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37094111 | The bid of £23m up front plus £7m in add-ons follows a previous offer of £25m, which was turned down.
Benteke, 25, has fallen out of favour at Liverpool since boss Jurgen Klopp took over last October, starting only eight league games.
He joined the Reds for £32.5m in July 2015 under former boss Brendan Rodgers and has scored 10 goals.
Benteke has indicated he will seek to leave if not in Klopp's plans.
Palace sold winger Yannick Bolasie for £25m to Premier League rivals Everton on Monday. | Liverpool have rejected an offer worth £30m from Crystal Palace for striker Christian Benteke. |
33985709 | A statement on her official website said the star had suffered from breast cancer, which had spread to her liver.
"In the end, her mind still wanted to fight but her body had given up," her family said in a statement.
A trained dancer, she began her career at The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and used those skills to perform her own stunts alongside Adam West's Batman.
Craig also played Martha, the green Orion Slave Girl who wanted to kill Captain Kirk, in the third season of Star Trek.
And she starred in two movies opposite Elvis Presley - It Happened at the World's Fair and Kissin' Cousins.
But it was her performance as librarian Barbara Gordon, who secretly moonlights as Batgirl, that defined her career.
She joined the TV show in its third and final series in 1967, thwacking and kapow-ing Gotham's bad guys alongside Batman and Robin.
The show is still seen around the world today, something which came as a surprise to the actress in her later years.
"I really didn't think we were makÂing Gone With the Wind," she said. "Just an episodic TV series that would be over when it was over and then it would never rerun again.
"I meet women today who tell me that they grew up viewing Batgirl as an important role model. If they choose to know me in that context, well, I'll take it."
Later in life, Craig worked as a estate agent before going into the prepaid phone card business. In 2000, she wrote a book called From Ballet to the Batcave and Beyond, which took stock of her career.
More recently, Craig provided voices for the Nickelodeon cartoon series Olivia, and was the executive producer on the documentary film Birth.
In the statement on Craig's website, her family said: "Yvonne excelled in ballet, a film career, a business life, as well as in philanthropic and charity work over the years.
"She had been able to do this with joy and much laughter and she wouldn't have changed a thing. Well, maybe one thing and that would have been not to get cancer.
"She had been in chemo almost continuously for the past two plus years since being diagnosed and that had weakened her immune system as well as her body.
"This didn't dampen her sense of humour or her spirit, she intended to fight and win this battle. In the end, her mind still wanted to fight but her body had given up."
Craig died on Monday at her home in the Pacific Palisades, surrounded by her immediate family.
She is survived by her husband, Kenneth Aldrich, sister Meridel Carson and nephews Christopher and Todd Carson. | Yvonne Craig, the actress best known for playing Batgirl in the 1960s Batman TV series, has died at the age of 78. |
32231151 | Sam and Chris Ogrizovic will set off from Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire and walk or hitchhike to Brolg, Croatia.
The pair will emulate grandfather Nicola, who escaped the village aged 14 as it came under siege from Nazi soldiers during WWII.
Mr Ogrizovic, known as Nick, died from Alzheimer's last year, aged 86.
Sam and Chris will take just £20, and use no maps on the trek in their grandfather's memory.
Under the name Papa's Journey, the pair are hoping to raise more than £2,000 for the Alzheimer's Society when they embark on the challenge in May.
Mr Ogrizovic had seen his father shot dead by Nazi soldiers when he fled Brolg, then in Yugoslavia, in the 1940s, leaving behind his mother and two sisters.
It took him five years to make his way to Nottinghamshire, having been captured and sent to a Prisoner of War camp in Italy.
However, the two cousins are hoping to retrace his steps in eight days.
Sam, 30, from Hoveringham, Nottinghamshire, said: "We are trying to replicate it as much as we can with no planning, no maps, no planes and only £20.
"Unskilled and with little education, he came here to work in the mines purely because he thought he would be closer to get back to Yugoslavia. But he never returned."
Cousin Chris, from Birmingham, and son of Coventry City goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic, said they were nervous about the trip.
"There's always a curiosity of where grandpa came from, where your heritage is, and it's a great opportunity to go back and find out," said the 31-year-old.
The pair have been given letters by the Alzheimer's Society written in several different languages to explain to people they meet along the way what they are doing. | Two cousins are set to retrace the 1,100-mile (1,770 km) journey their late grandfather took when he fled the Nazis as a teenager. |
30648419 | Suffolk Police were called to reports that a man was found seriously unwell in Rendlesham at 07:10 GMT.
He received treatment at the scene but was pronounced dead.
Later, two other men were reported as unwell at Provan Court, Ipswich. One died at the scene, while the other was taken to hospital in a serious condition.
Police are investigating the deaths and believe they could have been a result of taking ecstasy.
Detectives believe their cases may be linked to another drugs related death on Christmas Eve. A man in his 20s died on Bramford Lane, Ipswich.
Police said all the men were in their 20s.
The tablets are described as red triangles with an "S superman logo" in the middle.
The force has drawn a link between these drugs and dangerous pills with a similar appearance which were in circulation in the Netherlands last month.
Those tablets had a large concentration of PMMA, which acts more slowly than MDMA, the main component of ecstasy. This causes people to take more pills because they think they are not working.
Ch Insp Steve Denham said: "As well as it being illegal to sell and buy drugs, it can also be very dangerous, as we have sadly seen with these tragic deaths.
"If you have been offered drugs in the Ipswich area over the past few weeks, in particular ecstasy, we'd urge you to contact us with any information so that we can find those responsible and remove these dangerous drugs from the streets." | Three men have died and another is in hospital after taking drugs from a suspected dangerous batch of ecstasy. |
14447485 | Special Report: The Technology of Business
The digital cloud that signals rain
Botswana's villages look to technology
Inside China's secretive tech giant
Are you being served?
Innovating beyond oil
Planes trains and roaming charges
To the outsider it looks like any other ageing factory. In the dank, strip-light lit interior there are rows of disused machines with cogs wrapped in cobwebs.
But three years ago the factory became the focus of the world's media, when it became apparent it was the last in the Palestinian Territories to produce the keffiyeh, the traditional Arab headdress and favourite of former leader Yasser Arafat.
The Palestinian keffiyeh industry had suffered a slump following market liberalisation measures under the 1993 Oslo Accords.
Wholesalers in the Palestinian Territories increasingly bought cheaper versions of the scarf from China, Jordan and Syria. A Hirbawi Textiles scarf costs around $6, while a Chinese keffiyeh costs as little as $3.
For loom worker Abdel Aziz El Taraki the move signalled the demise of the family run business.
Set up in 1961, the factory started with just two weaving machines, but as the headscarf became synonymous with Palestinian nationalism, demand quickly rose.
"Of course business used to be much better. We used to have 15 machines working and it wasn't enough, we sometimes had to work for 24 hours to cover the demand," says El Taraki.
"In the 1980s, during the first intifada, production was covering everywhere from Gaza to Jerusalem and Ramallah. Every imported keffiyeh sold here means one less sold for us.
"In the past we were doing very well, it then deteriorated until we only had two machines working in the factory."
Following the media attention came a flood of inquiries about the factory.
Capitalising on the public's interest, the Hirbawi family set up an web page so orders from foreign countries could be placed.
Around the same time the story had caught the eye of the 'Young Professionals for Palestine', a group of internet activists based at the time in Kuwait.
Group founder Noora Kassem says they were concerned foreign imports were destroying the meaning of the Palestinian scarf.
"Globalisation has allowed cheaper products to be made in other countries that actually care nothing about the identity of the product itself and one of the things we were worried about was the fact that that mass production would take away from the authenticity of the product by ensuring it's not made in Palestine anymore," says Kassem.
"We felt like we had to mobilise to help the factory get more customers, and to get a larger client base and perhaps maybe improve its own capacities and its ability to get more machines.
"So what we did is we we made some sales by buying some keffiyehs, and sold them to people in Kuwait and tried to get more people to buy from the factory themselves."
But despite the group's best efforts, the logistics of buying and selling the keffiyehs from Kuwait became problematic.
"We ended up setting up the Facebook page so that people could directly deal with the factory. The owner is very old and is a little bit resistant to changes in technology taking place and so hopefully adapting to those changes will take them into the new fold," she says.
"Of course we can't intervene and take their books and tell them how to do their business but we can help through marketing, through PR, through contacts and connectivity."
With more than 1,000 members the Facebook page is proving very popular.
"We've got people all over the world from Australia to India to South Africa," says Kassem.
"All over the Middle East, Arabs and non-Arabs alike, interested in the message and exactly what the keffiyeh stands for.
"A lot of people associate it with a fashion accessory, but they were interested to find out what the history of it is and that this is the last factory and it came from Palestine."
Jouda Hirbawi, one of two sons who looks after the day-to-day running of the factory, welcomes the Facebook page.
He says the site has had a direct impact on sales with up to 1,500 orders a month, mostly from America and Europe. But despite its success he says the Palestinian Authorities should do more to help domestic industries.
"The Chinese use cheap materials and cheap labour, so the product that comes here is very cheap and there is no way to compete with it honestly," explains Jouda.
"Of course no country can ban imports, but there are ways to control them, for example, they should impose taxes on imported products. This way they will support local producers who employ a lot of people. This will help the local economy as well."
Production is currently up at the factory with eight machines producing more than 70 keffiyehs a day.
But with ageing technology and little evidence of investment in the factory's infrastructure, the Hirbawis will be aware they must do more or face the day when their looms fall silent. | Hirbawi Textiles is located on a nondescript road on the outskirts of the Palestinian city Hebron. |
33223971 | Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) reviewed the way police in Aberdeen dealt with missing person inquiries.
The report said 10 children accounted for 290 of the 1,120 episodes.
A total of 41% of all missing person cases related to children aged between 12 and 15.
The HMICS praised the force's "strong leadership" and said reports of missing people were being properly investigated.
HMICS has made four recommendations for improvements for Aberdeen city division and seven for Police Scotland nationally.
The creation of the single police force meant Police Scotland "inherited a complex and divergent approach to the management of missing person investigations across Scotland", the report found, with different systems for recording missing persons cases and different risk assessment tools.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Derek Penman said: "The importance of dealing with missing person investigations effectively from the outset cannot be over-emphasised and experience has shown that in some instances the report of a missing person is the first indicator that a serious crime has occurred.
"There is usually a reason why a person goes missing and understanding the circumstances and causes creates an opportunity for the police and other authorities to identify measures that can stop or minimise further disappearances.
"More importantly, it can draw attention to safeguarding issues for the young and most vulnerable in our communities and help in the identification and investigation of crimes which are linked to, or are the cause of, someone going missing."
Ch Supt Adrian Watson said: "We have seen improvements in the way we deal with missing people and the creation of Police Scotland and the specialist Missing Persons Unit has no doubt assisted us in the progress we've made." | Just 10 children were responsible for a quarter of all missing person reports in Aberdeen last year, with one going missing 45 times, it has been revealed. |
36276379 | Several years on and having come through the club's academy, the 20-year-old midfielder is a regular for the Lions, who are now managed by Harris.
Thompson helped the side to four wins in April, which secured Millwall a place in the League One play-offs and has seen the midfielder named the Football League's young player of the month.
"I have been watching Millwall since I was a little boy. My dad has been taking me since I was about four," Thompson told BBC Radio London.
"I remember going down to ask Neil for a photo and an autograph. I've still got it at home. He hasn't seen it but he knows it happened. It was a great time for me."
After making his first-team debut as a substitute in the League Cup last season, Thompson has established himself in the Millwall first team this term and has made 33 appearances in all competitions, scoring twice.
"At the start of the season I wasn't in the team much but to get in there and express what I am about, it has all paid off," he said.
"It has all been a bit of a blur and I haven't really thought about it too much. It is an unbelievable feeling to be awarded such a prestigious award."
Millwall were relegated from the Championship last season after five years in the second tier, but they have a chance to secure an immediate return via the play-offs.
"As a supporter, seeing the team doing well is a great feeling," Thompson added.
"Last year wasn't the best for the club but this year we have pushed on a lot and become a good team. The finish to the season has been great and to get in the play-offs has been a massive achievement."
Harris, who led the Lions to a fourth-placed finish, says Thompson has "come a long way in a short space of time" since his league debut in August.
"He plays with a spirit which epitomises our club," the 38-year-old said.
"He plays like a fan in a football shirt, but one with real quality. He has been a big part in driving us forward in the last few months.
"I am extremely proud of him and I'm sure he'd be the first thank his team-mates for putting him in a position to win this trophy.
"Ben is an excellent professional at a young age and he is enhancing his game all the time."
Thompson was in the stands as Millwall lost the FA Cup final in 2004, and has also watched the Lions in several play-off campaigns - including their win over Swindon which secured promotion to the Championship in 2010.
Former Australia international Tim Cahill was among Thompson's favourite players while growing up and he still describes Harris, who scored 138 goals in two separate spells with the club, as "a legend".
Thompson added: "He still takes part in training sometimes and he can put the ball in the top corner from 20 yards. You think 'he's still got it'.
"It's great to have him as manager. He has been a massive help to me. He has been there every step of the way and he gives me a lot of guidance.
"Watching players like the manager and Tim Cahill growing up and then going on to play for the club I support is a massive achievement."
The season could end on a high for Thompson and Millwall, with the Lions facing Bradford in the semi-finals of the play-offs.
They travel to Yorkshire for the first leg on Sunday before the return at The Den on Friday.
"I have been quite comfortable and the team have not been too nervous," Thompson said. "The more senior players have experienced it before so I just need to go into it and keep focus."
Harris added: "Ben will want to drive us on to promotion this year and ply his trade in the Championship next year.
"He has done extremely well at this level over a period of games. We won't be getting carried away but he has a bright future."
Interviews by BBC Radio London's Murray Burnell. | When a young Ben Thompson posed for a photograph with Millwall striker Neil Harris, and grabbed an autograph from the club's record goalscorer, little did he think their paths would cross again at The Den. |
35856423 | The Force Awakens was named best sci-fi/fantasy and was also honoured for its visual effects, director JJ Abrams and stars John Boyega and Daisy Ridley.
Fury Road was recognised for its make-up, costumes, soundtrack and production design at the central London event.
But neither title took home the best film award, which went to The Revenant.
Matt Damon was on hand to accept his best actor award for The Martian, while Sweden's Alicia Vikander won best actress for The Danish Girl.
Spectre, Spy and The Hallow were named best thriller, comedy and horror respectively at a ceremony hosted by the writer and comedian David Walliams.
Spectre, the latest in the James Bond series, also won the award for best British film, a prize collected in person by director Sam Mendes.
Actor and film-maker Paddy Considine was presented the Empire Inspiration award by director Shane Meadows, who was honoured in turn for his Channel 4 TV series This is England '90.
Stanley Tucci was presented with the Empire Hero award by his friend Miranda Richardson, returning a favour the US actor did her at an awards event last year.
Actor Alan Rickman was posthumously presented the UK film magazine's Legend award at an event that also saw prizes go to the documentary Amy, Pixar animation Inside Out and financial crisis comedy The Big Short.
Mad Max: Fury Road had gone into Sunday's awards with 10 nominations to Star Wars: The Force Awakens' nine.
Boyega's win in the male newcomer category came 24 hours on from this year's Screen Nation Awards, where he was presented with the male performance in film prize.
The 24-year-old faced criticism at the ceremony for appearing to suggest that it would be of no "benefit... to complain" about the lack of roles for black and minority ethnic (BAME) actors.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, Boyega said he had been "full of emotion" at the London event and had not meant to "mislead".
"I am not saying that complaints are invalid or should not be heard," he tweeted. "I am saying that words without action can't help right now." | Sci-fi blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens trumped Mad Max: Fury Road at this year's Empire Awards, winning five awards to the latter's four. |
36750478 | David Woodhouse, 65, of Rothwell Avenue, Grimsby, was found guilty of three counts of rape and 12 indecent assault charges following a trial at the town's Crown Court.
Humberside Police said the girls were abused over a six year period.
Woodhouse, who denied all the charges, was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.
Det Insp Peter Thorp said the conviction followed a "painstaking investigation" led by Det Helen Garrod.
"His two victims suffered the most unimaginable experiences that no child should ever have to and showed incredible courage and bravery throughout the investigation.
"I sincerely hope the victims will now be able to rebuild their lives again."
He added he hoped it sent a "strong message to those victims who have never come forward but suffered abuse at any point in their lives." | A man who raped and sexually abused two young girls in Grimsby during the 1980s has been jailed for 18 years. |
40204259 | Students saw a question asking them to "calculate the mean percentage of words", normally seen in a Maths exam.
Exam board OCR has since apologised and said it would "correct this in our marking".
It follows a mistake it made in a GCSE English Literature exam question on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in May.
OCR said about 5,000 A Level candidates had been affected, but it was not yet known how many tackled the question.
Damian Walmsley, deputy head teacher at St Mary's College in Hull, said students who sat the exam on Wednesday had been left "disconcerted and confused" by the question.
"The exam was stopped briefly by the invigilator, who contacted the exam board and got advice for students to ignore the question," he added.
A mother from Hull, who wished to remain anonymous, said her daughter was "panicking" when she saw the question.
"They were asked to calculate the mean percentage of words recalled and then given data to do this from a maths test containing only numbers, is the gist of it," she said.
"I am so angry."
Some students spoke out on social media saying how they were left confused "doing a psychology paper and not a maths paper".
Russell Hobby, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said: "Mistakes in exam papers undermine the confidence of students, teachers and schools. It is crucial that processes are in place to prevent these from happening.
"OCR has rightly confirmed that marking of the paper will reflect this mistake. It's crucial that this is clearly communicated to schools."
In a statement, the exam board said: "OCR can confirm that a question worth 2 marks out of 90 on an A Level Psychology paper (H567/01) was poorly worded.
"We apologise to candidates for any confusion and will correct this in our marking." | An exam board has apologised for "poorly wording" an A Level Psychology test question weeks after making an error in a GCSE paper. |
36797792 | Oliver Walton, from Southsea, crashed his Vauxhall Astra on Tuesday at 05:45 BST when driving on the A3 northbound junction four at Waterlooville.
He was taken to the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth but died of serious chest injuries.
The slip road was closed for four hours, and police are appealing for witnesses. | A 25-year-old died after hitting a motorway slip road barrier in the early hours. |
36570021 | They say the man, named as Sharif, died in a gun battle with police near the capital Dhaka early on Sunday.
Police had been seeking information about Sharif and six other militants suspected in the case.
Avijit Roy, an American-Bangladeshi blogger and writer, was hacked to death by several men as he returned from a Dhaka book fair in February last year.
Who is behind the Bangladesh killings?
Is violent extremism on the rise in Bangladesh?
Sectarian terror fears grip Bangladesh
He is one of several secularist figures killed by suspected Islamists in recent years in Bangladesh, in attacks that have received widespread international condemnation.
In many cases the Islamic State group or al-Qaeda say they carried out the attacks, but the government has blamed local militants.
Roy, 42, founded the Mukto-Mona ("Free Mind") blog in 2000 to champion secular and humanist writing in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
He had received death threats from Islamist radicals for his writings before his murder, family said.
In the latest such attack, a Hindu college teacher was critically injured by men armed with knives at his home in the city of Manipur on Wednesday.
A suspect in that case, Ghulam Faijullaha Fahim, was shot dead in the southern district of Madaripur on Saturday.
He was in police custody when officers took him to help capture his associates, but died in the ensuing exchange of fire with the militants, officials say.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her government will do whatever it takes to stop such attacks.
Police have arrested thousands of people across the country over the past weeks. | Police in Bangladesh say they have shot dead the main suspect in the killing of secularist blogger Avijit Roy. |
36397405 | Gary Hoy was sexually abused by two men who were subsequently convicted.
Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan ruled that "the HIA is entitled to proceed along the route mapped by it".
There have been allegations that a paedophile ring at Kincora was linked to the British intelligence services.
Sir Declan said: "There is a suggestion in this case that children in Kincora were abused and prostituted in order to satisfy the interests of national security.
"If that is true it must be exposed.
"As a society we must not repeat the errors of the institutions and should remember the obligations to our children."
Dismissing the appeal, he added that the decision "does not in any way detract from the need to ensure that our obligations to these children are satisfied".
Mr Hoy stood at back of court as the verdict was read and said to the judge: "If it was your grandchildren, would you not want justice?"
He then walked out of the court and shouted: "Cover-up."
Three senior care staff at Kincora were jailed in 1981 for abusing 11 boys.
At least 29 boys were abused at the home between the late 1950s and the early 1980s.
One of the men who was later convicted, William McGrath, is believed to have been an MI5 agent.
The HIA was set up in 2013 to investigate child abuse in residential institutions in Northern Ireland over a 73-year period, up to 1995.
These included a range of institutions, run by the church, state and voluntary sector.
On Tuesday, the HIA will begin its public hearings into what happened at Kincora. | A victim of abuse at Kincora Boys' Home has failed in his appeal to overturn a ruling that investigations into the home be conducted by the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry. |
24069506 | Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov said he knew the whereabouts of the men and would seek extradition. Otherwise they would face trial in absentia.
The suspects are said to be members of the armed wing of the Shia group Hezbollah, which denies any involvement.
The bomber killed five Israeli tourists in Burgas on 18 July last year.
Their bus was attacked at the airport of the Black Sea resort, and the bus driver was also killed.
Bulgaria has given the EU's police agency the names of the two suspects.
They were identified as Australian citizen Meliad Farah, 32, also known as Hussein Hussein, and 25-year-old Hassan El Hajj Hassan, a Canadian citizen.
Both suspects are of Lebanese origin and are thought to have lived in Lebanon for several years before the attack, but are no longer resident there.
They are alleged to have provided the explosive device and logistical support to the bomber, who killed himself in the attack.
Prosecutor Tsatsarov said Bulgaria needed to send a "crystal clear signal that such terrorism meets zero tolerance".
"If we cannot bring them to court in person, we will charge them in absence but we will send a clear signal that such investigations in Bulgaria end with a verdict," he said. | Bulgaria will stage a trial for two men accused of last year's deadly Burgas suicide bus bombing whether or not the suspects are present, prosecutors say. |
37587534 | Kite Power Solutions is behind the development on part of the West Freugh military range near Stranraer.
The research and development project received planning permission earlier this year.
The company has said it could eventually employ up to 500 people by 2025, if the project enters the manufacturing stage.
A planning application for the scheme was tabled in April.
The technology uses two kites tethered to spool drums and as they fly they turn the drums to produce electricity.
A full-sized kite will be 40 metres wide and able to generate two to three megawatts of electricity, comparable to a 100m conventional wind turbine.
Planning permission has been granted for the 500 kilowatt demonstration system at West Freugh which the company believes will be an important stepping stone in developing commercial systems within the next few years.
David Ainsworth, the firm's business development director, said: "This is the third evolution of our technology and the next step after the 500kW will be to develop a 3MW system at West Freugh, which is planned for 2019.
"We believe that we will be able to halve the cost of offshore wind.
"We can install offshore wind installations at a much lower price and can produce offshore wind without the need for government subsidies."
The firm has already tested the technology via a much smaller project in Essex and now plans to move its headquarters to Glasgow and double in size in preparation for the West Freugh scheme.
The new project will be the first of its scale in the UK and the second in the world after a research project in Italy.
WWF Scotland director Lang Banks welcomed the development.
He said: "When it comes to renewables, Scotland's ambitions clearly know no bounds.
"Kite power technology offers the prospect of an exciting new way to harness the power of the wind, particularly in places where it might be impractical to erect a wind turbine.
"Alongside energy reduction schemes and other renewables, this technology could contribute to helping us to end our addiction with climate-changing fossil fuels." | Plans for one of the world's first kite power stations should be up and running by next year in southern Scotland. |
36918231 | The 19-year-old can play as a centre-forward or on the wing and has been loaned out by the Hornets in order to gain first-team experience.
Lewis has been with Watford since he was a schoolboy and was given a three-year contract at Vicarage Road in 2015.
The deal came after he scored 18 goals for their under-18 side during the 2014-15 campaign and he has since featured at under-21 level.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | Woking have signed Dennon Lewis on a season-long loan from Watford. |
26107011 | "We're not going to have panel shows on any more with no women on them," Danny Cohen told the Observer. "You can't do that. It's not acceptable."
His comments come two months after the BBC Trust was reported to have told executives there was "no excuse" for not having more female panellists.
Mr Cohen also said the BBC needed to get more older women on screen.
"We're getting better," he told the Observer, citing the example of historian Mary Beard. "But we need to get better."
In the past, comedy panel shows like QI, Mock the Week and Have I Got News For You have been criticised for their male-dominated line-ups.
The Observer said all the regular comedians on the most recent series of Mock the Week were men and only five of the 38 guest panellists were women.
A BBC spokesman said some panel shows that had been recorded but not yet been broadcast may feature all-male teams, but that all those filmed in the future would include at least one female participant.
"There may be very rare occasions where shows that were already recorded - or whose panels were already booked ahead of the order - still have all-male line-ups, but hopefully the change should really become apparent," the spokesman said.
The move follows criticism from Victoria Wood, who has criticised such "testosterone-fuelled" shows, and Jo Brand, who said she no longer considered appearing on Mock The Week.
In 2012, writer Caitlin Moran said she had been asked to appear on "all the big panel shows" but turned them down because "I refuse to be the token woman".
"I think that's a boys' game that works for boys," she said. "It's not like they built it to screw women over, it's just that boys built it so they made it to work for boys. If I go on there as a token woman, it's not going to work for me," she said. | Panel shows such as QI and Mock the Week will no longer have all-male line-ups, the BBC's director of TV has said. |
33035453 | Four different volumes were available for sale on the site, but in a statement to the BBC, Amazon said the product had now been removed.
The author of the publications was listed as al-Hayat Media Centre, which is IS's Western-focused media arm.
Islamic State is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK.
The magazines were being sold in paperback form on Amazon sites in the UK, US, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. It can be downloaded for free elsewhere.
Amazon's statement to the BBC read: "This product is no longer available for sale." The company did not give any further details.
Dabiq is described on Amazon as "a periodical magazine focusing on issues of tawhid (unity), manhaj (truth-seeking), hijrah (migration), jihad (holy war), and jama'ah (community)".
The publication, named after the small Syrian town of Dabiq for symbolic reasons, was launched in 2014.
Amazon's websites list the publisher of the magazines as "CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform", which is an Amazon-owned self-publishing company. | Copies of Islamic State's English-language propaganda magazine, Dabiq, have been pulled from the website of online retailer Amazon. |
39444025 | Bill Potts's sexuality will be revealed pretty much straightaway in her second line of dialogue when the show returns to BBC One on 15 April.
"It shouldn't be a big deal in the 21st Century. It's about time isn't it?" Pearl Mackie, who plays Bill, told the BBC.
"That representation is important, especially on a mainstream show."
She added: "It's important to say people are gay, people are black - there are also aliens in the world as well so watch out for them.
"I remember watching TV as a young mixed race girl not seeing many people who looked like me, so I think being able to visually recognise yourself on screen is important."
"[Being gay] is not the main thing that defines her character - it's something that's part of her and something that she's very happy and very comfortable with."
Gay and bisexual characters have featured in Doctor Who before, such as Captain Jack and River Song, but this is the first time the Doctor's permanent companion has been openly gay.
Although Captain Jack - played by John Barrowman - travelled with the Doctor for a number of episodes, he was not a full-time companion in the traditional sense.
Mackie said it had been "kind of insane" to be the centre of attention since she was announced in the role last April, despite not being seen on screen until this Easter.
"My Twitter follower count went from 400-and-something to 16,500 in about two hours, so that was pretty mental," said the actress, who is taking over from Jenna Coleman as the Doctor's companion.
"But it's been really nice, everyone seems to be really excited. It's sort of like being welcomed into a family and all the fans have been really welcoming."
The actress, who was performing in the West End production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the time she was cast, said the role of Bill was "the biggest job I've ever done".
"Looking at previous alumni, it's only done wonderful things for their careers - Matt Smith is phenomenal in The Crown, Jenna Coleman has just gone on to do Victoria and Billie Piper is doing incredible things," she said.
"For me if I even get to do [a small amount] of those kind of things it would be incredible. It's an amazing platform for me and it opens a lot of doors that wouldn't necessarily have been open before - it's very exciting."
This series of Doctor Who will be Peter Capaldi's last, as the actor is due to hand over the key to the Tardis during this year's Christmas special.
Speculation is mounting over who will take over the role, with Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge among the potential candidates.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | The new series of Doctor Who will see the Time Lord joined by his first openly gay companion. |
33163404 | In 2014, Ofsted found Medway was at the bottom of its league tables for the number of pupils - 9,500 - going to primary schools rated good or above.
After a recent re-inspection, Ofsted found Medway Council's work with weaker primary schools had not driven improvement quickly enough.
The authority said it was beginning to see the impact of improvements.
Ofsted director for the South East, Sir Robin Bosher, said: "I welcome the recent school improvement work, which has started to show early benefits in the number of schools judged good or better in Ofsted inspections.
"However, much of this is too recent to see its full impact.
"I urge the council to use the information, resources and the powers they have to effectively target, support and challenge schools to rapidly improve.
"The longer a child spends at an underperforming school, the more likely their chance to fulfil their potential diminishes."
Mike O'Brien, Medway Council's portfolio holder for children's services, said the improvement could not be achieved "overnight".
He said: "We are beginning to see the impact of real progress and positive change in Medway.
"And we are pleased that inspectors also found that head teachers, school leaders and governors are starting to see real change for the better.
"But there is still much more to do. We will act on Ofsted recommendations immediately and we will continue to put children's education at the heart of everything we do."
A Department for Education spokesman said: "Ofsted's review of Medway's school improvement services is clearly disappointing but we are pleased to see the council is now taking action to address the identified shortcomings.
"We are already working closely with the council to tackle underperformance in maintained schools and will consider Ofsted's findings further.
"We have consistently shown that we do not hesitate to take swift action to improve poor schools." | School inspectors say 45% of children in part of Kent are still attending underperforming primary schools. |
32537299 | Happily, our trip coincided with the fifth Seychelles Carnival.
Downtown in the capital Victoria, traffic was bumper-to-bumper, with the main roads blocked off for the carnival parade. April and May are the warmest months of the year, so with temperatures nearing 42C, the weather and humidity were oppressive.
But it didn't matter. We were in paradise and our first appointment was at State House, official residence of the president.
The house is a mixture of old colonial charm, with modern-day features. We were ushered into the sitting room, lined with wood panels and parquet floors. The room was filled with history, reflected through the portraits of former governors and national heroes hanging off the walls. It felt more like a museum than a residence.
Noting our curiosity, Srdjana Janosevic, the president's chief of communications whispered in my ear: "The president doesn't actually live here."
Apparently he lives in his own private house - something his assistant insisted was "the Seychellois way" of doing things.
That phrase, the "Seychellois way" perhaps alludes to the attempt by this tiny island nation to develop a more egalitarian society since independence in 1976. They haven't done badly.
According to the African Development Bank, the Seychelles is on course to reach all eight targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of pledges made by UN member states to increase living standards in poorer parts of the world.
The MDGs encompass many of the fundamental aspects of human development, from improving healthcare and education, to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.
2015 is the deadline for countries to achieve these goals, and in Africa, it looks like the Seychelles may emerge as the star performer.
When I finally meet the president and begin my conversation with him, the MDGs feature strongly.
"From the very beginning, since independence, we have always put people at the centre of our development. This is why in the Seychelles we have people who are highly educated, well skilled, and this is why today here we have a system which is free healthcare for everybody," he tells me.
But surely, I ask, it's far easier to meet the MDGs when your country only has 90,000 permanent inhabitants.
Not so, he counters: "If you build an airport you have to cater for international standards, it doesn't take into account population size."
During 2015 Seychelles may well make history as the first and possibly the only African country to have halved poverty, empowered women, provided basic housing and drinkable water, plus dealt a blow to diseases such as HIV and Malaria.
However the country has other serious challenges that aren't reflected in the matrix of social development targets set by the United Nations.
On a visit to the Takamaka Rum distillery and the Morne Blanc tea factory, locals tell us they relish their life on an idyllic island but lament the new social problems caused by the rise in drug and alcohol abuse.
According to the UN, this tiny island has some of the worst heroin addiction statistics in the world.
For visitors such as ourselves, it's hard to make out the cracks in society. On the surface, island life appears to be relaxed and the different races and cultures mingle seamlessly.
Perhaps our perspective was clouded by the balmy heat or the festive energy of the carnival.
Africa Business Report is broadcast on BBC World News on Fridays at 16:40 and 1840 GMT, on Saturdays at 1010 GMT and 1830 GMT and on Sundays at 0010 GMT.
This week, Lerato Mbele presents the programme from the Seychelles | When my editor told me that Seychelles President James Michel had accepted our request for an interview and that the next episode of Africa Business Report would be filmed on an idyllic island, I was giddy, like the proverbial kid in a candy store. |
37415310 | Parades to celebrate the country's Olympic and Paralympic success have been confirmed for Manchester on 17 October and London a day later.
Paralympic medallists were welcomed by fans and family who met their flight at London Heathrow on Tuesday morning.
GB won 147 medals, 64 of them gold, at the Paralympics and 67 Olympic medals.
Those included 27 Olympic gold medals. Both teams broke their medal tallies from London four years ago, hit their 2016 targets, and finished second in their medal tables.
As the Paralympics closed and athletes returned to their home countries, the Queen said: "I offer my warmest congratulations to the athletes of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and indeed to the athletes of all Commonwealth countries, for their many successes in Rio de Janeiro.
"The magnificent performance of Paralympics GB this year reflects the talent and commitment of the athletes and their support teams.
"I send my good wishes to all those who have contributed to the success of these memorable Games."
By Cherry Wilson, BBC News, at Heathrow Airport
A loud cheer rippled through the arrivals hall at Heathrow Terminal 5 - marking the moment that the all-conquering Paralympians came home.
It was a welcome richly deserved for a team that had weighed down the plane with more medals than any British team had amassed since 1988.
Many athletes immediately showed the speed that had earned them such rich rewards, rushing into the arms of their family and friends.
One of the first to come through the door was rower Rachel Morris.
She had a tear in her eye as she hugged and showed off her gold medal to dad Carey.
One of the biggest cheers was for Kadeena Cox, who has become something of a poster girl for the Rio Paralympics for her heroics in both athletics and cycling.
Her first words were for her family, who had travelled from Leeds to meet her: "I've missed them. I didn't want to leave Rio but I wanted to see family."
Sports minister Tracey Crouch said the competitors had been an inspiration to millions and confirmed there would be two celebratory parades.
"I know that Manchester - a city with a rich sporting history - and London - with its strong links with the Olympic and Paralympic Games - will host brilliant celebrations that will give the British public a chance to say thank you to our amazing athlete heroes," she said.
Waiting for the athletes at Heathrow on Tuesday, double-gold medallist Kadeena Cox's sister Carmel Williams said: "We thought she was going to come back with some golds. But breaking a few world records that's a major achievement.
"I'm just excited to see her."
On board the flight, GB Para canoeist Anne Dickins observed "the world is better with bunting".
Her coach Phil Gunney was waiting for the gold medallist at the airport: "She's worked really hard and had a lot of challenges to get there," he said.
"We were confident she could make the podium. It was 0.2 of a second so I didn't know whether she had won at first. My reaction was very loud. I'm a driving instructor and I was sat with a student shouting at the iPad!"
And in the arrivals hall, Dame Sarah Storey, whose Paralympic career has seen her win multiple gold medals in swimming and cycling, said athletes boarded the plane early and in high spirits to "get into the champagne".
Table tennis gold medallist Will Bailey said the team spirit was "absolutely electric" on the flight home.
He said: "You know although it's an individual sport I very much feel part of Paralympics GB team and you know, we're all buzzing and so happy. We've achieved so much out there in Rio."
Reflecting on the team's success, she said: "We got off to a great start on day one, medals rolling in and everyone wants to be a part of that.
"We've had 20 years of great investment, then a home games. We wanted to continue the momentum and we smashed it."
She said her teammates performances, some across multiple sports, had given her "goosebumps" and said despite predictions of low crowds and safety concerns, the Paralympics in Brazil "just was brilliant".
The UK government is working with the British Olympic Association, the British Paralympic Association and both cities to finalise the details of the parades.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted that he was delighted to confirm a "heroes' return" for the country's Olympians and Paralympians.
Among the British Olympic successes in Rio were track cyclists Jason Kenny and Laura Trott, who between them won five golds, taking the couple's gold medal tally to 10.
Runner Mo Farah repeated his London 2012 double, winning gold in the men's 10,000m and 5,000m and swimmer Adam Peaty broke the world record as he won gold in the men's 100m breaststroke. He was the first British man to win an Olympic swimming gold medal since Adrian Moorhouse in 1988.
At the Paralympics, Dame Sarah Storey capped off a successful games by winning a third gold medal in the cycling road race, taking her career total to 14 across swimming and cycling.
Kadeena Cox won cycling gold and athletics gold, silver and bronze and was flagbearer in the closing ceremony while runner Jonnie Peacock took T44 100m gold.
Arriving at Heathrow, she said that the medals are important but it was more important to show people what could be done.
She added: "So I could stand here as a role model - to anyone that's had any setbacks to anyone that's got a chronic condition, invisible illnesses, MS, just all those things that are really tough to deal with.
"I just wanted to show them that you can achieve amazing things if you put your mind to it".
Paralympics GB chef de mission Penny Briscoe said it was right and fitting that the athletes would receive a welcome in the two cities.
Team GB chef de mission Mark England said it would be a proud moment for all the athletes.
However, details of the celebrations come as a further round of GB athletes, including Olympic champion Mo Farah, have had their medical files made public by internet hackers.
The files mostly deal with therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs), which allow athletes to take banned substances for verified medical needs. There is no suggestion that those named are involved in any wrongdoing. | The Queen has praised the performance of Britain's Paralympics team at Rio 2016 as "magnificent" as the athletes returned to the UK on a special flight. |
39524835 | The underground facility was built just before the start of World War Two to protect stores of oil from German air raids.
Now Scapa Flow Asset Management will carry out feasibility work to see if they can be used as a distribution hub for low sulphur marine gas oil.
The company said their capacity and location could make them ideal.
The company has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Orkney Islands Council to get access to the huge tanks, which were constructed under a hillside from 1938 onwards.
The last time they were inspected in detail - three years ago - they were said to be in a "remarkable" condition.
David Moir, managing director of SFAML, said: "We aim to commence the initial due diligence process in the next few weeks. Bearing in mind that the tanks have not been utilised commercially for over half a century, this will be potentially challenging.
"However, our initial investigations have led us to believe that this asset does have the potential to serve as a first class, strategically-placed low sulphur fuel hub."
Gavin Barr, the council's director of development and infrastructure, said: "The potential to bring the tanks back into use has been looked at on a number of occasions over the years and we welcome this latest approach.
"This initial agreement marks a very early stage in the process. It matches how the council has approached potential interest from developers in the past and gives the company access to the underground facility for early feasibility and testing work."
It is expected the results of the investigation will be revealed later this year.
The council said it would consider the next steps after that. | A deal has been done which could see the oil tanks at Lyness in Hoy brought back into use. |
36025821 | Predictions are couched in conditionals - could, might. Facts in a world driven by unpredictable human behaviour are hard to nail down.
Particularly when many of those humans, in the case of the European Union referendum, are politicians with all sorts of competing interests to juggle.
But the strength of the warnings in this case is nevertheless clear.
Maurice Obstfeld, economic counsellor to the International Monetary Fund and the organisation's chief economist, says there could be "severe regional and global damage" if Britain were to vote to leave the European Union.
An exit would present "major challenges" and a prolonged period of uncertainty which would "weigh" - that is have a negative effect - on confidence and investment.
Market volatility could increase, trade could be damaged and economic growth undermined.
Mr Obstfeld, an expert in international finance, is a former economic adviser to President Barack Obama.
And, as one of the top 40 economists cited in the world for his research, has muscle in this arena.
His is the second of a series of "pro-Remain moments" mapped into the government's campaign grid.
The first, launched yesterday, was the government's pamphlet arguing that remaining in the EU was the "best decision" for the UK.
That has had its fair share of critics.
Later this week, the IMF's Spring Meeting in Washington is expected to see further warnings on Brexit risk from Christine Lagarde, the organisation's managing director.
George Osborne is flying to America tonight as the government's representative.
That event will be followed by the Presidential visit later this month when President Obama is expected to warn Britain about the dangers of leaving the EU.
The Treasury certainly believes this is a vital few weeks in making the case for remain.
As important, those close to the chancellor believe, as the moment Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, said Brexit could be the most significant domestic risk to the UK economy.
Mr Carney couched those March words carefully, not wanting to compromise his political neutrality in a debate that is, of course, highly political.
And he was careful to say that there were also risks to remaining in the EU, not least the "unfinished business" of monetary union.
He also pointed out that over the longer term there can be no "conclusive answer" to the question whether it would be good or bad for the economy if the UK left the EU.
The Treasury see the likes of Mr Carney and Mr Obstfeld as key to making the case for Britain to remain in EU.
The fact they are not politicians - in an era of diminished trust - is seen to help.
They are certainly important voices.
But they are not the only ones.
Capital Economics, for example, has produced a weighty report saying there could be clear economic "opportunities, created by leaving the EU, to boost trade with other countries".
There may be uncertainty for a period, but, released from the shackles of having to negotiate with the other members of the EU on market reform, the UK's economy could ultimately grow more quickly.
Those that support the leave campaign also point out that many economists backed Britain joining the single currency.
As one senior figure of the Leave campaign said to me yesterday, the "establishment" economists were wrong then and the "establishment" economists are wrong now.
Elites, he argued, always favour cosy consensus.
The IMF's words today on Brexit are judgements, without much corresponding data.
That data may come in the IMF's UK-focused report due in May, which is likely to flesh out Mr Obstfeld's gloomy predictions.
Rest assured, Mr Osborne will be hoping the public will engage again at that "moment" in the EU referendum debate. | In economics - once called the "dismal science" - there are very few definites. |
37471091 | NHS bosses in England say stand-alone midwife units are as safe as doctor-led care for low-risk deliveries.
But the Birth Trauma Association said there was not enough data to support the claim for first-time mothers.
One woman told the BBC of an hour-long transfer from a midwife-led unit to another hospital.
BBC England's data unit contacted 139 hospital trusts, receiving information back about 128 midwife-led units in England under the Freedom of Information Act.
Get the data here
For more stories from the BBC England data unit follow our Pinterest board.
It found:
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends midwife-led units for low-risk births, which is applicable to 45% of women.
It began to do so in December 2014 and said the rate of interventions - such as the use of forceps or epidurals - was lower and the "outcome for the baby is no different compared with an obstetric unit".
The Royal College of Midwives says women receive more personal care in a midwife-led unit.
It should have taken 15 minutes to transfer Catherine Buckley from a midwife-led unit to the care of a doctor.
Instead, it took almost an hour to travel the 18 miles from Shrewsbury to Telford as the 35-year-old tried not to have her baby in the back of an ambulance. Her husband, Jack, 32, arrived half an hour before her.
Eight months on, Ralph is a happy, healthy baby, but his mother said she would not choose again to have a child at a freestanding midwife-led unit, with no doctors present.
She chose to use the midwife-led unit at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, because it is the closest to her home, but was transferred during labour to Princess Royal Hospital in Telford after experiencing complications.
"I was told it was only 15 minutes down the road to Telford, the reality is it is not," Mrs Buckley said. "No ambulance arrived for over half an hour.
"On the way to the hospital I was going against every instinct at that point and trying desperately not to push."
Mrs Buckley, who works in marketing, said: "I cannot fault a single person who helped me either in Shrewsbury or in Telford. Everyone was fantastic.
"Options of where to give birth were clearly explained to me and I felt as I was low risk and looking for as calm and natural experience as I could, close to home for family, Shrewsbury was the best option.
"The problem is that if something goes wrong it's at a really crucial time and there are no doctors there if you need them."
Angela Gregory found her labour was made a lot easier thanks to the midwives in the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
When her contractions started with Charlotte in November, she went to the midwife-led unit, which was the closest to her home, and found she was the only person currently in labour.
"There was always somebody with me the whole time", said the 40-year-old accountant.
When Charlotte was born, there was some concern that she was not breathing as well as she should be, due to some of the amniotic fluid having not cleared.
Mother and baby were transferred to the Princess Royal Hospital but Miss Gregory said: "Things sorted themselves out on the way there.
"I stayed in Telford for a day for a routine blood test but then went back to the midwife-led unit.
"I cannot fault the care I had at all. I was constantly reassured."
When Amber Nelson had her first two children, there were doctors on hand to help.
However if the 24-year-old opts for her nearest hospital, Horton General, for her third she will be in the care of midwives alone.
Her other option is 27 miles away at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital.
It is the result of a controversial move to temporarily turn the maternity unit at Horton to midwife-led, rather than consultant-led, and the change took effect in October 2016.
Miss Nelson asked: "If everything is normal then I should be able to stay at the Horton, but what if something goes wrong?
"I really want to stay local. Medically I'm fine but on past experience I might need a doctor there.
"That's not the midwives' fault at all, they're always brilliant. You can just never be 100% sure."
Classed as "low risk", Emma Hyatt can choose to have her second child at the same hospital where her son Bugsy was born.
The difference this time, however, is there will be no consultants there. Following the downgrade of Horton General Hospital's maternity department to a midwife-led unit, if something happens that requires consultant care she may have to go to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, 27 miles away.
Another option is to go to Warwick Hospital, which is 22 miles away along the M40.
Mrs Hyatt's experience with Bugsy, which saw her in labour for 20 hours and require medical intervention, leaves her with a choice to make before she is due to give birth in February.
"I don't have any concerns about midwife-led units at all," said the 40-year-old from King Sutton, who works as head of events marketing for a charity.
"I haven't made my decision yet, but I have to weigh up how long it will take for me to access pain relief and other intervention, if I need."
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said that between 3 October and 5 December there were 35 births at the Horton and four transfers of women in labour to the John Radcliffe Hospital.
It said "in the context of a national shortage of suitably qualified doctors, the trust was not able to recruit enough doctors to fill the rota (for the Horton), and it became necessary to take a decision as to whether obstetric-led maternity services could safely be maintained".
Maureen Treadwell, co-founder of the Birth Trauma Association, said expectant parents needed more information on the options available.
She said: "Even when someone is deemed to be low risk, something can still go catastrophically wrong.
"[Midwife-led units] are recommended but there simply isn't the data to support that recommendation for first time mothers.
"We are not saying that they are not safe, just that we cannot say for certain."
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said a "definitive" study had found midwife led care was as safe as a hospital birth and reduced intervention rates.
Louise Silverton, its director for midwifery, said: "Only those women without risk factors fit the criteria for birth in a freestanding unit. They have to give consent and this includes understanding the distance to hospital if transfer is needed.
"However, without the freestanding unit, the women would have needed to travel to the hospital for labour anyway. It is just that a smaller proportion of women will need to travel with the majority giving birth in the freestanding unit.
"Those women who do need to be transferred do so further on into their labour than women who have decided to have their baby in hospital. It should also be stressed that the vast majority of transfers are not urgent, and are done in planned and very controlled circumstances."
She added: "I hear from women all over the UK about their birth experiences and they often report greater levels of satisfaction with midwifery units than receiving care in traditional labour wards."
38,549
Deliveries commenced, 2015-16
28,060
Deliveries completed at MLU
10,489 women transferred to consultant-led care
The longest transfer identified in the BBC's research was 60 miles for women giving birth at Berwick Infirmary in Northumberland. The centre is one of the smallest in England, and only 16 women started their delivery there in 2015-16. However, four had to be transferred. The Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust's consultants based at Northumbria Hospital in Cramlington.
They also have the option to go across into Scotland to Borders General Hospital, which is 39 miles away.
Janice McNichol, head of midwifery at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said the majority of women did not require a transfer.
"The very nature of childbirth, however, means that every woman's experience is different and there are always times when unexpected complications can occur," she said.
In Oswestry in Shropshire, women using the maternity unit at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital would be transferred 34 miles to the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford or 13 miles to Wrexham Maelor Hospital, over the Welsh border.
Women using the maternity unit at Ludlow Hospital face a journey of either 31 miles to Telford or 26 to Hereford.
The trust running both the Oswestry and Ludlow sites, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, was unable to say how many women required transfer, but said it was a transfer rate of between 20 and 25%.
An NHS England spokesman said: "It is safer than ever to give birth in this country and the vast majority of mothers report that they received great NHS care."
Complications that can require a woman in labour to be transferred include: | One in four women are transferred from midwife-led units to consultants because of complications when giving birth, an investigation found. |
32841496 | Media playback is unsupported on your device
22 May 2015 Last updated at 10:06 BST
Many sides are fighting each other, but one group, called Islamic State, has shocked the world by using extreme violence against anyone who doesn't agree with their views.
It is fighting to gain more power in Syria, and has now taken control of the ancient city of Palmyra.
Rising out of the desert, the site contains the ruins of a great city, which Unesco and others consider one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world.
Watch Jenny's report. | For the last four years, Syria has been crippled by war. |
35732078 | Sunday's hosts have a track record of defeating Premiership sides in cup competition this season.
Hughes is clear that the Championship side are of top-tier standard.
"You just need to look at our last result against Hearts," he said. "Who knocked Hearts out of the Scottish Cup? Hibs."
Hibs are not only challenging for promotion but have already reached a national final this season.
"You just need to look at the teams Hibs have knocked out to get to the League Cup final - Aberdeen, Dundee United, St Johnstone," said Hughes.
"They've been taking Premier League scalps along the way. We're well aware of that and we give them all the respect.
"We need to make sure we're at it and switched on."
Hibs' recent record makes poor viewing with three league defeats on the bounce seemingly ending their Championship title hopes.
"I don't think that has any significance to what will happen on Sunday," said Hughes. "It's a one-off it's a cup tie. We have to be inspired by the venue.
"All the support is going to be for Hibs; that puts a little bit of pressure on them.
"The history of the Scottish Cup puts a little bit of pressure on them. Expectations of supporters puts a little bit of pressure on them.
"Our pressure is we're the holders of the Scottish Cup.
"If we can win that game and get into the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, it could galvanise us for the remainder of the season. That's how important it is, but you don't put too much emphasis on it."
Hughes also affirmed his belief that the quality of sides currently in the Championship means an expanded top division should be explored.
"I feel for Hibs as it looks like they're going to be in the play-offs", he opined. "Scottish football has missed Hibernian.
"You cannot have your top supported clubs playing their football in the First Division.
"You get relegated, you have to take your medicine, but I'm massive for a bigger league. We have to look at the bigger league." | John Hughes concedes that Inverness Caledonian Thistle face a significant challenge in the defence of the Scottish Cup against Hibernian. |
37263760 | Blackpool took a 13th-minute lead when Armand Gnanduillet latched onto Kyle Vassell's precise pass and brushed off Tom Eastman in the area before firing home.
But Colchester equalised nine minutes before the break through Sammie Szmodics, who showed great composure before finding the net from close range from Richard Brindley's pass.
Colchester winger Drey Wright went close early in the second half and Blackpool keeper Sam Slocombe thwarted Kurtis Guthrie's far-post header.
But the hosts went ahead 11 minutes after the break when Porter flicked home from two yards after substitute Tarique Fosu had helped on Brennan Dickenson's corner at the near post.
Potts was denied by Colchester keeper Sam Walker while Slocombe foiled Fosu, before Porter made it 3-1 with eight minutes remaining when he collected Fosu's pass and showed fine footwork before slotting home.
Blackpool midfielder Brad Potts netted with a low free-kick from nearly 25 yards with a minute remaining, but Colchester held on.
Report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Colchester United 3, Blackpool 2.
Second Half ends, Colchester United 3, Blackpool 2.
Drey Wright (Colchester United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Brad Potts (Blackpool).
Attempt missed. Tom Aldred (Blackpool) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Corner, Blackpool. Conceded by Richard Brindley.
Goal! Colchester United 3, Blackpool 2. Brad Potts (Blackpool) from a free kick with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
Foul by Tom Eastman (Colchester United).
Armand Gnanduillet (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Chris Porter (Colchester United) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left.
Goal! Colchester United 3, Blackpool 1. Chris Porter (Colchester United) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Tarique Fosu-Henry.
Attempt missed. Armand Gnanduillet (Blackpool) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the left.
Substitution, Blackpool. Jack Payne replaces Jim McAlister.
Substitution, Blackpool. Danny Philliskirk replaces Kyle Vassell.
Attempt missed. Kyle Vassell (Blackpool) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Substitution, Colchester United. Craig Slater replaces Tom Lapslie because of an injury.
Corner, Blackpool. Conceded by Luke Prosser.
Corner, Blackpool. Conceded by Tom Lapslie.
Attempt blocked. Kyle Vassell (Blackpool) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Substitution, Colchester United. Glen Kamara replaces Kurtis Guthrie.
Tarique Fosu-Henry (Colchester United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Tarique Fosu-Henry (Colchester United).
Clark Robertson (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt saved. Tarique Fosu-Henry (Colchester United) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Attempt saved. Brad Potts (Blackpool) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Luke Prosser (Colchester United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Tom Aldred (Blackpool).
Corner, Blackpool. Conceded by Tom Lapslie.
Attempt blocked. Tom Aldred (Blackpool) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt missed. Brad Potts (Blackpool) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Kurtis Guthrie (Colchester United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Danny Pugh (Blackpool).
Foul by Tom Eastman (Colchester United).
(Blackpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt saved. Brennan Dickenson (Colchester United) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Chris Porter (Colchester United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Tom Aldred (Blackpool).
Substitution, Blackpool. Bright Samuel replaces Colin Daniel.
Goal! Colchester United 2, Blackpool 1. Chris Porter (Colchester United) right footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Tarique Fosu-Henry.
Corner, Colchester United. Conceded by Tom Aldred. | Chris Porter scored twice as Colchester United recovered to beat Blackpool. |
31646407 | Alongside Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, Mr Cameron said the further powers were a "clearer, stronger, fairer" deal.
They include guaranteed minimum funding for the Welsh government, control of fracking and more energy projects.
First Minister Carwyn Jones claimed the funding pledge was a "vague promise".
Welsh ministers must agree before a referendum can go ahead.
Mr Cameron said the referendum "should go ahead and I would advise people to vote yes".
He rejected the idea that devolving £6bn of NHS spending to Greater Manchester meant a Welsh referendum on income tax powers was no longer necessary.
The proposals - called Powers for a Purpose - unveiled on Friday follow months of cross-party talks.
They would allow ministers in Wales to raise cash from the money markets for major projects and give the Welsh assembly control of its own elections.
It is understood UK ministers had insisted the minimum funding pledge would be in return for Welsh ministers triggering a referendum to transfer some income tax powers to Wales.
But the wording has been changed to say the "agreement is in the expectation" of such a poll being held, following objections from Labour Welsh ministers and Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams.
Mr Cameron said: "Today's agreement paves the way for a referendum, that could deliver an assembly that's not just a spending body but is actually responsible for raising more of its revenue too.
"And to me that is responsible devolution, that is real devolution and I think that is vital for Wales and for the United Kingdom."
Powers to set national speed limits across Wales are also proposed, together with a promise to consider the merits of devolving Air Passenger Duty and the option of changing the assembly's name to Welsh Parliament.
With the general election just 10 weeks away, voters will determine which of the political parties will be in a position to take forward the plans after 7 May.
The Conservatives have been hoping that this package will put to bed once and for all many of the debates surrounding the constitution.
That was always going to be unrealistic when you have such diverse attitudes among the parties, and you're so close to a general election.
As a result there was no agreement on many of the big issues such as welfare, policing, criminal justice, air passenger duty and teachers' pay and conditions.
Stephen Crabb believes he's managed to turn the levers of government departments in Whitehall, like the Treasury, in a way no-one has done in recent years.
Others say it's a list of the lowest common denominators that will be surpassed by different ambitions if a new government is elected in May.
As one party insider told me, it has at the very least flushed people out on where they stand on devolution.
Read more from Nick
Mr Clegg said the package "increases the devolved powers at Wales' disposal in important areas such as energy, transport and the environment.
"It paves the way for a stronger, more autonomous assembly, giving Wales more control over its own affairs and it starts the process of delivering fair funding for Wales."
But business leaders voiced concerns the transfer of new powers to Wales was being rushed, with a risk of "devolution by deadline".
CBI Wales director Emma Watkins warned: "Businesses need to know how any new powers are going to be used to best effect - to promote growth in Wales and help the private sector thrive - without creating undue complexity and cost for the thousands of businesses operating across borders."
First Minister Carwyn Jones rejected calls for a referendum on income tax powers, saying there was still "no real commitment" from the UK government on tackling what he called the "underfunding" of Wales.
He said there had been "some welcome progress on certain areas" but the proposals "fall short in crucial areas" such as policing.
Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood agreed that the new package stood in "stark contrast" to reforms being offered to Scotland.
"Wales has been left behind and that has to end, and this is a missed opportunity in that respect," she told BBC Radio Four's Today programme earlier. | A new devolution package for Wales has removed "the last remaining barriers" to an income tax referendum, Prime Minister David Cameron said. |
27328953 | The 70-year-old, who hosted popular ITV shows Blind Date and Surprise Surprise in the 1980s and 1990s, said she was "totally delighted".
"I've been very fortunate to have a long and full career in television and this means the world to me," she said.
She will receive the Special Award at the ceremony on 18 May.
Black first came to fame in the music industry and scored two number one hits in 1964 with Anyone Who Had a Heart and You're My World.
She made her TV debut in 1968 with her own BBC One primetime series featuring the star performing alongside singers such as Matt Monro, Andy Williams, Sir Tom Jones and Sir Cliff Richard. It ran until 1976.
She went on to host a number of shows for ITV, with Blind Date and Surprise Surprise both running for almost two decades.
'Hugely influential'
Speaking last year, Black said she was "semi-retired" but recently appeared on ITV's revamped Surprise Surprise - now hosted by Holly Willoughby - and had her own TV special in 2013, The One and Only Cilla Black.
A three-part ITV drama about the star's life is currently in production, starring Sheridan Smith.
Andrew Newman, chairman of Bafta's television committee, described the presenter as "a true icon in the television and entertainment industry".
"From hosting her own show for the BBC in 1968 to defining ITV entertainment throughout the '80s and '90s, Cilla has been an extremely popular and hugely influential entertainer throughout her long career in television."
Previous recipients of the Bafta Special Award include Jeremy Paxman, Simon Cowell, Clare Balding, Jon Snow and Kate Adie.
The Arqiva British Academy Television Awards will be held at London's Theatre Royal and broadcast on BBC One at 20:00 BST on 18 May. | Cilla Black is to be honoured at this year's Bafta TV Awards in recognition of her contribution to entertainment over her 50-year career. |
32006727 | Residents took to the streets in protest and one was killed as the rebels fired on them and used tear gas.
The insurgents already hold the capital, Sanaa, after overthrowing President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi in February. He fled to Aden in the south.
Instability has been growing in Yemen, where al-Qaeda and Islamic State sympathisers also pose a threat.
On Saturday, the US said it was withdrawing its troops from the country due to the worsening security situation.
The US evacuated a southern military base seen as key to its use of drones against al-Qaeda militants.
Dozens of tanks and military vehicles were reported to be heading from north Yemen towards Taiz, which lies between Sanaa and Aden.
The seizure of the Taiz brings the Houthis to within 140km (86 miles) of President Hadi's new base in Aden - a southern port city.
The UN Security Council is holding an emergency meeting on Yemen's security situation on Sunday.
The rebels declared a new government in February and said a transitional five-member presidential council would replace President Hadi.
However, the Houthis are from the north, and their declaration has not been recognised by southern leaders.
On Sunday, Houthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi vowed to pursue Islamists militants from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and IS.
Both al-Qaeda and IS are Sunni groups and consider the Shia Muslim Houthis to be heretics.
IS said it was behind the suicide bombings of two Houthi mosques on Friday in Sanaa, which killed 137 worshippers.
Mr Houthi also accused Qatar and Saudi Arabia of "funding all conspiracies in the region" and accused Mr Hadi of "being a puppet in the hands of other actors to implement their agendas in Yemen".
This crisis is deepening fast, says BBC Middle East analyst Alan Johnston, and there's a danger of northern and southern Yemen eventually being torn apart. | Yemen's third largest city Taiz and its airport have been seized by Shia Houthi rebels, officials say. |
29503383 | The revelations, handed to Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, emerged after a series of recent mishaps.
The minister has pledged that Germany will play a much greater military role on the international stage.
However the KPMG report calls for urgent improvement in projects such as the Eurofighter jet and Puma tank.
Contracts for A400 Airbus transporter planes and Boxer armoured fighting vehicles were among the nine delayed and, in many cases, over-budget projects that ran to a total of 57bn euros (£45bn; $70bn) - about two-thirds of total spending.
For some projects the additional spending stretches into billions of euros, German media report.
Germany is reported to be considering a key ceasefire monitoring role in eastern Ukraine, but the military has struggled in recent weeks with many of its helicopters and fighter jets unfit to fly, and notably a failed mission to send two planes to Iraq.
BBC Berlin correspondent Jenny Hill on Germany's defence woes
In Germany they've been dubbed the "Disarmed Forces". For Europe's largest economy today's report is embarrassing but not unexpected.
A few days ago Ursula von der Leyen told me Germany had to play its part in places such as Ukraine and Syria if it was to be taken seriously in the future.
The trouble is the military she has inherited is badly flawed. And the public knows it.
Last week, two planes set off for Iraq carrying German weapons and army instructors. Neither made it. The weapons got stuck in Germany, the soldiers in Bulgaria.
In fact the only plane seemingly in good working order was the one carrying the defence minister, who arrived in Iraq for what should have been a carefully orchestrated press opportunity.
The defence minister has been forced to admit Germany's military equipment is in such poor repair that the country cannot meet its Nato obligations.
The 1,200-page report warned that "improvement in the management of national and international projects is urgent and needed without delay".
Ms von der Leyen said it provided a good basis from which to look at "the weak points and the need for action, which surely will be a tough management task for weeks and months to come".
Not to be deterred, she announced on German TV on Sunday that she was planning to revive a project, mothballed by her predecessor because of its cost, for Euro Hawk reconnaissance drones.
For historical reasons, Germany has been wary of playing a major part in international military missions but has played a significant role in Afghanistan and is planning to maintain a presence there after the Nato-led force pulls out at the end of 2014. | Spending on nine of Germany's biggest defence projects has been severely criticised by an independent report that cites 140 problems and risks. |
32322596 | ECB chief Mario Draghi was delivering his opening remarks when a woman jumped on his desk, throwing paper and confetti at him.
She was restrained by security and the briefing restarted soon after.
Activists have previously targeted the ECB for its role in imposing austerity measures on some European countries.
Mr Draghi looked shocked during the incident, but later made light of it, joking he "would have to improvise" unless he found his script.
Sweeping confetti off his desk, he went on to say the eurozone economy was recovering thanks to a huge bond-buying plan. | A confetti-throwing protester has disrupted a European Central Bank (ECB) news conference, rushing on stage and screaming "end ECB dictatorship". |
38912176 | "I am deeply grateful to all those in Malawi who helped make this possible," she wrote.
The singer also appealed for privacy from the media during "this transitional time".
She got permission for the adoptions by a court in Malawi on Tuesday.
She already has two children from the African country - David, adopted in 2006, and Mercy, adopted in 2009.
Less than two weeks ago, during a charity visit to Malawi, Madonna denied reports she had applied to adopt any more children.
But court papers on Wednesday revealed the singer felt duty-bound to adopt the four-year-old girls, named Esther and Stella, from an orphanage after discovering information about their backgrounds through her charity work.
Their mother died soon after giving birth, the papers show, while their father married a different woman, leaving only their grandparents who were overwhelmed by the prospect of having to bring up the twins and their siblings.
Madonna granted permission to adopt two children from Malawi
Madonna denies adoption 'rumours'
Judge Fiona Mwale said the singer was able to supply a loving home life for the twins in "a luxurious, spacious and comfortable abode in an affluent neighbourhood" of the US.
She said that although the 58-year-old performer was "above the age normally considered within the ranges of parenting", she had supplied medical evidence to support her argument that she was in good health.
"Her charity work brings her into contact with orphanages... and it was as a result of this contact that she felt compelled to fill a gap in their lives and open up her home to them," the judge said. | Madonna has posted a picture on Instagram of the twin sisters she has adopted from Malawi, pointing out that the process is now complete and she is delighted to have them in her family. |
27815871 | He said that with six local education authorities (LEAs) in special measures it is impossible to have faith in the delivery of education across Wales.
Mr Jones argued it gives further urgency to the need to cut the number of councils from the current 22.
A recent report recommended cutting the number by about half.
The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), which represents the councils, said improvements were being made.
Torfaen, Monmouthshire, Merthyr Tydfil, Anglesey, Blaenau Gwent and Pembrokeshire LEAs are all in special measures, meaning their education services have been judged not good enough.
Government and officials are monitoring how they improve the situation.
Mr Jones, in an interview with BBC Wales as part of its Measuring Devolution series, said that demonstrates the need to reorganise the way local government provides education.
Councils have already lost some of the responsibility to drive up standards in our schools.
That job is now in the hands of four education consortia.
Mr Jones said: "It's quite clear with six local education authorities in special measures, how can we have faith there will be consistent good delivery of education across Wales?
"That's why of course we need to make sure the future structure of local government delivers in the way we want it to.
"We need to make sure that local authorities are delivering consistently and that's not happening at the moment.
Mr Jones said that there were good examples, such as Ceredigion LEA, but performance must become consistent across Wales.
The Williams Commission, set up by Labour ministers, published a report in January recommending the 22 councils should be merged to between 10 and 12.
The Labour Party is due to agree its proposed new local government map for Wales this summer.
WLGA chief executive Steve Thomas said the issue will be debated at a conference next week, adding "it is time to accentuate some of the positives and not just the negative".
"The WLGA and local government is part of the system of education and we should all be pulling together to ensure that education outcomes are improved," he said.
"We have seen some really good inspections of late, not least of all Ceredigion.
"We are expecting further improvements in those areas where local authorities are currently in special measures." | First Minister Carwyn Jones has told BBC Wales he thinks some councils are incapable of improving education in their area. |
21964886 | Nottingham has been chosen to host one-day races for men and women on Sunday, 26 May.
The original Milk Race, which ran between 1958 and 1993, was a multi-stage race and one of the many guises of what is now the Tour of Britain.
Steven Burke is the first big name to sign up for the race, which will move from city to city each year.
"It's an historic event and it's exciting to be a part of it," said the Olympic track champion, who is trained by 1987 Milk Race winner Malcolm Elliott.
"London 2012 and the exploits of Bradley Wiggins have already increased participation in cycling and the more big events like this can happen the better it is for the sport." | The Milk Race is set to make a return to the British sporting calendar after a 20-year absence. |
35062239 | A pensioner in Civitavecchia, near Rome, hanged himself after his €100,000 (£72,000; $110,000) investment in Banca Etruria was wiped out.
Mr Renzi said the €4bn rescue last month had to be done, otherwise thousands of jobs would have been lost.
About 130,000 bank shareholders and bondholders lost their investments.
The pensioner left a suicide note criticising his bank.
Besides Banca Etruria, the other affected banks were: Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara, Banca delle Marche and CariChieti.
The rescue was financed by three big banks - Unicredit, Intesa SanPaolo and Ubi Banca.
"The Italian government intervened when it saw that four banks risked closing and losing thousands of jobs and deposits," Mr Renzi said.
The centre-left prime minister added that the government "is working to find solutions" to help the investors who had lost money in the rescue.
But the scope for such solutions is limited because of European Commission rules against state aid.
He said the government "expresses its own pain and condolences to the family" of the pensioner.
The rescue was a "bail-in" - meaning bondholders suffered losses - unlike the hugely unpopular bank bailouts during the 2008 financial crisis, which cost ordinary EU taxpayers tens of billions of euros.
Mr Renzi's rescue initiative drew fierce criticism in Italy.
The leader of the far-right opposition Northern League, Matteo Salvini, called the pensioner's death "state suicide", in a tweet.
"A pensioner kills himself because he lost his life savings due to Banca Etruria and the absent government. State suicide," his tweet said.
Correspondents say Mr Renzi acted quickly because in January, the EU is tightening the rules on bank rescues - they will force losses on depositors holding more than €100,000, as well as bank shareholders and bondholders.
Central bank supervisor Carmelo Barbagallo, quoted by Reuters news agency, said letting the four banks fail under those new EU rules next year would have meant "sacrificing the money of one million savers and the jobs of nearly 6,000 people".
Mr Renzi said he supported a parliament decision to investigate "what has happened in the Italian and European banking systems in the last few years". He called for "every effort" to "clarify the responsibilities of the past". | Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has defended his government's rescue of four Italian banks - but voiced sadness over an elderly investor's suicide. |
40946948 | As a producer and a director, he has been attached to a greater range of critically and commercially successful Broadway musicals than any other individual, with a record 21 Tony Awards as testament.
It has nonetheless taken more than six years to bring Prince of Broadway, a new musical tracing those accomplishments, to its title location, where Prince last worked a decade ago.
A shortage of investors was at one point an issue, astonishingly - or perhaps not so, given the proliferation of jukebox musicals and movie and brand adaptations that have attracted latter-day Broadway producers.
Prince, now 89, was never fazed. "So many of the shows I've done were met with cynicism, initially," he says.
"It was a journey getting West Side Story to Broadway. It was a journey getting Fiddler on the Roof to Broadway."
Both of those classics, originally produced by Prince and directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, are featured in Prince of Broadway, which is set to open on 24 August at New York's Samuel J Friedman Theatre.
So are several of the groundbreaking musicals that West Side lyricist Stephen Sondheim introduced in the 1970s (Company, A Little Night Music, Follies, Sweeney Todd) under Prince's direction, and two of the London-based Andrew Lloyd Webber blockbusters Prince also helmed - Evita and The Phantom of the Opera.
Co-directed and choreographed by multiple Tony winner Susan Stroman - with whom Prince worked on an acclaimed revival of Show Boat, which is also represented - includes numbers from 17 shows woven together by David Thompson's minimal book, which enlists the nine cast members to give voice to Prince's thoughts and recollections.
The conceit of having performers essentially play Prince, in addition to various characters from the musicals, was developed in Japan, where the show premiered in 2015.
"A good deal of what I think about my life in the theatre is now spoken by these guys, and women - which is a lot better than having me play me," Prince quips.
"That's the most fun part of the work, that there's so much goddamn talent around. So many great people working in theatre, or trying to."
For Stroman, whose many high-profile stage credits include The Producers and The Scottsboro Boys, the biggest challenge posed by Prince of Broadway was simply narrowing down the material.
"We would meet in Hal's office every morning and go through lists and lists of different songs from so many shows, telling so many incredible stories," she says. "Hal has never been afraid to take chances, to go to places that people previously thought a musical couldn't go - like a Latin-American prison."
That's a reference to Kiss of the Spider Woman, one of two musicals showcased in Prince set in prisons - the other being Parade by Jason Robert Brown, who has provided a new song and arrangements.
That a reminder of the social and moral conscience that has driven many landmark musicals arrives on Broadway in this first year of the Trump administration is plainly not lost on Prince.
In a letter to The New York Times, he wrote: "There's a saying in theatre that whoever occupies the star's dressing room creates the atmosphere backstage.
"I've been thinking about that recently in terms of our national trauma, and I believe the star in our dressing room has brought about the epidemic of dangerous mood changes, random episodes of violence and a general malaise in the lives of most Americans."
In conversation, Prince notes: "There have been so many dangerous times in our history. But I will say this - Watergate was a pipsqueak of an event compared with what this country is going through right now. It's the most egregious and unpredictable thing.
"But we'll rise out of it. I have so many heroes now. Every night my wife and I watch Stephen Colbert, and he is masterful - he is right on the money."
Prince feels similar gratitude to the producers and backers who finally brought Prince of Broadway to Broadway, among them the non-profit Manhattan Theatre Club and Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller, listed in the playbill as "creative consultant" but "much more than that, God knows", according to Prince.
"I stopped producing a long time ago, but when I was a creative producer, I said that Broadway lacked creative producers," he says. "But right now, I'm surrounded by them. I've never felt more supported and protected than I do with this show."
There are still, Prince accepts, "people who go into producing because they want to hit the jackpot, which is something that never occurred to me - though I guess I hit it on enough occasions to still be here."
He was encouraged by Hamilton's triumph and the subsequent success of another off-Broadway transfer, Dear Evan Hansen, and the surprise Broadway hit Come From Away, both musicals that deal unflinchingly with tragic events and the necessity of human connection.
"None of them are star-driven productions, and they've all got interesting and unpredictable subjects. They came along at the right time."
Prince says he has no additional projects lined up at the moment, notwithstanding hopeful buzz about a future Broadway revival of Evita. "I want to find something," he says.
"My wife has said to me, 'Before the opening night of [Prince], I want to know what you're doing next.'
"I don't think anything will come up in the next two weeks. But I've got the energy. I still feel about 40 years old. As long as that holds out, I sure as hell want to keep working."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected] | It's impossible to survey 20th Century American musical theatre without coming across one name over and over again: Harold "Hal" Prince. |
37330891 | Casey, 39, shot a four-under-par 68 after birdies on the fifth, ninth, 15th and 16th to stay in contention for a potential first win of the season.
US Open champion Johnson is on 18 under overall, with Casey on 15 under.
Scotland's Russell Knox is tied 12th on seven under and England's Luke Donald is two shots further back in tied 26th.
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell both shot rounds of one over to drop 16 places to joint 35th on three under.
Johnson, the 2010 champion, had carded a course record nine-under-par 63 for the overnight lead on Friday and followed that with a 68, while Casey did not drop a shot in his round.
Find out how to get into golf with our special guide.
World number four Jordan Spieth shot an eagle on the 11th after holing a 60-yard chip from the rough but finished with back-to-back bogeys to lie eight-under.
It was a similar story for world number one Jason Day - the Australian saw bogeys on the 13th and 14th drop him to five-under after a round of 71.
We've launched a new BBC Sport newsletter, bringing all the best stories, features and video right to your inbox. You can sign up here. | England's Paul Casey is second, three shots behind leader Dustin Johnson, after three rounds of the BMW Championship in Carmel, Indiana. |
33259383 | Gen Karake, 54, was detained at Heathrow Airport on Saturday, accused of ordering massacres in the wake of the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
Protestors have threatened not to end the demonstration in the capital, Kigali, until the general is released.
The Rwandan government has branded the arrest an "outrage".
Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda's Foreign Minister condemned Gen Karake's detention on Tuesday, saying that "Western solidarity in demeaning Africans is unacceptable".
The BBC's East Africa Correspondent Karen Allen says that the minister's phrase was echoed by protestors on Wednesday.
"We are here to stand in solidarity with our hero, who was among the people who stopped genocide in this country,'' Herbert Muhire, a protest leader told The Associated Press news agency.
William Gelling, the UK's High Commissioner to Rwanda, addressed the crowd briefly.
"All I can say is that this was a legal decision as you understand, on behalf of the Spanish legal authorities.
"The UK is a very close partner with Rwanda,'' he said, as quoted by AP.
Gen Karake was arrested by Metropolitan Police officers in response to a European Arrest Warrant.
Spanish investigative judge Andreu Merelles indicted Gen Karake in 2008 for alleged war crimes, along with 39 other current or former high-ranking Rwandan military officials.
He is also accused of ordering the killing in 1997 of three Spanish nationals working for Medicos del Mundo.
Nicknamed KK, the Rwandan government hail Gen Karake as one of the people who stopped the genocide in 1994.
An estimated 800,000 people were killed in two months by ethnic Hutu extremists.
Most of the dead were members of the minority Tutsi community and politically moderate Hutus.
The killings ended when the RPF, a Tutsi-led rebel movement, seized control of the country.
Gen Karake is director general of Rwanda's National Intelligence and Security Services and a member of Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
But Human Rights Watch reported that in their drive for military victory, the RPF killed thousands, including government troops, members of the militia and some civilians in numerous executions and massacres.
A spokesman for Spain's National Court said it was now up to the British authorities to decide whether or not to extradite Gen Karake. | Some 200 people gathered outside the British High Commission in Rwanda to protest at the arrest of intelligence chief Karenzi Karake in London. |
38817542 | The ban on travel to the United States by people from a list of mainly Muslim countries has caused widespread political protest.
While it is being discussed at top government level, it is also impacting individuals.
Milad Korkis has lived in Northern Ireland for three years.
He is married to Holly, an American, and both work with a Christian charity.
They were due to visit Holly's family in Pennsylvania in April.
"My travel document says that I am from Syria," Mr Korkis said.
"I called the US Consulate here and our friends in the States and they explained the executive order and it says I can't travel to the States and if I get there I'll be deported."
Mr Korkis' wife Holly said she hoped the ban was only temporary.
"I know that there's processes of safety and there's so much going on," she said.
"But my hope for the future is that it will get better and that we'll be able to have a system that works well and that we will be able to see family, because that's a very important part of our life."
The couple said the tickets they bought months ago may not be refundable.
"As a Christian myself, I'm banned from going to the States," Mr Korkis said.
"It does affect, not just Muslims, but also Christians in the Middle East." | A Syrian refugee in Belfast has had to cancel travel plans to visit his wife's family because of fears he would be barred from the US and deported. |
38389052 | The medical school proposal, which includes a graduate entry focus, is currently being considered by the Department of Health.
Currently, the only medical school in Northern Ireland is at Queen's University in Belfast.
Prof Hugh McKenna, UU Dean of medical school development, said he believed there was 'dire need' for another.
"We have a bit of a crisis on our hands, the doctors we have got are absolutely excellent day and daily but we don't have enough of them," Prof McKenna said.
"We know that at any one time there is 700 young people from Northern Ireland doing medicine from GB but that's people who had to leave Northern Ireland to do medicine.
"It will be graduate entry, which means a four year programme and those who accepted will already have a degree."
In June, the British Medical Association (BMA) said a new graduate medical school in Londonderry must be accessible to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The BMA also suggested an increase in medical training posts to prevent doctors and nurses leaving Northern Ireland after training.
"We want to be cross border so we are having very successful conversations with the University of Galway and Limerick and with the health providers in the north west," said Prof McKenna.
"We're moving towards and outline business case and we are getting lots of support, I believe it can happen and I believe we need it." | Ulster University (UU) has applied to the General Medical Council (GMC) to train doctors in the north west. |
38620971 | Steven MacLean headed home Chris Millar's cross to put Saints in control.
And a deflected shot by Blair Alston doubled the Premiership side's advantage before the break.
Graham Cummins, David Wotherspoon, Alston and Chris Kane had further efforts for the hosts in the second period.
Stenny had overcome Forres Mechanics in a replay in round three but any hopes they had of causing a cup upset had all but ended within 32 minutes at McDiarmid Park.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Millar's pinpoint cross found MacLean, who had ghosted away from his marker to nod in from six yards.
Danny Swanson came close to a second before MacLean's back-heel teed up Alston to score.
Cummins should have added a third in the 70th minute when he scooped Alston's low cross wide.
Wotherspoon's 20-yard drive was deflected out and Alston's stoppage-time volley suffered the same fate.
Cummins' replacement Kane got his effort on target only to see it booted off the line.
Match ends, St. Johnstone 2, Stenhousemuir 0.
Second Half ends, St. Johnstone 2, Stenhousemuir 0.
Corner, St. Johnstone. Conceded by Carlos Mazana-Martinez.
Attempt blocked. Christopher Kane (St. Johnstone) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Corner, St. Johnstone. Conceded by Oli Shaw.
Corner, St. Johnstone. Conceded by Ross Meechan.
Corner, St. Johnstone. Conceded by Ciaran Summers.
Substitution, Stenhousemuir. Liam McCroary replaces Kieran Millar.
Joe Shaughnessy (St. Johnstone) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Alan Cook (Stenhousemuir).
Attempt saved. Liam Craig (St. Johnstone) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Substitution, Stenhousemuir. Alan Docherty replaces Colin McMenamin.
Substitution, St. Johnstone. Christopher Kane replaces Graham Cummins.
Ciaran Summers (Stenhousemuir) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Blair Alston (St. Johnstone) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ciaran Summers (Stenhousemuir).
Attempt saved. Blair Alston (St. Johnstone) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Corner, St. Johnstone. Conceded by Ciaran Summers.
Substitution, St. Johnstone. Liam Craig replaces Danny Swanson.
Substitution, Stenhousemuir. Carlos Mazana-Martinez replaces Willis Furtado.
Corner, St. Johnstone. Conceded by Fraser Kerr.
Attempt blocked. David Wotherspoon (St. Johnstone) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Colin McMenamin (Stenhousemuir) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Danny Swanson (St. Johnstone) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Colin McMenamin (Stenhousemuir).
Joe Shaughnessy (St. Johnstone) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Colin McMenamin (Stenhousemuir).
Attempt saved. Alan Cook (Stenhousemuir) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Corner, Stenhousemuir. Conceded by Chris Millar.
Corner, St. Johnstone. Conceded by Ross Meechan.
Fraser Kerr (Stenhousemuir) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Danny Swanson (St. Johnstone) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Fraser Kerr (Stenhousemuir).
Second Half begins St. Johnstone 2, Stenhousemuir 0.
First Half ends, St. Johnstone 2, Stenhousemuir 0.
Attempt missed. Joe Shaughnessy (St. Johnstone) header from the left side of the six yard box is just a bit too high.
Corner, St. Johnstone. Conceded by Ross Meechan.
Foul by Graham Cummins (St. Johnstone).
Vincent Berry (Stenhousemuir) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Chris Millar (St. Johnstone). | St Johnstone eased past League One Stenhousemuir in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup. |
36947770 | The Argentine striker joined the Turin side for £75.3m from Napoli in July and finished from close range in the 75th minute after coming on as a sub.
A header from former Blackburn player Nikola Kalinic had cancelled out Sami Khedira's first-half opener.
Elsewhere, Roma scored four second half goals to hammer Udinese 4-0.
A double from Diego Perotti and late strikes from Edin Dzeko and Mohamed Salah gave them the perfect start to the season.
Match ends, Juventus 2, Fiorentina 1.
Second Half ends, Juventus 2, Fiorentina 1.
Corner, Juventus. Conceded by Ciprian Tatarusanu.
Attempt saved. Mario Lemina (Juventus) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Alex Sandro.
Andrea Barzagli (Juventus) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Marcos Alonso (Fiorentina).
Foul by Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus).
Giuseppe Rossi (Fiorentina) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Nenad Tomovic (Fiorentina) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Alex Sandro (Juventus) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Nenad Tomovic (Fiorentina).
Foul by Hernanes (Juventus).
Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Juventus. Hernanes replaces Sami Khedira.
Foul by Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus).
Matías Vecino (Fiorentina) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Matías Vecino (Fiorentina) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Cristian Tello.
Substitution, Juventus. Patrice Evra replaces Paulo Dybala.
Foul by Dani Alves (Juventus).
Marcos Alonso (Fiorentina) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Juventus. Conceded by Ciprian Tatarusanu.
Attempt saved. Mario Lemina (Juventus) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Attempt blocked. Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Gonzalo Higuaín.
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Cristian Tello (Fiorentina).
Substitution, Fiorentina. Giuseppe Rossi replaces Josip Ilicic.
Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Matías Vecino (Fiorentina).
Foul by Mario Lemina (Juventus).
Josip Ilicic (Fiorentina) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Dani Alves (Juventus).
Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Paulo Dybala (Juventus).
Davide Astori (Fiorentina) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, Fiorentina. Ciprian Tatarusanu tries a through ball, but Nikola Kalinic is caught offside.
Goal! Juventus 2, Fiorentina 1. Gonzalo Higuaín (Juventus) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box to the bottom left corner.
Attempt blocked. Sami Khedira (Juventus) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Kwadwo Asamoah.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Nenad Tomovic (Fiorentina) because of an injury.
Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus) wins a free kick on the left wing. | Gonzalo Higuain scored the winner on his Juventus debut as the Italian champions began their Serie A title defence with a win over Fiorentina. |
27206060 | Flanker Jackson Wray claimed a hat-trick, Chris Ashton scored twice and David Strettle all crossed for Sarries.
Worcester full-back Chris Pennell did his chances of being voted Premiership player of the season no harm with a consolation brace of tries.
Semisi Taulava also crossed in a late revival from Dean Ryan's Warriors.
But, with Alex Goode claiming a 14-point haul with the boot, Worcester's three-year stay on their return to English rugby's top flight, long expected after just one win all season, came to its inevitable end.
Worcester stand-off Ryan Lamb, yellow carded late on for a deliberate knock-on, kicked Warriors' other points, with a penalty and a conversion of Pennell's first try.
Heineken Cup finalists Saracens also had winger Strettle and Neil de Kock yellow carded late on as they ended the game with 13 men.
Saracens have now surpassed the regular-season record for Premiership points scored, having taken their tally to 602 in 21 matches - an average of almost 30 per game.
Saracens rugby director Mark McCall:
"Breaking that record has to mean something for us. You've got to be proud of certain things. And for us to finish top of the tree in the regular season again is a good thing.
"To have more wins than last year and score double the amount of tries probably on last year, that's a sign of progress. And we're in a Heineken Cup final, which is one step further than last year.
"We played Worcester just before Christmas and they are a transformed team from the one we played then. They just seemed beaten before the first whistle, and that team wasn't like that today. They fought for everything.
"They've got some real talent if they keep it all, especially in the back line and I've got no doubt they'll come back stronger for this. The last three months they have actually played well. They've got a good coaching team and they'll be back stronger in time."
Warriors boss Dean Ryan told BBC Hereford & Worcester:
"We're in the Championship now, so we can stop talking about ifs. That's going to drive us on, because it's going to hurt.
"There's some big players in that changing room. It will hurt egos, it will test humility and everything else. But it's got to be a driver to ensure we come back to this level."
"What's happened to this club had to happen. If we'd survived in the Premiership it would have been tough, because it has to change. It has to go about its business differently.
"It has to start growing people, supporting people and people have to come here because it is their club, not a stepping stone or a retirement home. And we'll make sure that happens."
Saracens: Goode; Ashton, Bosch, Barritt, Strettle; Farrell, Wigglesworth; M Vunipola, Brits, Stevens, Hargreaves, Botha, Wray, Fraser, B Vunipola.
Replacements: Gill for M Vunipola (7), George for Brits (50), Wyles for Farrell (51), de Kock for Wigglesworth (51), Brown for B Vunipola (51), Taylor for Barritt (53), Sheriff for Botha (59), Johnston for Stevens (60).
Sin Bin: Gill (33), Strettle (75), de Kock (77).
Worcester: Pennell; Drauniniu, Grove, Symons, Lemi; Lamb, Arr; Fainga'anuku, Creevy, Murray, Percival, Galarza, Williams, Betty, Thomas.
Replacements: Shervington for Creevy (53), Taulava for Betty (57), Fatiaki for Symons (62), De Carpentier for Williams (66), Andrew for Fainga'anuku (67), Hodgson for Arr (73), O'Donnell for Murray (74), Stelling for Lamb (76).
Attendance: 8,800.
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth (RFU). | Worcester Warriors' relegation back to the Championship was finally confirmed at Allianz Park as they were outclassed by Premiership leaders Saracens. |
34566305 | Tata Steel is expected to announce 1,200 UK job cuts next week.
The firm is expected to significantly reduce the workforce at its Scunthorpe plant, which employs 4,000 people and is one of the UK's biggest.
Andrew Percy, Conservative MP for Brigg and Goole, said he had spoken to the prime minister about support for the steel industry.
The company declined to confirm the job cuts, but said it had been facing challenges in the UK such as a surge in steel imports, and the relative strength of the pound.
A spokesman said: "We've made a number of structural changes to our UK business over the last months and years to make us more competitive.
"Like all companies we continue to review the performance of our business."
Mr Percy said that many of the problems facing the steel industry were "subject to decisions elsewhere, be that in the EU or indeed internationally".
"There are actions the government can do to help," he said. "But as Tata has made really clear even if the government does everything that's asked of them, that is no magic bullet and that does not solve the issues.
"So I can assure them [steel workers] that where the government can act here, myself and other local MPs and the local council will push to the absolute maximum on that."
Tony Gosling, a steelworker in Scunthorpe and a Labour councillor, said the job cuts would be "absolutely devastating".
"This area is still heavily dependent on the steel industry - a lot of the other small manufacturing companies all rely on it," he said. | A MP has said there is "no magic bullet" to prevent the possible loss of steel jobs in Scunthorpe. |
39887434 | Richard Jones, 31, from Llanwnnen, near Lampeter, was convicted of two counts of illegal dog breeding and 21 counts of causing suffering to dogs.
He was given a four-year ban on keeping animals at Aberystwyth Justice Centre.
But he has now won an appeal and the ban will apply specifically to dealing in dogs which will run for six years.
Swansea Crown Court heard the initial ban was unworkable as he ran the family hill farm and needed to use sheepdogs to control 1,000 sheep.
The appeal hearing was also told Jones and his sister ran the farm and their family's finances depended on it.
The appeal judge, Recorder Peter Griffiths QC, ruled that the terms of the ban should be changed to allow him to continue farming but to stop him running puppy farms.
"I reiterate that each member of the court was appalled by the conditions of the dogs," he said, adding that he believed the nine week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, had been "on the lenient side".
Ceredigion council had brought the prosecution after raids at two premises last June found 113 dogs and puppies suffering.
Some of the dogs in Jones' care were kept in complete darkness, on their own, with advanced chronic skin conditions and showing signs of mental stress.
One puppy was so thin it was close to death, the court heard.
Others were suffering from gangrene and septicaemia while there was evidence that some dogs had eaten their own faeces.
The court was told Jones used to have a breeding licence but it was not renewed by the local authority in 2015 because of concerns.
The appeal hearing was told that since the raids, Jones' farm had passed inspections and the dogs he bred had since been rehomed. | An illegal dog breeder from Ceredigion, who left puppies close to death, will be allowed to keep animals despite being given a court ban in February. |
25907608 | Mary Di Mauro will stand for the Lib Dems in the poll in the Wythenshawe and Sale East constituency on 13 February.
She has represented Northenden ward on Manchester City Council since 2010.
Mr Goggins, who had been MP for the seat in Greater Manchester since 1997, died earlier this month after collapsing while out running. | The Liberal Democrats have selected a local councillor as their candidate in the by-election triggered by the death of Labour MP Paul Goggins. |
37175422 | The 21-year-old was released by the Hornets in the summer, having never made a first-team appearance for them.
He has had six separate loan spells, including three at Crewe, and scored 12 goals in 79 matches.
"After having loans at a number of northern clubs, it's good to be at Cambridge United which is closer to home," said London-born Ikpeazu.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | League Two side Cambridge United have signed former Watford striker Uche Ikpeazu on a short-term contract. |
36950011 | Zhai was among 300 lawyers and activists arrested since July last year as part of a crackdown on legal activism - about 20 are still detained.
In the first trial since the crackdown, he was given a three-year suspended prison sentence.
The cases have provoked international criticism and accusations they are politically motivated.
Three other activists are also facing trial in Tianjin.
Zhai's law firm, Fengrui, specialises in human rights cases
On Monday, another prominent Fengrui lawyer Wang Yu was apparently released on bail, after a video appeared in which she renounced her legal work.
But it was not clear when the video was filmed, nor whether Ms Wang was now free.
Do Chinese believe 'confession' videos?
China calls this trial "open" and says a number of journalists have been "invited" into court to cover it. The BBC's invitation must have got lost somewhere.
Very shortly after arriving outside the court in Tianjin we were stopped from filming by plain clothes policemen, had our identities checked and were then guided onto a bus and taken to a nearby hotel.
In an upstairs room, projected onto a screen was a "live transcript" from the trial. Like the lawyers and family members who have been denied access to this group of defendants for over a year, there is no way to independently assess the strength of the evidence against them, or the authenticity of their professed "guilt".
The thin veneer of openness is a sign that China well understands that the international community is watching these trials.
But it will only add to the suspicion that they are politically motivated with the primary purpose of sending a very chilling message to anyone who dares to test the authority of the Communist Party, in or out of court.
Chinese state media said the court had taken three hours to reach its verdict against Zhai, whose activism began with the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
China Daily said he had posted comments online that harmed national security and social stability, and organised protests to disturb the public order.
The Xinhua state news agency described Zhai as a paid protester and "an unemployed resident of Beijing".
The suspended sentence means he will not go to jail, but will be heavily supervised and unable to be involved in any political activities.
The detained lawyers are widely known as "709" - a reference to the date the crackdown was launched on 9 July 2015.
The families of some of those arrested said in a statement on Monday that the trial was "ridiculous and evil", and appealed for the trial to be given international attention.
The statement also alleged that the wife of Zhai was missing, with others facing the risk of being "taken away".
The family members said they were not allowed to attend the trial.
China's crackdown last year targeted the country's small human rights advocacy movement, and involved lawyers tackling cases to do with freedom of speech, religion or abuses of power.
Most of the arrested activists were released but observers say China is taking a strong line against those still in detention.
In a video of Wang Yu which was released on Monday, she denounced the head of Fengrui, Zhou Shifeng, as an unqualified lawyer.
She added that "foreign forces" were using the firm to undermine and discredit the government.
Observers said there were indications the "confession" was coerced. In recent months forced public confessions have been used in several cases in China. | Chinese rights activist Zhai Yanmin has been found guilty of subverting state power after a one-day trial in Tianjin. |
30690358 | Ronnie Berlack, 20, and Bryce Astle, 19, were junior members of the US team.
They were part of a group of six who were descending from a mountain near the Rettenbach glacier, the venue for the races that will open the 2015 Alpine Skiing World Cup.
Officials in Tyrol say avalanche alerts had been declared following days of heavy snowfall and mild temperatures.
The four other skiers with Mr Berlack and Mr Astle managed to escape the avalanche unhurt.
It is believed that they triggered the avalanche on the 3,000m (10,000 feet) Gaislachkogel mountain near Solden, and were buried under the snow.
The president of the US Ski and Snowboard Association Tiger Shaw said, the two victims were "outstanding ski racers who were passionate about their sport". | Two American skiers have been killed in an avalanche in the Austrian Alps while skiing near their training base. |
40862974 | If accepted, it would mean proposals allowing those living in remote areas to demand broadband were unnecessary.
In a letter to Culture Secretary Karen Bradley, Scottish ministers said the deal put at risk plans to have superfast broadband in all properties.
Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing suggested a working group be set up.
This would be to consider the proposals and related issues.
About 1.4 million households currently cannot get speeds above 10Mbps, according to Ofcom.
The UK government is consulting on plans for a Universal Service Obligation (USO) which gives homes and businesses in so-called "white areas", where there is no existing infrastructure, the right to request a high-speed connection.
The Scottish government said it had been engaging with potential suppliers who might want to bid for contracts to provide broadband to the so-called "final few".
The Scottish government's R100 programme aims to deliver speeds of up to 30Mbps to all properties in Scotland by 2021.
Mr Ewing's letter said: "The emerging USO proposal risks undermining that engagement by apparently concluding that it will not be commercially viable for any provider other than BT to deliver in white areas.
"What has emerged as a result risks entrenching, even extending, BT's monopoly position in rural areas and could deter alternative suppliers from bidding for R100 contracts.
"That would be a hugely negative outcome and one that would serve to undermine and frustrate the Scottish government's digital ambitions."
Rural campaigners have argued that the higher speed is necessary to future-proof the infrastructure as more people stream TV programmes and use multiple devices.
Mr Ewing added: "It is arguable whether a 10Mbps connection could be defined as a high-speed connection today, let alone in 2020. It will certainly not be high-speed in 2023 or in 2028 when any speed uplift is implemented."
Speaking last week, Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said: "The government is taking action to ensure that people everywhere in the UK can get a decent broadband connection as soon as possible.
"We warmly welcome BT's offer and now will look at whether this or a regulatory approach works better for homes and businesses.
"Whichever of the two approaches we go with in the end, the driving force behind our decision-making will be making sure we get the best deal for consumers." | An offer by BT to provide broadband infrastructure to 99% of the UK risks extending its monopoly in rural areas, according to the Scottish government. |
36272236 | Responding to remarks by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Mr Trump told Fox News Radio the ban was "just a suggestion".
Mr Khan has expressed concern that he would not be able to travel to the US under a Trump administration because of his Muslim faith.
Mr Trump had offered to make an "exception" for Mr Khan.
Mr Khan refused Mr Trump's offer, saying the New York businessman's views were "ignorant" and would make the UK and the US "less safe".
Mr Trump proposed a ban on Muslims entering the US after attacks in Paris killed 130 people last year.
The suggested ban has been widely criticised in the US and abroad but Mr Trump until now has stood by the proposal, saying it was needed to ensure US security.
"It's a temporary ban. It hasn't been called for yet," Mr Trump said on Wednesday. "This is just a suggestion until we find out what's going on."
Mr Trump has shifted positions in the past on a variety of issues only to change his stance days later.
It's likely no coincidence that Donald Trump has softened the rhetoric surrounding his call for a sweeping ban on Muslim immigration into the US on the eve of his closely watched Washington meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan.
When Mr Trump first unveiled his proposal, Mr Ryan's response was short and sharp.
"This is not conservatism," he said.
At the time Mr Ryan's voice was just one of many in the Republican establishment condemning what seemed an extremely controversial proposal from the New York businessman.
Now Mr Trump is the presumptive nominee, and that Republican establishment has been moving - grudgingly - toward backing their new standard-bearer. Mr Ryan has been a holdout, however, saying he wants evidence that Mr Trump shares conservative values and principles.
Mr Trump's latest rhetorical swivel could be an olive branch to the speaker - and, perhaps, a fig leaf allowing Mr Ryan to eventually offer his support.
He has often given conflicting accounts on issues including his tax plan, abortion and transgender people accessing public toilets.
This flexibility has led to concerns among Republican Party leaders about his candidacy.
Top Republicans including House Speaker Paul Ryan have said they are not ready to support Mr Trump in the general election.
Mr Trump will meet Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Mr Ryan and others on Thursday in an attempt to resolve differences.
Also on Wednesday, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney - who ran against President Barack Obama in 2012 - separately raised questions about Mr Trump's tax returns.
Mr Trump has so far refused to release his tax records - a common practice among presidential nominees. Mrs Clinton has posted her past eight tax returns on her website.
"It is disqualifying for a modern-day presidential nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters, especially one who has not been subject to public scrutiny in either military or public service," Mr Romney said. | Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appears to have softened his stance on temporarily barring Muslims from travelling to the US. |
40549777 | Rooney's 13-year stint at United included five Premier League titles, three League Cups, one FA Cup, one Champions League and one Europa League.
He wants Everton to win their first major trophy since the 1995 FA Cup.
"This football club should be winning trophies and we're taking huge steps to try to win trophies," said Rooney.
Asked what it would mean to win silverware with Everton, Rooney added: "That would be the pinnacle because I remember the FA Cup final in 1995, I was there as a nine-year-old, and for that to be the last trophy... Everton should have won more trophies since then."
Everton, who have spent more than £90m in the summer transfer market, have agreed a deal to acquire land in Liverpool on which to build a new £300m stadium.
Rooney, whose return to Goodison Park on a two-year contract was announced on Sunday, added: "With the new stadium in the pipeline, it's an exciting time to be an Everton player, to be an Everton fan.
"It's on us players to make those times even more exciting by giving them good performances and try to help them be successful and bring trophies to the club.
"I firmly believe we have the potential to be a success in the league and there are the cup competitions. We're certainly capable of winning one of those cups."
The 31-year-old will wear the number 10 shirt, which belonged last season to Romelu Lukaku, who is set to sign for Manchester United for an initial £75m.
Rooney is Everton's sixth signing since the end of the 2016-17 season, when they finished seventh in the Premier League.
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In addition to former England captain Rooney, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, England defender Michael Keane, Netherlands midfielder Davy Klaassen and forwards Sandro Ramirez and Henry Onyekuru have also joined Everton this summer.
"Winning trophies with Everton would be the pinnacle," said Rooney, who played 559 times for United, scoring a club record 253 goals.
"I really feel now the club is moving in the right direction, bringing the right calibre of players in. I want to be part of it and hopefully part of a successful Everton team."
Rooney, who has 53 goals from 119 England caps, will not have long to wait before returning to Old Trafford. Everton are scheduled to visit United in the Premier League on 17 September.
Everton boss Ronald Koeman believes Rooney's vast experience will be invaluable in a dressing room short of title winners.
"No-one in the team except Gareth Barry [Manchester City] and Davy Klaassen [Ajax] have won titles," said Koeman. "Don't forget the experience he will give to the rest of the team.
"Wayne, of course, is still competitive - he will be a competitor always - and he wants to play at the highest level that is possible for him.
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"It's his home and he likes competition, he likes pressure.
"His main qualities are his quality on the ball, his experience and what I describe as his winning mentality.
"Everybody knows he can play out of different positions up front. He's a smart player. He's an experienced football player and that helps everybody."
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Rooney said it was good to wear the Everton shirt again after 13 years in the red of United.
However, he revealed in an interview with Everton TV that he has been secretly wearing blue at home at night.
"I've kept it quiet for the last 13 years but I've actually been wearing Everton pyjamas at home with my kids," added Rooney. "I had to keep that a bit quiet!
"Wearing the shirt feels as special as it did 13 years ago and I'm just looking forward now to getting out on the pitch with it on."
Media playback is not supported on this device | Wayne Rooney says that winning a trophy with Everton "would be the pinnacle" after rejoining them from Manchester United. |
40582046 | The marine mammal replaces the much-loved Diplodocus dinosaur, "Dippy", which will soon head out on a tour of the UK.
The museum believes the change will give its image a refresh.
It wants to be known more for its living science than its old fossils.
The museum employs hundreds of researchers who engage in active study on a day-to-day basis.
Yes, they use the 80 million-odd specimens kept at the South Kensington institution, but their focus is on learning new things that bear down on the modern world. In that sense, the blue whale is regarded as the perfect emblem.
The specimen is being given the name "Hope" as a "symbol of humanity's power to shape a sustainable future".
Blue whales are now making a recovery following decades of exploitation that nearly drove them out of existence.
The Natural History Museum is closed to the public all day Thursday for final preparations
Staff have spent months preparing the 126-year-old skeleton for its new role.
First, it had to be removed from its old hanging space in the mammals gallery.
Then it had to be cleaned and in a few places repaired and strengthened. And finally, it had to be re-hung from the iron girders that support the ceiling in the Waterhouse building's spectacular Hintze Hall.
The BBC was given exclusive access to the whole process, and a Horizon documentary, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, will go out on BBC Two at 21:00 BST on Thursday.
The film will air at about the same time as the NHM's patron, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Sir David, inaugurate the new exhibit at a gala reception.
A great many people were involved in the make-over, but the promotion of the whale represents something of a personal triumph for Richard Sabin, the museum's principal curator of mammals.
He championed the change and suggested the dynamic lunge-feeding pose that the whale now assumes.
It was on a visit to the NHM in 1976, as a boy of 10, that Richard first saw the skeleton in its old display position. He describes that experience as transformative.
"I was absolutely blown away," he told BBC News. "I remember running up the stairs to the balcony and asking an attendant if the whale skeletons in the gallery were real. And she said 'yes, and not only that you can still see these animals in the ocean today'.
"I got home and the very next day I headed down to the public library to try to find as many books as I could on whales. It was, to coin a phase, a defining moment."
For the Horizon film, Richard can be seen tracing the history of the specimen - meeting the descendants of the Irish fisherman who despatched the animal with a makeshift harpoon after it had beached off County Wexford in March 1891. But he also travels to North America, to the Pacific Coast, to join the Cascadia Research Group as they track migrating blue whales.
The group, co-founded by John Calambokidis, attaches tags to the giant creatures. Held on by suction cups, these devices record the behaviour of the whales, even capturing 4K video as they dive underwater.
The team is learning key facts that will help conserve the majestic animals, which went to the brink of oblivion thanks to 20th Century hunters.
"We've discovered that blue whales spend twice as much time at the surface at night than they do in the day," John told Horizon.
"That's the period when they're most vulnerable to ship strikes. That identified right there that we need to be most concerned about ships and their transiting through blue whale areas at night rather than the day."
For Richard, the observation of whales in the Pacific confirmed his desire to see the conservation icon put centre-stage at his museum back in London.
"It's been an honour and a privilege to work with the specimen that inspired me all those years ago - to breathe new life into it; to inject science from the field into it; to display it in a much more meaningful way.
"I honestly believe it will take people's breath away when they see it.
"Thursday is going to be an amazing day for everyone involved; I am sure there will be plaudits for what we've done. But I can't wait for Friday morning when the first families, the first schoolchildren, walk through the door and I get to hear what they've got to say about what they see."
Fans of Dippy should not despair. After the dinosaur's two-year tour of Britain, it will return to a make-over of its own.
The skeleton, which is actually only a plaster cast, will be fashioned again in bronze and placed in the east garden in front of the museum.
You can watch a trail for Horizon: Dippy and the Whale. After broadcast on BBC Two, the programme will be available on the iPlayer.
[email protected] and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos | London's Natural History Museum (NHM) has undergone a major revamp with a blue whale skeleton now forming the main exhibit as visitors come through the front door. |
30898209 | 20 January 2015 Last updated at 16:38 GMT
Each Robi is just over 35 centimetres tall and costs almost £1,000.
Their creator Tomotaka Takahashi wanted to make a robot that could be mass produced, for a low cost. | These dancing robots performed a synchronised dance routine Tokyo, Japan, on Monday. |
32963646 | Dionne Russell, from Radford, was issued with the penalty on Thursday after using the Central Six retail park on 14 May.
Miss Russell, who spent 40 minutes shopping at the site, said the charge was a "cheek".
G24, which runs the car park, declined to comment.
Miss Russell told the Coventry Telegraph she had gone to Hobbycraft at about 14:45 BST and had spent 40 minutes shopping before returning to her car.
On trying to exit the site, she said she hit a bottleneck caused by the Friargate roadworks and could not leave until 18:10.
She said: "I was quite annoyed that, having completely wasted two hours of my life in a queue, the company had the cheek to send out the notice.
"Surely they should have somebody on site to tell the parking people that the road was gridlocked."
She said she would be "interested" to know if anybody else had been charged.
Miss Russell was sent images of her car entering and leaving the site which has a three-hour maximum time limit.
"The photo of me leaving the site had cars behind me and in front of me because it was a stationary queue," she said.
She added she would be contesting the penalty. | A woman who says she was stuck in a two-hour queue to exit a Coventry car park has been issued with a £70 charge for overstaying the time limit. |
34691321 | The 790ft (241m) El Faro disappeared while sailing from Florida to Puerto Rico with 33 crew on board.
A US Navy ship using sonar equipment has now located a vessel at a depth of 15,000ft.
The El Faro sent out a distress signal on 1 October, saying it had lost power and was taking on water.
Debris was spotted in the ocean in the days after it disappeared, and one body was recovered.
In a statement, the US National Transportation Safety Board said a remotely operated vehicle would be deployed "to survey and confirm the identity of the wreckage".
It added that the wreckage was "consistent with a 790ft cargo ship, which from sonar images appears to be in an upright position and in one piece".
The statement went on to say that if the wreckage was confirmed to be the missing cargo ship, attempts would be made to locate and recover the voyage data recorder. | Searchers say they believe they have found the wreckage of a cargo ship which went missing off the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin last month. |
39239330 | Midfielder Jacques Maghoma will also be included after missing Blues' 1-1 draw at Cardiff City.
Newcastle full-back DeAndre Tedlin will be out for several weeks with a thigh injury, with Vurnon Anita or Jesus Gamez likely to take his place.
Centre-back Ciaran Clark is a doubt for the trip to St Andrews after picking up a knock to his knee. | Birmingham striker Clayton Donaldson will return to the squad after three months out with an Achilles injury. |
35399658 | Staff at research agency Childwise described it as a "landmark change".
Among those watching TV, the Netflix on-demand service was more popular than any conventional television channel.
There was also a surge in children's ownership of tablet computers, up by 50% compared with last year.
The annual media monitoring report, based on a sample of more than 2,000 five to 16-year-olds, has been following children's viewing behaviour since the mid-1990s.
This year's findings from Childwise are being claimed as a tipping point with children switching from conventional television to spending time online.
The average time spent online is now three hours per day, compared with 2.1 hours watching television.
3 hours
amount of time 7-16-year-olds spend online each day
4.8 hours
time 15-16-year-olds spend online
2.1 hours spent watching TV each day - down from 3 hours in 2000
60% watch TV via a phone, tablet or laptop
38% do most of their TV viewing on demand
Among older teenagers in the survey there is an even more pronounced switch away from television, particularly at the time when it is broadcast.
Among 15 to 16-year-olds, less than a quarter would typically watch television as it is broadcast, rather than on a catch-up or on-demand service or through YouTube.
Among this age group, 32% had no favourite television programme.
And across the whole age range, none of the programmes identified as favourites, such as Hollyoaks and Pretty Little Liars, had been seen by more than 2% of young people in the previous week.
Boys had a preference for sport, such as Match of the Day, while girls preferred reality shows like Made in Chelsea.
Among television services, Netflix emerged as the most popular choice - overtaking all the conventional channels.
Asked about their viewing in the previous week, 50% had watched programmes on Netflix, compared with 47% for ITV1 and 46% for BBC1, the most popular television channels.
Young people still showed a clear preference for watching television on a television set - with only a relatively limited number watching programmes on mobile phones.
The study shows how much young people's lives are immersed in online activity and computer devices and how these forms of media are overlapping.
While the average time for online consumption is three hours per day, among 15 to 16-year-olds it rises to almost five hours.
The most common way of accessing the internet is the mobile phone, which is described as "near universal" among young people.
But particularly among younger children, there has been a sharp rise in access to tablet computers, now owned by 67% of youngsters, with the iPad by far the most widespread.
For the first time, tablet computers have overtaken other types of computer, such as laptops or desktops.
Children go online to watch videos, listen to music, play games and research their homework - and older children use it for social networking, particularly among girls.
The study reveals that however young people are accessing the internet, YouTube is the dominant destination.
The video-sharing website is used every day by almost half of all five to 16-year-olds, most often through a mobile phone or tablet, to watch video clips, listen to music and use games-related material.
They particularly want to see "funny" content on YouTube, but about a third watch "how-to" videos, including how to play computer games.
YouTube is also a popular way of watching television programmes, used by 74% of young people, compared with about 40% of this age group who watch programmes through the BBC iPlayer, which is the most popular of the broadcasters' on-demand services.
Apart from YouTube, other popular online destinations are Snapchat, Instagram, Minecraft and Facebook.
The study also suggests the technologies that are disappearing. A shrinking number of young people listen to music via a CD player, with mobile phones now the leading medium.
It also warns that printed magazines are losing their appeal, with diminishing numbers of regular readers.
Simon Leggett, Childwise research director, said that this year's survey showed that "TV viewing has been redefined".
"Growing access to the internet at any time and in any place, and a blurring of television content across channels and devices, brings a landmark change in behaviour this year.
"Children are now seeking out the content of their choice. They still find traditional TV programmes engaging but are increasingly watching them online and on-demand or binge watching box sets." | Young people are spending more time playing and socialising online than watching television programmes, according to an annual survey tracking children's media behaviour in the UK. |
40014990 | The 29-year-old spent five years in the second tier with Nottingham before joining Albion last summer.
"Given the philosophy and culture that the coaches have created, for me the decision to join is a perfect fit," he told the club website.
"The Pirates are clearly ambitious both on and off the field and I can't wait to get started." | Championship side Cornish Pirates have signed Plymouth Albion back row Rupert Cooper on a one-year contract. |
36206897 | He he took a drink of the city's filtered water to "show it was safe".
The visit was prompted by a letter the president received from eight-year-old resident Amariyanna Copeny.
A change in water supplier in 2014 sparked the crisis, with nearly 100,000 people exposed to high levels of lead, sparking an outcry.
Mr Obama declared a state of emergency for the city in January and ordered federal aid for the crisis.
"Filtered water is safe, and it works," he said during a discussion with officials in Flint.
"Working with the state and the city, filters are now available for everyone in the city."
More than 40% of Flint residents are impoverished and more than half are black.
Residents must use faucet filters or bottled water as a result of the crisis.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has been criticised for his handling of it and two state employees in the environmental department have been charged with misleading the US government about the problem.
And a Flint employee is being charged with altering water test results.
Mr Snyder was booed by the crowd at a high school where Mr Obama is due to deliver remarks later.
"Let me begin by saying I understand why you are angry and frustrated. I want to come here today to apologise," he said.
Protesters gathering near the school are chanting "Flint lives matter", arguing that state officials' response to the water situation was not enough.
The Michigan Senate approved $128m (£88m) in aid for Flint on Wednesday.
Some of that money will go towards replacing lead pipes connecting water to customers. | President Barack Obama has sipped a glass of filtered water on a visit to the Michigan city of Flint, which has been wracked by a public health crisis. |
39523529 | The visitors almost caught the nervous hosts cold, with a dangerous Andy Halls cross creating early problems before Oliver Norburn went close from distance.
Chris Holroyd saw a spectacular overhead kick crash back off the crossbar just before the break as the hosts continued to be pushed back.
But Gozie Ugwu got the vital breakthrough for Woking after 61 minutes, firing home from the spot after Kane Ferdinand was brought down in the box, and the win keeps them out of the drop zone on goal difference.
Match report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Woking 1, Macclesfield Town 0.
Second Half ends, Woking 1, Macclesfield Town 0.
Substitution, Macclesfield Town. Danny Whitehead replaces Ollie Norburn.
Substitution, Macclesfield Town. James Thorne replaces Jack Mackreth.
Substitution, Macclesfield Town. Mitch Hancox replaces Luke Summerfield.
Substitution, Woking. Charlie Carter replaces Ismail Yakubu.
Goal! Woking 1, Macclesfield Town 0. Gozie Ugwu (Woking) converts the penalty with a.
Danny Whitaker (Macclesfield Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Substitution, Woking. Gozie Ugwu replaces Jamie Lucas.
Second Half begins Woking 0, Macclesfield Town 0.
First Half ends, Woking 0, Macclesfield Town 0.
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up. | Woking kept pace with their National League survival rivals with a 1-0 win over Macclesfield. |
15771531 | The move came at a summit of the 10-member group in Indonesia.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told the BBC the decision was unanimous.
He said member states believed that Burma had made significant progress down the path of democracy.
The announcement came as Burma's pro-democracy party appeared poised to rejoin the country's political process.
The leadership of the Asean regional grouping rotates on an annual basis, but Burma was not allowed to take the top position last time because of its human rights record.
Some critics say it is still too early to award the high-profile role to Burma, where between 600 and 1,000 political prisoners are thought to remain behind bars.
By David LoynBBC International Development Correspondent, in Rangoon
We met for an interview in a plain wooden house. Aung San Suu Kyi said that it was one sign of reform that the interview could take place at all - the first time the BBC has been given a visa for such a trip.
She said she was confident that remaining political prisoners will soon be released, a confidence that may come from her recent talks with President Thein Sein, who she described as a good listener; he is widely credited with the pace of reforms.
She has offered to try to negotiate a peaceful end to several ethnic conflicts that have become worse this year. But she said that the continuing conflicts should not be allowed to get in the way of restoring democracy.
Her party, the National League for Democracy, is now likely to support a decision to run in by-elections, a year after they boycotted a national vote.
She is certain to be one of the candidates her party puts forward for by-elections in about 50 parliamentary seats, made vacant when MPs were appointed as ministers.
But Mr Natalegawa said it was important to recognise that the situation had changed.
"It's not about the past, it's about the future, what leaders are doing now," he said. "We're trying to ensure the process of change continues."
Ko Ko Hlaing, chief political adviser to the Burmese president, said Asean had welcomed Burma as a responsible leader.
"Be assured that we are now growing into a democratic society and we will do all our responsibilities and duties as a responsible government, reflecting the desires of the Myanmar (Burmese) people," he said.
But US President Barack Obama, speaking before the decision was announced, said more was needed from Burma.
"Some political prisoners have been released. The government has begun a dialogue. Still, violations of human rights persist," he said in a speech to the Australian parliament.
"So we will continue to speak clearly about the steps that must be taken for the government of Burma to have a better relationship with the United States."
Burma held its first elections in two decades a year ago - polls which saw military rule replaced with a military-backed civilian-led government.
The new leadership then freed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and has opened dialogue with her.
Her National League for Democracy party is to meet on Friday to decide whether to rejoin the political process.
It boycotted the 2010 polls because of electoral laws that banned its leaders - former political prisoners - from standing as candidates.
This law and another that required registered parties to "safeguard" the military-written constitution have now been changed.
Ms Suu Kyi told the BBC she expected most of her party to support a decision to run in forthcoming by-elections. | Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have agreed that Burma can chair the regional bloc in 2014, amid some signs of reform in the country. |
34208050 | Governor Jerry Brown and other senior lawmakers had included the proposal in a climate change bill, but were forced to retreat amid growing opposition.
State senate leader Kevin de Leon, who supported the cut, accused oil firms of deploying "scare tactics".
The leaders have vowed to push ahead with other reforms, including boosting renewable electricity use.
"I'd say oil has won the skirmish, but they've lost the bigger battle," Mr Brown said.
"I'm more determined than ever to make our regulatory regime work for the people of California - cleaning up the air, reducing the petroleum and creating green jobs."
The plans to require a 50% reduction in petroleum use in motor vehicles by 2030 were met with fierce opposition from business groups and oil companies, who warned of negative consequences for California's economy.
Mr De Leon said the industry had a "singular motive" and accused it of creating a "multibillion-dollar smoke screen" to deter lawmakers from voting for the legislation.
Republicans, along with many moderate Democrats, had resisted the proposal.
Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, welcomed Wednesday's decision to cut the emissions target from the bill.
"Today's announcement was an acknowledgement that California's energy future, economic competitiveness, and environment are inextricably linked," she added.
California is the second-biggest producer of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels among US states.
Mr Brown pledged to move ahead with the two remaining components of the climate change bill, aimed at increasing renewable electricity use and improving energy efficiency in buildings.
The issue has been a key priority for the governor during his final term.
He is expected to attend the United Nations climate change conference in Paris in November. | California has dropped plans to halve petroleum use in vehicles by 2030, after intense oil industry lobbying. |
37999647 | The company said the practice, which sees certain trains given the green light to miss out stops, was being curtailed due to "customer feedback".
Trains will now stop at all scheduled stops between the hours of 08:00-09:00 and 17:00-18:00.
ScotRail said that out of 59,000 trains that ran over a four-week period, stop skipping only affected 222 trains.
Consumer group Transport Focus said passengers had the right to expect the destination that appeared on their ticket was the one they would be taken to.
Spokesman Robert Samson said: "What would make the problem better is that if the infrastructure in the system improved to such a level that stop skipping was not part of the solution.
"Just now, performance is hovering just below the 90% mark. We want to see that performance improve and that involves cutting down on signalling or other infrastructure issues."
The news comes after the ScotRail Alliance franchise, operated by Dutch firm Abellio, was severely criticised for delayed, cancelled and over-crowded services.
A ScotRail Alliance spokesman said the number of services affected by stop skipping was "miniscule".
He added: "In a tiny number of occasions each month we have to take action to recover the service after some kind of incident.
"Late trains have a knock-on effect on other services behind them, so taking action to get everything back on time is important. If we don't, then disruption affects more and more people.
"What we have decided to do is to make sure that we protect the services that carry the most number of people.
"These are the busy commuter routes that operate during the peak."
The spokesman said that action to correct late-running trains would now take place outwith peak hours.
He said that the chance of large scale disruption as a result was "minimal".
Scottish Labour's transport spokesman Neil Bibby said: "There is nothing more frustrating for passengers than paying over the odds for tickets on overcrowded trains that are often late running, only for the train to fly by their stop. Hundreds of trains have been missing stops and thousands of passengers have been affected.
"Passengers want to see improvements across the board and this pledge cannot be an excuse for failure if ScotRail does not hit its key performance targets again." | ScotRail is to stop late running trains from skipping stops to improve punctuality during rush hour. |
36055569 | James Taylor, 26, revealed last week he had been diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) and could no longer play.
Professor David Kelsell said Taylor's news and cheaper genetic testing would make others want to get checked out.
Footballer Fabrice Muamba suffers from a similar heart condition.
Live updates and more from Nottinghamshire
Professor Kelsell, who carries out research funded by the British Heart Foundation, said: "After what's happened to James, people will want to know if they are at risk.
"Genetics is changing dramatically and we now have this ability to analyse everyone's genome quite cheaply.
"It could be that everyone's genome is analysed when they are young and it could be used to highlight conditions like ARVC.
"But, of course, even if someone tests positive it doesn't necessarily mean that the person will definitely develop the dangerous cardiac condition."
More than 60,000 people in the UK could be carrying the faulty gene which forced Taylor to retire, researchers have said.
What is ARVC?
Professor of clinical cardiology, Sanjay Sharma is also the consultant cardiologist for the Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) sports cardiology clinic.
He explained the condition to BBC Radio 5 live:
The British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) also thinks the Taylor case will help to publicise the dangers of heart conditions among people who are fit and healthy.
Professor Clifford Garratt, vice president of the BCS, said: "There have been previous cases that have been well publicised, but not of this condition.
"Young athletes can have heart conditions, different from the more common coronary artery disease.
"They are just as serious, and in fact more serious."
Taylor, the son of former professional jockey Steve, made his first-class debut for Leicestershire against Worcestershire in April 2008 and joined Nottinghamshire before the 2012 season.
The batsman played the first of his seven Test matches for England against South Africa at Headingley in 2012. He averaged 26 and his top Test score was 76 against Pakistan in November 2015.
Taylor's one-day international debut came in 2011 against Ireland. He averaged 42.23 in 27 ODIs, scoring seven 50s and one century - 101 against Australia in September 2015.
At the time of his retirement, Taylor had the fourth-highest limited-overs average - including international and domestic matches - in history. | The retirement of an international cricketer could lead to all young people being tested for heart problems, a leading professor has said. |
17986753 | Abbott Laboratories encouraged its sales teams to market Depakote for uses that were not approved by regulators, the US justice department said.
The drug should be used in epilepsy and bipolar disorder cases.
However, it was sold to treat conditions such as dementia and autism.
According to a US justice department statement, Abbott maintained a specialised sales force to market the drug in nursing homes.
It said the drug could be used for the control of agitation in elderly dementia patients, despite the absence of any credible scientific evidence that Depakote was safe and effective for that use.
The illegal conduct was not the product of "some rogue sales representatives," US Attorney Timothy Heaphy said. The company engaged in the strategy from 1998 to at least 2006, he said.
Reuben Guttman, a lawyer who represented some of the company whistle-blowers, said that Abbott had preyed on two vulnerable categories of patient - the elderly and children.
The company "violated basic norms of health care and ethics", he said.
The company also marketed Depakote to treat schizophrenia, but clinical trials failed to demonstrate that the drug was any more effective than anti-psychotic drugs in treating the condition, according to court papers.
Abbott Laboratories will now pay $800m to federal and state governments, $700m in criminal penalties and a further $100m to resolve consumer protection issues.
The company has also agreed to a five-year probationary period to ensure that there is no repeat of the misconduct. | A US drug company has agreed to pay out $1.6bn (£1bn) after improperly marketing a mood-stabilising drug in a settlement thought to be the largest of its kind involving a single drug. |
38177117 | Russia was suspended in November 2015 by the IAAF and the ban has twice been extended meaning athletes missed the Rio Olympics.
They are now set to also miss March's European Indoors in Belgrade.
This extension comes despite Russian President Vladimir Putin approving a law criminalising doping in sports.
In his annual Kremlin speech to parliament and the nation, President Putin said that Russia's new anti-doping programme would be ready in early 2017, so that athletes could qualify to take part in August's World Championships in London.
Although Rune Andersen, the head of the International Association of Athletics Federations Taskforce looking into the steps Russia is taking to combat doping, says the country's athletics federation (Rusaf) has made further progress on the matter since June, it has refused to put any dates on a timescale for a return to the fold.
The final report by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren into Russia's state-sponsored doping programme, is due to be released on 9 December and Andersen said the Taskforce would return to Russia in January to assess the response to it before reporting to February's IAAF Council meeting.
"At that time it hopes to be able to identify a clear roadmap and timetable for Rusaf's reinstatement," said the Norwegian.
In the meantime, Russian athletes can still apply to the IAAF doping review board to compete if they can demonstrate they have undergone a testing system, as the US-based long jumper Darya Klishina did successfully for the Rio Games. | Athletics' governing body the IAAF has decided to extend Russia's ban from international athletics competitions for state-sponsored doping. |
37539176 | The FTSE 100 index closed 84 points up at 6,984, a rise of 1.2% on the day.
The pound dropped 1% to $1.284, and was down 0.8% at 1.146 euros.
"There is still a great degree of uncertainty surrounding what Brexit negotiations will involve," said Ana Thaker, at broker PhillipCapital UK.
Among the biggest risers on the London market were Intercontinental Hotels, up 3.1%; Travis Perkins, also up 3.1%; Anglo American, up 2.9%; and Schroders, up 2.7%.
In the FTSE 250, shares in asset manager Henderson Group rose 17% after it said it had agreed to merge with US investment management company Janus Capital.
The deal will create a company managing more than $320bn in assets and was described by both sides as a "merger of equals". | (Close): UK shares closed up sharply while the pound fell after Theresa May said the UK government would, by next March, start the process to leave the EU. |
19999536 | The "model cities" project was backed by President Porfirio Lobo, who said it would attract foreign investment and create jobs
By 13 votes to one, Supreme Court judges decided that the proposal violated the principle of sovereignty.
Demonstrators celebrated the decision outside the court in Tegucigalpa.
"This is great news for the Honduran people. This decision has prevented the country going back into a feudal system that was in place 1,000 years ago," said lawyer Fredin Funez.
The government proposal to create some 20 "special development zones - as the new cities were officially called - was approved by Congress last year.
The Supreme Court has now ruled that the law approved in Congress is unconstitutional, as it violates the territorial integrity of Honduras, as well as the sovereignty of the government.
"I am sad. All the Congress wanted was to give jobs to all Hondurans," said Congress speaker Juan Orlando Hernandez.
An American company was expected to invest US$15m in the initial phase of construction of the first city, on the Caribbean coast, the AP news agency says.
President Lobo said thousands of jobs would be created in the impoverished Central American country,
Honduras also struggles with violence. It has the world's highest murder rate - 92 murders per 100,000 people - according to the UN.
The inspiration for his "model cities" were Singapore, Macao and Hong Kong, Mr Lobo said.
But the opposition has accused him of being a traitor and trying to sell the country to foreign companies.
Last month, well-known human rights lawyer Antonio Trejo was killed after speaking out against the project.
He was shot dead by unknown gunmen outside a church on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa.
Hours earlier Mr Trejo took part in a televised debate in which he accused politicians of using such projects to raise campaign funds. | The Honduran Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional a project to build privately-run cities, with their own police and tax system. |
40034749 | They said it would be "prudent to await additional evidence... that a recent slowdown in the pace of economic activity had been transitory".
Markets have been expecting a rate rise at the Federal Reserve's June meeting.
The dollar dipped following the release of the minutes.
It was down by nearly 0.2% against the Dollar Index, a basket of foreign currencies.
Most officials on the Federal Open Market Committee of rate setters still expect to raise interest rates "soon".
Gus Faucher, economist at Pennsylvania-based PNC Financial Services, said he was surprised to see the dollar fall.
He thinks new economic reports since the meeting, including jobs, bolster the case for a rate rise. He's calling for a June increase and a second one by the end of the year.
"I think the data we've gotten since the meeting have indicated that those factors were indeed transitory, so given all of that, I would expect to see a rate increase," Mr Faucher said. "This is in line with expectations."
Some members of the Federal Reserve committee believe the global outlook has brightened, according to the minutes.
But "significant uncertainty" remains about the policies the government is likely to adopt under President Donald Trump, they said.
Amid the housing and financial crisis, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates to boost the economy. They remain at record lows, with the committee raising rates just three times since the crisis, most recently in March.
The officials are also divided about what action they should take in the future.
Some members said there might be need for a more gradual approach to raising interest rates, noting that inflation has failed to accelerate as expected.
Others said more rapid action would be appropriate if, for example, wages started to rise or there were large changes to other US policies.
The minutes also signalled the Federal Reserve remains on track to trim its nearly $4.5 trillion portfolio, much of it in US treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, starting this year.
The holdings are a legacy of actions taken after the financial crisis, when the bank bought up securities to boost the economy, a move known as quantitative easing.
The bank's holdings have been steady in recent years.
Members said they would maintain current policies but expected to discuss in more detail how to start winding down the portfolio at their next meeting in June. | US central bank policymakers want to see proof the country's economic slowdown is temporary before they raise interest rates, according to minutes of their latest meeting. |
34897393 | Officers arrived at the Jaipur Art Summit on Saturday following complaints that the life-size cow floating in the air was offensive to Hindus.
They detained two artists for a few hours, while Hindu activists brought the installation down.
Activists say the raid is a sign of growing religious intolerance in India.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje tweeted on Sunday that she was "saddened" by the incident, and the police commissioner of Jaipur also apologised.
She said the chief of the local police station was "removed and I have spoken to the artist personally".
Artist Siddhartha Kararwal had called his life-size cow effigy Bovine Divine, and had created it to highlight the plight of Indian cows that scavenge and choke on plastic bags.
But some people complained the cow looked as if it had been hanged, and that the model insulted the animal, which Hindus revere as a symbol of life and sustenance.
Some Hindu activists brought the installation down, but garlanded and blessed the cow before it was seized by police.
The police briefly detained two other artists, Chintan Upadhyay and Anish Ahluwalia, who protested against the move, leading to social media outrage.
The director of the art summit Pratap Sharma told The Indian Express newspaper that they don't plan to reinstall the work.
"We don't want to hurt anyone's sensibilities again, so we are not going to install the work again," he said. | Police in India's Rajasthan state have apologised to artists for raiding an exhibition featuring a polystyrene cow dangling from a helium balloon. |
30765674 | The turnout is nearly double that of the largest demonstration by anti-Islamists Pegida, held last Monday.
Saturday's counter-demonstration observed a minute's silence for the 17 victims of this week's terrorist attacks in France.
The next Pegida protest in Dresden will be held on Monday.
Some analysts say that numbers may grow as a result of the violence in France.
Demonstrators at the counter-rally on Saturday - which was jointly organised by the government of the state of Saxony and the city of Dresden - were joined by Saxony State Premier Stanislaw Tillich.
"Thirty-five thousand people [have] attended this event, and they made clear that they love this city and that they're proud of this city, and that this is a tolerant and cosmopolitan city," he said.
Likewise Dresden Mayor Helma Orosz urged supporters of Pegida (Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West) to change their minds and join the campaign against racism.
"I believe that this is a clear sign that our society is standing together, and furthermore that we're not forgetting those who are afraid, those who might march with Pegida on Monday," she said.
"We're not abandoning them, we're inviting them to come to us."
One unnamed protester told the BBC that the object of the demonstration was to make clear that Dresden was "a tolerant city open to anyone".
Pegida has been condemned by many mainstream politicians and large counter-demonstrations have also been held in Berlin, Cologne and Stuttgart. | About 35,000 people have marched through the German city of Dresden in protest against recent so-called anti-Islamisation rallies, organisers say. |
20900614 | The list, which aims to showcase the best new acts for the year ahead, was compiled using tips from 213 UK-based critics, broadcasters and bloggers.
Now in its 11th year, previous winners include Michael Kiwanuka, Jessie J, Adele, Mika, Ellie Goulding and Keane.
BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens said Haim had a "contagious enthusiasm".
Discover the top five acts
Watch the top 15 acts on the Sound of 2013 site
How the list is compiled
"Haim have an unapologetic passion for music that shines in their songs," he said. "They're brilliant musicians who have a real talent for tunes that merge their tales of growing up in the 21st Century with a classic songwriting ability."
The sisters have already supported British artists Florence and the Machine and Mumford and Sons live.
Este, Danielle and Alana Haim, who are aged between 21 and 26, started playing music as children when their parents enlisted them into a family covers band.
The sisters all play guitar, drums and sing and are still occasionally known to pull their mother and father on stage.
Haim's songs pay homage to feelgood, freewheeling '70s rock and anthemic '80s synth-pop, gaining a modern sheen by borrowing rhythms from contemporary R&B.
The 213 tastemakers - ranging from music magazine editors and newspaper critics to influential bloggers, DJs and radio and TV producers - each named their favourite three new acts.
They were free to choose performers from any country and any musical genre.
Artists who had scored a UK top 20 single or album before 11 November 2012 were ineligible, as were those already well-known to the UK public - for example by featuring in the final stages of a TV talent show or already being a member of a successful band.
The tips were compiled into a longlist of the top 15 artists, which was published in December, and the top five have been revealed this week.
In second place were London R&B duo AlunaGeorge, with uncompromising New York-based rapper Angel Haze in third. Birmingham soul singer Laura Mvula was fourth and Glasgow electro-pop outfit Chvrches completed the top five.
It is the first time that the top five acts have all been female or fronted by women.
Este Haim said: "It's the craziest thing to think we're on a list with so many amazing artists. This year the five bands that were in the list were all female fronted, right?
"We love the UK - the last time we were there, we were there for almost a month and a half. The UK is like a second home."
NME magazine's new music editor Matt Wilkinson, who took part in the poll, said Haim "have a knack for writing amazingly catchy singles, they're a killer live band and they talk the talk miles better than most other new bands".
"It's a rare and exciting combination," he added.
Michael Kiwanuka was top of the Sound of 2012 list. The London troubadour sold 500,000 copies of his debut album Home Again around the world last year and was nominated for the Mercury Prize.
The other previous winners are: Jessie J (Sound of 2011), Ellie Goulding (Sound of 2010), Little Boots (Sound of 2009), Adele (Sound of 2008), Mika (Sound of 2007), Corinne Bailey Rae (Sound of 2006), The Bravery (Sound of 2005), Keane (Sound of 2004) and 50 Cent (Sound of 2003).
Other artists in the top five in previous years include Frank Ocean (Sound of 2012), The Vaccines (Sound of 2011), Marina and the Diamonds (Sound of 2010), Florence and the Machine (Sound of 2009), Foals (Sound of 2008) and Plan B (Sound of 2006). | Haim, a trio of Californian sisters who have been compared to Fleetwood Mac, have come top of the BBC Sound of 2013 new music list. |
26963723 | The Digital Media Initiative (DMI) was intended to move the BBC away from using and storing video tape.
But it was scrapped, with almost no results, after five years of development.
After investigating the demise of the project, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has branded the programme "a complete failure".
Chairman Margaret Hodge said the BBC needed to "overhaul" its approach to such projects, to "safeguard licence fee payers' money".
The BBC originally approved DMI in 2006. It was supposed to produce new editing tools, an online archive of the BBC's programmes and a new database.
Technology company Siemens was hired to develop the project in February 2008, and it was expected to be completed the following year.
However, after a series of delays, the project was brought in-house, There it floundered until last May, when the BBC's incoming director general, Tony Hall, admitted it had "wasted a huge amount of licence fee payers' money".
The gross estimate of the amount spent on DMI was £125.9m, although the BBC claims to have recouped £27.5m of that.
The BBC's technology chief, John Linwood, was sacked in July 2013 over the project's demise.
A previous report, by the National Audit Office (NAO), blamed "confusion and a lack of planning" for the failure.
It said that senior executives failed to take control of the project when it ran into trouble and "did not appear to appreciate the extent of the problems until a late stage".
The PAC published its own findings on Thursday. It reiterated several of the points raised in earlier reports and criticised the BBC for its failure to alert MPs of the problems.
"When my committee examined the DMI's progress in February 2011, the BBC told us that the DMI was... absolutely essential... and that a lot of the BBC's future was tied up in the successful delivery of the DMI," said Ms Hodge.
"The BBC also told us that it was using the DMI to make many programmes and was on track to complete the system in 2011 with no further delays.
"This turned out not to be the case. In reality the BBC only ever used the DMI to make one programme, called Bang Goes the Theory.
"The BBC was far too complacent about the high risks involved in taking it in-house. No single individual had overall responsibility or accountability for delivering the DMI and achieving the benefits, or took ownership of problems when they arose."
A BBC spokesman said: "Tony Hall was right to scrap the DMI project when he took over as director general last year. As we said at the time, the BBC didn't get DMI right and we apologised to licence fee payers.
"Since then we have completely overhauled how these projects are delivered so that there is crystal clear accountability and transparency."
A spokeswoman for the BBC Trust, the corporation's governing body, said: "As we have said before, this represented an unacceptable loss to licence fee payers.
"Acting on the conclusions of previous reports into DMI, we have strengthened reporting to the Trust so that problems are spotted early and dealt with quickly.
"We are also carrying out follow up reviews once projects are completed to make sure the lessons from DMI are being implemented." | The BBC was "far too complacent" in its handling of a failed IT project that cost licence fee payers £98.4m. |
36273151 | Wednesday's demonstration was the first public glimpse of Hyperloop, a system that could send people and cargo through tubes at the speed of sound.
Executives hope in five years' time people will be able to travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes.
"It's real. It's happening now," Hyperloop CEO Rob Lloyd said.
Tesla co-founder Elon Musk first pitched the idea in 2013, urging others to take up the proposals as he and his company developed electric cars and solar energy technology.
The technology uses levitating pods that move through a low-friction environment with electricity and magnets. The pods are designed to travel at more than 700 mph (1,120km/h).
Hyperloop hopes to start moving cargo by 2019 and people by 2021. However, huge logistical and technological hurdles remain.
The plan has detractors including James Moore, director of the University of Southern California's Transportation Engineering Program.
"I would certainly not say nothing will come of Hyperloop technology," Mr Moore told the Associated Press. "But I doubt this specific piece of technology will have a dramatic effect on how we move people and goods in the near term." | An early test of Hyperloop - a proposed high-speed transport system - has accelerated a sled to 116 mph (187km/h) in 1.1 seconds in the Nevada desert. |
38470384 | Payments to members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union included £55,000 to a teacher assaulted by a pupil.
It was said to have happened when the teacher attempted to calm the pupil.
Many payouts were due to injuries caused by accidents.
They included £12,000 for a knee fracture caused by tripping over a metal door wedge and the same amount for a broken arm caused by slipping on black ice in a school car park.
Another award was £12,500 for back pain caused by carrying a heavy box without handles.
The total payouts to EIS members for the year reached £608,925.
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: "This year's figure of over £600,000 in compensation for teachers and lecturers injured at work demonstrates that there is still a long way to go towards the aim of eliminating workplace injuries in our schools, colleges and universities.
"The most common cause of injuries continues to be accidents such as slips, trips and falls.
"These are also the types of incidents that are entirely avoidable with correct adherence to appropriate health and safety procedures in the workplace.
"Schools, colleges and universities will never be entirely risk-free but it is essential that all facilities are as safe as possible for learners and staff alike."
Mr Flanagan denied the payouts were an indication of a compensation culture.
He said the compensation amounts would be reduced if insurance firms took less time to admit liability. | Teachers and lecturers across Scotland were paid more than £600,000 in compensation for injuries - including from assaults and accidents - at work in the past year. |
18412306 | The draft agreement would improve energy, water and food security in poorer countries, phase out fossil fuel subsidies and boost ocean protection.
But with three days of negotiations left, only 20% has been agreed.
One source close to the talks told BBC News that negotiators had been talking about punctuation, not principles.
The summit is widely seen as a crucial opportunity for leaders to put the global economy on a more sustainable footing.
The draft agreement - titled The Future We Want - is riddled with deletions, many instigated by the US and many by the G77/China bloc of developing nations.
Russia, Japan, the EU and other parties have also objected to key clauses.
The draft has been criticised in some quarters as being too lenient on businesses, especially major banks and commodity corporations.
"The Rio Earth Summit will not bring about the Future We Want, it will provide a stark and distressing reminder of the present we have," said Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International.
"A world in which public health, human rights and sustainable development are subordinate to private profit, shallow national interest and 'business as usual'."
There is also a row over the proposed sustainable development goals (SDGs), which would seek to relieve poverty and improve health, education and jobs in developing countries, but along environmentally and socially sustainable lines.
Some aid agencies fear this will result in a watering down of the key commitment to helping people out of poverty, contained in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
There is also a lack of agreement on whether the SDGs should commit rich countries to curbing their consumption of natural resources, in order to leave more for the poor.
In a widely-circulated editorial, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who now runs Green Cross International, contrasted the "optimism and hope" of the Rio Earth Summit 20 years ago with the "cynicism and despair" surrounding this one.
"I feel bitter when I look at the cavernous gulf between rich and poor, the irresponsibility that caused the global financial crisis, the weak and divided responses to climate change, and the failure to achieve the MDGs," he said.
"The opportunity to build a safer, fairer and more united world has been largely squandered."
The eight rounds of formal and informal preparatory talks since the beginning of the year have been bedevilled by problems of substance as well as of process.
Some Western nations, especially the US, appear unwilling to give ground on anything that would help rival up-and-coming economic powers, in particular China.
They, meanwhile, are reluctant to countenance any language that could put a brake on their development.
The summit also falls in a difficult political period, with the US presidential election due later this year, an impending change of Chinese leadership, and many nations struggling under various financial issues.
Following the close of the preparatory negotiations this coming Friday, there will be four days of informal dialogues and other meetings before heads of government and ministers begin the summit proper next Wednesday.
There is widespread disappointment among activists that scores of leaders including the UK's David Cameron, Germany's Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama have chosen to stay away.
The US has however confirmed that its delegation will be led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. | The final round of negotiations leading up to next week's Rio+20 summit begins on Wednesday with countries very much at odds on key issues. |
39206932 | The men, aged 18 and 20, were attacked in Holland Street at about 03:00 on Sunday after leaving Bar Budda in Sauchiehall Street.
They were taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary for treatment.
The suspects, who were white and in their late teens to early 20s, ran to Sauchiehall Street after the incident.
Most of the suspects were wearing dark clothing, though one was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt.
Det Con Graham Morrison said: "There are several bars and clubs in this area so I'm sure there will have been lots of people milling around despite the hour.
"I am appealing to motorists, taxi drivers and anyone else who was in the area at the time of the incident to contact us.
"In particular, I would ask anyone with any dashcam footage to pass it to police as the footage could provide vital information about the incident or the suspects." | Two men have been injured after being seriously assaulted by four men in Glasgow city centre after a night club altercation. |
35807163 | The policy is part of a plan to create a transport system that "works for commuters".
The party also wants bus services to be regulated in an effort to protect important but unprofitable routes.
The Scottish government said it was already rolling out plans for an integrated smart card.
The other main political parties will set out their transport policies ahead of the Holyrood election on 5 May.
Scottish Labour said its plans would be compulsory, apply to all transport operators and would be rolled out within the first year of a Scottish Labour government.
People would be able to use contactless credit or debit cards to pay for the smart card by the end of the next parliament, it said.
The Scottish government announced plans for an integrated Saltire Card - similar to London's Oyster card - in 2012, which the government said were now being rolled out.
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said the Scottish transport system was currently a "patchwork of services" which had left many areas "with no decent provision".
She added: "That's why we will legislate for an integrated transport system with regulated bus services and one smart ticket that can take you across Scotland.
"People should be able to travel the length and breadth of our country with one card in their pocket. In 2012, we were told this wasn't far off, but in 2016 we're still waiting.
"London has had a single smart card for 13 years and have recently started taking payments using contactless credit and debit cards. The technology exists - all we need is the political will to deliver it."
Statistics published in January showed the number of people using public transport in Scotland over the last nine years had fallen by 6%, while traffic on the country's roads went up by 2%.
Transport Minister Derek Mackay said: "Labour have missed the bus with these out-of-date proposals.
"We are already rolling out national smart card plans across ScotRail, introducing systems so the same cards can be used on ScotRail and the Glasgow subway and working with our bus and ferry companies to ensure the Saltire national concessionary travel cards used by 1.9 million travellers are usable across the transport network."
He said 35% of bus journeys were already made using smart cards and by 2019 more than 60% of rail journeys would be made by smart card.
"Scotland is strides ahead of anywhere else in the UK as it is bringing together multiple operators, with multiple fares systems," Mr Mackay added.
"Comparisons to London, where there is one service provider with a single fares system are quite simply misleading - and demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of smart ticketing systems."
The Scottish government has said it invests more than £1bn annually in public transport and other sustainable transport options to encourage people out of their car.
It has also committed to a £5bn programme of investment in Scotland's railways by 2019, and has said it invests £250m every year through the Bus Service Operators Grant and Concessionary Travel scheme. | Labour has set out proposals to create a single "smart ticket" that would cover all transport services across Scotland. |
39882016 | The White House has cast a memo written by him on Tuesday as the impetus for the move.
But critics say the 52-year-old Harvard graduate, with a reputation as straight-shooting and non-partisan, has been sucked into providing cover for Mr Trump to push out a man he desperately wanted rid of.
Mr Comey was leading the FBI investigation into alleged Russian interference in the November presidential election, including whether there was co-ordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.
And Mr Rosenstein is overseeing that probe, because his own boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has recused himself from it after a row over contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US.
Indeed, senior Democrats say they believe Mr Comey had approached the deputy attorney general to request more resources for the investigation just days before the memo was written - although the department of justice has dismissed this as "false".
Mr Rosenstein received overwhelming bi-partisan support when the Senate voted 94-6 in favour at his confirmation hearing in April.
Before that, he had served as Maryland's chief federal prosecutor under President George W Bush.
Unusually, he was kept on under President Barack Obama and became the longest-serving US attorney with a 27-year-long career spanning five administrations.
The former Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler described him in a recommendation letter in February as "totally by-the-book and completely apolitical".
And in that vein, Mr Rosenstein's memo comprises a litany of criticism over Mr Comey's failure to follow rules and procedures.
He said it was "wrong" of him to "usurp the attorney general's authority" in announcing his conclusion that the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails should be closed without prosecution.
And he said Mr Comey's decision to hold a press conference, where he "laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial" was a "textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do".
But Democrats - and others - say the Trump administration, which had previously praised Mr Comey's actions, is using the memo as a smokescreen.
Former Deputy Attorney General Donald Ayer, who was quoted in the memo, described the "firing based it seems entirely on Comey's mishandling of the Clinton investigation" as "a sham".
Comey: Four theories for the axe
Russia: The scandal Trump can't shake
Trump's high-profile sackings
"The deputy [attorney general] should realise that his correct assessment of those mistakes is now being used to justify firing for a very different reason," he said in a statement.
So did President Trump ask Mr Rosenstein specifically to investigate Mr Comey's conduct?
When White House press secretary Sean Spicer was asked, he initially said "it was all him" - of Rosenstein - but then corrected himself.
"I guess I shouldn't say that.... no-one from the White House. That was a DOJ [Department of Justice] decision," he said.
However, the Washington Post, citing unnamed White House officials, says Mr Trump called Mr Sessions - an ally of his - and Mr Rosenstein to a meeting on Monday and told them to explain in writing the case against Mr Comey.
Former justice department official Eric Columbus is among those noting that Mr Rosenstein stopped short of specifically recommending that Mr Comey be fired.
He suggested on Twitter that Mr Rosenstein "thought Comey screwed up but didn't want him fired with Russia investigation pending... yet Sessions wanted a memo on Comey's sins, and Rosenstein felt he had to oblige his boss."
The deputy attorney general must now decide what to do about growing demands from Democrats - and an unusually direct approach from the New York Times editorial board - to appoint an independent special prosecutor to investigate the Russia allegations.
Whatever the inside story, it all renders somewhat ironic another line in Mr Gansler's recommendation letter for Mr Rosenstein.
"Rod understands the importance of staying out of the political limelight." | After just two weeks in office, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein finds himself suddenly at the centre of the storm over President Donald Trump's sudden sacking of FBI Director James Comey. |
36332198 | Valerie Deakin, 74, of Udimore, East Sussex, died when an Audi crashed into the Costa branch in Westerham, Kent, on Christmas Eve.
Kent Police said the man had received a court summons for causing her death by dangerous driving.
He will be charged at Sevenoaks Magistrates' Court on 5 July.
Two men and two women were also taken to hospital after the crash. Another woman was treated for minor injuries. | An 86-year-old man accused of killing a woman who died when a car ploughed into a coffee shop has been summoned to appear in court. |
33092862 | Countries are working towards options to limit greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 in time for a crunch Paris summit.
The UN said progress had been made towards streamlining the text of a new agreement at talks in Bonn.
Environmental groups said ''difficult issues'' such as finance and emissions cuts had yet to be addressed.
The 11-day meeting is designed to pave the way towards a new global deal on climate change to be signed in Paris at the end of the year.
Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said ''step-by-step progress'' had been made towards countries' understanding of the text of the agreement and how to move forward.
Laurence Tubiana, special representative for the Paris climate conference, said the talks had been useful and had gained the trust of parties.
''I'm feeling optimistic after these two weeks,'' she said. ''We should not be frustrated and disappointed.''
However, The World Resources Institute said progress had been ''slow'' and did not match strong signals for ambitious climate action from outside the negotiations.
And Samantha Smith of WWF said that there was growing concern over ''what is needed and what is being promised on finance and emissions''.
''After difficult negotiations, all countries have said that more ambitious, immediate emissions cuts are needed and these commitments must be a clear outcome of the Paris talks,'' she said.
''However, that work needs to speed up too if we are going to avoid the very worst impacts of climate change.''
Delegates will return to Bonn in August and October for more rounds of climate talks, before the summit in Paris at the end of the year.
The key task now is to revise the draft agreement before it reaches heads of state.
Countries are expected to agree to a plan for the co-chairs of the UN climate negotiations to produce a ''clear and concise'' version of the text.
Scientists say ambitious action is needed to avert the most severe impacts of climate change.
So far, more than 30 countries have pledged to limit emissions of greenhouse gases, with around 150 smaller countries yet to set goals.
Analysis suggests these do not go far enough to keep global warming below 2C.
Environmental groups point to key developments outside of the negotiations that are adding momentum towards Paris.
They include moves by business, such as Ikea giving $1bn to expand renewable energy and climate adaptations in developing countries.
G7 leaders have also signalled the need for action with a call for greenhouse gas emissions cuts and a move towards a low carbon future. | International talks in Bonn have made progress towards a new global deal on climate change, says the UN, amid calls from NGOs for a faster pace. |
14808673 | Moot Hill, in Driffield, is being marketed more for the surrounding grazing land than the remains of the motte and bailey castle it may contain.
Archaeologists believe a castle, which is now just a large mound, was built in about 1071.
Excavations in the 19th Century by local archaeologist JR Mortimer revealed Saxon relics, including bits of swords, spears and a bronze axe.
Owner James Hood, a retired farmer who bought the land in 1973, disputes archaeologists' theories and claims an excavation in the mid-70s revealed nothing.
Mr Hood said: "It was supposed to be a burial mound, then they decided it was a motte and bailey castle.
"You wouldn't build a castle without foundations whatsoever."
The auctioneers describe the two acre site as a "a large parcel" of land suitable for grazing horses and other livestock.
It has a guide price of £30,000.
The site is protected by an English Heritage listing which states that the site is of national importance.
If it was a castle then on the mound, or motte, there would once have been a wooden defensive wall and a tower.
The large enclosure was known as a bailey.
Documents from the early 13th Century refer to an abandoned bailey at Driffield.
Mr Mortimer was a local anthologist who excavated many burial mounds and other features.
He died in 1911 but left more than 66,000 artefacts and his collection is now at the Hull and East Riding Museum in Hull. | An ancient scheduled monument is going up for auction in East Yorkshire. |
34149834 | The 40-year-old A338 Bournemouth Spur Road needs to be rebuilt as its foundations are crumbling.
Lane closures and a reduced speed limit will be in place during the works, which start at 20:00 BST.
Drivers have been advised to plan their journeys and, if possible, use alternative routes.
A series of overnight road closures are also planned as the dual carriageway, which normally carries about 59,000 vehicles a day, is prepared for construction work.
The first full closure takes place on the northbound carriageway from 20:00 BST to 06:00 on Monday.
Dates for further overnight closures can be seen on the Dorset councils website.
Passengers for Bournemouth Airport and patients due at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital are being advised to allow extra time for their journeys
The hospital said if patients were late for appointments due to the traffic delays they faced having their appointment postponed.
The work will be carried out on the dual carriageway 24 hours a day, six days a week, Dorset County Council said.
The new road will be given a new surface layer in an attempt to reduce traffic noise.
A 1m (3ft) hard strip to give extra space for cars to move over for emergency vehicles or in case of breakdowns will also be added.
The £22m scheme, which is due to finish by 31 May 2016, has been funded by the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership. | Motorists are being warned of significant travel delays as nine months of roadworks begin on the main route into Bournemouth. |
36274885 | Rea, 29, dominated last year's championship as he took 14 wins in his first season with the Kawasaki team.
The Northern Irishman has a 35-point lead in this year's championship.
"Our objectives and way of working are very well matched so it makes perfect sense to extend this for two more seasons," said Rea. | Defending World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea has signed a two-year contract extension with his Kawasaki Racing Team. |
40090660 | North Wales Police said a 19-year-old man died at the scene in Bethel Place, Connah's Quay.
Officers were called to the incident at about 20:00 BST on Monday and said there was likely to be a number of people in the area at the time as there is a pub nearby.
A 48-year-old man is being held in custody. | A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder following a fatal stabbing in Flintshire. |
30963478 | After a slow start from United, Daley Blind set up Robin van Persie to break the deadlock with a precise finish.
Radamel Falcao followed up Angel Di Maria's shot to make it 2-0 before Wes Morgan headed into his own net to cap a miserable first half for the Foxes.
Leicester belatedly replied through Marcin Wasilewski's late header.
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Louis van Gaal's side were not at their best but they did not have to be against a Foxes side who offered little in attack.
United let slip a 2-0 lead and were beaten 5-3 when these sides met at King Power Stadium in September, but there was never a hint of a similar fightback from the Foxes this time.
Leicester concentrated on frustrating their hosts in the early stages and that game-plan was working until Andrej Kramaric allowed Blind to steal possession after a United attack had broken down.
Blind looked up and released Van Persie, who was given the benefit of the doubt by the linesman and adjudged to be onside before he expertly steered the bouncing ball past Mark Schwarzer.
Up until then, United had struggled to find any fluidity in their attacks and barely threatened Schwarzer's goal.
But the Foxes' 42-year-old goalkeeper was beaten again five minutes later after Van Persie sent Di Maria running clear.
Schwarzer did well to keep out the Argentina forward's shot, but Falcao beat two defenders to slide in to turn home the loose ball from close range.
Leicester's collapse was completed in the 44th minute when Blind met Wayne Rooney's corner at the near post, and Morgan could only direct his attempted clearance past Schwarzer and into the net.
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With the game won, United did not push forward for more goals after the break and they did not have much defending to do either.
The hosts were given a scare when a sloppy back-pass from Phil Jones almost let substitute David Nugent in, but David De Gea was alert to the danger and cleared.
Even when Wasilewski headed home his first Foxes goal - in his 51st game for the club - with 10 minutes to go, there seemed little chance of any late drama.
Another Leicester substitute, Marc Albrighton flashed a shot over the bar from the edge of the area, but United held on comfortably.
The victory moves them above Southampton, at least until the Saints host Swansea on Sunday.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal:
"I'm very happy because of the positive result. We lost the last home match so we had to show to our fans that we are coming back again.
"I liked my team in the first half. In the second half we tried to kill the game because we know what happened at Leicester when we were also 1-3 ahead and we lost the game.
"But in second half we played the ball too much backwards, and that I do not like that as you always need to keep your eyes open for the pass forward.
"But we also have to learn to kill the game, we may have done that more than we wanted, but it is a learning process."
Leicester manager Nigel Pearson:
"It was a difficult game for us. We are playing against very good side, to concede three goals in a really short space of time put us up against it.
"The first goal is offside but I can't complain too much as we were beaten by a very, very good side.
"In the second-half we have at least shown a bit more resilience and managed the ball a bit better. I think that was our problem in the first half.
"It was a difficult game for our front players today. We didn't give them the service they needed. Our forwards spent more time working defensively. We didn't create enough pressure to make it more difficult for them in the first-half." | Manchester United scored three first-half goals to easily beat bottom side Leicester and move up to third place in the Premier League table. |
39179098 | "Flare your nostrils, and get closer to the sources of the odours," says artist and designer Kate McLean, as we seek out the subtle smell of snowdrops.
"Normally you'd breathe in for one and a half seconds, so we're quite slow like that, whereas a dog will sniff much faster."
Sniffing and flaring as we go, Kate is taking me on a "smell walk", a guided ramble around London's streets and green spaces to detect the dominant whiffs and odours.
There is some serious science behind our scented stroll.
Kate is a part of a team that has published a research paper on the connections between smells and cities.
"When you are smell walking, you are often looking for the source of the odour, so the whole of our study was based on odour sources and what people actually noticed at and in specific environments," she explained.
"We then looked at the words and the descriptors that came from that and compared them to social media and with that we found that there were correlations between what people were actually describing in their photographs."
Armed with a "smell dictionary" that evolved from the city walks, Kate and the team analysed millions of images on Flickr and Instagram.
They then used the geographical information from these smell related images, dubbed "smellfies", to build the smell maps of London and Barcelona.
Clicking on a street on the London map allows you to zoom in and see how people have described the area, using terms related to emissions, nature, food, animals or waste.
So where people have tagged pictures with words including "cars" or "petrol" or "exhaust", these would be classified as emissions-related in the system and the map would show more red.
But can something built on people's subjective impressions of what they're smelling bear any relationship to objective data on air quality?
"Some people might say you're using social media, it's biased so you're just capturing most of the hipsters in East London," said Daniele Quercia, the computer scientist from Bell Labs who led the study.
"To double check we collected air quality indicators for each street sector for London and we looked at the relationship between these indicators and the profile from the smelly maps."
"We found that when there's a lot of nitrogen dioxide, then there are a lot of traffic emission related words. So, more or less the methodology works - there is a relationship between air pollution and the smelly maps."
There's growing scientific recognition of the power of our noses. A study in 2014 claimed that humans can discriminate at least 1 trillion olfactory stimuli.
While most of our nasal abilities are a bit more mundane, well trained noses can do important jobs in detecting air pollution.
In the Chinese city of Guangzhou, a team of "smell specialists" have been recruited to identify harmful pollutants in the air.
According to the People's Daily Online, air samples from different parts of the city are captured in sealed plastic bags. Sniffing the contents, the experts identify both the cause and scale of the dirty air.
So can the nasal-based information gleaned from smell walks also be put to practical uses?
Daniele Quercia says that the smelly maps could be used to change the way we work and play.
"If you go for a run next to a street full of traffic, it's the worst possible thing you can do - when you run your blood pressure goes up and your ability to absorb air pollution is far higher than if you were walking.
"But you could have technologies that would design a run for you next to nature based smells, and maybe smells that are more energising than calming. If you want to rest a bit you can do that on a public bench, where you have lavender which is a more calming smell."
A mobile phone app that would suggest walking or running routes for you based on smell based air quality information is in the works.
Other researchers are also building devices based on our nasal abilities.
When the Disney Corporation sent an exhibition of its archive material to China last year, officials were concerned about Beijing's notoriously dirty air.
Air pollution is bad for humans but it can also prove disastrous to works of art, causing damage at much lower levels.
So Disney turned to Professor Ken Suslick from the University of Illinois and his opto-electronic pollution detector, an array of carefully calibrated dyes that change colour when exposed to different odours.
"One shouldn't underestimate the importance of one's own nose, we do take it for granted but it is not a quantitative tool," said Prof Suslick,
"It's very difficult for human beings to accurately quantify what the concentration of different odorants are, and having a simple colour-o-metric based response allows us to do things in a quantitative fashion and that's an extremely useful tool."
Prof Suslick and his team discovered that the wooden crates in which the artworks were transported were at least as large a problem in terms of threat from the air as was the exhibition centre itself.
New devices to help in the fight against air pollution are coming on to the market all the time, including this portable air monitor being developed at the University of Leicester to help gather precise data at a personal scale.
But back in Regent's Park, smell walker Kate McLean says that relying on technology alone in big cities would be a big mistake. Common, nasal sense has a big role to play.
"The technical equipment is always going to be valuable for odour monitoring, for pollution control for large factories, but in terms of the moving, shifting smell-scape which most cities are, then the human nose can contribute just as much if we decide to contribute in the same we do to traffic reports," Kate says.
"We can all become smell-meisters, there's nothing specialist about it, any single one of us can do it. Just get out there - go sniff!"
Follow Matt on Twitter and on Facebook. | In Regent's Park in central London I am down on the grass, sniffing the air like a dog. |
37023251 | Mirroring its success Stateside, cinemagoers ignored critics who dismissed it as "boring and unfunny" and "the worst of the worst".
It took £11.2m over the weekend, knocking last week's number one, Finding Dory, into second place.
In the film, Will Smith and Margot Robbie team up with a gang of villains.
Jared Leto, Cara Delevingne, Karen Fukuhara and Viola Davis play other anti-heroes.
The latest Jason Bourne film also dropped a place to third in its second week of release.
Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Roald Dahl's BFG, starring Oscar winner Mark Rylance, took fourth spot, with Star Trek Beyond in fifth.
Suicide Squad was the only new film in the top 10.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or email [email protected]. | DC Comics' super villain movie Suicide Squad has proved it could be a hit on both sides of the Atlantic as it topped the UK box office on its debut. |
39293279 | According to a new study the world's spiders eat up to 800 million tonnes of insects every year.
That's the same amount of meat and fish that humans eat over twelve months.
It might seem like spiders are greedy but actually they are helping humans and saving us from disease-carriers and pests like flies and insects.
As well as being incredible hunters they are also food for lots of other animals like birds and lizards.
Scientists estimated that there are a total of 25 million tonnes of spiders on Earth.
Then they worked out how much food the spiders need to survive.
There are around 45,000 different species of spider.
The University of Basel carried out this study with the hope that these incredible figures make people appreciate spiders more.
So the next time you see one maybe you'll look at it in a new light. | Lots of people are scared of spiders, even some Newsround presenters, but they are actually really helpful creatures. |
38546497 | Interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan was quoted as saying a security guard fired on a suspicious vehicle and the driver then blew it up.
It is not yet clear who was behind the blast, but so-called Islamic State (IS) has claimed recent attacks targeting Shia Muslims in the city.
IS is under pressure from an Iraqi government offensive in the north.
Iraqi special forces and their Shia militia allies have been trying to drive IS from its stronghold in the northern city of Mosul. They entered eastern districts in November but IS have since slowed their advance towards the centre.
The Baghdad explosion happened at the main vegetable market, Jumila, in the primarily Shia Sadr City district.
A similar attack took place on 2 January. A suicide car bomb hit a busy square in Sadr City, killing 35 people. | A car bomb in Iraq has struck a market in eastern Baghdad, killing at least 11 people and injuring dozens more. |
36204036 | Media playback is not supported on this device
The Canadian has won two league titles in over 300 games for the Giants since his arrival in 2011.
"The passion that the fans bring to our games makes me and the team want to continue to play hard for them," said Keefe on Wednesday.
"That has been the driving force for me to come back."
Keefe has scored 56 goals and added 74 assists - good for 130 total points in his Belfast career.
He added: "After my first season here, winning a league championship along with my experience of the fans and the city, I have been hungry to continue to bring trophies back to the city."
"We need to get on the right track starting early next season so we can get off to a good start and get the ball rolling." | Belfast Giants captain Adam Keefe has signed a new deal which will see him remain with the SSE Arena team for the 2016-2017 Elite League season. |
33074657 | Paul Grigson returned to Jakarta on Monday, the Australian government said.
His removal was the first time Australia had recalled an ambassador in response to the execution of its nationals by a foreign government.
Convicted drug traffickers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed by firing squad on 29 April.
At the time, Prime Minister Tony Abbott described the execution as "cruel" and "unnecessary".
Ministerial visits from Australia to Indonesia were also suspended in April but the government on Wednesday did not say if this decision had also been reversed.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in April the recall was intended "to register our displeasure at the way our citizens have been treated".
Chan and Sukumaran were the ringleaders of a 2005 plot to smuggle 8kg of heroin from Indonesia to Australia. They were arrested in Bali - along with seven others who received long jail terms - and sentenced to death.
As the execution neared a campaign was mounted by Australian officials to save Chan and Sukumaran, who had reportedly rehabilitated during their decade behind bars in Indonesia.
Several high-profile Australian politicians also appealed to Indonesia to spare their lives.
But Indonesian Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo defended the executions, saying his country was fighting a "war" on drugs. President Joko Widodo also turned down clemency requests.
The impact of the recall was played down by Indonesian officials and last month Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said he expected Mr Grigson back within weeks.
"In one month they will be sent back to Jakarta," he said, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Chan and Sukumaran were among eight people from several countries executed by firing squad on the prison island of Nusakambangan.
Brazil's government also expressed its "deep dismay" at the execution of one of its citizens, Rodrigo Gularte.
But the execution of a Philippine woman, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, was called off at the last minute. | Australia's ambassador to Indonesia has returned to Jakarta, five weeks after he was recalled in protest over the execution of two Australians. |
35037327 | The event was organised by Russian state broadcasters and it is being streamed online.
Places that feature in the novel were chosen as settings for some chapters, including the Borodino battlefield, where in 1812 Napoleon's troops fought the Russians.
War and Peace was published in 1869.
The novel - one of Russia's greatest works of literature - follows the lives of aristocratic Russian families during the French invasion in the early 19th Century.
Readers include schoolchildren, sports personalities, scientists and armed forces staff.
Cosmonaut Sergei Volkov is joining in from aboard the International Space Station.
Count Tolstoy's former home at Yasnaya Polyana is one of the venues - where Vladimir Tolstoy, a great-great-grandson of the writer, will take part in the reading. The estate is about 200km (124 miles) south of Moscow.
The scale of the book reading "has no parallel in the whole world", say organisers at the website voinaimir.com.
"The geography of the project is immense - from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka, from Franz Josef Land [in the Arctic] to London and Paris," they say. | Russian film stars, a cosmonaut and French actress Fanny Ardant are among 1,300 people reading Leo Tolstoy's epic War and Peace live on the internet - a 60-hour marathon spread over four days. |
18469904 | Listeners can hear it in seven parts on Saturday, following the story of Leopold Bloom's journey through Dublin.
The five and a half hour dramatisation, by Robin Brooks, features Henry Goodman as Leopold Bloom.
On "Bloomsday" fans celebrate the landmark modernist novel and all things Joycean on 16 June.
Many of the locations mentioned in the book still stand in Dublin, the writer's home city.
For many enthusiasts, the day is mostly about getting dressed up and going on their own odyssey around the Irish capital, retracing the footsteps of the book's main characters Leopold Bloom and Stephen Daedalus and enjoying a pint or two of Dublin's most popular stout.
Named after lead character Leopold Bloom, the day usually includes walking tours, street theatre, period dress, music and traditional Joycean food.
But there are also many organised events, such as musical performances, street theatre, cycle rides, tours, museum exhibitions.
The BBC dramatisation features Andrew Scott as Stephen Dedalus, Niamh Cusack as Molly Bloom and Stephen Rea as the Narrator.
Some 25 actors have taken part and the music includes new recordings of songs by Irish soprano Daire Halpin.
Ulysses is regarded in some literary circles as the greatest modernist novel of the 20th century.
Producer Jeremy Mortimer said the Radio 4 dramatisation was "a delight" and had given him a new insight into the book.
"I had read the book but when I came back to it I realised that I had skimmed over the surface of it and I had no idea of the depth of this book," he said.
Mark Lawson is broadcasting live from various Joycean landmarks in Dublin to set the book in its local and historical context.
The scheduling of the drama throughout the day roughly corresponds with the order of events in the book.
Each part of the dramatisation will be made available as a free download for two weeks from the time of broadcast.
Irish radio station RTE broadcast every word of Joyce's novel in 1982 over a period of 29 and a half hours. | A dramatisation of James Joyce's Ulysses is being broadcast on BBC Radio 4 to mark this year's Bloomsday, the day when the book's events take place. |
37414191 | Kim Jong-un, the country's leader, asked scientists and engineers to make preparations for a satellite launch as soon as possible, KCNA reported.
It is the latest in a series of missile-related tests this year.
Meanwhile, the US and China have agreed to step up co-operation at the UN to address the North's fifth nuclear test.
The underground nuclear test, conducted earlier this month, is thought to be the country's most powerful yet.
North Korea regularly makes claims about the progress of its nuclear and missile programmes, but analysts say most of them are impossible to independently verify.
US and Chinese officials have started discussions on a possible UN sanctions resolution as a response, unnamed diplomats were quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.
But Beijing has not said directly whether it will support tougher steps against Pyongyang, the agency added.
China is North Korea's main ally and trading partner, but has grown increasingly intolerant of its military actions and Kim Jong-un's aggressive rhetoric.
Its support for toughened sanctions is crucial if they are to have any impact, but Beijing has repeatedly said that such steps are not the ultimate answer for the issue.
Kim Jong-un supervised the test at the country's Sohae satellite-launching site, KCNA reported.
That is where the country launched a rocket in February, reportedly carrying a satellite.
The engine tested would give the country "sufficient carrier capability for launching various kinds of satellites, including Earth observation satellite at a world level", the report added.
Mr Kim, KCNA said, called for more rocket launches to turn the country into a "possessor of geostationary satellites in a couple of years to come."
This was seen by observers as an indication that Pyongyang might soon launch another long-range rocket.
The North insists its space programme is purely scientific in nature but the US, South Korea and even China say the rocket launches are aimed at developing inter-continental ballistic missiles.
UN Security Council resolutions ban the state from carrying out any nuclear or ballistic missile tests. | North Korea has carried out a "successful" ground test of a new rocket engine to launch satellites, state media says. |
33265241 | The bill known as the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), or more commonly "fast-track", makes it easier for presidents to negotiate trade deals.
Supporters see it as critical to the success of a 12-nation trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The 60-38 vote was the product of rare Republican-White House collaboration.
The bill now awaits Mr Obama's signature.
The authority means that Congress may only vote up or down on finalised trade agreements, not amend them.
The Obama administration and many business organisations say the legislation is necessary so that trade negotiators can win lower trade barriers for US-made goods on international markets.
This fast-track bill brings the president a step closer to concluding the TPP deal with 11 other nations to remove or reduce barriers to trade and foreign investment.
What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership?
There are also trade talks between the US and the EU that could be expedited.
Both deals have been opposed by trade unions and many Democrats, forcing the White House to forge an alliance with congressional Republicans.
"We were really pleased to see President Obama pursue an idea we've long believed in," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a long-time White House foe, who once said his top priority was making Mr Obama "a one-term president".
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Republican, said the bill was "the most important bill that will pass the Senate this year".
The bills's passage - made all but inevitable after it cleared a more stringent procedural hurdle on Tuesday - incensed many Democrats.
Speaking before Wednesday's vote, Senator Sherrod Brown said the bill would lead to "corporate handouts, worker sell-outs" in the way that he said the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) and other deals have done over the past two decades.
Organised labour and environmental groups have been some of the most vocal critics of the trade agreements, saying that they harm the environment and endanger US jobs.
However, Mr Obama and Republican leaders say that the agreements make it easier for US goods to reach global markets.
Less than two weeks ago, House Democrats and their leader, Rep Nancy Pelosi, turned against the bill in a vote that appeared to - at least temporarily - derail the president's trade agenda.
Following that, Republican leaders reworked elements of the bill and passed with large Republican and modest Democrat support. | Legislation key to US President Barack Obama's trade agenda has been approved by the US Senate, just two weeks after it appeared to have failed. |
32088570 | The 240-acre Gedling Country Park, which is already home to wildlife including birds, muntjac deer and hares cost £1.1m to convert.
MP Vernon Coaker, who has pushed to open the park since the colliery shut in 1991, described it as a "green lung" for the area.
There are plans to open a visitor centre on the site in the future.
Gedling Borough Council and the Friends of Gedling Country Park worked together to redevelop the land, including removing derelict buildings and potentially hazardous waste.
Friends chairman Terry Lock said there are more than 100 bird species at the site.
"We've had muntjac reported here. I've seen a badger sett, we've got foxes, hares and it'll develop as time goes on," he said.
He said it will be a "couple of years" before funds are raised to open a visitor centre and heritage centre in the park.
Gedling MP Mr Coaker said: "It's beautiful now but what it will be like in a few years' time when it's even more established?
"It's a green lung for Gedling, a green lung for the city and something everyone can enjoy."
The park, which contains greenery, paths and lagoons as well as a solar farm, officially opens with a day of events starting at 11:00 GMT.
Conservationists had argued the site should be left undisturbed as it was a breeding ground for rare birds. | A former Nottinghamshire colliery has been transformed into a country park which is due to officially open later. |
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