text
stringlengths
0
63.9k
target
stringlengths
17
410
feat_id
stringlengths
8
8
evaluation_predictions
sequence
The visitors took the lead when a clever dummy from the impressive Oscar Dorley set up Maksim Maksimov to net. Defender Joe Shaughnessy headed home Liam Craig's corner to level but Trakai responded with a stunning long-range strike from Vaidotas Silenas. Craig and Graham Cummins wasted chances as Saints failed to find an equaliser. Trakai finished with 10 men as Silenas picked up a second yellow card with eight minutes left, but the visitors held on. St Johnstone made a positive start but Trakai carved out the first opening in the seventh minute. A cross found Aliaksandr Bychanok, but his diving header went wide. The Lithuanian side looked technically accomplished with 18-year-old Liberian Dorley causing Saints plenty of problems, and the visitors took the lead with a fine move in the 14th minute. A low cross into the box found Maksimov, who fired smartly past Zander Clark. The hosts should have equalised when Blair Alston broke through the centre of the FK Trakai defence but he fired straight at the keeper. The rebound fell to Cummins, who had his first shot blocked before blazing his second over the bar. Richard Foster's shot was diverted wide by Arunas Klimavicius, and from the resultant corner St Johnstone equalised, Shaughnessy heading home from close range into the corner. But the joy for the home fans was short-lived as FK Trakai took the lead for a second time. A fantastic strike from Silenas from range flashed past Clark. The noise levels inside McDiarmid Park dipped once more. At the start of the second half Dorley played in Alma Wakili down the left hand side but he fired his shot well wide of the post. Saints manager Tommy Wright brought on new signing Stefan Scougall in the hope of improving the levels of creativity from the home side. His ball from the flank presented Craig with a great chance to equalise, but the midfielder volleyed his shot high over the crossbar. Then an even better chance. From a poor Saints corner the ball fell fortuitously to the feet of Scougall. He lashed in a low shot which beat the keeper, but struck the post. FK Trakai remained a danger, Clark saving well from Maksimov, but St Johnstone had further opportunities. Alston burst through from midfield and engineered a chance at the edge of the box, but his shot was deflected wide. From the resultant corner Saints had the ball in the net from another Shaughnessy header, but the referee blew his whistle for a foul on the keeper. Silenas was sent off for a second bookable offence, but the home side could not capitalise. Alston again created an opening and as the ball flashed across goal, it fell straight to Cummins, but from five yards out the striker's shot was too close to Trakai keeper Ignas Plukas, who blocked the ball with his trailing foot. St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright: "Obviously, the result is disappointing. The second goal is criminal from us. It was a great finish but the ball should never get to him. "We were sloppy at times in possession but I thought we created enough chances to get back in the game. But we probably didn't do enough over the 90 minutes. "Every one of the teams in this competition are all probably technically better than us, that's why we can't allow them time on the ball. We didn't get in about them enough in the first half. "We will have to be better in the second leg and I think we will be better. The two away goals is a huge advantage for them but I wouldn't rule us out."
St Johnstone need to score at least twice in Lithuania next week after losing their Europa League first round qualifying home tie with FK Trakai.
40410734
[ 0, 3, 9, 3, 26, 16056, 45, 8, 4423, 13892, 6200, 1306, 356, 95, 8, 2604, 747, 3, 5, 5931 ]
With 100 hours of video added to the site every minutes it can be hard to get noticed, so some people buy fake views. There are many companies that will sell YouTube views, likes or comments for a fee. Most videos have genuine views but the website wants to crack down on the small number that don't.
YouTube has warned it will clamp down on users who buy 'fake views' to make their videos look more popular than they really are.
26049318
[ 0, 910, 716, 13, 671, 974, 12, 8, 353, 334, 1962, 3, 5, 128, 151, 805, 9901, 2441, 3, 5 ]
The 22-year-old leaves first professional club Wigan Athletic after four years, having made 19 senior appearances. County boss Jim McIntyre described Chow as "a box-to-box midfielder with great athleticism". "He came through Wigan's academy system and has got great energy," the manager added. The Dingwall side visit Hamilton Academical on Saturday, having won two of their three Scottish Premiership matches so far. Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.
Ross County have completed the signing of central midfielder Tim Chow on a two-year contract.
37189117
[ 0, 8, 1630, 18, 1201, 18, 1490, 3231, 166, 771, 1886, 2142, 2565, 18373, 227, 662, 203, 3, 5, 8 ]
The video of Bailey Matthews showing him abandoning his walking aid to cross the finish line has been viewed on Facebook more than 27 million times. Bailey, from Doncaster, was given the Richard Whiteley award at a ceremony in Leeds on Friday night. Cricketer Joe Root received the Sporting Achievement award. The Yorkshire Awards, now in their 27th year, "recognise the many and varied achievements of people and businesses in the county". Bailey competed in the children's event at Castle Howard in North Yorkshire in July, swimming 100m, riding a bike for four km and running for 1.3 km. Despite stumbling twice on his way to the finish line, he picked himself up and ran the final 20m of the course without his walking frame. Bailey's family said: "We are extremely honoured to receive the Richard Whiteley award for Bailey's efforts and it makes it all the more special with being proud northerners." Sheffield-born Root became the leading batsman in the ICC world rankings after helping England beat Australia to regain the Ashes. The 24-year-old has established himself as one of England's key performers and is closing on 3,000 test runs. Root said the award was a "real honour" and he wanted to thank everyone who had supported him. TV chef Rosemary Shrager, who has worked and lived in Yorkshire for many years, was presented with the Woman of the Year award, while Rotherham-born William Hague was named Man of the Year. Mr Hague, former MP for Richmond, said: "Whatever I have done, and wherever I have been in the world, I have never stopped being a Yorkshireman, and never will." Sir David Wootton picked up the Lifetime Achievement while Huddersfield-born poet Simon Armitage won the Arts and Entertainment award. Mr Armitage's numerous accolades include a BAFTA winning film Feltham Sings for which he received an Ivor Novello award. The Business Enterprise award was given to timber company Howarth Timber. Starting in Leeds in 1840, it has expanded from a one-man business to an employer of more than 1,000 people. North Yorkshire famer Gareth Barlow was presented with the Countryside award while junior football coach Stephen Shipley won the Community Hero award.
An eight-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who was filmed completing his first triathlon unaided has been honoured at the Yorkshire Awards.
34551834
[ 0, 24042, 9771, 7, 47, 787, 8, 4117, 1945, 1306, 2760, 44, 3, 9, 7252, 16, 23370, 3, 5, 8 ]
Synchronised wreath-laying ceremonies will take place in counties Cork, Meath, Wexford, Galway and Dublin, beginning at 09:45 local time in Cork. Thousands of people lined the streets of Dublin on Sunday for a parade to mark the centenary. The commemoration events have been organised by the Irish government. The rebellion is viewed as a seminal event in the founding of the state. The Easter Rising was quelled within six days by British troops, but despite its failure it is seen as a significant stepping stone to the eventual creation of the Republic of Ireland and the partition of Ireland. More than 450 people were killed and 2,500 injured during the fighting. A weekend of events to mark the centenary of the Rising began on Saturday with a remembrance ceremony in Dublin at which Irish president Michael D Higgins laid a wreath. Wreaths were also laid in Dublin at Kilmainham Gaol, where 14 of the Rising's leaders were executed, and at the Sigerson Monument in Glasnevin Cemetery, which is dedicated to to all those who lost their lives in the Rising. The synchronised wreath-laying ceremonies on Monday have been organised by the Irish Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking areas). The locations and times are: Then, at 12:30 local time, wreaths will be laid at various buildings and landmarks around the Irish capital that became focal points during the rebellion. They include Boland's Mill, Jacob's Factory, Dublin Castle/City Hall, The Four Courts, Royal College of Surgeons and Moore Street.
The centenary of the Easter Rising, the rebellion that began on Easter Monday 1916, is to be marked in Irish towns and cities with wreath-laying events.
35901534
[ 0, 3, 15977, 3375, 25070, 18, 14720, 25934, 56, 240, 286, 16, 16227, 2487, 157, 6, 140, 9, 189, 6 ]
Since April, convicted criminals in England and Wales have had to pay a charge of between £150 and £1,200 towards the cost of their case. MPs on the justice select committee said the charge, which is not means-tested, created "serious problems" and was often "grossly disproportionate". Ministers said it was under review. The fee is paid on top of fines, compensation orders and defendants' own legal charges, and is higher for those convicted after pleading not guilty. It is set according to the type of case, with the minimum charge for magistrates' courts and the maximum level for crown court cases. In March, the then Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said the fee would ensure that criminals "pay their way". But chairman of the cross-party committee Bob Neill said: "The evidence we have received has prompted grave misgivings about the operation of the charge, and whether, as currently framed, it is compatible with the principles of justice." He added that "in many cases it is grossly disproportionate" and created "perverse incentives - not only for defendants to plead guilty but for sentencers to reduce awards of compensation and prosecution costs". The committee's report said the lack of discretion for judges and magistrates on the level of the charge was creating "unacceptable consequences within the criminal justice system". It cited the case of a woman who had admitted stealing a four-pack of Mars Bars worth 75p, saying she "had not eaten in days" after her benefits were sanctioned. She was ordered to pay a £150 criminal courts charge on top of her £73 fine, £85 costs, a £20 victim surcharge and 75p compensation. The committee also said it was "highly sceptical" of government claims that the charges could deliver a net revenue of £80m to £160m a year by 2023 - with an annual cost of collection of about £20m and a £5m bill for imprisoning defaulters. The Ministry of Justice said the concerns were noted and the operation of the fee was being kept under review. It comes after Justice Secretary Michael Gove told Parliament earlier this month that the charge was generating revenue and helping to "ensure that the taxpayer is not the first port of call for supporting the way in which our courts operate". But Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the criminal courts charge was "unrealistic and unjust" and called on the Ministry of Justice to "suspend this policy immediately". "The innocent have been put under pressure to plead guilty, and ordering indigent people to pay money they simply do not have is never going to work," she said.
The criminal courts charge should be scrapped by ministers, a parliamentary committee has said, as it raised "grave misgivings" about the fee's benefits.
34870242
[ 0, 4831, 1738, 4492, 845, 1567, 990, 96, 7, 49, 2936, 982, 121, 34, 19, 1866, 30, 420, 13, 1399 ]
A robot arm builds "babies" that get progressively better at moving without any human intervention. The ultimate aim of the research project is to develop robots that adapt to their surroundings. The work by teams in Cambridge and Zurich has been published in the journal PLOS One. It seems like a plot from a science fiction film: a robot that builds other robots - each one better than the previous generation. But that is what researchers in Cambridge and Zurich have done. But those concerned about machines taking over the world shouldn't worry, at least not yet. At this stage the "baby robots" consist of plastic cubes with a motor inside. These are put together by a "mother" robot arm which glues them together in different configurations. Although the set up is simple the system itself is ingenious. The mother robot assesses how far its babies are able to move, and with no human intervention, improves the design so that the next one it builds can move further. The mother robot built ten generations of children. The final version moved twice the distance of the first before its power ran out. According to Dr Fumiya Iida of Cambridge University, who led the research with colleagues at ETH Zurich, one aim is to gain new insights into how living things evolve. "One of the big questions in biology is how intelligence came about - we're using robotics to explore this mystery," he told BBC News. "We think of robots as performing repetitive tasks, and they're typically designed for mass production instead of mass customisation, but we want to see robots that are capable of innovation and creativity." Another aim is to develop robots that can improve and adapt to new situations, according to Andre Rosendo - who also worked on the project. "You can imagine cars being built in factories and the robot looking for defects in the car and fixing them by itself," he said. "And robots used in agriculture could try out slightly different ways of harvesting crops to see if they can improve yield." Dr Iidya told me that he came into robotics because he was disappointed that the robots he saw in real life were not as good as the ones he saw in science fiction films such as Star Wars and Star Trek. His aim was to change that and his approach was to draw lessons from the natural world to improve the efficiency and flexibility of traditional robotic systems. As to whether we'd ever see robots like those in the sci-fi films that inspired him, he said: "We're not there yet, but sure, why not, maybe in about 30 years." Follow Pallab on Twitter
Engineers have developed a robotic system that can evolve and improve its performance.
33867941
[ 0, 3, 9, 7567, 2939, 15326, 96, 12534, 725, 121, 24, 129, 394, 44, 1735, 406, 936, 7897, 3, 5 ]
There have been incidents reported at scenic spots where public conveniences are lacking or have been closed down. In Uig, where many of the complaints have been raised, the local authority-run toilets have been out of order since the beginning of the year. Highland Council said it was seeking quotes for the repair work needed. The availability of toilets on Skye has been raised previously. In 2011, Highland Council received complaints about people urinating and defecating outdoors at Staffin where public toilets were closed as part of cost cutting.
Islanders on Skye have demanded greater availability of public toilets after complaints some visitors to the isle are relieving themselves outside.
40365844
[ 0, 6699, 7, 43, 118, 91, 13, 455, 437, 8, 1849, 13, 8, 215, 3, 5, 8, 5576, 13, 6699 ]
The Gold Hill Cheese Run sees entrants run up the cobbled Shaftesbury street with a 55lb (25kg) cheese. The event, based on activities of cheese traders in years gone by, began in 2012 as part of the town's food festival. Barnaby Cox, 18, who has won the race twice, has put his success down to "technique and power". Organiser Charlie Turnbull said the event was a tribute to a millennia of cheese making in the Blackmore Vale, with "slightly mad" participants racing with the locally-made cheeses which are 35cm (14") in diameter. "Each one takes up to 500 pints of milk - that's a lot of effort from a lot of cows. But they are not very convenient to carry up a hill." The street was made famous when it was used in a Hovis bread television advertisement filmed by Ridley Scott in 1973. It depicted a boy struggling to get up the street on his bicycle to deliver bread to the sounds of Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony.
A cheese-carrying race up a famous Dorset street is due to take place later.
32930327
[ 0, 8, 2045, 9956, 3285, 661, 19, 3, 390, 30, 1087, 13, 3285, 14641, 16, 203, 2767, 57, 3, 5 ]
The interior of the Saab 340 that flies to and from Orkney was stripped out and renewed and the exterior repainted at a cost of almost £270,000. Loganair, a franchise partner of Flybe, will spend £3.5m having the same work done to the rest of its fleet. The first stage in the three-year project follows criticism about the reliability of Loganair services. The airline's business includes operating lifeline routes to and from the Scottish islands, including Lewis in the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland. Last year, members of the public and MSPs raised concerns about the reliability of some of these services. In January this year, the company announced that it was investing £15m in a programme of improvements and upgrades. As well as being given a revamp, each plane is to undergo a specialist check every 36 months. Loganair said this "intensive process" would involve stripping back the aircraft to the basic airframe structure for an examination using X-ray machines. Both engines and the flight control surfaces would also be removed to give access to the aircraft's structure and internal systems. Loganair chairman David Harrison said he was "extremely pleased" the first plane had been refurbished He said: "Our engineers and support teams put an incredible amount of time and effort into the project, and I'm certain our customers will appreciate their endeavour and enjoy the comfort benefits the renewal project brings to the Saab 340 fleet. "This Saab 340 renewal programme again underlines the commitment made by Loganair at the beginning of the year to embark on a significant investment programme to enhance the fleet and ultimately improve customer experience."
The refurbishment of the first of 13 aircraft operated by the Scottish airline Loganair has been completed.
35695680
[ 0, 8, 2422, 13, 8, 1138, 9, 115, 3, 21129, 24, 3, 89, 4664, 12, 11, 45, 955, 157, 3186 ]
The limestone monument, which the Labour leader suggested could be placed in the garden of Number 10, has already attracted widespread comment. The 8ft stone has already prompted its own hashtag #EdStone and has been mocked by David Cameron and Nick Clegg. But Mr Miliband said he wanted to be the first politician to "over deliver". The Labour leader unveiled the pledge stone at a hustings event on Sunday. Landscaping issue The ridicule of the idea was put to Mr Miliband on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. But he said: "Our pledges are carved in stone. "I think trust is a huge issue in this election - the difference with our pledges is they are not going to expire on 8 May. "Nick Clegg went into the last election saying he'd cut tuition fees - he trebled them. David Cameron went into the last election, saying 'no ifs no buts - net migration into the tens of thousands' - it's 298,000. "We're setting out promises - they don't expire on May 8. They don't disappear." Rock 'reminder' Asked whether the monument would be placed in Downing Street if he becomes prime minister, Mr Miliband said: "I'll leave the landscape gardening to other people. "But I'm absolutely clear about this: There are millions of people who are turned off this election... because they think no politicians keep their promises. "I want to be the first person in British politics for a generation to under-promise and over- deliver, not over-promise and under-deliver. And that's why I've set out these pledges, and that's why I'm serious about keeping these pledges." Mr Miliband said the stone was "to remind the British people, to remind working people in this country that I'm absolutely serious about changing the way this country works." He added: "In the next few days this is a once in a generation election for the British people about who Britain is run for. Is it run for working people? Or is it run for the richest and most powerful? That is the choice between me and David Cameron." 'SNP chisels' But the introduction of a pledge stone sparked a spate of social media jokes, with photoshoppers working overtime to turn Mr Miliband into Moses and more than a few comparisons with BBC political drama The Thick of It. When asked what he thought of it David Cameron remarked: "If you've got a problem with judgement ... I don't think that's going to help." Mr Clegg also mocked the stone tablet, telling Lib Dem activists in Bermondsey, south London there was "nothing attractive about the instability of a hapless Labour minority administration, regardless of these great gravestones they are apparently going to erect". What are the top issues for each political party at the 2015 general election? Policy guide: Where the parties stand Former Conservative leader William Hague said: "This is yet more evidence that Ed Miliband is simply not up to the job of being prime minister. And if he does make it to No 10, Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP will take their chisels to Miliband's vanity stone and write their own demands all over it." London Mayor Boris Johnson wrote in the Daily Telegraph: "What was he drinking? What was he smoking? What was he on when he came up with this one? "Keep taking the tablets, Ed - don't erect them in government offices." The best of BBC News' Election 2015 specials
Ed Miliband has defended his decision to carve Labour promises in stone - insisting he wants to show the public his pledges will not expire on 8 May.
32580534
[ 0, 8, 505, 89, 17, 3372, 65, 641, 3, 18797, 165, 293, 25354, 1713, 15, 26, 134, 6948, 3, 5 ]
The RDG, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said it was the smallest annual rise for six years. Regulated fares, which include season tickets, are capped at no more than July's RPI inflation rate of 1%. Unregulated fares, such as off-peak leisure tickets, can go up by as much as the train companies like. RDG chief Paul Plummer said: "We know that nobody likes to pay more to travel by train, especially to get to work." But he added that money from fares now almost covers rail's daily operating costs. "This allows government to focus its funding on building a bigger, better network when the railway is becoming increasingly important at driving economic growth, underpinning jobs, and connecting friends and families," Mr Plummer said. Under government rules, the rise in regulated fares was restricted to no more than the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation over the year to July, which was 1%. Over the long term, RPI has tended to record higher inflation than the other measure of rising prices, the Consumer Price Index, which was 0.1% during the year. The increases cover fares in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland is treated separately. Martin Abrams, of the Campaign for Better Transport, said more must be done to achieve a "truly affordable railway" as fares have risen by more than 25% in the last five years. "To avoid pricing people off the railways, the train operating companies and the government need to work closely together to provide fairer, simpler and cheaper fares through flexible ticketing and making sure people are always sold the cheapest ticket available." Mr Abrams insisted it was "simply unfair" that flexible ticketing has not yet been introduced, leading many part-time workers to "fork out for five-day season tickets which don't give them the same savings that full-time commuters get". Rail Minister Claire Perry claimed the government's decision to link regulated fare increases to no more than RPI will save the average season ticket holder £425 by 2020. She added: "Our plan for passengers is improving journeys for everyone. It's transforming the tickets people buy, how much they pay for them, the trains they sit on, how quickly they arrive and the stations they arrive in." But Mick Cash, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said the rise was "another kick in the teeth for the British passenger who is already paying some of the highest fares in Europe to travel on clapped out and overcrowded trains". The increase would help ring-fence the profits of "rip-off private rail companies who, once again, will be laughing all the way to the bank". Today's rise is the smallest since 2010 and even that was a one-off blip before an election. Regulated fares have actually raced up by around 40% in the past decade, taking season tickets around the south east of England well into the £4,000-£5,000 mark. The whole point of letting the government regulate half our fares was to protect customers from big hikes by the train companies. They picked out the kind of tickets where people don't have much choice but to go by train. Like commuting into big cities. This is the third year now that fare rises have been limited to inflation and they'll be kept there for the rest of this parliament. But it comes after years of stinging rises.
Britain's rail passengers will see a 1.1% rise in average fares from 2 January, 2016, the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has announced.
35003820
[ 0, 8, 3, 17924, 2041, 3098, 21, 1296, 203, 19, 8, 3, 12990, 3, 28919, 3, 5, 8, 993, 19 ]
Domenico Scala, who heads up Fifa's Ad-Hoc Electoral Committee, is Swiss-Italian - as is Gianni Infantino, one of the five presidential candidates. Scala excused himself from the 2015 elections as he shared nationality with a candidate, Swiss Sepp Blatter. LFA boss Musa Bility says he will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if Scala does not withdraw by Thursday. The battle to replace long-standing president Blatter takes place in 18 days' time. "Article 7.4 of the Electoral Regulations is clear that any member of the Ad-Hoc Electoral Committee who has a conflict of interest … is thereby barred from sitting as a member of the Committee and must be replaced," Bility wrote in a letter to Scala on Monday. Ahead of elections in May 2015 between Blatter and Prince Ali of Jordan - both Scala and Claudio Sulser, who was also on the Ad-Hoc Electoral Committee, stepped aside for this reason. "Prior to the final review process, Domenico Scala (as a dual Swiss/Italian national) and Claudio Sulser (as a Swiss national) withdrew from their positions to avoid any appearance of a potential conflict of interest based on nationality," Fifa wrote at the time. However Andreas Bantel, a spokesman for Scala, says "the fact that a member of the ad-hoc electoral committee has the same nationality as a candidate does not result in a conflict of interest. "There is no such provision whatsoever in the relevant regulations of Fifa," he told BBC Sport. "For the last election period Mr Scala withdrew because the Swiss candidate was the incumbent President. Scala did so in order to avoid even any appearance of a potential conflicted of interest situation and simply as a precautionary measure on a voluntary base. "For this election there are five candidates with no incumbent President. Hence, there is no potential conflict of interest at all." It remains to be seen whether Bility will go ahead with his threat to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. In his letter to Scala, he wants to know why the same process has not been followed ahead of the 26 February election. "Following an unprecedented period of sustained turmoil and damage for Fifa as an institution, the fairness and integrity of the current electoral process are absolutely vital for Fifa," Bility wrote. "If we do not receive confirmation from the Fifa Ah-Hoc Electoral Committee within three working days of receipt of this latter that you are stepping down … with immediate effect, the Liberian FA reserves its right to challenge that decision by all available routes." Bility had hoped to participate in the elections himself before being denied by the Electoral Committee in November after failing an eligibility check. On Saturday, the Liberian pledged his vote to Prince Ali while urging his fellow Africans to do the same. Alongside Prince Ali and Infantino, Frenchman Jerome Champagne, Bahrain's Sheikh Salman and South Africa's Tokyo Sexwale are also bidding to replace Blatter as president. The election, which is voted on by Fifa's 209 members, will take place in the organisation's headquarters in the Swiss city Zurich.
The man overseeing Fifa's presidential polls should step aside due to conflict of interest, says the Liberian FA.
35521849
[ 0, 3, 9, 26, 18, 24344, 16289, 4492, 1144, 65, 1157, 485, 38, 3, 9, 4775, 3, 5, 3, 88 ]
Lindsay Rimer, 13, was found in the Rochdale Canal five months after she disappeared in Hebden Bridge in November 1994. Despite extensive police inquiries, her killer has never been found. Kate Rimer said not knowing what happened to her little sister had been a "life sentence" for their family. Lindsay left her home in Cambridge Street at about 22:00 GMT and visited the Trades Club in Home Street. The last known sighting of her was caught on CCTV 20 minutes later as she bought cornflakes at a shop in Crown Street. Her body, which had been weighted down with a stone, was recovered about a mile upstream from the town centre. Ms Rimer, who was 20 when Lindsay went missing, hopes speaking publicly will help anyone with information to come forward. "From the beginning we have been filled with grief and we cannot stop the grief and instead, remember her with love until this comes to an end," she said. "We miss her so much but every memory of her is tainted - it is so painful and bleeds into everything we do. "It is about time this came to an end; it is a life sentence for this family." West Yorkshire Police staged a Twitter reconstruction of Lindsay's last movements in November, on the 20th anniversary of her disappearance. Det Supt Simon Atkinson said they were still looking for a "golden nugget" of information to bring the killer to justice.
The sister of a murdered schoolgirl has spoken publicly for the first time since the discovery of the teenager's body 20 years ago.
32223326
[ 0, 8, 1179, 18, 1201, 18, 1490, 47, 435, 16, 8, 2158, 524, 5437, 18565, 16, 7520, 3, 5, 255 ]
The slide, set up in Shore Road, Swanage, for the Swanage Carnival, came loose at about 13:40 BST. Police said nine children were treated at the scene - at least one was taken to hospital. South Western Ambulance Service said its paramedics treated three of the children but there was "nothing to suggest their injuries are serious". There have been conflicting reports about the number of casualties but some children may have been treated by the carnival's own medical staff, an ambulance spokeswoman said. Dorset Police said the children treated at the scene had either "stayed to enjoy the afternoon or gone home". It said one child was taken to Poole Hospital and three had been taken to the minor injuries unit in Swanage. "Officers remain at the scene and are speaking with organisers," a spokeswoman said. A South Western Ambulance Service spokeswoman said two of the children it treated "were reported to be suffering from neck pain" and were taken to Poole Hospital. The third was treated at the scene. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance said it attended but was stood down before it landed.
A number of children were injured when an inflatable slide broke away from its moorings during a carnival in Dorset.
36968427
[ 0, 2095, 497, 4169, 502, 4260, 44, 8, 3112, 3, 5, 80, 1026, 12, 2201, 15, 2833, 11, 386, 1026 ]
Notts slumped to 73-7 before Luke Wood (65 not out) Steven Mullaney (63) shared an eighth-wicket stand of 92. Onions took 5-56 as the hosts were dismissed for 204 in 54 overs, which meant Yorkshire were crowned county champions for the second year in a row. Durham closed 30 runs behind on 174-2, with Mark Stoneman making 62 and Scott Borthwick unbeaten on 56 The visitors won the toss and invited Notts to bat on an overcast day and Jake Libby, playing in his first game of the season after recovering from a cruciate ligament injury, fell to Chris Rushworth (2-15) in the first over for a second-ball duck. Onions got rid of Brendan Taylor and Michael Lumb, both for one, with the hosts slipping to 7-3 in the sixth over and Riki Wessels (13) then became a first wicket for 22-year-old Durham debutant Barry McCarthy (2-51). McCarthy dropped Mullaney, who was on 41 at the time, in the deep, but later trapped the former Lancashire player leg before. Wickets continued to fall and it was only the partnership of Mullaney and Wood - who passed fifty for the third time this season - which pushed Notts past 200 and earned a single batting bonus point. Durham started at pace in their reply with Stoneman and Jack Burnham putting on 78 for the first wicket in 15.5 overs. Stoneman, who was caught by Mullaney off Jake Ball, and Borthwick, who reached his ninth half-century of the season, then put on a second-wicket partnership of 53 as the hosts reached the close in a strong position. It meant Notts wicketkeeper Chris Read still requires two dismissals to become the 26th player in history to reach 1,000.
Graham Onions claimed a five-wicket haul to help Durham have the better of day one against Nottinghamshire.
34184651
[ 0, 933, 17, 7, 31649, 15, 26, 12, 3, 4552, 6832, 274, 9316, 21376, 9, 3186, 11372, 5268, 2471, 46 ]
Goals from Ciaran McNulty, Sam Caine and Conor Doyle helped the Isle of Man side to a 3-1 victory in the final over Felvidek of Hungary. A team spokesman said it was a "golden chance which they took". Last year, Ellan Vannin finished second at the inaugural World Cup for nations and regions outside FIFA. A team spokesman said it had been a "tough test" and "ideal preparation" for the forthcoming ConIFA European Football Cup in Hungary.
Ellan Vannin have booked their place in next year's ConIFA World Cup after winning the Niamh's Challenge Cup at the Bowl in Douglas.
32957696
[ 0, 3, 9, 372, 3, 7, 18461, 243, 34, 47, 3, 9, 96, 14910, 35, 1253, 84, 79, 808, 121 ]
The 28-year-old former Manchester City defender joined the club, initially on loan, from Brentford in January 2014. And he has been a regular in Derek McInnes's side over the past two-and-a-half seasons. "I was always confident we could try and get there and get a deal done," McInnes told the Aberdeen website. "It is absolutely brilliant news."
Defender Shay Logan has signed a new two-year deal with Aberdeen, keeping him at Pittodrie until 2018.
36159172
[ 0, 1798, 3, 13720, 3311, 8, 1886, 45, 21985, 2590, 16, 1412, 3, 5, 8, 2059, 18, 1201, 18, 1490 ]
Rizwan Akhtar was promoted from major-general to lieutenant-general to assume the new role and is considered an ally of army chief Gen Raheel Sharif. As head of the paramilitary Rangers force in the southern city of Karachi he launched a major operation against criminal gangs and Taliban militants. He replaces Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam who is scheduled to retire in October. The BBC's Shahzeb Jillani says the outgoing ISI chief is widely seen to have been at odds with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, with some even accusing him of encouraging recent protests against the government. The military also promoted five other officers to lieutenant general rank to replace outgoing personnel. The appointments are expected to help the latter consolidate his position, our correspondent says. Although Pakistan saw its first democratic civilian transfer of power last year, the country has been ruled by the army for much of its history. The ISI was established in 1948 - as Pakistan engaged India in the first war over Kashmir - and became the primary institution running the intelligence operations of the army, air force and navy. Analysts say that although its precise machinations have remained shadowy, there is little doubt it has played a major role in Pakistan's volatile politics. Rizwan Akhtar's operation to reduce crime levels in Karachi received a lot of publicity but human rights activists also warned of violations. Between 2007 and 2010, he was posted in the South Waziristan tribal region where Pakistan Taliban militants are known to have sheltered. "He is a professional soldier who has experience of both Fata and internal security in Karachi," an army official told the Dawn newspaper.
Pakistan's army has named a new head of the country's feared spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
29307393
[ 0, 3, 88, 19, 1702, 46, 3, 1427, 13, 9102, 5752, 5945, 20492, 15, 15, 40, 18981, 99, 3, 5 ]
There were 5,423 assaults on prison staff in the 12 months to the end of March - a rise of 40% on last year, the Ministry of Justice said. Self-inflicted deaths in the year to the end of June were up from 82 to 105 - a rise of 28%. Meanwhile 65 prisoners were released in error in 2015-16 - the highest total for six years. Overall, the performance of prisons appears to have worsened, with six jails giving "serious concern" - Bristol, Doncaster, Hewell, Isis, Liverpool and Wormwood Scrubs - compared with only three in 2014-15. Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss said the level of violence in our prisons was "unacceptable" and highlighted the prevalence of psychoactive substances as a problem. "I am clear that safety in prisons is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and a vital part of our reform plans," she said. "There are a number of factors including the availability of psychoactive substances in prisons which must be tackled. It will take time to address these long-standing problems. I am determined to make sure our prisons are safe and places of rehabilitation." The government figures also revealed that: Shadow prisons minister Jo Stevens said the figures highlighted "the absolutely unacceptable state of our prison and probation system", adding that "neither prison staff nor prisoners are safe". "Fifteen assaults on prison staff every single day cannot continue. Prisoner suicides have increased and the number of people who've been accidentally released from prison is at a six-year high," the Labour MP added. Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform - a national charity that campaigns to have fewer people in prison - said the figures showed "the urgent need for prison reform". "Prisons are not only becoming more dangerous; they are becoming more dangerous more quickly," he said. "That more prisons have been awarded the worst-possible performance rating provides further indication of how the system is failing after years of rising numbers, chronic overcrowding and deep staff cuts." Mr Neilson said it was "particularly shocking" to see increases in the number of women taking their own lives, adding: "The high levels of violence and deaths should shame us all, and the new secretary of state for justice and her ministers must set out concrete plans to reduce them." Last week the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke, warned that jails had become "unacceptably violent and dangerous places". In his first annual report, Mr Clarke said the "grim situation" revealed in last year's report was now "even worse" in some areas.
Assaults on prison officers in England and Wales have risen to their highest level on record, official figures show.
36912888
[ 0, 132, 130, 7836, 591, 2773, 12710, 7, 30, 5714, 871, 16, 8, 586, 767, 12, 8, 414, 13, 1332 ]
It was relief more than real jubilation. The simple truth was that the combined list of candidates headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had performed disappointingly. But politics is about expectations. At one point a rumour swept the gathering that he'd lost more than a third of his alliance's seats in the Knesset - in the end the exit polls suggested it would be more like a quarter. Cue wild celebration. If you add together Mr Netanyahu's natural allies among the religious parties and the rest of the right - and assume he'll be able to attract at least one party from the centre or even the left - then he should be able to form a government again. Senior Likud figure Danny Danon was quick to tell me that the only thing that would be remembered from this night was the fact that his boss had won a third term as prime minister. "There is only one prime minister possible for Israel from these results. And that's Benjamin Netanyahu. "I say to my friends here on the left that they should not be opening the champagne after these results." Any champagne that Mr Netanyahu may be tempted to open will be feeling a little flat though. He emerges from these elections a rather diminished figure, whose wheeling and dealing skills may be sorely tested as he sets about building a new coalition. When he spoke to a crowd of activists in Tel Aviv he was measured, although it took him some time to persuade his supporters to stop celebrating long enough to make himself heard. "I am going to seek as broad a government as possible", he said. " I'm going to seek out many partners." That was perhaps his way of acknowledging that the overall results of the night were curiously ambiguous. To the left of Mr Netanyahu, Labour picked up seats but to the right of him so did Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home party) led by his former chief of staff Naftali Bennett. The undoubted star of the evening was Yair Lapid, a famous TV presenter who stepped off the screen to found a new centrist party called Yesh Atid (There is a Future). It has been an extraordinary debut. The party may well emerge as the second largest grouping in the new Knesset and should command a place in a Netanyahu-led coalition. Because Mr Lapid is a political newcomer, it's hard to say what price he might try to extract in return for his support. But you can expect a higher profile for the vexed issue of whether Israel's ultra-Orthodox community ought to be required to perform its share of national service (it's currently exempt). The wider world will examine these results for clues about Israel's future attitude towards peace talks with the Palestinians or the possibility of a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. The truth of the matter is that it's far too early to make those kind of judgements, which will depend on the balance of forces within a future coalition more than on the outcome of the popular vote. But the sudden and decisive lurch to the right that many predicted hasn't happened. The results show that there's plenty of life on the left and the centre of Israeli politics too. Some political journalists at Likud headquarters were arguing within hours of the exit polls that the results sent such a confused signal about the political mood in Israel that they made another election likely within a year. We'll see. Having said this is a chastening result for Benjamin Netanyahu it's only fair to record that it's been a thought provoking one for anyone in the business of making political predictions here, too. Mr Netanyahu was supposed to win easily - and he certainly didn't. And the campaign was supposed to have failed to capture the Israeli imagination - and turnout was remarkably high. It's said to take an average of well over a month to form a coalition government after polling day here - and there's no reason to assume that it will be any quicker than the average this time around. The first contacts between party leaders were probably under way before the celebrations at Likud HQ had died away. Israel and the wider Middle East must now wait to see what sort of government will eventually emerge.
When the giant TV screens at the Likud election headquarters finally flashed up the results of the national exit polls, one-by-one there was a sudden tidal wave of sound.
21155064
[ 0, 3, 2781, 1211, 7, 3130, 3, 88, 31, 26, 2615, 72, 145, 3, 9, 1025, 13, 112, 15454, 31 ]
The proposal concerns routes that make up the Belfast Rapid Transit (BRT) plan. Currently bus lanes in Belfast run from 07:30 until 09:30 and from 15:30 until 18:30. Under the proposals this would be extended from 07:00 to 19:00. The project is due to come into operation in September 2018. "We should remember in 2012 the business case for the Belfast Rapid Transit was built upon the concept that these would be 12-hour, seven-to-seven bus lane priorities," said Mr Hazzard. "That is so we can have maximum compliance and avoid confusion." West Belfast East Belfast Titanic Quarter Mr Hazzard said there would be two rounds of consultation on the proposals and said there could be some room for flexibility. "What we can do and looking at other cities - Dublin for example - we may have loading and unloading windows and drop-off and pick-up times, where you have windows into that," he said. "This is through consultation with those commuters, with those stakeholders and the community along the route so we can design our proposals and then go to a formal consultation period after." He added: "These buses and vehicles will be coming across every seven minutes in and out of the city, it's so, so important that we get this right."
Transport Minister Chris Hazzard is proposing to extend the times of bus lanes on some of Belfast's busiest commuting routes.
38742702
[ 0, 8, 6384, 19, 12, 36, 4760, 45, 3, 632, 18078, 552, 3, 632, 21150, 3, 5, 8, 516, 19 ]
The Sagitaire and the Saint Christophe were rescued in the early hours at Town Quay, Dartmouth, where they had taken refuge from storms. An anti-pollution boom has been put around the Saint Christophe amid fears that more than 10,000 litres of diesel could escape. Dart inshore lifeboat rescued five crew of the Sagitaire over the stern. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service rescued the five crew of the Saint Christophe by ladder. Emergency services received the call just after 00:35 GMT on Thursday and found the vessels were listing and aground. The lifeboat crew found severe internal flooding on the Saint Christophe. A boom was placed round the vessel by the Dart Harbour Authority vessel, Hercules, to prevent an oil spill. Harbour master Captain Rob Giles said there were 10-15,000 litres of diesel oil on board, but only five litres had escaped so far. "Our primary concern is to safeguard the area," he said. The fire service sent two appliances from Dartmouth, one from Kingsbridge, one from Paignton, and a pump and command unit from Totnes.
Ten French fishermen were rescued when their trawlers began to sink in a Devon harbour.
35771904
[ 0, 8, 15528, 21949, 15, 11, 8, 1138, 122, 9862, 130, 3, 28540, 57, 15812, 3, 5, 46, 1181, 18 ]
But few players admit to trying even harder in the very biggest games. Former Nottingham Forest and Derby County striker Robert Earnshaw refuses to pretend otherwise prior to the East Midlands meeting at the iPro Stadium on Saturday. "I can say it wasn't extra special and I didn't go harder in those games - but I did," Earnshaw told BBC Radio Nottingham. "I felt I needed to go the extra step and I needed to score in that game because it meant so much to the fans and the team. Going into that game I was always a little bit nervous. I don't get nervous too much, but had a little bit of anxiety. "After a few touches I felt more confident. But I always felt I would score, that I would get a some space and a chance." Five goals in seven appearances, including a lovingly recalled away winner for Forest in January 2011, meant his feeling was often proved right. And his happy knack of derby goals - he also got two in a 5-2 victory at the City Ground in the previous month - proved a few doubters wrong. The 33-year-old ex-Wales international, who was last season playing for Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer in the United States, had a miserable year-long stay with the Rams, scoring just two goals in 25 appearances following a £3.5m move from Norwich City. But Earnshaw was a hugely popular figure during his time with Forest. And the derby goals certainly helped. "It wasn't great at Derby because of a lot of off-the-pitch stuff that happened," said Earnshaw, who only started eight games for the Rams. "After about six months I was thinking I need to move. Footballing-wise it wasn't run right and it wasn't about football. Moving to Forest was perfect. "It was about playing football and that's why I enjoyed myself at Forest." The move along the A52 and winning over the "other" set of fans is never an easy one. The legendary Brian Clough obviously managed it. As did many of the men associated with his teams, like Peter Taylor, John McGovern, John Robertson, Archie Gemmill, Peter Shilton and Colin Todd. More recently Darren Wassall, Lars Bohinen and Lee Camp are among those that seem to have earned respect. But Earnshaw's troubled Derby spell, during a dismal season in the Premier League, meant he knew he would get plenty of grief on his return. "Every time I played there the crowd gave me stick," admitted Earnshaw. But the increased attention did make 'that' away winner even better. He was a substitute that day, but got over his anger at being dropped by manager Billy Davies - "I was very annoyed to say the least" - to help Forest complete a first double over Derby in 21 years. "I thought if I get a goal here the crowd will go nuts," he explained. "It was more about pleasing the fans but I was going to milk it. I got booked but it was brilliant. I loved those moments. You have to enjoy it." Earnshaw was signed for Forest by Colin Calderwood, and feared the worst when Davies - his manager at Derby - took over. "If I am being honest I did think I was in trouble," said Earnshaw. "With a new manager you wonder which direction they will go in. Will he play me? "We had a few arguments, but I always got on with him. But it was more about the playing side." And the current playing side is something of a major concern from a Forest perspective. The Rams are second in the Championship table, level on points with leaders Bournemouth and full of confidence. The Reds topped the division early in the season. But they have not won in eight games following Saturday's 2-0 home defeat against Sheffield Wednesday, and have dropped to 13th place. "I think it's the best game for them because they have been struggling," said Earnshaw. "You need an automatic surge - an energy surge and a change of mentality. The Derby game is totally different. With the pressure and the fans, and what it means, you get that surge. It is the perfect time to play. "What a game to go in and come away with the win and lift your season." Robert Earnshaw was talking to Robin Chipperfield on BBC Radio Nottingham Pre-match.
Cliched chat of bragging rights and form going out of the window while still "only being three points" are plentiful around derby day.
30846221
[ 0, 1798, 26238, 6944, 11, 21485, 1334, 6585, 52, 2715, 19883, 15622, 9460, 7, 12, 17582, 2904, 3, 5, 8 ]
The research was carried out by scientists from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University College Dublin, the University of Edinburgh and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. They say it shows the divergence may have began 360 years ago. It also suggests Travellers are closely connected to Irish settled people. The researchers found that any genetic disparities between Travellers and settled people in the Republic are largely due to them remaining genetically isolated for several centuries and their numbers decreasing. It is thought there are about 30,000 people living in the Republic of Ireland who are members of the Travelling community, representing 0.6% of the total population. Previously it had been thought that Travellers had become displaced between 1845 and 1852 as a result of the Great Famine. "The findings confirm that the Irish Traveller population has an Irish ancestry and this comes at a time where the ethnicity of Travellers is being considered by the Irish state," the Royal College of Surgeons' Prof Gianpiero Cavalleri said. "It is important to emphasise that although Irish Travellers show clear features of a genetic isolate, they are genetically very close to settled people in Ireland. "It is also interesting to observe that the isolation of Travellers from settled people predates the Great Famine. "However it's important to emphasise that our research estimates the beginning of the social divergence of the Travelling community, rather than their origin." DNA samples from 42 Irish Travellers were compared with that of 143 European Roma, 2,232 settled Irish, 2,039 British, 5,964 European and 931 individuals from the rest of the world for the study. Several genetic dating methods were also used to estimate the period when the travelling community began to split genetically from the settled population in Ireland.
A study of Irish Traveller genetics has suggested that they split socially from the settled population much earlier than thought.
38926138
[ 0, 4768, 497, 12355, 122, 1433, 164, 43, 1553, 9181, 203, 977, 3, 5, 79, 497, 136, 6472, 8378, 2197 ]
A new free-to-view channel, Spike, will show the award-winning series in its entirety when it launches on Freeview, Freesat and Sky TV on 15 April. The first two series of the show were broadcast on both FX and Five USA, but later dropped when they failed to win a significant audience. Series three, four and five have never been shown on UK terrestrial TV. Spike, which already exists in the US, will also be the first UK channel to show series five of The Walking Dead. It will also bring US pop culture phenomenon Lip Sync Battle, hosted by LL Cool J, to British screens. The series was created by, among others, British comedian Stephen Merchant and John Krasinki, star of the US version of The Office. Merchant will also star as one of the participants in the series. "Spike is a driven, high-energy channel offering a point of view and programme mix I think is different from anything else on British TV right now," said Ben Frow, Channel 5's Programme Director - who will oversee the new channel's editorial content. Both Spike and Channel 5 are owned by Viacom International. The critically acclaimed series Breaking Bad concluded in 2013. It won five Primetime Emmys last year, including best drama series and best actor for Bryan Cranston.
Cult US drama Breaking Bad is to be broadcast in full on UK terrestrial television for the first time.
32068979
[ 0, 126, 339, 18, 235, 18, 4576, 4245, 6, 2526, 5208, 6, 56, 504, 939, 16, 165, 26771, 3, 5 ]
The minnows - in their first season in the top flight - picked up just two points from their opening 10 games and were eight points adrift of safety at the start of April. But a run of six wins and two draws in their final nine games kept them up. They would have gone down had Empoli won, but they lost 2-1 to Palermo to suffer relegation. Crotone's chances before kick-off did not look good as they faced fifth-placed Lazio, but they were deserved winners. Andrea Nalini and Diego Falcinelli - their only player to score more than four goals this season - gave them a 2-0 lead before Ciro Immobile pulled one back from a penalty. But Bastos was sent off for Lazio and Nalini scored a second as Crotone celebrated one of the most famous days in their history. Match ends, Crotone 3, Lazio 1. Second Half ends, Crotone 3, Lazio 1. Substitution, Crotone. Andrej Kotnik replaces Aleksandar Tonev. Substitution, Crotone. Giuseppe Borello replaces Diego Falcinelli. Corner, Crotone. Conceded by Giorgio Spizzichino. Attempt saved. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Ciro Immobile. Delay over. They are ready to continue. Substitution, Crotone. Djamel Mesbah replaces Andrea Nalini. Delay in match Andrea Nalini (Crotone) because of an injury. Alessandro Rossi (Lazio) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Marcus Rohden (Crotone). Attempt saved. Gianmarco Ferrari (Crotone) header from the left side of the six yard box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Andrea Barberis. Foul by Alessandro Murgia (Lazio). Diego Falcinelli (Crotone) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Alessandro Murgia (Lazio) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Andrea Barberis (Crotone). Attempt missed. Aleksandar Tonev (Crotone) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Andrea Barberis following a corner. Corner, Crotone. Conceded by Giorgio Spizzichino. Corner, Crotone. Conceded by Giorgio Spizzichino. Substitution, Lazio. Giorgio Spizzichino replaces Wallace. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Andrea Nalini (Crotone). Ciro Immobile (Lazio) wins a free kick on the left wing. Foul by Federico Ceccherini (Crotone). Foul by Luca Crecco (Lazio). Marcus Rohden (Crotone) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Wallace (Lazio). Andrea Nalini (Crotone) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Substitution, Lazio. Alessandro Rossi replaces Felipe Anderson. Substitution, Lazio. Luca Crecco replaces Lucas Biglia. Attempt missed. Diego Falcinelli (Crotone) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Delay over. They are ready to continue. Delay in match Wallace (Lazio) because of an injury. Delay in match Aleksandar Tonev (Crotone) because of an injury. Foul by Wallace (Lazio). Diego Falcinelli (Crotone) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt blocked. Ciro Immobile (Lazio) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Felipe Anderson. Alessandro Murgia (Lazio) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Aleksandar Tonev (Crotone). Andrea Nalini (Crotone) is shown the yellow card for excessive celebration.
Crotone completed one of the greatest escapes Serie A has seen by beating Lazio on the final day to stay up.
40036047
[ 0, 8, 3519, 7651, 7, 130, 2641, 979, 3, 9, 26, 22722, 13, 1455, 44, 8, 456, 13, 1186, 3 ]
Kepler-452b orbits at a very similar distance from its star, though its radius is 60% larger. Mission scientists said they believed it was the most Earth-like planet yet. Such worlds are of interest to astronomers because they might be small and cool enough to host liquid water on their surface - and might therefore be hospitable to life. Nasa's science chief John Grunsfeld called the new world "Earth 2.0" and the "closest so far" to our home. It is around 1,400 light years away from Earth. Jon Jenkins, Kepler data analysis lead at Nasa's Ames Research Center in California, added: "It's a real privilege to deliver this news to you today. There's a new kid on the block that's just moved in next door." The new world joins other exoplanets such as Kepler-186f that are similar in many ways to Earth. Determining which is most Earth-like depends on the properties one considers. Kepler-186f, announced in 2014, is smaller than the new planet, but orbits a red dwarf star that is significantly cooler than our own. Kepler-452b, however, orbits a parent star which belongs to the same class as the Sun: it is just 4% more massive and 10% brighter. Kepler-452b takes 385 days to complete a full circuit of this star, so its orbital period is 5% longer than Earth's. The mass of Kepler-452b cannot be measured yet, so astronomers have to rely on models to estimate a range of possible masses, with the most likely being five times that of Earth. If it is rocky, the world would likely still have active volcanism and its gravity could be roughly twice that on our own planet. The new world is included in a haul of 500 new possible planets sighted by the Kepler space telescope around distant stars. Twelve of the new candidates are less than twice Earth's diameter, orbiting in the so-called habitable zone around their star. This zone refers to a range of distances at which the energy radiated by the star would permit water to exist as a liquid on the planet's surface if certain other conditions are also met. Of these 500 candidates, Kepler-452b is the first to be confirmed as a planet. Dr Suzanne Aigrain, from the University of Oxford, who was not involved with the study, told BBC News: "I do believe the properties described for Kepler-452b are the most Earth-like I've come across for a confirmed planet to date. "What seems even more significant to me is the number of planets in the habitable zone of their host stars with radii below two Earth radii; 12 is quite a few compared to the pre-existing Kepler planet catalogue. "It bodes well for their attempts to provide a more robust measure of the incidence of Earth-like planets, which is the top-level goal of the Kepler mission." While similar in size and brightness to the Sun, Kepler-452b's host star is 1.5 billion years older than ours. Scientists working on the mission therefore believe it could point to a possible future for the Earth. "If Kepler-452b is indeed a rocky planet, its location vis-a-vis its star could mean that it is just entering a runaway greenhouse phase of its climate history," explained Dr Doug Caldwell, a Seti Institute scientist working on the Kepler mission. "The increasing energy from its aging sun might be heating the surface and evaporating any oceans. The water vapour would be lost from the planet forever." "Kepler-452b could be experiencing now what the Earth will undergo more than a billion years from now, as the Sun ages and grows brighter." Dr Don Pollacco, from Warwick University, UK, who was not involved with the latest analysis, told the BBC: "Kepler data allows you to estimate the relative size of a planet to its host star, so if you know the size of the host, hey presto, you know the size of the planet. "However, to go further - i.e. is it rocky? - involves measuring the mass of the planets and this is much more difficult to do as the stars are too far away for these measurements (which are incredibly difficult) to make. "So in reality they have no idea what this planet is made of: It could be rock but it could be a small gassy ball or something more exotic maybe." Dr Chris Watson, from Queen's University Belfast, UK, commented: "Other Kepler habitable zone planets may well be more Earth-like in this respect. For example, Kepler-186f is approximately 1.17 Earth radii, and Kepler-438b is approximately 1.12 Earth radii. "In fact, at 1.6 Earth radii, this would place Kepler-452b in a category of planet called a 'Super-Earth' - our Solar System does not actually have any planet of this type within it! Super-Earths are hugely interesting for this reason, but one might then say, well, is it really 'Earth-like' given all this?" He added: "When we look at the type of star Kepler-452b orbits, then it seems to be a star not too dissimilar to our Sun... The other Kepler habitable zone planets that have been discovered so far tend to be orbiting M-dwarfs - stars far cooler than our Sun, and therefore the planets need to orbit much closer to receive the same levels of heating. "So it may be a potentially rocky super-Earth in an Earth-like orbit (in terms of host star and orbital distance). It's this combination of the host star and orbit that set it apart in my opinion." The findings have been accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal. Follow Paul on Twitter.
A haul of planets from Nasa's Kepler telescope includes a world sharing many characteristics with Earth.
33641648
[ 0, 2253, 7004, 857, 34, 19, 8, 167, 4030, 18, 2376, 4345, 780, 3, 5, 224, 296, 7, 33, 13 ]
Several species' vision was studied by an international team to identify this ultra-violet (UV) sensitivity. The findings, published in the journal Conservation Biology, claimed habitats and migration could be disrupted. The flashes, or corona, occur when charge builds up in a cable and is released into the air. The international team, including scientists from University College London and the Arctic University of Norway, measured the spectrum of light emitted by these bursts of charge. They worked out that although the light was invisible to us, it contained wavelengths seen by many other mammals. "Most mammals will let some [UV light] into their eye," explained UCL vision expert Prof Glen Jeffery, one of the lead researchers in this project. "We're weird - us and monkeys - because we don't see UV. Most animals do." The first animal to reveal its UV sensitivity was the reindeer. And, as the researchers explained, reindeers' avoidance of the power lines running across the Arctic tundra was part of the inspiration for this project. Dr Nicholas Tyler, the other lead author, said it had been assumed that rather than avoiding the power cables themselves, animals steered clear of passages cut in forested areas before pylons were installed. "Forest animals will not cross clear-cuts," he said. "But for us in the Arctic, avoidance of power lines is difficult to explain - there are no trees, yet the reindeer still avoid the power lines." The animals keep as much as 5km (3 miles) from either side of the cables. "This has been a mystery," Dr Tyler added. "We have now come up with a mechanism [to explain it]." This research required a detailed understanding of animal vision, which was where Prof Jeffery came in. Having discovered in 2011 that reindeer eyes were sensitive to UV light, Prof Jeffery went on to study the eyes of almost 40 mammal species, revealing all were UV-sensitive. Since, as the researchers added, coronas "happen on all power lines everywhere", the avoidance of the flashes could be having a global impact on wildlife. "It has always been assumed that power lines - masts and the cables strung between them - were passive structures standing immobile in the terrain, and therefore inoffensive for animals," said Dr Tyler. "As a result of this work, we now consider them as chains of flashing light stretching across the tundra in the winter darkness, and that's why the animals find them so offensive." The random and unpredictable nature of these flashes were particularly problematic, he added, as the animals could not easily adapt to them. Prof Jeffery said he hoped power companies would now consider ways to address the issue.
Animals around the world could be scared away from power cables because these give off UV flashes invisible to humans, scientists have said.
26548483
[ 0, 3, 9, 372, 13, 7004, 7463, 8, 2053, 13, 966, 1283, 954, 51, 1982, 3244, 3, 5, 8, 4768 ]
The Scots can reach the World Cup quarter-finals with a victory at St James' Park on Saturday. "In a World Cup you don't go out half-hearted to get through to the next game," said Visser. "I don't think any coach puts out a second string squad to do that against South Africa." Stuart Hogg continues at full-back and will be the only player to start the first three Pool B matches for Scotland. Fly-half Finn Russell is absent through injury and flanker John Hardie is not being risked after suffering a head knock in the opening win over Japan. Impressive performers Sean Maitland and Mark Bennett are left out, while experienced front-row duo Ross Ford and Alasdair Dickinson are on the bench. Gordon Reid, Richie Vernon, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne and Blair Cowan, who was called up in place of the injured Grant Gilchrist, are all in the match-day 22 for the first time at the tournament. "We've had three games in 10 days and the squad has been selected with 31 players to do the job," added Visser, a try-scorer in the win over USA. "We're expecting everyone to perform and we're going out to win the game tomorrow." Scotland top the group after two bonus-point victories, while the Springboks recovered from a surprise loss against Japan to demolish Samoa. The big-hitting Pacific Islanders are Scotland's final opponents before the knockout phase of the tournament. But Visser is only focused on the task ahead in Newcastle. "South Africa are a physical team and that generally comes out in the forwards because that's the way they like to play. But they have quality throughout the team," added the 28-year-old. "They've got a world class set of backs and some young players have come through really well recently. "They have a world class finisher in Bryan Habana as well, so they are incredibly dangerous. We'll keep an eye on Willie le Roux at the back as well - he's a handy player." South Africa: Willie le Roux; JP Pietersen, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Bryan Habana; Handre Pollard, Fourie du Preez (captain); Tendai Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis; Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager; Francois Louw, Schalk Burger, Duane Vermeulen. Replacements: Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane, Frans Malherbe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Willem Alberts, Ruan Pienaar, Pat Lambie, Jan Serfontein. Scotland: Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour, Richie Vernon, Matt Scott, Tim Visser, Duncan Weir, Greig Laidlaw, (capt), Gordon Reid, Fraser Brown, Willem Nel, Richie Gray, Jonny Gray, Josh Strauss, Blair Cowan, David Denton. Replacements: Ross Ford, Alasdair Dickinson, Jon Welsh, Tim Swinson, Ryan Wilson, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Peter Horne, Sean Lamont.
Winger Tim Visser insists Scotland are only thinking about beating South Africa and rejects the notion that the side is weakened by 10 changes.
34427234
[ 0, 8, 10711, 17, 7, 54, 1535, 8, 296, 4119, 2893, 18, 12406, 7, 28, 3, 9, 6224, 44, 472 ]
The final stretch of the $3.8bn (£3bn) pipeline is being built under a North Dakota reservoir. The Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes have filed a lawsuit against the pipeline, saying it endangers their drinking water. They also say the pipeline will damage sacred burial sites. The pipeline, when complete, is expected to transport about 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day from North Dakota to a terminal in Illinois, where it can be shipped to refineries. The developer, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) has completed most of the pipeline, and began work on the final section after the army gave it permission to proceed on Wednesday. The Standing Rock and Cheyenne River tribes asked for a temporary injunction against construction, pending a lawsuit against the pipeline. They argued that the pipeline would hurt their water supply, and prevent them from practicing religious ceremonies at the lake. However, developer ETP and the army argued against an emergency injunction, saying there was time for the lawsuit to be heard before oil began to flow through the pipeline. Construction on the pipeline had stalled for months due to opposition from protesters. Thousands of predominantly Native American protesters have demonstrated against the pipeline's construction and set up camps along the final stretch. Nearly 700 people have been arrested since protests first began last year, according to law enforcement officials. The Obama administration announced in September that it would not allow the project to proceed, but Donald Trump overturned the decision in one of his first acts as US president.
A US judge has rejected a request from two Native American tribes to halt construction on the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline.
38961986
[ 0, 8, 12045, 19, 271, 1192, 365, 3, 9, 21459, 16, 3457, 16711, 3, 5, 8, 14430, 7, 43, 5132 ]
Pakistan's telecoms regulator said the ban was no longer necessary because Google, which owns YouTube, had now launched a Pakistan-specific version. YouTube has denied claims that the authorities can filter content. Many young Pakistanis have welcomed the lifting of the ban but some activists want details of the deal with Google. They say there should be greater transparency of the terms agreed between Google and the government. A Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) official confirmed to the BBC that all internet service providers had been directed to open access to YouTube. The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd posted on its Facebook page on Monday: "Welcome Back YouTube". Pakistan's ministry of information technology said: "Google has provided an online web process through which requests for blocking access of offending material can be made by the PTA to Google directly. "Google/YouTube will accordingly restrict access to the said offending material for users within Pakistan." However, a YouTube spokeswoman said government requests for the removal of content would not automatically be granted. "We have clear community guidelines, and when videos violate those rules, we remove them," she said. "In addition, where we have launched YouTube locally and we are notified that a video is illegal in that country, we may restrict access to it after a thorough review." She said requests by governments for content to be removed would be recorded in YouTube's Transparency Report. Pakistan's ban on YouTube was imposed by the Supreme Court in 2012 after the US-made film Innocence of Muslims was uploaded. The amateur-made video was condemned in the Muslim world and sparked widespread protests for its mocking portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad. More than a dozen people died in protests in Pakistan. Blasphemy is a crime in Pakistan and can carry the death penalty, although such a sentence has not been carried out. Google revealed last week that it had launched local versions of YouTube for Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Pakistan has unblocked the video sharing site, YouTube, more than three years after it was banned for posting a video deemed insulting to Islam.
35345872
[ 0, 3, 9, 6697, 18, 9500, 988, 13, 5343, 65, 118, 3759, 57, 8, 789, 3, 5, 8, 4514, 47 ]
The 777-200, which was carrying 294 passengers from Paris to Vancouver, was diverted to Prestwick after taking off at 10:57 on Saturday. The airline said the plane landed "normally" at 13:20 local time. Air France added that it had sent a second aircraft to Prestwick in order to fly the passengers back to Charles de Gaulle Airport on Saturday. In a statement, it said: "Air France confirms that flight AF374 operating from Paris CDG to Vancouver on 15 July, 2017, was diverted to Glasgow Prestwick where it landed normally. "Following the appearance of a slight smell of burning on board, the cabin crew, trained for this kind of situation, took the necessary precaution and diverted to the closest airport."
An Air France passenger jet has made an emergency landing at Prestwick Airport after fumes were detected on board.
40619441
[ 0, 8, 3, 26225, 18, 3632, 47, 6771, 204, 4240, 9234, 45, 1919, 12, 11680, 3, 5, 8, 6112, 3 ]
Doris has been recovered, said Wrexham police inspector Paul Wycherley, who tweeted that two suspects had been arrested following a chase on foot. Doris, Blessing and Wheely Good Sheep were painted by schoolchildren and placed on St Giles Way this month. Website Wrexham.com said they were installed to mark the Tour of Britain cycle race being held in the area soon.
Two people have been arrested after one of three newly installed sheep sculptures was stolen in Wrexham.
34107788
[ 0, 6200, 159, 6, 272, 924, 53, 11, 10707, 63, 1804, 451, 15, 102, 130, 7445, 57, 496, 25782, 3 ]
Patients often die before their 40s as mucus clogs and damages their lungs and leaves them prone to infection. A major trial on 1,108 patients, in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed a combination of drugs could bypass the genetic errors that cause the disease and may increase life expectancy. The Cystic Fibrosis Trust said it could "improve the lives of many". One in every 2,500 babies in the UK has cystic fibrosis. Errors in sufferers' DNA - inherited from their parents - damage the microscopic machinery that controls salt and water levels in the linings of the lungs. The result is a thick mucus that inexorably damages the lungs. Antibiotics help prevent infection and drugs can loosen the mucus, but nothing deals with the fundamental problem for most patients. The combination of drugs - lumacaftor and ivacaftor - were designed to repair that microscopic machinery. The trial showed that those patients given the cocktail for 24 weeks had better lung function. Cystic fibrosis also affects the mucus lining in the gut so the doctors were pleased to see the patients also gained weight in the trial. Prof Stuart Elborn, who led the European part of the trial from Queen's University Belfast, told the BBC News website: "This is very exciting and it really demonstrates that we can correct the basic defects in cystic fibrosis. "This is likely to become a fundamental treatment for cystic fibrosis. "Starting in children may prevent the disease process developing if we correct the basic defect early in life. "Will this improve survival for people with cystic fibrosis? We would anticipate it would have a really good chance of doing that, but we don't know for sure yet." There are however, many types of error in the DNA that can culminate in cystic fibrosis. This treatment combination should work on around half of patients, while one of the drugs on its own corrects a small proportion of errors. New treatments are still required for the remaining patients. Susanna McColley, professor of paediatrics at Northwestern University, said these were "groundbreaking findings" that showed the future of treating cystic fibrosis. She told the BBC: "For subjects I've cared for, they felt better in ways that are not necessarily measurable. "One young woman said, and this is a direct quote, her CF 'is not a problem'." Janet Allen, the director of research at the Cystic Fibrosis Trust charity, said: "These results open up a new front in the fight against cystic fibrosis and this combination therapy looks set to be an important additional treatment option that could improve the lives of many. "As this leading edge of science continues to be explored and better understood, we are hopeful that a future of personalised medicines is increasingly within reach." The therapy is being examined by regulators around the world.
A "groundbreaking" cystic fibrosis therapy could profoundly improve patients' quality of life, say doctors.
32755065
[ 0, 3, 9, 779, 3689, 30, 1914, 16169, 1221, 3217, 3, 9, 2711, 13, 4845, 228, 20720, 6472, 6854, 3 ]
Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) figures show medics spent 32,000 hours waiting at A&E departments in 2015-16 compared with 16,000 in 2014-15. YAS said waiting time "was one of the most significant issues" it faced. A shortage of available hospital beds has been given as one of the problems causing knock-on delays at A&E. Dr David Macklin, Executive Director of Operations at YAS, said handover waiting times were "a system problem" for the NHS, not just in Yorkshire, and said blame could not be attached to individual hospitals. "We have numerous occasions where we have multiple vehicles queued at hospitals," he said. "Emergency departments across Yorkshire are working incredibly hard to manage their demand and that means sometimes ambulances are queuing. "Patients who are not seriously injured may need to wait." Professor Keith Willett from NHS England said the increase in waiting times was "concerning" and added there were "a multitude of reasons" for the rise. "One of the biggest problems is the pressure on the beds in the hospital," he said. "That's because the hospitals are finding it increasingly difficult to move patients and their care back into the community." The figures were supplied after a Freedom of Information request by the BBC. Just five hospitals - one each in East, South and West Yorkshire and two in North Yorkshire - accounted for about 70% of the total waiting time. The handover time is counted only after 15 minutes have elapsed at A&E. The number of hours spent by the YAS to handover patients was about 12,000 In 2013-14 and about 16,000 in 2014-15. Hull Royal Infirmary (East Yorkshire) 6,436 Northern General (Sheffield, South Yorkshire) 4,329 Pinderfields (Wakefield, West Yorkshire) 3,954 Scarborough District General 3,831 York District Hospital 3,384
The length of time ambulance crews spend waiting to hand over patients at hospital accident and emergency units in Yorkshire has doubled in a year.
38147542
[ 0, 3, 63, 3291, 845, 2794, 97, 19, 80, 13, 8, 167, 1516, 807, 3, 5, 3, 9, 16316, 13 ]
Jamal Kiyemba, a Ugandan, was arrested with the the help of US officials in the capital on Tuesday, police added. Prosecutor Joan Kagezi was shot dead on 30 March, a day before the trial of men accused of involvement in bombings. Mr Kiyemba, a former UK resident, was freed from Guantanamo Bay in 2006 without being charged with any offence. For the latest news, views and analysis see the BBC Africa Live page. He was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 for alleged links with al-Qaeda, and later transferred to the controversial US-run detention centre in Cuba. "There was an operation which we carried out with our counter-terrorism team because we suspect that Jamal Kiyemba and his colleagues have been involved in some form of criminality," Ugandan police spokesman Fred Enanga told Associated Press news agency. There was no conclusive evidence to link him to Ms Kagazi's killing, but he was being questioned about his possible role in her murder and in other crimes, he added. Gunmen on a motorbike shot dead Ms Kagezi in a suburb of Kampala. She was prosecuting 13 men accused of being linked to suicide bombings which killed 76 people in Kampala in 2010. The US deported Mr Kiyemba to Uganda after the UK refused to take him back. He had lived in the UK for eight years before travelling to Pakistan. US President Barack Obama has promised to shut the Guatanamo Bay detention centre because of concerns of widespread human rights abuses.
An ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee has been arrested in Uganda for questioning over his possible role in the killing of a top prosecutor, police say.
32220368
[ 0, 3, 9, 1798, 1270, 8141, 47, 339, 26, 45, 2846, 288, 152, 265, 32, 2474, 16, 3581, 3, 5 ]
It is a decision that has been well telegraphed in recent months, with both agency officials and industry chiefs expressing their doubts that all the hardware could be made ready in time. The aim of the mission is to land a rover on the Red Planet. Capable of drilling up to 2m below the surface, it would search for signs of past or present life. It is the second part of the so-called ExoMars programme. The first part - a satellite to study the atmosphere of the planet - was launched successfully in March and should arrive in October. But the surface robot will now follow four years behind, instead of two (planetary alignment dictates that the most efficient launch opportunities become available at 26-month intervals). The announcement of the launch slip was issued by the European Space Agency (Esa) on Monday. Russian engineers have been struggling for a while to keep their design for the vehicle's landing mechanism on the 2018 timeline, and in Europe, too, some components and instruments were considered to have very little margin in their development schedule. A "tiger team" set up by Esa and the Russian space agency (Roscosmos), and which included European and Russian industries, could find no solutions to recover lost time. Rolf de Groot is head of Esa's Robotic Exploration Coordination Office. He told BBC News: "It is not only the components of the spacecraft; it's several of the instruments. "What we have been doing lately is seeing if we could shorten the assembly, integration and testing (AIT) phase to something that would be acceptable from a risk point of view, but still make the 2018 launch. "Very recently, we have concluded that this is not possible without adding a large amount of additional risk to an already risky mission. So, we decided the only responsible thing to do was move to the 2020 launch date." For European scientists and engineers who have been working on the rover concept, such delay has become part and parcel of the endeavour. First envisaged as a small technology demonstration mission, the robot vehicle was approved by European nations back in 2005, with a launch first pencilled in for 2011. Then, as ambitions grew and the design was beefed up, the start date was put back. At first, it was shifted to 2013, but further problems saw slippage to 2016, and then again to 2018. At the root of the ExoMars rover's problems has been the lack of a full and proper budget to carry it through. At one stage, in 2009, Esa decided to join forces with America to try to make it happen, only to see Nasa walk away three years later when its priorities changed. That could have killed the project there and then, but for an offer from the Russians to fill the partnership position vacated by the US. Nonetheless, as events have now shown, there has been insufficient time to recast the mission. And the money issue has not gone away. Indeed, it now becomes a bigger problem. Already, there is a shortfall in the required budget for the rover on the European side. With the additional delay of two years, this deficit only increases. Esa and the two biggest European space companies - Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space - are in the final stages of agreeing a price to build rover. They are at odds over the figure in euros, but the aim is to get the negotiations done before a meeting of member state delegations in June. It is at this council gathering that Esa officials will set out a new path for the project. One intention is to continue apace with European preparations, and then store all hardware for a year before the last stages of AIT. This would mitigate some of the additional costs that come from maintaining large teams. The two nations most invested in ExoMars are Italy and the UK, with Britain charged with assembling the rover. Airbus Defence and Space has recently built a cleanroom at its Stevenage facilities north of London to perform this task. If there is one positive to come out of the delay it is that the list of potential landing sites will now lengthen. The particular flight parameters of a 2019 arrival at Mars limited the rover to really only one destination - Oxia Planum. An arrival two years later opens up the possibility of reaching other targets of high science interest. [email protected] and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
As expected, the European and Russian space agencies have delayed their next mission to Mars from 2018 to 2020.
36186828
[ 0, 8, 2253, 19, 12, 1322, 3, 9, 3, 52, 1890, 30, 8, 1131, 4345, 3, 5, 34, 133, 960 ]
The shortlist for this year's St David Awards, which will be presented on 10 March, has been announced. They acknowledge extraordinary achievements, with categories including citizenship, culture and sport. In the bravery category, Peter Fuller was nominated for stepping in to stop a machete attack in Mold in January 2015. Matthew James from Pontypridd is also nominated for shielding his partner from bullets during last summer's Tunisia terror attacks.
A man who intervened in a machete attack and a holidaymaker who shielded his fiancee from terrorists have been nominated for awards.
35362836
[ 0, 710, 3350, 21, 48, 215, 31, 7, 6120, 56, 36, 2569, 30, 335, 10556, 3, 5, 79, 8406, 9468 ]
In 2014, the largest colony of the rare seabirds was at Winterton, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk but the birds have since moved north to Sea Palling. Two years ago there were 300 pairs of the rare seabird. This year there are just 190 pairs at Sea Palling. The RSPB said the species is declining. Little terns travel 3,000 miles from west Africa to breed on the UK coast but, according to the RSPB, the numbers returning to the UK have declined by between 30-50% since last year. It said the site near Sea Palling is still the country's largest colony, despite the significant drop in numbers. Fabienne Fossez, the Little Tern warden for RSPB East Norfolk, said: "We're extremely concerned, it's a species in decline and they are in real trouble. "What we don't know is what goes on out in west Africa in the winter but it is something to do with the climate, weather and food. "Nevertheless, we have a really good success story here near Sea Palling, despite all of the odds." Ms Fossez said 380 chicks have hatched at the east Norfolk site since mid May. Her team has been maintaining a 24-hour surveillance of the colony in order to protect the birds. But she said the breeding birds have not had the same level of success elsewhere. "The little terns have had a really difficult time this year," she said. "On the north Norfolk coast they were completely washed out at the beginning of June. We were protected here on the east coast and we are fortunate that there are just little terns nesting here."
Wildlife conservators have said they are "extremely concerned" that the number of little terns nesting in the UK's biggest breeding colony dropped by almost half in a year.
36916446
[ 0, 8, 3400, 2805, 9414, 7, 43, 2301, 3457, 12, 2805, 4826, 697, 3, 5, 8, 353, 1084, 2805, 7692 ]
He was speaking in a BBC interview in which he paid tribute to the Queen on the eve of her 90th birthday. She had been a "guiding example" of what a good monarch should be, he said. Meanwhile, a picture of the Queen, the Prince of Wales, Prince William and Prince George, for stamps to mark the monarch's birthday, has been released. The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, met staff and viewed an exhibition at Windsor's Royal Mail delivery office in the first of a series of events to mark her birthday on Thursday. Text and video coverage of the day's events 'Super fans' turn out to glimpse Queen in Windsor In pictures: The Queen at 90 in 90 images BBC - iWonder - Queen Elizabeth II- Britain’s longest reigning monarch Full coverage: Queen at 90 Her visit marked the 500th anniversary of the postal service and she was welcomed with singing from the Royal Mail choir. The royals then headed to Alexandra Gardens in the town for a ceremony to officially open a new bandstand and met pupils from the six schools involved in its decoration. The children also sang Happy Birthday. Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn were among the political leaders who said they were looking forward to wishing the Queen a happy birthday, at Prime Minister's Questions. Mr Cameron said Thursday was an "important landmark", adding the monarch had served the nation with "dignity". In an interview with BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell, Prince William said: "The Queen's duty and her service, her tolerance, her commitment to others - I think that's all been incredibly important to me and it's been a real guiding example of just what a good monarch could be." The prince's own commitment to royal duty has been questioned in recent months, with headlines in some newspapers referring to him as "work-shy William". He said he did not ignore such criticisms but did not take them completely to heart. "I take duty very seriously. I take my responsibilities very seriously. But it's about finding your own way at the right time and if you're not careful duty can sort of weigh you down an awful lot at a very early age and I think you've got to develop into the duty role," he said. He said both his father and grandmother fully supported the fact that he was not yet fully engaged with royal duties, but when the time came to accept more responsibility he would do so. 'I don't lie awake waiting to be king'- full Prince William interview BBC deputy royal correspondent Sarah Campbell The recent headlines about William being a "work shy" prince signalled a change in the relationship between the prince and a press pack who, up until now, have rarely criticised him. In the BBC's interview, it was interesting to see his response. He accepts that he will be criticised "but it's not something I take completely to heart". An indication that negative headlines are likely to be par for the course in his role as a future heir but won't necessarily influence his decisions. It was clear that his priority remains trying to live as normal a life as possible for as long as possible, both for the sake of his wife and children but also himself. There was also a rare insight into what kind of monarch he plans to be. When asked about the different approach to public life taken by his father as opposed to the Queen his response was that the latter was "the best role model I could have in front of me". Full details of Queen's birthday celebrations Ten stamps have been released to celebrate the Queen's birthday, including a stamp sheet featuring four generations of the Royal Family. The picture of the Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George was taken at Buckingham Palace last year. Six further stamps have been released for the head of state's 90th birthday, three focusing on the Queen's family life and three honouring her official role. On her actual birthday, on Thursday, the Queen and Prince Philip will walk around Windsor and unveil a plaque marking The Queen's Walkway, a 6.3km self-guided walking trail connecting 63 points of significance. It was designed to recognise the moment the monarch broke the record on 9 September 2015 held by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria by being on the throne for 63 years and seven months. In the evening, she will light a beacon setting in train a series of more than 900 beacons across the UK and around the world to mark the milestone birthday. On Friday, US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will join the Queen for lunch at Windsor Castle. Britain's longest-serving monarch celebrates two birthdays each year, her actual birthday on 21 April and her official birthday on a Saturday in June. Republic said the Queen's birthday "does not warrant this kind of coverage" and that the BBC had a "duty to report, not to celebrate the royals". Graham Smith, the republican pressure group's CEO, added that the BBC had "failed completely" to report the birthday in a way that was "fair, balanced and proportionate".
Prince William has answered criticism of his commitment to royal duties, saying he is willing to take on more responsibility when the time comes.
36086291
[ 0, 8, 14915, 1736, 871, 11, 3, 4931, 46, 4473, 44, 24812, 31, 7, 11268, 4842, 1929, 828, 3, 5 ]
Conservative critics had tabled a proposal to let heterosexual couples enter into civil partnerships, if gay couples were allowed to get married. This was defeated by 375 votes to 70 after a five-hour Commons debate. Instead, MPs backed a Labour plan to consult on changing civil partnerships - a move criticised by some Tory MPs. Speaking in the House of Commons, Culture Secretary Maria Miller thanked other parties for their "unwavering support" for the principles of the same-sex Marriage Bill and said a review of civil partnerships could take place "very swiftly". Labour said the review could potentially take place within the next few months - enabling its findings to be reflected in the final legislation - but one Conservative MP described the sequence of events as a "grubby deal". By Nick RobinsonPolitical editor MPs gave their support in principle to gay marriage in February but are now discussing proposed amendments on Monday and Tuesday amid calls from some Conservatives for the government to focus on other priorities. The bill is being debated over two days, with its third reading - the final hurdle in the Commons - on Tuesday. If approved, it will go to the House of Lords on Wednesday, where it is expected to face further opposition. David Cameron has said equal marriage would help build a stronger and fairer society but nearly half of all Tories voted against it in February and many party activists remain deeply opposed to it in principle. The bill's fresh scrutiny by MPs comes amid other divisions within the Conservative Party on Europe and attitudes towards the party's grassroots. MPs get a free vote on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill because it is considered an issue of conscience and many Conservative MPs spoke out against the principle of gay marriage. Former defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth said the plans were "divisive" and suggested there were are plenty of people "in the aggressive homosexual community who see this as but a stepping stone to something even further". A group of Tory MPs, led by former Conservative minister Tim Loughton, attempted to amend the bill, with a plan to extend civil partnerships - which came into force in 2005 - to heterosexual couples. Mr Loughton rejected claims the move was a "wrecking" measure, arguing that the extension of civil partnerships to co-habiting heterosexuals would address a "glaring inequality" in the current proposals as well as encouraging family stability. "If this amendment is passed, it will remove some of the anomalies and flaws in this bill and make the bill more palatable." He warned about any review on civil partnerships being "kicked into the long grass", adding that Parliament "was in danger of being party to a last minute stitch-up between the frontbenches". Ministers initially agreed that the status of civil partnerships should be reconsidered by 2019, with the scope to do it sooner if approved by Parliament. Ms Miller told MPs there were "fundamental policy" issues that needed to be considered with "financial implications", such as pension entitlements for heterosexual civil partners, widows and widowers. But while it would not be "responsible" to legislate at the moment, she said she respected the strong views on the matter in Parliament and would back calls for an immediate review. It was initially suggested Labour's equalities team might support Mr Loughton's amendment but it later put forward its own compromise proposal for an immediate consultation. "We are certainly anxious to do all we can to ensure that same-sex marriages arrives as swiftly as possible on the statute book," shadow equalities minister Kate Green said. "We would not want to see anything put that ambition in jeopardy." Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said it was his party's position to extend civil partnerships to everybody, irrespective of their sexuality but the current bill could not be derailed. Without holding a formal vote, MPs approved plans to hold an immediate review after the leadership of all three parties backed it. While failing in their attempts to amend the legislation in any form, Conservative MPs voiced their concerns in large numbers on a range of issues. A proposal which would have allowed civil registrars to opt out of presiding over gay marriages on grounds of conscience was backed by 150 MPs - including Cabinet ministers Iain Duncan Smith and Owen Paterson - although 340 voted against. In a subsequent vote, 148 MPs supported an amendment to protect the religious beliefs of a person who believes that marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman but 349 MPs voted against. Stonewall, which campaigns for equality for gay, lesbian and bisexual people, said it would be a "terrible pity" if the legislation got "bogged down" and urged MPs from all parties not to "play politics" with it. Under the bill, the Church of England and the Church in Wales would be banned from offering same-sex marriages because of their strongly stated opposition, unless they changed canon law. Other religious organisations would be able to "opt in" to holding ceremonies. There are currently no plans for similar legislation in Northern Ireland, but there are already plans for a bill to allow same-sex marriage in Scotland. The UK debate comes the week after France became the ninth European country, and 14th in the world, legalise gay marriage. Earlier this month Rhode Island became the 10th US state to allow same-sex marriages.
Plans to legalise gay marriage in England and Wales are to proceed unimpeded in Parliament after ministers reached agreement with Labour.
22588954
[ 0, 3, 22954, 11839, 12, 2861, 16, 3, 9, 874, 18, 5842, 5054, 16, 8, 1017, 7, 3, 5, 68 ]
The raids destroyed nine militant positions in the Tirah Valley in Khyber district, the military said. The strikes came after the Taliban stormed Karachi airport, in an attack that killed at least 30 people. The Pakistani Taliban said Sunday's assault was in revenge for the killing of their leader last year. "Nine terrorist hideouts were destroyed by early morning military air strikes near the Pakistan-Afghan border," the military said in a statement on Tuesday. The Khyber tribal region, near the Pakistan-Afghan border, is believed to be a base for several militant groups and foreign fighters. It is not clear when the air strikes took place or which militant group was targeted, the BBC's Shahzeb Jillani in Islamabad reports. Late on Sunday, 10 heavily armed Taliban fighters attacked an area of Karachi's Jinnah international airport used mainly for cargo and private flights. Security forces gained control in the early hours of Monday. The airport reopened late on Monday. Officials said at least 29 people were killed in the fighting which raged from Sunday into Monday, including all the militants. On Tuesday, officials said nine more bodies had been recovered from the airport. The number included seven bodies found in the airport's cold storage facility. Officials said they were charred beyond recognition. There were reports that the bodies belonged to a group of airport employees who were trapped in the facility after taking refuge from the attack. Pakistan has been fighting an Islamist insurgency for more than a decade, with the Pakistani Taliban the main militant grouping. The airport attack came against the backdrop of a major split in the Pakistani Taliban, and threats of retaliation following limited military operations against foreign militants in North Waziristan. The brazen attack has brought the government of the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, under renewed pressure to order tough action against the Taliban militants, says the BBC's Shahzeb Jillani. The Pakistan government began peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban in March, but little progress has been made and the violence has continued, with Karachi a frequent target. Correspondents say that given the violence, it seems clear that any pretence at a peace process is now over.
The Pakistani military has carried out air strikes in tribal areas in the north-west of the country, killing at least 15 militants, officials say.
27775071
[ 0, 8, 15941, 7, 10932, 4169, 20026, 4655, 16, 8, 2262, 52, 9, 107, 3460, 6, 8, 2716, 845, 3 ]
The win would normally be an indicator of Oscar success as the Directors Guild recipient nearly always goes on to claim the same prize at Hollywood's biggest night. But Affleck missed out on an Oscar directing nomination. "I don't think that this makes me a real director, but I think it means I'm on my way," said Affleck of the win. In Argo, set amidst the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, Affleck also plays the lead role of a CIA agent entrusted with extracting six Americans from the country after the US embassy was stormed. While Affleck was overlooked by the Academy for his directing role, the film has dominated other awards since the Oscar nominations, winning best director and best film at the Golden Globes and at the Critics Choice Awards. Last weekend, Argo was victorious at both the Producers Guild and the Screen Actors Guild awards, leaving Steven Spielberg's Civil War-era epic Lincoln in its wake. Many of the film professionals who vote in guild awards also cast ballots for the Oscars, so recognition from the DGA further seals Argo's status as best-picture front-runner at the Oscars on 24 February. Only six times in the DGA's history has the winner failed to take the Oscar for best director. This will be the seventh, as Affleck missed out on an Academy nomination, along with several other key favourites, including fellow Directors Guild contenders Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty and Tom Hooper for Les Miserables. Backstage at the DGA ceremony on Saturday, Affleck said he had nothing but respect for the Academy, adding that "you're not entitled to anything." "I'm thrilled and honoured that the Academy nominated me as a producer of the movie," he said. "I know our movie, we're a little bit underdog and a little bit the little engine that could, and you take me out of it maybe helps ... it's just about that picture. I feel like it's OK, I'm really lucky, I'm in a good place." Among the other DGA winners were Searching for Sugar Man director Malik Bendjelloul, who won the guild's documentary award for his study of the obscure singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriquez. The film also is nominated for best documentary at the Oscars. Lena Dunham won the TV comedy directing prize for Girls, about the lives of a group of girls in their 20s, while Rian Johnson won in the drama series series category for Breaking Bad. Milos Forman, who directed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, was honoured with a lifetime-achievement award. The 65th Annual DGA Awards, hosted by Kelsey Grammer, were held at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles.
Ben Affleck has won the top film honour from the Directors Guild of America for his Iran hostage drama, Argo.
21312893
[ 0, 2090, 11, 2090, 13, 8, 2090, 31, 7, 814, 1533, 839, 751, 8, 3, 26243, 2760, 3, 5, 2090 ]
Growing up in diamond-rich eastern Sierra Leone, it was the natural thing to do. Jobs were, and still are, few and far between, so the gemstones were a magnet. They persuaded many to drop out of school, but I worked as a miner mostly during school holidays and sometimes at weekends. The Kono District was densely populated because the sparkling stones could be found virtually everywhere, sometimes through sheer luck. My parents joined thousands of people from across the country, as well as The Gambia, Mali, Senegal and even Lebanon, to go to Kono in the hope of making a quick fortune. Blistered palms I grew up there and my work as a miner was hard. I dug the river beds for gravel and extracted the often muddy earth looking for diamonds. The pickaxes and shovels would blister my palms and the sieve would harden or even deaden my fingers, often breaking my fingernails. And because I had to also lift sacks full of dry red tropical gravel, my head and neck were almost always in pain. Diamond deposits were sometimes so close to the surface in parts of Kono that it was common for people to pick up tiny gemstones that had been loosened by a heavy downpour. I found a tiny stone once or twice in my birthplace, Bumpeh. I did not know their true worth, but got enough money to see me through for about a week. 1. Cullinan Diamond, found in South Africa in 1905, weighed 3,107 carats 2. Lesedi La Rona, found in Botswana in 2015, weighed 1,111 carats 3. Excelsior Diamond, found in South Africa in 1893, weighed 995 carats 4. Star of Sierra Leone, found in Sierra Leone in 1972, weighed 969 carats 5. Incomparable Diamond, found in DR Congo in 1984, weighed 890 carats Source: Mathew Nyaungwa, Rough and Polished After doing my school-leaving exams, I took to full-scale mining to help pay for my university studies. Apart from mining in Kono, I also went to Tongo Fields in neighbouring Kenema District. There, I discovered that the life of an artisanal miner was like that of an indentured labourer. Diamond diggers generally had two layers of sponsorship, and still do. The Group of Geng, or Gang, is what the diggers are called. In language which harks back to the days of slavery, each group has a Master who looks over them. He is also in charge of providing food, accommodation and medicine. But when I was there, conditions were such that only one square meal a day was assured - and please do not ask how the sauce tasted. We often slept on the floor of a room or veranda, with bedbugs and mosquitoes biting us in turns. As for health care, Panadol was all we would get if we fell ill. Then there was the Supporter - the person who would provide the funds for the Master. We rarely got to know him personally. He tended to be a big businessman or diamond dealer, and he provided us with tools and monthly allowances. Like me, most diggers did not know - and still do not know - the real value of their diamonds. So, it was easy for the Master and the Supporter to connive and dupe us about the price. There is a group known as Gado Geng. They prefer to sponsor themselves and sell their diamonds on their own. But my three-member team had a Master. We worked on a licensed plot. However, one day, we went to do illicit mining at an abandoned site belonging to the then state-owned National Diamond Mining Company. Two of us were on the sieve, the third shovelling the pile of gravel. I was busy shaking the sieve under the water to wash the mud off the stones. Then I saw a sparkling object right in the middle of the sieve. I was not sure if it was a diamond or corundum, a sparkling stone that has little value. I brought up the sieve, to be sure. I went straight to the spot to try to separate it from the rest of the stones and sand. My heart pounded. I excitedly muttered to my colleagues: "Na diamond," a Krio phrase for "It's a diamond". I made sure that I did not say it loudly for fear that someone in the distance would hear me. My colleague, Yarpo, dropped the bucket and shovel to verify my find. He agreed that it was a diamond. We flung the tools away and dashed into the tall swampy grass. We then fled before anyone could catch us. Obviously, we kept our Master in the dark and sold the two-carat diamond to a local dealer for 100,000 leone. I am not sure how many US dollars that was worth in 1991, but it was a lot of money. I was the youngest, but the other two diggers treated me fairly. We split the money, and they gave me 34,000 leone, a little more than my share. Unlike many other diamond diggers, I did not waste any of it on buying brightly-coloured sneakers, jeans, shirts or cassette players. I had a clear idea what I was going to do with it - pay my first year university fee of around 24,000 leone. Dream fulfilled As I was still awaiting my school exam results, I gave the money to my aunt to add to her capital and do some business. I went back to concentrate on mining, but it turned out to be the last time that fortune would smile on me as a digger. I always wanted to become a journalist as I was born with the BBC World Service blaring in our home. My dad, who never went to school, was addicted to it. And there were old newspapers and magazines lined up under his mattress and piled up elsewhere in his tiny bedroom. However, Sierra Leone's Fourah Bay College did not offer journalism at the time. So, my instinct told me to study English and French for an international edge. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and went on to work as journalist. Like me, my children have grown up with the BBC World Service , except that my voice is among the voices that they hear.
In my teens, I worked as an artisanal miner, waist deep in water, sieving the gravel to find a diamond.
39478462
[ 0, 2000, 52, 435, 5103, 12906, 16, 8, 3, 29736, 3, 11557, 16, 8, 13350, 1719, 13, 8, 684, 3 ]
The cabinet considered an urgent report on Tuesday and voted to remove the section from the pavilion to the seaward end. The report said because of the risk of further collapse, the council could not wait for consent to begin work, as is usually the case for a listed building. Work on the "dangerous" structure is expected to take about three weeks. Parts of the Grade ll pier, which was already closed to the public when it gave way on 1 February, will be saved, catalogued and stored. Iwan Davies, chief executive of the council, told the meeting: "The dangerous nature of the structure means dismantling it is dangerous." Up to £650,000 has been set aside for the work but councillors were told there was no way of knowing how much it would cost.
Part of Colwyn Bay pier is to be dismantled after it collapsed into the sea, Conwy council has decided.
38966888
[ 0, 8, 4566, 1099, 7, 46, 10839, 934, 11, 3, 11060, 12, 2036, 8, 1375, 45, 8, 28407, 3, 5 ]
Tanks were seen on the streets and explosions could be heard throughout the day in Libya's second-biggest city. General Khalifa Haftar, who accuses the government of supporting terrorism, began an assault against Islamist fighters in the city last month. The government in Tripoli says Gen Haftar has no authority to act, but several army units have joined him. The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says a battalion within one of the biggest rival militias has also defected to join the general. The clashes on Sunday were said to have been some of the worst since Gen Haftar began his offensive against Islamists, dubbed "Operation Dignity," in May. Residents told the BBC that explosions could be heard across the city intermittently for several hours. An electricity plant was also hit by rockets, causing power outages in large parts of Benghazi. Many residents who live in the area where the fighting erupted fled their homes to stay with relatives or friends in quieter neighbourhoods. The number of casualties remains unclear but doctors in the city said at least six people had been killed and a dozen more injured. A spokesman for Gen Haftar's force told local media that they had seized several senior Islamists as part of their offensive, but this could not be independently verified. Since launching his offensive, Gen Haftar has rallied support from the public and members of the security forces. He survived an assassination attempt earlier in June after a suicide bomb attack on his home in the town of Abyar, about 60km (37 miles) east of Benghazi. Libya is still in turmoil three years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, with political, religious and political factions locked in disagreement about the country's future. Profile: General Khalifa Haftar
Fresh clashes broke out in Benghazi on Sunday after a rogue general launched a fresh assault on Islamist militants.
27862365
[ 0, 3, 9, 3795, 17, 9, 7325, 441, 80, 13, 8, 2630, 8374, 31428, 7, 65, 15595, 15, 26, 12 ]
Kaori Okuni, one of the women campaigning for change, said the ruling would lead to "suffering for those who plan to marry and those who are set to be born". Most women in Japan end up taking their husband's surname, a practice set to continue after Wednesday's ruling. But what do other countries do? In most well-populated countries, women are free to change their surname on marrying, if they wish. Many go further than that, putting in place laws stating that women do not have to change their names. France's law has been in place since the 18th century but, much like in Italy, there is some flexibility allowing wives to use their husband's surnames in an informal way. On all official paperwork, however, the maiden name must remain. The laws are much tougher in Greece and Quebec. In Greece, you must petition a court for a name change, and in Quebec, even if they wanted to, a wife cannot take her husband's surname at any point. In Iceland, women keep their maiden names after marriage. A surname is derived from a father's first name - so Bjork, Gudmund's daughter, becomes Bjork Gudmundsdottir - or, in certain circumstances, the mother's. A similar pattern is also followed in Ethiopia and Eritrea, where there is no concept of surnames as known in many Western countries. At birth, people are given one name, that is then followed by the father's name then the grandfather's name. Even after marrying, women retain their original three names. Could the Avatar actress Zoe Saldana and her husband Marco Perego - now Marco Saldana - be trend setters? The couple announced the move earlier this year, with Mrs Saldana calling her husband "a man who stood by change". In one case from 2012, however, a Mississippi man needed the help of the American Civil Liberties Union to take his wife's surname, having initially been prevented from changing the name on his driving licence. And in France, a change in the law now allows men to take their wife's surname - the first case was registered in Lyon in 2012, but only after seven attempts to do so were denied, despite the amendment.
Japan's Supreme Court has ruled that all married couples must have the same surname, despite concerns that the practice is discriminatory and archaic.
35110867
[ 0, 887, 16, 2662, 2837, 33, 339, 12, 483, 70, 244, 4350, 30, 20111, 53, 6, 3, 99, 79, 1663 ]
Helen Smith, who lives in Deal with her British husband and their two children, applied for a new visa last September. But she is still waiting for officials to return her passport, and said her plea to speed up the process after her grandfather's death was rejected. UKBA said applicants could not be given updates within the first six months. Mrs Smith said not being able to attend her grandfather's funeral had been "devastating". "You've got the support of your family but you just want to be there with them and go through the whole grief and saying goodbye with them," she said. She had sent a fax to the Border Agency outlining the situation, but did not receive a reply. Her husband, Ross Smith, said: "I expected an answer that day because of the severity of what had happened - somebody had actually died. "So somebody must've picked that fax up... and we got nothing, so that was as low as it gets in my eyes." Charlie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover and Deal, said he was taking up Mrs Smith's case with the immigration minister. "In cases like this, clearly it should be fast-tracked and what they need to do is take a more risk-based approach," he said. The UKBA website informs applicants that "you do not need to contact us to check the progress of your application". "We will contact you as soon as a decision has been made or if we require further information. "Our staff cannot provide any information about your application if you applied less than six months ago." Mrs Smith said she was still hoping to fly to New Zealand for the scattering of her grandfather's ashes.
A New Zealand woman living in Kent has claimed the UK Border Agency (UKBA) prevented her from travelling to the funeral of her grandfather in Auckland.
21286776
[ 0, 12249, 3931, 2930, 21, 3, 9, 126, 8359, 336, 16022, 18247, 3, 5, 68, 255, 19, 341, 2794, 21 ]
The firm announced it had switched on its service in 130 additional countries. It said it was still trying to expand to China. The other exceptions are North Korea, Syria and Crimea, where it is banned from operating by US law. The announcement was made by the firm's chief executive Reed Hastings at his keynote speech at the CES tech show in Las Vegas. He also confirmed that Netflix would begin offering HDR (high dynamic range) content later this year. The company's shares closed the day more than 9% higher. "We were expecting Netflix to go everywhere, but this has happened more quickly than we thought," commented Fernando Elizalde from the tech consultancy Gartner. "Until now, the firm had been doing it in phased stages because of the costs of marketing and dubbing or subtitling the content. "But it's worth remembering that in some of the emerging economies it will only be people in urban areas that will be able to use it because of limited internet availability." Mr Hastings said Netflix was in talks with the Chinese government, but acknowledged it would take time to reach an agreement. "It's a very large country, you know a billion Chinese that we want to give access to the Netflix content," he said. "In China you need specific permission from the government to operate, so we are continuing to work on that and we are very patient." But one company watcher had doubts. "China is going to be a tough nut to crack given that that three strong domestic services already exist," said Mike Goodman from Strategy Analytics. As part of its expansion, Netflix has added support for Korean, Chinese and Arabic to its list of supported languages. That brings the total number - in which the firm provides subtitles, captions and alternative audio - to 21 languages. Mr Hastings added that Netflix would initially focus on expanding the reach of its existing content rather than commissioning extra locally-made shows. For consumers who already have Netflix, the biggest change may be the addition of HDR. High dynamic range video allows compatible TVs to show millions more colours and a wider dynamic range - added shades of brightness in between black and white - letting more detail be shown. Many experts believe the impact is greater than that of just jumping from 1080p to 4K ultra-high definition resolution alone. One consequence of using the format, however, is that it requires more data, and few TVs support it yet. Mr Hastings said users with compatible TVs should get a "visceral sensation that's pretty amazing". The firm's rival, Amazon, began streaming a limited number of shows in the format in 2015. Audience members at the Las Vegas event were also given a first look at some of the service's forthcoming shows, including: Ironically, the clips were blocked for those watching a live stream of the event. The firm also teased Chelsea Does..., a documentary series presented by the comedian Chelsea Handler that will cover topics including drugs, racism, marriage and Silicon Valley. In addition, it announced Ricky Gervais was directing and starring in a film called Special Correspondents about a journalist who broadcasts fake war reports, which will be added to its library in April. Mr Hastings also revealed some fresh statistics about the service. He said it now served a total of 125 million hours a day of entertainment to its viewers, and had streamed 12 billion hours-worth of video over the final three months of 2015, which is nearly 50% up on the same period in 2014. Read more of our CES articles and follow the BBC team covering the show on Twitter.
Netflix has gone live in nearly every country in the world.
35247309
[ 0, 8, 1669, 2162, 34, 141, 17785, 30, 165, 313, 16, 12778, 1440, 3, 5, 34, 243, 34, 47, 341 ]
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Mike Pence said the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) had been "grossly misconstrued" as anti-gay. "I abhor discrimination," he wrote, rejecting claims the law limited the rights of gays and lesbians. The measure gives firms and groups the right to express their religious beliefs in the way they do business. The governor went on the attack after a number of famous names, corporations and sporting institutions warned that business owners now had a licence to discriminate against gays and lesbians. Signed into state law last week, the bill prevents the state from forcing people to provide services they say are contrary to their religion. Critics believe it provides a way for opponents of gay marriage, which became legal in Indiana last year, to continue their opposition by other means. The backlash has made allies of Hillary Clinton and Miley Cyrus, and Angie's List and Apple. And the National Collegiate Athletic Association said it was "especially concerned" about how the law would affect its athletes, days before its basketball finals are being held in Indianapolis. A day after an awkward television interview in which he refused to answer questions about how the law might be used against gay people, Mr Pence had a clearer message for readers of the Wall Street Journal. "I abhor discrimination. I believe in the Golden Rule that you should 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' "If I saw a restaurant owner refuse to serve a gay couple, I wouldn't eat there anymore. "As governor of Indiana, if I were presented a bill that legalised discrimination against any person or group, I would veto it." Mr Pence has found himself under intense pressure to amend the law, as other US states have done, to add anti-discrimination language. Fellow Republicans in the state's Senate and House have offered to explore that possibility, after receiving a letter from nine chief executive officers, including the heads of Angie's List and Eli Lilly, to "take immediate action". The White House, Walmart and the mayor of Indianapolis have also expressed concerns. Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy signed an executive order on Monday that bans state-funded travel to Indiana and other states that simultaneously have RFRA and yet no balancing law to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination.
The governor of Indiana has defended a new law that has unleashed a wave of condemnation across the country.
32126346
[ 0, 8, 973, 1527, 5654, 11, 1637, 8, 269, 12, 3980, 70, 4761, 11393, 3, 5, 8, 13062, 845, 8 ]
Hamilton survived a scare at the start, when he ran wide at the first corner after locking a front tyre. But otherwise he was untroubled en route to his 51st career win. In the championship, the result changes little, and Rosberg can win the title by finishing second to Hamilton at the last two races of the season. Hamilton is 19 points adrift with a total of 50 available in Brazil and Abu Dhabi. Rosberg can now regroup after a weekend on which Hamilton was in almost total control throughout. The German will doubtless keep to his well-worn mantra that he is taking it one race at a time and trying to win each one, but he has the luxury of knowing he can afford to take it easy in both remaining races and clinch his first world title. Rosberg also had a scare, and a more eventful race than Hamilton, as 120,000 fans had little to excite them under blue skies and warm sunshine in Mexico City, until some frantic and bad-tempered late action in a battle over third place between Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Hamilton spent the first stint controlling his pace to ensure he did not overwork his damaged tyre, while Rosberg was under pressure from Verstappen. Rosberg and the Dutchman had collided at the first corner as Verstappen tried to take second place, Rosberg taking to the grass behind Hamilton after the collision. The incident was investigated by the stewards but given the all-clear. It was a foretaste of what was to come. As Hamilton controlled the race - on the way to a victory that puts him equal with Alain Prost in second place in the all-time winners' list, with Michael Schumacher way ahead on 91 - Rosberg spent much of the afternoon watching his mirrors for Verstappen. There was stalemate for a long time, until Rosberg locked up into Turn One on lap 50 while trying to lap Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz. Verstappen saw his opportunity and dived down the inside into Turn Four. Although he was briefly ahead, he could not stop in time and ran wide, sliding across the track on opposite steering lock, and Rosberg regained the place. It was Verstappen's one and only chance. Once he was back up to speed, the gap was out to 2.5 seconds and Rosberg edged gently away for the rest of the race. Red Bull's gamble of starting on the super-soft tyres to try to mix it with the Mercedes did not really pay off, but it led to a dramatic battle in the closing laps. Instead of challenging Rosberg, Verstappen found himself under pressure in the closing laps from Vettel and Ricciardo. Vettel started on the soft tyre like the Mercedes and ran a very long 33-lap first stint, leading for 16 laps after Hamilton's first stop. That gave him tyres that were 20 laps fresher than Verstappen's for the final stint and he closed in inexorably until he was within 1.2secs with six laps to go. Verstappen locked up at the first corner on lap 68 and ran wide over the grass, cutting the corner and keeping hold of third place, the German complaining he should be given the position as Verstappen was advised by his team to hand it over. But Verstappen kept fighting as Vettel tried to pass, the four-time world champion claiming the Dutchman was backing him into Ricciardo, who fought back through the field after a first-lap stop put him on a two-stop strategy. The three were nose to tail at the start of the penultimate lap and Vettel was right on the edge in holding Ricciardo back as he tried to pass into Turn Four. The incident spread the gap between the three cars and Verstappen crossed the line in third, from Vettel and Ricciardo. But Verstappen's cutting of the first corner was investigated by the stewards on the grounds he might have gained an advantage by leaving the track and in dramatic scenes Verstappen was given a five-second penalty immediately after the race and was demoted to fifth. Verstappen was forced to leave the pre-podium room as Vettel ran to take up his place on the podium. However, in a further twist, Vettel then lost third place after becoming the first driver to be punished under a new dangerous driving rule for his defence against Ricciardo's attempted pass. Vettel was penalised 10 seconds for moving while in the braking zone and given two penalty points on his licence - ending up fifth and Ricciardo eventually being classified as third. Vettel had earlier fumed over the radio, using several expletives in telling his team how unhappy he was with race director Charlie Whiting. He and Verstappen then gesticulated at each other after crossing the line, Vettel wagging his finger at Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton: "This is honestly the best crowd we get anywhere. In our home country it is always great, but these guys have such a great passion. "I love it here. I have had tacos every night. Media playback is not supported on this device "Nico is doing a great job. I'm really grateful the team did a great job." Sebastian Vettel on his clash with Verstappen: "I was using a lot of sign language. You have to understand the adrenaline. "Then obviously he left the track and didn't move and so you can understand why I was annoyed. I was really disappointed when I crossed the line." Mexican Grand Prix race results Mexican Grand Prix coverage details
Lewis Hamilton kept his title hopes alive with a comfortable victory from Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the Mexican Grand Prix.
37818739
[ 0, 3, 9, 792, 13, 943, 10879, 33, 347, 16, 8, 296, 11, 16, 8, 296, 3, 5, 8, 13692 ]
To be 80-5 and give away a 200-run lead is a problem in any Test, let alone one where you know the pitch is going to get more difficult to bat on later in the match. However, for as tricky as the surface became - and some deliveries did do a lot - there were too many dismissals in England's second innings in particular that were not down to the pitch. The tourists were shown the way initially by Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow in the first innings, then by opening pair Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed in the second. Yet, English collapses - Michael Vaughan has referred to a "little disease" when panic appears to set in - were common. Four wickets for 29 runs and then four wickets for 30 runs in the first innings, eight wickets for 68 runs on the final day. It ultimately comes down to a batsman's state of mind. When you get a difficult delivery or the ball misbehaves, it can be very hard to put that out of your thoughts, but that is what the very best are able to do. The ability to clear your mind and focus on the next delivery is a skill my Test Match Special colleague Geoffrey Boycott speaks of so often. Media playback is not supported on this device So it seems that the next three Tests in this series will be about England's mindset. Can they play every ball on its merits? Can they keep their chins up if they lose the toss? Can they be positive without being reckless? Can they remember that they have played some good cricket? Do they believe that they can beat India? The answers to those questions are not straightforward because India is such a difficult place to tour. We knew from the start that playing five matches here straight after two in Bangladesh was going to be difficult in terms of managing morale and keeping spirits high. England do not have to look too far into the past for inspiration. They came from behind to win here four years ago. Going further into the past, the 1984-85 tour led by David Gower that I was part of was a real success because the togetherness of the team helped us overcame everything that was thrown at us. Indira Gandhi, the prime minister, was assassinated hours after the touring party arrived. The UK's deputy high commissioner Percy Norris later suffered the same fate, a day after hosting a reception for the England team. England stayed out there despite fears the tour would be cancelled, then lost the first Test because of some questionable umpiring. Yet, England came back to win that series 2-1 and that is the mindset that the class of 2016 have to adopt. If they can, India can be beaten because we have already seen that these are two evenly matched sides. The hosts' only advantage is they have greater experience playing in these conditions. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, the world's leading Test wicket-taker this year, does not look too frightening when conditions are not in his favour. The same can be said for his partner in crime Ravindra Jadeja. These are bowlers that can be handled. India also have plenty of batsmen yet to register runs. Openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay both need a score, as do Ajinkya Rahane and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. Yes, Cheteshwar Pujara is in good form and captain Virat Kohli was in stellar touch in Visakhapatnam - he scored 248 runs and the winning margin was 246, so imagine the boon it would be for England if they can remove him cheaply. Not that the tourists do not have personnel issues of their own. Ben Duckett, who has made only 18 runs in three innings, looks very unlikely to play in the third Test in Mohali. England got into a muddle by not opening the batting with Hameed in Bangladesh and now both Gary Ballance and Duckett have failed at number four. The next available option appears to be Jos Buttler, one of the most exciting limited-overs players in the world. Is he the answer in the top order of a Test line-up against the spinning ball? We just do not know. Add to that the fact Buttler has played only one first-class match in the past year and there will be a lot of pressure on him if he is chosen to play in the next Test. Anyone saying with certainty that Buttler is the cavalry to solve England's problems is making a very big statement. Spinner Zafar Ansari is another who looks set to miss out on playing in the third Test. He may well have been left out anyway in order for England to play a fourth pace bowler, but he had a poor time with both ball and bat in Visakhapatnam. Those two aside, the other players that England have used in this series will all feel good. Cook, Hameed, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Stokes and Bairstow have all made runs. Adil Rashid is really looking the part as a Test spin bowler, James Anderson has made an excellent return from injury and Chris Woakes will be raring to go after being rested for the second Test. The only question England will have is over the fitness of Stuart Broad, who returned his best bowling figures in India with a strained tendon in his foot. India can be beaten and England certainly have the ability. Do they have the mentality? Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Stephan Shemilt.
England will know it was a first-innings batting calamity that set the wheels in motion for India's 246-run win in the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
38048885
[ 0, 3, 9, 3795, 7, 348, 31, 7, 15446, 19, 3, 9, 4359, 82, 2300, 12296, 3608, 19774, 12192, 13 ]
Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) led the international investigation. Security sources have told the BBC that the NCSC believes that a hacking group known as Lazarus launched the attack. The US Computer Emergency Response Team has also warned about Lazarus. The same group is believed to have targeted Sony Pictures in 2014. The Sony hack came as the company planned to release the movie The Interview, a satire about the North Korean leadership starring Seth Rogen. The movie was eventually given a limited release after an initial delay. The same group is also thought to have been behind the theft of money from banks. In May, ransomware called WannaCry swept across the world, locking computers and demanding payment for them to be unlocked. The NHS in the UK was particularly badly hit. Officials in Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) began their own investigation and concluded their assessment in recent weeks. The ransomware did not target Britain or the NHS specifically, and may well have been a money-making scheme that got out of control, particularly since the hackers do not appear to have retrieved any of the ransom money as yet. Although the group is based in North Korea the exact role of the leadership in Pyongyang in ordering the attack is less clear. Private sector cyber-security researchers around the world began picking apart the code to try to understand who was behind the attack soon after. Adrian Nish, who leads the cyber threat intelligence team at BAE Systems, saw overlaps with previous code developed by the Lazarus group. "It seems to tie back to the same code-base and the same authors," Nish says. "The code-overlaps are significant." Private sector cyber security researchers reverse engineered the code but the British assessment by the NCSC - part of the intelligence agency GCHQ - is likely to have been made based on a wider set of sources. America's NSA has also more recently made the link to North Korea but its assessment is not thought to have been based on as deep as an investigation as the UK, partly because the US was not hit as hard by the incident. Officials say they have not seen any significant evidence supporting other possible culprits. North Korean hackers have been linked to money-making attacks in the past - such as the theft of $81m from the central bank of Bangladesh in 2016. This sophisticated attack involved making transfers through the Swift payment system which, in some cases, were then laundered through casinos in the Philippines. "It was one of the biggest bank heists of all time in physical space or in cyberspace," says Nish, who says further activity has been seen in banks in Poland and Mexico. The Lazarus group has also been linked to the use of ransomware - including against a South Korean supermarket chain. Other analysts say they saw signs of North Korea investigating the bitcoin method of payment in recent months. The May 2017 attack was indiscriminate rather than targeted. Its spread was global and may have only been slowed thanks to the work of a British researcher who was able to find a "kill switch" to slow it down. The attacks caused huge disruption in the short term but they may have also been a strategic failure for the group behind it. Researchers at Elliptic, a UK-based company which tracks bitcoin payments, say they have seen no withdrawals out of the wallets into which money was paid, although people are still paying in to them. Those behind the attack may not have expected it to have spread as fast as it did. Once they realised that their behaviour was drawing global attention, the risks of moving the money may have been seen as too high given the relatively small amount involved, leaving them with little to show for their work. The revelation of the link to North Korea will raise difficult questions about what can be done to respond or deter such behaviour in the future.
British security officials believe that hackers in North Korea were behind the cyber-attack that crippled parts of the NHS and other organisations around the world last month, the BBC has learned.
40297493
[ 0, 8, 337, 563, 19, 6141, 12, 43, 7774, 8357, 16571, 16, 1412, 3, 5, 8, 8093, 764, 38, 8 ]
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced last week that the government-led task force would "fight for a future for our steel industry". The group will be chaired by Business Minister Fergus Ewing and bring together key representatives who will work to keep open the Dalzell plant in Motherwell and Clydebridge in Cambuslang. It is the latest in a series of task forces set up to tackle problems ranging from job losses to environmental crime and the refugee crisis. But what do they do? Who sits on them and how successful have they been? BBC Scotland's business and economy editor Douglas Fraser has heard from one veteran of these task forces who described them as "largely useless". This was set up at the start of October "to support workers and communities affected by Young's Seafood's decision to reduce its operations in the town". The move followed a decision by Sainsbury's to transfer a £100m fish processing contract away from Young's, resulting in the loss of 650 jobs. The business minister said after its first meeting on 2 October: "The Task Force will also consider how to support longer term sustainable employment in the wider area. "This work will take a number of months and all members of the Task Force agreed today to collaborate closely to deliver an Economic Recovery Plan that meets the needs and aspirations of the workers, the people of Fraserburgh and surrounding communities." The Fraserburgh team is made up of representatives of Young's, the Usdaw union, Scottish Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council, local MPs and MSPs. Also taking their place around the table are Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland, the Department of Work and Pensions, the Scottish Seafood Association, the Scottish Pelagic Processors Association and Seafood Scotland. An emergency summit was convened in Edinburgh on 11 September at which First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland stood ready to take at least 1,000 new refugees "as an immediate priority". Represented on the task force are the Scottish and UK governments, Scottish Refugee Council, British Red Cross, Glasgow Girls, STUC, New Scots, City of Edinburgh Council, Cosla, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, the DWP and Police Scotland. Following the meeting, the Scottish government's Europe Minister Humza Yousaf said: "It is very encouraging to hear that the majority of councils have indicated a willingness to accommodate refugees - we will now build on this positive response and ensure the appropriate support and integration services are put in place." Established by Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, this was tasked with "supporting delivery of the Scottish government's commitment to tackling environmental crime". The task force, which presented its findings to the Scottish government in June 2013, said it had looked to "define environmental crime, identify opportunities and priorities for preventing, tackling and deterring environmental crime, improve co-ordination between law enforcement agencies and others and make proposals for legislation, research and other measures to tackle environmental crime". It was made up of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Scottish government's Environmental Quality Division, Justice department and Natural Resources Division, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (UK). In March, Scottish Power announced plans to close its huge coal-fired power station at Longannet in Fife early next year. The move came after the energy firm failed to win a crucial contract from the National Grid. The Longannet Task Force, again chaired by Fergus Ewing, met on 24 August and was made up of local MPs and MSPs, trades unions, businesses and government agencies. It will reconvene next month once final figures have been produced to show how many Longannet employees want to take redundancy, seek redeployment within the company or find a new job. Hugh Finlay, Scottish Power's generation director, said: "The taskforce continues to make good progress and all parties around the table are working closely together to put forward a viable economic plan for the region. We are also continuing our consultation process with every team member employed at Longannet, and we remain committed to finding the best outcomes for everyone at the station." Production at the Hall's of Broxburn meat factory in West Lothian came to an end in February 2013. Almost 1,700 jobs had gone since Dutch owners, Vion, announced its closure the previous year. Thomas Lynch was a manager at the plant, and also sat on the task force of Scottish government, union and industry representatives which tried to save it from closure. He said at the time: "It's very frustrating. I think everyone involved in the Hall's site just wanted honesty. Deep down we probably knew it was a wasted effort. "From day one the general feeling was that the site was going to close even though we went over cost-saving measures."
The Scottish Steel Task Force meets for the first time on Thursday following the announcement that steel firm Tata is to close its two plants in Scotland with the loss of 270 jobs.
34647421
[ 0, 8, 789, 18, 1361, 2491, 2054, 56, 2870, 21, 3, 9, 647, 21, 69, 2470, 681, 3, 5, 34 ]
Cumbernauld has the dubious distinction of winning the Plook on the Plinth title for having Scotland's "most dismal" town centre in 2001 and 2005. Judges have compared it to Kabul and described its shopping centre as a rabbit warren on stilts. Now an online poll has seen it top a public vote for civic pride. The Scottish Design Awards is organised by Urban Realm - which also organises the Carbuncle awards. During the past few weeks of online voting, Cumbernauld residents helped the town move ahead of rivals such as Broughty Ferry, Dunkeld, East Kilbride, Eaglesham Linlithgow, Peebles and Pitlochry. When the polls closed at midnight on Thursday, Cumbernauld had narrowly beaten Peebles. The prize will be collected by a delegation from the town at a ceremony in Glasgow on Friday evening. The Carbuncle Awards were created by Gordon Young, now editor of The Drum, one of the sponsors of the Scottish Design Awards. He said: "The initial complaints against the town concerned the disastrous design of the town centre. "There has been some investment in that area but the level of improvement is not great. "However, Cumbernauld's real success story is how it has prospered despite these problems." Mr Young said "the surrounding countryside, the high demand for housing, rich and diverse suburbs, transport links to Glasgow and Edinburgh and a vibrant community spirit" had all helped make Cumbernauld "a decent place to bring up a family". He added: "Basically, economic success plus people power have made it a nice place to live."
The Scottish town which 'won' two Carbuncle honours for its ugly shopping centre has scooped Best Town at the Scottish Design Awards.
18200899
[ 0, 8, 1511, 13, 5469, 1152, 29, 9, 83, 26, 65, 751, 8, 276, 16800, 30, 8, 7337, 77, 189 ]
Following flooding at Brunton Park, Carlisle have three 'home' fixtures at neutral grounds and beat Notts County at Preston's Deepdale on Saturday. Stanley's last two home games were postponed because of waterlogging. "I'm really upset about how the league's handled the Carlisle affair," Coleman told BBC Radio Lancashire. "We are now games behind Carlisle. We've had two postponements and they've been allowed to play elsewhere and I don't think it's right or fair. "I don't think it's fair on the rest of the 23 teams who have to go to Carlisle when some teams won't have to go there. "I just don't think it's anywhere near any shape or form fair. "I've got nothing against Carlisle, I wish them all the best in their ventures and what they do, but it's shifting the rules. "I've got every sympathy for the people that have lost belongings and homes, I'm not decrying any of that - I'm just saying strictly from a football point of view it's an unfair advantage to play at another ground." The Cumbrians will also play upcoming matches at Blackburn's Ewood Park and Blackpool's Bloomfield Road.
Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman has criticised the Football League for allowing Carlisle United to move their home games because of flooding.
35162652
[ 0, 7291, 159, 109, 43, 386, 3, 31, 5515, 31, 14613, 44, 7163, 9808, 3, 5, 8, 336, 192, 1031 ]
The vehicle was taken from a farm in Tilney St Lawrence, near King's Lynn, Norfolk shortly before 20:00 GMT on Saturday. It was abandoned in Oakroyd Crescent in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, after it was driven in to a dead end. A man in his 20s from Wisbech has been arrested in connection with the incident. Norfolk and Cambridgeshire Police forces were involved in the pursuit.
Police chased a tractor between two counties in a pursuit involving six patrol cars and a force helicopter.
35337633
[ 0, 1689, 47, 1026, 45, 3, 9, 3797, 16, 332, 173, 3186, 472, 16617, 6, 1084, 2671, 31, 7, 18932 ]
"We are lucky to have him as six or seven other clubs would've liked him to join them," the manager said of Thomas. "But I have to thank Motherwell and, in particular, assistant James McFadden for letting the winger join Queens. "Faddy and I were at Everton together and have stayed good friends. He thinks this is the right place for Dom." Thomas, 20, has made seven first-team appearances this season for Well, but most of his 39 games for the Premiership side have been as a sub. "Dom is a creative player who can play on either side or from in behind the strikers, he likes to turn and go, so I'm sure he will excite the fans," Naysmith told his club website. "He's at the stage of his career where he needs to be playing every week." Thomson, 19, has already made 18 appearances in the Championship this season, having spent the first half of the campaign on loan to Dumbarton. "Both are versatile players and can play anywhere within the midfield, so it gives me more flexibility and will allow us to change formation when we need to," added Naysmith. "Joe is a young player who I tried to get when I was at East Fife, but Celtic wanted him to play at a higher level, so he made the move to Dumbarton, where he has played all but two games for them in the Championship. "Dumbarton are sorry to lose him, but both he and Celtic, where he is well thought of, felt that it would be better for him to play for a full-time club. "He is good on the ball, is very energetic, likes to get between boxes and can really spot a pass. He likes to get involved with set pieces."
Gary Naysmith says his Everton connections helped Queen of the South sign Dom Thomas on loan from Motherwell along with Joe Thomson from Celtic.
38502593
[ 0, 3, 3108, 49, 3576, 6, 16047, 65, 263, 2391, 166, 18, 11650, 3179, 7, 21, 1548, 3, 5, 8 ]
Bedene, 26, battled past Spain's Carreno Busta, ranked 23 places higher at 43rd in the world, in five sets, winning 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 4-6 5-7 6-2. It was an impressive show of resolve from the Slovenia-born player, who surrendered a two-set advantage. However, he recovered his poise, ending the match with 23 aces. Compatriot Andy Murray reached the third round with victory over Mathias Bourgue on Wednesday. "The last few months haven't been the best and I have been struggling but I'm really proud of what I have achieved so far," said Bedene. "It meant a lot to win. "I have only played one fifth set before - in Wimbledon last year, and I won it - and it wasn't easy after being two love up but it shows I am fit enough and I am really proud." Hindered by a thigh injury, Busta struggled to cover the court in the final stages, but Bedene's performance was full of grit and determination as he showed he could mix it with a European clay-court specialist. Djokovic is yet to drop a set at the tournament after easing aside Belgium's Steve Darcis 7-5 6-3 6-4 to advance. Bedene lost his only previous meeting with the Serb, succumbing in straight sets at the 2015 Australian Open. However, the Welwyn Garden City-based right-hander has risen from world number 116 to 66th in the world since then. BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller "This was an excellent victory by Bedene because he was up against a fine clay-court player and because he admits his confidence is fragile after winning only two main-draw matches in five tournaments before Roland Garros. "His 23 aces were the bedrock of victory, along with his ability to draw Busta away from his comfort zone behind the baseline by using the drop shot." Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.
Britain's Aljaz Bedene will play world number one Novak Djokovic after beating Pablo Carreno Busta to reach the French Open third round for the first time.
36388841
[ 0, 2208, 18, 1201, 18, 1490, 3853, 7, 8438, 1273, 1959, 11274, 35, 32, 5703, 17, 9, 16, 874, 3369 ]
Exports of the fish jumped more than 53% by value to £408m, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said. UK food and drink exports rose 8.5% to £10.2bn, helped by the fall in the pound after last year's Brexit vote. But the FDF warned that without a favourable Brexit trade deal, British exports could become less competitive. Whisky remained the top export, while salmon was second, and beer rose to third, overtaking chocolate. But while the volume of salmon exports rose by 24%, whisky exports actually fell 1% by volume, and beer exports fell 2.2%. The pound has fallen sharply against the dollar and euro since the UK voted to leave the EU in June last year, giving a boost to UK exports, as they have become relatively cheaper. However, the weaker pound has also pushed up costs for British businesses that bring in food and raw materials from abroad, the FDF said. It said the UK's food and drink trade deficit - the difference between how much the UK imports and exports - widened 16% to £12.4bn over the period. British salmon is becoming more popular globally, according to Andy Bing, sales director of Loch Duart Salmon in North West Scotland. "This half we've sold more than we ever have," he said, adding that the firm's main export markets were France, the US, Italy, and Switzerland. UK salmon exports have grown after Chilean producers suffered problems in 2015 with algal blooms that killed a large amount of their fish, he said. Looking ahead, the firm is optimistic about the eventual post-Brexit trade deals that can be struck with EU countries. "Europe needs lovely Scottish salmon just as we need lovely French wine and wonderful German cars," he said. However, he added that Loch Duart was "finding it difficult to plan without better guidance" from the government about Brexit. The two biggest importers of UK food and drink are Ireland and France. If there is no deal and World Trade Organization (WTO) tariffs with the EU are brought in, "food and drink would face significantly higher tariffs than most other products," an FDF spokesman said. For example, some fruit and vegetables would face tariffs of 157%, and for some drinks products, importers would have to pay 152% tariffs. Goods "could face lengthy delays at border for checks and inspections that would add delays and cost to products, particularly those with short shelf lives," the spokesman added. However, the free market think tank, the Institute for Economic Affairs, said it would not be a "disaster" if the UK failed to strike a deal with the EU. Jamie Whyte, IEA research director, said: "In fact, we could unilaterally eliminate all import tariffs, which would give us most of the benefits of trade and export to the EU under the umbrella of the WTO rules." A UK government spokesman said it wanted to reach a deal with the EU "allowing for the most frictionless trade including in food and drink as possible". Source HM Customs and Excise In the first half of the year, UK food and drink exports rose faster to EU countries, up 9%, than to countries outside the EU, with growth of 7.6%. But the market which saw the most growth in the first half was South Korea, up 77%, in the main due to beer exports. Food Minister George Eustice said: "We have ambitious plans to produce and export more of our fabulous foods around the world and more businesses are trying exporting for the first time. "Last week we announced further market access to China for pork producers and UK beef will soon be heading to the Philippines. We will continue to work with industry to open new opportunities."
Sales of British salmon helped the UK to export a record value of food and drink in the first half of the year, according to industry figures.
40963631
[ 0, 8, 3, 8861, 65, 9717, 4816, 120, 581, 8, 6816, 11, 3983, 437, 8, 1270, 3, 11060, 12, 1175 ]
Jak Trueman, 15, was suffering from a rare form of blood cancer called gamma delta T-cell lymphoma. On Saturday he briefly attended a school prom held in his honour. His mother Allison broke the news of his death on his Facebook page, saying: "Devastated and heartbroken to say my beautiful boy's gone to Heaven." She added: "God bless. Jak I am the proudest Mummy ever xxxxx Simply the best xxx." The West Calder High School pupil had been documenting his life and treatment on social media. Since he was diagnosed with cancer last August, Jak had been posting updates on a Facebook page called Jak's Journey with the help of his mother, sister Aimie and girlfriend Hannah Boyd. The teenager's story of his fight against cancer, and his relentlessly positive attitude, touched the hearts of many people in West Lothian and beyond. The Jak's Journey page attracted more than 28,000 Likes and documented the teenage goalkeeper's love of Rangers FC, and his meetings with former Ibrox stars Neil Alexander and Nacho Novo and current goalkeeper Cammy Bell. On Saturday, he managed to make it along to his prom for 10 minutes but had to leave as he felt unwell. Jak was greeted at the event by former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson. The teenager wrote on his page: "I would just like to make a massive apology for me only turning up and then having to go again. "I was gutted and really sad as I never spoke to anyone, but I took really unwell really quickly as I had been lying in bed for three days without hardly moving. "Thank you to everyone who organised it and came along. Even just knowing it was all happening for me makes me smile." At the party, Jak's family collected the teenager's Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award and also the Kerry MacGregor Memorial Trophy for overcoming adversity. The Jak's Journey website highlighted Jak's stay at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh and Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow over the past few months. He was visited by players from Celtic, Hibs, Hearts and Edinburgh Rugby and the cast of the musical Wicked. Jak and his family also published many other personal moments, including him playing his tuba and visiting his classmates and teachers at school. On 23 January, Jak and his family found out from doctors that his cancer had spread throughout his body. The medics made a decision to not pursue any other treatment. At the time, Jak wrote: "This is the saddest day of our lives yet but I am going to fight the pain and get as many days/weeks/months/years I can get. They can't give me a timescale to how long I have. "I am so sorry to give everyone this horrible news but there's no other way to put it. "I would like to thank all the doctors, nurses and everyone who has helped me over the past six months, they have tried their best for me." In the days after he received the news, Jak's family urged people to donate to a fundraising page for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. After becoming ill Jak also visited the Kelpies, enjoyed a romantic meal with his girlfriend, went to a party in his honour which was attended by Neil Alexander and Nacho Novo, and spent time in a supercar and on a quad bike. More money is expected to be raised for charity on Sunday at a special football match being held at the Energy Assets Arena, home of Livingston FC.
A terminally ill schoolboy whose inspirational story helped to raise more than £35,000 for charity in the past week has died.
31091373
[ 0, 2662, 157, 10998, 348, 6, 10725, 47, 12223, 28, 3, 8758, 51, 9, 25110, 25049, 32, 51, 9, 336 ]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has had to halt deliveries to the Red Sea port of Hudaydah. It said this was partly because it had not received security guarantees. The port has also been targeted by warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition which is backing Yemen's government in its war with the rebel Houthi movement. UN attempts to bring in five cranes to replace those damaged in the attacks have not been successful. The ICRC's Middle East regional director Robert Mardini warned that Yemen, which depends on imports for 90% of its food supplies, was now living on its "reserves" and that the "day will come very soon" when they run out. He said that despite the focus on the damage and casualties caused by the fighting, thousands of people were dying "silently" of complications due to malnutrition, or of minor illnesses or injuries which were not being treated at the 45% of health facilities that are still functioning. The conflict, which escalated in March 2015, has left at least 7,500 people dead and 40,000 injured, according to the United Nations. But almost 19 million people are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance. Seven million people do not know where their next meal is coming from and more than three million, including 2.1 million children, are suffering from acute malnutrition. The UN's emergency relief co-ordinator, Stephen O'Brien, called on the warring parties to guarantee more access to ports to let in food, fuel and medicine imports on Monday. He told the BBC the situation was "very desperate", and that he had seen children so "severely malnourished" that he feared they would not survive another day. Earlier this month, the UN appealed for $2.1bn (£1.7bn) to provide life-saving assistance to 12 million people in Yemen over the next year. But it has so far received only $43m. On Tuesday, Mr O'Brien was forced to cancel a visit to the city of Taiz, which is besieged by rebel fighters, reportedly after his convoy came under fire. In a separate development on Tuesday, UN human rights officials said they had evidence of the recruitment of child soldiers in Yemen, mostly by groups affiliated with the Houthis. In all, the UN managed to verify the recruitment of 1,476 children, all boys, between March 2015 and the end of January 2017. However, it said the numbers were likely to be much higher.
Aid workers say fighting in Yemen has made it virtually impossible to ship humanitarian supplies to a key harbour when the country is at risk of famine.
39114349
[ 0, 8, 1038, 4492, 13, 8, 1131, 2269, 65, 141, 12, 3, 5019, 23113, 12, 8, 2147, 13, 3455, 1135 ]
Joshua Dobby appeared at Bromley Magistrates' Court earlier charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving. Makayah McDermott and Rozanne Cooper died after the car crashed in Penge, south-east London on Wednesday. Three girls were also injured and remain in hospital. No application for bail was made during the short hearing and Mr Dobby was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 30 September He was also charged with: More updates on this and other London stories The Met said the three injured girls - two aged 13 and one aged eight - were related to Makayah and his aunt, who was a 34-year-old hairdresser. The car struck the group at about 14:05 BST on Lennard Road. It had been pursued by police from nearby Birkbeck Road in Beckenham. One witness said the car was being followed by two police vehicles when the driver "lost control and ploughed into a family". The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating. Over the past 10 years, 252 members of the public have died following road traffic incidents involving the police in England and Wales, according to the IPCC. In London, there were 498 crashes involving a pursuit by Met officers in 2015-16. Friends and neighbours left floral tributes at the scene of the crash on Thursday. Family friend Emma Cameron called the news "devastating" and said Ms Cooper was "a genuinely lovely girl". "She never had a bad word to say about anybody. She was the kindest friendliest warmest person. It's just awful," she added. Makayah had recently auditioned for a part in a television series. His agent Sam Brown, managing director of Brown and Mills Entertainment, described Makayah as "an extremely talented young actor" and "joy to be around". "We cannot express enough our sadness and our thoughts are with the family at this terrible time," she added. A victim support fund for those injured in the crash on the Gofundme website had raised nearly £5,000 by Friday morning.
A 23-year-old man has been remanded in custody following the deaths of a 10-year-old boy and his aunt who were a hit by a car being pursued by police.
37253863
[ 0, 386, 3567, 130, 92, 7532, 11, 2367, 16, 2833, 3, 5, 8, 443, 10056, 8, 563, 44, 968, 10 ]
The Posh lost for the third successive time since their cup defeat when they were beaten 2-1 at home by Oldham. "They're falling short of the standards that they're capable of, and they have done since the FA Cup tie. "I've got to believe that there's some sort of hangover going on," Westley told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. "A young group of lads have built themselves up almost into a frenzy to go and play and win a massive game in their minds, they've got so close, they've given so much, perhaps physically and mentally it drained them." Tuesday's defeat kept Peterborough 12th in League One, eight points off the play-off places. Media playback is not supported on this device "I've tried to deal with it game-by-game through selection and through talking to them as people, but we haven't snapped ourselves out of this apparent malaise," added 47-year-old Westley. "On a motivational level we're not tracking back runners, we're not showing enough discipline to play the way we're coaching them to play, we're not showing enough belief in our game, we're slow, we're lacking urgency, there are so many things missing, "But I don't think they're bad people, I don't think they're downing tools and not producing the goods because they can't be bothered, I just think they've lost their way."
Peterborough United are still suffering from their FA Cup penalty shootout loss to West Bromwich Albion, according to manager Graham Westley.
35650258
[ 0, 8, 13995, 107, 1513, 3, 17234, 44, 234, 12, 625, 1483, 16, 8, 8536, 3802, 3, 5, 8, 9589 ]
Annie Woodland, 24, who lived in Essex, suffered brain damage in the incident at Gloucester Park Pool in Basildon. A teacher and a pool life guard both failed to realise she was in trouble. The family has successfully sued Essex County Council who said it did not comment on individual cases but had noted the High Court judgement. The tragedy happened in July 2000 when Ms Woodland was a pupil at Whitmore Primary School in Basildon. At an earlier hearing, judges ruled a victory against the county council would risk a "chilling effect" on the willingness of schools to take pupils on educational trips. A Supreme Court judgement in 2013 overturned this ruling and opened the way for a High Court hearing. Mr Justice Blake has now ruled lifeguard Debbie Maxwell and swimming teacher Paula Burlinson should have noticed Ms Woodland was drowning sooner than they did. He concluded Essex County Council was liable for their negligence although neither woman was employed directly by the council. Ms Burlinson's failure to notice Annie in distress "fell far below the standard of care reasonably to be expected of a teacher", he said. Ms Maxwell was also negligent as "she was not paying sufficient attention to users in the water". The amount of compensation to Ms Woodland, who now lives in Blackpool, will be assessed at a later date. A spokesman said: "Essex County Council notes the judgement of Mr Justice Blake following a trial on liability. "The authority cannot comment specifically on individual cases and it would be inappropriate to comment further therefore in respect of this claim."
A woman who nearly drowned during a school swimming lesson when she was 10 years old has won a compensation battle at the High Court.
31505716
[ 0, 8, 384, 65, 4234, 19557, 25223, 1334, 6098, 3, 5, 8, 6098, 243, 34, 410, 59, 1670, 30, 928 ]
Dr Waleed Abdalati told the BBC the that continued access to data is in "everyone's best interest". Many US scientists are rushing to copy information onto servers outside the control of the federal government. They are afraid the Trump administration will curb access to climate and other research. The President-elect has blown hot and cold on the issue of climate change, having previously tweeted about global warming being a hoax. On Wednesday, one of his advisers compared scientists who support the mainstream view on global warming to flat-Earthers. "There was an overwhelming science that the Earth was flat and there was an overwhelming science that we were the centre of the world," said Anthony Scaramucci, a member of the Trump transition committee, on CNN. "We get a lot of things wrong in the scientific community." Now at the Co-operative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Dr Abdalati served as Nasa's chief scientist in 2011, for two years. He says it is too early to tell if this type of rhetoric from the Trump team will be backed up by action against scientists working on climate issues. "I do think that when it comes to access to federal databases, and information that the taxpayers have paid for, there would have to be a tremendous paradigm shift to actively take steps to make those data unavailable, and I think doing so would be an enormous disservice to the citizens of this country and to the world in general," he said via email. "I do think that the scientific community, educators, members of the private sector who rely on these data in their businesses, and others will need to make clear that continued access to these data, which have been paid for by the taxpayers, allows their full value to be realized and is in everyone's best interest." Other researchers are taking a more pessimistic view on the question of data access and are encouraging colleagues and students to make copies. Prof Robert Paterson, from the University of Texas, Austin, says that he learned this the hard way under the administration of George W Bush, another president cool on climate. "Within a month of coming into office the EPA website went down for three weeks and when it went back up stuff wasn't available anymore," Prof Paterson told BBC News. "If history repeats itself with another administration that is basically a naysayer to climate change science, I would say it would be prudent for folks to do what they can to keep as much as they can on mirror sites." Other scientists are concerned about nominations to key government areas such as former Texas governor Rick Perry at Department of Energy (DoE) and Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt at the EPA. Both have heavily criticised the agencies they now lead. Attempts by the Trump transition team at the DoE to obtain a list of all those employees who had worked on climate change have provoked anger as well as fear. "I was horrified by the report with regard to Department of Energy scientists being named. We must stand up to that and I have said so. We are all DoE scientists in that regard," said Dr Kevin Trenberth who has been a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a senior scientist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). "That is a pretty chilling action by an incoming administration - the rhetoric suggests that revenge is a valid response to people who disagree with you," said Prof Robert Paterson, The Energy department has refused to comply with the request and the Trump team has now said the questionnaire was "not authorised". Many researchers are worried that the anti-climate tone being struck by the incoming administration will have many serious consequences for scientists trying to do their jobs in real world situations. "Flooding is a fact of life in Texas and the frequency with which we're seeing it is noticeably increasing," said Dr Shannon Van Zandt, at Texas A&M University. "A lot of the tools that have been developed by Federal agencies have been designed to help communities predict the changes that they're going to see and if that is restricted we would lose the ability to help people understand and incorporate it into the decisions that they're making both at the local level and at the state policy level." But some in this field believe that the change of administration is a good moment to review the type of scientific questions that US researchers are asking. Marcel Crok is a Dutch science writer who doesn't support the scientific consensus on climate change. He says that much of the research in the field takes place in an echo chamber and he welcomes the fact that the Trump administration will challenge this. Mr Crok accepts that human emissions of carbon dioxide are warming the planet, but he questions the accepted view on how far and how rapidly temperatures will rise. Mainstream scientists, he says, rely on models that are over sensitive to carbon. He expects this to change under Trump. He said: "What the field is trying to do is prove that the observational estimates are wrong and that the models are still right, and in my opinion this is exactly the problem. They should be more open minded, they should be open to the idea that the models are wrong!" "I hope that under a Trump regime at least there would be more funding, because if the funding agencies ask these kind of questions they can stimulate research in other directions than proving that the models are right all the time." The idea that aspects of climate research, supported by a minority, should now gain funding at the expense of the majority view, is dismissed by those in the field. "It is not all spun, it is not all one side or the other," said Prof James White from the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado. "This is good unbiased information, it would be a real shame if that data is turned off." Follow Matt on Twitter and on Facebook
Limiting access to federal research would do an "enormous disservice" to the US and the world according to former Nasa chief scientist.
38322594
[ 0, 2753, 18, 15, 3437, 65, 3, 17378, 1312, 11, 2107, 30, 3298, 483, 3, 5, 3, 88, 65, 3150 ]
Media playback is not supported on this device The Abbey Stadium delivered a thunderous roar as referee Chris Foy sounded his final whistle to confirm Cambridge - lying 12th in their division and 76 places below their Premier League opponents in the football pyramid - had secured a money-spinning replay at Old Trafford. And even though United had the better chances, with Cambridge keeper Chris Dunn saving brilliantly from Radamel Falcao and Angel Di Maria and substitute Robin van Persie off target - no-one could begrudge them a second crack at Louis van Gaal's side. Media playback is not supported on this device Cambridge have almost been rebuilt as a club, returning to the Football League this season after a nine-year absence, and this performance was testimony to all that work as they more than matched the Red Devils until tired legs inevitably took their toll late on. And now that process will continue in "The Theatre Of Dreams" as they survived the meeting with a visiting side lacking the spark of captain Wayne Rooney, and failing to create any serious openings until the second half. Van Gaal, whose side battled thought a third-round meeting with Yeovil Town, will have been bitterly disappointed with his team's lacklustre display - even though they are still overwhelming favourites to reach the fifth round. United, who rested Rooney and Juan Mata, lacked creativity during a laboured first 45 minutes in which they were more than matched by Richard Money's underdogs. Money made no secret of his plan to unsettle the Premier League side, with seven players crammed into the six-yard area in an attempt to make life difficult for goalkeeper David de Gea with sheer weight of numbers. And with Phil Jones a symbol of that uncertainty, the obvious ploy almost worked on the half-hour. Manchester United failed to clear a corner and the ball was smuggled off the line before a header from Cambridge defender Josh Coulson landed on the roof of the net. Falcao's struggle for goals has been the focus of much attention but it was hard not to sympathise with the Colombian as he struggled in the face of poor service, which even when it did arrive was nearly always too pedestrian. Media playback is not supported on this device He finally got his chance just after the hour, when Michael Carrick delivered a forward pass of quality. Falcao applied a powerful finish but drew an equally strong one-handed save from Dunn. Van Gaal had seen enough and made changes, sending on Van Persie and Ander Herrera for James Wilson and the ineffective Marouane Fellaini. And Van Persie almost answered the call right away when he ran on to Di Maria's astute pass on the angle but directed his first-time effort over the top. Cambridge had given so much that it was inevitable fatigue would play a part in the closing minutes - and so it proved - but goalkeeper Dunn was once more the hero, punching clear crucially before recovering to block Di Maria's goalbound effort, surrounded by players in the area, It was the final moment of concern - leaving Cambridge's fans to celebrate wildly and savour the prospect of a trip to Old Trafford. Cambridge boss Richard Money: "We've said in the dressing room you're going to Old Trafford. Who cares what happens? Just go and enjoy it, soak it in. Whatever happens, happens. "(It is) difficult to put into words just how proud we are. When you get back in the dressing room and recover, you just suddenly start to think about what it means to so many people. "This club has been in the doldrums for 10 years, out of the Football League, and suddenly here we are taking everybody back to Old Trafford. It's incredible." Match ends, Cambridge United 0, Manchester United 0. Second Half ends, Cambridge United 0, Manchester United 0. Foul by Falcao (Manchester United). Josh Coulson (Cambridge United) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt saved. Ángel Di María (Manchester United) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Attempt blocked. Adnan Januzaj (Manchester United) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Luke Shaw. Foul by Michael Carrick (Manchester United). Cameron McGeehan (Cambridge United) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Attempt missed. Falcao (Manchester United) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses the top right corner. Assisted by Ángel Di María with a cross. Substitution, Manchester United. Luke Shaw replaces Daley Blind. Foul by Adnan Januzaj (Manchester United). Tom Champion (Cambridge United) wins a free kick on the right wing. Corner, Cambridge United. Conceded by Phil Jones. Foul by Robin van Persie (Manchester United). Michael Nelson (Cambridge United) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Michael Nelson. Substitution, Cambridge United. Luke Chadwick replaces Liam Hughes. Dangerous play by Ángel Di María (Manchester United). Tom Champion (Cambridge United) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Greg Taylor. Attempt missed. Robin van Persie (Manchester United) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is too high. Assisted by Ángel Di María with a through ball. Attempt missed. Phil Jones (Manchester United) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ander Herrera. Cameron McGeehan (Cambridge United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Ángel Di María (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Cameron McGeehan (Cambridge United). Substitution, Manchester United. Ander Herrera replaces Marouane Fellaini. Substitution, Manchester United. Robin van Persie replaces James Wilson. Offside, Manchester United. Daley Blind tries a through ball, but Falcao is caught offside. James Wilson (Manchester United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Foul by James Wilson (Manchester United). Tom Elliott (Cambridge United) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt blocked. Adnan Januzaj (Manchester United) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Ángel Di María. Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Chris Dunn. Attempt saved. Falcao (Manchester United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Michael Carrick with a through ball. Adnan Januzaj (Manchester United) wins a free kick on the left wing. Foul by Liam Hughes (Cambridge United). Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Richard Tait. Substitution, Cambridge United. Harrison Dunk replaces Sullay Kaikai. Offside, Cambridge United. Cameron McGeehan tries a through ball, but Michael Nelson is caught offside. Foul by Marcos Rojo (Manchester United).
League Two side Cambridge United defied the odds to hold Manchester United and earn a richly deserved FA Cup fourth-round replay.
30843611
[ 0, 3, 9, 27204, 44, 625, 3, 14793, 2590, 47, 3, 7, 16669, 57, 3, 9, 3, 25202, 45, 2401 ]
The boys, then aged 10 and 11, lured their victims to a ravine and carried out a "sadistic" attack in Edlington, near Doncaster, in 2009. They were sentenced to five years' detention in 2010 and granted anonymity until the age of 18. The High Court has now given them lifelong anonymity on the grounds they would be "at serious risk of attack". Live updates on this story and others from South Yorkshire The boys were released earlier this year after a decision by the Parole Board, but lawyers sought an injunction to extend their anonymity as one of the boys approached his 18th birthday. The brothers claimed that to identify them would breach various sections of the Human Rights Act. The High Court ruling places them alongside only four other individuals who have lifelong anonymity orders in place: The brothers' victims, aged nine and 11, were throttled, hit with bricks, made to eat nettles, stripped and forced to sexually abuse each other in the attack. A sink was dropped on the older boy's head, and the younger boy had a sharp stick rammed into his arm and cigarettes pushed into the wound. Parts of the attack were recorded on a mobile phone. The brothers had moved to Edlington just three weeks before the attack to live with foster parents. Sentencing them at Sheffield Crown Court, Judge Justice Keith said they had committed the "prolonged, sadistic" crimes for no other reason than they got "a real kick out of hurting and humiliating" their victims.
Two brothers who tortured two other children in South Yorkshire have been granted lifelong anonymity.
38263416
[ 0, 8, 5234, 6, 258, 9742, 335, 11, 9694, 22532, 26, 70, 8926, 12, 3, 9, 20217, 29, 15, 16 ]
The migrant crisis has fuelled a backlash against the political establishment, but the wave of discontent also taps into long-standing fears about globalisation and a dilution of national identity. How is this right-wing backlash reshaping Europe's political landscape? In recent years the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) has shaken up the centrist consensus politics that dominated Austria for decades after World War Two. But in April 2016 it went further, pushing both main parties out of the running for the presidency. The FPOe candidate, Norbert Hofer, won the first round of Austria's presidential election in April and then secured around half the vote in the run-off vote on 22 May. The result was so tight, it was not immediately clear if he had won. The president's role is largely ceremonial. But Mr Hofer's score reflected widespread voter frustration with immigration and the political establishment. Hundreds of thousands of migrants poured through Austria last year hoping to settle in Germany. Some 90,000 people applied for asylum in Austria itself - 1% of the population. When the late Joerg Haider led the party it achieved its best ever result in 2000 and entered the government, causing enormous tension with EU partners. European Parliament seats (MEPs): 4 Far right tops presidential vote Austria sets asylum cap Far-right party ELAM entered parliament for the first time in May 2016 elections, securing two seats from voters stung by the island's acute financial crisis in 2013. Affiliated to Golden Dawn in Greece which many observers see as neo-Nazi, ELAM has held demonstrations against Turkish Cypriots and migrants. It opposes the idea of reunifying an island divided since Turkey invaded the north in 1974 in response to a Greek-inspired military coup. Denmark's immigration rules are among the toughest in Europe - reflecting the power of the Danish People's Party (DPP), which came second in last year's general election. Its 21% of the vote was a record for the party, and now the ruling coalition depends on DPP support in parliament. The Eurosceptic DPP also won Denmark's European Parliament election in 2014 by a wide margin, with 27% of the vote. The DPP opposes multiculturalism, as do nationalists in the rest of Scandinavia, where centre-left social democracy no longer dominates in the way it did for decades. Denmark became a target of Muslim anger in 2005 when Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Controversially Denmark has given its police the authority to seize valuables worth more than 10,000 kroner (£1,045; $1,514) from refugees to cover housing and food costs. The government has also cut migrant benefits and put adverts in Lebanese newspapers warning against migration to Denmark. MEPs: 3 Anti-EU Danish party gets big boost Denmark backs seizing migrants' assets The nationalist Finns Party (previously the "True Finns") came second in last year's general election. Party leader Timo Soini is Finnish Foreign Minister, in a coalition government. The party advocates strict immigration controls and argues that Finns, not migrants, take priority for social and healthcare spending. Its roots lie in rural Finland and it has championed welfare policies that give it a populist dimension. MEPs: 2 Who are the nationalist Finns Party? Many political observers see Marine Le Pen's National Front (FN) as the biggest nationalist challenge to Europe's liberal democratic traditions. Ms Le Pen is expected to make a formidable push for the French presidency next year. That is likely to trigger a repeat of tactical voting by the Socialists and conservative Republicans to block her. The FN won 6.8 million votes in regional elections in 2015 - its largest ever score - but lost in two target regions after the Socialists pulled out and urged supporters to back Nicolas Sarkozy's conservatives. Marine's father Jean-Marie Le Pen, the FN founder who was fined for Holocaust denial, shocked France in 2002 when he won through to the second round of the presidential election. Marine famously got him expelled from the FN in a family feud last August. The FN has two seats in the French National Assembly (parliament) and in 2014 won the French European Parliament election, taking 25% of the vote. Marine Le Pen is anti-EU, rejecting the euro and blaming Brussels for mass immigration, because of the Schengen free-movement policy. In 2010 she told FN supporters that the sight of Muslims praying in the street was similar to the Nazi occupation in World War Two. The Islamist attacks on Paris in January and November, which nearly 150 people were murdered, raised alarm about jihadists taking advantage of Europe's open borders. MEPs: 21 Le Pen condemns 'campaign of lies' Anti-EU MEPs form nationalist bloc German politics has been shaken up by Alternative for Germany (AfD), a right-wing party launched in 2013 by economists opposed to the euro. Under leader Frauke Petry it has drawn ever more support by rallying against immigration. The AfD's success has been interpreted as a sign of discontent with Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door policy for Syrian refugees. Last year Germany took in a record 1.1 million asylum seekers, many of them Muslims from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The AfD has seats in half of the German state parliaments, though none yet at national level in the Bundestag. Ms Petry has called for "drastic steps" to prevent Islamist ideology spreading in Germany, including a ban on construction of new minarets. She says Islam "does not belong to Germany" - though Muslims who "practise their religion peacefully and privately" can be good citizens. She sparked a furore when she suggested that border police should be empowered to shoot illegal migrants if necessary. Her deputy Beatrix von Storch backed that suggestion. Stridently anti-Islam rhetoric came initially from Pegida, a mass movement that started in the eastern city of Dresden, then spread to other German cities. Pegida regularly draws thousands of supporters at anti-immigration marches. Neo-Nazi groups are among the Pegida followers, who denounce "the Islamisation of the West". AfD MEPs: 2 Profile: AfD leader Frauke Petry Germany jolted by right-wing poll success The popularity of far-right Golden Dawn - widely considered to be a neo-Nazi party - has surged during Greece's economic meltdown. Members have been accused of serious crimes including murder. The party's leaders went on trial in 2015 over the murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas. Yet Golden Dawn secured 7% of the vote in the September 2015 election, and it now has 18 MPs, making it the third biggest force in Greek politics. Its vote was especially strong among people hardest hit by the crisis. The austerity demanded by Greece's creditors turned many Greeks away from the political establishment. The anti-EU party wants to expel migrants and has distributed food in poor areas - but only to Greek passport-holders. MEPs: 3 Jail fails to deter Greek far right Far-right Jobbik is the third strongest party in Hungary - it won 20.7% of the vote in the 2014 general election. The party denies that it is racist, but has organised patrols by an unarmed but uniformed "Hungarian Guard" in Roma (Gypsy) neighbourhoods. Jobbik says more must be done to tackle "Gypsy crime" and party members have also stirred controversy by making anti-Semitic remarks. Hungarian flags dominate Jobbik rallies, along with the red-and-white Arpad stripes, which are often seen as an echo of Hungary's pro-Nazi wartime regime. With Jobbik support the conservative government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban erected a razor wire fence along its border with Serbia last year to keep migrants out. Mr Orban and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico are suing the EU over its quota scheme for distributing migrants among member states. Both leaders say Europe has to defend its "Christian" heritage. Jobbik MEPs: 3 Jobbik woos centrist voters Local elections last year delivered big gains to the Eurosceptic, anti-immigration Northern League (Lega Nord) beyond its Venice power base. Since the party's launch in 1991 it has called for the creation of a separate northern state called Padania, combining Veneto, Lombardy and some other regions. But today its emphasis is less on secession, more on boosting the northern regions' autonomy and paying less tax to the central government. The influx of migrants from North Africa has put a severe strain on Italy's asylum infrastructure and revived the fortunes of the Northern League. Some of the party's politicians have made xenophobic comments about migrants. The party got 4% in the last general election, in 2013. MEPs: 5 Italy leaders feud over migrants Rise and fall of the House of Bossi Geert Wilders, with his mane of blond hair, is one of Europe's most recognisable nationalist politicians. His anti-EU Party for Freedom (PVV) has surged to the top of Dutch opinion polls. He wants to stop Muslim immigration, arguing that Islam is incompatible with Dutch values. He wants the Koran to be banned in the Netherlands. He is currently involved in a court case, accused of inciting hatred against Moroccans. In the 2010 general election the PVV won 24 seats, making it the third-largest party. MEPs: 4 The ultra-nationalist People's Party-Our Slovakia of Marian Kotleba entered parliament for the first time this year, winning 14 seats. Mr Kotleba has previously dressed in a uniform modelled on the Hlinka Guard, the militia of the 1939-45 Nazi-sponsored Slovak State. But now he wears corduroy casuals. Immigration was a major issue in the election campaign, even though Slovakia has taken in very few migrants. Robert Fico's Smer-Social Democracy party won - and he contributed to the anti-Muslim rhetoric. Smer MEPs: 4; Our Slovakia MEPs: 0 Slovakia's Nazi history returns to the fore Slovak election: PM Fico sees Muslim 'threat' The nationalist Sweden Democrats (SD) have challenged the traditional dominance of Sweden's Social Democrats, a party associated with generous social welfare and tolerance of minorities. The SD argues for strict immigration controls, opposing multiculturalism. In 2014 the SD became the third-largest party, winning 13% in the general election. But they are shunned by other parties in parliament. More than 160,000 asylum seekers arrived in Sweden in 2015 - the highest per capita rate in the EU. MEPs: 2 Migrant crisis dominates Sweden's politics In October 2015 the anti-immigration Swiss People's Party (SVP) won the parliamentary election with a record 29.4% of the vote. That translated into 65 out of the total 200 seats in the lower house. Switzerland is not in the EU, but is in Europe's Schengen free-movement area, and has a high population of immigrants compared with its neighbours. Support for the SVP has grown during the migrant crisis. For years the party has pushed for tough immigration controls, using controversial black sheep posters that opponents describe as racist. It spearheaded a campaign to cap EU migrant numbers - and the Swiss voted to do so in 2014. But there is now EU-Swiss legal wrangling over free movement of workers, as the Swiss appear to be defying the Schengen rules. Anti-immigration SVP wins Swiss vote
Many European countries are witnessing electoral gains for far-right and nationalist parties, though they span a wide political spectrum.
36130006
[ 0, 623, 18, 3535, 14179, 3450, 41, 371, 6618, 15, 61, 65, 8944, 29, 95, 21551, 343, 16698, 6525, 3 ]
The killings are thought to have taken place last year on a ranch in the western state of Michoacan last year. President Enrique Pena Nieto said he had dismissed Mr Galindo to allow for a transparent investigation. Earlier this month Mexico's National Human Rights Commission accused police of tampering with evidence. Michoacan: Mexico's failed state? One police officer and 42 suspects were killed in the raid on a ranch in Tanhuato in May last year. Officers said they had returned fire in self-defence but the high death toll aroused suspicions. The human rights commission report accused police of planting guns on some suspects and moving bodies to bolster the official version that all the deaths occurred during a gun battle. Mr Galindo and National Security Commissioner Renato Sales have denied anyone was summarily killed and insisted officers used necessary force against highly armed criminals. Police used a Black Hawk helicopter during the operation, reportedly firing some 4,000 rounds into the ranch, known as the Rancho del Sol, during the initial assault. The helicopter itself was hit by gunfire, investigators found. In its report (in Spanish; warning: contains graphic images), the CNDH asserts that: Michoacan has become one of Mexico's most violent states because of the rivalry between cartels.
Mexico's federal police chief, Enrique Galindo, has been sacked following allegations police killed at least 22 suspected members of a drugs cartel.
37217177
[ 0, 2753, 3, 35, 8673, 4550, 9, 17584, 235, 243, 3, 88, 141, 19664, 1363, 2776, 9230, 32, 3, 5 ]
Laura Whittle, third at the British trials, joins compatriots Steph Twell and Eilish McColgan in the 5,000m. Hammer throwers Mark Dry and Chris Bennett have also been granted selectors' picks for places in Rio. It is the highest Scottish representation in track and field since the 1908 London Games, with GB sending an 80-strong team to Brazil. Twell and McColgan were among eight athletes from Scotland who booked their places at the trials in Birmingham last month, with three marathon runners selected in April. Just five Scottish runners made it to London 2012. Team GB will be looking to improve on a haul of six medals from four years ago. Scots in the GB athletics team for Rio 2016: Callum Hawkins, Tsegai Tewelde, Derek Hawkins - marathon Beth Potter - 10,000m Andrew Butchart - 5,000m Eilidh Doyle - 400m Hurdles, 4x400m Relay Lennie Waite - 3,000m Steeplechase Laura Muir - 1500m Chris O'Hare - 1500m Lynsey Sharp - 800m Steph Twell, Eilish McColgan, Laura Whittle - 5,000m Chris Bennett, Mark Dry - hammer
Three more Scots have been added to the Great Britain Olympic athletics team, taking the total up to 15.
36787122
[ 0, 3, 5898, 51, 19, 2030, 6497, 16, 1463, 11, 1057, 437, 957, 4018, 3, 5, 3, 3443, 5657, 2775 ]
Hawick Knitwear, which employs more than 230 staff, has also increased its production of sweaters to meet demand. Production has been boosted by better than expected sales of the Hawick Knitwear-branded range which launched in January. The company, which dates back to 1874, was bought by managing director Benny Hartop in November last year. As well as the new range, the firm has seen growth of its longer-established business of supplying customers who sell the garments under their private labels. In Europe, Hawick Knitwear sells into Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy and Spain. Markets outside Europe include the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Japan. The knitwear firm has increased its production to 9,500 sweaters each week, from about 7,500 last year, to keep up with demand. Mr Hartop said: "The increase in production is in direct response to a surge in orders from both home and abroad for our private label clients and now for our own brand too. "There will always be challenges but thankfully our future is looking very good and this is a testament to the dedicated staff working at all levels of the business. "I have no doubt this success will continue for us into the future."
A Borders textile firm has announced a 20% increase in its turnover, to £8m a year, in its annual accounts.
13193011
[ 0, 8, 17989, 7258, 1669, 65, 1936, 165, 999, 13, 19469, 7, 12, 942, 2173, 3, 5, 8, 349, 6 ]
PC Keith Palmer's murder, in an attack outside the Houses of Parliament in March, prompted "greater emphasis" on the need for a permanent memorial. The UK Police Memorial Trust appealed for £1.5m towards its construction at the National Memorial Arboretum. It is set to bear the names of more than 1,400 officers and staff. Sir Hugh Orde, chairman of the trust, said: "PC Palmer's death has put greater emphasis on the need to create a place where the nation can honour and commemorate our police service and where family, friends and colleagues of those killed on duty can go to carry out personal acts of remembrance. "We need to establish a fitting memorial that recognises the vital contribution that policing makes to our society and acknowledges the courage and sacrifice made by police officers and police staff who have paid the ultimate price. "That tribute must become part of the fabric of our national life." More updates on this story The memorial, at the site in Alrewas, Staffordshire, will be dedicated to the courage and sacrifice of the officers, who have lost their lives over the past 250 years. A brass screen will have leaf shapes cut out and given to the families of fallen officers, with the names of loved ones as a personal memorial. Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the government had committed £1m towards the £4m needed for it. "It is entirely fitting that those officers and staff who give their lives in the line of duty should be remembered with a lasting tribute," she said. The memorial is expected to be completed by 2019.
An appeal has been launched for public donations towards a national memorial to police officers killed in the line of duty.
39935729
[ 0, 8, 1157, 15827, 22561, 15, 17, 440, 56, 36, 2425, 12, 8, 11578, 11, 10811, 13, 5803, 3, 5 ]
Steven Hirschorn said his son Ollie was upset when he lost his lion, Liley, at Hughenden Manor in Buckinghamshire. However, the toy was returned last week along with a photo diary showing Liley driving a buggy and exploring the National Trust property. Mr Hirschorn said it was "a lovely gesture". Ollie has had Liley since he was about 11 months old and is so treasured that a back-up had already been bought, in case he ever got lost. Mr Hirschorn said although the two lions look identical, Ollie could tell the difference and was sad when "good Liley" went missing on Easter Monday. "He was on the verge of tears when it was pointed out that he wasn't holding Liley," Mr Hirschorn said. Staff at the former home of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli were told of the missing lion, but he remained unfound until two days later. Charlotte Russell, conservation assistant, said: "He was found in one of the boxes we have on the top floor, it wasn't an obvious place. "Our office thought it would be a nice idea to take photos of him in different places around the manor - so the boy could see he had had an adventure." Mr Hirschorn, who lives in west London, said he was impressed by the effort, having thought Liley would be sent back "stuffed in an envelope". "Straight away Ollie was playing with the stickers they sent and we've told him the story shown in the photos. "He was very happy to see Liley again."
A three-year-old boy has been reunited with his favourite toy lion, which was photographed having an "adventure" at a stately home after being lost.
32371730
[ 0, 3, 7325, 6, 1414, 1306, 6, 877, 3586, 30, 8896, 2089, 44, 11560, 107, 4596, 388, 127, 16, 10295 ]
Officers were called to Leith Walk at about 06:00 following reports about a man with a neck injury. Detectives said it was believed he sustained the injury sometime between 05:30 and 06:00 in nearby Smith's Place. He was taken to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where his condition was described as serious but stable. Det Sgt Neil Spowart said: "We're working to ascertain the full circumstances surrounding this man's injury. "We believe that he was in a business premises on Leith Walk, near the junction with Balfour Street, at around 5am and that the injury was sustained sometime between 5.30am and 6am. "Anyone who remembers seeing a man in the Smith's Place area around this time, or has any information which may be able to help us establish the cause of his injury, is urged to get in touch."
Police in Edinburgh have appealed for information after a man was found seriously injured in Leith.
35908595
[ 0, 23959, 7, 718, 12, 90, 23, 189, 10801, 44, 81, 3, 632, 18828, 3, 5, 3, 88, 14399, 8 ]
Gary Price was suspended from all council duties for five months in November after Powys council's Standards Committee ruled he had breached the code of conduct. His appeal has been dismissed by the Adjudication Panel for Wales following a two-day hearing in Llandrindod Wells. Mr Price has been contacted for comment. He was found to have sent information which the council said "incorrectly and unfairly" portrayed what happened at a grievance appeal hearing, in which he was a panel member. The Adjudication Panel for Wales unanimously agreed to refer the matter back to the Standards Committee with a recommendation that Mr Price be suspended for three months. Council leader Barry Thomas said the decision "sends out a clear message that those who enter public office have to operate within the members' code of conduct and maintain the highest possible standards".
A decision to suspend a Powys county councillor has been upheld.
39224291
[ 0, 13439, 5312, 47, 14840, 45, 66, 6098, 9353, 21, 874, 767, 16, 1671, 3, 5, 8, 6098, 243, 3 ]
Andrew Hocking, 57, of West Sussex, sexually assaulted four girls, aged between six and 12, from 1976 to 1990 in Gloucestershire and Hampshire. He was found guilty of one count of rape and six indecent assaults following a trial at Lewes Crown Court. Sussex Police said Hocking showed "no genuine remorse" for his actions. "Hocking stands out as cold, calculating, predatory and ruthless," said Det Con Chris Smith. "Despite the strong evidence against him, he put the victims through the ordeal of having to recount their episodes of abuse." Detectives discovered records of allegations of indecent assaults on a seven-year-old girl at his home in Alveston, Gloucestershire in 1976 and 1977, while they were investigated him over the making of indecent images of children. Police were contacted by three woman claiming they had been attacked, when they were aged six, seven and 12, by Hocking at his address in Fareham, Hampshire, in the 1980s and 1990, following an appeal for information. Following a trial, Hocking was convicted of one count of rape and six indecent assaults and cleared of one indecent assault. The 57-year-old admitted making indecent images of children and possession of extreme pornography at an earlier hearing. He was ordered to be put on the sex offenders register for life.
A paedophile, branded "calculating and predatory", has been jailed for 15 years for a string of sex attacks on girls as young as six years old.
32923447
[ 0, 662, 3567, 9742, 344, 1296, 11, 586, 6949, 120, 12710, 15, 26, 57, 3, 3436, 18, 1201, 18, 1490 ]
Media playback is not supported on this device In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Bach stands by his handling of the crisis, but admits there are "deficiencies" in the current anti-doping system. Speaking at a meeting of the Association of National Olympic Committees in Doha, the German pledged to increase funding in the fight for clean sport, if the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) was reformed. Meanwhile, Bach said he was considering a request to appear at a hearing next month of a US Congressional committee investigating anti-doping. The 62-year-old also insisted that the Rio Games had been a "great success" despite a troubled build-up and concerns over the cost of staging the event. "Achieving this under extremely difficult circumstances to make it the most watched Games in history is a great demonstration of the relevance and success of the Olympics," he said. The IOC has been heavily criticised for resisting calls from Wada to impose a blanket ban on the Russian team in the wake of a damning report by Professor Richard McLaren into systemic, state-assisted cheating and the manipulation of samples. In August, Bach rejected this as a "nuclear option" and instead gave responsibility to international federations to make decisions about their specific sport. The IAAF, athletics' world governing body, had already banned the country's track and field athletes, but hundreds of Russians competed in Rio, with the team coming fourth in the medal table. When asked if he had any regrets, Bach said: "In general, no. Take the Russian decision; we have such broad support within the Olympic movement, the national Olympic committees, the international federations, the major athlete representatives, and in the political world, where this decision was highly appreciated. "I was always sure, because with this decision we were defending our values and I always was sure we should not take a political decision. We should take a decision for sport, a decision which is doing justice to the athletes. "If you are convinced of your values then you can also weather a storm because you know in the long run - once the dust has settled and the storm is over - then the people will realise that the values have been respected. This is why in this point I don't have any regrets." McLaren's second report into Russian doping at the Sochi 2014 Winter Games is expected early next month with speculation it could lead to pressure for further sanctions against the country for the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. When asked how long it could take before Russia could be trusted again, Bach said: "That depends on the report because I don't know what's going to happen. "We have to wait and then anticipate this final report of the IOC as we've created two commissions who will also give the Russian side a chance to be heard. This is a fair procedure and then the IOC will take all of the necessary measures and sanctions." Wada holds a board meeting in Glasgow this weekend where there will be an attempt to agree a new roadmap for reforms to the global anti-doping system. Some in the anti-doping community want the agency to be strengthened and empowered with greater independence and sanctioning power. However, Bach said: "I strongly believe that the prosecutor should never be the judge and this is why the IOC made sanctioning independent - we delegated it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to have a clear separation of power. This separation of power should also be applied in the fight against doping." The IOC, which contributes around half of Wada's $30m (£24m) annual budget, matching funding from governments, has come under pressure to give more money to the fight for clean sport. On his vision for the future of anti-doping, Bach said he wanted "a Wada anti-doping system which is independent from the sports organisations as well as from national interests, where an independent entity determines with the international federations an anti-doping programme, not only for each sport but also each discipline, to ensure a level playing field and to make this transparent for all athletes". Asked if the system is broken, he said: "It has its deficiencies. "These have to be corrected and this is why we're making these far-reaching proposals - and if it needs more investment we are ready, the Olympic movement is ready. "This is why we have said we want reforms to be approved and implemented and then we are ready with governments to provide the necessary financing - you cannot just give money and wait to see what someone will do or not do. I'm confident the athletes will regain their trust in Wada and the anti-doping system." Meanwhile, the BBC has learned that Bach has been asked to appear next month in front of an investigations hearing of the US House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce - whose jurisdiction includes funding for US anti-doping and oversight of sports. "We are carefully considering all of the invitations we get from all over the world," said Bach. A Wada independent observers report recently highlighted "serious failings" with the IOC's anti-doping programme at the Rio Games. It found that many athletes who had been targeted for testing could not be found and on some days, 50% of tests were aborted. More than 4,000 athletes had no record of any testing in 2016. Despite this, Bach said: "Overall there was progress in the fight against doping and overall the integrity of the tests was not affected, so we are not happy with the challenges, but on the other hand we did deliver a reliable programme." Russia is continuing to host winter sports events, despite the IOC urging sports to look for alternative venues following the doping scandal and to freeze any preparations for major championships in the country. In September however, Russia was awarded the 2021 Biathlon World Championships. "This is something the IOC cannot impose," said Bach. "The international federations are autonomous from the IOC, we can only give guidelines."
The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach says he has "no regrets" about letting Russia compete at the Rio Games this summer, despite a state-sponsored cheating programme.
37995303
[ 0, 13692, 63, 31, 7, 1181, 18, 26, 32, 2462, 2066, 15387, 7, 12, 993, 3135, 3, 99, 8, 296 ]
The self-styled Islamic State group said two days ago that Abu-Zakariya al-Britani detonated a car bomb at an Iraqi army base in Tal Gaysum, south-west of Mosul. He is believed to have been originally known as Ronald Fiddler. Fiddler, 50 and from Manchester, was sent to Guantanamo Bay in 2002. IS has now published a photograph of Fiddler, who was also known as Jamul-Uddin al-Harith before taking the nom-du-guerre Abu-Zakariya al-Britani. He had been seized by US forces in Pakistan in 2001, before being sent to Guantanamo. US interrogators found he provided useful information to them about the Taliban's methods, and he was released after two years. The Daily Mail reported Fiddler received a million pounds in compensation from the government when he came back to the UK. The BBC has seen IS registration papers signed by Fiddler in April 2014 when he crossed into Syria from Turkey. He volunteered to be a fighter, saying his knowledge of Islam was basic. His wife told the Daily Mirror that she and their five children went to Syria try to persuade him to come back, but failed, and they ended up having to flee for their lives from IS territory. Afzal Ashraf, a former counter-terrorism adviser to the United States in Iraq, told the BBC this incident demonstrated that "some of the people in Guantanamo Bay were up to no good". "It also throws into question some of the organisations that were supporting him, that brought him back [from Guantanamo]. "Some of them were associated a little too closely with this radical ideology, and they use the legal system - freedoms of speech, the importance of the rule of law - in order to subvert some of our systems in the UK and elsewhere." BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says the "pipeline" of British and European jihadists who once crossed the Turkish border into Syria, into IS-controlled territory, has now "pretty much dried up". He added: "Guantanamo Bay was incredibly bad in the ideological fight against extremism. It makes it very difficult for America, Britain and other countries whose nationals are there to maintain any kind of moral high ground, because they [detainees] were imprisoned without trial. "And what do you do about the estimated 400 British jihadists who are still out there? If they don't die on the battlefield, are they going to try and come back? How do you monitor them? Do you believe the people who say 'I've turned my back on all of that'. "Most people will probably want to do exactly that. Some, though, may have other ideas." According to figures published by the UK government last year, about 850 people regarded as a national security concern have gone to become fighters in the Middle East. Of those, just under half have returned to the UK and approximately 15% are dead. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "The UK has advised for some time against all travel to Syria, and against all travel to large parts of Iraq. "As all UK consular services are suspended in Syria and greatly limited in Iraq, it is extremely difficult to confirm the whereabouts and status of British nationals in these areas."
A British IS fighter who died in a suicide bomb attack on Iraqi forces in Mosul is a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, the BBC understands.
39045923
[ 0, 1798, 3485, 18, 14389, 17013, 845, 3, 29516, 343, 7, 16, 3, 1744, 288, 152, 265, 32, 43, 96 ]
Mr Pistorius says he mistakenly shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through the door, believing she was a burglar, then broke it down with the bat. The prosecution says he tried to beat down the door and then fired the gun. Mr Pistorius denies intentionally killing Ms Steenkamp in February 2013. Forensic expert Police Colonel Johan Vermeulen also said he thought Mr Pistorius had hit the door with the bat from a low angle, indicating he was not wearing his prosthetic legs at the time. By Pumza FihlaniBBC News, Pretoria A big day in the Oscar Pistorius murder case. The defence worked tirelessly to disprove a finding by Colonel Johan Vermeulen, a decorated forensic expert in the South African Police Service (SAPS). Oscar Pistorius's toilet door stood obtrusively in the courtroom, held up by a white frame, behind it a toilet cubicle. Col Vermeulen, a state witness, told the court that based on the marks on the door and their level Mr Pistorius was on his stumps when he struck the door with a cricket bat. The defence strongly challenged his version, adding that they will present their own expert witness who will prove Mr Pistorius was in fact wearing his prosthetics. Defence lawyer Barry Roux also introduced another dimension to the case, suggesting that the police recklessly handled the crime scene - he pointed to police shoe prints on the door. The forensics from the scene are a make or break for either side. Mr Roux's plan seems to include discrediting the integrity of the evidence collection process. He has already hinted at the possible contamination of the crime scene, placing the SAPS under a rather embarrassing spotlight. This contradicts the athlete's claim that he had been wearing his artificial limbs. Correspondents say whether or not the athlete was on his prosthetic limbs is important because it could match parts of his story that he accidentally shot Ms Steenkamp, or expose inconsistencies in it. The damaged toilet door, with four bullet holes, was examined in the courtroom along with a replica of the toilet cubicle. Forensic evidence on the location from which shots were fired, how they were grouped and their trajectory were presented to the court on Wednesday. Cross-examining, Mr Pistorius' defence team asked forensic expert Col Vermeulen to kneel and lift his feet, which caused him to wobble. The defence team claimed that Mr Pistorius therefore would not have been able to balance on his stumps and break down the door using a cricket bat. Defence lawyer Barry Roux also alleged that police had contaminated the crime scene by stepping on the door. Col Vermeulen argued that if Mr Pistorius was balanced enough to fire a gun, he could also break down a door with a bat. The forensics expert argued that the angle and location of the marks on the door suggested that they had been caused by someone much shorter than him. The defence team argued that a mark on the bottom of the door showed where Mr Pistorius had tried to kick open the door using his prosthetic legs. Col Vermeulen agreed that this was possible. "The marks on the door are actually consistent with him not having his legs on and I suspect they must be similar to the height that he was when he fired the shots," he told the court. The prosecution argues that Mr Pistorius hit the door with the cricket bat before the shots were fired, but the defence claims it was the other way round. The trial is now halfway through its second week. Earlier on Wednesday, a friend of Mr Pistorius claimed that the star had driven at 200 km/h (124mph) and that he had taken a picture of the speedometer to prove it. The defence team alleged that Darren Fresco was himself driving at the time and had therefore fabricated evidence. On Tuesday, Mr Pistorius' defence team questioned a pathologist's finding that his girlfriend had eaten less than two hours before he killed her. This contradicts the athlete's account that the pair had been in bed for several hours before the shooting. The state is seeking to convince the court that Mr Pistorius and Ms Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, and reality TV star, had an argument before the athlete fired the shots that killed her. There are no juries at trials in South Africa, and his fate will ultimately be decided by the judge, assisted by two assessors. If found guilty, the 27-year-old, a national sporting hero dubbed the "blade runner", could face life imprisonment.
A forensics expert has swung a cricket bat at a toilet door erected in the courtroom at Oscar Pistorius' murder trial in South Africa to demonstrate key pieces of evidence.
26541765
[ 0, 3, 25519, 2205, 845, 3, 88, 6202, 29, 120, 2538, 112, 17442, 190, 8, 1365, 3, 5, 3, 88 ]
Fedrwch chi ddad-sgramblo'r lluniau a darganfod p-wy sydd tu ôl i'r ŵy? Peidiwch ac egg-seitio gormod, does dim gwobr - dim ond am h-wy-l ... (dyna ddigon nawr. Gol.) Pasg Hapus i chi i gyd!
Mae Cymru Fyw wedi mynd i ysbryd yr ŵy-l ond mae ymennydd ein cwisfeistr druan wedi ffrio'n lân!
39516648
[ 0, 3, 1436, 3, 26, 14677, 18, 7, 5096, 4672, 31, 52, 3, 195, 202, 23, 402, 3, 9, 649 ]
Media playback is not supported on this device The Frenchman was one of the most promising of a new generation of Formula 1 drivers. Bianchi, who was part of the Ferrari young driver programme, lost his battle on the night of Friday, 17 July - nine months after the crash. The accident that led to Bianchi's death came in an unfortunate combination of circumstances in a difficult wet race at the Suzuka track. During the lap before Bianchi's accident, Sauber's Adrian Sutil had crashed at the fast, uphill Dunlop corner. A recovery vehicle headed out to pick the car up and that section of track was put under double waved yellow caution flags, meaning a hazard bad enough that drivers should be prepared to stop. On the next lap, on worn tyres, Bianchi arrived at the corner and lost control, and the car speared off the track and collided with the recovery vehicle, which destroyed the Marussia's roll hoop, a device that protects the driver's head. Bianchi suffered massive head injuries. After an operation, he was placed in intensive care but he succumbed three quarters of a year later. In only 34 races he had done enough with the back-of-the-grid Marussia team to suggest he had a bright future in the sport. It is never easy for a new driver in a struggling team to prove his worth, but Bianchi had done so by producing performances that would not normally be expected of the car, and outclassing his team-mate, Englishman Max Chilton. There were a number of impressive drives from Bianchi, but the most high profile was his taking ninth place in the Monaco Grand Prix in May last year. In doing so, he scored Marussia's first and only points, as the team folded at the end of 2014. They now race as Manor. It was too early in Bianchi's career to judge his ultimate potential, and whether he could have gone on to become a race winner and even world champion. But the signs were there that he was set for a significant career at the highest level of the sport. Ferrari signed four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel to replace the departing Fernando Alonso in 2015, but they had earmarked Bianchi as the man who would probably drive a third car for the team, should they be required to run one if the grid dropped below 20 cars. Ferrari's former president Luca Di Montezemolo said: "This boy was born with us, and we thought of him as our driver of the future... he would have been perfect for the coming years." Bianchi came from a racing family, and it is the second time they have been touched by tragedy. His grand-uncle Lucien Bianchi competed in 19 F1 grands prix, with a best finish of third at Monaco in 1968, and won the 1968 Le Mans 24 Hours, before being killed testing for the race the following year. Bianchi's career in F1 started in 2011, when Ferrari signed him up to be their test and reserve driver, although he had had a relationship with the team for at least two years before that. Ferrari loaned him out to fulfil the same role for Force India in 2012, before they facilitated his move to Marussia, to whom they supplied engines, for his debut season in 2013. Then Ferrari decided against promoting Bianchi to partner Alonso in 2014, preferring to sign for a second time Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who won the world title for the team in 2007. Media playback is not supported on this device His death has led to a period of introspection in a sport that had never stopped trying to improve safety since the triple world champion Ayrton Senna was killed at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, the last F1 race driver to lose his life. Alonso, a two-time world champion and close to Bianchi, said: "This is a reminder for us that this is very dangerous, for the spectators as well. We are here because we like our job and we are ready to take the risk because we need the adrenaline somehow as well. But we cannot make mistakes." His colleagues acknowledged Bianchi's misfortune, at the same time expressing a belief that he would want them to go on, and a hope that F1 can apply whatever lessons emerge from the inquiry into his death to make the sport that will always be dangerous safer again. As with Senna's death, safety changes have already been put in place, aimed at ensuring such an incident can never happen again.
Jules Bianchi has died aged 25 as a result of head injuries sustained in a crash during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.
29573787
[ 0, 8, 20609, 348, 1513, 112, 3392, 30, 8, 706, 13, 1003, 1718, 3, 5, 3, 88, 47, 294, 13 ]
Four officers were injured when the Met's Flying Squad swooped on the men in Piccadilly at 11:25 BST. A Taser was discharged several times and the policemen were hurt as the men tried to escape on mopeds. Four men have been arrested and are being held at London police stations. A Met Police spokesman said three officers suffered minor injuries and the fourth is in hospital in a serious condition. Store owner Avi Reed said the gang smashed a glass cabinet, causing more than £300,000 of damage, Mr Reed said police contacted them at the Chronext store earlier to warn them that there might be a robbery, and the shop was closed to protect customers. He said: "At about 11:30 we saw three guys, they had helmets on. One tried to smash the door with a hammer. The glass didn't break as it's protected but he managed to get in. "Another guy had an axe and managed to smash a cabinet, while the other stayed on the motorbike. They caused enormous damage." Mr Reed praised the actions of the "amazing" police. Det Supt Craig Turner, said: "Our officers are absolutely committed to keeping London safe and target the criminals who pose a danger to Londoners and our city businesses day in, day out. "They know that this work carries with it very real risks and dangers but take this in their stride as part of serving the public. "However, today's events highlight how the reckless behaviour of those determined to evade justice, heedless of the consequences, can have a real impact on all those involved." Piccadilly was closed eastbound at Hyde Park Corner for about six hours while investigations were carried out.
A moped gang armed with knives and an axe has been intercepted by police in a "terrifying" attempt to rob a luxury watch store in central London.
36963851
[ 0, 662, 5803, 7532, 16, 8, 3, 3810, 31, 7, 3, 7, 14952, 2462, 30, 8, 1076, 16, 11000, 658 ]
Dr Paul Wright told the BBC that the Caribbean island's anti-doping regime had been woefully short of the international standards required. His comments come a week after the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) visited Jamaica to investigate claims that the country's athletes were not being tested rigorously enough. Media playback is not supported on this device Former Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission (Jadco) executive director Renee Anne Shirley sparked the crisis when she said the agency conducted just one out-of-competition test in the six months leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Her criticisms, made in an article in Sports Illustrated, followed a series of adverse findings involving Jamaican track and field athletes. Asafa Powell, the former 100m world record holder, was the biggest name to test positive, but four others, including Powell's training partner Sherone Simpson, the Olympic relay gold medallist, also failed tests at the country's national trials in June. Both Powell and Simpson claim they took supplements that might have been contaminated with the banned stimulant Oxilofrine. Wada officials are due to discuss their visit to Jamaica at an executive board meeting in Johannesburg on Tuesday and could make a series of recommendations to improve the country's anti-doping policies. But Dr Wright, a senior doping control officer with Jadco who has 30 years of experience of drug testing in sport, is concerned Wada's intervention will not lead to the sweeping changes required to give the world confidence in Jamaican sport. He also said the sudden surge of athletes failing tests at the country's national trials in June had left him fearing the worst. "The results are not good," he told the BBC. "Remember, all of these results except one were caught by Jadco. The problem is these people were tested positive in competition. That means, months before, you know the date of the test and the approximate time of the test. "So, if you fail an in-competition test, you haven't only failed a drugs test, you have failed an IQ test. "This could be the tip of the iceberg to have so many positives coming in competition. "What is going to convince me is if there is an out-of-competition test that's unannounced, that includes blood testing and which tests for EPO. Then we can hold up our heads high and say we know there's nothing." But the head of the Jamaican Olympic Association, Mike Fennell, dismissed Dr Wright's concerns, saying he was "being dramatic". "I think that's massively overstating it," Fennell said. "There's no evidence to suggest that it's the tip of the iceberg." Although Dr Wright met with Wada officials during their visit, he was critical, saying they did not spend enough time on the ground in Jamaica. Media playback is not supported on this device "I have a personal problem in what you can do in 12 hours," he said. "They really came late Monday evening and left first flight Wednesday morning. So they were only really here on Tuesday. And four hours of that was at a dinner function with the Prime Minister. "It's not enough. Remember, it was explained as an extraordinary audit. I would have loved them to have been here for a week, to have got answers to every question, to be able to question people who knew what was happening. "Their intervention has led to the promise of change. If the promises are kept, then we will get there." Following Wada's visit, the Jamaican Minister for Sport, Natalie Neita Headley, vowed to pump more money in to testing to boost the current annual budget of just over £380,000. That funding - with the help of additional money from Wada - would be used to hire more senior executives to run the anti-doping programme and to hire and train additional drug testers. Headley told the BBC she was currently hiring two extra drug testers, taking the total number of doping control officers to six. She also vowed to increase the number of tests conducted by Jadco, from 300 this year to 400 in 2014, and said the commission was ready to start blood testing its athletes. She also said claims that Jamaica's top athletes had not been tested enough were wrong, pointing to figures released by the IAAF, the body that governs world athletics. "Our athletes, as confirmed by the IAAF, were the most tested in the world of athletics, so to say your athletes weren't tested is not exactly true," she said. "I would recognise that the events of the last couple of months would have harmed us tremendously. I recognise that. "I also recognise that what is important is that the country puts all of what is needed in place to beef up a system, bolster your system that where there might be weaknesses you strengthen, where there might be any difficulties that you remove those difficulties. "Though we are experiencing turbulent economic times, the budget of Jadco was increased this year unlike many other areas." Jadco has so far carried out 286 tests in 2013, both in and out of competition. These are in addition to the tests conducted by the IAAF on a pool of 19 elite Jamaican athletes. These tests have taken place in competitions around the world but mainly in Europe and out of competition in the run-up to the Moscow World Championships in August. Sports officials in Jamaica insist that, while their own testing regime needs to improve, there are no reasons to doubt the performances of top stars like triple Olympic champions Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price. Jamaican Olympic chief Fennell said he believed some of the positive tests had been caused by contaminated food supplements. "There is a problem worldwide with the use of supplements," said Fennell. "The whole world is induced to use supplements for one thing or another. "Athletes are no different. This is not with a view to cheating and I would put my head on the block and say our athletes do not set out to cheat. "We do have rigorous testing. If you look at the record for this year, you will see our testing record is amazing. Those of our top athletes are on the registered international programmes. "More can be done and you tell me what country in the world where more cannot be done. A country like Jamaica has economic problems and we are doing extremely well with the resources we have, but there's always room for more and we have to make sure we are up to speed." One of Jamaica's leading sprinters, Nesta Carter, said athletes understood that the events of the last few months had put him and his team-mates in the spotlight. "I understand why people pay more attention to Jamaica," said Carter, who won an individual bronze medal in the 100m in Moscow in August to add to his sprint relay gold from the London Olympics. "It was the same when the US dominated. People said they were on drugs and should be tested. That's a part of the sport and we have to accept that. It's going to hurt fans and athletes because no-one wants to be associated with what's going on. "It's kind of hard to see your fellow mates and people keep pointing the fingers at them and saying they are on drugs when they are not - so you just have to stay clean and do the right thing."
Jamaica's most senior drug tester says the country's recent rash of failed tests might be the "tip of an iceberg".
24900565
[ 0, 1798, 7620, 9, 2617, 1181, 18, 26, 32, 2462, 24476, 845, 8, 10030, 19, 710, 13, 1038, 2443, 3 ]
The cash comes from chip maker Marvell which became a supporter and sponsor of OLPC in early 2009. The OLPC organisation said the grant meant it had all the development cash it needed to produce its next machine. OLPC said it would show off the first development work on the new machine at the CES show in January 2011. The cash handed over by Marvell will fund development of a tablet version of the XO - the rugged computer designed to boost education in developing nations. The device is code-named XO-3 as it will be the third device the OLPC organisation has produced. It previously scrapped plans for the XO-2 which was to resemble an electronic book. Early prototypes of the XO-3 will likely be based on the Moby machine that Marvell already makes. The finished XO-3 should be ready in 2012. The OLPC organisation was created with the intention of making a laptop costing only $100 that would be bought in huge quantities by poorer nations keen to get children using computers. The final machine produced by OLPC in 2007 ended up costing about $199 and did not sell in the huge quantities the group wanted. To date about 1.4 million XO laptops have been distributed.
The One Laptop Per Child organisation has been given a $5.6m (£3.5m) grant to develop a tablet version of its educational computer.
11475335
[ 0, 1723, 14014, 147, 57, 3, 5194, 4051, 5102, 56, 3069, 606, 13, 7022, 988, 13, 8, 3, 4, 667 ]
They said that poor conditions at an overcrowded camp in Moria presented a "serious risk" to at least 3,000 migrants living there. A man in his 20s said to be a Pakistani was found dead in his tent on Monday. A 22-year-old Egyptian man and a 46-year-old Syrian man who shared a tent died last week. Reports suggest they inhaled toxic fumes from heaters. Greek police are now investigating the deaths. Local media have cited carbon monoxide poisoning as a possible cause of deaths, as the cold winter weather has forced many migrants to use heaters and wood-burning stoves to keep warm. "Something has got to give," International Rescue Committee Greece director Panos Navrozidis was quoted as saying by Reuters. "We cannot tolerate this wanton loss of life." The Doctors of the World charity said poor conditions at the camp posed "serious risk" to migrants. More than 60,000 migrants and refugees - many of them from conflict-ravaged countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan - currently live in camps around Greece. Aid groups say many of the camps are overcrowded, with Human Rights Watch describing the conditions in some of them as "deplorable and volatile". A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.
Aid groups have raised alarm over the deaths of three migrants on Greece's Lesbos island inside a week.
38804002
[ 0, 3, 9, 388, 16, 112, 460, 7, 243, 12, 36, 3, 9, 6697, 23, 47, 435, 3654, 16, 112 ]
20 November 2015 Last updated at 14:22 GMT A special vote was launched on the CBBC website to see if kids think it's better to help bullies or punish them. More than 2, 400 children voted and 47% thought that bullies should be punished for their actions, with 53% saying bullies should be helped. We spoke to Alex Holmes, who is an anti bullying specialist, to get his advice for anyone who is being bullied.
As part of national Anti-Bullying week Newsround has been asking kids about the best way to stop it.
34880181
[ 0, 72, 145, 3547, 4837, 502, 3, 11060, 30, 8, 475, 12, 217, 3, 99, 8434, 725, 225, 36, 31171 ]
Evidence of suspected match-fixing in elite tennis was revealed this week by a BBC and BuzzFeed News investigation. "Future players will see the headlines and see it's not an option at all," doubles representative Fleming told BBC Scotland on Wednesday. "I think if anyone is found to be doing it, that should be them. They shouldn't be playing again." Fleming, 31, and his partner Jonathan Erlich, were beaten 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round of the Australian Open on Wednesday by Robin Haase and Fernando Verdasco. "The key thing about sport is that it's pure, you don't know the outcome of any given match, and that's what people pay to come and watch," he added. "You never know what's going to happen. That's key and they have to preserve that. "I've never been approached to take money or anything to fix a match or lose a match. It does go on because people have been banned at lower levels. I'm surprised to see the article come out and talk about higher levels; I certainly haven't been aware of anything going on there." The Scot said he had no idea as to the identity of the suspected match-fixers, and suggested additional funding could be granted to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), set-up to police the sport. "Your guess is as good as mine," he said of those involved. "There were no names in the article because it's very difficult to prove anything. I think that's the issue the TIU has in that a match can be reported or look suspicious, but it doesn't necessarily mean players are guilty. "It can just be people throwing money on a match." Fleming was adamant, though, that no such activities were occurring in Melbourne. "I think if you're sitting at home or buying a ticket to come and watch here at the Aussie Open, I've no doubt in my mind you're watching pure sporting theatre," he said. "Players going at it and the best player winning on that day. There's no doubt in my mind that is the case here."
Great Britain's Colin Fleming says tennis players guilty of match-fixing should face life bans.
35359543
[ 0, 1486, 7, 6978, 845, 3, 99, 1321, 19, 435, 12, 36, 692, 34, 6, 24, 225, 36, 135, 3 ]
Police said three armed men took a five-figure sum from the vehicle in the city's Sauchiehall Street on Monday at about 21:45. A spokesman said no-one had been injured although two security guards aged 47 and 49 were left badly shaken. The area around the bank, which is near the Buchanan Galleries shopping centre, has been cordoned off by police. Police said the security guards had been making their delivery when they were approached by the three armed men, who threatened them and demanded they hand over a box of money. It is understood the cash taken was in the region of £50,000. Following the robbery, the three men got into a white Seat Leon car, which sped off along West Nile Street towards the Cowcaddens area. The car has since been found in Scott Street, near Stow College. Police said it was being taken for forensic examination. Inquiries have so far revealed that the car performed a u-turn on West Nile Street, causing a cyclist to take evasive action to avoid a collision, immediately prior to the robbery. Officers are appealing for the cyclist to contact them. The suspects are described as wearing dark-coloured clothing and balaclavas to conceal their identities. Det Insp Alasdair Barlow said: "We are reviewing CCTV images in and around the city centre. "We would like to hear from anyone who may have witnessed the incident or noticed the car, in particular the cyclist. "As the car left the scene, it was being driven at speed so people may have noticed its excessive speed."
A G4S security van has been robbed outside a branch of Royal Bank of Scotland in Glasgow city centre.
38729378
[ 0, 2095, 497, 386, 3, 8715, 1076, 808, 3, 9, 874, 18, 9178, 15, 4505, 45, 8, 1689, 3, 5 ]
Police said the firework was dropped through the doorway of a fish and chip shop by an "unknown male". The incident happened at about 21:15 BST on Friday at the shop in Alliance Avenue. The man was taken to hospital where he is described as being in a stable condition. Condemning the incident, North Belfast SDLP assembly member Nichola Mallon said: "Fireworks aren't toys, they can cause serious injury and they can cause considerable damage to property and they need to be used responsibly. "So I would send a very clear message to parents and to young people to realise the dangers of fireworks." Sinn Féin councillor JJ Magee said: "Hopefully the injured man will make a full and speedy recovery but it must have been a very traumatic experience." Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them.
A man has suffered burns after he was hit by what police have described as a "large firework rocket" in north Belfast.
37666970
[ 0, 1472, 1981, 47, 6292, 190, 8, 1365, 1343, 13, 3, 9, 2495, 11, 6591, 1814, 3, 5, 8, 388 ]
William and Kate are entering a once-isolated land. Tourists could only visit from the 1970s; TV was introduced in the 1990s; and this former absolute monarchy became a constitutional one with an elected government in 2008. Bhutan is a Buddhist country with an emphasis on gross national happiness rather than its gross domestic product. However, the country's prime minister has acknowledged that this much-lauded concept can be overused, and can mask the kingdom's problems with debt, unemployment and poverty. For two days the Cambridges will be guests of a young king and queen that are held in high regard by its subjects. They'll learn how Bhutan - which once revelled in its remoteness - is now facing the challenge of how to retain its Buddhist traditions while also embracing the modern world.
The descent into Paro by plane, which has to navigate a mountainside, is not for the faint-hearted.
36046009
[ 0, 8, 684, 31, 7, 3427, 6323, 65, 16974, 24, 48, 2077, 54, 36, 147, 10064, 3, 5, 21, 192 ]
The employees, who worked in four takeaways, are alleged to have been living and working in the country illegally. The firms have been asked to produce documents proving their staff had the right to work and live in the UK. If they are unable to do so the Home Office said they would impose a fine of up to £20,000 per illegal employee. The process to deport the workers is already under way.
Eleven people have been arrested in Shetland following illegal immigrant raids by the Home Office.
36775784
[ 0, 8, 5654, 43, 118, 1380, 12, 1759, 2691, 3, 18949, 70, 871, 141, 8, 269, 12, 161, 11, 619 ]
The Test was as good as saved. Needing to bat through the day, England had all 10 wickets in hand at lunch and were 103-0 soon after. That they ended 207 all out, losing by an innings and 75 runs, was gut-wrenching. It rendered all the talk of fight, spirit and character that we have heard from within the camp as worthless. Was it Alastair Cook's fault that England lost in that way? Absolutely not. He actually batted very nicely to get England through the morning session, only to be let down by the majority of team. However, when you have presided over something so cataclysmic in sport terms as that, then it is only natural that both Cook and the powers that be in English cricket may be thinking differently about his future as captain than they were at the start of the match. Going back to how the speculation about Cook's future began - a story at the start of the tour where he said he was looking forward to not being captain - I believe he simply gave an honest answer to a question he was asked. The truth is that England do not appoint captains forever. Cook and director of cricket Andrew Strauss do meet for debriefs at the end of every series. The captaincy is regularly reviewed. However, Cook's candid comments gained more attention because it was quite widely known that he was nearer the end of his tenure than the beginning. Before this final-Test defeat, it was quite likely Cook's future was largely in his own hands. I still suspect part of the England hierarchy will want him to stay on for next winter's Ashes series, but it might also be that the likes of Strauss and the rest of the management team feel they have to draw the line now. As for Cook, if he was feeling bullish about his future as skipper, he may not be any longer. He is probably coming to the realisation the decision on the captaincy may not be as much in his hands as he thought. Indeed, everyone involved could reach the conclusion it is the right time to make a change, so that new energy, focus and direction is brought to the job. There is sense in that. If Cook either resigns or is sacked, then the players in his team must share the responsibility. I have said previously that, even although England were expected to lose this series, we wanted to see improvement in individual players who were leaving with new skills that would have made the trip worthwhile. When you see a collapse like the one in Chennai, you wonder how much has been learned. In that respect Moeen Ali, as just one example, will have the finger pointed at him for an awful stroke that began England's ultimate demise. With runs not even in the equation, he skipped down the pitch at Ravindra Jadeja and was caught at mid-on. It was completely reckless, and beyond me to explain what he was trying to achieve. That is not a personal attack on Moeen, but merely an example that highlights how England have not just failed to take their chances, they have actually given them away. We knew how difficult this assignment would be. Seven back-to-back Tests in Bangladesh and India is the hardest tour England have ever had; it has been relentless. We also knew England would probably lose, mainly because their spinners are not of the same quality as India's. But that does not excuse the familiar batting collapses or the regular missed chances in the field. Again, the blame for those cannot all be laid at Cook's door. And so we wait for a decision on his future. There are three one-day internationals and three Twenty20s after Christmas, but they are not likely to deflect attention from speculation over the biggest job in English cricket. If Cook does go, Joe Root is the natural candidate to replace him. At 25, it may be a year earlier than England would have liked him to take the job, but he has risen to every challenge put in front of him so far. Whatever happens, Cook will remain the object of a tremendous amount of goodwill and respect. I doubt there would be any problems with him returning to the ranks. England will want him to score lots of runs for a number of years to come and I would expect him to do just that. Jonathan Agnew was talking to BBC Sport's Stephan Shemilt
England's collapse on the final afternoon of the fifth Test is one of the worst I have seen - and I have witnessed a few.
38381196
[ 0, 3, 9, 102, 2700, 14268, 7, 6276, 19, 3, 9, 822, 24, 19, 3, 21360, 57, 8, 3, 4606 ]
A survey of 2,750 11- to 18-year-olds found one in 10 admitted checking their mobile phones for notifications at least 10 times a night. The poll was carried out by Digital Awareness UK and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The organisations warn night-time usage of mobiles means pupils are coming to school tired and unable to concentrate. They recommend having a "digital detox" and putting mobile devices away for 90 minutes before lights-out or keeping them out of the bedroom. Of the 45% of survey respondents who check their phones when they should be sleeping, almost all (94%) are on social media - with a tenth saying they would feel stressed about missing out if they did not check their device before going to sleep. Of this group, 75% are listening to music and over half (57%) are watching films. A third (32%) of these youngsters say their parents are not aware that they check their mobile device after going to bed. The findings also show: Charlotte Robertson, DAUK co-founder, said: "One of the biggest topics around at the moment is excessive social media consumption and how it is affecting our physical and emotional wellbeing. "A lot of them [children] are waking up sometimes with over 100 notifications from conversations that have happened overnight. "They want to be that person that is responding at 01:00, and seen to be quite cool, to make sure they catch the joke - it's a huge driver, that anxiety of wanting to know what's happened." HMC chairman Mike Buchanan said: "The data suggests those who do check their phones, they're mostly driven by not wishing to miss out. "Clearly there are some times when children are not concentrating because they are tired, and that has an obvious impact on their ability to keep up with what's going on - there is a desire to stay within the group. "It's not that this [technology] is all horrible and terrible and that we should all be wringing our hands. "It is more a case that here's the reality, let's use it and try to influence the use of technology in a positive way."
Almost half (45%) of young people are checking their mobile phones after they have gone to bed, a poll suggests.
37562259
[ 0, 3719, 13, 3547, 9979, 850, 18, 12, 507, 18, 1201, 18, 1490, 7, 435, 80, 16, 335, 10246, 6450 ]
Many Sephardic Jews were killed, forced to convert to Christianity or leave at the end of the 15th Century. Parliament paved the way for a change in citizenship laws two years ago, but the move needed Cabinet approval. From now on, descendants of Sephardic Jews who can prove a strong link to Portugal can apply for a passport. Proof can be brought, the government says, through a combination of surname, language spoken in the family or evidence of direct descent. Thousands of Sephardic Jews were forced off the Iberian peninsula, first from Spain and then from Portugal. Some of those who fled to other parts of Europe or to America continued to speak a form of Portuguese in their new communities. The Portuguese government acknowledges that Jews lived in the region long before the Portuguese kingdom was founded in the 12th Century. "There is no possibility to amend what was done," says Portuguese Justice Minister Paula Teixera da Cruz, adding that the law change was "an attribution of a right". Portugal's Jewish community which once numbered in the tens of thousands has shrunk to just 1,000 - most of them Ashkenazim with roots in Eastern Europe. Neighbouring Spain is still debating a similar law to address its treatment of Jews in the past.
The Portuguese Cabinet has approved rules under which descendants of Jews expelled from Portugal more than 500 years ago can claim citizenship.
31051223
[ 0, 186, 12219, 5651, 447, 11896, 130, 4792, 6, 5241, 12, 5755, 12, 19013, 42, 1175, 44, 8, 414, 13 ]
Media playback is not supported on this device Justin Gatlin was supposed to represent the bad old days of athletics. Instead, at an age when most sprinters are slowing down and slacking off, he is closing 2014 as its superstar present: unbeaten all year, owner of six of the seven fastest 100m this season, nominated this month as one of the IAAF's male athletes of the year. This has been no quiet drift into sporting old age from the former Olympic and world champion. Aged 32, Gatlin is now running faster than when he was known to be cheating. This summer he ran the fastest 100m and 200m times by a man in his thirties. Last month in Brussels, he pulled off the fastest ever one-day sprint double, clocking 9.77 seconds for the 100m an hour before running the 200m in 19.71. Two months earlier, in Monaco, he had run 19.68 for the 200m, against a previous legal PB of 20.03. Shouldn't we be celebrating these great feats of sprinting? Isn't this one of the great comeback stories in sport? To subvert that old Lance Armstrong line, extraordinary performances demand extraordinary proof. Gatlin, banned once as a young man, banned again in 2006 - initially for life, eventually, after negotiations and appeals, for four years - is a hard man for many in the sport to trust. To run 9.77 dirty is one thing. To do so again, supposedly clean, at an age when no other man has got close, is too much for some to believe. "It shows one of two things: either he's still taking performance-enhancing drugs to get the best out of him at his advanced age, or the ones he did take are still doing a fantastic job," says Dai Greene, Britain's 2011 400m hurdles world champion. "Because there is no way he can still be running that well at this late point in his career. "After having years on the sidelines, being unable to train or compete, it doesn't really add up. 9.77 is an incredibly fast time. You only have to look at his performances. I don't believe in them." Already Gatlin's nomination for the IAAF's athlete of the year shortlist is causing others to stand up in anger. Germany's Olympic, world and European discus champion Robert Harting, another nominee, is asking for his name to be removed from the list in protest. "If you did it artificially, you don't know how you did it," says Briton Darren Campbell, a former European 100m champion. "If you climbed a ladder the first time with a harness pulling you up, how do you do it again without another harness? Would you have the same confidence to attempt that climb without a harness? "Gatlin must have tremendous mental strength if he believes he can now do it clean." Athletes have long suspected there might be a long-term effect of doping - something akin to the muscle memory that allows technical motor skills to be retained even after lying dormant for years. Research from scientists at the University of Oslo from October 2013 appears to give those hunches weighty credence. "I think it is likely that effects could be lifelong or at least lasting decades in humans," Kristian Gundersen, Professor of Physiology at the University of Oslo, told BBC Sport. "If you exercise, or take anabolic steroids, you get more nuclei and you get bigger muscles. If you take away the steroids, you lose the muscle mass, but the nuclei remain inside the muscle fibres. "They are like temporarily closed factories, ready to start producing protein again when you start exercising again." Gundersen's team studied the effect of steroids on female mice, but he is convinced both the same mechanism is at work in human muscles and other performance-enhancing drugs would have similar long-term benefits. Media playback is not supported on this device He said: "I would be very surprised if there were any major differences between humans and mice in this context. "The fundamental biology of muscle growth is similar in humans and in mice, and in principle any drug that builds muscle mass could trigger this mechanism. "I was excited by the clarity of the findings. It's very rare, at least in my experience, that the data is so clear cut; there is usually some disturbing factor. But in this case it was extremely clear." In other words, Gatlin - and others who have returned from shorter bans, like the second fastest 100m man in history, Tyson Gay, former world record holder Asafa Powell and Britain's one-time world 100m bronze medallist Dwain Chambers - may still be cashing in those dirty cheques. For all the opprobrium poured on Gay, Powell and Chambers, greater scorn has been reserved for Gatlin. Part of that is down to the moral distinction some draw between a one-time doper and repeat offender, part down to the American's perceived response to his bans. Gatlin has never admitted deliberately taking drugs. Where others - notably Chambers - have shown remorse and contrition, Gatlin is as Gatlin was: defiant in celebration, defiant about his past. "Everyone can make a mistake, so you can forgive something that happens once," says Campbell. "If you come back and admit what happened, you're trying to stop it happening again. But to pretend nothing happened… I get the redemption thing, but how do you get redemption when you don't admit you did it? "Working on the law of averages, was he really unlucky enough to twice get caught up in drugs, and be totally unaware? After being caught the first time, wouldn't you be absurdly cautious the next time?" Gatlin has not tested positive since returning from his last ban. In that time, he has been scrutinised by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada). Shouldn't that be enough? "If it's redemption then there should be a humbleness that goes with it, and that's not what we're seeing," says Campbell. "There's no remorse, there's no 'I'm happy to just be back in the sport'. It's straight back to, 'I'm the man.' "If I was running, I wouldn't be comfortable congratulating him. I've got no problem being beaten by someone who on that day was naturally better than me. "But every time you witness a performance, there's a question that pops up in your mind. And that's when the sport has problems, because people are questioning whether what they are seeing is real." "He doesn't seem to care what anyone thinks," says Greene. "His point of view seems to be, 'I'll become Olympic champion, I'll take shortcuts. I'll be banned, but I'll be making plenty of money when I'm back.' "Dwain was caught, and when he came back into the team not everyone was happy with it. But he took a back seat, was very private and wasn't in your face about it. And he helped everyone out. "There is someone who has remorse for what he's done. I don't see that with Gatlin." That's the British view, and also largely the Scandinavian one. In the US, Gatlin's return has been treated quite differently. For a seemingly black and white moral issue, there is an awful lot of grey. Renaldo Nehemiah, a former sprint hurdles star and San Francisco 49ers wide receiver, has worked as Gatlin's agent for more than a decade. "I say to Justin: 'Listen, some people will never forgive you,'" he told BBC Sport. "Forgiveness isn't a part of their DNA. Media playback is not supported on this device "This is a part of your legacy that you will never overcome, because of decisions you made years ago. It may not necessarily be fair, but it's the reality." In Nehemiah's old league, the NFL, a first offence for steroids carries only a four-game ban. A second will see that stretch to just eight games. In a country where the most popular sport is so lenient on something considered so grave in Britain, it's perhaps less remarkable to learn that Gatlin is considered a hero rather than an outcast. "You've got a World Cup player [Uruguay's Luis Suarez] who's biting athletes, not for the first time, and yet he's getting paid handsomely and everybody's OK and it's Kumbaya because he can kick the ball," says Nehemiah. "Track and field is the only sport in the world that seems to be held to the highest esteem. They're human beings, they're going to make mistakes, and we have to be human and try to allow them to redeem themselves, or not. "I'm not a fan of people who cheat. I loathe that. But, at the end of the day, we have things in place, punishment and rules, and I accept that. "I'm not going to spend the rest of my life being mad at an athlete every time I see them or any performance. "You don't have to support them, but I'm not cut from that kind of cloth. It takes too much negative energy for me to think badly of someone. "OK, I didn't approve of what they did, but I'm not going to sit up here and not hope that they have come out of this a better person. "I believe in redemption. I'm not happy about what's taken place. I wasn't happy about it then, but I do believe in redemption, and as long as that's the path that he's on, I will be a party to that." So should we leave Gatlin to it? Nehemiah insists his man, with his tours of schools and colleges for Usada, has more than paid back his moral debts. Doesn't his return - apparently clean, unarguably fast - give athletics a great plot-line? Greene, a passionate defender of his sport's many clean athletes, does not think so. "Cheats steal headlines from other people, they steal finance from other people, they steal medals from other people. "British 100m sprinter James Dasaolu is running incredibly well. He'd be winning Diamond Leagues at his best. But he can't get anywhere near Gatlin. And it's people like James who could be missing out. "I'd be distraught if I were second or third in the world and there was a guy a second in front of me who was found to be cheating. It would be very difficult for me to take. "It's their win he's taking, their coverage. You have a short career in athletics, and if that success is being taken away by someone who has cheated, that's very frustrating." Nehemiah points out that Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson also ran fast times in their 30s. He flags up Gatlin's fine record in college. The message is straightforward: why shouldn't you believe? "Justin Gatlin would've run this time, and faster, had his over-zealous coach Trevor Graham not tried to get him there sooner than he would've naturally gotten there. "What Justin is doing right now, I'm not surprised. His body is rested for four years, so he wasn't racing. And he was the talent that I always knew he was. "So between the rest, and the talent that he always had, and the determination to prove everyone wrong, that he was always this good, you have it. "I even told him when he was running this year: 'I get mad every time I think of the four years, because you would've been doing this and better. And what the four years did was took away some of the things that you could've done even more remarkable. But now, you're fighting.' "There are going to be suspicions. That's the era that we live in unfortunately. When I was an athlete, there was only certain Eastern Bloc countries that there were suspicions about, and the sport was a beautiful thing to watch and we enjoyed it. "Today, it's unfortunate we can't even watch a meet without innuendo of drugs. And I guess that's the climate we live in. No matter how much they test, there's no-one that's going to believe any athlete is capable of performing a certain feat." One of the reasons for that suspension of belief is, of course, the repeated transgressions of star names like Gatlin. Even now, in his supposed fresh start, he has not done everything in his power to keep his name clean. Formerly coached by Trevor Graham, now banned for life after eight of his athletes - including Olympic sprint champions Jones and world 100m record holder Tim Montgomery - were banned for doping, he now works under Dennis Mitchell, himself banned for two years as an athlete after testing positive for excessive levels of testosterone. For a man so keen to protest his innocence, it appears at best a misguided decision, at worst a blatant signal of contempt for those critics. "You have to understand we only have so many coaches in America that have knowledge," insists Nehemiah. "I would venture to say there aren't too many coaches around in the world that haven't worked with an athlete or someone at some point that's done something they shouldn't have done. "It wasn't as if Dennis was a perennial abuser of drugs. He had an incident, he paid the price for it, it was years ago and he hasn't had an incident since his return in a coaching capacity, since with any athlete. "And he lives in Orlando, Justin lives in Orlando and it just makes sense from a convenience stand point. Justin's a Florida boy, you're looking at Florida coaches, we don't have that many, and that's who we chose." Neither are those who run athletics entirely without blame. Since French 1500m runner Hind Dehiba won a court case against the organisers of the Lausanne Grand Prix meet, other big events have set aside their previous collective decision not to invite and pay convicted drugs cheats. But there has been no counter-challenge, and there has been little resistance to promoting former dopers like Gatlin and Gay as the poster-boys and heroes. Then there is anti-doping agencies' increasing preference for cutting bans in exchange for information. Gay had his original two-year ban cut to just one. In the long term it may work - it was how Usada finally snared Armstrong - but it also raises serious moral questions: can you really be said to be helping the authorities when you were deliberately defrauding them until caught? "How do you want your sport to be perceived?" says Campbell. "Do you care how medals are won? "For me you should always care. Because people need to believe what they're watching. "If you're not bothered about what athletes do to achieve success, you've got a problem. You'll keep the hardcore fans. But you'll lose the rest."
Twice banned for doping, distrusted by fellow athletes, trained in the past by a notorious doping coach and now by another man once banned for drugs.
29515182
[ 0, 3, 9, 388, 16, 112, 3, 17, 9288, 3010, 65, 150, 1109, 920, 376, 38, 80, 13, 8, 27 ]
The poster, on Tamworth Road, in Sawley, Derbyshire, shows aliens beaming up a person into their spaceship with the text, "they'll take the fat ones first". Combat Bullying, based in Nottinghamshire, said it would "further harm" those who are being bullied. Fit4Less said it wanted to create a "light-hearted and humorous" advert. It reads: "They're coming… and when they arrive they'll take the FAT ones first!". It then has "save yourself!" with an arrow pointing to the gym's website. One passer-by said the poster was "ridiculous" and he would "rip it down" because "being a big lad myself, it upsets you". Many other people said it was "in poor taste" and "offensive". Natalie Harvey, founder of the charity, said the poster has caused her concerns because it would "aid bullying". "This week alone three cases have been brought to my attention of children being bullied because of weight issues," she said. "If those children or the perpetrators saw this poster it would cause further harm for the children who are being bullied. "The poster should be removed and replaced with something more tasteful to attract the gym goers." Kerry Matthews, from the gym in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, said: "We really didn't mean it offensively. "It was supposed to be a bit cheeky, hence the alien image, and grab people's attention in a couple of seconds. "So many campaigns use ultra skinny people and that's not the reality." Ms Matthews added that the gym wanted to get people talking about getting fitter.
An anti-bullying charity has called for a gym billboard poster to be removed for being "offensive".
35954439
[ 0, 4719, 8434, 8149, 243, 34, 133, 96, 9827, 189, 49, 6263, 121, 273, 271, 8434, 5973, 3, 5, 8 ]
The regime said 22-year-old Otto Warmbier's medical condition was caused last year by botulism and a sleeping pill he was given after his trial. But Fred Warmbier said his son had been treated "brutally". He spoke as an Ohio hospital said Otto had suffered a "severe neurological injury" and is in a stable condition. "We went for 15 months without a word from or about Otto," Mr Warmbier said of his son, who fought back tears at Thursday's press conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. "It was only a week ago that the North Korean government now claims that he was in a coma for almost all of that time. "Even if you believe their explanation of botulism and a sleeping pill causing the coma - and we don't - there's no excuse for a civilised nation to have kept his condition secret and to have denied him top notch medical care." Otto Warmbier, an economics student from the University of Virginia, was arrested in January 2016 while visiting North Korea as a tourist. Botulism is a type of poisoning which can cause total body paralysis, difficulty in breathing and death in some cases. It's caused by the clostridium botulinum bacteria, but the symptoms of botulism are not from the bacteria themselves. Instead, the microscopic organisms produce a powerful toxin which attacks the nervous system and causes paralysis. That poison is called botulinum - which you may know for its commercial use in Botox, which removes wrinkles by paralysing facial muscles. Botulism is contracted in two ways in adults - by eating food contaminated with the toxin, or through wounds. The foodborne method happens when the bacteria are tinned or stored in food in another way that deprives them from air (which is when they produce the poison). This rarely happens in modern western food production, but is what North Korea claims happened to Mr Warmbier. He was given a 15-year prison sentence for attempting to steal a propaganda sign from a hotel. Fred Warmbier told reporters his son had been held as a "war criminal'. He said he and his wife, Cindy, had relied "on this false premise that they would treat Otto fairly and let him go". In honour of his son, Fred Warmbier wore the same jacket Otto was wearing when he was paraded before media to tearfully confess to attempting to take the sign as a "trophy" for a US church. Mr Warmbier also appeared to criticise the Obama administration for failing to help secure his son's release. How harsh is prison in North Korea? "When Otto was first taken we were advised by the past administration to take a low profile while they worked to obtain his release," he said. "We did so without result. Earlier this year Cindy and I decided the time for strategic patience was over." The university student was freed hours after US basketball star Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea, but Fred Warmbier said the professional athlete's visit had nothing to do with his son's release. The US has in the past accused North Korea of detaining Americans as political pawns in negotiations over its nuclear weapons programme. Pyongyang has accused Washington and South Korea of sending spies to overthrow its regime. Three Americans remain in custody in North Korea. The detentions have come at a time of heightened tension between North Korea and the US and its regional neighbours.
The emotional father of a US student freed by North Korea this week says he does not believe the regime's explanation for his son's coma.
40293388
[ 0, 8, 10030, 845, 112, 520, 47, 4260, 96, 9052, 17, 1427, 121, 68, 3, 88, 845, 3, 88, 8151 ]
In September the 20-year-old opted to play for England over the Republic of Ireland and has been awaiting clearance from Fifa. Grealish played for the Republic at under-21s level but turned down a call-up to the senior squad for a friendly against England in June. Birmingham-born Grealish qualifies for the Republic through his grandparents. After an impressive first full year for Villa, Grealish has struggled this season, making only 17 appearances and scoring once. He has been struggling with an ankle problem and has not featured since coming on as a substitute against Manchester City in the FA Cup on 30 January.
Fifa has given Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish permission to play for England.
35838514
[ 0, 8, 460, 18, 1201, 18, 1490, 1944, 21, 8, 684, 44, 365, 16539, 7, 593, 3, 5, 3, 88 ]