The UK's biggest gas station is to be converted to run on hydrogen, with a cost of Â£2bn.

A new devolved authority has been ordered to review its estimated budget after it rose by £500,000.

Article: The galaxy NGC 1277, just a quarter the size of our own Milky Way, hosts a black hole 4,000 times larger than the one at the Milky Way's centre.
A report in Nature shows it has a mass some 17 billion times that of our Sun.
The surprise finding is hard to reconcile with existing models of black hole growth, which hold that they evolve in tandem with host galaxies.
Getting to grips with just how large black holes are is a tricky business - after all, since they swallow light in their vicinities, they cannot be seen.
Instead, astronomers measure the black holes' "sphere of influence" - the gravitational effects they have on surrounding gas and stars.
In the Milky Way, it is possible to observe individual stars as they orbit Sagittarius A*, our own local black hole, to guess its mass.
But for the 100 or so far more distant black holes whose masses have been estimated, astronomers have made average measurements of associated stars' speeds - their "velocity dispersion".
On a hunt for the Universe's largest black holes, astronomers using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in the US state of Texas undertook a survey that brought in a haul of nearly 900 host galaxies.
But Remco van den Bosch, then at the University of Texas at Austin, and his colleagues were surprised to find that some of the largest black holes were to be found in small galaxies.
Among them was NGC 1277, 220 million light years away in the constellation Perseus, which happens to appear also in a high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope image, helping the researchers to refine their computer models.
"We make a model of the galaxy and compute all the possible stellar orbits," Dr Van den Bosch, who is now at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany, explained to BBC News.
Could you survive falling into one?
"Like a big jigsaw, we try to put those orbits together to reproduce that galaxy so it has the same stellar velocities we measure. "
What the team found was that the NGC 1277 black hole was enormous - as large as our Solar System, and comprising some...

Summary: Astronomers have spotted an enormous black hole - the second most massive ever - but it resides in a tiny galaxy.
###
Article: Northern Gas Networks (NGN) claims a nationwide move away from methane to a hydrogen grid was "technically possible and economically viable".
The gas distributor said conversion could start in Leeds by 2026, with estimated costs of Â£2bn.
The city has been selected due to its "size and location", the report said.
The H21 Leeds City Gate report said more than 30% of all UK carbon emissions were from domestic heating and cooking, with a conversion to hydrogen reducing heat emissions by "a minimum of 73%".
Existing underground gas pipes could be used and household appliances could be converted to run on hydrogen, it added.
Instead of burning methane and releasing carbon into the atmosphere, the process would remove the carbon and store it in "appropriate geological storage locations" under the North Sea.
The remaining hydrogen, which emits no carbon dioxide when burnt, would then be used for domestic energy, NGN said.
Dan Sadler, from NGN, said: "This is a major opportunity for our country to become a world leader in hydrogen technology and decarbonisation and would create thousands of new jobs across the UK."
The gas distributor said the highly flammable substance would need "expert management", but added research had found the risk between hydrogen and natural gas leaks in a typical home "comparable".
Councillor Lucinda Yeadon, Leeds City Council's executive member for environment and sustainability, said: "Transforming Leeds into a hydrogen city would be a bold step.
"The project has massive potential to make a significant dent in the city's environmental performance, as well as opening up a wealth of opportunities for innovation, manufacturing and low carbon transport."

Summary: Leeds should be the first city in the UK to convert its gas grid to hydrogen to help meet carbon reduction targets, a report has suggested.
###
Article: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCC), set up this year, originally estimated annual running costs of about £1.3m.
But the authority's scrutiny committee voted against approving it, with one member asking if recruitment plans were "written on the back of a bus ticket".
CPCC said a reason for the rise was that a new authority was being created.
The authority, created under government devolution plans, intends to employ 15 staff, including newly-created housing, skills and transport director roles all on annual salaries above £100,000.
After Wednesday's decision by the scrutiny committee, the process of recruiting any new staff cannot begin until CPCC has reconsidered its budget, the deadline for which is 31 August.
Labour Cambridge city councillor Dave Baigent, a member of the scrutiny committee, asked of the new jobs: "Were these ideas written down on the back of a bus ticket? Were they discussed with councillors in advance?"
Lucy Nethsinga, a Liberal Democrat county councillor, said she had concerns over how these jobs overlapped with those in county and district councils.
CPCC chief executive Martin Whiteley said: "We, with 15 staff, will be substantially smaller than any other devolved authority in the country.
"I don't envisage us creating a big shiny office. We'll be looking to work flexibly across council offices."

Summary:


People with hidden health conditions are being offered "Please offer me a seat" badges in a bid to help ease their suffering on London transport.

Article: The layouts seem to converge over time to a similar structure regardless of where or over how long they were built.
The study,
          in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface
, analysed 14 subway networks around the world.
It found common distributions of stations within the networks, as well as common proportions of the numbers of lines, stations, and total distances.
In some senses, it is unsurprising that the study found that networks tended over time to comprise a dense core of central stations with a number of lines radiating outward from it.
By choosing the world's largest networks, from Beijing to Barcelona, the results were bound to represent networks that serve city centres with a dense collection of stations and bring commuters inward from more distant stations.
But the analysis shows a number of less obvious similarities across all 14 networks.
It found the total number of stations was proportional to the square of the number of lines - that is, a four-fold increase in station number would result in a doubling of the number of lines.
The dense core of central stations all had the same average number of neighbours in the network, and in all cases, about half the total number of stations were found outside the core.
In addition, the length of any one branch from the core's centre was about the same as twice the diameter of the core.
The number of stations at a given distance from the centre was proportional to the square of that distance, but only up to the edge of the core; at more distant reaches of the network, the number of stations contained was directly proportional to distance.
The authors analysed how the networks grew and added lines and stations, finding that they all converged over time to these similar structures.
They authors point out that the similarities exist regardless of where the networks were, when they were begun, or how quickly they reached their current layout.
"Although these (networks) might appear to be planned in some centralised manner, it is our contention here...

Summary: A study of the world's largest subway networks has revealed that they are remarkably mathematically similar.
###
Article: Figures for August showed 28,654 people waiting longer than nine months, the target time for everyone to be treated.
Tory spokesman Darren Millar blamed "record-breaking budget cuts", while Lib Dem leader Kirsty Williams said Labour had "lost control of our NHS".
The Welsh government said the figures were "not acceptable" but said spending on health was up by 9% in two years.
Mr Millar said: "Labour ministers have starved our NHS of more than Â£1bn over the past five years, while spending in other parts of the UK has been protected.
"These waiting time statistics show that it's patients and their loved ones who are paying the price."
Ms Williams accused Labour of "failure" on public services and a "poverty of ambition".
"NHS staff are working around the clock to offer the very best treatment they can," she said.
"Sadly they are having to work in very trying circumstances which is making their job incredibly difficult."
A Welsh government spokesman said: "These figures are not acceptable and we expect to see urgent improvement to reduce the number of people experiencing long waiting times for the start of their treatment.
"However, they do show that more than eight out of 10 were waiting less than 26 weeks to start treatment at the end of August 2015, with nearly 94% waiting less than 36 weeks.
"The standard referral to treatment time is 11 weeks."
He added that an extra Â£1.1bn had been invested in the Welsh NHS in the past two years, despite cuts in funding for the overall Welsh budget by the UK government.

Summary: The number of people waiting longer than nine months for hospital treatment in Wales has risen again.
###
Article: The Transport for London (TfL) trial follows the success of its "Baby on board" badge for pregnant women.
TfL is recruiting 1,000 people to start wearing the blue badges from 12 September.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he hoped they would "give confidence" to people who find standing difficult.
Some travellers, such as James McNaught who is joining the trial, had already started making their own badges to alert fellow passengers to their condition.
The 45-year-old designed "Cancer on board" badges after travelling on the Tube between Kentish Town and University College Hospital for chemotherapy.
Radiotherapy on his throat left him unable to speak to ask for a seat, and the morphine made him appear drunk.
"I'm really pleased TfL is doing this trial," he said. "A badge and card could help make a real difference to the lives of people undergoing drug treatment or with longer term conditions or disabilities."
TfL will use social media and customer information to encourage other passengers to look out for the badges.
"This small act of consideration from Londoners could make a huge difference to disabled people getting around the city and being fully involved in all London has to offer," said Alice Mitchell-Pye of charity Leonard Cheshire Disability.
The six-week trial is believed to be the first of its kind in Europe.

Summary:

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Summary: ||| {{target}}


The UK's steel industry is in a state of crisis, with the government warning that the industry could be in for a "catastrophic" downturn.
The government has announced a £1.5bn investment in the industry, and is also looking to buy up a further £1bn of assets.
The

Liberty House plans to submit a formal bid on Tuesday to buy Tata Steel's UK assets, which include the Port Talbot works employing about 4,000 people.

Article: Paintings by 54 artists, using materials ranging from Plasticine to industrial aluminium foil, have been selected by a panel of four experts.
The act of painting itself is a theme explored within several works, which will be showcased at Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery from 9 July to 27 November.
A shortlist of four artists will be announced in June, with the overall winner unveiled on 7 July.
The sources of inspiration behind the paintings are varied, ranging from George Orwell's Animal Farm to a statue of an assassinated politician.
Director of Art Galleries at National Museums Liverpool, Sandra Penketh, said there is an "especially vibrant use of colour" in this year's selection.
"We also see many artists addressing the topical issues facing our world today, touching on subjects such as migration."
The entries were whittled down from more than 2,500 pieces by jury members Gillian Carnegie, Ansel Krut, Phoebe Unwin and Ding Yi, and author and freelance curator The Reverend Dr Richard Henry Davey.
Previous recipients of the prize include David Hockney and, most recently in 2014, Rose Wylie from Kent.
Sir John Moores, the owner of the Littlewoods company and a keen amateur painter, founded the competition to challenge London's domination of the national arts scene.
It was first held in 1957 and is open to anyone.

Summary: The longlist for the John Moores Painting Prize has been announced.
###
Article: US scientists have tracked the animals for nearly 30 years and find they have increased their activity levels.
Their normal behaviour is to stake out holes in the ice, waiting to prey on the seals as they emerge.
But the thinning pack in the warming Arctic is now drifting faster than it used to, and the bears must travel further to get back to their territory.
"If the drift is faster, and that prevailing drift is to the west, then in order for an Alaskan polar bear to remain an Alaskan polar bear, it must walk further or faster to the east on the 'treadmill', or it will end up in Russia," explained David Douglas, a wildlife biologist at the US Geological Survey's Alaska Science Center in Juneau.
He was speaking here in San Francisco, at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union - the world's largest annual gathering of Earth scientists.
The USGS study he presented compared the movements of tagged female polar bears from the period 1987-1998 with a more recent group, from 1999-2013.
Their behaviours were combined with data on the status of the ice pack. This is now drifting through the Beaufort and Chukchi seas up to 6% quicker than it used to, as today's thinner floes get pushed along more easily by the wind.
The analysis indicates the 1999-2013 bears have had to react to this greater speed by increasing their activity rates.
"We find that the bears in the recent period are 9-13% more active to compensate for the ice motion," Mr Douglas told BBC News.
The USGS teamed up with animal physiologists at the University of Wyoming to try to calculate how many more calories the bears would need to consume in order to fuel the additional walking.
The specialists did this, but also converted the requirement into an estimate of the number of additional whole seals the bears would have to eat.
It is an increase of 2-7%, which equates to between one and four extra seals a year.
"Now, you might think that's not a tremendous amount, but you have to keep in mind that that's happening at the same time as their...

Summary: Polar bears are working harder just to stay in one place, as the Arctic sea-ice on which they hunt drifts away.
###
Article: Liberty, headed by Sanjeev Gupta, was first to express an interest in the assets when they were put up for sale.
A spokesman for Liberty told the BBC that the firm had put together a team of advisers and financial backers.
"The formal process is to submit a letter of intent; it amounts to a bid. It will be done on Tuesday," he said.
In addition to the Port Talbot factory - the UK's largest steelworks - Tata's remaining assets include sites at Newport, where more than 1,300 people are employed, and Rotherham, which employs 1,200. Tata also has operations at Corby, Shotton and Teesside.
Macquarie, the Australian bank, was advising Liberty on a potential bid, and is considered a potential financial backer of any takeover.
Liberty House started life in the university room of Indian-born founder Sanjeev Gupta.
While a student at Cambridge University in 1992, the budding entrepreneur started what has since become a global steel and commodities business with annual sales of more than £2bn.
With operations in 30 countries, and headquarters in London, Dubai, and Singapore, Mr Gupta's Liberty has also emerged as a possible saviour of Britain's steel industry.
Liberty's focus is on recycling the mountains of scrap metal generated in the UK, rather than the historical method of producing steel in blast furnaces.
Last month, it acquired Tata Steel's plants in Lanarkshire. In recent years, it has reached similar deals for steel plants in Newport and the Black Country.
A management buyout team is also planning to submit a bid under the name Excalibur Steel UK Limited.
It has appointed investment banker Mark Rhydderch-Roberts as a non-executive director. He joins Stuart Wilkie, the head of Tata's United Kingdom strip steel business, and former Alcan senior executive and venture capitalist Roger Maggs, on the board.
The government has promised to support any buyer of the business by taking up to a 25% stake in a new business and making hundreds of millions of pounds of finance available.
Tata has not publicly set a deadline...

Summary:


The man who was arrested in the attack on a man in a Portsmouth garage has been charged with rape.
The man, who is now 34, was arrested in the attack on a man in a Portsmouth garage on November 13, 2014.
The man, who is now 34, was arrested in the attack on a

A transgender woman has been found guilty of raping a girl when still living as a man.

Article: Though imposing, the 3.7m (12ft) cephalopod was much smaller than the 13m they can grow to.
It spent several hours in the harbour and was filmed by local divers on Christmas Eve.
Mitsuhiro Fuwa, a curator at the local Uozu Aquarium, told the BBC there had been more than a dozen giant squid sightings in the last year.
Giant squid are more often seen trapped in fishing nets than swimming near the surface.
Professional underwater cameraman Takayoshi Kojima told the BBC he rushed to the harbour from nearby Toyama city when a manager at the marina called him.
He helped guide the squid to a deeper part of the marina, near the exit to the sea, where it disappeared.
Mr Kojima said he did not know whether the squid made it to open waters but said it did not look like it would survive long.
Mr  Fuwa said that although the squid showed some signs of energy - squirting ink and trying to wrap its legs around the divers - it did not look very healthy, with its body pointing downwards and its legs up.
Mr Kojima said that with a rise in sea temperature, giant squid have moved north to waters off Toyama, from where they swim up from deeper waters during the winter season.
He added that most sightings happen between December and January.
Toyama is about 300km (186 miles) west of Tokyo.

Summary: Giant squid prefer the deep sea, so it was a rare treat for onlookers in Toyama Bay harbour when one swam in.
###
Article: In an attempt to make life more convenient, he bewitches a broomstick to mop the floor.
When that gets out of control, he tries to stop the whole process by splitting the broomstick in two - but that just creates two brooms, and doubles the problem.
Is that what retailers have done by offering traditional location shopping alongside online?
Click-and-collect is a fairly new battleground for UK retailers, and promises rich rewards for daring firms.
It has been hugely popular over the past five years, as customers embrace the convenience of being able to order goods online and pick them up in store or elsewhere.
John Lewis announced this week that it would start charging a £2 fee for click-and-collect purchases costing less than £30, after finding that its current free model was unsustainable.
Click-and-collect demand has boomed for the department store.
It now processes more than six million click-and-collect orders per year, compared with just 350,000 in 2008, and moves tens of thousands of parcels every night.
A spokeswoman said John Lewis had seen a 32% growth in demand for the service so far this year.
And the seemingly effortless method of shopping is anything but for retailers as it needs an army of behind-the-scenes pickers and delivery staff.
John Lewis is having to move fast to cope with demand. But it is not alone, according to Andy Mulcahy of online retail industry body IMRG.
It estimates a 20% per year growth rate in click-and-collect across all retailers.
For retailers that sell online and also have physical shops, click-and-collect accounted for 4% of online sales in 2010. That figure jumped to 17.7% in 2014, he adds.
John Lewis is in a position of strength, but this growth is causing significant problems for some retailers - especially UK supermarket giants, according to some retail analysts.
The phenomenon is adding to supermarkets' woes, rather than easing them, says Marc de Speville, the founder of Strategic Food Retail.
Free click-and-collect is "clearly a burden on supermarkets' already...

Summary: In the classic poem by Goethe, a young sorcerer's apprentice unleashes forces he can't control.
###
Article: The girl, aged 15 at the time, had met a man called David Ayrton in a Portsmouth garage in the autumn of 2004.
The defendant, now 34 and called Davina, denied the charge. She will be sentenced on 4 March.
Judge Ian Pearson remanded her into custody and said it was likely she would be held at a male prison.
He added: "If I were to release on bail there are substantial grounds to believe she would be a risk to herself and a risk of failing to attend for whatever reason.
"I will therefore have to remand in custody. It will have to be a male prison in Winchester but it will be an issue for the prison service."
He also told the jury at Portsmouth Crown Court: "It's been a slightly unusual case and it's not been an easy case."
The court heard that Ayrton, who has learning difficulties, attempted to commit suicide last summer.
Protocols have been put in place for her detention at the prison, a court officer explained.
During the trial Ayrton spoke about her sexuality, and said she she had not "made any physical changes or enhancements" to her body or taken any medication. She changed her name in 2012.
Portsmouth Crown Court was told she raped the teenager while two others were asleep in the garage.
The victim said she shouted and swore at Ayrton to stop the attack, but her friends had not woken up.
She had "only drunk a can and a half of Foster's" and clearly recollected the events.
The court heard that in 2014 Ayrton told a worker at the care home where she lived in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, about the attack.

Summary:


The government has announced plans to ban the import of ash trees, with the aim of stopping the spread of the disease.

A group has called on Ceredigion council to delay plans to sell-off a former school site so it can bid to buy and retain it for community use.

Article: With such potential power, comes huge responsibility.
Demis Hassabis, the head of Google's £400m machine learning business and one of the world's leading authorities on the subject, has now called for a responsible debate about the role of ethics in the development of artificial intelligence.
"I think artificial intelligence is like any powerful new technology," Mr Hassabis, DeepMind's co-founder, told me.
"It has to be used responsibly. If it's used irresponsibly it could do harm.
"I think we have to be aware of that and I think that people developing that - us and other companies and universities - need to realise and take seriously our responsibilities and to have ethical concerns at the top of our minds.
"We engage very actively with [the artificial intelligence] community - at MIT, at Cambridge, at Oxford - so there are a lot of academic institutes thinking about this and we engage with them very actively and openly with our research.
"I think there are valid concerns and they should be discussed and debated now, decades before there's anything that's actually of any potential consequence or power that we need to worry about, so we have the answers in place well ahead of time."
Mr Hassabis was responding to concerns about the development of artificial intelligence raised, among others, by Elon Musk, the technology entrepreneur and a DeepMind investor, and Professor Stephen Hawking.
Prof Hawking told my colleague Rory Cellan-Jones that artificial intelligence could "end mankind".
Mr Hassabis is not at the "robots" end of artificial intelligence.
His work focuses on learning machines which are able to sift huge amounts of data and support human understanding of the exponential rise of digitised information.
"Artificial intelligence is the science of making machines smart," he said.
"If we're able to imbue machines with intelligence then they might be able to help us as a society to solve all kinds of big problems that we would like to have a better mastery of - all the way from things like disease and...

Summary: It is a technology so powerful that - on a distant day well into the future - it could mean computers that are able to advise on the best way to treat patients, tackle climate change or feed the poor.
###
Article: Owen Paterson has denied ministers were slow to react to the outbreak.
The Chalara fraxinea fungus, which causes Chalara dieback, has already infected 90% of ash trees in Denmark and has been found in East Anglia.
Mr Paterson said 50,000 ash trees have already been destroyed to try to prevent the spread of the disease.
Until earlier this week, the disease had only been recorded in a few nursery specimens.
Mr Paterson said: "We will bring in a ban on Monday. I have already prepared the legislation and we're ready to go. The evidence is clearly there."
The disease was first spotted in February, at a nursery in Buckinghamshire - a case that was confirmed in March, said the environment secretary.
Since then, examinations had been carried out at more than 1,000 sites and tree experts had been consulted.
Mr Paterson said ash trees were not imported commercially during the summer, so the amount of time that had elapsed since the initial discovery had not increased the risk that more infected trees had been brought in.
But Tim Briercliffe from the Horticultural Trades Association insisted the government's response to the disease had been too slow.
He said: "As a trade we're very frustrated about it, because in 2009 we saw it out in Denmark on trees and we said you should ban imports now.
"They didn't do it - they suggested that it was already endemic across Europe and across the UK, and since then the disease has continued to come in, and we believe it could be more widespread than perhaps we realise at the moment."
How to spot the signs
The Woodland Trust welcomed the ban but called on the government to set up an emergency summit to manage other diseases affecting trees in the UK.
Its chief executive, Sue Holden, said: "Ash dieback is only one of numerous tree pests and diseases present in the UK... it is crucial that the wider issue is tackled."
Ash trees suffering with C. fraxinea have been found across mainland Europe, with Denmark reporting the disease has infected about 90% of its ash trees.
Experts say that if...

Summary: A ban on the import of ash trees will come into force on Monday in an attempt to halt the spread of a deadly disease, the environment secretary has said.
###
Article: Ceredigion council plans to auction the site of former Ysgol Dyffryn Teifi in Llandysul, which closed last term, for development.
The council cabinet meets on Tuesday to discuss the sale set for 30 September.
But a new group, Plant y Dyffryn, wants more time to draw up a bid to buy it.
The site has a price tag of between Â£250,000 and Â£300,000, with proceeds earmarked for the new-build Ysgol Bro Teifi school which opened this month providing education for three to 19-year-olds.
Leah Williams, one of the founders of Plant y Dyffryn, said "any developer could come in and squeeze the community".
She said: "Llandysul is so small and so Welsh it would just tip the balance.
"There are eight acres of land on a large site with plenty of potential," she said.
Plant y Dyffryn is looking at the example of the Cardigan community venture 4CG in order to raise funds to purchase the site, and then run it.
It took over the Pwllhai site in the centre of Cardigan in 2010, and turned it into a car park to generate income from parking fees with buildings and workshops leased out to small businesses.
A public meeting was held on Sunday when Llandysul residents voted to call on Ceredigion council to delay the process of selling the school site.
In response, cabinet member Gareth Lloyd said that if the cabinet delayed the process of selling, then they would consider offering help to the community with their application.

Summary:


The government has announced it will be closing the detention centre on Manus Island, which is home to more than 1,000 people.
The decision comes after a court ruled the facility was unconstitutional.
The Manus Island detention centre is run by the Australian government and is the largest of its kind in the world.

Curzon will receive an outstanding British contribution to cinema prize at this year's Bafta film awards.

Article: Mr Murphy announced his intention to resign last month despite narrowly winning a confidence vote in the wake of Labour's general election defeat.
He had since been drawing up plans for reforms which he hopes will lead to the party's recovery in Scotland.
Labour lost 40 of its 41 Scottish constituencies to the SNP, including Mr Murphy's East Renfrewshire seat.
The party has also announced a timetable for the election of a new leader and deputy leader, with the result of the contests to announced on 15 August.
The leadership contest is expected to be between current deputy leader Kezia Dugdale and the party's social justice spokesman, Ken MacIntosh.
Speaking at a media conference in Glasgow on Saturday afternoon, Mr Murphy said Scottish Labour should better reflect modern Scotland.
He unveiled five proposals which he said had been agreed in principle by party's executive council.
These included electing a new leader through a one member one vote system rather than the electoral college system which requires a majority vote in at least two out of three blocks, comprising elected members, ordinary members and unions.
Mr Murphy was elected as leader despite opposition from the union college, which backed his opponent Neil Findlay last year.
The party will also reopen its selection process for the Regional Lists to attract the widest possible range of candidates for the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections.
This would "abolish the closed shop arrangements for list MSPs so that every Labour Party member has a fair chance of standing for the list, and so that incumbency isn't a guarantee of re-selection", Mr Murphy said.
Mr Murphy also said the party would consider establishing a national selection panel for local councillors, and consider the use of primaries in the selection of MP candidates in future elections.
And he said the party would do more to publicise a "little-known rule" which would allow it to waive the qualifying period before members can become candidates.
Mr Murphy added: "While commitment to the...

Summary: Jim Murphy has stood down as Scottish Labour leader as the party agreed to his plan for "dramatic" change.
###
Article: The talks come after Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court ruled the facility unconstitutional, overturning a deal reached between the governments.
Australia sends asylum seekers there under its offshore processing policy.
Papua New Guinea has now said it will close the facility, but it is not clear when that could happen.
Manus Island was first opened in 2001, and along with Australia's other offshore processing centres, has played a central role in Australia's controversial asylum policy.
Papua New Guinea's high commissioner to Australia Charles Lepani said the detainees were now Australia's responsibility, but Australia has remained opposed to taking any of them.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said on Thursday there was room for them at another detention centre on Nauru.
"There's capacity [on Nauru] but we're talking with the PNG government about what options are available in PNG and we'll continue those discussions with them," Mr Dutton said on Sky News.
This comes after an Iranian asylum seeker held at the Australian-funded detention centre on Nauru set himself on fire on Wednesday.
His actions were a "political protest" according to the Nauruan government.
Mr Dutton said the 23-year old man was in a serious condition and was evacuated to Australia for treatment.
Nauru is a small Pacific Island nation about 3,000 km (1,800 miles) north-east of Australia.
It was previously administered by Australia but gained independence in 1968.
What next for Manus Island asylum-seekers?
Manus Island: Australia's Guantanamo?
Australia's controversial asylum policy
Mr Dutton said that the man set himself on fire at a settlement outside the detention centre.
"He's in a very serious condition," Mr Dutton said.
"His outlook is not good at all."
He also confirmed that other asylum seekers held on the island had harmed themselves.
"What we've been very clear about is that if people come to Australia for medical assistance they'll be returning back to Nauru once that medical assistance has been provided.
"We have returned three...

Summary: Australia and Papua New Guinea will hold urgent talks next week over the fate of asylum seekers held at a detention centre on Manus Island.
###
Article: The cinema chain has "provided the British public with unforgettable, cinema experiences", Bafta said.
The awards will be held at London's Royal Albert Hall on 12 February.
The Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema award is presented annually in honour of Michael Balcon, the British film producer known for his work with Ealing Studios.
Previous recipients include Mike Leigh, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Working Title Films, Sir John Hurt and BBC Films.
Curzon's history stretches back to 1934 with the opening of its first cinema Curzon Mayfair.
Dame Pippa Harris, chair of Bafta's Film Committee, said: "I am thrilled that Bafta is honouring Curzon with the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award.
"For over 80 years, Curzon has provided the British public with unforgettable cinema experiences, while championing independent, art house and foreign language film-making.
"I would like to thank everyone at Curzon for their extraordinary contribution to our industry, and for their unwavering commitment to bringing the very best in film to audiences across the UK.
Philip Knatchbull, Curzon's chief executive, said he was "delighted" at the award.
"Curzon has a long and proud history in the British film industry and many talented and passionate people have contributed to its success story over the years," he said.
"We think of ourselves as champions of bold and visionary film-making from around the world supported by our growing network of cinemas and home cinema digital platforms."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Summary:


Lawyers representing families in the baby ashes scandal have said they are to take legal action against Shropshire Council.

Article: The project aims to take a snapshot of current trends and map out the ways the public engage with music.
It is hoped the survey will help measure live music's cultural and economic value and identify future challenges and opportunities.
The 24-hour survey began at 12:00 on Thursday in Glasgow, Newcastle, Oxford, Leeds, Southampton and Brighton.
It has been commissioned by UK Music, the campaigning and lobbying group that represents the recorded and live music industry, and is being led by the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.
Prof Martin Cloonan, professor of popular music politics at Glasgow University, said: "What is being proposed has never been done before and is set to reveal the true state of the UK's live music industry.
"Live music is a vital cultural and economic asset and it is important to monitor its health and to support it.
"The results will help to provide the clearest picture of the Glasgow live music scene yet, illustrating that vibrancy while also show issues which need to be addressed."
According to UK Music, the music industry is worth an estimated Â£3.5bn to the UK economy and creates almost 101,600 jobs.
The group said that despite the value of live music to the economy, the full picture of what the public is listening to and how they listen and interact has never been fully and accurately surveyed.
Dr Matt Brennan, from Edinburgh University, is leading the UK Census project.
He said: "Venues around the country have been telling us that they already operate on thin margins, so proposed increases in rateable values of up to 55% in some cases will have a significant impact.
"The UK Live Music Census will be very important in identifying challenges that the industry faces, such as rising rates and other issues.
"It will give us a detailed picture of what exactly it means to be venue owner, a musician, and a live music lover in 2017. Our hope is that the census will be a vital tool in strengthening a much-loved part of the UK's culture."
The census aims to cover 70 music...

Summary: The UK's first ever live music census is being carried out in six cities across the UK.
###
Article: An international study led by the university said there was "strong evidence" of metformin's anti-inflammatory properties.
The researchers said this "may prove significant" in relation to non-diabetic cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Metformin has been in use for more than 50 years.
The study said the drug "continues to reveal significant possibilities for treatments other than those for diabetes."
The drug is also undergoing new clinical trials to determine if it can promote healthy ageing.
The study is being led by Professor Chim Lang and Dr Graham Rena, from the university's division of molecular and clinical medicine.
Professor Lang said: "The anti-inflammatory effects of the drug were observed, not only in those with diabetes, but also in a cohort of non-diabetic heart failure patients."
Dr Rena said: "We found that this drug acts differently to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs by inhibiting a different target."
Dr Rena said the next step would be to establish exactly how the drug inhibits this target and to identify "specific non-diabetic" patient groups that benefit from the anti-inflammatory properties.
Prof Jeremy Pearson of the British Heart Foundation said: "These findings offer further evidence that old drugs can perform new tricks.
"Repurposed medicines can much more quickly benefit patients.
"If this existing and affordable drug can be repurposed as a heart disease treatment, then this is excellent news for the 2.3 million people in the UK living with the condition.
"We look forward to seeing how the research progresses in patient studies."

Summary: The world's most commonly-used Type 2 diabetes drug could be used to treat non-diabetic conditions, according to Dundee University researchers.
###
Article: About 60 families were unable to get their child's remains because of poor training and out-of-date equipment at council-owned Emstrey Crematorium, Shrewsbury, between 1996 and 2012.
Lawyers believe the crematorium breached the Human Rights Act.
The council said it was liaising with its insurers.
A spokesman for the authority said: "Shropshire Council confirms it has received a letter of notification in respect of Emstrey Crematorium and this has been passed to the council's insurers, who will deal with the matter confidentially in the usual way."
If the legal challenge is successful, it could pave the way for action against crematoriums across the UK where other families were not given their child's ashes.
A Freedom of Information inquiry by the BBC last year found the ashes of more than 1,000 babies were not handed to their parents between 2008 and 2013.
The scandal in Shropshire came to light following a BBC Radio Shropshire investigation.
The lawyers are representing families who have joined the campaign group Action for Ashes.
In June, an independent inquiry into what happened in Shropshire ruled a national inspector should be created for crematoriums.

Summary:


The government has been accused of using a VPN service to block access to the internet.
The BBC's Chris Foxx explains what some people use a VPN service for.

US investigators have closed an inquiry into whether To Kill A Mockingbird author Harper Lee was pressured into publishing a sequel.

Article: 18 January 2016 Last updated at 19:54 GMT
VPN services are useful for securely accessing your work computer systems while you are away from the office.
But they are also commonly used to circumvent government censorship, or location blocking on movie streaming websites.
BBC Technology reporter Chris Foxx explains what some people use a VPN service for.

Summary: A virtual private network (or VPN) is a secure connection between your device and another computer over the internet.
###
Article: The switch would save the government £768m, while the council say it could create up to 6,500 more jobs.
The announcement comes as a report said the HS2 project faced cost pressures.
David Higgins, of HS2 Ltd, said a revised route through South Yorkshire would be announced next week but would not comment on specific changes.
Live updates on this story and others in South Yorkshire
Ms Dore described the decision as "fantastic news for Sheffield".
"We are delighted the Government has concluded that a city centre station location is the best option," she said.
"We have been making this case for years because analysis shows it will create thousands more jobs than the Meadowhall option."
A spokesman for the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority said it welcomed the switch, adding that it hoped HS2 would consider building an additional "parkway station" in the region and a stop on the high speed network at Chesterfield.
The council has campaigned for an HS2 station in the city centre ever since Meadowhall was chosen in 2013, calling for it to be built on the site of the city's old Victoria station.
In 2015, it emerged the authority had spent £190,000 lobbying for the move..
It is understood the switch could see HS2 trains arriving and departing from Sheffield Midland Station, in Sheaf Street, via a spur line linked to the main HS2 line between Birmingham and Leeds.
Mr Higgens, the non-executive chair of HS2 Ltd, told the BBC's Today programme he had spent Monday with council leaders in South Yorkshire and details of a revised route through the region would be announced next week.
He described it as "a solution that's better for the communities to be served by the railway and will deliver savings".
Sim Harris, Managing Editor of the Rail News, said the switch would involve significant work to existing infrastructure, including building two new platforms, but diverting into the city was unlikely to affect the overall service, saying "speed would not really be an issue".
"I know Meadowhall is linked by ordinary...

Summary: Sheffield's HS2 station will be built in the city centre rather than at Meadowhall, according to council leader Julie Dore.
###
Article: The Alabama Securities Commission led the investigation, which helps prevent financial fraud against the elderly.
After an agent interviewed Lee, the commission's head said he was satisfied she wanted a second book published.
The new work - Go Set a Watchman - will be the 88-year-old American author's first release since the 1960s.
The surprise move prompted some suggestions Lee was manipulated into publishing the decades-old manuscript, which was discovered by her lawyer in the author's possessions last year.
"We closed the file. Let's just say that she was able to answer questions we asked to our satisfaction from our point of view,'' said Joseph Borg, Alabama Securities Commission director.
The New York Times reported that the investigation was sparked by requests from a doctor that the state investigate whether Lee was capable to have consented to the release of the work.
Lee herself was "extremely hurt" by allegations she was manipulated, her lawyer Tonja Carter said.
To Kill a Mockingbird was published in July 1960 and has sold more than 40 million copies around the world.
Go Set a Watchman was written before To Kill A Mockingbird, and features many of the same characters, with an adult Scout Finch returning to her native Alabama from New York to visit her father.

Summary:


The BBC has been criticised for using the word "pikey" in an episode of Top Gear.

Scientists have begun the most detailed analysis ever carried out on a Stegosaurus skeleton.

Article: Inspectors also found the treatments handed out by custody staff were "unreasonable" and included the handcuffing of women and children.
Cells were found to be daubed with pornographic and racist graffiti.
The care of detainees, including those with ill health or who had been self-harming, was given "very little importance", inspectors found.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons' report said: "The condition of the court custody suites in Kent was among the worst we have seen.
"In many cells, there was scarcely an inch of wall or door that was not covered in graffiti. Much of it was obscene or racist, and some contained allegations against named individuals."
In one cell at Folkestone Magistrates' Court, there was a swastika and graffiti with the phrase "Muslim scum", the report said.
The Inspectors reported they were concerned to hear a custody officer refer to a transgender detainee as "it".
Another officer was found to have called a detainee with a mental illness "nutter".
The inspectors looked at two crown and eight magistrates' courts in Kent.
The report said the introduction of virtual courts, where detainees appear via a video-link, had the potential to reduce long journeys and cut waiting times at court.
Low staff morale stopped many workers from trying to improve the poor conditions for the detainees, the inspectors found.
Nick Hardwick, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, said the various agencies involved in providing court custody facilities in Kent rarely worked together and none had overall responsibility.
He said: "This report contains recommendations that we hope will encourage the various agencies involved in the provision of court custody to work together more effectively.
"Those detained at Kent courts should be held in a safer and more decent environment than is currently in place."
An HM Courts and Tribunals Service spokesman said inter-agency relationships had been strengthened since the inspection "to ensure that operations are run effectively and in accordance with the contract".
He said it would be...

Summary: Custody suites in Kent courts are "among the worst" seen by the prison watchdog, a report has said.
###
Article: The Traveller Movement complained after former host Jeremy Clarkson was seen holding a placard with "Pikey's Peak" while shooting in Worcestershire.
In March, the BBC Trust said it had been used to mean "cheap", rather than as a term of racial offence.
Ofcom said there was "sufficient context in the way the word was used to minimise offence".
The broadcasting regulator said it recognised that "some in the audience would perceive the word pikey as a derogatory term for gypsies and travellers".
It added: "We have advised broadcasters this doesn't mean the use of the word is acceptable in any programme in any context and that it is capable of causing significant offence in certain contexts."
The BBC also admitted the word could be "a derogatory term" but cited online encyclopaedia Wikipedia as proof it also referred to someone who "lives on the cheap".
In its complaint to Ofcom, the Traveller Movement said: "Had a more neutral word like "cheapskate" been used, it would not have had such a 'transgressive punch' ie provocative impact".
However, the BBC had argued "the issue in determining whether it is offensive in any particular case is the intention behind its use, and the context in which it is used".
In the scene, Clarkson held up the sign as co-presenter Richard Hammond prepared to test the performance of a used hatchback car by racing up Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb in Worcestershire, the site of a particularly steep racing climb.
Presenter Jeremy Clarkson mocked Richard Hammond for choosing a Vauxhall Nova, and erected a placard at the start line that read "Pikey's Peak", a play on words in reference to Pikes Peak, a famous hill climb in Colorado.
In its considerations, Ofcom had noted Top Gear was "widely known for its irreverent style and sometimes outspoken humour" and added the reference to the use of the term "pikey" was part of a "long running gag" on Top Gear and that "Richard Hammond had been linked to it on previous occasions".
It concluded that "it is likely that the audience would not generally have...

Summary: Ofcom has backed a BBC Trust decision not to censure the BBC over using the word "pikey" in an edition of Top Gear.
###
Article: Researchers hope to learn how much it weighed, how it moved and what it used its iconic back plates for.
A UK team has scanned each of its 360 bones into a computer and has digitally reconstructed the dinosaur.
The specimen, nicknamed "Sophie", has been acquired by the Natural History Museum in London.
Although Stegosauruses are one of the most well known dinosaurs, they are among those that scientists know the least about. There are only six partial skeletons of the creature, which lived around 150 million years ago.
It could grow to the size of a minibus and the gigantic plates which ran along its back were its most distinctive feature.
Surprisingly, it was 100 years ago that the dinosaur's skeleton was properly assessed and scientifically described. Now, using medical imaging techniques and 3D modelling, researchers at the Natural History Museum hope to learn much more about this iconic creature.
Prof Paul Barrett, who is leading the research, said that they were particularly interested in finding out what stegosauruses used their plates for.
"We want to find out whether they were used for defence or whether they were used as a radiator to help the animal pick up or lose heat," he told BBC News.
Sophie is 80% complete and is thought to be the most complete specimen in the world. Dr Charlotte Brassey, who is working with Prof Barrett, helped to scan in its 360 bones and digitally recreate it on her computer as a detailed 3D model.
"I reconstructed the skeleton to see what it might have looked like and then began to reconstruct the muscles and how they connected with the skeleton. From that we can begin to say how effective its muscles were and eventually in the future we would like to reconstruct how it moved," she told BBC News.
Among the mysteries the researchers would like to solve is how the species was able to walk with such small front legs and such large back legs.
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Summary:


Security has been increased at France's interests abroad after a French satirical magazine published obscene cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Article: The film, starring Richard E Grant and Paul McGann, depicts the lives of two unemployed actors who spend a disastrous weekend in the countryside.
The copy of Bruce Robinson's novel, written between 1969 and 1970, is estimated to reach between Â£4,000 and Â£6,000 when it goes under the hammer.
It includes extensive handwritten revisions by Robinson.
He has described Withnail and I as "70% autobiographical" - and was living in a house in Camden, north London, where much of it is set, when he was writing the novel.
The work for sale also includes a page torn from a magazine featuring the author and his flatmates outside their house in the late 1960s.
Withnail and I was adapted for the screen in 1987, produced by former Beatle George Harrison's HandMade Films and directed by Robinson.
It also starred Richard Griffiths as the flamboyant Uncle Monty, in whose rural cottage Withnail (Grant) and McGann (I) stay.
While it did not make an impression at the box office at the time, it became hugely popular in the following decade - particularly with students.
It became famous for lines including Withnail's: "We want the finest wines available to humanity, we want them here, and we want them now."
The draft is to be auctioned as part of Sotheby's sale of English literature, history, children's books and illustrations on 15 December.

Summary: The first draft of the novel that went on to be turned into cult film Withnail and I is set for auction at Sotheby's.
###
Article: The independent inquiry is looking in detail at historical abuse of children in residential care in Scotland.
The inquiry has been separated into a series of phases, the first of which continues on 31 October.
Phase two starts on November 28 with a study of homes run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.
Applications to appear in relation to this case study are now open, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park in Lanark and Bellevue House in Rutherglen. The deadline for applications to appear, for people with a direct or substantial interest in the hearings, close on 4 September.
Further case studies will be announced in due course.
More than 60 institutions including several top private schools and church bodies are being investigated as part of the probe, which is chaired by Lady Smith and is due to report no sooner than October 2019.
The inquiry states its purpose as being "to investigate the nature and extent of abuse of children whilst in care in Scotland", while considering "the extent to which institutions and bodies with legal responsibility for the care of children failed in their duty", in particular seeking any "systemic failures".
However, it does not cover children who were abused while living with their natural or adoptive families, while using sports and leisure clubs or attending faith based organisations on a day to day basis. The inquiry will also not examine allegations of children being abused in non-boarding schools, nursery or day-care centres.
The evidence given at hearings will supplement written statements taken from witnesses in advance, and the inquiry is continuing to take statements from survivors of abuse in private sessions.
The first phase of hearings, which began in May, heard apologies from groups who said they "deplored that physical sexual abuses could occur".
The inquiry, which had cost more than Â£7.8m as of 30 June, is taking place at Rosebery House in Edinburgh.

Summary: The second phase of hearings in the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is to open with a case study centring on care establishments run by a Catholic order.
###
Article: French embassies, consulates, cultural centres and schools in some 20 countries will be closed for the next few days as a precaution.
Government ministers voiced concern at the Charlie Hebdo cartoons but defended the freedom of the press.
Riot police have been deployed around the magazine's offices in Paris.
The magazine has confirmed that its website has been attacked.
Its paper edition features caricatures which play on both the uproar in the Islamic world over an amateur video which mocks Islam and the row over the publication in France of topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge.
A tenet of Islam bans the portrayal of its founder, the Prophet Muhammad.
Some 30 people have died in violent protests which erupted early last week over the Innocence of Muslims video, which was made in the United States.
The dead include the US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans, who died in Benghazi. US and other Western embassies have come under attack in mainly Muslim countries.
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he was "concerned" at the cartoons and had ordered "special security measures... in all the countries where this [publication] could pose a problem".
By Christian FraserBBC News, Paris
The French schools are already closed in Tunisia. In Libya, French journalists are withdrawing from known hotels. And in the Muslim community of Belleville in Paris, they have been buying the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo just to rip it up.
No wonder the French authorities are concerned. The foreign minister acted quickly this morning in an attempt to suppress the anger, while articulating the government's frustrations. The decision to print the cartoons at a time when Western embassies are already threatened, he said, would only "add fuel to the fire".
Last night Charb, the editor of Charlie Hebdo, told me he rejected criticism that he was inciting violence, putting French lives at risk. He was using the cartoons, he said, to make fun of the film rather than the Prophet. But he would know what...

Summary:


The UK's unemployment rate fell to 1.68 million between November and January, down 28,000 from the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics says.

The US Supreme Court has upheld a key portion of President Barack Obama's healthcare law, preserving health insurance for millions of Americans.

Article: The discussion is expected at the Scottish Police Federation's annual conference on Tuesday.
It follows the terror attack on Westminster last week when four people were killed, including PC Keith Palmer.
SPF general secretary Calum Steele said there would be a focus on improving readiness for terror attacks.
The topic of arming more police officers was not originally on the agenda of the event, according to The Sunday Post.
However it reports that it is now a "racing certainty" to be examined following the events in London on Wednesday.
Mr Steele told BBC Scotland that the conference had taken on much more significance, given its timing less than a week after the attack.
He added: "It is inconceivable that in light of the events that have taken place in London over the past number of days, that delegates attending for the Scottish Police Federation conference would not be minded to have significant debates and discussions round about the state of readiness for policing in Scotland and how that is likely to impact on them as individuals."
He said one of the main considerations of any discussion was likely to centre on the resources available to police officers.
"I have said repeatedly that the issue of firearms is a tactical response arguably towards the end of the scale and once something has taken place rather than trying to prevent and mitigate incidents in the first place," he added.
"Ultimately terrorism or the fight against terrorism does not start a few yards from the intended target, it starts with communities. And the importance of having police officers embedded in our communities, building trusting relationships, gathering intelligence and helping communities thrive is where the real fight against terrorism begins - and not by bolstering the numbers of tactical officers to deal with the event after it has taken place or as it is taking place.
"Surely it's much better to invest in the prevention than to invest in the response. Although in saying that, clearly it is vital that we have adequate...

Summary: Rank-and-file police officers in Scotland are expected to hold an emergency on debate whether more of their number should carry guns.
###
Article: The rate of unemployment remained at 5.1%, maintaining a decade-low rate.
Some 31.42 million are in work, 478,000 up on a year ago. The employment rate is 74.1%, the joint highest since current records began in 1971.
Average earnings went up by 2.1% in the year to January including bonuses, 0.2% higher than the previous month.
Excluding bonuses, the increase was 2.2%.
"With the Chancellor [George Osborne] setting the backdrop to this afternoon's Budget as one where the global 'storm clouds' are gathering, today's labour market figures offer a ray of sunshine," said Scott Bowman, UK economist at Capital Economics.
He added that the UK's jobs recovery remained "in full swing", but cautioned that wage growth was "still fairly subdued by past standards, especially considering how much the labour market has tightened recently".
The East of England saw the biggest fall in the number of unemployed people, down by 15,000, followed by the North East of England, down by 11,000. However, Scotland saw an increase of 16,000 in the number of jobless people.
The North East still has the highest rate of unemployment, at 7.8%, and the East of England has the lowest, at 3.6%.
In all, 22.94 million people were working full-time, 302,000 more than a year earlier, while 8.48 million were working part-time, an increase of 177,000 on a year earlier.
The number of people on the claimant count in February fell by 18,000 to 716,700, said the ONS.
The unemployment figures are based on a large survey, so they are estimates rather than precise figures.
For example, the figure of a 28,000 fall in unemployment has a margin of error of plus or minus 79,000, which means the ONS is 95% confident that the actual change in unemployment is between an increase of 51,000 and a fall of 107,000.
Earlier this month, the US Labor Department said the US economy added 242,000 jobs in February, far better than the 190,000 expected by economists.
The US unemployment rate remains at 4.9%, an eight-year low.
Eurostat, the EU's statistical agency, has said...

Summary: UK unemployment fell to 1.68 million between November and January, down 28,000 from the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics says.
###
Article: In a 6-3 decision, the justices said that tax subsidies that make health insurance affordable for low-income individuals can continue.
The ruling preserves the law known as Obamacare, which Mr Obama considers a major part of his presidential legacy.
Republicans have vowed to continue fighting the law.
"We've got more work to do, but what we're not going to do is unravel what has now been woven into the fabric of America," Mr Obama said.
The case, known as King v Burwell, was the second major challenge the law has faced in the US's highest court.
Unlike in many other western countries, the US does not have a single-payer healthcare system. Private companies, rather than the US government, provide health insurance for US citizens.
The enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) - one of Mr Obama's most significant and controversial domestic achievements - in 2010 mandated that every American had to purchase private insurance. It provided the subsidies to allow many to do so.
In 2012, the mandate portion of the law was challenged in the court. The justices ruled to preserve it.
In that decision, as in the decision on Thursday, Chief Justice John Roberts surprised observers by siding with his liberal colleagues in support of the law.
"Congress passed the Affordable Care act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion.
Justice Anthony Kennedy dissented in 2012, but sided with the majority on Thursday.
Had the court made the opposite decision, an estimated 8.7 million people in the US would have been at risk of losing the aid that makes healthcare affordable.
The stakes could not have been higher.
People's health (crucially important) and Obama's legacy (less important, but for him and those around him fairly vital) were at stake.
Well a politically finely balanced Supreme Court has given an emphatic, overwhelming vote in favour of the president by 6-3.
I bet "No-drama Obama" is high-fiving anyone and everyone in the White House - that is how big it...

Summary:


The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a genetically modified salmon for human consumption.

Leeds Rhinos rugby league team face a £1m bill for flood damage that could keep them out of their training ground for a further six months.

Article: The Food and Drug Administration said it had given approval on the grounds that "food from the fish is safe to eat".
The biotech company behind the fish, AquaBounty, first submitted its application almost 20 years ago.
Opponents say consumers do not want to eat genetically engineered seafood.
They have also expressed concern that the salmon could pose risks to other fish if it were to escape into the environment.
Dr Bernadette Dunham of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine said: "The FDA has thoroughly analysed and evaluated the data and information submitted by AquaBounty Technologies regarding AquAdvantage Salmon and determined that they have met the regulatory requirements for approval, including that food from the fish is safe to eat."
The FDA ruled that the salmon must be raised in tanks on land at only two facilities in Canada and Panama. It will not be bred or raised in the US.
Safety measures include producing fish that are sterile to prevent cross breeding with wild fish "in the highly unlikely event of an escape".
The transgenic salmon is a type of Atlantic salmon injected with a gene from Pacific Chinook salmon to make it grow faster.
Dr Ron Stotish, chief executive of AquaBounty, said the salmon was "a game-changer that brings healthy and nutritious food to consumers in an environmentally responsible manner without damaging the ocean and other marine habitats".
He said the young reach adult size much quicker than conventional fish, making it feasible to raise salmon in tanks on land near urban areas.
However, it is unclear whether retailers will want to sell the salmon and whether the public will want to buy it.
Lisa Archer, food and technology programme director at Friends of the Earth, said despite the FDA's "flawed and irresponsible approval of the first genetically engineered animal for human consumption, it's clear that there is no place in the US market for genetically engineered salmon".
There are also uncertainties over how long it will take for the salmon to be produced in sufficient...

Summary: US regulators have given the go-ahead to genetically modified salmon, making it the first GM animal destined for human consumption.
###
Article: A bottlenose dolphin has been photographed playing with an unfortunate fish.
The flounder was thrown into the air from the mammal's mouth and bounced off its nose, before being devoured.
Whale and Dolphin Conservation field officer and photographer Charlie Phillips captured the action on camera on Friday from Chanonry Point on the Moray Firth.
The firth is home to a population of bottlenose dolphins.

Summary: All images are copyrighted.
###
Article: The Rhinos have been training across the city of Leeds since the river Aire burst its banks at Christmas.
Chief executive Gary Hetherington told BBC Radio Leeds: "It is looking like £1m in total. It has caused massive disruption.
"But sport throws up all sorts of challenges and this is another one."
All seven training pitches and the main building at the Kirkstall site the Rhinos share with rugby union side Yorkshire Carnegie were contaminated by flood water at the end of December.
The Rhinos, who begin the defence of their Super League title against Warrington on 4 February, say that 80 members of staff based at the site, plus 120 players, have been kept out for the last month.
"We couldn't get anywhere near the site," said Hetherington.
"When we were able to access it, the reality hit everybody. The whole site was under water. The changing rooms, medical rooms and gymnasium, and all the equipment was completely destroyed.
"All the pitches are contaminated so they need to be dug up and reseeded. The 3G pitch needs to be replaced. The buildings need to be replastered, all the floors need to come up.
"It will be the best part of six months before we can use the grass pitches and gymnasium."

Summary:


The government has been accused of being too quick to act in the face of a crisis.

MPs will question the chairman of the Iraq War Inquiry later this month for the first time since it published its official report in July.

Article: Leaders and managers in public life rarely escape criticism when they make unpopular decisions either. "The power has gone to his head" is an oft-heard accusation.
So are leaders losing touch with reality when they act in a power-hungry way?
According to psychologist Guy Claxton, professor of learning sciences at the University of Winchester, their actions could be to do with "a disorder of intelligence".
At a Royal Society of Medicine conference this week, entitled The Intoxication Of Power, Prof Claxton says that human intelligence is made up of four different mental systems working in harmony.
When one of these systems is not used, the decision-making process can become unreliable and potentially dangerous.
Instead of analysing actions, checking through the consequences of those actions and chatting through the decisions made, leaders too often rely on impulsive decision-making - and this is when hubris can set in.
"None of these systems is infallible. You need a jazz quartet of them to achieve full human intelligence," Prof Claxton says.
When it comes to governments and prime ministers, this failure of intelligence creates the need for ways of stopping power getting out of hand like the House of Lords checking the power of the House of Commons.
When individuals are in positions of great power, there are other dangers, he says.
"Politics can become dangerous. Leaders have the power to create wars."
When the rest of the world makes it known that they do not like this type of leadership, they tend to resort to something which Prof Claxton calls 'messianic hubris'.
"They transpose their leadership into a sense of humility, as if they are listening to an inner god or higher power when making decisions."
This is when self-deception and an inflated sense of self-worth sets in.
To combat against this, a sense of humour is a useful tool, Prof Claxton says.
"Traditionally, powerful people had a joker following them around, making jokes and poking fun at them, reminding them that they are just human beings."
This...

Summary: World leaders are often accused of hubris, of wielding power in arrogant and self-serving ways.
###
Article: The Wilton Mill clock tower is situated on the town's Commercial Road.
It has been claimed it could cost in the region of Â£2m to make the building safe and useable which, a local developer believes, means saving it is out of the question.
An application to demolish the listed building has been lodged with Scottish Borders Council.
Agents for the developers said the building was now "derelict and unsafe" and said it was "stifling advancement of redevelopment" of the site.
A structural assessment earlier this year also recommended removal of the building "as soon as possible".
However, the plans have provoked objections to the loss of an "iconic feature of Hawick's industrial landscape".
Opponents believe that in a "better economic climate" a new use could be found for the building.
The local authority and Historic Scotland will have the final say on whether the clock tower stays or goes.

Summary: A landmark building in Hawick could be demolished amid claims it would cost too much to restore.
###
Article: Former civil servant Sir John Chilcot will appear before MPs on the Commons Liaison Committee on 18 October.
The report, which took seven years to complete, criticised Tony Blair and his government's case for going to war in 2003.
Mr Blair defended his actions, saying military action had been justified.
The Chilcot Inquiry, which began its work in 2009, after UK troops left Iraq, did not attempt to reach a verdict on the legality or otherwise of the military action.
Mr Blair has continued to insist the decision to remove Saddam Hussein was justified, although he has acknowledged that the intelligence on which it was based was flawed.
Appearing before a separate committee of MPs last month, Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heyward said he and other civil servants were in the "preliminary" phase of learning lessons from the report in terms of how government should operate in future.
He said he was frustrated at the length of time the inquiry had taken but believed that it could not have been expedited without changing the large terms of reference or restricting access to vital declassified documents and other material.
The liaison committee, made up of the chairs of individual parliamentary committees, is best known for questioning the prime minister of the day two or three times a year.

Summary:


The first Ebola vaccine trial in Africa is being conducted in Mali, where the disease has killed more than 5,000 people.

A plea has been made to trace the mother of a baby whose remains were found in a plastic bag at a nature reserve a year ago.

Article: "We know that after two weeks they're starting to have some immune response and there are no adverse reactions," says Dr Samba Sow, an infectious disease epidemiologist and vaccine expert and director of Centre for Vaccine Development (CVD) in Mali.
The first volunteer in Mali was paediatrician Dr Seydou Sissoko, who was vaccinated on 8 October at the CVD in the capital, Bamako.
"Since I received the vaccine, I feel well, there is no difference in the way a feel now and how I felt before," he said.
Ten other healthcare workers are due to receive more Ebola vaccines on Thursday in the trial.
The exercise is part of a bigger multi-country study which began in the UK in September.
It is a joint effort involving the World Health Organization (WHO), the US National Institutes of Health and UK pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline.
It is also one of the most fast-tracked vaccines in history - with experts hoping to find a way to develop immunity to Ebola - which has killed nearly 5,000 people this year in West Africa - in a matter of months.
"What motivated me to join the study was the fact that I am a medical doctor and I'll be regularly in touch with patients of Ebola," says Dr Sissoko.
This week he has been asked to investigate two suspected cases of Ebola - one of them was a man who died after bleeding from the mouth.
"It is first to protect myself and secondly to help the scientific community find a good vaccine against the disease."
At first, his family were worried about his participation in the trial, which is being funded from the research charity the Wellcome Trust, the UK's Medical Research Council and Department for International Development.
"I explained to my wife and brother how it works and now they are fine with it.
"But I have not talked about it to my parents because I thought they may not understand," he adds.
In total 40 volunteers are taking part in the Mali study - all of them are health workers who could be called upon to deal with Ebola should more cases appear in the country.
The first and...

Summary: Preliminary indications in Mali from the first trial for an Ebola vaccine taking place in Africa seem promising.
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Article: The six-mile march from central Belfast to Stormont marked the 100th anniversary of the Ulster Covenant, to oppose Home Rule for Ireland in 1912.
There was no trouble at a contentious feeder parade past a north Belfast Catholic church on Saturday morning.
It was the biggest policing operation in the city in 20 years.
A century ago, the signing of the document laid the foundations for the partition of Ireland and the formation of Northern Ireland a decade later.
Northern Ireland's Parades Commission, which makes determinations on contentious marches, had placed restrictions on the part of the route past St Patrick's Church on Donegall Street.
By Mark SimpsonBBC Ireland Correspondent
The huge security operation surrounding the Ulster Covenant parade went better than anyone dared to hope.
Yes, there were some unsavoury incidents, but no-one was injured and the vast majority of the 30,000-strong marchers behaved impeccably.
The nationalist protesters had their say. The unionist marchers enjoyed their big day.
Much of the credit must go to the police. For the 10-year-old Police Service of Northern Ireland, this was their finest hour.
Parade bodes well for centenaries
Mark Simpson on Twitter
What was the Ulster Covenant?
A representative of a nationalist residents group which had contested the ruling said he was glad it had passed off without incident, but claimed the Parades Commission's determination had been breached.
"With one band in particular, the bass drummer danced outside St Patrick's and nobody can work out what type of hymn that was," said Frank Dempsey of the Carrick Hill Residents Association.
"The minute they passed the church, a number of bands reverted to playing (Orange Order song) the Sash and clearly broke the restriction."
The commission also placed the sacred music restriction on bands passing St Matthew's Catholic Church on the Newtownards Road, in the east of the city.
However, this was breached by some bands who played the Sash as they passed the church.
A Parades Commission spokesman said:...

Summary: Thousands of people have taken part in commemorations in Belfast to mark one of the most significant dates in unionist history.
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Article: Police now have a DNA profile for the mother of the girl whose bones were discovered by a member of the public at Washlands nature reserve in Wakefield.
Forensic analysis of the remains suggest they had been left in the area some time before October 2015.
A post-mortem examination was inconclusive, police said.
Live updates on this story and others from around Yorkshire
The bones were found in a blue plastic bag wrapped in a pair of dark leggings or trousers, which had a drawstring at the waist and were from Matalan, police said.
They were discovered just off a towpath leading from Welbeck Lane on 3 May last year.
West Yorkshire Police said it was believed the baby was born at full term.
Det Ch Insp Nicola Bryar, from the homicide and major inquiry team, said the DNA profile of the mother meant several people had been ruled out of the inquiry.
She said: "Twelve months on we continue to appeal for the mother of this baby to come forward.
"While she may not require medical assistance, she will have suffered deep trauma and may very well be in need of some counselling and professional emotional support."

Summary:


Hundreds of eggs belonging to a protected species of bird have been stolen from an important nesting site, with fears they could be sold to the restaurant industry.

Article: The government regulator has voiced concerns over how sites not yet connected to the grid choose where they get their power from.
The regulator said it had also found evidence that SSE may have breached competition law.
Ofgem will now examine whether SSE put its competitors at a disadvantage.
Customers who are not yet connected to the electricity grid, such as new housing developments, can choose who they get their electricity connection from, with the option to select an alternative, independent connection provider rather than the local distribution company.
Publishing the findings of a six month review into the electricity connections market, Ofgem said: "While we have seen more progress over the last five years to increase competition, the network company remains the sole provider for a number of key parts of the connections process."
Ofgem opened the review into the market for new connection in response to concerns about whether competition in the market was effective.
The watchdog invited responses from the public, carried out customer research and met a broad range of connection providers.
The review also identified differences in how connection services were provided across Britain.
Ofgem suggests network companies commit to an enforceable code of practice which would "level the playing field for competitors by reducing their reliance on the local electricity network companies".
The regulator said it was expecting electricity distribution network companies to confirm their commitment to the code by 18 February 2015.
Ofgem's senior partner for distribution, Maxine Frerk said: "We are requiring electricity network companies to work quickly to resolve the issues identified in the connections market, to reduce the hassle of getting connected to the grid and help lower costs for customers.
"We are determined to ensure this part of the energy market works in customers' interest and will use the full range of our powers to do so."
Ofgem, however, stressed that the fact it had launched an investigation did not...

Summary: Energy firm SSE is to be investigated by Ofgem over concerns that it restricted competition in the electricity connections market.
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Article: The two-year long study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) included nearly 500 overweight volunteers who were asked to diet and take more exercise.
Half were given a fitness tracker to help them keep tabs.
This group had lost less weight than the other one by the end of the trial.
The study authors say this does not mean people should ditch the technology altogether, but neither should they put too much faith in them, at least as a slimming aid.
Manufacturers say that the  technology has moved on since the study, and that their own research suggests activity trackers can help with weight loss alongside diet and exercise regimes.
Despite the popularity of activity trackers, there have been very few studies to see what actual impact they have on weight and fitness levels.
The University of Pittsburgh research is one of the first randomised trials to gather such evidence.
The investigators found that over the course of the study, the volunteers who wore the fitness trackers had lost, on average, about 8lb (3.6kg).
In comparison, the control group that were not given these devices lost about 13lb (5.9kg).
The study authors say there are many possible explanations for this surprising finding but, as yet, no proof.
Lead researcher Dr John Jakicic said: "People have a tendency to use gadgets like these for a while and then lose interest with time as the novelty wears off.
"And we did see a drop off in the usage data as the study went on."
Perhaps people who use fitness trackers became fixated on exercise goals and forgot to follow the diet advice, Dr Jakicic suggested.
"You might think to yourself, 'I'm being so active I can eat a cupcake now,'" he said.
Dr Jakicic said he would like to explore if certain people were more likely than others to benefit from using the technology.
For example, a person who was very goal-driven might find tracking their exercise regime very motivating. - but others might just find it depressing.
"It might be very discouraging if you can see that you are not...

Summary: Wearing an activity device that counts how many steps you have taken does not appear to improve the chances of losing weight, research suggests.
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Article: The Mediterranean gull and black-headed gull eggs were illegally harvested from from islands in Poole Harbour, Dorset.
The theft has been branded "sickening" by bird charity Birds of Poole Harbour.
The group said some eggs - sometimes eaten as a delicacy - were not cleared for human consumption.
Dorset Police and Natural England have launched an investigation.
Natural England is urging any restaurants or pubs to ask to see a valid licence before buying eggs to prepare in meals.
Birds of Poole Harbour had been surveying a group of islands in the harbour when the theft was discovered.
Mediterranean gulls are classified as a Schedule One species, meaning anyone disturbing their nests must have a special licence.
Paul Morton, who runs the charity, said Mediterranean gulls' eggs were not approved for human consumption, and could be a "health issue".
"I'm distraught, really. To see the taking of hundreds and hundreds of eggs from an important colony is quite sickening," he said.
Mr Moreton said there had been previous convictions for egg poaching in the last 10 or 15 years.
He said continued monitoring was needed to understand the effect on the gull population in the harbour, which he said had fallen by 70% since 2008.

Summary:


The European Commission has approved a new tax blacklist for nations that have not been able to comply with EU rules.

EU nations have agreed to draw up a blacklist of tax havens in the wake of the Panama Papers leaks.

Article: These ephemeral ecosystems support unique flora and fauna species that do not occur in permanent wetlands.
Yet these poorly understood habitats are being lost to future generations as a result of poor land-use practices, the authors observed.
The details have been published in the Global Change Biology journal.
Although these intermittent, shallow-water seasonal natural features are most closely associated with arid or semi-arid landscapes, they are more widespread than generally realised.
For example, more than half of the total river length in the US, Greece and South Africa is made up by sections that have temporary flow.
"They tend to occur during the rainy season which is when you will see shallow water but for most months of the year, it will appear to be dry,"  explained co-author Tatenda Dalu, from Rhodes University, South Africa.
The seasonal wetlands are dominated by aquatic biodiversity, he told BBC News.
"You have your plankton, you have your insects, which then brings in the birds to feed on these insects," Dr Dalu said.
"Some of these systems have unique communities of fish, such as the 'lung fish'."
However, these unique ecosystems were vulnerable for a number of reasons, explained Dr Dalu.
"The biggest threat we are seeing at the moment is either the digging up of the ecosystems or making them permanent.
"By making them permanent, people accidently introduce invasive species which then wipe out the unique invertebrate communities."
For example, people look to have a lake full of fish on their land. Very often, the introduced species of fish results in the unique habitat that had previously thrived in the intermittent water being squeezed to the point of becoming locally extinct.
The team also recognised that changes to the climate system were set to alter rainfall and temperature patterns.
The researchers observed in their paper: "In tropical regions of southern Africa, for example, drought is projected to be particularly problematic.
"In such areas, ephemeral wetlands are highly likely to be...

Summary: Seasonal wetlands - ecologically important habitats that become visible during rainy seasons - are facing an uncertain future, warn scientists.
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Article: Asgardia "will become a place in orbit which is truly 'no man's land'," its website says.
The new "nation" aims to launch its first satellite late next year and hopes to one day be recognised by the UN.
But some experts have cast doubt on the viability of the plan, given international law prohibits national sovereignty claims in outer space.
"Citizens" of Asgardia, who will be scrutinised before admission, will eventually obtain passports, says Lena de Winne, a senior member of the project team who worked for the European Space Agency for 15 years.
"Clearly it's difficult to wrap your head around the concept [of] how can you be a citizen of something you cannot put your foot on," she told the BBC.
"But I'm a citizen of the Netherlands and I'm now in Parisâ€¦ There is nothing unusual about it if you are a citizen of a land where you don't live and where you don't go."
The project is being directed by the Vienna-based Aerospace International Research Center, a private company founded by Russian scientist and businessman Dr Igor Ashurbeiyli.
He joked to reporters in Paris at an event announcing the project that he would not be surprised if the media labelled him a "crazy Russian rocket scientist" talking "utter nonsense".
Its website says the new nation, the name of which derives from a city in the sky in Norse mythology, "will offer an independent platform free from the constraint of a land-based country's laws".
The group says it will open up new opportunities in space for commerce, science and "peoples of all countries on earth".
Competitions are being held to decide a national anthem and flag design.
Professor Sa'id Mosteshar, director of the London Institute of Space Policy and Law, cast doubt on the idea that Asgardia would be recognised under international law.
"The Outer Space Treatyâ€¦ accepted by everybody says very clearly that no part of outer space can be appropriated by any state," he said.
Given Asgardia will not be associated with a self-governing territory, with its 'citizens' remaining on...

Summary: A group of scientists is launching what they say will be a new pacifist nation-state in space.
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Article: Finance ministers have endorsed the move, which is to be completed by the end of the summer.
The European Commission says nations on the tax blacklist should be sanctioned if appeals for change go unheeded.
The leak of millions of files from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca revealed how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth.
Full coverage: Panama Papers
Plans for a single EU list of "non-cooperative jurisdictions" have been blocked in the past by conflicting national interests.
Currently the 28 EU states have different national lists of tax havens and can decide individually whether to impose restrictive measures.
Negotiations on the new common list are expected to be complex and the number of jurisdictions to be included remains unclear.
Ministers have also agreed to exchange information on the beneficial owners of companies and the EU is planning a crackdown on banks and tax advisers who help clients hide money offshore.

Summary:


The Russian government has been accused of using the crisis in Ukraine to push through a bill that would allow Russian citizens to apply for Russian passports.

Russian MPs have proposed new laws that would make it easier for Russia to incorporate parts of Ukraine, and allow Russian citizenship to be fast-tracked.

Article: The Izumo is the largest vessel built by Japan since the end of World War Two - and she looks very much like an aircraft carrier.  She has already participated in Singapore's first ever fleet review, an international naval gathering with fleets from Asia and beyond to demonstrate their power.
There is growing support in Japan for a more strident response to Chinese military assertiveness around Japanese waters and Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force has been increasingly active in the region.
It is all part of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's determination to loosen constitutional strictures over the role of Japan's self-defence forces.
The sea is where this is playing out right now.
Japanese navy officials are careful to describe the ship as a "helicopter destroyer" capable of carrying more than 20 helicopters from its expansive flight deck, and thus playing down any offensive capabilities forbidden under Japan's constitution.
Against the backdrop of China's narrative of suffering and humiliation at the hands of Japanese imperial forces during World War Two, the transit of the Izumo through the South China Sea is particularly sensitive for China, since Japan has been very vocal in its support of a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration overwhelmingly against China's claims to a large expanse of the South China Sea and its features.
The widening of Japanese naval operations in the South China Sea and beyond is also a response to a more pressing concern for Japan: China's own relentless drive to dominate the waters around Japan.
Chinese critics of Japan's naval modernisation will point out that with a few minor adjustments, this ship could carry vertical take-off and landing fighter jets, including the F-35 stealth fighter.
For China, therefore, the Izumo and the latest additions to the JMSDF fleet are both a symbol of a new era of military expansionism under Prime Minister Abe's administration and a painful reminder of China's wartime suffering and the destruction wrought by Japan's powerful carrier...

Summary: The pride of Japan's naval defence, the JS Izumo, is making an unprecedented journey through Asian waters over the next three months.
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Article: Asia's third-largest economy grew 7.5% in the three months ending in March, higher than the previous quarter and above expectations. Forecasts were for growth of about 7.3% for the period compared with a year earlier.
But the new growth figures have come at a time when Indian companies are at their weakest in two years. Earnings are flat and profits are down. Most major industries, including infrastructure and automobiles, are struggling. Historically, says Business Standard newspaper, when India's growth has hit 7.5% at constant prices, corporate revenues and profits have soared above 14% on average. So how does the economy grow so fast when corporate growth is so slow?
A month after the government declared a new way of calculating GDP, India baffled experts in February when it announced 7.5% growth between October and December compared with the same period a year earlier. The latest figures again raise questions about the new way.
Some critics say the government is raising GDP figures to meet fiscal deficit targets, and trying to present a rosier picture of the economy. Economists such as R Nagaraj say the new and higher figures "seem quite at odds with other economic indicators such as growth in bank credit, the index of industrial production and corporate performance". Even the government's Economic Survey earlier this year found the new growth figures "somewhat puzzling" when compared to the falling savings, investments and exports.
India's government has defended the new way of calculating GDP by saying it is using an improved database for the private sector, in place of the earlier, smaller sample of large firms with high paid-up capital. It also said it had taken into account half a million companies which had been used for the first time in the series.
India's economy is a complex beast. There's a thriving "underground" or black economy which evades taxes, while more than 90% of India's workers are employed by small businesses which employ less than 10 workers.
"The new methodologies are very...

Summary: Last week, India announced growth figures which would make the world envious.
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Article: Pro-Kremlin party A Just Russia put forward both bills, and linked them directly to the situation in Ukraine.
Separatist and pro-Russian feelings are strong in Ukraine's Crimea region, which is now the focus of the crisis.
Russian MPs say a referendum or a plea from a territory's leaders would be enough to trigger the new provisions.
There are already many Russian citizens in Crimea.
In Sevastopol, base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, a majority hold Russian passports.
Under Russia's existing law, a neighbouring state would have to sign a treaty with Russia to allow part of its territory to become a new "subject" of the Russian Federation.
But Mikhail Yemelyanov, deputy leader of A Just Russia, said the law had been drafted for peaceful times, and did not go far enough for situations where a state was falling apart.
"In conditions where a neighbouring state is disintegrating I don't think the Russian Federation should be restricted in its ability to accept a territory whose people have expressed a clear will and desire to be in Russia," he said.
Since Russia's war with Georgia in 2008, the breakaway Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have come under Moscow's control.
Russia poured troops into both regions to help pro-Russian separatists who did not recognise Georgia's authority.
The other bill to be considered by the Duma - Russia's lower house - would speed up the procedures for issuing Russian passports.
Passport applicants would not have to pay a state tax, and previous residence in Russia would no longer be required.
In addition, they would not have to have sufficient funds to support themselves and would not have to give up their Ukrainian citizenship.
The bill's preamble says it is aimed "at supporting the fraternal people of Ukraine, especially the Russian-speaking ones, who are defenceless in the face of the 'brown threat'," a reference to World War Two fascists who wore brown uniforms.
The bill would allow Ukrainians to apply for Russian passports at Russian diplomatic missions before...

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