A survey of 1,000 people in the UK has found that the majority of people who have been affected by the coronavirus are young people.

Thousands of people have come forward following a worldwide appeal to find a stem cell donor for a Cardiff University student who needs a match in the next two months.

Article: Auditors PwC found the festival had not been at arm's length and was operating as though part of the council.
A report raised concerns about appropriate controls not being in place over finances.
Councillors have agreed that a further report be prepared into the financial set up of the festival.
The AIYF, which has been running for more than 40 years, attracts thousands of young people from all over the world.

Summary: A further report will be carried out into the financial set up of the Aberdeen International Youth Festival (AIYF).
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Article: A staff survey has shown alcohol misuse is a contributory factor in about half of 999 calls.
It is the first time the police, fire and ambulance services have come together to highlight the problem.
They said alcohol-related incidents tied up resources which could be needed elsewhere.
The staff survey, completed by 909 police officers, 824 paramedics and 167 fire officers, revealed one in three had been subjected to physical abuse in the previous four weeks while attending an incident as a result of alcohol misuse, and two-thirds had experienced verbal abuse.
Almost half of all incidents attended by the emergency services in that period were alcohol-related, while almost two-thirds of emergency personnel had faced difficulties in securing urgent information because of victims or callers being intoxicated.
In the anonymous survey one firefighter recalled: "I was in breathing apparatus at a house fire and I found a man lying in his bed. He had tried to cook after coming back from a night out but he was drunk and fell asleep.
"The smoke alarm was blaring but he only woke up when I shook him to see if he was alive. He punched me in the face."
An ambulance crew member said: "I have been assaulted, spat at and verbally abused too many times to mention.
"If people could only see the effect they have on an incident when they're under the influence of alcohol. We have to spend as much time looking after our own safety as looking after our patient."
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams, of Police Scotland, said the demands placed on emergency services by people under the influence of alcohol were huge.
He said: "On many occasions, it delays police officers, firefighters and paramedics from getting to members of the public who really do need our protection and help."
Assistant Chief Officer David McGown, of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, said 999 calls from intoxicated people often gave confusing details of the incident.
"Being unable to get reliable, accurate information also means that firefighters can be...

Summary: Two-thirds of emergency service workers were punched, threatened or spat on while they dealt with incidents over a four-week period, new figures reveal.
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Article: Vithiya Alphons, 24, has acute myeloid leukaemia but her Sri Lankan background makes the search hard as not many South Asian people are on donor registers.
She launched a social media campaign  to help find a match.
Charity Anthony Nolan said 5,600 have signed up in the last week.
"The impact of Vithiya's appeal has been nothing short of incredible," said Ann O'Leary, head of register development, at the charity.
"But Vithiya still needs to find her stem cell match and there are people just like her all across the world who are still waiting.
"We need to continue to diversify the register so we can find a match for all."
Miss Alphons was diagnosed with the aggressive form of blood cancer after falling ill just days after returning for her final year as an optometry student at Cardiff University.
She started feeling unwell with severe sickness and a fever, while she had a pain in her leg, so she went to her doctor for tests.
She underwent chemotherapy in Cardiff before being well enough to be transferred to a hospital in London, where she is from.
After her third course of chemotherapy, Miss Alphons felt better and thought she had beaten her illness.
But further tests showed the leukaemia was still in her blood and doctors told her the best option was a stem cell transplant from a donor, which is needed in the next two months.
Speaking to BBC's Asian Network Miss Alphons said she is grateful for all the support.
"I would just like to say thank you so much to everyone who has registered so far and please, please do carry on registering because you can save my life and you can also save so many other's lives.
"Please spread the word and help me to save my life."

Summary:


The Great Tapestry of Scotland is to be moved to a new site in Galashiels, but the decision has been delayed by the cost of the project.

Eels have been found in a stretch of river where they have not been seen for nearly 40 years.

Article: Andrea Woodhead, 52, of Idle Road, Bradford, was also charged with assault and possession of an offensive weapon, West Yorkshire Police said.
One of the victims was pushing a baby in a pram when she sustained her injury on Friday. The child was unharmed.
Ms Woodhead is due to appear at Bradford Magistrates' Court on Monday.
Police were called to reports of a woman in her 50s having been stabbed in Scotchman Road, in the Manningham area of the city, just after 09:50 GMT on Friday.
Just 20 minutes later, at 10:10 GMT, a woman in her 30s pushing a pram was found with a stab wound to her back close to the Parkside Centre in Keighley Road,  in the city's Frizinghall district
Both victims suffered single stab wounds and were taken to hospital but were later discharged.

Summary: A woman has been charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm after two women were stabbed on the same morning in separate attacks in Bradford.
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Article: It comes after community group Energise Galashiels claimed the move would have "significant advantages".
Scottish Borders Council had initially selected the Tweedbank terminus of the Borders Railway but an alternative site in Galashiels has since emerged.
Mr Kerr, an SNP MP, said the newer option could have a greater impact.
"It's clear that the presence of such a remarkable attraction in the heart of Galashiels could be transformative for the town centre, which is still struggling to recover from long term economic challenges in the retail sector," he said.
"Although the greenfield site at Tweedbank may appear to be the more straight-forward option, I don't think it offers comparable economic benefits.
"On the other hand, a site in the heart of Galashiels could kick off a new phase of town centre regeneration."
The MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk has written to Scotland's Culture Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, to express his support for the move.
Energise Galashiels said it could provide a "major boost" for the town but also offer "greater benefits" to the region as a whole.
It said the potential visitor market on both sites was exactly the same.
The group said Galashiels had a wide choice of retail offerings and was the "prime hub" for transport in the region.
It added that putting the tapestry in the town would help its overall commercial viability.
"In the absence of a major intervention, it is doubtful that 'retail trading' will ever resolve the current level of vacancies," it said.
"Having the Great Tapestry of Scotland's home in Galashiels town centre will be an investment which will provide a massive boost to the existing efforts being made to regenerate the 'old town centre'."
The organisation said there were already a number of other projects ongoing in the town which could also boost visitor numbers to the tapestry.
"Energise Galashiels believe that securing the Great Tapestry of Scotland in a town centre location will act as a catalyst for other projects and initiatives which offer the...

Summary: Borders MP Calum Kerr has given his backing to Galashiels as the best place for a permanent home for the Great Tapestry of Scotland.
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Article: The two small eels were found in a routine fish survey on the River Tud, a tributary of the Wensum in Norfolk.
Increased numbers have also been seen at the New Mills fish pass in Norwich, which was installed eight years ago.
The Environment Agency, which monitors numbers, said it was encouraging but did not "herald the recovery of the species as a whole".
Jez Wood, a specialist at the Environment Agency, said the discovery of the eels on the River Tud was important.
"Two doesn't sound like many, but these are the only small eels we've found on this stretch for years," he said.
"While this does not herald the recovery of the species as a whole, it does show the positive benefit of eel passes at barriers to migration."
The status of the European eel is regarded as "critical", and globally the population has fallen over the past 40 years, with numbers down by as much as 95%, the Environment Agency said.
Barriers to upstream migration is thought to be one of the reasons for the decline.
These reduce access to the freshwater habitat preferred by eels while they mature.
In Norfolk, the Environment Agency is creating passes at several key obstruction areas on rivers to help increase numbers.
It said numbers in Norfolk rivers rose to a record of 34,000 in 2009 after a pass was introduced at New Mills Yard, in Norwich.

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The Zimbabwean government has announced it will be closing down the country's only prison, the notorious Harare Central Prison, in protest at the country's treatment of prisoners.
The announcement comes after a series of high-profile cases of abuse and mistreatment of prisoners, including the death of a man in custody.

It is imperative that those involved in modern day slavery in Wales are caught and brought to justice.

Article: In an attack on sexism in Westminster, Labour's deputy leader says she was "surprised" she was not given the title in 2007 and claims that she would have got it if she had been a man.
She also suggests she was relegated to a supporting role at a G20 summit, attending a dinner for leaders' wives.
Damian McBride, a former aide to Mr Brown, said this was "utter bilge".
Ms Harman is the most senior female politician in the Labour Party and a longstanding campaigner for equality for women at Westminster.
She was elected deputy leader of the party at a same time as Gordon Brown became leader in 2007 but, unlike her predecessor John Prescott, was not afforded the title of deputy prime minister.
The position was left vacant for the three years Mr Brown was in No 10.
In a speech in Westminster, in which she also attacked David Cameron, Ms Harman took issue with that decision, arguing that "even getting to the top is no guarantee of equality".
"Imagine my surprise when having won a hard-fought election to succeed John Prescott as deputy leader of the Labour Party, I discovered that I was not to succeed him as deputy prime minister," she said.
"If one of the men had won the deputy leadership would that have happened?
"Would they have put up with it? I doubt it."
Ms Harman does not mention Mr Brown by name, but she does refer to criticism of the former prime minister by others, including former Europe minister Caroline Flint who resigned from the government in 2009 accusing Mr Brown of treating women as "window dressing".
"We must remember Caroline Flint's denunciation of women being used as window dressing," she said.
Ms Harman downplayed Ms Flint's criticism at the time of her resignation, saying it was untrue that Mr Brown "doesn't take women in politics seriously".
But in Tuesday's speech, Ms Harman she suggests she was sidelined during the crucial G20 summit in London in 2009, where Mr Brown co-ordinated efforts to stabilise the global financial system.
"Imagine the consternation in my office when we discovered that...

Summary: Harriet Harman has suggested Gordon Brown did not make her deputy prime minister because she is a woman.
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Article: About 40 heads of state and government will reportedly attend President Robert Mugabe's inauguration, but the hype that normally pre-empts such ceremonies is hardly discernible in the streets.
The mood around the city - a stronghold of the defeated Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party - will be a striking contrast to the rehearsed colourful celebrations inside a packed National Stadium, where each of the country's 10 provinces is sending in buses loaded with members of Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
The inauguration organisers have roped in several international performing artists, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and Jamaica.
However, the MDC and its leader, outgoing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, will not be attending, bitter about what they say was a "stolen, and rigged election".
The official word from MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti is that "we weren't invited for the ceremony and we are not attending".
"Even if we were invited, we weren't attending, it would be akin to legitimising an illegitimate process. No-one ever told us such an event was happening, and we don't know about it," he adds.
Post-election rancour is not dying away. Both party leaders have been trading insults. It is likely to cascade down, polarising supporters and the nation alike.
Zanu-PF insiders are talking of the 89-year-old president working on a lasting legacy.
There seems to be an underlying feeling this could be his last term.
There is also talk of him reaching out to Mr Tsvangirai by offering a seat in a possible unity government - to build on the progress created by the coalition that governed Zimbabwe from 2009 until last month's disputed elections.
But the MDC has indicated it is unwilling to continue its partnership with Zanu-PF.
"We will not do that," Mr Biti says.
President Mugabe has kept silent on the possibility of a new unity government, keeping everyone guessing about his strategic plans.
Analysts say he may offer an olive branch to the MDC to avoid political ructions.
"He has to reach out...

Summary: Hotels in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, are filling up with foreign dignitaries and the heavy security betrays the nature of the guests booked in.
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Article: That is the message from police and other experts gathering for a special event highlighting the issue on Friday.
Victims are due to share their experiences at the All Wales Anti-Slavery Conference in Llandudno.
Gwent Police officers who rescued a man who worked unpaid for 13 years on a Newport farm are also taking part.
Det Supt Mark Pierce from North Wales Police, who is the lead officer for the force on tackling slavery and human trafficking said: "It's imperative we identify and prosecute those responsible and make our communities safer.
"Human trafficking is serious and organised crime with those involved likely to be involved in the other serious crimes like drug production, kidnapping and the criminal use of firearms."
Among the guests also expected to address the event is the new UK independent slavery commissioner, Kevin Hyland.
North Wales Police are also launching a 'Say No to Slavery' campaign on its website on Friday.

Summary:


The number of people employed in the UK's public sector has risen by 1.5% in the past year, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The number of people employed in the public sector rose by 1.5% in the past year, according to the latest figures from the Office

Ticket offices will start closing on the London Underground later in a move that has prompted past strikes.

Article: The EY Scottish Item Club predicted a rise in employment and house prices.
It raised its growth forecast for the Scottish economy to 2.4% this year - 0.7% higher than its previous prediction in December.
But it warned that September's referendum carried risks for the economy - whatever the result.
The item club's latest summer update predicted substantial growth this year and further growth of 1.9% in 2015 and 2016.
However, it forecast UK growth would be 0.5% higher than Scotland's in both 2014 and 2015.
The group said that was due partly to the relative size of Scotland's public sector and lower population growth.
The item club also predicted 45,000 new jobs would be created in Scotland this year, and 33,000 in 2015.
But it suggested it could take until 2018 before Scotland's employment rate returned to the levels seen before the financial crisis.
Average house prices in Scotland are predicted to rise by nearly 7% this year and 5% in 2015, "after a period of stasis".
According to its prediction, the average price in Scotland is likely to be about 67% of the UK average in 2015.
Dougie Adams, senior economic advisor to the item club, said: "This year is shaping up to be the best for Scottish economic growth since the onset of the financial crisis, with business investments and exports adding momentum to the consumer-driven recovery.
"A handful of sectors including transport, food services and retail are expected to create employment while public administration and manufacturing shed jobs.
"We expect financial services, education and health to tread water."
The forecaster warned that its predictions were subject to "international and home-grown risks", including the impact of September's independence referendum.
It argued that a Yes vote would bring uncertainty for business on key economic issues such as the currency and Scotland's place in Europe.
But it also warned that a No vote would bring the Scottish Parliament more tax powers than it has ever had - and that could change the UK's economic landscape.
Mr...

Summary: Scotland is set to enjoy its best year for economic growth since the financial crisis, according to a leading economic forecaster.
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Article: Eight groups comprising five teams each will be drawn, with sides playing each other once in the group stage.
Hearts are one of the eight top seeds and Hibernian are one of the second seeds, with 24 unseeded teams.
Group winners and the four best runners-up progress to the second round, when Scotland's European representatives enter the competition.
Celtic, who will feature in the Champions League qualifiers, and Europa League qualifying participants Aberdeen, Rangers and St Johnstone all have a bye into the second round.
At the group stage, there are four 'north' groups and four 'south' groups. There are 38 teams from the Scottish Professional Football League, who organise the League Cup, as well as Highland League champions Buckie Thistle and Lowland League winners East Kilbride.
Each group will contain one top seed, a second seed and three unseeded teams, with seedings based on league position in season 2016-17.
Drawn matches at the group stage go straight to a penalty shootout after regulation time, in which case both sides take a point and the shootout winner receives a bonus point.
Dundee and Dundee United are seeded differently in the north section and, like Hearts and Hibs, could be drawn in the same group.
The new format for the first round was introduced last season and the tournament was eventually won by Celtic, who beat Aberdeen in November's final.

Summary: The seedings for Friday's Betfred League Cup first-round draw have been announced.
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Article: South Wimbledon and Queensway stations will be the first to see their staff moved from ticket offices into ticket halls and on to platforms.
Transport for London (TfL) said it would save £50m annually as it tries to save £4.2bn by 2020.
But Manuel Cortes, from the TSSA union, said London Mayor Boris Johnson was "rushing through" the closures.
Mr Cortes, leader of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association said: "Talks on the safety implications of closing over 250 stations have not even been concluded.
"The mayor doesn't seem concerned about how millions of tourists will cope with fewer staff to help them on their way."
TfL said all stations would remain staffed and 150 new ticket machines would be installed by April 2016.
It added that new visitor centres would be created at larger stations such as Victoria and King's Cross to help visitors.
Nick Brown, London Underground's chief operating officer, said more staff were being placed "where they can offer the best possible assistance" as only 3% of Tube tickets were bought at ticket offices.
He said: "This forms part of our wider vision for the Tube, which includes a 24-hour weekend service on core parts of the network."
But the changes have led to previous strikes by the Aslef and RMT unions.
Labour's London Assembly transport spokeswoman Val Shawcross said: "When he was elected, Boris Johnson promised Londoners he would protect the capital's ticket offices, but today he starts the process of dismantling each and every one of them.
"Whilst there is obviously a big role for ticket machines to play, there is no substitute for a member of staff."
London Underground said after 100 meetings with unions the number of roles to be reduced had fallen from 950 to 897 with no member of staff facing compulsory redundancy or losing money.

Summary:


Police investigations into claims of historical child abuse should "take precedence" over a UK government-ordered inquiry, a Welsh MP says.

Article: Twenty "listeners" met and spoke to prisoners suffering from depression and mental health problems, including some who were suicidal.
Details of the number of calls have been released to mark the 10th anniversary of the scheme.
It operates in Maghaberry and Magilligan prisons.
There are currently more than 1,300 prisoners in the two jails.
The prison authorities have been strongly criticised in a series of inspection reports for treatment of vulnerable prisoners, including those with mental health problems.
The scheme is run by the Samaritans, who provide a 12-week training course for prisoners who pass an initial selection and vetting process.
Volunteers working for the charity outside the prison answered a further 1,500 telephone calls from prisoners in Northern Ireland last year.
The Listener scheme has been operating for 25 years in prisons across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Case study: The Listener who helps fellow inmates
The Samaritans said it is essential because research shows that prisoners are eight to 10 times more likely to die by suicide than the rest of the population.
According to the charity, around 23% of male prisoners and 46% of women prisoners suffer from anxiety and depression.
The first Listener programme in Northern Ireland began operating in Magilligan prison near Limavady in 2002.
The scheme in Maghaberry started in 2006.
A programme for women prisoners and young offenders is being developed at Hydebank in south Belfast.
Gillian McNaull, the Samaritans' regional prisons support officer, oversees the Listener scheme.
She said it works well because many prisoners prefer to talk to fellow prisoners.
"The prisoners who are suffering emotional distress know that the Listeners know what life in prison is like and know what they are going through," she said.
She believes those who volunteer to help their fellow inmates also benefit.
"I think there is something very redemptive about the process in that people who are in prison for punishment are being given a chance and are being...

Summary: Prisoners trained to help fellow inmates in emotional distress in NI's two largest jails were contacted more than 1,600 times last year.
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Article: The legal amendment would give it a "significantly enhanced" role in regulating the lucrative market.
London currently processes most of the trade in this financial sector, providing thousands of jobs.
The ECB's proposal comes shortly after the European Commission published a draft law to give it the power to move euro clearing business out of London.
Clearing is where a third party organisation acts as a middleman for buyers and sellers of financial contracts tied to the underlying value of a share, index, currency or bond.
Trillions of euros are handled through clearing houses every year, mostly through London.
The ECB said the amendment would give it "clear legal competence" in the area of central clearing, which is currently dominated by London firms.
Under the proposal, the ECB and its national central banks would monitor risks that could affect monetary policy, the operation of payment systems and the stability of the euro.
Analysis: BBC economics correspondent Andrew Walker
Outside the financial world, clearing houses are a little known but important part of the "financial infrastructure" to use the phrase that appears in the key piece of EU legislation.
The European Commission has already called closer supervision for euro clearing that takes place outside the EU and the ECB's proposed rule change would give it the power to take on that role.
For the firms that use these clearing houses, the ECB's watchful eye is something they could live with.
What they don't want is a requirement to have euro denominated business decamp out of London.
They have to put money up front to use these facilities and they can use it more efficiently that if it's not dispersed in many different places.
Daniel Hodson of the Financial Services Negotiation Forum told the BBC that at the moment the ECB did not have sovereignty over euro clearing in London, as its UK regulator - the Bank of England - is responsible.
However, there are "substantial" arrangements in place with the ECB that are "very similar" to those in place with...

Summary: The European Central Bank has put forward a proposal to boost its oversight over euro clearing.
###
Article: Cardiff North MP Jonathan Evans said it was "a tragedy" there was no agreement on who should chair the inquiry, set up after claims of paedophiles operating in Westminster in the 1980s.
The Conservative MP said cases should be investigated by the police first.
Child abuse survivors have urged the government to scrap the inquiry.
Instead, they want it replaced with a more powerful body.
It comes after Home Secretary Theresa May told inquiry members their panel might be disbanded.
The Met Police said earlier this month that detectives were investigating three alleged murders as part of their investigation into historical child abuse.
Mr Evans, who is chairman of the Welsh Tory party and a former deputy chairman of the Welsh NSPCC council, said: "Now I hear that a number of the groups who are representing victims have suggested the whole of the process should be stopped and a different sort of inquiry created.
"I don't know exactly what the terms of that inquiry should be and I'm not really sure what they mean by setting up a stronger inquiry because I think the inquiry that was being set up was a pretty strong one."
He said ongoing police inquiries introduced a "new dimension", and that they appeared to be proceeding on the basis of new evidence "in which the police have already made it clear to the media that there are real issues that are being investigated".
"It seems to me that those police inquiries have got to now take precedence. We ought not to have a situation in which we set up an inquiry and then we can only do half the job because police inquiries are ongoing."
Mr Evans, who was a Wales Office minister in the 1990s when the UK government set up the Waterhouse inquiry into abuse allegations at children's homes in north Wales, added: "It seems to me that the police inquiries are now at the forefront."
He said Mrs May should not be blamed for delays to the inquiry, which has been held up by the resignation of her first two choices of chairperson.
Victims must have confidence in the process, Mr Evans...

Summary:


The Royal Navy is carrying out a key security task in the Gulf.

Criminals and terrorists are using the so-called dark net to buy weapons, a new study has suggested.

Article: For the last few years, four small UK minehunters have been maintaining a valuable if unsung presence in the waterway. It is one that Britain's allies value very highly, according to the Navy.
We joined one of the ships, HMS Middleton, as she headed out to sea from her base in the port of Bahrain. As we set sail, the international significance of the Gulf was evident.
As well as the four British minehunters, a frigate and a patrol craft from the Bahraini navy, dotted around the port were a French naval support ship, a US amphibious assault ship, some American minehunters and perhaps most intriguingly, a US Coastguard cutter.
There was also a huge British amphibious support ship, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Lyme Bay, another of the total of a dozen British naval vessels in the region. Lyme Bay acts as a mother ship for the minehunters.
Those minehunters themselves are hardly the biggest or most glamorous of warships. HMS Middleton is just 645 tons, with a crew of just 46. But their potential value massively outweighs their size.
If the Gulf were to be mined, the bigger ships - even the mighty US Navy aircraft carriers - would be relying on them to carry out their task.
None of the Royal Navy personnel in the Gulf will point a direct finger, but one of the West's nightmare scenarios is that the Gulf could be mined as part of a confrontation with Iran.
That could shut off the source of 40% of the world's oil shipments by sea and have a devastating effect on the world economy.
The waterway has been mined before. And in both the recent confrontations with Iraq, Royal Navy vessels have played a crucial role in mine clearance.
Mines could also be attractive to a terrorist group. Like their land equivalent the roadside bomb, they are simple, cheap, but devastating.
The purpose of the ships now is to build confidence. And they are also there to gain vital local knowledge so that they could respond immediately if the need arose.
"We're the core of a deployed force which proves that the UK can deploy and sustain a force...

Summary: Away from the headlines, the Royal Navy is carrying out a key security task in the Gulf.
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Article: Hayley Duffety slammed Suffolk County Council after Holly and brother Elliot, who has cerebral palsy, were allocated to primaries four miles apart.
She had applied for them to attend Abbotts Green primary, Bury St Edmunds.
The authority has now apologised "for distress caused" and offered the twins places at the preferred school.
Ms Duffety said the authority's change of position was "fantastic news", adding it would have been distressing for the children to go to different schools.
"This was about keeping the twins together so that they could support each other in the new school," she said.
Ms Duffety applied for places at the school last June, when she applied for the education, health and care plan (EHCP) for Elliot.
She was told the process would take 20 weeks and would be complete before the January cut-off for school place applications.
But she said the EHCP was not finished in time, and as a result Elliot's needs had not taken been taken into account.
Suffolk County Council said it accepted the delay in issuing the EHCP had an impact on the outcome of the application.
"We are sincerely sorry for the delay and distress caused to the family," said a council spokesman.
"We would like to wish both Holly and Elliot every success at their new school."

Summary: A mother of four-year-old twins assigned to different schools after a council "cock up" has won her battle to have them sent to the same place.
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Article: Those selling the illicit weapons often disassembled and sent them in different packages or embedded them in old stereos or printers, the report found.
Researchers found that firearms and related goods generated 136 sales per month and a monthly revenue of $80,000 (Â£62,000).
The firearms trade has gained attention following recent terrorist attacks.
The dark net is a part of the internet that requires specific software to access, in order for users to remain anonymous.
While the trade was unlikely to fuel large-scale terrorist operations, it had the potential to become the platform of choice for "lone-wolf" terrorists to obtain weapons and ammunition, the report said.
Non-profit organisation Rand Corporation Europe, working with Manchester University, found 52 unique vendors selling weapons or similar items such as ammunition, explosives, or components such as silencers across 811 listings and 18 markets.
Police believe the 2016 Munich shooting, which left nine people dead, used weapons purchased on the dark net.
Lead author of the research, Giacomo Persi Paoli, said: "Recent high-profile cases have shown that the threat posed by individuals or small groups obtaining weapons illegally from the dark web is real.
"The ability to not only arm criminals and terrorists, who can make virtually anonymous purchases, but also vulnerable and fixated individuals is perhaps the most dangerous aspect."
Guns account for less than 1% of items sold on the platform, with its main trade being in narcotics.
Nevertheless, the volume being sold "can be considered sufficiently high to be a cause of concern for policy makers and law enforcement agencies", said the report.
The study involved collecting data from 12 dark net marketplaces during a week in September 2016.
Most of those selling guns were based in the US, but Europe was the most popular destination for the weapons they sold.
Judith Aldridge, co-investigator on the study, said: "In very simple terms, anyone can connect to the dark web and within minutes have access to a...

Summary:


The government has announced plans to cut the number of people on benefits by a third in the next five years.
The Department for Work and Pensions said the changes were designed to help people into work.
The Welfare Reform Tracking Study, which was carried out by Edinburgh Napier University on behalf of the Scottish government,

Welfare reforms are making people live in "constant fear" of cuts to their benefits, according to a report.

Article: Ruddington Parish Council faced some opposition when it decided to install dog poo bag dispensers around the Nottinghamshire village.
Now, some of the bags disappear almost as soon as they are restocked.
It is costing the council hundreds of pounds a year, so it has decided to remove some of the dispensers.
Nick Tegerdine, chairman of the council's environment and policy committee, said: "I really do worry what it is all about.
"There's a militant fringe of dog walkers in Ruddington who take the view that their dog can go wherever it likes and do whatever it likes, and I did get some opposition when we first proposed putting these dispensers in."
Other theories are that people are stealing them to use as nappy sacks, or taking dozens at a time and stockpiling them.
"What's happened is that certain dispensers are emptied systematically almost as soon as they are full," said the councillor.
"You're certainly barking if that's the attitude you take."
Like many areas, Ruddington has had an ongoing problem with dog poo not being cleaned up.
Last year, the council handed out chalk and asked residents to draw sad faces on the pavement next to dog mess to encourage owners to clean up.

Summary: "Militant" dog walkers could be responsible for stealing large quantities of dog poo bags, according to a councillor.
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Article: With crime having fallen in most of the Western world in the 1990s, he said the decline may have been due to economic growth and high employment levels.
Meanwhile, the Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, Dame Anne Owers, warned that "overpopulated" prisons are "increasingly brittle".
She said the government should invest in alternatives to locking people up.
Does prison cut crime?
Mr Clarke told judges at their annual Mansion House Dinner in London that "no-one can prove cause and effect" for why crime fell in the 1990s.
His comments come after former Tory home secretary Michael Howard recently criticised him for attacking high imprisonment rates.
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the justice secretary's comments appeared to be a swipe at Mr Howard, who coined the phrase "prison works" in 1993.
In his speech on Tuesday night, Mr Clarke said: "There is and never has been, in my opinion, any direct correlation between spiralling growth in the prison population and a fall in crime.
"Crime has fallen in Britain throughout a period of both rising prison populations, and throughout the same period of economic growth, with strong employment levels and rising living standards.
"No-one can prove cause and effect. The crime rate fell but was this the consequence of the policies of my successors as home secretary or, dare I gently hint, mine as chancellor of the exchequer at the beginning of a period of growth and strong employment? We will never know."
The justice secretary, who favours rehabilitation and community sentences, said crime had fallen in Canada in the 1990s after the prison population was cut by 11% and that crime did not rise significantly in Finland when similar measures had been taken there.
Dame Anne Owers' warning that prisons are now increasing brittle came in her valedictory lecture to the Prison Reform Trust on Tuesday night.
She said prisons "had become better places" but progress in rehabilitating offenders was slow because of the growing prison population.
She called...

Summary: There is no link between rising levels of imprisonment and falling crime, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has said.
###
Article: The study by Napier University found those on benefits were anxious that changes to their circumstances would push them into "crisis situations".
Scottish Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil urged the UK government to rethink its reforms.
But the Department for Work and Pensions said the changes were designed to help people into work.
The Welfare Reform Tracking Study, which was carried out by Edinburgh Napier University on behalf of the Scottish government, also highlighted criticism of how the details of reforms were communicated to recipients of benefits.
Some disabled people who took part in the study said they felt they had to present themselves in a "negative light and focus on their limitations" when claiming.
Other participants spoke of stress, anxiety and depression brought on by assessments, and a fear of further changes.
Mr Neil accused the UK government's "austerity agenda and benefit cuts" of having a "damaging effect" on people in Scotland.
He added: "Their approach is slashing the incomes of some of our poorest households and pushing 100,000 children into poverty.
"The study is further evidence that people are living in constant anxiety about changes to their entitlements and are already suffering from the effects of around Â£6bn of cuts taken from Scottish welfare expenditure over the last five years.
"Despite these frustrations we will do all we can to use our new powers to make our system fairer and simpler and work to improve the experience for people."
However, a spokesman for the Department of Work and pensions said the reforms were about giving people peace of mind.
He added: "Reforms to welfare are designed to help people into work, giving more people the peace of mind and security that comes with a steady income - there are now near record numbers of people in Scotland in a job.
"The government provides a safety net to support millions of people who are unemployed or on low incomes, spending Â£94bn a year across the UK on working age benefits."

Summary:


The UK's biggest bank has been fined £1.5m for failing to report a £1.5bn overdraft.
The bank, which is based in London, was fined for failing to report a £1.5bn overdraft in the UK's biggest bank, Barclays, in the run-up

A school has been forced to close until Monday after more than 145 pupils and staff came down with a sickness bug.

Article: The jet overshot the runway at Blackbushe Airport in July 2015 and crashed into a car auction site.
The Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) said emergency warnings prior to landing may have "saturated the pilot's mental capacity".
The pilot and three passengers survived the crash but died in a severe fire.
Bin Laden's half-sister, Sana Mohammed Bin Laden, her mother, Raja Bashir Hashim, and his brother-in-law, Zuhair Hashim, were killed, along with pilot Mazen Al-Aqeel Da'jah Salem.
The AAIB report said the private Saudi-registered Phenom 300 jet, travelling from Milan, Italy, landed at high speed and touched down on 31 July 2015 with only 438m (1,437 ft) of runway remaining.
It collided with an earth bank before crashing into a British Car Auctions site, losing one of its wings and bursting into flames among parked cars.
Airport firefighters, who arrived on the scene within five minutes, were unable to control an "intense" blaze involving leaking fuel.
Eyewitnesses at the scene said there had been a "ball of flames" and "several explosions".
The AAIB said the three passengers appeared to have made an unsuccessful attempt to open the cabin door.
The report said the 57-year-old Jordanian pilot may have become "fixated on landing" because of "a very high workload situation" in the final minutes of the flight.
He made an emergency climb to avoid colliding with a microlight, and then came close to a second light aircraft.
The jet then began "a very high-speed descent", dropping at up to 3,000ft per minute.
The pilot ignored six "pull up" warnings from the aircraft's Terrain Avoidance and Warning System (TAWS), touching down at a speed of about 135 knots (155mph).
The AAIB said the 66 messages and alarms in the final three-and-a-half minutes of the flight may have created "audio overload" and "mental stressors".
"It is possible that in these circumstances the pilot... fixated on his initial strategy (landing) and lacked the mental capacity to recognise that the approach had become unstable," the report...

Summary: A pilot may have been suffering from "mental overload" when he crash-landed, killing three members of Osama Bin Laden's family, an inquiry has found.
###
Article: Unfortunately, quite a few fail.
But there are some psychological tactics which can be employed to increase the chances of success.
Psychologist Prof Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, has carried out research into the key to sticking to resolutions.
In a study of 5,000 people who made resolutions, it was those with a "fatalistic attitude" who were less likely to succeed.
He advises it's more than likely old habits will creep back in sometimes, so see those occasions as temporary set-backs and not a reason to give up altogether.
"Failure is the main thing that stops people  If, on day one of their diet, they raid the biscuit tin, they think 'that's it' and give up. But persistence is the key. Start again the next day."
Support from friends and family can help people stick to their goals.
But Prof Wiseman says women might be more likely to benefit. "They are generally better at offering moral support. Men tend to try and encourage you to have more dessert."
This can be something public like a blog - or the fridge door - or more privately, in a spreadsheet or a journal.
It might help to note down each gym visit, or decision not to have cake.
Prof Wiseman also advises having a checklist to show how life will be better once your goals are achieved - and allow small rewards throughout the process to keep up motivation levels.
It has to be something specific that can be realistically achieved.
Running a marathon, say, would be too much for a non-runner to aim for, while a vague desire to 'get fit' is hard to measure.
"Maybe start by saying you'll go to the gym once a week, then you can look at moving up to two," advises Prof Wiseman.
And be realistic - it's best to choose one thing to focus on rather than having a raft of goals to increase the chances of success.
This is important in terms of knowing what prompts behaviour you want to avoid - and to help encourage healthier habits.
"It could be as simple as not having biscuits in the house so you're not tempted - or understanding the stress...

Summary: After the excesses of the festive season, the thoughts of many turn to making resolutions to stop bad habits and take up healthier ones.
###
Article: Dene Magna School in Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, has about 750 pupils on its roll.
Headteacher Stephen Brady said: "It's just got worse and worse - we had to send 26 pupils home today, sometimes common sense has to rule."
A private cleaning firm will begin a deep clean on Friday to sterilise the school ahead of it reopening.
The school normally has an attendance of 97%, with fewer than 20 students off in a day, but on Thursday this had fallen to 80%.
"We've had a steady increase in the number of students and staff coming down with this. I think we've been hit with what is a perfect storm of bugs," Mr Brady said.
"Some of the students have experienced nausea and sweating, others with vomiting and diarrhoea."
He also said a supply teacher had come in for one day but was forced to go home, after falling ill within a matter of hours.
It is expected that the pupils will recover from the bug within 72 hours.
"My only message is with the students don't let them go out and about at the weekend," added Mr Brady.
"If you can keep them in so they don't spread this amongst their friends.
"A good wash would go down very well so they can be back on Monday, nice and healthy."

Summary:


The NHS has been forced to admit that it has been unable to provide the best care for patients with cancer.
The NHS has been forced to admit that it has been unable to provide the best care for patients with cancer.
The NHS has been forced to admit that it has been unable to provide the best care for

Sky has acknowledged that some of its customers are experiencing slow internet speeds as a consequence of it signing up new subscribers.

Article: "I'd so much rather talk about this than about politics."
This, from a thinker most famous as a fearless firebrand, sounds rather incongruous. But as Prof Dawkins hunches over his laptop to dig up examples of biomorphs - the computer-generated "creatures" he conceived in the 1980s to illustrate artificial selection - it is transparently, genuinely felt.
Later, we touch on the fact that he sees public debate as a scientist's responsibility. Right now, he wants to talk about molluscs.
Pretend molluscs.
"I don't know whether you know the classic book by D'Arcy Thompson, On Growth and Form? He showed that all mollusc shells are a tube, which is enlarging as it coils around. You only need three numbers to specify a mollusc shell."
Those three numbers can be plotted inside a cube, Prof Dawkins explains. "Evolution is then just a walk through this cube of all possible shells."
In a computerised game he wrote in 1996, people could construct their own such walk by choosing for themselves which offspring would "breed" in successive generations of shells.
This game has now been resurrected online to mark the 20th anniversary of the book it arose from, Climbing Mount Improbable.
Its mollusc shells are presented alongside an ancestral explanatory exercise: the biomorphs. These were first programmed 10 years earlier, when Dawkins wrote The Blind Watchmaker. He clearly remembers getting lost in the work.
"When I discovered that I could actually start getting something that looked like an insect, I got really obsessed with the idea of breeding insects."
As the biomorphs grow from simple, branching stick-shrubs into more elaborate and occasionally familiar shapes, they make an important point - and one that is better grasped by being involved than by hearing it explained.
"You get much more of an idea of what it's like to breed dogs from wolves, or to breed cauliflower from wild cabbage," Prof Dawkins says, clearly enjoying the sight of the spindly shapes evolving again on his screen.
Like Darwin long before him, Dawkins...

Summary: As The Selfish Gene notches up 40 years in print, BBC News asked Richard Dawkins whether his most famous book is relevant today (answer: yes), whether he has any regrets about public spats over religion (no), and whether he is quitting Twitter (sort of).
###
Article: Cancer charities argued the drug adds an average of six months to the lives of some women whose breast cancer has become inoperable.
Women in England, Wales and Ireland have already been refused access to the drug on cost grounds.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium also had concerns about cost effectiveness.
The SMC said it had to consider value for money and take account of the needs of all patients who need treatment, not just those affected by this medicine.
Earlier this year the SMC was reformed to give patients and clinicians a greater say on which new medicines are approved.
The drug approval body for England and Wales, NICE, ruled in August that Kadcyla was still too expensive to be approved for routine NHS use.
It led to claims by the manufacturer Roche that the system was "broken".
NICE generally approves treatments which cost no more than Â£30,000 per year of better-quality life.
In the case of Kadcyla, NICE said the quality-to-cost ratio had been calculated at Â£166,000.
The Irish equivalent of NICE and the SMC, the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, has also ruled that Kadcyla is not cost-effective.
The only way women will be able to access it will be through a new Peer Approved Clinical System (PACS).
They will need the support of their consultant to argue that the drug offers them particular benefit over and above what has already been considered by the SMC.
Prof Jonathan Fox, chairman of the SMC, said the organisation was "disappointed" not to have been able to recommend Kadcyla, which is also known as trastuzumab emtansine.
He said it had "taken on board" the drug's effectiveness and applied as much "flexibility" as possible in its considerations. Ultimately, however, "the committee felt unable to accept it."
He said: "While the PACE process is a determining factor when we consider medicines like this, and was designed to increase access to such medicines, that access cannot come at any price - we have to consider value for money and take account of the needs of all patients who need...

Summary: The organisation which decides which medicines should be routinely available on the NHS in Scotland has decided not to approve breast cancer drug Kadcyla.
###
Article: The firm said that it was working to boost capacity at telephone exchanges in the worst hit areas.
The news coincided with the launch of Sky Go Extra - a service allowing users to download movies and TV shows so they can be watched offline.
One expert said the product might add to the strain.
Sky Go Extra still works at slow internet speeds - however, Sky's other streaming services rely on the user having a 2 megabit per second connection. Some subscribers have complained their download speeds have fallen below this level at peak times.
A Sky spokeswoman apologised for the problems.
"Following a combination of an underlying increase in network traffic as well as a high rate of new customer additions, we are aware of capacity issues in a small number of exchanges," she said.
"We are working on adding new capacity to those exchanges as quickly as we can. We apologise to all customers who have been impacted by this issue."
She confirmed a report by The Register that users in Doncaster, North Wales and Bristol were among those affected, but declined to be more specific or name other locations.
However, the firm has provided an online postcode checking facility for its subscribers to check if their local exchange has been flagged as having an issue.
Sky also indicated that less than 5% of its broadband customer base used the affected exchanges.
Andrew Ferguson, editor of the Thinkbroadband news site noted that Sky had recently run a major promotion highlighting the fact it did not place "fair use" caps on the amount of data its customers use.
As a result, he said, the firm had probably attracted subscribers who downloaded significantly more than the average 23 gigabytes per month consumed by the average UK broadband user.
"Sky had this problem last year in some of its exchanges, and it's definitely not the only service provider to have experienced this problem," he told the BBC.
"It's very much related to the firms' promotional activities. Sky has also been pushing its fibre products recently - they offer higher...

Summary:


The United States and Cuba have agreed to a ceasefire in the wake of a deadly attack on a military base in Cuba.
The United States and Cuba have agreed to a ceasefire in the wake of a deadly attack on a military base in Cuba.
The United States and Cuba have agreed to a ceasefire in the wake of

The Colombian government and the left-wing Farc rebel movement have both asked the UN for a mission to oversee the end of their decades-long conflict.

Article: But what might this mean for Qatar's economy and people doing business there?
With a population of about 2.7 million people, this tiny nation on the north-east coast of the Arabian Peninsula is trying to punch above its weight.
People know about it thanks in part to its national airline (Qatar Airways), its international news station (Al Jazeera) and through sport (notably winning the right to host the 2022 football World Cup and being a former sponsor of perhaps the world's most famous club, Barcelona).
And with a distinctive skyline in the capital Doha, it has succeeded in attracting multinationals to open offices there.
So these latest developments mean there's a lot at stake.
Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and Dubai's Emirates are suspending all flights to and from Doha, starting from Tuesday morning. Both carriers operate four daily return flights to Doha.
Budget carriers FlyDubai and Air Arabia are also cancelling routes to Doha, with other airlines, including Bahrain's Gulf Air and Egyptair expected to follow suit.
It comes after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt all said they would stop flights in and out of Qatar, and close their airspace to the country's airline, Qatar Airways.
And it is Qatar's flag carrier that risks being the biggest loser. Its flights to places like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Cairo will stop. That is dozens of flights a day.
Qatar Airways has already said it is cancelling its services to Saudi. It said: "All customers booked on affected flights to and from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be provided with alternative options, including the option of a full refund on any unused tickets and free rebooking to the nearest alternative Qatar Airways network destination."
But being banned from large chunks of airspace in the region would also cause a major problem, forcing it to alter flight paths, inevitably adding time to some flights.
And as well as cranking up fuel bills, that could annoy passengers.
Qatar Airways' growth has come through positioning itself as a hub airline,...

Summary: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Yemen and the Maldives have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar.
###
Article: Some 40 participants are registered for three days of public hearings in Whitehorse in Canada's Yukon territory.
The inquiry is focusing on the systemic causes of violence against indigenous women as well as on prevention.
A number of families have come out in recent weeks expressing concerns over the inquiry's delays and lack of transparency.
Chief commissioner Marion Buller said the inquiry is listening for both details from families about lost loved ones as well as any patterns or trends that emerge from all the stories.
On Tuesday, the inquiry heard the first of many harrowing and tearful testimonies from families who have lost relatives to violence.
Ms Buller said she hopes the families "gain some closure" by sharing their stories. The community hearings are open to the public unless relatives or other witnesses request privacy.
The federal government has said that some 1,200 aboriginal women have been murdered or gone missing in Canada since 1980, though some estimates put that number as high as 4,000.
Michèle Audette, another of the inquiry's five commissioners, said that "the eyes of the country and the world are watching. History will remember this moment".
Last week, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde raised issues with the lack of communication with families and First Nations in general by the inquiry.
Families, especially in remote communities, have complained it is difficult to get in contact with the inquiry.
Bill Wilson, a hereditary First Nations chief in British Columbia and the father of federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, called the inquiry a "bloody farce" in a Facebook post and said it had "failed miserably" even before public hearings began.
Inquiry commissioners have said they are aware of the concerns and are working on improving communications and re-evaluating the inquiry's timelines.
"I'm interested always in constructive criticism, of ways of doing our work better," Ms Buller said.
The inquiry will last at least two years and cost up to $53.8m...

Summary: Canada's inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women is hearing from its first witnesses.
###
Article: Negotiators for the two sides at peace talks in Cuba said they would ask the UN to send a 12-month mission to oversee any ceasefire.
The UN has yet to agree to the proposal. The two sides have been holding peace talks for three years.
Both sides say they hope to reach a final peace deal by March 2016.
The BBC's Colombia correspondent Natalio Cosoy says the mechanism would only start to work once a final deal is agreed.
However both sides have insisted the announcement is more than a mere formality, suggesting it should be read as a signal that a definite deal is close, our correspondent adds.
"We have decided to ask the UN Security Council to create (a mission) of unarmed observers for a period of 12 months," the two sides said in a joint statement at peace talks in the Cuban capital, Havana, on Tuesday.
They said the mission would guarantee that any ceasefire and disarmament would be genuine and permanent, reports say.
Humberto de la Calle, the government's lead negotiator, described the announcement as a "transcendental" moment.
He said it was an "unequivocal demonstration of our desire to end confrontation", according to the Associated Press.
The joint announcement in Havana is a clear indication that the Colombian peace process is moving towards its final phase.
Since the negotiations were launched in November 2012, the Farc has announced several unilateral ceasefires and urged the government to do the same.
But even though the government has scaled down military operations recently, it has refused to join the Farc in a bilateral ceasefire.
President Juan Manuel Santos has said repeatedly that the rebels must first agree to lay down their weapons and give up their armed struggle.
Government and negotiators have now invited the UN Security Council to join them as an honest, reliable broker and oversee the end of the conflict.
The two sides have invested too much politically to let more than three years of negotiations fail at such a late stage, when difficult issues such as justice for the victims have...

Summary:


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.

Article: The valleys, channels and deltas viewed from orbit have long been thought to be the work of water erosion, but it is Nasa's latest rover, Curiosity, that has provided the "ground truth".
Researchers report its observations of rounded pebbles on the floor of the Red Planet's 150km-wide Gale Crater.
Their smooth appearance is identical to gravels found in rivers on Earth.
Rock fragments that bounce along the bottom of a stream of water will have their edges knocked off, and when these pebbles finally come to rest they will often align in a characteristic overlapping fashion.
Curiosity has pictured these features in a number of rock outcrops at the base of Gale Crater.
It is confirmation that water has played its part in sculpting not only this huge equatorial bowl but by implication many of the other landforms seen on the planet.
"For decades, we have speculated and hypothesised that the surface of Mars was carved by water, but this is the first time where you can see the remnants of stream flow with what are absolutely tell-tale signs," Dr Rebecca Williams from the Planetary Science Institute, US, told BBC News.
The American space agency first announced the discovery of the pebbles in September last year, barely seven weeks after Curiosity had landed in Gale.
Researchers have since been studying the robot's pictures in more detail and have now written up a report for Science magazine - the first scholarly paper from the surface mission to make it into print; and the study reinforces the initial interpretation.
It describes the nature of the outcrops, and estimates the probable conditions in which their sediments were laid down.
The pebbles range in size from about two to 40mm in diameter - too big to have been blown along by the wind.
These clasts, as scientists will often call them, are cemented together in a sandy matrix to make a rock type referred to as a conglomerate.
In many places, the clasts are touching each other, and the pictures show examples of so-called imbrication - an arrangement where...

Summary: Scientists now have definitive proof that many of the landscapes seen on Mars were indeed cut by flowing water.
###
Article: They have confirmed that resistant strains of the malaria parasite on the border between Thailand and Burma, 500 miles (800km) away from previous sites.
Researchers say that the rise of resistance means the effort to eliminate malaria is "seriously compromised".
The details have beenpublished in The Lancetmedical journal.
For many years now the most effective drugs against malaria have been derived from the Chinese plant,Artemisia annua. It is also known as sweet wormwood.
In 2009 researchers found that the most deadly species of malaria parasites, spread by mosquitoes, were becoming more resistant to these drugs in parts of western Cambodia.
This new data confirms that these Plasmodium falciparum parasites that are infecting patients more than 500 miles away on the border between Thailand and Burma are growing steadily more resistant.
The researchers from the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit measured the time it took the artemisinin drugs to clear parasites from the bloodstreams of more than 3,000 patients. Over the nine years between 2001 and 2010, they found that drugs became less effective and the number of patients showing resistance rose to 20%.
Prof Francois Nosten, who is part of the research team that has carried out the latest work, says the development is very serious.
"It would certainly compromise the idea of eliminating malaria that's for sure and will probably translate into a resurgence of malaria in many places," he said.
Another scientist involved with the study is Dr Standwell Nkhoma from the Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
"Spread of drug-resistant malaria parasites within South East Asia and overspill into sub-Saharan Africa, where most malaria deaths occur, would be a public health disaster resulting in millions of deaths."
The scientists cannot tell if the resistance has moved because mosquitoes carrying the resistant parasites have moved to the Burmese border or if it has arisen spontaneously among the population there. Either way the researchers involved say it raises the spectre of...

Summary: Scientists have found new evidence that resistance to the front-line treatments for malaria is increasing.
###
Article: 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.

Summary:


The Department for Education has announced that it will be introducing a new system of teacher pay, which will be based on the number of hours worked.
The new system will be introduced in September 2014.
The Department for Education said it would be "committed to ensuring that teachers are paid the right amount for their work

UKIP ex-deputy chairwoman Suzanne Evans says she has given up hope of becoming the party's next leader - but insists she will not "give up" on UKIP.

Article: Changes will include an end to major government reforms being introduced during the academic year, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said.
The pledge follows the biggest survey of teachers undertaken in 10 years.
The National Union of Teachers said the measures were "simply insufficient".
Almost 44,000 people - the majority of them classroom teachers - responded to the Department of Education's Workload Challenge survey.
They cited excessive amounts of time spent recording data and dealing with bureaucracy as factors which contributed to "unnecessary" or "unproductive" workloads.
Other reasons included unrealistic deadlines and excessive marking - with some saying they marked up to 120 books a day.
Teachers had been left feeling "browbeaten and undervalued", said Mr Clegg as he announced the series of commitments alongside the education secretary.
They include:
Ms Morgan said the changes would tackle the root causes of excessive workloads.
"It is no secret that we have made some very important changes in schools - changes that we know have increased the pressure on many teachers," she said.
"We know there is no quick fix but we hope the commitments we have outlined today will support and empower the profession, and free up teachers to focus on what matters most in their jobs."
However, the National Union of Teachers said teachers would be "bitterly disappointed" by the measures.
"At a time when the number of teachers leaving this proud profession is at a 10-year high, this announcement on workload is simply insufficient," said general secretary Christine Blower.
She said the government should immediately tackle its "out-of-control accountability system", which had "Ofsted at its centre".
More than half of respondents said the perceived pressures of Ofsted inspections contributed to unnecessary workloads.
HM Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw said Ofsted was working to "dispel some of the myths that may have led to unnecessary workloads".
"It is very important that schools...

Summary: "Unnecessary and unproductive" teacher workload will be reduced with a series of "decisive measures" to be introduced in England, ministers have announced.
###
Article: Official figures for the year to September 2014 showed spending rose by 3% to £756m with trip numbers up 2% to 4.3m.
However, when trips and spending by NI residents were stripped out there was no significant growth.
Spending by non-NI residents actually slipped slightly from £521m to £519m over the year.
The Stormont Executive has targeted tourism as a growth industry that should be delivering £1bn a year to the economy by 2020.
The numbers of trips and spending has been on an upward trend since 2011.
The overall rise in the year to September was driven by a 21% increase in the number of people taking holidays in Northern Ireland, rather than visiting relatives or making business trips.
The figures also showed a continuing trend of a growing number of visitors from outside the UK, but a steep fall in total visitors from the Republic of Ireland.
Total overnight trips from Great Britain and other countries was up 3% but overnight trips from the Republic of Ireland were down by 13%.

Summary: Northern Ireland's tourism industry saw a rise in visitors and spending during the period that covered last summer.
###
Article: Ms Evans, who is currently suspended from UKIP, said she would "very much like" to run but a "handful of people at the top" had ensured she could not.
Ms Evans' six-month ban for bringing the party into disrepute - claims she has dismissed - means she cannot stand.
She said she would back councillor Lisa Duffy to succeed Nigel Farage.
Ms Evans said UKIP needed to "break free of its hard-right image and set itself firmly in the common sense centre-ground" and also conduct some "internal reform".
The leadership contest has been prompted by Mr Farage's decision to stand down following the UK's vote to leave the European Union, saying his "political ambition has been achieved".
In a statement in Westminster, Ms Evans, who had been touted as a possible successor, said: "I'd very much like to run in that election.
"Unfortunately there are a handful of people at the top of UKIP who, for whatever personal reasons of their own, have made quite sure I can't."
She claimed the party rulebook had been "abused" to suspend her to prevent her from representing the party in May's London Assembly elections and the upcoming leadership contest.
Her six-month suspension handed down in March came after an internal disciplinary meeting found she had publicly criticised a fellow candidate and held herself out as a party spokeswoman without authority.
Ms Evans - who has always rejected the claims against her - lost a High Court bid to overturn the decision.
In the statement, she said: "I have to face up to reality, there's no way they're going to allow me to put my name on the ballot paper... I've now given up hope of becoming the next leader of UKIP."
Ms Evans said she had questioned whether to stay on in a party that "allows, and arguably encourages senior figures to behave like this", but she said the support from members had made her "more determined ever not to give up on UKIP".
She also said that with the right leader, the "sky was the limit for the party".
Endorsing Lisa Duffy, a district councillor for Ramsey in...

Summary:


The European Union is considering a proposal to ban the sale of genetically modified (GM) crops.
The European Commission is considering a proposal to ban the sale of genetically modified (GM) crops.
The European Commission is considering a proposal to ban the sale of genetically modified (GM) crops.
The European Commission is

The Italian parliament has approved a long-debated and extensive electoral reform that aims to give the country more political stability.

Article: Met Office statistics show that an average of 760mm (2.5ft) of rain fell across the country in December, January and February.
This resulted in a spate of floods which inundated homes and caused chaos on the roads and railways.
December was the wettest month recorded while January and February saw much higher rainfalls than normal. Argyll was the wettest area.
It had 1,055.7mm (3.5ft) of rain over the three months.
"It's been a truly remarkable winter in Scotland," said a Met Office spokeswoman.
"Winter was the second-wettest across the UK as a whole and it turned out to be the warmest on record for England and Wales.
"But Scotland endured the worst rain it has ever seen - and these records go back to 1910."
Scotland's two wettest winters have happened in the last three years. The rainfall total of 756mm (2.5ft) for 2015/16 exceeded the previous record for winter 2013 /14 of 744mm (2ft).
More than 100 homes were evacuated in Hawick, Roxburghshire, on 5 December as torrential rain swept in ahead of Storm Desmond.
Tayside and Perthshire also endured flooding events, with the River Tay peaking at levels not seen for a decade.
In the new year, Storm Frank resulted in bridge pillars on the West Coast Rail Line being almost washed away. The damage took almost two months to repair.
February's rainfall total of 147.2mm (6in) was 13% up on normal. January's figure of 257.5mm (10in) showed a rise of 45% of the average for the month while December's 351.4mm (14in) was more than double the amount usually experienced that month.
The Met Office spokeswoman added: "While the three-month period was remarkable for its rainfall, it must be remembered that it followed on from a very wet November as well.
"Winter also brought less sunshine in each of the three months we call winter. In January, Scotland got just 63% of the sunshine hours it would normally expect."
The coldest temperature of winter was Minus 14.1 Celsius (6.6F) recorded at Braemar, Aberdeenshire, on the morning of 14 February.
There is also a risk of snow and...

Summary: This winter was the wettest recorded in Scotland since records began in 1910.
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Article: Minuscule sensors have been glued to the backs of 10,000 healthy honey bees around the world to help understand why huge numbers of bees are dying.
Like electronic tags that track the movement of cars through toll roads, these tiny trackers send information back to receivers half the size of a credit card that are strategically placed at bee hives.
Australian researchers involved in the global research project compare the sensor to an adult carrying a backpack, weighing about a third of what a honey bee can carry.
But unlike the average backpacker, this extra load will remain in place for the rest of the bee's life.
The microscopic technology has been developed in Tasmania by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) over the past two years as part of an international research project investigating bee health.
Around the world, wild bee populations have plummeted thanks to habitat loss, pesticides and diseases, say scientists.
That puts crops that need to be pollinated at risk, says CSIRO Science Leader Professor Paulo de Souza.
"In some parts of the world, a healthy hive of bees can be like clockwork one day, and then every single bee is dead the very next day, and we have no idea why," Prof. de Souza told the BBC.
"It's happening so frequently that it's now a syndrome called colony collapse disorder, and no scientist working alone would be able to solve this," he says.
A predatory mite called the Varroa destructor has killed many colonies over the past decade.
Australian honey bees have so far remained immune to the devastating mite, putting Australia in an ideal position to coordinate a global research effort, says the CSIRO team.
The tiny sensors they have developed weigh just 5.4 milligrams. They contain a battery that generates energy by vibration, and record a bee's time away from the hive and the distance each bee travels.
Each sensor will record a bee's exposure to pesticides, air pollution and water contamination, as well as taking note of the insect's diet and...

Summary: An international group of scientists, beekeepers, farmers and technology companies is using cutting-edge technology to help find out why honey bee populations around the world are crashing.
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Article: The measure guarantees a majority of seats to the party that wins the most votes in an election.
It is a key element of a package of reforms promised by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
The law seeks to end Italy's post-war era of revolving governments, political horse-trading and unstable coalitions.
The lower house of parliament gave final approval to the bill by 334 votes to 61.
The proportional election system awards 340 out of 630 seats to any party that wins more than 40% of the national vote.
If no party reaches that threshold, there is a second-round run-off between the two parties with the most votes.
The electoral reform is expected to come into force next year.
After the vote, Mr Renzi said: "Commitment achieved, promise respected. Italy needs people who don't always say no."
Critics have accused the 40-year-old former mayor of Florence who became prime minster last year of trying to consolidate his grip on power.
They complain that the law awards too much power to single parties, gives party bosses too much scope to select candidates, and denies voters the chance to directly choose representatives. Opposition parties boycotted Monday's vote.
Renato Brunetta, parliamentary head of centre-right opposition party Forza Italia, said afterwards that it was "a very ugly day for our country's democracy".
Mr Renzi wants to further transform the Italian system by abolishing the Senate and replacing it with a non-elected body with lesser powers.
Currently, legislation is often held up because identical versions of bills have to be approved by both houses.

Summary:


The European Union is to launch a new website to help people find out more about the EU.
The new website, which will be launched on Wednesday, will be called "EU Facts", and will be available to all EU citizens.
The website will be a "place to find out more about the EU", and

Splits within the EU on the relocation of 120,000 migrants have been further exposed as leaders hold an emergency meeting in Brussels.

Article: A driver took the fawn's injured mother to Fenland Animal Rescue after finding her at the roadside in Cambridgeshire.
A scan found the doe was heavily pregnant, and she gave birth at the centre last Sunday, staff said.
The fawn died on Friday from a brain injury most likely caused by the accident, a vet told rescuers.
Read more animal stories from the BBC on Pinterest
Fenland Animal Rescue's founder Joshua Flanagan said the baby's death was "a sad day for everyone".
"But this is, unfortunately, the harsh reality of wildlife rehabilitation for ourselves," he added.
Mr Flanagan had previously said deer were difficult to treat and often had to be put down as human contact causes them too much stress.
But the mother was "still doing fine", he said.
He added: "She went a little funny after [the fawn] passed, but due to her being so young she never really understood what was happening anyway.
"She is now back to her full self and eating fine."
The centre is set to release the doe back into the wild on Christmas Eve - earlier than initially planned.

Summary: A fawn born after its mother was hit by a car has died from a brain injury, animal rescuers have said.
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Article: The first phase of the Inventory of Historic Battlefields contains a total of 17 different locations.
It includes sites in the Borders, Aberdeenshire, the Highlands, North Lanarkshire, Stirling and East Lothian.
The inventory aims to highlight the historic significance of the areas to planning authorities making decisions which could affect their landscape.
Historic Scotland said the list included the nation's "most significant and iconic battlefields".
UK Battlefields Resource Centre
It also provides information to aid their protection, management, interpretation and promotion.
The public has until 11 February next year to comment on the inventory.
Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop said:  "Many legendary battles took place in Scotland and the famous figures who fought in them, such as Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn and Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden, are known around the world.
"The Inventory of Historic Battlefields will help increase general awareness of historic battlefields throughout Scotland and the contribution they make to understanding our history and landscape."
She said the sites made a "distinctive contribution" to the "sense of place and history, both locally and nationally".
"They are a wonderful resource for education, helping us understand why significant events in our history unfolded as they did and provide a tangible link to some of the key figures of Scottish history," she added.
"Not only do battlefields form an important part of our sense of identity, they also have enormous potential for attracting tourists, as well as for general recreation, allowing visitors to experience the site of a dramatic historical event for themselves.
"We want to make sure that these important battlefields are looked after now and for future generations. "
Dr Tony Pollard, director of the centre for battlefield archaeology at Glasgow University, said compiling the inventory had been a "challenging but incredibly rewarding project".
"We have an incredible wealth of battlefields in Scotland and it is vital...

Summary: Historic Scotland has issued a list of the most important battle sites located around the country.
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Article: Slovakia is launching a legal challenge to mandatory quotas that were passed in a majority vote on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Hungary's prime minister has proposed a radical budgetary revamp to raise funds.
The summit will focus on tightening EU borders and aiding neighbours of Syria, from where many migrants come.
The talks were continuing well into the night, having started just after 19:00 Brussels time (17:00 GMT).
Draft proposals seen by the BBC, that are being discussed at the summit, include:
European Council President Donald Tusk called for "a concrete plan" to secure the EU's external borders, "in place of the arguments and the chaos we have witnessed in the past weeks".
As she arrived at the summit, Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite said it was "not a lack of European unity, but a lack of European wisdom" that had led to this point.
On arriving, British Prime Minister David Cameron said the UK would be giving another £100m ($152m) to help Syrian refugees, including £40m towards the World Food Programme.
"We need to do more to stabilise the countries and the regions from which these people are coming," he said.
The UK has opted against taking part in the relocation scheme and has its own plan to resettle migrants directly from Syrian refugee camps.
The scale of the problem was highlighted again on Wednesday when Croatia revealed that 44,000 migrants - including 8,750 on Tuesday - had arrived there since Hungary completed a fence along its border with Serbia last week.
Analysis: Chris Morris, BBC Europe correspondent
As thousands of people continue to arrive on European shores, EU leaders are trying to focus on longer term solutions, to try to stem the flow.
The EU can't ignore the divisions and disagreements that have emerged in the last few weeks between member states that have different ideas about how this crisis should be confronted.
One EU official said there was a need to clean up the bad blood around the table.
Progress may be made this evening, but it will take years of political engagement...

Summary:


The Scottish government has announced it will be spending £1.5m to help fund a new £1.5m project to help tackle the problem of child sexual exploitation.
The Scottish government has announced it will be spending £1.5m to help fund a new £1.5m project to help tackle

Clamping down on the problem of Nigerians being trafficked to the UK is a main priority, the first independent anti-slavery commissioner says.

Article: Dolphins are one of Aberdeen's biggest tourist attractions, with the city regarded as being among the best places in Europe to spot them.
Volunteers from RSPB Scotland's Dolphinwatch expect thousands of visitors to try to catch a glimpse of the spectacular sea antics over the summer.
The Dolphinwatch project was pioneered in 2013.
The team will be at Torry Battery from 11:00 to 18:00 every Thursday to Sunday until 16 August.
Dolphinwatch team member Helen Hiley said: "Aberdeen is such a fantastic place to see dolphins and it's amazing to have a wildlife spectacle like this so close to a city centre.
"You often get great views of them feeding and playing at the harbour entrance."
Amateur photographer David McCulloch, who took a recent dramatic shot which has proved popular on social media, described the experience of capturing the image as "out of this world".

Summary: Aberdeen's annual Dolphinwatch project is getting under way.
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Article: A souvenir edition has been published which includes the original front page and a letter of congratulations from The Queen.
The issue also marks the start of year-long multi-platform project called 200 voices.
It will feature columns from 200 "remarkable people who have played a major role in the nation".
Award-winning poet William Letford has also produced a special work to mark the 200th anniversary.
The first edition of the paper was published on 25 January 1817.
It was founded by lawyer William Ritchie and customs official Charles MacLaren.
The paper's original premises were at 257 High Street on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. It now has its headquarters on Queensferry Road in the capital.
In a letter to the Scotsman, The Queen writes: "Please convey my congratulations to all those on the newspaper's staff and my good wishes to your readers in Scotland, and elsewhere, as you mark this significant anniversary."
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has also sent her congratulations, writing: "The Scotsman occupies a special place in Scottish journalism, and I commend its staff, past and present, for all the work they have done in ensuring its success over so many years."
The newspaper's owners, Johnston Press, said the special edition marked the start of a year-long calendar of celebrations "showcasing both the paper's rich heritage and looking ahead to the publication's future, shining a light on the digital innovations across the brand's platforms".
Ian Stewart, editor at The Scotsman, said: "For two centuries The Scotsman has been at the heart of Scotland as a nation, covering the breaking news stories that have shaped our past and influenced our future; and we're incredibly proud to be part of that story.
"The celebrations that have kicked off today are just the beginning, with various events and editorial initiatives still to come throughout 2017.
"We very much look forward to taking our readers on this journey with us, as we take our step together into the third century of The Scotsman as...

Summary: The Scotsman newspaper is marking exactly 200 years since the publication of its first edition.
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Article: Kevin Hyland told the BBC it was "deeply concerning" that hundreds of Nigerians were brought in every year for prostitution or forced labour.
Mr Hyland said the problem of such exploitation was "enormous".
The Home Office said it was "committed to tackling modern slavery" and was addressing specific issues in Nigeria.
The commissioner, who has only been in post for six months, says he can't think of anything more worrying than women and children being raped and forced into domestic servitude.
Latest figures from the National Crime Agency show that more than 2,000 potential trafficking victims were referred to the authorities in 2014 - 244 of whom were from Nigeria, a 31 per cent increase from the previous year. The highest number of potential victims were identified as being from Albania.
Campaigners believe the real figure of potential trafficking victims from Nigeria could be much higher, however.
Mr Hyland, the former head of the Metropolitan Police's human trafficking unit, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I am extremely concerned about this. And we're talking about several hundred every year.
"This isn't just a one-off - it's continuous - so the treatment of these people, what they go through, is actually a very serious crime, so for me it's a big problem.
"But also I think the fact that there is a demand for this kind of exploitation in the United Kingdom really concerns me, that there are people who will want to buy sex, will want to exploit, will want to have children as what are current-day slaves, so that is a really serious problem."
Research published by the Home Office in December estimates that there are between 10,000 and 13,000 potential victims of slavery in the UK.  Home Secretary Theresa May, speaking last year, described the scale of abuse as "shocking".
Melissa (not her real name), who is in her 20s, was trafficked to the UK to work for a Nigerian woman in London as a domestic slave.
From the age of 10, she was made to clean the kitchen, sell food on a market, feed and bathe other...

Summary:


The Scottish government has announced it will not be able to continue to fund the Scottish National Party's campaign to leave the UK.
The Scottish government said it had withdrawn £20m of funding from the party's campaign, which was set up to help the party win the Scottish Parliament.
The Scottish government said it had

A motoring festival which has been running for 30 years is to be cancelled, organisers have said.

Article: Lottery organisers Camelot said the window for claiming the Euromillions winnings closed at 23:00 BST on Sunday.
Camelot said unclaimed money would be added to the money in the National Lottery Good Causes fund.
Leicester's lord mayor Abdul Osman started a countdown timer to the deadline near the Haymarket clock tower last week but the prize went unclaimed.
A spokesman for Camelot said: "Unfortunately, I can confirm that the ticket-holder did not come forward within the deadline to claim their prize and has now sadly missed out on this substantial amount of money.
"I would urge all National Lottery players to check their tickets on a regular basis."

Summary: A lottery player who won £1m on a ticket bought in Leicester has failed to claim their prize.
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Article: But did any of these high-profile, slickly-produced photo calls and big-name speeches have the intended effect - and did they make the slightest bit of difference?
Here's a look at a few of the main ones.
An independent Scotland would have continued to use the pound under a currency union with the remainder of the UK, or so went the Scottish government's argument.
In the wake of the Scottish government's independence White Paper, put out at the end of 2013, UK Chancellor George Osborne made a flying visit north of the border to announce there would be no such deal, declaring: "If Scotland walks away from the UK, it walks away from the UK pound."
Prof John Curtice, of Strathclyde University, said: "The 'No' side was convinced that, because a majority of Scots said they wanted to keep the pound, if they were told they couldn't have it, the uncertainties in their mind that would flow from that would lead them back towards the 'No' side.
"The difficulty they had is that what they were saying to the people of Scotland was, 'vote for us on the grounds that we wish to deny you what you would like to happen if Scotland became independent.'
Prof Curtice said of Mr Osborne: "Unfortunately for him, the opinion polls, which had already began to narrow in the wake of the publication of the White Paper, continued to narrow in the weeks thereafter.
"It is not clear that it had the intended effect."
Edinburgh University's Prof James Mitchell argued the problem may have been the messenger, saying: "To have George Osborne leading on this was probably a big mistake.
"While the argument itself - if it had been articulated by someone else - might have had an impact I think, because of the unpopularity of the Chancellor, it simply didn't have that."
History professor Ewen Cameron, of Edinburgh University, said of the chancellor's declaration: "At the time, I thought, 'wow, that's a huge error on the part of the UK government'.
"But then when Cameron came out immediately after the referendum and talked about English votes for...

Summary: Last year's Scottish independence referendum campaign, as well the as buzz of day-to-day campaigning, was known for a series of key, headline-grabbing events.
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Article: The Coventry Festival of Motoring, which attracted 40,000 visitors in 2014, has had ??20,000 of funding withdrawn by the city council.
However, organisers Culture Coventry said the funding withdrawal was "not the only reason" they had made the decision to cancel the event.
It said events planned for 2015 and 2016 have been axed.
Organisers said they had not ruled out reviving the festival, but it would remain on hold indefinitely.
The free heritage event, which features classic cars, was due to take place in August at Stoneleigh Park.
It is organised by Culture Coventry, a trust set up to manage four of the city's visitor attractions.
Chief executive Gary Hall said he had just found out about the council's funding withdrawal.
"I have to look at the ongoing viability of the show and with cuts coming from the city council and other sponsors, we would not be able to grow it as we have in recent years," he said.
"It is a lot of money and, as a charity running four attractions in the city, we have to look at what benefits we are getting."
He said the charity was reopening Coventry's Transport Museum in June following a ??9m redevelopment.
"Unfortunately, we have to put all of our resources into promoting the museum," he said.
Mr Hall said the charity would run "a number of events" throughout 2015 to bring classic car owners into Coventry.
Coventry MotoFest, a more recent addition to the city's festival calendar, which features car races and displays, will go ahead in May, as planned.

Summary: