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Just over one billion contactless transactions were completed in 2015, the UK Cards Association said.
More was spent using this technology last year than during the previous seven years combined.
About half of all debit and credit cards are fitted with contactless capability.
This allows shoppers to spend up to £30 on their card by placing it next to a sensor in a shop, without the need to enter a four-digit Pin.
One in 13 purchases was on contactless during the whole year, but use grew to one in eight by December, the UK Cards Association said.
One of the most common ways to use the technology is on the London Underground network, where more than a million journeys a day are paid for by placing credit and debit cards next to sensors when entering and exiting stations.
Transport for London said it was the first integrated transport authority to introduce contactless ticketing.
Concerns have been raised in the past over security of contactless cards, although the industry said that fraud levels on contactless payments were low.
Consumer group Which? said in July that, although the risks were low, it would be possible for somebody standing very close to "lift" card details without the owner knowing. Wrapping the card in tin foil, or putting it in a foil-lined wallet would guard against this.
Every contactless card has an in-built security check which requires a Pin to be entered after a number of consecutive contactless payments, to verify the genuine cardholder. | One in eight purchases made on UK cards in December used contactless technology, marking a surge in the use of the alternative to loose change. |
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The Leinster back-rower has been out for a number of weeks with a calf injury but has taken a full part in training since Tuesday.
Iain Henderson starts in the second row as Donnacha Ryan has been struggling this week with a knee injury.
Ian Keatley is named as fly-half Paddy Jackson's understudy on the bench, which also includes winger Tommy Bowe.
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Ryan has been suffering from a niggling medial ligament injury and has not trained since Tuesday.
"We wanted a bit more certainty about him but at the same time Iain has done a super job for us in the past," explained Ireland coach Joe Schmidt at the team announcement.
Keith Earls and Simon Zebo start on the wings.
Regular number 10 Johnny Sexton was ruled out of the Murrayfield match earlier this week as the calf injury he picked up in Leinster's Champions Cup game against Castres on 20 January has not yet fully healed.
The 31-year-old has an "outside chance" of being fit to face Italy in Rome on 11 February, according to Schmidt.
Sexton's unavailability leaves Ulster's Jackson to make his sixth start in eight games for Ireland, his last coming in the victory over Australia in Ireland's final autumn international in November.
Munster flanker Peter O'Mahony is out with a hamstring problem so open-side O'Brien joins blind-side flanker CJ Stander and number eight Jamie Heaslip in the back row.
Andrew Trimble's absence with a groin injury left Earls and Zebo as obvious choices to join full-back Rob Kearney in the back three, with Bowe getting the nod among the replacements ahead of Craig Gilroy or Tiernan O'Halloran.
Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw form the midfield pairing, with Conor Murray joining Jackson to make up the half-back partnership.
Up front, the front row combination of Jack McGrath, Rory Best and Tadhg Furlong is retained, while Devin Toner joins Henderson at lock.
Uncapped hooker Niall Scannell and his Munster front-row partner John Ryan are listed as replacements in preference to James Tracy and Finlay Bealham.
BBC Scotland's Tom English
Ireland's team is formidable, despite Johnny Sexton not being in it. It's an illustration of their depth that Donnacha Ryan, a standout in the second-row in the victory over New Zealand, can't now get into the 23.
Jared Payne and Jordi Murphy, two more heroes from that historic victory, are long-term injuries, but Ireland are still loaded with class, power and experience.
Ireland: R Kearney; K Earls, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, S Zebo; P Jackson, C Murray; J McGrath, R Best, T Furlong; I Henderson, D Toner; CJ Stander, S O'Brien, J Heaslip.
Replacements: N Scannell, C Healy, U Dillane, J Ryan, J van der Flier, K Marmion, I Keatley, T Bowe. | Flanker Sean O'Brien has been named in the Ireland team to face Scotland in Saturday's Six Nations opener. |
It was relief more than real jubilation. The simple truth was that the combined list of candidates headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had performed disappointingly.
But politics is about expectations.
At one point a rumour swept the gathering that he'd lost more than a third of his alliance's seats in the Knesset - in the end the exit polls suggested it would be more like a quarter. Cue wild celebration.
If you add together Mr Netanyahu's natural allies among the religious parties and the rest of the right - and assume he'll be able to attract at least one party from the centre or even the left - then he should be able to form a government again.
Senior Likud figure Danny Danon was quick to tell me that the only thing that would be remembered from this night was the fact that his boss had won a third term as prime minister.
"There is only one prime minister possible for Israel from these results. And that's Benjamin Netanyahu.
"I say to my friends here on the left that they should not be opening the champagne after these results."
Any champagne that Mr Netanyahu may be tempted to open will be feeling a little flat though.
He emerges from these elections a rather diminished figure, whose wheeling and dealing skills may be sorely tested as he sets about building a new coalition.
When he spoke to a crowd of activists in Tel Aviv he was measured, although it took him some time to persuade his supporters to stop celebrating long enough to make himself heard.
"I am going to seek as broad a government as possible", he said. " I'm going to seek out many partners."
That was perhaps his way of acknowledging that the overall results of the night were curiously ambiguous.
To the left of Mr Netanyahu, Labour picked up seats but to the right of him so did Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home party) led by his former chief of staff Naftali Bennett.
The undoubted star of the evening was Yair Lapid, a famous TV presenter who stepped off the screen to found a new centrist party called Yesh Atid (There is a Future).
It has been an extraordinary debut. The party may well emerge as the second largest grouping in the new Knesset and should command a place in a Netanyahu-led coalition.
Because Mr Lapid is a political newcomer, it's hard to say what price he might try to extract in return for his support.
But you can expect a higher profile for the vexed issue of whether Israel's ultra-Orthodox community ought to be required to perform its share of national service (it's currently exempt).
The wider world will examine these results for clues about Israel's future attitude towards peace talks with the Palestinians or the possibility of a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
The truth of the matter is that it's far too early to make those kind of judgements, which will depend on the balance of forces within a future coalition more than on the outcome of the popular vote.
But the sudden and decisive lurch to the right that many predicted hasn't happened.
The results show that there's plenty of life on the left and the centre of Israeli politics too.
Some political journalists at Likud headquarters were arguing within hours of the exit polls that the results sent such a confused signal about the political mood in Israel that they made another election likely within a year.
We'll see.
Having said this is a chastening result for Benjamin Netanyahu it's only fair to record that it's been a thought provoking one for anyone in the business of making political predictions here, too.
Mr Netanyahu was supposed to win easily - and he certainly didn't.
And the campaign was supposed to have failed to capture the Israeli imagination - and turnout was remarkably high.
It's said to take an average of well over a month to form a coalition government after polling day here - and there's no reason to assume that it will be any quicker than the average this time around.
The first contacts between party leaders were probably under way before the celebrations at Likud HQ had died away.
Israel and the wider Middle East must now wait to see what sort of government will eventually emerge. | When the giant TV screens at the Likud election headquarters finally flashed up the results of the national exit polls, one-by-one there was a sudden tidal wave of sound. |
Laws, 26, had been training with Arsenal but has decided to remain in the north east by swapping Sunderland for WSL 2 club Durham.
She will fill in for regular goalkeeper Helen Alderson, who is going to Africa for a three-month charity work stint.
"It's a club going in the right direction," Laws said. "I can't wait to start with a new club."
She continued: "Obviously it is a bit strange for over 10 years but it's a challenge I'm looking forward to getting started with."
The Newcastle-born keeper played 18 games for the Lady Black Cats last season, where she has played the majority of her career barring a loan spell at Liverpool in 2013. | Durham Women have signed England international goalkeeper Rachel Laws for the WSL Spring Series competition. |
It was taken by ex-students and staff from UWC Atlantic College in the Vale of Glamorgan who also stayed to help.
The boat will be used to try to ensure the safe landing of boats from Turkey.
A narrow stretch of water has become a crossing point for people from Syria and other countries which has claimed many lives.
College alumni Robin Jenkins and Lily Eckersley-Jones helped transfer the rescue boat to Lesbos with college tutor Michel Creber where another former student, Dr Annegret Berne, had been volunteering.
Mr Jenkins, originally from Llantwit Major and a lecturer at University of the Arts London, said: "The faces of the people on board when we come alongside is something that I cannot put in to words.
"We were a reassuring sign of safety.
"We must do more and we will start on constructing another boat."
The first vessel, named LB1 Red Mist, had formerly been used by the college at St Donat's, near Llantwit Major, and its students before being sent to Lesbos.
It is now being used by a group called the Lifeguard Hellas Training Centre.
Its design is the same as the original rigid hull inflatable boat (RIB) made in the early 1960s by students from the college and which has become the model for RNLI inshore boats across Britain - known as the Atlantic class.
Mr Jenkins set up a help group called the Atlantic Pacific Rescue Boat Project to deliver a boat to Japan to assist lifeguards and now others are being made to help rescuers in Lesbos.
He said college students working with tutor Michel Creber have already began work on a second RIB and he had also received a donation on Tuesday to cover the cost of making a third. | A Welsh lifeboat has been sent to Lesbos to help people trying to ensure the safety of refugees and migrants arriving by boats on the Greek island. |
The speed of change, development and growth in Asia is staggering, particularly when you compare it to the inability of Washington DC to get anything done at all.
I had the privilege of being one of the first people to fly out of Hanoi's gleaming new international airport terminal on Monday. The building opened with great Vietnamese fanfare on Christmas Day. But here's what's really impressive - the project was only started in 2009.
That is five short years in which to build not only a large new airport terminal but also a six-lane motorway and an impressively high-tech bridge to connect the facility to the centre of the city.
Imagine America, or Europe for that matter, being able to accomplish anything that big in that short a time frame. Political divisions in the US Congress mean America can't agree on any new infrastructure projects, let alone something on that scale.
And I can tell you, when you fly from the capital of Vietnam to the capital of the world's superpower, you realise it's Washington's airport that desperately needs the upgrade.
By comparison with all five of the clean, modern Asian airports I visited during my trip - in Cambodia, Vietnam and South Korea - it was Dulles that felt like it was in the developing world.
With so much construction going on in South-East Asia, you would think Western firms would be rushing to invest. But Hanoi's new airport - like Ho Chi Minh City's new subway system - has been built with Japanese money. From what I could see, the Asian boom is being financed with Asian cash.
If I owned a construction company, or a hotel chain, or an airline, or pretty much anything related to travel or tourism, I'd park myself firmly in the East.
Take a tour of the Angkor Wat in Cambodia after 9:00am and the crowds of Chinese tourists are almost impressive as the ancient Khmer ruins themselves.
Where only 10 years ago there would have been just a handful of intrepid Chinese visitors, outnumbered by Westerners, today there are millions of them.
And of course, their numbers will only grow.
The new face of global tourism is Asian and any hospitality firm not catering to Asian tourists is missing a profitable trick.
I loved my two weeks in Asia. It was the first time I had been back in too long. Despite being dragged round endless sights at the crack of dawn, my kids loved it too, the welcome for them was just as warm as I remembered it when I used to live in Japan.
I was there for holiday not work, so my impressions are just that, impressionistic, but I came away with two clear observations - a sense of how fast things are moving there compared to here and of how little the West seems to feature in that boom. | It has become a truism that this is going to be an Asian century not an American one - but there's nothing like seeing the two continents first-hand to really understand why. |
Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Herbert Diess, head of the VW brand, said the company would have a fix in the coming weeks or months.
But the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was less certain, saying that Volkswagen "have not produced an acceptable way forward".
The EPA disclosed VW's use of "defeat devices" in diesel cars in September.
The devices disguised diesel cars' emissions levels that were, in fact, up to 40 times above the US legal limit.
The EPA has insisted that the German carmaker comes up with a solution that will not cost money for VW owners.
Mr Diess told the CES show, in Las Vegas: "I'm optimistic that we will find a solution. We will bring a package together which satisfies our customers first and foremost and then also the regulators."
Mr Diess said Volkswagen has reached an agreement with European regulators to fix 8.5 million cars affected there.
On Monday, the US Justice Department filed a lawsuit against VW for the use of the emissions devices, which involve computer software that can detect when cars are being tested.
The company and its executives could still face separate criminal charges, while a raft of private class-action lawsuits filed by angry VW owners are pending. | Embattled carmaker Volkswagen said it is close to an approved fix for US cars with emissions-deceiving devices. |
The police admitted a claim of wrongdoing in public office in 2015 after being sued by John Flynn over two attempts on his life in the 1990s.
However, it appealed against an attempt to access police documents.
Judges dismissed the appeal and said it was hard to contemplate a more grave subject matter.
Mr Flynn has said the PSNI did not fully examine claims of security force collusion with loyalists.
A notorious UVF unit, based in Mount Vernon, north Belfast, is believed to be responsible for two attempts to murder Mr Flynn.
A gunman tried to ambush him as he picked up a taxi fare, and a bomb was placed under his car. It is alleged the attacker was a police informer.
The PSNI argued that it had already admitted liability in the case and that producing the documents would be irrelevant, costly and divert resources from other cases.
However, judges at the appeal court said the full extent of police misconduct needed to be established before compensation for Mr Flynn can be decided.
The judges said discovery of documents in the case has a long and tortuous history, and that the PSNI should provide the papers as quickly as possible.
Mr Flynn's claim is linked to an investigation in 2007 by former police ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan.
That report found that members of the RUC Special Branch had allowed UVF informers to act with impunity, and that the Mount Vernon gang may have been involved in up to 15 murders.
Mr Flynn claimed Mrs O'Loan's successor, Al Hutchinson, did not adequately implement recommendations from the 2007 report to examine whether agents' handlers committed any crimes. | The PSNI has failed in an appeal against an order to disclose police documents related to two murder attempts on a Catholic taxi driver. |
BlackRock director Jonathan Paul Burrows was caught by inspectors at Cannon Street station last year and admitted to avoiding the £21.50 fare from Stonegate in East Sussex.
In total, Mr Burrows is believed to have dodged £42,550 in fares.
The City watchdog said he "demonstrated a lack of honesty and integrity".
"Mr Burrows has admitted that, on a number of occasions, he deliberately and knowingly failed to purchase a valid ticket to cover his entire journey," the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said.
"As Mr Burrows held a senior position within the financial services industry and was an approved person, he should have been a role model for others and his conduct has fallen short of the standard expected for someone in his position," the organisation added.
Mr Burrows avoided paying the full fare by boarding the London-bound train at Stonegate - a rural station with no barriers - without purchasing a ticket.
On arriving in London, he went through the barriers at Cannon Street Station using an Oyster travel card, incurring a maximum fare of £7.20.
Mr Burrows, who is now banned for life from working in any regulated financial industries, has since paid back the £42,550, plus £450 in legal costs.
Reacting to the FCA's decision, he said: "I have always recognised that what I did was foolish. I have apologised to all concerned and reiterate that apology publicly."
However he added that "the size of the settlement [with Southeastern] could be said to have led to a distorted perception of the scale of my wrongdoing".
"While I respect the FCA's decision today, I also regret it, coming as it did after a 20-year career in the City that was without blemish.
"I recognise that the FCA has on its plate more profound wrongdoing than mine in the financial services sector, and I am sorry that my case has taken up its time at this critical juncture for the future of the City and its reputation." | A London hedge fund manager who regularly avoided buying a train ticket on his commute to the City has been banned from working in the financial services industry. |
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27 January 2015 Last updated at 07:56 GMT
Dr Tim Ladbrooke said: "The week before Christmas was 175% busier than any week we'd ever had before."
In the first of a series on London healthcare, BBC London political correspondent Karl Mercer speaks to those feeling the strain, including nurse Eugene Maynard; Andrew Rees, from the Liberty Road Practice; receptionist Lucy Dogley-Darani; and pharmacist Rubinder Authi. | Frontline NHS staff at 111 centres, GP clinics and pharmacies say they are facing unprecedented pressure. |
Sharbat Gula, whose haunting green eyes made her famous, fled Soviet-occupied Afghanistan as a child and was pictured in 1984 in a refugee camp in Pakistan.
Mrs Gula has been accused of living in Pakistan on fake identity papers and faces up to 14 years in jail.
Pakistan recently launched a crackdown on fake IDs.
There are strict restrictions to getting a Pakistani ID card, which is needed for opening a bank account or to buy property.
Why Now?: M Ilyas Khan, BBC News, Islamabad
Technically, Sharbat Gula cannot deny she committed fraud. But on a humanitarian level, many believe she is just one among thousands of Afghan refugees who committed the same offence.
Unfortunately for Mrs Gula, she has become the victim of a rather sudden turn in Pakistan's policy towards refugees. It wants them out of the country in the shortest possible time.
Pakistan's decision has come amid its rapidly deteriorating relations with India and Afghanistan. Officials say militants have been using hideouts in refugee settlements to launch attacks in Pakistan.
Another reason, according to some quarters, may be Islamabad's likely desire to inflict economic pain on Kabul for co-operating with India.
The Afghans forced to go home
Afghanistan's looming refugee disaster
Mrs Gula was arrested in Peshawar, near the Afghan border after a two-year investigation.
She allegedly applied for an identity card in April 2014, using the name Sharbat Bibi.
On Sunday Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said she should be granted bail, but a judge denied her application, saying she had failed to make her case.
If the fraud claims are true, she is one of thousands of Afghan refugees deploying desperate measures to avoid returning to their war-torn homeland.
The celebrated "Afghan girl" picture was taken by photographer Steve McCurry in 1984 in a refugee camp in north-west Pakistan, during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. It led to one of the most recognisable magazine covers ever printed.
He tracked her down 17 years later, living in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan. Mrs Gula later moved back to Pakistan and he kept in touch.
He told BBC Newsday on Wednesday that he had hired a lawyer for her.
He added that he believed the Pakistani authorities may have singled her out because she is so well known.
"Perhaps they are trying to send the message to other Afghan refugees that 'we couldn't care who you are, we are going to hunt you down and drive you back into your country'."
Recent UN figures show that Pakistan hosts 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees. A further one million unregistered refugees are believed to be in the country.
Pakistan recently started cracking down on fake IDs.
It has been illegal for non-Pakistanis to have IDs since they were first issued in the 1970s but the law was not enforced, says our reporter M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad.
At first, the procedure was for a village council member to endorse a citizen's application. Few village councillors objected to endorsing an application for someone who, to them and to the rest of the village, was no longer a refugee but a neighbour, he adds. | An Afghan woman immortalised on the cover of National Geographic magazine has been denied bail after being arrested on fraud charges. |
The French artist cut out paper shapes for collages when ill-health prevented him from painting, producing famous pieces such as The Snail and Blue Nude.
The Daily Telegraph said the London gallery must know it has a "winner" with its "outstanding" exhibition.
"I eat it with my eyes and never feel sated," said The Guardian's critic.
Many of the items will be seen together for the first time in the exhibition, which opens on Thursday and features about 130 artworks from the latter stage of Matisse's career.
The Telegraph said that "the joy of the cut-outs is their simplicity".
The paper's critic said the artworks were made from "modest materials" using "basic techniques" but that the artist "reduces art to the essentials of colour, shape and pattern".
"Yet precisely because they offer us instant visual gratification, it is easy to forget how innovative they actually are," he wrote.
The Guardian added that the show was "ravishing, filled with light and decoration, exuberance and a kind of violence" adding that it was "about more than just pleasure".
"Matisse created a universe that filled the room around him, spilling from the walls to the floor."
Matisse worked from a wheelchair after treatment for cancer and the exhibition compiles work dating from 1937 to 1954, when he died aged 84 of a heart attack.
Sir Nicholas Serota, the Tate director and co-curator of the show, told the BBC the works displayed great skill.
"Cut-out sounds a bit simplistic, they are very sophisticated objects.
"The brilliance is that he took the method of a child and deployed it with all the sophistication of an artist who had been painting for 60 years."
He said that the artworks were "incredibly influential" on a generation of American painters in the 60s and 70s.
"The colour is really intense, the colour is brilliant, it's really not quite what we associate with the immediate post-war years in Europe. He's really on his own."
The Economic Voice added that the exhibition "re-examines the cut-outs in terms of the methods and materials that Matisse used, and their double lives, first as contingent and mutable in the studio and ultimately as permanent works through mounting and framing".
The exhibition will be at the London gallery until 7 September before it travels to New York's Museum of Modern Art in mid-October. It can also be seen by cinema-goers from 3 June with the launch of Matisse Live. | Critics have praised one of the largest collections of Henri Matisse's "cut-out" artworks ever assembled, for an exhibition opening at Tate Modern. |
Police initially said that business rivalry was a more likely motive for the attack on the Movida bar restaurant outside Kuala Lumpur on 28 June.
They added that two men suspected of involvement had been arrested.
Authorities are increasingly concerned about IS-related attacks as a number of Malaysians have gone to fight in Syria.
"There were elements of IS involvement in the attack," national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters.
"We found out that the two of them received instructions from one of our own citizens in Syria... to conduct attacks in Malaysia."
There have been dozens of extremism-related arrests in recent years, including 13 Malaysians detained following the latest attack but who police said were not directly connected to it.
Governments across the region have warned of an increased threat from the group. | Malaysian police have said a blast at a bar last week, which injured eight, was the first attack by the so-called Islamic State group in the country. |
Witnesses said after the attack, at Forest Hill station at about 13:20 GMT, a man then chased other people outside the station.
People said they saw a man attack another on the train then run out of the station shouting "he wanted to kill Muslims".
A 38-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and remains in police custody.
Train services were temporarily stopped on the line.
Police said they were not treating the attack as terrorism, but as a hate crime.
Ambulance officials said the victim, who is in his 40s, was treated at the scene for a stab injury and taken to a south London hospital.
He remains in hospital in a serious, but not life-threatening, condition.
Emma Pinder, who was at the station, said a man had "chased other people outside the station with a knife".
Shellby Curry, 24, from Forest Hill, said she saw a man "waving what looked to be a knife in his hand" near the station and screaming words like "Muslims... kill them all".
She described the attacker as a black man with short hair, who she thought appeared to be in his late 30s or early 40s.
Several people phoned the police, who arrived about 10 minutes later and restrained him, Miss Curry said.
"I was walking along and someone stopped and said, 'be careful, he's got a knife'. As I looked around there he was.
"I just grabbed my baby and ran across the road. Looking back I saw him marching up and down waving his arm about."
Appealing for witnesses senior investigating officer Det Ch Insp, Paul Langley, said: "This was a serious assault on a man in broad daylight and we are aware that other passengers may have seen what happened or been threatened themselves.
"We have spoken with many witnesses from the train but if you saw what happened and haven't yet contacted police, please do so as soon as you can."
Services were stopped on the rail line but have since reopened with severe delays, London Overground said. Roads around the station were also shut for a while. | A man has been stabbed on an Overground train in south-east London. |
It comes after the UK's biggest inquiry into alleged neglect in six homes - Operation Jasmine - which cost £11.6m.
Two were owned by Dr Prana Das, who once owned 25 homes in south Wales.
But the case collapsed after he suffered a brain injury and could not stand trial.
The families were left "frustrated" in their search for justice.
Mr Jones, making his announcement, said he did not want the events of a decade ago to ever be repeated.
"I believe that we need a full and independent review of these events to understand whether there is anything else the social care sector and policy makers need to learn, anything else we need to put in place," he told assembly members.
"I expect the review to speak with the families of those involved as well as the local authorities involved, the police, the professionals and the regulators."
Operation Jasmine was a major Home Office funded inquiry set up in 2005 and spanned seven years, involved 75 police staff and 4,126 statements were taken.
It identified 100 potential victims.
It was established in October 2005 after Gladys Thomas, 84, a patient at Bryngwyn Mountleigh nursing home in Newbridge, was admitted to Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital after being given incorrect doses of medication. She later died.
A nurse at the home admitted neglect on the basis of not administering the correct medication.
Eight carers and nurses were charged with wilful neglect relating to injuries on her body but the prosecution dropped the case three weeks into the trial in 2008.
Dr Das, 66, faced charges relating to neglect and fraud at two care homes - Brithdir Care Home in New Tredegar, near Bargoed, and The Beeches in Blaenavon.
The review will be led by Dr Margaret Flynn, who has been involved in previous serious case reviews involving the elderly and is chair of Lancashire's Safeguarding Adults Board.
The Older People's Commissioner for Wales Sarah Rochira said: "The families of the victims of the alleged abuse and neglect investigated by Operation Jasmine, who I have met with many times, have told me that they want answers about what happened to their relatives and how abuse and neglect on the scale alleged could have taken place.
"But most of all, they have told me they want to make sure that it couldn't happen again to anyone else."
Shadow social services minister William Graham said he welcomed the announcement "wholeheartedly".
He said: "The review must be comprehensive and wide-ranging and I am pleased to hear the first minister commit himself to this.
"Everything must be done to ensure events of this kind are never allowed to happen again
Blaenau Gwent MP Nick Smith said families had wanted answers and justice.
"Without the bold decision by the first minister today, these families would have been let down by the system," he said.
"Their pain and guilt over what happened to their loved ones deserved a response, and I cannot welcome this response enough."
Lib Dem spokesman for older people Aled Roberts AM added: "Just hoping that similar failings don't happen again is simply not enough.
"We need to be told how such a catalogue of failings were allowed to happen and learn from previous failings in the system, so that measures can be put in place to prevent these tragedies happening again." | An independent review is to be held to learn lessons from a case of alleged abuse at care homes in south Wales, First Minister Carwyn Jones has announced. |
DSI Plumbing and Heating Ltd of Hampshire was also ordered to pay £1,000 costs at Bournemouth Crown Court after admitting two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Faults were found at 309 properties in Poole and 40 flats in Reading.
Homes in Harbour Reach, Poole, were evacuated following a gas leak in 2009.
The court heard that a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that between 2005 and 2007 flues and gas supply pipes had not been properly fitted in the new development.
Two self-employed men who worked for the company, Robert Percival, 49, of Legion Road, Poole, and Andrew Church, 42, of Ensign Drive, Gosport, both pleaded guilty to a single breach of the same legislation.
Percival admitted commissioning a gas installation at one property between June 2007 and April 2008 and Church admitted making false entries into documents, which he completed without carrying out the required checks between January 2006 and March 2007.
They were both given a two year conditional discharge and were each ordered to pay costs of £250.
HSE's head of operations, Harvey Wild said the faults, found in more than 90% of Harbour Reach and two thirds of the Caversham Road development, were only discovered after residents complained about ill-health.
He called the breaches "serious failings" after the sentencing and said: "It is fortunate that in this case, no-one suffered long term ill-effects but the consequences of the faults, if left undetected, could have been fatal.
"Gas installers need to make sure flues and pipes can be properly checked and all installations are checked for safety as part of commissioning to ensure lives are not put at risk." | A heating firm has been fined £10,000 after faulty gas installations were discovered in more than 300 properties across Dorset and Berkshire. |
Sir Kevin has referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Hudson.
It follows a Daily Telegraph report saying he received fees for sponsoring dinners and a breakfast on the Parliamentary estate.
In a letter to Ms Hudson, he said all the fees were paid to charity.
According to the Commons Code of Conduct, MPs' use of public resources should always be "in support of their parliamentary duties" and should not "confer any undue personal or financial benefit on themselves or anyone else, or confer undue advantage on a political organisation".
in his letter to Ms Hudson, Sir Kevin wrote: "My own understanding is that due to the fact that I made no personal gain and all the fees were paid to a charity, I had not breached the rules on usage of parliamentary facilities for personal or business use.
"It is a matter of record that I followed the rules in registering this interest and that I deposited an agreement for the provision of services, as the rules required.
"In light of the allegations that I may have breached House of Commons code of conduct or rules, I refer myself to you for you to consider whether any breaches of the rules or the code of conduct have taken place." | Labour MP Sir Kevin Barron has stood aside as Commons Standards Committee chairman over allegations he hosted events at Westminster for a drugs firm. |
Miriam Briddon died after the collision involving her Fiat Punto and a Volkswagen Golf driven by Gareth Entwhistle near Ciliau Aeron.
Entwhistle, 34, from the Aeron Valley, admitted causing death by careless driving while under the influence of alcohol on 29 March, 2014.
He will appear again at Swansea Crown Court at the end of July.
The crash victim was a former Ysgol Dyffryn Teifi pupil, described by her family as a "creative person who would be truly missed". | A Ceredigion man has pleaded guilty to drink-driving and causing a crash which killed a 21-year-old woman. |
They report that a checkpoint manned by local police was attacked in the Mirzawalang area of Sar-e Pul province.
The assailants then entered the village and shot dead mainly Shia Muslim civilians including women and children, a spokesman for the provincial governor said.
"They were killed in a brutal, inhumane way," he added.
He reported that seven members of the Afghan security forces has also been killed, as well as a number of insurgents.
A combination of Taliban and Islamic State (IS) group fighters - including foreigners - were involved, he said. Both are Sunni Muslim militant groups.
The Taliban denied killing civilians, saying that its fighters had killed 28 members of a government-supported militia in the area.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack.
"Criminal terrorists have once again killed civilians, women and children," he said in a statement.
"This barbaric act of them is deemed a direct violation of human rights and a war crime."
Fighting has intensified across Afghanistan in recent months. More than 1,662 civilians were killed in the half of the year, according to UN figures.
Can Afghan military turn tide in Taliban fight?
US President Donald Trump is considering whether to increase the number of US troops aiding the military and police in the country.
End of Twitter post by @afgexecutive | At least 50 civilians have been killed by militants in northern Afghanistan, officials say. |
People in 120 homes in Wisbech had been told to boil their water "until further notice" after supplies were contaminated.
Anglian Water said tests were carried out following repairs to a burst main near Blackbear Lane, Wisbech on Sunday.
The results showed "naturally occurring organisms that should not be there".
The firm had advised people to boil and cool all drinking water as "a precautionary measure".
A spokesman for Anglian Water said: "We haven't found anything harmful to human health but the harmless organisms are indicator species that something might have been there that should not be."
Homes in Blackbear Lane, numbers 2 to 74, all properties in Pendula Road, Lucombe Drive, Oaklands Drive and Lebanon Drive were affected.
A notice sent to affected customers said: "As an additional precaution, we are also making a small increase to the amount of chlorine in the water and carrying out some localised flushing.
"We apologise for any inconvenience, but stress that the health and safety of our customers must come first." | Householders in Cambridgeshire who have had to boil their water since Sunday have now been told it is safe to drink once again. |
The SDLP and Alliance Party have yet to say whether they will join the executive.
Mr McGuinness said he was still hopeful both would be part of the new executive, but added it was now "make your mind up time" for both parties.
The Ulster Unionists have already said they will enter opposition.
The Alliance Party's ruling council is due to meet on Thursday to decide if the party will join the executive.
The majority of the posts in the executive will be filled by ministers from the DUP and Sinn Féin.
In 5 May's election, the DUP maintained the 38 seats it held in the last assembly, while Sinn Féin lost one and now holds 28.
The Ulster Unionists have 16 seats, while the SDLP have 12.
The Alliance Party secured eight seats during the election, meaning it does not have enough seats to automatically qualify for a ministerial department. However, it has been offered the justice ministry.
"We have offered the position of justice minister to the Alliance Party," Mr McGuinness said on Wednesday.
"They have come back with a number of issues which they would like to see addressed and we will respond to those during the course of today."
He added: "I think the SDLP have to consider what is good for the people, what is good for the role of the government as the Good Friday Agreement was all about inclusive administration.
"It's make your mind up time over the course of the next seven days.
"I hope the SDLP will decide to come into the administration, we are involved in discussions with them, and there will be a further engagement tomorrow and after that they will have to decide." | The ministers of the new Northern Ireland Executive will be appointed next Wednesday, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has said. |
Police said that the woman had been attacked after she accepted a lift by three men in a truck in Manali, a resort town in the state.
No arrests have been made but police have set up roadblocks and are searching for the suspects.
Scrutiny of sexual violence in India has grown since the rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus in December.
The gang rape of the student sparked widespread protests and prompted the government to alter laws relating to rape in India.
Five men and one juvenile have been charged with the rape. One of the men has since hanged himself in prison, officials say.
In the Manali case, police say the three men drove the woman to a secluded spot where they raped her and robbed her.
After arriving in Manali on Monday she had been on a visit to Vashisth, a nearby tourist area popular with foreigners, but was delayed and had been looking for a taxi in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
"Because it happened at night, she couldn't read the truck number. At around 7am, we put up checkpoints everywhere and we've been looking for the suspects," senior local police official Vinod Dhawan told BBC Hindi.
"We have found some clues at the crime scene."
A case of rape was filed after the woman had been medically examined in a local hospital, police say.
The US embassy in Delhi said it was aware of the case. "We are in contact with authorities but due to issues of privacy we have no further comment," a spokesperson told the BBC.
The attack comes after a Swiss tourist was gang raped in Madhya Pradesh state in March - six men were arrested in connection with that attack.
That same month, India passed a new bill containing harsher punishments, including the death penalty in certain cases, for rapists.
Reported cases of sexual assault are on the rise in India, although foreign tourists are rarely targeted. | Indian police say that a 30-year-old American woman has been gang-raped in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh. |
The snap drill in the Rostov region was ordered by President Vladimir Putin.
The southern military district includes Crimea - the peninsula annexed by Russian forces in 2014 - and areas on the border with eastern Ukraine.
Pro-Russian rebels also held military drills in eastern Ukraine last week.
The self-styled "Donetsk People's Republic" tested heavy artillery and rocket systems in the Torez area, near the rebel-held city of Donetsk.
Nato, Western leaders and the Ukrainian government accuse Russia of sending heavy armour and regular troops to the rebels. Moscow denies that, but admits that Russian "volunteers" are helping the rebels.
A shaky ceasefire is in place, but both sides - the rebels and Ukrainian government forces - are still far off fulfilling the Minsk peace deal they signed up to.
The Russian military did not indicate any connection between the current exercises in southern Russia and the Ukraine situation.
The exercises include the rapid deployment of troops from 3,000km (1,860 miles) away and the preparation of emergency runways for the air force.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said its monitors in the eastern Ukraine conflict zone had seen continuing use of "proscribed weapons, heavy artillery", despite the Minsk agreement.
In a statement to the BBC, the OSCE said the tension levels "still ebb and flow". In late January there were more than 1,000 ceasefire violations "in different places along the contact line", but in early February the conflict zone "remained relatively calm", the OSCE said.
The main hotspots remain: the area north of Horlivka, especially Zaitseve village (about 45km north of Donetsk), also around the Donetsk airport, Debaltseve and the triangle Kominternove-Pavlopil-Oktiabr south of Donetsk.
Russia's exercises come as its air force contingent in Syria carries out heavy bombing to push anti-government rebels away from the city of Aleppo.
Some of Russia's latest military equipment is involved in the Syria mission, including four Sukhoi Su-35S fighters - a type that only entered service with the Russian military last year. | Russia is holding combat readiness exercises involving 8,500 troops, with dozens of ships and aircraft, in a southern region near areas of eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russian rebels. |
The evolutionary scientist, whose books include The God Delusion, said Wales was "ahead of the rest of the UK" in showing a decline in religious belief.
The census found 32% in Wales have no religion, against a UK figure of 25%.
The Church in Wales said Christianity was "no longer the default setting" for many, but the picture was complex.
Of those in Wales who described themselves as believers, the number of Christians fell by 14 percentage points to 57%.
Prof Dawkins said: "I congratulate the people of Wales in coming out ahead of the rest of the United Kingdom in this respect - well done."
He told BBC Radio Wales' Good Morning Wales that he believed in the "wonder" of scientific truth.
He said: "People who are educated in religion are positively encouraged not to investigate, not to think sceptically about why they are here, but instead to accept what people wrote 2,000 years ago.
"I guess we do need focal points for communities but you can say also that religion has been a focal point for all sorts of backward, indeed bigoted, thinking about homosexuality, about abortion, the right to die, that we're seeing at the moment."
He added that research commissioned by his foundation meant that the outlook for Christianity in the UK was "even more pessimistic" than the census data suggested.
He said many of those who put themselves down at Christian did so because they thought of themselves "as a good person" rather than due to belief in the virgin birth, or of Jesus Christ as the son of God.
Prof Dawkins dismissed the figures for people saying they were a Jedi knight or that heavy metal music was their religion as "a kind of protest" against the inclusion of a census question on religion.
The census found those in Wales who are Muslim was 1.5%, up from 0.7% in 2001, while there were also slight increases Hindus or Buddhists, both up from 0.2% to 0.3%.
There was also a rise in people saying they had other faiths, from 0.2% to 0.4% while the percentage who said they were Sikh or Jewish remained unchanged between 2001 and 2011 at 0.1%.
Churches said they were not discouraged by the findings, and argued that Christian belief was still clearly alive and well.
Following the census results, the Church in Wales said: "It should also be borne in mind that statistics can't show the whole picture in matters of faith.
"The past few months, for example, have seen people in different parts of Wales turn to churches in their thousands following various tragic events: in Machynlleth, in Ely, in St Asaph.
"People find God when life gets tough and it is the church's privilege to be there for them whenever and wherever we may be needed." | Atheist author Prof Richard Dawkins has congratulated the people of Wales after nearly a third of them revealed in the 2011 census that they have no religion. |
Rather than having links to radical Islamism, he was a market trader hoping to make money if the price of shares in the team fell, prosecutors say.
The suspect has been charged with attempted murder, triggering explosions and causing serious physical injury.
He has been identified only as Sergej W, and was staying in the team's hotel overlooking the scene of the attack.
Two people needed medical help after three bombs exploded near the bus.
Spanish footballer Marc Bartra underwent wrist surgery and a police officer was treated for shock.
Following the attack on 11 April, Borussia Dortmund's home Champions League match against Monaco was rescheduled a day later, which led Dortmund fans to open their doors to stranded away supporters.
Police initially treated the blast as a terrorist attack.
However, the following week, investigators cast "significant doubt" on jihadist motivations being behind it.
They now say the attack was in fact motivated by financial greed.
Sergej W, 28, would have made about €3.9m euros ($4.2m; £3.2m) from his actions, Germany's Bild newspaper reported.
In a statement on Friday (in German), the German federal prosecutor's office said he has German and Russian nationality.
He was arrested on Friday near Tubingen in Rottenburg, south-west Germany.
The suspect had allegedly bought 15,000 put options on Borussia Dortmund shares - reportedly priced at €78,000 (£65,000; $83,600) - betting that they would drop sharply after the attack.
He would have made large profits if the team's share price collapsed.
Experts have likened the alleged plot to a sophisticated form of insider trading - because he tried to use information not widely available to the public to make money quickly.
He was staying at the team's L'Arrivée hotel in Dortmund on the day of the attack and had moved to a room on the top floor, overlooking the street where it took place, prosecutors say.
The suspect placed the bet on 11 April using an IP address traced to the hotel, after taking out a loan for the money.
Investigators believe three explosive devices packed with metal pins were hidden in a hedge and set off as the bus passed.
The bus was damaged about six miles from the Westfalenstadion - officially called Signal Iduna Park - in Dortmund about 90 minutes before kick-off.
Pictures from the scene showed its windows broken and its tyres burst. | Police in Germany have charged a man suspected of being behind an attack on the Borussia Dortmund team bus. |
Wenger, whose club contract runs to the summer, has been linked with the job.
Southgate succeeded Sam Allardyce in September and oversaw England's 2-0 win against Malta as well the disappointing 0-0 draw with Slovenia on Tuesday.
Wenger said Southgate "has accumulated experiences and is a good observer of what's going on in the national team."
Of his own links to the role, the 66-year-old Frenchman added: "I focus on my job, that's what it is about."
Former England international Southgate, 46, has a World Cup qualifier against Scotland at Wembley on 11 November and a friendly against Spain four days later to persuade the Football Association to give him the job on a permanent basis.
Wenger continued: "We're in a job where you get questioned, especially if you have less experience, and the only answer he can give is by showing the decisions he makes are right.
"There's always a demand for big names but the most important thing is the person's competency. He has a good opportunity and I'm happy he has a chance to show he has the quality."
Speaking before his side's game against Swansea on Saturday, Wenger added that 21-year-old defender Hector Bellerin would be offered a new contract by the club.
The Arsenal right-back has been linked with a move, with both Barcelona and Manchester City said to be interested, but Wenger said he was "surprised" by the speculation surrounding the Spain international, who progressed through Barcelona's La Masia academy before joining Arsenal in 2011.
"He has nearly three years to go and we always try get the players to the level where we think they deserve to be. So we try to extend, certainly, his contract," said Wenger.
"For me, his long-term future is here."
Wenger added that midfielder Aaron Ramsey, 25, will miss "one or two" more games, having injured a hamstring during Arsenal's opening-day Premier League defeat by Liverpool on 14 August.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | Interim England manager Gareth Southgate is the right man to take the job on a long-term basis, according to Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger. |
Mr Dewani, 34, is accused of ordering the murder of his new wife, 28-year-old Anni, who was shot in Cape Town in November 2010. He denies murder.
The Bristol businessman has been fighting against extradition for three years but lost his latest appeal.
Mr Dewani is expected to appear at Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.
In a statement Scotland Yard said: "Shrien Dewani, 34, has today, 7 April, at approx 20:00hrs been extradited from the UK to South Africa."
He was taken from Fromeside Hospital, a secure mental health unit in Bristol, to the city's airport by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service Extradition Unit.
Officers were met at the airport by representatives from the South African authorities who have escorted him on the flight to South Africa.
Mr Dewani was originally arrested by officers from the extradition unit on 7 December 2010 at the request of the South African authorities.
The family of Mrs Dewani, a Swedish national, welcomed the extradition adding that they "need justice".
Mr Dewani and his wife were held at gunpoint while being driven in a taxi through Gugulethu township near Cape Town.
He was thrown from the car later that night and the body of Mrs Dewani was found the next day with a single gunshot wound to the neck.
Speaking at a news conference earlier, Mrs Dewani's brother, Anish Hindocha said: "It's been very difficult.
"There is no life in our family any more, we struggle. With the help of the South African people, with the help of the British people, we are at least trying to cope."
Mr Hindocha said the protracted legal battle to have Mr Dewani extradited had been "very heavy" for the family.
Mrs Dewani's uncle, Ashok Hindocha, said the family would be attending the court hearing.
He said: "From today and onwards this case will be about Anni. Until now it hasn't been about what really happened to her.
"The justice system is the way it is. Obviously we were extremely surprised that it took such a long time. There is one nation, one powerful nation called the United Kingdom, that has a treaty with South Africa.
"That treaty was challenged, so we are happy that it went through. Unfortunately it took a long time."
Mr Dewani's lawyers argued that he should not be forced from the UK to face trial until he had recovered from mental health problems, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
But last month judges at the High Court rejected his appeal and denied him the chance to take the case to the Supreme Court.
They agreed with the South African authorities that if Mr Dewani was not fit to stand trial within 18 months he would be returned to the UK.
The South African Department of Justice said Mr Dewani will be taken straight to court after he lands and is expected to appear at Western Cape High Court, where he will be formally charged.
He will be accompanied by a doctor, nurse and police officers during the journey, because he is "a patient and suspect who is in police custody".
Journalists will be allowed to film inside the courtroom but all cameras will have to be switched off as soon as the judge enters the room.
It is understood Mr Dewani's legal team could apply for bail. If that is refused, he will be taken to the high-care wing of Valkenberg, a psychiatric facility, the BBC's Karen Schoonbee in Cape Town understands.
Three men have been convicted and jailed over Mrs Dewani's death, including taxi driver Zola Tongo, who was given 18 years after admitting his role in the killing.
Xolile Mngeni, who prosecutors claim was the hitman, was convicted of premeditated murder over the shooting, and another accomplice, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, pleaded guilty to murder and was handed a 25-year prison sentence. | Honeymoon murder suspect Shrien Dewani has been extradited from the UK to South Africa, Scotland Yard has said. |
State House Speaker Thom Tillis defeated Mark Harris and Greg Brannon, who were seen as insurgent candidates.
Mr Tillis avoided a runoff election by earning 46% of the vote in the eight-person race on Tuesday.
Republicans aim to wrestle Senate control from the Democrats in November.
"I want to go to Washington and clean up Kay Hagan's mess," Mr Tillis told supporters.
"If we want to change the mess of Obamacare, we have to change our senator," he said, referring to President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform law, which Republicans uniformly despise.
"The North Carolina results are a strong indication that the GOP rank and file is undergoing a shift from prioritising purity to prizing victory." - James Hohmann, Politico
"Though backed by establishment forces and, as a former management consultant, easily portrayed as a process-oriented tool of the party's business interests, Tillis has some conservative bona fides." - Eliana Johnson, National Review
"If this race is any indication, the 'Republican civil war' storyline so beloved of pundits in recent years may have to be retired." - Molly Ball, the Atlantic
"For conservatives, Thom Tillis was the worst possible outcome in North Carolina." - Eric Erickson, RedState blog
For more, please visit the BBC's Echo Chambers blog
Republicans have sought to capitalise on Democratic US President Barack Obama's low approval ratings and dissatisfaction with the healthcare law in their effort to wrestle six seats from Democrats and take control of the US Senate in November.
"Thom Tillis has spent his time in Raleigh pushing a special-interest agenda that has rigged the system against middle-class families," Ms Hagan wrote in a statement. "This is not an agenda that works for working families, and his priorities are out of sync with our common-sense North Carolina values."
Ms Hagan was elected in the 2008 Democratic wave and is seen as vulnerable in her first bid for re-election.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Republican House Speaker John Boehner easily defeated two candidates associated with the right-wing populist tea party movement in the Ohio Republican primary election.
Republican Congresswoman Susan Brooks also beat challengers, winning 75% of primary votes in Indiana.
The North Carolina primary in particular was viewed as a test of the Republican establishment's ability to exert its influence on the nomination process and keep more divisive tea party candidates off the ballot in November.
In the 2010 and 2012 election cycles, the Republican Party watched as popular tea party candidates won party primaries only to flame out in the general election because their strident rhetoric turned off independent voters. | A North Carolina Senate candidate backed by the Republican Party establishment has won the party's nomination to face Democratic Senator Kay Hagan in the November election. |
ViiV Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline's HIV business, will acquire two operations specialising in late stage treatments and early phase medicines.
It is the latest acquisition in a record year for pharmaceuticals.
Global deals have reached $677.5bn, according to Dealogic, up 64% on 2014.
Healthcare companies have been forced to buy or swap assets to bolster growing areas of their businesses and shore up their defences as generic versions of previously patented medicines are released in the market.
Sales of Advair, an asthma treatment and a bestseller for GSK, are expected to decline following the introduction of a generic version in the US.
In the first nine months of the year, GSK reported that sales of Advair fell 19% to £1.2bn, whereas sales of HIV treatments rose 56% to £1.6bn.
The company had considered spinning off its 80% stake in ViiV Healthcare through a flotation that could have valued the business at £18bn.
However, it decided to hang on to the operation in May.
GSK said it would make an upfront payment of $317m to buy Bristol-Myers Squibb's late stage HIV drugs, with a further $518m dependent on sales and royalties.
The assets include Fostemsavir, which treats HIV infection and is at the final phase three development stage. That means that it can seek regulatory approval, which is expected to be filed in 2018.
It will also pay an initial $33m to acquire pre-clinical and early stage research assets and could hand over $587m if certain development and sales goals are met.
Earlier this week, AstraZeneca said it would spend $4bn to buy a 55% stake in Acerta Pharma, a US-Dutch company which is developing a leukaemia treatment that is at the phase three stage. It has an option to buy the remaining 45% in the company.
AstraZeneca, which last year saw off a £69bn takeover bid from US rival Pfizer, also announced it would acquire a number of respiratory medicines from Japan's Takeda for $575m.
This year has been marked with major deals in the pharmaceuticals sector. Last month, Pfizer announced a $160bn merger with Botox-maker Allergen while in March, GSK said it would swap its cancer drugs portfolio with Novartis' vaccines business.
Shares in GSK fell 6.5p to £13.35. | GlaxoSmithKline has ended a frenetic week for the pharmaceutical sector with a $1.4bn (£939m) takeover of HIV drug development assets from Bristol-Myers Squibb. |
A Scottish Canals team used Google Street View's Trekker camera backpack to capture attractions including the Crinan Canal and the Falkirk Wheel.
The camera is designed to allow easier access to narrow footpaths and bridges.
Neptune's Staircase on the Caledonian Canal and Stockingfield Bridge have also been captured.
The 4ft-high backpack, which weighs 40lbs, is fitted with a 15-angle-lens camera which takes 360 pictures every 2.5 seconds.
Scottish Canals' head of information and communication technologies Andrew McSherry said: "When Scotland's canals were first carved through the heart and highlands of the nation during the Industrial Revolution, they were considered at the cutting edge of engineering and design.
"It's been incredible to see every nook, cranny, and lock captured using this 21st Century equipment.
"The Trekker has been ideal for the narrower towpaths and bridges of Scotland's canals and allows us to show off some of the more hard-to-reach places along the canal network as well as the sights known the world over."
A Google spokesman said "We believe the world is better explored than explained.
"The Trekker enables you to travel to some of the most beautiful places on Earth, such as the Scottish canals, from the comfort of your own home." | Mobile 360-degree camera technology has helped open up 137 miles of panoramic views of Scotland's waterways to online visitors. |
Sturm won a split decision after a superb fight with two judges favouring Sturm by 116-112 and the other seeing it 115-113 for Macklin.
Sturm's sharper work in the second half of the contest swung the fight his way.
Macklin made a blazing start which gave him genuine hope of an upset before fading late on.
Sturm is unbeaten in five years and was making his 10th defence in his second reign as WBA middleweight champion, on his own show in his home city.
But if the odds were stacked against Macklin, who had himself not tasted defeat since 2006, he shrugged them off in an explosive start in which he slung hooks to Sturm's body and made the champion cover up.
Far from blowing himself out, Macklin appeared to grow stronger as the early rounds progressed with Sturm relying on single, accurate shots to repel his opponent's continuous advances.
But Sturm finally got to grips with fight as it moved deeper into the second half, gaining control behind a stiff jab which had scarcely been in evidence in the opening stages.
Sturm enjoyed a big 10th round when a crashing uppercut followed by a right cross had Macklin temporarily in trouble, but the Irishman continued to fight back in pursuit of his dream.
Sturm caught the eye again in the last, finishing the contest with a furious assault which left Macklin almost out on his feet. Although both men claimed victory at the end, the verdict went with Sturm.
Macklin insisted: "I should be champion. I believe I was the better fighter, but it is not Felix's fault, he wasn't a judge."
But Sturm said: "It wasn't a wrong decision, but it was close.
"It was not my most outstanding performance, but I have had a few clear shots and Matt worked hard. In my view, the decision was absolutely correct.
"We will definitely have a second fight, we have already agreed it."
Meanwhile, Kell Brook kept his world title ambitions on course with a comfortable points victory over Lovemore N'Dou in his home city of Sheffield.
Brook now has 24 wins and no defeats, although he was unable to extend a run of eight wins inside the distance against the wily veteran. | Germany's Felix Sturm edged a tough contest against Birmingham-based Irishman Matthew Macklin in their WBA middleweight title fight in Cologne. |
Livi's 2-0 win over their nearest challengers came courtesy of goals from Dale Carrick and Nicky Cadden.
Brechin City moved above Alloa Athletic and to within a point of second place by beating Stranraer, with the Wasps drawing with Queen's Park.
East Fife won Barry Smith's first match in charge against Peterhead and bottom side Stenhousemuir beat Albion Rovers.
Carrick's shot gave Livi an early lead at home to the Diamonds and Cadden's late strike sealed the win for David Hopkin's side.
At Glebe Park, Ally Love fired Brechin ahead on the quarter-hour and that lead was doubled by Connor McLennan's free-kick before half-time.
Stranraer had Steven Bell sent off in the second half for two bookings.
Queen's Park went ahead away to Alloa through Ross Millen's 62nd-minute shot, but the hosts were level within seven minutes through Greig Spence's strike.
The Fifers moved out of the bottom two after scoring two second-half goals against Peterhead, Jason Kerr then Kevin O'Hara firing in.
Smith's side were replaced in ninth by Stranraer, who are only two points ahead of Stenny.
Willis Furtado's strike gave the Ochilview side a narrow home win. | Livingston moved 10 points clear at the top of Scottish League One after beating Airdrieonians. |
Nathan, 23, said he was worried being bisexual would be a problem with his male housemates.
"I was 100% nervous about what the other lads would think.
"I didn't have any queries with the girls because I thought they'd be more accepting but at the same time, I thought, 'I don't care. You take me as I come.' Not one of them was bothered."
He went on: "Gary came up to me and went, 'I just want you to know, we want to feel completely comfortable in this house. We want you to be yourself. You're in the house for you. We don't have any problem if you're bisexual or gay.'
"I feel like I've pulled Geordie Shore up by its ears, and I'm bringing it up to date. I've splashed colour in there, both in a sexual and physical way."
Figure skating champion Chloe, 19, admits she "hooked up" in the house, despite going in "not looking to get with anyone".
"I did end up hooking up with someone," she admitted in an interview for MTV.
"I didn't really get hurt, but I just wish I'd never gone there with this person. But the drink does that to you."
Chloe says she was also apprehensive before filming the show.
"I was really nervous going in the house because girls sometimes get a little bit: 'God, there's a new girl.'
"But I get on literally with anyone. So I was happy about that because I was so nervous in case they didn't like us but thankfully they did.
"Coming out of the house I felt more like a woman. I went in a girl and I've come out a woman because I've been hanging around with older people."
The new series also shows James Tindale announcing that he's leaving the house.
Vicky Pattison left Geordie Shore after nine series in October.
Geordie Shore was first broadcast in 2011 and was a version of MTV's US reality show Jersey Shore.
The new series starts on 7 April.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube | Geordie Shore has unveiled two new characters, Nathan Henry and Chloe Etherington. |
The 30-year-old signed a new three-year contract with Notts on Monday.
Gurney told BBC Radio Nottingham: "Notts are a very special club with a lot of history. In my five years here, my career has been on an upward trend.
"Despite the fact we've been relegated, I feel pretty optimistic about the future and quite excited to be getting stuck in under Peter Moores."
Gurney joined Notts from East Midlands rivals Leicestershire in 2011 and has since taken 306 wickets for the Trent Bridge club in all formats.
"I am really grateful to Mick (Newell) who originally signed me and I feel loyalty to him, as well as the club to be honest," continued Gurney.
"I think we can rebuild next season, tweak a few things and hopefully build a foundation which can propel us back into Division One." | Harry Gurney says he feels optimistic about the future despite suffering relegation with Nottinghamshire. |
Carlsen sealed victory following three weeks of play and a series of tiebreakers in New York.
Karjakin tied against Carlsen in 12 regular rounds but was beaten in the final phase of four quickfire games.
Organisers said the event was followed by about six million chess fans around the world.
Hundreds of spectators paid between $100 and $500 to watch the games at a former fish market in Manhattan, separated from the two grandmasters by soundproof glass.
After his victory, Carlsen's supporters greeted him by cheering and singing "Happy Birthday", to mark his 26th birthday.
The boy who conquered the chess world
The prize of $1.1m (£879,000) is divided between the two players with the winner taking 60%.
Chess reached the height of its popularity in the 1970s, when the game was overshadowed by Cold War rivalry.
In 1972, the victory of American Bobby Fischer over Russian defender Boris Spassky at the World Chess Championship in Iceland was dubbed the "match of the century".
Commentators mentioned current geopolitical tensions in connection with this year's match when Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the Russian president of the World Chess Federation, was accused by the US of collaborating with the Syrian government and barred from travelling to New York. | Magnus Carlsen of Norway has won the World Chess Championship for the third consecutive time after defeating challenger Sergey Karjakin of Russia. |
Hoa Titcombe's husband James said he told Furness General Hospital staff "several times" his wife was ill.
Midwives Catherine McCullough and Gretta Dixon are accused of failing to have Mrs Titcombe assessed.
But midwife Caroline Duncan told the Nursing and Midwifery Council there was "no evidence" they knew she was ill.
Mr and Mrs Titcombe's son Joshua died of an infection in 2008, nine days after he was born.
On day two of the misconduct hearing, Ms Duncan said Ms McCullough did meet the standards expected of her.
However, she said that if the patient did tell her she was ill she should have referred her to be assessed in accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) and midwifery rules.
She also told the hearing there was also no evidence that Ms Dixon was aware Mrs Titcombe had been unwell.
It is alleged Ms Dixon failed to refer Mrs Titcombe for an assessment when she was told she had been unwell, on 26 October, 2008.
Ms McCullough faces the same allegation, as well as failing to take a urine sample to test for infection.
An independent inquiry into the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust last year found 20 major failures from 2004 to 2013 at Furness General Hospital and concluded there were "lethal failures."
Eleven babies and one mother died after being cared for at the hospital during this time.
The hearing continues. | A misconduct hearing has been told there was "no evidence" two midwives knew a woman was ill days before the birth of her son who later died. |
Judge Thomas Lipps rejected arguments by defence lawyers that witnesses could face intimidation or harassment outside the courthouse in Steubenville.
The case has attracted attention due to social media and the high profile of the football team in the small town.
Judge Lipps also ruled the non-jury trial would be open to the public.
He did so over the objections of the family of the 16-year-old girl who was allegedly attacked.
She wanted to protect her identity and keep evidence that might eventually be ruled inadmissible from becoming public.
Trenton Mays and Ma'lik Richmond, both 16, deny the charges they face next month at a juvenile court.
Three other students who witnessed the alleged attack but were not charged are expected to testify at next month's trial.
Those witnesses include two who took a video and photograph, then deleted the images.
The Ohio attorney general's office told lawyers for those students last autumn that if the images had been found, they would have been charged.
Prosecutors say the girl, who went to a school across the river from the city in West Virginia, was attacked after an alcohol-fuelled party last August.
The case was thrust into the national spotlight after attention by bloggers and the hacker activist group Anonymous.
Some claimed that the community had sought to cover up the alleged crime in order protect the two accused.
The trial is set for 13 March. | An Ohio judge has ruled that the rape trial of two high school football players will take place in the county where the alleged attack happened. |
Tom Lucking found a gold pendant inlaid with a profusion of garnets while metal detecting on farmland in 2014.
The 7cm (2.8in) item was found in the grave of a female and has been described as one of the "most elaborate...ever found".
It was declared treasure alongside other items at an inquest in Norwich.
Why is Norfolk a treasure hunting hotspot?
Mr Lucking, 23, a student from Felixstowe who is in his final year studying history at the University of East Anglia, said the discovery "had certainly given me a good dissertation project".
He said: "It makes me pleased I've put time and effort in metal detecting in that field and it was worth going out into the cold and rain over the years to find those things."
He unearthed the pendant whilst exploring a field near Diss, after initially detecting a bronze bowl.
After the inquest on Monday, Mr Lucking said: "You can hope, but never really expect to find something like this.
"It's not about the money value, it's about finding something that makes you re-think the whole history of an area."
Julie Shoemark, finds officer for Norfolk, said the burial dates to the cusp of the early Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England, around the middle of the 7th century AD.
She said: "Within a century of this lady's death, burial practices had completely changed and people were being interred with no associated grave goods, as seen in the burials from Great Ryburgh.
"She was undoubtedly a lady of some status in the community of East Anglia as the magnificent garnet inlaid pendant and associated grave goods demonstrate."
Dr Andrew Rogerson, of the county's Heritage Environment Services, previously described the pendant as one of the "most elaborate...ever found".
He said: "It would seem we have something of major significance."
The British Museum report for the coroner listed a number of precious coins and jewellery found alongside the woman's skeleton.
British Museum identification of items
Mr Lucking has been metal detecting since he was 11-years-old.
He said he will share proceeds from the sale with the owner of the land and his friend, Stuart Isaacs, who treasure hunts with him.
Norwich Castle Museum is understood to be interested in buying the pendant after it is formally valued by the British Museum. | A student who found Anglo Saxon jewellery of "national significance" said the discovery has made three years exploring the field worthwhile. |
The former Doctor Who actress, from Inverness, joins US stars Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, in the new production.
Her casting follows her securing a bigger role in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Starring the late Robin Williams, Jumanji involves a magical board game and is regarded by fans as a classic.
In posts on Instagram, Hart and Johnson welcomed Gillan, who studied drama at Eden Court in Inverness, to "the Jumanji family".
Johnson wrote: "I'm proud to announce a girl who's playing the most important role in our movie - the talented, beautiful and down for a Scottish fight at any time, Karen Gillan.
"And yes, this is the girl who is so bad ass she shaved her freaking head for Guardians Of The Galaxy.
"We start production next month in Hawaii and as many of you already know, this isn't a remake or reboot, but a continuation of the awesome Jumanji story we love."
Gillan shaved her head to play blue-skinned space pirate Nebula in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy.
She has returned to the role for next year's Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume Two. Its director James Gunn said Gillan will have more screen time in the sequel. | Scottish actress Karen Gillan has been cast in a new film that has been described as a follow up story to the 1990s box office hit, Jumanji. |
Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull - the breakout stars of the last series of the BBC Two quiz show - are getting behind the microphone.
The pair will present Monkman and Seagull's Polymathic Adventure on BBC Radio 4 on 21 August.
The duo became friends during filming, despite being captains of rival teams.
Monkman and Seagull each went viral in their own right, with the former proving so popular he sparked what was termed "Monkmania" among viewers.
The Cambridge economics student attracted a loyal following for his animated - and very meme-able - facial expressions.
The 29-year-old's blue jumper, impressive intellect and tendency to answer questions with an upward inflection cemented his place in the hearts of quiz show fans.
He and Seagull became friends off screen and even travelled to interviews together during the series as their popularity soared.
So what will their new radio show actually be about? Good question. The pair are set to explore whether being highly intelligent is actually a useful quality.
They will discuss whether it's possible to be a useful polymath (a person of wide knowledge or learning) with guests including Stephen Fry.
If this goes well, we're keeping our fingers crossed it's just the start of their media careers.
Surely introducing Justin Bieber songs on Radio 1 would be the next logical step?
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | If watching University Challenge makes your head hurt, you might want to take an aspirin before listening to a new show Radio 4 are planning. |
The BBC has obtained details of the major survey.
Almost 70% - 2,479 - of the university's 3,600 staff took part in the survey earlier this year.
Only 29% of staff who responded agreed senior leaders provided "effective leadership". One in five said the university managed change effectively.
Fewer than a third gave positive responses to questions about leadership and direction.
Queen's recently introduced major changes to some faculties and more than 140 staff left under a voluntary redundancy process in 2015-16.
However, staff were more positive about other aspects of the university, with two-thirds saying they were proud to work there.
Almost nine in 10 who responded said Queen's had a high standing in Northern Ireland, while two-thirds would recommend it as a "great place to study".
The vast majority of respondents - 89% - said that they found their work interesting.
While only a quarter of staff agreed that "Queen's works as one university", more than three-quarters said it was "committed to world class research".
However, fewer than a third of staff believed any action would be taken as a result of the survey.
In a statement, a Queen's spokesperson said the university was committed to "staff engagement and a positive work environment".
"The positive results highlight a number of key strengths, including staff respect, interesting work and a sense of personal accomplishment.
"The university is now working in partnership with staff in the development of action plans in response to the results.
"This process will enable staff to initiate change in those areas highlighted as challenges and to build on the strengths identified in the survey."
The survey was carried out in April, but the results have just been circulated. | Fewer than a third of staff at Queen's University believe it is being led effectively, according to a survey conducted by the university itself. |
Stefano Brizzi, 50, told the Old Bailey that PC Gordon Semple visited his flat on 1 April for "the purpose of having fun".
They had previously agreed to meet on gay dating app Grindr for sadomasochistic sex.
Mr Brizzi, from south London, denies murdering the 59-year-old officer but admits disposing of his body.
Asked if he deliberately killed PC Semple, Mr Brizzi replied: "No."
Asked if he had any intention of causing him harm, he said: "None whatsoever."
Mr Brizzi told the jury that PC Semple had been at his flat "for the purpose of a casual sexual encounter".
But, appearing to cry, he accepted he had dismembered and destroyed his body.
Mr Brizzi told the court that he had become addicted to crystal meth and quit his job at Morgan Stanley in 2015.
He said he lived off his savings while trying to solve his addiction problems.
The jury heard that on the day of the policeman's death, Mr Brizzi and PC Semple took drugs together and engaged in sexual activity.
Mr Brizzi said PC Semple appeared to be "very happy" to be with him and told the jury the police officer said he wanted to "explore some extreme fantasies".
The court has previously heard that Mr Brizzi placed a hood over PC Semple's head upon his request to be restrained and whipped.
The trial continues. | A man accused of strangling a police officer has told his trial he had no intention of hurting him. |
The idea will be looked at as part of a wider study of transport issues across southern Scotland.
Campaign for Border Rail spokesman Simon Walton said they would have preferred a report looking solely at rail services in the area.
However, he said it was welcome progress nonetheless.
Transport Scotland announced earlier this week that it intended to award the contract to look at wider transport issues across the south of the country to Jacobs UK Ltd.
It is hoped the study can get under way later this month and will take about seven months to complete.
Mr Walton said it was good to see the CBR's case for extending the railway was being recognised.
"It is a first step if not exactly a giant leap - it is certainly a move in the right direction," he said.
"We at the CBR would have been happier with a feasibility study looking solely at railway extension but this is a positive move.
"It does back our findings that it makes sense locally, socially and strategically to take the railway through Hawick and on to Carlisle." | Borders Railway campaigners have welcomed moves to examine the possibility of extending the route to Carlisle. |
The next public consultation in the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) scheme was due in September but may not be published until summer 2018.
Regional mayor Andy Burnham promised to revise the plans following protests from affected communities.
The revised plans will be announced "in due course", the mayor's office said.
The GMSF scheme identifies sites for housing developments that may be built over the next 20 years.
The area's combined authority, which brings together 10 councils, published a joint plan last October to allocate land for development.
Due to the scale of development required to meet expected population growth, it outlined plans to make swathes of protected greenbelt land available for new homes.
The authority received more than 25,000 responses to the consultation while community groups protested against the plans.
Mr Burnham, who was elected as metropolitan mayor in May, promised to "radically re-write" the plans, calling them "unfair and disproportionate".
The BBC understands council leaders are not expecting the next consultation to take place until next year due to the work involved.
Matthew Collinge from the Save our Slattocks group, which is opposed to homes being built on greenbelt land between Middleton and Royton, said the delay was "disappointing".
He said: "It stretches out the fear of the unknown and us. It's very easy for people to lose interest and we've been working towards this September deadline.
"We now have to keep people aware of what's happening for longer and that makes it harder for a small community group like ours."
Matthew Good, a spokesman for the House Builder's Federation said: "It's important for everybody that we have some certainty on this.
"Councils need to invest in infrastructure. They need to know where those developments are going to happen.
"Without a plan it's going to be a lot more piecemeal because investors will have to take chances on where they can get development and the councils may not be in control of that."
A spokesman for Mr Burnham said the mayor had appointed Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett to lead a "radical" rewrite of the plans.
He added: "This re-write is currently underway and details on the next round of consultation will be announced in due course." | A plan earmarking sites for 225,000 new homes in Greater Manchester is set to be delayed amid a "radical rewrite" to help protect green belt land. |
Two other former executives, as well as the camera firm itself, filed a guilty plea in Tokyo District Court.
They face up to 10 years in prison.
The three admitted to hiding losses dating back to the 1990s, which were brought to light by a former chief executive, Michael Woodford.
'Entire responsibility'
Mr Kikukawa said he regretted not revealing the accounting irregularities earlier.
"There is no mistake. The entire responsibility lies with me," Mr Kikukawa said in court on Tuesday.
He also apologised for the trouble caused to investors, customers, employees and the general public.
The scandal was revealed when Mr Woodford, the British chief executive, was dismissed from his post after he challenged Mr Kikukawa and the board over suspiciously large payments related to acquisitions.
An investigation was launched that revealed a cover-up of losses.
Mr Kikukawa, former executive vice-president Hisashi Mori and former auditing officer Hideo Yamada were arrested in February and later indicted on suspected violation of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. | Former Olympus chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa has pleaded guilty to charges of falsifying accounts, covering up losses of $1.7bn (£1.1bn), at the opening of his trial. |
The military said the driver was taken into custody after the incident near the Jewish settlement of Ofra.
It brings to 41 the number of Israelis killed in knife, gun and car-ramming attacks since October 2015.
Local media have named the driver as 22-year-old Malek Hamad, from the West Bank town of Silwad.
Witnesses told Israeli media that the car approached a bus stop at the Ofra junction, on the Route 60 highway north-east of Ramallah, and then accelerated towards the two Israelis waiting there.
Sgt Elchai Teharlev, 20, died at the scene, while the second victim, aged 19, was reportedly lightly injured and taken to hospital in Jerusalem for treatment.
The Palestinian militant group, Hamas, praised what it called the "heroic" attack.
In late 2015 and 2016, such attacks by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs happened with near-daily frequency but the rate has dropped in recent months.
At least 242 Palestinians - 162 of them attackers, Israel says - have also been killed in that period, Reuters news agency reports. Others have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops.
Israel has accused Palestinian leaders of inciting the attacks, but they have blamed frustration rooted in decades of Israeli occupation. | An Israeli soldier has been killed and another Israeli hurt in a Palestinian car-ramming attack in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military says. |
She said the Games would bring "honour and pride" to the country.
Ms Rousseff, who has seen her popularity plunge amid a serious economic crisis, says the country will rise to the challenge and will organise a safe and successful Games.
She said 12,000 people would be chosen to carry the Olympic torch through some 300 Brazilian cities next year.
"We are now 399 days from the opening of the Olympic Games and on August 5 the whole world will look at us, will see the Olympic flame light up," Ms Rousseff said at a ceremony in Brasilia.
The torch relay will begin in the Brazilian capital in May and will end at Rio's Maracana stadium in August, at the Olympic's opening ceremony.
The Olympics organising committee and sponsors will choose the torchbearers in the next few months.
Each person will carry the torch for 300 metres.
The relay will take the torch through the Federal District, where Brasilia is, and 26 states during 90 to 100 days.
Ms Rousseff has promised security will be a priority, inviting the thousands of fans who travelled to Brazil for the football World Cup to return for the Rio Games.
Members of the International Olympic Committee have expressed concern over delays in the works for the Games.
Another major concern has been pollution in the waters of the Guanabara Bay, where the sailing and windsurfing events will be held.
The authorities say they understand athletes' concerns but insist that water pollution will not pose a major health risk during the Olympics, which will be held in August 2016.
"We are confident that we can meet the challenge before us," said Ms Rousseff.
"We will put on a historic Olympics."
Rio de Janeiro will be the first South American city to host the Olympics. | Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has unveiled the torch to be used at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. |
Performers from the comic opera L'elisir d'amore gathered outside the Bow Street venue in full costume at 20:30 BST, alongside members of the audience.
The theatre said the interruption was a false alarm and the show had restarted.
People took to Twitter after being caught up in the real-life drama.
Grace Mallon tweeted: "Exciting times at Elisir d'Amore @RoyalOperaHouse - first time I've been evacuated for a fire alarm in the middle of a performance!"
Matt Innes tweeted: "Delightful Donizetti interrupted for a fire alarm, but about to restart to a cheer. Blitz spirit right here."
Michael Amon added: "#royaloperahouse big says that wasn't a drill and thanks everyone for a "brilliant" evacuation. Ready to start in a couple minutes." | Cast members and theatre-goers were evacuated from the Royal Opera House in London after a fire alarm went off mid-performance. |
Jean Say killed his son and daughter two years ago.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said Southwark Sapphire unit in south London "encouraged" victims to withdraw allegations to boost detection rates.
The Metropolitan Police said substantial changes had been made.
The rape allegation against Say was dismissed by a detective sergeant based at Southwark, who said the circumstances did not constitute rape because the woman "consented".
The report by the IPCC said: "There is no doubt from the evidence that the woman made an allegation of rape at Walworth police station which should have been believed and thoroughly investigated."
The IPCC said the Southwark Sapphire squad's approach of "failing to believe victims" was "wholly inappropriate". It also said it was "under-performing and over-stretched".
Deputy chairwoman of the IPCC Deborah Glass said: "There's no doubt this was an incredibly serious, shocking incident.
"We know with all the cases that we've dealt with that the consequences of not dealing with allegations of rape can be extremely serious.
"This is yet another tragic illustration of that."
Say, 62, a retired concierge, attacked his daughter Regina, eight, and son Rolls, 10, in their beds at his home in Southwark in 2011, while they were on a weekend access visit.
The Old Bailey heard he killed them to spite his wife who had left him. He was given a 30-year minimum term.
The case sparked a wider investigation into the work of the unit between July 2008 and September 2009, the results of which have now been published.
The IPCC has carried out five previous inquiries into Southwark Sapphire command and it is the police watchdog's ninth investigation into the Met's response to victims of sexual violence.
By Danny ShawHome affairs correspondent, BBC News
No one will ever know if Jean Say's children would be alive today if he'd been arrested and investigated for rape three years before he stabbed them to death.
But if police hadn't "no-crimed" the rape allegation, the chances are Say's threatening and violent behaviour would have been uncovered.
The Say case is the most egregious example of the dysfunctional approach to rape investigations at the Southwark Sapphire unit; what we don't know is how many other sexual assault victims were wrongly disbelieved and the impact that's had on them and on others.
Although Scotland Yard says the Sapphire units have changed for the better, the practice of no-crimeing is still a problem across other forces: in England and Wales reported rapes are three times as likely to be written off as other incidents are.
Home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said three Metropolitan officers who had been facing possible dismissal over a previous bungled investigation into the serial sex offender Kirk Reid, were still with the force.
Two of them, a superintendent and a detective inspector, have been promoted.
A detective sergeant is facing disciplinary proceedings for alleged gross misconduct in connection with the allegations.
In another case, Det Con Ryan Coleman-Farrow, who was based in Southwark, was jailed for 16 months in October last year for failing to investigate rape and sexual assault claims.
A second officer, based in Islington, north London, is still under criminal investigation.
In total 19 officers from across London have been disciplined, including three who have been sacked.
A Met Police spokesman said: "We have for some time acknowledged that previous investigation of rape and serious sexual assault in the MPS was below standard.
"The activities identified in this report came during that era and highlight specific issues within Southwark which resulted in unacceptable actions by local officers.
"It is as a result of such failings that we have made substantial changes to the investigation of rape and serious sexual assault, both in terms of structure and revised working practices." | A police officer at a sex crime unit encouraged a woman to drop a rape claim against a man who went on to murder his two children, a report has said. |
Daniel Jones, 58, who has admitted his involvement in the heist, offered to take police to the stashed loot.
Jewels, gold and gems were buried in Edmonton Cemetery in north London.
Three men deny conspiracy to commit burglary. A fourth denies conspiracy to conceal or transfer criminal property.
Police searched the area and found two bags, one containing jewellery and another precious stones, at a memorial site for Sidney James Hart, the grandfather of Jones' children.
Jones was then taken from prison and led the officers to another relation's memorial, where a smaller stash of gold, jewellery and gems were hidden.
Prosecutor Philip Evans told Woolwich Crown Court: "He was hoping if he gave up the smaller quantity at plot GB177 he would still have access to the larger stash of criminal property, no doubt for his future use."
Jones told police he was the only person who knew of the stash and declared "there's no other outstanding property. That is all I had", the court heard.
Jurors were told earlier how the mastermind behind the Hatton Garden raid pulled out of the heist after failing to complete the task in one night.
Brian Reader, 76, dubbed the "Master" by co-conspirators, withdrew from the raid when the gang struggled to get into the vault in one night.
Up to £14m was looted from 73 safety deposit boxes in London's jewellery quarter two days later on 4 April.
The gang drilled into the secure premises on 2 April but discovered the vault was blocked off by a metal cabinet, bolted to the floor on the other side, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
The men returned with different equipment two nights later to finish the job, but Reader was not with them when they made off with the loot, which was later hidden in two wheelie bins and stashed in holdalls.
Defendants and charges
Previously John Collins, 75, of Bletsoe Walk, Islington; Daniel Jones, 58, of Park Avenue, Enfield; Terry Perkins, 67, of Heene Road, Enfield and Brian Reader, 76, of Dartford Road, Dartford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary.
They will be sentenced at a later date.
The court heard after the raid - the "largest burglary in English legal history" - the gang stored the loot in two wheelie bins and some holdalls. Some was also hidden behind skirting boards and inside kitchen cupboards in their own homes.
The plan was to convert the stolen goods into money, but initially they divided the proceeds between them, with the intention of keeping it hidden until publicity surrounding the heist died down, it was said.
"When they were confident that had happened, they could split it up, melt it down, sell it or hide for a rainy day," Mr Evans said.
Jurors heard part of the bounty was sold for sizeable sums of money.
Officers swooped during one of the loot transfers to Mr Harbinson on 19 May.
In the days before, police recording devices picked up Perkins boasting about the historic feat, saying: "And what a book you could write."
He also described how some of the stolen "Indian" gold would fund his pension.
The trial continues. | One of the Hatton Garden raiders buried his share of the £14m stash under two family graves, but tried to dupe police by just revealing one, a court has heard. |
Barry Joy, 56 and Daniel Timbers, 28, died in a "fierce fire" following an explosion at digger bucket maker Harford Attachments in Norwich in 2015.
The coroner said Mr Timbers had been standing in for his father who was ill.
Post-mortem examinations said the men died as a result of the effects of fire and inhalation of fumes of combustion.
The inquest was told staff heard a "loud noise" at about 09:00 BST on 13 July 2015.
"Staff evacuated the premises, with some of them bravely trying to rescue Mr Timbers and Mr Joy," coroner Yvonne Blake told the Norwich inquest.
She added, "Their bodies were recovered from the booth afterwards."
Paint sprayer Mr Joy, of Spencer Street, Norwich and production operative Daniel Timbers, of Dereham Road, Norwich, were working in one of two booths bought from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire when the base was closed down.
Kenneth Stedman, managing director of Ipswich-based Industrial Powder and Paint Services, advised Harford Attachments on the transaction.
The inquest heard the two units were "well kept for their age" and he advised the company that they would be suitable to be set up as they were on the airbase.
The coroner said the jury inquest, which is continuing, would hear evidence about training of staff, policies on site and extraction equipment on the paint-spraying booths. | Two men who died in a paint-spraying booth were so badly burned they could only be identified using their dental records, an inquest has heard. |
The Pacaya volcano began spewing ash and lava after a powerful explosion on Saturday afternoon.
New explosions were seen on Sunday, with ash clouds reaching a height or at least 4km (3 miles).
Flights have been diverted from the area, some 50km (30 miles) south of the capital, Guatemala City.
The Pacaya is one of three active volcanoes in the Central American nation. The other two are the Fuego and the Santa Maria.
"We are assessing with the National Disaster Management Centre (Conred) whether we will need to evacuate the 3,000 people who live in the villages of El Rodeo and Patrocinio," said the Pacaya National Park director, Humberto Morales.
"Access to the areas around the volcano has been suspended," he told the Prensa Libre newspaper.
The Guatemalan authorities have issued an amber alert, the third highest. It means people must remain alert and be prepared to leave the area at short notice. | A volcano has erupted in Guatemala, prompting the authorities to consider the evacuation of some 3,000 people living in the area. |
Eric Bikubi, 28, and his partner Magalie Bamu, aged 29, have been convicted at the Old Bailey of killing Kristy Bamu after accusing him of being a sorcerer who practised witchcraft.
The couple, who live in Newham, acted after accusing Kristy of controlling and adversely influencing a young boy, the jury was told.
They originally came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where witchcraft is called Kindoki, and exorcisms are carried out in some churches.
In 2010, Unicef reported 20,000 children accused of witchcraft were living on the streets of DR Congo's capital Kinshasa.
In the DR Congo, accusing a child of being possessed is a criminal offence, a law that has been in place for several years.
But in 2008 I travelled to Kinshasa to see if it was making any difference and, at that time, the answer was not at all.
Which is why I found myself in one of the city's slums late at night knocking on the door of tin-roofed shack that doubled as a church.
Pastor Tsimba let me in and showed me three children who he had diagnosed as having Kindoki.
The youngest was probably six, the oldest no more than 12. They had been in the church for days, deprived of food and forced to work. Their parents were paying for the privilege.
The only light came from flickering candles and storm lamps. The pastor began to shout and pray.
One by one he brought the children up to the front of the church. He ordered them to lie down and, still shouting and chanting, began slapping their stomachs, one, two, three times. Each harder than the last.
Then he took a candle and poured burning hot wax on them, leaving them grimacing and squirming but making almost no sound. Their eyes were wide and staring.
Finally, as a bizarre conclusion to the ritual, Pastor Tsimba produced a length of pipe and held it hard against their belly buttons.
One after another, he made a play of sucking hard on the pipe and in triumph then spat a lump of meat he claimed to have sucked out of them into a bowl.
The meat he claimed had been been fed to them by a witch, infecting them with Kindoki. The children, bewildered and quiet, were now in his words "delivered".
I alerted a social worker to the plight of the children. An extraordinary and dedicated man, he said he would do all he could to help them.
But his unit had not paid him for months, there was no money for petrol or even a bus fare. So he did his work on foot.
He walked miles each day, visiting as many churches as he could, in this sprawling city of nine million people. | An "obsession" with witchcraft and sorcery led a couple to brutally murder a 15-year-old boy at a flat in east London. |
The Nigeria international has been on loan at Qatari club Al Ain this season.
"I'm very happy and very excited that I'm here," 28-year-old Emenike told the club's website.
"I have always known West Ham as a great club. I have known [manager Slaven] Bilic for years and thank God we are here together."
Bilic previously managed Besiktas, based in Istanbul, Turkey - the city rivals of Fenerbahce.
Emenike, who has scored nine goals in 37 international appearances, becomes the club's second signing of the January transfer window, after Leeds defender Sam Byram.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | West Ham have signed Fenerbahce striker Emmanuel Emenike on loan, with an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season. |
The move is seen as vital to getting Stormont's budget on a sustainable footing.
The redundancy scheme formed part of the financial package attached to the Stormont House Agreement.
The Westminster government would allow the Northern Ireland Executive to borrow £700m over four years to pay off up to 20,000 public servants.
A £200m portion would be used to cut up to 3,000 jobs in the Civil Service alone by March 2016.
The agreement was signed in December but fell apart within three months over the vexed issue of welfare reform
In March, Ms Villiers told an audience in Washington DC that the financial package could not go ahead without welfare reform.
But by this weekend, that position was clearly no longer sustainable.
The decision to grant the extra borrowing powers, while the rest of the agreement is not implemented, is simply a recognition of the perilous state of Stormont's finances.
The Northern Ireland Executive is already operating a provisional or 'fantasy' budget - one which assumes that welfare reform has happened when, of course, it has not.
On top of this, Stormont departments have already built the savings from the redundancy scheme into their budgets for the rest of this year.
If the scheme did not proceed, it increased the risk that budgets would be bust right across Stormont.
The head of the Civil Service, Malcolm McKibben, expects that in this financial year the scheme will knock about £25m off his pay bill.
By next year, he said the accrued savings will be £95m to £100m and, in all, he expects the scheme to have paid for itself with 14 months.
Those savings will start almost immediately with the first 864 civil servants due to take redundancy at the end of this month. | The Northern Ireland Secretary of State Teresa Villiers has said the UK government will release funding to allow a public sector redundancy scheme to go ahead. |
They include her chauffeur in Paris, Michael Madar. The three were among 17 people arrested in co-ordinated raids across France on Monday.
The driver's brother is still being questioned by police, reports say.
Kardashian West was held at gunpoint and tied up by the robbers while staying at a hotel in Paris in October.
She was targeted at the exclusive flat near Place de la Madeleine while her bodyguard looked after her sister at a nightclub.
The gang stole €9m (£8m; $9.5m) of jewellery, including a diamond ring valued at around €4m.
The two witnesses to the robbery - Kardashian West herself as well the night-watchman - apparently both told police that their aggressors were men "of a certain age". CCTV footage on the street outside also provided crucial evidence.
"We would expect the people who carried out a job like this to be criminals with a certain degree of experience. They would need the connections to be able to dispose of the jewels once they had got their hands on them," one police source told the BBC.
Throughout the inquiry, police have been investigating whether the gang was tipped off that Kardashian West's bodyguard was not at the hotel residence at the time of the robbery.
Among those arrested on Monday were several figures in their 60s and one in his 70s. The raids took place mainly in the Paris region and at Rouen in the north. An Algerian, identified as 72-year-old Pierre B, was detained at Grasse on the French Riviera.
Although there has been no trace yet of Kardashian West's missing jewellery, police did recover an estimated €300,000 during Monday's raids. | Three people have been released without charge by French police investigating a Paris jewellery robbery that targeted TV reality star Kim Kardashian West. |
His son, film director Duncan Jones, confirmed the news and a statement was released on his official social media accounts.
"David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18-month battle with cancer," it said. News of his death has prompted response across social media.
According to a social media data analytics tool, by 0900 GMT there were over a million tweets globally, using the hashtag #Bowie. The top 10 trending Twitter tags included #RipDavidBowie, #DavidBowie and #Bowie and #legend.
Fellow musicians have been sharing their sadness on social media. Marc Almond says he is "devastated":
Comedian Ricky Gervais tweets of his loss, while fellow funny man Eddie Izzard has an upbeat message.
And of course there are the the legions of Bowie fans who have told of their shock and sadness. Theresa McAllister shared how she felt when she first heard the news.
Katherine, on Twitter, finds the positive in the sadness.
A chance encounter at a bar in Wembley has stayed with Christine Mackenzie, as she shared on Facebook.
And the conversations on Facebook continue with many fans recalling their encounters with the rockstar:
And others made reference to his film work, which included playing Jareth The Goblin King in the 1986 Jim Henson movie Labyrinth.
But mainly the word on repeat is "legend".
Mel sums up the woes of growing older:
And as if to prove that David Bowie's music was out of this world, British astronaut Tim Peake sent his thoughts from the International Space Station.
Compiled by Alison Daye | Singer David Bowie has died at the age of 69 following an 18-month battle with cancer. |
Officers on patrol in the Drylaw area observed a green light coming from Marine Drive just before midnight.
Edinburgh Airport later confirmed that a pilot had reported a laser pen incident during the plane's descent.
A 16-year-old boy and four females, aged 16, 17, 19 and 22, who were in two vehicles in Marine Drive, were arrested.
They will all appear in court at a later date.
Ch Insp Mark Rennie, of Police Scotland, said: "The use of laser pens to distract or obscure the vision of a pilot is an extremely serious offence, which can have very serious consequences.
"We regularly patrol roads below approach routes to deter offenders and respond quickly to any notifications from pilots.
"Anyone found committing this offence will be arrested and charged'. | Five people have been charged after a laser pen was shone at an aircraft in Edinburgh on Friday. |
Karma Khayat and her TV station al-Jadeed are accused of contempt of court for revealing details about witnesses.
They deny any wrongdoing, and say they are fighting for freedom of speech.
The five men accused of killing Mr Hariri remain in hiding, and are being tried by the tribunal in absentia.
Mr Hariri was killed along with 21 others when his motorcade was hit by a massive bomb blast in the Lebanese capital Beirut on 14 February 2005.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was set up by the United Nations to try those responsible for the killings. The five suspects still at large have been linked to the militant Shia Islamist movement, Hezbollah.
A few minutes after opening on Thursday, the tribunal went into private session, the BBC's Anna Holligan reports from The Hague.
It followed accusations from the defence that the prosecution had revealed new evidence just a day before the hearing, and was thus attempting a "trial by ambush", our correspondent adds.
Prosecutors in the case say Ms Khayat and al-Jadeed published a list of witnesses' names, which undermined the confidence of those witnesses because they had been promised anonymity.
Ms Khayat says the list she published was redacted, which made it impossible to identify any witnesses but showed the tribunal was vulnerable to leaks. The full list of witnesses was later published by other parties unknown, she asserts.
Ms Khayat accused the court of attempting to silence the Lebanese media "in order not to criticise the tribunal in future".
"I believe my role in court is not to defend Karma Khayat and not to defend al-Jadeed; there's nothing to defend, we have a very strong case," she told the BBC.
"I am there to defend freedom of speech and freedom of press," she added. | A Lebanese journalist has become the first person to take the stand at the UN-backed tribunal at The Hague investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. |
Northampton Town's League One 3-0 home win over Coventry City was disrupted several times by fans on Saturday.
Northamptonshire Police said six arrests were made when spectators from the away stand invaded the pitch and a further three when flares were let-off.
Coventry City said the disruption was "unacceptable". Northampton declined to comment. Those arrested were bailed.
Northampton Town said it would not comment until a decision was made by the Football Association or English Football League on an investigation.
"The repeated disruptions to yesterday's match at Northampton Town were unacceptable," a Coventry City spokesman said.
"Coventry City FC will support all subsequent investigations by the police and football authorities."
Match reports said the fans were protesting against the Coventry club's owners.
Supt Chris Hillery said: "During the fixture we were made aware that some of the spectators in the away South Stand had planned a mass pitch incursion at a designated time.
"As a result, match officials turned off the scoreboard time display and officers were placed in front of the West Stand and in the players' tunnel to prevent people intent on disorder entering these areas en masse."
There was no serious disorder, violence or injury, police said. | Nine men have been arrested over a pitch invasion and flares being thrown at a football match. |
Tom Queally, 30, from Oak Lodge, Newmarket in Suffolk was found asleep in his car in Cheshire in March.
He admitted the charge and received the ban and a £1,350 fine at Crewe Magistrates' Court.
But his lawyer, Nick Freeman, argued he had been forced to plead guilty because the law did not recognise the sleep walking argument.
The prosecution said Queally, famous for being the regular jockey of "wonder horse" Frankel, was found asleep at the wheel of his BMW at a filling station in Chelford, Cheshire,with the engine running and the lights on at 05:40 GMT on 16 March.
A breath test showed a reading of 84 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of blood, when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
His defence argued that Queally, who is originally from Dungarvan in the Irish Republic, had been a sleep walker since he was five years old.
He had been out in Hale, Cheshire, and his last recollection was reading a magazine on a bed at his manager's house at 02:00 GMT.
Mr Freeman said: "The thrust of my mitigation is he's completely unaware of what he's doing - he's sleep driving.
"I don't think the law has kept up with scientific developments, because it seems simply unfair for a man of this quality now to have a criminal conviction for something which in my view, he's morally totally innocent."
District Judge Bridget Knight said the law had previously ruled that sleep walking was not a defence for drink driving.
Queally was also fined £1,350 and ordered to pay costs of £3,500.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Freeman said: "The law needs to be changed to reflect this unique set of circumstances." | A top jockey has been banned from driving for 22 months after claiming he was sleep walking while drink driving. |
Thames Valley Police caught 12 drivers on the A34 and M40 in Oxfordshire using phones on a single day during the operation.
It comes after a lorry driver was sentenced to four years for killing a family-of-four by getting distracted when using his phone on the A34.
Police said that one driver was filmed for 30 seconds driving with no hands on the steering wheel.
Chief inspector Henry Parsons said: "Sometimes HGV drivers think as they are high up we cannot see them using a device, but with this tactic we definitely can."
On 31 October Tomasz Kroker was sentenced to four years after he pleaded guilty to using his phone while in charge of a lorry.
After getting distracted he ploughed into a number of cars killing Tracey Houghton, her two sons and her stepdaughter. | Police have used a "covert lorry" to spy on drivers using their phones. |
They were part of the cargo on the SS Politician, which sank off Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides in 1941.
Scotch Whisky Auctions, which sold the bottles, said they had gone to a buyer in the UK after worldwide interest.
They were among eight bottles recovered from the wreck in 1987 by Donald MacPhee, from South Uist.
The whisky is not thought to be fit for human consumption.
The SS Politician was headed for Jamaica with 28,000 cases of whisky when it ran aground on the northern side of Eriskay in bad weather.
Islanders recovered hundreds of cases of whisky from the wreck and some of the bottles were buried to keep them hidden from customs officers.
Other bottles have since been found washed up on the island's shores and also recovered by divers.
Scottish author Compton Mackenzie, published the novel Whisky Galore in 1947, which was loosely based on the SS Politician wreck.
It was adapted for the cinema in a 1949 Ealing comedy starring Basil Radford. | Two bottles of whisky salvaged from the shipwreck that inspired the book and film Whisky Galore have been sold for £12,050 after an online auction. |
Internet-connected cars will improve in-car entertainment, and be able to help with crash alerts and diagnosing engine problems.
It will also be key for driverless technology.
Samsung said automotive electronics was "a strategic priority".
The deal is the biggest overseas purchase made by a South Korean firm, and comes as Samsung is looking to recover from the withdrawal of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.
It is estimated that the so-called connected technologies market, which goes under the Internet of Things umbrella, will grow to $100bn by 2025.
Cars will be a major part of this growth, with technology research firm Gartner forecasting that by 2020 one in five vehicles will have some sort of wireless network connection.
Features being working on include in-car monitors assessing drivers' health as they travel, and automatic leaving and arriving alerts for friends and family. However, campaigners have highlighted potential data privacy issues around connected vehicles.
"The vehicle of tomorrow will be transformed by smart technology and connectivity in the same way that simple feature phones have become sophisticated smart devices over the past decade," Young Sohn, Samsung's president and chief strategy officer, said in a statement.
The purchase comes in the wake of the Galaxy Note 7 episode, which saw both Samsung's reputation and profits harmed after it was forced to recall, then end production of the device, because it turned out to be a fire hazard.
Samsung generates the bulk of its revenues from its smartphone business, but is now looking for new areas of growth.
Last year, it created a business division focused on automotive electronics and recently invested in a Chinese carmaker, BYD.
Harman, which has its headquarters in Connecticut, makes products that are used in more than 30 million vehicles.
The deal is expected to be completed in mid-2017. Harman's chief executive, Dinesh Paliwal, will continue to run the company. | Samsung Electronics is buying automotive electronics-maker Harman International Industries for $8bn (£6.4bn), as it makes a big push into connected car technologies. |
The order loosens a provision of the tax code which prohibits religious organisations from directly supporting or opposing political candidates.
Mr Trump often complained about the rule as a candidate. Repealing it would require action in Congress.
LGBT groups and several human-rights groups oppose the order.
The order was signed by Mr Trump as he hosts conservative religious leaders at the White House for the National Day of Prayer.
"We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied or silenced ever again," Mr Trump told the audience.
The Executive Order on Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty directs the IRS to provide "regulatory relief" to faith-based organisations that are tax-exempt, a White House spokesman said on Wednesday night.
A current provision in the US federal tax code, known as the Johnson Amendment, says that churches can be investigated and lose their tax-exempt status if they directly support or oppose any political candidate.
Since he cannot repeal the law without congressional legislation, Mr Trump is directing the IRS to "exercise maximum enforcement discretion to alleviate the burden of the Johnson Amendment".
Few religious groups are known to have lost their tax status for violating the law, despite many churches openly advocating for political causes and hosting candidates during their campaigns.
"A crippling financial punishment," Mr Trump said ahead of his signing, adding "very, very unfair. But no longer".
The order also directs federal agencies to exempt some religious groups from providing birth control to employees and staff, as required under President Obama's Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
The American Civil Rights Union sent out an "action alert" on Wednesday, calling upon supporters to flood lawmakers' inboxes in opposition to the measure, and threatening to sue the White House administration.
The White House says the order is necessary to protect religious groups that had been "persecuted by the Obama administration" such as the Little Sisters of the Poor, a group which faced huge fines over their refusal to pay for contraception under Obamacare.
In a full-page ad printed in Politico, more than 1,300 members of clergy argue that the order would turn religious freedom "into a weapon to discriminate against broad swaths of our nation, including LGBTQ people, women, and children in foster care".
Some religious groups, such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, said that the order did not go far enough in its protections for businesses "simply expressing a religious point of view on marriage that differed from that of the federal government".
An earlier draft order that was leaked in February sounded alarm bells among LGBT-rights groups, who have been wary since the election of President Trump and Vice-president Mike Pence.
Mr Pence, a fierce social conservative, signed a religious liberty bill during his time as governor of Indiana, leading to a national backlash from LGBT-rights supporters and the bill's eventual revision.
The earlier draft of Trump's executive order allowed religious organisations and private corporations to deny services to any individual based on "sincere religious beliefs".
Though this version is less sweeping, LGBT-rights groups held rallies outside the White House and Congress on Thursday in opposition to the measure. | President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to ease a ban on political endorsements by churches and religious groups. |
The 61-38 vote on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities meant the treaty failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed.
Disabled former senator and Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, who uses a wheelchair, appeared on the floor of the Senate in support.
The treaty was signed by 155 nations and ratified by 126, including Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia.
It says all nations should work to ensure that disabled people enjoy the same rights and freedoms as other citizens.
The treaty was backed by Mr Dole, who was disabled in World War II, Arizona Senator John McCain, who sustained disabling injuries in the Vietnam War, Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, and former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh.
However, only eight Republican senators voted in favour of the treaty.
Others, like Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, said they voted against the measure because of the extra regulation it would bring with it.
"I do not support the cumbersome regulations and potentially overzealous international organisations with anti-American biases that infringe upon American society," Mr Inhofe said.
The White House said it was "disappointed" that the "overwhelming majority" of Senate Republicans voted against the treaty.
Ratification of the treaty "would position the United States to support extending across the globe the rights that Americans already enjoy at home. This in turn would improve the lives of Americans with disabilities" who choose to live or travel abroad, the White House added.
Massachusetts Democratic Senator John Kerry, who backed the treaty, said: "It really isn't controversial.
"What this treaty says is very simple. It just says that you can't discriminate against the disabled."
Supporters also said ratification of the treaty would not require any changes to US law.
The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, which sought to protect equal rights for the disabled, became the basis of the UN treaty.
It was negotiated under former President George W Bush's administration and signed by President Barack Obama in 2009.
About 10% of the world's population - or 650 million people - are disabled, UN estimates suggest. | A UN treaty on disability rights has been rejected by the US Senate. |
The incident happened at the Co-op store in Thornton at about 02:15 on 17 May.
A Ford Transit flatbed van, stolen in Station Road, reversed into the premises. Extensive damage was caused to the building and an attempt was made to steal an ATM.
A 25-year-old man is expected to appear at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court court on Monday.
Det Insp Stewart Andrew of Glenrothes CID said: "Officers have been pursuing various lines of enquiry ever since this incident took place, which has included liaison with our colleagues in Durham Constabulary.
"I want to thank local residents for their support throughout and reassure the community that we will use all resources at our disposal to investigate such incidents." | A man has been charged after a ram-raid at a shop in Fife. |
The private service is at Althorp House in Northamptonshire on Saturday, which would have been her 56th birthday.
Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Princess Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, and her two sisters will also be there.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall will be in Canada.
The service will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
The Princess of Wales died on 31 August 1997 in a car crash in Paris, when the Duke of Cambridge was 15 and his brother was 12.
The princes have commissioned a statue of Princess Diana to mark the 20th anniversary of her death.
The sculpture will be placed in the public grounds of her former residence, Kensington Palace. | The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry are to attend a service to rededicate the grave of Diana, Princess of Wales, almost 20 years after her death. |
Five Saudis, reportedly including a prince, were detained at Beirut's airport after two tonnes of pills branded as Captagon were found in cases due to be loaded onto a private jet.
It was the largest drug smuggling operation yet uncovered at the airport.
Captagon pills, which typically contain amphetamine and caffeine, are consumed widely in the Middle East.
The drug has helped fuel the conflict in Syria, generating millions of dollars in revenue for producers inside the country as well as being used by combatants to help them keep fighting.
NNA reported that 40 bags of Captagon pills were found by inspectors from the Gendarmerie in cases due to be put on board a jet bound for Hael, in northern Saudi Arabia.
It did not identify the Saudi citizens who were detained, but sources told the Associated Press and the AFP news agency that they included a Saudi prince.
In April 2014, Lebanese security forces foiled an attempt to smuggle 15 million Captagon pills hidden in shipping containers full of corn from Beirut's seaport, according to AFP.
Captagon, originally the trade name for the synthetic stimulant fenetylline, was first produced in the 1960s to treat hyperactivity, narcolepsy and depression.
However, it was banned in most countries by the 1980s because of it was too addictive.
In 2013, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said 64% of global seizures of amphetamine took place in the Middle East, and that most of the amphetamine was in the form of Captagon pills. | The Lebanese authorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle a huge quantity of drugs to Saudi Arabia, officials say. |
Hull City Council had hoped the decorative stones would help raise the profile of those in the city who were visually impaired.
They were supposed to spell out the poem, The City Speaks, by Shane Rhodes.
But Braille teacher Barry Wheatley said it made no sense as the Braille is too big and lacks spaces between words.
The council said it was only intended to be "creative" tactile paving.
Read more about this and other stories from East Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire
Mr Wheatley said he initially thought the stones along Jameson Street and King Edward Street were a great idea but soon realised they were pointless.
"Braille is the size of your fingertips and to get down on your knees and feel this, well it is meaningless," he said.
"Even if you are a sighted Braille reader then it is like reading a sentence in print without any spaces in it.
"It is just gobbledygook."
He also said it did not work to guide blind or partially sighted people down the street, as it ran into street furniture.
Councillor Martin Mancey said he did not believe anything had "gone wrong" with the paving, which had only recently been installed.
"It was never intended to be a clearly legible form of the poem, it was an artistic interpretation.
"It has already achieved one of its purposes which was to raise the awareness of the needs of blind and partially sighted people in the city centre."
He said he was not aware of any obstacles that prevented it being used as a navigational guide. | A council which installed Braille paving stones branded "gobbledygook" has said the slabs were only intended to be "creative". |
Mohammed Ali Abboud is on trial for murdering Agnieszka Szefler at the home they used to share in Bridge of Earn, Perthshire, in January.
The jury were shown video footage of Mr Abboud telling detectives Ms Szefler "fell" with the knife in her hand.
The 57-year-old denies all the charges against him.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard Mr Abboud told officers that Ms Szefler's temper changed just before she had her period and that she often threw household items at him during this time.
He said the 27-year-old teacher sustained serious injuries during the struggle on 23 January.
He said: "She fell. She had the knife in her hand."
The video footage of the police interview was shown on the fourth day of proceedings against Mr Abboud, who also denies a charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by covering up his role in his former partner's death.
In the footage, a detective told Mr Abboud that he did not believe his claims that he did not murder Ms Szefler.
The policeman then asked the accused to admit that he murdered her.
But Mr Abboud said the pair got into a struggle and he was trying to stop her from causing any of them serious injury.
He said: "I was trying to stop her. It got out of hand."
Mr Abboud's lawyers have lodged a special defence of self defence.
The trial, before judge Lord Uist, continues. | A man accused of stabbing his ex-partner to death told police she came at him with a knife and they started to struggle, a court has heard. |
Elections for 29 governors and all 36 state assemblies are taking place.
Some of Nigeria's governors control huge budgets and are among the country's most influential politicians.
The vote comes two weeks after Muhammadu Buhari defeated incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan to become the country's first opposition candidate to win a presidential poll.
Gen Buhari won by more than 2.5 million votes.
Polling stations opened at 08:00 local time (07:00 GMT).
While presidential polls two weeks ago encountered some problems with the electronic card reader, the process this time appears to be taking place without any hitches, reports BBC Hausa's Mansur Liman.
In many of the states, Saturday's gubernatorial and state assembly elections could prove to be a tight race between Mr Jonathan's People's Democratic Party (PDP) and Gen Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC).
Nigeria's 36 governors enjoy wide powers and some, especially in oil-producing areas, control bigger budgets than those of national governments in some neighbouring West African countries.
The key battlegrounds include commercial hub Lagos, and the oil-rich Rivers state.
Tensions are reported to be especially high in Rivers. The AFP news agency reports that an overnight curfew was imposed on the eve of the election to prevent any violence.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) spokeswoman for Rivers state, Tonia Nwobi, told AFP that they were working with security agents to ensure a "hitch-free election".
Results are not due until Sunday.
Biometric voting cards are to be used again, despite some problems with their debut in last month's election.
Technical problems slowed down voter registration, even affecting President Jonathan.
But Abubakar Momoh from Inec told Reuters that the new system was crucial.
"The card reader is the only way that rigging on a large scale can be stopped in this country," he said.
Observers have generally praised the recent presidential election, though there have been allegations of fraud even with the use of biometric voting cards. | Nigerians are going to the polls to vote for state governors in the final round of the election process. |
Wasps goalkeeper Neil Parry had already denied Dobbie three times before the striker curled in a drive off a post.
Parry saved again from Dobbie after the break, but the 33-year-old would not be denied his fifth goal in three Challenge Cup outings and 12th goal of the season for the Championship side.
His close-range header killed off the lively League One visitors' hopes.
And it ended a run of eight games without a victory for the Dumfries side - a sequence that had ended with Gavin Skelton standing down as manager earlier this week.
The side under caretaker Jim Thomson, who had been football development manager, for the first time became the second into the last four.
Dundee United had earlier beaten Dunfermline Athletic 1-0 at East End Park.
League One leaders Livingston host Welsh champions The New Saints, while Ayr United visit Championship rivals St Mirren, in two Sunday quarter-finals.
A Grant Anderson header had grazed the Alloa crossbar before Dobbie made the breakthrough at Palmerston Park.
The Wasps had their moments, with Jamie Longworth being denied by goalkeeper Lee Robinson and Greig Spence going close with an overhead kick with Jim Goodwin's part-time side only one goal behind and looking the more likely to score.
However, after Parry prevented Derek Lyle extending the lead, Dobbie provided the finish from Dean Brotherston's cross 14 minutes from time.
Queen of the South caretaker manager Jim Thomson: "It was a shock to myself. On the Monday, Gavin just decides to resign. I think it was a combination of things.
"It has been a terrible run and hopefully that brings a bit of confidence to the squad.
"It has been a hard week for everybody, but the way the boys trained during the week, the tempo they took into the game.
"I thought in the first half we were excellent. Some of their play was brilliant.
"It is a break from the league for the boys and it's a national cup semi-final so you always want to progress."
Alloa Athletic manager Jim Goodwin: "We came here to be positive and to take the game to Queen of the South. I thought we done that for large spells of the game.
"They're very lucky to have Stephen Dobie, who's a top player.
"He's the type of player who could easily be playing in the Premiership.
"I'm proud of the players. We didn't just come down here and look to hang on. Overall, there's a lot to be positive about." | Stephen Dobbie's double took Queen of the South into the Challenge Cup semi-finals at Alloa Athletic's expense. |
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the Scottish government needed to take action now to avert a staffing crisis.
They said rising demand and insufficient nursing staff were putting patient care at risk.
The Scottish government said the number of nurses and midwives had risen by 5.2% since 2006.
According to the RCN, a "boom and bust" approach to staffing had led to many health boards cutting nursing staff to balance their books, then later scrambling to recruit as demand increased.
They said despite the vacancy rate for nurses rising to 4.2% in June, the number of available staff only went up by 1% in 2015.
They also said the workforce was facing added pressure as the age profile of nurses increased. The RCN said that in 2006, 43% of nursing and midwifery staff were aged 45 or over; in 2015 that figure had risen to 54%.
The union said that although nurses had been awarded a salary increase recommended by the NHS Pay Review Body, pay restraint had led to a real-terms fall of about 14% in salaries since 2010. They said this was adding to recruitment and retention problems.
54%
Nurses aged 45 and over in 2015
43% Nurses aged 45 and over in 2006
RCN Scotland Director Theresa Fyffe said: "Scotland's population is getting older and more and more people are living with more complex conditions.
"Demand for health care is going through the roof. And you only have to look at the latest NHS vacancy rate - which went up from 3.7% to 4.2% in June 2016 - to know that the very modest increase in staff is just not keeping pace with demand, with a number of health boards really struggling to recruit enough nursing staff."
She added: "All these factors, as well as the as yet unknown impact of Brexit on international recruitment - particularly in the care home sector in Scotland are contributing to a 'perfect storm' for our nursing workforce and, as today's report says without sufficient nursing staff and exponentially rising demand, patient care is being put at risk."
Health Secretary Shona Robison said that under the Scottish government, the number of staff working in the NHS had increased by more than 11,000 - including more than 2,100 nurses and midwives, a rise of 5.2%, since 2006.
She said: "Rises in nursing and midwifery vacancies are due to the creation of new posts in health boards, mainly as a result of information from our innovative workload and workforce planning tools which help health boards to plan for the number of staff they require.
"We are committed to training and retaining our nursing staff and we will increase the number of trainee nurses and midwives by 5.6% for 2016-17 - a fourth successive rise."
Ms Robison also said the Scottish government was committed to retaining the nursing and midwifery bursary and free tuition fees in Scotland.
Scottish Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: "The SNP government has ignored previous warnings from staff and that can't be allowed to happen again."
Donald Cameron, for the Scottish Conservatives, said the government must "explain why it hasn't created more student places when it knew the workforce was ageing, and why hiring patterns have been so erratic". | Budget cuts, Brexit and growing patient demand are all leading to a "perfect storm" for nursing staff in Scotland, a new report has warned. |
Gayle was responding to a question from Ten Sport's Melanie McLaughlin about his aggressive batting style after scoring 41 runs in 15 deliveries.
He said: "To see your eyes for the first time is nice. Hopefully we can have a drink afterwards. Don't blush."
A BBL statement said the comments were "disrespectful and inappropriate".
The 36-year-old former West Indies captain's knock helped the Melbourne Renegades to a five-wicket win over Hobart Hurricanes.
BBL head Anthony Everard added: "We'll certainly be talking to him and the Renegades about it.
"This league is all about its appeal to kids, families and females. There's just no place in the BBL, or for that matter cricket anywhere, for that sort of behaviour."
Australian broadcaster Ten Sport apologised on air after the interview and later tweeted "well played for staying professional" after McLaughlin replied to Gayle: "I'm not blushing."
McLaughlin, 36, joined Network Ten to host match-day coverage of the Big Bash League in 2013. | West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has been called "disrespectful" for asking an Australian journalist on a date in a Big Bash League pitch-side interview. |
The images were taken by photographer Nick Hedges in the 1960s and 1970s for housing charity Shelter in some of the country's biggest cities.
He said the conditions some families lived in "shocked me to the core".
An exhibition will be held later this year in Sheffield, Birmingham and Manchester to mark Shelter's 50th year.
The images were taken in Birmingham, Manchester, Salford, Newcastle, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, London and Liverpool.
Mr Hedges said: "It would be wonderful to meet the children I photographed all those years ago and for them to be able to tell their stories.
"I often wonder what happened to them, if they went on to lead happy and healthy lives."
"When I was commissioned by Shelter to take these photographs, I never imagined that decades later they would still have such impact," said Mr Hedges.
"The poverty and terrible conditions I witnessed shocked me to the core.
"I hope that all these years later, by reconnecting with some of those I photographed, I am able to hear good news of what happened to the families."
Campbell Robb, Shelter's chief executive, said: "We would love to hear the stories of the people behind these iconic pictures to help us mark 50 years of fighting bad housing and homelessness.
"I'd encourage anyone who recognises themselves, or family members and friends, to get in touch and let us know what happened after they were taken."
"These photographs are a sobering piece of history not only for Shelter, but the nation as a whole, and it's important to preserve the stories behind them.
"They show us how far we have come, but also that we must do more for the tens of thousands of families and individuals still desperate for a safe, secure and affordable home."
The charity is asking anyone who recognises themselves or anyone else in the images to email: [email protected] or call: 020 7505 2032.
For a full gallery of images go to click here. | An appeal has been launched to trace the families featured in a series of pictures taken in some of England's poorest and most deprived areas. |
The Sky Blues currently play in Coventry's Ricoh Arena but had a long dispute with the stadium's previous owners.
The council said the club wanted to meet to understand how it would deal with a planning application.
The club said it was not commenting "at this stage".
The club's owners, Sisu, have been involved in a long-running stand off with the previous operators of the Ricoh that saw the Sky Blues play the 2013/14 season in Northampton.
The arena is now owned by Premiership rugby team Wasps.
In a statement, Rugby Borough Council said its leader and the council's executive director and head of planning had met with Coventry City in March.
"The club requested the meeting to understand how the council would deal with any planning application for potential stadium sites in the borough of Rugby," it said.
It said the plans would need to be finalised by September to be included in the council's local plan, but added that a site had yet to be identified.
Peter Ward, from Sky Blues Supporters' Consultative Group, said he was pleased to hear that things were "moving" with the club's search for a new home.
"It's good that finally there is some evidence things are happening," he said.
"As we've heard from the club's directors, there is a need to take control of and have access to all the revenue streams."
However, he said that fans could find a move out of Coventry difficult - particularly as they only moved from their previous home, Highfield Road, to the Ricoh in 2005.
"The move from Highfield Road to the Ricoh was a big emotional move for the fans," he said. "This would be another big change." | Planners in Rugby have revealed they have been in talks with Coventry City Football Club about building a stadium in the borough. |
In an open letter, he said he loved Russia, calling it "a great democracy".
Mr Depardieu had recently announced he would give up his French passport after the government criticised his decision to move abroad to avoid higher taxes.
Moscow earlier said President Vladimir Putin had personally signed the decree granting the actor Russian citizenship.
In December, Mr Putin had said he would be happy to welcome the actor in his new country. "If he'd like to have a Russian passport, consider it settled," Mr Putin said.
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault had called Mr Depardieu's decision to leave the country "shabby".
In the letter, broadcast on Thursday on Russian TV station Pervyi Kanal, Mr Depardieu said: "I filed a passport application and I am pleased that it was accepted.
"I love your country, Russia - its people, its history, its writers. I love your culture, your intelligence."
He said that he had spoken to French President Francois Hollande and told him Russia was "a great democracy, and not a country where the prime minister calls one of its citizens shabby".
Under France's civil code, dual citizenship is permitted but it is unlawful to be stateless.
A person must obtain another nationality before giving up French citizenship.
Mr Depardieu's highly publicised tax row began last year after Mr Hollande said he would raise taxes to 75% for those earning more than 1m euros (£817,400).
The actor accused the new socialist government of punishing "success, creation and talent", and announced in early December that he would move to Belgium.
Although the Constitutional Council struck down the tax rise proposal on Sunday, Mr Depardieu said this did not change the situation "one bit".
The BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says the series of events would be amusingly eccentric, were it not also serious in its implications for France's international image.
Mr Depardieu, described by Mr Putin as a successful businessman and friend, has developed close ties with Russia, which has a flat 13% personal income tax rate.
He currently appears in an advertisement for Sovietsky Bank's credit card and is prominently featured on the bank's home page.
In 2011, he played the lead role in the film Rasputin, a Franco-Russian production about the life of eccentric monk Grigory Rasputin.
In addition, Mr Depardieu has also helped raise funds for a children's hospital in St Petersburg. | Actor Gerard Depardieu has hailed Russia's decision to grant him citizenship, following a tax row with the government in his native France. |
Raucous fans jumped up and down during an early first-quarter touchdown in the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New Orleans Saints.
The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network detected the vibrations, measuring between a magnitude 1 and 2 earthquake.
The Seahawks won the game at CenturyLink Field 34-7.
Pacific Northwest Seismic Network director John Vidale told CNN his staff recorded five separate seismic events during the game.
It was not the first time fan celebrations shook Seattle. In 2011, the response to another US football touchdown registered at nearby seismic recording stations.
CenturyLink Field, which is open to the air, also set a Guinness World Record for noise in September. | A celebration by football fans in the US city of Seattle grew so loud on Monday evening it registered as a minor earthquake, a research group has said. |
They show Balachandran Prabhakaran, son of rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, eating chocolate on a bench.
Campaigning group Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka says they are proof the boy was summarily executed.
A military spokesman denied the allegations.
He said they were based on "lies, half-truths and rumours".
JDS says analysis of the photographs' metadata shows they were taken by the same camera at 10:14 and 12:01 on 19 May 2009 - on the final day of Sri Lankan forces' bitter 26-year war against the Tigers.
Velupillai Prabhakaran died at around the same time in a stretch of land between the Nanthikadal lagoon and the sea, where hundreds of thousands of civilians were trapped in the last bloody months of the conflict.
The army said he was killed in battle but human rights groups said he might have been killed after surrendering.
British film-maker Callum Macrae says the photographs of Balachandran Prabhakaran - which show the young boy first alert and unharmed and in the custody of soldiers but then dead, shot five times in the chest - rules out the government's assertion that Balachandran was killed in crossfire.
"His death was deliberate and calculated. This is a proof, beyond reasonable doubt, of the execution of a child - not a battlefield death," said Mr Macrae. "The pictures fill in chilling details on the circumstances of his murder - and leave the Sri Lankan government with yet more questions to answer."
But army spokesman Ruwan Wanigasuriya said the photos showed "no substantive evidence", and were being released in Mr Macrae's latest documentary, No Fire Zone (NFZ), that is timed to coincide with a session of the UN Human Rights Council next month.
In the past two years, Mr Macrae has made films for the British TV station, Channel 4, using video evidence to allege that the government side committed serious war crimes as it defeated the Tamil Tiger militants in 2009 - allegations always denied by Colombo.
The new film is set to be screened at the Geneva Human Rights Film Festival during a UN Human Rights Council meeting next month.
Meanwhile 133 Sri Lankan Christian clergy, mostly from the former war zone, have signed a letter urging the UN Human Rights Council to pass a strong resolution that is critical of Colombo and will set up an international inquiry into all alleged war crimes.
The mainly Tamil churchmen and women say that today the ethnic minority's culture, religions, language and land are being suppressed with what they say is "an intent to destroy us in whole or part". | Photographs have emerged which are said to show the 12-year-old son of a Tamil rebel leader alive and well in custody less than two hours before he was shot dead. |
Favourite Air Force Blue, winner of the Dewhurst Stakes last year and four of his five races, never challenged and was a distant 12th of the 13 runners.
Dettori crossed to the rail side to win by one and half lengths for his third victory in the prestigious mile race.
Massat (9-1) was second with Ribchester (33-1) two lengths back in third.
Air Force Blue was widely expected to give trainer Aidan O'Brien a record eighth 2000 Guineas success.
But Ryan Moore could find no response from the bay colt and it was Dettori who surged clear, 20 years on from his first success in the race on Mark of Esteem.
He also won again in 1999 on Island Sands.
The veteran jockey, 45, said of his latest triumph: "We had a bad draw but he's a great horse.
"His main forte is that he stays, he galloped out really strong."
Trainer Hugo Palmer said: "Frankie was so alert, he said nothing had been coming from behind and that if nothing took us on, he would do it himself and he did.
"There were no hard luck stories, for us anyway. It was a masterful ride."
BBC horse racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght
"Considering the going was on the soft side, the time was decent so that's another plus about a success achieved by a decisive length and a half.
"The winner had to race on the more challenging outside of the field because he was drawn in stall one, and Frankie Dettori gave him extra credit for the performance because of that.
"This was Hugo Palmer's first British Classic win; he's very much an emerging force - it won't be his last." | Frankie Dettori rode 14-1 shot Galileo Gold to a surprise victory in the first classic of the 2016 Flat season, the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. |
The three-month tests of 137 island homes, 73 in Guernsey and 64 in Jersey, measured the level of gas in the walls.
Radon occurs naturally in areas with a large amount of granite and 99 of the homes tested were below target levels.
Fourteen island homes were above the target level and owners have been told to ensure there is good ventilation.
The survey was carried by the islands' authorities with the UK Health Protection Agency. The 137 properties were selected to cover a range of geological conditions and population areas.
The aim was to find out more about radon and its distribution.
Val Cameron, the Channel Islands strategic lead for environmental health, said: "The recent survey updates and confirms the information from previous surveys; this is that radon is associated with the granite geology of the island, and not the construction material of an individual building."
International research has found exposure to radon gas can increase the chances of contracting lung cancer for people who smoke.
Dr Susan Turnbull, medical officer of health for Jersey, said: "To help put the main risk factors for the commonest form of lung cancer into perspective, for every 100 cases of lung cancer around 95 will have been caused by smoking alone, about four will be due to the combined effects of smoking and radon exposure.
"Only one will be due to radon exposure alone. So it is a real risk, albeit a low one. The most sensible thing anyone can do to reduce their risk of getting lung cancer is to stop smoking."
Mrs Cameron said: "Of the homes surveyed, some were identified as being above the action level. Advice has been given to those householders about measures to remedy the problem."
Previously radon surveys were carried out in Jersey in 1987, 1992 and 1997, and in Guernsey in 1985. In 2012, tests were also carried out in Herm, Alderney and Sark.
In 1984 the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and the International Commission on Radiological Protection reported on the need for a reduction of radon exposures in homes. | The amount of radon gas found in the Channel Islands is associated with the geology of the island and not construction materials, a survey finds. |
Figures show the number of women taking their holy vows has trebled in the past five years, from 15 in 2009 to 45 last year - the highest number since 1990.
Fourteen of the women who entered convents in 2014 were aged 30 or under, the latest figures show.
The Church says women are being drawn to religious life because of a "gap in the market for meaning in our culture".
Sister Cathy Jones, from the National Office for Vocation, said: "We are never going to be at the place we were at 50 years ago, Catholic culture was at a very different place.
"But the fact that more women are becoming nuns than there has been in the past 25 years shows that as a generation we have turned a corner."
The figures show that in the 1980s around 80 women were becoming nuns each year but the numbers gradually declined until 2004 when only seven women joined a convent.
The small number of entrants has gradually increased again in the last 10 years, reaching 45 in 2014.
Sister Cathy said nuns were now less visible in communities but they were now doing more hidden work with trafficked women or working as counsellors.
And she added that some women may have been driven to the work after having seen more poverty in the UK during the economic downturn.
"It doesn't tend to be those who are coming from quite vulnerable places who become nuns, but there are people who want to be reaching out to those on the margins, who join," she said.
Theodora Hawksley, 29, was until recently a postdoctoral researcher in theology at the University of Edinburgh, but at the beginning of the year she decided to end her career as an academic, and begin her training to become a nun.
She joined the Congregation of Jesus in January and is now living in their house in Willesden, north London, while taking the first steps towards making vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Ms Hawksley said: "In one sense it is a bit like trying to explain to somebody why you are marrying the person you are. You can list their qualities, but in the end it is a relationship of love.
"I don't have to worry now about practical things like making a career for myself. I'm free to go where I'm needed and meet people at the margins.
"You are not on your own. It is an unusual life choice, but you are not the only one making it. There are plenty of people asking themselves the same questions."
She admitted some of her friends were a "bit bewildered" when she revealed her plans, but most have been very supportive.
Last year the majority of new nuns - 27 out of 45 - chose to be active religious sisters, who have a ministry outside of the convent, working in a community in areas such as nursing or teaching. Religious sisters are often sent to live in different communities every few years, both in the UK or abroad.
Last year, BBC Northern Ireland political reporter Martina Purdy quit her 25-year career in journalism to become a nun.
She entered the Adoration Sisters last October. | The number of women becoming nuns has reached a 25-year high, the Catholic Church in England and Wales says. |
The newly minted millionaire was reported to have just returned from a holiday with his family when they were told the news.
"My husband was literally pumping the air when he was on the phone," said the unnamed child's mother, according to local media.
It is not known how the winner reacted.
Bonus Bonds are an investment that pays out thousands of prizes to savers, lottery-style, every month. NZ$1m is the biggest monthly prize.
The child's Bonus Bonds account was reportedly set up when he was born with just NZ$250 ($180; £140) worth of bonds, given by a relative.
ANZ bank, which runs the scheme, confirmed the win but said it was respecting the family's wishes by not giving further information about the winner. | A New Zealand toddler has won NZ$1m ($726,600; £560,700) in Bonus Bonds prize money - the youngest ever winner of the investment lottery scheme. |
David Ellam, 52, was attacked as he walked his Yorkshire terrier, Rolo, near his home in Sheepridge, Huddersfield, last August.
At Leeds Crown Court, Aaron Joseph, 29, denied being the owner of a dog that caused injury while dangerously out of control in a public place.
Mr Joseph was released on bail and a trial date has been set for 5 February.
Live updates and more stories from Yorkshire
Judge Peter Collier QC, the Recorder of Leeds, said he hoped the trial date could be brought forward.
Police were called to Riddings Road on 15 August, and Mr Ellam was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary where he was later pronounced dead.
Mr Joseph, of Riddings Road, pleaded guilty to possessing a quantity of cannabis on the same day. | A man has denied being the owner of a dog which attacked and fatally injured a neighbour. |
The owner was forced to open the crocodile farm's gates on Sunday to prevent a storm surge, the local Beeld newspaper says.
Many of the crocodiles have been recaptured, but more than half are still on the loose, it says.
The floods have killed at least 10 people in Limpopo province.
The crocodiles escaped from the Rakwena Crocodile Farm, a tourist site about 15km (nine miles) from the small town of Pontdrif, which borders Botswana.
Zane Langman, the son-in-law of the farm's owner, told the newspaper that many of the crocodiles had escaped into dense bush and the Limpopo River, the second biggest in South Africa.
"There used to be only a few crocodiles in the Limpopo River. Now there are a lot. We go to catch them as soon as farmers call us to inform us about crocodiles," said Mr Langman.
"I heard there were crocodiles in Musina [about 120km away] on the school's rugby field."
Mr Langman said he went to rescue friends in a flooded house in the area by boat on Sunday.
"When we reached them, the crocodiles were swimming around them. Praise the Lord, they were all alive," he is quoted as saying.
The South African Air Force is being used to rescue people affected by the flooding in remote settlements, some of which are cut off from the outside world.
The floods have also affected neighbouring Mozambique, where tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes. | About 15,000 crocodiles have reportedly escaped from a farm in South Africa's far north amid heavy rains and flooding. |
Speaking about the 1948 contract Nye Bevan, the founding father of the NHS, offered consultants, he said he had "stuffed their mouths with gold".
That gold was the ability to continue private practice - something senior doctors have carefully guarded since.
Down the years, several ministers have had a look at the issue, but concluded it was simply too tricky to tackle.
One former health secretary told me they thought consultants would simply walk away en masse if the government got tough.
There has been some movement. In fact, the current contract had a little nibble at restricting private practice, by insisting that any doctor doing fewer than 11 shifts (of four hours each) a week offers any extra work to the NHS first before accepting private work.
It has probably had some impact, but only a little. A full-time contract is 10 shifts, so it ties them to only an extra four hours a week before they are free to work in the private sector.
But after years of shying away from the issue, the government looks like it wants to tackle this head on. It is not being explicit in coming out and saying it wants curbs on private practice.
But the implications of the move by NHS England to publish earnings is clear: there is a suspicion that some doctors are raking it in and that affects their motivation when it comes to the NHS - both in terms of working extra hours for the health service and how productive they really want to be - and by publishing the details there is a hope it will make doctors think twice about how much they do.
Longer NHS waiting lists means more private work as either people will pay to go private or, and this is more common, the NHS has to pay for patients to be seen privately.
The private market is worth £4.6bn a year, according to market analysts Laing Buisson, with a quarter coming via NHS referrals.
At a time when money is tight and ministers want to get more seven-day services, tackling this is clearly an attractive proposition.
Although with the consultant contract currently in the process of being renegotiated (talks have slowed because of the junior doctor dispute), expect consultants to be hopping mad that their pay is once again in the headlines.
It promises to be the mother of all battles.
But if the register of private work is published, what will it show? What is known about the extent of private work is pretty sketchy.
A British Medical Association survey from 2009 suggested about half of doctors in the UK (it's not limited to England) did private work - but this was a fall from six in 10 when it was done several years before that.
Of those that did private work, a quarter earn under £10,000 a year, while one in six made in excess of £100,000.
This included private hospital work, alongside earnings from other sources such as providing advice to pharmaceutical companies and assessments for insurance companies.
But it must be said this was a self-selecting poll - doctors were not compelled to take part, so it is hard to gauge whether it was truly representative.
There are plenty of specialities where private work is not so easy to come by.
But there are others - orthopaedic surgery, urology, ophthalmology and anaesthetics to name just four - where there is plenty of work. It means for some, earnings can be extremely high.
Average basic salary for NHS work is £89,000 in England. But this ignores a number of ways doctors can make much more.
There are bonuses - called clinical excellence awards - which can be worth tens of thousands of pounds a year. Once awarded, they are difficult to take away.
And then there is overtime work. For some, this can be pretty lucrative - a BBC investigation earlier this year found one made £375,000 in a year.
Now that figure is very revealing. That consultant was thought to be on a special deal as they worked in an area where there is a shortage of consultants.
It meant the NHS was prepared to pay them close to what they could have got on the private market. All in all, it suggests there are consultants out there earning in excess of £500,000.
Read more from Nick
Follow Nick on Twitter | The fight over NHS consultants' private work - and that is exactly what this is - goes back to the very start of the NHS. |
In the footage, some Kenyan soldiers can be seen carrying white shopping bags, while others appear to take white boxes from a mobile phone store.
At least 67 people died when suspected al-Shabab militants stormed the Nairobi shopping centre on 21 September.
The Kenyan military says it is investigating the looting allegations.
News agencies say the CCTV footage is taken inside the entrance to the Westgate mall's Nakumatt supermarket, which sells everything from food to televisions.
In one section of footage, several soldiers are seen walking out of the supermarket, past a blood-spattered floor, carrying plastic carrier bags.
In another clip, Kenyan soldiers can be seen next to a mobile phone outlet.
Heroes of attack
Victims of attack
One reaches over the counter, and apparently removes a white item.
Then more soldiers remove white items, which the Reuters news agency describes as mobile phone boxes.
The Westgate attack sparked a four-day siege in which large parts of the shopping centre were destroyed.
The Kenyan military says it has launched an investigation into the looting allegations, which correspondents say will have angered many Kenyans.
At the weekend, Kenya's biggest-selling newspaper, The Nation, ran an article entitled "Shame of soldiers looting Westgate".
The footage of the alleged looting emerged as the Kenyan authorities announced they had recovered the body of what they consider to be a fourth attacker.
"Today, Sunday 20 October 2013, we recovered a fourth body, which we know from CCTV footage to be that of a terrorist," said the Kenyan interior minister, Joseph Ole Lenku.
"DNA and other investigations will confirm their identities. We have also recovered four AK47 assault rifles which we know were used by the terrorists in the assault. We also recovered 11 magazines of AK47 assault rifles."
Officials had initially said 10 to 15 gunmen were involved, but CCTV footage appears to show only four militants.
It is still not clear whether some of the attackers might have escaped.
The Somali militant group al-Shabab said its members staged the attack in response to Kenya's army carrying out operations on Somali territory.
Last week, the BBC's Newsnight programme revealed that one of the suspected attackers was believed to be a 23-year-old Somalia-born Norwegian national, Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow.
His family fled to Norway in the 1990s, but he returned to Somalia in 2009 and allegedly joined the Somali militant group.
Sources in al-Shabab have told the BBC Somali Service that Dhuhulow attended a training camp in El Bur in central Somalia, one of the militants' main bases.
The sources said Dhuhulow took part in many al-Shabab operations in Mogadishu and Kismayo and was well-known in jihadist circles. | Security camera footage has emerged which appears to show Kenyan security forces looting goods during last month's siege of the Westgate mall. |
Police said the man was arrested after a 54-year-old man died at St John's Hospital in Livingston.
He had suffered head injuries during an incident in King Street, Bathgate, at about 03:00 on Saturday.
Officers have appealed for witnesses to come forward. The arrested man is due to appear at Livingston Sheriff Court on Monday.
Ch Insp Colin Gagen said officers would be carrying out high-profile patrols in the area and added: "This death is a tragedy and our thoughts are with the family of the deceased.
"These types of incidents are thankfully rare and we are treating this death as an isolated case.
"We will be undertaking extra patrols in the King Street area in order to provide community reassurance." | A 35-year-old man has been charged with murder following the death of a man in Bathgate. |
He told Fox News the Democrats were putting out the reports because they were embarrassed at the scale of the election defeat.
On Friday, CIA officials told US media they had concluded that Russians hackers were trying to help Mr Trump.
Russian officials have repeatedly denied the hacking accusations.
Mr Trump said it might have been Russia but it was impossible to know.
"They have no idea if it's Russia or China or somebody sitting in a bed some place," he said.
President Barack Obama has ordered a complete review of the hacks, which targeted emails at the Democratic Party and the emails of a key aide to presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
The contents of the emails, passed to Wikileaks and posted online, were embarrassing to the Democrats and shook up the presidential campaign.
Senior Republicans have now joined Democrats in calling for a full investigation.
Republican Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a joint statement on Sunday with top Democrats that the CIA's report "should alarm every American".
He said in an interview that the congressional investigation should be more thorough than the one ordered by the White House.
In October, US government officials pointed the finger at Russia, accusing it of meddling in the campaign to undermine the electoral process.
But on Friday, the intelligence community went further when US media reports said the CIA had "high confidence" that Russians were trying to influence the election in Mr Trump's favour.
Russians had hacked the Republican party but chose not to reveal the contents of what they found, the reports said.
But Mr Trump told Fox News Sunday: "I think it's ridiculous. I think it's just another excuse. I don't believe it."
He said the Democrats were behind the news reports, not the CIA, because they suffered such a big defeat.
While backing the Obama review, the president-elect warned that it should not pin the blame solely on Russia but on other countries or individuals too.
Republican party spokesman Sean Spicer said the party had not been hacked and the intelligence report was wrong.
Mr Trump also said in the interview he did not need daily intelligence briefings.
"I'm a smart person, I don't need to be told the same thing in the same way for eight years."
Elsewhere in the interview, he said:
Mr Trump, an outsider who stunned the political world by beating Hillary Clinton in last month's election, will assume office on 20 January.
Why Trump strikes a chord with Russians
Russia's Putin calls Trump 'a clever man'
Are there any Trump links to Putin? | President-elect Donald Trump has rejected as "ridiculous" a CIA assessment that Russian hackers tried to sway the election in his favour. |
The northbound carriageway was closed at 02:00 on Thursday at junctions five, Castle Bromwich and six, Spaghetti Junction and was not reopened until about 01:30 GMT on Friday.
A 26-year-old man driving a Saab died at the scene.
A 200m-length section across four lanes had to be resurfaced after a fuel spillage, Highways England said.
Read more on this story and other news from Birmingham and the Black Country
A Highways England spokesman said earlier: "You've got about a 200m stretch - so that's 800m across all four lanes.
"Fuel has leaked on to the carriageway and it's really got into the carriageway, so that's the problem and it's just not safe to reopen."
Traffic jams trailed back to junction four for the M42.
Drivers were stuck for hours in congestion on the M42 north from junctions six to nine and on the A446 around Coleshill.
Many of the main routes into Birmingham slowed to a crawl as people tried to find alternative routes.
BBC Travel has the latest
Two southbound lanes between junctions six and five, that were closed at about 03:00, reopened about six hours later.
Two lanes closed on the northbound carriageway of the M6 at junction 3A near Coleshill after a separate traffic collision at 12:30 reopened by 13:00, said Highways England.
Drivers expressed their anger on social media at being caught in the congestion in and around Birmingham during Thursday's rush hour.
Paul Davis tweeted at 10:00 he had only managed to drive six miles after leaving from Sutton Coldfield at 07:00.
Earlier Virgin Trains said it had advised its ticket managers at Birmingham International to use discretion towards commuters in light of the disruption.
Police had hoped to reopen the northbound lanes at about 07:30 on Thursday, but Highways England said extensive damage had been caused and assessment and repair work was being carried out.
Diversions were put in place but motorists were caught up in long delays on surrounding routes, particularly on the A38.
West Midlands Ambulance Service said the lorry driver in the collision was shaken but uninjured. | Part of the M6 in Birmingham was closed for almost 24 hours after a fatal collision involving a lorry and a car. |
The draft document now in the public domain had a very limited circulation. Members of Labour's National Executive that I have spoken to hadn't seen it.
Most - though not all - shadow cabinet members were shown only the sections which related to their policy areas - to prevent leaks.
And certainly the leak of a complete version of a draft manifesto before it has been formally discussed is unprecedented.
Sources close to Jeremy Corbyn say "100%" they did not leak it and were shocked around 20:00 BST on Wednesday to find out it had leaked.
And sources close to both the party leader and the Unite leader Len McCluskey are trying to point the finger at the party's deputy leader, Tom Watson.
They say this is all about 9 June. If an impression of chaos around Mr Corbyn is created now, and Labour fails to get 30% of the vote on polling day, it will give his deputy a reason, or excuse, to call for the leader's resignation.
But Mr Watson has categorically denied leaking the manifesto - and his allies say it would have been mad to do so. They see this as an attempt to damage his reputation as he wouldn't want Labour to perform badly at the forthcoming election.
And they say the Labour leader's office had accepted that they hadn't leaked, because the version of the manifesto that Tom Watson had in his possession wasn't the version that made its way to the papers. And sources at the Daily Mirror have made it clear to the BBC that Mr Watson was not the source of the leak.
Other Labour sources are pointing out that union officials saw a draft on Wednesday but Labour now hopes that the debate will move on to substance rather than the internal soap opera. | It's not just Labour's policies that have been exposed by the leaks of the manifesto - it's the level of distrust at the very top of the Labour Party. |
The charity is campaigning to help protect ancient or old trees, that have grown in the UK for hundreds of years.
They say that having more trees is good for our health as well as the environment.
Currently around 2% of the UK is listed as ancient woodland.
The UK has seen around 45 rare species of trees disappear in the last 100 years.
Some people are calling for lots more homes to be built in the UK and the Woodland Trust say they are worried that building new houses would mean that old trees would be chopped down to clear space.
The Government have been talking about the issue in a new White Paper, which presents ideas for changes to the law.
It could mean that some trees in England would be protected like historic buildings. | The Woodland Trust have said that some trees should have the same rights as old buildings. |
Ardit Ferizi from Kosovo pleaded guilty to charges of providing material support to America's enemies, at a court hearing in Virginia.
The computer hacker shared the personal data of more than 1,000 American military and government personnel.
The jail term imposed by the US court is the maximum sentence for his crime.
Ferizi, who was known online as Th3Dir3ctorY, was arrested in Malaysia in October 2015 and extradited to the US in January this year.
Speaking after the verdict, US Assistant Attorney General John Carlin described the attack as carrying a very real and dangerous threat to US national security.
In a statement in June, the US Department of Justice said the case was the first of its kind and represented "the nexus of the terror and cyber-threats".
It said Ferizi handed the list to IS knowing it could incite the group to attack the individuals named in it.
Information about the names, email addresses, passwords, locations and phone numbers for about 1,350 military personnel and federal staff came from several servers that Ferizi hacked into.
He targeted both machines in US government offices and corporate computers.
After he has served his sentence, he will be deported to Kosovo and barred from re-entering the US. | A 21-year-old has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in the US after passing details on American military personnel to so-called Islamic State (IS). |
One of the men was arrested in the capital Berlin and the other in a town close to Cologne, in west Germany.
Police seized computers, mobile phones and sketches in the raids but did not find a "smoking gun", prosecutors' spokesman Martin Steltner said.
About 450 officers were involved in the raids.
One of the men detained, reported to be aged 35, had been living in a refugee shelter in the town of Attendorn, east of Cologne, and is wanted by the Algerian authorities for alleged links to IS.
Police said "investigations show that he has been trained militarily in Syria".
The man's wife, also wanted by Algeria, was detained at the same time but prosecutors said she was not a suspect in the German case.
The suspect held in Berlin was arrested on suspicion of falsifying identity documents, police said.
Two other Algerians in Germany, said by police to be "from the jihadist scene", were tracked down but not arrested.
"Our understanding is that the four men accused could have planned to carry out an attack together," Mr Steltner said.
German media said the possible targets included central Berlin tourist sites Checkpoint Charlie and Alexanderplatz.
Since January, the suspects had changed their mobile phones multiple times and communicated using instant messaging services, reports said.
Germany's security concerns have risen since the Paris attacks last year.
Officials declined to comment on a report in the Tagesspiegel newspaper, citing security sources, which said senior IS figures had ordered an attack on Germany. | German police have arrested two Algerians suspected of planning an attack and having links to the militant group, Islamic State (IS). |
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox will travel from the US to meet Mexican counterparts to discuss trading relationships.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is on a two-day tour of Australia, saying post-Brexit trade is "top of the agenda".
And Brexit Secretary David Davis will hold private talks in Germany ahead of the next round of negotiations.
The globetrotting by the three ministers - dubbed the "three Brexiteers" for their role in backing a Leave vote - comes amid increased scrutiny of the opportunities and challenges facing Britain in terms of negotiating free trade agreements with other countries once it leaves the EU.
No deals can be done until withdrawal in March 2019 but the UK has established a series of inter-ministerial working groups in the US and Australia to discuss the way ahead while also signalling to other countries, such as New Zealand, that they will be "near the front of the queue".
US President Donald Trump has said a deal with the UK could be "big and exciting" in terms of jobs, accusing the EU of a "very protectionist" stance towards America.
The EU has insisted Brexit talks will only be held by the European Commission, and the Department for Exiting the European Union confirmed Mr Davis' talks with officials in Germany would be private.
Brussels has also made clear that trade talks between the UK and the EU must wait until other issues, including the status of expats and any "divorce bill" to be paid by the UK, have been settled.
The role of the European Court of Justice has emerged as a stumbling block to a deal on citizen's rights, despite both sides insisting that they want to come an arrangement.
The UK is seeking a "comprehensive free trade deal" with the EU after Brexit to replace its membership of the common market and customs union. | Senior cabinet ministers will push the UK's Brexit agenda on three different continents later. |
Norris spoke on Tuesday of plans for a show in the NT's temporary theatre that was "very focused on disabled issues".
He added he was also in talks with "senior writers" about a play on the main Olivier stage addressing similar themes.
Norris was speaking at a public debate on diversity in UK theatre at the NT in London.
Act for Change, which organised the event, revealed statistics that showed over the Easter weekend only one actor with a "visible disability" had been noted across all theatre sectors, (the West End, regional and subsidised). That had been at the National Theatre.
Interviewed on the Olivier stage, Norris said he was considering whether to introduce quotas to improve diversity within the organisation.
"There is a big argument about whether there should be quotas. Across this year we will be testing that to see how desirable it is," he said.
"Our policy is quite simply to reflect this city and this country. That means in terms of gender, BAME [black, Asian and minority ethnic] and disabled. That's not a difficult policy."
Norris said that in 2014/15 the National's BAME on-stage figure was an unusually high 33% - driven in part by shows such as Behind the Beautiful Forevers and Here Lies Love. He said his aim was for 20% in any given year.
He admitted that it was "much harder" to achieve the same figures in permanent backstage staff.
Pressed on the issue of quotas, he said: "The last thing I'm saying is no. What I want is for this community to represent the country accurately and if that's the best way of doing it then, yes - why not?"
The Act for Change debate was chaired by Shami Chakrabarti, head of civil rights group Liberty.
Panellists included actors Adrian Lester and Cush Jumbo, director Phyllida Lloyd, critic Mark Lawson, shadow culture secretary Chris Bryant and Jenny Sealey, co†| National Theatre boss Rufus Norris has said he hopes to stage more work that will focus on the issue of disability. |
The scheme would be paid for by cutting the winter fuel allowance and free TV licences for better-off pensioners, the party's "pre-manifesto" proposes.
Mr Clegg told reporters: "We are telling you today that we are choosing to put the next generation front and centre of our plans."
The proposals are part of the Lib Dem pitch for next year's general election.
The Lib Dem leader, who became the target of angry students for performing a U-turn on tuition fees after entering government in 2010, said: "Liberal Democrats are committed to building a stronger economy and a fairer society, enabling people to get on in life.
"The Young Person's Bus Pass will ensure that young people looking to access education or training can do so in an affordable way, and I hope that bus companies will top up that discount to something even more generous."
The deputy PM added: "Young people are required to stay in school until they are 18, but we haven't done enough to give them the support that they need to do that - literally to help them get from A to B."
He rejected reports that free bus travel for pensioners would be axed by the Lib Dems if they got into power "not least because these bus passes help keep the buses running, and because we know how much older people rely on public transport".
But he did confirm that the young people's bus passes would be paid for by removing the free TV licences and winter fuel allowance from pensioners paying higher rate tax.
"I know there are people who say you mustn't touch so-called universal pensioner benefits because politically it's too risky. We don't agree. What are effectively benefits for the rich and retired cannot be justified when there are so many young people struggling to get on their feet."
Other measures in the Lib Dems' 80-page document include 15 hours of free childcare for every two-year-old in England, a "Daddy month" of paternity leave and guaranteed education spending.
The party is also promising to end imprisonment for people found carrying a small amount of drugs for personal use and to set up a commission to assess the effectiveness of current drugs laws and alternative approaches, including punishment by civil penalties rather than a criminal conviction and the case for licensed cannabis shops.
All the plans are subject to approval by the party's annual conference in Glasgow in October, but are likely to form the bulk of the party's campaign manifesto next year.
Mr Clegg said the party's proposals were "credible and deliverable", saying: "We've learnt our lesson from tuition fees - and we've learnt it the hard way. There will be no repeat of that mistake."
Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman said: "Nick Clegg has once again shown what we all know - his government has let down working people. People will judge the Lib Dems on their record of broken promises and failure.
"What the Lib Dems say now is no guide to what they'll do in the future." | Young people aged 16-21 would get a 66% discount on bus travel in England under Lib Dem plans outlined by Nick Clegg. |
If that happens, the ice loss could push up global oceans by 2m, or more.
The claim is based on an assessment of the rocks underlying the ice stream.
Scientists tell the journal Nature that should the front of the glacier retreat about 150km from its current position, it will then enter a runaway reversal that takes it 200-250km further inland.
Most of the big glaciers in the east of the White Continent appear relatively quiescent; Totten is something of an exception.
It is experiencing a thinning rate of about half a metre per year, according to the latest satellite measurements.
Previous research indicates this is probably being driven by warm ocean water getting under and melting the floating front of the glacier.
What Alan Aitken and colleagues have now done is examine a possible future for Totten if the shrinkage continues.
They have used gravity and magnetic data recorded over the entire catchment feeding the glacier to understand its past behaviour.
They find that the underlying sedimentary rocks at the modern front of Totten are heavily eroded, as are the rocks in fjords deep in the interior of the catchment. The inference is that these sections are where persistent, moving ice has had time to grind down the geology.
It is the mid-region, however, that piques the team's interest. Here, the sediments are relatively thick, suggesting that ice fronts have historically been resident in this section for only short periods.
This mid-region is also where the rock bed dips inland - a geometry that glaciologists say is naturally unstable and accelerates any glacier retreat.
"What this all tells us is that once the ice margin starts to go back, it goes back quite rapidly to a newer, stable position way inland. And if you do that our modelling indicates you will lose ice equivalent to 1.5-2m of sea level rise," co-author Prof Martin Siegert from Imperial College London, UK, told BBC News.
The last time Totten retreated to the deep interior of the France-sized catchment was probably in the Pliocene Epoch, he added.
"Three-point-five million years ago, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were in the region of 400 parts per million - so about where they are now. The atmosphere was a couple of degrees warmer than it is now, which is in line with what we expect for the end of this century if we do nothing about it. The Pliocene is where we're headed."
Even so, the timescale for the far retreat inland would be on the order of centuries, on current trends.
The international community has of course committed itself to doing something about climate change, promising at the Paris talks in December to try to keep the global atmospheric temperature rise above pre-industrial levels to "well below 2C".
Various analyses, however, suggest a 2.7C increase is a more likely outcome, based on the voluntary national curbs to greenhouse gas emissions promised at the meeting.
And that variance could be significant, according to research presented at the recent European Geosciences Union meeting in Vienna last month.
Prof Rob DeConto from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, US, has modelled possible ice losses from the Antarctic continent based on the two temperature figures.
For a 2C rise, he found minimal change by the end of this century. On the other hand, for 2.7C he identified ice losses equivalent to many tens of centimetres of sea-level rise.
"There's threshold behaviour in the Antarctic ice sheet system," Prof DeConto told reporters at EGU.
"We don't know exactly where that line is, but according to these results somewhere between 2C and 2.7C makes a very big difference."
[email protected] and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos | Unchecked climate change could put Antarctica's huge Totten Glacier into an unstable configuration over the coming centuries, a study has warned. |
Ball, who featured against Pakistan A in Dubai, has taken six wickets in each of Notts' first two games and is the leading wicket-taker in Division One of the County Championship so far in 2016.
Read said of the 25-year-old: "Last winter he got fitter and stronger.
"Now he's genuinely lively and he does plenty with the new ball."
Read said Ball's assured early showings have demanded he lead Notts' bowling attack with the new ball alongside England's Stuart Broad.
"Jake is in fantastic form with the ball," continued Read. "He's had a great winter having been in Dubai with the Lions and has had a taste of what life is like with the ECB set-up. He's really keen to progress that side of his career."
Notts director of cricket Mick Newell said Ball, who was their second-highest County Championship wicket taker with 39 last season, said he has been "terrific" so far in 2016.
"That's a fantastic start to the season and he's setting a great example," added Newell.
Despite Ball's efforts against Lancashire, Notts suffered an eight-wicket defeat in their second Country Championship match of the season on Wednesday, having beaten Surrey in their opening fixture. | Pace bowler Jake Ball has made a "lively" return following a winter playing for England Lions, says Nottinghamshire captain Chris Read. |