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Murray, 25, who has already secured Rio Olympic qualification, was down in 21st after the fencing round.
Strong swimming and run-shoot combined events helped her climb to ninth and reach Sunday's final in Bath.
She is joined by Great Britain team-mates Kate French, Freyja Prentice and Francesca Summers.
Britain will claim the maximum of two Olympic berths for the women's event if any of the GB athletes - other than Murray - can finish in the top eight in Sunday's final at the University of Bath.
"I sometimes struggle to find that spark and have the same adrenalin that I do in the final during qualification," said Murray, who was fourth in the women's team event alongside Mhairi Spence on Wednesday.
"Hopefully I can step things up at the weekend," she added.
World junior champion Summers, who won Youth Olympic silver in 2014, secured the last automatic qualification place in the first of the combined heats.
"I took lots of confidence from winning world junior gold in Mexico," she told BBC Sport.
"It's a big step-up in standard, but the target was to reach the final and I'm so happy I've done that."
On Saturday Jamie Cooke, Tom Toolis and Joe Choong will compete in the men's final knowing a top-eight finish will attain them a Rio Olympic qualification. | Olympic silver medallist Samantha Murray recovered from a difficult start to remain on course for a first individual European pentathlon title. | 34023503 | [
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The 29-year-old Scot has signed a two-year contract with the Gloucestershire outfit.
Prior to joining Hibs in August 2016, Graham had spells at six other Scottish sides, including Dundee United, St Johnstone and Ross County.
He will be available for Saturday's league visit of Crawley Town, subject to receiving international clearance.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | League Two club Cheltenham Town have signed Hibernian striker Brian Graham on a free transfer. | 40892464 | [
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Dear President Tusk
On 23 June last year, the people of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. As I have said before, that decision was no rejection of the values we share as fellow Europeans. Nor was it an attempt to do harm to the European Union or any of the remaining member states. On the contrary, the United Kingdom wants the European Union to succeed and prosper. Instead, the referendum was a vote to restore, as we see it, our national self-determination. We are leaving the European Union, but we are not leaving Europe - and we want to remain committed partners and allies to our friends across the continent.
Earlier this month, the United Kingdom Parliament confirmed the result of the referendum by voting with clear and convincing majorities in both of its Houses for the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. The Bill was passed by Parliament on 13 March and it received Royal Assent from Her Majesty The Queen and became an Act of Parliament on 16 March.
Today, therefore, I am writing to give effect to the democratic decision of the people of the United Kingdom. I hereby notify the European Council in accordance with Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union of the United Kingdom's intention to withdraw from the European Union. In addition, in accordance with the same Article 50(2) as applied by Article 106a of the Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, I hereby notify the European Council of the United Kingdom's intention to withdraw from the European Atomic Energy Community. References in this letter to the European Union should therefore be taken to include a reference to the European Atomic Energy Community.
See the letter as published by Downing Street (PDF)
This letter sets out the approach of Her Majesty's Government to the discussions we will have about the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union and about the deep and special partnership we hope to enjoy - as your closest friend and neighbour - with the European Union once we leave. We believe that these objectives are in the interests not only of the United Kingdom but of the European Union and the wider world too.
It is in the best interests of both the United Kingdom and the European Union that we should use the forthcoming process to deliver these objectives in a fair and orderly manner, and with as little disruption as possible on each side. We want to make sure that Europe remains strong and prosperous and is capable of projecting its values, leading in the world, and defending itself from security threats. We want the United Kingdom, through a new deep and special partnership with a strong European Union, to play its full part in achieving these goals. We therefore believe it is necessary to agree the terms of our future partnership alongside those of our withdrawal from the European Union.
The Government wants to approach our discussions with ambition, giving citizens and businesses in the United Kingdom and the European Union - and indeed from third countries around the world - as much certainty as possible, as early as possible.
I would like to propose some principles that may help to shape our coming discussions, but before I do so, I should update you on the process we will be undertaking at home, in the United Kingdom.
As I have announced already, the Government will bring forward legislation that will repeal the Act of Parliament - the European Communities Act 1972 - that gives effect to EU law in our country. This legislation will, wherever practical and appropriate, in effect convert the body of existing European Union law (the "acquis") into UK law. This means there will be certainty for UK citizens and for anybody from the European Union who does business in the United Kingdom. The Government will consult on how we design and implement this legislation, and we will publish a White Paper tomorrow. We also intend to bring forward several other pieces of legislation that address specific issues relating to our departure from the European Union, also with a view to ensuring continuity and certainty, in particular for businesses. We will of course continue to fulfil our responsibilities as a member state while we remain a member of the European Union, and the legislation we propose will not come into effect until we leave.
From the start and throughout the discussions, we will negotiate as one United Kingdom, taking due account of the specific interests of every nation and region of the UK as we do so. When it comes to the return of powers back to the United Kingdom, we will consult fully on which powers should reside in Westminster and which should be devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But it is the expectation of the Government that the outcome of this process will be a significant increase in the decision-making power of each devolved administration.
The United Kingdom wants to agree with the European Union a deep and special partnership that takes in both economic and security cooperation. To achieve this, we believe it is necessary to agree the terms of our future partnership alongside those of our withdrawal from the EU.
If, however, we leave the European Union without an agreement the default position is that we would have to trade on World Trade Organisation terms. In security terms a failure to reach agreement would mean our cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism would be weakened. In this kind of scenario, both the United Kingdom and the European Union would of course cope with the change, but it is not the outcome that either side should seek. We must therefore work hard to avoid that outcome.
It is for these reasons that we want to be able to agree a deep and special partnership, taking in both economic and security cooperation, but it is also because we want to play our part in making sure that Europe remains strong and prosperous and able to lead in the world, projecting its values and defending itself from security threats. And we want the United Kingdom to play its full part in realising that vision for our continent.
Looking ahead to the discussions which we will soon begin, I would like to suggest some principles that we might agree to help make sure that the process is as smooth and successful as possible.
i. We should engage with one another constructively and respectfully, in a spirit of sincere cooperation. Since I became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom I have listened carefully to you, to my fellow EU Heads of Government and the Presidents of the European Commission and Parliament. That is why the United Kingdom does not seek membership of the single market: we understand and respect your position that the four freedoms of the single market are indivisible and there can be no "cherry picking". We also understand that there will be consequences for the UK of leaving the EU: we know that we will lose influence over the rules that affect the European economy. We also know that UK companies will, as they trade within the EU, have to align with rules agreed by institutions of which we are no longer a part - just as UK companies do in other overseas markets.
ii. We should always put our citizens first. There is obvious complexity in the discussions we are about to undertake, but we should remember that at the heart of our talks are the interests of all our citizens. There are, for example, many citizens of the remaining member states living in the United Kingdom, and UK citizens living elsewhere in the European Union, and we should aim to strike an early agreement about their rights.
iii. We should work towards securing a comprehensive agreement. We want to agree a deep and special partnership between the UK and the EU, taking in both economic and security cooperation. We will need to discuss how we determine a fair settlement of the UK's rights and obligations as a departing member state, in accordance with the law and in the spirit of the United Kingdom's continuing partnership with the EU. But we believe it is necessary to agree the terms of our future partnership alongside those of our withdrawal from the EU.
iv. We should work together to minimise disruption and give as much certainty as possible. Investors, businesses and citizens in both the UK and across the remaining 27 member states - and those from third countries around the world - want to be able to plan. In order to avoid any cliff-edge as we move from our current relationship to our future partnership, people and businesses in both the UK and the EU would benefit from implementation periods to adjust in a smooth and orderly way to new arrangements. It would help both sides to minimise unnecessary disruption if we agree this principle early in the process.
v. In particular, we must pay attention to the UK's unique relationship with the Republic of Ireland and the importance of the peace process in Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is the only EU member state with a land border with the United Kingdom. We want to avoid a return to a hard border between our two countries, to be able to maintain the Common Travel Area between us, and to make sure that the UK's withdrawal from the EU does not harm the Republic of Ireland. We also have an important responsibility to make sure that nothing is done to jeopardise the peace process in Northern Ireland, and to continue to uphold the Belfast Agreement.
vi. We should begin technical talks on detailed policy areas as soon as possible, but we should prioritise the biggest challenges. Agreeing a high-level approach to the issues arising from our withdrawal will of course be an early priority. But we also propose a bold and ambitious Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union. This should be of greater scope and ambition than any such agreement before it so that it covers sectors crucial to our linked economies such as financial services and network industries. This will require detailed technical talks, but as the UK is an existing EU member state, both sides have regulatory frameworks and standards that already match. We should therefore prioritise how we manage the evolution of our regulatory frameworks to maintain a fair and open trading environment, and how we resolve disputes. On the scope of the partnership between us - on both economic and security matters - my officials will put forward detailed proposals for deep, broad and dynamic cooperation.
vii. We should continue to work together to advance and protect our shared European values. Perhaps now more than ever, the world needs the liberal, democratic values of Europe. We want to play our part to ensure that Europe remains strong and prosperous and able to lead in the world, projecting its values and defending itself from security threats.
As I have said, the Government of the United Kingdom wants to agree a deep and special partnership between the UK and the EU, taking in both economic and security cooperation. At a time when the growth of global trade is slowing and there are signs that protectionist instincts are on the rise in many parts of the world, Europe has a responsibility to stand up for free trade in the interest of all our citizens. Likewise, Europe's security is more fragile today than at any time since the end of the Cold War. Weakening our cooperation for the prosperity and protection of our citizens would be a costly mistake. The United Kingdom's objectives for our future partnership remain those set out in my Lancaster House speech of 17 January and the subsequent White Paper published on 2 February.
We recognise that it will be a challenge to reach such a comprehensive agreement within the two-year period set out for withdrawal discussions in the Treaty. But we believe it is necessary to agree the terms of our future partnership alongside those of our withdrawal from the EU. We start from a unique position in these discussions - close regulatory alignment, trust in one another's institutions, and a spirit of cooperation stretching back decades. It is for these reasons, and because the future partnership between the UK and the EU is of such importance to both sides, that I am sure it can be agreed in the time period set out by the Treaty.
The task before us is momentous but it should not be beyond us. After all, the institutions and the leaders of the European Union have succeeded in bringing together a continent blighted by war into a union of peaceful nations, and supported the transition of dictatorships to democracy. Together, I know we are capable of reaching an agreement about the UK's rights and obligations as a departing member state, while establishing a deep and special partnership that contributes towards the prosperity, security and global power of our continent.
Yours sincerely
Theresa May | Here is the full text of Theresa May's letter to European Council president Donald Tusk, beginning the start of Brexit negotiations. | 39431070 | [
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The clashes, between Sunni pro- and anti-Syrian groups, followed the shooting dead on Sunday of two anti-Syrian clerics.
The violence is the first in Beirut since the conflict began in neighbouring Syria in March last year.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says the incident shows how divided the Lebanese are over the Syrian crisis.
It follows a week of clashes in the northern city of Tripoli between anti-Syrian Sunnis and Alawites who support the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian and Lebanese politics have been deeply intertwined throughout the history of the two states.
Syria, the dominant partner, had a large military presence in Lebanon for 29 years, finally withdrawing soldiers in 2005, but maintaining a strong influence. Political factions in Lebanon have often defined themselves as pro- or anti-Syrian.
By Jim MuirBBC News, Beirut
Given how deeply and sharply Lebanon is divided over Syria, it's a miracle that there hasn't been much more violence than there has.
But the killing of two Sunni clerics at a Lebanese Army checkpoint in the north of the country on Sunday could hardly pass without consequence - though the fallout could have been much greater.
Only in Beirut did the tension break into open conflict. And it was restricted to a clash between Sunni groups, with the mainstream Future faction of Saad al-Hariri using the occasion to squeeze out the small, pro-Syrian Arab Movement Party, whose leader Shaker Berjawi fled.
In nearby areas of south Beirut, Hezbollah - the most powerful force in the land - kept well out of it.
Political and religious leaders from all sides urged restraint, while the government pledged a vigorous enquiry into the death of the two shaikhs.
Divisions over Syria are the defining issue in Lebanese politics. Everybody knows how real the danger is that the country would be torn apart if those differences are allowed to erupt freely onto the streets.
Sunday's violence was triggered by the shooting dead of two Sunni sheikhs linked to the anti-Syrian Future movement, headed by opposition leader Saad al-Hariri, at a Lebanese army checkpoint in the north on Sunday.
Supporters of Mr Hariri responded by blocking main roads with burning car tyres, but security forces intervened to clear them.
In Beirut's southern district of Tariq al-Jadideh, offices of a local pro-Syrian leader came under attack by gunmen.
Rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun fire were heard for much of the night.
But the clashes died away after the leader, Shaker Berjawi, left the area, and the Lebanese Army moved in.
Sunni religious and political leaders have called for the utmost restraint, and an investigation has been launched into the killing of the two sheikhs.
Correspondents say there are fears of a return to the violence seen in clashes between Sunni and Shia Muslims in 2008 which brought the country close to civil war. | At least two people have been killed and 18 injured in clashes overnight in the Lebanese capital Beirut. | 18141604 | [
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He complained that Dawn Bowden referred to "Goebbels-like propaganda from the right-wing media" in a recent debate.
He claimed Eluned Morgan "trivialised suicide" when saying Brexit would "slit the wrists of the Welsh economy".
Mr Davies has written to Presiding Officer Elin Jones asking her to remind AMs to use more appropriate language.
"There is a danger that the aggressive nature of debates on the subject of Britain's vote to leave the European Union is likely to worsen any tensions which exist in Welsh society," Mr Davies said in his letter to Ms Jones.
"Whatever we may feel individually and collectively about the result we all have a responsibility to conduct that civic discussion in a rational manner and with respect."
An assembly spokesman said the presiding officer had "received this correspondence on Friday afternoon and will reply to the Leader of Welsh Conservatives soon".
In response, Ms Bowden said she stood by what she said, criticising the way the "right-wing press" has portrayed recent issues such as immigration.
She added: "If he [Mr Davies] has a problem with that then my view would be, he is being over sensitive."
Ms Morgan have been asked to comment. | "Aggressive" language used by some AMs in debates about Brexit is heightening public tensions over the issue, Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies has said. | 39007447 | [
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Hundreds of animal lovers arrived at the scene of the blaze, which broke out at Manchester Dogs' Home in Moss Brook Road in Harpurhey on Thursday evening.
They brought blankets, dog food and other supplies to help some 150 dogs that were pulled from the fire alive.
Others visited a JustGiving page, which raised £500,000 in under 17 hours.
A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of arson and an investigation into the cause of the fire continues.
Among those helping with the rescue effort is the Rev Mike McGurk, of nearby Christ Church in Harpurhey, who said: "When any disaster or anything happens in this community, you actually see the true character of the people.
"Hundreds of people have turned out bringing everything from dog leads to food, to water, to finances and it's been really overwhelming.
"We're opening up the church - that's become the centre where people can drop off donations. There'll be staff there throughout the day and night."
Robert Smith travelled from Oldham to help.
He said: "I've got dogs myself and I just want to do what I can. It's tragic. It's seemed like thousands of people have come along - you couldn't move around here."
Tracy Cassidy, from Bury, said: "A friend of mine sent me a message telling me about it and I just instantly burst out crying. I had my daughter on my knee and I just couldn't control it.
"I've got a big fold-up cage and I thought that could be good if they have bigger dogs. I just said to my boyfriend I'm just going to go and see what I can do."
Meanwhile, a call went out on Facebook for people to post "dog selfies" to help raise funds.
People also left messages of sympathy on the JustGiving website.
Jay McMullen said: "It's heart-warming to know there are so many nice people coming together to help." | Volunteers and well-wishers have pulled together in a huge effort to raise more than £500,000 in the wake of a fire that killed 60 animals at a dogs' home. | 29173553 | [
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Since the initial fall-out there has been a legal challenge and a general election.
While everyone waits to see exactly what will happen, Leave voter Paul Austin has told the BBC why he made his choice and whether, a year on, he would vote the same way again.
Mr Austin lives in North Yorkshire and runs an interior fitting-out business. He has spent 36 years working in the construction industry around the world.
"I was quite an aggressive Brexiteer and my friends were probably sick to the stomach of me trying to persuade them all to vote Leave," he said.
"I wanted limited immigration, not a ban, because I feel that it's totally uncontrolled.
"I'm also still concerned about taxation and VAT. I think the payments we make are very high and that money is going to other countries when it could be used better here."
However, Mr Austin says that on recent trips to the EU he has started to pay more attention to the immigration queue for non-EU passport holders - and is already starting to feel that he is becoming an outsider.
"I think other Europeans are starting to look at us as if we're a bit different and I've now started to back-pedal a bit on how I think about things," he explained.
"I have ended up with more questions than before the referendum."
As well as the continuing political conversations around Brexit, Mr Austin said recent news events had played a significant role in him moving from a clear Leave stance to one where he was less certain.
The recent news story about about baby Charlie Gard and the decisions about his continuing treatment had a powerful impact on him.
"I was quite upset by it and I'm glad his parents were able to get access to the European Court of Human Rights so he can be kept on life support until another group of experts have had time to look at his case," he added.
"But I wonder now about what this means when we leave and if means that other real people won't be able to have one more throw of the dice to have their case heard.
"I'm not saying that had the court not been available judgements would have been unjust, but they would have been unfair because they lost that extra level of consideration."
Another key factor behind Mr Austin's decision to vote Leave was his belief in the potential for the UK to expand its trading base around the world and access more competitive markets.
However, Mr Austin says that since the Grenfell Tower fire last week he now has concerns about how rigorous quality checks will be post-Brexit for imported goods.
"It's made me wonder about the sort of building materials that might be able to come into the country that might not have been tested properly or as well as things are now.
"At the moment we have the European kite mark which means the goods we buy are strongly and intensively vetted and tested.
"I still want more aggressive trading around the world but I'm also starting to think that maybe 40 years of working together to do all this in terms of quality control might be wasted."
By the UGC and Social Media Team | It is a year since the UK voted to leave the European Union and Brexit negotiations are under way. | 40356313 | [
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Robbie Parry slotted the Welsh visitors into a half time lead as the rain lashed down in West Lothian.
Steven Saunders doubled the advantage from close range on 58 minutes before Quigley curled in a wonderful strike.
As Livingston toiled to make inroads in attack, TNS passed up chances to make their victory even more comfortable.
The runaway Welsh Premier League leaders, on their way to sixth successive title, now join Scottish Championship trio Dundee United, Queen of the South and St Mirren in Monday's draw.
TNS were content to sit back for long spells, with Scottish League One leaders Livi finding it hard to get a glimpse of goal.
When they did, Raffaele De Vita headed straight at goalkeeper Paul Harrison and then shot over from a tight angle before Liam Buchanan sent an angled strike narrowly wide.
The visitors went ahead on 36 minutes when Simon Spender cut in from the right and his blocked shot fell to Parry, who calmly picked his spot with a first-time finish.
Livi improved for a brief spell at the start of the second half, with Buchanan slamming a shot into the side-netting shortly after Harrison had done well to push away a strong header from De Vita.
TNS moved further ahead from a corner as the home side cleared off the line but the ball was sent back into the danger area and an unmarked Saunders scuffed home from inside the six yard box.
The contest was over when Quigley cut in from right and arced a sweet shot into the opposite top corner with his left from junction of the penalty box.
Late on, Christian Sergeant broke clear of the ragged Livi defence and looked certain to score but keeper Gary Maley got a slight touch on his chipped effort to slow the ball down, with Michael Miller sliding in to complete the clearance.
Maley had to look lively again, pushing over a rising shot from Parry as TNS ended the evening well on top.
TNS's Craig Harrison: "It was very tough physically but we matched them. Overall, it was a very professional performance and we were ruthless in the final third.
"We have a strong squad and we go into every competition wanting to win it. The whole club, from top to bottom, has that mentality. We want to win every game."
Livingston's David Hopkin: "We knew it would be tough with the run they are on but the goals we conceded were very poor.
"We huffed and puffed and had a few half chances but TNS deserve to go through." | Scott Quigley scored the pick of the goals as The New Saints brushed Livingston aside to reach the semi finals of the Scottish Challenge Cup. | 37961607 | [
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The first of six boxes was unveiled on Tottenham Court Road this week.
The service is free to use although users will be shown adverts as they wait for their phone to charge.
Many of the UK's red telephone boxes have largely fallen into disuse although some are being revived as libraries or being fitted with medical equipment.
The boxes have had a makeover for the project - painted green and fitted with a roof-mounted 86cm solar panel.
Inside there are a variety of charging stations for different models of phone and a screen which shows adverts.
The advertising screen is reinforced to deter vandals and the boxes are maintained daily and locked overnight.
The project was the brainchild of two geography students turned entrepreneurs Harold Craston and Kirsty Kenny.
Both studied at the London School of Economics (LSE) and were interested in finding new ways to use public spaces.
"I lived next to a phone box in my second year at uni and walked past it every day. I thought, 'There are 8,000 of these lying unused in London and we must be able to find a use for them,'" explained Mr Craston.
The solarbox can charge up to 100 phones a day, offering a 20% battery boost in 10 minutes.
Since launch, about six people per hour use the booth, according to the founder.
Running out of battery is a perennial problem for smartphone users as they become ever more powerful without an equivalent technology leap in battery life.
"On launch day, my phone ran out of battery and I genuinely had to use the box," said Mr Craston.
Solarbox won second place in the Mayor of London's Low Carbon Entrepreneur of the Year Award earlier this year and also won the LSE's Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Five more boxes will be rolled out by April 2015.
Funded by advertising, the founders are keen to make sure users are engaged by "short, fun and exciting ads showing exclusive content".
Firms signed up include Tinder and Uber, and 30% of advertising space is reserved for community projects. | Disused phone boxes in London are being put to a novel use - as solar-powered charging stations for mobile phones. | 29455992 | [
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Emily Thornberry said Labour would not "frustrate Brexit" even if it failed to amend the bill.
Ten shadow ministers were among 47 Labour MPs who rejected party orders to back it last week.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said frontbenchers would have to quit if they defied the whip at the next vote.
The draft legislation comes back to the Commons on Monday for three days of debate culminating in a vote on its third reading.
Speaking on BBC's The Andrew Marr Show, Ms Thornberry rejected a suggestion the party was "hopelessly divided" on the issue.
She said she understood colleagues not wanting to vote in favour of invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which begins the formal departure process, but said: "We have said that we will not frustrate Brexit. We have got our instructions from the British people. We are democrats and the public have voted to leave the European Union."
Labour will try to amend the draft legislation to secure what it calls a "meaningful vote" on the final deal struck between Theresa May and the EU, and to guarantee the status of EU nationals in the UK and Britons living elsewhere in Europe.
Shadow business secretary Clive Lewis has said he will vote against the bill unless Labour's amendments are accepted, describing them as "red lines".
Ms Thornberry declined to say whether they were non-negotiable red lines for her party, and denied it was "illogical" to demand amendments but still back the bill in the final vote if they are rejected.
"There will need to be back channels, private conversations. There are many conversations going on now," she said.
"We are speaking to government, we are speaking to Tory backbenchers and we are trying to get a compromise that will work."
One of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's closest allies, shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, missed Wednesday's vote, citing illness.
Former Labour minister Caroline Flint criticised Ms Abbott, telling ITV's Peston on Sunday: "We used to have man flu, we now have Brexit flu that Diane has created here… it's about being part of a team.
"I think she holds one of the most important portfolios within a shadow cabinet. If she can't support the leader on this then she should go."
But former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman defended Ms Abbott, pointing out she had earlier said on television she would back the bill so had "already taken the flak on it".
Among the rebels in last week's second reading vote were 10 members of the front bench, who would ordinarily be expected to step down after defying leadership instructions to back the bill.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend that changes to his shadow cabinet would be announced "in the coming few days".
Asked if he should be lenient, he added: "I'm a very lenient person."
Speaking later, he said he expected Ms Abbott to vote with the party this week.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the shadow cabinet would decide how to approach Wednesday's third reading vote on the Brexit bill.
He told Pienaar's Politics on BBC Radio 5 live that if a three-line whip was again imposed, any frontbenchers who rebelled "will have to step down". | The shadow foreign secretary has suggested Labour will continue to support legislation paving the way for Brexit as it passes through Parliament. | 38872899 | [
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And in 2015 and 2016, her Todai robot outperformed 80% of high-school pupils and was in the top 1% for maths.
But Prof Arai, a mathematician at the National Institute of Informatics, is not happy about how well it is doing.
At the Ted (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference, in a session called Our Robotic Overlords, she said the results were "alarming".
"You might think I was delighted, but I was alarmed," she said.
"This robot, which could not read or understand, was able to outperform thousands of high-school children."
This led Prof Arai to investigate the reading and writing skills of high-school students, in conjunction with Japan's ministry of education.
"Most of the students pack in knowledge without understanding, and that is just memorising," she said.
"AIs can do that better, so we need a new type of education."
Stuart Russell, a professor of computer science at Berkeley, University of California, told the session machines would soon be reading and understanding very well.
"And very soon afterwards, they will have read everything that has ever been written," he said.
Humans needed to start devising rules for how robots related to them, he told the Ted audience, and proposed three basic principles:
But Prof Russell acknowledged there might be teething troubles.
"If a robot's job is to feed hungry kids and it sees the family cat but doesn't see that the sentimental value of the pet is greater than its nutritional value, that could single-handedly destroy the market for home robots," he said.
The idea of altruistic robots is one that Tom Gruber, the man who designed Apple's voice assistant Siri, believes in.
And while some experts, including tech tycoon Elon Musk and Prof Stephen Hawking, worry machines will overtake and destroy mankind, he maintains an optimistic vision of "humanistic" AI.
"The purpose of AI is to empower and augment us," he told the Ted audience.
"Imagine if AI remembered every person you ever met or could retrieve everything you had ever read or seen.
"Not only would it make us better at remembering people at social occasions - but for those with dementia or Alzheimer's, it would mean the difference between a life of isolation and one of dignity." | Prof Noriko Arai has spent years training a robot to pass prestigious University of Tokyo's entrance exams. | 39657505 | [
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More than 120 old or recent bruises and broken bones were discovered on Keegan Downer's body, Birmingham Crown Court was told.
Kandyce Downer denies murdering the 18-month-old, after she collapsed at the family home in Birmingham.
The child also had a "terrible" spiral leg fracture which had gone untreated.
It left the girl "deformed" with one leg shorter than the other, the court heard.
Nigel Power QC said Keegan also had seven recently broken ribs which would have made breathing "very painful", and an historic head injury at least several days old at the time she died.
Forensic testing of the house where the toddler died revealed traces of her blood on the cot and bedroom wall.
Born in March 2014 to a heroin-addict mother, the otherwise healthy girl was put with a foster carer by social services.
The child was then placed with 35-year-old Downer as the legal guardian in January 2015.
Keegan was described in court as a "healthy and happy baby" and lived at Downer's family home in Beckbury Road, Weoley Castle.
She collapsed at home shortly before 10am on 5 September 2015.
When paramedics arrived, Downer had Keegan lying down on a sofa and told them: "I don't know when she stopped breathing, because I was in the bath."
Downer later told paramedics she had popped out and left the child alone during that morning.
Keegan died from a combination of septicaemia, infection, blunt chest trauma and old head injuries.
Of Downer, Mr Power said: "We say there is no other realistic candidate for the many and terrible injuries that led to Keegan's death."
The trial of Downer, who also denies causing or allowing the death of Keegan, continues. | A mother-of-four battered a toddler to death months after she was made the child's legal guardian, a court has heard. | 35987432 | [
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25 February 2016 Last updated at 10:01 GMT
Having undergone significant restoration, it will make its first journey in ten years along the East Coast mainline.
The steam engine was initially built in Doncaster, but took its name from the Edinburgh to London service on which it ran.
After the last original locomotive class member was withdrawn in 1966, the train toured the world, becoming an icon of British engineering.
Video produced by BBC Rewind | BBC Rewind looks at the history of the Flying Scotsman as it prepares to return to the railways. | 35654307 | [
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The adult female's remains - including a head and hands found in a bag - were discovered in eight locations, Irish police have confirmed.
They are investigating whether the death is linked to a personal dispute.
More than 200 gardaà (police), Irish soldiers and civil defence personnel are continuing to search the area.
The man arrested remains in police custody in Bray, 20km (12 miles) south of Dublin, where he can be questioned for up to 24 hours.
He presented himself to Gardaà in County Wexford on Tuesday night and was subsequently arrested, Irish broadcaster RTE reported.
The focus of the murder investigation changed following a series of developments on Tuesday evening.
The results of DNA tests from the partial torso discovered by two walkers in the undergrowth, close to Military Road, on Saturday night showed the body was that of a woman.
More human remains, including a head and hands, were discovered over a 30km-area on Tuesday.
Police said they had now recovered most of the remains, and that there is only one victim.
Supt Pat Ward, described the unprecedented case as "troubling".
"We are conscious of the fact that the body found is that of a loved one," he said.
"What we have found are limbs, we've also found some significant parts of the torso and we've also found in one of the locations, in a bag, the head and the hands of the deceased," he added. | A 32-year-old man is being questioned in connection with the murder of a woman whose body was cut up and dispersed in the Wicklow Mountains. | 40267768 | [
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Media playback is unsupported on your device
10 June 2015 Last updated at 13:24 BST
Johanna Amunjela, a PhD scholar at the University of Aberdeen, in the UK, is among the first in the world to investigate the role that specific proteins have in how the disease develops.
Earlier this year, she presented her findings at the Genes and Cancer conference held at Cambridge University.
She has been speaking to BBC Africa's Farayi Mungazi. | A young Namibian scientist has vowed to find a cure for cancer - one of the biggest killer diseases in the world. | 33072493 | [
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The men, from Gambia and Senegal, were crushed while working at Shredmet Ltd in Birmingham on 7 July 2016.
Police and the Health Safety Executive (HSE) are still investigating and inquests have yet to be held.
The families said they were frustrated at the length of time the investigation was taking.
Ousmane Kaba Diabi, 39, who was from Senegal, Alimamo Kinteh Jammeh, 45, Bangally Tunkara Dukureh, 55, Saibo Sumbundu Sillah, 42, and Muhamadou Jagana Jagana, 49, all Spanish citizens, died in the incident.
They had come to the UK to work, some with their families, and were employed along with other Gambians at the plant in Nechells.
Hawa Kaba Dukureh, the 42-year-old wife of Mr Dukureh, said: "Since the incident took place, I've never had any answers from anyone about why my husband died this way.
"I am very sad... I have not stopped thinking about him."
Two men who survived the incident, Basamaba Darama and Tombong Camara Conteh, said they would never forget what they had witnessed.
Mr Darama said he was with the men sweeping up piles of waste metal against the concrete wall when it collapsed.
As he walked away from his friends, he turned to see them suddenly buried under concrete blocks, each weighing 1.5 tonnes, and then scrap metal, which was behind the wall, pouring on top of them.
"I was confused," he said. "I ran and I was confused because I didn't see anyone. The blocks were lying down on them.
"I thought I was going to go crazy. I've never seen this kind of thing before in my life.
"They are my colleagues, we work together, we are friends... and they are dead."
Mr Darama, who still works at the plant, said he was very traumatised by what he saw.
"I'm working there because of my family and I have to. My family has to survive. I don't have a choice.... at night I close my eyes and it's still happening."
Mr Conteh, who suffered a broken leg, said: "I remember lying down and others buried under the rubble. I couldn't move I could just hear noise and from then until now I keep thinking how did it happen and how did I get away?"
Ousman Njie, project manager with the Gambian Association, said: "We think it [the investigations] should have been better than how it is now, but because of legal matters we can't say much but we hope it can be done as quickly as possible.
"We would like it move faster than it is so families know. It's not easy for them to wait and wait."
At the time, Shredmet Ltd, which deals with more than 500,000 tonnes of scrap metal each year, said the wall had been in place for more than two years and had not been subject to any damage that could have caused the collapse.
In a statement, the company said it remained "utterly devastated" by the incident and was continuing to cooperate with the investigation.
It said it was "still in the dark" as to the overall collective causes of the incident.
A HSE spokesperson said it was continuing to support West Midlands Police's investigation. The force said it had passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
The CPS said it was providing "investigative advice" to West Midlands Police. | The families of five men who died when a 15ft wall collapsed on them at a scrap metal yard say they are still waiting for answers a year on. | 40449336 | [
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The Scotland head coach's side sit second bottom of Group F ahead of the game at Hampden Park on 26 March.
"We must win that game," he said. "There is no getting away from that."
But Strachan did not wish to consider what a defeat would mean for his own future and said: "Whatever happens after that, we will look at that."
The 60-year-old, who has been in charge since 2013, signed a new two-year contract in October 2015.
Following successive 3-0 defeats away to Slovakia and England, he took time to consider his position but decided in November to carry on after receiving the backing of the Scottish Football Association board.
As he announced his squad for the 22 March warm-up friendly against Canada, followed by the qualifier against Slovenia, Strachan underlined his belief that the Scots could still reach the 2018 finals in Russia.
"If we win that game, we will only be one point behind Slovenia, who are in second at the moment," he said.
Strachan, whose side lie fifth with four points from four matches, insisted he had "no idea" how many points they might require from their final six matches to qualify, while admitting that the Scots could not afford further setbacks.
"But we are looking forward to that challenge and I think the fans will be looking forward to that challenge of going to a game that you must win," he said.
"So, together, we can make it a right good night for us.
"The fans have always given us support, but we really need it on that night.
"The guys will be prepared, the fans will be prepared and we are looking to put in a right good performance."
Strachan will again field questions about his future should Scotland fall short.
"I think fans, players, anybody who really wants us to do well, will be wishing us luck and dealing with anything after the game," he added.
"Everyone who wants to see us go to the World Cup will be backing us to win this game.
"The most important thing is three points and enjoying the build-up, which we will be doing.
"The best part of my job is coaching and I am looking forward to that and then looking forward to the challenge of the game." | Scotland must beat Slovenia if they are to resurrect their chances of reaching the World Cup finals, Gordon Strachan has acknowledged. | 39258636 | [
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10 August 2015 Last updated at 01:41 BST
New Zealand was one of the original nations involved in the TPP, which if a deal is concluded will create a "mega regional" bloc with a combined GDP of $28 trillion.
Mr Key explains why he was optimistic that an agreement will be reached.
Go to the Asia Business Report website for more programme clips. | Talks between 12 nations to agree the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal may have failed last week, but New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key has told the BBC that he is confident the pact will be signed by the end of the year. | 33843464 | [
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At low doses, lithium prolonged the life of fruit flies in lab experiments.
Scientists say the finding is "encouraging" and could eventually lead to new drugs to help people live longer and healthier lives.
Lithium is used in psychiatry to help stop mood swings but has a risk of serious side-effects at high doses.
How lithium acts on the brain is not fully understood, but in fruit flies the drug seems to extend life by blocking a chemical known as GSK-3.
"The response we've seen in flies to low doses of lithium is very encouraging and our next step is to look at targeting GSK-3 in more complex animals with the aim of eventually developing a drug regime to test in humans," said Prof Linda Partridge of the UCL Institute of Healthy Ageing, who led the study.
The research, published in Cell Reports, found fruit flies lived 16% longer than average when given low doses of lithium.
At high doses, lithium reduced their lifespan.
"We found low doses not only prolong life but also shield the body from stress and block fat production for flies on a high sugar diet," said co-researcher Dr Ivana Bjedov from the UCL Cancer Institute.
Claire Bale of the charity Parkinson's UK, which part-funded the study, said: "It's encouraging to see that the researchers have been able to identify a key piece of the ageing puzzle, which one day may allow us to intervene in the ageing process."
"This research has the potential to not only help create a healthier older generation, but also provide significant insights into how we could potentially treat or even prevent conditions of ageing like Parkinson's."
Lithium salts have been used in the past as a health tonic and to heal conditions such as gout and migraines.
In modern medicine, lithium is used to encourage mood stability in bipolar disorder and is also being considered for the treatment of memory impairment.
It has a risk of serious side-effects at high doses. | A common drug could hold the key to long life, in flies at least, according to research. | 35987313 | [
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The painting, depicting the 1654 ceremony, had hung in Rokeby Park, Barnard Castle, since 1880, according to its owner Sir Andrew Morritt.
But it became damaged. Now after being restored, Sir Andrew is trying to find out how it ended up in Durham.
Experts have studied it, but do not know who painted it.
It has also not yet been valued.
Sir Andrew said: "What is a mystery is when it came and where it came from, or who it was painted by.
"All I know for a fact is it has been here since at least 1880, and probably longer."
Veronique Gerard-Powell, chief curator and senior lecturer at the Sorbonne, in Paris, said: "This is the only painted representation of the coronation. There is no other like it - it really is quite unique."
Rokeby Park, which was built between 1725 and 1735, has hundreds of valuable paintings, according to Sir Andrew. | A country house owner is trying to find out how the only known painting of the coronation of the French king Louis XIV end up in his stables. | 37660296 | [
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McKenzie, 38, will take on Jahmaine Smyle at York Hall on 12 November for the English super-middleweight championship.
The ex-Norwich and Peterborough man became a professional boxer in 2013 having quit football two years previously.
He has a record of eight wins and one draw from his nine fights.
McKenzie is the son of former British and European champion Clinton and is trained by his uncle, former three-time world champion Duke McKenzie. | Former Premier League striker Leon McKenzie is to fight for a national boxing title. | 36790360 | [
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It comes as a documentary, The Betrayed Girls is being shown on BBC One about nine Asian men jailed for grooming teenage girls in the town in 2012.
Laura, who was abused by the gang from the age of 13 until she was 17, said the targeting of girls by Asian men was still going on in Greater Manchester.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said it was "committed" to tackling abusers.
Laura, whose identity is protected as a victim of a sex crime, told BBC Two's Victoria Derbyshire show said she was walking in Oldham town centre through an Asian community a couple of months ago.
"I was still getting cars pulling over to me asking me if I wanted to go for a drink," said Laura.
"It's not bothering them. I don't actually think they understand that they are doing something wrong."
Nazir Afzal the north west's former chief crown prosecutor who brought the case against the Rochdale gang said five years on some victims nationally are still not being listened to.
Mr Afzal overturned a decision not to charge nine men who ran the child sex exploitation ring.
He said there have been "significant rises" in investigations and prosecutions into the crime and victims were more confident in reporting abuse and they are getting better support.
However, he said: "Victim support groups nationally are still telling me victims are not being consistently listened to and told the case is too difficult to bring [to court]."
He also said some victims of historical child sex exploitation were being told that police were focusing on current cases, too.
Mr Afzal said agencies must be more proactive and more "collaborative working" was needed between the police, councils and other agencies and voluntary groups.
GMP said it was "vital" they learnt the lessons from the past and it was "absolutely committed" to working with partners across Greater Manchester to tackle the sexual exploitation of children and young people.
"We have been working tirelessly for many years to prevent this abhorrent crime from happening and provide support to victims and their families."
Rochdale Council said public services "collectively failed" the victims but lessons have "been learnt from it".
Steve Rumbelow, chief executive of Rochdale Borough Council, said: "Since 2012 the council and its partners have worked to make the changes needed, to increase knowledge, prevent harm, challenge those who wish to exploit children and better support victims and survivors."
The documentary which features testimonies from victims for the first time follows a BBC One drama Three Girls.
Source: Greater Manchester Police | A victim of the Rochdale grooming gang says the convictions were still "not fazing" Asian child sex abusers. | 40478071 | [
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The Reds led in the 15th minute when Divock Origi flicked in from close range before Roberto Firmino made it 2-0, heading in Nathaniel Clyne's cross.
Origi also went close when his low shot was saved by Stephen Bywater.
Tom Naylor inadvertently put the ball in his own net after the break before Daniel Sturridge tapped in his first and then thumped home the Reds' fifth.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp made only four changes from the XI that started in the 2-0 league defeat at Burnley on Saturday.
The quality of the visiting team was soon apparent at the Pirelli Stadium against a Burton side who have had a mixed start to their first ever season in the Championship.
After Liverpool's Belgian forward Origi cleverly profited from tricky work in the box from Sadio Mane, Brazilian Firmino doubled the lead following a terrible throw-out from goalkeeper Bywater.
It was 3-0 just after the hour when the unfortunate Naylor had little time to react as James Milner's ball came towards him at pace.
And substitute Sturridge then grabbed a late double, converting at the far post from Milner's pass before firing in low from 15 yards.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: "There were still a few situations where we were missing a bit of sharpness but the main problem was, it was unbelievable, our build-up and style of play at Burnley - one more pass but 15 times we are completely free in the box.
"So we needed to use this game and that's what we did and it was better."
Burton manager Nigel Clough: "It's difficult for our lads to compete with that sort of quality. With this being 72 hours before the Derby game, our focus was always with that one.
"When you think we finished with a couple of teenagers and a 20- or 21-year-old, you could train with them for a couple of seasons and not gain the experience they've got tonight." | A strong Liverpool side overwhelmed Championship outfit Burton Albion to reach the EFL Cup third round. | 37091102 | [
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Last week's news that Nigeria's Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, wants all new recruits to the country's police force to undergo a lie detector test cannot have been an April fool's joke as it's now the end of August.
A police statement stated clearly that the "polygraph test is aimed at ensuring that candidates are not of questionable character", and that new police officers should "conform to acceptable standards necessary for an ideal police officer the Nigerian people deserve".
Tendai Biti, Zimbabwe's former finance minister:
"Whenever I see a policeman, I run away because he sees me as an ATM"
Just what sort of questions would be set for the future cops is not clear, but the move is innovative and opens up all manner of possibilities on the African political landscape in our search for the kind of public officials the continent deserves.
And why stop at just police recruits? Journalists could be asked: "Have you ever taken money to write or ignore a story?"
Football players in the Under-17 World Cup could break out in a sweat at the simple inquiry: "How old are you?"
Politicians and presidents, meanwhile, may find the truth-telling exercise a challenge too far.
The search for honest police officers who fulfil the "acceptable standards" sought by Nigeria's police chief could be extended to most African states.
Back in July, citizens in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, vented their anger over phony police roadblocks, which crop up every few miles "to check the roadworthiness" of vehicles, but more importantly provide a pretext to spot-fine drivers and extract money from impoverished commuters.
And since the state is struggling to pay public workers, it is entirely credible that such fines exist to supplement the officers' meagre and late salaries.
"Whenever I see a policeman, I run away because he sees me as an ATM," declared Tendai Biti, former finance minister.
Encounters with African police forces can also be deadly.
Ethiopian police clashed with demonstrators demanding answers to human rights abuses in the north-west of the country, and several people lost their lives in the city of Bahir Dar in the Amhara region.
Farai Sevenzo:
"Following orders, history has sometimes instructed us, is not a credible excuse"
Force is the default setting for African police, with officers deployed on the streets willing to unleash tear gas in Nairobi, Harare, Lusaka, Addis Ababa or any other African capital.
Anti-government demonstrations in Harare last week saw water-cannon and yet more tear gas as the government blamed unknown "foreign elements" for trying to incite rebellion.
In the age of instant news and social media sharing, the evidence of African police brutality is a click away and all over the web.
So, would a polygraph test for new recruits lessen such incidents?
What kind of questions would the recruits have to answer?
Would there be questions about their sympathy for the beaten citizens?
Or would they be about their loyalty to entrenched police chiefs who have had jobs for life, much like the men who appointed them?
As governments face dissent, citizens are promoting the idea that those police officers firing live bullets into groups of demonstrators, or starring in their own brutality videos as they rain down truncheon blows on fleeing citizens, should be recorded, identified and have their details stored for future prosecutions.
Following orders, history has sometimes instructed us, is not a credible excuse.
Whatever becomes of the Nigerian inspector general's intriguing idea to introduce lie-detector tests, he should remember the double-edged nature of such an exercise.
The polygraph reveals the truth-tellers and may show him honest cops who pass the test, but it will also give him the best liars who will bluff their way through anything.
More from Farai Sevenzo: | In our series of letters from African journalists, film-maker and columnist Farai Sevenzo questions whether lie detectors could help promote honest law enforcement. | 37223902 | [
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Taylor, 23, underwent surgery on multiple fractures, but the club's head physotherapist Kate Rees says he is expected to make a full recovery.
Rees said: "The surgeons worked hard on Neil's injury... and did a very good job.
"He is comfortable and the surgeons are happy with the operations."
She added: "While he should make a full recovery, the extent of the injury means Neil is likely to miss the rest of the season.''
Taylor was injured after falling awkwardly in the first half at the Liberty Stadium.
His foot was trapped underneath him as he fell to the ground, taking the full weight of Sunderland's Craig Gardner on the way down.
Taylor immediately summoned the Swansea medical staff as he held his left ankle in agony after just 15 minutes of the match.
"When you have injuries like that it is normally very violent, but this was not violent," said manager Michael Laudrup.
"It was even a free-kick against us.
"Sometimes these injuries happen in strange ways, you don't think anything is wrong and then there is ligament damage or something like that, it is very sad.
"But you see things that are much more violent than that - this was not violent, it was unlucky.
"He was very unlucky to fall in a bad way, you can't blame the Sunderland player for that."
As well as missing a significant part of Swansea's season, Taylor will be unavilable for most of Wales' 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, which starts against Belgium on Friday.
Taylor impressed for Team GB at the 2012 London Olympic Games and was expected to play a big part in Wales boss Chris Coleman's plans.
Teenager Ben Davies was Taylor's replacement for Swansea, making an assured Premier League debut as Laudrup's side twice hit back to secure a draw. | Wales defender Neil Taylor is expected to miss the rest of the season after fracturing an ankle in Swansea City's 2-2 draw with Sunderland on Saturday. | 19451339 | [
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Margaret Stewart admitted stealing from her employer Ivanhoe Cambridge, which used to own Glasgow's St Enoch Centre.
She then used her position as treasurer at the boys club to pay cheques into its account before taking the cash.
At Glasgow Sheriff Court, Stewart, 48, from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, was also told to repay £27,000.
The court previously heard that Stewart worked in the accounts department of Ivanhoe Cambridge UK, which sold the St Enoch Centre in 2013.
Between May 2008 and January 2011 she had managers at the firm sign cheques that were supposed to be used to make legitimate payments.
Stewart would then write over the payee name and insert the football team's name.
The money would go to the club before Stewart took it for herself.
She was caught after a bank spotted a problem with one of the cheques from Ivanhoe Cambridge and phoned her office.
Stewart then immediately confessed to her superiors and a payment plan was put in place for her to repay the money.
The court heard that although more than £5,000 was repaid, the plan was not completed and her house was put on the market.
The house was rendered worthless due to Japanese Knotweed, and Stewart was later reported to police.
Stewart appeared for sentencing on Thursday having earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of embezzling the money.
The court heard that Stewart's husband had been jailed in 2003 for three-and-a-half years for drug dealing and she had resorted to theft to repay the debts that he wracked up.
Imposing a community payback order, Sheriff Linda Ruxton told Stewart that her embezzlement was "deliberate and systematic" but she accepted the "impact on her of her husband's criminal behaviour".
The Rangers Supporters' Association Boys Club was founded in 1960 for boys between five and 17-years-old.
Former players include Barry Ferguson, Lee McCulloch, Graham Dorrans and Charlie Miller. | A woman who tried to launder £55,000 of stolen cash through Rangers Supporters' Association Boys Club has been told to carry out 260 hours unpaid work. | 34351002 | [
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Media playback is unsupported on your device
31 March 2014 Last updated at 12:30 BST
It will be able to issue warning and banning orders against agents acting dishonestly or breaching estate agent laws.
The move follows a decision by the UK government to disband the OFT.
Powys won the competitive bidding process to deliver the service in place of the OFT and will receive £170,000 a year to carry out the work.
People complaining about estate agents will still contact their local authority trading standards department, who will prosecute offenders if necessary.
However they will refer cases to Powys if they believe parts of the Estate Agents Act have been breached.
James Munro from Powys council, who will lead the new team, has said he hopes it will show Powys could take on more contracts and outside work in future.
He spoke to Radio Wales' Good Morning Wales' Peter Johnson about what the new role will involve. | Powys council is to take over the role of regulating Britain's estate agents from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) from 1 April. | 26817428 | [
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Fourth seed Muguruza went into the match having won only three times on clay this season, but she cruised through the first set.
Italian Schiavone, 36, won three games in a row to lead the second set but Muguruza fought back to win.
Muguruza will face Estonia's Anett Kontaveit in the second round.
"I cannot believe in the first round we have two ex-champions. Not only that but Francesca is a legend and I was very excited to play on Philippe Chatrier court with her," said Muguruza.
Muguruza defeated Serena Williams to win her maiden Grand Slam title a year ago, but the 23-year-old needs to return to the final to stay in the world's top 10.
"I know I played good here before, but that doesn't make me extra confident this year. I have to play well to earn that confidence again," she said.
Schiavone, who is 37 in June, played in the tournament for the final time before her retirement at the end of the year.
Caroline Wozniacki had to fight hard to beat Australian Jaimee Fourlis 6-4 3-6 6-2.
Wildcard Fourlis, aged 17 and at 337 the lowest-ranked player in the main draw, pushed the 11th seeded Dane in the second set.
But Wozniacki, who had to retire during last week's Strasbourg tournament because of a lower-back injury, regained control in the deciding set. | Spain's Garbine Muguruza started the defence of her French Open title by beating 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone 6-2 6-4. | 40083439 | [
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The 39-year-old was installed among the favourites to succeed Mark Warburton at Ibrox after resigning as boss of League Two Clyde on Sunday.
But he insists he has had no contact with Rangers, who hope to recruit Ross Wilson as director of football.
"I've still got loads to learn. I don't think I am ready to manage at that level," Ferguson told BBC Sportsound.
"I'm not stupid enough to say I'm ready. I still think I have got a lot to learn. The last two-and-a-half years have been great for me.
"But I have not had any contact from Rangers. I don't know where these stories have come from."
Despite his lack of senior managerial experience, Ferguson admitted he would "run back" to a club he helped to 15 domestic trophies as a player, including five league titles.
"It was a club I was at from eight years old," he noted. "I left for a couple of years to go down to Blackburn but I came back. It was a dream of mine to play for Rangers and then to captain them and win things.
"When I look just now, it isn't going great for them but I am sure in time they will come back. Let's be honest, Celtic are miles in front just now and Aberdeen are doing a lot better under Derek McInnes. But Rangers is a club still close to my heart."
While under-20s coach Graeme Murty remains in caretaker charge following Warburton's departure on 10 February, Ferguson believes other favourites for the role would not want the job on a temporary basis.
And he gave his backing to Aberdeen boss McInnes, who played alongside Ferguson at Rangers, as a "perfect" permanent appointment.
"I don't think an Alex McLeish or a Billy Davies would come in and take it short term," he added. "I think they would want a guarantee that it would be a bit longer.
"I think it's important they just take their time and get the right guy.
"The guy for me [would be] Derek McInnes. But they are not going to get Derek probably until the end of the season.
"He's the perfect guy for the job. He's done an unbelievable job up at Aberdeen and he suits Rangers down to a tee.
"He knows the club. He's a good manager. Him and 'Doc' [Dons assistant boss Tony Docherty] have done a great job up there."
Meanwhile, Ferguson says his decision to resign from his job with part-time Clyde has not put him off management.
"They didn't want me to resign, they asked me not to but I was pretty adamant," he added. "The chairman asked me to have a long, hard think about it, which I did. But I woke up on Sunday morning and my mind was still clear it was the right decision.
"The players were giving me everything. But I know it's a results business. We dropped from second top to sixth or seventh [Clyde are eighth after Saturday's defeat by Annan, with two games in hand]] and I had a lot of good players. We were a decent team when we were on it, but we were under-performing and that falls on my shoulders. I take the blame for that.
"But it has not put me off. I will take in some games and go to different clubs and watch different managers do things. I will go away and start learning again." | Former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson says he is not ready to take up a managerial role at the club. | 39110038 | [
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Webb had been linked with the role in 2015, with Blatter suggesting at a conference in the Caribbean on Monday that he could be replaced by Webb "in the near future".
But Cayman Islands native Webb said: "No, definitely not. That is not my intention or my objectives at this time."
Blatter, who has led Fifa since 1998, was speaking off the cuff before a speech to mark the opening of a Concacaf sport summit. The Swiss was introduced incorrectly to an audience of regional political leaders and confederation delegates as "Fifa's vice-president" by a local media officer.
Total number of presidents: 8
Current president: Sepp Blatter, since 1998
Previous president: Joao Havelange from 1974 to 1998
Longest time spent in office: Jules Rimet - 33 years from 1921 to 1954
Number of English presidents: 3 - Daniel Burley Woolfall (1906-1918), Arthur Drewry (1955-1961), Stanley Rous (1961-1974)
Blatter, 77, stepped up to the lectern and replied to the mistake by telling the media officer and assembled guests: "I think you're a prophet."
He then added that there may be a new Fifa president in "the near future" and the next president "could be Jeffrey Webb".
After receiving applause, he added: "This would not mean I would be vice-president. Once you have been a horse you don't go back to the stable."
Sources close to Fifa have told BBC Sport that the comments should not be taken as a decision by Blatter that he will not stand as a candidate in the next election, scheduled for May 2015, and that all options are still open to him.
Blatter told Uefa delegates in 2011 that this would be his final term of office but has this year given strong indications that he may seek a fresh mandate.
The comments are the clearest indication so far that Uefa president Michel Platini - considered by many observers to be his most likely successor - is not the man Blatter wishes to see in power after he has left the role.
Platini has yet to decide if he will stand in the 2015 election saying recently that he wanted more time to consider the matter.
Webb, 49, was elected president of Concacaf in May 2012 following the acrimonious departures of former president Jack Warner and general secretary Chuck Blazer.
Now one of seven Fifa vice-presidents, Webb started his time in football governance as president of the Cayman Islands Football Association in 1991. | Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football leader Jeffrey Webb says he has "no intention" of replacing Sepp Blatter as Fifa president. | 24624337 | [
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The 28-year-old Australian finished on 15 under par, with American Kevin Chappell his closest rival on 11 under.
Day, whose halfway total of 129 was a record for the Florida event, shot a one-under closing round of 71.
Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy finished at eight and seven under respectively, while England's Justin Rose was five under.
American Justin Thomas bettered his third-round 75 by 10 shots on Sunday to finish on 10 under in a tie for third. Rose also shot one of the day's best rounds, but his 66 was only good enough to move him into a tie for 19th.
Day dropped two shots on the front nine, but birdied the 10th and 12th to get back to level par for the round.
The US PGA winner also birdied the 16th after a superb chip to the green as he earned his 10th PGA Tour title.
Coming soon: We're launching a new BBC Sport newsletter ahead of the Euros and Olympics, bringing all the best stories, features and video right to your inbox. You can sign up here. | World number one Jason Day maintained his four-stroke advantage to win the Players Championship at Sawgrass. | 36299142 | [
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They include strong, stiff plastics and flexible gels that can mend themselves if torn.
The findings, reported in the journal Science, could lead to cheaper and greener cars, planes and electronics.
It is the first time that durable "thermoset" plastic has been produced in a recyclable form.
Dr Jeanette Garcia, from IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, stumbled upon the first new class of thermosets in many years when she accidentally left one of three components out of a reaction.
"I had this chunk of plastic, and I had to figure out what it was," Dr Garcia told the BBC. "I had to smash my round-bottomed flask with a hammer."
That chunk of plastic, produced from unexpectedly simple ingredients, proved to be tremendously hard and stable. Crucially, it could be digested in acid, reverting to its original components.
This digestion reaction allows the chemical building blocks, or monomers, to be reused.
"It was definitely fortuitous," Dr Garcia said. "The first thing I did, of course, was to hit the literature, to try and see if it'd been done before. I just assumed that it had been - it's such a simple reaction."
But her search turned up nothing. This was new.
Once she understood what she had created, Dr Garcia set about repeating her finding. "We wasted a lot of flasks," she said.
Because they are strong and light-weight, thermosets are used throughout modern cars and aircraft, often mixed with carbon fibres to form composites. Some 50% of the new Airbus A350 jet, for example, will be made from composites.
Yet until now, none of this thermoset plastic could be recycled.
"The potential impact here is phenomenal," said Dr Charl Faul, a materials chemist at the University of Bristol. He says the study offers a "very simple, elegant answer to a very old problem".
Dr James Hedrick, who was in charge of the research at IBM, is excited by the possiblities. When a large or expensive component is damaged or reaches the end of its useful life, he explained, it could be repaired or recycled instead of thrown away.
"The ability to rework saves a tremendous amount of money and mitigates waste."
Beyond replacing thermoset-based composites in current technology, Dr Hedrick sees the potential for many more innovative applications. "We're at the discovery phase," he said. "Every time you discover a new polymer-forming reaction it leads to all sorts of new materials."
As well as very hard and durable plastics, the researchers adapted their procedure to a different monomer and produced flexible, self-healing gels. These could be useful in anything from cosmetics, to paint, to the design of drug capsules, because of their particular solubility properties.
"Applications are running like water," Dr Hedrick said. "We don't even know where to go with this yet." | Researchers have developed a collection of new plastics that are recyclable and adaptable - and the discovery began with a laboratory mistake. | 27424318 | [
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Previously, trainee doctors had to wait up to four years to experience the consultation room.
GP Live was developed by Aberdeen University and uses streaming software to enter the consultation room.
Researchers hope it will encourage more students to join general practice and help ease a recruitment crisis.
The software will stream consultations just moments after they happen in an effort to give students a flavour of life as a GP.
The system utilises one of the University's Digitally Enhanced Learning Spaces (DELS), where students can engage in interactive learning with the aid of 55-inch display screens and state-of-the-art web conference tools.
It was developed by Dr John McKeown, a senior clinical lecturer and GP at Cults Medical Group in Aberdeen.
He said: "The biggest appeal for students is that they are seeing consultations that are almost live, and this adds a sense of immediacy that appeals to students who have grown up in an era where digitisation has made learning far more interactive.
"We aim to make the sessions as engaging as possible by discussing the GP's approach while the consultation takes place - for example how they communicate, the direction that they take the consultation, and of course their recommended course of action."
Dr McKeown said that one of the main benefits of the system was that students and lecturers would be able to discuss consultations that have taken place at a variety of practices, where the issues could be very different.
He added: "This means that students get a real insight into the challenges facing GPs who might operate in less affluent areas, or in remote rural locations.
"The system also allows us to work through a number of different consultations in succession, which very much mimics a typical morning for a GP.
"This allows us to see the range of skills - interpersonal, diagnostic and otherwise - that they bring to a normal working day."
Dr McKeown said that by the time current first year students graduated there would be a pressing need for new GPs in Scotland. | A new project has been developed to allow first-year medical student in Scotland to watch GP consultation for the first time. | 39593461 | [
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Lee Tomlin's penalty lit up a quiet first period after Tammy Abraham was brought down in the box by Ipswich keeper Bartosz Bialkowski.
David McGoldrick almost levelled the scores soon after half-time, but his low shot was pushed on to the post by Ipswich goalkeeper Frank Fielding.
Luke Freeman sealed the win with a spectacular volley from 25 yards.
The victory was just a second in eight league games for City and lifted the Robins up to 11th in the table, while Town drop to 16th.
Aden Flint felt he should have had a second penalty for City as he went down in the box five minutes after the first spot-kick, but referee Stuart Attwell waved away his protests.
Abraham had a chance to double the lead just before the break, but the 12-goal Chelsea loanee headed over the impressive Tomlin's cross.
After McGoldrick hit the post, Freeman came up with a goal of the season contender as he smashed home a left-foot volley from far outside the box into the bottom corner for his first goal at Ashton Gate.
Bristol City boss Lee Johnson:
"It was a sensational goal. It is a really difficult skill to get the ball to dip from the position Luke struck it.
"It was a really steady and professional team display, almost like an away performance. We have had to come from behind so often, but today we got ourselves in front and looked really solid.
"We haven't got what we deserved from recent games. Now we are three points off the play-offs and looking up the table again."
Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy:
"The difference between the teams was a penalty and a worldie. They started well, but we got to grips with that.
"We were on top when an unbelievable flying bomb hit the top corner of our net for the second goal. It was absolutely unstoppable.
"I have no complaints about our display. We need to be more effective in the final third, but other than that I felt we competed well against a good side."
Match ends, Bristol City 2, Ipswich Town 0.
Second Half ends, Bristol City 2, Ipswich Town 0.
Substitution, Bristol City. Gary O'Neil replaces Korey Smith because of an injury.
Offside, Bristol City. Josh Brownhill tries a through ball, but Tammy Abraham is caught offside.
Substitution, Bristol City. Bobby Reid replaces Lee Tomlin.
Attempt saved. Freddie Sears (Ipswich Town) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Cole Skuse.
Jonathan Williams (Ipswich Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Korey Smith (Bristol City).
Substitution, Bristol City. Josh Brownhill replaces Luke Freeman.
Attempt missed. David McGoldrick (Ipswich Town) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Leon Best.
Foul by Cole Skuse (Ipswich Town).
Marlon Pack (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Adam Webster (Ipswich Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Tammy Abraham (Bristol City).
Attempt missed. Lee Tomlin (Bristol City) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Offside, Ipswich Town. David McGoldrick tries a through ball, but Freddie Sears is caught offside.
Offside, Ipswich Town. Leon Best tries a through ball, but David McGoldrick is caught offside.
Attempt saved. Tammy Abraham (Bristol City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Luke Freeman.
Substitution, Ipswich Town. Jonathan Williams replaces Tom Lawrence.
Goal! Bristol City 2, Ipswich Town 0. Luke Freeman (Bristol City) left footed shot from outside the box to the top left corner following a set piece situation.
Foul by Christophe Berra (Ipswich Town).
Aaron Wilbraham (Bristol City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt missed. Luke Freeman (Bristol City) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Hördur Bjorgvin Magnusson with a cross.
Substitution, Ipswich Town. Freddie Sears replaces Grant Ward.
Substitution, Ipswich Town. Leon Best replaces Luke Varney.
Foul by Luke Varney (Ipswich Town).
Adam Matthews (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Bristol City. Conceded by Jonas Knudsen.
Attempt blocked. Hördur Bjorgvin Magnusson (Bristol City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Foul by Christophe Berra (Ipswich Town).
Tammy Abraham (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Cole Skuse (Ipswich Town).
Korey Smith (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Marlon Pack (Bristol City) right footed shot from more than 35 yards misses to the right.
Foul by Marlon Pack (Bristol City).
Grant Ward (Ipswich Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Aaron Wilbraham (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Christophe Berra (Ipswich Town).
Attempt saved. David McGoldrick (Ipswich Town) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Cole Skuse with a through ball.
Hand ball by Luke Varney (Ipswich Town). | Bristol City ended a three-game losing run in the Championship with an impressive win over Ipswich Town. | 38114530 | [
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Spain's Veronica Boquete, Germany's Nadine Kessler and Scotland's Kim Little are joined by Brazilian forward Marta and Liverpool and Nigerian youngster Asisat Oshoala.
The winner will be revealed on BBC World Service on 26 May after being decided by a public vote.
Voting is open now and closes on 11 May at 10:00 BST.
A panel of experts - including administrators, journalists, coaches and former players - decided the shortlist.
Fans can vote online through the BBC website or by SMS.
To vote for BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2015 by SMS, text the number of the player you wish to vote for to +44 7786 20 20 04.
Text 1 for Veronica Boquete, 2 for Nadine Kessler, 3 for Kim Little, 4 for Marta and 5 for Asisat Oshoala.
Mary Hockaday, Controller of BBC World Service English, said: "With anticipation building ahead of the Women's World Cup in Canada in June we're thrilled to announce the shortlist for the first BBC Women's Footballer of the Year award.
"The five shortlisted players represent the creme de la creme of female footballers from across the globe."
Spanish midfielder Boquetetold the BBC: "I'm really, really happy to be shortlisted. To have all the media talking about this award is really important to help our sport grow."
2013 European Championship winner Kessleradded: "I am very honoured to be nominated for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year Award. It is a special award because this time the fans are given the opportunity to vote for the players."
Little, who plays for Seattle Reign in the United States, said: "Considering the competitiveness and the amount of great players there are worldwide, it's extremely nice to be recognised."
Marta, a World Cup runner-up, said: "I feel very happy to be nominated and already feel victorious just for being in the final five. It's very special because you are being judged by the public, the people who follow you."
And Oshoalasaid: "I worked hard last year but I am surprised to be nominated and I feel very appreciated. This award is a very good thing for women's football. It can really help us by encouraging other countries to support their ladies more and treat them the same way they treat the men."
Listen to the nominees announced on Canada Calling. | BBC World Service has revealed the five names in contention for its inaugural Women's Footballer of the Year award. | 32442240 | [
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Mewn cam annisgwyl, wrth siarad o flaen 10 Downing Street, dywedodd fod y wlad yn dod at ei gilydd yn dilyn pleidlais Brexit y llynedd, ond nad oedd gwleidyddion y gwrthbleidiau yn San Steffan wedi gwneud hynny.
Bydd pleidlais yn cael ei chynnal yn y Senedd ddydd Mercher ar argymhelliad y Prif Weinidog, ac mae'r blaid Lafur wedi dweud y bydd yn pleidleisio gyda'r llywodraeth.
Rhaid i Theresa May dderbyn cefnogaeth y senedd i gynnal etholiad cyn dyddiad swyddogol yr etholiad nesaf oedd wedi ei chlustnodi - yn 2020.
Byddai etholiad cyffredinol ym mis Mehefin yn sicrhau arweinyddiaeth gref a chadarn wrth i'r llywodraeth gynnal trafodaethau gyda'r Undeb Ewropeaidd yn y misoedd i ddod, meddai Mrs May.
"Ar foment genedlaethol arwyddocaol fe ddylai fod undod yn San Steffan ond yn lle hynny mae rhwygiadau. Mae'r wlad yn dod at ei gilydd ond dyw San Steffan ddim."
Dywedodd Mrs May bod y pleidiau eraill yn gwneud eu gorau i lesteirio amserlen y DU i adael yr Undeb Ewropeaidd.
Ychwanegodd: "Mae ein gwrthwynebwyr yn credu bod mwyafrif y llywodraeth mor fach y byddwn yn simsanu, y gallen nhw ein gorfodi i newid llwybr. Ond maen nhw'n anghywir.
"Os nad ydyn ni'n cynnal pleidlais gyffredinol rŵan bydd eu gemau gwleidyddol yn parhau."
Dywedodd hefyd bod y rhwygiadau yn peryglu ymdrechion y llywodraeth i gael bargen dda i Brydain wrth adael ac yn achosi "ansefydlogrwydd" i'r wlad.
Ychwanegodd ei bod wedi bod yn gyndyn o gymryd y cam o alw am etholiad, ond y byddai'r etholiad er budd y wlad.
Dywedodd arweinydd y blaid Lafur yn San Steffan, Jeremy Corbyn: "Rydw i'n croesawu penderfyniad y Prif Weinidog i roi cyfle i bobl Prydain i bleidleisio dros lywodraeth fydd yn rhoi buddiannau'r mwyafrif yn gyntaf."
Ychwanegodd arweinydd y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig, Andrew RT Davies mai dyma'r "penderfyniad iawn i'r wlad".
"Rydyn ni eisiau i Gymru a Phrydain ddod allan o'r cyfnod yma yn gryfach, yn decach ac yn edrych fwy tuag allan nag erioed, ac fe fyddwn ni'n glynu wrth ein cynllun ar gyfer Prydain gryfach," meddai.
Ond yn dilyn ei chyhoeddiad, trydarodd Prif Weinidog Cymru Carwyn Jones: "Wel, nes i ddim gweld hynny'n dod. Mae galw etholiad yng nghanol etholiad arall yn od. Proses heddwch Gogledd Iwerddon yn cael ei hanwybyddu?"
Ychwanegodd mewn ail neges: "Mae'n rhaid i mi ddweud nad yw'r etholiad yma "er budd y wlad". Dylai'r ffocws fod ar Brexit a'r economi, nid polau piniwn."
Dywedodd arweinydd Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood: "Mae llywodraeth y DU wedi ymrwymo ein gwlad i lwybr economaidd afreolus eithafol.
"Mae Cymru angen ASau fydd yn herio'r Torïaid a bod yn llais rhesymol yn y Senedd, gan amddiffyn cysylltiadau economaidd hanfodol ein gwlad gydag Ewrop a gweddill y byd."
Cafodd y cyhoeddiad ei groesawu hefyd gan arweinydd UKIP yn y Cynulliad Neil Hamilton: "Mae hyn yn gyfle gwych i'r etholwyr bleidleisio i gael gwared â'r ASau oedd eisiau aros yn rhan o'r UE yng Nghymru, ac ethol AS UKIP fydd yn cynrychioli eu buddiannau yn y senedd."
Ychwanegodd Mark Williams, arweinydd y Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol yng Nghymru y byddai'r etholiad yn "gyfle i newid cyfeiriad y wlad".
"Os ydych chi eisiau osgoi Brexit caled, os ydych chi eisiau cadw Prydain yn rhan o'r farchnad sengl, os ydych chi eisiau Prydain sydd yn agored, goddefgar ac unedig, dyma'ch cyfle," meddai.
Dywedodd arweinydd y Blaid Werdd yng Nghymru, Grenville Ham fod yr etholiad yn "gyfle gwych i roi stop ar lymder" gan fod "pleidiau wedi dilyn ideoleg sydd wedi gorfodi caledi diangen ar y bobl fwyaf tlawd ac anghenus ym Mhrydain".
O dan reolau'r Ddeddf Cyfnod Seneddol Sefydlog, does gan y Prif Weinidog ddim hawl i gyhoeddi etholiad cyffredinol ar fyr rybudd heb gefnogaeth aelodau Tŷ'r Cyffredin.
Yn ôl y polau piniwn diweddaraf, mae gan y Ceidwadwyr fantais sylweddol dros y blaid Lafur - gyda'r Torïaid 21 o bwyntiau ar y blaen yn ôl YouGov.
Bydd yr etholiad sydyn hefyd yn golygu y bydd pobl Cymru'n pleidleisio dros 40 o Aelodau Seneddol, yn hytrach na 29 o aelodau, fel oedd wedi ei fwriadu petai'r newidiadau i ffiniau seneddol wedi dod i rym cyn etholiad 2020.
Cafodd Mrs May ei hethol yn Brif Weinidog ym mis Gorffennaf 2016, lai na mis wedi'r refferendwm ar adael yr Undeb Ewropeaidd.
Fe wnaeth ei rhagflaenydd David Cameron, oedd wedi bod yn brif weinidog ers 2010, ymddiswyddo y diwrnod wedi'r bleidlais Brexit. | Mae'r Prif Weinidog Theresa May wedi cyhoeddi y bydd yn gofyn i Dŷ'r Cyffredin bleidleisio o blaid cynnal etholiad cyffredinol ar fyr rybudd ar 8 Mehefin. | 39628590 | [
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Derek Medina admitted taking the picture on his phone and uploading it on to the social media site.
He failed to convince the jury that he had shot Jennifer Alfonso eight times in self-defence after years of abuse.
He said his wife was threatening him with a knife when he shot her in their home in Miami, but prosecutors said she was cowering on the floor.
When he posted the picture, he wrote on Facebook that he expected to go to prison or be sentenced to death for the killing.
Prosecutors successfully argued that the 27-year-old wife was in fear of her life when she was shot in August 2013.
Medina had vowed to kill her if she left him and she had told friends she intended to do that, the court heard.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Rundle said: "No family should ever have to see their daughter killed and then exhibited worldwide on the internet like some macabre trophy to a husband's anger."
Medina, 33, faces a sentence of 25 years to life for second-degree murder. | A Florida man who killed his wife and posted a photo of the body on Facebook has been found guilty of murder. | 34927133 | [
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No such law exists, but Rishiraj Singh, the excise commissioner in the southern Indian state of Kerala, said such a stare could get a man jailed.
People online asked what might happen if a man blinked, and some quipped that sales of sunglasses would go up.
But some users said Mr Singh had raised a valid point about women's safety.
"A case can be filed against men who stare at women for more than 14 seconds," Mr Singh said in Kochi on Saturday.
The video of his statement has gone viral in the state, sparking humorous reactions and memes.
Some social media users have used dialogues from popular films in Malayalam, the language spoken in the state, to create memes.
Most users have posted memes on popular comedy Facebook pages like Troll Malayalam and ICU.
This meme implies that a teacher must shut his eyes every 13 seconds to avoid arrest.
"Just informed a girl that I didn't like her after meeting her for marriage. She threatened to file a case for staring at her for 14 seconds."
"Bro, what is your crime, stabbing or theft?". "Just went to see a girl for marriage, got convicted for looking at her for 14 seconds."
This meme shows how to time your gaze.
This meme, titled "poor lover", shows how you should interact with your girlfriend to avoid arrest.
Some social media users, however, have supported Mr Singh for raising an important issue of women's safety.
Reporting by BBC Monitoring's Zainul Abid | Social media users have reacted with amused bewilderment after an official said it was illegal for a man to stare at a woman for more than 14 seconds. | 37091948 | [
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It will be first celebrated on 31 May in 2017 with celebrations and events run by Historic England.
The date was decided upon after a poll involving 1,000 Londoners. It was closely followed by 5 September - the date of the Great Fire of London.
The YouGov questionnaire also declared the Houses of Parliament as the building that best sums up London.
People voted for the Queen as their favourite historic London hero for the moment she secretly joined the crowds to celebrate Victory in Europe Day.
The results of the poll were released to mark the launch of Historic England's "Keep it London" campaign.
People were asked to select a date to celebrate the capital's history, their historic hero and the building that sums up London.
Big Ben's first day in operation was 31 May 1859.
The campaign is intended to encourage Londoners to notice, celebrate and speak up for the heritage of their city, Historic England said.
The public body has also launched a film entitled I am London, which celebrates the historic buildings and places that have borne witness to the capital's history.
Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, said: "Our heritage is a source of pride, a reminder of the city's past, a foundation for its present and the building blocks for its future." | London's first History Day will be held on the anniversary of Big Ben's first day in operation. | 36550362 | [
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Natalie Queiroz, 40, has been moved from critical care to a ward following the attack on Hollyfield Road, Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, on Friday.
Ms Queiroz's daughter is doing well, University Hospitals Birmingham said.
Babur Karamat Raja, 41, is charged with two counts of attempted murder and one of attempted child destruction.
He was remanded in custody during a short hearing at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Monday.
Updates on this story and more in Birmingham and the Black Country.
The court heard businessman Mr Raja, of Hollyfield Road in Sutton Coldfield, is also charged with assaulting witness Anthony Smith and possession of a knife.
He is due to appear at Birmingham Crown Court on 6 April.
Up to five passers-by helped Ms Queiroz when she was attacked at about 15:00 GMT on Friday, police said. | A heavily pregnant woman who was repeatedly stabbed in a street attack, resulting in her daughter's delivery hours later, is in a stable condition. | 35769437 | [
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There are pubs where they play music and then there are pubs where music takes a more prominent role. Sometimes, however, there are pubs where drinking seems almost a sideline to the main business of musical appreciation.
Walking into Sandy Bell's in Edinburgh, you feel it sits very firmly in the latter category. Long a focus for the Scottish traditional music scene, recent years have seen more performances, bigger audiences and some very talented players. And as far as many are concerned, that tells you something about Scotland today.
"There's more pride in Scotland generally," says Archie, a smiling accordion player from Skye. "You'll get pubs that used to be trendy pubs, with CDs playing, and now they have folk music sessions."
For Sam, who plays violin, it's a particular source of pride that so many visitors from abroad now seem captivated by the melodies of her native land.
"You've got tourists from Canada, Australia, America, Japan, China. I've always liked this sort of music. It does make me feel like I'm celebrating being Scottish."
In a week when Scotland's First Minister unveiled plans for a possible second referendum on independence, the strength of nationalist sentiment has usually been gauged by polls.
And much to the frustration of Ms Sturgeon's Scottish National Party, support for independence has barely budged from the 45% who voted for it in the previous referendum of 2014.
Yet many believe that Scots now have a far stronger sense of their country's distinct identity, a sentiment that polls seem to miss.
Among them is Henry McLeish, the Labour First Minister of Scotland from 2001-02, who extols what he believes are Scotland's particular qualities.
"We're more internationalist, we're more open to immigration," he says.
It is the Brexit vote and its aftermath that has done more than anything else to shift his opinion. The majority of Scots voted to remain in the European Union, in contrast to the UK vote to leave.
"I was a diehard unionist. Politics has changed, I've had my Britishness squeezed out of me. It's more in sorrow than in anger that I am ready to say that I could support an independent Scotland."
Michelle Ferguson is not sorry about her increasingly strong sense of being Scottish, but it has come as something of a surprise.
Once an employee of a large multinational, she used to live in London and described herself as British. But Michelle has now become managing director of a social enterprise, St Andrews First Aid Supplies and Training, which ploughs all its profits back into the local community.
The experience seems to have changed her sense of identity, as much as her attitude to business.
"Here in Scotland, people really want to make a difference, it's not all about the big bucks," she says. "I now feel that if I had to fill in a form… I would have to say I am Scottish."
Michelle does not want to say whether she voted for Scottish independence, nor whether she would do so in the event of another referendum. And the fact is that whatever resurgence of Scottish pride there may be, the Scottish National Party has so far failed to capitalise on it.
But then the Party has always been keen to emphasise the alleged economic benefits of independence, rather than playing the identity game and appealing to voters' "tartan blood".
"A vote for independence should not just be about how we feel, although that is important," says Ben Macpherson, an SNP Member of the Scottish Parliament, representing Edinburgh North and Leith.
Yet pushed on the issue, Macpherson agrees with the suggestion of growing national self-awareness, and hints that it might help his cause.
"Scotland is an increasingly more confident country than when I was a child. More and more, Scotland is starting to understand that Scotland is ready to govern itself." | The Scottish Government has published a bill outlining provisional plans for another referendum on Scottish independence, plans which some believe coincide with a renewed sense of Scotland's separate identity. | 37732013 | [
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Excluding fuel, like-for-like sales, which strip out the impact of new store openings, fell 1.1% in the 16 weeks to 24 September. Total sales fell 0.4%.
Despite the drop, the UK's second-largest supermarket said it was continuing to make progress.
Chief executive Mike Coupe said he was confident its strategy would enable it to "outperform our major peers".
German discount chains Aldi and Lidl, which have expanded rapidly in the UK, have been undercutting Sainsbury's and its rivals, including Tesco, Morrisons and Asda.
The supermarket chain has fought back by cutting prices on its everyday products rather than run promotions. This quarter, it said it had cut the prices of broccoli, onions, Margherita pizza and its own-brand nappies.
Mr Coupe said this strategy was working with customers "consistently choosing" Sainsbury's over its rivals.
He also said its £1.4bn takeover of Argos-owner Home Retail Group, which was completed at the beginning of this month, would speed up its plans to allow shoppers to get their goods in different ways.
Sainsbury's, which already has 15 Argos stores within its own shops, said it would open 200 digital collection points in its stores by the end of the year.
The supermarket group said Home Retail Group's like-for-like sales in the second quarter to 27 August, before it took over the firm, rose 2.3%.
In another attempt to win more shoppers, and amid the threat of online giant Amazon's move into grocery deliveries, Sainsbury's said it was expanding a test of its one-hour grocery delivery service in London called "Chop Chop" with orders delivered by bicycle.
The retailer said it would "give customers more options to shop with us whenever and wherever they want".
Sainsbury's has reported two straight years of falling profits, and analysts expect another drop in the 2016-17 financial year.
In May, the supermarket said underlying profits for the year to 12 March fell to £587m from £681m in the previous year.
Shares in the group have fallen 9% over the past six months.
John Ibbotson, director of retail consultancy Retail Vision, said Sainsbury's simpler pricing strategy and abolition of multi-buy promotions was "distinctly underwhelming" in the current brutal market conditions, but said Argos could help the firm.
"Argos should boost Sainsbury's bottom line in the short-term as well as improve its internet offer and logistics capability.
"But integrating the two firms will be time-consuming and distracting, and in the current environment Sainsbury's cannot afford to take its eye off its core grocery business, even for a second," he added.
Earlier this week, discount rival Aldi showed it was not immune to the effects of the continuing price war, with low prices eating into its profit margins. The firm reported a 12% rise in sales for 2015, but said operating profits had fallen 1.8%. | Sainsbury's has reported a second consecutive quarter of falling sales, blaming falling food prices. | 37492812 | [
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The centrepiece is a plan to take any refugees and migrants who cross the sea to Greece in smugglers' boats and return them, directly, to Turkey.
European Union officials say whatever is finally agreed "will comply with both European and international law". Privately, though, some admit that, while the assessment of their lawyers is "quite promising", there are legal hurdles that must be overcome.
So can Europe carry out mass returns of entire groups of people? UN officials have cited the European Convention on Human Rights, arguing that it explicitly prohibits the collective expulsion of foreigners. And they say that under international law, it is not illegal for someone fleeing persecution and conflict to cross a border and ask for asylum.
Around 90% of those arriving in the Greek islands say they are fleeing conflict, primarily from Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan. Under international law, each person's case must be heard on an individual basis, not as a group, because they may have very good reasons for seeking protection.
The second difficulty, UN officials have said, is that while returns can be legal, people can only be sent back to a country that is safe, is able to care for them, give them full access to work, to education, to healthcare, and, most important of all, will take responsibility for processing the individual's asylum claim.
The reason many Syrians are leaving Turkey is that it can't provide work, education and healthcare for them all. A system to apply for asylum in Europe from Turkey doesn't exist yet.
Until now, the EU has not returned people to Turkey. It hasn't viewed Turkey as what's called a "safe third country". Turkey is not a full member of the Geneva Convention. It does not offer Syrians asylum, only a lesser form of international protection. And other groups like Iraqis and Afghans don't even have that option in Turkey. So while returning Syrians is questionable, returning non-Syrians may be even more problematic.
Even if all the legal issues are settled there remains the practical problem of how Greece would send back all those making the crossings. Desperate people, men, women and children would have to be rounded up, held and then transported back across the sea.
In exchange for the mass returns, the EU is offering to take in large numbers of asylum seekers directly from Turkey. So for every Syrian sent back to Turkey, one already in Turkey will be resettled in Europe. But finding EU countries willing to accept the new arrivals may not be easy.
Last year, EU countries pledged to shift thousands of refugees directly from Greece, Italy, and Turkey and give them new homes in the EU. Just a few hundred have actually been moved. Could countries achieve now what they have failed to make happen so far?
Hungary has made clear that it is not prepared to accept quotas under this new plan. Other countries in central and eastern Europe are also opposed. So to make this work, a "coalition of the willing" - countries prepared to welcome Syrians - will have to be assembled. Germany and the Netherlands may have to be the leaders here, but they will need support from other states too.
Among Turkey's demands to secure a deal is visa-free access to the EU for Turks, ideally by the end of June, but there is significant political resistance. It would allow more than 70 million Turks to travel (but not work) visa-free in Europe's Schengen zone.
That hasn't happened before now because some EU countries have worried about the political backlash at home from anti-immigrant parties. France in particular has been opposed. The indications from behind closed doors at the summit were that President Francois Hollande may be willing to accept a deal on visas.
But then there is the problem that Turkey does not officially recognise the Greek-Cypriot government in Nicosia (Cyprus is an EU member). That's one issue to overcome, and there is also significant opposition to visa concessions for Turkey in the European Parliament, which would have to approve the change as well.
Even if all of these issues are resolved, sources say that EU countries will probably still insist Turkey meet all the technical conditions necessary for visa-free access. The hurdles, such as Turkey introducing more sophisticated biometric passports, are significant.
This is another of Turkey's demands. It may be largely symbolic, as most EU countries believe Turkey is years away from achieving EU membership, but making any headway on this will be even harder than on the subject of visas.
Opposition from Cyprus is one big issue here. Turkey must recognise the government in Cyprus before any new discussions open. Cyprus has stated clearly that it has a clear understanding from other EU countries that "Turkey cannot use its role in the refugee crisis... to ask for exchanges as regards its EU accession course".
Other countries like Italy and Belgium have doubts about making concessions at a time when there are serious concerns about Turkey's political direction, about declining media freedoms, and worries about a shift towards greater authoritarianism in Turkey's politics.
Privately, EU sources say agreement even to open any new accession discussions will be "very difficult" and is one of the most important things to clarify if a deal is to be done next week.
For all the difficulties, though, there are powerful, political reasons why all sides want a deal. The EU as a whole wants to regain control of events in this refugee crisis. There is a real concern that countries have started going it alone, consensus has broken down, and the EU has to find a plan that reverses that dynamic.
There is also a fear that if the refugee crisis remains unresolved, it could affect Britain's EU referendum. Angela Merkel needs a deal as she's come under huge political pressure at home. And the crisis has caused a real rift between the leaders of Germany and Austria that needs to be mended.
Other EU leaders want to show their electorates they can protect the EU's borders, fearing that otherwise anti-immigrant parties will seize the political initiative. Closing some border crossings to deal with the refugee crisis has had economic costs too.
And a deal suits Turkey as well. It is hosting millions of refugees and is under serious pressure because of the way the war in Syria has shifted with Russia's involvement. Despite their difficulties, the EU and Turkey both benefit if they can make a strategic relationship work, and they need support from each other to deal with the crises they are facing.
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. | European leaders are billing their new proposal to deal with the refugee and migrant influx as a "game-changer", but the scheme is not agreed yet and there are doubts about whether it it is practical or even legal. | 35761623 | [
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The Yomper statue is currently located in front of the Royal Marines Museum at Eastney.
The National Museum of the Royal Navy has started consulting over a proposed move to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Campaigners insist it is a local memorial to the conflict and "belongs" at Eastney.
The Yomper statue was created by Philip Jackson, depicting a royal marine marching across the islands during the 1982 conflict and was unveiled by former prime minister, Lady Thatcher, in 1992.
The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) is planning to relocate the Royal Marines Museum from Eastney to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard as part of a £13m lottery funded project and wants to take the statue with it.
An online petition against moving the statue has attracted more than 1,800 signatories, saying it was "now considered as our local Falklands War Memorial".
Sheila Mackie who set it up said: "The imposing scale of The Yomper needs space and adequate distance to be fully appreciated, and the visualization of the part in the major campaign that the statue represents couldn't be achieved in an interior space."
Conservative-led Portsmouth City Council also voted to express a "clear preference" that the statue remain where it it is.
Its motion stated: "The Yomper statue has graced the seafront for many years, serving as a reminder of both the Falklands War and of the Marines' historical association with Eastney."
NMRN director Jon Rawlinson said the new museum site would potentially have 750,000 visitors a year, compared to 40,000 at the current museum.
"He would be seen by far more people at the historic dockyard, but of course he was built for here [Eastney] and is part of here. "
He said no decision had been made and it would consider all comments submitted to its public consultation. | Plans to move a statue depicting a Royal Marine in the Falklands conflict away from Portsmouth seafront have been criticised. | 36792661 | [
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Hillingdon Council's leader said it would provide funding to challenge it for "however long it takes to win this battle".
Wandsworth, Richmond and Hillingdon councils spent £300,000 from their general funds on legal action.
Windsor and Maidenhead Council spent £50,000 from its development fund.
The details were obtained using Freedom of Information laws.
Council general funds are where money for most council services is drawn, with funds raised from council tax and central government grants.
The four councils failed in an attempt to challenge the decision to build the runway at the High Court in January.
London Councils, the body that represents London local authorities, says that by 2020 there will be a budget gap of around £2bn in London local government, which council budgets will have to accommodate.
Hillingdon Council has set aside a contingency budget of £200,000 for possible future legal action against the third runway, while Wandsworth has budgeted £25,000.
The case against the runway brought by the councils was struck out by Mr Justice Cranston in January on the basis that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the claim, but further legal action against the runway may take place.
John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, questioned whether the councils were making the right spending decisions.
"Those are huge sums of taxpayers' money spent on legal fees which could have otherwise gone towards road maintenance or adult social care," he said.
"Given that Hillingdon residents have seen their council tax rise by over 45% in real terms over the last 20 years, the decision to allocate so much money for further action raises serious questions over the council's priorities.
"Many residents may well oppose the third runway, but they are free to form groups to launch legal action themselves."
Stan Woods, a resident of Longford, which will be demolished to make room for the third runway, feels there is little the councils can do to affect the outcome.
"I worked at Heathrow for 38 years, so can see the reason for expansion, but equally wish I could keep my home," he said.
"I guess the councils feel they are acting on behalf of their communities, but to be honest this decision will be taken higher up the political ladder."
Councillor Raymond Puddifoot, leader of Hillingdon Council, said it was time the government stopped "wasting time and money" and turned its attention to finding a "workable alternative" to Heathrow.
"The government spent more than £3.8 million of taxpayers' money on the expansion of Heathrow Airport in the 18 months between July 2015 and December 2016, and this figure has risen dramatically over the last few months and will continue to do so," he said.
"We will continue provide both the funding and the integrity necessary to both defend and represent our residents for however long it takes to win this battle." | Four councils under Heathrow Airport's flight path spent £350,000 on legal fees challenging the planned third runway, the BBC has learnt. | 39519544 | [
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The 33-year-old arrestee was injured while grabbing onto a toilet at Colchester police station on 1 May.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said all six officers face allegations of assault and using excessive force.
Essex Police said one officer had been placed on restricted duties.
It declined to comment further due to the investigation. The IPCC said the allegations could amount to gross misconduct if proven.
The man was taken into custody on 30 April in relation to a public order incident, but in the early hours of the next day a number of officers entered his cell to find him standing with one foot in the metal toilet bowl.
The IPCC said he held on to the rim on the bowl while the officers tried to restrain him.
Soon after, according to the watchdog, the tops of three of the man's fingers on his left hand were severed.
The tops of the fingers were later recovered from inside the toilet and transported to the hospital, but it is believed they were not reattached successfully.
The IPCC said it would look at whether the officers' restraint was "appropriate" and caused the man's injuries.
Investigators will consider whether the man's mental health or ethnicity influenced the actions of officers.
Additionally, they will examine why there was a delay of around five hours in retrieving and transporting the severed fingertips to hospital. | Six police officers are being "criminally investigated" after a man lost the tips of three fingers during a struggle in his cell. | 33627403 | [
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The Slovak showed great determination to beat Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 1-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4.
Kerber, the Australian Open and US Open winner, was too strong for defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska.
The German dominated for a 6-2 6-1 victory over the Pole to make it six wins apiece in their head-to-heads.
"It's just amazing to be here,'' said Kerber, who is playing in the event for the fourth time.
"It's been an incredible 12 months. I've been really working at being focused, being calm and being positive on court and this is the biggest improvement I've made."
After a disappointing first set, in which Cibulkova trailed 4-1 after being broken twice in her first three service games, the world number eight showed far more intensity in the second set.
She improved her first-serve percentage dramatically from 42% to 79% with Kuznetsova, who was in superb form in the opening set, happy to sit back and wait for any opportunities.
Cibulkova, making her first appearance at the elite eight-player event, squandered chances to secure the second set while serving at 5-4 and 6-5 but in the tie-break she recovered quickly to set up four set points and level the match.
Kuznetsova, 31, took a 10-minute break at the end of the second set to change her kit but while it initially did not appear to unsettle Cibulkova, who broke to go 2-0 up, she again was unable to take advantage of the break.
Two-time Grand Slam tournament winner Kuznetsova won the next four games to lead 4-2, only for a gutsy Cibulkova to roar back with four straight games of her own to clinch a place in the final. | Debutante Dominika Cibulkova will meet world number one Angelique Kerber in Sunday's final at the WTA Finals in Singapore. | 37809638 | [
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"There have been some deaths in jousting," he says. "But it is usually through inexperience, the wrong safety equipment, and a lot of bad luck combined."
Putting on an exact replica of a medieval suit of armour, the 53-year-old jousts a dozen or so weekends every year.
Holding a 12ft (3.7m) long steel-tipped wooden lance in front of him, he rides a stallion full pelt towards another would-be knight coming at him in a similarly determined attempt to knock him off his horse.
"You are both moving at about 20mph (32km/h), so [if the other person's lance hits you] it is like hitting a brick wall at 40mph.
"I have never fallen off, but I have taken three people out of the saddle. Historically people have died, and it is always the lance tip going through the eye slot [of the helmet]."
Given how Jason spends his weekends, you might imagine that his day job is equally daring, that he is some sort of professional stuntman.
Instead, he is the chief executive of one of the UK's largest computer games companies - Rebellion Developments.
Jason set up the Oxford-based business with his younger brother Chris in 1992, and today it has an annual turnover of more than £25m.
Still wholly owned by the two siblings, its best-selling titles include Sniper Elite and Rogue Trooper.
For the past 17 years the company has also owned cult UK comic book series 2000 AD, and publishes a range of novels.
While Jason doesn't wear one of his £25,000 suits of armour in the office, he says that he tries to run Rebellion - and all other aspects of his life - according to a medieval knight's chivalric code of conduct.
"What the code comes down to is try to be a decent person... and there are three parts - bravery, honesty and kindness.
"In business the need to be brave is obvious; the ability to charge forward and seize the opportunity, and do the best that you can with it.
"It is also about exploring new territories and seeking out new markets. It is an essential component in being a leader."
He adds: "Honesty doesn't mean telling everyone your secrets, it means dealing fairly with people.
"So in business, I don't try to get the best deal for myself, I'm trying to get the best deal for both sides.
"This is fairer and the right thing to do, and if the other side makes a profit they will come back and work with me again.
"And kindness is simply about the need to treat people well."
As a teenager Jason says that he and his brother both loved role-playing games. They would sit around a table with their friends and each take on a fantasy character, such as a wizard or knight.
Dice would then be thrown to determine how the characters interacted with each other, and how the stories developed.
Jason also wrote a number of "gamebooks", where the reader has to decide how the story develops from multiple-choice options.
Studying at Oxford University, they started to develop and programme computer games as a hobby. After they both graduated, Jason says they decided to start Rebellion "because we loved games, and we saw an opportunity in making computer games".
He adds: "It really was just naivety and enthusiasm, but I think that is a really good reason for starting a business, because it is much easier to be successful if you love what you are doing."
Working on a number of demo games, Rebellion got its first big break in 1993 when it won a contract from then-games giant Atari to produce the title Alien vs Predator.
The game was a bestseller, and Rebellion has never looked back. After making games for other companies, such as James Bond and various titles for The Simpsons, it today tries to focus more on producing and distributing its own material.
Jason says: "We knew we wanted to build up our own IP (intellectual property) and fund our own games, and that is where we are now.
"It has taken us a long time, 25 years to get there... but we now come up with the ideas, fully fund the games, and release them ourselves worldwide. And that's great, there's no-one else in the loop."
Profits from the computer games sales have also been used to expand the business into other areas, such as buying 2000 AD, home to cult comic character Judge Dredd.
While Jason won't reveal the exact cost of the deal, he says it was "many millions".
"We felt that 2000 AD was on the decline [under its then-Danish owner], and needed to be owned and cherished by someone British who knew the culture of what it was trying to do.
"I genuinely think it is an important bit of our cultural heritage."
Gaming industry expert Dan Maher says that Rebellion has been particularly praised for its custodianship of the 2000 AD comic book.
"As the name suggests, the company prides itself on going against the grain, using the money earned from an industry driven by bleeding-edge technology to make uncynical acquisitions in the traditional publishing sector," says Mr Maher.
"Such moves, driven as they are by real love and appreciation for comics and sci-fi, have earned them great respect from consumers and professionals alike."
Jason has the boss role on a day-to-day basis at Rebellion, while his brother Chris holds the chief technology officer position.
But before he goes to work, Jason spends two hours every morning looking after his 13 horses, and then two hours again in the evening.
"Yes I could afford to get staff to do it all for me but I like doing it. The horses are my friends, my family," he says. | Jason Kingsley seems far too relaxed about the fatal dangers inherent in his daredevil hobby. | 39851253 | [
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The work shows that DNA and its chemical cousin RNA are not unique in their ability to encode information and to pass it on through heredity.
The work,
reported in Science
, is promising for future "synthetic biology" and biotechnology efforts.
It also hints at the idea that if life exists elsewhere, it could be bound by evolution but not by similar chemistry.
In fact, one reason to mimic the functions of DNA and RNA - which helps cells to manufacture proteins - is to determine how they came about at the dawn of life on Earth; many scientists believe that RNA arose first but was preceded by a simpler molecule that performed the same function.
However, it has remained unclear if any other molecule can participate in the same unzipping and copying processes that give DNA and RNA their ability to pass on the information they carry in the sequences of their nucleobases - the five chemical group "letters" from which the the two molecules' genetic information is composed.
The classic double-helix structure of DNA is like a twisted ladder, where the steps are made from paired nucleobases (RNA is typically a single helix).
Philipp Holliger of the UK Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology and a team of colleagues created six different DNA- and RNA-like molecules - xeno-nucleic acids, or XNAs - by replacing not the nucleobases but the sugar groups that make up the sides of the ladder.
"There's a lot of chemisty that seeks to build alternative nucleic acids, and people have been modifying the bases, the sugars and the backbone, but what we were focusing on was the type of nucleic acid or polymers that would retain the ability to communicate with the natural DNA," Dr Holliger explained in an interview for the Science podcast.
Because the nucleobases themselves were the same as those of DNA and RNA, the resulting molecules were able to join with their natural counterparts.
The effect is similar to work
recently published in Nature Chemistry
, showing that another sugar-substituted DNA analogue could be made to pair up with DNA itself.
But the crucial point in creating a full "synthetic genetics" is a set of nucleic acids like DNA and RNA that can not only carry genetic information, but would also allow it to be changed and passed on - evolution and heredity.
That requires a set of helper molecules called polymerases, which, once DNA or RNA "unzip" and expose their genetic information, help create new DNA molecules from those instructions.
Dr Holliger and his colleagues have developed polymerases that efficiently transcribe the code of their synthetic DNA to natural DNA and then from that back to another synthetic DNA.
The process of evolution was encouraged in the lab; one of their DNA analogues was designed to cling to a particular protein or RNA target, those that failed to do so were washed away.
As successive copies of those that stuck were made, variations in the genetic code - and the resulting structure the molecules took on - led to ever more tightly attached XNAs.
"We've been able to show that both heredity - information storage and propagation - and evolution, which are really two hallmarks of life, can be reproduced and implemented in alternative polymers other than DNA and RNA," Dr Holliger explained.
"There is nothing 'Goldilocks' about DNA and RNA - there is no overwhelming functional imperative for genetic systems or biology to be based on these two nucleic acids."
In
an accompanying article in Science
, Gerald Joyce of the Scripps Research Institute wrote that "the work heralds the era of synthetic genetics, with implications for exobiology (life elsewhere in the Universe), biotechnology, and understanding of life itself".
But the work does not yet represent a full synthetic genetics platform, he pointed out. For that, a self-replicating system that does not require the DNA intermediary must be developed.
With that in hand, "construction of genetic systems based on alternative chemical platforms may ultimately lead to the synthesis of novel forms of life". | Researchers have succeeded in mimicking the chemistry of life in synthetic versions of DNA and RNA molecules. | 17769529 | [
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Many have headed for Praia do Norte in Nazare, Portugal, where Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara set a world record for the largest wave surfed in 2011.
The storm created huge swells in the sea off Scotland leading to warnings from the Coastguard and RNLI.
The swell off Nazare has been recorded at a maximum of height of 40ft (12m).
But South Devon-based website Magicseaweed.com, which provides surfers with swell charts and surf forecasts, said the swell grew in size as it neared the beach.
Three years ago, Mr McNamara caught a 78ft (23m) wave to beat the previous 2008 record by more than a foot.
The Atlantic storm hit Scotland late on Tuesday and during Wednesday. The Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland and parts of the north and west mainland coast were the worst affected.
Wave heights measured west of South Uist by the University of the Highlands and Islands peaked at about 49ft (15m) on Wednesday.
The storm started in the Arctic where it had rapidly developed in strength in a process known as explosive cyclogenesis, or what some scientists and forecasters refer to as a "weather bomb".
Pressure at the centre of the storm dropped quickly in the space of 24 hours as it passed by the south of Greenland on a strong jet stream running in excess of 230mph.
As well as Nazare, surfers have been in Bilbao, northern Spain, for a Punta Galea Big Wave World Tour surfing event. It has also benefitted from swells created by the storm. | Some of the world's top surfers have been riding massive waves generated by the Atlantic storm that hit Scotland. | 30436059 | [
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The Belarusian only returned to tennis in June after giving birth to her son, Leo, in December.
Azarenka, 28, separated from his father in July and last week she issued a statement saying she could only play in the tournament "if I leave Leo behind".
Misa Eguchi, of Japan, moves into the main draw for the tournament, which starts on 28 August.
"I am sadly unable to compete in this year's US Open due to my ongoing family situation that I am working through," Azarenka said on Monday.
"While I will dearly miss being in New York and playing in one of my favourite tournaments where I have enjoyed some of the best moments in my career, I am already looking forward to being back next year."
Earlier this month Azarenka pulled out of the Cincinnati Open because of "a family matter".
The Australian Open champion in 2012 and 2013, she reached the final in New York in the same two years.
She was knocked out in the fourth round at Wimbledon this year. | Former world number one Victoria Azarenka will miss the US Open because of an "ongoing family situation". | 41005425 | [
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He told a rally in Columbus, Ohio, that he had heard "more and more" that the contest would be unfair. He offered no immediate evidence.
At another event he called Democratic rival Hillary Clinton "the devil".
Mr Trump has come under fire from across the political divide for remarks he made about the parents of a US Muslim soldier killed in action.
On the forthcoming vote, he told supporters "I'm afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest".
He later repeated the claim on Fox News, adding "I hope the Republicans are watching closely or it's going to be taken away from us.".
Mr Trump has made similar comments before in relation to the Democratic race, suggesting the party fixed its system to favour nominee Hillary Clinton over her challenger Bernie Sanders.
Earlier this year, he also complained the Republican primary system was also "rigged" amid party efforts to stop his march to the candidacy.
Correspondents say Mr Trump could be trying to capitalise on voters' distrust of establishment institutions, or lay the groundwork should he lose the election.
At another rally in Pennsylvania, he took the unprecedented step of directly calling Mrs Clinton "the devil".
He attacked Mr Sanders for capitulating in the Democratic race, saying he "made a deal with the devil. She's the devil."
Democrats and Republicans alike have condemned Mr Trump for his remarks about the parents of US Army Capt Humayun Khan, who was killed by a car bomb in 2004 in Iraq, at the age of 27.
Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain became the latest senior figure in the party to criticise Mr Trump for his attacks.
Senator McCain, a veteran of the Vietnam War, said in a strongly worded statement that Mr Trump did not have "unfettered licence to defame the best among us".
The soldier's parents, Khizr Khan and his wife Ghazala, told the BBC it was time to stand up to Mr Trump but he accused them of "viciously" attacking him.
Mr Trump had caused controversy by suggesting Ghazala Khan had been prevented from speaking alongside her husband at the Democratic convention last week.
In another development, American billionaire businessman Warren Buffett challenged Mr Trump to release his tax returns.
Mr Trump has said that they cannot be made public until the financial authorities have completed an audit.
But Mr Buffett said there were no rules against showing tax returns and allowing people to ask questions about them. | Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has suggested that the November election could be "rigged". | 36950083 | [
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She was a passenger in a car that collided with a lorry on the Legacorry Road at about 15:35 GMT on Thursday.
The woman who was driving the vehicle is in a critical condition in hospital.
In a separate incident, Moor Road in Coalisland, County Tyrone, has been closed following a two-vehicle crash. | A 20-year-old woman has died in a crash in Richhill, County Armagh. | 35434527 | [
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Margaret Henderson-McCarroll pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Eddie Girvan, 67, on the grounds of diminished responsibility in May.
The 31 year old, who has 100 previous convictions, was told she must serve three years in prison.
Sentencing her, Mr Justice Treacy said it was "an horrific crime".
Speaking in court on Monday, he said the victim "must have suffered terribly".
Mr Girvan was found dead at his Greenisland home in County Antrim. He was virtually naked, bound and gagged on 18 January 2016.
He had been stabbed in the chest and suffocated after being gagged with kitchen roll and a tie to stop him calling out for help.
The court had heard previously that either injury could have killed him.
The court was told that the pair, who had known each other for some years, had argued over money for sex.
Henderson-McCarroll said she had been acting in self defence and "poked" her victim with a cake knife after Mr Girvan came at her with a stick sword.
She said she had not meant to kill him and admitted that she had been high on crystal meth and heroin at the time.
After the stabbing, Henderson-McCarroll admitted taking more heroin "to calm her nerves" before stealing Mr Girvan's car and driving it to Belfast.
She was involved in an accident at Custom House Square, Belfast which led police to find Mr Girvan's car at the city hostel where she had been living.
She was later arrested on an unrelated bench warrant and found to have a sat nav, a watch, and two sets of car keys in her possession.
The sat nav contained Mr Girvan's home address and, after several attempts to contact him at home, police broke in and found his body.
Henderson-McCarroll has 100 previous convictions for robbery, theft and assault.
The court heard she had bitten, punched and head butted elderly men, young women and children in the course of past crimes.
A doctor's report stated that she had lived a "chaotic life" of drug addiction, alcohol abuse, crime and prostitution.
The court was told that she relapsed into heroin and crystal meth addiction after the death of her baby daughter.
She also previously admitted eight other charges connected to Mr Girvan's killing:
* Theft;
* Attempted theft;
* Aggravated vehicle-taking causing damage;
* Dangerous driving;
* Driving when unfit through drink or drugs;
* Driving without insurance;
* Failing to stop at an accident
* Failing to report an accident
For those crimes, she was sentenced to between one month and a year in prison - all to be served concurrently with her manslaughter sentence which was six years - three to be served in prison and three on licence. | A woman who killed a pensioner while "high on crystal meth and heroin" has been given a six-year sentence. | 40925574 | [
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Ministers will talk to councils before deciding how many can be resettled.
The UK currently takes children from refugee camps in Syria and its neighbours but there has been pressure to take some who are already in the EU.
Labour said the announcement, made at Prime Minister's Questions, did not go far enough and more action was needed.
The government agreed in January to take some lone child refugees directly from North Africa and Middle East - but rejected calls to accept 3,000 children who had made it to Europe because it did not want to encourage others to make the "lethal" journey.
Now, in a change of heart, children registered in Greece, Italy or France before 20 March - when the EU struck its refugee deal with Turkey - will be eligible for resettlement in the UK.
The government said the retrospective nature of the scheme would avoid creating a "perverse incentive" for families to entrust their children to people traffickers.
It would mean the UK can focus on the "most vulnerable children already in Europe without encouraging more to make the journey", Downing Street said.
Mr Cameron, who has been facing the threat of a Conservative backbench rebellion in a vote next week over the issue, said he had accepted a revised amendment to the Immigration Bill put forward by Labour peer Lord Dubs.
He told MPs: "I am also talking to Save the Children to see what we can do more, particularly about children who came here before the EU-Turkey deal was signed.
"What I don't want us to do is to take steps that will encourage people to make this dangerous journey because otherwise our actions, however well-meaning they will be, could result in more people dying than more people getting a good life."
Ministers get irritated when critics suggest the government's not done enough to help Syrian refugees.
They point to the thousands already promised help through resettlement programmes and billions of pounds of aid from the UK. But a majority of MPs demanded more action to help unaccompanied children.
David Cameron has always insisted that nothing must be done to encourage refugees to make the dangerous journey to Europe so now ministers have found a compromise.
It's a political solution to avoid a defeat in the Commons but Tory MPs and several charities have called it "tremendous".
The implementation of the programme now depends on local authorities who have to make sure they have the funding, school places and social service support that many of these traumatised children will require.
Downing Street hasn't put a figure on how many might be helped, but the expectation is that it will be thousands and Conservative MPs have promised to keep up the campaigning.
There does remain some concern though, that what's been announced won't help the most vulnerable, who might not have registered and who've disappeared from the system altogether.
The SNP's leader at Westminster, Angus Robertson, who pressed Mr Cameron on the issue, said he welcomed what he said appeared to be the "beginning of a U-turn".
Mr Cameron has been under pressure to accept 3,000 child refugees who have made it into Europe unaccompanied.
But the government says the number will depend on what councils can cope with.
Funding will be made available from central government for those councils willing to take in unaccompanied child migrants, said a source.
Immigration minister James Brokenshire told a meeting of Conservative MPs he was going to write to all local councils and ask them to gauge capacity - but warn them they should expect at least as many unaccompanied children as the UK took last year.
Local authorities will be expected to share responsibility because some had been overburdened, he told the MPs.
The Local Government Association said councils were ready to "play their part" but wanted more clarity on long-term funding and how the national dispersal mechanism will work.
Save the Children said Mr Cameron had "offered a lifeline to these vulnerable children," adding: "This announcement echoes Britain's proud history of offering safety at times of great crisis and we want to thank the members of parliament who have led the way in championing this cause, as well as the British public who have opened their hearts to refugee children."
Conservative MP Heidi Allen - who had said she was prepared to vote against the government and support an amendment calling on the government to accept more unaccompanied children - described the announcement as "tremendous news".
But a spokesman for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mr Cameron had not gone far enough - and they wanted to see "greater action and more generosity".
Labour MP Yvette Coooper, who chairs the party's refugee taskforce, said more detail was needed about what Mr Cameron is planning.
"He was wrong to claim last week that child refugees alone in Europe don't need help, so I hope he will be clear about that now and set out what the government will do next," she said.
In a letter to David Cameron, Sir Erich Reich, chairman of Kindertransport-Association of Jewish Refugees, had called on the PM to do more to help "the most vulnerable victims" of the Syrian conflict.
He said it was "incumbent on us to provide sanctuary to those in need".
Mr Cameron rejected comparisons with the "Kindertransport" scheme that helped Jewish children escape from the Nazis, at Prime Minister's Questions.
"To say that the Kindertransport is taking today children from France or Germany or Italy, safe countries that are democracies, I think that is an insult to those countries," he told MPs.
But he added: "We're going to go round the local authorities and see what more we can do, but let's stick to the principle we should not be taking in new arrivals to Europe."
In September 2015 the government said the UK would accept up to 20,000 refugees from Syria over the next five years.
And last month the government said it would accept up to 3,000 more refugees, mostly vulnerable children, from the Middle East and North Africa by 2020.
In his letter, Sir Erich, who was among thousands of Jewish children rescued from Nazi Germany, said he had learned of the rejection of the resettlement proposal "with great sadness".
He added: "I strongly urge you and your colleagues to reconsider how we can intervene to help some of the most vulnerable victims of an internecine conflict that has claimed the lives of thousands of people and displaced millions.
"The echoes of the past haunt many of my fellow Kinder and I whose fate similarly rested with members of the British parliament.
"I feel it is incumbent on us to once again demonstrate our compassion and human-kindness to provide sanctuary to those in need." | David Cameron says the UK will take in more unaccompanied Syrian refugee children from Europe, although it has not committed to a specific figure. | 36200366 | [
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Media playback is not supported on this device
The Welsh swimmer added 800m freestyle silver to her 400m freestyle medal after being beaten again by record-breaking American Katie Ledecky.
"I finally started believing in myself," Carlin told BBC Sport.
"I have been working with a sports psychologist on that side of things as well and not just the physical side."
Media playback is not supported on this device
The 2014 Commonwealth and European 800m freestyle champion was beaten by Ledecky, who took nearly two seconds off her own world record to win nearly 12 seconds clear of Carlin.
The 19-year-old from the United States became the first woman since 1968 to do an Olympic cleansweep of the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle titles to win her fourth gold medal of the Rio Games.
Carlin, who missed the London 2012 Games because of illness, celebrated her "incredible feeling" after years of upheaval after changing coaches and moving training bases to Bath under Dave McNulty's guidance.
"It has been tough," admitted the 24-year-old.
"I relocated to the Bath programme two years ago and changed coaches and change where I live.
"So to come away with a silver medal is an incredible feeling."
Carlin won the fifth Welsh silver of the 2016 Games in the pool just hours after cyclist Owain Doull won Wales' first gold in Rio in the team pursuit.
Carlin is just the second post-war Welsh athlete to win two medals at one Olympic Games - alongside double equestrian champion Richard Meade at Munich in 1972 - and becomes one of the most successful Welsh swimmers ever,
Irene Steer is the only Welsh female swimmer to win an Olympic title - in the 4x100m relay at the 1912 Games in Stockholm. David Davies has won two Olympic medals - a 1,500m bronze in 2004 and open water silver in 2008.
Carlin became the first Welsh female swimmer for 80 years to win two medals in one Commonwealth Games in 2010, then became the first Welsh female swimmer to win a Commonwealth title in 40 years when she struck gold in Glasgow two years ago.
Former double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington praised Carlin's silver double at Rio and insists her success in Brazil has "written off" any disappointment from London 2012.
"The fact she has backed up silver in the 400m and come away with two silver medals at an Olympic Games is just fantastic, " said Adlington. "I think she will be over the moon." | Jazz Carlin has admitted her two Olympic silvers in Rio is after she "finally started believing" following advice from a sports psychologist. | 37066909 | [
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All four opposition parties at Holyrood want to repeal the football act.
But the Scottish government says it will not do so without a "viable alternative" being put in place.
Lord Bracadale has now been asked by the government to ensure all of the country's hate crime legislation is fit for the 21st century.
His independent review will start on 30 January, and is expected to last up to 12 months - after which the judge will present his recommendations to the Scottish government.
His remit is to consider whether existing laws are the the most effective way of dealing with criminal conduct motivated by hatred, malice, ill-will or prejudice.
It will consider the various hate crime offences currently covered by a range of different laws, including:
Announcing the review in the Scottish Parliament, Community Safety Minister Annabelle Ewing said Scotland was an "open and inclusive nation", but was not immune from the threat of racism, intolerance and prejudice.
She added: "While we already have robust and comprehensive laws in place, we need to make sure that legislation is up-to-date and able to counter all forms of hate crime.
"This review will help ensure we have the right legislative protection in place to tackle hate crime wherever and whenever it happens. I look forward to Lord Bracadale presenting his findings."
Lord Bracadale has been asked examine whether the scope of existing laws should be adjusted to reflect further aspects of religiously motivated offending.
He was also tasked with looking at whether new categories of hate crime should be created for characteristics such as age and gender, which are not currently covered.
And he will be asked to examine whether the existing laws can be simplified, and whether any "gaps, anomalies and inconsistencies" can be addressed.
Lord Bracadale said: "Hate crime legislation has developed intermittently over many years and it is important to consider whether it currently provides appropriate, effective and consistent protection for Scottish communities".
The review was welcomed by opposition politicians at Holyrood, who handed the Scottish government a symbolic defeat over the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act in November.
Conservative MSP Douglas Ross accused the Scottish government of "continuing to ignore the will of parliament" by refusing to scrap the act, which opponents claim is poorly written, unnecessary and unfairly targets football fans.
Labour's Claire Baker told Ms Ewing: "We do not share her view that there is no viable alternative and I believe the review will recognise this."
Ms Ewing said the Scottish government recognised the concerns raised over the law but will not repeal it without a "viable alternative", saying: "Such a move would take away protection from some of our most vulnerable communities."
The majority SNP government passed the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act in 2012 as part of attempts to crack down on sectarianism and other anti-social behaviour at football matches. | The controversial Offensive Behaviour at Football Act is to be examined by a senior judge as part of a review of Scotland's hate crime laws. | 38756144 | [
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Media playback is unsupported on your device
4 October 2014 Last updated at 18:35 BST
She said she will seek a judicial review against Mark H Durkan because he took the decision to adopt the planning policy without the agreement of the full Northern Ireland Executive.
Helen Jones reports for BBC Newsline. | Northern Ireland's Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster, is to challenge the environment minister in court over his approval of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan. | 29493103 | [
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The main feature was a drop in bank shares.
That came after the news that Deutsche Bank faces a $14bn penalty to settle an investigation by US regulators into the mis-selling of mortgage-backed securities.
Shares in RBS fell by 4.4%, Barclays by 2.8% and Standard Chartered by 2.7%.
Neil Wilson, from ETX Capital, said the Deutsche case could have serious implications for RBS which was "among a number of European institutions that could face similar claims from the US Department of Justice", he said.
"RBS could have to pay up to $13bn to settle the claims.
"Even a third of this figure could deliver a crippling blow to the lender, making its return to profitability even further off. It would also derail plans to return the bank to private ownership any time soon," Mr Wilson added.
Among the main risers in London were TUI, up nearly 4%; Shire, up 3.2%; and Burberry, up 3%.
On the currency markets, the pound fell 1.2% against the dollar to $1.309 and dropped 0.4% against the euro to €1.1730. | (Close): London share prices fell back slightly, with the FTSE 100 index closing 20 points lower at 6,710, a fall of just 0.3%. | 37382587 | [
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The increase of 15,000 seeking work was precisely matched, according to the Office for National Statistics survey, by the fall of 15,000 in the number of Scots seeking work at some point during the spring months. One thousand more Scots were in work.
Watchers of the Scottish figures won't feel this more welcome jolt to be much of a surprise. It's been a bumpy ride in recent months, most of which have seen the Scottish employment picture worsen relative to the UK as a whole.
These most recent figures return Scotland to a better position (just) of 5.5% unemployment, while the UK is at 5.6%. The Scottish employment rate remains higher.
The unusual aspect of the UK-wide jolt is that rising unemployment has been accompanied by a sharp increase in pay. Economists don't usually expect those to go together. But these continue to be abnormal times, as the labour market adjusts towards something like normality, or perhaps a new normal.
The Scottish job statistics show that most jobs growth is in full-time work. The number of people in part-time work is growing more slowly, and fewer of them are telling ONS surveyors that it is because they can't find full-time posts.
The numbers in temporary posts have been falling. It appears that women have been the ones leaving temporary posts and going full-time, while there's also a rise in women taking a second job (more than 60,000 of them in Scotland).
The number of men in temporary roles is on the rise too, but they're much slower to get a second job.
The overall picture emerging from this reflects the strengthened bargaining position of workers, while employers accept they have to sacrifice some of the flexibility of the temporary, contractorised job market if they're to get the people and skills they need.
At 3.2% annual growth rate for June earnings, including bonuses, that's the fastest rate for five years, and with consumer price inflation back at noflation, it means a significant rise in real earnings.
It helps fuel speculation that there could be more inflation coming back into the economy, for which the Bank of England may have to consider an interest rate rise.
The pay figures bear out the view shared by trade unions and the Chancellor of the Exchequer that "Britain deserves a pay rise".
Not the public sector, though. It has been pegged back to no more than 1% for each of the next four years, though Holyrood could choose to vary that, if John Swinney can find the money. You can see tensions stoking up between public and private sector pay.
George Osborne's announcement of a "national living wage" in the Budget last week, which caught the headlines, is now catching the ire of business bosses, in some sectors at least.
The chairman of Wetherspoon's has weighed in with a warning that the higher pay creates "considerable uncertainty" about the future of the pub industry.
It's already suffering from very tough competition from off-licences, notably supermarkets, while drinking habits are changing unfavourably.
His reckoning is that a £1 pint of beer sold in an off-licence carries staff costs of about 10 pence. But a £3 pint sold in a bar carries staff costs of 75 pence. With his trading update, he's reporting squeezed margins.
What, then, of Scotland's growth figures? A rise of 0.6% for January to March is reasonably healthy, given other more negative indicators at the start of the year.
It is slightly ahead of the UK thanks, once again, to the figures showing construction in Scotland has been out-growing that of the UK more widely.
Construction output is up 21% compared with the start of 2014, whereas it was up only 4.5% in the UK figures.
That may be partly explained by the big projects currently under way, many of them funded by the Scottish government; the Border railway, the Forth Replacement Crossing, the M8 upgrade in Lanarkshire.
Also helping to grow the economy more than most were hospitality (in a strong year for tourism), transport equipment (such as bus-building in Falkirk) and chemicals and refined petroleum (at Grangemouth).
The sector that's been performing much less well is textiles, with output down 13% in the year to March. The metals and machinery sector has performed poorly too.
The Scottish economy grew by 2.8% between the first quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of this year, while the UK economy grew by 2.9%.
But remember that the population is growing at different speeds, largely due to migration, and the output per head is an important measure of whether productivity is on the rise.
That growth rate per head in the year to March was 2.5% for Scotland and 2.2% for the UK. Since 2012, output per capita was up 5% in Scotland, ahead of 4.6% in the UK as a whole.
That suggests something is going relatively right. But it's relative to a poor performance. The whole of the UK needs to do more to get productivity rising, not least to make those wage rises sustainable. | The rise and rise of UK employment has taken a jolt, with a fall of 67,000 in March to May and the first rise in unemployment for two years. | 33535061 | [
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Media playback is not supported on this device
With darkness falling, and your parents calling you in for tea, you squeeze in one last penalty to win the FA Cup, one last drop-kick to win the Rugby World Cup, one last putt to win The Masters.
Two Yorkshiremen had those same moments growing up around Sheffield in the early part of the century. This time last year, they made one a reality.
Danny Willett may have hit the drives and holed the putts that made him the first Englishman since Nick Faldo in 1996 to win the Masters and don the famous Green Jacket, but his caddie Jonathan Smart is claiming a bit of the credit.
In a documentary - When Danny Won The Masters, to be shown on BBC Two at 15:00 BST on Sunday, 2 April - the friends share their memories of an unforgettable Sunday afternoon playing the back nine at Augusta National.
Willett, playing with fellow Englishman and friend Lee Westwood, began the final round three shots adrift of defending champion Jordan Spieth, who was four groups behind him on the course.
The 29-year-old, who was only playing in the tournament because his son Zachariah was born a week early, takes up the tale on the 10th tee...
Danny: We were two under through the first nine but we were still three shots behind Jordan.
Jonny: We made an unbelievable par save on the ninth; it was the smelliest nine-footer down the hill and it kept us going. Then we had our funniest moment of the week walking down the 10th fairway. Danny said: "We're in contention on Sunday at the Masters." We were like little kids. We were laughing, not in disbelief, but at realising the situation we were in.
Danny: I hit two lovely shots on 10 and made par.
Danny: Everyone knows how difficult 11, 12 and 13 are with the wind swirling between the trees. I hit two lovely shots on 11 and made par, found the front edge on the par-three 12th and made par. We stepped on to the 13th tee and Jordan had birdied the eighth and ninth and stretched out to a five-shot lead.
The tee shot on the par-five 13th is really difficult for me because I hit a fade and it needs a draw. We hit three wood all week and almost played it as a three-shotter, but on Sunday Jonny and I said, 'If we're going to do anything we need to try and force it a little bit'. So I stepped up and gunned it. A little five-yard draw with the driver round the corner.
Jonny: Dan is adamant that was his best shot of the week.
Danny: I then hit five iron to the middle of the green and had a two-putt birdie but while I was doing that, Jordan had bogeyed 10.
Danny: I hit a nice drive down the right on 14 and a wedge to four feet and made birdie again. Jordan bogeyed 11.
Jonny: It was a four-footer that was straight downhill but I wasn't sure if it was going to break, it wasn't obvious. Nothing is said, we both know we've got to keep pushing. Those two holes were massive for us.
Willett improves to -4, Spieth drops to -5
Danny: The next time we see the leaderboard, Lee Westwood has just chipped in for eagle from the back of the 15th green to get within one of us.
Jonny: Everything went ballistic. We had another birdie chance but that shot from Westy brought another player into it. I had goosebumps because the fans on the 16th can also see everything and the sound was ridiculous.
Danny: I had a 10-12-footer from the back edge. I thought that was to tie the lead. I missed it but tapped in for par. John put the flag in, walked back, said 'that was a good effort' and then we heard all the oohs and aahs from the gallery.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Jonny: I'll never forget walking to the 16th tee. I saw people in the gallery putting their head in their hands and we turned around and saw they were changing the big scoreboard.
Danny: It's just off the back right of 15 and Jordan had gone from five under to one under on the par-three 12th and we were at four under. So we looked at each other and waited for them to change the score because we thought they've got it wrong. After five or 10 steps, we realised we were at four, Westwood at three and Jordan at one.
Jonny: That's when things got a little bit more interesting.
Danny: I'd been dying for the bathroom so I ran down past the 16th tee and everyone's saying 'look at the leaderboard, you're leading the Masters'. I'm in the bathroom and my hands are shaking and I'm nervous but thinking 'this is what you practise for'.
I kept telling myself, five good swings, see if you can hole a couple of putts and we'll see what happens. When I came out, I was in the best frame of mind I'd been in for a long time. Mentally I was seeing everything as it happened and I wasn't getting too far ahead.
Jonny: There was no discussion. If we acknowledge the position we're in, we're admitting we're nervous, so how is that going to help? We stick to our routine. We had 181 yards to the flag. An eight iron. We created a picture, just like we do on every shot.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Danny: I hit a lovely eight iron to about 10 feet.
Jonny: I walked off ahead as soon as he hit it. I'm pretty excitable and I didn't want him to see any emotion I'm giving off. Walking to the green there was no discussion. Everyone's telling Danny 'this is yours' but he probably didn't hear any of it. He was ridiculously focused.
Danny: We rolled in our birdie putt.
Jonny: The putt on 16 was all him. When he has a good line, why would he call me in? It only creates doubt.
Danny: Westy hit it to 35 feet and three-whacked, so all of a sudden we've opened a bit more of a gap. In the past 45 minutes, we'd gone from five behind to two in front. It was bonkers.
Jonny: On the 17th tee, I consciously said to Dan that these guys behind us are good and capable of making four birdies in a row.
Danny: I hit not a bad tee shot but was a bit hindered by a tree for the second and I hit eight iron long left. Looking back, I left myself a really tricky chip.
Jonny: I was thinking 'there's loads of green to work with' and it was a bog-standard chip shot. It got to the top of the hill and I thought 'he's not hit that hard enough' but it rolled over and then I thought 'that's quick' but it finished stiff and I thought that wasn't an easy chip shot!
Danny: I chipped it pretty much stone dead, which, round Augusta, you don't do. I'm going to go back this year and put a ball down and just see how difficult it is.
Danny: We'd hit a little cut driver off the 18th tee all week but we were pretty pumped with adrenaline and Jonny called three wood.
Jonny: My book said 296 yards to reach the bunker, so it's not hard to hit a good drive straight into it. He's got a low ball flight so he couldn't have done what Sandy Lyle did out of that bunker and reach the green.
Danny: He said: 'You can hit three wood as good as you like and you're never ever going to reach those bunkers.'
Jonny: Everyone was hustling to get a place to stand.
Danny: There was a lot of commotion. I stepped off the tee twice because people are moving up the sides, through the leaves, through the trees.
Jonny: That tee shot to me looks like hitting down a hotel corridor and I'm thinking it's getting narrower. Third time he's pulled the trigger.
Danny: I hit it 295 yards, straight down the middle of the fairway. Again, the hands were shaking, everything was shaking, but the walk up to the second shot was pretty enjoyable.
Jonny: There's a dip down before you walk up the hill to the green. As we got to the bottom, he took a massive deep breath. I knew he was nervous so I just said to him: 'You don't need to take that deep a breath, it's not that big a hill.'
Danny: I'd done 80% of the job I told myself I had to do - to make five good swings. One more to go. I think we had 183 yards, Jonny will still know. Can't miss the green left, can't miss it short, can't miss it long. I've seen it millions of times on the television, where it's impossible to get up and down from, and where you can give yourself a bit more margin. I pushed the seven iron a bit but it pitched on the collar of the green and worked off the bank back down exactly as I'd seen it before.
Jonny: The walk up to the green was an unbelievable experience. We were having a little giggle to ourselves, saying 'this is pretty cool'. I wish I'd taken it in more.
Danny: It was almost job done. We've got a 13-footer to get to six under, which I thought would be a difficult number for anyone to get to. But we get up on the green and look at the putt and you think it would be nice to get to six but I don't want to drop to four. So I cosied it down there and tapped in for par.
Jonny: The walk from the green to the clubhouse was bonkers. It was bizarre, surreal. It's stuff you watch on television and don't do yourself. We're walking off 18 and half-thinking we've won the Masters.
Danny: My father-in-law was at the back of the green, giving me a hug. You walk up to the cabin, sign your card [a bogey-free five-under-par 67], making sure you've got all that right and then it's a waiting game. We had 45, 50 minutes of waiting.
Jonny: I didn't know what to do with myself. I was half-watching, half-wondering if we should go the practice range in case there's a play-off.
Danny: We sat outside the recorders' hut and I'm trying to call [wife] Nic. The signal's not great, I'm just trying to get through to her. And I'm texting my mum and dad and brothers. But I'm constantly looking at the television to see what Jordan does.
Spieth birdies the par-five 15th to go three under with three to play.
Danny: You're going over all the scenarios where you can get beat. And then he made bogey on 17. He dropped back to two under and it's a physical impossibility to tie.
Jonny: I didn't realise the cameras were there and I just jumped on him.
Danny: I was on the phone to Nic, and Jonny jumped on me on the sofa. Everyone's seen that on the TV. That was the moment you realise that's what you've worked for and what you've just achieved. It isn't a dream. It's come true.
Danny: Every major trophy is significant in its own way but the Green Jacket is special. It's having your locker in the champions' locker room. It's your jacket being in there for the rest of your life. It's being able to go back to Augusta forever, until you don't want to play any more. The ceremony in Butler Cabin. You don't get to go inside the places I got to see at Augusta unless you win at Augusta. I'm honoured to be part of that now.
Jonny: We were whisked round the back of the clubhouse to Butler Cabin. That was cool. You've watched it on TV and then we're doing it. Dan's putting a Green Jacket on. I remember them fitting it because they've got them all lined up. Before he went in the room he looked across at me, just laughing. It was nuts. We've all had putts as juniors to win the Masters. I always dreamt about doing it but it was mega to be as close as I was to it and have some sort of contribution to Dan winning it.
Danny: When you walk through the door at home, you're not Masters champion any more. You're dad, or Dan. You're straight back to changing nappies and you take the jacket off so you don't get anything on it. The only time I've watched it back was that evening. I opened a beer and sat on the sofa with Nic. Watched it for an hour and a half. Highlights of what we'd done two days before. Just a crazy old few days really. | We've all done it. | 39420176 | [
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Naz Shah has apologised for sharing the graphic showing Israel's outline superimposed onto a map of the US with the comment "problem solved".
It was shared in 2014, before she became Bradford West MP.
The Board of Deputies said the post, highlighted by the Guido Fawkes political website, was "appalling".
The graphic said relocating Israel would be a "solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict", and that it would allow Palestinians to "get their life and their land back".
In a statement, Ms Shah said: "This post from two years ago was made before I was an MP, does not reflect my views and I apologise for any offence it has caused."
Labour confirmed she had stepped down as Parliamentary Private Secretary - an unpaid backbench assistant - to shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
In a second statement, the MP said: "I made these posts at the height of the Gaza conflict in 2014, when emotions were running high around the Middle East conflict.
"But that is no excuse for the offence I have given, for which I unreservedly apologise."
She said she would be expanding her "existing engagement and dialogue with Jewish community organisations and will be stepping up my efforts to combat all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism".
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the comments were "simply appalling", calling for an urgent meeting "for clarification of her views on Israel and the UK Jewish community". | A Labour MP has stepped down as an aide to the shadow chancellor over a Facebook post suggesting Israel should be moved to the United States. | 36142529 | [
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Nadine Foster, 18, was a passenger in a Ford Focus when it hit a wall in Stourbridge, in the West Midlands, in April.
She was taken to hospital but died a few days later, police said.
Dylan Stringer, 22, and Joseph Chance, 24, both from Stourbridge, are accused of causing death by dangerous driving and are due before magistrates in Walsall on Wednesday.
Mr Stringer, of Wychbury Road, and Mr Chance, of Murcroft Road, are also charged with causing death by driving a vehicle unlicensed and uninsured in relation to the crash in Hagley Road.
More news from Birmingham and the Black Country | Two men have been charged after a teenage mother died in a car crash. | 38208926 | [
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Media playback is unsupported on your device
21 February 2015 Last updated at 13:18 GMT
Mo Farah was a big star of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
He started athletics aged 12 and went on to win two gold medals at London 2012.
Now he has his sights set on the next Olympic Games, Rio 2016.
He shared his tips for young athletes with Newsround.
Mo said: "Focus on yourself. You don't become a better athlete if you have one bad race."
"Keep working, listen to coach and believe in yourself," he added. | Athletics stars Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford have shared their tips for young athletes with Newsround. | 31564982 | [
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Coroner Jim Kitson said the inquest into the death of 11-year-old Francis Rowntree in 1972 would be "severely hampered" if he could not attend.
He said the man's heart condition had to be a factor when deciding whether to compel him to give evidence.
The coroner told the preliminary hearing it was a "fine balancing act".
Francis was playing with friends at the Divis Flats complex off the Falls Road in west Belfast in April 1972 when he was struck on the head by the rubber bullet. He died in hospital several days later.
Controversy surrounds the shooting, with disputed claims about whether the young boy was struck directly or hit by a ricochet, and if the bullet had been doctored to make it potentially cause more injury.
The former Royal Anglian Regiment member who fired the rubber bullet is known to the court as soldier B.
A barrister for the Ministry of Defence told the hearing that soldier B's consultant cardiologist had expressed "significant reservations" about his fitness to attend, in a report produced for the coroner's court.
"It appears on the face of it to be quite a severe condition involving multiple medical interventions over the years," the lawyer said.
He added: "The likelihood of a heart attack or death would be small but not zero.
"There is a significant risk to the health of this man to compel him to give evidence."
A barrister representing the Rowntree family said a number of steps could be taken to make the witness feel at ease.
She suggested the former soldier could give evidence via video-link; there could be regular breaks in the hearing; medical assistance could be on standby and the court could be partially cleared.
She told the coroner: "You know the gravity of the case and you know he's essentially the key witness and very important to the case."
Mr Kitson said: "This is a key witness and clearly the inquest would be severely hampered if this witness is not in attendance, but I'm acutely aware of the impact on this man's health.
"It's a fine balancing act between the two prerogatives and pressures - I will reflect on this very carefully."
The inquest is due to begin on 27 April. | A coroner has said he will reflect carefully on whether a soldier who fired a rubber bullet that killed a boy is too ill to give evidence. | 32055293 | [
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12 July 2017 Last updated at 07:06 BST
Can you spot him?
Yes, it's the 130th anniversary of the first Sherlock Holmes book, so it's a pretty good choice.
Sherlock is famous for solving complicated crimes, and now visitors to Maze can put their own detective skills to the test.
They will have to find their way through the maze and collect clues as they go.
Elementary! | This is the award-winning Wistow Maze in Leicestershire and this year a very special character is taking over. | 40574499 | [
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The 30-year-old, excluded from the World Championships by USA Swimming after a drink-drive conviction, won in one minute 54.75 seconds in Texas.
Phelps, an 18-time Olympic champion, also recorded the year's fastest times to win the 100m and 200m butterfly.
Ryan Lochte won world 200m individual medley gold in 1:55.81 on Thursday.
American Lochte, 31, also holds the world record for the event of 1:54.00, which he swam in 2011.
"Ryan and I have been pretty dominant in that race since we started racing back in 2004," said Phelps.
"I'm looking forward to getting back in and competing with him.
"I've been away from the sport for a while and I feel like I'm kind of back where I used to be. It's good to be here."
On Saturday, Phelps won the 100m butterfly in 50.45 seconds, faster than the 50.56 South African Chad Le Clos swam to win world gold on the same day.
A day earlier, Phelps won the American 200m butterfly title in one minute 52.94 seconds in San Antonio - 0.54secs faster than Hungary's Laszlo Cseh swam in winning the world title in Kazan, Russia.
Phelps, who was convicted of drink-driving in December and served a six-month ban from competition, now has a record 55 national titles. | Olympic great Michael Phelps swam a third 2015 world-best time in as many days in the 200m individual medley at the USA National Championships. | 33840258 | [
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Daniel Smith, from Rochdale, was just 21 when he was commended for his brave actions in Iraq. But he has since found it difficult to get treatment, his marriage has failed and he is struggling to find work.
For a number of nights each week, Mr Smith parks in a lay-by and sleeps in his car, to get away from people and control his anger management issues.
"I just don't like being around people sometimes I just want to close myself off. Basically I don't like living on people's sofas, I am not relying on people to put up with me. When I am depressed I would rather be alone so I've just got used to doing it now," he told the Victoria Derbyshire programme.
"I have got my quilt and stuff in the back and I have got my internal wifi here so it's like a mobile house."
It is thought Mr Smith's PTSD was sparked after the vehicle patrol he was part of was blown up by roadside bombs twice in a week in 2005.
The medically trained fusilier tried to help many of his colleagues who had received terrible injuries.
"I took a lot of guilt because obviously I thought I did my best at the time when I was treating them. I didn't really think they would die, I just thought they would be injured or go back home, but they passed away and obviously that was a big shock to us and I didn't know how to take that," he said.
"I became a bit scared then. I didn't know what to think or what my next step would be. Because it happened to me twice and I thought it will happen to me third time unlucky."
The Ministry of Defence citation when he received his medal said: "With no regard for his own safety and with his focus firmly on saving those in the vehicle, he commenced the evacuation of the casualties from the burning chaos."
What is PTSD?
Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder caused by witnessing or being involved in a frightening or distressing event.
People naturally feel afraid when in danger, but the legacy of some traumatic events is a change in perception of fear.
They may feel stressed or frightened in day-to-day life.
Diagnosing PTSD
But Mr Smith, now 31, blames himself for not being able to save his friends and does not think he deserves the medal. In fact, he does not really remember being awarded it by Prince Charles.
"I didn't really take it all in, I was very numb that day because I was on medication anyway so my mood and my temperament wasn't the best," he says.
Figures from veterans' mental health charity Combat Stress show Mr Smith is not alone.
It has seen a 28% increase in veterans seeking mental health support from April 2014 to 2015, treble the 9% increase seen the year before. Almost 6,000 are registered with the charity, and it says it has never been busier in its 97-year history.
Mr Smith says he got good treatment at first, with six weeks of intensive therapy, but it tailed off, leaving him frustrated and bitter. Eventually he got a medical discharge from the army.
His marriage failed because of his anger, which also caused him to lose his job as a bailiff.
"At the time I was blown up I didn't really think it would affect me. It didn't feel reality at the time but a year later it had time to sink in, your depression kicks in, you're drinking. You don't realise you are changing, but other people see you are and you just become very angry towards them," he explains.
His father, Gary, says he has been "pushed from pillar to post" since leaving the army and the family has so far spent over £3,000 to try to get him diagnosed and treated.
"Basically all they have done is put a sticking plaster over a gaping wound and just sent him into general society to pick up the pieces which is really difficult, because society doesn't pick the pieces up from remnants of the army," he says.
"There was no follow-up from the NHS, there were no papers handed over from the military to the NHS to follow on his treatment."
His father says he worries about his future, as without treatment or a support network he thinks a long-term recovery is unlikely.
And Mr Smith says he is bitter about how he has been treated by the army. "I feel like I have been cast aside until the next person comes along because I haven't done anything wrong," he says.
The Ministry of Defence said it did not comment on individual cases. But it said: "The government is absolutely committed to the mental health of our armed forces and provides a wide range of support both during and after service.
"We work closely with other government departments and agencies so that where necessary, there is continued effective treatment and support on transition to civilian life."
Watch the Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel. | Better support is needed for members of the armed forces who leave the military with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), one of the youngest recipients of the George Medal has said. | 35970281 | [
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In the app, the cartoon characters feature with the real world in the background.
The developers claim it is the first time in the UK that "augmented reality" has been used in this way.
They and Conwy council hope it will bring tourists to the town where the inspiration for Alice went on holiday.
The original launch of the app in August was delayed after key figures for tourists to follow were altered.
Virtual characters failed to recognise sculptures in the town after Conwy council painted them.
Next year marks 150 years since Alice in Wonderland was first published.
Simon Burrows, co-director of Alice in Wonderland Limited which has co-ordinated the project, said: "People who use the app can look at Llandudno landmarks on screen, while characters from the Alice books tell the story behind them.
"It's also possible to take a picture of yourself or your friends standing next to the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat or Alice herself."
The Alice in Wonderland story, and its sequel Through the Looking Glass, were written by Lewis Carroll (whose real name was Charles Dodgson).
He composed the original story to entertain a young girl called Alice Liddell, with whose family he was friends.
Alice Liddell's family lived in Oxford but had a house in Llandudno and spent many of their holidays there.
Company director Barry Mortlock said: "I've lived in Llandudno for 36 years now, and it worried me that the town wasn't doing enough in recent years to celebrate its links with the real life Alice.
"The app is now ready for next year's important anniversary.
"It has the potential to attract more visitors from overseas, where there's a huge interest in the Alice in Wonderland stories."
Graham Rees, Conwy council's cabinet member for tourism, said: "This will be a huge asset to Llandudno and really enhance what we can offer to visitors." | Characters from the Alice in Wonderland books will guide visitors on a tour of Llandudno in a new app which shows the town's links with the stories. | 29732793 | [
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It is that time of the year again, when we take stock of the highs and lows of the last 12 months.
From the perspective of a news reporter, there have been some stand-out moments.
Insecurity was a running concern in many parts of the continent in 2013.
The beginning of the year saw a major operation in Mali led by French forces to recapture cities and towns that had been taken over by militant Islamists and Tuareg rebels.
To a large extent, the operation, which is still ongoing, has been a success.
I could not help but see the irony watching French President Francois Hollande welcomed as a hero and liberator in Mali in the same year the African Union marked 50 years of its existence.
Some of the security concerns of this year will drag on into 2014.
The conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR), which started with a rebellion to overthrow ex-Francois Bozize, is worsening.
2013 will also be remembered as the year the leaders of South Sudan handed their people the worst of holiday gifts.
Political disputes have taken on a military dimension. For a nation that is just two years old and had suffered decades of war before gaining independence, one would have thought the South Sudanese would not see fighting each other as an option.
Elsewhere in the neighbourhood, the M23 rebels were defeated in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the combined efforts of the army and United Nations (UN) troops.
But there is still a long way to go before all the militia who operate in the area are subdued.
The most high-profile terror incident of the year took place in Kenya in September.
I was in London when I woke up to the news that there was an attack at a shopping centre in Nairobi.
I knew Westgate. I had been there several times during my visits to Kenya.
The first news reports I saw did not indicate how serious the crisis was. By evening, it was clear that we were dealing with a situation far more troubling than I had imagined.
The following days were extraordinary. I stood in front of the shopping centre for days watching the military vehicles come and go, separating rumour from fiction.
Finally, the special units moved in and brought the crisis to a violent end.
However there are many questions that have been left unanswered: How could al-Shabab attack a mall in the middle of the capital without warning?
2013 was also the year US President Barack Obama returned to the continent.
Six years after his last visit, I got the sense that some of the enthusiasm for the Obama phenomenon had waned.
Mr Obama visited Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania in an effort to re-calibrate his relationship with the continent.
President Obama will host a summit of African leaders next year. How different this will be from the China-Africa, India-Africa or France-Africa summits? We will have to wait and see.
But 2013 has been a good year too. Economic growth in many countries has remained steady. Africa's middle class is expanding.
If current forecasts hold, Nigeria will soon overtake South Africa as the continent's biggest economy.
Rwanda issued a sovereign bond that was well oversubscribed.
Zimbabwe's presidential election proceeded largely without violence.
Ghana, my team, qualified for the football World Cup.
But 2013 will forever be remembered as the year one of the greatest figures of modern history passed away. On the evening of 5 December, Nelson Mandela joined the ancestors.
It will be one of those moments that will stay with me. Where were you when you heard Mandela had died? I will remember being stuck on a train to Paris and texting back and forth to the managers in London.
Covering the funeral for me will always be a special moment. I will look back on it with a sense of sadness. But also with gratitude. I feel lucky to have been a witness to that part of the Mandela story.
If you would like to comment on Komla Dumor's column, please do so below. | In our series of letters from African journalists, BBC Africa's Komla Dumor looks back at 2013. | 25509775 | [
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The company insists it is still committed to launching the smart glasses as a consumer product, but will stop producing Glass in its present form.
Instead it will focus on "future versions of Glass" with work carried out by a different division to before.
The Explorer programme, which gave software developers the chance to buy Glass for $1,500 (£990) will close.
The programme was launched in the United States in 2013. It was then opened up to anyone and was launched in the UK last summer.
It had been expected that it would be followed reasonably quickly by a full consumer launch.
From next week, the search firm will stop taking orders for the product but it says it will continue to support companies that are using Glass.
The Glass team will also move out of the Google X division which engages in "blue sky" research, and become a separate undertaking, under its current manager Ivy Ross.
She and the Glass team will report to Tony Fadell, the chief executive of the home automation business Nest, acquired by Google a year ago.
He said the project had "broken ground and allowed us to learn what's important to consumers and enterprises alike" and he was excited to be working with the team "to integrate those learnings into future products".
Google says it is committed to working on the future of the product, but gave no timescale for the launch of any new version.
The Glass project received the enthusiastic backing of Google's co-founder Sergey Brin. He presided over a spectacular unveiling which saw skydivers jump out of an aircraft wearing Glass and beam what they were seeing to a conference in San Francisco.
Early users of Glass were very excited about the product, which enabled them get information in a small screen above their right eye, take photos and videos, and get directions. The technology blogger Robert Scoble said he could not now imagine living a day without the product, and was even photographed wearing it in the shower.
But he and others soon tired of Glass, complaining that it was not evolving in the ways that had been promised. There were also concerns about privacy and safety, with some bars and restaurants banning the use of the smart glasses on their premises.
Other companies have launched smart glasses and various other forms of wearable technology. But no single product has yet proved the major hit that technology companies are looking for as they seek out the next big thing.
Google has tried to present this announcement as just another step in the evolution of an amazing innovation. But make no mistake - Google Glass is dead, at least in its present form.
As I found when I spent a couple of months wearing Glass, it has a number of really useful aspects - in particular the camera. There is however one huge disadvantage - it makes its users look daft, and that meant that it was never going to appeal to a wide audience.
But Google will now have to deal with a disgruntled community of Explorers who paid a large sum for a device which they must have believed would eventually evolve into something more useful.
The Glass team can at least continue its work out of the spotlight without the pressure of deadlines. Tony Fadell, the former Apple designer Google acquired with his smart thermostat firm Nest, will oversee the future of the product.
Both he and the Glass team leader Ivy Ross, who has come from the fashion world, will know that form as well as function will have to be at the centre of any successful piece of wearable technology. | Google is ending sales of its Google Glass eyewear. | 30831128 | [
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Statues are smashed using sledgehammers and drills in what seems to be a museum in the city of Mosul.
Statues are also shown being destroyed at an archaeological site known as the Nergal Gate.
World heritage body Unesco has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss how to protect Iraq's cultural heritage.
In a statement, Unesco head Irina Bokova said: "This attack is far more than a cultural tragedy. This is also a security issue as it fuels sectarianism, violent extremism and conflict in Iraq."
In the video released via IS social media sites, black-clad men push over statues, smash them with sledgehammers and use a pneumatic drill to destroy the rubble.
The video shows a black-clad man drilling through and pulling apart what appears to be a stone winged-bull Assyrian protective deity that dates back to the 9th Century BC.
One of the militants in the video describes the artefacts as "false idols" and seeks to justify their destruction in religious terms.
Analysts say the artefacts are unique and priceless although the museum does also house copies of some items.
Ihsan Fethi, an Iraqi professor of architecture based in Amman, Jordan, told Agence France-Presse the destruction was "a terrible loss and an unbelievable act of cultural terrorism".
Amir al-Jumaili, a professor at the Archaeology College in Mosul, told Associated Press: "I'm totally shocked. It's a catastrophe. With the destruction of these artefacts, we can no longer be proud of Mosul's civilisation."
IS have controlled Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, since June 2014. The US military have said that an assault on the city by the Iraqi army could happen within months.
The region under IS control in Iraq has nearly 1,800 of Iraq's 12,000 registered archaeological sites.
The reported destruction of the statues follows recent reports that IS burnt down Mosul Library, which housed over 8,000 ancient manuscripts. | The Islamic State (IS) group has released a video appearing to show the destruction of statues in Iraq. | 31647484 | [
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The images of Europe taken from the International Space Station (ISS) have notched up tens of thousands of reactions on Facebook.
Belgium can be seen glowing more brightly than its neighbours.
The country's dense road network enjoys near-total streetlight coverage, with lights kept on throughout the night.
It uses about 2.2 million bulbs to illuminate Belgium's roads - with 186 bulbs per square mile, the New York Times reports.
The 39-year-old French astronaut posted an image on Twitter showing the Aurora Borealis - also known as the Northern Lights - visible towards the north of the globe, and also noted that Belgium "stands out as usual".
In another, on his Facebook page, he said London, Paris and Brussels "form a very European triangle".
The photos are taken from the "cupola" - a module of the ISS built by the European Space Agency.
In his blog, Mr Pesquet says he likes to look out on the Earth while working out on an exercise machine positioned there.
"There are not a lot of gyms with such a view!" he writes.
He describes in detail life on board the space station, explaining - among other things - that tortillas are better than bread in space, as they don't leave crumbs to plague the astronauts in their weightless environment.
Most social media responses to the images marvelled at the beauty of the Earth viewed at night from some 400km (248 miles) above.
But some complained about the wasted power and light pollution: "We can see very well the glitz and wasted electricity! Awful for lovers of the sky!" wrote Christian Cellier on Facebook.
And one user, Michel-L Saucy said, was more concerned about extra-terrestrial visitors: "Hope that the aliens are not too attracted to light... We cannot accommodate them all once!" | Belgium's penchant for extravagant motorway lighting is suddenly in the spotlight thanks to pictures posted by French astronaut Thomas Pesquet. | 39900940 | [
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More than 3,600 firefighters are battling the King fire, 60 miles (97km) east of Sacramento.
The blaze has consumed wide swathes of timber in Eldorado National Forest and is only 5% contained.
"It's been an explosive couple of days," CalFire spokesman Daniel Berlant told the Associated Press news agency.
Widespread drought in the state has fuelled an active wildfire season.
As of early this week, California firefighters have battled more than 4,800 wildfires this year and were currently fighting 11 major fires, according to a local broadcaster.
Many of the people ordered to evacuate their homes were in Pollock Pines, 60 miles east of Sacramento.
Crews have been battling the fire for five days, but most of the losses have not been residences.
"We have had significant losses of public timber land, private timber land and watershed," Laurence Crabtree, a US Forest Service supervisor told the Sacramento Bee.
Further north, a blaze destroyed parts of the town of Weed, burning 110 homes and damaging 90.
High winds drove the fire quickly across town after it began on Monday. Two churches, a community centre and a library also burned to the ground.
Four firefighters lost their homes.
The Reverend Bill Hofer, pastor of Weed Berean Church, told the AP he was planning to return on Wednesday night - despite an evacuation order - to deter vandalism.
"The more people home with the lights on, the better," he said. | A central California wildfire threatening thousands of homes doubled in size overnight to 111 square miles (288 sq-km), authorities have said. | 29257417 | [
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The Dufton Europa plane crash landed in a field in Maidwell on Thursday afternoon.
Emergency services were called to the field, but found an empty plane.
Ambulance crews found the pilot Iain McKay and his wife, of Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, at the The Stags Head, where they had walked after the ordeal.
Simon Nixon, the manager of the pub, said: "A lady came in her with her husband. It was not until she ordered a drink (non-alcoholic) that she said she was a bit shaken up because she'd just had a plane crash. I asked if she was OK and she had a little bit of a cut to her arm. Other than that she seemed OK.
"It's not often you have plane crashes where people are able to walk away."
An off duty policeman alerted the ambulance crews of the couple's whereabouts.
An East Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said an ambulance and an air ambulance went to the accident at about 16:30 BST.
"Both patients were found away from the aircraft and were checked over by the doctor but didn't require any further treatment," she said.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch has yet to comment. | A couple who were in a light aircraft that crashed in a Northamptonshire field escaped unhurt and were found by ambulance crews in a nearby pub. | 27834835 | [
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Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, had provisionally suspended the position last year when the allegations first emerged.
It is now returning what remains of the original $20m (£13m) donation.
Mr Cosby denies any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crime.
The Cosby family donated the money to the women's college in 1988 and the endowed professorship was established in the name of Mr Cosby and his wife, Camille.
Mr Cosby, 78, is facing a series of historic sexual assault allegations dating back several decades.
Recently released court documents from a 2005 civil case show he had admitted obtaining sedatives to give to women before sex.
But Mr Cosby's lawyers said he was only one of many people who introduced the sedatives - Quaaludes - into their "consensual sex life in the 1970s".
They said that at no point had Mr Cosby admitted to having any non-consensual sex or giving any women drugs without their knowledge.
"Quaaludes were a highly popular recreational drug in the 1970s, labelled in slang as 'disco biscuits', and known for their capacity to increase sexual arousal," a statement said.
Mr Cosby's legal team is attempting to stop a judge unsealing the full set of documents from the case, including the confidential settlement agreement.
More than 12 women have accused Mr Cosby of sexual assault, but he has denied all of the claims.
2002: Lachele Covington, a 20-year-old actress, reportedly files a police report saying she had been inappropriately touched. No further action was taken.
2005: Andrea Constand sues Mr Cosby for sexual assault. The case is eventually settled out of court in 2006.
2014: Over the year, dozens of women make public accusations that Mr Cosby sexually assaulted them. Live shows are cancelled across the country amid protests
November 2014: TV network NBC scraps plans for a new show with the comedian following allegations by TV presenter Janice Dickinson that he had assaulted her in 1982. Repeats of the Cosby Show are also pulled from cable TV
December 2014: Judy Huth sues Mr Cosby for molesting her in 1974 when she was 15 years old. Mr Cosby counter-sues, claiming she is trying to extort money from him
May 2015: Mr Cosby speaks publicly about the allegations for the first time. "I can't speak; I just don't want to argue; I don't talk about it," he told ABC News.
July 2015: Court papers made public from Constand's 2005 civil case reveal Mr Cosby admitted obtaining sedatives with the intent of giving them to women he wanted to have sex with. | A prestigious African-American college has discontinued a professorship funded by the comedian Bill Cosby, following allegations that he assaulted several women. | 33667040 | [
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The 58-year-old, who will leave his England post, has managed Bournemouth, Doncaster Rovers, Crawley Town, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City.
Reds academy coach Pep Lijnders joins the first-team staff, with talks continuing over a third new coach.
Manager Brendan Rodgers needed replacements after the sackings of Colin Pascoe and Mike Marsh.
He said: "I have made these appointments because I want to take us in a new technical direction, in terms of coaching.
"I believe the entire first-team set-up will benefit and I am extremely positive and excited about what we can achieve, as a group, going forward.
"My admiration for Sean, as a professional, is well documented. He is someone with a clear vision and philosophy and has proved he has the ability to transfer that knowledge, through his coaching, to the players."
O'Driscoll, who had only been England Under-19s head coach since September, added: "I am excited to be joining one of the world's most iconic football clubs.
"The hallmark of any successful club is its culture and that comes from the people who work there, from the chief executive and first-team manager to those people behind the scenes whose faces may not be known but who are the lifeblood of the club."
The majority of Liverpool's players have reported back for pre-season training to be greeted by the revamped management team - put in place after an end-of-season review between Rodgers and owners Fenway Sports Group following a disappointing season in which Liverpool faded to finish sixth.
Rodgers became the first Reds boss since the 1950s to fail to win a trophy in his first three seasons and, after a 6-1 thrashing at Stoke on the last day of the season, accepted his position was under threat.
Liverpool are also expected to appoint another new face to the coaching set-up before the start of the season as Lijnders is likely to be involved in elite player development and will continue to oversee some top academy players rather than acting as a direct replacement for Marsh. | Liverpool have named England Under-19s boss Sean O'Driscoll as their new assistant manager. | 33401289 | [
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Diego Valeri put Portland ahead after just 27 seconds when he charged down a clearance from keeper Steve Clark.
Rodney Wallace then headed in to make it 2-0 in the seventh minute.
Kei Kamara pulled one back before half-time but the Timbers won their first major trophy since joining MLS in 2011.
Portland captain Ridgewell, 31, who played in the Premier League for Aston Villa, Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion, is in his second season with the club.
The final, at the Crew's Mapre Stadium, got off to a dramatic start when Clark's error gifted Valeri the opening goal.
The keeper's attempted clearance bounced off the Argentine and into the net, to set a new record for the fastest goal in the history of the MLS Cup - the name given to the final.
Portland were then gifted another goal when they were allowed to play on after the ball had clearly gone out for what should have been a throw-in, and Lucas Melano crossed for Costa Rica international Wallace to head in.
Columbus hit back as their top scorer, Sierra Leone forward Kamara, fired in his 26th goal of the season on the turn after goalkeeper Larsen Kwarasey had spilled a cross.
But the hosts barely made another chance as Ridgewell's defence stood firm and Portland were unfortunate not to add to their lead in the second half as they created a number of chances.
Melano saw a shot blocked, Kamara was spared an own-goal by Michael Parkhurst's goalline clearance, Fanendo Adi headed against a post and Clark saved superbly from Natt Borchers' close-range header. | Portland Timbers became Major League Soccer champions for the first time as they beat Columbus Crew in the final, with ex-Premier League defender Liam Ridgewell lifting the trophy. | 35009121 | [
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The visitors went in front when Luke Summerfield's free-kick was met by a deft touch by Dave Winfield.
Pearce levelled when he guided his header from 12 yards inside the left post from Adam Chapman's corner.
The Stags had glorious chances to win it as Matt Green hit the crossbar from only five yards out and Reggie Lambe also hit the woodwork.
Match ends, Mansfield Town 1, York City 1.
Second Half ends, Mansfield Town 1, York City 1.
Foul by Adi Yussuf (Mansfield Town).
Dave Winfield (York City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Blair Adams (Mansfield Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Daniel Galbraith (York City).
Attempt saved. Krystian Pearce (Mansfield Town) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Hand ball by Luke Summerfield (York City).
Attempt missed. Russell Penn (York City) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Attempt missed. Vadaine Oliver (York City) right footed shot from long range on the left misses to the right.
Attempt blocked. Matt Green (Mansfield Town) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Attempt saved. Adi Yussuf (Mansfield Town) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Foul by Krystian Pearce (Mansfield Town).
Vadaine Oliver (York City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Nathan Thomas (Mansfield Town).
Eddie Nolan (York City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Attempt blocked. Reggie Lambe (Mansfield Town) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Substitution, Mansfield Town. Adi Yussuf replaces Craig Westcarr.
Substitution, York City. Josh Carson replaces Bradley Fewster.
Chris Clements (Mansfield Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Chris Clements (Mansfield Town).
James Berrett (York City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Lee Collins (Mansfield Town) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt saved. Reggie Lambe (Mansfield Town) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner.
Attempt missed. Nathan Thomas (Mansfield Town) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Reggie Lambe (Mansfield Town) hits the bar with a left footed shot from outside the box.
Corner, Mansfield Town. Conceded by Eddie Nolan.
Blair Adams (Mansfield Town) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Daniel Galbraith (York City).
Attempt missed. Nathan Thomas (Mansfield Town) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left.
Matt Green (Mansfield Town) hits the bar with a right footed shot from very close range.
Attempt missed. Bradley Fewster (York City) left footed shot from the left side of the box is high and wide to the right.
Foul by Adam Chapman (Mansfield Town).
James Berrett (York City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Krystian Pearce (Mansfield Town) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Femi Ilesanmi (York City).
Substitution, Mansfield Town. Nathan Thomas replaces Matty Blair.
Matt Green (Mansfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Femi Ilesanmi (York City).
Reggie Lambe (Mansfield Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. | Krystian Pearce's equaliser earned a point for Mansfield Town after they fell behind at home to York City. | 35148018 | [
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But the Taliban has been regaining ground in Sangin and is now poised to recapture the district from Afghan forces. Why is this part of Helmand so important to both sides?
Regaining full control of Sangin would increase the Taliban's mobility in the north of the province and cut a key supply line for Afghan forces with Lashkar Gah.
Sangin is also a rich opium production centre - meaning potential tax revenue for the Taliban from the drugs trade.
The big question now is whether the Taliban can maintain their recent territorial gains in the district. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, told the BBC late on Monday that the district administrative office had been abandoned by government forces. But Taliban fighters are cautious about entering it, he said.
The Taliban is more likely to keep administrative offices unoccupied, as they have done in the Musa Qala and Nowzad regions of Helmand - where 90% of the districts are said to be under Taliban control but the centres are with the government forces. The Taliban intentionally avoids centres of the districts, where they can easily be targeted.
Keeping control of the centre of Sangin would not be easy for the militants, but they may have an advantage among the local population. Many locals are resentful of government troops following military operations earlier this year which they say wrought unwarranted destruction to homes, farms, and other property.
The Taliban will probably seek to exploit that resentment and foster as much sympathy for their cause as possible, as they did in Kunduz where fighters could be seen posing for photos with civilians.
If the government wants to wrest total control of the area from the militants, it should look to win hearts and minds - a strategy once trumpeted by the foreign forces which controlled this part of the country.
It should deploy troops who do not bear the grudges of those who fought in the civil war in 90s, soldiers who are not trying to settle old scores. Above all, it should do all it can to avoid perpetuating a cycle of violence in which the biggest victims are the local civilians. | Sangin was once the centre of operations for international forces in Afghanistan, a key district that linked Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, to the province's northern districts. | 35156774 | [
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The magnitude-7.3 quake hit at a depth of 10km (six miles) at 01:25 on Saturday (15:25 GMT on Friday) in Kyushu region. At least three people died and hundreds were injured.
A village has been evacuated after a dam collapsed, media reports say.
A tsunami warning was issued, and lifted some 50 minutes later.
Japan is regularly hit by earthquakes but stringent building codes mean that they rarely cause significant damage.
This new earthquake in Kyushu was much bigger and hit a wider area than the one that struck Kumamoto on Thursday night, says the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tokyo.
In one town near the coast, the city hall has been so badly damaged there are fears it could collapse. A hospital has been evacuated because it is no longer safe.
Thousands of people have fled on to the streets and into parks - where they are huddled under blankets looking dazed and afraid, our correspondent says.
But there are numerous reports of people trapped inside buildings, including at least 60 inside an old people's home.
Public broadcaster NHK says the dam collapsed in the Nishihara village.
Television pictures showed thousands of people filling streets and parks, looking dazed across the region.
NHK had warned of sea waves of up to 1m (3ft).
Japan's nuclear authority said the Sendai nuclear plant was not damaged.
The quake was originally assessed as magnitude 7.1 but revised upwards to 7.3 later.
Gavin Hayes, a research geophysicist with the US Geological Survey (USGS) in Colorado, told the BBC that the latest earthquake would hamper the earlier rescue operation that was already under way.
He said more damage could be expected as the earthquake had been shallower and the fault-line had been much longer.
"The ground surface would have moved in the region of 4-5m. So, you are talking very intense shaking over quite a large area. And that's why we'll probably see a significant impact from this event."
The Associated Press news agency said guests at the Ark Hotel near the Kumamoto Castle, which was damaged, woke up and gathered in the lobby for safety.
Thursday's magnitude-6.2 quake caused shaking at some places as intense as the huge earthquake that hit the country in 2011, Japan's seismology office said.
That quake sparked a huge tsunami and nuclear meltdown at a power plant in Fukushima.
Most of those who died in Thursday's quake were in the town of Mashiki where an apartment building collapsed and many houses were damaged.
More than 1,000 people were injured.
Some 40,000 people had initially fled their homes, with many of those closest to the epicentre spending the night outside, as more than 130 aftershocks had hit the area.
Japan is one of the most seismically active areas on Earth, accounting for about 20% of global quakes of magnitude 6.0 or greater. Seismometers are recording some kind of event every five minutes, on average.
It is through bitter experience that Japan has learnt the strategies to mitigate damage, injury and death. Not only does it implement some the best building construction practices but it has also established an early warning network.
This system relies on the lightning analysis of the developing quake, establishing its location and strength. Alerts are then broadcast that can give people more distant from the epicentre vital seconds' notice.
Just 10 seconds is more than sufficient to drop and get under a sturdy table or open the doors of a fire station.
The prospect of buildings already damaged in Thursday's quake toppling over in this latest tremor will be a concern. | A more powerful earthquake has rocked the southern Japanese city of Kumamoto in the middle of the night, a day after an earlier tremor killed nine people. | 36059487 | [
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Mignon du Preez hit a second ODI century with 116 off 99 balls, helping her side to 272-6.
Du Preez added 89 for the sixth wicket with Chloe Tryon (52).
Seamer Masabata Klaas removed Ireland's openers cheaply and the Irish, who had lost Friday's first game by 89 runs, were all out for 204.
South Africa started strongly with openers Laura Wolvaardt and Trisha Chetty adding 65 in 17 overs, but they lost three wickets in four balls when Lucy O'Reilly removed Chetty for 49 and Andrie Steyn for a first-ball duck at the end of the 30th over.
Two balls later, Isobel Joyce bowled Dinesha Devnarain for a duck, and then Sune Luus fell lbw to Ciara Metcalfe for 10 in the 36th over. South Africa slipped from 140-1 to 168-5 but Du Preez led the charge.
She got to her first fifty off 46 balls and needed only 42 balls for the second, stroking 13 fours in the process, to give the Proteas a commanding total.
Clare Shillington and wicketkeeper Mary Waldron contributed forties for Ireland, but Klaas, Luus and Yolani Fourie claimed two wickets each to bowl Ireland out in 48.2 overs.
The sides, who drew 1-1 in a Twenty20 series last week, play further ODI matches on Tuesday and Thursday. | South Africa's women beat Ireland by 68 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in their four-match one-day international series in Dublin. | 37005902 | [
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Published in the Lancet and backed by a number of major health organisations, it says statins lower heart attack and stroke risk.
The review also suggests side effects such as muscle pain do occur, although in relatively few people.
But critics say healthy people are unnecessarily taking medication.
Q&A: Statins
Statins reduce the build-up of fatty plaques that lead to blockages in blood vessels. According to the report authors:
The Lancet review, led by Prof Rory Collins from the Clinical Trial Service Unit at the University of Oxford, looked at the available evidence for the effects of taking an average 40mg daily dose of statins in 10,000 patients over five years.
It suggested cholesterol levels would be lowered enough to prevent 1,000 "major cardiovascular events" such as heart attacks, strokes and coronary artery bypasses in people who had existing vascular disease - and 500 in people who were at risk due to age or other illnesses such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
Stephen Sangster, who lives in Orpington with his wife and two children explains why he takes the drugs.
"I've been taking statins for three months now. I'm 34. My high cholesterol was picked up by a work health assessment. Dietary changes made no impact.
"With my dad dying of heart attack young last year, statins give me comfort that they will probably give me a longer life. So I can live with the small chance of side effects.
"So far I've only experienced a bit of dizziness, and I don't know even if that's related to statins. Also it's better than the risk of a heart attack.
"My cholesterol was 9.3 and within a month of taking statins it's back down to below four.
"Cholesterol is a hidden danger. It's such a simple test. More people should be encouraged to take it.
"I wonder how many other younger people would benefit from a statin, but don't realise they have an issue. "
The review also said randomised controlled trials - where neither patient nor doctor know who is on the real drug and who is on a dummy version - suggested the average dose led to a relatively low level of side effects.
In the same 10,000 population, there would be some side effects, including between 50 and 100 cases of adverse events such as muscle pain, it said.
Observational studies - where people know they are taking the drug and will have been told of known side effects including muscle pain - had higher rates.
Prof Collins said: "Our review shows that the numbers of people who avoid heart attacks and strokes by taking statin therapy are very much larger than the numbers who have side effects with it.
"In addition, whereas most of the side effects can be reversed with no residual effects by stopping the statin, the effects of a heart attack or stroke not being prevented are irreversible and can be devastating.
"Consequently, there is a serious cost to public health from making misleading claims about high side effect rates that inappropriately dissuade people from taking statin therapy despite the proven benefits."
The Royal College of GPs (RCGP) and the British Heart Foundation are among a number of major organisations backing the report.
Dr Maureen Baker, who chairs the RCGP, said: "We hope this research reassures patients that in the majority of cases statins are safe and effective drugs - but in most cases where adverse side effects are seen, these are reversible by stopping taking statins."
Dr June Raine, of medicines watchdog the Medicines and healthcare products Regulatory Agency said: "The benefits of statins are well established and are considered to outweigh the risk of side-effects in the majority of patients.
"Any new significant information on the efficacy or safety of statins will be carefully reviewed and action will be taken if required."
However, critics said the review was not the final word on statins.
Fiona Godlee, editor of the British Medical Journal, said: "This still does not address the calls for a thorough, independent review of the evidence of statins.
"This is especially important in view of the guidance which recommends that large numbers of healthy people should take a tablet every day."
And London cardiologist Dr Assem Malhotra said: "There are serious question marks about the reliability of industry-sponsored studies on the side effects of statins, and essentially that's what this review is.
"And a lot of the scientists involved in the original studies were involved in this review. It is not an independent review." | The benefits of the cholesterol-reducing drug statins are underestimated and the harms exaggerated, a major review suggests. | 37306736 | [
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The Ibrox outfit cut the gap to nine points with Sunday's win.
"We have six very important league games and it's important we go right through the line this season," Dons manager McInnes told BBC Scotland.
"Hopefully a Hampden cup final and finishing in second spot - I firmly believe that we will do that."
The Pittodrie side, who face Hibernian in the Scottish Cup semi-final on 22 April, went into Sunday's game having won 10 home league matches in a row.
Rangers shaded the first-half chances but the hosts were well on the front foot when Kenny Miller scored the visitors' opener after 79 minutes. The striker added a second two minutes later and substitute Joe Dodoo made it 3-0 in 83 minutes.
McInnes admits he was taken aback by the sudden turnaround and was disappointed by the manner in which his troops responded.
"I think we had real control of the game," he added. "I thought we were better team, certainly in the second half. We started both halves really well but we allowed the first half to get a bit untidy and we didn't pass the ball the way we normally do at home.
"We started the second half strongly and the game was played in their defensive third. Their keeper made a couple of very good saves, particularly from (Adam) Rooney - I thought it was past him to be honest.
"When I was contemplating changes at 0-0 I didn't feel a threat and I thought the goal was coming but unfortunately for us we played a part in our own downfall by giving away a poor goal and we had a crazy five minutes after that.
"Our reaction to losing the first goal was what I'm most disappointed with. From being in charge of the game and looking the most likely we've allowed Kenny Miller the opportunity to show his quality, and he showed it.
"Mentally we've got to be better than that. We normally respond well to going behind - it doesn't happen too often but we have to react better than that and if there's one lesson from today, it is that.
"It's a sore one for us, no doubt about it. In the eyes of our supporters that's a huge disappointment today and we understand that.
"We lost the fight today but it's important we still win the battle for second place, and hopefully get ourselves into a cup final
"We've been on a very good run but that doesn't give you any guarantees, and it's a reminder that there is still work to be done. When you lose a game like today and the huge feeling of disappointment, wishing we could play it all over again, we've got to channel that the right way. We have plenty to look forward to." | Derek McInnes is convinced his Aberdeen side will finish second in the Premiership, despite their 3-0 home defeat to third-placed Rangers. | 39546374 | [
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The so-called Islamic State group (IS) has said it carried out the attacks.
The group has established a presence in Yemen since a civil war broke out there and has carried out numerous attacks.
It is opposed to the government and Shia Houthi rebels who have seized much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.
The attacks come on the eve of the first anniversary of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition against the rebels.
Both civilians and military personnel were killed by the blasts, officials said. Dozens of others were wounded.
Two of the bombings hit checkpoints next to a base used by the coalition, they said. Gunmen then tried to attack the place.
The third explosion happened when an ambulance laden with explosives was detonated next to a military checkpoint.
No end in sight to war in Yemen
Practising medicine under fire in Yemen
The war the world forgot?
Yemen's humanitarian catastrophe
Who is fighting whom?
Meeting the Houthis and their enemies
Aden was recaptured by government troops backed by the Saudi-led coalition last year.
The campaign was launched in March 2015 in an attempt to oust the rebels from Sanaa and restore Yemen's government.
Riyadh says the Houthis, who are allied with forces linked to the former president, are supported militarily by its regional rival Iran, something it denies.
Since the offensive started, more than 6,200 people have been killed, half of them civilians, according to the UN. The war has left Yemen fragmented and facing a humanitarian crisis.
Meanwhile, IS and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have exploited the conflict to expand the territory under their control. | At least 22 people have been killed by three suicide bombings in checkpoints in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, officials say. | 35901733 | [
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And this year the yacht received a record score of 96%, the highest mark ever awarded to a visitor attraction in Scotland.
It was rated by national tourism organisation VisitScotland.
VisitScotland's quality assurance scheme, is the official measure of quality for tourism businesses.
Tourism businesses are assessed on the welcome, attitude, knowledge and efficiency of staff, as well as audience level, interpretation, maintenance and cleanliness.
With 308,906 visitors in 2015, the Royal Yacht last week announced 2015 as its best since its opening year in 1999.
Almost five million people from around the world have visited The Queen's former yacht since it opened to visitors in Edinburgh in 1998.
Britannia's chief executive Bob Downie said: "To be the best in Scotland once is a fantastic achievement, but to do this for 10 consecutive years is a phenomenal tribute to our staff who go the extra mile to ensure that all our visitors have a great experience when they visit Britannia.
"The true test of any great organisation is consistency of performance, delivering great value for time and money, year in year out, and there is no doubt that our pioneering approach to providing great customer experiences has underpinned our success."
Malcolm Roughead, VisitScotland's chief executive, said: "I'd like to congratulate Britannia on this fantastic achievement, which demonstrates an outstanding commitment to quality and excellence in every aspect of the business.
"Retaining the accolade of Scotland's best attraction for 10 years running, Britannia is setting the standards for tourism in Scotland, and it is a real testament to the total commitment shown by their staff to consistently deliver a world-leading customer experience." | The Royal Yacht Britannia has been judged as Scotland's best visitor attraction every year for the past decade. | 35292801 | [
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The influential EY Item Club said higher inflation caused by a weaker pound would result in GDP growth of 1.3% in 2017 and just 1% next year.
But it said rising demand for exports would offset this somewhat.
A separate survey has found optimism in the financial services sector hit its lowest level since the 2008 crash.
Sterling has fallen by 17% against the dollar since the UK voted to quit the European Union last June, increasing import costs and pushing up shop prices.
In its latest forecast, the EY Item Club said it expected inflation to rise to 3.1% by the final quarter of 2017 before easing back to 2% by the end of 2018.
On top of this, it said unemployment was likely to climb from 4.8% in the final quarter of last year to more than 6% by the end of 2018.
"[These factors are] expected to have a knock-on impact on consumer spending, as growth in disposable incomes is eroded," the think tank said.
But the agency also said that a "weaker pound and a softer domestic market" were likely to encourage higher levels of UK exports, as businesses seek income opportunities overseas.
It expects exports to increase by 3.3% this year and 5.2% in 2018.
Peter Spencer, chief economic advisor to the EY Item Club, said that the fall in sterling after the Brexit vote signalled "a permanent shift" in the fundamental value of the currency.
"We know that it will crush consumer spending, we'll see a progressive slowdown in retail sales and indicators like that this year," he told the BBC.
However, he also said it would offer a "permanent incentive to investors to go out, win new customers [overseas], and build capacity and expertise".
"The hard bit comes from getting exports up to pick up the slack left by the fall in consumer spending," he said.
He said that a weak pound should boost experts in the near term, but that "trade and growth in 2019 and beyond" would largely be determined by the terms of Britain's exit deal with the EU.
If exports did not pick up, the UK could be "stuck in a slow growth economy", he added.
Financial services
It comes as a PwC survey found optimism among Britain's financial services firms fell for a fourth consecutive quarter in December.
The consultancy, which surveyed 103 financial services firms on behalf of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), found 2016 to be the "gloomiest" year for the sector since 2008.
Banks were especially pessimistic, with 90% saying that preparing for the impact of Brexit was their biggest challenge.
Many have signalled they are working on plans to deal with a so-called "hard" exit from the EU, after Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain will leave the single market.
Two of the largest banks with operations in London - HSBC and UBS - said last week they were considering moving thousands of jobs abroad. | The UK economy will see three years of "relatively slow growth" as it comes to rely more on trade and less on consumer spending, a think tank says. | 38718717 | [
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Luciano Spalletti's side started the day four points behind Juve, and were without forward Mohamed Salah, at the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt.
They needed Wojciech Szczesny to make a good early save from Diego Laxalt.
Genoa then lost keeper Mattia Perin to injury, and went behind as Izzo diverted in a Bruno Peres shot.
It was the defender's second Serie A own goal of the season, having also scored a winner at the wrong end when Genoa lost to city rivals Sampdoria in October.
Perin injured himself making a brilliant reaction stop to deny Roma's top scorer Edin Dzeko - bringing more frustration for the goalkeeper, who was making his return from suspension after being sent off against Palermo in his last match.
Szczesny, on loan from Arsenal, was inspired in goal at the other end, somehow keeping the ball out at his near post in the first half after Nikola Ninkovic's free-kick had been deflected through a crowd, then making a flying stop from Lucas Ocampos right at the end.
Juventus can re-establish a four-point advantage by beating Bologna in Sunday's late match (19:45 GMT).
Lazio strengthened their hold on fourth place with an unconvincing 1-0 victory over next-to-bottom Crotone, with Ciro Immobile scoring the winner in the last minute.
Lucas Biglia hit the bar with a first-half penalty for the Biancocelesti, but Crotone were desperately unlucky when Marcus Rohden had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside with 20 minutes to go.
England goalkeeper Joe Hart began 2017 with a clean sheet as Torino drew 0-0 at Sassuolo in a forgettable game. The most significant moment was the return, as a substitute, of Sassuolo's highly rated Italy Under-21 forward Domenico Berardi after more than four months out with a knee injury.
Alejandro Gomez scored twice in the first 23 minutes as Atalanta lifted their hopes of Europa League qualification with a convincing 4-1 win at Chievo, with Andrea Conti and Remo Freuler also on target.
Two goals from Ivan Perisic gave Inter Milan a fourth successive Serie A win, as they won 2-1 at Udinese in Sunday's early kick-off.
AC Milan had a late strike from Colombia striker Carlos Bacca to thank for a 1-0 win over Cagliari that allowed them to leapfrog Atalanta into fifth and to within six points of the summit.
Match ends, Genoa 0, Roma 1.
Second Half ends, Genoa 0, Roma 1.
Corner, Genoa. Conceded by Wojciech Szczesny.
Attempt saved. Lucas Ocampos (Genoa) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Armando Izzo with a cross.
Attempt missed. Daniele De Rossi (Roma) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Leandro Paredes.
Substitution, Roma. Leandro Paredes replaces Radja Nainggolan because of an injury.
Kevin Strootman (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Luca Rigoni (Genoa).
Substitution, Roma. Kostas Manolas replaces Bruno Peres.
Federico Fazio (Roma) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Federico Fazio (Roma).
Diego Laxalt (Genoa) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Offside, Genoa. Giovanni Simeone tries a through ball, but Luca Rigoni is caught offside.
Attempt missed. Giovanni Simeone (Genoa) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Edenilson with a cross.
Lucas Ocampos (Genoa) is shown the yellow card.
Lucas Ocampos (Genoa) has gone down, but that's a dive.
Attempt missed. Mauricio Pinilla (Genoa) right footed shot from outside the box is too high from a direct free kick.
Foul by Federico Fazio (Roma).
Mauricio Pinilla (Genoa) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Roma. Stephan El Shaarawy replaces Diego Perotti.
Substitution, Genoa. Mauricio Pinilla replaces Darko Lazovic.
Attempt missed. Giovanni Simeone (Genoa) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Nicolas Burdisso with a cross.
Corner, Roma. Conceded by Nicolas Burdisso.
Foul by Bruno Peres (Roma).
Diego Laxalt (Genoa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Edin Dzeko (Roma) left footed shot from the left side of the box is too high. Assisted by Kevin Strootman.
Kevin Strootman (Roma) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Kevin Strootman (Roma).
Luca Rigoni (Genoa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, Genoa. Darko Lazovic tries a through ball, but Giovanni Simeone is caught offside.
Attempt missed. Edin Dzeko (Roma) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Bruno Peres with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Roma. Conceded by Eugenio Lamanna.
Attempt blocked. Edin Dzeko (Roma) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is blocked. Assisted by Diego Perotti.
Substitution, Genoa. Edenilson replaces Nicola Ninkovic.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Antonio Rüdiger (Roma) because of an injury.
Antonio Rüdiger (Roma) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Lucas Ocampos (Genoa).
Attempt blocked. Radja Nainggolan (Roma) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Diego Perotti (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half. | Roma stayed in touch with Serie A leaders Juventus thanks to a win at Genoa secured by Armando Izzo's first-half own goal. | 38549265 | [
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People currently get antiretroviral therapy only when their white blood cell levels drop.
But a US-led study has now been cut short as early treatment was so beneficial for patients.
The United Nations Aids agency has called for everyone to get immediate access to the drugs.
Around 35 million people are living with HIV and more than 2 million start antiretroviral therapy each year.
The discovery of drugs to attack the virus has profoundly changed the way the disease is treated.
But there has been fierce debate about when treatment should start.
World Health Organization guidelines say treatment should start when there are fewer than 500 white blood cells in every cubic millimetre of blood.
The trial on 4,685 people in 35 countries, organised by the US National Institutes of Health, compared this approach with immediate treatment.
The trial started in 2011 and was due to run until the end of 2016.
But an interim analysis of the data showed that cases of Aids, deaths and complications, such as kidney or liver disease, had already been halved by early treatment.
All patients on the trial are now being offered antiretroviral drugs.
The director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, said: "We now have clear-cut proof that it is of significantly greater health benefit to an HIV-infected person to start antiretroviral therapy sooner rather than later.
"Moreover, early therapy conveys a double benefit, not only improving the health of individuals but at the same time, by lowering their viral load, reducing the risk they will transmit HIV to others.
"These findings have global implications for the treatment of HIV."
Michel Sidibe, executive director of at UNAids, argued: "Every person living with HIV should have immediate access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy.
"Delaying access to HIV treatment under any pretext is denying the right to health."
Dr Steve Taylor, the lead HIV Consultant at the Birmingham Heartlands HIV Service, told the BBC the trial was hugely important.
"Not least that they will they will change the way HIV treatment is prescribed in the UK and around the world.
"Based on this study, people will be able to access treatment much earlier than currently, which is good for their own health and will reduce HIV transmission."
Deborah Gold, chief executive of the National Aids Trust, said: "These exciting results should dramatically change the approach to treatment for people living with HIV, both in the UK and internationally." | HIV drugs should be given at the moment of diagnosis, according to a major trial that could change the way millions of people are treated. | 32914219 | [
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The boy, 17, shocked passengers on board the Copa Airlines flight from Panama City as he flung the door open before leaping out on Tuesday.
He was confronted by construction staff working nearby and held until police arrived to arrest him.
The boy, a US citizen, was not harmed.
Passengers said the teenager seemed fidgety and anxious throughout the flight and that he had acted very quickly, making it difficult to stop him, according to the Associated Press news agency.
End of Twitter post by @LisaAminABC7
One eyewitness, Sophia Gibson, told San Jose's KNTV that people were shocked when the passenger leapt through the door and onto the plane's wing.
"It was as if he was like flying out, like it was really fast," Ms Gibson said.
Another passenger, 11-year-old Andrea Sepulveda Guzman, told CBS San Francisco that people had started to scream.
"This guy, I see him jump on the wing and then he starts climbing down the wing and then he just runs. And then he just starts running the other way. And everyone was just screaming," she said.
It was not immediately clear why the teenager had leapt from the plane and run.
San Francisco Airport spokesman Doug Yakel said the boy was travelling alone, adding that no runways or flights were affected by the incident.
A Copa Airlines Flight 208 crew member closed the emergency door and the plane taxied to its gate, where all remaining passengers alighted without incident, the Panama-based airline said in a statement on Tuesday.
The airline added that an investigation was under way and that it was co-operating with the authorities. | A teenager has been detained after opening the emergency door of a passenger plane and sliding down a wing onto the tarmac minutes after touching down in San Francisco, officials say. | 40799779 | [
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Helder Costa marked his first start with the opener, and set up Jed Wallace for Wolves' second seven minutes later.
Medy Elito replied for League Two's bottom side, who also had chances through Luke Berry and Ben Williamson.
James Henry had a penalty saved by Cambridge goalkeeper Will Norris just before the hour.
Match ends, Wolverhampton Wanderers 2, Cambridge United 1.
Second Half ends, Wolverhampton Wanderers 2, Cambridge United 1.
Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by Jake Gosling.
Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by Will Norris.
Attempt saved. Jón Dadi Bödvarsson (Wolverhampton Wanderers) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by James Henry.
Foul by Dominic Iorfa (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
Josh Coulson (Cambridge United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt blocked. George Saville (Wolverhampton Wanderers) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by David Edwards.
Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by Blair Adams.
Attempt blocked. James Henry (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt saved. Jed Wallace (Wolverhampton Wanderers) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by James Henry with a through ball.
Attempt saved. Jón Dadi Bödvarsson (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by George Saville.
Attempt blocked. Joe Pigott (Cambridge United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Piero Mingoia with a cross.
Attempt missed. Leon Legge (Cambridge United) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Jake Gosling with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Cambridge United. Conceded by Dominic Iorfa.
Corner, Cambridge United. Conceded by Matt Doherty.
Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by Josh Coulson.
Offside, Cambridge United. Jake Gosling tries a through ball, but Ben Williamson is caught offside.
Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by Josh Coulson.
Kortney Hause (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Ben Williamson (Cambridge United).
Jed Wallace (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Blair Adams (Cambridge United).
Substitution, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Jón Dadi Bödvarsson replaces Hélder Costa.
Substitution, Cambridge United. Jake Gosling replaces Max Clark.
Attempt missed. James Henry (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Jed Wallace with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by Will Norris.
Attempt saved. Jed Wallace (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by David Edwards.
Attempt missed. Leon Legge (Cambridge United) header from the left side of the six yard box misses to the right. Assisted by Max Clark with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Cambridge United. Conceded by Kortney Hause.
Substitution, Cambridge United. Joe Pigott replaces Medy Elito.
Attempt missed. Kortney Hause (Wolverhampton Wanderers) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Jack Price with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by Josh Coulson.
Substitution, Wolverhampton Wanderers. David Edwards replaces Prince Oniangué.
Attempt missed. Piero Mingoia (Cambridge United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right.
George Saville (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Piero Mingoia (Cambridge United).
Foul by Hélder Costa (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
Luke Berry (Cambridge United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Ben Williamson (Cambridge United) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Piero Mingoia with a cross. | Wolves extended their unbeaten run under new manager Walter Zenga to six games with victory over Cambridge in the second round of the EFL Cup. | 37091191 | [
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In fact, it's actually 21-year-old student Morgan Jensen from Arizona in America.
Taylor shared photos of Morgan (and her friend Kasey) on her Tumblr with the message "lol I thought that was me".
"I am just shocked and in disbelief that Taylor Swift saw those photos of me," Morgan told Newsbeat.
"I just find that so funny 'cause she was so casual about it. I was freaking out for so long.
"I kept refreshing it and checking it on my computer and my phone again to make sure it was real before I acknowledged it and really realised what had happened."
Morgan says she's a huge fan, but she's never met Taylor.
"If I go an hour without mentioning Taylor Swift then something's probably wrong," she joked.
"I have been compared to Taylor Swift a lot because I'm tall like her and all it takes is sunglasses and red lipstick pretty much because we have the same hair colour."
The lookalike comments started mainly among friends and family - until she went to a Taylor Swift concert in Nashville in 2013.
"I was like, I might as well wear lipstick and sunglasses to see... if anyone thinks I look like her. It turned out to be a lot bigger than I ever thought it would be.
"As soon as I got to Nashville, people were stopping me to get photos on my way into the venue.
"It got to the point when I couldn't walk through the crowd 'cause so many people were trying to get photos.
"I ended up standing outside the venue for two hours taking pictures with her fans. I explained to all of them, 'I'm not Taylor' and they were like, 'Oh that's alright'."
Morgan was also offered free food by workers at a Mexican restaurant.
She says she might "dress up" (well, wear red lipstick and sunglasses) again to one of Taylor's concerts in Arizona this summer.
There have been some negative comments online about Morgan's look.
"I don't want to be Taylor Swift," Morgan responded. "I think it's cool that I sometimes can resemble her. So far none of the negative comments have got to me.
"I'll say that the haters gonna hate!"
Morgan has no ambitions to follow her idol into music though. She's studying graphic design at university and also models part-time.
"I have no musical talent," Morgan admitted. "So if I get asked to sing, it's going to be really bad. I can draw and I can paint but music is no!"
She does have one particular ambition: "I just hope that I can maybe someday meet Taylor."
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube | This is the Taylor Swift lookalike that even the superstar singer thought was her. | 32055721 | [
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The week-long pre-trial hearing at Guantanamo Bay will largely focus on issues of secrecy.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is accused of masterminding the attacks while the others are implicated for providing support for the co-ordinated hijacking.
In May, a chaotic hearing in the case lasted 13 hours.
During that hearing, which formally charged the five men, the defendants made defiant outbursts and refused to answer the judge's questions or use the translation system.
In addition to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, defendants Ramzi Binalshibh, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali and Waleed bin Attash are being prosecuted in a special military tribunal for wartime offences known as a military commission.
They are charged with conspiring with al-Qaeda, terrorism, and one count of murder for each known victim of the 11 September attacks at the time the charges were filed - 2,976 in total.
The five face a possible death penalty sentence if convicted.
CIA waterboarding tapes revealed
On Monday, the defendants listened calmly and answered the judge's questions, although Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said: "I don't think there's any justice in this court."
Defence lawyers argued during the hearing that their clients should not be forced to attend the rest of the week's hearings, because the forcible transport from their high-security cells may remind them of their time at secret CIA prisons.
Before their transfer to the US base at Guantanamo Bay in 2006, the defendants were held for years in secret CIA prisons.
All five have said they were tortured during interrogations. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was repeatedly water-boarded before being brought to Guantanamo.
"We have to talk about torture," Air Force Captain Michael Schwartz, a defence lawyer, said on Monday.
But Judge James Pohl said the issue was not relevant at this stage.
Prosecution lawyers have said the use of waterboarding and similar methods could be relevant when determining whether prisoners' statements were voluntarily given.
The court is also expected to hear a defence request to abolish what they term a "presumptive classification" that treats any discussion of the CIA prisons as top secret, as well as a media request to limit closing of the courtroom for secret sessions.
Judge Pohl ultimately ruled that the defendants would not be forced to attend hearings scheduled to run through the end of this week, but did not rule out further pre-trial hearings.
He said all would have to be present for their trial, which is not likely to start for more than a year. | Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others accused over the 9/11 attacks have appeared at a US military tribunal for the first time in five months. | 19956639 | [
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The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the figure was up from 7.6% in the year to February.
Separate figures showed the amount of money borrowed for home loans in March was the highest for nearly nine years.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said £13.8bn was lent during the month, 59% more than in February.
The figure was the highest for any month since August 2007.
Landlords and buyers of second homes have had to pay an extra 3% in stamp duty since the start of April.
"While the increases are substantial, these supercharged levels of activity are likely to be temporary, and will fall back over the summer months," said Paul Smee, the director general of the CML.
Landlords borrowed £7.1bn in March, an 87% increase on February.
The ONS figures show that UK house prices have increased five times faster than wages since 2011, according to the Resolution Foundation, which campaigns to improve living standards.
Its analysis of the ONS data shows that house prices have increased by 36% over the past five years.
Average weekly earnings have gone up by just 7% over the same period, it said.
The think-tank said the growth gap between wages and house prices was even more pronounced in London and the South East.
But even in Scotland and the North, house prices have risen at twice the rate of wages.
However the ONS data shows that prices in Scotland fell by 6.1% in the year to March 2016.
Recent surveys by both the Halifax and Nationwide have suggested that house price growth has already cooled since the stamp duty changes came into effect.
The ONS said house price growth in March was particularly driven by London, where the cost of a house or flat rose by 13% over the year.
In its last survey using the current methodology, the ONS said the average cost of a home in the UK reached £292,000 in March. | House price inflation across the UK jumped to 9% in March, as landlords rushed to beat stamp duty changes, official figures show. | 36310827 | [
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Scotland Office minister Lord Dunlop was speaking as the House of Lords debated the Scotland Bill.
Talks between the UK and Scottish governments on the fiscal framework continued over the weekend, although no agreement has yet been announced.
Lord Dunlop said the talks were at a "sensitive and critical point".
But he told peers that "significant progress" had been made.
Peers agreed to go ahead with detailed scrutiny of the new powers contained in the Scotland Bill despite the lack of agreement on the fiscal framework.
Tory former Scottish secretary Lord Forsyth had called for the final day's committee stage debate to be delayed until the fiscal framework was published.
But he withdrew his demand after opposition from both the government and Labour.
Labour's former chancellor, Lord Darling, said it was "deeply regrettable" that parliament still did not know what the fiscal framework was going to look like.
Lord Darling said there were "massive considerations" to take into account in determining tax and welfare.
He added: "I struggle to see how it's going to work. If we don't get it right, we could be simply storing up problems for the future, providing rich and fertile grounds for those who seek out grudge and grievance as a way of life."
Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney held talks with his UK government counterparts in London on Friday.
Mr Swinney said afterwards that progress had been made, but some "significant issues" still remained before a final deal could be agreed.
The two government have been locked in protracted discussions about how the block grant that Holyrood receives should be adjusted when new tax powers are devolved to Scotland.
Any deal must meet the principle of "no detriment" - the idea that neither the UK or Scottish governments should lose out financially simply as a result of the decision to devolve.
Mr Swinney and Scottish Secretary David Mundell are both due to appear before the Scottish Parliament's Devolution Committee on Tuesday, where they will be asked to lay out their positions.
With the Scottish Parliament being dissolved next month ahead of May's elections, MSPs on the committee had warned of "very substantial impacts" on their ability to scrutinise any proposals if talks were not concluded by 19 February.
But Chief Secretary to the Treasury Greg Hands has said he will not be able to appear before Holyrood's Finance Committee on Wednesday to give evidence to MSPs about the talks.
Mr Hands, who has been negotiating on behalf of the UK government during the talks, had previously said he would be "very happy" to appear before MSPs once a deal had been reached.
In a letter to the committee, he said: "I fully intend to honour that commitment. Unfortunately, due to parliamentary business I can not attend your committee on 24 February.
"I look forward to appearing before your committee once the framework is agreed."
In response, committee convenor Kenneth Gibson told Mr Hands: "This would appear to suggest that you do not think an agreement will be reached on the fiscal framework before then."
He urged Mr Hands to reconsider, stating: "If this is indeed the case, then it is essential that the Finance Committee has the opportunity to hear from both governments as to why it has not been possible to reach an agreement."
The Scottish government has already warned it will pull the plug on the Scotland Bill by recommending MSPs veto the legislation if an agreement over the fiscal framework cannot be found. | A deal on the financial arrangements that will underpin Scotland's new devolution powers "seems within reach", a UK government minister has said. | 35634547 | [
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The jihadists seized buildings on the eastern edge of the adjacent city of Tadmur on Thursday, but their push was reportedly halted by the Syrian army.
Syria's antiquities chief warned that if IS seizes the Unesco World Heritage site it will destroy everything there.
The group has ransacked and demolished several ancient sites in Iraq.
Palmyra has already suffered some damage during the four-year civil war.
It is situated in a strategically important area on the road between the capital, Damascus and the contested eastern city of Deir al-Zour, and close to gas fields
On Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that IS militants were mounting an assault on Tadmur, the modern town next to the ruins of Palmyra.
Twenty-six civilians in a village outside Tadmur were summarily killed by IS - at least 10 by beheading - on Thursday after being accused of collaborating with President Bashar al-Assad's government, Mr Abdul Rahman said.
IS itself claimed on Twitter that it had taken control of northern and eastern parts of Tadmur, and that it had shot down a Syrian air force MiG jet in the area.
Homs provincial governor Talal Barazi confirmed that al-Sukhanah, a town to the north-east, had fallen on Wednesday and said 1,800 families from the town were sheltering in Tadmur.
The Syrian Observatory said more than 70 soldiers and 40 militants had been killed in the battle for al-Sukhanah.
Rising out of the desert and flanked by an oasis, Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world, according to Unesco.
The site, most of which dates back to the 1st to the 2nd Century when the region was under Roman rule, is dominated by a grand, colonnaded street.
At the southern end of the 1.1km street is the great temple of Bel, considered one of the most important religious buildings of the 1st Century in the East and of unique design.
Syria's director of antiquities, Maamoun Abdul Karim, said that if Palmyra were to fall to IS, it would be an "international catastrophe".
"It will be a repetition of the barbarism and savagery which we saw in Nimrud, Hatra and Mosul," he told AFP news agency.
The ancient sites in northern Iraq were recently blown up by IS militants, who control swathes of territory on both sides of the Syria-Iraq border.
A US-led coalition has carried out air strikes on the jihadist group's positions since September. However, it says it does not co-ordinate its actions with the Assad government. | Palmyra, one of the archaeological jewels of the Middle East, is said to be under threat from Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria. | 32735677 | [
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The row of huts on Mablethorpe promenade will be "rejuvenated and enhanced" with the money.
Fourteen other coastal landmarks in England will benefit from a share of £700,000 from the Coastal Revival Fund.
Communities Minister Mark Francois said: "We've got heritage hooks to be proud of, but some of these places need some tender loving care."
He said: "This country has sightseeing gems that are a match for anywhere in the world and I'd urge people to take a trip down to the seaside to discover them."
The beach huts have been at Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea for more than 70 years.
Grants of up to £50,000 will be awarded to landmarks from Durham in the North East to Dorset in the South West.
A disused lido in Morecambe, Lancashire, will become a venue for festivals, arts and leisure, while Herne Bay Pier in Kent will be given a "sturdy stage" with lighting, changing room and screen.
Ilfracombe Museum in Devon will receive £50,000 to "protect and preserve its unique collection of Victorian curiosities right on the seafront".
A full list of the projects can be seen here.
In March, £800,000 was also announced for seaside communities in the South West from the Coastal Communities Fund.
Mr Francois said he hoped the work would encourage "a wave of enthusiasm" for seaside trips, and help boost the £4bn already generated each year by tourism to coastal communities. | Dilapidated beach huts in Lincolnshire are to get a £50,000 makeover in an attempt to attract more holidaymakers. | 36249107 | [
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Dunlop, 27, lapped the course at 132.36mph on his BMW superbike and was only four seconds outside John McGuinness' absolute lap record.
The Ballymoney man's speed of 131.34 in the Superstocks improved his own previous best lap of 131.22.
Ian Hutchinson was second fastest in the Superbike class with 131.66.
Eleven-time TT winner Hutchinson, 36, produced his time on his Tyco BMW Superbike from a standing start.
Honda-mounted John McGuinness made up the top three in the blue riband class with 131.12, followed by his Honda team-mate Conor Cummins (129.99) and Yorkshire's Dean Harrison on a Kawasaki (129.97).
Fermanagh rider Lee Johnston, riding a Triumph, clocked the fastest Supersport speed of the week at 124.84mph to lie sixth overall in the leaderboard.
Bruce Anstey, the quickest Supersport rider to date with 124.508, came off his Superbike machine at Keppel Gate on Thursday evening, but walked away with a suspected minor ankle injury.
Michael Rutter moved to the top of the Lightweight Supertwins leaderboard with a lap of 118.054mph, just bettering Ivan Lintin's speed of 118.000mph set on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance posted a lap of 114.83mph to send them to the top of the sidecar leaderboard ahead of Dave Molyneux and Dan Sayle.
The final qualifying session is scheduled to take place on Friday night, with the first race, the Superbikes, due off at 11:00 BST on Saturday. | Michael Dunlop continued his Isle of Man TT practice week dominance as he set the fastest Superbike lap and set an unofficial Superstock lap record. | 36440987 | [
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Ibrahim Halawa, the son of the most senior Muslim cleric in the Republic of Ireland, was arrested during a siege on the Al-Fath mosque in Cairo in 2013.
The mass trial of Mr Halawa and 493 others began in March after being postponed five times since his arrest.
Mr Halawa, 19, could face the death penalty if he is convicted.
Mr Halawa was on a family holiday to his parents' homeland when he and three of his sisters were arrested by Egyptian security forces during a crackdown on protests in the country's capital.
He was 17 at the time.
His family said he had taken refuge in the building during violent clashes between supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi and the security forces.
His sisters were allowed to return to Dublin in November 2013.
On Wednesday, a hearing in his case took place, with Irish officials in attendance.
But it could not proceed as 16 defendants were not present in court, according to the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.
Defence lawyers requested that the trial would not proceed during the forthcoming Ramadan period and the judge agreed to adjourn the matter until 2 August, the department added.
Amnesty International Ireland said Mr Halawa should be released immediately with all charges against him dropped.
Colm O'Gorman, the human rights organisation's executive director in Ireland, said the situation was "utterly unacceptable".
"No one should have to withstand the continual raising of hope that they might have their day in court, only to have that hope continually dashed," he said.
"This young man should be at home in Ireland, continuing his studies and getting on with his life."
He added: "I urge the Irish government and their EU partners to continue to work on Ibrahim's case as an absolute priority." | The trial of a Dublin teenager held in an Egyptian prison for almost two years has been adjourned for a third time. | 32993571 | [
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David Vallenilla's 22-year-old son, also called David, was shot by military police on Thursday.
Mr Vallenilla says he once worked with the president on Caracas' transport system, and called on his "former colleague" to clear his son's name.
The president has said firearms must not be used on protesters.
"I want to speak to my former colleague of the Caracas Metro," Mr Vallenilla told a group of reporters outside the morgue.
"Nicolás Maduro, you know that we worked together, I'm Supervisor Vallenilla."
He said he used to be Mr Maduro's boss, although the past working relationship between them has not yet been confirmed.
President Maduro is a former bus driver, who got involved in trade unions and then national politics, becoming president in 2013 after his predecessor Hugo Chavez died.
"Please, Nicolás, my friend," Mr Vallenilla said with tears streaming down his face, before calling on the leader to make it clear that his only son "was not a criminal, he was a graduating student".
"You met him when he was little," he added.
Earlier in the week, Fabián Urbina, 17, was also shot and killed as security forces and demonstrators clashed in Caracas.
There have been almost daily anti-government protests in Venezuela for over two months as the country's economic and political crisis has worsened.
More than 70 people have been killed in protest-related violence since 1 April, according to figures released by the chief prosecutor's office.
On Thursday, Interior Minister Néstor Reverol tweeted to confirm the death of a protester and said a police sergeant had fired an "unauthorised weapon".
President Maduro, in a press conference on the same day, said: "I am giving the clear order that you can not use firearms. I am giving the clear order that you can never shoot in a demonstration, under any conditions."
A group of demonstrators returned on Friday to the place where Mr Vallenilla was killed, and set some trucks on fire.
Also on Friday, supporters of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo López released footage that they say captures his cries from a military prison on the outskirts of Caracas.
"Lilian!" he calls to his wife. "They are torturing me!"
In a press conference earlier the same day, Lilian Tintori said she has not been able to see him for 19 days and his lawyers have been denied access for 78 days.
News site Ultimas Noticias has responded by publishing photos of the politician, which they say are from Friday and show him to be "fine".
López is three years into a 14-year sentence for inciting violence during anti-government protests in 2014. | A man whose son was killed during an opposition protest in Venezuela's capital Caracas has made a personal plea to President Nicolás Maduro. | 40389742 | [
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Subsets and Splits