the season for unspecified "disciplinary reasons", according to manager Michael Appleton.
He had been out of contract, but Appleton said the club would trigger a clause in his deal to ensure a fee.
"I wanted the transfer to take place before I took my holiday so that I can relax before coming back to a lot of hard work in pre-season," Sercombe told Rovers' club website.
"As soon as I knew of Rovers' interest, there was only one place I wanted to go. People who know me will also know how much I wanted to come here. I'm very happy and can't wait to get started."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | Oxford United midfielder Liam Sercombe has joined fellow League One side Bristol Rovers for an undisclosed fee. |
35158366 | Income for the period came to $785m (£530m).
Future orders for deliveries from December to April 2016 - which is a key measure for Nike - also beat expectations, boosted by strong demand from China, Japan and North America.
Revenue was up 4% to $7.7bn.
The firm said by the end of November its future worldwide orders for footwear and clothing were up 20%, excluding currency changes.
Greater China made up 34% of that growth, while Japan made up 32% and North America 14%.
"Our powerful global portfolio of businesses, combined with strong financial discipline, continue to drive significant shareholder value," said chief executive Mark Parker.
"We see tremendous opportunity ahead as we enter an Olympic and European Championships year with a full pipeline of inspiring innovation for athletes everywhere."
Earlier this month, Nike signed a lifetime deal with American basketball star LeBron James.
Mr James has been with Nike since 2003 when he signed a $90m (£59.7m) contract with the firm.
The sports star's latest deal is believed to be the first lifetime contract ever signed by Nike. | Nike, the world's leading maker of sporting goods, reported a 20% year-on-year rise in net profit for the three months ending November. |
36579467 | A campaign spokeswoman said Corey Lewandowski would no longer be working on it and said the team was grateful to him "for his hard work and dedication".
Speaking on CNN, he did not deny being fired, replying "I don't know" when asked why he was let go.
He oversaw the New Yorker's unlikely triumph in the primary contests.
The exact reason for Mr Lewandowski's departure is not yet clear but he denied it was to do with his abrasive style.
His departure comes as the businessman faces strong resistance from senior members of his own party over his strident tone, hardline immigration policy and falling poll numbers.
Mr Lewandowski was not escorted from the building as some reported but accompanied by a "friend from the campaign", he told CNN, saying it had been a privilege to work on the team.
He also denied he had not been getting along with top Trump strategist Paul Manafort and the Trump children.
Mr Lewandowski has had a contentious relationship with the press. Earlier this year, he was charged with battery after allegedly yanking a female reporter out of Mr Trump's way after a campaign event. The charges were dropped.
One Trump campaign staff member told NBC News that the campaign was not briefed on Mr Lewandowski's firing and that right now there is "bedlam in the Trump campaign. No one knows what is happening".
Republicans have started to distance themselves from Mr Trump following his personal attacks against a Hispanic federal judge overseeing two lawsuits against him.
Among his critics is Speaker of the House and top-ranked Republican Paul Ryan, who appeared to leave the door open to a possible revolt at next month's convention.
When asked on Sunday about reports that party delegates may rebel against voting for Mr Trump at the convention, he said: "They write the rules, they make the decisions."
Mr Trump is suffering in political polls lately, with most voters viewing him as "strongly unfavourable".
He is likely to face Democrat Hillary Clinton in November's election, and there were reports over the weekend that her campaign is way ahead in spending in the key swing states. | The campaign manager for presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been fired. |
36781982 | The musician's life as a collector was something he kept almost entirely hidden from public view.
But now, nearly 300 works by artists including Damien Hirst, Henry Moore and Marcel Duchamp will go on display at Sotheby's in London, before being sold at auction in November.
The paintings are collectively expected to fetch more than £10m.
"David Bowie's collection offers a unique insight into the personal world of one of the 20th Century's greatest creative spirits," said Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby's Europe.
Most of the works are by 20th Century British artists, with pictures by Stanley Spencer, Patrick Caulfield and Peter Lanyon.
Born and raised in South London, David Bowie was also drawn to chroniclers of the capital's streets such as Leon Kossoff and Frank Auerbach.
In 1998 Bowie told the New York Times, "My God, yeah - I want to sound like that looks," in response to the work of Auerbach.
He was also fascinated by British landscapes and collected works by artists including John Virtue. Seven of his monochrome works are included in the sale.
But the broad ranging collection is not limited to British art. Among the more maverick works is a piece by Duchamp - A Bruit Secret - in which he placed a ball of string between two brass plates, with an unknown object hidden in the middle. It is expected to fetch up to £250,000.
The American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat's graffiti-style painting Air Power is the most valuable lot in the auction, with an estimated value of between £2.5m - £3.5m.
Bowie bought the painting a year after he played the role of the artist's mentor, Andy Warhol, in the 1996 film Basquiat.
The artist and writer Matthew Collings says the collection reflected Bowie's personality.
"I would characterise it as bohemian, romantic, expressive, emotional art. Art that's filled with feelings," he said, adding it was "vivid and exciting" and was "art that calls for a gut reaction, that's visceral, that's immediate, that you feel excited by straight away".
Although Bowie told the BBC in 1999 "The only thing I buy obsessively and addictively is art," little had been known about his life as an art collector.
He did not buy on the basis of reputation or for investment, but because of his own personal response to each artist and their work.
Collings thinks he kept his collection private because "he wasn't pretentious about it".
"I think he was an absolutely genuinely enthusiastic collector who didn't collect to be swanky or to big himself up," he said.
"He really collected because he had a use for that work and it was a personal use. He looked at those things and they changed his state of being."
Bowie loved the art world. In 1994, in an unusual move for a rock superstar, he joined the editorial board of a quarterly arts magazine Modern Painters where he was introduced to the novelist William Boyd.
The pair became friends and Boyd said it was clear Bowie was not just "a celebrity on the board - he genuinely had something to contribute".
"He did go to art school. He wanted to talk very seriously about artists, painters, themes and movements. So it was not a hobby or a whim, it was a very serious passionate interest."
Boyd also thinks the art world appealed to Bowie because it was so different from his music career.
"He could be himself, David Jones rather than David Bowie. He found a forum and a world that he could move about in that had nothing to do with his fame. I think for a lot of famous people, if you can find that world, it's actually tremendously gratifying and fulfilling."
Bowie went on to launch an art book publishing company called 21. His time there is probably best remembered for one of the most famous art hoaxes in history.
He hosted a glamorous launch party at Jeff Koons's studio in Manhattan for a book celebrating the life and work of an American artist called Nat Tate. The catch? He did not exist. He was invented by Boyd.
"Without his participation it would never have been as big a hoax as it turned out to be," Boyd said, adding he thinks Bowie enjoyed the challenge of trying to pull it off.
"Everybody loves a hoax and I think to fool a bunch of self-important intellectuals is no bad thing from time to time."
As well as 267 paintings, more than 120 items of 20th Century furniture and sculpture will also be auctioned. Among them, a striking 1960s stereo cabinet created by the Italian designers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni.
Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Bowie listened to music on such an unconventional record player.
Proceeds from the sale will go to Bowie's family. Although lack of space, not money, is the reason they have decided to sell.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram at bbcnewsents, or email [email protected]. | The private art collection of David Bowie is to be revealed to the public for the first time. |
40416025 | James Goodfellow, who will be 80 this year, is the man who first patented automated cash machines that use pin numbers - but for years the only credit he received was a £10 bonus.
He lodged his patent in May 1966, more than a year before the first cash machine was ceremonially opened in a blaze of publicity.
On 27 June 1967, comedy actor Reg Varney took money from a cash machine dispenser at a Barclays branch in Enfield, north London, but this was not the ATM card and Pin system we know today.
This machine was developed by John Shepherd-Barron, who was born in India, to Scottish parents, and lived much of his later life in Portmahomack in Ross-shire.
Shepherd-Barron's ATM beat Goodfellow's machines, which were installed at branches of Westminster Bank (later to become NatWest), by just a month.
So Shepherd-Barron became known as the "man who invented the cash machine" and not Goodfellow, the man who patented the system we use today.
The two devices were very different.
Shepherd-Barron's did not use plastic cards, instead it used cheques that were impregnated with carbon 14, a mildly radioactive substance.
The machine detected it, then matched the cheque against a Pin (personal identification number).
Shepherd-Barron worked for banknote manufacturer De La Rue, which never patented its machine.
Before he died in 2010, he told a BBC documentary that he didn't patent the idea because he did not want fraudsters knowing how the system worked.
He also said that the chief executive of Barclays had been quick to say yes to the idea when they had discussed it after a couple of Martinis.
Shepherd-Barron then had to go back to his team and get them to develop his idea.
However, it is Mr Goodfellow's plastic card and PIN which became the forerunner of the system we recognise today.
In recent years, his claim to have been the real inventor of the cash machine has been recognised more widely.
Mr Goodfellow now does not like to talk about the years in which Mr Shepherd-Barron got all the credit but in a 2009 BBC documentary he said it "really does raise my blood pressure".
The engineer, from Paisley, told BBC Scotland: "My patent was licensed by all the manufacturers. They thought that was the way to go.
"The race to get it on to the street was not as important.
"Getting it right was the answer, not getting it first."
Mr Goodfellow was working as development engineer for Glasgow firm Kelvin Hughes in the mid-1960s when he got involved in a project to design a machine that could dispense money to customers when banks were closed.
He told BBC Scotland that the driving force for the move was unions putting pressure on banks to close on Saturday mornings.
He said most people worked during the week and could not get to the bank, which closed at 3pm on weekdays.
Many people went to the bank on Saturday mornings but the unions were pressing for staff to work a five-day week.
The banks wanted a way to give working people access to their money when they were closed.
Mr Goodfellow said: "The problem with cash machines was access.
"How would a genuine customer, and only a genuine customer, get money out of it?"
They considered biometrics - fingerprints, voice prints or retinal scans.
"But in the 60s the technology to do this was not there, it was impossible," Mr Goodfellow said.
So the next approach was an "exotic token", a piece of paper or plastic with "uncommon characteristics" that a machine would recognise.
His "eureka moment" came when he hit upon the idea of the Personal Identification Number (PIN).
This was the vital security measure that would make the system work, the number would be known to the customer and the bank and could be related to the card but not read by anyone else.
Goodfellow's invention was patented in May 1966, more than a year before his rival unveiled the first ATM in London.
But he still had a battle to make his concept reality.
"We had to meet some of the banks demands which were pretty severe," he said.
"They had a million customers and they wanted 2,000 machines across the UK.
"They wanted any one of the one million customers to be able to access any one of the 2,000 machines.
"You've got to remember there was no IT network in those days. The banks had no IT equipment. The bank's branches had nothing.
"We spent a lot of time developing the code. We had to submit something like 1,000 of these cards to a consultant, who would try to decipher it."
The cards he used were one quarter of a "holorith" punch-card, which just happens to be the same size as today's credit card. It contains just 30 bytes of data.
His patent for the card and Pin ATM was licensed for millions but Mr Goodfellow, as a humble technician, did not own the rights and did not get rich from his invention.
He said he signed patents for 15 countries around the world and got a dollar for each - worth about £10.
Mr Goodfellow left the firm in 1967 when it moved its operations to England and he went to work for IBM.
There have been arguments for years over who should officially go down in history as "the inventor of the ATM".
In 2005, Mr Shepherd-Barron received an OBE in the New Year honours list for services to banking as the "inventor of the automatic cash dispenser".
However, since then Mr Goodfellow, the man who patented the invention, has regained his place.
In 2006 Mr Goodfellow received an OBE for services to banking as "patentor of the personal identification number".
He has also been placed in the Scottish engineering hall of fame alongside John Logie Baird, the inventor of the television.
Mr Goodfellow even makes an appearance in a Home Office guide book aimed at those seeking UK citizenship.
The book, called Life in the United Kingdom, has about "great British inventions of the 20th century".
It says: "In the 1960s, James Goodfellow (1937-) invented the cash-dispensing automatic teller machine (ATM) or 'cashpoint'." | The world's first ATM was unveiled 50 years ago today but the inventor of the bank cash machine has been a source of dispute for years, with two Scottish men claiming the credit. |
34015180 | Llandudno RNLI lifeboat was called to the vessel 6 miles (10km) off the Great Orme, Conwy county at 09:00 BST on Friday.
By 09.50 BST the man had been winched into a coastguard rescue helicopter and was flown to hospital in Bangor. | A sailor has been airlifted to hospital after falling ill on his yacht off the north Wales coast. |
36105245 | Pioneering research in the field of cognitive neuroimaging has revealed how brains process what we see.
The work has been led by Prof Philippe Schyns, the head of Glasgow's school of psychology, with more than a little help from Voltaire and Salvador Dali.
How Dali's mind worked is a matter of continuing conjecture. But one of his works has helped unlock how our minds work. Or more precisely, how our brains see.
Prof Schyns, who is also Director of the Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, explains: "Our main interest was to study how the brain works as an information processing machine.
"Typically we observe brain signals but it is quite difficult to know what they do.
"Do they code information from the visual world - do they not? If so, how?
"Do they send information from one region of the brain to another region of the brain? If so, how?"
Which is where Salvador Dali comes in. And for that matter Voltaire.
In 1940, Dali completed his painting "Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire".
And there at the heart of the image is Voltaire. Or is it?
His bust is what some people see. Others see Voltaire's "eyes" as the heads of two figures - usually a pair of nuns.
This visual ambiguity was of course Dali's intention. But by asking test subjects which image they saw - or neither - the researchers were able to map how the brains processed the information.
As expected, the right side of the brain handled the left side of the image and vice versa.
But Prof Schyns says the research revealed much greater detail: "We found very early on, after around 100 milliseconds of processing post-stimulus, that the brain processes very specific features such as the left eye, the right eye, the corner of the nose, the corner of the mouth.
"But then subsequent to this, at about 200 milliseconds {...} we also found that the brain transfers features across the two hemispheres in order to construct a full representation of the stimulus."
Tracking how our eyes communicate with our brain, and then how our brain sends signals to itself, is the result of 15 years' work by Prof Schyns and his colleagues. It has been funded by backers including the Wellcome Trust.
And there's a lot more.
A compelling analogy is with Bletchley Park. The wartime allies were able to monitor Nazi radio traffic, but it took the work of Alan Turing and his colleagues at Bletchley to crack the code and find out what the signals actually meant.
The 21st Century Glasgow researchers have similarly cracked the brain's code, revealing the algorithms the brain uses to send and process information.
So is Glasgow University the Bletchley Park for the brain? It's an analogy with which Prof Schyns is comfortable.
"Prior to this research people would know that two brain regions communicate - as the allies knew the Germans were doing in World War Two.
"But prior to the enigma of Turing people did not know what they were communicating about."
Now with the brain, as with the Enigma codes, we are able to track with precision where, when and how information is processed.
Prof Schyns says there are many possible applications: in fundamental brain research, in dealing with conditions like stroke in which brain processes are disrupted, and perhaps in helping new generations of robots see the world in the same way we do.
Inevitably, though, more research is required.
We may have cracked the code and tracked the images to the area where they are processed.
But how do our brains then decide whether that is Voltaire - or two nuns? We don't yet know.
Indeed some people think one of the nuns has a beard, so maybe they're two Dutch merchants.
Whatever you think, it's your decision. But science is getting closer than ever to working out how you made it. | Scientists at Glasgow University have established a world first by cracking the communication code of our brains. |
38928615 | Since March 2016, just 57 tests have been done on La Liga players from clubs not competing in Europe and none at all in the country's second division.
Spain's anti-doping body (AEPSAD) was declared non-compliant by the World Anti-Doping Agency in March 2016.
Wada hoped Fifa or Uefa could take on the country's drug testing in the interim but no agreement was struck.
"The lack of testing in a country with one of the leading football leagues worldwide for a period of almost 12 months is alarming," said Wada.
"It will do little to instil confidence in clean sport at a time when it is needed most."
AEPSAD responded by saying it expects testing to resume before the end of the month, once the new Spanish government approves WADA's global code.
A Wada-accredited laboratory in Madrid was suspended in June and was prohibited "from carrying out any Wada-related anti-doping activities including all analyses of urine and blood samples" after missing a deadline to make changes to its testing procedures.
AEPSAD has confirmed that they asked Fifa and Uefa to sign an agreement to take over testing during the suspension but that both declined as they felt it was outside their area of responsibility.
Wada described that as a "deeply disappointing" move which "prevented effective anti-doping programs from being run at the national level in Spain in a number of sports" during this period of non-compliance.
However, La Liga clubs playing in Europe and the Spanish national team have been subject to testing by Uefa and Fifa, respectively.
BBC sports editor Dan Roan
Given the global status of La Liga's clubs and star players, it will dismay many that literally no valid drugs testing has been carried out in Spanish football by the country's national anti-doping agency for almost a year - and that both Fifa and Uefa failed to step in to help.
For comparison, last season, 799 tests were carried out by UKAD on Premier League players.
The reputation of Spanish sport has already been seriously dented by the Operation Puerto blood-bags scandal, and this is another blow. | The absence of drug testing in Spanish football in the past 11 months has "alarmed" the World Anti-Doping Agency. |
35672974 | The 130th AGM of The IFAB will take place at St. David's Hotel in Cardiff on Saturday, 5 March and Infantino is expected to attend.
The Uefa secretary general earned 115 votes in yesterday's selection process, 27 more than closest rival Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa.
Infantino led first round voting with 88, including support from Wales.
Infantino has succeeded fellow Swiss Blatter, who had led Fifa since 1998 and stood down in 2015 and was later suspended from football for six years for breaching ethics guidelines.
The FAW was represented in Zurich by chief executive Jonathan Ford. | New Fifa president Gianni Infantino may make his first major decisions in Cardiff. |
38897679 | Anthony Grainger, 36, was shot in a car park in Culcheth, Cheshire, in March 2012 in an operation planned by Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
Officers believed the father-of-two was in a group planning an armed robbery.
PC Rachel Griffiths told Liverpool Crown Court she had made the profile in relation to a 2011 operation.
The inquiry heard that the profile was passed to the Force Robbery Unit in February 2012, but officers were told they would need to update it themselves.
PC Griffiths said she would expect any document used to brief firearms officers to be "bespoke".
She added: "I would expect the briefing to be done from a completely different document, not this one."
Before his death, Mr Grainger, from Bolton, had been under surveillance, set up to target an organised crime gang believed to be conspiring to commit armed robberies.
He was unarmed when he was shot through the windscreen of a stolen Audi in a car park on 3 March 2012.
PC Griffiths said the profile she prepared was about an investigation into the burglary of "sensitive information" from a serving police officer's car.
"That was September 2011, this was now February 2012, so it would be their responsibility to check any intelligence," she said.
The inquiry has heard that an Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation found the 2012 operation relied heavily on "out of date" intelligence in relation to Mr Grainger and that briefings to officers contained "inaccurate information".
PC Griffiths admitted she had made a "mistake" in the profile, where she inaccurately stated that Mr Grainger had been charged with a 1995 armed robbery at a Post Office and that the charge had been ordered to lie on file.
The inquiry heard Mr Grainger had been found not guilty of offences of conspiracy to rob and robbery at a trial - while his brother, Stuart, had been charged with attempted robbery and that charge had been ordered to lie on file.
The force has said it "maintains that the suspicions held by those investigating Mr [Anthony] Grainger were both reasonable and correct".
The marksman who shot him had earlier told the inquiry he thought officers were "in extreme danger" as he believed Mr Grainger "was reaching for a firearm".
The public inquiry, chaired by Judge Thomas Teague, resumed on Tuesday after hearing two weeks of evidence in closed session.
It is expected to continue until April. | A policewoman who prepared a profile on a man fatally shot by an officer has said she never expected it to be used to brief a firearms operation. |
39565744 | Scott Marsden died in hospital after being taken ill at the fight in Leeds, in March.
The inquest into his death was opened and adjourned in Wakefield.
Coroner Jonathan Leach, said initial medical inquiries reported his death, on 12 March, as "unexplained pending further investigation".
Live updates and more stories from Yorkshire
Scott had been competing at Leeds Martial Arts College the night before, when he collapsed in the last round of the five-round contest, the inquest was told.
Mr Leach was told the bout had been full-contact, against someone of similar size and age, and Scott was "wearing appropriate protective equipment".
Emergency treatment was given by on-site medics and paramedics were called but Scott died the following day at Leeds General Infirmary.
Scott's family did not attend Wakefield Coroner's court, where the inquest was adjourned to a date yet to be fixed.
Scott, from Sheffield, started entering competitions at the age of eight.
He trained at the Marsden's All Styles Kickboxing club in Hillsborough, that was run by members of his family, and was a pupil at Forge Valley School.
Speaking after his death Dale Barrowclough, the school's head teacher, said: "Scott was a very popular young man among pupils and staff alike and it is without doubt that he had a very bright sporting future ahead of him."
In the wake of his death Jon Green, England president of the World Kickboxing Association, criticised the response by emergency services that were also called on the night.
But Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: "All of our staff worked tirelessly to provide the patient with the best possible care and transport him to hospital for further treatment."
The British Kickboxing Council has said the tragedy demonstrated how the sport, that does not have a UK governing body, needs regulation. | An investigation into what caused the death of 14-year-old kickboxer who collapsed during a national title bout remains inconclusive, an inquest heard. |
37567402 | Charlene Colechin, 18, described how her organs failed, causing her "to die" until doctors managed to save her.
The hair stylist, from near Chesterfield in Derbyshire, has been in hospital for a month and spent nine days in a medically induced coma.
She still faces surgery to remove her toes and possibly her feet.
Speaking from Sheffield Hospital, Miss Colechin said she felt lucky to be alive.
"I was screaming because I was in that much pain," she said.
"I kept throwing up, then I had a really bad headache like a migraine, and all my body was aching."
Miss Colechin had bacterial meningitis - which is rarer but more serious than viral meningitis.
She said she had been vaccinated, but the jab did not protect against the type of meningitis she had.
Claire Donovan of Meningitis Now said the rash on Miss Colechin's body would have been caused by septicaemia, which some people get as a result of certain meningitis bacteria.
Source: Meningitis Now
Paramedics were called out on 6 September but thought the teenager had flu because she did not have any marks.
However, her condition worsened and marks appeared the following day, when paramedics rushed her to hospital.
"Within minutes I was on a drip in the ambulance on the way to Chesterfield Hospital," she said.
"I was in a coma for nine days because all my organs were failing.
"I did die but obviously they brought me back."
She is now waiting for tests to see what parts of her feet will need to be amputated.
"My heels are black," she said. "That could mean dead tissue, which could be infected and which could go up my legs."
She hopes that sharing her photos will prevent other people from suffering the life-changing effects of the disease. | A teenager who nearly died from meningitis has shared photos of her rash-covered body in an attempt to raise awareness of the disease. |
34012980 | He is accused of taking $5m (£3.2m) in bribes to secure contracts with the state oil giant, Petrobras.
Mr Cunha denies the allegations and says they are politically motivated. He is an outspoken critic of President Dilma Rousseff.
Charges have been submitted against ex-President Fernando Collor de Mello.
Mr Collor de Mello was in power between 1990 and 1992, when he resigned hours before the Senate was due to vote on his impeachment for corruption.
Brazil's Attorney General, Rodrigo Janot, has accused Mr Cunha of corruption and money laundering.
The charges against Mr Collor de Mello have not been disclosed.
He was on a previous list of people under investigation over the Petrobras corruption scandal. He has also denied any wrongdoing.
Mr Collor de Mello's office has posted a message on Facebook accusing the attorney general of "playing for the media".
"Everything could have been clarified had the senator been given the right to examine the accusations and offer his explanations," reads the post.
Mr Collor de Mello says he is "the main victim of this plot".
The Supreme Court will now have to decide whether to accept the charges.
As congressmen, both men would be tried by the Supreme Court.
Mr Cunha said earlier this week that he would remain in his post as Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies even if he was indicted.
"I am not going to stand down in any way. I am going to carrying on doing the job I was elected to to by the majority of the House," he said.
Dozens of politicians, businessmen and civil servants have been charged over the past year in connection with the Petrobras scandal.
The corruption allegations and Brazil's economic crisis have helped push Ms Rousseff's popularity to record low figures.
She was head of Petrobras for several years but has not been implicated in the scandal.
Last month, Mr Cunha left the biggest party in the governing coalition, PMDB, in order to join a campaign calling for Ms Rousseff's impeachment.
Ms Rousseff, from the left-wing Workers Party, was re-elected in October to a second four-year term.
Her supporters say calls for her impeachment amount to a coup attempt by right-wing politicians defeated in last year's polls.
Mass pro-government demonstrations were held across the country on Thursday evening. | Brazilian prosecutors investigating a major corruption scandal have filed charges against the speaker of the lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha. |
38847405 | The 2012 Olympic champion, 30, will meet an opponent yet to be named on the David Haye v Tony Bellew undercard.
Taylor, who stopped Karina Kopinska on debut in November and out-pointed Viviane Obenauf two weeks later, is currently training in America.
She said: "It's the start of a very big year for me and there are big plans but I need to keep winning and performing."
Taylor, who won world championship gold on five occasions, added: "I think people are really excited about the Haye-Bellew fight and the rivalry between those guys and as a boxer these are the kind of nights you want to be a part of.
"It's a massive stage for me and I'm really looking forward to it."
WBC cruiserweight champion Bellew, 34, will step up in weight to meet former world champion Haye at heavyweight, with both fighters consistently goading one another on social media during the build-up to the bout.
Also on the undercard, Sam Eggington faces a step-up in class against former two-weight world champion Paulie Malignaggi, while Liverpool's Derry Mathews challenges WBC silver champion Ohara Davies at lightweight. | Ireland's Katie Taylor will fight for the third time as a professional at London's O2 Arena on 4 March. |
37697460 | For some it's Britain's exit from the European Union. For others it's the prospect of Brexit being thwarted. For others still, it's whether the Chinese economy will hold up, what the outcome of the US presidential election will be or the risk of artificial intelligence taking over your job.
So what's the best way to handle the inevitable anxiety that goes hand-in-hand with all that uncertainty?
Will Borrell studied that anxiety up close after the Brexit vote in the UK earlier this year.
He manages a bar called Ladies & Gents which, as its name suggests, is located in a former public toilet at a busy junction in north London.
Before the vote, he says, things went very quiet. Then, on the evening after the shock decision to leave was announced, people came pouring back into his bar. Londoners, unlike most of the rest of the country, largely voted to remain in the EU.
"We're talking John Wayne at the bar," he told the BBC's Business Daily programme.
"You know, [saying] 'leave the bottle', like a cowboy. They were really going for it. It was Bacchanalian, end-of-the-world drinking."
This is not to suggest that hitting the bottle is the answer to quelling anxiety. Rather it's to illustrate that people are not very good at dealing with uncertainty, whether economic, political or otherwise.
The evidence is not just anecdotal. Studies have shown that, given a choice, people will opt for a definite electric shock now rather than the risk of a possible electric shock at some unknown time later. It seems that it's the not knowing that gets to us.
"It's known as ambiguity aversion," says David Spiegelhalter, professor of the public understanding of risk at Cambridge University, and president-elect of the Royal Statistical Society.
"People are much happier with known risks, when they know what the options are and what the chances are."
How to survive at work: The Business Daily team explores life in the office
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That's where statistics come to the rescue. There is something very reassuring about putting a number on things and statistics can convert some uncertainties into measurable risk. It could be as simple as calculating the probability of rain tomorrow or the probability of surviving a disease.
But some uncertainties are subject to so many variables - those infamous "unknown unknowns" cited by former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in 2002 - that they are by their very nature untameable.
"When it comes to the economy, when it comes to politics, when it comes to these really complex things, especially when you're operating against an opponent, it's very dangerous to delude yourself that you've tamed uncertainty and turned it into chance," Prof Spiegelhalter says.
Nowhere is that more true than in combat. In fact, it's often said that war is the realm of uncertainty, what's sometimes called the "fog of war".
So how do soldiers prepare for it? The man to ask is US Army Lt Col Steven Gventer who was in the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City in Iraq during the siege of 2004, when Shia militia staged an uprising against coalition forces.
Even before our interview started, I got a sense of what his answer might be. Col Gventer was scheduled to speak to me from a recording studio in Germany where he's now stationed, and his side made us sound check the line twice in the days before the interview (slightly alarming for us journalists who are used to winging it).
"One of the things we try to do is to cut down on the number of variables that we don't understand or we haven't prepared for," he says. "To minimise the number of variables that might hurt us - or ruin an interview, as the case may be."
In effect, soldiers make a habit out of continuous preparation, and subordinates are trained to make decisions independent of minute-by-minute supervision.
In the end, it becomes so ingrained that they stage team debriefs even after the most innocuous occasions such as family-day army events. Nothing is left to chance and everything is part of the learning curve.
It's not a strategy the rest of us could readily emulate, but then we're unlikely to find ourselves in the midst of a battle grappling with life-and-death situations.
So where does that leave us with our more mundane uncertainties? Questions like: Will I lose my job? Will my marriage last? Will my children be happy?
Would we even want to know the answers? A life devoid of any uncertainty would surely be weighed down by monotonous continuity. Any author or film director will tell you that if there is no uncertainty, there is no story. It's uncertainty that keeps us engaged.
But stories, it seems, also serve another purpose, particularly when it comes to decision-making.
At the height of the financial crisis in 2007, Prof David Tuckett, director of University College London's Centre for the Study of Decision-Making Uncertainty, was researching how money managers made investment decisions in the midst of financial and economic chaos.
He found that their decisions weren't based solely on hardcore research and calculations, but also on the stories the money managers told themselves. They created a narrative around the outcome of their actions and convinced themselves about it.
"In effect, the narrative removed the reason not to do it," he says.
It's not just a quirk of money managers. Most of us script our own stories for everyday decisions from buying a house to where we choose to go on holiday.
What's key, Prof Tuckett says, is our state of mind when we do it and whether we allow ourselves to be guided by curiosity.
"Arrogance is the opposite of curiosity," he says. "So to make good decisions you really need to be someone who's willing to look at things that are difficult.
"And if you get knowledge or information that makes you feel uncomfortable, rather than run away, you need to pursue those doubts."
In an ideal world you'd seek out expert advice to lay those niggling doubts to rest.
Or if that doesn't appeal, you could always take your cue from the former UK Justice Minister Michael Gove.
In the run-up to the Brexit vote he declared that the public had "had enough of experts".
For more from Manuela and the Business Daily team, listen at 08:32 GMT each weekday on BBC World Service or download the podcast and check out episodes and programme highlights here. | These days there's no shortage of things to keep you awake at night, wherever you stand on the political spectrum. |
36312934 | The Stoke City boss came within one game of reaching the 1986 and 1994 World Cups and as manager almost took Wales to Euro 2004.
While acknowledging the contribution of stars like Gareth Bale, Ashley Williams and Aaron Ramsey, Hughes has been impressed by the team that carried Wales to Euro 2016 - a feat that, on Monday, is expected to bring manager Chris Coleman a two-year contract extension.
"Right from the start you could sense that there was something special happening and they got the job done at the key moments," Hughes told BBC Radio Wales Sport.
"That was something my teams and the teams I was involved in [as a player] weren't able to do."
Hughes added: "With this group of players, they've been together a long time and you sense there could be at least one more tournament out of them after the European Championship.
"Gareth has the ability to change games and he's done that on numerous occasions for Wales by being the difference in key games when you need your players to produce."
Hughes scored in the final 1986 World Cup qualifier against Scotland in a highly-charged game which the Scots drew 1-1, ending Wales' hopes of qualification.
Scotland boss Jock Stein collapsed just before full time in the game and subsequently died of a heart attack, something which Hughes reflects on.
"We knew that it was a serious situation that developed. The football itself and the game went into insignificance as it would do," he added.
"We were disappointed because of the result but in the wider scheme of things there are more important things on the night."
Wales' 58-year wait to reach an international tournament made it a difficult task for Hughes to deal with in his time as a player and manager.
"We had to accept that the longer it went on, the more difficult it became. Because we're a lower-seeded nation, invariably we were the fourth seed out of five," he said.
"That meant that you always had to overcome about three outstanding teams that on paper were better resourced and had better talent available to them."
Hughes was appointed as Wales manager in 1999 as replacement for Bobby Gould, when he was still representing his country as a player, but needed the support of some of the older members of the squad at first.
"I had a lot of good will when I got the job because the lads had gone through a period where it was hard work to play for Wales," he added.
"I had no experience in terms of managing a group and I needed a little bit of time and the support of the senior guys."
The defeat by Russia in the second leg of the Euro 2004 qualifying play-offs affected Hughes, and he feels his inexperience was a contributory factor.
"I never watched that game back. It was just one of those games where looking back, you think would I have done that and should I have done this?
"At that stage I was still an inexperienced manager. I would love to have the same opportunity, in the same circumstances.
"I've managed for 300, 400 odd games and I think I'd make a better fist of it now."
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Towards the end of his reign as Wales manager, Hughes received criticism from former boss John Toshack, who was appointed as his replacement after he was sacked in 2004.
Toshack had previously managed Wales in one game in 1994.
"Truth be known, the criticism did annoy me," admits Hughes.
"Looking back I think some of it was justified at the time. There were moments when we could have done things better but things sometimes go against you.
"Tosh felt it was a role that he might like. Possibly the fact we had 70,000 watching every game made it a bit more attractive than the first time he was manager.
"A lot of the senior guys came to the end of their international careers. Whether that was accelerated because of John's appointment you'd have to ask the individuals. Some would have said it probably did."
Follow Wales at Euro 2016 across the BBC with Wales v Slovakia & Wales v England live on BBC One, BBC Radio & online. | As a former Wales player and manager, Mark Hughes was used to near misses when it came to qualifying for international tournaments. |
20213337 | The document from 16 leading environmental organisations says it took the wettest ever summer to avert serious drought.
It warns that another series of dry winters would put Britain back on drought alert.
The government said its draft Water Bill would build resilience into the UK's water infrastructure.
The Blueprint for Water report measures the Government's performance against 10 steps to sustainable water by 2015.
It applauds ministers' commitment to tackle unsustainable abstraction from rivers and wetlands, extend the use of metering at a fair price and develop a catchment-based approach to managing the water environment.
But it says ministers are still failing to produce a long-term, sustainable approach which works with our natural water systems.
The groups want much more use of moors, marshes and plants to store and clean rain water, instead of allowing it to run straight into rivers and thus increase the risk of flooding. This would help tackle droughts as well as floods.
The chair of the Blueprint for Water coalition, Carrie Hume, said: "Lack of action to fix our broken water system is a false economy. We cannot continue to lurch between flooding and drought which is damaging for people, businesses and wildlife."
The Blueprint for Water was launched in November 2010. The Government is scored every two years on its progress.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: "We know we are facing increasing pressures on our water supply and that is why we have published a draft Water Bill that will build resilience into our water infrastructure by creating the conditions to encourage innovation and reduce demand.
"The draft Bill will reduce red tape and drive innovation in the industry making it easier for water companies to work together to ensure we have secure water supplies for the future."
Follow Roger on Twitter | A new report blames the government for leaving the UK's water resources at the mercy of the weather. |
40371503 | The sanctions follow a Honda engine upgrade in addition to earlier reliability problems.
Both drivers have already used more than the permitted number of relevant parts after just seven races of 21.
Alonso's penalties total 15 places and Vandoorne's 30, so the Spaniard will start ahead of his team-mate.
Alonso said: "We try to go through the weekend in the best way possible, perform the best we can but there are some things out of our control.
"It will be like this all season long. We used already the maximum engines that we are allowed in the first seven races and now we will start last in a couple of other races.
"That will make things even more difficult but it is the way it is and we can't do anything other than perform at our best."
Some of the penalties arise from the fact that both drivers will use a new design of turbo and MGU-H, the motor-generator unit that recovers energy from the turbo.
As both have already used more than the permitted number of these for the season, they incur a grid drop.
Vandoorne's extra 15 penalty places arise from the fact that Honda is also planning to change his entire power-unit after Friday practice.
Taking a new one will mean a seventh MGU-H and turbo so far this season for the Belgian. Only four are allowed before incurring penalties.
Before this weekend, both Alonso and Vandoorne had already used five turbo/MGU-Hs this season, when only four are permitted for the entire year.
Honda is also to test a series of new components on the engine in practice on Friday and will decide whether to use those upgrades for the rest of the weekend after analysing the data from the two sessions.
Asked whether the new parts would bring significantly improved performance, Vandoorne said: "Difficult to say, to be honest. I think probably more a question for Honda. I don't think it will be too different."
McLaren are in the process of trying to resolve a divorce from Honda, after losing faith that the Japanese company can ever sort out the reliability and performance problems that have afflicted it since it returned to F1 in 2015.
They are expected to attempt to try to secure a supply of Mercedes customer engines for next season.
Vandoorne said: "We are trying to put McLaren's interests at the top. We need to fight back.
"I am pretty sure the team is moving in the right direction and hopefully at some point we will be competitive again. Hopefully that is sooner rather than later." | McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne will start Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the back of the grid after engine penalties. |
32282850 | The conviction of Peterborough businessman Mohammed Khubaib, 43, is the latest in Cambridgeshire Police's Operation Erle.
Khubaib forced a 14-year-old girl to perform a sex act on him and committed nine counts of trafficking.
Following the guilty verdict at the Old Bailey, he will be sentenced on 15 May.
Khubaib's friend Manase Motaung, 32, was cleared of related offences by the jury.
Judge Peter Rook QC told Khubaib: "You have been convicted of a very serious offence of a rape on a young girl... having plied her with vodka.
"You have also been convicted of no less than nine trafficking offences in relation to under-age girls who you were deliberately plying with vodka so that you could take advantage of them, knowing they craved vodka so you could exploit them sexually.
Khubaib was caught as part of Operation Erle, which investigated sex offences against girls in the Peterborough area.
The court heard that Khubaib's activities in Peterborough involved girls being befriended and then "hooked" with alcohol - normally vodka - in an attempt to make them "compliant" to sexual advances.
Khubaib, who lived in the city with his wife and children, would pursue his interest "away from his home and family", using his restaurant as a "focal point".
Mark Dennis QC, prosecuting, said the girls were vulnerable because of their age, background, circumstances or unsettled schooling and Khubaib pretended to be their "friend and helper".
Khubaib, who also ran a lettings agency, would drive girls to flats in his 4x4 car and, once there, they would be groomed for sex by being "plied with alcohol and entertained by himself and his friends".
He raped the 14-year-old girl in August 2007 by forcing her to perform oral sex on him after she was given alcohol and then "rewarded" with £5, the court heard.
His conviction brings the total number of people to be convicted under Operation Erle to 10, of which five are of Pakistani origin.
Four previous cases led to nine male defendants being jailed for 59 offences against 15 girls, from Peterborough, with a couple from Lincolnshire and Rutland. | A married restaurant owner with a "persistent and almost predatory interest" in girls has been found guilty of rape and grooming offences. |
36837824 | But in truth, you are probably manipulated into doing so by publishers using clever machine learning algorithms.
The online battle for eyeballs has gone hi-tech.
Every day the web carries about 500 million tweets, 300 hours of YouTube video uploads, and more than 80 million new Instagram photos. Just keeping up with our friends' Facebook and Twitter updates can seem like a full-time job.
So publishers desperately trying to get us to read and watch their stuff in the face of competition from viral videos and pictures of cats that look like Hitler are enlisting the help of data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI).
But do these technologies actually work?
Recent start-up Echobox has developed a system it says takes the human guesswork out of the mix. By analysing large amounts of data, it learns how specific audiences respond to different articles at different times of the day.
It then selects the best stories to post and the best times to post them.
Echobox claims its system generates an average 71% gain in referral traffic from Facebook and a 142% increase from Twitter. The software is already being used by publishers such as Vogue, Le Figaro and Telegraph Media Group.
"Imagine a superhuman editor with an incredibly deep understanding of its audience, but 100 times faster," says Antoine Amann, Echobox founder and chief executive.
"The data we use is both historical and real-time. For instance, our system will have a strong understanding of what type of [publishing] times worked well in the past, whilst at the same time analysing what's currently trending on the web."
Anne Pican, digital publisher at French daily newspaper Le Figaro, one of the firm's clients, says they have already seen benefits.
"Social media optimisation has been a major headache," she says. "Not only is it extremely complex but it's a lot of guesswork and requires a more scientific approach.
"Since using Echobox we've seen a major upswing in our traffic and saved valuable time."
Traditional newspapers facing dwindling print circulations are particularly keen to attract new digital audiences.
The New York Times (NYT), for example, has built Blossom, an intelligent "bot" constructed inside the messaging app Slack.
It uses machine learning to predict how blog posts and articles will perform on social media. It can also tell editors which ones to promote.
If a journalist sends Blossom a direct message, such as "Blossom Facebook?", the bot will respond with a list of links to stories it believes will do well on the social media platform at that time.
According to its developers, Blossom posts get about 380% more clicks than ones it doesn't recommend.
What this type of historical and real-time analysis shows is that certain headlines, photos and topics attract more attention than others on different devices at different times of the day with different audiences.
Predicting this without the help of machine learning computers is very tricky.
Programs such as Chartbeat and Echobox also give publishers the ability to test different headlines and promotional tweets for the same story in real time.
And programs like SocialFlow - used by some sections of the BBC website - apply algorithms to try to anticipate when the social media audience will be most receptive to an update.
It can then automatically post the message at the "optimum" time, measure how many people look at the post, and crucially, how many bother to click through to the original article.
But does using data analytics to learn about reader and viewer behaviour, then make publishing decisions based on that analysis, really count as AI?
The NYT is staying tight-lipped about the exact workings of the bot, citing intellectual property reasons, but Colin Russel, a senior data scientist at the newspaper and Blossom's main designer, says: "We do characterise it as AI.
"We're emulating what a team of editors would do if they had the time enough and a whiteboard big enough to observe and enumerate all the stories, all their history of posting, and all possible places they could be posted.
"It's definitely an artificial intelligence."
Echobox also describes its service as "artificial intelligence meets online publishing".
But Tom Cheesewright, a futurist and head of consultancy firm Book of the Future, describes such tech as "more of a tool than an intelligence".
"I'd argue this is probably the very outer edges of what might be called AI. Here, a more prosaic term like machine learning or predictive analytics might be more appropriate."
Semantics aside, Richard Reeves, managing director at the Association of Online Publishers, believes this kind of tech could have a positive impact on the industry.
"Publishers are faced with the dual challenge of increased competition for user attention and a diminishing pool of resources.
"This makes it essential for publishers not only to make the most of their archived content, but also to deliver targeted content that aligns with user needs.
"Thanks to recent developments in AI, publishers are starting to achieve this balance by using advanced new tools."
If you feel there's just too much content to choose from, you could let others do the choosing for you. For example, German publishing group Axel Springer and tech giant Samsung have joined forces to develop the Upday mobile news app.
New users specify what kind of topics they like, then a team of human editors, backed up by computer algorithms, curates content from 1,200 different sources, including Le Figaro, Der Spiegel and The Economist.
And Japanese tech firm SmartNews aggregates stories from 1,500 publications, highlighting those that are being most widely read and shared by others - crowdsourced news as it were.
One solution, of course, is simply to switch off all your gadgets and read a good book.
Follow Technology of Business editor @matthew_wall on Twitter
Click here for more Technology of Business features | You may think you choose to read one story over another, or to watch a particular video rather than all the others clamouring for your attention. |
34435970 | Janet McKay, who had dementia, was found in Clydebank on 24 September.
She had last been seen by neighbours in Knightswood eight days before.
West Dunbartonshire Council said it hoped the image of the 150ft-high crane at Clydebank would raise awareness of Alzheimer's.
Provost Douglas McAllister said: "We were incredibly saddened to hear of Mrs McKay's passing. The whole community has been shocked and saddened by this news.
"I agreed that the lighting of the Titan Crane in Mrs McKay's memory was a fitting tribute, and was happy to agree to the suggestion from one of our residents.
"Nothing can alleviate what Mrs McKay's family must be going through, but we hope this gesture shows we are thinking of them."
Alzheimer Scotland community fundraiser Bronwyn O'Riordan said: "It's lovely to see the level of community support for West Dunbartonshire Council's gesture.
"It is an incredibly sad situation and our thoughts are with Mrs McKay's family."
The Titan Crane will be lit purple until dawn on Monday.
The Assistant Chief Constable of Police Scotland has apologised to the McKay family, after information about a possible sighting of her from a member of the public was not passed on to investigators.
Mrs McKay's son George has said her family has no criticisms to make of the police. | The Titan Crane on the River Clyde has been lit up in purple in memory of an 88-year-old woman who was found dead a week after she went missing. |
32512504 | Anis Abid Sardar's lawyer told a court he "accepts the finger marks are his".
Sgt Randy Johnson, 34, was killed in an explosion near Baghdad in 2007, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
Mr Sardar, 38, from Wembley, north-west London, denies murder, conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause an explosion.
The court has heard allegations that Mr Sardar was part of a group that made a series of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that were buried under the roads west of Baghdad in September 2007.
Two bombs that were recovered by US troops had the defendant's fingerprints on them, it was alleged during the opening of the trial on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Mr Sardar's lawyer Henry Blaxland QC told the court: "Can I just make it clear, Mr Sardar accepts the finger marks attributed to him... are his."
Although the offences took place in Iraq and the victim is American, the prosecution can be brought in Britain as Mr Sardar is a British citizen.
The court heard that Sgt Johnson, of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, was killed when the Stryker eight-wheel armoured vehicle he was travelling in hit an IED on 27 September 2007.
Other US soldiers were seriously injured by the blast and also in a fire-fight while dealing with another IED.
The bomb that killed Sgt Johnson had been "part of a sequence" that was a "joint effort" by Mr Sardar and others, it was alleged.
Two of the US soldiers who were in the same armoured vehicle as Sgt Johnson told the court how they had been travelling along a dirt road when suddenly there was a loud bang.
Specialist Elroy Brooks said that when the blast went off he was blown about 15m outside the vehicle. A wheel landed 100m away.
When they had recovered consciousness they realised Sgt Johnson had sustained injuries to both legs and his lower torso.
The vehicle's medic Joshua Lord told the jury he saw Sgt Johnson "slumped over" in the hatch.
Giving details to the jury, Specialist Brooks described how Sgt Johnson had taken the full blast of a homemade bomb that had blown a hole through the bottom of the vehicle.
Though he regained consciousness briefly, Sgt Johnson died before he could be evacuated by helicopter. His last words were: "Don't let me die here."
The blast also left Mark Aggers, who was serving as a gunner on the armoured vehicle, with serious shrapnel wounds.
The bomb was one of four similar devices found on the same stretch of road.
The fingerprints of Mr Sardar were found on two of the bombs - but not the device that actually killed Sgt Johnson.
The US-led invasion of Iraq began in 2003, amid claims Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. It sparked years of violent conflict with different groups competing for power.
British forces ended combat operations in 2009 and the US did so the following year. A total of 179 UK service personnel and nearly 4,500 US soldiers were killed during the conflict. | A British man has admitted his fingerprints were on two bombs allegedly made along with a device that killed a US soldier in Iraq. |
38596314 | Notts, who had been managerless since sacking new Oldham boss John Sheridan on 2 January, have lost 10 straight league games and are 22nd in the table, just a point above the relegation zone.
Hardy said Nolan, 34, could revive Notts' fortunes on the pitch.
"Kevin is an outstanding leader and we need immediate success," Hardy added.
Hardy revealed that Notts are losing £1.6m a year but said he was at Meadow Lane "for the long haul".
"It is a dream come true but there is a realisation that there is a tough job ahead," Hardy added.
Nolan will take charge of the team for the Nottinghamshire derby against Mansfield Town on Saturday.
Nottingham businessman Hardy finalised his purchase of the Magpies from Ray Trew on Wednesday, a deal he said was "90% heart and 10% head" because of what he described as the club's "huge" debts.
Notts are still under a transfer embargo and the subject of a winding-up petition brought by HM Revenue & Customs. But Hardy, who said he feared Notts would have gone out of business had he not intervened, has promised to settle any outstanding debts.
He hoped that would happen in time for Nolan to be active in the final seven days of the January transfer window.
Nolan was appointed Orient boss in January 2016 but was sacked after three months, despite winning seven of his 15 games while in charge.
Nolan, who took the job after talking to former Notts manager Sam Allardyce, said: "This squad is capable of staying in the league. With my input we can start to get away from the current situation.
"I do not see this as a risk. I see this as something I can build with Alan. Alan knows we have to turn this around slowly. I see this as a challenge.
"I hope I can make him a successful and give him back all the faith and confidence he has shown in me."
Former Bolton, Newcastle and West Ham midfielder Nolan cannot play while the embargo is in place but said he still feels like he has something to offer on the pitch as well as off it.
Hardy said: "Kevin Nolan is an outstanding leader and that is what is this football club needs.
"Kevin will provide the leadership on the playing side. Not only is he a very good footballer, but when he went to Orient he had immediate success and we need to start climbing the table.
"This is massive football club but it is not a successful on the pitch. These two need to be realigned."
Hardy, the chief executive of Paragon Interiors Group and owner of Nottinghamshire Golf and Country Club, said there was a "one, three and five-year plan in place" and hoped the club's debts "will be cleared by three years".
He added: "The immediate priority is survival and we need to understand what the fans want.
"We want the product to be right on the pitch but we we also want fans to enjoy themselves while they are here. I understand that frustration and anger.
"The passion and determination in this club needs to go up a few notches."
BBC Radio Nottingham's Notts County correspondent Colin Slater
"There was an openness from both Alan Hardy and Kevin Nolan. As chairman Hardy faced the more difficult questions but, to his credit, he did not shirk any of them. Never once did he say "no comment".
"There were two disclosures which will particularly disturb Notts fans. One is that the club is losing £1.6m a year. The other is that there is a pile of debts to the Football League clubs and these will delay the lifting of the transfer embargo even when the £300,000 tax bill is paid.
"Arrangements will have to be put in place for all these other debts to be paid before the Football League will lift the embargo and Hardy suggested Notts will no more than about seven days to bring new players in before the window closes.
"Nolan looked and sounded glad to be back in football and I think his cheerfulness and positivity will extend to fans, even the most critical." | Former Leyton Orient boss Kevin Nolan has been named as Notts County player-manager following Alan Hardy's takeover of the League Two club. |
35594968 | But the public's right to know what is really going on in their country really is the cornerstone of a free society.
Without free access to information, backed up by journalists who are willing to dig down and get to the truth, all the other liberties celebrated in democracies are endangered.
That's why the world should be worried by the concerted attacks on one of the leading newspaper editors in South Asia, Mahfuz Anam of Bangladesh's Daily Star.
The Daily Star is the most popular English-language newspaper in Bangladesh.
It was launched as Bangladesh returned to parliamentary democracy a quarter of a century ago, and has always had a reputation for journalistic integrity and liberal and progressive views - a kind of Bangladeshi New York Times.
That's why it is so shocking that Mr Anam now stands accused of treason, no less.
Sajeeb Wajed, the son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has described him as "completely unethical" and a liar, and has demanded he be thrown in jail.
Mr Wajed is at the head of a queue of dozens of politicians, student agitators and others who have launched criminal defamation charges against the eminent editor.
I will go into the details of the allegations against Mr Anam in a moment, but first it is important that the claims are set in context, because it is hard not to see this as the latest line of attack in a concerted effort to gag one of the last independent media organisations in the country.
Source: BBC Monitoring
Bangladesh profile - media
The Daily Star and its sister publication Prothom Alo - the most widely read Bengali newspaper in the country - are already the subject of a clandestine attempt to undermine their finances.
The BBC understands that since last summer businesses, including some of the largest telecoms and consumer goods companies in Bangladesh, have been ordered to restrict their advertising in the two newspapers by the country's military intelligence agency.
The Norwegian company that owns Grameen Phone, Bangladesh's largest mobile phone operator, has admitted as much to Al Jazeera. Telenor's head of communications confirmed that, "along with several other large corporations, [it] received an instruction from the authorities to stop advertisements in two leading newspapers in Bangladesh".
The Daily Star and Prothom Alo are reckoned to have lost about a third of their income.
Yet the order has no basis in law, according to the leading commentator on Bangladeshi politics, David Bergman.
"It is simply 'enforced' through the authority that comes from being the country's most feared intelligence agency," he argues.
But its intent is clear: it is about bringing independent media into line and stifling dissent.
The message is "cross the line and we'll take action", but since no clear line has been drawn it is up to the media to police itself.
And it seems to be working.
"There is not a single newspaper or TV editor in this country who does not know about the blockade," writes Mr Bergman, "yet not one of the nearly 30 TV stations, nor one of the countless newspapers has reported about this intimidation of the Daily Star and Prothom Alo."
When I spoke to Bangladeshi information minister Hasanul Haq Inu, he denied that he knew of any such order.
He told me that if the newspapers or any of the companies involved register an official complaint, he would be happy to investigate, and said that if any illegal restriction is being imposed on businesses in Bangladesh, he will take action.
While the restrictions on advertising in the Daily Star are not getting much attention in the Bangladeshi press, the allegations of treason by Mr Anam are getting plenty of publicity.
That is because Mr Anam has admitted he has made mistakes.
In a television interview earlier this month, he conceded that reports published in the Daily Star in 2007 alleging corruption by the woman who is now prime minister were based on uncorroborated leaks from the then military government.
He said he was wrong to have published them.
"It was a big mistake," he said during the interview. "It was a bad editorial judgement, I admit it without any doubt."
But whether his mistakes constitute treason is another matter entirely.
The prime minister's son claims that the articles were an attempt by Mr Anam and the Daily Star to "support a military dictatorship in an attempt to remove my mother from politics".
That is something Mr Anam vigorously denies, with justification.
He points to 203 editorials published during the period of military rule demanding that democracy be restored. That amounts to one every three days of the so-called "emergency government".
He also points out his newspaper was very critical when Sheikh Hasina was arrested in connection with the corruption charges.
"To us Sheikh Hasina's arrest is totally misconceived and smacks of arrogant use of power without due process of law," his editorial thundered, the day after the arrest was made.
What is more, none of the allegations against Sheikh Hasina and other party members was ever tested in court because all charges were dropped by executive order when her Awami League assumed power in 2008.
By contrast, similar claims of corruption made against the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), were allowed to stand. Many BNP politicians are still technically on bail from the charges.
Mr Haq, the Information Minster, denies there is any campaign against the Daily Star.
He says the complaints against Mr Anam are being made by individuals and are not being co-ordinated by the government. "A judgement on whether he is guilty will be made by the courts on the basis of the merits of the case," he told me.
But Mr Bergman has no doubt about the real significance of these attacks on Mr Anam. He believes they are "an attempt to crush independent media".
He is convinced that government loyalists want "to close down, or at least subdue, any influential independent media or dissent that is not within their control".
That would represent a very sinister power grab in an already fragile democracy like Bangladesh.
Since Bangladesh's media appears too cowed to speak out, it is time the rest of the world does.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned what it calls the "legal harassment" of Mr Anam. Now governments must do the same.
And where better to start than the UK government?
A few weeks ago Alison Blake, the new British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, was celebrating how "as two Commonwealth countries, we share a set of core values, including a commitment to Parliamentary democracy and a tolerant and pluralistic system with a commitment to protect and uphold human rights".
It might be time Ms Blake challenges the Bangladeshi government to deliver on that commitment. | It can seem a bit self-righteous when journalists write about the importance of freedom of the press, a bit like a chef celebrating the virtues of a fancy meal or a hairdresser extolling the importance of a new haircut. |
38286957 | The stonework holding the bronze sundial at Conwy church was smashed into three pieces.
Rev David Parry, vicar of Bro Celynnin, said the theft was noticed on Friday morning and reported to police.
"It's very sad. In taking the top, the thieves have severely damaged the stone. It's been part of Conwy's history for a long long time," he said.
"It's a well known landmark, listed in its own right, and we're at a loss to know why someone would want to damage this." | A Grade II listed sundial dating to 1761 has been stolen from a churchyard in Conwy and its stonework smashed. |
40768901 | Anne Longfield said personal, social, health and economics education (PSHE) lessons should help children spot when they are being targeted by gangs.
It follows reports children are being used by criminals as "money mules".
She said children looking for "a sense of belonging, fast money" or "glamour" were at risk.
Ms Longfield's research has found 46,000 children in England are involved in gangs.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live's Sunday Breakfast programme, the children's commissioner said children as young as 10 were being recruited into gangs that could be "extremely violent, usually intimidatory and sexually abusive, particularly towards girls".
"These are horrific situations that young people are getting themselves into."
Simon Dukes, chief executive of the fraud prevention organisation Cifas, said some were being persuaded to hand over access to their bank accounts to criminals for money laundering purposes.
He said criminals lure children in with apparent money-making opportunities on social media, and pass money through their accounts to disguise the sources of illicit funds.
"Criminals, of course, prey on the most vulnerable and they're preying on younger people because of their lack of knowledge, in particular, about what is effectively money laundering."
Ms Longfield said other young people were being used to transport drugs.
"Anecdotally, I'm told that middle-class children are often being targeted as well because they are less likely to be stopped.
"Children who are easier to intimidate, vulnerable in some way and often being bullied, those that are easier to control, are being picked on."
Earlier this year, the government announced that PSHE would be made compulsory in all state schools.
The government is currently consulting on what to include in the permanent curriculum, but as yet, there is no timetable for its introduction.
Ms Longfield said the "life skills lessons" should include information on the risks of becoming involved in gangs, an understanding of how gangs target children and help in building resilience to resist them.
Parents may not be aware of who their children are talking to via social media, so young people themselves need to be able to understand the difference between "genuine opportunities" and exploitative situations, she added.
"For younger children it will often be the draw of fast money - sometimes protection for themselves if they're fearful about their own wellbeing - but certainly also a sense of belonging, fast money, sometimes glamour...
"Life skills is something that the government has committed itself to do.
"Most schools at the moment do provide life skill lessons but they're often inconsistent and often they don't tackle some of these issues that are much harder to tackle."
The commissioner also called for police forces to work together to produce better data on the number of children targeted by gangs.
The PSHE Association, a national body working to improve PSHE education, said it supported the call for compulsory lessons to help young people understand "the specific risks of gang membership for individuals, families and communities".
A spokesman said a broad PSHE education "gives pupils the knowledge and skills to better understand peer influence, and helps them recognise and avoid exploitative relationships, online and offline". | Pupils should be taught in school how to avoid being sucked into gangs or exploited by older criminals, the children's commissioner has said. |
40529012 | The 31-year-old was not offered a new contract at the Etihad at the end of the 2016-17 season.
The club have confirmed on social media that he will have a medical before signing a contract on Friday.
Clichy joined City from Arsenal in 2011, twice winning the Premier League title and EFL Cup with the club.
The terms of the deal have not been revealed, but reports in Turkey suggest the former France defender will be paid 3m euros (£2.6m) per season in a three-year deal.
Clichy will team up with former City and Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor who signed for Istanbul Basaksehir in January.
Adebayor scored six league goals as the side finished runners-up in the Turkish Super Lig last season. | Former Manchester City left-back Gael Clichy is to join Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir. |
32703623 | An arms depot used by the Houthi rebel movement in the city's north-east was targeted for a second day, sending a column of smoke into the sky.
The coalition also bombed rebel positions in the southern city of Aden.
The proposed truce to allow deliveries of desperately needed humanitarian aid started at 23:00 (20:00 GMT).
However, Saudi Arabia has said its offer of a pause in air strikes is conditional on the Houthis reciprocating and not exploiting the ceasefire for military advantage.
The Houthis have agreed to the truce, but said they will "respond" to any violations.
On Tuesday, coalition aircraft bombed the arms depot at a military base on Mount Noqum in the east of Sanaa for the second consecutive day, witnesses said.
Explosions caused by two strikes on the depot on Monday sent debris crashing down the mountainside onto a residential area. At least 69 people were killed and more than 100 injured, medical officials said.
The coalition also bombed Houthi positions in Aden, and local militiamen allied to Yemen's exiled President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi continued to fight the rebels in the port city and elsewhere in the country's south, Reuters news agency said.
The UN says at least 828 civilians have been killed and 1,511 injured since the start of the coalition air campaign on 26 March to restore Mr Hadi.
The six days from 4 to 10 May have been the deadliest, with at least 182 civilians reported killed, almost half of them women and children. A significant proportion of the casualties were caused by air strikes, especially in the Houthis' northern heartland of Saada province.
Analysts say the coalition appears to be trying to inflict as much damage as possible on the Houthis and allied security personnel loyal to the ousted former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, before the humanitarian ceasefire is scheduled to begin on Tuesday evening.
The new UN envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, has arrived in Sanaa, where he hopes to meet various parties, including the Houthis.
On Monday, the UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos called on all sides in the conflict to "stop the fighting and bombing and give the people of Yemen respite".
"Given the deteriorating humanitarian situation on the ground in Yemen with hundreds of thousands of vulnerable civilians trapped in the middle of fighting and unable to access lifesaving aid it is essential that this pause materialise," a statement said.
Baroness Amos said two World Food Programme cargo ships arrived in the Red Sea port of Hudaydah over the weekend with fuel, food, water and nutritional supplies. Other supplies were ready to be brought in and planes were standing by to help evacuate the wounded, she added.
Meanwhile, an Iranian naval official said Iran would escort a cargo ship carrying humanitarian supplies to Houthi-held Hudaydah. Iran has rejected Saudi and US accusations that it is arming the Shia Houthis.
In a separate development on Tuesday, a jihadist website reported that four members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) had been killed in a suspected US drone strike on Monday in the eastern Yemeni port of Mukalla. | Saudi-led coalition aircraft carried out fresh air strikes on Yemen's capital, Sanaa, just hours before a five-day ceasefire was set to begin. |
38079876 | Anthony Scaramucci, a member of Mr Trump's transition team, had told BBC HARDtalk that Sir Elton would perform in Washington DC in January.
"Elton John is going to be doing our concert on the mall for the inauguration," Mr Scaramucci said.
But this was "categorically denied" by Sir Elton's representative in London.
"There is no truth in this at all," she told BBC News.
During the election campaign, Sir Elton had expressed support for Mr Trump's opponent, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Performing at a fundraising event for Mrs Clinton in Los Angeles in October, he was reported to have told the crowd: "We need a humanitarian in the White House, not a barbarian."
Mr Trump had used Sir Elton's songs Rocket Man and Tiny Dancer - without the singer's endorsement - at his campaign rallies.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | Sir Elton John will not perform at Donald Trump's presidential inauguration, a spokeswoman for the singer has said. |
18239107 | The fish would have picked up the pollution while swimming in Japanese waters, before then moving to the far side of the ocean.
Scientists stress that the fish are still perfectly safe to eat.
However, the case does illustrate how migratory species can carry pollution over vast distances, they say.
"It's a lesson to us in how interconnected eco-regions can be, even when they may be separated by thousands of miles," Nicholas Fisher, a professor of marine sciences at Stony Brook University, New York, told BBC News.
Fisher and colleagues report their study in the journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
.
They examined the muscle tissues of 15 Bluefin tuna (
Thunnus orientalis) taken from waters off San Diego in August 2011, just a few months after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
These were animals whose parents would have spawned in Japanese waters and spent one to two years locally before heading to feeding grounds in the eastern Pacific.
All the fish examined in the study showed elevated levels of radioactive caesium - the isotopes 134 and 137.
Caesium-137 is present in seawater anyway as a result of the fallout from atomic weapons testing, but the short, two-year half-life of caesium-134 means the contamination can be tied directly to Fukushima. There is no other explanation for the isotope's presence.
The measured concentrations were about 10 times the total caesium radioactivity seen in tuna specimens taken from before the accident.
As a control, the team also examined Yellowfin tuna, which are largely residential in the eastern Pacific.
These animals showed no difference in their pre- or post-Fukushima concentrations.
The research is likely to get attention because Bluefin tuna is an iconic species and a highly valuable fishery - thousands of tonnes are landed annually.
But consumers should have no health concerns about eating California-caught tuna from last year, the team says.
The levels of radioactivity are well within permitted limits, and below those from other radioisotopes that occur naturally in the environment, such as potassium-40.
"The potassium was about 30 times higher than the combined radio-caesium levels. If you calculate how much additional radioactivity there is in the Pacific Bluefin tuna caught in California relative to the natural background - it's about 3%," said Prof Fisher.
The scientists even calculated how much radioactivity might have been present in the fish before they swam across the Pacific (it would have fallen over time) and figured it could have been 50% above background levels; but, again, this would still have met the legal requirements for safe consumption.
Tuna caught in the coming months will be subjected to new tests. These animals would have spent much longer in Japanese waters and so conceivably could have a very different pollution load.
The team also believes the investigation should be extended to other migratory species that frequent Japanese waters.
Fukushima pollution is potentially a very useful tool to trace the origin and timing of animal movements.
Because of their very predictable decay rates, the caesium isotopes and their ratio to each other can be used like a clock to work out when a particular migration took place.
"There's been a lot of really nice electronic tagging work, but any tag you put on a fish shows you what that animal will do from this point forward. What it can't tell you is about the past, and that's what these tracers can do," explained the study's lead author Dan Madigan from Stanford University.
"The logical next step is to look at other species that do what the Bluefin do… migrate from Japan.
"Right now, we have the sampling in place to look at sea turtles, sharks, other fish, potentially whales, and some seabird species as well. This will give us information about the transport [of the contamination] by the animals and it will tell us about the migratory patterns of the animals," he told BBC News.
[email protected] and follow me on
Twitter | Pacific Bluefin tuna caught off the coast of California have been found to have radioactive contamination from last year's Fukushima nuclear accident. |
29610742 | Thames Valley Police said the six, aged between 23 and 57, were arrested by the South East Counter Terrorism Unit.
They said the arrests were related to the conflict in Syria and were "not linked to any immediate threat to local communities".
On Monday, anti-terrorism police arrested three men in central London.
The men, aged 21, 24 and 25, were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.
Tuesday's arrests involved two men, aged 26 and 23, from Portsmouth, a 23-year-old woman from Farnborough, and a 29-year-old woman from Greenwich, south-east London, who were all arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.
A 57-year-old man from Portsmouth was arrested for failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism, for engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts and arranging availability of money and property for use in terrorism.
A 48-year-old woman from Portsmouth was also arrested for failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism. | Three men and three women from Portsmouth, Farnborough and Greenwich are being held in connection with a police anti-terrorism operation. |
28045714 | The Bordesley Centre in Camp Hill heard concerns about inspection reports linked to an anonymous letter alleging an Islamic takeover plot of schools.
A number of speakers told the crowd they believed the reports were biased.
Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw has previously agreed to meet parents and children from the affected schools. | Hundreds of people have attended a meeting to discuss the fallout from the Trojan Horse inspections of Birmingham schools. |
40357525 | Jason Waterman "arrived without warning, dripping salt water and carrying a bag of wet clothing".
The 32-year-old, originally from Watford, handed himself in late on Monday.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) is now attempting to extradite him under a European arrest warrant.
The NCA said: "He refused to say how he reached Gibraltar, only that it wasn't through the frontier."
Mr Waterman, whose nicknames include Jugs and Jumbo, was wanted in connection with a drug trafficking investigation.
Border police found 7kg (15lb) of cocaine, with a potential street value of £1.2m, at Bagby Airfield in October 2015.
The discovery was made shortly after a light aircraft arrived from the Netherlands. The plane's pilot was arrested but later found not guilty of importation offences.
Brian Shaw, NCA North East operations manager, said: "It might sound like a cushy number, sitting around watching Crimewatch Roadshow on a Monday morning, but life as a fugitive is hard and stressful.
"The NCA first issued an appeal for Waterman in London nearly a year ago. Clearly something about the new appeal made him crack.
"To everyone else feeling the stress of being on the run, I would say we are patient people, we keep the pressure on, and we never stop looking for you." | A suspected drug smuggler has handed himself in to police in Gibraltar "dripping wet" after seeing himself on Crimewatch. |
23954889 | The measure to be voted on next week sets a time limit of 60 days on any operation. The draft document also bans the use of any ground forces in Syria.
Secretary of State John Kerry said the US had to act after the Assad regime's "undeniable" chemical weapons attack.
The Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, endorsed Mr Obama's call for military action.
According to a copy of the draft resolution obtained by AFP news agency, the senators wish to restrict the operation to a "limited and tailored use of the United States Armed Forces against Syria".
The resolution states that "the president may extend" a 60-day operation "for a single period of 30 days" if he obtains further specific Congressional approval.
By Mark MardellNorth America editor
"The authority granted... does not authorise the use of the United States Armed Forces on the ground in Syria for the purpose of combat operations," the statement added.
The BBC's North America Editor Mark Mardell in Washington says it is by no means the definitive motion, but it is a strong indication of the way committee members are thinking.
No 'armchair isolationism'
The draft was released after Mr Kerry appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The secretary of state said there was evidence beyond any reasonable doubt that the forces of President Bashar al-Assad prepared for a chemical weapons attack near Damascus on 21 August.
Mr Kerry told the senators the President was not asking America to go to war. "He is asking only for the power to make clear, to make certain, that the United States means what we say."
Standing aside, he said, would allow other countries to pursue weapons of mass destruction.
"This is not the time for armchair isolationism," Mr Kerry added . "This is not the time to be spectators to slaughter.''
By Jonathan MarcusBBC diplomatic correspondent
Some elements of the Syrian chemical weapons complex may be buried underground but large parts of it can easily be seen on satellite images.
Much of it is reasonably close to populated areas - and this is the problem.
Attacking such sites with regular explosive bombs might well wreak considerable damage but it could also open up chemical weapons stocks to the air, disperse them over a large area, and potentially cause large numbers of civilian casualties
Can US hit Syria's chemical weapons?
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and the top US military officer, Gen Martin Dempsey, also appeared before the Senate panel.
Mr Hagel said that "the word of the United States must mean something", and echoed Mr Kerry when adding: "A refusal to act would undermine the credibility of America's other security commitments, including the president's commitment to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon."
Earlier on Tuesday President Obama met key congressional leaders at the White House. He said a "limited" strike was needed to degrade Syrian government's capabilities in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack.
Mr Boehner said he supported Mr Obama's call for action, and that only the US had the capacity to stop President Assad. Mr Boehner urged his colleagues in Congress to follow suit.
Tough sell
Mr Obama also won the backing of Eric Cantor, the House of Representatives' majority leader.
But the BBC's Jane O'Brien, in Washington, says Mr Obama still faces a tough task winning the support of the American people.
The latest opinion poll shows public opposition to involvement in the Syrian conflict is growing, with six out of 10 Americans against missile strikes and lawmakers also divided.
Mr Obama is now travelling to Sweden, ahead of a G20 meeting in Russia later in the week that is sure to be dominated by Syria.
France has strongly backed the US plan for military action.
President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday: "When a chemical massacre takes place, when the world is informed of it, when the evidence is delivered, when the guilty parties are known, then there must be an answer."
He called for Europe to unite on the issue, but said he would wait for the Congress vote.
If Congress did not support military action France "would not act alone", he said.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron had also backed Mr Obama, but Parliament rejected a resolution on military action.
At the US hearing, Mr Kerry said the possibility of such a defeat in Congress was "too dire" to contemplate.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had earlier said that the organisation's charter permitted military action only in self defence or with the agreement of the Security Council.
Mr Ban said a US military response could create more turmoil, but that if chemical weapons had been used in Syria then the Security Council should unite and take action against what would be "an outrageous war crime".
The US has put the death toll from the attack on the outskirts of Damascus on 21 August at 1,429, including 426 children, though other countries and organisations have given lower figures.
The Syrian government denies any involvement and blames rebels for the attack.
In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro on Monday, President Assad warned that foreign military action could ignite a wider regional conflict.
Earlier, the UN refugee agency said that more than two million Syrians were now registered as refugees, after the total went up by a million in the past six months.
As well as those who have left the country, a further 4.25 million have been displaced within Syria, the UNHCR says, meaning that more people from Syria are now forcibly displaced than from other country.
The UN says this is the worst refugee crisis for 20 years, with numbers not seen since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. | US senators in a key committee have agreed on a draft resolution backing the use of US military force in Syria. |
20307574 | His departure comes just weeks after Microsoft launched Windows 8, the latest edition of its flagship product, seen as key to the firm's future.
Microsoft did not give any reason for Mr Sinofsky's departure.
However, one industry watcher suggested there had been talk of an internal "war" between Mr Sinofsky and chief executive Steve Ballmer.
Markets took the news badly, with Microsoft's shares ending the trading day on Tuesday 4% lower.
The company said Julie Larson-Green would be promoted to lead all Windows software and hardware engineering.
"This is shocking news. This is very surprising," said Brendan Barnicle, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities.
He added that many observers saw Mr Sinofsky as a potential successor to Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive.
In a letter to all employees, published by Forbes, Mr Sinofsky set out to quell the rumours about his departure.
"Some might notice a bit of chatter speculating about this decision or timing. I can assure you that none could be true as this was a personal and private choice that in no way reflects any speculation or theories one might read - about me, opportunity, the company or its leadership," he said.
By Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent
Sinofsky's exit, just weeks after the launch of Windows 8, raises questions about the future direction of the business, not least because he was seen as a credible successor to Ballmer.
A 23 year veteran of the company, he was a familiar figure to anyone who attended a Microsoft launch, a polished performer explaining just why we should be excited about the latest innovations in the Windows operating system.
Read Rory's full blog
"It is impossible to count the blessings I have received over my years at Microsoft," he added.
Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with research firm Gartner, said that Mr Sinofsky's were big boots to fill.
"The reasons why he left don't matter all that much but the big question is about how Microsoft fills the void," he said.
"He did a lot more than head up a division, he had a unified vision of Microsoft as an ecosystem, tying together the PC, phone, tablet, Xbox and online services. The ramifications of his departure are yet to be felt."
He added that the immediacy of his departure was "strange".
"You don't often see that at that level," he said.
Mr Sinofksy's departure is the latest change at the top of some of the world's biggest technology companies.
Last month, Apple announced that Scott Forstall, head of its iOS software, and John Browett, head of retail, would be leaving the firm.
The announcement followed problems with Apple's new mapping software and disappointing quarterly results.
Meanwhile, Yahoo - which has been trying to regain some of its lost market share - also hired a new chief operating officer in October.
In July the internet company appointed its third chief executive in a year.
Microsoft's Mr Ballmer said the changes in leadership were aimed at ensuring the firm continued to be a dominant player in the sector.
"The products and services we have delivered to the market in the past few months mark the launch of a new era at Microsoft," Mr Ballmer said.
"To continue this success it is imperative that we continue to drive alignment across all Microsoft teams, and have more integrated and rapid development cycles for our offerings." | Steven Sinofsky, the head of Microsoft's Windows division, has left the company with immediate effect. |
34054934 | They said the suspects were spotted outside a state prison in Cumberland on Saturday, with a drone, handgun and contraband found inside their vehicle.
A separate search on an inmate of the jail turned up contraband, they added.
While it is the first case of its kind in Maryland, there have been similar attempts in Ohio and South Carolina.
Synthetic marijuana and pornographic DVDs were among the items the suspects intended to fly into the maximum-security prison using a Yuneec Typhone drone, officials said.
"You couldn't make this stuff up," Maryland's Secretary of Public Safety Stephen Moyer told reporters.
Both men are being held; one on a $250,000 (£159,000) bail, the other without bail. The inmate who was found with smuggled items in his cell has also been charged.
Police said they had been under surveillance for some time.
Drones - also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) - have been used before to smuggle drugs, cigarettes and mobile phones into prisons in the US.
Earlier this month, a brawl erupted at a prison in Ohio after a drone dropped a package containing small amounts of tobacco, marijuana and heroin into the prison yard.
Nine prisoners who were involved in the fight were placed in solitary confinement. | Two men have been detained on suspicion of trying to smuggle drugs and pornography into a prison in Maryland using a drone, prison officials say. |
23191371 | A relative or carer - potentially hundreds of miles away - can drive the machine around the house to check that everything is all right.
The pair can also have a chat through a two-way video call system.
The Giraff robots are 1.5m (4ft 11in) tall with wheels, and a TV screen instead of a head.
A relative or carer can call up the Giraff with a computer from any location. Their face will appear on the screen allowing them to chat to the other person.
The operator can also drive the robot around the house to check that medication is being taken and that food is being eaten.
NHS Western Isles will be piloting the Giraff for the first time in Scotland, as part of the European Union project Remodem, which aims to investigate ways to support people with dementia living in remote communities.
Health board bosses said earlier trials in Australia showed that people with dementia were not afraid of the machines. They hope the robots will help people living alone in remote areas to feel less lonely.
Chief executive Gordon Jamieson said: "We are absolutely delighted to have the Giraff here with us to trial and we have high hopes for how it may improve the quality of life for some dementia patients.
"As a new technology for us, the robot could also potentially be used in many other areas of healthcare to improve quality of care, live access to specialists, and speed up consultations, regardless of location."
He added: "Having seen the Giraff in action, I am extremely impressed with how easily it can be moved around by the 'controller' so that you can clearly see the environment of the patient, and can have a conversation and meaningful interaction, regardless of distance." | NHS Western Isles is putting robots into the homes of people with dementia as part of a pilot scheme to help them to continue to live independently. |
35216022 | Edinburgh beat their rivals back-to-back, following a 23-11 win last Sunday with a bruising 14-11 victory on Saturday to claim eight Pro12 points.
The victories also allowed the capital side to retain the 1872 Cup.
"I've felt that over the last couple of seasons we've definitely closed the gap," Solomons told BBC Scotland. "We saw that that gap has been closed."
Solomons also feels the spirit shown by his players is the best he has experienced in his rugby career.
Edinburgh repelled huge pressure from the Warriors deep in their own 22 as the clock hit 80 minutes.
"The players there in the last two minutes were just incredible," said the South African. "They weren't going to lose that game, that's for sure.
"For two weeks in a row, you are not going to peak to the same extent and we always knew we were going to come off a bit, which we did. But their resilience was incredible.
"I think it's about the building of a team and the spirit within that team. It's something we started doing two-and-a-half seasons ago.
"I've always said this team has got the most amazing spirit of any team I've ever been involved with, we've got the most amazing players, and we saw that." | Alan Solomons believes Edinburgh's improvement has taken them much closer to Pro12 champions Glasgow Warriors. |
34357353 | Three journalists from the BBC Hausa service were on the Hajj in Mina and give their accounts of the incident and its aftermath.
People were going towards the direction of throwing the stones while others were coming in the opposite direction. Then it became chaotic and suddenly people started going down. There were people from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Senegal among other nationalities. People were just climbing on top of others in order to move to a safer place and that's how some people died.
People were chanting Allah's name while others were crying, including children and infants. People fell on the ground seeking help but there was no-one to give them a helping hand.
Everybody seemed to be on their own. It affected some members of our group. I lost my aunt as a result of the stampede and at the moment, two women from our entourage - a mother and her daughter - are still missing.
Where I'm standing, here in the centre of Mina city, I can see dead bodies wrapped in white cloth. Police have barricaded the area so I couldn't count them, but dead bodies stretch as far as my eyes can see.
Surrounding the area some relatives are hanging around in mourning and other pilgrims who are in the tent city in Mina are also coming round to see the bodies and also to sympathise and mourn. Police officials are stopping people from passing through the area while they deal with all the dead bodies, while ambulances are moving in and out.
Because of the lack of access, we don't know what the ambulances are doing. Helicopters are hovering over the area where the bodies are being kept.
A witness who escaped the stampede said that what actually happened was that the Saudi security at the scene blocked one of the roads to the Jamarat (stoning the devil).
This happened as thousands of pilgrims from different countries like Iran, Cameroon, Ghana and Niger were going to the Jamarat. Therefore, as those who finished stoning the devil were coming back on the same route, they met those heading to the place.
There was a kind of collision between the two groups moving in opposite directions on the same road. Those in the middle were the most affected. | A stampede during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia has killed at least 700 people and injured more than 860. |
36265535 | Residents at Wallace House in Hatherley, Gloucestershire, spent five weeks creating the mosaic using 1,634 recycled coffee machine capsules.
Carol Gatter, who runs the craft club, said she did not initially tell the group what they were working on.
She said: "I'd been telling them that it was a nude of myself so I think they were relieved that it was the Queen."
Ms Gatter, who has only just started the group, said she had wanted to "start off with something really exciting".
She said: "I thought 'Let's go big' and the only way we can do a mosaic is to go very large.
"But I didn't realise that used Nespresso pods still have their coffee in them.
"So they've all been emptied out by myself and now my garden smells lovely."
With 2,500 donated single-serving coffee pods cleaned out "for the colours", it then fell to residents to create the monarch's likeness to celebrate her 90th birthday.
Working two hours a week for five weeks, resident Pat said she had "really enjoyed" creating the completely-recycled artwork.
"It's in nine separate parts so until you put it all together you couldn't tell what it was going to be," she said.
"So we didn't actually know until the last week - but it's just magic, basically." | Sheltered housing residents have used hundreds of spent coffee pods to create a portrait of The Queen. |
33686708 | In a Mumsnet discussion, left-wing MP Mr Corbyn criticised the personal "abuse" of candidates.
And Ms Kendall said the campaign had "a bit [of a] 1970s... or even 1950s" feel, saying women should be judged by their ideas, not their family life.
Her campaign has previously criticised a Labour MP's decision to back Yvette Cooper because she is a "working mum".
Helen Goodman, in an article for the Huffington Post, had said Ms Cooper, who has three children, "understands the pressures on modern family life".
Ms Kendall's campaign chief, Toby Perkins, said her comments suggested a "paucity of intellectual argument", while Labour MP John Woodcock suggested such an argument would not be made about a man.
Andy Burnham is the other candidate in the leadership contest to succeed Ed Miliband.
During an online discussion with Mumsnet users on Tuesday, Mr Corbyn and Ms Kendall were asked whether they thought sexism had featured in the campaign.
Mr Corbyn replied: "Yes I do and I think people should be judged on the policies they're enunciating and not on levels of bad attitudes or abuse that are heaped upon them by anybody else and some of our popular media.
"Actually, I don't do personal, I'm more interested in ideas and politics."
And Ms Kendall said: "Yep, sometimes it has felt a bit 1970s... or even 1950s!
"I'm a feminist - I believe women should be judged by their ideas, their values, and what they have to contribute... not by what they wear, what they look like, or their family situation or relationships.
"We have a painfully long way to go before that's the case..."
Ms Kendall, who is currently fourth in the race, has rejected calls to stand aside and back another candidate to defeat current front-runner Mr Corbyn, saying she will "fight to the very end".
She also criticised comments in The Times by shadow justice secretary Lord Falconer - a supporter of Mr Burnham's - who said neither she nor Ms Cooper would be able to unite the party to steer it through the "challenging" years ahead.
And Ms Cooper, who has endorsed Ms Kendall staying in the contest, said the campaign had been "startlingly retro".
She told the Guardian: "Andy's campaign seem to be calling for Liz and I to bow out and leave it to the boys, or suggesting that somehow women aren't strong enough to do the top jobs.
"Liz has been asked about her weight, I've been asked (on [BBC Radio 4's] Woman's Hour of all places) about whether I can possibly do this job because of my husband, and any talk about me being a working mum has been used as a sexist way to divide Liz and I and criticise Liz for not having children."
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour earlier in the day, Mr Corbyn said he was "embarrassed" and had a "bit of a chuckle" when he was told there had been an online discussion on Mumsnet about him being "sexy".
The left-winger published his women's manifesto on Tuesday, promising universal free childcare, mandatory gender pay audits and to challenge everyday sexism.
The Islington North MP pledges that half of his shadow cabinet would be women if he were elected Labour leader.
He would also work towards 50% of the party's MPs being women, it says.
Mr Corbyn is also calling for universal free childcare, which he told Woman's Hour would be paid for by general taxation.
"Early years socialisation of children is very, very important. It's good for the children and it's good for the families," he said.
Companies would be required to publish equal pay audits as a step towards ending the gender gap in wages, under Mr Corbyn's plans.
"It's about a cultural change, its about attitudes as much as anything else," he said.
The left-wing MP rejected accusations that he would destroy Labour's electoral chances if he were to become the party's new leader.
It comes after a poll for the Independent suggested three quarters of people think the party is less electable than at the general election, when Labour suffered heavy losses, and with senior Labour figures warning against a "lurch to the left".
Mr Corbyn said his campaign had attracted the support of many young people who think "there needs to be a challenge to the cross-party agreement... on variations of austerity in the general election".
"Young people are excited by this, isn't that a good thing?" he said, adding that his campaign had not "grown out of the ether and hot air".
On the personal abuse directed at him, Mr Corbyn said it was a matter for those people but he said he would "never indulge in any degree of personal abuse towards anybody".
He did criticise some of coverage of the contest, however, saying: "It's very sad that some sections of the media are incapable of engaging in any of this at political level and engage in it solely at a level of personal intrusion and personal abuse.
"Does it hurt those around me? Yes, it does." | Sexism has played a role in Labour's leadership contest, hopefuls Jeremy Corbyn and Liz Kendall have said. |
32911886 | Universities in Bangor, Swansea and Cardiff will lead research into areas like physical activity, arthritis, asthma, infection and injuries.
Aims will include giving children a healthy start and adding more quality years to people's lives.
It is being funded by Welsh government body Health and Care Research Wales. | A national centre aimed at improving health and wellbeing is to be established with the help of £2.25m funding. |
33275404 | The dispute with the train operator was over the dismissal of Glen Watson, a conductor on the service.
Transpennine Express said Mr Watson's employment had now ended on "mutually accepted terms".
The RMT said all local protests were over and thanked members for their support during the dispute.
Three 24-hour strikes had been held.
The dispute started when Mr Watson was dismissed after a train-surfing incident at Cleethorpes station.
Transpennine Express said the conductor did not force the train to stop and deal with the matter properly.
The train operator has agreed to discuss a new policy at a joint safety committee for dealing with such problems, said the RMT. | Industrial action by more than 40 train conductors on the Transpennine Express route between Sheffield and Cleethorpes has been cancelled, the RMT union said. |
39938175 | Ashford and St Peter's NHS Trust said it has reported the 22 incidents, some of which date back to 2011.
It said the patients treatment plans "were not reviewed in a timely way, which has the potential to cause harm".
The trust suggested a reliance on "paper and notification forms" could be to blame.
Ashford and St Peter's NHS Trust works across two sites - Ashford Hospital, in Surrey, and St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey.
In a statement, it said: "It is always difficult to determine exactly what level of harm may have been caused by a delay and whilst we cannot disclose details of individual patients, in at least two of the [three patients that died] we know this is not directly attributable to the delay in their care.
"In addition, we know that of these 22 individuals, a number did not suffer any adverse outcome but are reported as serious incidents due to the potential harm that could result from delay."
The trust said each case has been "thoroughly investigated" in close liaison with the patient and their family.
It added: "There are many different and complex reasons why a patient may become lost to follow-up but the reliance on paper and notification forms to support patients and to administrate their pathways is not sufficiently robust to ensure it is fool-proof."
Last year, it said it had proactively initiated a new Patient Pathway Programme to review and improve administrative procedures for cancer patients.
It said it was attempting to spot common themes to reduce the risk of patients not being followed up, a problem it claimed is common to most acute trusts. | A health trust has admitted failing to properly follow up 22 of its cancer patients, three whom have since died or are receiving palliative care. |
40306311 | Neil Hulme, 56, from Worthing, West Sussex, spent 20 years volunteering to protect butterflies and moths.
The charity Butterfly Conservation said he saved the rare Duke of Burgundy by improving its local habitat on every known site.
Mr Hulme said: "It is a great honour to be recognised in this manner."
He added: "But the conservation of butterflies is always a team effort, so it is equally a recognition of my colleagues and particularly the volunteers of Butterfly Conservation Sussex Branch.
"This is also for my parents - my passion for butterflies and dedication to helping them is entirely their fault."
He worked with landowners and the South Downs National Park Authority to help improve the environment for butterflies.
Now some colonies have expanded in Sussex to become amongst the largest in the UK, including the Duke.
Butterfly Conservation chief executive Julie Williams said: "I am absolutely delighted Neil is being recognised for his dedication and amazing effort in conserving butterflies and moths over the last 20 years.
"His work on the Duke of Burgundy means this wonderful butterfly now has a future in Sussex."
Mr Hulme now leads a Heritage Lottery Funded project, Fritillaries For The Future, to conserve highly threatened fritillary butterflies across Sussex.
For a few weeks in July, Mr Hulme joins groups of people wandering English woods carrying strange produce, including rotting fish, Stinking Bishop cheese and dirty nappies, to bait the Purple Emperor, one of Britain's most elusive and beautiful butterflies. | A butterfly enthusiast who almost single-handedly saved a rare species from extinction in Sussex has been awarded a British Empire Medal. |
36725692 | The Swiss team will not take part in next week's post-British Grand Prix test at Silverstone, stating it was to "consider cost effectiveness".
They also missed the first in-season test in May as they had no test driver and a lack of car upgrades.
Sauber are last in the constructors' standings before Sunday's race at Silverstone, having failed to score a point so far this season.
British Grand Prix coverage details
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | Sauber have pulled out of a second Formula 1 in-season test to save money. |
36685468 | Bentley, 22, and Sawyers, 24, have agreed four-year deals with the Bees while Egan, 23, has signed a three-year contract at Griffin Park.
Sawyers joins on a free transfer after leaving Walsall while Southend and Gillingham are entitled to compensation for Bentley and Egan respectively.
The Championship club are in talks with the Shrimpers and the Gills.
The trio become Brentford's first three signings of the summer transfer window.
Bentley came through Southend's youth system and made 160 appearances for the Essex club after making his debut in 2011.
Former Republic of Ireland Under-21 international Egan, who can play at centre-back or right-back, scored 11 times in 92 games during two years at Gillingham after joining from Sunderland.
Saint Kitts and Nevis international Sawyers, who worked with Brentford head coach Dean Smith at Walsall, scored 19 goals in 162 outings during three years with the Saddlers.
Meanwhile, Brentford have appointed former boss Andy Scott as chief scout at Griffin Park.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | Brentford have signed goalkeeper Daniel Bentley, defender John Egan and midfielder Romaine Sawyers. |
38401968 | 22 December 2016 Last updated at 14:03 GMT
The blaze at Multy UK, on the Earlstrees Industrial Estate in Corby, was tackled by 70 firefighters at its height on Wednesday.
An investigation has now begun into what caused the fire, off Brunel Road, which created a black plume of smoke seen for miles around.
This footage was shot by eyewitness Pawel Slowinski. | New footage has emerged of a massive fire that broke out at a cleaning products firm in Northamptonshire. |
27707280 | The song, with its Latin American vibe, will be used as the opening sequence for all of the BBC's World Cup programmes for Brazil 2014.
It is the first time the musician, 64, has given his approval for one of his songs to be used in this way.
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Wonder originally released the track on his multi Grammy Award-winning Songs In The Key Of Life album back in 1976.
The song will feature for the first time on BBC One on 11 June (22:35 BST) to introduce the BBC's World Cup preview show.
BBC Sport senior producer Ian Finch said the BBC were fortunate Wonder granted permission for it to be used.
"It is very rare for an artist of this stature to approve the use of their music in this way, so we are thrilled and honoured," Finch said.
"This song perfectly captures the feel-good, carnival atmosphere we will bring to our viewers during the World Cup this summer."
The BBC will have comprehensive coverage of the World Cup, showing live matches on BBC One, BBC One HD and the BBC Sport website, with simultaneous games on BBC Three, BBC Three HD and the Red Button.
BBC Two and BBC Two HD will host a morning catch-up highlights programme as well as full match replays of the game of the day. | Stevie Wonder's song Another Star will provide the theme tune for the BBC's Fifa World Cup coverage. |
36128951 | The Pirates went down 55-33 at Nottingham to finish the season in ninth place in the Championship.
Davies is leaving the club because of cost-cutting measures.
"There was a bit of body preservation - some players were not going not contact as they should have and there were soft tries for both sides," he said.
"We've relaxed since being knocked out of the British and Irish Cup as the season has ended."
During his time as part of the coaching staff, Davies has seen the Pirates win the British and Irish Cup and reach two more semi-finals, as well as twice making the Championship play-off final.
But he says the move to the planned new Stadium for Cornwall must go ahead if they are to survive in the long term:
"I'm disappointed not to have been part of the Pirates playing in the new stadium in that first game, a lot of people behind the scenes have worked very hard," Davies told BBC Radio Cornwall.
"As a club it has to survive, but it'll only survive with the stadium." | Cornish Pirates boss Ian Davies says he was disappointed by the lack of commitment of some of his players in his final game in charge of the club. |
35926664 | So why have some 12,000 tweets featured the term "England kit" during the team's two Euro 2016 warm-up matches?
Nike's design - which breaks with tradition - has come under scrutiny. So will the Three Lions look downright silly in France this summer?
It is often said people don't like change - not even when Nike claim the new England strip is "the most advanced kit ever to hit the pitch".
The manufacturer says this kit is 10% lighter than in the past and dries 25% quicker, so is it the cocktail of colour that has irked fans and former players?
A move away from traditional blue/white home strip or red/white away offering, coupled with contrasting sleeve colours, has seen some claim England are losing their heritage.
England players were consulted about the strip, and stand-in captain James Milner told reporters he was more interested in the shirt's fit.
But former players have not been so kind, with Gary Lineker telling his Twitter followers he "can't think of a worse England strip" as Roy Hodgson's side donned their red change kit for Saturday's 3-2 win over Germany.
BBC Radio 5 live pundit and former England winger Chris Waddle "wasn't impressed", while ex-midfielder Rob Lee tweeted: "Red/burgundy, blue socks, worst England kit."
A shift to home colours for the defeat by the Netherlands did little to create some love for the design, with former midfielder Peter Reid stating he is "not having" the strip.
Marco Gabbiadini, who played for England B and the under-21s, was discussing the kit and not the side's ability when he wrote "we look like a non-league team".
Think the new strip looks a little like an away team forced into a last-minute sock change? Without doubt, the socks have been the focus of much attention, but their colour is a nod to England's past.
"Bright red socks, featuring a linear blue graphic on the calf, celebrate the look of the English team that famously triumphed over Brazil at Maracana Stadium in 1984," a Nike spokesperson told BBC Sport.
"They bring a vibrant spark of contrast to the head-to-toe look and highlight the most dynamic part of the footballer's body, the lower legs, to accentuate speed."
Nike's deal runs until 2018, and the American sports manufacturer clearly feels it retains the confidence of the Football Association.
"For both kits, we set out with the goal of bringing together the colours that are synonymous with English football: white, red and blue," said Martin Lotti, Nike's creative director.
Hodgson has enough on his plate finalising his preparations for Euro 2016.
"The only thing that concerns me is the person wearing the shirt," he said.
Nike also make kits for hosts France, Portugal, Turkey, Poland and Croatia. Many of their strips feature sleeves which differ in colour to the body of shirts - much like England's.
This fashion quirk - though perhaps not innovative enough to threaten the front cover of Vogue - has not gone down too well, so why couldn't England have 'done a Poland' and kept to all white?
Perhaps by Euro 2016, supporters will have adjusted and dislike will diminish. If not, maybe Sweden's fairly glum away strip can become the focus of summer kit angst... | The home shirt is white, the away one red - run of the mill for an England kit, then? |
36670719 | The 29-year-old has signed a four-year contract to become City's third summer signing.
New manager Pep Guardiola has already brought in Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund for £20m, as well as Australian midfielder Aaron Mooy.
Nolito started all four of Spain's matches at Euro 2016 before they were knocked out in the last 16 by Italy.
"I think that Pep Guardiola is one of the best managers in the world," said Nolito, whose real name is Manuel Agudo Duran.
"He knows a lot about the game and he's going to help me progress as a player. I'm sure he'll get the best out of me."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | Manchester City have signed Spain forward Nolito from Celta Vigo after meeting his £13.8m release clause. |
35035087 | Writing in the New York Times, Mr Schmidt said using technology to automatically filter-out extremist material would "de-escalate tensions on social media" and "remove videos before they spread".
His essay comes as presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton again called on Silicon Valley to help tackle terrorism, specifically seeking tools to combat the so-called Islamic State.
"We need to put the great disrupters at work at disrupting ISIS," she said during a speech in Washington DC.
In the wake of the Paris attacks, companies and governments have clashed over how to handle the terrorism threat.
Many tech firms, buoyed by the fallout from the Edward Snowden leaks, have stood firm on encryption - with the likes of Apple and others making it near-impossible to access a locked smartphone without the password, a move that has frustrated some politicians.
With the terrorism debate escalating after last week's shootings in San Bernardino, Mr Schmidt's editorial appears to be an attempt to ease these tensions and show a willingness from technology companies to help.
"As with all great advances in technology, expanded Web access has also brought with it some serious challenges, like threats to free speech, qualms about surveillance and fears of online terrorist activity," Mr Schmidt wrote.
"For all the good people can do with new tools and new inventions, there are always some who will seek to do harm.
"Ever since there's been fire, there's been arson."
He insisted that censorship and invasions of privacy would not solve the situation.
"We should build tools to help de-escalate tensions on social media - sort of like spell-checkers, but for hate and harassment. We should target social accounts for terrorist groups like the Islamic State, and remove videos before they spread, or help those countering terrorist messages to find their voice.
"Without this type of leadership from government, from citizens, from tech companies, the Internet could become a vehicle for further disaggregation of poorly built societies, and the empowerment of the wrong people, and the wrong voices."
On Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters the US government wanted to avoid "the urge to trample a bunch of civil liberties".
And in addition to her speech on Sunday, Mrs Clinton later shared her "plan to defeat ISIS" on long-form writing platform Medium, and called for co-operation.
She said: "Resolve means depriving jihadists of virtual territory just as we work to deprive them of actual territory."
"They are using websites, social media, chat rooms, and other platforms to celebrate beheadings, recruit future terrorists, and call for attacks.
"We should work with host companies to shut them down."
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC | Technology companies should work on tools to disrupt terrorism - such as creating a hate speech "spell-checker" - Google's chairman Eric Schmidt has said. |
39960501 | The ex-Wycombe and Accrington midfielder suffered two serious knee injuries during his time at the club.
Full-back Liam Wakefield, 23, is also released by Morecambe.
Michael Rose, Kevin Ellison, Barry Roche, Aaron Wildig, Alex Kenyon, Paul Mullin and Ryan Edwards have been offered new contracts.
Andy Fleming and Lee Molynuex are also in talks with the Shrimps.
"On the eve of my most recent operation to repair a new injury sustained in the game against Wycombe I was informed over the phone that I was to be released," Murphy said on Twitter.
"I was informed by the surgeon the very next day that the injury I sustained is career ending.
"I feel fortunate to have played the game I love for a living for the time that I have."
Earlier this week, Diego Lemos' ownership claim to Morecambe was dismissed with tax consultant Graham Burnard announced as sole director. | Morecambe captain Peter Murphy has announced his retirement at 27 because of a career-ending injury and his release from the Shrimps. |
15906194 | Media playback is not supported on this device
Boos were aimed at Bruce, who had his family in attendance on Saturday.
He said: "It's not easy when your family are here and you're abused like that. But it's the game we're in and I've never walked away from a challenge.
"I won't be beaten with it. If others see fit to make a change then so be it but I'm ready for the challenge ahead."
Defeat to Wigan was Sunderland's sixth of the season and they sit just two points above the relegation zone.
Full table
A mistake from defender Wes Brown allowed Wigan's Jamie McArthur time to steal the ball and set up Franco di Santo for a late winner after Jordi Gomez's penalty had cancelled out Sebastian Larsson's early opener.
Despite yet another loss and their precarious position, Bruce is confident his side can turn it around.
He added: "I'm still convinced, no matter what people are chanting or saying, that the dressing room and the players we've got here are a good group and they will turn it around.
"I've got to try to get some belief back among the supporters - it isn't easy at the moment but I've never ducked away from anything or a challenge.
"Of course I can understand their [the supporters'] frustrations. It's happened too many times here and, when you're not winning matches in front of your faithful, of course I'm going to get the brunt of it.
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"But I'm convinced we're on the right track and nobody is going to change my mind on that."
After Larsson had given Sunderland an eighth-minute lead, the home side had a number of chances to extend their advantage but Kieran Richardson and Brown missed opportunities.
Richardson also put a late header wide and Bruce bemoaned his side's wastefulness in front of goal.
"I keep coming out and saying the same sort of thing. We should have won the match comfortably. We've not taken the chances we've had to kill the game off.
"We can't make that same mistake because you don't get gluttons of chances in the Premier League. It has happened too often that we've created the chances but we've not taken them.
"It's not just one or two, it's a host and, when you don't take them, there's an edginess and a panic.
"Then we go a bit gung-ho and we've made a mistake. We've come away scratching our heads and a really frustrating afternoon has turned into a nightmare afternoon." | Sunderland boss Steve Bruce insists he won't quit despite abuse from fans after a home defeat against Wigan. |
39139640 | The figures for the year to 31 October 2016, include the Sussex Cricket Foundation charitable subsidiary.
An operating loss of £139,000 was recorded for the same period in 2015.
Sussex chairman Jim May said balancing the finances remained a "constant challenge but these were satisfactory figures for the new organisation".
A combined turnover figure of £6.5m showed a decline in match income, but the club said there had been a strong performance in commercial income.
Since the County Ground in Hove was redeveloped in 2011, net revenues for catering, events and rental income had increased by around £500,000 a year.
However, after making full allowance for depreciation, Sussex said it recorded a deficit after tax of £488,000.
The club's report added that the balance sheet was strong with total equity of £10.3m and no external debt.
"I believe that Sussex is in good shape for the current season," added May.
"We have made quality signings in the close season to complement our squad and we have an exciting group of youngsters coming through."
The club finished last season in fourth place in Championship Division Two and failed to progress beyond the group stage in the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup. | Sussex made a small operating profit of £1,000 in 2016, their first year as an integrated body combining professional, recreational and community cricket. |
36472613 | Sajid Hussain, 35, a taxi marshal near Snobs nightclub in Birmingham was convicted of sexual assault and another man was jailed for rape.
The club and a business group said they previously reported the unofficial rank to the council.
Birmingham City Council said it was "really concerned" by the incident.
The 19-year-old was abducted in a transit van and and raped after leaving Snobs in Smallbrook Queensway in the early hours of 20 February, 2015.
Latest on this story, plus more Birmingham news
Hussain, was jailed for six years and her rapist Zaheer Abbas, 30, was jailed for 11 years earlier this month.
Judge Mary Stacy had earlier told Birmingham Crown Court: "Snobs abandoned her on the street where she was prey to the likes of Abbas and Hussain."
A spokesman for Snobs and Southside Business Improvement District (BID), said Hussain was "not employed or associated" with either organisation and the "unofficial" rank he worked for had been reported to the council prior to the rape.
He said in May 2015, Southside instigated an official taxi rank outside the club "out of its own pot" due to the council's budget constraints. "Unfortunately this was too late," he said.
The BID area now has three official ranks with "CRB checked" marshals, he added.
Wayne Tracey, co-owner of Snobs, said the teenager "was found asleep in the toilet", checked by an onsite paramedic and "accompanied out of the building" into a cordoned-off area in front of the venue. Staff tried to find her friends in Snobs and a short time later she made her way to the taxi rank.
"At no point was she abandoned - she was looked after until she decided to make her own way home. Unfortunately, we are unable to compel members of the public to stay on site and no club can be expected to help visitors into taxis," he said.
Mr Tracey added: "We believe that the issue at hand is the licensing of taxi marshals and set-up of official taxi ranks in the city, which affects all clubs and bars."
A spokesman for the council said it was working with firms to improve the arrangements at taxi ranks in the Southside BID, which covers much of Birmingham city centre.
"Licensed Hackney carriages are allowed to operate from official ranks in the Southside BID area, but we advise people not to allow themselves to be put into licensed vehicles other than by a Southside BID marshal, who will put you into a black cab," they said. | A nightclub accused by a judge of "abandoning" a drunk student who was later raped said it had raised concerns about an unofficial taxi rank outside. |
40519615 | The campus, which opened in 2015, was built to accommodate 2,000 but has just 106 enrolled students.
Plaid Cymru AM Simon Thomas said the venture had been considered an "unwise move" from the outset.
The university said it was a "long-term investment" and it was "committed to eliminating losses in Mauritius".
In May, the university announced potential job losses as it tries to make £11.4m of cuts by April 2019.
The campus has international and UK students, and offers courses including criminal law, business finance and computer science.
The income from fees is split between the university and Boston Campus, the company responsible for building it.
Last year, a former vice-chancellor for the university described the venture as "madness" after just 40 students enrolled during its first academic year.
The institution made a loss of nearly £200,000 from the venture during that year.
The two other British universities to open in Mauritius - Wolverhampton and Middlesex - both had about 90 enrolments in their first year on the island, according to figures gathered by the country's higher education regulator.
The University of Central Lancashire also offers courses in Mauritius.
Last year, Wolverhampton announced it was closing its campus four years after it opened.
Responding to figures seen by Newyddion 9, Mr Thomas, AM for Mid and West Wales, said: "The first impressions are this venture is somewhat struggling and is finding it difficult to fulfil its potential as it was advertised at the time.
"Of course, many people thought it was an unwise move by the university to go to Mauritius in the first place. The aim of the scheme surely was to attract new money that would support the university in Aberystwyth.
"If that doesn't happen the plug must be pulled on the scheme."
A spokesman for Aberystwyth University said: "Our Mauritius campus opened in 2015 as a long-term investment aimed at offering an Aberystwyth educational experience to students from east Africa, the sub-continent and Asia, as well as the island of Mauritius.
"As part of our ongoing sustainability implementation plan, we are committed to eliminating losses in Mauritius." | Aberystwyth University should "pull the plug" on its "struggling" Mauritius campus if it fails to increase student numbers, an AM has said. |
38997912 | The free agent, who has 68 caps for Uruguay, left Serie A giants Juventus in the summer.
"I am very happy to have signed for what is an important club in English football," said the 29-year-old, who has not played a game for over a year.
"Of all of the options that I had, I think that the best option for me was to come to Southampton."
Caceres also played for Spanish clubs Barcelona and Sevilla, winning La Liga and the Champions League during his time at the Nou Camp.
He made 77 appearances for Italian champions Juve across three spells, winning the Serie A title four times.
However, he has not made a competitive appearance since last February after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon.
He will provide cover for Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk, who was ruled out for up to three months with an ankle injury. | Southampton have signed former Juventus and Barcelona defender Martin Caceres until the end of the season. |
29754769 | The company said it has chartered additional P&O Express sailings to assist with "high demand".
Manannan will operate an extra five return trips from Liverpool and an additional four return sailings from Larne.
Bookings for the additional sailings will open at 08:30 GMT on 3 November.
The IOMSPC will also increase capacity for motorcycles travelling to the island for the road-racing festival by building a mezzanine deck on the Manannan.
Chartered freight vessel MV Arrow will also be in service, freeing up the Ben-my-Chree to accommodate additional vehicles.
Chief executive Mark Woodward said: "There was a marked increase in demand when bookings for the 2015 TT opened in May, with first-day bookings up 41% on the previous year.
"We are delighted that the charter of P&O Express has allowed us to add additional sailings from Northern Ireland and on the popular Liverpool route." | The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company (IOMSPC) has announced extra sailings from Liverpool and Northern Ireland during next June's TT races. |
36460749 | Ralph Clarke, of Birmingham, is accused in relation to alleged attacks on three children between 1974 and 1983.
Mr Clarke, of Holly Lane, Erdington, appeared at the city's crown court to deny 17 charges of indecent assault and 12 of indecency with a child.
He also denies two counts of trying to commit a serious sexual offence.
Mr Clarke will appear for trial at Birmingham Crown Court on 5 December.
The former lorry driver, who left court on unconditional bail, was told that six witnesses are due to give evidence at his trial.
More on this and other stories Birmingham and Black Country | A 101-year-old man who is thought to be the oldest defendant in British legal history has pleaded not guilty to a total of 31 child sex abuse charges. |
33292855 | Johnson was England boss in New Zealand four years ago when off-field incidents led to heavy criticism.
Raucous behaviour in a bar and Manu Tuilagi jumping off a ferry were among the unwelcome headlines in New Zealand.
"It's not rocket science is it; don't get into trouble," said Johnson, who captained England to victory in 2003.
Speaking to BBC Sport the former second row added: "You have to know what the line is between right and wrong.
"Ultimately when you go there [to a World Cup] you have to be able to trust everyone.
"I think the players know where the line is and they know what they need to be doing or not doing."
The Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie has recently sought Johnson's advice about how to avoid disciplinary problems this time round.
England head coach Stuart Lancaster has already dropped Leicester centre Tuilagi and Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley from his World Cup training squad following breaches of discipline.
Hartley was cut from the 50-man party after being banned for a head-butt during the Premiership semi-final between Northampton and Saracens, and Johnson has backed his successor's stance.
"Dylan has had numerous occasions when it has happened," Johnson said, whose England side were knocked out at the quarter-final stage in 2011.
"I think Stuart made the right call. If that happens at a key moment it could cost everyone. So Hartley almost made the choice for him."
Tuilagi caused controversy at the last World Cup when he received a police warning for jumping off an Auckland ferry, and will miss this year's tournament after pleading guilty to assault.
"It's unnecessary. He's a fantastic player but he's lost an opportunity and ultimately only got himself to blame," Johnson added.
But Johnson - who won 84 caps for England between 1993 and 2003 - says he has sympathy for the current generation of players when it comes to life away from rugby.
"They are young guys, and part of it is letting your hair down a little bit. But it is more difficult to do that now," he added.
"Everyone has a camera and you can construe one situation as something different.
"Your memories as a player are both on and off the field, and I feel sorry in a way for some of them because it is easy for someone to try and deliberately catch you out.
"It's a bit unfortunate, but that's the way it is."
Johnson is one of four World Cup winning captains featured on the official England Rugby 2015 tournament tickets, and he believes this year's showpiece is too close to call.
"I think a lot of teams will think it's their best chance in a long, long time to get to a final," he said. "So it's going to be very interesting what plays out.
"What happened in February when they played each other last time [during the Six Nations] is mainly irrelevant. Playing in a World Cup the games are huge, the pressure is massive.
"It's who can deal with that." | Former captain Martin Johnson has urged England's players not to repeat the mistakes of the 2011 World Cup in the upcoming 2015 edition on home soil. |
37738915 | The Mi-8 helicopter carrying 22 people, mostly oil and gas workers, went down on Friday in the Yamalo-Nenetsky region.
President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences to relatives of the victims, according to his spokesman.
The helicopter "fell on its right side and the victims could not get out," a military spokesman said.
Three survivors were flown to the hospital but fog and poor visibility had hindered search and rescue operations, according to officials.
A criminal probe has been launched but investigators suspect the crash could have been caused by a violation of flight safety regulations, a mechanical problem or poor weather conditions.
The helicopter was flying from an oil and gas field in the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk to the small settlement of Urengoi.
The region's governor Dmitry Kobylkin has announced a day of mourning, calling the crash a source of "great sorrow for all of us." | A Russian helicopter has crashed in north-western Siberia killing at least 19 people, officials say. |
34115824 | The Rhinos retained the cup on Saturday but for the second year running found a fired-up Saints who prevented them going six points clear at the top.
Saints halves Travis Burns and Luke Walsh were dominant, with the latter scoring 16 of the 32 points.
The win puts the visitors level on points with third-placed Huddersfield.
Castleford, who lost at the Giants on Thursday night, are now under pressure to beat St Helens when the two meet at the Jungle next Thursday - as defeat would end their hopes.
Having been so clinical in the Challenge Cup final victory against Hull KR, Leeds lacked the same accuracy and execution with crucial errors throughout.
They were without key players Zak Hardaker, Kallum Watkins and Rob Burrow, although stand-in full-back Ashton Golding emerged with credit on his 19th birthday.
Keiron Cunningham's side took full advantage of the hosts' mistakes to score the opener on the back of Danny McGuire's error through Tommy Makinson, although Jimmy Keinhorst burst through for a reply on the back of work from Mitch Garbutt and McGuire.
Adam Cuthbertson and Garbutt's mix-up on the restart gave Saints field position and they twisted the screw with repeat sets that led to Josh Jones' try on the left.
Mitch Achurch twisted over as Leeds kept pace but sublime footwork from Walsh took him across, and after a penalty goal Adam Quinlan took a delicious inside pass from Travis Burns in the second half to further extend the lead.
Ryan Hall's well-worked score lifted spirits around Headingley but once Jon Wilkin crossed late for a 100th try a controlled St Helens had a comfortable lead to see them through to the hooter.
Leeds Rhinos coach Brian McDermott on potential Challenge Cup hangover:
"There is a bit in that, I wouldn't put it all down to that. I thought Saints played very direct and aggressive.
"There was too much dropped ball near their try-line and, as the game started to bite, too many fellas dropped off tackles.
"I thought the team we had out there was good enough. We looked decent for spells in the game. Defensively I thought we were solid for the most part, but as we got tired, which we thought we would, we started to drop off."
St Helens coach Keiron Cunningham:
"You saw the leadership that Jon Wilkin gives the team, I thought Luke Walsh was phenomenal and Alex Walmsley just gets better every week.
"We were really determined tonight, I could see it on the faces of the players in midweek. A few people like to kick you when you're down but we're together and we quite like the idea that everyone had written us off. It's not the best we've been with the ball - we need a lot of improvement in our attack - but defensively I was really happy with the intent from minute one.
"I'm pleased for the team. We've been in a bit of a dark place over the last four weeks but the break definitely did us good and I'd like to think we can move on."
Leeds Rhinos: Golding; Briscoe, Keinhorst, Moon, Hall; Sinfield, McGuire; Garbutt, Cuthbertson, Peacock, Ablett, Ward, Delaney.
Interchanges: Singleton, Achurch, Lilley, Leuluai.
St Helens: Quinlan; Makinson, Percival, Jones, Swift; Burns, Walsh; Amor, Roby, Savelio, Wilkin, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Turner.
Interchanges: Walmsley, Flanagan, Richards, Greenwood.
Attendance: 16,142
Referee: James Child | St Helens spoilt Challenge Cup winners Leeds Rhinos' Headingley return, sealing a first win in five games to boost their Super League top-four bid. |
37922047 | Workers from North Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Teesside, Scotland and Wales are among 10,000 people in Europe taking part in the demonstration.
They are demanding cheaper Chinese steel be halted coming into the EU.
Tata Steel announced in April that it looked to sell its UK business, but decided to pause the process in July.
Unions said the industry has also been hit by new laws and rules that increased operating costs for steel plants.
Unite national officer Harish Patel said the protest involved members from Tata Steel, which owns plants in Dalzell, Hartlepool, Port Talbot, Rotherham and Stocksbridge - and British Steel in Scunthorpe.
He said the industry was "hanging in the balance with the steel crisis still very much far from over".
Mr Patel said it was "vital the UK government supports action to halt the flood of cheap Chinese steel and secures tariff-free access to the single market in Brexit negotiations" and it had to "insist on using British steel for infrastructure and defence projects".
Paul McBean, multi-union chairman at British Steel in Scunthorpe, said: "A vibrant steel industry is vital to the infrastructure of any country but over the last eight years we have seen widespread redundancies throughout the UK and across Europe.
"It is imperative that action is taken to protect the industry and safeguard thousands of jobs throughout Europe."
The UK government previously said a "great deal of work" had been done "to support the steel industry including tackling the dumping of cheap imports into the EU and buying British".
"The recent reopening of the plate mills in Scotland and the British Steel site at Scunthorpe, which has since hired more people, shows the sector can remain competitive with the right investment," a spokesman added. | About 100 UK steelworkers have joined a march in Brussels calling for action to protect the industry and safeguard jobs. |
30341606 | Officers were called to Springfield Drive just after midnight after the woman's body was found in a bedroom.
The death is being treated as suspicious as officers work to establish her identity and the cause of death.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland confirmed that a man had been detained in connection with the incident.
Local area commander Ch Insp Mandy Paterson said: "Our inquiries into how the woman died are ongoing, and detectives and forensic officers are carrying out a thorough investigation at the scene.
"For this particularly quiet area within the community this will be an unsettling time, however, I can confirm that we currently have a man in police custody.
"I would ask residents to be patient with us while we carry out the necessary door-to-door inquiries and we are committed to returning the area to normality as soon as possible." | Police Scotland have launched a murder investigation after the body of a woman was found at a house in Falkirk. |
26782147 | In the Republic, energy company EirGrid has yet to seek planning permission with the Republic of Ireland's planning authorities, An Bord Pleanala.
The issue of overground pylons versus underground cabling has become one that may well feature in this year's local and European elections.
Paula Sheridan and her husband Mike live in Drumree, County Meath, about a 45-minute drive from Dublin.
Both keen gardeners, their house is 50 metres from an electricity pylon.
The wires over their property can carry up to 400,000 volts of electricity and they say the proposed north-south interconnector will double that capacity.
Paula describes the nearby pylon as "a monstrous tombstone" hanging over their home.
"What price have we paid for electricity?" she said. "Our house is worthless. We tried to sell it, nobody would buy it. Our health has been destroyed; our children's inheritance is gone. Nobody has considered that in the equation. What price have we paid?"
Paula Sheridan was treated for colo-rectal cancer last year; Mike for prostate cancer three years ago.
And while they accept it cannot be proven that the pylon caused their cancers, Mike believes there is a link.
"Having spent an awful lot of time over the last 30 years out in the garden there, I would make a link between my exposure and the cancer that I had, yeah," he said.
Those opposed to electricity pylons say the metal towers are ugly and ruin the landscape, they lower property prices, but most damning of all, they are a health risk.
But the Irish Minister for Communication, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte, is adamant there is no evidence that overground wires cause cancer.
He said that expert advice from the World Health Organisation suggests there is no reason for health concerns.
"It's a fairly fantastic proposition, to allege that any government or state agency would engage in infrastructural build-out that posed a health risk to people. That really is unconscionable," he said.
The planning appeal process will hear submissions in favour of putting the wires underground - a much more expensive and technically difficult process according to Mr Rabbitte, which is why, he said, more than 95% of cabling is overhead in the developed world.
He also said going underground would put 3% on electricity bills for the next 50 years.
But Colin Andrew, a chartered engineer, a geologist and a member of the North East Pylon Pressure Committee believes the extra cost of putting the cables below the soil, for the two administrations and the two electricity companies, is worth paying.
"There is a better way and all we are requesting is that the governments, north and south, and SOMI in the north and EirGrid in the south, look at the better way, which is acceptable to the communities," he said.
"We believe the total cost to the average bill-payer of undergrounding the north-south interconnector will be less than 70 cents a month or 50p a month in the north."
Overground or underground has yet to be decided on.
But the need for more electricity is not in doubt, especially for Northern Ireland, according to a senior well-informed source.
Mr Rabbitte said he accepts that people have genuine concerns about the visual impact of pylons and how they affect property prices.
However, he added: "There always has been a trade-off between the comforts of modern civilisation and an element of intrusion into the way we live.
"That's unavoidable if you are going to have electricity supply, mod cons and the power to provide jobs and industry in the regions."
For governments, voters and planners the issue of pylons, it seems, is part of the age-old dilemma - what price progress? | The north-south electricity interconnector is in the news in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. |
39808477 | Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) said it would seek to cancel its 25-year private finance initiative deal with Viridor Laing Ltd.
GMWDA, which signed the contract in 2009, faces financial challenges, Viridor's parent company Pennon said.
It indicated the firm would seek compensation over the termination.
Viridor Laing is a consortium of the waste and resources firm Viridor and construction group John Laing Infrastructure.
In December last year, John Laing PLC reported that GMWDA said it was "not satisfied with the current status" of the project and that it continued to "seek significant cost savings and efficiencies".
In a statement, GMWDA confirmed it had agreed to terminate the deal.
The authority added: "The decision allows for delegation for officers to progress termination. At this time we are unable to comment further."
Dominic Nash, a financial analyst at Macquarie, believes it could be "up to three years before there is any clarity".
He said: "The main driver is to save money. It does not come down to Viridor Laing doing a bad job because I don't think they have. The council budget is lower and they will want to reduce bills for customers."
Mr Nash said jobs would be transferred to any new contractor, and compensation would be paid.
He warned: "How the compensation is calculated is a good indicator for investment perception in the UK...If it is handled badly it has the potential to damage investor sentiment, as it would increase risk for investors."
GMWDA provides waste disposal services for councils in Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford. | A £3bn contract signed to recycle waste and use some of it as fuel to generate electricity is to be terminated 17 years early over "cost savings". |
25468587 | The high court deemed laws prohibiting brothels, communicating in public with clients and living on the profits of prostitution to be too sweeping.
The ruling follows a court challenge filed by former and current sex workers.
The justices' decision gives the Canadian government one year to craft new legislation.
All nine of the court's judges ruled in favour of striking the laws down, finding they were "grossly disproportionate".
"It is not a crime in Canada to sell sex for money," Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in Friday's decision.
Canada's criminal code currently makes it illegal to keep a brothel, communicate in public about acts of prostitution or live off its proceeds.
But Justice McLachlin wrote: "Parliament has the power to regulate against nuisances, but not at the cost of the health, safety and lives of prostitutes.
"The prohibitions at issue do not merely impose conditions on how prostitutes operate.
"They go a critical step further, by imposing dangerous conditions on prostitution; they prevent people engaged in a risky - but legal - activity from taking steps to protect themselves from the risks."
Under the ruling, the Canadian parliament has 12 months to rewrite the legislation or it will be withdrawn.
Anti-prostitution laws will continue to be enforced in the meantime.
Canadian Justice Minister Peter MacKay said the government would reflect on "this very complex matter".
"We are reviewing the decision and are exploring all possible options to ensure the criminal law continues to address the significant harms that flow from prostitution to communities, those engaged in prostitution and vulnerable persons," his statement said.
A Canadian women's rights group condemned the court's decision, saying it was a "sad day".
"We've now had confirmed that it's OK to buy and sell women and girls in this country," Kim Pate, executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
"I think generations to come - our daughters, their granddaughters and on - will look back and say, 'What were they thinking?'"
A constitutional challenge by three women with experience in the sex trade, Terri-Jean Bedford, Amy Lebovitch and Valerie Scott, prompted the case.
In March, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a ban on communicating for the purpose of prostitution, a decision which Ms Bedford challenged.
The federal and Ontario governments appealed against two other parts of that decision: striking down the law against brothels; and limiting the ban on living off the avails of prostitution.
The Canadian authorities argued that they should be entitled to legislate against prostitution as they "see fit".
Lawyers for the Ottawa government reportedly claimed "if the conditions imposed by the law prejudice [sex workers'] security, it is their choice to engage in the activity, not the law, that is the cause".
But the Supreme Court ruled it was not a choice for many.
"Whether because of financial desperation, drug addictions, mental illness, or compulsion from pimps, they often have little choice but to sell their bodies for money," Justice McLachlin wrote. | The Supreme Court of Canada has unanimously struck down the nation's anti-prostitution laws. |
30799922 | The man was hit by a grey Volkswagen, outside Sainsbury's on Bower's Parade, Harpenden, at about 11:30 GMT, police said.
An ambulance service spokesman said the pedestrian in his 60s "had suffered serious head and chest injuries" and was declared dead at the scene.
Two people in the car, one of whom was an elderly woman, have been taken to Luton Hospital.
Harpenden High Street, between Sun Lane and Vaughan Road, was closed following the crash, but has been re-opened.
An air ambulance landed on Harpenden Common, close to the Harpenden Arms, in order to treat the man who later died.
The East of England Ambulance Service sent two ambulance crews, a rapid response vehicle and two ambulance officers to the scene. | A pedestrian has died after being hit by a car outside a supermarket. |
29899605 | Ann Barnes, the ??85,000-a-year Police and Crime Commissioner, said she had delivered all her election pledges.
She is also under investigation over a recent car crash.
But, Councillor Craig MacKinlay said the people of Kent "would give her a resounding one out of 10".
Mrs Barnes is currently being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission over whether she was insured when she was involved in a road accident last year.
She outlined her view of the achievements made, during presentation of her annual report to Kent and Medway Police and Crime Panel.
Her report comes in the wake of her first youth commissioner, Paris Brown, resigning in April 2013 over comments posted on social media.
Ms Brown's replacement, Kerry Boyd, stopped doing public engagements in the summer after reports of a relationship with a married man - but Mrs Barnes praised her work, which was re-focused after the allegations were made.
Mrs Barnes went on to be accused of making Kent Police a "laughing stock" when she appeared in a Channel 4 TV documentary.
But she maintained there were a number of successes, including the appointment of new chief constable, Alan Pughsley, last January.
She said Mr Pughsley shares her vision of putting victims "at the heart of all that we do".
And she said the public could now trust Kent Police's crime figures, whose accuracy had previously been criticised by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary.
Mr MacKinlay, who represents Medway Council's River ward, campaigned against Mrs Barnes during the Police and Crime Commissioner elections.
He told BBC Radio Kent she "lost" previous chief constable Ian Learmonth, who stood down after three-and-a-half years, she wasted lots of taxpayers money on an office move and made an "absolutely risible programme that made The Office look rather sensible".
"The elements of her being a retired primary school teacher are coming through very clearly in the annual report," Mr MacKinlay added.
"It was a self report that she's done for herself and given herself 10 out of 10.
"There's no red marks over it, even though there are a few spelling mistakes. I think the voting public and the taxpayers of Kent would give her a resounding one out of 10." | Kent's police boss has declared the second 12 months of her tenure "a very successful year indeed" despite controversies over her new youth commissioner and a TV documentary. |
38661982 | Eight-year-old Saros Endris and his sister Leanor, six, died following the blaze at their home on Holland Road, in Hamstead, Birmingham, on 28 October.
Mohammed Endris, 46, was found with life-threatening injuries in a fire-damaged car in Staffordshire the same day. He was arrested in November.
He appeared before magistrates on Wednesday in a hospital gown.
More updates on this and other stories in Birmingham and the Black Country
Mr Endris, also of Holland Road, was charged on Tuesday after his release from hospital, West Midlands Police said.
He stood in the dock at Walsall Magistrates' Court - also accused of the attempted murder of the children's mother Penil Teklehaimanot - with a bandage on his head.
The siblings were pronounced dead at hospital after they were found at their home in Holland Road.
Post-mortem examinations were carried out and forensic tests are ongoing to establish the cause of death, police added.
Their father was remanded in custody to appear at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday. | A father has been charged with murdering his two young children who died after a house fire. |
40701112 | The research followed more than 56,000 women from Australia and New Zealand who had undergone IVF.
It found that 33% of women had a baby as a result of their first IVF cycle. By the eighth cycle, the success rate had increased to between 54% and 77%.
The study offers a clearer estimate of the chances of success from undergoing multiple cycles, the researchers said.
Success rates are often quoted on one round alone, they said.
"If you keep coming back for more treatment, your success rate ends up being higher," said co-author Prof Michael Chapman from the University of New South Wales.
However, he said outcomes varied significantly depending on age.
The study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, found the overall chance of having a baby by the eighth cycle was at least 54% and possibly as high as 77%.
The range was given because some women in the study did not complete eight rounds. The lower estimate - 54% - assumes that women would not have had a baby if they continued with more IVF after an unsuccessful cycle.
Although repeated attempts increased the overall success rate, results varied according to the mother's age.
Sydney couple Debora Gallo, 39, and Nina Ponten, 35, went through five "rollercoaster" fertility treatment cycles before they had their baby girl, Juliette.
"We did not get clear estimates of success rates at all - we were just going in blind and thinking we will give it another go," said Ms Gallo.
The couple started their first fertility treatment two-and-a-half years ago and completed three rounds of IUI (intrauterine insemination) followed by two IVF cycles, which Ms Gallo described as "incredibly emotional".
She said the pair found the IVF process draining and invasive, after hoping to conceive during the first cycle.
"We look at her and it is all worth it," Ms Gallo said.
"For women starting treatment before the age of 35, 44% will take home a baby after their first cycle," Associate Prof Georgina Chambers told the BBC.
"Two out of three [women under 35] will have a baby after three cycles, and this will increase to between 70-90% after eight cycles."
But the likelihood of success decreases significantly with age.
"If we look at women who start treatments between the ages of 40 and 44, 11% will take a baby home in their first cycle and by the eighth cycle about 20-38% will have a baby," said Associate Prof Chambers.
She said women who commenced treatment after 45 have "very low success rates" using their own eggs.
"Whether IVF treatment should be commenced or continued should ultimately be a decision for the patient and her fertility clinician," said Associate Prof Chambers. | Going through multiple rounds of IVF increases the chances of having a baby, a new study has found. |
38183045 | Up to five wells will be drilled before hook-up and commissioning activity starts on the Mariner A platform next summer.
First oil is expected to be produced from Mariner in 2018.
The pre-drilling campaign is expected to support about 500 jobs in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).
Mariner, which lies about 93 miles (150km) east of Shetland, is one of the largest projects currently under development in the UKCS.
The heavy oil field has reserves estimated at more than 250 million barrels of oil, with an average plateau production of about 55,000 barrels per day.
Hedda Felin, managing director of Statoil Production UK, said: "This is an exciting period for us as a UKCS operator as we transition from the planning phase to active offshore operations.
"Pre-drilling enables production to reach plateau levels more quickly after the start of operations on Mariner A.
"It will also be an important learning period for us, in terms of understanding the reservoir and identifying potential efficiencies for future wells, with safety and the protection of the environment being our fundamental priorities."
One of the world's largest jack-up rigs, The Noble Lloyd Noble, is currently positioned over the Mariner jacket, which was installed in 2015.
The first production wells will be drilled through a well deck on the jacket.
Up to five wells will be drilled before the platform topside modules arrive in mid-2017. They are currently under construction in South Korea.
Statoil said that up to 100 reservoir targets could be drilled over the lifetime of the Mariner field, based on the current development strategy.
The operator had hoped to get production under way next year. However, in October 2015 it announced it was postponing the start, citing delays at construction yards in South Korea.
Statoil has a 65.1% stake in Mariner. It co-venturers are JX Nippon Exploration & Production (UK) Ltd (20%), Siccar Point Energy (8.9%) and Dyas Mariner Ltd (6%). | Production drilling has started in the massive Mariner oil field in the UK North Sea, operator Statoil has announced. |
32841435 | The A563 Palmerston Way in West Knighton was flooded after a "trunk" pipe burst early on Friday.
Severn Trent Water apologised after more than 1,000 homes were affected but said water supplies were now back to normal in the city.
The road is closed between A6 Leicester Road and Welford Road and motorists have been told to expect delays.
Overdale Infant and Junior Schools in Eastcourt Road are also closed.
Sarah Jane O'Kane, from Severn Trent Water, said the burst pipe was classed as a "trunk pipe" which meant it held a large amount of water.
"We can only apologise for any traffic problems or any water supply problems that people are going to see." | A major road in Leicester could be closed for several days after a water main burst. |
27754188 | Operation Griffin, involving Scotland Yard, City of London Police and British Transport Police will brief and remind the public to stay vigilant.
The operation will include automatic number plate recognition and high-visibility patrols across all 32 boroughs until 15 June.
Cdr Simon Bray said: "The threat to London from terrorism remains real."
As part of the operation, briefings will also be held for officers in each borough to ensure continuity between national and neighbourhood policing.
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Thomas of British Transport Police added: "It is vitally important that we do not get complacent, and the vigilance of passengers and staff remains a crucial element." | A drive to remind people in London of the "ongoing threat from terrorism" has started. |
36484134 | 8 June 2016 Last updated at 20:48 BST
Pete Ganton regularly uses Great Western Railway (GWR) to transport his bike from Reading to London, but now has to book a space on the train for his bike.
When followed by a BBC reporter on a service he reserved a space on he was prevented from getting on the train because he did not have any paperwork, according to the train guard.
GWR began the policy in May, meaning bicycle users must book two hours in advance.
The BBC's Ben Moore reports. | A rail company's new mandatory bike reservation policy "discriminates against cyclists", according to a regular commuter. |
26382589 | It is one of the biggest migrant surges into Melilla in recent years.
Many of the migrants suffered cuts scaling the fence. During the incident, migrants threw stones, sticks and bottles at police, officials say.
This month there have been similar mass break-ins in Melilla and Ceuta - another Spanish city in North Africa.
The break-in happened at about 06:00 local time (05:00 GMT) at Ben-Enzar, a crossing point on the Spain-Morocco border.
The migrants, many of whom said they were from Cameroon and Guinea, sang triumphantly as they made their way to the Melilla migrant reception centre, Spain's El Pais daily reported.
They are likely to be expelled from Melilla. The reception centre is already overcrowded - built for 480, it now houses 1,300 people, its manager Carlos Montero said.
On 6 February at least 14 migrants drowned when hundreds tried to swim into Ceuta.
The two Spanish territories have become a magnet for migrants seeking work or asylum in Europe. | More than 200 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have broken into Spain's North African enclave of Melilla by scaling the border fence. |
36763083 | The fine was later cancelled but Dave Hedley started a petition against the policy, to help other parents.
The issue was debated by MPs after the petition attracted 200,000 signatures.
Schools Minister Nick Gibb accepted there was confusion following a recent High Court victory against a fine.
Term-time holidays: What are the rules?
However, Mr Gibb said parents could still be fined for taking their children on holiday out of term-time - and confirmed the Department for Education would fund an appeal against the recent judgment.
"Although the government are disappointed with the High Court judgment on school attendance, we are clear that children's attendance at school is non-negotiable, and we will take the necessary steps to secure that principle," he said during the Westminster Hall debate.
"We managed to get away for a surprise break the week after the Easter holidays," said Mr Hedley, from Stapleford in Nottinghamshire.
"We had no way of informing the school apart from via email but it was the one week we had in between my wife's operations and her radiotherapy starting."
"As my wife was undertaking radiotherapy at the time I just found this utterly disgusting," he said.
"The more I looked into it the more I decided that something had to be done to end the process."
Steve Double, the Conservative MP for St Austell and Newquay, led the debate on Monday and said the policy is "draconian".
"We are discriminating against those on low incomes by saying that if they cannot afford the high prices charged during the school holidays, they do not deserve a family holiday," he said.
He said parents who work in tourism, and many public sector workers such as those in the NHS, are not allowed to take time off during school holidays.
He argued the policy "denies the value of a holiday to a child's development and education" and called for discretion to be put back in the hands of head teachers.
"Just last week I spoke to a primary school head teacher in my constituency and was surprised by what he said 'The best thing that could happen to some of the children in my school would be for their parents to take them on a week's holiday, even in term-time'," he said.
"I recognise that the High Court judgment has created uncertainty for parents, schools and local authorities," Mr Gibb said during Monday's debate.
"Given its importance, it is essential that the matter is clarified, which is why we decided to support Isle of Wight Council's request for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court, and why I wrote to all schools and local authorities in England to make it clear that the High Court judgment does not establish that a pupil's attendance above 90% is regarded as regular attendance."
Other MPs supported Mr Double's arguments.
Rosie Cooper, Labour MP for West Lancashire, said there is a "fundamental lack of transparency, fairness and consistency in how the fines are being applied".
Michelle Donelan, Conservative MP for Chippenham, said that the children who are restricted from taking time to go on holiday "tend to be socially deprived and from impoverished backgrounds".
Derek Thomas, Conservative MP for St Ives, said the policy has an adverse impact on NHS services.
"The population of areas such as Cornwall increases significantly during the summer holiday months, which places extra pressure on health services at the very time when medical staff are forced to take their holiday," he said. | MPs have argued for "draconian" rules on school absences to be changed, after a father was fined for taking his children on holiday as a treat while their mother had cancer treatment. |
40580897 | Google and its London-based DeepMind division springs to mind. Facebook has hired some of the biggest thinkers in AI. Then there's IBM with its Watson project - and of course China is pouring vast sums into research, as it tries to replace factory workers with robots.
But today another contender is shouting out: what about us? Microsoft, the company that dominated the era of desktop computing, is holding an event at which it is showing off its expertise in artificial intelligence, and in effect demanding a bit more respect from the world.
The event is being held in London - a marker of how much the UK is now seen as a centre of AI research - and Microsoft's top scientists have flown in from around the world to demonstrate their work and lay out their vision of what direction this technology should take next.
One of the applications on display today is Seeing AI, a way to help people with a visual impairment get information about their world through the camera of a smartphone.
I got my own demo from one of the developers, Saqib Shaikh, who is himself blind.
He pointed his phone at a document and it read the text aloud. Then a series of bleeps guided him to the barcode on a drinks can and the app told him what it was. Next, he switched into "people mode" and the camera spotted me. I was described as a 52-year-old man, looking first neutral, then happy.
This may sound relatively straightforward but, as Saqib pointed out, behind the application are years of research into giving computers human skills such as vision, hearing and the ability to spot different emotions.
Steve Clayton, whose title is Microsoft chief storyteller, wove for me a convincing tale of 25 years of artificial intelligence research that had culminated in projects such as Seeing AI.
"The first three groups that were part of Microsoft Research were focused around AI - speech, language and vision," he explained.
"What you see in that application is that work really coming to life and taking computers into a new era where they can see, recognise and understand the world in a similar way to humans."
As well as showing how its AI expertise was feeding into products - from live translation for PowerPoint presentations to a system that scans closed-circuit video images to recognise specific events - Microsoft was keen to show it had a wider mission than just its own commercial interests.
It unveiled an initiative called AI For Earth, to give charities and other organisations access to tools that use the technology in areas such as combating climate change. As concern mounts about the potential of artificial intelligence to cause harm or reinforce prejudices, the firm also published what it called its design principles for AI.
Emma Williams, general manager for the Bing search engine, says at the heart of all this is putting the human first.
"The human is the hero - and we are creating AI technology that amplifies human ingenuity so that this can unlock a new era for human innovation and creativity."
I put it to her that this all sounded very nice but there were hard decisions to be made - for instance about bias in the algorithms that will have growing influence over our lives.
But she insisted that "fairness, accountability, transparency and ethics" would be at the heart of all their research. The company stresses that the ethics of AI is going to be a cross-industry issue where it is determined to be a leading voice.
Microsoft seems frustrated that all of its work in this field has made less of an impression on the public than Google's DeepMind, with its eye-catching victories at the Chinese game of Go, or IBM's Watson, now being promoted as an all-purpose AI service for all sorts of businesses.
Azeem Azhar, who writes the weekly Exponential View newsletter about artificial intelligence developments, says he can understand why Microsoft urgently wants its voice heard.
"AI, like many areas of technology, is likely to be a winner-takes-all game. We've seen that with firms like Google or Facebook, and if AI follows the same pattern, particularly with its demand for lots of data, those who come in the first ranks will win all the rewards and those who come in the second echelon will get nothing."
He does think, however, that Microsoft's pervasive presence in the world of business gives it a chance to be among the winners.
Having missed out on the mobile revolution and having been late to cloud computing, Microsoft has decided that it must not be left behind this time in a technology that some are comparing to electricity in its potential impact.
Now it just has to make the world listen. | Who is doing groundbreaking research into artificial intelligence right now? |
36047268 | Brian Purcell, chairman of Deeside Liverpool Supporters Club, organised two coaches to take local fans to watch the FA Cup semi final on 15 April 1989.
Ninety-six fans were fatally injured in a terrace crush at Sheffield Wednesday's ground.
Deeside club member John McBrien, 18, from Holywell, was among them.
Mr Purcell managed to leave the ground safely, along with his son, Andrew. But when he and another committee member, Roger Parry, checked their lists, they realised Mr McBrien was missing.
Mr Purcell said: "Roger and I decided to stay in Sheffield to try to find John who was the only one missing from the group we took up.
"We went everywhere. We went in the Hallamshire hospital, we went in the community centres. Eventually, we went back to the Hillsborough football ground.
"We were ushered in, we reported who we were to the police...there was a board with all the photos on.
"Eventually, I said to Roger, and Roger agreed, it was a photo of John... and we were led into the gym, and we then identified John."
Mr Purcell said he has carried the memory of the events of that day as much as anybody else and that going to the memorial services each year at Anfield had been a help.
"When you go in that ground you get the feeling that we're all together and we stand together in it."
He said he understood why Friday's service would be the last, because of the toll the intervening 27 years had taken on the Hillsborough Family Support Group.
"It will certainly never be forgotten by us," he said.
The Hillsborough Family Support Group said it hoped the final service would "provide the families with some closure" as the conclusion of the new inquests approaches. | A Liverpool fan from Flintshire who was at Hillsborough 27 years ago said he understands why a memorial service at Anfield will be the last. |
40588194 | Mami Karino scored the winner from close range after three minutes.
England had five shots on target from their 12 goal attempts but could not find a way past Japan goalkeeper Megumi Kageyama.
Danny Kerry's team are fourth in Pool A after beating Poland in their opening game and next face Germany on Wednesday at 17:00 BST.
Their final pool match is against Ireland on Sunday.
Kerry said: "Japan started quicker than us and it was a big contrast to playing a slow game against Poland in our first match.
"In the second half we controlled the game and Japan had little to no opportunity whilst we had a number of chances which just didn't quite fall right for us.
"Importantly we played well in the second half and we need to focus on that rather than the result."
The World League Semi-Final is a 10-team tournament consisting of a group stage - made up of two pools of five - with the top four from each section going through to the knockout rounds, which start on 18 July.
Four teams from the Johannesburg tournament will go through to the World League Finals in New Zealand in November. | England were beaten 1-0 by Japan in their Women's Hockey World League Semi-Final group match in Johannesburg. |
33573495 | At the time, it was reported that three people with knives threatened a woman before stealing her car in Talbot Street on 24 November 2014.
The 28-year-old accused faces a number of other charges including dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking and driving away and obstruction.
He will appear in court next month.
Police have also charged the man with driving whilst disqualified and having no insurance. | A man has been charged with hijacking, having an offensive weapon and failing to stop for police in connection with a car theft in Belfast last year. |
31916393 | Kensington Palace said the prince is to end his 10-year military career after a four-week secondment to the Australian Defence Force, starting in April.
The fourth in line to the throne said his Army experience would stay with him for the rest of his life.
The prince said he was still considering his employment options.
Prince Harry saw action in Afghanistan twice, most recently in 2012 as an Apache helicopter co-pilot and gunner.
In a statement released by Kensington Palace, the prince said he was at a "crossroads" and quitting the Army had been a "really tough decision".
The prince, who took up a staff officer role with the Army last year, said: "I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had the chance to do some very challenging jobs and have met many fantastic people in the process.
"From learning the hard way to stay onside with my Colour Sergeant at Sandhurst, to the incredible people I served with during two tours in Afghanistan, the experiences I have had over the last 10 years will stay with me for the rest of my life.
"For that I will always be hugely grateful."
While in Australia, the prince will spend time at an army barracks in Darwin, Perth and Sydney where he will carry out unit-based activities, training exercises and domestic deployments.
He will also join his father, the Prince of Wales, at the Gallipoli commemorations in Turkey on April 24 and 25.
After his stint in Australia, he will undertake an official royal tour to New Zealand.
When he leaves the Army in June, he will do voluntary work with a conservation project in Africa and with disabled veterans back in the UK.
Analysis by Peter Hunt, BBC royal correspondent
We know what Prince Harry's giving up.
We don't yet know what will fill the considerable void that the absence of a military career will leave in his life.
It's no surprise that Harry describes quitting the Army as a "really tough decision".
He's cherished doing a job which he was given on merit - and not because he's a prince.
It's a job which, when he was in Afghanistan, included targeting and killing Taliban fighters.
In the coming months, as he undertakes voluntary work in Africa and the UK, he'll have to decide how to occupy himself in the years that lie ahead.
He's rejected, for now, the option of becoming a full-time senior royal.
Officials will be hoping he embraces something which fulfils him and which doesn't give him time to once again be cast as a party prince.
It's little wonder Harry himself talks of being at a crossroads.
Read more about Prince Harry on Peter Hunt's blog
Prince Harry started his full-time military duties as an officer cadet at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in May 2005.
He was commissioned as an Army officer in April 2006, joining the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals). In late 2007, he spent 10 weeks in Helmand province in Afghanistan but was pulled out after the media reported his secret deployment.
He began training as an Army Air Corps pilot in January 2009, becoming a fully operational Apache attack helicopter pilot in February 2012.
Later in 2012, he undertook an operational tour of Afghanistan as an Apache pilot.
Gen Sir Nicholas Carter, Chief of the General Staff and the professional head of the Army, paid tribute to the prince.
"Captain Harry Wales, as he is known affectionately in the Army, has achieved much in his 10 years as a soldier," he said.
"He has been at the forefront throughout his service. He has insisted on being treated the same as his peers."
He praised his skill, judgment and professionalism in Afghanistan where as an Apache helicopter pilot he "selflessly" supported those on the ground. | Prince Harry has said he is looking forward to a "new chapter" in his life after it was confirmed he will leave the Army in June. |
27177518 | Ten Wirral Cricket Club batsmen were out for ducks, only the number 11 troubled the scorers, with the other runs coming from two leg byes.
It left Wirral some way short of the 109 they needed to beat Haslington in a Cheshire League Division Three fixture.
While an embarrassing loss, it was not a world record lowest score - Somerset club Langport were dismissed for zero against Glastonbury in a 1913 match.
The lowest score in a first-class match is six, made by "The B's" against England at the old Lord's ground in 1810. And the lowest total in a Test match is 26, posted by New Zealand against England in 1955.
At one point Wirral were 0-8 after six overs before the pair of extras and Connor Hobson - who finished one not out - dragged the innings out until the 10th over.
Unsurprisingly, Haslington needed only two bowlers. Ben Istead captured six wickets in his five overs for the concession of the solitary run, while new ball partner Tom Gledhill returned a rather economical 4-0 from 4.2 overs.
Discussing Wirral's collapse, Matt Garrett, who came in at number nine with the score at 0-7, told BBC Radio 5 live Weekend Breakfast: "It all happened in a bit of a blur really.
"I think I headed into the changing rooms to get my pads on when we were three down and got out to the middle just in time to take my guard when the seventh wicket fell.
"The reaction in the back of your mind is, 'I think we can still do this' but, two balls later when you're following all your team-mates back to the clubhouse, you think perhaps it's not your day."
Wirral CC tweeted: "1st XI lost by 105 runs today... Sadly the opposition only scored 108!"
The club also used social media to ask former England internationals Michael Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff, Phil Tufnell and David Lloyd for some coaching, adding the hashtag #weneedit. | A cricket team were humiliated after only scoring three runs between them. |
13467846 | Although some would say that HMV has sold the UK's largest high street book retailer for a knock-down price, and the group's latest trading results are frightful, I have learned that the group expects to reach agreement with its banks on a new £200m (or so) borrowing agreement within the next two weeks.
Or to put it another way, HMV isn't going bust (or at least not this year).
Its banks, led by Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds, have decided in principle to back the plan of Simon Fox, HMV's chief executive, to revive HMV stores by switching more of their stock into electronic goods, especially tablets (see my note, "Can HMV reinvents itself", for more on this).
That rescue plan also involves the closure of 40 HMV and 20 Waterstone's stores, of which more than half have already been closed, together with the sale of the Waterstone's business, to reduce debt and the complexity of the group at this challenging time.
Formal agreement from the banks is expected by early June, when HMV will send a document to shareholders detailing the reconstruction of HMV and asking for their approval.
The assent of the Pensions Regulator is also required, because the single group pension scheme will henceforth be funded by an HMV that no longer contains Waterstone's - so the Pensions Regulator has to be persuaded that HMV isn't being weakened by the sale of Waterstone's.
It would be difficult, I think, for the Pensions Regulator to block the disposal of Waterstone's - because the alternative, almost certainly, is that HMV would collapse into administration. And it is hard to see how HMV's current and future pension would benefit from the death of HMV.
So much for the good news. The rest of what HMV had to say wasn't exactly cause to crack open the bubbly.
Like-for-like or underlying sales at HMV in UK and Ireland continue to shrink at a scary and accelerating rate. So in the 10 weeks to 1 January, they were down 14.1%. Since then, in the 17 weeks to 30 April, the shrinkage has been 15.1%
Or to put it another way, HMV's problems run a lot deeper than that horrendous pre-Christmas snow which was blamed by everyone from ministers to business leaders for the weakness of the consumer side of the economy at the end of last year.
But in the six stores where HMV has been experimenting with its new tech-heavy format - all those bloomin' tablets - sales were only a bit worse than flat. Result!
Here's the bad joke: for HMV it's plainly a case of keep taking the tablets.
As for Waterstone's, the Russian purchaser, Alexander Mamut, looks like he may be getting quite a bargain, something a bit better than Waterstone's staple twofers.
Viable future?
He is paying cash of £53m for a business that was turned round by Mr Fox and his team in the past year. So in the 12 months just finished Waterstone's made a trading profit of somewhere between £10m and £12m, I understand, up from £2.8m in the previous year.
The Russian plutocrat gets 296 stores and gross assets of £283m that are free of debt or any UK pension liability. And annual sales of Waterstone's are about £500m.
So HMV's woes may well turn into Mr Mamut's good fortune. That said, book retailing also faces formidable structural challenges from the rise and rise of e-books, online retailers and supermarkets that sell best-sellers.
But if the sale of Waterstone's is what it takes to persuade HMV's banks to provide the group with the finance necessary for its survival - and therefore protects some 13,000 jobs - then few will doubt that it was necessary.
Here is where HMV hopes that the magic of restoring financial confidence will make all the difference. In just a few months, HMV's net debt has shot up from £130m to £170m, in part because some of HMV's suppliers have been demanding cash for their goods, rather than supplying the DVDs, CDs and the rest on credit.
With any luck, once they see that the banks are standing behind HMV, then HMV will be able to trade with them again on normal credit terms. Which would take HMV out of the vicious cycle of rising debt and rising financing costs.
Now for the genuinely hard bit, after all that slog for HMV's senior executives led by Simon Fox in winning round the banks. All they have to do is deliver a recovery in sales via an almost total reinvention of the look and stock of their stores, so that next year or the year after HMV's creditors don't change their minds about the group having a viable future. | Sometimes good news comes in a form that doesn't really look like good news - and so it is with HMV's statement on trading and the sale of Waterstone's this morning. |
38622499 | Dyma un cynnig sydd yn cael ei ystyried gan Lywodraeth y DU.
Pe byddai yn cael sêl bendith, fyddai teithwyr ddim yn gorfod talu rhwng 22:00 a 06:00.
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Byddai'r drefn yn golygu cael gwared ar y bariau tollau wrth i gamerâu gael eu gosod a fyddai'n adnabod ceir sydd yn croesi'r pontydd.
Mae'r holl faterion yn cael eu trafod fel rhan o ymgynghoriad sydd yn dod i ben Mawrth 10. | Gallai pontydd Hafren fod yn rhad ac am ddim i groesi yn y nos. |
23366059 | More recently we've seen the rise of the touchscreen. But other attempts at re-imagining controls have proved vexing.
"It's one of the hardest problems in modern computer science," Michael Buckwald, chief executive and co-founder of Leap Motion, told the BBC.
But after years of development and $45m (£29m) in venture funding, his San Francisco-based start-up has come up with what it claims is the "most natural user interface possible."
It's a 3D-gesture sensing controller that allows touch-free computer interaction.
Israeli firm Primesense has been making headlines in recent days thanks to a report that it is in talks to be bought by Apple - something the 3D sensor firm says is an unfounded rumour.
Rather than trying to make consumer products of its own, the company licenses its depth-sensing tech to others.
Its sensors are used in Microsoft's original Kinect, a 3D scanner by Matterbot and iRobot's Ava - a device that guides itself through hospitals allowing doctors to use it to "visit" patients without leaving their office.
Primesense recently showed off Capri - a second-generation sensor that is 10 times smaller than the previous version and needs less power.
It has fitted the component to one of Google's Nexus tablets to stir up interest and also suggests it could be built into smartphones.
But rather than fitting the sensor to the front of devices to recognise owners' gestures, the firm suggests the best use would be on their backs to look out into the surrounding environments.
"Object recognition is something that is very easily do-able," chief executive Inon Beracha tells the BBC.
"Imagine you scan something - you would get an identification and then you could get the price for an object."
Although the sensor won't feature in the Xbox One games console's new Kinect - which is using Microsoft's own tech - Mr Beracha says to expect news of a tie-up with another big player "in the next months".
Using only subtle movements of fingers and hands within a short distance of the device, virtual pointing, swiping, zooming, and painting become possible. First deliveries of the 3in (7.6cm)-long gadget begin this week.
"We're trying to do things like mould, grab, sculpt, draw, push," explains Mr Buckwald.
"These sorts of physical interactions require a lot of accuracy and a lot of responsiveness that past technologies just haven't had."
He adds that it's the only device in the world that accurately tracks hands and all 10 fingers at an "affordable" price point, and it's 200 times more precise than Microsoft's original Kinect.
It works by using three near-infrared LEDs (light emitting diodes) to illuminate the owner's hands, and then employs two CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) image sensors to obtain a stereoscopic view of the person's actions.
Hundreds of thousands of pre-orders have poured in from around the world, and thousands of developers are working on applications, Mr Buckwald says.
Leap Motion is convinced it has a shot at making gesture controls part of the mainstream PC and Mac computing experience.
But some high-profile Silicon Valley leaders doubt Leap Motion will render the mouse and keyboard obsolete anytime soon.
They include Tom Preston-Werner, chief executive and founder of Github, a service used by developers to share code and advice.
Coders will still have a need for keyboards and computer mice for years to come, he says, adding that sticking your arm out and waving it for any length of time will be uncomfortable and tiring.
For developers who work long hours, Mr Preston-Warner says he prefers approaches like the forthcoming Myo armband, which wirelessly transmits electrical signals from nerves and muscles to computers and gadgets without being tethered to a USB port.
Other Silicon Valley programmers like Ajay Juneja, aren't convinced Leap Motion's touch-free controller has entirely solved the human-computer interface problem either.
"It's a tool for hobbyists and game developers," says the founder of Speak With Me, a firm that develops natural-language voice-controlled software.
"What else am I going to use a gestural interface for?"
Of course, Leap Motion has lots of ideas.
The company already has its own app store called Airspace with 75 programmes including Core's Painter Freestyle art software, Google Earth and other data visualisation and music composition apps. The New York Times also plans to release a gesture-controlled version of its newspaper.
Mr Buckwald says he doesn't expect a single "killer app" to emerge. Instead he predicts there will be "a bunch of killer apps for different people".
Kwindla Kramer, chief executive of Oblong Industries - which helped inspire the gesture-controlled tech in the movie Minority Report - considers Leap Motion's controller "a step forward".
His firm makes higher-end devices ranging from $10,000 to $500,000 for industry.
Leap's "accuracy and pricing" is great, he says, but adds that the "tracking volume" - the area where the device can pick up commands - is somewhat limited.
Still, most experts believe the user interfaces of the future will accept a mash-up of different types of controls from a range of different sensors.
Meanwhile, Leap is already looking beyond the PC and says it hopes to embed its tech into smartphones, tablets, TVs, cars and even robots and fighter jets in future. | The keyboard and mouse have long been the main bridge between humans and their computers. |
29314030 | The Bluebirds have been without a manager since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stepped down on Thursday.
Slade, who held talks with Orient owner Francesco Becchetti regarding his own position last week, said he was "proud" to be linked with Cardiff on Saturday.
The 53-year-old has been in charge at Brisbane Road since 2010.
"On Friday morning, we were contacted by a lawyer close to Cardiff City and Russell Slade, who asked us to give the permission for Cardiff to talk to Russell," said a Leyton Orient club statement.
"On Friday evening, Russell asked the club for the authorisation to talk to Cardiff. On Saturday the general manager of Cardiff approached us in order to ask us the permission to talk to Russell.
"In all cases, we denied Cardiff the permission to talk to Russell and did not authorise Russell to talk to Cardiff."
Slade led the O's to third place in League One last season but saw his side beaten on penalties by Rotherham in the play-off final.
The former Yeovil and Brighton manager has since come under pressure from Becchetti following a slow start to the new campaign, with Orient currently 17th in the table.
Cardiff, who drew 2-2 at Derby on Saturday, are 16th in the Championship.
Veteran Cardiff defender Danny Gabbidon and former Bluebirds team-mate Scott Young took charge of the match at the iPro Stadium, with the duo likely to remain in charge for Tuesday's League Cup fixture at Bournemouth. | Leyton Orient have rejected an approach from Cardiff to talk to boss Russell Slade about the vacant managerial post at the Championship club. |
33175649 | The event, which showcases Scottish farming, food and drink and rural living, will run until Sunday 21 June.
The event will include the showcasing of thousands of livestock, equestrian shows, forestry events and cooking competitions and demonstrations.
In 2014, the show attracted nearly 180,000 visitors, and had an estimated economic impact of £47m.
The show, organised by the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, has a particular focus on food production this year, to tie in with 2015 being Scotland's Year of Food and Drink. There will be live tastings and cooking demonstrations designed to educate both children and adults on how the food they eat is produced.
Meanwhile, the show serves a practical purpose for those working in the agricultural sector, as the trade show gives farmers a chance to look into the industry's latest technologies and developments.
The first Royal Highland Show was held in 1822 in Edinburgh's Canongate, on a site now occupied by the Scottish Parliament. Until 1960, it moved location every year.
It has been held at Ingliston every year since 1960 - except in 2001, when foot and mouth disease meant the show was cancelled. | The 175th Royal Highland Show is to open at the Ingliston showground in Edinburgh later. |
20799970 | The award is presented for excellence in poetry, with previous recipients including WH Auden, John Betjeman and Philip Larkin.
Agard, who writes for both adults and children, moved to the UK from Guyana in 1977.
He said he was "touched" to be the winner of an award which had been won by such illustrious names in the past.
He has been recognised for his most recent work Alternative Anthem: Selected Poems, as well as his book of children's poems, Goldilocks on CCTV.
"When told the news out of the blue by the poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, I couldn't believe my ears and it took a little time to sink in," he said.
"I am delighted, as well as touched, to be in the company of such names as Charles Causley, Norman MacCaig, Gillian Clark, Stevie Smith, Derek Walcott."
The Medal was first presented in 1933 by King George V. Recommendations are put forward by the poet laureate and chosen by a committee.
Duffy said: "John Agard has always made people sit up and listen. He has done this with intelligence, humour and generosity.
"He has the ability to temper anger with wit, and difficult truths with kindness."
She added: "In performance he is electrifying - compelling, funny, moving and thought-provoking. His work in education over the years has changed the way that readers, writers and teachers think about poetry,"
Agard was born in Georgetown, Guyana, moving to the UK in the '70s where he worked in London as a touring speaker for the Commonwealth Institute, and for the National Maritime Museum. He now lives in Lewes, East Sussex. | Guyana-born poet John Agard has been named as the recipient of The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry for 2012. |
37216881 | Some 40 co-ordinated rescue missions took place about 20km (12 miles) off the Libyan town of Sabratha, it added.
Video footage shows migrants, said to be from Eritrea and Somalia, cheering and some swimming to rescue vessels, while others carried babies aboard.
On Sunday more than 1,100 migrants were rescued in the same area.
The instability in Libya has made the country a hub for people-trafficking.
Monday's operations involved vessels from Italy as well as the EU's border agency Frontex and the NGOs Proactiva Open Arms and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
The migrants had set off in overcrowded and unseaworthy vessels with enough fuel to reach waiting rescuers, AP reported.
Last year more than one million migrants - many fleeing the civil war in Syria - arrived in Europe, sparking a crisis as countries struggled to cope with the influx, and creating division in the EU over how best to deal with resettling people.
In March, the EU struck a deal with Turkey to try to stop migrants crossing from Turkey to Greece while Balkan nations closed their borders to migrants. As a result, the number of arrivals using the so-called eastern Mediterranean route has fallen.
However, migrants from African countries such as Eritrea and Somalia as well as west African nations such as Nigeria and the Gambia are continuing to attempt the crossing from Libya to Italy.
Some migrants are seeking economic opportunities in Europe - others are fleeing war, instability or authoritarian governments.
About 106,000 people have arrived in Italy so far this year while 2,726 have died in the attempt, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The IOM says there are a further 275,000 migrants in Libya waiting to travel.
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Overall, about 284,000 migrants have entered Europe so far this year through various transit routes across Africa, Asia or the Middle East.
Several vessels run by humanitarian organisations help patrol the route but risks were highlighted earlier this month when MSF said one of its boats was fired on by armed men.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants. | About 6,500 migrants have been rescued off Libya, the Italian coastguard says, in one of the biggest operations of its kind to date. |
34731456 | But turning your "killer app" or web service into a global giant attracting millions of users and stratospheric valuations is much more difficult.
Yes, we've had the likes of Google, Facebook, Airbnb, Uber, and Spotify, but the reality is that 90% of all early stage businesses fail, whether through lack of investment, customers or sales.
There are just 143 tech "unicorns" worldwide, according to research company CB Insights - defined as privately held tech start-ups worth more than $1bn (£650m) - and over half are based in the US.
So how do you build your own tech giant?
Clearly, every tech business begins with an idea.
Mark Zuckerberg dreamt up Facebook in his college dorm room and Chris Barton thought up Shazam, an app that recognises songs, in the bath.
But very few ideas actually come from "pure inspiration", says Ajay Chowdhury, partner and managing director of venture capital firm BCG Digital Ventures and former chairman of Shazam.
"What I call 'research' innovation is far more prevalent," he says. "This is where you're looking for pain points in an industry and saying how do we address those pain points."
In other words, what problem does your technology solve? What service does your tech provide that has never been provided before?
He gives the example of Airbnb, which tapped into the $550bn global hotel market by enabling people to rent out their spare rooms.
Its co-founder Brian Chesky once advised other tech entrepreneurs to "build something 100 people love, not something one million people kind of like."
Having a good idea is only part of the battle, though.
"People can come up with a great idea but it might not be a real business," says John Somorjai, executive vice president of Salesforce Ventures, an investment subsidiary of cloud-based sales and analytics platform, Salesforce.com.
"Before we invest we consider the size of the market opportunity, the quality of the management team and whether they are building customer traction."
Greg Wolf, of corporate finance house Widebridge Group, adds that an idea must also be "protectable".
This is because in many sectors there is only room for one market leader, particularly if you're targeting a consumer audience, he says.
"The software for social networking is pretty easy to build, but you don't see anyone displacing Facebook," he says.
"Similarly, there is only one really big e-commerce business in Amazon and one big search business with Google. It really can be a winner-takes-all game."
One major challenge for a fast-growing tech company is retaining its culture and values as the number of employees swells, says Zack Sabban, founder and chief executive of Festicket, a London-based start-up specialising in packaging music festival tickets with accommodation, travel and other services.
"If you have a strong company culture, people will be more independent, autonomous and entrepreneurial," he says.
"Keeping the same culture while you are tripling your team size, and therefore need more corporate processes in place, is very challenging."
Another related challenge is finding enough skilled people who share your vision for the company, says Chris Morton, co-founder and chief executive of online fashion platform, Lyst.
"If you hire great people, then good people will want to work for you; if you compromise then you won't be able to attract talent," he says.
Where you set up shop may also influence how successful you are.
More than 60% of today's biggest privately held start-ups are based in the US, with 23% in Asia and 13% in Europe, says CB Insights.
California's Silicon Valley still dominates the global tech scene, attracting "the world's best engineers and an abundance of capital", says Mr Wong. That concentration of money and skills produces "a lot of successful ideas," he says.
According to Dow Jones, European start-ups raised $8bn in venture capital in 2014 while US companies raised about $52bn.
Mr Chowdhury believes this is because investors in Europe are simply too risk averse.
"Historically, Europe's venture capital firms have been staffed by bankers and accountants and they are not usually risk-taking people.
"In the US, the investors have often been tech entrepreneurs and built successful companies, and they are more willing to take a chance on a new idea."
That's not to say you can't grow your own tech giant outside the US.
Skype, the internet phone and video company founded by a Dane and a Swede, was sold to Microsoft in 2011 for $8.5bn.
Sweden's music-streaming service, Spotify, is now valued at more than $8.5bn, while peer-to-peer payments firm TransferWise, founded by two Estonians, has processed about $3bn of payments to date.
And China's online retail phenomenon, Alibaba, now has a US stock market valuation of more than $210bn.
There's no shortage of funding for the right idea either, it seems. Lyst has raised $60m of investment over the last four years, while the younger Festicket has raised nearly $4m.
"Raising money hasn't been an issue," says Lyst's Mr Morton. "All of our money has come from fashion savvy cities like London, New York, Hong Kong and Paris."
US tech start-ups have the advantage of having a huge ready-made - and largely monolingual - market on their doorsteps. Non-US start-ups don't have that luxury - China notwithstanding.
"Companies really need to think globally from the start, but many do not," says Mr Wolf.
In 2013 - against the advice of some of his investors - Jens Wohltorf took the bold decision to expand his Berlin-based Uber-style taxi service, Blacklane, into 100 cities in 100 business days.
This meant automating a lot of processes, recruiting a lot of new drivers, and promoting the service in many new languages.
"These were all challenges we had to overcome," he says. "But the effort we put in to doing this paid off."
Blacklane now operates in 180 cities worldwide and has raised €25m ($27m; £18m) in venture capital funding.
But perhaps the best way to ensure your tech start-up blossoms into a tech giant is to resist selling out the moment Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple come knocking, chequebooks in hand. | Launching your own tech start-up propelled by dreams of becoming a paper billionaire is undoubtedly exciting - and relatively easy these days. |
27394691 | It said the data included departure times and routes for buses, ferries, trains and trams in England, Scotland and Wales.
It is not the first app to do so. Rome2Rio's UK Transport Search app already provided similar coverage.
But the body supplying the data said that the huge popularity of Google's service meant its move was significant.
"It's an amazing shop window for our operators' services," said Julie Williams, chief executive of Traveline - a partnership of Great Britain's transport operators and local authorities.
"The presentation and way Google has pulled together the data looks exceptional - we've not seen anything like that before."
The search giant will also make the information available via its desktop Maps service.
Of the other big-brand services:
"Google is the all-dominant leader in mapping, but it has to keep innovating because that's what stops its competitors nibbling into its market share," said Chris Green, principal technology analyst at the Davies Murphy Group consultancy.
"If it doesn't keep making changes it would leave the door open for somebody else."
While Google had previously provided transit data for parts of Great Britain, it had lacked coverage in much of Wales, the Midlands and northern England.
A search for transport between Llandysul and Cenarth, for example, brought up no results despite it taking less than an hour to travel between the two Welsh destinations by bus.
Gaps such as this have now been plugged, with the firm using Traveline's data to create graphics that compare how the various available options differ.
In total, schedules from nearly 1,500 different transport operators have been integrated, including more than 17,000 different routes and more than 330,000 pick-up points
"It's a frightening amount of data," Google's public transport product manager David Tattersall told the BBC.
"It's every single train, bus, tram and ferry right down to the small request stops as well as the major National Express coaches."
Traveline was created in 2000, and has allowed the public to search its timetables via the state-funded but basic-looking Transport Direct website or by calling its call centres
It also began offering others access to its raw data three years ago.
"I was surprised initially that we didn't get more people taking it," said Ms Williams.
"Open data users said they wanted to do stuff with it, but after we produced it they said: 'Well, that's quite complicated.'
"One of the things that Google is able to do because of its size is put money into processing that data and bring it into its own system."
While Rome2Rio's app sometimes has to redirect users to the Transport Direct site, Google avoids this by converting all Traveline's data into the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) file format its systems recognise.
This means it can also make the information available to other app creators via its Maps application programming interface. This is provided free of charge to services with relatively low traffic but at a cost to others.
"Third-party developers will be able to take advantage of this and basically mash up [their services] with the API," Mr Tattersall said.
He added that Google would also use the data to enhance its own anticipatory search service, which suggests information before a user asks for it.
"If you're in Sheffield but live somewhere else, around home time Google Now will use this transit data to suggest some ways back," he gave as an example.
For the moment, such results are based on preset timetables rather than live transport information, with the exception of London where real-time data is used.
But Mr Tattersall said that his team was keen to make the wider transit service more reactive in the future. | Google has added coast-to-coast public transport information for the whole of Great Britain to its Maps app. |
39557933 | The British retailer's directors appointed administrators after failing to find a suitable buyer for the struggling clothes business.
Jaeger has 46 stores, 63 concessions, a head office in London and a logistics centre in King's Lynn.
The firm has suffered from intense competition on the High Street and falling sales.
Jaeger, which was founded in 1884, has counted actresses, royalty and Arctic explorers among its fans.
However, it has struggled to keep up with rivals such as Burberry or see off competition from fast-fashion chains including Zara and H&M.
It was acquired by private equity firm Better Capital in 2012, but was put up for sale for about £30m after struggling to boost sales.
Peter Saville, the joint administrator, said: "Regrettably despite an extensive sales process it has not been possible to identify a purchaser for the business.
"Our focus now is in identifying an appropriate route forward and [to] work with all stakeholders to do this."
Reports had suggested that the clothing retailer Edinburgh Woollen Mill was interested in the business.
The Scottish firm, which owns Jane Norman and Peacocks, bought some parts of the menswear retailer Austin Reed when it closed last year.
Jaeger's problems are partly because it has "struggled for years to truly understand its core clientele", according to analysts at retail consultancy Kantar Worldpanel.
Glen Tooke at Kantar said the firm also relied too heavily on special offers, estimating that discounts accounted for over three quarters of Jaeger's sales.
"This constant stream of sales and offers has discouraged shoppers from paying full price and has lessened their trust in the quality of the Jaeger product - one of its fundamental selling points," he said.
Last year the firm said its annual sales fell 4% to £78m, while it reported a pre-tax loss of £17m.
Jaeger started by selling woollen long johns and its clothes were worn by the explorer Ernest Shackleton on an Antarctic expedition.
In the 1950s and 1960s its celebrity fans included the actress Marilyn Monroe and the model Twiggy, before more recently being worn by the Duchess of Cambridge. | The fashion chain Jaeger has gone into administration, putting 700 jobs at risk in the UK. |
36186391 | The Mail said Cainer was "quite simply, Britain's greatest astrologer" and that his death was a "tragedy".
Cainer was the newspaper's astrologer from 1992 to 2000, returning to write the column again from 2004. His horoscopes were translated into Japanese, Spanish, Italian and Chinese.
The Mail said Cainer had died from a suspected heart attack but that this had not been confirmed.
A Daily Mail spokesman said: "A much-loved contributor to the Daily Mail for 20 years, his wisdom and compassion were unmatched.
"Millions of readers couldn't start the day without him - and would end it marvelling at the uncanny accuracy of his forecasts.
"It's an absolute tragedy that Jonathan has passed away at such a young age and we have no doubt his countless fans will join us in expressing heartfelt condolences to his family. "
A statement on Cainer's website said: "'Didn't he see it coming?' is a question that will inevitably be asked. Jonathan was always adamant that astrologers should not look to predict the time of a person's demise.
"He said there was the danger of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"But he was well aware that one day he might not be physically present to supply the predictions that so many people rely on."
The statement also said Cainer had already written a number of forecasts and predictions, which would be published in future.
Cainer's own Sagittarian horoscope for Monday was "uncannily prescient", the statement added.
He had written: "We aren't here for long. We should make the most of every moment. We all understand this yet don't we forget it, many times? We get caught up in missions, battles and desires. We imagine that we have forever and a day.
"In one way, we may be right - for are we not eternal spirits, temporarily residing in finite physical form?"
The former nightclub manager was married and had eight children from several relationships.
He got his first astrology column in 1986 with the now-closed Today newspaper.
He also worked at the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror, but was best known for his Daily Mail columns.
Cainer was born in Surbiton, Surrey, in 1957 and had six brothers and sisters.
He left school at 15 without qualifications, first working as a petrol pump attendant before later moving to the United States in the 1980s to manage both a nightclub and his brother's musical career.
Upon his return to the UK, he studied at the Faculty of Astrological Studies in London before embarking upon his newspaper career.
His newspaper columns, phone lines and website meant his work became followed by people in many different countries.
According to the Daily Mail, he employed 30 people as a support team for his business, which had a reported annual turnover of some £2m. | The Daily Mail's horoscope writer Jonathan Cainer has died aged 58. |
36866152 | As well as how quickly ambulances arrive, the statistics which come out every three months also tell us how patients were treated, how long it takes for ambulances to be able to hand over patients once they arrive at hospital.
They also tell us how many hours are wasted by ambulances having to stand around waiting to transfer over patients at hospitals.
The latest figures come nine months into a trial of a new system for handling 999 calls.
'Red' category emergency calls
For the last nine months, calls have been split into red, amber and green.
The red calls are assessed as those with an immediate threat to life: it could be someone having a heart attack, unconscious or bleeding.
The idea is by prioritising these calls, more lives will be saved. The old 65% target for arriving within eight minutes still stands for these.
Under the new system, far fewer calls are designated as red.
Whereas before around 40% of 999 calls were subject to a eight minute time target - now it is just the most critical 10% or so.
When we look at the number and percentage of red category calls arriving within eight minutes we see more than 10,000 in the nine months until the end of June.
In February and March, the ambulance service barely made the 65% target - 65.8% and 65.7% - suggesting the pressures the NHS is under over the traditional winter months although the number of "red" calls was higher in three other months.
Median response times
Another statistic is to look at the average waiting time for patients after 999 has been dialled.
The median response times show how quickly ambulances on average take to arrive.
You can see from the graphic above that last October, the median response time for red calls was five minutes 44 seconds. In the last two months, it has come down to just over five minutes.
"Amber" calls include patients who may need taking quickly to hospital or could be treated at the scene. But there is no immediate danger. So, these type of calls are taking longer. From 11 minutes 10 seconds last October, to an average 12 minutes 16 seconds in June.
But ambulance management say rather than crude time measurements they are looking carefully at the type of treatment patients are getting - and these quality indicators are harder to achieve.
The thinking is, that as long as the patient gets the treatment they need, waiting a little longer for an ambulance will not affect their overall health in the end.
The "green" calls are far less urgent and can often end up with local treatment at a GP surgery. If an ambulance is dispatched for this type of call it used to take a median 23 minutes 38 seconds but in June it was 26 minutes 51 seconds.
"The more people we can manage over the telephone and provide care by signposting them to the right part of the NHS, means we have more ambulances available to go to those life-threatening calls," said Richard Lee, director of operations for the Welsh Ambulance Service.
Routes other than hospitals
There is also a measure about how many 999 calls result in a patient not being taken to hospital.
Nearly 8% of callers are transferred to NHS Direct for further advice.
Around 30% of 999 patients do not end up being taken to hospital. In the last three months, 14,262 patients were either treated at the scene or transferred to another care provider.
"Not everybody who goes into an emergency department needs to go into an emergency department and in some cases it was the wrong place for them to go," Stephen Harrhy, chief ambulance service commissioner for Wales, said.
He said the number of patients not going to emergency departments was increasing and he fully expected that to rise.
58.2% October to December 2015
50.5% January 2016
48.3% February
46% March
53.7% April
58% June
Number and percentage of notification to handover within 15 minutes of arrival at hospital
These figures look at the time ambulances have to wait outside hospitals before they can hand over the patient.
This is not so much a measure of the performance of the ambulance service as to how the whole hospital system is working.
You can also see how the winter pressure problems have their effect here - with the percentage of patients being handed over within 15 minutes dropping.
At major A&E units, the percentage drops from nearly 61% in December to less than 46% in March.
In terms of numbers, 35,000 patients were handed over within 15 minutes in the three months to the end of December, while it dropped to nearly 29,000 in January to March.
Number of lost hours following notification to handover over 15 minutes
The ambulance service has previously calculated it costs £76 for each "lost" hour an ambulance spends outside hospital.
The figures show how in the nine months since October this could be more than £3.5m, with more than 46,671 lost hours.
This is the equivalent of nearly five and a quarter years.
Richard Lee said the ambulance conveyance rate was a priority to end queues outside emergency units - and it was ultimately about only taking patients to hospital when they really needed to be there.
"When we send an ambulance to assess and treat the patient, the more often we can refer them to a community service means we don't take that patients to hospital," he said.
"We only get queues of ambulances outside hospital when we take patients to hospital so the system has to be re-set to keep more patients into the community."
Number of frequent callers
1,691 frequent callers
15,094 number of incidents raised
4.2% percentage of all 999 calls (Oct-Dec)
4.5% percentage of all 999 calls (Jan-March)
4.5% percentage of all 999 calls (April-June)
There are concerns that ambulance "frequent callers" who make several or multiple 999 calls a year are tying up ambulance vehicles and paramedics and could be costing the service thousands of pounds.
More than 15,000 have been made since last October.
Measuring the number of calls made by these individuals allows the service to judge the scale of the problem.
Frequent callers may or may not have an urgent medical need - but often those who regularly call the service may have developed an unhealthy pattern of dependent behaviour - and could be offered support or care in a different way.
The new model means the ambulance service can for example work with social services to identify and support those who frequently dial 999.
Some callers were found to be calling 100 times a year. In one example, a Cardiff patient had an alcohol dependency problem which led to them making 36 999 calls, taking up nearly 32 hours of ambulance time.
It was arranged for meetings with the patient's GP and an admission for treatment and the number of calls was drastically reduced.
A woman from Barry was jailed on Tuesday after making more than 400 times in two years. The ambulance service said court action was taken "as a final deterrent" after an escalation in her behaviour.
Quality over time
While the time targets have been scrapped for all but the most urgent of calls, all of them are being measured against a new set of criteria which aims to assess the quality of the care given to the patient.
For example there are indicators which look at whether or not patients who have had a stroke, heart attack or have fallen and broken their hips get the right type of care when it is needed
And there will be more of these "clinical measures" introduced as the model evolves.
The argument is that the previous system was too blunt focused entirely on speed.
The new model is a more refined taking into account the effect on patients. | We now have a far more detailed picture of how the Welsh Ambulance Service is performing, thanks to a new set of figures. |
36935851 | Thirty people escaped just before the Iskcon Temple in Leicester exploded on 3 September 2010.
A Leicester family donated a former bank in Granby Street to Iskcon, and renovation work to the Grade II building has now been completed.
The monks are taking residency on the upper floors.
The space also includes a meditation area, kitchen, classrooms and offices.
Temple president Pradyumna Dasa said: "We're very happy to have reached this milestone in the special year of Iskcon's 50th anniversary.
"Since the gas blast in 2010, this journey has been a miracle to a dream.
"We are indebted to everyone who has supported the development of this project."
The explosion was caused by a leaking gas cylinder that had been used for cooking.
Firefighter Bill Smith said it was "a miracle" no-one was killed.
"The person who disconnected the cylinder realised the danger of the gas leaking. He ran out and got everybody to run over to the other side of the road," the fire fighter said at the time.
"Within 30 seconds there was a large explosion. He has no doubt saved the lives of many people with his actions."
The Iskcon community has met at various community centres and halls around the city since the explosion.
The new building on Granby Street was acquired in 2014, and the community has been meeting in the main hall there but without heating or kitchen facilities. | Hare Krishna monks have finally moved into their new home after an explosion that destroyed their former temple six years ago. |
35710191 | Maeso is set to return to the Triangle circuit after recovering from injuries sustained in a high speed crash at the Isle of Man TT in 2013.
He has signed for the Ballyclare based Longshot racing team and will compete on their Kawasaki ZX6R machine.
"I cycle, run and ride MX and trial bikes every day to prepare for the 2016 North West 200," said Maeso.
Maeso has undergone extensive rehabilitation on a broken knee suffered in the TT crash.
He secured a top-10 finish in the Superbike race on his last NW 200 appearance in 2013.
"I've been in a wheel chair for six months so it is very difficult to predict the future - some people even doubted that I could ever walk normally again," added Maeso.
"My intention for this year is just to be able to get back to where I left it and that would be a victory in itself.
"I intend to set up a deal with a team for other classes for the Isle of Man TT and to make my debut at the Ulster Grand Prix later this summer." | Spanish rider Antonio Maeso will make his North West 200 comeback this year in the Supersport class. |
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