The European Commission has said it will not be able to approve the construction of two new 1,200 MW nuclear reactors at the Paks nuclear power station on the River Danube.

"We haven't had an earthquake lately," was Eeyore's tart response when asked about forecasts that the weather can only improve in the Hundred Acre Wood.

Article: Outbreaks in Asia, Africa and Middle East are an "extraordinary event" needing a co-ordinated "international response", the agency says.
It recommends citizens of affected countries travelling abroad carry a vaccination certificate.
It says Pakistan, Cameroon, and Syria "pose the greatest risk of further wild poliovirus exportations in 2014."
The WHO recorded 417 cases of polio worldwide for the whole of 2013. For 2014, it had already recorded 68 cases by 30 April - up from 24 in the same period last year.
Polio mainly affects children under five years old.
The virus is transmitted through contaminated food and water, and multiplies in the intestine. It can then invade the nervous system, causing paralysis in one in every 200 infections. It is capable of causing death within hours.
"The conditions for a public health emergency of international concern have been met," said Bruce Aylward, WHO Assistant Director General.
He was speaking after last week's emergency meeting in Geneva on the spread of polio which included representatives of the affected countries.
"The international spread of polio to date in 2014 constitutes an 'extraordinary event' and a public health risk to other states for which a co-ordinated international response is essential," the WHO's International Health Regulations Emergency Committee said in statement.
"If unchecked, this situation could result in failure to eradicate globally one of the world's most serious vaccine preventable diseases."
The WHO also lists Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Somalia and Nigeria as "posing an ongoing risk for new wild poliovirus exportations in 2014."
It  is only the second time in the WHO's history it has made such a declaration, the first being during the swine flu pandemic of 2009, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva reports.
The polio virus is endemic in just three countries - Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. But attacks on vaccination campaigns in Pakistan in particular have allowed the virus to spread across borders.
Syria,...

Summary: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the spread of polio is an international public health emergency.
###
Article: The expansion, they argue, will produce expensive energy, far beyond market prices, plunge Hungary into debt, and deepen dependence on Russia.
Viktor Orban's Fidesz government insists the reactors are necessary to cover growing energy demand, and will actually increase the country's energy independence.
The government also defends its decision to make the contracts for the new reactors secret for 30 years.
The existing four reactors at Paks generate 1,900 MW and cover 40% of Hungary's electricity needs.
Mr Orban based his 2014 election victory on promises to keep utility prices low.
Months earlier he struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin that saw Russia agree to loan Hungary around 80% of the estimated construction cost of the new reactors at Paks. Hungary will pay Russia back from the electricity generated.
By the time Hungary has to start paying for this next generation of reactors, in 2025, Mr Orban should be in comfortable retirement.
Nevertheless, the decision to sign a deal with Russia took even his own Fidesz party by surprise.
Built by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, the working life of the four existing reactors at Paks will run out between 2032 and 2037.
That means that no new decision on replacing them would actually be necessary until 2020 at the earliest.
Experts are also concerned that the overlap period, when old and new reactors are operating, will overstrain the Hungarian grid, and drive renewable and conventional energy producers from a market distorted by what they see as the overproduction of nuclear energy.
"Hungary is denying itself the opportunity to take into consideration at least six years' scientific development" by opting for nuclear expansion now, the Universities Student Committee established to debate the Paks expansion has just concluded.
The falling cost of renewable energy sources could make the cost solar energy comparable with that from nuclear and fossil fuels very soon, opponents of Paks expansion believe.
"Hungary's energy needs can be supplied in 2030...

Summary: Environmentalists in Hungary are hoping the European Commission will scupper a €12.5bn (£9bn) Hungarian-Russian deal to build two new 1,200 megawatt (MW) reactors at the Paks nuclear power station on the River Danube.
###
Article: As government colleagues speak boldly of the economic opportunities Brexit might offer and point to the better than expected economic news since the referendum, the Treasury is quietly warning there may still be pain ahead.
Eeyore to the rest of the government's Tiggers, Number 11 is hoping for the best while preparing for the worst.
Yes, the chancellor has said to colleagues, the mood has changed since the Autumn Statement.
There will certainly be some "pats on the back" when it comes to the Budget on Wednesday.
The economy is more resilient as consumers - buoyed by ultra-low interest rates, cheap borrowing and high employment - keep spending.
And among the members of the European Union there is less talk of economic "punishment" as Brexit approaches - and more of "co-operation".
I am told that one banking chief executive was even bold enough to tell the Prime Minister at a recent private meeting that in three years' time the UK's financial services sector and the economy could be in a better position than they are now.
How to follow the Budget on the BBC
Better growth also means the government's borrowing position is more positive than predicted just three months ago.
Tax receipts are higher as stronger consumer spending and higher levels of business activity feed through to the Exchequer.
The Office for Budget Responsibility - the official economic watchdog - is set to upgrade its growth forecast for 2017.
And borrowing, it is likely to say, will come in at least £10bn lower than the official target. It should be remembered, however, that that target was significantly loosened last year.
So, with a better economic outlook, will the Budget be a time for a few politically targeted giveaways?
There will be some limited action. The Treasury was certainly stung by accusations following the Autumn Statement that Philip Hammond did not mention the NHS or social care funding despite predictions of a looming crisis.
Expect more money for social care, more money for business rate relief and more money for...

Summary:


The price of oil fell to its lowest level in nearly 13 years due to a production glut and is still far below the $110 a barrel price hit just two years ago.
Mr Novak said the agreement, which might include attempts to limit oil output, was a "historical moment" between members of Opec

A former IRA leader has been charged in connection with the abduction and murder of Jean McConville.

Article: But what is behind this success?
Eyebrows were raised when the results of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's international maths, science and reading tests - the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests - were published.
Shanghai, taking part for the first time, came top in all three subjects.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong which was performing well in the last decade of British rule, has gone from good to great. In this global ranking, it came fourth in reading, second in maths and third in science.
These two Chinese cities - there was no national ranking for China - had outstripped leading education systems around the world.
The results for Beijing, not yet released, are not quite as spectacular. "But they are still high," says Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's head of education statistics and indicators.
Cheng Kai-Ming, Professor of Education at Hong Kong University, and closely involved in the Hong Kong and Shanghai tests, puts the results down to "a devotion to education not shared by some other cultures".
More than 80% of Shanghai's older secondary students attend after-school tutoring. They may spend another three to four hours each day on homework under close parental supervision.
The World Bank has looked at the distinguishing features of successful school systems.
According to the World Bank's education specialist, Harry Patrinos, this includes: improving the quality of teachers and making sure that teachers are highly regarded; providing information to make schools accountable and giving autonomy to schools and head teachers.
Putting money into the system does not necessarily lead to better results.
This matters not only for individual pupils but for the well-being of countries, he says, because improving educational performance has a direct impact on improving economic performance.
Successful school systems include Finland and South Korea.
Such diligence also reflects the ferociously competitive university entrance examinations.
"Not all Chinese parents are 'tiger...

Summary: China's education performance - at least in cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong - seems to be as spectacular as the country's breakneck economic expansion, outperforming many more advanced countries.
###
Article: The announcement was made by the countries' energy ministers, Alexander Novak and Khalid al-Falih.
The price of Brent crude initially jumped by 5% but then fell to to stand 1.6% higher at $47.56 a barrel.
A statement said the plan was to support the "stability of the oil market ... ensuring a stable level of investment in the long term".
At the start of 2016 the price of oil fell to its lowest level in nearly 13 years due to a production glut and is still far below the $110 a barrel price hit just two years ago.
Mr Novak said the agreement, which might include attempts to limit oil output, was a "historical moment" between members of Opec, the oil producers' cartel, and non-members such as Russia.
He added that Russia was willing to join an oil output "freeze".
The outline agreement, to set up a joint task force, was announced at a news conference at the G20 summit in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
However, Saudi Arabia's Mr al-Falih said that freezing output was not "necessary" now.
"Freezing [production levels] is one of the preferred possibilities, but it's not necessary today," he said after the cooperation agreement was unveiled.
"The market is getting better and we have noticed that prices reflect this [improvement]."
Despite their differing views, Mr Novak said he favoured choosing a month from the second half of this year that would be the benchmark for a production freeze.
He added that Russia would accept any month for this purpose, and that it was important for other countries to support the proposal, possibly including a cut in production.
Strategies to keep oil prices high by limiting production are usually the preserve of Opec and are often not successful.
However, Russia and Saudi Arabia are the world's two largest oil producers.
The ministers from the two countries will meet again later this month, and again in both October and November.
The agreement to talk about a deal, despite the lack of detail, was welcomed by two other oil producers.
"This dialogue confirms that the main oil...

Summary: The price of oil jumped after Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to discuss ways to stabilise the oil market.
###
Article: The Belfast mother-of-10 was taken by the IRA from her flat in December 1972.
Ivor Bell, 77, who was a senior leader in the Provisional IRA  in the 1970s, was arrested at his home in Andersonstown on Tuesday.
He has been charged with aiding and abetting murder and membership of the IRA. He is expected to appear in court on Saturday.
Ivor Bell was part of an IRA delegation that held secret talks with the British government in London in 1972.
Among the delegation were Sinn FÃ©in's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.
Jean McConville, 37, became known as one of the Disappeared.
She was kidnapped in front of her children and accused of having been an informer. That claim was later dismissed following an official investigation.
She was held at one or more houses before being shot. Her body was recovered on a beach in County Louth in August 2003.
The Disappeared are those who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republicans during the Troubles.
The IRA admitted in 1999 that it murdered and buried at secret locations nine of the Disappeared.
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains was established in 1999 by a treaty between the British and Irish governments.
It lists 16 people as "disappeared". Despite extensive searches, the remains of seven of them have not been found.

Summary:

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The Ulster fry mainstay is back in the spotlight after a judge ruled a council cannot appeal against a decision to scrap the scheme.

The government has turned down plans to build more than 500 homes near an East Yorkshire village.

Article: Devon County Council reversed traffic flow through Totnes in 2013 to make the area safer.
But some traders began legal action claiming their businesses had suffered.
The council wanted to contest a decision that the scheme should be dropped but a judge at Exeter County Court said it could not appeal.
The authority could take the case to the Supreme Court, but will still have to reinstate the original traffic flow in the meantime.
In March, the decision to reverse traffic flow through Totnes town centre was quashed in the High Court.
BBC presenter Jonathan Dimbleby was among campaigners who marched with protesters against the traffic changes which meant vehicles could no longer be driven up the High Street from the bottom of the town.
The changes reversed the previous system, in which traffic was allowed up the High Street and brought in alternative routes.
Devon County Council said: "We are disappointed by today's decision and will now consider our options."

Summary: Traffic flow through a Devon town centre is set to change after a judge decided a council cannot appeal against a ruling to scrap the scheme.
###
Article: The quality assurance analyst from Newtownards is obsessed with the Ulster fry mainstay and has so far visited 50 towns and 66 outlets to taste and rate the potato bread sold in bakeries and restaurants.
A record of Kirsty's travels and the results of her tests can be found on Facebook, where she has set up a page dedicated to her passion.
On Potato Bread Girl NI, potato bread of all kinds is rated based on five factors - tastiness, texture, toastiness, service and value - and an overall scale of between one and five.
"I go 'potato breading' every Saturday," said 27-year-old Kirsty.
"When I finish work on a Friday evening I do my research and plan where I'll head off to the next day.
"On the Saturday morning, I make a 'before' video updating everyone on where I plan to go and then an 'after' video when I arrive at my destination.
"Then I visit every bakery and restaurant in the area that sells potato bread and bring samples home to toast and rate them.
"I also have a potato bread gang to help me - plastic toys Ducky, Tutti and Sundae (who I always mention in my videos).
"I really look forward to every weekend and never get sick of it. I love potato bread and eat at least two bits every day.
"My goal is to find the best potato bread in Northern Ireland and to create awareness of how unique potato bread is to Northern Ireland and celebrate it as part of our cultural heritage."
Kirsty came up with the idea in 2014 when she was facing redundancy from a previous job and her mum was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
"Instead of dwelling on all the negativity, I decided to focus on something I love - potato bread - and do something with it," she told Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme.
"It gave me something to look forward to."
Since she began her search, Kirsty has tried various versions of the food including recipes with spelt and black pudding.
While most of us enjoy it as part of a fry-up, she has hers simply toasted without butter.
"I don't think it needs fried," she said.
"And to ensure a fair taste...

Summary: County Down woman Kirsty Meredith spends each weekend searching for Northern Ireland's best potato bread.
###
Article: The East Riding of Yorkshire Council refused planning permission for the scheme at North Ferriby, near Hull, in May 2013.
The developer St Modwen appealed to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Greg Clark, who has rejected the plan.
The company said it was disappointed and is considering its options.
The Melton Fields project would have consisted of 510 houses and a care home. The company also applied for permission for an alternative smaller scheme of 390 homes.
Villagers mounted a campaign against the development, with more than 1,200 people writing letters objecting to the plans.
East Riding council rejected both proposals claiming the land had been earmarked for employment rather than residential use.
The developer appealed against the council's decision to the government's Planning Inspectorate, which held a public inquiry last year.
Councillor John Mabbett, vice chairman of North Ferriby Parish Council, described the secretary of state's refusal as "a victory for common sense".
"Had this ill-conceived development been approved our community would have been overwhelmed by its size and the fabric and character of the village would have been harmed for ever," he said.
A spokesperson for St Modwen said: "We firmly believe that our proposals for a residential development represent the most viable option for the site, and for the region.
"Our proposals would not only deliver much needed family homes, but also bring important investment and jobs to the local area."

Summary:


The government has announced a £1.5m grant to help fund the construction of a new £1.5m library in Birmingham.
The new library will be located in the city's West End, and will be the first in the UK to be built entirely from scratch.
The new library will be funded

Boeing has successfully shot a drone out of the sky using a high-powered laser during a test, the company says.

Article: Claire Sugden said the review would look at the "legislative framework" for certain categories of crime and other issues, such as unduly lenient sentences.
The minister said sentencing did not just affect the offender, but victims, families and the wider community.
Ms Sugden said recommendations would be put out to consultation.
She said sentencing played a "major part" in how the criminal justice system as a whole was perceived and "impacts on public confidence in the delivery of justice".
"I am aware of concerns that have been expressed from time to time about sentencing in some individual cases," she said.
"While such cases represent a very small part of the everyday work of the courts, they can have a significant impact on public perception and confidence in the justice system and the sentencing process.
"That is why I have decided that a comprehensive review of sentencing policy is needed."
The review will consider the following areas:
The minister stressed it was not a review of sentencing decisions, as in each individual case it was a matter for the judiciary and the courts.
"It is essential that their independence is maintained," she added.
"However, it is my responsibility to ensure the effectiveness of the legislative framework within which individual sentencing decisions are made, and, along with the Lord Chief Justice's programme of action, to seek to ensure that there is confidence in how those decisions are reached."

Summary: The justice minister has announced a major review of sentencing in Northern Ireland.
###
Article: In February, the hours were cut by nearly half - to 40 hours a week - in an attempt to save money.
Now 26 hours are to be added, meaning the building will be accessible between 09:00 and 21:00, but a limited service will operate in those extra hours.
The Friends of the Library of Birmingham welcomed the extension but said space seemed to be "disappearing".
The core service will remain at 40 hours a week. The library will remain closed on Sundays, and will continue with its 11:00 - 17:00 opening hours on Saturdays.
There will be access to study space, book borrowing will be "self-service from a limited stock" and there will be "limited advisory support".
The extended hours are due to Birmingham's Brasshouse Language Service's move into the library, the city council said, which will cut operational costs.
The aim is to start the self-service in early 2016, with the Brasshouse opening the following autumn.
Anne Gallagher, from the friends group, said it was "pleased" about the weekday hours extension which was "better news for students who've been queuing at 11 o'clock".
But she said: "If you look at the size of the Brasshouse centre now and you look at the size of the library, quite a lot of space will be lost to the public as well as the space that's being given over to Google [operating at the library].
"We're very concerned that any money that is generated hopefully from both of these ventures should be put into making sure that the library is open and staffed and stocked for the general public."
Penny Holbrook, council cabinet member for skills, learning and culture, said the authority had listened to feedback from residents and library campaigners and said it would "look at all options available".
She said: "People don't just want to use the library for borrowing books and reference purposes but want to use it as a study space, to work and research, to access the internet, to visit as tourists and to simply hang out and relax.
"Under the new name of Brasshouse at Library of Birmingham, the language service...

Summary: The opening hours of Birmingham's £189m library are to be extended from next year, the city council has confirmed.
###
Article: 28 August 2015 Last updated at 14:08 BST
The device was able to track and damage a free-flying drone during the trial in California.
Boeing is one of many companies working to develop high powered lasers that can be used in military or defence scenarios.
The company says its new device is the most portable yet, and can be collapsed into four parts light enough to carry.

Summary:


Significant job opportunities will be lost unless a reduced Corporation Tax is introduced into Northern Ireland, a business group has said.

Article: Known as Juice, the mission is due to leave Earth in 2022 and arrive at the giant planet 7.5 years later.
The 350m-euro deal struck between industry and Esa will see the assembly of the 5.5-tonne probe being led from Toulouse in France.
Components and instruments will be sourced from across Europe, however.
There will also be American participation as well, through the US space agency (Nasa), and from Japan via its space agency (Jaxa).
When all these contributions are summed - including launch and operations - the full price for the JUpiter ICy moon Explorer is expected to exceed one billion euros.
Tuesday's contract was signed in the presence of Alvaro Gimenez, director of science and robotic exploration at Esa, and Eric BÃ©ranger, head of space systems programmes at Airbus Defence and Space.
As prime contractor, Airbus must now pull together a consortium of companies across Europe to build, assemble and test the satellite, making it ready for its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket in six years' time.
Juice will carry a sophisticated scientific payload - including cameras, spectrometers, a laser altimeter and an ice-penetrating radar. The mission will also feature a magnetometer, plasma and particle detectors, as well as radio science hardware.
To power all those instruments at Jupiter - a distance of 780 million km from the Sun - Juice will need the biggest solar array system ever flown on a planetary mission. This generator will have a collecting area of almost 100 sq metres.
To put that in some context: the Rosetta mission to Comet 67P has a collecting area of 64 sq metres; Nasa's Juno mission, scheduled to arrive at Jupiter next year, has an array surface measuring 72 sq metres.
After launch, Juice will use a series of gravitational flybys of Earth, Venus and Mars to hurl itself out to the Jovian system.
On arrival, the probe will swing around the planet to initiate a series of close passes of its moons Callisto and Europa. Juice will then put itself in a settled orbit around Ganymede.
The research emphasis...

Summary: Airbus and the European Space Agency have signed the contract that will lead to the construction of a satellite to go to study Jupiter and its icy moons.
###
Article: On one occasion, Nigel Graham, 56, illegally parked in a disabled space outside a court while he was inside admitting misuse of blue badges.
The BBC filmed the offence in 2015.
The General Osteopathic Council said the "degree and persistence of Mr Graham's dishonesty was fundamentally incompatible with practice as an osteopath".
The council removed him from its register and said he was now unable to practise in the profession.
Graham, of Southbourne, was appearing before Southampton magistrates in June 2015 when his illegally-parked car was given a ticket outside.
The car was driven away with the ticket still attached to the windscreen.
Inside the court, he had pleaded guilty to five counts of false representation to avoid parking fines in Southampton, Bournemouth and Christchurch, and one count of illegally using a disabled person's blue badge.
The badge was in the name of his deceased mother and had been applied for after her death.
Graham was given a suspended jail sentence and ordered to do 120 hours' community service.
The General Osteopathic Council said it noted the strong language used by the magistrate, who said these were "despicable dishonest offences committed... over a long period of time with no regard to bona fide blue badge holders".
The council said when Graham appeared before them in May, he "continued to obfuscate" and showed "no insight into the seriousness of his criminality".

Summary: A Dorset osteopath has been struck off following convictions for blue badge fraud and avoiding parking fines.
###
Article: Grow NI said companies were deferring decisions to invest due to the uncertainty over the future of the tax.
Corporation Tax is the tax that companies pay on their profits. The current UK rate is 21% whereas in the Republic of Ireland firms pay 12.5%.
The devolution of the tax was dependant on welfare reform being implemented.
However, the controversial Welfare Reform Bill failed to pass at Stormont on Tuesday night.
Eamonn Donaghy of Grow NI, a forum representing major business organisations, said:  "The power to create tens of thousands of jobs is now within our grasp, but unless our politicians seize this opportunity it will jeopardise significant employment growth opportunities and will increase inequality in Northern Ireland."
He added:  "Continued uncertainly around a start date and an agreed rate of corporation tax means that the private sector cannot compete on a level playing field with businesses in the Republic of Ireland.
"Only by having the same rate of corporation tax across the island will we see any significant increase in employment in Northern Ireland.
"Such a change would see increased investment from companies at home and abroad, creating jobs which are much needed in communities everywhere."
New legislation to devolve corporation tax to Northern Ireland was passed by the House of Lords in March.
Invest NI has said that a US business delegation has postponed a potential investment trip to Northern Ireland.
The jobs creation agency said it was because the Stormont executive had not yet set the rate of Corporation Tax to be introduced in Northern Ireland, or the date it will take effect.
It had previously been suggested Northern Ireland will cut its rate to 12.5%, to match Ireland, from April 2017.
Mr Donaghy said: "The evidence that companies abroad are deferring - sometimes permanently - decisions to invest in Northern Ireland is gravely concerning.
"All of us now understand that the election of a Tory government means that the only growth in employment in the future will come from the...

Summary:


The UK's EU membership referendum is set to take place on 23 June.
The UK's EU membership referendum is set to take place on 23 June.
The UK's EU membership referendum is set to take place on 23 June.
The UK's EU membership referendum is set to take place on 23 June.

A chemistry student has created "the most environmentally-friendly" fake snow, as part of her research.

Article: The covers were picked up by a courier from quilter Joe Bennison in Winnersh on Tuesday 3 November but failed to arrive at the widow's house in Kent.
Ms Bennison said MyHermes had told her the quilts had been among a number of parcels stolen from a van in Reading.
"I fear that they will be dumped somewhere and nobody will think to hand them in," she said.
"The quilts were for his family to remember him by. They can not be replaced and are of no real use to anyone else.
"They are made from his favourite shirts and are therefore irreplaceable."
MyHermes said it was looking in to the matter.
Joe Bennison, 46, was temporarily holding the quilts to add decorative stitching for the widow's friend, Janet Bevan, before sending them back to her.
Mrs Bevan had been making the items to help her friend and her sons deal with the sudden loss of her husband.
Thames Valley Police confirmed the theft of two quilts from a delivery van in Reading was reported to them on 12 November.
Officers said they were believed to have been taken from an unknown location between 3 and 10 November.

Summary: Quilts being sent to a widow made from her husband's shirts are feared stolen after going missing from a courier.
###
Article: Vote Leave says its list of the 50 "most dangerous" EU citizens includes 45 who "went on to commit serious offences in the UK, including murder and rape".
In campaigners said the dossier was "scaremongering of the worst kind".
The Home Office said the UK was "safer" by being inside the European Union.
The two sides in the EU referendum debate have been trading blows over security issues, with debate intensifying following last week's Brussels attacks.
BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said the leave campaign was trying to make security its big issue.
"In a way it is their own 'Project Fear'," he said, referencing the criticism levelled at the Remain campaign.
"They are trying to raise concerns about our personal safety and they view it as the counterweight to the Remain side's use of the economic arguments."
The in-out vote on the UK's EU membership takes place on 23 June.
Releasing the document on Tuesday, Vote Leave - one of the groups vying for an EU exit - said instead of refusing criminals entry into the UK, Britain had allowed EU judges to "hang out a welcome sign"
The list includes Latvian Arnis Zalkalns who is suspected of killing London schoolgirl Alice Gross in 2014. The builder, who had been convicted of murdering his wife in Latvia in 1998, later killed himself.
Under current rules, countries are entitled to consult previous police records but criminal convictions alone are not grounds for restricting the right to free movement.
Vote Leave said EU law did not require other EU countries to inform the UK of the criminal records of their citizens.
Chief executive Matthew Elliott said EU membership meant Britain had "lost control of our borders".
"Free movement of people has created free movement of criminals making the UK less safe and less secure. We've allowed EU judges to hang out a welcome sign to individuals the public would rightly expect never to be allowed into the UK," he said.
But Lucy Thomas, from pro-EU campaign group Britain Stronger In Europe, said: "This is scaremongering of...

Summary: EU exit campaigners have released a list of 50 foreign criminals they say have been allowed into the UK because of freedom of movement rules.
###
Article: Lizzie Mould, from Bristol University, was challenged by Gloucestershire firm Snow Business to come up with a "green" realistic snow for film and television.
It took her two years and a "few hundred attempts" but now her new snow liquids are being sold to the industry.
Ms Mould, said: "To say that seeing the products on the market is rewarding would be an understatement."
The Stroud-based company which specialises in fake snow and ice effects, has previously worked on James Bond film Spectre, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens.
But in a bid to create a "really good snow effect" which was "robust in different climates", environmentally friendly and would not damage people's skin or leave a residue - they approached the university.
"I must have made hundreds of formulations. before we got to where we are today," said Ms Mould, who has now been offered a full-time job with the firm.
"The original plan was just to make one fluid but by the end of my project we had two which both worked really well."
Recently launched to the industry, Paul Denney, from the company, said as far as they know the new liquids are "the most environmentally friendly falling snow products in the world".
"We had looked at developing the product ourselves but the chemistry involved was beyond our capabilities, which is why we approached the University of Bristol," he said.
"We weren't totally sure what Lizzie would be able to do, especially as we had a long wish list of characteristics but she's really come up trumps and surpassed all our expectations."

Summary:


The Scottish Greens are expected to stand fewer than ten candidates in the Scottish Parliament election.

A police force is being investigated after a prisoner had three fingers severed while in custody.

Article: Orcas that spend winter off Iceland have been pictured from the north Caithness coast.
The animals arrive in Scottish waters to hunt and raise young.
Wildlife photographer Karen Munro got her images of the orcas while on a trip on Sunday to spot whales and dolphins.
She spotted the orcas at a distance from Strathy Point in Sutherland and later along the coast, and closer to the shore, from Forss and Dunnet Head in Caithness.
The orcas can be identified by distinguishing features, such as the markings on their bodies and notches in their fins.
Ms Munro said she spotted an orca known to conservationists as Mousa, her five-year-old calf Summer and one-and-a-half-year-old calf Tide.
There were two other orcas, including a large bull.
The wildlife enthusiast was able to follow the animals along the coast, even being able to see them from near her home in Scrabster, near Thurso.
She said: "They continued on their journey and went into Dunnet Bay.
"Just before 21:00 they came in directly below Dunnet Head, much to the delight of a small crowd waiting for them.
"After nine hours of following their journey along the north coast, I left them heading east into the Pentland Firth."
She said another six orcas were also seen on Sunday close to Duncansby Head in Caithness, including animals known as The Hulk and Nott.
Ms Munro said: "The Hulk and Nott are also animals who travel to Iceland every winter and are often in the company of Mousa's pod which I saw.
"After a year of trying to find a good enough photo to confirm it, this weekend was the first time Marie Mrusczok of Orca Guardians, West Iceland, was able to confirm Nott being in Scotland after seeing photos taken by one of my fellow watchers Peter Hazelhurst."
She added: "It was a truly wonderful day.
"No matter how often I see these magnificent creatures, they never fail me to amaze me."

Summary: All images are copyrighted.
###
Article: There had been calls for Greens to stand aside in SNP seats which are being targeted by the Conservatives.
A full list of where the party is standing is expected on Wednesday, but sources confirmed they were not looking to contest more than ten seats.
The decision means the party will not qualify for party election broadcasts.
But it is expected that co-convenor Patrick Harvie will still take his place in a Scottish leaders' debate hosted by BBC Scotland, political correspondent Nick Eardley said.
The Scottish Greens fielded 32 candidates at the general election in 2015 but failed to win any seats. They currently have six MSPs at Holyrood, and won 19 seats in last week's council election.
Asked by the Press Association whether the Scottish Greens plan to stand fewer than 10 candidates in next month's general election, a party spokesman said: "That's the way it's looking."
He said the party had written to a broadcaster saying it will not be supplying a party election broadcast.
To qualify for a party election broadcast for the election, the Scottish Greens must stand in at least 10 constituencies.
The spokesman added: "By targeting resources in key constituencies, such as Glasgow North where Patrick Harvie will be our candidate, we can build on our strong support to win Scotland's first Green MP, offering a bold alternative to the other parties."
Tommy Sheppard, the SNP incumbent candidate for Edinburgh East, had previously called on the Greens to avoid splitting the pro-independence vote in key constituencies.
He said: "They will want to stand some candidates as they are a national party and will want to put their case to their base, but in deciding which seats to contest and not to contest I think they should be mindful of not splitting the pro-Yes vote and certainly not splitting the anti-Tory vote."
Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser accused the Greens of "propping up" the SNP.
He said: "This is the Green Party reaffirming themselves as a pointless presence in Scottish politics.
"The propping up of the...

Summary: The Scottish Greens expect to stand fewer than ten election candidates - but deny it is to encourage tactical pro-independence voting.
###
Article: The 33-year-old was injured at Colchester police station in Essex during a struggle when he grabbed hold of a toilet bowl in his cell.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has started an investigation into the incident.
It is believed seven Essex Police officers will be questioned.  The force has not commented.
It is thought the IPCC will investigate claims the man was handcuffed after his fingers were severed, and allegations of a significant time delay in taking him to hospital.
The prisoner, who lost part of three fingers on his left hand, was taken to hospital following the incident on 1 May.
He had been taken into custody in connection with a public order incident.
A spokesman for the IPCC said: "The Independent Police Complaints Commission is to independently investigate an incident at Colchester Police Station on May 1, 2015 where a man suffered serious hand injuries while in custody.
"Further information is likely to be published in due course."

Summary:


The UK's unemployment rate has fallen to 4.8% from 5.1% in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The UK average was unchanged at 5.1%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Figures show the number of people working in Wales is also

Durham County Council is seeking a judicial review after a planning inspector refused to re-examine his criticism of proposals for the county.

Article: The rate of unemployment in Wales for January to March fell to 4.8%.
The UK average was unchanged at 5.1%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Figures show the number of people working in Wales is also 74,000 higher than for the same period a year ago.
The number of people not working and not able to work is 26,000 lower.
Wales has seen the biggest proportional increase in employment of all the regions and nations of the UK in the last year.
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns called it a "hat-trick of good news" for the Welsh jobs market with employment up, unemployment falling and a drop in the claimant count.
"Across the country, the investment we have put into rebalancing the economy and welfare reform is now paying dividends with record numbers coming off benefits and into work," he said.
"Yet again, we are seeing an unemployment rate below the national average as Wales shows an increasingly confident and entrepreneurial face to the world."
A Welsh Government spokesman said: "It is pleasing to see the labour market in Wales outperform all other regions of the UK and continue to go from strength to strength.
"Over the past year Wales has also seen the largest fall in unemployment of any other part of the UK and now has a rate substantially below that in Scotland and the UK as whole."
Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb called it "fantastic news".
"This month's figures show a record 1.45m people in work in Wales and the country's employment rate is at a record high of 72.5%.
"More people in work means that more families across the UK are benefiting from the security of a regular wage and the fulfilment that employment brings."

Summary: Unemployment has continued to fall in Wales and is once again lower than the UK average, according to the latest figures.
###
Article: It has dropped long and short-term sovereign credit ratings to CCC+/C from B-/B and says its outlook is negative.
Markets use sovereign ratings to work out the interest rate at which investors should lend to a country.
Official figures on Wednesday also showed Greece's deficit last year was higher than government forecasts.
The budget deficit - the difference between its revenue and spending - was 3.5% of GDP, compared with the prediction of 0.8%. The worsening finances of the government could see Greece's creditors pushing for further austerity, experts said.
Meanwhile, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned that an agreement between Athens and its creditors was unlikely to happen any time soon.
"Until now, we don't have a solution, and I don't expect to get a solution in the next week," he said. Greece is meeting with its creditors in the Latvian capital, Riga, on 24 April.
The Syriza government is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its eurozone partners in an attempt to lessen the burden of its debt repayments. A â‚¬750m ($800m; Â£540m) payment is due on 12 May, but the government will struggle to make it.
Athens faces a "choice between paying the IMF or paying the wages and pensions of its employees", Raoul Ruparel, head of economic research at Open Europe, told the BBC.
"For a radical left-wing government such as Syriza, that is a very poisonous choice."
S&P said the Greek economy had shrunk by 1% in six months, despite the twin benefits of a lower oil price and a weak euro.
"Greece's solvency hinges increasingly on favourable business, financial, and economic conditions... In our view, these conditions have worsened.
"Without deep economic reform or further relief, we expect Greece's debt and other financial commitments will be unsustainable."
It added that government finances, which appeared to be improving slightly last year, had now been dented by weaker economic activity and rising arrears on taxes.
Since the end of November 2014, Greek banks have lost about 14% of...

Summary: Ratings agency S&P has downgraded Greece's credit rating again, saying it expects its debt and other financial commitments will be "unsustainable".
###
Article: Inspector Harold Stephens said the County Plan, which will be the blueprint for development in County Durham for the next 20 years, was "unrealistic and flawed".
The council had wanted him to reassess his findings but he has refused.
The authority has now said it will take that decision to court.
Ian Thompson, the council's corporate director of regeneration and economic development, said: "It came as a disappointment that the planning inspector has declined to reopen the examination.
"We maintain the plan offers the best prospect for economic growth and have explored every option and opportunity in our efforts to demonstrate this, which has included employing independent planning experts to review our business-backed predictions for growth.
"We now have no choice but to pursue this matter through the courts by way of a Judicial Review."
In the plan, the county council said it wants to build 31,400 homes and create thousands of jobs over the next 20 years, in a bid to attract more businesses and people to the area.
But Mr Stephens said the plan was "unsound" and assumptions about job growth were "very ambitious".

Summary:


The government has announced it will be introducing a new system of "pay-as-you-go" benefits for the unemployed.
The new system will be introduced in April, with the first claimants to receive the benefit being paid in April.
The government has also announced it will be introducing a new system of "

A man accused of plotting a terror knife attack has appeared in court alongside his sister.

Article: Eleanor Wilson, 28, who worked in Bristol, kissed the pupil and drank alcohol with him while on the flight.
A National College for Teaching & Leadership (NCTL) panel found she engaged in sexual activity with a male pupil in August 2015.
The panel's report found her guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and banned her from teaching indefinitely.
The NCTL found an "inappropriate relationship" took place with the pupil in 2015/16 when she met him in her office, shared her mobile number with him, took him on outings, drank alcohol with him and kissed him on more than one occasion.
Miss Wilson also encouraged the pupil, who has not been identified, to hide their relationship and lied about it when an investigation into the allegations was undertaken by the school, the panel said.
The panel ruled she "fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession".
The teacher, who had denied the allegations, was sacked by the school last year and was not present at the NCTL hearing.

Summary: A teacher who had sex with a student in a plane toilet on a school trip has been banned from the profession.
###
Article: Civil Service World reported that seven out of ten Downing Street special advisers got pay rises of as much as £14,976 after last year's election.
It follows controversy over the size of severance packages to the ex-PM's aides after his resignation in July.
Labour said it was "uber-cronyism".
But the Cabinet Office said the pay increases reflected changes in responsibility and roles among Mr Cameron's staff after last year's Conservative election victory.
The ex-prime minister has already been criticised for giving 17 former advisers larger pay-offs than they were contractually entitled to upon his exit from Downing Street and giving many of them recognition in his resignation honours list.
The decision to give his advisers redundancy pay equivalent to six months salary each amounted to individual packages of £70,000 in certain cases.
The move was challenged at the time by the head of the civil service John Manzoni, who took the unusual step of asking Mr Cameron to give him a written ministerial direction to authorise the payments.
Civil Service World said its own research suggested most of the special advisers involved had already received inflation-busting pay increases less than a year before.
Those who received double-digit increases after the May 2015 victory, it said, included former director of strategy Ameet Gill, former head of operations Liz Sugg and Daniel Korski - deputy director of the Downing Street Policy Unit.
Although the total amount spent on special advisers last year has yet to be published, the magazine said it was estimated to be £8.4m - a substantial increase on the last year of the Labour government in 2009-2010 when it totalled £6.8m.
In opposition, Mr Cameron criticised the amount spent on special advisers - known around Westminster as spads - and said this should be reduced as part of a general drive to cut the cost of politics.
But Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said it was clear now that this was "empty rhetoric".
"This is a triple whammy - honours to cronies and a whacking great pay...

Summary: Theresa May is being urged to "claw back" money paid to some of David Cameron's former advisers after it was reported that they were given pay rises of up to 24% last year.
###
Article: Ummariyat Mirza, 21, of St Agathas Road, Birmingham, is charged with preparing for a terrorist attack in the UK by buying a knife and other items.
His sister, Zainub Mirza, 23, from Eastfield Road, Bordesley Green, is charged with sending Islamic State propaganda videos to others.
They were remanded in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
Read more news for Birmingham and the Black Country
The siblings were ordered to appear on 28 April at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing.
It is alleged Ms Mirza sent the extremist material, including a picture of a man holding two severed heads, to encourage terror attacks.
Mr Mirza was arrested by counter-terror police in Alum Rock Road, Birmingham, as part of a series of raids on homes on 29 March.
He is also charged with possessing the bomb-making guide the Anarchist Cookbook and an extremist document called the Mujahideen Poisons handbook.

Summary:


Skiing on Scotland's snow slopes looks set to continue into the summer month of June as new figures reveal the best season in 14 years.

Article: The presenter said it was "one of the best jobs on television" but felt "it was time to move on".
He will be replaced by Sandi Toksvig, who described it as her "dream job".
Show creator John Lloyd said Toksvig would be "the first female host of a mainstream comedy panel show on British television - an appointment that is well overdue".
Fry's departure would be the "end of an era", Lloyd added.
He said: "Though we are all very sad he's decided to move on, I am confident that we have found the perfect person to occupy his gigantic shoes."
Toksvig hosts Channel 4's Fifteen To One and stood down as chair of BBC Radio Four's The News Quiz earlier this year after a 10-year run.
QI was first broadcast in 2003. Fry was originally hired to be a team captain opposite Alan Davies, but he agreed to host the show as a last-minute replacement for Michael Palin "just for the pilot [episode]".
Fry said: "For 13 years I had one of the best jobs on television. Behind the camera squadrons of quite extraordinarily brilliant researchers, programme makers and uniquely curious (in both senses of the word) people making that job so much easier.
"In front of the camera generations of lively minds and above all of course the wonder of nature that is Alan Davies."
Davies will remain as resident panellist.
The show covers topics under one letter per series, and Fry said "after passing the alphabetical halfway mark I thought it time to move on, but I will never cease to be grateful to John Lloyd for devising QI and for everyone else for making it such fun".
The upcoming M series will be Fry's last.
Toksvig said QI was her "favourite television programme both to watch and to be on, so this is absolutely my dream job".
She said: "Stephen has been utterly brilliant with the first half of the alphabet. Now I look forward to picking up the baton, mixing my metaphors and sailing towards the Land of Nod (i.e. Z).
"Who knows what lies ahead?  It should all be quite interesting."
Last year, Toksvig spoke out after the BBC announced a policy of...

Summary: Stephen Fry is to step down as the host of BBC Two comedy quiz show QI after 13 years.
###
Article: Havering's councillors recently voted by 30 to 15 that the UK would be better off out of the EU.
The 10 most Eurosceptic areas are all in England, with Peterborough and Bracknell Forest second and third.
Ceredigion, Aberdeen and Stirling are the most enthusiastic about the EU, followed by two inner London boroughs, Lambeth and Camden.
Havering has seven Ukip councillors, the highest number of any London borough.
Bromley councillors also voted in favour of leaving the EU last week.
The referendum on EU membership will be held on 23 June.
Matthew Goodwin, co-author of a book about Ukip and a professor of politics at the University of Kent, said coastal towns and eastern England - which Havering borders - were more Eurosceptic than average.
"You tend to have high numbers of working class residents," he said.
"Of all indicators of Euroscepticism, education is the strongest predictor, so if you leave school at 16 you tend to be far more Eurosceptic than people who went to university."
"Euroscepticism also has strongholds in the more wealthy, Tory shires," said YouGov.
"Apart from in Scotland (all Europhile and one mixed), parts of Wales and London many of the Europhile areas are university towns with lower median ages - Liverpool, Manchester, York and Bristol."

Summary: The London borough of Havering is the most Eurosceptic in Britain, according to a YouGov survey.
###
Article: Since late November, Scotland's five mountain resorts have attracted 373,782 customers.
The ski season is estimated to have attracted £37.5m into the local economy.
With fresh snow on the slopes, CairnGorm Mountain expects skiing during the first weekend of June.
Recent figures from Ski Scotland showed that this season's figures were better than the last bumper season of 2000-2001.
Chair of Ski Scotland Heather Negus said: "All winter, we realised we were heading for a great season.
"We had hoped to match the figure for 2001, but didn't realise we had beaten it until recently, when everything was added up - and of course, CairnGorm Mountain is still operating, so we're still counting."
It is estimated that for every pound spent on the slopes another £3 is spent in the local economy with more than £28m being spent this winter in local accommodation, cafés, bars, restaurants, shops and filling stations.
Ms Negus added: "All the ski areas have been delighted to see other local businesses thriving this winter.
"Everything really came together for us - we had lots and lots of superb snow, which kept on coming, some truly amazing overhead weather giving 'bluebird' conditions, and, because there was also snow elsewhere in the UK, people realised that the Scottish Highlands did have skiing and snow boarding to rival the best and they came here to enjoy it."

Summary:


The world's largest aquarium has been given a new name, after a group of scientists discovered a new species of sea slug.

A new species of shrimp has been named after Pink Floyd thanks to a pact between prog rock-loving scientists.

Article: This position activates the right hemisphere of the brain, which is involved in functions that help in communication and bonding, they say.
The "positional bias" is not unique to humans, with their advanced brains, but is also found in animals, according to researchers in Russia.
Similar behaviour has been seen in baby mammals following their mothers.
They include kangaroos and horses on land and walruses and orcas in the sea.
Dr Yegor Malashichev of Saint Petersburg State University, said the position helped in survival and social bonding.
"If there is no eye contact, or it is wrong, there is no activation of the right hemisphere of the infant... the right hemisphere is responsible for social interactions," he told BBC News.
"All the [11] species we studied demonstrated the lateral bias.
"We suggest that this bias is even more widespread and may be a characteristic of all mammals, with few exceptions. "
It has long been known that humans and great apes tend to cradle their babies on the left, particularly during the first weeks of an infant's life.
Various explanations have been proposed, including physical contact - so an infant can hear their mother's heart beat - or practical benefits to the mother, who can keep a hand free for other tasks (if right-handed).
Alternatively, some have proposed it could be related to eye contact and its effect on the brain.
When a mother cradles her baby to the left and face-to-face, the left eyes of the mother and infant are directed towards each other, say the researchers.
Thus, the visual information goes mostly to their right hemisphere of the brain, the side involved in functions such as attention, memory, reasoning, and problem solving (all of which contribute to effective communication).
The researchers looked at humans and 10 wild animals:
The scientists found the young animals kept close to the right side of their mother.
This meant they watched her mainly with their left eye, activating the right hemisphere of the brain.
While doing this, they were less likely to...

Summary: Scientists say they have solved the mystery of why mothers tend to cradle newborn babies on the left.
###
Article: William Grant and Sons said the whisky industry currently enjoyed "substantial support" from the UK government and its worldwide embassy network.
It is understood to have given in the region of £100,000 to Better Together.
The Scottish government has argued that independence would benefit the whisky industry.
William Grant, which produces brands including Glenfiddich malt whisky, had a turnover of more than £1bn last year.  It is one of the few Scotch whisky producers to remain in family ownership.
The company is said to have also donated smaller sums of money to other groups who are campaigning for a "No" vote ahead of the independence referendum, which will be held on 18 September.
Industry trade body the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has not formally backed either side in the independence debate.
Its chief executive, David Frost, said in April he was seeking reassurances about what he described as the potential "risks" of independence for the industry.
However, Mr Frost also said the industry would succeed regardless of the result.
And Diageo, which owns several Scotch whisky brands, has previously said the firm was "there [in Scotland] to stay" whatever the outcome of the referendum.
In a statement, William Grant and Sons Holdings Limited said: "We can confirm that the company has made these donations.
"We support the stance of the SWA over independence and would refer you to their recent statement that the Scotch whisky industry enjoys substantial support from the UK government and its worldwide embassy network and from lack of trade barriers within the EU."
A spokesman for Better Together said: "We are delighted to have received this support. More and more companies, individuals and families are saying no thanks to separation."
Scotch whisky was responsible for more than £4bn of exports last year, which the SWA said accounted for about 85% of Scottish food and drink exports and nearly a quarter of the British total.
In its White Paper on independence, the Scottish government argued that the biggest...

Summary: A major whisky distiller has donated what has been described as a "substantial sum" of money to the campaign against Scottish independence.
###
Article: The synalpheus pinkfloydi uses its large pink claw to create a noise so loud it can kill small fish.
The team behind the discovery vowed years ago if it ever found a new pink shrimp it would "honour" the rockers.
Sammy De Grave, head of research at Oxford University Museum of National History, said he has been a fan of the band since he was a teenager.
And it is not the first crustacean he's named after a rock legend, having already named a species of shrimp after Rolling Stones front man, Mick Jagger - elephantis jaggerai.
He said: "I have been listening to Floyd since The Wall was released in 1979, when I was 14 years old.
"The description of this new species of pistol shrimp was the perfect opportunity to finally give a nod to my favourite band.
"We are all Pink Floyd fans, and we always said if we would find a pink one, a new species of pink shrimp, we would name it after Pink Floyd."
The pistol, or snapping shrimp, has an ability to generate sonic energy by closing their enlarged claw at rapid speed.
It can reach 210 decibels - louder than your average rock concert - and results in one of the loudest sounds in the ocean.
The description of the species, found off the Pacific coast of Panama, has been published in the Zootaxa journal and was co-authored with the Universidade Federal de GoiÃ¡s in Brazil, and Seattle University in the US.

Summary:


The government has announced it will spend £1.5m on a new £1.5m-a-year scheme to help the unemployed.
The scheme, which will be launched in September, will provide a £1,000-a-month allowance to people who are unable to work due to a lack

Hundreds of aerospace jobs could be lost if a factory is forced to "significantly downsize" or close, it has been claimed.

Article: Ilkeston station was initially given the go-ahead in 2013 and had been expected to be in operation by now.
Great crested newts, which are protected by law, were found at the site in the winter halting work while they were moved elsewhere.
Derbyshire County Council said the station should open next year.
It said it had to seek new planning permission following advice from the Environment Agency over flooding concerns.
To keep on budget the design had to be changed. That included shortening the platforms.
Ilkeston is one of the largest towns in the UK without a railway station.
The town once had three stations but the last one closed in 1967 as a result of the Beeching Report, published in 1963.
The new facility, part-funded from the government's New Station Fund, will link Ilkeston with Nottingham, Chesterfield and Sheffield.

Summary: Work to build a railway station in Derbyshire could start in September, following delays due to flooding and the discovery of protected newts.
###
Article: Ornithologist David Lindo - who launched the campaign - said the robin was "entwined into our national psyche" as a "Christmas card pin-up".
He now plans to ask the government to officially recognise the robin as the national bird.
The red-breasted bird received 34% of votes, followed by the barn owl, which received 12%, and the blackbird, 11%.
BBC Springwatch presenter Mr Lindo began the project last year, saying Britain should have a national bird like many other countries.
More than 224,000 people voted online, at ballot boxes in schools and by post.
The robin was initially selected - along with nine other birds - from a list of 60 in a preliminary vote. A ballot for the final 10 then opened to the British public in March.
Polling closed on the day of the general election, 7 May.
Other contenders included the wren, the red kite and the kingfisher - which came 4th, 5th and 6th respectively.
The mute swan came 7th in the vote, followed by the blue tit, the hen harrier and the puffin.
If the government agrees the robin should represent the UK, it would join the ranks of these other national birds from around the world:
Mr Lindo has said he would speak to the government to ask for the winner to be officially recognised as Britain's national bird.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think the robin is totally entwined into our national psyche - it is the Christmas card pin-up and the supposed gardeners' friend.
"So the robin's everywhere.  And I think most people would cite the robin as one of the birds that they actually could recognise."
Most voters - some 60% - were not associated with bird-watching or conservation organisations, meaning a "completely new audience" now had a "vested interest in nature", added Mr Lindo.
"It's great to reach a new audience and get people thinking about birds, so it has been a great success."
He said the blackbird had been in second place until children's votes were counted - and that they favoured the owl.

Summary: The robin has topped a poll of more than 200,000 people to choose the UK's first national bird.
###
Article: GKN Aerospace in Yeovil, Somerset, which makes airframes for Royal Navy helicopters, said the potential loss of the contact puts 230 jobs at risk.
Leonardo, which assembles the Wildcat helicopter in the town, has told GKN it plans to take production in-house.
The firm said the current arrangement was "no longer sustainable".
The union Unite said it was a "massive blow".
GKN has begun formal consultations with the unions regarding potential job losses in Yeovil.
The firm said in a statement that the move by Leonardo "puts at risk the long term viability of our Yeovil site".
GKN added: "Having completed a thorough assessment of the business, we have regrettably concluded that GKN Yeovil, as it stands today, is no longer a sustainable business and will have to be significantly downsized or fully closed.
"We will now enter a period of consultation with nominated employee representatives."
Andy Soughton of the Unite union said talk of a potential site closure was a "bit of a shock".
"We've had quite a few redundancies over the years, and work has dropped off a little bit," he said.
"So I think people were expecting something to happen. But not a closure."
More than 250 jobs were lost at GKN's car manufacturing branch in Telford in Shropshire in August.

Summary:


The UK's top police officer has said he is "very concerned" about the threat posed by Islamic State militants in the UK.
The Metropolitan Police said it was "very concerned" about the threat posed by Islamic State militants in the UK.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said: "We are very

Four men have been arrested in the UK following a counter-terrorism operation led by Italian authorities, the North East Counter Terrorism Unit says.

Article: This debate, as well as recent differences of opinion between the leader and his shadow cabinet, have focused attention on the complex process by which policies will end up in Labour's manifesto.
Here's a guide:
Labour Party policy is the result of consultation with members, elected representatives (MPs, MEPs and councillors) and the trade unions.
The main body for shaping policy is the National Policy Forum, an elected group of over 200 people representing councillors, trade unions, socialist societies and MPs. It produces reports on the different policy areas, which are presented at annual conference and either accepted or rejected in a vote.
For manifesto policy, there is a formal consultation process which culminates in a meeting of the forum the year before the general election to agree the final details of what will form the foundation of Labour's next manifesto.
This document is then put before conference for adoption as Labour's policy programme. No proposal is included in the party programme unless it is adopted by a majority of not less than two-thirds of a conference vote.
Importantly, conference votes whether to accept or reject large policy documents as a whole - not on individual policies or line by line.
When Labour is not in government, the final say on which items make it into the manifesto is made at a meeting of Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC), the shadow cabinet and key figures from both the Parliamentary Labour Party and the National Policy Forum.
Day to day policy-making on Labour's position on votes that arise in the House of Commons is slightly different. It relies on a looser and more informal process based on consultation and consent with the shadow cabinet, Labour MPs and the NEC.
The annual autumn conference is described by Labour as "the ultimate authority in the party".
Labour's Conference Arrangements Committee oversees the agenda and sets the timetable. If it accepts a motion, they are grouped into topics and conference delegates choose four topics submitted...

Summary: Jeremy Corbyn is preparing for his first annual conference as Labour leader, which will include a vote on the party's nuclear policy for the first time in over a decade.
###
Article: James Gillespie's High School said the immunisations would be carried out on 12 October.
The school told parents it had been informed "too late" to take any preventative measures.
NHS Lothian said the case at the school was part of a wider increase in measles in the area.
In a letter to parents of pupils at the school, business manager David Anderson said: "Unfortunately by the time we are informed of an infection it is too late to apply preventative measures for the current outbreak.
"However, we are trying to arrange immunisation on Wednesday, 12 October, for vulnerable staff and students to protect against future outbreaks.
"NHS Scotland will provide us with details of students who they believe have not had the full course of vaccinations and we will aim to target those students and give them further information and consent forms to take home."
A spokesman for City of Edinburgh Council said: "In line with the guidance of NHS Lothian letters have been issued to parents advising of the situation and including facts on measles vaccinations."
The MMR immunisation programme prevents against measles with the first dose given soon after a child's first birthday and the second dose before they go to school.
The NHS said some people were at greater risk of complications if they contracted measles, including pregnant women, babies under 12 months of age and people who have weakened immune systems.

Summary: An Edinburgh high school is planning to immunise "vulnerable" staff and students after a pupil contracted measles.
###
Article: The unit was assisted by officers from Humberside, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands.
The arrests are part of a pre-planned operation relating to alleged terrorism offences under Italian legislation.
Police said the four men will appear before Westminster Magistrates Court but did not specify a date.
The arrests took place under European Arrest Warrants, police added. Those arrested face extradition to Italy.
Jihadist cell in Europe 'sought recruits for Iraq and Syria'
The men were part of raids in several European countries connected to a suspected "jihadist network" which was allegedly plotting to free its leader, Mullah Krekar, who is in detention in Norway.
Six suspects were detained in Italy and three in Norway. Krekar was among those arrested.
Italian police said the group was planning to seize Norwegian and British diplomats to try to secure Krekar's release.
Italy's Ansa news agency said the suspects were being accused of international terrorism association.
The men arrested in Britain are:
The terrorism unit said the men are being held at a police station in the north of England and will not be questioned by officers in the UK.
The addresses of the men are being searched, and after appearing before magistrates they will be handed over to Italian authorities.
A statement from the North East Counter Terrorism Unit said: "We understand that people may be concerned following today's arrests.
"However, we would like to reassure communities that today's activity is as a result of an ongoing investigation which is intelligence led.
"There is no evidence to suggest that communities are at risk."

Summary:


The Scottish Government has announced that it will be spending £1.5m to help the NHS to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
The Scottish Government said it would be spending £1.5m to help the NHS to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
The Scottish Government said it would

The preferred location for a town's first railway station in 50 years has been revealed.

Article: The former deputy prime minister claims an exit vote would trigger a second Scottish independence referendum.
It comes as Mr Clegg's successor as Lib Dem leader, Tim Farron, prepares to launch the party's campaign to stay in the EU in the vote expected next year.
Mr Farron is also set for a showdown with activists at his party's conference over scrapping Trident.
The Lib Dem leader will speak out against a motion calling for the party to back unilateral nuclear disarmament.
He is expected to argue that while a like-for-like replacement for Trident is too expensive, other options should be considered to maintain Britain's deterrent in an uncertain world.
Mr Clegg's return to the Lib Dem conference stage, four months after his party's crushing election defeat and his own emotional exit from frontline politics, is expected to be greeted warmly by activists.
He will say: "The stakes could not be higher: not just one, but two, unions now hang in the balance.
"If we vote to leave the EU, I have no doubt that the SNP will gleefully grab the opportunity to persuade the people of Scotland to leave the UK as well."
That would leave a "once great country now pulled apart", creating a "Little England" left isolated and lacking international influence, according to Mr Clegg.
"I have no doubt that David Cameron's referendum will be contested on the issue of jobs, economic security, the terms of any renegotiation and so on," he will say.
"But there's a big, enduring question which hangs over all of this: what kind of country do we want to be, what is our role in this globalised world of ours? Open or closed?
"Leading in our own European backyard or isolated from our nearest neighbours?
"Because let's be clear: for all the huffing and puffing we're going to hear from those who want to leave the EU, they have no answer to that fundamental strategic question."
He will also urge Labour to wholeheartedly campaign for the UK to remain in the EU after the confusion of Jeremy Corbyn's first few days at Labour's helm.
Mr Farron, who...

Summary: Nick Clegg is due to warn the Lib Dem conference that a vote to leave the EU could tear the United Kingdom apart.
###
Article: Marathon Oil's Brae Alpha platform, 155 miles north east of Aberdeen, was shut down after the Boxing Day gas leak.
"Significant damage" was caused, but no-one was injured.
The HSE said Marathon failed to remove insulation of pipework for inspection since its commissioning in 1983.
Marathon Oil's own corrosion strategy recommended it was done at least every 12 year, the report said.
The HSE said failures exposed personnel to an "unacceptable risk" of serious injury from fire and explosion.
The firm has been issued with an improvement notice.
Marathon said it was co-operating fully with the HSE and was taking immediate steps to comply with the improvement notice.
A spokesperson said: "Many of the prescribed remedial actions are already well under way. The safety and welfare of our workforce continues to be our first priority.
"Production remains shut-in on the Brae Alpha installation while we continue our investigation and will remain so until we are confident it is safe to resume operations.
"At this time, we are unable to estimate a timeline for this."

Summary: A leak on a North Sea platform was caused by a "catastrophic" failure of pipework which had not been properly inspected for more than 30 years, the Health and Safety Executive has said.
###
Article: Lancashire County Council has earmarked land on the former Glenburn Sports College and Skelmersdale College.
The sports college closed in August, while Skelmersdale College's Westbank campus, owned by Newcastle College, is also unused.
The decision follows a comparative study by Network Rail of both sites and one near the Concourse shopping centre.
Skelmersdale's original railway station closed to passengers in 1956.
The council - which owns Glenburn Sports College - said Skelmersdale could get two direct trains to Liverpool per hour under the plans it has made in partnership with Merseytravel and West Lancashire Borough Council.
County councillor John Fillis, cabinet member for highways and transport, said it was an "exciting step forward".
He said the preferred location was big enough to allow for the possibility of future expansion.
He added: "It has good highway access and good connectivity to the town and the surrounding area."
The authority confirmed it will now start the process of acquiring the relevant land.
Skelmersdale was designated a new town on 9 October 1961..
It is one of the largest towns in the north west of England not to have its own railway station.

Summary:


The UK's first-past-the-post electoral system means that lots of MPs are elected on fewer than half of the votes cast in their constituencies.
At the last election, 333 out of 650 winning candidates received less than 50% of the vote.
Those MPs could have been defeated if all the people who

A Newspaper has shown a home video of the Queen when she was a young girl, raising her arm like a Nazi salute.

Article: The Liberal Democrats, Greens, UKIP, DUP and UUP have all said they'll stand aside in at least one constituency.
There won't be national deals though. Co-operation will be limited to local agreements. And it's difficult to be sure how big the impact will be.
Britain's first-past-the-post electoral system means that lots of MPs are elected on fewer than half of the votes cast in their constituencies.
At the last election, 333 out of 650 winning candidates received less than 50% of the vote.
Those MPs could have been defeated if all the people who voted against them had gone for the same alternative candidate.
Clearly, that would never happen everywhere. But parties who agree on some of the main issues potentially have a lot to gain if they can co-ordinate their supporters.
One option is to encourage tactical voting. A more direct approach is to enter some sort of alliance or pact which sees parties choosing not to put forward candidates in certain seats.
Even without an agreement, parties can try to affect the result simply by choosing not to contest some constituencies.
There's going to be more co-ordination of this kind in 2017 than we've seen at previous elections.
As a strategy, though, it does rely on voters being prepared to vote for a candidate from a party which would not have been their first choice.
One part of the country where electoral deals have been used before is Northern Ireland.
In 2015, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) agreed a pact not to stand against each other in four constituencies: Belfast North, Belfast East, Fermanagh & South Tyrone, and Newry & Armagh.
The deal was pretty successful. The unionist candidate won in three of the four seats. And the Sinn Fein majority was halved in Newry and Armagh.
This year, the UUP have said they won't put up candidates in Belfast North, Belfast West and Foyle. And the DUP won't stand in Fermanagh & South Tyrone once again.
The parties have held discussions about the possibility of extending the pact but without...

Summary: The 2017 general election looks set to see more co-operation between political parties than ever before.
###
Article: User profiles were used to send out advertisements for a weightloss site.
It's not clear how many people have been affected, but Snapchat users in several countries took to Twitter to complain about the problem.
Snapchat has suffered breaches in the past, including the leak of 4.6m usernames and phone numbers in January.
In that instance, a website called SnapchatDB released the personal data but censored the last two digits of phone numbers. Those behind it said they wanted to raise awareness of a vulnerability that Snapchat had not fixed.
In a statement, Snapchat said the latest incident was due to user credentials being found on other sites.
"We have seen evidence that hackers who have access to a trove of credentials leaked from other websites, have started using them to gain access to Snapchat accounts," the service told the BBC.
"In many instances, our defences have notified the user that their account has been compromised.
"We recommend using a unique and complex password to access your Snapchat account."
The breach takes control of a person's account to send an image to everyone in a user's contact list.
Users who log back into their accounts are then emailed by Snapchat, warning that they should change their password.
The image sent out does not appear to cause any harm to the sender or recipient, and instead promotes a website offering suspect weightloss products.
The web address is registered under the name of Stanislaw Wojciechowski - the former president of Poland.
Snapchat, which launched in 2011, has been hit by a number of security set-backs.
The app is designed to send pictures and messages that self-destruct after a short time. However, an app called Snapchat Hack allowed users to save messages permanently.
Security researcher Brian Honan said the service's track record was not encouraging - and that it could soon put users off.
"One thing that moves people off apps is if it's not cool anymore, or it's been replaced by another fantastic service. Or that people have lost confidence in...

Summary: Accounts on messaging service Snapchat have been hijacked to send spam - but the site has said it was not the victim of a hack.
###
Article: Media playback is unsupported on your device
18 July 2015 Last updated at 13:43 BST
The video which was filmed around 1933, shows the Queen playing with a dog in the private gardens at Balmoral in Scotland.
The Queen Mother raises her arm like a Nazi salute and the Queen copies her.
Buckingham Palace have said the release of the video is ''disappointing''. They said the video was filmed more than 80 years ago and was from the Queen's private family collection.
The Nazi salute was used by Adolf Hitler, who was Germany's leader at the time.
His actions during World War Two caused the deaths of millions of people.
The Sun newspaper, who released the video, have refused to say how they got the footage but said it was an "important and interesting story".

Summary:


The UK's EU renegotiation talks are set to begin on Monday, with the UK's Prime Minister Theresa May expected to announce a new deal by the end of the week.
The talks are expected to be a key part of the UK's negotiations with the EU, which are due to begin in Brussels on Monday.

The Daily and Sunday Politics are on-air six days a week for much of the year reporting the political news from Westminster and beyond.

Article: Organisers said more than 4,000 people attended the rally, making it one of Singapore's largest ever protests.
They are angry at a recent government policy paper that predicted the population would grow by 30% to 6.9 million by 2030, with immigrants making up nearly half that figure.
Many locals blame immigration for rises in property prices and living costs.
The peaceful three-hour rally took place in heavy rain at a park venue known as Speakers' Corner, where protests are allowed without a police permit. Only a handful of uniformed officers were seen close by,
The crowds, protected from the downpours by a sea of umbrellas, came out to voice their displeasure at the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) immigration policies, rally organisers said.
"The large crowd here shows the PAP government that they are not afraid any more, they don't want to hide behind a moniker on Facebook to show their displeasure," chief organiser Gilbert Goh, a former opposition candidate for parliament, told AFP news agency.
"They are showing their deep displeasure with the white paper."
Singapore is known for its strict social controls and intolerance of dissent.
Saturday's protest came as news emerged that Singapore's first prime minister, 89-year-old Lee Kuan Yew, has been taken to hospital with a brain-related blockage.
Mr Lee, who is the father of current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, will remain in hospital while he recovers from a suspected transient ischaemic attack, which occurs when blood flow to the brain stops for a period of time, a statement from his son's office said.
The Singaporean government said last month that it expected its population to increase by 30% to between 6.5 million and 6.9 million by 2030, with foreigners making up 45% of that number.
It said immigration was needed to help offset a slowing birth rate and ageing population, and it needed to find a balance between the number of Singaporeans and foreigners in order to sustain its rate of economic growth.
"If we do too little to address the...

Summary: Singaporeans have staged a rare demonstration, in protest at government plans to allow more immigration.
###
Article: Guptill, 28, has not played a Test since the 2013 tour to England, but last month hit 237 against West Indies, the highest score in World Cup history.
Paceman Matt Henry gets a maiden Test call and uncapped all-rounder Mitchell Santner is in the one-day squad.
The World Cup runners-up will play two Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 international from 21 May to 23 June.
"This is a stable, established Test side but there will be opportunities for contenders," said coach Mike Hesson.
Of Guptill, who averages 39 in one-day internationals but only 29 from his 31 Tests, Hesson added: "Martin's a classically styled batsman and there's really no reason why he can't be as influential in the longer game as he is in the short."
Guptill's recall may mean Derbyshire have to make an additional overseas signing, as he had originally signed to play in their first six County Championship games but will now only be available for three.
Brendon McCullum captains the 15-man squad but is one of several players who will miss the two warm-up matches ahead of the opening Test at Lord's on 21 May because of Indian Premier League commitments.
Wicketkeeper BJ Watling will take charge of those fixtures, with Santner and uncapped pace bowlers Jacob Duffy and Ben Wheeler joining the squad.
Fast bowler Adam Milne, who was ruled out of the World Cup with a heel injury and replaced by Henry before the semi-final against South Africa, has been included in the limited-overs squad, while the only World Cup squad member not involved is seamer Kyle Mills.
Test squad: Brendon McCullum (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Luke Ronchi (wk), Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk), Kane Williamson.
ODI and T20 squad: Brendon McCullum (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Adam Milne, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Kane...

Summary: New Zealand have recalled batsman Martin Guptill to the Test squad for their forthcoming tour of England.
###
Article: Here are some of the clips from our interviews hosted by Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn, with films from our reporting team.
Follow us on twitter or 'like' us on  Facebook where we look forward to your comments and you can hear more news about upcoming guests and films.
When Parliament is sitting, the Daily Politics is on BBC2 from 1200-1300 on weekdays, with an 1130 start on Wednesdays for PMQs, and the Sunday Politics is on BBC1 from 1100-1215, occasionally moving for live sport and news events.
Both have a repeat on BBC Parliament at midnight, and are on BBC iPlayer for 30 days.
DP and SP Facebook site with more interviews and pictures
Is the PM's EU renegotiation progressing?
How the smaller parties did in 2015
A look back at UKIP's year
A look back at Labour's year
Has 2015 been a good year for the Tories?
Who is 2015's Daily Politics Secret Santa?
Is another recession coming and are we ready?
LGA chief on local government finances
What can we learn from election-themed books?
What do the EU referendum polls say?
Peers discuss Lords reform plans
Edward Docx's pro-EU Christmas poem
John Redwood's 'Brexit fairy tale'
Jon Culshaw's review of the year
Should fracking under national parks be allowed?
Latest on UK's EU renegotiation talks
Should Prince Charles receive cabinet papers?
Panel on final PMQs of 2015
Soapbox: Should motorists over 70 be retested?
Guests discuss retesting for motorists aged over 70
Is Star Wars left or right-wing?
Should there be a Lib-Lab pact? Vince Cable and Chris Mullin discuss
Chris Mullin: 'Jeremy Corbyn should be given a chance'
What lies ahead in EU membership debate?
What action has the RAF taken in Syria?
What are the prospects for Welsh Tories?
Why has Theresa May lasted so long as home secretary?
Peter Bone and Chris Mullin on Theresa May
Cat Smith: 'I don't see Ken Livingstone playing big role'
Peter Hunt goes behind the scenes at Thatcher auction
Is David Cameron's EU renegotiation meaningless?
Craig Mackinlay and Cat Smith on votes at 16
Daniel Hannan: When you know the PM...

Summary:


Ian Paisley's time in prison was a defining moment in his life.

Scotland head coach Vern Cotter says his team are "lining up for the arm wrestle" and are showing more "explosiveness" ahead of the World Cup.

Article: From the air, the flat, small island of Tongatapu doesn't look much like land at all, with the astonishingly blue Pacific Ocean dominating the view.
But it is home to Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, and to the majority of the country's population - 70,000 or so out of around 90,000.
And for Tongans - who have lived here since the 9th Century, when the first settlers arrived by boat, the issue of rising sea levels and climate change is not just one for discussion at an abstract level - it proves a threat to their very existence.
Tonga's economy is weak - based to a large extent on remittances from expatriates, and on foreign aid.
Agriculture is mainly at subsistence level, and fishing - which is done by traditional spear - has lost some popularity over the previous decades, as cheap imported off-cuts of meats have replaced much of the traditional diet.
Highly religious, and well educated, Tongans' attachment to their fragile land is something evident in their pride and discussion of traditions and culture.
Tourism is barely visible on Tongatapu, where most land is owned by the King and the nobility (33 families).
Foreign investment is not much in evidence either; though what is evident is that many people from Tonga's 150 outer islands, which scatter over hundreds of miles of sea, are relocating to the main island as their own fragile habitats face an uncertain future.
These are often in informal settlements, which can suffer from a lack of infrastructure, and some of which are in tsunami "red zones".
Yet at Fafa Island Resort, a tiny, picture-perfect island merely 20 minutes by boat from Nuku'alofa, tourists enjoy the luxury of sleeping in a traditional Polynesian hut - right by the beach. Or they do - for now.
Vincent Morrish, who manages the hotel with his wife, points out the erosion that will mean the huts will eventually have to be moved back into the centre of the island.
"We're already having to move the restaurant and bar area back," he says, pointing out at what was once the beach, but is now between...

Summary: The vulnerability of the Kingdom of Tonga to any rise in sea level is starkly evident from the moment your plane begins its descent.
###
Article: He was the political "never never" man who became Northern Ireland's first minister.
Ian Paisley ended up leading a power-sharing executive at Stormont - although he had supported the strike to bring one down 30 years earlier.
From firebrand preacher, he moved on to earn the nickname of "chuckle brother" alongside deputy first minister, Sinn FÃ©in's Martin McGuinness.
He died in September 2014.
Obituary: Ian Paisley
Last year, the Bannside Library, housing his collection of more than 50,000 books, opened in east Belfast.
And among the memorabilia on display are his letters from jail. He served three months in Crumlin Road prison, 50 years ago, for unlawful assembly.
With time on his hands, the preacher decided to write a book on the Epistle to the Romans. He wrote the pages by hand.
They are written very neatly in red, blue and black ink. He then sent them home to his wife, Eileen, for her to type up.
He also wrote letters to his family at home and that collection has now been catalogued by his daughter, Sharon.
He had a guaranteed audience of one for his book in the jail, she said.
"When Daddy sent these out of prison every week, the governor had to read them to make sure there was nothing that shouldn't coming out of prison, so he had to read the book as well," she said with a smile.
Among the memorabilia is a special handkerchief.
"There was a man in prison who was a gifted artist.
"Mum and dad would have had their tenth wedding anniversary when he was in prison. And the man took one of daddy's handkerchiefs and did the picture of mum from an electioneering poster. It is painted onto the handkerchief," she said.
The same man saw the hymn written on the fly leaf of Ian Paisley's bible and decided to copy it.
"He lifted this board from the prison yard with wet paint on the back of it and made: A Father's Prayer," said Baroness Paisley.
She said her husband never got the knack of new technology when writing his books and essays.
"He asked me one day if I would look something up in a book, and I said: 'Ian I...

Summary: A selection of letters and drawings has cast a light on former first minster and DUP leader Ian Paisley's time in prison.
###
Article: The Scots lost their final warm-up Test 19-16 to France and Cotter believes the run-out in Paris will help his side in their World Cup opener against Japan.
"It certainly went up a level and was a very physical game against a very aggressive defence," he said.
"It was a big game with some pleasing things but things we need to work on."
Scotland went in 9-6 at the interval at the Stade de France thanks to the boot of Greig Laidlaw but lost momentum on occasions with problems at the set piece and losing line-out ball.
"We didn't get ball and when we did it wasn't clean," said Cotter who was in charge of Scotland for the 16th time.
"Despite that, I thought the players defended really well. The guys put in some big hits. Sometimes in days like that if you don't have the ball then you make up for it in other ways. That means you're adapting."
Cotter had special praise for John Hardie in the week the New Zealander picked his fellow countryman for Scotland's World Cup squad despite only having played an hour of rugby for the national side.
He said: "Crikey, John added an edge. He was very effective and got through an enormous amount of work.
"This sort of thing inspires people. He's a class player. We've got some class players and there are some class players that didn't make it."
Scotland's attention now turns to the World Cup and the opening match against Japan on 23 September, followed by games against the United States, South Africa and Samoa.
And, while acknowledging more work needs to be done, Cotter says there is a determination ahead of travelling to England for the finals.
"We're getting better," he said. "We got a reminder that we need to work on our line-out. I thought our scrum was better.
"I think we're showing agility on the field - both mental and physical. We're lining up for the arm wrestle, which is good.
"We're showing a little bit more explosiveness around the contact areas but we need to develop a bit more confidence. We want to do really well in this World Cup and the players are determined."

Summary: