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Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi, Paris St-Germain's Julian Draxler, Ajax winger Amin Younes and Bayer Leverkusen's Julian Brandt also scored. Germany top Group C having won all six games and are five points ahead of second-placed Northern Ireland. Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski netted a hat-trick for Poland in their 3-1 victory over Romania in Group E. He has now scored in his last 11 European Championship and World Cup qualifiers for Poland, netting 20 times in those games. In the same group, Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen scored a penalty as Denmark recorded a 3-1 win in Kazakhstan. Former Manchester City striker Stevan Jovetic grabbed a hat-trick for Montenegro as they beat Armenia 4-1. Match ends, Germany 7, San Marino 0. Second Half ends, Germany 7, San Marino 0. Corner, Germany. Conceded by Elia Benedettini. Attempt saved. Joshua Kimmich (Germany) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Diego Demme. Amin Younes (Germany) wins a free kick on the right wing. Foul by Michele Cervellini (San Marino). Offside, Germany. Sandro Wagner tries a through ball, but Timo Werner is caught offside. Attempt missed. Leon Goretzka (Germany) right footed shot from very close range misses to the left. Assisted by Julian Brandt with a cross following a corner. Corner, Germany. Conceded by Cristian Brolli. Substitution, San Marino. Cristian Brolli replaces Davide Cesarini because of an injury. Delay over. They are ready to continue. Delay in match Davide Cesarini (San Marino) because of an injury. Goal! Germany 7, San Marino 0. Sandro Wagner (Germany) header from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Joshua Kimmich with a cross. Leon Goretzka (Germany) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Adolfo Hirsch (San Marino). Foul by Diego Demme (Germany). Marco Bernardi (San Marino) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt blocked. Emre Can (Germany) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Emre Can (Germany) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Michele Cervellini (San Marino). Substitution, San Marino. Adolfo Hirsch replaces Danilo Rinaldi. Attempt missed. Sandro Wagner (Germany) right footed shot from very close range misses to the right. Assisted by Emre Can. Substitution, Germany. Diego Demme replaces Julian Draxler. Timo Werner (Germany) hits the right post with a header from the right side of the six yard box. Assisted by Joshua Kimmich with a cross. Goal! Germany 6, San Marino 0. Julian Brandt (Germany) header from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Joshua Kimmich. Corner, Germany. Conceded by Davide Cesarini. Substitution, San Marino. Marco Bernardi replaces Pier Filippo Mazza. Offside, Germany. Timo Werner tries a through ball, but Julian Brandt is caught offside. Foul by Sandro Wagner (Germany). Juri Biordi (San Marino) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Pier Filippo Mazza (San Marino) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Emre Can (Germany) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Pier Filippo Mazza (San Marino). Leon Goretzka (Germany) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Pier Filippo Mazza (San Marino). Attempt missed. Marvin Plattenhardt (Germany) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right from a direct free kick. Michele Cervellini (San Marino) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Sandro Wagner (Germany) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Michele Cervellini (San Marino). Offside, Germany. Julian Draxler tries a through ball, but Amin Younes is caught offside.
Hoffenheim striker Sandro Wagner scored a hat-trick as Germany thrashed San Marino in 2018 World Cup qualifying.
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Experts at the University of Manchester also found bullying and family bereavement were linked to suicides. They investigated the suicides of 130 people under 20 in England between January 2014 and April 2015. In February, figures published by the Office for National Statistics revealed an increase in youth suicides. There were 201 people aged between 10 and 19 who killed themselves in 2014 in the UK - up from 179 in 2013. It comes as separate Office for National Statistics figures, published this week, suggested student suicides have risen to their highest level since at least 2007. Suicide is the biggest killer of people under the age of 35 in the UK. However, the research - by the University of Manchester's National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness - is the first time experts have studied the contributory factors on this scale. Their findings showed: The study also found that 23% had used the internet in relation to suicide - including searching for methods or posting suicidal thoughts. Eleni Delacour has depression and borderline personality disorder. But the main reason the 22-year-old has attempted suicide on 14 occasions is bullying. "I got bullied as long as I can remember - both emotional and physical bullying," she says. "I've had my tendon snapped, my nose broken twice, my mind broken a hundred times." Her first suicide attempt was when she was 10. "When enough people tell you something about yourself that's bad, you start to think it too," she says. "You get told you're worthless to the point you think you're worthless. And then you don't want to feel it anymore and the only way you can stop it is to end it all. " Speaking about the report's findings, lead researcher Professor Louis Appleby said: "There are often family problems such as drug misuse or domestic violence and more recent stresses such as bullying or bereavement, leading to a 'final straw' factor such as an exam or relationship breakdown." "I think the numbers are the tip of the iceberg," says Ged Flynn, chief executive of Papyrus, an anti-suicide charity. Its support service, Hopeline UK, has seen a large rise in contacts from young people and parents in recent years, quadrupling since 2013. It says that most of the calls, texts and emails it receives relate to exam stresses. "I think the pressure on young people in increasing," says Mr Flynn. "Peer pressure - from family, teachers and friends - has always been there, but it does seem to be increasing. "And I think the need to be liked, the need to be popular, the need to be happy, is fairly universal. And it's unrealistic." Morgan Falconer was known as Tigger - a bright, enthusiastic, inquisitive, tactile boy. With no warning however, the 15-year-old killed himself last May. He had spoken to his friends about feeling pressure over his upcoming GCSE exams but his father Stuart says the family will never know what drove him to end his own life. "I can't - hand on heart - say anything was a concern," says Stuart. "He should be here today, of that I have absolutely no doubt. "It was a consequence of things that built up in his brain, which led him to making a catastrophic decision that couldn't be turned back. "If he'd known what he'd left behind, he wouldn't have done it. If he'd seen the outpouring of grief at his funeral, he wouldn't have done it." His father has now set up a charity The Ollie Foundation to give teachers suicide awareness training.
Exam pressures and physical health problems, like acne, are major contributory factors in the suicides of young people, according to research.
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The group held placards bearing slogans like "God hates Renoir" and "Aesthetic terrorism" at the Museum of Fine Arts. The protest was organised by the "Renoir Sucks At Painting movement", who say the French impressionist's work does not deserve to be on show. They claim it will be "the first of many anti-Renoir direct actions". In a statement on Instagram, the group said: "The MFA's decision to hang Renoir paintings, considering the fact the museum has masterpieces by actually talented artist [sic] in storage, is a curatorial failing, and amounts to an act of Aesthetic Terrorism." The Associated Press reported that the museum would not comment and that the demonstrators acknowledged they were being ironic. The Boston Globe reported that they chanted: "Put some fingers on those hands! Give us work by Paul Gauguin!" and "Other art is worth your while! Renoir paints a steaming pile!" The protest is being led by Harvard stem cell scientist Dr Ben Ewen-Campen, who wrote: "Seeing Renoirs in the MFA makes me sad. "All the other art in the museum is great - Manet, Van Gogh, Singer Sargent, they're great! But then we get exposed to Renoir's deformed pink fuzzy women and scary looking babies. It really detracts from the overall experience."
Protesters have demonstrated outside a Boston art gallery that is showing work by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, complaining that he "sucks at painting".
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He assaulted her by grabbing her bottom beneath her skirt as a photo was taken, a jury in Denver, Colorado, found. She was awarded a symbolic $1 (77p) in damages that she had sought. Mr Mueller had originally tried to sue the pop star, saying that her claims had cost him his job. But that lawsuit was thrown out by a judge last week. On Monday, the jury also rejected similar claims Mueller had made against the singer's mother, Andrea Swift, and her radio liaison, Frank Bell. In a statement following the verdict, Ms Swift said: "I acknowledge the privilege that I benefit from in life, in society and in my ability to shoulder the enormous cost of defending myself in a trial like this. "My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard. Therefore, I will be making donations in the near future to multiple organizations that help sexual assault victims defend themselves." The assault took place during a Denver stopover on the singer's Red tour. Mr Mueller, then a host on the radio station KYGO, had been invited to meet her before the show. The singer complained to KYGO and the station fired Mr Mueller two days later. Last Friday, Ms Swift's former bodyguard gave evidence, supporting her sex assault claims by testifying that he saw the DJ reach under her skirt. Greg Dent told the Colorado court he "did not see his hand touch her physically", but "saw his hand under her skirt". Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning
Pop star Taylor Swift has won a sexual assault case against ex-radio DJ David Mueller, who she said had groped her at a 2013 concert.
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Jordan Watson's body was found in the graveyard in Carlisle early on Tuesday morning; Cumbria Police initially said a man had been killed. A post-mortem examination revealed he died from multiple wounds to the head and neck caused by a sharp implement. Detectives said they were shocked by the murder and said for a child to die in such circumstances was "appalling". The body was found in Upperby Cemetery, next to St John The Baptist Church in Manor Road, at about 07:45 BST on Tuesday. Police patrols have been increased across the Carlisle area while the investigation continues into the death of Jordan, who lived in Ridley Road in the city. Det Supt Andrew Slattery said: "Jordan has lost his life as a result of a savage and brutal attack which has shocked the officers working on the case. "For a child to die in these circumstances in Carlisle is appalling. "The offender or offenders must be apprehended and I appeal to any members of the public with information to come forward. "If anybody heard or saw anything unusual in the area of the cemetery on Manor Road overnight, I would urge them to report it to our incident room." The Reverend Jim Hyslop, vicar of St John The Baptist Church, said the first he knew of Jordan's death was when he saw police vehicles outside his house opposite the cemetery. He said: "Nothing like this has ever happened in the 20 years I have been at the church. "Jordan's body was found in the older part of the cemetery, which has been here since the church was founded in 1840. "We haven't been told too much and I've not spoken to many people about what has happened. My thoughts are with his family at this time." Carlisle's mayor, Steven Layden, said the entire city had been left "shocked and appalled" by the murder. He said: "This is outside the normal life of people in Carlisle. It's absolutely shocking and the savagery and brutality of this murder makes it doubly appalling. "It is utterly, utterly shocking that a 14-year-old can die in such a way."
A 14-year-old boy found dead in a cemetery was the victim of a "savage and brutal attack", police have said.
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Nisbet the eland was born at Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling to parents Limba and Bud on 6 August. It is the first time in 25 years that an eland, the largest species of antelope, has been born at the safari park. She has been named after Scottish international high jumper Jayne Nisbet on account of the eland's jumping skills. Park manager Gary Gilmour said: "She is very lively, especially in the mornings. "She was a bit of a handful when we first let her out in the main reserve, as she seems to have no fear of other antelope or even the rhinos, but mum and dad have been keeping a close eye on her and have been keeping her out of trouble. "Although she may be a bit small just now, she still has a bit of growing to do and will grow up to 5ft (1.52) at her shoulder and can weigh up to 500kg (1102 lbs)." While their weight makes them one of the slowest animals, elands are able to jump over an 8ft (2.43m) fence from a standstill. The animals were once widespread across southern, central and east Africa but are now extinct in many areas.
A rare three-week-old baby antelope has made its first public appearance.
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The accident in Pennsylvania left the driver and his passenger injured. The carmaker said that there was "no evidence" that Autopilot was responsible. It follows an investigation into a fatal accident in Florida where the focus is on the apparent failure of Tesla's technology. In the incident in Pennsylvania, the Model X car hit a guard rail and veered into the eastbound lane, ending up on its roof. In a statement, Tesla said: "Based on the information we have now, we have no reason to believe that Autopilot had anything to do with this accident." It said that it had received an automated alert from the car indicating airbags had been deployed but never received logs containing details about the state of vehicle controls, which would indicate whether Autopilot was on or off. Autopilot is a feature which allows cars to automatically change lanes and react to traffic. US car safety regulators are scrutinising the Pennsylvania crash to determine whether the Autopilot system was in use at the time. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a report last week following the death of 40-year-old Joshua Brown, who was killed while driving a Tesla in Florida. It concluded that both the driver and the Autopilot system failed to detect a large tractor-trailer turning left in front of him. In response to that, Tesla reiterated the safety record for its vehicles and the fact that the Autopilot feature is an auto-assist rather than autonomous feature - which means the driver needs to keep both hands on the wheel at all times. The NHTSA is due to issue guidelines around the rules for autonomous car technology later this month. Previously NHTSA chief Mark Rosekind has said that technology such as Autopilot needed to be twice as safe as the manual systems they replace.
A second crash involving a Tesla car - which includes a self-driving feature known as Autopilot - is being investigated by the US authorities.
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The new station, which is closer to the town centre, allows longer 12-car trains to pass through the station. The old station used to take 10-car trains. Five extra trains to London will run in the mornings and one extra return train will run in the evening. Network Rail said passenger numbers at Rochester had doubled over the past decade to 1.3m journeys a year. Route managing director Alasdair Coates said the upgrade would increase capacity and reliability and offer better local transport links. Southeastern managing director David Statham said Medway's commuter network was growing and commuters would benefit.
The first trains are to run through a new £26m railway station in Rochester ahead of Monday morning's rush hour.
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The law invalidated several local anti-discrimination measures that protected gay and transgender people. It also requires people to use public toilets that correspond to the sex listed on their birth certificates. The governor has responded by accusing the justice department of "overreach". His office must confirm by Monday that the law will not be implemented, the department said. Governor Pat McCrory said the threat of legal action and the risk of losing federal funds represented new ground in the powers of the federal agency. The state could lose millions in federal funding for education if it upholds the law, known as House Bill 2. "The right and expectation of privacy in one of the most private areas of our personal lives is now in jeopardy," Mr McCrory said. "We will be reviewing to determine the next steps." House Bill 2, approved in March, sparked a huge backlash. Bruce Springsteen was among many musicians who cancelled concerts and major businesses pulled out of the state. Companies like Bank of America and Apple have criticised the law. A justice department letter states that the law violates part of the Civil Rights Act banning discrimination based on sex. The letter is not legally binding but essentially warns the state it is at risk of being sued. Supporters of the law said allowing transgender people to choose their restroom could lead to women and children being attacked. They said they feared that men could pose as transgender people and use legal protections as a cover. Mr McCrory has made some small adjustments to the law but kept firm on the restrictions on public toilets.
The US justice department has told North Carolina that its law limiting protections for LGBT people violates national civil rights laws and must not be implemented.
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The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) had 14 flood warnings and eight alerts in place on Saturday. The Met Office has weather warnings in place for rain covering much of southern and eastern Scotland on Boxing Day. Forecasters said a band of heavy rain would sit across the country until late evening on Saturday. Premiership matches due to be hosted by Dundee United and Partick Thistle on Saturday were among five Scottish games postponed because of waterlogged pitches. Stormy weather also forced the cancellation of an annual Boxing Day dunk in the North Sea. Up to 200 people had been expected to take part in the Nippy Dipper fundraising event at Aberdeen beach. Police in the Scottish Borders appealed for motorists to take extra care after heavy and persistent rainfall. Response Inspector Bryan Burns, of Police Scotland, said: "The Borders has seen a significant amount of rain fall since Christmas day and this is set to continue. "As such, there has been localised flooding and a number of roads are now closed including the A698 Denholm to Hawick , B6405 Denholm to Minto, along with various unclassified roads throughout the region and local diversions are in place. "Unfortunately, a minority of drivers are choosing to ignore the diversions and are instead taking the chance of driving through flood waters." He added: "Temperatures are expected to plummet this evening and ice will form on road surfaces making them treacherous during Sunday (Dec 27). Please reduce your speed and drive to the conditions." The Met Office has also issued an early warning of strong winds for Tuesday 29 December. The Tuesday weather event is expected to be named Storm Frank. The Met Office said a rapidly deepening depression, passing to the west of Ireland and Scotland, was likely to bring a swathe of severe gale force winds, accompanied by heavy rain, across parts of western and northern Britain on Tuesday. The weather warnings are available here.
Heavy rain has brought flood warnings for areas of the Scottish Borders and Tayside.
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Andrew McVicar, 33, of Dewsgreen, Basildon, Essex, was charged with robbery in The Drive, Hullbridge, on 19 March. Timothy Smith died two days later from head injuries. Mr McVicar appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Saturday and was remanded in custody. He will appear at the city's crown court on 27 April. He was arrested on Friday morning in north Lanarkshire.
A man has been charged in connection with a robbery in which a 57-year-old man suffered fatal injuries.
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Drugs giant Pfizer is looking to buy UK firm AstraZeneca in a multi-billion dollar deal, and General Electric (GE) is busy pursuing French engineering giant Alstom. But could tax avoidance be one of the reasons US firms are so keen to buy foreign companies? Pfizer's deal, for instance, would see it moving its top company to the UK for tax purposes. US multinationals have big incentives to invest foreign funds abroad, according to tax campaigners. The US has one of the highest rates of corporation tax in the world - a whopping 35%, compared with 21% in the UK, just 12.5% in Ireland, and zero in tax havens such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Keeping money offshore is therefore one way to avoid the high US tax rate. The proposed Pfizer deal would help the multinational use some of its $69bn pile of offshore cash, according to the Tax Justice Network. "What seems quite clear is that tax avoidance has played an important part in starting the original [Pfizer] bid," Tax Justice Network executive director John Christensen says. Pfizer told the BBC that there were strategic business reasons for the proposed deal, but admitted it would give "a more efficient tax structure". The companies would potentially operate as "as [a] new, UK-domiciled combined company" that "would not subject AstraZeneca's non-US profits to US tax, which would be in the best interests of the combined company's shareholders". In addition, UK companies are "subject to little or no tax on profits generated in non-UK jurisdictions when they are repatriated". "Consequently, the current contemplated structure would place us on a more even competitive playing field and would again be in the best interests of the combined company's shareholders," Pfizer said. US corporations have billions sitting offshore that could be taxed if the money were brought back to the US, Mr Christensen says. For example, General Electric has around $108bn held offshore, according to Bloomberg. GE declined to comment on its tax arrangements or the Alstom negotiations. However, a source close to GE told the BBC that the firm is not chasing the Alstom deal for tax reasons, but for business purposes. In addition, the $108bn held overseas has been reinvested and is not held as cash, the source said, adding that while GE does have $57bn cash outside the US, that is held by GE Capital, which uses it for investments. Commentators agree that the reason companies are so keen to invest abroad lies with the US tax system and the high tax rates it imposes. As soon as companies try to bring profits back into the US, they may be liable for tax so they go to great efforts to keep them offshore. "This prevents investment [coming] fully back into the US where it is needed," says Tax Foundation economist Kyle Pomerleau. US multinationals are involved in a cat-and-mouse game with US tax authorities, and use some very creative strategies to minimise income tax payments, the Tax Justice Network says. Common tax avoidance strategies include assigning intellectual property rights to foreign subsidiaries, and then paying the subsidiaries to use a brand, trademark, patent or licence. "You charge an onshore subsidiary for the use of a brand, but the brand belongs to an offshore company," he says. Foreign subsidiaries are also used to charge high management fees to a parent company. "Offshore companies milk the onshore companies," he adds. "These are the kinds of games that are played." In addition, multinationals load foreign acquisitions with tax deductable debt to move money offshore, he says Companies also use share buyback schemes as part of their strategy. Apple, which has tens of billions of dollars overseas, is in the curious situation of taking on debt for a share buyback scheme to placate shareholders back home missing out on dividends. In a share buyback scheme, a company can pay a premium price to buy a limited number of shares from each shareholder. "It's a way of keeping shareholders happy," economist and anti-poverty campaigner Richard Murphy says. "It's not profitable in the US to provide dividends." A premium price has a positive effect on the value of the company's shares in general, which adds to shareholder contentment, Mr Murphy adds. Some estimates put the amount of US cash kept abroad at $1.5 trillion. Nevertheless, multinational firms "would like to be able to bring money back to the US without paying a big tax", says Columbia Law School professor Michael Graetz. And in fact some US corporations do opt to bring huge chunks of cash home. Ebay recently said it would repatriate almost $9bn as "it would make more sense to have more cash in the US for mergers and acquisitions". There are a number of efforts in the US and elsewhere to try to reform tax rules. Republican congressman Dave Camp has been among US politicians attempting to introduce a draft tax reform act which aims to lower corporation tax. The OECD is in the process of coming up with rules designed to tackle "base erosion and profit shifting", which involves companies using mismatches in tax rules to make profits "disappear" legally. However, these efforts may take many years to come to fruition. In the meantime, the cat-and-mouse game between multinationals and tax authorities continues.
US companies are involved in chasing a number of headline-grabbing deals at the moment, with rationales that tie-ups would be good for the businesses.
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Much of the attention this year focused on the campaign to introduce marriage equality in Northern Ireland. The parade left Custom House Square at noon with the usual mixture of colour, music and performances. The event is now in its 25th year and organisers claim that, in that time, the number of participants has grown from 100 to more than 40,000. Festival organisers wore t-shirts with the slogan "It's time", a reference to the continuing campaign for "full equality" in Northern Ireland. Sarah Melville-Watson from Belfast Pride Festival said they were trying to capture the momentum that built up during the same-sex marriage referendum in the Republic of Ireland in May. "It was a massive step forward, and in Northern Ireland we're only one small part of a country that has accepted the LGTB community fully and we're not." "This is our opportunity. We can't have that vote, but we can stand together," she said. "You need to stop and listen to us and you need to understand that equality is the way forward." One spectator, who moved out of Belfast more than 40 years ago, said the growth of the local Gay Pride movement was a sign of how much the city has changed. "When I left Belfast in 1974 you would never, ever, ever imagine that this kind of thing could happen in Belfast and it's brilliant, absolutely fantastic," the woman said. "I think it says an awful lot about how society has changed and how open-minded people have become, and I think that's all to the good." Thomas Finnegan, 53, from Belfast said: "I've been on the parades since they started in Belfast and there was only a handful of us and this is amazing to see the number of people. "The first parades where scary, there was only a handful of us and you were frightened, because there was a big fear factor to see it grow to this level is amazing." Lord Mayor of Belfast, Arder Carson, and other councillors helped to carry a banner calling for marriage equality as the parade moved off from Custom House Square. Speaking ahead of the march, the mayor said he was looking forward to "another fantastic event for the city". "It's going to be a spectacle of colour, it's going to be an expression of identity and an expression of diversity for Belfast". The Sinn Féin councillor said marking the 25th anniversary of the first Belfast Pride parade was a "milestone" for the gay rights movement. "It started small scale way back in the day and it's just grown, year on year, and I suppose today, being a quarter century, is of special significance for the Belfast Pride festival. "So I dare say, we'll have a few more visitors in the city today because of that," Mr Carson added. After voters in the Republic of Ireland supported the introduction of same sex marriage in a referendum in May, Northern Ireland is now the only part of the UK and Ireland where gay marriage has not been legalised. The Northern Ireland Assembly has voted on the issue four times and each time it has been rejected by MLAs. On Saturday, Christian protesters staged a demonstration against the march outside Belfast City Hall, but they were far outnumbered by supporters. One the protesters, Ken Elliott from Portadown, said: "I suppose there'll be a lot of pressures on the legislators to make a change. But whether it changes or not, it's still wrong, the Bible is against it." A police spokesman said officers estimate that up to 6,000 people took part in this year's Pride parade but they do not have an official estimate of the thousands more who lined the city centre to watch the parade.
Thousands of people have lined the streets of Belfast for the city's annual Gay Pride Parade.
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Alan Cronin, 60, from Guilden Sutton, near Chester, died following a crash near Rossett flyover on the A483 Wrexham bypass last Thursday. Polish national Damian Niepieklo, 22, has also been charged with failing to stop and failing to report an accident. He was further remanded in custody until 26 June when the case will be heard at Mold Crown Court. Mr Niepieklo spoke only to confirm his name and age, and to confirm he understood the charges. There was no application for bail. In a tribute on Friday, the family of Mr Cronin, a member of Chester Triathlon Club, described him as the "best possible dad, husband, brother and partner to have, willing to do anything for anyone".
A man has appeared in court in Wrexham charged with causing the death of a cyclist by dangerous driving.
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Media playback is not supported on this device The IOC announced mixed-gender events in athletics, swimming, table tennis and triathlon have been approved for Tokyo. Stanford could link up with the Brownlee brothers for Team GB in Japan in three years. "It's fantastic and something I am excited about," said Stanford. The 29-year-old was fourth in the Rio Olympics individual event after finishing behind her house-mate Vicky Holland. "The team relay has proved to be a very popular event with the athletes and spectators and audiences," said Stanford. "The team element is not something we see a lot with triathlon very often, so to be able to compete genuinely as a team will be fantastic. "It's another medal event for triathlon in the Olympics and the more medal events we can get the better." In the meantime, she competes in the World Series event in Leeds on Sunday. Stanford could be one of a number of Welsh sportswomen to benefit from changes to mixed gender events. Double Olympic swimming silver medallist and Commonwealth Games champion Jazz Carlin could target the 1500m freestyle after previous 400m and 800m success. Fellow swimmers Georgia Davies and Chloe Tutton might be contenders for the 4x100m medley mixed relay, while Olympic athlete Seren Bundy-Davies would be in line for a place on the track in the 4x400m mixed relay. The introduction of the Madison in the cycling programme could benefit Olympic team pursuit champion Elinor Barker, while mixed team events in the judo could benefit 2014 Commonwealth Games champion Natalie Powell. Tokyo will have five more sports than Rio, taking the total to 33, but the existing sports have been given 15 more events. Find out how to get into triathlon in our special guide.
Former world triathlon champion Non Stanford says she is delighted a mixed relay event will be included in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games.
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The 24-year-old has been overlooked while New Zealanders Rey Lee-Lo and Willis Halaholo have taken over in the Blues' midfield this season. Blues recently signed Leicester's Welsh centre Jack Roberts for next season. Meanwhile Allen, who has four Wales caps, has been linked with Blues' Welsh Pro12 rivals Ospreys. In the announcement of Roberts' signing, Blues stated: "He will add depth and compete with Rey Lee-Lo, Willis Halaholo, Garyn Smith and Harri Millard for a centre spot next season." Allen scored a first-half try hat-trick in his last Wales appearance, against Uruguay in Cardiff at the 2015 World Cup, but later pulled a hamstring after the break and went off. He is out of contract at the end of this term and Wilson was questioned about his name being omitted from the centre options beyond that. Wilson said: "Currently the names that were mentioned in there were the names that will be competing for that position for next season."
Wales centre Cory Allen's Cardiff Blues future is in doubt after head coach Danny Wilson said he was not currently being considered as a centre option.
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The men were taking part in the Cannon Run, a European driving tour. They were arrested on 4 June and have been held in custody since without bail. It is alleged they were racing their cars on a Swiss motorway which could result in a four-year prison term. James Cannon, tour organiser and friend of the trio, denied the accusation. Swiss prosecutors said the men were being held over possible violations of Switzerland's road traffic laws. Julian Wilson, 40, from Nottinghamshire, David Bentley, 49, from Shropshire, and Adrian Harrold, 45, from Wolverhampton, were driving three Nissan GT-Rs during the trip from Maidstone to Monaco when they were arrested near Zurich. Mr Bentley's daughter was forced to postpone her wedding as he could not be there to walk her down the aisle and he also missed his son's prom. Two of the men have spent their birthdays in prison. Cannon Run 3000 is described as a "luxury driving holiday for every car fan" taking in Europe's best roads with an emphasis on "safe driving". Mr Cannon, who had warned people taking part about "extreme" driving laws in Switzerland, said no-one taking part was racing. He said the men were being held for nothing more than "minor driving offences" including a "small speeding issue", that in the UK would have been a "slap on the wrist". Prosecutors have suggested to the Swiss media the men were being held for taking part in a street race, an offence punishable by up to four years in prison. A spokeswoman would only confirm that it was over a violation of Switzerland's road traffic laws. The BBC has discovered that no charges have been formally brought and the investigation is continuing. However, the reason the men have remained in prison is because they are currently in what the Swiss call "untersuchungshaft", or investigatory detention. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We have been assisting three British people since their detention in Switzerland since 4 June. "We are providing support to their families and remain in contact with the Swiss authorities." After the Le Mans Grand Prix disaster in 1955, in which 84 people were killed, Switzerland decided to ban car races completely. Despite some calls for reintroducing them, they remain banned and it seems unlikely they will ever be permitted again. But that has not stopped some drivers from staging their own informal, often spontaneous, races on Swiss alpine roads and passes. It is speculative, but it may be that the Swiss authorities want to use this case as a warning to others. The Cannon Run attracts a lot of attention from car enthusiasts and broadcasts its events on social media. The reason for the long detention is not clear, but it is possible the three are considered a flight risk, and are therefore being held in detention rather than let out on bail.
Three Britons have been held for seven weeks without charge in Switzerland over "minor driving offences" during an organised motoring holiday.
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Sam Ward also found the net but two goals from Matias Paredes and Gonzalo Peillat's penalty corner sealed victory for the visitors at Bisham Abbey. "We fell right into their trap as we were sloppy at times in possession which allowed them to counter-attack," said GB head coach Bobby Crutchley. "That's what they're looking for and that's why it's frustrating." The series is helping Britain prepare for the World League Final, which starts on 27 November in India. The second Test against Argentina is on Wednesday, also at Bisham Abbey.
Great Britain were beaten 3-2 in the first of three Tests against Argentina, despite a debut goal from Alan Forsyth.
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Partners at Glencairn Medical Practice said it was with "immense sadness" that they were resigning from their contract with Ayrshire and Arran Health Board. They said it would have been impossible to maintain clinical standards. A spokesman for NHS Ayrshire and Arran said GPs in the area were funded according to NHS financial guidance. Partners at the practice, which operates from Kilmaurs and Crosshouse surgeries, said they would hand over running of the service to the board on 1 August. A statement on their website said: "For some time now, the practice has been experiencing the UK-wide staffing and workload pressures that are now nationally recognised to be affecting General Practice. "Unfortunately due to a range of pressures, running of the practice with the present funding stream has become impossible. "The partners sought support from NHS Ayrshire and Arran; however, there were not sufficient resources to sustain the practice in its current form." Eddie Fraser, director for East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, said: "We will work to ensure that patients continue to receive general medical services and if necessary will take over the running of the practice directly." He added: "GPs are compensated for the size of their practice list, their geographical area and the health demographic of their patients."
Doctors at a GP surgery have blamed UK-wide staffing and funding problems for their decision to quit their East Ayrshire practice.
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Hahn won the T38 100m, emulating her achievement in the 200m, with team-mate Kadeena Cox second. Hermitage added T37 100m gold to her 400m title and Davies, already the F42 discus champion, claimed shot put gold. Jonathan Broom-Edwards took silver in the T44 high jump. It takes Britain's total medal tally to 35, surpassing the 31 won in Doha two years ago and closing in on their best modern tally of 38, set in 2011. Paralympic champion Hahn, 20, triumphed in a star-studded final containing three British gold medallists in this event, along with 400m winner Cox and long jump champion Olivia Breen, who came fourth. Hahn, who has cerebral palsy, cemented herself as the classification's premier sprinter, finishing more than half a second ahead of Cox, for her fifth career world title and ninth medal at major competitions. "I'm so happy to retain my title and break a world record. It has been amazing, I just want to thank the officials, volunteers and National Lottery, without all of them we wouldn't be here," she told BBC Radio 5 live. Cox, 26, completed a trio of gold, silver and bronze medals in London and said she would now focus on repeating her feat of claiming gold in two separate sports at Rio 2016 by returning to cycling before Tokyo 2020. Davies' gold in the discus on Sunday had come in his less-favoured event, suggesting the 26-year-old's success in the shot put was almost certain, having won the title at the last two Worlds and at Rio 2016. Davies, who was born with talipes and hemi-hemilia, which means his right leg is missing bones, muscle and ligaments, is the first man to pass the 17m mark in the classification, throwing 17.52m to smash his own record of 16.13m. "I was happy to say the least - phenomenal," said the Welshman. "This crowd got me to a different level and I would thank every single person if I could. "What I wanted to do was be at the forefront of the event and the aim is 20m and it is something I think I could do. "Discus has been on the back-burner since London as it is not in the Paralympic programme so it has been about the shot put and we think we can go further, we were aiming for 18m." Hermitage, 28, who has cerebral palsy, walked away from athletics at the age of 14 but returned to training five years ago, citing London 2012 as an inspiration. She has gone on to win Paralympic gold in Rio and a world title in Doha, but has spoken of her desire to make memories inside the same stadium that hosted the Paralympics in 2012. She can now reflect on two world titles, including a world record in the 400m. "I didn't get the best of starts, I was aware of the pressure on my outside, but it went well and I'm happy to get the win," she said. Earlier, Broom-Edwards, who has muscular and joint impairments in his legs, was beaten by Poland's Maciej Lepiato at a major championships for the fourth time in his career. The 29-year-old now has silver medals from three World Championships as well as last year's Paralympics. "I feel great. It's not quite the result I was aiming for. I feel I'm in shape for a new personal best. But this atmosphere is hard to harness," he told BBC Radio 5 live. "The atmosphere can help and it can hinder. There was one jump I was so excited and I crashed into the bar. It's an experience I want to get better at." Elsewhere, Graeme Ballard and Paul Blake finished fourth and sixth respectively in the T36 100m and Jack Gladman was ninth in the T38 1500m on his senior international debut. Zak Skinner, making his British debut at a major championships, came fourth in the T13 long jump, for athletes with visual impairment. America's Paralympic champion Mikey Brannigan, the first T20 athlete to run a sub four-minute mile, took gold in the event as GB's Steve Morris came fifth and team-mate James Hamilton sixth. Ireland's Michael McKillop defended his middle-distance double by winning the T37 1500m final to add to his 800m success.
British trio Sophie Hahn, Aled Davies and Georgie Hermitage each claimed their second gold medals on the ninth day of the World Para-athletics Championships in London.
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Lawyers for an Iranian asylum seeker argued that PNG's designation as an offshore processing centre was illegal under the Migration Act. But the judges rejected the claims. Conditions in the camp, and in another centre on Nauru, have been the subject of stringent criticism from both UN agencies and human rights groups. The Iranian man arrived on Australia's Christmas Island by boat last July. He was then transferred to the Manus Island Detention Centre . His lawyers also claimed that his removal from Christmas Island was illegal. ''It's devastating for our client,'' his lawyer Mark Robinson said. ''It means that he has to remain in Papua New Guinea in terrible conditions." The much-criticised policy was introduced by the Australian government in 2012. It has the broad support of both of Australia's main political parties. But rights groups have questioned whether Australia is adequately protecting vulnerable people. Riots have broken out at the Manus centre on several occasions. The ruling comes as a victory for the current conservative Australian government, says the BBC's Jon Donnison in Sydney. The government has have championed the policy and has been largely successful in reducing the number of asylum seekers, he says. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott welcomed the court's decision. "We haven't had a successful people smuggling venture to Australia in almost six months and obviously I'm pleased those policies have passed muster," he said. "This is a government that is determined to stop the boats so we've put a range of policies in place." Immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young maintained the Manus Island detention centre was not safe for asylum seekers. "Dumping refugees in unsafe conditions on Manus Island may be constitutional but it's certainly not morally acceptable and is still in breach of international law," she said. "What remains true is that these camps of cruelty are inhumane, unsafe and untenable for refugees."
Australia's High Court has ruled that sending asylum seekers to be processed offshore in Papua New Guinea does not breach the constitution.
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The injured man was discovered in Elizabeth Street, in the city's Cessnock area, near Ibrox, at about 00:20 on Tuesday. Emergency services attended but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police Scotland said a 27-year-old man had been detained in connection with the death. He was due to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Wednesday.
A man has been arrested in connection with the death of another man found seriously hurt in a Glasgow street.
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By anyone's estimations, the general election of 2015 was an immense piece of administration. Forty-five million ballot papers were printed to reflect 650 separate candidate lists for the election. Forty-three thousand polling stations were staffed for 15 hours by 120,000 people. And the total cost of it came to £98,845,157. But all that was organised with five years' notice - the duration between the previous election and the date of the 2015 poll. The time frame for the 2017 ballot, which takes place on 8 June, is little more than seven weeks. One Conservative member of staff told the BBC she was completely taken aback. "I have friends who work for ministers and even they didn't see it coming until the Cabinet meeting took place." The clock is already ticking, and there is much work to be done. A Labour aide working for an MP described the past week as "very stressful". "In my own time after work I've been contributing to campaign materials and arranging to uproot myself from London so I can go back to the constituency." While general elections are about putting MPs in Parliament, it falls to councils to organise the nitty-gritty of voting and counting. Venues for polling stations and counting centres will need to be earmarked and reserved for 8 June. And that needs to happen before polling cards can be sent out. This work is carried out by local authorities' electoral services divisions and overseen by returning officers. John Turner, chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, predicts this election will be particularly onerous for two reasons - the compressed time scale, and the fact local elections are already taking place in many areas in less than two weeks. "Many polling stations aren't publicly owned," said Mr Turner. "They're church halls or community centres, and a lot rests on returning officers' ability to persuade the owners to move things around and make the space available." As for staffing, electoral services departments maintain databases of temporary workers. But "in this case some of them may already have made other plans or booked holidays". "Although returning officers are helped by permanent teams, this varies a lot. In some district councils it will only be two or three people and colleagues from other departments will have to pitch in. "It's going to be an intense time for many of us, working 12-hour days." Mr Turner is confident, however, that it will all come together in time, noting: "We're a bit like the duck paddling away beneath the water but serene on the surface." There's equally little hope of sleep for those in charge of political policy making. They will be working around the clock on putting together manifestoes. It's a particularly stressful time for the party in government, says Nick Pearce, head of the No 10 policy unit under former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. As well as existing government duties, staff will be working "flat-out" to get the document finalised. "A minister, usually from the Cabinet Office, takes overall responsibility, working with political staff from different departments to draft sections and liaise with the prime minister and her chief of staff," he explained. Ministers, lobbyists and Treasury staff also get heavily involved, trying to place pet projects and ensure big-ticket items are properly costed. "There's huge pressure not to get anything wrong," said Mr Pearce. "But working quickly like this there is certainly potential for that to happen." And what of getting the message out? Seven weeks is "a very, very tight time frame" for organising a marketing and advertising strategy, said Rachel Hamburger, an advertising executive and former Lib Dem campaigner. "I'd be very surprised if we saw any nationwide broadcast campaigns comparable to famous ones of the past such as the Blair 'devil eyes'," she said. "With a long run-up, parties could be expected to run focus groups, market research and analysis of what is most important to their campaign before deploying adverts. This time, she believes. parties will "concentrate resources on individual seats and simple messages". Elsewhere in the media, broadcasters are preparing for election night. The BBC is reassigning hundreds of researchers, producers, camera crews and local reporters to put together its results programme. Parties, meanwhile, have to deal with the small matter of ensuring there are candidates in place in 650 constituencies for people to elect. Labour and the Conservatives have both altered their normal selection procedures to speed things up, while all 54 of the SNP's existing MPs are expected to stand again. The other parties are in varying states of readiness. The Lib Dems say they have about 100 candidates still to pick. UKIP and Plaid Cymru will adopt the bulk of their candidates next week, while Greens' selection is under way with local electoral alliances under consideration. None of Northern Ireland's parties are thought to have selected candidates, as talks continue about restoring devolved government. Most candidates will not have had a chance to allocate resources. It has already led some to take the unusual step of appealing for online donations. Regional party offices will provide MPs and activists with support, but the prevailing mood could be described as one of apprehensiveness. When asked to sum up how things were going, a fretful Conservative source said: "Everything is basically on fire." A Labour campaigner replied with a series of distressed crying and screaming emojis. However, on a purely technical point, it's worth noting the 50-day gap between announcement and polling day is actually the longest since 1983. What's different this time is the lack of preamble, and thus preparation. As the BBC's former head of political research David Cowling put it: "Everyone was lulled into a false sense of security by assurances... and we're now completely stunned." Sign-up to get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning
When Theresa May announced on Tuesday she was seeking an early general election, scores of people saw their weekends and half-term holidays vanish in a giant puff of electioneering, manifesto-writing and the mammoth admin task of staging a nationwide ballot.
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In a statement carried by KCNA news agency, the country's top military body said the "high-level nuclear test" and more long-range rocket launches were aimed at its "arch-enemy", the US. The statement gave no time-frame for the test. North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009. The move comes two days after a UN Security Council resolution condemned Pyongyang's recent rocket launch. The Security Council also expanded sanctions against the isolated communist country following its December launch, which was seen by the US and North Korea's neighbours as a banned test of long-range missile technology. North Korea said the rocket was solely aimed at putting a satellite into space for peaceful purposes. The statement, which came from North Korea's National Defence Commission, hit out at the resolution as "illegal", before pledging a response. By Zhuang ChenEditor, BBC Chinese Pyongyang's defiant reaction to Tuesday's further sanctions is of no surprise - but it poses a new challenge to China. For years, China has been playing a careful balancing act in dealing with the reclusive country: persuasion, pressure but not sanction. So China's backing of the UN resolution expanding sanctions is a departure from its long-standing policy on North Korea. The main reason for the shift in policy is China's need for US support in dealing with the increasing tension between China and Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea. A second reason is Beijing's need to respond to the Obama administration's strategic shift in focus towards the Asia-Pacific region. China needs to maximise its leverage with the US in order to better safeguard its own interests - and Pyongyang is a card it can play. The question is whether such a shift is temporary or a long-term change in approach. The bottom line is: China wants to maintain its clout over Pyongyang and to keep the Kim Jung-un regime intact for the foreseeable future - while also managing its other strategic priorities. "We do not hide that the various satellites and long-range rockets we will continue to launch, as well as the high-level nuclear test we will proceed with, are aimed at our arch-enemy, the United States," KCNA quoted it as saying. "Settling accounts with the US needs to be done with force, not with words," it added. Recent reports from South Korean and US bodies which monitor North Korea's nuclear test sites had said North Korea could be preparing for a third test. Earlier on Thursday, a South Korean defence ministry spokesman said it appeared that North Korea was "ready to conduct a nuclear test at anytime if its leadership decides to go ahead". Regional neighbours and the US have urged it not to proceed. "We hope they don't do it, we call on them not to do it. It will be a mistake and a missed opportunity if they were to do it," said Glyn Davies, the US special envoy on North Korea policy who is currently visiting Seoul. "This is not a moment to increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula." A South Korean foreign ministry spokesman said Seoul deeply regretted the North Korean statement and "strongly" urged it not to go ahead. China's foreign ministry, meanwhile, called on all relevant parties to "refrain from action that might escalate the situation in the region". North Korea's nuclear tests Q&A: North Korea's nuclear programme Beijing - North Korea's closest ally and biggest trading partner - backed Tuesday's Security Council resolution, something which correspondents say will have angered its neighbour. Both North Korea's previous nuclear tests followed long-range rocket launches. If it were to go ahead, this would be the first nuclear test under Kim Jong-un, who took over the leadership after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in December 2011. There was no explanation in the statement of what "high-level" test might mean. Experts believe the two previous tests used plutonium as fissile material, but North Korea is also believed to have been working on a programme to produce highly-enriched uranium. It is thought that North Korea is not yet able to make a nuclear device small enough to mount on a long-range missile, although the US believes that is Pyongyang's ultimate goal.
North Korea says it is proceeding with plans for a third nuclear test.
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North Korea, meanwhile, has threatened to fire off missiles towards the US island territory of Guam - home to 163,000 people. And all this comes amid reports that Pyongyang may have finally succeeded in miniaturising a nuclear weapon that could fit on an inter-continental missile - a prospect long-dreaded by the US and its Asian allies. Is this a precursor to military conflict? Experts say you should not panic - just yet. This is why: This is one of the most important things to keep in mind. A war on the Korean peninsula serves no-one's interests. The North Korean regime's main goal is survival - and a war with the US would seriously jeopardise it. As BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus notes, any North Korean attack against the US or its allies in the current context could quickly spiral into a wider war - and we have to assume the Kim Jong-un regime is not suicidal. In fact, this is why North Korea has been trying so hard to become a nuclear-armed power. Having this capability, it reasons, would protect the regime by raising the costs of toppling it. Kim Jong-un does not want to go the way of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi or Iraq's Saddam Hussein. Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul told the UK's Guardian newspaper there was "very little probability of conflict", but North Koreans were equally "not interested in diplomacy" at this point. "They want to get the ability to wipe out Chicago from the map first, and then they will be interested in diplomatic solutions," Mr Lankov said. What about a pre-emptive US strike? The US knows that a strike on North Korea would force the regime to retaliate against US allies South Korea and Japan. This would result in a massive loss of life, including the deaths of thousands of Americans - troops and civilians. Additionally, Washington does not want to risk any nuclear-tipped missiles being fired off towards the US mainland. Finally, China - Pyongyang's only ally - has helped to prop up the regime precisely because its collapse is deemed to be a strategically worse outcome. US and South Korean troops just across the Chinese border is a prospect that Beijing does not want to have to face - and that's what war would bring. President Trump might have threatened North Korea with language uncommon for a US president, but this does not mean the US is actively moving on to a war footing. As one anonymous US military official told Reuters news agency: "Just because the rhetoric goes up, doesn't mean our posture changes." New York Times columnist Max Fisher agrees: "These are the sorts of signals, not a leader's offhand comments, that matter most in international relations." What's more, after two North Korean inter-continental ballistic missile tests in July, the US reverted to a tried and true tactic - squeezing Pyongyang through UN Security Council sanctions. And its diplomats are still speaking hopefully of returning to the negotiating table - pointing to support from China and Russia. These send conflicting signals to Pyongyang, but also moderate the tough rhetoric coming from President Trump. Still, some analysts say a misinterpreted move in the current tense environment could lead to an accidental war. "There could be a power outage in North Korea that they mistake as a part of a pre-emptive attack. The United States might make a mistake on the [Demilitarised Zone]," Daryl Kimball, of US think tank Arms Control Association, told the BBC. "So there are various ways in which each side can miscalculate and the situation escalates out of control". As former US Assistant Secretary of State PJ Crowley points out, the US and North Korea came close to armed conflict in 1994, when Pyongyang refused to allow international inspectors into its nuclear facilities. Diplomacy won out. Over the years, North Korea has regularly made incendiary threats against the US, Japan and South Korea, several times threatening to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire". And Mr Trump's rhetoric - in content, if not style - is also not exactly unprecedented from a US president. "In many different forms, albeit not as colourful, the US has always said that if North Korea ever attacks, the regime will cease to exist," Mr Crowley writes. PJ Crowley: Where to now after 'fire and fury'? The difference this time, he added, was that the US president appeared to suggest he would take pre-emptive action (though Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later played this down.) This kind of unpredictable, bellicose rhetoric coming from the White House is unusual and does have people worried, analysts say. Still, South Korea - the US ally with the most to lose from a confrontation with the North - does not appear to be too concerned. A senior official from the presidential Blue House told reporters on 9 August that the situation had not reached a crisis level, and that it was highly likely it could be resolved peacefully. This is cause for optimism. Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning
The US president has vowed to respond to North Korean threats "with fire and fury like the world has never seen".
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Mugo wa Wairimu pleaded not guilty and has previously denied that he raped his patients after sedating them. The charges stem from a Kenyan TV report which had footage showing an unidentified man allegedly assaulting an unconscious woman on a clinic bed. Kenya's Medical Practitioners Board has said he is not a registered doctor. Mr Wa Wairimu went on the run for a week after the report was aired on Kenya's private Citizen TV. He was eventually arrested at a hotel outside the capital, Nairobi, after members of the public called the police. The secretly recorded footage was filmed by a suspicious staff member. The BBC's Odhiambo Joseph in Nairobi says Mr Wa Wairimu has been in custody since his arrest, as it was argued that releasing him might endanger his life because of the public outrage over the affair. The court ordered on Friday that he remain in custody until Monday 5 October when his bail application is to be heard. In one of the last posts on his Facebook page before his arrest, he described the allegations against him as "malicious". "Mob justice, media or otherwise only replaces due process in failed states. Kenya is not Iraq, Syria or Yugoslavia," wrote Mr Wa Wairimu, who is also a blogger. He was able to do a few Facebook posts on Friday around the time of the court hearing, reiterating that he was "unbowed" and said "may justice be our shield and defender".
A Kenyan man has been charged with 12 offences including rape, impersonating a gynaecologist and operating a clinic without a licence in Nairobi.
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Truckers and young "roughnecks" from the oil fields packed the diner, which is known for its biscuits and gravy and massive portions. But business is down 40% "since the oil went to hell" over the last 18 months, says Gil Edmondson, who owns Zingo's with his wife. "If there's nothing going on at the oil fields, then there's not much going on here," says Edmondson. "That's our customers." Black gold is the lifeblood of this blue-collar, conservative county - the heart of California's billion-dollar oil industry. This is the home of country music legends Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, who sang of the working man's blues. Thousands of "nodding donkey" oil pumps dot the flat, blistering hot landscape. It's a place where young men could earn a decent middle-class living in the oil fields without a university education; where the many orange, almond and grape fields have provided work for transients since Dust Bowl migrants came here for refuge in the 1930s. It's also a place where Donald Trump's promise to "Make America Great Again" resonates. "We need to bring companies back to America," says Dwain Cowell over breakfast at Zingo's. Regular customers nod in agreement as Cowell rails against the loss of the US iron industry to Vietnam, China and Japan. Sporting a Zingo's baseball cap, Cowell holds court in one of the booths at the cafe - his booming voice rousing other customers as they bemoan the rise in crime over the last two years because of unemployment. At 81, Cowell has done well running a refrigeration business for buses and trucks, and his children and grandchildren have gone to college. But he fears for the younger generation in Kern County, where more oil is produced than in any other county in the United States. He believes the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton are pushing a global agenda and a global economy when "we should be putting America first" and protecting industry. A retired oil man at the next table couldn't agree more. "We can't all be computer geeks," he shouts. The restaurant's tables are decorated with ads from local businesses - oil companies as well as the local mom and pop operations which service the industry: trucking, air conditioning, construction. "My old man was laid off from the oil fields," a waitress named Crystal says. A customer says he was forced into early retirement. Another customer found work driving a truck for a fraction of the pay he was earning in the oil fields. "Women are the only ones still working around here," another waitress says. "And our business is way down." As other Americans embrace lower oil and gas prices with road trips, in Kern County every sector of the economy is suffering the effects of low oil prices and mass lay-offs in the industry. A barrel of oil cost $100 in June 2014. US oil prices crashed to $27 a barrel in January - the lowest level since 2003. With prices now hovering at around $50 a barrel, oil producers are still holding off from rehiring many of the laid off workers. Employment in Kern County's oil and gas extraction and well drilling is down 17.6% compared with a year ago, according to state figures released in June. The overall unemployment rate in Kern County was 9.7% in May, more than double California's 4.7% rate and 4.5% for the US. Not everyone in Bakersfield is a Republican, but it's hard to find Democrats at the local bars and diners. Local radio is dominated by conservative talk shows - Rush Limbaugh and local hosts who have many nicknames for the political elite: Killary, Crooked Hillary, Lyin' Ted. President Obama is still "accidentally" called "Osama" and dismissed as a Muslim and a foreigner doing irreparable damage to America's standing in the world. Many here feel excluded from the positive economic data being touted in Washington. Kern County weathered the 2007-08 financial crisis better than most: at a time of high oil prices many were getting into the oil industry while it was booming. And the oil industry pays well. At the peak of his career as an oil consultant, Patrick McGonigal earned nearly $300,000 a year. He lived the high life, owning a Corvette, a custom Harley and homes in Bakersfield, North Dakota and San Diego. Now he's effectively homeless - couch surfing with family and friends. The Corvette, hog and homes long gone since oil prices tanked over the last 18 months - the worst drop in oil prices in a generation. "We're all struggling," he says. If the price of oil doesn't dramatically rise, he says, many here don't know how they'll survive. The downturn has hit every generation of McGonigal's family. His stepfather is also an oil man and was forced into early retirement. Several other family members are unemployed and living off their savings. Many here feel like the government is leading the country into decline, by not protecting the oil and gas industry or doing more to support American manufacturing and farming. A five-year long drought hasn't helped - agriculture is the other major industry here and it is suffering as farmers grapple with the cost of water. This is also Steinbeck country - where the fictional Joad family came in The Grapes of Wrath after fleeing Oklahoma in search of a better life. Instead of finding paradise, the desperate "Okie" migrants of the 1930s were treated with suspicion in Bakersfield, much the way Mexican farm workers are treated today. Instead of a promised land of plenty, they struggled to find even low-paying, backbreaking jobs on farms and many starved to death. Donald Trump's promise to build a wall between the US and Mexico is a popular prospect here. Unemployed carpenter and oil field worker Derrick Nichols, 29, says it's difficult to get a job if you don't speak Spanish, which he doesn't. In the middle of a hot day, he sits at the bar of the Long Branch Saloon in Oildale - a rough neighbourhood a few miles north of Bakersfield where gangs and drugs have created opportunity for some who have lost out in the oil economy. He talks of the good old days in Oildale when he was a kid. There used to be a dairy just down the road and the river was clean and kids used to ride their bikes freely throughout the neighbourhood. "Now we can't let our kids out of our sight. There's too many tweakers out there," he says of the drugs, which have destroyed so many lives here.
It used to be tough to get a table for breakfast at Zingo's Cafe in Bakersfield.
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The 35-year-old former Blackpool and Huddersfield player initially joined on non-contract terms on 3 October. He scored on his debut and has since made one substitute appearance. "That gives us both a chance to have a longer look at each other. It puts me in the shop window so if I do well, I get an extension here or I get a move to another club," Taylor-Fletcher said. Accrington also confirmed striker Max Hazeldine, 19, has left the club by mutual consent.
Accrington Stanley forward Gary Taylor-Fletcher has signed a deal with the League Two side until January.
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Sir Kenneth Calman, who was before the House of Lords Constitution Committee, also said he believed such a document could define what it was to be British. He told members that not enough had been done to "articulate" the case for the Union. In 2009, the Calman Commission recommended that Scotland take charge of half the income tax it raised. His report, which included input from the three main Unionist parties but not the SNP, came five years before the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014. I don't think [the case for the Union] has been well enough articulated - it is still a case of 'them at Westminster' Sir Kenneth appeared before the committee - which has no SNP members - alongside Sir Paul Silk, former chairman of the Commission on Devolution in Wales. Crossbench peer, Lord Judge, asked if there was merit in creating a Charter of the Union. Sir Kenneth replied: "The answer is yes. I think it would make the discussion easier about who does what, and how we benefit, how you benefit and how we all benefit. I think that would be very helpful. "Without that communication, the average citizen is left wondering who does what for me now - and it is Westminster's fault anyway - so, it is easier to put it the wrong way." Sir Kenneth was also asked, by Labour peer Lord Morgan, whether such a charter should include suggestions on what it was to be British. The former chief medical officer of Scotland said: "I think that is a good point, that seems to be part of the [means to an] end, what does it mean to be a citizen of this country and what are our values. "I can see that a group could look at a range of these issues, articulating, communicating them and seeing if people want to be part of it." The former commission chief added: "I don't think [the case for the Union] has been well enough articulated - it is still a case of 'them at Westminster', as opposed to 'Westminster is here to help you'. "We need to show that it [the Union] is worthwhile, not only that Scotland has something worthwhile to contribute to the UK parliament and the UK in general, but that is what the UK is for."
The man who led a review of Scottish devolution has given his backing to a so-called "Charter of the Union".
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The woman, now in her 20s, alleges she was abused as a child in Loughborough by ministerial servant Peter Stewart. She had argued at London's High Court that he used his role to abuse her. A judge ruled the organisation was liable for the abuse because it failed to take "safeguarding steps" after Stewart admitted abusing another child. Mr Justice Globe said he was "satisfied" the defendants should be "held responsible" for the abuse, which took place between 1989 and 1994. It is the first civil case in the UK of historical sexual abuse brought against the Christian-based religious movement. The organisation - which accepted that Stewart, who died before facing justice, sexually abused the claimant - said it was "disappointed" with the decision and would appeal. The victim said: "The procedures the Jehovah's Witnesses follow for dealing with child sexual abuse are the same as it was when I was abused. "Even having a ministerial servant sent to prison was not enough of an incentive for them to implement change. This sends a clear message about the importance Jehovah's Witnesses place on child protection." BBC legal affairs correspondent Clive Coleman This is the first civil case for damages for historical sexual abuse in the UK brought against the Jehovah's Witness organisation, and is thought to be the first brought against any non-mainstream religion. It illustrates how the law has expanded in recent years so that a person need not be employed by a religious body for it to be vicariously liable - ie responsible - for their actions. The court firstly asks whether the relationship is "akin to employment". It doesn't have to be an actual employment relationship (for example, priests are not "employed" but the Church can be liable for their actions), but the relationship has to share features which you might see between employer and employee (for example, where a Church exercises control upon what a priest can and cannot do). Secondly, the court asks whether the abuse was "connected" to that relationship. For example, if someone uses their position of responsibility as a means to abuse children, then vicarious liability is likely to result. Jehovah's Witness movement explained The woman, known only as C during the case, says she was abused by Stewart between the ages of four and nine. At the time he was a trusted ministerial servant, whose role was to assist elders with religious and administrative duties. Shortly after C's abuse began, Stewart was found to have abused another child in the Jehovah's Witness community. He was removed as a ministerial servant in 1990 but because he told elders he had repented, he was allowed to continue with many of the activities he had performed in that role. C alleges he continued to abuse her for another four years. The abuse took place at a number of locations, including Kingdom Hall, a place of worship used by Jehovah's Witnesses, with Stewart forcing her to keep silent by telling her "she was sinning" and "she would not be saved". In 1995, Stewart was convicted of separate child sex offences, including rape and indecent assault, and jailed for five years. He died, aged 72, in 2001, shortly before police arrived at his home to arrest him for sexually abusing C. The court had heard C had "suffered hugely" as a result of the abuse, which had affected her education, career and relationships. She had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and suffered from repeated nightmares. She also attempted suicide. C had claimed the trustees of the Loughborough Blackbrook Congregation and of the Loughborough Southwood Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, the successors of the Loughborough Limehurst Congregation, were vicariously liable for the assaults, and for the actions of the Limehurst elders. Speaking to the BBC ahead of the verdict, she said the Jehovah's Witness organisation saw child abuse as a "sin that can be dealt with within their organisation - they don't see that they have to look outside themselves in any way". "All they want to do is pray for you and promise you that God's going to wipe away all your pain. It's just unbelievable," she said. She said the organisation needed to "admit to themselves that there is a massive problem". "These [abuse victims] aren't apostates, these are people who have suffered from horrible, horrible crimes and had their lives completely wrecked," she said. "They're not out to destroy the organisation. This is a problem that needs to be dealt with." Kathleen Hallisey, lawyer at AO Advocates, said: "This should be a wake-up call to the Jehovah's Witness organisation that they need to implement better child safeguarding policies that are in line with modern day knowledge about child safeguarding and sexual abuse. "And I also hope that it's a wake-up call to members of the organisation that child sexual abuse is a problem within the organisation - and it's something that they need to do something about." Richard Cook, solicitor for the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain, said: "We are disappointed with the decision, particularly since the court accepted expert evidence that Jehovah's Witnesses in the late 1980s and early 1990s were ahead of their time in addressing the issue of child sexual abuse. "For decades we have warned congregants and parents of the dangers of child abuse and have published information to help parents safeguard their children. We will continue to do so." The damages and an interim payment of £455,000 towards C's legal costs will be met by the society's trustees.
A woman who claimed Jehovah's Witness elders failed to protect her from sex abuse carried out by a paedophile has won a £275,000 payout.
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The season-long move was part of the transfer of fellow midfielder Scott Allan to Celtic for £275,000. "Liam's a good, modern midfielder who can score goals and he has played first-team football for Celtic and Rosenborg," said Stubbs. "He's one of the best and most talented young players in Scotland." Hibs had rejected three offers from Rangers for Allan, refusing to sell to their Scottish Championship rivals despite the 23-year-old tabling a transfer request. Rotherham United had also enquired about the former Dundee United and West Brom midfielder, but the self-confessed Rangers fan did not wish to leave Scotland. Allan had a year of his Hibs contract to run but could have talked to other clubs in January. "While we were prepared to allow Scott to run down his contract and play his part in an important season for us, this opportunity provides a really good outcome for everyone," Stubbs told Hibs' website. "Scott gets a move as he wanted, while we bring in a high-quality player who is motivated to join us as we push for promotion." Henderson, who was with Hibs' Edinburgh rivals, Hearts, as a youth before moving to Celtic, made his senior debut for the Scottish champions in December 2013. And the Scotland Under-19 international spent time with Rosenborg, making nine appearances and scoring three times for the Norwegian top-flight club earlier this year. While Henderson has made only 23 appearances for Celtic, mainly as a substitute, he has now earned a new contract with the Scottish champions until summer 2018. "He's an exciting player I rate really highly and I am delighted that he is coming," said Stubbs. Hibs chief executive Leeann Dempster stressed that her head coach was "happy with the outcome" of the deal that led to Allan departing in exchange for Henderson. "We have brought in a talented player on a loan for this vital season, plus a fee which will help us strengthen the squad, for the challenging and exciting season that lies ahead," he added.
Liam Henderson signed a new three-year contract with Celtic before joining Hibernian in a loan deal that has delighted head coach Alan Stubbs.
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The road at junction 41 westbound was closed from 07:00 to 09:00 BST and 16:00 to 18:00 weekdays for a six-month trial, which started last August. The junction will now be reopened, but a consultation on its future will continue. Steve Garvey, president of Port Talbot Chamber of Trade, said the trial closure had "decimated" businesses. He said: "There has been a 20% fall in trade across the board. There has been a huge impact on the footfall since August. "A couple of stalwarts of the chamber of trade have gone since this came in. "A ladies accessories business and another T-shirt business have both been lost since August. "We can't say it was exactly down to the closure, but it will certainly have contributed. Most cafes used to be open until 5pm, but many are closing earlier now. "The biggest problem we have had is the working day went from 9-5 to 9-3 as the traffic was so congested people left early to avoid the backlog. "Simply, it meant people were around for two hours less. We are just really relieved it's going to be open again." Announcing the on-slip road was to reopen, Transport Minister Edwina Hart said: "The final report into the trial closure confirms the primary measure - the overall balance of monetised journey time benefit for the westbound M4 and local roads routes - is £180,000 per annum. "On this basis the trial has demonstrated a benefit to the M4 without overall dis-benefit to the local road network. "The report also states that car parking, footfall, queue lengths and air quality did not show any significant impact attributable to the trial closure."
Businesses in Port Talbot have seen a 20% fall in trade since the closure of a M4 slip road, it has been claimed.
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Owen Paterson has denied ministers were slow to react to the outbreak. The Chalara fraxinea fungus, which causes Chalara dieback, has already infected 90% of ash trees in Denmark and has been found in East Anglia. Mr Paterson said 50,000 ash trees have already been destroyed to try to prevent the spread of the disease. Until earlier this week, the disease had only been recorded in a few nursery specimens. Mr Paterson said: "We will bring in a ban on Monday. I have already prepared the legislation and we're ready to go. The evidence is clearly there." The disease was first spotted in February, at a nursery in Buckinghamshire - a case that was confirmed in March, said the environment secretary. Since then, examinations had been carried out at more than 1,000 sites and tree experts had been consulted. Mr Paterson said ash trees were not imported commercially during the summer, so the amount of time that had elapsed since the initial discovery had not increased the risk that more infected trees had been brought in. But Tim Briercliffe from the Horticultural Trades Association insisted the government's response to the disease had been too slow. He said: "As a trade we're very frustrated about it, because in 2009 we saw it out in Denmark on trees and we said you should ban imports now. "They didn't do it - they suggested that it was already endemic across Europe and across the UK, and since then the disease has continued to come in, and we believe it could be more widespread than perhaps we realise at the moment." How to spot the signs The Woodland Trust welcomed the ban but called on the government to set up an emergency summit to manage other diseases affecting trees in the UK. Its chief executive, Sue Holden, said: "Ash dieback is only one of numerous tree pests and diseases present in the UK... it is crucial that the wider issue is tackled." Ash trees suffering with C. fraxinea have been found across mainland Europe, with Denmark reporting the disease has infected about 90% of its ash trees. Experts say that if the disease becomes established, then it could have a similar impact on the landscape as Dutch elm disease had in the 1970s. This outbreak resulted in the death of most mature English elm by the 1980s. Elms have recovered to some extent but in some cases only through careful husbandry. The East Anglia outbreak has been confirmed by plant scientists from the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) at the Woodland Trust's Pound Farm woodland in Suffolk, and Norfolk Wildlife Trust's Lower Wood reserve, in Ashwellthorpe. In a statement, the Woodland Trust said that the fungal infection had been found in "mature ancient woodland and woodland creation areas on our estate". The disease has the potential to devastate the UK's ash tree population. Visible symptoms include leaf loss and crown dieback in affected trees and it can lead to tree death. In Europe, affected trees are not just in woodlands but are also being found in urban trees in parks and gardens and also nursery trees. Chalara dieback of ash has been listed as a quarantine pathogen under national emergency measures and the Forestry Commission has produced guidance, including help on how people can identify possible signs of infection. Experts are urging people to report suspected cases of dieback in order to prevent the spread of the disease to the wider environment becoming established.
A ban on the import of ash trees will come into force on Monday in an attempt to halt the spread of a deadly disease, the environment secretary has said.
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Simon Buckden, 44, got more than £7,500 in money and services after pretending to have rectal cancer. He also claimed to have served in the SAS and seen active duty in Bosnia and both Gulf Wars. Buckden, from Leeds, denied six counts of fraud but on the fifth day of his trial changed his plea to guilty. Live updates and more from across West Yorkshire Buckden hit the headlines after announcing he would run 100 marathons in 100 weeks to raise awareness of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and money for Help for Heroes. During the challenge he announced he had cancer but would continue running. However, medical records revealed he had never been diagnosed with the disease. Leeds Crown Court heard Buckden, who took part in the Olympic torch relay in the run up to the 2012 London Olympic Games, was a military clerk and had never experienced frontline duty. Among those he defrauded, Richard McCann - whose mother, Wilma, was killed by the Yorkshire Ripper - gave Buckden a free place on a speaking course. He was also given free therapy sessions, a publicity film, and received £2,000 for a holiday and around £1,500 to set up a social enterprise. Prosecutor Craig Hassell said "people were, naturally, moved by his story and moved to try to help him". Ex-serviceman Phil Lee, who was also conned, said Buckden's actions were damaging to genuine veterans. "Lots of guys who I served with, who are genuine veterans, are deeply offended by these characters who proclaim to have served in many parts of the world or worked with special forces when it's fairly clear they were nowhere near," he said. "It brings the reputation of veterans down and it's something we can genuinely do without." Buckden, of of Landseer Way, Bramley, Leeds, is due to be sentenced on Monday.
A former military clerk who fabricated tales of frontline service has admitted he lied about having cancer to swindle thousands of pounds.
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Chit Chaat Chai's Tania Rahman said she was "hugely shocked" when Salisbury City Council gave its reason for rejecting her application. She said she was especially "taken aback" as the authority had invited her to apply to trade in the first place. The council has apologised and said it "never intended to be racist". The annual St George's Day Festival takes place in Salisbury city centre on Sunday. Ms Rahman, who is British Bengali, said: "How far does it go? Can only English people attend? Salisbury is one of the most multicultural cities in the country. "Chicken Tikka Masala is the nation's favourite dish and St George himself was born in Palestine. I just thought they cannot be serious." When Ms Rahman posted the message she received from the council on her Facebook page, many of her followers criticised its decision. Gurpreet Virk described it as "ignorant, mindless and disappointing". Jordan Harris said: "I wonder if they'll be checking passports and heritage on the day to make sure the crowd is positively English." And Ren Patel called it an "absolute disgrace". Salisbury City Council said it was "sorry for any offence", and admitted that the email it sent to Ms Rahman was "poorly worded". It has since invited her to attend the event. A spokeswoman said the festival's theme was originally "olde worlde traditional English", but the incident has raised some "very interesting points about modern England" which it will "reflect upon" for future events. Ms Rahman said despite the authority's U-turn, she is unlikely to attend because "they didn't want me there to begin with". "It's only because of the uproar on social media that they've asked me back. Does it really have to go to that extent for them to realise the mistake they've made?"
A council has U-turned after telling an Indian food stall owner she could not trade at a St George's Day event as it would be "English themed food only".
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The move was planned as part of Bristol's Metrobus scheme but Bristol City Council has halted the work so more traffic assessments can be done. Cabinet member Mark Bradshaw ruled out a deadline, saying the delay was "for as long as it takes" to complete the research. The plan involved making Stoke Lane one-way southbound. Mr Bradshaw added: "I don't want to add to the uncertainty, I don't want to increase the cost and I don't want to increase the disruption for those who are going to be affected but we have to get this right to do this further piece of work. "That's why I and my colleagues agree that it was the right thing to do to put a halt to this." The closure was delayed for the first time in April. Campaigner, Amanda Vinall, said: "We're absolutely thrilled to bits that someone is finally listening to us." The road carries traffic to and from the Frenchay area over the M32. It had been expected that the change would have lasted a year. Residents and staff at the nearby University of the West of England (UWE) had opposed the one-way system, claiming other commuter routes were already congested. Metrobus bosses say the building work would take nine months longer using temporary traffic lights rather than a one-way system. But Ms Vinall, who's a member of Stoke Lane Action group said any road closure along this route would be unworkable. She added: "We will not be happy until we have just traffic lights - it would be bearable. The complete one-way system would be unbearable."
A planned one-way system on a busy commuter route in Bristol has been postponed indefinitely by the council.
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Mered Medhanie is thought to be at the heart of a ring trafficking migrants from Africa to Europe. A 35-year-old Eritrean man said to be the suspect was detained in Sudan last month and flown to Rome on Tuesday. People said to be friends and family of the detainee have told the BBC he is actually Mered Tesfamariam, 27. Investigators say Medhanie - dubbed The General - was responsible for the death of 359 migrants who drowned when their boat sank off the Italian coast in October 2013. The man who was extradited was arrested by Sudanese police with the help of the British and Italian authorities, the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) said. He's not Mered Medhanie. He's my younger brother. His name is Medhanie Tesfarmariam Berhe. We have been living here for one year together in Khartoum. He is not a human trafficker. He is my brother. I called the [Sudanese] police but they said there is no person with that name. I have been searching for him for two weeks. They told me there is nobody with that name in prison. All of a sudden I see him in Italy. I have been worried sick. I have been crying the whole two weeks. I did not know if he was alive or dead. His photo… he looks awful. I feel sad to see him like that. But Francesco Lo Voi, the chief prosecutor in the Italian city of Palermo, now says "we are carrying out the necessary checks". "The identification of the suspect, his arrest, his handing over and his extradition to Italy were communicated to us in an official manner by the NCA and the Sudanese authorities through Interpol," he told Italy's Ansa news agency. The NCA said it was "too soon to speculate" about the claims but added it was "confident in its intelligence-gathering process". A woman who identifies herself as an older sister, Seghen Tesfarmariam Berhe, told the BBC's Newsnight programme from Khartoum that she had been living with her brother Mered Tesfamariam in the Sudanese capital for a year before he vanished two weeks ago. Mered, she said, had come illegally to Sudan in March 2015 as a refugee after fleeing Eritrea via Ethiopia. He had been hoping, she said, to join another sister living in the US and to study and work there. A woman living in Norway who identified herself as another sister told Newsnight her brother was "completely innocent". Hiwet Tesfamariam Berhe Kidane said she had last spoken to him about three weeks ago and had first learned of his arrest when she saw pictures of him on television and social media. Hermon Berhe, who lives in Ethiopia, said he had grown up in Eritrea with the man shown in pictures handed out by Italian police. "I don't think he has any bone in his body which can involve such kind of things," he said. "He is a loving, friendly and kind person." And Meron Estefanos, a Swedish-Eritrean journalist who interviewed the real Mered Medhanie in a phone call last year, said: "I called refugees who know the real smuggler and I showed them the picture of what the Italians published and then everybody said, 'No, that's not the smuggler that smuggled us into Europe'. "I believe they have the wrong person. This is a refugee who happened to be in [the Sudanese capital] Khartoum at the wrong place at the wrong time." She added that rumours were going around Khartoum that the real Medhanie had been arrested in Sudan but had managed to bribe himself out of jail.
Italian prosecutors are investigating whether the wrong man was extradited to Italy in a major operation against people-smuggling.
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27 February 2016 Last updated at 19:54 GMT The election count is expected to last throughout the weekend. BBC News NI's Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison reports.
Political leaders in the Republic of Ireland are predicting that it could prove difficult to form a new government after both partners in the coalition government, Fine Gael and Labour, are set to suffer big losses in the general election.
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The decision provoked strong criticism on social media and in the forums of Valve's Steam game service. Mr Newell said Valve was keeping an eye on the early days of the system to make sure it worked well. One early change would give mod makers more control over what they charge for their code. Mods add all kinds of extras to games, including weapons, armour and pets. The most ambitious add new enemies and even entire levels. "Our goal is to make modding better for the authors and gamers," wrote Mr Newell in the Reddit Q&A. "If something doesn't help with that, it will get dumped." He said one of the first changes would be the introduction of an option that lets mod authors put a donate button on their code. In addition, Valve would also stop deleting discussions about the issue on Steam forums. Prior to the change introduced last week, most of the mods made for games on Steam were free. Creators could only get paid if their mod was included in official features for a Valve game. The new system, introduced via the Steam Workshop, gives mod makers the opportunity to get paid by people who download and install their creation. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was the first game for which paid mods were available. Other games are expected to follow. Many people criticised Valve for putting a price tag on something that had traditionally been free. Some said Valve's move was "completely idiotic" and would "poison" the modding world. In his defence, Mr Newell pointed out that Valve had a long history of supporting mods. For instance, he said, many of the company's core developers started out making extras and add-ons for earlier games. In addition, some of Valve's most popular titles started as mods to existing titles. "Right now I'm more optimistic that this will be a win for authors and gamers, but we are always going to be data driven," he said. "As a baseline, Valve loves mods (see Team Fortress, Counter-Strike, and Dota)," wrote Mr Newell. "The open nature of PC gaming is why Valve exists, and is critical to the current and future success of PC gaming." Many contributors to the Reddit thread were unhappy with the way cash for Skyrim mods was being split between makers, Valve and studio Bethesda who created the original game. Currently, 75% of the cash goes to Valve and Bethesda, with the last quarter going to the developer. Mr Newell said the revenue split ratio was set by the original maker of a game, not Valve. The split could be different on other games. Other issues to do with quality control, content theft and refunds were not tackled by Mr Newell. He also did not comment on claims that some modders had lost access to other tools they relied on because those add-ons had become paid-for extensions.
Valve boss Gabe Newell has defended the company's decision to let developers of some game modifications or 'mods' charge for their creations.
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Under the joint venture, the union (SRU) had pledged to supply Scottish with young players and coaches. "It's really not a great situation," Grove, 28, told BBC Scotland. "They've got to find half a squad from somewhere at a time of year where everyone's sort of signed up elsewhere." The two parties announced on Monday that the initiative had been ended just five months after it had been announced. Grove, who was on loan at Scottish earlier this season, had sympathy for the club but questioned their approach. "I feel sorry for London Scottish that the deal's been pulled, but I don't think they've done themselves many favours," he said. "They've allowed a lot of senior players to leave on a promise they're getting these young guys. "If I'm the SRU, I'm then thinking, do I want to be sending a load of young guys down there to create an academy side? "Do we want to create an under-23 side, essentially, struggling at the bottom of the league? "Possibly the SRU questioned London Scottish's ambition. Do they really have a squad, the firepower capable of pushing for top-four play-off spots?" Scottish Rugby suggested on Monday that its board felt "the performance environment in place was not sufficiently developed to offer the player pathway we had envisaged". Exiles president Rod Lynch criticised the decision, while chairman Sir David Reid was irked that the number of players provided had been cut from 14 to 10, and "none of them senior players". Former Glasgow Warriors head coach Sean Lineen had been appointed director of rugby, with former Edinburgh back-row Roddy Grant joining the coaching staff until the end of the season, bringing "a clear shift in focus", and energising the squad, according to Grove. Neither will be a part of the set-up in the forthcoming season. Grove, who has been released after 10 years with Worcester Warriors and won three caps, believes the Scottish player development pathway, as well as the club itself, could suffer. "Robbie Fergusson and George Horne, when I was there, those two guys, who are possibly blocked at the moment at Glasgow, have come down and been excellent," Grove said. "They've really benefited from regular rugby. They're young, enthusiastic, full of energy. More importantly, they're willing to learn, grow and challenge themselves. "Imagine having 12 players like that; the club would be in a far better place." Grove fears Scottish, who finished eighth last season but reached third place in 2014-15, will struggle to compete in the forthcoming campaign. "They were meant to start pre-season yesterday and that's had to be delayed because of the lack of players in the squad," he said. "It would be frustrating as a player to be in the middle of this - the guys that were going to come won't get rugby at that level and the guys they signed on that thought they were going to have that partnership are going to be frustrated. "They would have had a squad they felt could have competed for the play-offs and now, with the young guys not coming and the old guys leaving, they've barely got 15 guys."
London Scottish have delayed pre-season training as they lack players because of their cancelled partnership with Scottish Rugby, centre Alex Grove said.
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For a while, you didn't need to look any further than Perez Hilton's gossip site after he published a handful of them. He has since taken them down with an apology that he acted in "haste". The images he posted included ones reported to be of Jennifer Lawrence and Victoria Justice. In a series of tweets, Hilton said he had decided to remove the naked ones from his site. He then had a change of heart and removed the censored ones too. Representatives for Jennifer Lawrence have issued a statement to Newsbeat, saying: "This is a flagrant violation of privacy. "The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence." Perez Hilton has not confirmed whether he has read that statement himself. The blogger later posted a video saying that he would not post "intimate photos like that" and that he is trying to "think of other ways to make things right". He added: "A lot of you let me know my actions were wrong. I didn't even stop to think about my actions, I just wanted to get this out there as soon as possible." The 36-year-old said he would "use this as an opportunity to learn from and grow from and make some changes going forward". The FBI is now looking into allegations that the intimate pictures of celebrities were stolen and posted online. Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube
A quick glance at social media suggests that more than a couple of you are searching for those naked celebrity images that have been leaked online.
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The left-wing demonstrators accuse the president of abandoning socialism with his austerity policies. Recent opinion polls show Mr Hollande's approval rating among the public has fallen to about 25%. This is the biggest slump for any French president in the past 50 years. Many people are angered by the weak economy and soaring unemployment. And correspondents say Mr Hollande's vision of a fairer society does not sit well with the recent scandal involving his former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac, who admitted lying about a savings account in Switzerland. Separately, opponents of gay marriage held protests in several major cities calling for the president not to sign a law passed by parliament last month allowing same-sex couples to wed and adopt children. Organisers of the anti-austerity demonstration estimated that about 180,000 people took part, but police put the figure at just 30,000. Left-wing former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who organised the protest, accused Mr Hollande of betraying his supporters. "We don't want the financial world taking the power, we don't accept austerity measures which doom our people, like all people in Europe, to never-ending pain," he said. In response, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said: "There is no austerity, that's a propaganda invention," adding that reforms would "bear fruit little by little".
Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied in Paris to express their dissatisfaction with French President Francois Hollande ahead of the first anniversary of his election.
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Dale took the lead against the run of play just before half-time when Ashley Eastham headed in from Donal McDermott's cross. Joe Bunney turned in Rochdale's second from close range after the visitors had failed to clear a corner. And Nathaniel Mendez-Laing slotted home to seal the win and extend Dale's unbeaten run to three games. The result leaves Keith Hill's side eighth in the table, four points outside the play-off places, while Blackpool are two points adrift of safety in 21st. Rochdale manager Keith Hill told BBC Radio Manchester: Media playback is not supported on this device "I'm pleased with the player's application and attitude. These games now aren't about technical ability or tactics, this is about endeavour pride and sacrifice and putting everything into a game. "At this time of the season, whether you're fighting relegation or trying to get promoted, that's all it's about - heart. "Results are important not performances, but in the second half I thought we put in an excellent performance."
Rochdale boosted their League One play-off hopes with a comfortable victory over relegation-threatened Blackpool.
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The goal earned his side a 3-3 draw and a 5-4 triumph on aggregate. Institute led three times on the night with goals from Jamie Dunne, Gareth Brown and Shane McGinty. The Mallards struck back each time with replies from Emmett Friars, Cathal Beacom and finally Feeney, in new boss Gavin Dykes's first game in charge. Dykes was in the dugout as former boss Whitey Anderson served a suspension. The Mallards won the first leg 2-1 at Drumahoe on 6 May but the sides had to wait seven weeks to play their second leg because of a wrangle over a ban served by Carrick Rangers manager Gary Haveron. Media playback is not supported on this device With Institute leading on away goals and the Mallards down to 10 men following the dismissal of Liam McMenamin in the 90th minute, the Fermanagh side's four-year stay in the top flight looked to be coming to an end. Dunne drilled a low effort beyond home keeper Alvin Rouse in the 17th minute for the opener, before Friars headed home the leveller from a Jason McCartney free-kick. Institute regained the lead in the 27th minute when an excellent low cross from the right was steered home by Gareth Brown. The hosts were awarded a penalty on the hour when Johnny Lafferty was taken down in the box by Stephen O'Donnell and Cathal Beacom netted emphatically from the spot. Institute responded in some style as Shane McGinty unleashed an unstoppable effort that flew past Rouse.
A dramatic Steve Feeney goal in the fifth minute of injury time at Ferney Park helped Ballinamallard United retain their Irish Premiership status.
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The ad - featuring Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul - has the actor say "Xbox On" near its start. The instruction appears to trigger the machine's Kinect voice/motion sensor, activating the console. A spokesman for the firm said it had no comment at this time, but noted that previous ads had also featured voice commands. Many people have posted comments about the problem on social media sites. "Aaron Paul just turned my Xbox One via the Xbox advert. (Which triggered the IR [infrared] blaster to switch my TV off..)" tweeted Qassim Farid, a UK-based tech blogger. Chesterfield-based Tom Neal wrote: "@Xbox your new TV advert is annoying the hell outta me. Aaron Paul keeps turning my console on… #stooooop" The effect has also been noted on news discussion site Reddit's Xbox section, with one commentator writing: "Damn commercial keeps turning on my xbox! Lol" The post reflects the attitude of many console owners who have posted about the matter who appear more bemused than angered by the glitch. This is not the first time such an effect has been reported. In November Xbox One owner Tim Kimberl posted a video to YouTube showing that an internet ad that featured the command "Xbox go to Dead Rising 3" launched the game on his system. Users affected by the issue do have the ability to turn off the Kinect sensor, which prevents the console responding to voice commands. The issue has parallels with an effect played for laughs in the TV series 30 Rock where a voice-controlled television went haywire when on-screen characters mentioned its trigger words. The problem has arisen in the same week that Microsoft began selling a cheaper version of the Xbox One without the Kinect. It said it made the move - timed to coincide with the E3 video games expo - following feedback from gamers who did not want to pay extra for the accessory. The decision allows the machine to retail at the same price as Sony's PlayStation 4. Microsoft's press event at the Los Angeles show was notable for hardly featuring the Kinect. Only a dancing game, a Disney motion-controlled music rhythm title, and an indie game called Fru - which allows players to control a character by making body shapes - appeared to take advantage of the feature. However, Microsoft did announce outside the show that a software update would soon allow developers access to more graphics power when the Kinect was not in use. This may help address complaints that several cross-platform games offer higher resolutions and frame rates on the PS4 than their Xbox equivalents. However, the new ad signals that the US firm intends to keep promoting the Kinect as a feature that distinguishes its machine from its Japanese rival's, even if the price quoted at its end is for the standalone machine.
Xbox One owners are complaining that a new TV advert is switching their consoles on without their permission.
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The aerospace firm is set to pay £497m plus costs to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which started investigating claims in 2012 of wrongdoing overseas. At the time, the SFO asked the firm for information about possible bribery in China, Indonesia and other markets. Rolls-Royce said it had also agreed to pay $170m (£141m) to the US Department of Justice. A further settlement would see it pay $26m (£21.5m) to Brazilian regulators, it added. Rolls-Royce, one of the UK's biggest manufacturing exporters, makes engines for military and civil planes, as well as for trains, ships, nuclear submarines and power stations. "These are voluntary agreements which result in the suspension of a prosecution provided that the company fulfils certain requirements, including the payment of a financial penalty," the firm said. It added that concerns about bribery and corruption were passed by the firm to the SFO in 2012, but it did not give further information on which countries were involved. Some of the allegations dated back more than 10 years. They involved Rolls-Royce's "intermediaries", which are local companies that handle sales, distribution, repair and maintenance in countries where the British firm does not have enough people on the ground. The SFO confirmed it had reached a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with Rolls-Royce, which would be subject to approval by a court on Tuesday. It is only the third such agreement that the SFO has struck since they were first introduced into UK law in 2014. They allow organisations to pay huge penalties, but avoid prosecution, if they freely confess to economic crimes such as fraud or bribery.
Rolls-Royce has agreed to pay £671m to settle bribery and corruption cases with UK and US authorities.
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Betsi Cadwaladr health board said many medicines could be bought at "minimum cost" and often "much more cheaply" than it would cost the health service. The Conservatives said it demonstrated free prescriptions were "unaffordable". The Welsh government said deciding who needed prescriptions was a matter for doctors and other prescribers. The health board's clinical director of pharmacy and medicines management, Dr Berwyn Owen, said a 2% reduction in its spending on over-the-counter items such as vitamins, simple painkillers and hay fever treatments could save the board £80,000 a year. "Alongside other health boards in Wales, we have asked GPs to reduce unnecessary prescribing of these simple medications. However, be reassured that if your GP considers it essential that you take the medication for your condition, it will be prescribed for you," he said. Conservative shadow health minister Darren Millar seized on Dr Owen's comments as "recognition that Labour's universal free prescriptions policy is unaffordable and wastes vital funds which could be spent improving patient care". A Welsh government spokesman said it was for doctors and other prescribers to decide if patients need prescriptions and "our decision to remove charges has not changed this". The spokesman added: "However, we encourage the public to make better use of their local pharmacy and seek advice on common ailments. "This frees up GPs to deal with more complex cases." Analysis: Owain Clarke, BBC Wales health correspondent Besti Cadwladr health board says the advice it has issued today on medicines does not indicate any change in policy. It says it is merely urging patients to use "common sense" - and not book GP appointments, for example, just to get a supply of over-the-counter medicines such as paracetamol and ibuprofen . The health minister has also in recent years, as part of his "prudent healthcare" agenda, urged patients and doctors to be sensible in relation to how medicines are prescribed. For example, under a new GP contract in Wales agreed some weeks ago, GPs will need to routinely review the drugs given to elderly patients over 85 years old who are on several medications. The NHS and Welsh government have for many years urged patients to make more use of community pharmacists in relation to minor injuries and ailments - and not always turn to the GP surgery. Betsi Cadwaladr health board estimate that 10-20% of GP appointments are taken up by patients with minor illnesses or ailments, which could potentially be dealt with by the patients themselves or by pharmacists.
A north Wales health board has urged patients to buy cheaper medicines themselves, rather than use free prescriptions, to save the NHS money.
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Mr Cope, an ally of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, won 50.03% of the vote, defeating ex-PM Francois Fillon, who polled 49.97%, by just 98 votes. The final result was delayed for more than 24 hours. Mr Cope, the UMP secretary general, is on the right of the party, while Mr Fillon is seen as more of a centrist. Party grandees had urged the two candidates to end their war of words, warning that the UMP had been damaged. Mr Cope, 48, said he had telephoned Mr Fillon, 58, to ask him to join him at the heart of the UMP "because our opponents are on the left". "My hands and my arms are wide open," he told supporters after the result was announced. "It is in that state of mind that I telephoned Francois Fillon this evening, it is in that state of mind that I asked him to join me." Mr Fillon, speaking after his rival's victory speech, mentioned "many irregularities" in the electoral process but stopped short of rejecting the result. He also warned of a deepening split in the UMP. "What strikes me is the rift at the heart of our political camp, a political and moral fracture," he said. Opinion polls had consistently given Mr Fillon the edge, but initial results on Sunday showed a narrow lead for Mr Cope. Profile: Jean-Francois Cope The UMP held the presidency of France for 17 years, until May, when Socialist candidate Francois Hollande defeated Mr Sarkozy's bid for a second term. The two candidates have different visions for the party. Mr Cope is considered more right-wing. Last month he produced "A Manifesto for an Uninhibited Right" in which he claimed that gangs in the city suburbs were fostering "anti-white racism". Mr Fillon is seen as sober and more restrained. The winner will inherit a party in difficult financial straits, after a series of electoral setbacks over the past five years, culminating in Mr Sarkozy's presidential defeat to Socialist rival Francois Hollande.
The French conservative UMP party has chosen Jean-Francois Cope as its next leader after a tight election marred by claims of fraud and ballot-stuffing.
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President Assad made the comments in an address at Damascus University, His forces have been steadily recapturing rebel-held towns near the Lebanese border for several months. More than 150,000 people have been killed in the conflict, with millions forced to flee their homes. "This is a turning point in the crisis," President Assad said. He added that his army was winning what he called "the war against terror". Government forces have secured the main north-south highway in Syria in recent months, and have cut off vital supply routes for rebel forces. President Assad is expected to announce that he will stand for a third term as leader. The BBC's Lyse Doucet says the comments make clear that he is not willing to stand down despite repeated calls for him to go by armed opposition groups and their Western and Arab backers. Meanwhile, the Syrian air force carried out bombing raids on areas near Damascus on Sunday, rights groups said. Activists said 20 people were killed in government air attacks in the Douma suburb. Syria's official news agency reported that a man was killed and twenty injured in a mortar attack in central Damascus. On Friday, the government and opposition forces accused each other of using poison gas in the village of Kafr Zita. The attack killed two people and left dozens injured. In August last year, a chemical attack near the capital killed hundreds of people.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has claimed the upper hand in what he called a "turning point" in the three-year long civil war.
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Match ends, Macclesfield Town 3, Maidstone United 0. Second Half ends, Macclesfield Town 3, Maidstone United 0. Goal! Macclesfield Town 3, Maidstone United 0. Jack Mackreth (Macclesfield Town). Substitution, Maidstone United. George Oakley replaces Bobby-Joe Taylor. Goal! Macclesfield Town 2, Maidstone United 0. Danny Whitaker (Macclesfield Town) converts the penalty with a. Bobby-Joe Taylor (Maidstone United) is shown the yellow card. Substitution, Macclesfield Town. Luke Summerfield replaces Danny Whitehead. Tom Mills (Maidstone United) is shown the yellow card. Substitution, Maidstone United. Jamar Loza replaces Alex Flisher. Substitution, Maidstone United. Yemi Odubade replaces Jack Paxman. Second Half begins Macclesfield Town 1, Maidstone United 0. First Half ends, Macclesfield Town 1, Maidstone United 0. Goal! Macclesfield Town 1, Maidstone United 0. Rhys Browne (Macclesfield Town). First Half begins. Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
Match details to follow.
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The Championship club are looking to appoint an experienced, British replacement for Italian Walter Zenga, who was sacked after just 87 days. BBC Sport understands Pearson, 53, has already been interviewed, having parted company with Derby on 8 October. Allardyce, 62, left his job as England boss on 27 September after one match. His departure followed a newspaper investigation claiming he offered advice on how to "get around" rules on player transfers. Lambert, 47, left Blackburn Rovers at the end of last season having previously been in charge of Wolves' rivals Aston Villa. With the trio all currently out of work, they are attractive to Wolves in terms of a lack of compensation - but it is a moot point whether Allardyce would go from the England job to a club near the bottom of the Championship table in the space of a month, when other Premier League options may soon be attracting him. Wolves are 18th having won only four of their opening 14 matches this season, losing four of their last five. The recruitment drive this time at Wolves will be headed by sporting director Kevin Thelwell, who was instrumental in bringing Kenny Jackett to Molineux three years ago. Thelwell played little or no part in the hasty appointment of Zenga in July, but this time he appears to favour a British candidate with practical knowledge of the Championship. Representatives of the Chinese owners, the Fosun Group, are in Wolverhampton on Friday checking progress with Thelwell, but the process is unlikely to be swift. The interim manager Rob Edwards has impressed this week - with the players very supportive - but, at the age of 33, the current first-team coach may be seen as lacking the experience to satisfy the ambitions of the owners to get promoted quickly. Pearson, Allardyce and Lambert all have promotion to the Premier League on their managerial CVs - Pearson with Leicester, Allardyce with Bolton and West Ham and Lambert with Norwich.
Nigel Pearson, Paul Lambert and former England boss Sam Allardyce are among the candidates being considered by Wolves for the vacant manager's job.
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It followed the discovery of a suspicious object in Manor Close in the early hours of Saturday morning. Army bomb experts examined the object and said it was a "viable device". Police did not give any more details on what was found but said it had been taken away for further examination. Sinn Féin councillor Mary Doyle said it was her understanding that it was a pipe bomb. "Apart from the danger of this device exploding and causing death or serious injury we have seen disruption to local residents on one of the coldest nights of the year," she said. "People, including children and elderly were distressed at the disruption caused by this device. "The people behind it have been rejected by the local community and need to desist from these activities immediately."
A number of residents who were forced to leave their homes because of a security alert in north Belfast have been allowed to return.
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Tributes have been pouring in for the DJ. Here is a selection. Gareth Williams sent in this photo via WhatsApp: "So sad to hear about Ed Stewart's death. Here I am on stage during a Radio 1 roadshow in Caswell Bay, the Gower in August 1976. I was taking part in a yes/no game which I was lucky enough to win! Ed gave me my radio debut that day. Thanks Ed!" Ed was involved in several charities, including PHAB. Simon Haskew was at an awards ceremony at the House of Lords in May 2012 and took this photo of his friend Maxim Lowe. Alfie Bedborough in Jersey has fond memories: "Always a main stay on Christmas Day with Junior Choice. Such a loss. 'Ello darling!" Clint Ritchie Stark in Edinburgh says he was fantastic with children on his Saturday morning show: "I remember him at the children's ward at the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital. The kids just loved him. He was so kind to them." "I will never forget his kindness," says Sharon Ward in Sheffield. "In 1982 he was going out to the Falklands to record his Christmas radio show. My husband was based out there. I was based at RAF Brize Norton. We had only been married 10 months. Ed very kindly took an anniversary card, Christmas card and a cake to him." Ed's sister, Sue Mainwaring, who lives in Swanage, told us the news hadn't quite sunk in: "He was such a good brother. I have loved him for nearly 70 years. He has been there for me all my life. I went to some of his shows but I didn't get a Crackerjack pen! We had a lot of fun. I will miss him." Dominic Dalton says he met Ed several times back in the 1980s when he worked for Radio Mercury but his son Tyler met him for the first time in August 2014 at Cranleigh Car Show. "He was still the loveable 'Stewpot' that I remembered from those meetings in the 80s and still happy to be stopped to have a picture taken. RIP Ed you have left me with some fond memories." Barry Lester in Spain: "I had the pleasure of meeting him about 15 years ago in southern Spain while he was working with Spectrum FM. He was a gentle man with a big heart. He will be sadly missed by the people who loved his style and manners." Compiled by Sherie Ryder
Former BBC Radio DJ and Crackerjack presenter, Ed "Stewpot" Stewart has died at the age of 74, a few days after having a stroke.
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Media playback is not supported on this device However, world football's governing body insisted Russia and Qatar will stay as hosts of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments respectively. Fifa president Sepp Blatter said he asked the executive committee to vote in favour of publishing the report. "We have always been determined the truth should be known," he said. "That is, after all, why we set up an independent ethics committee with an investigatory chamber that has all necessary means to undertake investigations on its own initiative." Uefa president Michel Platini called for publication of the Garcia report as soon as possible. "I have always battled for transparency and this is a step in the right direction. Let us hope that the report can now be published as quickly as possible. The credibility of Fifa depends on it." Only a disputed summary of Michael Garcia's 430-page report into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups has been published. Releasing the full report, which is likely to be heavily redacted to preserve witness confidentiality, is a change in Fifa policy. However, it will only be published once ongoing investigations into five individuals are completed. Those five are: "We need to ensure that we respect the rules of our organisation and that we do not breach confidentiality in a way that will prevent people from speaking out in the future," added Blatter. The 78-year-old Swiss insisted later that there was no reason for Russia and Qatar to lose their rights to stage future World Cups. "At the current time, there is no reason to go back on our decisions," he told a news conference following a two-day meeting of Fifa's executive committee in Morocco. "The two World Cups are in the calendar, the only thing missing is the precise dates for 2022, but these two World Cups will take place." Addressing Qatar specifically, he added that only an "earthquake" could change Fifa's decision to hold the 2022 tournament in the Gulf state. "It would really need an earthquake, extremely important new elements, to go back on this World Cup in Qatar," he said. Qatar 2022's supreme committee for delivery and legacy of the World Cup welcomed the review, stating: "We have always been confident of our position in relation to our successful bid for the 2022 Fifa World Cup. "Since 2010 our focus has been delivering an historic first World Cup to the Middle East. That has not and will never change." Garcia was appointed Fifa's independent ethics investigator in 2012 and spent two years investigating all nine bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups following claims of corruption and collusion. The American lawyer travelled the world speaking to bid officials and appealing for evidence of wrongdoing. He eventually submitted a report to Fifa in September 2014. Fifa subsequently released a 42-page summary that cleared Russia and Qatar of corruption. However, an unhappy Garcia claimed it was "incomplete and erroneous". Earlier this week, he resigned, citing "lack of leadership" at Fifa. Blatter, seeking a fifth term as Fifa president, conceded his organisation had been "in a crisis" but insisted: "The crisis has stopped because we again have the unity in our government."
Fifa executives have unanimously agreed to publish a "legally appropriate version" of a report into allegations of World Cup bidding corruption.
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After winning 29-28 in the first leg at Ashton Gate, Worcester led 16-6 at half-time with Chris Pennell scoring. Bristol then looked in control after tries from Jack Lam, Jack Tovey and Matthew Morgan. But a penalty try and Pennell's effort at the death, converted by Ryan Lamb, made it 30-30 on the night. It was another stunning contest to match the excitement of the first leg a week earlier, but it was cruel on Andy Robinson's Bristol, who suffered a fourth failure in the play-offs. Although they matched Worcester on the night, it did not look like it would be that close when the home side opened up an 11-point advantage at half-time thanks to three Lamb penalties and a touchline conversion after full-back Pennell's superb try in the right corner. The Warriors fly-half put right his kicking failures with the boot at Ashton Gate a week ago. By contrast, this time, it was opposite number Nicky Robinson who was having an off night, missing three of his five first-half penalty attempts on his final appearance. But Robinson kicked an early second-half penalty. Then, after Cooper Vuna had been sin-binned, Lam, Tovey - only playing because of the first-leg injury to Gavin Henson - and Welsh stand-off Morgan all crossed, with Robinson adding all three conversions. At 30-16 down, Dean Ryan's Worcester looked spent, but were brought to life by a penalty try and the sin-binnings of Bristol's Lam and Dwayne Peel. And, up against 13 men, Pennell galloped over again to set up Lamb's conversion which brought Premiership rugby back to Sixways next season. Worcester Warriors director of rugby Dean Ryan told BBC Hereford & Worcester: "Sport is cruel. Bristol were the better side on the night. I really do feel for them because that was a game where we escaped - but that has happened to me probably three or four times. "We really didn't have any of the game in the second half, and the pressure kept coming. When Cooper Vuna went off with a yellow card they had a free run, really. "Once Cooper was back on, we understood that we needed to get field position and that we could get the forward drive going again. "We were great last week and we weren't so great in this game, but we got the result. I am a little bit shocked as I never saw that coming, but It has been a long old trawl and today was our day." Bristol director of rugby Andy Robinson: "I am hugely disappointed by what has happened. How a player (Dwayne Peel) can get yellow-carded in that last five minutes really infuriates and disappoints me. "Particularly after what happened in the first half where we had a couple of mauls going over the line when they were illegally stopped. "These are the small margins of these games. The players were immense, the way they went out and played the game, but it is these small margins that cost and hurt you. "I can safely say that this is the cruellest bit of sport I have ever been involved in for a team that was outstanding in the way that they played the game. But credit to Worcester for what they did in that last five minutes. They stayed together." Worcester: Pennell; Biggs, Grove, Mills, Vuna; Lamb, Bruzulier; Rapava Ruskin, Creevy, Schonert, Percival, Thomas, Williams, Betty, van Velze (capt). Replacements: Annett, Bower, Rees, Senatore, Shillcock, Fatiaki, Howard. Bristol: Wallace; Amesbury, Tovey, Mosses, Lemi; Robinson, Peel (capt); Traynor, Brooker, Cortes, Glynn, Sorenson, Mama, Lam, Eadie. Replacements: Crumpton, Perenise, Townson, Robinson, Kessell, Morgan, Maule.
Worcester returned to the Premiership by coming from 30-16 down on the night to win the Championship play-off final 59-58 on aggregate with two late tries.
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The so-called Islamic State (IS) has claimed, via Twitter, that the man was born in Dublin. It is understood the man was Terence Kelly, who was in his late 40s and was born in the Liberties area of the city. He was a former nurse and converted to Islam after working in Saudi Arabia. He changed his name to Khalid Kelly and has been a vocal supporter of al-Qaeda. Mr Kelly had previously appeared in a number of Irish TV documentaries on RTÉ and TV3. A propaganda website representing IS claimed Mr Kelly drove a vehicle packed with explosives at Iraqi forces west of Mosul and detonated it. The website also published a picture of the man posing with a weapon in front of an armoured vehicle. There has been no official confirmation that Mr Kelly is dead.
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed it is investigating reports that an Irishman was killed when he detonated a car bomb near the Iraqi city of Mosul on Friday.
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Criticism included claims they have been pressured to remain silent and of misrepresentation of information. The two sides of the debate said the comments raised questions about the rival campaigns. The claims, made in a programme for Channel Four, came ahead of the 18 September referendum. The Dispatches documentary, entitled "The Great British Break Up?", contacted 50 companies and business leaders believed to have concerns over independence. Five told the programme privately they had been contacted by the Scottish government and said they "felt pressured to stay quiet about their views". Of the five; A further 14 claimed to know of other businesses who felt under pressure. The programme also heard from London School Economics professor, Patrick Dunleavy, who previously said UK ministers misrepresented his research when they published its analysis of the fiscal implications of independence. The economist later said the initial set-up costs to duplicate core Westminster functions would be around £200m. He told Dispatches: "It's very hard to describe it in polite terms actually, it's very crude, it's alarmist, it's not been checked and it rests on a whole series of, you know, false steps . . . that makes this a very dubious document. "A dodgy dossier, you might call it." In addition, Gavin Hewitt, former chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, said he or senior members of his staff had met with SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson, on at least six occasions over the past two years. He told the programme: "He [Mr Robertson] and the SNP have regularly tried to get the message to the Scotch Whisky Association that the Scotch whisky industry should stay out of the independence debate. "He was, I think, trying to neuter business comment. There was a genuine fear that in fact if we were seen to scupper by coming out publicly against independence, there would be retribution down the track." Prof Dunleavy spoke to the programme, to be shown on Monday evening, after the Treasury used his figures to estimate it could cost between £1.5 and £2.7bn to set up an independent Scotland. In response, Mr Robertson, who as MP for Moray represents a number of Scotch Whiskey distilleries, said: "I totally refute the allegations, especially given that both Gavin Hewitt and his successor, Peter Frost, have both said to me that they don't take a position on constitutional issues. "Mr Hewitt publicly endorsed the case for a 'No' vote last month, which of course he is perfectly entitled to do." On Prof Dunleavy's comments, a spokesman for Deputy Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon added: "This programme will make uncomfortable viewing for the 'No' campaign and the UK government. "This is not the first time Westminster has been accused of producing a 'dodgy dossier' in an attempt to mislead the public." A UK government spokesman told Dispatches it had "cited several external sources" to provide context in its calculations for the set up costs. A spokesman for the pro-Union Better Together campaign, also said: "It is absolutely vital that everyone has their say in the debate in our country's future. "Businesses and other impartial voices saying that they have received phone calls or visits from SNP ministers in order to pressure them into silence is a deeply troubling development." Meanwhile, the chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, Bertie Armstrong, raised concern the Scottish government was using "intimidation", after his organisation wrote to Scottish and UK ministers asking a series of questions about the future of the industry, ahead of the referendum. Mr Armstrong raised concern about the tone of a reply letter from Mr Salmond, in relation to the ability of EU boats to pass through Scottish waters under independence. "Rough treatment doesn't bother me in the slightest but it just didn't answer the questions," Mr Armstrong told the BBC. "It therefore seemed like something of a warning or something of an attempt at intimidation about asking questions, pursuing the questions that we asked or asking any further ones." A spokesman for the first minister, said: "Mr Armstrong wrote to the first minister, who responded with a detailed, factual letter on EU fishing rights. "That letter has been in the public domain for weeks - nothing in it could remotely be described as intimidating, and we urge people to read it for themselves to see that."
Business leaders and an academic have hit out at the Scottish and UK governments over their conduct in the independence referendum debate.
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Ms Johnson became the first woman to fly solo from the UK to Australia when she managed the feat in 1930. Organisers of a festival to mark the 75th anniversary of her death hoped to put her Gipsy Moth on display in Hull. But the Science Museum in London turned down the proposal, explaining it would cost "several hundred thousand pounds" to move the historic aircraft. Rick Welton, director of the Amy Johnson Festival, said he was "disappointed" by the decision. "I'd like to have more detailed discussions about the loan of the aircraft," he said. "I think it needs a bit more open-mindedness from the Science Museum. "People in the city would be so excited to have the plane back - I'm sure we could get some kind of crowd funding." A Science Museum spokesman said: "The Gipsy Moth is one of the highlights of our permanent flight gallery and is seen by more than one million visitors each year. "We did receive a loan request last August but decided not to lend it as removing the Gipsy Moth would have cost several hundred thousand pounds and caused considerable disruption for visitors to the museum." Ms Johnson was born in St George's Road, Hull, on 1 July 1903. Her solo flight to Australia took 19 days and she landed in front of a huge crowd in Darwin on 24 May 1930. The 37-year-old died in mysterious circumstances during World War Two when the RAF plane she was transporting crashed in the Thames Estuary on 5 January 1941. Her body has never been found.
A request to take pioneer Amy Johnson's aeroplane to her home city of Hull has been refused by the Science Museum.
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The 1km (0.6 mile) chain, laid out at Whitsand Beach in Cornwall, was made up of lids gathered from beaches around the South West. Looe Marine Conservation Group and Rame Peninsula Beach Care were among those that collected the tops over the last three months. The campaigners have called for more recycling of plastics. Claire Wallerstein of Rame Peninsula Beach Care said: "We are going to take the bottle tops up to London at the end of May. We want to show them to the new Defra minister and Number 10 and hopefully the British Soft Drinks Association. "I think plastics producers really need to start taking more responsibility for the harm their products are doing." The British Soft Drinks Association has not been available for comment.
A huge string of 60,000 plastic bottle tops has been displayed on a beach to highlight the problem of marine litter.
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The beaks behind Boogaloo and Graham are practising to pick, pick, pick their way down the Hollywood red carpet after the Northern Ireland short film won a nomination for this year's awards. You could say that farmer Kenny Gracey in Tandragee plays host to a whole cast of Hollywood hopefuls. The Doctor Doolittle of Northern Ireland's film world has his own menagerie of movie star animals with a list of credits to their names. Game of Thrones, Dracula, Robot Overloads, The Survivalist ... the Gracey clan have squawked, clucked and moo-ed their way through them all. "I have goats, donkeys, deer, chicken, sheep, cattle and white pigeons," he said. Goats, Suzy, Kate and Abbey were regulars on the last series of Game of Thrones and Logan-Bishop, the Longhorn Bull, played sidekick to Natalie Portman in Your Highness. A pair of white pigeons and a donkey called Joey have also lit up the silver screen in Game of Thrones. "I have the old types of animals because of my interest in rare breeds," Mr Gracey said. "They are very apt for older period films where an animal like a Charolais would look out of place. But a Longhorn would be right. So the animals have come into their own. "And now, for some people, I'm the first port of call. If I haven't got it, I'll get it." Animals have always been close to the farmer's heart. He has a particular fondness for a wild red deer, Yanna, orphaned at just a day old. "She follows me around like a dog, in fact, she thinks she is one. She is very attached to me and was reared from a day old with a bottle. Our dog, a wolfhound called Hennessy, helped to look after her when she was a baby and they are very close. "Now, people come to see her, they think it is amazing to see a wild animal so tame. Who ever gets to put a hand on a wild deer? It is amazing." Meanwhile, beaks and claws are firmly crossed as Boogaloo and Graham wait to hear whether Oscar glory is theirs... Kenny Gracey is more than happy to accompany them to Hollywood, if he's needed.
Oscar fever has a couple of chickens preening their feathers on a farm in County Armagh.
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Home Secretary Amber Rudd told MPs a review into clashes between police and pickets during the 1984 miners' strike was not in the public interest. The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC) told a press conference earlier "the gloves are off". Secretary Barbara Jackson said it may start crowdfunding to pay for a review. "This has been four years of hard work, it's taken over our lives," she said at the Barnsley branch of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). "The campaign has no intention of collapsing or folding. The gloves are now off on our side." More on this and other South Yorkshire stories A Home Office spokesman said at no point did Ms Rudd "ever commit" to establishing any form of inquiry. Asking an urgent question in the House of Commons earlier, Andy Burnham said Prime Minister Theresa May "invited Orgreave campaigners to submit a bid for an inquiry". The MP for Leigh said: "She entered Downing Street talking about fighting burning injustices. The House will understand why today so many people feel bitterly betrayed. "Given there is evidence of unlawful conduct by police in relation to it, isn't it simply staggering that the home secretary has brushed away an inquiry as not necessary?" Mr Burnham asked Home Office minister Brandon Lewis whether Ms Rudd reviewed police files, cabinet papers and new testimony from police officers. "If she didn't do each and every one of these crucial things, won't many people conclude that her decision-making process was incomplete and therefore unsound?" he said. What was the 'Battle of Orgreave'? Orgreave: The battle that's not over Mr Lewis said Ms Rudd, who was not present to face the questions, had taken "a wide range of factors" into account. Louise Haigh, MP for Sheffield Heeley, told Mr Lewis: "I feel sorry for you because the home secretary bottled it yesterday and she's bottled it today." In a letter to campaigners, Ms Rudd said policing had changed sufficiently in the years since Orgreave to mean an inquiry was not merited. She added "ultimately there were no deaths or wrongful convictions" resulting from the conduct of South Yorkshire Police at the time. Labour and Rotherham MP Sarah Champion, told the Commons: "[The government] now seems to be saying that the reason not to have the inquiry is because nobody died, is this the new bar that this government is levying on justice?" Dennis Skinner, MP for Bolsover, added: "Why is it that 31 years is too long for an inquiry, yet 31 years is not too long for this government to hide the Cabinet papers on the [miners] strike and refuse to release them? "We now know that the Thatcher government was to close 75 pits and not 20. "The truth is, this nasty party has now become the nasty government - more concerned about preserving the Thatcher government than it is fighting for truth and justice." Meanwhile, Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley was jeered and heckled as he backed the decision not to hold an inquiry. "Unlike most of those people opposite bleating I lived in South Yorkshire in a mining community at the time of the Miners' Strike and I saw first hand the brutality and intimidation that went on," he said. "These people were trying to bring down the democratically elected government of the time and they lost and they need to get over it. Anyone only has to look at the TV pictures to see the violence." Lawyer Michael Mansfield, who represented miners caught up in the violence at Orgreave, said campaigners calling for an inquiry into police tactics at the coking plant near Rotherham had been "sloughed off". He told the BBC's Today programme Ms Rudd had overlooked an orchestrated campaign by South Yorkshire Police of "uncontrolled, unlawful violence" against miners. "There has been no disciplinary proceedings and no prosecution [of South Yorkshire Police] at all over the years," Mr Mansfield said. "This does not reinforce public faith in the system and what is needed here is the restoration of confidence. "It's not about what happened, it's really much more fundamental than that. How was this allowed to happen and why did it happen?" The "Battle of Orgreave" was the most violent day of the year-long 1984-85 miners' strike. Huge lines of police clashed with striking miners as they tried to stop lorries carrying coke to fuel the Scunthorpe steel furnaces. Violence erupted on both sides and at one stage police horses were sent to charge the crowd up the field as officers followed to make arrests. Miner Chris Skidmore was at Orgreave and told BBC Radio Sheffield it was a "frightening experience". "It was chaos. The horses were chasing people, it was like a battle scene. "There was no resemblance of any order or regimented formation. [The police] were everywhere, all over the field and road just hitting people." Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said he had fully supported a public inquiry and was "absolutely devastated" and "in shock". "I think we've been led to believe there would be an inquiry, it was just a question of what form it would take," he said. "I think the Home Office and government have led us up to the top of the hill and down again and I really can't understand that, they could have taken the decision two years ago." He said a public inquiry would have meant South Yorkshire Police could demonstrate it had moved on from the force's "legacy issues", including the Hillsborough and Rotherham child sex abuse scandals. "We don't fully know what happened at Orgreave, why it took this military-scale of activity, if it was somehow government-directed. "It's the point, I think, where the police come closest to being the instrument of the state and that's a very dangerous place to be. "We need to understand how that happened so we never get anywhere near that again." Chris Kitchen, national secretary of the NUM, accused Ms Rudd of trying to protect the Conservative Party in denying a public inquiry. He said: "All [yesterday's decision] has done is reinforce a long-held belief we've all had - that they have something to hide, and now we know it for sure," he said. Joe Rollin, chair of the OTJC, said: "That dismay and flabbergasted feeling is now turning into anger and we're not going anywhere." A Home Office spokesman said: "The home secretary met the campaign and their supporters on 13 September to hear their concerns in person. "She has told the OTJC that she considered a range of options in reaching her decision, but at no point did she ever commit to establishing any form of inquiry."
Campaigners have said they will consider seeking a judicial review into a decision not to hold a public inquiry into the so-called Battle of Orgreave.
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"I would think it would certainly be worth six figures to us," said Price. "I would hope to be making £100-150,000 out of it," he told BBC Sport. Price believes Worcestershire have been awarded the Ashes curtain-raiser as a reward for the hard work put in since the potentially disastrous flooding at New Road five years ago. "Since our flood in 2007 we have obviously had to sort ourselves financially and in every other way," he told BBC Hereford and Worcester. "The England and Wales Cricket Board are absolutely delighted with what we have done as a club and have set us up as a shining example to the other counties. "Gordon Hollins, who is the managing director for county cricket at the ECB, visited us the other day and said we are in the top three counties in the country." New Road traditionally used to be the starting point for Ashes tours, in the days when the Aussies were in England for almost five months and played all 17 first-class counties over the course of an entire summer. But the 2013 tourists will not arrive until mid-June and could play as few as three county teams as part of a schedule that also involves five Tests, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20s. The game at New Road will start on 2 July, the Aussies' second and final warm-up game before the first Test. Worcestershire are aware that any county awarded a tour game can consider themselves lucky, assuming they then get an even break in terms of the weather. And Price hopes the prospect of seeing Australia might encourage a few more to guarantee their seats by taking up membership. "When England Lions came here I think we made £150,000," recalls Price. "But obviously we can't charge the members as it is in the package. "Of course, we hope a lot more people in the county will join as members and take advantage of coming to watch the Australians as part of their membership fee."
Worcestershire chairman Percy Price says next summer's four-day game against the touring Australians could provide a vital financial windfall.
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Bangor University midwifery students were pulled out of the Bodelwyddan hospital in 2015 over concerns about some clinicians' behaviour. First year students will now return to the unit, following the reintroduction of third and second year placements. Betsi Cadwaladr health board said there would be "dedicated support" for staff and students. In a joint statement, the health board and university said the success of the placements would be "constantly evaluated" and the decision would be reviewed in January. All midwifery students were temporarily withdrawn from Glan Clwyd by the university two years ago, citing an "unsuitable practice learning environment due to the unprofessional behaviours and attitudes of some clinicians". It followed a review by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) which raised serious concerns about the education and supervision of trainees. The statement said the health board and university had decided "the phased approach for student reintroduction should now be completed" following a re-evaluation last month. "This will be accompanied by a further programme of dedicated support for both students and service staff, together with ongoing evaluation of the placement learning environment," it said. Third year students were reintroduced to the unit following a review in February 2016 while second students returned in February this year. The Royal College of Midwives said it had no major concerns about the service.
All student midwives will be returned to Glan Clwyd hospital two years after they were withdrawn over safety fears.
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The 29-year-old, who is currently in Rio hosting coverage of the Olympic Games, said he was "a huge fan" of the show and "cannot wait to get started". "I'm still waiting for someone to wake me up and tell me I'm dreaming! It's going to be so much fun," he added. Oduba is the fourth star announced for the show, which begins in September. He joins former shadow chancellor Ed Balls, singer Will Young and presenter Laura Whitmore, who were confirmed earlier this week. Oduba, who also appears on BBC Breakfast, said: "I've been such a huge fan of the show for over a decade. So to actually take to the Strictly stage myself, I don't think I've been more nervously excited - aside from on my wedding day. Let's hope for fewer tears!" Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram at bbcnewsents, or email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
BBC Sport presenter Ore Oduba has become the latest celebrity to join the line-up for the new series of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing.
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15 October 2015 Last updated at 09:12 BST Nissan, a 22-month-old male, was being moved to Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster when the four men climbed aboard the truck in slow traffic. French police were alerted and the men were ordered off of the lorry.
A group of migrants who jumped on to the back of a lorry in Calais bound for the UK found some unexpected company on board - a polar bear.
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Harry Kane had the home side's best chance when he was sent clear but Toffees goalkeeper Tim Howard saved. Jan Vertonghen also skimmed the bar for Tottenham while Tom Cleverley, who was later carried off on a stretcher, went closest for Everton. Media playback is not supported on this device The last time Spurs did not win any of their opening four league fixtures was under Juande Ramos in 2008-09. Ramos was subsequently sacked by Spurs a few months later and current boss Mauricio Pochettino will now have to wait until a trip to Sunderland on 13 September for another chance to register their first win of the campaign. Everton, who included John Stones in their starting line-up even though he handed in a transfer request, lost midfielder Cleverley to injury after an awkward tangle with Eric Dier while Spurs midfielder Mousa Dembele also left the pitch on a stretcher. Relive Tottenham's stalemate against Everton Reaction to this match and the rest of Saturday's action When Kane raced clear of the Everton defence and found himself one-on-one with Howard, White Hart Lane held its collective breath. This was the kind of opportunity he scored for fun en route to 31 goals in 51 appearances for Spurs last season, but a combination of Howard's speed off his line and Kane's hesitancy saw the chance go begging. All strikers go through peaks and troughs, but Kane looked like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Perhaps he just needs a break. Tottenham have signed forward Son Heung-min from Bayer Leverkusen for £22m, and remain keen on West Brom's Saido Berahino, so he might get some time out of the firing line. While Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal refuses to pick unsettled goalkeeper David De Gea because of concerns over his focus amid interest from Real Madrid, Stones remains a fixture in Everton's starting line-up. If Everton chairman Bill Kenwright's determination not to sell the 21-year-old England international is admirable, Martinez's insistence on picking him could prove to be a canny piece of man-management. Rather than isolate Stones and drive a wedge between the pair, Martinez has ensured their personal relationship remains unaffected. Stones produced a composed and defensively sound performance and it certainly did not suggest a player who had his head turned. Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino: "We created a lot of chances but you need to score. It was impossible today but I am happy with the performance. I am happy with Harry Kane, he had two or three clear chances but I am happy. He needs to work hard and play. A goal will come for Harry. All strikers have spells like this and only time can do it. I trust in him." Media playback is not supported on this device Everton manager Roberto Martinez: "John Stones was an immense influence on what we did defensively. The reading of the game, he looks like a player who has grown in the last few weeks under the pressure and speculation. Every single Evertonian will show that respect to him for the way he has handled the situation. You can see the signs of a future England captain." BBC Radio London's Bradley Allen: "Some of the Tottenham fans are right to be disappointed because that was probably the best Spurs have played so far this season. Everton were solid defensively, Tim Howard made some fine saves, and it just wasn't Spurs' evening." Everton host Premier League champions Chelsea at Goodison Park on Saturday, 12 September where John Stones could once again be the centre of attention. Tottenham will head to the Stadium of Light on 13 September to attempt to record their first win of the season against Sunderland. Match ends, Tottenham Hotspur 0, Everton 0. Second Half ends, Tottenham Hotspur 0, Everton 0. Attempt saved. Kevin Mirallas (Everton) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Gerard Deulofeu with a cross. James McCarthy (Everton) wins a free kick on the right wing. Foul by Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur). Foul by Gareth Barry (Everton). Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Nacer Chadli (Tottenham Hotspur) is shown the yellow card. Kevin Mirallas (Everton) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Alex Pritchard (Tottenham Hotspur). Corner, Tottenham Hotspur. Conceded by Bryan Oviedo. Seamus Coleman (Everton) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Nabil Bentaleb (Tottenham Hotspur). Steven Naismith (Everton) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur). Substitution, Tottenham Hotspur. Alex Pritchard replaces Ryan Mason. Hand ball by Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur). Substitution, Everton. Gerard Deulofeu replaces Arouna Koné. Attempt missed. Ross Barkley (Everton) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Bryan Oviedo. Corner, Tottenham Hotspur. Conceded by John Stones. Foul by Steven Naismith (Everton). Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt missed. Kevin Mirallas (Everton) right footed shot from outside the box is too high from a direct free kick. Ross Barkley (Everton) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur). Attempt missed. Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Ryan Mason. Steven Naismith (Everton) wins a free kick on the right wing. Foul by Nabil Bentaleb (Tottenham Hotspur). James McCarthy (Everton) wins a free kick on the right wing. Foul by Nacer Chadli (Tottenham Hotspur). Offside, Tottenham Hotspur. Ryan Mason tries a through ball, but Harry Kane is caught offside. Corner, Everton. Conceded by Toby Alderweireld. Steven Naismith (Everton) wins a free kick on the right wing. Foul by Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur). Attempt missed. Arouna Koné (Everton) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Bryan Oviedo with a cross. Attempt missed. Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Nacer Chadli. Foul by Kevin Mirallas (Everton). Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt missed. Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Substitution, Everton. Steven Naismith replaces Romelu Lukaku.
Tottenham remain winless in the Premier League after being held to a goalless draw by Everton at White Hart Lane.
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Hoban joined the U's from Irish side Dundalk in November 2014, but scored only six goals in 53 games. The 24-year-old had spells on loan with Stevenage and Grimsby Town last season, but failed to find the net in 13 combined appearances for the two clubs. "His hold up-play and link-up play is exceptional for this level," Stags manager Adam Murray said. "He is someone who will help us keep the ball in the final third for longer periods and bring our other attacking players into play." Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.
Mansfield Town have signed striker Pat Hoban following his release by League One club Oxford United.
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Hamilton dropped to seventh on lap one following a slow start and a clash with Valtteri Bottas' Williams at Turn One. His Mercedes bodywork damaged, Hamilton recovered well but was unable to catch Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in second. Rosberg's fifth win in a row, going back to Mexico last year, gives him a 17-point title lead over Hamilton. The world champion may be concerned about his second poor start in as many races this season and Raikkonen's pace was further evidence Ferrari are strong enough to at least put pressure on Mercedes this year. But the race effectively fell into Rosberg's lap by the second corner as problems afflicted all three of his main rivals. In addition to Hamilton's collision, the lead Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel did not even get that far. Vettel's engine failed in spectacular fashion on the formation lap before the race had even started, so it will never be known how much of a stiffer challenge he might have mounted to the Mercedes. That was one Ferrari out of the running and Raikkonen's chances took a major hit shortly afterwards as he dropped to fifth after a poor start of his own. Raikkonen fought past Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and the two Williams cars of Felipe Massa and Bottas to be second by lap seven - but by that stage he was already 12 seconds adrift of Rosberg, a gap that proved too big to bridge. By the time the leaders' three pit stops were finished, Raikkonen was only 4.6secs behind Rosberg but the Mercedes driver was comfortably able to hold him off and finished 10 seconds clear. Hamilton drove impressively to move back through the field with bodywork damage that will have cost him aerodynamic downforce, but ended up 19 seconds adrift of Raikkonen. The champion's two poor starts in the first two races have effectively handed title rival Rosberg two victories, but it's coming back from adversity where Hamilton excels, and how he won his second championship in 2014 so beguilingly. "[The reason for the bad starts were] two separate incidents," said Hamilton. "Both equally painful - perhaps this one more - but we managed to recover, again damage limitation. "The team was hoping that potentially there would be a safety car. I had so much damage to the car, I couldn't fight with Kimi." Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo took a solid fourth from fifth on the grid, and there was another impressive showing from the new US-based, Ferrari-affiliated Haas team - Romain Grosjean taking a fighting fifth after an aggressive strategy focused on running three sets of super-soft tyres and then a final set of softs. Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen, last year's stellar rookie, was a strong sixth ahead of the second Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat, who recovered from a poor qualifying performance that left him 15th on the grid to pass Massa for seventh on the penultimate lap. It was a disappointing end to a difficult race for Williams, with Bottas hit with a what some may consider a harsh drive-through penalty for the Hamilton collision, taking ninth. Stoffel Vandoorne was a solid 10th on his grand prix debut for McLaren, substituting for Fernando Alonso who was ruled out of this race by official FIA doctors because of a cracked rib sustained in his huge accident at the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago. Vandoorne, who out-qualified team-mate Jenson Button, dropped behind the Englishman on the first lap but Button retired on the seventh lap, prompting a shake of the head in the pits at another reliability problem for the team from Alonso, who stayed on in Bahrain to help Vandoorne through the weekend. Bahrain GP race results Bahrain GP coverage details
Nico Rosberg took a comfortable win in the Bahrain Grand Prix as Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton fought back to third after a first-lap collision.
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Murray joined the Cherries for £4m last summer on August deadline day but was restricted to just seven starts. He scored 56 goals in three and a half years with the Seagulls after joining from Rochdale, helping the club win the League One title in 2011. "Everyone at the club, and the supporters, know what Glenn will offer us," said boss Chris Hughton. "He is a proven goalscorer and an excellent addition to the squad." The former Barrow, Carlisle, Stockport, Crystal Palace and Reading forward joins Steve Sidwell and Ben Hall as new arrivals for next season. Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.
Championship side Brighton have re-signed Bournemouth striker Glenn Murray on a season-long loan deal.
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The Scots open the tournament against Japan on 23 September and the Dutch-born winger is raring to go. "We're in tip-top shape and everyone is as fit as they've ever been - once the games come round that's when I start to thrive," Visser told BBC Scotland. "It's been a long journey for me that started just after the last World Cup and we are finally here." This will be Visser's first taste of the World Cup since he became eligible to play for Scotland in June 2012, having spent the previous three years with Edinburgh. And he revealed there is some interest in his participation for Scotland back in his country of birth. "Rugby is a small sport [in the Netherlands] but for the first time a Dutch TV station have acquired the rights to broadcast the games," he explained. "Football is always the number one sport but after Holland losing recently to Iceland [in Euro 2016 qualifying] attention now turns to the World Cup here." The 28-year-old, who agreed a summer move to Harlequins, thinks a tournament so close to home will aid the Scots. "We are now getting on a one hour flight rather than a 40 hour flight to New Zealand like last time around," said Visser as the squad assembled at Edinburgh Airport. "It's great that we can get all the last minute preparations done here at Murrayfield. "Once the France game finished last week this is everything we have been looking forward to. "I woke up this morning with a big smile and even had Sean Maitland singing in my room!" And what was the choice of tune? "Rhythm is a Dancer," Visser answered. "And really slowly as well... It was a bit weird!" Following the opener against Japan in Gloucester, Scotland take on USA in Leeds before the final two pool matches against South Africa and Samoa take place in Newcastle. Visser is sure the Scottish fans will turn out in large numbers to support them given there are few travel issues to overcome. "I think we will have a lot of support there especially for the Newcastle games," he explained. "I'm expecting a lot of Scots to come down. The way we have been playing is exciting. The improvement has been immense especially in the last couple of games."
Tim Visser says Scotland are in great shape and good spirits as they prepare for their World Cup journey.
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Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board said they would be gathering evidence, including any mobile phone footage of the crash. The balloon caught fire and plummeted to the ground in a field near Lockhart, about 30 miles (50km) south of Austin. Witnesses have suggested it may have hit power lines. The local sheriff's office said identification of those killed would be "a long process". Neither the victims nor the operator of the balloon have been officially identified but friends and relatives named the pilot as Skip Nichols who ran Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides. Wendy Bartch, a former girlfriend, said he had been involved with hot air balloons for about two decades. "He was a good pilot and loved people," she told the Austin American-Statesman newspaper. The Facebook page of the balloon ride company was filled with messages of condolence and pictures of Mr Nichols. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Robert Sumwalt told reporters that the firm's records as well as photographs and videos taken by passengers and by people on the ground would be part of the investigation. He said they would look at "the operation of the balloon, the pilot, [and] the company that operated the balloon". Two years ago the NTSB called for better regulation of hot air balloon flights in the US, recommending they should be subject to the same oversight as tour planes and helicopters. The FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration are also assisting in the inquiry. Saturday's accident was the deadliest ever hot air balloon crash in the US.
US safety officials have arrived in Texas to investigate Saturday's crash of a hot air balloon in which all 16 people on board were killed.
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The event commemorates the 17th century siege of the city. In keeping with tradition, an effigy of Lt Col Robert Lundy, known as Lundy the Traitor, was burned. PSNI Ch Insp Alan Hutton said there was one arrest in relation to disorderly behaviour. He added that there had been "tremendous support and co-operation to make the day work".
The Apprentice Boys' annual Lundy's Day parade has taken place in Londonderry on Saturday.
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The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said sales volumes fell 0.6%, which followed a 1.7% rise in September when sales were helped by the Rugby World Cup. The monthly fall in food store sales was the biggest drop since May 2014. Retail sales volumes rose 3.8% compared with a year ago, compared with a 6.2% annual rise in September. Average shop prices, including petrol stations, were 3.3% lower in October than a year earlier. The ONS said department stores and clothing also dragged on retail sales growth last month. However, sales volumes in the three months to October compared with the previous three-month period - seen as a better indicator of the underlying trend - rose 0.9%. Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said October's drop in sales "looks to be a one-off and masks a reassuringly solid underlying trend". Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight, said shopping in the run-up to Christmas was "of vital importance to retailers", and that the extent of Black Friday discounting would be "interesting". "Will UK retailers match or even surpass the substantial discounting that took place on Black Friday at the end of November last year? Or will retailers decide that less aggressive is needed this year due to consumers' improved purchasing power and relatively high confidence?" he said. The ONS said that online sales in October increased by 11.2% compared with the same period in the previous year. Earlier this week, online retail sales association IMRG said sales had increased by 8.9% compared with last year, which was the lowest growth for fifteen years. It said the prospect of Black Friday discounts probably caused consumers to hold off on spending in the hope of a bargain.
UK retail sales volumes fell in October after a drop in trading at food stores, according to official figures.
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Adopting a sharper tone, Newt Gingrich said if rival Mitt Romney became the nominee, he would be laughed at by President Barack Obama in TV debates. Ron Paul was forced to repudiate an ad endorsing him and suggesting Jon Huntsman had been brainwashed by China. One of the contenders will challenge Barack Obama in November's election. The candidates will meet for the first televised debate of 2012 on Saturday. Primary votes will be held this month in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida which could well shape the race for the Republican nomination. Primaries and caucuses will take place in every US state over the next few months before the eventual Republican candidate is crowned at the party convention in August. By Paul AdamsBBC News, Concord, New Hampshire As the candidate hoping his chances get a boost in the Granite State, Jon Huntsman can take a small measure of satisfaction from his strong finish in a student straw poll in Concord. The former Utah governor finished way ahead of his rivals - including Ron Paul, who polls well among young voters - in the 2012 College Convention, which brings together students from across the country. Huntsman says he does not expect to win in New Hampshire, merely to exceed expectations. With his latest poll numbers not even in double figures, he's left it very late to start moving the needle. On Friday, Rick Santorum again clashed with students over gay rights, a reminder that, in the words of one college professor here, "this is not Iowa." Mitt Romney is so far ahead in the polls in New Hampshire that he's barely appeared here since narrowly winning in Iowa, preferring to turn his attention to South Carolina. That's causing some rancour in a state which prides itself on holding the first primary in the nation, but feels that it deserves a little more attention from the candidates. Former Massachusetts Governor Romney, who was declared the winner of last week's Iowa caucuses, is the overwhelming favourite to win next Tuesday's contest in his political heartland of New Hampshire. Two new polls released on Friday put him at about 20% above his closest rival in the small New England state, Texas Congressman Paul. Mr Gingrich was in New Hampshire on Friday trying to breathe new life into his campaign after a disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa. He said that if Mr Romney was chosen as the eventual Republican nominee, President Obama would "laugh at him" in debates because of the similarities between Mr Obama's healthcare reforms and laws passed by Mr Romney while governor of Massachusetts. But former House Speaker Gingrich was forced on the defensive by a row over racially charged comments he reportedly made. When asked what he would say if invited to speak at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP], Mr Gingrich took the opportunity to attack Mr Obama's economic policies, calling him the "food stamp president". "I'm prepared, if the NAACP invites me, I'll go to their convention and talk about why the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps," Mr Gingrich said, in a remark that trickled out in blogs on Thursday. NAACP President Benjamin Jealous hit back that the majority of Americans on food stamps were not black. "It is a shame that the former Speaker feels that these types of inaccurate, divisive statements are in any way helpful to our country," Mr Jealous said. Mr Gingrich said his comments had been subjected to "grotesque reinterpretation" and that he only meant that "every young American deserves a chance to have a job". Another Republican candidate, Rick Santorum, was criticised last week over remarks he allegedly made about black people. The former Pennsylvania senator was quoted as saying he did not want to "make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money". Mr Santorum said his remarks had not been reported accurately. On Friday, he risked the wrath of older voters by calling for immediate cuts to Social Security benefits. "We can't wait 10 years," Mr Santorum said while campaigning in New Hampshire. Meanwhile, Mr Huntsman - who served as US ambassador to China for nearly two years - expressed outrage over an ad posted online and portraying him as a supporter of China. The ad, by a group calling itself NHLiberty4Paul, shows footage of Mr Huntsman with daughters Gracie, who was adopted from China, and Asha, adopted from India, when they were infants. "American values. Or Chinese?" the ad asks to a soundtrack of Chinese music. It calls Mr Huntsman "the Manchurian Candidate" and ends with an image of him dressed as China's former communist leader Mao Zedong. Mr Huntsman, who is trailing in most polls in the Republican race, said: "What I object to is bringing forward pictures and videos of my adopted daughters and suggesting there's something sinister there." Ron Paul said: "I haven't looked at it, but I understand it's an ugly ad, and I've disavowed it. Obviously, it was way, way out order." Most of the Republican candidates are focusing their efforts on the primary in South Carolina on 21 January.
The Republican presidential race has turned ugly as the candidates elbow their way towards a crucial month of primary elections.
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McClaren, who was only appointed this summer, has guided United to 19th place in the Premier League and they were knocked out of the League Cup by an under-strength Sheffield Wednesday. "To have that knee-jerk reaction and look for a new manager is ridiculous at this point," Howey told BBC Sport. "We have to wait until at least Christmas." Howey helped Newcastle win the second-tier title as well as being part of a Magpies side which twice finished as runners-up in the Premier League during the 1990s. He believes the Tyneside outfit's players need to "take a long hard look at themselves". "Everyone can get beaten and we have already seen that this season but it is the way, attitude and sometimes how easily they go down," added Howey. "When I was playing, and even afterwards, teams didn't like coming to St James' Park because it was hostile and it was difficult to win there. "The way Newcastle are playing at the moment, they are basically there for the taking which is horrifically disappointing. The fans expect better." Newcastle host champions Chelsea on Saturday, with the only team below them in the top flight being rivals Sunderland. "It wouldn't be the same in the North East if there wasn't all this turmoil," said Howey. "Every year they say it's going to be different but it ends up being the same. The football at the moment is not even good. "If Newcastle and Sunderland don't buck their ideas up you can see them both going down and Middlesbrough coming up. "This area is a hotbed of football. It's a pity the teams aren't as good as the fans are."
Newcastle should keep faith with boss Steve McClaren, according to former Magpies centre-back Steve Howey.
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The euro fell against both the pound and the dollar as markets assessed potential interest rate moves over the next few months. The European Central Bank is expected to maintain its loose monetary policy for some time to come. However, markets are now waiting for rate rises in the UK and US. On Tuesday, Bank of England governor Mark Carney said that the point at which UK interest rates may begin to rise was "moving closer". And on Wednesday, US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen reiterated her view that US interest rates are likely to rise before the end of the year. The euro fell 0.5% against the dollar on Thursday to $1.0894. On the stock market, the benchmark FTSE 100 index closed 42.7 points higher, or 0.63%, at 6,796.45 with sentiment boosted after Greek lawmakers voted in favour of the latest bailout scheme. Bigger gains were seen elsewhere in Europe, with Germany's Dax index up 1.53% and France's Cac 40 1.47% higher. Dixons Carphone shares closed 1.45% higher after the electrical goods and mobile phone retailer reported a 21% rise in underlying full year profits. The firm, created through a merger last year, posted profits of £381m after what it called a "terrific year". Shares in Sports Direct added 0.27% after it reported a 21% rise in full-year underlying pre-tax profits to £300m. The company said it would cut its core earnings target for 2016 to £420m from £480m after planned acquisitions in 2015 failed to take place.
(Close): The pound rose to its highest rate against the euro since November 2007 on Thursday, climbing to €1.4350 at one point.
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22 November 2015 Last updated at 12:13 GMT Seven-year-old Ethan was performing the song before an Australian Baseball League match between the Brisbane Bandits and the Adelaide Bite. At the end of the performance, the crowd in the stadium gave him a huge round of applause. He then ran around the pitch getting high fives from all the baseball players. Video courtesy of the Australian Baseball League.
A boy in Australia had to battle through a case of the hiccups whilst performing the Australian national anthem.
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Former Everton Ladies left-sided player Alexander, 22, joined the Women's Super League One club in 2016. Defender Matthews, 23, who can also play in midfield, has been with the Vixens for six years and helped them reach the 2013 Women's FA Cup final. Former Aston Villa forward Fergusson, 21, has been with Willie Kirk's side since February. Newly-promoted Bristol City will play their first 2017 Spring Series game against Reading at Ashton Gate on Saturday, 22 April.
Megan Alexander, Jasmine Matthews and Olivia Fergusson have all signed new deals with Bristol City Women.
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Under the plans, a senior police officer would have to authorise police bail for longer than 28 days and a magistrate for more than three months. There is currently no time limit and no need for police to seek approval to get bail extended before charge. The plan to reform the law on police bail would have to be taken forward in the next Parliament, Mrs May said. She said it was "simply not acceptable" that pre-charge bail could last "months or years". The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) said the bail system needed to be "efficient and proportionate". Earlier this month, broadcaster Paul Gambaccini backed a limit on the use of police bail. He told MPs how officers and prosecutors "sat" on him for 12 months before telling him he would not be charged in relation to an allegation of historical sex abuse. It had previously been proposed that police would have to gain approval from a court for a bail extension after 28 days. But the Home Office said under the new plans extensions could be approved by a superintendent at 28 days, although this would only be allowed up to a total of three months in exceptional circumstances. Mrs May said alongside the measures would be a "new presumption" to release without bail at all, which she said would drive down the "inappropriate use" of pre-charge bail and ensure that suspects were released under bail conditions "only where it is necessary or proportionate". Other plans for the production of guidance and the collection of data on the use of police bail did not need legislation and could be progressed straight away, she said. An Acpo spokesman said: "Pre-charge bail is an essential tool in securing justice. The police have been clear that we want and need a bail system that is efficient and proportionate, both for victims and those suspected of committing crimes. "Each and every investigation follows a different path. Less than 2% of arrests result in a person being on bail for more than six months. However, in an increasingly globalised and digitised world some cases are complex... and cannot be rushed."
Time limits on police bail in England and Wales have been announced by Home Secretary Theresa May.
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But Scottish side Partick Thistle's new mascot, Kingsley, has been labelled too scary by some fans. He was designed by famous artist, David Shrigley but loads of fans have complained that he might frighten younger supporters. Kingsley told the BBC that people just need time to warm to him though. "I'm just new to this game but hopefully all the other mascots will realise that it isn't what's on the outside that counts and we can all be friends." But Kingsley isn't the first mascot to make the news. Cooly the cow was a mascot at the 2014 European Athletics Championships in Zurich. The mascot delighted the crowds by having a go at sports like pole vaulting and hurdling during the championships. Southampton FC's Sammy Saint made the headlines for all the right reasons! The south coast's top dog showed off his dance moves before a premier league match with Norwich in 2012. Imitating South Korean rapper Psy's trademark moves, he wowed the crowd and even got people following the dance with him. And luckily for us, Sammy's Gangnam style moves were caught on camera! Speaking of dancing mascots, how about Manchas from Mexico. Manchas, a mascot for a dairy company went viral after the cows crazy dance moves were caught on camera and posted on social media. The mascot is well known in Mexico for its dancing, and often challenges other mascots to a dance off. Meet Clyde, the official mascot for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. But Clyde wouldn't exist if it wasn't for 12-year-old Beth from Cumbernauld. She won a competition to design a mascot for the games. Clyde went on to represent Glasgow and the whole of Scotland when the games were held last year and became a bit of a media star. And where do mascots go to learn the tricks of the trade? Mascot school of course! Well, those in Japan do. That's right, fluffy cats or giant pigs can all be found at a very special school in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. The school is used to teach the people behind the costumes how to entertain crowds. Don't believe us, watch the clip to see for yourself.
Mascots are used to entertaining the crowds and are generally cute and cuddly.
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Ruth Walsh says her local children's centre almost literally saved her life. A lone parent living in West London, she became profoundly depressed after the birth of her son Billy, now two. She began to turn a corner, she thinks, when an outreach worker from a Sure Start programme almost "dragged" her to a mother and baby session. "Without that, I was heading for a very, very dark place, and I'm not sure that I would even still be here, to be quite honest. I certainly wouldn't be the mother I am to Billy," she says. "I interacted and played with Billy more when I was in the children's centre than I possibly did at home. It encouraged me and showed me the best way to do that. "And for me, it became somewhere to go," she adds. "It was a place of human contact." The Sure Start programme was set up by the Labour government in the late 1990s, and today there are 3,500 children's centres in England which are run under its auspices. But while parents across the country - including Ruth Walsh - are campaigning against council cuts which could threaten the future of many of the centres, some academics are questioning whether they have really changed the lives of the poorest children as much as politicians hoped they would. Huge claims were made for Sure Start in its early years - that it would cut child poverty, reduce social exclusion and even save money by creating well-balanced youngsters who would be less likely to get involved in crime. It was hoped the programme would also bring benefits to health, education and family life. But 12 years after the first Sure Start centres opened, one leading academic who was part of the government's official evaluation of the scheme says there is still no clear evidence it has helped children. Sir Michael Rutter, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at King's College, London, told BBC Radio 4's Analysis programme that he has doubts: Analysis is on BBC Radio 4 on Monday, 11 July 2011 at 2030 BST and Sunday 17 July at 2130 BST Listen on the BBC iPlayer Download the podcast Join Analysis on Facebook "The fact that the parents liked it - and I think by and large they did like it and do like it - is not enough. "It was set up to improve the outcomes for children." Asked what evidence there was that Sure Start was helping children, Sir Michael replies: "We don't know - that is still lacking." One major problem, he says, was that ministers ignored calls for a properly controlled evaluation of the programme - in which children would have been randomly assigned to a Sure Start or a non-Sure Start group. He accuses Labour of deliberately ignoring the possibility the programme might not work: "Academics were I think pretty unanimous in their view that a randomised controlled trial was the way ahead. But government vetoed that - I guess probably because evidence that it was less than perfect would be unwelcome." Evidence from the evaluation, which has now been running for ten years, has shown some positive results for children. A study published in December 2010, comparing five year-olds in Sure Start areas with their contemporaries in non-Sure Start areas, found there were fewer obese children in the areas where the programme had run. And parents felt there had been a number of benefits - they said their children were healthier and better behaved. But the study found no measurable improvement in Sure Start children's assessment scores when they started school. And mothers in Sure Start areas were actually more likely to report depressive symptoms, while parents covered by the scheme were less likely to attend school parents' evenings. The study compared children in Sure Start areas with children in similarly-poor non-Sure Start areas. Professor Edward Melhuish of Birkbeck College, London, who leads the National Evaluation of Sure Start, says there has been some progress. But he admits the evidence could have been more positive: "I wouldn't say it was a complete ringing endorsement." "We've been operating Sure Start for roughly ten years. We've overcome some of the problems, but still there's a great deal of room for further improvement." Despite the question mark that still hangs over the evidence for Sure Start, the coalition government has underlined its commitment to keeping it - though it has handed control of funding to local authorities, some of which have decided to make cuts. Sarah Teather, the Children's Minister, told the BBC more research was needed because the evaluations published so far had only covered Sure Start's first few years. "But I do think that there's an awful lot more that we need to do to improve the way in which children's centres are targeting those children and families who most need that support," she says. "What happens to you in your early years can often define your life chances both for good and sometimes, sadly, for bad as well." Last week Ms Teather announced a slimming-down of the early years curriculum, progress checks for all two-year-olds and payment by results for children's centres. She said the centres would move away from their early aim of cutting child poverty: "We want them to focus on parents' aspirations and skills because the evidence says that's what makes the difference. "And we also want centres to be more responsive to local need, so we want parents to be more involved in decisions," she says. Parents like Ruth Walsh are pleased the government is committed to the programme - but is concerned that the funding for Sure Start is not ring-fenced, leaving budget decisions to cash-strapped local councils. She still believes her local centre is making a huge difference. "It would be a crime to lose it," she says. "I know in my heart, in my soul, that it's benefited my child. I've seen other children come to the children's centre and they develop and they grow and they become socialised. "If it does just help parents, it is of huge value. But that is not the true picture." Analysis is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Monday , 11 July at 2030 BST and repeated on Sunday, 17 July at 2130 BST. Listen again via the BBC iPlayer or download the podcast.
The Sure Start centres were set up to give more deprived children a better chance in life, but how much evidence is there that they are actually making a difference?
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The writer and activist will run in the Southend West constituency in her first campaign to become an MP. Last month, Ms Monroe successfully sued columnist Katie Hopkins for defamation over two tweets published in 2015, and was awarded £24,000 in damages. On Twitter, she thanked Ms Hopkins for being her "campaign sponsor". Ms Monroe tweeted that her fear of meeting new people would make the general election "a huge personal challenge on every level". But she added: "Some things are bigger than me, so today I'm digging deep." Responding to Twitter users suggesting that she will lose her deposit, Ms Monroe wrote: "I may well do, but you should be directing your glee to my campaign sponsor, Katie. "Because nothing feels more right than using money earned through division and hate, to instead promote unity, community, and care. "So from the bottom of my heart, thank you Katie for your generous - if unwitting - contribution to saving the National Health Service." The NHA grew from a campaign group opposing the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. It ran candidates for local and European elections in 2014, including comedian Rufus Hound, and contested 12 seats in the 2015 general election. The party tweeted that they were "delighted" Ms Monroe was representing them. Conservative Sir David Amess, who is also running on 8 June, won the seat in the 2015 with a 14,000 majority.
Food blogger Jack Monroe will stand as a candidate for the National Health Action (NHA) Party in the forthcoming general election, she has confirmed.
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Championship Dumbarton 3-1 Alloa Athletic Raith Rovers 2-0 Queen of the South League One Airdrieonians 1-1 Forfar Athletic Ayr United 4-1 Stenhousemuir Dunfermline Athletic 1-1 Albion Rovers League Two Berwick Rangers 3-0 Arbroath East Stirlingshire 0-3 Clyde Elgin City 2-1 Stirling Albion
Promotion-chasing Raith Rovers beat Queen of the South in one of Tuesday's Scottish Championship fixtures, with games also in Leagues One and Two.
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The biggest single proposal is for 7,500 homes in a new suburb west of Pentrebane and about 6,000 and 2,000 earmarked either side of Pontprennau. A further 2,000 homes could be built on land north of junction 33 on the M4. The proposals are in Cardiff council's draft Local Development Plan (LDP) preferred strategy. It outlines sites to build major housing and employment developments, and they include greenfield as well as brownfield. There are also 112 submissions from developers for smaller sites in the city, but are not all expected to be included in the LDP. According to the plan, about 18,250 homes need to be built on vacant greenfield sites while 27,600 would go on brownfield areas that need to be regenerated. But more than 5,000 hectares of countryside would also be protected. The LDP states that about 40,000 jobs are planned by 2026. The strategy has to go before the council's joint scrutiny committee and full council first, and then a public consultation by the end of the year. If approved, it will be adopted in October 2015 and act as a framework for the development in Cardiff over the next 11 years. By then it is expected the capital's population could be 408,000, a rise of 26%, according to the report. Ralph Cook, deputy leader of Cardiff council and the authority's cabinet member for planning, said the city needed to respond appropriately to the growth of the population. "The local development plan is fundamental to understanding those needs and fulfilling them," he told BBC Wales. "The overall use of land under this plan is 60% brownfield and 40% greenfield and it changes the balance between urban and rural in the county, as it is currently, by just 5%. "This is not unusual. If a city doesn't grow, it dies." Mr Cook added that factored into the plan are the ways the infrastructures will be provided from roads right through to schools, which will be included when the final version comes out in 2015. "There's a long way to go until we get to there but this is the first stage we have to get under our belts," he added. "We know that this will be challenged, we know there will be many people upset by the idea of houses being built very close their houses which were only built 10 years ago and we can expect that." A Shelter Cymru spokesperson said the council's commitment to building new homes will help ease the shortage of affordable homes in Wales. "It is not just a simple matter of the number of new homes built. It's just as important to develop communities where people want to live that will be sustainable in the long term, so it's essential that the authority's also focuses on regenerating existing housing estates. "In the meantime, we would also urge Cardiff council to continue working to bring long-term empty properties back into use - while the proposed new homes are welcome, empty homes can be brought back into use relatively quickly and cheaply to help meet local housing need."
Plans have been unveiled for 45,400 homes to be built in Cardiff by 2026, with the city's population forecast to rise by a quarter to more than 400,000.
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The photograph of Ajit Atwal, who used to represent the Liberal Democrats on Derby City Council, was taken on holiday in India last year. In April, Mr Atwal apologised but was still suspended as a magistrate. The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said his behaviour "amounted to serious misconduct". Labour colleagues in Derby made calls for Mr Atwal to resign as a councillor when the photo appeared in a national newspaper in March. Later, he apologised if he had "caused anyone any alarm or distress" but refused to resign as a magistrate. Mr Atwal lost his other role as a councillor in May's local elections. A spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said: "Mr Ajit Singh Atwal JP, a Magistrate assigned to the Derbyshire Bench, uploaded photographs of himself holding an automatic weapon, which is illegal in the UK, on his Twitter account. "The photographs were deemed by a conduct panel to have brought the magistracy into disrepute. "The Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice concluded that this behaviour amounted to serious misconduct and have removed Mr Atwal from the magistracy." Mr Atwal has yet to comment.
A former councillor who posted a picture of himself holding an AK-47 rifle on Twitter has been been removed from his role as a magistrate.
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Ryan Seager put the hosts ahead with his first goal for the club but Leroy Fer headed in Jay Fulton's cross to equalise two minutes later. Another Fer header made it 2-1 on the hour before Tammy Abraham netted his first Swansea goal from close range. With four minutes of normal time left, Jordan Ayew scored with a tremendous 20-yard effort to wrap up the win. There was bad news for Swansea however, as defender Kyle Bartley was taken off on a stretcher after an awkward landing late in the game. Swans boss Paul Clement said: "I thought we made hard work of it. I think we had enough control of the game and the threat that we caused, we should have put it to bed in the first half. "But we went a goal behind through a mistake, but we got back into the game. "I wasn't particularly happy at half time and I let the players know that. We've got to be more clinical and more ruthless, but we had good control of the game and I was pleased with the end result." Match ends, MK Dons 1, Swansea City 4. Second Half ends, MK Dons 1, Swansea City 4. Jordan Ayew (Swansea City) wins a free kick on the left wing. Foul by Giorgio Rasulo (MK Dons). Luciano Narsingh (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Aaron Tshibola (MK Dons). Substitution, Swansea City. Adam King replaces Tom Carroll. Goal! MK Dons 1, Swansea City 4. Jordan Ayew (Swansea City) left footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Angel Rangel. Attempt blocked. Leroy Fer (Swansea City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Tammy Abraham. Delay over. They are ready to continue. Substitution, Swansea City. Alfie Mawson replaces Kyle Bartley. Delay in match Kyle Bartley (Swansea City) because of an injury. Tammy Abraham (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Paul Downing (MK Dons). Attempt blocked. Leroy Fer (Swansea City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Mike van der Hoorn. Substitution, MK Dons. Aaron Tshibola replaces Joe Walsh. Substitution, Swansea City. Luciano Narsingh replaces Jay Fulton. Tom Carroll (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Sam Nombe (MK Dons). Attempt blocked. Ed Upson (MK Dons) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Foul by Jay Fulton (Swansea City). Ed Upson (MK Dons) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Leroy Fer (Swansea City). Robbie Muirhead (MK Dons) wins a free kick on the left wing. Goal! MK Dons 1, Swansea City 3. Tammy Abraham (Swansea City) left footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jordan Ayew. Corner, MK Dons. Conceded by Martin Olsson. Substitution, MK Dons. Brandon Thomas-Asante replaces Gboly Ariyibi. Attempt missed. Jordan Ayew (Swansea City) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Tom Carroll. Tom Carroll (Swansea City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Foul by Tom Carroll (Swansea City). Gboly Ariyibi (MK Dons) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by Joe Walsh. Attempt blocked. Jordan Ayew (Swansea City) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is blocked. Assisted by Tom Carroll. Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by Gboly Ariyibi. Joe Walsh (MK Dons) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Jordan Ayew (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Joe Walsh (MK Dons). Goal! MK Dons 1, Swansea City 2. Leroy Fer (Swansea City) header from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Tom Carroll with a cross following a corner. Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by Conor McGrandles. Attempt blocked. Jordan Ayew (Swansea City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Tom Carroll.
Premier League side Swansea City came from behind to beat MK Dons and seal their place in the EFL Cup third round.
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They are joined by Heather Watson, 24, and Murray's older brother Jamie, 30, in the four-strong team. Andy Murray, 29, claimed gold in the men's singles and silver in the mixed doubles at London 2012. Konta, 25, will be playing in her first Games, but it will be a second appearance for Watson and a third for Jamie Murray. World number 18 Konta said: "It's such an honour to have the rare opportunity to represent my country in an Olympic Games. I'm looking forward to doing my part for Team GB and supporting my team-mates across all the sports." Former Wimbledon champion Murray added: "Playing for Team GB during London 2012 gave me some of the best memories I have in sport. "Being a home Olympic Games, it was such a special occasion and the atmosphere at Wimbledon was like nothing I have ever experienced. "Winning medals for your country is as good as it gets and I can't wait to get to Rio to try and win more medals." Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.
British number ones Andy Murray and Johanna Konta have been named in Team GB's tennis squad for the Rio Olympics.
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Under proposals to be outlined in its manifesto on Tuesday, Labour would create nine new public bodies to run the water and sewage system in England. By ending the practice of paying dividends to shareholders, party sources say bills would be reduced by around £100 a year per household. Labour will also promise 30 hours free childcare for two to four-year-olds. Jeremy Corbyn will unveil a "radical and responsible" plan for government, pledging to change the country and govern "for the many not the few". He will vow to reverse the austerity of recent years but also to "manage within our means". A draft version of the document, which was leaked last week, committed a future Labour government to taking the railways and the Royal Mail back into public ownership while also nationalising the electricity distribution and transmission networks. Labour's plans would also see the water industry, which was sold off by the government of Margaret Thatcher in 1989, return to public hands. If elected on 8 June, it would create nine new public bodies to run the water and sewage system in England and Wales, that would be publicly accountable, retaining the existing workforce. Party sources say by ending the practice of paying dividends to shareholders and reducing interest payments on debt, bills would be reduced by around £100 a year per household - the equivalent of a cut in water bills of around 25%. The industry would be taken into public ownership either by simply buying the shares of the existing companies or by a compulsory measure whereby companies would have to be given government bonds in exchange for the shares. A Labour source said: "Under Labour, rather than answering to its shareholders out to make a quick buck at the expense of increasing household bills and worsening service quality, utilities will be accountable to the bill payer, helping ease the burden of those struggling with the cost of living crisis." There are currently 10 major water and sewage companies in England and Wales. Thames Water, the largest in terms of customers and value, has a market value of about £12bn. Its shareholders include the Canadaian pension fund Omers, the Kuwait Investment Authority and pension funds and institutions from across the world. Companies listed on the stock market include Severn Trent, United Utilities and Pennon Group, which owns South West Water. They have combined market value of £17bn. The water industry is already effectively in public ownership in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Scottish Water is a statutory corporation accountable to the Scottish government while Northern Ireland Water became a government-owned company in 2007. In Wales, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is operated for "the public benefit". There will also be a commitment in the manifesto to provide 30 hours of free childcare for all two to four-year-olds, covering 1.3 million children. Labour is yet to publish its full costings for these policies and will not reveal their full plans for taxation until the manifesto is published. They have been clear that they will increase income tax for the wealthiest 5% of taxpayers earning more than £80,000 a year and increase corporation tax by 19% to 26%. Mr Corbyn will contrast his "programme of hope" with what he will claim is Theresa May's "fear" based campaign and her "tight-fisted, mean-spirited" party. "People want a country run for the many not the few," he will say. "For the last seven years, our people have lived through the opposite, a Britain run for the rich, the elite and the vested interests. Labour's mission, over the next five years, is to change all that. "It's a programme that will reverse our national priorities to put the interests of the many first. It will change our country while managing within our means. This is a programme of hope." The Conservatives said taxpayers would have to foot the bill for Labour's unfunded spending commitments. "Jeremy Corbyn's economic ideas are nonsensical," said Treasury minister David Gauke. "It is clear that Labour would have to raise taxes dramatically because his sums don't add up."
Labour would nationalise the multi-billion pound water industry if elected, the BBC understands.
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The spending watchdog said the resources of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) were possibly being spread too thinly. It also said that despite spending cuts since 2008-09 there had been "little change" in the agencies' work. The Scottish government said it would consider recommendations made in the report. Audit Scotland said that by failing to change the way they worked, Scotland's two enterprise bodies were at risk of spreading resources "over too broad a range of activities". It added that "this might not be the most efficient use of their funding and expertise". Scottish Enterprise and HIE spent £398m between them on their work to support economic growth in 2014-15. But between 2008-09 and 2014-15, Scottish Enterprise's spending fell by 16%, Audit Scotland said. While HIE spending rose by 3% over the period, the report said this was due to extra government cash for extending high-speed broadband in the Highlands and islands. When this money is excluded, spending was down by 22% in real terms. Audit Scotland said the two bodies had "performed well against their agreed performance measures", but the report added it was "not possible" to measure their combined performance. It said: "Despite undertaking similar activities, there is little commonality between Scottish Enterprise's and HIE's publicly reported performance measures. "For example, both have a performance measure related to 'internationalisation'. "Scottish Enterprise measures the number of businesses achieving significant turnover growth from exporting, whereas HIE measures the increase in international sales by supported businesses." It added: "Having different performance measures in place and different ways of calculating them means it is difficult to compare the performance of the two bodies. "It also means that it is not possible for the Scottish government to assess the collective performance of its economic development agencies." While Scottish Enterprise and HIE review performance targets annually, Audit Scotland said these had "mostly been exceeded" for the last five years. But it added that the government had "not challenged the enterprise bodies to increase their annual targets", and said it was "important that the enterprise bodies test that they are setting the most challenging targets possible". The spending watchdog also argued that there was scope to "simplify arrangements" for providing support to businesses, and "clarify roles and responsibilities". It has recommended that the government should strengthen its approach to developing and monitoring economic policy, including setting clear targets and timescales for action, and making clear the different responsibilities of different public sector bodies. Auditor General for Scotland Caroline Gardner said: "New powers, continuing pressure on public finances, and uncertainty following the recent EU referendum mean that the Scottish government needs to target public sector activity and funding where they will have the biggest impact on achieving its economic strategy. "It also needs to be able to measure progress so its plans remain on track." A Scottish government spokeswoman said: "We welcome this contribution to the debate on Scotland's economy and will consider the recommendations as part of our Enterprise and Skills Review which looks to build on the success of our agencies. "Despite significant challenges Scotland's economic performance has improved since 2007 - the productivity gap with the UK has narrowed, and the labour market has remained resilient." Scottish Conservative economy spokesman Dean Lockhart said: "This Audit Scotland report recognises that economic growth is complex but the gap between UK and Scottish unemployment rates continue to grow and small businesses need all the support they can get. "The SNP have let the economy brief slip as they continue to obsess about independence and this report clearly highlights that more needs to be done on achieving sustainable economic growth in Scotland."
Spending by two public enterprise agencies has fallen in the last six years, according to Audit Scotland.
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Some residents said they had ventured on to the streets for the first time in days after the 48-hour "regime of calm" began early on Thursday. However, state media and monitors said one person had died in shelling by rebels overnight. Fighting in Aleppo has threatened a nationwide cessation of hostilities aimed at bolstering peace talks. Nearly 300 people have died in the past two weeks as pro-government forces and rebels battled for control of Syria's second city. "The general command of the Syrian army declared a period of calm in Aleppo for 48 hours starting from one o-clock in the morning on Thursday (22:00 GMT Wednesday)," Syrian state TV reported. US Secretary of State John Kerry, who helped to broker the latest truce with Russia and the UN, called for all parties, "the regime and the opposition alike", to abide by the agreement. He has also urged rebel fighters to distance themselves from the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front which, along with so-called Islamic State (IS), is not included in the cessation agreement. In other developments on Thursday: The UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has warned that a failure of the overall cessation of hostilities would be "catastrophic" and could send 400,000 more people heading for refuge at the Turkey border. Jordan has reported a surge of refugees fleeing violence in Aleppo in recent days. Residents in several war-torn districts of Aleppo reported a sense of calm returning on Thursday. "From last night it was positive and my wife went out to shop, and shops opened and people breathed," said trader Sameh Tutunji. "We did not hear the shelling and bombing we had become accustomed to. Enough of this daily killing after more than 10 days," he added. Another resident said military planes had been heard overnight but there had been no bombardment. The Syrian army, however, accused rebels of shelling government-held areas while UK-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said one person had died when rebels shelled the Midan district overnight. A spokesman for the main opposition umbrella group, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), said it supported the latest deal but wanted a cessation of hostilities that would cover all of Syria, not just Aleppo. Late last week, the Syrian army announced "regimes of calm" covering Damascus and some of its suburbs and parts of the north-western coastal province of Latakia. However, those unilateral truces excluded Aleppo and the recent violence there has been the most intense for more than a year. The Syrian Observatory said rebels had advanced into government-held western districts on Tuesday night but were pushed back by Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, Mr Kerry warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against trying to "carve out Aleppo and carve out a section of the country".
An uneasy calm has been reported across the divided Syrian city of Aleppo after a partial truce came into effect.
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The other Round 4B tie saw Armagh drawn against Kildare, the county formerly managed by current Orchard County boss Kieran McGeeney. The two fixtures will take place at Croke Park on 29 July. Down take on Monaghan at 17:00 BST followed by Armagh's encounter with the Lilywhites two hours later. McGeeney, Armagh's 2002 All-Ireland winning captain brought Kildare to an All-Ireland semi-final in 2010 but his reign ended in controversial circumstances in 2013 after losing a ballot among county delegates by just one vote. Kildare will be without midfielder Kevin Feely after he picked up his third black card of the year in the Leinster final defeat by Dublin, while captain Eoin Doyle looks certain to have a procedure on a broken thumb. No beaten Leinster finalist has gone on to win their Round 4 qualifier since the Lilywhites did it in 2009. Monaghan suffered a shock Ulster semi-final defeat by Down, but have come through qualifiers against Wexford and Carlow. Armagh have seen off Fermanagh, Westmeath and Tipperary in their All-Ireland qualifier ties, after losing out to the Mournemen in the Ulster Championship. The winners of these ties will play either Tyrone or Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final. Should Kildare win they will automatically play Tyrone, while should Down win they will automatically face Dublin. If Armagh and Monaghan both win then a further draw will be required to determine which of the above provincial champions they will meet in the quarter-final. While teams in Round 4 are typically prevented from facing sides they've already played in their provincial championship this wasn't possible for Down as they'd already played both their potential opponents in this draw.
Monaghan have been handed the chance to avenge their Ulster semi-final defeat by Down after the counties were paired together in the All-Ireland Qualifiers.
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The 33-year-old, who has won seven Grand Tours, has spent the last six years with Tinkoff but they are folding at the end of this season. Contador is one of only six riders to have won all three Grand Tours, although he has not won the Tour de France since 2009. "The big objective is to try and win the most important races - first and foremost the Tour de France," he said. "Trek-Segafredo is a very attractive and ambitious project that really inspires me. I am convinced that this team can provide me with the best structure and bring me in the best conditions to the races." The US-registered team have also brought in Contador's long-term domestique, Jesus Hernandez, and Tinkoff directeur sportif Steven de Jongh.
Spaniard Alberto Contador will join Trek-Segafredo in 2017.
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In a hectic opening quarter-of-an-hour, City took charge with two goals from Jon Parkin. Sean Newton's long seventh-minute throw-in was headed on by Vadaine Oliver for Parkin to volley home at the far post, and the striker then finished off a similar move with another close-range finish six minutes later. York keeper Kyle Letheren had a moment to forget when he failed to deal with Ross Stearn's simple in-swinging free-kick and allowed the ball to bounce between his legs into the back of the net. After the break, Spitfires defender Gavin Hoyte somehow cleared Amari Morgan-Smith's close-range shot off the line. Substitute Tyler Garratt then hit the post at the other end with a bouncing 25-yard drive. Oliver nearly restored York's two-goal lead when his header from an Asa Hall corner was pushed against the bar by keeper Ryan Clarke. But the striker was not to be denied as he wrapped up the points with 10 minutes left, holding off Ayo Obileye's challenge before steering a shot into the bottom corner. Match report supplied by the Press Association. Match ends, York City 3, Eastleigh 1. Second Half ends, York City 3, Eastleigh 1. Ayo Obileye (Eastleigh) is shown the yellow card. Substitution, York City. Danny Holmes replaces Adriano Moke. Reda Johnson (Eastleigh) is shown the yellow card. Substitution, Eastleigh. Sam Matthews replaces Ben Close. Goal! York City 3, Eastleigh 1. Vadaine Oliver (York City). Substitution, Eastleigh. Scott Wilson replaces Craig McAllister. Simon Heslop (York City) is shown the yellow card. Substitution, Eastleigh. Tyler Garrett replaces Ross Stearn. Second Half begins York City 2, Eastleigh 1. First Half ends, York City 2, Eastleigh 1. Goal! York City 2, Eastleigh 1. Ross Stearn (Eastleigh). Goal! York City 2, Eastleigh 0. Jon Parkin (York City). Goal! York City 1, Eastleigh 0. Jon Parkin (York City). First Half begins. Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
York climbed off the foot of the National League with an impressive win to leave Eastleigh still chasing their first win of the year.
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Geoffrey Mark Ball has a history of sexual assaults on women and is due to be released from prison. The 44-year-old, who has lived in Middlesbrough and Wales, defrauded his victims and lied about his identity. Cleveland Police applied for the sexual harm prevention order "due to the risk he poses to vulnerable females", they said. Ball was convicted of indecently assaulting a woman in 1989 and jailed for six months. He was sent to prison for four years in 2006 for grievous bodily harm. Following a prison sentence in 2010 for sexual assault he was was put on the sex offenders register until 2017. In 2013 a police manhunt was launched for Ball after he breached the requirements of the Sexual Offences Act. He is due to be released from Holme House Prison in County Durham.
A sex offender has been banned from making friends with women without telling police.
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The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said the rise took the number of buy-to-let loans to 23,300, although this was down 6% compared with October. Landlords in England and Wales will have to pay a 3% surcharge on each stamp duty band from April. In addition, changes being brought in over the next few years will alter tax breaks available to landlords. "Landlords may be disgruntled by the double whammy of tax changes and the impending hike on stamp duty, but they can't complain about some of the cheapest buy-to-let rates ever," said Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients "Many landlords are taking advantage of low rates and the removal of tax breaks with remortgaging accounting for the majority of activity in the sector. "However, lenders are imposing tighter criteria on buy-to-let mortgages when it comes to stress testing, and others are expected to follow, making it harder to qualify for higher loan-to-value mortgages, particularly in the south [of England] where yields are low." The value of loans advanced in the buy-to-let sector increased by 46% in November compared with the same month a year earlier, to £3.5bn. In the UK mortgage market as a whole, the number of home loans advanced for house purchases was 9.3% higher than the same month a year ago, and the CML is expecting a steady rise in mortgage lending over the next two years. A total of 60,100 mortgages were advanced in November, although this was down 9.2% from October. The CML said that the seasonal dip was "normal". "Mortgage lending activity eased back as the normal dip in the winter months began," said Paul Smee, director general of the CML. "There was still growth across all lending types in November compared to the year earlier suggesting continued improvement. Our forecasts anticipate that gross lending will continue a slow but steady upward trajectory over the next two years."
Home loans advanced to UK buy-to-let investors in November leapt 35% from a year earlier, ahead of key tax changes.
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Twelve of the country's senior military figures said the UK was stronger in the EU at a time of "grave" challenges. Downing Street later expressed regret that it had included a 13th signatory - Gen Sir Michael Rose - on the letter to the Daily Telegraph by mistake. At least two defence ministers are backing the leave campaign. A referendum on whether the UK should stay in the EU will be held on 23 June. The intervention comes after leaders of some of Britain's biggest companies said leaving the EU would put the UK's economy at risk. The letter, released by Downing Street and signed by officers from all three services, including former Chiefs of Defence Staff Lord Bramall and Lord Stirrup, said that while Nato was the most important alliance for UK security, the EU was an "increasingly important pillar of our security". It said Europe was facing "grave security challenges" from instability in the Middle East, the rise of so-called Islamic State and "resurgent Russian nationalism and aggression". The letter also said: "Britain will have to confront these challenges whether it is inside or outside the EU. But within the EU, we are stronger. "Inside it, we can continue to collaborate closely with our European allies, just as we did when we helped to force the Iranians to the negotiating table through EU-wide sanctions, or made sure that [Russian President] Putin would pay a price for his aggression in Ukraine." The letter said the UK's "firm veto over EU foreign policy decisions" meant it would not be forced to join EU initiatives that were "against our strategic interest" and would also allow it to block the rest of the EU from going ahead in such circumstances. "Britain's role in the EU strengthens the security we enjoy as part of Nato, adds to our capability and flexibility when it comes to defence co-operation and allows us to project greater power on the international stage," the former defence chiefs added. The BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said the letter made "very similar arguments" to those already put forward by Prime Minister David Cameron as to why Britain should remain in the European Union. He said the claim the UK would be safer in the EU would be "hotly disputed" and one not everyone in the military would necessarily agree with - defence ministers Penny Mordaunt and Julian Brazier back the leave campaign. Later on Wednesday, the prime minister's spokesman admitted that Number 10 had mistakenly included as a signatory the former director of special forces, Gen Rose. The spokesman said the general had got in touch from New Zealand to inform Number 10 of the error. Signatories of the letter:
The UK is safer in the EU and better able to meet a range of global threats, including so-called Islamic State and Russia, ex-defence chiefs have said.
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The 30-year-old suffered the injury while playing for the Gujarat Lions in the Indian Premier League in April. The T20 Blast starts in July, with Gloucestershire opening their campaign at home to Middlesex in Cheltenham. Meanwhile, bowler David Payne has been sidelined for an unknown length of time after undergoing a hernia operation.
Australia Twenty20 international bowler Andrew Tye will miss this summer's T20 Blast competition for Gloucestershire because of a shoulder injury.
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A court in Frankfurt ruled that the firm lacked the necessary legal permits to operate under German law. It has emerged that the firm was told last week that its "low-cost" UberPop service could no longer take passengers and faced a fine if it continued. But an Uber spokesman said it had decided not to suspend the service, adding that the ban was not enforceable while an appeal process was ongoing. "Germany is one of the fastest growing markets for Uber in Europe," he said. "We will continue to operate in Germany and will appeal the recent lawsuit filed by Taxi Deutschland in Frankfurt. "You cannot put the brakes on progress. Uber will continue its operations and will offer UberPop ridesharing services via its app throughout Germany." A check of the firm's software confirms that drivers continue to offer UberPop pick-ups in Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf. UberPop was launched earlier this year and involves drivers - who are not directly employed by the company - over the age of 21 using their own cars to transport passengers. Taxi Deutschland suggested that Uber could face up to a 250,000 euro ($327,840; £198,342) fine per trip if the American firm loses the case. The body described its rival as a "form of locust share-economy" indulging in "anarchy capitalism" that could leave passengers exposed in the case of an accident. "In Germany there's insurance that applies to private drivers," explained spokeswoman Anja Floetenmeyer. "But if your insurer learns that you are driving for an app and you want to make money on that, they say this is a multiple risk and refuse to [pay] insurance on that. "Uber doesn't care because security costs money. We don't believe it has the interests of [German] drivers and citizens at heart." But Uber's spokesman in Germany, Fabien Nestmann, has previously blogged that safety is one of his firm's key concerns, adding that "all the rides - and thus all travellers - are insured by Uber". The summary judgment follows a decision by London's transport authorities not to pursue a case against Uber in June this year. The San Francisco-based firm allows passengers to summon cars using an app on their smartphones and calculates the fare en route. It is often significantly cheaper than rival taxi companies. But taxi drivers argue that Uber has fewer regulatory burdens placed upon it than they do, and poses unfair competition. The company - which is backed by Google and the bank Goldman Sachs, among others - has been the subject of protests by taxi drivers in many European cities, including Berlin, Paris and London. Only last week, Uber said it was planning to rapidly expand its German operation.
Car pick-up service Uber has had one of its services banned across Germany.
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Capt Christopher Stover, Capt Sean Ruane, Technical Sgt Dale Mathews and Staff Sgt Afton Ponce died in the crash in Cley next the Sea, north Norfolk. The HH-60G Pave Hawk from the 48th Fighter Wing, based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, came down on Tuesday. The USAF said no warning or Mayday message was made before the crash. The Pave Hawk was armed with 600 .50-calibre bullets and a 9mm side-arm with 15 bullets, which were scattered across an area the size of a football pitch. It was on a low-level night training mission, which Col Kyle Robinson, Commander of 48th Wing described as a routine flight. "No warning was received about problems with the helicopter," he said. "Yesterday, we did not fly across the whole 48 Fighter wing, showing our support and condolences for the members of the D6 rescue squadron. "We will start some limited flight operations today as we continue forward." He added that it was "still too early to speculate as what caused the crash and make all long-term decisions based on that". Captains Stover and Ruane were pilots, while Tech Sgt Mathews and SSgt Ponce were acting as special mission aviators. Col Robinson said they were "flying to a gunnery range in Holbeach [Lincolnshire], and used that frequently for training". He said the crew, who were members of the 56th rescue squadron, had been in the air force "anywhere from a couple of years to upwards of 16 to 17 years". "As you would imagine, with most crews, there is a range of experience levels and in general, you have some of the more experienced people [who] will fly with some of the less experienced people and this crew is no different. "They are all highly qualified in what they did and capable." Police, air accident, RAF and US investigators have spent the last two days at the scene of the crash. The USAF, supported by the Ministry of Defence, will lead the continuing investigation into the circumstances of the crash, with Norfolk Police handing over their inquiry. A 400-metre police cordon is expected to remain in place at the scene until Monday and the public have been asked to stay away. Norfolk Police Ch Supt Bob Scully said the "dignified and appropriate removal of the bodies" was carried out by USAF officers and staff "under the supervision of Her Majesty's Coroner". Speaking before the removal, he said it had been a "real sadness that we've not be able to recover the bodies sooner". "It's a very difficult investigation, on very difficult terrain." He added that the recovery of the wreckage and munitions and "making good any environmental damage caused by the crash" would take several weeks. The bodies have been taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. Norfolk Coroner Jacqueline Lake said she would not be carrying out an investigation into the deaths because the airmen had a "relevant association with a visiting force" under the Visiting Forces Act 1952 and Coroners and Justice Act 2009. Col Robinson added that had been a "tragic, sudden loss". "The Liberty Wing feels as though it has lost members of its family, and we stand by to support one another and these airmen's families during this difficult time." Flowers have been left at the gates at RAF Lakenheath and a fundraising page has been set up online to offer financial support to the families.
The bodies of the United States Air Force (USAF) crew killed in a helicopter crash in Norfolk have been removed from the scene.
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Caroline Parry was shot in the back at close range near her home in Newport last August. Christopher Parry, 49, from Cwmbran, was described as a "controlling and dominant" individual who could not accept his wife was separating from him after years of unhappiness. He denies murder but has admitted manslaughter. Prosecutor Michael Mather-Lees QC said Mr Parry waited for his wife to leave her new lover's home on the morning of the shooting, before removing a semi-automatic shotgun from the boot of his car. Mr Parry, a driver for the Celtic Manor Resort, then turned the gun on himself, he said, which left him with "substantial head injuries". Newport Crown Court heard Mr Parry had been a "controlling" during the couple's 27-year marriage. Mr Mather-Lees said: "Such was the state of the marriage she left and went to live with her mother, telling her husband she would never go back to him. "But he could not accept the fact that his wife had left him after years of unhappiness. "She later went to live with a man called Gary Bidmead who she had met before she left the marital home." In the months before the shooting Mr Parry, who had a shotgun licence and kept three firearms at his Cwmbran home, kept his wife "under surveillance" and phoned her persistently, the jury was told. Mr Mather-Lees claimed the shooting was a "carefully planned scheme" by a man "not prepared to let go". "Parry later claimed it was his intention to kill himself in front of his wife - not shoot her," he said. "If that was the case why did he have a semi-automatic with three cartridges? "The answer is he was planning to kill her and kill her he did." The trial continues.
A husband shot his wife dead because he could not accept she had left him, Newport Crown court has heard.
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