The Home Office has been criticised for failing to provide a "fair and fair" language test for migrants who have been told to learn English.
The Home Office said it was "not clear how many people would be able to speak English in the UK".
The Home Office said it was "not clear how many people

Red-faced officials at the Home Office have been forced to correct a spelling error in a press release about new English language tests for migrants.

Article: In the year to March 2015, there were 41,176 such crimes recorded, compared with 29,466 during the previous year.
Overall crime in Greater Manchester was up 10% during the same 12-month period.
Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy said: "This increase in recorded violent crime is showing some worrying trends and placing huge demand and risk on a reducing number of staff."
His force has lost more than 1,100 officers since 2010.
Greater Manchester's Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd called on Prime Minister David Cameron to "stop chipping away at the police service" and "invest in the safety of our local communities."
There were a total of 200,432 crimes recorded by Greater Manchester Police - a 10% rise, compared to 3% nationally.
Mr Lloyd said while police numbers were being cut, demands on police were increasing as they deal with more complex issues "such as child sexual exploitation and domestic abuse."
Reported sexual offences increased by 55% to 4,970 in 2014-15 while there was a 33.4 % rise in domestic violence in the region, with 19,621 recorded crimes.
Sir Peter added: "Many of these incidents are complex with vulnerable victims to be protected and dangerous offenders to be brought under control. We are bringing many more cases to court but keeping on top of this is getting more and more challenging."
On an average day, GMP deals with 532 crimes, including 51 daily victims of domestic abuse, 12 sexual assaults and 10 hate crimes.
National figures showed an increase in knife crime in England and Wales for the first time in four years.

Summary: Violent crime in Greater Manchester rose by 40% in the last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
###
Article: The Nigerian novelist was well known in literary circles but gained a far wider audience after Beyonce used an extract of her speech called called We Should all be Feminists in her 2014 track Flawless.
Now her words are being used again in a Boots advert released this week: "For a while I stopped wearing make-up and hid my high heels. And I became a false version of myself. But then I woke up and I saw in full colour, full confidence again."
As a feminist, she is aware that she has to explain her relationship with make-up.
In her talk at TedxEuston she said that the word feminist was "so heavy with baggage, negative baggage. You hate men, you hate bras, you hate African culture."
Instead, she said, she wanted to be identified as a "happy African feminist who does not hate men and who likes lip gloss and who wears high heels for herself but not for men".
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie:
"Sadly, women have learnt to be ashamed and apologetic about pursuits that are seen as traditionally female, such as fashion and make-up"
While this highly specific definition of a feminist was tongue-in-cheek, she still felt the need to defend wearing make-up earlier this month.
In a 9,000-word Facebook post she wrote a guide to how to bring up a feminist daughter.
"If she likes make-up let her wear it; if she likes fashion let her dress up. But if she doesn't like either let her be."
She advised that raising a feminist didn't mean forcing her to reject femininity: "Feminism and femininity are not mutually exclusive. It is misogynistic to suggest that they are.
"Sadly, women have learnt to be ashamed and apologetic about pursuits that are seen as traditionally female, such as fashion and make-up."
This comes from personal experience.
In her TedxEuston talk, she revealed that when she was getting ready to teach her first writing class she felt a pressure to avoid looking feminine: "I really wanted to wear my shiny lip gloss and my girly skirt but I decided not to.
"Instead I wore a very serious, very manly, and very ugly suit. Because...

Summary: One of the world's leading feminists is not the obvious choice to be the face of a make-up brand, but Boots has just made Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie the face of No7.
###
Article: Language was spelled "langauge" in the original release, put out on Thursday.
But it was corrected by officials after Twitter users ridiculed the error.
BBC Radio 4 presenter Anita Anand said it was "beyond parody" that the Home Office could not spell language in a note to migrants who have been told to learn English.
A Home Office spokesman said: "This was a regrettable typographical error that has now been corrected."
On Monday, Prime Minister David Cameron announced a Â£20m fund to teach Muslim women in the UK to speak English, claiming it would help tackle segregation and help them resist the lure of extremism.
But some Muslims have accused him of wrongly conflating the two issues.
Mr Cameron said all those who entered the UK on the five-year spousal settlement programme - not just Muslim women - would have to sit language tests after two and a half years.
Thursday's press release said the new requirement would not be implemented before October 2016, with the precise timing and further details to be confirmed by the Home Office "in the next few weeks".

Summary:


A man has been charged with using drones to smuggle cannabis, steroids and mobile phones into prison.

Article: Searching for "did the Holocaust happen?" returned a top result that claimed it did not, as Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr reported.
Now, the ranking has changed for US users.
The page - from white supremacist site Stormfront - remains top in the UK.
"This is a really challenging problem, and something we're thinking deeply about in terms of how we can do a better job," said a Google spokesman.
"Search is a reflection of the content that exists on the web.
"The fact that hate sites may appear in search results in no way means that Google endorses these views."
Regarding the recent change in rankings on the Holocaust query, editor of news site Search Engine Land Danny Sullivan, believes this was due to external parties' attempts to influence the ordering of results.
Mr Sullivan met Google executives and engineers last week to discuss the issue of questionable result ranking, which also affects other queries about, for example, ethnic minorities.
"I'm as horrified and disappointed by the results as many people are," he told the BBC.
However, he said Google - which processes five billion searches a day - was keen to come up with a solution that was broadly applicable across all searches, rather than just those that have been noticed by users.
"It's very easy to take a search here and there and demand Google change something," explained Mr Sullivan, "and then the next day you find a different search and say, 'why didn't you fix that?' "
Ms Cadwalladr has accused Google of disseminating "hate speech".
Other result rankings that she questioned include those for "are women evil?" and "are muslims bad?".
The BBC has also found that some additional queries, including ones without negative terms, also produce controversial answers.
For example, searching for "are black people smart?" in the UK returns a "featured snippet" at the top of the results that claims "black people are significantly less intelligent than all other races".
Mr Sullivan added that it was far more common for users to search for simple terms,...

Summary: Google has said it is "thinking deeply" about ways to improve search, after criticism over how some results - including ones discussing the Holocaust - were ranked.
###
Article: The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) carried out an "extraordinary review" of the system in July.
It followed moves by Bangor University to withdraw midwifery students from Glan Clwyd Hospital, and concerns flagged by Health Inspectorate Wales.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said it had developed an action plan.
Prof Angela Hopkins, executive director of nursing and midwifery at the health board, said: "Most of the recommendations made in the NMC reports have already been addressed."
The review by the NMC examined how closely rules on supervising midwives across north Wales were being followed.
But the investigators found on two measures the midwife services were falling short:
Jackie Smith, NMC chief executive and registrar, said: "The reports from our extraordinary review show that there are serious concerns around the nursing and midwifery education programmes.
"We need to be assured that our standards for education and for the supervision of midwives are being met, and that the public's safety is protected.
"It is essential that all the relevant organisations collaborate to address the issues raised by the review. We will work closely with Bangor University, Health Inspectorate Wales and other stakeholders to improve the situation and strengthen public protection."
Prof Hopkins said: "We would like to reassure our patients regarding the quality and standard of education for student nurses and midwives in north Wales, and to advise that issues raised regarding the supervision of midwives have been fully addressed."
The investigation was prompted by escalating concerns at the health board about how maternity services might be reorganised.
Officials wanted to remove consultant-led care from Glan Clwyd Hospital at Bodelwyddan in Denbighshire - but that faced being overturned by a judicial review.
It led Health Inspectorate Wales to flag the issue to the NMC in June, just weeks before the entire health board was put into special measures by the Welsh government.
At the same time, according to the...

Summary: "Serious concerns" have been raised over the education and supervision of midwives in north Wales following a review.
###
Article: Michael Tovey, 27, formerly of Lakes Road, Erdington, Birmingham is accused of using two drones to fly contraband into HMP Birmingham last year.
In the first charges of their type brought by West Midlands Police, Mr Tovey faces 13 counts of conveying banned items into a prison.
He is set to appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on 7 June.
Read more news for Birmingham and the Black Country
Mr Tovey is accused of using two drones to drop contraband into the prison's exercise yard on 29 October and 6 November.
He attempted to drop a consignment near N and P wings containing four phones, SIM cards, Black Mamba, steroids and cannabis, it is alleged.
It is claimed he was also responsible for a drone that crashed into the same yard eight days later, carrying two phones and further quantities of the same banned drugs.

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The Astute class of submarines is expected to be the first to be launched in the UK.
The Astute class of submarines is expected to be the first to be launched in the UK.
The Ministry of Defence said the Astute class of submarines has greater firepower, state-of-the-art communications equipment

The third Astute Class submarine to be built at a Cumbrian shipyard has been named.

Article: "France paid al-Qaeda 25m euros for four hostages," read a headline in the Times newspaper this week.
The French government has categorically denied that any public money was used to secure the release of the four French nationals kidnapped in 2010 at a uranium plant in Niger and held by jihadist bandits linked to the regional franchise of al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim).
"We don't play that game," said the French foreign minister when asked if his government had paid for their release.
Niger's President Mohamadou Issoufou was more evasive when asked the same question directly.
He replied simply: "I think that what we must be rejoicing about is that the hostages who went through difficult ordeals, who were isolated for many months from their families, are free."
But since there was no military assault involved in the hostages' release, it is almost inconceivable that their captors would simply give up their prisoners for no reward.
Privately, some British officials are furious, as the concept of giving in to terrorist ransom demands runs directly contrary to the commitment undertaken by all the G8 leaders at the Loch Earn summit in Northern Ireland in June.
Whether it was the French government, the Niger government, the hostages' employer Areva, or any other party that may or may not have paid a ransom, the indications are that a group of ruthless and dangerous men with guns is now roaming around the Sahara with a lot more money at their disposal.
So how much money is involved in Saharan kidnaps and where does it go?
The Texas-based US strategic analysis company Stratfor estimates that with the latest payments, Aqim has earned itself about $116m (Â£72m) in ransoms since 2003.
"We have seen ransom payments by the governments of Spain, Italy, France, Canada and Austria to see their citizens released from captivity," said Stratfor Vice President of Africa Analysis Mark Schroeder.
This year a leaked Nigerian government report revealed that a ransom of $3.15m (Â£1.9m) was paid to the Nigerian...

Summary: The rumours are hard to dismiss.
###
Article: Astronomers predict it could be possible to see up to 200 meteors per hour in clear skies.
The best time to view it will be from 23:00 until 04:00 in north Aberdeenshire and Galloway.
Dark, countryside skies away from street lights offer the best possibility of a sighting.
BBC Scotland weather presenter Kawser Quamer said the skies will be mainly cloudy but there is a chance of clearer spells.
She said: "Tonight and early tomorrow is the peak of this year's season, which runs until 24 August.
"The best time to view it is from 23:00 until 04:00 if you look towards the north-eastern sky.
"But it's all dependent on the weather forecast and I'm afraid for tonight it will be rather cloudy.
"In the north east and south of the country there will be drier moments and the possibility of some clearer spells.
"So if you are heading out with a camera, the favoured spots for some clearer spells will likely be across Aberdeenshire, maybe northern Moray and across Angus.
"For Galloway, quite often a favoured spot for stargazers is heading towards Loch Trool."
Perseids are shooting stars or space debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet.
Every year, the Earth passes through this field of debris and it is normally possible to see 100 meteors or shooting stars per hour during the peak.
This year, that could double as experts predict a rare meteor "outburst", according to Armagh Observatory.

Summary: Stargazers in the north east and south of Scotland are expected to get the best view of the Perseid meteor shower when it reaches its peak overnight.
###
Article: Thousands of people were at the ceremony at BAE Systems' Devonshire Dock Hall in Barrow to mark the end of the build process for Artful.
Another four of the nuclear-powered submarines are being built at the yard.
The ceremony was carried out by Amanda Lady Zambellas, wife of the Royal Navy's First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir George Zambellas.
BAE Systems Maritime - Submarines managing director John Hudson said: "The design and build of a nuclear-powered submarine is as challenging as it is complex, so today represents a significant milestone in Artful's programme.
"It requires real skill and innovation to deliver submarines as sophisticated as Artful and this would not have been possible without the valued contribution of our employees and the collaborative efforts of the whole submarine enterprise."
Artful will remain at the Barrow yard while commissioning activities are carried out and is due to be launched early next year for further tests.
HMS Astute and HMS Ambush have already been launched. The other vessels are at various stages in the design and build process and will be called Audacious, Anson, Agamemnon and Ajax.
The Barrow yard has been working on the Astute programme since 2001.
The Ministry of Defence said the Astute class of submarines have greater firepower, state-of-the-art communications equipment and advanced stealth technology, making them quiet and harder to detect.

Summary:


The South East Asia haze is a serious problem for the country's economy, with the country's economy having been struggling to cope with the rising demand for wood and paper products.
The country's economy has been struggling to cope with the rising demand for wood and paper products.
The country's economy has been struggling to

Singapore is putting pressure on major retailers in Singapore to not use or sell materials produced by firms linked to fires in Indonesia.

Article: Mr Zuma was responding to allegations that he had "unduly benefitted" from an upgrade to his private home in Nkandla which cost taxpayers about $23m (Â£14m).
MPs from the new Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were not satisfied with his explanation and started chanting: "Pay back the money."
Parliament was suspended and security called to oust the EFF group.
Police entered parliament in Cape Town carrying riot shields, tear gas and batons but then aborted their plans to forcibly remove the EFF MPs.
The governing African National Congress (ANC) said it was "appalled" by the behaviour of the EFF parliamentarians.
The Democratic Alliance, the largest opposition party, said the EFF's "theatrics" meant South Africans "did not get answers from the president, to which they were rightfully entitled".
South Africans may be divided over the behaviour of the EFF in parliament but its leader Julius Malema posed questions many here still want answered.
Nkandla remains a sore point for many citizens and the president has been accused of failing to account to the public that elected him into power.
So while they may not support the chanting and disruption to a formal sitting, many are quietly applauding their stand.
Mr Malema has never been one to shy away from confrontation; it was with tough talking that he defended President Jacob Zuma before their fall-out.
However uncomfortable to watch, many see this as South Africa's democracy at work.
It is not clear when the session will resume - possibly on Friday.
Many MPs were waiting to question the president when the session was suspended.
After being pressed by Mr Malema on when he would repay the Nkandla money, Mr Zuma said he had "responded appropriately to parliament" and said it was now in the hands of the government.
The EFF has 25 MPs in the 400-member parliament after gaining 6% of the national vote in May's election.
It was the first election contested by the EFF, led by controversial former youth leader Julius Malema.
He formed the EFF last year following his expulsion...

Summary: An address to parliament by South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has been halted by opposition MPs.
###
Article: Could it be a topic that persuades undecided voters on polling day?
Always an emotive issue, religious slaughter has become an unexpected political battleground as the general election approaches.
Animal rights campaigners have long called for a ban on halal or shechita slaughter, which amongst other requirements specify slitting an animal's throat quickly with a sharp knife while it is still conscious.
The British Veterinary Association, the RSPCA, Compassion in World Farming and the National Secular Society all want to see an end to the religious slaughter of animals or to slaughter without pre-stunning.
However, in the run-up to the general election, opposition to those methods of slaughter would also seem to have become dog whistle politics: shorthand for targeting a specific religious minority - Muslims - without saying as much.
UKIP last week said it would ban all slaughter methods that didn't involve pre-stunning - causing controversy amongst British Muslims and Jews, some of whom warned that any such ban would in effect drive those who observe religious dietary laws out of the UK.
For many of the UK's almost three million Muslims, halal slaughter is a strict religious requirement, as is eating kosher for many of the UK's 300,000 Jews.
According to the Halal Authority Board, there is a strong strand of religious opinion that livestock should not be stunned before slaughter, but others feel that light stunning is permissible.
Its standards permit both types of slaughter, and dictate a number of requirements regarding animal welfare for both.
"If followed properly, both unstunned and stunned are extremely humane forms of slaughter and the evidence to suggest otherwise is completely wrong," according to its head of certification, Shaykh Tauqir Ishaq.
"Being cruel to animals is a sin in Islam, and we do not permit any form of cruelty in abattoirs certified by us.
"The discomfort and pain experienced by any animal should be absolutely minimised if not eliminated, and our standards reflect such...

Summary: It's a passionate conflict - animal welfare campaigners opposing the slaughter practices of religious minorities.
###
Article: Seven firms, including major supermarkets such as NTUC FairPrice and IKEA, have been asked declare they are not doing so within a week.
The forest fires in Indonesia have deteriorated Singapore's air quality, causing a blanket of haze in the city.
FairPrice has said it removing products from one Indonesian firm.
The state-owned supermarket giant said that it was removing all paper products sourced from Asia Pulp and Paper Group (APP), following the notification from the government.
APP has been named by Singapore authorities as one of the companies suspected of contributing to the haze.
What is behind the South East Asia haze?
In a joint statement, the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) said they had asked the retailers to declare that they have "not procured or used wood, paper and/or pulp materials" from firms accused of contributing to the fires.
The SEC said retailers were "a good starting point" for firms to show their commitment to sustainable procurement processes and "for consumers to show their support for brands that have environmentally friendly practices"
The haze has caused hazardous air quality across the region. It has led to the cancellation of public events and schools closure over the past month, in Singapore as well as in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Anger has been rising in the region, with increasing pressure on the Indonesian government to control the annual burning of forests to clear land for palm oil and rubber plantations.

Summary:


The new scheme is a "sham exercise" and would not be a "sham exercise" if it was to be implemented.

There will not be a referendum on an additional council tax rise in Liverpool after the results of an online poll, the city's mayor has said.

Article: If it passes, the country will be the largest developed nation to end marijuana prohibition.
The law was tabled on Thursday, and would allow adults over 18 to possess up to 30g of dried marijuana.
The proposed legislation would allow the federal government to license producers, but provinces would be in charge of regulating consumer sale.
Other issues, such as pricing, taxation and packaging must still be worked out.
"This is a very important day, I've spent most of my adult life keeping children and communities safe," said MP Bill Blair during a press conference shortly after the legislation was presented to parliament.
The former police chief had chaired the government's cannabis task force, which laid out a blueprint for legal recreational pot in Canada.
The government is pitching the legislation as a way to keep pot out of the hands of minors and undercut organised crime.
The law would increase penalties for those who sell to children, and revamp impaired driving laws to make it easier to prosecute people who drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
It would allow police to test people's saliva if they think a driver has been using marijuana.
The current legal prohibitions have been an "abject failure" at keeping the children from getting a hold of marijuana, says Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.
Canada has some of the highest marijuana use in the world, according to the task force, especially amongst young people. About 30% of people aged 20-24 use cannabis.
The new framework would make it illegal to market marijuana products to children, or sell to anyone under 18. Provinces could raise the minimum age of consumption if they choose, the government says.
New laws would also increase the penalty for people who sell to the under-aged, as well as create a new offence for people "exploiting children in the trafficking of cannabis".
Trafficking cannabis outside the government's new legal framework would remain illegal.
Initially, only fresh and dried cannabis, cannabis oils, seeds and plants would...

Summary: Canada has laid out its plan to legalise the sale of recreational marijuana by June 2018.
###
Article: Philip Morant School and College in Colchester has told pupils and parents that they will no longer set homework and will instead select their own "appropriate" tasks.
The new scheme is optional but there will be rewards for completed tasks.
It said it believes the new approach will give pupils "greater responsibility for their own learning".
The school has called the new approach 'Prove It+' at Key Stage 3 & 4 and Independent Study Tasks at Stage 5.
In a letter, it explained how tasks will be uploaded onto the school's website and pupils can select what they want to do based on guidance from teachers, as well as their own targets and interests.
Some of the tasks "support community and charity awareness" to help "develop the whole child", the letter said.
Principal Catherine Hutley told the Daily Gazette that teachers will use the time previously spent on setting and marking home on planning lessons more precisely.
She said the move away from traditional homework had been discussed for about a year.
Parents have been involved in a consultation period which has included 30-minute workshops.

Summary: A high school has scrapped traditional homework in favour of a more "independent" approach to learning.
###
Article: Liverpool City Council used a online budget simulator to ask residents about a proposed council tax rise of 5%, plus a further 6% to pay for social care.
Joe Anderson said the plan would not go ahead after 57% of respondents said no.
He also revealed plans for a Liverpool lottery in his New Year message on his Liverpool Express blog.
He said following the "feedback... I will not be proposing to hold a referendum on any additional increase beyond the 4.99% limit set by government".
Work was continuing on the full details of the authority's budget, he said, which would then undergo consultation in 2017.
He added that he was "surprised and proud that so many, 43%, said yes".
"It's a truly heart-warming reminder of how caring our city really is," he said.
Green party leader Councillor Tom Crone said the consultation was a "sham exercise".
"The weak consultation was never going to secure support for a tax rise," he said.
He said the mayor's decision not to hold a referendum meant there would be "tens of millions of pounds more cuts to services in the coming years".
Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Richard Kemp, said: "The public were never going to buy it over concern about the waste of existing council tax income."
Mr Anderson said the Liverpool lottery card would help local causes, adding that more details of it would be revealed in the coming months.
"Liverpool people are amongst the most generous in the country and I believe will support the initiative to help us cope with the growing numbers of people dependent on us," he said.
Councillor Kemp said his party would oppose the lottery idea.
He said: "The overwhelming evidence is that existing lottery users are already from the most deprived parts of the community.
"A new Liverpool lottery will be a tax on the poor to pay for services to the poor."

Summary:


The government has been trying to make a deal with the government to make a deal with the government to make a deal with the government to make a deal with the government to make a deal with the government to make a deal with the government to make a deal with the government to make a deal with the government to make a

Kenyans have been voting in a key election - the first since the disputed contest of December 2007 that triggered weeks of bloodshed.

Article: The lender said the move was a "one-off depreciation" of 1.9% in a move to make the exchange rate more market-oriented.
It comes in the wake of a string of weak economic data from the world's second largest economy.
At the weekend, China reported a sharp fall in exports and a slide in producer prices to a near six-year low in July.
Exports fell by 8.3% in July, far worse than expected and the producer price index was down 5.4% from a year earlier.
The midpoint for the yuan is now set at 6.2298 to $1, up from 6.1162 yuan on Monday.
The People's Bank of China (POBC) manages the rate through the official midpoint, from which trade can rise or fall 2% on any given day.
Until now, it had been determined solely by the central bank itself.
Making the rate more market-based will mean the midpoint will now be based on overnight global market developments and how the currency finished the previous trading day.
The POBC's move comes amid speculation that China is preparing to widen the trading band for the currency from the current two percent range.
China has long kept tight control of the yuan value on concerns over financial volatility and losing its policy control.
Yet it is also under pressure to reform its currency policy as it pushes to become one of the International Monetary Fund's "special drawing rights" (SDR) reserve currencies.
These are currencies which IMF members can use to make payments between themselves or to the Fund.
Analysts ask, though, whether this really is a one-time move from China.
"The question on everyone's mind is whether this is the awakening of the dragon - ushering in a new global currency war?" Angus Nicholson, market analyst with trading firm IG wrote in a note.
"If this move ushers in a new era where the CNY [Chinese yuan] fixing is increasingly reflective of the spot market, it could be positive for its prospects being included in the IMF's special drawing rights basket of currencies this year."
Asian equities outside of China slipped on the news as investors weighed the...

Summary: China's central bank has devalued the national currency, the yuan, to its lowest rate against the US dollar in almost three years.
###
Article: The security protocol is used to encrypt Voice Over Internet Protocol (Voip) calls.
In a blog, University College London researcher Steven Murdoch described vulnerabilities in how such conversations were encrypted.
GCHQ said it did not recognise the findings.
Dr Murdoch did not say that the vulnerability would give direct access to conversations, but that it would make it possible to undermine the system's security.
The network operator could listen in to calls, or authorise someone else to, and anyone who hacked the system would be able to eavesdrop, he said.
One of Dr Murdoch's chief concerns was that the security standard has "key escrow" by design - meaning, for example, that a third party has access to data sent between two people in a conversation.
This, he said, is an example of a backdoor.
In this case, it could allow an intelligence agency, or the organisation which is using the standard, to intercept phone calls, Dr Murdoch said.
"I think this comes from a conflict of interest within GCHQ in that they are there to prevent spying but they are also there to spy - so they facilitate spying," he told the BBC.
Dr Murdoch added that he was aware of two products which use the standard, both of which are government certified.
"They could be in use inside government," he said.
The protocol in question is known as Mikey-Sakke (Sakai-Kasahara key encryption in multimedia internet keying).
It works by generating encryption keys that are used to encrypt and decrypt voice conversations.
Although it is technically possible to create these keys on two separate computers and only share part of those keys publicly, the Mikey-Sakke protocol does not do this.
Instead, keys are distributed by a third party to the conversation participants - the process known as key escrow - meaning that they are much more vulnerable to interception.
There are cases in which this would be desirable, commented Prof Nigel Smart, a cryptography expert at the University of Bristol.
"It could make sense to have a form of key escrow where...

Summary: A security researcher has said software developed by the UK intelligence agency GCHQ contains weaknesses making it possible to eavesdrop on phone calls.
###
Article: This time the poll was held under a new constitution, designed to prevent a repeat of that violence when more than 1,000 people died when supporters of rival candidates clashed.
They have been choosing a president, members of parliament and senators, the new posts of county governors and members of county assemblies. The presidential contest is seen as a two-horse race between Prime Minister Raila Odinga against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta.
BBC correspondents around the country sum up how the voting went.
The queues in some places stretched for more than a kilometre, as voters in Kibera stood patiently in line.
The neighbourhood is one of Nairobi's largest slums. It is the constituency of Raila Odinga, one of the favourites for the presidential contest and the scene of some of the worst violence following the last election in 2007.
Today, many had arrived before dawn, waiting patiently in line, sometimes for hours.
Voters cast their ballots into colour-coded boxes - six each - for a variety of different representatives, local and national.
The memories of five years ago are still fresh and, as the campaign drew to a close, a sense of apprehension was palpable.
Police talked of conspiracies to cause chaos and warned that violence would be met in kind.
But, in Kibera at least, as the sun grew hotter and the umbrellas came out, the mood was up-beat.
"Peace, peace," one crowd shouted as a truck of paramilitary police trundled past.
We came across a man with dreadlocks and a pot of white paint. His message, "Peace wanted alive", can be seen daubed on walls and roads around the neighbourhood.
The real test of peace, though, is likely to come once all the ballots have been cast, and the results start coming in.
As the sun begins to set, the heat is easing and some polling stations are still open after the official closing time of 17:00, with queues of people determined to cast their vote.
Tensions have been running high in this insecure and arid region near the Somali border and there has been a heavy...

Summary:


The new course is being built in the city centre of the city centre of the city centre of the city centre of the city centre of the city centre of the city centre of the city centre of the city centre of the city centre of the city centre of the city centre of the city centre of the city centre of the

A plan to increase the cost of speed awareness courses has been criticised as a "self-funding merry-go-round".

Article: Researchers in New Hampshire suggest the 180km-wide Chicxulub crater in Mexico was carved out by a smaller object than previously thought.
Many scientists consider a large and relatively slow moving asteroid to have been the likely culprit.
Details were outlined at the 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
But other researchers were more cautious about the results.
"The overall aim of our project is to better characterise the impactor that produced the crater in the Yucatan peninsula [in Mexico]," Jason Moore, from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, told BBC News.
The space rock gave rise to a global layer of sediments enriched in the chemical element iridium, in concentrations much higher than naturally occurs; it must have come from outer space.
However, in the first part of their work, the team suggests that frequently quoted iridium values are incorrect. Using a comparison with another extraterrestrial element deposited in the impact - osmium - they were able to deduce that the collision deposited less debris than has previously been supposed.
The recalculated iridium value suggests a smaller body hit the Earth. So for the second part of their work, the researchers took the new figure and attempted to reconcile it with the known physical properties of the Chicxulub impact.
For this smaller space rock to have produced a 180km-wide crater, it must have been travelling relatively quickly. The team found that a long-period comet fitted the bill much better than other possible candidates.
"You'd need an asteroid of about 5km diameter to contribute that much iridium and osmium. But an asteroid that size would not make a 200km-diameter crater," said Dr Moore.
"So we said: how do we get something that has enough energy to generate that size of crater, but has much less rocky material? That brings us to comets."
Dr Moore's colleague Prof Mukul Sharma, also from Dartmouth College, told BBC News: "You would need some special pleading for an asteroid moving very rapidly - although it is possible. But of the...

Summary: The space rock that hit Earth 65m years ago and is widely implicated in the end of the dinosaurs was probably a speeding comet, US scientists say.
###
Article: The Mill O' Mains Community Pavilion is being demolished following Sunday's blaze, which is suspected of being started deliberately.
The volunteer-run pavilion was used for youth group and community activities, including providing meals for children.
The petition calls on Dundee City Council to build a replacement for the centre.
The council said it was left with "no other viable option" but to demolish the building.
The petition states: "The pavilion was a hub to the local community and a place for children from different backgrounds to have a place to play and relax.
"We would love to see it rebuilt for the community."
Dundee City Council leader John Alexander told the petitioners: "I'm currently working with officers to identify what led to the fire, what could have been done to prevent it and where we go from here.
"The bottom line is that we will absolutely be working with the community and local councillors.
"Local community officers have been working with key community activists and there will hopefully be some more detail and clarity in the coming days."
Police Scotland said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
A Dundee City Council spokesman said: "Following the fire at the Mill o' Mains Community Pavilion we are left with no other viable option than to demolish the site.
"The building suffered extreme structural damage, having entirely lost its roof and most of its internal fabric during the fire.
"Work is currently underway to demolish the remnants of the building.
"At this stage our main focus is to clear the site and remove the danger."

Summary: A petition to rebuild a Dundee community centre destroyed in a fire has been signed by over 700 people.
###
Article: Avon and Somerset Police wants to raise the cost of the course from £80 to £95 to help pay for its road policing unit.
The Alliance of British Drivers said the police should not be funded by people "who hadn't done much wrong".
Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens said she would not comment on the proposal, which would be discussed later on Monday.
Alliance spokesman Bob Bull described the courses as "not about safety", "more about making money" and a "self-funding merry-go-round.
He said people who were driving at "marginally over" the speed limit should not be penalised and that the police should be concentrating on catching drivers travelling at well over the limit.
In the report, the panel said it hoped the price rise would protect the unit from further cutbacks.
The course is offered to drivers who are caught travelling at 10% above the speed limit plus two mph, but not more than 10% plus nine mph.
At the new price the course would be £5 short of the £100 fixed penalty, but without drivers getting points on their licences.
A motorist who has attended one of the courses within the past three years is not eligible to have the option of attending again.
RAC head of external affairs Pete Williams described the increased cost as "an unwelcome surprise for drivers".
Mr Williams said with more than one million motorists attending the courses each year "there is big money to be made, either by the police or those running the courses".
Staffordshire £80
North Wales £85
Gloucestershire £90
Surrey £95
City of London & Metropolitan £97
Wiltshire Not offered
Source: National Association of Driver Intervention Providers

Summary:


Supermarket plant sales are reducing customers' choice, says Gardeners' World presenter Monty Don.

Article: The announcement came as the Edinburgh-based challenger bank saw underlying profit rise by nearly 5%, to £65m.
Total income was up more than 5% to £274m in the year to 12 March.
Sainsbury's said it performed strongly in the personal loans market, with 15% year-on-year growth in the number of advances to new customers.
The bank's portfolio of insurance products also continued to perform well, resulting in new business growth of more than 10% year-on-year.
Sales of new home insurance policies increased by more than 25%.
In an interim results statement, Sainsbury's said: "Given the bank's strong trading performance and the trust people have in the Sainsbury's brand, we have decided to launch new mortgage products in 2017.
"We believe these products will complement our existing financial services portfolio and we expect customers to respond well."
Sainsbury's also reported that it was "making good progress" in moving towards "a new, more flexible" banking IT platform.
It forecasts total transition costs to be "at the top of the £340m to £380m range".
Meanwhile, Edinburgh-based Virgin Money has reported a sharp rise in gross mortgage lending.
It said lending climbed by year-on-year by 30% in the first quarter to a record £2.1bn, giving the bank a market share of 3.4%.
The bank added that residential gross mortgage lending increased by 35%, while buy-to-let lending was up by 17%.
Credit card balances surpassed £1.8bn at the end of the quarter, up from £1.6bn as at 31 December.
Virgin Money said it was looking towards an "accelerated target" of £3bn of credit card "outstandings" by the end of 2017.
Chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia said: "I am delighted to report it has been another excellent quarter for Virgin Money.
"We had a record start to the year for mortgages and our savings franchise continues to flourish with a strong inflow of cash ISAs.
"I am particularly pleased with the performance of the credit card business which continues to exceed expectations one year on since launching to the public."

Summary: Sainsbury's Bank is set to launch new mortgage products in 2017 after reporting a strong trading performance in the last financial year.
###
Article: The devices will not be capable of displaying videos from the site thanks to changes made by YouTube to the way it handles uploads.
As a result, the app for YouTube will be removed from Bravia TVs by the end of this month, Sony said.
Sony has released a list of the 50 models across the range of TV sets that will be affected by the change.
In a statement posted to its customer support site, Sony said the television sets were not losing access because of a "failure" of the set.
Instead, it said, recent changes made to YouTube "exceed the capability of the TV's hardware".
This is believed to refer to Google's recent decision to start encrypting all connections to its video-sharing site. Encrypting and decrypting data can be a computationally intensive task that the processors in Bravia sets that handle net-connected functions cannot cope with.
Some owners of affected TV sets have already been reporting seeing error messages or video streams freezing during playback.
The TV sets affected span the range of Bravia devices from smaller sets only 20in (50cm) across to those that span 89in (2.2m) and cost Â£25,000.
James O'Malley, writing on the Gizmodo gadget site, said the change proved there was just one rule when it came to buying a smart TV.
"Buy a dumb screen, and plug something smart into it," he said.
It was far better to use a Chromecast, Firestick or Apple TV box for smart TV services rather than rely on the in-built capabilities of a TV that are likely to be outpaced by changes in technology in a few years, he said.
In March this year, many smart TV sets lost the ability to use Skype as Microsoft ended support for the app.

Summary: Sony Bravia smart TV sets made in 2012 will no longer be able to show YouTube videos after 30 September.
###
Article: Nurseries increasingly focus on plants that can be mass produced so the big stores can sell them cheaply, he says.
"You have these vast wholesale nurseries now supplying supermarkets - and that's a diminution of choice," he told Radio 4's You and Yours.
However, the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) says supermarket sales actually help grow the market.
According to Kantar World Panel, nearly 40% of gardeners get their plants, bulbs and seeds from supermarkets.
"That's bad," says Don. "It's rather like the vast suppliers supplying food - you get lots and lots of the same thing mass produced to be as cheap as possible."
The UK garden market is worth around Â£5bn, with some Â£1.4bn spent on garden plants by UK consumers in 2013, according to the HTA, the industry body.
The Gardeners' World presenter believes consumers should shop around.
"I'm a huge fan of independent nurseries. That is where you get the expertise, it's where you will find people who have devoted their life to growing something.
"They will grow geraniums or trees and they will really know about it, so when you contact them, they can give you great help and assistance."
Martin Simmons, HTA director of operations, said: "People often make impulse purchases of plants in supermarkets and if this then encourages them to buy more plants then this is good for the industry and helps to grow the market.
"Buying a plant in a supermarket may be the first step for some consumers, particularly younger ones. If this grabs their interest they will naturally seek out garden centres and retail nurseries."
Waitrose told the BBC it took quality seriously, and that its plants were supplied by two reputable nurseries who supply only garden centres - not other supermarkets.
Inviting Monty Don for a visit to talk to buyers, Asda said it works with a network of expert growers to ensure it offered quality.
Sainsbury's said it had a longstanding relationship with suppliers, many of whom were family businesses. It added that it always worked to give customers choice...

Summary:


The FAs have now said that they will let their players wear the armbands anyway and will accept any punishment.

The FAs have now said that they will let their players wear the armbands anyway and will accept any punishment.

The FAs have now said that they will let their players

The Football Associations of England and Scotland say they will ignore a ban on players wearing poppies in their upcoming match on 11 November.

Article: Worker output per hour in the UK fell 1.2% during the last three months of 2015 compared with the previous quarter, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Output per hour in manufacturing fell by 2% from the previous quarter, while in the service sector it dropped 0.7%.
Poor rates of productivity in the UK have been a concern to policymakers.
In last month's Budget, the Office for Budget Responsibility cut its growth forecasts for the UK economy after it lowered its predictions for productivity.
The fall in productivity in the fourth quarter of the year followed a 0.6% rise in the third quarter.
Over 2015 as a whole, output per hour rose by 1%, which the ONS said was the strongest increase since 2011.
The ONS said that labour productivity overall - covering output per hour, output per worker and output per job - was about 0.5% higher in the fourth quarter of 2015 than in the same period a year earlier.
"How productivity develops going forward is critical to the economy's growth potential," according to Howard Archer, an economist at IHS Global Insight.
"The crucial question for the UK economy is, does the fourth quarter of 2015 mark a temporary relapse in productivity. Or is it evidence that the UK has an ongoing serious productivity problem."
Suren Thiru, head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "There are deep-rooted structural problems in our economy that have dampened productivity - from skills shortages, to infrastructure bottlenecks and limited growth finance.
"Delivering solutions to these critical issues would go a long way to achieving the productivity gains we need."

Summary: Productivity among UK workers at the end of last year fell at the fastest pace since 2008, official figures show.
###
Article: The Times quoted the mother of three as saying having children meant she had "a very real stake" in Britain's future.
She later said she was "disgusted" with the interview's presentation.
Times journalist Rachel Sylvester defended her article, saying she was "baffled" by Mrs Leadsom's reaction.
Mrs May, who has no children, has launched a "clean campaign" pledge and invited Mrs Leadsom "to join me in signing it". Her campaign team has declined to comment on the Times's story.
David Cameron also refused to comment on the row saying he was "playing no part" in the election and would say "absolutely nothing".
The Times headlined its front-page lead story: "Being a mother gives me edge on May - Leadsom."
It quoted the energy minister as saying Mrs May "possibly has nieces, nephews, lots of people.
"But I have children who are going to have children who will directly be part of what happens next".
Speaking outside her home in Northamptonshire, Mrs Leadsom said she was "disgusted about how this has been presented".
"In the course of a lengthy interview yesterday, I was repeatedly asked about my children and I repeatedly made it clear that I did not want this in any way a feature of the campaign," she added.
"I want to be crystal clear that everyone has an equal state in our society and in the future of our country.
"That is what I believe and it is what I have always believed... this campaign must at all times be principled and honourable."
In an earlier statement, she said the reporting had been "beneath contempt".
By BBC political correspondent Eleanor Garnier
We won't know the true impact of this row until the result of the leadership race is announced in September.
It is the Conservative Party membership that votes on who should be leader and there may well be some who would like their next leader and prime minister to be a mother.
But many others will say it doesn't matter at all and it shouldn't be used in any way to try to get ahead in the campaign.
That is why there has been such a huge reaction to Andrea...

Summary: A row has erupted after Conservative leadership candidate Andrea Leadsom was accused of suggesting that having children made her a better choice to be prime minister.
###
Article: The two nations meet in a 2018 World Cup qualifier on Armistice Day, also known as Remembrance Day, when the United Kingdom remembers those who have lost their lives in war.
But Fifa, who are in charge of world football, say they do not allow any nations to have any political, religious or commercial messages on shirts.
They had turned down a request to allow England and Scotland's players to wear armbands with poppies on.
The FAs have now said that they will let their players wear the armbands anyway and will accept any punishment.
Poppies are worn by millions as a symbol to remember those who have lost their lives in war or been injured.
British Prime Minister, Theresa May, has said Fifa's refusal of players being allowed to wear poppies is "outrageous".
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, she said: "Our football players want to recognise and respect those who have given their lives for our safety and security - I think it is absolutely right they should be able to do so."
The Football Association of Wales has also written to Fifa requesting permission to wear poppies on armbands during their game against Serbia in Cardiff on 12 November but has not yet said if it will ignore the ban.

Summary:


The company has been in talks with Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten, which is looking to grow its business globally in a bid to challenge Amazon.
The global market in dedicated e-readers peaked in 2011 with 23 million devices sold, but is expected to fall to 10 million by 2017 as phones and tablets eat

Sony has given up selling its line of Reader devices for e-books after failing to find a big enough market.

Article: Ashley Coe was working on a new solar plant for British Solar Renewables in Devon when a digger operating beneath the overhead cable caused the accident.
He suffered a serious brain injury and two other workers were also hurt, Exeter Crown Court heard.
Sub contractor Pascon was fined £35,000 for failing to manage the work safely.
Mr Coe was working for Walsall-based Pascon when the incident happened in March 2013 at Knockworthy Farm near Huntshaw.
The digger which struck the 33,000 volt cables was reversing while laying a cable in a trench and Mr Coe was helping to control the drum when he suffered the shock.
British Solar Renewables, of Butleigh, Somerset, admitted breaching the construction, design and management regulations by failing to ensure the safety of power cables.
Pascon admitted failing to plan, manage and monitor construction work adequately.
The court was told Mr Coe was left with mobility problems which prevented him from working again.  Fellow workers Malcolm Stewart and Andrew Capper suffered less serious injuries.
Simon Morgan, prosecuting, said the cables should have been protected by fencing, goal posts, and bunting to prevent vehicles operating beneath them and a banksman should have been used to ensure safe movement of plant.
BSR were fined £250,000 with £72,000 costs and Pascon were fined £35,000 with £25,000 costs.

Summary: A solar power company has been fined £250,000 after a worker suffered life-changing injuries when he received an electric shock from a high-power cable.
###
Article: Sky won five of the seven TV packages on offer, but paid 83% more than it did in the last auction three years ago.
However, shares in BT rose 3.65% after it paid £960m for two of the TV packages, 30% more than last time.
Analysts at Jefferies said the outcome had been "sobering" for Sky, but "reassuring" for BT.
Sky and BT paid a combined £5.136bn for the live TV rights deal - far in excess of what had been expected.
Jefferies said the deal would be "challenging to explain" to Sky shareholders.
"For Sky, a sobering result," Jefferies said. "Even with some claw back on costs/pricing, we expect [analyst] forecasts to move lower," it said.
The price Sky paid per year was about £330m more than City analysts had predicted.
Jefferies estimated that Sky would try to claw back about £200m a year through cost-cutting and £100m through incremental price rises.
Analysts estimate that Sky Sports has about five million subscribers, out of a total TV subscriber base of between 10.5 and 11 million people.
The BBC understands Sky plans to mainly fund its bid by taking costs out of its non-programming budget.
Sports and entertainment programming will not be affected, but areas such as customer services will find efficiencies by moving more online rather than being focused on call centres, for example.
Sky will also try to reduce the need for service visits by increasing the reliability of its set-top boxes, which are currently around 85% reliable, the BBC understands.
Subscribers are also likely to face some price rises, analysts believe.
Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown, said BT appeared to have got the better deal.
"Sky has paid dearly and is going to have to squeeze costs and customers to keep its finances on track," he said.
"BT has ended up with a good hand - Premiership, Champions League, FA Cup and European leagues, all for a fraction of the annual cost that Sky is paying for its Premiership position," he added.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme...

Summary: Sky's shares ended the day 2.2% lower after the company agreed to pay £4.1bn to show live Premier League football between 2016 and 2019.
###
Article: "We do not have plans to develop a successor Reader model at this time," the Japanese firm told the BBC.
The PRS-T3 was the last version made and will exist as long as supplies remain in Europe.
Earlier this year, Sony pulled out of selling e-books and directed its users in the US and Europe to the e-bookstore of rival Kobo.
North American customers using Sony Readers have been directed to buy books from Kobo since February this year, and European and Australian customers since May, a Sony spokeswoman said.
But users in Japan, Sony's home country, can continue to still get its line of Readers and access Sony's Reader Store.
The news was first reported by German site Lesen.
The dominance of Amazon's range of Kindles and the growing smartphone, tablet and so-called phablet market have made it hard for Sony's suite of e-readers and rivals like Nook to carve out a niche for themselves. According to The Bookseller, Amazon has around 90% of the dedicated e-reader market in the UK.
Canadian firm Kobo was bought by Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten, which is looking to grow its business globally in a bid to challenge Amazon.
The global market in dedicated e-readers peaked in 2011 with 23 million devices sold, but is expected to fall to 10 million by 2017 as phones and tablets eat into the overall market, according to the research consultancy Gartner.
Still, the sale of printed books will be outstripped by e-books by 2018, a report by Pricewaterhouse Coopers suggested.

Summary:


The LGA has claimed that the LGA is "a very good example of how the LGA is being used in the UK".
The LGA said councils were also "very good at reducing the number of subjects a student may sit at Scottish schools, Reform Scotland has claimed".
The LGA said councils were

Council tax bills in England could cost an average of £200 more for band D properties by 2020, the Local Government Association has warned.

Article: The group, which refers to itself as Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, had not previously maintained an established online channel for its propaganda or any official social media presence in any language.
But on 18 January, an Arabic-language Twitter account purporting to be the official outlet for a new Boko Haram media group called Al-Urwah al-Wuthqa was launched and immediately promoted by key pro-IS media operatives.
Since then, the group has used the feed to publish a stream of propaganda, including several new videos, although there has been some disruption to its media activities following the suspension of the original account by Twitter.
The increased sophistication and organisation of the propaganda that followed the launch of the Twitter account bore signs of the influence of IS, which has honed its social media exploitation over the past year.
This appeared to indicate that the group may have been assisted by IS media operatives, or influenced by IS in an indirect way.
Boko Haram has followed the example of IS by publishing branded photographs of its militants and the areas under its control to illustrate its successes on the ground.
The Twitter feed has also been posting a stream of short statements about the group's activities, claiming operations in a timely manner, in the mould of Islamic State's one-line tweeted claims.
The videos released so far via the new Boko Haram Twitter account have been more slickly crafted than the group's standard grainy offerings, with professionally designed graphics and high-quality opening sequences.
This improvement and the use of multiple languages and well-presented subtitles - using English, Arabic, French and Hausa - suggested the group may have had outside help from IS media operatives.
Arabic-language jihadist anthems have also been used, one of which has been routinely used in IS propaganda.
The latest video, showing the beheading of two Nigerian "spies", bore remarkable similarities to IS beheading videos. The staging, slow motion techniques...

Summary: Following the launch of an official Twitter feed for the Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram in January, there have been multiple signs that the group's media operation has been influenced by the expansionist Islamic State (IS, formerly Isis or Isil).
###
Article: The think tank uncovered an "inequality of opportunity" for children taking National 4 and 5s, which replaced the old standard grade exams in 2014.
Freedom of information requests found that some pupils were permitted to sit eight exams in S4, while others were limited to five.
The Scottish government said councils made their own decisions.
A spokesman said this ensured that they best met the needs of their pupils.
Reform Scotland said it was "ironic and disappointing" that Curriculum for Excellence reforms, brought in to broaden pupils' education, were in fact narrowing it and placing some young people at a disadvantage.
Keir Bloomer, a member of the Reform Scotland advisory board and chairman of the Commission on School Reform, said: "Our research shows that inequality of opportunity is now built into our examination system, not by the SQA but by decisions made mainly at council level.
"This is an unintended consequence of the way Curriculum for Excellence is being interpreted."
The research found while some local authorities imposed a blanket decision on the maximum number of exams across the council area, others allowed individual schools to decide.
Mr Bloomer, a former director of education at Clackmannanshire Council, said: "Decisions to reduce the number of subjects a student may sit seem to have been based on a crude calculation of the number of hours of study available in S4.
"However, this is effectively saying that nothing studied in earlier years counts towards the knowledge of the subject required for the exams."
He added: "This is not an issue of the preferences or ability of the student. Instead, it is a lottery based on the school a young person attends.
"The result is that a very able student at one school could emerge with fewer qualifications than a similarly-able student at a different school."
Scottish Conservative young people spokeswoman Liz Smith accused the SNP of "turning a blind eye" to inequalities in the exam system.
"It is not just national 4 and 5s that are suffering but highers...

Summary: Pupils face a "lottery" in the number of exams they can sit at Scottish schools, Reform Scotland has claimed.
###
Article: The claim comes after extra fundraising powers for councils were outlined in last week's government Spending Review.
But the LGA said councils would still face a combined shortfall of £6.8bn by the end of the Parliament.
The government said council tax was expected to be lower in real terms in 2020 than a decade earlier.
In the Spending Review, Chancellor George Osborne said local authorities responsible for adult social care would be allowed to increase council tax by 2% above existing limits.
By adding in the maximum new levies allowable without a referendum, the LGA estimated that Band D bills could cost an average of just under £200 more over the next five years.
It said this would not be enough, particularly as budgets continued to face new pressures such as those caused by an aging population.
Any shortfall might have to be made up by further increases to costs such as car parking charges, it added.
One senior councillor said councils were now also facing "a reckless gamble" of having to use cash reserves to fund services.
A Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "In reality councils will have almost £200bn to spend on local services over the lifetime of this Parliament, a cash terms increase and a reduction of just 1.7% in real terms each year.
"The Spending Review offers a £3.5bn package for adult social care to ensure councils can support their older and most vulnerable residents, while at the same time council tax is expected to be less in 2019-20 in real terms than it was in 2010-11.
"With councils accounting for a quarter of all public spending it's right they continue to play their part in paying off the deficit."

Summary:


The Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Furness General Hospital in Barrow and Lancaster was rated as inadequate in an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
It said the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Furness General Hospital in Barrow needed to improve the quality of care.
The trust said it was

A failing health trust has been placed in special measures, meaning all Cumbria hospital trusts are now getting extra help to boost performance.

Article: It follows media coverage claiming the institution is banning "prep" - a public school term for homework - to "save pupils from depression".
Principal Eve Jardine-Young said: "The headline about homework being banned was not entirely accurate."
She said it was being looked at as part of an "overall review of learning".
Claims the prestigious independent school was considering scrapping homework were made in The Times after an interview Ms Jardine-Young gave to the newspaper.
Although the principal admits the girls' school is looking into the "daily" prep being handed out to its 850 students, she said it was not abolishing "traditional homework".
"It's about stepping back and asking what is homework for, what is the effectiveness of the prep?," she said.
"It's an important debate to have but it's complex and it's very easy to turn it into a binary issue of 'yes or no' on homework."
In October, the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) reported that the college's set homework was "appropriate and stimulating".
But Ms Jardine-Young said the regimented "Victorian approach to homework" needed to be reviewed to make it "relevant for the 21st Century learner".
"It's about transforming and evolving from that Victorian model of the past," she said.
"It's a really important issue for all schools; the potential young boys and girls have just cannot be maximised if they are unhappy or really stressed about things in life.
"There's a lot of complexity on this so we're involving parents in that discussion and it's really crucial that the pupils themselves have a voice."
The school caters for day pupils and boarders aged between 11 and 18.

Summary: The head of Cheltenham Ladies' College has had to "break the news" to pupils that the "end of homework is not quite as imminent" as they might have hoped.
###
Article: Six cats which went missing in the Croydon and Norwood areas in south London were later found dismembered.
It was initially thought the animals had been killed by foxes.
But animal rescue workers have now urged owners to keep their pets indoors "where possible", saying it had become clear that "something sinister" was going on.
Boudicca Rising of South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty (SNARL) said her organisation had received a "deluge" of further concerns from local residents.
The animals had suffered "gruesome" injuries which appeared to have been made by a blade, she told BBC Radio 5 Live.
She urged anyone who comes across an injured animal in the area to contact her group.
A spokeswoman for the RSPCA said: "We will be surveying any evidence we are given to see if there is deliberate cruelty involved here."
"Thankfully acts of deliberate violence against dead cats are rare and thorough research has shown that these kind of injuries can be caused by wildlife after death."
She added the police were leading on the investigation but said the RSPCA will provide any support as needed.
The Met confirmed it had received reports of animals being harmed and was working with Surrey Police.
Sgt Ross Spanton, of Surrey Police said:  "I would like to reassure the local community that active enquiries are under way to identify those responsible and I would urge anyone with any information to contact the police."

Summary: Animal welfare workers believe the same person may be responsible for a string of "gruesome" cat killings.
###
Article: University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust was rated as inadequate in an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
It said the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Furness General Hospital in Barrow needed to improve the quality of care.
The trust said it was "part-way through a process of significant improvement".
Last year, a separate trust covering the north of the county, North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust, was one of 11 put into special measures after the Keogh review found higher-than-expected mortality rates.
The CQC inspection took place in February and while inspectors said care in services such as maternity and A&E had improved since previous checks, they added other areas of concern had not been addressed.
Medical care in one part of the Royal Lancaster was said to be "of particular concern".
The overall recruitment of nurses and doctors was identified as a "fundamental" worry with "too much reliance" on temporary staff.
The chief inspector of hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said: "There is a long history of concern with the quality of service provided by the trust, so it is disappointing to report that a number of the issues that have been identified in the past remain unresolved.
"I do not believe that the trust is likely to resolve its challenges without external support."
As well as the hospitals in Barrow and Lancaster, inspectors also visited the Westmorland General Hospital, near Kendal, which was said to be providing a good service overall.
The trust's chief executive, Jackie Daniel said: "The reports reflect the fact we are part-way through a process of significant improvement which is still going to take a number of years to complete.
"It isn't an overnight job to change the culture of a large, complex organisation."
Full reports of the inspection have been published on the CQC website.

Summary:


The UK and Spain have the biggest disparity in numbers of pensioners covered by the reciprocal healthcare agreement, as of December 2016.
The figures were obtained after a BBC Freedom of Information request.
Citizens of the EEA - EU states and Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein - can get public healthcare in all

The government's watchdog has issued a warning to students about the dangers of taking "smart drugs".

Article: The attorney general's office said he was suspected of signing a contract that was "unfavourable to Fifa" and making a "disloyal payment" to European football chief Michel Platini.
Mr Blatter was being questioned, and his office was searched, it added.
The 79-year-old, who has run Fifa since 1998, has always denied any wrongdoing.
Fifa, which has been hit by a string of corruption allegations in recent years, said it was co-operating with the investigation.
"Swiss criminal proceedings against the president of Fifa, Mr Joseph Blatter, have been opened... on suspicion of criminal mismanagement... and - alternatively - misappropriation," the Swiss attorney general's office said in a statement.
It said Mr Blatter was suspected of signing a contract with former Caribbean football chief Jack Warner in 2005 that was "unfavourable to Fifa" and in doing so "violated his fiduciary duties and acted against the interest of Fifa..."
The contract they mention is thought to refer to a TV rights deal agreed between Fifa and Mr Warner's organisation Concacaf which, according to an investigation by a Swiss broadcaster earlier this month, allegedly resulted in a multi-million pound profit for Mr Warner's own company.
Fifa owns the TV rights to the World Cup and sells them to regional federations which then sell them on to broadcasters.
Mr Blatter's lawyer, Richard Cullen, said he was confident the inquiry would clear Mr Blatter of any wrongdoing.
"We are confident that when the Swiss authorities have a chance to review the documents and the evidence, they will see that the contract was properly prepared and negotiated by the appropriate staff members of Fifa who were routinely responsible for such contracts, and certainly no mismanagement occurred," he said.
According to the Swiss attorney general, Mr Blatter is also suspected of making a "disloyal payment" of two million Swiss francs ($2m; Â£1.3m) in 2011 to Mr Platini, the statement said.
It said the payment was "at the expense of Fifa, which was allegedly made for work...

Summary: Swiss prosecutors say they are investigating Sepp Blatter, the head of football's world governing body Fifa, on suspicion of criminal mismanagement.
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Article: While 70,000 retired Brits use Spain's health system, 81 Spanish pensioners are registered as covered by the NHS.
Across the European Economic Area (EEA) there are 145,000 UK expat pensioners registered, compared with 4,000 EEA pensioners registered to use the NHS.
The figures were obtained after a BBC Freedom of Information request.
Citizens of the EEA - EU states and Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein - can get public healthcare in all EEA states, which is ultimately claimed back from their home country.
The Department of Health figures show that the UK and Spain have the biggest disparity in numbers of pensioners covered by the reciprocal healthcare agreement, as of December 2016.
And while 43,000 British pensioners were registered to use the French health service, only 201 French pensioners were registered as covered by the NHS. In Cyprus 12,000 British pensioners are covered by the health service, but fewer than five Cypriot pensioners were covered by the NHS.
Britain paid Â£674.4m to other EEA countries to cover expat British citizens' health costs in the 2014-2015 financial year, while it claimed back Â£49.7m to pay for EEA citizens' treatment in the UK.
Questioned about the small numbers of Spanish pensioners that were choosing to retire in the UK in November, Department of Health civil servant Chris Wormald told a Public Accounts Committee hearing on reciprocal healthcare: "We are not the retirement place of choice."
When Britain leaves the EU, these arrangements would cease to apply if it also left the EEA and would need to be renegotiated as part of any exit deal.
Switzerland, for example, is not a member of the European Union but has negotiated access to EEA reciprocal healthcare arrangements.
Professor Catherine Barnard, Professor of EU law at the University of Cambridge, says that much will depend on the Article 50 Brexit negotiations and any transitional arrangements.
If the terms are not as good as the current ones, she said, pensioners may no longer get the same access to public healthcare in...

Summary: Many more expat UK pensioners rely on European healthcare under reciprocal healthcare agreements than UK-based European pensioners rely on the NHS.
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Article: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency says young people are gambling with their health by using prescription medicines in a bid to get higher marks in exams.
Many websites illegally sell drugs like Ritalin and Modafinil without a valid prescription.
The drugs can cause dependency, heart problems and psychosis.
So far this year, the MHRA has closed nearly 5,000 websites selling fake or unlicensed medicines.
Modafinil is designed to be used for a health condition called narcolepsy - a rare but serious brain disorder that causes a person to suddenly fall asleep at inappropriate times. But some students take it to stay alert.
Others take Ritalin, a treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), for a cognitive boost.
MHRA Senior Policy Manager Lynda Scammell said: "You may be offered 'smart drugs' or 'cognitive enhancers' at university - some of them may be potent medicines which should only be prescribed by a doctor.
"Modafinil is licensed for specific medical conditions - not for use as a 'boost' during exams. Don't put your health at risk by self-medication - it could have serious side-effects.
"It's a criminal offence to supply prescription-only medicines without a valid prescription - websites offering them are acting illegally.
"Be smart - don't put your health at risk by buying medicines online and don't give your student loan to a criminal."

Summary:


The Conservatives reported £2.8m in donations in the three months after the EU referendum - the highest amount of the major parties, figures reveal.
The increase came despite a rise in business costs, the report found.
The increase came despite a rise in business costs, the report found.
The increase came

A council which installed Braille paving stones branded "gobbledygook" has said the slabs were only intended to be "creative".

Article: A total of almost £6.5m in donations were registered for July to September, Electoral Commission figures show.
The Labour Party reported £2,027,371 in donations, while the Liberal Democrats received £928,888.
Meanwhile, Plaid Cymru reported £11,000, the BNP reported £94,428 and UKIP £42,943.
These figures relate to the period between 1 July and 30 September 2016.
The Electoral Commission said the £6.5m was £8.5m down on the second quarter of 2016 - which involved elections and the UK's EU referendum - but around £363,000 more than the same quarter in 2015.
The seven political parties to report the most donations were:
The Conservative Party received 160 donations, with Michael Davis making the biggest donation at £269,000, followed by Alexander Fraser handing over £260,000.
The party also received £200,000 from the Conservative Draws Society and £165,000 from David Brownlow.
Labour received 91 donations, including £689,362 from the UK's largest trade union UNISON, £429,928 from Unite the Union,  £308,049 from the GMB and £247,923 from the Communications Workers Union.
Transparency
Liberal Democrats received 167 donations, with Graham and Susan Tobbell contributing the most at £125,000 each. Of the Co-operative Party's four donors, £312,800 from the Co-operative Group Ltd was the largest.
Bob Posner, the Electoral Commission's director of political finance and regulation, and legal counsel, said: "This data is hugely important in ensuring that our political finance system is as transparent as possible and it is therefore always disappointing where there is a failure to meet the statutory deadline.
"Where there is no reasonable explanation for such a failure, we will take a robust approach in dealing with this."
In addition to the donations registered, five parties accepted more than £2.3m from public funds - money and assistance to parliamentary opposition parties to assist with costs.
The value of outstanding loans to political parties stood at £4,358,508 on 30 September - a decrease of £191,080 compared to...

Summary: The Conservatives reported over £2.8m in donations in the three months after the EU referendum - the highest amount of the major parties, figures reveal.
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Article: The Bank of Scotland recorded the fastest rate of expansion for 14 months, while firms also saw higher levels of new business and employment.
Its latest purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 51.2 in September, up from 49.1 in August. Any figure above 50 represents growth.
The increase came despite a rise in business costs, the report found.
The PMI measures month-on-month changes in combined manufacturing and services output.
In its report, the bank said the upturn in September was driven by the sharpest increase in new business intakes since August 2015.
Moreover, the rise in total output was broad-based as both manufacturers and service providers reported higher levels of business activity during the month.
Jobs growth continued in Scotland's private sector for the second consecutive month, but the rate of increase was only marginal. A number of panellists linked the rise in headcounts with efforts to support the expansion in output.
Nick Laird, from Bank of Scotland, said: "The improvement in the economy was equally shared between service providers and manufacturers, who both registered modest increases in output during the month.
"Demand for Scottish goods and services also rose, highlighted by a rise in new business.
"On another note, firms faced the fastest increase in input costs for 33 months, putting pressures on firms' margins as we approach the end of the year."

Summary: Output from Scotland's private sector has increased for the first time in three months, according to a report.
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Article: Hull City Council had hoped the decorative stones would help raise the profile of those in the city who were visually impaired.
They were supposed to spell out the poem, The City Speaks, by Shane Rhodes.
But Braille teacher Barry Wheatley said it made no sense as the Braille is too big and lacks spaces between words.
The council said it was only intended to be "creative" tactile paving.
Read more about this and other stories from East Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire
Mr Wheatley said he initially thought the stones along Jameson Street and King Edward Street were a great idea but soon realised they were pointless.
"Braille is the size of your fingertips and to get down on your knees and feel this, well it is meaningless," he said.
"Even if you are a sighted Braille reader then it is like reading a sentence in print without any spaces in it.
"It is just gobbledygook."
He also said it did not work to guide blind or partially sighted people down the street, as it ran into street furniture.
Councillor Martin Mancey said he did not believe anything had "gone wrong" with the paving, which had only recently been installed.
"It was never intended to be a clearly legible form of the poem, it was an artistic interpretation.
"It has already achieved one of its purposes which was to raise the awareness of the needs of blind and partially sighted people in the city centre."
He said he was not aware of any obstacles that prevented it being used as a navigational guide.

Summary:


The Royal Yacht is a world-class resort with a population of over 1,000.
The Royal Yacht is a world-class resort with a population of over 1,000.
The Royal Yacht is a world-class resort with a population of over 1,000.
The Royal Yacht

The Royal Yacht Britannia has been judged as Scotland's best visitor attraction every year for the past decade.

Article: A report in January revealed proposed changes that NHS bosses have since said could save Â£31m.
The 14-week consultation began in March and is to finish at midnight.
A petition against the Huddersfield hospital's closure plan currently has more than 63,000 signatures.
More than 4,300 people have already completed the consultation survey organised by the NHS Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield Clinical Commissioning Groups.
Under the proposals all emergency, acute and high-risk planned care would be brought together at Calderdale Royal Hospital in neighbouring Halifax.
A new site in Acre Mills, Huddersfield would be developed as a hospital for planned care - but with no A&E.
The plans would eventually see 612 beds at Calderdale Royal Hospital and 120 at the proposed hospital at Acre Mills.
Several demonstrations against the closure of Huddersfield Royal Infirmary have been staged in the town.
Demolishing the infirmary and relocating emergency services to Calderdale would cost Â£470m compared with Â£501m under proposals considered for Huddersfield, said a draft public consultation document.
The proposed changes would "result in the greatest overall benefits" for people living in Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield, according to the CCGs.
The final decision on the plan is expected to be made public in October.

Summary: Plans to demolish Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and replace it with a new facility with no A&E have entered a final day of public consultation.
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Article: Their conduct is one of a series of issues that will be examined by The Charity Commission in its inquiry into 1st Knight Military Charity.
BBC Scotland secretly filmed the charity's founder selling T-shirts emblazoned with offensive messages.
Andy Linihan also sold badges alluding to the shooting of suicide bombers.
The Charity Commission announced it had launched an investigation shortly after the BBC documentary, The Great Military Charity Scandal, was broadcast earlier this month.
The programme revealed the charity was selling Nazi-themed T-shirts and hooded jumpers, some emblazoned with neo-Nazi emblems.
Velcro badges, designed to be placed on uniforms or baseball caps, featured a picture of an assault rifle and the words '72 Virgins Express'.
The Charity Commission has now outlined the issues that will be examined by the inquiry:
Mr Linihan said he accepted the items filmed by the BBC were "products which ought not to be sold by the charity".
He added: "As a result of your visit, we have withdrawn the products from the shop and removed them from the internet."

Summary: The trustees of a military charity found selling Nazi-themed and anti-Islamic goods are to be investigated by a watchdog.
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Article: And this year the yacht received a record score of 96%, the highest mark ever awarded to a visitor attraction in Scotland.
It was rated by national tourism organisation VisitScotland.
VisitScotland's quality assurance scheme, is the official measure of quality for tourism businesses.
Tourism businesses are assessed on the welcome, attitude, knowledge and efficiency of staff, as well as audience level, interpretation, maintenance and cleanliness.
With 308,906 visitors in 2015, the Royal Yacht last week announced 2015 as its best since its opening year in 1999.
Almost five million people from around the world have visited The Queen's former yacht since it opened to visitors in Edinburgh in 1998.
Britannia's chief executive Bob Downie said: "To be the best in Scotland once is a fantastic achievement, but to do this for 10 consecutive years is a phenomenal tribute to our staff who go the extra mile to ensure that all our visitors have a great experience when they visit Britannia.
"The true test of any great organisation is consistency of performance, delivering great value for time and money, year in year out, and there is no doubt that our pioneering approach to providing great customer experiences has underpinned our success."
Malcolm Roughead, VisitScotland's chief executive, said: "I'd like to congratulate Britannia on this fantastic achievement, which demonstrates an outstanding commitment to quality and excellence in every aspect of the business.
"Retaining the accolade of Scotland's best attraction for 10 years running, Britannia is setting the standards for tourism in Scotland, and it is a real testament to the total commitment shown by their staff to consistently deliver a world-leading customer experience."

Summary:


The UK's emissions figures for 2011 were lower than the previous year, but the UK's emissions figures for 2011 were lower than the previous year.
The UK's emissions figures for 2011 were lower than the previous year, but the UK's emissions figures for 2011 were lower than the previous year.
The UK's emissions

Many species will not be able to adapt fast enough to survive climate change, say scientists.

Article: The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said emissions in Scotland fell by 9.9% in 2011.
The drop for the UK as a whole was 6.9%.
However, climate campaigners said the figures showed that the Scottish government still had more to do to meet future emission levels targets.
Much of the reduction was due to the weather and a switch from coal-fired electricity generation to nuclear and renewable sources.
The CCC said the reduction also reflected additional investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The committee is an independent statutory body set up under the Climate Change Act to advise the UK government on setting carbon budgets, and to report to parliament on the progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
This is the latest Scottish breakdown of the UK emission figures for 2011.
There were drops of more than 20% in emissions from the the power and residential sectors, and a 15% reduction in emissions in the public sector.
Despite the fall in emissions, Scotland narrowly missed the legislated annual target of 53.4 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e).
The CCC said this was due to a change in the way estimated emissions were calculated.
The committee's latest report, which is done for the Scottish government, said meeting future targets remained "very challenging".
It has highlighted several areas that will required further action in order to meet future targets.
They included developing the electric vehicle market through more investment in the charging infrastructure, and focusing on pilot projects for new farming practices.
David Kennedy, chief executive of the CCC, said: "There has been good progress in Scotland on reducing emissions in key sectors of the economy, notably through investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
"This should not be obscured by the fact that emissions in 2011 were above the level targeted because of a change to the accounting methodology. But much remains to be done in terms of policy development and implementation to achieve very...

Summary: Scotland has continued to make "good progress" on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the body which advises the UK government on the issue has said.
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Article: But not immediately.
The focus now will be on the negotiations for leaving the EU, expected to take at least two years, and what domestic arrangements are arrived at to support agriculture.
Leave campaigners said EU subsidies would be replaced and possibly improved if there were a Brexit.
For Northern Ireland farmers, that would mean at least Â£260m a year coming from the exchequer in support payments.
Remain campaigners had cautioned that successive British governments had been no fans of subsidies.
They had also claimed agriculture would be well down the pecking order when it came to the re-allocation of the UK contribution to the EU budget.
The other big issue for our export orientated agri-food industry will be whether we would have unfettered access to the EU's single market.
If not, what tariffs and other non-tariff barriers might our exporters face to trade into Europe?
Part of that will be what the border with the Republic of Ireland will look like and how it will operate.
We sold them Â£560m worth of dairy, bakery, sheep and beef, animal feed, pig and poultry and other products in 2014.
Producers will want to keep their market share and will hope customs arrangements will not add cost or delay.

Summary: The result of the referendum means significant changes for farming in Northern Ireland.
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Article: A study of more than 250 plants and animals suggests their ability to adapt to changes in rainfall and temperature will be vastly outpaced by future climate change.
Amphibians, reptiles and plants are particularly vulnerable, according to US researchers.
And tropical species are at higher risk than those in temperate zones.
Some animals might be able to move geographically to cope with rising temperatures, but others live in isolated areas where they cannot move, such as in nature reserves or on mountains or islands.
Ecologists analysed how quickly species had changed their climatic niches (the conditions where they can survive) over time, and how these rates compared with that of global warming.
They analysed 266 populations of plants and animals, including insects, amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles.
Rates of change in climatic niches were much slower than rates of projected climate change, by more than 200,000 fold for temperature (on average), they said.
"Overall, our results show that rates of climatic niche change among populations of plants and animals are dramatically slower than projected rates of future climate change," said Tereza Jezkova and John Wiens, of the University of Arizona.
Mammals and birds might be better placed to survive than amphibians and reptiles, because they had the ability to regulate their own body temperatures, said Dr Wiens.
And, while some species might be able to move to higher latitudes or elevations to survive, "for a lot of organisms, that is not an option".
"It's a double jeopardy of climate change and habitat destruction," he told BBC News.
The research is published in the journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
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Summary: