The US has been accused of using torture and other forms of torture to detain and interrogate prisoners.
The US has also been accused of using torture and other forms of torture to detain and interrogate prisoners.
The US has also been accused of using torture and other forms of torture to detain and interrogate prisoners.

The White House is in the "final stages" of drafting a plan to close the controversial US military prison Guantanamo Bay, a spokesman has said.

Article: Tynwald will consider easing the entry requirements because Manx-based games companies have been experiencing problems recruiting qualified workers.
Tax breaks have attracted about 30 e-gaming firms, transforming the Isle of Man into a major international player.
The wider e-business industry accounts for about 25% of national income and employs more than 1,700 people.
Work permit exemptions would apply only to contracts of at least 12 months and with a salary of at least Â£25,000.
It is thought the sector will be looking to fill 100 skilled positions every year for the foreseeable future.
A government spokesman said if the work permit exemption is applied it will only affect some positions within Information Communications Technology and e-Business.

Summary: Some e-gaming specialists could be added to a list of professions exempt from Isle of Man work permits.
###
Article: Josh Earnest said the closure of the Cuban detention camp was a national security interest.
It was one of the first directives President Barack Obama ordered two months after he was elected in 2008.
Inmates have slowly been transferred out and at the start of the year, 122 men were left.
The peak population in 2003 was 684.
Mr Earnest said the administration was "in the final stages of drafting a plan to safely and responsibly (close) the prison at Guantanamo Bay and to present that to Congress".
He added: "That has been something that our national security officials have been working on for quite some time, primarily because it is a priority of the president."
In 2009, President Obama admitted the January 2010 deadline he had set for closing the counter-terrorism facility would be missed.
Since then, Congress bipartisan opposition has meant the transfer of prisoners to the US has been blocked.
Some have been considered too dangerous to be released, but the US holds no evidence that can be used in civilian or military trials against them.
The US has slowly been sending prisoners back to their home countries or to third countries, a process Mr Earnest said needs to continue if the facility is to shut.
The camp was established in 2002 by the Bush administration to detain the most dangerous suspects for interrogation and the prosecution of war crimes.
Controversy has centred around the period of time detainees have been held without charge and the use of interrogation techniques.

Summary:


The UK will play their first day-night Test when they host West Indies at Edgbaston in August.
Yorkshire say they were asked by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) about their willingness to move one of the Championship games at Headingley and would be interested in doing so.
The club

Yorkshire have said they would be interested in hosting a day-night game in the County Championship in 2017.

Article: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said that, on average, consumers will save just £26 a year.
MPs also warned that the technology could be out of date by the time the roll-out is complete.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said smart meters will lower bills and make switching easier.
Installing the meters - which begins in earnest next year - will cost £215 per household, or £10.6bn.
Customers will be charged an annual amount on their bills to cover the cost, peaking at £11 a year in 2017.
The £26 annual figure would be the net saving, after the installation costs have been taken into account.
"Despite consumers footing the bill, they can on average make a saving of only 2% on the average annual bill of £1,328 by the time the roll out is complete," said Margaret Hodge, the chair of the PAC.
"Even this is conditional on consumers changing their behaviour and cutting their energy use," she added.
The Committee also said that some of the technology is likely to be out of date by the time it is installed.
At the moment the meters carry an in-house display, which tells consumers how much energy they are using at any given time, and how much it is costing.
The idea is that will encourage consumers to use less electricity and gas.
But the MPs said customers could receive similar information on smart phones.
That could make the in-home displays "redundant," said the committee.
DECC said there would be no up front charge to consumers for having a smart meter installed.
Energy minister Baroness Verma said: "Smart meters put power into the hands of consumers, bringing an end to estimated billing and helping people understand their energy use.
"The nationwide rollout is part of the Government's complete overhaul of the UK's energy infrastructure which will revolutionise the market and support the development of smarter electricity grids.
"It will help reduce consumer bills, enable faster, easier switching and give households control at the touch of a button," she said.
The project has already run into...

Summary: Installing smart meters in every house in the UK will save consumers "only 2%" on their annual bills, a committee of MPs has warned.
###
Article: England will play their first day-night Test when they host West Indies at Edgbaston in August.
Yorkshire say they were asked by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) about their willingness to move one of the Championship games at Headingley and would be interested in doing so.
The club's chief executive Mark Arthur called it a "great opportunity".
He said: "Until the fixture programme is published, we don't know when it will be or who the opposition is likely to be. But because we have got the best lights in the country for cricket purposes, then it's likely that we would be one of the selected grounds to host such an event.
"Hopefully when the fixture list comes out, it's something that all members and stakeholders will save a date for in their diary.
"Whether you're a club cricketer or a member who works 9-5 you'll be able to come along and watch two or three hours of Championship cricket after work and it will be very interesting to see what the uptake is on this initiative."
The start of the second ever day-night Test match between Pakistan and West Indies earlier in October drew a crowd of just 68 in Dubai.

Summary:

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The EU has agreed to a free movement deal for migrants in the EU, but the EU has not yet agreed on a timetable for the implementation of the deal.
The EU has agreed to a free movement deal for migrants in the EU, but the EU has not yet agreed on a timetable for the implementation of the deal

Austria will impose a daily quota on asylum claims and limit the flux of migrants travelling through the country.

Article: This remarkable rise attests to the military's predominant power and to the field marshal's ability to harness that power for his own and for his institution's purposes.
Key to his political skill has been his secrecy coupled with expert role-playing that duped his opponents into thinking he was an unambitious professional officer while simultaneously appealing to the Egyptian public as the man to lead them out of the post-Mubarak political morass.
Who then is this rather mysterious officer and how and for what purposes is he likely to rule Egypt?
First and foremost, Field Marshal Sisi is the product of the military high command under former President Hosni Mubarak, as his career trajectory and personal alliances suggest.
The "political track" in the Egyptian military is the army and within it, the infantry, the corps which produced both the late presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat.
Mr Mubarak was chosen by Sadat as his vice-president precisely because as an air force officer he did not command the loyalty of forces required for a coup.
After succeeding Sadat following his assassination in 1981, Mubarak ultimately settled on the lacklustre infantry general, Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, to preside over the officer corps - more or less as a CEO - rewarding loyalists with promotions and patronage generated in the military's sprawling economy.
Field Marshal Sisi was one of Field Marshal Tantawi's favourites, who doled out plum assignments to this rising infantry officer.
He was provided the necessary foreign training, contacts and polish by stints at the UK's Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC), at the US Army War College, and as military attache in Riyadh.
His credentials as a commanding officer were burnished by appointments as battalion, brigade and division commander and chief-of-staff within the mechanised infantry and by his final operational command as chief-of-staff of the Northern Military Zone, headquartered in Alexandria.
Having established the professional basis for military...

Summary: Virtually unknown to the Egyptian public before the Spring of 2011, Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi looks set to become the next president of Egypt.
###
Article: Officials say 80 asylum applications will be accepted each day, and a maximum of 3,200 people will be allowed to travel through Austria.
The measures will be introduced on Friday.
The country has become a major transit route for migrants seeking to claim asylum in Germany.
Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said Austria had no choice but to act, as there was no European solution yet in place for the current migrant crisis.
"It is a matter of common sense to secure our borders as long as there is no European solution. I see it as our responsibility, to maintain security, order and the quality of life in Austria for our citizens," she said.
"We cannot cope with the number of asylum applications that we had last year. That is why we impose limits on the stream of refugees. Another step is the introduction of daily quotas."
Schengen: EU free movement deal explained
Austria's Plan B to cap influx of refugees
Migrant crisis in depth
Austria took in about 90,000 asylum seekers in 2015, about 1% of its population, and officials expect to cut this number sharply this year, to about 37,500.
Observers say the influx has contributed to the rising popularity of the far right in Austria, sparking tensions in the governing coalition.
Neighbouring Slovenia and other countries in the Balkans - the main route for migrants bound for northern Europe - have also indicated that they will impose tougher measures against migrants.
Some EU states have already re-imposed border controls on a temporary basis.
The migrant flux is expected to intensify in coming months as weather conditions improve.
The crisis will be high on the EU's agenda at a Brussels summit on Thursday, and countries are expected to debate the future of the Schengen Agreement that creates a 26-nation passport-free zone.
Following the Austrian announcement, the Slovenian government said it had asked its parliament to approve the deployment of soldiers to its borders to help control the migrant flow.

Summary:


The Chinese government has been trying to get the Chinese government to agree to a deal with the EU to allow the Chinese to build a nuclear power station in the South China Sea.
The deal is expected to be signed by the EU in the coming weeks.
The EU is expected to sign the deal in the coming weeks

Hinkley Point is the world's most expensive nuclear project.

Article: With a few notable exceptions, all the candidates kept their balance and stayed on their talking points. It's as if the unconventional Trump's absence from the hall made everyone a bit more restrained and, well, political.
But this was still a debate, and every debate has winners and loser, so here they are.
Hello there, stranger, where have you been for the last 12 months? The former Florida governor is still not the most skilful debater, but without Trump around to constantly kick proverbial dirt in his eyes, he gave his best performance of the campaign. He practically admitted as much when he sarcastically noted that Trump was "a little teddy bear to me" and they "had such a loving relationship".
Best moment: When asked about a "culture of hatred" directed toward Muslims, he said: "We're never going to win elections unless we have a broader, unifying message". This was big-tent Bush, the kind of campaign he said he wanted to run but hasn't been able to.
Biggest stumble: It's perhaps telling that his worst moment was still pretty good. During the debate's biggest conflict, over immigration reform, he stood by his position on giving undocumented migrants a pathway to permanent residency. That probably won't help him with rank-and-file Republicans, but disavowing his previous stance wouldn't have either.
Since being temporarily relegated to the undercard debate, the New Jersey governor has managed to string together several strong debate performances. He's a winner because, like Bush, he was best able to shine in Trump's absence. His forcefulness, whether talking about Hillary Clinton or national security, comes across in much sharper contrast when the New York billionaire isn't there to steal his thunder.
Best moment: The immigration portion of the debate was pivotal for many of the candidates, and it was tailor-made for Christie to contrast his executive experience as governor. After Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz struggled to explain their sometimes contradictory records on the issue in the Senate, Christie...

Summary: So this is what a Republican debate would have looked like in an alternate universe, where Donald Trump was still a reality show celebrity and a failed steak salesman.
###
Article: After intervention from the Chinese ambassador, it is also now the litmus test for Anglo-China relations under the new regime at Number 10.
After EDF's board narrowly agreed to press ahead with the project, the UK government surprised company officials by saying it needed several weeks to consider before signing.
The decision to delay is widely thought to have come from Theresa May herself, influenced by Joint Chief of Staff and outspoken critic of China's creeping influence, Nick Timothy.
Without China's involvement, this project would not have received EDF board approval.
It was seen as a risk sharing mechanism for the French, a prestige project for China and the ushering in of ever-closer Chinese relations.
Nevertheless, and perhaps understandably, the prime minister wanted time to think.
Well, today's warning from the Chinese ambassador that the relationship between the two countries is at risk has given her plenty to think about.
Writing in the Financial Times, Liu Xiaoming made clear that the stakes here are high by linking government approval for Hinkley Point to the future of the relationship which is he said a "crucial historical juncture".
No kidding. In a post Brexit world, Britain needs all the friends it can get and much was made of the importance of forging close trade links with non-EU nations.
There may be legitimate security concerns over having sensitive infrastructure assets under Chinese management but a decision to back out will clearly take the shine off the "golden era" of collaboration between the two countries, proclaimed during Xi Jinping's state visit last year.
Theresa May is not the only one who wants to take her time. The French Journal du Dimanche quoted an unnamed EDF manager pointing out the benefits of hitting the pause button.
If construction was delayed until 2019 when a similar reactor will be up and running (fingers crossed) at Flamanville in France, the cost of financing the project would fall dramatically.
With a working example, EDF could secure cheaper loans with...

Summary:


The UK's government has announced that it will no longer allow the sale of the "chuggers" to the public.
The scheme, which is being enforced across the UK by the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association (PFRA),   also means street fundraisers must not:
•stand within 3m of

The return of sea otters to an estuary on the central Californian coast has significantly improved the health of seagrass, new research has found.

Article: The restrictions mean that fundraisers, typically referred to as "chuggers", cannot follow a person for more than three steps.
The introduction of the scheme follows a year-long trial.
Chuggers have been criticised for hassling people to set up direct debits, but others say they are vital.
Street fundraisers: Your stories
The new regime, to be enforced across the UK by the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association (PFRA),   also means street fundraisers must not:
•stand within 3m of a shop doorway, cash machines, pedestrian crossing or station entrance
•sign up anyone to a direct debit who, due to illness, disability, drugs or drink, is unable to give informed consent
•approach members of the public who are working, such as tour guides or newspaper vendors
Breaches of the rules carry penalty points of up to 100 points for the fundraising organisation.
Each charity has a threshold of 1,000 points before having to pay fines. Once this threshold is breached, charities must pay a monetary fine equal to £1 per point, with all further breaches all carrying a £1 per point fine.
At the end of the financial year, the charity's point balance is reset to zero.
All the money raised through the fines system will be used to improve compliance checks, in what the PFRA says creates a "virtuous circle".
"The more people that break the rules, the more money we have for providing compliance officers to check street fundraisers are complying with the new regime," said Ian MacQuillin, PFRA head of communications.
PFRA will monitor compliance with the new roles via spot checks, as well as so-called mystery shoppers who pretend to be a member of the public and then report back.
Members of the public who believe the rules have been breached should complain directly to the charity in the first instance, says the PFRA.
If they feel the charity's response is unsatisfactory, the PFRA says they should then escalate their complaint by reporting it to the independent regulatory body, the Fundraising Standards Board.
"For a form of...

Summary: Charities now face fines of at least £1,000 if their street fundraisers breach rules designed to protect members of the public.
###
Article: Seagrass was deemed to be heading for extinction in this region before the otters returned.
But scientists found that the animals triggered a chain reaction of events that boosted the water-dwelling plants.
The research is published in the journal, PNAS.
The urbanisation of California has led to a huge increase in nutrient pollution in coastal waters, from increasing use of nitrogen-rich fertilizers.
This is said to be the reason for the dieback of seagrass, which has also been declining worldwide.
This research suggests that the hunting to near-extinction of sea otters in the late 19th and early 20th Century may have exacerbated the problem, and conversely that their reintroduction is helping revive ailing seagrass populations, even in the face of hugely nutrient-rich water.
The researchers assessed seagrass levels over the past 50 years in the Elkhorn Slough in Monterey Bay, and mapped their increases and declines.
They looked at a variety of changes that may have affected the grass, but the only factor that really matched the changes in seagrass was sea otter numbers.
They theorised that sea otters were eating the crabs which prey upon small invertebrates in the water.
These invertebrates eat a type of algae which blooms when there are more nutrients in the soil. It grows on the leaves of the seagrass, shading them from sunlight and causing them to die back.
This is quite a complex cascade of effects, so the researchers tested out their theory by comparing similar estuaries with and without sea otters, and by doing experiments in the lab, and in the field.
These experiments, which included putting cages that sea otters either could or couldn't access, down on the seagrass, confirmed their hypothesis.
Brent Hughes, lead author of the study, said: "This estuary is part of one of the most polluted systems in the entire world, but you can still get this healthy thriving habitat, and it's all because of the sea otters.
"So it's almost like these sea otters are fighting the effects of poor water quality."
Hughes...

Summary:


The Farc have been fighting for years to end the conflict in Colombia, but the Colombian government has refused to give up its claim to the territory.
The Farc have been fighting for years to end the conflict in Colombia, but the Colombian government has refused to give up its claim to the territory.
The F

Spreading lung cancer cells are like tents which have collapsed and are adrift in the wind, scientists from the University of York have discovered.

Article: The announcement was broadcast live on Wednesday from Havana, Cuba, where peace talks have been held for almost four years.
The conflict has killed an estimated 260,000 people and displaced millions.
President Juan Manuel Santos called the deal "the beginning of the end to the suffering, pain and tragedy of war".
"The Colombian government and the Farc announce that we have reached a final, full and definitive accord," Colombian government and Farc negotiators said in a joint statement.
The head of the Colombian delegation, Humberto de la Calle, and the chief Farc negotiator, Ivan Marquez, signed the agreement at a ceremony in Cuba.
Both sides have agreed to work together to address social exclusion, to deliver justice to the victims of the conflict and build a stable and enduring peace.
The agreement comes after two years of secret talks and almost four years of formal negotiations.
"We have reached our goal," said Mr de la Calle.
"The war is over but also there is also new beginning. This agreement opens the door to a more inclusive society," he added.
In Bogota, hundreds of people, many dressed in white, gathered at different points of the city waving the Colombian flag and cheering.
"I can die in peace because finally I'll see my country without violence with a future for my children," 57-year-old Orlando Guevara told the Associated Press news agency.
Farc negotiator Ivan Marquez said the Farc and the government had "won the most beautiful of all battles: the peace of Colombia".
Most major dailies in Colombia backed the deal in their lead editorials.
Centre-right El Espectador praised the government's "bet on a structured, calm negotiation, with enough time for thought" while centre-left daily El Heraldo considered it "a historical step" that has the chance of "transforming the country".
Among those who commented were three former Colombian presidents.
Alvaro Uribe criticised the deal, saying it would promote "impunity" and expressed doubts as to whether the rebels - who financed themselves to a large...

Summary: Hundreds of Colombians have celebrated an historic peace accord between the government and left-wing Farc rebels, signed after 52 years of conflict.
###
Article: Communication between two proteins is what triggers the cell tent to lose its shape and become unanchored, their research found.
This allows the cells to travel to other areas of the body.
The researchers said their findings could help prevent the spread of lung cancer.
Writing in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers from York and the University of Texas describe how the communications centre of a cell - known as the Golgi apparatus - receives a signal from proteins which prompts the movement of membrane sacks inside it.
This movement alters the shape and surface of the cancer cell, allowing it to break free from its moorings and move around freely.
Dr Daniel Ungar, from the University of York's biology department, said it was apt to think of the cancer cell resembling a tent structure.
"It has fixed sides to hold its shape and is firmly anchored to the ground in order to secure its contents.
"In order to move the tent, we have to rearrange its contents and collapse its sides in order to lift it out of its anchored position and carry it away," he said.
He added that a similar process happens with cancer when it spreads - its outer edges are altered leaving it unanchored.
The study found that a protein called Zeb1 was critical to this process and the research team now want to look at how to target the protein without damaging healthy cells, in which the protein also exists.
The researchers only looked at lung cancer cells and do not know if the same process occurs in other cancers.

Summary:


Celtic have been fined £13,000 after poor behaviour by their supporters and player indiscipline in their Europa League match against Fenerbahce.

Article: It comes amid divisions over female priests and same-sex relationships.
Talks could lead to a looser communion in which cultural differences are respected, BBC religious affairs correspondent Caroline Wyatt said.
The Most Rev Justin Welby's spokesman said the gathering would allow primates to look at fresh ways of working.
In recent years, splits between liberals and conservatives in the communion have become more pronounced.
If talks fail, it could lead to a permanent schism in the third largest Christian body in the world, our correspondent added.
The worldwide Anglican communion has become an increasingly fractious and divided body over the past decade, with many of the heads of the national Anglican churches no longer on speaking terms.
Some churches in Africa support legislation against homosexuality, while bishops in the US have voted to allow clergy to solemnise same-sex marriages.
So the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is now deploying a high-risk strategy.
A source at Lambeth Palace described this meeting of the "Anglican family" not as discussions over divorce, but more a possible move into separate bedrooms.
A spokesman for the archbishop said the meeting would be an opportunity for the 38 leaders of national churches to talk face to face and decide together their approach to the next Lambeth Conference - a once-a-decade gathering of the worldwide Anglican bishops in Canterbury.
The archbishop himself added: "I have suggested to all primates that we need to consider recent developments but also look afresh at our ways of working as a communion and especially as primates, paying proper attention to developments in the past.
"The difference between our societies and cultures, as well as the speed of cultural change in much of the global north, tempts us to divide as Christians: when the command of scripture, the prayer of Jesus, the tradition of the church and our theological understanding urges unity."
The meeting's agenda is likely to include the issues of religiously-motivated violence, the...

Summary: The Archbishop of Canterbury has invited the leaders of the world Anglican communion to a meeting in January to discuss its future.
###
Article: The Scottish champions had been charged after fans set off fireworks during the 1-1 draw in Group A at Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul on 10 December.
Uefa's disciplinary body also charged the club with improper conduct after five players were booked.
Celtic finished bottom of the group and without a win in their six matches.
It is the third match in a calendar year - and the eighth in five years - that has resulted in the Glasgow club being fined by European football's governing body.
Last season, they were disciplined for crowd disturbances against Dinamo Zagreb and then for supporters setting off flares, as well as player indiscipline, against Inter Milan.
Celtic issued indefinite bans to two supporters following the incidents in Turkey and revealed in December that they were considering legal action against individual fans.
Five fans were arrested this month in connection with complaints of sectarian singing during Celtic's Scottish Cup win away to Stranraer.
The Scottish FA has written to both clubs and continues to investigate.

Summary:


The British Railways has announced that it will provide Twitter updates of engineers installing new freight lines over Easter weekend.
But Railway Magazine said the firm's PR team had gone into overdrive after work overran during the festive period leading to heavy criticism.
The rail firm said they would "definitely have a story to

A social media feed of rail works at Reading is due to the "embarrassing fallout" of engineering delays at Christmas, it has been claimed.

Article: More than 5,000 trains were delayed by 30 minutes to two hours between July and September, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) data showed.
Govia Thameslink Railway had on average nine severely delayed trains per day while Great Western Railway had seven.
Operators said a busier network meant incidents had a greater knock-on effect on other services.
But the Campaign for Better Transport said the companies should make more effort to ensure passengers received compensation for significantly delayed trains.
According to analysis by the Press Association, the Caledonian Sleeper - which runs overnight trains between London and Scotland - was the operator with the highest percentage of its services suffering severe disruption with 3.7% or one in 27 trains.
Passengers using Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) - which is responsible for Thameslink, Southern and Gatwick Express services - suffered from the largest year-on-year rise in the number of significantly late trains up 73% to 816 over the three-month period.
*The figures do not include trains that were at least two hours late.
Rail delays: How to get your money back
James MacColl of the Campaign for Better Transport said: "Late-running trains can be very frustrating, but far too few passengers understand when they're due compensation or how they should go about claiming it."
Since July, passengers have also been able to claim compensation in cash, rather than receiving vouchers against future travel.
But campaign groups wants customers to be told - for example, by a public announcement on the train - that they are entitled to get some money back and compensation forms to be handed out.
Just over half the country's train operators offer compensation after a 30-minute delay, under what is known as the Delay Repay scheme.
A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, described timetables as a "promise to passengers" and insisted "we never want people to suffer delays or disruption".
He added: "Train operators and Network...

Summary: About 57 trains are significantly late every day on the British railway network, according to industry figures.
###
Article: Network Rail said it would provide Twitter updates of engineers installing new freight lines over Easter weekend.
But Railway Magazine said the firm's PR team had gone into overdrive after work overran during the festive period leading to heavy criticism.
The rail firm said they would "definitely have a story to tell".
Major work, including extensive signalling improvements, is being carried out on the route from Good Friday to Easter Monday.
Patrick Hallgate, from Network Rail, said: "We are acutely aware that some of our work could inconvenience those who want to travel over the Easter period.
"Which is why we want to be open and provide the public with live information about how we are using this time to make improvements to this part of the network."
Railway Magazine assistant editor Nick Brodrick said this live feed is a result of "the embarrassing fallout caused by the delayed engineering works on the East Coast Main Line after Christmas".
He said: "It is therefore not surprising to see its PR team go into overdrive to reassure passengers that it can deliver on its promises."
He added that following the minutiae of rail engineering works would not be a popular pastime this Easter.
"Most people won't be particularly interested in the nuts and bolts of the work involved; what they expect is a better train service as a result."
The improvement work can be followed on Twitter from Friday morning via @networkrailgwrm and the hashtag #greaterwest.

Summary:


The FTSE 100 closed 25 points, or 0.35%, higher at 7,404, after ITV announced its new chief executive.

Article: The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 469,696 new cars were registered in the month, a rise of 1.6% from 462,517 last year.
It is the highest sales total for September on record, but the figures also showed sales to private motorists fell for the sixth month in a row.
The best-selling new car in September was the Ford Fiesta.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, said: "September is always one of the biggest months for Britain's new car market.
"The new 66-plate, combined with a diverse range of exciting new models featuring the latest technology, has certainly helped draw buyers into showrooms."
The total number of cars registered so far this year has now reached 2.15 million, according to the SMMT. Fleet sales continued to drive growth, climbing 7.3% year on year in September.
But registrations to private motorists slipped by 1.7%, the sixth consecutive month of decline.
This followed "record levels of growth in 2015", the SMMT cautioned. But Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, warned consumers were "recoiling" from making big-ticket purchases due to uncertainty about the economy.
"Car manufacturers also are beginning to raise prices in response to sterling's depreciation," he added.
"In addition, much of the pent-up demand from households that put off car purchases during the recession also has now been satiated.
"As such, with growth in households' real incomes set to slow sharply, as inflation revives and firms pause on hiring, and loan rates now at a floor, we expect [private] car sales to continue to fall over the next year."
Source: Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders
Mr Hawes also said the car industry continued to face uncertainty.
"Business and consumers place September orders many months in advance," he said.
"So the ability of the market to maintain this record level of demand will depend on the ability of government to overcome political uncertainty and safeguard the conditions that underpin consumer appetite."
In September, Mr Hawes warned...

Summary: UK new car sales rose in September, helped by strong purchases from fleet buyers and the new 66 number plate.
###
Article: Shares in ITV rose 1.3% after the broadcaster said it had appointed EasyJet's boss Carolyn McCall.
ITV's previous chief executive, Adam Crozier, left in June, but Ms McCall will not take up her new post until January next year.
Carillion shares leapt 19% on the news it was part of a consortium granted HS2 contracts by the government.
Carillion, in the wider FTSE 250, announced on Monday that it had appointed the accountants EY to support its strategic review, which has been launched after it issued a profit warning last week and announced the departure of its chief executive.
Carillion's shares were trading at about 67p, although this was still well below the 191p level they stood at prior to last week's profit warning.
Staying in the FTSE 250, shares in Weir Group rose 8% after the company, which makes pipes and valves for the energy and mining sectors, said revenue and operating profit for the full-year were set to beat expectations.
Weir said it been helped by a faster than expected recovery in the North American oil and gas markets.
The FTSE 250 index closed 112 points, or 0.6%, higher at 19,520.
The pound weakened slightly against both the dollar and the euro.
The pound fell 0.3% versus the US dollar to $1.31; sterling was also 0.3% down against the euro at 1.14 euros.

Summary:


The first inquest was held in the city of Cumbria in December 2012.
The inquest was due to be held in Kendal from 15 May and will be rescheduled for October while her father seeks legal aid.
Poppi Worthington death: Key dates
David Roberts, senior coroner for C

The second inquest into the death of Cumbrian toddler Poppi Worthington has again been adjourned, a coroner has confirmed.

Article: He is putting the finishing touches to a portrait of Pope Francis.
"This is a homage to him," he says. "Coming to Mexico, meeting us and praying for our virgin is very important - that's why I'm painting this."
There is a great deal of affection towards the Argentine Pope here and a lot of excitement ahead of the pontiff's first visit to Mexico, which has the second biggest Catholic population in the world
The Pew Research Centre estimates 81% of Mexicans identify as Catholic, and Mexicans feel that as a fellow Latin American, Pope Francis understands the Mexican people.
One of the highlights of his trip will be the Pope's visit to the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
Millions of pilgrims visit the site in honour of Mexico's patron saint every year, and they see it as a source of pride that Pope Francis will do so too.
"The impact will be huge, it's great for people because of all the violence here - we have faith that this could change things," said Fernando Medina, who was visiting the Virgin with his daughter Sofia.
The Pope will also meet President Enrique Pena Nieto in what will be a highly symbolic encounter.
In 1917, the Mexican constitution limited the role of the Catholic Church in public life, and Pope Francis is the first pontiff to be invited to the National Palace.
"The state is very conscious of Francis' popularity and his huge standing particularly in Latin America," says Austen Ivereigh, author of a biography of Pope Francis.
"I think they want to be identified with it - they want a bit of the stardust that attaches to Francis."
President Pena Nieto's approval rating has been hit by the country's continuing struggles with drug violence, human rights abuses and corruption scandals.
Pope Francis condemned the situation ahead of his visit, saying Mexico was living its "little piece of war".
"The Mexico of violence, the Mexico of corruption, the Mexico of drug trafficking, the Mexico of cartels, is not the Mexico our mother wants," he said.
And it is a war the Catholic Church in...

Summary: Jorge Santamaria sits at his easel outside Mexico City's cathedral, palette in hand.
###
Article: The 13-month-old was found with serious injuries at her home in Barrow in December 2012.
A second inquest was ordered after a seven-minute hearing in 2014 determined Poppi's death was "unascertained".
It was due to be held in Kendal from 15 May and will be rescheduled for October while her father seeks legal aid.
Poppi Worthington death: Key dates
David Roberts, senior coroner for Cumbria, said the adjournment followed a request by Poppi's father, Paul Worthington, who had been unable to secure legal aid in sufficient time.
Mr Roberts said it was "of real importance for Mr Worthington to take part in the process and it will be difficult for him to do so in the absence of legal representation".
He added: "It is self-evident my findings and conclusion at the inquest may (depending upon what they are) have significant ramifications for Mr Worthington."
A family judge previously ruled the toddler had been sexually assaulted by her father, who has always denied any wrongdoing.
No-one has been charged in connection with Poppi's death. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it had no "realistic prospect" of securing a conviction.
The second inquest was initially suspended in September after the CPS carried out a review of the case, concluding it was right not to bring any charges against Mr Worthington.

Summary:


Mebyon Kernow, which campaigns for a National Assembly for Cornwall, has announced it will not be putting forward any candidates for the 2017 general election.

Article: Rhys Rowlands has been made the region's resident judge, taking over from Judge Merfyn Hughes QC, who recently retired.
Born in Bangor, he is married with two daughters, lives in the Vale of Clwyd and will work across north Wales.
Educated at University College London and Cardiff University, he is a former prosecuting solicitor for North Wales Police.
He was called to the bar in 1986, practising from Chester chambers.
Judge Rowlands was appointed a recorder in 2000, and became a circuit judge in 2010, based at Cardiff Crown Court.
He has also conducted trials in north Wales, sitting at Mold and Caernarfon Crown Courts.

Summary: A new senior judge for north Wales has been appointed.
###
Article: A party spokesperson said the timing made it "impractical" to put together and finance "a meaningful campaign".
At the recent Cornwall Council elections four Mebyon Kernow councillors were re-elected.
It lost deposits in all six seats at both the last general elections.
More on Mebyon Kernow not fielding candidates, and other news
On 18 April the prime minister called a snap general election for 8 June - three years earlier than scheduled.

Summary:


A new film classification created to highlight the lack of women working in the film industry is now being used on the IMDb film information site.

Tube drivers on the London Underground (LU) are to be balloted for strikes in a row over pay for new all-night services, the Aslef union has said.

Article: The F-Rating was introduced by Bath Film Festival director Holly Tarquini in 2014 and has been taken up by more than 40 UK cinemas and festivals.
IMDb boss Col Needham said: "The F-Rating is a great way to highlight women on screen and behind the camera."
Ms Tarquini said 21,800 films had been tagged with the F-Rating on IMDb.
Film information site IMDb gets more than 250 million visitors per month.
Ms Tarquini said: "The F-Rating is intended to make people talk about the representation of women on and off screen.
"It's exciting when new organisations decide to join us in shining a light both on the brilliant work women are doing in film and on how far the film industry lags behind most other industries, when it comes to providing equal opportunities to women.
"But our real goal is to reach the stage when the F-Rating is redundant because 50% of the stories we see on screen are told by and about film's unfairly under-represented half of the population - women."
The F-Rating is a classification for any film which:
Newest adopter to the campaign is the Barbican Cinema in London.
Curator Gali Gold said the rating was "a simple and effective way to signpost films where the stories are told by and about women and to highlight the issue of gender imbalance within the film industry".
Anna Navas, from Plymouth Arts Centre, said she added the F-Rating "as soon as I heard about it".
"The F-Rating is such a clear, fun, accessible way of highlighting women on screen it felt like a no-brainer," she said.
The F-Rating was inspired by US cartoonist Alison Bechdel, whose 1985 comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For featured two women discussing "movies".
The cartoon became known as the "Bechdel Test" with the characters deciding a film should include at least two women who talk to each other about something besides a man.
Some films meet all three criteria with significant women on screen in their own right and are written and directed by women.  Those with the triple rating include:
Other films with the rating include those...

Summary: A feminist film classification created to highlight the lack of women working in the movie industry is now being used on the IMDb film information site.
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Article: The Night Tube will provide services on several lines from September.
Aslef said it had been told that unless drivers agreed to rosters they would automatically be imposed and no pay offer would be made this year.
The union said LU had "closed down" negotiations, however LU said these claims were "completely untrue".
The new rosters would include covering all-night services on Friday and Saturday nights when they begin.
Finn Brennan, Aslef's district organiser, said: "London Underground has closed down the negotiations.
"Our members are entitled to a family life and to some sort of work/life balance.
"We aren't opposed to all-night services but we want them introduced in a fair and sensible way which rewards staff for their hard work."
About 80% of all London Underground drivers are members of Aslef.
Mr Brennan said drivers would have to work an unlimited number of weekend and night shifts for no extra pay.
The Night Tube services will initially run on the Piccadilly, Victoria, Central, Jubilee and Northern lines.
They will be extended to the Metropolitan, Circle, District, and Hammersmith & City lines by 2021, the London Overground in 2017 and the Docklands Light Railway by 2021.
The plans are part of a six-point long term economic plan that Chancellor George Osborne and London Mayor Boris Johnson said would add £6.4bn to the London economy by 2030 and create 500,000 new jobs.
Labour's London Assembly transport spokeswoman Val Shawcross said the Night Tube would be a great thing for London but "it's important it's done properly".
She said: "That means recognising the impact it will have on staff who will make the night Tube possible and listening to their concerns.
"Instead, last year the mayor announced a start date for the night Tube without any proper consultation with the staff and unions."
Nick Brown, chief operating officer for LU, said: "To suggest that we've closed down negotiations is completely untrue and it is extremely disappointing the co-ordinated response by the unions has been to announce...

Summary:


Panasonic has announced the capabilities of its revived Technics turntables at the CES tech show in Las Vegas.

Carmarthen's Guildhall has a "self sufficient" future say council leaders, as the county takes ownership of the historic building.

Article: Two Technics SL-1200 models were unveiled - one of which is limited to a run of 1,200 units - marking the first update in years to the brand.
Panasonic has said the launch was inspired by a resurgence in vinyl record sales.
The production of Technics turntables had ceased in 2010.
At the time, some audiophiles and DJs had expressed disappointment over the well known brand's discontinuation.
But in September last year, Panasonic said that Technics would return.
The decision to halt the production of Technics turntables five years ago was a "strange" one, according to Andy Clough, editor of What Hi-Fi magazine.
"They had a fantastic brand with a huge heritage," he said. "From our point of view [the re-launch is] really exciting, it's a sort of update if you like on an iconic turntable - something of a legend amongst DJs and hi-fi people."
Mr Clough commented that while there was a resurgence in vinyl sales, the boom should be viewed in context.
"It's still very much a niche thing - albeit a growing niche," he said.
The refreshed models boast a number of mechanical improvements.
Panasonic has included a new motor in the updated turntable, which is designed to be quieter and less prone to vibrations than previous models. The result is, the firm claims, better sound quality.
Both editions will be released later in 2016 with the 50th Anniversary model, the Grand Class SL-1200GAE, being made available this summer in a limited edition run.
Retro audio formats aren't the only nostalgic tech featuring at CES this year.
Kodak has also announced an initiative to revive the Super 8 film format and is presenting a prototype of a new Kodak Super 8 camera.
It features digital functionality - including an LCD screen allowing users to frame and view recorded scenes live.
The company's initiative has already garnered support from top Hollywood directors including Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino and Steve McQueen - all of whom have praised the qualities of Super 8 film.
There are no details on when Kodak's new camera might...

Summary: Panasonic has revealed the capabilities of its revived Technics turntables at the CES tech show in Las Vegas.
###
Article: It bought the Grade II listed building for £225,000 in the summer.
The Guildhall had been facing uncertainty after the Ministry of Justice announced it was one of 10 law courts to close in Wales.
The council said it was still investigating how to make best use of the venue.
Carmarthenshire council's deputy leader and executive board member for resources, David Jenkins said one of the main reasons for buying it was to "ensure a secure future."
He said it was a "focal point" not just for Carmarthen, but for the whole county.
"It has a tremendous history. Murderers have been tried and condemned to death here."
They include Ronnie Harries, who was one of the last men to be hanged in Wales. He was sentenced to death in 1953 after murdering his relatives Phoebe and John Harries at their home in Llangynin, Carmarthenshire.
The Guildhall was also the setting for Gwynfor Evans' landmark victory as first Plaid Cymru MP in 1966.
Mr Jenkins admitted when the Ministry of Justice announced the building was to be sold, they were hoping "to pick it up for a £1," but ended up paying the district valuer's price tag.
The council is now speaking to potential partners, including Carmarthen Town Council and Dyfed-Powys Police, about the building's future.
"We've got ideas of bringing some of our own services in here," said Cllr Jenkins.
"It'll also be good as a museum. We could bring people inside just to see how beautiful it is.
"The intention is to make the building self sufficient."

Summary:


The Swiss-Italian presidential candidate Gianni Infantino has been suspended from the Swiss presidential election after he was found to have a conflict of interest.
The Swiss-Italian presidential candidate Gianni Infantino has been suspended from the Swiss presidential election after he was found to have a conflict of interest.
The Swiss

The man overseeing Fifa's presidential polls should step aside due to conflict of interest, says the Liberian FA.

Article: ITV talent show X Factor averaged an audience of 5.6m for the first live show of the series on Saturday night.
More than 9.4m people saw Kirsty Gallacher perform her last routine - a Halloween-themed one - on BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing.
The two shows overlapped for 15 minutes at 2000 GMT.
A spokesperson for ITV said audience figures for The X Factor would rise when recorded viewing was factored in, including people watching on ITVPlayer.
Audience figures for Sunday's results show were up, with an average of 6.7m viewers tuning in to watch Bupsi and girlband Alien Uncovered leave X Factor. Sunday's instalment of Strictly, which did not overlap with X Factor, got 9.6m viewers.
Bupsi, who was mentored by Simon Cowell in the Overs category, had the lowest public vote, meaning she was the first to exit the series.
Alien Uncovered failed to impress the judges in the sing-off, who opted to save 18-year-old Kiera Weathers following her rendition of REM's Everybody Hurts.
After the result, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, who is mentoring the groups, said: "I think I'm in shock. I'm devastated."
On Strictly, Gallacher's Halloween-themed Charlston failed to wow the judges as she and partner Brendan Cole were voted off the show.
She became the fifth celebrity to leave after singer Jamelia triumphed in the dance-off.

Summary: Strictly Come Dancing attracted nearly 4m more viewers than X Factor on Saturday, with ITV's show losing 1m viewers since last week.
###
Article: Domenico Scala, who heads up Fifa's Ad-Hoc Electoral Committee, is Swiss-Italian - as is Gianni Infantino, one of the five presidential candidates.
Scala excused himself from the 2015 elections as he shared nationality with a candidate, Swiss Sepp Blatter.
LFA boss Musa Bility says he will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if Scala does not withdraw by Thursday.
The battle to replace long-standing president Blatter takes place in 18 days' time.
"Article 7.4 of the Electoral Regulations is clear that any member of the Ad-Hoc Electoral Committee who has a conflict of interest … is thereby barred from sitting as a member of the Committee and must be replaced," Bility wrote in a letter to Scala on Monday.
Ahead of elections in May 2015 between Blatter and Prince Ali of Jordan - both Scala and Claudio Sulser, who was also on the Ad-Hoc Electoral Committee, stepped aside for this reason.
"Prior to the final review process, Domenico Scala (as a dual Swiss/Italian national) and Claudio Sulser (as a Swiss national) withdrew from their positions to avoid any appearance of a potential conflict of interest based on nationality," Fifa wrote at the time.
However Andreas Bantel, a spokesman for Scala, says "the fact that a member of the ad-hoc electoral committee has the same nationality as a candidate does not result in a conflict of interest.
"There is no such provision whatsoever in the relevant regulations of Fifa," he told BBC Sport.
"For the last election period Mr Scala withdrew because the Swiss candidate was the incumbent President. Scala did so in order to avoid even any appearance of a potential conflicted of interest situation and simply as a precautionary measure on a voluntary base.
"For this election there are five candidates with no incumbent President. Hence, there is no potential conflict of interest at all."
It remains to be seen whether Bility will go ahead with his threat to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In his letter to Scala, he wants to know why the same process has not...

Summary:


The University of Cardiff has been awarded £3,000 to help preserve the collection of Thomas' letters, diaries, notebooks, poems, photographs and personal belongings.
The university has been awarded £3,000 to help preserve the collection of Thomas' letters, diaries, notebooks, poems, photographs and personal belongings

A collection of manuscripts and notebooks which belonged to poet and novelist Edward Thomas are to be conserved thanks to a grant.

Article: Figures show that for those aged 65, men can expect to live for another 19 years and women a further 21 years.
But there is concern that too many elderly people are living in poor health.
And the figures vary across the country, with the North East and North West having lower life expectancies for 65-year-olds than other regions.
Life expectancy among older age groups in England rose to its highest level in 2014 - with male life expectancy increasing by 0.3 years at age 65 and 0.2 years at ages 75, 85 and 95 since 2013.
Female life expectancy increased by the same amounts at the same ages.
This comes after a fall in life expectancy in some older age groups between 2011 and 2012.
The only region where male and female life expectancy did not increase in 2014 was in the North East, where male life expectancy was higher in 2013.
Among local authorities in England, the majority showed an increase or no change in life expectancy at age 65 - but one quarter showed a decrease.
In the past, statistics have tended to focus on life expectancy at birth but now that most deaths in England occur in people over the age of 80, patterns of mortality in older age groups are becoming more important.
Prof John Newton, chief knowledge officer at Public Health England, said the report presented a positive national picture that made achieving "a good quality of life in later years even more important".
"This report is an opportunity to remind people that, even during mid-life, it is not too late to improve your health," he said.
"Most of us could make changes today, like stopping smoking, being more active or eating better, that would allow us to look forward to healthier later years."
He said it was not clear what had caused the variation in trends between local areas.
Danny Dorling, professor of human geography at the University of Oxford, said there was an urgent need to find out why improvements had stalled in many parts of England in recent years.
"Beneath the headline figures of this report, there is evidence of worsening...

Summary: Older people in England are living longer than ever before, a report from Public Health England says.
###
Article: Cardiff University is currently exhibiting some of its collection as part of a three-day event to mark the centenary of Thomas' untimely death.
But Alan Hughes, head of special collections and archive, said some other items were in poor condition.
The National Manuscripts Conservation Trust has awarded them almost Â£3,000.
The university holds the largest archive of Thomas' letters, diaries, notebooks, poems, photographs and personal belongings.
Mr Hughes said the grant had allowed us it to "collaborate with Glamorgan Archives to undertake essential conservation work on many of Edward Thomas' notebooks".
He said nine were in particularly poor condition due to acidification, fragile bindings and general deterioration over time.
"Many are unable to be handled without a high risk of further damage and are therefore inaccessible to scrutiny, celebration, digitisation and study," he said.
Thomas, known for his poems written as World War One raged across Europe, was killed in the Battle of Arras at Easter 1917, at the age of 39.
While he was born in England, Prof Katie Gramich who organised this week's event, said his parents were Welsh and he loved Wales.
She said his work was influenced by the time he spent walking in Wales and he felt "cheated of a Welsh identity".
The exhibition, which runs until the autumn, features previously unheard archive recordings of family and friends, interviewed by the university's Prof R George Thomas in 1967.

Summary:


The South African government has announced it will be launching a new project to develop a kite power station in the South African capital city of Johannesburg.
The project, which will be called the "Kite Power Station", will be built on a site in the city's historic district, which is home to the city

Local and international banks have been accused of rigging the price of South Africa's currency, the rand, by the country's competition watchdog.

Article: Kite Power Systems (KPS) has gained backing for its project at West Freugh near Stranraer from E.ON, Schlumberger and Shell Technology Ventures (STV).
Paul Jones of the company said it was an "endorsement" of its research and development work on the technology.
A demonstration system will be put in place next year with further systems planned in years to come.
The technology uses two kites tethered to spool drums and as they fly they turn the drums to produce electricity.
A full-sized kite could generate two to three megawatts of electricity, which KPS said was comparable to a 100m conventional wind turbine.
The company has said it could eventually employ up to 500 people by 2025.
Mr Jones said: "The backing of these companies will accelerate KPS's commercial development plans towards deploying lower cost, deep-water offshore wind energy on a global scale."
KPS was established in 2011 and to date has invested more than £3m in technology development.
Geert van de Wouw, managing director of STV, said he had been convinced over time of the value of the KPS technology.
"It is an interesting contribution to renewable energy generation and a good fit to explore through Shell's New Energies business," he said.
E.ON senior vice president Frank Meyer said: "The approach of KPS has the potential to become a game changer for the wind energy market.
"It supports one of our overall targets to drive down the costs for renewable energy.
"In addition to this, we catch the opportunity to be a first mover in producing renewable energy at locations where it is, for economic and technical reasons, not possible today."
Oil and gas services company Schlumberger made its investment as it believes the technology could be used on offshore oil platforms, remote onshore drilling operations and decommissioned offshore wind turbine towers.
Commenting on the news, WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said: "We hope the investment enables this emerging renewable technology to achieve its aim of developing a commercial-scale project.
"Kite...

Summary: Plans for one of the world's first kite power stations in south west Scotland have secured £5m of new investment.
###
Article: Global giants Barclays, JP Morgan and HSBC are among 17 banks named as part of the two-year investigation.
Banks colluded, using online chat rooms to co-ordinate fictitious bids and offers in order to sway the market, the competition commission says.
It has called for the banks to be fined 10% of in-country annual turnover.
The banks are now likely to face prosecution at the country's Competition Tribunal over the alleged currency manipulation, which investigators say goes back as far as 2007.
Several banks have already said they will cooperate with the authorities.
Speaking in parliament earlier, South African President Jacob Zuma welcomed the competition commission's investigation, saying that the government was prepared to act against the distortion of the financial markets "to protect our country's economy".
He also reiterated the government's commitment to establish a state bank, adding that new players must be allowed to enter to diversify the financial sector.
Analysis: Matthew Davies, Africa Business Report editor, Johannesburg:
Foreign exchange scandals have rocked the international markets over the past ten years and now it's South Africa's turn to host one.
The governing ANC party says the latest developments expose an "ethical crisis in the South African banking sector".
The opposition Economic Freedom Fighters is calling for the banks to have their operating licences immediately revoked.
However, another opposition party, the Democratic Alliance says the timing of the case is suspicious, given that in his State of the Nation address last week, President Jacob Zuma referred to the competition authorities as one of the tools that would be used to drive radical economic transformation forward.
Even if, as expected, the 17 banks come to some sort of settlement with the South African authorities, the whole saga will still be another blow to the sector's reputation.
It has also given certain politicians more ammunition to bash the banks yet again - President Zuma recently accused the country's four...

Summary:


The government has said it will not allow the sale of the controversial "Boris Johnson" Brexit deal, which has been widely criticised by the opposition.
The government has said it will not allow the sale of the controversial "Boris Johnson" Brexit deal, which has been widely criticised by the opposition.
The government

London's FTSE 100 index has recorded its biggest weekly loss this year after poor manufacturing figures in China exacerbated global economic fears.

Article: Overall the assessments were improving but were "not timely enough" in about 25% of cases, the watchdog found.
Inspectors visited 10 local authorities and examined 123 cases in a survey commissioned by Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw.
Progress was "encouraging" but there was still more to do said Sir Michael.
Earlier Ofsted reports, among them the 2012-13 annual report into children's social care, identified poor quality assessments by social workers, particularly in the weaker local authorities.
Ofsted says good assessments are crucial to building an accurate picture and ensuring "decisive, effective action to protect children".
The 2012-13 report found only four in 10 local authorities were "good" or better for safeguarding.
Poor assessment was a key theme.  In particular, the report said, the views of children and families were rarely considered.
In the latest survey inspectors noted steady progress in the quality, efficacy and timeliness of assessments.
"A greater proportion of assessments resulted in children and families receiving the right help and support at the right time," they found.
But the report says delays in assessment sometimes still leave children "at potential risk of harm".
"The improvement in the quality of care assessments is encouraging," said Sir Michael.
"However there is still more to do before we can be assured that all children and families are receiving the high standards of care required."
David Simmonds, deputy chairman of the Local Government Association, said the progress was "testament to the hard work of local authorities" but agreed they could do more.
"Councils acknowledge the need for improvement in children's mental health services, provided by the NHS, which has for a long time been a 'Cinderella service' without the capacity to meet need.
"With councils taking the reins of public health work we are beginning to see progress in partnership with local GPs â€Žas inadequate national services are redesigned locally."
He said care assessments for vulnerable children were...

Summary: Vulnerable children in England could be at risk because of delays in social workers' assessments of the care they need, Ofsted has said in a report.
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Article: The FTSE has fallen 5.2%, or 363 points, since Monday.
On Friday the index closed 2.8% lower, while markets in Paris and Frankfurt saw falls of about 3%.
Shares also plunged on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes all down more than 3% by the close.
Only one company on the FTSE 100 saw gains on Friday - Royal Mail, which rose by 1.6%.
The FTSE 100 has fallen for nine sessions in a row, its longest losing streak since 2011. It is almost 13% below an all-time high hit in April.
In the US, the S&P 500 suffered its biggest daily percentage drop in nearly four years on Friday, losing 64.8 points, or 3.19%, to 1,970.89.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 3.12%, and the Nasdaq dropped 3.52%.
As well as global stock markets, US oil prices also dived on Friday, with New York crude dipping below $40 a barrel for the first time since the financial crisis and marking its longest weekly losing streak since 1986.
Earlier, data from China indicated factory output in August shrank at its fastest pace in more than six years.
The private Caixin/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) dropped to 47.1 from 47.8 in July. A figure below 50 indicates contraction.
The data triggered another sell-off in Chinese shares, which ended the day down more than 4%.
The decline comes on the heels of weaker-than-expected economic data in July, plus this month's yuan devaluation and a stock market plunge.
Investors are growing increasingly concerned, as the Shanghai Composite index is now down 12% this week.
Friday's factory output reading for China was the lowest since March 2009, during the depths of the global financial crisis, and the sixth consecutive below the 50-point level.
The Caixin flash PMI is the earliest economic measure of the Chinese economy to be released each month and is closely watched for clues on how growth is faring.
Earlier in August, China's official economic growth data showed a further slowdown in the past quarter, expanding 7% compared with a year earlier, its slowest pace...

Summary:


The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has been working with the Queensland Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) to restore the Mackintosh building in the state of Queensland.
The Mackintosh building was built in the late 1990s and was destroyed in the fire.
The building was damaged by a fire

Wildlife sanctuaries across southern Australia have been helping injured animals - by asking the public to sew mittens and pouches!

Article: The scale drawings of the Mackintosh were made by Queensland University of Technology professor George Cairns in the 1990s as part of a Phd at GSA.
He has now donated them to the art school in the hope they can aid efforts to restore the iconic building.
GSA is still engaged in a bid to raise Â£20m to restore the Mackintosh.
Prof Cairns said: "I am delighted to be able to return to Glasgow today after so many years and to be able to donate this set of drawings which I made as part of my doctoral thesis to the GSA.
"I hope very much that they will prove of interest and use to the teams working on the restoration of the Mack and to generations of students who have the privilege to study Mackintosh's masterpiece."
GSA said it would add the drawings to its "significant archive of material relating to Mackintosh's masterpiece".
They will be digitised and accessible for academic and public research through the GSA's online archives in the coming months.
Liz Davidson, senior project manager for the Mackintosh Building restoration project, said: "We are keen to continue to access as much information as possible about the building in planning our approach to the restoration.
"Professor Cairns has already been generous in his time in liaising with the design team and these particularly detailed drawings are going to be an invaluable source of information."

Summary: The project to restore Glasgow School of Art's (GSA) fire-damaged Mackintosh building has been boosted by a donation of detailed architectural drawings.
###
Article: Media playback is unsupported on your device
13 January 2015 Last updated at 16:34 GMT
Adelaide and Victoria in southern Australia have seen some of the worst bushfires for 30 years.
Injured possums, koalas, kangaroos and wallabies have been arriving at animal rescue centres almost every day.
A charity called IFAW appealed for the public to sew tiny mittens, to help protect koalas that had burned paws.
So many people sent in mittens, they received enough to last them for a year.
Now the charity has asked people to sew comfy pouches help the injured baby kangaroos, called joeys, recover.
The pouches help keep the babies warm but have to be changed after every feed, so up to six pouches are needed for each animal every day.
The animals are being looked after by keepers at Adelaide Zoo.
Once they're better they will be released back to the wild.

Summary:


The first-ever VR-based virtual reality (VR) experience for the NHS is now available to patients.

Thistlecrack ended the three-year reign of Reve De Sivola to cruise to an impressive victory in the Grade One Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot.

Article: UK scientists found that putting patients in a virtual reality (VR) environment while being treated can reduce anxiety levels.
The researchers said this "bottled nature" approach could help many people get past their fears - but not all.
Those who experienced a more urban VR environment in the study did not receive the same benefits.
The findings have been published in the Environment and Behaviour journal.
"Our idea was that if we bring nature into a stressful situation, such as the one in a dentist's surgery, then that should have a similar benefit as when people are able to go out into nature," explained co-author Sabine Pahl from the University of Plymouth, UK.
"We know about the benefits of the natural environment in psychological and physiological terms - people can feel relaxed and restore their cognitive resources.
"We also know in dentistry, there is a high percentage of people with dentist anxiety and their teeth tend to be in a worse state and they tend to miss appointments because they are worried about going to the dentist; and that, of course, has an effect on their teeth.
"We are trying to intervene in that dental anxiety process," Dr Pahl told BBC News.
Because it was not possible to walk on the beach or in the woods while receiving treatment in a dentist's chair, the researchers decided to "bottle nature" and allow patients to experience it via virtual reality technology.
The team's study involved 70 patients, divided into three groups: one receiving standard care, without the use of VR technology; another being treated while experiencing an urban environment via VR; and a group experiencing a VR beach (nature) environment.
"What we found was that the experience of pain was much lower among the people in the nature VR group," Dr Pahl observed.
"This finding is important to us because people could say that it was just the distraction provided by VR, but the difference was stronger in the nature VR than in the urban VR.
"In fact the response among patients in the standard care and urban VR...

Summary: Could sitting in the dentist's chair really be as enjoyable as a walk on the beach?
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Article: Trained by Colin Tizzard, the 2-1 favourite took control at the penultimate hurdle and pulled away to win by eight lengths.
Jockey Tom Scuadmore said: "He gave me a lot of pleasure. It's a special day."
Reve De Sivola held on for second and Deputy Dan trailed in third, another 12 lengths further back.

Summary:


The University of Exeter has observed a supermassive black hole preparing to "feast" in a galaxy one billion light years from Earth.

Competition for nesting sites could explain why some birds and bumblebees are declining faster than others.

Article: The team were studying the birth of stars when they discovered a supermassive black hole and saw clouds speeding towards it at 800,000 mph.
The observation supports a theory black holes feed on clouds of cold gas.
Dr Timothy Davis from the school of physics and astronomy said it was a "magical" experience.
He added: "At that very moment, nature gave us a clear view of this complicated process, allowing us to understand supermassive black holes in a way that has never been possible before.
"It's possible that the black hole has an ever bigger appetite and is devouring even more of these cold clouds of gas surrounding it."
Researchers said previous models suggested the gradual growth of supermassive black holes happened when surrounding hot gas accumulates smoothly onto them.
But these observations - a first - suggest in addition to this, these black holes may occasionally "gobble up" faster-moving cold gas as it comes nearby.
The astronomers are part of an international team studying the Abell 2597 galaxy, one of the brightest in the universe.
The results were published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
Prof Michael Macdonald, co-author of the paper, from MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, admits they got "very lucky."
"We could probably look at 100 galaxies like this and not see what we saw just by chance," he said.

Summary: Astronomers at Cardiff University have observed a supermassive black hole preparing to "feast" in a galaxy one billion light years from Earth.
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Article: Research suggest animals that build their nests in early spring may win the fight for available habitat at the expense of late breeders.
Conservation efforts should focus on ensuring rare species have enough places to nest, say scientists.
For example, areas could be left to grow wild between spring and summer to help bumblebees establish nests.
Habitats such as hedgerows and hay meadows are being lost in many countries, meaning that fewer nesting sites are available.
Competition among animals for a suitable place to nest could explain why some species are struggling to survive.
"Ecologists understand why some groups of species are declining more, such as why farmland species are declining more than woodland species," said Dr Andrew Higginson of the University of Exeter.
"But an enduring mystery is the big variation in the declines of closely related species. Fighting over nest sites may be part of the reason - when nest sites are hard to come by, the species that will suffer most are those that nest later in the year."
The University of Exeter study analysed population changes in more than 200 bird species and 40 bumblebee species around the world.
The population data was combined with a mathematical model that used game theory to predict the likely behaviour of bees and birds when faced with competition for nesting sites.
It calculated the implications of fighting for nesting sites, based on the size of each species, the time of nesting and the quality of the nesting site.
The study found larger species that nest early generally do better, while smaller bees and birds that nest later in the year lose out in the struggle for habitat.
For example, the chaffinch is doing well in the UK, while the goldfinch is on the decline.
"We need to have a more holistic approach to providing good habitat for animals," Dr Higginson told BBC News. "We need to worry about the whole life cycle not just what they eat."
He said conservation efforts for animals such as birds and bees tend to focus on providing food.
Restoration...

Summary:


The festival is set to be held in the heart of the city of Perthshire.

T in the Park organisers have announced an overhaul of the festival's campsite that will see it increase in size by a quarter.

Article: The UK's only snowsports music festival was held at the weekend.
Groove CairnGorm, which made its debut in 2016, has been set up along the lines of continental snowsports music festivals Snowbombing and Snowboxx.
It is held in partnership with CairnGorm Mountain ski centre and Badaguish Outdoor Centre near Aviemore.
This year's acts included DJ sets by Basement Jaxx and Mike Skinner, also performances by Blonde and The Lafontaines.
Photographer James Roberts captured some of the scenes from the weekend.

Summary: All pictures copyrighted.
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Article: Last year's event, the first at Strathallan in Perthshire, was criticised over traffic issues and antisocial behaviour.
DF Concerts said improvements include colour-coded zones, better signage and 24-hour dedicated management teams.
This year's event will take place between 8 July and 10 July.
The Stone Roses, Calvin Harris and Red Hot Chili Peppers will headline the main stage over the three nights.
Last year's T in the Park had a daily attendance of about 85,000 people with an estimated 70,000 of those camping.
DF Concerts has produced an animated video highlighting the new campsite layout.
T in the Park security manager Colin Brown, said: "We have overhauled the campsite layout and management and guarantee there will be well-informed stewards on hand to assist with any questions.
"The layout, clearly marked-out zones and improved signage will make getting about much easier, meaning our campers can concentrate on having a good time."
DF Concerts said the Slam and King Tut's tents would open exclusively for campers on Thursday 7 July.
Last week, the promoter announced that this year's festival arena will increase in size by a third.
It will publish revised transport plans for the event next week.
Campsite entertainment manager Gail MacKenzie said: "We know that the campsite is a huge part of the T in the Park experience and have listened to feedback from last year.
"As a result the entertainment will be enhanced and we're even opening the King Tut's Tent on the Thursday for the first time ever. "

Summary:


A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge has developed a new method to measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The team has developed a new method to measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The team has developed a new method to measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

A bell-ringer who "wheedled, connived, bullied and bribed" boys as young as eight has been jailed for 10 years for a string of sex offences.

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

Summary: An international group of scientists, beekeepers, farmers and technology companies is using cutting-edge technology to help find out why honey bee populations around the world are crashing.
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Article: Liam Cann, 22, of Blind Lane, Goldhanger, Essex, contacted a number of boys while playing Xbox games online, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
He was convicted of 23 sex offences in October last year, having abused six boys from 2006 until 2014.
Judge John Dodd described the defendant as "clever and calculating".
The judge told the court that Cann, a bell-ringer at his local church, had bribed his victims "with Fifa game currency", which players can use to buy in-game features and build their teams of footballers.
Cann, who admitted one offence of possessing indecent images, was given an extended licence period of six years to remain in place after his release, and was placed on the sex offenders register for life.
His other offences included sexual grooming, attempted rape of a child under 13, and nine counts of sexual activity with a child.
A police investigation was started after one of the boys' mothers contacted the NSPCC.
One of his victims told the court he had been contacted by Cann "by messaging" and had later received a naked image of the 22-year-old.
"He gave me £20-£50 through the Xbox and I drew it on Liam's account. I knew he gave another boy £200."

Summary:


A sheriff has warned the owner of a dog which bit a postman delivering the mail that her pet will be destroyed if it bites someone again.

Article: World-Check Risk Screening contains details about people and organisations suspected of being involved in terrorism, organised crime and money laundering, among other offences.
Access is supposed to be restricted under European privacy laws.
The database's creator, Thomson Reuters, has confirmed an unnamed third-party exposed an "out of date" version online.
But it says the material has since been removed.
Security researcher Chris Vickery said he discovered the leak. He notified the Register, which reported that it contained more than two million records and was two years old.
"There was no protection at all. No username or password required to see the records," Mr Vickery told the BBC.
"I want to be clear that this unprotected database was not directly hosted by Thomson Reuters itself."
A spokesman for the financial data provider said it was trying to tackle the problem.
"We are grateful to Chris Vickery for bringing this to our attention, and immediately took steps to contact the third party responsible - as a result we can confirm that the third party has taken down the information. We have also spoken to the third party to ensure there will be no repetition of this unacceptable incident," David Crundwell said.
"World-Check aggregates financial crime data from the public domain, including official sanctions data, to help clients meet their regulatory responsibilities."
Other sources of information used to collate the database include :
Individuals' dates and places of birth are also listed, in order to help banks check they are looking into the right people.
"The worst possible situation that could arise is that someone who may be innocent, but accused of criminal activity in the database, could be permanently branded on a global scale if this database were to be spread publicly," said Mr Vickery.
A spokeswoman for the UK's Information Commissioner Officer said the Data Protection Act required personal information to be kept secure even if it had been collated from public sources.
"Organisations must take...

Summary: A financial crime database used by banks has been "leaked" on to the net.
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Article: Roslyn Condie, of Mossdale, near Castle Douglas, admitted being the owner of a dog which was dangerously out of control last September.
A court heard how her Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Nipper, bit the postman on the leg leaving a puncture wound.
Sentence was deferred on Condie for six months.
Dumfries Sheriff Court heard how the incident happened while the postman was delivering mail in the village of Mossdale.
Local residents gave him first aid and he later had medical treatment for the bite.
Fiscal depute Jennifer McGill said there was concern in the area over the dog which had on occasion escaped from the garden of its home.
A solicitor for Condie said she had had the dog since it was a puppy and it was very affectionate.
She now kept it muzzled when taken out and the garden fences had been made escape proof.
Sheriff Brian Mohan handed out the warning that a second bite would bring destruction and deferred sentence on Condie stressing that she should keep the dog under control with appropriate measures.

Summary:


A prosecution witness in the trial of a man accused of the "frenzied" murder of a woman, has been accused of carrying out the killing himself.

Article: It had been assumed that life under the waves reflected life on land and that slow-growing species were most at risk.
The researchers found that overfishing was key, but making fisheries more responsive to environmental changes could help avoid future collapses.
The findings appear in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B journal.
"On the land, slow growing animals are at most risk of decline and we used to think the same was true in the oceans," explained co-author Malin Pinsky from Rutgers University, US.
"But we studied more than 150 populations around the world and found that nearly the opposite was true."
Life on the edge
Dr Pinsky and colleagues found that over the past six decades, fast-growing species that were commercially fished were three times more likely to experience a population collapse than their slow-growing cousins.
He told BBC News that the team identified two main risk factors that made species particularly sensitive to overfishing.
"One is species that grow quickly and the other is species that are found in highly seasonal environments," he said.
"You can think of it like a finely tuned race car travelling at 200 miles per hour - one wrong move and you'd be off the track. Managing a fishery for a fast-growing species is a bit like that: you don't really have time to act when environmental conditions change."
In their paper, the researchers highlighted an example that illustrated their findings: "The collapse of the fast-growing California Current sardine (Sardinops sagax) provides a well-studied example of these interacting factors.
"The stock famously declined in the 1950s during a period of cooling temperatures that were tied to poor recruitment and a much delayed response from management to reduce harvest quotas."
Dr Pinsky said that the findings suggested that management measures needed to pay closer attention to seasonal changes in the environment.
"If you are fishing at a certain level and then the environmental conditions become poor and the fish population starts growing more...

Summary: A study of global fish populations has suggested fast-growth fish species are more vulnerable to population collapses than previously thought.
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Article: Kelly Pearce, 36, was found with fatal throat wounds in a flat belonging to witness Joseph Withers on Canvey Island, Essex, on 19 November.
Accused Anthony Ayres, 49, of Fairlop Avenue in Canvey, denies murdering her.
At Chelmsford Crown Court his defence claimed Mr Withers killed her and then blamed Mr Ayres who arrived later.
Ms Pearce had been stabbed 40 times in the face and neck and bludgeoned to death with a weapon "consistent" with a hammer in a "frenzied attack", the court heard.
More on this and other news from Essex
She sustained fatal neck wounds and skull and brain damage, and died later in hospital.
The court was told she had been attacked in the bathroom of a flat in Fairlop Avenue in Canvey, belonging to Mr Withers.
On the day of the killing, Mr Withers, who described himself in police interviews as a paranoid schizophrenic, said he was briefly locked out of his flat, while Ms Pearce and Mr Ayres were inside.
When he got back in he claimed to have seen Mr Ayres swinging a hammer.
"I saw him hitting her with the hammer or something. I just saw him hitting like that," he told the court.
Defence lawyer Oliver Saxby, QC, said: "It sounds like you weren't sure. Why did you say 'or something'?"
"That's best description I could give," Mr Withers replied.
He claimed he had then run from the flat to call the police.
However, Mr Saxby said: "I'm suggesting that either you lost it with her, or that there was somebody else in there who was responsible for what happened."
"It was Tony," Mr Withers replied.
He had said early in the cross-examination: "You're trying to say I attacked Kelly. I would never attack anybody. I'm scared of Kelly."
The trial continues.

Summary:


The US Federal Reserve has warned that the Fed will raise interest rates on the US dollar by 1.5% in the next two months.
The Fed has said that the Fed will raise interest rates on the US dollar by 1.5% in the next two months.
The Fed has said that the Fed will

A wave of selling sweeping across bond markets resumed on Monday as investors continued to digest the impact of a Donald Trump presidency.

Article: "This is simply some kind of hysteria. You can't seem to stop. Do we need to give you a tablet?" he said in a debate at the St Petersburg Economic Forum.
A US journalist had asked him if Russia had reached a secret deal with Mr Trump to soften US sanctions on Russia.
Mr Putin again denied Russian meddling in the election that Mr Trump won.
The allegations of Russian interference in the presidential election were "harmful chatter" detrimental to international relations, security and the fight against terrorism, he said.
"This is an attempt to resolve domestic political issues by using foreign policy instruments," he said.
"It's easier to say 'we're not to blame - the Russians are to blame, they interfered in our election, and we're good'. This reminds me of anti-Semitism. The Jews are blamed for everything," he added.
The US intelligence agencies say the hacking of the US Democrats last year bore the hallmarks of Russian state security services.
President Trump's campaign aides are currently being investigated over possible collusion with the Russian government.
Mr Putin accused the West of carrying out "crude and systematic interference in Russian affairs for many years".
Russia: The scandal Trump can't shake
US Congress issues Russia probe subpoenas
Earlier, Mr Putin urged US business executives to help improve Russian-US relations, amid continuing Western sanctions.
He said those relations had hit "their lowest point since the Cold War".
"I want to pass the buck back to you - help us to restore a normal political dialogue," he said at the forum.
Besides the US allegations of Russian meddling, tensions have risen during the Ukraine and Syria conflicts.
Russia remains under US and EU sanctions because of its involvement in the Ukraine conflict and annexation of Crimea.
Western governments back Sunni Arab and Kurdish groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed militarily by Russia and Iran. But Islamic State (IS) jihadists are being targeted by both the West and Russia.
"I appeal to you and...

Summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Americans must stop their "hysteria" about an alleged Russian deal with US President Donald Trump.
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Article: US and European bond prices have sunk in expectation that he will enact inflationary policies that speed the pace of interest rate rises.
On Monday, some bond yields - which rise as the price falls - hit their highest for more than six months.
Bonds globally lost $1.29tn (Â£1tn) last week, according to Bank of America.
And there is no sign that the bond sell-off is easing, depressing the value of some pension investments and making it more expensive for countries and companies to borrow money.
On Monday, the 30-year US Treasury jumped above 3% for the first time since January. In the UK, the 10-year gilt yields returned to levels not seen since June's Brexit referendum vote. And German 30-year bunds rose above 1% for the first time since early May.
Italian bonds have been among the most affected. Rome's 10-year yields rose four basis points to 2.01% on Monday, their highest in 14 months.
"It is a continuation of this recent trend. There are still these expectations that inflation could go up if the US takes a more expansionary fiscal stance," said DZ Bank strategist Daniel Lenz said.
Jim Cielinski, head of fixed income at Columbia Threadneedle, said the sell-off trend was not surprising, but the "ferocity of the reversal" was.
And in a research note for Societe Generale, analyst Daniel Fermon said that rising interest rates may not be a good thing.
"As central banks are now less active in the bond market and Trump expects to cut taxes and launch a $1tn infrastructure investment plan, increasing the deficit, we believe rising US long-term rates remain a major risk for financial markets," he said.
Investors had piled into bonds, seeking a safe - but low - rate of return during what has been years of sluggish growth in the US, Europe and Japan.
But since inflation and interest rates are seen as likely to rise, investors are seeking assets with a more attractive return. With a Trump administration promising economic stimulus through spending and tax cuts, investors are worried about putting money into low...

Summary:


A Dickensian-style protest has been held to oppose Sports Direct's use of zero-hour contracts at the company's annual general meeting.

Article: Wayne Keightley, 42, of Rutland Street, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, had already been convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
Leicester magistrates sentenced him to 10 weeks prison and banned him from keeping a pet for three years.
The RSPCA, which brought the case, said Gypsy was left "terrified and in pain" but was now recovering well.
Keightley claimed the female Staffordshire bull terrier fell as he tried to escape a gang who had broken into the flat.
He said he threw a vase through the second floor window before jumping himself and breaking his ankle.
His trial earlier this month heard he told paramedics at the scene he had been drinking and had taken drugs.
The defence insisted Keightley had been a "dog lover all his life".
District Judge Tim Daber said: "Thankfully the injuries seem to be superficial, but it was the result of quite an horrific act, for whatever reason that act was committed."
Keightley was jailed for a further four weeks after activating a suspended sentence for knife possession.

Summary: A man who committed a "horrific act" in throwing a nine-week-old puppy out of a upstairs window has been jailed.
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Article: The union Unite organised the rally at the firm's headquarters in Derbyshire.
The union has called for an end to "Victorian working practices" and demanded staff get a living wage of Â£7.85 an hour.
Sports Direct said casual workers receive holiday and sick pay, and are included in incentive schemes.
The protest at the company headquarters was one of about 40 being held on Wednesday, with Sports Direct shops across the country also being targeted.
A Sports Direct spokeswoman said: "Much of the comment around the group's use of zero hours has been unfounded and inaccurate.
"The group complies fully with all legal requirements which relate to casual workers, including holiday and sick pay and freedom to gain other employment.
"Casual workers also benefit from general incentive schemes."
Unite said an estimated 3,000 workers are on zero-hour contracts at Sports Direct's Shirebrook headquarters.
A further 75% of staff across its UK stores are also on zero-hour contracts, with Sports Direct accounting for a fifth of all such contracts in the retail sector, according to Unite.
One institutional investor, Royal London Asset Management, earlier called for the resignation of Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley citing anger on his failure to attend four board meetings.
Ashley Hamilton Claxton from Royal London Asset Management, said: "We have lost confidence in the board and are very concerned about the long list of corporate governance failings that have not been addressed."
But both Mr Ashley and Sports Direct chairman Keith Hellawell were re-elected to the board at the meeting.
Unite representative Cheryl Pidgeon said: "We want an end to zero-hour contracts - because young people cannot stand 'forever and a day' to be on zero-hour contracts.
"We think Sports Direct makes enough money to ensure that their workers have to dignity, respect and fair wages."

Summary: